2024-08-31-accounts

Wokingham & District Beekeepers Association CIO Charity Number 1200002

Report of the trustees for the year ending 31 August 2024

The Trustees of the Wokingham & District Beekeepers Association present their annual report and accounts for the year ended 31 August 2024 and confirm they comply with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011, the trust deed and the Charities SORP (FRS 102).

The Association has operated since 1946 and became a Charitable Incorporated Organisation as sealed by the Charity Commissioners for England and Wales on 9 August 2022 which included the regulations for appointment of trustees.

AIMS

The Association promotes good beekeeping and encourages people to learn about the fascinating world of the honeybee, the art of beekeeping and the benefit of bees in the environment. As part of the British Beekeepers Association (BBKA) our members can enjoy a range of benefits including – BBKA News, Insurance and much more.

The Association is a focal point for local beekeepers, providing opportunities for members to network with other beekeepers and keep on learning by:

• taking part in our seasonal, weekly inspections at the Apiary

• getting together with other beekeepers, twice a month, at informal spring and summer meetings, and

• attending our monthly winter meetings and listening to talks and presentations by experts

Attendance at one or more of our Open sessions at the Association’s apiary in the spring or summer gives an introduction to the art of beekeeping. Members and non-members are also welcome to come and meet us at one of our regular association meetings.

Visitors of all ages are welcome. The CIO’s area of benefit is the Borough of Wokingham and the surrounding districts.

ACTIVITIES

Funded:

• Membership of the BBKA and basic Bee Disease Insurance is provided for members.

• Members and guests meet monthly from October to March in a formal setting. At some of these meetings we have presentations from experienced beekeepers.

• The charity’s teaching apiary provides members a place where members can get hands on experience and non-beekeepers can observe inspections.

• The Charity rents stalls at local shows and carnivals in order to provide information to the public and to sell honey and bee-related products.

• Each year a Honey Show is held where members judge each others hive products.

• The charity has a range of equipment that can be hired by beekeepers.

• The charity pays the membership fees of its Honorary President.

Non-Funded:

• Volunteer members provide a swarm collection service.

• During April to September, we meet socially twice a month.

• Managing levels of BDI insurance for those members who have more than 3 and up to 49 colonies.

• Provision of an online course for beekeeper beginners.

• Support of beekeepers taking proficiency examinations.

• Support of beekeepers by assisting with mentoring.

• Circulation of available apiaries offered by members of the community.

• Bulk purchasing of treatments to provide cost savings and standard medicines.

• Bulk purchase of feed and jars to provide cost savings.

OUR OBJECTIVES

Our key objectives for the year included:

• to broaden the appeal at the association apiary

• to enhance local general knowledge of invasive species

• to continue to provide interesting and educational lectures for members

• to increase the members’ knowledge of bee diseases

• to provide continuing support of local beekeepers and potential local beekeepers

• to play our part in the life of our local community through involvement at carnivals and fairs

MEMBER NUMBERS AND FEES

There were 122 members throughout the year ending 31[st] August 2024.

Approximately 25 members of the public were welcomed to our open sessions at the association apiary through the summer of 2024

Our annual fee for membership was £38.00 which included membership of the British Beekeeping Association (BBKA) and Bee Disease Insurance (BDI) for up to 3 colonies of honey bees.

The BBKA provides insurance for all its members and member associations for £10 million Product and Product Liability Insurance for Beekeepers

FUTURE PLANS

The Charity intends to continue its current strategy of providing beekeeping support and education to beekeepers, potential beekeepers and members of the public.

FINANCES

The financial statements show net income of £16,968 and outgoings of £15,060

Our main source of retained income is the membership fees.

We also act as bulk buyer for honey jars plus food and treatments for bees. This generates very little profit but provides consistent treatments for our members’ bees and a cheaper way of purchasing consumables.

As a charity we enjoy tax exemption on our activities and will be registering for Gift Aid in the near future.

The financial benefits we receive from these tax exemptions are all applied for educational purposes and indirectly help us to maintain our educational programme.

APIARY

Our apiary is located in Wokingham on leased land. As such we are at the whim of the landowner should a change its use occurs. For this reason, we maintain a reserve in case we have to move the apiary to a new site.

ACCESS POLICY

It is important to us that access to the education we offer is not restricted to those who can afford to be members. This is why we hold apiary open days and freely provide information at carnivals and fairs.

STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT

The Committee, who are also the charity trustees, are responsible for the overall management and control of the Wokingham and District Beekeepers Association, meet on a monthly basis. The work of implementing the non-apiary policies is carried out by the trustees themselves. The apiary itself is managed by our Apiary Manager who is not currently a trustee. Other volunteers from the membership assist with many and varied tasks that keep the charity running.

The W&DBKA Chairman is responsible for co-ordinating the work of the Committee. The treasurer is responsible for the Association’s finances.

All trustees give of their time freely and no remuneration or expenses were paid in the year.

No trustee is allowed to commit to new spending without agreement of at least one other trustee.

COMMITTEE AND CHARITY TRUSTEES

The Committee are the charity trustees of Wokingham & District Beekeepers Association. New Committee members are appointed by the members at the AGM which takes place in the Autumn after the main beekeeping season has ended.

These Trustees served throughout the year 2023/24:

Name	Post	Date appointed
Gillian Turner	Chair & Trustee	11 October 2023
John Waddelove	Trustee	02 October 2022
Peter Munday	(Co-)Secretary & Trustee	11 October 2023
Lori Munday	(Co-)Secretary & Trustee	11 October 2023
Tony Lack	Treasurer & Learning and Development Ofcer &Trustee	02 October 2022
Kevin Cowley	Vice Chair & Trustee	02 October 2022
Peter Butcher	Membership Secretary & Trustee	02 October 2022
Mark Alleyne	Apiary Manager & Trustee	11 October 2023

CONTACT DETAILS

Addresses: W&DBKA C/O 20 Westmorland Close, Wokingham, RG41 3AZ

Bankers: Lloyds Bank Plc

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Wokingham & District Beekeepers Association Notes to Annual Accounts - Year Ended 31st August 2023

Income & Expenditure Account

Overall income exceeded expenditure by £2,343.54, a complete reversal on last year. We have therefore recovered from the expenditure spent on the portacabin, so it will now be OK for Mark to carry our further small repairs.

Income

• Membership - Income for the year was from 117 members.

• Honey Sales – Income from the sales by Mary reached a record £481.85.

• Carnivals – We raised over £1000 at both the May and Winter Carnivals. We now take card payments which accounted for over ½ of the money taken.

• The raffle, which is kindly run by Mary, contributed quite a lot, and helps toward the costs of the club meetings at the Bowling Club.

• The club sold a couple of Nucleus colonies with brought in a useful £180. Public session donations contributed £70 so the apiary is generating cash as well as spending it.

Expenditure

• The Apiary is, as would be expected, a big spender, with £895 spent on consumables and £175 on items that can be considered assets.

• Now that we are a charity everyone, including the Apiary manager, has to get the nod from a trustee to spend obo the club. This keeps our expenditures under control.

Balance Sheet

Cash, reserves and assets stood at £5,024.45 at the end of last year and now stands at £6,761.74.

I only include items which over £50 as assets and then only if they are not going to be consumed in the year.

Honey stocks, syrup, jars and treatments are not included as assets, so if they are sold, they will look like extra income.

Subscriptions

Subscriptions have not been increased for the last two years. Over the coming years I need to build a small reserve to enable us to move apiary if we lose the current site. The site is owned by a land bank and they have already announced their intention that its suitable for hundreds of houses and so on.

Therefore subscriptions, subject to AGM approval, will rise to £15.00 per member for W&DBKA. The BBKA element remains at £21.00 and the BDI premiums will not change either.

Proposal: Subscriptions to be £15 + £21 + BDI premiums for beekeeping members and £15 for those who don’t have bees.

Overall, the Association’s financial position remains strong with cash reserves adequate to meet its short-term financial commitments. The Association has no known undisclosed liabilities or future commitments outside of its ordinary operating activity.

My thanks go to member Tim Nabbs who audited the WDBKA accounts for us.

If any member of the association has any questions with respect to the financial information presented, I will be happy to do my best to answer them.

Tony Lack. Treasurer and Trustee. September 2023.

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Wokingham & District Beekeepers Association Notes to Annual Accounts - Year Ended 31st August 2024 Income & Expendtture Account Overall income exceeded expenditure by £1907.61, which allows us to continue to build a safety net in case the apiary gets evicted. Whilst we have not received any notice to move from the current site, we do know that UK Land. the owner, has banked the land with a wish to develop for housing one day, Income Notes Honey Sales- Income from the sales of our association product by Mary was £534 Gift ￿d-The tax refunded by the government of the standard subscription was £692 Carnivals - We raised around £IOCM) at two Wokin8ham Carnivals. Marfs raffle- Helps considerably toward the costs of the meetings at the Bowllng Club. Mark's efforts at the Apiary raisin8 nucs for members brought in about £250. The amount in the books seems larger as It includes the BDI claim made when EFB was'treated" at the apiary. Expenditure Notes The Aplary remains a big spender. with over £l(Th) spent. I now record the larger costs as asset5 if I can. Learning and development is now spending too; a second gazebo so we can have larger Stalls at the carnival to showcase our hobby, being the largest cost. Again, that's recorded as an asset. Explanatlons BDI received from members rarely matches the BDI we pay OBO members. This Is because we always have a few members that renew the"WrOn￿ slde of end-of-year. The sales via bulk purchase of Jars, ambrosia, fondant etc are not designed to ralse any Income. Balance Sheet Cash, reserves and assets stood at £6,761.74 at the end of last year and now stands at £7.955.71. This year we had a blt of an injection in the way of the associations share in Beecraft have been handed to us and therefore recorded In the books as an asset. Stocks of Honey, syrup, jars etc are not included as assets, 50 when sold, look like extra Income. Subscrfptlons Subscriptlons were increased last year but as we have a cash resenrfe of over £5,5001 do not propose any increase thls year. The fact that m05t of us pay our subscriptions as Gift Aid helps enormously. The BBKA has reported that rt Is operating at a loss so l expect there will be an increase in fts subscription this time next year. And ours will probably have to Increase to keep up wlth inflatlon. Pro BDI osal: Subscrl tlons forthe Year 1st Se tember 2024 to 31# Au ust 2025 to remain at £15 + £21 + remiums for beekee members and £15 forthose who don't have bees Overall, the Association's financial position remains strong Wlth cash reserves adequate to meet its short-term financial commitments. The Association has no known undisclosed liabilities nor future commitments outside of its ordinary operating activity. My thanks go to member Tim Nabbs who has once again audited the WDBKA accounts for us. If any member of the association has any questions with respectto the financial inforniation presented, I will be happy to do my best to answer them. Tony Lack. Treasurer and Trustee. September 2024.