## BLOODMOOR HILL COMMUNITY CENTRE REPORT FOR 2024 **----- Start of picture text -----**
Robert Mayes Charity
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Trustees of Robert Mayes Charity SEPTEMBER 2025 ## **SUMMARY** The Centre reopened in July 2023 to be used by the church, and the local community for the benefit of the local community. ## **RE: BLOODMOOR HILL COMMUNITY CENTRE, NR33 8WA** Bloodmoor Hill Community Centre (BHCC) is at the edge of the Industrial Estate and the residential estate beside Bloodmoor Road and Ribblesdale. It is located just inside Gislehem Ecclesiastical Parish and serves a similar geographical location, namely, the people in the community of Pakefield and Carlton Colville. It is a building with a hall and 3 small meeting rooms, plus a small kitchen and accessible toilets. It has Wi Fi and security cameras for safety. Pakefield Parochial Church Council (PCC) has the agreement from the Incumbent of Gisleham, and the Diocese of Norwich to hold the lease for BHCC, with a view to use the Robert Mayes charity[1] (RMC) to run the building on their behalf. ## MAP: **Figure 1: Map showing location of Community Centre and the boundaries of the parish of Pakefield (taken from ‘A Church Near You’ website: https://www.achurchnearyou.com)** > 1 Robert Mayes Charity established in 1933 to support the poor of Pakefield Parish Report for Bloodmoor Hill Community Centre for 2024 issued at AGM September 2025 GOVERNANCE STRUCTURE: The PCC is the leaseholder from the landlord, East Suffolk Council The Chair of The Robert Mayes Charity (RMC) is automatically whoever is the Rector of Pakefield church. RMC runs as a separate entity from Pakefield Parochial Church Council (PCC) but with a constitution agreement between the two that allows integrated working. RMC is responsible for day to day running of BHCC with its own charity number and financial responsibilities as before. However, all decisions require collaboration between RMC and PCC. RMC produces regular reports for the PCC meetings There are 5 trustees: 3 of whom are PCC members 2 are local residents (to BHCC). The trustees meet regularly to discuss the use of the building and grants that are available to apply for. There is a team of volunteers who are recruited through the Church of England Safer Recruitment process and have DBS according to their role. Report for Bloodmoor Hill Community Centre for 2024 issued at AGM September 2025 2 ## VISUAL REPRESENTATION OF MANAGEMENT **----- Start of picture text -----**
East Suffolk Council Diocese of Norwich
Pakefield
Robert Mayes Church
Charity
Bloodmoor Hill Pakefield Church and
Community Centre Community Hall
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**Figure 2: Showing the management of the community centres working together to serve the community of the Parish of Pakefield and Carlton Colville** ## HOW IT ALL WORKS TOGETHER: ## **PAKEFIELD CHURCH:** PCC have responsibility for Pakefield Church and Community Hall The two community centres are run in conjunction with each other with an overall aim: To serve the community of Pakefield, Carlton Colville, and int environs and to encourage community cohesion that promotes community life. **Note** regarding the catering facilities – the most appropriate location for events that require catering is considered by the parish administrator. The PCC has an existing structure, under the umbrella of the Diocese of Norwich, of safer recruitment and safeguarding practices for children and vulnerable adults that are used in the running of BHCC ## **TRUSTEES:** A wide range of skills across the trusteeship would be preferable but not requisite, RMC does not have a treasurer at the mome3nt. All the Trustees have a passion for their community and all live within a mile of BHCC . Report for Bloodmoor Hill Community Centre for 2024 issued at AGM September 2025 3 ## **THE COVENANT:** BHCC has a covenant that requires all activities to cease at 10pm, and that all activities with the exception of private parties are community focused ## ACTIVITIES: ## **Run by RMC in conjunction with the PCC:** - Youth Café, aiming for a safe space for young people, - The School Uniform Hub for Lowestoft and the surrounding area - Larder on the Hill (including refreshments, and food demonstrations) - Regular community-focused fundraising events - Community events at seasonal times (Halloween, Christmas, Easter etc.) - Office space for bookings management and other workforce - Payback Team: litter picking and gardening - New project: Community Soup Dragon ## **By the local community:** - Yoga class - Karate classes for children (Black Belt Karate) - Dance class for children - Pilates class - Adoption Agency meeting - Therapeutic services - The Lowestoft Players Theatre company - Advanced Driving theory class - Use of The Yellow meeting room as office space for bookings and meetings - Weekend bookings for children’s parties etc. It is a priority for us to ensure these activities combat social isolation and promote well-being across different age-ranges. Recently we have had enquires regarding a craft group and coffee morning. Report for Bloodmoor Hill Community Centre for 2024 issued at AGM September 2025 4 ## UPKEEP ARRANGEMENTS: To ensure the quality of the upkeep of the building and its facilities the Project Coordinator ensures that the building has a regular inspection and that all the statutory obligations are met e.g. PAT testing, fire extinguishers. They are in contact with the property department at the council and work with them to ensure that the building is kept in a good state of repair. A local cleaner is contracted to clean the building each week and to report any issues too. The CCTV and Internet were installed by registered contractors. Bookings management of BHCC is via a dedicated mobile phone. The Church administrator and Project Coordinator work together to ensure that booking enquiries are offered the other hall if unable to accommodate Report for Bloodmoor Hill Community Centre for 2024 issued at AGM September 2025 5 ## FINANCES: The financial aim of RMC is not to make a great profit but instead to meet costs, any profits would return to aid the running of BHCC to benefit the local community. The rates of hall hire for large hall currently £20 per hour and rates of hire for meeting room currently £10 per hour Our reserves policy is to ensure that there is enough funding to pay our existing monthly commitments for 3 months: £2600 (The Trustees have the power to increase this according to need) ## **SUMMARY** ## **Robert Mayes Charity financial summary for 2024** ## **Income** ||**Income**|**Income**|**Income**|**Income**|**Income**|**Income**| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |**general fund**|**restricted**|||||| ||Uniform Hub|Larder|Warm Room|Internetproject|Youth Café|CommunitySoup| |£7,891|£1,922|£ 10,500|£ -|£1,016|£ 3,959|£ 5,500.00| |**Expenditure**||||||| |**general fund**|**restricted**|||||| ||Uniform Hub|Larder|Warm Room|Internetproject|Youth Café|CommunitySoup| |£ 6,825|£3,540|£9,216|£ 674.00|£ 1,016.00|£ 1,291|£0| |**Balance on 31st December 2024**||||||| |**general fund**|**restricted**|||||| ||Uniform bank|Larder|Warm Room|Internet Project|Youth Café|CommunitySoup| |£ 7,526|£ 233|£ 4,960|£0|£0|£ 2,667|£5,500.00| BHCC was blessed with support from East Suffolk Council, Lowestoft Town Council, Suffolk County Council, Lowestoft Rising, Ropes Charitable Fund, individual donations to be able to open and provide such a valuable community resource Report for Bloodmoor Hill Community Centre for 2024 issued at AGM September 2025 6 ## **OUTCOMES FOR 2023 TO 2025** ## **The School Uniform Hub** The school uniform hub (Hub) reopened at Bloodmoor in July 2023. There was already some stock from the previous team, and this was added into the new and pre-loved stock donated. There is a natural rhythm to the Hub, with the majority of requests during the major school holidays: August, December and April. As expected August is a very busy time for the team. The Project Coordinator has formed good relationships with all the local schools, with the supermarkets , school clothing shop and shoe shop. Indeed we are able to provide vouchers for Shoe-zone for children in need of school shoes, Shoe-zone then invoice RMC. There are several clothing bins across Lowestoft too. Every family is different in what they need, many families just need a couple of items, and this is often reflected by the number of children and the ages of the children. Other families need the whole uniform, perhaps because they have moved school midway through the year, or are new to the area. For instance: a child in care. The average number of items per family is 5. The most popular item requested are jumpers and this is the item that the uniform hub is often short of. The other item not often donated are school ties! In winter we noted that some families were requesting winter coats. We put out an appeal at the beginning of 2024 and towards the end of 2024 and received almost 200 (a few of which were not in good enough condition for reuse ). The hub gave out 91 coats. The hub has given out shoe vouchers to be spent at Shoezone in Lowestoft. These vouchers can be spent on school shoes or pumps for PE. The cost of a basic school shoe there is £10. |**Uniform HubQuantitative statistics**|**2024**| |---|---| |number of families|143| |number of children|267| |requests through social media|87| |dropin|56| |referred by professional|5| |referred on for support|12| |number of items|758| |Average number of itemsper household|5| |winter coats|91| |shoe vouchers|17| Report for Bloodmoor Hill Community Centre for 2024 issued at AGM September 2025 7 |donations in KG|336| |---|---| |to rags in KG|60| |Number of volunteers|3| |average total hoursper week for volunteers|6| ## **Testimonies from families** Report for Bloodmoor Hill Community Centre for 2024 issued at AGM September 2025 8 ## **The Larder on the hill** The number of people that have been supported by the Larder on the hill since it open in December 2023 has been: 157, within 54 families. Our family sizes range from a single person to households of 8 people. The larder has provided 15 emergency food parcels, to families in need, usually they are referred to us through either social services. The emergency food parcels have been delivered in both the NR32 and NR33 postcode for a variety of reasons. Most of our families ( 39) self-refer to the larder, or perhaps have used another service for instance Food in school holidays or the uniform hub and one of our volunteers has suggested they pop along. There have been 12 families referred by community workers, school welfare or social workers. Some have stayed with us, others have left for a variety of reasons, including gaining employment, moving away, retiring (18 families). One family was referred to the foodbank as they were not able to pay the £3.50 towards the larder. . We have only had to ask 3 families to not attend anymore, the reasons are complex, but in most cases it was because they were accessing more than one larder/foodbank. Fareshare was providing 100kg of food per week, however it has been noted that the quality and variety of food has gone down since we first opened. Total received 8600kg We are blessed with donations from individual people with large amount of donations coming from Pakefield Church, Pakefield Primary School, and CEPHAS at harvest time. We have also received donations from holiday caravan sites (this is because when the rental caravans are deep cleaned at the end of the season there is often packets and tins left by holiday makers). We work with the other larders and pantries around Lowestoft and share provisions. Total donations received: 1985 kg. We also receive a regular donation of non-food items. Total received: 304kg ( of course washing powder weigh a lot where as loo roll doesn’t!) As a Larder we are naturally encouraging healthy eating which is difficult when ready meals and cakes are the main source of food provided by them. The other issue from Fare share has been waste, due to expiry dates on products or products that our clients don’t want e.g. several boxes of vegan milk. Sometimes the quality of the fresh fruit or vegetables wasn’t great either e.g. peaches that were off, or soggy lettuces. Some of the over ripe fruit and vegetables were distributed to a local care farm (Pakefield Pastures). The basic supplies that are needed every week are milk, meat, cheese, fresh fruit and vegetables. Our families with children will often stock up on cereal and bread too. Firm store cupboard favourites are baked beans with sausages and tinned tuna. Toiletries and cleaning products are popular with our families too, they are able to swap out a food item. (this excludes feminine hygiene products and children’s toothpaste) We have been able to support FISH (Food in school holidays) and the Lowestoft Foodbank (e.g. we received a large amount of close to expiry date items that the Foodbank were able to redistribute). We have had cookery demonstrations from Warm Hub using slow cookers and this was well received. At these events we gained 2 new families who were referred through the community hub team The local MP has held a surgery on site during the larder and this was well received by the families who attend. It is hoped that this will be repeated. Report for Bloodmoor Hill Community Centre for 2024 issued at AGM September 2025 9 During the larder refreshments are offered, most of our adults decline, but the children (often straight from school) will have a snack and a drink whilst they wait. We also have tabletop games and toys e.g. Lego, jigsaws, cars and mini football to keep the children entertained especially if there is a queue. It is the conversations that we have with the families that are one of the most important things that happen at the larder but also difficult to quantify. Often, they will disclose a worry or concern. Our volunteers are able to listen to them and offer support or signpost to other agencies. ||**2024**| |---|---| |number of families registered at the larder|30| |number ofpeople supported bythe larder|92| |number of emergencyfoodparcels(one off)|8| |average number of families attendingeach week|15| |self referral to larder|21| |referred by professional to larder|9| |number of families referred to other agencies|8| |number of families who have left as no longer needingthe larder|11| |number of families asked to leave to due abuse of system|2| |food received from Fareshare KG|5200| |donated food received KG|1275| |donation of non-food items KG|60| |Number of volunteers|5| |Number of hours of volunteer timeper week|22| ## **Testimonials** Report for Bloodmoor Hill Community Centre for 2024 issued at AGM September 2025 10 ## **Our families and us ( Uniform Hub and Larder)** The big issues (questions from East Suffolk Council: ESC for us to discuss at the AGM) : What do you see in the lives of attendees that we ( ESC) should know about? What do you need us to investigate/try to improve to mke the larder/uniform hub/ community centre more effective? What questions do you have about the food support system as a whole ? What can we do to help you in the next 18 months ? Report for Bloodmoor Hill Community Centre for 2024 issued at AGM September 2025 11 ## **Youth Café** The Youth Café commenced in January 2025 and currently runs once a month to provide a safe space for young people, it has mainly attracted college aged students. We are waiting for permission from the council to create some storage so that we can buy fold away games such as snooker and table tennis. There has been an average of 7 young people attending so far. ## **Seasonal Family events** The light party held on the 31[st] October attracted a lot of children, their families and young people. The Christmas fayre was a great success and attracted both craft and food stalls The Summer fete was our first event and was well received ## **Linking with other organisations** Report for Bloodmoor Hill Community Centre for 2024 issued at AGM September 2025 12 ## **Our Volunteers** None of what we do would be possible without the team or volunteers that support the uniform hub, larder and youth café. There are currently 6 volunteers that run the uniform hub and larder (there is a crossover of 3 people who do both). There is a need for a slightly bigger team of volunteers and this is something that the trustees are keen to promote. There is a different team of 4 volunteers who run the Youth Café (plus our Youth and children’s minister) The role of project coordinator is a voluntary one as well. Hours of volunteering on average is 28 hours per week (plus the youth café which is monthly) Skills that our team have brought or have learnt whilst volunteering at BHCC: ## **Looking forward** We hope to be able to team up with the Repair Café held monthly at Pakefield Church hall as some of the uniforms may have a broken zip or buttons missing, but are otherwise in good condition. At the moment these items go for rags. We are hoping to run Community Soup (Dragon) soon, but are just waiting for the go ahead from ESC. We would like to promote the Youth Café more and encourage young people to attend. There are young people who hang about outside on the field and around the play area, but they don’t want to come in! Report for Bloodmoor Hill Community Centre for 2024 issued at AGM September 2025 13 ~~R~~ obert Acknowledgements : Thanks to all the grant makers and funders who have made it possible for Robert Mayes charity to run Bloodmoor Hill community Centre , especially: East Suffolk Council, Lowestoft Council, Lowestoft Rising Pakefield Parish Church Suffolk County Council, The Ropes Trust, , All information is correct at time of printing, if you wish to have further copies of this report or have any questions please contact the Project Coordinator : email hello@bhcc.uk mobile: 007512 010751 Bloodmoor Hill Community Centre , Dale End, Lowestoft, NR33 8WA Follow us on Facebook Our website is: https://bloodmoorhillcommunitycentre.uk Report for Bloodmoor Hill Community Centre for 2024 issued at AGM September 2025 14 ## **Robert Mayes Charity financial summary for 2024** ## **Income** ||**Income**|**Income**|**Income**|**Income**|**Income**|**Income**| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |**general fund**|**restricted**|||||| ||Uniform Hub|Larder|Warm Room|Internetproject|Youth Café|CommunitySoup| |£7,891|£1,922|£ 10,500|£ -|£1,016|£ 3,959|£ 5,500.00| |**Expenditure**||||||| |**general fund**|**restricted**|||||| ||Uniform Hub|Larder|Warm Room|Internetproject|Youth Café|CommunitySoup| |£ 6,825|£3,540|£9,216|£ 674.00|£ 1,016.00|£ 1,291|£0| |**Balance on 31st December 2024**||||||| |**general fund**|**restricted**|||||| ||Uniform bank|Larder|Warm Room|Internet Project|Youth Café|CommunitySoup| |£ 7,526|£ 233|£ 4,960|£0|£0|£ 2,667|£5,500.00| THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND Diocese of Norwhch Independent Examiners Certificate Rowttoth• tru•$￿￿0￿b0r* of. 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