2021/22 Reports and Accounts for The GCR 567 Locomotive Group, 1, Newlands Close, Edwalton, Nottingham NG12 4FH
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GCR 567 Loco Group
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Aim and Purpose
The GCR 567 Locomotive Group aims to create a working MS&LR / GCR class 2 locomotive (number 567) to be based on the preserved Great Central Railways located in Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire.
Objectives and Activities
The GCR 567 Locomotive Group objectives as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation are:
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(a) To create a working MS&LR / GCR class 2 locomotive (number 567) to be based on the preserved Great Central Railways located in Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire.
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(b) To use the project as an interpretive and educational asset. To explain the engineering and construction of a Victorian steam locomotive,
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(c) To operate the steam locomotive as a working historical exhibit to allow the general public to experience the unique sights, sounds and smells of Victorian / Edwardian train travel.
To support the above objectives, the group will interpret existing data and reference material to establish drawings and technical data that can be used for the manufacture of the locomotive and its components. Procure materials and organise the manufacture of locomotive components and assemble them into an operational locomotive. The group will raise funds to enable these activities and also assemble a supporter base to support the project in financial and volunteer support.
Achievements and Performance
On this 11[th] anniversary of the project, the group focus shifted to supporting the re-opening of the machine shop at our host Ruddington site after COVID and an updated Health & Safety regime. This being further supported by the onboarding of new trustee Owen O’Conner, Machine Shop Manager for the Nottingham Heritage Railway (Formally GCRN). We also focussed on the next drawing/engineering support objectives, especially where items have been already sponsored. Whilst the machine shop failed to open in the reporting period, it has opened subsequently. The project pivoting back to preparing to re-start the in-house produced items, picking up the held jobs from early 2020. The project was significantly replanned with restructuring to contractor managed work as the volunteer base at Ruddington continues to decline. This revised approach should support the level of progress to move the project forward in subsequent years.
Whilst not at the previous year’s level, an all-time high. Funds continued to be gifted from our generous supporters with a credible £13,000 raised during the reporting period. With lots of
preparatory actions and revisiting the project justification to our supportive site, expenditure was low. Administration costs rose primarily due to HSBC withdrawing free banking for charities, also introducing more security controls and generally making running a charity more difficult and expensive.
The locomotive was worked upon outside, primarily by the trustees with wheelset and frames receiving crimson top coats and being presented in a more meaningful manner to the public.
Locomotive Build
The locomotive main frames continue to be located on the concrete apron area of the GCRN’s Ruddington No.1 workshop. A reminder, the entire component set weighs 4 Tons with the longest side-plates just over 28ft in length and comprises side plates, mid and motion stretcher plus front buffer plate.
Whilst the Ruddington light machine shop was being strongly prepared to restart, this happening just beyond the reporting period. Much work was put in by new trustee Owen O’Conner and the entire management group to bring this key capability back into safe use.
The build location is GCRN/NHR Ruddington, and we thank the GCRN/NHR and EMRT for providing us with yard space, their support and access to facilities to support the build, as well a storage for the rapidly expanding set of 567 components.
Fund Raising
As we achieved or 200[th] supporter, the supporter donations continued with a combination of supporter and component sponsorship. Collectively they have raised £169,464 and £69,054 still available for locomotive expenditure, after a record breaking £30,584 was spend on locomotive component and material purchase in this period. All monies raised from the supporter base and/or general donation. The group continues to be in a very healthy financial position.
The group restarted the face to AGMs combined with an open day at the Ruddington build base in October 2021. The website continues to be maintained by the Chairman Andrew Horrocks-Taylor, who also generated 12 articles in the GCR publications “MainLine” and “Driving Wheels”. Whilst funding was reduced, expenditure was also controlled. The management team have done a good job in adding to their cash funds available, supporting further contracting of work as volunteer labour becomes more scarce.
The group raised £13,319, a creditable amount as the focus shifted to recovering build capability, rather than marketing new items for sponsorship. Last year’s £28,724 (2020/21) all-time high being some £10K more than previous years. Total cash funds at the close of the year being a verty creditable £81,252 and increase of £12K.
The main approach to administering the collection of funds is unchanged, with all standing orders being set up with the David Clarke Railway Trust and then collected in a reserved fund for The GCR 567 Group. The funds being available to the 567 group on request for defined purposes, either in the form of cheques to key suppliers or via the group's own current account. The DCRT has claimed gift
aid on applicable donations on behalf of the group and these amounts have been added to the reserved fund. As historically most administration problems have occurred with supporters who annually send in cheques this problem has been addressed by moving these across to the group's current account by requesting these be made out in the name of “The GCR 567 Locomotive Group”.
We thank the DCRT for their support in administering our numerous direct debits and securing the associated gift aid. It is acknowledged that the association with the DCRT, the main fund-raising organisation for the Great Central Railway, provides confidence and security for many of our supporters.
Resources to staff the Project
The committee for this reporting period are listed below:
Andrew Horrocks-Taylor: Chairman and acting Treasurer Simon Burton: Programme Manager Owen O’Conner: Machining Manager (New Trustee)
Mike Fairburn: Chief Engineer, stood down to become GCR 567 Locomotive General Manager Phil Sharpe: Head of Approvals (stood down, still available to the project)
The group is actively recruiting for additional committee / trustees to move the project forward.
We thank Mike Fairburn for his time as trustee, he steps down to allow more engagement as Genera Manager. Mike’s management is voluntary, this change in status allows that he can take on some funded work, this being subject to fair market value assessments. This being declared, discussed and accepted at the supporter AGM. This arrangement has the ful support of all the trustees.
We also thank Phil Sharpe for his time as trustee, his other commitments at the GCR/GCRN/NHR being increasingly not compatible with the time demands of the GCR 567 project as it re-structures. Phil has stated he will continue to support the approvals process. The approval path he generated and documented in report format being of significant value to the project.
We finally welcome Owen O’Conner to the list of trustees, with a strong background in machine shop practice and a key member of the GCRN/NHR management team. His experience and management of the facility are, and will continue to be a significant asset to the management group.
Volunteer Design / Draughtman Barry Nurcombe unfortunately had to step down for health reasons, not before he has populated over 200 drawings with locomotive content ready for review. Options continued to be worked on a drawing-by-drawing basis. We also thank Mark Gooding for his continued modelling of the motion. Ken Harrison also steeped mostly away from the project due to ill health and senior years. The need for component detail drawings to be generated is particularly strong as no detailed drawings on the GCR Class 2 survived. Design focus going forward is centred around the components to support frame assembly, the motion and the front bogie truck. The tender tank drawings being located to a level to support an informed contractor.
The Group’s manufacturing team continue to assess the use of general industry, with a procurement and also contracting focus. Mike Fairburn progressing the major packages with support from Simon Burton and Andrew Horrocks-Taylor. The site-based manufacturing team’s focus continued to be the support the recovery of the Ruddington machine shop, with GCR 567 Trustee, Owen O’Conner being the key person, with significant support from Mike Fairburn and volunteer Mark Hellebaut.
Data Protection
The group is fully compliant with the Data Protection Act 2017 and in May 2017, issued a privacy notice to all supporters.
Financial Review
Total receipts were £13,3019, all from unrestricted funds, £12,228 donated via standing order payments and component sponsorship to the DCRT account in a fund reserved for the GCR 567 Locomotive Group and £1,090 from annual cheque donations and casual cash or cheque donations including £90 from component sponsorship. The previous year’s expenditure of £28,724, a record for the group, fell back with a reduced expenditure this year of £1,121, the manufacture of a significant items, such as the bogie wheelsets in the previous year not able to be repeated. The positive outcome being that cash funds increased from £69,054 to £81,252. This puts the project in a strong funding position for the next financial period. The continued strong support from our supporters is greatly appreciated.
There are no major financial commitments to carry forward at the end of the reporting period.
Reserves Policy
The group has very limited overheads in operation. That saying the Banking fees we applied for the first time at £330. This, plus postage resulting in £430 administration. The group will ensure that £500 is retained in the current account at any time in reserves to allow the group to function. The group shall also retain funds to cover any procurement commitments, this year we have no such commitments at the end of the reporting period.
Volunteers and Supporters
We would like to thank all the volunteers who run and support the group allowing progress to be made towards our goals. Special thanks go to the design team, mainly Mike Fairburn and the retiring Barry Nurcombe, who worked tirelessly on extracting technical details from the 1887 Kitson General Arrangement drawing that are suitable for modern manufacture. Owen O’Conner, Mike Fairburn and the retiring Ken Harrison continued to progress in the manufacture of frame and motion components with stronger volunteer support. We thank Andrew Horrocks-Taylor, Mike Fairburn, Barry Nurcombe, Simon Burton, Owen O’Conner and the outgoing trustee Phil Sharpe for their organisation of the project and readying of the procurement packages. Finally, special thanks to Dawn Bullock for looking after our supporter base and doing the essential administration for the group.
Our supporters continue to, exceed all our expectations with their generous funding. We trust the sight of new wheelsets at the October AGM along with freshly painted frames was a suitable reward. Sponsorship packages continue to be pulled together with strong support by Dawn and Alan Bullock.
Support incentives are still in place, the first 200 supporters have secured their free seat on the first passenger train to be hauled by No.567. All supporters are also entered into a free quarterly draw for a footplate experience at the GCRN, either on an existing GCRN service locomotive or later when No.567 is constructed. All of the management group have voluntarily removed themselves from the draw. Due to the lack of operation of services at Ruddington, these benefits are again deferred.
Structure, governance and management
The group has always worked within charity guidelines and operates in accordance with a written constitution that was updated in 2015 when it became a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO). The Charity Commission standard form for Receipts and payments accounts is utilised its integral check formulas
The Group is officially known as: The GCR 567 Locomotive Group
Registration Number 1160243
Administrative Information
The Group's prime point of contact is via the e-mail address:
GCR567loco@yahoo.co.uk
Website URL: www.gcr567loco.co.uk
The group is also active on facebook and twitter, search for “GCR567LOCO”
The group has three main locations.
The Official Address of the group is at the Chairman’s personal address, 3 miles from the project’s build base at the GCRN/NHR
1, Newlands Close Edwalton, Nottingham NG12 4FH
The Chairman Andrew Horrocks-Taylor is also the main press and publicity contact. UK Mob: 0778 9937712
The Group's Main Administration Address is as follows:
The GCR 567 Locomotive Group c/o Mrs Dawn Bullock 19, Hartridge Walk, Allesley Park, Coventy CV5 9LF
All postal correspondence should be sent to the above address unless notified otherwise.
The Group's Build Address is as follows, all component deliveries should be made to this address, but only with prior agreement.
The GCR 567 Locomotive Group c/o Nottingham Heritage Railway (GCRN) Mere Way, Ruddington, Nottingham NG11 6JS
Tel: 0115 940 5705
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GCR 567 Locomotive Group 1160243
Receipts and payments accounts CC16a
For the period 01/08/21 31/07/22
To
from
Section A Receipts and payments
Unrestricted Restricted Endowment
Total funds Last year
funds funds funds
to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £
A1 Receipts
Direct Donations – cash, cheques etc 900 - - 900 934
Supporter Donations to current account 100 - - 100 508
Supporter Donations to DCRT 567 account [ 12,228 ] - - 12,228 21,254
Gift Aid collected for DCRT Account - - - - -
Component Sponsorship 90 - - 90 6,028
- - - - -
- - - - -
- - - - -
Sub total (Gross income for
13,319 - - 13,319 28,724
AR)
A2 Asset and investment sales,
(see table).
Nil - - - -
- - - - -
Sub total - - - - -
Total receipts 13,319 - - 13,319 28,724
A3 Payments
Materials (for component construction) 314 - - 314 29,039
Marketing Support 68 - - 68 824
Postage 100 - - 100 234
Admin Materials (printing ink etc) 150 - - 150 368
Engineering 48 - - 48 -
Manufacturing 110 - - 110 1,545
Bank Charges 330 - - 330 -
- - - -
- - - - -
Sub total 1,121 - - 1,121 32,010
A4 Asset and investment
purchases, (see table)
Connecting Rods - - - - -
Cylinder Block - - - - -
Sub total - - - - -
Total payments 1,121 - - 1,121 32,010
Net of receipts/(payments) 12,198 - - 12,198 - 3,286
A5 Transfers between funds - - - - -
A6 Cash funds last year end 69,054 - - 69,054 69,054
Cash funds this year end 81,252 - - 81,252 65,768
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CCXX R1 accounts (SS)
21/05/2023
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| Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at | Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at | the end of the period | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Categories Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees B5 Liabilities B4 Assets retained for the charity’s own use B3 Investment assets B2 Other monetary assets B1 Cash funds |
Signature Details Details Nil Details Nil Details GCR Tender (scrap value) Cylinder Block (scrap value) Connecting Rods (scrap value) Locomotive Frames (scrap value) Capstan Lathe (Market Value) Bogie Wheelsets (Scrap Value) Bank Admin float DCRT fund reserved for GCR 567 Total cash funds (agree balances with receipts and payments account(s)) Details |
Unrestricted funds Restricted funds to nearest £ to nearest £ 8,711 280 - 72,262 - 81,252 - OK OK Unrestricted funds Restricted funds to nearest £ to nearest £ 4,370 - 2,000 - 800 - 4,370 - 750 - 6,000 - Fund to which asset belongs Cost (optional) - - - - - Fund to which asset belongs Cost (optional) - - - - - - - - - Fund to which liability relates Amount due (optional) - - - - - Print Name Andrew Horrocks-Taylor |
Endowment funds to nearest £ - - - |
| - | |||
| OK | |||
| Endowment funds to nearest £ - - - - - - Current value (optional) - - - - - Current value (optional) - - - - - - - - - When due (optional) Date of approval 21-May-23 |
CCXX R2 accounts (SS)
21/05/2023
2