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← Midshires Search & Rescue Organisation

2025-09-30-accounts

Trustees' Annual Report for the period

Period start date Period start date Period end date Period end date
Day Month Year Day Month Year
From 1st October 2024 To 30th September 2025

Section A Reference and administration details

Charity name MIDSHIRES SEARCH & RESCUE ORGANISATION Other names charity is known by MSAR Registered charity number (if any) 1110825 Charity's principal address The Old Squash Court Hunts Lane Felmersham Bedford MK43 7JQ ~~=~~

Trustee name Office (if any) Dates acted if not for whole
year		 Name of person (or body) entitled
to appoint trustee(if any)
Dan Rose Chairman
Jane Carwithen Secretary
Tim Perkins Treasurer 10/10/2024
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5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
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20
~~ee~~		 ~~ee~~ ~~ee~~ ~~ee~~

FY 2024-2025 (Template TAR2012)

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Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)

Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information) Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information) Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)
Type of adviser
Name
Address
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

[Constitution ]

How the charity is constituted

[Association ]

Trustee selection methods

[Elected by membership at an Annual General Meeting ]

Additional governance issues (Optional information)

You may choose to include additional information, where relevant, about:

The charity is a member of the Association of Lowland Search & Rescue (ALSAR).

Management of the charity is the responsibility of an Executive Committee comprising the Trustees and other members who are responsible for specific portfolios such as finance, membership, training, logistics and safeguarding. The Executive Committee meets monthly, minutes are recorded and available online to the membership. Specialist groups such as those responsible for training and operational management also meet regularly.

The charity has written agreements in place with Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire police forces and are developing agreements with other statutory services such as Fire & Rescue.

The Trustees consider the major risks which the charity faces and confirm that risk registers and risk assessments are in place. Risk register contents and ongoing actions are reviewed by the Executive Committee.

Section C Objectives and activities

Summary of the objects of the charity set out in its governing document

To assist in the saving of life and relief of distress by the provision of efficient, trained resources (wherever possible conforming to established best practice) to the Police, Statutory Authorities and other Search & Rescue Organisations, for the search and rescue of high risk, vulnerable missing people.

FY 2024-2025 (Template TAR2012)

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Midshires Search & Rescue (MSAR) were called out to 77 incidents during the twelve months to 30[th] September 2025.

Typically these incidents involved searches and local resilience activity carried out over a duration of up to twelve hours, although some were conducted over a number of days.

Operational activity was as usual varied but sadly included a number of finds of deceased missing persons. The team trains extensively for these difficult situations. Making these finds, while challenging, is vital as it prevents members of the public from making a very distressing discovery.

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)

The year ended on a high point with the team finding a male (81) with severe dementia who had gone missing from his home address.

The Trustees are aware of the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit and are satisfied that the provision of volunteer search and rescue services to Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire Constabulary in the search of vulnerable missing people constitutes a public benefit.

Additional details of objectives and activities (Optional information)

MSAR relies on its team of members who are all volunteers.

None of them are paid for their time, fuel or expenses. MSAR receives no funding from the emergency services we support, central or local government and is wholly reliant on donations, self fundraising and grants.

You may choose to include further statements, where relevant, about:

MSAR’s search and rescue service is provided free of charge to the police and public.

FY 2024-2025 (Template TAR2012)

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~~eee~~ Section D Achievements and performance

Summary of the main achievements of the charity during the year

MSAR through its trained volunteers continued to be available 24 hours a day across the entire period, to assist the Police in searching for high risk, vulnerable missing people across Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire.

Members were also called out through mutual aid arrangements to assist other Lowland Rescue search teams in neighbouring areas (eg Essex, Bucks, Northants & London). They remained available to take part in major incidents managed nationally by Lowland Rescue. Members also assisted in civil emergency situations as part of local resilience operations organised by bodies such as Bedfordshire Local Emergency Volunteers Executive Committee (BLEVEC). Such assistance over recent years has involved flood response and residential evacuations due to emergency situations.

The team was available to deploy at short notice to search for high risk, vulnerable missing people in woodland, quarries, watercourses, nature reserves, farmland, towns and villages. Operating in all weathers, MSAR were able to save lives and make a significant contribution to society across Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire. Searches were often carried out in harsh environments, each being planned and executed using intelligence and tried and tested search techniques. The families and friends of missing people appreciated that a group of specialist volunteers were ready and able to give their time to search for their loved one.

Activity summary for the twelve months to 30[th] September 2025:

Average number of operational members: 42

Incidents are callouts where members deployed on search or resilience activity at the request of the police, statutory authorities or other Lowland Rescue teams.

Training is operational development to ensure national Lowland Rescue national standards are met.

Internal Training: Managed by our training team, includes monthly mock searches, twice monthly classroom sessions and specialist skills training for our Water Search and K9 units. Training covers core competencies such as search techniques, incident management, communications, first aid, and navigation.

External Training: Is provided by our parent organisation, Lowland Rescue, as well as third-party specialists. We also participate in joint exercises with the Police and Fire Services to ensure inter-agency cooperation.

Progression Training: New recruits begin with internal foundational training before qualifying as Licensed Search Technicians. Experienced members are supported in progressing to advanced roles as Team Leader, Search Planner, or Search Manager in alignment with national standards.

FY 2024-2025 (Template TAR2012)

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Section D Achievements and performance

Events include fundraising activities, talks to community groups such as Rotary, WI, U3A. Community engagement extends to working with groups such as scouts, police cadets and others to share and demonstrate our skills and capabilities.

In addition to the above, the team holds internal meetings for the Executive, other specialist groups and team work sessions to ensure equipment and vehicles are kept to a high state of operational readiness.

Section E Financial review

Brief statement of the charity’s policy on reserves

MSAR maintains a cash reserve of 60% of annual expenditure (excluding one-off projects) averaged over the previous three years.

Reserves are reviewed annually as part of the Financial Control Policy.

Details of any funds materially in deficit

None.

Further financial review details (Optional information)

You may choose to include additional information, where relevant about:

MSAR’s main source of funds continued to be general donations from the public, local community organisations and fundraising activities to cover operating expenses. Capital expenditure requires applications to grant awarding bodies for specific projects when required.

Income for the FY was £32.6k and expenditure £24.4k. The team had placed orders for twenty new radios and new dry suits for our Water Search Team, these were due to be delivered in September, but there were supply delays. If that equipment had been delivered on time our expenditure for the year would have been £32.3k. We put money aside to pay for the equipment when it is delivered in October.

MSAR operates a fully equipped Incident Control Unit, a specialist Water Search Unit to support water based searches and flood resilience and a Land Rover Defender ambulance.

FY 2024-2025 (Template TAR2012)

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Section F

.

Other optional information

Whilst MSAR is not registered for VAT, as a qualifying Search & Rescue charity, it is able to claim a refund of VAT incurred on the purchase of goods and services for its non-business activities.

Refunds of VAT to search and rescue charities. Part 2 of Value Added Tax Act 1994 (reliefs, exemptions and repayments), after section 33B, 33C.

Section G Declaration

The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.

Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees

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Position (eg Secretary, Chair, Tiictoaeeasuren
etc)
Date|4/03/2026
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msar trustees annual report v2 2024-2025 20260315.docx

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FY 2024-2025 (Template TAR2012)

Midshires Search & Rescue

Receipts & Payments OCT 2024 - SEP 2025

Fin. Year
2024-2025
£
750.00
964.00
11,439.26
0.00
3,429.63
0.00
4,713.05
3,626.34
4,928.00
0.00
-108.00
1,271.70
1,600.43
32,614.41
5,956.97
1,206.00
3,695.85
5,303.73
4,586.31
1,305.16
2,164.54
139.98
24,358.54
8,255.87		 Fin. Year
2024-2025
£
750.00
964.00
11,439.26
0.00
3,429.63
0.00
4,713.05
3,626.34
4,928.00
0.00
-108.00
1,271.70
1,600.43
32,614.41
5,956.97
1,206.00
3,695.85
5,303.73
4,586.31
1,305.16
2,164.54
139.98
24,358.54
8,255.87		 Fin. Year
2023-2024
£
200.00
408.75
3,380.41
0.00
6,820.00
0.00
13,301.70
0.00
0.00
100.00
1,744.60
1,347.15
1,680.99
28,983.60
16,320.42
0.00
1,071.47
4,743.45
1,907.24
1,170.77
1,686.22
0.00
26,899.57
2,084.03		 Fin. Year
2023-2024
£
200.00
408.75
3,380.41
0.00
6,820.00
0.00
13,301.70
0.00
0.00
100.00
1,744.60
1,347.15
1,680.99
28,983.60
16,320.42
0.00
1,071.47
4,743.45
1,907.24
1,170.77
1,686.22
0.00
26,899.57
2,084.03		 Fin. Year
2022-2023
£
0.00
3,531.25
1,095.67
0.00
4,510.00
0.00
5,259.31
0.00
0.00
0.00
1,254.00
1,700.26
810.58
18,161.07
3,352.65
0.00
2,873.13
3,801.67
4,911.18
1,011.58
157.86
0.00
16,108.07
2,053.00		 Fin. Year
2022-2023
£
0.00
3,531.25
1,095.67
0.00
4,510.00
0.00
5,259.31
0.00
0.00
0.00
1,254.00
1,700.26
810.58
18,161.07
3,352.65
0.00
2,873.13
3,801.67
4,911.18
1,011.58
157.86
0.00
16,108.07
2,053.00		 Fin. Year
2021-2022
£
0.00
11,352.50
1,266.77
700.00
1,999.36
166.55
5,554.01
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
517.53
2.68
21,559.40
6,646.48
0.00
2,278.00
3,538.32
2,372.42
718.27
246.22
0.00
15,799.71
5,759.69		 Fin. Year
2021-2022
£
0.00
11,352.50
1,266.77
700.00
1,999.36
166.55
5,554.01
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
517.53
2.68
21,559.40
6,646.48
0.00
2,278.00
3,538.32
2,372.42
718.27
246.22
0.00
15,799.71
5,759.69		 Fin. Year
2020-2021
Detail £ £
Grants
Clothing Recycling
Talks (Community Groups)
Bike Events
General Events
In Memorium
General Donations
Online Donations
GivingForce (BP)
Training
Uniforms (Personal)
VAT Recovery
Bank Interest		 0.00
7,792.50
150.00
0.00
270.00
0.00
455.86
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
877.98
15.82
750.00
964.00
11,439.26
0.00
3,429.63
0.00
4,713.05
3,626.34
4,928.00
0.00
-108.00
1,271.70
1,600.43
Total Receipts 32,614.41 9,562.16
Equipment & Assets
Uniform
Training
Insurance
Motor Expenses
Communication
Subscriptions
Fundraising		 1,195.19
0.00
434.00
2,739.66
2,234.07
1,004.81
253.72
0.00
5,956.97
1,206.00
3,695.85
5,303.73
4,586.31
1,305.16
2,164.54
139.98
Total Payments 24,358.54 7,861.45
Cash Surplus/(Deficit) 8,255.87 1,700.71
Closing Summary
Bank Accounts B/F
Cash Surplus/(Deficit)
Bank Accounts C/F		 44,209.47
8,255.87		 42,165.44
2,084.03		 40,112.44
2,053.00		 34,352.75
5,759.69		 32,652.04
1,700.71
52,465.34 44,209.47 42,165.44 40,112.44 34,352.75
205.38 40.00 0.00 0.00
PayPal Closing Balance 205.38 0.00
Total Funds in Hand 52,670.72 44,249.47 42,165.44 40,112.44 34,352.75

Restricted funds of £1,792 were expended in 2024-2025, the balance of £2,177 was carried forward to FY 2025-2026.

Approved by members's Special AGM 12MAR2026 minute 3.

https://d.docs.live.net/410798433a25bdec/Electronic Filing/MSAR/MSAR Finance/2024-2025/Year End 2024-2025/2024-20256 CC Uploads/MSAR Receipts and Payments OCT 2024-SEP 2025 (final cc upload).xlsx/MSAR 2024-2025 new format

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ro | CHARITY COMMISSION | Independent examiner's report on the
| | FOR ENGLAND AND WALES accounts
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Section A Independent Examiner’s Report

Report to the trustees Midshires Search & Rescue Organisation On accounts for the year 30 September 2025 Charity NO | 4440825 ended (if any) | report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity (“the Trust”) for the year ended 30/09/2025. 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 [The-charity's gross income-exceeded £250,006 anc ant quatified teexaminer's statement -appleabletisted bedy]]. Delete [ ] if not applicable. | have completed my examination. | confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination (other than that disclosed below *) 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 examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. * Please delete the words in the brackets if they do not apply. Signed: an Date: |05/12/2025 Name: PETER. Tort Harts qualification(s)Relevant professional or body | CErmaa CIT?a | (if any):

IER

[1]

(Template Oct 2018)

Address:| +4 HAZECBUKRY AVENUE AYER OTS -Z Aric CEY WEKTS, WDS ODF

Section B Disclosure

Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight material matters of concern (see CC32, Independent examination of charity accounts: directions and guidance for examiners).

Give here brief details of any items that the examiner wishes to disclose. |

on

IER

[2]

(Template Oct 2018)

msar ife cc report 2024-2025 20251008.doc