The Adventure Dolphin (Pangbourne) Charity Charity Registration Number 1156978
Report of the Trustees for the Financial Year 2020 - 2021
Contact Details.
( Please use email wherever possible info@adventuredolphin.co.uk Website: www.adventuredolphin.co.uk Adventure Dolphin (Pangbourne) Charity, The Dolphin Centre, Whitchurch Road, Pangbourne, Reading, Berkshire RG8 7DA Office Tel: 0118 440 3038 ( staffed by volunteers on a part time basis )
Historical Background.
The Adventure Dolphin (Pangbourne) Charity was originally established in 2005 as a fundraising organisation that would work alongside the statutory youth service of West Berkshire Council. It wanted to enhance opportunities for young people from the Pangbourne area of West Berkshire to get involved in outdoor and adventurous activities. Primarily, the focus for the period between 2005 and 2010 was to raise funds for a new building. Since 2010 funds have been raised for projects that were outside of the scope and remit of West Berkshire Council. This included construction of a purpose designed climbing room and specialist equipment for users with mobility and cognitive limitations.
In 2014, the impact of reducing funding for Local Authority Services resulted in West Berkshire Council deciding that its role at the Dolphin Centre would be to focus on programmes supporting services to schools and other Children’s Social Services priority groups. The Council would no longer provide financial support for discretionary services during evening and weekend programmes for the wider population.
At this point, the Trustees of the Adventure Dolphin (Pangbourne) Charity decided to explore ways in which these valuable programmes of out of school personal and social development could continue to benefit the youth population of the area. A new legal entity in the form of a “Charitable Incorporated Organisation” ( CIO ) was established. The undertakings and operations of the previous charity transferred to it in accordance with a Transfer Deed dated
16[th] May 2014 when the new charity was registered. The parties to the transfer deed were:-
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(1) The Adventure Dolphin (Pangbourne) Charity (Registered Charity Number 1111555)
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(2) The Adventure Dolphin (Pangbourne) Charity (Registered Charity Number 1156978)
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Having completed the change from being a fundraising charity to being an operational organisation delivering outdoor and adventurous activities, in 2017 the Charity faced a further challenge. West Berkshire Council announced that from the start of the 2018 – 2019 financial year, they had no ongoing operational requirement for the Dolphin Centre building.
To continue to operate a programme of outdoor and adventurous activities the Charity needed to secure continuing access to suitable premises. Although several alternative options were considered, most members of the Adventure Dolphin (Pangbourne) Charity felt that the best way of continuing to meet the charitable objectives of the organisation was by seeking long term security of tenure in the existing premises. Throughout the year, the Trustees worked to agree the terms of a lease for the Dolphin Centre, its fittings and fixtures and the specialist equipment it contains. Although that agreement had not been finalised by the end of the 2020 – 2021 financial year, the Council allowed the Adventure Dolphin (Pangbourne) Charity to continue to operate from the site, with the Charity as the beneficial occupier, whilst discussions continued.
Purpose of The Adventure Dolphin (Pangbourne) Charity.
The charitable objectives of the CIO as set out in the constitution are:
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to promote for the benefit of the inhabitants of West Berkshire in particular Pangbourne and the surrounding area the provision of facilities for recreation or other leisure time occupation (in particular water and land based activities) for individuals who have need of such facilities by reason of their youth, age , infirmity or disablement, financial hardship or social and economic circumstances or for the public at large in the interests of social welfare and with the object of improving their condition of life; and
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to advance the education and development of the young people in the area of benefit and to promote their mental, spiritual, moral and physical development and improvement so as to develop their full capabilities, grow to full maturity as well-rounded individuals and enable them to become responsible members of society.
Organisational Structure.
Board of Trustees
The Charity is managed by a Board of Charity Trustees. The constitution requires a minimum of 5 and a maximum of 15 Trustees to be registered.
The founding Trustees were recruited from the Trustees of the previously existing Charity. They also invited other people with specific knowledge and skills to join them. Now that the Charity is established, Trustees are appointed through elections held at the Charity’s AGM in the autumn of each year. Each Trustee is elected to serve a 3-year term with one third of the Board of Trustees standing down at each AGM.
During the 2020– 2021 financial year the following changes in registered Trustees were recorded: -
Trustees appointed or re-appointed at the 2021 AGM (21[st] January 2021)
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Tony Fitzgerald appointed
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Kevin Dennis re-appointed
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Alan Brown re-appointed
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• Steve Ellis appointed • Chris Whitehead appointed
Trustees who resigned at the AGM (21[st] January 2021)
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David Appleton resigned at 2021 AGM
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• David Williams resigned at 2021 AGM
The Board of Trustees concentrate on Strategic Planning and Oversight for the long-term development of the Charity. This covers business and financial planning; licensing, insurance and regulatory compliance; and succession planning. Thanks are given to the considerable contribution made by Clive (David) Williams and David Appleton over many years , without which Adventure Dolphin would not be the success it is today.
Operational Management
Day to day operational coordination is devolved to a group of experienced volunteers “the operations group” to discuss and agree the practical operational arrangements.
The Chair of the operations group is currently Kevin Dennis
Co-ordination of activity programmes, and quality assurance of those programmes, is achieved by ensuring that each of the 12 activity groups that make up the annual activity programme, has a representative who attends the Seneschal meetings. For example, the Tuesday evening climbing group representative; the Saturday morning marathon training group representative; the Monday evening Duke of Edinburgh’s Award group representative. The operations group communicates with the rest of the membership of the charity by sharing it’s meeting notes, regular training and maintaining the Charity’s website and production of a regular newsletter.
Although all interest groups within the charity are represented at meetings of the Operations Group, the bulk of the work still tends to fall on the shoulders of a few. With the continued goodwill of these highly committed individuals, these arrangements have been sufficient to ensure that the organisation meets its objectives in ways that provide safe and enjoyable programmes of activity for many people. However, the Trustees are aware that over reliance on a few individuals exposes the Charity to a significant risk of failure if one or more of these individuals becomes unavailable for some unforeseen reason.
The Trustees continue to explore further options to strengthen the organisational structure.
Financial Review
At the 2020 AGM the financial reserves stood at £93,716 the reserves carried forward at 31[st] March 2021 have increased to £111,621. Whilst this represents an overall strengthening of the Charities financial position, the uncertainty over the future business model of the charity adds to the degree of financial risk for which provision must be made. In potentially taking full responsibility for running and maintenance of the Dolphin Centre building, in addition to the cost of the activity programme, the Trustees recognise that the charity’s annual costs will increase. Income from a Variety of sources is being considered and these will be reported when they have been firmed up. The unknown affect
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of the Covid Pandemic are unknown and present a significant risk. Our thanks should be given to Angela Cullinan for her work in promoting the use of the building to local clubs and other organisations and which now earns an income in the region of £20000.
For the last 4 years the Trustees have adopted the following principles in agreeing the annual budget.
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That the cost of "Members Activity" should be covered by the contributions of "Members".
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That courses and classes should generate a surplus that can be used for charitable purposes
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That the fixed costs for premises, insurance, licences etc. is split between courses that are traded activity to raise funds, and activities that are for the benefit of Members.
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That the fixed costs are split in proportion to total hours of use for each type of activity, but this is currently under review.
The Trustees continue to recognise that the Charity needs to make provision to cover two specific financial risks.
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Income generation from courses and classes is highly dependent upon good weather, water conditions, and the state of the national economy. Poor attendance can result in failure to cover the Charity’s fixed costs . (It should be noted Covid -19 has compromised the courses taking place in the usual way, but in 2022 this will be reviewed and is dependent on a number of factors currently under discussion)
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Although appropriate insurance cover is in place, the Charity recognised the need to ensure that any “Excess” provisions of an insured claim against the Charity can be covered from the reserves.
The cash reserves will be allowed to increase to cover the fixed costs of one years’ operations in the event of catastrophic trading conditions. Surplus funds above this level are directed to support low, or no, cost activity for young people who would not normally be able to participate in outdoor and adventurous activities due to their, or their families, personal circumstances.
Activities
The year started with our leaders training day and a challenge to all the leaders to assess if they were up to date, and current with their respective Governing Bodies. This was all completed and thanks go to Adrian Moon for all his hard work and encouragement to achieve this task, frustratingly all was to no avail as the Pandemic hit us soon after and no courses were able to take place. The competition group racing under Pangbourne Canoe Club had a good showing at the Regional Hasler Races and then moved on to training for the Devizes – Westminster canoe race and the Waterside Series and Thames side races. However, these were all cancelled for 2020 due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 Pandemic. This was a great disappointment to all the paddlers who had trained so hard and looked to compete in these events. The climbers continued to run both club and courses until the Pandemic lockdown. The team had gradually built a regular following with many of the young people gaining NICAS level 1 and 2 accreditations. Once NICAS level 2 is gained they can then become club members. Due to numbers the climbing was consolidated to one evening. Thanks to Gerry Wigglesworth, Bob Feuillade with casual help from a number of other climbers. The climbing was closed for the rest of the year due to the size of our wall and being small and ventilation not being adequate to satisfy the Covid restrictions . The regular Sunday morning sessions continued until lockdown, when the Environment Agency closed the river. Then when opened in early summer
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the National Governing Bodies restrictions about group size and use of changing rooms led to sessions being cancelled, only returning in the autumn about the winter sessions and all agreed to keep going. The River went into flood conditions which continued through to the end of January which only allowed limited activity. The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award was organised on a Monday evening with those training at Bronze level attending one week and those completing Silver and Gold on the following week. We had three groups at Bronze who were aiming to complete a walking expedition. At Silver we had two canoeing groups aiming to complete their expeditions on the River Thames. This all stopped due to lockdown, however the group did meet alternate weeks as planned on Zoom with talks and quizzes. The expeditions were picked up in the summer of 2021 when all groups were encouraged to complete. I am pleased to report all completed their expeditions and went on to achieve their full Duke of Edinburgh’s Awards. Thanks go to Linda Clark, Dominic Hinton, Jake Humphries, Giles Hinton, Jan Porter, Tom Canning, Gwen James, Anthony Casey and Kevin Dennis for managing the group. The Centre had been granted a year’s licence from the Awarding Body a one of a handful of open Award Centres. The summer saw the planned evening paddlesport courses on Thursday and Wednesday evenings cancelled due to the lockdown regulations, I would especially like to thank Ian Blatchley and John Bethell for supporting their teams during lockdown period. Thanks also go to the operations team who met every two months during lockdown to assess when and how the teams could all get back on the water.
Cancellations of the scout’s evening, planned open day and our Hasler marathon were necessary. The Restrictions allowed the return of courses in the autumn, too late for us. However club sessions did resume with a slow start over the winter.
Looking Ahead
In 2021 we started to look at the structure by which Adventure Dolphin is run and this is ongoing . In 2022 we should finally have signed the lease, which has been delayed for reasons beyond our control. In addition we explored the possibility on ways to maximise the use of the facilities by other third party companies and this is again is an ongoing situation , which we hope to have put in place for the 2022 season. If anyone knows of companies who would be interested in using the facilities we offer please let the trustees know. The current financial situation is a healthy, but we shouldn’t get complacent given the relatively high running cost’s of the building and the need to replace equipment as required.
Special Thanks
Finally , I should like to give special thanks to Tony Fitzgerald for obtaining grants from various sources which has significantly contributed to the financial security of Adventure Dolphin and ensuring we are in a health financial state throughout the current situation. In addition our thanks go to Chris Whitehead Who ensured that the building was closed down in a safe manor and kept are running cost’s down to minimum and hence will have saved us a significant amount of money during the lockdown.
Steve Ellis
Chairman
14[th] February 2022
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THE ADVENTURE DOLPHIN (PANGBOURNE) CHARITY
INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021
Independent Examiner's Report to the Trustees of The Adventure Dolphin (Pangbourne) Charity
I report to the charity Trustees on my examination of the accounts of The Adventure Dolphin (Pangbourne) Charity (The Trust) for the year ended 31 March 2021.
This report is made solely to the company's Trustees, as a body, in accordance with Part 4 of the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008. My work has been undertaken so that I might state to the company's Trustees those matters I am required to state to them in an Independent Examiner's Report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, I do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the company and the company's Trustees as a body, for my work or for this report.
Responsibilities and Basis of Report
As the charity trustees of the Trust you are responsible for the preparation of the 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 Examiner's Statement
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:
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accounting records were not kept in respect of the Trust as required by section 130 of the Act; or the accounts do not accord with those records; or
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the accounts do not accord with those records.
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: Dated: 30 March 2022
Alexander Peal BSc(Hons) FCA DChA
For and on behalf of James Cowper Kreston Chartered Accountants and Statutory Auditor Reading Bridge House George Street Reading Berkshire RG1 8LS
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Adventure Dolphin (Pangbourne) Charity
Summary of Accounts 31[st] March 2020 - 31[st] March 2021
Statement of Assets and Liabilities at the end of the period
| 31st March | 31st March | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 2020 | |
| Cash funds | ||
| Santander | 81,342 | 51,659 |
| CCLA | 20,440 | 20,416 |
| Paypal | 1,574 | 13,776 |
| Marathon Account | 7,599 | 7,599 |
| Petty Cash | 666 | 266 |
| Total | 111,621 | 93,716 |
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Adventure Dolphin (Pangbourne) Charity
Summary of Accounts 31[st] March 2020 - 31[st] March 2021
Receipts and Payments Accounts
| Restricted | Unrestricted | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Receipts | |||
| Joining fees and annual membership | - | 888 | 888 |
| Income from courses | - | 457 | 457 |
| Other income | 37,204 | 37,204 | |
| Interest received to CCLA | - | 24 | 24 |
| Total receipts | £0 | £38,573 | £38,573 |
| Payments | |||
| Supplies and Services | - | 20,668 | 20,668 |
| Total Payments | - | 20,668 | 20,668 |
| Net of receipts/(payments) | - | 17,905 | 17,905 |
| Cash funds last year end | - | 93,716 | 93,716 |
| Cash funds this year end | - | 111,621 | 111,621 |
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Adventure Dolphin (Pangbourne) Charity
Summary of Accounts 31[st] March 2020 - 31[st] March 2021
| Income collected from joining fees and membership | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Restricted | Unrestricted | Total | |||
| - | - | ||||
| Annual Membership | - | 888 | 888 | ||
| Total | - | 888 | 888 | ||
| Income collected | |||||
| Restricted | Unrestricted | Total | |||
| - | - | - | |||
| Evening Courses | - | - | 530 |
- | 530 |
| Trips | - | 300 | 300 | ||
| DofE | - | 687 | 687 | ||
| - | - | - | |||
| - | - | ||||
| - | - | - | |||
| Total | - | 457 | 457 |
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Adventure Dolphin (Pangbourne) Charity
Summary of Accounts 31[st] March 2020 - 31[st] March 2021
| Other Income | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Restricted | Unrestricted | Total | |
| Rentals | - | 6,995 | 6,995 |
| Purley & Sea Scouts | - | 3,044 | 3,044 |
| Sale of Assets | - | 400 | 400 |
| Newbury Canoe Club | - | 300 | 300 |
| Gifts | 35 | 689 | 724 |
| West Berks Covid Grant | - | 20,241 | 20,241 |
| Sports England Grant | 5,500 | 5,500 | |
| - | - | - | |
| - | - | - | |
| - | |||
| - | |||
| Total | 35 | 37,169 | 37,204 |
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Adventure Dolphin (Pangbourne) Charity
Summary of Accounts 31[st] March 2020 - 31[st] March 2021
Expenditure on Supplies and Services
| Restricted | Unrestricted | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| BC | - | 438 | 438 |
| Open Day | - | 69 | 69 |
| Training | - | 520 | 520 |
| Telephone | - | 1,423 | 1,423 |
| Insurance | - | 3,156 | 3,156 |
| Fees | - | 978 | 978 |
| AGM | - | 121 | 121 |
| Printing and Stationery | - | 577 | 577 |
| BEL/LEL | - | 50 | 50 |
| Building & Equipment | - | 12,962 | 12,962 |
| Trips | - | 215 | 215 |
| DofE | - | 159 | 159 |
Total
20,668 20,668
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