2025-09-30-accounts - Oxford Amateur Rowing Club

This text was generated using OCR and may contain errors. Check the original PDF to see the document submitted to the regulator.

Trustees’ Annual Report for the period

From 1[st] October 2024 To 30[th] September 2025

Charity name: Oxford Amateur Rowing Club (previously: Oxford Academicals Rowing Club)

Charity registration number: 1196716

Objectives and Activities

	SORP reference
Summary of the purposes of the charity as set out in its governing document	Para 1.17	The promotion of community participation in healthy recreation, in particular through the provision of facilities, encouragement and instruction in the sport of rowing and sculling for the public benefit of the residents of Oxford and the surrounding areas.
Summary of the main activities in relation to those purposes for the public benefit, in particular, the activities, projects or services identified in the accounts.	Para 1.17 and 1.19	We continue to provide a structured and inclusive flexible rowing program to members, which is well received. It is a pleasure to watch the membership grow and their skills and fitness improve. This year we have focussed on engaging the community most local to the club. We ran a new ‘Learn to Row’ course, and have provided experience sessions at the local community festival Flowfest, exposing the community to a rowing boat and the opportunity to try a rowing machine. We have also run a number of ‘meet the club’ sessions at our new site. We plan on returning to Oxford’s Westgate shopping centre for a fundraising event in the coming year. The objective of finding a permanent home from which the club can fulfil its charitable objectives, long term, remains.
Statement confirming whether the trustees have had regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit	Para 1.18	In planning our activities for the year we kept in mind the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit at our trustee meetings.

Achievements and Performance

	SORP reference
Summary of the main achievements of the charity, identifying the difference the charity’s work has made to the circumstances of its beneficiaries and any wider benefits to society as a whole.	Para 1.20	This year we provided a single ‘learn to row’ course, which was well-attended and used an updated structure. The standard of rowing at the end of the course was dramatically improved relative to earlier years. Many course participants subsequently joined as members and continue to benefit from the structured training, coaching, and the facilities offered by OARC. A formal feedback process has been introduced to allow benchmarking and inform further improvements. The racing program continues to allow members to compete at all levels through the year. Novices have entered rowing and sculling races and we have had wins at their first regatta! The men and women’s senior squads have raced strongly, though silverware has been less forthcoming this year. The club has fielded strong entries at the big London head races including the men's and women’s Head of the River Races, with entries in the VIII, IV, masters and a new record entry for Scullers head. We participated in the regatta season with crews at Henley Masters, Henley Town and Visitors regatta, Isis Sculls and strong showing at Henley Women’s and Masters’ Regattas. The programmes offered by OARC improve the health and fitness of members of the community in a supportive, caring, and inclusive environment. This allows them to gain confidence and build the skill of rowing. OARC temporarily operated a limited service and fleet from the City of Oxford Boat Club carpark at the start of this reporting period. However, we have managed to secure, license to occupy land adjacent to the river from the local council from February 2024. The boathouse taskforce remains active pursuing a permanent site on which the club can create a lasting home.

Additional information (optional) You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:	Additional information (optional) You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:	Additional information (optional) You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:
Achievements against objectives set	Para 1.41	Our main objective at the moment is to maintain continuous operation of the club whilst we search for a new location to build a long term home. The Boat House Task Force set up during the previous reporting term


		remains active and after a successful
		fundraising effort, the primary effort is
		focused on finding a suitable and
		practical location to build a facility in
		order to secure the long-term future of
		the club.
		New asset acquisitions remained
		paused in 2024-2025, but with an
		ever-growing number of members we
		are now preparing to resume
		investments to support the long-term
		objectives of the club.
Performance of fundraising	Para 1.41	The intense fundraising efforts in the
activities against objectives		previous year have left us with a high
set		level of volunteer fatigue. Thus this year
		there has been some scaling back of
		fundraising activities. However, moving
		into our current temporary home has
		resulted in a period of stability allowing
		us to run ‘learn to row’ courses once
		more, which serves the community and
		also raises funds. Fundraising activities
		are expected to increase again in the
		coming years.
Investment performance	Para 1.41	N/A
against objectives
Other		N/A

Financial Review

Financial Review
Review of the charity’s financial position at the end of the period	Para 1.21	The club remains financially in a strong shape, especially after last year’s fundraising efforts. While we didn’t invest a similar amount of energy into fundraising this year, we were able to benefit from HMRC’s Gift Aid scheme to generate extra income (based on donations in previous years). This is the main source of growth in our reserves.
Statement explaining the policy for holding reserves stating why they are held	Para 1.22	The club is continuing to build up reserves to invest in establishing a long-term home on the River Thames in Oxford.
Amount of reserves held	Para 1.22	£146,356.43
Reasons for holding zero reserves	Para 1.22	N/A
Details of fund materially in deficit	Para 1.24	N/A
Explanation of any uncertainties about the charity continuing as a going concern	Para 1.23	There are no financial uncertainties ahead, but we do anticipate spending a significant amount of our reserves in the coming years on establishing a long-term home for the club.

Additional information (optional)

Additional information (optional)	Additional information (optional)	Additional information (optional)
You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:
The charity’s principal sources of funds (including any fundraising)	Para 1.47	This year, our three main sources of income were: membership fees (~£19k), members’ contributions towards training and competition costs (~£15k), and Gift Aid funds (~£14k).
Investment policy and objectives including any social investment policy adopted	Para 1.46	Our reserves are held with two separate financial institutions in order to ensure full cover by the FSCS. We expect to require access to these funds at short notice, and have therefore not locked these up in long-term investments or bonds, but in savings accounts with modest returns.
A description of the principal risks facing the charity	Para 1.46	N/A
Other		The charity's activities continue to be supported by a substantial number of volunteers who devote their time to helping others. These volunteers are both from within the club’s membership and from the wider community. The charity, its members, and the trustees are most grateful to all who volunteer their time.

Structure, Governance and Management

Description of charity’s trusts:
Type of governing document (trust deed, royal charter)	Para 1.25	CIO Constitution
How is the charity constituted? (e.g unincorporated association, CIO)	Para 1.25	CIO
Trustee selection methods including details of any constitutional provisions e.g. election to post or name of any person or body entitled to appoint one or more trustees	Para 1.25	The Trustees are elected to their post by the members of the club in accordance with the provisions in the CIO’s Constitution.
Additional information (optional) You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:
Policies and procedures adopted for the induction and training of trustees	Para 1.51	Trustees are appointed ex-officio through their election as club President, Treasurer, and Secretary. Departing officers are responsible for training those who are elected into their roles (with support from other officers of the Executive Committee, where necessary)
The charity’s organisational structure and any wider network with which the charity works	Para 1.51	The charity is run by an elected Executive Committee which includes the trustees.
Relationship with any related parties	Para 1.51	The charity is affiliated with British Rowing in order to provide additional rowing services and opportunities to compete.
Other

Reference and Administrative details

Charity name	Oxford Amateur Rowing Club (From Oct 2023)
Other names in use	OARC, Accies, Oxford Academicals Rowing Club (until Oct 2023)
Registered charity number	1196716
Charity’s principal address	13 Earl Street Oxford OX2 0JA

Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20	Trustee name	Office (if any)	Dates acted if not for whole year	Name of person (or body) entitled to appoint trustee (if any)
	Nicholas Silvester	Chairman of trustees, President
	Natalie Burrows	Secretary
	Dr Sebastiaan van Schaik	Treasurer

– Corporate trustees names of the directors at the date the report was approved

Director name None

Name of trustees holding title to property belonging to the charity

Trustee name	Dates acted if not for whole year
None

Funds held as custodian trustees on behalf of others

Description of the assets None held in this capacity

Name and objects of the charity on whose behalf the assets are held and how this falls within the custodian charity’s objects

Details of arrangements for safe custody and segregation of such assets from the charity’s own assets

Additional information (optional)

Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)

Type of adviser Name Address

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

Exemptions from disclosure

Reason for non-disclosure of key personnel details

Other optional information

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)	Nicholas Paul Silvester	Kim Amanda Behrens

Position (eg Secretary, Chair, etc)	Chair	Treasurer

Date	27/07/2026

Oxford Amateur Rowing Club (previously: Oxford Academicals Rowing Club)

Receipts and payments accounts

Oxford Amateur Rowing Club (previously: Oxford Academicals Rowing Club)	Oxford Amateur Rowing Club (previously: Oxford Academicals Rowing Club)	Oxford Amateur Rowing Club (previously: Oxford Academicals Rowing Club)	Oxford Amateur Rowing Club (previously: Oxford Academicals Rowing Club)	Oxford Amateur Rowing Club (previously: Oxford Academicals Rowing Club)	Oxford Amateur Rowing Club (previously: Oxford Academicals Rowing Club)	Oxford Amateur Rowing Club (previously: Oxford Academicals Rowing Club)	Oxford Amateur Rowing Club (previously: Oxford Academicals Rowing Club)

Receipts and payments accounts

	For the period from	Period start date	to	Period end date
		01 October 2024		30 September 2025

Section A Receipts and payments
	Unrestricted funds	Restricted funds	Endowment funds		Total funds		Last year

A1 Receipts
Membership subscriptions	- - 18,998.00	- - -	- - -		- - 18,998.00		- - 18,187.00
Learn-to-Row course fees (LTR)	- - 2,499.16				- - 2,499.16		- - 7,410.00
Member charges: training & competition costs	- - 15,153.57	- - -	- - -		- - 15,153.57		- - 10,635.33
Member charges: tickets to social events	- - 4,120.38	- - -	- - -		- - 4,120.38	²	- - 6,607.50
Member charges: purchase of club kit	- - 95.32	- - -	- - -		- - 95.32		- - 207.50

Fundraising - donations (unrestricted)	- - 482.04	- - -	- - -		- - 482.04		- - 26,176.93
Fundraising - donations (restricted) ⁵	- - -	- - 485.36	- - -		- - 485.36		- - 76,300.61
Fundraising - HMRC Gift Aid (unrestricted) ⁶	- - 14,283.41	- - -	- - -		- - 14,283.41		- - -
Fundraising - grants	- - -	- - -	- - -		- - -		- - 500.00
Fundraising - raffles and auctions	- - 2,860.00	- - -	- - -		- - 2,860.00		- - 2,248.64

Bank interest	- - 1,342.41	- - -	- - -		- - 1,342.41		- - 565.71

Charges to 3rd parties (trailing & towing, insurance, etc)	- - 60.00	- - -	- - -		- - 60.00		- - 74.40
Refunds of race entry fees³	- - -	- - -	- - -		- - -		- - 1,123.42
*Sub total* (Gross income for AR)	- - 59,894.29	- - 485.36	- - -		- - 60,379.65		- - 150,037.04

A2 Asset and investment sales
Sale of fixed assets - boats	- - -	- - -	- - -		- - -		-
Sale of fixed assets - pars	- - -	- - -	- - -		- - -		-
Sale of fixed assets - boat parts	- - -	- - -	- - -		- - -		-
*Sub total*	- - -	- - -	- - -		- - -		-


*Total receipts*	- - 59,894.29	- - 485.36	- - -	- - 60,379.65		- - 150,037.04


A3 Payments
Accommodation: rental of racking and facilities	- - 5,250.00	- - -	- - -	- - 5,250.00		- - 5,391.84
Accommodation: costs for re-housing short & long term	- - -	- - 1,137.80	- - -	- - 1,137.80	¹	- - 24,447.87
Operating costs: boat registration fees (EA)	- - 921.78	- - -	- - -	- - 921.78		- - 939.90
Operating costs: British Rowing affiliation	- - 1,528.00	- - -	- - -	- - 1,528.00		- - 1,040.00
Operating costs: insurance	- - 2,756.70	- - -	- - -	- - 2,756.70		- - 2,708.61
Operating costs: other	- - 869.07	- - -	- - -	- - 869.07		- - 628.32
Training/competition: coaching fees	- - 8,554.96	- - -	- - -	- - 8,554.96		- - 10,461.00
Training/competition: race entries	- - 5,334.00	- - -	- - -	- - 5,334.00		- - 5,295.00
Training/competition: facility hire (tank, training camp, ...)	- - 2,393.93	- - -	- - -	- - 2,393.93		- - 1,624.70
Training/competition: other	- - 517.17	- - -	- - -	- - 517.17		- - 1,146.15
Social & fundraising: Christmas	- - 2,769.85	- - -	- - -	- - 2,769.85		- - 3,214.00
Social & fundraising: summer	- - 782.12	- - -	- - -	- - 782.12		- - 630.59
Social & fundraising: other	- - 319.48	- - -	- - -	- - 319.48	²	- - 1,933.15
Equipment maintenance & repair	- - 3,340.03	- - -	- - -	- - 3,340.03		- - 1,044.80
Club kit purchase	- - -	- - -	- - -	- - -		- - 322.30
Refunds to members³	- - -	- - -	- - -	- - -		- - 636.00
*Sub total*	- - 35,337.09	- - 1,137.80	- - -	- - 36,474.89		- - 61,464.23


A4 Asset and investment purchases
Purchase of fixed assets - Boats	- - -	- - -	- - -	- - -		-
Purchase of fixed assets - Oars	- - -	- - -	- - -	- - -		-
Purchase of fixed assets - Coxing	- - -	- - -	- - -	- - -		-
Purchase of fixed assets - Trailer	- - -	- - -	- - -	- - -		-
*Sub total*	- - -	- - -	- - -	- - -		-

*Total payments*	- - 35,337.09	- - 1,137.80	- - -	- - 36,474.89		- - 61,494

*Net of receipts/(payments)*	- - 24,557.20	- - 652.44	- - -	- - 23,904.76		- - 88,543
A5 Transfers between funds	- - -	- - -	- - -	- - -		-
A6 Cash funds last year end	- - 70,598.93	- - 51,852.74	- - -	- - 122,451.67		- - 33,909

Cash funds this year end 95,156.13 51,200.30 - 146,356.43 122,452

*Cash funds this year end*	- - 95,156.13	- - -		- - 146,356.43		- - 122,452


Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period
Categories	Details	Unrestricted funds		Restricted funds		Endowment funds
		to nearest £		to nearest £		to nearest £
B1 Cash funds	Metro: current account (23-05-80 48141234)	- - 8,053.13		- - -		- - -
	Metro: misc savings (23-05-80 48141218)	- - 21,388.09				- - -
	Metro: misc boathouse savings (23-05-80 53054048)	- - -		- - 51,200.30		- - -
	Metro: misc restricted savings (23-05-80 53054129)	- - -		- - -		- - -
	Co-operative bank: community direct account	- - -		- - -		- - -
	Co-operative bank: community 35d notice savings	- - 65,714.91	⁴	- - -		- - -
	*Total cash funds*	- - 95,156.13		- - 51,200.30	⁵	- - -
	(agree balances with receipts and payments account(s))	OK		OK		OK
		Unrestricted funds		Restricted funds		Endowment funds
		to nearest £		to nearest £		to nearest £
B2 Other monetary assets	Members' negative squad balances (owed to the club)	- - 3,728.64		- - -		- - -

		Fund to which asset belongs		Cost (optional)		Current value (optional)
B3 Investment assets	N/A	- - -		- - -		- - -

		Fund to which asset belongs		Cost (optional)		Current value (optional)
B4 Assets retained for the club’s own use	Boats	Unrestricted		- - -		- - 89,200.00
	Oars and sculls	Unrestricted		- - -		- - 4,500.00
	Trailer	Unrestricted		- - -		- - 2,500.00
	Other equipment	Unrestricted		- - -		- - 3,600.00

		Fund to which liability relates		Amount due (optional)		When due (optional)
B5 Liabilities	Members' positive squad balances (credit)	Unrestricted		- - 1,772.29

Signed by the Treasurer on behalf of all the Trustees	Signature	Print Name				Date of approval

----- Start of picture text -----
Kim Behrens
24/07/2026
Notes
1) This year, we spent a total of £1137.80 on realising a future home for the club. This might sound surprisingly low. The true expenditure was £5000 higher, but we recouped £5000 from a deposit we put
down in 2024 for a temporary structure for the Riverside site. We were not able to use this structure after all, and the deposit of £5000 was returned, making the £1137.80 seem artificially low. Equally, that
£5000 counted towards our expenses in 2024-25, making the expenditure in that year seem higher than it turned out to be (taking the refund into account). All of this is funded from 'restricted funds':
donations we raised specifically for re-homing the club.
2) Last year (2023-2024), we celebrated Accies' 20th anniversary, which resulted in additional income for social events.
3) Up to and including last year, 'Refunds of race entry fees' were listed separately as income on our accounts. Starting this year (2024-25), these are simply folded into the 'Race entries' expense. The same
applies to various refunds to members in category A3.
4) Our funds are deliberately split over two separate financial institutions: Metro Bank and Co-operative Bank (now acquired by Coventry Building Society). This is to ensure all of our funds are covered by
the FSCA's £85,000 cover in case a bank were to fail.
5) Restricted funds are funds that (by law) can only be used for a particular purpose, because they were raised through donations made specifically for that purpose. A detailed break-down of the club's
restricted funds at this point in time can be found here (confidential; includes information about anonymous donors).
6) This accounting year includes a considerable amount of Gift Aid funds from charitable donations that we received in previous years.
----- End of picture text -----

Independent examiner's report on the accounts

Section A Independent Examiner’s Report

Report to the trustees/ Charity Name Oxford Amateur Rowing Club members of

On accounts for the year 30 September 2025 Charity no 1196716 ended (if any) Set out on pages 9-12 (remember to include the page numbers of additional sheets)

I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity (“the Trust”) for the year ended DD / MM / YYYY 30/09/2025 .

Responsibilities and As the charity trustees of the Trust, you are responsible for the preparation basis of report of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (“the Act”).

I report in respect of my examination of the Trust’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I have followed the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.

Independent I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have examiner's statement come to my attention (other than that disclosed below *) 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.

Please delete the words in the brackets if they do not apply.

Signed: Date: 30-07-2026 Roi Amir Name: Relevant professional qualification(s) or body (if any): Address: 348A Woodstock Road Oxford , UK OX28BZ

October 2018

IER

Section B Disclosure

Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight matters of concern (see CC32, Independent examination of charity accounts: directions and guidance for examiners).

Give here brief details of any items that the examiner wishes to disclose .

October 2018

IER