Annual General Meeting Report. Congleton District Registered Charity No: Young People at their BEST

Transcription

1 Annual General Meeting Report Congleton District Registered Charity No: Young People at their BEST AGM - 8 th June 2015

2 Congleton Youth in Action and Soci-able Congleton District Youth In Action Registered Charity No: Management Committee ( ) Chairperson Vice Chairperson Secretary Treasurer Member Martin Howlett Chris Roycroft Sally Gibbon Chris Roycroft Shirley Vernon Paid Staff Youth Leader Youth Persons Activities Coordinator Sessional Worker Soci:Able Group Coordinator Fay Baker Louise Lovenberry Sidonie Court Steven Fallows Congleton Youth in Action Registered Charity No See the website at youthinaction@live.co.uk Follow us on Facebook Congleton Youth In Action

3 Chairman s Report Martin Howlett We are now in our 37th year of providing activities for young people with disabilities and providing valuable respite support for families. Once again, every month there have been a number of exciting activities for young people and families to be involved in. Youth in Action continues to be a strong influence in young people's lives, providing a social activity schedule and support for both the young people and their families. Through the hard work of the trustees and staff, 2014 has been a focused year where we have been able to establish a stronger hold on our finances. 12 months ago I was reporting a dire need to raise funds immediately. The charity was at risk of closure due to insufficient funds. This year, Youth in Action has had a strategic approach to raising funds so that we are able to provide a sustainable service to our users well into the future. It was our intention to establish 12 months operating costs so that we can publish a calendar of events for the following 12 months. It is apparent that our young people and their families rely on us to provide the activities that allow them to share experiences and socialise in a safe and supportive environment. Youth in Action has become a reliable form of respite for many families and young people. As we move into the following year we now need our friends and supporters to continue to help us raise funds to ensure we can continue to plan 12 months ahead. This will provide a stable and reliable calendar of much needed support. I would like to thank all our friends, supporters, parents and young people for all their continue support. As a charity, we provide such a valuable service and it is an absolute pleasure to be part of a team that really is changing young people's lives. As I said last year, "our passion is derived from the difference we make, the new faces we meet. The challenge of making the charity being even better in the coming 12 months drives us to make this charity a success for all involved".

4 Treasurer s report Chris Roycroft I have been a volunteer for Youth in Action since July 2013 doing the job of Treasurer. Although some other new roles, of Santa and a mini-bus driver have been incorporated as well. Since that time and with considerable learning from many others within different charity organisations we have updated our financial records to include full cost analysis of budgets, cash flow monitoring and forecasting. The committee and the trustees have been kept completely in touch with the financial statements and the necessary controls that we have introduced on the budget to facilitate this. The necessary independent report of the Trustees and the audited accounts were completed by the local chartered accountants Hammond McNulty, they were submitted to them in January 2015 and completed in March These audited accounts were then added to the Charity Commission web page in March Using the last audited accounts to September 2014 and with accountancy terminology: Income sales 9872 Salaries, Rent/Direct expenses, Insurance Sundries, Printing Posting & advertising, Entertaining and events, Governance Accountancy, Travelling and subsistence Totaling (9370) Giving us a surplus of Net (loss) / profit 502 The total balance is showing a surplus, this is the first time for 3 years, this amount will be used to increase the small reserve funds that were so dramatically reduced during the latter part of 2013.

5 Since the increase in the excellent fundraising from the committee members and the generous donations received to date, the surplus at the end of 2014 gave us the ability to forward budget plan into the following number of month s activities and day trips. These includes the restricted fund amounts from grants for the sports activity day at Jump Space, Canal barge trips and the week long summer Playscheme. With all the events and activities achieved in 2015 so far we feel that we are more balanced, viable, sustainable and supportable. We have recently advertised 2 further part time jobs to increase the number of young people participating in the activities and trips. We involve both our young people and youth volunteers from the local schools to promote social inclusion, to achieve, aspire and have fun together. I have attended several events organized by CVS during this year including courses on Business Plan Workshops at Manchester University Cheshire campus and the Financial Management course at Barclays Radbrooke Hall site. We are endeavoring to increase our commitment to provide training for our staff and volunteers. We have all worked hard on raising our professionalism with fundraising, with new policies and Business plans to ensure our continuous future. On a personal note I would like to thank my fellow committee members for their support and help enabling me to complete the role of treasurer since I joined, and may I say a thank you to Ann Marie of Youth Federation and Shirley for your help in writing the policies.

6 Committee Report The committee is responsible for managing the charity in compliance with the Charity Commission rules. Summary of :- Since the last AGM there has only been one change to the management committee, this due to family and work commitments reducing the amount of free accessible time to volunteer. Sally Gibbon - Secretary I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Martin Howlett from Youth Federation in his persistence and passionate enthusiasm in getting the committee focused and determined to support the group for the future. We as a committee would like to thank our excellent volunteers for making Youth In Action activities possible. Fundraising I would like to thank the following people that supported Youth In Action and Soci:Able groups during this period. WE have all been encouraged to raise the charities awareness and our spirits have been lifted with the following to which we would like to extend our grateful thanks to: Cheshire Community Foundation Brian Wilson Charitable Trust Greggs Foundation Trust Congleton Inclosure Trust Congleton Town Trust Cheshire East Council Community Grant Congleton Youth Council

7 Plus Dane Cheshire Freemasons Charity Trust Police Crime Commissioner Awareness Fund Tesco Congleton New Life Church Cheshire Volunteer Sector Cheshire East The Youth Federation Eaton Bank School Congleton High School Cavern Protective Clothing ( Hi Viz jackets ) All parents and of course many miscellaneous donations too numerous to mention. Without these generous donations and contributions we would not have been able to operate and provide the support and activities over the past year.

8 Youth In Action Report Fay Baker Youth Leader I cannot believe it s been a year since the last AGM, time has flown by. This time last year we were unsure if we could provide a summer playscheme in August due to finances, and yet we managed to run a very successful playscheme as well as regular events since. I would like to use my report to thank several groups of people: 1) Louise Lovenberry Louise has tirelessly worked these last 12 months, researching and applying for grants and donations. She has also yet again publicised the charity, meaning more referrals and more volunteers. Without Louise, the charity wouldn t have the finances to operate, so I thank her. 2) The volunteers When we ask of our volunteers, they always deliver. They have built up valuable relationships with our young people, encouraging them to try things they have never tried before, and supporting the young people at every step. Our volunteers have dealt with first day nerves from young people as well as parents and guardians, and put the young people and their carers at ease through their professionalism and enthusiasm. Word of mouth has increased our volunteer numbers, with current volunteers recruiting friends and relatives to volunteer for Youth In Action. A big thank you to the volunteers, for giving up their valuable free time to make our sessions happen. 3) The committee and trustees Without the committee and trustees, the charity couldn t legally operate. Martin, our Chair, has led us from the front, using his expertise and knowledge to guide us. Chris, our Treasurer, has made sure that the books balance, and we keep within our budgets.

9 Shirley, our Safeguarding officer, has always been at the end of the telephone if needed. Sally, our retiring secretary, has kept communication with everyone, and taken the minutes of our committee meetings, making sure we know what we agreed to do. Steve, Soci-able leader, has helped the 5-18 year old group when we have needed a driver, or an extra male volunteer. I look forward to the next 12 months! A Time to Shine CVS Cheshire East Volunteers Gala Night Louise, Clair, Kerry, Chloe and Shirley

10 Youth In Action Report Louise Lovenberry - Activities co-ordinator Achievements this year This year has been another successful year! We have had some new and exciting events such as Ruby s fund, Drayton Manor, Dimensions and in June we are going on a canal barge for the day and in July going to Jump Space. Our events are always full and parents are amazed at what type of activities we provide. The play scheme went well and we managed to get enough funding to go towards it. All our young people have varied needs from a mild learning disability to profound multiple learning difficulties. Our charity can provide an inclusive service that many local groups can not. At present this is not a problem as not all young people attend every event. I have attended workshops with Fay and Sidonie at Space4Autism about behaviour and Autism which was very informative. In addition I have completed some First Aid training. We have also been networking with outside agencies such as Catch 22 and the disability team at CEC. This year we have received funding from a wide range of sources including Cheshire Community Foundation, Congleton Inclosure Trust, Congleton Town Trust, The Brian Wilson Trust and Cheshire East Council. We are constantly looking into different ways to fundraise and apply for funding. The feedback we receive from parents/carers prove that we provide an outstanding service and they appreciate all we do. Parents have expressed how much they value the service and that the charity is important to disabled families in the community. In addition they say that they wouldn t know what to do if we no longer provided a service for them. Personal thoughts on my role I have now been working for Youth in Action for 4 years and still love it! I work closely with Fay and we have an excellent working relationship. We share responsibilities for organising events, young people and arranging the volunteers.

11 With the charity becoming bigger we need to recruit another Activities Co-ordinator to work within our team. Hopefully this will be in place by the play scheme. I would like to thank the committee members as without their dedication we would not be able to carry on our good work. Future plans We are gaining more volunteers with the help of Jay Mulby at Catch 22. But still need more volunteers to help to support our young people with more complex needs and behavioural issues that require extra support. Hopefully we will have gained more staff to be able to accommodate our growing service. A Time to Shine CVS Cheshire East Volunteers Gala Night Steve and Soci-Able volunteers Joe and Jess Soci-Able Pub Grub night

12 Soci:Able Report Steven Fallows Project Coordinator 2014/2015 have been another exciting year for the Soci:Able group. We have continued doing all the familiar events at Soci:Able such as evening meals out to some of our favourite places in and around Congleton, Alsager and Sandbach. We have also added a few new places that have proved very popular The Railway inn in Congleton and The Salt Cellar in Middlewich to cater for all the groups locations and tastes. We are always made to feel welcome with all our regular haunts keen to have us back, which is a credit to all the young adults of Soci:Able who are always polite, full of fun and excitement, interacting and making friends with all the people at the places we visit. We have also carried on with regular visits to All 4 U Disco's, the Congleton Pantomime, and hosted a Christmas party. In October we set sail on our annual trip on the Mary Sunley Narrow Boat, for a day of cruising through the Cheshire countryside, playing bird bingo, I spy and shattering the peaceful Cheshire countryside with Joanne s Singing. We have also had a big Birthday in the group this year with Alan Falconer turning 30 in March. He hosted a party with all of his friends from Soci:Able attending to make it a great evening of karaoke and dancing. Our group sees all the familiar faces back, including our regular volunteers Joe and Jess. Both are loved by the group, and are always full of enthusiasm, interest and compassion. In recognition to the fantastic support that Joe and Jess provide to the group we were able to recognize their contribution at the CVS volunteer gala presentation evening. We have been continuing to support the fundraising and raising awareness of the group, included Tesco bag packing, and the Congleton Carnival stall. I would like to finish by giving a big thank you to all on the committee, volunteers and family for your continued support and of course to the children and adults for making it all a pleasure to work with and to be involved.