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← Buckingham Canal Society

2024-11-30-accounts

Trustees’ report and accounts for the year ending 30[th] November 2024

WERGIES – IN – ACTION

Piling continues along section two

Percy sails to new home

Introduction from the Chair

I am delighted to present my first Annual Report as Chairman of the Buckingham Canal Society (BCS) for the financial year ending 30th November 2024. This year, Edi has kindly taken the lead in producing this annual report for the AGM and I hope you will be equally encouraged and inspired as you read it. It provides a comprehensive summary of activities over the year and will give you a good view of how extensive the activities of the Society are and the impact we make, not only on the physical environs of the canal, but in the lives of the people and the organisations we work with week in, week out.

It was a privilege to have been formally elected by members at last year’s AGM and to have been asked by Trustees to take on the role of Chair during the year. I am also pleased that we have coopted Derin Adegun as Trustee this year. More information about the election of trustees can be found on page 25.

We have a strong Board of Trustees with the skills, experience, and importantly, the availability, to ensure that the Society is well managed, and that the ever-increasing activity is executed with vigour and competence. I give each of them my thanks.

The core task of our restoration and management of the waterway is both challenging and full of almost unlimited potential. Whilst we must stay focused on the core task, we should always have our eyes on the future potential of the canal and begin to establish the relationships, chart a course, and develop foundations on which those who will come after us in 50, perhaps 100 years, will be able to build and will have cause to praise our foresight.

In 2024, Trustees gave increased focus to underpinning the Society’s potential to grow sustainably by reviewing the portfolios of both trustees and officers. This will see us put plans in place through the coming year for effective succession planning to ensure that the governance and operational activity of the Society remains robust.

I have often said that the capacity of any well-run charity is based on how it continually attracts, motivates, develops and utilises a passionate force of volunteers. Sometimes, when all around us is positive we might forget that we must continually strive to augment what is already a strong team. It is only when we are faced with the reality of an unexpected event that we recognise that we might be more vulnerable than we believe. I believe that the sad and untimely death of our committed, passionate and energetic volunteer and trustee, Gerry Millard, is just one of those wake-up calls. Gerry’s contribution to the Society should not be underestimated and I hope that, as you read this Annual Report, and as we honour Gerry’s lasting legacy, you will consider what greater part you might be able to play in the life of the Society as we plan for future growth. There is a role for anyone who is passionate about our goal, and I look forward to hearing from anyone who wants to get more involved.

Thank you for your continued support. Paul Rodgers, Chair, Buckingham Canal Society

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. All photographic copyright is acknowledged. The Society’s registered address is 2 Staters Pound, Pennyland, Milton Keynes, Bucks, MK15 8AX

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Agenda Item 5 - Buckingham Canal Society Trustees Report

Overview

2024 has been a fantastic year. Restoration work has been progress as well as maintenance at our other locations.

Site by site – Cosgrove: IT’S BEEN WET! WET!! WET!!!

The year at Cosgrove has been hampered as per the rest of the country with incredible amounts of rainfall leading to flooding, overtopping and many other outcomes of too much water.

The next obstacle as we progress with the restoration towards the A5 has been the partly collapsed land drain at the farm crossing where “section two” starts. This land consists of a 50-year-old plastic pipe that has become brittle, obstructed by roots, and partially collapsed. This was obviously causing the canal to leak into the pipe and down to the river; hence needing repair. The other aspect of the land drain has been to harvest the water to add to the canal. The land drain controls the excess water on the land surface which includes the surface water and the outflow from many springs up on the field above Stratford Road on the side of the valley and that water quality is considered suitable for the canal.

We now have a brick chamber, built by our amazing volunteers. The chamber is now complete. Next stage is to put the lid on it, including a special rescue crane, since the chamber is a confined space. After that, we will obtain and install a solar panel as well as a solar pump for the chamber, so that the water collected within the chamber can be harvested into the canal as a water source to help satisfy water source requirements.

Further west along the canal at Bridge 2, up to the A5, the excellent work undertaken by WRG (Waterway Recovery Group) during their 2023 Christmas Camp has uncovered the canal bed. During the flood, we ended up with water in that section to a depth of 18 inches (45mm). We also uncovered more of the wing walls of Bridge 2, ready for excavation when the planning application becomes known. Work to further unearth the wing walls further was again undertaken by WRG during their 2024 Christmas Camp. The volunteers of WRG also did an amazing job this Christmas of clearing behind the bin store to enable preliminary work to create accessible parking and moorings. They also removed 8 diseased trees. The trees were Sycamore which grew just after Bridge 1. One of the Sycamore trees fell two years ago, while another fell around November 2024. The removed trees were diseased as evidenced by the dead wood noticeable at the top. As per BCS policy, we will be replanting 5 new trees in place of each one felled. This replanting activity will be conducted within the vicinity in the nearest future.

Back by the bin store, we came into agreement with CRT to clear the vegetation. WHY? We aim, in the medium term, with CRT, to turn the area into an accessible parking area. This is something we have often been asked for as part of the Cosgrove festival; and we understand that some boaters with mobility challenges will also benefit from it – and I would personally benefit from it as well. By the Cosgrove toilet block, we aim to put a disabled mooring area, which will also have an electric and water service bollard for electric boats such as Electra. Further work and final design for this would be agreed with CRT, and as we are aware, it is the starting that stops most people – and we have STARTED!

Low light of the year was the partial sinking of Louise, the Crane boat. As we write this, work is ongoing to recover the functionality of the powerpack engine for the hydraulics as well as arrange repair and overhaul of the outboard motor which will, going forward, form a more powerful propulsion unit for Louise.

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Our partnership with CRT continues to be good. Over the years, the relationship has involved helping them with minor maintenance tasks, and we continue to do that. Early in the year, we did a crane lift for them using Louise at Stoke Bruerne to fit a new pump where the water is taken from the River Tove into the pound during low water levels, Of course, it has been high water level with the Tove spilling over into the canal for several months of the year; hence the title of this report – Wet, Wet, Wet – as their pound extends from Stoke Bruerne to Cosgrove and we get a lot of water. During the year, we also obtained a “new” boat to be known as Fiona-Marie. Fiona-Marie is a 21foot crabbing boat with a significant back deck, so we can use it for maintenance offside working and access both sides of the arm up to the A5 when it is rewatered, as well as the mainline. This vessel will be shared with CRT, and with the local Scouts. James and the local Scouts has been keen to form a Sea Scout group to offer something “different” to the young people of Hanslope and Cosgrove. This partnership of younger people being introduced to the canal is a wonderful way of making sure that this restoration and its operations are sustainable in years to come as we attract the interest of young people and their parents.

Also at Bridge 2, the compound has been fitted with a roof and sides to provide welfare shelter as we base more of our work at that end awaiting to start work on the bridge.

Top left: Volunteers at Cosgrove working on the land drain temporary bypass pipe for section 2. Top right: Volunteers of IWA WRG helping get rid of diseased trees at Cosgrove. Bottom left: Cows drinking from the rewatered section at Cosgrove. Bottom right: BCS volunteers emptying Hopper and adjusting offside bank.

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Site by site – Corporate Groups

Above: Staff of WD40 after a successful work party at Bourton Meadow

Last year we received a lot of extra help from visits by corporate groups in fact the largest number of groups since we started having them join us! Overall, we had thirty-three corporate groups join at both Cosgrove and Bourton Meadow. Nineteen of them working at Cosgrove and fourteen of them at our Bourton Meadow site near Buckingham. There were seven visits from Santander and Network Rail who joined us on three separate occasions.

There were several groups joining us for the first time and these include GTC who made two visits to Bourton Meadow in June and July and another new group WD40 joined us at Cosgrove in July and paid a second visit on the 19th December to Bourton Meadow where a can of WD40 provided by them helped with our wheelbarrows.

In the past Corporate groups usually start visiting from about May onwards then usually stop by beginning of November but last year bookings started in March and continued until the 19th December so almost up to Christmas and at the time of writing we already have bookings February, March, April and July in 2025 and a special thanks must go to JNP who as well as providing us with some brilliant photos of their visit also made a generous donation to the BCS of £250

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Volunteers at Bourton Meadow

The BCS Fleet!

The BCS "fleet" currently comprises of four vessels.

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Above Left: DIANA the Dredger moored at Braunston Marina during the 2024 Braunston festival just before she was moved to the drydock for restoration and painting (TC). Above Right: Tug SHOVELER about to move PERSERVERANCE II to Watford where she will be towed towards Essex for Essex Waterways (EI). Bottom left LOUISE (TC) and bottom Right: FIONA the fishing boat at Cosgrove

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. Additional thanks for the ongoing loan of Shoveler the tug to help us with dredging and other movements of vessels.

Site by site - Bourton Meadow

With little access to our Hyde Lane site in 2024 the Conservation volunteers spent most of their time working at Bourton Meadow and were helped by the visit of fourteen corporate groups who worked there from May to December. We have continued the work throughout the year of keeping excellent access to this site and making it look attractive and therefor attracting more visitors to walk the canal and then possibly want to support us by becoming a member or a volunteer or both. As well as

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making the site look attractive, we have been maintaining the environmental and wildlife aspects of this site which is important as well. We have been helped in this list task by Michael Hunt who after each visit to site sends us a detailed list of the wildlife seen by him there.

Hedges were strimmed towpath strimmed several times over the summer months and four of the bench seats were repainted a new interpretation board and leaflet box were installed. The main problem over the summer months was the amount of weed taking over the canal bed which also had to be removed. From past experiences the best way to conduct this task has been for volunteers donning waders and work in the canal bed itself. This always proved an immensely popular task for both our volunteers and visiting groups in the summer months and because of the very mild winter weather we were able to continue working in this way right up till December.

As said at top of this article most of the practical tasks lead by me were at Bourton Meadow but for the first few months at the beginning of 2024, I lead several tasks at Cosgrove where I

worked with children and their parents taking park in the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme something I have done in the past and would love to continue doing.

Hopefully 2025 will be as successful 2024 where we continue the work at Bourton Meadow, and I look forward to seeing all the Spring flowers starting to grow there and I am happy to be to being part of it again this year.

Above Bourton Meadow volunteers clearing the waterway to keep it an open space

We also have a camera at Bourton Meadow which is linked to Youtube. Look and see at = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v UfbomsVilyQ or search Youtube for Buckingham canal cameras

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The Green Gym – Exercise That Is Effective

Green Gyms were set up about twenty five years ago by two GPs who felt giving people the opportunity to work outside in the fresh air and carry out conservation and environmental work would help some people recover more quickly and improve their health that just taking pills so the Green Gym system was started and has proved very successful over the past twenty five years.

The BCS has set up its own Green Gym in partnership with The Conservation Volunteers. Our conservation group conduct practical tasks on alternative Thursdays and on the second Sunday of each month are now working as part of a new Green Gym. After all a much cheaper way of getting fit than paying a fee at a regular gym and a fantastic way of giving something back to the environment and making friends.

. Thanks to our people

As always, a massive thank you to all our partners, volunteers, members, supporters, neighbours, and many others. We would like to highlight a few examples of some of the less visible works that we have been involved in:

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Partnerships

Our many great partnerships continue to firmly position the society for the short and medium term. Our financial health allows us to remain viable, but we are always looking for innovative ideas and folk to join the team. 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 current and past trustees, volunteers, members, partners, and supporters. The current trustees thank you all for your time, energy, and funding to keep us on track towards the restoration.

BCS continues to enjoy support from MKDons, a significant adjacent landowner, and we are formalizing 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, making materials and equipment access much easier. We are grateful to the commercial team at MKDons for supporting us through the planning discussions for this.

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

We have continued to enjoy an outstanding partnership with CRT, who have helped us with various training aspects, technical guidance, providing materials including clay and stone, and of course, the loan of the tug Shoveler. BCS has, in return, assisted with signage and several maintenance tasks around Cosgrove, as well as the ongoing dredging. The trustees collectively express their thanks to Linny Beaumont and her regional team for their support and tolerance as we strive to achieve the restoration.

Membership

Membership numbers have remained steady, although we have sadly lost a few older members. However, we have been able to attract some new members during the year through the aid of our online payment system. This is now provided via Sum-Up through the BCS online shop 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.shop.buckinghamcanal.org.uk

The marketing team have revamped our information and membership leaflets. Increasing our membership numbers remains a continuing priority, and we extend our thanks to Jean and Chris for their work supporting the membership administration.

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Community Engagement

While the role of a Community Engagement Officer remains unfilled, a few volunteers have been doing an excellent job in attending community engagement events on behalf of the Society. We hope to do more in the coming year to unlock more funding that would require some active community participation.

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

Trustees’ statements

The trustees have considered the Charity Commissions guidance on public benefit and concur that the society continues to fulfil this.

For completeness, we confirm the following regarding reserves as stated in our financial policy regarding reserves:

10.1 The executive committee will consider the level of reserves that is prudent for the charity to have at its first meeting after the AGM. Consideration will be given to redundancy liabilities; lease agreements and any other significant factors that should be taken into account were the charity to close.

Trustees are recruited on an open basis. Anyone wishing to become a trustee is required to be a member of the society as per the constitution. Members are encouraged to discuss their wish to become a trustee and attend a trustees meeting to understand the roles and responsibilities of the position. Proposer and seconder are then required for a vote of co-option for the nominee as a trustee who is appointed subject to charity commission eligibility checks.

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Publicity & Fundraising Stall

Since Covid the stall has resumed its role of publicising the work of the society, recruiting new volunteers and raising funds for the BCS. Over the last few years, the stall has raised over £1,100 to support the work of the society.

Last year the stall visited several smaller local festivals and travelled further afield to visit the Braunston Historic Boats festivals at Braunston, the Linford Canal festival as well as our own festival at Cosgrove.

One of the main attractions on the stall are the had made rag rugs made by Athina Beckett and sold on the stall for £25 and she is always looking for more old tee shirts that can be recycled and made into rag rugs again raising more funds for the BCS

Hours and Work Parties

While some offices have since become accustomed to working from home, others have allowed most of their key staff return to office. This has had a significant positive effect on turnout of corporate volunteers this year compared to previous years after COVID. Over 7,000 hours of volunteer work were recorded at Bourton Meadows in 2024. This time on site was made possible through the participation of companies, groups, and Waterway Recovery Group (WRG) visits, collaborating with our own volunteers. Without their assistance, much of the work achieved during last year may not have been possible. From our records, we had a total of 7,325 hours of volunteer work contributed by over 1,000 volunteers. This is a remarkable achievement and amounts to a match funding value of over £100,000 in lottery terms.

We currently aim for over 150 planned workdays each year subject to weather etc. The work parties involve a range of tasks, and everyone is welcome to join any of them. The work parties are on Tuesdays, Thursdays and on the second Sunday of each month. On alternate Thursdays and on the second Sunday, Athina Beckett runs work parties at Bourton Meadow and Hyde Lane focusing on conservation and the environment at these two sites. At Cosgrove, the teamwork Tuesday and Thursday with focus on dredging, bricklaying, construction work and equipment maintenance.

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

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BCS Talks

In 2024, Athina Beckett gave talks to various groups which include FOLIC, Winslow Library, Potterspury History Group, Stony Stratford History group and Maids Moreton U3A .again raising more funds for the BCS

BCS Festival and Craft Fair

The 29th annual Cosgrove Canal Festival & Craft Fair was quite successful with incredibly good turnout for both days because of clear skies and lovely weather. Once again, the hard work and rapid organisation of the team ensured the festival was successful.

The excitement started building from Thursday onwards as colourful boats and traders arrived to set up their stalls. Visitors kept coming with estimates indicating that the festival again attracted over a thousand people. It was rewarding to see so many people enjoying themselves over the two-day festival. There were plenty of canal-themed activities, wonderful entertainment, delicious food, and drink, making it a worthwhile event for everyone.

The Buckingham Canal Society's information tent was in prime position on the towpath, providing a platform to chat with festivalgoers, promote the canal, raise awareness, and recruit new volunteers (it is not too late to express an interest!). Visitors were also encouraged to take a stroll to view the bridge and the progress of all their other projects along the arm and surrounding area.

Social Media

We have increased our social media presence with more than 3,500 people following the society on Facebook. 30,000 people saw one recent post. Even if we do not use social media in our personal lives, we all know people who are avid users, and it is a necessary outlet for information these days. Our reach has increased, which is critical for sharing information about our activities and plans. Apart from Instagram and Twitter (now X), we have added LinkedIn to our list of social media accounts, hoping to attract more corporate volunteers and donors. Do you know anyone who can help keep our pages up to date? Please chat with a trustee!

To find us:

Search Facebook for "Buckingham Canal Society": or go direct to

https://www.facebook.com/BuckinghamCanalSociety/ for X (Twitter): @BCSocietyUK on Instagram: BuckinghamCanalSociety LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bcsocietyuk Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@BuckinghamCanalSociety

We have been actively maintaining our website too, with Alan as our dedicated Webmaster. He has been doing a great job of keeping the website content up to date, reflecting the progress we have made so far and our future plans. Many thanks to Alan for his many hours of back-room projects as well as help with engines, painting and much, much more.

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Goodbye Gerry

In October, the Society lost one of their long-time volunteers and trustee, Gerry Millard. He died peacefully in hospital after suffering from various medical problems for some months. He will be missed, especially for his mechanical and electrical skills and for his wonderful personality. It was always a pleasure to have him on our work parties and as harbour expert at the Cosgrove Canal Festival.

FESTIVAL HELP NEEDED

The 2024 festival was successful thanks to a small group of trustees and volunteers. To avoid the 2025 being the last festival, we need more help. It does not have to be all weekends! A few hours on Friday helping setup, or Sunday taking down would be welcomed as well as help on the Saturday and Sunday at the event itself. Help would also be welcomed in the planning of events.

Please contact any of the trustees or events team to find our more or offer you time

SAVE THE DATE: weekend of 19[th] July 2025

Fancy a Natter? - Projects and Operational

The Projects group meets monthly to cover all operational aspects of BCS, including maintenance, events, and work party planning. We alternate between face-to-face meetings and conference calls each month, currently on the 3rd Monday, to work through multiple tasks related to each project and section of the canal. This ensures we are prepared when opportunities arise that will further the canal restoration work, while also ensuring focus around governance and strategy for trustee meetings. If you would like to be involved, please contact any of the trustees at Trustees@buckinghamcanal.org.uk.

Keith Rawlings, a structural engineer, is another much-valued member of our team. He kindly gives us his time "pro bono" in designing the structural elements, such as Bridge One at Cosgrove and the towpath wall.

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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, fundraising, 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.

BCS Grants and fundraising

Our grant income has again been challenging this year mostly through grant bodies still targeting different criteria such as cost of living and hardship.

We hope to pursue more grant funding during the coming year alongside other strategic funding opportunities

GDPR

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

Our GDPR principles are as follows:

BCS will comply with the GDPR as a controller and processor of data. We will implement relevant policies and practices to protect any data managed by the BCS, including data for our employees, customers, suppliers, partners, and stakeholders.

For further details, please visit our website.

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Heritage and Archaeology

There has again been no significant progress with regards to further progressing the archaeological work that is required including several geophysical surveys in the past 12 months.

If you or anyone you know would like to help develop this activity, please chat to any of the trustees.

Collaborating closely with the local council's Heritage Department we have managed to start protecting several structures, including Thornto Brdge on a local level. We intend to progress these to potential restoration as soon as possible. Hopefully, we will be able to add them to a national list as well.

Thornton Bridge

Uncovering the landing stage remains at Cosgrove

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

Explanatory Notes

The report format follows the new look we adopted since the 2022 AGM. The figures are sorted first by income or expenditure type, the “what,” then by the “where..”

Income by General Ledger type shows how the income was generated.

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

Expenditure by Cost Centre shows where the funding came from.

The trustees control the use of Designated and Unrestricted funds.

The use of Restricted funds is dictated by the donor, for a specific project or use, and must be kept separate.

The General Picture

Expenditure exceeded income by £6,538. This leaves us with sufficient funds to cover our core costs, those expenses we cannot avoid, such as insurance and equipment maintenance, currently standing at around £25k p.a.

On the income side, the two big variables from year to year are grants and donations. With the current economic situation, many grants are now being focused more on improving the circumstances of individuals rather than project works. This makes searching-out new funding opportunities more complex and time consuming, reading all the small print. Any help in this area will be appreciated.

Richard Dwight

Treasurer and Trustee

ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 NOVEMBER 2024

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
Insurance Claim
Membership Subscriptions
Sale of Assets
Sale of Goods & Services
Sales Stand (BCS) & Online Shop
Sales Stand (Third Party/Concessions)		 2024
2023
£
£
44
88
560
209
16,369
58,158
0
572
71
83
279
297
10,049
10,000
12,971
5,415
0
5,170
1,958
1,268
5,000
0
0
3,236
563
1,083
1,530
1,525
49,394
87,104

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ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 NOVEMBER 2023 (continued)

Income by Cost Centre
Designated Income Funds: Bourton Meadow Visitors Centre
Designated Income Funds:Co-op LCF 2023
Designated Income Funds:Cosgrove Piling
Designated Income Funds: Contingencies
Restricted Income Funds:Big Lottery Fund:Reaching Communities
Restricted Income Funds:Member Restoration Works
Restricted Income Funds:Tim Coghlan "Diana" Fund (Dredger)
Restricted Income Funds:Tim Coghlan Bridge fund
Restricted Income Funds:Bucks Heritage Trail
Restricted Income Funds:HoB - Tools & Equipment
Restricted Income Funds:BC Community Board Gazebo
Restricted Income Funds:John Deere Tractor Fund
Restricted Income Funds:MKCF Boat equipment grant
Unrestricted Funds:Events & Functions
Unrestricted Funds:General income (includes expenses donated back)
Unrestricted Funds:HQ:Membership (includes life memberships)
Unrestricted Funds: Watercraft
Expenditure by General Ledger type
Advertising
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
~~Stock for Online Shop~~
Subscriptions
Training & Development
Travel Expense:Mileage Claims (Mostly donated back)		 2024
2023
£
£
3,250
0
0
1,164
0
18,000
0
2,000
0
5,000
180
180
0
10,000
0
10,000
0
3,236
0
5,000
979
0
834
0
9,070
0
3,877
3,448
23,837
27,808
1,958
1,268
5,409
0
49,394
87,104
2,792
594
1,434
980
36
115
1,573
2,808
36
0
0
3,815
1,216
667
7,126
6,837
61
150
8,636
22,328
17,535
2,663
3,395
9,264
180
801
0
1,775
208
267
335
320
1,764
1,878
~~0~~
~~0~~
172
167
1,315
470
8,118
5,999
55,931
61,898

ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 NOVEMBER 2023 (continued)

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Expenditure by Cost Centre
Designated Income Funds:Co-op LCF 2023
Designated Income Funds:Cosgrove Piling
Designated Income Funds:Van Purchase Fund
Designated Income Funds:Boat Maintenance
Restricted Income Funds:BC Community Board: Weed & Seed
Restricted Income Funds:Big Lottery Fund:Reaching Communities
Restricted Income Funds:Buckinham Town Council - Interpretation Board
Restricted Income Funds:Heart of Bucks Covid Grant J026
Restricted Income Funds:Bucks Heritage Trail
Restricted Income Funds:National Lottery:Cosgrove Lock Island Garden
Restricted Income Funds:BC Community Board Gazebo
Restricted Income Funds:RadcliffeTrust (Craft Training) J019
Restricted Income Funds:Tesco Bags of Help 3/Hyde Lane Footbridge
Restricted Income Funds:Tim Coghlan "Diana" Fund (Dredger)
Restricted Income Funds:Tim Coghlan Bridge fund
Restricted Income Funds:John Deere Tractor Fund
Restricted Income Funds:HoB - Tools & Equipment
Restricted Income Funds:Cosgrove Marina (BR2)
Restricted Income Funds:IWA training grant
Restricted Income Funds:MKCF Boat equipment grant
Restricted Income Funds:Skinners Lady Neville Grant (BR 2)
Unrestricted Funds:Events & Functions
Unrestricted Funds: Membership
Unrestricted Funds:Navigator magazine
Overheads: Insurance, publicity, office costs
Unrestricted Funds:General Restoration works
Unrestricted Funds:Plant & Equipment
Unrestricted Funds:Vehicles
Unrestricted Funds: Watercraft
Balance of Income over Expenditure		 2024
2023
£
£
811
352
4,306
12,806
0
2,735
2,000
0
0
147
2,705
4,573
0
1,150
0
354
0
2,086
76
5,354
979
0
475
470
0
626
1,492
5,901
0
60
834
0
5,000
0
250
0
700
0
9,070
0
490
0
662
717
10
0
138
349
11,387
0
11,334
19,316
773
3,281
1,411
1,621
1,029
0
55,931
61,898
-6,537
25,206

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Reconciliation

Reconciliation
Bank and cash balances at 01/12/2023 56,235 31,029
Expenditure more than income for the year -6,538 25,206
Bank and cash balances at 30/11/2024 49,698 56,235
Designated/Restricted Funds Remaining 9,806 24,681
Unrestricted Funds Remaining 39,891 31,554
Total funds remaining 49,698 56,235

Statement of assets and liabilities

The balance sheet at the year-end is as below. The Creditors value is a loan from a trustee. The major fixed asset is Bridge 1 at Cosgrove.

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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
£15,000
Training, materials, and equipment
£15,000
Portacabins and materials storage facility plus mooring
and Wi-Fi
£6,000
Storage adjacent to bridge one and at canal side field at
Cosgrove
£5,000
Microsoft software
£44,000
Total
£105,000

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. The signature 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 2024, one new trustee was co-opted and stands for election at this AGM along with Terry Cavender and Richard Dwight who stand as part of the rotation. Gerry Millard served as trustee until his death in October 2024

.
Nominee Proposer Seconder Comment
Derin Adegun Paul Rodgers Edima Inwang Election as trustee
Terry Cavender Paul Rodgers Edima Inwang Election as trustee
Richard Dwight Paul Rodgers Edima Inwang Election as trustee
Full list of other trustees for completeness are:
Trustee Role (re)elected
Richard Dwight Treasurer March 2018
Terence (Terry) Cavender Executive Officer March 2018
Athina Beckett Trustee talks volunteer contact and
March 2022
work party leader
Edima Inwang Trustee and Digital Marketing Lead March 2022
Paul Rodgers Chair March 2023
Steve Morley Trustee March 2023
Mandy Morley Trustee and Safeguarding Officer March 2023
Ruth Millard Trustee March 2023
Colin Levett Trustee Coopted Feb 2025

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Version: BCS Annual Report 2024 V 0.1.Docx printed 05/04/2025 16:23:00
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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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Independent examiner's report on the accounts

Section A Independent Examiner’s Report

Report to the trustees/ Buckingham Canal Society
members of
On accounts for the year 30 November 2024
Charity no
1156662
ended (if any)
Set out on pages 1,2 & 3
I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above
charity (“the Trust”) for the year ended 30/11/2024.
Responsibilities and As the charity's trustees, you are responsible for the preparation of the
basis of report accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011
(“the Act”).
I report in respect of my examination of the Trust’s accounts carried out
under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I
have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission
under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.
Independent I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have
examiner's statement come to my attention in connection with the examination which gives me
cause to believe that in, any material respect:

I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Signed: Date:8 April 2025
~~oe~~		 Date:8 April 2025
~~oe~~
Name: Kameliya Harrison
Relevant professional Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW)
qualification(s) or body
(if any):
Address: Tearle and Carver Ltd, Chandos House, School Lane, Buckingham, MK18
1HD

1

Section B Disclosure

Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight material matters of concern (see CC32, Independent examination of charity accounts: directions and guidance for examiners).

Give here brief details of any items that the examiner wishes to disclose .

2