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2025-04-05-accounts

St Bernard’s – Larches & Savick Community Hub (CIO)

Annual Report: 6th April 2024 - 5th April 2025

Registered Charity No: 1199245 Charity Name: St Bernard’s – Larches & Savick Community Hub (CIO) Other Name: The Hub Charity’s Address: Elswick Road, Larches, Preston, PR2 1XL

Trustees

David Borrow - Chair Emma Caffrey - Operations Manager Christine Cox - Treasurer Philip Crowe Nweeda Khan Jennifer Mein Christine Murray

Description of the Charity’s Trusts

Type of Governing Document: Constitution How the Charity is Constituted: Company Trustee Selection Method: Elected by committee

Summary Of the Objects of the Charity

To further or benefit the residents of Larches, Lea & Savick and other surrounding areas, without distinction of sex, sexual orientation, race or of 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 to 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.

Introduction

Our annual report details our work of engaging with local residents and communities here at St Bernard’s Larches & Savick Community Hub from 6th April 2024 - 5th April 2025

This was our second full year of operating and this report demonstrates our continued commitment to and success in meeting our obligations regarding reporting and transparency.

Unfortunately, we still did not manage to resolve the issue of obtaining a gas supply to "The Hub" which again hindered us over the cold winter months. Debts incurred by the previous occupants of "The Hub" and totally unconnected to our charity resulted in the gas meter being removed from the premises. However, we have found a suitable utilities broker and have begun the process of having a new meter installed.

This year has been another year of learning:

Funding

We carried over a significant portion of the funding we received from the NHS in May 2023, knowing we had costly improvements to make going forwards This year it has enabled us to

Activities and Achievements 6th April 2024 - 5th April 2025

This year we increased our offering of regular events by adding the following:

We also organised a small number of one off activities that proved successful

Of particular note were:

In February, our Operations Manager Emma was offered the temporary job of Community Facilitator for the Preston Multi Exhibition Tent (MET) erected on the Hub car park. Her role was to organise a programme of community events to run the full month of July. It was hoped this would help promote the existence of the hub and offer current users a wider range of experiences on their doorstep.

In March we invited Ashton Food Aid and Penwortham & Larches Care and Share, a clothing and toy hub, to base their operations at St Bernard’s. Both groups have held twice weekly sessions, which have been well used and proved a lifeline to some members of the local community who have nowhere else to turn. Their reputation locally continues to grow and so they have contributed greatly to spreading the word about St Bernard’s Community Hub. Both organisations rely entirely on volunteers and donations from the public - and there is no shortage of people willing to help. The organisers of both hubs have held regular fundraisers for St Bernard’s in lieu of paying to hire the premises.

Challenges

The continued lack of a gas supply for heating purposes again impacted how we operated during the coldest spell of weather. We took the decision to close down for 5 weeks over December and early January for the second year running as we were unable to heat "The Hub" effectively enough with the electric heaters we had purchased.

Hall & Meeting Room

Our main hall comfortably accommodates 80 people and is a most valuable resource. In addition to providing space for low cost recreational, social and educational activities, it was regularly hired by local groups, individuals and organisations throughout the year. It was used by local families, the police, a social housing group, the NHS, a local charity offering cookery courses and councillors, for example. Room hire generated an income of £ 3384 .00

Our Meeting Room which caters for 6 people was spruced up during the year but remains underutilised.

Volunteers

We feel fortunate to have had 13 volunteers supporting the Hub but recognise that numbers can change in a moment. We lost two stalwarts whose family commitments meant they no longer had the time to commit.

Assets

Assets recognised but not valued in the annual statement of accounts included: tables, chairs, office furniture and equipment, and basic kitchen equipment.

Debts

“The Hub” had no outstanding debt.

Liabilities

“The Hub” had no liabilities to anyone, apart from short-term utility contracts with British Gas, TalkTalk and Water Plus. All the utility contracts were taken out on a short term basis.

Please note that” The Hub” was previously a Catholic Church which, along with the Parish Social Club and the former Priests’ House is owned by the diocese. Preston City Council sold the land to the diocese but retained a covenant restricting the use of the land. Discussions are currently underway between the Diocese and PCC as to how to proceed now the church, social club and priests’ house are no longer used for their original purposes.

Report Serious Incidents

We are declaring there are no serious incidents with our CIO. Therefore, we have nothing to report.

Going Forward

Our charity is actively exploring other revenues of funding, and seeking new volunteers. We are looking to build on activities that are held in "The Hub" during the day and in the evenings.

The Community Engagement Officer for Preston City Council works extremely well with us and we will continue to work alongside her to develop new activities and initiatives for the benefit of the community.

We will continue to work closely with local police officers to engage the community - for example holding bike marking sessions and coffee with a cop.

Overall, the community hub is in good health and as we strive to improve every month we are confident we can grow our engagement with and services for the community. With our new team of committed trustees

onboard who have been able to relieve some of the pressure from Operations Manager Emma, the day to day running of "The Hub" should get easier.

FINANCIAL REVIEW

Annual Report to Trustees Re: 2024-25

Our community hub serves an area where many residents struggle financially, have health and social issues and are reliant on public transport.

One of our missions is thus to offer a range of subsidised activities to support residents’ needs. The most popular are trips to a local market where travel costs are capped at £5.00. A Christmas Party for adults is also a well attended event not least because tickets cost just £5.00.

To fund such activities we need to continue to hire out the hall for private functions; apply for grants where possible; and organise a schedule of events to raise additional funds. Our venue is proving popular with parents wanting to organise family& friends gatherings at weekends to celebrate a range of occasions: holy communion, baptisms; and birthdays.

Applying for grants is a time consuming process and can be very disheartening. Expert help will be essential going forward if we are to obtain sufficient funds to employ one or more people to take the hub to the next level.

St Bernard's Hub Receipts & Payments For the Period Ended: April 5th 2025

Opening Balance

Bank Balance brought forward 23,926.74

Receipts / Income

Major Category Subcategory / Details

Fundraising & Activities

Regular Activities

2,222.06

One off events 482.50
Fundraising & Activities
Subtotal		 2,704.56
Grants & Donations Donations 86.59
Grants (LCC & PCC) 1,753.00
Grants & Donations Subtotal 1,839.59
Hall Hire Hall Hire Fees 6,007.48
Hall Hire Subtotal 6,007.48
Total Receipts 10,551.63
Payments / Expenditure
Major Category Subcategory / Details
Administration Licences/Insurance 292.09
Postage 2.70
IT Costs 201.62
Administration Subtotal 496.41
Operations Broadband/Utilities 4,624.86
Maintenance and
Cleaning
3,242.27
Equipment 2,338.03
Operations Subtotal 10,205.16
Activities & Events Activities & Events 2,563.36
Activities & Events Subtotal 2,563.36
Other Travel Expenses 173.94
Refunds 417.00
Other Subtotal 590.94
Total Payments 13,855.87
Net Receipts / Payments

Total Receipts 10,551.63 Total Payments 13,855.87 Net Decrease in Bank (3,304.24)

Closing Balance

Cash & Bank Balance at

period end

20,622.50

Independent Examiner’s Report

John Swindells 52 Layton Road Ashton on Ribble Preston Lancashire 01772-734655 Mobile 07789072230

Account number 40496524 Sort code 82-11-07

The charity’s trustees considered that an audit was not required for this year (under section 43(2) of the Charities Commission Act 1993 and that an independent examination was in order.

It was my responsibility to:

St Bernard’s – Larches & Savick Charity Bank Account

I have inspected the accounts for the year 5[th] April 2024 – 4[th] April 2025. They are a correct record of the transactions taken place during the financial year matching the Bank, Statements, Invoices and deposits provided to me for Inspection.

Yours Sincerely

John Swindells 28/01/2026