Annual Report January to December 2022
St Thomas’ Community Project (CIO registration 1170109)
Principal Office and Trading address
St Thomas’ church and community centre 239 Garretts Green Lane Garretts Green Birmingham B26 2SA
Trustees
Revd Paul Bracher (chair) Revd Susan Larkin Sue Round Jo Holyoak Michele Twelftree Linda Nugent Debbie Green
Structure, governance and management
St Thomas’ Community Project became a Charity Incorporated Organisation in October 2016 but has existed as a constituted body since 1992.
This year we welcomed a new trustee Debbie Green. Debbie is the principal of Rochelle Dance Academy who use St Thomas’ premises on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday evenings and Saturday mornings so she has lots of connections with local families. This year Debbie also became a volunteer with Garretts Green Foodbank where her role is stock control.
Covid precautions continued into 2022 as at the start of the year there were increasing cases, but through the year activities have returned more or less to normal.
We continue to operate in St Thomas’ Church hall and St Thomas’ Community Centre.
Financial Review
The turnover for this year was £53,518 and at the end of the financial year we have reserves of £46,719. All expenditure has been made for the delivery of activities in line with the aims and objectives of the charity. The Statement of Financial Activities will show the funders and the balance of funds at the end of the year.
With a turnover of under £100,000 the charity does not require an audit, but the accounts have been independently examined.
Funds held as custodian trustee on behalf of others
No funds are held on behalf of others.
Public benefit statement
In planning and delivering our activities for the year the trustees kept in mind the Charity Commissions guidance on public benefit. There have been changes in the services provided and the way they are delivered and new activities have been introduced.
Main activities undertaken to further our charitable purposes for the public benefit.
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Working with local families
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Our weekly stay and playgroup re-opened in May 22 and we welcomed two new volunteers to the team. We operate on Monday mornings between 9.15 and 11.00 for parents and carers with pre-school children. Toys are rotated on a monthly basis to provide variety; we include toys for physical activity (eg climbing frame, bicycles, tunnels) items for imaginary play (kitchen, dressing up, farm yard, garage and cars), resources to aid manual dexterity (e.g. lego, sticklebricks), and table top activities (puzzles, playdough, chalk boards). Every week there is a craft for parents to complete with their child. During the session all the children sit down together for toast and drinks and we conclude with a story and song time. This is delivered by a team of 5 volunteers.
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Fox Hollies Children’s Centre delivered services on 3 days a week until September. The programme varied but included ante natal classes, breast feeding, speech and language therapy and play sessions.
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Working with local children
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Our weekly provision of two youth groups during term time continued on Monday evenings. From 4.00 till 5.30 we run activities for 6-11 year olds and from 6.00 till 7.30 for ages 11-16. The sessions include social time, organised games, crafts, activities and challenges. There were 38 sessions for each age group during the year, numbers fluctuate week by week, some children and young people come every week, some dip in and out and some come for a while drop out and then return. The groups are representative of the local community including children from Muslim families. We avoided promotion during 2022 whilst children and young people adjusted to the impact covid lockdowns had on them . In 2023 we plan to deliver an updated programme to which children and young people have had input and we will do some promotion in local schools.
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In addition to the work we deliver directly we host Masquerade ( a musical drama group for children and young people) and Rochelle Dance Academy for children and young people aged 4 to 18.
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Our work with children and young people is organised by a selfemployed youth worker a part time support worker and 2 volunteers
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Working with local young adults
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A small group of up to 6 young adults aged 19-23 continued to meet. These are young people experiencing mental health issues, unemployment and social problems who have been impacted by Covid restrictions. We provide a safe space, social interaction and support but it remains a small exclusive group which we envisage fading out over the next 12 months as they move in in life.
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Working with the older people and vulnerable adults
This aspect of our community work goes from strength to strength. We employ two part time workers to engage with people in the 50+ age group; the purpose of this work is to keep people in this age group active and involved in the local community. We now have a whole day set aside for 50+ activities that includes floor yoga, chair yoga, drop in coffee morning, light refreshments at lunch time e.g. soup in the winter, followed by afternoon tea and chat and social activities.
Gardening continues to be a popular activity and a small courtyard area has been developed by an enthusiastic team and provides a quiet, reflective space for those who benefit from this. Any food produced e.g. tomatoes, beans are shared or used in cookery sessions. During the autumn or 2021 the tubs were planted up with bulbs so we had a lovely display through the spring.
Knitting, crafts, jigsaws and a book exchange are also popular activities. More specialist activities have continued; Xpress Yourself Dance on Monday afternoon, weekly men’s group on Tuesday morning, a local Art Club on Wednesday mornings and new in 2022 is an art and craft group on Tuesday also mornings. There have been trips out to local garden centres, gardens and museums.
On Thursdays there is input from guest speakers and service providers, for example the fire service, a dietician, social worker. And monthly RNID and benefit advice.
The work with people aged 50+ is delivered by two part time workers funded through the Body Mind and Spirit partnership and activities have been supported and funded by Yardley Neighbourhood Network Scheme.
We also people we call enablers; they are members of the group but they help to make things happen.
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Relief of Poverty
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The local community can access other provisions on site e.g. shower and laundry facilities, use of telephone and internet and help with completing applications continues on an ad-hoc basis.
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Our independent Food Bank has remained open every week on Wednesday mornings throughout the whole of 2022 and since the autumn we invite people in to serve themselves to hot drinks and biscuits. Usage has increased as have donations from the local community, schools, churches, businesses and other organisations. The volunteer team has grown and at the end of 2022 we have 7 volunteers.
Achievements and performance .
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During 2022 we engaged with 48 families and 72 children at our Stay and Play group
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A total 37 children have attended our children’s club during 2022, total attendances is 431 giving an average weekly attendance 14.
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A total of 43 young people attended our youth club, total attendances 329 representing an average weekly attendance 10.
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60 people are on the register for our 50+ activities, total of 1114 attendances with a regular weekly attendance 28
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Additionally there are those aged 50+ who attend yoga, dance and art and crafts.
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408 food parcels were issued (an increase of 26%) to 100 clients. 62% of our clients are single people, many living in hostels or HMOs.
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We currently have 20 volunteers plus our volunteer trustees. We have 4 part time paid workers and 2 paid cleaners.
Public Benefits
Our provision for families provides resources and opportunities for parents and carers to play with their children and meet other families.
The focus of our children’s and youth work is the delivery of a varied programme of activities and events to stimulate and develop them physically, mentally and emotionally. This benefits the children and young people by developing their self-confidence, self-esteem, social skills, increased resilience and raises aspirations.
We welcome all children and young people and we believe the experiences and opportunities they have enriches their personal lives which then impacts on their family, their school life and the wider community.
Our provision for older and more vulnerable people has increased as Covid restrictions were lifted. The aim is to maintain their physical, emotional and spiritual well-being and reduce social isolation.
Our work to address and combat poverty contributes towards physical and social well-being helping people towards more independent living.
Our work with volunteers and enablers of all ages utilises skills from within the local community and further develops and equips people.
Subsequently all our charitable activities were for public benefit.
No trustee benefitted financially or in-kind from any service or activity provided by the charity.
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