2022-12-31-accounts - Kadampa Meditation Centre Wales

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Kadampa Meditation Centre Wales

A company limited by guarantee

Annual Trustees Report and Financial Statements

31[st] December 2022

Kadampa Meditation Centre Wales Annual Trustees Report 2022

Registered charity number 1039234

Registered company number 2869366 In England and Wales

A member of the New Kadampa Tradition - International Kadampa Buddhist Union

Index	Page
Table of contents	2
Report of the Trustees	3 - 7
Statement of Trustee’s Responsibilities	8
Independent examiner's report	9
Statement of Financial Activities	10
Balance Sheet	11
Notes to financial statements	12 – 16

Kadampa Meditation Centre Wales Annual Trustees Report 2022

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES

The trustees submit their report and un-audited financial statements of the company for the year ended 31st December 2022.

MANAGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATION

The following details the Directors/Trustees during 2022.

COMPANY SECRETARY

Ian Kavanagh (appointed 7 September, 2019)

CURRENT DIRECTORS/TRUSTEES :

Mr Malcolm Woodfield (appointed 13[th] December 2020) Kelsang Droljang (ex-officio, appointed 13[th] December 2020) Ms Faye Johnson (appointed 26[th] June 2022)

REGISTERED OFFICE SPRINGFIELD, FFYNONE ROAD UPLANDS, SWANSEA, SA1 6DE

REGISTERED NUMBER 2869366

CHARITY NUMBER 1039234

STRUCTURE & GOVERNANCE

GOVERNING DOCUMENT

The organisation is a company limited by guarantee and a registered charity. The company’s governing documents are its Memorandum of Association and Articles of Association.

RECRUITMENT & APPOINTMENT OF NEW TRUSTEES

The Directors of the company are also charity trustees.

The Trustees retire by rotation and are eligible for reappointment at the AGM. Any member who wishes to stand may do so.

On 13 December, 2020 the Charity formally resolved to adopt a new Constitution (Memorandum of Association and Articles of Association), which resulted in the then Directors/Trustees resigning and new Directors/Trustees being appointed. Apart from the

Kadampa Meditation Centre Wales Annual Trustees Report 2022

ex-officio Director/Trustee, the term of office for Directors/Trustees is up to the third AGM after their appointment. The trustees may retire at any stage during their term of office. Any member who wishes to stand may do so.

OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES

The objects of the Charity (“the Objects”) are to promote the Buddhist Faith under the spiritual guidance of the elected General Spiritual Director of the New Kadampa Tradition – International Kadampa Buddhist Union (NKT – IKBU) principally through the activities of teaching, study, practice and observance of moral discipline all within the Mahayana Buddhist tradition of Atisha and Je Tsongkhapa as taught by Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, the Founder of the New Kadampa Tradition – International Kadampa Buddhist Union. This is achieved through the continuous implementation of the three New Kadampa Tradition Study Programmes: the General Programme, the Foundation Programme and Teacher Training Programme.

BACKGROUND

The Charity is based in a Grade-II listed detached property, Springfield, in the Uplands, Swansea. The property has a number of bedrooms providing for 11 residents, 3 reception rooms (used for community lounge/dining room, meditation room; and office), a residents’ kitchen and a basement used for storage. The main sources of income are residential rent and classes and courses attended by the general public. Whilst the main location for educational activity is the residential centre at Springfield, the KMC has a regional remit with classes and courses provided across South, West and Mid Wales. Classes and courses are suitable for anyone, irrespective of age, gender, race or religion and teach people how to meditate and apply Buddha’s teachings in daily life.

The Centre is part of the New Kadampa Tradition - International Kadampa Buddhist Union which was founded by Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso and is part of a network of worldwide Buddhist Centres practicing Kadampa Buddhism. The management team consists of an Admin Director (AD), a Resident Teacher (RT) and an Education Programme Co-Ordinator (EPC). All members of the management team receive accommodation and the EPC and RT also receive a stipend. The Centre also relies on volunteers to deliver its aims and is dedicated purely to public benefit.

CENTRE DEVELOPMENT

Since purchasing the property in 2006 the Centre has refurbished and converted the interior spaces to serve the function of the Charity in providing classes and courses in Meditation and Modern Buddhism. A new meditation room was opened in 2013 with funding support from the National Lottery. In addition the Centre continues to provide, maintain and upgrade facilities for residential use of the building including all aspects of Health and Safety and Fire Regulations

Kadampa Meditation Centre Wales Annual Trustees Report 2022

In 2021 the Centre embarked on a substantial Building Development Programme to complete essential internal and external repairs and to undertake extensive improvements to the accommodation in the Centre. This programme of work will be undertaken in two stages with the first stage having been funded mainly through a development loan from the NKT-IKBU and some contribution from the Centre’s own reserves. The Directors are grateful to NKT-IKBU for their support, details of which are included in the accounts (See note 3 below). The Centre continues to benefit from a number of generous donations from individuals. The first stage of the Building Development Programme was completed in 2021.

DEVELOPMENT OF KADAMPA MEDITATION CENTRE WALES IN 2022

1. Building Development

During 2022 detailed planning has been undertaken to prepare for the second stage of the project which comprises a more extensive programme of external repairs and further internal improvements. This programme will take place in 2023 and includes:

Renovation of the exterior of the building to heritage standards including new rainwater goods, repairs to stonework and render in lime mortar, repairs to roofs and chimneys, renovation of exterior woodwork, restoration of high level stonework.
Redecoration of the communal lounge with a new kitchenette
Refurbishment of the laundry room
Re-decoration of the Meditation Hall
Re-decoration and bringing back into use two small guest rooms which have been unusable due to untreated damp.
Realignment of the entrance to the site including reinstatement of gateposts which were previously removed due to damage, soft landscaping and signage.
New furniture and fittings to complete the upgrade to a modern, attractive and publicly accessible lounge.

2. Special Events

In February 2022 the Centre hosted the Welsh Dharma Celebration with Kadam Bridget Heyes. This was our first large in-person event for 3 years with online access also being offered. The event proved to be very successful with 52 people attending in total. On the evening before the celebration Kadam Bridget gave a public talk at the Brangwyn Hall which was attended by 60 people. Again, this was a landmark occasion in our return to in person events and was a highly successful evening attracting a new audience.

Kadampa Meditation Centre Wales Annual Trustees Report 2022

We held our first Residential Away Retreat since 2019 at Nagarjuna Kadampa Meditation Centre at the end of the Spring Term. The event was booked out and attracted some new attendees. This very successful initiative is now in the calendar as an annual event.

3. Classes and Courses

During the first part of 2022 our Education Programme was offered both in person and online. The number of in-person attendees at classes and courses and the uptake of centre memberships continued to grow during the first half of 2022. In September, access to online classes, which had been introduced by the NKT as a temporary measure due to the extraordinary circumstances, was restricted to only live streaming of some classes and only for members. This increased the value of membership of the centre.

The centre’s Study Programmes continue to thrive. The Teacher Training Programme remained stable while The Foundation Programme saw numbers increase significantly when study of the new book, Joyful Path of Good Fortune, began in September 2022.

We continue to liaise with local schools, businesses and SACRE to offer meditation and mindfulness workshops and support for the Religious studies curriculum.

4. Residents :

There has been full and stable occupancy throughout the year.

5. Volunteers

During 2022 we have continued to develop opportunities for people to volunteer with the Centre. This has enabled us to run larger events including the Welsh Dharma Celebration and Special Guest Speaker events in public locations. We also actively promote volunteering through publicity and social media.

PLANS FOR 2023:

The main focus in 2023 will be in completing the internal and external works detailed above while maintaining our expanding education programme. We plan to develop new classes across the region and offer pop-up events to stimulate new interest and make new connections.

To support the capital works we aim to promote both volunteering opportunities and a number of fundraising events throughout the year.

We also plan to deliver a greater number of events with guest speakers at attractive external venues targeting new and larger audiences than we can accommodate within the

Kadampa Meditation Centre Wales Annual Trustees Report 2022

centre. The Welsh Dharma Celebration will be held at the Centre in November 2023, with Kadam Bridget Heyes, the UK National Spiritual Director of the NKT granting the blessing Empowerment of Buddha Tara.Further information about all our events can be found at www.meditationinwales.org.

FINANCIAL REVIEW

The charity’s financial position is good with total unrestricted reserves at the end of the year of £380,730. These reserves are held to meet the charity’s objectives. The company had a deficit for the year of £1,333 and cash balances at year end of £11,539.

DIRECTORS AND THEIR INTERESTS

Those who served as Directors during the year are listed on Page 3 of this report. The company is limited by guarantee and as such has no share capital.

Faye Johnson is a Palliative Care Consultant who has been a Buddhist for many years.

Malcolm Woodfield is a support worker; he has been a Buddhist for twenty years.

Kelsang Droljang is the ex-officio Director and also serves as the Admin Director at Kadampa Meditation Centre London. She has been a Buddhist for twenty nine years.

Ian Kavanagh (Company Secretary) works as a support worker and has been a Buddhist for eighteen years.

Kadampa Meditation Centre Wales Annual Trustees Report 2022

STATEMENT OF TRUSTEES’ RESPONSIBILITIES

The charity trustees (who are also the directors of the Charity for the purposes of Company law) are responsible for preparing a trustees’ annual report and financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice). Company law requires the charity trustees to prepare financial statements for each year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charity for that period.

In preparing the financial statements, the trustees are required to:

select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP;
make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
state whether applicable UK accounting standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements;
prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in business.

The trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and to enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and the group and hence taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

Approved by the Board

Name……………………………..Signed……………….....................Date………

Kadampa Meditation Centre Wales Annual Trustees Report 2022

Independent Examiner's Report

To the Trustees of Kadampa Meditation Centre, Wales

This is a report on the accounts of Kadampa Meditation Centre Wales for the year ended 31 December 2022, which are set out on pages 10 to 14.

Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner

The charity's trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The charity’s trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year under section 144 of the Charities Act 2011 (the Charities Act) and that an independent examination is needed.

It is my responsibility to:

examine the accounts under section 145 of the Charities Act,
to follow the procedures laid down in the general Directions given by the Charity Commission (under section 145(5) (b) of the Charities Act), and
to state whether particular matters have come to my attention.

Basis of independent examiner's report

My examination was carried out in accordance with relevant general Directions of the Charities Commission. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeking explanations from the trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently no opinion is given on whether the accounts present a “true and fair view”.

Independent examiner's statement

In the course of my examination, no matter has come to my attention:

1. which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requirements:

to keep accounting records in accordance with Section 44(1) (a) of the 2005 Act and Regulation 4 of the 2006 Accounts Regulations
to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with Regulation 8 of the 2006 Accounts Regulations have not been met, or
to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Signed_______ Date ______

Alistair Jenkins,14 Shiels Drive, Filton, Bristol, BS32 8EA.

Kadampa Meditation Centre Wales Annual Trustees Report 2022

(A Company Limited by Guarantee not having a Share Capital)

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES

For the year ended 31 December, 2022

The

accompanying notes on pages 12 – 14 form part of these financial statements.

Name & position ………………………….. Signed ………………..................... Date …….….

(A Company Limited by Guarantee not having a Share Capital)

BALANCE SHEET

Kadampa Meditation Centre Wales Annual Trustees Report 2022

As at 31 December, 2022

accompanying notes on pages 12 – 14 form part of these financial statements.

For the year ending 31 December 2022, the company was entitled to exemption from audit under section 477 of the Companies Act 2006. The trustees have prepared accounts in accordance with section 398 of the Companies Act 2006 and section 138 of the Charities Act 2011. These accounts are prepared in accordance with the special provisions of Part 15 of the Companies Act relating to small companies and constitute the annual accounts required by the Companies Act 2006 and are for circulation to members of the company.

Approved by the board:

Name & position ………………………….. Signed ………………..................... Date …….….

(A Company Limited by Guarantee not having a Share Capital)

Kadampa Meditation Centre Wales Annual Trustees Report 2022

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES

a) Basis of Preparation

The accounts are prepared under the historical cost convention.

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard for Smaller Entities published on 16/07/14, the Financial Reporting Standard for Smaller Entities (effective January 2015) and the Companies Act 2006. Assets and liabilities are initially recognised at historical cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policy note(s).

b) Fund Accounting

Unrestricted funds are available for use at the discretion of the Trustees in furtherance of the general objectives of the charity and which have not been designated for other purposes.

The asset fund represents the trustee’s unrestricted interest in the freehold property used by the charity.

c) Income

Income is included in the Statement of Financial Activities when the charity is entitled to the income and the income can be quantified with reasonable accuracy.

Grant income is accounted for on an accruals basis; and shown in the financial statements when the charity earns the unconditional right to funds.

Various forms of voluntary income are received by way of education, donations and fundraising activities. These are included in full in the Statement of Financial Activities when received.

Kadampa Meditation Centre Wales Annual Trustees Report 2022

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)

1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES (Cont’d)

d) Expenditure

Expenditure is included in the Statement of Financial Activities on an accrual basis as a liability is incurred, including irrecoverable VAT.

Charitable expenditure comprises those costs incurred by the charity in the delivery of its activities, both costs directly attributable and indirect support costs.

Governance costs include those costs associated with meeting constitutional and statutory requirements, principally accounting and AGM expenses.

e) Tangible Fixed Assets and Depreciation

Tangible fixed assets are stated at cost less accumulated depreciation, where appropriate. Depreciation is provided at rates calculated to write off the cost less estimated residual value of each asset over its expected useful life, as follows:

Furniture & Fittings 20% on cost straight line Property Improvements 20% on cost straight line

Assets below £250 and grant funded expenditure are not capitalised, but written off within expenses. The Trustees do not believe any assets are impaired and do not carry out an impairment review.

Kadampa Meditation Centre Wales Annual Trustees Report 2022

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS ( CONTINUED)

2. FIXED ASSETS

3. CREDITORS - loan

The amounts falling due within one year and after more than one year include:

a commercial bank loan secured on the freehold property. Interest on this loan is included in the profit and loss account and
a non-commercial development loan (ITS development) whose repayment terms are flexible, interest free and unsecured
personal loans from members and individuals which are interest free and unsecured

Other Creditors within one year includes rent bonds, amounts due back to tenants upon satisfaction of the departure criteria.

4. RESERVES

The unrestricted asset reserve represents the charity’s equity interest, after mortgage, in the freehold property it occupies.

5. SHARE CAPITAL

The Company is limited by guarantee having no share capital.