## **THE CAIRNGORM CLUB**
## **ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS**
## **YEAR ENDING 30 SEPTEMBER 2025**
Scottish Charity Number SC 047567
## **Charity Trustees**
President Helen Russell Vice-President Mike Duguid Treasurer/Secretary Donald Thomas
## **Independent Examiner**
Ben Binnie
## **Bankers**
Royal Bank of Scotland 40 Albyn Place Aberdeen AB10 1YN
Skipton Building Society 230 Union Street Aberdeen AB10 1TL
Virgin Money 1 Queen's Cross, Aberdeen AB15 4XU
## **STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT**
THE CAIRNGORM CLUB was formed on 23 June 1887, the day after Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee, by six hill-walkers from Aberdeen. It is the oldest Mountaineering Club in Scotland.
The Club became a Scottish Charity on 11 July 2017.
The most recent version of the Constitution of the Club was adopted on 10 November 2021. It states that:
“The Management of the Club shall be vested in a Committee, which shall consist of the office-bearers and nine members.”
The Constitution further states that:
”The office-bearers of the Club shall be a President, two Vice-Presidents, Secretary, Treasurer, Communications Secretary, Huts Custodian, Day Meets Secretary, Climbing Activities Secretary, Weekend Meets Secretary, and Social Activities Secretary. Any two of these offices may be held by the same person. Only Ordinary Members shall be eligible for election as office-bearers.”
and that the Charity Trustees for the Club shall be:
“The President, Secretary and Treasurer or, if the posts of Secretary and Treasurer are held by the same person, the President, senior Vice-President and Secretary.”
## **OBJECTIVES**
The Constitution states:
“The objects and purposes of the Club shall be the advancement of public participation in the sport of mountaineering and the preservation of the environment with special reference to the Cairngorm Mountains, by:
- a. promoting competence, safety, knowledge and responsibility of attitude amongst persons who engage in mountaineering;
- b. offering opportunities for such persons to engage in that pursuit in company with others;
- c. procuring and imparting scientific and other information concerning mountains;
- d. keeping under review rights of access to Scottish mountains;
- e. issuing such publications as may be considered advantageous:
- f. assisting other non-profit-making organisations whose purposes facilitate participation in or enjoyment of mountaineering.”
|**MEMBERSHIP**
Honorary
Ordinary
Associate|30/09/24
9
203
163
375|30/09/25
8
199 (inc. 10 Life)
175(inc. 1 Life)
382|
|---|---|---|
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## **ACTIVITIES**
The Cairngorm Club organises a variety of meets for its members. In the period between 1 October 2024 and 30 September 2025 the following were organised:
Day Meets – 12 Weekend Meets – 12 Mid-Week Walks – 12 Friday Stravaigs – 12 Climbing Meets – weekly meets.
Social Activities – regular Social Meets including an Annual Dinner, a Burns Supper and a BBQ .
Training – a Winter Skills course, First Aid Refresher course and 2 Night Navigation courses.
Muir Cottage was fully open for members and external groups.
## **FINANCIAL REVIEW**
The accounts show a deficit for the period of £1546 with a current account balance at the year-end of £3176. The value of savings accounts at the year-end was £99,000.
## **RESERVES STATEMENT**
The designated fund for maintenance of Muir Cottage was increased by 3% Electrical repairs were paid from the fund. The remaining general funds are considered adequate for several years of usual club expenditure, even with a substantial fall in income. Any surplus funds are used to further the charity’s objects and purposes.
## **INDEPENDENT EXAMINER**
Ben Binnie acted as independent examiner for the period.
Approved by the charity trustees on 22 October 2025 and signed on their behalf by:
Donald Thomas (Treasurer), Aberdeen
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## **THE CAIRNGORM CLUB RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS FOR YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2025**
||**2024/25**||**2023/24**|
|---|---|---|---|
|**RECEIPTS**|£||£|
|Members' Subscriptions|9739||9304|
|Club Activities|12866|Note 1|11242|
|Muir of Inverey|22234|Note 2|22919|
|Gift Aid|980||859|
|Donations|1216||198|
|Legacies|||3349|
|Savings Interest|3278||4234|
|**TOTAL RECEIPTS**|**50313**||**52104**|
|**PAYMENTS**||||
|Club Activities|-14612|Note 1|-15556|
|Muir of Inverey|-19021|Note 2|-21623|
|Subscriptions|-8870|Note 3|-7176|
|Donations|-3191|Note 4|-2233|
|Projects|-4300|Note 4|-6000|
|Administration|-1865|Note 5|-1046|
|**TOTAL PAYMENTS**|**-51859**||**-53633**|
|**EXCESS OF RECEIPTS OVER PAYMENTS**|**-1546**||**-1529**|
|**STATEMENT OF BALANCES AS AT 30 SEPTEMBER**|||**2025**|
||**2024/25**||**2023/24**|
||£||£|
|Opening Balance|103723||105252|
|Excess of Receipts over Payments|-1546||-1529|
|Closing Balance|**102176**|Note 7|**103723**|
All the above relate to unrestricted funds. No remuneration was paid to the trustees or to any connected person during the period.
## **Basis of Accounting**
The accounts have been prepared on the Receipts & Payments basis in accordance with the Charities & Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended).
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## **NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS**
|**2024/25**
£
Receipts
Payments
net
**NOTE 1 CLUB ACTIVITIES**
Day Meets
3741
-4127
-386
Mid Week Walks
0
0
0
Climbing
0
0
0
Stravaigs
0
0
0
Weekend Meets
4776
-2834
1942
W/E Meets Paid in Advance
513
-1591
-1078
Club Training Courses
890
-1900
-1010
Merchendise Sales
979
-890
89
Social Activities
821
-1189
-368
Dinner
1146
-2081
-935
Library
0
0
Journal
0
0
0
12866
-14612
-1746
**NOTE 2 MUIR OF INVEREY**
**Receipts**
Letting Income
22234
0
22234
**Expenditure**
Electricity
-6706
Insurance
-5844
General Upkeep
-1240
Chimney Sweep
-295
Electrician
-2403
Heating controls
-883
Keyholder
-200
PAT/Fire
-316
Plumber
0
Joiner
0
Mattresses
-522
Slater
-612
AES Solar
0
Water Service
0
Water Heater
0
Windows
0
-19021
**NOTE 3 SUBSCRIPTIONS**
Aberdeenshire Sports Council
-25
John Muir Trust
-66
Mountaineering Scotland
-8384
National Trust for Scotland
-75
North East Mountain Trust
-281
Scottish Rights of Way Society
-40
-8870
**NOTE 4 DONATIONS & PROJECTS**
Aberdeen Mountain Rescue Association
-500
Arrochar MRT
Braemar Mountain Rescue Association
-541
Lochaber MRT
-500
Scottish Mountain Rescue
-250
OATS Footpath Appeal
MTS Bursaries
-1000
Indicators
-3300
Training Grants to Members
-1400
-7491|**2023/24**
£
-569
0
0
0
1696
-1778
-320
-36
-273
-613
-35
-2466|
|---|---|
||-4394
22969|
||22969
-5613
-3125
-2196
-96
-877
0
-200
-139
-168
-568
0
0
-606
-587
-1474
-5974|
||-21623
-25
-60
-6698
-75
-278
-40|
||-7176
-500
-502
-534
-250
-5000
-1000
-448|
||-8233|
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## **NOTE 5 ADMINISTRATION**
|**NOTE 5 ADMINISTRATION**||||
|---|---|---|---|
|Banking|-233||-206|
|Legal|-1140||0|
|IT Services|-172||-179|
|Postage|-62||-276|
|Printing & Copying|-198||-177|
|Miscellaneous|-60||-209|
|||-1865|-1046|
## **NOTE 6 TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS**
The Club owns Muir of Inverey Cottage which it operates as a Club Hut. No attempt has been made to put a value on this property.
It was purchased in 1971 at a cost of £12,549 and is insured for £646,678.
## **NOTE 7 ALLOCATION OF FUNDS**
The closing balance shown is allocated between the following Funds:
|**General Fund at 30/9/2024**|||£|34,590
£||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|Surplus/Deficit for Year|||£|(1,546)
£||||||
|Transfer from Life Membership Fund|Transfer from Life Membership Fund||£|12
£||||||
|Transfer to Muir Reserve|||£|(1,967)
£||||||
|Transfer from Muir Reserve|||£|2,403
£||||||
|Transfer to Woods Fund|||£|(106)||||||
||||||£|33,386
£|£|£|34,590
£|
|**Muir Reserve at 30/9/2024**|||£|65,564
£||||||
|From General Fund||3%|£|1,967
£||||||
|Transfer to General Fund|||£|(2,403)||||||
||||||£|65,127
£|£|£|65,564
£|
|**Woods Fund at 30/9/2024**|||£|3,345
£||||||
|Interest|||£|106||||||
||||||£|3,451
£|£|£|3,345
£|
|**Life Membership Fund at 30/9/2024**|||£|224
£||||||
|Transfer to General Fund|||£|(12)||||||
||||||£|212|£||224
£|
|**Total Funds at 30 September 2025**|||||£|102,176|£|103,723
£||
|Represented by:||||||||||
|**Bank Account**||||||||||
|Current Account (RBS)|£|3,176
£||||||||
|Payments not cashed|£|-
£||||||||
|Deposits not credited|£|-||||||||
||||£|3,176
£||||||
|**Savings Accounts**||||||||||
|Skipton BS Account|||£|60,000
£||||||
|Virgin Sav Account|||£|39,000||||||
||||||£|102,176||||
Approved by the charity trustees on 22 October 2025 and signed on their behalf by:
Donald Thomas (Treasurer), Aberdeen
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| | |
## INDEPENDENT EXAMINER’S REPORT TO THE CHARITY TRUSTEES OF THE CAIRNGORM CLUB
## Scottish Charity Number SC 047567
I report on the accounts of the charity for the period ended 30 September 2025 which are set out above.
## Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner
The charity’s trustees 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. The charity’s trustees consider that the audit requirements of Regulation 10(1)(d) of the 2006 Accounts Regulations do not apply. It is my responsibility to examine the accounts as required under section 44(1)(c) of the 2005 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 the 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:
e to keep proper accounting records in accordance with section 44(1)(a) of the 2005 Act and Regulation 4 of the 2006 Accounts Regulations, and
e to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with the accounting requirements of 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. buh.
Benjamin Binnie, CA,