## **Trustees’ Annual Report for the period**
**From 1/1/2024 Period start date To 31/12/2024 Period end date**
**Charity name: AquaPaddle**
## **Charity registration number: 1194714**
## **Objectives**
The two key objectives of AquaPaddle are:
1. the promotion of community participation in healthy recreation in particular by the provision of facilities for paddle boarding and associated water sports; and
2. to provide or assist in the provision of facilities in the interests of social welfare and mental wellbeing 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.
## **Activities, Achievements and Performance**
Our focus in 2024:
1. to broaden and strengthen the foundations of AquaPaddle
2. to organise more AquaPaddle BlueSpace activities
3. to increase the number of locations where AquaPaddle 5ks are run
4. to increase the number of AquaPaddles run
5. to increase the number of registered AquaPaddlers
6. to build a strong and mutually beneficial relationship with British Canoeing (Paddle UK - 2024), the largest body in Britain promoting paddle sport activities
1. The Board of Trustees formally met 4 times in 2024, and management meetings moved to once a month. The AquaPaddle website continued to be developed, improved and promoted through social media helping grow AquaPaddle. The website allows those interested in participating in AquaPaddle 5kms to register as a user, to obtain an AquaPaddle registration number, and to register participation in an AquaPaddle 5km. The web-based timing tool continues to perform well on the 5k AquaPaddles. All governance and operational documents were completed and reviewed and approved by the Trustees. The finances of AquaPaddle were organised on Xero accounting software. A donation page was set up on GiveTap.
2. In 2024 AquaPaddle provided the following BlueSpace sessions:
- a. In August and September 2024, AquaPaddle once again partnered with Surrey Care Trust to offer a BlueSpace Paddleboarding session for young cares undergoing mentoring. The session aimed to foster confidence and well-being by introducing the participants to paddleboarding, allowing them to experience the positive effects of being out on the water and learning a new
skill. Working alongside their local Delivery Partner in Thames Ditton, AquaPaddle organized the event for 26 young people, accompanied by their care workers, with a mix of both girls and boys in attendance.
Both sessions began with an introduction to the equipment and a focus on safety, followed by engaging warm-up games. Participants were then taught to paddleboard in a safe and fun environment. The Guildford session was on the River Wey and was along a scenic route past through the city. The Thames Ditton session took the paddlers passed historic Hampton Court Palace. They learned essential skills like controlling their boards, entering and exiting the water, and working together in team challenges, including forming a "snake of boards."
By the end of the sessions, all participants were able to stand and confidently navigate their paddleboards. Beyond mastering a new skill, many overcame personal challenges such as fear, anxiety, and nervousness in group settings.
- b. Also in August 2024, AquaPaddle's Delivery Partner, ELCAN in Newham, ran a series of BlueSpace Paddleboarding sessions for Spotlight, London Jaguars and the DOST Centre Charity at their paddle base on the Limehouse Cut, part of the River Lea.
- i. A comment from one of the Charity involved in the sessions “ _I would like to thank Moo Canoes/Aquapaddle for providing young people with a great opportunity to be able to learn and experience a sport that they most likely never will off their own back. Many of the young people who engaged in the session live close to the canal but may have never had the opportunity to try canoeing or engage with nature in this way. The fully funded session removes financial barriers, giving young people an equal chance to participate. The sessions promoted teamwork and problem solving within the group, challenging young people to work in pair and navigate through the difficulties that the sport brings. Many young people were scared at the beginning, but the session encourage them to overcome their fears while learning new skills and sport which has a positive effect on their confidence. Young people managed all of this while taking part in a sport that allows them to improve their health and wellbeing through active movement_ .”
- c. During the 2024 Coaching Season, over 80 individual BlueSpace (Blue Therapy) sessions were run at 5 locations, with more planned for 2025.
3. In 2024 we increased the number of AquaPaddle locations from 20 to 30+. In addition to the existing locations, we now have locations from Scotland to Cornwall including 2 in Wales.
4. At the 30 AquaPaddle locations we ran a total of 230 AquaPaddle 5ks, in which we had a total of 2,324 attendees.
5. Through our website we had registered just over 5463 individuals AquaPaddlers by the end of 2024.
6. In 2022 we made an agreement with British Canoeing, the largest body in Britain promoting paddle sport activities. They continued the agreement for another year in October 2023. The funding is for safety equipment for 15 new AquaPaddle 5k locations for a total value of £30,000.00 during 2023/2024. These funds are still being used as although we have grown in number of locations, these are mainly made up of location in
Scotland and Wales or commercial operations which are not covered by the agreement. The cross promotion also continues with them.
## **Trustee Statement**
The trustees confirm that they have had due regard to the charities commission’s public benefit guidance when exercising any powers or duties to which the guidance is relevant.
## **Volunteers**
The AquaPaddle Charity is entirely run by volunteers, and its AquaPaddle 5ks are run by volunteers at the various locations. During 2024 more than 200 volunteers helped to run the charity and run the AquaPaddle events.
## **Financial Review**
|**Financial Review**|||
|---|---|---|
|Review of the charity’s
financial position at the end
of the period|Para 1.21|At the year-end (31stDecember 2024)
AquaPaddle held a cash balance of
£4,406.66. £2,200.00 of which related to
the Grant (for Blue Therapy Sessions) from
the PLA Active Thames fund (disclosed
under Restricted Funds). The remaining
sessions under this agreement were held
during the 2025 season.|
|Statement explaining the
policy for holding reserves
stating why they are held|Para 1.22|No reserves are currently held.|
|Amount of reserves held|Para 1.22|NIL|
|Reasons for holding zero
reserves|Para 1.22|AquaPaddle is still in its early stages &
uses small donations to cover expenses
and working with a management team
providing their time for free.|
|Details of fund materially in
deficit|Para 1.24|By December 2024 Year End the
contingent loan relating to the cost of
developing the website was reduced from
£8,640 to £4,608 and this remaining
balance was settled during the 2025.|
|Explanation of any
uncertainties about the
charity continuing as a going
concern|Para 1.23|At this stage, there are no concerns about
the charity being a going concern.|
## **Structure, Governance and Management**
AquaPaddle is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation governed by its constitution. AquaPaddle’s only voting members are its trustees.
## **Reference and Administrative details**
|Charity name|AquaPaddle|
|---|---|
|Other name the charity uses||
|Registered charitynumber|1194714|
Charity’s principal address
22 Merton Way West Molesey Surrey KT8 1PQ
## **Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity**
|1
2
3
4
5|**Trustee name**|**Office (if any)**|**Dates acted if not for whole**
**year**|**Name of person (or body) entitled**
**to appoint trustee (ifany)**|
|---|---|---|---|---|
||Arnold Jager|Chair|||
||Brett Scillitoe||||
||AnthonyWagstaff||||
||||||
||||||
## **Declarations**
**The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.**
**Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees**
**Signature(s)**
**Full name(s)**
**Position (eg Secretary, Chair, etc)**
**Date**
**Charity Name No (if any) Aquapaddle 1194714 Receipts and payments accounts CC16a For the period** Period start date Period end date **To from** 1st Jan '24 31st Dec'24
## **Section A Receipts and payments**
|**Section A Receipts and payments**|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|**A1 Receipts**
Income - Donations - Individuals & Clubs
**4,936**
Income - Donations - Corporate
**-**
Income - Donations - Charities
**225**
Grant Income - Corporate
**7,200**
Grant Income - Blue Therapy
Income - Merchandise
**315**
LongTerm Loan - Trustee
LongTerm Loan - Trustee
**-**
**-**
**12,676**
**-**
**-**
**_Sub total_ -**
**_Total receipts_ 12,676**
**A3 Payments**
DC - DeliveryPartner Costs(Coaching)
**2,020**
DC - Kit & Equipment costs
**199**
IT & Hostingcosts
**616**
Telephone & Internet Hosting
**130**
Printing, Stationery
**197**
Travel - National
**902**
Insurance
**1,729**
ConsultingFees
**-**
Marketingcosts
**400**
LongTerm Loan - Repayment to Trustee
**_Sub total_ 6,193**
Website Development
**4,480**
Marketing& SafetyEquipment
Loan repayments - Trustees
**3,100**
**-**
**_Sub total_ 7,580**
**_Total payments_ 13,773**
**_Net of receipts/(payments)_**
**(1,097)**
**A5 Transfers between funds**
**0**
**A6 Cash funds last year end**
**503**
**_Cash funds this year end_**
**(594)**
**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**to the nearest £**
**_Sub total_**_(Gross income for AR)_
**A2 Asset and investment sales,**
**(see table).**
**A4 Asset and investment**
**purchases, (see table)**|**to the nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**0**
**0**
**5,000**
**5,000**
**Restricted**
**funds**|**to the nearest £**
**Endowment**
**funds**|**Total funds**
**to the nearest £**
**4,936**
**-**
**225**
**7,200**
**-**
**315**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**12,676**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**12,676**
**2,020**
**199**
**616**
**130**
**197**
**902**
**1,729**
**-**
**400**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**6,193**
**4,480**
**-**
**3,100**
**-**
**7,580**
**13,773**
**(1,097)**
**0**
**5,503**
**4,406**|**Last year**
**to the nearest £**|
|||**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**|**4,936**|**5,048**|
||||**-**|**-**|
||||**225**||
||||**7,200**|**4,000**|
||||**-**|**5,000**|
||||**315**|**712**|
||||**-**|**1,373**|
||||**-**|**1,000**|
||||**-**|**-**|
||||**-**|**-**|
||||**12,676**|**17,133**|
||||||
|||**-**
**-**
**-**|**-**||
||||**-**|**-**|
||||**-**|**-**|
||||||
|||**-**|**12,676**|**17,133**|
||||||
|||**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**|**2,020**|**-**|
||||**199**|**728**|
||||**616**|**491**|
||||**130**|**115**|
||||**197**|**99**|
||||**902**|**-**|
||||**1,729**|**1,744**|
||||**-**|**210**|
||||**400**|**64**|
||||**-**|**-**|
||||**-**||
||||**-**||
||||**-**||
||||**-**|**-**|
||||**6,193**|**3,451**|
||||||
|||**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**|**4,480**|**6,640**|
||||**-**|**1,586**|
||||**3,100**|**2,373**|
||||**-**||
||||**7,580**|**8,226**|
||||||
|||**-**|**13,773**|**11,677**|
||||||
||**0**|**0**
**0**
**0**
**0**|**(1,097)**|**5,456**|
||**0**||**0**|**-**|
||**5,000**||**5,503**|**47**|
||**5,000**||**4,406**|**5,503**|
|**Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period**|**Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period**|**Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period**|**Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period**||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|**Categories**
**B1 Cash funds**
**B2 Other monetary assets**
**B3 Investment assets**
**B5 Liabilities**
**B4 Assets retained for the**
**charity’s own use**|**Details**
Current A/c
**Details**
**Details**
**Details**
Website
Marketing & Safety Equipment
**Details**
Short Term Loan
Long Term Loan - Trustee
Long Term Loan - Trustee
Contingent Liability re Website Dev'mt
Deferred Income (re Blue Therapy)
**_Total cash funds_**
(agree balances with receipts and payments
account(s))|**to nearest £**
**2,206**
**-**
**-**
**2,206**
Agreement Error
**to nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
Unrestricted
Unrestricted
Unrestricted
Unrestricted
Unrestricted
Unrestricted
Unrestricted
**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Fund to which**
**asset belongs**
**Fund to which**
**asset belongs**
**Fund to which**
**liability relates**|**to nearest £**
**2,200**
**-**
**-**
**2,200**
Agreement Error
**to nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Cost (optional)**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Cost (optional)**
**13,120**
**1,586**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**32**
**67**
**2,200**
**4,608**
**2,200**
**Restricted**
**funds**
**Restricted**
**funds**
**Amount due**
**(optional)**|**to nearest £**
**Endowment**
**funds**|
|||||**-**|
|||||**-**|
|||||**-**|
|||||**-**|
|||||OK|
|||||**to nearest £**
**Endowment**
**funds**|
|||||**-**|
|||||**-**|
|||||**-**|
|||||**-**|
|||||**-**|
|||||**-**|
|||||**Current value**
**(optional)**|
|||||**-**|
|||||**-**|
|||||**-**|
|||||**-**|
|||||**-**|
|||||**Current value**
**(optional)**|
|||||**10,368**|
|||||**445**|
|||||**-**|
|||||**-**|
|||||**-**|
|||||**-**|
|||||**-**|
|||||**-**|
|||||**-**|
|||||**When due**
**(optional)**|
||Short Term Loan|Unrestricted|**32**||
||Long Term Loan - Trustee|Unrestricted|**67**||
||Long Term Loan - Trustee|Unrestricted|**2,200**||
||Contingent Liability re Website Dev'mt|Unrestricted|**4,608**||
||Deferred Income (re Blue Therapy)|Unrestricted|**2,200**||
Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees
Signature
Date of Print Name approval