Greta keeps our books in order (no, not the library books!)
As a qualified ACCA accountant and a Financial Controller in her day job, Greta is a really important asset to the Library. She is in charge of our accounting and makes grant applications to raise vital funds to keep the Library going.
After reducing her working week to three hours, Greta has found the time to get more involved in local activities, such as Zumba classes and tennis. She also finds time now to support local causes like the Scouts and, of course, the Library.
Greta’s biggest success so far has been the award of almost £10,000 from the “Big Lottery Awards for All” fund to help us extend the Library opening hours.
Where the money goes
Greta says we need to raise £25,000 a year just to pay our basic costs such as gas, electricity, water, insurance, service charge, telephone and internet fees. Without this, the Library cannot stay open.
For any other spending, for example if we want to buy new books, we need even more cash.
Applying for grants might seem an obvious way to raise money, but it is not normally possible to get grants for running costs. They must be for delivery of specific projects. For example, we received £4,000 from the John Lyon’s Charity to run children’s art classes in the school holidays. This was spent on delivering 20 free art sessions for 240 children aged between 4 and 10. Only a small amount went towards paying for the Library’s running costs.