Company registration number: 8951503 Charity registration number: 1159092
LIFE LEISURE TRUST T/A ANEURIN LEISURE (A company limited by guarantee and not having any share capital)
REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES, STRATEGIC REPORT AND CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
Azets Audit Services
Chartered Accountants & Statutory Auditors Ty Derw Lime Tree Court Cardiff Gate Business Park Cardiff CF23 8AB
LIFE LEISURE TRUST T/A ANEURIN LEISURE
Contents
| Report of the Trustees incorporating the Strategic Report | 1 - 68 |
|---|---|
| Report of the Independent Auditors | 69 - 72 |
| Statement of Financial Activities | 73 - 74 |
| Balance Sheet | 75 - 76 |
| Consolidated Cash Flow Statement | 77 |
| Notes to Financial Statements | 78 - 108 |
LIFE LEISURE TRUST T/A ANEURIN LEISURE REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
Foreword from the Chair of the Board of Trustees
It is a great pleasure to introduce the annual review in the tenth year operating as Aneurin Leisure. The Trust has continued to deliver services and programs across Blaenau Gwent to a high standard whilst achieving our mission of ‘Improving Community Life’.
This has been another excellent year of working closely with partners such as Tai Calon with our Community Kit Room, Aneurin Bevan University Health Board with several funded initiatives and Cardiff Capital Region on the design phase of a potentially exciting investment plan at Parc Bryn Bach.
During a tough and challenging financial climate due to the unprecedented rise in energy costs, Aneurin Leisure (Trust) has delivered service improvements and achieved targets agreed in partnership with Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council (BGCBC) which have been achieved through utilising Trust reserves to maintain all services.
Key investments have been limited again through this financial year with funding streams being the ideal opportunity to improve the services for our residents. The Trust is pleased to share successful investments such as:
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Air handling motor replacements in:
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a. Abertillery Sports Centre
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b. Ebbw Vale Sports Centre
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c. Tredegar Sports Centre
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New Spin bikes in Ebbw Vale Sports Centre
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Refurbishment of Parc Bryn Bach BMX track
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Installation of a new play area in Bedwellty House & Park
There has been a successful relocation of the Library and Adult Education space in Abertillery with a move to Trinity Chapel completed in September 2024.
Weddings and functions continue to be popular in Bedwellty House with growth this year coming from music events in the carriage house garden at weekends which have enabled the hospitality arm to grow its business again.
Ebbw Vale Sports Centre continues to run large scale sporting events which increases footfall and secondary spend within the centres whilst Parc Bryn Bach has seen a strong first year delivering residential courses to schools with repeat bookings being achieved.
The National Exercise Referral Scheme (NERS) is an established partner on the Neighbourhood Care Network (NCN). The cluster design promotes joint working across practices and the integration of primary care services with key partners such as the Local Health Board, BGCBC and Third Sector. Clusters also have a key role in supporting local health needs assessments, allocating appropriate resources and forecasting the potential future demand on primary care. There have been multiple collaborative projects that have been established in these meetings including Fibromyalgia and Dementia working groups, with the NERS team delivering bespoke classes to contribute to the respective needs.
The successes achieved across the Trust are in no small part due to the commitment of our employees. Once again, the staff have been our greatest resource, working extremely hard to deliver high quality services to our customers in our facilities and the communities of Blaenau Gwent. I would like to thank the entire team and all our partners for their contribution to the delivery of improved services across the area.
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Finally, I would like to thank everyone who has contributed to the continued success of Aneurin Leisure during the year: our Trustees, staff, volunteers, funders and partners and in particular, Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council. Above all, I would like to thank the local community whose interests we serve, for their support and engagement over the past year.
Lyn Evans Chair Board of Trustees
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LIFE LEISURE TRUST T/A ANEURIN LEISURE REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
The Trustees are pleased to present their annual directors’ report which incorporates the strategic report, together with the financial statements of the charity for the year ending 31 March 2024, which are also prepared to meet the requirements for a directors’ report and accounts for Companies Act purposes.
The financial statements comply with the Charities Act 2011, the Companies Act 2006, the Memorandum and Articles of Association, and Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (as amended for accounting periods commencing 1 January 2016).
OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES
The objects of the charity, as set out in its Memorandum and Articles of Association, are:
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to provide or assist in the provision of both indoor and outdoor facilities in the interests of social welfare for recreation or other leisure time occupation of individuals who have need of such by reason of their youth, age, infirmity or disability, financial hardship or social circumstances with the object of improving their conditions of life;
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to promote community participation in healthy recreational activities;
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to provide or assist in the provision of community facilities to be available to all sections of the community without distinction, including use for meetings, lectures and classes and/or other forms of recreation and leisure time occupation with the object of improving the conditions of life for all those who use the facilities;
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to advance the education of the public in the arts through the provision of a theatre/ arts development;
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to advance education in the arts by the establishment and maintenance of an art gallery and/or museum;
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to advance the education of the public through the provision of a library;
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to provide, maintain and equip parks with the object of advancing public education, with particular regard to horticulture, arboriculture, wild plants and wildlife;
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to preserve buildings of historic or architectural importance;
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to develop the capacity and skills of members of the socially and economically disadvantaged community in such a way that they are better able to identify, and help meet, their needs and participate more fully in society; and,
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to pursue such other charitable purposes analogous to any of the above as the Trustees in their absolute discretion shall determine (together the “Objects”).
To carry out any other charitable activity subject to the prior written consent of the Charity Commission for England and Wales.
Public benefit
The Trustees confirm that they have complied with the duty in Section 17(5) of the Charities Act 2011 to have due regard to the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit. The Trust considers how planned activities support its vision of improving community life through Leisure, Learning and Culture which benefits the local population served by the charity. The Trust aims to deliver social outcomes that improve health and wellbeing whilst encouraging staff to strive to improve the quality of service delivery in a commercially sustainable way.
Some of the key activities undertaken in relation to the objects of the charity and to further the charities’ purpose for the public benefit are outlined on pages 6 – 68.
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STRATEGIC REPORT
ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE
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These accounts represent trading for Aneurin Leisure for the period 1 April 2022 – 31 March 2023.
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Aneurin Leisure has maintained a strong relationship with Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council.
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The Library Service continued to achieve all 12 of the core entitlements of the Welsh Public Library Standards for 2023/24.
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The funding for the relocation of Abertillery Library to Trinity Chapel has been secured via the local authority. Contractors have been appointed with planned opening date for September 2024.
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The Library Service recruited to new additional members of staff (Outreach) in October 2023 from SPF funding. These posts are secured until March 2025. Both posts have had an instrumental effect on all Library Service indicators.
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All areas of library borrowing have increased over the year. Adult books by 13%, Children's by 45%, audio-visual by 4% and electronic downloads by 28%. Active library membership has increased by 25%
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Additionally, SPF funds have been acquired to retain a NERS Facilitator. This has enabled the NERS team to develop new initiatives through weight management provisions. These initiatives aim to promote healthier lifestyles and provide comprehensive support for individuals seeking to manage their weight effectively. The retention of the NERS Facilitator has been crucial in expanding the programmes reach and enhancing its impact on community health and wellbeing.
Who used and benefited from our services?
The Charitable Trust provides leisure, learning and cultural activities to the residents of Blaenau Gwent. Whilst some sections of the community are affluent, many are not and some 21 per cent of areas fall in the 10% most deprived areas in Wales and overall, the majority of its areas are more deprived than the Wales average.
The Charitable Trust is responsible for the operation, management and development of the following:
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Three Sports Centres (including Sports Development and NERS Facilitators)
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Four Learning Action Centres
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Six Libraries and two home delivery vans
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Bedwellty House & Park
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Parc Bryn Bach
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Getting Young People and Communities Active
Sports Development
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Aneurin Leisure’s Sports Development team deliver a wide range of sport, physical activity, community engagement and swimming opportunities across Blaenau Gwent, which all contribute to the ‘Vision for Sport in Wales’. The vision is for everyone to have lifelong enjoyment of sport.
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The Sports Development team continue to deliver inspirational, engaging, high quality sport and physical activity programmes, projects and interventions, particularly for children, young people and their families which are insight led and aligned to Sport Wales’ six levels of strategic intent:
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TO BE PERSON CENTRED
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TO GIVE EVERY YOUNG PERSON A GREAT START
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TO ENSURE EVERYONE HAS THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE ACTIVE THROUGH SPORT
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TO BRING PEOPLE TOGETHER FOR THE LONG-TERM
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TO SHOWCASE THE BENEFITS OF SPORT
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TO BE A HIGHLY VALUED ORGANISATION
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An initiative that continues to profoundly impact Blaenau Gwent is the Community Kit Room. The Community Kit Room (CKR), situated within Abertillery Sports Centre, is a free initiative that provides sports clothing and footwear for people aged 3 – adults. Since the launch of the Community Kit Room (CKR) in 2023, the initiative has been a resounding success. From football boots to shorts, swimming costumes and gymnastic leotards, the CKR, operated by the Trust Sports Development team, has proudly supplied 331 items of sportswear to 140 individuals within a 12-month period. Members of the public can enquire about available sportswear, with the potential to view and select items. Donations are received in large quantities on a weekly basis; creating a sustainable and environmentally friendly platform for sportswear within Blaenau Gwent. The CKR has been identified as best practice, with local authorities across Wales replicating the initiative. The positive impact of the CKR has been recognised nationally by StreetGames as ‘an organisation that demonstrates exceptional dedication to supporting and empowering communities.’ In 2023, the CKR was named South Wales regional winner of the StreetGames Mental Health & Wellbeing Award for its profound impact.
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Equally, Sports Development’s historic Sports Library initiative continues to successfully operate in all four of Blaenau Gwent’s full-time libraries. Additional funding, and National Governing Body (NGB) donations has increased the range of sporting equipment available to library customers. All items continue to be loaned using the Library Management System, which requires customers to join the library in the first instance, but then gives access to all available items for a 3-week period. A total of 306 items of equipment were reportedly loaned out during the 2023/24 period.
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Drawing on the tremendous partnership established between Sports Development and Libraries, interactive storytelling, combining reading and physical activity, has been established in all six libraries in Blaenau Gwent. Children aged 3 – 8 are being encouraged to ‘jump into a book and make the words wiggle off the page’. The libraries have been incredibly receptive to transforming their library settings into makeshift playgrounds to encourage fun and movement. More than 500 children have engaged in the provision since its establishment. The concept originated from the Sports Development team identifying the need for more ‘early years’ provision to be prevalent within Blaenau Gwent communities. ‘Wiggly Words’ has been identified as best practice, with local authorities across the Gwent region replicating similar provision.
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Collaborative working continues to remain at the forefront of all aspects of Sports Development’s programmes. This approach has created a gateway to local ‘hard to engage’ communities and has provided a platform for young people living in those areas. The Sports Development team has forged invaluable links with Youth Services, community groups and other local agencies to encourage local children and young people to become more physically active in safe and fun environments. During 2023/24, this approach has been extended to community food development, giving children and young people the opportunity to take part in fun physical activity and enjoy nutritious, healthy meals.
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The importance of fuelling children and young people to allow them to be more physically active comes into fruition particularly during the school holiday periods. For too many young people, school holidays can be a time of hardship, hunger and isolation, as families in underserved communities struggle to fund the added food and childcare costs that the holidays bring. Throughout a proportion of the 2023/24 school holiday periods, the Sports Development team partnered with the Food Resilience team of Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council to devise a comprehensive plan to provide children and young people residing in isolated areas of Blaenau Gwent with healthy meals, funded playscheme spaces, and interactive cooking workshops (including parental access to cooking appliances, recipe books and ingredient packs for home cooking). The project has served as a lifeline for many families and has so far engaged with a total of 431 children across 25 sessions, including partnership working with 5 local community groups. The Sports Development team continues to extensively evaluate trends, latent demand and rates of participation to help shape the landscape of all their programmes. There has been a particular focus on sport specific and mass engagement opportunities during the 2023/24 period based on ‘latent demand’ from educational settings. Inclusive programmes have been strategically placed and embedded into curricular and extra-curricular time across pre and primary school settings, secondary school settings and in Blaenau Gwent’s special school. From traditional team sports (football, rugby, netball) to non-traditional sports (dance, skateboarding, martial arts), an overwhelming number of pupils from across Blaenau Gwent schools have positively experienced an array of sporting opportunities throughout the 2023/24 academic year, with the focus being on fun and engagement.
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Sports Development’s ability to deliver, adapt and evolve to the ever-changing landscape of sport and physical activity is in owing to the team’s incredible workforce and its positive can-do culture. Leadership has become embedded in schools, with the foundations being set from as early as Year 5, with the delivery of the Playmaker Award. Young Leader Awards and the Youth Sport Trust Young Ambassador scheme also remain at the forefront of the leadership pathway within secondary schools and contributes towards building capacity and capability of Sports Development’s wider workforce.
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Aquatics
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In the period 2023/24, we have observed the participation of 2,716 children from Years 3 to 6 in school swimming activities. This is the highest number of swimmers we have had for the Primary schools since we first started recording the number for Welsh Government. We are also seeing an increase in the pass rate 53%, which is a significant increase compared to the 2022/23 figures. This is due to all schools returning to swimming lessons since the Covid-19 restrictions being lifted meaning they have been able to have a full academic year of swimming lessons.
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Total number of Primary School Pupils Swimming: 2,716
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Number of Girls Swimming: 1,296
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Numbers of Boys Swimming: 1,420
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Total number of Year 6 Swimming: 687
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Total number of Year 6 Pupils Achieving KS 2: 364, 53%
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Number of Year 6 Girls Swimming: 339
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Number of Year 6 Boys Swimming: 348
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Number of Year 6 Girls Achieving KS 2: 185, 55%
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Number of Year 6 Boys Achieving KS 2: 179, 51%
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Number of Year 6 Achieving KS 2, Abertillery: 120, 46%
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Number of Year 6 Achieving KS 2, Ebbw Vale: 154, 55%
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Number of Year 6 Achieving KS 2, Tredegar: 90, 60%
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Aneurin Leisure Swim School provisions are currently 1,894 out of a possible 2,011 (maximum occupancy) children taking part in these lessons. This is 94% occupancy of the Swim School. The Swim School has also increased from 5 days a week between the 3 Sports Centres to 7 days a week;
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Ebbw Vale Sports Centre – 700/767 – Occupancy 91%
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Abertillery Sports Centre – 589/596 – Occupancy 98%
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Tredegar Sports Centre – 605/648 – Occupancy 93%
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Overall Occupancy – 94%
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Non-swimmers in Key Stage 2 (KS2) are now being supported through the Sports Development AYP swimming programme. Those who do not meet the swimming criteria at KS2 are offered swimming classes in Year 7. 31 non-swimmers attended the lessons. 26 (84%) of these swimmers have now move from the Foundation stage (shallow end of the pool) to the Target stage (deep end) and have become competent and confident swimmers.
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Aneurin Leisure is working closely with swimming clubs to enhance the transition from swimming lessons to the clubs. We have introduced a Tidal lesson’s which has been put together by the Aquatic team and Swimming Teacher to make the transition from lessons to Swimming Club or Lifesaving Club easier for the swimmers.
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The swim data collection process has been expanded to include the following:
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Piranha Swimming Club has an around 93 swimmers at their club.
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Tri Club has 30 swimmers at their club
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Tredegar Torpedoes Swimming Club has 58 swimmers at their club and 22 at their adult technique section of the club.
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Adult and Community Learning
- The aim of Adult Community Learning (ACL) is to offer lifelong learning opportunities for those who wish to improve their essential skills and enhance their employment opportunities. Aneurin Leisure Adult Community Learning are part of the Gwent ACL Partnership with Caerphilly CBC, Torfaen CBB, Monmouthshire CC and Newport City Council. The Partnership is overseen by Coleg Gwent and offers a range of courses and clubs tailored to meet the diverse needs of its communities, including essential skills, independent living skills, English for speakers of other languages (ESOL), ICT, employability and leisure and wellbeing courses. The Partnership was inspected by Estyn - His Majesty’s Education Inspectorate in Wales in November 2023.
The Greater Gwent Adult Learning Partnership, which is led by Coleg Gwent. Has received a glowing commendation following a review conducted by Estyn, Wales' education inspectorate. The report highlights the transformative impact of the partnership's work on learners and communities alike.
During the inspection process, Estyn inspectors evaluate every aspect of the partnership's operations, as well as meeting with key stakeholders including the chair of the partnership, senior leaders, tutors and, most importantly, the learners. By visiting sessions, observing interactions, and reviewing documentation, the inspectors gained a complete understanding of the partnership's strengths and areas for development.
The key highlights identified within the report were:
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A commitment to empowering learners
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One of the standout features of the partnership highlighted in the report is its commitment to learner empowerment. Learners spoke passionately about the positive impact of the partnership on their lives, saying that they would be “lost without the centre” which has become a lifeline after challenging life circumstances. Learners in digital skills classes are particularly appreciative of learning about cyber security and value learning how to keep themselves safe when browsing, banking, and shopping online.
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An inclusive and supportive learning experience
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Estyn's report praises the tutors’ dedication to creating inclusive learning environments where every individual feels valued and supported. The report stated that “tutors create warm and welcoming environments that learners feel comfortable entering.”
The partnership is noted as flexible and responsive, delivering programmes at times and in venues to suit learner needs, with well-structured and person-centred plans. Tutors work with learners to create meaningful targets such as “ I am doing this to achieve my long-term goal of becoming a midwife ” or “I am supporting my son to achieve GCSE maths .” The partnership's emphasis on mental health and well-being also resonated deeply with inspectors, who noted the tangible benefits experienced by learners. To support learners’ mental health – 17 tutors across the partnership successfully achieved the L2 Accredited Mental Health First Aid course, seven of these progressed to the L3 Award in Supervising/Leading First Aid for Mental Health. These courses enabled staff to have a better understanding of mental health conditions and to signpost learners to appropriate organisation.
One learner said: “I wouldn’t be able to manage without this support ” and “ It’s very important as it’s the one day of the week when we know where we are.”
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A culture of continuous improvement
- Estyn's report also commended the partnership's robust self-evaluation processes and quality improvement planning. By carefully analysing learner assessment data, monitoring progress, and asking for feedback, the partnership ensures that its programmes remain relevant to changing needs. The observation activities also support the partnership in monitoring the quality of delivery, identifying good practices, and developing those staff in need of support. Finally, the commitment to continuous improvement is reflected in the positive outcomes achieved by learners across a wide range of programmes.
As we celebrate the achievements of the Greater Gwent Adult Learning Partnership highlighted in Estyn's report, we acknowledge the hard work and dedication of everyone involved in the partnership.
- Adult Community Learning learners and staff celebrated success at the annual Gwent ACL Partnership award ceremony, which was held at Bryn Meadows on Tuesday, 13[th] June 2024. The event was attended by local dignitaries, Adult Community Learning Staff and participants from all over the Greater Gwent area.
The winners from Aneurin Leisure were:
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Learner of the Year – Anita Van Renswoude- Davies
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Tutor of the Year – Michelle Seabourne
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Group of the Year – Digital Editing Group Ebbw Vale LAC
These awards were presented by Lyn Evans – Chair of Aneurin Leisure Board of Trustees.
Karen Williams was the winner of this year’s Hwyl Award which was first awarded in 2019 in memory of Linda Bailey, a much loved and missed colleague and former Essential Skills Manager from Torfaen. This award is given to someone whose own positive attitude and love of learning shine through, in the same way that Linda’s did. Karen enrolled on an ICDL course in 2020 and has recently been appointed as an Adult Education Tutor and it was her enthusiasm and dedication to adult learning that saw her beat off stiff opposition from the rest of the Partnership. Karen was presented with this coveted award by Linda’s daughters Sophie and Lucie Phillips.
Adult Community Learning were also thrilled to receive the Best Achieving Authority Award for the second time – well done to all our staff and learners!
And last, but not least, Ceri Waters Aneurin Leisure’s Partnership, Funding and Contracts Manager was given a special award in recognition of her commitment and long service to the Gwent ACL Partnership.
• UKSPF Projects - Bridges Plus and Multiply
£1.5 million of funding for the two new projects that began in April 2023, as part of the UK Government’s Shared Prosperity Fund, is due to end in March 2025.
To date, the Bridges Plus employability project has provided intensive keyworker support to 82 economically inactive participants (62 of which consider themselves to be socially excluded) and 100 long term unemployed participants (50 socially excluded). Interventions include providing support to access basic skills (92), support to engage in life skills (100), and support to gain a qualification or complete a course (126). 112 participants have reported reduced barriers to employment and 95 participants have gained relevant qualifications to enhance their CVs.
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The Multiply project has delivered 44 adult numeracy courses in schools and community centres throughout Blaenau Gwent. 214 participants have completed maths courses up to a Level 2.
Both projects are currently working to target.
Case Study 1 (Bridges into Work 2)
Julie came to the project for support in early January 2024. She was looking to set up her own business offering support at home for vulnerable adults. She had already put together a business plan but needed help to access training. Julie successfully completed an Emergency First Aid Level 3 qualification through the project. Bridges Plus also funded an online Safeguarding level 2 course - this was essential for operating a business within the sector.
Julie started her business in February 2024 – Bridges Plus continued support through funding some equipment (such as mops and cleaning caddies) as well as uniforms.
The business is going very well, and Julie has already had to recruit another staff member. A referral has since been made to the “Quickstart” project whereby Help at Home may become an employer for the scheme.
Case Study 2 (Bridges Plus)
In June 2023, Participant B enrolled on the Bridges Plus project for employability support. Originally, he was supported to boost employability and look for local jobs as he is unable to drive. After many sessions, Participant B agreed to volunteer in a local community garden and found that this is something he thoroughly enjoys. The project supplied him with waterproof clothing because of the unpredictable weather and eventually he felt more confident to look for work in this area.
Participant B is severely deaf. Despite having trouble with both ears, he has managed to get by for many years with one hearing aid. However, after his parents passing, he realised just how much he came to rely on his mother for support regarding his hearing – doctor appointments, advice and information, grants, and benefits etc. This has drastically impacted Participant B’s quality of life, and he has not felt confident enough to stay in steady employment. However, as a result of the time he has spent volunteering, he feels much more independent and willing to take on more responsibility.
Working closely with Participant B, his development worker realised how much of a barrier his hearing impairment is. He is not able to communicate effectively with her nor his work coach. His pride prevents him for asking for help and he is embarrassed to ask people to repeat and explain what they are saying.
Eventually, he admitted he had not had a hearing test since 2007, and his hearing aid had not been changed since 2018. His development worker contacted the Aneurin Bevan Audiology department via phone call to ensure Participant B was on the waiting list for an appointment to have his hearing tested as it could be far worse than it was in 2007.
Over the past few months, Participant B has received support from Bridges Plus to access free hearing aid batteries through the hospital as he was unaware this could be arranged and a ride via Blaenau Gwent Car Scheme to take Participant B to Nevill Hall Hospital for a drop-in session with Audiology as his hearing aid has recently broken.
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Realising that transport is another barrier for Participant B, especially because of his hearing, his development worker requested a letter from the Audiology team that states Participant B’s condition and the severity, so he can get a concessionary bus pass. This is yet another barrier he has been able to overcome with the support of Bridges Plus.
In recent weeks, Participant B has had issues with housing. A family member has threatened homelessness. He came to Bridges Plus for help and we discussed filling in a Supporting People form. His development worker made sure he was aware of the type of support that may come from the referral as he is very vulnerable.
It has been a lengthy process but Participant B’s barriers to employment have been reduced. Within the 10 months he has been with Bridges Plus, the support provided has ranged from food bank access, healthcare, physical and emotional wellbeing support, and employability guidance.
Participant B has progressed from being unwilling to accept help and uncomfortable asking for support, to reaching out when he is in times of need.
Case Study 3 (Multiply Project)
The Multiply Make Cooking Count courses focus on improving parents’ numeracy skills so they can encourage their children to learn numeracy at home whilst cooking together. By the end of the course, the parents will be able to:
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give examples of standard and non-standard units of measure for weight, volume, time and temperature
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convert units for measuring weight in the same system
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read, estimate and measure ingredients, volumes of ingredients and fraction quantities of ingredients.
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They will also have a better understanding of cooking requirements given in recipes e.g. estimate total cooking time and set temperature of cooking equipment.
When the course started, the parents at Ebbw Fawr did not know each other but have now set up a social media support group and meet for coffee during the week. They commented that they tried food on the course that they would not have bought before and are now measuring out ingredients when they make the recipes again at home.
Parks & Hospitality
- The Tennis courts offering three courts of free tennis provision was broadly utilised throughout the summer 2023 period. The courts were utilised by a range of ages which helped build and evidence base to successfully apply to the Lawn Tennis Association for funding to upgrade the courts with a full resurface, online booking and gate system bringing the Bedwellty Courts to the same standard as the 2022 refurbishment of Six Bells Tennis Courts. Funding was successfully secured, and a £63,000 refurbishment of the courts has been completed. The tennis courts are a welcome upgrade to the park. Within the first two weeks of opening, four annual memberships were taken out and the courts widely used by Tredegar Comprehensive School.
“Having this amazing facility close to school allows for a more realistic Tennis session. The young people are really enjoying lessons outside of the school on ‘real’ facilities their tennis skills are improving each week“ Jamie Howells, PE Tredegar Comprehensive School.
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Mini Movers has remained a regular in the Bedwellty weekly calendar continuing to attract young parents and their babies to the music and movement session. New parents and carers meet and share their experiences of their babies in a welcoming environment. The session has increased immeasurable value on the mental wellbeing of some of the new parents with some powerful feedback to the session organiser.
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Louby Lou and her school holiday adventures continued throughout the 2023/24 school holiday calendar, taking young people and their families on a range of exciting journeys throughout the park and grounds. The stories unveiled great imaginations of the participants where the ark became home to pirates, unicorns, mermaids and wizards all went on exciting journeys around the grounds unravelling the story.
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During quarter four of the 2023/24 period Shared Prosperity Fund (SPF) was applied for to upgrade the children’s play area at Bedwellty Park to promote a safe and inviting place for families with children to visit and explore. £75,000 funding was awarded to Bedwellty House to develop this area installing new and improving some existing play equipment as well as introducing a floor road network where little learners can learn to ride balance bikes and pedal bikes in a safe and engaging environment. Bikes will be available for hire should families wish. Contracts were awarded to Wicksteed Leisure to undertake the development works.
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The bunkhouse at Parc Bryn Bach was launched in 2023 hosting its very first residential to Willowbrook Primary School, Cardiff. Triangulated planning between Adventure Activity team leaders, catering team leaders and Park management ensured the first residential was delivered with precision to detail. The school group had an incredible experience, which instilled confidence into the team planning and delivering, pride in the product that what was being delivered was of quality, and pride in the business to be able to promote the bunkhouse with secured confidence.
Hi Cath (Parker) and the Parc Bryn Bach team,
Just wanted to say thank you so much for an amazing week. You and the staff made us feel so welcome and went above and beyond to make our stay as comfortable and enjoyable as possible. Nothing was too much trouble. The children and staff had the best week and loved the range of activities you provided for the children. They had opportunities to develop their confidence and independence whilst working on their communication skills and it was great to see them moving out of their comfort zone and take risks in a safe environment. Some of the children hadn’t experienced anything like this before and I know you will have created lifelong memories. Your team’s knowledge and wealth of experience in adventurous activities clearly shone throughout the week and we felt safe with your professional, friendly team of staff. Thank you again and I hope to be in touch in the near future to book for next year.
Diolch yn fawr, Lisa and the Willowbrook Staff
- As well as the first residential the Activities team delivered 26 school round robin activity days to schools, predominantly from within Blaenau Gwent as part of their outdoor learning and learning outside of the classroom as part of the New Curriculum for Wales.
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The availability of activities during the peak season at Parc Bryn Bach has doubled due to developing a greater staffing infrastructure in the activities team and has proven the greatest asset with activities being provided every day during the peak school holidays and every weekend. This has enabled visitors, for the first time ever, to explore and enjoy the great range of activities available, including climbing wall, water sports and caving. This initiative proved popular with visitors and residents staying on site for their families to have plenty of activities to engage in without having to pre book. Parc Bryn Bach has traditionally focussed on developing activities ‘away’ from the site in terms of gorge walking, paragliding and hill walking - the shift to on-site activities has been hugely welcomed but the local community and wider visitors to the park.
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Archery Tag was launched in Summer 2023 offering an additional on-site adventure for young people and families visiting Parc Bryn Bach. It has proved popular as a group activity and a favoured part of the school round robin days as an activity on their carousel.
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The Adventure Activity team at Parc Bryn Bach again attended an Education Show in September 2023 where they had the opportunity to showcase to prospective schools and colleges the opportunities Parc Bryn Bach could offer in terms of curriculum outdoor learning, Duke of Edinburgh expeditions, residentials and school activity day trips. The show was a great success with team building on delivering a first rate inaugural residential for the bunkhouse in June 2023. They secured further residentials prebooked for 2024. During the Autum season of 2023 the team organised a busy activity calendar where 10 residentials for Summer 2024 were confirmed.
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The driving range has seen a significant increase in usage due to the introduction of a contactless payment system and ball release machine. Users no longer have to call to the visitor centre to purchase driving range tokens, they can pay and access the baskets for balls at the range. This has proven a great improvement to the customer experience and use of the area to the point where there is often a queue for using the driving range facility.
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Shared Prosperity Fund (SPF) funding was secured to resurface the BMX track, develop the fence line and put in place a competition standard starting gate. The investment is much welcomed to allow the community to use this facility for free but also for the site to be able to attract competitions in the future. The contracts were awarded during quarter 4 of the 2023/24 financial year with a view to works being completed and the track ready for use by Summer 2024.
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The free and established Park Runs operate from Parc Bryn Bach on a weekly basis with a well-attended run every Saturday morning followed by a growing Junior Park run on a Sunday morning. All runners are welcomed to the Lake View Café following their run for a discounted piece of the infamous Lake View Café Toast with any drink purchased.
Support for National Health Initiatives Aimed at Improving Overall Wellbeing
- Good Boost: Good Boost is an innovative rehabilitation programme designed to support individuals who have been referred by their physiotherapists. It combines water-based and land-based exercises accessible through a user-friendly tablet application, aiming to enhance physical therapy outcomes and improve patients' overall well-being.
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Water-Based Exercises are integral to the Good Boost programme, offering a low-impact environment that reduces stress on the joints while providing resistance to strengthen muscles. These exercises are particularly beneficial for individuals with arthritis, chronic pain, or post-surgery rehabilitation needs. The buoyancy of water aids in reducing pain and swelling, allowing for a greater range of motion and facilitating smoother movements.
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Land-Based Exercises: complementing the aquatic therapy, the programme includes land-based exercises that focus on building strength, flexibility, and balance. These exercises are crucial for functional rehabilitation, helping individuals regain their ability to perform daily activities with ease. The combination of land and water exercises ensures a comprehensive approach to physical therapy, catering to diverse rehabilitation needs.
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Escape Programme Partnership: the Escape Programme has now become a well-established programme in Ebbw Vale Sports Centre. The Escape programme is a 6-week initiative where clients attend twice a week, aimed at clients with server back and hip pain clients can access the sports centre and expediting the referral process from the physiotherapist to the NERS Scheme.
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Referral Increase and Participation: during the period April 2023 to March 2024, a total of 756 referrals were received, marking a significant increase compared to the previous year's figure. Out of these, 423 individuals have started their fitness journey, resulting in a 56% penetration rate. This demonstrates the growing demand and recognition for the NERS Scheme within the community.
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Electronic Referrals: there has been a notable increase in the submission of referrals by General Practitioners (GPs) and Health Professionals through electronic means. This transition to electronic referrals has significantly reduced the time required for contact to be established with clients. Previously, staff members had to collect referrals every two weeks, causing potential delays in reaching out to individuals seeking our services.
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60+ Programme Funding and Activities: In the 2023/24 period, the NERS team secured continued funding through Sport Wales for the 60+ programme. As part of this initiative, we have allocated two months of free membership to 200 participants in the over 60s demographic. This aims to eliminate economic barriers to physical activity and enhance social, physical, and mental wellbeing. The uptake has been remarkable, with 102% of the target reached, as 321 participants have availed themselves of the funding. Additionally, in collaboration with UDOIT Dance and Zumba Gold, we have introduced 2 dance class specifically tailored for the older population. These classes have been well attended, with a weekly average of 10-15 participants.
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Free Swimming Opportunities for Over 60s: Our commitment to promoting active lifestyles among the over 60s extends to providing free swimming opportunities across all our facilities. Free swimming sessions are available on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and during all public swim sessions. Based on data from April to March, we have observed an average daily usage of 38 individuals.
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GP Referral Case Study
Case Study 4 - National Exercise Referral Scheme (NERS) Cardiovascular Health Improvement
Client: Natalie McGriele
Background: Natalie McGriele was referred to the NERS programme to improve mobility and manage her mental health bipolar moods better.
Initial Health Status:
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Struggled to do day to day tasks on a daily basis.
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Manage her mental health (Uncontrollable moods).
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Feeling very lethargic and sleeping most of the time.
Programme Participation:
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Natalie participated in the NERS programme, which included regular supervised exercise sessions and lifestyle guidance.
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The programme focused on improving her mental health through aerobic exercises, strength training, and dietary adjustments.
Results:
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Eating habits: eating more healthier variety types of foods and feel less lethargic.
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Self-help: Started an autism course which has help dealing with anger issues.
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Fitness Progress: she has been attending the gym 2-3 x a week and feel that her mood has improved greatly.
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Lifestyle Change: Natalie has adopted a more active lifestyle, incorporating regular exercise into his daily routine.
Conclusion: Natalies success in the NERS programme demonstrates the programme's effectiveness in improving Mental health, promoting healthy eating, and encouraging a more active and healthier lifestyle.
Library Service Case Study
Case Study 5 - Families & Fur Intergenerational Wellbeing Sessions
A series of ‘Families and Fur’ sessions were delivered at Tredegar Library over the winter of 2023/24. The aim of the sessions was to increase usage of the library on Saturday mornings, raise awareness of library services and to improve intergenerational wellbeing. A series of 6 free sessions were delivered, where families could spend enjoyable time together with animals, in the safe, inclusive library space.
The Library Service partnered with a local organisation ‘Animal Interactive’ to help deliver the sessions. They use rescued animals for educational purposes. Following the interactive session, library staff read a story, promoting library stock and other library services.
Jake aged 10 attended every session with his grandmother. Jake has Autism and rarely shows emotions. During the sessions he came alive and was so animated.
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‘ It was great to see Jake smiling, laughing, and giggling with other children. Jake normally gets overwhelmed in new social settings, but in the library, he has been at ease and calm. He has made new friends, taken a new interest in books and is now a confident library user. - Helen, - Jake’s grandmother
Ella, 8 has also attended every session with her mother. Ella’s confidence has grown since attending the activities. Ella has previously been reluctant to use the library, but since attending the sessions, she has joined another library groups, i.e. Lego Club and has become an avid reader. Ella regularly visits the library after school, to borrow books and to chat to staff about the activities she has attended.
‘The Animal Interactive sessions have changed Ella’s perspective of the library. She had shown little interest in books, before this, but since attending, she now loves reading. Her teacher has commented on how her reading has improved. It has had a very positive impact on her ’ – Kate- Ella’s mother.
Scott is a single father of 3 young children. He has relayed to library staff how grateful he is to have free activities for the family.
‘ Having free events, which is also on our doorstep, has made a big difference to our lives. Being a single parent family, having somewhere to go where the children can be y \ > 7 entertained, somewhere where I can relax, and we can walk to, has been great for us. The children are learning new things and interacting with different children in a lovely environment. Having free tea and coffee from the Warm Spaces also makes the library such a nice, welcoming environment. We are also new to the area, so having something that we can feel part of, has really helped us settle into the community. We have all made new friends’ – Scott
Amanda has been attending the sessions with her three children. All three children are home schooled.
‘ The library activities are so beneficial for the family to mix with other children. They are learning how to be part of an audience, how to interact and share, it is such a lovely social group. Each week we borrow a group loan of books, to support their home schooling, the library is so important to us’ - Amanda
Supporting Essential Skills
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Adult Community Learning is externally funded via the Franchise Agreement with Coleg Gwent and also by the Community Learning Grant, which comes directly from the Welsh Government. To date there are 1,190 (755 Direct Grant, 435 Franchise) across all curriculum areas. Retention Rate is at 97% (97.6% Direct Grant, 96: Franchise) which is above the target of 92%.
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Parc Bryn Bach embarked on its first apprenticeship programme in 2023. One of the Adventure Activities team undertook a learning apprenticeship in Outdoor Adventure Activity. The team member successfully completed the programme to a commendable standard and has secured a 30-hour permanent contract.
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A number of team members have been part of the ILM Training Programme undertaking learning appropriate to their roles and ability. Some are achieving basic skills as part of their learning.
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Tackling Inequalities
Adult Learn to Swim Programme
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Background: Tredegar Sports Centre has launched a new Adult Learn to Swim programme aimed at providing a safe and supportive environment for adults to master the essential life skill of swimming.
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Highlights: The primary goal of this programme is to create a welcoming space where adults who may feel self-conscious about their swimming abilities can learn and improve together. The sessions are designed to enhance participants' feelings of safety in and around water, while also boosting their confidence and self-worth.
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Outcomes: The Adult Learn to Swim programme has had a positive impact on participants, helping them overcome the embarrassment often associated with not being able to swim. Many have reported significant improvements in their swimming skills, confidence levels, and overall sense of achievement.
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Conclusion: This initiative at Tredegar Sports Centre addresses an important need by offering adult learners the opportunity to develop a crucial life skill in a supportive environment. By helping participants build confidence and self-worth, the programme not only enhances their safety but also contributes to their overall wellbeing.
Under 16’s provision
Secondary School - Free Swimming Programme
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Background: Over 40% of pupils transitioning from primary to secondary school lack the ability to swim a length of a pool.
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Highlights: The team is working with Aneurin Leisure Swimming Instructors to offer extra-curricular swimming lessons for pupils in all Blaenau Gwent Secondary schools, across all three sports centres.
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Outcomes: The programme offers expert tuition to help students learn to swim, build water confidence, and enjoy swimming.
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Conclusion: Providing these swimming lessons addresses inequalities in water safety skills among youths, ensuring all children have the opportunity to learn this vital skill regardless of their background.
Community Kit Room - 1 Year Celebration :
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Background: The Community Kit Room celebrated its 1-year anniversary at Abertillery Sports Centre.
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Highlights: The event publicised the success and support provided to communities, with 140 individuals engaged and 331 items of clothing/footwear distributed.
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Outcomes: The Community Kit Room continues to eliminate barriers to sports participation by providing necessary equipment to those in need.
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Conclusion: This initiative ensures all children have access to sports equipment, addressing economic barriers and promoting physical activity.
Bryn Farm Family Activity Day: Background :
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Background: In partnership with Public Health Wales and Cook Stars, the team provided a family cooking workshop programme for families living within the community of Bryn Farm, Brynmawr.
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Highlights: The activity day included cooking workshops, go-karting, exploring the cave, and playing minigolf.
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Outcomes: Families participated in healthy cooking activities, enhancing their cooking skills and promoting family bonding.
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- Conclusion: This initiative supports families in underserved communities, providing opportunities for engagement in healthy activities and improving family wellness.
February Half Term Activities:
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Background: The team delivered a variety of sessions across Blaenau Gwent during the February half term.
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Highlights: 28 sessions were delivered, attended by over 300 individuals, including playschemes and cooking workshops. A sports-specific football camp was introduced at Tredegar Sports Centre.
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Outcomes: The sessions provided children and families with opportunities to engage in physical activities and learn new skills.
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Conclusion: These activities help to address inequalities by offering structured, enjoyable activities during school holidays, ensuring all children have access to quality physical and educational programmes.
Over 60's provision
Free Swim Initiative:
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Background: Aneurin Leisure has introduced free swimming sessions for individuals over 60 to promote physical activity and wellness among older adults.
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Highlights: Each sports centre now offers one day per week where swimming is free of charge for individuals over 60 during public/adult swimming sessions. This initiative aims to encourage older adults to engage in regular physical activity, which is essential for maintaining health and well-being.
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Outcomes: The free swim sessions have seen a significant uptake, with many older adults attending regularly. This initiative has helped reduce social isolation, improve physical fitness, and enhance overall well-being among the elderly population.
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Conclusion: The free over 60's swim sessions address health inequalities by providing accessible and free opportunities for older adults to stay active, socialize and maintain a healthy lifestyle.
Free Aqua Aerobics for Over 60's
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Background: To further support the health and wellness of older adults, Tredegar Sports Centre has introduced free aqua aerobics sessions specifically for individuals over 60.
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Highlights: These sessions are designed to be low impact yet effective in improving cardiovascular health, strength, and flexibility. The buoyancy of the water reduces strain on joints, making it an ideal exercise for older adults.
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Outcomes: The free aqua aerobics sessions have been well-received, with consistent participation from older adults. Participants have reported improvements in mobility, strength, and overall fitness.
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Conclusion: The free aqua aerobics sessions at Tredegar Sports Centre provide an enjoyable and effective way for older adults to stay active, addressing health inequalities by offering accessible exercise options tailored to their needs.
Muscular Skeletal Pathway
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Background: In partnership with local GPs and the physiotherapy department, Aneurin Leisure has developed a pool-based program targeting older adults with mobility issues.
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Highlights: The Muscular Skeletal Pathway program, part of the NERS (National Exercise Referral Scheme), focuses on exercises that help improve mobility, strength, and flexibility. The water-based exercises are gentle on the joints, making them suitable for individuals with musculoskeletal conditions.
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Outcomes: Participants in the Muscular Skeletal Pathway program have shown significant improvements in mobility and pain management. The program has helped many older adults regain independence and improve their quality of life.
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- Conclusion: This program addresses health inequalities by providing specialized, accessible exercise options for older adults with mobility issues, enhancing their physical health and overall wellbeing.
Good Boost Provision
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Background: Aneurin Leisure has introduced Good Boost sessions, utilizing iPads for virtual classes that can be used for pool-based activities, dryside activities, and pre/post-natal classes.
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Highlights: Good Boost is an innovative approach that uses technology to deliver customized exercise programs. The iPads provide virtual classes tailored to the needs of participants, whether in the pool or on dry land. This includes activities for older adults, individuals with mobility issues, and pre/post-natal exercises.
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Outcomes: The Good Boost sessions have expanded the range of accessible exercise options for the community. Participants have benefited from personalized exercise routines that cater to their specific health needs and preferences.
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Conclusion: The introduction of Good Boost sessions addresses health inequalities by leveraging technology to provide accessible, tailored exercise programs. This initiative supports the physical and mental well-being of diverse populations, including older adults and pre/post-natal individuals, promoting a healthier community overall.
This new approach aims to address the inequalities that are high on the local authority's agenda, reflecting the commitment to tackle such issues in the broader community.
Library Service
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To celebrate World Book Day in March 2024, the service worked in partnership with Families First, to provide children with free costumes. The costumes were loaned from local libraries, which worked well, with families joining the library at the same time and borrowing related stock. This scheme was particularly well received by families in need, many parents commenting how it helped them deal with the cost-of-living crisis.
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The Citizen’s Advice Service continues to hold weekly sessions in all libraries. The service provided compliments our wider offer of free, informal support to local residents, particularly for cost of living help. The sessions are popular in all libraries and has helped us maintain footfall figures.
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A new coding project was rolled out across all libraries in Oct 2023. The purpose of this project is to provide an extracurricular, community based, STEM intervention that addresses educational inequality and disparity of opportunity, for children in Blaenau Gwent within our libraries. Working in partnership with Aspire2Be and the Education Dept of Blaenau Gwent Council. All library staff were trained in how to deliver taster sessions to all year 6 pupils across the borough. This scheme is continuing over 24/25 with several inter-generational community coding clubs being established in all libraries. This new, innovative scheme has been an important driver to help us tackle the divide by delivering opportunities for families to learn coding together in libraries
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The Data Sim scheme has continued to grow in popularity and has now been running for two years. Working in partnership with The Good Things Foundation and the National Data Bank, this scheme has helped us to bridge the digital divide in the borough. This project supports our cost-of-living help for the community, offering data to those people in need. It links with another digital inclusion project we deliver, the loaning of free tablets. This enables us to provide a solution to those people who have no access to data
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The Children’s Laureate, Joseph Coelho, visited Tredegar Library in September 2023, as part of his Library Marathon Tour, championing the power and impact of reading.
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The Summer Reading Challenge was promoted at schools, outreach locations and at all libraries. We worked in partnership with the Sports Development team to deliver ‘Wiggly Words’ sessions in all libraries, incorporating exercise with stories.
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Combating loneliness and improving health and wellbeing continued to be a priority for the Library Service over 2023/24. Loneliness is a major public health issue, in which the service has reacted to, in order to support users. The overarching theme across the service is about providing spaces that are welcoming, informal, and shared for community use. This is extremely important to the residents of Blaenau Gwent, as we provided one of the few places where there is expectation not to spend money and is inclusive.
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Various health campaigns have been promoted over the year, for example, Mental Health Awareness Week in May 2024 and Empathy Day in June 2024.
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There has been a particular focus on Dementia Friendly events, with Friendly Fridays and Singalongs for Wellbeing.
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The service is working closely with the local health board and the local public health teams to develop a social prescribing scheme in the area. Working in partnership with a wide range of health professionals and organisations, we are currently facilitating an informal social prescribing scheme, this will be developed with more formal referral links. Two libraries are designed as wellbeing hubs as part of the integrated Wellbeing Network in Blaenau Gwent
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The Reading well collections are regularly promoted and over the year several schools and community organisations have borrowed sets.
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Our Sports Libraries scheme has been extended to all branches with a wider range of equipment available to borrow free, including kettlebells, resistance bands, cricket and badminton sets. These items are loaned free of charge via the LMS, which promotes library membership. We have (© Llyfrgelloedd[Blaenau] Libraries[Gwent] loaned 300 sets of sports equipment over the year. We have also partnered with the Alive and Kicking Ball Network, which ii | eea 7 —~(ela aYoursupport library members will be calmer of theandcommunity quieter has enabled us to further extend our provision of free ball on: (! “a| J > i j j j ‘gi Ebbwee Vale, Tredegarneurodiversityand Abertillery Libraries
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loaning. 2 ay : Saturday 9am -10am
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A new scheme, ‘Quiet Hour’ has been introduced following feed-back from neurodivergent users. This has proved popular with both children and adults . The service has also purchased ear defenders for all libraries to support this initiative.
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Parks and Hospitality
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National Play Day was a large-scale free event at Bedwellty House & Park with a variety of partners and free play opportunities for children and their families to engage in, and to educate that play doesn’t always mean toys, screens or play equipment, it can mean cardboard boxes, mud, wool, water as some options. Families were amazed at the fun they had engaging in basic play. A range of providers attended site offering workshops, fun activities and give aways. It was a great partnership, fully inclusive event which tackled inequality and was drenched in community engagement. Despite initially being postponed due to inclement weather the second date went ahead and the event was attended by 500 children aged 2-10 and 300 children aged 11-14.
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The first delivery of a ‘999’ day was delivered at Parc Bryn Bach. The key 999 services attended the site putting on a range of activities and showcased their services through fun and innovative workshops and engagement to the community. Over 1,000 people attended the event in Summer 2023, it was free and well received by the community. The event organisers were in awe of how well the event operated, it was immediately put into the 2024 calendar.
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Free Brass Band Concerts in partnership with Tredegar Town Council are delivered at Bedwellty for 10 weeks during the May-July Summer season. The community can attend and enjoy the complimentary music in beautiful surroundings. In the event of inclement weather, the concerts are delivered inside.
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Armed Forces Day and Bevan Festival are two mass participation events held at Bedwellty during the Summer season. The events are developed year on year with additional activities for families to engage in for free. The events include music, inflatables, face painting, crafts stalls and activities linked to the Armed Forces and History of Bevan. Both events are well attended with in excess of 1,000 local community members engaging in the events.
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Free weekly ‘Wild Tots’ and Wild Camp’ sessions are delivered by Blaenau Gwent Play Team at Bedwellty Park on a weekly basis. Whatever the weather the Wild Tots and their families are on site engaging in outdoor play, making mud pies, mud slides/swings or having fun in the mud kitchen. While the Wild Campers toast marshmallows around the fire and learn about outdoor safety. The wild tots area is a great asset within the grounds.
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Go Wild Event at Parc Bryn Bach was another partnership event which was well attended with in excess of 3,000 visitors to the park. The event included partners offering workshops on animal care, wildlife habitats, seed boxes, bug boxes and hotels as well as fun and games on the water and participating in partner led activities. A free event which spanned a wealth of visitors from across Blaenau Gwent and neighbouring authorities. Due to a great marketing campaign visitors travelled from Tonypandy, Rhondda, Pontyclun and Chepstow to attend the event. Many had not attended the park before and assured it would be the first of many visits being blown away by the facilities Parc Bryn Bach offers.
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Free Wildlife Wednesdays were delivered at Parc Bryn Bach engaging young people and their families to learning about the natural habitats, embarking on nature walks and craft activities with the nature theme.
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The play area at Parc Bryn Bach offered a daily quiet hour for families with young people who have additional needs so they could access the equipment in a calm and quiet time. This was complimented by families as a positive offer.
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MOY project – in collaboration with Gwent Police Motivating Our Youth, 100 children engaged in the project which operated every Monday and Tuesday, over 4 weeks during the Summer of 2023. The project focussed on outdoor adventure activities which alongside develops team building, self-discipline and communication skills.
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Ysgol Gyfun Tredegar Comprehensive School have worked in partnership with Parc Bryn Bach in securing bookings for three mornings per week from January 2024 onwards in the Wellbeing Meeting Hub to engage learners at risk of being permanently excluded from school in an out of school learning environment. Seven learners who were due to sit GCSE’s in Summer 2024 but who were disengaged in the school setting were offered to attend the hub for their learning. While attendance was initially sporadic the learners eventually fully engaged and undertook essential learning to be able to achieve GCSE qualifications. Parc Bryn Bach worked in partnership with the school to support the provision and with Blaenau Gwent Catering to ensure the free school meal provision was still catered for, for those in attendance.
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Both parks have worked in partnership with BGCBC Young Carers where discounts have been provided for young carers attending the parks and accessing facilities or catering. This has proved a great success and an acknowledged support to the young carers.
Case Study 6 - BGCBC Community Food Development
The importance of fuelling children and young people to allow them to be more physically active comes into fruition particularly during the school holiday periods. For too many young people, school holidays can be a time of hardship, hunger and isolation, as families in underserved communities struggle to fund the added food and childcare costs that the holidays bring.
Throughout a proportion of the 2023/24 school holiday periods, the Aneurin Leisure Sports Development team partnered with the Food Resilience team of Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council to devise a comprehensive plan to provide children and young people residing in isolated areas of Blaenau Gwent with healthy meals, funded playscheme spaces, and interactive cooking workshops (incl. parental access to cooking appliances, recipe books and ingredient packs for home cooking).
The project has served as a lifeline for many families and has so far engaged with a total of 431 children across 25 sessions, including partnership working with 5 local community groups.
Partnerships and Community Engagement
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The Library Service worked in partnership with the local traveller community and Head4Arts on a mixed media art project. The collage that was based on their views and lived experiences of what it means to belong to a Traveller community was exhibited at Brynmawr Library.
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Libraries have further developed the partnership work the Blaenau Gwent Food Partnership by launching a new scheme ‘Hungry Munchkins’. The sessions are aimed at parents and toddlers, promoting health eating, through storytelling and food craft. Linked to this project is the ‘Little Veg Library. Free seeds are available to anyone who borrows a book.
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BGCBC community hub provision, which is located in all libraries has become increasingly important, providing vital support to local residents. Over the year 6,324 people visited the libraries to access the hubs.
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A new, very successful project was launched in the library service in Jan 24 ‘Libraries vs Litter’. Local schools were invited into libraries, for a library induction and story related to a green issue. Following this the class did an actual litter pick in the local area, supervised by teachers and library staff. We worked in partnership with the Local Environmental Quality Officer and Keep Wales Tidy. All libraries are litter picking hubs, so this scheme, further raised awarness to local famillies. Over 150 chilldren have engaged with the scheme, resulting in 100 bags of litter being collected. This scheme has been nominated for a local Eco Award by KeepWalesTidy.
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The number of attendances at library events and activities has significantly increased over 2023/24. The new outreach team have played an instrumental role in delivering new projects and as a result have attracted new audiences to the service. A key remit of their role is to increase school visits. There has been a school programme of regular class visits to all libraries, which has had a positive impact on all performance areas. Our pro-active approach to partnership working has also contributed to an increased range of activities. 16,406 people attended the library for activities and events.
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Over the year the Library Service has developed an integrated approach to deliver a wide range of activities and events. We have further developed our partnership work, with approximately 50 organisations working in partnership with the library service.
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Communities For Work, as part of their Wellbeing budget, have organised two career festivals at Ebbw Vale Sports Centre. These festivals aim to provide employment-related opportunities and support to the community. Additionally, they have allocated funds to enable 100 of their clients to access a free membership at the Sports Centre for a three-month period. This initiative allows individuals who may not be able to afford a membership due to their employment status to participate in various activities offered at the Sports Centre.
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The community has been fully engaged in the live, free music at Bedwellty during the Summer of 2023. The courtyard canopy was back with popular demand. Free Sunday music was delivered for 10 weeks from the end of June through to the first weekend in September for the community to meet with family & friends, listen to great local musicians, engage in garden games with a fully served bar and kitchen available to them. This area proved to be extremely popular
with a regular 80-100 people attending on a weekly basis- whatever the weather.
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The partnership with Tredegar Town Council brought 10 weeks of Brass Bands to the bandstand during the summer period. This brought the community across the generations together on a Sunday, enjoying the free live music and relaxing in the well-maintained grounds. In excess of 100 people per week attended the Brass band concerts.
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Bedwellty have engaged in and hosted a number of events to celebrate national occasions such as Armed Forces Day, The Queens Jubilee, Armistice Day, National Eisteddfod to name a few. Each occasion is marked with an appropriate celebration and community engagement event. They are also supported with local school partnerships to develop artwork to display along the gallery corridor for the wider community to admire.
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The kitchen garden grounds team, and volunteers had a very successful season with some bumper crops. Volunteers in the garden and from Blaenau Gwent Youth Services tended to the kitchen garden tirelessly throughout the year. Crops were used as part of the menus in the Orchid House Tea Room. Vegetables were also available to the local community for a small donation should they want them.
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The Friends of Bedwellty Park continued to support Bedwellty with their attention to the Sensory Garden ensuing the area is well presented and tended too. The Friends Volunteers support the Christmas programme with wrapping gifts in preparation for the Santa Visits. Their efforts are invaluable.
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The Orchid House Tea Room continued to thrive offering a varied menu of homecooked meals during the week, the famous Sunday Roast as well as BBQ’s beer garden snacks menu. The Tea room extended it’s seating to include additional tables outside. The Orchid House Tea Room achieved a 4* Food Hygiene rating during Autumn 2023.
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Tredegar Heritage Forum continued to deliver monthly Historical talks at Bedwellty House. This free monthly talk, where a variety of guest speakers are invited in to speak about local history and heritage of our locality. They are well attended by the community and also prove to be a social afternoon out for some of the hardest to reach members of the community.
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Tredegar Friendship Group continued to visit Bedwellty House on the first Tuesday of every month throughout the year for a two-course meal and social afternoon. The groups started with 18 members who would dine in the Miners Room, the group has grown in strength and numbers with now on average 40 attending monthly. The group of OAPs meet, eat and socialise which is for some the only occasion they go out each month. Costs are kept low for them, so it doesn’t become a barrier to attending.
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Bedwellty House hosted a Christmas Market at the end of November 2023, where people browsed and purchased crafts and gifts made by local smaller businesses. It was a great opportunity some of these small businesses had to provide their products in person and was well received by all. Bedwellty partnered with the Green Top Markets during the Summer of 2023, welcoming the market on a monthly basis to form part of the Sunday Brass Band & Music offering. Sundays became a vibrant day in the Summer calendar at Bedwellty.
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Partnership funding with the ABUHB allowed for the development of a wellbeing walk and talk. The attendees participate in a led walk around the grounds of Bedwellty Park where one of the team members would talk to them about some of the rich heritage of the park, events, the native plants etc. The group would then be treated out of the initial grant to a complimentary hot drink and cake. To start with three or four would attend but the word and mouth of the benefits of the group resulted in in growing to some weeks to 23 walkers. Some of which led very isolated and sedentary lifestyles. The start-up funding
came to an end however, the group wished to continue with the weekly wellbeing walk, they turn out in all weathers to enjoy the exercise and company. Some feedback from the participants was heartwarming. The impact on social value, mental and physical health and wellbeing is invaluable.
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The team at Parc Bryn Bach engaged in supporting a fundraising outdoor pursuits campaign in leading them through, as well as participating in the National Three Peaks Challenges and the Welsh Three Peaks Challenge during 2023. The campaign was a great success, where the community followed the progress of the participants raising funds for a worthy cause.
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Park Run saw its members significantly increase throughout 2023. The volume of Park Run tourists attended Parc Bryn Bach also further increased during 2023 with runners attending from other Parc Run venues including Porthcawl and Newport. The competitive race season was in full programme during 2023, with another two successful Couch to 5K programmes being delivered by the Park Run volunteers who supported over 300 participants, predominantly females to completing their first 5K run.
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The DBMax Titan series event returned to Parc Bryn Bach in Summer 2023 for their annual titan series event. 100’s of competitors embarked upon the swim, cycle and run at Parc Bryn Bach. The event organisers again commended the team at Parc Bryn Bach for the support planning and delivering the event and how well looked after the event team and competitors are. The venue is a definite in the calendar for the 2024 event.
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The opening hours of Parc Bryn Bach were extended for the Summer period. Street Food Thursdays continued throughout the season as well as the evening running and triathlon events returning to the evenings for 2023. Parc Bryn Bach became a hive of activity from 8am-8pm during the peak summer season with visitors enjoying the activities, using the dog friendly café, utilising the outdoor kiosk and also making use of the more relaxed terraced area overlooking the lake.
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Parc Bryn Bach Lake View Café & Kiosk exceeded all anticipated and projected income targets throughout the peak season and continued to grow in popularity during the Winter months with an innovative Christmas menu which became a social media hot topic! The Team was inundated with calls and bookings for the festive offerings and themed hot drinks.
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The Lake View Café offered seasonal employment to 8 young people during the summer season. The Lake View Catering achieved a 5* Food Hygiene rating following inspection.
Case Study 7 - Libraries Cuppa and Company Sessions
A new customer to the service, ‘Adrian’ joined the library a few months ago. He told library staff that he is visiting the library every day, he walks to the Library from Sirhowy, which is about a mile. This is helping him lose weight and gives him structure in his life. He has started using the computers and is doing some on-line courses. He also makes use of all the local information available. As he is quite lonely and lives alone, he has found out about lots of groups and activities from information in the library.
‘ The library has been great to help me reach my goals. I am keen on getting healthy, I have borrowed lots of books on healthy eating and exercise. The library is a good social place for me, I can find out everything in one place. I’ve had help with some volunteering advice lately, I’m hoping to start soon. The library has helped motivate me and helped with my confidence’ -Adrian
Some of the comments received regarding the sessions:
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I would be lost without the Cuppa and Company sessions.
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I look forward to the session, it is the highlight of my week.
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The library has something for everyone, my grandchildren came with me this week and joined in the storytelling activity.
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Really enjoy the crafts and chatting, since coming to the sessions I have started borrowing audio books, they help me relax.
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Library really is heart of the community with so much going on.
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I feel less lonely, nice to feel part of something.
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Where else can we have free coffee and free art session- amazing!
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Sessons so therapeutic …really lifts me!
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Nice to be involved in such a lovely group.
Case Study 8 - Sport in the Library Collaboration
Aneurin Leisure Trust Sports Development team partnered with Blaenau Gwent Libraires, are encouraging children aged 3 – 8 to ‘jump into a book and make the words wiggle off the page’. Drawing together reading and physical activity through interactive storytelling, all six libraries have been incredibly receptive to transforming their library settings into makeshift playgrounds to encourage fun and movement. More than 500 children have engaged in the provision since its establishment.
The concept originated from the Sports Development team identifying the need for more ‘early years’ provision to be prevalent within Blaenau Gwent communities. Wiggly Words has been identified as best practice, with local authorities across the Gwent region replicating similar provision.
Additionally, Sports Development’s 2021 Sports Library project continues to successfully operate in all four of Blaenau Gwent’s full-time libraries. Additional funding, and National Governing Body (NGB) donations has increased the range of sporting equipment available to library customers. All items continue to be loaned using the Library Management System, which requires customers to join the library in the first instance, but then gives access to all available items for a 3-week period. A total of 306 items of equipment were reportedly loaned out during the 2023/24 period.
Cultural Enrichment
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The Library Service has made a strong commitment to the provision of Welsh language activities and resources over the year. The weekly ‘Clwb Cymraeg’ at Abertillery has grown in popularity, with the Welsh Language Support Officer for Blaenau Gwent, regularly attending the sessions. The service has also purchased a range of leaning resources to support Welsh learners.
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Welsh Baby Yoga is delivered weekly at Tredegar Library and number of Welsh Baby Rhyme time sessions have been delivered across the service. We have strong links with Cymraeg I Blant, helping us support many families through the medium of Welsh.
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‘Big Welsh Rhyme Time’ sessions were delivered across all libraries in February 2024, working in partnership with BookTrust Cymru.
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The Library Service has regularly promoted Welsh language audio books over the year and supported the North Wales Society for the Blind by committing a percentage of our allocated Welsh spend for this area.
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- There are various groups that use the free library space for cultural sessions. For example, the Blaina Aberystruth History and Archaeological Society holds weekly sessions in Blaina Library. The service has strong partnership links with Gwent Family Society. Volunteers from this organisation deliver regular help desks in all libraries, promoting FindMyPast and Ancestry.com. The Blaenau Gwent Heritage Forum holds monthly meetings at Tredegar Library and utilises the local studies resources based there. Blaina Heritage Centre is based in the same building as Blaina Library, which provides an ideal link to work jointly on shared Welsh cultural activities. Likewise, a community Museum is based in Tredegar Library. Which attracts many visitors researching the birthplace of Aneurin Bevan, plus other historical information. Library staff and volunteers from the museum work together to provide a range of information and resources to promote Welsh culture.
Social Responsibility
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The Library Service in Blaenau Gwent is defined around our locality and the needs of local communities. From hosting cultural events and educational workshops to delivering reading activities and wellbeing events, our service provides opportunities to build relationships and fosters a sense of belonging. Our libraries strengthen social cohesion by serving as vital community spaces, where individuals and groups can connect, collaborate, and celebrate shared interests .
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The social impact of Library services upon residents has been further highlighted over the year. The service has a NPS (Net Promoter Score) customer service score of 93% . Examples of the comments received over the year:
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The library has so much to offer, and all free. My father has benefitted from the Dementia activities, and the customer service is excellent.
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So much support and help all in one place, our local library is such a vital community asset.
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I save so much money by using the library, free on-line magazines and newspapers, free coffee and events, so important for people to help with the cost of living crisis.
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I’ve borrowed a tablet and received a free sim card, and this has opened my world up to me. I’ve been able to apply for jobs, save money by shopping on-line and I can keep in touch with my family.
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- The home delivery service is an absolute lifeline for me. I am unable to get out and about, the talking books I received keep me occupied, I would be lost without them.
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The ‘Quiet Hour’ has made a such a difference to my daughter. She has Autism and finds noise and lots of people overwhelming. This means we can enjoy time in the library, - thank you for the service to consider special needs.
• Real Women Revolution Retreats
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During the 2023/24 period, Tredegar Sports Centre hosted four Real Women Revolution (RWR) retreats as part of our ongoing corporate social responsibility efforts. These retreats, led by our Fitness Instructor Janet Oxenham, aim to engage with the local community and promote health and wellbeing through a variety of tailored experiences.
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Each RWR retreat is uniquely designed to address different aspects of health and wellbeing. Topics covered include pain management, living with health conditions, gym-based fitness, nutritional awareness, and the importance of fuelling for sport. Collaborations with local sports clubs further enrich the retreats by providing expert insights on nutrition and fitness.
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Due to the success at Tredegar Sports Centre, the RWR retreats have now expanded to Ebbw Vale Sports Centre, with plans to host these transformative experiences at Abertillery Sports Centre during the 2024/25 period.
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The retreats offer participants a comprehensive, holistic experience that combines fitness classes, educational seminars, and mindfulness sessions. By addressing topics like calorie, sugar, and fat awareness, participants gain valuable knowledge to transform their dietary habits. The retreats also foster a sense of community, as attendees share their experiences, form friendships, and learn together over a healthy buffet and a cup of tea.
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The Real Women Revolution retreats at Tredegar and Ebbw Vale Sports Centres have had a positive impact on the community by promoting physical health, nutritional knowledge, and mental wellbeing. We look forward to continuing our collaboration with Janet Oxenham and expanding these transformative experiences to Abertillery Sports Centre in the 2024/25 period, further contributing to the overall well-being of individuals and promoting a healthier, happier community.
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Bedwellty House successfully delivered in partnership with Blaenau Gwent Registry Office ‘XX’ Weddings and Ceremonies. With a conversion rate of 75% of those attending a first meeting and visit to Bedwellty during this period to making a booking which is a small growth on the previous year. Catering partner Lupin Blanc deliver the food element of the larger weddings at Bedwellty House always with glowing reviews of food quality and service.
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Sunday lunches at Bedwellty House have maintained the reputation of good service, good food and overall experience preceding the venue. There are a number of diners who attend on their own due to loss of loved ones but keep visiting as feel so welcome and comfortable at Bedwellty. The NPS scoring with feedback from visitors has been introduced during the 2023/24 period allowing the site to capture some meaningful feedback. The NPS score remains in the 70-80 ‘excellent’ region for Bedwellty and the 60-70 ‘good’ region for Parc Bryn Bach. Both sites take the feedback seriously and work with the Marketing team and wider partners where necessary to adopt a ‘you’ve said - we’ve done’ approach to tending to customer needs and feedback.
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Both parks maintained the grounds to exceptional standards throughout the 2023/24 period. Parc Bryn Bach working particularly closely with the Ecology Officer ensuring achieving the Green Flag Award status for 2023 and being commended for its Nature Reserve status.
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The Friends of groups are an asset to the parks in supporting projects and raising funds. A number of the volunteers within these groups have stated how being part of the group and seeing areas develop in the parks within their weekly gardening sessions gives them a purpose and makes them feel like they are giving something back to the community they live in and love.
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Christmas Party Nights returned with full capacity for the 2023 Christmas season. Seven Christmas Party nights were sold out and delivered with visitors supporting from local businesses and some travelling in based on the reviews and reputation Bedwellty has built in previous seasons. Over 700 visitors dined, danced and engaged in the festive spirit.
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Wider social events such as Bubbles and Brunch, the Bedwellty version of ‘Brunch Club’ was launched in 2023 and has become one of the most popular events in the calendar selling out month on month. Guests experience 90 minutes of live music, bottomless drinks and quality grazing boards. They are much loved events.
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A partnership has been established with the BGCBC Education Service who are, for an interim period, housing the first intake of the new Welsh School to open in Tredegar in the near future into Bedwellty House & Park. The school development is behind on schedule which meant there was nowhere for the September 2023 intake to attend. Bedwellty Have worked with the necessary personnel to redevelop part of the first floor of the house into a nursery classroom. Ysgol Tredegar based out of Bedwellty from September 2023 for the full 2023/24 academic season. This has further developed during 2023 with a second classroom being developed to host both a nursery and reception class for the 2024 academic year while the Welsh School is being finalised.
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The partnership with Tredegar Town Council has continued with working together on a number of great events during the 2023/24 season including the Brass Bands, Armed Forces Day, Bevan Festival, Remembrance Sunday and Christmas Lights Switch on. Events such as these are the heart of the community and bring generations together.
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Parc Bryn Bach maintained positive partnerships with the education services during 2023, being the goto provider for the out of the classroom engagement for Greenfields School, the Thomas Richards Centre and Riverside PRU. The challenging young people attending from these settings have engaged in key skills, outdoor safety and some completing modules towards a teamwork GCSE.
Case Study 9 - Cost of Living Event at Tredegar Sports Centre
Background: In response to the growing financial challenges faced by families within our local community, Tredegar Sports Centre (TSC) collaborated with Blaenau Gwent (BG) to host a Cost of Living Event. Recognizing the urgency and significance of addressing these issues, TSC was eager to play a pivotal role in connecting families with the support they desperately need.
Highlights: The event provided a comprehensive platform for local families to access a wide array of support services. Various organizations and experts were present to offer guidance on managing finances, accessing benefits, and exploring cost-saving measures. The aim was to create a one-stop hub where community members could find solutions and receive the help they need to navigate these challenging times.
Outcomes:
Community Engagement: The event saw a significant turnout, with many families taking advantage of the opportunity to connect with support services. This engagement highlighted the community's need for accessible resources and the value of bringing such events to local venues.
Support Services: Attendees were able to consult with financial advisors, benefit counsellors, and representatives from various support organizations. This direct access helped demystify the available aid and streamlined the process for families seeking assistance.
Positive Feedback: Participants expressed gratitude for the event, noting how it provided clarity and relief in managing their financial situations. Many attendees shared stories of struggling to keep on top of their finances and appreciated the practical advice and support received.
Conclusion: The Cost of Living Event at Tredegar Sports Centre was a resounding success, demonstrating the power of community collaboration in addressing pressing social issues. By providing a platform for families to access crucial support services, TSC has reaffirmed its commitment to the wellbeing of its community. The positive feedback and high engagement levels underscore the importance of such initiatives, and TSC looks forward to continuing its support for local families through similar events in the future.
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Local Business Partnerships
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Aneurin Leisure continues to offer local, regional and national organisations discounted membership as part of our Life Card membership scheme and our drive to improve health and wellbeing in the workplace. Corporate members are currently enjoying the corporate discounts in the area that Aneurin Leisure operates. This product combines reduced rates for i) gym memberships within our sport centres, ii) corporate hospitality and conferencing at Bedwellty House and Park and iii) Team Building at Parc Bryn Bach.
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The Library Service has continued to support prosperity across the borough over 2023/24. We have continued to develop our partnership work with the Regeneration Department to increase footfall into town centres, through supporting family events in the high street. Events were delivered in libraries linked to the themes of the events.
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Bedwellty House & Parc Bryn Bach partner with a variety of local business in purchasing produce, milk, ice cream, fruit & vegetables, brewery, honey, coffee all purchased from local suppliers.
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Both sites partner with local providers to operate sessions from the sites such as Louby Lou Story Telling, Mini Movers, local musicians, Little Dragon Pizza Van, The Munch Stop and The Tex co. The parks utilise local providers to operate events and workshops where possible to support.
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The Tredegar Arms Hotel are key partners when booking rooms for wedding couples and actors when dining events with special guests are organised.
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Partnerships with BGCBC Play Team, Families First, Gwent Police, Tredegar Town Centre Manager and Blaenau Gwent Education Department to support the delivery of activities and events.
Marketing and Communications
The key objectives for the Trust for marketing and communications during 2023/24 were as follows:
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✓ Reinforce the Trust’s charitable status and mission to improve community life.
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✓ Establish the Trust’s sustainability objectives.
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✓ Increase revenue at Parc Bryn Bach.
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✓ Increase revenue at Bedwellty House and Park.
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✓ Meet Library Standards for 2023/24. Desired outcome – Welsh Government standards achieved.
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✓ Meet ACL enrolment targets.
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✓ Exceed membership revenue for sports centres over 2022/23 (£945k November 2022 to-date based on forecast) by 10%. Retain swimming lesson income to current levels (c£365k November 2022 to-date based on forecast). Exceed other swimming pool income over 2022/23 (£295k November 2022 to-date based on forecast), by 10%.
Targets for the above were drafted to measure all of the objectives against but with the changes to the finance team, establishing them, and reporting against them, was not achievable. In addition, due to budget constraints, limited research is carried out amongst our customer base and monitoring of activity therefore ROI, which is notoriously difficult to attribute to any one communication piece, was not established for key campaigns/activity.
In addition, marketing plans for the parks were also drafted, however, were not ratified with targets.
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- The USP (Unique Selling Point) for the Trust continues to be:
‘Aneurin Leisure Trust – working to improve community life by investing in local amenities and improving the appeal and facilities of Blaenau Gwent’.
Targeting – all residents in Blaenau Gwent and communities close to Blaenau Gwent, and tourists visiting the area.
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Media used was restricted based on visibility of targets and ability to prove ROI through a meaningful budget and therefore, we maximised and prioritised the following channels:
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✓ Social media
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✓ On-site
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✓ Website
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✓ Signage
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✓ Content creation
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✓ SEO
Communication via the ALT app was limited due to it being controlled by a different department and its use being relevant to sport centre users.
- Key messaging for each of the sites was as follows:
Parc Bryn Bach (PBB) – the hidden gem of Blaenau Gwent. The perfect location to experience nature at its best, have fun with the family and explore the wonders of Wales.
Bedwellty House & Park (BHAP) – a vibrant venue for all occasions. Amazing heritage and beautiful grounds to explore or make your dreams come true.
Sports Centres - the team at BG Life is committed to helping you achieve your goals and be the best version of yourself in terms of your health and mental wellbeing. With state-of-the-art gyms, full digital integration, swimming pools and 100s of classes each week, our flexible memberships provide you with the tools to achieve your goals.
Adult Community Learning (ACL) – helping you in to achieve your academic and professional goals.
Libraries – the heart of the community. A wealth of support and advice to enrich lives and expand horizons.
Corporate – Aneurin Leisure Trust – working in partnership to improve community life.
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Customer Insight/Satisfaction:
During the period April 2023 - March 2024, customer feedback and satisfaction continued to be monitored monthly through Microsoft Forms, Google and Facebook reviews. Channels with which customers can report their thoughts on how the Trust is performing is predominantly through the websites, social media and onsite (QR-code posters and feedback cards). However, sports centres have the additional channel of the app which is proven to be an effective channel.
Measurement of the Net Promoter Score (NPS) through Microsoft Forms is summarised based on the above scale.
It should be noted that Adult Community Learning (ACL) and Libraries conduct ongoing research for Coleg Gwent and Welsh Government respectively. We believe that this is the key reason for limited responses in ACL in particular for Microsoft Forms, however, we have seen some improvement in feedback to allow us to establish a NPS for ACL.
NPS responses at end March 2024 provided the following end-of-year NPS scores for the different business units:
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➢ Sports centres – 7 – good
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➢ Parc Bryn Bach – 50 – great
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➢ BHAP – 91 - excellent
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➢ Libraries – 92 – excellent
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➢ ACL – 38 - great
The NPS survey is anonymous however where customers have left contact details, we have gone back to them to address any concerns. For the sports centres, we provide a quarterly ‘You’ve Said. We’ve Done’ communication through the app to address concerns and provide feedback to the comments provided.
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Bedwellty House and Park (BHAP) / Parc Bryn Bach (PBB) – Google and Facebook Reviews:
Both BHAP and PBB have received consistent reviews on TripAdvisor of 4.5 and 4 respectively during the period April 2023-March 2024; 4.7 and 4.1 on Facebook and 4.5 and 4.6 on Google Reviews, respectively.
Examples of the comments are below:
BHAP
“A quiet park that is a relic of times past. Now enjoyable for a stroll and stop in the onsite cafe which also serves a tasty looking traditional Sunday lunch.” (4*)
“A beautiful afternoon tea for my aunt’s 80th birthday. Food was delicious and the service was excellent. Chris was a gentleman and so helpful and friendly. Would thoroughly recommend it.” (5*)
“Excellent service and food, as always. Lovely facility also.” (5*)
“Beautiful food, great service with the most loveliest polite, friendly staff I have ever been to thank you, it is also nice and clean. Very helpful if there were 10 stars, I would give full 10 marks, this is such a wonderful place thank you Bedwellty House for a such a lovely day thank you all.” (5*)
“Lovely historic building and beautiful park.” (5*)
“Loads of well-kept outside areas for kids to run and play about. Staff are polite and helpful. Food nice. Also been to private functions which have been really well done.” (5*)
“Interesting house and grounds. Food very nice albeit a limited menu. Restrooms: clean and tidy.” (4*)
PBB
“Lovely park with a good flat path which makes it easy to do the circuit. Got to see a lot of baby geese and enjoy some of the flowers. Nice to see that they have added more activities for people to do, and feeding the geese with the food from the gift shop always goes down well.” (5*)
“Great place to come with the family (and dog if you have one!) for a few hours out. The cafe has a dog friendly area and there is a flat walk around the lake you can take. There are activities such as pedal go karts and pedalo boats that you can hire for 45 minutes that won't break the bank. There are a few parking areas (free) but with being a popular place you will probably need to head straight to the furthest car park to the right as you enter unless you are early or out of season.” (5*)
“What am amazing place? I went to watch the Park Run with my granddaughter. Absolutely piece of paradise. Family friendly and beautifully maintained. Wonderful.” (5*)
“Absolutely beautiful spot, lush views, beautiful walk for prams and can hire bikes too. My new favourite place.” (5*)
“Nice cup of coffee and a vegan jaffa cake.” (4*)
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“Without a doubt the nicest of all parks around here with the most for families to do. Honestly, I'm from Merthyr and love Cyfarthfa Park but Parc Bryn Bach caters for everyone with ample parking, a wonderful park for children, lovely cafe, Golf course, driving range, fishing, go-karts for families to hire, paddle boarding etc, etc. There's a campsite for caravans/ motor homes to hook up too. Lovely place we visit often.” (5*)
“Stayed here in our tourer caravan for 3 nights. What a beautiful location with one-and-a-half-mile gentle walk around the lake.” (5*)
Staff Satisfaction
- The annual staff satisfaction survey was undertaken during May-July 2023 which reflected the previous year’s survey to monitor changes in employee attitudes to the Trust.
NPS for working for the Trust was 39, falling into the ‘great’ category, with good job prospects at 33 (also great). This is a slight drop from 47 in the last financial year.
There were 147 responses: 65% being full time employees and 35% part time employees and representing a 56% response rate. Of these, ‘Promoters’ of ALT (9 and 10) accounted for 52% of respondents, ‘Passives’ (7 and 8) accounted for 36% of respondents and ‘Detractors’ (1-6) accounted for 12% of respondents. This is a significant increase from 24% response rate we achieved in the last financial year.
Key themes from the survey, and the response to employees was as follows:
Communication – a lack of engagement, particularly with CDT and the senior management team, and fully understanding the progress the Trust is making, the challenges being faced and plans for the future.
To address these concerns, twice-yearly staff meetings will be held to provide updates across the Trust with an opportunity for employees to ask questions. The first staff roadshow was held in early September 2023.
In addition, the Trust intranet site is nearing completion, and the outstanding teams’ sites will be added in the coming few months. This will be the main communication tool for all sites across the Trust.
Commercial vs Community – reinforcing the Trust’s mission to improve community life across Blaenau Gwent which is maximised by achieving a level of commercialism that supports the services we run. This was reinforced at the staff meeting held in September.
Staff Benefits – reinforcing the staff benefits available across the Trust, including:
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Free membership to the sports centres for contract employees
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10% discount in the cafes at Bedwellty House, Parc Bryn Bach and Ebbw Vale sports centre
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Support of the Cycle2Work scheme offering discount on the purchase of bikes
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Support to all staff through the free Employee Assistance Programme – Care First
The question regarding discounted sports centre membership for relief staff was also raised and the management is reviewing this to advise staff in the near future.
Staffing Levels - several employees raised concern about staffing levels and the relevant senior managers have been tasked to review and discuss staff rotas and strategies to ensure adequate cover for all shifts.
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Equal Treatment of Employees - an issue of some employees feeling that they were treated differently to their colleagues by their manager was raised. The HR department has strict working policies to ensure that everyone is treated equally and the need to follow these will be reinforced to all managers.
Employees have been directed to seek more information about the Trust’s policies, on the HR intranet site.
Diversity – the issue of lack of diversity was raised by some employees. The policy for the Trust is to recruit the right person for the role without prejudice.
We have communicated that we are currently a diverse workforce however, racially we appreciate that this is not the case. The new online recruitment platform, JTGO, provides the Trust with the potential to reach a wider catchment and thus potentially recruit greater diversity to work for the Trust.
Annually the Trust produce a Gender Pay Gap report which, again, can be found on the HR intranet site, with the latest one being published by end August.
Progression and Training - during the last financial year, the Trust instigated mandatory training for staff, including Equality and Diversity, Difficult Conversations, Performance Management and, more recently, Safeguarding.
With the escalating utility costs and the implications to the Trust, further training has, unfortunately, had to put on hold during this financial year.
However, the Trust will be reinstating the appraisal process and with a further update to be provided.
Staff Uniforms - currently each area of the business is responsible for sourcing its own uniform. CDT and the SMT will be reviewing this to determine a more consistent approach across the Trust.
Format of the Survey - the feedback highlighted areas of concern with the employee survey – you may really like working with your direct colleagues but not necessarily the Trust itself.
It was noted that the Trust’s SMT appreciates that the survey isn’t perfect, but our aim is to engage with as many employees as possible which is why it is as short as possible, and to enable the Trust to track responses year-on-year. However, the SMT will look to expand this for the next contract period with BGCBC.
Websites’ Overview
Aneurin Leisure Trust Website Analytics
During 2023/24, the Aneurin Leisure Trust website was visited by 25,035 people who viewed the website 71,100 times.
36,300 sessions were started on the website by visitors, while 22,149 (61%) of those ‘engaged sessions’ lasted longer than 10 seconds and saw the user view at least 2 pages.
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Throughout the year, there were 215,300 scrolling events (people scrolling through pages to view the information) and the website gained an engagement rate of 61% which is above the average of 55% and illustrates the website is well received and used.
The above chart illustrates the number of users over the year, illustrating a high number of new users.
In August 2023, a Welsh translation of the ALT website was introduced. By year end, it received on average 6 views a month.
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a Organic Search a Direct to Website L Organic Social Media
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The above chart illustrates how users found the website during the financial year.
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Most of the traffic to the website comes from organic search, with 13,908 people finding the website via a search engine such as Google.
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6,860 people visited the website directly, either through a bookmark or typing in the website address to their browser.
-
3,483 people came to the site via organic social media, either using links in posts, tweets, Instagram stories or links provided in the bio or profile pages.
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LIFE LEISURE TRUST T/A ANEURIN LEISURE REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
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When it came to social media traffic, Facebook remained our most popular social media channel for bringing people to the website, with Instagram also proving to have gained in popularity. LinkedIn also brought in a small amount of traffic.
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1,118 people visited the website via a link from another website, such as the BGCBC’s site or JTGo recruitment site.
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126 visits were through unassigned methods.
The above summary illustrates the most popular pages viewed during the financial year, showing a good mix of all of the business areas but predominantly it was the Trust information, libraries and ACL that performed highest. This is a reflection of the Aneurin Leisure Trust website being the only website source for both libraries and ACL.
In August 2023, a Welsh version of the Aneurin Leisure Trust website was introduced. Usage is tracked monthly and, at the end of March 2024, had a total of 56 views.
BG Life Website Analytics
During 2023/24, the BG Life website was visited by 75,661 people who viewed the website 355,800 times.
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LIFE LEISURE TRUST T/A ANEURIN LEISURE REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
138,200 sessions were started on the website by visitors, while 89,272 (65%) of those ‘engaged sessions’ lasted longer than 10 seconds and saw the user view at least 2 pages.
Throughout the year, there were 906,800 scrolling events (people scrolling through pages to view the information) and the website gained an engagement rate of 64.6% which is above the average of 55%. The statistics are very encouraging and illustrate the efficacy of the website’s UX.
The above chart illustrates the number of users over the year, illustrating a steady flow of new users. In August 2023, we introduced a Welsh translation of the BG Life website. By year end, it received on average 47 views a month.
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| Organic Search a Direct to Website a Organic Social Media
a Website Referral a Unassigned
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The above chart illustrates how users found the BG Life website during the financial year.
- Most of the traffic to the website comes from organic search, with 52,970 people finding the website via a search engine such as Google.
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LIFE LEISURE TRUST T/A ANEURIN LEISURE REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
-
16,189 people visited the website directly, either through a bookmark or typing in the website address to their browser.
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3,675 people came to the site via organic social media, either using links in posts, tweets, Instagram stories or links provided in the bio or profile pages.
-
When it came to social media traffic, Facebook remained our most popular social media channel for bringing people to the website, with Instagram also proving to have gained in popularity.
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3,681 people visited the website via a link from another website, predominantly from the Aneurin Leisure Trust site plus other partners’ websites.
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814 visits were through unassigned methods.
The above summary illustrates the most popular pages viewed during the financial year, with the highest page views on swimming and the home page. The membership page also rated highly along with key facilities within the sports centres such as classes, gyms and the recently introduced Queenax.
In August 2023, a Welsh version of the BG Life website was introduced. Usage is tracked monthly and, at the end of March 2024, had a total of 361 views.
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LIFE LEISURE TRUST T/A ANEURIN LEISURE REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
PBB Website Analytics
During 2023/24, the PBB website was visited by 57,298 people who viewed the website 206,400 times.
85,200 sessions were started on the website by visitors, while 50,331 (59%) of those ‘engaged sessions’ lasted longer than 10 seconds and saw the user view at least 2 pages.
Throughout the year, there were 515,400 scrolling events (people scrolling through pages to view the information) and the website gained an engagement rate of 59.1% which is above the average of 55%. Once again good statistics.
The above chart illustrates the number of users over the year. Overall users are c40% up year on year however, weather conditions have a considerable impact on the day-to-day trend.
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1 2 3 4 5 6
| Organic Search | Direct to Website a Organic Social Media
| Website Referral | | Unassigned a Mobile
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LIFE LEISURE TRUST T/A ANEURIN LEISURE REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
The above chart illustrates how users found the PBB website during the financial year.
-
Most of the traffic to the website comes from organic search, with 29,451 people finding the website via a search engine such as Google.
-
17,274 people visited the website directly, either through a bookmark or typing in the website address to their browser.
-
9,030 people came to the site via organic social media, either using links in posts, tweets, Instagram stories or links provided in the bio or profile pages.
-
When it came to social media traffic, Facebook and Instagram remained our most popular channels.
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1,388 people visited the website via a link from another website, predominantly from the Aneurin Leisure Trust site with listing referrals and partner websites.
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873 visits were through unassigned methods and 20 through email reflecting the follow-up communiation from the National Education Show and Open Water Swimming.
The above summary illustrates the most popular pages viewed during the financial year, with the highest page views on the home page and go-karts. Events and Family Fun pages were also popular along with other key activities. Education and Training also featured reflecting the increased push into schools and securing residential bookings.
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LIFE LEISURE TRUST T/A ANEURIN LEISURE REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
Bedwellty House and Park Website Analytics
We introduced the new Bedwellty House and Park website on 24[th] May 2023. Due to historic issues with the managing agency, we were unable to retain the URL and secured bedwelltyhouseandpark.com with a holding page from the old website in-situ for as long as possible to redirect visitors to the old site.
From 24[th] May 2023, the BHAP website was visited by 17,035 people who viewed the website 58,800 times. This is a decrease in the number of overall visitors to the site from bedwelltyhouseandpark.co.uk from 18,771/10.3% however, the drop in the number of visitors is less than anticipated given we were unable to secure the old URL (and this continues to be monitored to be purchased as soon as it becomes available).
25,100 sessions were started on the website by visitors, while 17,751 (71%) of those ‘engaged sessions’ lasted longer than 10 seconds and saw the user view at least 2 pages.
Throughout the year, there were 162,500 scrolling events (people scrolling through pages to view the information) and the website gained an engagement rate of 70.8% which is above the average of 55%.
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LIFE LEISURE TRUST T/A ANEURIN LEISURE REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
The above chart illustrates the number of users over the year. The trend line is positive and illustrated new users were engaged with the website.
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Organic Search Direct to Website Organic Social Media
The above chart illustrates how users found the BHAP website during the financial year. Website Referral Unassigned
----- End of picture text -----
-
Most of the traffic to the website comes from organic search, with 9,710 people finding the website via a search engine such as Google.
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4,199 people visited the website directly, either through a bookmark or typing in the website address to their browser.
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2,835 people came to the site via organic social media, either using links in posts, tweets, Instagram stories or links provided in the bio or profile pages.
Once again, Facebook and Instagram generated most of the social media traffic.
-
434 people visited the website via a link from another website, predominantly from the Aneurin Leisure Trust site and BGCBC’s site.
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37 visits were through unassigned methods.
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LIFE LEISURE TRUST T/A ANEURIN LEISURE REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
The above summary illustrates the most popular pages viewed during the financial year, with the highest page views on the home page and events. The tearoom and weddings were also the popular along with individual events that took place at BHAP.
Social Media Overview
Across the Trust’s main business areas, we use Facebook, Instagram and X to engage with the community. There has been, and continues to be, limited interaction with the X platform and the results below focus on Facebook and Instagram.
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LIFE LEISURE TRUST T/A ANEURIN LEISURE REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
Aneurin Leisure Trust’s Social Media
| Facebook Reach | Facebook Followers |
Facebook Content Interactions |
Facebook Minutes Viewed |
Facebook Profile Visits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 96.5K | 4.6K (Nett +373 new follows) |
5.3K | 7 hours 54 mins | 21.6K |
Reach for the Trust’s Facebook page was up 23.6% year on year. Where there are significant spikes in reach, we believe that this is attributable to multiple posts going out on the same day and was not reflective of one specific post.
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LIFE LEISURE TRUST T/A ANEURIN LEISURE REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
The most popular posts were:
| Facebook Post | Facebook Post | Date/Time | Date/Time | Reach | Reach | Reactions Likes, Shares & Comments |
Reactions Likes, Shares & Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Job opportunities with ALT – 4 x PBBjobs and 2 x ACLjobs |
24 Jan 09:00 | 6K | 16 | ||||
| Tredegar Sports Centre 50th birthdaycelebrations |
26 Feb 15:00 | 5K | 42 | ||||
| Libraries Meet the Owls - children’s activities |
06 Feb 15:30 | 3.9K | 66 | ||||
| Libraries Meet the Owls - children’s activities – spaces fillingupfast |
08 Feb 16:00 | 3.3K | 40 | ||||
| ACL Conversational Spanish course at EV LAC |
18 March 11:30 | 3.2K | 44 | ||||
| Instagram Reach | Instagram Followers |
Instagram Content Interactions |
Instagram Profile Visits |
Link Clicks | |||
| 4.1K | 1.1K (+77 new follows) |
602 | 1.3K | 10 |
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LIFE LEISURE TRUST T/A ANEURIN LEISURE REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
Reach for the Trust’s Instagram page was up 8.2% year on year.
The most popular posts were:
| Instagram Post | Date | Reach | Reactions Likes, Shares & Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Temporary Closure of Blaina Library |
29 Nov 23 | 460 | 8 |
| International Angelman Day– Thomas’ story |
15 Feb 24 | 407 | 29 |
| PBB Santa Visit -cancelled due to bad weather |
19 Dec 23 | 400 | 2 |
| CKR First Anniversary - Instagram story |
15 Mar 24 | 349 | N/A |
| Sports Centres - December Deals – get 12 months for theprice of 10 |
19 Dec 23 | 346 | 0 |
BG Life’s Social Media
| Facebook Reach | Facebook Followers |
Facebook Content Interactions |
Facebook Minutes Viewed |
Facebook Profile Visits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 101.8K | 6.6K (Nett +345 new follows) |
9.9K | 3 days 10 hours | 47K |
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LIFE LEISURE TRUST T/A ANEURIN LEISURE REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
Reach for the BG Life Facebook page was up 20.4% year on year. Where there are significant spikes in reach, we believe that this is attributable to multiple posts going out on the same day and was not reflective of one specific post.
The most popular posts were:
| Facebook Post | Facebook Post | Date/Time | Date/Time | Reach | Reach | Reactions Likes, Shares & Comments |
Reactions Likes, Shares & Comments |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tredegar Sports Centre Pool will be open as normal tomorrow |
11 Jan 24 22:04 |
15.2K | 113 | |||||
| Next NPLQ courses will be available in February2024 |
10 Jan 24 18:18 |
8.9K | 80 | |||||
| Abertillery Sports Centre Nerfparty |
20 Mar 24 20:19 |
8.4 | 81 | |||||
| Customer notice on multi storey car park access from Lime Avenue |
19 Jan 24 22:19 |
6.9K | 29 | |||||
| Tribute Fest at Ebbw ~~Vale Sports Centre~~ |
07 Feb 24 ~~12:16~~ |
6.9K | 69 | |||||
| ~~Vale Sports Centre~~ ~~Instagram Reach~~ |
~~12:16~~ ~~Instagram~~ |
~~12:16~~ ~~Instagram Content~~ |
~~Instagram Content~~ | ~~Profile Visits~~ | ~~Profile Visits~~ | ~~Link Clicks~~ | ||
| ~~Instagram Reach~~ | ~~Instagram~~ Followers |
~~Instagram Content~~ Interactions |
~~Profile Visits~~ | |||||
| 4.3K | 1.3K (+73 new follows) |
402 | 1.9K | 0 |
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LIFE LEISURE TRUST T/A ANEURIN LEISURE REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
Reach for the BG Life Instagram page was down 82.1% year on year. However, the introduction of the platform was relatively new and requires ongoing content which will be a key development area for the next financial year.
The most popular posts were:
| Instagram Post | Reach | Reactions Likes, Shares & Comments |
Video Performance |
|---|---|---|---|
| National Fitness Day – EVSC promo video 19 Sep23 |
942 | 46 | 1.1K plays 183 minutes viewed |
| National Fitness Day Rig Fit video reel 20 Sep23 |
791 | 37 | 856 plays 129 minutes viewed |
| 12 days of Christmas Prize Draw Winner at ASC 28 Dec 23 |
697 | 29 | N/A |
| Congratulations to the latest successful NPLQ candidates 03 Nov 23 |
575 | 31 | N/A |
| Parc Bryn Bach’s Social Media National Fitness Day – ASC promo video 18 Sep23 |
n Bach’s Social Media 552 |
30 | 609 plays 104 minutes viewed |
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LIFE LEISURE TRUST T/A ANEURIN LEISURE REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
Reach for the PBB Facebook page was down 45.5% year on year. Where there are significant spikes in reach, we believe that this is attributable to multiple posts going out on the same day and was not reflective of one specific post. Moving forward to the next financial year, we will be working closely with the PBB team to balance the nature aspect of the park with activities.
The most popular posts were:
| Facebook Post | Date/Time | Reach | Reactions Likes, Shares & Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Launch of Festive Menu in the Lake View Café |
21 Nov 23 | 58.7K | 2K |
| New Year Suggestions on things to do at PBB for families |
03 Jan 24 10:00 |
25.4K | 278 |
| Have you tried our new festive food menu? |
24 Nov 23 | 20.2K | 284 |
| Halloween Activities – creepy cave and glow in the dark minigolf |
05 Oct 23 | 15.6K | 179 |
| It’s a beautiful bright winter’s day at the park – don’t forget overflow carparkingis available |
12 Feb 24 13:35 |
14.2K | 87 |
Conversely, reach for PBB’s Instagram page was up 56.1% with the most popular posts being: From ads
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LIFE LEISURE TRUST T/A ANEURIN LEISURE REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
| Instagram Post | Date | Reach | Reactions Likes, Shares & Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Launch of Festive Menu in the Lake View Café |
21 Nov 23 | 1.5K | 112 |
| Cancellation of Santa visit due to bad weather |
19 Dec 23 | 975 | 6 |
| Reminder of dogs on leads rules at PBB |
15 Jan 24 10:00 |
879 | 16 |
| International Angelman Day– Thomas’ story |
15 Feb 24 12:30 |
850 | 47 |
| New Year suggestions on things to do at PBB for families |
03 Jan 24 10:00 |
843 | 16 |
Bedwellty House and Park Social Media
| Facebook Reach | Facebook Followers |
Facebook Content Interactions |
Facebook Minutes Viewed |
Facebook Profile Visits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 270.3K | 11.7K (Nett +675 new follows) |
13K | 1 hour 43 mins | 73K |
Reach for the BHAP Facebook page was up 34.6% year on year. Where there are significant spikes in reach, we believe that this is attributable to multiple posts going out on the same day and was not reflective of one specific post.
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LIFE LEISURE TRUST T/A ANEURIN LEISURE REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
The most popular posts were:
| Facebook Post | Date/Time | Reach | Reactions Likes, Shares & Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| We may be biased, but we love Autumn in the park (pictures) |
04 Nov 23 | 39.4K | 1.3K |
| A beautiful bright winter dayin thepark(picture) |
11 Jan 24 13:34 |
14.6K | 263 |
| Thank you to everyone who helped us create the poppy field for Remembrance Sunday (pictures) |
14 Nov 23 | 9.8K | 240 |
| Team member spotlight – Chris Walters HOV fundraisingboxingmatch |
19 Mar 24 19:23 |
8K | 376 |
| Christmas family party night at BHAP |
08 Nov 23 | 7.4 | 100 |
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LIFE LEISURE TRUST T/A ANEURIN LEISURE REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
The reach for BHAP’s Instagram page was up 10.8% and the most popular posts were:
| Reactons Likes, Shares & Comments 93 13 17 88 64 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Instagram Post | Date | Reach | Reactons Likes, Shares & Comments |
|
| Visit by Michael Sheen and Natonal Theatre team(picture) |
05 Sep 23 | 907 | 93 | |
| Reminder that Bedwellty Park is a dogs-on-lead area(map) |
14 Jan 24 | 838 | 13 | |
| We are open as normal today but there is emergency work being carried out on the main drive |
03 Jan 24 13:07 |
776 | 17 | |
| We may be biassed, but we love Autumn in the park(pictures) |
04 Nov 23 | 743 | 88 | |
| Excitng developments for ourplayarea |
04 Mar 24 16:25 |
733 | 64 | |
Communications Overview
During March 2023-April 2024, the Marketing and Communications team managed 305 individual jobs across the business units, and ad-hoc social media requests of c200.
Communication elements included events, promotional material and items, signage and filming /photography.
Some examples of these, for each of the business units is below:
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Central Support
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Website management, design development, events covering the Trust’s services, photography, videography/content creation, loyalty cards and overarching communication e.g. recycling.
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The partner conference was co-ordinated in 2022/23 by the marketing team. This financial year it was agreed by the SMT to provide a development opportunity to other teams and timing has been postponed to coincide with the 10[th] anniversary of the Trust.
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Tactical social media posts were posted to support job ads, partner requests/activities and research. Welsh posts have been implemented to support generic communication including opening hours, job ads and general activities, directing customers to the events page of the ALT website.
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LIFE LEISURE TRUST T/A ANEURIN LEISURE REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
• Sports Centres
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Supported various events including birthday parties, the charity fun day at Abertillery sports centre, summer holiday activities, the Christmas fun day at Abertillery Sports Centre, Halloween events and anniversary events for Tredegar Sports Centre’s 50[th] anniversary and Abertillery Sports Centre’s 20[th] anniversary.
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Supported swimming activity through the use of selfie boards as an alternative option to providing certificates, promoted adult swimming lessons and family swim passes.
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Promotional activities included ‘On-your-Doorstep’ flyers to push to new homes in the Ebbw Vale area, ‘Summer’s here; no excuses’ and a summer membership offer, promoting junior gym sessions over the summer period, promoting the online coaching initiative, national fitness day and Black Friday promotions and corporate retreat days for Tredegar Sports Centre.
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Signage updates were implemented at each of the reception areas, an upgrade to improve the directional signage at Abertillery Sports Centre and menu updates for The Galv café at Ebbw Vale Sports Centre.
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Supported the Sports Development team with promotional materials for their holiday playschemes, including photography for use online, banners for use at events, summer holiday activities, football camps and mini kickers, spring fun day and festive food bank appeal.
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A number of tactical social media posts were posted to support ad hoc service issues, events at Ebbw Vale sports centre, 3G pitch availability, respectful gym environments, Coronation celebrations and lifeguard courses.
• Parc Bryn Bach
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Supported the Outdoor Adventure Activities (OAA) team with new, interactive documentation to send to schools/groups including a consent form, orienteering maps and business cards. To support their extensive Easter activity programme, we extended reach outside of Blaenau Gwent to Cardiff by advertising in Primary Times with an offer on activities when the ad was presented at reception. This did have some response and we recognise that better tracking is required with any future advertising.
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Commissioned online research with open water swimmers to refine the offer from the park. We achieved a response rate of 37% and resulted in our open water swimming provision being extended to include a regular long course, opening the course to younger participants and more weekday sessions.
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Improved signage for paddle sports and activity control, advisory signs for fishing and driving, updated menu signage for the café and kiosk, instigated the new map for the park to sit outside the visitor centre, plus new security and jetty signage. In addition, we produced a wooden selfie board to sit near the jetty for visitors to tag us in to on social media.
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Following a complaint to the Welsh Language Commission, updated various signs around the park to be bilingual. Instructional signage was not changed at this juncture due to the complexity and importance of the information (e.g. go-kart bookings, open water swimming instructions) and hesitation to ‘overload’ the park with signs. Further discussions are ongoing on how to address this issue with exploration of digital solutions.
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The team at the park commissioned a number of fauna sculptures and we commissioned bilingual videos (accessed through QR codes on each of the sculpture), which explains interesting facts about each in an engaging way and a printed flyer/poster that is used on-site and at events.
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LIFE LEISURE TRUST T/A ANEURIN LEISURE REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
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Attended the National Education Show in Cardiff to promote the facilities at the park for schools which resulted in greater awareness and bookings. We also developed support materials for the Duke of Edinburgh awards support to engage with a wider age group within schools. In addition, we attended an education showcase in Blaenau Gwent to promote the facilities at PBB to local schools.
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Content was created through photography and videography of Gorge Walking
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Support of tactical activities including Christmas crafts, activities and a festive menu.
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Online, free listing sites and the Visit Wales site were updated with the developments at the park.
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- A number of tactical social media posts were posted to support ad-hoc service issues (e.g. work being undertaken in the visitor centre, problems with Sum Up), guest caterers over the summer period, additional OAA taking place, caravan site opening, tactical menu additions, third-party events at the park and driving range availability.
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Bedwellty House and Park (BHAP)
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The new website for BHAP went live in May 2023 and is felt to be a better representation of the classic heritage of the venue, promoting weddings and events on-site and showcasing the glorious grounds.
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Supported weddings with a new brochure, tactical offers promoted online and through relevant events, testimonial canvases for use around Bedwellty House, folders and business cards, showcases during the year and wedding photography to improve the content online and in general communication. We also took the opportunity to advertise in a magazine that is distributed at other venues’ wedding showcases (Top Tier magazine).
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Commissioned photography for Christmas activities and Santa’s grotto to improve website content.
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Supported the many events taking place though the year, including Bubbles and Brunch, Coronation celebrations, Gin Clubs, NHS 75[th] anniversary teas, Christmas market, lunches and tea, family parties, third-party activities, Valentine and Easter activities and St David’s day activities
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Supported the operations team by producing updated, editable baby shower and wakes documentation, and developing promotional support for the Heritage trail implemented by the team and ‘walk and talk’ sessions.
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Signage was updated throughout Bedwellty House to feature the new logo and we developed bilingual signage to support the Welsh School, housed at Bedwellty House.
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We developed support materials for BHAP to use at an education showcase in Blaenau Gwent illustrating the support for MFL, proms etc that take place at the park. Greater emphasis is planned for this area in the next FY.
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Online, free listing sites and the Visit Wales site were updated, and we bought into Squaremeal to further push BHAP as a wedding venue, having had good leads from the site previously. Unfortunately, our free listing was expiring so we committed to a year’s involvement with the site.
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Worked with The Friends of Bedwellty park to develop a recruitment flyer for them.
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A number of tactical social media posts were posted to support the various third-party activities taking place at the BHAP (e.g. the BG Heritage Forum), exhibitions, Friends of Bedwellty Park activities and additional activity dates.
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Library Services
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Supported the Library Services with a number of promotional activities including family history, various clubs, cost of living support, digital inclusion/tablet/SIM promotion, Wales libraries campaigns (growing together, BorrowBox, summer reading challenge, libraries week, big Welsh rhyme time) and student support,
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Supported new outreach staff with promotional activity/events including wiggly words, hungry munchkins, half term owls, Christmas crafts, Halloween crafts and promotional materials for events.
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LIFE LEISURE TRUST T/A ANEURIN LEISURE REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
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Signage was produced for Abertillery and Blaina libraries and improved internal signage was produced for Brynmawr library.
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A new book club was launched at Abertillery library with resultant promotional support.
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A number of tactical social media posts were posted including service updates, third-party group activities, litter picking sessions, healthy eating drop-in sessions, Tech Tuesdays, business support sessions, miscellaneous library activities and post event photography.
• Adult Community Learning
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At the beginning of the SPF funding, we supported the Multiply team with a draft marketing plan and initial communication. This has subsequently been taken into their own team with the recruitment of a social media exec.
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In addition, we supported the Bridges+ team to develop a new logo with the recommendation to retrain the name given the historic awareness that had been built from previous funding and not establish a new ‘brand’.
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Supported the Adult Community Learning team with communication for GCSEs, pottery workshops, art for adults, courses specific to Tredegar LAC, IT and maths courses, cooking with your child and an update to the overall provision.
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Signage was produced for Ebbw Vale LAC.
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Supported the various events and fayres held at Ebbw Vale LAC and procured promotional items for the team.
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A number of tactical social media posts were posted to support course take-up.
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Community Engagement
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Community engagement has continued with inclusion on many partners’ working groups and committees including the Integrated Wellbeing Network, BG Food Partnership, Youth Partnership Hub and attendance at many events throughout the year to promote the services of the Trust.
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Of particular note is supporting the work of the sports development team with the Family Engagement Programme and their support of Ukrainian Refugees which resulted in a family fun day hosted at Parc Bryn Bach. The community engagement officer is also active in supporting the sports development team with ongoing athletics festivals held at local schools.
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To support potential funding opportunities, the Trust has become a partner of CWYVS (Council for Wales of Voluntary Youth Services), which the sports development team and community engagement officer work with.
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In addition, following attendance at a Third Sector Partnership Event, the Trust has become involved with NEWCIS, supporting carers around Blaenau Gwent to access funding to use as respite at our facilities.
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The Community Engagement Officer has been active in the support of social services’ initiatives to support young carers in Blaenau Gwent. Following an initial presentation to young carers where the relevant opportunities across the Trust were highlighted, an activity day at Parc Bryn Bach was organised. This has also led to helping establish the use of the polytunnels at Parc Bryn Bach, supported by the operational team at the park.
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LIFE LEISURE TRUST T/A ANEURIN LEISURE REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
- The ongoing support of the Community Kit Room at Abertillery Sports Centre has resulted in growth of donations and use of the facility. The Community Engagement Officer, with the Sports Development team, coordinate and manage the donations, stock and distribution of the sports equipment to local residents. They work in partnership with Tai Calon, Mountain Fuel and StreetGames Wales to source kit and funding. Awareness is raised through the websites, social media and at relevant events. The Community Kit Room celebrated its first anniversary at Abertillery sports centre with its first year helping 140 people and providing 331 items of sportswear. The team is actively working to improve the drop-off points across the local authority, particularly the Trust’s sites and to expand to Tredegar sports centre.
• Working in Partnership
- In addition to the work of the Community Engagement Officer, the Trust Is actively involved with the Local Wellbeing Partnership, the Local Nature Partnership (Blaenau Gwent and Torfaen), southeast Wales Tourism, the Blaenau Gwent Destination Management Group and Valleys Regional Park.
• Trust Communication and Content
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During 2023 we engaged the services of a local agency to help us to develop content that could be used to support the different areas of the Trust and provide online content. This relationship was borne out of the agency approaching us with an offer to film the family fun day at Abertillery Sports Centre. This resulted in films to support the individual business areas, showcasing their services and facilities and has been used on the websites and social media platforms and at key events such as the National Education Show in Cardiff.
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We have very limited insight into the perceptions of the Trust and believe there is a strong ‘belief’ that we are part of the local authority. In addition to this, there is a move by the sport and fitness team away from BG Life to using ‘Aneurin Leisure’ therefore, we have commissioned research to gain a better understanding of perceptions of the Trust and BG Life to the community and sports centre users. This insight will provide us with a platform to further develop support to raise awareness of the Trust and clarify the way forward for the sports centres’ brand.
57
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LIFE LEISURE TRUST T/A ANEURIN LEISURE REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
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Working in partnership:
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Sports Centres:
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BG Life Website and Social Media: Secured additional content for the BG Life website and ongoing social media support to highlight key messaging.
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Promoting Playschemes: Supported the Sports Development team in promoting their regular Playschemes.
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Membership Campaigns: Launched Summer and Autumn campaigns for new memberships focusing on the overall benefits of membership, from as little as 63p per day.
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Customer Journey Form: Developed a customer journey form to assist sports centre staff with onboarding new members.
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National Promotions: Maximised national promotions such as National Fitness Day and Black Friday, and tactical promotions such as the 12 Days of Christmas and retreat days held at Tredegar Sports Centre.
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Youth Sport Trust Partnership: Worked with the Sports Development team to promote their partnership with the Youth Sport Trust, ensuring it is presented on the BG Life website.
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NERS Pregnancy Pathway: Supported the NERS (National Exercise Referral) team, particularly with their pregnancy pathway.
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Improved Signage: Improved signage across all three centres, including the installation of selfie mirrors at Abertillery Sports Centre.
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Tredegar Sports Centre Pool Refurbishment: Provided ongoing customer updates on the refurbishment and subsequent reopening of Tredegar Sports Centre’s pool.
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Community Kit Room Initiative: Supported the launch of the Community Kit Room initiative by the Sports Development team.
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Website Analytics: Monthly visits to the website average around 7,300, with fluctuations particularly around school holidays. The most popular pages are membership, swimming, timetables, the three sports centres’ pages, gyms, and contact us.
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LIFE LEISURE TRUST T/A ANEURIN LEISURE REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
NERS (National Exercise Referral Scheme):
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NERO-fit Classes: Partnered with the neurodiversity physiotherapy department to introduce NEROfit classes at Ebbw Vale Sports Centre, catering to clients with neurological conditions.
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Shared Prosperity Funding: Secured £112,000 through the Shared Prosperity Fund over two years (2023/24 and 2024/25) linked to the Multiply project in Wales, supporting the expansion of the NERS programme.
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Weight Management Programme: Rolled out a weight management programme aiming to achieve 80 participants over two years.
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New NERS Database (Theseus): Introduced the Theseus database, integrating efficiently with the GP patient system, reducing paperwork, and increasing the number of clients seen.
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Workforce Transition: Employed Mike White, enhancing the team’s flexibility and range of services offered.
Community and Development Initiatives:
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Cost of Living Event: Collaborated with Blaenau Gwent (BG) to host a Cost of Living Event at Tredegar Sports Centre, providing families with access to financial support and resources.
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Events and Activities: Hosted various events and activities including the Coal Dust Music event, 4- nations EMMAA event, Polaris 25, dance, boxing, netball, pickleball, and badminton, with more planned for 2024/25.
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Mental Health Partnerships: Established new partnerships with mental health charities Pobl and Papyrus, running initiatives like coffee mornings and community engagement sessions.
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Elective Home Educated Swimmers: Expanded the elective home educated swimmers programme from 6 to 14 swimmers in 2023/24.
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Energy Efficiency Initiatives: Implemented upgraded pumps, voltage optimisation, LED floodlights, and extended solar panels, reducing carbon emissions by over 100 tonnes and saving £87,000 in utility costs annually.
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Air Handling Unit Upgrade: Secured funding to replace and upgrade motors, reducing ventilation system utility costs by 42%.
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Social Value Calculator: Invested in the Social Value Calculator, demonstrating the social value generated by facilities. The total value generated was £2.5 million, with breakdowns for each centre.
Sports Development:
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School Sports: Supported school sports with summer athletics and cricket festivals, involving year 9 pupils and Pen-Y-Cwm School. Participation increased by 10% compared to the previous year.
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Community Kit Room: Increased donations and usage by 10%, expanding its reach and providing more resources to the community.
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Playscheme Programme: Delivered 367.4 hours to 3,039 attendees, including 229 children with disabilities, with volunteers contributing 387 hours. This represents a 10% increase in hours, attendees, support, and meals provided compared to the previous year.
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LIFE LEISURE TRUST T/A ANEURIN LEISURE REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
Workforce and Workplace Development
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Aneurin Leisure recognises and fully appreciates that our employees are the key to the success of the Trust. The Trust employs c. 244 contracted employees (Full Time Equivalent 138.7) and in addition, utilises casual relief posts (i.e., 42 individuals at the end of March 2024) and is committed to the development, health and wellbeing of all.
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The Trust continues working towards a planned, systematic approach to improving our organisational effectiveness, one that aligns strategy, people and processes to achieve our commitment to continuously improve our customers’ experience which is essential to achieving this. The Trust links training and the performance appraisals to our values and strategic priorities.
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The Trust continues to meet with the Trade Unions on a regular basis and continues to have an excellent working relationship.
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The Trust has continued to work in partnership with TSW (Training Services Wales) and a number of frontline supervisors and managers are currently completing training at Level’s 3 to 5.
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The Trust has recently invested in LMS 365. Learn 365 provides an online learning platform that is built into Microsoft 365 and Teams. A new suite of training materials will be created and rolled out to all employees during 2024/25.
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The Trust successfully rolled out a new time and attendance system ‘Planday’ during 2024/24 allowing for improved management of rota and schedule management and the removal of manual timesheets.
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Planday has allowed for provided greater accessibility to all employees improving communication channels across the Trust.
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The introduction of sharepoint and a Trust intranet site has allowed for the development of a Human Resources intranet site providing all employees with access to essential workforce information such as policies, forms and staff benefit information.
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The Trust continues to promote and increase its employee benefit offerings including cycle to work schemes which has seen increased interest each year.
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LIFE LEISURE TRUST T/A ANEURIN LEISURE REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
FINANCIAL REVIEW
The group has returned a Deficit of £9,289,117 before FRS 102 pension adjustments for the 12-month period to 31 March 2024, of which £187,418 is from restricted funds. The trading subsidiary, LLT limited has contributed a surplus of £19,814 to the group.
On 1 October 2014, the Trust was admitted to the Greater Gwent Local Government Superannuation scheme (LGPS), a defined benefit scheme. The funding deficit accruing to 30 September 2014 in respect of employees relocating to Aneurin Leisure was retained by Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council (BGCBC). The Trust is, therefore, only responsible for any increase in liabilities occurring after the transfer date, with the Authority acting as a guarantor for the previously accrued net deficit. The pension deficit on an FRS 17 basis on the 1 October 2014 was £4.432m and this deficit remains the obligation of BGCBC; an asset of £4.432m is included in these accounts to reflect this. The pension liability on an FRS 102 basis as at 31 March 2024 has improved to £8,454m from a surplus of £5,263m in 2023. However, the pension fund’s actuary has considered the impact of accounting to recognise an asset ceiling for the pension fund asset, and they have assessed that the asset ceiling should be nil therefore the pension fund asset has been revised to nil to ensure appropriate accounting treatment.
Principal funding sources
Within the period the Trust received £3,170,641 as a management fee from Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council. Grant income for the period amounted to £1,840,295 and the majority of the remaining income was received from our customers.
The income is used to fund the operating costs of the facilities from which we deliver our charitable objectives.
Reserves policy
It is the Trust’s policy to build up over time sufficient reserves to meet its charitable objectives on a sustainable basis and cover the risks that the Trust faces.
The Trust aims to build up reserves to fund working capital. All annual surpluses not allocated to fund working capital are available to fund investment in property and equipment to improve service quality. The Trust aims to maintain a minimum unrestricted reserve balance of £750,000, excluding any actuarial gains or losses. There has been a significant draw from unrestricted reserves for the Financial Year ended 31[st] March 2024 and the Trust recognises the need to significantly increase its current level of reserves.
At 31 March 2024 the restricted reserves amounted to a surplus of £628,281. The unrestricted reserves excluding the DB pension reserve amount to a surplus of £656,742 (2023: £820,830). The pension reserve was revised to nil as per the requirements of the actuarial adjustment for the asset ceiling.
On creation of Aneurin Leisure Trust in October 2014, pension assets and liabilities assessed on an actuarial basis were transferred from Blaenau Gwent CBC, such that the Trust’s pension obligations were deemed to be fully funded. The funding deficit accruing to 30 September 2014 in respect of employees relocating to Aneurin Leisure Trust was not transferred but was retained by Blaenau Gwent CBC. The Trust is therefore only responsible for any increase in liabilities (on an actuarial valuation basis) occurring after the transfer date, with the Authority acting as a guarantor for the previously accrued net deficit. In addition, the Authority agreed to act as guarantor of last resort in order that the Leisure Trust could enter the Greater Gwent (Torfaen) Pension Fund as an admitted body and has therefore agreed to underwrite any costs arising in the event that the admitted body defaults on any or all of its payments in relation to its pension obligations.
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LIFE LEISURE TRUST T/A ANEURIN LEISURE REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
However, in the Statement of Accounts the transferred pension assets and liabilities have been accounted for using assumptions for which differ from those used in the actuarial valuation approach on which the funding position at inception of the Trust was based. Consequently, those elements of the settlement figures disclosed in 2014/2015 that related to Aneurin Leisure Trust did not reflect a fully funded position, Nevertheless, the Authority is still liable for the sums relating to the accrued net deficit on transfer which is represented by the long-term debtor and will be adjusted for over time.
Key risks
The Trust has a 20-year contract which commenced on 1 October 2014 with BGCBC with a review process built in during years 3 and 4 to review overall performance in advance of agreement to continue with the Trust for the following 5 years.
As part of the contract, BGCBC service management fee is agreed at the start of each 5-year period and reviewed annually on progress. The key challenge facing the Trust is to grow income and control expenditure to support the contracted management fee.
If unsuccessful with attracting additional funding through various means including the Council, there will be a limitation in providing investment into key areas, and this will also limit the Trust’s ability to reduce its dependence on the management fee.
The Trust received £1,840,295 (2023: £1,730,831) of grant income in the year, equating to 19.50% of total incoming resources. The decrease in grants this year mainly relates to the reduction of Covid funding. In the event grant income reducing in future years the associated expenditure currently funded by the grants would also need to be reduced.
PLANS FOR THE FUTURE
The Trust faces a challenging period over the coming years mainly driven by the cost-of-living crisis which has elevated utility costs to unprecedented levels in recent financial years and although they have now decreased, they remain significantly higher than before the cost-of-living crisis. As a result, the Trust are exploring every opportunity to accelerate business plan projects, reduce operational costs where possible and review prices which we hope will ensure that services remain fully available to Blaenau Gwent residents. The Trust is working alongside Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council to review its operations to ensure that it continues to deliver the right services to Blaenau Gwent in a sustainable way.
STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT
Governance
Life Leisure Trust is a charitable company limited by guarantee as defined by the Companies Act (2006). The charity is governed by its Memorandum and Articles of Association which establishes the objects and powers of the charitable company.
The Trustees
The Trustees are also the Directors in accordance with the Companies Act 2006. The Board is made up of up to eleven Trustees consisting of one employee Trustee, up to two local authority Trustees and up to eight community Trustees.
Employee Trustees are appointed by the senior management team of the Trust for a period of three years.
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LIFE LEISURE TRUST T/A ANEURIN LEISURE REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
The community Trustees are appointed for a 3-year period, with recruitment process as follows:
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Advert placed in local newspapers, on social media (LinkedIn & Twitter) within the Trust facilities, on the Trust website and other advertising resources as appropriate inviting applications. An information pack is provided outlining the duties and roles of a Trustee and the application process, together with information on the Trust.
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Applications will be shortlisted based on criteria specified within the personal specification and job description and assessment of the applicants’ particular skills and expertise to cover both community interest and commercial/business knowledge (such as Finance, Human Resources, Sales and Marketing).
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The Interview/Appointment Panel will comprise of three members and wherever possible panels will have a gender/race balance. Panel members should include two Trustees (Chair and/or Vice Chair, or other Trustee), a Trust Senior Officer (Director of Resources or Director of Operations) with support from the Human Resource Service, where appropriate. In circumstances where there is a need to involve more than three members on an interview panel, then this should be discussed in advance and agreed with the Human Resource Service (it may be necessary on occasions for additional Members to sit in on a panel to observe the process for developmental purposes).
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The appointment of Trustees will be made by the Board of Trustees following recommendations from the Interview/Appointment Panel and be based on not only the assessment of whether individuals are suitable to be Trustees but also achieve a balance of skills on the Board. For example, it is important to have a balance of business skills and also geographical locations as well as interests (leisure, arts, community education, libraries, overall wellbeing, etc.)
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The Interview/Appointment Panel will recommend to the Board of Trustees of their preferred option to appoint a Trustee and following agreement to proceed, will confirm the offer to the selected candidate(s).
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The offer of appointment to be a member of the Board of Trustees will be subject to satisfactory references being obtained.
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All Trustees are provided with the following documentation on induction;
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Declaration of Interests form
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Rehabilitation of Offenders form
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Equality & Diversity Monitoring form
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Trustee Code of Conduct Policy
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Trustee Confidentiality Policy
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Health & Safety Policy
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Equal Opportunities Policy
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Memorandum and Articles of Association
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Schedule of Matters
All Trustees are also members of the Charitable Trust which is limited by guarantee.
All Trustees receive induction training with regard to the organisation including its powers and objects and the Charitable Trust itself.
Trustees will be offered further training opportunities during their tenure.
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LIFE LEISURE TRUST T/A ANEURIN LEISURE REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
Structure of the Charity
The Board of Trustees meets quarterly. The Charitable Trust operates a Finance sub-group to advise and report to the Board of Trustees.
A Corporate Director Team manages the day-to-day operations of the Charitable Trust, supported by a Senior Management Team.
Organisational Structure and Decision-Making Process
The Board retains overall accountability for the management of the Charitable Trust.
The day-to-day operations of the Charitable Trust are managed by the Trust’s Corporate Directors and Senior Management Team. The Senior Management Team is given strategic direction by the Board of Trustees (the Board) regarding the provision and operation of the services.
The Charitable Trust operates a business planning process whereby strategic priorities and targets directed by the Board and shared with Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council flow from the business plan into quarterly reports and an annual delivery plan. This is fully embedded and central to our planning and budgeting cycles and drives operational performance.
Remuneration of Key Management Personnel
Remuneration of Key Management Personnel is reviewed annually alongside the other employees of the company by the main Board as part of the annual budget setting process.
Related Parties
The Charitable Trust has a relationship with Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council, who provides funding in the form of a management fee to enable the Charitable Trust to carry out its charitable objectives.
The Charitable Trust owns 100% of the ordinary share capital of LLT limited. LLT limited rents camping and caravanning pitches at Parc Bryn Bach.
Co-operation with other organisations
As a community-based organisation operating throughout Blaenau Gwent, Aneurin Leisure structures large elements of its strategic planning and operational service delivery having due regard to partner aims and objectives, particularly Blaenau Gwent County Borough council. Work plans specifically identify how Aneurin Leisure will contribute to delivering on broader social agendas working with the health, education and voluntary sectors.
Risk Management
The Charitable Trust has developed a risk management plan to identify risks and risk mitigation measures at corporate level. The risk register is reviewed on a regular basis. The Trustees have a duty to identify and review the risks to which the charity is exposed and to ensure appropriate controls are in place to provide reasonable assurance against fraud and error.
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LIFE LEISURE TRUST T/A ANEURIN LEISURE REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS OF THE CHARITY AND ITS TRUSTEES
Charity name: Life Leisure Trust Trading name: Aneurin Leisure Company registration number: 8951503 Charity registration number: 1159092 Registered office: Bedwellty House Morgan Street Tredegar NP22 3XN Date of Appt. Trustees: Mr Lyn Evans – Chair 12/05/14 Mrs Donna Hardman 12/05/14 Councillor Wayne Hodgins 03/03/17 Resigned 10/12/18 Re-appointed 13/12/18 Resigned 21/09/22 Councillor Lee Parsons 25/05/17 Resigned 21/09/22 Professor Jennifer Ames 24/08/17 Resigned 05/01/24 Mr Richard Dando 26/03/19 Mr Stephen Priestnall 27/01/20 Mr Steven Hughes 14/08/23 Mr Matthew Burkitt 18/10/23 Mrs Ceri Waters 18/10/23 Ms Andrea Smart 27/01/20 Resigned 03/05/22 Mr Stephen Dwyer 16/03/20 Resigned 21/09/22 Mrs Sharon Howell 12/05/14 Resigned 29/03/19 Mrs Susan Lewis 12/05/14 Resigned 08/06/17 Mrs Sian Hughes 13/05/14 Resigned 30/09/17 Mr Philip Hodgson 01/07/14 Resigned 05/05/17 Mr Barry Esterhuizen 03/02/16 Resigned 27/04/17 Mr Steven Lewis 14/10/16 Resigned 31/05/17 Councillor Keren Bender 03/03/17 Resigned 19/05/17 Ms Tania Frowen 24/08/17 Resigned 26/06/18 Mr Mark Langshaw 01/12/17 Resigned 18/06/18 Mr Meirion Morgan 24/08/17 Resigned 03/12/18 Ms Claire Beynon 01/12/17 Resigned 15/03/19 Mr Andrew Rogers 25/03/19 Resigned 18/10/19 Mr Ross Watts 25/03/19 Resigned 14/12/20
Mrs Nichola Morden-Tew Director of Resources Mr Phillip Sykes Director of Operations
Key Management Personnel:
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LIFE LEISURE TRUST T/A ANEURIN LEISURE REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
| Bankers: | Barclays Business Banking |
|---|---|
| South Wales Team | |
| 3rdFloor Windsor Court | |
| 3 Windsor Place | |
| Cardiff | |
| CF10 3ZL | |
| Solicitors | |
| (Employment Law): | Capital Law LLP |
| Capital Building | |
| Tyndall Street | |
| Cardiff | |
| CF10 4AZ | |
| Auditors: | Azets Audit Services Limited |
| Chartered Accountants and Statutory Auditors | |
| 1-3 Waters Lane Chambers | |
| Waters Lane | |
| Newport | |
| NP20 1LA |
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LIFE LEISURE TRUST T/A ANEURIN LEISURE REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
Statement of Trustees’ Responsibilities
The trustees (who are also directors of Life Leisure Trust for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the Trustees' Report (incorporating the strategic report and directors’ report) and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102: The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).
Company law requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company and the group and of the income and expenditure, of the charitable company and group for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the trustees are required to:
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select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
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observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP;
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make judgments and accounting estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
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state whether applicable UK Accounting Standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements, and
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prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charitable company will continue in business.
The trustees are responsible for maintaining proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable company and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charitable company and the group and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
In so far as the trustees are aware:
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there is no relevant audit information of which the charitable company's auditors are unaware; and
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the trustees have taken all steps that they ought to have taken to make themselves aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the auditors are aware of that information.
The trustees are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial information included on the charitable company's website. Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.
Signed on behalf of the Board of Trustees
Date: 24[th] December 2024
Mr Lyn Evans Trustee
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REPORT OF THE INDEPENDENT AUDITORS TO THE TRUSTEES OF LIFE LEISURE TRUST T/A ANEURIN LEISURE
Opinion
We have audited the financial statements of Life Leisure Trust T/A Aneurin Leisure (the ‘parent charitable company’) and its subsidiaries (the 'group') for the year ended 31[st] March 2024 which comprise the consolidated Statement of Financial Activities, the consolidated and parent Balance Sheet, the consolidated Statement of Cash Flows and notes to the financial statements, including significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).
In our opinion the financial statements:
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give a true and fair view of the state of the group’s and parent charitable company’s affairs as at 31[st] March 2024, and of the group’s incoming resources and application of resources, including its income and expenditure, for the year then ended;
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have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice; and
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have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006.
Basis for opinion
We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the group and parent charitable company in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC’s Ethical Standard, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.
Conclusions relating to going concern
In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the trustees' use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.
Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the groups or parent charitable company’s ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.
Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the trustees with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.
Other information
The other information comprises the information included in the Report of the Trustees, other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. The trustees are responsible for the other information contained within the annual report[6] . Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon. Our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the course of the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact. We have nothing to report in this regard.
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REPORT OF THE INDEPENDENT AUDITORS TO THE TRUSTEES OF LIFE LEISURE TRUST T/A ANEURIN LEISURE
Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006
In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of the audit:
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the information given in the trustees' report (incorporating the strategic report and the directors’ report) for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements; and
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the strategic report and the directors’ report have been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements .
Matters on which we are required to report by exception
In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the group and parent charitable company and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the strategic report and the directors’ report.
We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Companies Act 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:
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adequate accounting records have not been kept by the parent charitable company, or returns adequate for our audit have not been received from branches not visited by us; or
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the parent charitable company’s financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or
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certain disclosures of directors’ remuneration specified by law are not made; or
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we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit.
Responsibilities of trustees
As explained more fully in the trustees’ responsibilities statement, the trustees (who are also the directors of the parent charitable company for the purposes of company law) are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the trustees determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.
In preparing the financial statements, the trustees are responsible for assessing the groups and parent charitable company’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the trustees either intend to liquidate the group or parent charitable company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.
Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements
We have been appointed auditor under the Companies Act 2006 and report in accordance with this Act. Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor’s report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.
A further description of our responsibilities is available on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at: https://www.frc.org.uk/Our-Work/Audit/Audit-and-assurance/Standards-and-guidance/Standards-andguidance-for-auditors/Auditors-responsibilities-for-audit/Description-of-auditors-responsibilities-foraudit.aspx. This description forms part of our auditor’s report.
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REPORT OF THE INDEPENDENT AUDITORS TO THE TRUSTEES OF LIFE LEISURE TRUST T/A ANEURIN LEISURE
Extent to which the audit was considered capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud
Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud.
We obtain and update our understanding of the entity, its activities, its control environment, and likely future developments, including in relation to the legal and regulatory framework applicable and how the entity is complying with that framework. Based on this understanding, we identify and assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to fraud or error, design and perform audit procedures responsive to those risks, and obtain audit evidence that is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion. This includes consideration of the risk of acts by the entity that were contrary to applicable laws and regulations, including fraud.
In response to the risk of irregularities and non-compliance with laws and regulations, including fraud, we designed procedures which included:
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Enquiry of management and those charged with governance around actual and potential litigation and claims as well as actual, suspected and alleged fraud;
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Reviewing minutes of meetings of those charged with governance;
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Assessing the extent of compliance with the laws and regulations considered to have a direct material effect on the financial statements or the operations of the entity through enquiry and inspection;
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Reviewing financial statement disclosures and testing to supporting documentation to assess compliance with applicable laws and regulations;
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Performing audit work over the risk of management bias and override of controls, including testing of journal entries and other adjustments for appropriateness, evaluating the business rationale of significant transactions outside the normal course of business and reviewing accounting estimates for indicators of potential bias.
Because of the inherent limitations of an audit, there is a risk that we will not detect all irregularities, including those leading to a material misstatement in the financial statements or non-compliance with regulation. This risk increases the more that compliance with a law or regulation is removed from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, as we will be less likely to become aware of instances of noncompliance. The risk of not detecting a material misstatement resulting from fraud is higher than for one resulting from error, as fraud may involve collusion, forgery, intentional omissions, misrepresentations, or the override of internal control.
We communicate with those charged with governance regarding, among other matters, the planned scope and timing of the audit and significant audit findings, including any significant deficiencies in internal control that we identify during our audit.
71
REPORT OF THE INDEPENDENT AUDITORS TO THE TRUSTEES OF LIFE LEISURE TRUST T/A ANEURIN LEISURE
Use of our report
This report is made solely to the charitable company’s members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charitable company’s members those matters we are required to state to them in an auditor’s report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charitable company and the charitable company’s members, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.
Craig Yearsley Senior Statutory Auditor For and on behalf of Azets Audit Services Chartered Accountants and Statutory Auditors Ty Derw Lime Tree Court Cardiff Gate Business Park Cardiff CF23 8AB Date 30/12/2024
Azets Audit Services is eligible to act as an auditor in terms of section 1212 of the Companies Act 2006.
72
LIFE LEISURE TRUST T/A ANEURIN LEISURE CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES (Incorporating the income and expenditure account) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
| Note Income and endowments from: Donations and legacies 3 Charitable activities 4 Other trading activities 5 Total income and endowments Expenditure on: Charitable activities 6 Total expenditure Net (expenditure)/ income 7 Transfers between funds 15,16 Other recognised gains/(losses): Actuarial (losses)/ gains on defined benefit pension schemes 20 Net movement in funds Reconciliation of Funds Total funds brought forward 15,16 Total funds carried forward 16,17 |
Unrestricted funds £ 1,000 8,228,743 26,275 8,256,018 17,545,135 17,545,135 (9,289,117) - 3,277,000 (6,012,117) 10,515,830 4,503,713 |
Restricted funds £ - 1,212,260 - 1,212,260 1,399,678 1,399,678 (187,418) - - (187,418) 815,699 628,281 |
Total funds 2024 £ 1,000 9,441,003 26,275 9,468,278 18,944,813 18,964,628 (9,476,535) - 3,277,000 (6,199,535) 11,331,529 5,131,994 |
Total funds 2023 Restated £ 1,316 8,312,410 7,924 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8,321,650 | ||||
| 10,265,947 | ||||
| 10,265,947 | ||||
| (1,944,297) - 16,112,000 |
||||
| 14,167,703 (2,836,174) |
||||
| 11,331,529 |
All income and expenditure derive from continuing activities.
The statement of financial activities also complies with the requirements for an income and expenditure account under the Companies Act 2006.
The notes on pages 78 - 108 form part of the financial statements
73
LIFE LEISURE TRUST T/A ANEURIN LEISURE STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES - CHARITY ONLY (Incorporating the income and expenditure account) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
| Note Income and endowments from: Donations and legacies 3 Charitable activities 4 Other income Total income and endowments Expenditure on: Charitable activities 6 Total expenditure Net (expenditure)/ income 7 Transfers between funds 15,16 Other recognised gains/(losses): Actuarial (losses)/ gains on defined benefit pension schemes 20 Net movement in funds Reconciliation of Funds Total funds brought forward 15,16 Total funds carried forward 16,17 |
Unrestricted funds £ 20,815 8,228,743 4,417 8,253,975 17,543,119 17,543,119 (9,289,144) - 3,277,000 (6,012,144) 10,515,857 4,503,713 |
Restricted funds £ - 1,212,260 - 1,212,260 1,399,678 1,399,678 (187,418) - - (187,418) 815,699 628,281 |
Total funds 2024 £ 20,815 9,441,003 4,417 9,466,235 18,942,797 18,942,797 (9,476,562) - 3,277,000 (6,199,562) 11,331,556 5,131,994 |
Total funds 2023 Restated £ 7,355 8,312,410 - |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8,319,765 | ||||
| 10,264,030 | ||||
| 10,264,030 | ||||
| (1,944,265) - 16,112,000 |
||||
| 14,167,735 (2,836,179) |
||||
| 11,331,556 |
The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year.
All income and expenditure derive from continuing activities.
The statement of financial activities also complies with the requirements for an income and expenditure account under the Companies Act 2006.
The notes on pages 78 - 108 form part of the financial statements
74
LIFE LEISURE TRUST T/A ANEURIN LEISURE CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31 MARCH 2024
| 2024 | 2023 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Restated | ||||||
| Note | £ | £ | £ | £ | ||
| Fixed assets: | ||||||
| Tangible assets | 9 | 492,335 | 497,188 | |||
| Current assets: | ||||||
| Stocks | 11 | 20,889 | 20,889 | 24,788 | ||
| Debtors | 12 | 5,203,457 | 5,203,457 | 5,529,139 | ||
| Cash at bank and in hand | 563,682 | 682 | 1,388,982 | |||
| 5,788,028 | 5,788,028 | 6,942,909 | ||||
| Liabilities: | ||||||
| Creditors: Amounts falling due | ||||||
| within one year | 13 | (883,721) | (1,040,971) | |||
| Net current assets | 4,904,307 | 5,901,938 | ||||
| Total assets less current liabilities | 5,396,642 | 6,399,126 | ||||
| Creditors: Amounts falling due after | ||||||
| more than one year | 14 | (264,648) | (330,597) | |||
| Net assets excluding pension | ||||||
| liability | 5,131,994 | 6,068,529 | ||||
| Defined benefit pension scheme | ||||||
| liability | 20 | - | 5,263,000 | |||
| Net (liabilities)/ assets | 5,131,994 | 11,331,529 | ||||
| The funds of the charity: | ||||||
| Restricted income funds | 15 | 628,281 | 815,699 | |||
| Unrestricted income funds | 16 | 656,742 | 656,742 | 820,830 | ||
| Pension reserve | 16 | 3,846,971 | 971 | 9,695,000 | ||
| 4,503,713 | 10,515,830 | |||||
| Total charity funds | 17 | 5,131,994 | 11,331,529 |
These financial statements were approved by the Board of Directors/Trustees on 24 December 2024.
The notes on pages 78 – 108 form part of the financial statements
Mr Lyn Evans Trustee
75
LIFE LEISURE TRUST T/A ANEURIN LEISURE CHARITY BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31 MARCH 2024
| 2024 | 2023 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Note | £ | £ | ||||
| Fixed assets: | ||||||
| Tangible assets | 9 | 492,335 | 497,188 | |||
| Investments | 10 | 1 | 1 | |||
| 492,336 | 497,189 | |||||
| Current assets: | ||||||
| Stocks | 11 | 20,889 | 20,889 | 24,788 | ||
| Debtors | 12 | 5,204,893 | 5,204,893 | 5,532,533 | ||
| Cash at bank and in hand | 562,245 | 245 | 1,387,097 | |||
| 5,788,027 | 5,788,027 | 6,944,418 | ||||
| Liabilities: | ||||||
| Creditors: Amounts falling due | ||||||
| within one year | 13 | (883,721) | (1,042,454) | |||
| Net current assets | 4,904,306 | 5,901,964 | ||||
| Total assets less current liabilities | 5,396,642 | 6,399,153 | ||||
| Creditors: Amounts falling due after | ||||||
| more than one year | 14 | (264,648) | (330,597) | |||
| Net assets excluding pension | ||||||
| liability | 5,131,994 | 6,068,556 | ||||
| Defined benefit pension scheme | ||||||
| liability | 20 | - | 5,263,000 | |||
| Net (liabilities)/ assets | 5,131,994 | 11,331,556 | ||||
| The funds of the charity: | ||||||
| Restricted income funds | 15 | 628,281 | 815,699 | |||
| Unrestricted income funds | 16 | 656,742 | 656,742 | 820,857 | ||
| Pension reserve | 16 | 3,846,971 | 971 | 9,695,000 | ||
| 4,503,713 | 1,015,857 | |||||
| Total charity funds | 17 | 5,131,994 | 11,331,556 |
These financial statements were approved by the Board of Directors/Trustees on 24 December 2024
Mr Lyn Evans Trustee
The notes on pages 78 - 108 form part of the financial statements
76
LIFE LEISURE TRUST T/A ANEURIN LEISURE CONSOLIDATED CASH FLOW STATEMENT AS AT 31 MARCH 2024
| Note Net cash provided by/(used in) operating activities 21 Cash flows from investing activities: Purchase of property plant and equipment 9 Net cash provided used in investing activities Change in cash and cash equivalents in the reporting period Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the reporting period 21 Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the reporting period 21 |
2024 £ (712,809) (112,491) (112,491) (825,300) 1,388,982 563,682 |
2023 £ (447,356) |
|---|---|---|
| (46,629) | ||
| (46,629) | ||
| (493,985) 1,882,967 |
||
| 1,388,982 |
The notes on pages 78 - 108 form part of the financial statements
77
LIFE LEISURE TRUST T/A ANEURIN LEISURE NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES
Legal form and address
Life Leisure Trust T/A Aneurin Leisure is a private company limited by guarantee incorporated in England and Wales. The registered office is Bedwellty House, Morgan Street, Tredegar, NP22 3XN.
Basis of preparation
The accounts have been prepared in accordance with the charity's governing document, the Companies Act 2006 and “Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102)” (effective 1 January 2019). The charity is a Public Benefit Entity as defined by FRS 102.
The financial statements are prepared in sterling, which is the functional currency of the charity. Monetary amounts in these financial statements are rounded to the nearest £.
The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention. The principal accounting policies adopted are set out below.
No separate cash flow statement has been presented for the charity itself as the charity has taken advantage of the exemptions in paragraph 1.12 of FRS 102.
Group financial statements
These consolidated financial statements include the financial statements of Life Leisure Trust Limited (the charitable company) and LLT Limited its wholly owned trading subsidiary, made up to 31 March 2024.
These financial statements consolidate the results of the charity and its wholly owned subsidiary on a line-by-line basis.
The trading results of the subsidiary are disclosed in note 10 to these financial statements.
Going concern
The group made a deficit (before defined benefit pension adjustments) of £9,476,534 for the year ended 31st March 2024 of which £9,289,116 related to unrestricted funds. The trust is predicted to be in a breakeven position for the financial year ending 31[st] March 2025 and make profits going forward. Membership and usage numbers for facilities have continued to grow and are now exceeding the numbers from pre-covid.- gc accounting policy
The trust’s have prepared forecasts for a period of more than 12 months from the date of signing the financial statements, these forecasts demonstrate that the trustees have a reasonable expectation that the trust has adequate cash reserves and resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. They have been prepared on a worst case scenario and with the Trust being significantly ahead of the 2024/25 forecast. Cash reserves at the date of signing the financial statements are strong.
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LIFE LEISURE TRUST T/A ANEURIN LEISURE NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES (continued)
Fund accounting
The charity has various types of funds for which it is responsible, and which require further disclosure. These are as follows:
Restricted funds are earmarked by the donor for specific purposes. Grant income received to fund capital expenditure is held in restricted reserves. The balance is transferred to unrestricted reserves in future years at the same rates as to match the depreciation charges of the related assets.
Revenue funds restricted by the donor are matched against expenditure as appropriate.
Unrestricted funds are expendable at the discretion of the trustees in furtherance of the objects of the charity. In addition to expenditure on the principal activities of the charity these funds can be held in order to fund capital expenditure.
Income recognition
Income is recognised when the charity is legally entitled to it after any performance conditions have been met, the amounts can be measured reliably, and it is probable that income will be received.
Certain income is received in advance of the provision of the relevant service and as such is deferred until the service commences.
The management fee is an unrestricted fund which is available for use at the discretion of the Trustees in furtherance of the general objectives of the charitable company. The income is invoiced and recognised in the period to which it relates.
Income from grants is recognised when the charity has entitlement to the funds, any performance conditions attached to the grants have been met, it is probable that the income will be received, and the amount can be measured reliably. Income from grants is deferred only when the terms and conditions of the grant permit the income to be deferred to future periods.
79
LIFE LEISURE TRUST T/A ANEURIN LEISURE NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES (continued)
Turnover is the amount derived from ordinary activities, and stated after trade discounts, other sales taxes and net of VAT.
Income from grants is recognised when the charity has entitlement to the funds, any performance conditions attached to the grants have been met, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount can be measured reliably and is not deferred.
Expenditure recognition
Expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to make a payment to a third party, it is probable that settlement will be required, and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. Expenditure is classified under the following activity headings:
Expenditure on charitable activities includes all costs relating to the furtherance of the charity’s objectives as stated in the trustees’ report and their associated support costs.
Irrecoverable VAT is charged as a cost against the activity for which the expenditure was incurred.
An analysis has been provided for the charitable activities on a departmental basis. The departments are defined as follows:
The departments are defined as follows:
-
Training and Libraries
-
Culture, Parks and Events
-
Sports and Fitness
-
Central Support Services
Costs where possible are attributed directly to the activity in which they relate. Where costs cannot be directly attributed to particular headings they have been allocated to activities based on income received in the year.
Governance costs comprise all costs involving public accountability of the charity and its compliance with regulation and good practice.
Netting off of income against expenditure
It is not the policy of the charitable company to show incoming resources net of expenditure.
Taxation
As a registered charity Life Leisure Trust T/A Aneurin Leisure is entitled to the exemption from taxation in respect of income and capital gains received with sections 478-489 of the Corporation Tax Act 2010 and section 256 of the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992 to the extent that these are applied to its charitable objects purposes only.
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LIFE LEISURE TRUST T/A ANEURIN LEISURE NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES (continued)
Fixed assets
Tangible fixed assets are initially measured at cost and subsequently measured at cost or valuation, net of depreciation and any impairment losses or in cases where fixed assets have been donated to the charity, at valuation at time of acquisition.
Depreciation is recognised so as to write off the cost or valuation of assets less their residual values over their useful lives on the following bases:
Fixtures, fittings and equipment - 20% straight line Plant and machinery - 20% straight line Motor vehicles - 20% straight line Computers equipment - 33% straight line Assets are capitalised at cost.
Impairment of Tangible Fixed Assets
At each reporting end date, the charity reviews the carrying amounts of its tangible assets to determine whether there is any indication that those assets have suffered an impairment loss. If any such indication exists, the recoverable amount of the asset is estimated in order to determine the extent of the impairment loss (if any).
Investments
Investments relate to 100% of the share capital of the charity's wholly owned trading subsidiary and is recognised at cost.
Stocks
Stocks are valued at the lower of cost and net realisable value. Net realisable value is based on the estimated selling price after taking into account all further costs and excess stocks that are slow moving.
Cash and cash equivalents
Cash and cash equivalents include cash in hand, deposits held at call with banks, other short-term liquid investments with original maturities of three months or less, and bank overdrafts. Bank overdrafts are shown within borrowings in current liabilities.
Financial instruments
The charity has elected to apply the provisions of Section 11 ‘Basic Financial Instruments’ and Section 12 ‘Other Financial Instruments Issues’ of FRS 102 to all of its financial instruments.
Financial instruments are recognised in the charity's balance sheet when the charity becomes party to the contractual provisions of the instrument.
Financial assets and liabilities are offset, with the net amounts presented in the financial statements, when there is a legally enforceable right to set off the recognised amounts and there is an intention to settle on a net basis or to realise the asset and settle the liability simultaneously.
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LIFE LEISURE TRUST T/A ANEURIN LEISURE NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES (continued)
Basic financial assets
Basic financial assets, which include debtors and cash and bank balances, are initially measured at transaction price including transaction costs and are subsequently carried at amortised cost using the effective interest method unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, where the transaction is measured at the present value of the future receipts discounted at a market rate of interest. Financial assets classified as receivable within one year are not amortised.
Derecognition of financial assets
Financial assets are derecognised only when the contractual rights to the cash flows from the asset expire or are settled, or when the charity transfers the financial asset and substantially all the risks and rewards of ownership to another entity, or if some significant risks and rewards of ownership are retained but control of the asset has transferred to another party that is able to sell the asset in its entirety to an unrelated third party.
Financial liabilities
Basic financial liabilities, including creditors and bank loans are initially recognised at transaction price unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, where the debt instrument is measured at the present value of the future payments discounted at a market rate of interest. Financial liabilities classified as payable within one year are not amortised.
Debt instruments are subsequently carried at amortised cost, using the effective interest rate method.
Trade creditors are obligations to pay for goods or services that have been acquired in the ordinary course of operations from suppliers. Amounts payable are classified as current liabilities if payment is due within one year or less. If not, they are presented as non-current liabilities. Trade creditors are recognised initially at transaction price and subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method.
Derecognition of financial liabilities
Financial liabilities are derecognised when the charity’s contractual obligations expire or are discharged or cancelled.
Employee Benefits
The cost of any unused holiday entitlement is recognised in the period in which the employee’s services are received.
Termination benefits are recognised immediately as an expense when the charity is demonstrably committed to terminate the employment of an employee or to provide termination benefits.
Service Concession Agreements
The charity has service contracts with Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council for the maintenance and operation of the various libraries, community centres, leisure centres and parks owned by the Local Authority to which it has lease and management service contracts.
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LIFE LEISURE TRUST T/A ANEURIN LEISURE NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES (continued)
Property, plant and equipment
The buildings and equipment at the various locations are to be leased to the charity as part of the overall contractual relationships with Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council (BGCBC) but BGCBC maintain ultimate control of these assets. Accordingly the access to which the charity has in the use of these assets is to enable it to operate the various venues so that the charity can provide the public service it is contracted to provide, not to effectively own these public service assets. These assets are therefore not recognised on the charity's Balance Sheet.
Any new assets purchased by the Trust remain the property of the Trust.
Receipts
The charity receives agreed management fee income from BGCBC each year which is decreased on an annual basis as per the terms of the Funding and Management Agreement.
Pensions
The charitable company operates a pension scheme providing benefits based on final pensionable pay.
Full details of the Trust's retirement benefit arrangements are set out in note 19 being the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS).
This is a funded pension scheme meaning that the employer and employee pay contributions which are invested in a separate fund.
Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council (BGCBC) remain liable for the past service deficit that existed at the Trust’s inception. The Trust is responsible for the LGPS movements after the commencement date; however the liability is indemnified by BGCBC.
The cost of providing benefits under defined benefit plans is determined separately for each plan using the projected unit credit method, and is based on actuarial advice.
The change in the net defined benefit liability arising from employee service during the year is recognised as an employee cost. The cost of plan introductions, benefit changes, settlements and curtailments are recognised as incurred.
The net interest element is determined by multiplying the net defined benefit liability by the discount rate, taking into account any changes in the net defined benefit liability during the period as a result of contribution and benefit payments. The net interest is recognised in income/(expenditure) for the year.
Remeasurement changes comprise actuarial gains and losses, the effect of the asset ceiling and the return on the net defined benefit liability excluding amounts included in net interest. These are recognised immediately in other recognised gains and losses in the period in which they occur and are not reclassified to income/(expenditure) in subsequent periods.
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LIFE LEISURE TRUST T/A ANEURIN LEISURE NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES (continued)
The net defined benefit pension asset or liability in the balance sheet comprises the total for each plan of the present value of the defined benefit obligation (using a discount rate based on high quality corporate bonds), less the fair value of plan assets out of which the obligations are to be settled directly. Fair value is based on market price information, and in the case of quoted securities is the published bid price. The value of a net pension benefit asset is limited to the amount that may be recovered either through reduced contributions or agreed refunds from the scheme.
Operating leases
The charity classifies the lease of gym equipment and motor vehicles as operating leases. Rental charges are charged on a straight line basis over the term of the lease.
2. CRITICAL ACCOUNTING ESTIMATES AND JUDGEMENTS
In the application of the charity’s accounting policies, the trustees are required to make judgements, estimates and assumptions about the carrying amount of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. The estimates and associated assumptions are based on historical experience and other factors that are considered to be relevant. Actual results may differ from these estimates. The estimates and underlying assumptions are reviewed on an ongoing basis. Revisions to accounting estimates are recognised in the period in which the estimate is revised where the revision affects only that period, or in the period of the revision and future periods where the revision affects both current and future periods. The following critical accounting estimates and judgements have been made:
Useful economic lives of tangible assets
The annual depreciation charge for tangible assets is sensitive to changes in the estimated useful economic lives and residual values of the assets. The useful economic lives and residual values are re-assessed annually. They are amended when necessary to reflect current estimate, based on technological advancement, future investments, economic utilisation and the physical condition of the assets. See note 9 for the carrying amount of the plant and equipment and above for the useful economic lives for each class of assets.
Defined benefit pension scheme
The present value of the Local Government Pension Scheme defined benefit liability depends on a number of factors that are determined on an actuarial basis using a variety of assumptions. The assumptions used in determining the net cost (income) for pensions include the discount rate. Any changes in these assumptions, which are disclosed in note 19, will impact the carrying amount of the pension liability.
84
LIFE LEISURE TRUST T/A ANEURIN LEISURE NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
3. INCOME FROM DONATIONS AND LEGACIES
| NCOME FROM DONATIONS AND LEGACIES | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Group Unrestricted funds £ Donations 1,000 LLT Limited Covenant - 20,815 Charity Donations 1,000 LLT Limited Covenant 19,815 20,815 |
Restricted funds £ - - - - - - |
Total 2024 £ 1,000 - 20,815 1,000 19,815 20,815 |
Total 2023 £ 1,316 - |
| 1,316 | |||
| 1,316 6,039 |
|||
| 7,355 |
85
LIFE LEISURE TRUST T/A ANEURIN LEISURE NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
4. INCOME FROM CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES
| Unrestricted funds Group and charity £ Catering income 1,354,801 Class income 6,122 Educational income 31,955 Grants 628,035 Leisure centre income 2,185,990 Management fee 3,170,641 Park outdoor activities 242,583 Room hire and rental 234,295 Sale of goods 51,461 Service Level Agreement 149,562 Shows and events 24,924 Sundry income 148,374 8,228,743 Grant income was received from the following sources: Group and charity Aneurin Bevan University Health Board - Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council - Books Council of Wales - Cardiff Council - Coleg Gwent 317,522 Denbighshire County Council - Disability Sports Wales - Dragons Community - European Social Fund - GAVO - National Heritage - Public Health Wales - Social Priority Fund - Sports Council Wales 41,000 Street Games - Tennis Wales - WCVA - Welsh Government 268,099 WLGA 312 WRU 1,102 WRU - 628,035 |
Restricted funds £ - - - 1,212,260 - - - - - - - - 1,212,260 1,994 16,154 1,000 15,847 - - 23,943 1,150 24,066 9,255 - 103,151 830,686 179,323 1,500 3,000 988 - - - 203 1,212,260 |
Total 2024 £ 1,354,801 6,122 31,955 1,840,295 2,185,990 3,170,641 242,583 234,295 51,461 149,562 24,924 148,374 9,441,003 1,994 16,154 1,000 15,847 317,522 - 23,943 1,150 24,066 9,255 - 103,151 830,686 220,323 1,500 3,000 988 268,099 312 1,102 203 1,840,295 |
Total 2023 Restated £ 1,193,081 57,873 34,124 1,730,831 1,787,536 2,879,785 263,975 174,531 43,936 76,471 13,339 56,928 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8,312,410 | |||
| 8,000 45,278 - - 261,793 3,500 19,963 - 460,795 12,000 1,013 101,772 - 266,030 28,992 - 5,892 515,803 - - - |
|||
| 1,730,831 |
Grant income was received from the following sources:
86
LIFE LEISURE TRUST T/A ANEURIN LEISURE NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
4. INCOME FROM CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES (continued)
Income by activity:
| ncome by activity: | ||
|---|---|---|
| Training and libraries Culture, parks and events Sports and fitness Central support services |
Group £ 945,719 1,430,098 3,193,386 3,918,890 9,488,093* |
Charity £ 945,719 1,430,098 3,193,386 3,897,032** |
| 9,466,235 |
- Group income includes donations and subsidiary trading income.
**Charity income includes donations and excludes subsidiary trading income
5. OTHER TRADING ACTIVITIES
| Group Unrestricted funds £ Subsidiary trading operations 26,275 26,275 |
Restricted funds £ - - |
Total 2024 £ 26,275 26,275 |
Total 2023 £ 7,924 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7,924 |
87
LIFE LEISURE TRUST T/A ANEURIN LEISURE NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
6. EXPENDITURE ON CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES
| Group Agency and subcontractors Business support Catering costs Defined benefit FRS102 recognised pension costs (note 19) Depreciation Events and show costs Irrecoverable VAT Other costs Premises Reorganisation costs Social security Wages and salaries Charity Agency and subcontractors Business support Catering costs Defined benefit FRS102 recognised pension costs (note 19) Depreciation Events and show costs Irrecoverable VAT Other costs Premises Reorganisation costs Social security Wages and salaries |
Direct £ 340,282 733,087 652,251 9,125,029 117,345 58,925 151,544 402,665 1,893,812 - 384,390 4,406,525 18,265,855 340,282 733,029 652,251 9,125,029 117,345 58,925 151,317 400,933 1,893,813 - 384,390 4,406,525 18,263,839 |
Support £ - 44,355 - - - - - - - - - 599,438 643,793 - 44,355 - - - - - - - - - 599,438 643,793 |
Grants Governance £ £ - - - 17,000 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 18,165 - 18,165 17,000 - - - 17,000 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 18,165 - 18,165 17,000 |
Total 2024 £ 340,282 814,257 652,251 9,125,029 117,345 58,925 151,544 402,665 1,893,812 - 384,390 5,024,128 18,944,813 340,282 794,384 652,251 9,125,029 117,345 58,925 151,317 400,932 1,893,813 - 384,390 5,024,128 18,942,797 |
Total 2023 £ 245,239 639,067 605,889 2,413,922 107,578 26,185 73,451 432,568 1,095,054 9,560 333,796 4,283,638 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10,265,947 | |||||
| 245,239 639,024 605,889 2,413,922 107,578 26,185 72,335 431,810 1,095,054 9,560 333,796 4,283,638 |
|||||
| 10,264,030 |
88
LIFE LEISURE TRUST T/A ANEURIN LEISURE NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
6. EXPENDITURE ON CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES (continued)
Expenditure can be attributed to:
| Group Training and libraries Culture, parks and events Sports and fitness Central support services Charity Training and libraries Culture, parks and events Sports and fitness Central support services |
Direct £ 2,066,406 2,290,458 4,153,779 9,755,211 18,265,855 2,066,406 2,288,443 4,153,779 9,755,211 18,263,839 |
Support £ 109,323 165,318 369,152 - 643,793 109,323 165,318 369,152 - 643,793 |
Grants Governance £ - - 18,165 - - - - 17,000 18,165 17,000 - - 18,165 - - - - 17,000 18,165 17,000 |
Total 2024 £ 2,175,729 2,473,914 4,522,931 9,772,211 18,944,813 2,175,729 2,471,926 4,522,931 9,772,211 18,942,797 |
Total 2023 £ 1,814,592 1,907,521 3,480,748 3,063,086 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10,265,947 | |||||
| 1,814,592 1,905,604 3,480,748 3,063,086 |
|||||
| 10,264,030 |
*Costs related to FRS 102 valuation of the pension scheme have been charged to the support category within Central support services and are not allocated across the business.
Support costs have been allocated to the activities based on income received in the year.
7. NET INCOME/(EXPENDITURE)
Net incoming resources are stated after charging:
| Total | Total | |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 2023 | |
| Group and charity | £ | £ |
| Depreciation | 117,345 | 107,578 |
| Operating leases | 7,995 | 7,995 |
| Auditors Remuneration: | ||
| Audit fees | 15,500 | 9,000 |
| Accountancy services | 1,500 | 1,500 |
89
LIFE LEISURE TRUST T/A ANEURIN LEISURE NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
8. STAFF COSTS
| Group and charity Wages and salaries Social security costs FRS 102 Pension service costs (see note 19) |
Total 2024 £ 5,024,128 384,390 9,125,029 14,533,547 |
Total 2023 £ 4,283,638 333,796 2,413,922 |
|---|---|---|
| 7,031,356 |
Pension costs also include the impact of the FRS102 actuarial valuation of the service cost of running the DB scheme.
Redundancy costs totalling £76,940 are included in the above costs (2023: £nil). There were no amounts outstanding at the year end (2023: £nil).
The total number of persons utilised throughout the year comprised a mixture of both contracted staff and relief workers. A number of individuals have only worked minimal shifts to support events. At 31 March 2022 and 2023 the Trust had 69 people in relief posts.
Staff numbers excluding relief workers:
| Headcount | Headcount | FTE | FTE | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 2023 | 2024 | 2023 | |
| Group and charity | ||||
| Training and libraries | 82 | 75 | 39 | 36.12 |
| Culture, parks and events | 72 | 75 | 35 | 36.12 |
| Sports and fitness | 137 | 129 | 66 | 62.13 |
| Central support services | 11 | 10 | 5 | 4.82 |
| 302 | 289 | 145 | 139.19 |
Key management personnel
The key management personnel of the charity received benefits totalling £181,192 (2023: £182,009).
These costs consist of gross pay, employers’ national insurance contributions and employers pension contributions.
The number of employees whose emoluments amounted to over £60,000 for the period and to whom retirement benefits are accruing under a defined benefit scheme was:
| Total | Total | |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 2023 | |
| £ | £ | |
| £60,000- £70,000 | 2 | 2 |
90
LIFE LEISURE TRUST T/A ANEURIN LEISURE NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
8. STAFF COSTS (continued)
The amount of employers pension contributions paid in respect of the above employees for the period was as follows:
| eriod was as follows: | ||
|---|---|---|
| Total | Total | |
| 2024 | 2023 | |
| £ | £ | |
| Total contributions | 18,275 | 24,732 |
Transactions with Trustees
During the period Donna Hardman, as the staff Trustee, received remuneration from her employment with the charity but not for her services as a Trustee.
The Memorandum and Articles of Association of the charity (paragraph 19.1) provides the charity with the legal authority to make such payments.
The employee is a staff representative on the Trustee board.
No Trustees were reimbursed for expenses during the current or prior period.
Related Party transactions
During the period the charity recharged its wholly owned trading subsidiary LLT Limited £19,815 (2023: £6,039) for admin, staff time and maintenance costs.
LLT Limited gift aided £19,815 (2023: £6,039) to the charity during the period.
As at 31 March 2024 the LLT owed the charity £1,949 (2023: the charity owed LLT £3,362).
91
LIFE LEISURE TRUST T/A ANEURIN LEISURE NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
9. TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS
| Plant and machinery Computer equipment Fixtures and fittings Group and charity £ £ £ Cost At 1 April 2023 707,667 8,674 64,108 Additions 112,491 - - Disposals (11,241) - - At 31 March 2024 808,917 8,674 64,108 Depreciation At 1 April 2023 221,926 8,674 52,661 Charge for the year 113,601 - 3,743 Depreciation on disposals (11,241) - - At 31 March 2024 324,286 8,674 56,404 Net Book Value At 31 March 2024 484,631 - 7,704 At 31 March 2023 485,741 - 11,447 |
Motor vehicle £ 28,125 - - 28,125 28,125 - - 28,125 - - |
Total £ 808,574 112,491 (11,241) |
|---|---|---|
| 909,824 | ||
| 311,386 117,344 (11,241) |
||
| 417,489 | ||
| 492,335 | ||
| 497,188 |
92
LIFE LEISURE TRUST T/A ANEURIN LEISURE NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
10. FIXED ASSET INVESTMENTS - CHARITY
| Investments | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| in Group | ||||||||
| undertakings | ||||||||
| £ | ||||||||
| Cost as at | 31 | March | 2023 | and | 31 | March | 2024 | 1 |
Life Leisure Trust owns 100% of the ordinary share capital of LLT Limited, a company registered in England and Wales, company number 09236541. The registered office of the company is the same as the charity. LLT Limited rents camping and caravanning pitches at Parc Bryn Bach.
The results of the company for the year ended 31 March 2024 can be found below:
| Profit and Loss Account Turnover Admin expenses Operating profit Statement of changes in Equity Balance brought forward Profit and total comprehensive income for the period Distributions to parent charity under gift aid Balance carried forward Balance Sheet Current assets: Cash at bank and in hand Prepayments Current liabilities: Amounts owed to group undertakings Net current assets/(liabilities) Capital and reserves: Called up share capital Profit and loss reserves |
Total 2024 £ 21,858 (21,858) - 1 31 (31) 1 1,437 513 1,950 1,949 1,949 1 1 - 1 |
Total 2023 £ 7,924 (7,955) |
|---|---|---|
| (31) | ||
| 1 31 (31) |
||
| 1 | ||
| 1,880 1,483 |
||
| 3,363 | ||
| 3,362 | ||
| 3,362 | ||
| 1 | ||
| 1 - |
||
| 1 |
The results above are included in the consolidated accounts.
93
LIFE LEISURE TRUST T/A ANEURIN LEISURE NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
11. STOCK
| Group and charity Shop items Food and bar 12. DEBTORS Group Amounts falling due within one year: Trade debtors Prepayments and accrued income Other debtors Other Taxation Amounts falling due after one year: Underwritten pension balance Charity Amounts falling due within one year: Trade debtors Amounts due from subsidiary undertakings Prepayments and accrued income Other debtors Other Taxation Amounts falling due after one year: Underwritten pension balance |
|
|---|---|
The underwritten pension balances relates to the deficit on the LGPS scheme prior to the Trust’s inception (see note 20).
94
LIFE LEISURE TRUST T/A ANEURIN LEISURE NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
13. CREDITORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR
| Group Trade creditors Accruals and deferred income Social security and other taxes Hire purchase Charity Trade creditors Accruals and deferred income Social security and other taxes Amounts due to subsidiary undertakings Hire purchase |
2024 £ 55,624 762,148 - 65,949 883,721 43,624 774,148 - - 65,949 883,721 |
2023 Restated £ 44,290 677,042 255,638 64,002 |
|---|---|---|
| 1,040,972 | ||
| 44,290 677,041 255,638 1,483 64,002 |
||
| 1,042,454 |
Contained in the accruals and deferred balance above is deferred income in relation to weddings, activities, ticket sale income and management fee income which will relates to the 2023/24 financial year.
Contained in the balance is also grant income received in advance of the period to which it relates.
| Group and Charity Balance brought forward Income received in the year Released to income Balance carried forward |
2024 £ 64,902 - (55,281) 9,621 |
2023 £ 205,857 2,738,830 (2,879,785) |
|---|---|---|
| 64,902 |
95
LIFE LEISURE TRUST T/A ANEURIN LEISURE NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
14. CREDITORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE AFTER ONE YEAR
| Group and Charity Hire purchase |
2024 £ 264,648 264,648 |
2023 £ 330,597 |
|---|---|---|
| 330,597 |
Hire purchase contracts
The net book value of fixed assets held under hire purchase contracts during the year totalled £320,575 (2023: £388,065).
| Group and Charity Future minimum lease payments due under finance leases: Within one year In two to five years In over five years |
2024 £ 65,949 264,648 0 330,597 |
2023 £ 64,002 275,477 55,120 |
|---|---|---|
| 394,599 |
96
LIFE LEISURE TRUST T/A ANEURIN LEISURE NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
15. RESTRICTED FUNDS
| Group and charity Aneurin Bevan University Health Board Arts Council of Wales Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council Books Council of Wales Cardiff Council Denbighshire County Council Disability Sports Wales Dragons Community European Social Fund GAVO Learning & Work Institute National Heritage Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council Public Health Wales Social Priority Fund Sports Council Wales Street Games Tennis Wales WCVA Welsh Government Wrexham County Borough Council WRU Total funds |
At 1 April 2023 Restated £ - - 15,342 - - 422 - - 466,877 9,118 3,761 1,013 4,114 - - 117,546 29,238 - - 166,564 1,704 - 815,699 |
Income £ 1,994 - 16,154 1,000 15,847 - 23,943 1,150 24,066 9,255 - - - 103,151 830,686 179,323 1,500 3,000 988 - - 203 1,212,260 |
Expenditure £ (1,994) (46) (8,549) (1,000) - (6,108) (23,943) (1,150) (59,563) (1,6086) - (477) - (103,151) (830,686) (159,302) (14,083) (3,000) (798) (169,539) - (203) (1,399,678) |
Transfers £ - - - - - - - - - 145 - - - - - (145) - - - - - - - |
At 31 March 2024 £ - (46) 22,947 - 15,847 (5,686) - - 431,380 2,432 3,761 536 4,114 - - 137,422 16,654 - 190 (2,975) 1,704 - |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 628,281 |
Aneurin Bevan University Health Board was received for the MALD Museums and Libraries Division (formally CyMAL) project to assist with the delivery of Every Child a Member Scheme.
Arts Council of Wales funding was received for delivery of community arts projects within the four Local Authority areas of Blaenau Gwent, Torfaen, Merthyr Tydfil and Caerphilly.
Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council was to provide Adult Community Learning.
Books Council of Wales funded by MALD Museums and Libraries Division to assist with the delivery of Every Child a Member Scheme.
Cardiff Council offered Street Games funding to deliver community-based sessions and festivals within Blaenau Gwent.
97
Denbighshire County Council was received for the MALD Museums and Libraries Division (formally CyMAL) funding to assist with the delivery of Every Child a Member Scheme.
Disability Sports Wales funding was received for the provision of quality sporting and physical activity opportunities for disabled people at grass roots level.
European Social Fund grant was received to achieve two main objectives:
-
engage, support and prepare the economically inactive in deprived areas, by teaching them the relevant skills to gain sustainable employment.
-
increase the relevant skills of those individuals currently employed with limited skills.
Heritage Lottery funding was received to achieve four main objectives:
-
i. enhancing educational activities within the local heritage attractions.
-
ii. delivering the ‘Blaenau Gwent in the 1st World War’ project, which includes working with volunteers and the community. This project has successfully concluded.
-
iii. providing exposure to the arts via the History and Mystery project.
-
iv. to deliver a series of workshops to young people in the community on local history via the Voice and Identity project
Dragons Community hosts Fit, Fed, Fun summer rugby camps delivered for young people in Blaenau Gwent with Dragons rugby
European Social Funds to engage, support and prepare the economically inactive, including those who are long term unemployed, in the most deprived areas, to acquire the appropriate skills to become job ready and to gain sustainable employment.
GAVO funding received to establish a community wellbeing hub that supports community members to reintegrate back into community life post COVID.
Good Things Foundation funding received for the public to complete their census digitally.
Learning & Work Institute funding was received to deliver promotional activities during the Adult Learners’ week.
National Heritage funding was received for sensory garden project at Parc Bryn Bach.
Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council
MALD Museums and Libraries Division (formally CyMAL) funding to assist with the delivery of Every Child a Member Scheme
Public Health Wales funding was received to facilitate the implementation and maintenance of exercise schemes, with the view of improving the health and wellbeing for patients aged 16 and over at risk of chronic disease.
98
LIFE LEISURE TRUST T/A ANEURIN LEISURE NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
15. RESTRICTED FUNDS (continued)
Social Priority fund shared Prosperity Funding to deliver improvements to Communities, and People and skills. Helping deliver employment support for economically inactive people and funding skills provision to provide people with the skills needed to progress in life and work, including supporting local areas to fund local skills needs.
Sports Council Wales funding was received to achieve six objectives:
-
i. to set up a buggy walker group for new parents/carers to meet weekly and enjoy an exercise class with their child via the Sports Lottery Community Chest Grant.
-
ii. increase regular participation in sport, improve opportunities for all and develop talented athletes via the LAPA project.
-
iii. provide free swimming to eligible participants via the Free Swim Grant.
-
iv. to support the delivery of the 'Coaches for the Future' programme.
-
v. to develop sports clubs via the 'Thriving Clubs' project.
-
vi. to improve the health, happiness and confidence of children by increasing their participation in physical activity via the Physical Literacy project.
Street Games funding was received to deliver the 'Door-step Sport' and 'Us Girls Initiative' as well as the 'Sports Leaders Awards'.
Tennis Wales provides provide financial support to Tennis and Padel clubs, venues and not for profit organisations in Wales who can support us in delivering our participation growth targets and to assist with diversifying the sport.
WCVA funding to improve biodiversity, waste minimisation and environmental enhancement.
Welsh Government funding was received to restructure the ground floor of Abertillery library to accommodate Adult Community learning activities.
Wrexham County Borough Council funding was received to achieve three main objectives:
-
delivery of 'Every Child a Member' scheme with the libraries.
-
delivery of the 'Summer Reading Challenge'.
-
delivery of the 'Rugby Stories' project. This project has successfully concluded.
WRU provide funding from Welsh Rugby Union to support rugby activities and events delivered by Aneurin Leisure Trust in Blaenau Gwent.
99
Previous period
| Group and charity Aneurin Bevan University Health Board Arts Council of Wales Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council Denbighshire County Council Disability Sports Wales European Social Fund GAVO Good Things Foundation Heritage Lottery Learning & Work Institute National Heritage Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council Public Health Wales Sports Council Wales Street Games WCVA Welsh Government Wrexham County Borough Council Total funds |
At 1 April 2022 £ 10,000 (12,446) 11,000 - (162) 434,238 - 4,234 11,592 3,761 - 4,114 6,793 56,845 50,728 22,104 5,000 1,704 609,505 |
Income Restated £ 8,000 - 45,278 3,500 19,963 460,795 12,000 - - - 1,013 - 101,772 224,554 28,992 5,892 254,410 - 1,166,169 |
Expenditure £ (18,000) 809 (40,936) (3,078) (22,400) (428,047) (2,882) (4,234) - - - - (131,920) (163,852) (50,483) (27,996) (92,846) - (985,865) |
Transfers £ - 11,637 - - 2,599 (109) - - (11,592) - - - 23,355 - - - - - 25,890 |
At 31 March 2023 Restated £ - - 15,342 422 - 466,878 9,118 - - 3,761 1,013 4,114 - 117,547 29,237 - 166,564 1,704 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 815,699 |
100
LIFE LEISURE TRUST T/A ANEURIN LEISURE NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
16. UNRESTRICTED FUNDS
| Group General fund Defined benefit pension scheme Charity General fund Defined benefit pension scheme Previous period Group General fund Defined benefit pension scheme Charity General fund Defined benefit pension scheme |
As at 1 April 2023 Restated £ 820,830 9,695,000 10,515,830 820,857 9,695,000 10,515,857 As at 1 April 2022 £ 1,263,321 (4,709,000) (3,445,679) 1,263,316 (4,709,000) (3,445,684) |
Income £ 8,256,018 - 8,256,018 8,253,975 - 8,253,975 Income £ 7,155,481 - 7,155,481 7,153,596 - 7,153,596 |
Expenditure Transfers Actuarial loss on defined benefit pension scheme £ £ £ (9,005,144) - - (8,539,991) - 3,277,000 (17,564,950) - 3,277,000 (8,418,090) - - (9,125,029) - 3,277,000 (17,543,119) - 3,277,000 Expenditure Restated Transfers Actuarial loss on defined benefit pension scheme £ £ £ (7,572,081) (25,890) - (1,708,000) - 16,112,000 (9,280,081) (25,890) 16,112,000 (7,570,163) (25,890) - (1,708,000) - 16,112,000 (9,278,163) (25,890) 16,112,000 |
As at 31 March 2024 £ 71,704 4,432,009 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4,503,713 | ||||
| 656,742 3,846,971 |
||||
| 4,503,713 | ||||
| As at 31 March 2023 Restated £ 820830 9695000 |
||||
| 10,515,831 | ||||
| 820,859 9,695,000 |
||||
| 10,515,859 |
101
LIFE LEISURE TRUST T/A ANEURIN LEISURE NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
17. ANALSYS OF NET ASSETS BETWEEN FUNDS
| Unrestricted funds Group £ Fixed assets 492,335 Current assets 633,159 Pension debtor 4,432,000 Current liabilities (789,133) Long term liabilities (264,648) Pension deficit - Total funds 4,503,713 Charity Fixed assets 492,335 Investments 1 Current assets 633,159 Pension debtor 4,432,000 Current liabilities (789,133) Long term liabilities (264,648) Pension deficit - Total funds 4,503,714 Previous year Unrestricted funds Group £ Fixed assets 497,188 Current assets 1,695,204 Pension debtor 4,432,000 Current liabilities (1,040,972) Long term liabilities (330,597) Pension deficit 5,263,000 Total funds 10,515,823 Charity Fixed assets 497,188 Investments 1 Current assets 1,696,719 Pension debtor 4,432,000 Current liabilities (1,042,455) Long term liabilities (330,597) Pension deficit 5,263,000 Total funds 10,515,856 |
Restricted funds £ - 628,281 - - - - 628,281 - - 628,281 - - - - 628,281 Restricted funds £ - 815,699 - - - - 815,699 - - 815,699 - - - - 815,699 |
2024 £ 492,335 1,261,440 4,432,000 (789,133) (264,648) - |
|---|---|---|
| 5,131,994 | ||
| 492,335 1 1,261,440 4,432,000 (789,133) (264,648) - |
||
| 5,131,995 | ||
| 2023 £ 497,188 2,510,903 4,432,000 (1,040,972) (330,597) 5,263,000 |
||
| 11,331,522 | ||
| 497,188 1 2,512,418 4,432,000 (1,042,455) (330,597) 5,263,000 |
||
| 11,331,555 |
102
LIFE LEISURE TRUST T/A ANEURIN LEISURE NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
18. OPERATING LEASES
The group had the following operating leases in place as at 31 March 2024:
| Group and Charity Due less than 1 year |
Total 2024 £ 3,610 3,610 |
Total 2023 £ 22,468 |
|---|---|---|
| 22,468 |
19. ULTIMATE CONTROLLING PARTY
The ultimate controlling party is the Board of Trustees and management team who are responsible for the strategic and operational decisions of the charity.
20. PENSIONS
The company operates a pension scheme providing benefits based on pensionable pay.
The assets of the scheme are held separately from those of the charity. The contributions are determined by a qualified actuary based on triennial valuations using the projected unit method. The most recent valuation was as at 31 March 2022 which has been updated to reflect conditions at the balance sheet date. The assumptions that have the most significant effect on the results of the valuation are those relating to the rate of return on investments and the rate of increase in salaries and pensions.
There were no amounts outstanding in relation to pension contributions during the current or prior period. Regular employer contributions during the period totalled £567,000 (2023: £776,000).
Local Government Superannuation Scheme (LGPS)
The company participates in the 'Torfaen County Borough Council (Greater Gwent)’ pension scheme which is a defined benefit scheme based on final pensionable salary. Certain employees of the company participated in the scheme prior to the company's inception and, as such, assets or liabilities attributable to these individuals were identified at the transfer date i.e. 1st October 2014. As part of the agreement, liability for the proportion of the debt attributable to these employees that relates to the pre-transfer period rests with Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council (BGCBC). Gains and losses relating solely to the period since transfer are recognised in the income statement and statement of other comprehensive income. However, the deficit is underwritten by BGCBC. Pension funding is based on funding advice from the scheme actuary based on a different set of assumptions. The FRS 102 valuation does not impact on the level of contribution that the company and hence ultimately BGCBC has to make.
103
LIFE LEISURE TRUST T/A ANEURIN LEISURE NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
20. PENSIONS (continued)
Changes in the Fair Value of Plan Assets, Defined Benefit Obligation and Net Liability for year end 31 March 2024
Amounts recognised in the Balance Sheet and the Statement of Financial Activities are as follows:
| Period ended 31 March 2024 Fair value of plan assets Present value of funded liabilities Opening Position as at 31 March 2023 Service cost Current service cost Past service cost (including curtailments) Total Service Cost Net interest Interest income on plan assets Interest cost on defined benefit obligation Total net interest Total defined benefit cost recognised in Profit or (Loss) Cash flows Plan participants’ contributions Employer contributions Estimated Benefits paid Expected closing position Remeasurements Changes in financial assumptions Changes in demographic assumptions Other experience Return on assets excluding amounts included in net interest Total remeasurements recognised in Other Comprehensive Income (OCI) Fair value of plan assets Present value of funded liabilities Asset Ceiling Closing Position as at 31 March 2024 |
Assets £(000) 26,435 - 26,435 - - - 1,268 - 1,268 1,268 274 567 (335) 28,209 - - - 2,141 2,141 30,350 - (30,350) - |
Obligations £(000) Net (liability)/ asset £(000) - 26,435 21,172 (21,172) 21,172 5,263 896 (896) - - 896 (896) - 1,268 1,025 (1,025) 1,025 243 1,921 (653) 274 - - 567 (335) - 23,032 5,177 (1,683) 1,683 (130) 130 677 (677) - 2,141 (1,136) 3,277 - 30,350 21,896 (21,896) (21,896) (8,454) - - |
Obligations £(000) Net (liability)/ asset £(000) - 26,435 21,172 (21,172) 21,172 5,263 896 (896) - - 896 (896) - 1,268 1,025 (1,025) 1,025 243 1,921 (653) 274 - - 567 (335) - 23,032 5,177 (1,683) 1,683 (130) 130 677 (677) - 2,141 (1,136) 3,277 - 30,350 21,896 (21,896) (21,896) (8,454) - - |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5,263 | |||
| (896) - |
|||
| (896) | |||
| 1,268 (1,025) |
|||
| 243 | |||
| (653) | |||
| - 567 - |
|||
| 5,177 | |||
| 1,683 130 (677) 2,141 |
|||
| 3,277 | |||
| 30,350 (21,896) (8,454) |
|||
| - |
104
LIFE LEISURE TRUST T/A ANEURIN LEISURE NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
20. PENSIONS (continued)
The major categories of plan assets as a percentage of total plan assets are as follows:
Using the most recent asset split and allowing for index returns, where required, on each asset category, the estimated split of assets as at 31 March 2024 is as shown below:
| Period Ended | 31 March 2024 | 31 March 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| % | % | |
| Equities | 74 | 79 |
| Bonds | 17 | 17 |
| Property | 6 | 3 |
| Cash | 3 | 1 |
The financial assumptions, as described in the accompanying report, are summarised below:
| Period Ended | 31 Mar 2024 | 31 March 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| % p.a. | % p.a. | |
| Pension Increase Rate | 2.75 | 2.95 |
| Salary Increase Rate | 3.25 | 3.45 |
| Discount Rate | 4.85 | 4.75 |
Life expectancy is based on the Funds’ VitaCurves with improvements in line with CMI 2018 with a peaked long term rate of 1.25% p.a.
The average future life expectances at age 65 are summarised below:
| Males | Females | |
|---|---|---|
| Current Pensioners | 19.3 years | 23.2 years |
| Future Pensioners* | 20.5 years | 24.3 years |
*Figures assume members aged 45 as at the last formal valuation date.
SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS
The sensitivities regarding the principal assumptions used to measure the scheme liabilities are set out below:
| Change in assumptions at 31 March 2024 | Approximate % increase to | Approximate monetary |
|---|---|---|
| Defined Benefit Obligation | amount £(000) | |
| 0.1% decrease in Real Discount Rate | 2 | 535 |
| 1 year increase in member life expectancy | 4 | 876 |
| 0.1% increase in the Salary Increase Rate | 0 | 20 |
| 0.1% increase in the Pension Increase Rate | 2 | 525 |
105
LIFE LEISURE TRUST T/A ANEURIN LEISURE NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
21. RECONCILIATION OF NET INCOME/(EXPENDITURE) TO NET CASH FLOW FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES
| Net (expenditure)/ income for the reporting period Adjustments for: Depreciation charges (Increase)/decrease in stocks (Increase)/decrease in debtors (Increase)/decrease in creditors Net cash provided by operating activities Analysis of Cash and Cash Equivalents Cash in hand Total Cash and Cash Equivalents |
2024 £ (6,199,535) 117,344 3,899 325,682 5,039,800 (712,809) 563,682 563,682 |
2023 Restated £ 14,167,703 107,578 (1,111) (467,397) (14,254,128) |
|---|---|---|
| (447,355) | ||
| 1,388,982 | ||
| 1,388,982 |
Analysis of changes in net funds
| Cash at bank and in hand Obligations under finance lease |
At 1 April 2023 £ 1,388,982 (394,599) 994,383 |
Cash flows Other non- cash changes At 31 March 2024 £ £ £ (825,300) 0 563,682 74,304 (10,302) (330,597) (750,966) (10,302) 233,085 |
Cash flows Other non- cash changes At 31 March 2024 £ £ £ (825,300) 0 563,682 74,304 (10,302) (330,597) (750,966) (10,302) 233,085 |
|---|---|---|---|
| (330,597) | |||
| 233,085 |
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LIFE LEISURE TRUST T/A ANEURIN LEISURE NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
22. COMPARATIVE STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIY
| Group Income and endowments from: Donations and legacies Charitable activities Other trading activities Total income and endowments Expenditure on: Charitable activities Total expenditure Net (expenditure)/ income Transfers between funds Other recognised gains/(losses): Actuarial (losses)/ gains on defined benefit pension schemes Net movement in funds Reconciliation of Funds Total funds brought forward Total funds carried forward |
Unrestricted funds £ 1,316 7,146,240 7,924 7,155,480 9,280,081 9,280,081 (2,124,601) (25,890) 16,112,000 13,961,509 (3,445,679) 10,515,830 |
Restricted Funds Restated £ - 1,166,170 - 1,166,170 985,866 985,866 180,304 25,890 - 206,194 609,505 815,699 |
Total funds 2023 Restated £ 1,316 8,312,410 7,924 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8,321,650 | |||
| 10,265,947 | |||
| 10,265,947 | |||
| (1,944,297) - 16,112,000 |
|||
| 14,167,703 (2,836,174) |
|||
| 11,331,529 |
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LIFE LEISURE TRUST T/A ANEURIN LEISURE NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
22. COMPARATIVE STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITY (continued)
| Charity Income and endowments from: Donations and legacies Charitable activities Total income and endowments Expenditure on: Charitable activities Total expenditure Net (expenditure)/ income Transfers between funds Other recognised gains/(losses): Actuarial (losses)/ gains on defined benefit pension schemes Net movement in funds Reconciliation of Funds Total funds brought forward Total funds carried forward |
Unrestricted funds £ 7,355 7,146,240 7,153,595 9,278,164 9,278,164 (2,124,569) (25,890) 16,112,000 13,961,541 (3,445,684) 10,515,857 |
Restricted Funds Restated £ - 1,166,170 1,166,170 985,866 985,866 180,304 25,890 - 206,194 609,505 815,699 |
Total funds 2023 Restated £ 7,355 8,312,410 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8,319,765 | |||
| 10,264,030 | |||
| 10,264,030 | |||
| (1,944265) - 16,112,000 |
|||
| 14,167,735 (2,836,179) |
|||
| 11,331,556 |
23. PRIOR PERIOD ADJUSTMENT
Using it was noted during the year that a credit note was raised in relation to Solar Grant Funding received and recognised from Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council in the prior year. This was in error and should have been recognised as expenditure on behalf Life Leisure Trust. As a result the prior year income and closing reserve position has been decreased by £261,558 with an accrual and expense recognised for the return of the funds to Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council.
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