Westmorland Damson Association. Trustees, Annual Report - Year ended 31 December 2021 TRUSTEES The Trustees who served during the year were: Mark B3sey-Fi5her- Chair Angela Slater- Secretary Hilary Fitch- Membership Secretary Peter Hensman- Treasurer Desmond Holmes Simon Paterson Hartley Trotter Adam Walker STRucfuRE AND GOVERNANCE The Westmorland Damson Association 15 3 Charity operating under a Constitution adopted on 2 March 2010. Membership of the Assoaation is open to anyone who 5UPPOrt5 the objective5 of the Association. The day-t(Fday affairs are managed by an Executive Comrnittee comprising Chairman, VI￿-Chai￿13n, Secretary, Treasurer and up to 6 other member5 WFM) are appointed each year at the Annual General Meeting. The A%sociation can be contacted at Ingilnook. Charney Well Lane. Grange over Sands. Cumbria, LAII 6DB. OBJEcnvES AND ACTNMES The Westmorland Damson Association seeks to enhance the economy and landscape of traditional damson growing in Cumbria by 5UPPOrting the growin& picking and LEse of Westmorland dam50ns. The objectives of the Association are: To encourage for the benefit of the public the conservation. protection and expansion of damson orchards and the preseN3tion of their genetic biodiversity, landscape and heritage value in Cumbria To advance the education of the public in the 8rown& cultivation and preservation of the Westmorland darn50n variety common to Cumbria. To pursue these objectives. the A%0(Jat￿n= Organises an Annual Damson Day in April every year. Thi5 public event provides opportunitFes for those attending to learn about the history and tethnique5 of damson growing in the area. to purchase damson trees for planting and to buy and sell damson-based and other local products. 2. Encourages the growin& picking and use of damsons by b￿Ing in damsons from growers at harvest-time. freezing them and then selling them to those requiring them throughout the year. 3. Encourages the planting of new damson orthanss through its Orchard Grant Scheme and the supply of damson suckers. 4. Promote5 the growing and use of damsons by providing advtce to rnembers and the public through the circulation of a regular newsletter and other publication By pursuing these objectives. the Trustees continue to give due regard to the Charity Commission's guidance on public benefit. ACHIEVEMENTS IN 2021 Disappointingly, the Cowd-19 pandemic, for the second year runnin& caused the (zncellation of Dam50n Day which should have been held in April 2021. This meant that a key feature of the Association's work to proFnote damsons and damson growing in Westmorland was105t. The damson crop in 2021 was poor. Late frosts badly affected the lower lying orchards. The Association agreed to purchase 794 kg from 13 growers. Because 2020 sales had been badly afferted by the pandemic. stock at the beginning of the year was higher than normal and, despite the poor harvest. the Association still had adequate stocks to sell. Demand, however, was disappointing with the larger purchasers generally remaining 3bsent. Sales of damsons amounted to some 480kg leaving a sto(* at 31 De￿mber 2020 of appmximately 1870 kg. The arrangements for the storage and sale of damsons Trn Colla￿ratIon with Witherslack Estste (Dntinued to work well. A potential new stte for Damson Day was located during 2021. Sadly. because of Covid-related delays, it could not be made reaty for the 2022 Damson Day which had to be cancelled. During the year. one application for an Orchard Grant of £120 was received. In addition. the Association ￿SpOnded to a number of requests for dam50n suckers to enable new planting. Assooation officers also gave advice on damson tree planting and care and participated in a video recording about the history of the Lyth valley and its damsons. A successful stall promoting damsons and their use was organised at the Westmorland County Show. F114ANCJAL REVIEW As a result of the low level of damson sales and the lack of any income from Damson Day. the Association made a loss of £1822 in the year. However, a balance of £38678 remained in unrestricted funds at 31 December. The Trustees aim to hold sufficient cash ￿serveS to enable them to fund both a Damson Day and the purchase of a year's damson cmp. They estimate that cash reserve5 required would be of the order of £20,0￿. Reserves a￿ currerrtly in eX￿sS of this level which the Trustees believe to be prudent in view of the extrn costs that are likely to be incurred in establishrng the new site for Damson Day. CHARITABLE INCORPORATED ORGANISATION During the year permission was received from the Charity Commi55ion to set up a Charttable Incorporated Organisation wtth the same name and objectives as the existing Charitable Trust. This comparatively new form of organisation will relieve the Trustees of personal liability for the attivities of the Association which they do not consider to be appropriate in the current litigious world. As a result, and with the ag￿ement of members at the 2021 AGM. the activities, assets and liabilities of the Charitable Trust were transferred to the new Charitable Incorw)rated Organisation on l January 2022 and the Charitable Trust wa5 subsequently ck)sed. Approved by the Trustees on 24" May 2022. M. Basey-Fi5her Chairman ## **WESTMORLAND DAMSON ASSOCIATION CHARITY (No 1134749) Financial Statements for the year ending 31st December 2021** --------------------------------------- ||---------------------------------------|---------------------------------------|||| |---|---|---|---|---|---| ||**STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITY**||||| ||Notes|**2021**||**2020**|| |||**£**|**£**|**£**|**£**| |**INCOMING RESOURCES (all unrestricted)**|||||| |**Donations and grants**|||||| |Membership subscriptions||675.00||670.00|| |Gift Aid Tax recovered||103.59||100.78|| |Grants received|1|0.00||6,000.00|| |Donations received||50.00||306.00|| ||||828.59||7,076.78| |**Charitable Activities**|||||| |**Damson Day**|||||| |**Receipts**|||||| |Sponsorship and donations||0.00||0|| |Displays and stalls||0||0.00|| |Gate and walks||0.00||0.00|| |||0.00||0.00|| |**Expenditure**|||||| |Setting -up||0.00||0.00|| |Advertising and printing||0.00||0.00|| |Entertaiment||0.00||0.00|| |General||0.00||0.00|| |||0.00||0.00|| |**Net incoming resources from Damson Day**|||0.00||0.00| |**Sale of Damsons**|||||| |Sales||2,067.30||9,167.00|| |Cost of sales|2|1,280.80||5,654.00|| |Storage costs||1,152.88||1,007.45|| |Depreciation of cold store||732.00||732.00|| |||3,165.68||7,393.45|| |**Net incoming resouces from Sale of Damsons**|||-1,098.38||1,773.55| |**Interest on cash balances**|||71.83||117.21| |**Total Incoming Resources**|||-197.96||8,967.54| ## **WESTMORLAND DAMSON ASSOCIATION CHARITY (No 1134749) Financial Statements for the year ending 31st December 2021** ||---------------------------------------|---------------------------------------|---------------------------------------||| |---|---|---|---|---|---| |**STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITY**||**(continued)**|||| ||Notes|**2021**||**2020**|| |||**£**|**£**|**£**|**£**| |**RESOURCES EXPENDED**|||||| |**Charitable expenditure**|||||| |Orchard Grant Scheme for regeneration of Westmorland|||||| |damson orchards|||120.00||0.00| |**Premises**|||||| |Rent|||0.00|2,160.00|| |Rates|||0.00|193.73|| ||||0.00||2,353.73| |**Management & Administration Costs**|||||| |Establishment & other costs|3|1,500.13||1,695.44|| |Staff Costs - Honoraria|||0.00|0.00|| ||||1,500.13||1,695.44| |**Total Resources Expended**|||1,620.13||4,049.17| |**Net Movement in Funds for the year**|||-1,818.09||4,918.37| |Fund Balances at 1st January 2021|||40,499.38||35,581.01| |**Fund Balances at 31st December 2021**|||38,681.29||40,499.38| ## **WESTMORLAND DAMSON ASSOCIATION CHARITY (No 1134749) Financial Statements for the year ending 31st December 2021** |**BALANCE SHEET at 31st DECEMBER 2020**
Notes
**2021**
**£**
**Fixed Assets**
Share of cold store
4
5,856.00
Investments at cost, less provision for write down
5
0.00
5,856.00
**Current Assets**
Stock of damsons
2
4,986.00
Debtors & Prepayments
6
103.59
Bank and cash balances
7
27,940.70
33,030.29
**Less Creditors and advance receipts**
8
205.00
**Net Current Assets**
32,825.29
**Total Net Assets**
38,681.29
**Funds of the Charity**
**Unrestricted funds**
10
38,681.29|**2020**
**£**
6588.00
0.00| |---|---| ||6,588.00
4,150.00
100.78
29,865.60| ||34,116.38
205.00| ||33,911.38| ||40,499.38| ||40,499.38| ## **The attached notes form part of these financial statements.** Signed on behalf of the Trustees: ## **M Basey Fisher** ## **PRW Hensman** Date: ## **WESTMORLAND DAMSON ASSOCIATION CHARITY (No 1134749) Financial Statements for the year ending 31st December 2021** |**NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS**
**1. Grants Received**
Local Authority Covid-19 Grant
**2. Sale of damsons - cost of sales**
Opening stock
Purchases
Closing stock
Cost of sales
Stocks are valued at cost or realisable value, if lower .
**3. Establishment and other costs**
Insurance - Stock, buildings, cash in transit
Miscellaneous
Accounts Inspection
Newsletter
Website
**4. Fixed Assets**
50% share of Cold Store
Less Accumulated Depreciation
Depreciation is charged to write off the cold store over 10 years
**5. Investment Assets**
Shares in the Witherslack Community Shop, at cost.
Less provision for write down
**6. Debtors**
Gift Aid Claimable
**7. Bank and cash balances**
Barclays Bank
Skipton Building Society
Cash in Hand
**8 Creditors and advanced receipts**
Stall deposits carried forward|**2021**
**£**
0.00
4150.00
2116.80
6266.80
4986.00
1280.80
1003.45
196.68
300.00
0.00
0.00
1500.13
7320.00
1464.00
5856.00
5,000.00
-5,000.00
0.00
103.59
7,345.27
20,595.43
0.00
27,940.70
205.00|**2020**
**£**
6000.00| |---|---|---| |||5524.00
4280.00| |||9804.00
4150.00| |||5654.00| |||1359.81
0.00
300.00
0.00
35.99| |||1695.80| |||7320.00
732.00| |||6588.00| |||5,000.00
-5,000.00| |||0.00| |||100.78| |||9,342.00
20,523.60
0.00| |||29,865.60| |||205.00| ## **9. Trustees and related parties** No fees or expenses were paid to Trustees in the years ending 31st December 2021 or 2020 ## **10. Reserves** The Trustees aim to hold sufficient cash reserves to enable them to fund both a Damson Day and the purchase of a year's damson crop. They estimate that the reserves required would be of the order of £20,000. Reserves are currently in excess of this level which the Tustees believe to be prudent in view of the extra costs that are likely to be incurred in establishing a new site for Damson Day.