Acting SCCL Chair’s Report for AGM 24[th] June 2021
The Special Situation
A couple of weeks back, our excellent chair Barbara Peck (“Barb”) had to stand down from the Board of Trustees for family reasons. The remaining Trustees wish to express their commiserations to Barb for her difficult situation, while thanking her for her excellent and wise leadership over the last years. This report is being presented by the acting chair, Richard Ashen, who was formerly shadow to Barb, and has now stepped out into the limelight.
Following the COVID-19 outbreak, the community library was forced to close in line with all other such organisations, and the last day the building was open to the public was 19[th] March 2020. The last conventional AGM was held on 22[nd] May 2019; over two years ago. The building is still closed to the public, meaning that no normal events or book lending has taken place at all during the last year covered by this report.
However, activity has continued behind the scenes, and this is detailed in the following sections.
Membership
The bulk of the membership is “bronze”, which covers one year (cost £1). Therefore most memberships have lapsed, leaving only some 21 “official” members who have unexpired “silver” membership, which lasts for 7 years (cost £5) or “gold” membership which lasts indefinitely (cost £10).
In fairness to those with membership which expired during our period of closure, and therefore enjoying no benefits during that time, extended time will be allowed before a renewal fee will be required from these individuals.
Book Lending
There has been no book lending during our period of closure. Attention was drawn on the SCCL website to the facilities offered by the Waltham Forest council libraries for borrowing books during this time.
For some years we have also been donating books to another charity, called the Book Rescuers They give us a commission earned from selling books online (we get 10% of sale
value, as commission). We received one payment not recorded in last year’s report, details of amount and period covered are below:
1st February 2020 to 30th April 2020 inclusive £ 41.73
We also have a complete set of books boxed up for collection by the charity, when the library reopens.
Additionally, last year we supplied some surplus books to Enterprise House, a housing association building with retirement flats. We have also recently been placing offerings of free surplus books outside on Thursdays, whilst working inside towards reopening. The books prove popular and many disappear.
Volunteers
Volunteers are the lifeblood of the organisation, without which we would not be able to operate at all. We have a few who have been with us for the complete journey to date; a period of about nine and a quarter years. The majority have joined somewhere along the way. Some have moved on, of course, perhaps moving away, or gaining paid employment, or just becoming inactive for one reason or another. We have stored completed application forms for all these people, whether still active volunteers or not, which is a concern from the data protection viewpoint. We have decided therefore to take advantage of this enforced break in operation to reset the volunteer force. So all existing volunteer forms will be destroyed, and volunteers will be required to complete a new form. This has the added benefit of clarifying who the current volunteers are. When the system is up and running, our volunteer numbers will be totally clear again, as we will have the new completed forms as updated records.
With no requirement to run shifts within the library, the majority of the volunteer workforce has had nothing library-related to do over the last year or so. Many have found other useful projects, like assisting the elderly, having virtual online meetings for some organisations, or assisting with the Waltham Forest Council Stay Safe initiative.
A small group of volunteers has been preparing for the upcoming reopening. Many volunteers are looking forward to this, and are already organised to run the first shifts. .
Footfall
There has been no footfall to record over this period..
Funding
The details of this are in the treasurer’s report. A £1500 grant was kindly awarded by United Way (Costco). This was initially intended to fund the screening at reception, but this was subsequently covered by Waltham Forest Ward Funding. There has been no other income. The Costco grant is now redirected towards a high-end laptop, to be a platform for running the organisation, and a new multi-function printer. Outgoings remain despite closure, these being principally telephone, cleaning, and waste disposal.
Partnerships and Events
There is nothing to report on these..
Trustees
South Chingford Community Library, as it has charitable status, is governed by a board of trustees. As previously stated, our chair Barbara Peck (“Barb”) has sadly had to stand down from the board. Our Treasurer of long standing, Stuart Manning, is also now retiring from the Board. The remaining trustees wish to express their thanks to Stuart for all his hard work, both on the financial side, and more generally, and hope he will now have more time to enjoy his interests of sailing, walking, and maybe a resurgence of poetry writing.
We are currently in various stages of welcoming four new trustees, one of whom is a returning member of the board.
The Future
We are all looking forward to the reopening of the library, probably in a slightly reduced form. For example, children will not be allowed back initially. Also, if restricted numbers are allowed within the building, meaning that there is a queue of people waiting outside, then, in that situation, in fairness to all, we may limit the time of visits to half an hour. This rule will not apply, of course, to attendees at regular events in the library. Some weeks back, we set a target date for re-opening of 1[st] July. This seemed reasonable at the time, but it is just one week away now, so we must accept that this date, barring a miracle, will have to be put back. Trustees and volunteers have been working very hard to prepare for re-opening, which includes meeting stringent requirements to satisfy Waltham Forest Council. The principal remaining hurdle to overcome is the matter of the now illegal ventilation system within the building. The present air conditioning system simply recirculates the same air, which is not Covid-19 compliant. A resolution is being sought, which probably involves allowing for an acceptable replenishment of fresh air with a through flow through the building.
We are effectively a sub-tenant of Waltham Forest council, who do not own this building, but are leasing it from the owner, Keith Hibberd, who owned and ran the Rossi’s Ice Cream
and Toy Shop from the building. As things stand, we are required to vacate the premises by 31[st] January 2022 at the latest, to allow time for Waltham Forest council to restore the building to a handover state by the end of their lease in the summer of 2022. In these circumstances, there has effectively been no chance of the upstairs being restored to a working space for public use, to allow us to properly exploit the full potential of this site. This has been the situation for some years now, and has been an ongoing issue for the whole time that we have been here.
So we likely have a few months guaranteed time left in an imperfect building in the perfect location for a library in South Chingford.
As part of our aim to consolidate our position as a principal community hub in South Chingford, we applied to Waltham Forest Council in January 2020 to be made an Asset of Community Value, and our application was successful This opened up the theoretical possibility of offers to be made to purchase the building, should it be put up for sale, to retain its current use at the end of lease. Of course, the SCCL charity will not be in a position to make such an offer.
So, from 2022, our future, if any, is currently unknown. We do have a very good relationship with the owner, Keith Hibberd. He likes what we are doing, and would very much like for us to carry on using his building. It has been made clear to him that we do not have the finances to fund a new lease in the conventional sense. So we also do not have the finances to obtain alternative premises, and therefore will be reliant on the goodwill and outside help of friends (of whom we have many), if we are to move in that direction. Our responsibility, as trustees, is to ensure that SCCL is well run continuously, through when we reopen until such time that the charity winds up, which we hope will be many years in the future.
I will conclude by saying that we are sorry that we have not been open for so long, a situation which is totally out of our control of course, and thanking all volunteers, members, and other library users without whose help, the library could not have prospered in the past in the way that it has, and will continue to do so in the unknown future, without doubt, when our doors open to the public once again..
Acting Chair of SCCL Trustees 24[th] June 2021
SOUTH CHINGFORD COMMUNITY LIBRARY
Charity Registration Number 1153772
Financial Summary Accounting Year 2020 - 21
| INCOME Balance brought forward Operating income Membership fees 0.00 Internet use 0.00 Printing 0.00 Knitting Group 0.00 Book Sales 0.00 Language groups 0.00 Events 0.00 Donations 0.00 Funding Ward Funding Other Grants Rental Income Sundry 0.00 LBWF 0.00 Bank Interest EXPENDITURE Bank payments Petty Cash payments Bank Balance Cash Balance |
20729.17 0.00 0.00 1500.00 0.00 0.00 |
|---|---|
| 22229.17 5243.18 0.00 |
|
| 16985.99 | |
| 16985.99 0.00 |
|
| 16985.99 |
SOUTH CHINGFORD COMMUNITY LIBRARY
Charity Registration Number 1153772
Financial Summary Accounting Year 2020 - 21
CASH EXPENDITURE
| Stationery Books Newspapers Cleaning Materials Catering etc Repairs etc Furniture IT Supplies Postage Sundry Cash adjustment |
0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 |
|---|---|
| 0.00 |
BANK EXPENDITURE
| Telephone Computers Computer & Printer Supplies Waste Twxmas Cleaning Entertaining Stationery Insurance Furniture Sundry |
1184.26 79.99 129.60 592.71 0.00 1528.93 0.00 0.00 550.61 1177.08 0.00 |
|---|---|
| 5243.18 |
SOUTH CHINGFORD COMMUNITY LIBRARY
Charity Registration Number 1153772
- Projection for the year 2021 22 Assuming no Ward Funding
INCOME
| Operating income Membership fees 0.00 Internet use 0.00 Printing 0.00 Knitting Group 0.00 Book Sales 0.00 Quiz evenings 0.00 Language groups 0.00 Donations 0.00 Funding Ward Funding Rental Income Age UK 0.00 LBWF 0.00 Bank Interest Bank Donations EXPENDITURE Bank payments Petty Cash payments Projected surplus |
0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 |
|---|---|
| 0.00 3000.00 0.00 |
|
| -3000.00 |
SOUTH CHINGFORD COMMUNITY LIBRARY
Charity Registration Number 1153772
Projected expenses 2021-22
CASH EXPENDITURE
| Stationary Books Newspapers Cleaning Materials Catering etc Repairs etc Postage Sundry |
0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 |
|---|---|
| 0.00 |
BANK EXPENDITURE
| Telephone Computers Computer Supplies Printer Supplies Waste Catering Cleaning Insurance Entertaining Stationery Sundry |
1200.00 0.00 0.00 200.00 550.00 0.00 500.00 550.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 |
|---|---|
| 3000.00 |