58 High Street, Felling, Gateshead, Tyne and Wear NE10 9LT
Felling Volunteer Library Trustees' Finance Report - 2024/2025 Registered Charity Number: 1185205 .
Felling Volunteer Library (FVL) is a small CIO run independently of, but with material support from, Gateshead Council; we have been autonomous since July 2017.
This report supplements FVL’s financial accounts and balances reports which will be submitted simultaneously to the CC webpage.
In outline, our library’s focus for 2024/5 remained unchanged, with public footfall increasing over the course of the year, partly as our Social Media profile became more widespread – and as the result of our successful programme of activities (detailed more fully below).
Our challenge during the past year was the preparation and search for relevant sources of funding which, because of the (for us) relatively large amounts to cover our running costs (ca. £8.5k), were rigorous and of necessity, to larger funding bodies.
Towards the end of 2024 and into January ’25 our colleagues were occupied in applications to the local Sir James Knott Trust and to the National Lottery Community Fund, to the tune of £7.5k and £20k respectively[Although it falls outside the purview of this year’s report, it is worth noting that both our applications duly turned out successfully in Spring 2025, when we were awarded a total of £19,861 and £5K of which came from the Sir James Knott Trust].
FVL’s future is therefore secure at least for the next two years, if current conditions and circumstances remain unchanged. As might be expected, the resulting morale boost for our volunteer colleagues has been tremendous.
Through 2024/5, FVL continued to operate on the basis of four days a week – Monday to Thursday, 10am. to 4pm. We continued to recruit new volunteer colleagues which is encouraging, in view of the fact that our staff turnover is minimal. Our library consolidated and expanded our activities, with a new weekly ‘English for beginners’ course in September 2024, and with the addition of a Diamond painting
session once a week, both of which proved popular. In addition a second ‘Knit and Natter’ group was planned for the spring of 2025.
FVL has held two seasonal fund-raising Fairs for the people of Felling, at Easter and Xmas ’24, both of which netted the library more than £500 for non-ring-fenced spending.
The initiative mentioned in our previous report – the outreach to residents in the new ‘halfway-house NHS/community care’ scheme - has not developed because that scheme has, regrettably, been rather overwhelmed with demand and is currently looking at resolving those snags before engaging more widely with the community.
Meanwhile, our contact with and support from the North-East volunteer co-ordination and advice organisation, ‘Connected Voice’ burgeoned; individuals from Connected Voice were an asset in providing background advice in our funding applications.
The end of the financial year 2024/5 saw Felling Volunteer Library in good shape, hopeful of success in funding and with well-established and increasing, involvement with the local community of Felling.
Please note : that, while the FVL Trustees' report to the Charities Commission for the year previous to this - 2023/4 - had, in fact, been submitted on time (i.e.. before the deadline of 31.1.25), the description of that report being late (indeed 'submitted 3[rd] July 2025') was due to the fact that a correction to a detail in that report had to be made by the Trustees in July '25 - and the Charity Commission's rule is that any report which has subsequently been amended has to be marked down as having been submitted only at the date of that edited change. The same issue affected the FVL Trustees' report which was due on January 2023 to the extent that, while it had already been late (mitigating circumstances previously explained) is on record by the CC as having been 519 days overdue - the extra being caused by the later correction on 3rd July 2025 – in accordance with the CC's rules on how this affects the date of the report's submission.
We trust that this clarifies the lateness of FVL's two previous reports.
Tim Wilson,
Trustee and Chair to Felling Volunteer Library.
Felling Volunteer Library Unrestricted Income & Expenditure
| Summary foryear | Summary foryear | Summary foryear | ending | 31 March 2025 b/f |
31 March 2025 b/f |
31 March 2025 b/f |
10125.89 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Library Transactions |
Other Unrestricted Income |
Cash Expenses |
Bank Expenses |
Net Gain / Loss | ||
| April 2024 | 61.10 | 520.00 | 77.35 | 160.08 | +343.67 | ||
| May2024 | 85.35 | 510.00 | 98.80 | 4428.31 | -3931.76 | ||
| June 2024 | 63.40 | 10.00 | 34.47 | 16.99 | +21.94 | ||
| July2024 | 75.70 | 10.00 | 34.60 | 195.44 | -144.34 | ||
| August 2024 | 61.80 | 100.00 | 26.79 | 330.93 | -195.92 | ||
| September 2024 | 39.20 | 0.00 | 52.41 | 273.26 | -286.47 | ||
| October 2024 | 78.30 | 10.00 | 18.35 | 116.79 | -46.84 | ||
| November 2024 | 52.05 | 71.00 | 46.41 | 20.99 | +55.65 | ||
| December 2024 | 45.59 | 980.00 | 9.50 | 70.47 | +945.62 | ||
| January2025 | 55.50 | 130.00 | 24.09 | 0.00 | +161.41 | ||
| February2025 | 93.40 | 67.29 | 43.36 | 3938.58 | -3821.25 | ||
| March 2025 | 157.30 | 230.00 | 24.18 | 208.76 | +154.36 | ||
| Totals | 868.69 | 2638.29 | 490.31 | 9760.60 | -6743.93 | ||
| Total Unrestricted Funds Current Year: Income Current Year: Expenditure Current Year: Surplus or Deficit ADD: Unrestricted Funds Brought Forward from Previous Year |
Total Unrestricted Funds | 3381.96 3506.98 -10250.91 -6743.93 10125.89 3381.96 8.12 3373.84 |
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| Current Year: Income Current Year: Expenditure |
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Current Year: Surplus or Deficit |
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Total Unrestricted Reserves |
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| LESS: Designated Funds | |||||||
Current Unrestricted Funds Available |
Felling Volunteer Library Year Ending 31/03/25 Financial Position as of 31/03/25
Unrestricted funds as at 31/03/25 Brought forward from previous year 10125.89 Income from Library Transactions 735.00 Income from charity boxes/Tesco 133.69 Income from donations & Events 2638.29 Clare’s Crafts trans from restricted 187.89 Less Extra Warm Spaces overspent -8.12 Less Ex enses 10250.91 p Total Unrestricted Funds 3561.73
| Restricted Funds as at 31.03.25 – Balances | ||
|---|---|---|
| Warm Spaces (677.87) -140.76 | 537.11 | |
| Humanists (500.00) -205.15 | 294.85 | |
| Knit & Natter (383.17) - 89.77 | 293.40 | |
| English Group (209.10) -208.76 | 0.34 | |
| Clare’s Crafts (193.84) – 5.95 | 187.89 | |
| Extra Warm Spaces Grant (500.00) -508.12 | ||
| Total | 1313.59 | |
| Less Clare’s Crafts trans from restricted | 187.89 | |
| Closed fund Balances- Restricted Funds | 1125.70 | |
| Current Assets/Liabilities | ||
| Bank Balance |
4198.03 | |
| Cash Balance | 131.79 | |
| Current Liabilities (Bills received not paid) |
0.00 | |
| Current Liabilities (Outstanding Loans) |
0.00 | |
| Total | 4329.82 | |
| LESS RESTRICTED FUNDS |
1125.70 | |
| 3204.12 |