This year has seen some significant changes to both the Trustees and the staff. The trustee board saw two changes in the year firstly Sir George Moseley who was appointed chairman at the founding of UCT in 1997 and who held that role for many years took the decision to retire. Many of you know George and have witnessed at first hand his very quiet and friendly manner and also his commitment to ensuring that UCT not only continued but that it increased its service to the community. George is very much missed at our meetings but we all wish him and Madge all the very best for the future. While we lost one of our Trustees I am delighted to report that we gained a new one, Liz Paxton joined us in December 2009, she lives locally in Felsted and has already got to grips with our operation.
Another significant change that took place was the retirement of David Rose at the end of March 2010, David joined seven years ago as a driver and was promoted to General Manager in 2006. In both roles David has always given his complete dedication to UCT and he made many improvements using his considerable knowledge and skills in the field of computer software and hardware, vehicles and the community. UCT is a considerably better place for David having been there, and as the reward for good work is more good work we are all delighted that he is joining the Board of Trustees. We wish David and his wife Pat a very happy and well deserved retirement.I am delighted to welcome Malcolm Barrell as the new General Manager, Malcolm joined us in January and was confirmed as General Manager when David retired at the end of March. We have already benefited from Malcolm’s many years in senior roles in the motor industry and he has already demonstrated the drive and commitment which his role requires.
UCT has had another year of increased activity over the total services which we provide with passenger journeys totalling 23253 which is an increase of 6% over last year with the increase in both Group and Hospital Car being the source of the increase. The planned purchase of a second hand vehicle took place in May replacing one which was ageing and expensive to maintain. As a result of additional activity and price increases our vehicle running costs rose and we experienced a 6 % increase which resulted in total vehicle running costs of £13,554 which although not welcomed was mitigated by very good negotiating with our suppliers. An efficient and comprehensive computer system is at the heart of UCT’s operation and it is because of this that we have had to spend a large amount this year on replacing our hardware although part of this cost was recovered as a result of a fire which we suffered to our server, we also spent a significant amount in replacing our very old and no longer supported accounting software which will provide a more efficient system as well as providing much more functionality and security than our previous system.An organisation such as ours needs vehicles and computer systems but its greatest asset is the people who operate these and UCT continues to be very fortunate in the quality and dedication of our staff, drivers and volunteers, and I would like to thank all of them for their continued service and for the caring way in which they look after all of our members.
As always we are immensely grateful to our principal funder, Essex County Council and our second most important funder Uttlesford District Council, without these grants and those from Saffron Walden Town Council and West Essex PCT, we would not be able to function.
I would also like to thank all the Town and Parish Councils, local organisations and individuals who made donations to us this year, these together with our fund raising events are a vital part of our income.
Future developments The economic measures that the Government is beginning to implement are already having an effect on most organisations in the country. Local Government which is our main source of funding is likely to have its funding reduced or at best maintained at current levels and as our current agreement with Essex County Council expires at the end of March 2011 we are anxious to find out as quickly as possible what if any effect there will be on our income. We have begun a review of all our income and costs to ensure that we are operating as economically efficient as possible to ensure that we can maintain our ever increasing services to the people of Uttlesford, we are also examining any possible ways of generating other income from our Trading Company.
As reported last year we have continued to try and increase the number of both hospital car and minibus driver volunteers, and while we have had some success we still need more volunteers and we will therefore continue with our recruitment drive.
I would like to publicly thank my fellow Trustees the members of our Advisory Committee and all the staff for their efforts for UCT and the help that they have given me during the last year.
Ian Shaw Chairman
Another significant change that took place was the retirement of David Rose at the end of March 2010, David joined seven years ago as a driver and was promoted to General Manager in 2006. In both roles David has always given his complete dedication to UCT and he made many improvements using his considerable knowledge and skills in the field of computer software and hardware, vehicles and the community. UCT is a considerably better place for David having been there, and as the reward for good work is more good work we are all delighted that he is joining the Board of Trustees. We wish David and his wife Pat a very happy and well deserved retirement.I am delighted to welcome Malcolm Barrell as the new General Manager, Malcolm joined us in January and was confirmed as General Manager when David retired at the end of March. We have already benefited from Malcolm’s many years in senior roles in the motor industry and he has already demonstrated the drive and commitment which his role requires.
UCT has had another year of increased activity over the total services which we provide with passenger journeys totalling 23253 which is an increase of 6% over last year with the increase in both Group and Hospital Car being the source of the increase. The planned purchase of a second hand vehicle took place in May replacing one which was ageing and expensive to maintain. As a result of additional activity and price increases our vehicle running costs rose and we experienced a 6 % increase which resulted in total vehicle running costs of £13,554 which although not welcomed was mitigated by very good negotiating with our suppliers. An efficient and comprehensive computer system is at the heart of UCT’s operation and it is because of this that we have had to spend a large amount this year on replacing our hardware although part of this cost was recovered as a result of a fire which we suffered to our server, we also spent a significant amount in replacing our very old and no longer supported accounting software which will provide a more efficient system as well as providing much more functionality and security than our previous system.An organisation such as ours needs vehicles and computer systems but its greatest asset is the people who operate these and UCT continues to be very fortunate in the quality and dedication of our staff, drivers and volunteers, and I would like to thank all of them for their continued service and for the caring way in which they look after all of our members.
As always we are immensely grateful to our principal funder, Essex County Council and our second most important funder Uttlesford District Council, without these grants and those from Saffron Walden Town Council and West Essex PCT, we would not be able to function.
I would also like to thank all the Town and Parish Councils, local organisations and individuals who made donations to us this year, these together with our fund raising events are a vital part of our income.
Future developments The economic measures that the Government is beginning to implement are already having an effect on most organisations in the country. Local Government which is our main source of funding is likely to have its funding reduced or at best maintained at current levels and as our current agreement with Essex County Council expires at the end of March 2011 we are anxious to find out as quickly as possible what if any effect there will be on our income. We have begun a review of all our income and costs to ensure that we are operating as economically efficient as possible to ensure that we can maintain our ever increasing services to the people of Uttlesford, we are also examining any possible ways of generating other income from our Trading Company.
As reported last year we have continued to try and increase the number of both hospital car and minibus driver volunteers, and while we have had some success we still need more volunteers and we will therefore continue with our recruitment drive.
I would like to publicly thank my fellow Trustees the members of our Advisory Committee and all the staff for their efforts for UCT and the help that they have given me during the last year.
Ian Shaw Chairman