**Charity No: 1148088**
**Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2023 for Blackpool Reform Jewish Congregation Company Number 08091243**
**BLACKPOOL REFORM JEWISH CONGREGATION**
## **EXECUTIVE AND COUNCIL INFORMATION**
## **AS AT 31 DECEMBER 2023**
**HON. LIFE PRESIDENT:** Mr. L. Firth **PRESIDENT:** Miss. R. Tax **VICE PRESIDENT:** Miss. S. Tax **IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT:** Miss. S. Tax **TREASURER:** Mr. A. Cantor **CUSTODIAL TRUSTEES:** Mr. A. Cantor Mrs. E. Tax Mr. M. Block
**OTHER COUNCIL MEMBERS:**
Mrs. G. Cantor Mrs. A. Mannino Mr. D. Whippman Mr. M. Tax Mr. J Hardman
**ADDRESS:** The Synagogue 40 Raikes Parade Blackpool FY1 4EX **BANKERS:** H.S.B.C. Oxford Square 1 Newhouse Road Blackpool **AUDITORS:** David Williamson Limited Chartered Certified Accountants Unit 12B Darwin Court Hawking Place Blackpool FY2 0JN **HON. SOLICITOR:** Martin D Block Homestead 21 Blackburn Road Rishton Lancashire BB1 4EU
**2**
**REPORT OF THE AUDITORS TO THE MEMBERS OF**
## **BLACKPOOL REFORM JEWISH CONGREGATION**
We have audited the attached Financial Statements in accordance with Auditing Standards.
In our opinion the Financial Statements give a true and fair view of the state of the Congregation's affairs at 31[st] December 2023.
Unit 12B Darwin Court Hawking Place BLACKPOOL FY2 0JN
David Williamson Limited CHARTERED CERTIFIED ACCOUNTANTS
**3**
**Trustees' Report for the year ending 31 December 2023**
This is the report on the activities of the Blackpool Reform Jewish Congregation (BRJC) in 2023 by the Trustees of this Congregation, who are the members of its Council, which includes its Executive Officers and Custodial Trustees. The Trustees have complied with the duty under the Charities Acts to have due regard to public benefit guidance published by the Charity Commission, which is illustrated in this report.
All members of Council, including the Executive, who were elected at the 2022 Annual General Meeting were re-elected at the 2023 Annual General Meeting.
During 2023, we were very pleased to welcome two new members of BRJC, namely Leanne Rudnick and Stuart Wade. Sadly, during the year, BRJC undertook one burial, that of a long-time member, Rosalind (Ros) Stillings.
After resuming many services in its Synagogue in 2022 and taking the opportunity to use the knowledge learned under Covid to make those services available on Zoom to both members of the Congregation and others, BRJC continued to develop this in 2023.
Rabbi Barrett continued to take services in 2023, including a Passover Seder. She has carried out a variety of teaching to the Congregation
The Congregation continues to be most appreciative of the lay readers from its membership, who continue to take by far the major number of services, including special Festival services and funerals. In addition to in-person services in the Synagogue, regular services have been held using Zoom. These are also open to non-members both Jewish and non-Jewish, who may wish to attend. Attendance in person or on Zoom depending on availability is encouraged.
BRJC has arranged joint services with other congregations and encouraged its congregants to participate in these events.
Since the substantial reduction in Covid restrictions, the Congregation's hosting of parties of school children from local schools and scout groups to learn about the Jewish religion and its traditions have resumed, as have visits to schools by members of the Congregation to talk about various aspects of Judaism.
The Congregation continues to contribute to cross communal activities. It is a member of the Blackpool Faith Forum and, when Covid has permitted, hosts some of its meetings in our Synagogue. This Forum, which has representatives from all the major faiths, shares views on matters such as youth and adult education and security and emergency assistance. The Congregation is also a contributor to both local (Blackpool) and National Heritage.
Members of the Congregation give pastoral support to other members, which has been especially important since the onset of Covid.
The Congregation encourages members to be charitable towards it and other charitable causes and has an annual appeal for selected local, national and international causes.
The Congregation aims to keep its membership contributions as low as possible. Such contributions are generally payable in advance; where this presents difficulties for a member, it will allow payment monthly without penalty and, where that too presents problems, it will allow a significantly reduced contribution.
The Congregation's policy on financial reserves is to aim to put aside sufficient funds to cover (a) Burial Assistance Scheme liabilities, (b) The proportion for the balance of the subscription year of fees payable in advance, (c) Liabilities in general, (d) The coming 12 month's likely expenditure and (e) Any funds which can only be used for specific purposes.
**4**
## **Trustees' Report for the year ending 31 December 2023 continued**
Members of the Congregation come primarily from the local area of Blackpool and the Fylde and to an extent from other parts of Lancashire but there is no geographical restriction on membership and members can reside elsewhere in the United Kingdom.
January 2024
**5**
**BLACKPOOL REFORM JEWISH CONGREGATION**
## **ACCOUNTING POLICIES**
The Congregation has adopted the following Accounting Policies which should be read in conjunction with the attached Accounts and which have been prepared under the Historical Cost Convention.
## **INCOME**
Income represents the monies receivable in the year from Subscriptions, Donations, Rental Income, Fees, Interest and Fund Raising activities of the Congregation.
## **FIXED ASSETS AND DEPRECIATION**
Fixed Assets are stated at Cost or Valuation, less Depreciation.
Depreciation is calculated to write off Fixed Assets over their estimated useful lives at the following annual rates:
Freehold Land and Buildings Nil Chairs 5% of written down value Holy Scrolls and Silverware Nil Fixture and Fittings 10% of written down value
**6**
**BLACKPOOL REFORM JEWISH CONGREGATION**
## **INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT FOR THE YEAR ENDED**
## **31st December 2023**
## **INCOME**
|**2022**|**2022**|||**2023**|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|**£**|||**£**||
|7697||Subscriptions||6927|
||117|General Donations||663|
||73|Board of Deputies of British Jews||84|
||770|Yom Kippur Appeal||1100|
||495|Memorial Donations||1505|
||297|Interest Received||1852|
||124|MRJ||226|
||73|Leo Baeck College||99|
||119|Sale of Prayer Books, Judaica etc.||38|
||672|Migdal Advertising||251|
|1279||Income Tax Reclaimable||1561|
|6013||Maisonette Rent||5408|
||422|Maisonette Electric & Water||874|
||76|Classes and Conferences||410|
||225|Passover 2022||-|
||-|Passover 2023||370|
||-|Celeb Tea||240|
|18452||||21608|
**7**
**BLACKPOOL REFORM JEWISH CONGREGATION**
## **INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT FOR THE YEAR ENDED**
**st 31 December 2023**
## **EXPENDITURE**
|**2022**|**2022**|**NOTE**|||**2023**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|**£**||||**£**||
|1549||Fees and Expenses of Teachers and visiting Ministers|||3334|
||888|Charitable Donations including Kol Nidre Donations|||650|
||36|Purchase of Prayer Books, Judaica etc.|||40|
||73|Board of Deputies of British Jews|||84|
||300|MRJ|||300|
||73|Leo Baeck College|||99|
|1637||Water|||1426|
|1674||Light & Heating|||7425|
|1945||Insurance|||2052|
||109|Telephone|||110|
|1572||Caretaking & Cleaning Costs|||478|
||687|Accountancy Charges|||690|
|1388||Printing, Postage and Office Supplies|||1143|
||156|Sundry including Migdal Expenses|||108|
||674|Repairs & Renewals|**1**||7558|
||100|Depreciation|||95|
||616|Maisonette Expenses|||1043|
||72|Bank Charges|||71|
||-|Classes and Conferences|||1146|
||-|Passover 2023|||153|
||-|Celeb Tea|||184|
|13549|||||28189|
|**SUMMARY**|||
|---|---|---|
|18452|Total Income|21608|
|13549|Total Expenditure|28189|
|4903|DEFICIT OF INCOME OVER EXPENDITURE|-6581|
**8**
**BLACKPOOL REFORM JEWISH CONGREGATION**
## **SUBSIDIARY ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED**
## **st 31 DECEMBER 2023**
|**BURIAL ACCOUNT**||||
|---|---|---|---|
|**2022**|||**2023**|
|**£**||**£**||
|8961|Subscriptions, Initial Fees & Contributions||14450|
|3710|LESS: Burial Expenses||8325|
|5251|SURPLUS FOR THE YEAR||6125|
**9**
**BLACKPOOL REFORM JEWISH CONGREGATION**
**2022**
**2023**
**£**
## **st BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31 DECEMBER 2023**
## **£**
|70941
70941
5685
5685
-
3709
1803
1906
10000
300
83147|**FIXED ASSETS**
Synagogue, Raikes Parade, Blackpool
70941
Additions for the Year
70941
Furniture and Fittings at Cost
5685
LESS: Depreciation to date
5685
-
Chairs
3709
LESS: Depreciation to date
1898
1811
Three Holy Scrolls (two donated)
10000
as valued by the Trustees
Two megillot and silverware (donated)
300
as valued by the Trustees
83052|
|---|---|
**10**
**BLACKPOOL REFORM JEWISH CONGREGATION**
## **CURRENT ASSETS**
|**2022**
**£**
76
42722
14765
200
6683
234
147827
1773
146054
**Represented by:**
**2022**
**£**
108900
4903
-
751|Cash in Hand
COIF
H.S.B.C
Stock
Debtors
Prepayments
LESS: Sundry Creditors
**General Reserve Account**
Balance Brought Forward
Surplus/Deficit for the year
Revaluation of Holy Scrolls
Transfer from Burial Account
**Burial Account**
Balance Brought Forward
ADD: Surplus for the year
LESS: Transfer to General Reserve
**PRESIDENT**|**NOTE**
**2023**
**£**
68
44574
16935
200
**2**
2202
**3**
318
147349
**4**
1751
145598
**2023**
**£**
114554
-6581
-
6125
114098
31500
6125
37625
6125
31500
145598|**2023**|
|---|---|---|---|
|114554
27000
5251
32251
751
31500
146054||||
## **TREASURER**
**11**
**NOTES**
|**1 Repairs & Renewals consist of:**
Alarm maintenance
Service extinguishers
Kitchen
Misc repairs
**2 Debtors**
Gift Aid Tax Reclaimable
Subscriptions
**3 Prepayments**
Rakefet 1 year
**4 Sundry Creditors**
These were as follows:
Subscriptions in advance
Accountancy
Leo Baeck College
Board of Deputies
Kol Nidre Donations|**£**
150
149
6750
509|
|---|---|
||7558
802
1400|
||2202
318
328
690
99
84
550|
||1751|
**12**