2024-03-31-accounts

Trustees’ Annual Report for the period

From 01/04/2023 To 31/03/2024

Charity name: Bispham Hall Scout Estate Charity registration number: 503724

Objectives and Activities

Objectives and Activities	Objectives and Activities	Objectives and Activities
SORP reference
Summary of the purposes of the charity as set out in its governing document Para 1.17 Bispham Hall Scout Estate‘s purpose is to provide safe, secure and appropriate camping facilities, indoor accommodation and facilitate training, outward-bound and scouting related activities for the benefit of the scout association members, guide association members and all other youth organisations.
Summary of the main activities in relation to those purposes for the public benefit, in particular, the activities, projects or services identified in the accounts. Para 1.17 and 1.19 Brief summary To carry out its purpose Bispham Hall Scout Estate must continually repair, maintain and improve the facilities that it has to offer. This includes 60 acres of fields and woodland, toilet and wash/shower facilities and a facility that offers indoor accommodation, cooking and activity space for 60 people. The major maintenance and repair tasks have included: -  Accommodation refurbishment  Statutory testing such as PAT tests, Boiler services, etc Further information about this year’s activities is included in Appendix A and Appendix B
Statement confirming whether the trustees have had regard to the guidance issued by the Charity	Para 1.18	All trustees’ actions have been taken with regard to coincide with guidance from the charity commission to the best of their knowledge.

Commission on public benefit

Achievements and Performance

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SORP reference
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	SORP reference
Summary of the main achievements of the charity, identifying the difference the charity’s work has made to the circumstances of its beneficiaries and any wider benefits to society as a whole.	Para 1.20	Here is a brief summary please see Appendix A and Appendix B for further details of this year’s undertakings. BHSE has accumulated over 9000 camper night and has supported the following events: -  Greater Manchester West County Day of Excellence  Greater Manchester West Cub Mudder  GMW Training Team  Chariot Race (Over 50 Teams)  Cheshire Search & Rescue Weekend  St Helens District Camp

Financial Review

Financial Review	Financial Review	Financial Review
Review of the charity’s financial position at the end of the period Par a 1.2 1 PLEASE SEE REVIEWED ACCOUNTS FOR FULL VERSION AND FURTHER INFORMATION Summary of Financial Activities foryear ended 31st March 2024 2023-24 2022-23 Total Income 94333.63 90996.38 TotalExpenditure 94087.52 96528.30 Net Movement of Funds (surplus) 246.11 -5531.92 Brought Forward ‘st April 2023 60782.00 66313.92 Toilet Block Carried Forward 31st March 2024 61028.11 60782.00	Represented by: Current Account 16932.44 13977.35 Provi Account 7182.09 2786.62 Investment Account (Development) 19394.33 22788.41 Grant Account 17519.25 20437.81 Cash in Hand 0.00 144.81 Provi Cash 0.00 647.00 Total 61028.11 60782.00 End of YearProvidore Stock Value (1) 3464.30 1743.26
Statement explaining the policy for holding reserves stating why they are held Par a 1.2 2 Bispham Hall Scout Estate has no formal policy on holding financial reserve. However approximately £22,000 was held in reserve as an operating contingency to assist with any unforeseen expenditure. This for example could cover maintaining buildings such as in the event of boiler failure, unforeseen uninsured loss, major repair to agricultural equipment or any work required on maintaining utilities such as gas, water or electric supplies.
Amount of reserves held	Par a	Approximately £22,000

	1.2 2
Reasons for holding zero reserves	Par a 1.2 2	Not Applicable
Details of fund materially in deficit	Par a 1.2 4	No funds are in financial deficit.
Explanation of any uncertainties about the charity continuing as a going concern	Par a 1.2 3	There are no uncertainties about the charity continuing as a going concern

Structure, Governance and Management

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Description of charity’s
trusts:
Type of governing document Para 1.25 Bispham Hall Scout Estate is governed
(trust deed, royal charter) by a constitution. Ratified on the 16 [th ]
June 1974
How is the charity Para 1.25 The charity is constituted by a
constituted? declaration of trust.
(e.g unincorporated
association, CIO)
Trustee selection methods Para 1.25 Bispham Hall Scout Estate Management
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Structure, Governance and Management	Structure, Governance and Management	Structure, Governance and Management
Description of charity’s trusts:
Type of governing document (trust deed, royal charter) Para 1.25 Bispham Hall Scout Estate is governed by a constitution. Ratified on the 16th June 1974
How is the charity constituted? (e.g unincorporated association, CIO) Para 1.25 The charity is constituted by a declaration of trust.
Trustee selection methods	Para 1.25	Bispham Hall Scout Estate Management
including details of any constitutional provisions e.g. election to post or name of any person or body entitled to appoint one or more trustees		Committee consists of Ex-Officio, co- opted and elected members. The Trustees consist of elected and co- opted members. Bispham Hall Scout Estate follow the Policy, organisation and Rules (POR) of the scout association when running and administrating the management committee. Co-opted members are chosen to take on a role by specific skill, knowledge or potential contribution and are agreed by the existing management committee in- between AGM. The Elected members stand for election at the AGM. Nominated members are nominated by the campsite manager in partnership with the chair and approved at the AGM

Reference and Administrative details

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Charity name Bispham Hall Scout Estate
--
Other name the charity uses
Registered charity number 503724
Charity’s principal address Bispham Hall Scout Estate
Billinge,
Wigan,
Lancashire,
WN5 7DT
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Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity

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Trustee name Office (if any) Dates acted if not for whole year
1 Andrew Palin Whole Year (April22 – Mar 23)
2 Katherine Rigge Whole Year (April22 – Mar 23)
3 Susan Baines Whole Year (April22 – Mar 23)
4 Daniel Robinson Whole Year (April22 – Mar 23)
5 Martin Shaw Whole Year (April22 – Mar 23)
6 Alan Hayton Whole Year (April22 – Mar 23)
7 Christopher Hayes Whole Year (April22 – Mar 23)
8 John Broomhead Whole Year (April22 – Mar 23)
9 Janice Platt Whole Year (April22 – Mar 23)
10 Joan Hayton Whole Year (April22 – Mar 23)
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– Corporate trustees names of the directors at the date the report was approved

Director name N/A

Name of trustees holding title to property belonging to the charity

Trustee name	Dates acted if not for whole year
As above

Funds held as custodian trustees on behalf of others

Description of the assets held in this capacity	No funds or assets are held as custodian trustees on another charity’s behalf.
Name and objects of the charity on whose behalf the assets are held and how this falls within the custodian charity’s objects	No funds or assets are held as custodian trustees on another charity’s behalf.
Details of arrangements for safe custody and segregation of such assets from the charity’s own assets	No funds or assets are held as custodian trustees on another charity’s behalf.

Appendix A

Bispham Hall Scout Estate - Trustees Report Year ending 31st March 2024

The duty of the Management Committee, as Trustees, is to oversee the work on the Estate, to keep records of all financial transactions, to take steps to safeguard the assets and to take steps for the prevention and detection of fraud. I am happy to report that all these aspects are in order. I am also happy to report that there were no social restrictions in place during the time of this report.

Risk management / Health and Safety

Last year I mentioned that Health and Safety and risk management continues to be business as usual and that is still the case. This activity really does go unnoticed by users of this facility, but very much a must do activity. Boilers are serviced for safety and continued operation, fire alarms are tested for adequate operation, fire extinguishers are serviced to ensure operation in the unfortunate event that they may be needed, and appliances are subjected to PAT testing. Furthermore, the buildings insurance has been revaluated using a desktop exercise by our insurance company, this was carried out to ensure that we have adequate cover.

As always some of this work is carried out by professional contractors but still overseen and organized by the volunteers and the members of the management committee.

Break in

We were a victim of another break in. This time strimmer’s and other tools and equipment where stolen. CCTV footage was supplied to the police as part of their investigation. I would like to express a big thanks to those that helped clean up and secure the site after the event.

Facilities

I mentioned last year that the wardens shower and wash room facilities had started undergoing major works. I am pleased to report that this has been completed. Following the works there was a requirement from the council to further insulate the loft space across the building. This has also been completed and the insulation should help reduce on going heating costs.

Bookings

Meta Games have continued with more full site bookings. It is acknowledged that they are an external company that use the entire site, we have constantly made sure they have bookings at times when the site would otherwise have been empty. They add large financial support

to the site and we believe the impact of availability out ways the benefits to scouting and other youth groups on other weekends.

Activities

Chariot race, the annual event run by Bispham Hall Scout Estate was successfully run for another year. An unexpected warm day was a really pleasant surprise. The teams that entered all seemed in good spirit and the site is always at it’s best when it’s full and being used. Thanks to those that helped organise the event.

Thanks

And finally, as always, a huge thank you from me to the trustees for their hard work, and to every volunteer at Bispham. We constantly face challenges, but with your support, we will continue to progress and provide this facility to scouting and other youth groups, hopefully making a positive impact on everyone

Thankyou.

Appendix B

Bispham Hall Scout Estate Campsite Managers Annual Report 2023/24

Well another year is over and what a busy year it was……

Again, we were delighted to host a number of District camps this year from St Helens and Wigan, as well as GMW’s Annual Celebration of Excellence and County Beaver/Cub camp. The total number of visitors for the year was 4889 totaling 9608 camper nights.

We have also seen an increasing number of schools using the site through the year both for end-of-year activity camps as well as allowing young people to earn the respective Duke of Edinburgh awards.

Cheshire Search and rescue also used the site again for a training and certification event for their members, where they practiced outdoor scenarios in the fields and woodland.

GMW Training Team chose to use Bispham House again to provide leader training for several weekends throughout the year, thank you to all involved.

Bispham held its annual Chariot Race which has now been running for 47 years! As always this was a great weekend which was enjoyed by all. Again the CR course was used the following weekend for Cub Mudder, hosted by GMW, which is becoming an annual event and a training ground for Cubs preparing for the CR.

In last years report we noted the work which had started on the staff accommodation. This was completed in June 23 giving staff up to date, bathroom and kitchen facilities as well as

improving the insulation and building compliance. As the works to the staff accommodation was completed under building control from Wigan council we are happy to say the improvements were signed off by the inspector.

Work started to take back the bottom car park from nature! This will allow additional car parking on the bottom car park. This is a large piece of work which is ongoing and requires the removal of a number of trees and removing the undergrowth.

Reinstatement work was carried out on the pond, making good and improving the field drainage feeding into this.

Our explorer volunteers also helped out this year, creating a giant bug house and installing owl and bird boxes around the site.

We provided training for seven more volunteers to become qualified shooting instructors and two archery instructors ensuring that we can continue to provide these very popular activities. One volunteer has also undertaken training on use of the wood chipper and stump grinder, allowing us to undertake ongoing maintenance around the site.

At the staff Christmas meal we were very pleased to present a number of awards to our volunteers, including Awards for Merit, Silver Acorns and a very special award for meritorious conduct for one of our youngest volunteers.

Unfortunately, in February 24 we suffered a break in to the equipment containers resulting in the loss of several chainsaws, strimmer’s, leaf blowers and other maintenance equipment. As we are adequately indemnified the items were replaced by our insurers. Our amazing volunteers once again stepped in to help clean up and make repairs to the containers which would otherwise have cost significantly more.

Meta Games who are a ‘live action role play’ provider again used our site for 3 weekends this year, giving us much needed additional income. The group use the site in the periods that have been traditionally used less frequently by Scout groups and we are pleased to say are planning to continue this again next year.

This additional income helps us greatly with the sustainability of the site helping us to keep costs at a reasonable level for scout and youth groups visiting us. Otherwise the increase in utilities and general maintenance costs would have had to be passed on to these groups.

Following last years update relating to the land registry, we received confirmation in November 23 that the land is now registered in the Scout Associations name, for the first time. This has taken several years of effort from our volunteers to achieve but means this is now secure in light of potential planned developments bordering our land.

Again, we cannot stress enough the hard work, determination and drive that our volunteers have which makes Bispham Hall Scout Estate what it is! From midweek maintenance, duty wardens, activity instructors and those working behind the scenes, it is impossible to put into words how much we appreciate the help and support from our amazing team!

Martin & Chris

Campsite Managers

Declarations

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

Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees

Signature(s) Full name(s) Andrew David Palin Position (eg Secretary, Chair, etc) Chair Date 09/01/25 ~~PL AB~~ fon /

Page 1

Bispham Hall Scout Estate

Statement of Financial Activities for year ended 31st March 2024

	2023-2024	2022-2023
Income
Camping	14907.70	14717.82
Bispham House	33005.00	29572.34
Visitors	1269.32	669.18
Activities	4805.00	2749.82
Lavvus	2418.10	2086.59
Providore Sales	14543.20	14901.07
Chariot Race	4335.38	4306.23
Sundry Income	6974.10	7200.20
Meeting room	1594.00	691.00
Grants & Donations	0.00	507.50
Interest	481.83	94.63
Full site use Non-Scouting	10000.00	13500.00
Total Income	94333.63	90996.38
Expenditure
Water	2720.01	5159.93
Electricity	18047.84	5276.68
Gas	5808.14	9049.58
Telephone & Internet	968.94	856.21
Insurance	7637.53	14173.68
Waste Disp	5171.53	4677.86
TV Licence	159.00	158.70
Repairs & Maintenance	13691.08	21914.63
Providore Purchases	10157.73	13576.70
Chariot Race	1137.25	971.82
Cleaning Wages	5200.00	5100.00
Solicitor/Land registry	840.00	1620.00
Cleaning/Hygiene	3463.90	3596.84
Refunds	1140.00	141.51
Activities	1444.22	930.00
Estate Machinery	2931.93	1773.55
Chubb Fire	823.67	756.00
Booking System	428.28	389.40
ICT/Electrical	30.00	275.82
Accommodation Referb	10147.43	4843.69
Stat Testing and Compliance	2139.04	1285.70
Total Expenditure	94087.52	96528.30

Bispham Hall Scout Estate

Bispham Hall Scout Estate		Page 2
Summary of Financial Activities for year ended 31st March 2042	2023-24	2022-23
Total Income	94333.63	90996.38
Total Expenditure	94087.52	96528.30
Net Movement of Funds
(surplus)	246.11	-5531.92
Brought Forward 1st April 2023	60782.00	66313.92
Toilet Block
Carried Forward 31st March
2024	61028.11	60782.00
`
Represented by:
Current Account	16932.44	13977.35
Provi Account	7182.09	2786.62
Investment Account
(Development)	19394.33	22788.41
Grant Account	17519.25	20437.81
Cash in Hand	0.00	144.81
Provi Cash	0.00	647.00
Total	61028.11	60782.00
End of Year Providore Stock Value(1)	3464.30	1743.26
Notes
(1) Providore Profit:	4385.47	1324.37

BISPHAM HALL SCOUT ESTATE

Independent Examiner's Report to the Trustees/Members

I report on the accounts of the charity for the year ended 31st March 2023 which are set out on pages 1 - 3.

Repective responsibilities of Trustees and Examiner

The charity's trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts.

The charity’s trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year under section 144 of the Charities Act 2011 (the Charities Act) and that an independent examination is needed.

It is my responsibility to:

• examine the accounts under section 145 of the Charities Act,

• to follow the procedures laid down in the general Directions given by the Charity Commission (under section 145(5)(b) of the Charities Act, and

• to state whether particular matters have come to my attention.

Basis of Independent Examiner's Report

My examination was carried out in accordance with general 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.

Independent Examiner's Statement

In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention:

1. which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requirements to keep accounting records in accordance with Section 130 of the Charities Act; and to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with the accounting requirements of the Charities Act have not been met; or

2. to which in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

	,
Signed:
Name:	Sophie Loughnane
Qualification:	FCCA
Address:	11 Heswall Road
	Stockport
	SK5 6SN
Date:	26 August 2024