THE CITY OF SHEFFIELD ROWING CLUB
TRUSTEE REPORT FOR THE PERIOD 01 JANUARY – 30 DECEMBER 2021
Introduction
The Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) that is the City of Sheffield Rowing Club (CSRC) came into formal existence on 18 March 2019, with registration number 1182522.
The address of the principle office of the Charity is 12, Dore Close, Sheffield, S17 3PU.
The five Trustees who served during the calendar year 2021 were: Liz Brown (chair); John Elliott (secretary); Richard Foster; Chris Whitehead; and Graham Woods. Liz Brown and Richard Foster were selected by lot and resigned, as required by the Constitution, at the Charity AGM on 18 March 2021, and were re-elected unopposed.
In accordance with the Constitution, two Trustees will stand down at the AGM on 24 March 2022, and elections for new Trustees will be held.
Governing document
The Governing Document for the Charity is the Constitution, which came into force on 18 March 2019.
Charitable Object
The Charitable Object of the City of Sheffield Rowing Club is to promote community participation in healthy recreation for the public benefit in and around the city of Sheffield through the provision of facilities for rowing and sculling.
Charitable activity in 2021
The ability of the Club to deliver rowing and sculling opportunities for its members and prospective members in 2021 was, as in the previous year, adversely affected by the pandemic. Covid-19 restrictions meant that the Club had to shut from 04 January; outdoor sports facilities were not able to reopen until 29 March.
Training was then able to recommence even though protective measures – such a mask-wearing at the boathouse and the maintenance of social distancing – remained necessary, and a tentative race programme through to the end of the year was circulated in early May.
As usual, the Club divided its rowing and sculling community into squads, membership of which was determined by ability, fitness, and the personal ambitions of individual rowers. Activities in each squad were determined by the relevant squad leader.
Most oarsmen and oarswomen trained and competed with the main racing squads, led by Mike Luckham (men) and Lizzie Ribey and Alex Wright (women). In the summer, these squads competed
at a number of regattas, including Henley Women’s Regatta, Peterborough Summer Regatta, the Northern Sprint Championships and York Autumn Head , with noteworthy performances from Cat Webb and Bridie Hamilton at Henley, and Rob Pilling at Northern Sprints.
For those looking for a slightly more relaxed approach to competition, the recreational squad, led by Karen Millar, entered events in the recreational league where success is measured not only in terms of relative speed, but also technical proficiency. The squad have done particularly well for 2021 but notably at Grosvenor in July where they won 4 out of 4 races and had their trophy presented to them by Josh Bugajski, 2020 bronze medal winner in the Tokyo Olympics.
To continue to welcome new members to the sport, a “learn to row” course was run over consecutive weekends in May by Lizzie Ribey and Alex Wright. Following this, participants are invited to join the Novice Squad for further training and an introduction to sweep oar technique, before graduating to the main racing squads. This current cohort has been particularly successful for the club with 16 attending the Learn to Row course and 16 graduating at the end of March 2022.
Junior rowing was marshalled during 2021 by Donald McDougall and, later, Jodi Garth. Its successes are described fully in a separate section later in this annual report.
Our corporate members; the University of Sheffield Rowing Club and Sheffield Hallam University Rowing Club have both survived the rigours of 2021. Hallam in particular overcame a very challenging time with the near dismantling of the club, but thanks to the formulation of a new committee of volunteers, they have been able to continue operation. This has been a very positive outcome as it has allowed for the strengthening of a partnership approach to working between the City club and the two University clubs.
The Club also hosted the first Business Boat Race in the summer of 2021 as organised by Chris Whitehead and input from an array of volunteers. This activity allowed for a fun, recreational race between three local businesses - Wandisco, Freeths and RCA - following a period of coached training. This was a successful event, increasing membership of the club and raising £2400.
Not everyone is a born racer, of course, and it was also pleasing to see a regular stream of boats leaving the stages with club members simply enjoying rowing for its own sake.
During the year the Club’s ergo space was burgled, and Simon Turner, who had kindly given the Club use of the space free of charge over a number of years, felt he could no longer support it as a training base. Chris Whitehead, Kate Davies and Liz Brown secured a new home for our stock of ergos at the Kitlocker factory, allowing the Club to offer ergo training on a squad basis on weekday evenings and weekend mornings. Kate also secured a new partnership with a Strength and Conditioning coach delivered out of Structure Sport and Fitness gym. These sessions, alongside circuit training on Sheffield Hallam premises, offered members good opportunities to maintain and build fitness during the winter months.
The Captain, Kate Davies, who stands down at the 2022 AGM after two and a half years in role, expressed her thanks to her Vice-captain, James Palmer, the squad leaders, the Committee, and anyone else who had helped her keep the Club going during an extended difficult period for the country as a whole.
Public benefit
The Trustees affirm that they have complied with the duty in section 4 of the 2006 Act to have had due regard to the guidance on public benefit published by the Charity Commission. They have all been made aware of the guidance. Furthermore, the Trustees believe that the decisions they have made consequent on the establishment of the Charity will be beneficial to those members of the public who are, or who will become, members of the rowing club; do not involve personal gain for the Trustees; and do not involve decisions where there is a need to decide whether the benefits of a decision outweigh any associated harms.
Trustee remuneration, expenses, and related party transactions
No Trustee received remuneration for acting as a Trustee during 2021, nor did any Trustee receive expenses for travelling, or to cover other personal costs. There were no related party transactions that require disclosure in the annual accounts.
Financial review
The club is in a healthy financial position, with positive balances at year-end on all three of its accounts, as follows:
Facilities account £ 33183 General account £ 15432 Social account £ 704 Cash in hand £ 39
Total £49358
Moreover, the club had no significant debts at year-end. We believe we owe Yorkshire Water a historic rent payment of £175, but, despite some effort, have been unable to obtain an invoice for this sum, without which we can make no payment.
The accounts are constructed on a cash basis; that is to say, they show receipts and payments during 2021, rather than income generated or expenditure committed. As a result, the cash account does not include fees from Hallam University for rowing services delivered in the academic year 2021/22, as those fees were still outstanding on 31 December; they were subsequently paid on 18 January 2022. If those fees, and the City fees due for 2022, had both been included, the effective end-year balance on the facilities account would have been nearer £44,000 than the actual figure of £33,183.
Running costs on the facilities account amount to some £8,000 per annum (including, for example, property insurance; rental payments; and outlays on shared assets). The Trustees are required in law to maintain, as part of a reserve, an amount which would allow it to meet the Charity’s debts were it necessary to wind-down activity at the Dam completely. The details of the proposed reserve policy are set out below. But the overall implication of the policy is that we have accumulated about £23,000 by the end of 2021 which we could spend on elements of the proposed improvements – such as reconstructing the boating area or installing an electricity supply. Given our inability thus far to attract charitable donations which would raise our capital to the £70,000 initially required for
these improvements, the Club needs to consider whether it would be prepared to take on an unsecured loan in order to begin work.
Review of financial procedures
The Trustees reviewed the Club’s financial procedures during 2021 and concluded that,
commensurate with the principle that the Club should be run by the Committee, control of all three CSRC accounts should be vested with them.
Inspection of accounts
The accounts for the financial year 2021 were examined by Peter Winter of Winter & Co., Chartered Certified Accountants, and approved at the 2022 AGM.
Contributions to the Facilities Account
The annual fee per head levied on the two Universities and the City Club has increased from £80 to £86. This increase covers the additional cost of storing the trailers off site in a secure compound.
Capital stock
The most significant change to the capital stock in 2021 involved the purchase of two new boating trailers to replace the two stolen from the Damflask site towards the end of 2020, and the purchase of a new Janousek coxless IV. The cost of the trailers – some £9,500 – was met from an insurance claim. The cost of the IV (£15,000) was met from the general account.
At the end of 2020, the total value of the Club’s assets was some £38,500. These assets include City club boats and blades, together with items shared with the two University clubs - principally the coaching launch and the trailers – but do not include the equipment owned by those University clubs. By the end of 2021 the value of those assets had depreciated according to assumptions made in relation to their current values and expected lifespans. Nevertheless, the purchase of the trailers, the Janousek IV Damfast, and new landing stages increased the value of the capital asset stock to £61,263 at year end.
Policy on reserves
The Trustees have reconsidered their policy on reserves, in the light of the Charity Commission guidance. The full policy will be published on the Club website in due course.
The Charity needs to retain reserves to cover unforeseen outlays resulting from emergencies (such as storm damage), to insure against the removal of a major income stream, to accumulate funds for capital improvements, and to be able to meet commitments in the event that the Charity is wound up. Reserve funds would be unrestricted ; that is, be funds that can be spent at the discretion of the Trustees in any way that furthers the charity’s objects. The major part of the current reserve would, however, be designated - in this case, funds to be used for the development of the site, as long as the policy of improving the boathouses and waterside access remains in place.
The initial proposal is therefore that £5,000 of the Facilities Account balance be available for unforeseen emergency spending or to cover a future shortfall of income, leaving the balance (£28,000 at the end of 2021) designated for capital improvement. Given running costs of £8,000 per annum, at current levels of income the balance would increase by about £10,000 per annum. In addition, the Trustees recommend that an unrestricted reserve of £2,000 is maintained in the General Account for unforeseen emergency funding, built up over two years.
Exercise of Trustee responsibilities during 2021
Welfare
The Trustees are pleased to report that no new issues arose in respect of the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults at the Club during the calendar year 2021. Any issues that carried over from the previous year were resolved satisfactorily, with no further action necessary.
The Trustee responsible for welfare issues, Richard Foster, has liaised regularly with the Club Welfare Officer Olwyn Paxman. The Trustees note that Olwyn has, in particular, engaged very effectively with new arrangements for recruiting and coaching the Junior Squad, which were instituted in the course of the year. She has frequently and regularly observed proceedings at bankside and around the boathouse to ensure that procedures have been satisfactorily followed.
Overall, and taking account of the continued disruption imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic and the necessary public health response to it, the whole club can take pride in having returned the club to normal operation safely, having maintained due respect for the well-being and welfare of all members, both on and off the water.
Health and Safety
Ongoing protective measures
A number of measures designed to provide a safe rowing environment were again implemented in 2021. New members, including corporate members, were issued with the CSRC Safety Plan and Health and Safety Policy Statement and were asked to confirm that they had watched a Health and Safety Briefing video as part of their joining requirements. In addition, the club submitted an annual safety audit which was approved and accepted by British Rowing. Monthly safety reports published by British Rowing were circulated to all club members with a summary that highlighted information that is relevant to members of CSRC.
The year 2021 was, however, once more dominated by the Coronavirus pandemic; club members continued to observe Covid-19 protocols in line with government legislation and the advice given by British Rowing.
Incidents
There were 10 incident reports made using the British Rowing Incident reporting system during 2021. Eight incidents were simple capsizes, whilst the remaining two related to slips, trips and falls on land.
One fall occurred when a member carrying his single scull tripped on oars which were stored untidily on the boathouse floor; the fall resulted in £500 worth of damage to the boat, although no injury to the member concerned. The other land-based incident did, however, result in an injury, when one member trapped a foot in a landing stage after standing on a rotten plank. As a result, all of the landing stages were inspected and several planks which were potentially unsafe were replaced. Two new smaller landing stages have been provided which are easier, and therefore safer, to handle.
All eight of the capsizes involved single scullers. Two were seniors, and the remaining six were juniors, of which two were in stable singles.
The majority of the capsizes involving juniors occurred when they were under the supervision of members of the junior coaching team, and were not considered serious. One such capsize was the result of a rower rigging a stable single incorrectly. In all cases the juniors got back into their boats and continued with their training sessions.
One of the incidents involving senior scullers was more serious. A novice sculler who fell into unexpectedly cold water suffered shock, and as a result did not follow the capsize procedure; they instead abandoned the boat and made for the bank. The sculler was helped to shore by another crew boat that was passing nearby. The Trustees will ask the Committee to ensure that a thorough risk assessment relating to single sculling, covering all abilities and weather conditions is conducted. Further, the Trustees recommend the purchase of a lightweight rib to be on standby as a rescue boat in cases where the launch is not on the water.
The University of Sheffield recorded 2 incidents with British Rowing; Sheffield Hallam University were, however, not active during this year and had no incidents to report.
Plans for 2022
The Club will organise a capsize drill session at Hillsborough Leisure Centre in March 2022.
Building works
During 2021 the cost of supplying mains electricity to the boathouses was established as lying in the range £60k to £70k. This estimate was broadly the same whether the supply came from the road directly above the site via a high-voltage cable, or indirectly from the gate by a longer low-voltage cable. Although a low-voltage supply at 240V is in principle much cheaper than a high-voltage supply, it would require the digging of a trench and the use of a large diameter cable, which brings the total costs into balance with those for the high-voltage supply (not to mention the associated risks of theft of the low-voltage cable, which we were advised were not insubstantial).
The other elements of the development scheme – rebuilding the retaining wall, replacing the old boathouse, and refurbishing the ‘new’ boathouse - all await external funding. The amount in the
trustees account should be adequate this year to either fund the first phase of the retaining wall, or pay for a deposit on a mortgage for a new boathouse.
Fundraising
Capital funding for building works
The impact of the pandemic on fundraising continued throughout 2021, with some funding bodies meeting only sporadically, and the majority concentrating on those sports clubs for which Covid constitutes an existential threat. Sport England noted on their homepage on 7 January 2021 that:
- “Coronavirus (Covid-19) has had an impact on everyone but our insight is showing it is more significant in some communities or groups and the rate of recovery back to prepandemic levels is slower for some people. To help support those most severely affected by the ongoing pandemic, we have a £21.5m Return to Play Fund.
The Community Asset Fund has now been paused to new applications…”
We made an unsuccessful application to Return to Play at the end of 2020. We will need a Sport Development Plan in order to apply to the Community Asset Fund once it reopens. In 2021 we made applications to HSBC, the Canoe Foundation, the Henley Stewards Charitable Trust, and the Health & Wellbeing Mayoral Community Fund, none of which were successful.
Nine other funding sources, suggested by members, were considered and ultimately discounted because our bids would have failed to meet the funding criteria laid down by the prospective donors.
- We have an ongoing campaign on Just Giving: https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/csrc new-boathouse. In 2021 this attracted £2,170, of which £1,982 was raised by Vicky McDougall, Janet Vickers and their UK Gold colleagues across the country and beyond in the Race the Thames challenge Another £600 was raised for London Youth Rowing as a part of the same exercise, emphasising the Club’s support for Junior Rowing. Adding in the £300 raised in 2020 we now have £2,470 from Just Giving.
The inaugural Business Boat Race raised £2,400 in fees from the competing crews, and a further £238 from the catering operation run by Malky Middleton. A lack of volunteers to support the training sessions means, sadly, that we will not run a further competition in 2022.
Equipment funding
Our 2020 application for a new stable quad from the Clothworkers Foundation was turned down, but a campaign instigated by Don McDougall using the Aviva Community Fund platform attracted £959. This was paid into the general account and contributed to the three trainer singles purchased during the year.
Junior rowing
In February 2022 there were 21 junior members, 12 boys and nine girls. A glance at the time series of membership numbers below shows clearly how these numbers have increased markedly on their levels from early 2021 and 2020. When the Club emerged from the pandemic, an open day organised by Don McDougall helped stimulate renewed interest, and Jodi Garth, the new Junior Squad Leader, has consolidated the growth, establishing a core coaching team around 10 strong, supported by two junior leaders and other club members on an ad hoc basis. One very pleasing result of the conversion of the Club to a charity and the embracing of the University clubs as corporate members has been the willingness of students to join the junior coaching team.
Sessions on weekend mornings have typically attracted between 10 and 20 participants, with the availability of boats constraining the numbers who could be accommodated on more than one occasion. A weekly land-based ergometer session has also been oversubscribed.
The junior squad made great progress during 2021. Eleven members raced at least once and the boys’ quad were successful at York Small Boats. Four juniors are using rowing as an element in their Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme work, some at bronze level, and some at gold, and, outside of competition, the more recreational rowers have all achieved goals they have themselves set. These goals ranged from maintaining a split of under two minutes on an ergometer, to rowing the stable singles without floats – an achievement five months in the making. It was heartening to hear the parent of a visually-impaired junior report that rowing had made him feel the most able-bodied he ever has.
The emphasis on supporting the general development of juniors was present in the GROW programme for junior rowing and the successful junior rowing camps held in the Summer of 2021. Although the Club recognises that some juniors may aspire to developing their skills and fitness to the level required for competitive rowing, the development of a junior racing squad should not be the sole or prime aim of the Junior Rowing initiatives.
Membership numbers
| CSRC non-student membership numbers | Feb 2022 | Feb 2021 | March 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Senior Active | |||
| Male | 34 | 29 | 40 |
| Female | 47 | 36 | 48 |
| Junior Active | |||
| Male | 12 | 0 | 1 |
| Female | 9 | 0 | 2 |
| Associate(non-rowing) | 2 | 4 | 5 |
| Non-resident | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| Student numbers | |||
| Sheffield University | 106 | 83 | 90 |
| SHU | 39 | 39 | 47 |
Club financial year The CSRC financial year runs from January to January. The Club will convene a Special General Meeting in the Autumn of each year if the Committee proposes a revision to membership fees and charges for the following year. There will an Annual General Meeting in the Spring of each year to receive the Examined Accounts and Annual Report, and elect Trustees and Committee members as appropriate.
Annual Trustee report circulated to the Club prior to the AGM on 24 March 2022.
Signed (electronically):
Graham Woods (acting Chair)
Richard Foster
John Elliott (Secretary)
Charity Name No (if any) City of Sheffield Rowing Club CIO 1182522
Receipts and payments accounts
Period start date Period end date To 01.01.21 31.12.21
For the period from
Section A Receipts and payments
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Unrestricted Restricted Endowment
Total funds
funds funds funds
to the nearest
to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £
£
A1 Receipts
Trustees: Membership 15,880 - - 15,880
Trustees: Rack Fees 1,745 1,745
Trustees: New Boat House & Grants 7,478 7,478
CSRC: Membership 18,576 18,576
CSRC: Misc 1,130 1,130
CSRC: Race fees 1,323 1,323
CSRC: Towing fees 950 950
CSRC: Training camp 1,540 1,540
CSRC: Learn 2 Row 850 - - 850
Social Calendar sales 408 - - 408
Social: Events 1,995 - - 1,995
Insurance claim 7,715 - - 7,715
Closure of account 78 - - 78
- - - -
59,668 - - 59,668
Sub total (Gross income for AR)
A2 Asset and investment sales,
(see table).
- - - -
Sub total - - - -
Total receipts 59,668 - - 59,668
A3 Payments
Trustees: Property insurance 2,078 - - 2,078
Trustees: New boathouse 72 - - 72
Trustees: Facilities 4,235 - - 4,235
CSRC: Boat insurance 2,012 - - 2,012
CSRC: Maintenance 896 - - 896
CSRC: New equipment 29,880 29,880
CSRC: British Rowing Fees 544 - - 544
CSRC: Circuits 189 - - 189
CSRC: Admin 218 - - 218
CSRC: Race Entry Fees 1,239 1,239
CSRC: Trailering fees 2,441 2,441
CSRC: Misc 520 520
CSRC: Training camp 165 165
Social Events 2,435 2,435
Independent Examiner 594 594
Trustees Misc - - - -
Sub total [ 47,518 ] - - 47,518
A4 Asset and investment
purchases, (see table)
- - - -
Sub total [ - ] - - -
Total payments 47,518 - - 47,518
Net of receipts/(payments) 12,150 - - 12,150
A5 Transfers between funds - - - -
A6 Cash funds last year end 37,208 - - 37,208
Cash funds this year end 49,358 - - 49,358
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Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period
| Unrestricted | Unrestricted | Restricted | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Categories | Details | funds | funds | ||||
| to nearest £ | to nearest £ | ||||||
| B1 Cash funds | Co op Account | 6588 1374 General | 15,432 | - | |||
| Co op Account | 6588 1361 Trustees | 33,183 | - | ||||
| Co op Account | 6588 1387 Social | 704 | - | ||||
| Cash in hand | Total cash | funds | 39 49,358 |
- - |
|||
| (agree balances with receipts and payments account(s)) |
OK | OK | |||||
| Details | Fund to which asset belongs |
Cost (optional) | |||||
| B4 Assets retained for the | Fixtures and Fittings | 60,011 | - | ||||
| charity’s own use | - | ||||||
| Fund to which | Amount due | ||||||
| Details | liability relates | (optional) | |||||
| B5 Liabilities | 0 0 |
- - |
|||||
| Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees |
Signature | Name | |||||
| Elizabeth Brown Graham Woods |
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CC16a
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Last year
to the nearest £
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3,760
1,930
283
14,724
868
1,758
742
767
-
473
525
-
-
-
25,830
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25,830
1,802 1,646 2,991 1,737 2,724 77 651 567 100 1,422 689 367 965 630 - 350 16,718
16,718 9,112 28,096 - 37,208
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Endowment
funds
to nearest £
-
-
-
-
-
----- End of picture text -----
----- Start of picture text -----
OK
----- End of picture text -----
----- Start of picture text -----
Current value
(optional)
-
-
----- End of picture text -----
When due (optional)
----- Start of picture text -----
Date of
approval
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Independent examiner's report on the accounts
Section A Independent Examiner’s Report
Report to the trustees/ members of
Charity Name City of Sheffield Rowing Club CIO
31 December 2021 On accounts for the year ended
Charity 1182522 no (if any)
Set out on pages 1
Responsibilities and basis of report
I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity (“the Trust”) for the year ended 31 December 2021 .
As the charity's trustees, you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (“the Act”).
I report in respect of my examination of the Trust’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.
Independent examiner's statement
-
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 that in, any material respect:
-
the accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act; or
-
the accounts did not accord with the accounting records; or
-
the accounts did not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a ‘true and fair’ view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination.
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
Signed:
Date: 28 February 2022
Name: Peter Winter MA FCCA FCIE
1
Oct 2018
IER
Relevant professional qualification(s) or body (if any):
Chartered Certified Accountant (FCCA) Fellow of the Association of Charity Independent Examiners (FCIE)
Address: 20 Hallam Grange Road, Fulwood Sheffield S10 4BJ
Section B Disclosure
Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight material matters of concern (see CC32, Independent examination of charity accounts: directions and guidance for examiners).
Give here brief details of any items that the examiner wishes to disclose .
2
Oct 2018
IER
IER Oct 2018