**BRECON MOUNTAIN RESCUE TEAM REGISTERED CHARITY NUMBER 517732** **STATEMENT OF ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31ST MARCH 2024** ## **BRECON MOUNTAIN RESCUE TEAM** |**STATEMENT OF ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31ST MARCH 2024**|| |---|---| |**CONTENTS**|Page| |Charity information|3| |Trustees’ Report for the year ended 31st March 2024|4| |Report of the Independent Examiner to the Trustees of Brecon Mountain Rescue Team|7| |Statement of Financial Activities (SOFA) for the year ended 31st March 2024|8| |Balance Sheet as at 31st March 2024|9| |Notes to the accounts for the year ended 31st March 2024|10| 2 ## **BRECON MOUNTAIN RESCUE TEAM** ## **CHARITY INFORMATION** |**Trustees of the charity as at 31st March 2024**|A Stamford-Plows - Chairman| |---|---| ||R Powell - Team Leader| ||M Jones - Deputy Team Leader| ||D Turpin - Deputy Team Leader| ||R Williams - Deputy Team Leader| ||C Key - Secretary| ||D Turpin - Treasurer| ||W Walton - Member| ||P Wesley - Member| ||N Parry - Member| |**Correspondent**|C Key| |**Treasurer**|D Turpin| |**Independent Examiner**|R D K Roche-Saunders| ||Chartered Accountant| ||34 The Watton| ||Brecon| ||Powys| ||LD3 7EF| |**Bankers**|National Westminster Bank plc| ||9 High Street| ||Abergavenny| ||Monmouthshire| ||NP7 5SA| |**Charity registration number**|517732| 3 ## **BRECON MOUNTAIN RESCUE TEAM** ## **TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31ST MARCH 2024** ## **Constitution, principal activity and public benefit** Brecon Mountain Rescue Team (the ‘team’) is a charity, registered with the Charity Commissioners under number 517732 and affiliated to the Mountain Rescue Council of England and Wales. It was registered on 3rd July 1986 and is governed by its constitution. The charitable purposes for which it was formed are to relieve suffering and distress amongst persons endangered by accidents or natural hazards within the area of South Wales and to provide adequate arrangements for the secure and efficient search and rescue of any person or persons so endangered. The Trustees consider that these purposes are for the public benefit; they are provided to any member of the public, without charge. ## **Management** The charity is administered by a management committee comprised of individuals with responsibilities for various aspects of the charity’s operations. Since the last Annual General Meeting the chairman was Duncan Forbes, the team leader was Robert Powell, the secretary was Claire Key and the treasurer was Dominic Turpin. ## **Review of the year** The team responds to calls from the police and ambulance services, and offers its services to members of the public who find themselves in difficulties, whether in the mountains, on open land, in lowland or urban areas, and assists other teams, the armed forces and other search and rescue organisations. The construction of the new Headquarters building continued apace during the year, becoming ready for the team to use towards the end of 2023. It enables the team to respond quicker to emergency calls for help, to provide a free venue for local community organisations, to store the equipment and medical supplies safely, to garage the vehicles indoors, to train all together as a team and to be able to increase the educational outreach work and save lives through learning. The team remained available to respond to calls for assistance throughout the construction phase, attending 83 callouts during the year under review, down slightly from 88 in the previous year. As ever, the team members are always ready to offer their services to members of the public as and when required, and will always be ready to come to their assistance if they should get into difficulties. The overall cost of the building thus far is in excess of £1,249,000. The major funding grants towards the cost of the building were received from the Welsh Government, £250,000, the National Lottery Community Fund, £50,000 and Brecon Beacons National Park Authority, £20,000. There were many other generous donations, including £32,860 from the estate of Mrs S M Griffiths and £27,000 from the estate of Derek Gray, and the balance of the cost has been met from the team’s own resources, accumulated from fund-raising efforts in previous years. These generous donors are acknowledged on a special display board inside the building. The year’s two major fund-raising events, the Black Dragon and Beat the Beacons, raised in excess of £23,800. With the completion of the new Headquarters, the team’s major fund-raising effort over the last few years is at an end, and the focus returns to the raising of funds for the day-to-day running expenses. ….continued on page 5 4 ## **BRECON MOUNTAIN RESCUE TEAM** ## **TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31ST MARCH 2024 (continued)** ## **Review of the year (continued)** The Statement of Financial Activities for the year ended 31st March 2024 on page 8 shows that income was £198,615 (compared with £100,950 in the previous year), while expenditure was £68,767 (£60,766). Net income was thus £129,849 (£40,184). ## **Reserves and expenses** In the year ended 31st March 2023, the Trustees reviewed their policy in relation to the level of the team’s reserves. In view of the major construction costs of the new Headquarters, they decided that on a temporary basis the policy should be to endeavour to maintain the team’s reserves at one year’s estimated unrestricted expenditure; until then this had been two years’ estimated unrestricted expenditure. Now that the great majority of the construction costs have been paid, the Trustees consider that the policy should once again be to endeavour to maintain the reserves at two years’ estimated unrestricted expenditure. The team’s budget plans are based on that intention, which is designed to ensure that the charity continues to have sufficient available resources to ensure that its primary objective will not be hampered by a short-term imbalance between income and expenditure. The Trustees consider that this level of reserves can realistically be met. The charity provides a vital emergency service and requires certainty of funding. To that end, funds will be sought beyond the minimum level of reserves where possible in order to increase the proportion of income generated from the charity’s own assets, to reduce the dependency on short term fundraising and to avoid spending unrestricted funds on capital purchases. Funds are invested in pursuit of income from low-risk investments. During the year, apart from monies held in National Westminster Bank, funds were invested with Virgin Money and the Leeds Building Society, although the latter account is now closed. No trustee receives remuneration or expenses, other than reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses for expenditure incurred on behalf of the team. Where certain conditions are met, members are reimbursed with their travelling costs on a non-profit pence per mile basis; this scheme is available to any member who wishes to claim, including the trustees, and the amounts paid out are shown in total in the vehicles expenses section of note 3. ## **Prospects for the year ahead and general development plans** The major redevelopment of the team’s Headquarters is now virtually complete and is being used for all the intended purposes. There are no major fundraising activities at present, and raising funds for day-to-day activities is presently the focus. ….continued on page 6 5 ## **BRECON MOUNTAIN RESCUE TEAM** ## **TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31ST MARCH 2024 (continued)** ## **Conclusion** As ever, the team depends largely for its income on donations and fundraising; we remain most grateful to the trustees of the grant making charities and the members of the general public who continue to support us so faithfully and trust that this support will continue. In addition to the financial assistance which the team enjoys, we also receive support and understanding from our members’ employers, family and friends when we receive our emergency calls: this assistance is priceless and we are very grateful. We are confident that we can continue to depend upon this support, so that we can continue to provide our service to those who call upon us. The Trustees have approved the Trustees’ Report above. ……………………………………… ………………………..……………2024 Chairman of the Trustees 6 ## **BRECON MOUNTAIN RESCUE TEAM** ## **REPORT OF THE INDEPENDENT EXAMINER TO THE TRUSTEES OF BRECON MOUNTAIN RESCUE TEAM** I report to the Trustees on my examination of the accounts of Brecon Mountain Rescue Team (the charity) for the year ended 31st March 2024. ## **Respective responsibilities of the trustees and the independent examiner** The charity’s trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. They 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 the independent examiner’s statement** Your attention is drawn to the fact that the charity has prepared accounts in accordance with Accounting and Reporting by Charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and the Republic of Ireland (FRS 102). I understand that this has been done in order for the accounts to provide a true and fair view in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principle effective for reporting periods beginning on or after 1st January 2015. ## **Independent examiner’s statement** In connection with my examination, I confirm that no matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:- - accounting records were not kept in respect of the charity in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act; - the accounts do not accord with those records; or - the financial statements do not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a true and fair view, which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination. ……………………………………… 9th May 2024 R D K Roche-Saunders Chartered Accountant 34 The Watton Brecon 7 ## **BRECON MOUNTAIN RESCUE TEAM** **STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31ST MARCH 2024 (Referred to as SOFA)** |**Unrestricted**|**Unrestricted**|**Restricted**|**Total**|**Prior year**| |---|---|---|---|---| ||**funds**|**income funds**|**funds**|**funds**| |**Incoming resources (note 2)**||||| |Donations and legacies (a)|151,393|-|151,393|361,043| |Other trading activities (b) and (c) 39,173||-|39,173|36,131| |Bank interest (d)|2,471|-|2,471|1,053| |Other items (e)|5,578|-|5,578|4,994| ||_______|_______|_______|_______| |Total|198,615|-|198,615|403,221| ||_______|_______|_______|_______| |**Resources expended (note 3)**||||| |Raising funds|8,097|-|8,097|12,107| |Charitable activities|60,670|-|60,670|48,659| ||_______|_______|_______|_______| ||68,767|-|68,767|60,766| ||_______|_______|_______|_______| |Net income, and||||| |net movement in funds|129,849|-|129,849|342,455| |Total funds brought forward|372,081|595184|967,265|624,810| |Transfer restricted income funds||||| |to unrestricted funds|595,184|(595184)|-|-| ||_______|_______|_______|_______| |Total funds carried forward £1,097,114||£-|£1,097,114|£967,265| ||_______|_______|_______|_______| 8 ## **BRECON MOUNTAIN RESCUE TEAM** ## **BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31ST MARCH 2024** ||**Unrestricted**|**Unrestricted**|**Restricted**|**Total**|**Prior year**| |---|---|---|---|---|---| |**Fixed assets**||**funds**|**income funds**|**funds**|**funds**| |Tangible assets (note 4)|1,278,914||-|1,278,914|43,094| |||_______|_______|_______|_______| |**Current assets**|||||| |Stocks on hand||8,000|-|8,000|8,000| |Debtors (note 5)||2,798|-|2,798|689| |Balance at bank and in hand||159,132|-|159,132|916,482| |||_______|_______|_______|_______| |**Total current assets**||169,930|-|169,930|925,171| |**Creditors: amounts falling**|**due**||||| |**within one year (note 6)**||33,330|-|33,330|1,000| |||_______|_______|_______|_______| |**Net current assets**||136,600|-|136,600|924,171| |||_______|_______|_______|_______| |**Total assets**|||||| |**less current liabilities**|1,415,514||-|1,415,514|967,265| |Deferred income grants||318,400|-|318,400|-| |||_______|_______|_______|_______| |Total assets less liabilities|£1,097,114||£-|£1,097,114|£967,265| |||_______|_______|_______|_______| |**Funds of the Charity**|||||| |**Restricted income funds (note 7)**||-|-|-|595,184| |**Unrestricted funds (note 7)**|1,097,114||-|1,097,114|372,081| |||_______|_______|_______|_______| |**Total funds**|1,097,114||£-|£1,097,114|£967,265| |||_______|_______|_______|_______| 9 ## **BRECON MOUNTAIN RESCUE TEAM** ## **NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31ST MARCH 2024** ## **1 Accounting policies** ## **Basis of accounting, and change in accounting policy** These accounts have been prepared on the accruals basis under the historical cost convention with items recognised at cost or transaction value (unless otherwise stated in the relevant note(s) to these accounts), in accordance with the Statement of Recommended Practice: Accounting and Reporting by Charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and the Republic of Ireland (FRS 102), and with the Charities Act 2011. The financial statements are presented in pounds sterling, which is the functional currency of the team, and are rounded to the nearest £1. ## **Public benefit** The Trustees consider that the aims and objectives of the team are such that it constitutes a public benefit entity as defined by FRS 102. ## **Going concern** The Trustees are satisfied that the team should continue to be regarded as a going concern and that these accounts are properly prepared on that basis. ## **Stock** Stocks of merchandise are valued at the lower of cost and net realisable value. ## **Depreciation** Depreciation is calculated so as to write off the cost of an asset, less its estimated residual value, over the useful economic life of that asset as follows:- |Brecon Mountain Rescue Team - Headquarters|Written off over 50 years| |---|---| |Fixtures and fittings at the new Headquarters|25% of cost per annum| |Drone|33⅓% of cost per annum| |Motor vehicles|20% of cost per annum| The Trustees intend that the new headquarters be fully maintained, and consider that its useful economic life should exceed 50 years. 10 ## **BRECON MOUNTAIN RESCUE TEAM** ## **NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31ST MARCH 2024 (continued)** ## **1 Accounting policies (continued)** ## **Recognition of income and expenditure** Income is included in the SOFA when the team becomes entitled to the resources, when it is more likely than not that the Trustees will receive the resources and when the monetary value can be measured with sufficient reliability. Legacies are received occasionally, and similar parameters of certainty are applied. Funding grants are brought into income over the depreciable life of the assets for which they were received. The team is operated entirely by volunteers, and the value of this help is not included in the accounts. Expenditure is recognised when it is more likely than not that there is a legal obligation committing the charity to pay. ## **Assets** Tangible fixed assets for use by the charity are capitalised if they can be used for more than one year, and cost at least £1,000. ## **Value Added Tax** Brecon Mountain Rescue Team is not registered for Value Added Tax (VAT) but, as a charity, is able to reclaim input VAT on appropriate expenditure. The figures in this year’s accounts exclude VAT. 11 ## **BRECON MOUNTAIN RESCUE TEAM** ## **NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31ST MARCH 2024 (continued)** |**2**|**Analysis of income**||| |---|---|---|---| |||**2024**|**2023**| |**(a)**|**Unrestricted donations and gifts**||| ||Boxes|4,928|3,782| ||SWSARA grant|1,378|575| ||General donations|66,253|50,573| ||Donations in memory|447|1,972| ||Margaret Owen|-|1,000| ||Pobl y Llyn|-|1,373| ||Morrisons|-|2,275| ||West Midlands Wealth Management|3,000|2,500| ||HF Holidays|7,000|-| ||Legacies|67,151|-| |||_______|_______| |||150,157|64,050| |||_______|_______| ||Gift aid|-|3,231| |||_______|_______| ||Membership subscriptions|1,236|1,332| |||_______|_______| ||Total of donations and legacies|151,393|68,613| |||_______|_______| |**(b)**|**Charitable activities**||| ||Sales of merchandise|10,104|7,804| |||_______|_______| |**(c)**|**Fundraising**||| ||General fundraising|3,089|1,595| ||Black Dragon|11,523|13,796| ||Beat the Beacons|12,279|-| ||Collections at Royal Welsh Show|178|1,595| ||200 Club|2,000|1,500| |||_______|_______| |||29,069|18,486| |||_______|_______| 12 ## **BRECON MOUNTAIN RESCUE TEAM** ## **NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31ST MARCH 2024 (continued)** |**2**|**Analysis of income (continued)**||| |---|---|---|---| |||**2024**|**2023**| |**(d)**|**Interest**||| ||National Westminster Bank|186|127| ||Leeds Building Society|1,072|74| ||Virgin Money|1,213|852| |||_______|_______| |||2,471|1,053| |||_______|_______| |**(e)**|**Sundry income**||| ||Fuel reimbursement by Police|2,278|-| ||Sale of containers|1,700|-| ||Refunds of VAT|-|4,994| ||Deferred income grants|1,600|-| |||_______|_______| |||5,578|4,994| |||_______|_______| The refunds of VAT are now allocated against the relevant expenditure. ## **Restricted donations** With the completion of the building works, all donations which were previously recognised as restricted are now recognised as unrestricted donations. 13 ## **BRECON MOUNTAIN RESCUE TEAM** ## **NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31ST MARCH 2024 (continued)** |**3**|**Analysis of expenditure**||| |---|---|---|---| |||**2024**|**2023**| ||**Expenditure on raising funds**||| ||Staging fundraising events|2,475|2,654| ||Fees payable to donation schemes|451|658| ||Purchase of merchandising items|4,716|6,591| ||Advertising, marketing and sundry items|455|2,204| |||_______|_______| |||8,097|12,107| |||_______|_______| ||**Expenditure on charitable activities**||| ||**Vehicles and drone running expenses**||| ||Fuel|2,361|5,060| ||Mileage reimbursement|2,073|2,557| ||Repairs and maintenance|2,947|6,781| ||Road fund licences|240|220| ||Insurance for the drone|978|786| ||Driver testing|-|453| ||Drone expenses|362|291| ||Insurance on Gator|323|-| ||Breakdown cover|356|-| |||_______|_______| |||9,640|16,148| |||_______|_______| ||**Communications**||| ||Worldtext (including a VAT adjustment from last year)|
812|2,100| ||Radios, headsets, batteries, aerials, repairs etc|115|433| ||Data SIM|422|863| ||Starlink|1,128|-| ||Spot Tracker contracts|3,950|3,264| ||EE|395|255| |||_______|_______| |||6,822|6,915| |||_______|_______| 14 ## **BRECON MOUNTAIN RESCUE TEAM** ## **NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31ST MARCH 2024 (continued)** |**3**|**Training**||| |---|---|---|---| |||**2024**|**2023**| ||Sundry course fees|3,412|1,671| |||_______|_______| ||**Headquarters**||| ||Telephone, internet and subscriptions|1,294|533| ||Postage and stationery|-|10| ||Insurance|1,868|2,165| ||Electricity|2,517|2,052| ||Water charges|202|166| ||Sundry maintenance and stores|1,664|648| ||Alarm annual maintenance fee and removal charge|155|508| ||Information Commissioner fees|35|35| ||Sundry items|25|241| ||CBMRT|-|792| ||Website improvements|768|458| ||Conference fees|1,026|-| ||Basewarming costs|2,000|-| |||_______|_______| |||11,554|7,608| |||_______|_______| ||**Team clothing and equipment**||| ||Total payments|8,216|8,751| |||_______|_______| This heading comprises the purchase, repair and replacement of items of clothing and rescue, specialised climbing and safety equipment necessary for the efficient running of the team. ## **Medical requisites** Total payments 168 761 _______ _______ This total comprises expenditure on consumable items and on stocks of controlled drugs, which have to be kept ‘in-date’. 15 ## **BRECON MOUNTAIN RESCUE TEAM** ## **NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31ST MARCH 2024 (continued)** |**3**|**Administration costs**||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---| ||||**2024**||**2023**| ||Independent examiner’s fees||1,250||650| ||Other fees paid to the independent|examiner|-||350| ||Other professional advice||800||-| ||Fire survey||905||-| ||Legal insurance||-||392| ||||_______||_______| ||||2,955||1,392| ||||_______||_______| ||**Depreciation**||17,903||5,413| ||||_______||_______| ||Total of expenditure on charitable|activities|60,670||48,659| ||||_______||_______| |**4**|**Tangible fixed assets**||||| |||Freehold land|Furniture|Motor|Total| |||and buildings|and|vehicles|| ||||equipment||| |At cost, 31st March 2023||21,442|-|131,287|152,729| |Additions during the year||1,228,425|25,298|-|1,253,723| |||_______|_______|_______|_______| |At cost, 31st March 2024||1,249,867|25,298|131,287|1,406,452| |||_______|_______|_______|_______| |Depreciation|||||| |As at 31st March 2023||-|-|109,635|109,635| |Provided during the year||6,247|7,325|4,331|17,903| |||_______|_______|_______|_______| |As at 31st March 2024||6,247|7,325|113,966|127,538| |||_______|_______|_______|_______| |Net book values:-|||||| |31st|March 2023|21,442|-|21,652|43,094| |||_______|_______|_______|_______| |31st|March 2024|1,243,620|17,973|17,321|1,278,914| |||_______|_______|_______|_______| 16 ## **BRECON MOUNTAIN RESCUE TEAM** ## **NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31ST MARCH 2024 (continued)** |**5**|**Debtors**||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---| |||||**2024**|**2023**| ||Sundry debtors and prepayments|||2,798|689| |||||_______|_______| |**6**|**Creditors: amounts falling due within one year**||||| ||Accrued charges|||3,823|1,000| ||Retention due on new|base building||29,507|-| |||||_______|_______| |||||33,330|1,000| |||||_______|_______| |**7**|**Summary of movement of funds**||||| |||Balance at|Movement in funds||Balance at| |||31.3.23|Incoming|Transfer|31.3.24| ||||resources||| |Restricted fund - new base||595,184|-|595,184|-| |Unrestricted fund||372,081|129,849||| ||||595,184|-|1,097,114| |||_______|_______|_______|_______| |||£967,265|£725,033|£595,184|£1,097,114| |||_______|_______|_______|_______| |The|restricted fund held funds for the construction of a new|||operating base for|the charity. A| |has|now been completed, and the building is available for the team’s general operations, the ba||||| |has|been transferred to unrestricted funds. The unrestricted|||fund holds funds for the ge|| |operational running costs of||the charity.|||| |These details are also shown for the previous|||year.||| |||Balance at|Movement in funds||Balance at| |||31.3.22|Incoming|Payments|31.3.23| ||||resources||| |Restricted fund - new base||292,913|302,271|-|595,184| |Unrestricted fund||331,897|100,950|60,766|372,081| |||_______|_______|_______|_______| |||£624,810|£403,221|£60,766|£967,265| |||_______|_______|_______|_______| The restricted fund held funds for the construction of a new operating base for the charity. As this has now been completed, and the building is available for the team’s general operations, the balance has been transferred to unrestricted funds. The unrestricted fund holds funds for the general operational running costs of the charity. 17 ## **BRECON MOUNTAIN RESCUE TEAM** ## **NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31ST MARCH 2024 (continued)** ## **8 Additional disclosures** The freehold title of the land at Ffrwdgrech Industrial Estate, Brecon, on which the new Headquarters has been built is recorded as being vested in the names of Ewan Thomas, Dominic Turpin, Duncan Forbes and Ellen Petrina Park Guinan, who hold it on trust for mountain rescue purposes This land is not at present included as an asset in these accounts. 18