FOAKWS MEMORIAL HALL CHAIUTY TRUST FINANCIAL sTATETh,IE￿Ts FOR THEYEAR ENDING 31ST MARCH 2025 Details Page Income and Expenditure Account Balance Sheet Notes E.T. fiOAKt.s Mr.MORIAI. 11A1.I. C.HAIIITV TRUST INC.0￿1￿.. AND li XPF.NDII'URE AC'(".OUNT Yli'.All 14 Nl)F.l) 31st MARCII 202. 2025 2024 Income ScBle and ()thci Fec Rcntq ir foakes Ilouse and Clubliou5e Inicirst R¢ceived Grwjts Gi Duwtww Town Cuullcil Grants othei. Nfjisc¢llaneoiis 63.777 24.458 9.574 72.651 53,611 23,450 S,631 80,271 3,500 170.460 169,463 WaLTC% and Naiional lasurance Hall Managetnent Mainlenllnce Mllinlenance- Speci81 Projects & Professional Fees 36.076 62.699 36,700 61,721 19,928 42,837 7.980 5.336 10.976 6.445 759 1,262 4,822 200 346 Light, Heal aiid Water Ggpital Ei%p¢ndithre Li¢enc¢s and Piano> Payphone and Wi-fi Insurance Audil Fees Miscellaneous 1,487 4.148 910 999 3,460 170 297 197.964 156,022 14,438 Exeess of Incoiiie over Expenditt]re for the Yeai {28,501 Cuniulative Fund Sitmmxi'v 2025 2024 Fund Balances 85 at 1st April Excess ofIncoJJJe ovei Expeiiditure for th¢ Y¢ai': Fuijd Balaiiee #s Rt 31st M21'clJ 2025 192,912 -28,501 164,411 4,438 178 849 Page 2 E.i'. ri()AI the FTI-.MI.ICT aged as follows.. Number Lc55 IliaTi 3 Inoni115 old Moi-c Ilian 3 Imntlis old Cuslollis & Exci%e Sundiy Debioi's: Prei)aynicnts & Rc¢J￿rg¢s (iiral Duiimow Town C,ouncil 4,504 104 16,348 27,872 48,828 Sigiied.. Cli8irmart of ET Foakeg MertJ)ii&l Hall CharityTrust Date.. Page 4 # **Independent Examiner’s Report to the Trustees of The Edward Thomas Foakes Memorial Hall Charity: year ended 31 March 2025** ## **Registered Charity No: 301312** **Income in Year: £170,460.45 Expenditure in Year: £156,022.16 Reserves as at 31 March 2025: £178,849.52** ## **1. Respective responsibilities of Trustees and Independent Examiner** The Charity’s Trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011. The Trustees require an independent examination. As the Independent Examiner it is my responsibility to: - a) examine the accounts under section 145 of the Charities Act 2011. - b) follow all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145 (5)(b) of the Act and state whether particular matters have come to my attention. ## **2. Report for the year ended 31 March 2025** The Governing Document (a Court Scheme) is dated 6 November 1933. The Area of Benefit is the given as Great Dunmow in the County of Essex. The objectives of the Charity are to provide ‘ _a Hall for the purpose of Entertainments, Recreations, Meetings, Lectures, Concerts and other charitable purposes’._ The Charity Commission’s website states that _‘Miss Alice Foakes gave the Foakes Hall to the town in 1934. It now provides a range of well-maintained and varied facilities at moderate prices (available on request) for the local community. These include a large main hall, smaller side hall and a meeting room, stage and scenery store, well-equipped kitchen and bar area and a projection room.’_ Further details regarding ‘what the Charity does, who the Charity helps and how the Charity works’ have been registered with the Charity Commission. The Charity has a Sage accounting system in place with detailed breakdown of income and expenditure recorded within the system. An Income and Expenditure Account for the year ended 31 March 2025 has been constructed and was presented to the Independent Examiner, who attended the Great Dunmow ## **TREVOR BROWN CPFA Internal Audit Services Charnwood, California, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 4DE** **Tel: 01394 384698 or 07587 523764 Email: tcdbrown01@yahoo.co.uk** 1 Town Council’s offices on 15 January 2026, when the Trust’s End of Year Accounts, supporting documentation and a range of transactions in the year of account were examined. The following observations are made (recommendations and areas where action is required to be taken are shown in **bold** ): - a) The Accounts for the year ending 31 March 2025 have yet to be approved by the Trustees. - b) This Independent Examination covers the period 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025. The End-of-Year Accounts have been constructed and balanced by the Great Dunmow Town Council’s Finance Officer, Anne Mangham, using the Sage Accounting system. The Finance Officer has sufficient financial data to complete Form CC16a, to be submitted to the Charity Commission as soon as practicably possible (the due date is 31 January 2026). - c) The Charities Act 2011 requires all registered charities to prepare a Trustees' Annual Report (TAR) and Accounts and to submit them to the Charity Commission if their income was greater than £25,000. The Commission's website entry for the Edward Thomas Foakes Memorial Hall Charity confirms that the most recent submission of Accounts and the TAR was for the year ended 31 March 2023, which were received by the Commission on 30 January 2024 (on time). - d) **At the time of this Report, the Accounts and the TAR for the previous year ended 31 March 2024 have yet to be submitted to the Commission (and are overdue by 349 days).** - e) The Trust met three times during the 2024/25 year of account and received Budget Reports for the year. - f) The Reconciliation between the Bank/Investments and the Account Balance as at 31 March 2025 can be displayed as follows: |The Reconciliation between the Bank/Investments and
be displayed as follows:|the Account Balan| |---|---| ||£| |Unity Trust Current Account:|5,501.88| |Unity Trust Savings Account|18,483.63| |CCLA Account:
|192,279.08| ||216,264.59| |Add Listed Debtors:|11,413.32| |Deduct Listed Creditors (including Town Council):|48,828.39| |Accounting Balance:|£178,849.52| - g) A Reconciliation between the Opening Accounts Balance at the beginning of the year and at the end of the year can be displayed as follows: |The Accounting balance b/f as at 1 April 2024:|£164,411.23| |---|---| |Add: Recorded Income in the Year:|£170,460.45| |Deduct: Recorded Payments in the Year:|£156,022.16| |The Accounting Balance c/f as at 31 March 2025:|£178,849.52| ## **TREVOR BROWN CPFA Internal Audit Services Charnwood, California, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 4DE** **Tel: 01394 384698 or 07587 523764 Email: tcdbrown01@yahoo.co.uk** 2 - h) The Charity prepares an Annual Budget as a separate page within the Town Council’s Budget which includes planning for maintenance, running costs and improvements. The Town Council’s approved Financial Regulations apply to the Trust. Income and expenditure transactions are tracked during the year by the Finance Officer. - i) The Charity’s financial administration is undertaken by the Finance Officer to a high standard through the use of the Sage accounting system. End of Year financial statements (an Income and Expenditure Account and related data) have been prepared by the Finance Officer. The Accounting system displays the date of payment, the method of payment, the payee (or person/organisation making payment to the Charity in the case of sums received) and the category/sub-category concerned. The Accounting system secures the necessary financial control over transactions and provides clear evidence of each payment and receipt. - j) The Independent Examiner undertook a sample check of the entries in the Sage Payments Lists. Individual invoices/vouchers are retained within the Town Council’s documentation and were subject to review under the Council’s Internal Audit 2024/25. - k) The Reserves balance at the year-end 31 March 2025 amounted to £178,849.52 and reflected the increase (surplus) of £14,438.29 from the balance of £164,411.23 at the end of the 2023/24 year of account. - l) The Finance Officer confirmed that the procedure and controls in place for Payments in the year 2024/25 were in accordance with the approved arrangements in place for the Town Council. - m) The Overall Recorded Income of £170,460 (rounded) in the 2024/25 year of account consisted of Scale and other Fees (£63,777), Rents (£24,458), Grants from Town Council (£72,651) and Interest Received (£9,574). The Finance Officer advised that a comprehensive Standard Conditions of Hire document was in place and appropriate safeguards had been in place to ensure hirers had adequate insurance and qualifications to undertake safe and proper use. - n) Expenditure of £156,022 (rounded) in the 2024/25 year of account included (inter alia) Hall Management (£62,699), Maintenance (Special Projects and Professional Fees) (£7,980), General Maintenance (£19,121), Wages and NI (£36,076), Light, Heat and Water (£10,976), Capital Expenditure (£6,445), Cleaning (£5,336), Insurance (£4,822) and Other/Miscellaneous (£2,567). - o) The Charity is not registered with HMRC for VAT purposes. The Charity has its own bank account from which payments are made. VAT is separately recorded and is merged within the Sage system with the Town Council’s VAT Reclaim to HMRC. The Charity is accordingly obtaining benefit from the Town Council’s registration. VAT is charged, where appropriate, to service users under the VAT Registration number of the Council and included in the VAT Return merged with the Town Council’s overall VAT Reclaim. **Following the recommendation in the 2024 independent review, the Finance Officer has consulted the Essex Association of Local Councils (EALC) on this matter and is awaiting advice from the Association.** - p) The Charity maintains an Asset Register which describes each asset held and lists details, as far as possible, of the date of acquisition, supplier, location and insurance value. The Finance Officer confirmed that the Asset Register is under continuous review during the year. **TREVOR BROWN CPFA Internal Audit Services** **Tel: 01394 384698 or 07587 523764 Email: tcdbrown01@yahoo.co.uk** 3 **Charnwood, California, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 4DE** - q) The Finance Officer confirmed that insurance cover for the year 2024/25 was effected through the Town Council and that the cover included Public Liability, Employer’s Liability and Fidelity Guarantee during the year of account. **The Finance Officer agreed to ensure that the position of the Council as custodiam Trustee to the Playing Field would be noted by the insurer and included in the insurance documentation to avoid any possible ambiguity in the event of a claim being put forward.** ## **3. Basis of Independent Examiner’s report** My examination was carried out in accordance with the applicable 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. ## **4. Independent Examiner’s statement.** In connection with my examination: - a) I confirm that formal accounts (including an Income and Expenditure Account) have been constructed in respect of the 2024/25 year of account as evidence of appropriate control being maintained over the Charity’s financial position and to evidence that the accounting records are kept in accordance with Section 130 of the Charities Act 2011 and comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content of accounts. - b) Additional matters in connection with the examination and to which attention should be drawn are listed at item 2 above in this Report (in **bold** where action should now be taken). - c) I would like to express my appreciation to Mrs Anne Mangham, Finance Officer, Great Dunmow Town Council, for her assistance during the course of this Examination. ## **Trevor Brown** ## **Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy** ## **15 January 2026** **TREVOR BROWN CPFA Internal Audit Services Charnwood, California, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 4DE Tel: 01394 384698 or 07587 523764 Email: tcdbrown01@yahoo.co.uk** 4