2024-12-31-accounts - Advantage! Barrow Raiders Community Foundation

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Trustees’ annual report and AGM or the period :

Period start date: 01.06.2024 Period end date: day/month/year 31.05.2025

Reference and administration details

Charity name: Advantage! Barrow Raiders Community Foundation

Other names charity is known by: Advantage!

Charity’s principal address: The Northern Competitions Stadium (Craven Park), Duke Street, Barrowin-Furness, LA14 1XP

Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity

Trustee name	Ofce (if any)	Name of person (or body) enttled to appoint trustee (if any)
Lisa Neale	Treasurer	Board of Trustees
Karen Scarr	Chairperson	Board of Trustees
KerryLaughran	Secretary	Board of Trustees
TerryBarker		Board of Trustees
Paul Litlewood		Board of Trustees
Deborah Maguire		Board of Trustees

Names and addresses of advisors

Names and addresses of advisors
Steve Neale	Chair Person Barrow Raiders RLFC	6 Kirkstall Close, Barrow-in- Furness
Lucy Piechura MAAT	Accountant	TI Accountancy, 74 Duke Street, Barrow-in- Furness

Name of chief executive or names of senior staff members (optional information)

Louise Scarr – Foundation Manager

Structure, governance and management

Description of charity’s trusts

Descripton of charity’s trusts
Type of governing document (e.g. trust deed, consttuton)	Consttuton
How the charity is consttuted (e.g. trust, associaton,company)	Trust
Trustee selecton methods (e.g. appointed by, elected by)	By appointment

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.

A sample of organisations we work with, include: Westmorland & Furness Council; NHS, a variety of schools and education establishments; Cumbria CVS, Cumbria Constabulary, Furness Youth Work Partnership, Furness Carers.

Advantage! is subject to professional scrutiny from these organisations, before embarking upon joint projects.

Objectives and activities

Objectves and actvites
Summary of the objects of the charity set out in its governing document	The promoton of community partcipaton, healthy recreaton for the public beneft of our community by coaching and the playing of rugby league and associated sports and actvites. To provide or assist in providing facilites for sport and recreaton to persons who need such facilites 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 tme to tme.
Summary of the main actvites undertaken for the public beneft in relaton to these objects	Advantage! Barrow Raiders Community Foundaton is a registered charity, and has been in existence since January 2019, with charitable status being achieved in May 2021. Advantage! is the community arm of Barrow Raiders RLFC, and our aims are to tackle disadvantage in the

Objectves and actvites

Summary of the objects of the charity set out in
its governing document

The promoton of community partcipaton,
healthy recreaton for the public beneft of our
community by coaching and the playing of
rugby league and associated sports and
actvites.
To provide or assist in providing facilites for
sport and recreaton to persons who need such
facilites 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 tme to
tme.

Summary of the main actvites undertaken for
the public beneft in relaton to these objects

Advantage! Barrow Raiders Community
Foundaton is a registered charity, and has been
in existence since January 2019, with charitable
status being achieved in May 2021. 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 and the promotion of, and playing opportunities of, rugby league. 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. 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 public good in our community. We have also sought the assistance of major business partners in our area, such as the BAE Systems and Furness Building Society, 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 numerous 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, BOOST and Peter Harrison Foundation, 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, Foundation of the Year for the Rugby Football League, Community Project Of The Year award for Cumbria. We have also been nominated for a number of Love Barrow awards.

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.

In June 2024 we merged with Barrow Community Sports Trust, both organisations then coming under Advantage! Barrow Raiders Community Foundation. The merger resulted in one member of clerical staff taking voluntary redundancy. Advantage! continued to deliver the contracted activities for both organisations.

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 permanent staff and a number of casual staff delivering a diverse schools and community programme.

Our funding streams, which come from donations and successful grant awards, are vital to us for sustainability. The relationship we have been building with funders and partner organisations, has allowed us to be more precise in focusing our activities in terms of the needs of the local area, 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 over 15 schools each week, plus the Pupil Referral Unit.

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 lower incomes or those with health related benefits. A vital element of this being the delivery of our 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 deliver chair

based exercise to the elderly, in community settings and in an expanding number of care home throughout the Furness Peninsula.

The impact we are having within our communities 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 25% in the participation of children of primary age in local rugby community clubs (figures from Barrow and District League representative). Our new touch rugby initiative has also been greatly accepted and we have over 150 people playing each week. This includes people who have never picked up a rugby ball before, 5 new ladies teams and people who had previously had years out of the game. This initiative is proving to be a huge success and we have received a number of accolades from the RFL for our provision.

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 31.12.2024 £154947 Cash funds at 31.12.2023 £ 42528

It is the trust’s aspiration to have a reserve of £40,000, 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 23.07.2025

Independent examiner’s report on the accounts

Report to the trustees/members of

Advantage! Barrow Raiders Community Foundation

On accounts for the year ended

31.12.2024

Set out on pages

Please see attached report.

I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts for the year ended 2023.

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 01.01.2024 31.12.2024 To from

Section A Receipts and payments Unrestricted funds to the nearest £ A1 Receipts Sponsorship, Fundraising and provision 21669 Received from BCST on merger 40452 Core funding 35500 Project Funding RFL Funding 45349 Staff secondment 8147 HAF Funding 32185 Other income 23249 206551 33 A2 Asset and investment sales - Sub total 206551-	Section A Receipts and payments Unrestricted funds to the nearest £ A1 Receipts Sponsorship, Fundraising and provision 21669 Received from BCST on merger 40452 Core funding 35500 Project Funding RFL Funding 45349 Staff secondment 8147 HAF Funding 32185 Other income 23249 206551 33 A2 Asset and investment sales - Sub total 206551-
		Restricted funds to the nearest £ 20398 80703	Endowment funds to the nearest £ - - - - - - - -	Total funds to the nearest £ 21669 60850 35500 80703 45349 8147 32185 23249 307652 - - 307652-	Last year to the nearest £ 11321 - 61509 24950 16700 - 11457 1115 127052 - -
		101101	- - -
		- - 101101-
A2 Asset and investment sales
		-		-
	-	-		-	-
Sub total	206551-	101101-		307652-	-

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2330


Total receipts 206551 Total Payments 133370 Net of receipts/(payments) 73181 A5 Transfers between funds - A6 Cash funds last year end 33356 Cash funds this year end 106537 A3 Payments BRLFC staff for community projects 88572 HAF Camps includingvenue hire 14977 Programme Delivery Training 394 Uniform 1661 Rent 5426 Printing,website, &bank charges 907 Adjustment&miscellaneous 11433 Sub total 123370 A4 Asset and investment purchases Debentures Barrow RLFC 10000 Sub total 10000		101101 - - 0 41663 - 20200 - - - 61863	-	307652	127052

			-	130235	116155
			-	14977	17531
			-	20200	1175
			-	394	292
			-	1661	2727
			-	5426	-
			-	907	1704
			-	11433	5167

			-		-
			-	185233	144751

			-	10000
			-
			-	10000	-
					144751
	133370	61863	-	195233

	73181	39238	-	112419	-17699
	-	-	-	-	-
	33356	9172	-	42528	60227
	106537	48410	-	154947	42528

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Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period

Details Total cash funds to Details t Cumberland Building Society Natwest	Unrestricted funds nearest £ 9678 96859 106539	Restricted funds to nearest £ 48410	Restricted funds to nearest £ 48410	Endowment funds to nearest £ - - -
			48410


			48410	-
	o nearest £ und to which asset belongs 10000- - - - - -
		Restricted funds to nearest £ Name Cost - - - - ~~-~~ ~~-~~ ~~-~~ ~~-~~ ~~-~~ Cost - - - - - - - - - - - Amount due - - - - -		Endowment funds to nearest £ When due Current value - - - - - - - - - Current value - - - - - - - - - - - Date of approval 12.05.25 12.05.25
Barrow RLFC Debentures	10000-
	-
	-
	-
	-
	-





	und to which asset belongs


	Fund to which ~~liili l~~
	~~abty reates~~











	Print

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L NealL K SLatr PaoÈ4of2

(thazuma tkog)n House Prince5 Woy 8ri*nd lodustrioi Estote BridgerKI CF313AQ DearTrustees of Advantage! Barrow Raiders Community Foundation RE.. Accounts for year ending 31st December 20Z4 My examination was carried out in accordance with the General Directions given by the Commissioners. harity An examination include5 a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a co of the accounts presented with those record5. It also includes consideration of any unu5U or disclosures in the accour)ts and seeking explanation from you as Trustees concerning a matters. parison l items y stsch In connection with my examination. I have no concerns and have come across no other m to which attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the acc be reached. tters untsto Yours faithfully Lucy Piechur3 MAAT Mazuma GB 30th July 2025 Accounting t works fo at