## THE BRITISH COMMONWEALTH RIFLE CLUB CLUB ROW, BISLEY CAMP, BROOKWOOD, SURREY GU24 0NY REGISTERED CHARITY NO: 216504 _______________________________________________________________________________ ## **Trustees’ Annual Report and Accounts** **1[st] January 2023 to 31[st] December 2023** **The British Commonwealth Rifle Club (Charity No: 216504)** ## **Objectives and Activities** The objects of the Club are to promote interest and skill in rifle shooting within the Commonwealth, including by assisting teams and individuals from the Commonwealth competing at prize meetings of the National Rifle Association and the National Small-bore Rifle Association, the better to enable them to take part when required in the defence of their Countries and the Commonwealth. ## **Main Activities** In typical years the Club holds various events: - A two-day annual prize meeting in early July which generates most of the Club’s surplus for the year. - A team match in mid-July where club teams compete against teams from the various visiting Commonwealth countries. - A Club Championship and other trophies which are based on scores made in the National Rifle Association’s Imperial Meeting. - A reception to welcome all our overseas visitors during the National Rifle Association’s Imperial Meeting. These events are timed to give our Commonwealth visitors the opportunity for appropriate ‘warm-up’ practice before the start of the National Rifle Association’s Imperial Meeting. The Club house is made available to our visitors from the Commonwealth to use as a base and to provide secure equipment storage. In 2023 the Club was able to run a full programme of events with restrictions from COVID-19 and availability of ammunition in 2022 as the initial shortages due to the war in Ukraine is now behind us. We were delighted to be able to welcome our friends from overseas, with national teams from Jersey, Guernsey, Kenya, Canada, and Australia along with individual competitors from South Africa and New Zealand. Although the Club house was open to members and visitors, the kitchen remained closed. In planning our activities for the year, we kept in mind the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit at our trustee meetings. The events we organise are all focused on our Commonwealth visitors, directly by providing opportunities for competition to aid performance, or indirectly by raising funds to provide that support. ## **Grants & Grant Policy** The charity has not previously made grants and has no current plans to do so. Page **1** of **6** **British Commonwealth Rifle Club Trustees’ Annual Report and Accounts 2023** ## **Contributions made by Volunteers** The Club is run entirely by volunteers and would like to thank all those who give their time on behalf of the Club’s activities as it is recognised that it could not function without their support. Whilst every contribution is important, it would be wrong not to recognise that of David Rose for his immense efforts (yet again) for promoting and organising the Prize Meeting which is now second only to the NRA Imperial meeting for participation. ## **Achievements and Performance** ## **Summary of Main Achievements** The Club’s Open Prize Meeting took place as normal with strong demand for places including overseas competitors from the Commonwealth. With ammunition shortages of the previous year behind us we ran a full programme of 7 ranges across two days. Using the NRA Imperial GGG 2023 ammunition gave all competitors, especially those from overseas the opportunity to shoot with the “meeting ammo”. A total entry of 194 competitors enjoyed competing over the weekend. The Club’s annual Overseas Teams match (hosted by the Club to provide our overseas visitors with valuable match practice in preparation for the international matches during the Imperial meeting), was well attended with teams from Australia, Canada, and Kenya competing. ## **Achievements against main objectives** Retaining the tenancy of our clubhouse at Bisley is considered by the Trustees as being central to delivery of our charitable objectives. Consequently, we are pursuing a strategy of retaining the Club house tenancy on expiry of the current lease in December 2024. We have had constructive discussion with our Landlord (the NRA) and remain confident of a successful conclusion in 2024. To enable us to take on a new lease at higher rent will require the club to generate additional income. To this end we have issued a licence for regular usage of the building to a third party and continue to seek other groups from within the shooting community. We are mindful that any third-party usage should not impact the Club’s own activities and are setting limitations accordingly within any usage agreement. The building repair work identified previously has been completed and very little additional work was undertaken in 2023. We are confident the state and repair of the building is adequate to meet the current needs of the club whilst also meeting our requirements at the end of the current lease. ## **Performance of fundraising activities against objectives set** The Charity does not explicitly run fundraising activities. It does turn a modest excess of income over expenditure from the annual prize meeting, although overall entries were back to a normal level, the shortage of ammunition and sharp rise in costs (due to the war in Ukraine) limited the surplus achieved. ## **Investment performance against objectives** The Club does not have substantial funds. The club funds are held in a COIF account and our bank account. Page **2** of **6** **British Commonwealth Rifle Club Trustees’ Annual Report and Accounts 2023** ## **Financial Review** ## **Review of the charity’s financial position at the end of the period** The Club delivered a surplus for the year, despite a significant increase in competition costs. Income from third party use of the clubhouse continues to be a welcome and important income stream. As no significant building work was undertaken in the year the expenditure on this activity remained low. The activities generate an appropriate level of surplus over expenditure that allow the Club to fulfil its charitable objectives and maintain an appropriate level of reserves. ## **Policy and Justification for holding reserves** Reserves need to be maintained to protect against reduced entries or surplus from the Open Prize Meeting as annual subscription income does not cover the full running costs of the Club. This revenue is not guaranteed and can be impacted by many external factors outside the Club’s control (e.g. COVID-19 and rising costs and availability of ammunition due to the war in Ukraine). Building maintenance and dilapidation costs are also unpredictable (as winter storms have proved previously), so adequate reserves need to be maintained to perform immediate emergency repairs as well as longer term reparations. The Club house is leased on a 21-year full repairing basis which ends in late December 2024 and requires that the building is brought back to a similar state to the start of the lease. The professional survey we commissioned revealed that extensive work was required to achieve this. Our ongoing approach of managing revenue streams appropriately has ensured that the Club could meet those repair costs out of the reserves rather than having to put out an emergency call for donations or increase subscriptions significantly. ## **Reserves held** £30,386 ## **Principal Sources of Funds** - The annual Open prize meeting is the primary source of income and contributed a surplus of £2,755 this year. - Building hire to 3[rd] parties decreased in 2023, generating £3,000. - Annual membership subscription income of £1,675 was slightly higher than 2022. - Donations tend to vary year on year, with 2023 (£245) slightly lower than 2022. - Overall income was up by £1,602 compared to 2022, with a net surplus of £1,109. ## **Investment Policy and Objectives** The Club has a cautious attitude to investment both to protect and provide timely access to reserves. ## **Principal Risks facing the Charity** The Clubhouse is leased on a 21-year full repairing basis from the National Rifle Association (NRA); the current lease ends in late December 2024. Discussions with the NRA regarding renewal have been very positive, and terms have been agreed. We expect the contract will be signed and completed in the autumn of 2024. Page **3** of **6** **British Commonwealth Rifle Club Trustees’ Annual Report and Accounts 2023** ## **Structure, Governance and Management** ## **Description of charity’s trusts:** The charity is constituted as an unincorporated association and is governed by its rules which were amended in 2020 at the Annual General Meeting. ## **Trustee Selection Methods** The number of Club officials, committee and trustees, their respective roles and any conditions regarding election and tenure are set out in the Club constitution (which may only be changed at a General Meeting of the members). Fundamentally, no-one has the right to appoint any of the charity trustees – all members of the committee are elected annually by the membership for limited terms and those elected become the charity trustees. The Club rules regarding officials are as shown below: ## _**Officials and Committee**_ ## _**Officials**_ ## _18._ _(a) The officials of the Club shall consist of a Patron, President, Vice-Presidents not exceeding 20 in number, a Captain, Vice-Captain, Honorary Secretary, and Honorary Treasurer._ _(b) The Committee shall have power to invite any person to accept office as Patron of the Club for such period as the Committee see fit._ _(c) The President, Vice-Presidents, Captain, Honorary Secretary, Honorary Treasurer and Honorary Independent Examiner shall retire at each Annual General Meeting and shall be eligible for re-election._ _(d) The Vice-Captain shall be appointed by the Captain, from amongst the members of the Committee._ _(e) No official (other than the Patron, President and Vice-Presidents) shall be eligible for election or appointment to the same office for more than three successive years._ ## _19._ _Vice-Presidents shall, while holding that office, be exempted from payment of the annual subscription._ ## _**Committee**_ ## _20._ _The Committee shall consist of the Captain, Honorary Secretary, Honorary Treasurer and eight members of the Club elected at the Annual General Meeting. The officials and members of the Committee shall take office on the 1[st] January in the year after their election and retire on the ensuing 31st December._ _None of the eight members of the Club elected to the Committee shall be eligible to be re-elected as an ordinary member of the Committee for more than three successive years._ ## _**Election of officials, Etc.**_ ## _21._ _(a) Nominations to the offices of Captain, Honorary Secretary and Honorary Treasurer and to the Committee shall be notified to the Honorary Secretary not later than noon of the third day before that appointed for the Annual General Meeting. Any member may propose himself for a specified office by notifying the Honorary Secretary that he is willing to serve if elected. As soon as possible after the closing of nominations, the Honorary Secretary shall post a list of the names of the members proposed for the various offices and in any case where the number proposed exceeds the vacancies a ballot will be taken at the Annual General Meeting._ _(b) Any member desiring to propose for election as President, Vice-President or Honorary Independent Examiner any person other than the retiring holder of each office respectively shall give notice as aforesaid to the Honorary Secretary._ _Otherwise notice shall not be required for elections to the offices of President, Vice-President or Honorary Independent Examiner._ Page **4** of **6** **British Commonwealth Rifle Club Trustees’ Annual Report and Accounts 2023** ## **Policies and procedures adopted for the induction and training of trustees** The Charity Commission’s own trustee guidance is used as the starting point, with further reference to the guidance and best practice information available from organisations such as the NRA or NCVO. Peer support is provided by the other trustees (of whom approximately half are also current or former trustees of other charities). ## **The charity’s organisational structure and any wider network with which the charity works** The committee are the Trustees. The Club is affiliated to the National Rifle Association. The Club has links to rifle shooting governing bodies throughout the Commonwealth with vice presidents of the club appointed (by members vote at the AGM) from all relevant Commonwealth countries. ## **Relationships with related parties** The National Rifle Association is the Club’s landlord. ## **Reference and Administrative details** |**Charity name**|British Commonwealth Rifle Club| |---|---| |**Registered charity number**|216504| |**Charity’s principal address**|The British Commonwealth Rifle Club,
Bisley Camp,
Brookwood,
Woking,
SurreyGU24 0NY| ## **Name of the charity trustees who manage the charity** ||**Trustee name**|**Office (if any)**|**Dates acted if not**
**for whole year**|**Name of person (or**
**body) entitled to**
**appoint trustee(if any)**| |---|---|---|---|---| |1|John Warburton|Captain||| |2|Peter Bromley|Vice-Captain|1stJuly– 31stDec|| |3|Stephen Penrose|Secretary||| |4|Will Steward|Treasurer||| |5|Simon Belither|Committee member||| |6|Emma Cannings|Committee member||| |7|David Rose|Committee member||| ## **Name of trustees holding title to property belonging to the charity** |**Trustee name**|**Dates acted if not for wholeyear**| |---|---| |CM Brooks|| |GMLN Gilpin|| Page **5** of **6** **British Commonwealth Rifle Club Trustees’ Annual Report and Accounts 2023** ## **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)** John David Warburton **Position** Club Captain/Chairman of Trustees **Date** 18[th] August 2024 Page **6** of **6** ## **The British Commonwealth Rifle Club** **----- Start of picture text -----**
Income & expenditure for the year ended 31st December 2023
Income 2023 2022
Competitions – Income 49,729 43,714
Subscriptions Collected 1,675 1,660
Locker Rents - 10
Interest received 420 95
Facilities and teas income 3,000 4,925
Other income 198 2,600
Donations
- Building Maintenance Fund 245 661
- Hospitality Fund - -
- Total donations 245 661
Ammunition sale - -
Total income 55,267 53,665
Expenditure
Competitions – expense 46,974 37,101
Catering 694 4,004
Rent, Services, Insurance, etc 5,283 5,602
Upkeep of Clubhouse and Garden 765 3,816
Affiliation Fees 442 396
Administration and Sundries - 252
Total expenditure 54,158 51,173
Surplus / (deficit) 1,109 2,492
Distributed between
Surplus / (deficit) in the General Reserve Fund 1,630 5,647
Transfer to / (from) the Building Maintenance
Fund (520) (3,155)
Transfer to / (from) the Hospitality Fund - -
Transfer to / (from) the Milton Tucker Memorial Fund - -
Total transfers to club funds 1,109 2,492
**----- End of picture text -----**
**The British Commonwealth Rifle Club is registered with the Charity Commission as a charity under the Charities Act 2011, with registration number 216504.** |**Balance sheet**
**Assets**
Cash at bank and in hand:
- Charity Deposit Account
- Other bank accounts
- Cash in hand
- Total cash
Prepayments and Accrued income
Debtors
Stock
Total assets
**Liabilities**
Accounts payable / creditors
Accruals
Net assets
**Distributed between**
General Reserve Fund brought forward
General Reserve Fund surplus/deficit for the year
General Reserves transferred to Building
Maintenance Fund
General Reserve Fund
Building Maintenance Fund brought forward
Building Maintenance Fund surplus/deficit for the
year
General Reserves transferred to Building
Maintenance Fund
Building Maintenance Fund
The Doug Cornish Prize Fund
Hospitality Fund
Milton Tucker Memorial Fund
Freddie Payne Memorial Fund
Life Members Fund
**Total of club funds**|10,255
14,635
100
**24,991**
2,581
1,900
2,441
**31,913**
(1,296)
(230)
**30,387**
25,979
1,630
27,609
2,602
(520)
2,082
100
150
124
142
180
**30,386**
(0)
**31st December 2023**|9,835
11,624
100
**21,559**
3,435
3,436
2,867
**31,297**
(1,245)
(775)
**29,277**
20,332
5,647
25,979
5,757
(3,155)
2,602
100
150
124
142
180
**29,277**
(0)
**31st December 2022**| |---|---|---| ## **Report of the Independent Examiner:** I have been presented with accounting records for the Charity and I am satisfied that these accounts have been prepared from them. There are no matters arising therefrom which I wish to bring to the attention of the membership. Paul AE Charlton, Hon.Independent Examiner, , 2024