THE ABBOTSKERSWELL FOOD AND BEER FESTIVAL (ABBFEST) Annual Report and Accounts 2023
Contents
The Abbotskerswell Food and Beer Festival (Abbfest) ............................................................................ 1 Commentary on the Annual Report and Accounts ............................................................................. 1 Trustees Annual Report ....................................................................................................................... 2 Charity Structure ................................................................................................................................. 2 Treasurers’ comments ......................................................................................................................... 3 Independent Examiner’s Report on the Accounts .............................................................................. 3 Risk Management ............................................................................................................................... 6 Grant making and Thank You payments ............................................................................................. 6
The Abbotskerswell Food and Beer Festval (Abbfest)
Charity Number 1171953
Commentary on the Annual Report and Accounts
Abbfest is a Community Interest Organisation (CIO) which exists to further such charitable purposes (Charitable under English law) in the county of Devon, in particular but not limited to the parish of Abbotskerswell, as the Trustees see fit from time to time by the provision of grants and other donations to charities and other voluntary organisations.
Although it is not part of its legal charitable purpose, the Trustees have always regarded the holding of a successful community event as a major objective in delivering the purpose.
The Charity’s funds are entirely raised through an annual Food & Beer Festival which is organised and run by a Management Committee fully staffed with volunteers. Following on from the successful event in 2022 the 2023 event went ahead with a strong team in place led by Festival Director Roy Blunt and Treasurer Gary Wills. The robust plans and budget were somewhat foiled by the dreadful weather experienced over the weekend which affected attendance and sales. However, with a good financial plan in place the event still generated enough income to pay thank you payments and grants to local organisations and charity groups.
The financial outcome of the 2022 Festival allowed the Charity to both top up its operating reserves to preserve the event for future years, and generated enough surplus for grants and “thank you” payments to be made to those organisations and volunteers that work tirelessly to support the event.
At year end 31.12.2023 the CIO funds stood at:
Cooperative Bank account: £18661.19
Investment fund: £13086.57
Festival surplus to be distributed: £11,500
Of which:
Thank You payments: £7,500
Grants: £4,000
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Trustees Annual Report
The Trustees of the Abbotskerswell Food and Beer Festival are:
Amy Hedger Chair
Catherine Howard Secretary
Roy Blunt Ann Down Trevor Hardiman Brian Mackness David Munden Trustees
Charity Structure
Day to day and operational management of the Abbfest Festival is delegated to the Festival Director and Management Committee. The Festival Director and Treasurer are responsible for organising and delivering the annual Festival on time and within agreed budgets, ensuring the event is compliant with licencing and safety requirements.
The Trustees are ultimately responsible for the Charity’s activities including:
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Purpose and strategy
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Our reputation and values
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How we meet our financial and statutory responsibilities
In particular the Trustees pay attention to:
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The performance of the Charity’s fundraising activities
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How surplus is distributed and making sure we do this fairly
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Making sure the Charity and its activities are conducted fairly, responsibly and ethically.
All other elements of the running and operation of the Charity’s activities are the responsibility of the Festival Director, Treasurer and Management Committee.
Key Management Committee members are:
Roy Blunt Festival Director
Gary Wills Treasurer
The Treasurer prepares the budget which is reviewed by the Trustees to ensure it is reasonable and realistic. The Treasurer then is responsible for all other matters of finance and accounting.
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Treasurers’ comments
The headline income figure for the 2023 Festival was £87,287. The weather had a dramatic effect on the income which last year was £103,000.
Beer token sales were down from £41,000 to £32,500 even with an increase in price. In 2022 22,217 tokens were sold, whereas this year the figure was 16,118.
This year Sponsorship was hard going with an in year adjusted budget of £12,000 reached. A focus on sponsorship will be needed for next year.
The raffle once again surpassed expectations, well done to everyone involved.
The Pimms bar did well, with much better organisation this year. The Gin bar donated £710 profit to our income.
Independent Examiner’s Report on the Accounts
I report to the charity Trustees on my examination of the accounts of the Charity for the year ended Dec 2023.
As the charity's trustees, 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 Trust’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination (other than that disclosed below *) which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect:
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the accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act; or
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the accounts did not accord with the accounting records; or
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the accounts did not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and
content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a ‘true and fair’ view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination.
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
Graham Higgins ACA 12 March 2025
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Accounts
2023 Actuals
| 2023 Actuals | |
|---|---|
| INCOME | Actual 2023 |
| Ticket sales | 25384 |
| Token sales | 32499.7 |
| Soft drinks | 416.1 |
| Gin Bar profit share | 710 |
| Raffle | 2750 |
| Food and drink concessions | 6700 |
| sponsorship | 12500 |
| stalls | 3485 |
| Bank Interest | 80 |
| beer sales post event | 1420 |
| wine sales post event | 100 |
| Stillage sale | 1 |
| Comedy club income Thursday | 1241 |
| £ 87,287 | |
| EXPENSES | |
| ADMIN | |
| Finance costs sumup machines | 284.4 |
| GLASSES AND STILLAGE | |
| Glasses | 164.92 |
| LOOS | |
| Loos | 4094 |
| GROUND | |
| Marquee | 14696 |
| Scaffolding | 700 |
| Security | 2880 |
| Havills | 8093.8 |
| Rent of Field | 1575 |
| Fencing/barriers | 795 |
| ADVERTS,PUBLICITY & Printing | |
| Advertising | 3896.11 |
| Banners | 295 |
| printing if not free | 206.3 |
| Beer Tokens | 201.6 |
| Comedy Night | 952 |
| LICENCES | |
| Licences | 91 |
| Music licence | 382 |
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INSURANCE
| INSURANCE | |
|---|---|
| Insurance | 1553.59 |
| RAFFLE | |
| Raffle Costs incl Prizes | 210.5 |
| ENT AND CHEFS | |
| Cookery Demos | 121.57 |
| Bands | 3640 |
| Sound System | 6450 |
| Charity for opener | 500 |
| BEER AND CIDER | |
| Beer | 10814.28 |
| Cider | 5264.96 |
| PIMMS/WINE/SOFT | |
| soft supplies | 751.3 |
| Wine | 1229.76 |
| BUSES | |
| Buses | 4450 |
| SHIRTS | |
| T Shirts net of sponsorship | 688.2 |
| KIDS ENTERTAINMENT | |
| Sunday entertainment | 398.4 |
| MEDICAL | |
| Medical | 964.5 |
| MISC | |
| Misc | 567.06 |
| Ticket refund | 92.01 |
| TOTAL COSTS | £ 76,911 |
| SURPLUS BEFORE OTHER PAYMENTS | £ 10,376 |
| 2023 Balance sheet | 31/12/2023 |
| Co op bank | £ 18,661.19 |
| CCLA investment account | £ 13,086.57 |
| Total bank holdings | £ 31,747.76 |
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Risk Management
The Abbfest Charity activities throughout the year are minimal, and are centred around planning meetings in the months leading up to the event. Abbfest has in place an annual insurance policy which covers all volunteers and Trustees activities including Employers (Volunteers) Liability, Public Liability, Legal cover and Director’s and Officers Liability.
For the “build up” and “delivery” phase of the event itself, the Management Committee prepares a comprehensive Risk Assessment taking into account the range of activities being undertaken on site.
The Management Committee also prepares an Event Management Plan which includes all activities from “build up” to “break down” and covers Health and Safety, Security, Capacity, Medical and Fire cover, traffic management plans, site layout and licencing requirements. This document is submitted to the Teignbridge District Council Licencing Authority and distributed via them to the Teignbridge Safety Advisory Group which includes Police, Fire, Ambulance, Licencing, Environmental Health and Highways. The document and plans require approval from all of the agencies noted, thus far we have not received any queries or concerns about how the event is run and managed.
For the Festival itself Abbfest also has a specific Event Insurance policy in place to cover the build up, event and break down period. This again includes Employers (Volunteers) and Public Liability cover.
Grant making and Thank You payments
Surplus generated by the Festival is distributed in the form of Grants and Thank You payments.
Thank You payments are made to those organisations that have provided volunteers to allow the event to be run effectively and safely. The Trustees operate a tiered system of payments to donate larger sums to those organisations that have provided the most help.
Grants are distributed to organisation who apply to the Trustees for payments. The Trustees do not make any Grant decisions based on whether an organisation has helped at the festival, each application is reviewed on its own merit. The main focus of grants is to support charities local to Abbotskerswell, although the Trustees do consider applications from wider afield.
In delivering a successful community event, The Abbotskerswell Food and Beer Festival supports not only local producers and artists but provides an important source of funding to many local charities and good causes, who may struggle to survive without the funds we distribute to them.
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