## **Kington Walks Annual Report**
Charity Commission Number: 1172022 Email: info@kingtonwalks.org Website: www.kingtonwalks.org.uk Period: 1[st] November 2021 to 31[st] October 2022
## Charity Trustees:
|Charity Trustees:|||
|---|---|---|
|**Trustee Name**|**Ofce**|**Dates**|
|MrsBarbaraBarrett||Fullperiod|
|Mr NigelSheath|Chairperson|Full Period|
|Ms Sarah Lee||Fullperiod|
|Mr. Adrian Wilcox||Fullperiod|
||||
||||
## Management
This was the organisation’s sixth period as a charity where we continued to build a sustainable volunteer community and establish a base of funds to enable us to pursue the objectives of the charity.
The overarching governance document of the charity is the “CONSTITUTION OF A CHARITABLE INCORPORATED ORGANISATION WITH VOTING MEMBERS OTHER THAN ITS CHARITY TRUSTEES” that is an edited and approved version of the Charity Commission’s standard document. A copy of this is available on request. The Constitution defines most of our processes including the appointment and election of Trustees.
The day to day running of Kington Walks is managed by our Committee of Members that meet on at least a monthly basis and has the remit to manage most decision making within the terms of the Constitution. Decisions required outside those terms are referred back to the Trustees. In addition, one or more sub-committees manage specific activities or events e.g. our annual walking festival. These sub-committees report back to the main committee on a monthly basis and in effect are concerned with organisational matters with all decisions effecting the charity passed back for approval by the main Committee of Members. There are Terms of Reference for these Committees. The Committees have returned to meeting in person during this period, with some exceptions, where subcommittees have met virtually for purposes of convenience.
Kington Walks has no formal relationship with any related parties.
Our risk management system is focused on the risks associated with walking activities and are governed by a risk management system that requires completion by all walk leaders and includes a safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults policy.
## Objectives
Kington Walks is a Charitable incorporated Organisation (CIO) with the following objectives:
- **(1)** to provide education on the benefits of walking on health and unity within a community;
- **(2)** to promote a healthy lifestyle by encouraging and enabling people to partake in regular walks as a form of exercise;
- **(3)** to advance the development of the community in Kington through organising and facilitating regular group walks in the area including but not limited to an annual walking festival; and
- **(4)** to promote the protection of the environment through use of sustainable methods of transport (such as buses and trains) to and from group walks
## Primary Activities and Achievements for Period
The primary activity of Kington Walks to date has been the establishment and development of an annual Walking Festival and more recently a Spring Walking Festival. The festivals continue to be a major priority but with our now sustainable group of volunteers and base of funds our focus is turning to widening our walking activities and the promotion of healthy lifestyles within our local community and improving the local footpath network.
After the uncertain period of the Covid pandemic, this year has seen both walking festivals continuing to run as normal. After an immediate post-pandemic increase in bookings in September 2021, compared with previous years, this year’s numbers have been healthy, continuing to attract new and regular participants, but are more in line with the pre-pandemic uptake. The profile of Kington Walks and its marketing have been enhanced by an increase in the use of social media to reach local and wider communities.
Our Footpaths Maintenance Group has a remit to ensure local footpaths are well maintained and to make footpaths more accessible by carrying out work such as repairing signage and replacing styles with gates. After limited work carried out during and immediately after the pandemic, the group has re-established a programme of regular maintenance and has liaised with the Ramblers to co-
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ordinate maintenance of the regional Mortimer Trail, taking responsibility for the Kington section of the trail and replacing around 40 marker signs.
Kington Walks now provides the Footpaths Officer for Kington, following the reinstatement of this role by Kington Town Council. This has entailed running a reporting system for local footpath issues, in liaison with Herefordshire County Council, to ensure collation, monitoring and follow-up.
This year, work commenced to enable Kington Walks to reinstate and run a walking for Health programme, previously led by the Ramblers, centered on the town, and supported by the local GP surgery. Following the necessary training, checks and risk assessments, the scheme will be up and running towards the end of 2022.
Kington Town Council commissioned and in May 2022 installed a giant town map with the primary purpose of showing Kington as a hub for walking. Kington Walks liaised with the Town Council to provide them with all the required footpath mapping and information. The map signposts all the regional and national trails that pass through Kington, and a series of local footpaths that are linked through a QR code to maps and guides that describe six local walks of differing lengths and levels of challenge.
## Financial Review
The accounts are available on the Charity Commission website. For the period of this report the top level financial figures were:
|**Income**|**Expendit**
**ure**|**Surplus**
**(defcits) for**
**2022**|**Surplus**
**(defcits)**
**overall**|
|---|---|---|---|
|£9,355.4
1|£12,268|(£2,913.46)|£17,178.68|
In October 2021, Kington Walks hosted the Walkers are Welcome Annual Gettogether, postponed from its original date in October 2020 because of the pandemic. This entailed provision of a conference venue and programme for delegates from Walkers are Welcome towns around the UK. The costs of the conference, which for Kington was a one-off event, were borne by Kington Walks in the November 2021-October 2022 period and are the reason for expenditure exceeding income in this period.
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Our policy is to maintain a reserve that covers the entire cost of our Annual Festival in case extreme weather conditions lead to us having to refund all walk related income. This is approximately £7,500.
Our principal sources of income are:
- Payment for walks at our walking festivals
- Sponsors and advertisers
- Grants
- Revenue from our annual calendar sales
## Declaration
The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above
Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees:
Sarah Lee, Chair of Trustees
18th August 2023
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## **RECEIPT AND PAYMENT ACCOUNTS for the year ended 31st October 2022**
## **AND**
**BALANCE SHEET as at 31st October 2022**
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## Kington Walks - Receipt and Payment Account for the year ended 31st October 2022
|**RECEIPTS**|**2021-22**|
|---|---|
|||
|Spring Walks & Events (PayPal)|1,272.11|
|Spring Walks & Events (cash, cheques, card)|315.00|
|Autumn Walks & Events (PayPal)|2,657.74|
|Autumn Walks & Events (cash, cheques, card)|971.51|
|Kington Town Council Grant|500.00|
|Donations|426.02|
|Website Ads|200.00|
|Brochure Ads|505.00|
|Community Shop|1,018.75|
|Float repayments|888.50|
|Sundry Income|111.10|
|Calendar Sales|413.40|
|Walkers Are Welcome Conference|47.00|
|Savings Account Interest|29.08|
|||
|**Total Income**|**9,355.41**|
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## Kington Walks - Receipt and Payment Account for the year ended 31st October 2022
|**PAYMENTS**|**2021-22**|
|---|---|
|||
|General Admin|311.40|
|Sundry Expenses|658.01|
|Floats (Festivals, Community Shop, Food Fayre)|888.50|
|Kington Walks Rebranding|470.00|
|Promotion & Advertising (Spring & Autumn Festivals)|1,377.12|
|Spring Walks 2022 Expenses|626.00|
|Autumn Walks 2021 Expenses|170.00|
|Autumn Walks 2022 Expenses|1,006.96|
|Autumn Walks 2022 Refunds|27.00|
|Autumn Events 2022 Expenses (Meal)|1,033.48|
|Autumn Events 2022 Expenses (Band)|445.00|
|First Aid Training|50.00|
|Footpath Maintenance|675.79|
|Donations Made|190.00|
|WaW Subscription|50.00|
|WaW Conference Expenses|2,289.61|
|Walker Project|2,000.00|
|||
|**Total Payments**|**12,268.87**|
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## Kington Walks - Balance Sheet as at 31st October 2022
|**For Financial Year 01/11/2021 to 31/10/2022**|**For Financial Year 01/11/2021 to 31/10/2022**|
|---|---|
|**Total Income**|9,355.41|
|**Total Expenditure**|12,268.87|
|**Surplus/(Defcit) of Receipts over Payments**|-2,913.46|
|||
|**Carried over from last year**|20,092.14|
|||
|**TOTAL at year end**|**17,178.68**|
|||
|**Portfolio consists of:**||
|**Bank Account**|7,103.95|
|**Savings Account**|10,074.73|
|**TOTALS**|**17,178.68**|
|**of which the following is ring-fenced**||
|**Footpath Maintenance**|**90.01**|
|**Andy Johnson Gift**|**500.00**|
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