UK Registered Charity No.: 1087726 Office: Office: Flat 8, 45 Augustus Road. SW19 6LW http://www.breacc.org.uk
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2021
TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2021
OBJECTIVES OF BREACC
The objectives of BREACC are to disseminate Brazilian culture by teaching Portuguese as a heritage language and to help children to understand and respect other cultures and different ways of living.
BREACC is a secular, voluntary organisation funded by members of the Brazilian community in the UK. The school meets at the Waldegrave School, Fifth Cross Road, Twickenham, TW2 5HL, on Saturday mornings during school term times. In 2015, we opened a new branch in Bournemouth, at the Littledown Youth Centre, Chaeside, Littledown, Bournemouth BH7 7DX and in September 2019 it has opened another branch in St Albans Garden Fields JMI School, Townsend Drive, AL3 5RL,St Albans
A full prospectus is available from BREACC’s website www.BREACC.org.co.uk; BREACC's official site provides information in English as well as in Portuguese.
OFFICERS AND TRUSTEES OF BREACC
The following served as Committee Members, and hence as Trustees in the year ended 31 August 2021.
Katia Nogueira Moraes Peixoto Fonseca – Chairman
Fabiana Teixeira - Treasurer
Glayson Cunha – Secretary
All the above may be contacted c/o BREACC info@breacc.com or by post: BREACC, Flat 8, 45 Augustus Road. SW19 6LW.
2020 – 2021: REVIEW OF THE YEAR
ACTIVITIES AND EVENTS REPORT
The financial health of BREACC remains strong though income was reduced in 2020 – 2021 because of the impact of COVID.
In September 2021 BREACC started classes meeting in person again in a new building at Waldegrave School.
Another area that has impacted finances in 2020 - 2021 was the cancelation of our "Festa Junina" - Summer Fair, the main event that brings substantial funds to our institution every year.
We have been fortunate to create a healthy financial fund that has allowed us to survive the pandemic without using all the available back up funds we carefully saved over the years.
Given the parallel increase in BREACC’s costs, it is important to control expenditures to keep its financial stability. Membership has continued to grow in both the Richmond and Bournemouth and St Albans centres offsetting departures of a few members.
We had to close two classes in St. Albans centre to reduce the costs, but we managed to allocate and rearrange the classes according to the academic needs of the children. Our community engagement and fund-raising events have helped generate vital extra income to counter the rises in cost.
OPEN DAYS
Our termly Open Days continue to provide an effective way of attracting new members. The effective utilization of BREACC's online administrative system (Sales Force) has streamlined the process and facilitated enrolment activities before, during and after new members’ visits. Each open day has on average thirty children from new families interested in joining our school. Over half of this number attends and about one third decide to join.
OUR OFFER
Continuing with its approach based on Piaget’s vision of constructivism, BREACC has furthered its commitment to developing a sense of identity in its children. This year, the annual theme was "Diversidade cultural, uma viagem a linha do tempo" (Cultural diversity, a travel in the time line):
1º: Contar, cantar e encantar (Tell, sing and enchant) The children learned the language through out the literature and music. Knowledge and appropriation of Brazilian culture
2º: Mulheres à frente do seu tempo. (Women ahead of their time) We studied the women literature, music, art and culture from Brazil, identifying the important and great women who changed Brazilian history in different areas.
3º: A minha história é do tamanho do mundo (My story is the size of the world) We brought a conversation between parent’s life stories with the bilingual’s children stories, who live in outside Brazil but who carry all their parents’ heritage.
To involve parents with our mission, we promoted talks about Bilingualism and other subjects related to children’s educational development, Portuguese as Heritage Language and Brazilian culture.
We offer teacher training by bringing other professionals to share their knowledge with our teachers. In partnership the University of Kingston BREACC promotes training courses for
teachers to other Portuguese as Heritage Language schools in the UK. Part of our mission is to help other Brazilian language schools with new initiatives to develop their work to meet the demand of Brazilian community.
Unfortunately this training to our teachers and other schools had to be online during the pandemic.
BREACC AND TEACHING TRAINING
This year BREACC and its teachers were involved and participated in many different lives, talking about Portuguese as Heritage Language and the consequences of the pandemic time on teachers work.
BREACC has worked in partnership with Brazilian Consulate in London, the Brazilian Embassy and POLH UK.
POLH UK
POLH UK is an association created from the union of Portuguese as Heritage Language initiatives in England. It is a non-profit entity, which aims to help complementary and heritage language schools in the Brazilian community. The president of BREACC is a co-founder of POLH UK, a registered association, who, together with other directors of Portuguese complementary schools of Portuguese as heritage language aims to help Brazilian schools in the UK.
CARNIVAL PARTY (FEB 2021)
This year, the Carnival celebration had a special theme, "As mulheres a frente do seu tempo" (Women ahead of their time).
We celebrated the great women work in Brazilian history, from different areas, as a music, literature and music, including Chiquinha Gonzaga and Carmen Miranda.
The party was online, and all the children were dressed according to their class theme. It was amazing to see the engagement of the parents during this term and Carnival Party.
(Brazilian Carnival rituals are strongly related to the music, dance, and use of costumes in African culture. In the African Motherland, natural objects such as feathers, bone, grass, beads, shells, etc. were frequently used to embellish tribal masks and costumes).
The party, which was open to members only, allowed the groups to show their learning, and to celebrate and socialize with the whole school.
SUMMER FARE (JULY 2021)
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic we had to restrict the summer fair to only children and parents but were still able to offer children an experience of this traditional celebration. (Festa Junina)
Festa Junina is the annual Brazilian celebration which takes place in the middle of winter (in the southern hemisphere) and are most associated with the Brazilian North-eastern area, but celebrated in the whole of Brazil, mainly on the days following the Catholic feast of Saint Anthony, John the Baptist and Saint Peter. These popular festivals not only coincide with the rainy seasons of most states in the northeast but they also provide the people with an opportunity to continue the tradition of giving thanks to Saint Peter and Saint John for the rain. They also celebrate rural life, the harvesting and feature typical clothing, food, dance (particularly "quadrilha", which is similar to square dancing), and music. It is a very important festival for the Brazilian calendar and it’s full of folklore, which makes the party very popular in England particularly amongst children.
The event is also a chance to attract new families to join BREACC.
GCSE RESULTS
BREACC students continue to excel in their exams: one of our students who took their Portuguese GCSE this academic year passed with grade A.
COMMUNICATIONS
Our communication channels continue to work well in connecting with existing and prospective members. Our BREACC page on Facebook has passed more than three thousand and two hundred followers and our Instagram page has more than a thousand followers. Through our website (www.breacc.org.uk), prospective families subscribe to attend our open days. Registered members are kept informed via the weekly newsletter bringing them information about events, calendar activities and homework tasks for the children.
In addition, BREACC tube, our channel on UTube, is back to life.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS AND THANKS
We would like to thank the committee for the amazing voluntary work and everyone who contributed to our projects and events this year, small or large, because every contribution is extremely important to BREACC.
This year our special thanks go for Fabiana Teixeira (Trustee and Treasurer) for her amazing and dedicated voluntary work for our institution.
Fabiana Teixeira is finishing her long journey in BREACC this year: she has worked as a volunteer in BREACC for more than 10 years
We would also like to thank all our existing members and welcome the new ones who have been supportive of our activities.
FUTURE PLANS
BREACC will continue to focus on the linguistic and cultural development of children, promoting training for teachers and the engagement of families in Brazilian culture, organising the most popular parties, such as Carnival and Festa Junina (the Summer Fare),
as usual, while continuing to investigate new ways of raising funds to ensure our financial health so that our plans can be delivered.
Our main goals are to continue to protect and expand BREACC’s financial health and profile.
GOING CONCERN
BREACC is funded solely by parental contributions and is not dependent on any external grant awarding bodies. The Trustees of BREACC are therefore that BREACC can continue as a going concern for as long as the Brazilian community values its heritage.
RESERVES
Reserves at the year-end were £27,834 (2020: £29,982) representing some 6 months of a normal year’s expenditure.
RISK ASSESSMENT
The process of identifying the major risks, to which the charity is exposed, as identified by the Officers and Trustees, continues. The Officers and Trustees are committed to continuing this review of risks identified, and to making sure that their systems established to mitigate those risks are improved, where necessary.
PUBLIC BENEFIT
BREACC’s activities are open to all. The Trustees are of the opinion that everyone may benefit from a greater understanding of Brazilian culture, of the Portuguese language, and from an increased understanding of different cultures and ways of living.
Katia Fonseca Chairman 21 June 2022
BREACC – Brazilian Educational and Cultural Centre
Independent examiner’s report to the trustees of BREACC – Brazilian Educational and Cultural Centre (registered charity 1087726)
I report to the Trustees on my examination of the accounts of Breacc – the Brazilian Educational and Cultural Centre for the year ended 31 August 2021.
Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner
As charity trustees you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (“the 2011 Act”). The trustees are satisfied that an audit is not required for this year under section 144(2) of the 2011 Act and have chosen instead to have an independent examination.
I report in respect of my examination of the charity’s accounts as carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act. In carrying out my examination I have followed 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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accounting records were not kept in respect of the charity as required by section 130 of the 2011 Act; or
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the accounts do not comply with those records; or
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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.
Robert Ashdown Chartered Accountant
75 Brookville Road, London, SW6 7BH
21 June 2022
Statement of Financial Activities
| 2021 | 2020 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| (Unrestricted) |
(Unrestricted) | ||
| Income from | |||
| Charitable activities | 30,688 | 57,735 | |
| Total incoming resources | 30,688 | 57,735 | |
| Resources expended Charitable activities | 32,836 | 59,534 | |
| Total resources expended | 32,836 | 59,534 | |
| Net income | (2,148) | (1,799) | |
| Reconciliation of funds | |||
| Net funds brought forward at | 01/09/2020 | 29,982 | 31,781 |
| Total funds carried forward at 31/08/2021 | 27,834 | 29,982 |
Balance Sheet
Current assets Cash at bank Petty cash Total current assets Liabilities falling due within one year Net assets The funds of the charity Unrestricted income funds Total charity funds |
31/08/2021 27,498 336 27,834 0 27,834 27,834 27,834 |
31/08/2020 |
|---|---|---|
| 29.695 287 29,982 0 29,982 29,982 29,982 |
The Notes to the Accounts form part of these Financial Statements. Approved by the Trustees on 25 September 2021 and signed on their behalf by:
Katia Fonseca - Trustee
Fabiana Teixeira - Trustee
Notes to the accounts
- The financial statements have been prepared under the Charities Act 2011 together with FRS102(2016) as the applicable accounting standards and the 2016 version of the Statement of Recommended Practice: Accounting and Reporting by Charities {SORP(FRS 102)}.
1.2 There are no material uncertainties related to events or activities that cast significant doubt on the charity’s ability to continue as a going concern.
- Charitable activity expenditure includes:
| 2. Charitable activity expenditure | includes: | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 2020 | |
| Faculty Fees | 22,413 | 36,155 |
| Fund raising | 0 | 1,701 |
| Rents | 1,694 | 10,945 |
| Materials and Admin. | 5,769 | 4,615 |
| Insurance | 367 | 0 |
| Teacher’s training | 100 | 1,894 |
| Storage | 2,296 | 2,015 |
| Other | 197 | 2,209 |
| _ | ______ | |
| 32,836 | 59,534 | |
| 3. Cash at Bank | ||
| Deposit at CAF Bank | 27,498 | 29,695 |
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Liabilities falling due within one year: No unpaid liabilities were known at the end of each year.
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Transactions with Related Parties: in the year One Trustees received £625 for his services as faculty members. These amounts were paid at the same rate as received by other faculty members. In the year two Trustees received reimbursement of a total of £178 of expenses incurred on behalf of the Charity.
6. Prior period comparative statement of financial activities:
| 2021 | 2020 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| (Unrestricted) |
(Unrestricted) | ||
| Income from | |||
| Charitable activities | 30,688 | 57,735 | |
| Total incoming resources | 30,688 | 57,735 | |
| Resources expended Charitable activities | 32,836 | 59,534 | |
| Total resources expended | 38,836 | 59,534 | |
| Net income | (2,148) | (1,799) | |
| Reconciliation of funds | |||
| Net funds brought forward at | 01/09/2019 | 29,982 | 31,781 |
| Total funds carried forward at 31/08/2020 | 27,834 | 29,982 |