So what do we do with your subscriptions?
A small percentage covers administration such as postage and stationery plus costs for printing of the Woodsman. There is a regular cost for our bimonthly committee meeting venue and of course our AGM. These are our operating costs. The remainder is used to fund two specific areas. The first is the ongoing maintenance such as repairs to our seats and to our tools. The other, and larger, proportion is used for new projects such as replanting trees and clearing areas of over grown scrub. These may not occur every year depending on weather or the costs involved.
Finance
We are a small organisation with little overhead. The main item of expenditure is limited postage and hire of the Booker Memorial Hall for our bimonthly committee meetings. We also have our own insurance. Our members and anyone co-opted to assist in work parties are covered by our insurance against injury and third party claims. The lion's share of the account is used to finance maintenance to the woodland and the furniture therein. Where possible we try to get assistance from the land owner, the council or a charity specific to our needs.
We maintain two bank accounts. One is for the day to day running into which subscriptions are paid and a second []was set up as a fighting fund, initially to fend off the application for a motorway service station, but has remained as a financial pool for any other encroachment on our ‘patch’. This No 2 account as we know it is a savings account and therefore accrues interest. We don’t actively request donations to this account but many members or companies do give money specifically for this use.
We have recently taken over the management of a third money pool to providefunds to cover the cutting of the grass originally carried out by the cricket club. This money is not under the control of the society nor is it included in our assets. We offered to maintain the pool and make it available to those who have participated in the fund.
We currently have some xxx households (as of year 2006) subscribing to the society. Not all pay just the minimum subscription – far from it. Many donate much higher sums to protect what is fundamentally theirs. The subscription being set to £3 per household is just some 6p per week. This is less than on quarter of the cost of a single cigarette or a mouthful of beer. For that measly sum you can be assured we will fight tooth and nail to ensure no construction occurs on any of precious woodland.
We encourage everyone who is a tax payer - you are a tax payer even if you are retired and have savings in a bank or building society as base rate tax is withheld at source - to participate in Gift Aid. This costs you nothing but does allow the society to claim 28p in every pound donated. If you are fortunate enough to be in the higher tax bracket you will also receive back from the tax office allowances for charitable donations.
We shall not publicly detail our finances here. However if you are a fully paid up member you may view such details.