Knighton Mens Shed Charity Commission Report 1[st] April 2021 to 31[st] March 2022
From the 16th March until the 17th August 2021 the Shed was forced to close due to Corona virus. On re opening it had been decided by the Trustees that only 5 members would be able to attend at any one session and that members should notify the secretary of their intended attendances so that fairness could be applied. This was circulated to all members but no replies were received other than the regular 6 attendees, Henry MORGAN, John COX, Ken LUNN, Joe HOLDEN, Barry DUDLEY & John THOROGOOD.
It was agreed to open up on an additional day, Thursday, to enable more members to attend. This also was circulated but only new member attended alongside Barry. This continued for two months when it was decided it was not worth while venture.
On 19th October 2021 the Shed was again forced to close due to Co-Vid restrictions. During this time the roofs of the shed were replaced by the landlord at some considerable cost. Water ingress to the Shed had been significant. During lockdown repairs were made to the foyer by the Secreatary including replacing the ceiling, repairing the damaged walls and re decorating the entrance foyer. The workshop and toilet had also suffered water damage to the walls so we paid for them to be sealed and painted by an outside painter and decorator.
On the 3rd and 4th July 2021 the Shed was invited by Elizabeth Passey to attend the Hymns Open Garden, an annual event in aid of the National Garden Scheme. The secretary John THOROGOOD attended with a trailer load of our products and sold nearly everything making £415.90. It was good income in light of our closure due to Covid -19. We are also invited back on 25th and 26th June 2022.
Simon GILL, Ken LUNN and John THOROGOOD also attended on Saturday 31st July, Knucklas village fete. Interest was pretty low in our products and we did not sell much.
On Sunday 31st August we attended Knill Open Gardens and made £97.
In October The same three with Henry also attending we set up stall at the Woodland Tree and Conservation convention at Wents Meadow, Presteigne. We took a total of £191.
In September Simon was approached to see if we could make two wooden picnic benches for the Community Centre. The timber was paid for by them and we offered our services free of charge. On 2nd November 2021 an official presentation was made and appeared in the Mid Wales Journal. Simon obtained plaques to attached to the benches showing our involvement. Simon also made a planter for the childrens nursery at the Community Centre.
In December Simon Gill, Ken Lunn and John Thorogood attended the Christmas market at the Knighton Community Centre. Simon has become very involved in the Community and has forged excellent links with many other organisations and people, spreading the word of the Shed. The local community shop has been displaying and selling our goods for some time now and has an excellent display of our products in both windows. However, because of the virus, footfall at the Shed and lack of opportunity to attend other events leaves a large stockpile of goods.
Again, in December, the Shed was approached to provide a Christmas tree for display in the local church. This was made by Barry and Simon from old oak in the Shed.
Member John Cox replaced all the old broken strip light fittings in the workshop with new LED lighting paid for out of Shed funds. The task was not easy and took some time but the quality of light is now vastly improved.
In December 2021 the Shed was approached by Janice Vincent from the Radnorshire Wildlife Trust in Llandrindod Wells who wanted some wildlife habitats made funded by a grant they had received. We manufactured 10 x tit boxes, 5 x swift boxes, 10 x unassembled tit boxes and two large planters. For this we received a payment of £440.00. A further order of 5 x swift boxes was placed in April and collected by the Presteigne Swift Society. For this we were paid £150.00. Hopefully this is the start of an ongoing alliance.
Costs of timber and increased utility bills means our income from operating costs for services and manufactured items have increased tremendously but we hope to still be able to deliver a good reliable service to our community.
A kind lady benefactor has donated a huge amount of timber valued at around £2000. She is also donating items her late husband manufactured for their art and craft business that she no longer is able to run and would rather they go to a good cause than be left to rot or get thrown away. It has been agreed by the trustees to give this lady 40% of the profits we make from the sale of these goods. She lives with her disabled daughter who required full time care and is unable to attend craft fairs like she used to when her husband was alive.
We have a considerable amount of stock and apart from sales through the Community Shop in Knighton we have not made many sales due to a low footfall.
Finally, in March 2022, after a lengthy process of contacting members by e mail and telephone, we now have a reduced membership of thirteen down from 23. Some of those members have been removed from the list as they failed to respond to messages and did not pay their annual membership fee despite efforts to contact them.
The same Committee Officers have been re elected as no other members wished to volunteer for duties of any sort: Chair – Barry Dudley Treasurer- John Evans Secretary – John Thorogood Project Manager/safety supervisor – John Cox Tools meister – Henry Morgan Marketing and fundraising – Simon Gill Health and safety – Vacant no willing volunteers
Knighton Mens Shed
Notes re Statement of Receipts and Payments for the period 1[st] April 2021 to March 2022.
Receipts
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Although subscriptions for this year were waived due to the inactivity of the previous year the attendance was good, albeit still restricted.
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The external sales were good and included yet another very successful “Hymns” weekend which made £415.90
3.Donations. The principal amount was from PayPal (£587.71) which was quite unexpected although John T says he did apply for membership and thought we were registered . This needs to be progressed by the Trustees but we are still receiving funds.
Payments
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We paid a reduced rent in 20/21 thanks to our landlords generosity but it reverted back to the basic £140 per month in August.
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Most of the electricity cost was at the rate of 14p + vat but our landlord increased the rate to 25p towards the year end and envisages that the rate will increase to from 40 to 50p per unit. This means that the cost this coming year will be in the region of £750 to £900.
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The plant and machinery cost amounting to £1727.79 essentially consisted of Makita router and equipment plus an unused unwanted sander, personally collected by John and me.
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We had an assessment of insurance which resulted in a material increase. At the time of writing we have received advice of an increased quote and the renewal date is 14[th] June. JT and I need to pursue.
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We were advised last August that we would be charged by our HSBC bank even when we paid into the Post Office, plus a standard monthly charge of £5 whatever we do.
I suspect that this is now an ongoing situation. However, we will explore the options if only to get an improved service than we now get from HSBC.
CONCLUSION
These accounts and comments are based on the fact that we are a charitable institution rather than a trading company and therefore we rely and depend upon donations for any goods or services we can supply on an “offer and acceptance” basis.
That is the formal and acceptable statement .
O.K..........now, seeing it from a hard- nosed commercial accountant’s point of view:
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We were fortunate in 2020/21 to receive a grant of £13,000 and to receive rent assistance from our landlord.
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We have a “reserve” of £11,000 ‘ish which will assist over the next few years.
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We cannot assume that there will be another grant available although the trustees will always be aware of the possibilities.
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We need to “generate” more donations from the shed and shows, reduce running costs as much as is practicable.
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Consider an increase in membership/attendance fees!.
John Wayman Evans,F.C.C.A (Retired)
Treasurer
17th May 2022
Knighton Men’s Shed Statement of Receipts and Payments for Period
April 1st 2021-31st March 2022
RECEIPTS Member subs and attendance 536.50 Sales of goods and services 2377.23 Sharpening and repairs 381.00 Donations (PayPal £587.71) 621.37 Miscellaneous 29.37 TOTAL RECEIPTS 3945.47 PAYMENTS Rent (now £140 X 12 =£1,680) 1260.00 Electricity 281.34 Website hosting 78.0 Phone 341.81 Travel costs (incl. tow bar £280) 386.70 Raw Materials, Consumables & Tools 1118.08 Shed maintenance 498.40 Plant and Machinery 1727.79 Public Liability Insurance 375.12 Bank Charges 62.00 Sundries (incl AGM refreshments) 90.99 TOTAL PAYMENTS 6220.33 NET DEFICIT 2274.86 Bank balance and cash at shed 11272.28