The Trustees present their annual report and financial statements for the year ended 30 September 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 Foundation's governing document, the Companies Act 2006, FRS 102 "The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland" and the Charities SORP "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)".

The Foundation is the governing body for recreational cricket in Gloucestershire and works in the community to deliver a range of health, education, community cohesion and cricket development projects, programmes, and events.

The purpose of the foundation is ‘To improve lives through the power of cricket’. We want to inspire Gloucestershire to say ‘Cricket is a game for everyone. We believe cricket is uniquely placed to bring communities together, inspire lifelong friendships, improve health & wellbeing and deliver social impact'.

To meet our purpose, our vision is to put bats and balls in more people’s hands. We want cricket to become the most inclusive sport in Gloucestershire by inspiring every generation and community to feel they belong in the game.

The Objects of the Charity are for the benefit of the public generally, particularly the inhabitants of Gloucestershire and its surrounding areas, including the City of Bristol:

• to promote community participation in healthy recreation by providing or assisting in the provision of facilities for the playing of and development of cricket and other sports that are capable of improving health (‘facilities’ in this article means land, buildings, equipment and organising sporting activities including coaching and instruction) and by working to increase levels of participation in sport and physical activity, particularly among members of socially and economically disadvantaged communities in the Area of Benefit;

• to provide and assist in providing facilities for the playing of and development of the game of cricket and other games or sport, on a recreational basis for the leisure time occupation of such persons who need such facilities by reason of their youth, age, infirmity or disablement, poverty or social and economic circumstances, or for the public at large, in the interest of social welfare, with the object of improving their conditions of life, and as a means of reducing the incidence of anti-social behaviour among members of socially and economically disadvantaged communities in the Area of Benefit;

• to advance the education of people of all ages through such means as the Trustees see fit;

• to promote social inclusion for the public benefit by preventing people from becoming socially excluded, relieving the needs of those people who are socially excluded and assisting them to integrate into society. For the purpose of this clause, ‘socially excluded’ means being excluded from society, or part of society, as a result of being a member of a socially and economically deprived community in the Area of Benefit; and

• to further such other exclusively charitable purposes according to the law of England and Wales as the Trustees see fit from time to time.

Relating directly to the objects of the charity, our work is aligned with the new Inspiring Gloucestershire strategy, 2025-2029, and the ECB's cricket partnership agreement. The key pillars of our strategy are to:

1. Support Communities through diverse, inclusive and accessible cricket.

2. Accelerate change in women’s and girls’ cricket.

3. Deliver social impact through the power of cricket.

4. Engage more children and young people.

5. Develop a thriving, sustainable, safe and inclusive recreational game.

6. Supercharge our activities and impact

Each of the projects and programmes delivered by the Foundation between October 2024 and September 2025 directly contributed to at least one of the pillars of the strategy and had a clearly defined and measurable outcome and a series of ambitions. Much like the previous 12-month period, the Foundation once again had an incredible year both on and off the pitch.

The charity performs such a wide range of activities to achieve its objectives, ranging from delivery in schools, to the running of junior and senior leagues, to the development of volunteers, to providing hot meals for children during holiday periods, to providing walking cricket for the elderly.

AREAS OF WORK TO LOOK BACK AT WITH PRIDE FROM 2025

SUPERCHARGE OUR ACTIVITIES AND IMPACT

Much like 2024, the work and dedication that has been put in by the Foundation has been recognised by the ECB, informing the Foundation that it was once again the leading organisation in more areas than any other county across the country. 2025 saw the Foundation specifically achieve:

• County Governance Gold Accreditation

• Ready to Invest status

• Game Changer Funding

• Cricket Cities Funding

• EDI Strategic Funding

• Approved Countywide Strategic Plan and 4-year budget

The work in the first half of the year, where the Foundation developed its new strategy, following extensive consultation, was particularly important. This approved strategy, along with a CPA self-assessment that showed all areas were either ‘leading’ or ‘on track’, and through meeting all Governance Framework needs, meant the Foundation was in a position to attract Strategic ECB funding that very few others were.

The Foundation took advantage of this opportunity and was rewarded with grants to support:

• Diversifying the income streams of the Foundation (Game Changer Fund)

• Taking cricket to more ethnically diverse people in Bristol (Cricket Cities Fund)

• Growing the Women’s and Girls’ game (EDI Distribution Fund)

Staffing levels increased from 16 members of staff at the beginning of the year to 22 at the end, including 9 new staff members. For any organisation of the Foundation’s size, that number of recruitment campaigns, robust interview processes, appointments of great people and inductions would come as a challenge. Then layer that with the production of a new strategy, a team being constructed to meet the ambitions of the strategy, and all done in a way that would give each individual the time and attention they needed and deserved, would challenge the very best.

The result of the work means the Foundation now has the strongest and most robust team it has ever had, which is enabling greater dedication of time to specific work areas, whilst resourcing new areas that have previously been out of reach.

One of the priorities for 2025 was to make cricket more visible across Gloucestershire. To enable this, the Foundation employed a Marketing and Communications Manager, which has led to more stories being told, more visibility across social channels, and an improved and professional approach to marketing. This has seen the Foundation's social media following grow.

ENGAGE MORE CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE

Once again, our work in the area of All Stars and Dynamos was incredible, growing the number of children who accessed the programmes from 4529 to 4767. Whilst being the 14th ‘biggest’ county in the country, the Foundation’s work over-indexed and once again saw us gain the greatest market share, relevant to the size of the county. This is not something that the Foundation saw as achievable back in October 2024, but through strategic thinking and a slightly different delivery model, the numbers once again grew. These results are testament to Chris and his delivery team in taking cricket to all corners of the county and giving as many children as possible an opportunity to play the game.

The National Programme figures included delivery at 81 cricket clubs, but also a growing number of community programmes, often in holiday periods, aiming to give free bursary places to young people from low socio-economic groups and those on free school meals. Reaching children who do not normally get the chance is such an important area of our work, and we hope that by giving great experiences to the young people, they may choose cricket in the future, but more than that, they may see that physical activity can reward them with so much that they continue to be active.

National Programmes at clubs and community settings were heavily supported by the often unseen, day-to-day work in primary and secondary schools. Lazy journalism often states that cricket is dead in state schools but through delivery across the programmes of GCF Active Futures, Bristol Sport ‘Forever Sport’, Chance to Shine primary and secondary, ACE schools programme, Table Cricket, SEND programmes, and Lords Taverners Wicketz in 2025 saw the Foundation deliver:

• Engagement with 218 primary schools (53% of total schools)

• Engagement with 68 secondary schools (81% of total schools)

• 4252 hours of cricket coaching in total in schools

2025 also saw work start on the formation of the new Gloucestershire Youth Cricket League (North), which will see the previous four district associations of Stroud, Cotswolds, Leadon Vale and Cheltenham & Gloucester become obsolete, and replaced with a Foundation-managed and administered new league set up, led by the newly appointed League & Competitions Officer. The ambition of this work was twofold:

• To support and help an area that is reliant on a dwindling number of volunteers.

• Provide opportunities so all young cricketers can access meaningful, competitive, organised open cricket in all corners of the county.

DEVELOP A THRIVING, SUSTAINABLE, SAFE AND INCLUSIVE, RECREATIONAL GAME

The Foundation’s work to support volunteers continued in 2025 with the third iteration of Get into Cricket, a scheme targeting 14 to 18-year-olds, with the ambition to develop the next army of volunteers. Great learnings were taken from the inaugural project, with these leading to the design of an 8-module programme that enabled young people to learn skills across the game and wider:

• Digital Marketing Course

• Groundskeeping Course

• Health and Nutrition Course

• Cricket Activators Course

• Cricket Scoring Course

• Cricket Umpiring Course

• First Aid Course

• Safeguarding Course

The year’s offering saw 64 young people register and has had a significant impact on cricket clubs across the county, with extra hands making light work. Young volunteers have got involved with coach support at their club, with standing and scoring in junior games, with supporting the grounds team, whilst some have even been doing the club's socials to enable clubs to market their clubs better and to communicate more effectively with their membership.

Away from the juniors, the year's climax was a fantastic celebratory Cricket Collective event at the Seat Unique Stadium, for over 100 volunteers, where the Foundation got to say thank you to all of those people who do so much for the game. The event saw the following list of people presented with awards, but perhaps more importantly, the event gave the opportunity to say thank you to so many more people who give their time to the game selflessly.

Club development and support - Clubs continue to be the heartbeat of the game, and the Foundation has looked to support the 184 affiliated clubs, as best we can, throughout the year. The game has never asked for as much from Cricket Club volunteers, so it is imperative that we do all that we can to help and support them, and to make all processes as easy as possible, when often they are not.

Ensuring cricket is safe and that all clubs are covered with at least the bare minimum of fully qualified and certified safeguarding Officers is no mean feat. However, this was again managed in advance of the 2025 season by the Foundation’s work in offering bespoke, localised courses and working with leagues closely.

The safety of the recreational game was also enhanced by more great work going in to develop an increased number of Clubmark Accredited Clubs - Clubmark is an accreditation scheme for cricket clubs which shows that a club is sustainable, well run and provides the right environment for its members. Not only did all 67 previously accredited clubs regain their accreditation for 2025, but a further 4 clubs gained the accreditation for the first time. The new clubs were Arcadians Nine Elms CC, Bradley Stoke & Almondsbury CC, Stinchcombe Stragglers CC and Witcombe CC.

This money and a whole lot more is required to improve and raise the standards of the pool of facilities that the sport currently uses across the County. This was evidenced in the production of a County Facility Strategy that looked at all grass pitches, practice facilities and indoor centres where cricket is currently played. The conclusion to the strategy is that a significant amount of investment is required to support new activity and to raise the standards of current facilities.

SUPPORT COMMUNITIES THROUGH DIVERSE, INCLUSIVE AND ACCESSIBLE CRICKET.

Despite the growth of several new community programmes, we know there’s so much more that we can do, and many communities remain underserved.

In 2020, we ran 9 free Chance to Shine Street and the Lord’s Taverners Wicketz programmes in Bristol. By the end of 2025, that had grown to 27 hubs, including 11 outside Bristol, alongside new programmes like Super 1s and the African Caribbean Engagement Programme (ACE), all of which increased access by 200%.

The ACE (Afro-Caribbean Engagement) programme expanded its offering in 2025, with more hubs and a greater number of players in the ACE Academy. As a consequence of the success of the programme, the Foundation has been awarded a further three-year contract to continue the great work, and we welcomed a new team member to lead this work in November.

One of the strengths of the Foundation is the way our community programmes work together to support one another and to provide young people with additional opportunities. This was again visible in 2025 when we saw the continuation of the Community Indoor Cricket League. This saw our community programmes of Wicketz, ACE, Street and Super1s come together to form teams, where weekly games could be played against one another.

The newly appointed Diverse Communities Manager has already seen much success in the start-up and ongoing support for Tapeball Cricket in Bristol. Two teams represented Gloucestershire in a national competition in September, and we now see weekly Tapeball sessions for both men and women run locally. This is a fast-growing sport, and we very much look forward to the next 12 months' work when we hope to be running Tapeball leagues. Other work that has taken place included a targeted schools programme in the six highest ethnically diverse populated wards in Bristol and supporting ethnically diverse clubs to develop junior sections.

The Foundation continued to grow its community offering and specific thanks must go to our charity partners, Lords Taverners, Chance to Shine and ACE Charity, who all continued to support cricket in the county. This enabled programmes to reach new and additional people, whilst also seeing our urban community offer, reach additional urban towns, rather than previously, Bristol alone.

ACCELERATE CHANGE IN WOMEN’S AND GIRLS’ CRICKET

The women’s and girls’ game has come a long way in the last four years, following significant ambition and investment from the national governing body, along with localised delivery across counties.

In 2019, there were 36 clubs with Women’s and/or Girls sections. By 2025, this number

had increased to 63 (36%), showing a brilliant rise in the number of our clubs investing in this exciting part of the game. While acknowledging what we’ve already reached, we recognise there is still much more room for growth, and we have significant plans to increase activity further over the next four years, as there are only 28 clubs offering girls’ cricket, and 48 offering women’s cricket.

A real focus for us is to help clubs increase the number of female resources at the club level – volunteers, coaches, officials – as well as improving female facilities. To drive this growth, the Foundation recruited an additional member of staff, so we are able to put more bats and balls into more Women’s and Girls’ hands and give them a cricket offering that meets their needs. Thanks to the support from Metro Bank and their partnership with the ECB, female-only coaching and officiating courses took place in 2025.

One ambition for 2025 was to bring in a new Secondary School Outdoor Competition for girls, following feedback and ambition through the growing winter competitions from school teachers. Localised festivals and finals days were organised, and 29 schools got involved in summer cricket for the first time.

DELIVER SOCIAL IMPACT THROUGH THE POWER OF CRICKET

Improving physical and mental well-being is a headline priority for the ever-increasing Community Development Team at the Foundation. Studies show that physical activity plays a crucial role in countering the pressures of an ageing population by improving health outcomes, reducing healthcare costs, and enhancing overall quality of life. For young people, studies show sport reduces stress and anxiety, builds confidence and encourages social connection while offering opportunities into employment and education.

This is where the Gloucestershire Cricket Foundation can utilise the power of cricket to deliver social good. Over the next four years, we want to collaborate further with councils, local health services, community organisations, and cricket clubs to increase our offer and build bespoke programmes that will enable all people to flourish. This will be done by growing the Community Team of the Foundation and delivering meaningful programmes that have a real impact.

Our Community Engagement Officer has begun this work. The role has developed the Walking Cricket offer so this now takes place out of Bristol, Cheltenham, Gloucester and Cirencester, and at the end of 2025, funding was secured to open programmes in both Tetbury and Stow-on-the-Wold. In addition, the role prioritises offers to support health rehabilitation through work with NHS Primary Care Trusts and creates and delivers a Mental Wellbeing Programme across the county.

The Foundation generated £42,750 from direct sponsorship across 2024-2025. In most cases this support came from local or regional businesses who supported the aspirations of the Foundation in specific work areas. This is an area where the Foundation needs to continue to grow, as by bringing in partners to support areas of work, it enables normally tied up money to be utilised elsewhere to grow the game.

It was the intention of the Foundation to develop its fundraising efforts through campaigns across the JustGiving site and also through the Friends of the Foundation Lottery. Both still exist, and both still bring in an annual amount of money, but tactics changed during the year, and it was decided to go after grants from Local Authorities, Charities and other grant funders instead, as the financial return was often faster paced and enabled new activity to be delivered quicker. Both Campaigns and the Lottery Scheme remain priorities for the Foundation, and more work will go in to them being a success in 2025.

All funding received/raised is utilised to employ staff to develop and deliver projects, programmes and events that directly impact on the charity’s strategic aims.

The ambition of the Foundation is to have a break even on management accounts, whilst utilising Restricted Funds in the most efficient and effective way possible.

The financial statements reveal a surplus for the year of £98,844 on income of £1,214,445. Of the surplus £91,784 was unrestricted, with a smaller amount of £7,060 restricted for use on specific projects. The year ended with net assets of £587,255 of which £495,618 were unrestricted, whilst £91,637 was restricted.

Our unrestricted reserves at 30th September 2025 now stand at £495,618. This covers a necessary £51,637 held as potential redundancy costs and ideally a further £434,810 designated in case of a loss of funding as per our reserves policy below.

The financial position represents a strong and stable position, allowing the Trustees to deliver on the charitable objectives.

The Trustees have earmarked sufficient cash resources that they feel are prudent to meet the needs of the mitigation of adverse risks as identified by the risk register. Aside from retaining a prudent amount in reserves, the majority of the charity’s funds are to be spent in the short term, with no funds held for long-term investments.

Before becoming a charity, the Gloucestershire Cricket Board agreed a Reserves Policy with Andorran (the chartered accountancy practice that examines the annual Financial Accounts, now BK Plus). This stated that reserves should cover 2 to 6 months' running costs, depending on the security of the organisation’s income streams. The reserves must be “Unrestricted Funds”, i.e., Funds that the company is free to use as it sees fit.

Up until October 2021, the Board did not believe that it was necessary to set the policy at the top end of the range as suggested by Andorran; this was due to the secure nature of core funding from the ECB, Chance to Shine, Lords Taverners, etc. and so ‘Whichever is the greater of 3 months Running Costs plus Redundancy Costs or the Replacement Cost of Depreciated Assets’ was agreed upon.

This changed in 2022, and due to the unsettled nature of funds within sport, the impact of Covid, the Cost of Living rises, and other factors, the Board increased the period from 3 months to 6 months, to the wording of “Whichever is the greater of 6 months Running Costs plus Redundancy Costs or the Replacement Cost of Depreciated Assets”.

The ECB has signed a new broadcasting deal for the period 2025 to 2029, which will see more money come into the game than ever before. However, it is believed that there may be tougher times ahead, especially at the beginning of 2029 when this current broadcasting deal will end. Also, due to the frequently used term by the ECB of ‘flat investment’, at a time when National Living Wage and all other costs are rising significantly, the Finance, Risk, Audit and Governance "FRAG" Committee took the ‘Reserves Policy’ agenda item to the October 2025 Board meeting, where it was unanimously agreed to maintain the current levels.

The logic is that if the Company is wound up, it does not need to replace assets and understanding that assets are considerably less than running costs, plus redundancy, the reserves policy is based on 6 months Running Costs plus Redundancy Costs.

It believes that the policy needs to provide cover for:

1. Late payments

2. Any need to coherently wind up the company or find alternative sources of funding.

3. The exposure to redundancy costs

The FRAG Committee proposes that the Company require Reserves (Unrestricted Funds), for the year finishing September 2025, to cover:

1. 1 and 2 above - 6 months running costs – Currently £434,810

2. Redundancy Costs – Currently £51,637

Total = £486,447

The Reserves target will be reviewed annually as part of the budgeting process, with the budget set to ensure that Reserves are on track.

Grants

We are eternally grateful that our funders continue to support us, especially the England and Wales Cricket Board/Trust with £490,918, Chance to Shine with £169,626, the Lords Taverners with £111,369 and ACE Charity with £68,390.

2025 has seen a great start to meeting the ambitions of Inspiring Gloucestershire, 2025-2029, but there is still so much to achieve, and the next operational year looks like a key one with a full complement of staff. 2025 was all about positioning the Foundation for the final three years of the strategy, and so 2026 and beyond is very much about operational delivery and growing numbers and programmes across all aspects of the game.

Some key priorities for 2026 will include:

• Growing the number of corporate sponsors and partners, enabling the Foundation to put more bats and balls into people’s hands.

• Developing a facility steering group so the dream of a ‘Dome’ and other improved cricket facilities becomes a reality.

• Launching the GYCL North league for all clubs and delivering it in-house.

• Taking back the leadership and responsibility of the women's and girls’ leagues.

• Utilising the pull from the Women’s T20 World Cup to grow the women’s and girls’ game, including growing the number of clubs that offer girls’ cricket.

• Increasing the number of clubs that have junior sections or run National Programmes.

• Providing significant opportunities for children to watch T20 and One Day Cricket at the County Ground and Cheltenham for free, along with a much-improved activation area, so children get a great experience and want to return for future matches.

• Maximising opportunities made available by the ECB to the Foundation, to secure additional project funds through the EDI distribution fund and the Game Changer Fund.

Gloucestershire Cricket Foundation is a Charitable Company Limited by Guarantee, governed by its memorandum and articles of association dated and adopted, 31st March 2022. It is a registered charity with the Charity Commission and a registered company with Companies House.

The Trustees who have served during the year and since the year-end are set out on Page 1. The Trustees meet at least seven times per year and on any other occasion as judged necessary in order to review progress and determine matters of strategy and policy.

Any decision necessary from the Trustees shall be determined by the majority of votes of the Trustees present and voting on the question.

All Trustees serve a three-year term, following which they can seek reappointment. The existing Trustees have the power to appoint further Trustees provided they have attained the age of 18 years and are not disqualified from taking office. The Trustees are not actively recruiting at present, but have measures in place to consider potential applicants as they might arise.

For the recruitment of new Trustees, the charity has a nominations committee which is comprised of both Trustees and independent members. The committee’s ambition is to have a blend and mix of representatives from across the county, with at least 40% of each gender, as well as representation from across all demographics.

New Trustees undergo training and an induction to brief them on their legal obligations under Charity and Company Law, the content of the articles of association, the committee and decision-making processes of the Foundation, the strategy and recent financial performance of the charity. Trustees are encouraged to attend appropriate external training events where these will facilitate the undertaking of their role.

The Board of Trustees is skills-based and is a maximum of 12 members in size. To support the full board, a Finance, Risk, Audit & Governance Committee meets at least four times per year to review the budget, analyse the forecast, maintain an appropriate and comprehensive risk register, whilst also ensuring all audit and governance work is compliant.

The operational management of the charity is led by the Chief Executive, who is supported by the Operations Manager and the Community Development Manager. The performances of these positions and the charity itself are reviewed at Board Meetings, and any decisions on remuneration of all staff members are ratified by the Trustees.

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 were:

The ECB now sets minimum expectations for governance standards, which are part of our contract with them. 1.01 of the County Governance Framework requests that all counties must “Implement and demonstrate full compliance with the Gold level of the county governance framework by no later than January 2028. The Foundation worked hard on this area and has completed the accreditation, with the ECB stating:

Gloucestershire Cricket Foundation has become the first county organisation to achieve Gold standard governance under the ECB’s County Partnership Agreement (CPA).

The award was made after Gloucestershire completed the ECB’s new Gold Accreditation Scheme, run independently by ITrustSport, that aims to ensure all Professional County Cricket Clubs (PCCs) and Recreational Cricket Boards (RCBs) achieve the gold tier of the ECB’s County Governance Framework.

Achieving Gold standard governance is a significant achievement for any county,” said Ed Ringe, head of governance at the ECB. “Our congratulations go to Gloucestershire Cricket Foundation for their hard work and diligence in meeting this standard. Cricket across England and Wales will only benefit as more and more organisations progress their governance and become even better equipped to grow the game across England and Wales.”

Ed Ringe added: “For the past five years, county organisations have been asked to adopt the Bronze and Silver tiers of the County Governance Framework. Now, as part of CPA2, we’re introducing a Gold Accreditation Scheme that will evolve our assurance process for the Gold tier. We would encourage any county organisation that feels they have fully implemented the Gold Tier to follow Gloucestershire’s lead and complete the new accreditation scheme.”

We aspire to the highest standards, not just the bare minimum we can get away with.

Our Finance, Risk, Audit and Governance Committee (“FRAG”) regularly reviews elements of our governance practice. The new CPA, coming into force in 2025, has allowed us to review the whole of our previous submission. This time round, the ECB will be looking more closely at how good governance is embedded in the way we think and work as an organisation. They will be ensuring, among other things, that we are actually doing what we claim to do in our written procedures.

The Foundation complies with the Charity Commission and Companies House governance, as well as now being Gold Accredited for County Governance by the ECB. The County Partnership Agreement (CPA), which regulates the relationship between the Foundation and the ECB, has its targets annually met, and we are committed to continuing to meet the CPA standards and maintain the Gold Accreditation.

Although the focus of the GCF is always to encourage and enable more people to play cricket, it is important that the organisation is well run and financed. These are not aims in themselves but are crucial to our ability to carry out our main job efficiently and effectively.

Good governance is about ensuring that we measure the risks we face, which might prevent us from doing our job, assessing those risks and the controls which are already in place, and considering whether further and better controls are required. We can never eliminate risk, but we can seek to minimise the chances of an event occurring, and the damage it might cause if it does occur. Often, the sooner we can recognise that there is a problem, the better we can tackle it.

We have a set of processes and controls in place that we believe are proportionate to the risks and the scale of our operations, and we will do our very best to ensure that GCF is well run and managed, giving reassurance to our clients, staff, volunteers, funders and sponsors, suppliers and our other stakeholders. We aim to give people the confidence to engage with us, so that more people can enjoy more cricket. Cricket is good for their mental and physical health, develops their technical and social skills and their confidence; we want to see more people taking part and help to remove barriers to them enjoying our sport.

We are not complacent – a continuous review and improvement objective is part of our risk management process. We welcome the ECB’s increased focus on embedded governance and aim to continue being a leading county. We are always looking for ways to do things more effectively, and welcome input from any of our stakeholders.

The Trustees, who are also the directors of Gloucestershire Cricket Foundation 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 Foundation 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 Foundation 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 Foundation 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 Foundation 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 BK Plus Audit Limited be reappointed as auditor of the company will be put to the Annual General Meeting.

Each of the Trustees has confirmed that there is no information of which they are aware which is relevant to the audit, but of which the auditor is unaware. They have further confirmed that they have taken appropriate steps to identify such relevant information and to establish that the auditor is aware of such information.

The Trustees report was approved by the Board of Trustees.

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of Gloucestershire Cricket Foundation (the ‘Foundation’) for the year ended 30 September 2025 which comprise the statement of financial activities, the statement of financial position, the statement of cash flows 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:

give a true and fair view of the state of the charitable company's affairs as at 30 September 2025 and of its incoming resources and application of resources, including its income and expenditure, for the year then ended;

have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006.

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 Foundation 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 Foundation’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 Foundation 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 on Page 13, the Trustees, who are also the directors of the Foundation 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 Foundation’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.

Owing to the inherent limitations of an audit, there is an unavoidable risk that, despite us planning and performing our audit in accordance with auditing standards, one or more material misstatements in the financial statements may have gone undetected by our audit. As with any audit, there is a high risk that irregularities and fraud will go undetected where they involve matters such as misrepresentations from management, collusion, deliberate omissions and override of controls. It is not the role of the auditor to prevent non-compliance and we cannot be expected to detect every instance of non compliance with all laws and regulations.

In identifying and assessing risks of material misstatement in respect of irregularities, including fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulations, our procedures included the following:

• enquiries of management including a pre audit meeting;

• obtaining and reviewing supporting documentation of policies concerning the laws and regulations applicable to the business;

• understanding how the company complies with its regulatory framework by making enquiries of management;

• considering the culture inherent in the company and whether this represents a culture of honesty and

ethical behaviour with a strong emphasis of detection and prevention of fraud.

We assessed the susceptibility of the company's financial statements to material misstatement and considered how fraud might occur. The audit procedures performed included, but were not limited to:

• challenging management assumptions and estimates;

• identifying and testing unusual journal entries;

• assessing how the relevant laws and regulations have been complied with and noting any instances of non-compliance;

• reviewing the financial statements for compliance with relevant Accounting Standards and accounting

legislation applicable to a small company;

• considering how those charged with governance have addressed the possibility of an override of

essential controls or other influence over the financial reporting processes.

In addition, we also considered other non-financial laws relevant to the company. These do not necessarily have a direct influence on the financial statements but might affect the company's ability to operate.

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 notes on pages 18 to 29 form part of these financial statements.

The notes on pages 18 to 29 form part of these financial statements.

The notes on pages 18 to 29 form part of these financial statements.

Gloucestershire Cricket Foundation is a private company limited by guarantee incorporated in England and Wales. The registered office is The County Ground, Nevil Road, Bristol, BS7 9EJ, England.

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the Foundation's governing document, the Companies Act 2006, FRS 102 "The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland" and the Charities SORP "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)". The Foundation is a Public Benefit Entity as defined by FRS 102.

The financial statements are prepared in sterling, which is the functional currency of the Foundation. Monetary amounts in these financial statements are rounded to the nearest £.

The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention. The principal accounting policies adopted are set out below.

Unrestricted funds can be used in accordance with the charitable objectives at the discretion of the trustees.

Restricted funds can only be used for particular restricted purposes within the objects of the charity. Restrictions arise when specified by the donor or when funds are raised for particular restricted purposes. Although restricted fund income is often received in an accounting period ahead of the expenditure for which it has been raised, it is treated in accordance with the recognition rules for income in the note set out above.

Further explanation of the nature and purpose of each fund is included in the notes to the financial statements.

Income is included in the Statement of Financial Activities when the charitable company becomes entitled to the income, the trustees are virtually certain they will receive the money and monetary value can be measured with sufficient reliability, irrespective of when the expenditure for which it has been raised will be incurred.

Income from government and other grants is recognised when the charitable company has entitlement to the funds, any performance conditions attached to the grants have been met, it is probable that the income will be received, the amount can be measured reliably and it is not deferred.

Interest on funds held on deposit is included when receivable and the amount can be measured reliably by the charity; this is normally upon notification of the interest paid or payable by the bank.

Liabilities are recognised as expenditure as soon as there is a legal or constructive obligation committing the charity to that expenditure, it is probable that a transfer of economic benefits will be required in settlement and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. Expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis and has been classified under headings that aggregate all cost related to the category. Where costs cannot be directly attributed to particular headings they have been allocated to activities on a basis consistent with the use of resources.

The charity is not registered for VAT and consequently cannot recover any VAT that is charged to it. The cost of irrecoverable VAT is included within the cost heading to which it relates.

For this Financial Year, the Foundation has written off historic fixed assets following a change in policy as agreed by the FRAG Committee. Previously, Tangible fixed assets were initially measured at cost and subsequently measured at cost or valuation, net of depreciation and any impairment losses.

Depreciation was recognised so as to write off the cost or valuation of assets less their residual values over their useful lives on the following bases:

Individual asset purchases costing less than £1,000 are written off as expenditure in the year of acquisition.

In the application of the Foundation’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.

The average monthly number of employees during the year was:

The remuneration of key management personnel was as follows:

The charity is exempt from taxation on its activities because all its income is applied for charitable purposes.

Deferred income is included in the financial statements as follows:

The restricted funds of the charity comprise the unexpended balances of donations and grants held on trust subject to specific conditions by donors as to how they may be used.

In the 2023/24 financial year, the charity was in the final year of its previous ECB funding cycle, which determined the prior reporting structure and descriptions for restricted and unrestricted funds. The 2024/25 financial statements represent the first year of a new four-year ECB funding cycle, as part of which we will be managing and reporting our finances under new funding pillars.

To enhance clarity and streamline reporting, we have therefore aligned the presentation of restricted and unrestricted funds with those new funding pillars. This change ensures consistency with the updated funding framework, facilitating better transparency and comparability. No other adjustments to the underlying fund balances have been made.

The restricted funds are in respect of:

Support communities through diverse, inclusive and accessible cricket

We are committed to bringing cricket to as many people as possible, supporting our ambition to make cricket the most inclusive team sport in Gloucestershire. Despite the growth of several new community programmes, we know there’s more to do, and many communities remain underserved.

Accelerate change in Women's and Girls' cricket

The women’s and girls’ game has come a long way in the last four years, following significant ambition and investment from the national governing body, along with localised delivery across counties. In 2019, there were 36 clubs with Women’s and/or Girls sections. By 2024, this number had increased to 63 (36%), showing a brilliant rise in the number of our clubs investing in this exciting part of the game. While acknowledging what we’ve already reached, we recognise there is still much more room for growth, and we have significant plans to increase activity further over the next four years.

Deliver social impact through the power of cricket

Cricket is uniquely placed to bring communities together, inspire lifelong friendships, improve people’s physical health, support positive mental wellbeing and deliver social impact. This pillar of our strategy allows us to put our words into action and improve lives through the power of cricket."

Engage more children and young people

More children are coming into the game than ever before, thanks largely to both the National Programmes of All Stars and Dynamos and the birth of The Hundred. These initiatives have made families realise what a great and accessible game it is for young people, and how it can help them develop so many life skills. In Gloucestershire, we see it as our number one priority to empower clubs and community settings to offer and deliver inspiring opportunities for young people, so more children can say that “cricket is a game for me”.

Develop a thriving, sustainable, safe and inclusive recreational game

Supporting Gloucestershire clubs and leagues to thrive is the true heartbeat of our work. Helping our clubs and leagues to thrive is one of our core roles. By offering the right blend of playing formats, volunteer support and good facilities, club cricket enables us to reach new audiences and retain more players.

Supercharge our activities and impact         

The Foundation is seen by the ECB as a ‘leading organisation’ in 6 areas of the game, more than any other county in the country – and we’re currently working towards being the first county to be gold-accredited for governance. But to deliver the objectives that we have set ourselves, for the next 4 years, we need to ensure the Foundation continues to be structurally, financially and culturally set up to succeed. Building on our successes, the Foundation continues to see significant room for improvement if we’re to provide cricket to even more people. So this part of the strategy is all about ensuring we’re set up for sustainable growth.

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.

Transfers between funds

Transfers are made between restricted and unrestricted funds at the end of every accounting period in cases where:

i) the activity of the restricted fund has come to an end and there is an unspent balance that is not repayable to the funder(s), when the surplus is transferred to unrestricted funds; and

ii) the restricted fund is in deficit and has either come to an end or there is no prospect of a surplus in a later period, when the deficit is eliminated by transfer from unrestricted funds.

At the reporting end date the Foundation had outstanding commitments for future minimum lease payments under non-cancellable operating leases, which fall due as follows:

There were no disclosable related party transactions during the year (2024 - none).