## NEW HARTLEY COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION ## ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2021 ## CHAIRS REPORT As I end my fifth year as Chair of New Hartley Community Association, I would like to say how enjoyable I have found it. This is due to the support and hard work of the committee members whose dedication has made it possible for the Memorial Hall to function once more despite the temporary shutting down of the hall’s activities due to COVID19. This virus has had a devastating impact on us all and has imposed heartbreaking restrictions on our lives. It has been brilliant to eventually see the usual events re-start in our hall and new activities begin. Our new activities include the Women’s Institute, Walking Club, Craft Group (all of which are on-going) and one-off sessions such as Defibrillator Training Course, Drowning Prevention and MacMillan Coffee Morning. In order to help our local community during this very difficult year we started running a Food Pantry in conjunction with Fare Share. In order to do this safely our volunteers have achieved passes in Level 2 (and some Level 3) Food Hygiene Safety Courses. These qualifications also allowed us to provide packed lunches in the school holidays for children funded by Seaton Valley Council while working with Active Northumberland for exercise, fitness and fun, and in the future will allow us to provide lunches in the hall, re-instate Afternoon Teas and create a drop-in café. The kitchen is a great asset and we have up-graded it and re-arranged it to create more space and to make food preparation, cooking and storage efficient and safe. We are very grateful for the support received from CVABV, grants from the National Lottery, vouchers from Lakes & Dales and a donation from Barratt Developments. We hope to be continuing our links with New Hartley First School through the memorial garden planting and holding special school assemblies in our hall, and also maintaining our links with the church. Currently members of St Michael’s Church are using the hall on Thursday mornings for their drop-in club until COVID19 numbers are sufficiently low for them to revert to their smaller church hall. The Association continued to work closely with Seaton Valley Council and Northumberland County Council with organised litter picks and addressing village issues such as car parking, road markings, overgrown hedges and street lighting. Also, together, we combine the Christmas Fair with the switch on of the Christmas lights and Carol Service around the tree which is organized by Seaton Valley, and we are working together to create a Community Garden on a piece of land near the allotments behind the memorial hall where residents can grow fruit /veg and reap the rewards at their leisure. A new bus shelter has been built outside of the post office and a new picnic bench has been installed within Hastings Gardens play area. CVABV are providing funding opportunities to help community hubs to get back onto their feet after the COVID lockdown. This assistance will help us to achieve the ‘future proofing’ of the Memorial Hall for all groups. We have been in discussion and hope to take advantage of this to acquire more storage space, replace our old heavy tables with lighter ones, purchase a new dishwasher, upgrade the toilets etc. Our new village ‘Café and Post Office’ is continuing to prove very successful. Throughout the COVID19 lockdown the Post Office has been doing very well. The large amount of online buying has resulted in many more deliveries. Due to this up-turn it was decided to open the Post Office on Friday afternoons bringing it in line with the other weekdays. Due to the PO thriving so well, surplus money at the end of the year may be used to upgrade the door and doorstep into the Post Office. As usual, New Hartley ‘In Bloom’ team was successful in the Seaton Valley Garden Competition, picking up numerous awards. A big thank you to the volunteers who give up their spare time to look after the barrels and Memorial Garden. Also, a big thank you to the volunteers who look after our Nature Reserve and keep it clean, safe and protect the environment. The village would not look half as beautiful without you! One of our committee members, a very significant member, has decided to retire from the committee this year. Barbara Burt has given a lifetime of service to the Community Association, and to the village. She has been Vice-Chair and a stalwart of the committee. We wish Barbara well and hope to continue to see her at events. She will be hugely missed. On the other hand, I am pleased to say that we have welcomed a number of new members onto the committee this year. It is always good to have more willing hands and fresh ideas. Finally, I can't praise enough the dedication and hard work of the committee members who give their free time to make sure the running of the Hall goes smoothly, especially in these difficult times. I thank you all. Karen Collier Chair New Hartley Community Association October 2021. 2021-21 ## Treasurer’s Annual Report The accounts for the financial year ending on 31 May 2021 shows an overall surplus of £30,083 compared to a surplus of £7,705 the previous year. Despite the Hall being closed for most of the year due to the mandatory COVID restrictions, we have been fortunate in being able to take advantage of NCCs Small Business Grant Support. In line with Charity Commission Guidance and the Association’s constitution, an independent examination has been completed on the accounts and no specific items were identified as needing particular attention to explain them. Income for the year at £43,271 was significantly higher than the previous year income of £23,553, while expenditure has decreased to £13,189 compared with £15,848 previously. The movements in income & expenditure result from the timing of expenditure on projects for which the grants were received in different accounting periods and varying maintenance costs resulting from the County Council requiring the Association to meet the maintenance costs for the structure of the hall. This movement has been minimal this year. No grants were sought for the Annual Fair for instance. Operating expenditure has again been reduced – primarily for limited cleaning, repairs and equipment costs. Even with this reduced budgeting, an overall deficit of £10,959 would have resulted without the COVID 19 Small Business Support Grant awards throughout the year. The surplus generated through these awards will be used during the current year to offset limited income from returning Hall use. For the first quarter of 2020-21 general income was roughly 50% of recorded expenditure This is slowly improving but is still unlikely to generate a surplus by May 2022. The balance sheet for 2020-21 shows total retained funds of £75,533as of 31 May 2020. This can be further analysed into unrestricted or operational funds and restricted or project funds. Grants received for projects must be spent for the purpose for which they were given or otherwise returned and are hence restricted. The restricted funds balance has increased to £18,209, principally to support the Food Pantry and HOPE activities. The COVID 19 grant is not included in restricted funds as it is general support for operating expenditure. In line with good financial management, an Operating Reserve has been set at 50% of current expenditure. This would allow sufficient funds to meet expenditure obligations for 6 months without any income. This level will be reviewed throughout the coming year as expenditure levels are confirmed. This leaves unrestricted funds of £50,730 for general use and is considered enough to provide cover for the coming year when the Association is expected to again make an operating deficit if the use of the hall continues with a reduction in the regular income due to limited use. In the longer term, however, the Association has to break even or make an operational surplus on a regular basis to continue its activities. The overall financial position will continue to be reviewed on a regular basis and further Grant funding opportunities explored in order to retain the building as a valued facility for the community. These will be progressed once the long-term lease for the hall has been secured with Northumberland County Council. John Barrell October 2021 NEW HARTLEY COMMUNrrf ASSOCIATION FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31ST MAY 2021 NEW HARTLEY COMMUN￿ ASsOC￿T FWlAMC￿L STATEMEiif5 F(¥1 ￿ YEAREIWEO JI IIAY 2•21 C(WTEMTS P*fjES PagE I >EPBIDEiif EX•JIIIIERJ REPORTTO TRUSTEEI OF P*d FFI F￿A R¢•d I￿• 2AS P4è2 3141ty41 CK* Tothl C4Jg To lJ18 746 41.012 10.(X 74 276 IT& WawCh¥ws CIL 719 4.195 2223 ¢3•5 & EIKty 10 12 215 215 3Mtl Fwdtr 1.310 2.731 128 120 I&E &ffoMrd Jf.144