SUFFOLK Voices For Gainsborough AGM Report Firstly, a big thank you to all my fellow volunteers for everything they have done this past year. Also, a huge welcome to al I the new volunteers that have joined us and added new skills. During what has been a very busy year, Voices have raised vital funding, delivered various eveflts, and ensured the Café 15 a vibrant welcoming place. Voices received funding from Suffolk County Council Ipswich East Health and Wellbeing Activity Fund to provide a range of activities each month throughout the year Januar The first event was a fun retro gaming afternoon with Bring Back Retro Gaming. It was well attended by families and brought back some fond childhood memories for our older participants. Februar We hosted two adult craft sessions, where some lovely dot painted flowerpots were designed. The pots were filled with soil and bulbs before being taken home. The local adult craft provision is under- catered for and the feedback for these sessions was very positive, with requests for more similar sessions. March As the weather improved, we arranged a Sound Meditation Evening on the river Orwell shore. Wayne McHugh delivered an inspirational relaxing session in a peaceful location. ril Suffolk Wildlife Trust delivered a hands-on session, with adults building hedgehog boxes. Vinyasa yoga classes were held for adults. Ma Activities had a nature and environmental theme. With Suffolk Wildlife helping families make some bird boxes to instal l in their gardens. swr a150 provided a gruesome but fascinating Owl Pellet Dissection workshop with participants finding all kinds of animal bones. Also, some Yoga classes were held for parents with children under 5. June With an em phasis on outdoor sports and wellbeing, Volce5 arranged two games days. One in Landseer Park and one on Ravenswood Green. Various activities were provided including - Rounders, cricket, football, badminton, bubbles, and large versions of games like Connect four, noughts and crosses and quoits. Adults and families enjoyed this, having fun and with some exercise thrown in.
ul For a sunny July we had a Music Day at the library to bring some tunes to library users, both old and new. The afternoon consisted of a melodic open rric session on a car park stage, by Carl and his friends. Indoors DJ 8opper provided a mini sound system with some reggae sounds and did a mixing workshop. In the evening the library hosted some rappers with musicians El Emcee, Xi Dontlie and friends serving up some vibrant street sounds. Au For August Voices held an international day. The idea was to bring different parts of the community together. Ipswich Museum brought some instruments from different parts of the world and offered shaker making. The Hold provided Batic Tie Dye and kite making, there was 3 fa irtrade stall along with Spanish language and dance sessions. pJ¥k Family Boccia and Kurling indoor sports sessions were offered, giving families a chance to try out some new fun accessible sports. An earlier session was held in July with some hot competition in a men's v Women's Group chall enge Other selected hi hts World Fast1¥ Day 2024 Garden Room Our biggest achievement was the completion of the library's new Garden Room. In April and May Voices volunteers, library staff, Members of the public and members of the rotary club, all pitched in and worked hard to knock down beds, take down a pergola, clear the garden and create a flat base. In June the Garden room was erected. li Illill,. In early October, after years of planning and fundraising by Voices, we were delighted to finally, officially open our garden room. We had some very speci31 guests; Cllr Liz Harsant, Cllr Lucy Smith, Ipswich East Rotary club, St. Lawrence Parish Hall Trust. The room has proved to be invaluable as an extra space for the community to use. Many thanks again for the large contribution5 by the East Ipswich Rotary Club, St Lawrence Parish Hall Trust. Also, Cllr Paul West and Cllr Lucy Smith for their generous contributiolls from their locality budgets. Families and Peo In February families had a great beach combing workshop with Beach Bonker5, discovering and learning about sharks, teeth. This was made possible by funding by The Suffolk & Essex coast & heaths national landscape sustainable development fund. The Suffolk Libraries Reading Quest was launched. with a focus on local myths and getting out and reading in different places. oun
In November Odinn's Raven Guard came to the library for a Viking re- enactment day. Families tried on costumes, played games, held weapons and other recreated artifacts and learnt about Viking Ilfe. Two more family sessions this year had an emphasi5 on science. Kinetic Science had a Terrific Test tubes workshop offering colourful experiments, and Ipswich Museum provided a 'Nature is our home, session using artifacts from its natural history collection and actlvities to explore the natural world. For the young people, particularly the teenagers, we purchased some televisions and games to play on our xbox360 and Playstation throuEh Diversionary Funding from Ipswich Borough Council. These have been well used and encourage young people to visit our library. ¥• Arts & wellbein The very popular Blank Page Project continued to run in the school holidays, with Voices café catering for the '* project. Artists came to the library to share their skills . Wi. .4 and make amazing creations with 10-16 year olds. Through May and June there were some adult and teen workshops, thanks to funding from The Wolsey 550 Project. Celebrating Thomas Wolsey and Ipswich history, the attendees made some stunning digital art, went on an Ipswich history field trip around the town and made a beautiful pa inted glass panel for the l i brarv. To increase wel I being and get outdoors, Daniel Cable Davey continued his fascinating family wildlife walks. We learr)ed more about nature on our doorstep on Glow worm, Bat and Fungi focused walks. Thanks to funding from Suffolk & Essex Coast and Heaths 'Landscapes For All Fund,, we were able to offer days out to families who were financia I ly restricted. During the summer there was a coach trip to Southwold for a day exploring the beach and a coach trip to Rendlesham Forest, where families walked the UFO trail, played games and conducted a bug hunt. Lunches were provided on both trips and the feedback from families was very positive. Providing food for those in need was another area addressed again this year. The weekly Fruit and Veg pop shop was extremely busy and encouraged people to meet up and socialise. The Arnold Clark Community Fund provided funding for toiletrios and period products to be available at the pop up once a month. The Kindness clothes rails were well used. During the summer to help with 'holiday hunger, young people Spending the day at the library were provided with some snacks. Pot noodles and cereal bars were donated by Morrisons. For the winter Warm spaces campaign, people in need were encouraged to come to the library to save on their heatSng bil Is and were offered free Tea, Coffee, Soup and toast. Outreach The library had summer outreach stalls at the Cornhill in Ipswich and at Holywells Allotments Open Day. The Allotment association very kindly chose the library as the main beneficiary of funds raised on the day. ular earl and Seasonal Events Our traditional fundraising seasonal activities went very well this year. For Suffolk Libraries Day, volunteers worked hard raising funds by cleaning cars. Our lovely knit and natter group made some daisies and Voices hosted a spring clear out, selling unwar)ted items. Girls Group completed a sponsored l itter pick and walk.
The Easter and Christmas Fairs were both well attended. Oona the Owl made a special appearance at Easter while at Christma5 we had volunteer, Jeff a5 Father Christmas in the New Garden Room Grotto. Our 'Knit and Natter Group, made some cute decorations to sell. In onjunction with BBC Radio Suffolk the 'Be Kind Toy Appeal, saw toys distributed to families in need. As a treat volunteers and staff had the opportunlty to watch a live stream of 'Sleeping Beauty, from the New Wolsey Theatre, which proved to be a fun evening. For Ha Iloween Voices provided pumpkins for carving and volunteer Zach ran a lovely horre-made cake stall. raising money for Suffolk Libraries and Mind. Librar Grou Library groups continue to go well, including our two Girl's groups, Top Time over 55,5, Women's Group and the Men can talk Group. The Girl's Groups are a great provision. Partly Funded from Suffolk Community Foundation through The Women and Girl's fund. The girls enjoyed cooking, making their own quiches from scratch and fruit salad. Highlights of the year included a PGL adventure weekend away and a trip to London to see 'Sister ACV at the theatre. The Eroup developed a partnership with the 'New Wolsey Theatre, which included free tickets to Shows and a live streaming of the Panto. Men's Group and Women's group5 continued to offer an open space for adults. The women finished the year with a murder mystery evening while the men used the library kitchen to offer up a fine Christmas meal. Top Time continued to offer a varied program of activities for the over 55's including a monthly lunch and a coach trip to Bury St. Edmunds. Fundra isers Colin continued to provide his fundraising quiz nights, which were inventive, great fun and well attended. Volunteers continued to deliver their fundraising monthly Sunday family bingo afternoons. In May, another of our regular yearly fundraising events took place with Wayne McHugh's intriguing Medium Night. In September Voices Volunteer Alec ran in the Ipswich Half Marathon. With a fine personal achievement, he raised money for Suffolk Libraries while recording a verv respectable time. In November, Voices held its first line dancing evening. This proved to be very popular and three more have been arranged for 2025. All the above represent just part of the picture of a very busy productive year for Gainsborough Community Librarv. k-fi1 Gs£SofJ ' 202
Treasurers report January- December 2024 Unreserved funds at year end are £6459.02 V4GCL raise funds mainly through the volunteer run café, which has had a difficult year, due to volunteer vacancies and sickness. The café made a profit of £5653.46, which was boosted by income from catering for the Blank Page Project. Voices continued to raise funds through fundraising events during the year, most fundraising events held this year have raised funds towards the garden room project, which is now complete. £5000 fundingfrom Ipswich East Rotary Club and £5000 from St Lawrence Parish Hall Trust, made a large contribution towards the garden room project being completed. Cllr Paul West gave £IOOO from his locality budget to fit out the garden room and Cllr Lucy Smith gave £1160 from her locality budget to purchase blinds for the room. Voices hold pots of money for Top Time, Men's group, youth sports, adult singing group, men's group, ladies, group, the pop-up shop, and Girls Group. Funding from Suffolk Community Foundation through Women and Girls Fund for Girls Group- £lOOO Funding from Suffolk County Council Health and Wellbeing Fund for adult wellbeing activities £6200.96. Funding from: Wolsey 550 Project- £2588 Ipswich Borough Council- Diversionary Funding for activities for teenagers - £lOOO Landscapes for All Funding for family coach trips- £2000 Arnold Clark Community Fund for warm space, plus toiletries, and period products to be available once a month at our pop-up shop- £2500. Mandy Grimwood Treasurer
Voices for Galnsborough Community Library Accounts 0110112024- 31/12/2024 Cash B/F Uncleared cheques Bank B/F £36,337,48 Balance £36,337.48 Income Cash Income Cheque Income Transfers 48,696.91 Total Income £48,696.91 Expenditure Cash Expenditure Cheque 190.00 Expenditure Transfers 66,217.33 Total Expenditure -£66,407.33 ProfitlLoss -£17,710.42 Balance 3111212024 £18,627,06 Prepared Bv." j2"/L IUC/•rl M Grimwood Checked by.. Signed 4.byW- Dated.. 23101225"
CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES Independent examiner's report on the accounts Section A Independent Examiner's Report Report to the trusteesl members of Voices for Gainsborough Community Library On accounts for the year ended 3151 December 2024 Charity no lif any) 1165302 Set out on pages 112 I report lo the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity I the Trusl'l for the year ended I I I1¥1 i YY Responsibilities and As the charity trustees of the Trust, you are responsible for the preparation basis of report of the accounts in accordance wilh the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 1"the Act'}. I report in respect of my examination of the Trust's accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 AGI and in carrying out my examination, I have followed the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145{5}Ibl of the Act. I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention (other than that disclosed below "} in connection with the examination which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect.. accounting records were not kepl in accordance with section 130 of the Act or the accounts do not accord with the aGcounting records Independent examiner's ststement 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. Please delete th8 words Ihe brackets if they do not apply. Signed". Date: Name: Relevant professional qualification{sl or body lif any): Address". LIAQKC pl CÉ IER October 2018
Section B Disclosure Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight matters of Goncern (see CC32, Independent examination of charity accounts.. directions and guidance for examiners). Give here brief details of any items that the examiner wishes to disclose, IER October 2018