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2021-12-31-accounts

Trustees’ Report and Unaudited Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2021

Charity Number 1145212

London Insight Meditation Trustees’ Annual Report and Financial Statements

For the year ended 31 December 2021

Contents Page
Annual Report 2-9
Report of the Independent Examiner 10
Statement of financial activities 11
Balance sheet 12
Notes to the financial statements 13-16
London Insight Meditation – information and contacts 17

1

London Insight Meditation Annual Report 2021

The Trustees, present their annual report together with the financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2021.

The accounts have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in note 1 to the accounts and comply with the Charities Act 2011 and “Accounting and Reporting by Charities: 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)” (as amended for accounting periods commencing from 1 January 2016).

Who we are

Trustees

London Insight Meditation (LIM) is a charity that promotes Insight meditation, plus related practices, values and teachings from the Buddhist tradition. Our charitable objectives are : ‘Advancement of education for the public benefit in accordance with the Buddhist insight tradition (also known as Vipassana). To advance Buddhism’.

LIM became a charitable incorporated organisation governed by a constitution on 12th March 2021 by conversion from a company limited by guarantee, which was registered as a charity with the Charity Commission in 2011.

Organisational structure

The trustees take responsibility for giving strategic direction to the charity and monitoring its activities. The charity is run on a day-to-day basis by a team consisting of the Director, the Events Coordinator and other volunteers. The Events Coordinator is paid. Trustees and the rest of the team are volunteers.

Governance

The Trustees meet at least quarterly to develop the strategic direction and to review activities and financial performance. The Director and Events Coordinator meet at least quarterly with the trustees as a team to review operational progress.

The trustees who have served since the last annual report are as follows:

Dr Norma O’Flynn Chair until resignation on 28th August 2021

Ms Lucy West Chair from 28th August 2021 Mr Andrew Coleman Mr Michael Stuart Mr Francisco Pazo Couto Appointed 24th January 2022

Appointment and induction of Trustees

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Trustee vacancies are advertised and suitable applicants invited for interview. New Trustees are briefed on their duties and their legal obligations under charity and other law as well as on the work of the charity, its constitution, and how it operates.

Remuneration of trustees

All Trustees give their time voluntarily, and receive no benefits from the charity. In accordance with good practice, the charity offers to reimburse out-of-pocket expenses incurred by trustees attending meetings. Where such expenses are reimbursed, this is noted in the accounts.

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London Insight Meditation Annual Report 2021 (continued)

What we do

London Insight Meditation offers a year-round programme of events based in the Insight meditation tradition. Together with a group of leading teachers, we explore the modern application of authentic Buddhist teachings in our lives. Our events include daylong and weekend retreats, study days, courses in meditation and public talks led primarily by teachers from the Insight meditation tradition.

LIM works in close connections with likeminded organisations across the UK and abroad, most notably the residential retreat centre Gaia House. It regularly consults with these organisations about aspects of practice; this expands the range of connections and ensures London Insight Meditation is fully aware of developments in the area. While London Insight Meditation benefits from collaborating with comparable organisations, there are no formal, legal ties or financial transactions with them.

Our vision

London Insight Meditation exists to serve the Dharma, the teaching of the Buddha, which tells us that awakening is possible, that our minds and our hearts can be open and at peace – here and now, in this very city, in this very life, in this very moment.

We whole-heartedly welcome all, irrespective of religious or political belief, gender, sexuality, age, class, ethnicity, nationality or disability. Our hope for the future is to develop an increasingly varied programme of events appropriate to people of all backgrounds.

The pricing of our events is on a scale, which includes discounted rates, to ensure that those on lower incomes are not deterred from attending. Discounts are clearly publicised to minimise hesitation or embarrassment. People unable to afford the discounted rates will not be turned away if places are available and this concession is publicised. The pricing of our events reflects the cost of putting on events, excluding any payment to the teachers.

Consistent with the long-standing Buddhist tradition, our teachers are not remunerated by the charity. Instead, attendees at our events are invited to make voluntary contributions (dana) to teachers in gratitude for their teachings. The livelihood of most teachers depends, wholly or largely, on the generosity of retreatants who value the teachings and wish to support their continuation.

Our teachers are expected to comply with the ethical guidelines of the international Insight Meditation teacher community.

Our mission

We aim is to ensure that the Buddha’s teaching is readily accessible in London; to support the efforts of Londoners at every stage of the path to understand the Dharma and realise it in their own lives; and, through our activities, to foster the growth of the community of Londoners who are inspired by the Buddha’s Dharma.

Our values

London Insight Meditation aspires to embody the ethical principles of the Buddhist tradition. We aim to present Insight meditation and related teachings in a manner that is accessible to western practitioners, while preserving their full depth. To this end, Buddhist ritual and imagery usually play little part in our events. We do however value our links with more traditional Buddhist institutions, such as Amaravati and Satipanya.

We seek to engage and benefit the public by recording the talks at our events and making these available for free online listening and download to people unable to attend our events.

We warmly welcome people of all spiritual traditions or none and we do not seek to convert. We are pleased if participants in our events find in insight meditation a way to a deeper engagement with their own tradition.

The Insight meditation tradition encourages regular practice. Sitting groups for group meditation are common across Buddhist traditions. Though it does not itself organise such groups, London Insight Meditation publicises them through our website, and provides advice for those who wish to set up sitting groups

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London Insight Meditation Annual Report 2021 (continued)

Our people

Teachers

Our events are led by an exceptional group of teachers from the Insight meditation tradition. We are grateful to continue to host many of our longstanding teachers from the UK and US, mostly online during 2021, but increasingly in person again. Our transition to including online events during the pandemic has also provided an opportunity to invite more teachers from the US to teach for us without having to be restricted to when they are travelling to Europe (something which also allows us all to keep our carbon footprint low). We are actively seeking to increase our teacher pool in 2022 to support newer teachers and include more teachers with wider perspectives.

Volunteers

LIM is run by a team of volunteers plus a paid part-time events coordinator. We are ourselves committed meditators, and most of us attend longer retreats at Gaia House or elsewhere. We integrate practice into our work at LIM, for example starting all meetings with a meditation sit.

We are immensely grateful to everyone who gives of their time and energy to help LIM meet its charitable objectives. We would like to recognise, in particular, Norma O’Flynn, for her many years of sterling service as our chair of trustees. She was succeeded in August 2021 by Lucy West, a trustee since 2018.

During 2021, we have had the good fortune of recruiting some wonderful new members of our core team, namely Joanna-May Sta.Ana as our Director and Mattias Herbertsson as our events coordinator.

We were also grateful to have Sarah-Jayne Buchanan as our first Director of Sangha during 2021. Although she could only stay for a year, she did much to develop our support for events volunteers, introducing regular volunteers’ meetings and creating an induction manual and handbook.

Organisational Development

During 2021, we sought to professionalise our internal structures, systems and processes in order to operate as efficiently and effectively as we can, making optimal use of our precious volunteer resource. We also strengthened our safeguarding policies, including asking all our existing and new teachers to provide their original training and authorisation information to us. We reviewed and improved our Complaints Policy.

We also agreed to run ourselves internally with the following principles:

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London Insight Meditation Annual Report 2021 (continued)

Our key achievements in 2021

2021 Events Programme

Online events

The delivery of the planned 2021 programme was affected by Covid-19 restrictions.

We delivered 27 events which was six less than in 2020 and the same as in 2019. 26 events were delivered via Zoom and one in person during October 2021.

The majority of planned events took place. Some events were changed from in person to Zoom as Covid-19 restrictions were reintroduced throughout the year because of new variants and increased infections. Teachers who preferred to teach in person and were unable to do so because of Covid-19 restrictions either cancelled or postponed to 2022.

The move to online events resulted in some new developments in the programme. Two evening courses lasting five weeks, and one beginners’ evening course lasting six weeks were offered via Zoom. We also delivered two shorter 90 minute sessions in the evenings from international teachers. These were popular both with teachers and attendees. LIM continued to host teachers not based in the UK and have made their teachings available both live and after the event by uploading authorised recordings to Dharma Seed. Events were also accessed by people not geographically based in London or who would be unable to travel to London based events because of personal circumstances including disabilities.

Our aim was to host events with teachers from a variety of backgrounds to be as inclusive as possible. Our events were led by a mix of newer and well-known teachers, both lay and monastics, and teachers from overseas.

The commitment and support shown by volunteers was crucial to enable events to be delivered.

Participants

The number of people attending our events in 2021 was 2,002, an increase of 1.2% in comparison with the previous year (1,978). It is difficult to draw meaningful comparisons of attendance year on year as only one event (4%) of our events was face-to-face in 2021. In 2020 18% of the events were face-to-face. We were delighted with the continuing high level of support we received with all the events being well-attended. Holding events online meant that we were able to welcome some attendees from as far away as New Zealand.

Marketing and networking

The charity maintains a website and email contact list, and regular email newsletters are sent out reminding people of events, and advising them of any new additions to the programme, which are occasionally made at short notice as opportunities occur. We continue to make active use of social media (Facebook and Twitter). During 2021, we worked with branding consultants to develop our branding and tone of voice in preparation for the redevelopment of our website in 2022.

We continued our close connections with likeminded organisations across the UK and abroad, most notably the residential retreat centre Gaia House and teacher-training organisation, the Bodhi College. This expands the range of connections and ensures LIM is fully aware of developments in the area.

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London Insight Meditation Annual Report 2021 (continued)

Financial performance

Financial review

Total income for the year was £45,274, a decrease of 4% on the prior year. The decrease is primarily due to a decrease in income from events – down by 12.5% - offset by higher gifts in kind (Google AdWords) – up by 66%. The decrease in events income was because, regrettably, only one of our events was held face to face in 2021 because of Covid restrictions, in comparison with seven in 2020. Tickets for face to face events are more expensive, reflecting the need to price in venue hire, and teachers’ travel and accommodation costs. We took the decision to reduce the cost of supported price online tickets to assist attendees.

Total expenditure for the year was £28,653, a decrease of 9.6% on the previous year. The largest contributor to this decrease was lower expenditure venue hire and teachers’ travel and accommodation with more events held online. In addition, we were without a paid events coordinator for a time leading to a saving in cost (but additional work for the rest of the LIM team!). Marketing costs increased by 50% as a result of additional use of Google AdWords. We also spent £3,018 on the project to redevelop our website.

The charity realised a surplus for the year of £16,621 substantially above our expectations at this time last year. The result for the year leaves the charity in the position to be able to finance the redevelopment of our website, the return to face to face events and to consider projects to extend our outreach.

We are looking again at our event pricing with a view to adopting standard prices across the range of venues we use. This will have the effect of reducing ticket prices at several of our venues and keeping them unchanged elsewhere.

We also want to investigate projects that would extend our outreach but which are likely to require investment to do so. We will keep our reserves under careful review.

Covid-19 impact statement

The Covid-19 outbreak and the restrictions placed by the Government to manage and reduce its impact began to affect the charity in March 2020 and continued for 2020 and most of 2021. We were pleased to be able to run one in person event in October 2021 and we plan to recommence in person events from March 2022. There is considerable interest in our programme of events and we have been and will continue to hold events online using video-meeting tools at least for the time being. The LIM team is continuing to work remotely and meet on video-conferencing. Prompt and creative action in 2020 ensured that LIM has been able to cope with the financial implications of the pandemic. We are satisfied that the charity continues to remain a going concern.

Reserves policy

The charity needs adequate reserves to enable it to finance future events, keep the day-to-day operations of the charity running, provide a precautionary reserve in case of fluctuations in the future level and timing of receipt of income and to provide funds for investment

The Trustees are satisfied that reserves are adequate to finance the charity’s continuation of its programme of online events, to finance the redevelopment of its website and to book venues and incur other up-front costs associated with a return to face to face events.

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London Insight Meditation Annual Report 2021 (continued)

Our future plans

Strategic review

We conducted a strategic review in order to more proactively operationalise our vision, mission and values, based upon our principles that:

Objectives for 2021-3

We have decided to focus upon four priorities directly relevant to our vision and mission at this time.

  1. To re-establish our in-person events safely, including developing the agility required to respond rapidly and efficiently to the impact of unpredictable variations in Covid restrictions

  2. To develop the multiple elements of our sangha:

  3. core team

  4. wider team of all volunteers

  5. London community (attendees)

  6. online community (attendees)

  7. listed sitting groups

  8. ‘affiliate’ organisations (Gaia House, Bodhi College, regional Insight groups, Sangha Live, etc.)

  9. including focusing more attention upon collecting and responding to ongoing

  10. ‘stakeholder feedback’ and dialogue

  11. To widen the demographics of our audiences (specifically younger and socio-economically and racially diverse)

  12. To support ‘Engaged Buddhism’ by being more explicit about our Buddhist ethics and their practical applications in today’s world

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London Insight Meditation Annual Report 2021 (continued)

We agreed the following specific activities to support these objectives for 2021/3:

Programming : we will seek to:

Sangha development : we will

Website redevelopment: our new website will:

Risk management

The risks to which LIM is exposed are reviewed periodically by the Trustees. External economic risks, which remain beyond the control of the charity, are mitigated by the review of performance against budget and expenditure managed as appropriate.

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London Insight Meditation Annual Report 2021 (continued)

Public benefit

The Trustees are aware of their obligation to act in accordance with Charity Commission guidance on public benefit. The Trustees consider that meditation can benefit individuals in dealing with life’s events, relating to others non-judgmentally and empathetically, and developing a mature sense of perspective and positive attitude. They also consider that education in meditative techniques can contribute materially towards promoting a tolerant, thoughtful and co-operative society. The fundamental ethics and aspirations of the Buddhist tradition are based around generosity and non-violence, resulting in greater wellbeing when practised consistently.

Approved by the trustees and signed on their behalf by

Lucy West Chair of Trustees

Date: 9[th] April 2022

9

Report of the Independent Examiner to the Trustees of London Insight Meditation

I report on the accounts of London Insight Meditation for the year ended 31 December 2021 set out on pages 11 to 16 below.

Respective responsibilities of Trustees and Independent Examiner and basis of Independent Examiner’s report

As the charity trustees of London Insight Meditation 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 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 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 London Insight Meditation as required by section 130 of the Act; or

  2. the accounts do not accord with those records; or

  3. the accounts 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

Name: Patrick Drysdale

Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales Norwood Road, London, SE24 9AQ Date: 9th April 2022

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London Insight Meditation

Statement of Financial Activities

For the year ended 31[st] December 2021

----- Start of picture text -----
2021 2020
Notes £ £
INCOMING RESOURCES
Value of gifts-in-kind 7,405 4,472
Income from charitable activities 2 37,801 42,397
Interest income 68 290
45,274 47,159
RESOURCES EXPENDED
Expenditure on charitable activities 3 28,653 31,691
Net income for the year 16,621 15,468
RECONCILIATION OF FUNDS
Total funds brought forward 69,580 54,112
TOTAL FUNDS CARRIED FORWARD 86,201 69,580
----- End of picture text -----

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

The notes on pages 13 to 16 form part of these accounts

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London Insight Meditation

Statement of Financial Position

At 31[st] December 2021

At 31st December 2021
2021
2020
Notes
CURRENT ASSETS
Debtors
4
Cash at bank and in hand
less: CREDITORS
Creditors: amounts due within one year
5
NET CURRENT ASSETS
NET ASSETS
FUNDS
Unrestricted funds
TOTAL FUNDS
£
£
1,092
3,412
87,755
77,998
88,847
81,410
2,646
11,830
86,201
69,580
86,201
69,580
86,201
69,580
86,201
69,580

Approved by the Trustees on 9[th] April 2022 and signed on their behalf

Lucy West Chair of Trustees

The notes on pages 13 to 16 form part of these accounts

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London Insight Meditation

Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2021

1. Accounting policies

The principal accounting policies adopted, judgements and key sources of estimation uncertainty in the preparation of the financial statements are as follows:

Basis of preparation

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the Charities Act 2011 and “Accounting and Reporting by Charities: 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)” (as amended for accounting periods commencing from 1 January 2016).

The charity constitutes a public benefit entity as defined by FRS 102.

Assets and liabilities are initially recognised at historical cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policy notes. The trustees believe it is appropriate for the financial statements to be prepared on a going concern basis.

Accounting period

The financial year ran from 1 January to 31 December.

Critical accounting estimates and areas of judgement

Preparation of the financial statements requires the trustees to make significant judgements and estimates.

The principal items in the financial statements where these judgements and estimates have been made are the carrying value of prepaid event expenses and event income received in advance for events taking place after the year-end. These are stated at the amounts prepaid and received in advance where the event is expected to generate a surplus. Provision is made against any prepaid event expenditure not expected to be recovered.

Fund accounting

All of the charity’s income is unrestricted.

Income

Income is recognised and included in the accounts when all of the following criteria are met:

Event income is recognised on the date that the event takes place.

Income received from bookings in advance of an event is deferred as income received in advance until the criteria for income recognition are met.

Donated services provided to the charity as gifts-in-kind are stated at the price the charity would have had to pay for the services had they not been donated. In accordance with the Charities SORP, no monetary value is attributed to the many hours of volunteer time donated to the charity to enable it to run events, although this contribution is essential to the effective running of the charity.

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London Insight Meditation

Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2021 (continued)

Expenditure

Expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to make a payment to a third party, it is probable that settlement will be required, and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. As the charity presently has only a single activity, all expenditure, including support costs, is allocated to the activity of organising its programme of events including day-long and weekend retreats, study days, courses in meditation and public talks.

Support costs are those functions that assist the work of the charity but do not directly involve charitable activities. Support costs primarily consist of governance costs

Direct expenditure incurred in advance of an event is deferred as a prepayment until the event takes place or is cancelled, provided the expenditure is expected to be recovered.

The charity is unable to recover Value Added Tax and the cost of VAT incurred is included in each expense category.

Debtors

Trade debtors are recognised at the settlement amount due.

Prepayments are recognised at the amount prepaid, provided this is expected to be recoverable.

Cash at bank and in hand

The balance on bank current account and deposit accounts are treated as cash at bank and in hand.

Creditors

Creditors and provisions are recognised where the charity has a present obligation resulting from a past event that will probably result in the transfer of funds to a third party and the amount due to settle the obligation can be measured or estimated reliably. Creditors and provisions are recognised at their anticipated settlement amount.

No provision is made for any corporation tax on the charity's net income, as the charity is exempt because all its income and expenditure is in line with its charitable objectives.

2. Income from charitable activities

Event income
Donations
2021
2020
£
£
37,801
43,206
(809)
37,801
42,397

Provision was made in 2020 to return a grant received in 2019 as this was no longer required.

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London Insight Meditation

Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2021 (continued)

3. Expenditure on charitable activities

The trustees believe that all the expenditure incurred relates to the charitable activity of organising its programme of events, including daylong and weekend retreats, study days, courses and public talks.

Details of expenditure incurred are as follows:

----- Start of picture text -----
2021 2020
£ £
Venue hire & miscellaneous event costs 751 3,733
Teachers' travel & accomodation 219 2,034
Event organisation and administration 11,552 14,574
Website 3,863 1,415
Marketing 8,333 5,545
IT and phone 983 2,030
Bank, Paypal and Stripe charges 766 1,021
Insurance 819 819
Printing, postage and stationery - 19
Sundry expenses 1,367 488
Governance costs - 13
28,653 31,691
Staff costs included in event organisation comprised:
£ £
Salaries 9,249 -
- -
Social security costs
Pension costs 255 -
9,504 -
----- End of picture text -----

The monthly average number of staff was 0.67 and the staff member was part-time (2020: 0).

No employee had employee benefits in excess of £60,000.

The independent examiner did not charge a fee for his services for the year or the previous year.

Trustees’ insurance

The trustees are covered by an insurance policy which includes trustee indemnity insurance as part of the cover. It is not possible to identify how much of the premium relates to this aspect of the cover.

Trustees’ remuneration and expenses

None of the charity trustees has been paid any remuneration or received any other benefits from employment with the charity during the year or the previous year. No trustee received any reimbursement of expenses during the year or the previous year.

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London Insight Meditation

Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2021 (continued)

4. Debtors: amounts falling due within one year

----- Start of picture text -----
2021 2020
£ £
Other debtors 274 1,913
Prepayments 818 1,499
Amounts due within one year 1,092 3,412
5. Creditors: amounts due within one year
2021 2020
£ £
Deferred income 936 9,684
Refunds due - 607
Trade creditors 130 670
Accruals 1,580 869
2,646 11,830
----- End of picture text -----

6. Related party transactions

There were no related party transactions during the year or the previous year.

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London Insight Meditation

Information and contacts

Trustees

Ms Lucy West Chair Mr Andrew Coleman Finance Mr Michael Stuart Digital Mr Francisco Pazo Couto Legal

Operational Management

Joanna-May Sta. Ana Director Mattias Herbertsson Event Coordinator

Bankers

The Co-operative Bank plc, PO Box 250, Delf House, Southway, Skelmersdale WN8 6WT. The Cambridge Building Society, PO Box 232, 51 Newmarket Road, Cambridge, CB5 8FF The Charity Bank Limited, Fosse House,182 High Street, Tonbridge, TN9 1BE Saffron Building Society, Saffron House,1A Market Street, Saffron Walden, CB10 1HX

Website - www.londoninsight.org

Charity registration number:

1145212

Registered office

1 Sopwith Crescent, Wickford, England, SS11 8YU

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