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2021-03-31-accounts

Friends of Castle Cary Community Library

Annual Report for the period 1[st ] April 2020 to 31[st ] March 2021

Covid-19 arrangements at the Library Issue Desk

Registered Charity Number 1180566

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Administrative Details

  1. The charity’s name is the Friends of Castle Cary Community Library (FCCCL) . The charity does not use any other name.

  2. The charity’s registration number is 1180566. The charity’s principal office is Knowle House South Street Castle Cary Somerset BA7 7ES . Its activities are primarily centred on the Library at Bailey Hill, Castle Cary BA7 7AA

  3. The trustees of the charity at the date this report was approved are: Janice Collins, Peter Marsden, David Terry, Laura Tilling, Will Vaughan and Roger Weldhen (Chair),

  4. The Treasurer is Doug Crosse. Administrative support is provided by Anne Pitt. Neither is a trustee.

  5. No other person served as a trustee or custodian trustee for the period covered by this report save for Les Kimberley (1[st] April to 24[th] August 2020) and Judi Morison (entire period) .

  6. The trustees appointed Carole Kimberley and Laura Tilling to be Joint Library Managers on 21[st] January 2021.

  7. As at the date of this report there were 112 members of FCCCL

Governance

  1. The charity is constituted as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) with a constitution dated 6[th] November 2018 as its governing document.

  2. FCCCL was entered in the Register of Charities on 6[th] November 2018 as a CIO.

  3. Following FCCCL entering into a Service Level Agreement with Somerset County Council on 15[th] March 2019 operation of the Library was transferred from the County Council to FCCCL on 1[st] April 2019. The County Council continues to provide all loan stock, information technology systems, internet access and professional support. The County Council has also provided a self serve kiosk which is popular with Library users. Through the County Council Library Service our little library also acts as a portal to all the vast book, non-book and e-resources of Libraries West.

  4. The constitution requires there shall be a minimum of four and no more than eight trustees.

  5. Janice Collins, Laura Tilling and Roger Weldhen are the original trustees of the charity. The constitution requires two of them to resign at the next AGM (although they are eligible for re - election).

  6. The charity is resourced entirely by volunteers.

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Financial Review

  1. The principal source of financial support of the Library during the period in question has been grants from HM Government (HMG), Somerset County Council, Castle Cary Town Council, Ansford Parish Council and five Parish Councils.

  2. Covid 19 related Business Support Grants totalling £18335 were received from HMG (via South Somerset District Council) for the period covered by this report.

  3. Income has been received from Library services such as fines for overdue books and reservation fees as well as the monies generated from book sales and donations.

  4. The trustees have adopted a reserves policy whereby they seek to accumulate sufficient reserves to fund a minimum of six months operating costs. However, the trustees would wish to maximise the reserves during the period when they are receiving support from the County, Town and Parish Councils to ensure that should this support be reduced the financial security of the Library will be assured. The trustees have acknowledged the importance of balancing the accumulation of reserves against the need to spend money on improvements to the library, in particular heating, lighting and modifications to the layout in order to provide a dedicated children’s area and to make the whole public area feel more spacious..

  5. The charity does not and has not held funds as a custodian trustee on behalf of others.

  6. The charity trustees have complied with their duty to have due regard to the guidance on public benefit published by the Commission in exercising their powers or duties.

  7. During the financial period covered by this report the charity received a total of £30772.78 from all of its income sources and made total payments of £9029.63 which resulted in £21743.15 of income in excess of expenditure. The total funds of the charity at year end was £27303.98.

Library Premises

On 9 April 2019 the charity was granted the lease of the ground floor of the Library building for the period starting on 1 May 2019 and ending 30 April 2022. The annual rent is our principal expenditure.

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Objectives

The objectives of the charity as defined by its constitution are:

The advancement of education for the public benefit in particular by the provision of Library facilities and services for learning, for information, advice and other related Library provision for the benefit of the residents and the wider community in Castle Cary, Ansford and the surrounding areas.

Activities and aspirations

Activities and aspirations have included:

  1. The Service Level Agreement with Somerset County Council puts responsibility on FCCCL to ensure the continued availability of a public Library service free of charge to the community of Castle Cary and surrounding areas for 19.5 hours each week including the loan of stock provided by Somerset Library Service and the provision of free internet access. Covid - 19 regulations and guidance prevented the Library from opening for much of 2020/2021 (see the Achievement and Performance section below).

  2. Signposting information enquiries concerning the local community, its resources and groups operating within it to the Town Council Community and Tourist Information Point.

We eventually managed to hold a Book Sale in May 2021, and raised £700

  1. Taking the initial steps with a view to developing a wider range of activities for a range of needs and ages.

  2. Income generation to ensure the continuance and development of the charity’s activities.

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Les Kimberley

Everyone associated with our Library was saddened to learn of the untimely death of Les Kimberley on 24[th] August 2020. Les’s contribution to the Library was immense. In mid 2018 when closure seemed likely Les was at the forefront in motivating and coordinating plans to save the Library. Les was a highly effective and diligent trustee who brought wisdom and good sense to our meetings and the Library’s affairs. Where he excelled was in the role of Library Manager. His organisational skills, attention to detail and unstinting commitment were instrumental in establishing a successful Community Library.

We continue to miss his good humour, calmness and measured approach. The trustees are immensely grateful to Les’s wife Carole for agreeing to take on the role of Joint Library Manager with Laura Tilling.

Chris Fowler

Chris Fowler was part of the small group involved in the formation of our Community Library. Chris served as clerk to the trustees from the Charity’s formation until 28[th ] September 2020. His wisdom, attention to detail and hard work were greatly appreciated by the Trustees.

Achievements and Performance

The impact on our library of the covid 19 pandemic and the associated lockdowns has been profound. We were closed completely from the end of March 2020 to mid August 2020 and then reopened for very reduced hours, with no browsing allowed so that we had to choose books for our customers. Crucially the book reservation system was halted so our readers could not borrow books from other libraries in libraries west, and all the usual systems for churning books between libraries also ceased.

The sudden death of Les Kimberley, our Library Manager, at the end of August 2020 was a tragic blow to the whole Desk Volunteer Team. Carole Kimberley and Laura Tilling took on jointly the task of managing the library.

We had to close again soon after Christmas 2020, re-opening in the same limited sense towards the end of March 2021. However as we move into our new financial year the Government’s Road Map out of lockdown has meant that we can gradually move back towards normality with limited browsing, the reservations system recommencing, hours back almost to normal, and the public computer again available.

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Our 20+ volunteers have been magnificent throughout this difficult period. One or two have been shielding vulnerable relatives or have had their own medical difficulties but the vast majority have continued as usual, taking on board all the additional procedures demanded to keep people safe – wearing masks and socially distancing in the library; strict sanitizing and disinfecting regimes, quarantining of books etc. Many of our customers appeared to have deserted us but they are now gradually coming back. The Somerset Library Service has wisely and rationally abandoned all its normal statistical measurements of performance over the lockdown period, so we are not going to be told we have failed to meet the targets set by our contract.

We have provided refresher training for volunteers requesting it, and also trained up three new volunteers to join our team.

We have not been idle during lockdown. Our desk volunteer team has

undertaken a thorough overhaul and weeding of our stock, with the Library Service’s blessing. We have also received far more new books than usual and our shelves now look brighter and more up to date than before. We have significantly

Choosing books for the children

improved our book displays in the library and customers are now greeted by an array of new books to choose from.

The Co-op grant, awarded to us early in the financial year

Castle Cary Primary School children with their bags

and mentioned in last year’s report, was intended for library-related events which we have been unable to put on. However with the Co-op’s permission we were allowed to migrate the funding to an exciting project with Castle Cary Primary School, every child receiving a free book bag which they can now send to the library as a request to borrow books. Over 50 children have taken advantage of the scheme.

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Another use of the grant has been to hire the shambles at the market house for sessions where different sectors of the community can be introduced to some of our library books. We attempted this with some small success but will probably repeat it at a later date when things are back to normal.

Trustee meetings

The pandemic resulted in all trustee’ meetings being conducted electronically during the period covered by this report. Zoom was used for five formal trustees’ meetings. There were also three informal electronic trustee discussions.

Books from the library’s Local History section, including Will Vaughan's "An Accurate Mapp of Castle Cary", on display at the Market House.

The Future

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Appreciation

The trustees would again like to thank each and every volunteer for their contribution to our wonderful Library. The trustees also need to thank Somerset County Council Library Services for their invaluable help, support and encouragement. Thanks are also due to Somerset County Council, Castle Cary Town Council, Ansford Parish Council and other Parish Councils for their financial assistance.

The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees' report above, and the accounts attached.

Signed on behalf of the FCCCL trustees

Full name: Roger Leonard Weldhen

Position: Chair of trustees

Date: 27th July 2021

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Friends of Castle Cary Community Llbrary (registered charity no 1180566) Accoults lor th• year ended 315t March 2021 Income and expendllurn accourt 2019A EkARY INC(AEINNE$eT¢I t511. oFF￿E SLWUE6KOSY$ ELECTIIIC $1191 29JO GRAtITS S¢C 1BS) 1137J• 1311.51 DOWATK)MS Cu oy EVÉMTS 72 •J7 EYEWTS AEIIT FUN[l￿$￿G VIE8WF CAPITAL EQUP¥t14T T•ty•l•oi•• P￿￿￿• 250.15 101.67 97.f• 252.31 GIFrA 321.54 $57.M 29.73 8UNORIES 142.39 Tot￿ R¢dpl• 21743.1S 30772.78 49J?.55 13771. TWI Cutr•ni •¢c bo >1￿￿¢• op• ITJQJ. 27303.91 Pllty C&h op•ntho 97128 175.>) •7928 I￿14$ 175AO 5W.13 2174115 Pdty C4th dolknq Tgtsl 27>1J.98 Tr4•1 27X3.•B Prllp•¥￿ ty Douy ¢fo• T4 Examinedbv

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A ccounts fort he year ended 31st March2021 he year ended 31st March2021
lncome andexpenditure account
lNcoirE 2020t21 2019t20 EXPENDITURE 2020i21 2419t20
€
UBRARYtilC(ilE(FtlrESETC) 189.00 ,l5.01.61 OFFICESUPPUES'COSTS 513.91
ELECTRIC 93{23 1141.71
GRANTSTown and Parich 4880.00 flt50.00 TEEnilGS 29.20
GRANTS SCC 5000.00 5tx)0.00 WATER'SEWERAGE tl 68.00
GRANTSsetup 1000.00 INSURAI{CE /securiry /l@REG 279-97 {43.18
Businesssupportgran6 {8335.00
DONATIONS fi37.24 121.4O AOHIil
Co op Donation 1311-54 PHOilE 72.72 78.00
EVENTS 2t1-97 EVETITS 256.15
REilT 6399.96 5866.63
FUilDRAISIT{G ,t38.81 FUNDRA$ilG 108.67
UI'EBSITE 97.18 42.4O
CAPITALEQtllPllE[TTablelLxes 252-36
GIFTAIO Patbding 30
Covid Scmens 321.il
CoopIUbrary ior AllJute bags 557.94
SUNDRIES 378.00 sut{IrRrEs 29.73 642.3S
TotalRecelprts 39172-73 't3771 .39 Total Paymente 9029.63 9189.84
Exce3s, l}3ffclt 21743-15 4581.55
Total 30772.78 13771.39
Year end Balafice Sh6et
Gurrent accbookbalance opening 5560.8:l 979.28 CurrentAccountCloeing 27303.58 5560.83
Unpresentodchoques/palments 0.00 0.00
Book balance CurrcntAcc.unt 23t13.98 s560.83
Petty Cash openlng 0.00 0.00
Totd 5560.83 97928
Declgnated Funds 175.50 175.50 PettyCe3hcloslng 0.00 0.00
Balanco broughtiorward tronrlastyear 5560.83 979.28 Total 27303.98 5560.83
Excess /defic{lngemral fund 21713-15 4581-55
Totd 273rr3.98 5560.83 Total 27303.98 5560.83