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2021-11-30-accounts

Trustees’ report and accounts for the year ending 30[th] November 2021

Bridge two is startingDredging continues to progressWater is rising as leaks are repairedTrees and biodiversity are thriving

Buckingham Canal Society - Registered Charitable Incorporated Organisation No. 1156662. 8[th] Annual General Meeting of the CIO. 30[th] Annual Society Meeting

Agenda

Friday 25[th] March 2022 at Buckingham Community Centre COVID permitting

All photographic copyright is acknowledged

Above – Hedge laying along the Bridge One ramps (AM) Front cover – Top - Bridge two preparing for temporary fencing to allow excavations (TC) Bottom left – Dredgings ready to be offloaded at Cosgrove (TC) Bottom right – Bug Hotel (TC)

2

Chairman’s Introduction

It has been another exciting year for the society. It is great to now be able for us all to meet in person with the loosening of the restrictions put in place due to covid. This has been reflected in the move from safety maintenance work to more active restoration, which is in progress and covered elsewhere in this report.

We are very pleased to inform you of the kind acceptance by Lord and Lady Scott to become our new patrons. Lord Scott has had a highly distinguished career in the law whilst Lady Scott has been regularly active in local politics and supporting local causes. We are very privileged to have two such distinguished and hardworking individuals as patrons.

“Admiral” Cavender has seen our fleet of work boats expand by the addition of Perseverance a wide beam workboat set up for dredging, which should be arriving in Cosgrove soon. We also have tugboat Shoveler on long term loan from our CRT partners.

All of us were sorry to see Robert Jones resign from his role as minutes secretary to the society. His diligence and hard work in keeping accurate records of committee discussions and circulating minutes has been a true asset to our work. On behalf of all trustees, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Robert for all his hard work.

It is also with much sadness that we must remember the passing of Vernon, who has worked for a significant number of years on behalf of the society. Latterly, Vernon has worked with our membership team ensuring everyone receives timely reminders of renewal as well as ensuring the Navigator is accurately circulated

.

This coming July see’s the return of our canal festival, keep an eye on Navigator for full details. We will however be running our usual lock assist, as well as a craft fair in Cosgrove Village Hall alongside the floating market. We would welcome any and all volunteers to come along and assist on the weekend even if it is only for a few hours.

Aimee has now left BCS and gone to work for the parks trust. We are delighted to gain Becky as our community engagement lead. Becky has been fully engaged with promoting the society and has enjoyed great success with her rock hunt, as well as attending numerous work party’s and community events representing the society.

Rob

Rob Morris, Chairman BCS

This annual report

This document has been produced, printed, and published by the Trustees of the Buckingham Canal Society which is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation registered number 1156662.

The Society’s registered address is 2 Staters Pound, Pennyland, Milton Keynes, Bucks, MK15 8AX

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Agenda item 3

Draft minutes of the 29[th] Annual General Meeting on Saturday 20[th] March 2021by teams

Trustees present: Rob Morris (Chair), Terry Cavender (Exec. Officer), Colin Levett (Grants Officer), Richard Dwight (Treasurer), Athina Beckett, Jo Lynch, Amanda Robinson, Paul Sayer.

Apologies: Apologies: Gerry Millard, Alan Mynard, Anthony Smith-Robinson, Aimee Tidman.

NB. As nineteen members (including 8 Trustees were present, the meeting was deemed to be quorate.

Terry Cavender was appointed to Chair for the Meeting.

Minutes:

The Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held on 21 March 2020 were accepted as a correct record. (Proposed Richard Dwight, seconded Amanda Robinson).

Matters Arising: None.

Trustees Report.

This was presented by the Chair, who went through it in detail. No questions were raised.

Treasurer’s Report for Year Ending 30.11.2020

The Treasurer gave a brief report on the financial situation. No questions were raised.

Adoption of Accounts

The Accounts were presented, agreed, and unanimously accepted. (Proposed Terry Cavender, seconded Jill Allison).

Election of Trustees

Proposed Candidates: Jo Lynch and Amanda Robinson.

Both Proposed: Terry Cavender. Both Seconded: Rob Morris. Unanimously accepted.

Resolutions

The Resolution, as indicated in the Annual Report, covering the Amendment to the BCS Constitution was accepted and passed unanimously. (Proposed Richard Dwight, seconded Colin Levett).

Members Questions

GDPR: Vernon Draper queried whether the personal data of a member/contact could be withdrawn if the relevant questionnaire were not returned to BCS. (No-one’s data had been withdrawn yet). Vernon stated that he would investigate this proposal further.

Any other Business - None.

Closing Remarks.

Rob Morris thanked everyone for tuning in and hoped that the next AGM would be carried out in more familiar surroundings.

4

Agenda Item 5 - Buckingham Canal Society Trustees Report

Overview

Despite everything the COVID pandemic threw at us, restoration continues at multiple sites

Site by site - Cosgrove

At Cosgrove, Bridge One is truly “one and done.” The bridge is completed and is in use for the farm traffic. The 65-year-old piling has been removed and dredging continues along the entire arm after the removal of the soil bund (dam) from under the bridge. The temporary farm crossing has been completely removed and the site of the crossing made good including the creation of Bugingham Palace, a bug hotel for our creepy crawly residents! Hedge laying along the bridge ramps and further work on the stone walls has also been completed.

When you visit Bridge One (and please do visit), you will see that we still have wooden stop planks in place whilst we continue the work to bridge this section to navigable level and remediate the leaks. To achieve this, we have been spending some time digging “slit trenches” as per guidance from CRT. This is a 9” (225mm) wide trench (i.e., narrow excavator bucket) to a depth of around 6’6” (2m) in the towpath parallel to the channel. These are then filled with puddle clay that is mashed into place by the excavator to create a clay wall in the trench behind the original bank. We have been gradually raising the level to allow any remaining dry clay to also rehydrate. The puddle clay has been provided by CRT and is to their specification. Although this work has not been as quick as we

would have liked, there are signs that this technique as advocated by our CRT partners should minimise the leakage from what we have seen on the journey to this point. The water level in section one is around 200mm (8”) below navigation depth thanks to the work undertaken on the leaks that we have identified and addressed so far. We have also been progressing with the towpath reinstatement along the arm and have now reduced the size of the compound at bridge one to a maintenance presence. The team are also undertaking periodic checks on the bridge to establish the necessary maintenance for the structure.

Additionally, we have been rewatering section two and beyond the oil pipeline into section three taking us towards the bund created at bridge two. Rewatering is under way to rehydrate the clay bed on these sections subject to water availability etc. All the sections in water to varying depths are thriving in terms of vegetation and wildlife. Discussions have been started to form a winding hole at section two near the wooded area combined with recreation of a slipway at this location. Meanwhile, the water level is being maintained.

Above left one of the amazing rebuilt stone walls on the bridge approach ramps. Above right the piling being told its days are numbered and prepared for extraction.

5

At Bridge 2, the equipment and materials are relocated from bridge one compound to bridge two. We have now been granted a formal access licence from the gate near the bus stop to enable us to work at Bridge Two thanks to Frontier Developments. We await the final signatures on the CRT lease which is at version 5 following input from Richard Smith of Sandstone Law for whom we are extremely grateful for his pro-bono assistance. The flood sluice has been reinstated and is pending a CCTV survey of the culvert which is discharges through.

Discussion with CRT and the Inland Drainage Board along with existing and new landowners are ongoing for exactly where and how we route the descent channel to the A5. Additionally, design discussions are under way with National Highways for the canal passing under the A5 bridge structure.

At the risk of repeating last year’s overview, it has been another wonderful year for the Society. All the “in water” parts continue to flourish as a mature canal section with a rich range of aquatic related biodiversity now fully established. Indeed, our work at the Cosgrove bridge continues to be used by farm traffic throughout all the seasons.

Above top left bridge one stop planks in place. Above top right is bridge deck after completion Above left dredging with crane boat LOUISE. Above right: the new 5-star bug hotel. Bottom: the new mooring created by BCS at Cosgrove

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Above top Wildlife in the rewatered section at Cosgrove. Middle left slit trench work: Middle right, Bridge 2 bed exploration of the approach form teh A5 side with our 1y6t excavator Bottom team setting up bridge two compound

7

Site by site - Hyde Lane Nature Reserve

The solar panel, pump and control system continue to bring water into the old canal section and maintain levels subject to the depth of water in the reservoir and amount of sun. This is deliberately a slow process as we make efforts to repair tree roots and animal burrow damage to the clay with an aim to maintain the water level once rewatered. The slow rewatering also allows wildlife to adapt. Several trees have fallen over the year, and these have been cleared by our volunteers to help keep the right of way open whenever possible. Most of the channel here is ready although will need leak remediation as it is gently rewatered to allow the clay to fully rehydrate and not wash through.

Hyde lane corporate group and slow rewatering

Site by site - Bourton Meadow

Bourton Meadow saw lots of visitors as part of the town council’s “Otter Trail” which was aimed to promote visitors to the town post lockdown. This remains as our flagship section of restoration and is very much in water. Pleased to report that no significant issues have affected this stretch other than the virulent growth of the planting. The wildlife continues to thrive with further sightings of rare butterflies, dragon flies and birds being reported to name but some. This section of canal continues to receive much praise from the residents, dog walkers and others, who make use of this blue-green space on the fringe of Buckingham. We have applied for and will be working to install a “live stream” camera at this location so people can watch from everywhere at the wonderful nature that can be seen here.

Much effort goes in to pruning some of the enthusiastic plants and plans are still in hand to harvest seeds of locally prevalent plants for use elsewhere in the canal network both in Buckingham and potentially beyond. We are extremely grateful for the support from Nick Hawes of ATN Farms in allowing us to retain this section of the canal.

8

. A bove top left : wildflowers attracting many insects and birds; Above top right, one of the towns otter carvings at the entrance to Bourton Meadow. Bottom left : one of our reptilian residents smiling for the camera at Bourton Meadow after its reeds had been cleared (bottom left).

Site by site - Little Hill Farm

A mile of the canal has previously been cleared and the bridge restored. No work has been undertaken this past year at Little Hill Farm although we hope to return there soon to clear vegetation.

Above: the farm bridge restored by BCS at Little Hill Farm

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BCS Craft Group

The BCS Craft Group create a range of items for sale although this has been affected by COVID. Subject to restrictions, the group meet on the last Thursday of each month usually in Stony Stratford or sometimes in Pennyland. It is anticipated these sessions will resume as soon as possible. Members can bring along any crafts they are working on to show and discuss with other members. The other main task is to help with the making of rag rugs which we sell at festivals for £25 each raising funds for the BCS. The group is also in need of a supply of old Tee shirts to keep the rag rugs going. If you can help in any way or want to join the group, please contact Athina athing.beckett@buckinghamcanal.org.uk

The BCS Fleet!

Above Left: CRT Tug SHOVELER moored at Cosgrove with “Harvey” the Hopper waiting to start unloading more dredgings from the Buckingham Arm (TC). Above Right: Tug SHOVELER bringing PERSERVERANCE II north to Cosgrove where she will help us with dredging works whilst being restored and painted. Bottom left LOUISE painted gunnels (TC) and bottom Right: Paul Rodgers, Chairman of IWA, admires the BCS Blue painted cabin of LOUISE when visiting the Archaeology dig (TC)

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The BCS “fleet” now has four full time vessels

Much painting to be done and the cabin on LOUISE was painted BCS blue in the summer At the time of writing, we now have eight qualified helmsmen. We also have five qualified Hiab crane operators.

Our thanks to the CRT East Midlands Operations Team who have kindly arranged for the licence fees on both workboats to be discounted by 100% in recognition of the work we are able to do in assisting the Ops team and other voluntary groups in the Southern Area of the East Midlands Region

Thanks to our people

As always, a massive thankyou to all our partners, volunteers, members, supporters, neighbours, and many others. A few examples of some of the less visible works are:

Partnerships

Our many great partnerships continue to firmly position the society for the short and medium term. Financially our health allows us to remain viable despite COVID and loss of income from events. Thanks to our members, donors, grantors, and other benefactors for allowing us to keep our financial head above water. Thousands of hours of hard work have once again been given to the society by trustees current and past, volunteers, members, partners, and supporters. The current trustees thank you all for your time, energy, and funding to keep us on track to the reality of restoration.

BCS continues to enjoy support from MKDons as the significant adjacent landowner and are formalising the access track to the canal at Cosgrove following the granting of planning permission. This will ensure BCS has unrestricted access to the bridge and the canal channel. That will make materials and equipment access much easier as the current track through the farmyard is at risk of damaging the sewer that runs under it. Grateful thanks to the commercial team at MKDons for supporting us through the planning discussions for this.

We are also now fully engaged with the new owners Frontier Developments of the land adjacent to the canal from bridge two to the A5. They have been kind enough to facilitate the land access licence to allow us to get vehicles, equipment, and machinery to Bridge two and the channel.

11

We have continued to enjoy outstanding partnership with CRT who have helped us with various training aspects, technical guidance, providing materials including clay and stone and of course the lone of the tug Shoveler. BCS have in return assisted with signage and a number of maintenance tasks around cosgrove as well as the ongoing dredging. The trustees collectively express their thanks to Phil Mulligan and his regional team of their support and tolerance as we strive to achieve the restoration.

Despite the COVID delays, we are continuing to progress discussions with a local quarry operator that should result in medium term restoration of around another five miles of the canal.

Community Engagement – Goodbye Aimee, hello from Becky

Aimee has left BCS employment to take up a role at The Parks Trust in Milton Keynes. We wish her every success after the splendid work she progressed for BCS. Beck Hall has joined us and writes…

Hello, I am Becky. I joined the BCS team in mid-October as the community engagement lead. I am extremely excited to get started.

The canal restoration is such a fantastic project and I feel honoured to be part of it. I have got lots of ideas and am looking forward to putting them into practice. I am doing my best to contact as many people involved with BCS as I can, whether in person or online.

Now that covid restrictions are starting to change, I am hoping to be able to get out into the community more, starting with attending some Christmas markets. I am also looking at having stalls other events and markets next year to raise awareness and hopefully get more people involved. I have various training courses booked that will help me develop some of my ideas, including Dementia Friends training, visiting the Green Roof Project and several Sustain workshops.

I will be working with Athina at our regular volunteer task days and aim to try to increase our numbers as well as joining in with the conservation work. I have already helped plant lots of wildflower seeds along the canal bank at Hyde Lane and cannot wait to see the results in the spring!

Next year, assuming covid restrictions remain eased, I hope to be able to welcome back more corporate volunteer groups, school groups and work experience students to the canal for task days as we had before the pandemic.

Thinking even further ahead, we have the festival in Cosgrove in the summer and following our successful Heritage Open Days event in September, I hope to help organise something even bigger! So many plans, I cannot wait to put them into action!

Five-year grant 2019-2024

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Strategic Plan

We are fortunate to have the help from Geoff Lambert who has helped BCS develop a Strategic Plan. This sets out the eleven themes we are pursuing in re-creating the waterway to Buckingham. The plan is a living document and sets out the progress we expect to make in a rolling 2-3-year window with a focus on the progress we want to make in the next 12 months. This is designed to ensure we have a clearer understanding of the range of tasks we need to undertake and who we need to partner with in achieving our goals; the order in which events need to take place and ensure that we obtain the necessary authorities to proceed; protect the environment and biodiversity of the route; maximise landowner and Community involvement, and plan for appropriate income streams in the future.

If you would like a copy of the Strategic Plan or feel able to help in its maintenance as an important part of the restoration, please contact any of the trustees preferably by email to

Trustees@buckinghamcanal.org.uk

Membership

Membership numbers remain steady: although, with sadness, we have lost a few of our older members. With the aid of our online payment system provided by Golden Giving and our increased presence on social media, we have been able to attract some new members during the year. The online payment system works in co-operation with another charity, Golden Giving and can be used by people wishing to join for the first time or by existing members to renew their - membership. For more information please visit: https://www.goldengiving.com/wall/buckingham canal-society

Our updated information and membership leaflet introduced last year, along with an additional leaflet focused on providing information for corporate volunteer groups, are available. Increasing our membership numbers remains a continuing priority. Our thanks to Jean and Chris for their work supporting the membership administration.

Publicity & Re-Cycling Stall (formerly the Bric a Brac Stall)

The Publicity and Re-Cycling stall did well back in 2019 before COVID and raised over £1,700 for the Society.. It is hoped to resume attending as many of these events in 2022 as possible subject to Government guidelines. We are always looking of items to sell on the stall which includes books and jigsaws as well as bric-a-brac.

Events attended included venues at Buckingham, Bicester, Stony Stratford, Braunston and Linslade amongst others. It is hoped to attend these assuming they happen as planned.

13

Hours and Work Parties

2021 was again an amazing year for volunteer time despite COVID with over 7,200 hours on project sites. More than a further 3,000+ hours have been given by our trustees and management team outside of the project site work. That is a staggering total of over 10,000 hours voluntary effort equivalent to over 1,400 person days and in lottery terms around £125,000 of match funding value in volunteer time! Given COVID “getting in the way,” this is a remarkable achievement for the year

This time on site has been achieved once again via companies, groups, and Waterway Recovery Group (WRG) visits to work alongside our own volunteers. Without the assistance of the groups that have attended, much of work achieved during last year may not have happened.

BCS now run work parties on most Tuesdays and Thursdays as well as the 2nd Sunday and last Sunday each month. This makes a total of over 150 days when work is planned to happen each year. The work parties have a range of tasks, and everyone is welcome to join any of them.

Above left - hedge planting at the bridge steps and right Hyde Lane after a bit of a tidy up!

BCS Talks

Athina is hoping to continue giving talks in 2022. None were undertaken in 2021 due to COVID.

BCS Festival and craft fair

Our long running and ever popular annual event, the Cosgrove Canal Festival and Craft Fair regrettably both fell foul of COVID again in 2021. But we plan for 2022 event to proceed although the trustees await guidance from Government and CRT whilst planning this year’s events.

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Social Media

We have again increased our presence on social media with over 2,500 people on Facebook following the society. One recent post has been seen by nearly 10,000 people!. Even if we do not use it in our personal lives, we all know people who are avid users of these services, and it is a required outlet for information these days. We have considerably increased the scope of people who now know about the BCS. This is a critical outlet for information concerning our activities and plans. We have also spread out onto Twitter and Instagram to post photos and snippets of information about what we are doing. Know anyone that can help keep tis UpToDate? Please chat to a trustee!

To find us: Search Facebook for "Buckingham Canal Society": or go direct to https://www.facebook.com/BuckinghamCanalSociety/ for Twitter: @BCSocietyUK on Instagram: BuckinghamCanalSociety

And we have not forgotten our website either. Thanks again to Alan for acting as Webmaster and making minor updates to the content of the website to ensure that it is up to date with the progress we have been making and our plans.

Fancy a natter? - Projects and operational

The Projects group continues to meet monthly to cover all the operational aspect of BCS including maintenance, events, and work party planning. We alternate between a face to face (COVID permitting) and a conference call each month currently on the 3[rd] Monday when we work our way through multiple tasks regarding each project and section of the canal. This also ensures we are prepared when opportunities arise that will further the canal restoration work, whilst at the same time ensuring focus around governance and strategy for the trustee meetings. If you would like to be involved, please contact any of the trustees Trustees@buckinghamcanal.org.uk .

Another much-valued member of our team is Keith Rawlings who is a structural engineer. Keith continues to kindly give us his time “pro bono” in this role and has been helping us in the design of the structural elements such as Bridge One at Cosgrove and the towpath wall.

We are always looking for further help both on the ground and in “back office” roles. Please think of everyone you know and how they could help us as we continue the drive for restoration. That help might be on a work party, fund raising, becoming a member, lobbying local councillors, or joining in the management of the society to help guide us to the next stages. We all believe in the aim of restoration and many discussions at preliminary stages are driving this to become very real.

15

Vernon Draper

It is with deep regret that we announce that long time Buckingham Canal Society member and dear friend Vernon Draper sadly passed away on Saturday 22nd January 2022.

Vernon was our Treasurer from 5th February 2004 to 6th November 2013. After standing down as Treasurer Vernon continued volunteering for the Society and was one of our longest serving volunteers. He worked alongside Membership Secretaries Chris and Jean Beddard to produce the membership spreadsheets for the Society and committed to various other tasks including his invaluable work in proofreading The Buckingham Navigator newsletter. He was also an integral part of the Cosgrove festival committee for many years and volunteered at our annual Cosgrove Canal Festival and Craft Fair.

He and his wife Marie were both keen boaters and you would most likely have seen their canal boat Reflections attending our annual festival or cruising far and wide along the canal systems . As well as volunteering with the BCS Vernon helped various other local group including Milton Keynes IWA where he ran their web site. worked with the B & Mk and was involved with several other local group in New Bradwell where he lived.

He will be greatly missed by the Buckingham Canal Society and all the groups he volunteers with. Our thoughts are with his wife Marie and family

Athina Beckett

16

BCS Grants and fundraising

Once again, our income has been severely reduced due to COVID both directly through cancelled events and indirectly through grant bodies targeting different criteria.

However, we have been fortunate to receive during the year further grants including the below. We are especially grateful to Colin in his work as grants officer.

Funder Value £
Arnold Clark Trust £750
Lady Neville trust £500
Moto Fund £500
Waitrose £300
Coop Local Fund £1,777
National lottery Community Garden £6,200
Buckinghamshire Council Community Board £3,500
Total £13,527

Please note that some of these figures are different to the grant funding amounts shown in the accounts. This is because not all awarded amounts have been processed &/or expended in the 2020/21 fiscal year

GDPR

New data protection legislation came into force in May 2018. The law applies to all public bodies, businesses and other organisations that process personal data, which includes the BCS.

1. Our GDPR principles

2. GDPR compliance

BCS will be complying with the GDPR as a controller and processor of data.

We will implement the relevant policies and practices to ensure we protect any data handled by the BCS – for its employees, customers, suppliers, partners and stakeholders.

Further details can be found on our website

17

Heritage and Archaeology

In the last 12 months we have gained permissions from several landowners to either do a geophysical survey or to do both survey and excavate on their land which they are allowing us to utilise for the canal restoration.

In September we had a team of volunteers, which consisted of veterans and professional archaeologists stay with us and show locals how to do field walking, geophysical surveys, archaeological excavation and how to record any finds. This was extremely popular with home educated children. During this week we discovered a bronze age ditch. We were hoping to repeat this in the summer but with the current situation in the Ukraine many of those who ran the camp and whose surveying equipment was used are not available so I am hoping that we will be able to get back under way early next year.

Earlier in the summer, we worked with veterans doing a geophysical survey of the meadow land at Cosgrove, this showed that the field has no buildings in it, at a later date we are anticipating going back and use the magnetometry equipment to see if it contains evidence of metal working.

We are also waiting for Historic England to get back to us regarding granting permission for a rescue excavation to be carried out at the scheduled ancient monument (“Roman Villa”) as every year that it is farmed causes further potential damage to the monument itself.

Later this year we should start to archaeologically excavate at bridge two and see how many bricks and stones from the original can be reused in the restoration of the bridge. We are also going to be having meetings with the local heritage officer in order to get some local landmarks listed on the heritage at risk register.

Amanda Robinson, Trustee; Archaeology and Heritage

Above top excavations of the Burrows site near the brook. Bottom left field walking and bottom right geophysics on the meadow land at Cosgrove

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Agenda item 6 and 7 –Treasurer’s Report and Accounts

The report looks a little different this year. I inherited the previous format when I took over some years ago, when the finances and life in general were much simpler. The new format presents the information in a much clearer fashion, more akin to modern best practice, taking up less space and able to be produced in a much shorter time.

You will notice that he first two and second two groups of figures have the same totals. It is the same money, added up in two different ways. The terminology used below to describe the groups of figures may differ from company to company

Income by General Ledger type shows how the income was generated. Income by Cost Centre shows where it came from.

Expenditure by General Ledger type shows what the money was spent on. Expenditure by Cost Centre shows where the funding came from.

The use of Designated and Unrestricted funds is controlled by the trustees. The use of Restricted funds is dictated by the donor, for a specific project or use, and must be tracked separately.

The overall picture shows a significant decrease in financial activity this year. The reason for that is twofold and common to most charities. Covid has reduced the capacity of our workforce, and our income has reduced. That is not to say that the overall level of activity has greatly diminished. Planning and exploratory work for future projects has continued, along with ways on how to finance them.

Funding will always be an issue. It hopefully will not stop us achieving our goals, but it may slow us down. Our core costs for 2020/21 represented 40% of our total income. These are the unglamorous things that we would struggle to cut back on but are essential for the dayto-day running of the society, such as insurance and maintenance of plant and equipment. They are also the things that it is difficult to get grants for and for which we rely heavily on the generosity of our supporters.

Richard Dwight - Treasurer and Trustee

ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 NOVEMBER 2021
Income by General Ledger type
Advertising
Bank Interest
Donations: General (includes expenses donated back)
Donations (Payroll & Local Giving)
Fundraising (excluding Raffles)
Fundraising (Lottery)
Grant Income
HMRC Gift Aid Refund
Membership Subscriptions
Sale of Goods & Services
Sales Stand (BCS)
Sales Stand (Third Party/Concessions)		 2021
2020
£
£
44
44
3
108
16,645
1,665
709
3,906
0
40
394
211
17,975 53,509
527
2,717
1,729
1,651
0
8
704
51
0
260
38,730 64,170

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ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 NOVEMBER 2021
(continued)
Income by Cost Centre
Designated Funds : HQ:Covid-19 Virus
Designated Income Funds : IWA Christopher Power Award
Restricted Income Funds : BC Community Fund: Weed & Seed
Restricted Income Funds : Big Lottery Fund: Reaching Communities
Restricted Income Funds : Cosgrove Bridge LEADER Fund
Restricted Income Funds : HDH Wills Wildlife Grant
Restricted Income Funds : Heart of Bucks Covid Grant
Restricted Income Funds : National Lottery: Cosgrove Lock Island Garden
Restricted Income Funds : Skinners Lady Neville Grant
Restricted Income Funds : VAHT: Covid Grant
Unrestricted Funds : Events & Functions
Unrestricted Funds : General income (includes expenses donated back)
Unrestricted Funds : HQ: Membership

Expenditure by General Ledger type
Advertising
Building purchase
Computer, phone & internet charges
Event costs
Fuel, oil & sundries
General office expenditure
Grant-funded wages
Hire of premises
Insurance
Licences & permits
Materials
Plant & Equipment purchases
Plant & vehicle maintenance
Plant hire
Professional Fees
Refreshments & Hospitality
Road tax
Stationery, printing & postage
Subscriptions
Training & Development
Travel Expense : Mileage Claims (Mostly donated back, includes previous
year)		 2021
2020
£
£
0
1,358
1,000
0
3,500
0
5,000
5,000
0
39,266
0
500
0
5,000
6,200
0
500
0
0
2,000
582
381
20,219
9,014
1,729
1,651
38,730
64,170
711
1,204
250
2,312
765
793
274
12
1,448
1,323
48
600
4,868
5,070
433
374
6,078
4,461
150
204
12,627
37,593
5,300
19,752
4,483
1,898
270
200
437
0
416
242
275
352
2,248
2,001
179
99
1,080
0
8,047
0
50,387
78,490

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ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 NOVEMBER 2021
(continued)
Expenditure by Cost Centre
Designated Income Funds : Cosgrove Bridge Match Funding
Designated Income Funds : Foyle Trust
Designated Income Funds : IWA Christopher Power Award
Designated Income Funds : Large Excavator Fund
Designated Income Funds : M J Camp Charitable Foundation
Designated Income Funds : Rank Trust
Restricted Income Funds : BC Community Board: Weed & Seed
Restricted Income Funds : Big Lottery Fund : Reaching Communities
Restricted Income Funds : Co-op Local Fund
Restricted Income Funds : Cosgrove Bridge LEADER Fund
Restricted Income Funds : D'Oyly Carte Charitable Trust
Restricted Income Funds : Heart of Bucks Covid Grant
Restricted Income Funds : Heart of Bucks Equipment Grant
Restricted Income Funds : IWA John Faulkner Cosgrove Bridge Grant
Restricted Income Funds : NHB Micro Grant
Restricted Income Funds : National Lottery : Cosgrove Lock Island Garden
Restricted Income Funds : Postcode Local Trust Grant
Restricted Income Funds : VAHT Thriving Communities
Restricted Income Funds : VAHT Community Chest
Unrestricted Funds : Events & Functions
Unrestricted Funds : Membership
Unrestricted Funds : Navigator magazine
Unrestricted Funds : General expenditure
Unrestricted Funds : Plant & Equipment
Unrestricted Funds : Restoration works
Unrestricted Funds : Vehicles

Balance of Expenditure over Income

Reconciliation
Bank and cash balances at 01/12/2020

Expenditure in excess of income for the year
Bank and cash balances at 30/11/2021

Designated/Restricted Funds Remaining
Unrestricted Funds Remaining
Total funds remaining		 2021
2020
£
£
0
14,564
0
5,000
600
0
0
6,560
0
2,484
0
1,000
3,352
0
5,003
5,468
0
137
0
20,161
2,750
0
0
900
0
1,179
960
0
0
1,058
256
0
9,044
2,500
0
2,312
0
601
184
218
26
131
642
615
9,658
8,454
3,518
1,047
11,428
1,729
2,966
2,372
50,387
78,490
-11,657
-14,320
45,301
59,621
-11,657
-14,320
33,644
45,301
12,122
17,887
21,522
27,414
33,644
**45,301 **

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CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND A￿ WALES Independent examiners report on the accounts Section A Independent Exaniiner s Report Report to the truste members of Buckingham Canal PJx4ety On accounts for the year ended 30 November 2021 Charity no {rf any) 115th62 Set out on paps 1to3 I rgport to tha trusteès on my gxaminat¥)n of the accoLttts of ts above charity (tr Trusf) forthe year ￿ded 3011112021. Rosponslbllltles and basis of report As thg charivs tru$teas, you ara wpOnSib￿ for th8 preparation of the accounts in accord￿rE with the reouiremènts of Ihe Charitiès Act 2011 (tr Acri I report in respect of my examirthon of th& Tfust's ac¢￿Jnts carried OLrt urKJèr sedion 145 of thè 2011 Act and in carrying out my èxw)inakn, I have followed all applicab￿ Directions 9i¥én by tha Chartty Commission under sect￿￿ 145(51{b) of Ihe Act Independent I have completed my examinats)n. I c(￿fiM7 Ihat no material matters h8¥e examinefs statemvnt cxtrme tr) my atiantion in Con￿li0n with the examination bich oiv68 mè cause to believe that in, ary material rgspatt the aCC￿n￿"Tha records were not kept ￿ attordance ¥￿h sedion 130 of the Chaiities Act,. or th& acoyjnts did mt attord Ihe sec￿nting r•cords'. or the did nol ￿mElY the appli￿le requirements conceming the form and o)ntent of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Rep￿ts) ReguLations 2¢JJ8 otherthan any requirement that the accounts give a'true aThY fairf view which is not a matter consthred as part of an Independgnt examinats'on. I hav& no ￿cernS and have come auoss no othèr matters in connection wth the examinaton to vthich attention should be dravffl in Ihis report in order to anab￿ a proper LndèrstandrrfJ of the accoLmts to be fftached. Signed: [ Namo: PrfiLI Rèlevant professional qu81ifKationlsl or body Ilf any): Address: fft*s AsPL< I sf Oct 2018 22

We are grateful for the continued support of our patron Lord Boswell of Aynho as well as Lord and Lady Scott of Foscote

Discussions with relevant organisations are ongoing to establish further partnerships both formal and informal. We have existing partnerships with the following:

We are grateful for the ongoing support of:

We have been recognised by the following:

We thank our corporate members for their continued support as well as WRG, IWA and Canal & River Trust for their ongoing support, help, and partnership.

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Donations in kind

We are pleased to record the following donations in kind, from organisations that have provided us with valuable services during the year rather than direct financial contributions:

Organisation
Buckinghamshire
Council
Salesforce.com
Canal & River Trust
Cosgrove Marina
MKSET
Microsoft via TT
Exchange		 Service
value
Raster and vector map data for canal route
£20,000
Project Management software
£14,400
Training, materials, and equipment
£15,000
Portacabins and materials storage facility plus mooring and
Wi-Fi
£5,500
Storage adjacent to bridge one and at canal side field at
Cosgrove
£4,000
Microsoft software
£44,000
Total
£107,900

The trustees are pleased to confirm that the accounts have been reviewed and approved by an independent examiner and no issues of concern found. The examiner’s statement above page is from the form which will be submitted to the Charity’s Commission after the AGM. John’s signature and address has been redacted for the purpose of this report.

Agenda item 8 – election of trustees

In accordance with our constitution, one third of the trustees must stand down each year and may stand for re-election. During the year, Lee Whiting and Jo Lynch have stepped down as trustees is just one trustee for election.

.
Nominee Proposer Seconder Comment
Athina Beckett Terence Cavender
Amanda Robinson		 Re-election as trustee
Full list of trustees for completeness are:
Trustee Role (re)elected
Rob Morris Chairman March 2018
Colin Levett Grants Officer March 2018
Richard Dwight Treasurer March 2018
Terence (Terry) Cavender Executive Officer March 2018
Anthony Smith-Roberts Health and Safety Officer March 2017
Athina Beckett Trustee March 2017
Gerry Millard Trustee and construction manager March 2019
Paul Sayer Trustee and construction engineer March 2020

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November 2020

Amanda Robinson

Trustee; Archaeology and Heritage

Above the 2019 AGM held March 2020 outside the hall due to COVID. The 2021 AGM was held online as per government guidelines.

Above left Parapet wall work on Bridge One. Above right Athina at the history festival in 2019 which was sadly again cancelled this year due to COVID.

Above left Hallam Land Management staff are one of the corporate groups to have helped seen at Bourton Meadow (AB). Right starting the work scraping the bed at section three near Bridge Two

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Version: BCS Annual Report 2021 V 0.3.Docx printed 21/03/2022 21:05:00
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Do you dig canals? .... We do!

Thank you for joining us for our Annual Meeting. Do you feel you could help us further? Below are just some of the things we do that you can get involved in. Please come and have a chat with any of the members of the committee. If you already are part of it, then thank you and please show this to someone new so they can get involved as well.

Publicity Planning Projects Event organiser
Fundraising Become a trustee Conservation Restoration
Brickwork Maintenance Digging Hedge Laying
Grant writing Budgeting Recruiting Heritage
Lengths-person Journalist Editor Project Manager
And many others!

Please use this document, which incorporates a variety of information about some of our activities, to promote the work of the Buckingham Canal Society to a friend / neighbour / colleague / relative or other interested people.

Above left rewatering section 2 towards the oil pipeline crossing Above right rebuild flood sluice near bridge two

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