The trustees present their annual report and financial statements for the year ended 31 December 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 Trust'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)".

In 2025, crew recruitment across the maritime industry remained problematic particularly in sail training. We have found through our own experience of recruiting staff that there is a significant skills shortage at the Mate level in the industry and it has been very difficult to recruit the right calibre of individual with the necessary experience and qualifications.

To help address a shortage of crew, we started our new apprenticeship scheme and employed two Apprentice Bosuns in 2024, with the aim they will become Mates and Skippers in the future. The scheme is already proving very successful, and in 2025 we took on our third Apprentice Bosun. Our first apprentice has now moved up to Mate level.

We continued to focus our work on young people aged 12 to 25 years, whose lives are disadvantaged in some way. This may include those who come from dysfunctional backgrounds, who have often suffered deprivation and who are excluded from education or society, whilst others have suffered abuse, are homeless or have mental health or behaviour issues.

We welcomed a wide variety of young people onboard our vessels this year and more than 60% of the groups were new to Cirdan, with the rest returning clients. Most of those who sail with us do so through organisations working with the young and disadvantaged including schools, young carer provisions, local authority and Youth Justice Service.

Our aim is to make a significant contribution to the development of life skills, increase their confidence and self-esteem, build resilience, improve communication skills, stimulate the desire to learn and generally enhance mental health and wellbeing.

Our Voyage to Recovery project onboard Faramir continued in 2025 and involved various Early Intervention in Psychosis (EIP) service units from different parts of the country taking part in a 10-week circumnavigation of the UK. The crew are mainly young people who have experienced early episodes of psychosis and many who because of mental health problems, or adverse life circumstances, have extremely isolated and limited lives, with little meaning or structure, or opportunity for personal growth. Sailing adventure therapy with Cirdan is included to enhance the effectiveness of their support programme and supports personal growth by providing a series of challenges, adversities and achievements, in a supportive social context, and a radically novel and inspiring environment.

Queen Galadriel started the season on the Essex and Suffolk coasts before spending the Summer on the south coast. She welcomed many young people with ranging needs and abilities including groups with special educational needs and disabilities. We ran an individual’s voyage for 16-25 year olds, and a number of participants completed their Gold Duke of Edinburgh Residentials.

Duet completed several Gold Duke of Edinburgh Residentials, as well as beginning a new project working alongside the Essex Outdoors Centre in Bradwell-on-Sea. This involved taking groups of primary school children on sailing trips on the River Blackwater. High school students experiencing mental health challenges and low self-esteem also sailed onboard Duet. We visited yacht clubs in Essex and Suffolk during their cadet weeks so they could learn about historical vessel Duet and our charity’s work.

Sourcing funds for our activities is ever more challenging. However, the Trust has valued supporters to whom we are eternally grateful, as well as our own considerable expertise and knowledge in raising funds. Support from Central Government remains unavailable for non-statutory activities making our fundraising skills when supporting the groups, invaluable.

The Cirdan Youth View forum continue to support the Trust, helping to shape the future of our voyages. The forum is made up of a mixed group of young people aged 16-25, who have previously sailed with us. All are keen to support Cirdan and they meet regularly and have volunteered with us over the winter refit period. We strive to constantly evolve and enhance our service, and we believe by engaging these young people and listening to their suggestions, we can ensure that we are providing a service that makes a life changing difference.

In March we were pleased to host an Open Day at Fambridge Yacht Haven, inviting funders, schools and youth organisations to meet staff and look around the boats.

In September we hosted a very successful fundraising evening at Girdlers Hall in London. With the help of trustees, supporters, youth groups and the Cirdan Youth View, we managed to raise more than £18,000 of funding.

Helping to understand our work

We work hard to minimise restriction in all areas:

• geographically, while based in Essex, during the sailing season we deploy our fleet around the UK. The groups and individuals that sail with us come from all parts of the UK and include those who live inland and have no recreational access to the water.

• characteristics, we do not restrict ourselves to personal disadvantages.

• in general, while a small part of our work, we provide voyages for able bodied individuals mainly through the Duke of Edinburgh scheme, homeless adults or those with special needs.

• our membership is open to all.

• evidence and feedback of activities is received from each group detailing the benefits experienced from the voyage.

Academic research validates the benefits attributed to the sailing experience and our own evidence through the EIP groups substantiates this. Similarly, a study by the University of Edinburgh found measurable improvements in social confidence and the ability to work with others through sailing. In addition, the University of Otago in New Zealand reported in a paper, that “Sharing the pleasure, hardships and camaraderie that develop out of life at sea has a profound impact on strengthening character, fortitude and confidence. The importance of mutual respect, perseverance, responsibility and teamwork towards others and nature, presents a great sense of existence, self-discovery and accomplishment.”

Feedback from our own groups can be found on our social media sites and website.

The tables below report the diversity of the participants on our voyages and the breadth of disadvantages our participants experience.

Public benefit and activities

Our reach around the country, appeals to all sectors and communities and our ability to work with and influence the significantly deprived, means we are able to work for the public good. Our voyages are designed to cover all aspects of ‘life skills’. We involve every member of the group in all activities from cooking to passage planning. On return from a voyage individuals can take what some would consider simple chores and implement them in their day-to-day life. While some activities are directly related to sailing a lot of the voyage activities can be applied to land-based activities:

•    Menu planning; shopping; food preparation; cooking; clearing and cleaning in heads, cabin and galley

•    Passage planning; understanding risks, obtaining safety information eg: marine forecast; setting courses; sailing instruction underway; control, monitoring and reporting the voyage.

The outcome is a better relationship with others through teamwork and the importance of respect and communication.

Furthering our Public Benefit as required by the Charity Commission, the Trustees encourage these activities whenever possible on every voyage and we refer to this as delivering the “Cirdan Experience”. Additionally, we are pleased to report an ever-growing involvement of young volunteers who return to assist with refits, shake-down sails and as extra deck hands.

The Cirdan Experience across the fleet is we believe where our success lies and in 2025, a total of 438 people sailed with us on 57 voyages. Working alongside our professional crew, participants are involved in all aspects of running and sailing the vessel, both above and below deck – such as getting involved in planning and navigation, learning to cook for themselves and each other and keep a tidy ship. Mealtimes are taken together, generally sitting around the table, where social skills are learned alongside essential communication skills. Through this active involvement, they learn about themselves, develop an acceptance of others, develop a willingness to take controlled risks, discover hidden strengths and talents and gain an understanding of the value of working as a team, together with an awareness of the environment and wildlife around them.

The different groups have varying needs and objectives, and we tailor each voyage to meet those needs. In the case of groups from the Youth Justice Service who are working on prevention and diversion interventions, the voyages provide disruption from being exploited and participation in anti-social behaviour. The groups that come to us from supported housing organisations are homeless young people from the care system or unaccompanied asylum-seeking young people who are having complex transitions. In their case our voyages are used as part of their programme of integration into communal living, working together, sharing experience, relieving social isolation, and developing an understanding of different race and cultures promoting tolerance. In addition, they are looking to build daily life skills such as budgeting, cooking meals together and food shopping, all of which are part of our experiential education on the voyages.

The result of this has been shown to give the participants the skills they need to go on and lead better lives, to have a sense of pride and to feel the value of being part of something positive.

We measure the impact our voyages have on our participants and Group leaders complete feedback forms after each voyage. They are requested to evaluate the impact as: significant, moderate, slight or no development on their participants across 14 different categories of behaviour. We are pleased to report that the majority report significant development, and we achieve over 90% significant or moderate improvement.

Our results in 2025 were much improved from 2024. Income increased 26% to £719,200 (2024: £567,400 and we generated a surplus of £75,700 (2024: deficit £50,516) before a one off impairment charge of £355,000 creating a deficit for the year of £279,278. With all three vessels available for most of the season we increased our voyage charter fees and related bursary income by 11%. We also secured £70,000 additional donations towards the cost of Duet’s refurbishment in 2024.

The vessel related expenditure increased by £10,500 due to Duet’s being in service for the season but also increased charges from marinas. Lower refit and repair costs overall offset the increase. Administration costs rose by £13,000 (8.3%) including a one off expense of £5,000 for office relocation. We carefully manage our costs, removing one role in September, leaving four people in administration, including the CEO.

In November Queen Galadriel was professionally valued by a specialist surveyor. The open market value was in the range £180,000 to £220,000, compared to the valuation held in the books of £575,000. The Trustees agreed to hold the value at £220,000 creating an impairment charge of £355,000. The Trustees consider that the valuation of Faramir of £190,000 is unchanged.

While the impairment charge has impacted reserves, it is a non-cash effect. The cash at the year end was £269,180 (2024: £186,394) and the Trust remains financially stable.

Reserves policy

The charity’s reserves policy requires the charity minimum unrestricted funds neither committed nor invested in tangible assets and adjusted to include deferred income expected to be realised within 12 months (i.e. the “free reserves”) to be sufficient to enable to charity to meet an average of 3 months direct expenditure on its unrestricted activities, based on a rolling 12 months expenditure adjusted for depreciation, amortisation and impairment charges.  As at the year end the actual “free reserves” at that date amounted to £236,704 and the 12 months expenditure was £602,567 equating to 4.7 months coverage.

Plans for the future

We plan to continue our work with groups of young people facing disadvantages in their lives.

We would like to build on the Cirdan Apprenticeship Scheme in 2026 with the plan to ensure pathways to Mate level are developed. We believe providing opportunities for apprentice crew members benefits not only our organisation but also helps meet the need within the industry for suitably qualified crew.

The Trust is a company limited by guarantee governed by its Memorandum and Articles dated 31 January 2002.

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:

In 2025 Louis Abbott retired as trustee and we welcomed Adrienne Clarke to the board of trustees.

None of the trustees has any beneficial interest in the company. All of the trustees are members of the company and guarantee to contribute £1 in the event of a winding up.

The Trustees have access to copies of all systems and procedures operated by the Trust including copies of the Memorandum and Articles of the company. In addition, they receive such training as they and other Trustees deem necessary.

The Board of Trustees (the directors) is responsible for setting the strategic direction of the charity and for establishing policy. The Chief Executive Officer (CEO), is appointed by the Trustees to manage the day-to-day operation of the charity. To facilitate effective operation. The CEO has delegated authority, within terms of delegation approved by the Trustees, for operational matters including finance, employment and sailing related activities. All systems and procedures including copies of the Memorandum and Articles of the company are available to the Trustees.

The Trustees have a written Risk Register which assesses the risks to our business and sets out how these risks are minimised and is regularly reviewed. There have been no additional risks identified in the year.

Re-election of Trustees

The trustees review the composition of the Board at their regular meetings and on rotation, each trustee stands for re-election every third year at the AGM.

Where a trustee holds the post in excess of 9 years, this will have been reviewed and will be agreed on the basis that they bring exceptional expertise and knowledge to the Trust and its activities. The specialist nature of the people that we work with, and the operational activities (traditional sailing vessels) means we have very particular needs of that expertise on our Board. This blend of talents does not come easily, and retention of such diverse abilities is key to the stability of the Trust.

If a new or replacement trustee is sought, a profile is created as part of our governance review. Any new trustee is apprised of the charity’s history, aims, objectives and plans, as well as the management and operational processes. Trustees are encouraged to attend any courses which help the development of their role, and to keep up to date on any changes in legislation. The composition of the Board is considered sufficient to fulfil the charity’s objectives and maintain its governance.

Reference and administrative details

The Board of Cirdan Sailing Trust (Incorporating the Faramir Trust) Limited (reg no. 1091598) are responsible for preparing the Trustees Report and the financial statements in accordance with the United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

In preparing these financial statements, the Trustees will:

- select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;

- observe the methods and principles in the Charities Statement of Recommended Practices (SORP);

- make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;

- 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 Trust will continue in operation.

The Trustees maintain accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the Trust 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 Trust and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

The trustees report was approved by the Board of Trustees.

I report to the trustees on my examination of the financial statements of The Cirdan Sailing Trust (Incorporating the Faramir Trust) Limited (the Trust) for the year ended 31 December 2025.

As the trustees of the Trust (and also its directors for the purposes of company law), you are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006.

Having satisfied myself that the financial statements of the Trust are not required to be audited under Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006 and are eligible for independent examination, I report in respect of my examination of the Trust’s financial statements carried out under section 145 of the Charities Act 2011. In carrying out my examination I have followed the Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Charities Act 2011.

Since the Trust’s gross income exceeded £250,000, the independent examiner must be a member of a body listed in section 145 of the Charities Act 2011. I confirm that I am qualified to undertake the examination because I am a member of ICAEW, which is one of the listed bodies.

I have completed my examination. I confirm that no matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:

accounting records were not kept in respect of the Trust as required by section 386 of the Companies Act 2006.

the financial statements do not accord with those records; or

the financial statements do not comply with the accounting requirements of section 396 of the Companies Act 2006 other than any requirement that the financial statements give a true and fair view, which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination; or

the financial statements have not been prepared in accordance with the methods and principles of the Statement of Recommended Practice for accounting and reporting by charities applicable to charities preparing their financial statements in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102).

I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the financial statements to be reached.

The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year. All income and expenditure derive from continuing activities.

The company is entitled to the exemption from the audit requirement contained in section 477 of the Companies Act 2006, for the year ended 31 December 2025.

The trustees acknowledge their responsibilities for ensuring that the charity keeps accounting records which comply with section 386 of the Act and for preparing accounts which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the company as at the end of the financial year and of its incoming resources and application of resources, including its income and expenditure, for the financial year in accordance with the requirements of sections 394 and 395 and which otherwise comply with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 relating to accounts, so far as applicable to the company.

The members have not required the company to obtain an audit of its financial statements for the year in question in accordance with section 476.

These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to companies subject to the small companies regime.

The Cirdan Sailing Trust (Incorporating the Faramir Trust) Limited is a private company limited by guarantee incorporated in England and Wales. The registered office is Bradwell Marina, Waterside, Bradwell on Sea, CM0 7RB.

The accounts have been prepared in accordance with the Trust's Memorandum and Articles of Association, 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 Trust is a Public Benefit Entity as defined by FRS 102.

The Trust 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 Trust. 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 the revaluation of vessels and certain 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 Trust 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.

Cash donations are recognised on receipt. Other donations are recognised once the Trust 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.

Donations, legacies and other forms of voluntary income are recognised as incoming resources when receivable, unless they are incapable of financial measurement.

Expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to transfer economic benefit to a third party, 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 classified by activity. The costs of each activity are made up of the total of direct costs and shared costs, including support costs involved in undertaking each activity. Direct costs attributable to a single activity are allocated directly to that activity. Shared costs which contribute to more than one activity and support costs which are not attributable to a single activity are apportioned between those activities on a basis consistent with the use of resources. Central staff costs are allocated on the basis of time spent, and depreciation charges are allocated on the portion of the asset’s use.

Expenditure is included on an accruals basis.

Management and administration costs comprise the costs of running the charity itself as an organisation.

Tangible fixed assets are initially measured at cost and subsequently measured at cost or valuation, net of depreciation and any impairment losses.

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

The gain or loss arising on the disposal of an asset is determined as the difference between the sale proceeds and the carrying value of the asset, and is recognised in the statement of financial activities.

The trust's vessels are not depreciated and are stated at valuation.

Reinstatement costs are written off as expenditure in the period in which they are incurred.

At each reporting end date, the Trust reviews the carrying amounts of its tangible assets to determine whether there is any indication that those assets have suffered an impairment loss. If any such indication exists, the recoverable amount of the asset is estimated in order to determine the extent of the impairment loss if any.

Stocks are stated at the lower of cost and estimated net realisable value.

Cash and cash equivalents include cash in hand and deposits held at call with banks.

The Trust 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.

Basic financial instruments are initially recognised at transaction value and subsequently measured at amortised cost. Financial assets comprise cash at bank and in hand, together with trade and other debtors. A specific provision is made for debts for which recoverability is in doubt. Cash at bank and in hand is defined as all cash held in instant access bank accounts and used as working capital. Financial liabilities held at amortised cost comprise all creditors except social security and other taxes.

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 Trust is demonstrably committed to terminate the employment of an employee or to provide termination benefits.

Payments to defined contribution retirement benefit schemes are charged as an expense as they fall due.

Government grants

Government grants are recognised at the fair value of the asset received or receivable when there is reasonable assurance that the grant conditions will be met and the grants will be received.

In the application of the Trust’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 trustees have valued the sailing vessels on an existing use basis. These vessels are regularly inspected and maintained to a high standard such that the trustees consider their value in the financial statements to be realistic.

Charter income

Souvenir income

RYA income

Support costs are allocated 80% to charitable activities and 20% to fundraising.

Legal and professional fees includes a fee for the Independent Examination of £2,100 (2024: £2,000).

None of the trustees (or any persons connected with them) received any remuneration or expenses during the year.

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.

Impairment tests have been carried out where appropriate and the following impairment losses have been recognised in profit or loss:

More information on the impairment arising in the year is given in note 12.

The vessels were valued by the Trustees as at 24 November 2025 after consultation with their Marine Surveyor on an open market value, this involved the impairment of one vessel by £355,000. The historical cost of these vessels is £380,446.

The Trust operates a defined contribution pension scheme for all qualifying employees. The assets of the scheme are held separately from those of the Trust in an independently administered fund.

Donors have provided funds during this and previous years for a number of restricted purposes.

The Rev Christopher Courtauld, just before his death, established a legacy to be used for the maintenance of Duet and other associated administration costs. The fund is administered by the Essex Community Foundation.

Various donors have also supported the replacement of the minibus van, which was purchased in the 2025 financial year, the expenditure associated to this relates to the depreciation charge.