2025-12-31-accounts

Trustee Annual Report – as at 31[st] December 2025

1. Charity Details

 Charity Name: Rendlesham Community Centre  Charity Registration Number: 1125733  Legal Status: Trust  Address: Walnut Tree Avenue, Rendlesham, Suffolk IP12 2GG  Trustees: Rendlesham Parish Council  Key Contact Person: Cllr. Janice Weller, Chair, Rendlesham Community Centre Committee

• Charity Name:

2. Objectives and Activities

• To run Rendlesham Community Centre for the use of the inhabitants of the Parish of Rendlesham in Suffolk without distinction of sex, sexual orientation, age, disability, nationality, race or political, religious or other opinions, including the use of the property for recreation and leisure time occupations in the interests of social welfare for the said inhabitants.

3. Financial Review

Total Income: £82,291.53 Total Expenditure: £46,099.44 Reserves as at 31 December 2024: £52,729.71

• Reserves Policy: Reserves will be held to ensure the centre has sufficient funds to meet all necessary expenditure

• Financial Challenges: Energy related costs continued to be a key challenge in 2025. However, the charity changed electricity provider resulting in a significant decrease (22%) in electricity costs. It was previously recognised that the centre needs to increase its income in order to become selfsufficient. Hire charges were reviewed to ensure rates across the board were comparable and various promotions to attract new hirers took place. These initiatives increased our income by over 30%

4. Recommendations

The auditor did not have any material concerns. He has however made 2 recommendations.

• The Scribe Accounts do not currently list the approved budgets against each heading to compare with Actual spending or receipts.

This will be put in place for 2026.

2025 budget monitoring was undertaken using Excell spreadsheets due to the Chairs initial issues with access to Scribe. These issues have been resolved and the Chair will work with the Charity’s bookkeeper to ensure all data is appropriately entered.

• A refund was received in January 2025 relating to the overcharge of VAT. This refunded amount was coded to ‘Administration’. Accounting convention provides that a refund in costs previously paid would be coded as a reduction against the original code heading This process will be reviewed and, if required, amended during 2026 to ensure any credits are coded against the original charge code in Scribe.

Please note that the 5 recommendations made by the auditor in last years report have all been completed

5. Approval

This report was approved by Rendlesham Parish Council, as sole trustee of the Rendlesham Community Centre Committee, on the 5[th] May 2026

19 Fobruary202812025-20251 Rendlesham Community Centre Charity Prepared by". Date-. Name andRole IChrVRFO etsl roved by. Date.. N•m and (RFOKhwolFinan¢s Bank Rgconciliation at 3111212025 Cash in Haniy 0110112025 16,537.62 ADD Re￿Ipts 0110112025- 3111212025 82.291.53 98.829.15 SUBTRACT Payments 0110112025- 3111212025 46.099.44 Cash In Hand 3111212025 (per Cash Bookl 52,729.71 Cash In hand per Bank Statements P8ty C88h Unity Trust- Current Unity Trust- Savings 3111212025 3111212025 3111212025 0.00 6,873.59 45.856.12 52,729.71 Less unpresented payments 52,729.71 Plus unpresented r8ceipts Adjusted 8ank Balanc• 52.729.71 A= B Checks out OK

Independent Examiner’s Report to the Trustees of Rendlesham Community Centre Charity – year ended 31 December 2025

Registered Charity No: 1125733

Receipts in Year: £82,291.53 Payments in Year: £46,099.44 Reserves as at 31 December 2025: £52,729.71

1. Respective responsibilities of Trustees and Independent Examiner

The Charity’s Trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011. The Trustees require an independent examination.

As the Independent Examiner it is my responsibility to:

• a) examine the accounts under section 145 of the Charities Act 2011.

• b) follow all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145 (5)(b) of the Act and state whether particular matters have come to my attention.

2. Report for the year ended 31 December 2025

The Governing Document (Trust Deed) is dated 9 April 2008, as amended on 7 December 2021. The Area of Benefit is the Parish of Rendlesham in the County of Suffolk.

The aims and activities of the Charity are ‘ to run Rendlesham Community Centre like a village hall for the use of the inhabitants of the Parish of Rendlesham in Suffolk without distinction of sex, sexual orientation, age, disability, nationality, race or political, religious or other opinions, including the use of the property for recreation and leisure time occupations in the interests of social welfare for the said inhabitants’. Further details regarding ‘what the Charity does, who and how the Charity helps’ have been registered with the Charity Commission.

The Scribe Accounting system is in place with detailed breakdown of receipts and payments recorded within the system. Satisfactory documentation and records are maintained and payments are supported by appropriate paperwork. The Accounts are maintained on a Receipts and Payments basis. Transactions for both receipts and payments in the year of account were examined on a sample basis. The documentation was well presented for the Independent Examination.

TREVOR BROWN CPFA Internal Audit Services

Charnwood, California, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 4DE Tel: [phone] or 07587 523764 Email: [e-mail]

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The following observations are made (recommendations and areas where action is required to be taken are shown in bold ):

• a) The Accounts for the year ending 31 December 2025 have yet to be approved by the Trustees.

• b) The Charities Act 2011 requires all registered charities to prepare a Trustees' Annual Report (TAR) and Accounts and to submit them to the Charity Commission if their income was greater than £25,000. The Commission's website entry for Rendlesham Community Centre Charity confirms that the most recent submission of Accounts and the TAR was for the year ended 31 December 2024 which were received by the Commission on 23 June 2025 (within the required submission date).

• c) The TAR and Accounts for the year ending 31 December 2025 should be submitted to the Charity Commission no later than 31 October 2026.

• d) The current Independent Examination covers the period 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. The End-of-Year Accounts have been constructed and balanced by the Charity’s Accountant, Eleanor Blackburn, using the Scribe Accounting system and displays a balance of £52,729.71 as at 31 December 2025.

• e) The Charity’s Accounts are supported by on-line bank statements from Unity Trust Bank as at 31 December 2025 displaying a Current Account balance of £6,873.59 and a Savings Account of £45,856.12. The Scribe Accounts do not currently list the approved budgets against each heading to compare with Actual spending or receipts. The Trustees have advised the Examiner that the Budget for the year 2026 will be entered onto Scribe. For the year 2025, budget monitoring was undertaken by means of a spreadsheet due to issues with access to Scribe. Any access problems should be urgently pursued with Scribe Support, which is normally very efficient in resolving clients’ access difficulties.

• f) The bank accounts’ total of £52,729.71 agrees/reconciles with the Accounts balance of £52,729.71.

• g) The Independent Examiner confirmed that an adequate system is in place for the control and administration of payments made by the Charity. Invoices are filed under the expenditure headings (and code reference numbers) with the date of payment being notated to provide a link to the bank statements.

• h) A sample of invoices was examined to confirm the controls exercised over the payments system, vouching the invoice through the system to the entry on the bank statements. The payments examined could be verified from the documentation supporting the payment.

• i) From the sample examined, it was noted that invoices and vouchers supporting the online payments are being initialled by the Chair of the Charity Committee in confirmation of the payment being correctly made. This important control has recommenced following the recommendation by the Examiner in the previous year that all invoices/vouchers should be signed/initialled to confirm the validity of the payment.

• j) The previous Independent Examination noted that the account with Wave for water charges (payments made by direct debit) stood at a credit of £887.63. Whilst some reasonable credits on account are acceptable, the retention by a water company of such a large credit indicated that a higher level of supervision and control over the Charity’s finances by Trustees was required. During the year 2024 the

TREVOR BROWN CPFA Internal Audit Services

Charnwood, California, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 4DE Tel: [phone] or 07587 523764 Email: [e-mail]

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Charity made no payments for water usage. During the year 2025 one payment of £138.90 was made (on 1 December 2025) to Wave covering an invoiced period of 15 August 2022 to 14 November 2025.

• k) The Independent Examiner has previously recommended that the system for issuing invoices and monitoring the receipt of income should be examined by the Trustees to ensure that it is sufficiently robust to provide for adequate administration of the Charity’s income streams. The Examiner was advised at that time that the Charity was migrating onto an on-line booking system with hire payments due in advance of the hire event. The Trustees have now advised the Examiner that an on-line booking system is in place and working well; invoices are issued from the system with the majority payable in advance; some hirers do still pay in arrears whilst others may be delayed due to the time it takes their accounts department to process the payments. The online booking system is available from the following link: Rendlesham Community Centre : Online Booking

• l) The Trustees have advised the Examiner that there were no significant outstanding transactions at as the year end 31 December 2025.

• m) The previous year’s Independent Examination recommended that the Trustees should undertake a review of the Assets held by the Charity in order to ensure that a complete and up-to-date Register is held for the Charity’s Assets and reviewed at least on an annual basis. The Trustees advised the Examiner that an Asset Register was prepared in May 2025 and has been approved by both the Community Centre Committee and the Rendlesham Parish Council. A copy of the Asset Register was presented to the Examiner.

• n) Insurance cover is currently in place with Hiscox Insurance Company Limited and ends on 16 June 2026. Cover consists of Public Liability (£10 million), Employer’s Liability (£10 million). Payments were made to Hiscox Insurance by direct debit from 17 January 2025 to 17 December 2025 (a total of £1,186.01).

• o) Documentation was made available to the Examiner to confirm that insurance cover by Hiscox Insurance was secured by the Rendlesham Parish Council from 31 October 2025 to 30 September 2026 for the Rendlesham Community Centre building (£1,319,934).

• p) Income during the year included £41,992 65 received from Donations from East Suffolk Council and other benefactors. The Trustees advised the Examiner that this included a £35,000 Business Support Grant from East Suffolk Council to fund employees’ wages; that it was paid in two instalments, the first awarded straight away and the second when the Trustees had completed a Community Action Suffolk assessment and ensured appropriate policies were in place.

• q) Sales from Facility Hirings increased from £28,488.71 (in 2024) to £37,543.44 (in 2025).

• r) In terms of meeting the Charity’s risk management responsibilities, the Charity made payments for Fire Extinguisher maintenance (on 3 June 2025 and 4 November 2025) and Alarms annual maintenance (on 9 June 2025). Similarly, an Electrical Installation Condition Report was received and Portable Appliance Testing was arranged.

• s) There was a significant increase in Overall Payments compared to the previous year (£46,099.44, up from £33,582.29 in 2024).

• t) There was a significant decrease (22%) in electricity costs (down to £15,496.62 compared to £19,883.09 in 2024). The previous Report by the Examiner noted that the supplier Drax applied VAT at

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TREVOR BROWN CPFA Internal Audit Services

Charnwood, California, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 4DE

Tel: [phone] or 07587 523764 Email: [e-mail]

20% with effect from 1 April 2024 (having previously charged 5%). This continued until October 2024 when, following the submission of a Qualifying Certificate to Drax, the rate was reduced to 5 %. A refund of £1,794.49 was received from Drax on 17 January 2025 relating to the overcharge of VAT and this refunded amount has been coded to ‘Administration’ and accordingly largely accounts for the amount of £1,920.49 Income under that heading. Accounting convention provides that normally a refund in costs previously paid would be coded as a reduction against the original code heading (in this case Electricity costs). The Trustees have advised the Examiner that this will be examined to avoid any ambiguity in actual costs and income received in future years.

• u) It is noted that the Charity has secured a new contract with British Gas having changed supplier when the contract with Drax ended on 29 April 2025.

• v) The Reserves balance at the year-end 31 December 2025 amounted to £52,729.71 (reflecting the £36,192.09 surplus in the year of account). This is clearly a marked improvement compared to the surplus of £3,796.54 in the year 2024 and the deficit of £6,551.33 in the year 2023, which, if unabated, would have been unsustainable bearing in mind the level of reserves held at the end of 2023. The Charity is far better placed as at 31 December 2025 than in recent years to meet any unforeseen items of expense that may occur.

• w) The Charity is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) as a Fee Payer/Data Controller for Local Charity purposes (Registration ZA169897, expiring on 13 March 2027).

• x) Rendlesham Parish Council has been listed by the Charity Commission as the Sole Trustee in the Register of Charities.

3. Basis of Independent Examiner’s report

My examination was carried out in accordance with the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission.

An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the Charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts and seeking explanations from the Trustees concerning any such matters.

The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit and consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a ‘true and fair view’ and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below.

TREVOR BROWN CPFA Internal Audit Services Charnwood, California, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 4DE Tel: [phone] or 07587 523764 Email: [e-mail]

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4. Independent Examiner’s Statement

I have completed my examination.

• a) I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention which gives me cause to believe that in any material respect the accounting records for the year ending 31 December 2025 were not kept in accordance with Section 130 of the Charities Act 2011 or the accounts did not accord with the accounting records or comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content of accounts. Any improvements that can be made in accounting and financial control procedures are referred to in bold in item 2 above.

• b) I have no other concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report (other than those matters already listed at item 2 above) in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Trevor Brown

Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy

28 March 2026

TREVOR BROWN CPFA Internal Audit Services Charnwood, California, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 4DE Tel: [phone] or 07587 523764 Email: [e-mail]

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