St Luke's Annual Reports
We hope to hold our APCM after Summer but we thought you might like to read the annual reports for 2019-20 before then. Each week a different report will be available. Please note, these reports were written before the Coronavirus crisis caused our Churches to be closed and Father Peter's move to Worcester to be postponed.
KEW COMMUNITY TRUST ANNUAL REPORT 2019-20
The Avenue Club, which is the main charitable purpose of Kew Community Trust, continues to offer a wonderful and varied array of activities to its members. Opera, Film Club, Art History and History of London lectures remain ever popular. Similarly, fitness classes ranging from yoga and pilates to t’ai chi and table tennis are regularly enjoyed by members each week and a second Men’s Wellbeing class has been introduced due to high demand. The popularity of classes has seen the Avenue Club’s overall membership swell by 10% with some 560 members.
Avenue Club outings are eagerly anticipated by many members who were able to enjoy The Jane Austen Museum in Hampshire, Two Temple Place, the Lightbox Gallery, Knole House and Park near Sevenoaks, Brooklands Museum and The Heath Robinson Museum. A trip to the Bluebell Railway in May proved so popular that a coach had to be organised instead of two minibuses.
The Avenue Club catering provision was reviewed in July and concluded that the improvements initiated a year ago to serve ‘home made’ frozen meals sourced from Cook accompanied by fresh vegetables has been well received by members. Patrick’s ‘Thursday Roast’ remains the most popular day for lunch with 34% of members attending the Club staying for lunch. On average 10% of members who visit the Club stay for lunch.
Meet in Kew, organised by one of our Trustees, Shiona Williams, with a team of volunteers has really taken off. Anyone who lives or works in Kew is warmly welcomed to a social evening every second Thursday of the month from 7-9pm. It is free to attend with drinks and nibbles provided for a small voluntary donation. These events have fostered a real sense of community in Kew and raised awareness of the fantastic activities and outings offered by the Avenue Club.
We continue to make improvements to the building in collaboration with the Parish of St Luke’s. Over the past year, we refurbished the Alexandra Hall and WCs on the first and second floors, adding an additional WC immediately outside the Alexandra Hall. We have also improved the lighting in the stairwell with the addition of sensor lights which are more efficient and cost-effective. The drainage issues associated with the Marwood Room were also resolved.
The Trust continues to be supported financially by donations from local Community Supporters and churches in Kew including St Luke’s for which we are very grateful. Age UK Richmond successfully bid for the new Borough-wide Community Independent Living Contract. The Trust continues to be part of that Contract which provides a valuable link with other charities. Whilst the 75% reduction in funding by CILS is considerable, the Trust’s reporting obligations have reduced, so enabling staff to devote time to other matters.
There have been some staff changes. We said farewell to Judi Braddock who left us at the end of January and welcomed back Nicola Patel, our Chief Executive, from maternity leave. Judi made a very valuable contribution during her year with the Trust and we look forward to working with her in her capacity as PCC Treasurer at St Luke’s. Janet Griffiths left the Trust in May. Janet had provided valuable bookkeeping services to the Trust for almost 20 years and we wish her well. The Trust has since welcomed Bernadette Bird as our Finance Manager who brings with her significant experience and local knowledge.
There have been changes to the Trust body also. Sally Durant stepped down as Chair and Trustee of the Trust at the AGM last October and Jeff Harris was welcomed to the Trust as Sally’s successor.
On behalf of Kew Community Trust, I should like to thank everyone at St Luke’s for their continued support of our work in running the Avenue Club and providing other services to the local community.
Jeff Harris, Chair, Kew Community Trust