We are looking forward to opening the secret garden behind 2-38 Ericcson Close. The ground has been resting and recovering and is currently covered in wildflowers and weeds, so will need some attention before we can make it available. Please look out for more news and in time, an invitation to the grand opening!

In other news, the Reconvened Annual General Meeting took place in July. You can read the Chair’s and Treasurer’s Reports Below and find out about the new members of the Management Committee.

CHAIR’S REPORT

It is very important that we remain as a Co-op. We need more people interested in how our estate is run. We all have a lovely place to live and that is because of how the estate, in the past and the present, has been managed by our very capable manager, Lorraine. But unless we can get more people to take responsibility by joining the committee, the estate will be taken back by the council. Joining the committee does not require any special skills. Meetings only take place six times a year. In an ideal world, we would always meet face to face, but some people do attend by Zoom. Personally, I would prefer all committee meetings to be face-to-face as it helps to foster a sense of togetherness and commitment. However, I understand that Zoom allows more people to join the larger meetings, and making those meetings as easy as possible to attend is crucial.

AUDIT

As required by our management agreement with WBC, the Co-op has carried out an external audit, conducted by Keith Johnson. The report was extremely favourable and the Co-op is in excellent financial shape. Again, this is largely thanks to Lorraine who has managed the budget well, in spite of extraordinary increases in energy and other costs.

We are pleased to be working with the new Resident Participation Officer (RPO), Tom Gates. Tom is our main point of contact with Wandsworth Council. Since starting, he has attended several management meetings and regularly keeps in touch with changing regulations, and has been able to provide useful advice when needed.

Tom recently conducted the annual council review, and we are currently waiting for his report.

NEW COMMITTEE MEMBERS

The AGM is a time to say goodbye to committee members no longer in a position to offer their time, either because they have become too busy or have moved away. It is also an opportunity to welcome new volunteers. We would like to thank Alexandra Baylis for her contributions and wish her well in her new ventures. And say a big thank you and welcome to Nick Harvey, Andrej Banan, and Sue Daley who have joined us.

Nevertheless, we are still very low on numbers. Please consider putting yourself forward. We are particularly keen to attract tenants to the committee.

TREASURER’S REPORT

Financial summary and report:

Auditors have issued a clean audit report stating that the financial statements in their opinion show a true and fair view of co-ops affairs for the year.

The management letter issued by the auditors indicates that they have no concerns and there are no weaknesses that they want to report or highlight.

The co-op’s income increased in 2023 to £147K compared to £140k mainly due to additional service charges receivable, as more was spent in the year on service-related matters. Management allowance for the year increased slightly from £69.7k to £71.6k

Expenditure this year was lower compared to the previous year; Co-op spent £121k this year compared to £144k in the previous year. This was mainly due to lower expenditure on tenant-related maintenance costs this year.

The co-op reported a Surplus of £28K compared to a deficit last year of £(3K).

The cash and bank balance of the co-op remains healthy at £475k with a good working capital of £423k.

As a result of the surplus this year, Co-op’s reserves increased from £396k to £424K.

Conclusion: The co-op continues to focus on ensuring that it has reasonable reserves and cash position ensuring that it can maintain services and properties going forward.

BIN SHEDs

Please remember that you should only dispose of rubbish in your own bin shed. Some residents are finding their bin sheds full of other people’s rubbish which means they have no-where to put their own. If you are producing more rubbish than your bin shed can cope with, you will need to take it to Smuggler’s Way. Please do not use landings or other communal areas for this purpose.