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2025-07-31-accounts

ABERDEEN ICE HOCKEY CLUB (The Aberdeen Lynx) REGISTERED CHARITY NUMBER: SC051762

ANNUAL REPORT 2024/25

ABERDEEN ICE HOCKEY CLUB

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE PERIOD 1 AUGUST 2024 TO 31 JULY 2025

The trustees present their report with the financial statements of the charity for the period 1 August 2024 to 31 July 2025. The trustees have adopted the provisions of Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2019).

OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES Objectives and aims

Aberdeen Ice Hockey Club is a non-profit charity dedicated to getting more people involved in the exciting sport of ice hockey.

Our vision is simple: to help people grow and thrive through our shared passion for the game .

We support players of all ages by providing quality coaching and access to facilities that meet the standards set by Scottish Ice Hockey and Ice Hockey UK, the sport’s governing bodies.

The club offers training and registration for young players up to age 19, as well as for our senior team, which competes in the Scottish National League. We host league and cup fixtures for four junior age groups and our senior team here in Aberdeen, and our teams also travel to take part in competitions across Scotland and Northern Ireland.

To help promote the sport and support the development of our young players, we offer a range of club merchandise—including replica jerseys—with all profits reinvested directly into our junior programme

ACHIEVEMENT AND PERFORMANCE Charitable activities

This year was another memorable one for the Aberdeen Ice Hockey Club, the registered charity, with teams of all ages playing under the banner of Aberdeen Lynx.

Season 2024/25

The SNL team had another fantastic season, becoming SNL Playoff Champions 2024/25. The league produced some tough opponents for the team this year, however the success of winning the play offs cemented a great end to the 2024/25 season celebrated by the team and fans alike.

The team yet again supported the transition of our juniors into the SNL team with a 2[nd] years dispensation for Logan Gordon. Aberdeen Lynx was also able to also achieve dispensation for Zac Thomson and Lennon Stephen seeing both juniors join the SNL team for the 24/25 season. Zac became the youngest goal scorer with the whole SNL.

We are also proud to report that we were able to support the career development of 3 of our SNL players with a 2-way contract with the Dundee Stars for Gary Kelly, Dominic Jagler & Rowan Hill

Aberdeen Lynx Juniors

The Aberdeen Juniors development saw several of our talented junior players successful at trials in securing a place in the Scotland team for their age groups. In all 29 youths ranging from the U17s to U11s were selected to attend trials with 3 prospects being select for trial too. In addition to training and games in Scotland, the teams competed in tournaments worldwide.

This year also saw a successful number of juniors sign up for the Ozone summer camp and the launch of the Aberdeen Lynx Edge Academy which gives the juniors the opportunity to access training on a smaller group basis which focuses on stick handling, passing, goal scoring and skate training. The academy run by Coach Owen, Coach Jordan and skating Coach Mel saw a marked improvement in the skills of our juniors.

The club are also proud to have supported our newest of players in supporting the costs of X-Ice for our youth development players

Aberdeen Lynx Juniors Round Up

The 2024/25 Season for the junior teams was completed in great style with all 4 teams finishing within the top tier of their respective leagues and entering the Scottish Cup playoffs.

Community Engagement

Supporting our wider community continues to be a central part of Aberdeen Ice Hockey Club’s mission. Throughout the year, we delivered a range of events and initiatives designed to bring people together, promote positive engagement, and contribute to important local causes.

Aberdeen Lynx Alumni Charity Match

The preseason period in August marked the launch of our first ever Aberdeen Lynx Alumni Match—a landmark event bringing together past and present Lynx players in support of MND Scotland and Charlie House. This inaugural charity game proved to be an outstanding success, raising £10,000, which was shared equally between the two charities.

In addition to the on-ice action, our junior members took part in a competition to design two special edition jerseys for the match. These unique shirts were worn by the players during the game and subsequently raffled, adding an extra level of engagement and fundraising to the event.

Aberdeen Christmas Lights Parade

In November 2024, the club once again participated in Aberdeen’s annual Christmas Lights Parade. Our mascot, Lennox, and a group of junior players proudly represented the club as they joined other community organisations and charities in the city centre to mark the official start of the festive season. This event provides an important opportunity for the club to remain visible and connected within the wider community.

Annual Teddy Toss

Our annual Teddy Toss took place during a Christmas-themed Scottish National League home game in December 2024. Fans and players were encouraged to bring a soft toy to donate, and as soon as the first Lynx goal was scored, nearly 500 teddies and soft toys were thrown onto the ice. These were collected by our “Mini Lynx” helpers and delivered the following week to Northsound 1’s Mission Christmas appeal. The toys were distributed to children across the region who might otherwise have gone without a gift during the festive period.

Celebrate Aberdeen

Lennox rallied the tribe to take part in the Celebrate Aberdeen Parade. The SNL & Juniors represented the Aberdeen Lynx at the parade. The SNL players took the time to parade the SNL League Trophy and Scottish Cup 2023/24 year.

Building a legacy & celebrating success

Our junior players were invited to the annual awards evening held at Pittodrie which celebrated the achievements of each team and individual players from each year groups. Awards were given in a range of categories including Player’s Player, Future Stars, Most Improved and Spirit of the Club.

The SNL adult team also celebrated their success in 2024/25 at the annual Lynx Ball allowing the team to reflect and celebrate the team with their supporters and sponsors.

FINANCIAL REVIEW Financial position

The successes of the the SNL team continued with Aberdeen Lynx naming a great team to challenge their opponents, the SNL teams play each other four times across the season with two home and two away games. This resulted in unparalleled ticket sales and merchandise sales, but as previously also resulted in substantial associated costs for ice hire, referee fees and travel to away games.

Income for the year totalled £404,038 (2025 - £362,818) with expenditure for the same period of £421,096 (2025 - £357,845). This resulted in a total deficit for the season of £17,058 (2025 – surplus of £4,973).

A total of £154,578 (2025 - £150,223) was received in ticket sales, £27,500 (2005 - £15,559) in sponsorship, £56,406 (2025 - £49,376) from merchandise sales and £20,789 (2025 - £26,661) from fundraising such as the Shirt off the Back raffle and Chuck a Puck on game nights.

Ice Hire costs amounted to a combined £176,984 with the largest share of £112,366 for training ice on Mondays and Wednesday evenings throughout the year.

Monthly junior fees of £68,882 were received during the course of the year. Aberdeen Ice Hockey Club charges £50 per month for a single junior player, with discounts offered to families with more than one young person playing. This is the lowest cost of training in Scotland and monthly fees have not increased for at least four years. This monthly payment provides access to a minimum of two hours training per week, with only brief closures over Christmas and in August each year, and where possible players are offered the chance to ‘train up’ or ‘train down’ with the next age group to access an additional two hours per week on ice.

The funds are used to fund junior training, subsidise coaches to junior away games and enabled us to partially subsidise the trip to Belfast.

This year there was investment in a share funded purchase of the Jumbotron that will allow us to access further fundraising opportunities in 25/26.

Reserves policy

The charity agreed a reserves policy at its AGM in July 2024. It was agreed to maintain £30,000 on an ongoing basis. This would cover between three and six months of essential operation as a hockey club supporting junior development.

STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT

Governing document

Aberdeen Ice Hockey Club is a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (SCIO) and was incorporated on 30 May 2022. The charity is governed by its constitution.

Recruitment and appointment of new trustees

Charity Trustees are appointed for a two year period at the Annual General Meeting of Aberdeen Ice Hockey Club. The board comprises trustee and non-trustee positions and all members are elected by the membership.

REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS Registered Charity number SC051762

Principal address

The Steading Seggiecrook Insch Aberdeenshire AB52 6NR

Trustees

John Colley Pim Peters Lisa Grant Gordon Brian Goldring Rachael Goldring (resigned 31.07.2025) Fraser MacEachran Stewart McKenzie Eleanor Bulman (appointed 31.07.2025) Darren Carrol (appointed 31.07.2025)

Independent Examiner

S & W Partners (Scotland) Limited Business Advisors and Accountants

Approved by order of the board of trustees on ............................................. and signed on 14/05/2026 its behalf by:

.................................................................... John Colley Trustee