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2021-06-30-accounts

FOLLIFOOT PARK DISABLED RIDERS GROUP

Trustees Annual Report Trustees Annual Report
Year end June 30th2021
Registered Charity Name Follifoot Park Disabled Riders Group
Charity Registration Number 1042415
Principal office Regional Agricultural Centre
Great Yorkshire Showground
Railway Road
Harrogate
HG2 8PW
Charity Trustees Morag Bennett
Wendy Thorburn (retired 08/11/2021)
Fiona Barwick (appointed 17/03/2021)
Lyn Cowburn
Ann Gannon
Sue Oxley
Peter Whatley
Peter Nelson
Les Evans (retired 23/10/2020)
Investment Managers Canaccord Genuity Wealth Management
23 High Petergate
York
YO1 7HS
Bankers CAF Bank Ltd
25 Kings Hill Avenue
Kings Hill
West Malling
Kent
ME19 4JQ
Chair Morag Bennett
Secretary Wendy Thorburn (retired 08/11/2021)
Fiona Barwick (Appointed as Secretary 08/11/2021)
Independent Examiner Hallidays Group Ltd
Riverside House
Kings Reach Business Park
Yew Street
Stockport
SK4 2HD

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FOLLIFOOT PARK DISABLED RIDERS GROUP

Trustees Annual Report (continued)

Year end June 30[th] 2021

Governing Document & Constitution

Follifoot Park Disabled Riders Group, which is also known as Follifoot Park DRG (“the Charity”) is an unincorporated charity governed by its constitution adopted on 13 July 1994 and as subsequently amended on 19 October 1994 and 20 January 2014. The Charity became registered with the Charity Commission on 28 November 1994 with number 1042415.

The constitution appoints an Executive Committee to hold the assets of the Charity and administer the Charity for the furtherance of its charitable objects. The Executive Committee are the charity trustees in accordance with Charity Law.

The Executive Committee meets 12 times a year.

Charity Trustees are nominated and elected by the membership in accordance with the constitution.

Recruitment and Appointment of the Executive Committee (Trustees)

Under the requirements of the Constitution, the members of the Executive Committee are elected to serve for a period of one year, excepting the Chair, Secretary and Treasurer who serve for three years, after which they must be re-elected at the next AGM.

Due to the covid pandemic the AGM planned in 2020 was cancelled and all trustees continued in their role. Les Evans stepped down as a Trustee in October 2020 and Fiona Barwick was appointed as a Trustee at a Special General Meeting in March 2021.

The Executive Committee seeks to ensure that the needs of the group are reflected through the diversity of the trustee body. Traditional business skills, equestrian knowledge, safeguarding and volunteer experience are all well represented on the Executive Committee and the areas of responsibility are allocated accordingly to specific trustees. The Chair has overall responsibility for the provision of the charitable activities and ensures that key performance indicators are met. The Secretary has responsibility for the day-to-day operational management of the charity and office. The charity does not currently have a treasurer as a trustee.

To enhance the pool of trustees, the charity has created different layers of volunteers who have responsibility for specific tasks. I.e. bookkeeping, coordinating rides, fund raising and administration. By doing this the charity aims to build the volunteer’s skills and experience, giving them the potential to become trustees in the future.

There is a scheme of delegation in place which allows the charity to identify any areas of skill or knowledge which have been lost due to retirements and to fill these positions in a timely manner. Young people are encouraged to join as volunteers so that they build an understanding of the aims of the charity.

Objectives and Activities

The Charity’s objectives (‘the objects’) are to provide or assist in the provision of social welfare, facilities for riding or other recreational facilities for disabled people with the object of improving their conditions of life.

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The Charity runs 14 riding sessions every week excluding school holidays. Carriage driving operates 4 days a week from April to November and the mechanical horse Storm is used for rides on two days a week. This allows 120 people to benefit from the activities offered. Sessions are between 30 minutes and 1 hour. Riders/drivers come primarily from the local area but may also live within a 30 mile radius. The use of the mechanical horse allows people to benefit from the movement of riding in a very predictable environment, this can be used for rehabilitation after illness and injury as well as for those who may then progress to riding a real horse. The carriage driving offers another activity for those who are unable to ride either Storm or a real horse.

The Charity is run by volunteers and they are essential in being able to provide the activities outlined. Currently there are 140 volunteers, ranging widely in age and skills, who offer an hour or two of their time each week.

Activities would normally include an annual gymkhana open to all riders and an annual picnic for volunteers, riders, carers and families. Due to the Covid pandemic these were cancelled this year.

We have referred to the guidance contained in the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit when reviewing our aims and objectives and in planning our future activities.

– Chair of Trustees Report Achievements for the year

The last 12 months have undoubtedly been challenging for our charity with the ongoing disruption that the Coronavirus pandemic has brought to us all. As a group we’ve had to react to situations we never thought we’d encounter and have made decisions along the way that have allowed us to continue operating the charity that we all know and love. These decisions were based upon health and safety as the number one priority, to ensure that all riders, volunteers and stable staff were protected as well as ensuring that the horses we use continued to be well looked after.

With robust risk assessments and training given we were able to open up again in September as planned and have been able to run rides in line with Government guidelines. With two more lockdowns in November and January our concern was that volunteers and riders may have lost interest given all the changes, however this could not be further from the truth. The will of the volunteers in particular has been fantastic and they adapted to new procedures and really wanted to make it work.

TRUSTEES

We have a very effective team of 8 Trustees who look after the varied aspects of our charity and work hard to ensure it runs smoothly. Les Evans stepped down as a Trustee in October 2020 and our thanks go to him for all his hard work over the years, he continues to be very involved with many aspects of the charity including the rides and carriage driving.

Fiona Barwick joined as a trustee at a Special General Meeting held in March 2021 and we welcomed her on board. Fiona has experience with horses as well as a financial background so has been able to offer her experience already.

Wendy Thorburn, our Secretary has continued to ensure the administration runs smoothly, answering emails, phone calls etc. However due to difficulty with her eyesight, Wendy will be stepping down from her duties as Secretary and as a trustee at the next AGM. Wendy has been an integral part of the charity for many years with a wealth of knowledge, she’s known to so many of us and she will be greatly missed.

We have one Trustee Lyn Cowburn, allocated to looking after the riders and another, Ann Gannon, who deals with the volunteers. This allows the workload to be distributed and ensures we are up to date with legislation and our obligations in both these areas. Communication has been crucial in keeping everyone up to date with changes and we have made improvements to our email and office systems…the electronic advent calendar for riders was a first!

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We have updated our safeguarding systems this year and introduced DBS checks for those roles that are eligible and we continue to roll this out. This is important for the welfare of all those involved in the charity and strengthens our charity’s governance.

PROJECTS

We decided to upgrade the disabled toilets in the autumn of 2020, this was very successful and the facilities are much improved following the refit. We felt this was money well spent and was carried out at a time when the stable yard was quiet due to the Covid situation.

VOLUNTEERS

We have an amazing group of about 140 volunteers who make the rides possible, turn up every week in all weathers and help with other events. There have been new procedures to deal with including wearing masks and at times, visors, just so that they could give our riders the time with the horses. The commitment from all the volunteers has been incredible and we are very grateful to them. Even though we lost some volunteers due to personal circumstances, we have gained many new ones with volunteering in general being pushed to the front of people’s minds.

This year in particular, organising the rides has become very time consuming, bringing in riders at the last minute, making changes due to volunteer shortages and all whilst dealing with their own family situations regarding Covid. So I would like to say a special thank you to all the Ride Coordinators for their time, effort and organisational skills when things have been so challenging, it’s meant that we could just keep going when it would have been so much easier to stop!

TRAINING

This has been important over the last year with Covid procedures being layered on top of what we already do in terms of health and safety. Individual rides received their own training session for the new covid procedures, each volunteer was issued with PPE and written procedures were issued to everyone.

We also held a First Aid training session for a number of Ride Leaders, this was kindly run by the daughter of one of our riders, and we hope to run some more soon.

RIDING AND CARRIAGE DRIVING

For many years we have been running 14 pony rides a week during term time, as well as sessions on Storm, the mechanical horse two days a week and carriage driving 4 days a week during the summer months. This means we are able to provide the enjoyment of riding and carriage driving to over 120 people and we have a waiting list of over 30 people.

We’ve managed to get back to providing the same rides that we had before, initially with lower numbers for reasons of safety. The adult rides returned in September, Under 5’s rides and Storm returned in April and carriage driving in May. We are very proud that we managed to do this and as a Charity felt it was important for the wellbeing of both the riders and the volunteers, all of whom get a lot out of the rides.

The carriages now have a new home during the winter months thanks to James Meysey-Thompson, where they will be stored securely.

ANNUAL PICNIC & GYMKHANA

After making plans to hold the picnic in 2021, we made the decision not to go ahead. James Meysey-Thompson is

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very supportive of the charity and had offered his garden for the event but as it drew nearer to the time we decided it was not sensible given the current Covid situation. We hope to be able to get back to this fun event next summer.

With regard to the Gymkhana, again it was felt that there was too much of a risk in holding this event and we are hopeful to resume in 2022.

FINANCIAL STABILITY

FPDRG is, fortunately, financially stable and this is due to the generosity of our sponsors, local businesses and donations and legacies over the years. Our strong reserves along with some large and unexpected donations allowed us to contribute towards the keep of the horses, buy any extra equipment that we needed, as well as helping us weather the storm until we were back running full rides.

Our investments were impacted initially due to Stock Market fluctuations, however they have regained a lot of ground and continue to offer a good rate of income. Donations are still coming through and without asking, we are so lucky to be a local charity that the wider community cares about.

The system for invoicing riders is now fully up and running, many thanks to all those involved in this. This has improved and modernised our systems for payment, it will help us keep tight financial controls in place and has reduced the need for cash to be handled at the rides.

So this year has been about getting back to basics, we’ve not been able to hold some of the fun events that we all love, we’ve not been able to play as many games with the toys being locked away, but we have been able to provide our riders with some time on a horse, a bit of fresh air and a return to some sort of normality. I’d like to thank Julie and Chris Pedley, their family and all the staff at Follifoot Park Riding Centre as well as all the volunteers for their support and look forward to what the next year brings.

Morag Bennett (Chair of Trustees)

Reserves Policy

The Executive Committee have considered the level of reserves that the Charity needs and are of the opinion that the Charity should have sufficient funds to settle the annual governance and support costs of its charitable activities. Accordingly they have determined that the level of an unrestricted reserve should be around £20,000 but should be frequently reviewed.

At 30[th] June 2021, the total amount of unrestricted reserves of the charity were £313,846. The free reserves of the Charity amounted to £9,750 (2020 £12,119) and the Executive Committee considers these funds to be below the policy and are examining ways of increasing the income of Follifoot Park Disabled Riders Group so that the Charity has sufficient free reserves.

Financial Review and Investment Policy

The financial review of activities is set out in the attached financial statements. There are financial controls in place to review the finances monthly and to check expenditure.

The trustees have agreed the following investment terms, objectives and policies with the investment manager:-

The investment strategy is reviewed with the investment manager on a regular basis.

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Signatures

The trustees annual report was approved on 19[th] April 2022 and signed on behalf of the board of trustees by:-

MORAG BENNETT Trustee

……………………………………………………………………………….

FIONA BARWICK Trustee ……………………………………………………………...

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Charity Name No (if any) Follifoot Park Disabled Riders Group 1042415 Receipts and payments accounts CC16a For the period Period start date Period end date To from 01/07/2020 30/06/2021

Section A Receipts and payments Section A Receipts and payments
A1 Receipts Unrestricted
funds
to the nearest
£
12,778
966
16,069
-
-
-
-
-
29,813
58,076
58,076
87,889
-
33,911
854
-
-
-
-
-
-
34,765
67,995
67,995
102,760
- 14,871
-
27,533
12,662		 Restricted
funds
to the nearest £
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-		 Endowment
funds
to the nearest £
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-		 Total funds
to the nearest £
12,778
966
16,069
-
-
-
-
-
29,813
58,076
-
58,076
87,889
-
33,911
854
-
-
-
-
-
-
34,765
67,995
-
67,995
102,760
- 14,871		 Last year
to the nearest £
Donations and legacies 12,778 -
Charitable activities 966 -
Investment income 16,069 -
Other trading - -
- -
- -
- -
- -
Sub total(Gross income for
AR)		 29,813 -
A2 Asset and investment sales,
(see table).
Receiptsfromsale of investments 58,076
-
Sub total 58,076 -
Total receipts
A3 Payments
-
Expenditure on raisingfunds - -
Expenditure on charitable activities 33,911 -
Investment management costs 854 -
- -
- -
- -
- -
- -
- -
Sub total 34,765 -
A4 Asset and investment
purchases, (see table)
Purchase of invesments 67,995
**Sub total ** 67,995 -
Total payments
Net of receipts/(payments)
A5 Transfers between funds
A6 Cash funds last year end
Cash funds this year end
-
- 14,871 - - - 14,871 -
- - - - -
27,533 - - 27,533 -
12,662 - - 12,662 -

CCXX R1 accounts (SS)

21/04/2022

1

Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period

Categories
Signed by one or two trustees on
behalf of all the trustees
B1 Cash funds
B2 Other monetary assets
B5 Liabilities
B3 Investment assets
B4 Assets retained for the
charity’s own use		 Signature
Details
Creditors
Horses
Bank Account
Cannacord dealing
Cannacord income
Details
Details
Total cash funds
(agree balances with receipts and payments
account(s))
Debtors
Details
Canaccord Genuity
Details
Carriages & Tack
Office Equipment		 Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
funds
to nearest £
to nearest £
10,138
-
2,065
-
459
-
12,662
-
OK
OK
Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
funds
to nearest £
to nearest £
984
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Fund to which
asset belongs
Cost (optional)
unrestricted
311,728
-
-
Fund to which
asset belongs
Cost (optional)
unrestricted
126,961
unrestricted
2,764
unrestricted
2,500
-
-
-
-
-
-
Fund to which
liability relates
Amount due
(optional)
unrestricted
2,213
-
-
-
-
Print Name		 Endowment
funds
to nearest £
-
-
-
-
OK
Endowment
funds
to nearest £
-
-
-
-
-
-
Current value
(optional)
295,816
-
-
Current value
(optional)
6,198
-
100
-
-
-
-
-
-
When due
(optional)
Date of
approval

CCXX R2 accounts (SS)

21/04/2022

2

CCXX R3 accounts ISSI 2110412022

CCXX R4 accounts ISSI 2110412022

Independent examiner’s report to the Trustees of Follifoot Park Disabled Riders Group

I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of Follifoot Park Disabled Riders Group (the Trust) for the year ended 30 June 2021.

Responsibilities and basis of report

As the charity trustees of the Trust you are responsible for the 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 Trustee’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the 2011 Act.

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 giving 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 this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

………………………………… Anna Bennett Member of the ICAEW

Riverside House Kings Reach Business Park Yew Street Stockport SK4 2HD

Date: 25/04/2022