The Trustees present their annual report and financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2025.
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)" (effective October 2019), and in accordance with the special provisions of part 15 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small companies.
The objectives of the Charity are:
i. to establish, provide, support, and maintain a recreation ground for the use of the inhabitants of the ecclesiastical parishes of Taplow and Hitcham; and
ii. to further exclusively charitable purposes, with a preference for charitable purposes within the said ecclesiastical parishes.
The Trustees have referred to the guidance obtained in the Charity Commission's general guidance on public benefit when reviewing the objectives of the Charity, and in planning future activities. In particular the Trustees consider how planned activities will contribute to the aims and objectives which have been set.
The Charity, which is managed by the Trustees, owns and maintains a recreation ground in Taplow which is used by local people for recreational purposes.
The balance of the Charity's funds are invested in a sports ground (which is leased to a local sports club) adjacent to the recreation ground, in a range of collective investment funds and on deposit. The Charity uses these funds, and the income therefrom, to support the recreation ground and such suitable local charitable causes as the Trustees see fit.
There have been no material changes in the Charity's activities during the year.
The Trustees have paid due regard to guidance issued by the Charity Commission in deciding what activities the Charity should undertake.
The Trustees' investment powers are governed by the Trust Deed, which permits the Charity's funds to be invested in any such assets as they see fit.
The Charity has investment property which generated rental income of £8,300 for the year and quoted investments which generated income of £6,003 for the year.
The Charity's investments have continued to be managed in conformity with our policy and the Trust Deeds.
The Charity's investment income in the year amounted to £14,303 which represented a slight decrease due to a decrease in income from its listed investments. There was an excess of income over expenditure for the year, before investment gains, of £591. After taking into account unrealised and realised investment gains of £5,329, there was a net increase in the Charity's funds of £5,920.
The Trustees consider the state of the Charity's affairs to be satisfactory and that the assets of each of the Charity's funds are available and adequate to fulfil its obligations. At 31 March 2025 the Charity's funds totalled £536,292, including the recreation ground (which is carried in the Balance Sheet at its original cost of £10,018) and investments (acquired in accordance with the powers of the Trustees) valued at £519,261 at that date.
The Charity is generally able to manage its income and expenditure in order to ensure it achieves a small surplus or deficit before investment gains and losses. This ensures that its activities are not affected in the short term. The risk of serious disruption to the Charity's activities is to a large extent mitigated due to the Charity's long term lease income and a large choice of supply chain partners. The Trustees will continue to monitor its risks and their potential impact on its activities.
Reserves
Total funds have increased from £530,372 to £536,292 and of the total fund £529,279 is invested in fixed assets. The remaining £7,013 is represented by net current assets. Unrestricted reserves at 31 March 2025 amounted to £526,274.
The Trustees intend to accumulate surpluses for the upkeep of the ground, other charitable activities and similar local charitable projects.
Plans for Future periods
The Trustees will continue to concentrate on the Charity's objectives with plans for further improvements at the recreation ground and for further support to local charities.
The Charity is a company limited by guarantee and does not have share capital. Its governing document is the Memorandum and Articles of Association. In the event of a winding up, each Member will be required to contribute such amount as may be required, not exceeding £1.
The Trustees, who are also the directors for the purpose of company law, and who served during the year and up to the date of signature of the financial statements, unless noted below, were:
The Trustees, all of whom live within the ecclesiastical parishes of Taplow and Hitcham and are unpaid, are appointed by the Members of the Charity at the Annual General Meeting, and may be appointed by the Trustees between Annual General Meetings, until the next Annual General Meeting. They are subject to retirement by rotation.
The Trustees discuss the major risks that the Charity faces at each Trustees' meeting and are satisfied that systems are in place to mitigate the Charity's exposure to these risks.
The Trustees (who are also directors of The Taplow & Hitcham Recreation Grounds Association Limited for the purposes 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 charitable company and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable company for the 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 2019 (FRS 102);
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;
prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charitable company 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 charitable company 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 charitable company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
In so far as the Trustees are aware:
there is no relevant audit information (as defined by Section 418 of the Companies Act 2006) of which the charitable company’s auditor is unaware; and
the Trustees have taken all steps that they ought to have taken to make themselves aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the auditor is aware of that information.
In accordance with the company's articles, a resolution proposing that Kingston Burrowes Audit Ltd 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 The Taplow & Hitcham Recreation Grounds Association Limited (the ‘Charity’) for the year ended 31 March 2025 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, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, 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.
Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006
In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of our audit:
the information given in the Trustees' report for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared, which includes the directors' report prepared for the purposes of company law, is consistent with the financial statements; and
the directors' report included within the Trustees' report has been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements.
In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the Charity and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the directors' report included within the Trustees' report.
We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Companies Act 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:
adequate accounting records have not been kept, or returns adequate for our audit have not been received from branches not visited by us; or
the financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or
certain disclosures of trustees' remuneration specified by law are not made; or
we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit; or
the Trustees were not entitled to prepare the financial statements in accordance with the small companies regime and take advantage of the small companies' exemptions in preparing the Trustees' report and from the requirement to prepare a strategic report.
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.
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.
Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud is detailed below:
Enquiry of management and those charged with governance about actual and potential litigation or claims and the identification of non-compliance with laws and regulations.
Reviewing minutes of meetings of those charged with governance.
Reviewing financial statement disclosures and testing to supporting documentation to assess compliance with applicable laws and regulations.
Auditing the risk of management override of controls, including testing journal entries and other adjustments for appropriateness; assessing whether the judgements made in making accounting estimates are indicative of a potential bias; and evaluating the business rationale of any significant transactions that are unusual or outside the normal course of business.
Performing analytical procedures to identify any unusual or unexpected relationships that may indicate risks of material misstatement due to fraud.
Professional scepticism in course of the audit and with audit sampling in material audit areas.
Because of the inherent limitations of an audit, there is a risk that we will not detect all irregularities, including those leading to a material misstatement in the financial statements or non-compliance with regulation. This risk increases the more that compliance with a law or regulation is removed from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, as we will be less likely to become aware of instances of non-compliance. The risk is also greater regarding irregularities occurring due to fraud rather than error, as fraud involves intentional concealment, forgery, collusion, omission or misrepresentation.
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.
Use of our report
This report is made solely to the charitable company’s members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charitable 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 charitable company and the charitable company’s members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.
The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year. All income and expenditure derive from continuing activities.
The Taplow & Hitcham Recreation Grounds Association Limited is a registered Charity (no. 308328) and private company limited by guarantee (no. 00561295), incorporated in Great Britain and registered in England and Wales. In the event of the Charity being wound up, the liability in respect of the guarantee is limited to £1 per member of the Charity. The registered office is given on the Legal & Administrative Information page.
The Charity constitutes a public benefit entity as defined by FRS 102. The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with 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 issued in October 2019, the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102), the Charities Act 2011, the Companies Act 2006 and UK Generally Accepted Accounting Practice.
The financial statements are prepared on a going concern basis under the historical cost convention, modified to include certain items at fair value. The financial statements are presented in sterling which is the functional currency of the Charity.
The significant accounting policies applied in the preparation of these financial statements are set out below. These policies have been consistently applied to all years presented unless otherwise stated.
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 general funds are those funds which are freely available for use in furtherance of the objects of the Charity.
Permanent endowment funds are those funds which have been bequeathed to the Charity, to be held in perpetuity. The capital element is not expendable. The Charity’s permanent endowment fund is represented by the freehold land (the recreation ground).
Items of income are recognised in the financial statements when all of the following criteria are met:
The Charity has entitlement to the funds;
any performance conditions have been met or are fully within the control of the Charity;
there is sufficient certainty that receipt of the income is considered probable; and
the amount can be measured reliably.
Expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to make payment to a third party, it is probable that settlement will be required and the amount can be measured reliably.
Cost of raising funds comprises expenditure relating to the management of the Charity’s investments.
Charitable activities comprise expenditure relating to the upkeep of the recreation ground (direct costs) and those costs that are necessary to support this activity. Support costs include governance costs which comprises those costs associated with meeting the Charity’s constitutional and statutory requirements.
Freehold land held for the Charity’s own use is stated at cost and is not depreciated.
Listed investments are initially recognised at cost and are subsequently stated at fair value at the end of each accounting period by reference to quoted market values. Gains and losses on listed investments are recognised in the Statement of Financial Activities.
Investment property is initially recognised at cost and subsequently stated at fair value at the end of each accounting period. Periodic formal valuations are carried out by an appropriately qualified individual. Valuations in the interim are based on the Trustees' opinion taking into account the last formal valuation. Gains and losses on investment property are recognised in the Statement of Financial Activities.
Debtors and creditors
Debtors and creditors with no stated interest rate and receivable or payable within one year are recorded at transaction price. Any losses arising from impairments are recognised in expenditure.
The average monthly number of employees during the year was:
The charity is exempt from taxation on its activities because all its income is applied for charitable purposes.
The carrying value of land included in land and buildings comprises:
The investment property was valued at 31/03/2021 by the Trustees at £132,800. The historical cost of the property at 31/03/2025 was £10,000 (2024 - £10,000). This valuation was obtained by applying the historic rate of return from the property to the higher rents received, following a recent rent review.
Endowment funds represent assets which must be held permanently by the Charity. Income arising on the endowment funds can be used in accordance with the objects of the Charity and is included as unrestricted income. Any capital gains or losses arising on the assets form part of the fund.
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 transactions with related parties during 2025 or 2024.
The Trustees received no remuneration or reimbursed expenses in 2025 or 2024.