**Trustees’ Annual Report and Unaudited Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2024**
**Charity Number 1145212**
## **London Insight Meditation**
## **Trustees’ Annual Report and Financial Statements For the year-ended 31 December 2024**
|**Contents**|**Page**|
|---|---|
|Annual Report|2-6|
|Report of the Independent Examiner|7|
|Statement of financial activities|8|
|Balance sheet|9|
|Notes to the financial statements|10-13|
|London Insight Meditation – information and contacts|14|
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## **Trustees’ Annual Report**
The trustees present their annual report together with the financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2024.
## **Who we are.**
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 is a charitable incorporated organisation (CIO) governed by a constitution.
## 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 Events Manager and other volunteers. The Events Manager is employed part-time. The trustees and the rest of the team are volunteers.
There was no paid Director role in 2024 (2023: one paid Director).
Trustees continue to regularly review our staffing requirements to ensure we can continue to fulfill our mission.
## Trustees
The trustees who have served since the last annual report are as follows:
Mr Derek Bruce Mr Patrick Drysdale Dr Josie Levine Mrs Reena Purchase Ms Joanna-May Sta. Ana (Chair)
## _Appointment and induction of Trustees_
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.
## Governance
The Trustees meet at least quarterly to develop the strategic direction and to review activities and financial performance. The Chair and Manager meet regularly to review operational progress.
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## **London Insight Meditation Annual Report 2024 (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 connection with like-minded organisations across the UK and abroad, most notably the residential retreat centre Gaia House and Bodhi College who run courses and retreats across Europe. 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 relationships 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.
## **Our mission**
We aim 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.
links with more traditional Buddhist institutions, such as Amaravati, Cittaviveka, Satipanya and Anukampa
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 remuneration 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.
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 by people unable to attend our events.
## **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
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 2024 (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, increasingly in person, but retaining some Zoom events. We actively sought to increase our teacher pool during the year to support newer teachers and include teachers from diverse backgrounds.
## **Volunteers**
LIM is run by a team of volunteers and Events Manager. We are ourselves committed meditators. We integrate practice into our work at LIM, for example starting all meetings with a meditation sit.
## **Our key achievements in 2024**
## _**2024 Events Programme**_
We planned to deliver 23 events, 1 was cancelled and 22 took place, 2 less than in 2023. We continued to offer a combination of online and in-person events.
## _Participants_
The total attendance at our events in 2024 reached 1,076, reflecting a 15% decrease compared to 2024 (1,273). In-person attendance grew by 2%, while online attendance decreased by 58%. No hybrid events took place and the overall number of online offerings in 2024 (4) was half that of 2023 (8). The number of in-person day longs remained consistent with 2023, an additional weekend retreat took place and 2 evening talks. LIM continues to host online events, attracting international participants.
||In-person||
|---|---|---|
||Day long|14|
||Weekend|2|
||Talk|2|
||Online||
||Talk|1|
||Day long|1|
||Weekend|1|
||Course|1|
## _Teaching programme_
LIM continued to host events online for teachers not based in the UK and teachers based in the UK who have reduced their faceto-face teaching commitments.
Teachings were made available both live and after the event by uploading authorised recordings to Dharma Seed and videos to YouTube. We started our YouTube channel in February 2022 and have maintained a schedule of posting one video a week.
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 teachers, both lay and monastics, and teachers from overseas.
## _Event delivery_
Various formats were made available online, including shorter talks (2-2.5 hours), full-day sessions, weekend retreats, and a course. Inperson offerings included weekend retreats, full-day sessions and evening talks.
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## **London Insight Meditation Annual Report 2024 (continued)**
## **Marketing and networking**
LIM maintains a website and email contact list. We send out regular email newsletters reminding people of events and highlighting new additions to the programme. This allows us to put on events at short notice as opportunities occur.
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, Bodhi College. This expands the range of connections and ensures LIM is fully aware of developments in the area.
Since November 2022, we have convened a ‘UK Insight Forum’, comprising quarterly meetings with the chairs and directors of LIM, Gaia House and Bodhi College, to ‘compare notes’, share best practice and identify opportunities to collaborate.
## **Financial performance**
## _**Financial review**_
2024 was a stronger year financially for LIM as it returned a surplus of £5,837 after recording a deficit in 2022 and 2023. This surplus was favourable compared to the budget expectation.
Total income for the year was £38,317, an increase of 5% on the prior year. The increase is mainly due to higher income from events which was driven primarily by higher ticket prices.
Total expenditure for the year was £32,480, a decrease of 30% on the previous year. The decrease was primarily due to lower staff costs in 2024 (down £14k vs 2023) given there was no director post from the start of 2024. Direct event costs were however up by £2k.
## _**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 deficit in 2022 and 2023 had presented a challenge to re-establish financial sustainability. As a result, LIM increased ticket prices and no longer has a paid Director role since the start of 2024 (2023: one paid Director). These changes resulted in LIM making a surplus in 2024 and the financial position is stronger and more sustainable now.
The Trustees are satisfied that reserves are currently adequate to finance the charity’s continuation as a going concern.
## **Our future plans**
We anticipate that LIM will continue with its existing activities to bring the Dharma to Londoners.
## **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 2024 (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 nonviolence, resulting in greater wellbeing when practised consistently.
Approved by the Board of Trustees and signed on their behalf by
Joanna-May Sta. Ana
Chair of Trustees
15[th] October 2025
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## **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 2024 set out on pages 8 to 14.
## **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 being 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: James Harding Chartered Accountant London
19[th] October 2025
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## **London Insight Meditation**
## **Statement of Financial Activities**
## **For the year ended 31[st] December 2024**
||**2024**
**2023**|
|---|---|
|||
|||
|**Notes**|**£**
**£**|
|**INCOMING RESOURCES**||
|**Gifts-in-kind**|790
997|
|**Donations**|-
334|
|**Income from charitable activities**
2|36,147
33,822|
|**Interest income**|1,379
1,169|
||**38,317**
**36,322**|
|||
|||
|**RESOURCES EXPENDED**||
|**Expenditure on charitable activities**
3|32,480
46,506|
|||
|**Net surplus / (deficit) for the year**|**5,837**
**(10,185)**|
|||
|**RECONCILIATION OF FUNDS**||
|**Total funds brought forward**|48,760
58,945|
|||
|**TOTAL FUNDS CARRIED FORWARD**|**54,597**
**48,760**|
All gains and losses recognised in the year are included above. All activities relate to continuing operations.
The accompanying notes are an integral part of this statement of financial activities.
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## **London Insight Meditation**
## **Statement of Financial Position**
## **At 31[st] December 2024**
|**At 31[st] December 2024**|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|||**2024**||**2023**|
||**Notes**|**£**||**£**|
|**CURRENT ASSETS**|||||
|**Debtors**|4|1,535||1,253|
|**Cash at bank and in hand**|6|56,085||54,868|
|||57,620||56,121|
|**less: CREDITORS**|||||
|**Creditors: amounts due within 1 year**|5|(3,023)||(7,361)|
|**NET CURRENT ASSETS**||54,597||48,760|
|**NET ASSETS**||54,597||48,760|
|**FUNDS**|||||
|**Unrestricted funds**||54,597||48,760|
|**TOTAL FUNDS**||54,597||48,760|
Approved by the Board of Trustees and signed on their behalf by
Joanna-May Sta. Ana Chair of Trustees
9
15[th] October 2025
The notes on pages 10 to 13 form part of these accounts.
## **London Insight Meditation**
## **Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31[st] December 2024**
## **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 ‘Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice (FRS 102)’ published in October 2019, and applicable United Kingdom law and accounting standards.
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.
## **Critical accounting estimates and areas of judgement**
None noted.
## **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:
- the charity is entitled to the funds;
- there is sufficient certainty that receipt of the income is considered probable; and
- the amount can be measured reliably
Event income is recognised on the date that the event takes place.
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[st] December 2024 (continued)**
## **Expenditure**
Expenditure is recognised on an accruals basis. As the charity presently only has a single activity, all expenditure, including support costs, relates to the activity of organising its programme of events including daylong and weekend retreats, study days, courses in meditation and public talks.
## **Debtors**
Trade debtors are recognised at the settlement amount due.
Expenditure incurred in advance of an event is recognised as a prepayment on the balance sheet until the event takes place or is cancelled, provided the expenditure is expected to be recovered.
## **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.
## **Taxation**
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.
The charity is unable to recover Value Added Tax and the cost of VAT incurred is included in each expenditure category.
## **2. Income from charitable activities**
|Event income|**2024**
**£**
36,147
36,147|**2023**|
|---|---|---|
|||**£**|
|||33,822|
|||33,822|
See page 4 for detail of income generating event activities.
11
## **London Insight Meditation**
## **Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31[st] December 2024 (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:
|Venue hire
Miscellaneous event costs
Teachers' travel & accommodation
Event organisation and administration
Website
Marketing
IT and phone
Bank, PayPal and Stripe charges
Insurance
Sundry expenses
Staff costs included in event organisation comprised:
Salaries
Social security costs
Pension costs|**2024**
**2023**|
|---|---|
||**£**
**£**|
||5,607
4,719
393
469
3,392
2,191
17,438
31,463
584
3,459
2,150
1,980
220
521
728
733
822
822
1,144
149|
||32,480
46,506|
||**£**
**£**|
||16,395
29,965|
||-
-|
||820
1,498|
12
17,214
31,463
The monthly average number of staff (‘headcount’ basis) was 1 and the staff member was part-time (2023: 2). No employees had total employee benefits of more than £60,000. Employer social security (NI) costs are not payable as LIM is eligible to claim Employment Allowance relief from HMRC.
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 that includes trustee indemnity insurance as part of the cover.
## _**Trustees’ remuneration and expenses**_
None of the individuals who acted as charity trustees during the year or the previous year were paid any amounts for their services as trustees. No trustee received any reimbursement of expenses during the year or the previous year.
## **London Insight Meditation**
## **Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31[st] December 2024 (continued)**
## **4. Debtors: amounts falling due within one year**
|**4. Debtors: amounts falling due within one year**|||
|---|---|---|
|Other debtors
Prepayments|**2024**|**2023**|
||**£**|**£**|
||387|329|
||1,148|924|
||1,535|1,253|
## **5. Creditors: amounts due within one year**
|Deferred income
Other creditors
Accruals|**2024**|**2023**|
|---|---|---|
||**£**|**£**|
||2,779
183
60|3,017
2,534
1,810|
||3,023|7,361|
13
## **6. Cash at bank and in hand**
|**6. Cash at bank and in hand**|||
|---|---|---|
||**2024**|**2023**|
||**£**|**£**|
|Cash at bank|56,085|54,868|
## **7. Related party transactions**
There were no related party transactions during the year or the previous year.
14
## **London Insight Meditation**
## **Information and contacts as of October 2025**
## **Trustees**
Ms Joanna-May Sta. Ana Chair Mr Derek Bruce Development Mr Patrick Drysdale Finance Dr Josie Levine Sangha/Community Mrs Reena Purchase Programme **Operational Management** Matt Herbertson Event Manager
## **Bankers**
The Co-operative Bank plc, PO Box 250, Delf House, Southway, Skelmersdale WN8 6WT. 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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