## THE ROYAL AIR SQUADRON CHARITY
Registered Charity No 306024
## **REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR 2024**
Overall, the Charity’s level of operations had essentially recovered to pre-pandemic levels, incorporating a re-assessment of priorities.
The ‘Spirit of Aviation’ initiative achieved some particularly important improvements in its selection process which had run into difficulties in the post-pandemic period because the initial narrow group of schools had less capacity to cope with anything beyond basic academic studies. The new focus was to identify a greater pool of keen and deserving students. The second important change during the year was to change the timing of gliding and powered flight programmes out of school time and into easter and summer holidays.
**Income:** Bursaries are supported by donations and investment income. Donations during 2024 totalled £20k, down from the prior year’s total of £55k, which included two large one-off donations totalling £44k from members of the Royal Air Squadron. Investment income in 2024, including interest, amounted to £36k, unchanged from the prior year, despite continued volatile market conditions.
**Disbursements:** The amount spent on scholarships, charitable grants and other sponsorships continued to increase from £27.8k to £31.4k representing a further recovery in activity after the Covid pandemic.
**Expenses:** Expenses for the year were stable at £16.9k compared to £15.6k in the prior year. The main administrative expenses continued to be Cazenove capital Management fees and staffing costs for the part time Manager of the ‘Spirit of Aviation’ initiative.
**Investment Portfolio:** The Charity’s investment portfolio was valued at the end of 2024 at £1.31m, slightly increased from £1.23m at the end of the prior year.
## **JE 7/7/2025**
## **Royal Air Squadron Charity Statement of Financial Activities for the year ended 31 December 2024**
|**Incoming Resources**
Voluntary Income: Donations
Investment Income
Interest received
**Sub-total Incoming Resources**
CAPITAL SALES
**Share sales**
**Total Incoming Resources**
**Resources Expended**
FLYING SCHOLARSHIPS / SUPPORT
John Cunningham fying scholarships
RAF Sport Parachute Association
RAFFCA Aerobatic competition
Army Parachute Association
British Microlight Association
British Gliding Association
Sir John Thomson ‘Spirit of Aviation’
Pilot Engineering scholarships with UoH
RAF QFI to Flying Instructor conversion
RN RM Para Sport Association
**Sub-total Charitable Activities**
EXPENSES
Management fees – Cazenove Capital Management
Bank charges
Stationery, gifts etc
Expenses of administration
Trustee Indemnity Insurance
**Sub-total Expenses**
CAPITAL PURCHASES
**Share Purchases**
**Total Resources Expended**
Net Incoming / (Outgoing) Resources c/fwd
|2024
**£**
20,350
30,641
5,318
**56,309**
**315,889**
**372,198**
-
1,000
5,000
500
2,500
7,000
8,451
-
6,900
-
31,351
**31,351 **
8,158
9
54
8,330
361
**16,912**
**415,359**
**463,622 **
(91,424)
|2023
**£**
55,450
29,648
6,552
**91,650**
**436,696**
**528,346**
1,425
5,000
500
-
7,000
13,873
-
-
-
27,798
**27,798**
8,010
-
43
7,183
355
**15,591**
**423,780**
**467,169**
61,177|
|---|---|---|
## **Royal Air Squadron Charity**
Statement of Financial Activities for the year ended 31 December 2024
||2024|2023|
|---|---|---|
||**£**|**£**|
|Net Incoming / (Outgoing) Resources b/fwd|(91,424)|61,177|
|**Other recognised gains / (losses)**|||
|Gain / (loss) on revaluation of investments|171,657|42,267|
|Net movement in funds
|**80,233**|**103,444**|
|**Reconciliation of Funds**|||
|Total funds brought forward
|1,232,421
|1,128,977|
|Total funds carried forward
|**1,312,654**|**1,232,421**|
**----- Start of picture text -----**
The Geoffrey de Havilland Flying Foundation
Balance Sheet as at 31 December 2024
2024 2023
£ £ £ £
Fixed Assets
Investments 1,281,981 1,110,324
1,281,981 1,110,324
Current Assets
Cash at bank 30,673 122,097
30,673 122,097
Net Current Assets 30,673 122,097
Net Assets 1,312,654 1,232,421
REPRESENTING
Reserves 1,312,654 1,232,421
**----- End of picture text -----**
The accounts have been prepared on a Receipts and Payments basis.
## **Analysis of 2024 Donations**
|Donor
|Amount|Preferred purpose||
|---|---|---|---|
||£|||
|Philip Meeson
|10,000|Spirit of Aviation||
|Peter Fernandes|500|General||
|Gilbert Greenall|1,000|General||
|Albright Trust
|2,000|General||
|Gordon Prentice
|500|General||
|Lloyds Bank|150|General||
|Richard Menage|1,000|General||
|V Gammons|200|General||
|Wyfold Charitable Trust|5,000|General||
|**Total**
|**20,350**|||
|**Analysis of Reserves**||||
|General Reserves||2024|2023|
|||**£**|**£**|
|Balance brought forward, 1 Jan||1,232,421 1,128,977||
|Incomingless
expended resources
||(91,424)|61,177|
|Revaluation of portfolio at year end||171,657
|42,267
|
|Balance carried forward, 31 Dec||1,312,654 1,232,421||
## **ROYAL AIR SQUADRON CHARITY**
Spirit of Aviation ‘nominated donations’
**Year SoA nominated SoA operational SoA staff and SoA surplus donations expenditure volunteers nominated donations at year end** 2019 11,000 2,438 Nil 29,451 2020 10,000 2,048 Nil 37,403 2021 11,100 5,836 5,267 37,400 2022 10,000 5,607 6,750 35,043 2023 44,000 13,873 7,183 57,987 2024 10,000 8,451 8,330 51,206
JJVE 25/5/25
## **Independent examiner's report on the accounts**
## **Section A Independent Examiner’s Report**
**Report to the trustees/** Charity Name **members of** The Royal Air Squadron Charity **On accounts for the year** 31st December 2024 **Charity no** 306024 **ended (if any) Set out on pages** 1-3 ~~Ps~~ (remember to include the page numbers of additional sheets) I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity (“the Trust”) for the year ended 31/12/2023.
**Responsibilities and** As the charity trustees of the Trust, you are responsible for the preparation of **basis of report** 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 the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.
**Independent** I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have **examiner's statement** come to my attention (other than that disclosed below *) in connection with the examination which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect:
- accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Act or
- the accounts do not accord with the accounting records
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
* _Please delete the words in the brackets if they do not apply._
**Date:** 18[th] June 2025
**Signed: Name:** Alexander Anthony Haig-Thomas **Relevant professional qualification(s) or body**
1
**October 2018**
**IER**
**(if any): Address:** Barton Manor, Barton Estate, Whippingham, Isle of Wight PO32 6LB **Section B Disclosure**
Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight matters of concern (see CC32, Independent examination of charity accounts: directions and guidance for examiners).
**Give here brief details of any items that the examiner wishes to disclose** .
2
**October 2018**
**IER**
IER
October 2018