Trustees Annual Report : 01/01/23 – 31/12/23 Charity Name : Ancoats Canal Project (ACP) Charity Number : 1163243 Address (c/o) : Appt 27, Junction Works, 40 Ducie St, Manchester M1 2DF Trustees and officers : Hannah Neate Secretary Paul England Treasurer Chris Hawke Chair Michelle Wren, Brian Barton, Sue Pritchard Bankers : Co-operative Bank PLC, PO Box 250, Skelmersdale WN8 6WT 08-92-99 65841628
Signatories Paul England, Hannah Neate, Chris Hawke.
Charity structure, governance and management
Ancoats Canal Project is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation, with a constitution adopted on 8[th] June 2015. The organisation has six trustees and is counting 23 members who attended events in 2023. Fourteen members attended at least three events in 2023 and have voting rights at the 2023 AGM.
Trustees are appointed or reappointed annually at the Annual General Meeting held in January. Chris Hawke was confirmed as chair at the 2022 AGM, Paul England was re-elected as Treasurer and Hannah Neate as Secretary. Brian Barton and Sue Pritchard volunteered to join the board of Trustees and both were elected unanimously. Michelle Wren is the only trustee not to attend any events in 2023.
ACP works closely with the Canal and Rivers Trust (CRT) and with Manchester City Council and its partners. In 2023 we operated without seeking any additional funding and we ran regular volunteer events throughout the year.
All trustees deliver their time voluntarily and receive no remuneration or other benefits.
Objectives and Activities
To encourage the use of the Rochdale and Ashton canals as a public and social space, primarily to the residents of local wards, residents of Manchester as a whole and visitors to the city.
All of our activities focus on the public benefits of the work undertaken, these include improvements to the visual aspect of the Rochdale & Ashton Canals, creation of extra amenities, encouragement of wildlife diversity and organisation of social events to bring different parts of the community together.
Achievements and Performance
ACP schedule regular clean-up events on the last Sunday in each month and during 2023 held events in March through to November (nine in total). At the AGM in January 2023 the committee developed outline plans for the year which were largely to focus on maintenance, greening and litter picking rather than large projects.
In 2023 we undertook litter picking at each of the nine events held where we covered both the Ashton and Rochdale canals and surrounding landscape. As with 2022 some activities on the Rochdale have been limited by a closed section of the towpath which re-opened in December 2023 so we can resume work there in 2024. We had the benefit of the CRT workboat on two events so we were able to clear the litter from the offside banks on the Ashton and move some larger items. We re-built the fruit bed boxes by Bridge 5 on the Ashton. We also moved fallen trees and started a log garden to encourage wildlife in an otherwise barren patch of ground. Once again buddleia has taken control in some areas and hard pruning has been a regular task.
Financial Review
On 31/12/2023 ACP holds £1,436.95 in the current account, all of which is unrestricted funds available to finance projects in 2024. We also hold £15.46 in petty cash.
Declaration
The trustees have approved the annual report and financial statement that follows.
| Treasurer | Paul England | Chair | Chris Hawke |
|---|---|---|---|
| Signatures | |||
| Date | 28/01/2023 | 28/01/2023 |
Ancoats Canal Project; receipts and payments for the period 01/01/23 – 31/12/23
| Receipts | 31/12/23 | 31/12/23 | 31/12/22 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manchester City Council Grant | £ | 0 | £ 0 |
| Bank Interest | £ | 0 |
£ 0 |
| Total income | £ | 0 | £ 0 |
| Expenditure | |||
| Community Engagement (festival etc.) | £ | 0 | £ 0 |
| Insurance | £ | 75.00 | £ 75.00 |
| Tools and Equipment | £ | 0 | £ 0 |
| Catering | £ | 17.00 | £ 13.40 |
| Planting Projects | £ | 0 | £ 76.93 |
| Sundries | £ | 11.97 | £ 21.71 |
| Total Expenditure | £ | 103.97 | £ 187.04 |
| Current Assets | |||
| Cash at Bank | £ | 1,436.95 | £ 1,540.92 |
| Petty Cash | £ | 15.46 | £ 15.46 |
| Total | £ | 1,452.41 | £ 1,556.38 |
| Current Liabilities | £ | 0 | £ 0 |
| Net Assets | £ | 1,452.41 | £ 1,556.38 |
The accounts show the financial status of ACP compared to 2022, the net current account balance of £1,452.41 reflects reduction in capital of £103.97 due to expenditure in 2023 as listed above.