# **1[st] Lochwinnoch Boys’ Brigade Scottish Charity No SC000822** **Annual Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31[st] August 2025** 1[st] Lochwinnoch Boys’ Brigade – SC000822 Annual Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31[st] August 2025 Page 1 ## **Trustees Annual Report** ## For the Year Ended 31[st] August 2025 The trustees have pleasure in presenting their report together with the financial statements and the independent examiner’s report for the year ended 31[st] August 2025. ## Reference and Administrative Information **Charity Name** 1[st] Lochwinnoch Boys’ Brigade Company Date Founded 24[th] April 1919 **Charity No** SC000822 **Address** C/o Mark Brown, Hillcrest, Johnshill, Lochwinnoch, PA12 4EH. **Email Address** 1lochwinnoch@boys-brigade.org.uk **Current** Mark Brown Captain **Trustees** Sandra Marsh Leader in Charge of Anchor Section Aileen Craig Lieutenant **Church** Calder United Free Church of Scotland Church Street Lochwinnoch PA12 4AE www.calderchurch.com calderufc@gmail.com **Parent** The Boys’ Brigade **Organisation** c/o Adeyfield Free Church Maylands Avenue Hemel Hempstead HP2 4GZ - www.boys brigade.org.uk - support@boys brigade.org.uk **Bank Details** Metro Bank 1[st] Lochwinnoch Boys Brigade Account No 41268298 Sort Code 23:05:80 1[st] Lochwinnoch Boys’ Brigade – SC000822 Annual Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31[st] August 2025 Page 2 Structure, Governance & Management ## **Constitution** The charity is an unincorporated association. It is governed by its constitution which is shown on pages 13 & 14 of this report. The organisation has been a registered charity since 23[rd] February 1988. 1st Lochwinnoch is registered as a Company of The Boys’ Brigade nationally (Charity No 305969) and contributes to, and is supported by, the work of the national organisation. The Boys’ Brigade nationally is administered into Battalions and we are members of The Paisley & District Battalion (Charity No SC007361). We contribute to and are supported by the Battalion in addition to the national organisation. The Company is an integral part of Calder United Free Church of Scotland (Charity No SC016177) who are jointly responsible for overseeing the operation of the Company and for the Christian education of its members. ## **Appointment of Trustees** The trustees are appointed by the Kirk Session of Calder United Free Church of Scotland. ## **Management** The registered officers of the Company form the management committee which meets on a regular basis throughout the year and is responsible for the strategic direction and governance of the organisation. Three trustees are appointed by the management committee, and they are responsible for the preparation of the Annual Accounts and act as signing officers for the Company. The management committee agrees any new appointments to the leadership team, and they are then nominated by the Captain to the Kirk Session of Calder United Free Church of Scotland who approves their appointment. All the leadership of the Company, irrespective of their positions, are volunteers. ## **Section Organisation** The 1st Lochwinnoch Boys’ Brigade Company aims to meet on a weekly basis during the school term. We are grateful to Calder Church for the use of their premises at no charge and in addition to this we rent the Annexe building at the public park which is used for games and activities which are not suited to the space available at Calder Church. There are 4 sections in operation. Anchor Section for Boys in Primaries 1, 2 & 3. Junior Section for Boys in Primaries 4, 5 & 6. Company Section for Boys from Primary 7 to Secondary 3. Senior Section for Boys and young men in Secondary 4, 5, and 6. The Company & Senior Sections normally meet together and follow a range of joint and separate activities. 1[st] Lochwinnoch Boys’ Brigade – SC000822 Annual Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31[st] August 2025 Page 3 ## **Object, Vision, Mission & Values** The object of the Boys’ Brigade is:- The advancement of Christ's kingdom among Boys and the promotion of habits of Obedience, Reverence, Discipline, Self-respect and all that tends towards a true Christian manliness. Our vision is that:- Children and young people experience "life to the full." (John 10:10). Our prayer and hope that children and young people experience life to the full through coming to know Jesus for themselves. Our Mission is:- The Boys' Brigade has faith in young people and provides them with opportunities to learn, grow and discover in a safe, fun and caring environment which is rooted in the Christian faith. Our values are Faith, Inspiring, Caring & Trusting. Faith: - We are a Christian youth organisation, and our work is rooted in the Christian Faith. We have a hope in Christ as our anchor that sustains us throughout life (Hebrews 6:19). Inspiring: - We seek to inspire children and young people, challenging them to live their lives in the fullest sense. We also believe in peoples’ abilities to inspire and act as positive role models to others. Caring: - The Boys’ Brigade is a family. We believe in building loving, caring and inclusive relationships, as well as creating a safe and fun environment that is supportive and nurturing. We are responsive to the needs and aspirations of others regardless of ability, identity, or background. Trusting: - We are honest and trustworthy. We seek to empower children and young people to participate and to lead, believing in their skills, abilities, and ideas. ## Leadership All leaders are volunteers, and we are grateful to the many hours that they devote to the week-toweek work of the organisation. Leaders are all PVG Registered and safeguarding trained. During this session, The Boys’ Brigade nationally took over responsibility for undertaking PVG’s for all leaders in Scotland. At the end of the session, we were mid-way through the process of transitioning from the old arrangement where Calder Church undertook the PVG checks, to the new system being operated by The Boys’ Brigade. It is anticipated that by the early part of the next year, all leaders will be PVG registered through the new system. The Boys’ Brigade has continued to promote e-training, and all leaders have as a minimum undertaken the Managing Risk and Safeguarding training modules or refreshers if they had previously completed these modules. The following other training modules were completed:- Greg Miller - Company Management Training Gary Marsh & Ryan Brown – Holiday Leadership Ben Irvine – Youth Leader Training We were pleased that Ben Irvine moved from his Staff Sergeant role to Warrant Officer. 1[st] Lochwinnoch Boys’ Brigade – SC000822 Annual Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31[st] August 2025 Page 4 James Weir resigned his leadership position in the Company as his employment, following completion of his university studies, meant that he was no longer living locally. We are grateful to him for the time he devoted to his leadership role in the Company and for his fundraising initiative that was featured in last year’s Annual Report. The following people were involved in the leadership of the Company during the current session. They are shown in the section where they spend most of their time although numerous assist in other sections as required. |**Company Captain**|Mark Brown (assists with all sections)| |---|---| |**Anchor Section**|| |Sandra Marsh|Leader in charge Anchor Section| |Aileen Craig|Lieutenant| |Eilidh McManus|Helper| |Mairead Anderson|
Young helper (from Girls’ Brigade doing Voluntary Service for DofE award).| |**Junior Section**|| |Gary Marsh|Leader in charge Junior Section| |Ryan Brown|Warrant Officer| |William Graham|Lieutenant| |Angela Graham|Helper| |**Company & Senior**|**Section**| |Greg Miller|Leader in charge Company & Senior Sections| |Euan Weir|Warrant Officer| |Ben Irvine|Warrant Officer| **Weekend Camp Helpers** David Udris Helper **Chaplain** Rev Anthony Paton Minister, Calder United Free Church of Scotland ## Boy Membership Statistics Our Annual Statistical return is made to Boys’ Brigade headquarters based on the membership on 15th October each year. Boy membership was 30, down from 36 in the previous year and was made up as shown in the table below. The low number of new members joining the Anchor Section continues to be a cause for concern cause for concern and this along with the low intake during the Covid years is the reason for the reduction in numbers. 1[st] Lochwinnoch Boys’ Brigade – SC000822 Annual Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31[st] August 2025 Page 5 **----- Start of picture text -----**
Section Numbers Numbers Numbers
This Year Last Year 2022/23
2024/25 2023/24
Anchors 8 5 9
Juniors 12 20 16
Company 7 7 10
Seniors 3 4 8
Total 30 36 43
**----- End of picture text -----**
## Programme and Activities Our programmes in the different sections follow the Boys’ Brigade Award Structure which provides a wide range of activities, skills, interests, and events which allows us to hopefully provide enjoyable and varied opportunities for all Boys. As noted above the Annexe sports hall at the park in the village was used by the Juniors, Company, and Senior Sections to allow games and physical activities to take place in addition to other activities in Calder Church. The Anchors continued to solely use the accommodation at Calder Church. This arrangement has worked relatively well although it does pose some logistical issues in moving boys to and from the two locations particularly when there is poor winter weather. Last session we purchased branded jackets for the older boys, and we were able this year to add smaller sizes so that all members of the company can utilise them for events like Remembrance Sunday when we are on parade. The Company & Seniors boys had an outing to the Glasgow Climbing Centre where they were given instruction and gained new skills as well as having an enjoyable evening. 1[st] Lochwinnoch Boys’ Brigade – SC000822 Annual Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31[st] August 2025 Page 6 The Juniors joined the Boys’ Brigade Scotland Glasgow Science Centre sleepover event, although we don’t think that there was much sleeping happening! There were numerous STEM activities organised by the Science Centre Team as well as a praise session organised by the BB staff. Around Christmas time the Juniors also had a 10-pin bowling outing. At the end of the Session the Anchors had a day trip to Largs and were blessed with beautiful weather. An enjoyable day was had by all and it, of course, included a trip to the ice cream shop. We were grateful to Largs United Free Church for the use of their accommodation. The programmes offered across the different sections tries to provide progression and as much as possible the boys have input into what is done each week. 1[st] Lochwinnoch Boys’ Brigade – SC000822 Annual Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31[st] August 2025 Page 7 I. Lochwinnoch Bng3dE-SC(XM)822 Annual Report& Financial Ststements YE3r Ended 31°Augu5t2025 PagE 8 The Company owned a historic building (the BB Hut) which was in the grounds of the Parish Church. The building is no longer used and was in a dangerous condition. The old church buildings are in the process of being sold to the community by the Church of Scotland and they were wanting the BB Hut demolished prior to completion of the sale. The BB Hut contained asbestos and therefore required a specialist contractor to undertake the demolition. After much consultation and negotiation, The Church of Scotland agreed to meet the costs of the demolition and 50% of the costs of the disconnection of the Electricity supply. The Electricity disconnection was a significant one-off cost which is reflected in the higher expenditure this year. The project is now completed, and we are grateful to the following people for their assistance. The Church of Scotland for financial and logistical support. Eric Beattie & Bill White from the group dealing with the community purchase Alter Landscapes for practical support in removing and storing BB Equipment Our main fundraising event is a Coffee Morning which was held in October 24. It was well supported by boys, their families, church members and the wider community. A total of £450 was raised, the same amount as the previous year. We learned about the ‘End Polio Now’ campaign that was under-way with the BB nationally and Rotary International. It costs £10 to vaccinate 150 children against Polio. The boys wanted to donate some of the proceeds from the Coffee Morning towards this campaign and they decided on an amount £150. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation are supporting this initiative by matching donations 2:1, so our donation of £150 became £450 …. The amount that we raised at the Coffee Morning. This will vaccinate 6,750 children. The Juniors participated in the Boys’ Brigade International Games and achieved 4th place which was a great achievement. 1[st] Lochwinnoch Boys’ Brigade – SC000822 Annual Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31[st] August 2025 Page 9 We were again successful in getting a grant from the Celebrating Renfrewshire Fund. This year we included accommodation costs for the Annexe in our application, and we received a total of £2,000 which was a great boost to our income and reduces the need to spend time on fundraising initiatives. The scheme has changed the timing of their applications and towards the end of the year we received an additional grant of £2,500 which is to be expended next year. We are very grateful for the support from this fund which we have enjoyed for many years. In May we held an end of session awards and prizegiving evening in Calder Church for all sections. It was good to be in the Church with parents, families, and friends able to join us to celebrate the achievements of the Boys. We were pleased that members of Ronnie Brown’s family were able to be with us. They presented a new trophy – The Ronnie Brown Trophy for Best Drilled Boy – and Shirley Brown, Ronnie’s wife, presented it to the first recipient, Ellis Irvine. The other awards and prizes were presented by Alan Murray, Calder Church Session Clerk. The second highest award, The President’s Badge, was presented to Ben Craig and Sam Gordon. The final event for the session was a weekend camp was held in June at Millport on the island of Cumbrae. We are grateful again to Cumbrae Parish Church for the use of their facilities. We had good weather and a great time was had by all. 1[st] Lochwinnoch Boys’ Brigade – SC000822 Annual Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31[st] August 2025 Page 10 I. Lochwinnoch Brig3dE-SC(XM)822 Annu31 RepDrt& Financial Ststements YE3r Ended 31°AuEU5t2025 P**_Notes_**
Fund Raising Income
Weekly Subscriptions Received
_3_
Misc Income
_4_
Donations Received
_5_
Grant Received
_6_
Camp Fees Received
Other Activities Fees Received
Sale of Uniforms Items
Easy Fundraising
**Total Receipts**
**Payments**
Capitation Fees
_7_
BB Supplies - Uniforms & Admin
_8_
Prizes / Awards / Gifts
Electricity
_4_
Donations Paid Out
Weekend Camp Expenses
Misc Payments
_6_
Training Courses
Anchors Activities Expenses
Juniors Activities Expenses
Other Activities expenses
Equipment
Accommodation Costs
Tuck Shop Purchases
**Total Payments**
**Surplus/(Deficit) for the Year**
Funds brought forward
Funds carried forward
**Represented By:-**
Cash at Bank
Cash in Hand
Prepared By Mark Brown
Date 17th May 2026|**This Year**
**Last Year**
**2025**
**2024**
£475.00
£450.00
£1,955.00
£1,885.00
£0.00
£766.80
£442.96
£1,622.61
£5,419.79
£1,500.00
£140.00
£210.00
£100.00
£0.00
£35.00
£20.00
£150.99
£124.93
**£8,718.74**
**£6,579.34**
£1,288.00
£1,186.50
£938.52
£1,079.90
£442.79
£588.00
£597.38
£683.65
£150.00
£100.00
£519.93
£262.00
£1,875.66
£902.33
£19.00
£4.00
£138.73
£0.00
£440.30
£31.90
£400.60
£203.35
£0.00
£1,527.54
£1,300.00
£900.00
£0.00
£0.00
**£8,110.91**
**£7,469.17**
**£607.83**
**(-£889.83)**
£3,397.61
£4,287.44
**£4,005.44**
**£3,397.61**
£4,005.44
£3,397.61
£0.00
£0.00
**£4,005.44**
**£3,397.61**
Verified By
Date
28th May 2026| |---|---| 1[st] Lochwinnoch Boys’ Brigade – SC000822 Annual Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31[st] August 2025 Page 15 ## **Notes to the Accounts for the year ended 31st August 2025** ## **1 Basis of Accounting** These accounts have been prepared on the Receipts & Payments basis in accordance with the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended). ## **2 Nature and purpose of funds** Unrestricted funds are those that that may be used at the discretion of the trustees in furtherance of the objectives of the charity. The trustees maintain a single unrestricted fund for the day to day running of the organisation. ## **3 Subscriptions Received** Parents are asked to pay a joining fee of £25 (which broadly represents the amount that we are required to pay to the Boys' Brigade nationally - see note 7) and two further payments of £15 for the Sept to Christmas period and £20 for January to May. ## **4 Misc Income (in Receipts) and Electricity (In Payments)** Last year's income amount of £766.80 related to payment from the community garden for use of electricity which was supplied from the BB Hut. This arrangement came to an end towards the end of the financial year. We were awaiting a final invoice from the utility supplier which we didn't receive until after the year end. The corresponding payment for this year will therefore appear in next year's accounts and will offset the costs shown of £597.38 in the payments section. ## **5 Donations Received** Donations receipts have returned to a more normal level after the higher level last year as a result of a couple of non recurring initiatives. ## **6 Grant Received (In Receipts) and Misc Payments (In Payments)** We have been receiving a grant for numerous years from the Celebrating Renfrewshire Fund and have been successful again this year with a grant of £2,000 (Last year £1,500). The scheme have changed the timing of their applications and towards the end of the year we received an additional grant of £2,500 which is to be expended next year. In additional to this we incurred significant costs (£1,838.59 shown in Misc Payments) for the disconnection of the Electrical supply to the BB Hut which had to be demolished. We were successful in receiving a grant of £919.79 (50% of the above costs from The Church of Scotland which is shown in the Grants Received total. ## **7 Capitation Fees** Capitation fees are the annual fees paid to The Boys’ Brigade national organisation £1,108.00 (Last Year £1,154.50) and to Paisley & District Battalion £180 (last year £32). Both fees are based on the numerical strength of the Company. The Paisley & District Battalion Fee last year was lower due external funding that the Battalion received. ## **8 BB Supplies - Uniform & Admin** We purchased branded jackets for all members utilising grant monies received and all the costs of £938.52 relate to this. We were able fulfil other uniform requirements this session from existing stocks. 1[st] Lochwinnoch Boys’ Brigade – SC000822 Annual Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31[st] August 2025 Page 16 ## **Examiner’s Report to the Trustees of 1[st] Lochwinnoch Boys’ Brigade** I report on the accounts of the charity for the year ended 31[st] August 2025 which are set out on pages 15 and 16. ## **Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner** The charity’s trustees (who are also the directors of the company for the purposes of company law) are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the terms of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended). The charity trustees consider that the audit requirement of Regulation 10(1) (a) to (c) of the 2006 Accounts Regulations does not apply. It is my responsibility to examine the accounts as required under section 44(1) (c) of the Act and to state whether particular matters have come to my attention. ## **Basis of independent examiner’s statement** My examination is carried out in accordance with Regulation 11 of the 2006 Accounts Regulations. 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 seeks 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 I do not express an audit opinion on the view given by the accounts. ## **Independent examiner’s statement** In the course of 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 44(1) (a) of the 2005 Act and Regulation 4 of the 2006 Accounts Regulations - to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with Regulation 8 of the 2006 Accounts Regulations 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. Signature: Name: Caroline Lowe Relevant Professional qualification/professional body: CIMA Qualified Address: 39 Loch Laxford, East Kilbride, G74 2DL Date: 28[th] May 2026 1[st] Lochwinnoch Boys’ Brigade – SC000822 Annual Report & Financial Statements Year Ended 31[st] August 2025 Page 17