## **BRIGHTLINGSEA COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION** # **Registered Charity number 301265** **FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 28[th ] FEBRUARY 2025** 1 ## **BRIGHTLINGSEA COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION Registered Charity number 301265** ## **FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 28[th] FEBRUARY 2025** |**CONTENTS**|**PAGE**| |---|---| |Legal and Administrative Information|3| |Trustees Annual Report|4| |Independent Examiner's Report|7| |Statement of Financial Activities|| |(Incorporating an Income and Expenditure Account)|8| |Balance Sheet|9| |Notes to the Financial Statements|10| 2 ## **BRIGHTLINGSEA COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION Registered Charity number 301265** ## **LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION** ## **Status** The organisation is an unincorporated charity registered on 15 December 1966 and is governed by a constitution dated 3 October 1967 as amended on 18 May 1998, 28 May 2002, 18 May 2004, 12 July 2005, 23 September 2005, 28 November 2006, 17 October 2017 and 07 December 2022. ## **Correspondence Address** Brightlingsea Community Centre Lower Park Road Brightlingsea Colchester Essex CO7 0LG **Telephone:** 01206 302055 **E-Mail Address:** bcasecretary@aol.com **Web-Site:** www.bseacc.co.uk ## **Trustees** Roland Worrall Chairman Hilary Scott Vice Chairman Lillian King Honorary President Elizabeth Wink - President David Brooks - Treasurer Lorraine Granderson Sue Cowell Sally Brooks Sandra Browbrick Simon Creek Stephanie Norman John Searle Denes Somodi ## **Independent Examiner** Rural Community Council of Essex Threshelfords Business Park Inworth Road Feering Essex C05 9SE ## **Bankers** Barclays Bank 3 ## **BRIGHTLINGSEA COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION Registered Charity number 301265** ## **TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 28[th] FEBRUARY 2025** The Trustees present their report and accounts for the year ended 28[th] February 2025. The accounts of Brightlingsea Community Association have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in note 1 to the accounts and comply with the charity's governing document, the Charities Act 2011, and the Statement of Recommended Practice "Accounting and Reporting by Charities" for charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) issued in July 2014. The Trustees confirm that they have sought to comply with the duty in section 17 of the Charities Act 2011 to have due regard to the Charity Commission's general guidance on public benefit. ## Objectives and activities Brightlingsea Community Association was established as a charity in 1966 to build and maintain the Community Centre and to manage the centre for the activities promoted by the Association The objectives of the Association are; - (a) To promote the benefits of the inhabitants of Brightlingsea and the neighborhood (hereinafter called the ‘area of benefit’) without distinction of sex or political, religious or other opinions by associating the local authorities, voluntary organisations and inhabitants in a common effort to advance education and to provide facilities in the interests of social welfare for recreation and leisure-time occupation with the object of improving the conditions of life for the said inhabitants. - (b) To establish or to secure the establishment of a Community Centre (hereinafter called ‘The Centre’) and to maintain and manage, or to co-operate with any local statutory authority in the maintenance and management of such a Centre for activities promoted by the Association and its constituent bodies in furtherance of the above objects. Our community centre provides a valuable educational and recreational resource to all in our local community. Facilities at include a bar and outside bar, a family room, the main hall, multi-purpose room and 2 meeting rooms enabling a wide variety of activities to take place. The community halls and meeting rooms are available for hire by local groups and organisations. The facilities have been used by groups as varied as the local panto group and the mother and baby group, as well as commercially operated exercise and dance groups. ## Achievements and Performance Our regular clubs and affiliated organisations still maintain their support for us and we are most grateful to them for their loyalty; The Autumn Centre, Brightlingsea Musical Theatre Group, Cinque Port Liberty, Crab & Winkle Club, Fitness Class, SING Brightlingsea, Line Dance Class, Fight Klub, PULSE Dance Class, Gift Box, Oasis Community Church, Colchester MIND, Co-op women’s guild, Family support, Brightlights, Mother and baby group, Pilates groups, Panto Group, and Spiritualist Church. 4 We are also very grateful to the organisers of our internal clubs for their efforts over the past year: - The Indoor Bowls Club meets on Wednesday afternoon in the Liberty Hall. - Table Tennis Club meets on Wednesday evenings from 7.30pm. - The Bingo Club meets on Friday evenings and provide a social evening for many of the older - residents of Brightlingsea. - Our veterans breakfast club meets once a month on a Saturday morning - Our Kids Bingo Club once a month. - Our Family Karaoke social evening once a month - Monthly Cinema - Our popular weekly coffee morning - Our monthly Farmers/Craft Market We have continued with our regular fundraising events; Event/Tribute evenings, the refreshment stall at the Town Show, Social Evenings, Car Boot Sales, all of which have proved extremely popular. We are pleased to report that the net total raised throughout the financial year by fundraising again was in access £10,000 and we thank everyone involved with this effort whole heartedly. We do heavily rely on our fund raising, to help keep the Community Centre open. The Board of Trustees is happy to report our continued schedule of general maintenance. After the outside walkways became a safety issue, the trustees agreed safety being paramount, we would go ahead and have had resin laid, which I think you will all agree has transformed the outside of our community centre. Our decorating program is ongoing. The lighting throughout the centre is being upgraded to LED and censors we thank Tony Linton for his continuous work. The Board of Trustees shall endeavour to further improve the facilities offered at the Community Centre for local residents with our planned projects including: - Solar Panels - New Heating Systems - Refurbish Foyer area - Refurbish Bar Area - Refurbish meeting rooms - Refurbish the office - improving outside bar area for summer months - improving lighting in car park Refurbish facilities between meeting rooms ## Financial Review Brightlingsea Community Association (BCA) had income during the year totalling £258,971 (2024 - £226,057), an increase of 14.5% despite receiving no grant income this year (2024 £17,500). The main reason for the higher income is greater usage of the facilities, with increases in both lettings income and bar income. Expenditure for the year was a little higher than last year at £236,564 (2024 - £230456), an increase of 2.6%. The relatively small increase arises because of reductions in some types of expenditure (e.g. staff salaries in 2023/24 included redundancy costs and a large credit on a utility bill coupled with improved utility contracts). There has been little change in most other types of expenditure except for bar expenditure which has increased to service the higher sales income. The net surplus for the year was £22,407, which is an improvement on the previous year’s deficit of £4,399. During the year BCA spent £38,950 on asset improvements which have been capitalised. At the year end, BCA has accumulated funds, equivalent to its net assets, of £272,753 to carry forward at 28[th] February 2025 (2024 - £250,346). These funds are unrestricted, to be used to continue to fund the future activities of the Community Association. At the end of the financial year BCA had free reserves of £76,711 (2024 - £88,783). This is equivalent to approximately four months’ expenditure. 5 ## Structure, Governance and Management The charity constitution provides for a minimum of twelve and a maximum of twenty trustees. The Trustees are appointed by the members at the Annual General Meeting; the Honorary Officers are subsequently elected from the Board of Trustees by the members present at the Annual General Meeting. The Trustees meet monthly to discuss matters relating to the management of the Community Centre Bar Committee meet every 3 months. Finance committee. We are lucky enough to have great staff consisting of caretakers, cleaner and bar staff. All work efficiently to keep our community centre running smoothly. We value our volunteers who without we would have great difficulty running such successful fundraising events. Approved by the Trustees on 7[th] August 2025 6 # **Independent Examiner's Report to the Trustees of Brightlingsea Community Association Registered Charity No. 301265** I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of Brightlingsea Community Association (the Trust), for the year ended 28[th] February 2025. ## **Responsibilities and basis of report** As the charity trustees of the Trust, you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the Act’). I report in respect of my examination of the Trust’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act. ## **Independent examiner’s statement** I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect: 1. accounting records were not kept in respect of the Trust as required by section 130 of the Act; or 2. the accounts do not accord with those records. I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. ## Gemma Humphries G Humphries RCCE House, Threshelfords Business Park, Inworth Road, Feering CO5 9SE 19 June 2025 7 **BRIGHTLINGSEA COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION Registered Charity number 301265** ## **STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES (INCORPORATING AN INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 28th FEBRUARY 2025** |Note
**INCOME**
Income from Charitable activities
3
Income from Investments
4
Donations and Legacies
5
Funds Raised
Total Income
**EXPENDITURE**
Charitable activities
6
Expenditure on raising funds
Total resources expended
NET INCOME / EXPENDITURE FOR YEAR
TOTAL FUNDS BROUGHT FORWARD
TOTAL FUNDS CARRIED FORWARD|**Unrestricted**
**Restricted**
**Total**
**Funds**
**Funds**
**2025**
**£**
**£**
**£**
249,275
249,275
1,112
1,112
1,737
1,737
6,846
6,846
258,971
0
258,971
230,595
230,595
5,969
5,969
236,564
0
236,564
22,407
0
22,407
250,346
0
250,346
**272,753**
**0**
**272,753**|**Total**
**2024**
**£**
212,921
574
2,749
9,813| |---|---|---| |||226,057| |||225,317
5,139| |||230,456| |||-4,399
254,745| |||**250,346**| Notes on page 10 to 12 form part of these financial statements 8 ## **BRIGHTLINGSEA COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION Registered Charity number 301265** ## **BALANCE SHEET AT 28th FEBRUARY 2025** |Note
**FIXED ASSETS**
Tangible Fixed Assets
2
**CURRENT ASSETS**
Stock
Debtors
7
Cash at bank and in hand
CREDITORS
Amounts falling due within one year
8
NET CURRENT ASSETS
**NET ASSETS**
FUNDS
Unrestricted
Restricted
Signed|**£**
**£**
196,042
6,498
5,811
76,914
89,224
12,512
76,711
272,753
272,753
272,753
Date
**2025**|**£**
**£**
161,563
5,696
3,825
91,426
100,947
12,164
88,783
250,346
250,346
250,346
**2024**| |---|---|---| |||| Notes on page 10 to 12 form part of these financial statements 9 BRIGHTLINGSEA COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION Registered Charity number30126S NOTESTO THE ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 28th FEBAVARY 2025 I ACCCiINTING POLICIES BassolPreparation of Acoiunts These aCC￿nts beenprepaied underthe h1sts)rlcalcostc0n￿ntl0n￿th Iteffts reCO￿lSed atcostor trar£2ctionvalue urless otkrwisestated1nthe re￿vant notelsl tothese accounts. The accountshave been prepared inaccorthncewith Ihecharity's&*vernitEdocutnent. theChariliesAct2011. the Ststetnentol RecOmme￿ed Pr￿tIce"ACcoUnt￿gand RepDrtitE byCharilie5" ftTrrcharities preparingtheiraccount5 In accordancewithtlE Financial RewrtingStsndardapplicaLle intheUKandRepuLlic of Ireland IFKS 1021 i%sued on 1Glu￿2011￿ Thechar1tyC￿5tttute5 a Pubb"c Benefit Entityas defitEd bYF￿ 102. The charityhastaken ofthe prowsions Inlhe Statementof RecorTwllended Practiceforclwrities appI￿.ngFRs l(f2Updatr Bullet￿ I notto pretmre a 5tatememo*Cash Flow5. GoiDgCvnrxrTr AttlE time of appr￿ngtheacC0U[ts, theTrustee5have a reasonableexpectatlonthatthecharityhas adequate reswrces tocontlme in 0￿ratIonaLexistenCef0r theforeseeabiefuture.Thus, t￿TruSteesc0ntlnUeto adoptthe golr8concern baslsof accwntin8iipreparln8theaccounts. IncrmingrÈsourcÈs Allrmaterialincomi￿reSo￿ceshave beenInclud￿O￿ a reCe￿ab￿ ba515 Theyare Included ffthedaterecefvabie failswlthlnthe perlodc0￿red byt￿£SeacC0Unts. Regiurces Expend Expendlture Is recr8nisedthena Ikblbtyislncurred. Fixed Assetsand Depreciation FixedAssets are capitalisediftheycan be used formorethanonesearandcostatieast£500 Depreciation iscolcuiatedtowritedownttE CQ5tolthe fixed assets totheirestimated reS￿￿alWa￿e overtheir expected useful live5. The ratesaI￿ rnethoK15 Of calculation are.. OFFice Eqiiprnent 15% rethcingbaiance Plantand Equipment 15% rethcingbaiance LeaseholdProperty b redLKIngba￿￿ce AfLllyearfsdeprecHtion ischarged Inthe5earfollwlngtheyearotpurcha5e FuMIAccountlttg Unrestricted Fund5arefunds receThtdwhich haveno re5trict1ons￿aCed ontheir use andare aYdlabletospend¢ aCtr￿tieSt￿tfurtheranYQfthe purwsesofthe charity. Restrlcted Fundsare fundswhichare to beu5edforpurpose5 as 5peclfledbythe knder 2 FIXEDASSETS Office PLant& Fixtures & Premlses Equlpneni Equipment Rttin8S Total Cost At lMarch￿24 Ad(*tions At28 February2025 0.684 .950 9,634 3.466 30,313 32,149 326.612 38.950 365,%2 3,466 30,313 32,149 Depr￿latIon At IMarchJ)24 Chargefortheyear At28 Febr￿ry2o25 108.659 3,040 111.699 3.466 23, 1,024 24.510 29,438 407 165.L49 4,471 169.520 3.466 29,845 Net Bo)kValue At28 February2025 187,935 5,8( 2,￿4 196,042 AtlMarch3124 1&,025 6,827 2,711 161,563 io ## **3 INCOME FROM CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES** |Hall Hire / Lettings
Membership Subscriptions
Bingo
Community Cinema
Community Coffee
Bowling Club
Bar Income
Grants
Miscellaneous
**Total**
**4 INCOME FROM INVESTMENTS**
Bank Interest
**5 DONATIONS AND LEGACIES**
Donations
**6**
**COSTS OF CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES**
Rent and rates
Utilities
Staff Costs
Insurance
Licenses and Subscriptions
Travel
Repairs and renewals
Consultancy and Professional fees
Bar Expenses
Cleaning
Hall hire expenses
Bingo
Community coffee
Community cinema
Rubbish removals
Depreciation
Printing & stationery
Postage
Telephone & Internet
Advertising
Bank charges
Health & safety
Miscellaneous
Governance
**Total**|Unrestricted
Restricted
Total
Total
2024/25
2024/25
2024/25
2023/24
£
£
£
£
71,825
71,825
49,945
2,031
2,031
1,161
5,993
5,993
5,104
1,000
1,000
1,251
4,835
4,835
4,847
508
508
654
159,826
159,826
128,419
0
17,500
3,257
3,257
4,040| |---|---| ||249,275
0
249,275
212,921| ||Unrestricted
Restricted
Total
Total
2024/25
2024/25
2024/25
2023/24
£
£
£
£
1,112
1,112
574| ||Unrestricted
Restricted
Total
Total
2024/25
2024/25
2024/25
2023/24
£
£
£
£
1,737
1,737
2,749| ||Unrestricted
Restricted
Total
Total
2024/25
2024/25
2024/25
2023/24
£
£
£
£
3,840
3,840
3,943
19,344
19,344
26,413
80,829
80,829
85,790
3,939
3,939
2,498
1,052
1,052
1,026
1,026
1,002
24,232
24,232
24,906
1,253
1,253
1,100
70,919
70,919
59,955
5,131
5,131
2,080
2,018
2,018
634
634
721
721
605
1,359
1,359
2,608
1,759
1,759
1,189
4,471
4,471
5,301
1,045
1,045
699
38
38
10
1,139
1,139
1,543
283
283
140
888
888
1,552
977
977
746
2,028
2,028
2,606| ||228,925
0
228,925
224,686
1,670
1,670
631| ||11
230,595
0
230,595
225,317| ## **7 DEBTORS** |**7**
**DEBTORS**|| |---|---| |Trade debtors
Prepayments and accrued income
**8**
**CREDITORS**|2025
2024
£
£
5,354
3,825
457
5,811
3,825
2025
2024
£
£| |Taxation and social security|3,365| |Trade creditors
Accruals
VAT|8,019
10,482
800
329
1,682
12,512
12,164| ## **9 RELATED PARTIES** Brightlingsea Community Association is controlled by its board of trustees. No member of the board of trustees receives remuneration from the charity. One board member received reimbursement of expenses as follows: Hilary Scott £3,690 (2023/24: £nil). Trustees are required to declare any potential conflicts of interest at meetings ## **10 STAFF AND SALARY** The average number of staff employed (full time equivalent) during the year was 3 (2023/24: 3) No employee earned more than £60,000 per annum (2023/24: none) 12