## **Northampton Croquet Club** # **Trustees Annual Report 01/11/2023 to 31/10/2024** Charity # 1191519 ## 1. Introduction This report covers the period from 1/11/2023 until 31/10/2024. The trustees accept that they have overall responsibility for the direction, management, and control of the CIO. ## 2. Objectives and Activities The object of the CIO is the promotion of community participation in healthy recreation for people of all ages in Northamptonshire and the surrounding area by providing facilities to participate in the sport of amateur croquet at both competitive and social levels (facilities means land, buildings, equipment and organising sporting activities). The CIO is also involved in promoting croquet as an activity that contributes to both physical and mental welfare and through social interaction creates a supportive environment for its members. The membership is engaged in social and competitive play both as individuals, and teams. The latter ranging from doubles partnerships to larger teams involved in competitive play in the regional croquet leagues (at various levels of play) and inter-club competitions. As of the 1st of April 2023, Northampton Croquet club relocated to its new home in Roade, Northamptonshire. The club has continued in its fund-raising efforts to further support the development of the space it occupies; during this period is has established a modest clubhouse such that members and visitors can escape inclement weather as well as take part in classroom style coaching sessions. Future plans include a substantial irrigation system for lawn care and when the membership is at an appropriate level the development of a fourth lawn. The volunteers that assist the trustees are drawn both from the membership and those that are associated with the club, commonly these are partners of members. The club regularly runs introductory sessions and coaching to all levels and ability, and this year promotional activities and fund raising have featured extensively with two open days to introduce the club and sport to the local community. As part of regular maintenance, the trustees regularly review the club risk registers, club handbook and key policies updating and communicating them to the membership as appropriate. These policies include Safeguarding, Equality, Disciplinary, Reserves policy and Data Protection (GDPR). As Trustees, we have regard to the Charity Commission’s public benefit guidance and have taken it into account in all decision making. We are fully aware of our place in the wider community and believe that we have complied with our duty to have regard to the published guidance on public benefit. Membership is open to all, including those with a restricted ability to pay. All Trustees gave their time to the Charity voluntarily and received no Honorarium, emoluments, or other benefits aside from receipted expenses. 2 Charity # 1191519 ## 3. Achievements and Performance This year has been another challenging one as we have been involved in fund raising for a clubhouse, its subsequent installation, and the ongoing work associated with the commissioning of a third lawn. Our success in running a ‘Crowdfunder’ campaign has been of continued interest to many clubs within the croquet world and we have continued to provide advice and assistance to these groups. We have also been successful in obtaining further grant funding through Sport England, the governing body of our sport (Croquet England) and the regional federation to support the clubhouse project. On the participation front our members have been fully engaged with both competitive and social play. We entered teams in the East Anglian Croquet Federation (Regional body) leagues. These teams represent a cross section of all abilities and codes (types) of croquet and all did well. Members who enjoy the competitive aspect of croquet were also able to participate in tournaments and several made it through to the National finals of their class. At the top level of performance, one of our members represented the club and country at the Golf Croquet World Championships held in the USA this year and another in the Ladies European Golf Championships in the UK. On a more social level several ‘friendlies’ were held with other local clubs and enjoyed by all with the club being well represented. We have also held our equally varied club competitions and publish the results on social media such as Facebook. We regularly host groups for ‘Have a Go’ events during the summer. Local WI groups, Northampton Rotary, and a regular u3a group were introduced to the sport, not only providing a modest source of revenue but as importantly introducing new people to the sport and the club. The club also took part in a local primary school initiative to introduce less well-known sports to those who were disinterested in the main sports on offer. We were pleased that students both enjoyed their time and voted croquet their favourite new activity with many requesting a return visit. The club is actively involved in the sport’s governing body program of promoting croquet in schools and to younger people in general. The club also supported national croquet week, an open event for people to come and try our sport, this was well attended by the local community and from which we drew new members. We continue to publicise the club and sport through local magazines and have plans to do more in the coming year. The focus for next year will continue to be on recruitment to improve the long-term sustainability of the club. As part of establishing our place in the community the club also regularly contributes to the parish magazine and other local media outlets. The ‘buddy’ scheme set up to help support new members by providing an established and knowledgeable member as mentor continues to operate effectively. The trustees believe that the club is forging links with its new local community and looks forward to continuing to develop the site and promoting croquet for the benefit of its members and all those that it supports. The year also saw us hosting competitive events for the wider croquet community and the start of reestablishing Northampton as a venue to enjoy top croquet. 3 Charity # 1191519 ## 4. Financial Review In compliance with the charities financial policy its current account holds sufficient funds to manage its running costs such as ground rent, affiliations, insurance, and administration support costs, whilst a separate account holds surplus monies to assist in the longer-term development requirements. Our fund raising focussed on the purchase and installation of a clubhouse during this period. Again, we solicited grant funding from various sport related sources to assist us and held fund raising activities during the year. As part of the due diligence process when selecting a supplier, we spoke to reference sites and whilst budgeting for the installation to be provided by the supplier opted to do the installation using our own resources thus saving a substantial sum of money which can be used for future phases of site/club development. As at 31/10/2024 the total club funds stood at £31,036 The income for the year was £ 46,266 with an expenditure of £26,206 The substantial increase in income arose from the extensive fund raising conducted in the year with local communities, members past and present generous in their giving and the associated gift aid. The expenditure largely relates to the purchase and installation of a clubhouse also the purchase of the necessary ground care materials. All outstanding liabilities will be settled from the unreserved funds. The trustees monitor the outstanding payments that are accrued from work commissioned or orders placed, recording the liabilities above £1,000 that will be settled prior to the next subscription round (1[st] April each year). Given the level of income and expenditure the club continues to conduct an independent examination it has traditionally commissioned one and will continue, reflecting the professional way the finances are dealt with and giving confidence to the membership and any interested third parties. The trustees maintain both a business risk register and a Health and Safety register. These are reviewed regularly regarding all issues pertinent to the charity. 4 Charity # 1191519 ## 4.1 Receipts and Payments Account 5 Charity # 1191519 6 Charity # 1191519 4.2 Independent Examiner’s Report 7 Charity # 1191519 ## 5. Structure, Governance and Management The charity is setup as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) and controlled via its constitution. Trustees are elected from the membership according to the process and provisions within the constitution. The constitution sets out the eligibility requirements for a trustee and the process for those eligible to be considered by the membership. The incumbent trustees offer advice to anyone wishing to be considered regarding the role and associated responsibilities along with the Charities Commission documents including the ‘Welcome Pack for New Trustees.’ On election each new trustee will receive: - (a) a copy of the constitution and any amendments made to it. - (b) a copy of the club handbook and policies. - (c) a copy of the CIO’s latest trustees’ annual report incorporating the statement of accounts. The charity has a minimum of 3 and a maximum of 7 trustees. It also has introduced several specialist teams to assist the trustees in taking the club forward. Northampton Croquet club is a member of the sport’s governing body – Croquet England and it also affiliates to the regional organisation the East Anglia Croquet Federation (EACF). The trustees serving over the period of this report were: **----- Start of picture text -----**
Trustee Role
Paul Chard Chair
Lionel Tibble Secretary
Martyn Palmer Treasurer
Archie Brown
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For convenience, the trustees meet via the Zoom video conferencing tool regularly. With special meetings set aside for risk register review or the management support teams. The trustees are satisfied that our processes and systems are both legally compliant and adhere to the requirements of the charity commission. The appointed Independent financial examiner for the period of this report: John Deakin FCA Dorset House, Prestwood, Bucks. HP16 0JN The charity has no corporate or advisory trustees. It has no trustees holding title to property belonging to the charity and no Funds are held as custodian trustees on behalf of others. There are no reasons supporting ‘non-disclosure’ of key personnel details. 8 Charity # 1191519 ## 6. Reference and Administrative details **----- Start of picture text -----**
Charity name Northampton Croquet Club
Other name the charity uses Not applicable
Registered charity number 1191519
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|Charity name
Other name the charity uses
Registered charity number|Northampton Croquet Club
Not applicable
1191519| |---|---| ||| |Charity’s principal address|The principal office of the CIO is:
**Northampton Croquet Club**
**The Leys,**
**Roade,**
**Northampton.**
**NN7 2NR**| ## 7. Declarations **The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.** **Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees** **----- Start of picture text -----**
Signature(s)
Full name(s) Paul Chard Lionel Tibble
Position (eg Secretary,
Chair, etc) Chair of Trustees Trustee
Date
11/02/2025
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9 Charity # 1191519