www.wabc.org.uk
Wallingford Accessible Boat Club
Charity Registration Number: 1179179
Audit Report for Year 2022
The Wallingford Accessible Boat Club (WABC) has had an excellent year thanks to the huge support the Charity has had from so many in our local community as well as more distant regions.
Firstly to our number one aim “Getting disabled and less mobile people out on the river” . To do this effectively our first step, kicked off in January, was to conduct a major recruitment drive for volunteer boat crew and I am glad to report this was very successful - almost too successful as the intake swamped our training resources and we took several months to complete training to the required level. That said, the experience of our new volunteers was top level and supplemented brilliantly our existing team, so much so we were able to more than double our trip/week rate from around July time (that’s mid-season).
By the end of September we had completed over 40 passenger trips carrying well over 120 people – the disabled, their friends and families – as well as completing approximately 40 training trips. So WOW-one , our specially designed wheelyboat, has been very busy, as have our wonderful volunteers. We could do nothing without them!!
According to reports, our passengers thoroughly enjoyed their river experiences and we have had more lovely testimonials which give in some cases a quite moving account of what a voyage on the river means to them – just wonderful and very heart-warming. If one ever wonders why we are doing what we are doing then these accounts say it all! There is no doubt that the support we are receiving by way of cash donations and kind words of encouragement from every quarter confirm that in WABC we have a project that really meets a major community need which is just wonderful.
We are planning to increase the number of passenger trips we can accommodate as soon as we can in 2023 but are dependent upon the availability of our new ‘HQ’ (passenger loading and support facilities at Riverside, Wallingford) which South Oxfordshire District Council (SODC) have targeted for summer delivery. We are hopeful we can manage 6-8 trips per week on a regular basis as well as running some specialist ‘group’ trips for say fishing, photography, bird watching and other nature studies.
Until the availability of our Riverside facilities in Wallingford, we will be dependent once again on the help and support of our wonderful friends in Benson - the Marina & the Waterfront Cafe - as well as the owner of our mooring at Preston Crowmarsh. We envisage we will be seeking to use their facilities for at least half of the summer months.
And talking of the SODC development at Riverside (adjacent to the swimming pool area in central Wallingford), this has continued to move forward but we still have some way to go. We have two hurdles to be overcome in the immediate future – planning consent from SODC Planning Dept. and the agreement of the Environment Agency, both of which we are hopeful of achieving by the end of 2022. With agreement of the Environment Agency the procurement process can begin and perhaps then we can hope that onsite working can start in the Spring 2023. Let’s hope it is not later than this! We are in others’ hands and that is not an easy burden to bear!
1
As a small voluntary organisation our finances are critical to our survival and we have to keep a very watchful eye on them. We have to raise £13,000 or so per annum and we plan to achieve this by way of the kindnesses of the local community, the generosity of grant making bodies, trust funds and sponsorships as well as our own efforts via typically a Christmas Draw and ‘bucket collections’ at our local supermarkets. We are very grateful to them for their help.
We have taken a major step forward over the past year in securing 6 local firms who have agreed to become Sponsors of our Club – Tailormade Building Solutions, Pettits of Wallingford, Champion & Co., The Dolphin, Winterbrook Estate Agents and NP Design & Print. I am delighted to include their logos in this report which we try to promote at every opportunity. Our Sponsors, as well as our Patrons, give us that extra confidence and additional substance which is important for our sustainability – we plan to be a permanent feature of Wallingford Rivertown Life for many years to come so it is important we always keep an eye on the future.
Our promotional activity is of course very important to our future aspirations and I am glad to say I believe we are relatively well known – but striving always for greater awareness – and, importantly, thought well of. Our Club objectives are very attractive to our publics at large which is extremely gratifying and makes our PR task easier. We just have to do our best to keep our name ‘out there’ via press releases for the media as well as our bi-annual newsletter and a very recently released video which we are very excited about – see via our website www.wabc.org.uk .
Finally I want to acknowledge and thank all our volunteers in all departments of our not-insignificant operation – without them we could get nowhere and it really strikes home to me that no matter how innovative an idea may be it means nothing without the people, their commitment and expertise, to make it a reality. So a big thank you to them!
Additionally, we are extremely fortunate to have wonderful community support which gives us all great confidence that we shall indeed get to the end of the road and achieve our objective with a community service that enables the impossible to become possible for many local disabled and elderly people and one that we can all be very proud of. We are all very thankful for that support.
John Jenkins MBE
Chair of Trustees Wallingford Accessible Boat Club Mob: 07976 297835 John.jenkins@wabc.org.uk
January 2023
2
www.wabc.org.uk
Wallingford Accessible Boat Club
Charity Registration Number: 1179179
Audit Report for Year 2022
The Wallingford Accessible Boat Club (WABC) has had an excellent year thanks to the huge support the Charity has had from so many in our local community as well as more distant regions.
Firstly to our number one aim “Getting disabled and less mobile people out on the river” . To do this effectively our first step, kicked off in January, was to conduct a major recruitment drive for volunteer boat crew and I am glad to report this was very successful - almost too successful as the intake swamped our training resources and we took several months to complete training to the required level. That said, the experience of our new volunteers was top level and supplemented brilliantly our existing team, so much so we were able to more than double our trip/week rate from around July time (that’s mid-season).
By the end of September we had completed over 40 passenger trips carrying well over 120 people – the disabled, their friends and families – as well as completing approximately 40 training trips. So WOW-one , our specially designed wheelyboat, has been very busy, as have our wonderful volunteers. We could do nothing without them!!
According to reports, our passengers thoroughly enjoyed their river experiences and we have had more lovely testimonials which give in some cases a quite moving account of what a voyage on the river means to them – just wonderful and very heart-warming. If one ever wonders why we are doing what we are doing then these accounts say it all! There is no doubt that the support we are receiving by way of cash donations and kind words of encouragement from every quarter confirm that in WABC we have a project that really meets a major community need which is just wonderful.
We are planning to increase the number of passenger trips we can accommodate as soon as we can in 2023 but are dependent upon the availability of our new ‘HQ’ (passenger loading and support facilities at Riverside, Wallingford) which South Oxfordshire District Council (SODC) have targeted for summer delivery. We are hopeful we can manage 6-8 trips per week on a regular basis as well as running some specialist ‘group’ trips for say fishing, photography, bird watching and other nature studies.
Until the availability of our Riverside facilities in Wallingford, we will be dependent once again on the help and support of our wonderful friends in Benson - the Marina & the Waterfront Cafe - as well as the owner of our mooring at Preston Crowmarsh. We envisage we will be seeking to use their facilities for at least half of the summer months.
And talking of the SODC development at Riverside (adjacent to the swimming pool area in central Wallingford), this has continued to move forward but we still have some way to go. We have two hurdles to be overcome in the immediate future – planning consent from SODC Planning Dept. and the agreement of the Environment Agency, both of which we are hopeful of achieving by the end of 2022. With agreement of the Environment Agency the procurement process can begin and perhaps then we can hope that onsite working can start in the Spring 2023. Let’s hope it is not later than this! We are in others’ hands and that is not an easy burden to bear!
1
As a small voluntary organisation our finances are critical to our survival and we have to keep a very watchful eye on them. We have to raise £13,000 or so per annum and we plan to achieve this by way of the kindnesses of the local community, the generosity of grant making bodies, trust funds and sponsorships as well as our own efforts via typically a Christmas Draw and ‘bucket collections’ at our local supermarkets. We are very grateful to them for their help.
We have taken a major step forward over the past year in securing 6 local firms who have agreed to become Sponsors of our Club – Tailormade Building Solutions, Pettits of Wallingford, Champion & Co., The Dolphin, Winterbrook Estate Agents and NP Design & Print. I am delighted to include their logos in this report which we try to promote at every opportunity. Our Sponsors, as well as our Patrons, give us that extra confidence and additional substance which is important for our sustainability – we plan to be a permanent feature of Wallingford Rivertown Life for many years to come so it is important we always keep an eye on the future.
Our promotional activity is of course very important to our future aspirations and I am glad to say I believe we are relatively well known – but striving always for greater awareness – and, importantly, thought well of. Our Club objectives are very attractive to our publics at large which is extremely gratifying and makes our PR task easier. We just have to do our best to keep our name ‘out there’ via press releases for the media as well as our bi-annual newsletter and a very recently released video which we are very excited about – see via our website www.wabc.org.uk .
Finally I want to acknowledge and thank all our volunteers in all departments of our not-insignificant operation – without them we could get nowhere and it really strikes home to me that no matter how innovative an idea may be it means nothing without the people, their commitment and expertise, to make it a reality. So a big thank you to them!
Additionally, we are extremely fortunate to have wonderful community support which gives us all great confidence that we shall indeed get to the end of the road and achieve our objective with a community service that enables the impossible to become possible for many local disabled and elderly people and one that we can all be very proud of. We are all very thankful for that support.
John Jenkins MBE
Chair of Trustees Wallingford Accessible Boat Club Mob: 07976 297835 John.jenkins@wabc.org.uk
January 2023
2
WALLINGFORD ACCESSIBLE BOAT CLUB Receipts and payments accounl for Ihe period 1 st January 2022 to 31 st December 2022 Registered Charity No. 1179179 Receipts and payments Unresiricied fvnd$ Reslrlcl?d funds Endowmeni lund• Recel ts Granis Donation$ Iniefesi Received Flaltlo nsorshi 4,175.fyJ 13,498.26 16.76 789.tKJ 7,ofAI.IJI 11,098.00 16.76 789.00 651.06 Total rnc•lpls ments lor charitable 25 479.02 17 522.49 urposes 238.IS Fund raisi Who01 oat Traini Insurance Life Ve513 Stallone and PR Bcal re airs and rnairni8nanc• Eouipmenl SIDfa Subscri lions and Olhar l•e8 Independenl Examinof$ F•e Tele ttone & Da Ccsi$ Sub total eyndilure 238.15 0.00 0.00 82.so 1,785.76 0.00 542.48 2,208.72 760.80 1.358.02 272.58 90.00 833.70 2,117.50 1.76S.76 0.00 0.00 1.173.94 1.972.88 2.058 03 1.110.60 230.(MI 2,0%.03 891.45 891.45 Admlnlr•tlv• •xp•n8eJ TOt•1p•Mn1l P4•1 ol 1•¢•lpt(p•n15) C••h lundi l••t r •rrfl C•sh lund th1 y••r •nd 2,422.80 11.4 55.TT8.76 Unr••trl¢l•d lund• R••lTlct•d lund¥ Endowm•nt lund• Total funds Lul ywr Re resented b Uoyd5 8ank Treasurers Account Lloyds 8ank Resgrve Account 22,762.110 33,016.76 22,762.00 33.016.76 44,278.91 0.00 Cash lunds thls ywr end $5,n8.76 55.778.76 44.278.91 10 whl Do11% Wtyeelyboai Assets relalned for the harlly s own use Unresincted 40.J21 40.32 nature Print Name Date of ro¥al
INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES OF WALLINGFORD ACCESSIBLE 80AT CLUB PERIOD ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022 I report on the accounts ol the charity for the period w)ded 31 December 2022 Sel out on page 1 RESPECMVE RE3PONS181LITIES OF TRUSTEES AND INDEPENDENT EXlmER The charity's trustees are responsible lor the preparation ol the accounls. Th8 charity's Iruslees consider that an audit is not required lor this year under seclion 144 01 the Charities Act 2011 Itha Charities Acll and that an independenl examination Is needed. 11 is my responsibilily lo.. examine the accounts under section 145 01 tha Charities Acl, lo follow the prO&UTeS laid down in the general Directions given by the Charity Commission (under section 14515llbl of the Chaiitias Acl, and lo slate whether particular matters have come to my attention. BA818 OF INDepENDeNT exlER.8 STATEMENT My examination was Carried out in accordanc8 With general Directions gi¥en by the Chaflty Commission. An ex8min8lion includes a review of the aCUnting records kept by Ihe charity and a comparison ol the aCUnIS present with those records. 11 also indudgs consideration ol any unusual Items or disclosures in the a¢¢ounls. and seeking explanations Irom the Irusl8es concerning any such matters. The procedures undèrtaken do not provide all the evidence Ihal would be required in an audit. and consequently no opinion is given as lo whether the accounts present a 'true and lair, view and the report Is limited to those matters set out in thg Stalgmenl above. INDEPENDENT EXAAIINER'S 8TATEMeNT In eonnection with my examination, no maller has come lo my altenlion 1. which 9ives me reasonable cause to believe that in, any rnalerial respect, the requirements". lo keep accounting rgcords in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act.. and lo prepare 8¢counls which accord wilh the accounling records and mplY with the accounting requiremenls ol the Charitie5 Act have not b88n rnel", or 2, to which, In my opinion. atlention should be drawn in order lo enable 8 proper underslan¢Jing of the accounts lo be reached. R H•ln•• FCCA Indopond•nt ¢Aamln•r HerKl•r•on No• WalliThgford Oxfordshlre OXIO 9DG