## **Burnham Overy Harbour Trust**
## **Caring for the Creek**
## **Charity No: 287315**
**Trustees’ Report and Financial Statements for the Year ended 31 December 2024**
## **Reference and Administrative Details for the year ended 31 December 2024**
**Name:** Burnham Overy Harbour Trust **Charity Registered Number:** 287315
**Registered office:** Burnham Overy Harbour Trust, Crossing Cottage, Joan Short lane, Burnham Market, Norfolk, PE31 8HJ
**Trustees:**
Peter Beck David de Stacpoole William Garnett David Hart The Earl of Leicester
## **Independent Examiner:**
Steve Pye & Co. Chartered Certified Accountants Unit 10, Aylsham Business Park Richard Oakes Road Aylsham Norwich Norfolk NR11 6FD
## **History, structure, and governance**
The Burnham Overy Harbour Trust is a registered charity (No.287315) set up in 1983 to manage the harbour and creek for the benefit of its users. The objects of the charity are:
- to manage the harbour area in line with environmental and heritage objectives.
- to maintain and improve the creek and harbour and regulate access to the creek for those purposes.
- to co-operate with relevant organisations to promote water safety and application of by-laws.
The Burnham Overy Harbour Trust was constituted under a trust deed on 7 April 1983 and established as a registered charity on 28 June 1983.
All trustees give of their time freely and no trustee remuneration was paid in the year.
The constitution provides for two classes of membership: members and associate members. Full membership is open to any person on the electoral role of Burnham Overy Parish Council, to Council Tax payers in the parish and members of their family aged over 18 years, and persons over the age of 18 who were born in the parish and are now resident in any of the Burnham parishes. Associate membership is open to anyone with an interest in the objectives of the trust. At a general meeting of the trust, members have one vote, whilst associate members have no vote.
The issues on which members can vote: election of the principal members of the charity’s management committee including the Chairman, Hon. Secretary and Hon. Treasurer; approval of the annual accounts; appointment of auditors; changes to the constitution.
Free reserves at the year end, 2024, were £310,417 (for 2023, £141,685). These reserves had been built up ahead of significant expenditure requirements for the The Groyne and Saltmarsh Restoration Project to be completed in 2025.
1
## **Report for the Trustees for the period ended 31 December 2024**
The Trustees present this annual report together with the financial statements of the charity for the year 1 January 2024 to 31 December 2024. The Trustees confirm that the annual report and financial statements comply with the current statutory requirements, the requirements of the charity’s governing document and the provisions of the Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP) applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS102) (effective 1 January 2019).
## **Objectives and activities**
The Burnham Overy Harbour Trust is a registered charity (No.287315) set up in 1983 to manage the harbour and creek for the benefit of its users. The objects of the charity are:
- to manage the harbour area in line with environmental and heritage objectives.
- to maintain and improve the creek and harbour and regulate access to the creek for those purposes.
- to co-operate with relevant organisations to promote water safety and application of by-laws.
The Trustees are satisfied that the Trust has been managed in line with the objectives as detailed above.
The Trustees have complied with the duty to have due regard for public benefit as published by The Charity Commission.
## **Summary of achievements for the year ended December 2024 and plans for the future**
As planned, over the last year we have been busy concentrating on the day-to-day management of the creek as there was much to be done.
We committed to increasing communication from the Harbour Support Group to the parish and all harbour users - we have further refined the website and the new payment portal to make it easier and simpler to buy boat licences. The latter has had a beneficial impact on licence sales with another record number of licences sold in 2024. A big thankyou to all those who have supported the charity in this way. We continue to publish our newsletter _upthecreek!_ on an ad hoc basis and also started to communicate directly with those on the register of CL65. We estimate that around 1000 people now receive our newsletter.
Last autumn, we organised the clearance of the verges with the support of the Parish Council, the Boathouse and other owners of the verges. Of all the Trust’s activities, this seems to be the one that is most appreciated by villagers. It is also the most arduous. This year Toby Campbell-Gray spearheaded this task and we are most grateful to him.
Throughout the year we have run work parties to make running repairs to the banks. In particular, thank you to a team of volunteers who helped install sandbags on the cockle path early one freezing winter morning. In April, at no cost we were offered 20 tons of surplus gravel from the renovation of the Boathouse Quay. It was used to repair holes on the Hard and also on the Cockle Path – the results have been excellent with the gravel bedding down very well in both locations. Thank you to all the volunteers who helped with these initiatives – and specifically to Ash Faire-Ring who generously provided his workboat to transport the gravel.
Our application to be the principal beneficiary charity of the Superhero 2024 met with success and I am delighted to report that this event raised over £180,000 for our charity. We would like to thank all the competitors, donors, sponsors and Superhero organisers for this munificence – and a special mention to Max Owles, manager of the boathouse, for raising £11,000. Congratulations to the whole Superhero team for raising over £1m for Norfolk charities over the last 15 years. It’s a wonderful event and one the village is rightly proud of.
This huge donation was a game changer for the Harbour Trust as it allowed us to press ahead with the once-indecades Groyne and Saltmarsh Restoration Project. A number of consultations and presentations were held on our plans to repair the groynes to prevent the creek from silting up and protect our precious, uniquely biodiverse
2
saltmarsh. I am delighted to report that this project was completed in the Spring of 2025, having placed close to 1500 tons of Lincolnshire limestone on various groynes. This has been an enormous and complex undertaking and I would like to thank David de Stacpoole and John Owles for all their time and effort on this project.
Finally, the Trust commissioned the book “Lifeblood – The Creek, The Burnhams, and Overy Staithe” written by Jim Ring. Publishing this compelling history of our very own creek was to give recognition to the munificent contribution by the Superhero 2024 and also to emphasise the importance of the Burn and creek to the community over time.
In the next phase, we will start to look at resolving the constitutional issues including the structure of a future BOHT management committee, agreement on a widely-supported moorings policy and representation of all stakeholders. In the first instance we will seek legal opinion on matters relating to the management of the creek including the use of moorings. We hope to make this an inclusive process with the support of all our stakeholders.
We will continue to manage the creek via the members of the Harbour Support Group, including Toby CampbellGrey (Hon. Secretary), Ben Goakes (Hon. Treasurer), David Hart (Trustee), David de Stacpoole (Trustee), Max Owles (Manager of The Boathouse), Peter Mitchell (Managing Director of Holkham Estates) along with the help of numerous volunteers – I would like to thank them all on behalf of the trustees.
Approved by the trustees on 18 April 2025 and signed on their behalf by:
William Garnett, Chairman of the Management Committee
3
## **BURNHAM OVERY HARBOUR TRUST**
## **FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024**
**Steve Pye & Co. Chartered Certified Accountants Unit 10, Aylsham Business Park Richard Oakes Road Aylsham Norwich Norfolk NR11 6FD**
4
## **BURNHAM OVERY HARBOUR TRUST FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024**
|**INCOME**
Membership Fees, Licence Fees and Donations
Book Sales
Interest
Net Gains on Investments
**EXPENSES**
Repairs / Projects
Printing, Postage, Newsletter & Stickers etc
Insurance
Rent
Paypal Fees
Swimming Caps
Accountancy
Web-site
Room Hire
Just Giving Subscription
Book Costs
Sundry Expenses
Harbour Warden
**SURPLUS FOR THE YEAR**|**£**
**£**
191,187
8,755
-
1,671
4,803
**206,416**
17,348
807
1,480
10
291
287
840
834
55
223
15,143
366
-
**37,684**
**168,732**
**2024**|**£**
**£**
16,837
-
3
2,027
**18,867**
3,797
336
1,460
10
410
185
594
1,993
20
-
-
-
684
**9,489**
**9,378**
**2023**|
|---|---|---|
5
## **BURNHAM OVERY HARBOUR TRUST FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024**
|**OPENING BALANCES**
Canaccord Genuity Portfolio
Barclays Current Account
Barclays Deposit Account
Paypal
Cash In Hand
Less Amounts Owing
**CLOSING BALANCES**
Canaccord Genuity Portfolio
Barclays Current Account
Barclays Deposit Account
Barclays Deposit Account
RBS Current Account
RBS Deposit Account
Paypal
Less Amounts Owing
**INCREASE IN FUNDS**|**£**
**£**
117,027
17,766
340
8,588
-
26,694
2,036
**141,685**
121,830
1,562
10
169,629
1,310
16,037
39
188,587
**310,417**
**168,732**
**2024**|**£**
**£**
-
131,276
336
-
1,140
132,753
446
**132,307**
117,027
17,766
340
-
-
-
8,588
26,694
2,036
**141,685**
**9,378**
**2023**|
|---|---|---|
## **ACCOUNTANTS REPORT**
In accordance with the instructions given, we have prepared the foregoing accounts and we certify that they are in accordance with bank statements, records and vouchers produced and explanations given for the year ended 31 December 2024.
Steve Pye & Co Chartered Certified Accountants Unit 10 Aylsham Business Park Richard Oakes Road Aylsham Norwich Norfolk NR11 6FD
Dated: 3 April 2025
6
## **Burnham Overy Harbour Trust**
## **Caring for the Creek**
## **Charity No: 287315**
**Trustees’ Report and Financial Statements for the Year ended 31 December 2024**
## **Reference and Administrative Details for the year ended 31 December 2024**
**Name:** Burnham Overy Harbour Trust **Charity Registered Number:** 287315
**Registered office:** Burnham Overy Harbour Trust, Crossing Cottage, Joan Short lane, Burnham Market, Norfolk, PE31 8HJ
**Trustees:**
Peter Beck David de Stacpoole William Garnett David Hart The Earl of Leicester
## **Independent Examiner:**
Steve Pye & Co. Chartered Certified Accountants Unit 10, Aylsham Business Park Richard Oakes Road Aylsham Norwich Norfolk NR11 6FD
## **History, structure, and governance**
The Burnham Overy Harbour Trust is a registered charity (No.287315) set up in 1983 to manage the harbour and creek for the benefit of its users. The objects of the charity are:
- to manage the harbour area in line with environmental and heritage objectives.
- to maintain and improve the creek and harbour and regulate access to the creek for those purposes.
- to co-operate with relevant organisations to promote water safety and application of by-laws.
The Burnham Overy Harbour Trust was constituted under a trust deed on 7 April 1983 and established as a registered charity on 28 June 1983.
All trustees give of their time freely and no trustee remuneration was paid in the year.
The constitution provides for two classes of membership: members and associate members. Full membership is open to any person on the electoral role of Burnham Overy Parish Council, to Council Tax payers in the parish and members of their family aged over 18 years, and persons over the age of 18 who were born in the parish and are now resident in any of the Burnham parishes. Associate membership is open to anyone with an interest in the objectives of the trust. At a general meeting of the trust, members have one vote, whilst associate members have no vote.
The issues on which members can vote: election of the principal members of the charity’s management committee including the Chairman, Hon. Secretary and Hon. Treasurer; approval of the annual accounts; appointment of auditors; changes to the constitution.
Free reserves at the year end, 2024, were £310,417 (for 2023, £141,685). These reserves had been built up ahead of significant expenditure requirements for the The Groyne and Saltmarsh Restoration Project to be completed in 2025.
1
## **Report for the Trustees for the period ended 31 December 2024**
The Trustees present this annual report together with the financial statements of the charity for the year 1 January 2024 to 31 December 2024. The Trustees confirm that the annual report and financial statements comply with the current statutory requirements, the requirements of the charity’s governing document and the provisions of the Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP) applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS102) (effective 1 January 2019).
## **Objectives and activities**
The Burnham Overy Harbour Trust is a registered charity (No.287315) set up in 1983 to manage the harbour and creek for the benefit of its users. The objects of the charity are:
- to manage the harbour area in line with environmental and heritage objectives.
- to maintain and improve the creek and harbour and regulate access to the creek for those purposes.
- to co-operate with relevant organisations to promote water safety and application of by-laws.
The Trustees are satisfied that the Trust has been managed in line with the objectives as detailed above.
The Trustees have complied with the duty to have due regard for public benefit as published by The Charity Commission.
## **Summary of achievements for the year ended December 2024 and plans for the future**
As planned, over the last year we have been busy concentrating on the day-to-day management of the creek as there was much to be done.
We committed to increasing communication from the Harbour Support Group to the parish and all harbour users - we have further refined the website and the new payment portal to make it easier and simpler to buy boat licences. The latter has had a beneficial impact on licence sales with another record number of licences sold in 2024. A big thankyou to all those who have supported the charity in this way. We continue to publish our newsletter _upthecreek!_ on an ad hoc basis and also started to communicate directly with those on the register of CL65. We estimate that around 1000 people now receive our newsletter.
Last autumn, we organised the clearance of the verges with the support of the Parish Council, the Boathouse and other owners of the verges. Of all the Trust’s activities, this seems to be the one that is most appreciated by villagers. It is also the most arduous. This year Toby Campbell-Gray spearheaded this task and we are most grateful to him.
Throughout the year we have run work parties to make running repairs to the banks. In particular, thank you to a team of volunteers who helped install sandbags on the cockle path early one freezing winter morning. In April, at no cost we were offered 20 tons of surplus gravel from the renovation of the Boathouse Quay. It was used to repair holes on the Hard and also on the Cockle Path – the results have been excellent with the gravel bedding down very well in both locations. Thank you to all the volunteers who helped with these initiatives – and specifically to Ash Faire-Ring who generously provided his workboat to transport the gravel.
Our application to be the principal beneficiary charity of the Superhero 2024 met with success and I am delighted to report that this event raised over £180,000 for our charity. We would like to thank all the competitors, donors, sponsors and Superhero organisers for this munificence – and a special mention to Max Owles, manager of the boathouse, for raising £11,000. Congratulations to the whole Superhero team for raising over £1m for Norfolk charities over the last 15 years. It’s a wonderful event and one the village is rightly proud of.
This huge donation was a game changer for the Harbour Trust as it allowed us to press ahead with the once-indecades Groyne and Saltmarsh Restoration Project. A number of consultations and presentations were held on our plans to repair the groynes to prevent the creek from silting up and protect our precious, uniquely biodiverse
2
saltmarsh. I am delighted to report that this project was completed in the Spring of 2025, having placed close to 1500 tons of Lincolnshire limestone on various groynes. This has been an enormous and complex undertaking and I would like to thank David de Stacpoole and John Owles for all their time and effort on this project.
Finally, the Trust commissioned the book “Lifeblood – The Creek, The Burnhams, and Overy Staithe” written by Jim Ring. Publishing this compelling history of our very own creek was to give recognition to the munificent contribution by the Superhero 2024 and also to emphasise the importance of the Burn and creek to the community over time.
In the next phase, we will start to look at resolving the constitutional issues including the structure of a future BOHT management committee, agreement on a widely-supported moorings policy and representation of all stakeholders. In the first instance we will seek legal opinion on matters relating to the management of the creek including the use of moorings. We hope to make this an inclusive process with the support of all our stakeholders.
We will continue to manage the creek via the members of the Harbour Support Group, including Toby CampbellGrey (Hon. Secretary), Ben Goakes (Hon. Treasurer), David Hart (Trustee), David de Stacpoole (Trustee), Max Owles (Manager of The Boathouse), Peter Mitchell (Managing Director of Holkham Estates) along with the help of numerous volunteers – I would like to thank them all on behalf of the trustees.
Approved by the trustees on 18 April 2025 and signed on their behalf by:
William Garnett, Chairman of the Management Committee
3
## **BURNHAM OVERY HARBOUR TRUST**
## **FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024**
**Steve Pye & Co. Chartered Certified Accountants Unit 10, Aylsham Business Park Richard Oakes Road Aylsham Norwich Norfolk NR11 6FD**
4
## **BURNHAM OVERY HARBOUR TRUST FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024**
|**INCOME**
Membership Fees, Licence Fees and Donations
Book Sales
Interest
Net Gains on Investments
**EXPENSES**
Repairs / Projects
Printing, Postage, Newsletter & Stickers etc
Insurance
Rent
Paypal Fees
Swimming Caps
Accountancy
Web-site
Room Hire
Just Giving Subscription
Book Costs
Sundry Expenses
Harbour Warden
**SURPLUS FOR THE YEAR**|**£**
**£**
191,187
8,755
-
1,671
4,803
**206,416**
17,348
807
1,480
10
291
287
840
834
55
223
15,143
366
-
**37,684**
**168,732**
**2024**|**£**
**£**
16,837
-
3
2,027
**18,867**
3,797
336
1,460
10
410
185
594
1,993
20
-
-
-
684
**9,489**
**9,378**
**2023**|
|---|---|---|
5
## **BURNHAM OVERY HARBOUR TRUST FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024**
|**OPENING BALANCES**
Canaccord Genuity Portfolio
Barclays Current Account
Barclays Deposit Account
Paypal
Cash In Hand
Less Amounts Owing
**CLOSING BALANCES**
Canaccord Genuity Portfolio
Barclays Current Account
Barclays Deposit Account
Barclays Deposit Account
RBS Current Account
RBS Deposit Account
Paypal
Less Amounts Owing
**INCREASE IN FUNDS**|**£**
**£**
117,027
17,766
340
8,588
-
26,694
2,036
**141,685**
121,830
1,562
10
169,629
1,310
16,037
39
188,587
**310,417**
**168,732**
**2024**|**£**
**£**
-
131,276
336
-
1,140
132,753
446
**132,307**
117,027
17,766
340
-
-
-
8,588
26,694
2,036
**141,685**
**9,378**
**2023**|
|---|---|---|
## **ACCOUNTANTS REPORT**
In accordance with the instructions given, we have prepared the foregoing accounts and we certify that they are in accordance with bank statements, records and vouchers produced and explanations given for the year ended 31 December 2024.
Steve Pye & Co Chartered Certified Accountants Unit 10 Aylsham Business Park Richard Oakes Road Aylsham Norwich Norfolk NR11 6FD
Dated: 3 April 2025
6
CHARITY COMMISSION
FOR ENGLAND AND WALES
Independent exarninerfs
report on the accounts
SeGtion A
Independent Examiner's Report
Report to the trusteesl
members of
Charity Nam
Bumham Ow Harbour Trust
On accounts for the year
ended
31 December 2024
Charlty no
(If any)
287315
Set out on pages
(r01r lo *Klud& tho Page number8 rf•Llditlonal she&tsl
I report to the tNst88s on my examination of the accounts of the above
Charity rthe Trust.) for the year ended 3111212024.
Rèsponslbllitles and As tho charlty trustees of the Trust, you are responslble for the preparation
basls of report of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act
2011 ('the Acr).
I report in respect of my examination of the Trusvs accounts carried out
urKler Section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carying out my examination, I
have followed the applicabEe Directions glven by the Charity Comm1881on
urKler section 145(5)(b) of the Act.
I have completed my examination. I confim that no materlal matters have
come to my attention in connection with the examination which gives me
cause to believe that in, any material respect:
accounting records Ye nol kept in acc