Report of the Directors 1

River Thames Boat Project Making the Thames Accessible Annual Report and Accounts 2011 - 2012 River Thames Boat Project Annual Report and Accounts 2011 - 2012 Contents Report of the Directors 1 Review of the Year 2 Clients 12 Donors 13 Accounts for 2011 - 2012 A1 Notes to the Accounts A4 Independent Examiner’s Report on the A8 Accounts Photographs by David Bell, John Frye and Miranda Jaggers River Thames Boat Project Registered Office: 66 Hill Street Richmond Surrey TW9 1TW 020 8940 3509 [email protected] www.thamesboatproject.org Company no. 3953201 Registered charity no. 1080281 Report of the Directors The Company The River Thames Boat Project is a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee. It has no share capital and is registered with the Charity Commission. The objects of the company are principally to provide facilities for boating on the Thames for the purpose of social welfare especially for older people, people with disabilities and young people, and for environmental education and for other charitable purposes. The company does this by running a converted Dutch barge, the Richmond Venturer, which takes out groups of people within the categories described above for voyages and activities on the Thames between Windsor and Gravesend, and provides environmental education on the boat and ashore. Patron David Suchet CBE President Sir Peter Harrop The Board of Directors There are ten directors of whom four were elected at the last Annual General Meeting. None received any remuneration from the company during the year. Richard Robinson Chairman, Re-elected 2011 Paul Barry Hon. Treasurer, Re-elected 2010 David Bell Re-elected November 2009, due for re-election Peter Low Re-elected 2009, due for re-election Dr Hilary Pickles Re-elected 2010 Louise Sibley Re-elected 2010 Byron Turner Re-elected 2011 Keith Knox Re-elected 2011 Jane Newman Elected November 2010 Shaun Williams Elected November 2011 The President may attend meetings of the Board but is not a member of the Board and is not entitled to vote. Sir Peter Harrop continues to be actively involved through his help in running the Friends of the Boat Project and representing the charity at local events. 1 Officers and Staff The company was well served during the year by: Miranda Jaggers, Project Manager (full-time) Peter Oldham, Skipper (full-time) Judy Cope, Project Administrator (part-time) Sally Woodward, Sessional Teacher, School on the River Katy Sandford, Fundraising Assistant (part-time) And in a voluntary capacity: Wendy Moss, Company Secretary Membership The membership of the company was 109 at 31 March 2012. It is a condition of membership that members must contribute £1 if the company is wound up and has debts which cannot be met out of its assets. The Balance Sheet, which forms part of the accompanying Accounts, shows that at the end of the financial year there was a satisfactory surplus of assets. In the event of the winding up of the company, any surplus of assets would not be available for distribution to members but under the company’s Memorandum of Association would be distributed to another charitable body with similar objects and rules of distribution. Review of the Year 2011-12 was again an outstanding year in terms of programs and activities with 124 fee-earning days and evenings (including Venturer Photography bookings) out on the river providing 2,012 clients with the opportunity to discover the Thames during the year from April 2011 to March 2012. We also held 4 open days/events on board: at the Kingston Regatta, Walton on Thames Heritage Day, the Great River Race and the DBA The Barge Association’s annual Young carers enjoying the view rally, at which Venturer was host boat. We ran six crew training days for our volunteers and made two delivery trips making a total of 136 days and evenings use. Our volunteers provided 470 crew days, plus over 205 hours of maintenance, and 650 volunteer hours assisting at open days, in the office and at fundraising events. Our client groups, who are listed on page 12, 2 came to us from nine London Boroughs and four counties outside Greater London. We run five programmes that provide a choice of day and residential cruises for people with physical disabilities, learning disabilities and older people; day trips for people who are isolated and not a member of an organised group; respite trips for young carers; environmental activities for school groups; and Venturer Photography, an enterprise set up to support the River Thames Boat Project, which offers photographic cruises and custom training on the River Thames on board the Venturer on summer evenings and in the off season, so as not to clash with our charitable cruises and educational work. In April, before the start of our main cruising season, we ran a day of taster trips. These were taken up by representatives of 8 organisations new to our work. 1. Accessing the Thames. This is our main programme, which is designed for people who have a physical and/or learning disability, suffer from a mental illness, or are elderly and/or frail. Without the specially equipped Richmond Venturer and the support of our staff and volunteer crew they would be unable to access the Thames afloat. Although the Venturer is restricted by the terms of its licence to carrying twelve passengers while under way, this has proved to be particularly beneficial for these groups who often find it difficult to cope when in large groups of people. In 2011/12 we undertook 79 Accessing the Thames trips. The majority of these were one day cruises from our base in Kingston, mostly up river to Walton or Shepperton, affording glorious views of Hampton Court Palace, the river banks and riverside towns alongside the Thames. There was a residential weekend trip up river to Runnymede for a group from Richmond Homes and Lifestyle Trust. It provided a variety of activities including opportunities to enjoy the tranquillity of the river, towpath walks and for visits ashore. A HANDS group settling down for a day on the Venturer 3 2. Living and Learning Afloat. This is a programme for children and young people between the ages of 8 and 25. We offer day trips, as well as residential voyages for a long weekend or during the school holidays. For these bookings the Venturer usually goes up river towards Windsor which provides good opportunities for varied activities ashore, as well as on board. In 2011/12 we received bookings for a total of 9 such days. We worked Mums and children from the Chernobyl Children’s Project in partnership with the Chernobyl Children’s Project running a week’s residential holiday for children suffering from Leukaemia and their mothers from Belarus, and 2 respite day cruises for Young Carers. We would like to be able to offer Easter holiday and half term breaks to more young carers’ groups from other parts of London and the South East. These trips are particularly beneficial for young carers, providing them new experiences away from their responsibilities at home and giving them the chance to relax with other young people who find themselves in similar circumstances. 3. Linking People Afloat These are for isolated individuals who are not members of a support group. This programme has proved very successful, particularly for older people who live alone. We ran 4 of these trips in 2011/12 and the feedback we received was very positive. 4. School on the River This programme is run at Teddington Lock and, because the boat is moored alongside, the Venturer can accommodate a class of thirty children, plus their teacher and helpers. Designed for 8-10 year olds we delivered this carousel of hands on environmental education activities on 26 days, for 889 children, staff and helpers during 2011/12. Basing the course at Teddington enables us to demonstrate the differences between the fresh water river and the tidal estuary. The day includes practical science experiments on the boat, a water safety video and visits to Teddington Lock for a demonstration by the lock-keeper of how a lock works (courtesy of the Environment Agency) and to the nearby island for an explanation about the tides given by Peter Oldham. Among other things our course covers the water cycle and the ecology of the Thames. These topics illustrate the dramatic changes that are likely to occur due to the effects of climate change. To market School on the River we contacted all the primary and junior schools in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames and London Borough of Richmond upon Thames at the start of the spring and autumn terms, and our website attracted a number of new bookings. 4 In March 2012 we ran a successful pilot course in risk assessment when delivering Learning Outside the Classroom activities for student teachers from St. Mary’s University. Our aim for School on the River over the next 3 years is to: update our existing School on the River teaching resources and make them available from our website; consolidate our Learning Outside the Classroom Safety Awareness training for student teachers, develop fun new environmental activities for family and non-school parties e.g. Scout groups. 5. Venturer Photography The activities fit with the core values of the charity. Its key principles are to: extend the use of the boat (beyond core client time) share and display the professional skills of our volunteers provide a source of funds The digital photography workshop cruises were held on board with our team of professional photographers. Funds raised by Venturer Photography are donated to the River Thames Boat Project.

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