Sevenoaks Lions Club (CIO) Report and Financial Statements Year ended 30[th] June 2025 Charity no: 1178738
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Sevenoaks Lions Club (CIO) Year ended 30[th] June 2025
Trustees
Alan Cattermole Chair of Trustees
Roger Hope, Treasurer
Barry Wheeler, Secretary Stuart Ratcliffe (appointed 1[st] July 2024) Liesbeth Watts (appointed 1[st] July 2024)
Principal Office
19 Sherenden Park, Golden Green, Tonbridge TN11 0LQ
Charity Number 1178738
Bankers
NatWest 67 High Street, Sevenoaks, TN13 1LA
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Sevenoaks Lions Club (CIO)
Year ended 30[th] June 2025
Report of the Trustees for the year ended 30[th] June 2025
The trustees present their annual report and financial statements for Sevenoaks Lions Club (CIO) for the year ended 30[th] June 2025. The financial statements have been prepared on a receipts and payments basis (in accordance with s133 Charities Act 2011) and comply with the Charity’s Constitution and the Charities Act 2011.
Structure and Governance
Sevenoaks Lions Club (CIO) was incorporated on 12[th] June 2018. The initial Trustees appointed were Brian Alger, Alan Cattermole, Liz Brown, Alan Walter, Jon Austin and Oliver Reeve. With effect from 1[st] July 2018 the CIO acquired the assets and obligations of the Sevenoaks Lions Club Charitable Trust (registered number 291836) and those of the Sevenoaks Lions Club (an unincorporated organisation).
The constitution of the Sevenoaks Lions Club (CIO) requires the appointment of a minimum of 3 Trustees (with a maximum of 12). Under the CIO by-laws adopted by the members those elected to the Offices of President, Secretary, Treasurer, 1[st] Vice President, Chairman of Welfare and Chairman of Fund Raising are de facto Trustees and act for a term of 1 year.
Trustees meet monthly to consider and approve recommendations made by the members.
Objectives and activities for the public benefit
Our constitution provides that our objectives are exclusively charitable in England and Wales, including in particular:
the Advancement of citizenship by
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Promoting the principles of good citizenship;
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Encouraging members of the CIO to take an active interest in the civic, cultural, social and moral welfare of the community;
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Providing a forum for the open discussion of all matters of public interest; provided that partisan politics and sectarian religion shall not be debated by members;
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Encouraging service minded people to serve their community without personal reward and encouraging the promotion of high ethical standards in commerce, industry, professions, public works and private endeavours;
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Supporting youth to develop their skills, capacities and capabilities to enable them to participate in society as mature and responsible individuals;
promoting the Voluntary Sector for the public benefit by associating with local authorities in a common effort to advance education and provide facilities in the interests of social welfare for recreation or other leisure time occupation to improve the conditions of life of people in local, national and international communities;
promoting volunteering;
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Sevenoaks Lions Club (CIO)
Year ended 30[th] June 2025
the relief of poverty and the relief of those in need in particular by providing humanitarian aid and disaster relief;
the advancement of health or the saving of lives by preventing avoidable blindness, assisting disabled people to lead independent lives or helping prevent or manage health issues;
promoting for the benefit of the public the conservation, protection and improvement of the physical and natural environment; and/or
promoting community participation in healthy recreation.
During the year ended 30[th] June 2025 we have continued to help those in need where we can.
Children and Young People
During the year we have funded the Kenward Trust visits to local schools to provide drug awareness advice. We provided book tokens to children from deprived families and books to promote environmental awareness amongst school children. We also provided funding to other local organisations such as Seal Primary School and Youth Camps organised by Lions Clubs International.
The Elderly
The impact of the Coronavirus epidemic significantly curtailed much of the help we have traditionally supplied to the Elderly.
People with Disabilities
Mental Health has become an increasing issue in recent years and we have been able to support local organisations including West Kent Autism and the D’Vine Singers. We have again supported the local branch of Riding for the Disabled and funded a specialist buggy for a young child.
Other Charities and Voluntary Bodies
We have continued to support local organisation Friends for Families who do wonderful work with local families in need. We have also supported, Hospice in the Weald, KSS Air Ambulance and the local Womens’ Refuge
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Sevenoaks Lions Club (CIO)
Year ended 30[th] June 2025
General Public and International
We provided food vouchers for 150 families at Christmas. We also continue to deliver Message in a Bottle to many local residents. Through our umbrella organisation Lions International we have also provided funding to a number of International disasters and specifically a stoves project for Ukraine.
Grant making policy
Under the terms of the Clubs’ Constitution, Trustees apply funds at their discretion following recommendation by the members, making grants where they believe that their contribution will make a real difference. We can only make grants in furtherance of our charitable objectives.
1. Priorities for Support
The number of applications that can be supported is, of necessity, limited to the amount of funds available for distribution in any one year. The Trustees have determined that the priorities for funding will be:
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subject to other elements of the Trustees grant-making policy, no restrictions are imposed on the purpose for which a grant may be made; consequently, applications for support towards capital projects, other projects or core costs are considered;
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as there are numerous Lions Clubs in the UK, applications from Sevenoaks District Area and surrounding districts are generally given a priority, with those in the county of Kent also being considered. Trustees also consider international funding requests referred to them and by the Lions International organisation;
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candidates for support and/or grants are all considered on their own merits, following investigation by the Welfare Committee. However, given that most of the available funds are raised within the local community, those candidates that are local are given special consideration. Using the former as a guiding principle the following are examples of areas adopted for support:
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Local charities - youth groups, groups working with the elderly, residential and nursing homes, individual appeals;
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Youth and children’s organisations - sport related groups or individuals, scouting and guiding, youth club activities, young people undertaking overseas assignments;
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Sevenoaks Lions Club (CIO)
Year ended 30[th] June 2025
- Community facilities - relief of hardship for individuals and families, village hall projects, community group initiatives.
The above priorities in this policy will be reviewed every year (or more often if deemed appropriate by the Trustees), and may be changed in accordance with the Trustees’ view of the most effective application of available funds at any point in time.
2. Principles
In awarding grants the Trustees will apply the following principles:
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Trustees will not normally support applications from large national charities (unless it is from and for the local branch use) or charities dedicated to issues deemed by the Trustees to be already well funded;
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Trustees will work with other organisations to fund initiatives beyond the financial scope of a single organisation;
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all applications from previous recipients of grants or from previously unsuccessful applicants will be considered by Trustees on their own merits. Although Trustees will have regard to the outcome of the previous grant, any new application will not receive preferential or adverse consideration.
3. Exclusions
The Trustees will not normally approve the use of funds for:
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medical research projects of international, national or locally based charities;
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purposes for which government has a statutory responsibility to provide.
Risk and Reserves Policy
As the CIO does not own any property nor does it employ any staff it’s exposure to risk is relatively low. The Trustees are covered to the level of £5million by the Trustees Indemnity element of the Lions Multiple District Insurance Policy. The CIO has a risk management policy in place and in particular a risk assessment is undertaken for every fund-raising event.
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Sevenoaks Lions Club (CIO)
Year ended 30[th] June 2025
The CIO seeks to dispense grants and donations each year based on available funds. However, as the income of the CIO is primarily from a number of fund-raising events some of which require significant upfront expenditure the Trustees maintain sufficient Reserves to meet these costs and to ensure that the flow of grants to organisations can be met in the short term.
Financial review
The main source of income for the CIO is from the various fund-raising activities it puts on during the year. A surplus of £26,329, (note 2) was generated from our fund-raising events which when added to donations received of £1,761 gave us a total income of £28,090 to spend on our charitable activities and meet our governance costs.
During the year Grants totalling £26,939 (note 1) and commitments for a further £3,940 were made by the Trustees.
Governance costs are kept to a minimum and Members make donations to mitigate the necessary costs. No member or Trustee of the CIO receives any remuneration.
Alan Cattermole Barry Wheeler Roger Hope Trustee Trustee Trustee
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Sevenoaks Lions Club (CIO)
Receipts and Payments Account
Year ended 30[th] June2025
| Notes RECEIPTS Grants and Donatons 2 Donatons Members 2 Asset Sales 2 Fundraising Events 2 Members Contributons Total Receipts PAYMENTS Cost of Generatng Funds Fundraising Events 2 Charitable actvites Donatons and Grants 1 Volunteers actvites Governance costs Asset purchases 2 Total Payments Net Receipts/(Payments) Fund balances at 1 July 2024 Fund balances at 30th June 25 |
Unrestricted Restricted Volunteer Total Total Funds Funds Social Fund 2025 2024 £ £ £ £ 188 188 1,559 1,573 1,573 2050 0 0 2,500 68,197 68,197 71,908 |
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| 69,958 69,958 78,017 6,400 6,400 8,258 |
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69,958 - 6,400 76,358 86,275 |
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| 40,862 40,862 45,579 26,939 26,939 27,170 6,657 6,657 8,200 2,067 2,067 1,861 59 59 1,104 |
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69,927 - 6,657 76,584 83,914 |
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| 31 (257) (226) 2,361 52,193 1,847 54,040 51,679 |
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52,224 - 1,590 53,814 54,040 |
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Sevenoaks Lions Club (CIO)
Statement of Assets and Liabilities
Year ended 30[th] June 2025
| Notes Cash Funds NatWest Bank and Cash Other Monetary Assets Owed by Members Assets Retained for Charity’s Own Use Fund Raising Equipment Computers |
Unrestricted Restricted Members Total Funds Funds Social Fund 2025 £ £ £ £ 52,224 - 1,624 53,848 - (36) (36) Fund Original Current Cost Value £ £ Unrestricted 14,000 2,000 Unrestricted 630 100 |
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Sevenoaks Lions Club (CIO)
Year ended 30[th] June 2025
Note 1 - Charity Expenditure
| Note 1 - Charity Expenditure | |
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| Children and Young People | |
| Kenward Trust School Visits | 425 |
| Book Vouchers for Children from deprived families | 1,200 |
| Seal Primary School | 1,182 |
| Environmental Books for Schools | 1,000 |
| Lions Youth Camps | 250 |
| Disabilites | |
| West Kent Autsm | 2,176 |
| D’Vine Singers | 1,170 |
| Riding for Disabled | 5,000 |
| Specialist Buggy | 834 |
| Other Charites and Voluntary bodies | |
| Friends for Families | 5,000 |
| KSS Air Ambulance | 38 |
| Womens Refuge | 505 |
| Hospice in the Weald | 500 |
| General Public | |
| Christmas Hampers | 4,375 |
| Message in a Botle | 344 |
| Bowls Club Solar Project | 1,800 |
| Internatonal | |
| Disaster relief through Lions Internatonal | 500 |
| Stoves Appeal for Ukraine | 390 |
| Ukrainian School | 250 |
| Total Expenditure | £26,939 |
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Sevenoaks Lions Club (CIO)
Year ended 30[th] June2025
Note 2 - Fund Raising Activities
| Heavy Horse Show 2024 Heavy Horse Show 2025 Beer on the Vine 2024 Beer on the Vine 2025 Christmas Collectons Easter Eggs Sundry Fetes etc Totals Fund Raising |
Income Expenditure Net £ £ £ 49,195 28,622 20,573 3,602 5,544 (1,942) 4,506 2,016 2,490 4,466 1,992 2,474 1,818 100 1,718 1,592 570 1,022 3,018 2,018 1,000 68,197 40,862 27,335 |
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In addition, donations were received from the public of £188. Members donations for the year totalled £1,573. Gift Aid of £374 was received in respect of these donations after the year end.
Note 3 – Volunteers Social Fund
The volunteer members of the CIO hold a number of social events including a twinning arrangement with the Lions Club of Hofgeismar in Germany. In order to ensure the cost of these events do not affect the Charity’s funds the members pay for direct costs, run regular raffles and a 100 Club amongst themselves to generate funds for this purpose.
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Sevenoaks Lions Club (CIO)
Year ended 30[th] June2025
Independent Examiners Report
Report to the Trustees and members of Sevenoaks Lions Club (CIO) (registered charity number 1178738) on the accounts for the year ended 30[th] June 2025 set out on pages 1-11.
I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity for the year ended on 30[th] June 2025.
As the charity trustees of the CIO, you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (2the Act”).
I report in respect of my examination of the CIO’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the Act and in carrying out my examination, I have followed 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 which gives me cause to believe, in any material respect:
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Accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Act or
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The accounts do not accord with the accounting records
Christopher Dent
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