The Harpenden Trust AGM took place on Tuesday 17th October. The evening was very well attended by both Harpenden Trust members and volunteers, and a number of guests from our local community, including many of our partnership organisations. We were also honoured to have Pip Liver, the Town Mayor, and Victoria Collins, MP for Harpenden and Berkhamstead, address the meeting.
Our Chair, Richard Nichols, reflected on another significant and successful year for the Trust. The Chair's Opening Remarks are set out below.
Nick Luckett, Chair - Care Fund; Steve Pryor, Chair - Community Fund and Sarah Holmes, Head of Wellbeing all spoke, giving real life examples of how the work of the Trust has positively impacted residents and groups in our local Harpenden community over the past year. Pat Ring, People Director, recognised and thanked the contribution of our many volunteers and acknowledged a number of long service awards, including one of 20 years service.
Pip Liver, Town Mayor, spoke of the “phenomenal work of the Harpenden Trust”, thanking all the volunteers for all their hard work.
Victoria Collins MP described the Harpenden Trust as something very special which is “making a real difference on the ground and bringing much comfort and joy to the people of Harpenden”
CHAIRMAN'S OPENING REMARKS
This has been another significant year in the continued development of the Harpenden Trust.
Our purpose : Good neighbours, supporting our local community
For over 75 years now, the Harpenden Trust has remained steadfast in its core purpose: supporting our local AL5 community. We are committed to being a reliable source of assistance for anyone in our Harpenden community who requires help - regardless of their age, regardless of their background. To local people, we offer readily accessible, practical support - whether through our range of core services and activities or by signposting them to relevant local expertise for the support or advice they need. The underlying principle that guides us is simple: to be good neighbours.
Meeting local challenges – A year of many hundreds !
Both our Care Fund and our Community Fund continue to play pivotal roles in supporting many 100s of individuals, and various local organisations.
The Care Fund, fuelled by the annual Christmas Appeal, some generous legacies, and so many dedicated volunteers, maintains its Home Visits program providing essential support to those seeking assistance (often directed via our weekday morning Office team, who currently take over 50 calls per month). Additionally, we host popular weekly Seniors Tea and Coffee mornings on Tuesdays and Thursdays – regularly seeing approaching 100 people each week; organising Seniors’ Outings and Family Outings for well over 100 local people each year; and delivering Christmas Parcels to over 100 residents spreading some festive cheer. We also offer grants to over 100 local people facing financial hardship, assisting with utilities payments and educational expenses; and we provide transportation to Trust events. The popular annual April Seniors Fair event, attracting over 400 visitors this year, continues to offer local residents an insight into and visibility of groups and organisations across our vibrant local community (with Wednesday 9 April 2025 already in diaries for next year). And not to forget the bingo sessions at Lea Springs (with pop quizzes on the agenda for 2025) and assistance with completion of blue badges. The Care Fund’s impact continues to grow as awareness of our services spreads.
Our more recent Wellbeing initiative continues to evolve rapidly. Our partnership with our three local GP surgeries and Mind in Mid Herts was the genesis of the “Harpenden Wellbeing Hub”, now visible throughout the town. We receive approaching 100 referrals every six months through our GP Social Prescribers who identify core needs, sending those with more complex needs directly to our Harpenden based Mind outreach team and those with less complex needs to our team of Wellbeing Friends. Through a variety of partnerships and activities, we seek to provide a rich array of activity to enhance local residents’ wellbeing, as well as helping people connect with a range of other local activities. We’re making a tangible difference to residents referred to the Wellbeing Hub - from the Arts on Prescription program (with Everyone Active’s support), to the exceedingly popular five week Mind in Mid Herts led Pottery courses, to Yoga workshops, to a smartphone photography group, to life coaching sessions empowering individuals to move forward – everything we offer is administered, supported and overseen by our magnificent Wellbeing team of volunteers. We use the Warwick-Edinburgh Wellbeing Scales to measure the effectiveness of our work, noting some very positive responses.
On a self-referral basis, our Wellbeing Hub stretches across a wide range of other initiatives - from our regular Monday evening Frazzled Café (originated by Ruby Wax, offering a confidential space for all ages feeling overwhelmed by modern life); to the Memory Lane Café (partnering with the Town Council and Salvation Army, welcoming people living with dementia and their carers); to the Ribbon Cancer Support Group (in partnership with Macmillan Cancer Support); to PD Buddies (in partnership with Parkinson’s UK); to the Compassionate Café (in partnership with Rennie Grove Peace Hospice); to the Intergenerational Choir (partnering additionally with Sir John Lawes School and the Clover Singing Group), to the monthly parents and carers of children with autism support group. Attendance in aggregate, across all these activities is now comfortably well into the 100s.
Additionally for younger residents, we have been actively supporting the launch of pilot groups with Youth Talk (who provide free confidential counselling to local 13-25 year olds).
All this activity is in addition to our longstanding Befriending service providing companionship to approaching 100 local residents – and specifically noting also the emergence of the increasingly well attended Men’s Morning on the 1st and 2nd Fridays of the month at the Well Bean Café, and the Chatting Café on the 3rd and 4th Friday of each month – offering companionship to those who might otherwise find loneliness a real challenge.
The Community Fund, drawing from reserves established since 2008 through the Abbeyfield endowment, continues its impactful work. Notably, we’ve supported the construction of outdoor facilities across many Harpenden schools, assisted with repairs to community halls, contributed to Young Enterprise initiatives, provided assistance and equipment to Harpenden Rovers Youth FC, equipment for pottery groups and also local wildlife sanctuaries, all reinforcing our commitment to the local community.
On a wider note, we still continue to partner with the Harpenden Library to keep it open on Wednesday afternoons - a warm, judgement-free space for learning, reading, and accessing information.
Responding to both Harpenden Trust and wider community needs, we were also thrilled this year to take delivery (finally!) of our new 16-seater Harpenden Trust Community Minibus. Mobility is often a root cause of isolation – and the minibus is now enabling the Trust to organise transport more effectively to our own events. This valuable resource will also increasingly be made available to local Harpenden community groups - whether schools, societies, sports teams, churches, or other organisations - providing greater flexibility to enhance their services for local residents. The youngsters of Harpenden Golf Club have already benefitted with a trip to the Wentworth PGA just a couple of weeks ago.
Determined to do more – Our community halls
A very visible development over the last year has been the enhancement of our buildings and community spaces.
At No.90 Southdown Road, behind the distinctive purple doors, our halls have always been a-buzz with activity, as hirers offer an impressive array of activities, clubs, and classes to local residents. Recognising the vital role such spaces play in community life, we were thrilled to announce the acquisition of the Methodist Church Halls’ lease in Southdown back in January 2023. This strategic move ensured that this valuable community asset remained accessible to Harpenden residents for years to come – another 999 years to be precise! By combining the Southdown Halls (located above the Coop store) with our existing Harpenden Trust Centre (directly opposite the Plough & Harrow), the Trust now boasts a total of six spacious halls and meeting rooms available for hire on a not-for-profit basis.
We have undertaken an extensive refurbishment program to bring both our properties up to date. Our four halls and two meeting rooms have never been busier: we currently have 47 regular local hirers (running 65 classes per week), plus 16 regular community charitable hirers. Over the last 12 months we have also held 60 children’s parties, together with 3 charity fundraisers, 4 first aid courses and we have even opened our doors as a Polling Station. Beyond meeting the immediate demand, this expanded space has also provided the Trust with its own central space for internal meetings – and also the room that has enabled us to house various new community initiatives.
In June 2023, just 15 months ago, the “Well Bean Community Café” opened its doors for the first time. And what an amazing success story! Every weekday morning, staffed by dedicated Trust volunteers – or should I say our 34 volunteer baristas – we offer a welcoming spot for over 100 local residents each week to gather, connect, chat and enjoy refreshments – all provided without any financial obligation, being available to all on a donations only basis. We’ve also allocated space, alongside our café, free of charge, to other local charities, fostering collaboration and community spirit.
Into 2025 and beyond we already have further plans in place. For many of the people we support, simple ease of access to practical advice is incredibly valuable. We have been delighted to welcome both Computer Friendly and Harpenden Money Advice into our buildings, offering free drop-in advice centres – using our space free of charge – and we were delighted this last month to have launched our formal partnership with Citizens Advice (“CAB”) to expand further their offering across Harpenden. Citizens Advice now offers a regular Wednesday lunchtime presence alongside our Well Bean Community Café – a way of proactively reaching people who would not naturally have the knowledge to access CAB’s invaluable service offering, to come along and meet a CAB adviser in a relaxed setting. This is already starting to bear fruit.
And one notable new event for this coming December – we are seeking to establish “Carols on The Common” this Christmas Eve – a proposed new annual community event – free of charge – designed to appeal to all ages of Harpenden residents and give everyone a chance to sing carols and Christmas songs together on Christmas Eve. The event will take place in a roped off area of Harpenden Common, next to the Harpenden Arms. It will be short and sweet and take place early in the evening, so that little ones can have an outing before bedtime, others can come before it gets too late and our wonderful Harpenden youngsters can make it their first stop before going to the pub with their friends. The event will be led by local musician Tim Sutton and his band, and run by a professional events management company. Free access to all, in aid of promoting the Harpenden Trust Christmas Appeal.
A heartfelt “Thank You” to our 100s of Volunteers
To all our 100s of Volunteers, Funders, and Supporters. Once again, in yet another year, we have witnessed an incredible team effort. The Harpenden Trust, as a voluntary organisation, owes its success to everyone’s unwavering dedication. Your generosity – both in time and experience – has been the cornerstone of all our achievements.
Without the kindness and selflessness of our many volunteers – over 500 local individuals again this past year – the Trust simply could not fulfil its mission. Together, we form a collective team, and I hope that being part of the Trust is equally rewarding for each of you. The positive impact we’ve seen in the lives of so many local people is at times truly heartwarming. Sometimes, mere words fall short. Yet, in my annual Chair’s Statement, I want to formally express my gratitude to everyone who has contributed. Each and every person plays a vital role:
· Main Trust Board Colleagues: Your commitment drives our vision forward;
· Care Fund and Community Fund Committees and Team Leaders: Your dedication ensures our programs thrive;
· Trust Office Staff taking calls each morning: Your daily support keeps everything running smoothly;
· Care Fund Home Visitors: Your anonymous yet essential work touches lives;
· Harpenden Wellbeing Hub volunteers: Your contribution enhances the wellbeing of our local community;
· Our befrienders and Well Bean Café baristas: Your kindness brightens the days of local residents;
· Library Volunteers, Outings organisers, Minibus & Transport Teams: Your contributions benefit so many local people and groups;
· Property and Facilities Teams: Your work improves and expands our footprint and services;
· Christmas Appeal Team: Your fundraising sustains our Care Fund;
· Audit, Risk, and Governance Committee: Your oversight ensures our integrity;
· Investment Committee: Your expertise secures our financial foundations;
· External Affairs Team: Your outreach spreads awareness;
· … and to all our other volunteers – without your time and expertise, the Trust would not be capable of making the difference that is does.
A very special mention here also for Pat’s completely invaluable People Team – as without our People Team supporting all these activities – meeting new potential volunteers, understanding how they would like to become involved – we simply would not achieve all that we do.
And a special additional thank you to the residents of Harpenden, whose generosity during our Christmas Appeal this last year – raising over £55,000 – speaks volumes for the local support of the Trust’s work. One observation on funding in general – there seems to be an increasing trend for funding to be being centralised, putting pressure on very local charities (such as Citizens Advice and Youth Talk to name but two whom we work increasingly closely with). Speaking with June Chapman and David Barker, their funding is increasingly stretched – and increasingly we find ourself offering some financial support to these critical local resources ourselves, ensuring that the local Harpenden community still benefits from their presence.
To all our partners and stakeholders – from our local MP, our Town Mayor (and thank you Pip for nominating us as one of your chosen charities this year), our Town Councillors and the Council staff, to our local GP surgeries to national charities (such as Macmillan, Parkinsons UK) to local charities and organisations (such as MIND, Youth Talk, Rennie Grove Peace, Salvation Army) … and everyone else …. we thank you for your support and we’re delighted to be working alongside you, supporting where we can – and amplifying where we can, what you yourselves offer across our own local Harpenden community.
Personally, it has been an immense privilege to continue to work alongside such wonderful local people, supporting our Harpenden community. To all of you, thank you for your extraordinary kindness, your time, and the friendships we’ve all built.
We all have our individual stories and heart-warming experiences. And collectively, we can all share so many individual stories – which Nick, Sarah, Steve and Pat will go on to share with us later.
In aggregate, I suggested at the outset this evening that this was “a year of many 100s” in terms of the number local people we support – but this however rather underplays what collectively we have all achieved – as it’s probably much more accurately a year when we supported well into the 1,000s – being that good neighbour to well over 1,000 local people across our own local community.
To all my Trust volunteer colleagues – a final thought about all we do and the local people we support – in the words of one of my favourite quotes – “People may forget exactly what you said; People may also forget exactly what you did; But people will never forget how you made them feel.”
With heartfelt appreciation,
Richard Nichols
Chair
17 October 2024
