## **Chair report March 2023** Well where do that year go? I can’t believe that here we are again ready for another AGM It has been a year of hard work for most of us. We are still short staffed and unable to open full time because of this, I am still doing the admin and secretarial duties, taking me away from running more activities, but I have had a little light relief from that with having Kit on board who is a great all rounder, prepared to help with everything. He has been supporting members, running activities, coffee bar and shop when needed, and will help with form filling when needed, what a star. We are at the beginning of a new activity together on a Thursday where we will do something different each week, bringing back our mental health day. This will include, yoga, mindfulness, meditation, walks, Groove and photography. During the last year, we had a few volunteers onboard for short periods, who helped with cooking, this was fantastic because it brought more revenue in and people were enjoying the meals. Lou was doing meal deals for £5 which included a meal with a drink. Unfortunately both volunteers had to move on which left us not able to offer this so often. We then came up with a way to offer it by preparing things in advance. Tuesday afternoon crew would peel potatoes & prepare all salad in readiness for Lou and crew to batch cook on a Wednesday afternoon. We have also finally introduced our fruit/veg/salad boxes at £2 each for individual portions, which we hope will go down well. Meal deals at our parties are always a winner. The My Community project that is an initiative of Royal Mencap is in full swing. We lost Phil who started it off and he has been replaced by Lynne. She has been busy setting up activities around the town which a few of our members have gotten involved in. They have had a free course with learning how to use a windows tablet, they were allowed to keep the tablet. Then they tarted a desktop computer course and some got involved in Brave art. The most exciting has been that she was to employ 4 people with a learning disabilities and 2 of our members who are volunteers are now employed by Royal Mencap. These are Jake and Sean. So very well done to those two, we are so proud of you. Lynne has also asked us to apply for seed funding to pay someone to support me with admin and anything else that I need support with. We have been a little more structured with parties for 2023. We have been combining each months birthdays together and celebrating them all on one day per month. As always they have been so much fun. We have had comedy hour start off a few of them, which has gone down really well. Lou and Marina have headed up a team to cook for the parties, which I keep well a way from, but I do try to head the clearing up patrol. Lou has also continued with leading people with crafts to make decorations for the parties and festive occasions. For Christmas this year, Lou & Sharon got together with Marina, Jackie and Toni to put on an amazing cooked Christmas dinner for us all. WOW, what an achievement in our small space. We had a production line for Prep, which many of our members helped with. The tables were laid out lovely and there was so much happiness in the room, it was a real family Christmas for our Unity family. The ladies worked so hard, I’m not sure if they want to repeat the experience, but they deserve a medal for what they achieved. When me and Ben set up the Unity Centre, it was always having in mind that we would create a family, and that Christmas dinner showed me that we have achieved that with so many fantastic family orientated volunteers and members. Another Christmas fun day was our Community Christmas party. We invited people from the community in with their families and Lynne from the My Community project got funding from them to pay for it, this meant it was free for everyone. We did a scavenger hunt for the kids and played games, sent them to the Fort for an activity that they had to video and we had dancing. It was a great success and we loved having everyone in. It is something that we can do annually now. We didn’t manage to do as much fundraising as we had planned to, this was down to several factors. There has been a lot of illness with staff and members, this also caused us to close for 4 days in a row during November and the odd session had to be cancelled. We did manage to have a large fundraiser in September which was led by Jane and Colin who worked really hard to make it a success. We all had fun in the garden of the Mariners pub, with music all day and evening. Our Bang & Crash group showed off their talents and did themselves proud. They were so professional and were loved by everyone there. Many musicians who watched them, told me of their surprise at how good they are. Thank you to all the bands and solo artists that took part to support us and to the photographers and the Mariners pub for all your support. And not forgetting all the people who turned up in support to raise some much needed funds for us. We have had some very successful quiz nights to raise money, which I am missing. Colin and Jane spent days sorting out the questions, score forms, photo’s for the big screen and music, while Lou, Marina and Sharon organized food, which made the very successful nights which everyone loved. Other than that we did a few Bang & Crash fundraisers in the town Centre and we joined in with Brainwave at their community fundraising day and a stall at the Sparrows Nest on one of their Queens jubilee celebrations. We had a great time with our own Queens Jubilee celebrations. We were all excited to be doing Bang & Crash plus Groove in the town, but it rained a lot on the day, so we set up a gazebo outside of the centre and Carried on there, as always, there was a lot of fun going on. Lou and the gang made a Queen in a wheelchair who took centre stage in the partying and we went on to party the night away. We have another big gig booked for April 15[th] “Banged up at The Grit” This will be consisting of a catwalk to sell our many good quality clothes that we’ve been collecting, music from Bang & Crash and some great artists for the rest of the day and evening. We will also be auctioning off the talents for Lorenzo, Andrew McMeekin photography, Chakra reading from Theresa Lawson and Indian Head massage from Diane Stamp. Along with 2 different raffles. It will be the usual £1 per strip for table top prizes, then. Jac will also auction off 2 consultations of Nutritional therapy & Ben is auctioning 2 parties at The Fort. Our regular activities are going well, Karaoke is still carrying on each Tuesday morning, we have individual mic’s so people don’t have to share and Colin, Carol and Jane to support people with signing. Bang and Crash has been a success at the new time of 10am – 12pm. When we do Bang & Crash, Brainwave will join us, they love it, but they don‘t want to get involved with MMP because going to London to perform is too long a day for them. So we are doing alternate weeks for them to be a be able join in. Thursday is mental health day, then we have Friday as the creative day, with art café in the morning and our new knitting Circle in the afternoon, where the members have knitted squares for a blanket which Marina is sewing together along with knitted triangles for the First light festival. It’s fabulous for our members to be involved in that. Some weeks Marina has also been cooking cakes with the members which they enjoy. Our new Saturday event is open mic for anyone to join in with no matter what they want to do, that’s early days, so it will be interesting to see how well that goes. That will be led by me and Kit and then Carol when we’re not about. Our main grant last year was a Sports England grant for Dance for the Jubilee. Myself and Kathy took our groove gang around to different organizations to get them grooving. This was so much fun. We also grooved on the beach. The idea of Kathy being involved is so that she could demonstrate the moves whiles sitting down because some of our groovers are unable to move around. This was a great idea and worked well. Unfortunately, the reinfection of Covid, meant that we had to cancel a few sessions as the care homes went back into lockdown, but we managed to replace those sessions. Our own Groove team, loved demonstrating to others how to Groove, they got a lot out of it. We have also joined Hartford university in a research grant. This is a large grant where the university research into people with a learning disability on how art impacts their well being, they are also funding our “Lowestoft community Podcast” project. I will lead this with podcasting with local organizations to talk about their experience of working in our community, plus individuals who have achieved something despite their own struggles. Then we have Ryan Martin, Mark Smith & Dave Bryant, teaming up together to interview and chat with our vulnerable community, they will be choosing who to chat with, recording, filming and editing all by themselves. I have to become an employee of Hartford uni for us to take part in this It will pay Lorenzo for 11 months, give the Centre £100 per week running costs for the project and is a rolling grant, so if we do well, we can apply for further funding next year, so let’s put our best effort in. All participants will get shopping vouchers (yet to be determined for where) as a thank you for joining gin. Our regular art café vulnerable members will get first refusal in taking part. There is a limit on how many people can take part. We have finally made our own membership forms, we have been getting people to fill these in with help. Our regular members with Learning disabilities have been asked to tell us more information about themselves, ie next of kin, meds and any illness that we may need to know, ie fits, diabetic issues, whereas she customers or members aren’t vulnerable don’t need to let us know that much detail. We are starting staff appraisals to find out how staff feel about the Centre and there roles with us, these are private and nobody else needs to know what the volunteers are saying. It will help us improve working conditions and making sure that all staff are happy. Plus, it is a requirement when having a staff team ## Unity Youth Projects: Unity Youth Projects is Lowestoft and District Mencap Society's gaming-specialised department. Unity Youth Projects specialises in improving social connectivity and life/social skills through digital/IT-based and modernised projects and activities. It is based in The Fort, a bespoke social and creative space that was opened in December 2019. The Fort provides activities, resources and games for the community, specialising in providing enriching activities that will appeal to local young people. Lowestoft and District Mencap Society and Unity Youth Projects operate with a combined set of accounts, with Unity Youth Projects having its own department, and its own bank account. The existence of Unity Youth Projects allows Lowestoft and District Mencap Society to provide even more diversified and modernised provisions for people with mild to moderate learning disabilities. The merger between The Unity Center and Fort is complete, we are getting passed some of the teething problems, which mainly centers around grant applications and payments. The Fort is home of Unity Youth Projects, which developed from Unity gaming which ran from The Centre from when we opened in 2011. We had a great group outing to the Hippodrome circus for the Christmas Spectacular, which was an experience. Everyone who attended had a great time. It isn’t easy for us to do outings like this, we don[t always have the staff available, which makes it difficult to plan. Finally I have to mention the Buisness plan. The Landlord wants to sell the buildings, he has offered it to us for a reduced price, which we still can’t afford, but putting together a business plan will allow us to apply for funding for the finance to purchase. It has taken a lot of time to put the plan together as it isn’t something that comes naturally to me, but it is finally done, so here’s hoping that the next chapter of our Unity family life will go in the direction that we really want it to. Jacs Chairwoman Reglstered Charlty Lowestoft and District Moncap Society incorporating Unity Youth Centre Report of the Trustees and unaudlted flnancial statements for the year ended 30&p-22 SGH SeNIco8 4 B¢xllam Way Carfton Colvll Lowestoft NR33 8DN Lowestoft and Dlstrlct Mencap Society incorporating Unity Youth Centre Report of the Trustees for the year ended 30th September 2022 The trustees present their report with the financial statements of the charty for the year ended 30th September 2022. The trustees have adopted the provisions of the Statement of Recommended Practice 2015 {SORP2015) Accounting and reporting issued in January 2015 REFERENCE AND ADMINISTrATIVE DETAILS Reg￿ered Charity number 233331 Prlnclpal Addre88 The Unity Centre Unit 1 6 Milton Road East Lowestoft NR32 1 NT Trustees Mrs J Guyton Mr C Rose Ms G Czajka Mr C Rose Ms L Abel Ms J Craig Appointed 13109r22 Mike Adamski Nominated - appointsnent pending Chair Resigned Treasurer resigned 13109r22 Independent Examiner Mrs S Hyde ACMA SGH Services 4. Bodiam Way Carlton Colville Lowestoft NR33 8DN STRUCTURE. GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT The Charity is wntrolw by ts goveming d0￿Mert a deed of trust and constitith an unincorporated charrty Lowestoft and District Mencap Society incorporatlng Unty Youth Centre The Charty is govemed by a mcxlel constikntion for branches of MENCAP. The model constitutKJn was adopted by the bra￿h on 16th November 2007. Thls was revi%ed on 30th September 2019 Independent examinerfs report to the Trustees of Lowestoft and District Mencap Society Independent examlnees rnport to the trustees of Lowestoft and District Moncap Society I report to the Charty Trustees on my examinakn of the accounts of Ihe Lv•ffttoft and District Mencap Society (the Tnjst) for the year ended 30th September 2022 Rasponsibilities and basis of report As the charity trustees of the Trust you are responsth for preparation oftho accounts in acwdance with the requirements of the Charities h£t 2011 lThe Ad) I report in respect of my examIna￿n of the Trusvs acC(￿nIS carried out under section 145 of the and in canying out my eXaMinat￿n I have follow￿ all the appltsble directions given by the Charlty Commiss¢on under se¢tion {145{5)bl of the Act Independont oxamlnerfs •tst•m• I have completed my examInatK￿. I confim that no matwwl matters have comè to my attention in with the examination glvw m8 caw to Wie¥E that #i any Malen￿ resp•* 1. Accounling records **re not kept in respect of the Tnjst as reqU￿ad ty section 130 of th8 Ac( or 2. the accounts do not accord vthh those records.. or 3.the accounts do not comwy the appluble requirements (XMKwning the fomi and contsnt of aecounts set out in the Charrt*slAcc(MJnts and Rep¥yt) regulations 2008 other than any reqU1￿ment tlkqt the accounts give a tn￿ and fair view whth is rK)t a matter o)nsthred as part of the independent l o)nfimi that there are no other matters to ￿1r altentiw sk￿ld be dra*n to anab￿ 8 proF understsnding of the amnts to bè reached. Sheila Hyde SGH Serwces 4 8oJiam Way Carfton Colville Lowesloft Suffolk NR33 8DN 2510612023 R•gi5tsrad number. Balance Sheet as at 30th Sept•mb•r 202 233331 Totsl lund8 30￿￿21 funds 3M&22 Flxod •B8ets Tangknlo 8386ts CurT•nt a•••ts Stoc*8 Debtors Cash at 8r#J in hand 25,334 Cr•dttov• 25337 FUNDS Unrestricted Restricknj 48.325 24.523 814 48.326 24337 SvJned CG,gUe Czpirq) Chaim)8n Tth5vrtr 2D23 2411113 Incorporatlng the Unlty Youth Project Fund¥ Donalcffj5 Tr&liry act￿ Tr3diw 8ctwth5 F¢yl SIK ants t4637 5,819 37.329 1,S87 TOTAL 87648 44.718 T221 TOTAL FUND8 CARRIED FOle*ARD Lowestoft and Dlstrict Mencap Society Incorporating the Unity Youth Project Not•s to the accounts 1 Accountlng polkles The aox*unls have bean wepar￿1 ur¥Jerlhe h"st(xThl cost ￿￿eri￿ and in ￿)￿dan￿ *ith FRS 102, Thè Financial Reporting s&￿lard apWKable in tho UK and Re￿th of Ireknj {as a[¥￿ed to smaN enttss by socalon 1A of the standaryjl. All incoming resour￿ iThSuded on the statWTWrt of Finandd AdIbrf1i￿ thg Charity Expenditure is ￿lUnted lor o an accrn￿lS basi8 arKI has been dassffi&J und8r h8ading$ that aggrgate all Gost related to the eAtegw. Where cann(X t* directly attn"buted to partKu Depreciallon Is at fdkmiw to wite off eath a88et ovar its $lSmatg(l L￿1 kf8. Freehold buildirwJs Leas￿OId laTrJ aThJ buildiws Plant and mathir FixtLwes. fthngs. tools and equlxnthtt over S year8 ovar 5 year8 T•xatlon The charity 1$ exempt from lax ￿ its **¥it1g8 FundA¢¢ounthg Unreslrtcted lunding ￿ bo uwd In accordanc* 7hilh thg otyed¥eB at tho of the Iru8tse8. Rgslrfcted fur￿8 can onty be usad partlxlar res1￿ pwposes thitrwn thè oliwts of aTIty Rethcte(l Fur￿$ arfrse ¥p8(yfi•d tythè or firrtls W• rni88d for pathcular restri¢Xed wrpose8. Further exp18nakn ofthe nabjre pwpo8e ofe** IWKI Is rKlthJed kn the rw)tes to the fin8ncaal ststemènts. 2 Oth•r Tradln9 P&ll¥lU 30nJ9r2021 2518 F¢>)d & drink takiws Gaming Takings Bric-a-Brac Takrys Centre Events 2771 87458 44715 Lowestoft and Dlstrlct Mencap Society Incorporating the Unlty Youth Project Nots8 to tho a¢￿Unts A totsl of£19037 was pattl to 3 tns*es ts M￿￿ing wAi￿tra$ ¢kn"NJ Ihb p¥. £19760 was paKJ durind Ihtr SW￿￿￿13[Ah S•*T*gr 2021. Slaff co•t Wage8 and s8larl•s 7740 T•)tal Grants Oth•r trading acb¥thi Oth•r incorn Insuranco daim Total 175 5819 247 5819 1587 44175 EXPENDITURE ON ChaThabe Achvth"es 18,938 11.897 41,835 N￿llICOllIE1EXPENt#TuRE 15.382 (12.5021 Totsl fund• brought10v￿rtI 9.140 13.317 22,457 TOTAL FUNOS CARRED FORVIW 24.522 815 22.4S7 TAIIGIBLE FIXED ASSETS C￿T V•hkkn• TotAI AJ at 1810¢*1>or21 28,011 9,491 38.152 28.011 9,491 DepRECIATION A8at18t0th21 38149 28010 38149 NET BOOK VALUE AS at 18t October 21 Lowestoft and District Mencap Society Incorporating the Unity Youth Project Notes to the accounts AT 1Mof21 HEr MOVEMENT at 30109r21 8 MOVEMENT IN FUNDS Unr8strtctsd lunds General funts Closure reseive 17522 23803 41325 701JO 24522 R￿trIcted Funds Big Lottery Fund Grnnt TOTAL FUNDS 15 815 9 RELATED PARfY DISCLOSURES Tn8re wern no rdated party tran￿tsrn f¢w the year ended 30th Septemb8r 2022.