A Charitable Incorporated Organisation registered in England and Wales – No 1180762
Trustees’ Annual Report
& Financial Statement 2025
Principal Address
C/O The Saunders Club, Saunders Avenue, Bedworth, Warwickshire, CV12 8RJ
Anker Radio Trustees’ Annual Report & Financial Statement 2025
Chairman’s Report
2025 has been a year of reflection for Anker Radio. We have welcomed a couple of new members & the George Eliot staff using us to promote events on Anker Radio and whilst this is good there is still at way to go.
The goal for 2026 has got to be to recruit more members, especially if we want to move onto broadcasting on DAB as we would need to produce a minimum of 2 hours of locally produced original content a day.
One sad thing in 2025 was that Richard Todd decided to hang up his microphone Richard has been with Anker Radio since day one and been Sports Editor for over 40 Years. On a personal note, I would like to thank Richard for everything he taught me about Sports Broadcasting over the last 35 years. We wish Richard well in the future.
It did mean for the first time in Anker Radio’s history there was no regular Sports programme on air, something that hopefully we can turn around in 2026.
I would like to thank my fellow Trustees that have served with me on the Trustee Board over the last Twelve Months.
Thank You Rob Newbold for continuing to put together a programme schedule, hopefully in 2026 you will have more members to work with.
And finally, thanks to our technical manager Chris Ward who has improved the sound of Anker Radio in 2025 with improvements to the CCS playout system and still puts up with my ideas & suggestions. makes what can sometimes seem impossible, possible.
Apologies If I have missed anyone out but thank you if you have contributed to the success of Anker Radio in the last 12 months.
I hope that 2026 is a year when Anker radio can look forward and not back & continue to provide and improve our service to the George Eliot hospital and the local community.
Finally at the December members meeting the membership voted to name the studios after Colin Tyers. So we will have a naming event in 2026
John Goodman Chairman
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Anker Radio Trustees’ Annual Report & Financial Statement 2025
The Trustees of Anker Radio are pleased to submit their Report and Accounts for the year 1st January 2025 to 31st December 2025.
Organisation Anker Radio is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation registered in England and Wales on 20[th] November 2018 and governed by a constitution last amended on 9[th] December 2020.
Anker Radio is managed by the Charity Trustees who are elected by the membership in accordance with the published constitution. In the period covered by this review, We have had 4 Charity Trustees of the CIO.
The Trustees are: -
John Goodman – Chairman (Elected unopposed in 2025)
Dave Jennings – Vice Chairman (Elected unopposed in 2024)
Barry Hayward – Treasurer (Elected unopposed in 2025)
Geoff Veasey – Secretary (Elected unopposed in 2024)
At the AGM in 2025 The Members were also invited to apply for the positions of:-
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⚫ Fund Raising Manager
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⚫ Membership Secretary
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⚫ Head of Music & Promos
A Nomination was received for Fund Raising Manager – Nomination received from Christian Hancox and Christian was elected unopposed. Unfortunately, Christian stood down from the fund raising role during 2025 due to work commitments, but he has continued to help anker radio and the trustees and has been our contact on site getting Anker Radio playing in public areas around the George Eliot Site.
No Nomination were received for the other posts
Any workload associated with the vacant posts during 2025 was picked up by the trustees.
Technical Manager is a position appointed by the Trustees, in 2025 the trustees appointed Chris Ward.
Throughout the year Anker Radio continued to operate with no paid staff, being run entirely by a membership of volunteers.
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Anker Radio Trustees’ Annual Report & Financial Statement 2025
These are the objectives of the CIO
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(1) the relief of sickness, poor health and old age amongst people living in the area served by The George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust or its successors by providing a local broadcasting service for hospitals, residential homes and similar institutions, and for patients receiving community care; and
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(2) the advancement of health and prevention or relief of sickness for the public benefit through the promotion of the benefits of living a healthy lifestyle, and the importance of maintaining good personal mental and physical health by (mainly, but not exclusively) the means of broadcasting health education messages to people living in the area served by The George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust or its successors.
In furtherance of the first objective, Anker Radio provides a hospital radio service to patients at the George Eliot Hospital via 1386am, 88.9fm.
Anker Radio also streams its service online via the internet and downloadable iOS and Android Apps such as my tuner radio app.
This allows hospital patients and listeners in residential homes and similar institutions to listen to the service.
The second of these objectives is a localised version of the second model objective agreed between the HBA and the Charity Commission and allows Anker Radio to target its services at the local population outside the hospital with the intent of helping and encouraging them to live a healthy and active life in the local community and thus requiring making less use of the health services.
Anker Radio also uses its social media presence & on-air promos to disseminate information and messages in support of this objective.
We amended our constitution in December 2020 (following advice from The Hospital Broadcasting Association (HBA) to facilitate remote attendance at hybrid and fully virtual General Meetings in future without recourse to emergency legislation.
Related Organisations Anker Radio is a member of the Hospital Broadcasting Association (HBA), the national charity that supports and promotes hospital broadcasting in the UK.
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Anker Radio Trustees’ Annual Report & Financial Statement 2025
Review of Activities
Anker Radio provides a radio service to the George Eliot Hospital 24 Hours a Day, 7 Days a week. Our service can currently be heard on 1386am also on 88.9fm and online via our website ankerradio.co.uk.
Our schedule is made up of a wide variety of programmes, from Folk to Rock, Dance, Jazz, Blues, Eighties and Seventies Programmes. Plus, Northern Soul and health promotion messages. We have continued broadcasting the live syndicated Andy Lloyd Morning Show which started in 2023 between 9am & 12pm every weekday morning, this programme is broadcast on around 15 other stations.
By the end of 2025 on average, we broadcast 42 Hours of programmes a week produced by Anker Radio volunteers (which includes repeats of previous programmes, which is down on the 58 hours produced in 2025. We fill the other hours in the week with syndicated programmes and with programmes from the HBA shared programmes list.
The lack of active members is limiting our programme output.
We have continued to run the word on health feature along with other heath related content such as promos for the over 60’s football group and the local walk & talk group. We have also continued broadcast news & events from the George Eliot Hospital Trust during 2025.
We are now 4 Years into our 5 year Ofcom licence for 88.9fm & we have 1 year left to run on our 1386am Licence. Current Licence costs for each service are £350 per year. Plus any associated PRS & PPL costs.
Nuneaton & Hinckley was included in round 6 of the small-scale DAB licencing timetable, applications to run a multiplex were invited in the spring/summer of 2024 with a closing date of mid July 2024 although anker radio did not apply to run the Nuneaton & Bedworth Multiplex we have engaged with the company that did apply for the multiplex. Ofcom decided to award a new smallscale radio multiplex licence for Nuneaton & Hinckley to Maxxwave Limited in May 2025. We have spoken to Maxxwave and they are keen to work with us. The Main stumbling block to launching a DAB service is the £3500 per year for the PRS/PPL Licence. We may be able to pay this monthly but it is still extra money that the station would have to find.
Anker Radio will continue to develop a pragmatic and sensible digital strategy & work with other stations and companies.
The Trustees recognise the need to respond to any opportunities provided in a way that is cost effective and supports the charitable objects, as appropriate.
At the time of writing, we currently have 23 members a mixture of life members, active/non active members and associate members.
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Anker Radio Trustees’ Annual Report & Financial Statement 2025
WORKING IN PARTNERSHIP AGAIN AT THE GEH
Anker Radio continues to work with the GEH volunteers and League of Friends promoting the Food Bank at various collection points around the hospital. The Food Bank became a permanent venture as of 2025.
Largely thanks to the on site efforts of our member “on the ground” Christian Hancox, we now have an audible and visual presence back in the hospital again. Our programmes are broadcast in the waiting/refreshment area in the Maternity Block during opening times. We are moving towards having our programme content audible in the main tea bar, Christian has been working with the League of Friends to get a radio playing Anker Radio in the Main Tea Bar, We hope this will become live during 2026.
Stop Press
As of 17[th] April 2026 Anker Radio is playing in the Main League of Friends Tea Bar
LEST WE FORGET
Unfortunately, due to illness and short notice Anker Radio representatives were not able to walk with other GEH Volunteer groups in the Nuneaton Remembrance Parade on Sunday. 9th November. We hope to return in 2026 and hopefully lay our own wreath once again like we did before Covid.
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Anker Radio Trustees’ Annual Report & Financial Statement 2025
DISPLAY BOARDS
We still have our display board in the hospital and we have continued to update in 2025 not as regularly as the trustees would like. We hope to improve this during 2026.
In 2024’s Annual report we wrote the following
ARE LISTENER REQUESTS MAKING A COMEBACK?
GEH is not alone in not restoring NHS ward access and direct patient contact after lockdown(s). However: Trustees are looking into visiting Care Homes, Hospices and Residential Settings in an attempt to reintroduce some kind of request show. Our constitution encourages community participation beyond the GEH boundary anyway. We also feel this would be a positive way of showing goodwill and possibly of great comfort to those who perhaps may be ex-GEH patients but who cannot get out and about more regularly.
We did not manage to get this off the ground in 2025, it was a result of our lack of active volunteers.
NUNEATON CARNIVAL The success of this newly revitalised event held on Sunday August 24[th] has been broadly advertised in local press and on line. This was thanks to a new committee who formed shortly after the previous announcement that there would not be a 2025 procession. Anker Radio were asked early on for help with hosting a town centre stage and so on that Sunday we hosted The Anker Stage right in the heart of a packed town centre. between 11am and around 8.30pm. The Anker Inn at Hartshill provided much of the equipment including the staging. Chris Ward and John Goodman helped out with the sound whilst Rob Newbold, Dave Jennings And Geoff Veasey introduced events and linked things together.
It was a long day for all involved, but hopefully it made some people aware of Anker Radio who did not know about us before.
SPONSORSHIP OF NUNEATON TOWN
Although as mentioned in the Chairman’s report we did not have a Sports Programme this season. Geoff Veasey our secretary did Sponsor Nuneaton Town on behalf of the Radio Station. This meant that our logo appeared in every home match programme and in the sponsors section on the Nuneaton Town website. Geoff intends to renew the Sponsorship in 2026 and upgrade it to a quarter page advert in the programme.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANKER RADIO
We were 45 years old in November 2025. What a journey it has been! Other than a few breaks owing to technical difficulties (not of our making), we have during that time provided a radio service to the Manor Hospital before it closed. And continue to provide a service to the George Eliot Hospital and to the town. It passed quietly although we ran a few stories on social media. We commemorated this with fairly low key celebrations. Anker Folk put on a series of three programmes over the month, playing a sample track from each year of our existence from 1980 right up to the present day. We were hoping to have a party for members past and present but we ran out of time to organize one.
HBA NATIONAL CONFERENCE
The Chair and Chris Ward represented Anker Radio at the Hospital Broadcasting Association Conference in April. It was the first time Anker Radio had attended conference for many years. Anker Radio was among the HBA member stations to provide a “live feed” during the conference. Our representatives fed back that it was a good conference and some useful networking took place.
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Anker Radio Trustees’ Annual Report & Financial Statement 2025
FUND RAISING
2025 was a better year financially. Our First Quiz Night in January 2025 raised £550, In June we raised £394, In August £292 We try to run quizzes at the Saunders Club at least once every 3 months. Sometimes we have run them every 2 months depending on availability on the room at the Saunders.
We held a fashion show in September 2025 in association with Bede Village at the Saunders Club it was not as well supported as we would have liked but it did raise £300 for the station.
COLLECTING TINS These continue to be placed with local shops and businesses and are checked regularly. An astonishing effort from the Handcrafters Hub in Abbey Street in the summer yielded an amazing £80. This included a £20 note and a 1952 UK Thruppenny Bit! In the same week, the tin in The Attleborough Arms produced another £40 We also have tins in The Lord Hop and The Palace in town and on counters in several other venues
Fund raising, no matter how small or large the amount generated therefore, remains essential.
We also received our anonymous donation from the Heart of England foundation; we have received this donation for many years. £1500
Richmond Villages Bede renewed the sponsorship of our weather in 2025 which brought in welcome funds.
BEDE VILLAGE CHRISTMAS FAYRE
Once again, our volunteers ran a stall at this very busy annual event on Saturday December 6th. £100 was raised which is an increase on last year so well done to all. Bede are one of our major sponsors, so it was a good PR exercise for us, too.
HALLOWEEN QUIZ NIGHT
This was the last of our Quiz nights of the year in the last week of October. It was not as well attended as some of the others which is a pity as it was a lot of fun. £125 was raised. There were probably just too many counter attractions going on that night so we may need to look at our format and schedule for 2026 again. All the questions had a Halloween theme.
BEDWORTH FOLK CLUB
Our neighbours just down the road nominated us as their chosen Charity for their Christmas Party Collection on December 10th. Santa himself did the honours, and the audience raised a further £120 for us.
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Anker Radio Trustees’ Annual Report & Financial Statement 2025
Looking Forward
We will be running more quiz in 2026 and hopefully at race night at some point. We will also look at selling some of our surplus equipment to see if we can raise much needed funds. Getting rid of surplus equipment will save on storage fees.
Although we looked to run a recruitment drive in 2024 we were beaten time wise by other events.
The volunteer recruitment drive never happened in 2025 We will look to undertake a volunteer recruitment drive in 2026.
We will also look to expand our community involvement and will look to broadcast more local interest & health & wellbeing material.
We also investigate expanding the programme schedule to provide more local programmes, so we rely less on shared and syndicated programmes.
We will also look at the financial viability of broadcasting on Small Scale DAB
The Trustees will start to look at arranging fund raising events to bring in funds, we will also look at arranging some social events every couple of months.
Acknowledgements
The Trustees would like to acknowledge all the help and support given to us by the president, committee members and staff of the Saunders Club in Bedworth over the last 12 months & we are extremely grateful to them for their continued support.
The Trustees would like to acknowledge all the help & support given to us by Bedworth citizen advice bureau for allowing us to use a room when needed for our trustee’s meetings also allowing us to use a room during 2025 for storage of our equipment. We have been given notice that we will need to vacate the storage in the first quarter of 2026
The Trustees would like to thank our sponsors for their support during 2025.
Signed on behalf of the trustees,
John Goodman Chairman
Barry Hayward Treasurer
Date:15/05/2026 Date:- 15/05/2026
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Anker Radio Trustees’ Annual Report & Financial Statement 2025
Anker Radio Annual Accounts 2025 Charity Number: 1180762
Receipts & Payments Account Reporting period from 1[st] January 2025 to 31[st] December 2025
AR Cash Account
Current A/C opening balance 1st January 2025: £ 513.36
| 2025 | 2024 | |
|---|---|---|
| Totals | Totals | |
| INCOME | £ | £ |
| Membership (PayPal, BACS, cheques & cash) | 462.50* | 355.00* |
| PayPal (Members/Supporters transactions portal)* | 312.17 | 268.21 |
| Donations | 4,800.00 | 972.00 |
| Crowdfunder (Personal Donations) | 142.05 | 304.25 |
| Fundraising Activities (Tins/Events) | 1,111.00 | 390.00 |
| Transfer of Funds (from AR Gold Deposit Account)** | 0.00 | 3,329.26** |
| Cash Account Interest/Refunds | 4.81 | 23.32 |
| Approved Asset Sales | 625.00 | 00.00 |
| _ | ___ | |
| 7,457.53 | (5,642.04) | |
| (Nett)7,457.53 | 2,312.78 | |
| EXPENDITURE | £ | £ |
| Licences & Memberships | 1,490.39 | 1,491.55 |
| Insurance (Liability) | 1,123.56 | 1,372.29 |
| Music Royalties | 1,119.60 | 1,090.80 |
| OB Van Costs (Insurance/MOT/Tax/Maintenance) | 0.00 | 1,034.88 |
| Internet Services/Telecoms | 728.05 | 729.14 |
| Equipment Storage (Hinckley) | 922.91 |
618.92 |
| Maintenance | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Stationery & Consumables | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Postage | 0.00 | 6.30 |
| Banking/E-Bay Fees | 60.10 | 60.00 |
| Miscellaneous (Studio equipment/Sundries) | 0.00 | 61.78 |
| _ | ___ | |
| 5,444.61 | 6,465.66 |
Current A/C closing balance 31[st] December 2025 : £ 2,751.13
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Anker Radio Trustees’ Annual Report & Financial Statement 2025
Please Note:
Income therefore exceeded Expenditure by £2,012.92 (Nett)
Outgoings were reduced by £1,021.05
*Includes BACs transfer of held PayPal Funds into AR cash account ** This was a Transfer from the ‘Gold Reserve Account’, not new funds, but to support the ‘Cash Account’ outgoings.
Gold Deposit Account
AR Gold Deposit Account opening balance on 1[st] January 2025: £ 1,016.85
| INCOME: | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Transactions_added_to Gold A/C: | 2025 | 2024 | ||||
| £ | £ | |||||
| March | Fundraiser & Interest | 238.73 | 26.70 | |||
| June | Fundraiser & Interest | 256.48 | 18.78 | |||
| September | Interest | 6.98 | 10.97 | |||
| December | Interest | 6.63 | 5.88 | |||
| _ | ______ | __ | _____ | |||
| 508.82 | 62.33 | |||||
| EXPENDITURE: | ||||||
| Transfer of Gold Deposit funds to AR Cash Account: |
||||||
| April | No Requirements | 0.00 | 810.48 | |||
| April | No Requirements | 0.00 | 1000.00 | |||
| July | No Requirements | 0.00 | 518.78 | |||
| August | No Requirements | 0.00 | 1000.00 | |||
| _ | ______ | _ | ||||
| 0.00 | 3,329.26* |
AR Gold Deposit Account closing balance on 31[st] December 2025: £ 1,525.67
*Funds transferred from ‘ Reserve ’ account to AR Cash Account to support Station expenditure
Gold Account Interest Rate fell from 2.3% to 1.85% in January 2025
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Anker Radio Trustees’ Annual Report & Financial Statement 2025
Treasurers Report
Financial Overview
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Anker Radio manages its Finances in compliance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 & the Charity Commissions guidelines ‘Internal Financial Controls for Charities (CC8)’
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Accounts for year ending 31[st] December 2025 have been prepared on a Receipts & Payments basis.
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At the end of the year under review, Anker Radio is financially stable & has adequate cash reserves to meet known commitments.
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Costs have risen in every sector across the UK, reflected in increased costs for Public Liability Insurance, Broadcasting & Music Licences.
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Internet Costs remained level in 2025, but are expected to rise by around 18% in 2026.
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Due to the move from our George Eliot base, a new cost to cover equipment storage off site became necessary. These costs for 2025 have risen by 50%. We have been looking to remove these additional costs in the shortest time span, & aim to be free of the storage facility in early 2026. This will involve the reducing of assets in accordance with Charity Commission rules.
Reserves Policy
- It is the Policy of the Charity that unrestricted funds which have not been designated for a specific use, should be maintained at a level equivalent to between 3 & 6 months expenditure. The Trustees consider that Reserves at this level will ensure that, in the event of a significant drop in funding, they will be able to continue the Charity’s current activities, whilst consideration is given to ways in which additional funds may be raised.
Income
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Financial downturn in the UK remains a major factor affecting AR’s income. Potential Sponsors continue to cite ‘unaffordable’ pressures to donate to Charities. The Trustees have been liaising with all possible revenue sources & have had a successful 2025 with our highest Donation figure for some time.
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Due to having managed our financial commitments, with tight budgetary considerations, we had no need to make any support transfers from our Reserve account in 2025.
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In 2025 we increased contact with previous AR supporters, from which we did see significant donations, along with renewed ties with BUPA. Local Council Funding also served us well.
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The Saunders Club, our new base has proved that our Fundraising can move up several gears, & a number of successful events have been held throughout 2025, giving us a far firmer financial future.
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Supporters using the online Crowdfunder platform have continued to make small, but welcome contributions. Any Members who may wish to further contribute funds might wish to explore this option.
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Anker Radio Trustees’ Annual Report & Financial Statement 2025
Expenditure
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The Trustees continued to maintain tight controls on expenditure during 2025.
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Expenditure for 2025 decreased by some £1,021.05 over 2024. Inflation continues to drive increases in Licence(s), Insurances & Internet costs across the UK, over which Anker Radio have little control.
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The OB Bus was finally removed from our Cost basis, with a small but useful payment into our funds. This action alone will reduce annual costs by well over £1K per year.
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Internet Service costs were reviewed & new prices negotiated during 2025. When current ‘package(s)’ contracts are due for renewal, in 2026, reliable but cheaper alternatives will be sought.
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The Trustees remain committed to continue to review our Service providers costs & will seek to source more cost effective alternatives in the market place, if viable for the Radio Station.
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Discussions with our Liability Insurers did lead to a reduction in costs without a Policy compromise for 2025. No doubt, rates will increase in 2026, at least in line with inflationary pressures.
Management of Major Risks
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Ensuring that Anker Radio generates income to cover the running costs of providing a Hospital Radio service must be considered as a priority. Historically our main revenue sources have been revenue streams through grant funding, personal/covenant donations & Fundraising events.
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Obviously, all Funding streams have associated risks, but due to having prepared a financial buffer afforded by our Reserve Account, the Trustees remain confident that we will continue to fulfil our financial commitments & with them, our long term future
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The new Studio location has enhanced the opportunity to hold larger Fundraising events. Events are already being planned quarterly & will be communicated to Members following diary confirmation(s). Member support for these Fundraisers, in any capacity, will contribute to our future Broadcasting security.
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Discussions with new revenue streams are ongoing & all local & National grants/schemes are being pursued, for the benefit of the Radio Station. If you, as a Member, have any contacts or have seen newly available Funders that we should explore, please make your Trustees aware.
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Excess equipment has been reviewed & the sale of assets remain a priority in order to remove the need of outside storage from our cost basis. The aim is to vacate the storage unit early in 2026, subject to giving due notice. This action alone will produce a cost saving of over £1.2K per year.
In conclusion, whilst revenue remains my main focus, I would like to sincerely express my thanks to all those who have made a contribution, financially or physically, to the Station over 2025. The new Studio & Saunders Club venue affords us a greater opportunity to fly the flag & I hope that Members will continue to rally to the cause. I look forward to seeing Members at the next Event.
Barry Hayward Anker Radio Treasurer 10[th] May 2026
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Anker Radio Trustees’ Annual Report & Financial Statement 2025
Charity Details
Anker Radio
A Charitable Incorporated Organisation, Reg Number 1180762
Trustees
John Goodman – Chairman
Dave Jennings – Vice Chairman Barry Hayward – Treasurer Geoff Veasey – Secretary
Principal Address
C/O The Saunders Club Saunders Avenue Bedworth Warwickshire CV12 8RJ
Bankers
CAF Bank Ltd 25 Kings Hill Avenue Kings Hill West Malling ME19 4JQ
Signed on behalf of the trustees,
John Goodman Chairman
Barry Hayward Treasurer
Date:- 15/05/2026
Date:- 15/05/2026
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