Gay Outdoor Club Limited Annual Report and Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 December 2022 ## **Gay Outdoor Club Limited** Company registration number 8020133 Charity registration number 1158873 # **Annual Report and Financial Statements Year Ended 31 December 2022** ## **Trustees’ Report** ## **Reference and administrative details** The Gay Outdoor Club Limited is a company limited by guarantee. It is known as the Gay Outdoor Club, frequently abbreviated to GOC. Company registration number: 08020133 Charity registration number: 1158873 Registered office: 27 Old Gloucester Street, London, WC1N 3AX The following persons served as Trustees during the reporting period, they served for the entire year except where noted: - Mr P.B. Blackburn Chairman Mr J. Donald Resigned 31/12/2022 Miss A. Evans - Mr I. Rose Secretary Mr R. Sheldon Treasurer Mr E. Voelcker Mr A. Barr Appointed 09/04/2022 Mr M. Fanning Appointed 09/04/2022 Mr M. Woollard Appointed 09/04/2022 Mr K German Appointed 15/10/2022 Mr M Gilbraith Appointed 15/10/2022 Ms G Giuffre Appointed 15/10/2022 Bankers: Lloyds Bank Plc, Tonbridge, Kent; The Bank of Scotland, Dava, Moray Accountant: Oasis Accounting Ltd, 49 Verdayne Avenue, Shirley, Croydon, CR0 8TW Page 1 of 3 Gay Outdoor Club Limited Annual Report and Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 December 2022 ## **Structure, governance and management** The Gay Outdoor Club existed as an unincorporated club from 1974. On the 4th April 2012 it was incorporated as a company limited by guarantee and on the 16th October 2014, it was registered as a charity. The charity is governed by the articles of association of the company which were last revised on the 28th September 2014 (that revision amended the objects clause at the request of The Charity Commission). Trustees of the charity, who are all unpaid members of the Company, are appointed by the members at the annual general meeting. Trustees are all subject to re-election each year. Trustees are also Directors of the Company. A further three members perform tasks nationally but choose not to serve as Trustees. The club operates through 30 local groups, covering every part of Great Britain, and six specialist groups which organise specific activities not normally offered by the local groups. Each group has one or more member to coordinate it and all events are organised by the groups. In most years, the ‘ Annual Outdoor Gathering’, during which the AGM is held, is organised by the Trustees. The AOG and AGM in 2022 was held in July in Stirling. All of the activities of the club are organised by members on a voluntary basis. We do not employ any paid staff to do this. In particular, no remuneration or expenses was paid to any Trustee except for the re-imbursement of payments made on the charity’s behalf or of necessary travel costs when travelling on the business of the charity. We do, however, pay our webmaster (now our former webmaster) as a contractor, to maintain and upgrade the website as required. ## **Financial review** Taking into account that the club does not experience significant periods of negative cash flow and that income is reasonably predictable, the reserves policy is to aim for reserves of between three and six months of total turnover. As we noted in our last report, the club’s reserves had grown too well above the level specified above. The marketing committee duly looked at a number of opportunities for investment on promoting the club. However, as our membership was already growing, many of these did not seem to represent a good use of our members’ money. As a result, the investment agreed for this purpose was insufficient to bring the reserves back within its target range. The board therefore proposed to the AGM that the membership fees be reduced to the level that they were at before the 2017 AGM. This proposal was rejected by the AGM and the board was urged to look at other ways of spending and investing the money it has accumulated. At our October board meeting, we agreed to spend money on providing inclusion and diversity training for trustees, group coordinators and other volunteers. We expect this to go ahead over the next few months. We also looked at proposals to provide our volunteers with weekends away, in order to share ideas and encourage best practice. These proposals will be considered in more detail at our April 2023 board meeting. In addition, with a new webmaster now in place, we are actively looking at priorities for upgrading the website to make it more user-friendly. Once again, we will be considering this in more detail at our April 2023 board meeting. Page 2 of 3 Gay Outdoor Club Limited Annual Report and Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 December 2022 Finally, in 2024 the club will celebrate fifty years since its foundation. Over the next few months we will be developing proposals to celebrate this milestone, and to take advantage of the opportunity that this presents to make the wider community more aware of who Gay Outdoor Club is and what it does. The charity has no reserved funds and does not act as custodian trustee for others. ## **Public benefit statement** The charity trustees have complied with their duty to have due regard to the guidance on public benefit published by The Charity Commission in exercising their powers or duties. ## **Objectives and activities** The Objects of the company are: _To provide or assist in the provision of facilities in the interests of social welfare for recreation or other leisure time occupation of any individuals who have need of such facilities especially, but not exclusively, gay men and women with the object of improving their conditions of life._ The charity achieves its objectives by organising events, which are primarily outdoor recreational activities. ## **Achievements and performance** During 2022, the Club organised almost 600 events, which brings us back to the level we were at in 2019. One particularly pleasing statistic is that the number of weekend and longer events increased from only 13 in 2021 to 44 in 2022. We are very grateful to the group coordinators and others who made this happen. However, as only a handful of these were in the south of England, there is no room for complacency! As usual, walking accounted for the largest number of events with 452, which broke down as easy 148, moderate 282, and difficult 22. This includes 26 mountain walks, most of which were classed as difficult, the remainder as moderate. Social, with 79 events, (up from 26 in 2021) swimming, with 50, all in central London, and cycling, with 16, were the next largest categories. Camping & caravanning, climbing and skiing made up the rest. The club is continuing to improve and develop its website as the main repository for information about the Club and its activities. In addition, around one third of members opt to receive a professionally printed magazine, paid for by a separate subscription. In order to meet the costs of running the charity, participants in our various activities are encouraged to join as members. On 1st January 2022, the club had 1397 paying members, 59 complimentary members and 128 members on a free trial, making a total of 1584 active members. At 31st December 2022, the corresponding figures were 1408 paying members, 57 complimentary members and 149 members on a free trial, making a total of 1614 active members. Over the year, the number of active members has increased by 1.9 per cent, and the number of full members (those who have completed their free trial) by a modest 0.6 per cent. After several years of declining membership and all the turbulence caused by Covid, we believe that these increases are to be welcomed. Approved by the Board on 1st April 2023 and signed on their behalf: Page 3 of 3 fjAYOUI￿RcILl￿UmyrED Re¢sttrtdCh￿￿nuth1￿887 8Q20131 Accr￿FElt￿lIErt￿￿F¢￿)ll IW115P*YW12TOS1 DECEMg&IJ027 s￿OUt￿o￿l aubLtd AmitststorthEkw¢dfrom I1￿Ulty 2022to31 Détrthibgr2022 CharftyN¥rt GayOutdooraubLTrr4 WOtkingN3me Goc Charlty Number I￿88r4 Company Nurnbe 20133 R¥tstÈred Offi 27(%dGIovGe5twstreÈ¢Londo￿W0￿3AX ÉoardofTtu%tAèUreEtors.' Peter BL4CKBURN Aii*on MayEVAf4S Eth¥¥rd HurterVOELUEk Jult3n MartlTr DONALD IvofROSe Isecreraryl RogerSMELDDN A￿.yn¢er￿R Mlchael FANt41Nfj rkWOOLiAIIO KevinGERMAN Martln GILBflAttH 6aLYiella GlU￿RE fte5W￿ W1212032 olnted0910412022 AP￿ntsd0910412oZ2 AppoSDted091N/2022 Appointedts/1013022 Apwrted 1511012022 Awwntéd lJ/lOI202Z I￿ePe0￿MtAccouI￿￿ffl CreStAttouDtin¥L¢d I9VerdayneA¥ÈfvJe,Shlrley. (jD¥don,S￿rf. CR08FW LIDv656ar*PLC TontrKI8È, Kent 8#nkofSc•tland GAY￿tdr￿rllvb Ltl esirfttsd TOTAL FUNDS Fjthd sIDv¢nther2021 P¥rfod Ended P*Ylod Efv Perlod ErtdÈd 31De¢wblw￿2l $194(embw1022 31 rJeceMbtr2Ltt2 ?1.8L 6Z.7J5 Expe￿15 6Y,956 48,n6 Toknl R•¥J¥r¢e5expmth N¢trf•JvemÈrtknfvnds Tot* 81,019 70,020 Gay thrtdoorclub Ltd ol•nctSb*453t 31 Dec¢mberè)22 31 Decernb¢r 2022 31 De¢ember 2021 Cuirtftt Assets ebtots . PrepayThents Cash at bank and In hand Total CuirÈrrta55*ts Note 3 953 219 2,949 81,101 88.2Tr1 CreditorsfallinB thln one year 2n 250 NotAssots Funds ofthe Charlty Unrestrlrted Fund$ Restrfcted Funds 91.871 81.019 lotal Funds Forthe ye8rendlng31 rJe￿mbor 2022 the tthnpanyw)s*ntFtted tOexeMp￿On from audltunder section 477 ofthe C¢mponles Act2￿5 rel4tlnKto small companles. The members liave not requlred the compJ*ytoobtsln an audltof itsa¢coufitsfortheyearln questton In ¥ccordance wlth secson 476 The dI￿thr$ acknowledgethelrre5pansikiiiitiesforwmptylr* the requlrements ofthe Att￿th ro$￿tt tv accountiw ￿e0rd% andthe preparatlon of awJuTrts. These accounts hvÈ beeii preptred lil atcardance whhthe Pro￿510n5 applicable to compavies subjetttoth¢ small companies, regimo Date: Gay OLrtdoor aub Ltd 14oteststhe ALrourt5 The pAndpal ac¢ountln8w15des are summèrfsed below. The •t£tsunting pOl￿￿S h8ve been applied ts)nsr#entlythFOU8houtthe period. is of Atcotsntln ThÉ flnanclal statemetht5 hbve bepn prepared on the ba51s ofthe hb'toriceost c*nvetttlon Br￿ 4cttsthnce wlth the Conppanle5Att 2W6and th¢ Stètement Df R¥ommeAdÈd Practlco- Am)untln8arxl RewTting byCharitie5 ISORP 20051 issued in March IW5. dA UnrertArt¢d fvnd$ ava1latkforuseÈtthedls￿l0￿0f the trustees kn fvnhernnce ofthe¥eneral objertlves of the th8rfty. RestrtLttdlunds are 5¥b￿yt0 re5trfctlon5 orbttr￿YeXpendlWre Imposed bythÈ dortor. tomln All Incomlw resourtes are recwlsed oncethethadty has ènrftleMenttothÉ resoutcts, ￿ Is twtaln thrtth&rg$tysrces UAII b¢ rerolved ond the JTronÈtaryv4lue of Incort)in8 resourtes can be moasured wlth suffidentrelwbiliw. Grants and donailonsare Incl¥ded IniheSoFAwhetsthe ¢hartty has ￿(Y)nd￿￿OI entttJempnttDthe resuwwand ITIMming resotrtesfrom tax rec4alm5 are Induded at the sarrrd ￿me as th* 8ift to whlth they relate. nve#rnent Inccfft Islnduded whett rocthatde. ¥p8ndlture ts r#0￿$s4d on aTrxcrual ba￿S 85 a Ilablllty Is Incuryed. C95ts0f 8en¢r4tlh8fvnds irethtys¢ CPStsln¢urred In •ttr4¢tingvolufftarylncome. Ch8rk8ble lxpendiwre eompdses those e0stslnLyjN￿ bythe tharfty thèdehwyof iisactlfftks and Send￿&￿tt5 mernbeo It IDdwl¢s both ¢osts that¢Bn allocgted dIreCt￿t05￿Cl a¢tMtle$ and￿seco$t$Of an Itxllrect naturet051*PPDrt them. Govomancq costs Indudethose costs assodated wlth tneedogthe ￿)nstItu￿onal ￿dStatutOry require¢7wtsofthe tharityand Include Indep¢ndent examlnatlon fe8s costs I1￿￿ tothe s¢rBtrlc man88&*nent ofihe tharty. 1 rn5ts3re allLThted beiween the expenthturechtegorfes oftheSoFA on a ba51sde5*ne¢llorefiertthe weofthe¥e50ur￿. Costs r¢l*ipBto a partI￿lar are dlrectlyallo¢ated. Ixod ￿set9 Tan8lble fixed assets are stated at Cosl less depredation. Depredètlon 1$ provided at rates okulated to wrtie off the cost less extimated residual value of eath a55et over its expetted useful I￿e as follows:. Computer equipment- 33.33% stralght line basls No assets are owned by the charity. stees mune No remuneration wa5 pald to the tmstees in thÈ 12 month period ended 31 Owmt*er 2021 2021 StrSpe/Go Cardless: Balance Held 953 219 AOG Insurance 2.286 704 Totsl te4: Amoynts falllfig due withln one year: Accountancy Bank charges Total 250 22 250 ote 5: Annu oor Gath AOG 2022 Income 26,612 39,935 Food Ac¢ornodation, Admln Entertalnments Actlvlties Surplus/lDeficitl 23,140 1,200 980 34,652 220 25,320 1,292 34,872 5,063 Gay Outdoor aub Ltd Ststemant of Nnandol ArtI￿tIeS Year End￿ 31 Do¢eml)er 2022 Incom• Donations & Le￿cleS Charitable ActivStles.' Natlonal Events Inc AOG Other Events Ineome Tradlng Income Iadvertlsln￿MaSaztneI Sub5Crtptlons Glft Ald Interest 95 26,612 12,991 380 23,316 2,266 71,808 Fund.raislng Actmties: Newslett?r Advertlsing & pu￿1£1ty'. General Webslte Charitsble Ac1M￿e5.. National Events Local Events Management &AdmlnlstratiDn: IT Suppoit Postage/relephone/Ststlonèry Afflliation Fees Insuran Bank Charge5 Travelling Expenses l*)dependent Review/Goveman AGM Mis￿11aneOUs 7,869 9,639 25.320 11,207 2,728 174 115 3,021 1,429 26X 610 272 163,9561 SURPLUSIIDEFicif) for Perlod Balo¥u BIF Bal4fK• CIF 7,8S2 84A119 91,871 Gay Outdoor Club Charity Numbw 1158873 Company Number 8020133 INDEPENDE1￿ EXAMINEWS REPORTTO THE TR GAY OUTDOOR CLUB ESOFTHE I report on the accounts ofthe dub for the year ended 2022 whith a￿ set out on pages I to 7 Re5pectE¥e responslbllltles of the tntstees and examiner. The trustees (who are also the difector5 of the company for the purposes of company18wl are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The tfU5tee's consider that an audit 15 not require(I for the year untler 144121 of the Charfties Att 2011 (the 2011 Artl and that an independent examination 15 needed. Having satlsfied myself that the charity is not subject to audit under law and is eliglble for independent examination, it is my responsibility to.. Examine the accounts under section 145 of the 2011 Act To follow the procedures laid down Trn the general D1￿ctIOnS given by the Charlty Commission under sertion 1451511b} of the 2011 Act,. and To state whether partlcular matters have come to my attention. Ba￿$ of the Ind•pend•nt examlnee5 reporL My examlnation was carried out in accordance wlth the general Dirertions ￿Ven by the Charity Commlssion. An examination indudes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparlson of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration ol any unusual Items or dlsclosures in the accounts. and seeking explanations from you as trustees concernlng any such matters. The procedure5 undertaken do not provlde all the evidence that would be requlred in an audit and consequently no opinion i$ 8l¥en as to whether the accounts present a'true and fair vie* and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below. Independent eMmlTherfs slatemenL In connertion with my examlnation. no matter has come to my attentlon: l. Whlch gives me reasonable cause to belI￿e that in ar)y material re5pert the requlrements: To keep the accounting record5 in accordance wlth section 386 of the 2006 Act,. and To prepare account which accord with the accountin8 records and comply wlth the accountlrvd requiremènts of sertion 396 of the Companies Art 2(M)6 and wlth the methods and princlple5 of the Ststement of Recommended Practice.. Accounting and Reporting by Charities have not been met,. or 2. To which, in my oplnion. èttention should be drawn rn order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reathed. Patricia Jane Ward ACM4 CGMA, MIP Crest Accounting Ltd 49, Verdayne Avenue, Shlrley, Surrey. CRO 8TW DATE: 8 April 2023