Athelstaneford Community Group SCIO
Trustees’ Annual Report 1[st] April 2024 to 31[st] March 2025
Charity contact information
Athelstaneford Community Group SCIO
Scottish Charity Number: SC052289
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Email address: athelstaneford.community.group@gmail.com
Charity Trustees
The following table names all of our charity trustees for the period, and the date they left the group where they were not in post for the whole
year:
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Trustee name Date of leaving group
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Objectives and activities
Athelstaneford Community Group SCIO was set-up in February 2023 by residents of Athelstaneford village to respond to issues raised by people in the community.
The organisation’s purposes are to advance the health, wellbeing and quality of life of the residents of Athelstaneford and its surrounding area through:
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e community development;
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e the provision of recreational facilities, or the organisation of
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e recreational activities;
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e supporting people who are disadvantaged; and
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e the protection and improvement of the natural environment.
We do this by supporting projects and activities that achieve these aims.
The group aims to benefit all residents in the village and surrounding area, in particular younger people, older people and those experiencing disadvantage.
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Structure, governance and management
Type of governing document
The group has been set up as a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (SCIO) and has a 2-tier structure of Trustees and Members. It is governed by a written constitution.
Trustee recruitment and appointment
The organisation became a SCIO on 1° February 2023, at which point all of the founding Trustees were officially appointed.
A maximum of 15 trustees can be appointed, of which no more than 3 may be co-opted non-members.
All existing trustees retire at each AGM but are eligible for re-election. The election of the trustees is made by the members at the AGM.
Trustees
The group’s first AGM was held on 30 April 2024. All trustees retired and eight of the original thirteen founding trustees were re-elected for another year. The co-opted trustee, NE, was also coopted again for the 2024-25 committee year.
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Achievements and performance
The group continued to build on the success and momentum of the work carried out in 2023-24, including:
Activities
A key focus of the group has been to facilitate the running of more activities in the village to enable members of the community to meet each other more often, building social connections.
The activities the group have organised included:
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e Tulip Tea (April 2024)
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e Community ceilidh (August 2024)
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e St.Andrews night fundraising Ceilidh in aid of the park redevelopment project (November 2024)
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e An after-school ‘warm hub’ was run from October 2024 until the February 2025 half term
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e Evening ‘community gathering’ events were held in October 2024, January 2025 and February 2025
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e Daytime ‘community gathering’ events were held in September 2024 and March 2025 where the school children sang and there was a chair yoga session.
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e The group financially supported a Shared Reading group for 3 trial sessions
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There has continued to be good attendance at these activities and they have enabled people to meet more often in the community, welcome new people to the village and help people who have been experiencing social isolation.
Fundraising and grant applications need to be sought to support some of these activities and to remove the financial barrier that can prevent some people from being able to participate. An application for £2,850 was submitted to the Haddington & Lammermuir Area Partnership in July 2024 to deliver “Event nights and days with raffle, auction, games, tennis competition and community bar (temporary licence) and donations.” but was unfortunately unsuccessful.
All of these activities have only been possible due to the generous support of volunteers to help make them happen.
During the reporting period, the Coffee Morning and Stitch & Knit activities were separated out and managed separately from the Activities Group - updates on these are provided below under their own headings.
Stitch & Knit
The Stitch & Knit Group meets every Wednesday 7-9pm in Athelstaneford village hall. It continues to have around 10 people attending on a regular basis. The group provides a supportive and welcoming atmosphere for all. Anew member has acknowledged the warmth of the welcome and has quickly become a regular attendee. The group is currently advertised through word of mouth, other ways of encouraging membership are regularly discussed.
Members undertake their own chosen crafts and help and teach others who are interested in a particular project.
Group members have been asked to participate in a number of community based projects including:
- e Contributing to Crossreach Project knitting warm scarfs hats etc for homeless people
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e Hutton Hats - Progress has been made with knitting hats which will contribute to fundraising to celebrate the tercentenary of
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e Haddington in Bloom - Members are knitting and crocheting flowers, insects etc to be included in a display
A potential partnership with the local Primary School is being discussed.
Importantly the group helps to reduce social isolation and provides a mindful two hours of calm in busy lives.
Coffee mornings
The coffee mornings have been consistently well attended during the period. A regular attendance between 28-34 attendees and receiving donations of over £100 regularly that cover the costs of running the events with any surplus going towards the group’s general funds.
People get a lot from the coffee morning, catching up with friends and relatives that attend from all over East Lothian.
Volunteer helpers and bakers are always keen to help, and it’s been a great way to introduce new villagers into the community.
The SWI, the Stitch & Knit and the park groups have used the coffee mornings to promote their activities and to provide updates.
7
Park redevelopment
The Athelstaneford community have highlighted the condition of the village park as one of their main concerns. Historic design issues and neglect have resulted in this key public greenspace being underused and it doesn’t currently serve the community’s needs well. The park revelopment project aims to create a high-quality outdoor place for the whole community to use.
In previous years the Community Group developed a masterplan for the park’s redevelopment in consultation with the community and key stakeholders to ensure that the design meets everyone’s aspirations and needs.
- Consultation on the draft masterplan for the village park
In the reporting period, the group made significant progress with the project including:
- e Submitting and getting planning permission for Phase 1 of the park masterplan. This was approved in February 2025 subject to a number of conditions which the group will now work to meet.
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We must start work within 3 years or the planning permission will lapse.
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e Working in partnership with East Lothian Council, a tender brief for the renewal of the children’s playpark as developed and issued. The brief was based on the feedback from the community consultation on the park masterplan and from discussions with the local children and the nursery. The tender process was successful and a winning contractor identified.
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e Concluding a lease agreement for the park with East Lothian Council. This is an important precursor to us being able to apply for funding from grant funders.
We would like to give thanks to the following for their support, without which the project wouldn't have been able to progress to this stage:
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e East Lothian Council’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund for supporting the development stages of the project
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e People in the community who have supported the project and generously donated towards it
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e Haddington & District Community Council for their support in developing and submitting the planning application including £1,400 of funding in 2023/24
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e The Cilla Fund for their funding of £1,000 towards the costs of developing and submitting the planning application
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e East Lothian Council (particularly the Amenity Services and Procurement teams) for their continued support and cooperation with the project.
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© ER, our landscape architect, for her community-focussed approach to the project
The grants and donations were held within Restricted Funds and have only been used to cover the costs of the park development project.
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Financial review
The General Funds of the charity - which represent day to day unrestricted income and expenditure showed an operational surplus of £1,924.71 in 2024-25. £1,089.50 was held at the year end to fund any activities and costs that the group Trustees agree to.
Some of the Group’s funding is ‘Restricted’ for specific purposes — in 2024-25 this consisted of:
The park redevelopment project:
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e £3,000 restricted funding received from UKSPF Fund for the village park redevelopment project
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e £1,375.55 received from local donations specifically for the village park redevelopment project
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e £1,000 from the Cilla Holland Community Award, a grant that is available to support initiatives that promote community collaboration, heritage and resilience.
A total of £6,532.26 was spent on this project within the financial year, which used all the restricted funds including those carried over from the previous financial year and £627.50 from general funds.
Stitch & Knit group:
Donations made by members of the Stitch & Knit Group are restricted for use towards the running and activity costs of this group.
In 2024-25, £834.30 of donations were collected by the Stitch & Knit group versus costs of £655.50. This resulted in a surplus of £178.80 that has been added to £263.67 from previous years. There is £442.47 available for future years.
Statement of the charity’s policy on reserves
The group has limited ongoing financial liabilities but would benefit from a small contingency fund to meet unforeseen costs. At present the minimum target reserves value has been set at £500.
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Details of any deficit
There are no deficits on any fund.
Donated facilities and services
None.
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Future plans
Activities
The group plans to continue to organise one-off activities in the year ahead including:
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e Ticketed Ceilidh, with pizza van, licensed bar and fundraising activities August 30th 2025 (fundraising event for the park project)
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e Evening ‘community gathering’ events planned for 4th April and 24th October 2025
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e Autumn tea with music — Saturday 15th November 2025 e Burns Gathering is being planned for January 2026.
In addition, the group is looking into the possibility of adding and maintaining additional planting in the village using volunteers.
Stitch & Knit
It is planned to continue running the weekly Stitch & Knit session over the course of the coming year. The group will seek funding to support the costs of this to remove any barrier to participating that asking for donations may create.
Coffee mornings
It is planned to continue running the monthly coffee mornings over the course of the coming year.
Park redevelopment project
The group plans to seek grant funding to deliver the playpark project (estimated cost £77K) — three potential grant funders have been identified. The group also intends to develop up the designs in the masterplan in to more detail and to estimate the costs of the proposed elements to help inform future funding bids.
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Cilla Fund
The group is in discussions with people managing a local endowment fund, the ‘Cilla Fund’, regarding the potential for its’ management to be brought within the structure of the Community Group.
Membership
The group plans to launch a formal membership scheme per the intention of our two-tier governance constitution. This is expected to help involve the community in the group’s work and to ensure that the trustee committee is kept accountable to the wider community the group serves.
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Declaration
Signed on behalf of the charity trustees:
a
Registered number: SC52289
ATHELSTANEFORD COMMUNITY GROUP Scio FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE PERIOD 1 APRIL 2024 TO 31 MARCH 2025
Athelstaneford Community Group SCIO Examiners Report
Independent Examiner’s Report to the Trustees of Athelstaneford Community Group SCIO
I report on the accounts of the charity for the year ended 31 March 2025.
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 (as amended). The charity trustees consider that the audit requirement of Regulation 10(1) (d) 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
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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
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e to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with Regulation 9 of the 2006 Accounts Regulations
have not been met, or
- to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
Independent Examiner
Date: 9C S | FO-255
Athelstaneford Community Group SCIO Income & Expenditure a a As at 31 March 2025
Income & Expenditure
| Income && Expenditure | Income && Expenditure | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| For the year ended 31 March 2025 | ||||||||
| Cash Basis 2024-25 |
sn Te Funds |
|||||||
| Park Grants &Donations |
Fund for |
Community | Group Funds | |||||
| Activities | ||||||||
| UKSPF Grant forPark Development | 3,000.00 | 0.00 | 3,000.00 | |||||
| Donations for Park Project | forS&K Group | 69.00 | 0.00 | 69.00 | ||||
| Cilla Fund | 1,000.00 | 1,000.00 | ||||||
| Group Funds Used for Park | 627.59 | (627.59) | 0.00 | |||||
| Event Donations | ||||||||
| Warm Hub | 17.31 | 17.31 | ||||||
| TulipTea | 430.00 | 430.00 | ||||||
| Community Gathering | 118.40 | 118.40 | ||||||
| Ceilidh | 685.00 | 685.00 | ||||||
| StAndrews Night | 1,306.55 | 0.00 | 1,306.55 | |||||
| Pop Up Nights | 194.10 | 194.10 | ||||||
| Coffee Morning | 1,040.62 | 1,040.62 | ||||||
| Stitch & Knit Donations | 592.30 | 592.30 | ||||||
| Gift Aid | 242.00 | 266.55 | . | |||||
| Grant for Community Group SetUp | ||||||||
| one | ane | 2,850.00 | 0.00 | 2,850.00 | ||||
| Bar Sales | 972.86 | 972.86 | ||||||
| StAndrews Night Fundraiser | 0.00 | 0.00 | ||||||
| Total Income | 6,003.14 | 2,850.00 | 834.30 | 3,097.25 | 12,784.69 | |||
| Costs | ||||||||
| Hall Hire | ||||||||
| Stitch & Knit | 429.00 | 286.50 | 715.50 | |||||
| Coffee Mornings | 182.00 | 76.00 | 258.00 | |||||
| Other | 7.00 | 61.75 | 68.75 | |||||
| Warm Space Hubs | 295.75 | 295.75 | ||||||
| Pop Up Events | 110.50 | 0.00 | 110.50 | |||||
| Community Gathering | 26.00 | 26.00 | ||||||
| St Andrews Night | 75.00 | 75.00 | ||||||
| TulipTea | 52.00 | 52.00 | ||||||
| Ceilidh | 60.00 | 0.00 | 60.00 | |||||
| Burns Night | 32.50 | 0.00 | 32.50 | |||||
| Stitch & Knit Costs | 369.00 | 0.00 | 369.00 | |||||
| Supplies forCoffee Morning | 0.00 | |||||||
| SuppliesforEvents | 0.00 |
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|||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|EventWarm ExpensesHub|||05|.|05|0|5.50|
|Community Gathering|||30.00|||7.64|37.64|
|Tulip Tea|61.39|61.39|
|CeilidhPop Up Nights|||376.7675.60|376.7675.60|
|St Andrews|Night|200.00|||1,034.66|1,234.66|
|Coffee Morning|||93.54|93.54|
|Warm|Hub|Costs|0.00|0.00|
|SumUp Costs|||||5.91|5.91|
|Total|Costs|6,532.26|1,440.75|655.50|1,850.75|10,479.26|
|Income|less|Costs|—=SS~«dCS«wS 2D) |—w09.25||—17e.60|1,246.50|2,305.43|||
||||
|Aaministratvecosts|||
|Charitable|and|Political|Donations|0.00|0.00|
|Training|96.00|0.00|96.00|
|Insurance|157.00|157.00|
|Gifts|||||0.00|||0.00|
|IT Software|and|Consumables|||0.00|
|EquipmentRent for meetings|||127.72|0.000.00|127.720.00|
|Total|Administrative|Costs|0.00|223.72|0.00|157.00|380.72|
|eaininvear——=SS~~dSCS*«t|
|||nessa ||a7e.80|08950||1,924.71|||
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Athelstaneford Community Group SCIO Balance Sheet
As at 31 March 2025
As at 31 March 2025
Cash Basis
| |
| . | Unrestricted | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ParkGrants | Partnership Fund for Community |
Stitch& KnitGroup |
GroupFunds | ||||
| Activities | |||||||
| Cash at bank and in hand | |||||||
| Bankof Scotland Treasurers | 0.00 | 1,185.53 | 442.47 | 1,934.06 | 3,562.06 | ||
| Cash Account | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 66.00 | 66.00 | ||
| Total Cash at bank and in hand | 0.00 | 1,185.53 | 442.47 | 2,000.06 | 3,628.06 | ||
| Capital and Reserves | |||||||
| Current Year Funds | (529.12) | 1,185.53 | 178.80 | 1,089.50 | 1,924.71 | ||
| Funds broughtforward | 529.12 | 0.00 | 263.67 | ||||
| TotalFundsAvailable | 0.00 | 1,185.53 | 442.47 | 2,000.06 | 3,628.06 |
pte §=9§3 O/E /as
Notes to the Accounts
- General Information
Athelstanefordregistered OfcCommunity ( /sGroup SCIO is a Charitable organisation,S)asincorporatedSain Scotland, Ss as:registered number SC52289 . The