Annual Report and Financial Statements
For the year ended 31[st ] August 2024
Report of the Trustees
Charity Name
OSCAR UK Information Service for World Mission
Registered Charity Number 1093265
Address City Works Alfred Street Gloucester GL1 4DF
Trustees Mrs Susan O’Dell Mr. Michael J. Frith Mr. Mark Billage Mrs. Gemma Locke (Appointed 02/10/2024) Mrs. Tracey Ryland (Resigned 16/10/2023)
Director Mr. Michael J. Frith
Structure
OSCAR is governed according to a trust deed and managed by a board of trustees. Trustees are appointed by a resolution of the trustees passed by a majority of the trustees.
Objectives and Activities
As stated in the trust deed: `The objects of OSCAR are to advance the Christian faith in accordance with the Statement of Beliefs appearing in the Schedule hereto in such parts of the United Kingdom and the world as the Trustees may from time to time think fit by the management of an information website on the world-wide internet to:
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provide a comprehensive resource for United Kingdom missionaries and overseas Christian workers
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research new ways of providing more effective transport and propagation of the Trust's services
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provide a network for mission organisations, associations and services in order to pool resources and
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to develop teaching, training and consultation services for missionaries, mission organisations and their supporters to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of Christian mission work throughout the world
and to fulfil such other purposes which are exclusively charitable according to the law of England and Wales and are connected with the charitable work of the Trust.’
We review our aims, objectives and activities each year. This report is part of that process that helps us remain focused on our stated purposes. We have referred to the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit when conducting this process. In particular, we consider how planned activities will contribute to the aims and objects of the charity and provide public benefit.
We have had four people providing regular, paid-for services to OSCAR throughout the year – one acting as Director, the others in roles including Administration, Marketing, SEO and Website Development. All but one of these have been self-employed and contracted to provide these services. The Director is employed. In addition to these, five volunteers helped at exhibitions, with research and with database checking.
The trust continues to maintain and develop the OSCAR website as its main activity in achieving the trust’s objectives. In addition, in support of the website and to further these objectives, a significant amount of email, online, telephone and face-to-face support (particularly at exhibitions, conferences and training events) is conducted. Access to our website and other information services is provided free and without restriction to all who wish to access them.
OSCAR’s Unique Selling Point
There are few organisations in the UK which offer independent advice and help to anyone with questions about Christian mission. Most are either linked to an individual mission organisation or have other agendas or restrictive criteria when giving out advice. OSCAR remains the only completely independent, comprehensive service offering free advice and help across the board. Our users/beneficiaries may be Christian mission workers in active ministry, those enquiring about opportunities, or those who support mission in one way or another. We help them free of charge, regardless of their associations or particular Christian beliefs.
'Thank you so much for this amazing work that you do to bless us all in the Mission world ... this website is a real blessing to so many'
P & E, missionaries
Review of the Year, Achievements and Performance
Website
Website visits continued to climb during the year from around 34,000 to 38,000 per month (10% increase). Website ‘hits’ (all files downloaded/accessed) now consistently measure over 1 million per month.
At the start of 2023, we began the process of refreshing the website and moving it from one development platform (Zend) to another (Laravel). Whilst we were able to do a lot of research and preliminary work, our web developer was taken ill in the latter part of 2023 followed by a lengthy treatment and recovery period that is ongoing. So, we have delayed the rest of this development until he is in a position to restart.
We continue to monitor the optimisation of many of OSCAR’s key web pages to improve ranking with Internet search engines. This means that as well as the homepage, many other specific web pages on the OSCAR website appear high up in search returns when an individual uses a relevant search term to that page or section. The above website development includes further work in this area.
Social Media
OSCARactive, our separate online mission-focused community website, continues to have over 750 registered members (and many other visitors who browse the community).
We also maintain a strong presence in various social networks, particularly Facebook
(1.6K likes/1.8K followers), X - formerly Twitter (2235 followers), Linkedin (223 members) and Instagram (496 followers), in order to provide OSCAR’s advice and services beyond our regular user base.
Organisation Participation
We have an open content management system, where organisations and churches can have their own account and update their own information, jobs/opportunities, events and resources. We had 49 new organisations join us during the year meaning the number of organisations having online accounts with us stood at 701 at year end.
With the help of a USA based volunteer, we did some exploration into tailoring and providing our services for the US mission community. An initial email was sent to a number of organisations and we are just in the process of considering how we might best organise our new website to better serve those operating completely from a non-UK geographical location.
We changed the way our advertising packages were structured at the start of 2024, limiting the number of job listings for a fixed fee, which made the costs of advertising jobs a bit more even across all organisations. Previously, a few large organisations were advertising many jobs at low cost, so one result of the restructure has been a decrease in some of those which often dominated the jobs list disproportionately. We still advertised 1895 opportunities during the year, averaging 158 each month.
'I have found OSCAR to be a fantastic resource, both personally and professionally. When I returned to the UK after 7 years of ministry in Germany, I participated in OSCAR re-entry training and found my current job via the OSCAR Opportunities page. Having had such a positive experience myself, I now use OSCAR to promote opportunities within the organisation where I work and enthusiastically recommend OSCAR as a resource to colleagues and friends.'
Jane Merson, ChaplaincyPlus Network Support Manager
Our directories now include 834 agencies, 863 service providers, 1149 missionminded churches, 1149 resources and 52 events.
All organisations and churches on our database (over 2500 in total) were sent an annual email during the year informing them of our services and highlighting how OSCAR can benefit them in their own mission or ministry.
OSCAR Email Newsletters
Subscription to our main monthly OSCAR Update email climbed 20% to 2676. Our three other mailing lists, some of which have increased in subscribers by nearly 50%, include our email news to organisations who utilise our services (743), to churches who have requested it (1434), and to individuals looking for opportunities (2267). These are tailored with advice, information and news relevant to them.
Conference Exhibitions
This year we participated in five major conference exhibitions and a number of smaller one day events. At most of these we host a Christian jobs and mission opportunities board, as well as a resources board profiling a range of key resources and services from other organisations of benefit to those interested or involved in mission. It has been well received by those who have visited the stand, especially those at new events, who have never heard of OSCAR. We also noted this year that an unusually high number of those who already use
OSCAR stopped by to say thank you for all we have done for them over a long period of time.
Training &Consultancy services
During the year we carried out a mix of online and in-person training courses/sessions. These numbered 17 in total.
Office Situation
At the end of December 2023, we ended our main office arrangement with Gloucester Resource Centre Ltd. This was due to it being under utilised as most work is now being carried out from home. We are able to retain a storage room at the City Works building (mostly for exhibition equipment) and have occasional free use of two rooms belonging to another charity, suitable for training and meetings. The building remains our official address and post is collected for us by GRC Ltd.
Reserves Policy
In normal times, we aim to maintain, as an ongoing reserve, a cash balance of between three and six months expenditure. Further reserves may be carried over from year to year where a significant grant or donation has been made and the planned spending of the donation is spread over more than one year. We also built up further reserves for the new website development that we are in the process of undertaking.
This year’s unrestricted reserves of £38,783 (2023 - £37,817) equates to 60% of the total annual expenditure figure. Our overall income for the year was 9% less than our expenditure. The charity ended the year in a healthy position financially.
Signed by
Date 12/11/2024
Michael Frith, Trustee (on behalf of all trustees)
Receipts and Payments Account for the year ended 31[st ] August 2024
| Receipts and Payments Accounts | 2023/24 | 2022/23 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unrestricted | Restricted | Total | Total | ||
| Note | £ | £ | £ | £ | |
| Receipts | |||||
| Donations | 1) | 1,748 | 1,748 | 700 | |
| Sponsorship | 1,890 | 1,890 | 2,318 | ||
| Fees | 2) | 35,437 | 35,437 | 33,843 | |
| Grants | 3) | 9,000 | 2,000 | 11,000 | 4,500 |
| Training services | 3,210 | 3,210 | 2,340 | ||
| Exhibitions | 5,171 | 5,171 | 10,818 | ||
| Office | 926 | 926 | 4,718 | ||
| Legacy | 0 | 0 | 4,638 | ||
| Other income | 4) | 948 | 948 | 515 | |
| Total Receipts | 58,330 | 2,000 | 60,330 | 64,390 | |
| Payments | |||||
| Fundraising and Publicity | 19 | 19 | 3 | ||
| Charitable payments: | |||||
| Office | 1,359 | 1,359 | 7,315 | ||
| General admin | 221 | 221 | 319 | ||
| Website direct costs | 654 | 654 | 835 | ||
| Website development | 1,020 | 2,000 | 3,020 | 2,325 | |
| Worker development | 19 | 19 | 0 | ||
| Travel | 5) | 738 | 738 | 858 | |
| Equipment purchase | 214 | 214 | 884 | ||
| Workers | 49,245 | 49,245 | 47,934 | ||
| Insurances | 6) | 588 | 588 | 603 | |
| Training services | 232 | 232 | 346 | ||
| Exhibitions | 4,035 | 4,500 | 8,535 | 5,417 | |
| Job sponsorship | 4 | 4 | 177 | ||
| Grants given | 7) | 0 | 76 | 76 | 55 |
| Other payments | 8) | 220 | 220 | 220 | |
| Total Payments | 58,568 | 6,576 | 65,144 | 67,291 | |
| Net (Payments) | -238 | -4,576 | -4,814 | -2,901 | |
| Cash funds last year end | 39,021 | 4,652 | 43,673 | 46,574 | |
| Cash funds this year end | 9) | 38,783 | 76 | 38,859 | 43,673 |
The above Receipts and Payments Account was approved by the trustees on 12/11/2024 and is signed on their behalf by trustee Michael Frith
Assets & Liabilities
| Cash Funds_(see note 11) 31/08/24 £ 38,860 Debtors Amounts owing to the charity(see note 12) 31/08/24 £ 1,137 Creditors Amounts owed by the charity(see note 13) 31/08/24 £ 485 Assets retained for the charity’s own use(see note 14)_ iPhone 11 (NEW) Purchased 31/07/24 Apple iPad 2022 (>1 year old) Purchased 05/12/22 iPhone 7 Plus (>2 year old) Purchased 27/12/21 Dell XPS13 9300 laptop (>3 year old) Purchased 27/10/20 TOTAL VALUE |
31/08/23 £ 43,673 31/08/23 £ 2,193 31/08/23 £ 6,031 £214 (100%) £652 (75%) £77 (50%) £464 (25%) £1,407 |
|---|---|
Notes to the Accounts
Receipts
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1) Donations include cash donations from individuals and organisations, including Gift Aid where appropriate, as well as income from affiliate schemes. Restricted amounts £0 (2022/23 - £0).
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2) Fees include the income from OSCAR’s ‘extra services’: the annual package (profile page & vacancies) and the posting of individual vacancies on the website.
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3) Includes grants from six charitable trusts (2022/23 - £4,500). Restricted amounts £2000 (2022/23 - £1000) for the new website development and was spent within the financial year.
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4) Includes bank interest and expenses reimbursed
Payments
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5) Amounts paid to the trustees for travel to trustee meetings amounted to £0 (2022/2023 - £0). No remuneration was paid to trustees in the year (2022/2023 - £0) except as detailed in Note 10.
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6) Insurances include charity liability, trustee indemnity insurance, contents and cyber insurance, which all come under one policy.
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7) Grants given relate exclusively this year to payments made from the TCK/Xenos fund.
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8) Other payments refers to the fee for the independent examination (£220).
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9) The Restricted total is all from the TCK/Xenos fund.
10) Related Party Disclosures
Mr Michael J Frith, trustee, was paid salary and pension contributions for his services as the charity director totalling £40,100 (2022/2023 - £38,337) in the year ended 31 August 2024. OSCAR pays a 6% pension contribution into a private stakeholder pension for Mr Frith. He also received £2367 (2022/2023 - £2492) for claimed travel, meals and accommodation expenses where items were paid for with cash and subsequently reimbursed from the charity. The charity received specific permission from the Charity Commission on 26/11/16 to appoint a member of staff as a trustee, providing authority for these payments for services.
The charity’s insurance provides trustee indemnity cover.
Cash Funds
- 11) Cash Funds constitutes the following:
| HSBC communityacc. | £6455.48 |
|---|---|
| HSBC deposit acc. | £31740.54 |
| PayPal acc. | £663.81 |
| TOTAL | £38859.83 |
Debtors
- 12) Includes outstanding invoices.
Creditors
- 13) Includes expenses due and Independent Examination fee.
Assets & Liabilities
- 14) Items are grouped together under the year of purchase. Single items over £100 in value are listed separately. The cost of tangible fixed assets is written-off by equal annual instalments over their expected useful lives (4 years).
INDEPENDENT EXAMINER’S REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES OF OSCAR UK
I report on the accounts of the Trust for the year ended 31 August 2024
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(2) of the Charities Act 2011 (the 2011 Act) and that an independent examination is needed. It is my responsibility to:
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examine the accounts under section 145 of the 2011 Act;
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to follow the procedures laid down in the general Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the 2011 Act; and
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to state whether particular matters have come to my attention.
Basis of independent examiner’s report
My examination was carried out in accordance with the general Directions given by the charity 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 you as 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 as to whether the accounts present a “true and fair view” and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below.
Independent examiner’s statement
In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention:
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1) which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requirements
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to keep accounting records in accordance with section 130 of the 2011 Act; and
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to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and to comply with the accounting requirements of the 2011 Act.
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2) 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.
Mrs Mary Adlard Pippins Accountancy Services The Pippins Gambles Lane Woodmancote Cheltenham GL52 9PU
Date: 13/11/2024