2023-03-31-accounts - Ashington Community Centre Trust

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The Ashington Centre

Ashington Community Centre Trust Foster Lane • Ashington • West Sussex • RH20 3PG

Registered Charity: The Ashington Community Centre Trust

Reg No: 305340 Registered Office: 19 The Sands, Ashington, West Sussex RH20 3LQ

info@ashingtoncc.org.uk

Chair Report for May 2023

Welcome to the 75[th] AGM of the Ashington Community Centre Trust.

I should perhaps start by recording my thanks to my fellow Trustees for voting me into the position of Chair last November, following John Howie’s departure at very short notice, when I had only been a Trustee since May. It has been a very interesting experience from the outset, given that we were already in a degree of transition.

The ACCT had actually engaged the services of a strategy specialist to help the Trust review its modus operandi before I joined the Committee. The exercise was most productive and enabled us to review our operations and processes, with a particular emphasis on what the Trust should be delivering to the village and the fashion by which it should start to build for the future. More on this is to follow later in the report, but I would like to thank the team for their support and the manner by which they have all engaged on the proposition before us.

The Trust has had quite a challenging year given the on going aftershock of the pandemic with a number of regular users of the Trust’s services and facilities either ceasing to operate or considerably reducing their business operations. However, the initiatives which have been taken during the course of the year should allow the Trust to re-position itself and take a more proactive approach to attracting more users of our facilities.

Laura White has continued in her role as the Trust Administrative Clerk, assisting Margaret Alford, our Secretary, and Sarah Mansfield-Osborne, as our accounts Bookkeeper. Michelle Simpson took over the role of Treasurer from John Morris who was kindly standing in us for which we thank him.

Derek, our Caretaker and Katie, our cleaner have continued to deliver the highest service offerings to our customers which is reflected in the level of repeat bookings for which we extend our gratitude. Derek does an excellent job in ensuring that the Halls are available whenever required and mans the car park quite admirably, despite the occasional belligerent user who doesn’t seem to realise that it is not a public car park. Katie just continues to be a star.

I would again like to record the ACCT’s thanks to Robin Botting and Mark Adsett for continuing with all their hard work maintaining our recreation ground and playing fields to such a high standard despite the great usage. The football pitches have proved a particular challenge given the heavy rain which we have experienced this winter but they are now looking green and healthy.

Bookings have been fairly steady throughout the year, and we are grateful to the NHS and WSCC for their continued business as this provides a sound source of income into the ACCT. The lines of business and the initiatives to grow our services will no doubt be recorded by other parties. I am grateful to Michelle Simpson for the preparation and submission of the Annual Accounts and these are included in my report for inspection.

The financial situation which we are currently dealing with has precluded us from doing as much as we might have liked in terms of capital expenditure with two notable exceptions.

We finally received planning permission to commence the works on the extension of the car park which will provide the Trust with an additional nine spaces. The history here is that there was funding available to us in respect of unspent 106 funds held by the Horsham District Council. However, the monies could only be spent on an extension to the car park due to the premise by which the funds were originally assigned to us. The deadline by which we had to spend those funds had become very tight, but the work actually commenced on Monday 15[th] May; it is being undertaken by J C Allfrey & Co and should be completed within four weeks.

In addition, thanks to the initiative taken forward by Michelle Simpson, we now have a duel EV charging system installed on the end wall of the main building. This, once, commissioned, will mean that the Trust can provide an electronic charging facility to residents of the village and visitors to the Halls. It has also enabled us to redesign the parking in that area of the grounds whereby we have converted one car park place into four, two of which will be specifically allocated for EV charging.

The Chanctonbury Storehouse food bank continues to provide a service to residents of the village using the small office at the end of the main hall and is well received by the neighbourhood. The Wardens continue to operate out of the other small office and provide a commendable service to the village for which we thank them.

Referring back to what I said earlier, the major step forward that the Trust has taken is to realign itself to provide a more focused operation. Four subgroups have been created to take responsibility for the four vertical areas of business operations.

These comprise the following each managed by one of the Trustees:-

The Partnerships and Communications Group – Martin Jenkins

The Operations Group – Carl Smart

The Governance and Process Group – Linda Myles

The Business Performance Group – Michelle Simpson

The groups are now up and running and each is operating under its agreed remit.

Each group has set out a 90 day planning outlined the aims of the group. Following this, longer term deliverables will be agreed within the confines of each group and they will drive the processes and procedures which are being implemented.

As part of this process, there have already been some significant achievements.

A good deal of work has gone in reviewing the licences of users of the facilities run by the Trust and we are grateful for the work that Michelle Simpson has put into this.

Thanks to the efforts of Martin Jenkins and Margaret Alford and the team, a new online booking system has been built and launched which we believe will very much streamline the whole booking process. This should eventually lead to increased utilization of the facilities that we have within the Trust and, thereby, increased revenues.

There are other initiatives that the groups are working with, and I would like to think that this will very much re-position the Trust in terms of its day-to-day operations and the create a more commercially focused operation which can improve the charitable aims of the Trust.

The Village Festival was as successful as ever, with Margaret and her team undertaking the challenge of organising and running this event in their normal inimitable fashion. As the winner of the wheelbarrow of booze, my wife highly endorses this event!! The other big success was the Coronation Picnic on the Rec. It was a bit of a shot in the dark in setting this up, and running it, as we were unsure of the weather, the numbers and the state of the ground. The insurance company created a number of barriers, but the stalwarts bashed on and, lo and behold, the sun shone and we have over 400 villagers and their friends picnicking with another 100 passing through, so I have to congratulate all those who provided us with such support. This includes ACCT Trustees, the Parish Council, the School, the Church, the Village Club, the Youth Club, the AFC, the Rovers, the Ashington Short Mat Bowls Club and the Ashington Nursery as well as a bunch of dedicated villagers.

Our current activities involve the following:

Completing the extension of the existing car park with the inclusion of the further 9 spaces and marking out the EV charging places in addition to the two further spaces which have been identified.
It was determined that it would not be commercially viable to create a larger office space at 1[st] floor level by utilizing the current unexploited area. However, on review, it was agreed that by improving the facilities in the top office, it could be hired out on a commercial basis instead. The Ashington Parish Church has expressed a need for additional office facilities from time to time whilst the proposed development at the Parish Yard is progressed, so this space could be most suitable as it may well be for other parties. Work is being progressed accordingly and a surveyor has been engaged to provide us with commercial estimates for letting these facilities.
The initial refurbishment of the Pavilion Toilets, showers and changing rooms for use by the resident Cougars football club and the Rovers Club has been completed but there are other works to be conducted. The Operations Group continue with their conversation with The Sussex FA and Football Foundation to secure the appropriate grants. There are also further long-term opportunities with the Sussex FA and other parties to assist us with maintenance and improvement of our playing fields and the Recreation Ground as a whole.
The company which we engaged last year, Play Safe, continue to inspect and advise on the condition of our play area. They will conduct essential specialist works in order to maintain compliance of safety regulations.
As reported above, the two Electric Vehicle charging points have been installed and Michelle Simpson is now undertaking the task of commissioning these.
The task of seeking grants to resurface the Youth Club, Pavilion and Scout Hall continues as does a new initiative of obtaining a grant to refurbish the whole Youth Club, as the roof, in particular, is in a sorry state of repair.

In summary, the primary objective through the past year has been to focus more on creating a structure that could target more on business development which would introduce us to a wider field by extolling the outstanding facilities we have to offer.

We are sad to lose Sam Ball as the Parish Council Representative as she has been very participative in the Trust and look forward to welcoming her replacement.

As John Howie stated last year and I very much endorse, a final thanks must go to our Trustees who have donated their personal time to assisting in the maintenance of our valued village assets. Their support and positivity is very much appreciated and the fine condition of our buildings and open spaces is a reflection and credit to them all.

Thank you,

Christopher Wood

Chair, Ashington Community Trust 30[th] May 2023

Proflt and Lo55 Ashington Community Centre Trust For the year ended 31 March 2023 Account 2023 2022 Turnover Adminfee Alcohol permit Christmas fayre and tables Cleanlng fee Full stage Hlre of large hall Interest Income License fees 680.00 10.00 2,414.43 405.00 125.00 32.684.34 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 1.18 0.00 83.34 ¥14 Non Involced receipts Other Revenue Pitch and outdoor CDUrt hlre 204.00 1,740.00 2.857.25 585.96 9,079.11 4.101,10 11,542.10 160.00 66.701.00 11.756.88 0.00 0.00 41,041.73 0.00 Scout hut hlre I Small hall hire Sports pavlillon Tea Towel sales Total Turnover O.OD O.OD 52.799.79 Other Inwme CJRS Donatlons Galn on Investment Tolal Other Incorne 0.00 280.80 75.00 8,091.84 8,447.64 11,777.99) (1,706.24) ,Totsl Income 61,247.43, Cost of Sales Dlrect Expenses Total Cost of Sale$ 1,242.67 1,242,67 0.00 0.00 .6r0 Surplus 63,7.52.09,, 61,24Y.43:'

Admlnlstratlve Costs Advertlsin8 & Marketing Audit & Accountancy fees Bank Fees Charitable and Polltlcal Dcinations Cleaning Computer Depreciation EXpee General Exper Grants glven Grounds maintenance Llcences and Insurance Ught. Power. Hèatlng Postage. Freleht & Courfer Printlng & Statlonery Professional fees 163.D) 20.00 2.677.27 4.578.24 419.69 2.718.50 123.97 1350.00 5.120.00 3.983.83 9?62.72 404.48 20.240.20 141.82 514.25 Repalrs & Malntertance Salarles Staff Tralnlng Substtiptions Telephone & Internet Sub5iStence and iia¥el Water Total Admlnlstratl¥e Qjsts 13.149.70 IIA66.S9 72.LKI 19,444.84 1.017.79 107.78 0.00 Operatln dellcll 110,879.381.: 4,21XIJ6' Surplus blfwd Surplus lldeflcltl for year rplus clfwd 125,668.S6 110.879.381 114.789.18 12L468.00 4,200.56 125,668.56 Repmsentèd by.. Bank Savln8S Cash Investment Flxed assets Debtors Rounding on above Credltors 2L142.37 IL632.24 2&846.47 11.602.87 21.30 72.235.84 11.272.SO 1,688.58 7Q457.85 &815.9) 7,Cfi3.62 14,323.801 114.789.18 125.668.S6 l am satisfied the Trust accounts are In attordance wlth the books and records and explanatlons glven to me Nlcholas Belton FCCA MA (Honsl 34 Rectory Close Ashington West Sussex RH20 3LP