ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2023

CHAIRPERSON'S REPORT

DATE: 23rd July 2023

VENUE: The Three Blackbirds, Flamstead

I would like to take this opportunity to welcome you to our 16th Annual General Meeting and say a massive thank you for your on-going commitment, hard work and support for the Charity.

Since our last AGM in August 2022, it has been a relatively quiet year on the fundraising front but this has not impacted our financial position. We have been able to raise a steady flow of monies for the Charity by providing the tea room at the Village Show in Sept 2022, Jumping Fleas music night and carols at the Spotted Dog pub in December 2022 as well as a successful Quiz Night including a raffle in March 2023 at the Three Blackbirds pub.

We have continued to receive a steady flow of donations via our collecting tins situated in the Village Store and local pubs as well as regular donations from people we have helped and/or sadly passed away as well as from their family members. This has enabled us to remain in an excellent financial position without the need to put on a large fundraising event. Ali Moss, our treasurer, will be providing a detailed financial report as part of this meeting which will detail our positive financial position.

I continue to be very grateful for our existing Trustees, Ali Moss, Rosie Hickey-Colman, Alex Morris and Gill Biggs, who have continued to support me as Chairperson over the last year. I personally have found it hard to sustain the role of Chairperson to the level previously given, due to changes in my own work hours and have been increasingly reliant on their support to assist with visiting and sourcing help for residents as well as organising fundraising events. Unfortunately, Gill Biggs had to step down from role of secretary in Nov 22 due to personal reasons but she kindly agreed to remain as a silent Trustee and support at fundraising events for which we are grateful. Ali Moss agreed to assist with the secretary role in the interim at Charity meetings but this continues to be a role that needs filling to fulfil the Charity Commission’s regulations. It has been fantastic to have all their continued support and involvement and each one of them has been an asset and the Charity could not function without them.

As a Charity, we have offered support to 34 residents since July 2022 and have practically helped 23 residents. The offer of help remains comparative to 2022 but we have doubled the amount of people actively seeking practical support from us. We continue to offer a variety of support including domestic help, dog walking, pet care, gardening, childcare and transport. We have also enabled access to professional counselling services as well as provide lump sums towards specialist medical treatment. Transport continues to be the main support to access medical treatment or hospital appointments but we do endeavour to seek help from village volunteer drivers where possible who serve the local area as appropriate. Length of help continues to be 3 months on average but any requests for longer term help are agreed/considered amongst the Trustees. We continue to offer longer-term support for those with dependents and residents who are able to return to the Charity for help as needed. We continue to operate and provide support without a financial assessment and all help given is confidential.

We meet approximately 6 times a year to discuss and agree how the Charities’ monies are being spent to agree the type of practical support that can be provided or arranged by us as well as plan for any events. We try to regularly update services/contacts used for practical support for residents and endeavour to use local services from the village where possible to support residents or use their existing contacts. Residents continue to feedback when they have been offered or received help and state they are very grateful to know that we are here to help if needed. Our testimonials received (which are on our website) are proof of how grateful residents and families have been to receive our support at difficult times.

We aim to make villagers aware of who we are, what we do and how we can help and continue to do this in a variety of ways. This is always a challenge but the increase in support given over the last year is hopefully a reflection of an improvement in this area. We did hold a table at the Scarecrow festival in Aug 2022 as a networking exercise but unanimously agreed not to repeat this again as the majority of visitors were not village residents and this did not prove an effective method to reach villagers or a good use of our time.

We continue to try and provide regular Charity updates via the Parish magazine, Facebook, Grapevine and on our website. The website is regularly updated by Rosie who has enabled donations to be made via the website as well as create a direct messaging option to Trustees via the website. We continue to have a Whatsapp group for volunteers when needed to access support at fundraising events or aid in networking with different groups within the village. We have links to St Leonard’s Church to aid in finding out about residents who may be in need of our support. We printed new flyers last year which we use to introduce the Charity to prospective residents and have available at events as well as using an advertising Charity banner where necessary.

We have attempted on a regular basis via the Grapevine or village magazine articles to advertise for Trustee or committee members but, unfortunately, we have been unsuccessful recruiting any further volunteers. We will continue to seek new Trustees or committee members as this is essential in ensuring the Charity continues to flourish and function in the future.

It is necessary at this meeting to confirm and vote in Trustee membership and agree committee members for 2023/2024. As we are aware, it is vital for the Charity to have 3 positions filled to function - Chairperson, Treasurer and Secretary.

The current Trustees are as follows:

Tracy Wells - Chair

Ali Moss - Treasurer

Rosie Hickey-Colman

Alex Morris

Gill Biggs - (silent member)

All in agreement to remain as Trustees?

Trustee role required - Secretary

Any changes to constitution required at this stage?

Plans/actions for 2023/4:

Continue to advertise for new Trustees and committee members
Village show tea room Sept 2023
Fundraising event 2023/4 - ? quiz night
Carols at the Pub Dec 23 - the Three Blackbirds?
Access Trustee training
Consolidate Gift Aid process
Continue regular updates/monitor/upgrade website
Continue regular links with village organisations
Continue to pay for advertising in Parish Magazine
Monthly financial updates
Regular F2F or on-line meetings/contact to discuss future plans, residents, fundraising ideas
Use of Whatsapp to update Trustees/committee members and volunteers
Update list of services/contacts to ensure relevant and up to date/accurate
Continue to be good stewards of Charity's money
Ensure we continue to adhere to the Charity Commission regulations

TREASURER'S REPORT FOR THE PERIOD 1 MAY 2022 to 30 April 2023

OVERVIEW

2022/23 has been a straightforward year for the Wish Tree, helping Flamstead residents with various requests for assistance with transport, cleaning, gardening and childcare. The charity is very lucky to have the support of the village. We feel fortunate to be well funded and can afford to react positively to most requests for the help.

In addition to the funds we have available, we are often the recipients of donations from villagers and their families, for which we are very grateful. We were delighted to be offered the opportunity to receive a donation from the John Lewis Foundation to help local families with the cost of living crisis, which is outside the confines of our Constitution. We are currently waiting to see when we will receive the grant (this has been delayed due to a change in personnel at JLF).

In this financial year the charity’s running costs were £7,809.36. The biggest part of our expenses was Resident support (£6048.02), with other expenses, such as Trustee insurance, making up the rest.

Of all the resident support we provided during the year the two most common requests were for help with cleaning and pet care, followed by counselling and transport.

No claims were made for Covid related problems.

AIMS FOR 2023-2024

To continue to monitor the charity’s finances and ensure they comply with the Charity Commission rules and our own Mission Statement.
To provide timely help to Flamstead residents when it is needed without means testing and ensure the Charity continues to be viable for many years to come.

A copy of the charity’s accounts for the year to the end of April 2023 can be seen on request.