## **LONG BUCKBY COMMUNITY CENTRE** ## **ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 25 NOVEMBER 2025** ## **Chairman’s Annual Report** By way of background, the Community Centre building was gifted to the Parish Council by the Northampton Co-operative Society and shortly afterwards, in 1976, our Charitable Trust was established to operate the premises on behalf of the parishioners of Long Buckby, whilst the Parish Council maintained the freehold. The primary purpose of the trust is to operate the Community Centre for the benefit of the parishioners of Long Buckby, which effectively means to let the facilities and maintain the fabric of the building. I was re-elected chairman at the last AGM. We were fortunate to be joined by two new trustees. Isla Salisbury whose background in industry, complimented the skills of existing Trustees in strategic planning, business management, communication, IT, finance, HR and fundraising. We also welcomed Chris Culbert who was Bookings Secretary for many years, bringing her experience and knowledge about the Centre to the table. In the new financial year we continued with our agreed strategic plan. - to double our occupancy levels by this AGM, to become financially stable by the 2025 AGM through a combination of business efficiency, fund raising and grants from appropriate funding bodies and to operate at the highest level of governance. We have reached our goal to be financially stable by this AGM, made considerable progress in management and governance and whilst we have not doubled occupancy levels we have added 3 regular hirers to our customer base who between them have increased the monthly income flow by over 35%. Overall, significant progress, and much of this was down to the steady hand of our Treasurer, Helen Thompson, who sadly had to stand down in September through changed family circumstances. She goes with our thanks and best wishes. Page 1 of 4 **Chairman’s Annual Report 2024-25** A significant contribution to our income stream was the launch of a 200 Club mid-way through the year. There are now 120 subscribers and we continue to promote participation with the ultimate target of 200. Hirers are involved in the monthly draw and their support and assistance is much appreciated. The Trustees are indebted to the Parish Council for their continued support and to the National Lottery for a grant of £20k towards our solar project We are grateful to The Buckby Feast for a grant towards the completion of our gas management system, notably Nest Thermostats linked to room bookings through the Lemon system. To The William Joseph Haynes Charity for a grant to purchase an outdoor table and four chairs towards our external improvements to the outdoor area outside the Main Hall and finally to Long Buckby Women’s Institute for their donation to us as their Charity of the year. Private individuals have made small donations and once again we have been fortunate to benefit from a large donation from Enhance Fitness and their match funders. It is gratifying to benefit from these grants and donations totaling just over £30k, particularly those from our local organisations as it is a tangible recognition of the strides we are making to serve our community. This year was a full year of events at the Centre organised by our volunteer group. These ranged from headline performers, a local choir, innovative game evenings, a craft Fayre and indoor car boot sale which have been all well supported by the community. £13.5k was raised in total during the year which after investment in resources for events and event costs left net funds raised of £8.3k. There has been an accumulation of resources , particularly in the main hall, which are to the benefit of other hirers. The Trustees thank all our fundraising team for their amazing efforts in raising money and contribution to the life of our community. Page 2 of 4 **Chairman’s Annual Report 2024-25** Our Communication platforms, our website and Facebook pages have continued to be visited and through them we have attracted new hirers, promoted events and created a sales platform for fund raising events. We are pleased that our local community have supported us along the way, making our fundraising events buzz, and given positive feedback and messages of support for all our actions. Trustees and volunteers have spent considerable time making improvements to the building, of which, the most significant is the installation of arrays of solar panels and battery banks on both supplies at the centre ( historically , the centre had a supply to the upper floor for a tenant, plus a supply for the main part of the Centre), which was completed in June. This was funded by £20k from the Lottery, £6k from the PC and the balance of almost £9k from the fund raising team. We anticipate dramatic savings to our electricity bills and some income going forward from sale to the grid. Four Google thermostats were added to our main halls at the end of the last financial year funded by a grant from Buckby Feast, and this year their further grant allowed us to install two more in the Hobro and Stable Block. These thermostats are linked to our Lemon booking system and ensure that heat is only supplied to rooms that are hired and paid for saving energy, lowering bills and ensuring customer satisfaction. This second phase involved some re-plumbing of the pipework which was completed by two of our Trustees whom we thank. As our income stream improved through the year we have upgraded our IT system, improved the access to the centre by coded locks to provide greater flexibility to hirers whilst raising overall security, refurbished various elements of the fixtures and fittings and latterly embarked on some alterations to the foyer A key element in any business is the staff. At the start of the year we had two new part-time members of staff, our caretaker, KateBola, and cleaner, Victoria Rice, both who have settled in very well. In early Page 3 of 4 **Chairman’s Annual Report 2024-25** January we embarked on the recruitment of a new part-time administrator,Octavia McGill, to work with Trustees and manage our refreshed IT and finance systems.The foyer in the Stables block is now the administration hub for the Centre and we are all pleased, Trustees and hirers, that a daily presence of a member of staff benefits us all.Together with Kate and Victoria, we have built a team we are all proud of. All in all I can report an excellent year. This is my second report and I can say once again it would not have been such an upbeat one if it had not been for such a proactive, creative and supportive team of Trustees, a hardworking and committed staff team and the work of our extensive group of volunteers. They all made it such a successful year. Everyone has given me their total support and it is a great honour to represent my fellow Trustees in presenting this, my second annual report. David Croston Chair of Trustees chairman@longbuckbycc.org.uk Page 4 of 4 **Chairman’s Annual Report 2024-25** ## **2024 - 2025 LBCC FINANCIAL REPORT** 2024- 2025 LBCC Financial Reportv0.1 Page 1 of 4 **CONFIDENTIAL** ## **2024 - 2025 LBCC FINANCIAL REPORT** 2024- 2025 LBCC Financial Reportv0.1 Page 2 of 4 **CONFIDENTIAL** ## **2024 - 2025 LBCC FINANCIAL REPORT** 2024- 2025 LBCC Financial Reportv0.1 Page 3 of 4 **CONFIDENTIAL** ## **2024 - 2025 LBCC FINANCIAL REPORT** 2024- 2025 LBCC Financial Reportv0.1 Page 4 of 4 **CONFIDENTIAL** Long Buckby CC Annual accounts review March 2025 Review notes - I can confirm that I have reviewed the accounts platform with access approved by David Croston and conducted the annual review (2024/2025) of the LBCC financial information. A random sample of specific transactions has been examined to identify the appropriate records, and an audit trail was evident via the system. The income total for the year shows £93,235.66 of which £44,232.41 is from Grants, fund raising and donations to aid with running cost, repairs and replacements which is reflected in the outgoings. The main increases in expenditure seem to be due to general cost increases across the board and standard utility expenditure increases. Simon Edginton