Trustees’ Annual Report for the period
From 1 November 2020 To 31 October 2021
Charity name: Historic Croydon Airport Trust
Charity registration number: 1166732
Objectives and Activities
| SORP reference | ||
|---|---|---|
| Summary of the purposes of the charity as set out in its governing document |
Para 1.17 | To educate the public on the history of London Croydon Airport and associated activities, and to secure the preservation and protection of buildings and artefacts of historic or public interest relating to London Croydon Airport. |
| Summary of the main activities in relation to those purposes for the public benefit, in particular, the activities, projects or services identified in the accounts. |
Para 1.17 and 1.19 |
The charity maintains a Visitor Centre within the original Croydon Airport building, which is opened to the public at least once a month and for group visits on application. Our major sources of income are donations and retail sales from visitors, as well as subscriptions and donations from supporters of the charity. We also maintain a substantial archive on the history of London Croydon Airport and associated activities, with a comprehensive website available for public education. |
| Statement confirming whether the trustees have had regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit |
Para 1.18 | The trustees have had regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit. |
| Policy on grant making | Para 1.38 | The charity does not make grants. |
| Contribution made by volunteers |
Para 1.38 | Our charity is run entirely by volunteers. Volunteers help at the Croydon Airport Visitor Centre Open Days and group visits, working in and contributing to our archives, and giving educational presentations to schools, youth organisations and other community groups. They are also involved |
in the charity’s administration, planning and delivering projects, and creating educational content through our social media channels. The Open Days alone have created 22 volunteer positions and generate over 2,500 volunteer hours per annum. In addition, the administration and archives create another 8 volunteer positions and generate over 2,800 volunteer hours per annum.
Achievements and Performance
| SORP reference | ||
|---|---|---|
| Summary of the main achievements of the charity, identifying the difference the charity’s work has made to the circumstances of its beneficiaries and any wider benefits to society as a whole. |
Para 1.20 | We have continued to educate the public on the history of London Croydon Airport and associated activities, through granting access to the Visitor Centre on Open Days and group visits. Our visitor numbers had been increasing year-on-year but fell in 2019/20 (to 1,476), due to Covid-19 enforced closure for several months and greatly reduced allowable numbers when we did reopen. In 2020/21, we were again impacted by Covid-enforced closures and visitor numbers fell to 524 in the year. The Open Day operation consistently receives 5-star reviews on Trip Advisor and we are placed as No.1 of “Things to do” in Croydon. Despite the fall in visitor numbers to Airport House in 2020/21, we reached out to a further 400+ children and 100+ adults through conducting visits to local primary schools, youth groups and adult societies. Our Website, Facebook and Twitter accounts all receive a large number of “visits” every month, and we issue regular Newsletters to approximately 170 Friends of our charity. Our archive collection continues to increase through donations from the public. |
| Performance of fundraising activities against objectives set |
Para 1.41 | In November 2019, we received £2,261 from the Association of Independent Museums, as the first half of a grant towards necessary additions and improvements to the storage and care of our archive documents and memorabilia. £4,673 was spent on new storage |
equipment during 2019/20 and a further £2,262 was received in February 2021. We were also fortunate to receive a substantial donation of £10,000 during the year.
Financial Review
| Financial Review | ||
|---|---|---|
| Review of the charity’s financial position at the end of the period |
Para 1.21 | Given the low level of income and expenditure, the trustees consider the financial position to be satisfactory. Year end funds of £112,147 are considered adequate to meet future outgoings and proposed projects. |
| Statement explaining the policy for holding reserves stating why they are held |
Para 1.22 | Much of our reserves have arisen from past legacies and are intended to be used for capital expenditure, particularly to secure more permanent premises for the Archives in future. Reserves are also required to cover routine expenditure, particularly if income from donations or subscriptions were to fall in future years as a result of Covid-19 or other unforeseen disruptions. |
| Amount of reserves held | Para 1.22 | At the year end, £112,147, all of which was unrestricted. |
| Explanation of any uncertainties about the charity continuing as a going concern |
Para 1.23 | The effects of the Covid-19 outbreak, and subsequent lockdown restrictions, severely impacted our charity's operations during both the current and previous years. To protect our volunteers and Visitor Centre guests, we had to cancel all our Open Days between the end of March and the beginning of September 2020, and again from the beginning of January to the end of May 2021. As a result, there was no income from visitor donations and retail sales on the cancelled Open Days to meet our regular planned expenditure. In the periods we did re-open, it was with much reduced visitor numbers to ensure smaller allowable groupings and social distancing. We were grateful to receive several discretionary grants from Croydon Council and two large donations over the two years. Without these, our shortfall in income would have necessitated drawing on our reserves to meet necessary expenditure and this fully justifies the reserves policy set out above. In the current financial year from November 2021, we were able to hold Open Days in November and December but, in line with government restrictions, our Visitor Centre |
| then remained closed until early February, when we were able to resume our income- generating Open Days, albeit operating with reduced numbers as explained above. Together with the strength of our reserves, this enables the trustees to conclude that the charity continues to be a going concern. |
||
|---|---|---|
| The charity’s principal sources of funds (including any fundraising) |
Para 1.47 | Our major sources of income are donations and retail sales from visitors during Open Days, as well as subscriptions and donations from supporters of the charity. For particular projects, we apply for grants from the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Association of Independent Museums and other similar bodies. We have also been fortunate to have received several discretionary grants from Croydon Council, recognising our substantial loss of income during the pandemic. |
Structure, Governance and Management
| Description of charity’s trusts: |
||
|---|---|---|
| Type of governing document | Para 1.25 |
Constitution dated 25 April 2016 as amended on 20 June 2017 and further amended on 10 February 2022. |
| How is the charity constituted? |
Para 1.25 | CIO Foundation |
| Trustee selection methods including details of any constitutional provisions e.g. election to post or name of any person or body entitled to appoint one or more trustees |
Para 1.25 | The founder trustees were also trustees of Croydon Airport Society. Since then, new trustees have been selected by interview and elected by Board resolution. |
| Policies and procedures adopted for the induction and training of trustees |
Para 1.51 | The trustees have received a full briefing on the activities of the trust and on the issues involved with running public Open Days and maintaining the Archives. The majority of the trustees have experience with other charities and are familiar with governance issues. All Trustees adhere to the principles promulgated in the Charity Commission’s publication “The Essential Trustee”. |
| Relationship with any related parties |
Para 1.51 | The charity was formed on 25 April 2016 in order to take on the activities of existing charity Croydon Airport Society (charity number 287303) (“CAS”). By a transfer of Assets Agreement dated 10 October 2016, CAS’s assets were to be transferred to this charity as soon as practical. Because of delays in opening bank accounts for the charity and in obtaining HMRC recognition, transactions were recorded in the books of CAS until July 2017. The majority of CAS’s bank balances were transferred to this charity during the 2017/18 year, with any remaining balances being treated as this charity’s funds and reported in its accounts. The CAS bank account was finally closed in February 2021 after the remaining balance had been transferred to this charity. |
|---|---|---|
Reference and Administrative details
| Charity name | Historic Croydon Airport Trust |
|---|---|
| Other name the charity uses | |
| Registered charity number | 1166732 |
| Charity’s principal address | Airport House Purley Way Croydon Surrey CR0 0XZ |
Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity
| 1 2 3 4 5 6 |
Trustee name | Office (if any) | Dates acted if not for whole year |
Name of person (or body) entitled to appoint trustee (if any) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mr Graeme Roy | Chair from 24/04/22 | |||
| Mr John Whitley | Treasurer | |||
| Mr Ian Walker | Chair until resignation | Resigned 24/04/22 | ||
| Mr Michael Thorn | Appointed 19/11/20 | |||
| Mr Colin Watts | Resigned 10/12/20 | |||
| Mrs Susan Shaw | Resigned 25/03/21 |
Declarations
The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.
Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees
| Signature(s) Full name(s) Position (eg Secretary, Chair, etc) Date |
||
|---|---|---|
| Graeme Marshall Roy | John Duncan Whitley | |
Chair |
Treasurer | |
| 16 August 2022 | ||
| 16 August 2022 |
HISTORIC CROYDON AIRPORT TRUST
Receipts and Payments Account for the year ended 31 October 2021
| Income (£) Subscriptions Donations Archive Fund Donations Visitor Centre Donations Visitor Centre Sales Visitor Centre Group Visits External Talks given Archive Sales and Donations Gift Aid reclaimed Bank interest on deposit account Income from ordinary activities Grants Croydon Council (note 3) Association of Independent Museums (note 4) Total income Expenditure (£) Visitor Centre and Archives Office supplies Office equipment maintenance Website development and maintenance Postage Publication printing Advertising and Publicity Retail Purchases (for resale) Property costs Insurance Legal fees Airport centenary celebration costs Subscriptions paid Trustee and volunteer expenses Bank charges and PayPal costs Sundries Expenditure on ordinary activities Grant expenditure Archive expenditure re AIM grant (note 4) Total expenditure Excess of Income over Expenditure/ (Expenditure over Income) Ordinary activities Croydon Council grant AIM grant re Archive expenditure (note 4) Total |
Total for year 2,845 11,133 140 2,508 861 477 150 746 1,839 132 20,831 18,859 2,262 41,952 (216) (35) (107) (766) (215) (953) (312) (50) (8,717) (1,320) (2,670) - (62) - (34) (99) (15,556) - (15,556) 5,275 18,859 2,262 26,396 |
Previous year |
|---|---|---|
| 5,332 25,238 465 3,527 1,680 175 576 - 1,663 308 |
||
| 38,964 2,500 2,261 |
||
| 43,725 | ||
| (3,207) (167) (107) (1,319) (502) (599) (274) (465) (8,570) (1,486) (5,412) (568) (62) (10) (29) (139) |
||
| (22,916) (4,673) |
||
| (27,589) | ||
| 16,048 2,500 (2,412) |
||
| 16,136 |
Signed on behalf of all the trustees
Graeme Roy
John Whitley
16 August 2022
HISTORIC CROYDON AIRPORT TRUST
Notes to the Receipts and Payments Account for the year ended 31 October 2021
1 Basis of preparation
(a) Historic Croydon Airport Trust ("HCAT") was formed as a CIO on 25 April 2016, in order to take on the activities of the unincorporated Croydon Airport Society (charity number 287303) ("CAS"). By a Transfer of Assets Agreement dated 10 October 2016, CAS's assets were to be transferred to HCAT as soon as practical. Because of delays in opening bank accounts for the charity and in obtaining HMRC recognition, transactions were recorded in the books of CAS until July 2017. The majority of CAS's bank balances were transferred to HCAT during the 2017/18 financial year, with any remaining balances being treated as HCAT funds and reported in this charity's accounts. The CAS bank account was finally closed in February 2021 after the remaining balance had been transferred to HCAT.
(b) The Receipts and Payments Account has been prepared from the cashbook records of HCAT and CAS, save for the inclusion of certain year end creditors relating to legal fees already advised and subscriptions duplicated or received in advance.
2 Bank account balances
| Movements in the year comprised : Total at 1 November For general use Creditors Excess of Income over Expenditure for the year Total at 31 October For general use PayPal balance awaiting transfer Creditors(see note 1(b)) |
2020/2021 £ 85,815 (64) 85,751 26,396 112,931 56 (840) 112,147 |
2019/2020 £ |
|---|---|---|
| 69,689 (74) |
||
| 69,615 16,136 |
||
| 85,815 - (64) |
||
| 85,751 |
3 Impact of Covid-19
The effects of the Covid-19 outbreak, and subsequent lockdown restrictions, severely impacted our charity's operations during both years. To protect our volunteers and Visitor Centre guests, we had to cancel all our Open Days between the end of March and the beginning of September 2020, and again from the beginning of January to the end of May 2021. As a result, there was no income from visitor donations and retail sales on the cancelled Open Days to meet our regular planned expenditure. In the periods we did re-open, it was with much reduced visitor numbers to ensure smaller allowable groupings and social distancing. We were grateful to receive several discretionary grants from Croydon Council and two large donations over the two years for, without these, our shortfall in income would have necessitated drawing on our reserves (see note 5) to meet necessary expenditure and this fully justifies the reserves policy set out in that note.
In the current financial year, we were able to hold Open Days in November and December but, in line with government restrictions, our Visitor Centre then remained closed until early February.
4 Association of Independent Museums grants
In November 2019, HCAT received £2,261 from the Association of Independent Museums ("AIM"), as the first half of a grant towards necessary additions and improvements in the storage and care of our archive documents and memorabilia. This followed a grant of £1,059 in the previous year to pay for advice on such improvements. £4,673 was spent on new storage equipment during 2019/20 and a further £2,262 was received in February 2021 towards the prior year shortfall of £2,412 shown in these accounts.
5 Reserves policy
HCAT held £112,931 in its bank accounts at the year end, much of which has arisen from past legacies and is intended to be used for capital expenditure, particularly to secure more permanent premises for the Archives in future. This is considered adequate to cover routine expenditure, particularly if income from donations or subscriptions were to fall in future years, as evidenced in note 3 above.
6 Guarantees and debts
There were no outstanding guarantees to third parties nor any debts secured on the charity's assets at any time during the current or prior years.
CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES I Independent examiner's report on the accounts Section A Independenl Examiner's Report Report to the trusteesl members of Historic Croydon Airport Trust On accounts forthe year ended 31 October 2021 Charity no lif any) 1166732 Set out on pages 1 (Receipts and Payments Account) and 2 (Notes) I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity {he Tnjstl for the year ended 31 October 2021 Responsib(lities and As the charity trustees of the Trust. you are responsible fDr the preparation basis of report of the accounts in accordancE with tb.e requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (Ihe Acr). report in respect of rny examination of the Trust's accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examinalion, I have followed the applicable Directions given by the Charty Commission under section 145(5)Ib) of the Act. I have completed my examination. I confimi that no material matters have come to my attention in wnnection wrth the exatnination which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect.. acmunting records were not kepi in accordance with section 130 of the Act or the accounts do not accord wtth the a(untIng records Independent examiner's statement I have no con¢ems and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should LE drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. Signed: Date: Ig August 2022 Name: Howard Long Relevant professional qualification(s) or body (if any): Fellow, Instrtute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales Addres5: Eastnor, Vicarage Road Crawley Down. RHI0 4JJ IER October 2018