Trustees Report of Romilly Forshall Foundation (RFF) for Year Ending September 2023
Trustees
James Forshall (Chairman) Tim Drake Joanna Kennedy Jerry Rihll Tim James (Treasurer)
The principal address for the charity is 40 Acton Lane W4 5ED.
History & Background
Romilly Forshall was just fourteen when she died. A bright, vivacious, creative young woman Romilly had already shown great compassion and commitment to helping young people. In the difficult months following her death an idea was born that the provision of aid to young people in need would be a tribute to Romilly’s spirit and so in July 2000 a charitable trust was established. The charity is regulated by a trust deed dated 31 July 2000. The charity is registered with the Charity Commission number 1082605.
Aims of the Trust
Specifically the objects of the charity, as set out in the charity’s trust deed, are to provide funds for the relief of poverty and need amongst children. The trustees aim to allocate funds to specific projects in Africa which directly benefit local disadvantaged young people.
Organisation
Currently there are 5 trustees. The role of the trustees is to manage and administer the funds held by the trust. Trustees liaise regularly on donations and the progress made with street children in Kitwe . In addition various other individuals are involved at committee level in ongoing liaison with projects, fund-raising activities, administration and raising awareness of the foundation.
Summary of Income and Expenditure:
In the year to September 2023 the charity generated a surplus of £29,006 (2022 deficit £11,935). Income from donations during the period totalled £38,877 (2022 £5,754). During the year the charity benefited from an exceptionally generous bequest of just under £30,000 and a further generous donation of £5,000. £11,254 (2022 £16,674) was given to support the charitable activities in Zambia of Friends of the Street Children (FSC)and administrative expenses were minimal totalling £307. Year-end cash balances totalled £36,199, in addition to this RFF held £17,742 of investment in M&G Charity Fund units.
Review of Activities
The trustees of RFF continued to support the Zambian street children NGO, Friends of Street Children by transferring money to pay for the salaries of the staff at FSC. This has the dual benefit of providing a living for the dedicated staff at FSC, and through them caring for very vulnerable homeless children. FSC is vital to the survival of the street children around Kitwe, in the Copperbelt, and without RFFs support it would not have been able to continue its operations.
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As an important donor to FSC RFF used its influence to encourage a change of board members at the FSC AGM in March 2023. FSC needed new energy and the trustees of RFF were delighted with the election of the new board, in particular, that of Anita McWilliams, who has shown huge dedication to FSC over a long period, knows Kitwe well, and has wide experience of educational NGO work in several African countries. Rahul Patel, who has considerable, senior business management experience, is also a great addition to the FSC board and he and Anita, and the other new members will lift FSC and enable it to reach its full potential.
During the winter of 2022 -23 funds were raised through talks on the work of RFF and FSC given to groups of people hosted by supporters of RFF. Although a limited experiment, the results were sufficiently encouraging to continue this activity, in order to increase awareness of issues concerning street children and to build up the number of people making small monthly donations in order to cover RFF’s monthly outgoings.
Reserves Policy
It is the policy of the charity that unrestricted funds, which have not been designated for a specific use should be maintained at a level to ensure that, in the event of a significant drop in incoming resources, it would be able to continue the charity’s current activities while consideration is given to ways in which additional funds may be raised.
Risk Assessment
Projects
In choosing the initial project the trustees felt it was important to fund a project with which there was a link to those involved on the ground, in a mainly English speaking area as at that early stage in the Foundation’s life it was recognised that communication would be vital. At all times when choosing to allocate funds to the project the trustees have endeavoured to minimize risk by:
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maintaining close contact with those involved at ground level;
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ensuring funds are paid to a specific project account;
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requesting copies of budget estimates and quotes from builders;
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receiving expenditure reports from the project manager.
These measures aim to ensure that once funds are allocated they are used in the manner agreed with recipients in furtherance of the trust’s objects.
Investment
In order to ensure that funds held by the Foundation are managed responsibly, particularly in the light of a difficult economic climate, at each board meeting the current investment policy is reviewed. At present funds are held both in bank accounts and invested in a specialist charitable fund, in order to ensure some capital growth. The trustees review the performance of this fund to ensure that it is performing in line with the market and its competitors.
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Fund-raising
The main focus of the trustees is the administration and allocation of funds raised on behalf of the Foundation. However they do also undertake or get involved in fund-raising opportunities. When deciding whether an opportunity is suitable the trustees assess the potential costs of the event as against likely funds received, to ensure funds are not committed to inappropriate or risky events
Financial Review
In the year to September 2023 the charity generated a surplus of £29,006 (2022 deficit £11,935). Income from donations during the period totalled £38,877 (2022 £5,754). During the year the charity benefited from an exceptionally generous bequest of just under £30,000 and a further generous donation of £5,000. £11,254 (2022 £16,674) was given to support the charitable activities in Zambia of Friends of the Street Children (FSC). Administrative expenses were minimal totalling £307. Year-end cash balances totalled £36,199, in addition to this RFF held £17,742 of investment in M&G Charity Fund units.
By order of the Trustees
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T H T James T Drake
Date: 29 July 2024
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| Romilly Forshall Foundation | No (if any) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Receipts andpayments accounts | CC16a | ||
| 01/10/2022 Period start date For the period from |
30/09/2023 Period end date To |
| Section A Receipts and payments | Section A Receipts and payments | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A1 Receipts | Unrestricted funds to the nearest £ 38,877 1,690 - - - - - - 40,567 - - - 40,567 11,254 193 114 - - - - - - 11,561 - - - 11,561 29,006 - 7,193 36,199 |
Restricted funds to the nearest £ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - |
Endowment funds to the nearest £ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - |
Total funds to the nearest £ 38,877 1,690 - - - - - - 40,567 - - - 40,567 11,254 193 114 - - - - - - 11,561 - - - 11,561 29,006 |
Last year to the nearest £ |
|
| Donations | 38,877 | 5,754 | ||||
| Investment Income | 1,690 | - | ||||
| - | - | |||||
| - | - | |||||
| - | - | |||||
| - | - | |||||
| - | - | |||||
| - | - | |||||
| Sub total(Gross income for AR) |
40,567 | 5,754 | ||||
| A2 Asset and investment sales, (see table). |
||||||
| - | ||||||
| - | - | |||||
| Sub total | - | - | ||||
| Total receipts A3 Payments |
||||||
| 5,754 | ||||||
| Charitable Projects | 11,254 | 16,674 | ||||
| Administrative Expenses | 193 | 359 | ||||
| Bank Charges | 114 | |||||
| Decrease in value of investments | - | 656 | ||||
| - | - | |||||
| - | - | |||||
| - | - | |||||
| - | - | |||||
| - | - | |||||
| **Sub total ** | 11,561 | 17,689 | ||||
| A4 Asset and investment purchases, (see table) |
||||||
| - | ||||||
| - | ||||||
| **Sub total ** | - | - | ||||
| Total payments Net of receipts/(payments) A5 Transfers between funds A6 Cash funds last year end Cash funds this year end |
||||||
| 17,689 | ||||||
| 29,006 | - | - |
29,006 | - 11,935 | ||
| - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 7,193 | - | - | 7,193 | 19,128 | ||
| 36,199 | - | - |
36,199 | 7,193 |
CCXX R1 accounts (SS)
30/07/2024
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Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period
| Categories B1 Cash funds B2 Other monetary assets B4 Assets retained for the charity’s own use B5 Liabilities B3 Investment assets |
Details Details Current Account Coop Bank Deposit Account Coop Bank Details Details Total cash funds (agree balances with receipts and payments account(s)) Charifund Units M&G Details |
Unrestricted funds to nearest £ 36,146 53 - 36,199 OK Unrestricted funds to nearest £ 17,742 - - - - - Fund to which asset belongs Fund to which asset belongs Fund to which liability relates |
Restricted funds to nearest £ - - - - OK Restricted funds to nearest £ - - - - - - Cost (optional) - - - - - Cost (optional) - - - - - - - - - Amount due (optional) - - - - - |
Endowment funds to nearest £ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| OK | ||||
| Endowment funds to nearest £ |
||||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| Current value (optional) |
||||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| Current value (optional) |
||||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| When due (optional) |
||||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| - |
Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees
| Signature | Print Name TimothyJames Timothy Drake |
Date of approval |
|---|---|---|
| 29/07/2024 | ||
| 29/07/2024 | ||
CCXX R2 accounts (SS)
30/07/2024
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Romilly Forshall Foundation
Independent Examiner's Report to the Trustees of Romilly Forshall Foundation
I report to the charity trustees on my examination of the accounts of the charity for the year ended 30 September 2023 .
Responsibilities and basis of report
As the charity’s trustees 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 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 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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accounting records were not kept in respect of the charity as required by section 130 of the Act; or
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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.
Darren Harding ACA FCCA DChA
Richard Place Dobson Services Limired 1-7 Station Road Crawley West Sussex RH10 1HT
Date: ………………... 30 July 2024