Timperley Duke of Edinburgh Award Centre
Annual Report September 2024
TIMPERLEY DUKE OF EDINBURGH AWARD CENTRE
ANNUAL REPORT YEAR ENDED 30[TH] SEPTEMBER 2024
CONTENTS
| 1. | Introduction | 3 |
|---|---|---|
| 2. | Review of the Year | 4 |
| 3. | Financial Report | 8 |
| 4. | Participation & outputs | 10 |
| 5. | Contact Details | 12 |
| Appendix 1 – Awards Completed | 13 | |
| Appendix 2 – Independent Examiners Report | 14 |
TIMPERLEY DUKE OF EDINBURGH AWARD CENTRE
1. Introduction & Background
The Timperley DofE Award Centre is a Licenced Organisation of the Duke of Edinburgh Award (DofE). This report covers the year ended 30[th] September 2024.
The Centre is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) governed by a governing document which is available on the Charity Commission website. Its charitable objective is:
To help young people in the Trafford area by providing opportunities for them to participate in the Duke of Edinburgh Award and thereby to develop their capabilities so that they may grow to full maturity as individuals and members of society.
The DofE Award provides a balanced programme of activities that develops the whole person – mind, body and soul – in an environment of social interaction and teamworking. Young people progress through three levels of DofE programmes to achieve a Bronze, Silver or Gold Award. Taking part builds confidence and develops self-esteem. It requires persistence, commitment and has a lasting impact on the attitudes and outlook of all young people who do their DofE. It is open to participants aged between 14 and 24.
Further information concerning objectives of the Award are set out on its website at: http://www.dofe.org/
All participants are registered with the DofE through the eDofE website. This tracks participation in the three elements of the Award which comprise:
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Volunteering – this is about making a difference to other people’s lives. From conservation to youth work to fundraising for charity or caring for animals – there is an extensive list of projects that the members are involved in. Our community is benefiting from volunteering with a social value of over £25,000pa.
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Physical – through this section participants achieve greater physical fitness and become healthier through a wide range of activities both personal or through teamwork.
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Skills – this is all about developing practical and social skills and personal interests. There is an extensive list of skills which the young people may develop
In addition participants take part in expeditions which involve overnight camping for one night for the bronze award, two nights for silver, and three nights for the Gold Award.
The centre is located at the Altrincham Kersal Rugby Club (AKRFC) in Timperley.
Since our centre was founded we have supported over 780 young people to take part in the Award.
2. Review of the Year
We launched the 2023-24 season with an Open Afternoon at AKRFC. Attendance was high and we had approximately 200 people attend over two sessions.
Bronze Award
At Bronze level we delivered both practice and qualifying expeditions. 11 groups took part (77 members).
We continued the new format for Bronze training to consolidate training into a weekend billed as ‘The Big Weekend Out which took place in May. The training was attended by 77 Bronze participants supported by 20 leaders.
Training started on Friday evening with Tent building & stove safety. On Saturday the groups undertook navigation training, then on to orienteering combined with first aid scenarios, during the afternoon they completed a 5k walk to practice their navigation skills, during the evening all groups planned a walk for the next day. On Sunday they completed the walk and returned home in the afternoon. We have found that teaching them the navigation and using the skills learnt straight away over the weekend definitely made them more aware and remember the new skills so will continue this again to the following year
Bronze qualifier - 75 members passed the expedition, 2 withdrew prior to the qualifier due to injuries and personal reasons.
Silver Award
At Silver we had 7 groups and 44 participants who have successfully completed their expeditions. 9 of those were Direct to Silver entrants so we had an additional training day for those participants to ensure that they understood the basics such as using a stove, navigation, first aid and pitching a tent.
We completed the Practice in the Yorkshire Dates, from High Bentham to Settle and the Qualifier in the Peak District, starting at the Goyt Valley and finishing in Buxton.
For both the Practice and the Qualifier, we had support from our AAP for Mountain Leader trained leaders. We have a strong group of volunteers who are Lowland Leader trained who support year after year. We also had quite a few new volunteers who could support the expeditions as well with logistics.
Overall it was a really good year. The groups worked really well together and managed to cope with the mixed weather that we had. Generally the team work was good and they coped with some of the difficult terrain, particularly in the Peak District well.
Gold Award
At Gold level 2 groups (14 participants) successfully completed their expeditions. Gold Level was taken over by John Pridham and Paul Gorton, their first time. They did an excellent job coordinating all of the groups and working with our Approved Activity Provider (AAP) Mountain Treks who deliver the expeditions.
The training strategy followed our usual approach of a ‘Big Day Out’ at Rivington Pike to refresh participants' navigation skills and introduce them to the Mountain Leaders, and also Paul and John, followed by pizza and route planning back at AKRFC. We then arranged a full practice expedition in the Lake District which is where the qualifying expeditions also took place. The teams generally experienced good weather and proved their map reading and camping skills and also their abilities to work together as a team. The teams completed everything with good humour and made the first experience of running a Gold expedition a pleasure for Paul and John.
Adult Volunteers
Our volunteer group has gone from strength to strength. We now have over 50 volunteers in a variety of roles. 10 new volunteers have come forward for the 2023/24 season.
Our rolling programme of adult leader training, which has previously covered areas such as safeguarding, covered First Aid training, Lowland leader training.
Adult volunteers supporting the Silver award qualifier
Stores
The Stores team, lead by Emma & Harry Deighton-Brown, have continued to run a well organised operation. Emma & Harry have taken over the organisation and running of the stores this season and all went smoothly.
During the year we invested about £1.4k in new equipment to replace old stoves and increase the amount of Personal kit we have to offer to our Members.
eDofE
The proportion of our members who go on to complete the awards is above the national average. A large part of this success is down to the encouragement our eDofE mentor team provide to participants to ensure they sign off on the Award sections. This team is lead by Charlotte Skitterall with support from Darren Williamson, Liz Stagg and Sarah Newton. Steph Carter from the Bowdon Church DofE Centre continues to be very supportive and performs the role of independent verifier.
Future Strategy
Looking forward the Trustees are confident that the centre will be able to continue to operate and serve the community in 2025.
The DofE Centre at Bowdon Church recently closed and will be donating all their kit to Timperley DofE, we are also going to offer support to any previous members from Bowdon while they complete their award.
The main risk to our centre is its dependence on members from Sale Grammar School which make up circa 65% of our cohort.
The Trustees of the Charity who served during the year and as at the date of this report are as follows:
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Andy Allan Chair
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Ben Morgan Interim Chair
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Caroline Royle
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Jon Buckland
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Peter Hayward Appointed July 2024
3. Financial Report
Income Statement
Timperley DofE Award Centre
For the year ended 30 September 2024 Amounts in pound sterling
Timperley DofE Award Centre At 30 September 2024 Amounts in pound sterling
Balance Sheet
*The prior year (2023) figures have been adjusted by £280 (net assets have increased by £280, and the Income Statement loss was reduced by £280).
In the financial year 2024, the centre made a £1,931 surplus. There was an accrual posted of £1,250 relating to outstanding charges for hire of Altrincham Kersal Rugby club, during last year.
Our accounts have been independently verified and we are also grateful to Helen Sumpton for conducting this review. Please refer to Appendix 2 for the report.
4. Participation & outputs
Participation
Although Timperley is a relatively affluent area the Centre places great emphasis on taking an ‘everyone welcome’ approach which encourages participation from a range of children from varying socio-economic and ethnic groups. The Centre is an Open Award centre promoted throughout Trafford. Most members are drawn from local schools and come from the Altrincham area.
Participation during the 2023/24 season below.
Applications by school and gender for the forthcoming 2023/24 season are set out below. This is based on data captured during the registration process:
| Applications by school 2024 Season | ||
|---|---|---|
| Altrincham Grammar School for Boys | 35 | |
| Altrincham Grammar School for Girls | 7 | |
| Sale Grammar School | 116 | |
| Blessed Thomas Holford CC | 4 | |
| Altrincham College of Arts | 0 | |
| St Ambrose | 0 | |
| Ashton on Mersey | 3 | |
| Loreto | 3 | |
| Manchester High School for Girls | 0 | |
| North Cestrian School | 0 | |
| John Deane Sixth form College | 0 | |
| Urmston Grammar school | 3 | |
| Sir John Deane's 6th form College | 1 | |
| Wellington School | 4 | |
| Urmston Grammar School | 3 | |
| Lostock High School | 0 | |
| Bramhall High | 0 | |
| Xavarian College | 0 | |
| Warrington Vale Royal College | 1 | |
| Broadoak School | 1 | |
| Other (please record in Notes field at end of this form) | 5 | |
| 186 |
Volunteering and community outreach
The impact that participants have on their communities through volunteering activity is viewed by the Centre as an important output of the programme. The DofE have confirmed this has a value of £25k. Sarah Newton has coordinated volunteer activities and has provided support for members by working with local charities to signpost opportunities.
Examples of volunteer activity undertaken during the year include :
Animal Welfare
Art Club (Cre8) at my primary school Artistic Swimming Assist Year 7s with their reading skills Assistant Brownie Leader Assistant instructor at taekwon-do Befriending service Charity Shop Charity Shop and tutoring my brother
Coaching Coaching childrens football Coaching family member Coaching the younger years at my netball club Coaching young runners at my club Community organisation beavers club Cricket Coach Dance Leadership English mentoring Event Management Faith communities Football coaching Fostering rabbit(s) for the RSPCA Friends of Stamford Park Fundraising Girlguiding UK Group Leadership Guitar tuition to my Dad. Handball Coachinf for U12 Handball coaching Heaton park Parkrun Volunteering Help dance Teacher teach younger Freestyle dance class (age 8 -12) every week for 1 hour 4.30 -5.30pm.
Helping a local family with chores, helping with homework, shopping etc. Helping and organising an art class weekly
helping at a primary school art club and after school wrap around care Helping at Cafe in the Park Helping elderly grandparents Helping people with special needs
Helping run the primary school age Sunday School groups at my local church Helping students who struggle with maths Helping teach the younger class at my dance club. helping with community events I am cleaning up, and also gardening in my local park with the friends of stamford of park. I am going to help out at a local beavers club. I am going to volunteer at Trafford handball club for 1 hour a week and help train the u12 players.
Irish Dance Junior Drama Group Leading a bbyo group Leading Year 7 drama club librarian Library volunteering Library work- neatening, straightening and shelving the books. Litter picking- for Sale Wombles Managing school library by helping stock and sorting shelves. Promoting reading in the school community. Issuing books to students. Maths tuition Maths tutoring Missing Maps Music Tuition Netball and tennis coaching Park Run Volunteer Psychology mentoring of year 11 Religious Education Rowing Bank support rspca christmas cards charity sale / fostering Science Tuition Scout Association Sports Leadership Sunday school at the local church Supporting a local community garden project supporting a rowing coach Supporting a tennis coach Supporting the younger members of the dance school Swimming Swimming coaching
Teaching Hockey
Tennis Coaching Tennis help/volunteering Tuition for my Spanish Grandmother how to speak English through weekly zoom calls. Tutoring Various volunteering activities Volunteering as a shop assistant
Volunteering as a stable hand Volunteering at the COVID Centre Walking a dog Weekly shopping for elderly neighbours
Working at Bean & Brush which is a family and art cafe. Working with a company as a UX Tester
Young Leader with Girlguiding UK
5. Further Information
For further information please email: membership@dofetimperley.org.uk
Call 0161 533 2459 or contact the relevant member of our team :
Emma Deighton Brown Centre Manager emma.db@dofetimperley.org.uk Charlotte Skitterall eDofE Manager charlotte.skitterall@dofetimperley.org.uk - Martin Deighton Brown Bronze Expedition Manager martin.deighton brown@dofetimperley.org.uk Silver Expedition Manager & Ben Morgan ben.morgan@dofetimperley.org.uk Interim Chair of Trustees John Pridham Gold Expedition Manager john.pridham@dofetimperley.org.uk Jon Buckland Treasurer jon.buckland@dofetimperley.org.uk Caroline Royle Safeguarding Officer caroline.royle@dofetimperley.org.uk Andy Allan Chair of Trustees andy.allan@dofetimperley.org.uk Peter Hayward Trustee peter.hayward@dofetimperley.org.uk
APPENDIX 1 – AWARDS COMPLETED
| Bronze | Bronze | Silver | Gold |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sam Walton | Evie Naylor | ||
| Amelie Anwar-Watts | Guy Austin | Eloise Furlonger | Katie Hodgson |
| Neve Oldham | Hannah Lee | Oscar Morgan | Georgia Henderson |
| Will Bond-Sykes | Henry Lark | Kian O’Doherty | Lucy Burke |
| Alfie Cooke | Jacob Rodgers | Theo Croquette | Marcus Royle |
| Rees Owen | Jimmy Potter | Freya Thompson | Sebastien Ball |
| Hayden Jones | Kaitlyn Malone | Ella Ashworth | Sidney Wallace |
| Alice Dale | Lottie Conway | Oliver Law | Balaji Sundaram Palaniappan |
| Penny Fothergill | Maneesh | Paula Langheinrich Ferrer | Melisa Bozman |
| Navaneethakrishnan | |||
| Ella Wu | Martha Adams | Finley Newton | Francesca Foy |
| Aaron Arcos-Hetherington | Maxwell Oliver Carroll |
Varunavi Kumar |
Ramsundar Athi |
| Abdulrehman Kashif | Mollie Mullins | Lilia Eskandar | Casey Murray |
| Aidan Chiu | Nina Taylor | Meg Barnsley | Matthew Cronin |
| Alexander Barnes | Adele Sherwood | Max Butterworth | William Hilton |
| Amar Boumaza | Sarim Ali | Ellie Sansome | |
| Anirudh Sanil | Sophia Kastavunis | ||
| Annabelle Damms | Sophia Leslie | ||
| Arjun Mallya | Sophie Mansfield | ||
| Ben McLellan | Srishti Mukherjee | ||
| Beth Stark | Suzanne Whitmarsh | ||
| Callum Sharp | Taha Dossajee | ||
| Carrie Harpin | William Muldowney | ||
| Cora Maudsley | YuHong Ni | ||
| Daniel Mack | Mohamed Eldeeb | ||
| Daniel Yousef Belal | Rohan Pattisapu | ||
| Soham Biswas | |||
| Avin Sabherwal | |||
| Vihaan Prabhu | |||
| Calum Paterson | |||
| Sritan Parupudi | |||
| Eva Donohue | |||
| Issy Brown | |||
| Jago Allison | |||
| Alexander Eustace | |||
| Dahlia Lupton | |||
| Daania Ross |
APPENDIX 2 – INDEPENDENT EXAMINER’S REPORT ON THE ACCOUNTS