Somerset Levels and Moors Shed (SLaMS)
(A Charitable Incorporated Organisation)
Charity Number 1182815
Trustees’ Annual Report and Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31st December 2022
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Somerset Levels and Moors Shed CIO
Trustees’ Annual Report for the Year Ended 31st December 2022
| Contents | Page |
|---|---|
| Legal and Administrative Information | 3 |
| Trustee's Annual Report | 4 |
| Receipts and Payments Account | 7 |
| Statement of Assets and Liabilities | 8 |
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Somerset Levels and Moors Shed CIO
Trustees’ Annual Report for the Year Ended 31st December 2022
Legal and Administrative Information
Status
The Somerset Levels and Moors Shed (SLaMS) is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO), registered on 5th April 2019.
Registered Number
Registered charity number: 1182815
Principal Address
Canal Workshop Canal View Old Taunton Road Bridgwater Somerset TA6 3NS
Trustees
The trustees who served during the year were as follows
| Colin D Gorton | Chair) | (appointed 10th January 2019) |
|---|---|---|
| Tom Hart | (appointed 10th January 2019) | |
| Stuart H Jackson | (Treasurer) | (appointed 30th June 2020) |
| Michael G Brown | (appointed 30th June 2020) | |
| Gerald Swayne | (Secretary) | (appointed 10th August 2021) |
Trustees who resigned during the year
| Cherrill Kelly | (resigned 17th May 2022) |
|---|---|
| Trustees appointed during the year | |
| Gordon A Godfrey | (appointed 17th May 2022) |
| Peter J Smith | (appointed 17th May 2022) |
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Somerset Levels and Moors Shed
Trustees’ Annual Report for the Year Ended 31st December 2022
The trustees present their annual report and financial statements for the year ended 31st December 2022.
Structure, Governance and Management
The Somerset Levels and Moors Shed (SLaMS) is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO). The CIO is governed by a constitution, with charity trustees to be elected by members at its Annual General Meeting. Any vacant seats may be filled by nomination, election and verification process held by the existing trustees during the year.
The charity trustees are responsible for the management and overall control of the CIO. All trustees are volunteers and undertake activities to further the objects of SLaMS as required, with no remuneration or financial benefit received for their time, which is given freely. No remuneration or benefits or expenses were paid to any connected persons during this period.
Objectives and Activities
The objects of the charity are to promote for the public benefit of persons living in Bridgwater, its adjacent towns, villages and the isolated rural communities of the Somerset Levels and Moors, in particular but not exclusively older men, preventing them from becoming socially excluded, and assisting them to integrate into society through the provision of a venue (”Shed”) or venues (“Sheds”) in which they can meet and jointly or individually undertake and share creative, physical, social and recreational activities of their choice.
SLaMS offers a practical skills sharing environment, where all members contribute to the life of the Shed, working on their own projects, community based projects or those commissioned by members of the public.
Achievements and Performance
Our beneficiaries include men and women aged 18+, though our members are predominantly male retirees. Many are dealing with issues around physical or mental health, social isolation, ageing, unemployment and include carers seeking respite and exoffenders/probationers re-integrating back into society.
Our members’ life experiences are quite diverse. This diversity is a strong feature of Shed life and contributes significantly to our aims of being welcoming and inclusive for all, irrespective of background, aptitude or ability. Our social space and practical workshop environment provide an opportunity for men, who may be struggling to cope with mental health and social isolation, to connect with other men through shared practical activity.
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Somerset Levels and Moors Shed
Trustees’ Annual Report for the Year Ended 31st December 2022
The resultant community is one of mutual support, good humour and a strong esprit de corps, and greatly contributes to maintaining each individual’s sense of worth, acceptance and wellbeing.
As might be expected given the life circumstances of many of our service users, our membership numbers fluctuate, though we retain a core group of around 12 members, providing sufficient continuity for volunteer Trustees and Session Supervisors, and which also enables us to plan ahead in accepting community and other commissioned projects.
2022 has largely been a year of modest, but steady, recovery from the effects of Covid 19 lockdowns and reduced operations in the preceding two years. Despite the further loss of some members, our membership has grown steadily such that at year end we had attracted 11 new members and retained a total membership of 25. We were able to sustain twice weekly sessions throughout the period, with an average attendance of 8 members per session. The table below provides the comparison with previous years.
| (SLaMS UA) 2019 |
(SLaMS UA) 2020 |
(SLaMS UA & CIO) 2021 |
(SLAMS CIO) 2022 |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Membership | 30 | 11 | 19 | 25 |
| Total Sessions | 150 | 40 | 54 | 101 |
| Total Attendees | 1337 | 266 | 330 | 811 |
| Average attendees/ session |
8.9 | 6.6 | 6.1 | 8.0 |
In respect of community involvement our members have been busy constructing a number of commissioned items, amongst which are :
-
For The Friends of Blake Museum charity - a very large octagonal memorial planter.
-
For Bridgwater Rotary Club - a “Talking Bench” to encourage socially isolated people to sit and converse - for installation at Bridgwater Library.
-
For Hamp Infants School - wellington boot storage units - for safer storage of outdoor footwear and to encourage children’s participation in outdoor curricular activities.
At year end we were in discussion with SHAL Housing Association for the provision of recycling bin storage units for properties with no side access. The expected impacts of this proposed project include encouraging residents’ recycling behaviours, improving the external visual appearance of properties and delivering an element of “social uplift” to the immediate neighbourhood.
We have continued our contacts with signposting agencies and others, including inter alia the Probation Service, NHS Adult Community Mental Health Service, responding to individual needs as required. We are also engaged with the Somerset Integrated Care System - Bridgwater Connect initiative which seeks to improve the connections among health, care and other services and the local VCSE sector of which SLaMS is a small, but niche, element.
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Somerset Levels and Moors Shed CIO
Trustees’ Annual Report for the Year Ended 31st December 2022
Reserves Policy
Our aim is to retain a minimum 12 months of annual overhead costs in unrestricted reserves as a operational buffer in the event of funding sources substantially reducing or ceasing. This has been achieved.
Financial Review
Income in 2022 amounted to £5193 of which £1600 was as a result of members completing commissioned projects. No grants were received during the period. Operating payments were £8543, of which the single largest item (£5651) was rent for the workshop. The only major capital expenditure during the year was £543 for a compound mitre saw, bringing total payments for the year to £9086. The charity made a net loss of £3893, and at year end cash funds of £13028 were available.
Of note, the pre-Covid 2020 opening balance of SLaMS (at that time operating as an Unincorporated Association) was £13492. As a result of the Covid-19 lockdowns, reduced shed operations and the time required for community confidence to return, the Shed has been operating at approximately a £3500 annual operating loss for the last 3 years. The Government Covid grant of £10,000 awarded in 2020 to SLaMS UA , via Sedgemoor District Council, has served its purpose, and buffered the impact of Covid.
The accounts were reviewed and passed by an independent examiner on 26th April 2023 and found to be an accurate record of the Shed’s financial operations.
Approved by the Trustees on 27th April 2023 and signed on their behalf by:
C D Gorton Trustee (Chairman)
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| SectionA | lndependent Examiner'sReport |
|---|---|
| Report to the trustees/membersof | Charityl{ane |
| Somerset Levels and Moors Shed(SLaMS) | |
| On accounts for theyearended | charityno(irany)IrIrIaIzIsIrIsI |
| Set out on pages | (remembertoinelude the page numbers of additional sheets) |
| Respectiveresponsibilitiesofhustees | Thecharity's trustees are responsible forthepreparation of the accounts. Thecharity's |
| andexaminer | trustees consider thatanauditisnotrequiredforthis year under section144ofthe |
| Charities Act 2011 (the Charities Act) and that an independentexaminationisneeded. | |
| Itismy responsibilityto: | |
| . examine theaccountsundersection145ofthe Charities Act, |
|
| . tofollow the procedureslaiddowninthe general Directions givenbythe Charity |
|
| Commission (under section 1a5(5)(b)of theCharities Act),and | |
| .tostatewhether particular matters have come tomyattention. | |
| Basisofindependent examiner's | Myexamination was carried outinaccordance with general Directions givenbythe |
| statement | Charity Commission. An examination includesareviewofthe accounting records |
| keptbythe charity andacomparisonofthe accounts presented with those records. | |
| Italsoincludes consideration ofany unusualitems or disclosuresintheaccounts,and | |
| seekingexplanations from the trusteesconcerning any suchmatters.The procedures | |
| undertaken do not provide ail the evidence thatwouldbe requiredinan audit, and | |
| consequentlynoopinionisgivenas towhether the accounts presenta'trueandfair' | |
| viewandthereport is limited tothosematters set out in the statement below. | |
| lndependent examiner'sstatement | lnconnection withmyexamination, no matterhascome tomyattention (other"than |
| tlatdisclosedbeio#): | |
| (1)which givesmereasonablecausetobelievethatin,any material respect, the | |
| requirements: | |
| .to keepaccountingrecordsinaccordancewith section130ofthe | |
| CharitiesAct; | |
| .to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply | |
| with the accounting requirementsofthe Charities Act havenotbeen met; or | |
| (2)towhich,in myopinion, attention shouldbedrawninordertoenableaproper | |
| understandingoftheaccountstobe reached. | |
| *Pleosedeiete thewordsinthebracketsiftheydonotapply. | |
| Signed Date 2+-Lf-}ar"3 |
|
| Name | JudithRoche |
| Relevant professionalqualification(s) or body(if any) |
Noxl€ |
| Address | The Willows Woodhill |
| Stoke St Gregory | |
| Taunton | |
| SomersetTA36fp{ |