2023-10-31-accounts - The Discovery Sailing Project

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Discovery Sailing Project

(Registered Charity No. 267884)

Report and Accounts

For the Year Ending 31[st] October 2023

Issued 6[th] January 2024

Discovery Sailing Project

President

Michael Nadin MBE

Trustees, Nominated and confirmed

Chair Peter Gloor Treasurer Nicholas Nell Trustees, Elected: Victoria Biggs Amelia Halford Michael Hudson John Penfold

Trustees, Ex-Officio & Appointed

Richard Hart - District Commissioner Benjamin Pearcy - ADC Offshore Clive Fisher – Sea Staff Support Robert Read – boat maintenance Kester Riley –Sea Staff support Emily Ruffle – Training and Minutes Secretary David Wallder - Instructor Anahita Laverack – Youth representative & Explorer Leader Project Organiser Elisabeth Gray Bankers: Barclays Bank plc PO Box 71 RG21 7LY Hants. CAF Bank 25 Kings Hill Avenue, West Malling, ME19 4JQ Other Advisers Chief Instructor – Mark Fowler RYA Training Centre Principal – Andrew Broadbent Registered Charity No. 267884 Contact Name and Address: Elisabeth Gray, Project Organiser Discovery Sailing Project Hangar 2 E, Universal Marina, Sarisbury Green SO31 7ZN Office@dsp.uk.com

Structure

The Discovery Sailing Project (DSP) is a member of the Scout Association. It forms part of the Dockland Scout Project District, which is part of the Scout County of Greater London North. DSP is the Offshore Sailing Section of the Dockland Scout Project.

DSP is a charitable non-profit making organisation. It is an active member of the Association of Sail Training Organisations (ASTO), participating in events and conferences organised by ASTO and it also participates in events organised by Sail Training International (STI).

Trustees run the Discovery Sailing Project in accordance with policy, Organisation and rules of the Scout Association. The Discovery Sailing Project is an RYA recognised training centre for our own members

Purpose

To offer everybody, regardless of ability, background or status, the experience, challenge and adventure that Sail Training provides.

Aims

To promote the development of young people and to enable them to achieve their full potential in line with the aims of the Scout Association.
To provide the opportunity for young people to experience Sail Training and adventure at sea, under the leadership of qualified adults.
To Encourage individuals or groups of young people who might not otherwise have the opportunity to experience Sail Training through the awarding of bursaries.
To participate in national and international intercultural friendship and understanding between young people.

The aims of the Discovery Sailing Project are achieved through delivering Sail Training voyages on board our yachts, Thermopylae Clipper (60 ft long, 15 berths) and discovery DSP (43 ft long, 12 berths). We also operate a third yacht, Alexander Fairey (34 ft long, 6-8 berths) on behalf of the Alexander Fairey Memorial Trust. This vessel is used as a training yacht for our members and members of other ASTO organisations. All yachts are maintained to the MCA’s Code of Practice for Small Commercial Vessels.

Fundraising

The Discovery Sailing Project does not raise funds directly from the public and we do not use professional fundraisers. Our income is comprised of crew fees received from participants together with funds raised from commercial sponsors, ASTO grants from the Hammond Innes Fund, grant making charities and government schemes such as the Sports Lottery and Gift Aid.

We are grateful to the following donors who have provided valuable support this year:

Alexander Fairey Memorial Fund ASTO Hammond Innes Bursary Girdlers Charity Gosling Foundation International Paints – provision of free yacht coatings Postcode lottery Premier Marinas – discounted moorings Shipwrights Company Charity St Christophers Inns

We are also grateful for the tireless work of our volunteer members in supporting the activities of the charity and it is only through these efforts that we can afford to provide the sail training facilities that we do at prices which are a fraction of commercial rates.

St Christophers’ Inns continue to be our principal supporter and we are very grateful for their funding and for their enthusiasm for sail training as a medium for youth training and development

We are grateful to Premier Marinas Ltd who are the new owners of our base at Universal Marina on the river Hamble and who have kindly extended the charitable discount on our moorings previously provided by the former owner Avia Willment.

Risk Management

The Discovery Sailing Project maintains a risk register which is regularly reviewed by the Trustees. Our sailing and maintenance activities are carried out in accordance with the safety management processes of the Scout Association. All our sea staff are volunteers, and all hold the relevant and current RYA qualifications appropriate to their roles. Our boats are maintained to the standards set out in the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) code for the safety of small commercial vessels and our manning levels consistently exceed the requirements of the code. Our Sea Staff also hold certificates from the Scout Association appropriate to their roles including safeguarding.

Report for the year

We provided berths for 535 young people, up from 500 in the previous year. We mostly operated in UK waters due to the complications following Brexit but visited Cherbourg to check out the procedures. We were able to visit the West Country and the Channel Islands and all three of our vessels took part in the ASTO Small Ships race in the Solent in October. We had a full and successful programme of watch Leader training at the end of the season, which bodes well for the future. We had a good season of training on Alexander Fairey with good results from the Day skipper and Yachtmaster programmes.

The Boats

The winter refit programme was managed by Andy Broadbent and we are also grateful for the work of our sea staff volunteers in delivering this. Alexander Fairey was fitted with a new Raymarine plotter and radar, so that our training boat now has exactly the same navigational equipment as our two big boats. Total equipment and repair costs decreased from £36k in 2022 to £32k in 2023. Thermopylae’s hull was sand blasted and then treated with multiple coats of epoxy and antifouling and we are grateful to International Paints for their continuing support in providing us with free products. Thermopylae had some

repair work to her topsides to smarten her up after the rigours of Sail Training operation.

Personnel

Our Organiser, Lis Gray has done a great job in managing the Project trough Covid and rebuilding the programme afterwards. Lis has decided to stand down at the end of the season and we are grateful for her work and wish her well in the future and hope to see her as a volunteer. After a successful recruitment programme, we have appointed Sarah Brunner as the new Organiser, starting at the end of this financial year and we welcome Sarah to the DSP.

Sea Staff

We are very grateful for the work done by all our volunteer sea staff, who make the Discovery Sailing Project possible. We have a number of sea staff approaching retirement age and are bringing in new talent, but we have a continuing need to maintain the operational number of Skippers and Senior Mates. We are delighted to welcome new volunteer Watch Leaders to the team after a good season of recommendations and a full Watch Leader training programme.

Financial Results

Our sailing programme delivered Activities income of £85,636 up from £74,823 in the previous year. Donations and grants as described above, generated £ 55,650 (2022 £42,245) with total income for the year increasing to £141,623 (2022 £117,091).

Winter refit cost fell to £32,232 (2022 £36,320), mostly as a result of reduced expenditure on new sails. We were able to run a full programme again this year, but with a couple of weather-related cancellations and a couple more due to shortage of sea staff due to illness. We managed without the services of a Bosun this year thanks to additional work from Andy Broadbent and our team of volunteers, which reduced our contractor costs. This combination of a full programme, valuable assistance from our donors and cost control has enabled us to finish the year with a net surplus of £18,782 (2022 deficit of £723) and this is after charging £7,500 to for the final repayment instalment of historic Organiser fees.

Financial future

Cash levels increased in the year from £71,398 at the start of the year to £83,876 at the end. These additional funds will help support a major programme of refurbishment of Thermopylae over the next two winters starting with replacement of the engine. We consider that we need a minimum cash reserve of £50,000 to protect the operation from unexpected events.

We are planning to deliver a full sailing programme in the 2024 season, but with our area of operation largely restricted to England South Coast and the Channel Islands. We have abandoned plans to enter the 2024 Tall Ships race in the Baltic as the timings do not match UK school holidays and the cost would be a strain for many Scouts with the cost-of-living difficulties many are currently facing. We are experiencing inflationary pressure on food, fuel, electricity and repair costs and our prices have had to be increased as a result.

Nicholas Nell Trustee 6[th] January 2024

DISCOVERY SAILING PROJECT

Statement of Financial Activities summary for the year ended 31[st] October 2023

Note s TOTAL INCOMING RESOURCES Page 7 TOTAL RESOURCES EXPENDED Page 7 NET INCOMING (OUTGOING) RESOURCES FUND BALANCES BROUGHT FORWARD FUND BALANCES CARRIED FORWARD	Year Ended 31.10. 23 Gener al Fund 141,62 3 122,84 1 18,782 304,11 6 322,89 8	Year ended 31.10. 22 Gener al Fund 117,09 1 117,8 14
		(723) 304,83 9
		304,11 6

DISCOVERY SAILING PROJECT

Statement of Financial Activities for the year ended 31[st] October 2023

Notes INCOMING RESOURCES ACTIVTIES INCOME Sail training voyages, charters and courses DONATIONS AND GRANTS Donations and Bursaries Membership donations Gift aid Total Donations and Grants Interest received Total Incoming Resources RESOURCES EXPENEDED Activities Expense Admin and fees Prior year admin fees Equipment purchases Insurance Mooring and shed fees Repairs and renewals Total Expenditure Net Incoming (Outgoing resources)	This Year Last Year £ £ 85,636 74,823 46,834 34,030 7,174 6,844 1,642 1,371
	55,650 42,245 337 23
	141,623 117,091 33,986 20,365 22,0 91 29,864 7,500 9,318 7,500 20,100 6,834 5,259 20,198 18,506 22,914 16,220
	122,841 117,814
	18,782 (723)

DISCOVERY SAILING PROJECT

BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31[ST] OCTOBER 2023

Notes Fixed Assets Tangible assets 2 Investments CURRENT ASSETS Debtors and prepayments 3 Cash at bank and in hand 4 Less: CURRENT LIABILITIES 5 Creditors Customer voyage deposits NET CURRENT ASSETS NET ASSETS Represented by: Department of Education Funding 6 GENERAL FUND TOTAL CHARITY FUNDS Nicholas Nell Trustee	This Year £ 234,2 00 - 7,111 83,87 6 90,98 7 1,420 869 2,289 88.69 8 322,8 98 13,21 5 309,6 83 322,8 98	Last Year £ 234,200 -
		8,272 71,398
		79,670
		2,952 6,802
		9,754

		69,916

		304,116
		13,215 290,901
		304,116

DISCOVERY SAILING PROJECT

Notes to the accounts for the year ended 31[st] October 2023

1. Accounting Policies a) Basis of accounting

These accounts are prepared under the historical cost convention (modified to include the revaluation of investments) in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard for Charities 102 issued in 2019.

b) In accordance with the established policy, the yachts are professionally valued every five years and depreciated accordingly. The last revaluation was in 2018.

2. Tangible Assets

		Yacht	Yacht	Launch	Total
		Thermopyl	Discove	es
		ae	ry
	Brought forward	100,000	125,00	9,200	234,2
	01.11.20		0		00
	Carried forward	100,000	125,00	9,200	234,2
	31.10.21		0		00
3.	Debtors
			This		Last
			Year		Year
	Other debtors and prepayments		5,979		7,889
	VAT		1,132		383
	Total		7,111		8,272
4.	Cash at Bank and in Hand
	Bank current accounts		32,527		20,882
	Bank deposit accounts		51,349		50,516
	Total		83,876		71,398

5. Liabilities – amounts falling due within one year

Creditors – Accounts payable and accruals Customer voyage deposits Total	1,420 869 2,289	2,952 6,802
		9,754

6. Funding

Funding provided in 1986 by the Department of Education of £13,215 to fund the purchase of a new sail training vessel. There is no requirement for repayment of this funding during the lifetime of the Discovery Sailing Project.

Independent Examiner’s Report to the Trustees of the

DISCOVERY SAILING PROJECT

I report on the accounts of the Project for the year ended 31[st] October 2023 which are set out on pages 6 to 9.

Respective responsibilities of the trustees and examiner

The charity's trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The charity’s trustees consider that an audit is not required for this period under section 144(2) of the Charities Act 2011 (the 2011 Act) and that an independent examination is needed.

It is my responsibility to:

examine the accounts under section 145 of the 2011 Act,
to follow the procedures laid down in the general Directions given by the Charity Commission (under section 145(5)(b) of the 2011 Act, and
to state whether particular matters have come to my attention.

Basis of independent examiner’s report

My examination was carried out in accordance with general Directions given by the Charity Commission. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts and seeking explanations from the trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a ‘true and fair’ view and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below

Independent Examiner’s statement

In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention

which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in, any material respect, the requirements:

to keep accounting records in accordance with section 130 of the 2011 Act and
to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with the accounting requirements of the 2011 Act
have not been met; or to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached

Sharon Whitcombe 13