Set out below is the Trustees’ Annual Report 2022 – 2023. We are also able to present an Observer’s report for last year by our Observer, Jane Morris, whose role it is to oversee the work of the Trustees and ensure we are discharging our work for the Association professionally and in the interests of the local community. At the end of the document, you can find a short summary of our aims and vision.
Trustees’ Annual Report April 2022 – March 2023
Our structure:
The Association currently has a Board of eleven Trustees who meet monthly to six weekly throughout the year.
The current Trustees are:-
-
Ian Vickridge (Chair)
-
Isla Campbell (Vice-Chair)
-
Nigel Sagar (Treasurer)
-
Jude Lancaster (Secretary
-
Julia Maybury (Membership Secretary)
-
Christine Brown (Bookings Secretary until Spring 2023)
-
Louisa Clarkson
-
Carol Hayward
-
Pat Hill
-
Heather Levene
-
Julia Maybury
-
Jane Morris (Observer)
Representatives from affiliated bodies include Sally Smith – Old Town School and Marcella Walsh – Parish Council and Environment Group.
The Association works in close partnership with the local Old Town Primary School and with FOOTS, their Parent/Teachers Association. The Bowling Club’s activities run during the
Summer months. Other close stakeholders include Wadsworth Environment Group, the Bee Group, Wainsgate Chapel, Old Town Cricket Club and of course the Parish Council who lease the centre to the Association.
The Association also has an Observer whose role is to receive minutes of Trustee meetings, attend when she wishes, take an active part of the business of the Association and ensure that the Trustees’ work is undertaken diligently, lawfully and consistent with our constitution.
The Association has relied wholly on volunteers to run and develop the centre for use by the local community.
Association activities April 2022 – March 2023
Achievements and Performance:
Over the past year, the Association has hosted a range of community activities including:-
Bowls, Yoga, Pilates, Table Tennis, Boxercise, A monthly Book Club, FOOTS (Friends of Old Town School) and school events, Private parties and celebrations and a highly successful Walking Market in November organised by FOOTS members.
A highlight of the year was a major four day event to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in June, funded largely by a generous grant from the Community Foundation for Calderdale. Thursday 2[nd] June featured two concurrent activities in Old Town Community Centre, a mask making workshop led by Helen Corney, Primary school teacher for children who were to take part in a Jubilee parade on the following Saturday 4th and Bhangra dance workshops led by Hardeep Singh Sahota, Chair of the World Banghra Council. The centre was full of people with up to 25 people of all ages dancing in each workshop inthe Main Hall (3.00 – 4.00 and 4.30 – 5.30 p.m.) watched by an enthusiastic audience and the Lounge full to bursting with children and parents making wonderful masks of cardboard and crayon. More people came to watch the performance at 6.00 p.m. At 6.30 p.m. a three course curry meal was served. The feedback was extremely positive, the food much appreciated and the crowd very good humoured.
Friday 3rd June started at 10.30 a.m. with a Nature Play workshop led by Louisa Clarkson, a local creative and Teaching Assistant. Over 20 adults and children attended and made elaborate mobiles and art installations from natural materials which were displayed in the centre over the weekend. At 7.00 p.m. the evening got underway with a lively performance by Jiggery Folkerie, a local youth folk orchestra. Over 65 people attended and the performance was followed by a Ceilidh perfomed by Peaceworks.
On Saturday 4th June, the day started early with a 5 kilometre Jubilee Jog across the Wadsworth moors starting and ending at Old Town Cricket Club. Over 50 people of all ages took part. Wadsworth Women’s Institute provided tea and cakes to all those who completed the course. Meanwhile, a Circus Skills workshop led by Dmitri Ogden of FlameOz took place at Pecket Well playground. Both children and adults spent an enjoyable hour learning how to juggle, monocycle and other impressive activities. At 11.00 a.m., Drum Machine, a twenty-five strong percussion band, led a drumming workshop on Old Town Green with 20 young people and adults. Proceedings were officially opened by HRH (aka Helen Corney dressed as the Queen) who arrived in style in a blacked out vehicle complete with chauffeur. St John’s Ambulance attended throughout the day. West Yorkshire Fire
Service also attended with a fire engine. At 1.30 p.m., Hebden Bridge Junior Band performed followed by a stunning performance by Drum Machine. Dmitri Ogden supported children and young people to hone their circus skills throughout the afternoon and a number of races were organised. Later, three local bands entertained the crowds: Reggie and the Krayfish, PepperJam and the Owterzeds. Over 500 people attended the festival in the course of the afternoon and the feedback from visitors and locals was extremely enthusiastic.
On Sunday 5th June, the Wainsgate Chapel Committee organised a music event featuring the Old Town Junior and Infants School choir. Over 100 people attended and were delighted by the singing. An Photography exhibition of Wadsworth Then and Now was also on display in the Chapel's meeting room.
A short video was made by Neale Myers of Futureproof Media to record the whole event.
Having recovered from our efforts in partnership with Wadsworth United for the Platinum Jubilee, life settled down somewhat. Our thriving partnership with BGR Events continued and in all we staged eight gigs, welcoming some of the great names in the national folk scene. We feel truly honoured to have earned our reputation as a popular music venue and thank BGR for their wonderful support.
Other events included a celebration of Mavis Ring’s contribution to Wadsworth and the Association in May 2022. We were also privileged to be joined by Calder Valley Search and to explain their work at our AGM in September. We were again successful in receiving grant funding from the Community Foundation for Calderdale to run weekly sessions at the Centre as part of a national effort to provide warm spaces for people in the winter months. Our Warm Wednesday sessions provided soup, biscuits, tea and coffee as well as great company. We are considering running the initiative again in the Winter 2023.
To spread the load of work for our volunteers, the Board decided to set up four working groups which would include all those interested who are not on the Board and these have proved very successful. They include:
Website and Social Media Group – we now have a new website with the support of Ian Whitehead at www.wadsworthcommunityassociation.org.uk as well as an active Facebook page.
Bar Management and Support Group – now 18 members who help run the bar and provide food at BGR events. When Derek Williamson retired in the Autumn 2022, (a great loss to the centre) Ian Macadie came forward and took over managing the bar and setting up accessible procedures to ensure everything ran smoothly after Derek left. He did a brilliant job until the end of January 2023, organising the purchase and set up of a new till. Since then, the volunteers have continued his work to the best of our ability.
Centre Development, Gardening and Greening group – who have taken responsibility for on-going improvements and repairs to the building including an energy audit done by John Butterworth and Drew Forsyth which has informed work to make the centre environmentally friendly. Richard Jones gets a special mention for his wonderful work on the centre grounds as well as his stirling work on the bar group.
A Youth group was also established and several grant applications made to fund youth workers and exciting projects but sadly all unsuccessful so far. We will continue to strive to attract funding to meet this major gap in our services.
The Board continues to plan activities and events at the centre. Anyone interested in joining any of these Working Groups and of course the Board would be warmly welcomed.
Financial review:
This is provided under a separate document from the Treasurer.
Risks
Our Centre reserves and assistance from Calderdale MBC have ensured our stability over the period of reduced income due to Covid 19.
The capacity of the Board and willing volunteers remains an issue of concern as the success of the centre is fully dependent on their commitment to continue to give their time to provide a range of services which meet the needs of local residents.
Aims of the Association :
Wadsworth Community Association aims to maintain and develop a well-run, friendly centre in the heart of the parish of Wadsworth that understands and responds to the Wadsworth community’s needs.
Objects:
-
a) To promote the benefit of the inhabitants of Wadsworth Parish and the immediate neighbourhood beyond the Parish boundaries (hereinafter called the ‘area of benefit') without distinction of sex, political, religious or other opinions by associating with the local authorities, (mainly Wadsworth Parish Council and Calderdale M.B. Council), voluntary organisations and inhabitants in a common effort to advance education, and to provide facilities in the interest of social welfare for recreation and leisure-time occupations with the object of improving the conditions of life for the said inhabitants.
-
b) To establish or to secure the establishment of a Community Centre (hereinafter called ‘the Centre) and to maintain and manage, or to co-operate with any local statutory authority in the maintenance and management of, such a Centre for activities promoted by the Association and its constituent bodies in furtherance of the above objects.
Vision:
Our vision is:
-
to run a lively, well-used centre that is at the heart of the Wadsworth community
-
for everyone in Wadsworth to understand how the centre runs, what it’s for and feel a sense of ownership
-
that the WCC (Wadsworth Community Centre) is everybody’s centre.
Values:
Our values underpin everything we do and these are to be inclusive, welcoming, transparent, responsive and imaginative.
Observer’s report to March 31st 2023
Charities are legally bound by their charitable purposes, and some charities are constituted to have an Observer, whose task is to report on whether the Trustees are acting according in accordance with their charitable purposes, as described in the Trustees’ report and outlined on the last page of that report. I am sorry not to have been able to attend the AGM this year to give the report in person. And regrettably, I have not been able to attend as many committee meetings as I would have liked, but I have kept in touch with activities and developments and am confident I would have noticed anything awry.
In summary, it is evident from the Trustees report that the charity can be confident that it is meeting its aims and objectives, and my experience of meetings, events and other contacts at the centre is in accord with this view. It’s a joy to read the Trustees’s report and recall the hard work and many activities and events that WCA has achieved this last year. Relationships with other local organisations, including the school, are lively and positive, and it is clear that WCA provides a high quality and reliable service locally, as well as attracting people from further afield to concerts, birthday parties, classes, workshops, the wonderful, well-attended Jubilee celebration, sports, welfare, and many more activities. I live locally and know how much this is valued. Committee meetings are well administered, run and recorded. Appropriate thought and care is given to financial oversight and to continuing to improve the building and facilities, and to stay within the spirit of the community. Meetings I have attended have been thoughtful, friendly and cooperative. Last year’s decision to create working groups has been very positive, and, with exception of youth work, there have been good developments. The question of involving young people and establishing activities for them is still hoped for. There is no doubt that WCA is guided by their charitable purposes, and that its values of transparency, inclusion, responsiveness and imagination guide their decisions and activities.
Jane Morris September 2023
Year to Year to Income & Expenditure Account Summary 31-Mar-23 31-Mar-22 Bar Account Surplus Café Account Surplus Centre Income Centrè Running Costs Improvements & Developments 10,248.24 3,871.50 274.57 12.728.02 17.273.58 10,496.80 13.129.S3 7,226.78 OVERALL LOSSISURPLUS 4,794.12 9.499.68 Balance Sheet as at 31st March 2023 ASSETS Cash on deposit Cash in current alc Cash in hand Debtors and prfrpayments Stock TOTAL ASSETS 31-Mar-23 31-Mar-22 21,051.39 16.840.11 768.18 1,009.74 36,569.08 308.44 I,J.CO 2.C69.33 41.729.01 950.00 1,513.08 40,350.34 LIABILITIES & COMMITMENTS Creditors 7,918.93 1,746.14 TOTAL LIA81LITIES & COMMITMENTS 7,918.93 1,746.14 NET ASSETS 33.810.08 38,604.20 REPRESENTED BY Accumulated Fund as 3 1st April Pluslless surplusnoss for the year ACCUMULATED FUND AT 31st March 38.604.20 4,794.12 33,810.08 29.104.52 9,499.68 Note to the Accounts l. Plans are in hand to Improve the toilets and entrance lobby Audlt statement I have examined the books and doojments kept by the Treasurer and that the above Income & Expenditure Account and Balance Sheet present a true and fair view of the affairs of the Association for the year to 31st March 2023. Paul Turner-AccountinB Services I" September 2023 Wadsworth Community Association Charity Number.. 1171791 Address: Vladsworth commlty CeFrtr. L•n. wad5. Hebdèn Br1. West yOhlY*. HX7 8RY
¥Yo Sutwad$¥I0rth Income & Expenditure Account for the year to 31st Marth 2023 Year to Year to 31-Mar-23 31-Mar-22 BAR & FOOD ACCOUNT Bar & food sales Less cost of sales Gross proffit Llcences 22,$85.05 10.465.65 12.119.40 576.68 1.294.48 12,036.66 5.715.16 6,321.50 532.68 53.7% 52.5% Bar equlpment, seIce$, etc Less proflts to DEC BAR & FOOD ACCOUNT SURPLUS 1.617.32 300.00 3,871.50 10,248.24 CAFÉ ACCOUNT PROFIT/ ILOSSI CENTRE INCOME BookinBs Special efforts Membershlp subscrlptlon5 COVID support grants Donations & Other Grants Other Incorne CENTRE INCOME o.c#) -274.57 5,223.50 305.CQ 5.096.10 774.11 59.CQ 123.00 6,667.00 437.65 31.67 7,029.61 110.91 12,728.02 13,129.53 OVERALL CENTRE INCOME 22,976.26 16,726.46 CENTRE RUNNING cosrs 2,387.94 1,052.87 2.217.14 4,224.46 6.546.40 1,116.11 994.04 Insurance Repairs & malntenance Cleanlng & Hygiene Jubilee & Warm Spaces spend Other expenditure TOTAL CENTRE RUNNING cosrs 1,464.68 2,662.09 989 86 17,273.58 7,226.78 OPERATING PROFIT I ILOSSI 5.702.68 9,499.68 IMPROVEMENTS TO CENTRE Improvements to celllng & Ilgh 10.496.80 0.00 INCOME AND EXP A/C LOSS/SURPLUS 4,794.12 9.499.68 Wadsworth Communlty Assoclatton Charlty Number: 1171791 Addr.. ¥•ladsworth Communlty Centre. Bllty La. Wad$M. Hbd Bridm West Yorkshlre, HX7 8RY