Report of the Executive Committee for 2023 presented to the Hythe & Dibden Community Association at its Annual General Meeting Wednesday 15th May 2024
Since our last A.G.M in May 2023, the new Executive Committee, have, with the help of those members of the General Committee and the Centre Manager, been closely involved with planning for the future safeguarding of the Community Centre. With regard to the objectives of the Association we are doing our best to encourage the use of the Community Centre by any organisation that will benefit the inhabitants of the Parish of Hythe & Dibden, without trying to discriminate in any way.
The Executive Committee have held regular monthly meetings with those members who would normally form part of the General Committee. The General Committee is formed of representatives of groups and organisations using the Community Centre who fulfil the requirement laid out in the Constitution. Any such member groups are entitled to have a vote at the AGM.
At last year’s AGM there was a lot of anticipation regarding an observation by the Arts Council that there is a deficit of opportunities in the Waterside area for ‘the Arts’. It was proposed that if sustainable opportunities could be found and organised that the Arts Council would consider funding all or part of this. There were a number of meetings held here in the Community Centre but there was no progress or follow up to suggestions made. All the other venues with a possible interest in this idea are now running with their own ideas. We are presently working with the Waterside Art Group, our largest and longest running member group, with proposals that we hope will help them and the Community Association to move forward.
The rest of the Executive Committee’s work has been with the long term running of the Community Centre so it can continue to provide, on the Associations behalf, the service it does.
Direct services: Our Community Centre:
We are continuing to welcome new groups and organisations to our facilities. There are 2 new U3A groups, History and Canasta. Canasta have become a membership group.
Centre Usage
Total number of hirings for the year is 1002. This number is a little lower than expected as Little Stars preschool started in October instead of September and so removing twenty full day sessions. Also with the removal of the Chiropody service in November whose future booking would have added to this total. Evening bookings are staying constant – especially on Tuesdays but afternoon sessions haven’t returned to the pre-2020 level and this leaves the centre, on many days, feeling empty and quiet except for the pre-school.
Usage across our groups (Beyond normal hirings):
The Waterside Art Group returned for their Art Exhibition in August 2023 and covered two full Saturdays, although with a more compact showcase of their wider skills. This was the only Membership Group to make use of the facilities outside of their normal hirings.
Across other users (Associated / Commercial):
The Calshot Divers have had two weekend training sessions. Photos from which they posted online of our hall 2.
1
National Vegetable Association had one training and examination full day Saturday which saw them bringing in championship winning fruit and veg for standardising their marking regimes – some of this was then donated to interested parties.
Indirect Services: Via renting the Community Centre.
Jack & Jill’s preschool. Due to their committee deciding to wind up, the preschool closed suddenly at the end of July 2023. All their bills to us were paid.
Little Stars preschool , opened in October 2023, with just a small number of children. They have been given some concessions on price – mostly due to not needing the same amount of storage space or refuge collection. They have settled in very well, with their numbers slowly increasing and are looking forward to their next full year. In April, due to their growth our price concession was reduced and we expect to reduce it further in September.
Hythe Voluntary Car Group , continue to use our office as their headquarters between 9 and 11am each day and provide an invaluable facility for members of the community; for visits to health related venues. At present due to lack of volunteer drivers, they are unable to help with the more mundane such as shopping and the hairdressers etc.
The Age Concern Chiropody Service sadly left the Community Centre just before Christmas as they now provide this much needed service from their new premises in Hythe.
Smoke Free Hampshire’s time with us also came to an end in February as numbers were too few to cover their continued presence.
Inhealth Intelligence , an NHS service provider, continues to provide within the Centre an Eye Screening Service for people with Diabetes. This is very well utilised and provides a facility for our community without them having to travel outside of the Waterside.
hArt (Hampshire Art for Recreation and Therapy), offer activities to support mental health, wellbeing and wider social issues in people of all ages and abilities.
Financial Report Year 2023
Incoming:
When we compare 2023 to 2022, we show a net loss. This lose is caused by the fact that we no longer receive any grants. In 2022 we received a grant of £4000. The total income for the Association in 2023 was £35537 compared to £38629 in 2022. Rents from hiring the Community Centre’s rooms out were £33361 compared to £33200.
Membership numbers have continued to return to the pre-covid level with 175 members in 2023 compared to 124 in 2022. Our “normal” level is about 285 as demonstrated in 2019.
The kitchen, while still not being fully open and being serviced from the office had a net income of £1063 – a rise of two thirds on the previous year. This will increase in the next year when we restart selling sandwiches.
Book sales are also recovering, with receipts of £135 but this should decrease next year as our supply of books gets purposefully run down.
Outgoing:
Once again we had only a small increase in the utility service expenditure of £243 over 2022’s amount. We are still getting the benefit of the negotiations that our former Chairman, Graham Parkes, had with our energy broker “Every Aspect” to obtain the best fixed price deals for gas just before the major increases started. This deal will last for 3 years, ending in 2025. A similar deal was made for electricity which started in May 2023 and will last until 2026.
Negotiation of the updating and upgrading of our telephone systems began as the previous 5 year contract expires in 2024 and with the nationwide switch to digital services by 2026 it was wise to get it done early. This was accomplished earlier than expected in December with fresh trunking of cables around the building providing direct lines to hall 2 (for preschool), Room E (for hirers), the kitchen and the office proper with a later option of including the Voluntary Cars within the system. This option was not exercised this year.
2
The costs for maintenance were substantially reduced at £4103 against £11783 in 2022. The one boiler is continuing to function, although we are looking at having a “power flush” for the heating system, to clear any blockages and maintain the efficiency of the system before the next winter season.
One notable outgoing was having to replace a broken window in Hall 1 in September. This breakage was boarded up by the police and the cost of both replacing the window and the boarding up amounted to around £500. The damage causer, known to us only as “J”, had promised to pay for it but backed out. We’re very thankful to PJ-T Double Glazing Repairs for their speedy service. We will be retaining their services in the future.
Overall Income amounted to £35537 compared with £38629 last year whilst Expenditure amounted to £43714 compared to £48864 last year. The year-end differential was a loss of £8177 compared to a loss of £10235 last year. Total differential was £2058 which is accounted for by the increase in wages.
A copy of the accounts is available to all members in the Office.
The Future
At the time of this report the future is somewhat uncertain, but looking better. As reported earlier, our commercial bookings have recovered to a large degree but membership groups having fewer numbers, are still recovering as can be seen by this current year’s membership. This is still of concern for the Association which is made up of and run by members.
We still need to market the Centre more, in order to increase our hirings and revenues, but in addition we need to explore new ventures and identify other uses which would still be in keeping with the ethos of the Association while not being in conflict with our planning category.
One insurmountable problem, as noted in previous years, is that there is a surplus of venues in the area which has arisen since we erected the new Centre. Most of the new venues have been created within the local authority or ecclesiastical environment which protect them from incurring costs that an independently run building such as our centre does. For example: refuse – churches get their waste taken away free whereas businesses, like ours, must pay.
As for other streams of income: The “Inn Centre” Café area has, as of Easter 2023, been re-opened for tea, coffee and biscuits though not yet for other snacks. Income for 2023 was £1227 compared to £786 in 2022, and is still rising for the current year. Our groups, again, need to be reminded that it is available.
Our web site continues to make prospective hirers aware of what the Community Centre has to offer. The pricing of rooms has been made simpler – reducing the 144 visible options down to about 24 without removing any accessibility. Also the number of people that can comfortably fit into each room is now included in the room size detail.
Hopefully in the future, there’ll be a page or two that Membership and Associated Groups, if they wish, can make use of to promote themselves – as they can the Community Centre’s noticeboards.
We are thinking about changing our website host due to the cost but currently the switch is made complicated by them also hosting our e-mail account.
We, as stated earlier, have been fortunate enough to have prepared for the increase in utility prices. All attempts are being made to mitigate any future price rises. We are still monitoring usage regularly and looking to minimise waste. So don’t be surprised when we turn the lights off as we leave.
The basic maintenance on the Community Centre buildings continues at a significantly low level and most of our costs have been incurred through the Associations’ legal requirement to ensure that the emergency systems and services such as the fire and burglar systems are regularly tested and maintained. This also applies to portable appliances and the lift though those are more visible and less forgettable on a day to day basis.
This “low level” can not last forever as the original part of the building is over 50 years old and the new Community Centre was opened 21 years ago. We can therefore expect significant increases in our
3
maintenance costs in the next few years. We will be asking for a continuation to the “temporary” planning permission for the old building
One of the greater challenges we have is the lack of volunteers. In line with so many other charities this is a problem we all have to deal with. We need volunteers to cover mostly the office and the kitchen. It does not suit everybody, but we are happy to accommodate anybody who would like to join us. If a volunteer would like to join us, but does not like being alone, come as a pair, or bring something with you to do while you are here. Let us know what your strengths are so that can offer something suitable.
It has always been the hope of the Executive Committee, since we had the Community Centre rebuilt, that, in spite of not being able to maximise our revenues through the provision of a new allpurpose hall to replace the old one, we would be in a position to move into a surplus financial state year on year. The last few years have not made that hope an easy one to keep but despite this we continue to believe in the future and hope to move forward, maybe with new sustainable ideas, but still continuing to meet the needs of the community.
We would like to commend this report to you for your adoption.
Chairman
4
HYTHE AND DIBDEN COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION
| Income and expenditure account for the year ended 31 December 2023 Income Expenditure Wages, salaries and other staff costs Travelling expenses Rent, rates, power and insurance costs Maintenance and renewals of property and equipment Telephone, stationery and other office costs Bank,credit card and other finance charges Accountancy, legal and other professional fees Depreciation and loss/(profit) on asset disposal Other expenses Expenditure excess |
2023 £ 35537 25310 0 11689 4103 2470 142 0 0 43714 -8177 |
2022 £ 38629 23266 0 11446 11783 2215 154 0 0 |
|---|---|---|
| 48864 | ||
| -10235 |
HYTHE AND DIBDEN COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION
Balance Sheet at 31st December 2023
| Notes 2023 £ Fixed assets Buildings and equipment 1 15,356 Current assets Debtors 3599 Bank balance - HSBC 15,365 Till Floats 100 Petty Cash 82 19,147 Current liabilities Creditors 772 Net current assets 18,374 Net assets 33,730 General Fund Balance at start of period 41,907 Excess of Expenditure over Income/(Income over Expenditure) -8,177 33,730 Diff 1 |
2022 £ |
2022 £ |
|---|---|---|
| 15,356 5,846 21164 100 127 27,237 |
||
| 685 | ||
| 26,552 | ||
| 41,908 | ||
| 52,142 -10,235 |
||
| 41,907 | ||
The accounts were approved by the Trustees of the Hythe and Dibden Community Association on:
Date:
Chaiirnan
HYTHE AND DIBDEN COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION
Notes to the Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2023
| 1 Income and Expenditure Account Income Rents receivable Membership Books Donation NFDC Grant Sundries Kitchen: Less: Expenditure Expenditure Wages,salaries and other staff costs Wages Office manager Cleaners Wardens fees Travel and Subsistence Travel and subsistence Rent, water, power and insurance costs Ground rents Water and sewerage Electricity Gas Insurance TV Licence Maintenance and renewals of property and equipment Building maintenance & safety Less: charges for PAT testing Refund 2022 Kitchen equipment Cleaning materials Less; charged to J&J Garden maintenance Telephone, stationery and other office costs Telephone: Less: income Internet Office consumables Copier costs Less: income |
2023 £ 33361 626 135 351 34474 1227 -164 1063 35537 9389 15896 24 25310 0 2220 442 3346 1433 4090 159 11689 3878 -1 -17 3860 0 270 -26 243 0 4103 1735 1735 43 72 684 -65 619 2470 |
2022 £ 33200 700 90 6 4000 37996 786 -152 634 38629 8640 14590 36 23266 0 2220 687 4390 393 3596 159 11446 11766 -9 11757 0 160 -133 26 0 11783 1472 0 1472 86 62 678 -84 594 2215 |
2022 £ 33200 700 90 6 4000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2215 |
| Advertising Advertising Bank, credit card and other finance charges Accountancy, legal and other professional fees Accountants fees Depreciation and loss/(profit) on asset disposals Depreciation Other expenses Social and Christmas decorations Sundry expenses |
0 142 0 0 0 |
0 |
|---|---|---|
| 154 0 |
||
| 0 | ||
| 0 | ||
| 0 |
HYTHE AND DIBDEN COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION
Notes to the Accounts
for the year ended 31 December 2023
1 Buildings and office equipment
| Cost At 1 January 2023 Less: Grant Additions Disposals At 31 December 2023 Depreciation At 1 January 2023 Charge for Year On disposals At 31 December 2023 Net book value At 31 December 2023 At 31 December 2022 |
New building £ 533279 -517923 - 15356 - - - - 15356 15356 |
Building & office equipment £ 33440 - 33440 33440 - - 33440 0 0 |
Total £ 566,719 -517,923 0 - |
|---|---|---|---|
| 48796 | |||
| 33,440 0 - |
|||
| 33440 | |||
| 15356 | |||
| 15356 |
| 1 Income and Expenditure Account 2019 £ Income Rents receivable 31736 Membership 1124 Books Donation 2 Sundries 363 33223 Kitchen: 4170 Less: Expenditure -1127 3044 Interest receivable 36267 Expenditure Wages,salaries and other staff costs Wages Office manager 7210 Less: charge to minibuses 7210 Cleaners 12659 Wardens fees 24 19893 Travel and Subsistence Travel and subsistence Rent, water, power and insurance costs Ground rents 2220 Water and sewerage 900 Electricity 3498 Gas 2303 Insurance 2953 TV Licence 151 12025 Maintenance and renewals of property and equipment Building maintenance & safety 1362 Less: charges for PAT testing/ins claim 1362 Kitchen equipment 0 Cleaning materials 338 Less; charged to J&J 338 Garden maintenance 0 1700 Telephone, stationery and other office costs Telephone: 1409 Less: income 1409 Internet 86 Office consumables 366 Less: charged to minibuses 366 Copier costs 1278 Less: income -509 770 2631 |
2018 £ 31799 1208 173 8185 41365 4103 -817 3286 44651 7534 -195 7339 12086 48 19473 21 2220 781 2931 1983 2756 147 10818 5362 -739 4623 0 489 -112 377 0 5000 1825 -1 1824 86 164 -8 156 2417 -623 1794 3860 |
2018 £ 31799 1208 173 8185 |
|---|---|---|
| 3860 |
| Advertising Advertising Accountancy, legal and other professional fees Accountants fees Depreciation and loss/(profit) on asset disposals Depreciation Other expenses Social and Christmas decorations Planning fees Sundry expenses |
0 65 696 760 |
0 |
|---|---|---|
| 300 | ||
| 1179 | ||
| 46 | ||
| 46 |
HYTHE AND DIBDEN COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION ~~Notes to the Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2023~~
| ~~for theyea~~ | ~~r ended 3~~ | ~~1 Decemb~~ | ~~er 2023~~ | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ~~2023~~ | ~~2022~~ | ~~2024~~ | |||||||
| 1 Income a | nd Expendi | ture Accou | nt | Cr/Dr | Total | ||||
| Income | |||||||||
| Rents recei | vable | 11098.49 | ### | 2881.65 | 33361.45 | ||||
| 24929.11 | -19.40 | ||||||||
| Membershi | p | 594.00 | 626.00 | ||||||
| 32.00 134.70 101.37 250.00 91.20 |
|||||||||
| Books | 134.70 | ||||||||
| Donation | 351.37 | ||||||||
| J&J clg | -64.80 | 26.40 | |||||||
| copier | 80.20 | -24.40 | 64.90 | ||||||
| 9.10 | |||||||||
| PAT test | 10.00 | -9.00 | 1.00 | ||||||
| Maint | 16.98 | 16.98 | ? | ||||||
| Water | 347.46 | 347.46 | |||||||
| Kitchen: | 1227.00 | 1227.00 | |||||||
| 38574.15 | ### | 3229.11 | 36157.26 | 36157.26 | |||||
| Receipts day | book | 13252.74 | |||||||
| Receipts cre | dit tfrs | 25321.41 | |||||||
| 38574.15 | |||||||||
| Expenditure | |||||||||
| Wages,salar | ies and oth | er staff co | sts | ||||||
| Wages Offic | e manager | 9389.25 | 9389.25 | ||||||
| Cleaners | 15896.40 | 15896.40 | |||||||
| Wardens fe | es | 36.00 | -36.00 | 24.00 | 24.00 | ||||
| Travel and S | ubsistenc | e | |||||||
| Travel and | subsistence | 0.00 | 0.00 | ||||||
| Rent, water, | power and | insurance | costs | ||||||
| Ground rent | s | 2220.00 | 2220.00 | ||||||
| Water and s | ewerage | 789.22 | 789.22 | ||||||
| Electricity | 3376.97 | -173.43 | 142.69 | 3346.23 | |||||
| Gas | 1387.24 | -159.39 | 204.66 | 1432.51 | |||||
| Insurance | 4089.96 | 4089.96 |
|||||||
| TV Licence | 159.00 | 159.00 | ~~12036.92~~ | ||||||
| Maintenanc | e and rene | wals ofpro | perty and e | quipment | |||||
| Buildingma | intenance & | safety | 3836.53 | 3877.96 | |||||
| 41.43 | |||||||||
| Less: charg | es for PAT t | esting | |||||||
| Kitchen con | sumables | 163.62 | 163.62 | ||||||
| Cleaningm | aterials | 121.61 | 269.61 | ||||||
| 148.00 | |||||||||
| Garden mai | ntenance | ||||||||
| Telephone, | stationery | and other o | ffice costs | ||||||
| Telephone: | 1651.47 | -123.11 | 206.88 | 1735.24 | |||||
| Internet | 43.17 | 43.17 | |||||||
| Office cons | umables | 59.10 | 72.09 | ||||||
| 12.99 | |||||||||
| Copier cost | s | 684.13 | 684.13 | ||||||
| Advertising | |||||||||
| Advertising | |||||||||
| Accountanc | y, legal an | d otherpro | fessional f | ees | |||||
| Accountant | s fees | 0.00 | |||||||
| Bank charg | es | 140.97 | -21.57 | 22.98 | 142.38 | ||||
| Depreciatio | n and loss/( | profit) on a | sset dispo | sals | |||||
| Depreciatio | n | 0.00 | 0.00 | ||||||
| Other expen | ses | ||||||||
| Social and | Christmas d | ecorations | 0.00 | ||||||
| Planningfe | es | 0.00 | |||||||
| Sundryexp | enses | 0.00 | |||||||
| 44247.06 | -513.50 | 601.21 | 44334.77 | 44334.77 | |||||
| Purchases chq/DD 43801.85 Purchases petty cash 445.21 Total 44247.06 |
-8177.51 |
0.00
| HYTHE AND DIBDEN COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION | HYTHE AND DIBDEN COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION | HYTHE AND DIBDEN COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION | HYTHE AND DIBDEN COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION | HYTHE AND DIBDEN COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION | HYTHE AND DIBDEN COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION | HYTHE AND DIBDEN COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION | HYTHE AND DIBDEN COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ~~Notes to the Accounts~~ |
|||||||
| ~~for theyea~~ | ~~r ended 3~~ | ~~1 Decemb~~ | ~~er 2019~~ |
||||
| ~~2018~~ | ~~2019~~ | ||||||
| 1 Income a | nd Expendi | ture Accou | nt | Total | |||
| Income | |||||||
| Rents recei | vable | 17911.89 | 31499.34 | ||||
| 13575.45 | |||||||
| 12.00 | |||||||
| Membershi | p | 1124.00 | 1124.00 | ||||
| Books | 201.20 115.30 |
201.20 | |||||
| Donation | 0.00 | ||||||
| J&J clg | 115.30 | ||||||
| copier | 508.58 | 615.18 | |||||
| 106.60 | |||||||
| phone | |||||||
| Kitchen: | 4170.73 | 4170.73 | |||||
| 37725.75 | 0.00 | 37725.75 | |||||
| Expenditure | |||||||
| Wages,salar | ies and oth | er staff co | sts | ||||
| Wages Offic | e manager | 7842.21 | 7842.21 | ||||
| Less: charg | e to minibu | ses | |||||
| Cleaners | 12659.40 | 12659.40 | |||||
| Wardens fe | es | 24.00 | 24.00 | ||||
| Travel and S | ubsistenc | e | |||||
| Travel and | subsistence | 41.6 | 41.60 | ||||
| Rent, water, | power and | insurance | costs | ||||
| Ground rent | s | 2220.00 | 2220.00 | ||||
| Water and s | ewerage | 899.92 | 899.92 | ||||
| Electricity | 3498.07 | 3498.07 | |||||
| Gas | 2303.32 | 2303.32 | |||||
| Insurance | 2952.98 | 2952.98 | |||||
| TV Licence | 150.50 | 150.50 | |||||
| Maintenanc | e and rene | wals ofpro | perty and e | quipment | |||
| Buildingma | intenance & | safety | 1859.27 | 1866.85 | |||
| 7.58 | |||||||
| Less: charg | es for PAT t | esting | 10.8 | 10.80 | |||
| Less; ins cla | im | ||||||
| Kitchen con | sumables | 719.15 | 1126.62 | ||||
| 407.47 | |||||||
| Cleaningm | aterials | 409.11 | 414.41 | ||||
| 5.30 | |||||||
| Garden mai | ntenance | ||||||
| Telephone, | stationery | and other o | ffice costs | ||||
| Telephone: | 1409.04 | 1409.04 | |||||
| Internet | 86.34 | 86.34 | |||||
| Office cons | umables | 158.41 | 338.41 | ||||
| 180.00 | |||||||
| Less: charg | e to minibu | ses | 0.00 | ||||
| Copier cost | s | 1636.07 | 1636.07 | ||||
| Advertising | |||||||
| Advertising | |||||||
| Accountanc | y, legal an | d otherpro | fessional f | ees | |||
| Accountant | s fees | 300.00 | 300.00 | ||||
| Depreciatio | n and loss/( | profit) on a | sset dispo | sals | |||
| Depreciatio | n | 132.76 | 132.76 | ||||
| Other expen | ses | ||||||
| Social and | Christmas d | ecorations | 64.85 | 64.85 | |||
| Planningfe | es | 254.00 | 254.00 | ||||
| Sundryexp | enses | 0.00 | |||||
| minibuses | |||||||
| 40232.15 | 0.00 | 40232.15 | 40232.15 |