2023-02-28-accounts - Helston Railway Preservation Society

This text was generated using OCR and may contain errors. Check the original PDF to see the document submitted to the regulator.

HELSTON RAILWAY

Preservation Society (a registered charity)

Dear Member

I am delighted to welcome you to the 2023 AGM of the Helston Railway Preservation Society which we are holding in the only part of the old Helston Railway Station which is still in existence. The old engine shed, where we are holding the meeting, was subsumed into a sheltered housing project and is now used as a community room. We are privileged to be able to use this building occasionally for meetings, as a nod to the history of our original Helston Branch Line.

It has been an interesting year, and a very busy one for all those involved in our railway. As you probably know we have two main organisations, and it is always useful to remind ourselves of their respective responsibilities.

The Helston Railway Preservation Co Ltd., which is the Operating Company or ‘OPCO’ runs, maintains, and constructs the railway; and is responsible for safety for all the activities on site. There is a Board of Directors, and the operation is regulated by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) who is responsible to the Government in making sure our railway discharges its duties correctly. The OPCO Chairman is Colin Savage, who is really to be commended for his dedication and hard work in keeping our railway running smoothly.

I am the Chairman of the Helston Railway Preservation Society, which is a Charity registered in England and Wales, and known as ‘The Charity’. We are responsible for raising funds and as a Charity we are given an extra 25% on all gift aided donations by the Government. Donations allow us to develop the railway further, by purchasing assets ourselves, or passing funds to the OPCO, and to help people learn more about our railway and the history of railways in general. We have a Board of Trustees, and our responsibilities are to the Charities Commission to deliver the objectives that we promised to provide when we were established. Our organisation is not permitted to be involved with the day to day running of the railway nor do we have any formal safety responsibilities. If you have received an invitation to this AGM you are a member of the Charity.

In reality whilst we do have two organisations, we both work hand in hand to make this project in which we all fervently believe work. Without both organisations being successful there would be no point in what we do, using our respective strengths is what makes us a success and long may it last. We will continue to work closely together to grow our railway further.

As a Charity we are expected to manage our funds responsibly, and there has been a lot in the press in the last few years about charities who have failed at this hurdle, and we have been determined to get this right. Whilst our available funds might look high it masks the fact that we have a large amount of funds in reserved accounts which can only be used for specific purposes.

At the time of writing this we have £30,000 in reserve set aside for such projects as completing the building of the water tower, supporting the development of young volunteers, providing disabled access. There is also a ballast purchase fund, the development fund that some of you pay into each month, and a community fund. All these separated and reserved funds have been donated for specific objectives and we set them apart for the purposes for which they were donated, or where we have allocated them.

We have also set aside funds for further land purchases and associated legal fees. One of our purchases that we have been endeavouring to complete for some time is the land, for the ‘New Road’ which will allow a new access to our existing car park. I am pleased to say that this difficult project appears to have been unlocked in the last few days, with constant hard work, and with the kind support of Mike Sagin and Thane Osborne. Hopefully the vendors solicitors will now be able to satisfy their objections. Sadly, it had taken some time, because these solicitors had not told us what the real hold up was. I know you will also be interested in the southern end of our track where we are looking to extend towards Helston. Progress is being made, albeit slowly and there is nothing so

The Helston Railway Preservation Society - A Charity registered in England & Wales No. 1146711 Trevarno Farm, Prospidnick, Helston, TR13 0RY www.helstonrailway.co.uk (page 1 of 2)

far (apart from raising funds when the time comes) that suggests we will not be able to succeed in this aspiration eventually.

So, what else has been happening this year……….

Firstly, the 700 yards of track bed that we owned south of Truthall Halt has been cleared ready for track laying, a mammoth task that was completed, in the main, by a dedicated team of four people who decided it had to be done, so huge thanks to Colin, Andy, Ray and Kevin for their perseverance. A private donation and your development fund were called upon to purchase equipment and support their clearance efforts.

With donations from members, volunteers and Helston Town Council we purchased two defibrillators, one of which is now installed in our car park, and one is in our main train carriage. The car park defib is available to members of the local community as well as our volunteers and visitors. With support from Dorset Steam Fair we have also obtained a vintage red K6 telephone box which will be restored and will eventually house the car park defib.

Carriage and rolling stock renovation has been a main feature of this year and the Charity has supported the purchase of materials to make this happen. So the buffet and shop roofs are now looking much more respectable. The Suburban carriage has been undergoing a refurbishment of doors and interiors and has had its undercarriage cleaned and repaired. Even Kingswood is getting a new coat of paint.

The Sithney Parish invited us to host their Coronation Celebrations at Truthall Field which saw an extremely wet group of around 500 local residents gathering at the railway in June to celebrate the Coronation. We were honoured to be able to participate in this way and made many new friends in the community at the same time.

The Charity has also received numerous donations during the year, these have included railway models and railway books which we have successfully sold in our shop to raise funds. We have also been given vintage heritage railway memorabilia such as signs and articles which are often not for resale and can be used to help with theming and displaying in our small museum.

We held our first ever Members Day in June and at the same time celebrated the 20[th] Anniversary of Helston Railway. This gave our members an opportunity to have a free day out and ride the train all day if they wanted to. We will be repeating this again in 2024 by popular demand!

Finally, I would like to thank everyone who has supported us this year especially Geoff and his daughter Suzie for continuing to provide us with our wonderful newsletter. Also Colin and his Directors, our Trustees and all the volunteers and supporters who have helped us during the year.

Lastly may I thank you, our members, for continuing to support our project, it has been 20 years in the making and I trust that you, like us, are still enjoying our journey. We have come a long way from our early beginnings and there is still a lot more to do!

Barbara Barnes Chairman HRPS

September 2023

Alan Burton

As I write this the sad news has been received that Alan Burton has passed, we will write more about him in the future. Alan was a stalwart of the railway, a kind and gentle man whose wise guidance helped to ensure our railway project survived and prospered from its very earliest beginnings. He retired from his last official duties as Truthall Station Master in November last year but was still regaling us with his stories and reminiscences until very recently. We won’t see his like again and we all owe him a huge thank of gratitude. Our thoughts are with Sue and his family at this sad time.

The Helston Railway Preservation Society - A Charity registered in England & Wales No. 1146711 Trevarno Farm, Prospidnick, Helston, TR13 0RY www.helstonrailway.co.uk (page 2 of 2)

Indep¢nden¢ Exminer'5 Report to lh¢ Trustees of HEL5TON RAILWAY PRE¢F.RNATI()1S S()CIF.TY Il'e report on the account5 of the Trust for the year ended ?8 FebTuarv 2023. which are Nel ()ul on the allaL'hed pag¢s. Resprftive Responsibilities of Trustees and Examiner The C'haril), s Truslees ar¢ resN)nsible for ihe preparation of th¢ alcounls. The C harii). s Trustees consider thai an audii is not ttquired for this wiod (under seclion 144 of The Charilies Aci 2011 (The Charities Act). and thai an independeni exinatiOn is need¢d. li 15 our re5FK)nsibilits' lo.. .xamine the accounts (under se¢iion 145 of 'n)e Chariiies Aci). To follow" lh¢ pn)c¢dures laid doTr in the (iencral Dircclions ¥ifvcn bj. Ihe C'haril). Commission lundif seciion 1451 i M B) ol'"l-IIL C'hariiics ACL and To slale H'h¢ih¢r panicular n)aiiers hai'e come lo our alteniion. Basis ofindepeDdent Examiner'y Report Our ¢xaminalion N'as carried out in actordance with th¢ (i¢n¢ral Directions gii'en b). the C'haritN' Commissioners. An examination includes a rei'iew. of the 4icLounling rL'cords kepi bN' the C"harity and a comparison of the accounts presenied '1th those rccords. It also includcs considcTalion of anN' unusual tlLms or disclosurcs in ihc aLLounts. and s¢ek'ing explanations Irom ihe trust¢es conLernin¥ ani SULh mailers. ThL' proCLureS undenakcn do not provide all the evidence that w'ould be required in an audii. and con5equenilv no opinion is gii'en &s to N hether the accounts prL"sent a Irue and fd. ir %"i¢Vi and ihc r¢FK)rt is limilcd io ihose mallcTS sel out in Ihc slalcmenl ¢low. Independent F.x*miner's Stalement In connection wilh our examinaiion. no matter has come to our aiieniion.. "hich gil'es us re&wnable Ca to believe that in anv material respect the requirements.. To keep accouniing records in accorth¢e wilh section 130 of The Chartlies 'I'i) prepare accounts which accord u'iih the accounlinb? records and compl 'ith the accouni requirement5 01. The C'hiirilies Aci hai'¢ noi been mel 12) l() HhiLh. in our opinion. altenti()n %hould be drawm in order to enubl¢ a proper und¢r%t(mding oft. the aLcounis' lo be re(h¢d. Pn'or, Be2en¢. Fn. & Co CIL4RTLRED ACC'OUYTAIYT 97 Meneage Sireei. H¢lsiun. Cornw'all. TR13 8RE Dw¢d.. 4 Sepiember ?023

HELSTON RAILWAY PRESERVATIOIW SOCIETY INCOME AND EXPENDITURE AccouNr FOR THE YEAR ENDED 28th FEBRUARY 2023 2023 202 Income Subscriptions Donations 8930 25669 9743 20165 Gift Aid 21Y) Club 10513 2457 47569 2034 31949 Exp¢ndlture Donations to HRPC Ltd 200 Club Winners Prinling & Slationery Postage & Packan8 Insurance Adv¢rtising Asset Maintenance Professional Fees 38547 791 257 135 1492 252 210 1594 9358 1070 34 564 85 253 43278 11965 Surplus for the year 4291 19984

HELSTON RAILWAY PRESERVATION SOCIETY BALANCE SHEET AS AT 28th FEBRUARY 2023 02 FIXED ASSETS Truthall Land Jenkins Land Lan¢s Land 251XX> 75CMXI 25000 750(X) EQUIPMENT Brought forward 13011X) 1301(K) CURREI¥4T ASSETS Cash ai bank and in hand Pajpal etc Loan to HRPC Ltd 65900 1895 4056 61191 2313 4056 71851 201951 67560 197660 ACCUMULATED FUND Balance brought forward Surplus for the year 197660 4291 177676 19984 Balan¢¢ caTrifyl forward 201951 197()60