2021-10-31-accounts - Vision Of Adventure

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VISION OF ADVENTURE CHARITY 118N51 ENABLING BLIND AND PARTIALLY SIGHTED ADULTS TO ENJOY THE OUTDOORS Annual Report and Accounts Year to 31st October 2021


Trustees' Annual Report for the period
From	Period start date			To	Period end date
	Day 1	Month 11	Year 2020		Day 31	Month 10	Year 2021

Section A Reference and administration details Charity name[Vision of Adventure ] Other names charity is known by[VoA ] Registered charity number (if any) 1180451 Charity's principal address 5 Highgrove, Bankfield, Kendal Postcode LA9 5DR

Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity

Trustee name	Office (if any)	Dates acted if not for whole year
Stephen Bateman	Chair
David Corso	Treasurer
Patrick Finn		Until 13thMay 2021
Paul James
Francesca Higgins
Emily Banks		From 4thMarch 2021
Mark Colman		From 4thMarch 2021

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Names of the trustees for the charity, if any, (for example, any custodian trustees)

Name Dates acted if not for whole year

Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)

Type of adviser Name Address

Name of chief executive or names of senior staff members (Optional information)

Operations Manager (Part time) – Jill Corso

Section B Structure, governance and management

Description of the charity’s trusts

Constitution adopted 23/10/18 (amended 16/2/19) Type of governing document

(eg. trust deed, constitution)

How the charity is constituted

Charitable Incorporated Organisation

(eg. trust, association, company)

Trustee selection methods

Appointed by existing Trustees

(eg. appointed by, elected by)

Additional governance issues (Optional information)

New trustees are expected to volunteer on some of the activities to ensure that You may choose to include they are fully conversant with the charities work, beneficiaries and outcomes. additional information, where relevant, about:

• policies and procedures adopted Management and Trustees seek the views of both visually impaired and guide for the induction and training of participants in deciding the activities to be run and policies to be adopted. trustees; • the charity’s organisational structure and any wider network Courses we facilitate are fully risk assessed and are led by appropriately qualified with which the charity works; staff with many years of experience. On our catered courses kitchen leaders • relationship with any related must have food handling qualifications and we encourage our volunteers to also parties; gain certification. • trustees’ consideration of major risks and the system and procedures to manage them. All trustees give their time voluntarily and received no remuneration or other benefits.

Section C Objectives and activities

Summary of the objects of the charity set out in its governing document

THE RELIEF OF VISUALLY IMPAIRED ADULTS LIVING WITHIN THE UK BY PROVIDING AND FACILITATING RECREATIONAL AND SOCIAL ACTIVITIES, IN PARTICULAR THOSE CONNECTED TO ADVENTUROUS OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES, IN THE INTERESTS OF SOCIAL WELFARE SO THAT THEIR CONDITIONS OF LIFE SHALL BE IMPROVED.

The Trustees have taken care to ensure that all our activities comply with the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit. The courses, which are residential in nature and typically last a long weekend, allow participants to meet and socialise with like-minded others. Long term friendships develop among Visually impaired participants and also with the sighted guides. Isolation is reduced and mental and physical well-being are improved. Participants on courses develop and increase their confidence by learning new or honing existing outdoor skills. The acquired skills may subsequently allow Summary of the main activities participants to join main-steam clubs and organisations to continue the undertaken for the public benefit activities. Skills gained and improvements to well being are transferred other in relation to these objects areas of their lives. (include within this section the statutory declaration that trustees have had regard to the guidance We encourage participants and guides to organise their own outdoor activities issued by the Charity Commission and events. We do this by offering administration support, providing on public benefit) information and advice on trips and allowing equipment to be borrowed. However, due to the ongoing restrictions around Corona virus this has been limited (again) this year. It remains a priority for the future. The main programme of courses and activities was seriously impacted by the Covid 19 pandemic. Early in the year, supported by specific Corona Virus funding, were able to engage with our participants in new ways e.g. online training and very small groups. When the restrictions were relaxed at the end of the summer we were able to offer a limited programme of activities.

Additional details of objectives and activities (Optional information)

Volunteers have again this year played a key role in allowing us to run the courses we did. These included not only our ‘regular’ volunteers but in order to comply with Corona virus restrictions we welcomed ‘new’ volunteers who formed part or some of the participants own ‘bubble’. All are willing to travel considerable distances to help ensure that we could put on courses. We are extremely grateful for the selfless contribution they make. You may choose to include further statements, where relevant, about: • policy on grantmaking;

policy programme related investment;
contribution made by volunteers.

Section D Achievements and performance

It has been a tricky third year for Vision of Adventure! Summary of the main achievements of the charity during the year Courses and events This year we had to look at new ways of engaging with our participants. We were very aware of the lack of opportunity for exercise and isolation faced by many visually impaired people during the pandemic. Especially hard hit were those who live alone and did not have a household member to act as a guide for them. This year we were proud to be recognised by Disability Rights UK as a user led organisation. Their support has been invaluable in allowing us to run remote and very small group activities at a time when our normal courses were not possible. In the Winter we ran zoom fitness and exercise sessions which not only provided a way for people to keep fit but also a regular chance to meet online and socialise. In Spring and early Summer, we ran a series of very small group day activities, residentials and expeditions. These included cycling, climbing, open water swimming and running. These were so successful that we will try to retain the format into the future as an addition to our “normal” courses. By the middle of Summer, we were able to start running more normal courses again. We ran courses in triathlon, climbing, cycling, open water swimming, canoeing and multi activity. Our climbing and cycling courses continue to be well oversubscribed. Caving this year was very limited due to the close guiding required and the reluctance to spend time in confined spaces with a group. The demand for open water swimming is increasing and many of our non-swimmer participants are keen to learn to swim. Provision for this seems to be very limited in most areas so we are hoping to address this with “learn to swim courses” in early 2022. Some of our triathletes have competed in mainstream events this year and this is something we wish promote especially by encouraging long term guide/ athlete partnerships where possible.

Staffing

Dave and Jill Corso continue to be the main driving force behind the charity. Jill has continued as operations manager (although she has been furloughed from this position for some of the year). Jill also continues in her voluntary capacity as fundraiser and has been successful in securing much needed funding from grant giving bodies and Trusts.

Dave has continued to manage all things financial in his role as Treasurer (a voluntary trustee role).

Unfortunately, our Support Team manager Chris Calvert departed at the end of November for personal reasons. We were sorry to see him go and thank him for his contributions, especially in the planning and implementation of our Covid procedures.

Lucy Tonkin joined in May and has become a very valuable member of the team in her role as Office Manager.

We are, in normal times, dependent on zero hours staff who work as needed on our courses. This has of course been a difficult year for them and we have been pleased to be able to place them all on furlough and employ some of them in the autumn courses.

Trustees

We continue to be well supported by our existing trustees. Steve Bateman (Chair), Dave Corso (Treasurer), and Paul James (Safeguarding and Safety), Fran Higgins (HR). We are indebted to Fran who led the process of appointing our new Office Manager.

We are very pleased that Paddy Finn has now become a major contributor in fitness and sports coaching the VI’s at Vision of Adventure. To avoid a conflict of interest, Paddy has resigned as a trustee.

We were delighted that Mark Colman and Emily Banks joined as Trustees in March. Both have regularly joined us on our offered activities and being visually impaired help provide a different perspective. Four of our six directors are visually impaired and we can truly say that we are a Visually Impaired led organisation.

Volunteers

Sadly, we have not seen some of our regular volunteers again this year due to Covid 19. We recognise that many could not attend due to having vulnerable families or being at higher risk themselves. However, we were pleased to welcome some new guides in the form of family and friends of VI participants who came along so the VI could be guided by someone from their own household or bubble.

Many of our volunteers have kept in touch and we look forward to welcoming them back as soon as we can.

Equipment & facilities

We have sold three of our older tandem bicycles. These were proving difficult and costly to maintain and their sale together with donations from Steve Elliot and Steve Bateman (who we are immensely grateful) and grants from the lottery have allowed us to purchase 2 new ones.

Again, we have been grateful to a volunteer, who with the assistance of a local bike store has maintained the whole fleet of tandem bikes for no charge.

We have been able to purchase radios and waterproof headsets thanks to the Chichester Lions which allow VI’s to be coached at a distance whilst they are climbing and swimming

The charity runs its office, for no charge, from the attic of the founder’s home. Similarly, much of the transport of the equipment used on courses has been undertaken using the staff and trustee’s own vehicles.

Fundraising

With Corona Virus dominating the year fundraising has been a challenge again. We especially thank Vicki Gilbert, Natasha Greatorex and team of fellow swimmers who swam the Channel and raised £2031 sponsorship. We also are extremely grateful to the many people who donated throughout the year and especially in our ‘Big Give’ campaign which we ran over the Christmas period where we raised almost £7000.

Notes on Restricted and Unrestricted funds

Cash at bank at 31[st] October 2021 was £13,409 in Restricted Funds . We have included our Contingency/Emergency reserve of £12,000 in the Restricted Funds.

The amount in the Restricted Fund has drastically reduced from the previous year when unused grants and donations were rolled over and spent this year. Cash at bank at 31[st] October 2020 was £22K in Unrestricted Funds .

We have been fortunate this year in that a significant proportion of our costs have been covered by grants from the previous year together with Covid related and core-funding grants. Funding levels in the Unrestricted Funds are not uniform throughout the year. They tend to be high at year end and low in late spring. This is explained by the fact that most of the Unrestricted Fund’s income (the transfers from the Restricted Fund) happens generally in late spring and summer. However, major outgoings (staffing costs and advance course charges) still occur throughout the autumn and winter (when there are few courses).

Section E Financial review

Brief statement of the charity’s policy on reserves

Our target policy is to maintain Contingency/Emergency Reserves of 4 months core costs (permanent staff costs and fixed overheads). This will ensure the charity can continue to run in the event that there is a shortfall in income or any unforeseen expenditure.

We normally review this policy on an annual basis, but because Corona Virus has highlighted the financial threats that the charity is susceptible to, we aim to consider this more regularly.

Currently the level of Contingency/Emergency Reserve is set at £12,000 (up by £4,000 from last year which reflects increased employment costs of additional staff). At existing expenditure levels this meets our target of 4 months cover.

We have previously declared that we would like to establish a small bursary fund to subsidise course fees for individuals who would otherwise not be able to participate. Unfortunately, we do not feel in a position to do so yet.

Details of any funds materially in Not Applicable deficit

Further financial review details (Optional information)

You may choose to include additional information, where The charity continues to rely heavily on grants from charitable trusts. relevant about:

the charity’s principal sources A lot of our funding this year has been Covid related and we have been
of funds (including any fundraising); supported both by charitable trusts and the Government through grants and
• how expenditure has the furlough scheme. supported the key objectives of the charity;
investment policy and We continue to be aware that we need to diversify and develop more sustainable funding streams.
objectives including any ethical investment policy adopted.

Section F Other optional information

Future Plans

Whilst 2021 has again been an unusual year, 2022 has started off with some uncertainty and we will need to continue to be adaptable.

Our main aim for 2022 is to build more resilience into the charity for the future.

We are aware that the functioning of the charity is still very dependent on a very small number of people. This will need to be addressed in order to improve the charities sustainability.

Jill continues to carry much of the day to day admin burden as well as responsibility for designing, managing and running the courses and activities and ensuring we are adequately funded. Dave continues to manage the financial side of things on a voluntary basis.

This position is not sustainable in the long term so we will seek funding for an additional member of office staff.

Jill is looking at staffing the residential courses slightly differently to allow for the increased chance of staff absence.

The demand for places on our courses continues to be high and we will look at ways of expanding our provision without “over reaching”.

Section G Declaration

The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.

Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees

Signatures
Names	Stephen Bateman	Mark Colman	David Corso
Position	Chair (during report period)	Current Chair (w.e.f 18/11/21)	Treasurer
Date	01/03/22	01/03/22	01/03/22

	Charity Name	Charity Name	Charity Name	No (ifany)	No (ifany)	CC16a
	Vision of Adventure			1180451
	Receipts andpayments accounts
	For the period from	Period start date	To		Period end date
		01/11/2020			31/10/2021

Section A Receipts and payments
	Unrestricted funds	Restricted funds	Endowment funds		Total funds	Last year
	to the nearest £	to the nearest £	to the nearest £		to the nearest £	to the nearest £
A1 Receipts
DirectDonations	1,943	1,000	-		2,943	6,543
GiftAid	227	-	-		227	1,990
Donationsvia Charity Collection Agency	195	-	-		195	505
Fundraising		9,118	-		9,118	-
Participant Coursefees	-	12,910	-		12,910	9,860
Covid 19 Business Support Grants from Govt andLottery	6,521	5,986			12,507	24,411
Grants	2,000	9,856	-		11,856	26,709
*Sub total*(Gross income for AR)	10,886	38,870	-		49,756	70,018

A2 Asset and investment sales, (see table).
Sale oftandems	1,350	-	-		1,350	-
*Sub total*	1,350	-	-		1,350	-

**Total receipts **	12,236	38,870	-		51,106	70,018

A3 Payments
Fixed and Admin costs
Salaries and On-Costs
Operations Mgr - course delivery	10,516	-	-		10,516	-
Operations Mgr - office	7,201	-	-		7,201	14,224
Other Admin	10,575	-	-		10,575	9,632
Storage costs	3,260	-	-		3,260	2,902
Insurance	1,160	-	-		1,160	1,111
IT-Web and Software costs	324	-	-		324	221
Staff Training	200	-	-		200	-
Transport	33	-	-		33	-
Office Sundries	247	-	-		247	308

Course and Event costs
Accommodation	5,774	-	-		5,774	6,189
Transport	1,979	-	-		1,979	1,407
Food costs	1,791	-	-		1,791	833
Event entry fees, Certificates	-	-	-		-	-
Bike Maintenance	127	-	-		127	338
General costs and sundries	119	-	-		119	325
Additional Venue hire	250	-	-		250	-

Additional Course Employment Costs
Casual Employee wages	12,711				12,711	8,003
External coaching costs	4,430				4,430	-
**Sub total **	60,697	-	-		60,697	45,493

A4 Asset and investment purchases, (see table)
Asset Purchases:		-	-		-	-
Box trailer	-	-	-		-	-
Canoe	-	-	-		-	-
Tandems & biking equipment	5,249	-	-		5,249	-
Computing equipment	-	-	-		-	-
Climbing equipment	867	-	-		867	-
Caving equipment	-	-	-		-	-
total of other smaller purchases	154	-	-		154	442
	-	-	-		-	-
**Sub total **	6,270	-	-		6,270	442

**Total payments **	66,967	-	-		66,967	45,935

*Net of receipts/(payments)*	-54,731	38,870	-		- 15,861	24,083


A5 Transfers between funds	60,169	- 60,169	-		-	-
A6 Cash funds lastyear end	17,231	34,709	-		51,940	27,857
*Cash funds thisyear end*	22,669	13,410	-		36,079	51,940

Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period

Categories	Details	Unrestricted funds	Restricted funds	Endowment funds
		to nearest £	to nearest £	to nearest £
B1 Cash funds	Cash at Bank	22,669	13,410	-
		-	-	-
		-	-	-
	*Total cash funds*	22,669	13,410	-
	(agree balances with receipts and payments account(s))	OK		OK
		Unrestricted funds	Restricted funds	Endowment funds
	Details	to nearest £	to nearest £	to nearest £
B2 Other monetary assets		-	-	-
		-	-	-
		-	-	-

	Details	Fund to which asset belongs	Cost (optional)	Current value (optional)
B3 Investment assets			-	-
			-	-
			-	-

	Details	Fund to which asset belongs	Cost (optional)	Current value (optional)
B4 Assets retained for the charity’s own use	Computer equipment	unrestricted	-	500
	Box Trailer	unrestricted	-	3,500
	8 canoes and Canoe Trailer	unrestricted	-	4,750
	Paddling Gear (Bouyancy aids, ~~helmetspaddlescanoe cags~~	unrestricted	-	500
	~~,, ,~~ 9 Tandems	unrestricted	-	11,000
	Cycling gear (helmets, lights, panniers, ~~multi-toolsspares & workshop equipment)~~	unrestricted	-	500
	~~,~~ Climbing gear (ropes, harnesses, helmets, ~~hardwarerock boots)~~	unrestricted	-	1,300
	~~,~~ Caving gear (ropes, SRT harnesses, ~~helmets lights caving suits wellington~~	unrestricted	-	1,700
	~~, , ,~~ Clothing (cagoules,fleeces, fleece ~~underwear Yachting waterproofs)~~	unrestricted	-	250
	Other outdoor equipment (archery ~~equipment rucksackskit bagsdrybags)~~ ~~,~~	unrestricted	-	400
	~~, , ,~~ Domestic equipment (kitchen equipment, ~~bedding workshop trolley)~~	unrestricted	-	150
	~~,~~		-	-
	Details	Fund to which liability relates	Amount due (optional)	When due (optional)
B5 Liabilities			-
			-
			-

Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees	Signature	Print Name		Date of approval
		Mark Colman		01/03/2022
		David Corso		01/03/2022

CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES Independent examinerfs report on the accounts Section A Independent Examiner's Report Report to the trusteosl membors of VISION OF ADINTuRE On accounts for the year ended 31 ST OCTOBER 2021 Charity no (if any) 1180451 Sèt out on pages al *hec.fr.' I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charty ("the Trust") for the year ended 3111012020 As the chanty trustees of the Trust. you are responsible for the preparation Responsibilities and of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act ba$18 of roport 2011 fthe Acr). I report in respecl of rny examination of the Trust's a¢untS carried out under sedion 145 of Ihe 2011 Act and in carying out my examination, I have followed the applicable Directions gl¥en by the Charity Commission under s8dion 145(51(b) of the Act. I have completed my examination. I confimi that no material matters have come to my attention (other than that disclosed below ') in connection wilh the examination which gNes me cause to believe that in, any material respect: acc(¥untifvJ records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Act or the accounts do not accord with the a¢UntIng records I have no Concems and have Come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding 0 he accounts to be reached. Ple the s in the brackets rfthey do not apply. Independent examiner's Statemgnt Signed." Data". Nam•: Relevant profe881onal quallfirAtlon{s) or body (If any): IrtSTITrfI 6 op futjtsi Address: Section B Disclosure Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight matters of con¢em (see CC32, Independenl examination of chartty accounts: directions and guidan for examinets). IER October 2018

Glvo here brief details of any items that the examiner wishes to disclose. IER October 2018