Crewe and Nantwich District Talking Newspaper
Annual Trustees’ Report and Accounts 1[st] April 2023 – 31[st] March 2024
Registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales. Charity Number 507826
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Trustees’ Annual Report
Structure and Governance
Crewe and Nantwich District Talking Newspaper was registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales on 10 August 1978.
Crewe and Nantwich District Talking Newspaper is registered with HMRC for Gift Aid.
Crewe and Nantwich District Talking Newspaper is governed by a board of trustees who are responsible for controlling the work, management and administration of Crewe and Nantwich District Talking Newspaper on behalf of its beneficiaries. The trustees who served on the committee during 2023-24 were as follows:
Debbie Foss (Chair and Secretary), John Coulter (Treasurer), Janet Foss, Paul Boniface, David Bushell, David Hancock, Thomas Protheroe, Fran Foster, Gareth Williams (Committee Members).
Charity Overview
The Crewe and Nantwich Talking Newspaper provides a weekly service containing local news to its listeners who, are in the main visually impaired. The USB sticks are sent out to listeners each week and delivered back to the Talking Newspaper Office by the Royal Mail, as part of a national service to the blind.
Address
Since the closure of Iris Vision Resource Centre, Crewe and Nantwich District Talking Newspaper has been co-located with SureCare Central Cheshire at the address below:
C/O SureCare Central Cheshire 15 Regent House Princes Court Beam Heath Way Nantwich CW5 6PQ
Annual Report 2023-24
The Talking Newspaper has enjoyed another very positive year in 2023-24. We continue to be indebted to SureCare Central Cheshire for generously allowing us use of their office space free of charge, which has enabled the Talking Newspaper to continue in its established format.
It has proved to be a challenge to achieve both of the main priorities as set out at the start of the previous financial year; to increase our listener numbers, and to maintain our strong links with community organisations. The communities team and visual impairment officers from the local authority and the team at SureCare continue to promote the work of the Talking Newspaper, but there remains more to be done to increase community awareness.
Through the activities coordinator at IRIS Vision, we have been able to maintain our links with IRIS and we have received a number of new referrals in addition to referrals from colleagues at the local authority. IRIS is operating differently now that the social group has moved to a new base since the premises at Chapel Street were sold, and this has made maintaining links more challenging, particularly as the founder members are no longer attending the social group.
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We have successfully increased the number of people listening to the Talking Newspaper online with an 18% increase compared with 2022-23 when comparing figures from the first Quarter of the year. It is hoped that we can increase this further over the coming year.
We have recently had 400 leaflets printed which we will put to good use to raise greater awareness of the Talking Newspaper. In addition, our treasurer arranged for the Talking Newspaper to have a stand at the Societies Spectacular event, which was held locally, in a prominent town centre location. The event was well attended as it has been in previous years, which further increased awareness of our organisation. Attendance at the event also generated a number of new referrals.
An additional thanks must extend to every member of our committee and volunteer teams who have all worked tirelessly to keep the Talking Newspaper operational throughout the year. We were delighted to welcome a new member to the recording team in 2024, which means that we have four regular recorders – something not seen since before the pandemic.
We are grateful to have the expertise of committee members and volunteers who are technically gifted and ensure that our operations run smoothly each week. Especial thanks to all volunteers who have assisted with the production and circulation of the Talking Newspaper, researched online news, produced quizzes, short stories and feature items, and sought feedback from listeners to ensure that our content remains interesting and relevant to our audience.
Our key priorities for 2024-25 are to continue to increase our listener numbers, and to increase awareness of the Talking Newspaper in the local community.
2024 is our 47[th] year of operation, which is a major achievement, particularly given the challenges that we have faced since the COVID-19 pandemic, and the challenges ahead of us. It is tantamount to the calibre of our volunteers, continued support of new and existing listeners, colleagues at SureCare, the local authority, IRIS and in the wider community; that the Talking Newspaper continues to flourish and operate successfully.
Our dedicated volunteers and committee members are vital to our success. I am grateful for your continued support and wish the Talking Newspaper a happy and successful 2024-25.
Debbie Foss
Debbie Foss Chair Crewe and Nantwich District Talking Newspaper January 2025
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Notes to the Accounts
Balance Sheet for the year ended 31 March 2024
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Trustee Expenses
No payments were made to any trustees or volunteers during 2023-24.
Paid Employees
No paid employees are employed by Crewe and Nantwich District Talking Newspaper.
General Expenses
Crewe and Nantwich District Talking Newspaper has not incurred any general or operational expenses in 2023-24. Crewe and Nantwich District Talking Newspaper have use of office space with SureCare Central Cheshire which SureCare are providing free of charge. Some volunteers buy copies of the local newspaper to source news articles, as the newspaper has not been available free of charge since the COVID-19 pandemic. Newspapers are purchased with volunteers’ own funds and reimbursement is not charged back to Crewe and Nantwich District Talking Newspaper.
The only expenses associated with the operation of the charity in 2023-24, and for the foreseeable future are essential insurances, membership of the Talking News Federation and any essential expenditure to ensure that the charity remains operational; for example, purchase of equipment such as USB players which the charity loans to listeners in need on a free of charge, long term loan basis. Other equipment purchases would include ‘articles for the blind’ wallets and equipment associated with producing USB sticks on a weekly basis, such as USB copying machines, USB sticks or a replacement laptop computer.
Fundraising
As Crewe and Nantwich District Talking Newspaper are not currently incurring any general or operational expenses and have been fortunate in receiving a substantial legacy (of £24,258.13) in 2023-24 which should ensure that the charity is financially sustainable for the near future, the trustees and committee have agreed that fundraising will be paused until further notice. This will also enable other local charities to have a greater chance of accessing fundraising opportunities.
Independent Examination
Crewe and Nantwich District Talking Newspaper is a non-company charity and had a gross income of less than £250,000 in 2023-24. Therefore, an audit is not required, and an independent examination meets the requirements of the legislation. No specific matters as identified in The Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 have come to the attention of the independent examiner, Mrs P Pritchard.
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