Crusader Community Boating
www.crusadercommunityboating.org.uk
Bringing !e peace and "anqui#i$ of Nor!amp%nshire’s wa'rways % everyone, regardless of age, physical or mental abili$, !rough subsidised "ips for eligible groups on our specia#y equipped wide beam boats.
Trustees Annual Report: 1st January to 31st December 2025 Correspondence Address: 7 Pyghtle Way, East Hunsbury, Northampton NN4 0QJ
Trustees showing date of appointment
| Trusteesshowing | date of appoin | tment | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Julie Colman | 10 Dec 2025 | Geof Fellows | 28 Jan 2023 | |
| Paul Hickerson | 4 Sep 2023 | Colin Neal | 14 Jan 2025 | |
| Mike Watts | 14 Jan 2025 | Colin Lovesy | 24 Jul 2025 | |
| Gary Coles | 15 Aug 2025 | Julie Payne | 15 Aug 2025 |
Trustees are elected for a 3 year term, after which they may be re-elected for a further term.
Colin Neal (Chairman), Geoff Fellows (Treasurer), Paul Hickerson (Maintenance), Stephen Henley (Client Manager), Karla Lesingham (Crew Rota), Julie Colman (Training), Sue Hickerson (Secretary & Quartermaster), Mick Watts (Health & Safety Officer).
Note: Mick Watts is standing down as a trustee and as our H&S Officer as at the AGM.
Governance
The charity is registered with the Charity Commission as a ‘Charitable Incorporated Organisation - Association Model’ governed by its board of trustees. Day-to-day operations are managed by the Officers on behalf of the Trustees. All Trustees, Officers and Crew act on a voluntary basis.
Meetings
Trustees normally hold face-to-face meeting 2 to 3 times a year with other business handled via email or telephone.
Charity Assets
The principle assets of the charity are two passenger trip boats ‘ Mountbatten Crusader ’ and ‘ Community Spirit ’ plus associated equipment used in connection with their operation. The charity aims to hold cash reserves sufficient to cover at least one year’s outgoings. Some of this cash is held in an interest-earning account.
Registered Charity No 1163121
Operations
The trip season had a slow start due to the lift out and MCA inspection of Community Spirit being delayed until early May because of the prevailing river condition. The season would normally start mid April but the first passenger trip on the river was pushed back to 20th May.
During the year we ran a total of 70 passenger trips (cf 97 in 2024), 46 on Community Spirit and 24 on Mountbatten. The drop in numbers is due to a combination of factors, mainly the shortened season and a shortage of Boatmasters following two retirements at the end of 2024. Although several trips were cancelled due to adverse weather conditions and/or Strong Stream Advice being in force, most were rescheduled for a later date in the season.
Prior to the trip season, Mountbatten also had an out-of-water inspection and the marine surveyor recommended a number of maintenance tasks were carried out over the following two year period. Trustees had considered whether we should put this boat up for sale but decided to hold onto it for the time being and had the maintenance work carried out in December 2025.
All this has led to a significant operating loss for the year and we’ve had to rely on our reserves to see us through.
The charity had a successful recruitment campaign early in the year and took on 15 new volunteers. Several of these have taken up steering and one is working towards applying for a Boatmaster licence.
Financial Overview
We started the year with a bank balance of £40,779.32 and an end of year balance of £37,205.81 making an operating loss of £3,573.51 The charity has no debts or other liabilities and further information can be found in the treasurer’s report and year end accounts.
Colin L Neal Chair of the Trustees Crusader Community Boating 5th January 2026
Crusader Community Boating
Annual Accounts for Year Ending 31st December 2025
| Balance Brought Forward | £40,779.32 |
|---|---|
| Income | £18,685.84 |
| Expenditure | £22,259.35 |
| Outstanding | £0.00 |
| Operating Defcit | £3,573.51 |
| Balance Carried Forward | £37,205.81 |
Geoff Fellows Treasurer Crusader Community Boating 31st December 2025
Registered Charity No 1163121