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2021-03-31-accounts

District Trustees Annual Report

to the

BRISTOL SOUTH DISTRICT SCOUT COUNCIL for the year ended 31 March 2021 presented at the Annual General Meeting 30 July 2021

BRISTOL SOUTH DISTRICT SCOUT COUNCIL TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021

Contents Pages
Reference and Administrative Information 1
Structure, Governance and Management 2
Objectives and Activities
Public Benefit 3
Risk Assessment
Financial Review
Statement of Trustees Responsibilities
Additional Reporting Requirements 4
Achievements and Performance 2020-21
Scott Stowell – District Commissioner (until 31.12.2020) 5
Steve Williams – District Chairman 6
Plans for the Coming Year 2021-22
Paul Harper – District Commissioner (from 1.4.2021) 7
Declaration 8

The accounts for the financial year 2020-21 form a separate document to this report.

BRISTOL SOUTH DISTRICT SOUTH COUNCIL TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021

Status

The scout district was first registered with the Charity Commission on 22[nd] March 2002 under the charity number 1091301 on the merger of the Bristol SE and SW scout districts.

The charity is part of the Scout Association, located within the ‘Scout County of Avon’ and has the district registration number 16716.

Trustees

Steve Williams District Chairman
Scott Stowell District Commissioner (until 31.12.2020)*
Vacancy District Treasurer
Theresa Coll District Secretary
Cathy Harding Deputy District Commissioner*
Sam Beard Assistant District Commissioner- Events (until 31.12.2020)
Gemma Francis District Explorer Leader*
Nick Winter District Explorer Scout Administrator*
Gary Turner District Scouter
Beth Haines District Youth Commissioner
James Wall District Network Commissioner
Stephen Thomas Executive Committee Member*
Tony Rees Executive Committee Member*
Andy Morris Executive Committee Member*

*Indicates member of the Finance Sub Committee (Tony Rees acting Chairman).

Principal Address

c/o. 45 Whitecross Avenue, Bristol, BS14 9JF

Bankers

Lloyds Bank, Kingswood, Bristol PO Box 1000, BS1 6AH Virgin Media, Unit 1, Transom House, Victoria Street, BX1 1LT

Bristol South District Website and e-mail Address

www.bristolsouthscouts.org.uk bristolsouth@avonscouts.org.uk

Independent Financial Examiner

Russell Smith

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BRISTOL SOUTH DISTRICT SOUTH COUNCIL TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021

Structure, Governance and Management

The district’s governing documents and constitution are those of The Scout Association (TSA). These consist of Charter Royal, 1991 being the most recent, which in turn gives authority to the bye laws of the Association and The Policy, Organisation and Rules (POR) of The Scout Association. The district is a trust established under its rules, which are common to all Scouts. The trustees are appointed in accordance with the rules and policies contained in POR of The Scout Association.

The District Executive Committee (DEC) consisted of up to 13 members during the year, all of which are the charity trustees of the scout district, which is an educational charity, manages the district. As charity trustees they are responsible for complying with legislation applicable to charities. This includes the registration, keeping proper accounts and making returns to the Charity Commission as appropriate.

The district operates under the model rules and constitution provided by The Scout Association under POR rule 4.25, as amended from time to time.

The DEC meets on average six times a year (by Zoom during the pandemic period restrictions), and exists to support the district leadership team in meeting the responsibilities of the appointments and is responsible for:

The DEC is a member of the Small Charities Coalition, which exists to help promote good practise and operational procedure of smaller charities using forums, online learning and lobbies on behalf of this sector in general.

Objectives and Activities

The objectives of the district are as a unit of the Scout Association. The Aim of The Scout Association is:

“To promote the development of young people in achieving their full physical, intellectual, social and spiritual potentials, as individuals, as responsible citizens and as members of their local national and international communities.”

“The method of achieving the aim of the Association is by providing an enjoyable and attractive scheme of progressive training, based on the Scout Promise and Law and guided by adult leadership.”

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BRISTOL SOUTH DISTRICT SOUTH COUNCIL TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021

Public Benefit

The district meets the Charity Commission's public benefit criteria under both the ‘advancement of education’ and the ‘advancement of citizenship or community development’ headings. Bristol south scout district ‘catchment’ covers the following postal code areas of south Bristol, though in some areas not exclusively BS1, BS3, BS4, BS13 and BS14.

Risk Assessment

The District Executive Committee has identified the major risks to which they believe the district is exposed, these have been periodically reviewed and systems have established to mitigate against them. The principal areas of concern that have been identified are:

Financial Review

Due to the nature of the district funding not being guaranteed to be consistent from one year to another the Reserves Policy is somewhat flexible in nature. In essence being sufficient funds to continue to pay non deferable or fixed debts/costs for a period of three years without funding being received from the usual income streams. This usually abouts to being in the region of £12k.

Funds are also allocated in addition to this for any possible costs associated with the vacation of the Eastwinds Scout Centre property, £20k and other activities funds are held in specific bank accounts separate from the general district account e.g. Jamboree fund, Explorer Scout fund and Gang Show fund. Funds held are regularly monitored to ensure that they do not become excessive and that are used to the widest possible benefit. However, opportunities to invest in local scouting during the ‘pandemic period’ and the availability of grant aid has meant that balances/reserves were at the end of the year under review much higher than usual or anticipated. A financial support package to groups and units within the district will be action from 2021-22 budgets, along with other activity ‘subsidies’ etc to reduce balances to reasonable levels.

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BRISTOL SOUTH DISTRICT SOUTH COUNCIL TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021

The district has adopted a low-risk strategy to the investment of its funds. All funds are held in Lloyds Bank Accounts and a Virgin Money deposit account. The district is continuing to reduce cash holdings, only now held by the Eastwinds manager, all other floats having been repaid.

The DEC regularly monitors the levels of bank balances and the interest rates received to ensure the district obtains maximum value and income from its banking arrangements. 2020 saw the commencement of a programme of severe rate cutting by banks, building societies etc. Funds have therefore been left in place to attract what income it can, however, this is much reduced on previous years.

The district has in place systems of internal controls that are designed to provide reasonable assurance against material mismanagement or loss; these include either two signatories (Cheques) or two approvals (BACs transfers) for all payments.

Further financial commentary along with the Independent Examiner’s statement can be found on pages 9 & 10 of the annual accounts, 2020-21.

Statement of Trustees Financial Responsibilities

The trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose, with reasonable accuracy at any time, the financial position of the district.

They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the district and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities. The accounts have been drawn up on the receipts and payments basis and follow best practice as set out in the Statement of Recommended Practice “Accounting and Reporting by Charities.”

Additional Reporting Requirements

Numbers at the end of each comment refers to The Charity Commission ‘Additional Reporting Requirements’ template.

There were no ‘serious’ or notifiable incidents during the year under review. All processes are subject to review by the trustees (4&36).

Grant making is not the main way the charity fulfils its purposes. However, in this unprecedented year, refunds have been made and small grants made available within the scout district in addition to those usually considered e.g. hardship assistance. No funds were raised from the general public (5&10).

No funding was received as a payment for contracts with central or local government. However, six Covid relief grant payments were received from government paid by the local authority totalling £20717.36 as detailed in the annual accounts, page three, section A (11, 14, 15&16).

The charity does not have any trading subsidiaries, nor does it operate outside of England & Wales and has not received any overseas funding (17,20&27).

All the trustees are volunteers and as such not remunerated except for the payment of claimed expenses. There are no paid staff, thus no trustees have resigned to start paid appointments (29,31&32).

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BRISTOL SOUTH DISTRICT SOUTH COUNCIL TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021

As a young person’s charity, all volunteers including trustees are subject to a DBS check prior to appointment, which is reviewed upon positional changes and after five years. This service is provided centrally by The Scout Association via its approved contractor. Trustee details are recorded and shown on The Charity Commission portal (37&41).

Achievements and Performance

Scott Stowell – District Commissioner (until 31.12.2020).

This year has been a year like no other for the world and Bristol South Scouts volunteers have work tirelessly to keep scouting alive in the south of Bristol, volunteers having to completely amend their normal working practises of scouting being predominately a charity providing outdoor/face to face activities to being mainly online or delivered home activity packs for the majority of the year. Whilst regularly scheduled activities and events have had to have been postponed and cancelled, these will be taken forward when restrictions finally permit these to take place.

Our volunteers have embraced new ways of delivering Scouting as well as meeting as volunteers by using technology such as Zoom. This has supported the efforts to ensure scouting continued for young people but also the infrastructure of scouting was able to function and flourish.

The Bristol South Scout district has supported all groups to embrace the changes in scouting to ensure that face to face scouting bounces back and thrives once the pandemic is over. Covid 19 has been tough for people in their own personal lives, a testimony to their character and resolve being that the majority have continued to provide support as a volunteer to their local community, even when their own personal circumstances have been challenging. The pandemic has taught us new skills and will only strengthen how we operate as a charity in the future.

We successfully held our AGM last year on Zoom with everyone getting the opportunity to attend so that we could share our progress to date. We also held another thank you event in 2020, this time with a twist in that it was also online. We had over 60 volunteers attend the event where we shared our top awards as well as local thank you awards for our amazing leaders and volunteers.

We have also taken this opportunity to further our connection with our volunteers over social media and we updated our website to better support our members as much as possible.

It has been a tough year for everyone but scouting in Bristol South has pulled through, all down to our outstanding volunteers.

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BRISTOL SOUTH DISTRICT SOUTH COUNCIL TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021

Steve Williams – District Chairman

My report this year starts similarly to last year’s report in commenting on what a strange and different and sometimes difficult year it has been to that of a normal year in the life of scouting. Last year I reflected on the resignation of our District Commissioner (DC) which hopefully was not attributed to myself. On my second year in office, we are now on our third DC, so on reflection perhaps my days as District Chair are now numbered.

I would like to express my thanks to Isabelle Mills for standing into the breach for her short tenure as ‘caretaker’ DC, who together with her other county roles in scouting took time out to help and assist the district in the period of AS (After Scott) and thank her for all her help and support. We now have our newly appointed DC in place and a very warm welcome is extended to Paul Harper in his new position and the Board of Trustees look forward to supporting Paul in the coming months as we (hopefully) return to what most of us refer to as the “new normal.”

Although, it has been a quite year in terms of meeting up with everyone face to face, I know many of you have been working behind the scenes in maintaining scouting both at group, unit, district and Group Executive level through the periods of ever rapidly changing regulations – Who would of thought that traffic lights would control, if, where, when and how scouting would, or even could, be conducted. My extreme admiration must go to Group Scout Leaders and all uniformed leaders for their diversity and ingenuity in continuing to bring scouting to many of our members during the last 12-month period.

I make no apology for using the analogy of a good scout leader resembling a swimming swan. On the surface the swan glides majestically and calmly across the water creating nothing but gentle ripples in its wake, while underneath it is paddling like mad with its legs to keep the smooth motion going. (Sounds like a typical section meeting I hear some of you cry!) Scout leaders just like the swans are always cool and calm on the surface but working furiously underneath to ensure that the direction, drive and decision making continues – with consistency, no matter the challenge ahead for the betterment of all the young people in Scouting.

I would also like to express to all members of executive committees (or trustees as we now refer to them) either at group or district level my grateful thanks for all your continued collaboration with the uniform leadership teams in providing the much-needed support and encouragement we have all needed over the last 12 months.

At a district level I would like to express again, my thanks to Tony Rees for all his hard work heading up our finance sub-committee and for the help and assistance to groups within the district with advice and help regarding available national and local grants and funding opportunities. Not to forget the endless work he does on our social media Facebook page and district website. Also, my gratitude to Andrew Morris, our former District Chair, who has decided to stand down as a trustee from the district board of trustees. Our sincere thanks for your years of commitment and we wish you every success for the future.

As we all personally begin to recover from the last 12 months of restrictions and limitations, I wish you every success and pledge that any support we can offer please remember we are only a phone call or an email away. In the words of Bear Grylls

“So much of who we are as an adult is formed when we are kids. What scouting says to people is - It’s ok to go for it in life!”

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BRISTOL SOUTH DISTRICT SOUTH COUNCIL TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021

Plans for the Coming Year

Paul Harper – District Commissioner (wef 1.4.2021)

In April 2021 I took over from the ‘caretaker’ Interim DC Isabelle Mills (1.1.2021 to 31.3.2021) as District Commissioner. I have a clear remit to ensure scouting is ready to take advantage of the opportunities available to young people as the world opens up for camping and other exciting scouting opportunities.

Despite the pandemic, the fact we were able to retain so many leaders and young people, demonstrates resilience and an appetite for scouting. At the annual census (January) the number of young people aged 6-18 was 18% down on the previous census at 1004 and adults was down 16% (171 were leaders) to 307.

I also aim to strengthen the district leadership team and establish a clear direction for the future. One of my first acts was to maintain continuity by appointing Scott Stowell and Cathy Harding as DDCs to help us build the district leadership team of the future Scott and Cathy both know the district well and are well positioned to advise me how we can make meaningful progress without undermining the things that made us so successful. I thank them for agreeing to help me.

I am also delighted to be supported by a mix of old and new faces. As someone new to the DC role it gave me great confidence to see such a strong support structure within the district with an active Board of Trustees, Scout Active Support section and Appointments sub committee all focused on ensuring our young people receive the best scouting they possibly can. Thanks one and all.

Taking over as DC ‘after’ a pandemic is exciting but also not to be underestimated. Much has changed and we have lost a number of stalwart leaders and adult volunteers over the past year. Others have chosen to step back or found other interests, passing on the batten to the next generation. We thank all who served us in the past as well as those who continue to do so. A matter of great concern to me is the number of young people unable to access scouting in our district, we also lost an Explorer Scout Unit (Pegasus) due to a combination of factors not just the pandemic.

Based on the data provided in the last census, there are 212 young people in beavers, cubs and scouts on waiting lists in our district. Anecdotal information suggests that number is currently rising and also the number of our leaders might be overstretched, often wearing several “hats” within their groups. We need to find a way of supporting those who need it while attracting a new generation of adult volunteers to help us progress. The latest national scouting slogan is “Volunteering is Good for you” and it is true. There is a role in scouting for everyone, uniformed and behind the scenes.

If we can take care of our leaders, giving them the life opportunities they value, they will ensure an even greater number of young people acquire the unique skills for life that scouting offers. I look forward to a year of recovery and as we re-establish face to face scouting for our members.

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BRISTOL SOUTH DISTRICT SOUTH COUNCIL TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021

Declaration

The trustees declare that they have approved the Trustees Report above. Signed on behalf of the Charity's Trustees by:

Steve Williams - Chairman

Scott Stowell - District Commissioner (until 31.12.2020).

Date: 29[th] June 2021

8

Bristol South Scout District Board Of Trustees Annual Accounts 2020 - 2021

Registered Charity 1091301

Contents:

Page

4 Virgin Money District Gang Show District Jamboree

5 Eastwinds Scout Centre District Explorers (including Young Leaders & DofE)

6 District Network - Gert Lush Spinnaker Explorer Scout Unit

7 Supernova Explorer Scout Unit Pegasus Explorer Scout Unit

8 Ravens Band Approval Declaration

1 of 10

Charity No: 1091301

Accounts Statement - 2020 - 2021

A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
L
M		 Accounts Summaries
B/F
Income
Expenditure
Balance
Board of Trustees - Lloyds Account
£
59338.21 81490.11
63041.56
77786.76
Board of Trustees - Virgin Money
41976.73
206.42
0.00
42183.15
District Gang Show
3267.51
0.00
373.79
2893.72
District Jamboree
No transactions during this year.
4317.96
0.00
0.00
4317.96
Eastwinds Manager
949.00
0.00
360.23
588.77
District Explorers
1325.98
1388.48
901.50
1812.96
District Network
No transactions during this year.
461.21
0.00
0.00
461.21
Spinnaker ESU
670.57
3239.00
2531.57
1378.00
Supernova ESU
1019.22
2268.00
1597.25
1689.97
Pegasus ESU
ESU closed wef.31.3.2021
506.10
476.00
982.10
0.00
District Badge Secretary(cash in hand at end of year)
0.00
0.44
0.00
0.44
Ravens Band
1659.28
30.00
0.00
1689.28
Grand Totals
2020-21
£
115491.77 89098.45
69788.00
134802.22
Non-monetary Assets
2020-21 2019-20
Eastwinds Building 282014.00 276485.00 (a)
Eastwinds Contents/Equipment 23735.00 * 13695.00 (a)
The Den
Contents		 6279.00 6279.00 (a)
District Badge Stock 2599.30 2840.89 (b)
Ravens Band Instruments & Equipment 5000.00 5000.00 (c)

Valuations based on (a) NFU Insurance (b) District Badge Secretary annual report (c) Band Leader estimate. *This valuation now includes camping and outdoor equipment, stored and used at Eastwinds.

Total Non-monetary assets £ 319627.30 304299.89
Total Asset Value, Money Buildings etc £ 454429.52 419791.66
"Notional" BOT Fund Allocations A+B End 2020-21 End 2019-20

The District has no Endowment or otherise 'restricted funds' formally ringfenced for specific use by Deed of Gift/Trust or similar legal condition.

General Day To Day 20452.41 2239.94
District Property (Den & Eastwinds) 5000.00 1500.00
Development/Group Assistance incl. Additional Needs 10000.00 10000.00
Land or Building Remediation (see commentary) 20000.00 16000.00
District Activities (non Jamboree) 5000.00 3000.00
General Maintained Reserve (see commentary) 12000.00 20000.00
Membership 2021 47517.50 48575.00
TOTALS 119969.91 101314.94

2 of 10

A Board of Trustees- Lloyds account
2020-21
2019-20
Balance brought forward
59338.21
55699.11
Income
Annual Membership Fees From Groups 2021
50695.25
Covid Support Grants from Bristol Council
20717.36
Donation Received (for Covid Relief)
50.00
Returned Loan from Group Unused
156.00
Badge Income
3258.41
Payback Cash Float
200.00
Eastwinds Insurance Rebate
74.93
Forest School
4680.00
Scout Use
1600.00
Business Rate Rebate
58.16
6413.09
Total Income
81490.11
72379.92
Balance B/F + Income
140828.32
128079.03
Expenditure
Membership Payment to County 2020
48575.00
Badge Purchases
(Scout Shop)
2828.57
Den and Casual Helper Insurance
226.80
District Website (URL, Hosting & Support)
247.04
Licenses Legal & Consents
456.05
ADC/DC expenses
146.03
AGM/Trustee Expenses
70.80
Materials & Equipment
72.20
Eastwinds BT for WiFi
481.34
Water
376.95
EDF Electricity
1567.00
Insurance NFU
1899.07
Business Rates
58.16
4382.52
Covid Related Expenditures
Comms (Zoom)
28.78
Grants to Groups
196.27
Eastwinds Refunds
1600.00
Refund 2020 District Membership
4211.50
6036.55
Total Expenditure
63041.56
68740.82
Income less Expenditure to C/F
77786.76
59338.21

3 of 10

B
C
D		 Board of Trustees- Virgin Money
2020-21
2019-20
Balance brought forward
41976.73
41663.67
Transfers In & Interest Received
Transfers from Lloyds Current Account
0.00
0.00
Account interest
206.42
313.06
Total Transfers In/Interest
206.42
313.06
Balance B/F + Deposits
42183.15
41976.73
Transfers Out
Transfer to Lloyds Current Account
0.00
0.00
Total Transfers Out
Deposits less Withdraws to C/F
42183.15
41976.73
District Gang Show
2020-21
2019-20
Balance brought forward
3267.51
1591.46
Income
Total Income
0.00
5583.34
Balance B/F + Income
3267.51
7174.80
Expenditure
Props & Costumes
(outstanding from 19/20)
17.64
Performance Donation Frenchay Nuro Unit Club
356.15
Total Expenditure
373.79
3907.29
Income less Expenditure to C/F
2893.72
3267.51
District Jamboree
2020-21
2019-20
Balance brought forward
4317.96
4317.96
Income
0.00
0.00
Total Income
0.00
0.00
Balance B/F + Income
4317.96
4317.96
Expenditure
0.00
0.00
Total Expenditure
0.00
0.00
Income less Expenditure to C/F
4317.96
4317.96

4 of 10

E
F		 Eastwinds
(Held by Eastwinds Manager)
2020-21
2019-20
Balance brought forward
949.00
1354.23
Income
Hire - Non Regular Users
0.00
45.00
Balance B/F + Income
949.00
1399.23
Expenditure
Security
109.51
Kitchen equipment & parts
81.15
Cleaning
3.00
Materials & Tools
82.00
Spares & Repairs
84.57
Total Expenditure
360.23
450.23
Income less Expenditure to C/F
588.77
949.00
District Explorers
(Incl. Young Leaders & DofE)
2020-21
2019-20
Balance brought forward
1325.98
1796.63
Income
Subscriptions
(net of Go Cardless fees)
690.38
Refund of District Membership 2020
88.00
Closing Balance from Pegasus ESU
610.10
Total Income
1388.48
880
Balance B/F + Income
2714.46
2676.63
Expenditure
Membership To District 2021
864.50
Uniform & Badges
1.00
Online Scout Manager License
36.00
Total Expenditure
901.50
1350.65
Income less Expenditure to C/F
1812.96
1325.98

5 of 10

G
H		 District Network
2020-21
2019-20
Balance brought forward
461.21
461.21
Income
0.00
0.00
Total Income
0.00
0.00
Balance B/F + Income
461.21
461.21
Expenditure
0.00
0.00
Total Expenditure
0.00
0.00
Income less Expenditure to C/F
461.21
461.21
Spinnaker ESU
2020-21
2019-20
Balance brought forward
670.57
1432.83
Income
Subscriptions
770.00
Membership Refund Received
68.00
Refund Received - Rent
250.00
Refund Received - Wings
1815.00
Refund Received - Avon Jamboree
144.00
Refund Received - Sailing
72.00
Refund Received - Clip N Clmib
120.00
Total Income
3239.00
8485.77
Balance B/F + Income
3909.57
9918.60
Expenditure
Youth Programme & Activities
97.50
Annual Membership 2021
918.50
Rent
375.00
Materials & Equipment
92.30
Refunds Paid Out - Avon Jamboree
130.00
Refunds Paid Out - Wings
790.00
Equipment Insurance
108.00
Go Cardless Transaction Fees
20.27
Total Expenditure
2531.57
9248.03
Income less Expenditure to C/F
1378.00
670.57

6 of 10

I

J

Supernova ESU 2020-21 2019-20
Balance brought forward 1019.22 866.96
Income
Subscriptions 1500.00
Refunds Received Rent 400.00
Avon Jamboree 195.00
District Membership 100.00 695.00
Donations 73.00
Total Income 2268.00 4566.20
Balance B/F + Income 3287.22 5433.16
Expenditure
National, County & District Membership 760.00
Rent Paid 400.00
Refunds paid out Camps/Activities 224.00
Uniform/Badges 69.35 293.35
Zoom costs 143.90
Total Expenditure 1597.25 4413.94
Income less Expenditure to C/F 1689.97 1019.22
Pegasus ESU 2020-21 2019-20
Balance brought forward 506.10 1454.57
Income
Subscriptions 444.00
Refunds Received (District Membership 2020) 32.00
Total Income 476.00 2436.00
Balance B/F + Income 982.10 3890.57
Expenditure
Subscription Refunds (To individuals) 372.00
Transfer of Remaining Funds to District upon closure 610.10
Total Expenditure 982.10 3384.47
Income less Expenditure to C/F 0.00 506.10

7 of 10

M Ravens Band
(Held by The Band)
2020-21
2019-20
Balance brought forward
1659.28
2056.70
Income
Subscriptions
30.00
Total Income
30.00
1601.60
Balance B/F + Income
1689.28
3658.30
Expenditure
Total Expenditure
0.00
1999.02
Income less Expenditure to C/F
1689.28
1659.28

Declaration

Approved by the District Trustees at the Executive Committee meeting on 25th May 2021 in accordance with POR Rule 4:25 f ii point 15 and are signed on their behalf.

Steve Williams Chairman Board of Trustees Scott Stowell District Commissioner Bristol South Scouts Until 31.12.2020 Tony Rees Finance Sub Committee Board of Trustees

These accounts are :

8 of 10

Commentary 2020-2021

I usually start the year by talking about the apparent ‘cash rich’ position at the end of the financial year, this year there is no ‘apparent’ about it. The Covid pandemic has seen a year unlike any other, resulting in –

However, the usual county and national membership payment taking place in the first few days of the subsequent financial year, means the main account balance needs to be reduced by some £47.5k to give a snapshot of the closing balance.

The total district income falls between £25k and £250k, therefore, in accorance with The Charity Commission guidelines the accounts are of the 'Reciepts & Payments' type rather than 'Accrual & Prepayment' accounting.

As previously mentioned, expenditures relating to Eastwinds have been deferred and the regular income stream for third party use has decreased from the 2019-20 due to few days use. Whilst a Business Rates holiday was granted utility charges still occurred and rose.

Regretfully, Pegasus ESU closed during the financial year, subscription refunds being given for the period of inactivity, all liabilities paid, the balance transferred to the District Explorers account for future use to support 14-18 age groups activities etc.

The financial effects of Covid having been widely felt, for the first time it is necessary to report that the district has a debtor totalling £0.8k. However, this is subject to an approved deferral, so there is confidence this amount will be paid.

The district has no specific external financial liabilities, except for ongoing payments for services provided/business rates.

No capital assets were purchased nor disposed of during the year under review.

The value of badge stocks has fallen, although perhaps not quite as much as would be expected in a ‘normal’ operational year. It is still the intention to sell off stocks of obsolete badges as circumstances permit, recognising that this will not be for market value.

There were no payments from the District Jamboree, District Network and Ravens Band accounts and only two payments from the District Gang Show account, the larger of these being the payment of the show donations to the Frenchay Nuro Unit Fund. The Executive reaffirmed the intention that the Jamboree account be used to support those attending the rescheduled 2022 event and the Gang Show account to ‘pump prime’ the next show.

Also the Virgin Money deposit account has not been drawn upon over this year, interest gained has decreased due to the reduction in the interest percentage paid, which was much in line with the practice across the banking sector.

2020 saw the establishing of a formal reserves policy, essentially retaining at least an average of three years reserve covering non deferable costs, anticipated to be in the region of £12k. The ‘Remediation’ fund has been increased to £20k against the need to vacate and clear the Eastwinds site due to termination of lease or the district wishing to vacate the site in the future.

Whilst it is hoped that the Covid situation will ease during 2020-21 the District Executive will adopt a prudent financial attitude to provide support across the district in the future.

I end with my usual sincere thanks to all who have kept accounts over the year, enabling the timely production of these accounts.

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Independent Examiners Report

I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of Bristol South District Board of Trustees for the year ended 31 March 2021.

Responsibilities and basis of report

As the charity trustees of the Charity 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 Charity’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 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:

  1. accounting records were not kept in respect of the Charity as required by section 130 of the Act; or

  2. the accounts do not accord with those records; or

  3. the accounts 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 accounts to be reached.

(signed) Russell Smith Date: 25/05/2021

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End of accounts and financial report 2020-21