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2023-03-31-accounts

Trustees’ Annual Report for the period

From: 01 April 2022 Period start date To: 31 March 2023 Period end date

Charity name: The Sand House Charity

Charity registration number: 1171875

Objectives and Activities

SORP
reference
Summary of the purposes of
the charity as set out in its
governing document		 Para 1.17 To advance the education of the public in
history, art, sculpture and other related subjects
having a link to the former Victorian Sand
House of Doncaster.
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		 In summary, the following main activities took
place for the public benefit:
•
Illustrated talks
•
Guided walks
•
Pop-up sand art for families
•
Completion of 3D animated video
•
Literacy project with schools
•
Update museum display
•
Develop VR project scope
•
Planning/fundraising for stage play
•
Sand House-inspired piano piece
•
Music workshop with school
•
Historical research
•
Educational posts on social media
•
Newsletters to subscribers
•
Website maintained and updated
Statement confirming
whether the trustees have
had regard to the guidance
issued by the Charity
Commission on public
benefit		 Para 1.18 In planning and undertaking our activities during
this period the trustees had due regard to the
guidance issued by the Charity Commission on
public benefit.

Additional information (optional) You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:

SORP
reference
Policy on grant making Para 1.38
Policy on social investment
including program related
investment		 Para 1.38
Contribution made by
volunteers		 Para 1.38 Volunteers are a vital part of our activities. The
entire running of the charity is carried out on a
voluntary basis. More specifically, we would not
be able to run our pop-up sand art sessions,
guided walks, or some of our larger Illustrated
talks were it not for our volunteers. Their help is
invaluable, and we are enormously grateful for
the time and effort that they devote to The Sand
House Charity.
Other Our Patron, Matthew Schellhorn, continued to
be extremely supportive of our charity. In
particular, he saw through to completion a 24-
minute piano piece inspired by carvings at the
Sand House.

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 In summary, the work we carry out encourages learning
and engagement through presentations, performances,
and other creative activities, all with a link of some sort to
the former Victorian Sand House.
Our nine illustrated talks took place to an aggregate
audience of 275. They contributed to our educational aim
through not only telling the detailed story of the Sand
House, but also placing it in context with other historical
facts. All involved large groups of people coming together
to enjoy a communal event, when such things had been
extremely limited in the two previous years.
Two guided walks were attended by 46 people in all.
Educational achievement came through revealing the
history the Sand House in the location where it had stood
and showing physical clues as to its former existence.
The evolution of the locality was also explained, providing
context for the story.
We ran pop-up sand art sessions for the first time since
the pandemic. They ran over four days and took place at
Armthorpe Community Library, in a Doncaster suburb.
106 people attended, of which well over half were
children aged 11 and under. They learnt sand sculpting
skills, developed artistic skills and were introduced to the
Sand House history.
In July 2022 we launched a 3-minute animated video
“The Sand House and its Surroundings”. It had involved
the creation of a 3D digital model of the house and its
neighbouring streets as they were circa 1930. The model
was then animated to produce a virtual fly-around of the
site. Historic images were also merged with the digital
model, to give a realistic portrayal of the locality. The
video received over 1,000 1-minute views up to 31 March
2023. More especially, it enabled viewers to understand
the position of the Sand House relative to its
surroundings, something which had proved extremely

difficult to explain previously. It has marked a step change in the way that we are able to educate people on the layout of the area. From January to the end of March 2023, we collaborated with the National Literacy Trust on a project involving hundreds of pupils at three local primary schools. At each school, the Sand House subject was introduced to all pupils in assembly, before then working with a specific year group (Years 4, 5 or 6). The year groups explored the story of the Sand House in detail before then producing creative writing on the subject. Some pupils wrote about an imagined visit to the house, others produced a contemporary newspaper report, while the rest wrote poetry. A selection of the writing was compiled into an anthology, which was launched at a special event attended by some of the pupils, their parents and teachers. Copies of the anthology were donated to all the children who took part, as well as all primary schools and libraries in Doncaster Borough. Writing skills and imagination were developed through this project, and an interest in the history of the children’s (and parents’) local area was sparked. During this year we liaised with Heritage Doncaster (part of the local authority) to update the object case in the city’s new museum. The case and, indeed, the permanent Sand House display of which it forms part, had been curated by our charity, initially in 2021/22. It was refreshed in 2022/23, focussing mainly on artefacts relating to one of the families who had lived in the house. The display enabled items that had never previously been exhibited to be viewed by the public. As an extension of the use of digital technology, time was spent on developing a project that will result in an interactive / virtual reality experience of the Sand House’s Cloisters tunnel. A major benefit of this project will be to enable users to ‘visit’ a unique feature of Doncaster that no longer physically exists. Substantial effort was expended on planning and fundraising to re-mount the Sand House stage play. In spite of that effort, the funding climate proved too challenging to raise the necessary money at the present time. The trustees, in conjunction with the play’s creative team, agreed to develop a podcast version of the play as an alternative, and that development is ongoing. Nevertheless, it is hoped that the stage play can be resurrected in the not-too-distant future. Our charity’s Patron, Matthew Schellhorn, is a leading concert pianist. Prior to the year of this report, he commissioned composer Ben Gaunt to write a piece of music that was inspired by the Sand House. During 2022/23, the piece was finished. It was premiered by Matthew at Cast theatre, Doncaster, on 18 March 2023, to an appreciative audience of nearly 100 people. He then gave a second performance to students and lecturers at York St John University a few days later. As the music is

played more and more, so entirely new audiences will be introduced to the story of the Sand House. The day after Matthew’s piano recital at York, he led a music workshop with nearly 100 pupils at Town Field Primary School, Doncaster. This had the dual benefit to the children of not only learning some of the history of the Sand House, but also how such a subject could be translated into music. Historical research into the Sand House, its tunnels, and the people associated with them is an ongoing feature of our work. During 2022/23 we had the benefit of a third pro bono ground penetrating radar (GPR) survey by local company Discovery Surveys Ltd. On this occasion there were two main objectives. The first was to search for evidence of the house’s footprint under what is now a car park. The second was to prove or disprove reports that a tunnel from the Sand House once led to the former chapels in the adjacent Hyde Park Cemetery. The search for the house’s footprint was inconclusive, due to a combination of depth below ground surface and the mix of fill materials at that location. However, the GPR survey inside and immediately around the former chapels proved beyond reasonable doubt that no tunnel(s) exist there. The latter laid to rest a longstanding rumour. It is hoped that further GPR surveys can be undertaken in future and that they reveal positive evidence of Sand House-related excavations. By using social media, we are able to share a great deal of factual information about the Sand House with a large audience, thus giving easy access to educational material. We have hundreds of followers on Instagram and X (formerly Twitter) and well over 3,000 on Facebook and we post content regularly. Five newsletters were sent to our subscribers during the year, an increase of two on the previous year. Throughout the year, our website (www.thesandhouse,org.uk) was maintained and updated, acting as a shop window for our charity and the for the Sand House itself. Through 2022/23, we continued to record all hours expended by volunteers and the activities that they undertook. In total, 725.6 hours were expended, up from 666.3 in 2021/22. A relaxation of Covid-19 restrictions in part explains the increase. APPENDIX A provides a detailed breakdown of 2022/23 hours and activities.

A

Additional information (optional) You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:

Achievements against
objectives set		 Para 1.41
Performance of fundraising
activities against objectives
set		 Para 1.41
Investment performance
against objectives		 Para 1.41
Other

Financial Review

Financial Review
Review of the charity’s
financial position at the end
of the period		 Para 1.21 As at 31 March 2023, the charity’s balance of
Unrestricted funds was £1,840. This was an
increase of £643 compared with the start of the
financial year.
Also at 31 March 2023, the charity’s balance of
Restricted funds was £11,139, compared with
£8,922 at the start of the year.
The bulk of the increase, being in Restricted
funds, related to securing additional monies for
projects that were in the planning stages.
Statement explaining the
policy for holding reserves
stating why they are held		 Para 1.22 The Sand House Charity aims to hold the
equivalent of at least three months’ running costs
in reserve at all times. In practice, the charity has
very few unavoidable costs, with insurance, web
hosting and, where necessary, accountancy
services being the only significant ones.
Amount of reserves held Para 1.22 At the end of the financial year, the charity’s
reserves equated to £1,500. The only expected
outgoings from the Unrestricted funds over the
subsequent three months were training course
costs (£100) plus a contingency of£240.
Reasons for holding zero
reserves		 Para 1.22 N/A
Details of fund materially in
deficit		 Para 1.24 N/A
Explanation of any
uncertainties about the
charity continuing as a going
concern		 Para 1.23 N/A
Additional information (optional)
You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:		 Additional information (optional)
You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:		 Additional information (optional)
You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:
The charity’s principal
sources of funds (including
anyfundraising)		 Para 1.47 The charity’s principal sources of Unrestricted
funds are:
•
Donations from groups receiving talks
•
Individuals attending talks
•
Individuals attending guided walks
•
Monthly donations from some supporters
•
Donation of profits from merchandise sales
Disbursements from AmazonSmile (which ended
in February 2023) and easyfundraising enhanced
our income.
Income to Restricted (i.e. project-specific) funds
came principally from grants from Trusts and
Foundations. Additionally, the trustees agreed to
allocate income from Gift Aid reimbursements to
Restricted funds for project use.
Investment policy and
objectives including any
social investment policy
adopted		 Para 1.46 N/A
A description of the principal
risks facing the charity		 Para 1.46
Other The charity can continue its routine educational
work of providing illustrated talks, guided walks,
online information and attendance at history fairs
while incurring very little cost. It is envisaged that
larger, project-type work will continue to be
funded by grants and our own fundraising
activities. In simple terms, beyond the routine
work, our activities will be determined by the level
of grant funding that we can secure.

Structure, Governance and Management

Description of charity’s
trusts:
Type of governing document
(trust deed, royal charter)		 Para 1.25 Constitution
How is the charity
constituted?
(e.g unincorporated
association, CIO)		 Para 1.25 Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO)
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 Every trustee must be appointed for a term of
three years by a resolution passed at a properly
convened meeting of the charity trustees. The
new trustees who were appointed during 2022/23
were interviewed by two existing trustees and a
recommendation made to the Board of Trustees
as a whole, which then sanctioned the
appointments.

Additional information (optional)

You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:

Policies and procedures
adopted for the induction
and training of trustees		 Para 1.51
The charity’s organisational
structure and any wider
network with which the
charity works		 Para 1.51
Relationship with any related
parties		 Para 1.51
Other

Reference and Administrative details

Charity name The Sand House Charity
Other name the charity uses N/A
Registered charity number 1171875
Charity’s principal address 7 Ayots Green
Dunscroft
Doncaster
South Yorkshire
DN7 4HG

Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10		 Trustee name Office (if any) Dates acted if not for whole
**year **		 Name of person (or body) entitled
to appoint trustee (ifany)
Richard Bell Chair
SandyJessop
Mick Jenkinson
Andrew Isaacs
Mark Waterhouse Appointed 12.05.2022
Heather Charlton Appointed 13/05/2022

– Corporate trustees names of the directors at the date the report was approved

Director name

Name of trustees holding title to property belonging to the charity

Trustee name Dates acted if not for whole year

Funds held as custodian trustees on behalf of others

Description of the assets N/A held in this capacity Name and objects of the N/A charity on whose behalf the assets are held and how this falls within the custodian charity’s objects Details of arrangements for N/A safe custody and segregation of such assets from the charity’s own assets

Additional information (optional)

Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)

Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information) Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information) Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)
Type of
adviser
Name
Address
N/A

Name of chief executive or names of senior staff members (Optional information)

Exemptions from disclosure

Reason for non-disclosure of key personnel details

Other optional information

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
Richard Nigel Bell

Chair
25 October 2023
25 October 2023

APPENDIX A

The Sand House Charity: Details of volunteer hours and activities during 2022/23

Background

The number of hours expended by volunteers on behalf of The Sand House Charity have been recorded. This has been done to:

The following sections provide an analysis of the recorded hours and activities.

Hours expended per month

----- Start of picture text -----
Volunteer hours by month
140.0
120.0
100.0
80.0
60.0
40.0
20.0
0.0
----- End of picture text -----

The hours per month were relatively consistent but in October and December the lack of events and a minimal workload on projects accounted for a dip in hours. Conversely, February was by far the busiest month, with a week of pop-up sand art sessions and significant input to the schools literacy project.

Hours per Activity Type

All volunteer hours are recorded against a standard menu of Activity Types. They are defined as follows:

Administration: Routine, office-based tasks not linked directly to a funded project. Examples include typing up meeting minutes, general correspondence, collating documents for accountant, etc..

Events excl. talks: This includes all events that are neither talks nor part of a specific project. Examples include attending history fairs and community gatherings, running pop-up sand art sessions, but also includes any preparation and follow up specifically relating to the event.

Meetings (not linked to specific projects): Trustees' meetings and meetings linked to the general running of the charity. They exclude any meetings that form part of a project, whether funded or not.

Projects: All time spent working on specific, time-limited activities with a particular output at the end, whether or not they have been funded specifically, from grants and other external sources. Examples include the Sand House play, the schools literacy project (Exploring Culture), and 3D digital modelling/VR work.

Research: This will usually be research into the history of the Sand House, possiibly but not necessarily at various libraries and archives i.e. it could be online, or reviewing previously acquired research material.

Social media: Posts and comments aimed at educating the public. (Technical updates and general, non-educational posts are classified as Administration).

Talks: These will usually be illustrated talks to either specific groups or the general public. Include preparation and any follow up specifically relating to the talk.

Training: Attending a training course or workshop or delivering training to others working for The Sand House Charity.

Other: Any activity not specifically included within the other Activity Types. Should a new Activity Type be identified it may be added to the drop-down list.

Using the above definitions, the volunteer hours per Activity Type across the whole of 2022/23 are as shown in the pie chart below.

----- Start of picture text -----
Hours by Activity Type
Administration
4.0
98.2 136.2
Events excl. talks
59.4
Meetings (not specific projects)
44.5 Other
181.6
Projects
152.1
Research
11.438.2
Social media
Talks
Training
----- End of picture text -----

Breakdown of ‘Projects’ Activity Type

The hours expended on the largest Activity Type have been analysed in detail and broken down into the following specific activities.

----- Start of picture text -----
Project hours breakdown
3D animation
8.05.5
9.2 15.4
3.9 Display for new museum
Play project
Exploring Culture / schools
49.8 Piano piece
60.3
Making workshops (Mandy)
VR project
----- End of picture text -----

END

Charity Name
The Sand House Charity		 Charity Name
The Sand House Charity		 Charity Name
The Sand House Charity		 Charity Name
The Sand House Charity		 No (if any)
1171875		 No (if any)
1171875		 No (if any)
1171875		 CC16a
For the period
from		 Period start date
01/04/2022		 To Period end date
31/03/2023
Section A Receipts and payments
A1 Receipts Unrestricted
funds
to the nearest
£
-
1,159
-
-
122
62
-
-
1,343
-
-
-
1,343
-
448
150
92
10
-
-
-
-
700
-
-
-
700
643
- 251
1,197
1,589		 Restricted
funds
to the nearest £		 Endowment
funds
to the nearest £		 Total funds
to the nearest £		 Last year
to the nearest £
Grants - 3,817 - 3,817 3,000
Donations held in NatWest account 1,159 1,170 - 2,329 2,027
Donations held in PayPal account - - - - 31
Other - 100 - 100 36
Fundraisingactivities 122 - - 122 -
Disbursements(Amazon/easyfundraising) 62 - - 62 -
Gift Aid from HMRC - 1,728 - 1,728 -
- - - - -
Sub total(Gross income for
AR)		 1,343 6,815 - 8,158 5,094
A2 Asset and investment sales,
(see table).
-
- -
Sub total - -
Total receipts
A3 Payments
5,094
Equipment, materials & costumes - -
Insurance 448 435
Professional fees 150 950
Room hire 92 -
Other 10 -
- -
- -
- -
- -
**Sub total ** 700 1,385
A4 Asset and investment
purchases, (see table)
-
-
**Sub total ** - -
Total payments
Net of receipts/(payments)
A5 Transfers between funds
A6 Cash funds last year end
Cash funds this year end
1,385
643 2,217 2,860 3,709
**- 251 ** 251 - -
1,197 8,922 10,119 6,410
1,589 11,390 12,979 10,119

CCXX R1 accounts (SS)

01/11/2023

1

Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period

Categories
Signed by one or two trustees on
behalf of all the trustees
B5 Liabilities
B3 Investment assets
B2 Other monetary assets
B4 Assets retained for the
charity’s own use
B1 Cash funds		 Details
None
Details
Total cash funds
(agree balances with receipts and payments
account(s))
None
NatWest account
PayPal account
Details
Details
Details
Equipment
Props & costumes for play
None
Signature		 Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
funds
to nearest £
to nearest £
1,589
11,390
-
-
-
-
1,589
11,390
OK
OK
Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
funds
to nearest £
to nearest £
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Fund to which
asset belongs
Cost (optional)
-
-
-
-
-
Fund to which
asset belongs
Cost (optional)
Unrestricted
-
Restricted
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Fund to which
liability relates
Amount due
(optional)
-
-
-
-
-
Print Name
RichardNigel Bell		 Endowment
funds
to nearest £
-
-
-
-
OK
Endowment
funds
to nearest £
-
-
-
-
-
-
Current value
(optional)
-
-
-
-
-
Current value
(optional)
4,750
1,032
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
When due
(optional)
Date of
approval
RichardNigel Bell 25/10/2023

CCXX R2 accounts (SS)

01/11/2023

2

Notes to the Accounts

Basis of preparation.

These financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost basis and in accordance with the Charities Act 2011 and related Regulations.

As the charity's level of income is below £250,000 the Trustees have opted for the accounts to be prepared under the receipts and payments method. This is in accordance with the Charity Commission guidelines for small charities and is seen as appropriate for this organisation.

The Trustees have also decided that there should not be an independent examination of the accounts on this occasion, because the charity's income is below £25,000 (in fact, only £8,158). This is in accordance with Charity Commission guidelines.

Fund accounting

Incoming resources that may be applied for the charity's general purposes are treated as unrestricted incoming resources and are credited to the unrestricted fund.

Where a donation or grant is required to be used for a specific purpose, the amount concerned is treated as restricted income and is credited to the appropriate restricted fund.

Movement of funds

Unrestricted funds
General fund - NatWest account
General fund - PayPal account
Restricted funds
TOTAL		 Balance at
01/04/2022
Incoming
resources
Expended
resources
Balance at
31/03/2023
1166
1374
-700
1840
31
0
-31
0
1197
1374
-731
1840
8922
6815
-4598
11139
10119
8189
-5329
12979

Trustees' remuneration, benefits and expenses

The were no trustees' remunerations in the period of these accounts.

CCXX R3 accounts (SS)

01/11/2023

3