Bowling News
The British Crown Green Bowling Association has released their Annual Accounts for the year ending 31 October 2020. Your copy is below for you to download.
There is a lot to digest and just a couple of early observations. First to point you towards the Net Total Assets value of £205,543 being held of which around £195,000 is held in cash with around £10,000 in stock items and trophy values. Of this around £161,000 is held in a Development Fund, more on this below.
Not sure why they call these Reserves - Reserves for what? In a year when there was no bowling they still managed to push their Profits (the BCGBA calls them Surplus) up from £22,000 to £28,400. Why do they need to make a Profit? Why do they need Reserves as they have positioned themselves where they will never need to take a financial hit in the worse possible circumstances. Even in a year when there was no bowling, they managed to increase their Profits.
Of the £205,000 quoted above around £161,000 of it is in a Development Fund managed by Trustees. This money can only be used for the development of the sport and should not be used for general funding purposes although in times of need in the past this has been abused. All the more reason why there should already be a Development Plan to share the intent with the bowling community.
Is this supposed to be a profit-making organisation? The BCGBA has effectively taken c£200,000 out of bowling to sit in an investment account making them more Profit. Where is the strategic plan that identifies what they intend spending that money on. Seems that this organisation judges itself on how much more money it can take out of bowling not what benefit they can bring to our sport.
There are some well-qualified accountants out there who may care to comment on these figures. Please use the comments section at the foot of this posting to add any views you may have and wish to share.