, (mAR￿y Trustees. Annual Report for the period Period start date Period end date From January 2024 31 December 2024 Section A Reference and administration details Charlty name Hartford Clvlc Soclety Reglstered charlty number 1171256 Charlty's prlnclpal address cjo Honorary Secretary. 'White House,. 23 Walnut Lane. Hartford. Northwich Postcode CW8 1QN Namas of the charlty trustees who manage the charlty Trustee name Office (If any) Dates acted If not for whole ear Name of person (or body) entitled toa olnt trustee Ifan Elected by Membership Elected by Membership Elected by Membership Elected by Membership Elected by Membership Elected by Membership Elected by Membership Elected by Membership Elected by Membership Elected by Membership Elected by Membership Elected by Membership David Barr Brian Evans Treasurer Margaret Gent Rita Hollens Jo Mitton Patricia Parkes Until 24 April 2024 Michael Pinchien Jean Pritchett Michael Sterry John Swaffield John Szostek 10 Secretary Chair 12 Geoffrey Wilde Section B Structure, governance and management Descrlptlon of the charlty's trusts Type of goveming document Constitution How the charity is constituted Charitable Incorporated Organisation {ClO) Trustee selection methods Elected by Members at the AGM. interim appointed by Trusteeslmembers. Section C Objectives and activities In the Parish of Hartford: i. to promote high standards of planning and architecture, ii. to educate the public in the geography. history, natural history and archrtecture of the area, iii. to secure the preservation, protection, development and improvement of the environment and sites of features of historic or public interest in the area, iv. to provide recreational facilities andlor events for the public and v. to procure the maintenance. improvement or provision of public amenrties. Summary of the objects of the charity set out in its governing document TAR February 2025 Nearly everything we do is for public benefrt and not limited to our Members (now refe￿ed to as 'Supporters'). The charity's trustees had regard to the Commission's public benefit guidance when choosing its projects. some of which are being delivered early in 2025. Main project expenditure in 2024 was on maintaining the defibrillator and upkeep of our six planters and two hanging baskets. Local residents added and maintained a planter on Hodge Lane, which we licenced and bought using a grant. Repeating the successes of previous years, we organised 8 local walks. 10 well-supported monthly litter picks and coach trips {Astley Hall and Penrhyn Castle). We are awarting revised Hartford Parish Council plans for the village clock project; meanwhile we have received back the £6.000 we put towards it in 2023, pending a decision on the new plan. We are working to replace our website with one that is mobile-friendly, secure. and with a modernised logo and which will appeal to a wider audience, whilst continuing with its depth of content. Meanwhile we have promoted our work by supports'ng the Picnic in the Park and Chrislmas Fayre events and produced a 2025 Hartford Calendar. We have stsrted work wth the Parish Council to update our Neighbourhood Plan, which we jointly produced in 2016. Summary of the maln actlvltles undertaken for the publlc beneflt In relatlon to these objects (include withln this section the statutory declaration that trustees have had regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit) Section D Achievements and performance Summary of the maln achlevements of the charlty durlng the perlod. The projects listed above is evidence of our continued achievements. Section E Financial review Brlef statemont of tho charlty's pollcy on reserrfes We have funds well in excess of our £5.000 reserves policy minimum. thanks to a large legacy. received in 202012021. Further flnanclal revlew detalls (Optlonal Informatlon) You may choose to include: the charity's principal sources of funds Subscriptions and their Gift Aid, one-off grants, bank interest and the lottery surplus contributed to our net income. We aim to break even on our coach trips and our calendars. both organised to promote ourselves and to encourage communty engagement in what we do. Section G Declaration 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 John Anthony Szostek Michael Sterry Chair Acting Treasurer Date 1P February 2025 TAR February 2025 ## **HARTFORD CIVIC SOCIETY** Charity Commission Registered Number 1171256 ## **Receipts and Payments Accounts for Year ending 31 December 2024** ||**Note**|**Current Year **|**Previous Year**| |---|---|---|---| |**Income**||**£**|**£**| |Subscriptions|2|2,231|2,259| |Donations||178|171| |Gift Aid Refund|3|443|494| |Grants|4|1,000|0| |Interest||805|540| |Lottery Income|6|1,416|1,416| |Sale of Merchandise|6|828|640| |Sale of Coach Trips|6|1,511|1,833| |Overpayments||12|25| |From HPC re Village Clock|7|6,000|0| |||14,424|7,378| |**Expenditure**|||| |Communications Cost||279|344| |Meeting Expenses||230|0| |Insurance||134|129| |Civic Voice||500|0| |Charitable Expenditure|5|2,174|14,889| |Lottery Prizes & costs|6|740|740| |Cost of Merchandise|6|553|1,194| |Cost of Coach Trips|6|1,516|1,695| |2023 Overpayment reversed||15|0| |||6,141|18,991| |**-Deficit/Surplus for Year**||8,283|-11,613| |**Balance Sheet as at 31st December 2024**|||| |**Net Worth**|||| |**At 1 January 2024**||53,169|63,282| |**-Deficit/Surplus for Year**||8,283|-11,613| |**Creditor (agency)**|9|0|1,500| |**At 31 December 2024**||61,452|53,169| |**Made up of:**|||| |Barclays Bank - Business Premium Account||60,629|52,314| |Community Account||824|855| |||61,452|53,169| **Michael Sterry** Acting Treasurer **HARTFORD CIVIC SOCIETY** Charity Commission registered number 1171256 ## **Receipts and Payments Accounts for the Year ended 31st December 2024 Notes to the Accounts** - 1 Accounts: These Accounts are prepared on the Receipts and Payments basis allowed for small charities. All numbers are rounded to the nearest £ - the totals are accurate. - 2 Supporters: Subscriptions of £2,231 represent 403 Adult and 16 Junior supporters in 245 households, plus 1 corporate supporter. Previous period: £2,259, representing 409 Adult and 13 Junior supporters in 249 households, plus 1 corporate supporter. - 3 Gift Aid: As a CIO we now have valid declarations from 77% of our supporters. - 4 Two grants were received: £500 from Cheshire West & Chester for the Hodge Lane Planter and £500 from The Drinking Fountain Association, towards refurbishing our fountain. - 5 Charitable Expenditure |itable Expenditure||| |---|---|---| |Village Clock contribution
Planter purchases
Green Field Pavilion
Hodge Lane Finger Post repaint
Display Lectern for MALNR
Upkeep of plants & bulb plantings
Competition prizes etc
Royalty Wood plaque
Walk costs
Exhibition costs
Defibrillator|2024
£
0
504
0
0
0
829
140
0
0
38
664
2,174|2023
£
6,000
4,020
2,250
950
708
380
240
200
77
65
0| |||14,889| - 6 Lottery, Calendar, Hartford I Spy booklet and Coach Trips |Lottery
Calendar, cards, booklet
Coach trips|Sales
£
1,416
828
1,511

3,755
|2024
Cost

£
740
553
1,516
2,809|Surplus/
-Loss
£
676
275
-5
946|2023
Surplus/
-Loss
£
676
-555
138| |---|---|---|---|---| |||||260| We aim to cover costs on our merchandising and coach trip activities, not to use them for fundraising. Booklets and cards sold in 2024 had zero cost, having been paid for in prior years. - 7 In 2023 we contributed £6,000 towards the Queen Elizabeth II memorial clock, which Hartford Parish Council planned for the village. This money has been returned, whilst the plan is being revised. - 8 Voluntary Time We estimate that some 700 hours of effort was given by Trustees, Supporters and volunteers, valued at £8,000. (2023, 800 hours, worth £8,300). ## 9 Agency and Liabilities On occasions, the Society is asked to act as paying agents, with no discretion. In the last two years we have collected stall fees for the Christmas Fayre (£593 in 2023, £855 in 2024), then distributed them to designated local good causes. In 2022/2023 we also acted as agent to fund an arboretum in Royalty Wood. Our 2023 accounts have been amended to follow the SORP recommendation that: ‘…. _the receipt of funds as agent is not recognised as income nor is its distribution recognised as the agent’s expenditure’_ .