CHAIR’S REPORT FOR YEAR ENDING 31[ST] MARCH 2024 Settle Community Library, Charity No 1170977, 30 Lower Greenfoot, Settle, North Yorkshire BD24 9RB, 5 Trustees: David Alderson, Cedric Broadey, Debi Burridge, Susan Fisher, Jennifer Warner.
Throughout the year Settle Community Library has continued to work towards the purpose of our charity as outlined in our constitution. The Trustees meet 6 times a year and we hold an AGM in June.
We have hosted community groups when the library is open such as Knit and Natter for adults, and a Lego Club for 5-11year children, and the Library is a designated Warm Space. Others use the library when it is closed such as Stay and Play for under 5’s and their carers. All the classes from the local primary school have visited several times to learn more about the library and enjoy a craft activity. A new support group for Asthma and LungUK rents the library one afternoon a month. One of the banks rented the space very successfully twice a month over the winter for a pop-up information session.
Maintaining connections with local groups and library users via our website and social has improved. This helps with promoting our community groups and talks. The latter have been less regular but well attended. A refugee support charity held a poetry and information evening. A series of talks about the Modern Novel has been enjoyed with a wide audience over Zoom.
Fund raising has continued. There has been a successful coffee morning held by supporters of the library in a nearby village and another held in the library. But rising power costs still dominate our finances. During the year we joined the Community Libraries Network to benefit from shared wisdom and experience.
During the year the number of trustees dropped but an appeal to the volunteers resulted in 3 new people stepping forward from April 2024. We also have a good number of volunteers who work in the library and help to run all our activities. Amongst these have been 2 young people from a nearby secondary school. Training continues throughout the year. Stock has been updated and refreshed with regular displays on various topics.
We work closely together with North Yorkshire Council, aligned to NYC Libraries Strategy Partnership. The Service Level Agreement has been reviewed. Performance is back to normal in most areas, in line with other comparable libraries in North Yorkshire and in some cases is markedly up, for example in junior age children’s participation in our Summer Reading Challenge.
Debi Burridge, Chair Settle Community Library
Se�le Community Library Income and Expenditure 01/04/2024 – 31/03/2025
| Income | 2024-2025 | 2023-2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Fees and Charges | 2,350.88 | 2,248.27 |
| Room Hire | 154.33 | 420.00 |
| Fundraising Events | 789.40 | 1,332.06 |
| Friends of SC Library | 595.00 | 90.00 |
| Public Dona�ons | 2,649.74 | 708.00 |
| Parish Council Grants | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Se�le Town Council Grants | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Government Grants | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| NYC Grants | 0.00 | 1,700.00 |
| Interest | 26.11 | 0.00 |
| Gi� Aid | -558.76 | 1,028.76 |
| Total Income | 6,006.70 | 7,527.09 |
| Expenditure | ||
| Fixed Overhead | 2,700.00 | 2,700.00 |
| U�li�es and Services | 2,111.19 | 3,086.26 |
| Training | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Repairs and Renewals | 0.00 | 78.64 |
| Marke�ng and Administra�on | 96.96 | 80.03 |
| Insurance | 96.00 | 396.87 |
| Ofce Supplies | 336.27 | 244.28 |
| Ac�vi�es | 408.71 | 1,799.63 |
| Dona�ons | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Total Expenditure | 5,749.13 | 8,385.71 |
| Income-Expenditure | ||
| At Year End | 257.57 | -858.62 |
| Opening Balance 1/04/2024 | 10,127.67 | 10,986.29 |
| Closing Balance 31/03/2025 | 10,385.24 | 10,127.67 |