## **Ipswich & Diss Area Quaker Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Britain** (Registered charity, number 1134526) **Financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2022**
|**Page**|**Contents**|
|---|---|
|2 - 8|Trustees’ annual report|
|9|Independent examiner’s report|
|10|Receipts & payments account|
|11|Statement of assets & liabilities|
|12 - 14|Notes to the accounts|
Please note: All the documents referred to are available at: - - suffolkquakers.org.uk/area meeting documents
# **Ipswich & Diss Area Quaker Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Britain Trustees’ annual report for the year ended 31 December 2022**
**Full name** Ipswich & Diss Area Quaker Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Britain
## **Other names by which the charity is known** Ipswich & Diss Area Meeting
## **Registered charity number** 1134526
## **Principal address**
Quaker Meeting House, St Johns Street, Bury St Edmunds, IP33 1SJ.
## **Trustees**
Elaine Green, Clerk Lucy Pollard Martin Hayden Simon Lamb Mary Pennock, Treasurer
## **Independent examiner**
John O’Brien, employee of Community Accounting Plus, Units 1 & 2 North West, 41 Talbot Street, Nottingham, NG1 5GL
## **Solicitor**
Kerseys Solicitors, 32 Lloyds Avenue, Ipswich, Suffolk IP1 3HD
## **Holding Trustee of Property**
Friends Trusts Limited, Friends House, 173 Euston Road, London NW1 2BJ
## **Principal Advisors**
Rathbone Greenbank Investments 10 Queen Square Bristol BS1 4NT
Clark & Simpson Estate Agents, Well Close Square, Framlingham, Suffolk IP13 9DU
## **Governance and management**
The charity is operated under the rules of its constitution adopted 17/05/2008, and most recently amended 14/05/2022.
Trustees are appointed for a period of three years by the Area Meeting following nomination by its Nominations Committee. All Trustees receive induction training.
Business meetings within the Society are conducted as ‘meetings for worship for church affairs’ in which there is no voting, the Clerk is a servant of the meeting and the minutes are agreed at each meeting. Membership of the Society of Friends is held within the Area Meeting.
2
## **Ipswich & Diss Area Quaker Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Britain**
## **Objectives and activities**
The object of Ipswich & Diss Area Meeting is the furtherance of the general religious and charitable purposes of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Britain in the area of Ipswich & Diss Area Meeting and beyond. Its constituent parts include:
- **Local Meetings** at Bury St Edmunds, Diss, Felixstowe, Ipswich, Leiston and Woodbridge,
- **Ipswich and Diss Area Meeting Property Charity,** which is a mixture of endowment, restricted and designated funds which support the Area Meeting’s four Meeting Houses in Ipswich, Diss, Bury St. Edmunds and Leiston; Burial Grounds in Bredfield, Needham Market, Woodbridge, Diss, Bury St. Edmunds and Leiston; a private house in Diss which is rented out and a warden’s flat within Ipswich Meeting House.
It carries out the objectives of the Area Meeting or such other charitable purposes as the Area Meeting may direct and the trustees may think suitable: provided that the trustees allow persons who are not members of the Society to use the meeting houses and premises and the remains of persons who were not members of the Society to be buried in the burial grounds.
- **Agnes Moss Bequest Trust,** which is a mixture of endowment and restricted funds for the use of Diss Local Meeting and largely consists of 21 St Nicholas Street, Diss, IP22 4LB.
Diss Local Meeting and Area Meeting have directed that the trust is to be used: 1) by Area Meeting for administration of the trust and for property maintenance and repairs of 21 St Nicholas Street and
2) by Diss Local Meeting for general purposes and property maintenance and repairs of Diss Meeting House, its burial ground and the private house **.**
- **Richard Waynforth Trust Charity** , which is a mixture of endowment and restricted funds for the relief in need of members and attenders of Ipswich & Diss Area Meeting and, from 7 October 2014, members and attenders of Waveney & Norfolk Area Meeting and Southern East Anglia Area Meeting. (See Richard Waynforth Trust Guidelines).
3
## **Ipswich & Diss Area Quaker Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Britain**
## **Summary of the main activities undertaken for the public benefit**
Ipswich & Diss Area Quaker Meeting performs the following activities in relation to its objectives:
- Holding Area Meetings, using the Quaker business method, at least once a year.
- Taking responsibility for membership of the Area Meeting and hence of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Britain and maintaining a register of the Area Meeting’s members and attenders.
- Ensuring that all Local Meetings report regularly on their activities and that Local Meeting treasurers and Local Meeting premises committees meet together at least annually.
- Appointing clerks, a treasurer, registering officers, a nominations committee, elders, and pastoral care team co-ordinators.
- Consolidating accounts of its constituent Local Meetings and linked charities.
- Maintaining links with the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Britain, also known as Britain Yearly Meeting, and Friends Trusts Ltd, which is the trust corporation for the Religious Society of Friends in Great Britain.
- Taking responsibility for the preservation of Area Meeting and Local Meeting records.
- Managing the charity's income and expenditure to meet the proper costs of administering the charity and managing its cash and non-cash assets in keeping with the charity’s ethical investment policy.
- Ensuring ongoing repairs and maintenance are carried out for the Meeting Houses, the wardens’ flat and the private house.
- Ensuring the Meeting Houses, the wardens’ flat and the private house comply with current Health and Safety Regulations, Fire Safety Regulations and other relevant government regulations.
- Ensuring compliance to safeguarding, equal opportunities and data protection legislation.
- Providing adequate Public Liability Insurance for the Local Meetings and Buildings and Contents Insurance coverage for the Meeting Houses and buildings insurance for the wardens’ house and flat.
- Commissioning quinquennial and tree surveys and carrying out the recommended actions for the Meeting Houses and their adjacent burial grounds.
- Inspecting the burial grounds at Bredfield, Needham Market and Woodbridge and taking remedial actions, where required.
- Ensuring compliance to employment regulations and monitoring wardenship and employment matters, including pensions and the Living Wage, at Ipswich, Bury St Edmunds and Diss Meeting Houses.
- Overseeing all building renovations and new development undertaken at the Meeting Houses and the private house.
- Selling, leasing or disposing of all or any part of the charity's property that is not required to be retained to achieve its objectives.
- Co-operating with other charities, voluntary bodies and statutory authorities as required.
4
## **Ipswich & Diss Area Quaker Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Britain**
- Making relief-in-need grants to provide or pay for goods, services and/or training for members and attenders of Ipswich & Diss Area Meeting, Waveney & Norfolk Area Meeting and Southern East Anglia Area Meeting.
- Arranging and holding of public Meetings for Worship, open to all, in its constituent Local Meetings in Bury St Edmunds, Diss, Felixstowe, Ipswich, Leiston and Woodbridge.
- Maintaining links with other churches and local faith groups to promotes interfaith understanding, peace, social justice and equality.
- Support of other local, national and international charities through special collections and fund-raising events.
- Chaplaincy support is provided locally to two prisons, a hospital and a university.
- ● Our four Meeting Houses are available for lettings to community groups, other charities and businesses undertaking charitable activities. As well, 21 St Nicholas Street, Diss, is let to a collective of local craftspeople. This provides a public service by contributing to community cohesion and encouraging the growth of creative businesses.
## **Public benefit statement**
The Trustees confirm that they have complied with the duty in section 17 of the Charities Act 2011 to have due regard to the Charity Commission's general guidance on public benefit, 'Charities and Public Benefit'.
## **Summary of the main achievements during the period**
In setting out our charitable achievements for public benefit as a local worshipping community within a national framework, we reflect the aims of Britain Yearly Meeting, the national body and those set out in our current book of discipline, “Quaker Faith & Practice”.
Our six local Meetings have met at least weekly for public worship since the beginning of this year and Felixstowe remain well settled in the Trimley Memorial Hall and Woodbridge in St Mary’s House. Our availability as a worshipping community, where all are welcome is evident from our Suffolk Quaker website https://suffolkquakers.org.uk/ , articles in the local press, and a social media presence.
All our Local Meetings, in order to maintain their unity as one worshipping community, are, after experimentation, beginning to find a balance that suits them, between blended/hybrid Meetings for Worship, and simultaneous in-person and online Meetings, Woodbridge reading the same passage from Quaker Faith & Practice in both. With an ageing demographic, blended meetings have enabled connection to the spiritual strength of those unable to come to Meetings for Worship in person, though some local meetings have found it challenging to find Friends to set up and operate the necessary technology.
5
## **Ipswich & Diss Area Quaker Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Britain**
In addition, Ipswich holds a mid-week Meeting for Worship in person, which often attracts visitors. Leiston has established an online mid-week Meeting for Worship and Bury St Edmunds does both.
Following the isolation of the pandemic we have worked in other creative ways to maintain the inclusivity and unity of our Local and Area Meetings. Discussion groups have been held in all of our local Meetings; walking and poetry groups meet monthly at Woodbridge where there is also a local meeting monthly newsletter; a gardening working party at Leiston; social visits to gardens and the seaside by Ipswich Friends. There has been a reintroduction of shared lunches after Meetings for Worship in Diss, Felixstowe, Bury St Edmunds and others. At Bury St Edmunds there is a bimonthly Evening Meeting for words, music and silence, with Friends sometimes joining online from far afield.
At Area Meeting level as well as meeting for Quaker business, for the first time in many years we held a Spiritual Sustenance Day hosted by Diss Local Meeting. We plan to continue this innovation.
We have celebrated the marriage of three couples who worship at Bury St Edmunds Meeting House.
Outside of the Quaker community, the year saw the general public returning to use our buildings. Room hiring at Bury St Edmunds has gradually picked up and Ipswich again has at least 16 different groups using various parts of their Meeting House. Similarly, our collaborative work with other faith communities has resumed. We take an active a part in our local Churches Together and in Ipswich & Bury St Edmunds we have joined with others for faith celebrations, such as the equinoxes and the end of Ramadan. Local Buddhist, Spiritualist and Muslim groups have returned to regularly use Bury Meeting House, the last group for their weekly Friday prayer. The ‘Experiment with Light’ Quaker meditation group in Bury St Edmunds has welcomed the participation of a member of the local Roman Catholic congregation.
The living out of our social witness in the world became more focused during this time. Beginning on the Global Day of Action during COP26 in 2021, Bury St Edmunds Local Meeting has maintained its monthly public ‘Silent Witness to Social Justice in the face of the Climate Emergency’, that is now also supported by other members of local ecological groups, members of other churches and the general public. With support from St Edmundsbury Cathedral, panels from the ‘Loving Earth Project’ were displayed with an estimated 1,000 visitors, raising awareness of the implications of climate change. Part of our Meeting House gardens and the Leiston burial ground has been ‘rewilded’, trees and nectar rich plants planted and ‘bug hotels’ installed. Bury St Edmunds Meeting House garden was again opened to the public, an oasis in the town centre.
The beginning of the year saw Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and our Witness for Peace became all the more poignant. Ipswich Quakers were represented at local
6
## **Ipswich & Diss Area Quaker Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Britain**
interfaith vigils for the people of Ukraine as well as being represented at a special worldwide Meeting for Worship.
In Bury St Edmunds, at our vigil on Armed Forces Day, and when laying a white poppy wreath at the cenotaph on Remembrance Day, we were joined by a considerable number of the public. Bury St Edmunds Quakers have joined the local Ukrainian community in their regular monthly vigils and representative Quakers attended special Ukrainian Church services held in the Cathedral.
Throughout the year Quakers in this Area continued to make donations to 20 other charities, see below section 5. “Acting as Agent collections”
## **Sustainability and Environmental achievements during the period**
The Premises Committee of Diss Local Meeting aim to get rid of their gas heating as soon as they can and install a system, which could efficiently heat their weekly Meeting for Worship adequately, in their listed building. They have considered infrared heater, air source heat pumps, installation of an insulated pod within the meeting house and the Installation of a ground source heat pump to serve both our Meeting House and the adjacent privately-rented house that was the former Warden’s house. No decision was reached on the way forward. This is a theme that is echoed in all our historic Meeting Houses as they balance the usage of the building with efficiency and cost. To encourage this complex process, the Area Meeting Trustees decided to increase the charity’s reserves and where appropriate give priority to applications which ‘green’ our properties and move our Meeting Houses away from fossil fuels. For individual Friends, the increasing use of technology for Meetings for Worship and discussion groups has certainly reduced our carbon footprint. Friends in the Area remain committed to seeking change and learning where they can. In this year, a member of Woodbridge Local Meeting attended the _Sustainability Gathering_ at Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre in Birmingham and brought valuable feedback to our Area Meeting.
## **Financial review**
## **Financial position at the end of the reporting period**
We are encouraged that after the pandemic the public use of our Meeting Houses and income from lettings are picking up again. Our cash assets have risen by £50,000 (12%).
Our investments have fallen by £217,000 (16%) in line with the ethical investment stock market.
## **Reserves Policy**
We ask each of our constituent Local Meetings and funds to hold reserves of 6 months expenditure without income. Their positions are checked annually and the policy is reviewed triennially.
7
## **Ipswich & Diss Area Quaker Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Britain**
The Trustees holding responsibility for Area Meeting properties, three of which are listed places of worship, are hoping to build up the Meeting Houses Reserves Fund. This policy is also reviewed triennially.
## **Financial Risks**
Perhaps a loss of generous individual giving with an ageing population and demography less able to manage the letting of our Meeting Houses to the public.
We have a comprehensive set of policies and practice documents which are regularly reviewed. We continuously monitor adherence to these.
None of our funds are in deficit. The only funds we hold for third parties are sums scheduled for Britain Yearly Meeting, which are regularly passed on and collections for charities which are passed on soon after the collection has finished.
On behalf of the charity’s trustees:
(Signed)
Elaine Green, Clerk to the Trustees
Date - 8[th] August 2023
8
## **Independent examiner’s report to the trustees of Ipswich & Diss Area Quaker Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Britain for the year ended 31 December 2022**
I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of Ipswich & Diss Area Quaker Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Britain (the charity) for the year ended 31 December 2022.
## **Responsibilities and basis of report**
As the trustees of the charity you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the Act’). I report in respect of my examination of the charity’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.
## **Independent examiner’s statement**
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:
1. accounting records were not kept in respect of the charity as required by section 130 of the Act; or
2. the accounts do not accord with those records.
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
(Signed)
John O’Brien MSc, FCCA, FCIE
Employee of Community Accounting Plus
Date - 24[th] August 2023
9
## **Ipswich & Diss Area Quaker Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Britain Receipts & payments account for the year ended 31 December 2022**
|**Receipts**
**Note**
Donations
Gift aid
Legacies
Other donations
Sundry receipts
Hire of rooms and rent received
Book and literature sales
Interest
Dividends
Receipts as agent
**Total receipts**
**Payments**
Wages – wardens, cleaning etc
Heat, light and insurance
Property rental
Property repairs & maintenance
Capital repairs
Furniture & equip’t repairs and renewals
Conference costs
Travel & subsistence
Outreach and publicity
Sundry administrative and other costs
Grants/loans to institutions
Grants to individuals
Independent Examination
Payments as agent
**5**
Sundry expenses
Purchase of investments
**Total payments**
**Net receipts/(payments)**
Cash funds at start of this period
Transfers between funds
**Cash funds at end of this period**|**Unrestricted**
**Funds**
**£**
34048
4414
31341
381
1899
51823
21
2303
4252
2983
**133465**
34899
19968
2711
9111
7123
4847
530
110
1740
2549
11476
-
900
2663
404
927
**99958**
33507
309320
500
**343327**|**Restricted**
**Funds**
**£**
-
-
-
-
-
7520
-
330
16761
11993
**36604**
-
-
2595
-
4611
-
-
-
-
420
-
416
-
11993
-
-
**20035**
16569
102296
(500)
**118365**|**_2022_**
**Total**
**Funds**
**£**
34048
4414
31341
381
1899
59343
21
2633
21013
14976|
|---|---|---|---|
||||**170069**|
||||34899
19968
5306
9111
11734
4847
530
110
1740
2969
11476
416
900
14656
404
927|
||||**119993**|
||||50076
411616
-|
||||**461692**|
10
## **Ipswich & Diss Area Quaker Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Britain Statement of assets and liabilities at 31 December 2022**
|_2021_|||**_2022_**|
|---|---|---|---|
|£|**Cash assets**||**£**|
|411616|Bank accounts||461692|
|411616|||**461692**|
||**Investments**|||
||CCLA Unit funds|||
||T Merriman 10062 units|45132||
||Recoupment 13/11/87 17743 units|79584||
||Recoupment 11/08/86 6326 units|28377||
|168564|||153093|
|1205790|Rathbones portfolio||1004712|
|1374354|||**1157805**|
||**Investment property**|||
||Shop premises at 21 St Nicholas Street, Diss,|||
|235000|held within the Agnes Moss Bequest Trust||**235000**|
||**Liabilities**|||
|(195)|Acting as agent (collected but not paid at year end)||(505)|
|(450)|Pensions||(167)|
|(900)|Independent examination||(1200)|
|(1545)|||**(1872)**|
||**Property**|||
||In addition the charity holds six burial grounds and functional||property|
||with insured values as follows:|||
||Bury St Edmunds meeting house||1672686|
||Diss meeting house||820886|
||Diss private house||342528|
||Ipswich meeting house and warden's flat||1405220|
||Leiston meeting house||704642|
These financial statements are accepted on behalf of the charity by:
(Signed)
Mary Pennock, Treasurer Date – 8[th] August 2023
11
## **Ipswich & Diss Area Quaker Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Britain Notes to the accounts for the year ended 31 December 2022**
## **1. Receipts & payments accounts**
- Receipts and payments accounts contain a summary of money received and money spent during the period and a list of assets and liabilities at the end of the period. Usually, cash received and cash spent will include transactions through bank accounts and cash in hand.
## **2. Prior period analysis**
The accounts for 2021 were prepared on an accruals basis, so detailed year to year comparison is difficult. In particular, debtors and creditors included in the accruals for 2021 have been included as receipts and payments in 2022. Creditors are listed on page 11. The only debtor was Gift Aid on 2021 donations claimed in 2022 of £4,414. Accounts for many years up to and including 2021 included a sum of £568,594.84 as property value. This was money raised to fund an extension to Bury St Edmunds Meeting House. Since functional property values are not included in accounts, this sum should have been removed from the overall value of the charity once the building was completed. This sum does not appear in these accounts.
## **3. Cash Funds summary**
|**Unrestricted funds**
Area General fund
Bury St Edmunds LM
Diss LM
Felixtowe LM
Ipswich LM
Leiston LM
Woodbridge LM
Bury SE Maintenance fund
Area Property fund
**Restricted funds**
Britain Yearly Meeting
Property Meeting House Maintenance
Agness Moss Bequest
Richard Waynforth fund
**Total cash funds**|**Opening**
**balance**
**£**
16658
154381
2299
3569
49609
18259
4749
47428
12368
**309320**
-
26987
21179
54130
**102296**
**411616**|**Receipts**
**£**
1643
39685
19457
3968
23341
37259
3546
1333
3233
**133465**
11993
1162
7591
15858
**36604**
**170069**|**(Payments)**
**£**
(7240)
(48285)
(8844)
(2905)
(17137)
(6764)
(3261)
-
(5522)
**(99958)**
(11993)
-
(7626)
(416)
**(20035)**
**(119993)**|**Transfers**
**£**
5813
(2200)
(500)
-
(872)
(541)
(1200)
-
-
**500**
-
-
-
(500)
**(500)**
**-**|**Closing**
**balance**
**£**
16874
143581
12412
4632
54941
48213
3834
48761
10079|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||||||**343327**|
||||||-
28149
21144
69072|
||||||**118365**|
|||||||
||||||**461692**|
12
## **4. Investment funds summary**
|**CCLA**
Property Charity
**Rathbones investments**
BSE Meeting House fund
Area Meeting House fund
Property Charity Endowment
Richard Waynforth fund
Richard Waynforth Endowmnent
**Total investments**|**Opening**
**value**
**£**
168564
**168564**
59091
59091
177273
58060
852274
**1205789**
**1374353**|**Additions &**
**Charges**
**£**
927
**927**
(761)
(761)
(2283)
-
(10079)
**(13884)**
**(12957)**|**Gain/Loss**
**£**
(16398)
**(16398)**
(8258)
(8258)
(24775)
-
(145902)
**(187193)**
**(203591)**|**Closing**
**value**
**£**
153093|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|||||**153093**|
|||||50072
50072
150215
58060
696293|
|||||**1004712**|
||||||
|||||**1157805**|
## **5. Acting as Agent collections paid out**
|Families in Need
Hope Trust
Medcins Sans Frontieres
Gatehouse
Choose Love
Quaker Arts Network
Solo Housing
Woodbrooke
UNHCR Afgan Refugees
Leeway
Pakistan Flood Appeal
DEC Ukraine appeal
Glebe House
Friends Community Dev Trust
QuIET Brummana
Teapot Project
FIND
Quaker International
SELIG
Trussell|**£**
200
140
265
293
340
20
105
85
209
129
221
167
117
126
38
99
32
25
22
30|
|---|---|
||**2663**|
## **6. Trustees’ remuneration**
Trustees received no expenses, remuneration or benefits in this period.
13
## **7. Cash funds Local Meetings detail**
|**Receipts**
Donations
Gift aid
Legacies
Other donations
Sundry receipts
Hire of rooms and rent received
Book and literature sales
Interest
Receipts as agent
**Total receipts**
**Payments**
Wages – wardens, cleaning etc
Heat, light and insurance
Property rental
Property repairs & maintenance
Capital repairs
Equipment repairs and renewals
Conference costs
Travel & subsistence
Outreach and publicity
Sundry costs
Grants/loans to institutions
Independent Examination
Payments as agent
Sundry expenses
**Total payments**
**Net receipts/(payments)**
Cash funds at start of this period
Transfers between funds
**Cash funds at end of this period**|**Area**
**Meeting**
**£**
1120
523
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
**1643**
4474
-
-
-
-
245
530
35
443
209
-
900
-
404
**7240**
(5597)
16658
5813
**16874**|**BSE**
**LM**
**£**
8211
1429
-
381
1238
26005
21
1497
903
**39685**
20003
6574
-
1361
7123
3545
-
-
302
764
7959
-
654
-
**48285**
(8600)
154381
(2200)
**143581**|**Diss**
**LM**
**£**
9798
591
-
-
-
8226
-
-
842
**19457**
1316
1705
-
3292
-
168
-
-
114
-
1500
-
749
-
**8844**
10613
2299
(500)
**12412**|**Felixtowe**
**LM**
**£**
2765
598
-
-
-
-
-
-
605
**3968**
-
-
1284
-
-
-
-
-
208
108
700
-
605
-
**2905**
1063
3569
-
**4632**|**Ipswich**
**LM**
**£**
5120
560
-
-
423
16173
-
485
580
**23341**
7587
5711
-
1277
-
617
-
-
351
790
200
-
604
-
**17137**
6204
49609
(872)
**54941**|**Leiston**
**LM**
**£**
3823
431
31342
-
237
1420
-
6
-
**37259**
1520
1384
-
3180
-
55
-
-
197
428
-
-
-
-
**6764**
30495
18259
(541)
**48213**|**Woodbridge**
**LM**
**£**
3212
282
-
-
-
-
-
-
52|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||||||||**3546**|
||||||||-
-
1427
-
-
215
-
75
126
249
1117
-
52
-|
||||||||**3261**|
||||||||285
4749
(1200)|
||||||||**3834**|
14