Trustees Annual Report 30 September 2023
Charity no. 1184787
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Trustees Annual Report 30 September 2023
Reference and administration
Charity name
Stanswood Beach Rescue 1184787
Charity registration number 1184787 Company registration number CE018447 Registered Office 24 Sutton Road Totton Southampton SO40 3PH Operational address Jack Maynard Rd Calshot Southampton SO45 1BR
Trustees
The trustees remaining at 2023 are;
Nathan Mansbridge, Hon Chairman. Kenny Jackson Cllr Dr Simon Port
Christopher Thompson
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Structure and Governance
Governing Document
The organisation is a CIO, registered on 6 August 2019.
Recruitment and Appointment of trustees
The charity trustees are appointed, or reappointed, annually at the Annual General Meeting held in July, or at a properly convened meeting of the charity trustees.
Every trustee must be appointed for a term of three years by a resolution passed at a properly convened meeting of the charity trustees.
Safeguarding
The trustees appointed two safeguarding officers.
It was agreed that a male and female officer be appointed, so any gender would feel comfortable to approach our safeguarding team.
Stanswood Beach Rescue has voted to adopt the RLSS UK safeguarding policy.
DBS checks are conducted through the RLSS for all operational members.
All trustees give their time voluntarily and received no benefits from the charity.
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Our Aims and objectives
Our charity’s aims and objectives for the public benefit are to assist in the protection and preservation of life of persons, or animals, who find themselves in difficulties on the coast, or at sea, primarily in the Stanswood Bay area.
This is achieved through the provision of a beach and inshore rescue service and by promoting community education in water safety.
The Charity provides a Lifeguard service, an inshore rescue service and a First Aid station, during the summer months when on a duty day. To promote further education, Stanswood Beach Rescue has maintained an RLSS UK Full club membership, which enables us to continue to deliver Rookie Lifeguard and Survive & Save awards, National Beach Lifeguard Qualifications. These can be delivered to Lifesaving clubs, other services and the general public. We also work with the community and beach users, to provide water safety education.
Our aims fully reflect the purposes that the charity was set up to further.
Ensuring our work delivers our aims
To ensure our work delivers our aims, we review our aims, objectives and activities each year. This review looks at what we achieved and the outcomes of our work in the previous period. The review looks at the success of each key activity and the benefits they have brought to those groups of people we are set up to help.
The review also helps us ensure our aim, objectives and activities remained focused on our stated purposes. We have referred to the guidance contained in the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit when reviewing our aim and objectives and in planning our future activities. In particular, the trustees consider how planned activities will contribute to the aims and objectives they have set.
The focus of our work
Our main objectives for the period were to have the service fully operational as an inshore rescue service within the next 3 to 5 years and maintain a qualified lifeguard service, through continual training and development of lifesavers and lifeguards, beach rescue crew and shore crew. Being members of the RLSS UK to help with the promotion of water safety including club and community beach training days.
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Achievements and performance
As with most charities, 2023 has been a very challenging year. Funding for running costs has been hard to come by, though with all out goings this year, we have continued to maintain a stable operational service.
2023 was only the fifth year that the service has operated since the new trustee team took over in 2017. Despite the difficult circumstances during the period, 2023 has also been a success. We have purchased additional new equipment and delivered more training programs to both team members, external RLSS UK clubs and continued to work and undertake training exercises with other local independent Lifeboats services.
During the period Stanswood Beach Rescue has delivered training and/or qualification as follows;
25 RLSS UK Water Smart awards for the cold water swimmers
RLSS UK National Lifeguard Academy beach awards RLSS UK NVBLQ Lifeguard awards for 3 members
RLSS UK Trainer and Assessor qualification
RLSS UK Beach Trainer Assessors TAs from the club assessed over 20 beach lifeguards at other units across the south coast.
Operational equipment has been our Yamaha rescue Jet-skis, Lifeguard paddle boards and rescue equipment, First aid kits and AED.
IRB is still off service but we have purchased a new 20 HP engine which is now being run in.
For the RLSS UK Beach Lifeguards, each lifeguard completed continual weekly training on duty days and with Salisbury Lifesaving Club, as well as online training via Teams.
In 2023 we ran Rookie Lifeguard and Lifesaving open days for local lifesaving clubs over several weekends. These events were a success in respect of introducing young persons to the beach environment and enhancing the pool skills they had already obtained, highlighting and promoting water safety and rescue techniques. These will be held in in 2024.
Working with the community was a pleasure and the ability to work with open water swimming groups extended our water safety message delivery programmes. We have also engaged with the National Coast Watch at Lepe.
The presence of the uniformed lifeguards on the beach gave the general public a sense of security for their safety whilst at the beach and feedback has been positive.
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The Lifeguards responded to 4 incidents in 2023.
The lifeguards had observed and attended to several persons both on the water and on the beach throughout the period, where safety advice or unaided safety cover was provided. The lifeguards in practice aim to be proactive rather than reactive.
One major safety issue has been the use of wind powered and motor craft in the swimming zone at Calshot. We had to launch the Jet-ski on several occasions and lifeguards racing to the waters edge blowing whistles and waving torpedo buoys to warn off or to speak to craft transiting the swimming zone due to near miss incidents with bathers in the water, with a lot of the time the craft helm not even seeing the bathers in the water. We have been contacted by several regular beach users and beach hut owners regarding these type of incidents throughout the week when we are not in attendance. This is something we must now raise with the local authorities to highlight the dangers and the risks to a potential serious incident at Calshot.
Since Covid 19, we have seen a much larger increase with open water swimmers. Along with groups that have formed, there are a growing number of individuals. We believe this is a good thing due to the health benefits, but feel more can be done to help people learn more about the dangers of open water swimming, cold water shock, the tides and the beach hazards for visitors.
We calculate that we have over 2000 operational and training hours for 2023. This does not include trustees’ meetings, fundraising, or paperwork hours etc.
Stanswood beach rescue now has a D4H Licence which we are grateful for. This has helped massively in record keeping for the unit. We continue to learn how the system operates and we are improving our information capture, we hope this can be developed into a useful tool for us.
Stanswood Beach Rescue has maintained full affiliation and membership with the Royal
Lifesaving Society UK. Stanswood Beach Rescue complies with requirements to continue its’ membership.
Stanswood Beach Rescue has maintained its position within the SSRO (Solent Sea Rescue Organisation).
During the period we have continued to improve and build on connections with associations that complement our aims and objectives.
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Salisbury Lifesaving Club
Stanswood Beach Rescue continues a strong working relationship with Salisbury Lifesaving Club. This has provided professional training and opportunities for both organisations, as well as a year-round continual development training program.
We hope further members of SLSC will continue to train and hopefully join Stanswood Beach Rescue.
Hamble Lifeboat and Solent Rescue
Stanswood Beach Rescue has continued with its strong, close working relationship with Hamble Lifeboat and Solent Rescue.
Training was undertaken during the season with Lifeboat crews. It was also interesting for the lifeboat crews to work with the lifeguards and the equipment they use. The benefits worked well for all, as cross training for the possibility of a real situation.
Financial review
It is the trustee’s aim to retain at least one years’ running costs.
We appreciate that when running a charity, some years maybe more costly than others due to maintenance and replacement equipment costs. So where reasonably practicable, we would always try to maintain a minimum of one years running costs to give the charity some time to regain additional funding and keep the service going.
Cash at bank and in hand as at 30 September 2023 totalled £3,028 in unrestricted funds.
We do not consider that there are any uncertainties about the charity’s ability to continue as a going concern.
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Statement of Financial Activities
for the period ended 30 September 2023
| Notes | 2023 | 2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| £ | £ | ||
| Incoming resources | |||
| Donations | 2 | 5,310 | 6,176 |
| Expenditure | |||
| Charitable activities | 3 | 4,733 | 3,917 |
| Net income/(expenditure) | 577 | 2,259 | |
| Extraordinary items | - | - | |
| Net movement in funds | 577 | 2,259 | |
| Reconciliation of funds | |||
| Total funds brought forward | 121,613 | 119,354 | |
| Total funds carried forward | £122,190 | £121,613 |
All income and expenditure in the Statement of Financial Activities was unrestricted.
The Statement of Financial Activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year. The notes on pages 10 to 14 form part of these financial statements.
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Balance Sheet
as at 30 September 2023
| Notes | 2023 | 2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| £ | £ | ||
| TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS | |||
| Land and buildings | 6 | 100,075 | 98,000 |
| Plant and equipment | 6 | 21,176 | 22,809 |
| Total fixed assets | 121,251 | 120,809 | |
| CURRENT ASSETS | |||
| Debtors | 7 | 911 | 80 |
| Cash at bank and in hand | 3,028 | 3,736 | |
| Total current assets | 3,939 | 3,816 | |
| CREDITORS:amounts falling due within one year | 8 | 3,000 | 3,012 |
| Net current assets/(liabilities) | 939 | 804 | |
| Total assets less current liabilities | 122,190 | 121,613 | |
| CREDITORS:amounts falling due after one year | 9 | ||
| - | - | ||
| Total net assets or liabilities | £122,190 | £121,613 | |
| FUNDS OF THE CHARITY | |||
| Unrestricted funds | 122,190 | 121,613 | |
| Total funds | 10 | £122,190 | £121,613 |
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Notes to the financial statements
for the period ended 30 September 2023
1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES
Statutory information
Stanswood Beach Rescue is a CIO registered with the Charity Commission in England & Wales, under charity number 1184787. The office address is c/o 24 Sutton Road, Totton, Southampton SO40 3PH. The Charity registration commenced on 6 August 2019.
Basis of preparation
The company uses the historical cost basis of accounting, and the financial statements are drawn up in accordance with the requirements of the Statement of Recommended Practice: Accounting and Reporting by Charities (SORP) 2015, updated 2019, as issued by the Charity Commission. The company has taken advantage of the exemption available as a small charity and not prepared a cash flow statement.
Stanswood Beach Rescue meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS 102.
Going concern
The Trustees have at the time of approving the financial statements a reasonable expectation that the charity has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. Thus they continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the financial statements.
Income
Income is recognised in full in the Statement of Financial Activities (“SoFA”) in the year in which it is receivable.
Gifts in kind are recognised in the SoFA as income at the fair value of the goods, services or assets gifted at the date of the gift.
Donated goods
Where goods (such as second-hand books) are donated to the charity for subsequent sale, they are only recorded in the financial statements at their value when sold. The trustees consider it impractical to value any such goods in stock at the year-end. Where goods and services are paid for directly by a third part as a donation to the charity, the donation is included at its fair value in income and expenditure where it is practical to do so. The value of volunteer time is not accounted for.
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Notes to the financial statements
for the period ended 30 September 2023
1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES - continued
Tangible fixed assets
Tangible fixed assets are stated in the balance sheet at cost, or fair value, less accumulated depreciation. Depreciation is provided to write off the cost, less anticipated residual value of these assets over their estimated useful lives on the reducing balance method at the following rates:
| % | |
|---|---|
| Rescue Station | Nil |
| Rescue craft | 10.00 |
| Plant and equipment | 12.50 |
Cost of charitable activities
These comprise costs directly involved in running the rescue craft and equipment, including fuel, repairs, servicing, protective clothing and depreciation of the engines and equipment. It also includes the costs of running the rescue station, including repairs, water rates, and support costs. The latter are stationery, office and other administration costs.
The land is owned by NFDC upon which Discretionary Rate Relief has been granted for the non-domestic rates, on the basis that the Charity provides a service to the local council.
Insurance costs
As part of the Membership with RLSS and Solent Sea-Rescue Organisation (SSRO), the charity is insured for equipment, training, services and public liability insurance.
The charity arranges and funds its’ own buildings insurance.
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Notes to the financial statements
for the period ended 30 September 2023
2. INCOME FROM DONATIONS AND GIFTS
| 2023 | 2022 | |
|---|---|---|
| £ | £ | |
| General donations | 4,656 | 6,106 |
| Donated goods and equipment | - | - |
| Training fee income | 654 | 70 |
| £5,310 | £6,176 |
3. COST OF CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES
| OST OF CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES | ||
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 2022 | |
| £ | £ | |
| Boat and Jetski running costs | 422 | 260 |
| Insurance – building | 204 | 282 |
| Rescue Station running costs | 95 | 34 |
| Repairs and maintenance | - | 215 |
| Professional membership and subscriptions | - | 120 |
| Training expenses | 999 | - |
| Health and safety | - | - |
| Clothing and gear | - | - |
| Website costs | 265 | 110 |
| Stationery and other | 48 | - |
| Depreciation | 2,700 £4,733 |
2,896 £3,917 |
4. STAFF COSTS
There are no employees of the company, and the Trustees received no remuneration during the year.
5. TAXATION
No charge to corporation tax arises because the company is a registered charity and as such is exempt from corporation tax.
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Notes to the financial statements
for the period ended 30 September 2023
6. TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS
| ANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rescue | Plant and | Rescue craft | Total | |
| Station | Equipment | |||
| (building only) | ||||
| COST | £ | £ | £ | £ |
| As at 1 October 2022 | 100,000 | 16,868 | 14,780 | 131,648 |
| Additions | 2,075 | 3,566 | - | 5,641 |
| Disposals | - | 2,500 | - | 2,500 |
| As at 30 September 2023 | £102,075 | £17,934 | £14,780 | £134,789 |
| DEPRECIATION | ||||
| As at 1 October 2022 | 2,000 | 5,444 | 3,394 | 10,838 |
| Charge for the year | - | 1,561 | 1,139 | 2,700 |
| As at 30 September 2023 | £2,000 | £7,005 | £4,533 | £13,538 |
| NET BOOK VALUE | ||||
| As at 30 September 2023 | £100,075 | £10,929 | £10,247 | £121,251 |
| As at 30 September 2022 | £98,000 | £11,424 | £11,385 | £120,809 |
7. DEBTORS
| EBTORS | ||
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 2022 | |
| £ | £ | |
| VAT reclaim | £911 | £80 |
| REDITORS: Falling due within one year | ||
| 2023 | 2022 | |
| £ | £ | |
| Reimbursements of costs to Trustees | - | 12 |
| Protective clothing | - | - |
| Loan repayment | 3,000 | 3,000 |
| 3,000 | 3,012 |
8. CREDITORS: Falling due within one year
The loan is interest free and unsecured.
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9. CREDITORS: Falling due within after year
| 2023 | 2022 | |
|---|---|---|
| £ | £ | |
| Loan repayment | £- | £- |
The loan is interest free and unsecured.
10. TOTAL FUNDS
| OTAL FUNDS | |
|---|---|
| £ | |
| Total funds brought forward | 121,613 |
| Surplus for the year | 577 |
| Total funds carried forward | £122,190 |
The financial statements were approved by the Trustees on 28 June 2024 and were signed on its behalf by:
Nathan Mansbridge Hon Chairman
Cllr Dr Simon Port Trustee
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