Minutes of the 2023 Annual General Mee4ng
Held at 1845hrs, 11/12/23, at Registered Charity Address
| Item | Ac4on | |
|---|---|---|
| A9endanc e |
Kate Rayner (KR, Trustee, Chair) Zoe Boustead (ZB, Trustee, Vice-Chair) Andrew Foster (AF, Trustee, Treasurer) Brendan Harrington (BH, Trustee, Secretary, Safeguarding Lead) |
|
| Apologies | None | |
| AGM 2023/01 |
Chair’s Report (KR) |
Background on the Charity
Cycling without Age Chester is affiliated with the global Cycling Without Age Charity. Kate Rayner and Zoe Boustead formed the Chester Chapter in the Autumn of 2019. We started to fundraise in January 2020 just as the Covid pandemic hit. We began our social media presence and fundraising acXviXes in that same year but progress was slow due to circumstances. Fundraising conXnued in 2021 and with donaXons from friends and family alongside local charitable trusts including The Earl of Chesters Fund, Cheshire Community FoundaXon and the Cheshire West and Chester Council we purchased our first trishaw in December 2021. Fundraising conXnued via the Spacehive Crowdfunding pla\orm and we purchased our second trishaw in March 2022. During this Xme we built contacts around the storage of the trishaw and where our rides would take place. We secured storage at the Upton Dene ResidenXal Home and pilot training commenced in April 2022. Our first rides started in June 2022. On 07/07/22 we became a registered charity (no. 1199582).
Who we are.
Cycling without Age Chester has 4 trustees (a chair, a vice chair, a secretary and a treasurer). Our organisaXon offers free rides to the elderly in specially adapted trishaws. Our aims are to:
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Reduce social isolaXon by providing a free acXvity within the community where the elderly can reconnect with people and nature.
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Provide volunteering opportuniXes.
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Increase the health and wellbeing of the beneficiaries and the volunteers.
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Raise awareness and empathy for older people locally.
Our trishaws are currently housed at Upton Dene ResidenXal Home where we ride in the Countess of Chester Country Park and Grosvenor Villas in Hoole where we ride around Hoole Village. In total we have 14 qualified pilots of which 9 parXcipate regularly with rides.
Who we support
We offer rides to the elderly whose mobility is compromised and who therefore have lost the ability to get outside into the fresh air independently. Many of our beneficiaries have demenXa and don’t have an opportunity to enjoy fresh air and companionship. Afer Covid many elderly have become socially isolated and nervous and we help them to regain their confidence and improve their mental wellbeing. We allow family members to travel alongside beneficiaries as they can provide reassurance and familiarity. There is no upper age limit to receiving a ride although the passenger must be able to have the strength to sit up within the trishaw seat. We have received a lot of posiXve and heart-warming feedback from both beneficiaries, family members and carers.
Achievement and performance
Regular opportuniXes for the elderly to have rides. We have managed to provide weekly rides fairly consistently from March to
| AGM 2023/02 Secretary’s Report (BH) Various aspects of the Secretary’s role have been performed by diferent Trustees throughout the year but largely by KR. AS such, relevant issues were covered in the Chair’s report above. AGM 2023/03 Marke4ng and Social Media Co-ordinator’s Report (ZB) Publicity Facebook and Instagram are out main channels to reach our audience. Although we publish to both simultaneously, FB has a stronger following for us. This is due to the age profle of our followers and the community-based bias of the pla\orm. This audience base can be seen in the metrics of our channels. Our Facebook reach for the year has been 33,371 (112% increase on year before) compared with 408 (-2.4% on year before) on Instagram. EmoXve and good news stories perform the best. AJrac4on A9racXon of volunteers remains our biggest issue. To date we have relied on social media, word of mouth and being ‘seen’ when out and about. We have been shared to other pla\orms within Facebook and engaged with various stakeholder groups. More work needs to be done in the a9racXon area as volunteer management and recruitment will always need acXvity, parXcularly as some pilots have lef the group due to various issues. It is proposed that we engage the help of the new Volunteering Development Ofcer at Cheshire West Voluntary AcXon. AdministraXon, once pilots show an interest, appears to work well with google forms being easy to fll out and capture informaXon. We have received 21 responses to our applicaXon form. AGM 2023/04 Treasurer’s Report, inc annual fgures (AF) |
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|---|---|
Accounts for the Financial Year January-December 2023
The opening balance for the Accounts in April was £887.69. This was money accrued through donaXons made to the charity up to that date.
Expenditure
The key challenge for each year is the ability of the charity to meet its obligaXon to pay the annual insurance for the trishaws which is a monthly cost of approximately £86. The other significant annual recurring cost is for our volunteer online booking system, Be9er Impact. Beyond that there are other smaller outgoings such as prinXng costs, purchase of hi viz cycling jackets and maintenance. Upgrading of gearing of the trishaws was provided at Bren Bikes and paid for by Chester Cycling Campaign. We have had two meet ups of the volunteers over coffee to maintain communicaXon and try to ensure cohesion of the group. No costs have been incurred as the trustees picked up the bill themselves.
Cost breakdown year to date
----- Start of picture text -----
Insurance
Repairs
Entertaining
Cycle Maintenance
Cycle purchases
Prin6ng
Membership fees
Be;er Impact
----- End of picture text -----
Income
The highlight of the year was the award by the NaXonal Lo9ery Community Fund as a result of our applicaXon for a third trishaw to be based in Blacon. They very kindly awarded us £9,500 and these monies were received into our account in December.
Also the Marjorie Boddy Trust awarded us £1000 in April for support with overheads such as insurance and purchase of our two bicycles to accompany the trishaws as we found the “walker-accompanied” model wasn’t working. Other small sums have been received by fund raising at summer fairs held in the various homes we support and kind donaXons by individuals. Vauxhall Motors in Ellesmere Port awarded us £100 through the efforts of a volunteer, Dave Wetherall.
Breakdown of monies received
| AGM 2023/05 Trishaws and Pilot Training Report (BH) |
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|---|---|
Trishaws
Our 2 trishaws have proven extremely reliable in their first year of use, with no mechanical problems encountered. Mileages done are uncertain but my esXmate would be ~500 miles total. In line with our Governance statements, both trishaws have had a rouXne annual service, very kindly paid for by Chester Cycling Campaign.
Ba9ery power support has never been an issue on any ride, probably because our rides are all relaXvely short. However, the mechanical gearing was not ideal (not low enough), so smaller chainrings were fi9ed at the Xme of servicing.
One trishaw is stored at Grosvenor Villas (Cedar Care Homes) and is well cared for and well used. But space for storage is not ideal as it is in a shed which is in almost daily use for their crafing acXviXes. This means it is moved in and out frequently, even when not being used for a ride. The other trishaw was iniXally stored at Upton Dene (Sanctuary Care) in a bespoke shed provided by the care home. During the year, it was moved to Hoole Community Centre for a while due to a disappoinXng fall-off in requests for rides from Upton Dene. It was moved back there later when the prospect of rides for care homes in Blacon developed. It is now in more frequent use. This trishaw is also the one used most ofen for training as the roads in the Upton Dene estate are quiet but varied which is be9er for training. Progression to rides in the Countess of Chester Country Park is also easier from there. The shed at Upton Dene is not ideal as it is cold and things do not dry out well if the trishaw gets wet.
Rides
We began offering rides in April 2022. We began with a system of offering rides to just 2 care homes (Upton Dene and Grosvenor Villas) so as not to sXmulate more demand than we can match. Occasional rides were done as special requests for individuals or insXtuXons. Demand built up steadily but then dropped off completely in October and didn’t restart unXl March/April. It has been very encouraging to see that, by contrast this winter, regular acXviXes have conXnued. I hope this is a sign that the care homes now trust us to keep their residents dry and warm, even when condiXons are cold and damp. The trishaws are well equipped for this, with waterproof hoods and front cover blankets. Extending the period of use throughout the year rather than just spring and summer is a ‘win-win’ for the charity. A parXcularly proud moment for us came when we were able to take a military veteran to a9end the Remembrance Day Parade outside Chester Cathedral, both this year and last.
An a9empt to develop our own online Ride Logging spreadsheet, hosted on Google Drive, didn’t achieve its purpose, with only a few pilots being able to access it and/or devote Xme to uploading ride details. As such, we decided to pay an annual fee to access an online volunteer management system (Be9er Impact). This has proved to be an improvement on our own efforts but is sXll not delivering all we hoped for. For example, without complete inputs we are unable to extract summary data for no. of rides, passengers, miles travelled, volunteering hours, etc. We are extremely grateful to Rod Mountney who donated a considerable amount of his Xme to surveying what volunteer management packages were around for small organisaXons such as ourselves, and helping us come to a decision on which one to use.
Pilot Training
~~Introducing an online Volunteer ApplicaXon form has produced a be9er fow~~
| AGM 2023/06 Safeguarding Report (BH) Policies The CWAC Safeguarding policy was due for review in July 2022 but acXviXes had only begun in April 2022 so this acXon was not pursued. The policy has now been reviewed and updated by the Designated Safeguarding Lead (BH). Only minor typographic or syntacXcal changes were felt to be needed. Summary of reported Safeguarding issues There have been no episodes where the formal safeguarding policy was triggered. There was one verbally reported issue when a family contacted a Trustee to say that their relaXve had felt anxious during a ride as the trishaw someXmes went a bit too fast for their liking. This issue was dealt with by a Trustee talking to the individual who piloted that ride. The volunteer pilot showed insight into the issue and undertook to keep this in mind in the future. A proporXon of our benefciaries have some degree of demenXa. It is encouraging that this has not led to any potenXal benefciary being refused a ride. I feel this is a tesXmony to the good job our pilots are doing in safeguarding the interest of these potenXally vulnerable people. As a default, we encourage family members to accompany rides. This has proved a good way to enrich the experience for the family but is also a way to build confdence in our acXviXes. We have also adopted a pracXce of, whenever possible, having a second volunteer to accompany the trishaw as a “walker”. Although this places more demand on volunteer Xme, it is helpful to both the pilot and the benefciary. The walker can assist the pilot during potenXally the riskiest point in the journey, namely gesng the benefciary into and out of the trishaw. We have also found that some benefciaries, possibly due to hearing or cogniXve issues, fnd it easier to chat to somebody walking alongside the trishaw than with the pilot, who is posiXoned outside their feld of view behind them. Work plan for Safeguarding, 2024 • DSL should undertake refresher Level 3 safeguarding training in 2024. AGM 2023/07 Any Other Business ZB announced that, with considerable regret, she will stand down as a Trustee afer this AGM. All Trustees joined in giving her hear\elt thanks for the very considerable contribuXon she has made to establishing and growing CWAC to its present posiXon. There was discussion of whether the 2024 AGM should take place in less than 12 months, in order to try and align be9er with our chosen fnancial reporXng interval. |
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Accounts for the Financial Year to date of Cycling Without Age (Chester)
July 2022-December 2023
The opening balance for the Accounts in July 2022 was £492.21. This was money accrued through dona@ons made to the charity up to that date.
Expenditure
The key challenge for each year is the ability of the charity to meet its obliga@on to pay the annual insurance for the trishaws which currently is a monthly cost of approximately £86.
The other significant annual recurring cost is for our volunteer online booking system, BeIer Impact.
Beyond that there are other smaller outgoings such as prin@ng costs, purchase of hi viz cycling jackets and maintenance. Upgrading of gearing of the trishaws was provided at Bren Bikes and paid for by Chester Cycling Campaign.
We have had two meet ups of the volunteers over coffee to maintain communica@on and try to ensure cohesion of the group. No costs have been incurred as the trustees picked up the bill themselves.
Cost breakdown year to date
----- Start of picture text -----
Insurance
Repairs
Entertaining
Cycle Maintenance
Cycle purchases
Prin@ng
Membership fees
BeIer Impact
57% 13% 12% 10%
----- End of picture text -----
----- Start of picture text -----
5%
----- End of picture text -----
Income
The highlight of the period was the award by the Na@onal LoIery Community Fund as a result of our applica@on for a third trishaw to be based in Blacon, Chester. They very kindly awarded us £9,500 and these monies were received into our account in December.
Also the Marjorie Boddy Trust awarded us £1,000 in April for support with overheads such as insurance and purchase of our two bicycles to accompany the trishaws as we found the “walker accompanied” model wasn’t working.
Other small sums have been received by fund raising at summer fairs held in the various homes we support and kind dona@ons by individuals.
Vauxhall Motors in Ellesmere Port awarded us £100 through the efforts of Dave Wetherall, one of our volunteers.
Breakdown of monies received
----- Start of picture text -----
Dona@ons - individual
Dona@ons - corporate
Just Giving transfers
95%
----- End of picture text -----
Our assets currently are:
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The two trishaws purchased for £8,500 each. With annual deprecia@on over two years these are now worth approximately £6,885 each.
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Two bicycles purchased for a total of £110.
Financial challenges for 2024
We of course need to buy the new trishaw as soon as possible and provide evidence of such to the Na@onal LoIery. We shall then need to consider where and how the trishaw will be housed safely.
Accommoda@on of at least two of the trishaws will be an issue. The bike at Upton Dene is not kept in a dry situa@on and some considera@on will need to be made to how this can be improved. The same will apply to the new trishaw.
Insurance costs con@nue to increase and with a third trishaw these con@nue to be a challenge to meet.
BeIer Impact is also a recurring annual cost.
Es@mated annual overheads will be at least £2000.
Andrew Foster
Treasurer Cycling Without Age Chester L YCLING STER