LivingRoomsA
CHAIRMAN'S ANNUAL REPORT- 31 MARCH 2024
Our year 8nding 31 March 2024 saw us move into our fifth year of operations al The Living
Rooms - Northallerton {TLR) which we will complete on 5 December this year. However. this
has been only our second full year of operations without Covid-19 restnctions.
TLR has continued lo serve and SUp￿rt those in most need in Northallerton and the
surrounding areas by being a community hub in the centre of town. open to all. We
particularty support those with poor wellbeing and mental health and the lonely, isolated and
social excluded. by being a plac8 of welcome. care and I￿SpItality - at the core of whi¢h 1$
our Renew Wellbeing service where it's 'ok nol to be ok.,
We are extremely grateful for the continuing support of th8 ONE Northallerton Churches and
the fruitful partnerships w8 enjoy with other compatibl8 organisations both slalulory and
voluntary including Jubi1è8 Debt Advice. Hamblelon Foodshare. Hambleton Community
A¢tion. North Yorkshire Council. Ihe NHS and many more.
During this year we V￿re open 5 momings per week for wellbeing sessions, having
increased from 4 momirys for much of last year and further increases in opening hours Is
under review. As a result. we hosted 2,374 individual visits in wellbeing sessions, an
increa58 of almost 50% on the previous year providing eviden¢8 of the increased demand.
Our amazing team of over 35 volunteèrs made this possible by contributing some 4,116
hours of their time, an uplift from last year of almost 200A. All of this was organised by our
two dedicated part lime staff. Jo Swain our Hub Cwrdinator and Chloe Hickford our Renew
Wellbeing Co-ordinator.
We truly appreciate and thank all our volunteers, without whose dedication, commitment and
heart for TLR we would simply not be able to operate. Our gratitude and thanks also go lo Jo
and Chloe for their passion and service in managing th8 day-l04ay operations of TLR.
We receive so much appreciation from visitors and one card V￿ recently re¢eiv8d just
typifies this. it read 'To The Living Rooms, Ihank you lor supporting me and including me in
everything. I don t know what I would do withoui your supwt.. Pleas8 see the following,
recorded recently al TLR.. hll s.'Illhelivin
roorns.or
.uklabouV - 'What our Visitors and
Volunteèrs say., which can be found at the foot of that page.
Our culture al TLR is that every individual counts and is of immense value and although we
sèrv8 many, we are 'there for the one!.
One of our major events last year was to participate in the Great North Run in Newcastle, in
September. Whal a wonderful success that was despite the torrential rain at Ihe end of the
day. 11 raised the profile of TLR and over £13.000 in fundsl A huge thank you to our team of
33 runners and ev8ryone else who participated and organised the even( many of whom
were new to TLR.

An important new initiative was launched lasl year. our new wellbeing programme for young
people from 11-18 years old. called 'Unwind'. a name chosen by the youth. This stsrted in
November and at present runs one aftemoon per week. Since then. 15 sessions have been
run with a total of 78 visits. made possible by 188 hours from volunteer hosts. W8 anticipate
this growing during the corning year, working with local youth organisations and schools.
This will be a key aim in our development going forward along with th6 hope of starting
new wellbeing programme for men. Mental health issues with young people are widely
known and we believe our offering will play a part in providing support and care.
Our finances improved S￿n￿¢antty this year with an income of £66.916 leading lo a surplus
of £21,369 and as a consequence our year end cash balance increas8d to £63,078. For full
details please see the Financial Report and Accounts. We are very gralefLJI for all grants and
funds received. in particular from The North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime
Commissioners and North Yorkshire Counal. Also, we are thankful for the valuable
donations from local voluntary organisations. local churches and the 'FrierKI of The Living
Rooms. programm8.
Changes lo our Trustee Board during this period have been Ihat Alan Bush has retired and
Rev lan Ring and Rachel Smith have joined. We sincerely thank Alan for his contribution and
look forward to benefitting from our new Trustees. We thank all our Trustees past and
presènt for their lime and dedicated service to TLR - which is greatly valuèd.
Our volunteer treasure Mark Griffilhs has also stopped down and we thank Mark for his
valuable contribution. W8 ar8 very pleased that lan Butler has joined us as our volunteer
treasure and has already become a much-valued part of our team at TLR.
The work at TLR is motivated by our faith in God and our desire to serve our community by
showing his love in our actions. We rèmain committed to work hard to maintain the high
standards expècted by our community and the statutory and voluntary se¢lor organisalions
with whom we partner.
11 continues to be an honour to serve you all and our community in my capacity as Chair of
Truslees. On behalf of the Trusl8es. I wish to express my sincere thanks lo all our
volunleers. partners and staff.
Steve Cowie
Chair of Trustees
W￿.the11vin
rooms.or
.uk
31 March 2024

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THE LIWING ROOMS
BANK RECONCIUATION to 3110312024
{Flnancial Yejr from 0110412023)
Balance per bank statement as at 3110312024
Petty cash balan
63,062.68
15.59
Less
Exps not yet debtted
Add deposlts not credited
0.00
Reconclled balan￿ of funds as at 3110312024
63,078.27
Bank Deposlt account as at
nla
0.00
Total funds
63,078.27
Check:
Bal b1fV￿ Inclexp rewrt New bal
0110412023
Dlff
41,708.91
21,369.36 63,078.27
0.00
mlners Re
I have completed my examination arKI am satisfied that the records a￿ a
true and accurate record. I have not had access to petty cash funds and
cannot confirm petty cash balances held. However, I have
no cOn￿mS and have
come across no matters to which attention shoul
wn.
Bill Harker
3rd May 2024
l AJ 3 rtA