The Ron Pickering Memorial Fund Annual Report and Financial Statements For The Year Ended 31 July 2024
Charity Registered Number: 1005166
The Ron Pickering Memorial Fund
Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 July 2024
Contents
Page
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1 Reference and Administrative Information 2 Trustees’ Report 6 Report of the Independent Examiner 7 Statement of Financial Activities
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8 Statement of Financial Position
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9 Notes to the Financial Statements
The Ron Pickering Memorial Fund
Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 July 2024
Reference and Administrative Information
Trustees: Ms K Pickering (Chair & Treasurer) Mr I Hodge Mr A Caan Mrs J Summers Ms G Sayers Fund Administrator: Ms K Pickering Registered Address: 19 Walsingham Road Enfield Middlesex EN2 6EX Registered Charity: Number 1005166 Bankers: Barclays Bank plc Welwyn Garden City Hertfordshire Independent Examiner: Alison Nayler BSc, F.C.A Azets Audit Services 5 Yeomans Court Ware Road Hertford Hertfordshire SG13 7HJ
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The Ron Pickering Memorial Fund
Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 July 2024
Trustees’ Report
The trustees present their Report for the 12-month period ended 31[st] July 2024.
The trustees during the year are named at the beginning of these financial statements.
The charity was established by Trust Deed dated 24[th] October 1991 and is registered with the Charity Commission, Number 1005166. The address of the charity is given at the beginning of these financial statements.
Objects and Activities
The charity was founded in memory of Ron Pickering OBE, a teacher, athletics coach and television commentator. Above all, he stood for the ethics of sport, the aspirations of the young and for the belief that sport could enhance lives in more ways than just physically.
The main purpose of his Memorial Fund is to give financial support to talented young athletes between the ages of 15 and 23, with grants to athletes over 23 being made in exceptional circumstances.
The grants are designed to make a difference and range in value depending on the athlete’s age, ability and personal circumstance but have always had an impact on the athlete’s ability to develop and helping recipients make the difficult transition from junior to senior level through support for equipment, specialist coaching or travel and importantly help build the athlete’s confidence and self-esteem through recognition.
It is hoped that with this encouragement, the youngsters will continue taking part in sport, reaching their potential, and learning from the ethic of fair play.
The charity has also, in the past, assisted coaches, athletic clubs and the Schools Athletics Associations and has supported the development of Sportshall Athletics around the UK in order to introduce more young children to the fun of athletics.
Structure and management
The trustees’ main duty is to ensure the fund fulfils its role, raises money to achieve its goals and establishes criteria to select the young athletes and their coaches as recipients of the financial aid. All trustee positions are voluntary.
The charity currently has a Working Committee which manages the day-to-day affairs of the charity and an Awards Committee which meets to allocate the charity’s funds within present guidelines. Both committees operate within the overarching supervision of the Board of Trustees.
The Board of Trustees meets annually to oversee the policies, plans and finances of the charity.
Public benefit statement
When planning the Funds activities for the year, the trustees have considered the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit.
The RPMF grants cover the whole of the UK and are decided on the basis of talent, performance and need in the hope that young athletes will remain in the sport and reach their potential. They should ideally be in some form of education and the grants are used to cover the cost of travel to training, provision of equipment (e.g. javelins, vaulting poles), and physiotherapy or contribute towards warm weather training during the winter months. Not only is the money useful to them but there is also a psychological effect knowing that their talents are being recognised. Hardship is taken into account with disadvantaged youngsters.
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Several of the early recipients of RPMF grants are now coaches and mentors to a new generation of young athletes. A few of our gold medallists have made careers in the media and help encourage and motivate others to follow in their footsteps; others hold responsible posts in sport related organisations and businesses.
Taking part in sport is character building. It teaches the young the difference between aggression and assertion and to abide by the rules of the game. RPMF helps athletes to achieve and creates models for others to follow.
The benefits of a healthy lifestyle extend not only to the athletes and coaches supported by the grants made, but also to the fun runners who make up our team in the Tata Consultancy London Marathon and other events each year and have raised most of the money that has been given out in grants.
This year marks a change for the Fund as we begin a new chapter working in conjunction with the Lloyd Cowan Bursary, a Charity with similar aims as RPMF, we hope to work together to ensure that our funds reach a wider range of athletes and coaches to further help the sport.
Fundraising
The London Marathon, and our guaranteed places in that, continues to be the major source of income to the fund through our wonderful team of marathon runners raising sponsorship from friends and family in order to donate to the Ron Pickering Memorial Fund. It is the donations from this annual event that covers all of the grants to young athletes each year. These athletes are referred to as “Ronners” as they are Running for Ron.
This year, with the complications of Covid behind us, we were able to field 21 runners in the London Marathon this year on 21[st] April 2024, amongst the ‘Ronners’ this year were both of Ron’s grandsons, James and Robert Quinlan and our trustee Jo Jennings-Summer ran the 26.2 mile route.
6 places were rollover places (i.e. withdrawals) from the 2023 event 6 places were allocated from the April 2022 postponed event
9 additional places RPMF purchased
Of the 21 RPMF places, 19 Ronners took part in April 2024 – 3 withdrew due to injury (and will be rolled over to the 2025 event)
According to their 2024 Fundraising pages, our Ronners were able to raise at total of £37,379 ( this figure goes beyond the audit date of 31[st] July 2024).
The highest 3 fundraising page totals raised were £7,732, £2,827 and £2,800 – well above the £1,500 we ask Ronners to target, which made up for a few of the Ronners ‘underperforming’ on their fundraising efforts.
However, the average raised by the group (£37,379/19) was £1,967.32 which is well above average for our Marathon fundraising.
RPMF make efforts each year to encourage and support Ronners to maximise their fundraising efforts. All participants are advised to personalise their fundraising pages, share training and event stories and photos along their journey and further push once the marathon is complete by sharing photos of their finisher’s medals and experiences of the day.
The Fund also shares quotes and photos from ‘top’ British athletes who were at some stage of their development supported by RPMF, to further promote the good work of the fund and hopefully encourage more donations.
Fundraising Totals for 2024 (to 31[st] July 2024)
This year the fund raising was as follows:
£36,761.48 – from the London Marathon (April 2024)
£6,661.56 – From Gift Aid
£8,156.55 – From other donations during the year.
Total: £51,579,59
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The Annual RPMF Grants
This year we received over 600 applications during October and November of 2023. After much deliberation, the RPMF was able to award a total amount of £39,800.00 in grants to 208 talented young British athletes. This year 49% of grants went to female athletes and 51% to male. Again, there was a good spread across the age groups, 36% of grants went to Under 18’s, 26% to Under 20’s, 29% to Under 23’s and 9% to 23+ athletes.
Distribution among events groups was: Sprints: 25% Hurdles: 14% Endurance 25% Jumps: 14% Throws: 16% Multi-Events: 6%
This distribution across events is broadly similar to last year.
The Jean Pickering Olympic Scholarships (JPOS)
Originally established in the lead up to the 2012 Olympic Games, initially in partnership with the Great 12 Livery Companies Olympic Fund, the idea behind the Jean Pickering Olympic Scholarship scheme was to give longer term financial support and advice to a select group of young athletes, and their coach when needed.
Unfortunately, due to the financial insecurities caused by Covid, and the lack of opportunities to raise extra funds outside of our London Marathon Fundraising, the RPMF took the decision that we could not commit to an outlay required to secure funding until the 2024 Olympic Games, so we are not in a position to award the Jean Pickering Scholarships from 2022-2024. This position continues to be the case moving forward in 2024.
The Jean Pickering Young Athlete of the Year awards
We continue to look to make these awards, however the England Athletics Hall of Fame Awards evening has now move to being a bi-annual event and so these awards will be made in the next financial year.
The Shaun Pickering Memorial Throws Competition May 2024
The inaugural Memorial Throws competition took place at the end of May 2024, in the Paula Radcliffe Stadium at Loughborough University where Shaun once worked for UKA. The format of the meeting was for Under 23 Athletes to compete in Shot, Hammer, Discus and Javelin. It was organised by England Athletics under the amazing stewardship of Nick Ridgeon and had a memorial wall for Shaun with many of his competition memorabilia on display.
The best performance of the day for the male and female athletes were awarded with £500.00 from the Fund plus other prizes such as warm weather training.
Achievements and performance
World Championships Budapest August 2023
70% of the British team competing in Budapest this summer were past and present recipients of an RPMF award, these include Josh Kerr, who claimed the World title from the favourite Jacob Ingebrigtsen, Ben Pattison, gaining a hard-fought bronze in the 800m and Keely Hodgkinson taking the silver medal in the women’s race with another RPMF awardee, Jemma Reekie, taking 5th place too. Morgan Lake took 4[th] place in the high jump, and gained the Olympic qualifying standard and the previously mentioned Molly Caudrey took 5[th] place in the Pole Vault, all the more amazing as she was only 5 months after having surgery. The whole of the men’s 4x400m relay quartet were previous RPMF recipients, and two of these also brough home silver in the mixed 4x400 relay as well as both Laviai Neilson and Amber Anning. Amber being also a previous recipient of a JPOS award. Likewise the women’s 4x400m quartet were also all RPMF awardees and gained the bronze medal.
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European U20 Championships Jerusalem, Israel August 2023
Again a large number of the U20 team were RPMF recipients, including Mia McIntosh and Jessica Duncton in the 100m, Cleo Agyepong in the shot put, Zara Obamikinwa gaining 4[th] place in the women’s discus, Luke Ball in the Men’s high jump. Emily Newham gaining a great PB in the 400 hurdles of 57.02 while Abbie Ives gained a silver medal in the 800m and she broke the 2minute barrier later in the season, making her one of only 4 U20 women to do so. Success Eduan won bronze in the women’s 200m, Gabrielle Garber made her first major final in the women’s high jump as did Las Benjamin in the men’s Pole vault and David Race and Jake Mishull were U20 4x400 relay champions, all RPMF awarded athletes.
Olympic Games Paris July/August 2024
There were a grand total of 35 RPMF supported athletes in the Great Britain Team at the Paris Olympics and some amazing performances from these athletes, not least of which, the only Gold medal on the track won by Keely Hodgkinson in the women’s 800m. Josh Kerr came close to equalling that with Silver in the men’s 800m and the amazing Katerina Johnson-Thompson also took Silver in the heptathlon. In addition, Jade O’Dowda came 10[th] in that same competition, at her first Olympics. In both 4 x 400m relays, 3 out of the 4 runners in the final were supported by RPMF, with the men running a European record to take Silver and the women running a British record to take Bronze. The entire women’s quartet in the 4 x 100 were previously supported by RPMF, they took Silver.
Financial review
The attached financial statements show the current state of the finances which the trustees consider to be sound. They have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in note 1 to the accounts and comply with the charity’s trust deed.
In the opinion of the trustees these financial statements are prepared in accordance with the Statement of Recommended Practice on Accounting by Charities.
The charity’s bankers are Barclays Bank, Welwyn Garden City.
The charity currently holds reserves of £127,655. These are available for distribution in future years to young athletes who meet the criteria of the fund and are held in order to ensure the future of the fund.
Risk assessment
The trustees are confident that they have identified the risks which may affect the charity and that they have taken steps to mitigate those risks should they occur.
On behalf of the Trustees Ms Kim Pickering (Chair & Treasurer)
Date: 27 January 2025
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The Ron Pickering Memorial Fund
Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 July 2024
Independent Examiner's Report
To The Trustees of The Ron Pickering Memorial Fund
I report to the Trustees on my examination of the financial statements of the charity for the year ended 31 July 2024.
Responsibilities and basis of report
As the trustees of the charity, you are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (the 2011 Act).
I report in respect of my examination of the charity’s financial statements carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act. In carrying out my examination I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission undersection 145(5)(b) of the 2011 Act.
Independent examiners’ statement
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:
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accounting records were not kept in respect of the charity as required by section 130 of the 2011 Act; or 2. the financial statements do not accord with those records; or
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the financial statements do not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a true and fair view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination.
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the financial statements to be reached.
Alison Nayler BSc, F.C.A Azets Audit Services 5 Yeomans Court Ware Road Hertford Hertfordshire SG13 7HJ United Kingdom
Date: 27 January 2025
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THE RON PICKERING MEMORIAL FUND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2024
STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES
| Notes Incoming resources Incoming resources from generated funds Voluntary income: Donations 2 Investment income 3 Total incoming resources Resources expended Costs of generating voluntary income 4 Charitable activities 5 Support costs 6 Total resources expended Net income/expenditure for the year Fund balances brought forward Fund balances carried forward |
£ 1,720 46,942 2,352 |
Unrestricted funds 2024 £ 52,184 52,184 2,508 54,692 51,014 3,678 123,977 127,655 |
£ 1,693 41,571 2,468 |
Unrestricted funds 2023 £ 59,291 59,291 1,186 60,477 45,732 14,745 109,232 123,977 |
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THE RON PICKERING MEMORIAL FUND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2024
STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION
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Notes 2024 2023
£ £ £ £
Fixed assets
Tangible assets 10 449 -
Current assets
Deposit accounts - 3,108
Current accounts 73,297 93,288
Short term deposits - 95 day period 56,872 30,277
Debtors 11 371 -
130,540 126,673
Current liabilities
Accruals and deferred income 12 3,334 2,696
Net current assets 127,206 123,977
Total assets less current liabilities 127,655 123,977
Represented by
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Fund balances
Restricted funds 15 - -
Unrestricted funds 15 127,655 123,977
127,655 123,977
Ms K Pickering (Chair & Treasurer)
For and on behalf of the Trustees
Date: 27 January 2025
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THE RON PICKERING MEMORIAL FUND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2024
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
1. Principal accounting policies
a) Basis of accounting and preparation
The financial statements for The Ron Pickering Memorial Fund ('the charity') have been prepared in accordance with the Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (issued in October 2019) ('Charities SORP (FRS 102)'), Financial Reporting Standard 102 'The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland' ('FRS 102') and the Charities Act 2011.
Under the Charities SORP (FRS 102), the Charity meets the definition of a public benefit entity.
The financial statements are prepared in sterling (£), which is the functional currency of the charity. Monetary amounts in these financial statemetns are rounded to the nearest £.
The financial statements are prepared under the historical cost convention, modified to include certain items at fair value.
The significant accounting policies applied in the preparation of these financial statements are set out below. These policies have been consistently applied to all years presented unless otherwise stated.
The address of the principal office is given on the information on page 1 of these financial statements. The nature of the charity's operations and principal activities are set out on page 3.
The charity has taken advantage of the following disclosure exemption in preparing these financial statements, as permitted for small entities by FRS 102:
- the requirements of Section 7 Statement of Cash Flows.
b) Going concern
At the time of approving the financial statements, the Trustees' have a reasonable expectation that the Trust has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. Thus the Trustees' continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the financial statements.
c) Incoming resources
All incoming resources are included in the Statement of Financial Activities (SoFA) when the charity is legally entitled to the income after any performance conditions have been met, the amount can be measured reliably and it is possible that the income will be received.
For donations to be recognised the charity will have been notified of the amounts and the settlement date in writing. If there are conditions attached to the donation and this requires a level of performance before entitlement can be obtained then income is deferred until those conditions are fully met of the fulfilment of those conditions is within the control of the charity and it is probable that they will be fulfilled.
Interest income is recognised using the effective interest method.
d) Resources expended
Expenditure is recognised on an accruals basis as a liability is incurred, and includes any VAT which cannot be recovered by the charity.
i) Expenditure on Charitable activities comprises those costs incurred on projects undertaken in pursuance of the charitable aims of the company.
ii) Fund raising incorporates the salaries, direct expenditure and overhead costs of the staff who undertake fundraising work.
iii) Governance costs are those costs incurred in the management of the charity's assets, organisation and compliance functions.
iv) Support costs are those costs incurred by the company in support of its main charitable actives and projects. Where costs cannot be directly attributed, they have been allocated to activities on a basis consistent with the use of resources.
v) The value of the services provided by volunteers has not been included in these accounts.
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THE RON PICKERING MEMORIAL FUND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2024
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
e) Fund accounting
i) Unrestricted funds are available for use at the discretion of the trustees in furtherance of the general objectives of the charity.
ii) Restricted funds are subject to specific conditions imposed by the donor as to how they may be used.
f) Tangible fixed assets
Tangible fixed assets are initially measured at cost and subsequently measured at cost or valuation, net of depreciation and any impairment losses.
Depreciation is recognised so as to write off the cost or valuation of assets less their residual values over their useful lives on the following bases:
Computer equipment 33% straight line
The gain or loss arising on the disposal of an asset is determined as the difference between the sale proceeds and the carrying value of the asset, and is recognised in the statement of financial activities.
g) Cash at bank and in hand
Cash at bank and cash in hand includes cash and short term highly liquid investments with a short maturity of three months or less from the date of acquisition or opening of the deposit or similar account.
h) Short term deposits
Short term deposits relate to the Cambridge & Counties Bank account. There is currently a 95 day notice period on the account.
i) Trade and other debtors
Trade and other debtors are measured at transaction price.
j) Creditors payable within one year
Creditors with no stated interest rate payable within one year are recorded at transaction price. Any losses arising from impairment are recognised in expenditure.
k) Creditors and provisions
Creditors and provisions are recognised where the charity has a present obligation resulting from a past event that will probably result in the transfer of funds to a third party and the amount due to settle the obligation can be measured or estimated reliably. Creditors and provisions are normally recognised at their settlement amount after allowing for any trade discounts due.
l) Taxation
The company is registered charity and is therefore entitled to the exemptions from corporation tax afforded by section 505 of the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988. Accordingly, there is no corporation tax charge in these financial statements.
m) Judgements and key sources of estimation uncertainty
Accounting estimates and judgements are continually evaluated and are based on historical experience and other factors, including expectations of future events that are believed ro be reasonable under the circumstances.
The Trustees do not consider there are no key judgements or estimates recognised in the financial statements.
There are no key assumptions concerning the future and other key sources of estimation uncertainty at the reporting date that have a significant risk of causing a material adjustment to the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities within the next financial year.
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THE RON PICKERING MEMORIAL FUND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2024
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
| 2. Donation income Donations - Direct Donations - Gift Aid Donations - Just Giving Donations - Enthuse 3. Investment income Interest receivable 4. Costs of generating voluntary income Marathon expense 5. Charitable activities Notes Grants payable 8 Printing, postage and stationery Advertising Miscellaneous expenditure Depreciation Analysis by fund Unrestricted funds Restricted funds 6. Support costs Notes Insurance Governance costs 7 |
Unrestricted funds 2024 £ 6,151 6,662 2,610 36,761 52,184 Unrestricted funds 2024 £ 2,508 2,508 Unrestricted funds 2024 £ 1,720 1,720 2024 £ 40,800 69 5,897 6 170 46,942 46,942 - 46,942 Unrestricted funds 2024 £ 379 1,973 2,352 |
Unrestricted funds 2023 £ 38,528 1,113 19,650 - 59,291 Unrestricted funds 2023 £ 1,186 1,186 Unrestricted funds 2023 £ 1,693 1,693 2023 £ 39,609 403 1,524 35 - 41,571 41,571 - 41,571 Unrestricted funds 2023 £ 368 2,100 2,468 |
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THE RON PICKERING MEMORIAL FUND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2024
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
| 7. Governance costs Independent examination fees Accountancy services Legal and professional fees 8. Grants payable Grants awarded - RPMF |
Unrestricted funds 2024 £ 1,000 938 35 1,973 Unrestricted funds 2024 £ 40,800 40,800 |
Unrestricted funds 2023 £ 960 1,140 - 2,100 Unrestricted funds 2023 £ 39,609 39,609 |
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9. Trustees
The Trustees, or any persons connected with them, did not receive any remuneration or any other benefits from employment with the Charity during the year (2023: £Nil). Reimbursed expenses paid to the Trustees amounted to £1,231 (2023: £641). These reimbursements comprised of marathon costs of £543 (2023: £641) and printing, postage and stationery costs of £688 (2023: £Nil) incurred by 2 Trustees, as well as the purchase of computer equipment for £619 (2023: £Nil) by 1 Trustee.
10. Tangible fixed assets
| Cost As at 1 August 2023 Additions As at 31 July 2024 Depreciation As at 1 August 2023 Depreciation charged in the year As at 31 July 2024 Carrying amount As at 31 July 2024 As at 1 August 2023 11. Debtors Prepayments Other debtors |
Computer equipment Total £ £ - - 619 619 619 619 - - 170 170 170 170 449 449 - - 2024 2023 £ £ 371 - - - 371 - |
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THE RON PICKERING MEMORIAL FUND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2024
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
| 12. Accruals and deferred income Accruals Deferred Income |
2024 £ 3,334 - 3,334 |
2023 £ 1,891 805 2,696 |
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13. Related party transactions
There were no related party transactions during the current or prior year.
14. Unrestricted funds
Analysis of movements in unrestricted funds for the current year:
| Fund Name The Ron Pickering Memorial Fund Jean Pickering Olympic Scholarship Total Analysis of movements in Fund Name The Ron Pickering Memorial Fund Jean Pickering Olympic Scholarship Total 15. Analysis of net assets Tangible assets Net current assets Total |
Balance at Gains and Funds at 1 August 2023 Income Expenditure Transfer losses 31 July 2024 £ £ £ £ £ £ 119,637 54,692 (51,014) - - 123,315 s 4,340 - - - - 4,340 123,977 54,692 (51,014) - - 127,655 unrestricted funds for the prior year: Balance at Gains and Funds at 1 August 2022 Income Expenditure Transfer losses 31 July 2023 £ £ £ £ £ £ 104,892 60,477 (45,732) - - 119,637 s 4,340 - - - - 4,340 109,232 60,477 (45,732) - - 123,977 between funds Unrestricted Restricted Unrestricted Restricted funds funds Total funds funds Total 2024 2024 2024 2023 2023 2023 £ £ £ £ £ £ 449 - 449 - - - 127,206 - 127,206 123,977 - 123,977 127,655 - 127,655 123,977 - 123,977 |
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