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 2024 to 31[st] December 2024
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:
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A two-day annual prize meeting in early July which generates most of the Club’s surplus for the year.
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A team match in mid-July where club teams compete against teams from the various visiting Commonwealth countries.
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A Club Championship and other trophies which are based on scores made in the National Rifle Association’s Imperial Meeting.
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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 2024 the Club ran a full programme of events and were delighted to be able to welcome our friends from overseas, with national teams from Jersey, Guernsey, Canada & Australia along with individual competitors from South Africa, New Zealand, the West Indies & USA. Although the Club house was open to members and visitors, the kitchen remained closed.
The club concluded negotiations with the National Rifle Association, our landlord, and signed a new lease on the clubhouse so securing our tenure for the next 21 years. Securing the building for the future is important for the club in delivering our charitable objectives of supporting Commonwealth visitors whilst competing at Bisley.
After many years of service to the club Sir Roger Wheeler stepped down as our Patron at the end of the year. We were delighted to welcome Sir Roger, accompanied by Lady Felicity to present the prizes at our Open Prize meeting in July. We are actively working to appoint his replacement.
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British Commonwealth Rifle Club Trustees’ Annual Report and Accounts
The club committee has also spent time creating policies to cover various aspects of governance recommended as best practice by the Charity Commission. These will of course be regularly reviewed to keep them up to date and relevant. 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.
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. Using the NRA Imperial GGG 2024 ammunition gave all competitors, especially those from overseas the opportunity to shoot with the “meeting ammo”. A total entry of 200 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 and Canada 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. After much hard work by the Trustees and members we agreed & signed a new lease (21 years less 1 day) in December 2024. Over the last 3 years the club has actively pursued third-party use of the clubhouse as a way of increasing revenue to support on-going maintenance & development costs and also offsetting the increase in rent. At the end of 2024 we had 2 separate groups using the clubhouse on a regular basis and are confident of securing additional users in future years. We remain mindful that thirdparty 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 2024. Now a new lease has been secured we plan further investments in the clubhouse to enable to better meet the needs of our overseas visitors.
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 range space limited the entries and hence the surplus achieved.
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British Commonwealth Rifle Club Trustees’ Annual Report and Accounts
Investment performance against objectives
The Club does not have substantial funds. The club funds are held in a COIF account and our bank account.
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 modest increase in competitions 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 2045 and requires that the building is maintained and brought back to a similar state to the start of the lease. 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.
Over the next few years, the club intends to spend a significant amount on upgrading the facilities within the clubhouse, extending the kitchen and in return reducing the un-used armoury to make better use of the space. These works are intended to start as soon as possible to enable the maximum benefit for the club during the 21 year lease.
Reserves held
£34,724
Principal Sources of Funds
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The annual Open prize meeting is the primary source of income and contributed a surplus of £4,044 this year.
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Building hire to 3[rd] parties increased in 2024, generating £3,420.
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Annual membership subscription income of £1,695 was slightly higher than 2023.
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Donations tend to vary year on year, with 2024 (£1,467) significantly higher than 2023.
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Overall income was up by £5,916 compared to 2023, with a net surplus of £4,338.
Investment Policy and Objectives
The Club has a cautious attitude to investment both to protect and provide timely access to reserves.
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British Commonwealth Rifle Club Trustees’ Annual Report and Accounts
Principal Risks facing the Charity
The main risk the club faced in recent years was retaining tenure of the clubhouse. Now a new lease has been signed this is no longer our principal risk.
The principal risk facing the club is the security of our main income stream and source of surplus – this being the ability to run our Annual Prize Meeting. This could be impacted by events restricting access to the ranges to compete, i.e. restrictions on range use as a result of external events such as experienced in the recent COVID pandemic. Availability of ammunition, which we experienced in 2022 as a direct result of the war in Ukraine, is also a risk to delivering our Annual Prize Meeting.
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.
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British Commonwealth Rifle Club Trustees’ Annual Report and Accounts
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.
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 | ||
| 3 | Stephen Penrose | Secretary | ||
| 4 | Will Steward | Treasurer | ||
| 5 | Simon Belither | Committee member | ||
| 6 | Emma Cannings | Committee member | ||
| 7 | Sarah Bunch | Committee member | ||
| 8 | Seth Dowley | Committee member | ||
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British Commonwealth Rifle Club Trustees’ Annual Report and Accounts
Name of trustees holding title to property belonging to the charity
| Trustee name | Dates acted if not for wholeyear |
|---|---|
| CM Brooks | |
| GMLN Gilpin |
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 1[st] September 2025
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The British Commonwealth Rifle Club
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Income & expenditure for the year ended 31st December 2024
Income 2024 2023
Competitions – Income 53,724 49,729
Subscriptions Collected 1,695 1,675
Locker Rents - -
Interest received 537 420
Facilities and teas income 3,420 3,000
Other income 341 198
Donations
- Building Maintenance Fund 1,467 245
- Hospitality Fund - -
- Total donations 1,467 245
Ammunition sale - -
Total income 61,183 55,267
Expenditure
Competitions – expense 48,680 46,974
Catering 896 694
Rent, Services, Insurance, etc 6,357 5,283
Upkeep of Clubhouse and Garden 50 765
Affiliation Fees 531 442
Administration and Sundries 331 -
Total expenditure 56,845 54,158
Surplus / (deficit) 4,338 1,109
Distributed between
Surplus / (deficit) in the General Reserve
Fund 2,921 1,630
Transfer to / (from) the Building Maintenance
Fund 1,417 (520)
Transfer to / (from) the Hospitality Fund - -
Transfer to / (from) the Milton Tucker Memorial Fund - -
Total transfers to club funds 4,338 1,109
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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 |
10,792 17,687 100 28,579 1,250 4,165 1,788 35,782 (828) (230) 34,724 27,609 2,921 30,530 2,082 1,417 3,498 100 150 124 142 180 34,724 (0) 31st December 2024 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
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, , 20251st July