2020-12-31-accounts

Triratna Buddhist Community (Nottingham) (Registered charity, number 1044031) Financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2020

Page	Contents
2 - 6	Trustees’ annual report
7	Independent examiner’s report
8	Receipts & payments account
9	Statement of assets & liabilities
10	Notes to the accounts

Triratna Buddhist Community (Nottingham) Trustees’ annual report for the year ended 31 December 2020

Full name Triratna Buddhist Community (Nottingham)

Other names by which the charity is known Nottingham Buddhist Centre

Registered charity number 1044031

Principal address 9 St Mary’s Place, Lace Market, Nottingham, NG1 1PH

Trustees

Lucy Jane Spence (Kusaladevi), Chair Joanne Kshantika Coates (Kshantika) Rachel Woodburn, Treasurer Dorry Lake (Karunavaca) Gareth Austin, Secretary Jyotida Melbourne Cornelia Anna Maria Remijn (Khemasiri) Paul Johnson, from November 2020 Jesus Marquez Briceno (Aryavacin) James Burrell (Saccanama), until 1/9/20

Independent examiner

John O’Brien, employee of Community Accounting Plus, Units 1 & 2 North West, 41 Talbot Street, Nottingham, NG1 5GL

Governance and management

The charity is operated under the rules of its constitution adopted 23 October 1994 and most recently amended 27 March 2011.

All new trustees are invited through discussion between existing trustees (the council), to ensure that they are in harmony with the aims of the charity. In practice this means that trustees are selected from the pool of ordained Buddhists and those who have requested Ordination in Triratna in Nottingham. Trustees are nominated by the charity’s members and appointed at the AGM as per the constitution. The constitution allows a minimum of 4 and maximum of 10 trustees. Seven regular trustee (Council) meetings were held in 2020, in addition to the AGM.

Objectives and activities

The object of the Triratna Buddhist Community is the advancement of the Buddhist religion, in particular:

• To encourage the members and others to live in accordance with the teachings of the Buddha;

• To support ordained members of the Triratna Buddhist Order and other duly ordained Buddhists, at the discretion of the council of the TBC;

• To maintain close communication with, and work under the guidance of the Triratna Buddhist Order and in co-operation with other groups with the same objects.

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Triratna Buddhist Community (Nottingham)

Public benefit statement

The Trustees confirm that they have complied with the duty in section 17 of the Charities Act 2011 to have due regard to the Charity Commission's general guidance on public benefit, 'Charities and Public Benefit'.

Summary of the main activities undertaken for the public benefit

We are an international Buddhist movement bringing the Buddha’s teaching to the general public.

We have sustained a diverse range of events and activities that make available the teachings and practices of the Buddha to both the local community and the region. We run events for both the general public and to educational establishments across the region. We run activities at the centre and in various locations outside. This year we have moved the majority of our activities onto an online platform in response to the Covid 19 pandemic restrictions.

Meditation classes and Buddhist teachings can provide valuable support to people and assist them to deal with the uncertainties of their lives and meditation can improve mental health and decrease stress. This can enable people to more fully participate in all areas of their lives. During the difficult lockdown period people have continued to be able to access this support via our online classes and events, providing a valuable community network to overcome the isolation and separation faced by people.

Summary of the main achievements during the period

Events

Retreats (both in person pre March 2020 and online since then) – 2 in person weekend retreats and 2 online retreats were held this year, as well as 4 day retreat or weekend events with guests from different sanghas.

The Buddhist centre runs regular classes for sangha members and also introductory classes for newcomers. Due to the lockdown in March 2020, all activities of the Buddhist centre moved from being in-person, to online activities. The activities at the Buddhist centre this year have been;

• Sangha Night (weekly), where all Nottingham Buddhist centre community members can attend and practice together;

• Drop in meditations (they were 3x a week this year, but numbers dropped significantly due to being online classes [Youtube] and so a plan was made and a new drop in format designed to begin in 2021);

• Study sessions (there are now six study groups – 4 women’s and 2 men’s);

• Puja nights (there were 3 in person in 2020 before lockdown, then they restarted fortnightly online in April 2020);

• Open Doors (3);

• Meditation mornings (3 in person, 2 online);

• Introduction to Buddhism and meditation courses (2 in person. 1 online);

• Follow on courses (one moved online, one cancelled due to the pandemic, one online in November).

• Poetry/arts kula (3);

• Men/women gatherings (2 of each and a women’s day retreat);

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Triratna Buddhist Community (Nottingham)

• A Blake pilgrimage;

• Some additional winter period offerings;

• Sub35 Buddhist activities (with a growing team and momentum).

• We have continued to celebrate the main Buddhist festivals and link with the worldwide Triratna community online (1 festival day in person pre lockdown and 2 online – both local and global celebrations).

• Yoga – Bodhiyoga is now a regular part of the Buddhist centre offerings, on a donation basis. The classes have been successful and have increased through the year. Three classes per week are now offered.

There have been no school visits or rental of space this year due to Covid.

Donations.

Donations have continued to maintain and even increase levels due to the generosity of our sangha during this time. Despite initial concerns as to the impact of lockdown we ended the year with a surplus that exceeded what we had anticipated.

There were plans for a fundraising appeal in September 2020 but this was put on hold due to a number of changes in personnel and the process around recruiting a new Chair (Kusaladevi) which took time and resources away from planning a fundraising appeal.

Online Activities.

We very successfully transitioned to offering our activities online when the lockdown came into place due to the Covid 19 pandemic. People who would not have been able to attend classes at the centre have been able to access online teaching which is an unexpected positive. Online donations have made it easier for people to give and we have been able to invest in additional equipment to enable better quality sound and pictures. We have improved and increased our advertising via social media platforms and this is encouraging a broader take up than traditional methods had.

Maintenance

There has been a significant amount of maintenance and decoration undertaken during the closedown of the building. Including repairing windows and façade downstairs which were in need of attention.

CIO

We have been transferring our charitable status to a CIO status as recommended by Triratna’s central body as this protects the trustees from personal liability. This work will continue in 2021 as we transfer assets and accounts to the new legal entity.

New Developments

Diversity group – a group of volunteers and some employees began forming this to explore how best we can make our centre and its activities/events more welcoming and accessible for all.

Interfailth -- Saccanama made some good connections with the Nottingham Interfaith group and through that group made other connections, for example, the organisation

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Triratna Buddhist Community (Nottingham)

One Nottingham, consisting of members from various sectors in Nottingham, i.e. health, education, the police etc. This responsibility was handed over to Kusaladevi and Rachel. Kusaladevi attended a Black Lives’ Matter seminar organised by One Nottingham and Rachel attended a faith leaders meeting. We expect we will make some good connections and these meetings will be an excellent opportunity for networking and becoming more integrated in the community in Nottingham more broadly.

Communication team - In June 2020 a team was brought together to focus on online communications, having seen that this would be a significant channel for the Buddhist centre moving forward. There is a plan to put a more thorough communications strategy in place, but in the meantime the team have been joining up more of the centre’s communication between the website and social media. As well as work on the Youtube Channel, an example of this is the Meditation Toolkit playlist on Youtube. The website was also updated and refreshed and a new website launched in January 2021.

Employee Changes

Saccanama left in September and Kusaladevi started as Chair in October. Gareth became Centre Manager and increased his hours to full time in October. We now have three full time supported Order Members (one Chair and two Mitra Convenors), a full time Centre Manager and a part time salaried bookkeeper. This increase in personnel hours has been possible due to a growth in the Buddhist centre community and donations and shows our wish to respond to and encourage a continued growing and thriving Buddhist Centre.

Financial Review

We concluded 2020 with a reasonable surplus of just over £6,900. We view this as a reflection of the successful transition to online events during lockdown as well as the generosity of our community. We made the decision last year to increase the number of people we employed which also increased our staffing expenses, this has been balanced by reductions in training costs resulting in our costs being close to 2019’s levels. Our income from rental of the centre also ceased during lockdown. Therefore, while the surplus is less than 2019’s (£7,000) it represents a significant increase in income from donations and gift aid. The recurring income is especially valuable as it gives us a more stable cash-flow from month to month.

Financial risks

The main financial risk to the centre is the general uncertainty the economy is facing. A general recession and increase in joblessness due to the effect of the pandemic could see a reduction in our income after the Government support for employer’s ceases as we are largely dependent on donations. We are confident that our community is growing and that the centre is valued and supported by many people but a general downturn remains a risk. We also occupy an ageing building and there may be unexpected maintenance costs (roof replacement/repair), for that reason we intend to increase our reserves as explained below.

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Triratna Buddhist Community (Nottingham)

The charity’s policy on reserves

We aim to increase the reserves we hold in our deposit account to around £40,000, double their current level of £20,000. During 2020 we suspended transfers to our deposit account so that we could be prepared for the changes to our income during lockdown. Now that the situation has stabilised we will be resuming these transfers and plan to increase our reserve again in 2021.

Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees:

Signed ______ Date _ Lucy Jane Spence (Kusaladevi), Trustee

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Independent examiner’s report to the trustees of Triratna Buddhist Community (Nottingham) for the year ended 31 December 2020

I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of Triratna Buddhist Community (Nottingham) (the charity) for the year ended 31 December 2020.

Responsibilities and basis of report

As the trustees of the charity 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 charity’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 Act.

Independent examiner’s statement

I have completed my examination. I confirm that no matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:

1. accounting records were not kept in respect of the charity as required by section 130 of the Act; or

2. the accounts do not accord with those records.

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 ____ Date _______ John O’Brien MSc, FCCA, FCIE Employee of Community Accounting Plus

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Triratna Buddhist Community (Nottingham) Receipts & payments account for the year ended 31 December 2020

2019 £ Note Receipts 5561 Activities contributions 86 Bank interest 7454 Gift Aid reclaim 39040 Grants & donations 2 17140 Rent 3184 Sales 72465 Total receipts Payments 1111 Consumable items 1179 Donations paid 1813 Equipment, repairs & renewals 416 Fundraising & publicity 600 Independent examination fee 1916 Insurance 703 Payroll & professional service 7360 Premises 3 96 Printing & stationery 3446 Shop purchases 317 Sundry payments 40160 Support costs 569 Telephone & postage 5730 Training, accommodation & retreat expenses 65416 Total payments 7049 Net receipts/(payments) 22321 Cash funds at start of this period 29370 Cash funds at end of this period	2020 £ 1163 81 7113 48916 17405 1202
	75880
	241 898 1590 805 612 1974 882 8226 89 449 733 48029 617 3776
	68921
	6959 29370
	36329

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Triratna Buddhist Community (Nottingham) Statement of assets and liabilities at 31 December 2020

2019 £ Cash assets Note 29313 Bank accounts 57 Cash in hand 29370 Other monetary assets 922 Debtors & prepayments 4 9141 Stock 10063 Assets retained for the charity’s own use Land & building purchased in 1995, cost £135,000 General equipment retained for use by the charity. Liabilities (685) Creditors 5 (685)	2020 £ 36321 8
	36329
	2062 8403
	10465
	(2000)
	(2000)

These financial statements are accepted on behalf of the charity by:

Signed _____ Dated _____ Rachel Woodburn, Trustee

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Triratna Buddhist Community (Nottingham) Notes to the accounts for the year ended 31 December 2020

1. Receipts & payments accounts

Receipts and payments accounts contain a summary of money received and money spent during the period and a list of assets and liabilities at the end of the period. Usually, cash received and cash spent will include transactions through bank accounts and cash in hand.

2. Grants & donations

Sundry grants & donations Premises Council tax Utilities & servicing Maintenance & repairs Debtors & prepayments Support costs Bank interest Prepayment - Insurance Creditors Support costs Independent examination fee		£ 48916
		48916
		£ 2111 4238 1877 8226 £ 1230 9 823 2062 £ 1388 612 2000

3. Premises

4. Debtors & prepayments

5. Creditors

6. Premises & staff

The premises are owned by the Triratna Buddhist Community (Nottingham). The cost of the property in 1995 was £135,000; the property is valued at approximately £350,000

7. Trustees’ remuneration

Three trustees are ordained Buddhists and they received financial support, in the form of a salary totalling £26,682. Another trustee is also an employee who received a salary of £7,215 from the charity during the year.

8. Glossary of terms

Creditors: These are amounts owed by the charity, but not paid during the accounting period.

Debtors: These are amounts owed to the charity, but not received in the accounting period.

Prepayments: These are services that the charity has paid for in advance, but not used during the accounting period.

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