2024-10-31-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 2024

Issued 28[th] March 2025

Discovery Sailing Project

President

Michael Nadin MBE

Trustees, Nominated and confirmed

Trustees Chair Peter Gloor Treasurer Nicholas Nell Richard Hart - District Commissioner Michael Hudson Michael Nadin MBE David Smith – Lead Volunteer Project Organiser Sarah Brunner 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 – Sarah Brunner Registered Charity No. 267884 Contact Name and Address: Sarah Brunner, 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 the Gosling Foundation for their tremendous support for the Thermopylae refit programme.

We are grateful to Premier Marinas Ltd who generously provide us with moorings at a discounted rate at our base at Universal Marina on the river Hamble.

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 539 young people, up from 535 in the previous year. We mostly operated in UK waters along the south coast due to the complications following Brexit, but visited Normandy Ports, Cherbourg and the Channel Islands. Thermopylae competed in the ASTO cross channel race 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 23/24 winter refit programme was managed again and for the last time by Andy Broadbent and we are grateful to him for his good work and we are also grateful for the work of our sea staff volunteers in delivering this. The engine in Thermopylae Clipper was replaced in the first stage of a major ‘mid-life’ refit of the boat. The main work will commence immediately after the end of the 2024 season. Total equipment and repair costs increased £59,000k (£32,232 in 2023.

Personnel

Our Organiser, Sarah Brunner took over from Lis Gray at the start of this financial year and made a great contribution learning on the job. Lis did a great job in her period in office and we are grateful to her for all she has done and the fundraising work she has done this year. Sarah has made a great start and has learned a great deal in her first season in charge.

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 £110,597 up from £101,636 in the previous year including corporate voyages. Donations and grants as described above, generated £ 81,701 which included £62,445 which were for the Thermopylae refit (2023 £39,650) with total income for the year increasing to £193,171 (2023 £141,623).

Winter refit cost rose to £59,030 (2023 £32,232), including £30,232 spent on the first stage of the refit covering the new engine and rudder refurbishment for Thermopylae. The overall net surplus for the year was £46,495 of which £32,214 is from the surplus funds raised in advance of the future refit and £14,281 (£18,782 in previous year) from normal trading operations.

We were able to run a full programme again this year, but with a couple of weather-related cancellations and we also suffered from a shortage of Sea Staff volunteers, but the season was rescued by David Wallder and Ian Rowlands who both did a large number of voyages. 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.

Financial future

Cash levels increased in the year from £83,876 at the start of the year to £135,872 at the end. These additional funds are in anticipation of the major programme of refurbishment of Thermopylae which started in Winter 23/24 and will extend through winter 2024/25 and very possibly into winter 2025/26. This exceptional level of spending, which is required to enable us to operate Thermopylae for a further 20 years, will require us to use our cash reserves which in normal times we seek to retain at a minimum of £50,000 to protect the operation from unexpected events.

In December 2024 we discovered that the mast on Thermopylae will need to be replaced and this is a significant post Balance Sheet event as the additional cost will be in the region of £55,000. Loan facilities are available from the Dockland Scout Project while we continue fundraising.

We are planning to deliver a full sailing programme in the 2025 season, but with our area of operation largely restricted to England South Coast and the Channel Islands. We have no plans to enter the 2025 Tall Ships race 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.

Nicholas Nell Trustee 28 March 2025

DISCOVERY SAILING PROJECT

Statement of Financial Activities summary for the year ended 31[st] October 2024

Notes TOTAL INCOMING RESOURCES Page 7 TOTAL RESOURCES EXPENDED Page 7 NET INCOMING (OUTGOING) RESOURCES FUND BALANCES BROUGHT FORWARD FUND BALANCES CARRIED FORWARD	Year Ended 31.10.24 General Fund 193,171 146,676 46,495 322,898 369,393	Year ended 31.10.23 General Fund 141,623 122,841
		18,782 304,116
		322,898

DISCOVERY SAILING PROJECT

Statement of Financial Activities for the year ended 31[st] October 2024

Notes INCOMING RESOURCES ACTIVTIES INCOME Sail training voyages, charters and courses DONATIONS AND GRANTS Donatons and Bursaries Thermopylae reft donatons Membership donatons Gif aid Total Donatons and Grants Interest received Total Incoming Resources RESOURCES EXPENEDED Actvites Expense Admin and fees Equipment purchases Insurance Mooring and shed fees Thermopylae refurbishment Repairs and renewals Total Expenditure Net Incoming (Outgoing resources)	This Year Last Year £ £ 110,597 101,636 10,186 30,834 62,445 0 7,381 7,174 1,689 1.642
	81,701 39,650 873 337
	193,171 141,623 24,350 33,986 31,460 29,591 16,140 9,318 11,587 6,834 20,249 20,198 30,232 0 12,658 22,914
	146,676 122,841
	46,555 18,782

DISCOVERY SAILING PROJECT

BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31[ST] OCTOBER 2024

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 and accruals Customer voyage deposits NET CURRENT ASSETS NET ASSETS Represented by: Department of Educaton Funding 6 GENERAL FUND TOTAL CHARITY FUNDS Nicholas Nell Trustee	This Year £ 234,200 - 7,827 135,872 143,699 8,506 0 8,506 135,193 369,393 13,215 356,198 369,393	Last Year £ 234,200 -
		7,111 83,876
		90,987
		1,420 869
		2,289

		88,698

		322,898
		13,215 309,683
		322,898

DISCOVERY SAILING PROJECT

Notes to the accounts for the year ended 31[st] October 2024

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 value of both yachts and the launches have been considered by our surveyor and we have concluded that the values should remain the same as the previous valuation. When the work on the major mid-life refit of Thermopylae next year, the value of Thermopylae will be increased.

2. Tangible Assets

		Yacht	Yacht	Launches	Total
		Thermopylae	Discovery
	Brought forward 01.11.23	100,000	125,000	9,200	234,200
	Carried forward 31.10.24	100,000	125,000	9,200	234,200
3.	Debtors
			This Year		Last Year
	Other debtors and prepayments		7228		5,979
	VAT		599		1,132
	Total		7,827		7,111
4.	Cash at Bank and in Hand
	Bank current accounts		35,548		32,527
	Bank deposit accounts		100,324		51,349
	Total		135,872		83,876
5.	Liabilites – amounts falling due within	one year
Creditors – Accounts payable and accruals			8,506		1,420
Customer voyage deposits			0		869
Total			8,506		2,289
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.

7. Post balance sheet events

After taking the mast out of Thermopylae Clipper in November 2024, our surveyor recommended that the mast should be replaced due to the discovery of a crack in the aluminium near the top of the mast. The total cost of replacing the mast is expected to be in the region of £55,000, which will have to be paid in addition to the other refit costs, some of which have now been deferred to winter 25/26. A loan is available if necessary from the Dockland Scouts project to fully fund this cost.

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 2024 which are set out on pages 6 to 10.

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