Accounts at 31 March 2023
Income and expenditure for year Ending 31 March 2023
| Income Sales 6th Ed Guide Book Sales 13.00 7th Ed Guide Book Discount -1,150.80 7th Ed Guide Book Sales 4,575.00 Other Book Sales 119.50 200 Years of theLancaster Canal 253.50 Plaque Sales 35.50 Post & Packing Sales 46.00 Fundraising & Interest on Balances Buy a Block 110.00 Fund The Bund Total 3,538.50 Interest 1,190.21 Talks 150.00 Membership and Donations Membership Subscriptions 3,849.00 100 Club Subscriptions 622.00 Other Income 860.00 Donations 1,555.33 Donations - Howard Broomby 520.00 Trip Boat Chartered Trips 458.50 Trip Boat Tickets 2,360.42 Total Income Expenditures Promotion & Events Westmorland Show 282.60 Web Site 2,104.80 Memberships & Subscriptions Subscriptions Paid 129.00 Restoration and Working Parties Miscelllaneous 400.00 Equipment 33.65 Working Party Materials 47.40 Trip Boat Expenses Boat Licence (C&RT) 766.03 Boat Refurbishment 477.90 Boat Training 1,050.34 Waterwitch Magazine Distribution 348.23 Printing 1,128.00 |
|
|---|---|
| 3,891.70 | |
| 4,988.71 | |
| 7,406.33 | |
| 2,818.92 19,105.66 |
|
| 2,387.40 | |
| 129.00 | |
| 481.05 | |
| 2,294.27 | |
| 1,476.23 |
| Governance Costs Accountancy AGM Insurance Bank Charges Running Costs and Costs Of Fundraising Millness Building & Wharf Repairs and Maintenance Small Tools and Equipment 100 Club Prizes & Costs Cost of Sales Postage Total Expenditure Surplus/(deficit) for the year Balance Sheet Fixed Asset Total Fixed Asset Cash at bank and in hand CAF Bank NatWest PayPal United Trust Bank Total Cash at bank and in hand Debtors Accounts Receivable Total Debtors Current Assets Stock Total Current Assets Net current assets Creditors: amounts falling due within one year Trade Creditors Accounts Payable Total Trade Creditors Total Creditors: amounts falling due within one year Net current assets (liabilities) Total assets less current liabilities Total net assets (liabilities) Charity funds Share Capital Account Unrestricted Net Assets Surplus/(Deficit) Total Charity funds |
316.80 123.34 2,004.96 108.51 70.11 8.99 2,005.35 135.00 1,152.97 283.97 March 31, 2022 12,000.00 31,369.93 916.30 777.33 84,665.38 117,749.33 1,055.00 1,055.00 0.00 0.00 117,749.33 3,436.86 3,436.86 3,436.86 114,312.47 126,312.47 |
6,127.71 March 31, 2023 12,000.00 28,654.88 1,629.30 456.28 85,817.76 116,558.22 0.00 0.00 4,720.03 4,720.03 121,278.25 117.01 117.01 117.01 121,161.24 133,161.24 |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| 2,553.61 | |||
| 3,656.39 12,977.95 |
|||
| 126,312.47 | 133,161.24 | ||
| 154,981.16 -60,084.41 31,415.72 |
154,981.16 -60,084.41 38,264.49 |
||
| 126,312.47 | 133,161.24 |
Treasurer’s Report – Year Ending 31 March 2023
Overall, a good year with the trust recording a surplus of £4,936.
Income was boosted by the release of the 7 th Edition of the guide Book resulting in sales of 559 Copies and generating income of £4,575. Other book sales added a further £373 to this and overall sales of books were up 191% on comparative sales in the prior year. Fundraising and interest on Balances was largely static at £4,989 though this includes £3,838 in respect of Fund the Bund (bringing the total for this to £8,425) and included 3 separate donations of £1,000. Membership brought in £3,849, which was down on last year (£5,583). We recovered £1,000 from a previous donation to a Regeneration Partnership that has ceased to function which has been recorded as a donation and inflates the donation figure somewhat to £1,553. We are very grateful to have been nominated as the charity for donations in memory of our benefactor Howard Broomby which resulted in £520 in donations at the year end. The trip boat Bought in £2,819 in the year which was about £1,000 more than last year.
In terms of expenditure there was less spent on Restoration and Working Parties this year following completion of the first furlong and pending confirmation of stillage. This is expected to increase again in the next year as work begins on F2&3. Waterwitch Magazine costs fell by £1,000 to £1,476 compared to last year reflecting the reduced membership. Governance costs were largely static with the exception of insurance which rose 33% compared to the prior year at £2,005 (£1,500). Running Costs and Cost of Fundraising were substantially higher this year with large expenditure on Small Tools and Equipment (replacement brush cutter etc), the costs of publishing the new edition of the guide book and the costs of despatching 559 copies of it.
Jim Mayes BSc (Hons) ACMA CGMA
Treasurer
Trustees Report for the year 2022/23
Website
We hope members use the website, which is packed with all our activities and useful information, and have noticed it has had a revamp. We commissioned Xtensive to do a thorough update and it is now brighter and more ‘user friendly’. Alan continues to tweak the SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) rating and it is increasingly higher up in Google searches. Any comments about the site Alan will be pleased to hear.
Waterwitch magazine
The Spring edition was produced and edited by Gill Mayes. The company that mailed the 300 + copies out informed us at the last minute that they were closing down so the task of filling envelopes, producing address label and mailing them was bravely taken on by the Mayes family for which our heartfelt thanks!
An Autumn edition will go to press in October and if you have anything to share with fellow members, a boating/walking/cycling/volunteering experience or a profound thought on the future of canals we’ll be very glad to hear from you.
Guide Books
The revised, updated and extended 7[th] Edition of The Complete Guide to the Lancaster Canal was published and launched in April 2022.
Sales have been steady and at the end of June 2023 there had been 27 (bulk) Invoiced sales amounting to 512 copies together with a further 120 copies sold via our on-line book shop.
It is sad to report that owing to Local Government cut backs the visitor centre in Garstang has closed down and the Lancaster and Morecambe centres are due to close in September. Both Garstang and Lancaster Visitor Centres were good supporters of the Trust stocking and selling our Guide Book.
Also available via our on-line bookshop are the following books:
200 Years of The Lancaster Canal
The Lancaster Canal Walk Book
nb Waterwitch
On the boating front, all is going reasonably well in terms of the Sunday trips and the upturn in charters is proving lucrative. The Country Fest was one of the best we have had due to the fantastic weather with the boat full on most trips on both days, a great effort from the crew! We have a small problem with reed islands drifting about and we will be discussing with CRT the possibility of doing some vegetation management ourselves.
The Boat was lifted out onto the quay at Millness at the end of the last season for its three yearly overall and is now safely back in the water and operating well . The hull has been painted with 2 x red oxide primer coats and 2 x Intertuf blacking . The interior bilges have been de-rusted and primed followed by a coat of specialist bilge paint ( kindly donated by Teamac Ltd along with a large tin of grey primer for the upper works plus some tins of white primer and gloss) There is still the cabin roof and rear deck / gunnels to paint but this will be done as soon as time and weather permits. Thanks are due to all the other crew members who gave their time over the winter and spring to help, notably Chas Mathews and Ken Trimmer.
The training program went well and the current crews all passed their refresher with one exception. Five candidates successfully passed the full 2 day COBM course and we now have 5 new skippers on the schedule which is a useful bonus
Restoration
First Furlong is complete subject to CRT accepting a loss rate slightly above their original requirement. We have hit a snag with the bund however as it’s been discovered that there is a water pipe running through it that doesn’t appear on any of the plans we have had access to. There will be an ‘easement agreement’ between CRT and the water company and CRT’s legal department are working on this now. The delay is a disappointment to all who have put so much effort into the FF but it will be sorted out at some point then we can have our long overdue party !
In the meantime, work has started on the next section, Sellet Hall bridge to Well Head lane, which has been named F2an3 as it is very roughly another two furlongs. Ascertaining the condition of the bed is important to guide planning the design for this length and so we will be clearing a corridor between the banks, ensuring that no work is done on the banks themselves to minimise environmental damage.
Towpath Trail Project
This project, led by Lancaster Canal Regeneration Partnership, has gained moment in recent months with the commitment of some £300,000 from two local authorities and a funding bid going to the SPF, part of the governments ‘levelling up’ money. As a reminder, the aim is to have a hard surface path, suitable for a wide range of users, from Kendal to Lancaster. The first length, from Well Head lane to Field End bridge and funded by Sports England, was completed nearly two years and is much appreciated by the many users. The next section will continue south towards Crooklands. All being well, work will start early next year.
Volunteering
The Trust needs more volunteers!
The Trust runs entirely on volunteers whatever role we have in the organisation. Now in particularly we need a Secretary, plus someone with Fundraising experience and a Press/Publicity person. These are interesting jobs that make a significant contribution to the Trust. Talk with any one of the existing Trustees to better understand whats involved.