
## **Trustees’ Annual Report for the period** 

**From  01/04/2024 Period start date   To 31/03/2025 Period end date** 

## **Charity name: Desborough Library and Community Hub** 

**Charity registration number:** 1179015 

## **Objectives and Activities** 

||SORP reference||
|---|---|---|
|Summary of the purposes of<br>the charity as set out in its<br>governing document|Para 1.17|1) The provision of a public library.<br>2) To promote for the benefit of the<br>residents of Desborough and surrounding<br>area or communities the provision of a<br>public library for recreation and or other<br>leisure time occupation of individuals who<br>have need of such facilities by reason of<br>their youth, age, infirmity or disablement,<br>financial hardship or social and economic<br>circumstances or for the public at large in<br>the interests of social welfare and with<br>the object of improving the condition of<br>life of the said residents.<br>3) To advance the education of the public in<br>Desborough and surrounding areas by<br>operating and managing a lending library.|





|Summary of the main<br>activities in relation to those<br>purposes for the public<br>benefit, in particular, the<br>activities, projects or<br>services identified in the<br>accounts.|Para 1.17 and<br>1.19|Desborough Library and Community Hub<br>(DLCH) has taken over the running of<br>Desborough Library and has a dedicated<br>body of 30 volunteers of which 20 have<br>been trained in Library operations. Along<br>with a part time staff member covering the<br>Library duties<br>The core services of book lending and<br>computer terminals giving internet access,<br>bus pass and blue badge applications and<br>renewals are available by appointment<br>during all opening times.<br>This meets the first and third objectives.<br>There are sessions for children, toddlers<br>and babies such as Story Stomp, Rhyme<br>Time, Baby Time, Playtime at the Library,<br>some sessions are followed by themed<br>crafts, many of which are run by volunteers.<br>There is a scrabble club, fiction addiction<br>( book club), regular coffee mornings, craft<br>sessions, fitness classes, fund raisers for<br>other local charities. The Library provides a<br>welcoming and safe environment for the<br>elderly and for people with anxiety and<br>mental health issues.<br>During the Winter months we took part in<br>the Warm Space initiative by proving free<br>teas & coffees with biscuits and Hot Soup<br>and bread rolls.<br>There is Service Desk hosted within the<br>Library at which residents can get help<br>regarding services provided by the local<br>authority including housing, rents, litter,<br>refuse collection, anti-social behaviour,<br>environmental health.<br>A small meeting room is utilised by<br>• theCitizens Advice Bureau,<br>• Mind mental health charity hold weekly<br>drop in sessions,<br>• a Credit Union have meeting<br>appointments<br>• Accommodation Concern have weekly<br>visits and appointments with local<br>residents.|
|---|---|---|
|Statement confirming<br>whether the trustees have<br>had regard to the guidance<br>issued by the Charity<br>Commission on public<br>benefit|Para 1.18|The Trustees recognise the guidance given<br>by the Charity Commission on public benefit<br>and conclude that by providing a free book<br>lending library service and free Universal<br>Children’s Services for under 5s open to all<br>the residents of Desborough and the<br>surrounding area the requirement is being<br>met.|



## **Additional information (optional)** 

You may choose to include further statements where relevant about: 

SORP reference 



|Policy on grant making|Para 1.38|**NA**|
|---|---|---|
|Policy on social investment<br>including program related<br>investment|Para 1.38|**NA**|
|Contribution made by<br>volunteers|Para 1.38|DLCH has retained a dedicated group of<br>volunteers whose contribution allows the<br>Library to remain open for longer and on<br>more days allowing it to run as a<br>Community Managed Library. The group is<br>active in many ways within the Library by<br>providing support to the paid staff member<br>across the range of services offered. There<br>are usually 3 people on duty at any one<br>time and often more during busy times. The<br>weekly contribution from volunteers has<br>increased due to demand at around 100<br>person hours.|
|Other|||



## **Achievements and Performance** 

||SORP reference||
|---|---|---|
|Summary of the main<br>achievements of the charity,<br>identifying the difference the<br>charity’s work has made to<br>the circumstances of its<br>beneficiaries and any wider<br>benefits to society as a<br>whole.|Para 1.20|DLCH considers that the continuation of the<br>free public library service in Desborough is<br>an achievement.<br>On average we are having 750 visitors per<br>week to the Library for the book lending<br>service and the range of community<br>activities that are hosted within the<br>Community Hub.<br>We continue to have a strong working<br>relationship with the Library Community<br>Support Officers who are most supportive of<br>DLCH. The senior officers and portfolio<br>holder for Libraries are also extremely<br>positive and helpful in support of DLCH<br>running the Library.|



## **Additional information (optional)** 

You may choose to include further statements where relevant about: 



||Achievements against<br>objectives set<br>Para 1.41<br>DLCH’s objectives for this year were to<br>continue to provide a free to all Library<br>lending service and provide an expanded<br>range of community activities. We also<br>continue to upgrade and renew the fabric of<br>the building with replacement of windows in<br>the children’s area and upgrades to the<br>furniture.<br>Performance of fundraising<br>activities against objectives<br>set<br>Para 1.41<br>Our fundraising activities continue to provide<br>sufficient income to meet our needs. We<br>have seen an upturn in visitor numbers and<br>our activities are well supported by the<br>community.<br>Investment performance<br>against objectives<br>Para 1.41<br>DLCH has a £40,000 savings bank account<br>for its reserves<br>Other|
|---|---|





## **Financial Review** 

|**Financial Review**|||
|---|---|---|
|Review of the charity’s<br>financial position at the end<br>of the period|Para 1.21|**2023/24                      2023/24**<br>Income        £82,960                      £78,758<br>Payments    £59,846                      £58,973<br>Cash<br>at Year End<br>(inc savings)    £129,191              £106,078<br>Restricted<br>Funds           £15,854                       £5,498<br>Unrestricted<br>Funds         £113,337                    £100,580|
|Statement explaining the<br>policy for holding reserves<br>stating why they are held|Para 1.22|The current reserves policy is to maintain<br>sufficient cash flow for known commitments,<br>and the replacement of certain assets|
|Amount of reserves held|Para 1.22|£42,000 in savings account|
|Reasons for holding zero<br>reserves|Para 1.22|N/A|
|Details of fund materially in<br>deficit|Para 1.24|None|
|Explanation of any<br>uncertainties about the<br>charity continuing as a going<br>concern|Para 1.23|None|



## **Additional information (optional)** 

You may choose to include further statements where relevant about: 

|The charity’s principal<br>sources of funds (including<br>any fundraising)|Para 1.47||
|---|---|---|
|Investment policy and<br>objectives including any<br>social investment policy<br>adopted|Para 1.46||
|A description of the principal<br>risks facing the charity|Para 1.46||
|Other|||





## **Structure, Governance and Management** 

|Description of charity’s<br>trusts:|||
|---|---|---|
|Type of governing document<br>(trust deed, royal charter)|Para 1.25|CIO Foundation Constitution|
|How is the charity<br>constituted?<br>(e.g unincorporated<br>association, CIO)|Para 1.25|CIO|
|Trustee selection methods<br>including details of any<br>constitutional provisions e.g.<br>election to post or name of<br>any person or body entitled<br>to appoint one or more<br>trustees|Para 1.25|Trustees are selected from the membership<br>and appointed by the existing trustees.<br>(1) Apart from the first charity trustees,<br>every trustee must be appointed for a term<br>of four years or less by a resolution passed<br>at a properly convened meeting of the<br>charity trustees.<br>(2) In selecting individuals for appointment<br>as charity trustees, the charity trustees must<br>have regard to the skills, knowledge and<br>experience needed for the effective<br>administration of the CIO.|



## **Additional information (optional)** 

You may choose to include further statements where relevant about: 

|Policies and procedures<br>adopted for the induction<br>and training of trustees|Para 1.51||
|---|---|---|
|The charity’s organisational<br>structure and any wider<br>network with which the<br>charity works|Para 1.51||
|Relationship with any related<br>parties|Para 1.51||
|Other|||



## **Reference and Administrative details** 



||Charity name<br>Desborough Library and Community Hub<br>Other name the charity uses<br>D’Hub, DLCH and DHUB<br>Registered charity number<br>1179015<br>Charity’s principal address<br>Library,<br>High Street,<br>Desborough,<br>Northamptonshire.<br>NN14 2QS|
|---|---|





## **Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity** 

||**Trustee name**|**Office (if any)**|**Dates acted if not for**<br>**whole year**|**Name of person (or body)**<br>**entitled to appoint trustee**<br>**(if any)**|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|1 <br>2 <br>3 <br>4 <br>5 <br>6 <br>7 <br>8|Shelagh<br>Hodder||||
||Linda Valerie<br>Burnham||||
||John Ralph<br>Holmes|Chair|||
||Teresa Lesley<br>Beech||||
||Paula Jane<br>Holmes|Secretary|||
||Lesley Ann<br>Draycott||||
||Fiona Toovey||||
||Susan<br>Atkinson||||



Corporate trustees – names of the directors at the date the report was approved 

## **Director name** 

Name of trustees holding title to property belonging to the charity 

**Trustee name Dates acted if not for whole year** 



**Funds held as custodian trustees on behalf of others** 

Description of the assets held in this capacity 

Name and objects of the charity on whose behalf the assets are held and how this falls within the custodian charity’s objects 

Details of arrangements for safe custody and segregation of such assets from the charity’s own assets 


## **Additional information (optional)** 

## **Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)** 

**Type of Name Address adviser** 

**Name of chief executive or names of senior staff members (Optional** ~~**information)**~~ 

## **Exemptions from disclosure** 

Reason for non-disclosure of key personnel details 

## **Other optional information** 



**Declarations** 

**The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.** 

**Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees Signature(s) Full name(s)** JOHN RALPH HOLMES PAULA JANE HOLMES **Position (eg** CHAIR TREASURER AND TRUSTEE **Secretary, Chair, etc)** 

> **Date** 11th. May 2025 



||**Desborough Library and Community Hub**|**Desborough Library and Community Hub**|**Desborough Library and Community Hub**|**Desborough Library and Community Hub**|**Desborough Library and Community Hub**|**1179015**|**1179015**||**CC16a**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||||||||||
||**Receipts and payments accounts**|||||||||
||**For the period**<br>**from**||1 Apr 2024||**To**||31 Mar 2025|||
|||||||||||
|||||||||||
|**Section A Receipts and payments**||||||||||
||<br>**Unrestricted**<br>**funds**||**Restricted funds**||**Endowment**<br>**funds**||**Total funds**||**Last year**|
||**to the nearest      £**||**to the nearest £**||**to the nearest £**||**to the nearest £**||**to the nearest £**|
|**A1 Receipts**||||||||||
|Individual Donations|**0**||**1,809**||**0**||**1,809**||**3,309**|
|HMRC Gift Aid|**477**||**0**||**0**||**477**||**859**|
|NNC Grants - Warm Space|**2,000**||**0**||**0**||**2,000**||**0**|
|Small Grants|**100**||**0**||**0**||**100**||**6,099**|
|Public Toilet Extension Project|**0**||**10,000**||||**10,000**|||
|Rent (Desborough Town Council)|**9,576**||**0**||**0**||**9,576**||**9,576**|
|Fundraising Online|**127**||**0**||**0**||**127**||**230**|
|Fundraising Events|**19,393**||**0**||**0**||**19,393**||**17,855**|
|Other Income|**1,310**||**0**||**0**||**1,310**||**1,351**|
|Shop Sales|**14,845**||**0**||**0**||**14,845**||**13,190**|
|Room Hire|**19,070**||**0**||**0**||**19,070**||**19,106**|
|Library income|**2,252**||**0**||**0**||**2,252**||**2,183**|
|**_Sub total_**_(Gross income for AR)_|<br>**69,150**||**11,809**||**0**||**80,959**||**73,758**|
|||||||||||
|**A2 Asset and investment sales,**<br>**(see table).**||||||||||
|**Savings Account**|**2,001**||**0**||**0**||**2,001**||**40,000**|
||**0**||**0**||**0**||**0**||**0**|
|**_Sub total_**|**2,001**||**0**||**0**||**2,001**||**40,000**|
|||||||||||
|**_Total receipts_**|**71,151**||**11,809**||**0**||**82,960**||**113,758**|
|||||||||||
|**A3 Payments**||||||||||
|Shop Sales|**1,679**||**0**||**0**||**1,679**||**1,619**|
|Fundraising Events|**3,689**||**0**||**0**||**3,689**||**4,489**|
|Payroll, Pension and Training|**25,370**||**0**||**0**||**25,370**||**23,907**|
|Payments to Crafters|**384**||**0**||**0**||**384**||**417**|
|Payments for Goods and Services|**2,166**||**0**||**0**||**2,166**||**4,924**|
|Utilities, Insurance and Other Costs|**25,105**||**0**||**0**||**25,105**||**23,192**|
|Public Toilet Extension Project|**0**||**1,453**||**0**||**1,453**||**0**|
||**0**||**0**||**0**||**0**||**0**|
||**0**||**0**||**0**||**0**||**0**|
|**_Sub total_**|**58,393**||**1,453**||**0**||**59,846**||**58,548**|
|||||||||||
|**A4 Asset and investment**<br>**purchases, (see table)**||||||||||
|**Savings Account**|**0**||**0**||**0**||**0**||**40,000**|
||**0**||**0**||**0**||**0**||**0**|
|**_Sub total_**|**0**||**0**||**0**||**0**||**40,000**|
|||||||||||
|**_Total payments_**|**58,393**||**1,453**||**0**||**59,846**||**98,548**|
|||||||||||
|**_Net of receipts/(payments)_**|**12,758**||**10,356**||**0**||**23,114**||**15,210**|
|**A5 Transfers between funds**|**0**||**0**||**0**||**0**||**0**|
|**A6 Cash funds last year end**|**104,640**||**1,437**||**0**||**106,077**||**76,083**|
|**_Cash funds this year end_**|**117,398**||**11,793**||**0**||**129,191**||**91,293**|
|||||||||||
|||||||||||
|**Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period**||||||||||
|**Categories**|**Details**||||**Unrestricted**<br>**funds**||**Restricted funds**||**Endowment**<br>**funds**|
||||||**to nearest £**||**to nearest £**||**to nearest £**|
|**B1 Cash funds**|General Cash Funds||||**117,398**||**0**||**0**|
||Public Toilet Project||||**0**||**11,793**||**0**|
||||||**0**||**0**||**0**|
||**_Total cash funds_**||||**117,398**||**11,793**||**0**|
||(agree balances with receipts and payments<br>account(s))||||OK||||OK|
||||||**Unrestricted**<br>**funds**||**Restricted funds**||**Endowment**<br>**funds**|
||**Details**||||**to nearest £**||**to nearest £**||**to nearest £**|
|**B2 Other monetary assets**|N/A||||**0**||**0**||**0**|
||||||**0**||**0**||**0**|
||||||**0**||**0**||**0**|
||||||**0**||**0**||**0**|
||||||**0**||**0**||**0**|
||||||**0**||**0**||**0**|
|||||||||||
||**Details**||||**Fund to which asset**<br>**belongs**||**Cost (optional)**||**Current value**<br>**(optional)**|
|**B3 Investment assets**|Savings Account||||||**0**||**42,001**|
||||||||**0**||**0**|
||||||||**0**||**0**|
||||||||**0**||**0**|
||||||||**0**||**0**|
|||||||||||
||**Details**||||**Fund to which asset**<br>**belongs**||**Cost (optional)**||**Current value**<br>**(optional)**|
|**B4 Assets retained for the**<br>**charity’s own use**|Library Building||||0||**360,000**||**0**|
||Furniture, Fixtures and Fittings||||50000||**0**||**0**|
||||||||**0**||**0**|
||||||||**0**||**0**|
||||||||**0**||**0**|
||||||||**0**||**0**|
||||||||**0**||**0**|
||||||||**0**||**0**|
||||||||**0**||**0**|
|||||||||||
||**Details**||||**Fund to which**<br>**liability relates**||**Amount due**<br>**(optional)**||**When due**<br>**(optional)**|
|**B5 Liabilities**|||||||**0**|||
||||||||**0**|||
||||||||**0**|||
||||||||**0**|||
||||||||**0**|||
|||||||||||
|Signed by one or two trustees on behalf<br>of all the trustees|Signature||||Print Name||||Date of approval|
||||||JOHN HOLMES||||11th. May 2025|
||||||PAULA HOLMES||||11th. May 2025|
|||||||||||
|||||||||||
|||||||||||
|||||||||||
|||||||||||
|||||||||||
|||||||||||
|||||||||||
|||||||||||
|||||||||||
|||||||||||
|||||||||||





I CHARITY COMMISSION
FOR ENGLAND AND WALES
Independent examinerfs report on the
accounts
Section A
Independent Examiner's Report
Report to the trustees
On accounts for the year
ended
31st March 2025
Charity no
(If any)
1179015
set out on pages
I report to the trustees C￿ my examination of th8 accounts of the above
Charity (Ihe Trust") for the year ended
Responslblllllos and
basis of report
As the charivs trustees. you are responsilje for the preparation of Ihe
accounts in acLordance the requirements of the Charities Act 2011
{'the Aci").
I report in respecl of my examination of the Trust's accounts carried out
under secb'on 145 of the 2011 Acl and in carying out my examination, I
have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission
under section 145{5Xb) of the Act.
Independent
examinerfs statement uHdert￿8rnIp￿￿ by beinga
ero
I have c¢Jfflpl8ted my examination. I confim that no material matters have
come to my attention in oJnn8Cth)n with the examination (gth8FJ
d￿lO￿l¢h gives me cause to believe that in, any material
respect:
the accountlng records were not kept In a￿OrdanCe with section 130
of the Charities Act: or
the accounts did not aco)rd wth the accounting records; or
the accounts did not comply the applicable reqU1￿MentS
conceming the fom and content of accounts set out in the Charities
(Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement
that the accounts give a Irue and fairf view which is not a matter
onsid8red as part of an independent examinatKsn.
I have no concems and have come acmss no other matters in connection
with the examination to ￿1¢h attention should be drawn in this report in
order to enable a proper understandirHJ of the acojunts to be reathed.
. Please delete the words in th8 brackets rfthey do not appty.
Slgned:
28th May 2025
Name:
vlu ￿ Pascan Tias Able Accountinq
Relevant pmfossional
qualltlcatlon(s) or body
Independent
IER
Oct 2018

(If any):
Address:
14 Leys Avenue
Destyorough
NN14 2PY
Section B
Disclosure
OH￿Y complete if the examiner needs lo highlight material matters of concern
(see CC32, Independent examinalion of charity accounts: directions and
guidance for examiners).
Give here brief details of
any items that tho
examlner wlshes to
dlsclose.
NIA
IER
Oct 2018