Watford (Cassiobury) Croquet Club Charitable Incorporated Organisation - Charity number 1185646 Annual report and financial statements for the period 1 January 2022 - 31 December 2022
## Report of the trustees
## 1. Introduction
The trustees submit their report and financial statements for the period 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2022.
The trustees have overall responsibility for the direction, management and control of the CIO.
## 2. Objects and activities
The club’s primary purpose is to encourage the sport of croquet to everyone. Croquet is particularly suited to encourage healthy recreation for people of all physical abilities. At the same time it can be played as a serious competitive sport.
Watford (Cassiobury) Croquet Club is situated in a major park area in the town, and is easily accessible to all.
Our target is to provide a welcoming social environment for casual players, and in parallel to develop as one of the top clubs in the region for competitive croquet.
## 3. Review
The CIO was set-up in October 2019 by simple transference from the old unincorporated club. This was therefore our third year of full operation as a CIO.
The winter period from October to March is traditionally a quiet time for all croquet clubs as the weather is not conducive to play nor maintaining a healthy grass playing surface, and there are no formal tournaments scheduled.
Nevertheless an increasing number of croquet clubs now have some play when the weather is kind, and Watford is no exception. The 2022 winter “season” was very well attended with the highest number of winter players we have ever had.
The traditional start of the croquet season on 1st April 2022, saw the start of the first “normal” season for 3 years, and indeed it was very successful from both general participation and competitive standpoints.
Our membership numbers have held up well considering the near total loss of the 2020 season, and last year being in “recovery mode”. We finished 2022 with a small increase in membership.
A full programme of internal competitions, external inter-club leagues and competitions was planned and fully executed over the course of the year. We also enter four National InterClub tournaments, two for AC and two for GC.
We also ran no less than six Open Tournaments within the CA umbrella organisation, and hosted one National Championships.
In terms of competitive successes, we won the EACF GC Open League, and reached the final of both National GC InterClub competitions, losing to the same club in each final!
The new pavilion continued to be extremely well used, and is a significant factor in our goal of making Watford a “top tier” croquet club.
We have plans for several further developments, and the next major project is the installation of a proper lawn watering system. Given that we are in a public park, with no development rights within our control, all these projects require detailed and protracted negotiations with our Landlords, Watford Borough Council, but we hope to start on this in 2023.
## 4. Finance review
This was fairly quiet on the financial front, with the membership stable and no major items of expenditure. Total income for the period was £9,902; very similar to 2021. Expenditure totalled £6,728 compared to £9,531 in 2021. This difference was almost totally due to the completion of the fitting out costs of the pavilion by December 2021.
Net income was thus £3,174. Total funds in hand carried forward are £24,884.
The full statement of accounts follows as Appendix A.
## 5. Trustees
Under the constitution of the CIO, there must be at least three and no more than twelve trustees.
At the AGM in March 2022, the specific “club officer” assignments were confirmed. The trustees serving during the period were:
Janet Lewis (appointed 7 October 2019) Chair André Machell (appointed 7 October 2019) Treasurer Jonathan Lambton (appointed 21 March 2022) Secretary
Simon Hathrell (appointed 7 October 2019) Roger Nicholls (appointed 7 October 2019) Geoff Johnson (appointed 7 October 2019, resigned 23 March 2021, re-elected 23 March 2021) George Skinner (appointed 7 October 2019, resigned 23 March 2021, re-elected 23 March 2021) Mike Grossmith (appointed 21 March 2022) Hazel Archer (appointed 21 March 2022) John Walker (appointed 21 March 2022)
Linda Williams (appointed 7 October 2019) resigned 21 March 2022
The trustees meet regularly, approximately six times a year, and as needed to resolve any ad hoc issues that arise.
The trustees are satisfied that our governance processes are in accordance with our constitution and fully compliant with the requirements of the Charities Commission.
This report was approved by the trustees on 22 February 2023 and signed on its behalf by:
Janet Lewis Chair
## Watford (Cassiobury) Croquet Club
Charitable Incorporated Organisation - Charity number 1185646 Annual report and financial statements for the period 1 January 2022 - 31 December 2022
## `Independent examiners report to the trustees`
I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of Watford (Cassiobury) Croquet Club, a Charitable Incorporated Organisation, for the year ended 31 December 2022.
As the trustees, you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (“the Act”).
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination which give me cause to believe that in, any material respect, the accounting records were not kept in accordance with the requirements of the Act.
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.
Brian Havill Independent examiner 22 February 2023
## Watford (Cassiobury) Croquet Club Charitable Incorporated Organisation - Charity number 1185646 Annual report and financial statements
for the period 1 January 2022 - 31 December 2022
## `Appendix A`
Statement of accounts for the year ended 31 December 2022 Amounts in £
|ounts in £|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|Period:|2022||2021||
||86 members||84 members||
|Membership subscriptions
Tournaments
Course fees
Key deposits
Hire charges
Guest fees
Charity one-ball event
Donations
Total income
Park season tickets
CA member registration
Entry fees - CA/EACF tournaments
Equipment - playing
Equipment - non-playing
Refreshments/consumables
Trophies and plaques
Insurance
Pavilion costs
Other expenditure
Charity one-ball donation
Total expenditure
Surplus for the year
Funds at start of period
Funds at end of period
Represented by:
Cash at bank
Total funds|(2,891)
(1,078)
(364)
0
(268)
(474)
(291)
(176)
(150)
(26)
(1,010)|6,990
1,061
50
70
331
250
1,010
140
9,902
(6,728)
3,174
21,710
24,884
24,884
24,884|(2,423)
(1,190)
(427)
(17)
(5)
(317)
(362)
(134)
(3,654)
(52)
(950)|6,145
1,038
0
30
997
495
950
135|
|||||9,790
(9,531)|
||||||
|||||259
21,451|
|||||21,710|
|||||21,710|
|||||21,710|
The accounts were approved and authorised for issue by the trustees on 22 February 2023, and signed on its behalf by:
Janet Lewis Chair
André Machell Treasurer