We are just waiting on the Auditors to press a couple of final buttons, and sign off the Accounts for the past year (to end of March 2023). With careful control of the costs and expenses we hope to have washed our face, and close out the year a small surplus.
We are however anticipating this current year to be a challenge, what with costs going up across the board, and an expensive 25-year refit planned for Venturer in the winter. It’s also a difficult time for many of our donors and sponsors, and we have already had some grants turned down which we had been anticipating. At the moment we have signed off on a budget with a deficit of about £37,000. However, we know that things can change quickly with regard to fundraising, and unexpected donations are very common. Just last month we received an unexpected donation of £5k via a recommendation from our friends in Tighnabruaich Sailing School. I have been working with Caitlin and her team to update our advertising leaflets, and any day now we will have a new set of leaflets covering corporate sponsorship, Individual “Friends”, Volunteering, and “Our Strategy”. We will be using these leaflets and our new website when it is ready, to go out into the wider sailing and business communities across Scotland, to raise the profile of the Trust, and generate some additional funding and support. The individual Board members have committed to working with their corporate and individual contacts, and I would ask all of you to consider who you may have in your personal networks, who might be interested in becoming a Friend, or a Corporate partner. At the moment, we need all the friends we can get! Over the last year Hazel has been working hard, going out into the wider business and charity communities across Scotland, representing the Trust at meetings with other Scottish Charities, and government projects. The Board have recognised that to ensure that the Trust is viewed in the wider community as a well performing Scotland wide charity it should be represented at this level by a Chief Executive Officer, rather than General Manager. It is common practice for charities to be headed up by a CEO, even very small charities, so the Board have agreed to change Hazel’s job title to Chief Executive Officer. Peta’s job title will be changed to Operations and Training Manager. These job title changes are a more accurate reflection of the duties that both postholders are currently carrying out. They have both done a grand job over the last year, keeping the Trust in good shape, supported by the hard-working staff team, and I know the Trust is in good hands to face any future challenges. The Board have also been starting to think about a replacement vessel programme. It is in the plans to have a new vessel, so at the moment we are literally just thinking and talking about what might be needed. But don’t worry, when we have progressed a bit with our thinking, we will be looking to you, the members, for your views and ideas. |
