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2024-12-31-accounts

FRIENDS OF OYSTERMOUTH CASTLE (THE FRIENDS)

Registered Charity No 1011377

Financial Statements Year Ended 31st December 2024

Friends of Oystermouth Castle

1011377

Registered Charity number: 1011377

Registered address:

7 Libby Way Mumbles Swansea SA3 4LB

Trustees : Paul Lewis Chair & Trustee Marie Hughes Secretary & Trustee Gerallt Williams Treasurer & Trustee Sian O’Neil Trustee Clive Hughes Trustee Michael Eames Trustee John Marvelley Trustee Chris Oldfield Trustee

Independent Examiner:

Bevan Buckland LLP Ground Floor Cardigan House Castle Court Swansea Enterprise Park Swansea SA7 9LA

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Friends of Oystermouth Castle

1011377

Trustees Annual Report Year ended 31st December 2024

1. Structure, Governance and Management

The Friends is an unincorporated association registered with the Charity Commission. The management committee adopted its constitution in July 2012. The Friends members elect management committee members from its members at the Annual General Meeting or Extraordinary General Meeting.

2. Licence to operate

The City and Council of Swansea (the ‘Council’) own the freehold premises of Oystermouth Castle.

Under the terms of a Licence to Operate (the ‘Licence’) The Friends and authorised guests are permitted non-exclusive use by the Council to use Oystermouth Castle as a Heritage Visitor facility. The Licence provides that the Friends may retain any income arising from the use and operation of Oystermouth Castle, less an annually agreed contribution towards the cost of maintenance of Oystermouth Castle.

3. Financial Review

3.1 Income & Expenditure

See attached appendix 1 accounts as independently examined for the Friends of Oystermouth Castle by Bevan Buckland LLP, Chartered Accountants, tax and financial planners.

The income this year was slightly down on the year to £63,400.69 this was due to the castle not operating fully until May 2024 this was because a delay by the council in not ensuring safety measures were in place.

The total amount of unrestricted funds as of 2023 was £188,030. As of 2024 it is £221,400. There were no restricted funds in either year.

The accounts have been prepared on receipts and payments basis in accordance with the Charities Act 2011.

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Friends of Oystermouth Castle

1011377

4. Bank Account

The Friends have banked with NatWest since 2015. We presently have three accounts, namely a current account, grant account and a savings account.

A portion of income is held in the current account to cover:

  1. Essential Costs

  2. Prior agreed events at the Castle which are arranged by the Council

  3. Materials purchased for the Friends use

  4. All functions which are the Friends responsibility e.g. AGMs, insurance, accountancy fees

  5. The Friends contribution towards the Castle conservation

  6. Other sundry items

5. Public Benefit Statement

The Friends objectives are to provide access and presentation at the Castle. The Friends promote the history and heritage of the site to visitors and provide a venue for local schools, colleges and universities. The Castle hosts medieval re-enactments and living history societies, which recreate all aspects of life during the Middle Ages.

We have managed to run guided tours three times a week in July, August and September, organise Easter bunny, Halloween and Christmas events and have 9 educational school tours. We have liaised with the schools to ensure their visits fit into the school’s curriculum, they have workbooks which have been compiled by the Friends and vetted by the schools to assist with the tour. We are aiming to expand this further by working with Cynefin into a second term to put in place activities including a three-dimensional computer program so that the children can review or prepare their visit.

6. How we fulfilled our Aims

The Friends set up a training programme for potential new tour guides to shadow our experienced guides and we are continuing this by making a more structured approach. The programme of guided tours last year provided us with useful positive feedback for the trustees. As a result, this coming year we will be providing one tour on a Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and a Sunday.

The trustees have reviewed their strategic aims and objectives to enhance the way we do business. To enable us to comply with legislation regarding young and vulnerable people a number of the friends have been DBS checked.

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Friends of Oystermouth Castle

1011377

7. Special Events and Year Highlights

The past year has seen the trustees engaging with local Swansea Council representatives to with the aim to enhance the profile of the castle.

The volunteer numbers have increased slightly since reopening, but we are always looking for volunteers to join and commit whatever they can to help keeping the castle opening and functioning effectively.

During the past year the Friends formed separate teams, for tour guides, events organisation, odd jobs and extended their connections with the Ostreme Theatre Players, who gave magnificent support when called upon.

The Friends and Swansea Council are still engaged with Hiraeth Architecture to carry out the next stage of our feasibility study. The proposals we are now looking to put in place include a new reception area, educational area, shop, toilet facilities, exhibition area etc. These proposals have been helped by a grant of £148,020.00p from the UK shared prosperity fund as part of the UK government levelling up agenda. The Friends have contributed to this project by paying for additional ecology and structural reports and preplanning enquiries. Hiraeth on behalf of the Friends of Oystermouth castle are working with surveyors, CADW and Swansea council to submit planning application by 31[st] March 2025. When this stage is completed, we will move onto the build stage which is estimated to be in excess of £3 million, the castle will then be in a position looking forward to giving a better experience for visitors improved working conditions for the Friends and we will be able to put on more events.

8. Future Plans

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Friends of Oystermouth Castle

1011377

9. Volunteer Help in 2024

The trustees have been overwhelmed by the help and support that the Friends have given to the Castle and wish to record their sincere thanks to all who have kept the Castle open and enjoyed by the public.

Looking forward we presently have 50 potential ‘friends of Oystermouth Castle’ for this coming year and recently held a recruitment campaign which has drawn interest from potential new members.

The events team are always looking for help with the productions they put on at the castle, no special skill is required only plenty of enthusiasm.

10. 2025

Looking forward, let us hope that this year is a successful one, and we continue to make progress. With a number of big issues in the pipeline we can look forward with great optimism to make the castle one of the cornerstones for attracting visitors for the county and benefiting our local community.

Appendix 1

Paul Lewis Chairman 19[th] March 2025

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Friends of Oystermouth Castle

1011377

CC16 Recei ts and a ments accounts p p y

From

01/01/2024 To

31/12/2024

Section A Receipts and payments

Unrestricted
funds
to the
nearest £		 Restricted
funds
to the
nearest £		 Endowment
funds
to the
nearest £		 Total funds
to the
nearest £		 Last year
to the
nearest £
A1 Receipts
Donations & legacies 1,934 1,934 - - 1,934 1,934 586
Charitable activities 56,842 56,842 - - 56,842 56,842 72,015
Other trading activities 10,472 10,472 - - 10,472 10,472 9,681
Investments 1,958 1,958 - - 1,958 1,958 835
Grants 99,957 - - 99,957 99,957 -
Sub total(Gross
income for AR)		 171,163 171,163 - - 171,163 83,117

A2 Asset and investment sales, (see table).

- - - - -
- - - - -
Sub total - - - - -
Total receipts 171,163 - - 171,163 83,117

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Friends of Oystermouth Castle

1011377

A3 Payments
Raising funds 17,824 17,824 - - 17,824 17,824 13,934
Charitable activities 2,079 2,079 - - 2,079 2,079 10,062
Castle maintenance - - - - 5,030
Admin expenses 14,986 - - - 14,986 2,297
Repairs and cleaning 1,175 1,175 - - 1,175 1,175 2,703 2,703
Bank charges 720 720 - - 720 720 930
Insurance 496 - - - 496 491 1
Sundry 556 556 - - 556 556 397 397
Future Developments 99,957 - - - 99,957 99,957 -
Sub total 137,793 137,793 - - - - 137,793 35,844
A4 Asset and investment purchases, (see table) A4 Asset and investment purchases, (see table) A4 Asset and investment purchases, (see table) A4 Asset and investment purchases, (see table) A4 Asset and investment purchases, (see table)
- - - - - -
- - - - -
Sub total - - - - -
Total payments 137,793 - - 137,793 35,844
Net of
receipts/(payments)		 33,370 - - 33,370 47,273
A5 Transfers
between funds		 - - - - - - -
A6 Cash funds
last year end		 188,030 188,030 - - - 188,030 188,030 140,757
Cash funds this year
end		 221,400 221,400 - - - 221,400 188,030

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----- Start of picture text -----
Friends of Oystermouth Castle 1011377
Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the
period
Unrestricted Restricted Endowment
Categories Details funds funds funds
to nearest £ to nearest £ to nearest £
B1 Cash funds Bank account 3,397 - -
Bank account - - -
Bank account 34,078 - -
Bank account 183,923 - -
Cash 2 -
-
Total cash funds 221,400 - -
(agree balances with receipts
and payments account(s)) OK OK OK
Unrestricted Restricted Endowment
funds funds funds
Details to nearest £ to nearest £ to nearest £
B2 Other
monetary assets - - -
- - -
=EEE
Fund to which Cost Current value
Details
asset belongs (optional) (optional)
B3 Investment
assets - -
- -
- -
===
Fund to which Cost Current value
Details
asset belongs (optional) (optional)
B4 Assets Stock Unrestricted 1,870
retained for the -
charity’s own use - -
- -
- -
Fund to which Amount due When due
Details
liability relates (optional) (optional)
B5 Liabilities Independent Unrestricted 858 -
examination fee
-
-
-
=a: -
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----- End of picture text -----

Friends of Oystermouth Castle 1011377 Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees Signature Signature ~~EE~~ Print Name Print Name ~~es~~ Date of Approval Date of Approval ~~| es |~~

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Friends of Oystermouth Castle
1011377		 Friends of Oystermouth Castle
1011377
Independent
examiner's report
on the accounts
CHARITYCOMMISSION ~~oe~~
FOR ENGLAND AND WALES
Section A Independent Examiner’s Report Section A Independent Examiner’s Report Section A Independent Examiner’s Report
Report to the trustees/
members of		 Report to the trustees/
Friends of Oystermouth Castle
On accounts for the
year ended		 On accounts for the
31stDecember 2024		 Charity
no
(if any)
1011377
Set out on pages 1 – 10

I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity (“the Trust”) for the year ended 31/12/2024 .

Responsibilities and As the charity trustees of the Trust, you are responsible for the basis of report preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (“the Act”).

I report in respect of my examination of the Trust’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I have followed the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.

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Friends of Oystermouth Castle 1011377 ~~Se~~

Independent I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material examiner's statement matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect:

I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Signed: Date: ~~pO~~ Name: Michael Jones ~~pt~~ Relevant professional qualification(s) or ACCA body (if any): ~~a~~ Address: Bevan Buckland LLP Ground Floor, Cardigan House Castle Court, Swansea Enterprise Park, Llansamlet, Swansea SA7 9LA ~~———~~

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