olunt ANNUAL REPORT 1st April 2025- 31 st March 2026 Dinas Powys Voluntary Concern Muhr1eld Community Centre Sunnycroft Lane Oinas Powys Vale of Glamorgan CF64 4QQ Tel No: 1029) 20513700 Email: dpvc@btinternet.com Dinas Powys VoluntAry Concem is a Registered Charily No. 502496
OUR STATEMENT OF PURPOSE:
THE PRIMARY PURPOSE OF DPVC IS TO:
SUPPORT VOLUNTARY GROUPS AND INDIVIDUALS WHO SEEK TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF LIFE:
FOR THE ELDERLY, FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES OR THOSE OTHERWISE DISADVANTAGED AND LIVING IN OUR COMMUNITIES AND TO ACT AS A FIRST PORT OF CALL FOR THOSE SEEKING HELP OR ADVICE
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Serving the Community – Our Community
DPVC was first established as the Council of Social Services in 1972 as a result of a meeting of services and voluntary organisations who elected Dr Haydn Jones as chairman. It was later renamed Dinas Powys Voluntary Concern (DPVC). A registered charity, it promotes charitable activities for the benefit of people living in and around Dinas Powys.
DPVC provides a service to individuals, groups and organisations, the elderly and people with disabilities. It does this in many ways such as by:
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Recruiting, inducting and training
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volunteers and holding an Annual Garden Party to recognise their work
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Organising a Good Neighbour Scheme and
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running a wellbeing and befriending scheme for the lonely or housebound for which there is a dedicated coordinator funded by the Integrated Care Fund and DPVC. Maintaining and running a Minibus/Ambulance used by many organisations in the village such as the RVS and The Wednesday Afternoon Club. It is also used by DPVC for supermarket visits and for conveying older people to various events. In addition volunteers provide a car ferry service for appointments with local hospitals, dentists etc.
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Health Centre Transport. Use of a VW
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Caddy, in partnership with Greenlinks Community Transport for transport to and from Dinas Powys Medical Centre.
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Organising and running, with the help of
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volunteers, a fortnightly “Community Club” at the Lee Hall in Dinas Powys. This is open to all residents of all ages.
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Producing and distributing a twice yearly
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newsletter, DEPEND, to every home in the community and producing other information booklets and leaflets
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Operating the DPVC office and providing a
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“first port of call” for those seeking advice and information
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Providing a Photocopying, Laminating and
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Comb-binding Service at the office.
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Cooperating with and supporting other
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Dinas Powys organisations and events
DPVC is managed by a Management Committee of Trustees, responsible for planning, development and financial control. The Committee is supported by five working groups:
Finance
- Community Services Publications Transport Services Human Resources and Policies
The DPVC office is the administrative base for all the activities of DPVC. The office is open every weekday to provide help, advice and information about DPVC and other voluntary and statutory services.
DPVC has two part time coordinators. Our DPVC Coordinator’s role is to organise and support the activities of volunteers in the Good Neighbour Scheme. Her role is also: to support DPVC and its administration
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to publicise DPVC services
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to manage the office.
The Wellbeing and Befriending Coordinator role is identify those who need support and to recruit, train and support befriending and digital volunteers; and to support the efficient running of DPVC
Our volunteers are key to all our activities and without them the organisation would not exist.
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CHAIRMAN’S REPORT
Dinas Powys Voluntary Concern has contributed to the wellbeing of residents in our local community for over fifty years.
Most of those we support are elderly or have mobility problems, although it has always been the policy of DPVC to offer help on the basis of need and on no other factor. Transport, either through the use of the minibus/ambulance for supported shopping trips or to community activities, or in our Medical Centre VW Caddy to medical appointments, is a core service, but wellbeing and mental health is an integral part of the charity’s services and befriending, in person or by telephone or through social groups has become more integral to the charity’s main aim of enabling residents to maintain independence. In this report it can be seen that Dinas Powys Voluntary Concern has introduced and developed activities and projects that enrich the lives of our local residents.
We are extremely grateful to the Vale of Glamorgan Council for the support they give us, both financially and in kind. It is only through this financial support that our part-time coordinators, Wendy Lees and Judith Anderson, can be funded.
Our two Coordinators, Wendy and Judith are based in the DPVC Office. Wendy is usually the contact that many of our elderly, frail, vulnerable and often isolated residents meet first, and her efficiency and local knowledge ensures that appropriate support and advice can be offered to volunteers as well as those we help.
Judith is the Befriending and Wellbeing Service coordinator and recruits both volunteers and users for this invaluable service. The Befriending Scheme includes telephone befriending and digital support. Judith also coordinates the DPVC Wellbeing Garden - and deals with DPVC’s grant funding for new and existing projects.
DPVC has a great team of volunteers that we can call on, often at short notice. Their experience and local knowledge ensures that our users receive the help and support that we strive to give, including personal shopping, prescription collection and as telephone befrienders. Shopping trips to local supermarkets take place regularly through the week. The minibus is also used to transport elderly and frail passengers to the monthly Tuesday Games and Social Club, run by Wendy and her team of volunteers, held in Murchfield Community Centre.
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My thanks go, once again, to our two coordinators, Wendy and Judith, for their dedication, resilience and professionalism in ensuring that community needs are addressed and dealt with.
The DPVC Wellbeing Garden Project, in cooperation with the Church Council of St Andrew’s and St Peter’s Churches, and with generous grants from Community Foundation Wales and Keep Wales Tidy, is located in the grounds of St Peter’s Church (in Dinas Powys). Although it is open to visit at any time, our dedicated volunteer, Angela, is present on two Friday mornings a month to assist those who wish to benefit from the garden. At the same time DPVC are opening St Peter’s Church at the same time to serve a range of teas, coffees and cakes – Coffee@StPeters.
The Monday Soup Club continues to be a great success. Run by volunteers, a selection of soups and a bread roll, followed by a choice of cakes and bottomless tea and coffee, are served a reasonable cost in pleasant surroundings to a wide range of local residents. It has become a lively and popular weekly social occasion.
The Friday Morning Coffee Club continues to be a meeting place for those with memory problems and their family, friends and carers; a place of friendship, help and support. Jigsaws and other suitable activities are available and prove popular. A small art group, open to all, and led by Matthew Salisbury, runs alongside the memory café.
This year, we were very sorry to learn of the death of Dr Haydn Jones, who was a well respected GP in Dinas Powys. Haydn perceived the need to coordinate the increasing range of voluntary and statutory services available to older residents living in Dinas Powys and was a founder member and Chairman of Dinas Powys Council for Social Services. He was elected founder chairman in 1972 and served as chairman until 1980. In 1986, DPCSS was renamed Dinas Powys Voluntary Concern. Haydn was awarded an OBE for his service to the Dinas Powys Community in 1996. Dr Haydn Jones continued to be an active member of the Dinas Powys community and supporter of DPVC all his life and is greatly missed by all of us in this wonderful village.
Thanks to the hard work, initiative and resilience of our coordinators and the willing and generous support from our volunteers and trustees, DPVC has helped to alleviate loneliness and isolation and has been able to meet many of the needs of our community in a changing society. We are also extremely grateful
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for the financial support we have received from the Welsh Government, GVS, the Vale of Glamorgan Council, various charities and the Charity Commission, and from local community organisations. Please refer to the co-ordinators reports and the financial report for more details about these. This support is vital to the charity and means that DPVC can look forward to yet another successful year.
John Fanshaw
Chair, Dinas Powys Voluntary Concern
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COORDINATORS REPORT
The tables below show a breakdown of the number of enquiries and transport help we have provided over the last year.
Nature of enquiry Number of enquiries
| Prescripton collecton | 1 |
|---|---|
| Practcal help | 10 |
| Transport | 56 (excluding Caddy) |
| Shopping by volunteers |
63 |
| Befriending | 1 |
| Other | 15 |
Shopping by volunteers was still an important service for some residents who were unable to access the shops. Practical help included posting, Pension collecting and providing contact details for other organisation services.
Befriending
There are four services within the Wellbeing and Befriending Project, all supported by a dedicated team of volunteers and coordinated by a part-time Befriending Coordinator. Telephone and face-to-face befriending continue to provide valued support to local residents, alongside the weekly personal shopping service.
The weekly Soup Lunch celebrated its third anniversary in October 2025. Attendance has continued to grow, with an average of 35 people joining each Monday. The lunch is made possible by the commitment of nine volunteers working on a rota basis. As well as providing a low-cost, high-quality meal, it offers an important opportunity for people to meet, socialise and reduce isolation.
The Community Wellbeing Garden successfully relocated to its new, larger site at St Peter's Church. A lead volunteer now oversees the project, which provides a dementia-friendly gardening session on the first and third Fridays of each month. The garden itself is open to people of all ages every day and Ribbons Pre School have a raised bed and trough provided by DPVC. A small café, managed by the Befriending Coordinator, operates from St Peter's Church during DPVC sessions, offering refreshments to everyone visiting the garden. The Memory Café was relaunched as 'Coffee and Conversation' and continues to meet on the second and fourth Fridays of each month at Murchfield Community Centre. This has seen an increase in numbers. The dementia-friendly art group also continues to be well supported, providing a welcoming and creative environment for participants.
Throughout the year, both coordinators organised a range of informal social events to bring the community together. These included the Christmas Coffee Morning, featuring entertainment from the Dinas Powys Primary School Choir, the annual Strawberry Tea with music from the No Worries Uke Band, and the Spring Coffee Morning in May with the Barry Ladies Choir.
Transport
The Transport service using a VW Caddy to and from the Dinas Powys Medical Centre continued Monday to Friday throughout the year. Volunteer drivers driving daily throughout the morning. September and October were very busy as lots of our service users had both flu
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and Covid booster vaccine appointments. We were able to provide over 20 lifts on “Flu Saturday” in October to the health centre for the flu vaccine. Despite the unpredictability of appointment times and traffic congestion the service runs well thanks to the patience and resilience of our drivers. The figures are shown in the following table.
- CADDY SUMMARY OF USE 1/4/25 31/3/26
| Mileage | 2012 |
|---|---|
| Passenger journeys | 1148 |
Our other transport services, include our minibus, which was used for lifts for shopping and to social events. A twice weekly shopping run to Morrisons or Asda continued with the minibus running at full capacity. The monthly Marks and Spencer trips are now running on the 2[nd] Wednesday of every month. It was also used for some medical appointments when the caddy had reached capacity.
The Community Club held monthly at the Murchfield Community Centre uses the minibus to provide transport for some of our members. Our Volunteer Barbara helps serve refreshments and takes part in the board games when the numbers are needed to make up a foursome or chatting to some of the members. Some members enjoy completing jigsaws while chatting and a Dominoes table has become a regular feature. It is good to have a mix of men and women attending the club. The club is held on the 2[nd] Tuesday of the month at Murchfield Community Centre.
The table below shows the usage of the minibus by DPVC for the last year.
| ORGANISATION |
MILEAGE | PASSENGER |
|---|---|---|
| JOURNEYS | ||
| DPVC | ||
| All shops | 1212 | 1160 |
| Community club | 56 | 98 |
| Maintenance | 110 | 0 |
| Health appointments | 36 | 34 |
| Marks + Spencer | 257 | 158 |
Wendy Lees Judith Anderson
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Ill VD[tarY (ncerr
Treasurer’s Report for the Financial Year ending March 31[st] 2026
Overview
The annual accounts for this financial year, detailed on the following 2 pages, show a total cash balance of £55,320 represented by £6,390 in the current account and a combined total of £48,572 in the two deposit accounts, with £358 in unbanked cash/cheques on 31/3/26. The total of £55,320 compares with £61,733 the previous year, a decrease of £6,413. Our reserve funds are required to replace the minibus every 7 or 8 years. The High Interest Savings Account accumulated £1,010 in interest over the year. This is less than last year as a result of lower savings interest rates.
Income and Expenditure
Our total income, from all activities, grants and donations for the year was £46,774 which is a decrease of £6,207 on last year’s £52,981. We managed to decrease our expenses slightly from 54,091 last year to £53,872 this year. This decrease is largely due to the ending of our project, The Community Garden, for which we received most of the funding in the previous year. The decrease in expenditure on the Community Garden has been largely offset by increases in our wages bill, in expenditure on the Soup Lunch and in the running costs for our minibus. Our office running costs have remained steady at a little over £3,000 per annum.
Grants and Donations
We received generous grants from The Vale of Glamorgan Council and a number of other organisations totalling around £24,500. This was down by over £6,000 compared with the previous year, and accounts in most part for the £6,390 reduction in our assets as reported above. The rest of our income is made up from the generous donations of many individuals and organisations, and from fund raising events that we organise. We have been particularly fortunate this year to have received substantial donations from NGS Open Gardens (£900), DP Art Group (£300), DP Music Festival (£200), Bethesda (£185), Dinas Drones (£150) and Carol Bunyan (£600). The donations received from our minibus shopping trips amounted to £1,998, and we received £1,594 from the transport to the Health Centre.
There are many smaller donations, too numerous to mention here, from individuals and organisations. You can find a list of these on the detailed account sheets. We are sincerely grateful for the support we receive from these individuals and organisations.
Soup Lunch
Our very successful Soup Lunch, which takes place every Monday, cost us around £5,143 to provide. Against this we collected £4,490 on the door and a further £901 in donations. By raising the cost of the lunch from £3 to £4 we have managed to cover our costs.
Finally I would like to thank Colin Asbrey for formally examining and verifying our accounts.
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Chris Bee Treasurer 12
| Income £ | Income £ | Expenditure £ | Expenditure £ | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-26 | 2024-25 | 2025-26 | 2024-25 | ||
| Fuel Rebate | 1,712 | 1,712 | Staf wages and pensions |
37,994 | 35,441 |
| HMRC Gif Aid | 1,302 | 2,681 | Ofce | ||
| Grants | BT/Spectrum-Ogi | 716 | 626 | ||
| Vale of Glamorgan Grants | 9,358 | 8,913 | Computer | 0 | 469 |
| RIF Fund | 11,380 | 11,380 | Ofce Rental/Insurance | 1646 | 1,605 |
| Vale of Glamorgan | 1,200 | Websites/Internet | 391 | 198 | |
| GVS | 1,125 | Informaton Commissioner | 47 | 47 | |
| CAF | 500 | 500 | Sundry Ofce Consumables | 273 | 395 |
| Community Garden | 1,256 | 6,193 | 3,073 | 3,340 | |
| Community Transport | 2,000 | 2,000 | |||
| 24,494 | 31,311 | Caddy Fuel (Vale of Glamorgan) | 672 | 950 | |
| Misc / Events | Minibus | ||||
| Online Ticket sales | 750 | 99 | Fuel | 450 | 454 |
| Overpayment refund | 293 | 212 | DPCC Garage rental | 516 | - |
| Printng | - | 50 | CTA Membership | 61 | 50 |
| Munchfeld repayment | 129 | - | Service Contract | 220 | 346 |
| 1,172 | 361 | Insurance | 1,650 | 1,360 | |
| Donatons | Service /Inspectons/MoT/etc | 1,033 | 311 | ||
| Cash and Cheque* | 13,925 | 13,203 | Sundry Expenses | - | 168 |
| Online | 3,480 | 2,235 | |||
| Regular Monthly Donatons | 192 | 1,092 | |||
| Dinas Drones | 150 | - | Events/Misc | 577 | 314 |
| Dinas Powys Art Group | 300 | 275 | |||
| DP Music Festval | 200 | 450 | Services | ||
| DP Community Council | 150 | 300 | Community Garden | 1,317 | 6,382 |
| Parkman Funeral Donatons | 294 | - | Soup Lunch | 5,143 | 4,638 |
| Other Funeral Donatons | 799 | - | Printng of DePend | 1,166 | 337 |
| Carol Bunyan | 600 | 275 | 7,626 | 11,357 | |
| Bethesda | 185 | - | |||
| Other Donatons | 1,269 | 1,322 | |||
| 4,139 | 3,714 | ||||
| Sub Total | 46,744 | 52,981 | Sub Total | 53,872 | 54,091 |
| Transfer from reserves | 5,000 | 5,000 | Transfer to reserves | - | - |
| Total Income | 51,745 | 57,982 | Total Expenditure | 53,872 | 54,091 |
*** Summary on separate page**
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| Cash and Cheque Summary* Minibus Shopping Trips 1,998 £ Health Centre Transport 1,594 £ Soup Lunch Takings 4,490 £ Soup Lunch Donatons 901 £ Strawberry Tea 270 £ Community Club 205 £ Carrier Bag donatons 363 £ Memory Café 24 £ Printng/Copying 96 £ Funeral Donatons 460 £ Ticket Sales 655 £ Concert Takings 358 £ Cofee Mornings 384 £ Open Gardens 900 £ Quiz Nights 620 £ Carols round the Xmas Tree 149 £ Hilary Edwards 100 £ Other donatons 831 £ Unbanked Cash 358 £ Pety Cash Spending 115 £ Total 13,925 £** |
Account Summary 31/3/25 2025 Current Account Income Transfer from Business Reserve Expenditure Balance on 31/03/2026 |
£ 8,518 £ 46,744 £ 5,000 £ 53,872 £ 6,390 |
|---|---|---|
| High Interest Reserve Account Balance on 31/3/25 Interest Transfer from Business Reserve Balance on 31/03/2026 |
44,911 £ £ 1,010 £ 45,921 |
|
| Business Reserve Account Balance on 31/3/25 Interest Transfer to Main Current Account - Transfer to High Interest Account - Balance on 28/3/26 |
£ 7,577 £ 74 £ 5,000 £ - £ 2,651 |
|
| DPVC Assets 31/3/2025 Current Account Business Reserve Account High Interest Rate Account Unbanked Cash/Cheques |
£ 8,518 £ 7,577 £ 44,911 £ 727 |
|
| £ 61,733 | ||
| DPVC Assets 31/3/2026 Current Account Business Reserve Account High Interest Rate Account Unbanked Cash/Cheques |
£ 6,390 £ 2,651 £ 45,921 £ 358 |
|
| £ 55,320 |
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