## **Trustees' Annual Report for the period**
Period start date Period end date Day Month Year Day Month Year **From** 01 April 2024 **To** 31 March 2025
## Section A Reference and administration details
**Charity name** Huntingdonshire Society for the Blind
**Other names charity is known by Registered charity number (if any)** 202573
Hunts Blind & Vision Impaired
**Charity's principal address**
8 St Marys Steet Huntingdon
**Postcode PE29 3PE**
## **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 (ifany)**|
|---|---|---|---|---|
||N Ruston|Chair|||
||F Tarpey|Treasurer|||
||B Yare|President|||
||D Fletcher||||
||N Morgan||||
||H Murphy||||
||F Mizuro||Appointed 29/4/2024||
||E Corden||Appointed 10/2/2025||
||E Davis||Appointed 10/2/2025||
||H Sandell||Appointed 27/2/2025||
||A Richardson||Resigned July2024||
||A M White-Horan||Resigned 16/9/2024||
||F Newton||Resigned 4/2/2025||
||||||
||||||
||||||
||||||
||||||
||||||
||||||
||**Names of the trustees for the charity, if any, (for example, any custodian trustees)**||||
||**Name**||**Dates acted if not for whole year**||
||||||
||||||
**TAR**
December 2025
1
## **Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)**
**Type of adviser Name Address Name of chief executive or names of senior staff members (Optional information) Section B Structure, governance and management Description of the charity’s trusts** Constitution Type of governing document (eg. trust deed, constitution) Unincorporated association How the charity is constituted (eg. trust, association, company) Potential trustees are invited to submit applications to the Board for Trustee selection methods consideration. There are no constitutional provisions for election to (eg. appointed by, elected by) post of for any body to appoint one or more trustees. Trustees are appointed by the Board following interview and receipt of satisfactory references and DBS check.
## **Additional governance issues (Optional information)**
You **may choose** to include additional information, where relevant, about:
- policies and procedures adopted for the induction and training of trustees;
- the charity’s organisational structure and any wider network with which the charity works;
- relationship with any related parties;
- trustees’ consideration of major risks and the system and procedures to manage them.
## **Section C Objectives and activities**
**TAR**
December 2025
2
**The charity acts for the general benefit of blind and partially sighted persons Summary of the objects of the charity set out in its governing document**
Huntingdonshire Society for the Blind has provided support to the Huntingdonshire community since 1922 offering a lifetime of support for people who are blind or partially sighted. The Society provides a wide range of services to 650+ members and their carers to meet a variety of needs including free information, advice and support. Services include
- Home visit Outreach service to assess needs and provide information and support
- Identification of and assistance with benefit entitlement applications
- Visual and mobility aid equipment centre in Huntingdon
- An opportunity to talk through the effects of sight loss Everyday living skills advice
- **Summary of the main activities** An opportunity to talk through the effects of sight loss
- **undertaken for the public** Everyday living skills advice
- **benefit in relation to these** Regular social groups and activities and member outings **objects (include within this** Volunteer home visiting scheme
- **section the statutory** Emotional support
- **declaration that trustees have** Technology support and information **had regard to the guidance** Society newsletter
- **issued by the Charity** Signposting to other support organisations
- **Commission on public benefit)**
## **Additional details of objectives and activities (Optional information)**
**TAR**
December 2025
3
You **may choose** to include further statements, where relevant, about:
- policy on grantmaking;
- policy programme related investment;
- contribution made by volunteers.
Section D Achievements and performance
**TAR**
December 2025
4
## Section D Achievements and performance
Over the past year, the Society has supported a growing community of **Summary of the main** nearly 700 people with sight loss, providing timely help, reducing **achievements of the charity** isolation, and enabling members to stay active and connected through **during the year** clubs, outreach, and new wellbeing activities such as chair yoga. Despite rising demand and county-wide volunteer shortages, our dedicated team and 67 volunteers ensured continued access to transport, friendship, and practical support. Modernised systems and a new monthly e-newsletter improved communication and efficiency, while the refurbished shop created a brighter, more accessible space for members and the public. Our members also helped shape a shortlisted inclusivity project with the Norris Museum, strengthening awareness and understanding of sight loss locally. Successful grant fundraising, including support from the People’s Postcode Lottery, has helped sustain and expand these benefits at a time of growing financial pressures, ensuring we continue to make a positive difference for individuals and the wider community.
## **Section E Financial review**
**TAR**
December 2025
5
## **Brief statement of the charity’s policy on reserves**
The Trustees aim to hold a minimum of £80,000 in free reserves, representing around six months of fixed operating costs after taking investment income into account. This level, set with reference to Charity Commission guidance on maintaining appropriate reserves, is considered sufficient to ensure service continuity and provide financial resilience. While the Society’s long-term investment portfolio is not classified as reserves, it generates reliable unrestricted income that supports day-today operations and strengthens financial stability. The reserves policy is reviewed annually to ensure it remains appropriate
**Details of any funds materially in deficit**
N/A
## **Further financial review details (Optional information)**
You **may choose** to include additional information, where relevant about:
- the charity’s principal sources of funds (including any fundraising);
- how expenditure has supported the key objectives of the charity;
- investment policy and objectives including any ethical investment policy adopted.
## **Section F Other optional information**
## **Section G Declaration**
**The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above. Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees**
**Signature(s)**
**Full name(s)** Fiona Tarpey
**Position (eg Secretary,** Treasurer **Chair, etc)**
**TAR**
December 2025
6
Date
1511212025
TAR
December 2025
## **STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES YEAR ENDING 31 MARCH 2025** 2024/2025 2023/24
|**Income Resources**
Donations and legacies
Grant Income
Other Income
Other trading activities
Fund Raising
Property Rental Income
Charitable Activities
Investment income
**Resources Expenditure**
Expenditure on raising funds
Blind Aids
Fund Raising Expenses
Charitable Activities Expenses
Net Income Available for
Charitable Application
Large/Special Donations/Exp
Payroll
Support Costs
Net Income/(Expenditure)
Sundry Creditor Adjustment
Net Movement in Funds
Funds Brought Forward
Funds Carried Forward|Unrestricted Funds Unrestricted Funds
Total
Total
£
£
20,084.72
24,964.55
62,422.00
33,000.00
1,335.88
3,686.21
23,764.52
21,166.34
12,054.89
11,698.27
8,408.50
8,020.00
18,050.70
16,400.39
57,423.72
55,984.04
203,544.93
174,919.80|
|---|---|
||20,192.92
20,315.67
5,820.78
6,163.73
2,532.64
1,041.53
9,204.65
8,082.84
37,750.99
35,603.77|
|||
||165,793.94
139,316.03|
||0.00
0.00
138,231.18
118,264.08
17,835.05
19,683.72|
||193,817.22
173,551.57|
||9,727.71
1,368.23
-95,729.66
170,544.30|
||-106,660.56
147,871.52
2,565,745.82
2,417,874.30
2,459,085.26
2,565,745.82|
**BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31 MARCH 2025**
2024/25
2023/24
|**FIXED ASSETS**
**Land & Buildings (as at October 2022)**
390,000.00
390,000.00
Office, Shop premises
**Investments**
CCLA Charirty Fund Holdings
1,958,907.00
2,054,636.66
2,348,907.00
2,444,636.66
**CURRENT ASSETS**
Stock
5,591.70
5,272.81
Debtors - General
11,085.13
10,890.00
**Cash**
National Savings Account
0.00
31,591.12
Barclays Current Account
4,957.31
31,821.85
CAF Current Account
20,397.99
15,822.03
CAF Gold Account
70,813.88
27,776.80
CAF Business Card Account
500.00
528.60
Petty Cash
382.40
97,051.58
509.03
108,049.43
**NET CURRENT ASSETS**
113,728.41
124,212.24
**LESS CURRENT LIABILITIES**
Audit Fee
1,830.00
1,830.00
General
1,720.15
3,550.15
1,273.08
3,103.08
110,178.26
121,109.16
**TOTAL NET ASSETS (LIABILITIES)**
2,459,085.26
2,565,745.82
**CAPITAL & RESERVES**
Retained Earnings
147,871.52
0.00
Net Income
-106,660.56
147,871.52
Operating Balance Equity
2,417,874.30
2,417,874.30
**TOTAL FOR CAPITAL & RESERVES**
2,459,085.26
2,565,745.82|**FIXED ASSETS**
**Land & Buildings (as at October 2022)**
390,000.00
390,000.00
Office, Shop premises
**Investments**
CCLA Charirty Fund Holdings
1,958,907.00
2,054,636.66
2,348,907.00
2,444,636.66
**CURRENT ASSETS**
Stock
5,591.70
5,272.81
Debtors - General
11,085.13
10,890.00
**Cash**
National Savings Account
0.00
31,591.12
Barclays Current Account
4,957.31
31,821.85
CAF Current Account
20,397.99
15,822.03
CAF Gold Account
70,813.88
27,776.80
CAF Business Card Account
500.00
528.60
Petty Cash
382.40
97,051.58
509.03
108,049.43
**NET CURRENT ASSETS**
113,728.41
124,212.24
**LESS CURRENT LIABILITIES**
Audit Fee
1,830.00
1,830.00
General
1,720.15
3,550.15
1,273.08
3,103.08
110,178.26
121,109.16
**TOTAL NET ASSETS (LIABILITIES)**
2,459,085.26
2,565,745.82
**CAPITAL & RESERVES**
Retained Earnings
147,871.52
0.00
Net Income
-106,660.56
147,871.52
Operating Balance Equity
2,417,874.30
2,417,874.30
**TOTAL FOR CAPITAL & RESERVES**
2,459,085.26
2,565,745.82|**FIXED ASSETS**
**Land & Buildings (as at October 2022)**
390,000.00
390,000.00
Office, Shop premises
**Investments**
CCLA Charirty Fund Holdings
1,958,907.00
2,054,636.66
2,348,907.00
2,444,636.66
**CURRENT ASSETS**
Stock
5,591.70
5,272.81
Debtors - General
11,085.13
10,890.00
**Cash**
National Savings Account
0.00
31,591.12
Barclays Current Account
4,957.31
31,821.85
CAF Current Account
20,397.99
15,822.03
CAF Gold Account
70,813.88
27,776.80
CAF Business Card Account
500.00
528.60
Petty Cash
382.40
97,051.58
509.03
108,049.43
**NET CURRENT ASSETS**
113,728.41
124,212.24
**LESS CURRENT LIABILITIES**
Audit Fee
1,830.00
1,830.00
General
1,720.15
3,550.15
1,273.08
3,103.08
110,178.26
121,109.16
**TOTAL NET ASSETS (LIABILITIES)**
2,459,085.26
2,565,745.82
**CAPITAL & RESERVES**
Retained Earnings
147,871.52
0.00
Net Income
-106,660.56
147,871.52
Operating Balance Equity
2,417,874.30
2,417,874.30
**TOTAL FOR CAPITAL & RESERVES**
2,459,085.26
2,565,745.82|
|---|---|---|
||110,178.26|121,109.16|
||2,459,085.26
147,871.52
-106,660.56
2,417,874.30|2,565,745.82|
|||0.00
147,871.52
2,417,874.30|
||2,459,085.26|2,565,745.82|
**Profit & Loss Account as at 31 March 2025**
|||**2024/2025**||**2023/2024**|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|**Income**|||||
|Donations|19,084.77||24,964.55||
|Legacy Donations|1,000.00|20,084.77||24,964.55|
|Charitable Activities|||||
|Shop Income|15,976.63||15,167.31||
|Blind Aid Sales|7,787.89||5,999.03||
|Club Income|13,774.70||13,381.39||
|Club Transport Income|4,276.00||3,019.00||
|Rental Income|8,408.50||8,020.00||
|Grant Income|62,422.00||33,000.00||
|**Total for Charitable Activities**||**112,645.72**||**78,586.73**|
|Fund Raising Income||12,054.89||11,698.27|
|Investment and Dividend Income||57,423.72||55,984.04|
|Other Income||1,335.86||3,686.21|
|**Total Income**||**203,544.96**||**174,919.80**|
|**Direct Costs**|||||
|Blind Aid Purchases|5,820.78||6,163.73||
|Club Expenses|9,724.65||8,082.84||
|Fund Raising Expenditure|2,532.64||1,041.53||
|Shop Stock|1,800.17||792.56||
|Property Management Fee|780.37||561.12||
|**Total for Direct Costs**||**20,658.61**||**16,641.78**|
|**Gross Profit**||**182,886.35**||**158,278.02**|
|**Expenses**|||||
|Transport, Mileage, Parking etc||15,540.58||12,912.76|
|Cost of running the office|||||
|Equipment purchase|983.71||1,429.13||
|Insurances - Property & Employers|4,844.20||4,761.09||
|Audit & Accountancy|2,438.40||1,830.00||
|Property Rates|124.75||353.25||
|Office/General Administrative Expenditures|3,624.07||5,492.81||
|Printing Postage & Stationery|3,923.11||5,491.46||
|Bank Charges|1,428.62||975.78||
|Repair and maintenance|4,835.39||12,748.78||
|Utilities & Water|3,319.70||2,101.48||
|Training and Development|245.00||352.00||
|Staff Welfare|210.45||107.70||
|Staff and Volunteer Recruitment|278.50||986.56||
|Subscriptions|281.00||110.00||
|Telephone/Internet|9,060.83||5,634.69||
|Website|4,447.73||||
|**Total for Cost of running the office**||**40,045.46**||**42,374.73**|
|Payroll costs||138,231.18||118,264.08|
|**Total Expenditure**||**193,817.22**||**173,551.57**|
|**Net Operating Income**||**9,727.74**||**1,368.23**|
|Other Expenses||0.00||7,399.23|
|**Total for Other Expenses**||**0.00**||**7,399.23**|
|**Net Income**||**9,727.74**||**-6,031.00**|
Notes to the Accounts
1) These accounts have been prepared under the historical cost convention with items recognised at cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant note(s) to these accounts. The accounts have been prepared in accordance with the Statement of Recommended Practice: Accounting and Reporting by Charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) issued on 16 July 2014
2) The Finance Report for the AGM contains an analysis of the Annual Accounts and therefore forms part of these accounts 3) The introduction of accounting software has meant a slightly amended layout to the previous year's figures to allow for comparison. 4) All funds are considered unrestricted as per the Charity Commission's definition of restricted and unrestricted funds. 5) No trustee have been paid any remuneration or received any other benefits for the reporting period
- 5) No employees received employee benefits (excluding employer pension costs) for the reporting period of more than £60,000
15 Station Road St Ives Cambridgeshire PE27 5BH
## **INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES OF HUNTINGDONSHIRE SOCIETY FOR THE BLIND**
We have audited the financial statements of Huntingdon Society for the Blind for the year ended 31 March 2025, which comprise the Balance Sheet and Profit and Loss Account and the related notes. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).
## **Opinion on financial statements**
In our opinion the financial statements:
- give a true and fair view of the state of the charity’s affairs as at 31 March 2025, and of its incoming resources and application of resources, for the year then ended;
- have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice; and
- have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011.
## **Basis for opinion**
We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the Charity in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRCʼs Ethical Standard, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.
## **Conclusions relating to going concern**
We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the ISAs (UK) require us to report to you where:
- the trustees’ use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is not appropriate; or
- the trustees have not disclosed in the financial statements any identified material uncertainties that may cast significant doubt about the Charity’s ability to continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting for a period of at least twelve months from the date when the financial statements are authorised for issue.
## **Other information**
The trustees are responsible for the other information. The other information comprises the information included in the annual report other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon.
In connection with our audit of the financial statements, our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether there is a material misstatement in the financial statements or a material misstatement of the other information. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.
We have nothing to report in this regard.
## **Matters on which we are required to report by exception**
In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the Charity and environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the Trustees’ Annual Report.
We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Charities Act 2011 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:
- sufficient accounting records have not been kept;
- the financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or
- we have not obtained all the information and explanations necessary for the purposes of our audit.
## **Responsibilities of the trustees**
As explained more fully in the trustees’ responsibilities statement, the trustees are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as they determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.
In preparing the financial statements, the trustees are responsible for assessing the Charity’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the trustees either intend to liquidate the Charity or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.
## **Our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements**
Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor’s report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.
A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at: www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our auditor’s report.
## **Use of our report**
This report is made solely to the Charity’s trustees, as a body, in accordance with section 144* of the Charities Act 2011 and the regulations made under section 154 of that Act. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the Charity’s trustees those matters we are required to state to them in an auditor’s report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the Charity’s trustees as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.
Peter Matthew Barlow (Senior Statutory Auditor) For and on behalf of Thomas Quinn Statutory Auditors
Dated: ……09 September 2025……………………