Independent Examiner's report to the trustees of Danemead Scout Campsite (Charity number: 1069693)
I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of Danemead Scout Campsite for the year ended 31[st] March 2023.
Responsibilities and basis of report: As the charity trustees of Danemead Scout Campsite, 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 Danemead Scout Campsite 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 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:
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the accounting records were not kept in respect of Danemead Scout Campsite as required by section 130 of the Act; or
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the accounts did not accord with those accounting records.; or
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the accounts did not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content as set out in the Charities (Accounts & Reports) Regulations 2008.
Signed: 31[st] July 2023
Name: Steve Brownless (ILFM Dip)
Relevant professional qualification or membership of professional bodies
Member of the ILFM
Address: 4 Oakwell Close, Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, DN163FD
Cock Lane Broxbourne Common Broxbourne Hertfordshire EN11 8GG askus@danemeadcampsite.org.uk danemeadcampsite.org.uk
/DanemeadScoutCampsite
Site Manager: Matt Brett. Chairman: Chris Harrison.
Registered Charity Number 1069693
@DanemeadSite
| Income Scout & Guide Camp Fees Public Camp Fees Hornbeam Lodge Scouts & Guides Hornbeam Lodge Public Whole site Visitors Nursery Caravan Hire Twiggle Explorers Providor Forestry Water Refuse bins ITC Business Rates New Accommodation Fund Mud Run General Donations Hertfordshire Council Grants Toilet Roof Replacement donations Insurance Bank Interest Expenditure Scout & Guide Camp Fees Public Camp Fees Providor Forestry Water Electricity (Water) Electricity (Campsite) Gas Fuel Diesal/Petrol Septic Tank Refuge Collection Cleaners Cleaning Material/Toilet Rolls General Maintenance |
For the year 1st April 2022 to 31st March 2023 Prior Year 2022-2023 2021 - 2022 5,628.60 £ 7,394.95 £ 8,002.90 £ 2,600.24 £ 8,542.30 £ 6,408.22 £ 3,514.10 £ 455.00 £ 4,590.00 £ 3,637.50 £ 1,425.00 £ 1,128.60 £ 12,605.20 £ 500.00 £ 1,200.00 £ 390.00 £ 2,060.00 £ 1,802.42 £ 3,038.95 £ 10.00 £ 408.00 £ 6,055.68 £ 2,460.00 £ 250.13 £ 24.00 £ 1.97 £ 2,304.00 £ 2,304.00 £ 1,391.69 £ 4,841.53 £ 4,583.80 £ 0.79 £ 199.70 £ 11,226.00 £ 2,000.00 £ 297.71 £ 0.99 £ 61,621.60 £ 51,662.37 £ 2022-2023 2021-2022 284.50 £ 30.00 £ 29.50 £ 745.36 £ 864.46 £ 540.00 £ 11.99 £ 8,673.35 £ 844.06 £ 1,310.51 £ 1,727.85 £ 2,237.10 £ 2,108.22 £ 2,206.13 £ 3,514.59 £ 287.65 £ 230.00 £ 1,196.00 £ 1,132.56 £ 1,832.40 £ 150.00 £ 345.49 £ 501.68 £ 15,146.07 £ 3,685.95 £ Receipts and Payments Account |
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| Work Weekends ITC (WhFi, website, CCTV etc) Administration HSBC Bank Charges Card Fee Charges Insurance Business Rates New Accommodation Project Mud Run Wardens Account Toilet Roof Disabled Toilet Uniform Hornbeam Opening Hornbeam Lodge Refurb Net of receipt payments Add back internal transfers Cash funds last year Cash funds this year Memorandum Providor Trading Account 2022/2023 Stock Brought Forward Stock Purchased Stock Donated Total Stock for Sale Less Sales Stock carried forward Sales Less Out of Date Stock Less Purchases Net Profit Cash Funds Co-operative Bank HSBC Current Account (Closed 22/23) HSBC Deposit Account (Closed 22/23) Cash Floats (Site Manager) Cash Floats (Assistant Site Manager) |
1,270.45 £ 1,228.33 £ 476.19 £ 81.44 £ 107.15 £ 4,063.83 £ 2,304.00 £ 4,575.80 £ 4,137.63 £ 53,308.88 £ 8,312.72 £ - £ 25,040.09 £ 33,352.81 £ 4,825.20 £ 745.36 £ 156.86 £ 5,727.42 £ 1,802.42 -£ 3,925.00 £ 1,802.42 £ - £ 745.36 -£ 1,057.06 £ 2022/2023 32,602.81 £ - £ - £ 500.00 £ 250.00 £ |
917.76 £ 4,186.61 £ 780.62 £ 38.28 £ 3,810.60 £ 2,304.00 £ 1,105.00 £ 7,768.83 £ 7,320.00 £ 10,921.50 £ 322.65 £ 3,978.45 £ 7,501.72 £ 65,527.38 £ 13,864.63 -£ 675.00 £ 38,229.72 £ 25,040.09 £ 5,450.10 £ 864.90 £ 684.69 £ 6,999.69 £ 2,174.49 -£ 4,825.20 £ 2,174.49 £ - £ 864.90 -£ 1,309.59 £ 2021/2022 - £ 20,440.45 £ 3,849.64 £ 500.00 £ 250.00 £ |
|---|---|---|
| Non Monetary Assests Providor Stock Land & Buildings Liabilities Accounts no yet paid Camp Fees paid in advance Financial Allocation of Funds Restricted Cash Fund (New Accommodation Project) Designated Grant Money Unrestricted Money Water Contingency |
33,352.81 £ 3,925.00 £ 1.00 £ 3,926.00 £ 644.18 £ 6,890.40 £ 7,534.58 £ 25,780.00 £ - £ 7,572.81 £ - £ 33,352.81 £ |
25,040.09 £ 4,825.20 £ 1.00 £ 4,826.20 £ 651.76 £ 6,451.76 £ 7,103.52 £ 3,849.64 £ 4,841.53 £ 559.00 £ 15,789.92 £ 25,040.09 £ |
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| Insurnce Valuations for 2022 Workshop Toilet Block Hornbeam Lodge Caravans (x2) Quad Bike |
Building Contents 13,694.00 £ 6,848.00 £ 20,542.00 £ - £ 273,883.00 £ 23,282.00 £ 22,234.00 £ - £ - £ 6,784.00 £ 330,353.00 £ 36,914.00 £ |
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Trustees' Annual Report for the period
Period start date Period end date 01 April 2022 31 March 2023
From
To
Section A Reference and administration details
Charity name Other names charity is known by Registered charity number (if any) 1069693 Charity's principal address c/o Chair, Christopher Harrison
Danemead Scout Campsite
Danemead Management Committee
8, Northside, Breach Barns, Galley Hill Waltham Abbey, Essex Postcode EN9 2AR
Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity
----- Start of picture text -----
Dates acted if not for whole Name of person (or body) entitled
Trustee name Office (if any)
year to appoint trustee (if any)
Christopher Chair Campsite Manager
1
Harrison
Matthew Brett Campsite Manager The Scout District Executives
2 of Barnet, Chingford, Enfield
and North London
Ann Finnis Treasurer The Danemead Management
3
Committee
Michael Hayward Secretary The Danemead Management
4
Committee
Nick Stevenson Barnet Scout District Barnet Scout District
5
Representative Executive Committee
Judith Harris North London Scout North London Scout District
6 District Executive Committee
Representative
Robert Pytches Enfield Scout District Enfield Scout District
7
Representative Executive Committee
Mark Miller Waltham Forest Waltham Forest Scout
8 Scout District District Executive Committee
Representative
Harrison Newland Young Person The Danemead Management
9
Representative Committee
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
----- End of picture text -----
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18 19 20
Names of the trustees for the charity, if any, (for example, any custodian trustees)
Name Dates acted if not for whole year
Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)
| Type of adviser | Name | Address |
|---|---|---|
| Health and Safety | Vacant | |
| Finance | Monica Finnis | |
| Digital | Steve Brownless | |
| Deputy Campsite Manager |
Grant Newland | |
| Name of chief executive or names of senior staff members (Optional information) |
Section B Structure, governance and management
Description of the charity’s trusts
| Type of governing document (eg. trust deed, constitution) How the charity is constituted (eg. trust, association, company) Trustee selection methods (eg. appointed by, elected by) |
Constitution dated 21stMay 2020 and adopted with the approval of the four owning District Executive Committees. |
|---|---|
| The Danemead Management Committee has been constituted to effectively, expeditiously and efficiently administer and manage the land and buildings specified within the Danemead Trust Deed (dated 1st September 1971 and subsequent amendments) or otherwise known to comprise “Danemead” (the asset) on behalf of four District Scout Councils, or their successors, being (1) Barnet District Scout Council, (2) Waltham Forest District Scout Council, (3) Enfield District Scout Council and (4) North London District Scout Council who own the land in equal shares and are the “Owning Districts”. |
|
| The Danemead Management Committee shall comprise of up to ten Trustees who shall be the only voting members. Each Owning District shall appoint one Trustee [= 4 Trustees]. Nomination of these Trustees shall be received by the Secretary fourteen days prior to the Annual General Meeting. The Owning Districts may change the nominated Trustee subject to fourteen days written notice to the Secretary or, if within 90 days of the Annual General Meeting by fourteen days notice prior to the Annual General Meeting. If a trustee does not adequately perform their role the Danemead Management Committee can ask the appointing Owning District to replace that Trustee,such requests shall not be |
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unreasonably refused. If the nominated Trustee is unable to attend a meeting then the Owning District has the right to send a representative. The representative will not have voting rights.
The Owning Districts shall jointly approve the appointment of the Campsite Manager (a Trustee) [= 5th Trustee] who shall be a member of The Scout Association through one of the Owning Districts.
The Campsite Manager shall nominate the Chairman (a Trustee) at the Annual General Meeting [= 6th Trustee] This appointment must be approved at the Annual General Meeting. The Chairman shall be a member of the Scout Association through one of the Owning Districts.
The Secretary and Treasurer shall be voted in at the Annual General Meeting [= 7th and 8th Trustee]. Nominations for the positions in writing, including nominee’s agreement to perform the role, to be received by the Secretary a minimum of fourteen days prior to the Annual General Meeting. The Secretary and Treasurer must be willing to become members of the Scout Association if they are not already.
There should normally be at least two young people between the age of 18 and 25 years old who hold full voting rights [= 9th and 10th Trustee]. Nominations for the positions in writing, including nominee’s agreement to perform the role to be received by the Secretary a minimum of fourteen days prior to the Annual General Meeting. Nominees must be members of the Scout Association through one of the Owning Districts.
Additional governance issues (Optional information)
You may choose to include additional information, where relevant, about:
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policies and procedures adopted for the induction and training of trustees;
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the charity’s organisational structure and any wider network with which the charity works;
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relationship with any related parties;
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trustees’ consideration of major risks and the system and procedures to manage them.
Danemead Management Committee shall operate in accordance with The Policy, Organisation and Rules of The Scout Association (as amended from time to time). The Danemead Management Committee has identified the major risks to which they believe the campsite is exposed. These have been reviewed and systems have been established to mitigate against them. The main areas of concern are: Damage to Hornbeam Lodge, the toilet block, office, workshop and volunteer accommodation. All buildings are fully insured against partial or complete loss. Damage to property and equipment including the site vehicle. The campsite has sufficient insurance in place to mitigate against permanent loss. Injury to campsite visitors. The campsite has adequate public liability insurance provided through Unity Scout Insurance Services and all volunteers are members of the Scout Association and as such they are covered under insurance provided by Unity Scout Insurance Services. Risk assessments are undertaken before all activities. Reduced income from fund raising. The campsite is primarily reliant upon income from camping fees and indoor accommodation hire. The campsite holds a reserve to ensure the continuity of activities, should there be a major reduction in income. The Committee could raise the
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cost of camping and hire fees to increase the income of the campsite on an ongoing basis, either temporarily or permanently.
Reduction or loss of volunteers. The campsite is totally reliant on volunteers to run and administer the activities of the campsite. If there was a reduction in the number of volunteers to an unacceptable level there would have to be a contraction, consolidation or closure of the site until more volunteers could be recruited.
Financial irregularity. The Chairman and Campsite Manager has drawn the attention of all Wardens, crew and Committee Officers to the Scout Association’s Financial Guidance and the advice to keep income separate from expenditure. The campsite Manager and deputy campsite Manager are both offered a float for their expenses so that income can be banked gross.
Section C Objectives and activities
Aims & Objectives of Danemead Management Committee
The Danemead Management Committee shall:
Maintain, develop and improve the asset land and any building originally or thereafter permitted to be placed there.
Maximise the use to which the asset can be placed, within its accepted Summary of the objects of the primary purpose of camping, outdoor education and recreation for charity set out in its Scouting, to which priority shall be given, and any other youth governing document organisations.
Retain and preserve all associated rights, easements or other chattels appertaining to the asset on behalf of the Danemead Trust.
Report regularly at pre-agreed intervals to the Owning Districts on management and any other matters which may affect the asset.
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Summary of the main activities undertaken for the public benefit in relation to these objects (include within this section the statutory declaration that trustees have had regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit)
Additional details of objectives and activities (Optional information)
The campsite is run entirely by volunteers who receive no remuneration for their time and services.
Volunteers are all members of the Danemead Scout Active Support Unit which is administered by Enfield Scout District.
You may choose to include further statements, where relevant, about:
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policy on grantmaking;
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policy programme related investment;
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contribution made by volunteers.
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Section D Achievements and performance
Summary of the main achievements of the charity during the year
During the previous year (2021/22) the site saw a total income from all users of £35,025. In the last year (2022/23) total income from all users was £64,920, an increase approaching nearly double the previous year. This large increase can be attributed to several factors:
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Scouts, School and other youth organisations have now put the pandemic behind them and have returned to a full programme of outdoor activities and nights away experiences.
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The Nursery that uses Hornbeam Lodge is now fully established and paying a regular monthly hire charge.
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A disappointing drop in Scout & Guide camping fees, down by £1,766 from £7,3945 to £5,629, has been offset by an over 300% increase in camp fees from other youth organisations namely schools which are increasingly using the campsite as a base for Duke of Edinburgh Award Expeditions.
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The restoration of Hornbeam Lodge which was fully opened the previous year is also paying dividends with increased use by both Scouts and other youth organisations.
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Day visit numbers have also increased as well as the number of whole site bookings.
This clearly illustrates that all the hard work of the site crew and management team is starting to pay dividends. Expenditure on site maintenance was more than halved during 2022/23 compared to the previous year when several major projects were completed. Maintenance this year included improvements to the lighting in and around Hornbeam Lodge, the completion of the outdoor classroom, improvements to water supply and drainage across site and several smaller projects.
The site providore has a new payment system allowing customers to make card payments and improving financial and stock auditing. Providore income was just over £1,800 realising a profit just over £1,000. With the pandemic now in the past the decision was taken to reintroduce the Mud Run event which generated an income of over £4,500. Unfortunately participant numbers were a little down on those expected but the site hopes to build on the success of the event in 2023/24.
The site received no grant funding or donations during 2022/23. Good working relationships continue with external organisations; East Hertfordshire Wildlife Trust, Natural England, and the The Forestry Commission. Working parties and crew weekends have continued to improve the site including the removal of holly and non-natural species of trees, the removal of diseased trees, trees overhanging buildings and windblown trees. New camping areas continue to be established.
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Section E Financial review
The charity aims to hold a sum not less than £5,000 in the main Co- Brief statement of the operative Bank current account to meet the cost of day to day running charity’s policy on reserves costs. On 31[st] March 2023 the sum was £32,602.81 (of which £25,780 was designated funding).
A separate Co-operative Bank deposit account is in the process of being opened specifically to meet any costs relating to the water supply plant and infrastructure.
The Campsite Manager holds a £500 float and the Deputy Campsite Manager holds a £250 float to cover general running expenses and a £50 float is retained in the Providore.
This gives a total cash reserve of £33,402.81 (of which £25,780 is designated for specific projects leaving £7,622.81)
Details of any funds materially in deficit
- There are no funds in deficit
Further financial review details (Optional information)
You may choose to include additional information, where relevant about:
- the charity’s principal sources of funds (including any fundraising);
The site received no grant funding or donations during 2022/23.
Due to HSBC bank introducing charges to charity bank accounts the decision was taken to transfer the charities banking provision to The Cooperative Bank which continues to offer free banking for charities.
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how expenditure has supported the key objectives of the charity;
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investment policy and objectives including any ethical investment policy adopted.
Section F Other optional information
The total income in the financial year 2022/2023 was £61,621.60 whilst the total expenditure amounted to £53,308.88 resulting in an overall income / expenditure of £8,312.72.
Almost £20,000 has been invested directly back into the site in the way of building maintenance and improvements in the last year and over £300,000 over the last five years.
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Section G Declaration
The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.
Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees
| Signature(s) Full name(s) Position (eg Secretary, Chair, etc) Date |
C.J. Harrison M.D.G. Brett |
|---|---|
| Christopher John Harrison Matthew David George Brett |
|
Chair Campsite Manager |
|
| 1stSeptember 2023 | |
| 1stSeptember 2023 |
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