Pundarika UK Annual Report 2023-24
Pundarika UK Annual Report
1[st] June 2023 - 31[st] May 2024 Registered Charity Number 1104530
Contact Details
Address: 2 Mallard House Townmead Rd Fulham SW6 2BF Phone: 07444172078 Email: jason.pundarika.uk@gmail.com Web: www.pundarika.uk.net
Trustees
Jason Upton - Chair Michelle Bernard - Secretary Rosie Roberts - Treasurer Erica Whitfield Carole Bishop Matt Hart
Charity Commission Classification
Pundarika UK is committed to:
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Religious activities
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Education/training
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Relief of poverty
Background
In 1999 the Tibetan Buddhist teacher Tsoknyi Rinpoche requested some of his British students to set up Pundarika UK in order to organise Buddhist teachings for the general public as well as raise funds to support his monastic communities in Nepal and China (Tibet). We registered with the Charity Commission as a Charitable Trust in 2004.
Since then, we have been organising an annual six-day residential retreat every year for which we use rented accommodation. Buddhist philosophy is taught as well as meditation instruction given. These retreats are popular although numbers have been limited in the past by the nature
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Pundarika UK Annual Report 2023-24
of the accommodation which, historically, was around 150 people. Since COVID, we have been offering retreats online reaching up to 900 people around the world. This has significantly changed how we view the potential for our retreats to be accessible to a greater number of Rinpoche’s students.
After expenses, profits from the retreat are used to support Rinpoche's monastic community, now mainly nuns in Nepal. We also support a girls’ school in Nepal. Many of our supporters pay a monthly standing order to support the nuns as well as the school in Nepal.
Activities this year for Public Benefit
Over the previous year, our organisation conducted its annual retreat at the newly selected venue of Lord Wandsworth College, Hampshire. This decision was influenced by the fact that our previous long-term venue, the Bruton Girl’s School, had unfortunately closed. After scoping several possible locations, and a visit to the college, the trustees felt confident that the new venue would satisfy our needs and offer a beautiful setting for the retreat. In order to accommodate the availability of the college, this year we had to hold the retreat in August. The retreat spanned six days and was held in both a traditional in-person format and online, accommodating over 200 inperson retreatants and an impressive online participation from more than 290 individuals across over 30 countries.
This year's retreat was significant for several reasons. Firstly, as our first event at Lord Wandsworth College, we needed to adjust to the new setting. The feedback received was overwhelmingly positive, with the majority of participants and notably, Tsoknyi Rinpoche, expressing satisfaction with the suitability of the venue. Another pivotal aspect of this year’s retreat was our foray into hosting a hybrid event. This was facilitated by engaging the services of Silvertips, a professional team responsible for filming, recording, and supporting the online streaming aspects of the retreat. Hosting our first live-streamed event was a learning experience as we had to negotiate unexpected issues such as stage-lighting and an expanded technical crew. Nevertheless, these were managed well and indicated areas for us to consider for future retreats.
The retreat marked the return of Tsoknyi Rinpoche to the UK for his first in-person teachings in four years. Rinpoche’s sessions were based on Mipham Rinpoche’s profound text, The Key Points of Trekchö , offering two teachings per day alongside his group interviews. Rinpoche, also, gave the pointing out instructions to in-person retreatants. This was complemented by the invaluable translations and afternoon Q&A sessions provided by Gerardo Abboud. The retreat schedule offered four daily meditation sessions for those attending in-person and two for online participants, ensuring a comprehensive and engaging experience for all.
Despite the challenge posed by a minor outbreak of COVID during the retreat, the swift and effective response by our volunteers ensured minimal disruption, showing the adaptability of our community in maintaining the continuity of the retreat’s activities. Feedback for this year’s online retreat echoed the positive sentiments of the previous year, particularly in regard to the online format closely mirroring the in-person schedule, creating a retreat-like atmosphere.
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Pundarika UK Annual Report 2023-24
Overall, the retreat was a great success with retreatants expressing tremendous gratitude for the opportunity to spend time with Rinpoche and to hear his precious teachings on the nature of mind.
We also run an online study group which was led by Gerardo Abboud. The study group focused upon the same text from the retreat and allowed participants an opportunity to revisit Rinpoche’s teachings and to reflect further upon them. The group was attended by 190 people from many different countries around the world. We received a lot of positive feedback and will endeavour to run similar groups in the future.
Finances
This year we had a total income of £401,514. This was comprised of income from our charitable activities totalling £263,751 plus income from donations totalling £137,763. Our total payments for the accounting period were £288,556. This was comprised of £117,519 of payments related to our activities plus £171,036 in grants. We donated £108,420 towards the purchase of land for the development of Tsoknyi Gechak Ling. We donated £25,000 to the Tsoknyi Gechak Ling Nunnery, and £37,616 to the Tsoknyi Gechak School. At the start of this financial year, we had 45 monthly sponsors, as well as people making generous individual donations.
Future Plans
In August 2024, we plan to host our second retreat at the Lord Wandsworth College. Given the success of this year’s retreat, we have decided to continue with the same venue and hope to develop a closer working relationship with the college. Once more, we plan to live-stream the retreat to participants from around the world. We will continue to look for opportunities to expand our activities online and will also continue to develop our plans for an online membership scheme that will provide access to an archive of audio and video from Tsoknyi Rinpoche’s past UK retreats.
Signed
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Jason Upton Chair Pundarika UK
Date: 22[nd] March 2025
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Statement of accounts for period 1st June 2023 - 31st May 2024
| BANK | CASH | PAY-PAL | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Funds as at 01/06/23 | £ | £ | £ | £ |
| Balance LloydsTSB current account | 39,946.93 | |||
| Cash in hand | 36.82 | |||
| Balance at PayPal account | 20,483.17 | |||
| TOTAL FUNDS | 60,466.92 | |||
| GENERAL FUND Receipts & Payments | (unrestricted funds) |
|||
| Receipts | ||||
| Retreat fees 2023 | 3,735.00 | 450.00 | 98,514.52 | |
| Retreat fees 2024 | 1,200.00 | 134,789.60 | ||
| On-line retreat 24 | 8,748.62 | |||
| Dharma shop income | 5,100.00 | 1,451.00 | ||
| General donations | 1,000.00 | 1,454.45 | ||
| Coach | 25.00 | 590.00 | 1,029.02 | |
| Chant Books | 3.00 | 307.75 | ||
| Bursary Fund | 887.00 | |||
| Payment refunds | 2,605.40 | 309.82 | ||
| Gift Aid | 1,551.07 | |||
| TOTAL RECEIPTS | 15,219.47 | 2,798.75 | 245,733.03 | 263,751.25 |
| Payments | ||||
| Retreat Venue | 59,437.75 | |||
| Printing | 919.50 | |||
| Insurance | 585.51 | |||
| Accomodation & Hospitality | 3,670.53 | 85.00 | ||
| Flights and Travel | 5,310.16 | 325.00 | ||
| Website costs | 2,052.92 | 3,097.01 | ||
| Retreat streaming | 5,170.00 | |||
| Office Expenses | ||||
| Recording Equip & Expenses | 76.56 | |||
| Rinpoche offerings | 4,712.00 | 3,200.00 | ||
| Translator fees & gifts | 8,505.26 | 550.00 | ||
| Retreat set-up costs | 1,214.80 | 39.75 | ||
| Equipment storage | 6,112.30 | |||
| Transfer Charges | 154.07 | |||
| Bank | 1,378.78 | |||
| Miscellaneous | 210.27 | 12.70 | ||
| 2023 Refunds | 3,916.00 | |||
| 2024 Refunds | 6,625.41 | |||
| Trustees Expenses | 158.05 | |||
| TOTAL PAYMENTS | 98,213.12 | 5,330.09 | 13,976.12 | 117,519.33 |
ASTIC COMMUNITY SUPPORT FUND Receipts & Payments (restricted f
| Receipts | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sponsers | 7,991.00 | 2,409.87 | ||
| Donations for Nepal School | 315.00 | 7,079.40 | ||
| Monastic donations | 123.75 | 641.49 | ||
| Rinpoche Donations | 1,479.76 | 3,232.24 | ||
| Land donation | 108,420.00 | |||
| Translator donations | 1,108.00 | 4,962.47 | ||
| TOTAL RECEIPTS | 119,437.51 | - | 18,325.47 | 137,762.98 |
| Payments | ||||
| Monastic land donations | 108,420.00 | |||
| Asian Monastic Support | 25,000.00 | |||
| Nepal School Support | 37,059.54 | 394.52 | 162.25 | |
| TOTAL PAYMENTS | 170,479.54 | 394.52 | 162.25 | 171,036.31 |
| Fund transfers | ||||
| From PayPal to Bank | 259,000.00 | 259,000.00 | ||
| From bank to Petty Cash | 2,100.00 | |||
| Bank deposits | 1,512.85 | |||
| To Savings Account | 281,420.00 | |||
| From savings | 126,162.00 | |||
| T0TAL FUNDS at 31/05/24 | ||||
| Balance at bank | 9,066.10 | |||
| Savings account | 155,439.37 | |||
| Cash in hand | - | |||
| Pay-Pal account | 11,403.30 | |||
| TOTAL FUNDS | 175,908.77 |
Independent examiner's report on the accounts
Section A Independent Examiner’s Report
Report to the trustees/ Pundarika UK members of
On accounts for the year 31 May 2024 ended
Charity no 1104530 (if any)
Set out on pages Pages 1 & 2, section A only required. ~~Poeee~~
I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity (“the Trust”) for the year ended 31/05/24.
- Responsibilities and As the charity trustees of the Trust, you are responsible for the preparation of basis of report the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (“the Act”).
I report in respect of my examination of the Trust’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I have followed the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.
Independent I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have examiner's statement come to my attention (other than that disclosed below *) in connection with the examination which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect:
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accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Act or
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the accounts do not accord with the accounting records
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
- Please delete the words in the brackets if they do not apply.
Signed: Date: 27 March, 2025
Name: Roy Sutherwood ~~Pe~~
Relevant professional Not required for receipt and payment accounts. qualification(s) or body (if any):
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October 2018
IER
Address: The Coach House 1 White Hart Street London SE11 4EP
Section B Disclosure
Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight matters of concern (see CC32, Independent examination of charity accounts: directions and guidance for examiners).
Give here brief details of any items that the examiner wishes to disclose .
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October 2018
IER
IER October 2018