Charity Number 1174586
Wessex Waterways Restoration Trust
Trustees’ Report and Accounts
Year ended 31 March 2021
Wessex Waterways Restoration Trust Charity number: 1174586 Trustees’ Report
The Trustees present their report and accounts for the year ended 31 March 2021
Principal Activities
The charity’s principal activities during the year continued to be, working with volunteers, to further necessary maintenance work and to advance construction and restoration for a navigable waterway between the Kennet and Avon Canal and the River Thames and the Cotswold Canals.
Trustees
The following persons served as trustees during the year:
Rachael Banyard Matthew Carpenter (appointed October 2020) Janet Flanagan (resigned October 2020) Michael Handford (co-opted October 2020) John Minns (resigned October 2020) Douglas Small (resigned October 2020) Keith Vaughan Welch (resigned October 2020)
Chairman’s Narrative
The charity was formed in 2017 to increase voluntary involvement in the construction, restoration and maintenance of a navigable waterway linking the Kennet and Avon Canal near Melksham with the Thames and Severn at or near Cricklade and the River Thames at or near Abingdon, and to improve the waterway for the use and benefit of the public, and not by way of limitation, that waterway shall include part of the original Wilts & Berks and North Wilts Canals and their branches which form part of the navigable links.
The primary aim is to complement the work of the Wilts & Berks Canal Trust whose activities focus on other sections of the waterways.
The year has been dominated by Covid, with England going into lockdown on 20 March 2020. All restoration and maintenance activities ceased, although after a few weeks it was deemed by the Inland Waterways Association that essential maintenance work should be carried out to maintain safety of sites. The then Chair directed that a method statement and risk assessment should be prepared, which was carried out by an experienced volunteer. However, the results were not accepted by the Chair and activities remained on hold.
The trustees at that time failed to effectively communicate to the membership, and to the work party members in particular, a plan of action. As a result, a sufficient number of members requested an emergency members’ meeting to discuss the situation – to be held via suitable electronic means, and all in accordance with the Constitution. The Trustees failed to organise such a meeting, and as a result those members themselves requested the necessary information to contact the membership to arrange the meeting.
Before the meeting could be held, four of the then Trustees resigned.
Under the Constitution, the minimum number of Trustees to be able to make operational decisions is three. A senior officer of the Charity Commission was very prompt to contact the remaining Trustee by telephone and asked if two more people were available to be appointed. Two suitable and willing people agreed to serve as Trustees, enabling the Trust to function. The incoming Trustees were able to use Zoom to enable frequent on-line management meetings.
Using the guidance from the Inland Waterways Association regarding risk assessments and mitigations in relation to Covid, work parties resumed on a weekly basis. A new work party leader was appointed. A programme of works was started to catch up on the backlog of maintenance, and to start to plan future restoration work on structures.
The Trust was not able to attend any public events as virtually all were cancelled to limit the risk of spreading Covid 19. The trust was able to arrange for the box trailer to be sign-written, thus making the brand more visible in the locality.
This report was approved by the trustees on 4 February 2022 and signed on their behalf.
R Banyard Trustee
Wessex Waterways Restoration Trust Profit and Loss account for the year ended 31 March 2021
Current Financial Year
| Current Financial Year | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Income from charitable activities Expenditure on charitable activities Net income (expenditure) for the year Prior Financial Year Income from charitable activities Expenditure on charitable activities Net income (expenditure) for the year |
Unrestricted Funds 2021 £ 1183 (1003) 180 Unrestricted Funds 2020 £ 490 (255) 235 |
Restricted Funds 2021 £ - (1835) (1835) Restricted Funds 2020 £ 2887 (3455) (568 |
Total 2021 £ 1183 (2838) |
|
| (1655) | ||||
Total 2020 £ 3377 (3710) |
||||
| (333) |
Wessex Waterways Restoration Trust Balance Sheet as at 31 March 2021
| Notes Fixed assets Tangible assets 3 Current assets Debtors 4 Cash at bank and in hand Creditors: amounts falling due Within one year 5 Net current assets Net assets Capital and reserves Restricted Funds 6 Unrestricted Funds Income funds |
377 7927 |
2021 £ 4712 6352 11064 8552 2512 11064 |
2020 £ 4968 374 7377 7751 - 7751 12719 10387 2332 12719 |
2020 £ 4968 374 7377 7751 - 7751 12719 10387 2332 12719 |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8304 (1952) |
|||||
| 12719 | |||||
| 10387 2332 |
|||||
| 12719 |
R Banyard Trustee Approved by the trustees on 4 February 2022
Wessex Waterways Restoration Trust Notes to the accounts for the year ended 31 March 2021
1 Accounting policies
Tangible fixed assets
Tangible fixed assets are measured at cost less accumulative depreciation and any
accumulative impairment losses. Depreciation is provided on all tangible fixed assets, other than freehold land, at rates calculated to write off the cost, less estimated residual value, of each asset evenly over its expected useful life as follows:
| Plant and machinery over 5 years Fixtures, fittings, tools and equipment over 4 years 2 Employees Average number of persons employed by the company 3 Tangible fixed assets Cost At 31stMarch 2020 Additions At 31stMarch 2021 Depreciation At 31stMarch 2020 Charge for the year At 31stMarch 2021 4 Debtors Other debtors 5 Creditors: amounts falling due within one year Other creditors |
2021 2020 Number Number 0 0 Plant and Machinery Etc £ 5742 1038 6780 774 1294 2068 2021 2020 £ £ 377 374 2021 2020 £ £ 1952 - |
2020 Number 0 |
2020 Number 0 |
2020 Number 0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6780 | ||||
| 774 1294 |
||||
| 2068 | ||||
| 2020 £ 374 |
||||
| 2020 £ - |
Wessex Waterways Restoration Trust
Notes to the accounts
for the year ended 31 March 2021
| 6 | Restricted Funds | Balance 1 April | Resources | Balance 31 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Expended | March 2021 | ||
| Awards for all | 9000 | 1294 | 7706 | |
| Other restricted funds | 1387 | 541 | 846 | |
| 10387 | 1835 | 8552 |
| Wessex Waterways Restoration Trust Detailed profit and loss account for the year ended 31 March 2021 Income Charitable income Foxham Bridge Other direct costs Administrative expenses Motor expenses Premises costs: Rent General administrative expenses Marketing Staff training and welfare Membership expenses Insurance Equipment expensed Software Depreciation Repairs and renewals Sundry expenses |
2021 £ 1182 205 25 25 - - 156 104 54 499 336 57 1294 67 40 2607 2632 |
2020 £ 3377 2334 66 66 31 31 - - 54 125 297 29 774 - - 1279 1376 |
|---|---|---|