FRIENDS OF OYSTERMOUTH CASTLE (THE FRIENDS)
Registered Charity No 1011377
Financial Statements Year Ended 31st December 2025
Friends of Oystermouth Castle
1011377
Registered Charity number:
1011377
Registered address:
7 Libby Way Mumbles Swansea SA3 4LB
Trustees :
Michael Eames Chairman &Trustee Marie Hughes Secretary & Trustee Gerallt Williams Treasurer & Trustee Paul Lewis Trustee Gerald Thomas Trustee Clive Hughes Trustee John Marvelley Trustee Christopher 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 2025
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.
Our receipts for the year, excluding grant monies, amounted to £91,922 ( 2024 £71,206 )
Our payments for the year, excluding grant monies spent, amounted to £41,219 ( 2024 £37,836 )
Resulting in a net excess of receipts over payments of £50,703 ( 2024 £33,370 )
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 currently have a current account and 4 interest bearing deposit accounts.
A portion of income is held in the current account to cover:
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Essential Costs
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Prior agreed events at the Castle which are arranged by the Council
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Materials purchased for the Friends use
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All functions which are the Friends responsibility e.g. AGMs, insurance, accountancy fees
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The Friends contribution towards the Castle conservation
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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 April, May, June, 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.
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 and a further 3 more have applied.
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Friends of Oystermouth Castle
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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.
This year has seen the Friends of Oystermouth Castle recognised by King Charles and have been awarded the Kings Award for Volunteer Services (KAVS). This is a prestigious award recognising all the hard work that the Friends do to keep the castle operating for the benefit of the visitors and community alike.
During the past year the Friends formed separate teams for tour guides, events organisation and odd jobs, extended their connections with the Ostreme Theatre Players who gave magnificent support when called upon and continued our ties with Mumbles Community Council.
The Friends and Swansea Council are still engaged with Hiraeth Architecture to carry out the next stage of our feasibility study / planning application. The plans for the proposed facility are now being assessed by the Local Planning Authority (LPA) which is RIBA stage 4, the proposals as per last years report included a new reception area, educational area, shop, toilet facilities and exhibition area. 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 an additional ecology report which has cost £2,535.67p. We have engaged Hiraeth Architects to work on our behalf with surveyors, CADW and Swansea council. When this stage is completed, we will move onto the build stage which is estimated to be in excess of £1.5 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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Ensure the Castle is a safe and presentable building for the Friends and its visitors
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Tent savings can be used as match funding with proposed improvements
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Grant Applications will be required when planning application for proposed building work has been granted.
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Wales Culture Grant to be set against Hiraeth fees and future improvements
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More structured training and recruitment procedures to apply
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More signage
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Use of QR codes in signs and leaflets
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Introduce improvements in line with the grant money received
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Continue to raise funds to give a secure future for our work.
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Continue to work in partnership with others to fulfil our aims.
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Continue to engage with the local community to further and enhance the knowledge of the Castle’s history and continuing story
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Friends of Oystermouth Castle
1011377
- Promote the Castle as a community attraction that local people want to visit on a regular basis
9. Volunteer Help in 2025
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 65 ‘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. 2026
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
Michael Eames Trustee 17[th] February 2026
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1011377
Friends of Oystermouth Castle
CC16 Recei ts and a ments accounts p p y
From 01/01/2025 To 31/12/2025
Section A Receipts and payments
Unrestricted Restricted Endowment funds funds funds Total funds Last year to the to the to the to the to the nearest £ nearest £ nearest £ nearest £ nearest £
A1 Receipts
| A1 Receipts | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Donations & legacies | 1,785 | 1,785 | - | - | 1,785 | 1,785 | 1,934 | ||
| Charitable activities | 74,601 | 74,601 | - | - | 74,601 | 74,601 | 56,842 | ||
| Other trading activities | 12,554 | 12,554 | - | - | 12,554 | 12,554 | 10,472 | ||
| Investments | 2,982 | 2,982 | - | - | 2,982 | 2,982 | 1,958 | ||
| Grants | 50,805 | - | - | 50,805 | 50,805 | 99,957 | |||
| Sub total(Gross income for AR) |
142,727 | 142,727 | - | - | 142,727 | 171,163 |
A2 Asset and investment sales, (see table).
| - | - | - | - | - | - | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| - | - | - | - | - | |||||
| Sub total | - | - | - | - | - | ||||
| Total receipts | 142,727 | - | - | 142,727 | 171,163 |
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Friends of Oystermouth Castle
1011377
| A3 Payments | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Raising funds | |||||||||
| 19,839 | - | - | - | 19,839 | 17,824 | ||||
| Charitable activities | |||||||||
| 3,011 | 3,011 | **- ** | - | 3,011 | 3,011 | 2,079 | |||
| Castle maintenance | |||||||||
| 3,252 | 3,252 | - | - | 3,252 | 3,252 | - | |||
| Admin expenses | |||||||||
| 6,697 | 7 | - | - | - | 6,697 | 7 | 14,986 | ||
| Repairs and cleaning | |||||||||
| 545 | 545 | - | - | 545 | 545 | 1,175 | |||
| Bank charges | |||||||||
| 853 | 853 | - | - | 853 | 853 | 720 | |||
| Insurance | |||||||||
| 516 | - | - | - | 516 | 496 | ||||
| Sundry | |||||||||
| 353 | 353 | - | - | 353 | 353 | 556 | |||
| Future Developments | |||||||||
| 56,958 | - | - | 56,958 | 56,958 | 99,957 | ||||
| Sub total | |||||||||
| 92,024 | 024 | - | - | - | - | 92,024 | 137,793 |
| **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 | 92,024 | - | - | 92,024 | 137,793 | |||||
| Net of receipts/(payments) |
50,703 | - | - | 50,703 | 33,370 | |||||
| A5 Transfers | ||||||||||
| between funds | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |||
| A6 Cash funds last year end |
221,400 | 221,400 | - | - | - | 221,400 | 221,400 | 188,030 | ||
| Cash funds this year end |
272,103 | 272,103 | - | - | - | 272,103 | 221,400 |
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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 1,860 - -
Bank account 115 - -
Bank account 42,484 - -
Bank account 77,146
Bank account 150,433 - -
Cash 65 -
-
Total cash funds 272,103 - -
(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 - - -
ya - - -
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 retained for the Stock Unrestricted 2,597 -
- -
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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Friends of Oystermouth Castle 1011377 Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees Signature Signature ~~a~~ Print Name Print Name ~~es~~ Date of Approval Date of Approval | ~~es~~ |
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Friends of Oystermouth Castle
1011377
Independent examiner's report on the accounts ~~oe~~
Section A Independent Examiner’s Report
| Report to the trustees/ members of |
Friends of Oystermouth Castle | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| On accounts for the year ended |
31stDecember 2025 | Charity no (if any) |
no 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 31/12/2025 .
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 ~~a~~
Independent examiner's statement
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect:
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accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Act or
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the accounts do not accord with the accounting records
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: ~~ee~~ ee ~~ee~~ Name: Michael Jones ~~Pp~~ Relevant professional qualification(s) or ACCA body (if any): ~~OS~~ Address: Bevan Buckland LLP Ground Floor, Cardigan House Castle Court, Swansea Enterprise Park, Llansamlet, Swansea SA7 9LA ~~——~~
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