Trustees Report for period from 1st Sept 2021 to 31st Aug 2022
Brook Cottage Farm RDA Riding Sessions Covid caused us fewer problems this year, so we managed to run sessions for 25 riders, all the way through, (term-time), from Thursday 23rd September 2021 to Thursday 7th July 2022. We have been running four sessions with six riders in each. We have kept the quarter hour in between sessions for now, as it allows volunteers and coaches to prepare ponies and go to the loo! Our sessions are at 9, 9.45, 10.30 and 11.15am. Every rider has made so much progress but it was particularly great to see our more advanced riders all working independently in canter over the last year.
At the end of the summer term we devoted three sessions to Dressage Tests, Town and City Challenge and Gymkhana Games, for which all riders received rosettes. In their last session in July, riders were also assessed for various levels of riding and were delighted to receive their certificates in the post.
Carriage-Drivers had a meeting with the regional rep for Carriage-Driving. Rather to our surprise, she had come round to our way of thinking about therapeutic driving (that it can be beneficial to have a client in the back of the carriage with their carer or parent sitting opposite them, just enjoying the scenery pass by and the motion of the carriage). The rep had come across evidence which stated that ‘therapy driving’ is something that is approved by RDA. So we were happy, as Therapy Driving has been part of our vision for a while. During the year, we took RDA carriage-driving clients out every Friday morning, Tuesday afternoon many Saturday mornings and some occasional sessions with during the holidays. During the summer term, we trialled offering one carriage-driving session per term to our riders. It was very popular so we will aim to carry on with this, volunteer/coach availability permitting.
The larger Ashfields carriage has recently been sold for £2200. We have returned this money to RDA headquarters (as it was given to us as part of a grant).
Ongoing Training: All volunteers are encouraged to complete training modules online which they can find on the RDA website. There are also some interesting in-person training days available which volunteers can sign up for.
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All three of our coaches attended the ‘It’s all about the Canter’ CPD course on 27th/10/21. One was trained within the group as a coach during the year, and was awarded her ‘Group Coach’ certificate during the summer term.
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In Spring 22 two carriage drivers attained the BHS1 Care and BHS1 Complete Horsemanship respectively, at Trent Park.
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One coach recently attended Proficiency Test Training, so this year we will be working towards all riders receiving the next level of tests.
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During March and April three well-received Zoom Training Sessions were held on Creativity in Coaching for RDA coaches.
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Three coaches are signed up for further training towards becoming advanced coaches.
Fundraising: Our current main project for which we are fundraising is the creation of the Riding and Driving Sensory Track. It was discovered that Sensory Tracks are in short supply in this country. We think it would be beneficial to be pioneers in this area. This is a joint project with the three resident RDA groups (Brook Cottage Farm RDA, Herts and Essex Borders RDA, Bambers Green RDA) and also BCF Riding School all helping to fund it. RDA HQ have said it is possible to do this as a joint venture
and we will be meeting with lawyers shortly to get the legal paperwork done. We have three quotes for the work already and have sufficient funds to go ahead, which we have been raising over the last three years. (Although further funds, of course, are always needed.)
Fundraisers over the past year:
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The Christmas Pantomime Dec 2021 Pantomime ‘Bella and the Beast’ raised an amazing £1700. It was performed four times with a cast of 11 people. Volunteers very kindly helped on the bar and on front of house and all went smoothly.
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Pantomime Horse Grand National At the Riding School Show on Sat 10th Sept 22, our group ran our first Pantomime Horse Grand National. Wonderful young people helped by selling bets (with huge enthusiasm). The lorry was brought round and the ‘horses’ unloaded, which was hilarious, and members of the BCF Pony Club and volunteers from our group dressed up as horses/riders/grooms. We did super well to raise £190, and many in the audience commented on how much they laughed and enjoyed the spectacle. This will likely become a yearly event. Many more members of the Pony Club are keen to be involved next year, so we will try to run a couple of workshops during the summer to help them make their Pantomime Horse costumes and maybe have a little rehearsal to enhance the comedic potential of the event!
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We have also received some wonderful donations over the year, including one of £500 from an appreciative RDA parent!
Plans for Future Fundraisers:
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Christmas Pantomime. This year’s (Dec 2022) is The Lion, The Witch and The Horsebox. First Rehearsal was on Tuesday 4th Oct 22. The show-dates are Friday 16th Dec (2 performances, probably 4.30pm/5pm and 7.00pm or similar), Saturday 17th Dec (2 performances) and then on the Sunday 18th Dec (probably 2.30pm or similar) we are doing one special matinee performance for Grove Cottage. We have already had some kind offers of help (bar and front of-house), but will need more volunteers to check names on the door and help on the bar for all shows please.
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Big Pony Pub Plod There are further plans for the Big Pony Pub Plod to happen again. (Covid put a stop to it a couple of years ago.) This is a Spring sponsored ride, around the village with a stop at the Brewery Tap for sandwiches and drinks. We have had three groups of about seven riders set off in the past. It has proved very popular, and we are thinking of maybe Tuesday 4th April or Tuesday 11th April for this event. We will need some volunteers in hi-viz to help at road junctions, for a couple of hours.
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Fund-raising Book There should be a new little book coming out soon, Brucey’s Busy Christmas, which will be on sale in the café during December. Twiggy’s Christmas Surprise raised around £700 two Christmases ago, so let’s hope to match that
Financial Year 1st September 2021 to 31st August 2022
Previous Financial Year Brought Forward Balance 10524.56
| RECEIVED | Date | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Panto Ticket Sales | 1616 | Dec-21 | |
| Panto Donations - can GIFT AID | 545 | 12/01/2022 | Collected on the door |
| Panto tickets? | |||
| Donation? | 50 | 02/11/2021 | Donation CP |
| Donation | 157.3 | 01/11/2021 | Donations for term atyard |
| Donation | 200 | 24/12/2022 | Donation OT |
| Donation | 65 | 14/01/2022 | Donations over term atyard |
| Donation? | 500 | 06/12/2021 | Donation ZF |
| Donation? | 50 | 15/10/2021 | Donations |
| Donation? | 45 | 15/10/2021 | Donation SM |
| Donations | 815 | 28/02/2022 | Donations at Boot Sale GH |
| Donations | 50 | 01/04/2022 | Donations over the term atyard |
| 413.84 | 27/06/2022 | Tickets Sugar Coated | |
| 18 | 27/06/2022 | JG Sugar Coated | |
| 18 | 27/06/2022 | SM Sugar Coated | |
| Gymkhana | |||
| PonyPlod | |||
| Grants | |||
| Donation Polo Club | |||
| Donation DrivingEvent Gift | |||
| HMRC Charities GIFT AID CLAIMED | 699.04 | 23/08/2022 | Gift Aid |
| Income Totals | 5242.18 | ||
| SPENT | |||
| Panto Ticket Sales Refund | 60 | KL/DK/TH/ | |
| Panto Costs Costo | 135.44 | 20/12/2021 | |
| Panto Costs Tesco | 152.5 | 30/11/2021 | |
| Panto Costs Ebay | 48.89 | 29/11/2021 | |
| Brook Cott Farn Barn Hire | 150 | 10/02/2022 | For Panto |
| Insurance | 89 | 10/01/2022 | Insurance for Panto |
| raymond supplies | 95.15 | 15/02/2022 | FlagRace Kit |
| hartland carriages | 204 | 16/02/2022 | DrivingCones |
| sportsmark | 118.3 | 22/03/2022 | Dressage/Fence Markers |
| PonyPlod | |||
| Carriage Service | |||
| Carriage Assessments | |||
| DBS Checks(6.30 18/5,36.00 19/04,12.00 17/3,30.00 17/11) | 84.3 | ||
| Training (First Aid) | |||
| Village Hall Hire | 28 | 02/12/2021 | (AGM Sept 21) |
| PonyHire(LS)PonyHire septo dec 21 | 844 | 15/12/2021 | |
| WainwrightsScreenPR | 463.77 | 01/11/2021 | Polo shirts etc |
| PonyHire(LS)spring22 | 544 | 13/04/2022 | |
| PonyHire(LS)spring22 summer 22 | 740 | 01/08/2022 | |
| Vets Fees | |||
| Insurance | 675 | 09/05/2022 | Howdens-2022 to 2023 membership |
| Grant from RDA Hub Spend | 743.93 | 10/01/2022 | Harness/Reins/Roset |
| Expenditure Totals | 5176.28 | ||
| B/f plus Income Less Expenditure = C/f | 10590.46 | ||
| Bank Statement Balance Adjustmentfor Notyet on statement |
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| 10590.46 | |||
| 0 | |||
| 10590.46 |