## **Ground Floor** **Charity no. 515918** # **38[th] Annual Report 1981 – 2021** ## **What is Ground Floor?** ## **Organizational structure** Ground Floor is a registered charity (No. 515918) and a company limited by guarantee (No. 01867571). Ground Floor was set up to provide community facilities for disadvantaged groups living in Calder Valley, Luddendenfoot and Todmorden wards of Calderdale. Based in the centralized town of Hebden Bridge Ground Floor has developed a special and enduring relationship with the town. As well as being a prime site for developing centralized resources for the region. The town was severely under resourced in community amenities, something that Ground Floor has managed to remedy over the years. Ground Floor is run by voluntary Council of Management, which consists of the following members (correct as of November 2018) ## **Board of Council of Management and Trustees representatives** Alan Sladic Kevin Hogan Ben Oubridge Peter Manning Alice Horner Richard Goodwin ## **About Ground Floor (a potted history)** In 1981 in response to a lack of adequate community provision in the Hebden Bridge area, particularly for young people, a body of local people came together with the aims to create youth provision. Soon the aims grew to encompass other disadvantaged groups, including the elderly, unwaged, single parents and people with both physical and learning disabilities. Securing a lease on the rear ground floor of the Trades Club building Ground Floor was born and in the autumn of 1983 the Ground Floor Centre was officially opened. In 1984 Ground Floor became a registered charity and a company limited by guarantee and is now established as one of Calderdale’s longest serving charities. The move to charity status led to a change in direction for Ground Floor who went throw a period of consolidation where it focused the majority of it’s energy into developing new facilities and groups within the community. The charity moved to its current premises Salem Community Resource Centre, adjacent to Co-Operative Food, in 1998. In partnership with local community groups, Ground Floor was instrumental in developing a variety of independently run community initiatives. One such was the first ever after schools Club - Hebden Bridge Schools Out - an umbrella group that developed out of school provision and resources throughout the whole Upper Valley. Ground Floor was also the major force behind the establishment of a number of organization in the Calder Valley including the first Credit Union, Pennine Play & Leisure Library and recycling projects as Pennine Magpie, Kerbside Recycling and The Alternation Technology Centre. It also created the first ever Yorkshire Car Share Scheme - the well known Hour Car and set up the first ever Calderdale Computer Recycling Refurbishing and reissue of computers to the disadvantaged, unemployed and students - the equally well known Dot Communications/3RiT. Both these latter Groups are still based at Salem Community Resource Centre. Ground Floor is controlled by a management committee of trustees and representatives from its user groups and is currently home to over 40 such user groups including Woodcraft Folk, Yoga for the elderly, Flamenco Dancing and other Dance Groups, Drum Machine, Aegis Martial Arts and Leadership Academy, Alexander Technique, Stone and other message, AA Group and a number of Social Welfare Organizations. For the last 30 years it has the Annual Toy Appeal and hosted Les Dansants Panard and other festivals. In conjunction with the Charities information bureau, West Yorkshire Community Work Training and the local job Centres, Ground Floor has also successfully brought valuable training opportunities into the area with Work Placements for the unemployed that have seen IT skills taught within Dot Communications and resulted in many of these volunteer trainees gaining full time employment. For example in 2013 the Project group employed 3 apprentices all of whom went on to obtain full time employment. Ground Floor has won many awards including being given the Duke of York Community Initiative Award, Ground Floor begin the only charity to win this award three times in a row 2007, 2013 and 2015 and in 2013 became the first recipients of the Duke of York Community Leadership Award that included funding. In 2010 the Charity was given the Queens Award for Voluntary Service (The MBE for Volunteer Groups). ## **Report for 2020/21 Financial Year.** This financial year, we managed to keep going, even if Covid tried it’s best to stop use, thing’s are getting better now we are out of Covid lock down and hopefully we well stay out of another lock down. Over the year we have had volunteers from the Halifax and Todmorden Job Centres. However during the course of the year a number of new groups joined the Ground Floor family including Sara Abbott Artist, NA and Lee’s hair studio, but we also lost a lot of groups with covid, some of them are still hoping they will able to return at a later date. Despite the many accolades Ground Floor has received it does not currently receive any grant funding on a regular basis and relies entirely on donations from the groups and the hire of it’s premises to thrive. However the future of Ground Floor looks bright which makes the long term future of the Centre look good. ## **Mission Statement** **Ground Floor** aims to promote positive community action that increases opportunities and benefits for all disadvantaged people living in the Calder Valley. To this end, **Ground Floor** is actively involved in providing, developing, supporting and sustaining a wide range of community-led and self-help initiatives within the region. ## **Charitable Aims & Objectives** ## **The primary objectives of Ground Floor, are:** - To promote the advancement of education, the relief of the need and the provision of facilities and other leisure-time occupations in the interests of social welfare among young and other unemployed people residing within Upper Calderdale (comprising Calder Valley, Luddendfoot and Todmorden). - To promote the protection and preservation of the environment for the public benefit by: a) educating the public in the benefits to the environment of sustainable waste management and energy practices, b) conducting research into sustainable wast management and sustainable energy and disseminating the useful results of that research and c) developing and encouraging sustainable waste management and sustainable energy practices. In this clause ‘sustainable waste management and energy practices’ shall mean waste miniaturization, minimization of pollution and harmful waste, reuse of waste, waste recovery activities and clearance of pollutants from contaminated land. In this clause ‘sustainable energy practices’ shall mean the practical creation of energy from waste and renewable sources in such a way as to minimize pollution from the same. - To promote any charitable purpose for the benefit of the aforesaid community and in particular the advancement of education, the protection of heath and the relief of poverty, distress and sickness, to promote and organize co-operation in the achievement of the same and to that end to bring together in council representative of the voluntary organization and statutory authorities within the area of benefit. - To promote the integration of the disadvantaged groups within the general community and to stress the importance of importance of self-help amongst such disadvantaged groups. ## **In order to achieve these aims the council of management is empowered to do the following:** To create links and contacts both inside and outside the area of benefit. To establish, maintain and manage any work centers, projects or activities in furtherance of the objectives. To arrange and provide exhibitions, meetings, lectures and classes concerned with the education of the public. To enter into partnership or into arrangement for shared of mutual promotion of any of the objectives. **The Staff 2020/21** ## **Ground Floor** Fran Tidswell Centre Manager ## **Volunteers** Alan Sladic Painting Melissa Meadows Cleaning Darryl Tidswell Odd Jobs Arron Owens Odd Jobs ## **Job Placements (Job Centre Plus)** 20 individuals were placed with us for work experience over the year Together with other volunteers from our user groups. Ground Floor StgtomeDt olfingneilll aclivitie8 forthe year tnd¢d31' Mirth 2021 Income and Expendithre A¢¢ouMt Grants & OonatioDs Miscellaneous I￿om¢ Resour¢e Tn¢ome 9990 549 24587 2182 599 38382 35126 41163 Salaries & Casual LabDur Rent, Tate5 & w2ter Li8hi & heat I￿Ur￿ll¢es Rcpair5 & Improvemertts Commw)itsiions Sundry expendiiure Volunteeri. Expenses Clegnin8 see￿￿tY Accouniant'5 ExamiDation r)¢pr¢¢iaiion 7960 5286 8596 5536 10710 696 8441 771 5072 1982 107 546 3061 63 791 3505 2(K> 133 200 167 38380 40096 Surplus l-DefJeit for ihe year Fund balance brought fonvaid Futtd balaj￿e came41 forward -3254 5207 1067 4140 1953 5207 Jij CroyDd Floor Statement of financial Rrtiiiti¢$ for ihe ytAr ended 31. Match 2021 B¥la￿ce Sbeet as at 31" March 2021 31.3.2021 31.3.2020 Fixed A55ets Iper S¢hedulE} Currtnt Assets Prepaid Eiectllcity Bai¥llc¢ at Batsk Cath th H2Ld 534 667 2300 27 41 4600 778 2368 5489 TOTAL ASSETS 2902 6156 Currcnt Ll&bllltios CtrditTrts' Ledger Accrued Liabilitic5 749 200 749 200 949 949 Long Term LiAbilities L04n a¢¢ount 1953 5207 Flnanttd By Fund balance broubhi forn¥ard Surplus l-Defi¢itfor the year Fund balan¢e ¢2rri¢d forn¥ard 5207 -3254 4140 1067 1953 5207 For the ￿arCTr￿ng 31. m￿¢￿2021 thc company was eniided toexernption tronj audi¢ uDd¢r S￿tIOn 47712}ofihe Comp&nies Act 2￿6. The member5 hAVe￿￿]4￿1re11 the WDVDylo obt4in audit in ac¢orJanrc seeiion 476 ofthecompanies Act 2n06. Th¢ t￿￿tee5 aGknowled8eth¢ir reswiknliiy for.. ertsurins th¢compony kccps ac¢ouniitt8 tLxordswhdicomplywith S¢thioks. Jtcords and explanations received, and are in accordance therewqth. Lord & Swain Accountants HAwkstone Ilouse VAlley Road 4EBDFN BRI￿E 4x7 7BL Ground Floor Independent examine15 report on the a¢¢ounts of Ground Floor for the year ended 31. March 2021 I rewrt on the accounts of Ihc romparty at*2ched here%vith. J knve txamitvd th¢ tthks. records, other infOrn￿l10n and ¢Kplanations supplied by the L￿nPanY'$ admini5tralors ￿lthOU¢ ]Krfomi8n¢¢ of an audit and prepared accounts th¢T¢from. Theaccounts are ID accord￿¢¢ with the ree(Trrds 8s supplied, V4hich I ￿liEVe give and fair VI¢￿ of the company's fujanciai affairs forthe Pe￿¢d underex8mination. No ]natter has ¢ome w my attertuon that gives me cause to believe Ihal th¥ rtqutrements io keep propEr a(LoulltiDS reco￿ p¢pare accounts whieh accord with ihem have been Thel. Ntsteg.. l. The COMP￿1yS adminislralion has und¢r8on¢ major ¢hanÈ¢s since thc wjthdrnwal of Local Authoriiy funded stsff, and il's role williin thc ci)TllTnunity kn aliered as lime has gone on. partirularly ovcr tht time that Flebden Bridge was recovering frotn the flooding of Boxing Day 2015. ]le￿e gcncTal ¢0515 and ¢xp¢rtditurc Stre￿nS have varied considerabl? with time. Gareth Swain MAAT 17th Novemlxr 2021