Deaf Hill Ward Regeneration Partnership
Trustees' Annual Report and Financial Statements
1[st] April 2020 to 31st March 2021
Charity number: 1156860
Chairman’s Annual Report
This is my first annual report, which I cannot start without first mentioning the sad passing away of our Chair Jim Grigg and paying tribute to the outstanding work he has done for The Partnership, the Centre and the Community. Jim was a very unassuming person and had been Chair from the inception of The Partnership, a position he held for 19 years. In that time Jim and the trustees has overseen many changes not only ensuring the building stayed opened, but brought many services to an area with very little services provision. I would like to place on record our gratitude to all his hard work and vision.
I am pleased to present my first year’s Annual Report for Deaf Hill Ward Regeneration Partnership.
This has been again a difficult year with the current pandemic (Covid-19). We have been able to still deliver a number of projects that has benefited the local community and the most vulnerable people at a time when they needed us the most.
We have slowly reopened the building to the public with all of our staff now retuning to work. We still have some services which we have been unable to restart which is out our hands.
We were disappointed at the lack of support locally, it should be remembered that local people rely on the building and its services such as Food Bank and mental health support, which is now needed more than ever before.
I would like to thank all Trustees and volunteers for all their hard work, many who have had to shield as a result of this pandemic. I would like to thank members of the public for their continued support, help and donations.
I would in particular like to express our thanks, gratitude and appreciation to our Manager, who despite been furloughed, has volunteered to deliver food bank. He has also undertaken with the help of volunteers a lot of maintenance work, which we have estimated to have saved The Partnership around £25K and counting in labour costs alone.
Our appreciation goes to our Partners and outside agencies and all funders. Our MP and County Councillor’s who supported our work
We have recorded a surplus in this year income; mostly from Covid support grants and funding for forthcoming projects We still hold a number of grants for projects either to finish or to start. We also have noted the auditor’s comments and seek to address them in the coming year.
We are aware that Covid will still have an impact on our income for years to come, therefore any surplus should be ring fenced to ensure we can meet our needs into the future. While a lot of maintenance has been carried out we must increase our reserves to meet the increasing costs associated with a building which is 93 year old.
The Trustees continue to be concerned at the lack of services available in the
community, we fear services may be lost forever, in a village which already has poor service provision.
We have an excellent set of volunteers, but need to be mindful of demanding too much of them. We will continue to develop our younger volunteers who we continue to invest in over the years. While delighted with their achievements and see them move on, this also leaves a gap in young volunteers. This is why it is important to us to continue investing in our youth projects, again funding is required to maintain our youth projects. We continue to maintain and create new partnerships that benefit our work.
The focus over the last year has still been the continuation of updating the building. We secured additional funding to replace our timber fascia with upvc and install larger gutters. At this time we found out work on one of the flat roofs had not been carried out to a good standard and had to be replace, a cost which the partnership had to fund .
Over this coming year we will continue to focus on finishing the refurbishment of the building, funding for staff and funding for services. We are looking for funding to employ someone a few hours per week; this will take the pressure off our manager. It will free the manager’s time so he can look for other funding streams to continue our work and develop other projects..
Our support for Mental Health services continues to thrive and provides such a life line to many users.
I am delighted we have been able to retain our manager who continues to be highly thought of and respected, whose enthusiasm and hard work is a credit to the Partnership. We however need to ensure we have funding to continue employing our manager as we believe he is an excellent and key asset to the Partnership and community.
Once again I thank everyone for their continued help and support to our Community Centre and the work we do for our village and community.
Derek Bradley – Chair
D&if Hlll Ward Re8eneratlon Partnershlp 2020121 Income Furtough Covld supwrt gr8nl Lock down Krant rier 4 Grant Covid fresh propct Refvnd$ Donation rfjm hire Fascia and Guitef8 proje East Durham Creattr Bank intertrsl Total Incom& 2.021.45 10.805.rJ) 32,153.50 238.21 io,Irx).¢)J 802.98 550.Crf) 2LN).r 5,ory). 2.750.rJ) 382.83 £88.350.36 Wages AdmInIrtratThn Lun¢h Uub write batk Utiitties In5uTrnce canIng Bar Equipment wrlte back MalnienarKe 28.434.28 1,272.13 -63.cil 6,323.95 833.33 3,750.01 220.60 cence Trips wrfte back Cree East Durtjam Create5 Fresh frnit Youth Project Covid exp 454.47 4,420.LX) 11,206.92 3,771.81 31.50 £.506.00 27844.36 Su1$forthey FuThd tsalar as at ty4120 Surplusforyeèr Fund Baknce as at 3113nl 82166.07 £IIO.OIOAJ 8aThk 8alances'. Current account as at 3113121 Dep051t Accountas 313113121 S2821.27 S7189.16 Add income to bank Unpre5entrd cheques Recondled ,0A3
DEAF HILLWARD REGENERAIION PMERSHIP 2020/20 In eXam1rll0Tr ofthe aXnts for the ooaf Hlll Ward Regeneratlon p1p w85 earried c¥Jt fcftho F4rknJ 1 ArKII 2020 to 31" M8rch 2021. The contents olthls rewt have b88n di8rAJswl and agreed th8 ManJ8r and recommThJaUcms are WUded in the retKJ S¢op8 of thè R•vkw The examination tesled and evaluated ts effiiyency and 8ffeitherS of th8 vhcwne and e¥pendlbJre Teclxdg. The areas of flnanclal adrninistrative actlwty examlnad included.. Inttjrre and expendltute sprwlshegt bank stat8m8nts. I•(X1VClce$. th8que bcx)ks, payirvJ in books FlndlThJs The Centre Manag8r recrdS all incThie and ewenditure on a spr8ad5heet under fdriOLSS headlngs. AJI incA)me and e¥pendibJre were examined, and il Vfds obsetvefl Ihat the swealshget mifrored Ihe ItOrne and expendibJr8 shown on Ihe bank statements. This vs highlighted by Ihe 4 found on the spreadshe8t which rf bank re¢ltIOnS had been carried tyjt wouhj have As report1 W851Y. Ihe reccffds do not sts)w a running total offunds but th8 dffJ1ty o LY)mpletlng this ha3 baen 6xpk7kned land Ihè low ¥i5k is a(pJ) and no wular bank rerA)nLaliations are cwried OLrt to Il fuThJ reoxds. Usry the 8Fwlshe8t reoxts a st8t6mnt of acrx)unts aThJ fur reL¥jlats)Th was wodursd detailing all the ripts and paynts fw Ihe P8d. Thts gave a surplus forth8 y8¥ of £27.844.36 lfflalnty du8 to tho grants 5UPPCYt the y8arl. arKI the fund rec¥xd of £110.010.43 rw)nclgJ the (#rnt dermtt8Cc£ftt bk aco)unts as at 3111 March 2021. There wer? 3 very cequ8s which had not been present&4, I h8V8 d8tem)ined from aCUnts the88 were from arwj wt them bat Into the act(nts. (Can be seen as a n8gatfve uThJor th8 6dUre head¥$). Conclusk)n¥Mecommndatlon8 Th8 fuf¥J recThds recond to lh8 bank statements and dl incom6 an(18ythre was accYJt4d for. Proper Inc(¥no expyJrture reryJrd8 do ncrt appear lo be kept as tsy rwdwj frcffi Iho bank statements. ThLs wll not entify If receipts 8ThJ payTnants re gThtand what cWe5 ar8 Lbnwesent&J or Irthme had not bo bank. A• prthously rocommgnd•d all Incom• and •xp•ndlturn ihould be roeordod Immodthtety whgn Income Is r•e•WI and T*th•n chequts ar•188ued. and nrt from the bHnk •tatenK•nL Gordon Fletcher. (C.M.I.IAI Dated: 2 Novembor 2021 Fund Audltor.