Harrogate & District(including Ripon)
Society for the Blind
Registered Charity No. 211436
95thAnnual Report
for the year ended
31st March 2016
Russell Sergeant House
23 East Parade
Harrogate
HG1 5LF
E-mail:
Website:
Trustees
From 1st April 2015
Hon. PresidentJohn Batchelor*
ChairmanEric Mitchell*
Vice ChairmanBrian Rushton*
SecretaryMichael Walsh*
Treasurer (Acting)Robert Horner*
MembersDoreen Flockton
Peter Jensen**
Dorothy Matthews
Robert Sergeant
* Indicates a member of Executive Committee
** Indicates committee member representing visually impaired
Co-opted committee memberSarah Mackenzie
ChaplainRev Michael Wearing
Staff
Director of Services Marie Hale (2014 to June 2015)
Director of Services Michael George (May to November 2015)
Director of Services Tanya Stimpson (Feb 2016 onwards)
Admin Assistant Nicole Brook (until September 2015)
Information Officer Ann Routledge (until September 2015)
Home Visitor Pauline Fisher (Deceased November 2015)
Home Visitor Pam Patterson
Mixed Craft/IT Tutor Tanya Stimpson
Pottery Tutor Kay Latto
ECLO Nicole Brook (From October 2015)
The governing document of the Society is the Constitution dated 17th July 2015.
In this document the objects of the Society are defined as:
A brief summary of our services
- Home visiting
- Eye clinic Information officer
- Social Activities (men’s & ladies coffee mornings, bowls group, keep fit, knit & natter, Friday afternoon entertainment)
- Craft Class Tuition (basketry, card making, pottery and seat caning)
- Computer Classes
- Telephone Befriending
- Helpline during Office hours
- Visual Aid Equipment displays
- Ripon Tuesday Friendship club
- Pateley Bridge monthly Friendship club
- Walking group who meet bi-monthly
- Young Peoples’ group who meet for a meal bi-monthly
All our services are free to members, their families and carers with the exception of items for sale in the Resource Centre, nominal fees for educational classes and some outings.
The Vision Support Centre on East Parade is open Monday to Friday 9.30 am to 4.00 pm and there is a telephone answering service if no one is immediately available.
Chairman’s Report
This is my second report as Chairman of the Society and an eventful year it has been.
I begin by recognising the substantial contribution which Pauline Fisher made to the Society and its members. The sad loss of Pauline suddenly last November was a shock to us all. Pauline was a wonderful person and a good friend to many. For her colleagues she was a joy to work with. For the visually impaired she always had a smile and an empathy which clearly showed in her care and compassion. She was totally committed to the wellbeing of the Society and always had the needs of the visually impaired at heart. She will always be remembered with affection.
In my last report I commented that………. “after the stability of 15 years with the same Director of Services we have now had 3 in 3 years”. Make that 4 in 4! Michael George who joined us in June 2015 left us in November 2015 after only 5 months.
However, every cloud has a silver lining and I am more than pleased to report that we promoted Tanya Stimpson to be our Director of Services in February 2016. Tanya started with us as a member 20 years ago and has progressed through being a volunteer and an employed tutor to her new appointment as Director. She therefore brings a great deal of knowledge and through personal experience, empathy and understanding of the challenges faced by our visually impaired members. In the last six months she has led from the front with enthusiasm and I look forward to many more years with her at the helm.
We have also taken on three new part time staff. Leesha Metcalfe (administrator), Christine Padgett (receptionist) and Sue Richards (visitor). They together with Pam Patterson (visitor) and Nicole Brookes (Eye Clinic liaison officer) form the team which Tanya is now leading to support our members. I am convinced that the Society is in good hands and will go from strength to strength. I also wish to recognise and record my thanks to our volunteers who give so freely of their time and provide a valuable contribution to the work of the Society.
I am pleased to report that the 2016 accounts came in under budget thus closing the negative gap between our expenditure and our income. Tanya and her team will be working with the Trustees to try and narrow it further over the next few years.
A significant event at the last AGM was the change in structure of the Society to include a Services Committee. For the first time in the Society’s history this now provides a clear avenue for members’ views to be heard. I can report that this Committee has made an encouraging start and a number of changes are under consideration.
I express my personal thanks to Brian Rushton, Mick Walsh, Robert Horner and John Batchelor, who make up the Executive Committee (EC), for their support which was particularly appreciated in the difficult few months around the time Michael George left us.
The EC along with the new Trust and Finance Committee perform a valuable job which, though mainly unseen, is essential and their work for the Society is greatly appreciated.
Eric Mitchell
Honorary Chairman
Directors Report
There have been many changes for the Society in the year 2015/16, most notably the changes in staff, as the Chairman mentioned in his report, the Society bid a fond farewell to Marie Hale whomresigned from her post, in June 2015, as Director of Services. Marie’s husband is in the Military, therefore the inevitable time came for a new posting and so they transferred to the South of England. The Society wishes Marie all the best for the future. Maries’ departure was swiftly followed by the new Director of Services, Michael George whom after five months of Directing the Society, decided to return to his original field of work, in finance. The Society wishes Michael all the best for the future.
In September of 2015, Ann Routledge, who had worked with the Society for 15 years, retired from her post as Hospital and Eye Clinic Information Officer. The Society is very grateful to Ann for all the support and advice she has given to the local community, the Society’s members and her colleagues. Nicole Brook, assistant to the Director, has changed her role to take on the position of Eye Clinic Liaison Officer. I am delighted to report that Ann has kindly joined the Society as a Craft Volunteer.
In November of 2015, we learned the sad news that our great friend and colleague, Pauline Fisher, had passed away. This was a very difficult time for everyone involved with the Society, as Pauline was a huge support to all who knew her, the members whom she visited were extremely upset and I want to make a special thank you to Pam Patterson, home visitor, for supporting our members so compassionately whilst having to deal with her own loss.
It is with great personal pleasure that I have taken the role as Director of Services at this time, as I hope that this will help the staff, members and volunteers feel reassured and settled with a familiar face who has always felt very passionate about our Society and the support and services it provides in the community. We have the recipe for a very successful future, fantastic volunteers who give up so much of their time running the day to day activities, a brilliant team of staff, who continually work hard to provide activities, support and advice to all, a volunteer management team who are committed to ensure that the Society continues to prosper, supporters and donators, who continue to give so generously and recognise the importance of all our work and of course the most important ingredient is our members, who bring the laughter, friendship, motivation, knowledge, determination and soul into the Society. I have a team of inspiring people to help me in my new role and I look forward to working with them all.
Our Services
Our membership covers the Borough of Harrogate below is a graph showing the number of members in each area.
Visiting Service
Of our 685 VIP’s we visit 193 people up to four times a year. The chart below shows the amount of VIP’s visited in each area.
Approximately 80 VIP’s regularly attend our centre and satellite groups, 15 VIP’s regularly attend the walking and approx. 33 people regularly attend the early bird/lunch group, this group is attended by VIP’s and their family or friends also. All other VIP’s have access to our helpline, the resources displays and computer classes. They are supported in the eye clinics and are invited to events such as our annual Open Day and Resources Days.
Classes
The craft classes continue to be very popular, with all the classes running on full membership. The Pottery Sculpture Exhibition,to display the outstanding work our students have produced, which was held in October 2015, was a huge success, with many orders taken for sculptures to be made.The lady Mayoress of Harrogate, purchased the sculpture, ‘The girl with the Pearl earring’ and many more sculptures sold at the event.
The crafts that are made in the classes continue to sell well, giving members and visitors the opportunity to purchase items such as cards and gifts for family and friends whilst raising valuable funds for the Society.
IT classes
Thanks to the funding we received from the Harrogate Lions, we were able to support 43 VIP’s with their IT needs. The requests for tuition included support for iPad’s, Synapptic, Samsung and Kindle tablets and advice on the latest speech and magnification software, including using the computer without a mouse. The IT classes continue to be successful with new members enquiring regularly.
This year there has been an increase in enquiries for help and support for VIP’s who have been recently diagnosed and want to continue in their current employment. The IT suite has been a valuable tool for informing and demonstrating to working age VIP’s the types of equipment and software which are available for them to enable them to stay in work.
Volunteers
Without our 56 volunteers we would not be able to provide the services and support to our members that we do today. Their hard workand dedication, to the Society, is priceless and quite often they do far more than they are timetabled for. Whether they make tea, read the paper, run an activity, or are part of the committee, every role plays a vital part in the success of the Society and the Society is very grateful to them for all they have done and continue to do.
We give special thanks to Bev Richardson and Sara Horbury who very kindly continue to help with the organization of our finances. Also special thanks to Dave Power and Lauren Kaptain who continue to support us regularly with all our IT issues.
Farewell
Dorothy and David Thrush,who volunteered for us for over 25 years and Mary MacKay, who was with us for well over 30 years, have hung up their volunteer aprons this year, we would like to thank them for all the hard work and support they have given the society and we wish them all the best for the future.
Supporters
We could not continue to do our work without all those who donate money including our members, their families, volunteers and many of the churches who run coffee mornings. Our Friday afternoon entertainments could not go ahead without the numerous people who provide their time for free.
Grateful thanks also go to Pat & Tony Hutchinson who open up their garden for us every year for our Rhythms & Blooms event.
There are many supporters of our classes including Harrogate College, who support our Pottery Class andHarrogate Lions who donated money to pay for a year of computer classes and the necessary equipment. We also received small grants from The George Moore Foundation and North Yorkshire County Council.
Financial Review
Commentary
The Society incurred a deficit on operating income and expenditure of £39,090 (ignoring movements on the value of our investments). This compares to an operating deficit last year of £26,014. The main reason for the increased deficit being a fall of approximately £28,000 in legacies and bequests. Obviously such income is irregular in nature and is often the cause of fluctuations in our figures.However, it was good to see a strong recovery in general donations that helped to offset some of this fall. College funding also finally ceased completely in 2015/16 which meant we lost £7,000 of income compared to 2014/15. Costs have been tightly controlled as usual and our general staff and premises costs actually fell slightly compared to 2014/15. Other costs and revenues were broadly unchanged. The Society continues to budget carefully to control costs and monitor funding. Whilst the Society is prepared to accept a deficit in the short term the Trustees policy is to match income and expenditure in the longer term.
After several years of steady recovery since the recession of 2008, the value of our investments fell overall by about 4%. This reflects mainly the change in value due to stock market fluctuations which have been common to all investors. The portfolio is kept under constant review by our investment advisors who meet regularly with the trustees.
The Trustees acknowledge that the current level of activity will require the Society to use some of its reserves to fund ongoing activities unless unforeseen income is received (such as legacies). The Trustees consider this approach is reasonable in the light of the Society’s overall financial position. The Society considers it prudent to maintain sufficient reserves to finance a full year’s activity. Its present financial position adequately fulfils this aim.
The Statement of Financial Activities and Balance Sheet are on the following pages. Copies of the full financial report are available on request from the Society.
Other financial information
Bankers: Barclays Bank plc, 25 James St, Harrogate
Leeds Building Society, Cambridge St, Harrogate
HSBC 34 Westgate Ripon
Investment Manager: Brown Shipley, 23 Park Square, Leeds.
Hon Independent Examiner: David Pullan FCA of
David Pullan & Co Chartered Accountants, 24a Brook St, Ilkley
STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES for the year ended 31 March 2016General / Restricted / Total / Total
Fund / Funds / 2016 / 2015
£ / £ / £ / £
Incoming resources
Voluntary income / 24,220 / 24,220 / 43,798
Incoming resources from operating activities
for generating funds / 21,596 / 21,596 / 21,512
Investment income / 23,803 / 23,803 / 28,284
Incoming resources from charitable activities / 15,958 / 15,958 / 10,095
Other incoming resources / 5,030 / 5,030 / 4,272
Total incoming resources / 90,607 / - / 90,607 / 107,961
Resources expended
Cost of generating voluntary income / 18 / 18 / 87
Fundraising trading / 4,394 / 4,394 / 2,090
Investment management costs / 9,600 / 9,600 / 9,600
Charitable activities / 104,754 / 2,786 / 107,540 / 113,499
Governance costs / 8,145 / 8,145 / 8,699
Total resources expended / 126,911 / 2,786 / 129,697 / 133,975
Deficit (-)/surplus (+) of incoming over expended / -36,304 / -2,786 / -39,090 / -26,014
Gains(+)/losses(-) on investment assets / -37,180 / -37,180 / 66,208
Net movement in funds / -73,484 / -2,786 / -76,270 / 40,194
Balances brought forward at 1 April 2015 / 1,224,473 / 94,845 / 1,319,318 / 1,279,124
Balances carried forward at 31 March 2016 / 1,150,989 / 92,059 / 1,243,048 / 1,319,318
BALANCE SHEET as at 31 March 2016
2016 / 2015
£ / £ / £ / £
Fixed assets
Tangible fixed assets / 286,175 / 293,627
Investments / 889,668 / 907,186
1,175,843 / 1,200,813
Current assets
Debtors / 4,364 / 6,581
Short term investments / - / -
Cash in hand and at banks / 69,846 / 119,033
74,210 / 125,614
Liabilities:
Amounts falling due within one year / -7,005 / -7,109
Net current assets / 67,205 / 118,505
Net assets / 1,243,048 / 1,319,318
Funds
General unrestricted / 1,150,989 / 1,224,473
Restricted / 92,059 / 94,845
Total funds / 1,243,048 / 1,319,318