Annual Report and Accounts For the year ended 30 September 2020
www.opendofe.org Registered Charity No. 1169592 Charitable Incorporated Organisation No. CE008073
Open DofE Centres in West Sussex
Annual Report and Accounts For the year ended 30 September 2020
Table of Contents
| Public Benefit Declaration | 2 |
|---|---|
| Report of the Trustees: | |
| Chair’s Report | 2 |
| Treasurer’s Report | 3 |
| Achievements & Performance | 3 |
| Website and computing infrastructure | 5 |
| List of Leaders & Volunteers | 6 |
| Receipts and Payments account for the year ended 30 September 2020 | 7 |
| Statement of assets and liabilities on 30 September 2020 | 8 |
| Notes to the Accounts | 9 |
| Trust Information | 10 |
| Independent Examiner’s Report to the Trustees of Open DofE Centres in | 11 |
| West Sussex (the CIO) |
Open DofE Centres in West Sussex Annual Report for the year ended 30 September 2020
Public Benefit Declaration
The Trustees have paid due regard to the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit.
Our Charity’s aim is to provide open access for the delivery of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award in West Sussex.
There are three locations within West Sussex where the young people can choose to attend, generally owing to their geographical location; however, specifically for the expedition section, they can choose other locations where the specific training or expedition dates better suit their personal circumstances.
We pride ourselves in supporting all the young people to ensure they complete their full Award, to provide them with the experience and life skills their participation gives them individually. The pandemic this year provided significant challenges, however innovative approaches from the DofE Award has provided different approaches & opportunities to allow the young people to gain some achievements.
The following reports describe how the charity meets its aim.
A sunny day on the South Downs for Gold expedition training – just before lockdown!
Report of the Trustees
Chair’s Report
The year started with a continued flurry of new registrations which is great to see. The planned awards evening was well attended and good to be able to celebrate the success and achievements of the young people.
2020 started well, with various expedition outdoor training sessions across the County for all levels of the Award. The leaders also had a training day in early February, with an interactive session on safeguarding and child protection, as well as an update on the existence and location of the various operational policies and documents. Time was also spent looking at areas we should be focussing on in the coming few years. As an organisation, we started to hold some meetings with the Centre Coordinators to focus more on the “day to day” operational points.
The Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent national lockdown put all expedition plans on hold, as well as some of the activities the young people were undertaking. More details of what was undertaken is conveyed in the “Achievements and Performance” section. With the cancellation of all expedition related activities, there has been no significant financial loss, more details are in the Treasurer’s report.
Personnel wise, prior to retirement, Iain Stewart stepped aside from his role as Centre Coordinator at the Chichester location. Simon Whitmore and Mike Harrod stepped down from their trustee roles. I certainly appreciate all they have done to support me and the charity over the years. Mike was instrumental in the development of the website and has overseen the finances from the start of the charity some 4 years ago. In their places I welcome Barry Goodchild (Chichester Centre Coordinator) Lizzy Whitmore and Keith Ediss. Barry
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has been a trustee for a couple of years, Lizzy and Keith have now joined the team, bringing some excellent experience and passion for the DofE Award to the charity.
The immediate future remains challenging, I am though hopeful that in the coming months and into 2021 some of the expeditions can recommence to give the young people their opportunity to complete their awards. As an organisation, we remain in a strong position with a great team of experienced and passionate leaders and sound finances.
Cathy Childs Chair
A Bronze expedition training walk
Treasurer’s Report
The Accounting Period for the fourth year of operation is 1st October 2019 – 30th September 2020.
As was noted last year, the Coronavirus Pandemic has had a severe effect on the operations of the Charity.
Most activities have been curtailed following national guidance from both the Department for Education and The Award headquarters. The Charity’s income has been impacted to a significant extent, but fortunately, the curtailing of the activities has meant that the costs associated with running expeditions have not been incurred this year. Any deposits and prepayments already made have been recovered from the payees. Some income has been received from participants registering for the Award in anticipation of restrictions being lifted, with some limited activities being resumed in early October 2020. However, some small costs have been incurred for equipment maintenance and administration. In general, the impact on the Charity has been limited and reserves are available to cover operating costs for the next year in the event of DofE activities not resuming at a normal level in 2020-21.
The Charity has no employed staff and has not had to deal with furloughing staff or redundancies.
Treasurer.
Achievements & Performance
This year continued with a flurry of enrolments, with the greatest number of young people participating in an award with us. A number of these enrolments fell in the previous financial year, though their participation was in this financial year. The Coronavirus Pandemic did not allow any expeditions to be undertaken, thus has significantly impacted on the number of completed Awards that have been achieved in the period.
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Our enrolments during the 12 months
Our completions during the 12 months
Our overall completion rate was 42.7% (131 enrolments and 56 completions), which is a particularly good achievement, considering the limitations the pandemic put on some of the activities, especially the expedition.
In November 2019 we held a presentation evening, celebrating the successes, predominantly from the previous year, for all three of our locations when a total of 112 participants were invited to come along and be presented with their certificate and badge. We had a very pleasing turn out of achievers and their families making for a festive feel to the evening.
As in previous years, Bronze, Silver and Gold programmes were run from the Chichester and Horsham locations. Following a successful first year, Adur expanded their programme to include the Silver Award as well as Bronze.
Inevitably, the COVID-19 pandemic brought additional challenges to the Award as a whole and in particular, the Volunteering section, where it became very difficult for the young people to engage in a lot of the usual volunteering activities which take them out into the community. However, they have showed lots of imagination and enthusiasm to enable them to progress their Award. Several participants volunteering with the Scout/Guide Association have been able to continue by participating in virtual meetings and training sessions. Some have been fitness coaching their (willing!) parents to participate in the “Coach to 5k” on-line running programme. We have also seen an increase in tutoring young children with their schoolwork as well as helping out in their community by walking dog walking or doing shopping for those unable to get out during
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the lockdown, as well as litter picking. It’s rewarding to see the young people giving back to organisations that they themselves have benefitted from.
A lot of the usual activities associated with the Physical Section have also been curtailed during this pandemic year, particularly team sports, football, netball, etc. However, there have been a variety of activities undertaken, when restrictions allowed, including running, cycling, dance, kayaking and sailing, on-line yoga, martial arts and rock climbing.
We have also seen a lot of “home” based Skills this year, with the young people learning new and developing their existing skills, including knitting, languages and sign language, photography, music and singing, lifesaving, dog training, cooking and gardening, to name but a few.
The Expedition section has, for the most part, been on hold across all three locations. In the early part of the year, we commenced training at all levels of the Award however no actual expeditions have been able to take place. As part of the early training the participants have been introduced to maps, rucksack packing and pitching tents, followed by accompanied day walks and two Gold training weekends on the South Downs in March, just before the first lockdown, one from the Chichester centre and one from the Horsham. Training on these Gold weekends included navigation skills and incident scenarios to help them develop their first aid and emergency procedures.
Gold residentials, were also quite limited with what could be done; however, some outdoor activity-based ones did go ahead towards the end of the summer, with Covid adaptations in place for them.
With the support of the Adur Canoe Club, the Adur centre embarked on offering a Silver canoe expedition this year. They undertook many cold and wet training sessions on the river learning new skills and remaining upbeat even when they were wet and cold. Sadly, like all our expeditions this year it is “on hold” until after the pandemic
All three locations have continued to keep in touch with their participants with some expedition training sessions taking place via on-line sessions such as GoogleMeet and Zoom.
All centres are endeavouring to run these outstanding expeditions in 2021, restrictions permitting.
The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award has, this year, introduced its Certificate of Achievement 2020. This is awarded to all participants who enrolled during the current year and have completed their Volunteering, Physical and Skills sections but have been unable to undertake their Expedition (& Residential for gold participants) this year because of virus restrictions. We have seen a very pleasing number of participants achieving their certificate and we offer them our congratulations in what has been a particularly challenging time for them.
The Trustees would like to take this opportunity to thank all our volunteer leaders who have made all this possible for the participants in what has been a particularly challenging year for participants and leaders alike.
Overall a challenging, however still a successful year, for the delivery of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award in West Sussex.
The Website and computing infrastructure
The website continues to be the main organ for transacting business with parents for registrations and events, such as outdoor training, practice expeditions and qualifying expeditions. Although the amount of business transacted through the web site was drastically reduced owing to COVID19, of the 172 payments received, of
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which 120 were for Registrations and 24 for Expeditions, 52 were paid by BACS and 120 using Paypal to process Credit and Debit card payments.
The trackers continued to be used for the one training event that took place. These are now reaching the limit of their usable life, as systems evolve and technology improves and were replaced late in the year, with a cost saving of £140 over a three-year life.
An option is available which would allow the Charity to opt to use the trackers for a limited number of months in the year, which could save significant sums depending on the actual usage. For example, if the trackers were used for six months, the savings could be in the order of £400 despite paying to upgrade the technology
List of Leaders & Volunteers
The following individuals, either regularly or occasionally, have contributed to the successful delivery of the Duke of Edinburgh Award for young people in West Sussex during the period.
They are listed in alphabetical order
| Colin Adams | David Hatton |
|---|---|
| Jodi Adams | Bill Hoal |
| Lisa Adams | Gary Lane |
| Linda Batchelor | Sarah MacMillan |
| Millie Brand | Michelle Pope |
| Paul Brooks | Lucy Skepper |
| Cathy Childs | Iain Stewart |
| Hannah Cordrey | Melanie Sykes |
| Simon Donaldson | Linda Thornton |
| Keith Ediss | Martin Tomlinson |
| Oliver Foord | SimonTuppin |
| Barry Goodchild | Richard Ward |
| Wendy Gray | Claire Ward |
| Andy Hall | Charlotte White (CJ) |
| Kate Hall | Lizzy Whitmore |
| Dorothy Harrod | Simon Whitmore |
| Mike Harrod | Mark Williams |
| Emma Harvey | Ben Woodburn |
| Peter Harvey |
A Leader training walk when groups of 6 were allowed to meet outdoors
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Open DofE Centres in West Sussex (Charity No 1169592) Receipts and Payments account for the year ended 30 September 2020
| Note Income Contributions to Training costs Expeditions Grants 2 Fees & Interest Registrations Sales and Events Sundry Direct Charitable Expenditure Equipment Repair / recurring costs Expeditions Fees and Insurance Registrations Training Transport and Fuel Other expenditure Bank Charges/Fees Support Costs 3 Asset purchases Camping and Navigation Equipment Total expenditure Transfers between funds Net (Deficit)/Surplus for the year Cash and bank balances brought forward Cash and bank balances carried forward |
2019-20 Unrestricted Funds Restricted Funds |
2019-20 2018-19 Total Total |
|---|---|---|
| £ £ 13 933 245 11 5,612 146 60 |
£ £ 13 933 17,058 245 2,350 11 0 5,612 7,983 146 831 60 380 |
|
| 7,020 0 |
7,020 28,602 |
|
| 1,313 360 912 6,159 555 0 |
1,313 1,237 360 8,731 912 1,716 6,159 2,975 555 1,415 0 3,671 |
|
| 9,299 0 102 1,689 |
9,299 19,745 102 257 1,689 1,562 |
|
| 11,090 560 |
11,090 21,564 560 2,819 |
|
| 11,650 0 |
11,650 24,383 |
|
| 0 0 -4,630 0 15,491 0 |
0 -4,630 4,219 15,491 11,272 |
|
| 10,861 0 |
10,861 15,491 |
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Open DofE Centres in West Sussex (Charity No 1169592) Statement of Assets and Liabilities at 30 September 2020
| Cash and bank balances Cash in hand Santander Current a/c Santander Deposit a/c Lloyds (Chichester) Paypal Represented by funds: Unrestricted funds Restricted funds Other assets and liabilities Current Liabilities Equipment Insurance value Computer equipment Insurance value Keith Ediss Treasurer and Trustee 17 March 2021 |
30/9/2020 30/9/2019 £ £ 50 50 2,763 10,187 0 0 0 2,069 8,048 3,185 10,861 15,491 10,861 15,491 0 3357 12,153 11,634 1,467 1,467 £13,620 £13,101 Catherine Childs Chair of the Trustees 17 March2021 |
30/9/2019 |
|---|---|---|
| £ 50 10,187 0 2,069 3,185 15,491 15,491 0 3357 11,634 1,467 |
||
| £13,101 |
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Notes to the accounts
1 Accounting policies
These accounts are prepared on a receipts and
payments basis.
2 Grants and Donations
| Grants - restricted Grants - unrestricted Total available 3 Support Costs Post, printing, stationery & phones Website development and maintenance Meetings Award events Premises hire Clothing and Sundry Refunds Total |
30/09/20 £245 £245 £151 £370 £261 £700 £17 £190 £1,689 |
30/09/19 |
|---|---|---|
| £1,525 £825 |
||
| £2,350 | ||
| £27 £113 £263 £34 £460 £665 |
||
| £1,562 |
4 Trustees' Remuneration, Expenses and Benefits
No trustee or person connected to them received any remuneration or benefits during the year
5 Risk Management
The trustees have carried out a Risk Assessment audit
of all the major risks relating to the operation of the Charity and its conduct of DofE training and expeditions. They actively review this regularly, and are satisfied that systems and procedures are in place to mitigate their exposure to major risks.
A specific assessment was carried out by AALS in Summer 2019 to assess the Charity's suitability to be have the AALA Licence renewed. This has now been renewed for 2 years.
6 Reserves Policy
The General Fund represents unrestricted funds arising from past operations, and unrestricted grants or donations. The aim is to keep at least one year’s running costs in reserves. Restricted Income Funds are amounts received by way of grants or donations for specific schemes or purposes.
7 Outstanding Guarantees and secured Debts
The trustees confirm, in accordance with the Charitable Incorporated Organisations (General) Regulations 2012, that at the year end the CIO did not have any outstanding guarantees to third parties nor any debts secured on assets of the CIO.
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Trust information
Trustees
| rustees | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Trustee Name | Office (if any) | Appointed | Retired |
| Catherine Childs | Chair | 11/10/2016 | |
| Keith Ediss | Treasurer from | 01/10/2020 | |
| 09/09/2020 | |||
| Kate Hall | 11/10/2016 | ||
| Michael Harrod | Treasurer | 11/10/2016 | 30/9/2020 |
| Martin Tomlinson MBE | 11/10/2016 | ||
| Lisa Adams | 28/09/2018 | ||
| Barry Goodchild | 28/09/2018 | ||
| Simon Tuppin | 28/09//2018 | ||
| Simon Whitmore | 01/10/2018 | 02/10/2019 | |
| Lizzy Whitmore | 08/01/2020 |
Trustees are recruited from persons who are familiar with the aims and policies of the Charity, and the aims of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, and have appropriate skills, knowledge, and experience to undertake specific roles.
Correspondence addresses: Chair: Catherine Childs, 124 Fairfield Drive, Dorking, Surrey RH4 1JJ Treasurer: Keith Ediss, 5 Woodpeckers, Southwater, West Sussex, RH13 9AA
Bankers:
Santander plc, Bridle Road, Bootle, Merseyside L30 4GB
Independent Examiner: Michael Merritt MA FCA, 87 Worcester Road, Chichester, PO19 5EB
Constitution: Constitution dated 11[th] October 2016
Charity Registration No: 1169592 Charitable Incorporated Organisation No. CE008073 Web site: www.opendofe.org
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Independent Examiner’s report to the Trustees of the Open D of E Centres in West Sussex (“the CIO”)
I report to the Charity trustees on my examination of the accounts of the CIO for the year ended 30 September 2020.
Responsibilities and basis of report
As the Charity trustees of the CIO you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the Act).
I report in respect of my examination of the CIO’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the Act. In carrying out my examination I have followed all applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5) (b) of the Act.
Independent examiner’s statement
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:
-
Accounting records were not kept as required by section 130 of the Act; or
-
The accounts do not accord with those records.
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters to which your attention should be drawn to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
Signed:
Name: M W Merritt Relevant professional qualification: FCA Address: 87 Worcester Road, Chichester, West Sussex PO19 5EB Date: 22 March 2021
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