Chair’s Report to the Annual General Meeting
24th November 2022
Dear Member,
Introduction
I am pleased to be delivering a report to you this year, which involves our community coming together again. This report first reviews BCA activity prior to reviewing BCH activity.
In the past year, Broadheath Community Association (BCA) and Broadheath Community Hall (BCH) has continued to be managed by five of the original Directors since becoming a Limited Company. They:-
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Meet once per month as a group to formally discuss standing items regarding each Director’s ongoing areas of responsibility
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Manage ongoing issues
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Deal with operational matters via a WhatsApp group
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Ensure a Hall open and closing rota is delivered to support one-off bookings
The main priorities for BCA Directors have been to focus on running BCH, in particular, in resuming to usage levels similar to March 2020. Additionally, a number of repairs and renewals have been required.
While consistently meeting the requirements within the BCA Articles of Association, it has been difficult to plan more strategically against these and it is likely that for at least another year, BCA’s Directors will remain in operational mode (i.e. focussed on the running of BCH).
It is hoped that with recruitment of additional Directors, plus a number of new volunteers, we can become more strategic in working for our community.
BCA Events - past year
Carol Concert
The Directors decided to organise a Carol Concert in December 2021 which was a great success. The Sale Salvation Army Band provided music for the concert and the Choir of Broadheath Primary School led the singing. We are currently organising this year’s Carol Concert which will take place on the 8th December 2022.
- 4th Anniversary Broadheath Community Hall.
In addition to the work listed above a major event has been the Hall’s birthday celebration which took place on 3rd September. This year we collaborated with a local charity (which has a great deal of experience in event organisation) to organise these celebrations with us. The event was a great success. There were bouncy castles, side shows, donkey rides, disco music, free ice creams and refreshments and a plentiful number of games and activities available indoors in the Hall.
More than two hundred people attended, including the Mayor and Mayoress of Trafford and feedback about the event was very positive. Collaborating with an external agency to BCA meant that the Directors were able to meet, greet and mingle with members of our community who were new to the Hall and BCA and to answer the many questions that were asked.
Current Work
We are looking to appoint 2 additional Directors, one with knowledge in the areas of website technology and social media, the other in community development and engagement.
We believe these areas will help and assist
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BCA to expand in how it meet its objectives for our community
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the hall to continue to offer an important resource and a means of strengthening ties with the local community
BCA / BCH Knowledge & Information Provision
One area of management which has been most challenging has been providing a BCA Website and more prominent social media presence.
The Directors wish to:-
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ensure the Broadheath community understand the purpose of BCA
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streamline the application process for room hire using website functionality
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share information to our community (ie that comes to BCA from other organisations)
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publicise events
In 2021, BCA unsuccessfully attempted to recruit a Director with website / social media skills. We are therefore asking for members with this skillset to come forward as a Director for Information. The role outline and application form is here , page 8 onwards.
Community Engagement
As Directors we have a vision for how BCA members and friends and the facility of BCH can become more central to our community, raising expectations of what can happen here. Please see here (Appendix 2 of linked document). Unfortunately, as mentioned above, community engagement that could lead to bringing people together more cannot be initiated or sustained by the current group of Directors. We are therefore asking for members with an understanding of community engagement to come forward as a Director for Community Engagement. The role outline and application form is here , page 8 onwards.
Broadheath Community Hall Update
Hall Maintenance
In addition to having a range of established service providers (ie cleaning, fire checks etc), we are pleased to say that we have managed to recruit a local tradesman to take on the role of handyman. This has been a welcome appointment, as there are constant jobs to be undertaken in order to maintain the high standards of upkeep within the hall. He will work on a monthly basis on a list of identified tasks.
A significant ongoing challenge has been the heating system. The way that it had been installed meant that the radiators in the hall were not heating up to an acceptable temperature. A great deal of time and money has already been invested in the system (but as yet it is not fully functioning to an acceptable level) and we will continue to work with tradespeople until this is completed to a satisfactory level.
On the external wall of BCH is the Broadheath Community defibrillator. When originally installed, BCA and Bramley Farm funded this jointly through a charity who install and maintain the defibrillator consumables. The charity has now unfortunately ceased trading, so BCA is currently funding replacement equipment while we explore other avenues.
- Hall Usage Operational Review
We entered the new year fully operational with several groups running.We had Zumba, Yoga, Danceworks Altrincham, Scouts, Beavers, Cubs and Slimming World in the evenings; during the day there was the Pre- school for 2 to 4 year old children, a Walking Group and a Friendship Group for the more mature, and 2 meditation groups at the weekends. Foot Respect, a healthcare provider continued to deliver a one to one foot care service during the day.
Since this time, the yoga group has ended and a Kettlebells (exercise) class has commenced.
A range of one-off weekend bookings continue to be made. These have included birthday parties, family get-togethers and other celebrations.
The Hall has also been used as a polling station. This has brought in extra income and, at the
same time, has reached members of the local community who may not have visited the Hall or known about the activities that take place. It has since been agreed that the Hall will be performing this function each year.
- Hall Usage Strategic Planning
To assist in restarting activities back in BCH, Directors set targets to support long-term group users financially:-
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the Walking Group and Friendship Group have their usage costs fully-subsidised by BCA.
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other long-term users (from prior to March 2020) have benefited from a slightly-reduced loyalty rate (not including those users on community rates) and all have had adjustments made to allow providers to successfully return to running their activities.
In addition, we set objectives for new or existing groups:-
- we have introduced a support request form so that costs could potentially be subsidised when members (with objectives for supporting the community of Broadheath) approach BCA for support.
We would wish all our supporters best wishes for Christmas and the New Year.
Thanks also to those who have actively supported the Directors as they fulfilled their individual responsibilities and to those who provide activities/services for our community.
Finally, and on our members behalf, I would like to say a special thanks to my Director colleagues. They have worked tirelessly to provide quality management and maintenance of the Community Hall,
Kind Regards
Ian Golding, Chair, BCA
Bank balance brought forward to April 2021 (A) £ 68,905.51
Amount Summary of Activities 4940 - Rental Income £ 19,776.00 Combination of one off and group bookings 10000 - Refund to BCA £ 18.52 10001 - Charitable Income - running costs £ 1,358.05 Trafford Council running costs - final 10003 - Charitable donations - event specific £ 28.00 Carol concert donations 10005 - Banking Error - returned £ 6.50 x 1 transaction - refunded - see file note Not included in calculation Total income for this period (B) £ 21,180.57 Total income (A)+(B)=(C) £ 90,086.08
| 5001 - BCA equipment & consumables 884.40 £ 5002 - Event specific 720.66 £ 6000 - Marketing 178.80 £ 7200 - Electricity 1,381.09 £ 7210 - Gas & Oil 2,689.52 £ 7540 - Internet Charges 652.15 £ 7605 - Corporate Licences/Fees 13.00 £ 7615 - Safeguarding 35.00 £ 7620 - Consultancy & Professional Fees 472.80 £ 7630 - Business Insurance 1,862.25 £ 7800 - Repairs and Renewals 5,605.50 £ 7805 - Maintenance Services 810.24 £ 7810 - Cleaning Services 5,483.74 £ 7910 - Banking error - expense 6.50 £ Total expenditure for this period(D) £20,789.15 69,296.93 £ Net surplus on 31st March 2022(B)-(D) 391.42 £ Signed Signed Printed Name Mary Speake Printed Name Position Treasurer, BCA Position Bank balance carried forward on 1-4-2022(C)-(D) |
Zoom licence; Fire signs; C19 protective equip & cleaning equip; other internal & external equipment (ie bench) & consumables. Carol concert; xmas gift - cleaner; xmas meal Web domain / hosting Pozitive electricity Crown gas XLN terminated & then BT - wifi Companies house; (no music licence this year) Information commission annual fee Crown Fire Services - firechecks Methodist insurance Decorating; plumbing/gas (heating and boiler; CCTV system; maintenance services/labour. Crown fire services - maintenance; landscaping Rentokil sanitary bins; window cleaning; cleaning contractor See file note. |
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| Not included in calculation | |
| Ian Golding Chair, BCA |
Aecouniancy •nd Book-keepin8 Services Peter Hodgkinson 136.Lind5ell Road Alinncham Cheshire WA14 5NZ Tcl. 01619?8 1710 Mob. 07960 535299 e-mail p¥hodg@wail.com 1st November 2022 Broadheath Cornmunity As%)Cilltson Sinderland Road Broadheath Altrincham Cheshire To the members of the Board In aCcordce with your instructions I have undertaken an inde*nt audit of the books and records of Broadheath Community Association for the year ended 3151 March 2022. I can confirni that from the infonnation made available to me the year end financial rewrt sknvs a true and fair vicw of the comwry's financial Fx)siiio Yours Sincerely 47U PeH gkinson Acwuntsni