The NEWMAN ASSOCIATION
Promoting open discussion and greater understanding in today’s Church
Annual Report 2022-3
www.newman.org.uk
The Newman Association is registered as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO), charity no. 1006769. Registered office: Swallow & Company Commercial House Bridge Road Stokesley North Yorkshire TS9 5AA.
Email: info@newman.org.uk Website: www.newman.org.uk. Member of Pax Romana – International Catholic Movement for Intellectual and Cultural Affairs
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PRESIDENT'S REPORT
This year marked the 80[th] anniversary of the founding of the Newman Association in 1942 so in a sense it can be appropriately seen as a rebirth after Covid, or at least the beginnings of one. Starting with the most important aspect of our work, the Circles, the pandemic has led to some Circles finding it difficult to come back to life. This is clearly an ongoing process and there remains hope for the future for many of these. Some Circles have come back quite strongly as they make further use of the facility of Zoom etc to develop their events, a gift which Covid unexpectedly offered us. As they begin to pick up again, these local events are being advertised on the website and in the Newsletter. It will take a little time for this situation to settle down overall.
Turning from the Circles to Council, over the course of the year we bade farewell with thanks to three trustees: Winifred Flanagan, our President since 2018 who was forced to resign owing to a severe Covid infection, Harcourt Concannon and Patricia Egerton. As new trustees we welcomed John Duckett from the Coventry Circle, Terry Wright from the Tyneside Circle and Barbara Bolgiano from the Hertfordshire Circle. Of the events which took place over the year, one of the most outstanding was the Manchester Newman lecture, postponed owing to Covid, and finally delivered by Cardinal Michael Fitzgerald on Fraternity - A Proposal and a Project for Relations between Christians and Muslims . Basing his talk on his wide experience on these interfaith relationships at the Vatican and in Muslim countries the Cardinal took us on a historical voyage through some choppy seas at times towards the calmer waters of the present pontificate. The lecture was streamed and recorded and made available to all members via a link in the national Newsletter. This recording and distribution of talks etc will become a growing feature of our spreading the word and vision of John Henry Newman.
The Newman pilgrimage planned for Padua in the autumn of 2022 was postponed until May 2023.
The Newman Retreat led by Fr Pat Kilgarriff, our Chaplain, was held at Douai Abbey in December and another is planned for April 2023 at Ampleforth. At the AGM in June, which, after a postponement owing to a looming rail strike, we managed to hold in Newcastle, we finally passed our new Constitution and this was accepted in November by the Charity Commission. We are now officially a Charitable Instituted Organisation (CIO) which will make the reporting of matters easier. The Constitution allows greater freedom for meetings on line and we will be making greater use of this as the financial commitment to face to face General Meetings is considerable. At this AGM Greg Ryan of the Centre for Catholic Studies at Durham University gave an informative talk on the present Synodal Process entitled Synodality – Buzzword or Breakthrough? The Synodality project, promoted by Pope Francis, has a considerable way to go, with further meetings in Prague and finally in Rome in the autumn. Its progress in the Catholic Church in this country has been generally positive and the Newman took further interest with the arrangement of a talk on the subject given by Christopher Lamb, the Tablet’s Rome correspondent.
To celebrate our 80[th] Anniversary we decide to set up two projects: the first was an Awards Scheme whereby we contacted a number of Catholic Institutes of Higher Education and offered some funding towards assisting their students to pursue courses and projects which are in line with Newman Association objectives. The offer this year was taken up by London University Chaplaincy and the Durham Centre for Catholic Studies. We shall be reviewing how best to continue this project over the coming years. Many thanks to Patricia Egerton,
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Carole O’Toole and Sophie Rudge for managing this scheme, following the initial idea from Winifred Flanagan. Hopefully this project will develop our connections with other Catholic Bodies in general. At present we are well connected in Britain with the National Board of Catholic Women, the National Council of Lay Association and the CCS in Durham, while wider contact continues through Pax Romana worldwide and the re-establishment of membership of Andante, which is a European wide organisation for Catholic women. As the world seems to be becoming more fragmented, these links within the general orbit of Christianity will become increasingly helpful for the unity and strengthening of our ultimate purpose of spreading the Good News.
The second project is based on attempting to re-establish contact with young Catholics at University, a contact which at the beginning in 1942 was clearly the main source of our membership. Alas, over the years, owing to many changes and events within the country, the education system and the Church, this contact has, to a large extent, been lost. Council approved, with appropriate funding, my attempt to re-establish this connection, in particular with the universities in my local city of Leeds. So far this has been a successful venture and at the last meeting there were some nine students from varied backgrounds and courses, who were very open and interested in our Newman vision of an educated laity. This is definitely a space to watch.
Such are the particular events of the year, while the regular contributions of the Journal and the Newsletter have continued as a steady background to our activities. Barry Riley has continued in his role as Journal editor with his usual expertise but we have had changes in the editorship of the national Newsletter with the resignation and death of Kevin Lambert, after so many years of dedication to the Association in so many roles. Terry Wright of the Tyneside Circle took over from Kevin but unfortunately he, in turn had to resign owing to developing health challenges. The editorship of the Newsletter has now passed to Barbara Bolgiano, who has taken up this role with our thanks.
Brian Hamill President
REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED JANUARY 31, 2023
The trustees present their report and the financial statements for the year ended January 31, 2023. During the course of the year the Charities Commission approved the registration of the Association as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (C.I.O.) and the trustees who served during year are listed on page 2, as are those former trustees who also served as directors under the previous parallel company and charity authorisations.
Aims and Objectives
The object of the Association is to further the mission to the world of the Christian religion with particular reference to the Roman Catholic Church and in the light of the life and work of Saint John Henry Newman, by promoting greater understanding of the Christian faith and the application of its principles to the contemporary world.
Much of the activity of the Association is carried out through activities in local “circles”, though some members are “unattached” where no circle exists locally. These activities, typically talks or conferences on religious subjects, are open to non-members including
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Christians of other denominations, non-Christians and those professing no religion. The trustees confirm that in governing the Association they have had regard to the Charity Commission statement on public benefit.
Structure, Governance and Management Governing Document
The Newman Association was founded in 1942 as a charitable company limited by guarantee, incorporated on 1 May 1947 and registered as a charity on 13 December 1991. The company was originally established under a Memorandum of Association, which defines its objects and powers, and is governed under its Articles of Association.
The new Constitution as a C.I.O. was adopted by the membership in June 2022 and approved by the Charities Commission in November 2022.
Recruitment and Appointment of Council
The charity trustees are the principal members of the Association's Council, which may also include advisory members such as the chaplain and The Newman journal editor. Trustees are elected for a period of 3 years, but may be re-elected for a further term. The trustees may appoint a replacement trustee to fill a casual vacancy, and may also co-opt up to three further trustees, but such appointed trustees automatically retire at the following Annual General Meeting.
A trustee may serve for sets of two 3 year periods, after which they must cease office for at least a year, after which they may stand for re-election at a general meeting, as specified in the constitution. Council normally meets at least four times each year, which may be in person or by electronic means. The Association's success in meeting its aims and objectives is reviewed each year in the President’s report.
New trustees are directed to the Charity Commission website, in particular those sections outlining the legal obligations of trustees under charity law. They also receive a copy of the previous year’s annual report and accounts and a representative section of the Association’s current literature. All trustees are encouraged to continue to make themselves aware of information published by the Charity Commission and to keep abreast of developments in Charity governance.
Financial Review
The trustees have reviewed the required level of the financial reserve. The total funds available in January 2023 were in excess of £120,000 which may seem excessive in the light of the current levels of expenditure of around £25,000/year (before external grants).
However the trustees recognise that:
a) A significant portion (around £90,000 of the fund is held in a CCLA COIF investment fund, the value of which has decreased over the last year and may decrease further in future.
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b) Circles will require further funding to encourage them to resume their levels of pre-Covid activity, as will covering the costs of resuming of the London and Manchester lectures each year.
c) The website and other IT activity will require significant future expenditure
d) The main costs of the Association will continue to increase with inflation, while the opportunity to increase revenue by raising subscriptions is limited.
The trustees therefore conclude that the gap between operational income and expenditure is likely to increase over the next 3 years, and believe it prudent to retain a balance of around £100,000 for the present.
Nevertheless over the next three years the Trustees intend to seek further opportunities to make annual grants (totalling around £5000-10,000/year to external (mainly educational) institutions to promote the Association's objectives.
Responsibilities of the Trustees
Charities law requires the trustees to prepare financial statements that give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity at the end of the financial year and of its surplus or deficit for the financial year. In doing so the trustees are required to:
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Select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently:
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Make sound judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent and
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Prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis, unless it is inappropriate to presume that the Association will continue on that basis.
The trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records, which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charities Act 2011. The trustees are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities. In accordance with charities law, as trustees, we certify that:
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So far as we are aware there is no relevant audit information of which the company’s independent examiner is unaware and
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As the trustees, we have taken all the steps that we ought to have taken in order to make ourselves aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the charity’s independent examiner is aware of that information.
Approved by the Board of Trustees on 1 May 2023 and signed on its behalf by:
Brian Hamill, President
Statement of Financial Activities (including Income & Expenditure Account)
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for the Year Ended January 31, 2023
| Balance Sheet | ||
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 2023 | |
| £ | £ | |
| 128,77 | Net assets brought forward | 134,780 |
| 4 | ||
| 6,006 | Net gain/(loss) in the year | (7,455) |
| 134,78 | Net assets carried forward | 127,325 |
| 0 | ||
| Represented by: | ||
| 91,814 | COIF Charities investment Fund | 90,165 |
| 26,262 | Cash in banks managed by Newman Council | 22,674 |
| 15,733 | Cash in Circles banks | 13,448 |
| 2,250 | Debtors and prepayments | 3,100 |
| 136,05 | Gross Assets | 129,387 |
| 9 | ||
| 1,279 | Less liabilities | 2,061 |
| 134,78 | Net Assets | 127,326 |
| 0 | ||
| Operational Income and Expenditure | ||
| 2022 | Income | 2023 |
| 11,067 | Membership subscriptions | 10,201 |
| 250 | Donations | 2,083 |
| 2,006 | Gift Aid Receipts | 2,122 |
| 984 | National events -retreat | - |
| 3,306 | Circles Income (note1) | 3,902 |
| 2,696 | Bank and investment income | 2,748 |
| 5,789 | Increase/ (decrease) in value of COIF | (1,649) |
| investment | ||
| 79 | Other income | - |
| 26177 | Total income | 19,407 |
| Expenditure | ||
| 1,160 | National events | 89 |
| 3,597 | Newman Journal | 3,756 |
| 759 | Public liability insurance | 850 |
| 3,862 | Circles expenditure - note 1 | 8,642 |
| 906 | Annual general meeting (net expense) | 2,677 |
| 0 | Council meetings | 0 |
| 1,843 | Website maintenance costs | 1,584 |
| 1,498 | IT/Zoom services | 982 |
| 3,125 | Pax Romana and national subscriptions | 1,134 |
| (note2) | ||
| 1,000 | Donations to educational institutions | 5,000 |
| 2,420 | Other expenses (note 3) | 2,143 |
| 20,170 | Total expenditure | 26,859 |
| 6,007 | Overall Surplus/(deficit) | (7,455) |
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The notes below form part of these accounts.
Approved by the Board of Trustees on 1 May 2023 and signed on its behalf by:
Brian Hamill President & Trustee
Anthony Baker Treasurer & Trustee
Notes on the accounts 2022-3
| Notes on the accounts 2022-3 | ||
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 2023 | |
| Note 1 | ||
| Circles Income | ||
| Meetings | 506 | 1,635 |
| Functions | 2,027 | 2,046 |
| Other | 773 | 221 |
| Total | 3,306 | 3,902 |
| Circle expenditure | ||
| Meetings | 1,253 | 5,358 |
| Functions | 1,820 | 1,777 |
| Other | 789 | 1,507 |
| Total | 3,862 | 8,642 |
| Note2 | ||
| Pax Romana and national subscriptions | ||
| Pax Romana* | 3,080 | 1000 |
| National Board of Catholic Women | 45 | 134 |
| National Council for Lay Associations | 0 | 0 |
| * the 2022 amount included a | ||
| backlog of partly unpaid subscriptions over 3 | ||
| years |
| 2021 | 2023 | |
|---|---|---|
| Note 3 Miscellaneous expenditure | ||
| Bank charges | 251 | 256 |
| BACS charges | 159 | 80 |
| Chaplain's honorarium | 600 | 700 |
| Examiner honorarium | 900 | 480 |
| Registered office services | 188 | 210 |
| postage | 225 | 219 |
| National travel | - | 48 |
| Other small items | 97 | 150 |
| Total | 2,420 | 2143 |
Note 4 Trustee remuneration and related party transactions
No member of the Board of Trustees received any remuneration during the year (2021-2: nil)
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No trustee or any other person related to the charity has any personal interest in any contract or transaction entered into by the charity during the year, save as a potential beneficiary of the charity in the normal course of its activities (2021-2: none)
£603 travel expenses were reimbursed to three trustees in the course of the year (2020-1: nil)
INDEPENDENT EXAMINER’S REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES OF THE NEWMAN ASSOCIATION
I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of The Newman Association for the year ended 31 January 2023. which are set out on pages 6 to 8.
Responsibilities and basis of report
As the charity trustees of the Trust, you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011(‘the Act’).
I report in respect of my examination of the Trustee’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the 2011 Act.
Independent examiner’s statement
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:
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(1) accounting records were not kept in respect of the Trust as required by section 130 of the Act; or
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(2) the accounts do not accord with those records; or
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(3) the accounts do not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a ‘true and fair view’ which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination.
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
Signed:
David A Swallow F.C.A.
Commercial House, Bridge Road, Stokesley, TS9 5AA April 2023
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MEMBERSHIP REPORT
This membership report covers the period from February 2022 until the end of January 2023 following the ups and downs of the Covid pandemic and life as it now is reflected. I took over from Patricia Egerton towards the end of January 2023 and commenced my term of office by writing to let members know that their subscription was due.
Some members have become ill and need care and have resigned their membership; other members and ex-members have died and are listed later in this report. We hold all of these and their families in our prayers.
Since the last annual report we have been delighted to welcome the following new members of the Association: Mr Paul Brohan (Worcester Circle); Mrs Teresa Castelino (Coventry Circle); Dr Barbara Bolgiano and Mrs Marguerite Walter (Herts Circle); Mr Philip & Mrs Margaret Clark (Cleveland); Mrs Lucinda Hamill, Dr David Walsh, Mr Thomas & Mrs Jean Naughton and Miss Ann Watson and (York Circle); Ms Collette Borrow and Miss Catherine Moran (N. Merseyside).
There are sixteen active circles which have a variety of face to face meetings or Zoom. The use of email as a means of communicating information, especially to those whom are unattached, is very useful and saves on postage. We are encouraging members to use this means of communication as well as the Newman website to keep in touch and advertise their programmes.
| Circle | Roll | Roll | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01/2/2022 | 31/01/2023 | ||
| Birmingham | 10 | 10 | 0 |
| Cleveland | 27 | 26 | -1 |
| Coventry | 42 | 40 | -2 |
| Ealing | 23 | 22 | -1 |
| Eastbourne & Bexhill | 9 | 10 | 1 |
| Edinburgh | 16 | 16 | 0 |
| Glasgow | 31 | 27 | -4 |
| Hertfordshire | 58 | 54 | -4 |
| Manchester & North Cheshire |
38 | 35 | -3 |
| North Gloucester | 16 | 16 | 0 |
| North Merseyside | 17 | 18 | 1 |
| Overseas | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| Surrey Hills (dormant) |
6 | 5 | -1 |
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| Swansea University (now closed) |
5 | 4 | -1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tyneside | 23 | 23 | 0 |
| Unattached | 111 | 97 | -14 |
| Wimbledon | 18 | 15 | -3 |
| Worcester | 26 | 25 | -1 |
| Wrexham | 18 | 17 | -1 |
| York | 15 | 17 | 2 |
| Total | 512 | 477 | -35 |
The decrease in membership was about seven percent in the period from February 2022 to February 2023.
In Memoriam – Requiescant in pace
In the period February 2022 – January 2023, the Newman Association was notified of the deaths of the following members:
Mrs Margaret Robinson, (Manchester); Mr Howard Curtis, (N Merseyside); Dr John Notley, (York); Miss Sue Scott, (ex-Birmingham); Dr Joseph M Jackson, (unattached); Mr David R Morton, (N Staffs); Prof Patrick Alderton, (Surrey Hills); Mrs A Byrne, (Wimbledon); Mrs Ianthe Pratt, (Croydon); Mrs Beryl Shannon, (Wimbledon); Mr Kevin Lambert, (Coventry); Sister Mary Burtenshaw, (Coventry); Mr Bill White, (Croydon), Mrs Maureen Thomas, (Wrexham); Mrs Joyce Shannon, (Wimbledon); Mrs Terry Gray, (Tyneside); Mr Eric Poyser, (unattached); Mrs Judith Bennett, (unattached); Mr Jacques Davis, (unattached); Dr John A Bryden, (unattached); Dr Joan M Tarnoky, (unattached); Mr Francis Radcliffe, (York); Mr William Capstick, (former London circle); Mrs Mary Corbett, (Herts).
Eric Poyser (1959-61), John Bryden (1965-7), Kevin Lambert (1993-5), Judith Bennett (1997-9) and Maureen Thomas (2003-5) all served as Presidents of the Association in the years listed. Bill White was membership secretary for many years.
May they all rest in peace.
Cindy Hamill Membership Registrar
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