Greener Kemnay Statement of Accounts for the Financial Year 2023/24
Introduction
Greener Kemnay's financial year runs from 1 October to 30 September. Thus this set of annual accounts covers the period 1 October 2023 to 30 September 2024, and is presented for approval at the Greener Kemnay Annual General Meeting to be held on 19 November 2024. The accounts are maintained on a receipts and payments basis.
Overall statement of transactions during 2023/24
Income:
| Income: | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Donations received during the year: | Note 1 | 1,575.93 | |
| Grant Support received during year: | Note 2 | 2,650.00 | |
| Total Income received during the year | 4,225.93 | 4,225.93 | |
| Expenditure: | |||
| Insurance | Note 3 | 366.59 | |
| Community Garden | 47.18 | ||
| Hire of Village Hall | Note 4 | 240.00 | |
| Bird Fund | 16.48 | ||
| Public Art | Note 5 | 2,416.26 | |
| Website | 76.80 | ||
| Total expenditure for the year | 3,163.31 | 3,163.31 | |
| Surplus of income over expenditure | 1,062.62 | ||
| Bank account balance as at 1 October 2023 | 7,086.75 | ||
| Plus surplus of income over expenditure | 1,062.62 | ||
| Bank account balance as at 30 September 2024 | 8,149.37 |
| Notes to the accounts: | Allocated to: | |
|---|---|---|
| Note 1: Donations received during the year | ||
| Collected at the Birley Bush Open Event May 2024 | 70.49 | Community Garden |
| COOP Kemnay | 1,033.29 | Community Garden |
| Other general donations | 472.15 | Unrestricted |
| Total donations received | 1,575.93 | |
| Note 2: Grant support received during the year | ||
| Aberdeenshire Council for insurance | 250.00 | Insurance |
| Aberdeenshire Council for Steens notice boards | 2,400.00 | Public Art |
| Total grant support received | 2,650.00 |
Note 3: Insurance
Costs increased due to the requirements to insure the energy project equipment. Previously the insurance premium was recovered by way of a grant from Aberdeenshire Council – this was paid to cover the costs of insuring our paths activities. The Council will not cover the cost of insuring the equipment. After discussion the Council agreed to contribute £250.00 towards the total insurance premium of 366.59, leaving a net total of 116.59 to be paid by Greener Kemnay.
Note 4: Hire of Village Hall
| Note 4: Hire of Village Hall | ||
|---|---|---|
| General meetings | 115.50 | Unrestricted |
| Energy Project event | 30.00 | Events |
| Energy Project meetings | 94.50 | Energy Project |
| Total Hire of Village Hall | 240.00 |
Note 5: Public Art
The total cost of the creation and erection of 2 notice boards describing the Kemnay Steens was 2,416.26. A grant of 2,400 towards this cost was made by Aberdeenshire Council (Note 2 above), leaving 16.26 to be funded by Greener Kemnay.
Greener Kemnay Funds
Greener Kemnay maintains a number of specific funds within the overall total of financial resources shown above. Those fund’s expenditures and income for the financial year 2023/24 were as follows:
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Transfers
Balance Between Balance 30
1 Oct 2023 Expenditure Income Funds Sept 2024
Unrestricted Fund 2,448.92 192.30 472.15 -132.85 2,595.92
Community Garden 113.03 30.00 1,103.78 0.00 1,186.81
Fund
Bird Fund 76.66 16.48 0.00 60.18
0.00
Insurance Fund 0.00 366.59 250.00 116.59 0.00
COOP Fund 1,185.13 17.18 0.00 1,167.95
0.00
Energy project Fund 3,263.01 124.50 0.00 3,138.51
0.00
Public Art Fund 0.00 2,416.26 2,400.00 16.26 0.00
Totals 7,086.75 3,163.31 4,225.93 0.00 8,149.37
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APPENDIX 3
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|’|
|V2|
|Independent examiner|s report on the accounts|
|Report to the|Charity name|
|trustees/members of|
|Registered charity|SC|
|number|
|On the accounts of the|Period start date|Period end date|
|charity for the period|Day|Month|Year|Day|Month|||Year|
|to|
|Set out on pages|(remember to include the page|
|numbers of additional sheets)|
|Respective|
|The charity’s trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance|
|responsibilities of|
|with the terms of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) 2005 Act and the|
|trustees and examiner|
|Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended). The charity trustees|
|consider that the audit requirement of Regulation 10(1) (d) of the 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|My examination is carried out in accordance with Regulation 11 of the 2006 Accounts|
|examiner’s statement|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|In the course of my examination, no matter has come to my attention [other than that|
|statement|disclosed on the attached page]|
|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, and|
|•|to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with|
|Regulation 9 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.|
|Signed*:|SC|Date:|21/12/2024|
|Name:|ee|
|Relevant professional|
|Ex-treasurer of Aberdeen Artists, North East Open Studios and Limousine|
|qualification(s) or body|
|Bull. B.Sc. & Ph.D.|
|(if any):|
|Address:|
|Gowanbank, 7, Victoria Terrace, Kemnay, Aberdeenshire AB51 5RL.|
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*Please delete the words in the brackets if they do not apply. If the words do apply, set out those matters which have come to your attention on the following page.
**OSCR will accept digital or typed signatures.
APPENDIX 3 Disclosure section Only complete rf the examiner needs to highlvJht material problems. Give here brief details of any items that the examiner wishes to disclose
Greener Kemnay Annual Report 2024 This year has been a varied year for the different sections of Greener Kemnay. The Community Garden is continuing to be a success, this is thanks to the small group of volunteers who look after it. There has been a lot of colour throughout the year, and the garden is mabjring well. We had a good open day in May, we were hoping for more visitors, but we were wmpeting with the weather and other attractions. The boules piste has been used very regularly throughout the long day months. this has bn affected by Yather, but it has increased the fool fall into the garden this year. In addition, the Garden has been used by the local primary school. Finally, there are available beds for the local community to tske up, wÉth free pallet collars as well. The whole Garden is free to use by the community, so we would encourage as many people as possible to come along and growl The Paths Group is looking for a way fomard, there was a meeting at the beginning of the year and there was a plan to hawng a questionnaire and then a public meeting to find out what the villagers require. It is hoped that these plans will be revived in the coming year. here we are looking for help to make this a reality. The Steens Group applied for money to put up information boards in the village, one at the Fettemear Car park and the other at Bogbeth Park. These have been made, they are at the moment with Landscape Services (Aberdeenshire Council). and we are now waiting for them to be installed. Focus on Communication Over this last year Greener Kemnay has bn trying to improve our communication with our volunteers, the village and the wider public. We have a communication group made up of Trustees which meets almost every month. This group is using the Greener Kemnay bullebn, Kemnay Newsletter, social media, WhatsApp and our new website to get infomiation about our activib.es out to the local community. The bulletin has become one of our main ways of promoting upcoming events for each group and for general information on Greener Kemnay. This goes out at the beginning of the monlh via email to 50 addresses which include the community council, our local Aberdeenshire Counallors and those villagers who are signed up. The Kemnay Newsletter is used to get our infomiation out to the wider village. with tt being delivered to 2400 homes. The group tries to get something into the newsletter almost every month and here we pla information about larger events and any olhpr information that could be helpful for the village. Social media is used in the same way as the Nevletter, we used FabOOk successfully and we got good hits from IL VVhatsApp is used by the groups to get instant responses to requests, this has been very successful with the volunteers to the community garden especially when organising the activity days. Our website is now up and running, with the help of John Berkin and our 3 main areas are now populated. We are working to keep it up to date with events and other information, and VE would like to indude more of your photos. Looking at the data from
the site, we have had 268 Visits. these have come from UK, USA. Ukraine, NZ, Ireland, Canada, Poland, Australia, Gemiany and Fran. Greener Kemnay Energy Group Greener Kemnay was initiated in 2012 by a group of frrends who wanted to support the greener Conscien of the village. The 3 aims - Growing.. Paths: Energy - are now 3 Subgroups each focussing on one of these aims. Not until 2022, when the energy priS were increasing at an alarming rate post covid, fuel costs created issues for those retuming to work or having to work from home impacting on cost of heating homes. increasing costs of all goods and services. Intemational events and power cuts due to a succession of storms affected everyone especially the most vulnerable, infimi and those on lower incomes (not necessarily age related). Following and based on a consultation with the community in May 2022 when residents were asked to highlight their concems, what affected them most and to identify 3 of the most important issues out of all those raised. the Greener Kemnay Energy Group was formed to focus its activities on reducing the quantity of fuel V need to be warm and fed. The group continue to spend a lot oftime applying forfijnding to enable progress- being successful in reIving £11,259 in 2022 through the Just Transition Participatory Fund lo purchase themiography equipment so that images and data can be collated to help Kemnay residents see where their energy is escaping from in order to decide how to progress to make their homes more energy effiaent More recent applications have been made to SSEN- for vthich we are awaiting results and we are checking eligibility for the MacRobert Trust. Frustration around the time and work that these applications take has also encouraged us to explore ways of generats'ng an income through the generation of green energy, for example for solarlwindlwaterlhydrogen with Energy4AJI. and this is at very earfy stages of enquiry. We have collaborated with other local organisations- NESCAN. NESFIT, Imagine Udny and Matt Clubb Ltd. to begin building a network to encourage localised bulk buying of fuels, insulation etc. We supported an Energy event in conjunction with NESFIT and Brib'sh Gas to: attract local tradesmen to consider training for upskilling to retrofit standards offer an opportunty for Kemnay residents to become more infomied about retrofit. We have conducted 3 pilot projects using the equipment obtained via the Just Transition award and local VoluntrS, to experience the thermography prosS, more possible now that the cold weather is upon us, wth another request recently received. It is very clear we are on a leaming cutve as a group and that whilst we are clear on how we wish to progress. working closely with and involving the community as much as possible, we are realising we are very much at the forefront not only in our approach but also in our concept of working together with other organisations to try to drive down
the costs for people to make retrofitting an aiyordable opts"on, accessible through local traders and in line yth their buildings and personal needs. At our most recent infomiation sharing evening we invrted homeowners who had been through the pro$$ of retrofitting all or part of their homes at considerable cost and upheaval, with some having to vacate their homes during the prosS. Through their generous sharing a real picture of the difficultr'es and hurdles emerged, including navigating grants. how to obtain funding how to access locally qualtfied trades who are approved to undertake retrofit work in a sensitive way and the inefficient EPC assessments. A retrofit home assessment for example which gives a true base for householders to identify what is right for their property type costs about £1,0(K). The feeling was that individuals could make initial small step actions towards improvements with this money insulating, filling in holeslgaps. draught excluders, insulating curtains etc It was decided from this meeb'ng that the gioup would take a more activist approach, lobbying MP'slMSP'slgovemment groupslNESCAN to highlight the issues around the retrofitting policies and prOrureS for individuals and trades. We have compiled a postcode database of houses within the Kemnay Village and Catchment area, and have begun to populate that Vth basic data on house type, construction. EPC & Council Tax info etc. Two volunteers have completed Ihe Introduction to Themial Imaging Course and we are looking for more volunteers to take up the training offer to enable our programme of suNeying 20 houses and to help support the retrofit process. We have acts.vely engaged in networ*ing with both NESCAN and Udny Climate Action. For context. have approximately 2.000 houses wlhin the Kemnay catchment area including= 275 granite houses circa 1880's - 1930's 300 solid block tradit-onal circa 1950's - 1970's 574 wooden houses circa 1970's- 80's 600 tsmber framed houses circa 1990's - present day It would be great to be able to support more homeovmers and have more volunteers trained to call on. Finances Our financial year runs from 1 October to 30 September. During the financial year 2023124 we received a tota5 of£4,226 and spent a total of £3.163, resulting in a surplus of income over expenditure of £1.063. Consequently, our bank balan increased from £7,086 to £8,149.
Notable items of income We £1,033 reiVed from the CO-OP for the Community Garden, and a grant of £2,400 from Aberdeenshire Council which has allowed the purchase and installation of the two Sleens notice boards. The balan of income received related to a contn"bution from Aberdeenshire Council towards the cost of Insuran and to general donations. The Steens notice boards make up the bulk of ourexpenditure at £2.416 (we contributed £16 as well). The balan of expenditure related to insurancEs. hire of the village hall for meet'ng5. the website hosb'ng o)sts some other very minor costs. Full details can be found in the annual accounts statement which has been sent to members alon with this re ort. ovember 2024