ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS
Year ended 5[th] April 2025
Charity Registration No. 1096332 Company Registration No. 4555122
|||D|A East of England Development Agency
Report of the Trustees for the year ended 5[th] April 2025
The Trustees, who are also Directors of the charity for the purposes of the Companies Act, submit their annual report and the audited financial statements for the year ended 5[th] April 2025. The Trustees have adopted the provisions of the Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP) “Accounting and Reporting by Charities” issued in October 2006 in preparing the annual report and financial statements of the charity.
The charity is a company limited by guarantee and was set up on 7[th] October 2002. It is governed by a Memorandum and Articles of Association, which were last amended on 7[th] October 2002. The company achieved charitable status on 4[th] March 2003.
The Trustees of the charity are:
Mrs C Caudwell Mr G Hering Ms J Hopps Mr R Jenkinson Mr R Lewis Mr C Owens
The trustees are appointed for a three-year term and a third retire by rotation at the Annual General Meeting and may be reappointed. Additional trustees can be appointed by ordinary resolution.
Company Secretary is Mrs C J Caudwell and the registered office of the company is:
Wickham Market Resource Centre, Chapel Lane, Wickham Market, Woodbridge, IP13 0SB
Bankers for the charity are:
The Co-operative Bank plc, P.O. Box 101, 1 Balloon Street, Manchester M60 4EP
Solicitors for the charity are:
Greenland Houchen Pomeroy, 38 Prince of Wales Road, Norwich, NR1 1HZ
Independent Examiner for the charity is:
Mr N Bestow, CGMA
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The Wickham Market Partnership’s Vision for Wickham Market is:
To be a community that values and supports all of its people
That serves the surrounding villages with pride
That works hard to sustain and improve its remarkable quality of life
Objects
Its objects are to secure and improve the economic and social framework of Wickham Market and the surrounding parishes by encouraging the development of recreational and leisure activities, offering opportunities for education and training and improving and enhancing the town and surrounding communities.
People
Trustees have met on a regular basis to make decisions on the work of the charity. Their voluntary commitment has been substantial.
Mrs Karen Burrows is the charity’s part-time Administrative Assistant. The charity has no relationships with either related parties or any other charities or organisations.
Funding
The Partnership developed out of the Market Towns Initiative (MTI), a government scheme aimed at promoting the key role of market towns in rural communities and managed by the East of England Development Agency (EEDA). This funding finished in March 2004. The Partnership continues to attract grant funding to support the development of local initiatives, including the Peoples Millions Lottery Fund, Local Authority grants, Sizewell C Community Fund, Co-op Community Cares Fund, local charities and local businesses.
The Community Rooms are the base for the Partnership with regular lettings contributing to the running of them and enabling the charity to continue to employ an Administrative Assistant to manage its day-to-day business. Membership of the Partnership demonstrates the wide range of local and statutory organisations, businesses and individuals actively supporting the work of the charity. Subscriptions provide revenue funding for the Partnership managed website.
The Resource Centre
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Community Rooms
The Resource Centre accommodates the Library, Community Rooms and Archive Centre and is a local focal point for residents and visitors. The Partnership leases the Community Rooms from Suffolk County Council with Suffolk Libraries IPS managing the building on their behalf up to June 2025, whereupon it reverted back to Suffolk County Council. A joint Management Committee deals with issues of maintenance and statutory obligations.
The Treatment Room and an associated office continue to be hired by a private chiropractor. The meeting rooms are normally used to provide Retinal Screening Clinics for patients with diabetes, the Citizens Advice Bureau, counsellors and therapists as well as offering a venue for meetings for local organisations and groups.
Library
On June 1st, 2025, the provision of library services was moved from Suffolk Libraries IPS back under the control Suffolk County Council. The transition was largely seamless as all front-line staff, volunteers and Friends groups transferred across at the same time. We wait to see how things develop over the coming months under the new regime but, at the moment, it is business as usual.
The Partnership continues to support and work closely with the library management team headed by Maggie Lusher. The library continues to be a key benefit for Wickham Market and the surrounding villages. The library is open 5 days a week and relies significantly on volunteers to complement the library staff so that the library can be fully open each day. Other services such as IT support and Genealogy sessions are also provided by volunteers on an ad hoc basis.
The Friends group, in conjunction with the Library Management team, are currently developing plans to build a garden room extension at the rear of the library to extend the library capacity and have a pleasant outlook onto the garden. It is expected that it will be mostly funded through CIL.
The small group of volunteers who look after the garden at the Resource Centre, led by Barbara Harrington, continue to do a fantastic job maintaining the borders, bushes, roses, etc. We are very grateful to them.
Wickham Market Area Archive Centre
The organisation successfully moved into its new premises in the rear garden of the Resource Centre in 2023. A new lease was negotiated by the Partnership with Suffolk County Council for the Archive Centre to occupy a large, insulated log cabin unit. The unit was purchased by the Partnership with the help of grants from East Suffolk Council, Wickham Market Parish Council, Wickham Market Partnership and local charitable trusts together with a legacy from a former trustee and was built by a group of volunteers, including the Chair of the Archive Centre, Partnership trustees and Shed members.
A very successful Facebook page is bringing a range of photographs of the local area and people to a wide audience, thanks to the efforts of members, and together with the new premises is revitalising the work of the Centre and engendering interest in local history.
WMAAC was relaunched in May of 2024 with an Open Day when the premises were officially named the Morris Dyke Centre and exhibition materials were on display in the garden.
New signage has been installed on the front of the Resource Centre and a good working relationship is developing between the Partnership, the Archive Centre members and the Library service to bring history to the community in a more accessible way.
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Website & Communications
Our website www.visitwickhammarket.co.uk, whilst consistently achieving a monthly visitor total of 1000 plus, is becoming out-of-date and a new up-to-date site was found to be necessary. To coincide with this, the Parish Council also stated their need for a new website to promote local business and tourism.
This was seen to be duplication of effort and as the Council had already managed to get funding for their website from East Suffolk Council it was agreed they would be the one to take the project forward with our help in the transition.
This would free the partnership from continuous funding of hosting and management costs for which the original funding had run out. It would also mean that Partnership membership payments would no longer be required as they were also used to support the running costs of the website. The Partnership also managed the social media content through its web manager.
Currently the transition is taking much longer than projected as we are waiting for the Parish Council web developers to produce designs for its new website. This is rather frustrating as we are continuing to fund our site whilst we wait. Ultimately it may mean that the village is temporarily left without a website to promote tourism and support local business, which would be a shame.
The Partnership will continue to provide the valuable village Round Robin weekly emails, advertising local events and information to nearly 500 people.
Wickham Market Shed
Since its initial meeting in late 2019 to gauge interest in developing a Men’s Shed (and despite the delays caused by the pandemic) the project now operates every week for members to ‘Connect, Converse and Create’. It is affiliated to the UK Men’s Shed Association
With the move of the Archive Centre to its new premises they have been able to take on the two portacabins and a wooden shed behind the Village Hall and Football Club and have developed a functioning workshop. This is with the agreement of the Parish Council and marks a significant step forward for the project.
Following a successful grant application to the Co-op Community Cares Fund (managed by Suffolk Community Foundation) by the Partnership, which is facilitating this project, the workshop has been fully rewired and new flooring laid and most of the donated equipment has now been rationalised. A dust extraction system is also to be installed as well as battery-powered tools to be purchased so that outdoor projects and repairs can be carried out. Community benches have been refurbished, birdboxes made and a range of other projects tackled. Shedders are now looking forward to getting creative.
Tennis
Following the installation of three hard tennis courts, funded by the Peoples Millions of the National Lottery in 2008, tennis activities continue to be managed by a Tennis Club, including sessions with a dedicated coach. The maintenance of the courts remains the responsibility of the Partnership. The courts are cleaned regularly but were reaching the end of their life without major refurbishment. Options were costed and we applied to the Sizewell C Community Fund for a grant to complete the work. This application was
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successful and the courts have been refurbished with a new colour coating. The location of where to book Pay and Play sessions changed from a local business outlet, R & S Hardware, to the Library in the Resource Centre. This year the local primary school year group 6 used the courts once a week for half of the spring term. It is hoped that the usage of the courts by the school will increase next year, especially as additional funding has been provided to purchase junior racquets and equipment.
Inspirations
Trading of this Community Interest Company (CIC) ceased in April 2024, with creditors and shareholders reimbursed. Shareholders were thanked for their contributions and for enabling the project to be realised back in 2016. Residual funds have been transferred to the Partnership as part of the exit strategy of Inspirations, in line with its constitution and status as a CIC. These are now being used for other local projects. An application to Strike-Off the company has been made, which should be finalised shortly.
It is pleasing to see that Blue Crocus Textiles has successfully negotiated to use the premises for its local business and there is a strong presence in the village centre once more.
The George
Over the last year all of the major design issues have been resolved and the construction and renovation phase is now close to its end. There is a final list of construction activities which is expected to be complete in the next few weeks after which Building Control approval will be sought which will allow public use of the building. Initially this will be for drinks only as the Society will need to install the kitchen and complete a number of fit out requirements which will take about 3 weeks, following which the full restaurant service will be in place
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In preparation for opening, staff recruitment has begun with the Pub Manager and Chef in place. Recruitment will continue with 2 further full-time staff and about 12 part time staff to be trained ready for opening.
Liaison with local organisations and groups has been ongoing and a programme of wellbeing-focused activities in the Activity Room is in advanced development.
A new website https://www.thegeorgecommunitypub.co.uk/ has been developed and now active.
Now that the project to rebuild and restore the George, which began in 2016, is nearing completion The Society has enjoyed and appreciated the active and financial support the Partnership has given throughout.
Future Plans
The Partnership is a key player in many village developments, with trustees being represented on other major committees. These include the Parish Council and the George Public House as well as facilitating projects such as the Shed, assisting the Archive Centre move and the management of the Tennis Courts.
The Partnership has pledged £5,000 to the Village Hall Rebuild Fund (later changed to the Refurbishment Fund); important for matched funding applications.
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WICKHAM MARKET PARTNERSHIP
Income & Expenditure Account for year ended 5th April 2025
| Income Grants received and receivable Other Income Membership contributions (note 1) Resource Centre hire (note 2) Contribution to Electrical Work Contribution to Signage Tennis Pay & Play/Club subs Web hosting Bank interest received Donations (Total Income) Less Expenditure Administrative Assistant Resource Centre costs Tennis courts maintenance Telephones & I.T. Electricity PPS & A General expenses Insurance Shed Purchases Christmas Leaflet Grants Depreciation Other Total Expenditure Excess of Income over Expenditure |
£ £ £ £ 4,035 3,000 344 628 8,798 8,920 3,953 425 653 546 85 246 267 10,904 25 21,455 14,339 25,490 17,339 5,084 4,605 3,092 1,764 1,500 37 4,862 3,582 42 164 336 89 39 918 752 159 806 1,059 7,119 10,000 2,451 1,660 16 26,143 23,993 (653) (6,654) 2025 2024 |
|---|---|
| 5,084 3,092 1,500 4,862 42 164 89 918 806 7,119 2,451 16 |
|
WICKHAM MARKET PARTNERSHIP
Balance Sheet as at 5th April 2025
| Fixed Assets Brought Forward Additions Less Depreciation Carried Forward Current Assets Debtors Prepayments Cash at bank Less Current liabilities Creditors Net Current Assets Total Assets less Liabilities Represented by: Accumulated Fund Balance brought forward Excess of Income (Expenditure) |
£ £ £ £ 21,921 13,249 389 10,332 2,451 1,660 19,859 21,921 479 451 20,630 19,249 21,109 19,700 21,109 19,700 40,968 41,621 41,621 48,275 (6,654) 41,621 41,621 2025 2024 |
£ £ £ £ 21,921 13,249 389 10,332 2,451 1,660 19,859 21,921 479 451 20,630 19,249 21,109 19,700 21,109 19,700 40,968 41,621 41,621 48,275 (6,654) 41,621 41,621 2025 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| 479 20,630 |
||
| 41,621 | ||
| 19,700 | ||
| 41,621 | ||
| 41,621 |
NOTES TO ACCOMPANY ACCOUNTS
Note 1
Membership contributions are treated on a cash received basis.
Note 2 Resource Centre Hire Income is made up as follows:-
| Cruise Chiropractic 6,300.00 £ Health Intelligence 1,500.00 £ Wickham Market Parish Council 165.00 £ Leiston, Saxmundham & District CAB 768.00 £ East Anglian School 180.00 £ Suffolk Community Foundation Other (charities, organisations, private) |
6,300.00 £ 1,450.00 £ 97.50 £ 600.00 £ 60.00 £ 60.00 £ 231.00 £ |
|---|---|
| 8,798.50 £ |
Note 3
Depreciation
Depreciation has been provided on all tangible fixed assets from the time they come fully into use and has been calculated at rates designed to write off the costs on a straight line basis over their expected useful lives as follows:
Office and computer equipment: over 5 years Wooden buildings: over 10 years
| Balance brought fwd Reclassification Additions Depreciation Charge for year Net book value at 5th April 2025 |
Log Cabin £ 20,741 - 2,222 18,519 |
Garden Tool shed £ 798 (597) - (36) 237 |
Men's Shed - 597 389 165 821 |
Laptop £ 382 - 100 282 |
Total £ 21,921 - 389 2,451 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19,859 | |||||
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wk | CHARITY COMMISSION | Independent examiner's report on the
L ea”|| FOR ENGLAND AND WALES accounts
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Section A
Independent Examiner’s Report
Report to the trustees ; The Wickham Market Partnership On accounts for the year | 5‘ April 2025 Charity no ended (if any) | report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity (“the Trust”) for the year ended 5" April 2025 Responsibilities and As the charity's trustees, you are responsible for the preparation of the basis of report accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the Act”). | 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, | have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission — under section 145(5)(b) of the Act. Independent As the Company’s gross income exceeded £25,000 but is less than examiner's statement £250,000 a review by an independent examiner with sufficient financial awareness, numeracy skills and relevant experience is in accordance with Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. | have completed my examination. | 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: e the accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act; or e the accounts did not accord with the accounting records; or e the accounts did 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. | have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examinatj6n to which attention should be drawn in this report in order toHe 3 proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. Signed: | MWK Date: | 11° December 2025 ve Name: | Nicholas C Bestow Relevant professional |[CGMA] qualification(s) or body (if any): Address: | Northside Farmhouse, Caters Road, Bredfield Woodbridge, Suffolk IP13 6BE