2020-11-30-accounts

– LKYPCG December 2019 November 2020 Annual Report

Declaration

We at the Lower Kersal Young People & Community Group are pleased to present the report detailing the progress the group has made in last year since receiving the financial backing of the Community Fund and Tudor Trust.

The function of the group has been severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns and tier systems. Unfortunately, the region that we operate in has been under some form of restrictions since 23[rd] March 2020 and the changing situation has created confusion and disruption to our plans and progress.

This being the case we have been determined not to excuse ourselves from our responsibilities within our community and the activities that we have longed to be able to complete. As soon as the ‘bubble’ system arrived in the UK along with the tiers, we felt that we would be able to work safely as a staff in our offices as a small bubble of 2 households and from there we have been able to plan certain activities that the group could go on to complete at a social distance and ways that we could remain in touch with our membership and the wider community.

Also during this period, we have made progress with our plans to secure a long term facility for the group. It is increasingly promising that the group will be able to remain in its current facilities, but with greater access, as the Church of England in our Diocese are looking to sell Church buildings with smaller congregations. St Aidan’s Church falls within this remit and we are in advanced discussions with the church about taking / acquiring the church for the group.

The disruption to the group and its activities has meant that other forms of raising donations for the long-term sustainability has unfortunately stalled too, though in light of the pandemic we have looked into alternative ways of providing activities and used some of the technical skills we already have to adapt activities to make sure they are workable. The group has successfully acquired funding for a few smaller projects that have pandemic restrictions in mind.

We have made further progress on the succession planning and longevity of the group by taking this time to train and mentor our support staff, with them shadowing our Project Leader while they provide coaching in their role.

The activities that we have been able to retain during this period have been invaluable to the members of the group who have been able to participate and those who haven’t been able to take part due to vulnerability have been kept in contact with the group through regular phone calls and care deliveries.

Allotments

Income - £1,200 – Vegware Community Fund (not included last year’s remaining balance)

Expenditure - £1,494

Some of the activities have included the members continuing to grow on the allotments . This was a fantastic way of keeping our members in touch with one another and our facilities in the summertime. We were able to bring individuals and bubbles in to work on the allotments, allowing them to continue with their development of skills in growing fruit and veg and maintaining relationships with the staff and where possible, communicating with their peers in the open air from a safe distance.

We were able to work with 10 members over 60 hours a week over the year. The members who did take part were encouraged throughout to follow our COVID-19 protocols and always within a safe distance and using the correct PPE. The benefits of being able to continue this project in such a difficult period was of a feeling of relief from social isolation which had increased over the original lockdown.

Expenditure Break down – This year we had used our money to build new worktables - £300 as well as a large walk-in vegetable cage to enable us to grow fruit and vegetables free from pests - £827.79, with the remainder of the money being used on equipment, paint and seeds

The produce from the allotment project continued to be enjoyed by the wider community with staff and volunteers making deliveries to homes of people who were having to isolate and shield.

Thanks to the work the volunteers have continued to do during the pandemic they had been nominated for an award called the ‘Spirit of Salford’ and have since been short-listed and are looking forward to the event hosted in March to see if they have been successful in winning.

Volunteers Week

Income - £493 - Salford CVS

Expenditure – £491.17

This grant was to celebrate all the work our volunteers had accomplished over the year, we had decided to make this into a video diary, and thus used to money from the grant to secure a new microphone for our DSLR cameras, as well as frame for certificates and chocolates (£390.46). During Volunteer’s week, a member of our staff had designed certificates and purchased

chocolate for all our volunteers to celebrate the work they have done over the years, we visited them on the allotments, as well as visited, some of them at their homes to present them with the certificates and chocolates. We have also filmed this to encapsulate this moment for them, and shared it on our social media’s, including Facebook. The volunteers loved this and here are some quotes form them; “What a lovely gesture”, “I was having a bad day, but it has really cheered me up”.

The remainder of the money was spent on stationary such as ink for the production of the certificates

Podcast – Project Not Finished

Income - £4,805 - Awards for all

Expenditure - £4,213.92

In the last 6 months we stepped up our work on the podcast project. This has been the perfect project for us to administer during the era of social distancing. We have been able to bring individuals into a safe and clear environment after a self-declaration form to certify their health and have long form conversations with our members to share their life stories and interests with the wider community. In this grant we secured new equipment for the podcasts, such as microphones and their stand, a mixing station and a new Apple Laptop to edit the podcasts on.

This project was conceived in an effort to encourage members of our community to open up and speak about their lives, their issues, their interests and their achievements and for others to learn more about their neighbours and friends. So far, we have managed to record and edit 7 podcasts out of 14 which will include conversations which include 7 life stories and 7 podcasts

with members of the community who want to share their interests and expertise in the realms of sport and film. As a group which uses our technical expertise in production as a tool to access new members of the community and improve the lives of those who already participate with our group.

As an extension to this work, we will continue to record and publish podcasts and share that expertise with the wider community to encourage them to produce their own content and harness their creativity. We have also been successful with a bid to fund extra sound recording equipment to allow us to start recording radio plays. All the content that we record will be made available on personal devices through podcast apps and through the local radio station for those who do not have access to podcast players.

Expenditure Breakdown

We spent £2432.86 on our Podcast equipment, including microphones, stands, pop filters and cables. £1,221.06 on a new Apple MacBook which was used as a portable recording station for our podcasts, we Paid a sessional worker £560 for doing the first 7 podcast sessions, this included organising the work as well as delivering the sessions, he will be paid £640 for the last sessions and distribution of the podcasts.

In terms of funding, we have been able to utilise a fund that was made available via the Tudor Trust to aid in the relief of COVID-19 for our cause. We intend to use this funding to reintroduce the community to one another through a series of event days and to up skill and train our members of staff.

Following on from this theme we have requested funding to increase our staff levels in order to better manage the group and provide focus and maintenance in specific areas. So far, we have applied for an increase in the hours to our

support staff, Sean who is training to become a project lead and we have also applied to create the role of an allotment manager.

One future project that we will be commencing as soon as this recent lockdown has ceased will be a ‘social distanced cinema.’ We are fortunate to have a large enough facility in the church building to allow a congregation of over 20 members of the community to sit, in excess of 2m apart and watch a film. We have secured funding to improve our equipment for showing films and we have gained access to a film licence for up to 4 films initially and we will be open to taking donations from those who are able to view the films for us to be able to extend this way of public viewings.

Summary

It goes without saying that the last 6 months of our services have been seriously negatively impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic and it has been important for organisations such as ours, who are flexible and experienced within the community, to be creative and accessible to our community, especially the most vulnerable members. We have endeavoured throughout, amongst the changing advice and severity, to be able to maintain our services to the best of our abilities.

We have been fortunate that our members have remained resilient in the face of the difficulties that this virus has imposed on their lives and we have felt privileged to be able to play our part in keeping their spirits off through phone calls, care package deliveries and for a select amount, to be able to adapt our services to ensure that some can benefit from direct participation in our projects.

We are looking forward to the recovery phase of this dark period and will be a safety net for people in our community who have been impacted by the virus

through its various effects, whether it be, physical, social or economic. We are prepared to slowly reinstate our schedule of activities and when possible ramp up the participation once again. We continue to work knowing that there is light at the end of the tunnel that our members will dance, act, sew, they will cook, create, travel, dig & grow once again.

Cynthia Maureen Cullen

Trustee

Lower Kersal Young People and Community Group

Receipt and Payments Accounts

Lower Kersal Young People and Community Group

Charity number : 1173316	Period	01/12/2019	to		30/11/2020
Section A		Receipts and	Payments
	Unrestricted Funds	Restricted Funds	Endowment funds	Total funds	Previous Year
	£	£	£	£	£
A1 Receipts
Grants, Donations	3700	68618	0	72318	52903
Bank Interest	12	0	0	12	7
Fund Raising	484	0	0	484	766
Subtotal	4196	68618	0	72814	53676
A2 Sale of Assets or Investments	0	0	0	0	0
Total Receipts	4196	68618	0	72814	53676
A3 Payments
Training & Activities	85	2058	0	2143	8307
Rent		4360	0	4360	4757
Insurance			0	0	443
Salaries- facilitators	10	54611	0	54621	33359
Office Costs	405	5726	0	6131	635
Legal & Professional Fees	300	1051	0	1351	449
Charitable Donations			0	0	774
Subtotal	800	67806	0	68606	48724
A4 Asset or Investment Purchases	0	0	0	0	0
Total Payments	800	67806	0	68606	48724
Net receipts/(payments)	3396	812	0	4208	4952
A5 Transfers between funds			0	0	0
A6 Cash funds last year end	745	17216	0	17961	13009.02
Cash funds this year end	4141	18028	0	22169	17961

Section B	Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period
	Unrestricted Funds	Restricted Funds		Endowment funds
	£	£		£
B1 Cash funds
Bank Account	4979	17135		0
Petty Cash	55	0		0
Total cash funds	5034	17135		0
B2 Other monetary assets
None	0	0		0
	Fund to which asset
	belongs	Cost		Current Value
		£		£
B3 Investment assets
None		0		0
B4 Assets retained for charity's own use
None		0		0
	Fund to which liability
	relates	Amount due		When due
		£		£
B5 Liabilities
None		0		0
Signed by one or two trustees
on behalf of all trustees	Lynda Hazeldine			11/05/2021
	Annie Wallace			11/05/2021
	Signature Print Name			Date of Approval

Independent examiner’s report to the trustees of Lower Kersal And Young People Community Group Charitable Incorporated Organisation (‘the CIO’)

I report to the charity trustees on my examination of the accounts of the CIO for the year ended 30 November 2020.

Responsibilities and basis of report

As the charity trustees of the CIO you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the Act’).

I report in respect of my examination of the CIO’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the Act. In carrying out my examination I have followed all applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the 2011 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 giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:

1. accounting records were not kept as required by section 130 of the Act; or

2. the accounts do not accord with those records.

I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Anita Bradbury AFA ATA

18[th] May 2021