2021-03-31-accounts - Brighton Explorers Club

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Trustee Report 2020-2022 - Brighton Explorers Club

 BEC policies and objectives

The principal objects of the charity is to facilitate the personal development and growth of young

people by education and instruction through participation in a wide variety of activities with special

reference to the outdoors and physical endeavour as well as the promotion of community

participation in healthy recreation by the provision of facilities for participation in sports such as

cycling, canoeing, walking, caving, climbing, stand up paddleboarding, windsurfing and badminton, tennis but without limitation.

 Activities for achieving objectives

The charity achieves its objectives by organising trips to help facilitate the personal development

and growth of young people. This covers education and instruction through participation in a wide

variety of activities with special reference to the outdoors and physical endeavour.

 Club activity within the reporting period

•188 events created on the website advertising trips and activities - some were cancelled this year due to the pandemic and subsequent restrictions.

• The charity subsidised a number of courses for members in line with its objectives: first aid courses for activity leaders and members, Sea safety courses for activity leaders and members.

The following events for beginners were set up: beginners kayaking, and beginners stand up paddle boarding.
An affiliation with the BCU and BCA was upheld

• A variety of social activities were organised to help members to get to know each other and reduce social entry barriers for other activities (some on zoom due to pandemic restrictions)

Equipment was purchased to better and more safely facilitate the outdoor activities
Replacement of necessary safety critical kayaking equipment.
Main activities undertaken to further the charity's purposes for the public beneft

The trustees confirm that they have referred to the guidance contained in the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit when reviewing the charity's aims and objectives and in planning future activities.

Denise Robins Chair, BEC

January 2022

Brighton Explorers Club: Treasurer’s Report

For the financial year 1/4/2020 to 31/3/2021

Prepared by Stephen Wilmot, BEC Treasurer, with help from Adam Eyre-Walker, former BEC Treasurer

Independent examination by Antonio Emmanouilidis

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it was an extremely unusual year for Brighton Explorers Club, as it was for leisure organisations across the world. The crisis weighed slightly on the club’s finances, but this was massively offset by financial support from a number of grants applied to at the initiative of our chair, Denise Robins. The accounts therefore finished the period in a healthier position than they have been for some years, with total balances of £48,488.

This puts us in a strong position to make overdue investments in the club during the 2021-2022 financial year. Projects to renew the website and related IT infrastructure, buy new equipment and fund training for members who can contribute to the club in future are the top priorities.

Membership income fell to £11,361, from £11,898 last year (-4.5%). A total of 290 members joined during the financial year, 59% of them paying the full £51.50 (see Note 1 to the financial statement). As of 11 April there were 271 ongoing members. Despite valiant efforts by many sections to revive local trips when the “rule of six” allowed last summer, activity was inevitably lower than in a typical year. As activity revives it is to be hoped membership will recover.

The club’s fixed costs remained high. Those we cannot easily do without—rental of the arch and garage, insurance, sailing club membership and British Canoeing affiliation, some IT and accounting costs—totalled £8,280. We need membership income to continue covering these costs at the very least. See Note 3.

Grant income totalled £26,748. A breakdown can be found in Note 2. None of the grants came with strings attached with the exception of £5,000 from Chalk Cliff, which needs to be spent on kayaking and stand-up paddle-boarding equipment and training.

In light of the risks to our operations highlighted by the pandemic and the Club’s ample financial resources, the committee decided to increase the reserve fund to £20,000.

A total of £1,282 was spent on equipment during the financial year, including £500 on kayaks. Selling kayaks also raised £334. See Note 4 for further details on equipment spending and income.

Trip spending and income was much lower than in a typical year because there were so few trips outside of the Brighton area. As usual, the amounts received and spent did not match due to timing issues. The club typically takes payments for trips in advance of their taking place.

The accounts balanced with the exception of £34, ie., the current-account balance was £34 higher at year-end than could be explained. The interplay of our current account with PayPal invariably creates anomalies that make the accounting difficult and lead to such imbalances.

Statement of finances for the year 2020-21

All amounts are in pounds sterling

Notes to the statement of finances for the year 2020-21

Note 1

Membership income can be broken down as follows:

Membership numbers as of 17th May were as follows:

Note 2

Grant income can be broken down as follows:

Note 3

Overheads can be broken down as follows:

Note 4

The year’s equipment spending was as follows:

The club also received £334 from the sale of kayaking equipment.