Charity registration number 1120121 (England and Wales)
HIGHAM FERRERS GATEWAY CLUB ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR YEAR ENDING 31ST AUGUST 2025
LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION
Trustees Anne Collinson (Chair) Appointed 05 November 2024 Elizabeth Willmott (Secretary) Helen Willmott (Treasurer) Appointed 05 November 2024 Jayne Whitney Appointed 05 November 2024
Charity registration England and Wales 1120121
Principal address 15 Kimbolton Road, Higham Ferrers, Northamptonshire, NN10 8DU
TRUSTEES REPORT
Objectives
Our Charitable Objects are as follows:
-
A. The relief of people with a learning disability in particular by the provision of help and support for them and for their families, dependents and carers, and to prevent learning disabilities for the public benefit and to advance religion amongst persons with a learning disability
-
B. To provide or assist in the provision of facilities for the recreation or other leisure time occupation for people who have need thereof by reason of learning disability with the object of improving their conditions of life
Activities
At Higham Ferrers Gateway Club, we have been providing leisure, social and wellbeing activities for our 30 plus members who are all adults with a learning disability.
Our members are all adults with a learning disability, mainly aged 18 to 65 years and have a variety of health conditions that affect their daily lives. They all require additional support to access activities outside of the home, and they live in a variety of settings including group homes, with relatives and in independent living. Our membership covers a wide range of abilities and we always run activities that are fully inclusive so that everyone can not only take part but enjoy themselves.
We have been running for over 25 years, and are affiliated to Mencap, who offer us support with insurance, safeguarding and other policies. We are a volunteer-led club, and have a paid Club Leader, who ensures that the club’s activities are managed and run to best practice standards, who is supported each week by our volunteers.
Achievements and performance
Higham Ferrers Gateway Club continued to go from strength to strength during 2024/25, both in terms of its reach in attracting more adults with disabilities to participate, and in supporting the involvement of its members within their local community.
Membership of the club grew during the year from 28 adults with disabilities to 34. Average attendance each week also grew from 21 to 26 members, necessitating an increase in our volunteer supporters from 8 to 11. The club continued to successfully support adults with a diverse range of physical and intellectual abilities, providing accessible weekly activities that enabled everyone to participate and feel valued. Weekly onsite activities at Hope Methodist Church were complemented by outdoor activities at a local community garden, as well as trips out to other local leisure facilities; and an annual excursion to the seaside. Gateway continues to create a real sense of friendship and community amongst everyone attending each week - members, volunteers and support workers alike.
Gateway members continued to play an active role in the running of the club during the year, and to have a clear voice in determining which activities they wished to see. Five members served on the club’s management committee, which met six times during the year to monitor progress and to make future plans. To further strengthen our focus on member participation, we introduced a co-chair role to be occupied by one of our members by election every two years. Some of our volunteer supporters also sat on our management committee to ensure that their voices are also included in any decision-making.
During 2024/25, Gateway continued to play an active part within the local community of Higham Ferrers, being a well-known and respected organisation within the town. Local support for the Club remained strong, with funding and other assistance being provided by local businesses and other charitable organisations.
Further to Gateway’s past financial input which helped to fund the renovation and transformation of a local community garden at Chichele College, the charity also more recently contributed to the construction of a new sensory garden within this space. This outdoor garden is now open to the whole community but was used extensively by the club and its members throughout the year. It continues to provide a wonderful outdoor setting for a variety of activities for our members, who were also involved in its regular maintenance and upkeep. Our Club members also participated in the local Waendal Walk again this year; as well as running a stall at the annual Christmas Sparkle. The Club also contributed to the Chichele Garden Fair wheelbarrow competition and to the town’s Big Green Week.
As we reflect on another successful year, Gateway is proud of the achievements, friendships, and opportunities created by the Club and its members, and we look
forward to continuing to support and empower adults with disabilities living in our community in the years ahead.
Financial review
The majority of our income comes from grants, from grant giving bodies such as the National Lottery Community Fund and Northamptonshire Community Foundation, with other income raised through members subs and fundraising activities. The total income for 2024/25 accounting period amounted to £32,512 and our expenditure totalled £23,126.
Reserves Policy
As a charity without long-term overheads, we aim to only hold a small amount of reserves, in order to maintain weekly activities should a gap in funding arise.
Risk
The trustees regularly review risks to the charity’s operations with the Club Leader, putting appropriate mitigations in place.
Structure, governance and management
The trustees who served during the year and up to the date of signature of the financial statements were:
Anne Collinson (Chair) Appointed 05 November 2024 Elizabeth Willmott (Secretary) Helen Willmott (Treasurer) Appointed 05 November 2024 Jayne Whitney Appointed 05 November 2024
Trustees are recruited from our volunteers and supporters, through an open call out. Trustees are recruited based on their skills, experience and knowledge and appointed during a full meeting of the trustees, upon successful completion of due diligence checks. After a period of change, we appointed 3 new trustees in November 2024.
The day-to-day running of the organisation’s activities is overseen by a management committee. Our charity runs on a membership structure, embedded in our constitution, where every member gets a vote at our annual AGM and the chance to be part of our management committee which has a 50/50 split of members and volunteers. These provide opportunities for members to formally propose new ideas for activities and the general running of the club. This gives all members a sense of responsibility and ownership of the club, encourages leadership skills and gives members confidence in expressing their opinions.
Both the management committee and trustees met at least 4 times a year, along with an annual training session for all of our volunteers.
Should the charity be wound up, any monies left will be donated to a local charity for adults with learning disabilities.
Statement of Trustees’ responsibilities
The Trustees are responsible for preparing the Trustees' report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice). The law applicable to charities in England and Wales requires the Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Charity and of its incoming resources and application of resources, including its income and expenditure, for that period.
In preparing these financial statements, the Trustees are required to:
-
select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently; observe the methods and principles of the Charities SORP (FRS 102);
-
make judgments and accounting estimates that are reasonable and prudent; state whether applicable UK Accounting Standards (FRS 102) have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements;
-
prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the Charity will continue in business.
The Trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the Charity's transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the Charity and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charities Act 2011 and the Charity (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the Charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
The trustees' report was approved by the Board of Trustees.
Signed…………………. Name …………………. Anne Collinson Date …………………… 10/06/2026
Higham Ferrers Gateway Club Income and Expenditure Account For Year Ended 31 August 2025
| Income Donations (See Note 2) Fundraising (net) (See Note 1) Grant - NCF Grant Grant - Tesco Grant - Co-Op Cause Grant - Mayor's fund Grant - NCC Grant - Awards 4 All Grant - Mencap Your Fund Member subscriptions Total Income Expenditure Postage, Staionery and Printing Room Hire Outings / Summer BBQ / Panto Martyn award Bank charges Meeting Actitvities Insurance, Affiliation Fee and Training Donations Equipment Freelance payments Meeting Expenses Total Expenditure Excess of Income over Expenditure |
2025 £ 1,769 1,057 5,000 375 1,774 - - 20,000 500 2,036 301 1,710 3,318 47 77 3,167 978 260 1,079 7,361 4,829 |
£ 32,512 (23,126) 9,386 |
2024 £ 1,604 1,291 4,000 1,125 1,016 100 3,000 - - 1,558 324 1,867 2,684 44 73 2,244 739 260 92 5,200 2,273 |
£ 13,693 (15,801) (2,108) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Higham Ferrers Gateway Club Income and Expenditure Account For Year Ended 31 August 2025
Notes to the Accounts
| Note 1 Net Fundrasing Income split as follows: Coffee mornings Three peaks challenge Waendel walk Sparkle Stall Other 2 Donations Rushden Chichele Rotary Rushden Rotary Swivel Club George Family Grosvernor Leasing Other 3 Reconciliation of Movement of Club Funds £ Funds as at 1st September 2024 Cash 154 Bank account 4,680 Excess of Income over Expenditure Funds at 31 August 2025 Represented by: Cash Bank account |
2025 210 - 447 400 - 1,057 2025 - - - 500 250 1,019 1,769 £ 4,834 9,386 14,220 161 14,059 14,220 |
2024 487 364 200 - 240 1,291 2024 800 500 200 104 1,604 |
|---|---|---|
The above income and expenditure account has been prepared from the books and records kept by Higham Ferrers Gateway Club
Robert Willmott LLB FCA