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2022-12-31-accounts

SOMERFORD ARC CHARITY REPORT March 2022- March 2023

MARCH 2022 MARCH 2023

CHARITY COMISSION REPORT

Relating to the performance of the:

Somerford ARC Community Centre

20 Southey Road Somerford BH23 3EH Charity No. 1156427 T: 01202 470770 E: info@somerfordarc.com W: www.somerfordarc.com

SOMERFORD ARC CHARITY REPORT March 2022- March 2023

REPORT TO CHARITY COMMISSION

Report of the Trustees for the year ended 31[st] March 2023

The Trustees present their annual report and audit financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2023 and confirm they comply with the Charities Act 2011, as amended the trust deed and the Charities SORP (FRS 102).

Reference and Administrative Information

Name Somerford Alliance Resource Centre
(Somerford ARC Community Centre)
Registered CharityNo 1156427
Address 20 SoutheyRoad,Somerford Christchurch BH23 3EH
Trustees Christine Hopkins
Paul Hilliard
Janet Abbot
Simon McCormack
David Jones
Bank HSBC
15 High Street
CHRISTCHURCH
Dorset
BH23 1AF

Governing document

Somerford Alliance Resource Centre (Somerford ARC) is constituted as CIO registered with the Charity Commission 28 March 2014. It is governed by a constitution dated 6[th] January 2014 and amended on 26[th] March 2014.

Organisational structure

The five serving Charity Trustees are responsible for the general control and management of the charity. The Trustees give their time freely and receive no remuneration or other financial benefits.

The Trustees meet as a body monthly and are responsible for all decisions taken in relation to running the community facilities and the activities provided by the Charity.

Day-to-day management of the community facilities and projects are delegated to Trustees, Volunteers, a paid Office Manager and a paid Office Assistant who deal with the day-to-day general running of the Centre.

Recruitment and appointment of trustees

All serving Trustees are aware of the legal rules of eligibility required to serve as a Trustee.

When selecting new Trustees, we will seek to identify people who regularly attend events and functions organised by the Charity and willing to volunteer to help broaden our work within the community.

Guidance will be provided to prospective Trustees with a balanced account of what their role entails, including their duties and responsibilities, and access to the Charity Commissions publication “Responsibilities of Charity Trustees (CC3)”.

The applicant’s eligibility, personal competence, specialist knowledge and skills will be taken will be taken into consideration. Potential conflicts of interest will be carefully considered and managed.

Potential Trustees will be invited to attend board meetings of Somerford ARC Community Centre as observers, offering them an insight into the details of the Charity's aims and activities.

Induction and training of trustees

Once a newly appointed Trustee has signed all contractual agreements the Chairman of Somerford ARC Community Centre is responsible for conducting an induction inline with the Somerford ARC Community Centre Trustee induction pack, allowing them to fully understand our Charities purposes, organisational structure, financial position and current issues.

Publications from the Charity Commission are also provided including the guidance on charities, public benefit and the advancement of religion for the public benefit. This ensures that any new trustees are aware of the scope of their responsibilities under the Charities Act.

Risk management

Somerford ARC Community Centre manage risk management following the “Charities and risk management (CC26)” publication:

The Trustees review the risk matrix regularly and are satisfied that systems are in place, and arrangements are in hand, to manage the risks that have been identified.

Insurance cover is in place and the finances of Somerford ARC Community Centre are kept under review.

Appropriate Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks, supported by regularly reviewed policies, are made for all those who work alone with children or other vulnerable groups within the Community Centre where needed.

Objectives and activities

Our aims

The objects of the charity are set out in the charity's constitution and are summarised as follows:

Provide a community facility for the purposes of recreation, education and enjoyment principally but not exclusively for the people of Somerford and to promote through the Centre activities for the benefit of the residents of Somerford and of Christchurch

Our objectives

To further or benefit the residents of Somerford and the neighbourhood. Without distinction of sex, sexual orientation, race or of political, religious or other opinions by associating together the said residents, the local authorities, voluntary sector and other organisations in a common effort to advance education and to provide facilities in the interests of social welfare for recreation and leisure time occupation with the objective of improving the conditions of life for the residents.

An important part of our strategy is Community Welfare and Education. All our community facilities, activities, classes, health initiatives, education and IT are advertised, and we welcome the participation of all in our local community.

Most of our activities are free and/or supported by donations or Grant Funding. Concessions are made for students, residents and pensioners for any payable activity.

Helping people who have moved to Somerford and to settle into the community successfully is important to us.

Use of volunteers

Somerford ARC Community Centre places great value on the involvement of volunteers. Volunteers help keep Somerford ARC Community Centres work relevant to the community of Somerford by bringing a range of personalities, backgrounds, skills and experience into the organisation.

Once all contractual agreements are signed newly selected volunteers receive a full induction and a volunteer handbook, any training required to enable volunteers to fulfil their role is arranged and paid for by the organisation.

Our Trustees give time freely in the centre, and we currently have 7 local residents regularly giving their time.

Activities and achievements

How our activities deliver public benefit

The charity carries out a wide range of activities in pursuance of its charitable aims.

The Trustees consider that these activities, summarised below, provide benefit both to those who use the community facilities and the wider community of Somerford and Christchurch.

Somerford ARC Community Centre supports a diverse group of people predominantly from disadvantaged areas. Their challenges fall into four key categories:

All groups and activities run by the organisation are specifically chosen to address growth within these areas with a pragmatic approach.

Community activities

When considering the activities and events held at Somerford ARC Community Centre the Trustees follow guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit, and endeavour to ensure that events and activities are provided to the community enabling access to free events and courses.

We provide a community facility for the purposes of recreation, education and enjoyment principally but not exclusively for the residents of Somerford, promoting external activities beneficial to local residents and the wider Christchurch

Being a universal point of access for residents, we respond to a range of issues, as well as providing well needed resources to the community, it’s vital we are up to date and understand any changes in our local town and the impacts these may have within the community, enabling us to deliver support and activities to their full potential.

Hall and rooms

HALL IT SUITE SNUG
• Capacity 100 people
• Disabled access
• Large stage
• Projector		 • Equipped with 12 computers
with webcams and an
available network printer
• 48inch television
• tv and computers interactive
• Large conference table
seating 11
• capacity: 20		 • comfortable room with two
settees and armchairs
• smart television
• ideal for small groups,
meditation and interviews

When facilities are not required for community use, they are available for hire on Commercial terms and subsidised for residents.

YEAR - MARCH 2022/2023

New and current Sessions run by Somerford ARC

Community Lunch and Transport . Over 51% of over 75s in the UK live alone and use television as their main company. In 2018 it was documented that Christchurch has the highest population of over 85s in the UK. These figures emphasise the challenges of isolation faced within our local area.

We work with Dorset Community Payback to provide a weekly two course home-cooked meal to the community.

The purpose of lunch club is specifically to target loneliness by bringing older people together in a safe and welcoming environment. Maintaining an active social life can help ward off depression, reduce stress and lower blood pressure. Regular conversations decrease cognitive decline and slow the progression of declining health.

It is important to us that mobility does not create a barrier to accessibility, teamed with Christchurch Community Partnership we are able to offer our residents a door-to-door bus service. Our aspiration is to keep our residents as mentally healthy as possible and uplift spirits with enjoyable and memorable days out.

ADaPt Café . It is estimated 13,101 people in Dorset over the age of 65 have suspected dementia.

Our ADaPt Café is a weekly group for people living with Dementia, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and their amazing carers.

We continuously research to ensure users are getting all the benefits and support they are entitled to, offering emotional support outside the group on tougher days.

Monthly Musical exercise class improves mobility of joints, strengthen muscles, and enhances mood and frequent crafting sessions allowing users to express themselves.

Those living with dementia can still experience sensation, relaxation, and reminiscence, we have recently added a magic table, and its games are specifically designed to stimulate all these three areas. Loved ones and carers feel alone and overwhelmed while trying to adjust to a life of emotional disconnection from the person they love. The magic table breaks the stillness and the silence; it allows users to bypass language barriers, and briefly unites loved ones enabling them to communicate, you see a glimpse of long-lost personalities even if it is for a short second.

Carers can feel emotionally isolated, and actively ignored at worst and may feel that people around them, can no longer listen to yet another account of the life they are now leading. We have an counsellor available to members offering free 6 week counselling sessions, to help move them from surviving, depression, anxiety, and feelings of hopelessness to the emerging possibilities of coping and regaining some sense of perspective, renewed self-awareness and self-care, and the return of some measure of control.

0-8 year Project. 80% of parents meet with their friends less due to lack of finances and obstacles with childcare. Ongoing loneliness for parents, makes them more susceptible to anxiety and depression. Holidays can be stressful to low-income families, financial hardship brings periods of isolation and inactivity, seeing declines in children’s well-being.

Children’s Activities: - Our weekly crafting throughout the holidays brings families together. The activity of sticking, colouring, gluing and cutting can assist fine motor skill development, improve hand eye co-ordination and concentration in children. Art is a channel to help children with

creativity and self-impression, whilst bringing them into a social environment promoting the development of language skills.

Breakfast Hub: - The cost-of-living crisis is affecting the most vulnerable- low-income families and pensioners. The Trussell Trust reported they’re witnessing an accelerating crisis, as the need for emergency food is drastically increasing, this is set to get worse. food banks fear they will be forced to turn people away due to high demand and shortages, so residents will be relying on community meal services more than ever. There’s no quick fix to reverse the current crisis, it’s vital as a community we work together furthering provisions offered to secure access to food and support in the community. Our term time group provides a free breakfast and toddler play, it is a comfortable environment for the families where we can build good relationships with the residents, enabling us to signpost them in the direction of support and courses, bringing parents out of isolation and bringing smaller children into an environment in which they can play independently with other children, helping with self-confidence and providing a steppingstone for children to prepare for playgroup.

Parents have highlighted the struggles families face regarding education. It is for this reason we decided to extend the support drop ins we offer here at the ARC by building a new face to face educational and disability face to face support, with the below organisations.

we recently met with the BCP director of education to further discuss additional beneficial support services we could include as a set base of service attendance, each monthly drop-in the director of education provides us various representatives from the BCP education sector to help further extend support within the community.

The Samee Charity recently joined breakfast hub working, with lone parents enabling them to explore self-employment by creatively exploring their ideas and potential, helping them achieve financial independence through successful business start-up and/or improved employment prospects. They Partner with strategic partners both in employment and education sectors to ensure provision of the highest quality information, guidance and advice.

successfully we have had isolated elderly members of the community attend the breakfast hub! This is something we would like to encourage! To tackle financial hardship, food poverty and isolation, whilst building community connectedness and promoting healthy intergenerational relationships.

New and current support services

Employment

14,814 people were out of work and claiming benefits in the BCP area in April 2021, this is a 126% increase since the previous year. The area has a high level of long-term unemployment and increasingly younger people are struggling to find work. Poor educational attainment, skill gaps, lack of self- confidence and self-worth are typical of the challenges we are seeing.

Bournemouth and Poole Skills and Learning Funded by Sovereign Housing Association Skills and Learning offer vocational and personal development courses, free to the community. These opportunities help users find their strengths and learn new skills, giving them a new sense of selfbelief.

Average Number of participants per course: 6

The SAMEE Charity Job Club: Funded by Sovereign Housing Association the SAMEE Charity offer a weekly drop in Job Club aiding users with interview skills, building CV’s, seeking employment, confidence building, IT support and preparing for interviews.

Weekly Support Drop in.

Support services are a vital asset to the ARC we are a one-stop-shop of face-face drop-ins from various services, equipping our local area with a vital network of people they can trust and look to for support.

Building relationships with other service providers and charities, we’ve worked together and built stronger connections, being able to share our own experiences means we can make adaptions to the support we provide so we can maximise resources and deliver services to their full potential, especially now when support is crucial.

We have learnt that our residents’ needs are varied and sometimes complex, we ensure they don’t have to face these challenges alone. Face-face support provides a feeling of fulfilment, that they are understood and someone cares. Not receiving support can lead to loneliness and deterioration of mental health which can quickly manifest into something much more serious.

We focus on our residents and groups run by us are resident led and based on need within the community. It is vital that the community get what they need from us as a community centre. We have become a pillar of trust to a hard-to-reach community, somewhere residents can turn to for tangible support, or just for a cup of tea when they need someone to talk to.

External Support Services

Citizens Advice Money Talks. The Somerford estate has 4,875 residents and is in the top 20 percent of deprived areas in the UK. In our local area between October 2020 and November 2020 we saw a 1.76% increase in people in receipt of universal credit, Universal Credit is seen as the main driving force in creating the increase in the number of emergency supplies handed out. The new payment scheme is leaving claimants on a five-week minimum wait for their first initial payment, although it is not unusual to see applications take as long as 10 weeks, resulting in families having no choice but to turn to local food banks. Low-income households are plunging into debt and in some cases homelessness due to ongoing job losses.

The Food Foundation research suggests 5,800 people in the BCP areas are experiencing food poverty and a further 101,000 are food insecure people who can’t meet the recommended guidelines for a healthy diet.

Citizen’s advice can advise and guide families.

Partnership Working

In developing our community programs, we are pleased to work in partnership with:

New and Current Groups and classes

Annual Events

Christmas Lunch: Dorset Community Payback serve Christmas Dinner to our service users it’s a chance for everyone to get together have a glass of wine and enjoy the festivities with Highcliffe School Choir.

Free Santa’s Grotto. Each year we recreate a commercial grotto for families who wouldn’t ordinarily be able to afford to have this experience, so children don’t miss out on this magical time of year. Our grotto is built over a two-day period. We have been lucky enough to receive funding for gifts and for Jules the entertainer to provide a fun filled disco from The Christchurch Rotary Club enabling us to offer this event free to families.

Christmas Lunch . Serving 70 meals to isolated members of the community. This is catered on site by Christchurch Community Partnership. Due to COVID-19 regulations this was unable to go ahead in 2020. Christchurch Community Partnership gathered volunteers and donations and delivered gift packs to the isolated members of the community.

Going Forward in 2023

to go out for further funding to enable us to give our community more choices and opportunities.

Financial review year to 31 December 2022

Receipts

Core monthly hire from regular users / clubs is in the region of £1,400/£3,000pm which provides us a good base. This revenue is added to by other activities run by Skills and Learning and other organisations that have been in dialogue with the office manager and the team.

Somerford ARC Community Centre is reliant on funding to enable us to provide services to the community. We would like to express our special thanks of gratitude to:

Their support has played a vital role in keeping our centre running throughout 2021 enabling us to continue providing much needed support in the community.

Payments

As expected in completing our nineth year running the ARC expenses have increased significantly due to an increase in staffing hours and general purchases.

Reserves policy

The level of financial reserves held by Somerford ARC Community Centre will be reviewed by the Board of Trustees at the Annual General Meeting during the discussions held regarding the budget for the next financial year.

The current minimum level of unrestricted reserves to be held by Somerford ARC Community Centre is between 25% and 33.7% of the annual precepted figure, i.e., to fully cover approximately three to four months of contracted expenditure.

Statement of Trustees' responsibilities

The charity Trustees are responsible for preparing an annual report and financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

The Law applicable to charities in England and Wales requires the charity Trustees to prepare financial statements for each year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and of the incoming resources and application of resources of the charity for that period. In preparing the financial statements, the trustees are required to:

The Trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and to enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charities Act 1993, the Charity (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 and the provisions of the trust deed. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

The Trustees for the purposes of charity law who served during the year and up to the date of this report are set out on page 1.

Approved by the trustees and signed on its behalf by:

Signed: Dated: 6.4. 2023

Paul Hilliard - Chair

Countersigned: Dated: 6.4.2023

Simon McCormack – Vice Chair

Somerford ARC 1156427
Receipts andpayments accounts CC16a
For the period
from		 01-Jan-22 To 31-Dec-22
Section A Receipts and payments Section A Receipts and payments
A1 Receipts Unrestricted
funds
to the nearest £
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-

-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-		 Restricted
funds
to the nearest £
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-		 Endowment
funds
to the nearest £		 2022
to the nearest £
28,872
40,519
-
-
-
-
-
-
69,391		 2021
to the nearest £
Hire Revenue - -
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-		 6,633
Grants & Donations - 39,600
- -
- -
- -
- -
- -
- -
Sub total(Gross income for
AR)
-		 46,233
A2 Asset and investment sales,
(see table).
-
 -
-		 - -
~~Sub total~~ - -
69,391
962
3,020
2,540
285
3,178
3,125
6,510
1,403
2,912
1,830
32,299
1,897
59,961
-
Total receipts
A3 Payments
- 46,233

Council Tax		 - -
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-		 497
Telephone / Computer Fees - 3,053
Gas & Electric - 1,091
Water & Sewerage - 297
CommunityEvents - 1,061
Breakfast Club 813
ADAPT club 1,439
Insurance/ licences - 1,211
General Expenses - 1,277
Maintenance - 1,709
Training& Wages 21,861
SundryPurchases - 4,986
**Sub total ** - 39,295
A4 Asset and investment
purchases, (see table)
- - -
- - - - -
**Sub total ** - - - - -
Total payments - - - 59,961 39,295
Net of receipts/(payments) - - - 9,430 6,938
A5 Transfers between funds - - - - -
A6 Cash funds last year end - - - 31,477 24,539
Cash funds this year end - - - 40,907 31,477

CCXX R1 accounts (SS)

13/04/2023

1

Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period

Categories
Signed by one or two trustees on
behalf of all the trustees
B1 Cash funds
B2 Other monetary assets
B4 Assets retained for the
charity’s own use
B5 Liabilities
B3 Investment assets		 Signature
Signature
philliard
Details
Details
Computers, screens, TVs, projectors
Details
Details
Total cash funds
(agree balances with receipts and payments
account(s))
Details		 Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
funds
to nearest £
to nearest £
40,907
-
-
-
-
40,907
-
Agreement Error
OK
Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
funds
to nearest £
to nearest £
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Fund to which
asset belongs
Cost (optional)
-
-
-
-
-
Fund to which
asset belongs
Cost (optional)
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Fund to which
liability relates
Amount due
(optional)
-
-
-
-
-
Print Name
Paul Hilliard
Simon McCormack		 Endowment
funds
to nearest £
-
-
-
-
OK
Endowment
funds
to nearest £
-
-
-
-
-
-
Current value
(optional)
-
-
-
-
-
Current value
(optional)
9,000
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
When due
(optional)
Date of
approval
philliard Paul Hilliard 06.04.2023
Signature Simon McCormack 6.4.2023

CCXX R2 accounts (SS)

13/04/2023

2

Independent examiner’s report to the trustees of Somerford ARC (the Trust)

I report to the charity trustees on my examination of the accounts of the Trust for the year ended 31 December 2022.

Responsibilities and basis of report

As the trustees of the Trust you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 (the ‘2005 Act’), the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended), and the Charities Act 2011 (‘the 2011 Act’). You are satisfied that your charity is not required by charity law to be audited and have chosen instead to have an independent examination.

I report in respect of my examination of the Trust’s accounts carried out under section 44 (1) ( c) of the 2005 Act and section 145 of the 2011 Act. In carrying out my examination I have followed the requirements of Regulation 11 of the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended) and all applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the 2011 Act.

Independent examiner’s statement

I have completed my examination. I confirm that no matters have come to my attention giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:

  1. accounting records were not kept as required by section 44 (1) (a) of the 2005 Act and Regulation 4 of the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended) and section 130 of the 2011 Act; or

  2. the accounts do not accord with those records; and

  3. the accounts do not comply with the accounting requirements of Regulation 8 of the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended).

I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Signed:

Name: Peter Skeggs

Relevant professional qualification(s) or membership of professional bodies (if any):

Address: 31 Wellington Avenue

Christchurch, Dorset

Date: 6/04/23