ALL SAINTS
CENTRE NORWICH
ANNUAL REPORT
2007
PATRON
The
Lord Bishop of Norwich
The
Right Rev’d Graham James
TRUSTEES
Chairman Mr
Peter Threadkell
Vice Chairman Mrs Angela Quinn
Secretary &
Treasurer Mrs Sue Olver
Chaplain The Rev’d Barry Furness
Mrs
Katherine Gray, Mrs Elizabeth Kilshaw,
Mrs Sue Rolfe, Mr
Michael Hope
FROM THE CHAIRMAN
The past year has been one of steady growth in the
Centre with more people taking advantage of our quiet oasis in the middle of
our bustling city.
Our big project in 2007 was to upgrade the ancient heating system. After
some teething problems it is now functioning very effectively keeping out the
winter chill.
The Upper Room has been used a
lot over the past year by groups, individuals needing to be alone, and for
interviews on a one-to-one basis for those individuals who have needs to be
resolved.
My thanks go to Lilias, Karen,
Jane and Trevor, our staff team who, with our volunteers, do an excellent job
keeping the Centre open almost every day of the year making everyone welcome.
Finally I would like to thank
my fellow Trustees for all their hard work and support. Together our community
of Trustees, staff and volunteers seek to make the Centre a place of warmth and
fellowship to all who come within its doors.
Peter
Threadkell
Chairman of the Trustees
____________________________________________________________________________
FINANCIAL REPORT
Last year our accounts were,
unusually, for 15 months and so this time we are comparing that with the 12
month period from Jan 1st to Dec 31st 2007.
Since the new kitchen has been
in operation our business has increased enormously as can be seen by the “Food
and Drink” totals. We have taken just under £60,000 an increase of £5,000 over
the previous 15 months. This of course has a domino effect on other areas of
our business. What is interesting is that the amount spent on food and drink in
the coffee bar has not increased in the same percentage. Now we have an oven we
are able to cook more items including Sunday lunches and therefore this gives
us a bigger profit margin. However we are grateful to those who bring in many
food items to sell and donate ingredients.
It will be noted that income
from the mezzanine floor, vacated last year by the internet café, has fallen by
£2,000, however this room serves an important function for ourselves, a quiet
place for people to sit and read or rest, and a place for hire for local
organisations or charities.
The increase in business has
meant we have had to re-evaluate our staffing levels and we now employ a cook
for 20 hours per week, in addition to the Managers and Administrator, all of
whom are part-time.
We have been most fortunate to
have generous grants that have paid for the new heating system. The old boiler
was certainly on borrowed time having been in use for the past 25 years.
It is good to see that at the
end of the year we had a surplus of £6,000 for which we are very thankful
bearing in mind the increase in costs in almost every category of our business.
I mentioned in the last report
that we now have an excellent website prepared and kept up to date by Trevor
our administrator. Thanks go to him especially for, in addition to the general
administration for the Centre, he also keeps the finances in excellent order.
I am still acting treasurer
and would welcome someone who could just come in once a week to keep an eye on
the books, pay the bills etc.
Sue
Olver
Secretary & Acting Treasurer
Sue
Olver
Trevor Scott
___________________________________________________________________________
THE MANAGER’S REPORT
“Jesus set his face like flint towards
Jerusalem”
This
verse speaks of knowing what our purpose and reason for “being” at the Centre
are and getting on with it.
In the past year we have seen a steady increase in the
volume of customers coming into the Centre, due in part to our “daily specials”
which we can now provide on a regular basis; the team, including paid staff,
volunteers and Trustees, are doing a great job coming up with tempting soups,
pastas, cakes and puddings.
We are now on a learning curve, daily, with helping to
support people who have come from different organisations for people with
special needs; these include links with Meridian East, Stepping Stones, Assist
Trust and Norfolk Voluntary Services, plus our long continued involvement with
the Probation Service and their Unpaid Work Unit.
The CAPS Team has just started having a surgery for
people who are homeless, in the upper room on Fridays for an hour twice per
month.
Our Food for Thought scheme continues to be well used,
we average around 100 tickets being redeemed each month. Many customers, and
some churches, after purchasing them, now ask us to give them out at the Centre
to those in need, and this is much appreciated by those who benefit.
Lilias Standage,
Centre Manager
Karen Maidstone
Bishop Graham Lilias Standage
Assistant
Manager
Our Patron
Centre Manager
_________________________________________________________________________________________
FROM THE FUND RAISERS
Several fund raising events were held during the year.
The two market stalls in Norwich raised approximately £500 for Centre funds. A
further produce stall was held outside Budgens store in Harleston in October. A
week-long Christmas Stall in the Centre raised over £450.
A hugely successful Open Day was held at Endways,
Mendham (home of Mr and Mrs J. Olver) with lunches, stalls and other attractions.
It was a happy social event raising over £900.
An innovation was our Grand Christmas Draw. Tickets
were sold at the Centre and also by many people who took books of tickets, and
sold them in their own areas. The draw realised £1,006 profit, and will certainly
be repeated in 2008!
All this activity and success would not have been
possible without the wonderful support of so many people– those who provided
goods for the stalls and manned them; the providers of draw prizes and ticket
sellers; everyone, in fact, who entered so wholeheartedly into supporting the
raising of funds for a cause in which we all believe so sincerely.
2007 was another successful year for obtaining grants
towards our major projects. Our budgeted target of £15,500 was only just missed
with a total of £14,523 being achieved.
The major effort was to ensure that the cost of the
new heating system was covered, a total of just over £13,000. This we achieved
with a grant of £10,000 from the Geoffrey Watling Charity and £3,000 from the
Paul Bassham Trust (both received in Jan 2008 and therefore not included in
these 2007 accounts). We are very grateful to them both for their generous
level of support. We also received £1,900 from Norwich Consolidated Charities
to help pay for new external signs and for new crockery and cupboards, for
which we are also very grateful. Many thanks must go to Trevor Scott for much
hard work in applying to many grant giving bodies and chasing every possible
avenue of funding!
2008 will be a year of consolidation in which we plan
to try and attract new funding to cover our increasing salary costs, after
paying for our major capital items of the new kitchen and the heating system in
the last two years.
Sue Rolfe
Michael Hope