Alston Community Workshop
Registered Charity No. 1202099
High Mill Factory Alston CA9 3HS
Trustees' Annual Report 2024/25
Alston Community Workshop is an umbrella group for several activities based in Alston Moor. During 2024 / 25 the total membership was 22 people.
Repair Mill
Another year with a steady flow of items through the Repair Mill. We saw 289 items and gave a new lease of life to 251 of them, an 87% success rate which is better than the previous year and much higher than the general Repair Café average!
These repairs brought in over £1,400 of donations, every penny of which goes to Alston Community Workshop to help keep the lights on for the Men’s Shed, Busy Buddies and the Repair Mill. Not to mention the coffee warm and the Custard Creams flowing.
A huge thanks has to go to our enthusiastic Volunteers who turn up every month and do whatever they can to help the people of the Community to save money, rescue sentimental items and help to fight climate change in the process.
Busy Buddies
With the workshops move from the Town Hall Annex to High Mill Busy Buddies also moved to Thursdays so it didn't have to close at 1pm when the Wednesday, men only, Men’s Shed session starts.
Crochet Group
A Crochet group was started late in the year, meeting in Woolly's Café rather than the Workshop. For the few months covered by this report it has been very popular.
Men's Shed
The Men's Shed has continued to be popular with half a dozen or so men ("Shedders") attending the Wednesday or Sunday sessions and not necessarily the same half dozen all the time.
Most Shedders make use of the facilities and tools of the workshop for repairing or
restoring their own items. Advice and guidance being available should it be required, either as ideas on how to fix the item or how to use an unfamiliar tool.
Not everyone has something to fix. The "Shedders" also repair and restore community assets such as parish benches at the request of the Parish Council.
For those of a less practical nature popping into The Shed provides an excuse to get out of the house, have a friendly chat, coffee and a Custard Cream (other biscuits are available).
During the year Alston Community Workshop was successful in getting a grant from Cumbria Community Foundation to quip the workshop with a colour A3 printer, a 3D printer, 3D scanner and laptop. The funding stemming from Cumbria Social Enterprise Partnership through Westmorland & Furness Council’s Rural England Prosperity Fund: a central pillar of the UK government’s Levelling Up agenda.
The 3D equipment requires a far warmer, dryer and less dusty environment than the main workshop space can offer. The Shedders set to work and partitioned off a small section of the workshop to create a suitable space for the 3D equipment, sewing machines and electronic test equipment, together with a shared workspace.
Alston Community Workshop
Reg.Charity No. 1202099
Financial Statement for year 2024-25
| 2024-25 Income Grants £ 4,192 Donations (Repairs) £ 1,447 Donations (Other) £ 399 Sales £ 1,174 Subscriptions £ 260 Interest £ 358 Expenditure Rent £ 7,031 Utilities £ 769 Insurance £ 388 Tools & Equipment £ 3,966 Materials £ 866 Admin & Publicity £ 371 Training £ 130 High Mill Refit £ 3,054 Surplus / Deficit Year-end Bank Balances £ 12,931 (as at 31 Mar 2025) |
2023-24 £ 21,876 £ 1,165 £ - £ 647 £ 130 £ 161 £ 7,830 £ 2,910 £ 1,253 £ 314 £ 927 £ 758 £ 1,054 £ 493 £ 2,713 £ 16,575 -£ 8,745 £ 21,401 |
|
|---|---|---|
| £ 23,979 | ||
| £ 10,422 | ||
| £ 13,557 |