## **Trustees’ annual report for the period** :
Period start date:
31.05.2022
Period end date: day/month/year
31.05.2023
Reference and administration details
## Charity name: **Advantage! Barrow Raiders Community Foundation**
Other names charity is known by: Barrow Raiders Community Foundation
Charity’s principal address: The Matt Johnson Prestige Stadium (Craven Park), Duke Street, Barrow-in-Furness, LA14 1XP
Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity
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Trustee name Office (if any) Dates acted if not Name of person
for whole year (or body) entitled
to appoint trustee
(if any)
David Nixon Chair person Board of Trustees
Lisa Neale Treasurer Board of Trustees
Terry Barker Secretary Board of Trustees
Karen Scarr Board of Trustees
Tony Colyer Board of Trustees
Lee Edmondson Board of Trustees
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Name of trustees for the charity, if any
N/A
## Names and addresses of advisors
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Steve Neale Chair Person Barrow 6 Kirkstall Close, Barrow-
Raiders RLFC in-Furness
Lucy Piechura MAAT Accountant TI Accountancy,
74 Duke Street, Barrow-
in-Furness
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Name of chief executive or names of senior staff members (optional information)
Structure, governance and management
Description of charity’s trusts
Type of governing document (e.g. Constitution trust deed, constitution) How the charity is constituted (e.g. Trust trust, association, company) Trustee selection methods (e.g. By appointment appointed by, elected by)
## Additional governance issues
The trustees oversee the strategic vision of Advantage! and evaluate its application. The charity has a Child Protection Policy in place and carries out DBS verification checks prior to the commencement of employment. All organisations which work with us are required to have appropriate policies. As sample of organisations we work with, includes: Westmorland & Furness Council; NHS, a variety of schools and education establishments; Cumbria CVS, Cumbria Constabulary, Furness Youth Partnership, Groundworks. Advantage! is subject to professional scrutiny from these organisations, before embarking upon joint projects.
Objectives and activities
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Summary of the objects of the charity The promotion of community
set out in its governing document participation, healthy recreation for
the public benefit of our community
by coaching and the playing of rugby
league and associated sports and
activities.
To provide or assist in providing
facilities for sport and recreation to
persons who are in need of such
facilities by reason of youth, age,
disablement or social economic
circumstances, or for the public at
large in the interest of social welfare.
To promote other charitable purposes
under the laws of England and Wales
from time to time.
Summary of the main activities Advantage! Barrow Raiders
undertaken for the public benefit in Community Foundation is a registered
relation to these objects charity, and has been in existence
since January 2019, with charitable
status being achieved in May 2021.
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Advantage! is the community arm of Barrow Raiders RLFC, and our aims are to tackle disadvantage in the area of Barrow and Furness, through sport and health and wellbeing activities. We work in a proud community which is beset with the problems associated with high unemployment for the young, and deprivation (both social and health) across the community. During the recent pandemic, when Barrow was described by the media as ‘virus town’, the Government rightly praised the Rugby League community and rugby league foundations for their work in sustaining their communities. Advantage!, with its mix of enthusiastic volunteers and professional coaches, has a unique partnership with its professional rugby league club, which supports our charity in its pursuit of the general public good in our community. We have also sought the assistance of major business partners in our area, such as the BAE Systems, Furness Building Society and Orsted and our work has been endorsed and supported by Westmorland & Furness Council and our local MP. We are using sport and wellbeing as a vehicle to improve the social and health conditions to thirteen groups of disadvantaged people within our community.
Additional details of objectives and activities
We have been awarded grants from national charities, such as Sport England, Bailey Thomas Foundation, National Lottery and from local charities, such as Sir John Fisher Foundation and Cumbria Community Foundation. Advantage! has attracted support from prominent local businesses, such as BAE Systems and the Furness Building Society. The support of Barrow Raiders, based on The Memorandum of Cooperation’, in providing seconded staff and facilities has been fundamental in the success of Advantage! allowing us to afford to deploy professional coaches. Advantage! enjoys tremendous community support having won The People’s Project for the Granada region and having been nominated for a number of Love Barrow awards and it is supported by a growing group of volunteers, and its young sports leaders’ cohort.
Advantage! has been identified as a trusted partner, and awarded contracts, in delivering health and wellbeing projects in our community.
Achievements and performance
Advantage!, the community arm of Barrow Raiders RLFC, is designed to support people who
suffer disadvantage within the heart of Barrow.
Advantage! is now a sustained, but still developing, programme still with its focus of making an immediate dynamic impact improving the physical and mental wellbeing of the young people and
adults, and vulnerable adults, in the heart of Barrow: tackling issues such as the social isolation.
Our work, supported by the prestigious endorsement of our partners, has led us to offer a comprehensive prospectus of sport and wellbeing activities in our town and attracted the interest of agencies such as Westmorland & Furness Council, NHS Population Health and Cumbria CVS and Cumbria Police & Crime Commissioner, who has commissioned us to work within our communities tackling anti-social behaviour. We are a trusted and “go to” organisation within our community. To meet the challenge of increased demand, due to the quality of our services, we have a team of eight staff delivering a schools and community programme.
In the ‘living with Covid’ era, our mission is to sustain the growing interest in health and
wellbeing activities in our town and the centre of our town, and also, to bring a precise
focus to assist appropriate agencies in tackling the health deficits which are well documented in Barrow-in-Furness.
Recognising that we are in for the long haul in providing a sustainable resource to our
brilliant town, we have evaluated how fit we are for purpose in being a high quality delivery vehicle. As a result, we have embraced the status of a registered charity, and the
opportunities it brings, but also, the rigors and accountability it places on our operations.
The endorsement of BAE Systems has been attractive to other potential donors, and we
have expanded our staffing compliment to allow us to be able to meet demand, but we are
conscious that growing demand remains a challenge. Our funding streams, which come
from donations and successful grant awards, are vital to us for sustainability. The relationships we have been building with, for instance, Barrow ICC, have allowed us to be more precise in focusing our activities in terms of the health deficits in Barrow, and, as such, our targeted approach reflects the gaps and needs of our community.
The future and prosperity of the town, economically and socially, lies in its young people,
and we have expanded our educational provision to include 14 schools per week, plus the Pupil Referral Unit.
Please see below, leaflets outlining our current programme of activities (this does not
include individual initiatives we have been asked to deliver on, such as the Raiders on the Road, tackling anti-social behaviour project.
ADVANTAGEKI
BARROW RAIDERS •
-u"1
JNITY FOUNDATI.,4
f@w
Charitable donation is a vital element in allowing us to expand our programme of activities, so we are offering numerous different community programmes, from nursery to ninety, and, as we mentioned earlier, a very extensive school’s programme. Through the Government Holiday and Food Programme initiative, we have provided sports camps specifically targeted at children from families on health related benefits. A vital element of this being the delivery of nutritious food and healthy eating workshops.
One of our most successful programmes is Able Raiders – weekly sports and health and wellbeing provision for adults with learning disabilities. This involves wellbeing walks from different locations around the South Lakes area, a weekly multi-sports session and a tag-rugby training session. These activities are attended by around 100 people weekly. Launched during Covid, from small beginnings, Able Raiders has gone from strength to strength, and we are now fielding an adult with learning disabilities rugby team in the Community Integrated Care rugby league Super League structure. Able Raiders is a particularly well received, and much needed, initiative within the community and recently we have expanded this provision to children with disabilities, working within the special needs schools in the area.
Recognising the health disparities experienced by the elderly in our community, we have been tasked by Barrow ICC to deliver chair based exercise to the elderly, in community settings and in care home throughout the Furness Peninsula
The initial impact can be seen in the numbers that attend our activities, which is over 1000
per week, including schools coaching. The longer term impact in our contribution to the entrenched problem that is health and wellbeing, is more difficult to measure in the short term. We are one of several groups working within the area to help alleviate the health issues of the local population and tackle the challenges to those experiencing social isolation. The effect of our work will become clearer as time goes on, but even then, it is often hard
to isolate that from the work of other agencies.
It is also worth noting that our work in coaching rugby in primary schools, plus Raider Girls and Raider Braves (a group for boys who are initially reluctant to join rugby clubs, because of issues
such as shyness, or even autism) has contributed to an increase of around 20% in the participation of children of primary age in local rugby community clubs (figures from Barrow and District League representative).
It is universally acknowledged that health and wellbeing activities are vital in improving the lifestyles and chances of a community, and that Barrow desperately needs our sort of
provision. However, amongst that provision, we believe we are among the most accessible and affordable, and therefore are able to be more effective in dealing with aspects of
deprivation on poverty.
In our long term journey, it is vital that our patrons, such as the Furness Building Society, that have a real regard for ‘social value’ remain with us, and hopefully increase the level of their funding to help us meet the increased level of the challenge.
Financial review
Brief statement of the charity’s policy on reserves
Cash Funds at 31.12.2022 £60226 Cash funds at 31.12.2021 £42749 It is the trust’s aspiration to have a reserve of £30,000, but, we are subject to availability of grants and donations.
Details of any funds materially in deficit
N/A
Further financial review details:
You may choose to include additional information, where relevant about: The charity’s principal sources of funds (including any fundraising). How expenditure has supported the key objectives of the charity. Investment policy and objectives including any ethical investment policy adopted.
The charity does not invest in other areas beyond its key objectives.
Other optional information
Declaration
The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above. Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees
Signature (s) L K Neale Full name (s) Lisa Kay Neale Position Treasurer Date 15.06.2023
Independent examiner’s report on the accounts
Report to the trustees/members of
Advantage! Barrow Raiders Community Foundation
On accounts for the year ended
31.12.2022
Set out on pages
Please see attached report.
I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts for the year ended 2022.
As the charity trustees of the Trust, you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the Charities Act 2011 (“the Act”).
I report in respect of my examination of the Trust’s accounts carried out under s145 of the Act and in carrying out my examination,
I have followed the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under s145(5)(b) of the Act.
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect:
- accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Act; or
- the accounts do not accord with the accounting records.
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
Signed:
Date:
Name:
Relevant professional qualification (s) or body (if any):
Address:
Disclosure Section
Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight material problems
## **Advantage! Barrow Raiders Community Foundation**
## **Receipts and payments accounts**
**For the period from**
**01.01.2022**
**To**
**31.12.2022**
## **Section A Receipts and payments**
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Unrestricted funds Restrict Endowment
Total funds Last year
to the nearest ed funds
£ funds to the nearest to the to the
A1 Receipts to the nearest £ nearest £ nearest £
Sponsorship 35769 - - 35769 -
NHS Activity Delivery 18960 - - 18960 -
Boost, Frieda C Scott, Mencap 15887 - - 15887 -
Cumbria County Council 31120 - - 31120 -
Lottery Fund & RFL Funding 19520 - - 19520 -
Cumbria Community FoundationCumbria CVS 1400017642 --- -- 140001764220000 ---
Sir John FisherSports Provision 200009290 - -- 1821889290
182188
33
- - -
A2 Asset and investment - - - -
sales - - - -
-
-
Sub total -
**----- End of picture text -----**
**----- Start of picture text -----**
Total - -
receipts
A3 Payments
BRLFC staf for community projects 118798 - - 118798 -
Website design 1500 - - 1500 -
Food provision for camps and - - 5270 -
activities 5270 - - 19362 -
Venue Hire 19362 - - 2500 -
Training 2500 - - 2191 -
Uniform 2191 - - 6230 -
PrintingTransport 62303935 -- -- 3935 --
- - 159785
Sub total 159786
A4 Asset and investment
purchases
Sports Equipment 4875
- - 4875
Sub total 4875 - -
- - 4875 -
Total 164661 - - 164661
payments
- -
Net of receipts/(payments)
A5 Transfers between - - - - -
funds - - 42749
A6 Cash funds last year - - 60226
end
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Page 1 of 2
## **Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period**
|||**Detail**|||**Unrestrict**|**Unrestrict**|||**Restrict**|||**Endowme**|**Endowme**|**Endowme**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||**Categori**|**s**|||**ed**||||**ed**||||**nt**||
||**es**||||**funds**||||**funds**|||**funds**|||
|||||||||||||**to nearest £**|||
|||Cumberland|Building Society|**to nearest**||**£**|||**to nearest**|**£**
**-**||||**-**|
|**B1 Cash**||||||||||||||**-**|
|**funds**|||||||**-**|||**-**|||||
||||||||**-**|||**-**||||**-**
**-**|
||||**_Total cash funds_**|||**60226**|||||||||
||||||||||**Restrict**|||**Endowme**|||
|**Unrestricted funds**|||||||||**ed**|||**nt**|||
||||||||||**funds**|||**funds**|||
|||**Details**||**to nearest £**|||||**to nearest**|**£**||**to nearest £**|||
|**B2 Other monetary**|||||||**-**|||**-**||||**-**|
|**assets**|||||||**-**|||**-**||||**-**|
||||||||**-**|||**-**||||**-**|
||||||||**-**|||**-**||||**-**|
||||||||**-**|||**-**||||**-**|
||||||||**-**|||**-**||||**-**|
|||**Details**|||||||||||||
|**B3 Investment assets**||||**Fund to which**
**asset belongs**|||||**Cos**
**t**|**-**||**Current value**
**-**
**-**|||
|||||||||||**-**||||**-**|
|||||||||||**-**||||**-**|
|||||||||||**-**||||**-**|
||**Details**|||**Fund to which**
**asset belongs**|||||**Cos**
**t**|**-**||**Current value**
**-**|||
|**B4 Assets retained for**||||||||||**-**||||**-**|
|**the charity’s own use**||||||||||**-**||||**-**|
||||||||||**-**
**-**
**Amount due**|||||**-**|
|||||||||||||||**-**|
|||||||||||**-**
**-**||||**-**|
|||||||||||**-**
**-**||||**-**|
|||||||||||**-**
**-**||||**-**|
|||||||||||**-**
**-**||||**-**|
|||||||||||**-**
**-**|||||
|Signed by two trustees on behalf
of all the trustees||**Details**|Signatur
e||**Fund to**
**which**|||||||Print
Name
Date
of|||
|**B5**|||||**liability**|||||||approv|||
|**Liabilities**|||||**relates**|||||||al|||
When due
NÈèlÈ
Seatr
Dear Trustees of Advantage! Barrow Raiders Community Foundation
## **RE: Accounts for year ending 31st December 2022**
My examination was carried out in accordance with the General Directions given by the Charity Commissioners.
An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts and seeking explanation from you as Trustees concerning any such matters.
In connection with my examination, I have no concerns and have come across no other matters to which attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
Yours faithfully
Lucy Piechura MAAT **TI Accountancy 14th June 2023**