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

2. To promote the efficiency and effectiveness of charities and the effective use of
charitable resources for the benefit of the public
3. 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

202*25 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
202*25
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