Volunteer Action Fletton House Hetton Way. Glapthom Road Oundle Peterborough PE8 4JA Tel: 01832 275433 E-fflail.- a min volunteer3rtionoundle.or .uk Web Swte: www.volunteeractionoundle.org.uk Volunteer Action Annual Statement Registered charity no. 1161080 Isi April 2022 to 31st March 2023 Mission Volunteer Action's mission Is •lolunteering to improve the lives of local people in need". Strategy This mission is fulfilled by running a Communty Car Stheme and Befriending Services. Operational Artivity Dernand for our servl This 12-month period saw an Increased demand for the car scheme as the impatt of lifting restrictions allowed people to retum to normal post pandemic. Miles driven increased to 126,945 (previous year 103,IXtIl. fulfilling 14,604110,C(K)I passenger trips. We signed up 152 (2001 new people to the scheme. whlch still opefates with no membership fee, although this has been reviewed with the proposal to introduce a mernbershipfee in the next financial year. We are continuing to support a small number of the community with a weekly shopping service. where we shop for our members and deliver to their house, restrirted to the most vulnerable. Over 66% of our drives are for medical related appointments. Our Befriending service has seen an increase in demand forthe services and the ratio of face- to-face to telephone befriending is 79.55% Iface-to-face bias). The number of members on the face-to-face stheme remain5 Steady at 42. We have launched a monthly Group Befriending Event which supports 39 new community members. There is a slow tumover as people leave, but this is matched by new people joinin8. Funding has not been available to help us expand within this year. Supportedby N¢>lh Registered Charity: 1161080 Scanned with Camscanner Running the ser¥lces It would be impossible for VA to deliver its servi￿$ without its volunteers. The number of volunteers across the two schemes is 149. Administration and management VA runs a small administration operation closeto the centre of Oundle. It has started the year being staffed by three part-time employees IFTE 2.0). This altered in Ottober 2022 when the role of manager was upscaled to a full-time position {37 hours pwl. leaving one full-time and two part time IFfE 2.01 staff members. A loyal group of 7 office volunteers who usually work on a one-day a week basis. These volunteers have contributed to 888 hours within this year. Apart from the normal artivities of a small tharity. the main workload is the weekly task of receiving bookings for drives and then matching them with drivers. In addition. the befriending Servi￿ is supported by one administrative volunteer and a volunteer assessor who visits people who have been referred. We have continued to supply monthly invoices and have seen an increase of member payments being received via BACS payment- however the majority are still on the phone via card. We have migrated to a new cloud-based booking System for the car scheme which has seen some administration roles being supported bv automation. There 15 also a trustee body of 8 volunteers contributing approximately 250 hours per year. Community car scheme Recruitingvolunteerdrivers forthe Community Carscheme has continued to be difficult P05t pandemic. During the year we used nearly 75 different drivers. We paid our drivers45 pen a mile for their mileage. including home to pick-up point. Our passenger5 Pay the same rote. but only for the passenger retum mileage. A £1 l)ooking fee for each completed journey wa5 introduced on 1st January 2023 payable by our members and retained by the charity to help 5UPPOrt the administrative costs. We provide training for our drivers on Subjects suth as manual handlin& lone working and safeguarding. Both passengers and drivers generally thorou8hly enjoy the opportunity for conversation, contributing towards reducing loneliness and Social isolation. over and above getting the member Out of their house. We estimate volunteer drNer hours at opproximately 13,874 pa (based upon the average joumeylwait time of 0.95 hour5) Befriending Befriending volunteers contribute approximatety 1136 hours pa. We have a tearn of about 75 volunteers across the 2 xhemes. Rlsk Assessment The charity maintains a wide ranBe of risk assessments in relation to both the servi￿5 we provide to our members and to our adminlstrative operations. These are reviewed on an annual basis or as required. Supported by Registered Charity: 1161080 Scanned with Camscanner Nnancial matters Income and expenditure VA receives its income from a range of $our￿5- Local Authorities, NHS. donations, fundraising and contracts. Salaries are the largest expense, however there are office costs including rent. and we continue to fund the cost of mileage to get drivers to members, pick-up points. In a large rural area, thi5 is a key consideration. During the year expenditure exceeded income by £33.706. Thls was less than the forecasted deficit for the year, due to an increase in donations seen from January 2023 to the end of the year. Reserves In the Trustees, view. the reserves should provide the charitywith adequate financial stability and the means for it to meet its charitable objectives for the foreseeable future. A number of significant risk factors forthe future have been identified. including: uncertainty overfuture statutory funding from local government and the NHS: the continuing uncertainty over the level of voluntsry donor fundin& and general unforeseen day-to-day operational costs. Taking these fartors into account. the trustees have detemined to maintain the charit￿5 reserves at a minimum level of £70,0(K) vknich is derived from a risk based calculation. Reserves remain in ex￿$5 of this minimum level. which allowed us to budget for and sustaln a deficit year 2022-23. This is continued into 2023-24. We have designated £5,(MXI from reserves for an identified need to migrate the computer system5 to a cloud-based operation. With no new developments on rural bus seNces In the area, It Is important that services are maintained in the longterm to meet demand and it is anticipated that this will be increasingly expensNe. Our reserves will help to ensure that we have a long-term future. Public Benefrt5 The trustees confirm that they have complied with the duty in settion 4 of the Charities Act 2006 to have due regard to the Charty Cornmission's general guidance on public benefrt. Rural isolation and loneliness are well known to be closely associated with poor mental well- being and we know that our service5 help tsckle this. Older people value independent livin& and we can help maintain that for lon8er by providing a reliable way to 8et to vital appointments or just getting the shopping. Bu5 servi￿$ have been wtthdrawn entirely through most of our surrounding villages and are very limited in the 2 small market towns we support. These same issues are also alleviated to some extent by our befriending scheme. In addition to the serVi￿S provided, VA offers an opportunty for volunteers to engage with their communities and make a contribution towards the success of a highly regarded selv1￿. Supported by Registered Charity: 1161080 Scanned with Camscanner For many it provides the opportunity to be a valued member of a team and maintain a mo active retirement. Maintaining that reciprocity is a key ethos of our thinkin8. Locatlon Our eligibility covers addresses in a largely rural area of approximately 340 square miles incorporating more than 50 villages and 2 small towns. We are fortunate to have drivers throughout most parts of this. however matching members to loc31 drivers or befrienders is a constant challenge and contributes to runnin8 costs. Governance The charity ha5 been a CIO Sin￿ 2015. Recent recruitment of twstee5 has been by application from people who bring theskills needed to run the organisation. The 2022-23 board comprised: Mr Stuart Anderson Ichairl Mr Colin Brown Mr Peter G Burrows Mrs Diana Charles Mrs Val Chesser Ms Moira Froggatt Mr Charles Walla resigned June 2022 In 2022-23 we apwinted Mr David Cashmore Mr Uoyd Martin May 2022 May 2022 Signed on behalf of the l)oard of trustees: Name: c.11. Date: 1025 Supported by Reglstered Charity: 1161080 Scanned with Camscanner VOWPKEER ACTION RECEIPTS AND PAYME1￿SAc¢QuNT For*he perlod from ts¢April 2022 to 31st Marrh 2023 £Th￿NuMb￿. P*1 2011 REStrl Fwd5 TalolFw Totsl F￿r￿S RECEIPTS Alenknrpawnw15 45.197 45,a91 39.348 4.533 43.BSi 54.1 54.177 raThts EPX Ntc 9.OQU 630 4.312 665 &500 Futt¢ NNCMwnb￿.E￿￿M￿￿QThtFUnd Othu￿ts i.otsj t5 ¥5th) 23.942 20.942 25￿5 16A84 4,5U8 LY26 iJ,i 16A84 4.51 Lf26 23.118 9JJ3 4131 L917 FdÈr*saro)uTrl 6￿A￿t￿rIdalmed S)ffw¢ire IkÈ 5uMri 650 354 U31 U35 354 L584 Qulzs RA(*k 28 491 94753 941 941 PAYMENTS 56231 51217 9$3 PayrdlLKYeau ro PensI￿$s￿￿O(r￿1 g•L 2.406 55.5 39&38 19.942 54.916 Or￿eT5 49,578 s￿11 ,578 35.889 56JÈg H¢Trr BU￿￿￿%￿are5 I￿V￿r￿¢ 4110 338 4.310 4310 169 754 SJ43 753 5AII 753 4411 LISI 1752 2.369 B?s TElÈthtsnÈ Compu¢qrs& Equlwertfvd. LIQS 1.1 3,J50 1350 li50 591 144 583 58 b5CTlpt￿5 anI￿￿ent￿aM•xPM50 244 469 350 87 35fj Petty￿Sh 13.736 719 719 In 155 *3[f&trust4qtra￿ St*YéxppD5 leTTkn6lniexpen 2$$ Yll4 179 7g rruitffjeThtwJn5utsnry 5.7EO Izzz 9J13 3127 FL4thblrrfETen¥v5 2.k50 2250 50 T•t01P4Wi*nts 117NY 14BAS1 NÉf*E(ÉIPTSIIPAYh%mFS P¥02 VOLUNTEER AcnoN 5ts1ernent of assets and Ilabilitle5 at thè end of the perlod As at 31st Mar¢h 20Z3 gLa4202a IIFUNI>S Bank andts5h 8thrKes 102,565 136ADI IO¥AL4SS05 iINREsrpJcrEDFUNDS Gener*Fwd5 Dey¥ThilEd Fwd5 IIÉAOI 5*nedon of41tt￿tmJStÈL*'. Anderson Daieofrfvrth4: VAR¢(*Pts pave￿nI￿o￿OLbltlD2I.23.￿￿tyCDThu￿l55 ## **Independent examiner's report on the accounts** **Section A Independent Examiner’s Report** **Report to the trustees/** Volunteer Action **members of On accounts for the year** 31 March 2023 **Charity no** 1161080 **ended (if any)** **Set out on pages** Accounts 1-2, Trustees Report 1-4 I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity (“the Trust”) for the year ended **31 / 03 / 2023** . - **Responsibilities and** As the charity trustees of the Trust, you are responsible for the preparation **basis of report** of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (“the Act”). I report in respect of my examination of the Trust’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I have followed the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act. ## **Independent examiner's statement** I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect: - accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Act or - the accounts do not accord with the accounting records I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. **Signed:** JEWoods **Name:** Judie Woods **Relevant professional** ICAEW – FCA and DChA **qualification(s) or body (if any): Address:** 90 South Road, Oundle Peterborough PE8 4BP **Date:** July 2023 **October 2018** 1 **IER**