SWAY WELFARE AID GROUP
Annual Report and Accounts For the Year Ending 30[th] September 2021
Registered Charity Number 261220
SWAY WELFARE AID GROUP
Reference and Administrative Details
| Name of Charity: | Sway Welfare Aid Group |
|---|---|
| Alternative Name: | SWAG |
| Charity Registration Number: | 261220 |
| Contact Address: | Mr J R Stevens |
| Driftway | |
| Mead End Road | |
| Sway | |
| Lymington | |
| Hampshire | |
| SO41 6EH | |
| Trustees: | David Golby (Organiser) |
| Jonathan Hartley (Chairman) | |
| Jeremy Stevens (Treasurer) | |
| Pat Fleat | |
| Clive Potter | |
| Dr Sally Smith | |
| Sue Cornwell (from 25/6/2021) | |
| Bankers: | CAF Bank Ltd |
| 25 Kings Hill Avenue | |
| Kings Hill | |
| West Malling | |
| Kent | |
| ME19 4JQ | |
| Independent Examiner: | Sandra Williams ACMA |
| 3 Moser Grove | |
| Sway | |
| Lymington | |
| Hampshire | |
| SO41 6GA |
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SWAY WELFARE AID GROUP
Structure, Governance and Management
The Sway Welfare Aid Group was established by constitution dated 28th October 1970, to serve the needs of the civil parish of Sway and its immediate neighbourhood.
The trustees manage the charity on behalf of all the residents of Sway to whom they report annually at a general meeting in November. Other public meetings are held to review progress during the year.
Trustees, and other officers, are appointed by election at the annual general meeting and serve for one year, renewable annually. All new trustees are made aware of their responsibilities under the Charities Act.
During the year the trustees take all executive decisions. At any of the public meetings during the year residents of Sway are entitled to propose possible areas of benefit for the trustees to consider.
The trustees serving during the year under review were David Golby (Organiser), Jonathan Hartley (Chairman), Jeremy Stevens (Treasurer), Pat Fleat, Clive Potter, Sally Smith and Sue Cornwell (from 25/6/2021).
Sway Welfare Aid Group is affiliated to the Good Neighbours Network (GNN) funded by Hampshire County Council and local clinical commissioning groups. SWAG benefits from central public and employer’s liability and personal accident insurance policies taken out by GNN on behalf of all affiliated groups.
Objectives and Activities
The objectives of the Sway Welfare Aid Group (SWAG) are the relief of the sick, needy, disabled or aged within Sway and its immediate neighbourhood. The charity makes grants to both individuals and local organisations within these constraints. In this connection SWAG works closely with many local organisations to ensure that it reaches out to as many people as possible in meeting its objectives.
The charity also organises a free transport service, manned by volunteer drivers, to take sick, elderly or infirm people to attend hospital and other medical appointments where they cannot provide, or are not capable of using their own transport. Mileage expenses of the drivers are met by the charity.
In addition, the charity runs a twice-monthly lunch club service for the elderly living alone. Volunteers cook the meal and the participants pay only a nominal charge for the food; all other expenses are met by the charity.
During the year the charity has started a new weekly Community Café to provide a focal point for social interaction among lonely people in the village. The café runs on a “donations only” basis.
The trustees have paid due regard to the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit and consider that the activities of the Sway Welfare Aid Group during the year are fully in accord with the objectives of the charity and are to the public benefit.
SWAG runs an annual Christmas appeal within the village of Sway to raise funds for its activities and also benefits from voluntary donations from clients of its transport service and community café.
The trustees are grateful to all our volunteer officers who organise much of the charity’s work.
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SWAY WELFARE AID GROUP
Achievements and Performance – Organiser’s Report
This will be my last report as, after ten demanding but fulfilling and enjoyable years as Organiser, I will be retiring at our AGM and will not be standing for re-election as a Trustee.
The unprecedented challenges we faced in the previous year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, whilst abating somewhat during the latter part of the current year, still caused both operational and organisational issues with many of our services. We continued to operate and offer as many activities as possible that were consistent with the ever-changing legislation in respect of lockdowns, social distancing, and other restrictions during the year. We even managed under the SWAG banner to reestablish a desperately needed Community Café within the village, which I will comment on further later in this report. None of this would have been possible without the continuing support of the local community and the unwavering commitment of our volunteers.
Fund Raising
During the year we received donations of £12,312, including £3,993 from our annual appeal and £4,759 from our transport clients. Whilst this is 1.6% lower than last year, excluding the exceptional single donation that we received then, it is a considerable achievement taking into account the financial pressures on family incomes caused by the ongoing economic impact of the pandemic. We were again unable to hold any other fund-raising events due to ongoing restrictions which in other years have raised significant donations.
Fortunately, the investment portfolio that we prudently manage on behalf of the charity saw a rebound in performance during the year after the dramatic falls in the stock market witnessed at the start of the pandemic. This rebound in performance contributed £14,987 to our income in the year, an increase of £2,049 over the previous year.
Charitable Activities
Despite the ongoing impact of restrictions, we have been able to maintain and, in some cases, re-establish virtually all our activities during the course of the year.
Our medical transport activity continued to provide a covid safe service and undertook a significant number of journeys transporting 75 different clients to vital hospital appointments. Several of these trips involved transport for covid vaccination appointments that clients would otherwise have been unable to attend. We have been a virtual fourth emergency service for many residents over the year and significant credit must go to Mike, his fellow coordinators Richard, Colin and Hugh, together with our transport volunteers, in maintaining this essential service under such difficult circumstances.
Lunch Club was eventually allowed to meet again in August when the complex rules on indoor social gatherings for these groups were removed after almost 18 months of suspension. Currently we have 27-30 people who attend lunch club many of whom are socially isolated and are reliant of these meetings for both companionship and a nicely cooked hot meal. Deborah, Jane and several of their lunch club volunteers have been outstanding in ensuring that social contact has been maintained with a regular telephone call to these clients together with a doorstep delivery of home baked treats and latterly hot meals. It is staggering to report that, in total 332 home deliveries have been made during the last year.
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SWAY WELFARE AID GROUP
Presently lunch club are meeting at the village hall as the cooking facilities at the church rooms are currently out of service. Grateful thanks must go to the village hall trustees who stepped into the breach and so kindly offered to us the use of their facilities at no charge other than a contribution to the utility costs.
As mentioned earlier, we were asked to become involved and to help with the re-launch of a weekly coffee morning activity in the village previously operated by Sue Young under the “Open House” banner. Following discussions with Sue Cornwell & Grete Steen, who were prepared to become coordinators of this venture, Community Café, under the SWAG umbrella of activities was launched in July of this year. This is a voluntary donation community service offering coffee, tea and biscuits in a social setting to local residents. All are welcome to attend and is particularly aimed at providing social contact to all age ranges in the village. Many volunteers have already come forward to help with this new venture and presently we have 28 active clients. Our hope is that the client base will grow over the coming year and Community Café will become a central hub for social contact and other charitable activities within the village. Sue Cornwell has been co-opted as a trustee to represent this new activity and will stand for election at the AGM.
We have continued to develop our media presence and, in addition to our website and articles in Sway News, we launched our own Facebook page during the year. Facebook is an increasing popular way of sharing and obtaining local news and information within the village community. Our recent postings have been viewed by 500 to 900 readers directly and probably considerably more as it is regularly shared on the Sway Hearsay Facebook page. Such postings should also encourage readers to learn more about the charity's wider activities, and we hope that among other benefits this will reinforce the message that the charity caters for, and is approachable by, villagers of all age groups.
Our financial grant activities have continued at a pace during the year. We have provided grants to five individuals or families under our Covid-19 Emergency grant scheme amounting to £9,800. Several of these cases have been critical in enabling people to literally survive financially following income loss due to the pandemic. This said, the number of new cases has declined during the latter part of the year and the trustees have recently decided to close this specific scheme at the end of the financial year in the belief that any future applications can be managed within our normal emergency grant activities. We have also seen an increase in requests for emergency help under our normal grant programme. We have helped eight families with such grants totalling £3,835, including three £100 payments to families under a small Christmas grant scheme initiated in conjunction with Sway Family Network.
We have continued to pay heating grants of £560 per applicant, in two £280 instalments to help with ever increasing utility costs faced by many families on low income. This year we have paid such grants to eleven families totalling £6,160. I will comment further on the impact of drastically increasing utility costs later under Future Outlook.
In addition to the above we have made grants of £500 towards the essential work undertaken by the New Forest Basics Bank which has benefited several Sway residents; £220 to the WI in Sway to support membership fees for members who otherwise would be unable to afford payment and £50 to Sway’s Over Sixties Club to cover their room hire costs once they were able to restart their meetings in the last month of our financial year.
Finally, it is pleasing to report that St. Luke’s School have utilised a further £3,593 of our multi-year grant to them that we made last financial year. With this expenditure, mainly spent on computer tablets and items of school uniform, they have been able to assist thirteen pupils from nine families.
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SWAY WELFARE AID GROUP
Future Outlook
We continue to remain in unchartered territory. Whilst the vaccination programme has undoubtedly been a success and has saved many lives it is still too early to judge if the pandemic is fully under control and whether society will return to any form of pre-pandemic normality. At the same time, we are seeing the problems and stress lines in the economy caused both locally within the UK and globally, as the world emerges from lockdown. It is inevitable that the Covid-19 pandemic and resultant economic problems will continue to impact all our lives, medically, financially and emotionally for quite a while. We anticipate a continued demand for our help during these difficult times ahead.
As previously mentioned, one of the immediate consequences of the world emerging from the economic lockdown is the unprecedented and sudden rise in energy costs. At this stage it is impossible to predict if this is a short-term issue or whether it will continue in the longer term. The trustees have therefore decided to increase SWAG’s heating grant offering for next year by the full percentage uplift of the “cap” being implemented by the utility regulator. This will increase the grant that we offer from £560 to £680 for claimants currently on our heating grant list. In addition, the trustees are considering replacing the successful Covid-19 emergency grant scheme with a small grant scheme for unexpected emergencies in addition to our normal financial grant programme.
Thanks to donations from so many people over the years, we have fortunately managed to establish a healthy balance sheet and invested reserves with which to continue to support our local community in Sway during these exceptional times.
Whilst financial reserves together with donations help us pay for the work that we do, none of this would be possible without the loyalty, unstinting support, and sheer hard work from our many volunteers. This said, I would like to pay tribute to many of our volunteers who have, despite the obvious worries of catching the virus, continued to unselfishly offer their time and energy to help the most vulnerable in our village.
I would also like to sincerely thank my fellow trustees and coordinators who have spent many waking hours and on occasion sleepless nights working so diligently to enable the charity to continue its vital work under almost impossible circumstances. In addition to myself, Clive Potter has also decided to retire as a trustee and will not be standing for re-election at the AGM. I would like to pay particular tribute to Clive who has been involved in charitable activities in Sway for more than 50 years with SRISF and SWAG in addition to other organisations. Clive was also instrumental in the leadership of SRISF during the discussions leading to their successful merger with SWAG two years ago. The whole village owes Clive a vote of gratitude for his charitable work over the years. We have two new trustees, Sue Cornwell and Jane Self, who are standing together with the remaining trustees for election at the AGM. I’m sure that Sue and Jane will bring new energy, fresh thinking and ideas to the group.
I leave SWAG with a heavy heart but very fond memories of what we have been accomplished over the last ten years. SWAG like most successful organisations is a team effort which enables people to come and go without impacting the charity. I leave in the absolute knowledge that the best team is in place to take the organisation forward for many years to come.
David Golby
Organiser
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SWAY WELFARE AID GROUP
Financial Review
Funds
SWAG has three funds, an Unrestricted Fund that provides for all the charity’s activities, an expendable Endowment Fund that is invested to provide interest and dividend income for the Unrestricted Fund and a Restricted Lunch Club Fund, the income for which comes from the subscriptions paid by lunch club members for their meals.
Donations and Fundraising
Overall donations this year were 1.6% down on last year after discounting the single extraordinary donation received in that year. Last year we had several unexpected donations from people wanting to help during the Covid-19 emergency which were not repeated this year and fewer of our drivers contributed their driving expenses than usual.
The annual appeal raised 9% more than last year at £3993 including Gift Aid.
The medical transport service is a net contributor. The total mileage driven during the year was higher than last year but still not back to pre-Covid days. Despite this, customers have been very generous with their donations and the total of transport donations raised, including Gift Aid was £4759, 10% up on last year. This more than covered the overall cost of the service, including support costs, of £3213.
The charity did not run any fundraising events this year.
Charitable Activities
The Covid-19 emergency grant scheme started last year continued to attract requests for help in the first half of the year and the charity has paid out a further £9800 under this scheme in the year, helping five persons.
Requests for help under SWAG’s normal financial grant programme increased this year and eight families were helped with a total of £3835. Included in this is a small Christmas grant scheme initiated in conjunction with Sway Family Network and paying three £100 grants.
The costs of energy from the major suppliers going into the Winter 2020 period were broadly in line with the year before and so the Trustees decided to keep the Heating Grant figure at £560 per person, paid in two £280 instalments. Heating grants were paid to eleven families costing a total of £6160.
Other organisations to benefit from SWAG grants in the year under review were:
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£500 to New Forest basics Bank.
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£220 to Sway Women’s Institute to support membership fees for members in hardship.
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£50 to Sway Over Sixties Club to cover room hire for their meetings. (This was for two meetings only as the Club only re-started in September after the pandemic shutdown.)
Normal Lunch Club activities were suspended during most of the year under review due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Since the charity did not have to pay room hire fees for this period, the trustees took the decision to support the delivery of lunches to Lunch Club members once a month, including a full Christmas lunch. The overall cost of this provision was £765. Normal Lunch Club activities with fees of £4 being collected from members resumed in August, but at the Village Hall rather than the Church Rooms owing to technical problems with the cooker at the latter.
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SWAY WELFARE AID GROUP
The charity benefitted from the use of the Village Hall free of charge for August and September. The overall costs of Lunch Club including overheads was £1188 offset by £427 collected from members and a £200 donation from the Sway Co-op. The restricted Lunch Club fund carried forward a balance of £198 at the end of the year.
The new Community Café started in mid-July and so had only been running for two and a half months at the year end. Consequently, it is too early to say much about its financial implications for the charity. The Café runs on a “donations only” basis, thus allowing the charity to claim Gift Aid on the donations under the Gift Aid on Small Donations scheme (GASD). At the year end the overall net cost of the venture including start-up costs was £74 after Gift Aid recovery.
Overall support costs fell by 13% this year. The charity incurred extra website costs for the virtual proxy AGM that was held because of the Covid-19 pandemic, but these were largely offset by the suspension of driver skills assessments by Hampshire County Council. The charity was unable to send any of our drivers for assessment during the year.
No trustee has claimed expenses for their work for the charity in the period under review.
There were no related party transactions in the year.
Investment Performance
In the financial year 2019/20 the trustees increased the fixed interest element in the portfolio to protect the charity’s income in the expectation of a poor ongoing equity performance due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In the event, the equity performance in the year under review has been much better than expected and the charity has ended the year with a growth in the Endowment Fund of 12%. The yield was 3.5%. During the year the trustees took the decision to transfer the remaining £17,000 of the extraordinary £50,000 donation that was received in 2019/20 to the balanced fund within the Endowment Fund portfolio.
The invested part of the Unrestricted Fund is entirely held in fixed interest securities. The yield on these was 4% at the start of the financial year but dropped to 3% from January due to persistent very low interest rates in the market. The fixed interest securities in the Unrestricted Fund showed a loss in capital value over the year of 6.5%
Owing to the increased fixed interest holding, the proportion of the charity’s overall income due to investments increased to 54% from the more normal one third.
Overall Position
At the year end, income exceeded expenditure resulting in a surplus of £2012. Total funds ended the year 10.5% higher than last year, largely due to the improved equity performance. Total reserves in the Unrestricted Fund were £59,129 after accrued liabilities. The trustees are confident that the charity is in a good position to meet any needs in the coming year.
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SWAY WELFARE AID GROUP
Approval
This report and the associated accounts were approved by the members on 22[nd] November 2021 and signed on their behalf.
(Signed) (Signed)
Jonathan Hartley Chairman
Jeremy Stevens Treasurer
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SWAY WELFARE AID GROUP
Independent Examiners Report
I report on the accounts of the Sway Welfare Aid Group for the year ended 30[th] September 2021, which are set out on pages 11 to 14.
Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner
The charity’s trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The charity’s trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year under section 144 of the Charities Act 2011 (the Charities Act) and that an independent examination is needed under the Act. It is my responsibility to:
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examine the accounts under section 145 of the Charities Act;
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follow the procedures laid down in the general directions given by the Charity Commission (under section 145(5)(b) of the Charities Act); and
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state whether particular matters have come to my attention.
Basis of independent examiner’s statement
My examination was carried out in accordance with the General Directions given by the Charity Commission. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the Charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeking explanations from the trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a “true and fair” view and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below.
Independent examiner’s statement
In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention:
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(1) which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requirements:
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to keep accounting records in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act; and
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to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with the accounting requirements of the Charities Act have not been met; or
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(2) to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
(Signed)
Sandra Williams ACMA Independent Examiner
Date: 11[th] November 2021
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SWAY WELFARE AID GROUP
Statement of Financial Activities for the year ended 30[th] September 2021
| Notes Income and Endowments from: Donations and legacies 2 Charitable activities Investments Fund raising activities Total Expenditure on: Raising funds 3 Charitable activities 4 Total Net Gains/(losses) on investments Net income/(expenditure) Transfers between funds Net movement in funds Reconciliation of funds: Total funds brought forward Total funds carried forward |
2021 Unrestricted Fund Restricted Lunch Club Fund Endowment Fund Total Funds £ £ £ £ 12,112 200 12,312 427 427 14,987 14,987 27,099 627 27,726 111 111 24,416 1,188 25,604 24,526 1,188 25,714 (3,081) 47,334 44,253 (508) (561) 47,334 46,265 (17,134) 134 17,000 0 (17,642) (427) 64,334 46,265 76,771 625 363,212 440,608 59,129 198 427,546 486,873 |
2020 Total Funds Last Year £ 75,011 918 12,938 20 |
|---|---|---|
| 88,887 | ||
| 209 47,839 |
||
| 48,048 | ||
| (26,514) | ||
| 14,326 | ||
| 14,326 | ||
| 426,283 | ||
| 440,608 |
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SWAY WELFARE AID GROUP
Balance Sheet at 30[th] September 2021
| Note Fixed assets: Investments - Endowment 6 Investments - Unrestricted funds 7 Current assets: Debtors 8 Deposit account Cash at bank and in hand Liabilities: Creditors: Amounts falling due within one year 9 Net assets or liabilities The funds of the charity: Endowment fund Unrestricted fund Lunch Club fund Total charity funds |
2021 £ 427,546 44,657 911 13,637 680 (558) 486,873 427,546 59,129 198 486,873 |
2020 £ 363,212 47,738 13,092 16,036 899 (368) |
|---|---|---|
| 440,608 | ||
| 363,212 76,771 625 |
||
| 440,608 |
The notes on pages 13 and 14 form part of these accounts.
Approved by the trustees on 13[th] October 2021 and signed on their behalf by:
(Signed)
Jonathan Hartley – Chair of Trustees
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SWAY WELFARE AID GROUP
Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 30[th] September 2021
1. Accounting policies:
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a) The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with SORP2016, the
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Financial Reporting Standards FRS 102 and the Charities Act 2016.
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b) Donations are credited to income when received.
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c) Income from investments is credited to income when received.
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d) Investments are stated at their market (bid) value at the balance sheet date.
2. Donations:
| 2. Donations: Donations received In memoriam GiftAid recovery Donations in the Previous Year: Donations received In memoriam GiftAid recovery |
2021 Appeal Transport Lunch Club Café Other Total £ £ £ £ £ £ 3,352 3,865 200 155 2,853 10,425 641 894 39 314 1,888 3,993 4,759 200 194 3,167 12,312 3,164 3,486 30 53,845 275 499 825 12,887 3,662 4,311 30 67,007 |
2020 £ 60,524 275 14,211 |
|---|---|---|
| 75,011 | ||
3. Costs of fundraising:
| osts of fundraising: Appeal Publicity |
2021 £ 56 55 111 |
2020 £ 58 151 |
|---|---|---|
| 209 |
4. Charitable activities:
| haritable activities: Hardship grants to individuals Heating grants to individuals Covid-19 grants to individuals Grants made to organisations Covid-19 grants to organisations Transport service Lunch Club Community Café Total costs of charitable activities |
2021 Direct Support Total £ £ £ 3,835 370 4,205 6,160 6,160 9,800 9,800 770 770 2,736 476 3,213 1,070 118 1,188 252 16 268 24,623 981 25,604 |
2020 £ 1,974 6,440 9,700 11,180 13,500 3,159 1,885 |
|---|---|---|
| 47,839 |
General support costs are divided among the various activities in proportion to the share of the total direct costs made by each activity (see below).
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SWAY WELFARE AID GROUP
Notes to the Financial Statements (continued)
| Allocation of Support Costs: Grant making Transport service Lunch Club Community Café 6. Investments - Endowment: Carrying value at start of period Additions at cost Unrealised gain/(loss) on investments Carrying value at end of period 7. Investments - General Funds: Carrying value at start of period Additions at cost Unrealised gain/(loss) on investments Carrying value at end of period 8. Debtors: GiftAid refund due Tax Yr 2021/22 GASD overclaim Tax Yr 2020/21 Uncredited cheques Pre-payments: Deposit for volunteers tea Postage in hand 9. Creditors: Accrued mileage costs Email setup charge |
2021 |
|---|---|
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