THE VENERABLE ENGLISH COLLEGE TRUST REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGU￿ 2024 CHARITY NUMBER 1142558 COMPANY NUMBER 07476683 H*rrbon Beth & Owen LiDdted Chartered Aeeountststs & Statstory Alldltor Hlgbdown H•llse 11 HlghdowD Ro IMmiDgton Spa W•rwick5hiTe CV31 Ixr Contents Page Stsiement of reJponthTrilitie5 Audit r¢pLft Statement of fiti*Kial xtiviti¢s io Bkn sheet 12 13 THE VENERABLE ENGLISH COLLEGE TRUST Trustees. AnDllal report For the yur ended 31 August 21124 The trustees wbo #re ￿s0 directors of the charity for the purposej of the Companies Act 21J06. present their r¢port gnd the financial 5tatwn¢nts for the year ¢Thled 31 August 2024. OWECTIVES AND ACTIVITLES Prlncipal a¢tlvl¢l¢s The PriD¢ipal activity of the charity is IO SUPPOrt the activities of the Venerable English College in Rome. This is achieved by making grdnts to th¢ Venerable English College. and the tntsiees consider that th¢ clwiry lJ&4 hieved its objective& Volulltsers The charity benefiis from voluntary doDa¢ed ¢itti¢ but the expected value of this ts coThsidered to be injmaterial. Gratyt nmklng pollcy Applications for ￿lt8 aTe dealt with on a discretionary b￿lS by the t￿￿te¢S and each application is wnsid¢r￿ on its merits. G￿]ts are made in a￿OrdanCe with the ¢h4rity'8 ofy'e¢¢s &$ oUtI￿ed below. PUBUC BENEFIT Objects and J¢tivities for the The objectsofthe tn￿t oreprincipally to apply theTn￿t Fund and the income publlc benefit ther¢of for such ch8ritsble pury)ose8 connected th¢ Venernble English College in Rome (*he College.) as the tnutees shall from lime to time d¢t¢rnune, and prlnwily for the n]Aitttenance and sUPPOrt of the College. When planning th¢ activity of the Trnst, the U￿SteeS have ci)nsid¢red the Chatity CoEtJrnissiott'$ guidan¢e on public benefit and in parficular the $pecific guidance on ¢haTities for the advJn¢¢m¢rti of religion. The¢hatiry assists peopk throughout the world by its support of th¢ College. The Students and ordain¢d pri￿ts of the College will go on to become valued members of society" building and strengtbening ¢onllnuniri¢S' SilPPOrting the dying and ber¢&ve4' ministering to the sick at home and in hospital. ¢arinB for the poor 8nd marginali8ed' and visiting those in prisoTJ and providing spiritual andmoral edu￿tiC)n for children. in as much as its resources pemiit, the College. as the oldest Ertglish tnstinttion outside Englan4 continues the spirit of its foutidatÉon as a hospice ill w¢l¢omiti8 Visitors to Rome. Finally* tbe College contribute5 to the physical alld mental health of wiests who tbemselves Ca￿ out all the activities refe￿ed to above. THE VENEIL4BLE ENGLISH COLLEGE TRUST Trnsteej. annuAI report For th¢ year ended 31 A￿gll$t 21124 Grwllt DuklDg poll¢y The Tntst make5 grnnts to the College. TheColl¢8¢ giv¢8 its propo881$ ¢0 d>e Tntst and the Tn￿t co4sid¢rs these aDd makes an annual want io lh¢ College for the purposu of the Collele which it suppor Routinely ￿&￿t8 mad¢ by the Trust used f0rVaTiO￿ purpoges. includitig'.- The nwiu*n¥n¢e of the buildings of the College. which in addition to providing a¢¢ommodation for student and ordained priests are us¢d for spirit￿1 PUTPOSe5 including the provision of a r¢li8ious pl￿¢ of worship for genernl memb¢rs of ihe public. A contrib￿10￿ to the College to provid¢ for the cost of th¢ edwation of the students and ordained priests who are involved in tb¢ various a¢tiviti¢$ r¢fer(ed io above. A ¢¢)ntribution to the College to pro?Ide for th¢ maint¢nance of the students and ordained priests who stay at th¢ College, Auy 5tudeoi or ordained priest 18 able io attend ihe College Jubje¢t to the backng of his diocese. wlu'¢hMII depend on oplirnd¢ and merit. The Colle8e 19 open lo all student priests. as well as ordained priests, and trains vgrioug dOmi￿tiOnS of the priesthood includinB the ChurGh of En8landhs well as ihe Rornan C8tholi¢ Church in v8rious countries. Di0¢e￿9 contribut¢ lo th¢ ¢091$ of the Students or ordained priests who attend the Colleg¢ by way of a donation ￿¢Ording ¢0 their m¢on$, and thus the Coll¢8¢ 1$ open io ill Jfudent pri¢$ts and ordained priests re8ardles$ of the m¢8ns of the diocese of whi¢h they gr¢ a m¢mb¢r. All trustees give of their time freely •thd no tru3le¢ remuneration was paid during th¢ yeor. TnL4te¢$ aTC required to disclose all relevant inleruis and withdraw from de¢isions where a ¢onfiict of inl¢rest ariye5. The trustees do not receive any privats benefit8. ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE Results Details of the financial posiiion of the ¢hgrity are let out in th¢ followin8 fu￿1¢101 Statements and show the Det movement in ffijnds for ihe year wos a $urplus 4mountin8 to £575,4131 primanly due io oll increds¢ in itivestri¢nt value. Rerfew of perfoTman¢e lor tbe year Thepu￿09¢ of the charity isto SuppOrtthe￿11V1IIeS ofthe Venerable English Coll¢8¢ in Rome in tr8iAing candidate5 forthe priesthood. This is a lon8 terni und¢t¢akiD8 and r4uires Ibat sub$tathio1 investments are held in order lo ensure 88$i$t8n¢e ¢an be provided forthe fore5e¢#bl¢ future. Whilstno targets are Set for p¢rfornwi¢¢ ¢riteri& responses are EDad¢ torequests for as5i51all¢e and ihese aT¢ dealt with on a discretionary basi$. THE VENERABLE ENGLISH COLLEGE TRU Trnsteu. re￿rt For the year ended 31 All£￿t 2024 ACIIIEVEMENfs AND PERFORMANCE Revlew (tyf performaDee for the yur (e•nthiu¢d) The 5 yar Pl￿ Compiled by the Ven¥&ble English College $hows that. in a&litioD to tl* nLYmal nming costs. there will be fi￿her expendinwe of a itsl Dature. This will be partly fund￿ by from the TTUS¢ and also FINANCIAL REVIEW ReRr It is the policy of the clwity to wintslli unrestric*d fimds. (including desiptrd) which are the free b)ndJ of the cljarity. at a level sufficient to ¢ovtt ity own mana8rnt and administraiion ¢osts and to respond to liutions for which arise. Th¢ income of the charity 18 Partly &riv¢d from the investment ￿rtfOlIO, wlhi¢h must be maintained at 5uffi¢iellt level io ¢nabl¢ it w g¢nerat¢ invesimeDt reDJrn$. At 31 Au8USt 2024 general fiumls were £140,430. de$igDated reserves were £5.052,074 and restricwl funth wue £3J20.363. IDvestmeDt polley and rotur The ¢harity's investrnettts held in accOrd￿ce with trust¢es' powers and the tnute49 have th¢ Am￿￿rity to invth in s￿h assets as they sce fit. The portfolio is held in Sierfin8 and Euro itivestynents the t￿￿tee8 consider rlw renw durin8 the ye4r have been $4ti8fa¢tory in a difficult market. Ex*rnil inv¢stsDeDt advisorn are retained to Advise ott th¢ $¢kction or investrnenty •nd invesknent strategy. The tntyte¢s wish kn invut in a¢cordontt with the tea¢hin8J of the Catholic Cburch and the Clwity Commisyion's guid￿¢¢ or¢ ethical and responsible investment. The truste¢5 aware thai ethic￿ restrictions limit the ￿0p¢ to invest and may Affect the total return 8¢D￿ated by iuve$tm¢nts. p)t¢ntially redu¢iD8 the iti¢￿ available w fvlfil the Cbariry's objectives. The poitcy adopied seeks w balan¢¢ the lon8.1¢rn1 needs of the investmeDt portfolio performance with the wish to inv¢s¢ within dh1¢￿ industries and avoid inves￿eThI in w8¥nisations opera¢in8 in ¢onfli¢t with Chur¢h tea¢hin& The policy w>lies ODly to eomp)nie8 held directly within the porrfolio bui the poli￿ in¢ludes the proviso that inveslrnt mana8er3 sbouId seek io ex¢lude from the porrfolio fvots with major invesollents inFwlJibited aTea5 OD a best endeavours buis. Tr trU￿ee3 ackDowlvJ¥e the w￿111¥¢ imp8d from inveyiin8 in in￿￿1¢$ actively promoting responsible employmeni practices. d ¢OTpor8* govern￿, human rights aWareDe￿ and sustainable energy. The Investmeot Advisets art asked ¢0 w)sid¢r thes¢prn¢ti¢es wiml $ele¢iing MTrnSd held OD behalf of the Monies heid in bJDk &¢ounts on behalf ofthe V￿C[¥ble English Coll¢ge in VeTr¢r*ble EW Colley Rom¢. bul io the of the ¢lwity are reeorded *s &ssety v*ith a c￿p0* liability in the charl￿3 ￿¢0￿llts. THE VEI¥ERABLE ENGLISH COLLEGE TRUST Trustees, annual report For the ye¥Jr ¢llded 31 Augu$¢ 2024 EXISTING AND FUTURE PLANS AND ACTIVITIES The charity will continue to Support th¢ aciivitie$ of the Vellerable English College in iiome whicb exi$ts 10 tr4in ¢anth'dat¢s for the prie8thoLxl for vorious deoominations, principally Roman Catholie but also Church of Etsgland. c￿]dateS are dtawn from various parts of the world. The trustees ¢xpe¢t the charity to continue to SUPPOff the V¢nerabl¢ English Colle8e ID Rome for the foreseeable futyre. The M￿1¢¢8 are awBr¢ of the possible shon-terni volatiliry of the investtnent portfolio and will work with the externol Investn￿￿¢ ￿ViSorS to ensure t￿1 the illvesmwnt portfolio is robugt enou8lk to miti8at¢ vo1￿111ry overthe long- STRUCTURE, GOVERNALYCE AND MANAGEME Conitltudon The charity was iworN)rat¢d on 22 December 2010 under a Memorandurn of A$soci&tion an Artiele9 of Association. On 28 May 2021 the Article5 were amended by Special Resolution in order to claTify the comp08ition of the board of trust¢os. The amended Arti¢les have been lodged with the Ch8rity Commi88ion. Org*nts#don ind itrurtur• The ￿￿¢¢1 who hAYe Rrved durin8 rhe ye8r ond $ince the year end are shown on page 5. The Bishops who are trustees are nominated by the Catholic Bishops. Conference of Ellgland and Wlles io serve as trusiees. T￿￿ree5 meet on a regular b￿lS in order to dI￿v5S whether lo ipprove or refijse •ppli¢aiion8 for Wlts. Trn$tee llldM¢don Ind Pot•nlial tr￿te¢S Ke ideDtifi¢d by th¢ ¢xistin8 bomrd of knwtees ppro8ched if 4 majority believes that their appointment would be of benefit to the clwity. This may be the cas4 for illstan¢e. where 8D existing tDJs¢ee retires. New tn￿1¢¢3 would generally be r¢quir¢d to have a backwd to en8bl¢ them io understand the workin88 of ihe ¢hariry and to be syTrpathetic to its ¢#use. New trustees #re Able to ¢onsuli exi$iing knJstee$ and ue en¢ournged to attend all meetings. New trustees are made aware of their responsibilities under the ron8tiwtion 8nd ch8rity law prior to tbeii forniil appoittMeoL Rlsk r¢vlew The tnute¢5 have conducted their review of the m8jorri3kJ to wbi¢h the charity is exp08ed oftd Systems have been implernented to Mill￿¢¢ those risks. Int¢rnal risks are minirtused by tbe implemeDtsliOn of irLternat Control procedures for auth0ri5ati(m of tranwtions and proje£ts. These proeedw¢s Are reyiewed periodi¢ally to eosure they still meet the needs of the charity. Re14ted p8rtleJ The charity has no r¢lated party Irwisaeti¢)iu. Despite the similar name, the Venerable Enilish Colleg¢ irt Rome is controlled indepeDd¢ntly. THE VENERABLE ENGLISH COLLEGE TRU Tnule¢s' ￿￿ul1 report For the year eDded 31 August 21124 TrusteeslDlreetors Most ReVern￿ MAtk O'T￿1¢ Most Revttend John Wilson Right Reverettd Joljn sI￿￿1n8t014 Mr Thom&s H8rri%)n Sist¢r Jane Fr8llces Mary Livcsey Deacon David PAIO Mrs Mary Reynolds Professor Judith Champ Awhbishop of Cardiff knhbishop of Southvrn Auxiliary Bishop of WestiDins Exryoffi¢io tn Fr St4iheD Wang- R¢rts)r Secretary Mr David Howell Evans Inve8tnKfit *dvtseTS Port of Liv¢wl Builthn8 Livewl L3 INW Lloyd8 TSB 73 PaTrde LJ the financial statem¢nts of th¢ V¢nerable English College Twst for the year ended 31 August 2024 which comprise the Ststement of Fitiancial ArtiTrities, tbe BalaD¢e Sh¢et and notes to the financial 5tatem¢nty includill8 a summary rjf significant accouttting policies. The financkal repoTting framework that has been applied in their pr¢parntiou is 4)plicable lawaDdUtiit¢dKiti8dom Accoullting Standardy (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Pwtice) incluthng FRS 102'Th¢ Fiti¥ti¢ial Reporting Stanilard applicable i the UK and Republic of Jrel3nd" In our opinion the financial stalements: give a tn￿ and fair view of the ststs of the ¢haritable compaDy'S affairs as at 31 August 2024 and of its incorning resources and application of resources. including its income and expenditur< for the year then ended: have been properly pr¢pared in accordance with United Ktngdom Generally Accepted Ac¢outtting Practice. have been prepared in ac¢ordan¢e wlth th¢ requirements of the Companies 21JO6. Basis for oplnlon We conducted our audit in a¢rordw¢e with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAS IUKI) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those s*¥nd2rds are further described in the Auditors responsibilities for th¢ •udit of the financial stst¢ments section of out report. We are ind¢p¢ndent of the charitable company itt accordance with th¢ ¢thi¢al reqU￿eMents that gr¢ relevant to our audit of ihe financial ststements in the UK including the FRC'5 Ethical StandarC and we have ￿Ifflled our other etbical responsibilities in a¢¢ordance with these requiTements. We ￿lIeVe that the audit eYiden¢¢ we h4v¢ obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a bASiS for our opinion. Con¢luslonJ relating to Boing ¢OD¢ern In auditing the finatt¢iAI ststemenis. we have concluded that the truste¢s' us¢ of the going concern basis of a¢counting in the preparation of th¢ fiT)8￿la1 stat¢m¢nts is appropriat¢. Based on the work we have perf¢)rnied, we have not identified any material un¢¢rtainti¢s relating to events or Conditiot￿ ilJaL ittdividually or collectively. may cas¢ SI￿lfiCallt doubt on the charitsble ¢ompony's abitiry to ¢ODtiuue as a going con¢ern for a period of at leost tw¢lve months fron) when ihe financial ststements are authorised for issue. Our re5poAsibilities and th¢ rwnsibilities of the tn￿tee5 With respect to going concern deseribed in the relevant Sectio￿ of this repoff. THE VENERABLE ENGLISH COLLEGE TRusr Other iDfonDatlon The other infoTrnatiOn ¢onyiw the inforTnattoll inclth ID the trust¢¢s' annual report other thall the financial tements 8nd our 4wJiior's ffp)rt ther•)n. The thfftees ar¢ T¢SEKm5ible for the other infonD*ion contsined within th¢ t￿￿te¢s. reEK)rt. (hr opinion on the fiD•Dcial statetllents doe5 not cover the other iDforn)ation (L ¢xc¢pt lo th¢ ¢xt¢nt otherwise explicktty stated in OUT Teixrt we do exptess any forni of a&surance conclusion thereon. Our resp)Ds￿lI11ty is to Md the o¢ber infotrnation doing so. consider whether the other itifonnation is rnattiialty inwn5i51ent with the fitjancial ststements or our knowledg¢ obtsin¢d in the¢outse of th¢audit or otherwi%¢ appeaTr to t* m*erially misstyt¢d. If w¢ iderttify such m¥t¢ri41 in¢orLsisl¢nci¢s or 8PPaT¢nt Missrate￿I& we aTr requirryl to det¢Tmill¢ wh¢th¢r this gives rise to a material misstatenwit in th¢ financial statemenLS thans¢lv¢5. If. bas&1 on the work we have perfoTme(L we collc1￿￿ that there is a It￿1￿ miss￿eMent of this other lof￿[￿104 we are rewitryj to r¢port tb4t facL OplnloD on other matters prwrlbed by th¢ Comp*Dle8 Ad 21106 lrt ouropinion. b&8ed ott the work Undert￿en in the course of the audit: the infomwion given in the trustees. annw31 r¢EKYt for the financial yw fry whicb tF£ financial statements are prepared is consistent with the fina￿cial suten*nts: and . the tt¥Jstees' annwal r¢port has been w¢paTed in accordattce with 4yli¢able le8al ttsluirements. Matters oll which we aft required ts report by exeeptlon In the lighi of the knowledge and of & d￿rItable company aDd its ¢nvironmettt 14Mitied In the course of the audiL we have not idemified misstatements in the trustee5' allnual Telkn. We bave nothing to report ID respxt of the following nwters whet¢ the c(￿panieS kn 2Crf)6 requires us to report io you if. in our opinio 2dequ*e accowiting re&)rds have rtot been kerrt W thjrns *qu8t¢ for our atsth"t have not been rtteiv from bran¢hes uot visited by us: or ¢ertaiD di￿105urrs of tr￿te£s, remunttation wificd by law are not made. or we have not receiv￿ all the inforn￿tiOll and explanations we require for our auth4. or the IN5te¢s were not ¢ntiti¢d to pr¢Ethtt th¢ financial st4t¢m¢nts in a¢¢Ord8￿ Wlth the small CoMp￿￿e$ regime and tske advantage of the Small COM￿ exemptions in ETrreparing the Ryrt of th¢ TnL8tees and ftthll the r¢quirement w ￿epare a Strat¢gi¢ Re R￿pOl￿5b1Mt1eS of trnste¢s s explftitied more fully ID the StstemeM of T￿￿ceS Respmsibilities set out on pw si& the ttust¢es (who are 4lso the diT¢¢tOTS of the chaTitsble cotnparty forthe of Company law) aTe respoDsible forth¢ preporntioD of the financial sw¢mellts and forbewgsatisfied they giv¢ a ttue and fair view. and forswh iDt¢tnai control as tbe tnJ5tees deterniitie is ne¢es$8ry to enablethepr4wotion of fill￿1￿ $thtemeDts that are free from ￿￿terIal In prepwing the fingncial str￿Ments. the trusttes are responsible for assessing the ¢hariubl¢ ¢ompAnys ability to continue a5 2 going cottcery disclosi￿ as applieable. matters related to going concern and using th¢ goin8 CODcern basis of a¢¢ounting unless the tswtees eithtr inte￿1 to iiqwdate the chatitable company or w Cease operation5, or h4v¢ no realisti¢ altern*ive lytt to do $0. THE VENERABLE ENGLISH COLLEGE TRusr Audlton resp(In￿bIllI1ts for the of the thtemetsts OUT obj¢¢tives are to obtsin Te&qonable a53u[w￿ a￿1 wlth the fill￿cIal stst¢ments 85 Y4 whole are free from material missiatemenl wbether th% to fraud OT m. and ￿ issue 0 Report of the bthpenth Auditors that includes our OPitiiOD. Reasonable assuranc¢ is a high lev¢1 of ￿8￿ranCe. but is not a guarnntee tlwt an audit conducted in ￿¢ord￿￿e with ISA5 (UK) will alway5 d¢t¢et a materiAI mi8StstenMt when it exists. Misstatemellts ¢2n arise from fraud or error #nd oreconsidered material ic individually or ID the a88repte, tl could rea50￿blY be ¢xpecttd to th¢ ecc￿￿￿¢ decisions of users tskell on th¢ basi$ of thde finaD¢ial ststanen ITfe8ulaTiti¢s. includin8 frau4 are inJtsn¢es Orn￿•complIanceWIthlAWS and legpjl￿Iolll. We desi8n procedures in line with our respotisibilities. outlined abov< to detect rnaterial mi5JtstrJnents in T¢spe¢t of irreguknties, iti¢ludin8 fraud. The specifi¢ prcth for thi¥ eng4emeni and the exlent to whi¢h thexe are CApable of detecting iwlariti¢s. Inch￿Ing hud li detyiled below. Auditin8the risk of li1•n￿ override of ¢(ffjtrols. includiti8thrnu8h testin8jowTral entties andother adjusllnents for wropriaieness" R¢viewiti8 minutH of ratttinp of tlmme ch•ryAI with governw￿¢. Enquiry of nw)agem•tt to identify any inStyn￿ of nm4ompliance with laws •nd re8ulationi. Be¢aus¢ of the inber¢M limiwioN of ￿ &wliL theR is • risk that ￿ will detect all irre￿ariti4 iti¢luditi8 th￿¢ leadin8 ￿ a material miut•*m¢nt in th¢ finan¢ial sta¢¢ments or Thon