This meeting of the General Purposes and Arbitration Committee was scheduled to include consideration of the Leonard Andrews Poole Trust's finances, and to consider requests for grants from the Trust.

Leonard Andrews Poole Trust Grants

Two requests for grants from the Leonard Andrews Poole Trust were scheduled to be considered.

Request for funding for entertainment at Harvest View Health & Social Care Centre

A report was prepared that requested funding from the Leonard Andrews Poole Trust to pay for the costs of providing fun and enjoyable entertainment on a rolling programme for the service users at Harvest View Health & Social Care Centre. The report, for information only, argued that:

Entertainment can help in reducing anxiety, fear and stress associated with being in a short-term setting like Harvest View and may even reduce the need for sedation. It will encourage service users out of their rooms and help them cope and be better engaged in their reablement programme as well as develop social connections and bonding.

The report requested £5,200 from the Trust to pay for 52 weeks of entertainment at a cost of £100 per week.

Request for funding for entertainment and exercise sessions at Fountain Court

The Committee was also scheduled to consider a request for £2,680 from the Leonard Andrews Poole Trust to fund monthly entertainment and twice monthly gentle chair exercise sessions for residents at Fountain Court. The report requesting the funding argued that:

People live with the effects of Dementia disease differently every day. Music, dancing, and exercise is proven to help people living with dementia to relax and enjoy social interaction, reduce agitation, anxiety, and low mood.

The report went on to say that gentle chair exercises were believed to help people maintain their mobility, and that music therapy could reduce the need for medication focussed plans of support.

Leonard Andrews Poole Trust Annual Report

The committe was scheduled to consider the Leonard Andrews Poole Trust's annual report for 2023/24. The report explained that:

The Leonard Andrews Poole Trust is a Trust fund set up in 1979 from a bequest by Leonard Andrews and is registered with the Charities Commission (ref 509166).

The report noted that the Trust's funds were held in 7767.32 shares in the COIF Charities Investment Fund, which was managed by CCLA. The report explained that the opening balance of the fund on 1 April 2023 was £145,533, and that this had increased to £158,706 by the time the report was written. The report noted that during 2023/24 the fund had an income of £5,852.01, and that £3,862.50 was spent from the fund. This left the fund with a closing balance of £28,666.03. The report explained that this money was available to be spent on the residents of Fountain Court and Harvest View.

The report also noted that The managers at [Harvest View] and [Fountain Court] have been made aware of the level of funds available and their potential uses . This suggests that the two requests for grant funding from the trust may have been made at the instigation of the council.