Trustees’ Annual Report for the period
From 02/04/2024 Period start date To 01/04/2025 Period end date
Charity name: Stevenage and North Herts Talking News
Charity registration number: 1184417
Objectives and Activities
| SORP reference | ||
|---|---|---|
| Summary of the purposes of the charity as set out in its governing document |
Para 1.17 | To provide to the blind or the partally sighted or those labouring under some temporary or permanent incapacity or disability which makes reading a strain, a weekly newspaper and magazine through a recorded device. |
| Summary of the main activities in relation to those purposes for the public benefit, in particular, the activities, projects or services identified in the accounts. |
Para 1.17 and 1.19 |
To achieve our objects we: recruit, train and organise a team of volunteers as readers, artcle writers, editors, technicians and dispatchers; gather artcles and items from our local papers and other sources; distribute these to the volunteer readers who record in their own homes using their own smartphones; obtain recordings of artcles from a variety of natonal magazines by subscripton to the RNIB; compile and adjust the sound on all the audio recordings to produce a master copy; duplicate on to the required number of memory stcks; distribute these to the listeners each week via the ‘Artcles for the Blind’ postal service; atract and recruit new blind and partally sighted listeners, introduce them to the service, loan them a suitable mediaplayer to listen to their |
| recordings, and keep in touch with them to ensure the service is meetng their needs. maintain a confdental register of listeners, having regard to GDPR guidelines; seek funds as needed to meet annual running costs and to pay for equipment needed to maintain the service, through grants from funding bodies and donatons. |
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|---|---|---|
| Statement confirming whether the trustees have had regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit |
Para 1.18 | We confrm that the trustees have had regard to the Charity Commission’s guidance on public beneft. |
Additional information (optional)
You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:
SORP reference |
||
|---|---|---|
| Policy on grant making | Para 1.38 | Our charity does not make any grants. |
| Policy on social investment including program related investment |
Para 1.38 | Our charity does not make any social investments |
| Contribution made by volunteers |
Para 1.38 | All our members are volunteers, we do not have any paid employees. Our volunteers are at the core of what we do, working together as readers, committee members or technical support on a weekly rota to produce the Talking News for our listeners each week. |
| Other |
Achievements and Performance
| SORP reference | ||
|---|---|---|
| Summary of the main achievements of the charity, identifying the difference the charity’s work has made to the circumstances of its beneficiaries and any wider benefits to society as a whole. |
Para 1.20 | Our established team of 28 volunteers has been consistently supportve and reliable, with many proactvely helping to promote our service. While a number of our listeners have stopped using the service over the year, ofen due to worsening health, others have joined and our average number of listeners remains consistent. We contnue to maintain our website which allows potental new listeners and their families to learn more about the service we ofer. We have advertsed and promoted our service through local publicatons and libraries, and by visits to relevant organisatons. We contnue to maintain a dedicated phone account for our charity manned by a rota of commitee members. The number of new listeners joining the service fuctuates but contnues to be afected by the closure of many clubs and support groups where potental listeners might previously have heard about us. We contnued to use our system of remote working so that readers, editors, compilers and dispatchers could work independently from home using their own smartphones and email. This means that we avoid the cost of expensive equipment or premises, and allows our volunteers to manage their own work within a set tme frame. In additon to distributng our weekly editons to our listeners via memory stcks, we contnued to publish them on the BWBF Talking News platorm, and also through this onto our website. This allows our volunteer readers to hear the fnished product and monitor their own performance, and also enables our weekly editons to be available to potental new listeners or their families wishingto understand what we ofer. |
We have continued to extend the content of our editions beyond the local papers and the RNIB magazine recordings, by finding, and encouraging our volunteers to find, items from other sources which will be of interest to our listeners. We have continued to liaise with other talking news groups and shared material with a number of them. We recently learned that the media player we have been supplying to our listeners, Synapptic Version 2, has been updated to a Version 3 which is much better adapted for use by our visually impaired listeners. Although the new machine is more expensive the committee decided to use this new player in future. We were able to negotiate the return to Synapptic in part exchange of our remaining stock of Version 2 players, and will supply Version 3 players in future.
Additional information (optional) You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:
Achievements against objectives set |
Para 1.41 |
|
|---|---|---|
| Performance of fundraising activities against objectives set |
Para 1.41 | |
| Investment performance against objectives |
Para 1.41 | |
| Other |
Financial Review
| Financial Review | ||
|---|---|---|
| Review of the charity’s financial position at the end of the period |
Para 1.21 | At the end of the period our cash funds were £4,595, well above the minimum of £3,000 as stated in our policy on reserves. We also hold a good stock of equipment available to be sent out to new listeners. |
| Statement explaining the policy for holding reserves stating why they are held |
Para 1.22 | We need to hold reserves of unrestricted available funds which are sufficient to allow us to operate for a full year without any new income. Taking into account annual running costs currently totalling around £730, and equipment and consumables for loan to up to 20 new listeners per year currently totalling around £75 per listener, the minimum amount of unrestricted reserves we should hold at any time is £3,000, which can however include the value of equipment and consumables held in stock. We do not hold reserves other than our cash funds. |
| Amount of reserves held | Para 1.22 | N/A |
| Reasons for holding zero reserves |
Para 1.22 | We do not need to hold reserves provided we have sufficient cash funds, as stated above. |
| Details of fund materially in deficit |
Para 1.24 | N/A |
| Explanation of any uncertainties about the charity continuing as a going concern |
Para 1.23 | N/A |
Additional information (optional)
You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:
The charity’s principal sources of funds (including any fundraising) |
Para 1.47 |
In 2024/5 we applied for and received a grant from the Stevenage Community Fund. We have received generous donations this year and in the past from the Masonic Foundation. We also receive from time to time small donations from listeners or their families, which while they are not solicited are nevertheless very welcome. |
|---|---|---|
| Investment policy and objectives including any social investment policy adopted |
Para 1.46 | |
| A description of the principal risks facing the charity |
Para 1.46 | |
| Other |
Structure, Governance and Management
| Description of charity’s trusts: |
||
|---|---|---|
| Type of governing document (trust deed, royal charter) |
Para 1.25 | Constitution (dated February 2020) |
| How is the charity constituted? (e.g unincorporated association, CIO) |
Para 1.25 | CIO (Foundation) |
| Trustee selection methods including details of any constitutional provisions e.g. election to post or name of any person or body entitled to appoint one or more trustees |
Para 1.25 | Elected by members at Annual General Meeting |
Additional information (optional)
You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:
Policies and procedures adopted for the induction and training of trustees |
Para 1.51 |
|
|---|---|---|
| The charity’s organisational structure and any wider network with which the charity works |
Para 1.51 | The charity is managed by a committee which is made up of the trustees and other committee members elected at the AGM. Stevenage and North Herts Talking News is a member of the Talking News Federation. We have written policies on Safeguarding, Policy and Procedures, Privacy and a GDPR Statement. |
| Relationship with any related parties |
Para 1.51 | |
| Other |
Reference and Administrative details
| Charity name | Stevenage and North Herts Talking News |
|---|---|
| Other name the charity uses | |
| Registered charity number | 1184417 |
| Charity’s principal address | 8 Chambers Lane Ickleford SG5 3YA |
Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity
| 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 |
Trustee name | Office (if any) | Dates acted if not for whole year |
Name of person (or body) entitled to appoint trustee (ifany) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ian Hanks | Chair | |||
| WendyRoskilly | Treasurer | |||
| Neil Dodds | Committee Member | |||
| Colin Blake | Committee Member | |||
– 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
Shared with all trustees in draft form via email, and agreed by them all via Signature(s) email. Full name(s) Ian R Hanks Wendy H Roskilly Position (eg Secretary, Chair Treasurer Chair, etc) Date 10 July 2025
| Stevenage and North Herts Talking News | Stevenage and North Herts Talking News | Stevenage and North Herts Talking News | 1184417 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Receipts andpayments accounts | |||
| For the period from |
02.04.24 Period start date |
To | 01.04.25 Period end date |
CC16a
| Section A Receipts and payments | Section A Receipts and payments | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A1 Receipts | Unrestricted funds to the nearest £ 2,000 2,000 - - - 2,000 353 42 155 644 325 29 51 1,599 - - - 1,599 401 - 5,378 5,779 |
Restricted funds to the nearest £ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - |
Endowment funds to the nearest £ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - |
Total funds to the nearest £ 2,000 - - - 2,000 353 42 155 644 325 29 51 1,599 - - - - - - 1,599 - 401 - 4,195 4,595 |
Last year to the nearest £ |
| Donations andgrants | 2,000 | 99 | |||
| - | |||||
| - | |||||
| - | |||||
| - | |||||
| - | |||||
| - | |||||
| - | |||||
| Sub total(Gross income for AR) |
2,000 | 99 | |||
| A2 Asset and investment sales, (see table). |
|||||
| - | |||||
| - | - | ||||
| Sub total | - | - | |||
| Total receipts A3 Payments |
|||||
| 99 | |||||
| Royal Mail(PO box annual fee) | 353 | 353 | - | ||
| TalkingNews Federation subscription | 42 | 42 | - | ||
| Website andphone | 155 | 155 | - | ||
| Players for listener use | 644 | 644 | - | ||
| USB sticks, consumables and sundries | 325 | 325 | - | ||
| Travel expenses | 29 | 29 | - | ||
| Roller banner(publicity) | 51 | 51 | - | ||
| **Sub total ** | 1,599 | 1,599 | 1,282 | ||
| - | |||||
| A4 Asset and investment purchases, (see table) |
- | ||||
| - | - | ||||
| - | - | ||||
| **Sub total ** | - | - | - | ||
| Total payments Net of receipts/(payments) A5 Transfers between funds A6 Cash funds last year end Cash funds this year end |
- | ||||
| 1,599 | 1,282 | ||||
| - | |||||
| 401 | - | - | 401 | - 1,183 | |
| - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5,378 | - | - | 4,195 | 5,378 | |
| 5,779 | - | - | 4,595 | 4,195 |
CCXX R1 accounts (SS)
10/07/2025
1
Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period
| Categories Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees B1 Cash funds B2 Other monetary assets B4 Assets retained for the charity’s own use B5 Liabilities B3 Investment assets |
Signature Details Details Details Details Total cash funds (agree balances with receipts and payments account(s)) Details |
Unrestricted funds Restricted funds to nearest £ to nearest £ - - - - - - 4,595 - Agreement Error OK Unrestricted funds Restricted funds to nearest £ to nearest £ - - - - - - - - - - - - Fund to which asset belongs Cost (optional) - - - - - Fund to which asset belongs Cost (optional) - - - - - - - - - Fund to which liability relates Amount due (optional) - - - - - Print Name Ian R Hanks Wendy H Roskilly |
Endowment funds to nearest £ |
|---|---|---|---|
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| OK | |||
| Endowment funds to nearest £ |
|||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| Current value (optional) |
|||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| Current value (optional) |
|||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| When due (optional) |
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| Date of approval |
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| Ian R Hanks | |||
| Wendy H Roskilly |
CCXX R2 accounts (SS)
10/07/2025
2