Speedway Riders Benevolent Fund

[Feline Fine 1]

Excellent idea, I'll pass it on for you.

[shirls 1]

I'd buy one

[Guest LOL H]

Hi, this is Bernard Crapper (apologies for using a friends log-in details)

 

There has in the past been speculation about some details regarding the Benevolent Fund so I am posting the information below so you are all fully informed of what the Benevolent Fund stands for.

 

This is a copy of the message I posted earlier in the season, but I understand some may have missed reading it and thought it would be useful to reiterate.

 

I am appointed by the British Speedway Promoters Assoc. as their representative and the Speedway Control Bureau (formerly Board) as the Treasurer/Secretary of the Speedway Riders' Benevolent Fund.

 

The Speedway Riders' Benevolent Fund was created in 1949 under a Deed of Trust to aid current riders and their dependants and others (including paraplegics) who are injured during speedway racing and covers tracks within England, Wales and Scotland.

 

The Speedway Riders' Benevolent Fund's registered office is at ACU House, Wood Street, Rugby, Warwickshire CV21 2YX. Telephone number: 01788 560 648. Fax: 01788 546 785 and is registered with the Charities Commission - number 208733. The Ben fund is controlled by four trustees as required by law and the current trustees are Mr. Tony Noel, Chairman (ACU) Mr. Brian Bonney, (ACU) Mr. Chris Van Straaten, Chairman (BSPA) and Mr. Alec Harkness (Promoter). As mentioned above, I am Secretary/Treasurer). Our Chartered Accountants are Messrs Limehouse and Company of Rugby.

 

The aim of the Ben Fund is to assist injured riders, etc and their dependants. Funds for this are collected in various ways: Firstly all tracks must hold a compulsory collection once per season and in addition collections are made at special meetings (six special meetings being the maximum allowed collections wise). On average we collect annually between twelve and sixteen thousand pounds from track collections. We also have invested money which we rely heavily on the interest to keep the fund bouyant. In addition we have donations from companies and other trust funds etc.

 

It is normal on the past years payments to riders and paraplegics to award payments of monies ranging between £34,000 and £39,000 annually. This is why all donations (other than track collections) are very welcome and indeed essential to keep the fund bouyant and sustain the amount of help we can offer.

 

The Government Deed of Gift Scheme is one way of persons pledging support to our charity and if you would like a form to enable you to support the Benevolent Fund in this way, please apply to myself, Bernard Crapper of 5 Farm Road, Abingdon, Oxfordshire OX14 1NE or telephone me on 01235 524 756. There will be a further method for persons returning self assessment forms which will be in operation in 2005 (watch this space for details).

 

I apologise if you have not been fully informed in the past when your track is holding a collection of what the collection is in aid of, as all tracks are supposed to print details in their programmes informing you of both the details and workings of the Ben Fund.

 

We give long term sustained support to paraplegics. Also any ex riders can apply to the trustees for help. In the past we have helped with education fees where a rider has died leaving dependants, IVF treatment for paraplegics wives (with successful results), wheelchairs, home modications, refurbishments and many other requests with life changing results. The Ben Fund should not however be confused or considered to be an insurance as we are governed by the Charities Commission and we must adhere to their rules and regulations.

 

As a footnote I am saddened to read on the Charities Commission website that our records are overdue when they are in fact completely up to date and have been consistently, with the 2003 accounts being given to them shortly, once they have passed their official audit (commencing at present).

 

I hope this has cleared up any misunderstanding or concern regarding use of the Ben Fund and would ask you please to give generously when you see any of the collectors on the terracing and if your circumstances allow, consider our Deed of Gift Scheme, for which our charity would receive 27% returned tax which you pay for each £1.00 submitted to us as a donation. The only proviso is that you must be a taxpayer of the United Kingdom.

 

Whilst I have the opportunity, I would like to sincerely thank everybody at tracks who donate to the collection regularly and generously and also to my loyal band of collectors who travel around the country helping out at collections when and where possible.

 

 

Kind Regards,

 

Bernard Crapper

hi bernard!! and all on the forum of course!

thanks for all the help-and the help that the benevolend fund has given me,and obviously to all you that make that helmet even heavier on the many walks we do around the track!! i have had my life made easier,particularly with my chair-if you have to sit down for the rest of your life i guess you gotta be sitting comfortably huh?

it's all in a good cause as you all know and it works great and very efficintly

 

anway thanks guys

 

lol

[Feline Fine 1]

Hi Lol,

 

Thanks for your message, it's much appreciated.

 

Best wishes,

 

Claire

[Nevs 4]

Good to see you managed to make this forum at last Lol-about time too

[Mr S Bear 10]

Whilst I agree that the SRBF does a worthwhile job the posting by Bernard Crapper raises a number of questions.

Mr Crapper says that he is saddened by the fact that the Charity Commission web site, www.charitycommission.gov.uk, claims that the SRBF has not submitted audited accounts for a number of years when in fact they are completely up to date. Has anyone connected with the SRBF written a letter to/contacted the Commission asking them to correct this mistake asap because its does not show the SRBF in a good light as they own web site says

“ The Commission is committed to ensuring that charities observe the rules on submission…. If charities fail to send their financial information to us on time .. the following could happen to charities that persistently fail to submit accounts and returns

a charity commission inquiry

prosecution

loss of public support – we are raising awareness amongst members of the public, licensing authorities and funding bodies that a charity that persistently failed to submit its accounts is unlikely to be a well managed, efficient organisation worthy of continued support.

Charities should take seriously their responsibility to comply with these obligations. Transparency and openness in the use of funds helps to underpin public confidence and allows funders and supporters to see how funds are used in delivering the activities of charities.”

In fact if you contact the Commission and ask for a copy of the latest audited accounts they have for the SRBF you will receive the accounts for the year ending December 1999 and the basic figures are as follows

Income (Donations, investment and bank interest income, fines, collections and gifts)

£40,651

Expenditure (Grants to riders etc)

£30,336

Assets/Reserves (Investment and bank accounts)

£586,904

Whilst I realise you need assets and investments to generate income to cover any shortfall between income and expenditure one is bound to ask if the level of these investment and bank accounts is correct at approx 19 times the annual expenditure. After all the stated objections of the SRBF is “ the provision of benefits for speedway riders and or their dependants in necessitous and deserving cases” and shouldn’t the fund be as generous as possible to injured riders and their dependants rather than keeping money back for a rainy day, or in the SRBF case it appears a monsoon, and at present the investment policy of the SRBF makes Ebenezer Scrooge look like Viv Nicholson.

If the trustees of the fund are concerned about expenditure exceeding income than I suggest the following possible solutions

a) Make the British GP one of the six special meeting collections mentioned by Mr Crapper. After all with the much talked about 40,000 gate a half decent collection should be able to raise £15,000 to £20,000 rather than the average track collection in 1999 of £484.

Mr Crapper mentions that all tracks are supposed to print details in their programmes informing fans of both the details of the working of the SRBF. Whilst on the occasion of the annual collection I have sometimes see a mention in the programme about a collection and asking fans to be as generous as possible in 35 seasons I have only seen 2 features in a speedway programme explaining how one can give to the SRBF other than putting money in the riders helmets when they come round. As well as a detailed advertisement in the programme when the annual collection takes place, say in place of the weekly BSPA news feature, why not a feature in the British GP programme or a feature in the Speedway Star as was the case in the early days of the SRBF.

c) The major reason given for the introduction of airtek fences at Elite League tracks was rider safety so couldn’t some of the revenue generated by the ads on the fences be given to the SRBF.

Whilst I understand why Mr Van Straaten and Mr Harkness are trustees would it not be possible to include a rider or former rider as a trustee after all in 1947 the then SRA contributed £745 of the £5467 used to establish the fund.

In mid July I wanted to raise these concerns with the trustees but the page for the SRBF on the Charity Commission web page did not give any details, although since April it has been a legal requirement for charities to provide this information, so I wrote direct to Mr Crapper requesting asking trustee contact details enclosing a SAE and as yet I have received no reply.

At present I give to the annual collection and via a deed of covenant and when I go to the great speedway track in the sky the SRBF will receive my collection of speedway memorabilia built up over 35 years to raise funds but after reading the Charity Commission web page and the accounts, or more correctly the lack of them, of the SRBF I am beginning to have my doubts. Would it be better to give money direct to injured riders and when I am watching the Heaven Angels or maybe the Hell Devils arrange for my friends to sell the memorabilia on eBay and decide who gets the money.

[Feline Fine 1]

Mr. S. Bear.

 

I will let Bernard Crapper know of your post. I am sure he will be happy to answer any queries you have on this excellent establishment as soon as he is able.

[sirmatty 0]

hi bernard!! and all on the forum of course!

thanks for all the help-and the help that the benevolend fund has given me,and obviously to all you that make that helmet even heavier on the many walks we do around the track!! i have had my life made easier,particularly with my chair-if you have to sit down for the rest of your life i guess you gotta be sitting comfortably huh?

it's all in a good cause as you all know and it works great and very efficintly

 

anway thanks guys

 

lol

at least lawrence appricates wot the SRBF does even if mr bear , or who ever he is does not ......

 

 

as someone who assists feline fine and other helpers in collecting for the fund your comments are some wot over the top I FEEL!!!!

 

 

we are unable to collect at a GP as the meeting is run by the FIM not the BSPA and collections only take place at meetings in the UK under the banner of the bspa as the fund only covers injuries that occur at a UK track!!!

 

 

THANKS TO ALL THAT HAVE PUT IN TO MY BUCKET AND SEE U ALL SOON

 

CHEERS

[Feline Fine 1]

Message from Bernard Crapper

 

 

Dear Mr. S. Bear (McKay),

 

Regarding your recent posting, I feel the following points need to be clarified:-

 

The Charities Commission Annual Returns are required to be submitted by all charities and I can assure you ours are completely up to date except for the year 2003, which will be with them shortly once the Trustees are happy with the audited accounts. There is always a delay in the previous years accounts due to the overlap from the end of one season to another. I would also like to mention that we work very strictly to the guidelines as set down by the Charities Commission. I have of course telephoned the Commission to inform them of their error in showing a lack of returns and will chase this up again. Our accountants diligently ensure our returns are sent off and everything is done according to requirements. Nothing less is to be expected.

 

Regarding payments to riders etc, the Speedway Riders Benevolent Fund (SRBF) is a benevolent and not an insurance and any monies paid over and above what is deemed a benevolent payment (in other words "large payments") could incur the injured rider or recipient losing other benefits from Social Security monies.

 

You say that we hold large reserves. This is correct. In the past we have had to rely heavily and remove sums of money from our reserve to cover current requests. Also, in years to come if anything were to happen to Speedway racing in general we must guarantee that there is monies available to cover the future (severely injured riders and/or their dependants) and the Trustees are very conscious of this. The trust which governs the SRBF, which you quite rightly state was made in 1947 has very definitive rulings and we remain governed by the contents of the same.

 

A point which you may not have considered is that we are also answerable to the Inland Revenue and I can assure you that they would not allow any reputable and established charity from disobeying their strict rules.

 

You raise a valid point concerning the British Grand Prix, or any FIM event to which there is a high influx of visiting supporters' from other countries. One could not do a collection at these meetings due to the fact that the SRBF is set up solely for riders who are injured whilst competing on British tracks and there is no reciprocal arrangements with any foreign equivalent of the SRBF (I am not aware of the existence of any), and it could be argued that monies taken in this country at these type of events is done under false pretences as riders who get injured in similar events abroad are not covered and would receive no benefit from the SRBF.

 

Regarding the inclusion of benevolent fund details in track programmes, all programmes for the meeting where a collection is to take place should have a section containing an article on the aims of the SRBF. Indeed, failing to print such an article should incur a code of conduct fine, as it always used to do. The SRBF have no involvement with the production of the programmes and is completely in the hands of the programme compiler at the various tracks, but as mentioned above our details must be recited. I personally have sent numerous (hundreds) of copies of suitable insertions to be placed in the programmes, only to find that they have been discarded and not included. There are of course certain tracks whose promoters always put an insertion in.

 

As far as representatives are concerned, other than the Chairman, Trustees, Secretary and Treasurer we used to have both a representative from the Speedway Riders Assoc. and a Speedway Rider representative. Now it would appear that no-one is willing to do the job and if they did at the most they would be expected to attend only four selective committee meetings per year.

 

As regards your suggestion for the airtek fences, we would very much welcome this. However, a point which has missed your scrutiny is the fact that each club is run individually as a business and the SRBF cannot stipulate how a promoter sees fit to spend any sponsorship allocated to his track.

 

With respect to your letter, this was placed in front of the Trustees at our recent meeting as I was not prepared to give details of the Trustees, other than their names, which is there for all to see at the start of this thread. It was agreed that anyone, including yourself, who wished to contact the Trustees write to:

 

The Chairman

Speedway Riders Benevolent Fund

ACU House

Wood Street

Rugby

Warwickshire CV21 2YX

 

We have sadly not had much interest in the deed of covenant, although this facility has been in place for some time, however donations are at present good and anyone wishing to make a donation / bequest can help us further by filling in a deed of gift envelope and we can increase the donation by a further 27%.

 

I trust you will find I have answered all of the points you felt necessary to raise and would, in closing, like to state that the Benevolent Fund is a seriously run organisation and has been since its creation and is governed by very astute, professional businessmen and has the advantage of also having a big band of enthusiastic volunteers.

 

Our next Trustees Meeting is due to be held in early October. If you have a specific enquiry please inform me by the middle of September so that I can put it forward at our meeting. Please note I have very limited internet access and am at present relying upon friends to inform me of any issues raised, so would be grateful for your assistance, if possible, by contacting me via my address as posted in the original message.

 

Bernard Crapper.

Edited August 18, 2004 by Feline Fine

[Feline Fine 1]

Message from Bernard Crapper

 

 

Hi Lol,

 

I'm glad to see you're still in fine fettle and that chair number two (purchased by the SRBF) has not proved too fast, seeing as it is the super streamlined model!

[shazzybird 10]

Morning Bernard this is going to sound really picky and I don't mean it too ......... I think that collecting at Cardiff would be a good idea. This is a British Track and if a rider is injured at Cardiff then the SRBF would help the rider/dependents in some sort of financial way.

 

Seeing as it is FIM run rather than BSPA can someone please explain to me why a collection cannot be made at Cardiff? Maybe not inside the stadium but certainly in the streets before the meeting would be a good idea.

[Addy 1]

Maybe not inside the stadium but certainly in the streets before the meeting would be a good idea.   

 

This conjures up many pictures Shaz

 

I know T-total speedway supporters exist - but - do we have enough to get around Cardif ?

[Star Lady 5,400]

AFAIK Street collections have to be licensed/approved by the relevant city/town council. Given the number of events held at the Millenium Stadium I really cannot see permisson being granted

[shazzybird 10]

oh thats a shame thanks for the reply Star Lady x

[sirmatty 0]

no responce as yet from mr (s) bear ummmmmmmm

Edited August 25, 2004 by sirmatty