' Inveraray Bell Tower SCIO Preserving a Special Pkce of Historical & Cultural Significance Annual Report & Financial Statements for the Year Ending 31°, December 2025 The trustees h8v8 plea8ure in presenting their report together with the financial statements forthe year ended 31" December 2025. Reference and Administrative Information Charity Name Inveraray Bell TowerSCIO Charity No SC050075 Address 20, KingshiUAvenue Blackwood Cumbernauld G68 9NF Trustees Jonathan Frye Ruth Marshall Robert Hancock Rachelmilner G jessica Durham Chair Secretary Treasurer Treasurer Tru8tee Resigned 2610712025 Elected 2610712025 Elected 2610712025 Inveraray BdITo¥vScto 15 a ScottishChèritabInCorporated Oryanisation ISUOI regulatsj by the Scottlsh (harltyRegulator IOSCRI, Scottish Rwistered Charitv No. SC050075
Structure, Governance & Management Constitutlon The Charity is a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation la SCIOI. It was registered as a new entity on 8"April 2020 and has a membership structure. Appointment of Trustees Trustees are elected at the annual general meeting. All trustees retire at the AGM and are eligible to be re-elected. There is a minimum of three and a maximum of five trustees. Thè trustees have the power to co-opt uptotwo trustees at anytime, subject to the maximum number ot trustees. At the 2025 AGM Robert H8nco¢k retired as a trustee and Rachelmilner and Jessica Durham were elected. Objectives & Activities Charttable Purposes The advancementofthe arts. herit8ge and culture. To advance heritage by preserving the historic Bell Towerfor the benef it of the residents of Inveraray and the public in gener81 as a place of historical a nd cultura I significance, P8rticularly in the context ofthe Bell Tower's status as a Wortd Warone War Memorial and it's internationally recognised ring of bells. To advance heritage and the arts by providing a f unctioning set of full circle change ringing bells for the benefit of bell ringers from across the UK and theworfd. Actlvltieg 2025 was an exciting year forthe charity. At the beginning of the yèar the trustees signed a licence with the Diocese of Argyll and the Isles for the use of the bell tower. This enabled the charity to take on the full operation of the tower including opening to tourists over the summer. During the early part of the year many policies and procedures were put into place to be able to operate the tower. This included taking out public liability & employer's liability insurance, registering with HMRC and the Pensions Regulator. setting up a payroll. 8rr8nging to accept contactless payment and writing risk assessments & procedures for each of ouractivities. Thefirstevent oftheyear was the annualmaintenanceweekend. This was verywellattended with 19 people contrlbuting to the work and 166 hour8 of volunteer labour given over the weekend. Thefocus ofthe weekend was to preparethe tower for opening to the public and so the majority of the work was pa inting and cleaning. This included repainting the downstairs display boards, staining the ringing room floor, painting the roof with a specialist lead repair paint. repainting the lantern shutters and thoroughly tidying the tower from top to bottom. Paoe2of7
During the weekend the tenor cLapper was found to be loose on Sts pin. This w88 thoughtto be resolved duringthe weekend bytighteningfourgrub screws but itworked looseag8in. A further twovisits and a phone callwith the manufacturerwere required. alongwith some new grub screws, to get the right solution. A group of charity members worked to deliver an update to the exhibition for 2025 including three new large display boards, some new artifacts, a new AV exhibit and an updated website. parallel with this anothergroup worked on branding and publicity. A logo, brandinga nd font are now available. 5.000 leaflets were printed and distributed to advertise the tower to tourists. Anew social media presence was created with accounts on Facebook, Instagram. Threads and Blusky along with claiming Google and Trip Advisor entries. These were used to good effect throughout the yearto advertise and give information to the public. Thetower opened to the public Monday-saturdayfor 10 weeks runningfrom mid-juneto the end of August. This was done with a p8 id position Monday- Friday a nd using volunteers on Saturdays. The opening was very successfully with 1.791 visitors to the tower. Of these 1,350 175%) paid to ascend thetowerto see the higher levels and theview from the roof. Data was gathered from the visitors including visit time, wsit day. nationality and age prof ile. This information will be used to inform decision making in futUTe years. The 51 si annual ringingfestival was held at the end of July. There was 8 hours of open ringing across the weekend, available to all ringers. There were 8 peal attempts during the yea r and one group of visiting ringers. In November half-muffled ringing was provided priorto requiem for the departed held in All Saints Church. There was also ringing prior to the Inveraray Carolservice in December. All ofthese pertorm8nce$ were free for members ofthe public to listen to. Paoe3of7
Financial Review and Financial Statements Statement of Receipts and Payments for the year ended 31 ¥1 December 2025 Year Ended 3111212025 Year Ended 3111212024 Unrestricted Funds Receipts Subscriptions Ringing Fees Donations TowerAdmission HMRC GiftAid Debtor (Pealfee Nov 2024) 76 2,140 2,811 8,931 227 100 62 700 1,319 Total Receipts Payments Maintenance All Saints Licence Agreement Maintenance Wages Insurance Admin Expense and otherlincl. Sumup feel Electricity Set-up Exhibition Publicity 1.379 281 4.262 1,434 202 818 196 794 141 1,060 Total Payments 507 060 Surplus forlhe year 779 Statement of Balances at December 2025 Openingbank balance Surplus forye8r Closing bank balance 4,136 4,779 3,115 1,021 Other Assets and Liabilities There wer8 no other assets and liabilities Paoe4of7
Notes to the accounts - for the year ended 31°, December 2025 Basis of accounting These accounts have been prepared on the receipts and payments basis in accordallce with the Charities & Trustee Investment (Scotlandl Act 2005 and the Charities Accounts Iscotlandl Regulations 2006 las amended). Nature and purpose of funds Unrestrictedfunds are those that may be used at the discretion of the trustees in the furtherance of the objectsof the charity. The trustees maintaln a single unrestrictedfund forthe operation of the Inverargy 8ellTower. Ringing Fees chaeS are made for use of the bells mainly for the activity of peal ringing performances takingthree and a half hours and for other ringing visitors who may ring the bells for a lesser period. Donailon8 These are largely from the community of ringers both in Scotland and further 8f ield. We have had two very generous personal donations this year. Over £1.700 was given at the time of the annual ringing festival, held each year at the end of JL¢ly. We are gratef ul for donations from peal ringers in addition to their peal fees, to our regular donors. and to those who add Gift Aid to their donations. Tower Admission Ticket sales and donations from visitors exceeded expectations for the 2025 season. We 8re grateful to the volunteerswho manned thetowerexhibition onthe Saturdays, which proved to be a very worthwhile undertaking. Expenditure Expenditure of £9,507 was made upofwages,the expenses ofthe March 2025 malntenance weekend, set-up of the exhibition, and maintenance and electricity expenses a$sociated with the licence agreement with All Saints Episcopal Church. None of the trustees h88 been paid remuneration or expenses. All the trustees declare that they benefitted from food items, and thTee of the trustees from 50% subsidisad Youth Hostel accommodation, duringthe maintenance weekend 21st-23rd March 2025. Funds Funds are banked in a current a¢¢ount with Virgin Money Iclydesdale Bank)- Pace5of7
Independent Examiner's Reportto the Trustees of Inveraray Bell Tower SCIO I report on the accounts ofthe charity forthe yearended 31 St December 2025 which 8re set out on pages 4-5. 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 Iscotiandl Act 2005 and the Charities Accounts Iscotlandl Regulations 2006 las amended). The charitytrustees consider that the audit requirement of Regulation 10111{dl of the Account Regulations does not apply. It is my responsibility to examine the accounts as required under section 4411 }Icl of the Act and to statewhether particular matters have come to myattention. Basts of independent examiner's statement My examination is carried out in accordance with Regu18tion 11 of the 2006 Accounts Regulations. An examination includes a review of the accounting record8 kept bythe 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 expla nations from the trustees concerning anysuch 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 oxaminer's statement In the course of my examination, no matterhas come to myattention. which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requirements: to keep aGcounting records in accordance with Section 4411 Ila) of the 2005 Act and Regulation 4 ofthe2006 Accounts Regulations. and to prepare accounts which accord with the8ccounting records 8nd comply with Regulation 9 ofthe2006 Accounts Regulations have not been met. or to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to en8ble a proper understandirig of the accounts to be Teached. AlasdairNichols. C4 8 Hillpark Brae, Munlochy, IV8 8PL Date: OG 26 Paae6of7
Plans for Future Period Inveraray Bell Tower SCIO will continue to operate the tower in 2026 for use by bell ringers a nd 8s a visitor attraction during the summer. There are forward bookings for bell ringers for 211 of 2026 and into 2027. The SCIO intends to expand the belltower opening hours to 7 days a week forthe 2026 season using paid employees and to open for a 15 week period. Approved by the Trustees on 2910612026 and signed on their behalf ty.. Jonathan Frye Chair of the trustees Page7of7