CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES Trustees, Annual Report for the period From 1st Oct 2024 Period end date Period start date To 30 Sep 2025 Charity name: Brailie Chess Assocaation Charity registration number: 263049 Objectives and Activities Summary ofthe wrposes of the charity as set out in its goveming document P¥a 1.17 The Oty'ects ofthe ASs￿latIon are the fftjrther8n￿ of edLtcation amongst blind and partially sighted pe4)le in relation to the game of chess ty.'- The rAomotKJn of chess toumaments with over4he-trtwd ptay. and by rx)r￿SpJftdence. The publicats'on and dK*tribulion of chess literature including the prowsion of an audio seIN1￿. The encouragement of the participation of blind chess players in mainstream toumamenls. Any other alNity connected wth the , tKomotion of chess among blind and partially hled During the year 20242025 we were atAe to run a nomiJ over-the-board programme, including weekend congresses, the annual chess theme break. and a week-long twmamenl in the summer. At the same time. we d￿1 hold a remote toumament wth members playing either by phonelskyFFJz￿ or else using online chess platfotTnS such as LTrchess. We played r C￿eS￿ndenCe games and email toumamenls as usual. We publish￿ our quartedy gazette which is distrsEMrted to memtErs in various formats and also published on our website. We provided audio selecb.ons of articles from Chess Magazine to our members. There is an all(Wan￿ for nEmbers who wish lo develop their skills through cnaching and although coaching weekends weren't possible. online coaching was arranged. We SUFolied adapted chess sets and talkiry chess clocks to members. The BCA ccmplies with the principles set out in the latest edtbon of the Gcxxl Governan Code kn Trustees. We are also mindful of Summary of the main actiwlies in relation to those purposes for the public benefit, in particular, the a¢tivitie5, projects ￿ swces identified in the accounts. P*a 1.17 arKI 1.19 Slatemenl confimiing whether the trustees have had regard to the guidance issued b the Cha Paa 1.18 Commission on public benefit e guidance on public t￿efft issued by the Cha Commission Additional inforniation {optional You ma choose lo indude further statements relevanl about 1.35 Policy on grant making Paa 1.38 Policy on S￿81 investsnent including program related investment 1.38 ContribLrtion made by volunteers Other Achievements and Perforniance We were parbcuiarty pleased to be able to send two players, Gary Hogan (Carterton. Oxf(Kdshire) and Brandan ReadlWeslon- super-marel to the Inlemational Braille Chess Assttiation's IIBCA} classic81 wodd individual champTronships held IN Rzeszow, Poland. in August 2025. Gary had represenleAJ us in internat￿ftal ever)ts tefore, tr￿t this was Brandan's first trip abroad. Gary and Brandan were acccffiparsied by IM Chris Bakerlcrawleyl as coach. G¥y ￿h)eVed a 50 per ￿t score finishing 11 pla￿S above his seeding. and Brandan clocked up a couple of wins and now has a FIDE rating. We were proud of Gary and BrarKlan's ￿Ievements and look forward to them represenling us abroad in future, hopefvlty in team as well a8 irKINidual ev￿ts. Summary clthe main achievements of the charity. identifying the differen￿ the charity's work has made to the circumstances of its beneficiaries and any wder benefits to society as a whole. PJa 1.20 We also look part in iwo international online matches against France the United States Braille Chess Association IUSBCA). Our team playing France had fifteen players and each player had one game with white and one with blxk. Games were played in real time the assistance of di technolccy. Fran￿ won the rrralch 17-13. Stan Lovell (SCarb￿Ughl was the main organiser at our end, and we would like to t on r￿rd our appreaation for the effort he put into getbro a team together and maknng the evenl happ￿. TIE match against the USBCA was played by email. This timewe Manag￿ a decisive wn, 19.5 to 9.5. Bill Amislrong (Leek) caFlained our team againsl the USBCA and he was ably a5SiSted by John FUl￿d (cam￿ey). 80 thanks to both of them. Our autumn intemational tournament w held at the Kents Hill Park Training 2nd conferen￿ C&ttre, Milton Keynes from 18 to October 2024.This Wds the first time we had visited the Kents Hli l. Chris Ross Isheffieldl, playing after a few years, absence wag outright winner and Neda Koohnavard (Erithl won the Challengers. trophy for those graded under 1450. Our 31st annual chess theme break was hekl at the LaurÉston Hotel, Weston-Super- Mare starting 25th January 2025. Julie Leonard (TeA￿bUry) was the oryaniser for the fourth consecutive year,. a special su commtttee has been set up to organise the 2026 event. A lot of support was also provided by Gerry Walsh (Middlesbrough). The break is a relaxed event featuring some chess training. an all-play-all handicap competition and S￿la1 actwities. Lea Ryan (London) y+￿n the mini t￿rnaMent. Our AGM and spring congress took place at the Leicester Hilton Hotel from 14th lo 16th Mar¢h 2025. Bill Axmstrong. Stan Lovell and Brandan Read shared first pl￿e with Bill wtnning the trophy on ttrbreak. Dan Rugman {London) won the trophy for those graded under 1450. We ran ourweek-lon9. seven-￿nd Chairman's Cup from 19th to 26th July 2025 at the Marsham Court Hotel in Bournanouth. Phil Gordon Ilsle of Wight) was the overall winner while Desmond Masterson Isidcup} ¥￿) the Challengers. section. Neda Koohnavard WC￿ the lajies trophy. A wbcularly interestitYJ feature of our over- the-board aCti￿tt&S.this year was a match ' against the parliamentary chess club whith tLK)k ￿ in Portcullis House on 9th June 2025. Teams consisted of six players, each player having half an hour on the ¢lo¢k. The parliamen￿ team W(￿ handily 5-1, but this hasn't s us an inwtatK)n to ay an0￿r match arourKJ the sarne time in 2026. The malch did result in some positive coverage in the media. We'd like to thank John FulKvwd for the work he put into LYganisiNJ the rnalch. The main multkfomiat event ofthe year was our 4th remcrte Summer Cup which started on 5th Juty 2025. Competitors played game every ￿ weeks, usually over a le week period. though there was a break in prcceedings due to the Chaimian's Cup starting on 1* Juty. The event is pul on to offer members the Chan￿ to play competthe chess al a time ￿en thwe is rK)t so much over4he-board chess going on. Steve Bumdl {NDrth Shields) won the O d Gary W￿kett (Birminghaml won the Challengers, sedion. Neda Koohnavard won the ladies trophy. A huge effort wenl into organising and njnning this event and V*E must extend particular thanks to Julie LeOr￿d and Gery Walsh. Voldi Gailans aL80 helped with Zoom sessions. RegardirKJ ￿[re8[￿nde￿ clEss, we continued to run our usual leaJue and championship. In the league scheduled to finish on 31st October 2025, Ath Crombv& {Uppingham) WC￿ di￿s1On 1 and Marilyn Bland (USA) won dMSiOn 2. Our 47° COrresF(￿de￿e champTonship began in January 2023. Philip Doyle (Dublin) won the Premier gr￿Jp and Vokli Gailans {Romfordl n the challengers. secbon. Our thanks go to Paul Benson (Runcom) for running these events. We held 2 BCA email competitions. The 21st featutEd four diwsions. Brandan Read won d￿ls[On 1. Malcolm Jone5 (Biminghaml a￿1 Eamonn Casey {County Westmeath) shar￿1 first place in division 2. Gill Smith (Bristol) won dwision 3 and there ds a three-vfdy b.e for top tlace in dNision 4 Tony Lawton (Reading), John Ramm (Wrexham) and Maria Dod {Sl Neots}. The 22nd email competthon featured rive dNisions. Philip Lk)ySe won division 1 and there was a t￿ for first place in division 2 Gknn Crawford (USA) and John Ful￿¥(￿. Anton Emery (Staffordl won division 3. John Ramm vK)n division 4 and Mark Noble (Aylesford). playing in his first loumament. won division 5. A new email toumament is underway. These email toumaments are amongst our most FK)pular events, and we woukl like to put on recx)rd (Mjr apweciatKJn of the work Eamonn Casey and Philip Doyle put into ￿rakIng them such a great suttess. We intrc*Ju¢%d a new ward named after a distinguished and s&Yly now de¢eased champion, the Grth￿ Lilley medal which goes to the member whose over-the-board grade has irKreased the most over the last twelve morrths. This yearfs wnner was Ben F￿tcher&IanlS ISheffield} whose grade went up by ninety points, a fine achievement indeed. We'd like to thank Graham's brother and ￿Ster-in42W Jon and Mari8 Lilley (Sl Helen's) for sponKfflng the award. FC￿ a bthile nthvwe have been holding a LEst game ofthe year competition in nEmory of another deceased, much- esteemed member David Hodgknns. Norman . Wragg IHarrD3atel adjudicated last yearfs ¢ompetthrM and award8J the wize to Bill Amstrong fty his win over Brandan Read in the 2024 BCA British ChampM)nship. We have implerwted further improvements to our website. Memtwship application forms and enby fomis for townamenls have proved wpul8r wilh memters and those wishing to join the associalKJn. Our thanks go to Olly Leonard (Twthesburyl for the work he dces as Vvebsrte CO￿dInator. The aMc￿nI of coaching actNity has ir￿eased significantly. Several members now take thantage of regular online"How 13xxJ Is Your Chess?" sessions. Participants have to ty to work out moves made in a higlblevel game and a￿ ￿arded points based on the accuracy of their 9uggestions. Our Ihanks go t¢ Voldi Gailans and Gery Walsh have put a lot of effort into ing these sessions up and running. Our Pu￿1¢lty Offiw, Baker (London) has also trEen busy. Our Chairman's Cup ds mentI￿d in a BBC broadcast and she was intemewed aLK)ut the match against the rfiamenta chess club. Additlonal Informatlon (optional) You ma choose to indude fvrther statements %knere relevant about Achievements against objects'ves set 1.41 Perforrnar￿e of fundraising actwities against objectives set Paa 1.41 Invesbment pwfoThan against objectives Poa 1.41 Other Financial Review Rewew of the charity's financial position at the end of the Statement explaining the po[￿Y for holding reserves stating vthy they are held Px8 1.21 '. Al the end of Septemberwe hekl £99,024 in bank accounts and the value of our , investments was £70 608. The BCA aims tr) hold funds sufficient to ,' SUFPOrt at least 2 years, worth of activities. This enables us to obtain preferential rates '. bthen booking venues and acc£)mmodation, , and when ordering adapted chess sets and ' cltxks. It also m￿8 we can plan partiapatK)n in intemakn.onal events. We have i[uea￿l amount held in the Charities o￿al Investrnent Fund to fake advantsge ofsu rior interest rates. We C￿r￿n11Y have £165,244 whth Can èe spent on general purposes. We have £4.408 in restricted frjnds which has trttn donated for speufie wrp)ses le.g. coaching ui P¥a 1.22 Amount of reserves held P¥a 1.22 Reasons for holding zero reserves Details of fund maierially in deficit Explanation of any uncertainties about the charity cont"nuing as a gc4ng COn￿M 1.22 NIA Para 1.24 WA Pwa 1.23 NIA Additional Infomialion {optional) You ma choose to include further statements where relevant about The majority of our income was raIS￿j by a , professKJnal fundraiser from grant%iving trusts and fiwndations. The charity's principal sour￿5 of fvnds {including any fundraising) Pwa 1.47 Several years ago, the ¢harity benefrtted fr¢yn an unexpected arKI signifiCan￿Y large leg*y. We took advi￿ from a financial ,' admser and chose to put some funds into an investment to increase their value in Ihe medium to Icry term and Meanwhi￿ provide some income. Our investments are hdd in a Charthes Offiual Investment Fund. Inve5tsment ￿lcY and objectives including any social investment policy adopted Paa 1.46 A descript[￿ of the prin(ipal risks facing the charity Pw8 1.46 Other Structure, Governance and Management Description of tharit￿$ tfusts". Type of goveming ￿0￿ment trust deed ro al charter How is the charity constituted? le.g unincorporated assocration, CIO Trustee selection melhc¥Js including details of any constrbjtional provisions e. election to post or name of any person or body entitled lo appcrfnt one or nThye trustees Pwa325 Constitution PJa 1.25 Assoclallon P*a 1.25 Trust￿ are elected by Annual General Meeting. Addhlonal information (optlonall You ma choose to include further *aternents vthere relevant aL%JJt Policies and prctedures adopted for the induction and training of trustees Pwa 1.51 The chaiity's organisational structure and any wder ne￿rt( with which the charty works Pwa 1.51 , We are affiliated lo the English Chess Federation. Chess Scouand, the English Federation for CweSpc￿denCe Chess and the Intemational Braille Chess Association. Relaiionship wth any related parties Paa 1.51 Other Reference and Administrative detsils Chari name other name the chari uses istered chari number Charity's principal address Braille Chess Assc¢iation 263049 58 Earf Russell StreeL Leicester, Postcode.. LE2 8LH Names of the charfty trnstees who manag& th? charity Dat&s Jckd if notlorwhole Trnstee narn8 Offke111 any) Chairman Nam? of person lor body) enfwed tr+ a Inttnthe William Armstrong DrBGuy Whitehouse Secrelary Julie Leonard Gazette Editor Mark tQrkham Audio Librarian Abi Baker Publicity Direclor Treasurer Tristr￿ Cole Gary Wickett Membership Secretary Chair of Toumament Su1￿￿Mr￿itIee Until 15103r2025 John Full￿m)d Gary John Hogan Junior Development Officer Frcrfn 15103r2025 Brandon Scott Read Junior Representative Coaching OffI￿r & RepreserrtatNe to the ECF Council Frcffi 1510312025 Gerard Francis Wa19h 11 12 Voldi Gailans Membership Secretary From 1510312025 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 rate trustees- names of the dIreCt￿S at the date the re Dlre¢tor na wasa Name of trustees holding title to property belonging to the charity namB Datss actsd If rbAforwthol8 ar Funds held as custodlan trustees on behalf of others Description of the assets hdd in this Cap￿lty Name and objects of the charity on whose behalf the assets are held and how this falls wthin the custodian charity's oEie¢ts Details of arrangements for safe custody and segregation of such ass from the charivs own assets Addltlonal Infonnatlon (oiAional) Names and addresse¥ of advisors (Opllonal Informatlon) Type of Name Address advl8er Name of chlef executlve or names of senlor staff members (Opllonal Infomiation) Exemptions from disclosure Reason for non-disclosure of k nel details other o tional infonnation Declarations The trustees do¢larn that they havo approved the trugtees. report above. Signed on behalf of th8 thaTity'$ trustO8S Signature(s) Full narnels) Trislram CcAe Position (eg Secretary, Chair, et¢ Treasurer 1110512026 Chaiity Name No lif any} Receipts and payments accounts CC16a For the period from Pèr¥)d start dale Period end datè 30109r25 To 01110r24 eciion H r%eGeipis ana paytllenis Unrestricted Restrlcted Endowment to the nearest£ to the nearest£ Total funds Last yèar 10 th8 near8st £ toth8 n8arest£ A1 Receipts Donations, legao•s, grants Chess toumaments Fundraising by mgmb8r5 Inkrest Dwidends Membership subxripticn5 ¢ompensatK)n fmm bank $3100 35948 en 1521 53100 35948 873 1521 538 1072 75807 34125 1502 1725 $26 1072 ub tota ross incon7e 93052 93052 114675 Inves mon Ada ted sets and clocks BCA ￿erchandIS 875 87S 288 1163 1685 363 ub total 1163 9421S 116723 A3Pa ments Che55 toumarnents ProfessIon￿ Fees Brai1￿ prL¥Jucbon linduding Gozattèl Ctsmmittee expenses Post. tyinl. slatson8ry Subsciiptions Publi￿￿£ s￿ran Lottery pnze$ Bank charges n7T9 12465 71779 14713 2200 6B556 1274fj 2200 582 495 661 385 420 72 909)5 72 Sub total 2246 86341 A4 Asset and Investmenl Ada led sets and clocks BCA M8rchandise CCLA 65 2814 514 25￿)0 25271 25000 26135 Sub total 3328 117040 9669 19713 3112 22825 2705 AS Transfgrs between funds A6 Cash funds last vear end 114329 7520 121849 99024 94796 8SQ Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period Unrestricted nds Restrictsd funds to nwèst £ Endowment funds to nearest£ Categori85 Detasls B1 Cash funds CAF Bank 69770 Uoyds 94616 *xtsrfsll OK Unrestricted lunds OK Restricted funds to nearp5t£ OK Endowrnent funds to nernt£ Detall$ B2 Other monetary assets Fur￿ to whl¢h a%set beton ¢urrÈnt value onal 42631 Detsils CCLACOIF Ir¥xme unlts (6tloptlonall B3 Investment assets CCLACOiFAoyJnMtstsw unrts 27977 towhkh Curr•ntyalue lonol 547 Details B4 Assets retained for the TaCb1eCl￿ Sets charity's own use T8lkiro Chess CIL Cost loptionall Unrestricbj fLmd$ Unrestri*d fiJnds 1960 Ba411￿ar￿] UrKe5tr*Xed funds 279 towhl¢h Amountth IM)en due onal Details BS Liabililies Signed by one or Iwo trustees on Signature Print Name Date of Tristrdrn Cole D9ffj5r2026 dent E￿1 Bralll fJ*s%Asso Independentex3mlnEr's reporttothetrLLStee50f Br*Clw A5S¢X Iiewtto thE charitytrLrtees on myexamination 01the￿COUnts0f Braile ChwAssocithn IttEtru5tlfoTthE yÈarenda 30 September 2025. RespO￿lball6Esand basi% of report Asthe Charity's trusteesoftheTwu5tyouare rewnslb￿f0Tthe preparation ofthEa(wuntsln ￿rdance the requirements ofthÈthaTiie5Act20111'theAcVI. I report in respBct of rrby examtnation of the Trrfs acco￿ carried Dut urderseLton 145 ot the in carrylng my examlnatk)n I have al aFWxablE ThrEdiL￿5 byt1￿ th3rlty Comnwssion under section 14515llbl of thekt. lThJependent eXam1r￿SstdtErnr1t I have completed my examination. I confirmtk3t nDrn*ers havecometo ryatterbtian intonnethon ￿ththe exaTr*natiOngi￿ng me ou5eta belIevethat￿ a￿Y1￿￿te[laI ￿SPEct Accowntsw rrfordswere not keptln rwtt¢¥fthETiusta5 tequlTedbysecri¢￿ W oftheAcL'or The accwntsdo accord with those records,'or The atcwntsth ￿tcomp￿￿1th a￿lICable reqthmentstOrwnl￿ theforrn andcontertof accounts 5etout in the ChariDe5 IAccountsand ReJxKtsTr Res￿￿tK)n52(th otherthaTS atry requirementsthattheaCcoLu￿We a trueand lair view whith isnot 3 rnattercotsidered as part of an independerrt examinatior I have no concerns and ho￿ auw no other mattws kn coMeah?n *ith the ex3rnirAtion to whith attenfjonshouldbedrawninth55 rep0rtinothty*wNeawoper￿￿[5lan(kngotthÈaccou￿ts1￿ be[ead￿. le 5a White FCCA The Associa￿￿ of tharteredcert1￿ed Aetountsrrt5 Dun*lÈ¢s Woodlands Grange Woodlands Lane Brad￿Yst￿￿e Bri*oI Ur)ited ￿n8dOrn B532 4lJY Dire.. ..[.(k..1..s../..z6