Ore Community Library Group
Registered Charity No 1188607
Trustee Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31st March 2024
Ore Community Library Group
Trustee Annual Report for the year ending 31st March 2024
Full name: Ore Community Library Group Registered charity number: 1188607 Address: Ore Community Library Old London Road Hastings TN35 5BP Telephone: 01424 612050 Email: orecommunitylibrarygroup@gmail.com Legal Status: Charitable Incorporated Organisation Trustees: Heather Alison Bishop – Chair James Robert Breeds – Secretary Andrew John Battley – Treasurer Elizabeth Janet Sargent – Volunteer Lead Bankers: Co-operative Bank
Governance and Management
The Charity is operated under the rules of its constitution and was registered by the Charity Commission on 18 March 2020.
The Charity employs no staff on a paid basis and is run and managed by its trustees in the form of 'The Committee'. During the period from 1st April 2023 to 31st MArch 2024 27 volunteers were active.
The methods adopted for the recruitment of new trustees is laid down in the constitution.
Aims and Objectives
a) to advance the education of the general public in Ore and the surrounding area, in particular but not exclusively by the provision of a lending library.
b) to further or benefit the residents of Ore and the surrounding area, without distinction of sex, sexual orientation, race or political, religious or other opinions by associating together the said residents and the local authorities, voluntary and other organisations in a common effort to advance education and provide facilities in the interests of social welfare for recreation and leisure time occupation with the objective of improving the conditions of life for the residents.
Background and summary of the general activities taken for the public benefit.
The Community Library was opened on 1st May 2021, and remains open every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday from 10am until 4pm.
During the year we renegotiated our lease of the building with East Sussex County Council and signed a lease for 20 years.
At 31st March 2024, we had a total of 1025 members. The ratio of Adults to Juniors remains around 50%. There were a total of 2215 Adults and 1243 Juniors making a total of 3458 visits by borrowers to the Library and 4693 books were borrowed (2238 by Adults and 2455 by Junior members).
In February we welcomed our 1000th member since reopening the Library.
There are generally about 600 books in circulation out of a total of 5600. During the year we reduced our stock by removing some older titles that are no longer being borrowed.
The Library is available for booking outside normal opening hours and several locally based organisations have taken advantage of this facility.
We have a group of 5 of our volunteers who run weekly Storytime sessions for preschool children (0 to 5) and with the support of National Literacy Trust (NLT) Hastings Hub ensure each child has a book as a present for their birthday.
We received 200 books from the Hastings Hub of the NLT in connection with World Book Day and were therefore able to give books to 3 local organisations including preschool nurseries and youth groups, as well as a 'Special Storytime ' in the Library.
We joined with East Sussex County Council for the Summer Reading Challenge giving out the stickers and Certificates.
We ran ‘Hastings Pirate Day' and 'Hastings Day' competitions for children to coordinate with local events.
We are part of the Support group for the The National Literacy Trust – Hastings Hub networking with several other local organisations. The Hub have provided book prizes for various competitions.
Two of our members have started a book club that meets monthly in the Library and already has a waiting list for members to join.
We are working with the Hastings Literacy Festival to provide future events in the Library.
We are gaining recognition from the local community – various adverts and posters have assisted with this.
The unused yard at the rear of the Library has been brought to life and planted up with a variety of colourful plants and herbs by the local not for profit organisation Ore in Bloom, who look after many of the open spaces in the area.
Over the past years, some of our funding has come from Big Local North East Hastings (BLNEH), an organisation founded in 2014 to distribute monies held by Local Trust using Big Lottery Funding. At the end of the BLNEH project in 2024, Ore Community Library was selected as one of the principal success stories, generating national press and television coverage. We were visited in March 2024 by representatives of Local Trust who congratulated us on our success.
Financial Review
During the year, the local Credit Union, with whom we were banking, entered administration. Our funds were protected by The Financial Services Compensation Scheme and were returned to us very quickly. We urgently sought a new bank account and chose The co-operative bank. The new account was opened right at the end of this reporting year.
Receipts & payments account for the year ended 31[st] March 2024
| Opening balance as at 1st April 2023 Receipts(to 31st March 2024) Credit Union account Donations, grants and sales Engage account (main) Internal Transfers from Credit Union Internal Transfer from Engage second Venue hire Donations, grants and sales Sundry receipts Engage account (second) Internal Transfers from Engage main Donations, grants and sales Total Receipts Payments(to 31st March 2024) Credit Union account Payments out Engage account (main) Bank Fees Tax Facilities Utilities Stationery and Refreshments Books Insurance Expenses Sundries Internal to Engage other Engage account (other) Bank Fees Sundries |
1,795.19 Funds £ 12.00 0.00 0.00 162.50 10,305.60 18.94 150.00 0.00 10,649.04 |
|---|---|
| 0.00 56.39 408.06 3,573.14 3,151.33 410.02 405.73 415.32 990.41 1.16 150.00 24.00 133.13 9,718.69 |
| Total Payments Finance held at end of 31st March 2024 Credit Union account Engage account (main) Engage account (other) |
1,790.75 930.72 4.07 2,725.54 |
|---|---|
The charity’s policy on reserves
The charity has no specific policy on reserves