The trustees present their annual report and financial statements for the year ended 30 June 2024.
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in note 1 to the financial statements and comply with the charity's governing document, the Companies Act 2006 and “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)” (as amended for accounting periods commencing from 1 January 2016)
The charity's objectives are to administer, foster, encourage, extend and control Rugby Football Union for the moral, mental and physical development of students at universities and other institutions of higher education within England. In furtherance of these activities, but without in anyway limiting them, the Students Rugby Football Union shall have the following powers:
To promote and develop the game, including (but not limited to) the coaching thereof in universities (and other institutions of higher education) within England.
To act as the higher education section of the Rugby Football Union and to be a constituent body of the Rugby Football Union.
To ensure that the game is played in accordance with the laws of the game and is administered in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Rugby Football Union and the regulations of World Rugby.
To arrange representative, trial and other matches and tours for students qualified to play for England.
The trustees have paid due regard to guidance issued by the Charity Commission in deciding what activities the charity should undertake.
Our main activities and who we try to help are described within our objectives and activities. All our charitable activities focus on the promotion of the game of Rugby Football Union to students of universities (and higher education institutions). We have provided opportunities for all university (and higher education institution) students to take part in the enjoyment of Rugby Football Union, ensuring they play to their optimum capability and the best play for England.
Our key achievements for the year include:
Hosting the England Universities vs France Universities fixture at Coventry RFC
Conducted inclusivity research and focus groups
Launch of Player Registration in universities
Introduction of SRFU / RFU / BUCS joint Behaviour Charter
Receiving over 90 nominations for the University Rugby Awards, which were hosted at the BUCS Rugby Finals at the StoneX Stadium
Hosting the University Rugby Development Forum at StoneX Stadium
Free Rugby Development Day for university Staff & Students
Formation of EDI Advisory Board
The charity has continued to receive support from the Rugby Football Union and against the backdrop of limited resources has continued to develop the services provide by the charity to it beneficiaries. Although it is the Trustees intention to act prudently we do not wish to stockpile funds. The Trustees wish to sensibly invest in the development of Student Rugby and continue to work hard at making our funds reach ever further each year. During the financial year the Trustees have made a conscious decision to continue to support the England Students programme following the loss of funding from the RFU; this was underwritten by reserves. Moving forward, the Trustees plan to remove the reliance on reserves and develop this into a self-sustaining programme.
It is the policy of the charity that unrestricted funds which have not been designated for a specific use should be maintained at a level equivalent to not less than twelve months core expenditure. The trustees consider that reserves at this level will ensure that, in the event of a significant drop in funding, they will be able to continue the charity’s current activities while consideration is given to ways in which additional funds may be raised.
Principal Funding Sources
The principal funding sources are from grants received from the Rugby Football Union. Other income is raised by way of fund raising initiatives held for the benefit of the charity.
Investment Policy
It is not the charity's policy to invest funds for the long term. The charity's expenditure is based seasonally upon the Rugby Football Union playing season. Where funds are received in advance or there is a surplus following the season, these are placed on short-term deposit.
Risk Management
The trustees have conducted a review of the major risks to which the charity is exposed. A risk register has been established and will be reviewed on an annual basis. Where appropriate, systems or procedures have been established to mitigate the risks the charity faces. Procedures are in place to ensure compliance with health and safety of staff, volunteers, visitors and competitors who partake in the events arranged by the charity. These procedures are reviewed periodically to ensure that they continue to meet the needs of the charity.
The charity plans continuing the activities outlined above in the forthcoming years subject to satisfactory funding arrangements from its relevant donors.
The charity is a company limited by guarantee, incorporated on 22 June 2001 and registered as a charity on 22 January 2007. The company was established under a Memorandum of Association which established the objects and powers of the charitable company and is governed under its Articles of Association. In the event of the company being wound up members are required to contribute an amount not exceeding £10.
The trustees, who are also the directors for the purpose of company law, and who served during the year were:
Recruitment and Appointment of Trustees
The directors of the company are also charity trustees for the purposes of charity law. Under the requirements of the Memorandum and Articles of Association the trustees are elected to serve for a period of one year after which they must be re-elected at the next Annual General Meeting.
All trustees give their time voluntarily and received no benefits from the charity. Any expenses reclaimed from the charity are set out in note 9 to the accounts.
Organisational Structure
The Students Rugby Football Union has a management committee (Full Committee) which is made up of the trustees, and the Chairpersons of the four subcommittees:
Governance and discipline
Player Development
Club development
EDI
In addition to the Trustees, represented on the SRFU Full Committee there are representatives from the RFU Player Pipeline Team, British Universities and College Sport and an RFU Council representative.
The trustees, who are also the directors of Students Rugby Football Union for the purpose of company law, are responsible for preparing the Trustees' Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).
Company Law requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable company for that year.
In preparing these financial statements, the trustees are required to:
- select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
- observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP;
- make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
- state whether applicable UK Accounting Standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements; and
- prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in operation.
The trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
In accordance with the company's articles, a resolution proposing that Bache Brown & Co Limited be reappointed as auditor of the company will be put at a General Meeting.
The trustees' report was approved by the Board of Trustees.
Opinion
We have audited the financial statements of Students Rugby Football Union (the ‘charity’) for the year ended 30 June 2024 which comprise the statement of financial activities, the balance sheet and notes to the financial statements, including significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).
In our opinion, the financial statements:
Basis for opinion
We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor's responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the charity in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC’s Ethical Standard, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.
In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the trustees' use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.
Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the charity’s ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.
Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the trustees with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.
Other information
The other information comprises the information included in the annual report other than the financial statements and our auditor's report thereon. The trustees are responsible for the other information contained within the annual report. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon. Our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the course of the audit, or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.
We have nothing to report in this regard.
We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 require us to report to you if, in our opinion:
the information given in the financial statements is inconsistent in any material respect with the trustees' report; or
sufficient accounting records have not been kept; or
the financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records; or
we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit.
As explained more fully in the statement of trustees' responsibilities, the trustees, who are also the directors of the charity for the purpose of company law, are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the trustees determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error. In preparing the financial statements, the trustees are responsible for assessing the charity’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the trustees either intend to liquidate the charitable company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.
We have been appointed as auditor under section 145 of the Charities Act 2011 and report in accordance with the Act and relevant regulations made or having effect thereunder.
Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor's report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.
The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud, is detailed below.
We assess the risk of material misstatement in respect of fraud by meeting with management to understand where it considered there was susceptibility to fraud.
We obtained an understanding of the legal and regulatory frameworks that are applicable to the company and determined that the most significant reporting frameworks which are likely to affect the company include the Charities Act, FRS102, and the Companies Act 2006. In addition we determined that there were no significant laws and regulations which have a direct effect on the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements.
We considered the risk of fraud through management override on controls. We also considered how management bias may impact upon performance targets.
In response we performed audit work over the risk of management override of controls, including testing of journal entries and other adjustments for appropriateness, evaluating the business rationale of any significant transactions outside the normal course of business, reviewing accounting estimates for management bias.
Based on the results of our risk assessment we designed our audit procedures to identify non-compliance with such laws and regulations. Our procedures involved enquiries with management around actual and potential claims. Reviewing financial statement disclosures and testing to supporting documentation to assess compliance with applicable laws and regulations.
A further description of our responsibilities is available on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at: https://www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our auditor's report.
This report is made solely to the company’s members, as a body, in accordance with section 391 of the Companies Act 2014. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the company’s members those matters we are required to state to them in an auditor's report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the company and the company’s members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.
Rugby Football Union grants
Fundraising and sponsorship
Investment income
Fundraising
Development
Growth
Performance
The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year.
The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year. All income and expenditure derive from continuing activities.
Students Rugby Football Union is a private company limited by guarantee incorporated in England and Wales. The registered office is 14 St Catherines Road, Harrogate, North Yorkshire, HG2 8JZ.
The accounts have been prepared in accordance with the charity's governing document, the Companies Act 2006 and “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)” (as amended for accounting periods commencing from 1 January 2016). The charity is a Public Benefit Entity as defined by FRS 102.
The charity has taken advantage of the provisions in the SORP for charities applying FRS 102 Update Bulletin 1 not to prepare a Statement of Cash Flows.
The financial statements are prepared in sterling, which is the functional currency of the charity. Monetary amounts in these financial statements are rounded to the nearest £.
The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention, modified to include financial instruments at fair value. The principal accounting policies adopted are set out below.
At the time of approving the financial statements, the trustees have a reasonable expectation that the charity has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. Thus the trustees continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the financial statements.
Unrestricted funds are available for use at the discretion of the trustees in furtherance of their charitable objectives.
Restricted funds are subject to specific conditions by donors or grantors as to how they may be used. The purposes and uses of the restricted funds are set out in the notes to the financial statements.
Income is recognised when the charity is legally entitled to it after any performance conditions have been met, the amounts can be measured reliably, and it is probable that income will be received.
Cash donations are recognised on receipt. Other donations are recognised once the charity has been notified of the donation, unless performance conditions require deferral of the amount. Income tax recoverable in relation to donations received under Gift Aid or deeds of covenant is recognised at the time of the donation.
Legacies are recognised on receipt or otherwise if the charity has been notified of an impending distribution, the amount is known, and receipt is expected. If the amount is not known, the legacy is treated as a contingent asset.
Expenditure is recognised on an accrual basis as a liability is incurred. Expenditure includes any VAT which cannot be fully recovered and is reported as part of the expenditure to which it relates.
Costs of generating funds comprise the costs associated with attracting voluntary income and the costs of trading for fund raising purposes.
Charitable expenditure comprises those costs incurred by the Charity in the delivery of its activities and services for it beneficiaries. It includes both costs that can be allocated directly to such activities and those costs of an indirect nature necessary to support them.
Governance costs include those costs associated with meeting the constitutional and statutory requirements of the Charity and include the audit fees and costs linked to the strategic management of the Charity.
All costs are allocated between the expenditure categories of the statement of financial activities on a basis designed to reflect the use of the resource. Costs relating to a particular activity are allocated directly, other are apportioned on an apportioned on a appropriate basis.
Fixed asset investments are initially measured at transaction price excluding transaction costs, and are subsequently measured at fair value at each reporting date. Changes in fair value are recognised in net income/(expenditure) for the year. Transaction costs are expensed as incurred.
Cash and cash equivalents include cash in hand, deposits held at call with banks, other short-term liquid investments with original maturities of three months or less, and bank overdrafts. Bank overdrafts are shown within borrowings in current liabilities.
The charity has elected to apply the provisions of Section 11 ‘Basic Financial Instruments’ and Section 12 ‘Other Financial Instruments Issues’ of FRS 102 to all of its financial instruments.
Financial instruments are recognised in the charity's balance sheet when the charity becomes party to the contractual provisions of the instrument.
Financial assets and liabilities are offset, with the net amounts presented in the financial statements, when there is a legally enforceable right to set off the recognised amounts and there is an intention to settle on a net basis or to realise the asset and settle the liability simultaneously.
Basic financial assets, which include debtors and cash and bank balances, are initially measured at transaction price including transaction costs and are subsequently carried at amortised cost using the effective interest method unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, where the transaction is measured at the present value of the future receipts discounted at a market rate of interest. Financial assets classified as receivable within one year are not amortised.
Basic financial liabilities, including creditors and bank loans are initially recognised at transaction price unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, where the debt instrument is measured at the present value of the future payments discounted at a market rate of interest. Financial liabilities classified as payable within one year are not amortised.
Debt instruments are subsequently carried at amortised cost, using the effective interest rate method.
Trade creditors are obligations to pay for goods or services that have been acquired in the ordinary course of operations from suppliers. Amounts payable are classified as current liabilities if payment is due within one year or less. If not, they are presented as non-current liabilities. Trade creditors are recognised initially at transaction price and subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method.
Financial liabilities are derecognised when the charity’s contractual obligations expire or are discharged or cancelled.
The cost of any unused holiday entitlement is recognised in the period in which the employee’s services are received.
Termination benefits are recognised immediately as an expense when the charity is demonstrably committed to terminate the employment of an employee or to provide termination benefits.
In the application of the charity’s accounting policies, the trustees are required to make judgements, estimates and assumptions about the carrying amount of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. The estimates and associated assumptions are based on historical experience and other factors that are considered to be relevant. Actual results may differ from these estimates.
The estimates and underlying assumptions are reviewed on an ongoing basis. Revisions to accounting estimates are recognised in the period in which the estimate is revised where the revision affects only that period, or in the period of the revision and future periods where the revision affects both current and future periods.
Rugby Football Union grants
Rugby Football Union grants
Fundraising and sponsorship
Income from provision of Rugby Football Union tickets
Sponsorships
Fundraising and sponsorship
Investment income
Fundraising
Fundraising
Cost of provision of Rugby Football Union tickets
Development
Growth
Performance
Development
Growth
Performance
Direct charitable activity expenditure
IT costs & other support expenses
Direct charitable expenditure
Bank charges
Governance costs includes payments to the auditors of £2,845 (2023- £3,300) for audit fees.
None of the trustees (or any persons connected with them) received any remuneration during the year, but three of them were reimbursed a total of £1,558(2023 - £3,294) for travelling expenses.
The average monthly number of employees during the year was:
The unrestricted funds of the charity comprise the unexpended balances of donations and grants which are not subject to specific conditions by donors and grantors as to how they may be used. These include designated funds which have been set aside out of unrestricted funds by the trustees for specific purposes.
There were no disclosable related party transactions during the year (2023 - none).