THE KEARNS FOUNDATION Making a positive contribution to personal development for community benefit. ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS 2024-25 Established in 2007 and registered as a Charity in England and Wales (Number 1156557) and now a Charitable Incorporated Organisation [ClO) Registered under 1174340
Page 1 Charity Administration Details, Charitable Objectives & Activities Page 2-7 Trustees, Report 2024-25 Page 8-9 Financial Report and Notes to the Accounts Page 10 Declarations e.
Charity Name: The Kearns Foundation Established: October 2007 (under Charity 1156557) Principal Address: c/0 21 Garrett Court, Gertrude Road, Norwich, Norfolk, NR3 4SD Trustees: Andrew Copelin - Chair Alex Kearns- Vice Chair James Kearns- Treasurer and Managing Trustee Mick Tingley Karen Willett Chris Willett Will Kearns Employees: The charity is run entirely by volunteers and has no employees. Governance structure: The charity was originally constituted as an unincorporated association under a constitution initially adopted in 2007. Now registered as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) as registered and approved by the Charity Commission of England & Wales on 23 August 2017. Appointment of Trustees: Trustees are appointed in line with the governing document, such that the membership of the Board of Trustees reflects the skills, knowledge and experience required for both the effective rnanagement of the charity, and its resources, and with due regard to the discharge of the charitable objective5. Board membership seeks to reflect a wide range of experiences of working, or volunteering with the charity's beneficiaries. Charitable Objectives: 1. To advance in life and help young people through: (a) The provision of recreational and leisure time activities provided in the interest of social welfare, designed to improve their conditions of life,. {b) Providing support and artivities which develop their skills, capacities and capabilities to enable them to participate in society as mature and responsible individuals. Page I
- To promote the efficiency and effectiveness of charities and the effective use of charitable resources for the benefit of the public
- Such other purposes as are exclusively charitable in accordance with the laws of England and Wales as the trustees may from time to time decide Charitable Activities: The Charity has a priority of making a positive contribution to personal development for community benefit and this is delivered through three core strands of its work: Small Grants Programme - Grants of (normally) between £50 and £250 awarded to individuals, and organisations, meeting set criteria who, as the result of our investment, can make a direct, and positive impart on the communitie5 in which they live, or serve. Community Support Service - providing information, advice and guidance from its network of trustees, contacts and supporters, to community based voluntsry organisations which enable them to grow, progress and improve their communities. This may be through training workshops, mentoring or support with fundraising. Trimingham Log Cabin Youth & Community Resource Centre - the provision of a log cabin residential centre and camping grounds in North Norfolk provided at a subsidised rate to predominantly youth and community groups to support educational, and developrnental projects for young people and community volunteers, as well as providing low cost accommodation for families, and children in need supported by the appropriate agencies. Trustees. Report: This report covers the period 1st April 2024 to 31 March 2025 and highlights the achievements within the three core areas of work set out above as a way of achieving the charitable objectives. Small Grants Programme During the period covered by this report, the Foundation received 12 applications for assistance under our small grants programme frorn voluntary and community organisations and from individual young people. Of these applications 7 were ineligible, 5 were approved and O were rejected. st Page 2
The following grants were awarded: £250- BBC Children in Need- a discretionary donation on behalf of the Trustees to support projects benefitting children and young people in the UK. £900- awarded to 4 individual young people to attend separate international youth events in Sweden, Morrocco, Portugal and Ireland Community Support Service The Foundation's has long held the view that small charities in Norfolk were missing out on support and recognition and they seek to address this through the organisation and hosting of the annual Norfolk Small Charities Showcase events. The second such event took place on Saturday 22. June 2025 to coincide with the national Small Charities Week. The event targeted Norfolk based and Norfolk serving community groups and charitable organisations with an annual income of less than £100,000 with free stalls to promote their services, attract new volunteers and potential funding. Y¥ P28e 3
This reduction in income threshold from the previous £250,000 in 2023 aimed to specifically target the really small organisations. Strangely it saw a reduction in the number of organisations attending with 11 groups represented. The event also brought together two county based voluntary sector infrastructure support organisations for Norfolk (Community Action Norfolk, and Voluntary Norfolk) who through the Norfolk County Council funded Empowering Communities Partnership took stalls to provide small charities with advice and information. As part of the event, four free to attend workshops were available providing advice and information: Workshop 1- Staying Safe with Cyber security for charities was delivered by Rik Martin, CEO of Community Action Norfolk using a presentation provided by HM Government Cyber Security Centre and co-hosted by Trustee Alex Kearns. 9 people pre booked a place on the workshop 4 people attended. Workshop 2 - Good Governance was delivered by Clare Fiander of Community Action Norfolk and co- hosted by Trustee Andrew Copelin. 7 people had pre-booked, 3 people attended. Workshop 3 - Norfolk's Vision for Volunteering and the Get Involved Volunteer Recruitment Portal was I presented by Nicky Stainton and Laura Holland of the Voluntary Norfolk Communities Team and co-hosted by Trustee James Kearns. 9 people had pre- booked 3 people attended. Workshop 4 - Finding Funding online was delivered by James Kearns of MaDGiraffe Management & Development. James also hosted this session. 10 people were pre-booked 5 people attended. The event was fully funded by the Kearns Foundation at a cost of £909 from within the Community Support budget to ensure that community organisations need not redirect their funds away from frontline services and could maximise the opportunity Within a high profile, high footfall city centre location. The event had also provided an opportunity for the Kearns Foundation to promote its Small Grants programme, Community Support Programme and Log Cabin and Campsite facilities to a much wider audience at both the event and surrounding publicity. Page 4
Following the event, a full review, involving feedback from those who had participated, was considered by Foundation Trustees ahead of making changes to the 2025 event by hosting it in the Autumn and increasing the income threshold back up to £250,000 of annual income. No additional requests were received for specific community support, and no training workshops took place during this period. Trimingham Log Cabin Youth & Community Resource Centre Managed entirely by volunteers, both within and supporting the Foundation, use of the centre during 2024-25 increased, despite schools and youth groups continuing to experience low levels of take up for programmes like the Duke of Edinburgh's Award and residential camping. Page 5
The continued annually licensed use of the Beacon Field (by kind permission of Mr and Mrs Frank Mason) for occasional camping meant that larger groups were able to re- engage. Overall the Log Cabin and campsite produced an operating surplus of £1,843.26 during the financial year (2024-25) compared with an operating loss of £1,261.11 in 2023-24 although this included extensive planned maintenance costs. The following table shows the use of the log cabin and camping fields. Year Total Bookin No Grou No of young eo Cabin Campsite ni hts 2024 2023 2022 187 120 12 216 110 64 66 89 2021 2020 99 218 40 173 333 160 289 2019 2018 14 16 15 13 33 697 2017 2016 349 266 29 27 588 452 292 16 14 2015 170 13 Page 6
Fundraising The Foundation did no direct fundraising during this period but received £68.56 through affiliations with Easyfundraising sales. Governance and Administration of the Charity The Board of Trustees have met regularly, and always quorate, during the year to ensure the effective management of the agreed projects. and to diligently review reports on income, expenditure and budget forecasts in relation to its core activities. During this year the Trustees sought to widen the diversity of their membership to increase a better gender mix within the Board and additional female trustees are planned to be appointed in 2025-26. Much of the day to day operation of the charity, including grant applications, centre rnanagement and finances are delegated to the Managing Trustee to prepare. with four named trustees being signatories to any outgoing payments, and the Board being regularly updated through meetings and e mails between them on major issues. rf&i Page 7
20225 Income and Expenditure INCOME Amount Budget Heading Note Donations Fundraising Trimingham Log Cabin and Campsite 68.56 5,106.50 Total 5.175.06 EXPENSES Amount Budget Heading Fundraising Trimingham Log Cabin and Campsite Community Support Grants Marketing Subscriptions Governance & Admin 3,263.24 766.98 1.150.00 138.89 1,014.68 Total 6.333.79 Summary Income received Expenditure SurpluslDeficit 2024-25 2024-25 20225 5,175.06 6,333.79 1.158.73 Balance brought forward Balance carried forward 1 st April 2024 31 st March 2025 34.852.82 33.694.09 Restricted funds Unrestricted funds 33,694.09 Page 8
Notes to the Accounts: 1. These are funds generated from the revenues generated from Easyfundraising on-line reward payments 2. These are funds received from buildings and camping hires at the Trimingham Log Cabin Youth a nd Community Resource Centre and Camping site. 3. These are the costs associated with the management, maintenance and operation of the Trimingham Log Cabin Youth and Community Resource Centre and Camping site. 4. These amounts relate to funds approved by the Foundation to support community organisations, primarily through the Norfolk Small Charities Showcase and any additional services. 5. These funds reflect the Small Grants made to qualifying individuals and community organisations. 6. These are primarily insurance costs and bank charges of £6 per month and stationery costs, Reserves Policy The Trustees have not considered a formal reserves policy for the charity to date, but consider this to be equivalent to three months operational costs. Audit and Independent Examination Policy The Charity's income is below the Charity Commission's £500,000 gross income threshold for the requirement for a statutory audit. As the gross income for the current accounting period is below the Commission's £25.000 threshold, these accounts have been prepared on a "Receipt5 and Payments" basis without the need for independent examination or audit. Trustees regularly review all income and expenditure on a quarterly basis and will make its full accounts available, on receipt of a valid and reasonable request. A copy of the Annual Report and Accounts will be made publicly available as part of theAnnual Return to the Charity Commission and published on their website. Page 9
Declaration This annual report and accounts have been received, considered, and accepted by the Trustees of the Kearns Foundation as being an accurate representation of the receipts st and payments occurring within the financial year 1 April 2024 to 31st March 2025 and the balances shown provide an accurate representation of the current assets and liabilities of the funds held by the charity. Andrew Copelin Trustee and Chair Alex Kearns Trustee and Vice Chair th 8 June 2025 8th June 2025 Page 10