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← The Guide Association-County Of Sefton

2025-12-31-accounts

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Girlguiding Sefton Report and Accounts

for the year to 31% December 2025

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Girlguiding Sefton

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Contents Pages
Information 1
Trustees report 2,3,&4
Reserves policy 5,6&7
Income and Expenditure Account 8
Statement of assets and liabilities 2
Notes to the accounts 10 - 12
IndependentExaminersreport 13

Girlguiding Sefton

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Information as at 31 December 2025

Trustees:

Mrs Rose Bode (County Commissioner)

Mr Andrew Tate (County Treasurer) Mrs Christine Watkinson (Leader Development Programme Co-ordinator) Miss Sarah Bennett (Leader Training) (until July 2025) Mrs Rose Bode (Leader Training) (from July 2025) Miss Wendy Graham (Communications Lead)

Division Commissioners Mrs Kirstie Gunby Asland Mrs Sue McCormick Bootle & Litherland (until 1st October) Miss Becky Hopkins Bootle & Litherland (from 15* October) Mrs Liz Sinker Crosby Mrs Rose Bode Formby Miss Helen Fawcett Maghull Miss Sarah Bennett Ormskirk & Skelmersdale Miss Lynn Deacon Southport - Blundell Mrs Nichola James Southport - Hesketh

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Address

c/o 7 Welwyn Ave, Ainsdale PR8 3BE

Independent Examiner

Raymond Bissex FCA Chartered Accountant 32 Brooklands Avenue Waterloo, Liverpool L22 3XZ

Principal Banker

Barclays Bank

1

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Girlguiding Sefton

Trustees Report:

Structure, Governance and Management

Governing document:

The charity’s formal name is The Guide Association County of Sefton. Its operational name is Girlguiding Sefton and is often referred to in this report as the County. The charity’s governing document is the Girl Guides Association Royal Charter of 1922. The Royal Charter and bye-laws, the Guiding Manual, various handbooks and the County Constitution together determine how the charity is governed.

Organisational structure:

The Guide Association (known as Girlguiding UK) charity number 30616 The Guide Association North West England (the Region) charity number 521694 The Guide Association County of Sefton (the County) charity number 506468 Within the County there are 8 Divisions, 10 Districts and 136 Units.

The Guide Association County of Sefton is a member of a family of charities operating as Girlguiding UK. This charity is designated as a County by The Guide Association within the Region of North West England. The different levels of the family are linked through: a) The appointment of Commissioners - whereby the Regional Commissioners are appointed by The Guide Association and the County Commissioners are appointed by the Regional Commissioners and so on. In turn the Commissioners, so appointed hold office as voting Executive members on the body that appointed them so that, for example, the County Commissioner is a voting member of the Regional Executive. b) Shared commitment to the objects of the Royal Charter and the adherence to the rules and regulations set out in the Guiding Manual and various handbooks. However, notwithstanding these linkages the various organisational levels retain their separate identity for charity registration and accounting purposes. Therefore, these accounts do not include the transactions or assets and liabilities of any divisions or units within the County. Although the Guiding Manual seeks to regulate the financial administration at all levels no consolidated accounts are prepared. These arrangements have been approved by the Charity Commission in relation to the activities in England and Wales associated with the Guide Association. The Trustees of the Guide Association County of Sefton have delegated particular responsibility for the Shirdley Hill Centre, a property in Halsall, Lancashire available for use by members of Girlguiding UK, to a sub-committee. The title to the property is held on behalf of The Guide Association County of Sefton by The Girl Guide Trust Corporation. The Girl Guide Trust Corporation is a charitable company limited by guarantee which acts under the direction of the County Executive in relation to the Shirdley Hill Centre, and exists solely for the purpose of holding title to Guide properties and investments.

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2

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TheRecruitment, appointment, induction and trainingof new trustees: Guide Association appoints the Regional Commissioner who in turn appoints the County Commissioner who in turn appoints the eight Division Commissioners within the County, and the County Administrators (County Secretary, Treasurer, Leader Training, Leader Development Programme Co-ordinator and Communications Lead).

The holders of these posts are the voting members of the Executive and the trustees of the Guide Association County of Sefton.

Trustees serve for a term of office of five years, but would be removed as trustees should they cease to hold office as Division Commissioner/County Administrator for any reason before their anticipated term has expired. The County Administrators are appointed with each new County Commissioner.

Trustees are assigned a mentor and follow The Guide Association induction programme for Division Commissioners. Formal and informal training is available to meet individual needs.

Risk management:

The trustees have reviewed the major strategic, business and operational risks, which the charity faces. These will be detailed in a risk register and the trustees’ annual review programme is in place. Policies, systems and processes exist to mitigate risks as far as possible.

Objectives and activities:

Object:

To pursue the objectives of Girlguiding UK concerned with assisting girls and young women to fulfil their potential by taking an active and responsible role in society. Strategies for achieving objectives:

Our strategy for achieving the objectives has been twofold:

i) Provision of activities for girls and young women

ii) Direct training of adult leaders

Girlguiding Sefton is wholly reliant on subscriptions, grants and donations in carrying out its objectives.

3

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Review of the Girlguiding Sefton activities:

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We have had a group attending ‘Adventures in the Mountains’ in the Lake District, lots of outdoor activities, all during our first major storm for the Autumn. Let’s hope they didn’t get too wet. Christmas panto visits, cinema visits, parties and lots of activities in units and in Divisions. Some have taken part in rugby training, camping, holidays and lots of diverse activities. Others took part in Pumpkin patch visits, Halloween escapades, helping with the Christmas round table collections across the different areas in the County.

10 Leaders took on the challenge of ‘5 in 2025’ and achieved their Going Away With (GAW) award this year, so congratulations to them.

A virtual training session was delivered by two Wellbeing Practitioner Trainers in Children’s and Young people mental health, who have been based at the Venus centre. It focuses on recognising mental health difficulty signs in young people and signposting and services available locally. 15 leaders attended.

There were Girlguiding stalls for a day, during different bank holidays and open days across the county including one at Salt & Tar event space. Division days at Scarisbrick Camp site, trips to Knowsley Safari Park, out and about in lots of areas of the county.

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Lots of units held activities to raise funds for Elsie’s Story charity, including hosting a stall at a Danceathon event at Hugh Baird College.

Lots to look forward to in 2026, Thinking Day (100 years) and some will take part in a sleep-over on 21/22 February. Some will be Getting Out and About around the region/county/country. Some will join in Get Active on region walks. Some will go to the Big Gig in October.

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Approved by: R oO Beccho Date: nto | 2.) 26
(for the Trustees) .
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4

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Reserves Policy:

It is the policy of Girlguiding Sefton to maintain unrestricted funds at a level that will cover administration costs, training costs and various activities in accordance with the Reserves policy shown on the following pages.

Tangible Fixed Assets

Girlguiding Sefton general account does not have any realty (except for Shirdley Hill Centre as described separately).

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investment Policy

The Girlguiding Sefton reserves are held in National Savings Income Bonds and a Hampshire Trust Bank 1 year Bond to 19" December 2026. These produce good income for Girlguiding Sefton.

Free Reserves

Free reserves represent the “working capital” of Girlguiding Sefton available to support short and medium term objectives and to safeguard against unexpected decreases in income. The Charity Commission guidelines define free reserves as income, which becomes available to the charity and is to be spent at the trustees’ discretion in furtherance of any of the charity’s objectives, but is not yet spent, committed or designated. The Executive Committee (as guided by the Finance Committee) has examined the needs and challenges faced by Girlguiding Sefton in both the short term and medium term along with relevant forecasts, and have formulated a policy to meet those needs. The Executive Committee considers it is necessary that our target free reserves represent one year’s day to day running costs. ie. £8,000.

Restricted Funds

The County holds four main funds - (1) Jean Clayton Fund and (2) Gwen Clayton Fund to be used to pay towards the deposits for Brownie holidays or Guide holidays respectively. (3) Thelma Gott fund to be used to financially support girls in the Queens Guide Award towards the cost of their Outdoor Challenge and (4) Margaret Pilkington fund to be used to financially support girls and leaders in outdoor activities, gaining outdoor activities qualifications and for Queens Guide Outdoor Challenge.

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Designated Funds:

Capital Fund

| It is the policy of Girlguiding Sefton to build up a fund of capital for investment with a view to | financing future projects and to generate income to support the activities of Girlguiding | Sefton. The fund represents approximately one year’s day to day running costs of Girlguiding Sefton. ie. £8,000

Contingency Fund

The Executive has agreed to designate £3,000 to be used to underwrite any County activity once the Finance Committee approve the budget for the activity.

Training & Grants Fund

The Executive has agreed to designate £2,000 to meet the expenses of County trainings and to be applied for UK Grants in accordance with the Girlguiding Sefton rules on Form F5a.

Recruitment Campaign

The Executive has agreed to designate £2,000 to meet the expenses of campaigns for recruitment of adults.

Replacement of office equipment

The Executive has agreed to designate £1,000 to meet the cost of replacing the office equipment in the coming years.

Scarisbrick Campsite

The Executive has agreed to designate £18,000 towards the costs of improvements to the campsite.

Shirdley Hill Centre

The Executive has agreed to designate £2,000 towards the costs of repairs to the Centre.

6

Shirdley Hill Centre

Tangible Fixed Assets:

Girlguiding Sefton owns the freehold property Shirdley Hill Centre, Renacres Lane, Halsall, Ormskirk L39 8SG as a tangible fixed asset to support activities.

The property was professionally valued in March 2006 at £325,000 and has been revalued again at £800,000. This figure has been included in the statement of assets and liabilities.

Free Reserves

Policy as above to hold unrestricted funds representing 6 months day to day running costs. ie. £5,000

Designated Funds

Designated Building Fund

£26,000 for major repairs and maintenance.

Capital Fund

This represents 6 months day to day running costs of the Centre. ie. £5,000

Development Fund

This represents reserves for future development: £6,000

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||Girlguiding Sefton
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[fee| |---|---|---|---| |||Statement ofFinancialActivitiesfor the yearto 31stDecember2025
|
| a||fe| ||;||
Funds
| Restricted
Restricted —
2025
||2024| ||Voluntary income =|12,573
7,173
1,425
21,171|24,401| ||Receiptsfrom charitable activities
Related trading
.|||
ee
(3)
469)
|
383}
|||
52
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1,756)| ||Activityfees
4A
85
051,040||4,395| ||Total Receipts|[ 17,319
~—»-8,908~—S~«=«< SB TSSC«“‘é“ COBO|37,658| ||||;| ||Costs ofgenerating
funds
Charitableexpenditure|i.
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Lot i
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i| ||‘Relatedtrading|92 05
| 897|1,708| ||TotalPayments|8858
17,346
8,540
34,744
36,255|| ||Net
BT 8438-4729—
-4,706,4,403||| |[Total Fundsbrought forward||==
84,703,845,369
=
20,644 = 950,716
= 948,395|| ||TotalFundscarriedforward|89,856
840,052..~-—«15,915
945,823|950,716|

||GirlguidingSefton
Statement ofAssets& Liabilites as|GirlguidingSefton
Statement ofAssets& Liabilites as|LT
sat +
at 31st December2025.|LT
sat +
at 31st December2025.|LT
sat +
at 31st December2025.|LT
sat +
at 31st December2025.|—rs
|
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||—rs
|
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|| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| ||||Funds||||séRestricted
Restricted
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-2025||2024| ||Fixed Assets||||1,500||800,000||
~ 801,500
||801,500| ||Investments 984,000|||||35,000|15,000 134,000)
||137,000| ||Stock
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a|.|2,310
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2,684
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{$$t]|||2,872.
ft| ||Cash held &Cash
atbanks.|ct||2,046||4,678
||15
138|9,344,| ||Total NetAssets a||a||89,856||840,052|15,915,
945,823
950,716|| ||CountyGeneralaccount||
|||||||||86,894|82,172.| ||Eileen Kermode -legacy|||||00
4600||| ||Restricted:
ShirdleyHillCentre||
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840,052,||
845,369| ||TargetedFinancialSupport|||||—| |ot.||157| ||a|as|||||945,823MoUs||

|||||Funds
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‘Restricted.||Restricted
=|2025
— 2024| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| ||County subscriptionfromHQ|12,385|||—s—~Ss«i|38H 12,615| ||a
a||12,573 7,173|1,425||21,171 24,401| ||National SavingsIncome
Bondsinterest=
1,201897
Hampshire TrustBank
1yrbond
2,047
455||||2,098 2,495
683
3,185
3,595|| ||
||CountyBadge Depot & Risographprinting||469.
469,070
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852
1,756|||| |{4 Activity Fees GG||||||| ||Intops||ho
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Unrestricted Shirdley
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Total.
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450||| |Training grants, conferences
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323,
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323
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“Grantstowardssubs
Badges
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173
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Training/Guiding
Development
BF
BT 768
Pintops —OB 105, 2719|| |Grants-
Jean &Gwen Clayton funds
4,832
1,832
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1,100|| |Rates/Watercharges/Slurry
& refuse
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2,754
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| Pi 2,754
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2,097|| |Repairs, replacements and decorating =
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3,906|| |Eileen Kermode - costs
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540,|| |O& S Division costs I g94
459457|| |-
8,426
16,741
8540
33,707
34,385||

----- Start of picture text -----
Girlguiding Sefton |. | foff
Unrestricted Shirdley Hill Other = Total, =Total
- oe Funds Restricted Restricted = 20250 2024
Shirdley Hill shop | | a 605 | | 605 656.
County Badge Account i 292)92 05.L | || 292,87 1,0521,708 |
National Savings Income Bonds = 39,000, 25,000 64,000 67,000
Hampshire Trust Bank1 yrbond = 45,000 10,000 15,000 = 70,000 = 70,000
10. Stocks: ; | | } | || |
OoLe8 ec i Od OL
Camo
Lloyds TSB || | | 15 | | 150 337
|| 2,046 4,678 915 | 7,639 | 9,344
----- End of picture text -----

Girlguiding Sefton

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Independent Examiner’s Report to the Trustees:

| report on the accounts of the charity for the year ended 31% December 2025, which are set out on pages 8 to 12.

Respective Responsibilities of Trustees and Examiner

As the charity Trustees you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts and you consider that the audit requirement of s144 of the Charities Act 2011 (the Charities Act), does not apply. It is my responsibility to:

Basis of Independent Examiner’s Report

My examination was carried out in accordance with the 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 the seeking of explanations from you as 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:

2) to whith, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper _ understanding of the accounts to be reached. / MURR i R A Bissex FCA oe Date: Pans eCity eek? Chartered Accountant 32 Brooklands Avenue Waterloo, Liverpool L22 3XZ