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2020-12-31-accounts

Trustees' Annual Report for the period

Period start date Period start date Period end date
1 Jan 2020 31 Dec 2020
To

Section A Reference and administration details

Branch name

York (No 0437)

(referred to hereinafter as either the “Branch” or the “Charity”)

Other names / number Branch is known

by

Registered charity number (if any) 500974

Branch's principal address RAFA House

3-5 Aldwark

3-5 Aldwark
York
Postcode YO1 7BX

Names of the Branch charity trustees who manage the charity (generally known as the Branch Committee)

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9		 Trustee name Office (if any) Dates acted if not for whole
year		 Name of person (or body)
entitled to appoint trustee
(ifany)
Brian Mennell Chairman
Ronald Ford Vice-Chairman
David Pollard Hon. Treasurer
Andrew Bryne Hon. Secretary
Ian Smith Wings Appeal Officer
Robin Woods Membership
Secretary		 14 Mar 20 to date.

10 11 12 13 14 15

Names of any other trustees for the Branch (for example, any custodian trustees in relation to branch property)

Name Dates acted if not for whole year

Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)

Type of adviser Name Address
Independent Financial
Examiner		 David Bentley Basement Flat, Aldersyde House, Aldersyde, York.
YO24 1QR

Section B Structure, governance and management

Description of the branch’s trusts

Royal Charter, Rules, Byelaws, Area and Branch Regulations of the Royal Type of governing document Air Forces Association. (e.g. trust deed, constitution) Unincorporated association How the Branch charity is constituted (e.g. trust, association, company) Elected by the branch membership Trustee selection methods (e.g. appointed by, elected by)

Additional governance issues (Optional information)

You may choose to include additional information, where relevant, about:

Charity’s organisational structure

The charity is a branch of the Royal Air Forces Association which is a Royal Charter body and registered as a charity in England and Wales under number 226686 and in Scotland under SC037673 (“the Association”). The Association has many branches all of which share the same charitable object as the Association and are subject to the same constitution.

Trustee induction and training

All trustees complete and sign the Declaration of Good Conduct forms. The Welfare Officer receives all necessary training specific to post, including some training undertaken during 2020.

Related party relationships – club (if operated) York Branch Club.

Risk management

The Branch Welfare Officer receives specific risk management advice from attending the relevant courses provided by RAFA HQ. The Branch Club premises complies with current fire evacuation regulations and undertakes regular asbestos and fire safety inspections in accordance with RAFA directives. The Branch Club has an operational stairlift (with instructions) for members who require it. All potential trip and strike hazards are highlighted with suitable hazard warnings. Security and hygiene notices are displayed in the appropriate locations. Due to the lockdown announcement in March 2020, the Branch Club closed on 19 March. During the period when the Branch Club was able to re-open (Thu evenings only from 6 August 2020 until 23 September 2020) the social distancing and other COVID-19 regulations and Government guidelines were strictly observed.

Section C Objectives and activities

Summary of the objects of the branch set out in its governing document

To promote, through the comradeship engendered by its members, the welfare by charitable means of all serving and former members of Her Majesty’s Air Forces, their spouses and dependents, together with the widows and widowers and dependents of those who died whilst serving or subsequently.

Summary of the main activities undertaken for the public benefit in relation to these objects (include within this section the statutory declaration that trustees have had regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit)

General.

Unlike recent years, both Branch and Branch Club activities were severely curtailed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the Branch Wings appeal continued to some extent and the Club was able to operate from 1 January until 19 March. Restricted re-opening took place from 6 August until 23 September. Trustees undertook to maximise fundraising where possible (Wings Appeal) but the main focus for 2020 was on welfare.

Branch Chairman’s Report. (Excerpt) It has been difficult for your committee over the past 12 months or so, with some members: Andy Bryne, Ron Ford, David Pollard and others working hard to keep the show – such as it is – on the road. Ron has been very active with his welfare work and helped out a number of members with various problems. Andy has excelled with the Secretary’s work, keeping us all advised on correspondence from RAFA HQ in Leicester, with the latest organisational changes and the myriad of other things that cross his desk weekly. Treasurer David has been outstanding in dealing with our Local Authority and achieving grants which, as his Treasurer’s Report will show, have put us in a good financial position when our world returns to normal. Finally, I would like to place on record my thanks to Ian Smith, who despite the problems of 2020, managed to raise in excess of £10,000 for Wings this year. Well done Ian. We know it wasn’t easy with pubs closed or restricted and venues, such as supermarkets, for decent sized collections, having to cancel on his bookings. There is not much more I can say about 2020, other than I am glad it has gone, and I really look forward to 2021 with relish. We will get through this; we will re-open our doors and we will really hope that you all come back to us. I know Dorothy and I have really missed you all. In the meantime - stay safe - obey the rules - get your vaccination when offered it and we will all meet again on the other side. Brian Mennell Branch Chairman

Welfare Officer’s Report

Welfare in 2020 was busy and covered a wide range of issues. We have tried to address the needs of all the members of the North Yorkshire Welfare area, including housing and case reviews by the RAFBF. Many of these resulted in extra applications for assistance and this provided further experience in my efforts to assist many of our branch and associated members. I have administered 18 official HQ referred cases this year and have been fully supported by the RAFA & and RAFBF.

The club was closed in March due to the COVID-19 Coronavirus Pandemic, however, until then, I made numerous visits to hospital to support and comfort branch members and my presence has always been most welcome. We have resolved 18 welfare cases allocated to me from our new Welfare Region North (WRN) at Preston. Additionally, in support of branch members, I conducted 8 hospital visits, including repeat visits for long term illnesses, 34 home visits to offer comfort and support following convalescence upon return from hospital, care-homes, including visits for those members who have been virtually housebound. Sadly, I have also attended several members’ funerals during this period: Alan Laughton (January) and David Taylor (March) We were unable to attend the funerals of the following members due to COVID-19 lockdown restrictions: John Whyte (March). Edward Gregory (April), Maurice Voase (April) and Ray Worrall (May). At June Simmons’ funeral (July) over 30 members, who could not attend the actual service due to the pandemic restrictions, lined the route to the Crematorium to pay their respects. Harold Wood died in July and, by family request, no one attended his funeral service, but 6 members of the RAFA York branch and the Aircrew Association attended a memorial service for him on 16[th] October where his ashes were scattered.

Collections were made at the conclusion of some funerals with the donations being gifted to the RAFA York Branch. Alan Laughton’s family donated £532, David Taylor’s family donated £300, John Whyte’s wife donated £105, June Simmons’ family donated £104 and Harold Wood’s family donated £77. Additionally, at the request of families I have also attended funerals of non-branch members and have been most welcomed.

A partial ‘Wings Break’ to Rothbury (17—20 March) was enjoyed by member Mary Beattie, but it was severely shortened due to the Coronavirus Pandemic lockdown, which resulted in the hotel closing temporarily from Monday 23 March. Subsequently, due to a severe loss of income to RAFA, it was decided by Council in July that both the Rothbury and Flowerdown House facilities would close permanently with

effect from the 31[st] July which resulted in 117 members of staff being made redundant. This has resulted in a major risk to the Alan Bott Charity, and I have written to Alan Ramsbottom to offer my thanks to his team of drivers for assisting throughout the years with the transport of members to and from Rothbury.

Isolation and loneliness have been well publicized throughout RAFA communications this year, especially with the COVID-19 restrictions and we have tried to involve our members in combating this issue. Robin Boulton is now one of our ‘Befrienders’ and he has kept in regular contact with his client throughout the year. Please note that If anyone is aware of any isolated or lonely members, let me know and I will arrange a visit. Remember that we are their eyes and ears and it would be appreciated if you could keep me informed of any issues.

The Coronavirus Pandemic crisis resulted in a lockdown throughout the country from the 23[rd] March and numerous government directives have offered advice, which was often confusing, especially the Tier system and two lockdowns. However, in liaison with RAFA HQ, I was sent a list of all RAFA members throughout York over the age of 70 and to support those members I checked the list, which numbered 147 and discovered numerous administrative errors with incorrect telephone numbers, e- mails and home addresses. This resulted in a final, updated list of 126 contactable members. I then compiled 8 separate lists and with the kind assistance of 7 other York Branch volunteers (Brian Mennell, Dick Gray, Andy Bryne, Maureen Barter, Ian Smith, Ray Kidd and John Forrester) all members in the target group were contacted by phone or e-mail to offer comfort & support and access to a RAFA telephone helpline 0800 018 2361 and e-mail openconnect@rafa.org.uk The latter offered four 4 emergency projects:-

  1. A telephone outreach service to proactively support members, beneficiaries and other ‘high risk’ members to check on their welfare and offer them regular contact (telephone or on-line).

  2. A friendship helpline that anyone in the RAF community can call if they are feeling isolated, in need of more specific support or simply want a chat with someone who understands.

  3. A daily RAF-themed online entertainment slot that people can look forward to as part of their routine while they are isolating, from quizzes to live-streamed sing-a-longs and armchair fitness sessions.

  4. Bag drops of vital provisions to the doorsteps of the most vulnerable members of the RAF family.

The support from our branch volunteers has been wonderful and I would like to thank them all on behalf of the members for their efforts in maintaining contact with many of our old and vulnerable members.

An additional problem with the COVID-19 pandemic was the necessity to close the club from 19 March until further notice and cancel or curtail many of the events that were planned. The Branch Club remained closed until the 6[th] August, when we were given permission for a trial opening only on a Thursday evening with a maximum of 16 members in attendance, under social distancing rules. Initially, this proved quite successful, but the worsening COVID-19 situation resulted in the Branch Club being closed again in the week of the 23[rd] September.

By negotiation, we were able to undertake the ‘Wings’ collection in York City Centre on the 19[th] September. However, the Northern Area and Annual Conferences, scheduled for April and June respectively, were cancelled. We have certainly had an eventful year, but there is now light at the end of the tunnel with a vaccine being introduced and a belief that we should be back to normal by Summer 2021. I would like to thank both the Branch and Club committees for their support during this very difficult time.

Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in many organizations suffering severe financial problems throughout this year. However, as a branch, we have maintained regular contact and it has been a privilege to serve and support many of our members and secure assistance from the RAF Association and the RAF Benevolent Fund for them. In conclusion, please keep your eyes and ears open and if you hear of anyone who may need assistance, please let me know.

Ron Ford.

Additional details of objectives and activities (Optional information)

You may choose to include further statements, where relevant, about:

Branch Treasurer’s Report

For obvious reasons there has been little activity on the Branch account this year. However, as a result of the various restrictions imposed by the Government, we have received Small Business Grants totalling £11,567.79. Other donations, for which we are most grateful, amount to £1,413.57. Let us hope that with the introduction of vaccinations the current pandemic will soon be curtailed and we will shortly be back in business.

David Pollard

Wings Appeal Report

2020 has proved to be challenging. After a promising start and, in common with all charity organisations, our collections have been greatly reduced. In spite of the pandemic, the amount raised in 2020 was £10,131.04. My thanks to all of you who supported me during this difficult period, especially Bev Mannion of RAF Linton on Ouse, who set up a just giving page and ran the virtual London marathon for RAFA and asked for the money raised to be credited to York Branch Wings Appeal; at the last count it was £2,400.

Top 3 venues: Top 3 tins:
Tesco: £2422.67 Browns: £25.59
City Centre collection: £1846.16 Co-op: £101.64
Morrisons: £405.58 Golden Slipper Inn: £97.89
Note: the Tesco total were all events which took place before the COVID-
19 restrictions.
Top individual collectors:
Barry Snaith: £1852.21
Graeme Robertson: £827.32
Ray & Pauline Doherty: £305.10
Ron Ford: £304.55
Sadly, my first 2 Wings Appeal events planned for 2021 have had to be
postponed due to COVID-19 restrictions, but Monks Cross shopping
park, City Centre Armed Forces Day in June and City Centre Battle of
Britain Day collection in September are all booked. As most of my tins
are located in pubs, the income from them was drastically reduced due to
hospitality closures.

Once again. my thanks to you all.

Ian Smith

Section D Achievements and performance

  1. Wings Appeal collections continued to an extent despite Summary of the main restrictions. achievements of the branch 2. Partial reopening of the Branch Club (6 Aug to 23 Sep 20) during the year

  2. Partial reopening of the Branch Club (6 Aug to 23 Sep 20) during easing of restrictions.

  3. Welfare visits and contacts.

  4. Maintenance of contacts and information flow to members during lockdown.

  5. Attendance at members’ funerals (normally Standard Bearer only) when requested by relatives.

Section E Financial review

Further steps were taken during the year to transfer more reserves to the Brief statement of the RAF Association HQ Savings Account due to the extremely poor interest branch’s policy on reserves rates currently offered by banks and building societies.

Details of any funds materially Nil. in deficit

Further financial review details (Optional information)

Wings Appeal collections (see Wings Appeal Officer’s report). You may choose to include additional information, where Investment of Branch Funds in RAFA HQ Account (See Branch relevant about: Treasurer’s report).

Section F Other optional information

Branch Secretary’s Report.

The year started busily enough with the usual monthly Branch committee meetings in January and February, together with preparation and execution of the Branch and Club annual general meetings on 14 March. I was able to complete all the post-AGM paperwork and send it off to RAFA Area (Edinburgh) and complete the necessary Charity Commission administration (which is all done online anyway) before the Branch Club closed on 19 March. In hindsight, we were very lucky to have our AGMs when we did, as several RAFA branches have been unable to do so this year yet due to COVID-19 lockdown restrictions.

Since March, my secretarial duties have, I freely admit, been less busy than normal, but there have been a few occasions where I have been required to produce minutes following an e-mail Branch meeting where committee approval for action has been required (one example being a virtual meeting on 25 March to agree a reduction in the Branch Club rental). RAFA HQ has sought to keep me occupied at times with their monthly Branch Bulletin emails (for onward distribution) and other information. The fact that the Area conferences could not be held this year and the National Conference was held online in a much-reduced format, has meant that I have received more material from RAFA HQ to read, action and pass on than usual. That is an observation and not a criticism, as I recognise that we need to be kept informed about what

is going on, even if we do not always like what we are told (the closure of the 2 respite care hotels being one case in point)!

The relatively recent introduction of the RAFA online Portal facility for Branch Administration has been really useful as it has enabled me to have a current database of all York Branch members, with their contact details and membership types. This has made life much easier for me as Secretary and also as the Chronicle newsletter editor, enabling me to edit my distribution list to include new members and, unfortunately, to remove deceased members. So, credit to RAFA HQ this time for getting that database access sorted. Finally, I have made regular visits to our Branch/Club premises during lockdown to check the post and to read that blasted electricity meter.

Section G Declaration

The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.

Signed on behalf of the branch’s trustees

Signature(s) Full name(s) ANDREW MICHAEL BRYNE

Position (eg Secretary, HON. SECRETARY Chair, etc)

Date 29 March 2020

YR END REPORT

AGM FINANCIAL REPORT

2020

----- Start of picture text -----
YORK BRANCH BALANCE SHEET
BRANCH FUND AS AT 1 JANUARY 2020 £ 59,399 2019 £ 58,575
PROFIT/LOSS ACCOUNT BALANCE £ 17,988 £ 824
BRANCH FUND AS AT 1 DECEMBER 2020 £ 77,387 2019 £ 59,399
MADE UP OF 2020 2019
Fixed Assets £ 16,471 £ 16,471
Freehold Property at cost as at 1st January £ - £ 657
Any Additions during the year £ 5,268 £ 21,739 £ 4,976 £ 22,104
Other Fixed Assets less depreciation
Current Assets
Stocks £ -
Debtors £ 5
Deposits at CHQ £ 30,552 £ 15,360
Branch General Accounts £ 9,647 £ 14,192
Cash at Bank and in Hand
Welfare Account £ 15,551 £ 10,665
£ 55,749 £ 40,222
Less: Current Liabilities
Creditors £ - £ 2,927
Loan from CHQ
Subscriptions in Advance £ 2,927
TOTAL ASSETS LESS LIABILITIES 2020 £ 77,387 2019 £ 59,399
INCOME AND EXPENDITURE 2020 2019
INCOME
Wings Appeal Gross Proceeds £ 7,834 £ 16,800
Welfare Rebate from CHQ £ 5,409 £ 13,242 £ 2,240 £ 19,040
Member Subscriptions rebate from CHQ £ 1,645 £ 1,551
Ordinary & Full Subscriptions Collected at Branch £ - £ 262
Branch Associate Subscriptions £ - £ 1,645 £ 21 £ 1,833
Income from Social Activities £ - £ 2,095
Club Rent / Hire £ 2,100 £ 3,035
Interest on Deposits £ 267 £ 96
Donations received £ 12,984 £ 4,305
Wings Appeal Expenses £ - £ 15,351 £ 9,531
TOTAL INCOME £ 30,238 £ 30,405
Less: EXPENDITURE
Insurances £ 769 £ 700
Repairs, Renewals & Maintenance £ 354 £ 889
Rates £ 143 £ 403
Telephone £ - £ 77
Utilities £ 1,433 £ 2,278
Printing, Stationary, Advertising & Postage £ 155 £ 184
Accountancy & Audit Fees £ 120 £ 120
IT Web site £ 89 £ 60
Ordinary & Full Assoc subs to CHQ £ - £ 262
Donations Made £ - £ 590
Welfare Expenditure £ 130 £ 235
Wings to CHQ £ 7,834 £ 16,800
Wings Appeal Expenses £ - £ -
Social Activities Expenses £ - £ 588
Branch Committee Expenses £ 471 £ 712
Delegates expenses RAFA Meetings/Conferences £ - £ 513
Bank Charges £ - £ -
Sundry Expenses £ 390 £ 667
Depreciation on Fixed Assets £ 364 £ 12,250 £ 4,502 £ 29,581
Surplus/(Deficit) for year 2020 £ 17,988 2019 £ 824
----- End of picture text -----

Page 1

CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND WALES Independent examiner's report on the accounts Report to the trustae31 members of YorfK A ¢AIXI L14 On accounts for the year ended 31JGQGM6s•f a(120 Charlty no (if any) 5-eJO ?7L* Set out on pages I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity ("the Trust.) for the year ended 2 0 Z O Re5ponsiblllties and basls of report As the charity's Iruslees, you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charits'es Acl 2011 {'the Act.). I report in respect of my examination of the Trust's accounts carried out under seclion 145 ofthe 2011 Act and in carying out my examination, I have followed all th6 applicaNe Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)Ib} of the ACL Independent tTh6 chartty's gross income exceeded £250,IXJO and l am qualified to examiner's statement undertake the examination by being a qualified member of [insert name of applicable listed bodyl]. Delete [ l rfnot applicable. I have completed my examinats'on. I confirm Ihat no material matters have come lo my attention in connects'on with the examination (other than that dlsclosed below ') which gives me cause lo believe that in. any material respecl.. the accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Acl., or the accounts dKI not accord wrth the accounting records., or the accounts did not comply wth the applicable requirements conceming the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounls give a 'true and fairf view which 15 not a matter considered as part of an independent examination. I have no concems and have come across no other malters in connection with the examination to which attenlion should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. ' Please delete the words in the brackets rf they do not apply. tToAIA Date: 18lJl 1021 Signed: Name: TJ I,) OEIJI LL-( Relevant professional qualiflcalion(s) or body (rfanyl: jc&- IER Oct 2018