2025-08-31-accounts

Wokingham & District Beekeepers Association CIO

Charity Number 1200002

Report of the trustees for the year ending 31 August 2025

The Trustees of the Wokingham & District Beekeepers Association present their annual report and accounts for the year ended 31 August 2025 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 other’s 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 129 members throughout the year ending 31[st] August 2025.

Approximately 25 members of the public were welcomed to our open sessions at the association apiary through the summer of 2025

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 £21,755 and outgoings of £18,757

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 are registered for Gift Aid.

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 which meets on a monthly basis, is responsible for the overall management and control of the Wokingham and District Beekeepers Association. The work of implementing the non-apiary policies is monitored by the trustees. The apiary itself is managed by our Apiary Manager. 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 committee members and trustees give of their time freely and no remuneration or expenses were paid in the year.

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

COMMITTEE AND CHARITY TRUSTEES

Many of the Committee are 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

Woklngham & Distriet Bo•k¢•porn A$go¢latlon Annual Accourts-year Endèd 318fAyovst 2025 202YZ4 Incomo & Exwndlture Accountasatos Sap 25 IA20 2.Z4150 459.% 69112 524. MembtrsSub5(Ilpfon5 BBKACap1tr￿Ott CDlleLted 6DI Pr?￿l￿￿t￿lle¢ted ftAld rptefvEdfrDm Inld Rtwve offleySale5 L90k50 138100 5304D 89L64 3.470. 355.00 10,349.44 5.92193 49392 3￿.40 o.ts) 5èleofstocklAfflbrosha.dathl￿treatsne￿￿1IlsÈt¢I CO1￿1$501￿ R3fflpPro BBKA ExpeTh5e5pad Bènklnterest DunaOun5 5S1( 83 897.( 16,$67.6B 2l?SS Éxwndltur•l•xclud5w4J¥qt •ddltlons1 BBKAMembtrSCaplt4￿OTh Fee5 BBKAOub Capltsgon FttslAplary&PrqsldBnt) BDI PreMlurtlS-M￿bÈrs BDI Pfemiurn5-aub 2.514.50 1423. 5550 539.10 24.9) 50.( 12,702.81 512.30 27.10 9.221.01 710W 186.W 603.29 94127 25.[ Cost of$t0￿ (Ambrola dothin&trEatmpntyiasetd RO¢rn Hrre Web5Itp&Sth?rpCySts Aplary- EquipMeDtIc(￿￿mè￿1es Uub- Eoulpmentlcl￿5UMables]MalMPnI￿[t EBKA ExPÈrtses (fts& Prizes 354. 952. 968.10 147. 15,060.07 U07ts1 ,757.10 2,99?.91 Su I￿/(Do￿tI.(/￿trtrRQÉ•A 5he4t• ststAw￿t2￿S 2W41Z5 t4￿p￿￿nI NeistsDkvèlve- b/Fwd Addttlofis3tix)5tintheypa Depreclatioffl on e9uIpmElltlntheyearat2S% Tota1 E4J1￿¢￿tv￿￿£lFwd C45h PettyEath held ByTrpa>Jrei Uoyds BankBwlne5sSI%ynALEOunt ovds BankculrentAtt￿lln1 Toial C¥h IBI8. 1.191 1752 611 1.58x23 2.257.93 241. s.oli. 343 S.￿8.78 7￿73.46 C05tof 5t0( 235337 U53.37 BeeCraftSF*ies V4)tsIEqu 39 oty) 39 7,Y5S71 12J46.70 Fthid Balènté BIFvid From prth4ousyoar & ExpÈndltulÈA￿Trt-$Urplll0OIj Costat5to EeeCraftSh8re5lAddedJune 1024. c05tl Depietlauon on Équlprnontln theyqarat25% IAn¢eUW @ 3tsrAkn￿st 6.76L74 15>7.61 7.95S.71 2,993.91 2.￿3.37 39.( 752.641 1960J9 7355.71 ,346.70 55.71 pl Rq5Erto atstA ,a46.70 Trusur•rfslEK¥mln•r's R•pDrt lffl oplnlon theab0westatementsO¥e4trLiP￿d￿r%ie￿gfthpS￿t2rfthtwo￿IfftEharn& EI5tritteeekeEpBt5 AtsDti3ti0nsatfairsasat2tstA￿EUs￿20￿ and fortheyparthen enOEd.Thi50piniOts hasbetybestsblished byre￿pWofthe I￿o￿￿tIn85￿￿te￿?rtts. ynleitylngre m Nabbs Tre

Wokingham & District Beekeepers Association Notes to Annual Accounts - Year Ended 31st August 2025

Income & Expenditure Account

Overall income exceeded expenditure by £2,997.91. This is around £1,000 more that last year and is mostly accounted for by an increase in Honey Sales. This reflects on the success at the Apiary, at Carnivals and the work of Mary who bottles and sells it for us. I continue to desire and oversee an increase in our cash accounts which allows us to continue to build a safety net in case the apiary gets evicted.

Income Notes

• Honey Sales – Income from the sales of our association product £3,470

• Gift Aid – The tax refunded by the government of the standard subscription was £892

• Carnivals – We raised good income at Wokingham & Bracknell shows.

• Mary’s raffle - Helps considerably toward the costs of the meetings at the Bowling Club.

• Mark’s efforts at the Apiary raising nucs for members brought in about £270.

Expenditure Notes

• The Apiary rightly remains a big spender with over £900 being spent on the bees. But a similar amount gets spent on other club activities such as the expense of attending shows.

• Purchases of new equipment is recorded as assets.

Explanations

• The sales via bulk purchase of Jars, ambrosia, fondant, foundation etc are not designed to raise any income but the usually turn a small profit. For the first time these accounts reflect the stock value of these items. This sits at about £2,300

Balance Sheet

Cash, reserves and assets stood at £9,955.71 at the end of last year and now stands at £12,346.70. A lot of this is the ~£2,300 of stock but the ~£3,000 income surplus has really boosted the balance too.

Subscriptions

Subscriptions were increased last year but as we have a cash reserve of over £7,000 I do not propose any increase this year. The fact that most of us pay our subscriptions as Gift Aid helps enormously.

The BBKA has increased its subscription so the overall change for we members is just the BBKA element. Last year I suggested we would have to increase subs for 2025-26, but I am pleased to report that I don’t feel that is necessary.

Proposal: Standard subscriptons for the Year 1 st September 2025 to 31 st August 2026 to be £15(WDBKA) + £23(BBKA) + BDI premiums for beekeeping members and £15(WDBKA) for those who don’t have bees and don’t want BBKA membership

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 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 respect to the financial information presented, I will be happy to do my best to answer them.

Tony Lack. Treasurer and Trustee. September 2025.