Charity Number 1182653 ## The West Area Project Annual General Meeting 2023 Starting at 7.00pm Monday 15[th] January 2024, at the Lenton Centre, Willoughby Street, Lenton NG7 1RQ ## **Agenda** ## 7.00 Registration and refreshments - 7.15 Welcome by the Member Representative: ## 7.30 Manager’s Report. - 7.45 Chairperson’s Report by Alf Stiegler: Chair of Trustees - Apologies - Declarations of interest - Minutes of last AGM - Treasurers Report and Review of our annual accounts - Appointment of Auditor - Resignation of Trustees - Nominations for election of new Trustees and Board - 8.30 Any other AGM Business - Review of updated Safeguarding policy. 1 ## **Welcome to the WAP 2022/2023 Annual Report:** **Introductions by our member representative Martin:** Martin welcomed everyone to the 2022/2023 Annual General Meeting Welcome everybody, to the AGM. Thank you, for joining us tonight. We are still a small and beautiful group at the West Area Project. I'm Martin Stiegler, the Member Representative and I also attend all the Board meetings to give our members a voice. I do this because I like helping our members and making sure that everyone is happy and enjoys attending the project. ## 1. **Manager’s Report by Yvonne Pearson** 2022/23 proved to be another exciting year for WAP! It started with an energy crisis which meant that the Lenton Centre had to substantially raise the rents to pay the fuel costs of heating the centre. Although we are lucky to have a swimming pool on site it costs a lot to heat! We funded this rent rise in several ways: We started a fundraising drive supported by Miriam from the Lenton Centre. All the workers reduced their hours and we also accepted new members who needed 1 to 1 support which we provided in house. All these measures helped us to reduce our costs and increase our income. 2 This also meant the pace of work became very different at WAP, every day felt frenetic, and the room had almost reached capacity. Thanks, are again due to the WAP workers: Tez, Kyle, Zoe and Ryleigh for all their hard work and dedication during this difficult time. We are also lucky that we have a group of experienced staff who we can call on with little notice to cover staff sickness or holiday leave, so thank you to Amy and Claudette, who both already work at the Lenton Centre and know our members well, as well as Alex for supporting us. Despite our financial hardships we have kept the programme of activities going as our member’s value and enjoy them so much. These activities are also key to our achieving WAP’s main aim of promoting better health and well-being. I also want to thank the Lenton Centre for their unwavering support during this time. It is clear they value having WAP on their premises and we always feel that we are an important part of the Lenton Centre community. The exhausted staff trying to summon the energy for a Xmas photograph! 3 ## **1. Chairperson Report by Alf Stiegler** Alf again thanked all the staff for their commitment to the project especially over this especially trying year. ## **2. Minutes of the last AGM meeting** ## **WEST AREA PROJECT AGM MEETING** **held on Wednesday 23[rd] November 2022** ## **at 8pm at The Lenton Centre** |**at 8pm at The**|**Lenton Centre**|| |---|---|---| |**Those present:**|**In attendance**|**Apologies**| |Alfred Stiegler – Chairperson/Trustee
Farrah Athar – Secretary/Trustee
Russell Jays – Trustee
Mary Harrison – Treasurer
Ann Stiegler –Trustee
Rita Beard –Trustee
Ruth Noyes - Trustee|Yvonne Pearson -
Project Manager
Martin Stieger
Member Rep
Rachel Sharp
Member Rep|Joan West - Trustee| ## **Agenda Items** **1. Apologies:** Joan sent her apologies. **2. Conflict of interests.** None were declared. ## **3. Welcome by the member representative:** M S Martin welcomed everyone to the meeting which was again organised in line with WAP’s COVID policy. Martin reported that the members were happy with the service. . ## **4. Manager’s Report** Yvonne talked about the 5 young people who joined WAP for training and work experience under the governments Kick Starters scheme. The group provided a lot of energy and fun at a time when the community opportunities were limited because of Covid. Sadly, WAP lost some long-time members for a variety of reasons in early 2022. Happily, the majority of our members returned to WAP during 2022 although member has continued to receive the service on a purely outreach basis. On the whole, it was difficult to recruit new members as many of the social workers 4 were not meeting families face to face. This contributed to us ending the year with a significantly reduced membership. Therefore, we were lucky to have been supported by a large private donation of £10,000 from a family who wished to remain anonymous. Given the pressures on the service we would have struggled to survive financially without this money. This was in distinct contrast to Activ2 which returned on 1[st] June 2021 with 12 members turning up to the first session! ## **Introduction to AGM business:** ## **Minutes of the last AGM Meeting:** The minutes of the last AGM meeting of Wednesday 16[th] September 2021 were discussed and agreed as accurate and signed by Alf and Mary ## **Chairperson’s Annual Report:** Alf thanked the staff for their continued hard work and commitment. He also said that he was delighted that we had someone who wanted to join the WAP board present at the meeting. ## **Treasurers Report** Mary gave her treasurers report and presented the accounts. ## **Appointment of Auditor** Clayton and Brewill were proposed by Alf Stiegler and seconded by Mary Harrison to remain our auditors for next year. ## **Elections** The whole Board resigned. Ruth Noyes was nominated and seconded to join the Board and then the previous Board were re-elected. ## **Other business** As there was no other business the meeting was declared closed The Trustees accept these minutes as a true record of the AGM meeting of Wednesday 23rd November 2022: Signed Date Signed Date 5 ## **Treasurers Report April 2022 to March 2023** I finished last year’s report by saying “I expect that next year will be as challenging as this one” and it most certainly has been, by year end the total in the Petty Cash and money in the Bank totalled £5644. During the year we were fortunate enough to receive £22,714 in funding including donations from several of our Trustee members (including myself): thanks also go to Ruth and Alf for their support. WAP would very much like to thank the following who offered generous funding over the last year: Magic Little Grants £500 Thomas Farr £3,000 Bailey Thomas Charitable Fund £3,000 Also, to support Activ2: The Jones 1986 Charitable Trust £4,000 Jesse Spencer Trust £1,000 The Lady Hind Trust £,1,000 The National Lotteries, Awards for All £10,000 Thank you to everyone who donated and thank you to Yvonne for her sterling efforts. Additionally, due to Yvonne’s persistence we also received £800 in compensation from our bank due to their errors with our bank account which delayed funding bids for a while. This year energy prices escalated for everyone and consequently, we were faced with a dramatic increase in our rent due to The Lenton Centre (TLC). This came as a huge shock and caused great uncertainty about whether we could afford to remain at TLC or move to somewhere offering cheaper rent. Yvonne looked at several alternative places but was eventually able to reach a compromise with TLC to pay a more affordable rent until fund raising could be pursued to cover the increase. We were pleased to be able to do this as our members would have found leaving TLC very upsetting. Although finances were tight, we felt it was important to give the staff a Christmas Bonus again to say thank you for all their hard work over the year which is greatly appreciated. Mary Harrison, Treasurer 6 ## **Report from a new WAP Trustee – Ruth Noyes** After having attended a few trustee meetings over the previous year and read numerous emails there was only one thing I could focus my short report on. West Area Project functions due to the supreme dedication of the staff members and especially Yvonne. Often it seems that at vast personal cost and sacrifice, all staff provide the best that they can for a group of people with diverse needs. They not only aim to keep people safe and well but also to extend and promote their passions and interests ensuring that all attendees are treated as they would like to be treated. Behind the scenes Yvonne works with enormous dedication spending hours being an expert in finance, social care, health and safety, safeguarding, GDPR, fundraising, patient visitor, befriender and I could go on. I have been amazed how she promotes the well-being of all people who attend West Area Project but also how she ensures the wellbeing of her staff. I have genuinely found it really humbling how a group of people can show such dedication and determination to provide the best service possible against the odds. Thank you. ## **WAP ACTIVITIES 2021 to 2022** **At the West Area Project, we have always prided ourselves on the variety of activities on offer to our members:** ## **Walking and snooker groups on Monday:** We are lucky to be part of the Beeston Social Club where we can be found every Monday playing snooker. For those who prefer, we get to walk, sometimes covering up to 5 miles as we tread the streets of Nottingham. There are so many routes to choose from: Along the canal paths, around Wollaton Hall, across The Park Estate or around the lake on the University campus. We are ideally placed for all these walks due to being based in Lenton. 7 ## **Swimming sessions** The established swimming sessions are still proving very popular with our members. When we are all in the mood, we turn it into aqua aerobics session to music! We decided to open the session to any people with learning disabilities and autism because it is so unusual for people to find a ‘safe space’ which is friendly to people with special needs. One session a mermaid even dropped in to see us! 8 ## **Dance and movement sessions with Catherine Chivers** . **1[st] April 2022 - 31[st] March 2023** Sessions during this year have been weekly on Wednesday afternoons. Members can get out and about more, so the Monday morning session was dropped. Wednesdays are quite busy days at WAP so it makes sense to have dance on this day so that more members can access the sessions. I still notice a definite shift in energy and positive wellbeing during and after classes. However, subdued the group is when I arrive, we always have a good giggle during the class! Sessions always start in a circle either seated [if in the WAP room] or a mixture of seated and standing [in the hall]. We always begin with an aerobic, dance warm up lead by me, then often lead by the group in turn. It’s wonderful to see the different styles and movements that everyone feels comfortable performing! We still often go round the circle choosing a movement and going around the circle each adding a move until we have a repeated ‘routine’ of movements to dance to the music. This is often based on a theme- sport, Halloween, Birthdays etc. We have quite a repertoire of seated dances which we often dance either all seated or some standing [if they are feeling more energetic!] The group enjoy making a shape together in the middle of the hall and then exploding away to break up the shape. Props are as popular as ever- pompoms, streamers, shaky eggs glow sticks and the coloured lines and dots! The members love placing the line markers around the space, and we play a musical chairs style game with a line being removed after a few goes of dancing and stopping on a line! We often have a theme for the shapes we make when we freeze- something related to the colour we land on, dinosaurs, Jubilee, sport etc! There are some very competitive members who always manage to win! It’s been great that certain members who don’t cope well with losing have managed to deal with this and join in enthusiastically now! We particularly enjoyed celebrating the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee with Union Jack flags and lots of marching! Sessions always end with a cool down- usually lead by me but sometimes lead by members of the group who are now confident to take on this role. I love being a part of the WAP family and sharing dancing, games and giggles with you all! 9 ## **Report from Arts and Crafts tutor Carol Wittel (Nottingham College)** Autumn 2022 - Spring 2023 I took over as Arts and Crafts tutor in September 2022. It can be daunting taking over an established group, but I was made to feel very welcome from both students and staff from the start and it soon felt like I had always been there! In the Autumn term, we made stress balls from balloons using flour which learners really enjoyed. We learned how to weave, making our own looms and producing lovely rainbow decorations. We made eggshell mosaic coasters and had a go at one of my specialities - wet felting! Although this was a new craft for the members, I was very impressed with the results. On Thursday afternoons, we focused on papercrafts: we made tissue paper pompoms, origami butterflies (we learned about the butterfly life cycle), Halloween decorations, as well as a few upcycling projects using toilet papers rolls - bird feeders, gift boxes and Christmas stars to name a few! We ended the term by learning foam printing producing some very impressive Christmas cards. In the Spring term, the members were introduced to mono printing using oil pastels which they loved! So much so that I made sure that the members got an opportunity to use the technique again when they made Easter cards. We also tried rag rugging - another upcycling craft - which members found challenging. Even so, they persevered and produced some lovely work. We revisited our weaving skills, this time 3D! Once again, I was impressed with the finished pouches that were produced. This term, we used the Thursday afternoon sessions to develop the skills we learned in the Wednesday morning session as well as learning fewer crafts over a longer period and I think this really helped as I saw good progression. I have really enjoyed teaching at the West Area Project. The members have been amazing and while some find some projects challenging, I am always encouraged by the enthusiasm of the majority of the students. Of course, I could not do it without the help of the staff and volunteers who have really helped me deliver some of the trickier projects - thank you Teresa, Riley, Letisha, Zoe, Kyle and Nicola. 10 ## **Review of WAP Activ2** ## **Zoe Fletcher Activ2 Co-ordinator and Amy Whitmore, Fitness Instructor** Activ2 continues to provide a fun evening of escapism for the members who attend, and we would like to believe is one of the weekly highlights since introducing more exciting new activities. This year we have introduced archery and darts to our schedule so that the members can enjoy improving their aim and hand eye coordination. In the summer we had many Tuesday evenings spent on the Lenton park playing rounders which always seemed to spark friendly competition amongst the members. On one very hot summer evening we went totally crazy and had a water fight and it’s fair to say; the staff were amongst the most drenched! Another favourite has been the parachute activity which can be seen in the pictures, it’s a great way to get people really moving and exercising without it feeling like a chore. The members love trying to throw the ball from off the parachute onto the balcony and have succeeded many times. Finally, the members have always loved our Christmas parties and there was call to start celebrating Halloween and Easter, so Zoe and Amy take turns in coming up with the most wacky party ideas such as wrapping each other up in toilet roll to make Halloween mummies or seeing who can balance the tallest Christmas present stack! 11 During this time frame, Activ2 said goodbye to the kickstart staff; Katherine, Chloe and Ryleigh who were all loved by the group and brought consistent energy to the activities with Ryleigh still covering should Amy or Zoe take time off. After that we got news from the university, that we would be joined by four sports rehabilitation students who were welcomed warmly by all. Activ2 has been the ideal setting for the students to carry out their work experience, each of them was required to run a session with the members which were supported and assessed by Amy having already achieved qualifications in the same field. The sessions included tennis and hockey with practice activities and warmups and a circuit set up. The students also worked on a 1:1 basis with some of the members in the gym which was really motivating for them. Towards the beginning of 2023 the students dwindled due to having exams to revise for and other assignments to do and Activ2 was back to being run just by 2. It must be said that Activ2 still has not been attended as well as it has in the past, we did welcome back one of the service users who was unable to come during covid however we also lost one of our long-standing members who now just uses the gym with support staff at different times of the day. We also had to make the very difficult decision to restrict access to a certain member who is unable to wear a mask or shield to protect the service. As always, we have continued with the promotion of healthy eating by providing fruit and vegetables as well as monitoring weight and blood pressure which is so important due to some of the service users suffering long term health conditions such as diabetes. To conclude, it has been another very rewarding year for all those involved with Activ2, and we look forward to continuing the hard work. 12 ' Trriiiiiii,,, 13 WE T AREA PROJECT Statement of Assets & Liabilities Year Ended 31 March 2023 2023 2022 Flxed Assets Furniture & Equipment Depreciation for Year 1,142 1,142 79 106 Current Assets Trade Debtors Prepayments Cash at Bank & In Hand 422 405 14,681 Less Current Llabllltles Creditors Accruals (415} (733) Net Curront (Llabllltles)IAssets Net (Llabllltles)IAssets Represented By.. Unrestricted Funds Opening balance Surplus l (Deficit) for the Year 13,979 18,921 Total Unrestricted Funds Approved by the Board of Trustees on................... ............... Signed on it5 behalf...........................-................ . Chairperson WEST AREA PROJECT lft¢ome & Expenditure Account Y￿r End•d 31 M*r¢h 2023 R•¢•ipts 2023 2022 Service ContrBti8 Refunds Fund Raising 139.769 148,521 11,2201 Total unrn#t￿Ct•d Incom• 162,483 161,224 Total R8c•ipts 162 483 161224 L••• P•ym•nl¥ Salari88 & NIC¥ Prernis8S Office & Admin Users Outings & Acbviti81 118,097 31.808 1.427 133.170 14,405 1,374 Totttl P*ym•nt* Surplu• I IDdl¢ltl for th• Y•ar Oth•r Mov•m•nti Doprocia¢pon { 8,2221 14,9071 1271 1351 Total SuTplu# I IDèfleltlltsr Y•ar Approved by tho 8o*fd ol Trusi•ei on.......... Sign•d on itg boh811......... Chairp•r Ig.12* 15.1.2 /n. CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES Independent examiner's report on the accounts Section A Independent Examiner's Report Report to the trustsesl members of c￿3[11Y D ne WEST AREA PROJECT On accounts for the year ended Charity no (if any 31STMarch 2023 1182653 Set out on pages 1&2 IrEmETrwb- '.o..nclUd￿ Ihe p'age numbets of addrtional $118etst , I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity {'the TrusVI for the year ended 3110312023. Responsibilities and basls of report As the charty's trustees, you are responsible for the preparation of thè accounts in accordance wth the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 ('the A¢t°). I report in respect of my examination of the Trust's accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carying out my examination, I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under seclion 145(5){b} of the Act. Independent I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have examiner's statement come to my attention in connection with the examinalion (other than that disclosed below ') which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect.. the accounting r8cords were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act,. or the accounts did nol accord with the accounting records: or the accounts did not comply with the applicable requirements onGeming the fomi and content of accounts set out in the Charities {A¢¢ounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the a¢¢ounts give a Irue and fair, view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination. I have no concems and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination lo which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. Plaase delete the words in the brackets if they do not apply. Signed: Date: 1W January 2024 Name: Neil F South Relevant professlonal quallflcationls} or body (if any): FCA Address: Clayton & Brewill, Cawley House, 149-155 Canal Street, Nottingham, NG1 7HR IER Oct 2018 Section B Disclosure Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight material matters of ¢on¢ern (see CC32, Independent examination of charity accounts-. directions and guidance for examiners}. Glve here brief detslls of any items that the examlner w18he8 to dlsclose. IER Oct 2018