2024-12-31-accounts

CHARITY REGISTRATION NUMBER: 1136024

MANCHESTER AND DISTRICT COUNCIL OF SYNAGOGUES

Unaudited Financial Statements

31 December 2024

WHITESIDE AND DAVIES LTD

Chartered Certified Accountants 158 Cromwell Road Salford M6 6DE

MANCHESTER AND DISTRICT COUNCIL OF SYNAGOGUES

Financial Statements

Year ended 31 December 2024

	Page
Trustees' annual report	1
Independent examiner's report to the trustees	3
Statement of financial activities	4
Statement of financial position	5
Notes to the financial statements	6

MANCHESTER AND DISTRICT COUNCIL OF SYNAGOGUES

Trustees' Annual Report (continued)

Year ended 31 December 2024

The trustees present their report and the unaudited financial statements of the charity for the year ended 31 December 2024.

Reference and administrative details

Registered charity name MANCHESTER AND DISTRICT COUNCIL OF SYNAGOGUES Charity registration number 1136024 Principal office

The trustees

Mr H Gordon Mr P Langer Independent examiner I Graff FCCA 158 Cromwell Road Salford M6 6DE

Structure, governance and management

Manchester & District Council of Synagogues is constituted by Deed of Trust and was registered with the Charity Commissioner under charity number 1136024 on 19 May 2010. The Trustees during the year were: Mr H Gordon and Mr P Langer. The Executive Officers during the year were as follows: Chairman - Mr H Gordon, Treasurer - Mr P Langer, Secretary Mr H Kaye. Mr G Simon resigned as trustee on the 12 February 2024. The Trustees and Executives are elected from year to year by the Delegates in the Annual General Meeting. All Trustees are encouraged to attend appropriate external training events where these will facilitate the undertaking of their role.

Objectives and activities

The principal objects of the Council are to advance the Jewish religion by promoting the teaching and practice of the rites and rituals of the Orthodox Jewish faith, particularly in respect of the period immediately prior to, during and after death including the arrangement of funerals for the Jewish community in the Greater Manchester area, the co-ordination between synagogues and Burial Boards and the maintenance and improvement of Jewish cemeteries in the region.

In pursuit of these Objects, the Council operates the burial service for most of the Orthodox Jewish Community in the region as well as the Scan Levy Scheme and co-ordinates and contributes to the maintenance and improvement of the Jewish cemeteries. Whilst the Council is only a co-ordinating body for all the representative synagogues, the financial responsibility of burying the dead and maintaining the cemeteries actually lies with the relevant Burial Boards. The Council operates on a not-for-profit basis.

The trustees confirm that they have referred to the information contained in the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit when reviewing the Trust’s aims and objectives and in planning future activities and services.

1

MANCHESTER AND DISTRICT COUNCIL OF SYNAGOGUES

Trustees' Annual Report (continued)

Year ended 31 December 2024

Risk Management

The board of Trustees recognises its ultimate responsibility for risk management. On a day to day basis, this duty is discharged by the members of the Executive Committee. There are meetings between the Trustees and the Executive. Through this process, all substantial risks are brought to the Trustees’ attention, and considered by them in priority order. The Trustees and the Executive continue to monitor the effectiveness of existing systems to mitigate those risks.

Achievements and performance

The Council provides all its services on a non-profit making basis whilst ensuring that the reserves are always sufficient to enable it to carry out its wide-ranging activities and to meet every foreseeable need. The attached financial statements show that the Council produced a surplus of £27,759 as compared to a surplus of £20,694 in 2023. In the year, the council arranged 143 funerals (2023: 138) and of these 14 funerals (2023: 11) were funded by the charity.

Financial review

The charity's incoming resources were practically the same as last year, and charitable expenditure were slightly less than the previous year.

Reserves Policy

The Trustees assess the risks to which the Council could be exposed and the appropriate level of reserves that we should maintain. The actual level of reserves is regularly reviewed and, if the level looked likely to move significantly outside the target range, we would take actions to bring reserves back in line with the target. The charity is currently holding total reserves of £82,008 (2023: £54,249) which the trustees consider to be adequate to cover approximately 4½ months of outgoing resources of the charity.

The trustees' annual report was approved on 16 July 2025 and signed on behalf of the board of trustees by:

Mr H Gordon Trustee

2

MANCHESTER AND DISTRICT COUNCIL OF SYNAGOGUES

Independent Examiner's Report to the Trustees of MANCHESTER AND DISTRICT COUNCIL OF SYNAGOGUES

Year ended 31 December 2024

I report to the trustees on my examination of the financial statements of MANCHESTER AND DISTRICT COUNCIL OF SYNAGOGUES ('the charity') for the year ended 31 December 2024.

Responsibilities and basis of report

As the trustees of the charity you are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the Act’).

I report in respect of my examination of the charity's financial statements 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 material 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 financial statements do not accord with those records; or

3. the financial statements do not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a ‘true and fair' view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination.

I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

I Graff FCCA Independent Examiner

158 Cromwell Road Salford M6 6DE

3

MANCHESTER AND DISTRICT COUNCIL OF SYNAGOGUES

Statement of Financial Activities

Year ended 31 December 2024

		2024	2024	2023
		Unrestricted
		funds	Total funds	Total funds
	Note	£	£	£
Income and endowments
Charitable activities	4	210,050	210,050	210,464
Investment income	5	137	137	51
		--------------------------------	--------------------------------	--------------------------------
Total income		210,187	210,187	210,515
		================================	================================	================================
Expenditure
Expenditure on raising funds:
Costs of raising donations and legacies	6	50	50	51
Expenditure on charitable activities	7,8	182,378	182,378	189,770
		--------------------------------	--------------------------------	--------------------------------
Total expenditure		182,428	182,428	189,821
		================================	================================	================================
		--------------------------------	--------------------------------	--------------------------------
Net income and net movement in funds		27,759	27,759	20,694
		================================	================================	================================
Reconciliation of funds
Total funds brought forward		54,249	54,249	33,555
		--------------------------------	--------------------------------	--------------------------------
Total funds carried forward		82,008	82,008	54,249
		================================	================================	================================

The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year. All income and expenditure derive from continuing activities.

The notes on pages 6 to 12 form part of these financial statements.

4

MANCHESTER AND DISTRICT COUNCIL OF SYNAGOGUES

Statement of Financial Position

31 December 2024

		2024	2023
	Note	£	£
Fixed assets
Tangible fixed assets	14	2,111	2,814
Current assets
Stocks	15	1,575	1,575
Debtors	16	28,108	13,274
Cash at bank and in hand		51,834	38,206
		----------------------------	----------------------------
		81,517	53,055
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year	17	1,620	1,620
		----------------------------	----------------------------
Net current assets		79,897	51,435
		----------------------------	----------------------------
Total assets less current liabilities		82,008	54,249
		----------------------------	----------------------------
Net assets		82,008	54,249
		============================	============================
Funds of the charity
Unrestricted funds		82,008	54,249
		----------------------------	----------------------------
Total charity funds	18	82,008 ============================	54,249 ============================

These financial statements were approved by the board of trustees and authorised for issue on 16 July 2025, and are signed on behalf of the board by:

Mr H Gordon Trustee

The notes on pages 6 to 12 form part of these financial statements.

5

MANCHESTER AND DISTRICT COUNCIL OF SYNAGOGUES

Notes to the Financial Statements

Year ended 31 December 2024

1. General information

The charity is a public benefit entity and a registered charity in England and Wales and is unincorporated. The address of the principal office is C/o 8 Castlefield Avenue, Salford, M7 4GQ.

2. Statement of compliance

These financial statements have been prepared in compliance with FRS 102, 'The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and the Republic of Ireland', the Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (Charities SORP (FRS 102)) and the Charities Act 2011.

3. Accounting policies

Basis of preparation

The financial statements have been prepared on the historical cost basis, as modified by the revaluation of certain financial assets and liabilities and investment properties measured at fair value through income or expenditure.

The financial statements are prepared in sterling, which is the functional currency of the entity.

Going concern

There are no material uncertainties about the charity's ability to continue.

Judgements and key sources of estimation uncertainty

The preparation of the financial statements requires management to make judgements, estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported. These estimates and judgements are continually reviewed and are based on experience and other factors, including expectations of future events that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances.

Fund accounting

Unrestricted funds are available for use at the discretion of the trustees to further any of the charity's purposes.

Designated funds are unrestricted funds earmarked by the trustees for particular future project or commitment.

Restricted funds are subjected to restrictions on their expenditure declared by the donor or through the terms of an appeal, and fall into one of two sub-classes: restricted income funds or endowment funds.

6

MANCHESTER AND DISTRICT COUNCIL OF SYNAGOGUES

Notes to the Financial Statements (continued)

Year ended 31 December 2024

3. Accounting policies (continued)

Incoming resources

All incoming resources are included in the statement of financial activities when entitlement has passed to the charity; it is probable that the economic benefits associated with the transaction will flow to the charity and the amount can be reliably measured. The following specific policies are applied to particular categories of income:

• income from donations or grants is recognised when there is evidence of entitlement to the gift, receipt is probable and its amount can be measured reliably.

• legacy income is recognised when receipt is probable and entitlement is established.

• income from donated goods is measured at the fair value of the goods unless this is impractical to measure reliably, in which case the value is derived from the cost to the donor or the estimated resale value. Donated facilities and services are recognised in the accounts when received if the value can be reliably measured. No amounts are included for the contribution of general volunteers.

• income from contracts for the supply of services is recognised with the delivery of the contracted service. This is classified as unrestricted funds unless there is a contractual requirement for it to be spent on a particular purpose and returned if unspent, in which case it may be regarded as restricted.

Resources expended

Expenditure is recognised on an accruals basis as a liability is incurred. Expenditure includes any VAT which cannot be fully recovered, and is classified under headings of the statement of financial activities to which it relates:

• expenditure on raising funds includes the costs of all fundraising activities, events, non-charitable trading activities, and the sale of donated goods.

• expenditure on charitable activities includes all costs incurred by a charity in undertaking activities that further its charitable aims for the benefit of its beneficiaries, including those support costs and costs relating to the governance of the charity apportioned to charitable activities.

• other expenditure includes all expenditure that is neither related to raising funds for the charity nor part of its expenditure on charitable activities.

All costs are allocated to expenditure categories reflecting the use of the resource. Direct costs attributable to a single activity are allocated directly to that activity. Shared costs are apportioned between the activities they contribute to on a reasonable, justifiable and consistent basis.

Tangible assets

Tangible assets are initially recorded at cost, and subsequently stated at cost less any accumulated depreciation and impairment losses. Any tangible assets carried at revalued amounts are recorded at the fair value at the date of revaluation less any subsequent accumulated depreciation and subsequent accumulated impairment losses.

7

MANCHESTER AND DISTRICT COUNCIL OF SYNAGOGUES

Notes to the Financial Statements (continued)

Year ended 31 December 2024

3. Accounting policies (continued)

Tangible assets (continued)

An increase in the carrying amount of an asset as a result of a revaluation, is recognised in other recognised gains and losses, unless it reverses a charge for impairment that has previously been recognised as expenditure within the statement of financial activities. A decrease in the carrying amount of an asset as a result of revaluation, is recognised in other recognised gains and losses, except to which it offsets any previous revaluation gain, in which case the loss is shown within other recognised gains and losses on the statement of financial activities.

Depreciation

Depreciation is calculated so as to write off the cost or valuation of an asset, less its residual value, over the useful economic life of that asset as follows:

Plant and machinery

• over 6 - 7 years

Impairment of fixed assets

A review for indicators of impairment is carried out at each reporting date, with the recoverable amount being estimated where such indicators exist. Where the carrying value exceeds the recoverable amount, the asset is impaired accordingly. Prior impairments are also reviewed for possible reversal at each reporting date.

For the purposes of impairment testing, when it is not possible to estimate the recoverable amount of an individual asset, an estimate is made of the recoverable amount of the cash-generating unit to which the asset belongs. The cash-generating unit is the smallest identifiable group of assets that includes the asset and generates cash inflows that largely independent of the cash inflows from other assets or groups of assets.

For impairment testing of goodwill, the goodwill acquired in a business combination is, from the acquisition date, allocated to each of the cash-generating units that are expected to benefit from the synergies of the combination, irrespective of whether other assets or liabilities of the charity are assigned to those units.

Stocks

Stocks are measured at the lower of cost and estimated selling price less costs to complete and sell. Cost includes all costs of purchase, costs of conversion and other costs incurred in bringing the stock to its present location and condition.

Financial instruments

A financial asset or a financial liability is recognised only when the charity becomes a party to the contractual provisions of the instrument.

Basic financial instruments are initially recognised at the amount receivable or payable including any related transaction costs.

Current assets and current liabilities are subsequently measured at the cash or other consideration expected to be paid or received and not discounted.

Debt instruments are subsequently measured at amortised cost.

8

MANCHESTER AND DISTRICT COUNCIL OF SYNAGOGUES

Notes to the Financial Statements (continued)

Year ended 31 December 2024

3. Accounting policies (continued)

Financial instruments (continued)

Where investments in shares are publicly traded or their fair value can otherwise be measured reliably, the investment is subsequently measured at fair value with changes in fair value recognised in income and expenditure. All other such investments are subsequently measured at cost less impairment.

Other financial instruments, including derivatives, are initially recognised at fair value, unless payment for an asset is deferred beyond normal business terms or financed at a rate of interest that is not a market rate, in which case the asset is measured at the present value of the future payments discounted at a market rate of interest for a similar debt instrument.

Other financial instruments are subsequently measured at fair value, with any changes recognised in the statement of financial activities, with the exception of hedging instruments in a designated hedging relationship.

Financial assets that are measured at cost or amortised cost are reviewed for objective evidence of impairment at the end of each reporting date. If there is objective evidence of impairment, an impairment loss is recognised under the appropriate heading in the statement of financial activities in which the initial gain was recognised.

For all equity instruments regardless of significance, and other financial assets that are individually significant, these are assessed individually for impairment. Other financial assets are either assessed individually or grouped on the basis of similar credit risk characteristics.

Any reversals of impairment are recognised immediately, to the extent that the reversal does not result in a carrying amount of the financial asset that exceeds what the carrying amount would have been had the impairment not previously been recognised.

4. Charitable activities

	Unrestricted	Total Funds	Unrestricted	Total Funds
	Funds	2024	Funds	2023
	£	£	£	£
Funeral charges	200,405	200,405	195,679	195,679
Scan Levy	9,645	9,645	9,789	9,789
Database search fees	–	–	4,996	4,996
	--------------------------------	--------------------------------	--------------------------------	--------------------------------
	210,050	210,050	210,464	210,464
	================================	================================	================================	================================

5. Investment income

	Unrestricted	Total Funds	Unrestricted	Total Funds
	Funds	2024	Funds	2023
	£	£	£	£
Bank interest receivable	137	137	51	51
	==============	==============	==============	==============

9

MANCHESTER AND DISTRICT COUNCIL OF SYNAGOGUES

Notes to the Financial Statements (continued)

Year ended 31 December 2024

6. Costs of raising donations and legacies

	Unrestricted	Total Funds	Unrestricted	Total Funds
	Funds	2024	Funds	2023
	£	£	£	£
Costs of raising donations and
legacies - Donations	50	50	51	51
	==============	==============	==============	==============
Expenditure on charitable activities	by fund type
	Unrestricted	Total Funds	Unrestricted	Total Funds
	Funds	2024	Funds	2023
	£	£	£	£
Carriages, coffins and shrouds	159,356	159,356	163,490	163,490
Scan charges	2,600	2,600	3,250	3,250
Tahara requisites and laundry	10,623	10,623	12,222	12,222
Support costs	9,799	9,799	10,808	10,808
	--------------------------------	--------------------------------	--------------------------------	--------------------------------
	182,378	182,378	189,770	189,770
	================================	================================	================================	================================

7. Expenditure on charitable activities by fund type

8. Expenditure on charitable activities by activity type

	Activities
	undertaken	Support	Total funds	Total fund
	directly	costs	2024	2023
	£	£	£	£
Carriages, coffins and shrouds	159,356	8,149	167,505	172,678
Scan charges	2,600	–	2,600	3,250
Tahara requisites and laundry	10,623	–	10,623	12,222
Governance costs	–	1,650	1,650	1,620
	--------------------------------	-----------------------	--------------------------------	--------------------------------
	172,579	9,799	182,378	189,770
	================================	=======================	================================	================================
Analysis of support costs
		Analysis of
		support costs	Total 2024	Total 2023
		£	£	£
Communications and IT		282	282	112
General office		5,846	5,846	6,940
Finance costs		92	92	77
Governance costs		1,650	1,650	1,620
Depreciation		703	703	938
Insurance		918	918	893
Repairs and maintenance		308	308	228
		-----------------------	-----------------------	----------------------------
		9,799	9,799	10,808
		=======================	=======================	============================

9. Analysis of support costs

10

MANCHESTER AND DISTRICT COUNCIL OF SYNAGOGUES

Notes to the Financial Statements (continued)

Year ended 31 December 2024

10. Net income

Net income is stated after charging/(crediting):

	Net income is stated after charging/(crediting):
		2024	2023
		£	£
	Depreciation of tangible fixed assets	703	938
		==============	==============
11.	Independent examination fees
		2024	2023
		£	£
	Fees payable to the independent examiner for:
	Independent examination of the financial statements	1,650 =======================	1,620 =======================

12. Staff costs

The average head count of employees during the year was Nil (2023: Nil).

No employee received employee benefits of more than £60,000 during the year (2023: Nil).

13. Trustee remuneration and expenses

No remuneration or other benefits from employment with the charity or a related entity were received by the trustees

14. Tangible fixed assets

		Plant and
		machinery
		£
Cost
At 1 January 2024 and 31 December 2024		5,002
		=======================
Depreciation
At 1 January 2024		2,188
Charge for the year		703
		-----------------------
At 31 December 2024		2,891
		=======================
Carrying amount
At 31 December 2024		2,111
		=======================
At 31 December 2023		2,814
		=======================
Stocks
	2024	2023
	£	£
Raw materials and consumables	1,575	1,575
	=======================	=======================

15. Stocks

11

MANCHESTER AND DISTRICT COUNCIL OF SYNAGOGUES

Notes to the Financial Statements (continued)

Year ended 31 December 2024

16. Debtors

		2024	2023
		£	£
	Trade debtors	27,955	13,125
	Prepayments and accrued income	153	149
		----------------------------	----------------------------
		28,108	13,274
		============================	============================
17.	Creditors: amounts falling due within one year
		2024	2023
		£	£
	Accruals and deferred income	1,620	1,620
		=======================	=======================

18. Analysis of charitable funds Unrestricted funds

					At
		At			31 Decembe
1	January	24	Income	Expenditure	r 24
	£		£	£	£
General funds	54,249		210,187	(182,428)	82,008
	============================		================================	================================	============================
					At
		At			31 December
1	January	23	Income	Expenditure	23
	£		£	£	£
General funds	33,555		210,515	(189,821)	54,249
	============================		================================	================================	============================
19. Analysis of net assets between funds
				Unrestricted	Total Funds
				Funds	2024
				£	£
Tangible fixed assets				2,111	2,111
Current assets				81,517	81,517
Creditors less than 1 year				(1,620)	(1,620)
				----------------------------	----------------------------
Net assets				82,008	82,008
				============================	============================
				Unrestricted	Total Funds
				Funds	2023
				£	£
Tangible fixed assets				2,814	2,814
Current assets				53,055	53,055
Creditors less than 1 year				(1,620)	(1,620)
				----------------------------	----------------------------
Net assets				54,249	54,249
				============================	============================

19. Analysis of net assets between funds

12