Big Highworth Community Foundation Trustees’ Annual Report
1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025
Charity contact information
Big Highworth Community Foundation
Charity Number: 1204776
Address 70 Home Farm Highworth Wiltshire
Postcode SN6 7EQ
Telephone number 07903871140 Email address BHCF2023@outlook.com
Website – in production
https://www.facebook.com/BigHighworthCommunityFoundation
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Charity Trustees
Big Highworth Community Foundation has four trustees. Our trustees have experience in community development, charity, business, health and safety and finance.
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Alison Cross-Jones, chair – 3 Years
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Chris Kent secretary - 2 Years
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Jayne Britton – 2 Years
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Russell Dobbs treasurer – 1 Year
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Objectives and activities
Highworth is a small hilltop market town with lots of small charities, Big Highworth Community Foundation plays a pivotal role in championing volunteerism, citizenship, and a wide variety of local charitable efforts.
This year, we proudly hosted our very first Community Awards event, which saw strong attendance and enthusiastic support from local businesses. Looking ahead, we aim to expand these awards by introducing one or two new categories each year.
We recognise the challenges faced by small local charities in spreading their message and raising the funds they need. Our purpose is to support and uplift them. We also encourage others to launch their own charitable initiatives, volunteer, and become active, positive members of the community.
Through our annual grants, funded by our Community Fund, we provide a valuable boost to local charitable resources. Next year, we will allocate £3,000 to support charities and charitable community activities in Highworth and the surrounding area.
Throughout the year, we organise fundraising and community events to foster unity and a true sense of belonging. Our ambition is to increase both our activities and our fundraising efforts from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026, strengthening our impact and further engaging local businesses in the process.
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Structure, governance and management
Big Highworth Community Foundation is governed by a constitution, which clearly outlines our aims, organisational structure, and the principles that guide our work.
Our charitable purpose is to advance causes that are exclusively charitable under the laws of England and Wales, as determined by our trustees for the benefit of the public in Highworth and the neighbouring area . We achieve this mainly—but not solely—through grant funding and by fostering community support for these initiatives.
Our trustees are responsible for ensuring that we always follow our constitution and maintain high standards by:
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Maintaining financial stability and keeping accurate records
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Prioritising value for money in all our activities
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Ensuring all necessary insurances are in place
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Providing training and support for trustees and volunteers
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Keeping our policies and procedures up to date
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Strategically planning each year’s work
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Supporting a wide range of charitable activities
Trustee recruitment and appointment
As a newly established charity, we ensured that our initial trustees possessed the necessary experience and undertook professional training for their roles. Since the trustees are currently the sole members of the charity, we have recognised the importance of establishing a transparent recruitment process for future trustees. Our goal is that, by the end of our third year, we will have a complete board of seven trustees whose diversity and inclusivity reflect the community of Highworth and its surrounding area.
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Achievements and performance
From 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025, our accomplishments include:
Hosting our first-ever Community Awards to honour outstanding contributions in the following categories:
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Charity of the Year
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Volunteer of the Year
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Citizen of the Year
This event received sponsorship from six local businesses, with nominations submitted by members of the local community and winners selected by four independent local judges. Looking ahead, we plan to introduce two additional award categories next year with more to follow in future years. We also plan to continue:
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Growing our Facebook page to over 800 followers
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Building local support for our work and fundraising, including through community presentations
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Expanding our volunteer team
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Maintaining our registration with The Fundraising Regulator
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Maintaining our registration with the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO)
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Renewing our small lottery licence from Swindon Borough Council for another year
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Implementing essential insurances and risk assessments
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Establishing our first Community Fund of £3,000 through generous donations and the success of our fundraising activities
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Financial review
As an entirely voluntary organisation with no premises or employees, most of our costs relate to the events we run, each of which is intended to be self-financing.
We can, therefore, progress without large financial reserves.
We end the year with a reserve figure of £4998, which has allowed us to set aside £3000 into our Community Grant Fund for 2025 and still be on schedule to achieve our target retained reserve of £3500 by the end of year three.
We have no deficits.
We have no donated facilities or services.
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Our year ahead
In the next year we will be setting up a new way of ensuring our fundraising is able to make a bigger impact through our annual grants programme.
In the coming year we will:
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Continue to develop our policies and procedures to ensure everything we do is legally compliant
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Add two more award categories to our annual Community Awards which celebrate, promote and encourage volunteering and citizenship within our community area
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Introduce sponsorship packages to encourage more local business support
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Look to start our own community projects that support those who are disadvantaged in the community
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Increase our Community Fund to be able to offer more charitable support and achieve our charitable object.
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Additional information
Our charity is driven by trustees and volunteers who care deeply about our local community. Guided by our motto - Community Together Matters - we believe that collaboration empowers us to achieve far more collectively than we ever could on our own.
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Declaration
Signed on behalf of the charity trustees:
Mrs A Cross-Jones Print name Alison Cross-Jones Designation Chair of trustees Date 17 May 2025
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Big Highworth Community Foundation No (if any) Receipts and payments accounts
CC16a
For the period Period start date Period end date To from 4/1/2024 3/31/2025
| Section A Receipts and payments | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A1 Receipts Donations(general) 212 Donations(Awards) Craft Fairs 1,740 CommunityAwards 1,640 Raffles/Tombolas 4,432 Concert sales inc Bar 2,448 Coffee mornings - 10,472 - - - Sub total - Total receipts 10,472 A3 Payments Equipment 284 Craft Fair Expenses 205 Insurance/Licences 231 Admin Costs 461 CommunityAward Expenses 1,837 Raffle/Tombola Expenses 612 Concert Expenses 1,826 Venue Costs Printingetc(now admin) Ticket refund - Charitydonations/grants Sub total 5,456 - - Sub total - Total payments 5,456 Net of receipts/(payments) 5,016 A5 Transfers between funds - A6 Cash funds last year end 812 Cash funds this year end 5,828 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 £ - 1,600 - - - - - 1,600 - - - 1,600 - - - - 1,600 - - - - 1,600 - - - 1,600 - - - - Restricted funds |
to the nearest £ - - - - - - - Endowment funds |
Total funds to the nearest £ 212 1,600 1,740 1,640 4,432 2,448 - 12,072 - - - 12,072 284 205 231 461 3,437 612 1,826 - - 7,056 - - - 7,056 5,016 - 812 5,828 |
Last year to the nearest £ |
| 839 | ||||
| 95 | ||||
| 323 | ||||
| - | ||||
| 984 | ||||
| 2,176 | ||||
| 184 | ||||
| - | 12,072 | 4,601 | ||
| - - - |
- | |||
| - | - | |||
| - | - | |||
| - | 12,072 | 4,601 | ||
| - - - - - - - - - - |
284 | 236 | ||
| 205 | - | |||
| 231 | 101 | |||
| 461 | 91 | |||
| 3,437 | - | |||
| 612 | 239 | |||
| 1,826 | 1,146 | |||
| 312 | ||||
| 298 | ||||
| - | 30 | |||
| 1,336 | ||||
| - | - | |||
| 7,056 | 3,789 | |||
| - - - |
- | |||
| - | ||||
| - | - | |||
| - | 7,056 | 3,789 | ||
| - | - - - - |
5,016 | 812 | |
| - | - | - | ||
| - | 812 | - | ||
| - | 5,828 | 812 |
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 Bank and cash balance Details Eventbrite payment due re Awards Details Details Details Craft Fair prepayments 25/26 Total cash funds (agree balances with receipts and payments account(s)) |
to nearest £ 5,828 - - 5,828 OK to nearest £ 60 - - - - - 890 Unrestricted funds Unrestricted funds Fund to which asset belongs Fund to which asset belongs Fund to which liability relates |
to nearest £ - - - - OK to nearest £ - - - - - - Cost (optional) - - - - - Cost (optional) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Restricted funds Restricted funds Amount due (optional) |
to nearest £ Endowment funds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| OK | ||||
| to nearest £ Endowment funds |
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| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| Current value (optional) |
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| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| Current value (optional) |
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| - | ||||
| - | ||||
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| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
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| When due (optional) |
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| Craft Fair prepayments 25/26 | 890 | - | ||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| - |
Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees
Signature
Date of Print Name approval