Friends of Greenhill Library
Registered Charity Number 1158656 Greenhill Library, Hemper Lane Sheffield S8 7FE Telephone:0114 2377657 email: admin@greenhill-library.org www.greenhill-library.org
ANNUAL REPORT TO THE 2021 AGM
This report covers activities to Sept. 2021 and the finances for the year ending 31[st] March 2021. The period from April 2020 saw a drastic reduction in our activities because of the Covid-19 pandemic. We are currently (Sept. 2021) seeing a slow return to “normality”.
Main Achievements During the Year.
A) Library Service.
Since the first national lockdown the library layout has prioritised safety of staff and customers, when admission was possible, i.e a one-way system, screens, quarantining books, masks etc. For large parts of this period only a Click & Collect system could operate, and even that had to be closed at times. From 12/4/21 limited browsing and computer use have resumed; booked sessions for individual families started very successfully. A more normal provision is slowly being restored but a return to opening for 26 hours p.w. is some way off; at present we open for 12 hours p.w. As a stark indicator of the impact of the pandemic on library operation throughout the 2020-2021 year, book issues for our "yellow sticker" stock were just 1,938 compared to 11,110 for the previous year.
Disruption was particularly frustrating in respect of our sub-branch library in the Lowedges Community Centre, which had started very well on 12[th] February 2020 only to close again as the pandemic hit five weeks later. Re-opening there was not possible but the opportunity was taken in March 2021 to enter into a Partnership Agreement with the Terminus Initiative to move the library into the better located Meeting Place (formerly the “Terminus Café”). After our volunteers helped with redecoration, we opened on 19/5/21 for two days a week; again we had an encouraging start with 27 new library registrations by early July. Funding is being sought from “Reaching Communities” to support the project for a further 3 years.
There was no Summer Reading Challenge for children in 2020 but Clive Opie led our involvement in the local Sheffield scheme this summer. A total of 114 children (75 girls, 35 boys) registered and 45% completed the challenge. These are well down on the 2019 figures but obviously a big improvement from 2020. Encouragingly, the Lowedges library registered 15 children with a 67% completion rate.
All our provision of library services is led by Ann Hartley, who works tirelessly with session leaders, library assistants and volunteers handling book donations. Some have been added to our shelves and Ann has continued to buy new books; for this we are grateful for a £2,000 book grant from Sheffield City Council and for gifts in memory of volunteers, John Jeffcock and Patrick Coghlan. We are still continuing to sell the books we cannot add to the library catalogue via the library bookshop and online via World of Books. All the other books which are not fit for use go to a company called Revival books, who try to find a second life for as many books as possible; they also work with a recycling partner to recycle any books they cannot use and these books are pulped for ongoing use. All of these outlets bring us in a steady income.
B) Community Outreach & New Activities.
Our strategic objective is to grow outreach into our community and new activities. These would be to fulfil our mission “to work with local residents, groups and organisations to promote other educational, cultural, recreational and social activities that respond to their needs and contribute to community cohesion and development”.
Activities have been limited to outdoors or on-line in the last year. Planned events, such as another children’s Music Day and a Wizard of Oz day have been postponed.
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Whilst it has not been possible to continue with Chatterbooks, Story Time and Fun Time sessions in the library, some story walks have been set up in Greenhill and Lowedges – pages of children’s books on boards on a number of nearby streets. Booked story-telling sessions on the library lawn have been very popular.
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Some monthly evening talks have been given on Zoom, with volunteers from the other Associate Libraries also invited.
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A play-reading group continued on-line for part of the year; it is hoped to resume, when meetings in the library are possible.
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Open Gardens events in Sept. 2020 and July 2021 have been very successful; we are very grateful to all opening their gardens and to the visitors, whose contributions were our main fundraising this year.
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Scarecrow Competitions in August 2020 and 2021 also gave good cheer at an otherwise sombre time.
We continue to post on Facebook, our page is followed by over 1100 people. Due to the severely restricted events program our usual tri-annual printed newsletter has not been published, although shorter newsletters were distributed to around 4,000 people in August 2020 and September 2021. The monthly e-newsletter continues to go out to a slowly growing number of people, currently just over 300.
To show our determination to resume community outreach, we bought a new PA system for story-telling and other events, acquired a card-reader for debit card bookings and have set up an on-line booking system. The trustees have also
designated £20,000 of our reserves as an Events Fund to subsidise events through which to re-engage the community.
C) Organisation & People.
Our strategic objective is to maintain a workforce of volunteers with the skills, capacity and motivation to operate the library to the same standard as those operated professionally, and to provide a high-quality offering of community events.
At present we have 166 members , of whom 135 are registered as volunteers, 1 is an employee, Lucy Booth, and 30 are Friends contributing at least £20 p.a. In practice only Lucy and around 50 volunteers, including the trustees, are active. Loss of volunteers, particularly session leaders (either due to concerns over covid risks or simply due to “moving on”) continues to be a challenge, as does the retraining of those who have returned after a long absence. It is not yet known how many will ultimately return to volunteering for us.
Trustees
Chris Brown: Chair Laurence Coates: Secretary; also Acting Treasurer from March 2021 Mick Black: Volunteer Coordinator Ann Hartley: Operations Manager Richard Brown, Wendy Crookes, Janet Crowther. Kirsty and Peter Atkin (both from Oct. 2020). Ex-Trustees: David Wildgoose (Treasurer to Oct. 2020) David Billington (Treasurer from Oct. 2020 to March 2021).
Trustees are elected, usually for a period of 3 years, by the membership of the Friends of Greenhill Library. They meet monthly and review FROGL’s policies and procedures on a regular basis. We are highly indebted to David Wildgoose for his work as Treasurer from 2014. It was very sad that ill health led to David Billington’s early resignation.
Volunteers can access the minutes, policies and procedures on the Three Rings website. Members and library users may also consult them in the library on request.
D) Finance for the year ending 31/3/2021.
Our strategic objective is to maintain financial sustainability with multiple diverse funding streams.
This objective is being achieved; details are in our Plan, which was recently updated, and in the annual accounts. Receipts in 2020-21 were £104,361 (2019-20 £71,767) and Payments £30,854 (2019-20 £49,269) giving a surplus on the year of £73,507 (2019-20 £22,498). We are grateful to Sheffield City Council for their annual grant as well as for the support of their libraries staff. Since the first lockdown fundraising has been mainly limited to book sales on the grass, sales of some donated books and proceeds from the Open Gardens event. The total raised was £2,410 compared to
£27,452 the previous year. However, whilst there have been new costs for equipment and sanitiser to reduce infection risks, no Council tax was payable, running costs were reduced and we received government business support grants of £39,143 through Sheffield City Council.
Reserves Policy. On 31/3/21 we carried forward funds of £203,736, of which most are unrestricted reserves. The trustees’ policy is to keep unrestricted reserves of between 3 to 6 months of normal unrestricted expenditure (i.e. between about £7,000 and £14,000) but also to designate funds for significant matters. The fund for major repairs is now £21,600. £50,000 has been designated for our Building Development plans (see E below). £20,000 has been designated to fund community events over the years. During the year some reserves were invested in interestbearing accounts with the Charity Bank and the Hampshire Trust Bank.
E) Building.
Our strategic objective is to have a fit for purpose and developing building.
We continue to be indebted to Rob Goodrum, buildings manager, and his team of handypersons and to Linda Stevenson and team of cleaners for their constant attention to maintenance, painting, cleaning and health and safety in the library during this most difficult of years. Graffiti was a problem but has recently mysteriously disappeared!
We continue to move forward slowly with our plans for building development and our architects, Burnell Briercliffe, helped us gain Planning Permission and Building Regulations approval last year for improvements to toilet and kitchen facilities, a new community room, lettable offices, an extended area for very young children and a storage room. The ancient gas burner is to be replaced by air-source heat pumps; this work is entirely funded by an award from Viridor and has now started after a long delay in obtaining Landlord’s consent. All the changes are important to create a financially sustainable community resource. Fundraising for the remaining developments is very much a work in progress.
Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees
Chris Brown (Chair of Trustees) Date: Sept. 2021
Friends of Greenhill Library, Charity No 1158656
Receipts and Payments Accounts for the Year Ending 31st March 2021
(All figures to the nearest £)
| Notes | General | Designated | Total | Total | Total | Previous | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Unrestricted | Unrestricted | Unrestricted | Restricted | All | Year | |||
| Fund | Funds | Funds | Funds | Funds | |||||
| Receipts | |||||||||
| Grants | 2 | 39,143 | 39,143 | 54,497 | 93,640 | 35,839 | |||
| Donations/gift aid | 4,506 | 4,506 | 2,020 | 6,526 | 6,181 | ||||
| Fundraising | 3 | 2,410 | 2,410 | 0 | 2,410 | 27,452 | |||
| Other Receipts | 1,785 | 1,785 | 0 | 1,785 | 2,295 | ||||
| Total receipts | 47,844 | 0 | 47,844 | 56,517 | 104,361 | 71,767 | |||
| Payments | 4 | ||||||||
| Staff costs | 50 | 50 | 9,275 | 9,325 | 5,746 | ||||
| Building costs | 239 | 239 | 8,581 | 8,820 | 15,176 | ||||
| Utilities | 0 | 0 | 3,886 | 3,886 | 4,769 | ||||
| Marketing (Shared Grant) | 192 | 192 | 4,439 | ||||||
| Licensing & Compliance | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2,892 | |||||
| Council tax | 0 | 485 | 485 | 1,971 | |||||
| Insurance | 0 | 1,796 | 1,796 | 1,748 | |||||
| Equipment costs | 10 | 10 | 2,037 | 2,047 | 1,352 | ||||
| Printing/office/telephone | 64 | 64 | 1,254 | 1,318 | 3,795 | ||||
| Library Service costs | 684 | 684 | 2,063 | 2,747 | 966 | ||||
| Fundraising Expenses | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3,385 | ||||
| Other costs | 225 | 225 | 13 | 238 | 3,030 | ||||
| All payments | 1,273 | 0 | 1,273 | 29,581 | 30,854 | 49,269 | |||
| Surplus/(Deficit) | 46,571 | 0 | 46,571 | 26,936 | 73,507 | 22,498 | |||
| Transfers between Funds | 5 | -73,300 | 73,300 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Funds last year end | 106,697 | 18,300 | 124,997 | 5,232 | 130,229 | 107,731 | |||
| Funds this year end | 6 | 79,968 | 91,600 | 171,568 | 32,168 | 203,736 | 130,229 |
These accounts, including the notes, were approved by the trustees on 11th August 2021. Signed for the trustees
L N Coates C. R. Brown L. N. Coates Chair of Trustees Secretary of Trustees
Friends of Greenhill Library, Charity No 1158656
Receipts and Payments Accounts for the Year Ending 31st March 2021
(All figures to the nearest £)
Notes to the Accounts
1. These accounts are in a format different from previous years because of the use of new software and the need for more transparency about restricted and designated funds. They are considered to meet Charity Commission requirements for Receipts and Payments accounts. The trustees comments on the accounts and all administrative details are contained in their annual report for 2020-21.
2. Grants.
The Unrestricted grants consist of 4 amounts paid from central government funds as business support grants . They recognised the limitations on charity fundraising during lockdowns.
Restricted Grants and Donations
| Restricted Grants and Donations | ||
|---|---|---|
| Funder | Purpose of grant or donations | Amount Notes |
| Sheffield City Council | Associate Libraries Grant | 17,069 Annual Grant |
| Sheffield City Council | Book Grant | 2,000 A one-off award. |
| Sheffield City Council | Capital Grant | 10,000 For use in developing the library buildings. |
| Sheffield City Council | Ward Pot for library equipment | 591 For the Children's Library |
| National Lottery | Buildings Development. | 9,556 An Awards for All grant. |
| National Lottery | Community Outreach | 14,041 Part of a 2-year grant to establish a sub-library on Lowedges. |
| S. Yorks. Community Foundation | To provide a music day for children. | 1,240 A musical story event with instruments to try out. |
| Bequest | To provide a bookcase and books. | 850 In memory of John Jeffcock, a library volunteer. |
| Various donors. | To provide a memorial bench and books. | 1,170 In memory of Patrick Coghlan, first chair of the library trustees. |
| Total | 56,517 | |
| 3. Fundraising. | ||
| Book Sales | 1,148 | |
| Photocopies & printing | 19 | |
| Coffee Mornings | 20 | |
| Knit & Natter | 10 | |
| Open Gardens | 1,213 | |
| Total | 2,410 |
Friends of Greenhill Library, Charity No 1158656
Receipts and Payments Accounts for the Year Ending 31st March 2021
(All figures to the nearest £)
Notes to the Accounts
4. Details of Payments from the SCC Associate Libraries Grant.
| 4. Details of Payments from the SCC Associate Libraries Grant. | |
|---|---|
| Repair & Maintenance | 1,813 |
| Security-alarms & keyholder costs | 522 |
| Cleaning & sanitation | 990 |
| Total building costs | 3,325 |
| Electricity | 2,497 |
| Gas | 1,389 |
| Total utilities | 3,886 |
| Council:Tax | 485 |
| Insurance | 1,796 |
| Equipment purchase and repair | 931 |
| Printing & photocopying costs | 208 |
| Stationery & Consumables | 133 |
| Internet | 216 |
| Telephone | 459 |
| Total Printing/office/telephone | 1,016 |
| Books | 579 |
| IT Support | 300 |
| Total Library Service costs | 879 |
| All payments | 12,319 |
| Carry-forward | 4,750 |
5. Designated Funds.
For a number of years the trustees have budgeted to transfer at least £3,000 into a fund designated to meet major repairs, as reported in their annual reports. This year £3,300 was transferred, taking the fund to £21,600. The trustees decided to transfer a further £70,000 unrestricted funds into designated funds as at 31/3/21. £50,000 has been put into a Building Developments Designated Fund, in line with earlier decisions to set aside at least £45,000 for that purpose. £20,000 has now been put in an Events Designated Fund, using some of the business support grants. The trustees have always run some events for community benefit that have not been fundraising. It is recognised that much needs to be done to re-engage with the community in Greenhill and Lowedges to restore confidence in coming to the libraries. Whilst the government grants were primarily to cover a huge loss of fundraising, they provide the opportunity to have this new fund.
6. Distribution of Funds at year end.
| r end. | |
|---|---|
| Petty cash and cash floats | 129 |
| Virgin Money Current Account | 69,835 |
| Unity Trust Bank Current Account | 27,435 |
| Charity Bank Easy Access Account | 55,898 |
| Hampshire Trust Bank 1-Year Accounts | 50,439 |
| Total | 203,736 |
Friends of Greenhill Library, Charity No 1158656
Receipts and Payments Accounts for the Year Ending 31st March 2021
(All figures to the nearest £)
Movement of Funds
| Movement of Funds | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fund | Fund balances | Incoming | Outgoing | Transfers | Fund balances |
|||
| brought forward |
Resources | Resources | Carried forward |
|||||
| General - General Fund | 106,697 | 47,844 | 1,273 | -73,300 | 79,968 | |||
| Build - Building Development Fund | - | - | - | 50,000 | 50,000 | |||
| Events - Events To Re-Engage The Community. | - | - | - | 20,000 | 20,000 | |||
| Repair - Repair Fund | 18,300 | - | - | 3,300 | 21,600 | |||
| Total Unrestricted Funds | 124,997 | 47,844 | 1,273 | 0 | 171,568 | |||
| A4A - National Lottery Awards For All | - | 9,556 | 5,256 | - | 4,300 | |||
| LOW - Lowedges Outreach | 4,032 | 14,041 | 9,513 | - | 8,561 | |||
| Mark - SCC Marketing Fund For All Associate Libraries | 500 | - | 192 | - | 308 | |||
| John Jeffcock Bequest | 850 | 850 | 0 | |||||
| Patrick Coghlan Memorial donations | - | 1,170 | 533 | - | 637 | |||
| SCC20 - Sheffield City Council Associate Libraries Grant | - | 17,069 | 12,319 | - | 4,750 | |||
| SCCBook - SCC Book Grant | - | 2,000 | - | - | 2,000 | |||
| SCCCap - SCC Capital Grant | - | 10,000 | - | - | 10,000 | |||
| SCCWard - SCC Ward Pot Equipment | - | 591 | 403 | - | 188 | |||
| SYMus - S. Yorks Community Foundation Grant | - | 1,240 | - | - | 1,240 | |||
| WardLow - SCC Ward Pot Lowedges Books | 700 | - | 516 | - | 184 | |||
| Total Restricted Funds | 5,232 | 56,517 | 29,581 | 0 | 32,168 | |||
| All Funds | 130,229 | 104,361 | 30,854 | 0 | 203,736 |
CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES Independent examiner's report on the accounts Soctlon A Independent Examiner's Report Report to the truste members of Friends of Greenh1 Library On accounts forthe year ended 3111 March 2021 Chartty no (If any) 1158656 Set out on pages I report lo the trustees on my examinath)n of the accounts of the above charity {Ihe Tnjst) for tt)e year end&1 Responslbllitlos and As the charity trustees of the Trust, you are responsibfe for the preparallon basis of report of the accounts in 8ccordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 fthe Acn. I report in respect of my eXInatiOn of the Tru8Ys ac(Dunts carrfed out under sectron 145 of the 2011 Act and in carying out my examination. I have followed the applicable Directions given by the Charrty Commission under sectiC 145{5){b) of the Act. I have cornpleted my examination. I confimi that no malerSal matters have come to my attention In connection with the examination which 9iv&s me cause lo beliewp that In, any material respect". accounting rerdS Vre not kept in accordance with 88ctfon 130 of the Act or the accounts do not accoftl wlth Ihe accounting records Independent examlner's 8tstsment I have no concems have me across no other matters in connection with the examinati lo which attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reathed. . Please delete the wonls in thé bftckets rfthey do not appty. SlgTred: 13107r21 Name: David Ludlam Relevant professlonal qualSfication(s) or b(yJy (If any): CIPFA (Retlred) Address: 66 Laverdene Avenue Sheffield S174HF IER October 2018