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GCR 567 Loco Group
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2022/23 Reports and Accounts for The GCR 567 Locomotive Group, 6, Nowell Close, Radcliffe-on-Trent, Nottingham NG12 1FE
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 12[th] anniversary of the project, the group focussed on securing key components, notably the Corby Spares that relate to the Corby class cylinder block 567 are incorporating to the locomotive. Key components secured were two Slide Valve Castings, two Crosshead Castings and two Valve Buckles with Spindles purchased for a market value of £2,925. These around 5 time less than a made from new price. The group also purchased a steam ejector for market value of £3,300.
The good news was that the main workshops of our build location and their machine shop reopened supporting a quick re-start of machining for bogie and main frame components.
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. We were required to pivot the frames to the wall during this period to support crowd
management during the site annual fireworks display. This one movement took an entire day and the largest machine the site had available, reminding our volunteer workforce of the scale of the project, still we got the job done despite the limitations. In separate activities we prepared the footplate and running board brackets plus, using mag mounted equipment, made more general bracket holes in the frames in accordance with what will be the rivet pattern on the stretchers. We also manufactured a set of trestles that would allow an elevated working on the frames and ahead of that on the bogie truck.
With the Ruddington light machine shop reopening, we recommenced the machining of the bogie horn guides taking them to a 70% machined condition throughout the year. We also restarted machining the main horn blocks. As these items has sat for over 2 years, it was good to make strong progress. The bogie items being the priority.
The build location during this period was the GCRN Ruddington, and we thank the GCR and EMRT for providing us with yard space, their support and access to facilities to support the build, as well a storage of 567 components. That saying, the project is more and more looking to other sites for specialist activities. The release of some of the larger machines from Ruddington, such as the large wheel lathe and the large Kearns borer drove a very serious look at alternate sites. Locations identified in South Yorkshire seem to offer the best options. The use of contractors and their labour to be a strong forward direction from the project. Many management meetings were held and serious discussions. A time for the re-setting of strategies and plans relating to where the project will be performed.
Fund Raising
With 160 active supporters, donations continued with a combination of supporter and component sponsorship. Collectively they have raised £199,731 and a very strong £90,045 still available for locomotive expenditure, after an increased £8,156 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 providing significant options to progress.
The group held a successful supporter day event in October 2022. 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”. The management team have done an excellent job in keeping the funding levels high, this supporting the elevated expenditure.
The group raised £16,949, once again increasing from the £13,318 raised in the last financial period (2021/22).
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 [Trustee] Simon Burton: Programme Manager [Trustee] Owen O’Conner: Trustee
Mike Fairburn: General Manager / Chief Engineer [Volunteer]
The group is actively recruiting for additional committee / trustees to move the project forward.
Phil Sharpe stepped down as trustee in September 2022, after generating the very welcome approval strategy document. We appreciate Phil remains available as a volunteer to support the project as required. Owen O’Conner with his extensive experience of Rail Engineering and machine shop practice agreed to join the list of trustees, a popular addition to the management team.
Volunteer Design / Draughtman Barry Nurcombe retired from his CAD and drawing work in 2022 having supplied digital design schemes for nearly all mechanisms on the locomotive. Mike Fairburn reviewed options for taking these schemes to finalised drawings that could be used in industry. During the reporting period this remained unresolved, subsequent to this time though, this resource gap is steadily being filled. The need for component detail drawings to be generated is particularly strong as no detailed drawings on the GCR Class 2 survived. Ken Harrison also retired from the workshop and we wish him well in his well-earned retirement. Design focus going forward is centred around the components to support the front bogie truck and the Driving Wheels.
The Group’s manufacturing team focussed on both in-house machining and component procurement. The main machining resources of Mike Fairburn with the support of Owen O’Conner as the Ruddington machine shop manager. using general industry, with a procurement focus. Mike Fairburn and Andrew Horrocks-Taylor closed out the deal for the Corby Spares. Mike Fairburn located and progressed the purchase of the Steam Ejector. The planning for the major packages was supported by Simon Burton and Andrew Horrocks-Taylor who also engaged with frame drilling and footplate bracket manufacture. The site-based manufacturing team’s focus was to utilise the recovered Ruddington machine shop and make demonstratable progress on elements of the frames whilst preparing funds for the industry sourced items going forward.
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 £16,949, all from unrestricted funds, £14,246 donated via standing order payments and component sponsorship to the DCRT account in a fund reserved for the GCR 567 Locomotive Group and £2,431 from annual cheque donations and casual cash or cheque donations including £1,931 from component sponsorship. The year was a relatively low expenditure with the actual spend achieved being £8,156. This did though result in a strong increase in cash funds from £81,252 to £90,045. This puts the project in a strong funding position for the next financial period with the anticipated move to funded industry work. 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. Postage and administration required no additional funds after a £250 allocation in 2021/22. The group will ensure that £400 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 outgoing Barry Nurcombe, who worked tirelessly on extracting technical details from the 1887 Kitson General Arrangement drawing that are suitable for modern manufacture. Mike Fairburn continued to progress in the manufacture of bogie and main frame components with stronger volunteer support. We thank Andrew Horrocks-Taylor, Mike Fairburn, Simon Burton and Owen O’Conner for their organisation of the project and issuing 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. The frames and wheelsets were on partial display at our Ruddington site with regular newsletters and posts on the website and social media. The fresh plans were well received at the supporter day, the locomotive itself and the direction of the project continued to be admired. 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 deferred. Additional supporter benefits are being assessed.
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 has moved to the Chairman’s latest personal address, 20 minutes from the GCRN, 30 minutes from the GCR at Quorn
6, Nowell Close Radcliffe-on-Trent Nottingham NG12 1FE
The Chairman Andrew Horrocks-Taylor is also the main press and publicity contact. 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 for the reporting period was as follows. Deliveries should not be made without the express prior agreement of a member of the management team
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|01/08/22|31/07/23|
|To|
|from|
|ae|
|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|500|-|-|500|900|
|Supporter Donations to current account|272|-|-|272|100|
|Supporter Donations to DCRT 567|
|account|14,246|-|-|14,246|12,228|
|Gift Aid collected for DCRT Account|-|-|-|-|-|
|Component Sponsorship|1,931|-|-|1,931|90|
|-|-|-|-|-|
|-|-|-|-|-|
|-|-|-|-|-|
|Sub total|(Gross income for|
|16,949|-|-|16,949|13,318|
|==SSas=|AR)|
|A2 Asset and investment sales,|
|(see table).|
|Nil|-|-|-|-|
|-|-|-|-|-|
|Sub total|-|-|-|- -|
|————|Total receipts|16,949|-|-|——|16,949|13,318|
|A3 Payments|
|Materials (for component construction)|8,156|-|-|8,156|314|
|Marketing Support|-|-|-|-|68|
|Postage|-|-|-|-|100|
|Admin Materials (printing ink etc)|-|-|-|-|150|
|Engineering|-|-|-|-|48|
|Manufacturing|-|-|-|-|110|
|Bank Charges|-|-|-|-|330|
|-|-|-|-|
|-|-|-|-|-|
|=======|Sub total|8,156|-|-|8,156|1,120|
|A4 Asset and investment|
|purchases, (see table)|
|Connecting Rods|-|-|-|-|-|
|Cylinder Block|-|-|-|-|-|
|Sub total|-|-|-|- -|
|Total payments|8,156|-|-|8,156|1,120|
|Net of receipts/(payments)|8,793|-|-|8,793|12,198|
|A5 Transfers between funds|-|- -|-|-|
|A6 Cash funds last year end|81,252|- -|81,252|69,054|
|=|Cash funds this year end|90,045|-|e|- 90,045|81,252|
|1|19/05/2024|
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CCXX R1 accounts (SS)
19/05/2024
Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period
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|---|---|---|---|---|
|Unrestricted|Restricted|Endowment|
|Categories|Details|funds|funds|funds|
|to nearest £|to nearest £|to nearest £|
|B1 Cash funds|Bank|8,383|-|
|Admin float|
|82|-|-|
|DCRT fund reserved for GCR 567|81,580|-|-|
|Total cash funds|90,045|-|-|
|—===|
|(agree balances with receipts and payments|
|account(s))|OK|OK|OK|
|Unrestricted|Restricted|Endowment|
|funds|funds|funds|
|Details|to nearest £|to nearest £|to nearest £|
|B2 Other monetary assets|GCR Tender (scrap value)|4,370|-|-|
|Cylinder Block (scrap value)|2,000|-|-|
|Connecting Rods (scrap value)|800|-|-|
|Locomotive Frames (scrap value)|4,370|-|-|
|Capstan Lathe (Market Value)|750|-|-|
|Bogie Wheelsets (Scrap Value)|6,000|
|Corby Spares (Market Value)|2,925|-|-|
|=—===|
|Fund to which|Current value|
|Details|asset belongs|Cost (optional)|(optional)|
|B3 Investment assets|Nil|-|-|
|-|-|
|-|-|
|-|-|
|-|-|
|—_|
|Fund to which|Current value|
|Details|asset belongs|Cost (optional)|(optional)|
|B4 Assets retained for the|Nil|-|-|
|charity’s own use|-|-|
|-|-|
|-|-|
|-|-|
|-|-|
|-|-|
|-|-|
|====|
|Fund to which|Amount due|When due|
|Details|liability relates|(optional)|(optional)|
|B5 Liabilities|-|
|-|
|-|
|-|
|-|
|Signed by one or two trustees on|Date of|
|Signature|Print Name|
|behalf of all the trustees|approval|
|Andrew Horrocks-Taylor|19-May-24|
|—|=|
|CCXX R2 accounts (SS)|2|19/05/2024|
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