Annual Report 2025
Page 1 - Fleetwood Beach Wheelchairs Annual Report 2025
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CONTENTS
Contents 2
Chair of Trustees Report 3
Annual Statistics Report 6
Thank you to Our Partners 8
Independent Examiner’s Report 9
Income & Expenditure 10
Balance Sheet 11
Trustees and Officers 12
Charity Registration and Contacts 12
King’s Award Certificate 13
Photo Gallery 14/15
King’s Award Presentation Evening 16
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Chair of Trustees Report
Once again it is my privilege and honour to submit my report on behalf of the Trustees for the closing year. This is our fifth year of service on the beach, and during this period the Charity saw another increase in our visitor numbers. At close of play on 31[st] March 2025 we attained a magnificent total of 1335 chair users. An appendix of chair usage is provided within this report by our Trustee Jane Harvey, who continues to monitor usage and guide our policy on how we use the chairs and equipment.
This is, without a doubt, a year of celebration. Whilst this is our fifth year of service on the beach it also marks the ultimate recognition of the work that our volunteers engage in on behalf of the local and wider community. Our Charity has been granted the most prestigious accolade of the King’s Award for Voluntary Service. The Award, introduced in 2002 to celebrate the Late Queen’s Jubilee, was inaugurated to celebrate the contribution, often unsung, of those who give their time and energy to support others by volunteering themselves to their communities. There can be no doubt whatsoever that our volunteers acquit themselves extremely well on the frontline of volunteering and it is their personal commitment to our charity that has won us this recognition. It also has to be said that those that gave their time to attend and participate in the Assessment Day on January 17[th] 2024 gave a magnificent impression of the work of the Charity. The thanks, on behalf of the Trustees, is heartfelt.
Once again we have been able to give service to visitors from right across the United Kingdom as well as our local community. We have accommodated individuals, families, care homes, schools, community groups and associations from far and near. Local providers of accommodation and leisure facilities have added to our service users as Fleetwood and its surrounding areas has attracted visitors to the location. Fleetwood beach is now being recognised as a premier accessible beach.
The year has seen a decline in the weather conditions overall with strong winds continually buffeting the coastline. Added to this there have been several discharges of sewage into the sea around the shoreline which have deterred visitors. We protest in the strongest terms at this blatant disregard for our environment. As I write this report the beach is recovering from a discharge two days ago, during the Easter School holiday on days of brilliant sunshine.
We now have eleven chairs, two Sandpipers, three Hippocampes, five Debugs (of which there are three different models) and one EZ Roller, plus two Rollators and four beach trollies. This year has seen us review our fleet and replace our two Sandcruisers with two new Debugs and one Hippocampe has been replaced with an updated model. Several of our chairs have over 250 hours of beach service each and it was time to begin refreshing our fleet. We have donated the Sandcruisers to the National Trust at Formby and the Hippocampe has a new home at Ardrossan in Scotland. The Sandcruisers have seen sterling service but experience has shown that they do not have the adaptability and comfort of the Debug models. We know the donated chairs will give much pleasure in their new locations.
We have had fewer presentations to groups this year but we do have future dates booked up. It is essential that we “spread the word” of our activities. Presentations are a good source of
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donations as well as being a “shop-window” for potential volunteers. This year has seen us add two excellent and reliable volunteers to our ranks and we are indebted to them for their contribution.
The Trustees continue to meet on a monthly basis, with a short break in the winter months due to ”downtime”, however decisions are still made and Minuted by means of WhatsApp as the need arises and in the interests of transparency. Our Board Meetings have now moved from the New Boston Hotel, which was our regular venue to the Men’s Shed due to the hotel changing hands and undergoing extensive refurbishment. Our new meeting venue is comfortable and welcoming and we expect to remain there for many years to come.
Our annual concert, organised by Barbara Hebden is due to take place again in May and our annual quiz has been replaced by more regular monthly quizzes organised by a local enthusiast who is sharing funds between charities, ourselves included.
Sadly our regular chair service engineer, John Brimelow, can no longer carry out that role due to illness. John has been essential to us in keeping our chairs in tip-top condition since we began operations five years ago. Fortunately his place has been taken by one of our Trustees, Steve Ireland. Steve has been helping John on the regular servicing days each month and is a worthy replacement for John.
As with previous years fundraising has become an essential part of our profile as we offer our services entirely free of charge, but our costs have increased in that our rent has been increased and the cost of our insurance has been raised in line with inflation. The cost of utilities has also not remained static. Our equipment continues to have to be replaced because of the nature of our work. Keeping a healthy bank balance is a priority. Nobody benefits financially from what we do. All our volunteers and Trustees give their services entirely free of charge. We are welcomed by our local ASDA and Affinity Shopping Centre to display our work and collect and donations continue to come in from a number of sources. It is because of this and generous donations that we were able to replace three of our chairs without great difficulty and continue to hold a good reserve in the Building Society for eventualities. Dreams Come True have funded our first round of chair replacements. We look with some concern at future chair replacements as the bulk of our fleet is produced in America and the current financial and political uncertainties there make for caution.
The completion of the Changing Places Unit next to our Wheel Base has been a considerable asset to our operations and helped us to provide a “complete service” to our users. Many of our clients travel long distances to use the beach. Consequently they need to be changed and “freshened-up” before going on the beach and very often they need changing and refreshing again after being on the beach. Our thanks for this are due to Wyre Council, Fleetwood Town Council, Muscular Dystrophy UK, The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and DANFO for taking up the gauntlet and providing this facility.
This unit is a considerable benefit and adds to the attractions of Fleetwood as a Town that truly cares for people with disabilities and wants tourism. Fleetwood is Disability Friendly and we need to get that message across to people. Currently our Changing Places facility is operating on a restricted basis due to abuse by less caring individuals and the Council at Wyre is considering
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options to overcome this. Nonetheless it does not inhibit our service.
I would like to thank Fleetwood Town Council for its continued support, Rotary of Fleetwood and Healthier Fleetwood for the help they give us. As an original Rotary Project initiated by the Fleetwood Club we continue to have a number of Rotary members as volunteers.
In addition I would like to thank all our supporters and followers, wherever they are in the World, and we appreciate their “Shares” and “Likes”. We hope to give inspiration to others to follow our lead and liberate the beaches and foreshores wherever such a service can be provided.
Finally I extend my thanks to the Trustees who guide our activities and give wise counsel, care for our volunteers and chair issues, staff our regular collections, maintain our equipment, organise our Meetings and presentations and support our users and their carers.
We look forward to another successful year ahead. Thank you for Caring.
Michael Gray BA (Hons) Cert Ed
Chair of Trustees Fleetwood Beach Wheelchairs KAVS April 2025
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Fleetwood Beach Wheelchairs Annual Statistics Report 2024 -25
Monthly figures are as follows
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Month Clients Booked Drop Chairs/equipment
in
Debug EZ Hippo- Sand- Sand- Rollator
Roller campe cruiser piper
April 14 13 1 7 1 0 5 1 0
May 36 24 12 15 7 5 2 3 4
June 36 32 4 19 5 6 2 2 2
July 62 49 13 30 9 6 8 7 2
Augt 92 84 8 37 9 15 9 18 4
Sept 45 38 7 23 4 10 4 1 3
Oct 13 12 1 3 2 4 1 1 2
Nov 2 2 0 1 0 1 0 0 0
Dec No chairs/equipment used
Jan No chairs/equipment used
Feb 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
Mar 8 7 1 5 0 2 0 0 1
Totals 309 262 47 140 37 49 32 33 18
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Quarterly totals are as follows:
Client numbers
| ent numbers | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Number of clients | Booked | Drop in | |
| Q1 April – June | 86 | 69 | 17 |
| Q2 July - Sept | 199 | 171 | 28 |
| Q3 Oct - Dec | 15 | 14 | 1 |
| Q4 Jan - March | 9 | 8 | 1 |
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Equipment used
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De bug EZ Roller Hippocampe Sandcruiser Sandpiper Rollator
Q1 41 13 11 9 6 6
Q2 90 22 31 21 26 9
Q3 4 2 5 1 1 2
Q4 5 0 2 1 0 1
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Total uses since opening 1335
Notes:
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The total annual client figures for 2024-25 have increased compared to 2023-24. There were 37 more clients – an increase of 13.6%.
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The third Debug was added to the fleet on 30[th] May 2024. This model of chair remains the most popular with 45% of uses.
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The Wheel Base was closed on a number of occasions during the year. The main reason was weather conditions, but sewage issues also led to closures. The most significant closure was from 20.8.2024. to 27.8.2024. inclusive, when 41 bookings were cancelled.
Jane Harvey
31[st] March 2025
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Independent Examiner’s Report
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Accounts 2024-2025
Financial Reports
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Financial Reports
Balance Sheet
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Trustees and Officers
2024-2025
Chair & Trustee Vice-Chair & Trustee Treasurer & Trustee Secretary & Trustee Volunteer Officer & Trustee Trustee Trustee Trustee Trustee
Michael Gray Lorraine Beavers Julie Sandham Janet Simpson Lesley Gray Cheryl Raynor Reece Slater Stephen Ireland Jane Harvey
Charity Registration and Contacts
2024-2025
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Fleetwood Beach Wheelchairs Enabling free access to the beach and foreshore previously denied to those with disabilities.
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Some pictures from
our Gallery
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Award presentation at County Hall, Preston by the Lord Lieutenant of Lancashire , Amanda Parker
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