Solihull & District Hebrew Congregation Trustee’s
Annual Report and Accounts For the year ended 28th February 2021
Representatives of West Midlands Police donating food from their staff collection to Solihull Hebrew Congregation Home but Not Alone project.
Registered Charity No. 1100938
HOLDING TRUSTEES:
Mr Jon Gouldman Mr Malcolm Hyams Dr Gerald Langman
MINISTER: Rabbi Yehuda Pink
PRESIDENT:
Mr J Gouldman
Solihull and District Hebrew Congregation Registered Charity No. 1100938
Address of Synagogue and Jewish Community Centre:
3 Monastery Drive Solihull West Midlands, B91 1DW 0121 706 8736 office@solihullshul.org
BANKERS:
Lloyds Bank PLC The Priory Queensway Birmingham B4 6BP
Barclays Bank PLC 25 High Street Coventry, CVl 5QZ
MEMBERS OF COUNCIL:
Mr S Abrahams Mrs S Epstein Mr M Hyams Dr G Langman Mr G Stone Mr J Gouldman Ex officio:
Trustees:
The Trustees named on page one have served throughout the year unless indicated otherwise.
Appointment of Trustees is governed by the Constitution of the charity. The Board of Trustees is authorised to appoint new Trustees to fill vacancies arising from resignation or death of an existing Trustee.
The Constitution authorises the Trustees to make or hold investments in the general funds of the charity.
Description of Organisation:
The Solihull and District Hebrew Congregation was founded in 1963 and was registered with the Charity Commission on 28th November 2003 under registration number 1100938. The constitution was last updated and modified on 3rd September 2015.
Constitution, objectives, policies and public benefit:
The Charity is governed by a constitution and its objectives are:
i. The advancement of the Jewish Religion to include provision and maintenance of a place of orthodox Jewish worship.
ii. Provision of education to adults and children in the heritage, culture and language of Judaism.
iii. Provision of welfare and social support for Jewish people.
We have an open door policy for all our activities welcoming both members and people with no affiliation. Further details of our activities for the benefit of the public particularly in the area of community cohesion can be found later in this report.
The policy of the Charity continues to be to seek additional finance and support in order to enable it to continue and expand its objectives and activities.
The Charity’s main sources of income are from members’ subscriptions, donations and grants received from charitable trusts.
Reserves:
The trustees regularly review the free reserves available to meet day to day expenses. Funds that are recevied for a specific purpose are ringfenced for that purpose. We currently have three restricted reserve accounts. The Coventry Burial Fund which may only be used for the costs of burial of people enrolled in the fund, the Builidng Fund to cover the costs of planned refurbishment and any emergency repairs and the Eric Samuels Legacy Fund.
The trustees have identified a target of free reserves equal to six months operating expenses to ensure that any short term downturn in income will not cause undue harm to the day to day operations of the charity and to allow an orderly winding up of affairs should the charity no longer be viable.
Fund Raising
The charities fundraising is primarily carried out by the Rabbi and members of the Council, through direct approaches to individuals and other charitable trusts. In 2020-21, the fundraising objectives were met. No complaints were received about the nature of fundraising carried out on behalf of the Charity.
Grants were received from the following Charitable Trusts and foundations. The Chief Rabbi’s Centre for Community Excelence, Heart of England Community Foundation, The Co-op Foundation, West Midlands Police Community Initiative Fund, Tesco Groundworks, Solihull Metropolitan Council Winter Welfare Fund, The Baron Davenport Foundation, The We Are All Making A Difference Trust, The William Cadbury Trust, The Ronson Trust, Birimingham Jewish Community Care, The CST on behalf of The Governments Jewish Community Protective Security Fund and The National Lottery Commuinty Fund, The Warwickshire Free Masons Charity, The Birmingham Market Traders Charity and Renault Solihull.
The Trustees to all the w h o s e contributions i m p o r t a n t the ability of to continue its Changes in
The Charity’s have remained throughout the
are grateful benefactors g e n e r o u s remain element in the charity work. policy: p o l i c i e s the same year.
Organisational structure and Management of the Charity:
The Management of the Charity is vested in the Council which is comprised of five members elected for a period of two years. The members of the council have experience in a wide variety of fields and posses a broad range of knowledge and expertise that is of great help in the management of our affairs. The management members are elected by the membership in General Meeting.
The members of the Council give their time freely and receive no remuneration or other financial benefits.
To assist in the smooth running of the charity there are a number of sub-committees that report back to the council and help them oversee certain aspects of the charity’s work. The membership of the sub-committees reflects the particular skills that members of the Council can bring to the work of the charity. These subcommittees report back with their recommendations to the full meeting of the Council.
The Trustees and the Rabbi meet regularly to discuss any relevant matters and to determine which matters need to be placed before Council, and to keep the Council informed of all matters concerning the charity. The Council meet together as a body bi-monthly and are responsible for all decisions taken in relation to the running of and activities provided by the charity. The day-to-day management of the Community Centre and projects are delegated to staff.
Charity Governance Code
The third edition of the code for charities was published in July 2017. The code lays out seven key areas of governance together with recommended practice for each principle. The Trustees & Council have have considered each principle to satisfy themselves that the Charity’s current governance structure explained below
satisfactorily addresses each of these principles and, where appropriate, what enhancements might be made.
Risk Management and Child Protection Policies:
The trustees have examined the major strategic, business and operational risks that the charity faces and confirm that systems have been established to enable regular reviews to be carried out so that the necessary steps can be taken to lessen these risks.
In particular, insurance cover is in place and the finances of the charity are kept under review. Appropriate Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks, supported by regularly reviewed policies, are made for all those who work with children or other vulnerable groups within the Community Centre. All volunteers who work with children or vulnarable adults undergo training and hold certificates confirming that they have received the level of training appropriate to their work.
The charity has appointed a suitably trained member of staff to act as Senior Safeguarding Officer for both children and vulnerable adults.
All new employees and volunteers are given an induction into the charities policies and procedures and existing employees and volunteers all undertake an annual review of all policies that are applicable to them. Copies of all are policies are kept in a folder that is available for public inspection in the office of the Community Centre.
Statement of Trustees’ Responsibilities:
The Trustees are required under the Charities Act 1993 and the constitution of the charity to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and of its results for the period. In preparing those financial statements the Trustees are required to:
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(a) Select suitable accounting policies and apply them consistently.
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(b) Make judgments and estimates that are reasonable and prudent.
(c) Prepare the financial statements on a going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to assume that the charity will continue in business.
(d) Prepare the financial statements in accordance with all applicable financial reporting standards, statements of standard accounting practice and charity statements of recommended practice.
Review of Activities:
This year has been one of the most challenging since the charity began operations with the COVID-19 pandemic neccesitating a comprehensive review of our activities to ensure that we were able to continue to fulfil our objectives in a manner which will protect the welbeing of our staff and users. It also caused us to rethink the manner in which we raised funds as many of the tradtional face to face activities were no longer possible. Thorugh the dedicated work of our staff and volunteers we were able to put in place a completely new set of activities and succeded in engaging with more people than ever before. The excellence of our work was recognised by funders and we were succesful in securing the additional funding needed to allow us to carry out the work.
We have continued to work in accordance with the stated aims of the charity, which are promoting Jewish worship, education, community welfare and social support. Our activities can broadly be divided into two categories. Those that service the religious and spiritual needs of our members and those of a cultural and social nature which on the whole are non-denominational and open to all-comers. Our community welfare and social support activities are non-denominational and are kept separate from the religious side of our activities. In order to safeguard this distinction we maintain separate bank accounts for our various activities that are overseen by a separate management committee and are managed by their own treasurer. As they all fall under
the main charity mandate each of these groups reports back regularly to the trustees.
The trustees have reviewed the objectives and activities of the charity to ensure they continue to reflect our aims. In carrying out this review the trustees have considered the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit and in particular its supplementary public guidance on the advancement of religion for the public benefit.
Finances:
Our accounts are prepared on an income and a receipts and payments basis in line with the Charities Commission guidelines for small charities (income below £250,000). As this is simply a snapshot in time we have listed below any anomalies resulting from income expected in the financial year being received late or usual expenditure being delayed.
Our accounts include a consolidated account for the five funds operating under the umbrella of SDHC, Synagogue, Ladies Guild, Thursday Club and Tzedokah Fund. These accounts were set up to allow much of the non denominational activities of the charity to be clearly seperated from the relgious activities although there is some overlap as the main fund is responsible for the upkeep of our community centre which is the venue for many of our non-denominational activities . We have also included a separate break down of the income and expenditure for each fund.
The Coventry Burial Fund is valued at £54,0000, the Building Fund at £18,000 the E Samuels Legacy Fund and £57,773 and we have a free reserve of £50,000. Bearing in mind the need for prudence and low risk the funds are deposited in interest bearing bank accounts backed by the FSCS.
Our headline figures show a net surplus for the group as a whole of £26,211 this was primarily due to grants received for our work with senior citizens shortly before the end of the financial year that were not spent until the following accounting period.
We have continued to expand the sources of our income to reduce reliance on membership subscriptions, with 80% of our income coming from other sources. With an ageing population and the general move amongst the younger generation towards ‘pay as you go’ rather than a membership relationship this move away from relying on membership income is becoming increasingly important.
Our non-denominational work carried out under the umbrella of the Thursday Club has increased dramatically this year, with the turnover of this fund shoooting up £5,000 to £102,000. This is due to the impact of the pandemic which resulted in the launch of the Home But Not Alone project. The massive increase in demand let to us launching our first ever crowd funding campaign which was very succesful and demonstrated the impact that our work has had on a broad audience. We have also been succesful in attracting a significant amount of funding from charitable trusts as well as the Local Authority which has allowed us to expand this vital area of our activities.
We are also grateful to HMRC for the Furlough funding which allowed us to continue to pay those members of staff whose work was halted due to the pandemic restriction on activities. We took the decision to recognise the valuable contribution these members of staff have made to our organisation and we topped up the govenrment grant to ensure that they received 100% of their normal salary while on furlough.
The Kol Nidrei appeal has continued to play an important role in our overall budget . We have been succesful in expanding the appeal to past members and friends of the community who have moved away from Solihull but retain a connection with the community. Our current agreement with Renault who rent a section of our carpark is still in place providing another income stream with zero overheads. We have other companies interested in taking Renault’s place should they decide to end the agreement. In line with the decision of the Turstees that we should have six months operating capital set aside as a reserve we have funds invested in a
zero risk fixed interest account backed by the FSCS. The Trustees and Council have taken the view that the reserve is essential to our long term future and that security of the capital is of paramount importance and therefore have eschewed the chance of higher rate of return from investments that are not 100% secure. It is the aim of the Trustees and Council to continue building up this reserve recognising that as the community ages our income might reduce and that the level of grant funding received will vary from year to year and cannot be taken as a given. The reserve will allow us to continue to operate and provide services to the Solihull community for the foreseeable future.
On the other accounts, each of the separate divisions are self financing and managed independently of the main shul account. Each fund has tried to build a small reserve to help cope with short term fluctuations in income. Our finances have allowed the Council to freeze membership subscriptions at the same level as last year. We hope that careful management of our finances will balance the books each year.
Overall we are satisfied that we are in a reasonable financial position, we have absolutely no debts and have a surplus in the bank to cover six months of expentiture in case of emergencies. We will continue to seek ways to broaden our revenue stream to further reduce our dependence on membership subscriptions.
We believe the synagogue finances are on a stable footing for the immediate future, however we cannot be complacent and must recognise that there is likely to be an increased demand for our activities and services with a diminishing income stream in the next few years. We are continuing to explore a number of options to ensure that we are able to guarantee the long term financial security of the community.
COVID-19 Resilience
On the 17th March 2020 the Trustees took the decision to cancel with immidiate effect all onsite activities. All our prayer services, educational and cultural activities moved to a virtual platform. In addition we implemented a comprehensive programme to support the vulnerable elderly and those self isolating. As a result of this swift action we have been extremely fortunate not to have suffered any COVID-19 fatalities amongst our members and user group. The positive impact of our work on the physical and mental welfare of our target audience has been immense.
We have assesed the finanical impact of this new reality on our ability to operate and are confident that we can continue to carry out our activities without significant harm to our stability. Some of our overhead costs have reduced due to the reduced use of our community centre, some staff were placed on furlough and we have increased the use of volunteers. At the same time some of the income we generate from donations and activities has reduced. However we have been succesful at attracting funding from a number of charitable trusts as well as from a Crowd Funding Campaign that has allowed us to adjust to the new situation.
Area of Operation:
As the closest organised Jewish Community which retains the services of a Rabbi we are often called upon to provide support to Jews in an extremely wide geographical area, which includes in addition to Solihull, Coventry, Leamington, Malvern, Ross on Wye, Stratford, Warwick and Worcester as well as a host of smaller towns and villages.
We open our activities to all-comers irrespective of whether or not they are formally affiliated with the Solihull Jewish Community. We are often called upon to provide help to visiting Jewish businessmen and tourists.
Review of Activities
Community Cohesion
In normal times we offer the use of our community centre to other local groups, due to lockdown and COVID
restrictions we have not been able to do so this year. However we have registered our community centre with Solihull Metropolitan Council to allow it to be used by the authorities in the case of an emergency requiring accomodation, office space etc.
Rabbi Pink is involved in many different organisations, serving as Chaplain or sitting on advisory committees to local hospitals, prisons, The NEC, SACRE, Solihull Faiths Forum, Safer Solihull Board and Birmingham International Airport Multi Faith Support Team. This has helped to promote a better
understanding of the needs of the Jewish citizens of Solihull and also to promote harmonious relationships amongst the various ethnic groups that live in Solihull. Rabbi Pink again played a central part in the National Holocaust Day Service organised by Solihull Council. Due to the pandemic this was held virtually and the programme was hosted on our Zoom platform. Our annual Menorah Lighting Ceremony during the Festival of Chanukah was also cancelled however we were fortunated that the Mayor of the WMCA, Andy Street was able to switch on the menorah together with a representative from our community and the event was live streamed and watched by a large number of Jews and non-Jews who were all inspired by the universal message of the importance of freedom of religion and mutual respect and tolerance.
We were honoured to hostAndy Street, the Mayor of WMCA who visited our Synagogue and Community Centre to learn more about the work that we do for the Solohull Community.
Unfortunately we have had to suspend our Promoting Tolerance programme that would normally welcome a large number of groups of schoolchildren from the West Midlands Region. With restrictions eased and with appropriate safeguards in place, Marina Kaplan, our School Visits Co-Ordinator has reopened the
programme in October 2021.
Rabbi Pink has developed a close working relationship with West Midlands Police and members of the local neighbourhood police team and he has worked with them on a number of initiatives to reduce racist behaviour in the borough. A fixture in our calendar is a special service and reception thanking the members of WMP for their work. This was cancelled this year but we hope to run it next year and intent to expand it to include the members of the NHS who have worked so tirelessly over the past year.
As a result of the close working relationship with the local police they chose our Home But Not Alone project to be the recepient of two large boxes of food and toiletries donated by members of staff.
The Stanley Middleburgh library has played an invaluable role during the pandemic. With so many stuck at home we have had a large demand for the loan of books and DVD’s and we are fortunate to have a wonderful team of volunteers who have happily delivered items to peoples homes. All items loaned out were returned in sealed bags and quarantined for 72 hours upon retun before being processed to prevent the spread of infection.
Our Judaica store is a valuable facility that is used by Jews and non Jews seeking a source where they can purchase cards, books and Judaism related items as well as expert advice. This resource is greatly appreciated by local schools looking to boost their RE department. During the pandemic the store has been closed to visitors and all orders have been made by the phone or email.
We have joined the Solihull Foodbank Network which has allowed us to work in close collaboration with other organisations in the area that are helping those in need.
Rabbi Pink also volunteered to act as a Community Champion to help spread information from Solihull’s Director of Public Health during the pandemic. He participated in the weekly virtual meetings and helped ensure that the messages shared by the government were reaching as wide an audience as possible.
Communications and PR:
Our newsletter, Hakol has continued to play a valuable role in communicating details of our activities to our members and supporters. Graham Stone, our advertising manager and has been successful in increasing the revenue that we generate through advertising, which ensures that this aspect of our work is self funding. We produce two versions of the Hakol a full colour version that is distributed as a PDF to all the members and friends of the
community on our email distribution list and a paper version that is sent out to those members who do not have internet access.
We have increased the number of our members and supporters who receive information via email helping us cut down on stationery and postage costs and helping us meet our commitment to reduce the environmental impact of our activities where possible. We continue to keep in touch with the elderly members of the community who are unable to venture out by phoning them up or paying them a visit.
Our weekly email bulletin is received and read by an increasing number of our members and friends, we also maintain a
regularly u p d a t e d w e b s i t e . O u Facebook p a g e Instagram and Twitter Feed managed by Chana M i r i a m Golub and is another important tool ensuring that large group p o s s i b l e
are aware of our activities and services. We receive a large amount of enquiries as a result of visits to our website.
Our activities have been featured in a number of media outlets both locally and nationally in the UK as well as abroad.
Religious & Educational Services:
During the past year we have had to rethink how we deliver our religious activities. Initially everything was moved our to Zoom and although there are certain times such as the Sabbath when we could not live stream services we were able to provide a wide range of events via Zoom. We also had a wonderful team of volunteers who helped those who were technically challenged to get online.
We sent out over 150 complete Seder in a Box in place of the communal Seder that we have held for the past 3 decades. This allowed many who were having to velebrate Passover at home for the first time to observe the festival.
Rabbi Pink recorded a daily 5 minute video message that was uploaded to our website and Youtube channel to share some words of inspiration with those stuck at home.
As soon as it was legal and safe to do so we restarted services outdoors, we installed heavy duty gazebos and heaters to protect everyone from the elements. These weekly prayer services provided great comfort to many who were struggling with feelings of loneliness and isolation.
Education has continued to be a central plank of our work and there are learning opportunities for all ages and skill levels virtually every day of the week. In total there are eight classes every week. Again all these classes were moved over to Zoom, one of the positive benefits was that it allowed many peoole who lived to far away to be able to participate normally to join in. In fact once lockdown ended and we were able to restart inperson classes we took the decision to continue to live stream all the classes for the benefit of those unable to be there in person.
The week starts with Bagels Lox & Torah at 10.00 am on Sunday morning, a 30 minute
breakfast and discussion of an issue of Jewish law or tradition, this is open to men and women and is ideal for someone who is unable to attend classes during the week. (obviously during lockdown everyone had to provide their own bagels and eat them at home!)
The Halacha Shiur is a text based shiur aimed at more advanced learners and takes place every Sunday evening. The SMILES lecture series on a Monday evening continues to attract a loyal following and mention must be made of Hilary and David Fine who have attended virtually every Shiur since it first started over 26 years ago. The Retired Gentlemen’s Shiur on Tuesday Morning, Ladies Discussion Group on a Wednesday Morning, the Shiur on Jewish Philosophy for Ivrit Speakers on Wednesday evening, the Saturday morning shiur and Talmud Shiur on Saturday Evening provide a variety of opportunities for every age range and level of learning.
A number of people have also sought to improve their knowledge by setting up one to one study sessions with the rabbi. A Rabbi’s primary job is to teach and Rabbi Pink will happily accommodate anyone who wishes to further their knowledge of Judaism. We know that some people feel that they do not want to want to add to his already packed schedule but teaching Torah is the lifeblood of every Rabbi and he will always find time to fit in another learning opportunity.
Every event in the Jewish Calendar was marked with a communal activity via Zoom and special goodie boxes containing all the items needed to celebrate the festival were delivered by our wonderful team of volunteers to all our members. None of these would have been possible without the work carried out on a voluntary basis
by Rebbetzen Dinie Pink which has allowed us to provide top class events at a fraction of the price it would otherwise cost to organise.
We were fortunate to be able to hold the High Holy Day Services in our beautiful grounds. The service was shorter than usual but we were extremely fortunate to once again retain the the services of Chazan Zali Rodal, ably assisted by Daniel Littlestone and their melodious singing and lively tunes had everyone tapping their feet and since everything was outdoors it was even possible to sing along. Prior to the High Holy Days beginning they conducted a service over Zoom which was greatly apreciated by those unable to attend in person.
Social Activities
The functions committee co-ordinates all the social functions organised by the community as well as ensuring that maximum use is made of the facilities that we have to offer as a community centre by other groups in the area. Of course this year we were
unable to hold any of our normal events but we were fortunate to be able to join with other communities and enjoy a wonderful array of top notch speakers via Zoom.
The highlight of the year was the Bosworth Virtual Shabbaton, normally held at the Bosworth Hall Hotel, this year it took place in Cyberspace. Close to 200 people from small communities around the UK joined virtually for a weekend packed with cultural and educational activities. It was a massive untertaking that was superbly organised by Rabbi & Rebbetzen Pink and the tremendous positive feedback received following the event is testimony to their hard work and attention to detail. The event further strengthened our ties with neighbouring communities and fulfilled our aims of breaking down the generation gap building bonds between the different age groups. We are very grateful to the Chief Rabbi’s Centre for Communal Excellence who providing funding to allow us to run this project at an affordable cost.
A very popular addition to our activities was an online Art Class. Taught by Lee Benson a well known local artist and former art gallery owner the classes were a great success and helped relieve the tedium of lock down for quite a few people.
We also have enjoyed baking challahs via Zoom on the first Thursday of each month. The session is called “Loaves of Love” as one of the aims is to share the loaves with those who are unable to access fresh bread themselves.Live streamed from Rebbetzen Pink’s kitchen it was a great opportunity to meet virtually, have a chat and do something fun.
Surely the words ‘sermon’ and ‘social activity’ would seen to be mutually exclusive yet Rabbi Pink has managed to combine the two. Every Friday he delivers a sermon via Zoom after which all the participants have a chance to chat and catch up on each others news. This event has attracted a growing audience although the jury is still out as to whether the attraction is the words of wisdom from Rabbi Pink or the natter afterwards!
We strive to be a very caring community, enjoying all the social aspects of the calendar as much as possible, so long may that continue!
We have been extremely fortunate in attracting significant funding from the Chief Rabbi’s Centre for Rabbinic Excelllence which has allowed us to organise events that would otherwise be beyond our financial capabilty.
The Thursday Club
The Thursday Club is the vehicle through which we deliver our Social Welfare Programmes, these are nondenominational and open to all irrespective of whether or not they are members of the community. The way in which the Club pivoted from being primarily an inperson lunch club to providing a comprehensive package of support for those affected by the pandemic is worthy of praise and indeed both the West Midlands Combined Authority and Solihull Metropolitan Council recognised the significance of our contribution to life in the West Midlands.
The WMCA designated the project as Community Champions and profiled the work on their website and Solihull Metropolitan Council featured Rebbetzen Pink on their display of Community Heroes in Touchwood. In addtion our work was covered by a number of newspapers and also featured in a documentary produced for the International Conference of Chabad Rabbis that was watched by tens of thousands of people throughout the world.
The project was called Home But Not Alone to convey the message that even though people were isolated at
home they need not feel lonely and forgotten. Volunteers visited people throughout the region and ensured that their needs were catered to, whether that was supplyimg a freshly cooked meal, collecting prescriptions and shopping or even just having a chat in a safe manner through a window or over the phone. This programme directed by Rabbi & Rebbetzen Pink has been running every single week without fail since April 2020. Thousands of meals including enough chicken soup to fill a lake as well as sufficient food to feed a small army has been cooked, packed and delivered. Mention must be made of our wondeful team of volunteers who have helped deliver the meals, between them they have driven a staggering 6790 miles!
Out of an abundance of caution Rabbi & Rebbetzen Pink were reluctant to share any of the preparation work with other volunteers to reduce the risk of COVID however as restrictions began to ease we were able to add Adrienne and Ryan Langman who bubbled with us to our team, they have provided invaluable support in packaging the meals each week.
We also work closely with other agencies such as Birmingham Jewish Community Care, Age UK, Hearing Dogs for the Deaf etc. to ensure that the services provided by these agencies are properly signposted to our users.
The Thursday Club has continued to provide a beacon of light in the lives of many of our elderly members and friends.
All this work required a massive upgrade to our facilities and we were very fortunate to receive a large grant
from the National Lottery Community Fund to enable us to purchase and install a cold store that allows us to purchase supplies in bulk and safely store the meals that we prepare. We have also received funding to allow us to install a 20 grid Combi Oven without which it would have been extremely difficult to produce the volume of food that we need to on a regular basis.
The sudden increase in demand led to extreme financial pressure and we decided to run a crowd raising campaign to ensure that we could continue our vital work. This was extremely succesful raising over £40,000 and in addition to the much needed boos to our finances it provided a strong vote of confidence in the work that we are doing.
Rabbi Pink has been extremely successful in raising funds, primarily from Charitable Trusts to support the rest of our activities. This year we have received grants from Heart of England Community Foundation, The Coop Foundation, West Midlands Police Community Initiative Fund, Tesco Groundworks, Solihull Metropolitan Council Winter Welfare Fund, The Baron Davenport Foundation, The We Are All Making A Difference Trust, The William Cadbury Trust, The Warwickshire Free Masons Charity, The Birmingham Market Traders Charity, The Ronson Trust, Birimingham Jewish Community Care, The National Lottery Commuinty Fund and Renault Solihull.
Our funds are managed separately to the main Shul funds ensuring that every penny raised for the Club is used to further the work of the Thursday Club.
Our work would not be possible without the help of our team of volunteers and we give our wholehearted thanks to our dedicated team of volunteers, many of whom are not members of the Solihull Community for their continued support. Particular mention must be made of our caretaker and security officer, Eric Harrison who consistently goes over and above the call of duty in his work for the community.
Tzedokah Fund
The Tzedokah Fund has had a busy year. Our income is derived from donations to the tzedokah (charity collection) boxes in the Shul, private donations and gift aid where the donation was eligible. All donations received are allocated to general charitable use unless the donor has specifically asked for it to be ear marked for a specific purpose or project.
We have continued to support a variety of charitable causes both in response to appeals received and proactively when the Rabbi is made aware of an individual or family needing assistance. The privacy of all recipients is carefully protected to ensure that no one will ever refrain from requesting help due to a fear of the request
become public knowledge.
The pandemic has led to increased demand for assistance and we have distributed funds and food items throught the year as well as before Festivals to people requiring assistance, offered short and medium term interest free loans to people in financial need, provided scholarships to young people wishing to persue further education and helped families cope with the immediate aftermath of accidents, bereavement and natural disasters.
Summary of our achievements:
We have continued to increase the scope of our activities in the areas of Social Welfare, Adult Education and Social Cohesion and maintained our level of activities in all other areas. This has allowed us to to deliver all our aims and objectives in a manner that surpasses expectations, we have increased the use of volunteers and have succesfully implemented feedback from our users to further improve the quality of the services that we offer. With the aid of donations and grants we have been able to continue our programme of refurbishment of our community centre, particularly the facilites for the elderly and disabled.
We are confident that we are in a sufficiently healthy state to allow us to bounce back from COVID and contniue to expand the work that we do.
Plans for the future:
Continue to reach out to more unaffiliated Jewish families in the area to expand our membership base thus reducing our reliance on donations and fundraising.
Continue our programme of upgrading and repairing the physical infrastructure of our Community Centre.
Continue to expand our educational activities to reach a greater number of our members.
Identify areas where we can reduce expenditure by the use of volunteers from within our community.
The financial summary of the last financial year ended 28th February 2021 is attached.
Approval:
This report was approved by the Trustees on 10/10/2021 and signed on their behalf.
Gerald Langman Malcolm Hyams
SOLIHULL AND DISTRICT HEBREW CONGREGATION Registered Charity Number: 1100938
Accounts
28[th] February 2021
INDEPENDENT EXAMINER’S REPORT ON THE ACCOUNTS OF THE SOLIHULL AND DISTRICT HEBREW CONGREGATION FOR THE YEAR ENDED 28TH FEBRUARY 2021
RESPONSIBILITES OF TRUSTEES AND EXAMINER
The charity’s trustees are responsible for the prepration 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 responsibilty to:
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Examine the accounts (under section 145 of the 2011 Act)
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Follow the procedures laid down in the General Directions given by the Charity Commissioners
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(under section 145(5)(b) of the Act)
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State whether particular matters have come to my attention.
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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1.accounting records were not kept in respect of the Trust as required by section 130 of the Act.
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The accounts do not accord with those records.
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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 Act (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the give a true and fair view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination. I confirm that there are no other matters to which your attention should be drawn to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
A.M. Berger FCCA Chartered Certified Accountant
5 Gardner Way Kenilworth Warwickshire CV8 1QW
1st July 2021
SOLIHULL AND DISTRICT HEBREW CONGREGATION
CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 28TH FEBRUARY 2021 RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNT
| Receipts Synagogue Coventry Hebrew Congregation Cheder Ladies Guild Thursday Club Tzedokah Payments Synagogue Cheder Ladies Guild Thursday Club Tzedokah Net Inflow of Funds |
2021 2020 Total Total 82,657 138,721 - 222 - 1,000 568 4,989 102,733 4,795 25,496 49,352 |
|---|---|
| 211,454 199,079 |
|
| 84,316 86,777 50 1,566 1,510 4,863 71,894 5,071 27,473 51,860 |
|
| 185,243 150,137 |
|
| 26,211 48,942 |
Within the parent charity there are a number of subsidiary activies that operate independently of the main account with their own bank account and treasurer. Namely, Ladies Guild, Tzedokah Fund, Thursday Club, and Cheder. The detailed analysis of these accounts is attached.
SOLIHULL AND DISTRICT HEBREW CONGREGATION FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 28TH FEBRUARY 2021 RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNT
| Receipts Government Grants (Furlough) Subscriptions Gift Aid Kol Nidrei Appeal Bank Interest Donations Legacies (Eric Samuels dec'd) |
2,021 2,020 Total Total 5,539 - 26,632 26,012 - 8,405 12,177 11,300 2,585 - 2,928 5,659 - 57,773 |
|---|---|
| 49,861 109,149 |
Operating activities to generate funds
| Functions & Fundraising Sale of Judaica Rent received Advertising Income Burial Fees Restricted Grants Total Receipts |
402 2,039 17,130 11,284 10,600 10,000 2,026 990 - 100 2,638 5,159 |
|---|---|
| 32,796 29,572 |
|
| 82,657 138,721 |
PAYMENTS
Charitable Activities
| Ministerial & Religious Expenses Chazan Expenses Subscriptions, Printing & Adverts Cost of Judaica Affiliated Organisations Other Salaries Community Activities Support Costs Repairs & Maintenance Cleaning & Gardening Telephone/Internet & Postage Insurance Gas , Electricity and Water Bank Charges Security Costs Secretarial Costs Total Bank and Cash funds last year end Transferred from Coventry Account Net Outflow (Inflow) of Funds Bank and Cash funds this year end |
29,576 30,514 3,700 4,165 188 565 14,738 12,976 385 385 10,830 10,087 2,128 5,918 5,564 956 3,726 4,909 2,304 2,758 3,090 3,110 1,398 3,812 296 42 5,185 6,256 1,208 324 |
|---|---|
| 84,316 86,777 |
|
| 193,567 71,593 - 70,030 1,659 - 51,944 191,908 193,567 |
Note - Gift Aid
The claim for gift aid relating to donations received in this financial year was not processed until April 2021 and therefore is not included in these accounts.
SOLIHULL AND DISTRICT HEBREW CONGREGATION – CHEDER RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 28TH FEBRUARY 2021
| RECEIPTS Grants ( Unrestricted) Cheder Fees Fund raising income Total Receipts PAYMENTS Charitable Activities Support Costs Bank Charges Management Salaries Food Education expenses Ink Cartridges Total Payments Net (payments)/Receipts Bank and Cash funds last year end Bank and Cash funds this year end |
2021 2020 1,000 - 1,000 50 66 - - 1,500 50 1,566 50 - 566 - 8,944 9,510 8,894 8,944 |
|---|---|
NOTES
Cheder refers to a Sunday School to educate children about Jewish culture and heritage This branch of our charity also carries out work with youth and school children in particular our anti-racism and tolerance programmes promoting peaceful co-existance and British values.
SOLIHULL AND DISTRICT HEBREW CONGREGATION – LADIES GUILD RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 28TH FEBRUARY 2021
| RECEIPTS Interest Gift Aid Donations and Fundraising |
2021 2020 - 2 - 574 568 4,415 |
|---|---|
| 568 4,989 |
PAYMENTS
| Function Costs | 1,163 | 4,011 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Waitresses and Cleaning | 347 | 852 | |
| 1,510 | 4,863 | ||
| Total Payments | |||
| Net (payments)/Receipts | - | 942 |
126 |
| Bank and Cash funds last year end | 2,615 | 2,489 | |
| Bank and Cash funds this year end | 1,673 | 2,615 |
Notes
The Ladies Guild is a seperately managed subsidiary of the main charity whose purpose is to support the social and cultural activities of the community
SOLIHULL AND DISTRICT HEBREW CONGREGATION – TZEDOKAH FUND RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 28TH FEBRUARY 2021
| RECEIPTS Gift Aid Donations Restricted Donations Unrestricted Loan Repayments Grants Activities Total Receipts PAYMENTS Charitable Activities Charitable Payments Synagogue Refurbishment Library Fund Total Payments Net (payments)/Receipts Bank and Cash funds last year end Bank and Cash funds this year end |
2021 2020 - 1,631 6,954 7,232 6,175 3,319 1,000 4,250 4,075 21,319 7,292 11,601 25,496 49,352 13,239 40,134 12,295 7,775 756 3,951 1,183 - 27,473 51,860 1,977 - 2,508 - 29,903 32,411 27,926 29,903 |
|---|---|
Tzedokah means charity. This account handles both donations made for specific charitable purposes in line with the wishes of the donor (restricted funds) such as the library fund, building fund, and donations made for general charitable use, examples of this is grants made to organisations such as soup kitchens or youth clubs who have appealed to us for charitable funding, or Interest Free loans to people suffering temporary financial difficulty.
| SOLIHULL AND DISTRICT HEBREW CONGREGATION - THURSDAY CLUB | SOLIHULL AND DISTRICT HEBREW CONGREGATION - THURSDAY CLUB | |
|---|---|---|
| FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 28TH FEBRUARY 2021 | ||
| RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNT | 2021 | 2020 |
| RECEIPTS | ||
| Donations | 29417 | 195 |
| Gift Aid | 3367 | 49 |
| Unrestricted grants received* | 7000 | 1000 |
| Restricted grants received** | 46010 | 1000 |
| Operating activities to generate funds | 85794 | 2244 |
| Meals provided | 16939 | 2551 |
| Total Receipts | 102733 | 4795 |
| Payments | ||
| Charitable Activities | ||
| Cost of catering | 27796 | 4744 |
| Lecture fees and Zoom | 864 | 0 |
| Support Costs | ||
| Equipment & repairs | 35333 | 0 |
| Electricity | 1882 | 0 |
| Cleaning | 29 | 0 |
| Fund raising fees | 1690 | 0 |
| Motor expenses | 200 | 0 |
| Training | 300 | 0 |
| Management & administration | ||
| Salaries | 3800 | 318 |
| Other Payments | ||
| Newspapers | 0 | 9 |
| Total Payments | 71894 | 5071 |
| Net Payments ( Receipts) | 30839 | -276 |
| Bank and Cash Funds last year end | 3779 | 4055 |
| Bank and Cash Funds this year end | 34618 | 3779 |
NOTES
This fund was set up under the auspices of Solihull and District Hebrew Congregation and is non denominational, and it exists to provide social activities and welfare support for the elderly
- Unrestricted (May be used at the discretion of the donee charity in support of the objects of the donor)
** Restricted (To be used for specifically designated purposes)
*** Fund raising Fees refers to the hosting,commission and credit card fees
deducted by the crowd funding platform ((Charityextra.com) that we use for our public facing fund raising.
SOLIHULL AND DISTRICT HEBREW CONGREGATION COVENTRY HEBREW CONGREGATION FUNDS FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 28TH FEBRUARY 2021 RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNT
| Receipts Interest |
2021 2020 Total Total 222 |
|---|---|
| - 222 |
Payments
| Insurance Net (payments)/Receipts Bank and Cash funds last year end Transfer to SDHC account Bank and Cash funds this year end |
- |
|---|---|
| - - |
|
| - 222 69,808 70,030 - - - |
The membership of Solihull Hebrew Congregation & Coventry Hebrew Congregation merged in 2004. In 2013 the Charity Commission issued a scheme transferring the assets of Coventry Hebrew Congregation to Solihull Hebrew Congregation, with SDHC being responsible for ring fencing the funds relating to the burial fund for exclusive use for the purposes of burial in the Jewish section of the London Road Cemetery in Coventry These funds have now been absorbed into the main accounts of SDHC.
SOLIHULL AND DISTRICT HEBREW CONGREGATION FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 28TH FEBRUARY 2021
Cash Funds
| Bank accounts:- Synagogue (Less Halifax Credit Card) Cambridge and Counties Bank United Trust Bank Thursday Club Ladies Guild Tzedokah Fund Cheder Asssets Retained for Charity’s own use Loan - Repayable within 12 months Synagogue & Community Centre Fixtures and Fittings Sifrei Torah Stock and Equipment |
2021 2020 44,323 48,567 87,585 85,000 60,000 60,000 34,618 3,779 1,673 2,615 27,926 29,903 8,894 8,944 265,019 238,808 2021 2020 750 1,750 330,351 330,351 150,000 150,000 56,000 56,000 6,000 6,000 543,101 544,101 |
|---|---|
The trustees have not had the synagogue and community centre professionally valued and is shown at cost. They consider the current market value to be £1,200,000
Liabilities
Coventry Hebrew Congregation Burial Fund 54,000 52,000 54,000 52,000
J.Gouldman G.Langman
Signed on behalf of the trustees on
Note
The Coventry Hebrew Congregation Burial Fund is estimated at current prices plus 1.5% p.a. for inflation in respect of 16 living members whose ages range from approximately to 60 to 85 Membership of the burial fund excludes any payments due to Coventry City Council who are the owners of the cemetery.
SOLIHULL AND DISTRICT HEBREW CONGREGATION FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 28TH FEBRUARY 2021 Schedule of Grants Received
| Charitable Foundation CST Security Chief Rabbi Centre for Community Excellence (United Synagogue) HMRC Furlough Scheme Heart of England Community Foundation Covid Resilience Fund Heart of England Community Foundation Doing Things Differently Heart of England Community Foundation Co-op Fund West Midlands Police Community Initiative Fund Tesco - Groundwork Solihull MBC Winter Welfare Fund Baron Davenport William A.Cadbury Trust Freemasons Ronson Trust Birmingham Jewish Community Care National Lottery Awards for All We are all making a difference |
Amount Purpose 2638.00 Security 4074.00 Activities 5539.00 Covering Wages 3000.00 Work with Vulnerable 11000.00 Work with Vulnerable 4500.00 Work with Vulnerable 4600.00 Work with Vulnerable 1000.00 Work with Vulnerable 5000.00 Work with Vulnerable 500.00 Work with Vulnerable 500.00 Work with Vulnerable 1000.00 Work with Vulnerable 3000.00 Work with Vulnerable 1000.00 Work with Vulnerable 16910.00 Work with Vulnerable 1000.00 Work with Vulnerable 65261.00 |
|---|---|