*To Bluetonic 1190871 August 2020 - 2021 Annual Report and Accounts
Annual Report and Accounts
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Contents
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Administrative Information
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Aims and Purpose
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Objectives and Activities
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Achievements and Performance
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Volunteers
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Governance and Management
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Financial Review
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Financial Statement
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Administrative Information
Reference and administrative information:
Charity Name: Bluetonic Charity No. 1190871 Registered address: 6 HALL DRIVE, WOLLATON, NOTTINGHAM, NG8 2PW Trustees: A Goodship, Chair C Morely, Secretary P Dickens, Treasurer
Aims and purpose
Our aim, as stated in our constitution, is to provide or assist in the provision of facilities in the interests of social welfare, for recreation or other leisure time occupation of individuals who have need of such facilities by reason of their youth, age, infirmity or disability, financial hardship or social circumstances with the object of improving their conditions of life.
We do this by creating experiences in, on or around blue spaces in the East Midlands. Blue spaces are areas that are close to water either inland or by the sea. Although the East Midlands is inland, there are many beautiful blue spaces - lakes, reservoirs, canals and rivers. Spending time by blue spaces on our doorstep can make us happier and healthier.
Objectives
In our first year our objectives have been to:
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Establish an online presence via our website and social media
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Create a logo and brand that can start to be used to raise money for merchandising
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Provide opportunities for people to network and develop ideas reacting to being active in, on and around water
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In the Midlands specifically, develop activity and test ideas alongside local people
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Set up all infrastructure we need to run the charity
Activity
DAN SOUP (Dragons den style event)
In November 2020 Bluetonic applied for a place to pitch at an event for charities and not for profit organisations to present ideas to a panel. Each organisation pitched for 5 minutes and Bluetonic were awarded joint winners of the event.
The event was much more valuable to the charity than we realised. We were able to network with so many people and as a result two people came forward wanting to help us.
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Annual Report and Accounts
The DanSoup event also allowed us to network with other organisations. The co winners of the event were Nottingham CAN, who are a Community Interest Company who focus on engaging communities using music. After the event Nottingham CAN and Bluetonic have kept in touch and gradually developed an idea to raise awareness about men’s health and wellbeing. A funding bid was successfully written to the National Lottery awards for all and this will see delivery of project called “under the bridge” to create a male choir by the water, in the summer of 2022. Please see more detailed explanation later in this report.
Cold water Catch Up
Cold water catch up was developed by one of the founders of Bluetonic. Scott Clayton is an experienced community builder, working with people across the public sector to encourage a focus on working alongside people to develop their ideas. He is also an open water swimming coach and during the initial lockdown in the winter of 2020 he decided to test running a free online networking session called the “Cold Water Catch Up”. These are a series of free online networking events that anyone can attend to listen and learn about open water swimming.
Initially the sessions were just about coming together and talking about swimming with Scott there to offer advice and guidance. Scott kept asking attendees how they felt we could grow the chats to include more people. The attendees suggested getting guests to come along who are active in the open water swimming community. Over the initial few weeks people coming to the sessions helped with sourcing guest and this led to our first guest attending a session which was Channel Swimming Coach and extreme outdoor swimmer Loretta Cox.
The chat always involves story telling with guests talking about times in their lives they have been active in, on and around water and the positive effect it has on them. Talking about struggles, highs, lows and how being in, on and around water has helped.
The format always allows time for people to network with each other from wherever they are. Most people are from all over the UK, but we have also had guests from places like Australia and Israel. The networking is completed via breakout rooms as a safe space for people to reflect on the session and share and listen to other people’s experiences.
Achievements and Performance
Website
Money from DanSoup event enabled the charity to successfully launch our website by paying for costs. Trustees and volunteers have worked together to develop the site and develop content. The website has been designed so people can use it to get inspiration to be safely active, on and around water. In the future we would like to gradually grow resources on the website alongside people who come forward with ideas.
Ideas such as local walks and mindfulness activities that people can use when in Blue Spaces have been added to the website. They are totally free for anyone to access and use.
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Cold Water Catch Up
The numbers of guests grew and very quickly other people were in touch looking to join in the chats. Over that initial winter here are some of the guests that attended the chat and the number of tickets booked on the platform Eventbrite:
| Date | Description | Ticket bookings |
|---|---|---|
| 13/1/21 | Pure networkingsession noguests | 3 |
| 20/1/21 | Pure networking session no guests | 5 |
| 27/1/21 | Pure networkingsession noguests | 4 |
| 3/2/21 | Loretta Cox,a channel swimming coach Loretta came back to swimming in her mid 20’s due to a running career ending knee injury. Loretta was pushing to be on the Olympic Marathon running when disaster struck. Swimming has helped pull her out of difficult times and she has become a cult hero as an extreme swimmer and channel swimmingcoach. |
52 |
| 10/2/21 | Pure networkingsession noguests | 8 |
| 17/2/21 | Pure networking session no guests | 12 |
| 24/2/21 | Shauna Tate,Shauna came to talk about her life as a young single parent and how swimminghad helped her through some dark times. |
14 |
| 3/3/21 | Penny Wilkin and Emma O’ Brien Talking about their new book an illustrated guide to swimming in the central England. Dips and Chips. Come hear from the creators of this beautiful book to be published this summer. With helpful advice to take your first dip, Penny is an experienced triathlon coach and Emma a talented illustrator. They share a passion for swimming and can enlighten via their stories. |
23 |
| 10/3/21 | David Burke A paralympian, a double world record holder and a passion for all things swimming. Losing his leg as boy in a stock car racing accident as a boy to becoming a double world record holder as an open water swimmer. David's life living in Northern Ireland has been varied to say the least. It's goingto begreat to have our firstguests from across the water.. |
31 |
| 17/3/21 | Rachael Andrews Rachel is a YouTube star with an amazing amount of knowledge that she shares via her channel. She is determined to provide content that busts myths and supports people's choices when looking to swim safely in open water. Come listen to her swimming journey. |
54 |
| 24/3/21 | Alan White,at 7o years old Alan started outdoor swimming and has gone on to be a cold water swimming champion, star in a film as a swimmer and write some amazing poetry. |
35 |
| 31/3/21 | Celebration Night,a chance to say good bye for now for the summer lets come together and share our plans for the summer and come back together nextyear. |
18 |
| Total attendees | 259 |
Running these sessions had numerous benefits to the charity in the following ways:
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Increased following on social media, for example Facebook followers increased over the winter period by around 300 people. While this was not just down to these events, increases in followers did occur in line with advertising and running of events, especially the events with around 30 plus people booking tickets.
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people from across the UK looking to help grow the charity
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an opportunity to fundraise via donations
The sessions led to a visit to Northern Ireland by some of the Bluetonic team to look at lake swimming in a different part of the UK and how it has helped people after experiences related to the troubles. The trip was to see David Burke a record breaking amputee swimmer and he was able to give insight into barriers disable swimmers can face.
M apping walks
Trustees and volunteers have rallied behind an idea by one of our most active volunteers to create a series of Bluetonic walks. 12 walks are available free to anyone to access. They are based across Nottingham and Derbyshire and the majority of the walks are by a lake, river or canal. The walks have suggested locations that people can stop and take in a blue space, be mindful and connect with the environment. They can be used in conjunction with free mindfulness activities listed on the website.
The walks can be printed and include:
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A route map
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Start and end point with advice for parking
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Pictures and text to describe the walk
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A suggested stop to connect with surroundings
A group of volunteers and the trustees then created walks using guidance. A template was then people went out walking and capturing the information required.
Mindfulness walks and social swims
In the summer of 2021 the charity tested 3 activities where people could come along and meet the Bluetonic team to find out more about the charity and share in an experience together. These were:
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Mindfulness walk , this was led by volunteers. It was attended by a wide ranging group of people.
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Social Swim at Anchor Church in South Derbyshire, this was ran by a volunteer and was an informal gathering where people gathered at their own risk to swim. The session followed guidance by Open water Swimming Society on gatherings related to swimming in the wild. People really enjoyed a short walk to the swim, and people came from across the midlands. The session ended at the pub where people could talk and learn more about the charity.
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Social Swim at Stoney Cove, Swim Venue , this was run at an open water venue where people could book on using venue booking system and come and swim, chat and find out more about the charity.
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Volunteers
Since the formation Bluetonic has attracted support from the following volunteers. The trustees would like to take this opportunity to thank all the volunteers for their contributions in our first year. They have supported in the following ways:
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led activity around creating walks in blue spaces local to the Midlands that we have displayed on our website.
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led a mindfulness walk we tested
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supported organizing and leading social swimming meets
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created content and support advertising events on social media helping to grow our online presence
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created content and helped design the website
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create the logo, social media assets and designs we use across our online platforms
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coached everyone involved with ideas for running social media
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created competitions to help grow our presence online
Without our volunteers, we would not have been able to achieve so much in our first year.
Structure, governance and management
There are currently 3 trustees and 5 volunteers. Trustees are selected based on our constitution terms, and have responsibility for governing the charity and signing off on proposals. Volunteers are invited to support the charity with their time and contribute ideas for the charity’s development.
Trustees are responsible for decisions about funding distribution.
Financial review
During the first year we have raised £525 from winning the Dansoup competition for start up charities. These funds are to cover the small running costs of the charity and to pay for activity once all COVID restrictions are lifted. Due to the pandemic it has been a slow start financially but some good activity has taken place that builds a strong foundation to be built upon.
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Financial Statement
| Income | Unrestricted Funds | Restricted Funds | Total Funds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Donations and legacies | £ -0 | £ -0 | £ -0 |
| Charitable activities | £525 | £ -0 | £525 |
| Other income | £ -0 | £ -0 | £ -0 |
| Total Income | £525 | £ -0 | £525 |
| Expenditure | |||
| Expenditure on charitable activities |
£122 | £ -0 | £122 |
| Total Expenditure | £122 | £ -0 | £122 |
| NET Income/Expenditure | £525 | £ -0 | £122 |
| Total funds carried forward | £403 | £ -0 | £403 |