## Birmingham Talking Newspapers for the blind & visually impaired (BTNBVI) Registered Charity (England) No. 1185917 **Trustees' Annual Report** 1 April 2022 – 31 March 2023 Section A Charity's principal address Strangford Lichfield Rd Hopwas Tamworth B78 3AG ## Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity David Gowdy Chair Daniel Collman VC (South) Rob Halley VC (North) Kath Collman (Secretary) Ian Alexander Treasurer Paul Bryce (retired Nov 2022) Brian Sansom (from May 2022) Alan Johnson Marion Dance Section B Governance BTNBVI is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation whose trustees are elected by its Members at each Annual General Meeting. Members are mainly volunteers who produce the recordings. BTNBVI is affiliated to the national Talking Newspapers Federation (TNF) and to Birmingham Voluntary Service Council (BVSC) Since 2020 BTNBVI has continued with the pattern of operations established by Birmingham Talking Newspaper Association (BTNA) over its 40 years providing a talking newspaper service. One trustee, Paul Bryce, retired in-year. He got married and moved away from Birmingham. Brian Sansom became a trustee, retaining his webmaster portfolio. Our trustees are mainly experienced senior volunteers but we do need to widen our skills base. We were successful in engaging several volunteers in formal survey exercise, and we were pleasantly surprised to find significant in-house skills to undertake this work. Section C ## Charitable Objects The object of BTNBVI is to relieve the blind or visually impaired in the Birmingham area by the provision of recorded material read primarily from newspapers and magazines. In meeting its object and to provide public benefit, each week BTNBVI provides 3- 5 hours of recorded material which is distributed by post using USB memory sticks to blind and visually-impaired listeners across Birmingham. This is current material, mostly from local print newspapers, and therefore not readily accessible to visually impaired people. Recordings can also be accessed via our website: www.btnbvi.org, via smartphones using the BWBF Talking News app and via Alexa smart speakers. The service helps reduce social isolation and listeners often comment on the companionship of familiar voices “in the room”. “ _Thank you so much for the wonderful news and magazine service you provide free to your visuallyimpaired listeners- it really has been a lifeline for mum! With kind regards and grateful thanks”_ _Daughter of listener_ Section D ## Performance At year-end we are serving around 300 listeners, but their pattern of usage is often rather irregular, perhaps because they are still not back to a shopping-type routine or because postal services are still erratic. In the current year we, like many other TNs, have noted a reducing number of listeners. Most listeners are referred by local hospital eye clinics so we have, post-COVID, renewed our contact with the staff to encourage new referrals. We also have started a programme to contact lapsed listeners – but visual impairment is mostly age-related and we have an elderly listener population so the consequences of old-age lead to inevitable losses. We believe the proportion of listeners to the visually-impaired population compares favourably with newspaper circulation relative to the sighted catchment population. All valid requests for service are met. The change to cio in 2020 was the first step on a governance and operational improvement path which is still continuing. Our service is provided 100% by our volunteers. We have about 80 people who work in teams to read and record material taken from local newspapers. Work is in hand to retire the old BTNA website and replace it with a BTNBVI version. Apart from the usual explanatory material the website will also provide a reference point for the organisation’s key documents – constitution, policies, volunteer handbook etc. and will also be used to inform volunteer induction and training activities. During the year Kings Audio ceased to trade. They had, for many years, supplied USB mp3 players designed for blind and visually-impaired users. We found that most commercial players are not as easy to use and lack some of the controls that assist listeners to navigate the 70-80 mp3 tracks we produce each week. We eventually found a replacement player that meets our needs. It has proved popular with listeners and is significantly less expensive. Section E ## Finance In 2022/23 our new Treasurer has continued to tame the accounts and organise this foundational aspect of our work. BTNBVI bank accounts are with The Co-Operative Bank. The arrangements have now bedded in with most transactions handled online. A significant sum transferred to BTNBVI from BTNA in 2020 This sum provides BTNBVI with a reserve (sufficient to cover an unexpected loss of one of the two recording centres and its contents). At present income donations do not cover running costs, leaving a deficit that is offset also from this sum. Section F Section G ## Declaration The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above. Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees Signature Digitally signed by A D GOWDY DN: C=UK, OU=INTERIM CHAIR, O= BTNBVI, CN=A D GOWDY, E=INFO@ A D BTNBVI.ORG Reason: I am approving this document with my legally binding signature Location: Board Date: 2023.10.04 17:24:08+01'00' GOWDY Foxit PDF Reader Version: 12.0.1 Full name Position (Chair) ## Date Note: this report is presented in sections that align with the Charities Commission Trustees Annual Report CC16 template CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES BIRMINGHAM TALKING MEWSPAPERS FOR THE 8LIND & VISUALLY IMP￿RED IBTNBVII 1185917 Recei ts and ments accounts CC16a CC16a For the perlod from 0110412022 To 3110312023 Unrestrictsd funds Restricted funds Endowmont funds Total funds Last y¢or 31103122 tothe nearoBt tothe nearest totho noare%t£ tothe r*$t£ tothè nearest£ A1 Receipt5 Donations 5,599 1nts 3,217 47 100 Sub total(Gross income for ARJ 5,699 3,314 A2 As8et and Investment S81os.1888 table). Sub totsl Total receipts 5,699 5,699 3,314 A3 Payments P.0. Box Studio Rent Roorn Hire Bank charges IHSBC Alcnowdosedl Emaivweb hosting ZfK)m subs TNF Subs Conferen Insurance Misc I Sundries Listeners Survey Cli8nt mp3 play8rs Other tech lequip A¢¢ountan¢y fees 300 300 2B4 120fy 460 1.21MJ 460 252 15 17 1354 144 1,254 144 402 209 42 95 230 95 230 250 220 783 7HJ 555 214 214 418 418 2.539 509 095 895 soo Sub totsl 6,049 6,049 6859 A4 Asset and Inv¢$tm*nt purchases. Isee table) Sub total 6,049 6.459 Net of receipts/{payments) A5 Transfers btheen funds A6 Cash funds last year end Cash funds thls year 8nd 351 351 3,145 43,114 42.764 43,114 42,764 46,259 43,114 Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period Unre$trict•d R¢stri¢tèd funds funds Endowment fund5 Categorles Details to rd•4rMtE to nur•Ftt 81 C￿h funds C4Fop ￿¥J8 HSBC 35,725 Total cash funds 43.11 43,If5 Unr•strlct•d fund* to n•ai•st£ Restrlct fvnd• to n•amt£ Endov*Tre lunds to n•*r**t£ Details mon•tsry Fundbj whkh *•t b•l•n Co•t ¢urr•nt V41u• Detai15 InV￿lment Fund 10 *hlch s•t belo Cost Current valu• Details ryu*m￿l- U58 84 As8•ts rntalnèd for the charSty'ty own us• io.c Amourtdu• onal Wh•n du• Details Nonfr Ibobll BS Llablllti S¥nad byonè oi trU￿8&s on behglf of 811 the In&steBS Slgnaturè Prfnt Name Date of approval TEFUM ALFRED DAVID GOWDY 12 MAY2021 3}L(fj15I2A)2￿)1 li i Notes:_ Most equipment is 4+years old and has no formal book value. Two laptops and one mixer were replaced prior to end 2021 ata cost of Egc