| Charity Name | No (if any) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trustproperty held | in connection with the London Spiritua | 1152206 | |||
| Receipts and payments accounts | CC16a | ||||
| For the period from |
Period start date To 1.1.2024 |
Period end date 31.12.2024 |
| Section A Receipts and payments | Section A Receipts and payments | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A1 Receipts | Unrestricted funds to the nearest £ 4,281 7,294 15,435 157 - - 27,167 - - - 27,167 11,517 921 3,378 7,106 4,453 175 - - 27,550 - - - 27,550 - 383 - 1,226 843 |
Restricted funds to the nearest £ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - |
Endowment funds to the nearest £ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - |
Total funds to the nearest £ 4,281 7,294 15,435 157 - - - - 27,167 - - - 27,167 11,517 921 3,378 7,106 4,453 175 - - - 27,550 - - - 27,550 - 383 |
Last year to the nearest £ |
|
| Rental Paula Bader Rent | 4,281 | 11,700 | ||||
| LSM Funding | 7,294 | 12,046 | ||||
| Fundingfrom LSM Ltd | 15,435 | - | ||||
| Interest from COIF account | 157 | 155 | ||||
| - | ||||||
| - | ||||||
| - | - | |||||
| - | - | |||||
| Sub total(Gross income for AR) |
27,167 | 23,901 | ||||
| A2 Asset and investment sales, (see table). |
||||||
| - | ||||||
| - | - | |||||
| Sub total | - | - | ||||
| Total receipts A3 Payments |
||||||
| 23,901 | ||||||
Energysuppliers |
11,517 | 9,857 | ||||
| Water suppliers | 921 | 958 | ||||
| Fire Safety | 3,378 | 2,406 | ||||
| Council Tax | 7,106 | 6,766 | ||||
| Insurances | 4,453 | 3,198 | ||||
| repairs | 175 | 2,221 | ||||
| - | ||||||
| - | - | |||||
| - | - | |||||
| **Sub total ** | 27,550 | 25,406 | ||||
| A4 Asset and investment purchases (see table) |
||||||
| , | - | |||||
| - | ||||||
| **Sub total ** | - | - | ||||
| Total payments Net of receipts/(payments) A5 Transfers between funds A6 Cash funds last year end Cash funds this year end |
||||||
| 25,406 | ||||||
| - 383 | - | - |
- 383 |
- 1,505 | ||
| - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1,226 | - | - | 1,226 | 2,731 | ||
| 843 | - | - |
843 | 1,226 |
CCXX R1 accounts (SS)
21/07/2026
1
| Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at | Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at | the end of the period | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Categories Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees B5 Liabilities B3 Investment assets B2 Other monetary assets B4 Assets retained for the charity’s own use B1 Cash funds |
Details Details Total cash funds (agree balances with receipts and payments account(s)) Natwest account COIF Details Details Church premises and an associated flat situated at 13 Pembridge Place London W2 3 flats situated at 13A Pembridge Place W2 Details Signature |
Unrestricted funds Restricted funds to nearest £ to nearest £ 343 - 500 - - - 843 - OK OK Unrestricted funds Restricted funds to nearest £ to nearest £ - - - - - - - - - - - - Fund to which asset belongs Cost (optional) - - - - - Fund to which asset belongs Cost (optional) - - - - - - - - - Fund to which liability relates Amount due (optional) - - - - - Print Name |
Endowment funds to nearest £ |
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| OK | |||
| Endowment funds to nearest £ |
|||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| Current value (optional) |
|||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| Current value (optional) |
|||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| When due (optional) |
|||
| Date of approval |
|||
CCXX R2 accounts (SS)
21/07/2026
2
The trustees present their report with the financial statements of the charity for the year ended 31 December 2024. The trustees have adopted the Receipts & Payment accounting system utilising the Charity Commission spreadsheets CC16A.
STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT
Governing document
The charitable trust was registered based upon a Trust Deed dated 26th February 1945 declared by Sydney Kingston Smith and Ernest William Beard with the following summarised objectives:
-
To support the religious purposes of The London Spiritual Mission (an unincorporated association holding the tenets of spiritualism)
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The repair, rebuilding or improvement of the trust property
The trust does not have any employees and the trustees give their time voluntarily except as reported under Trustee's Benefits. The trustees operate as a single committee and devolve various aspects of running the trust to external contractors as appropriate. Examples of external contractors include professional advisors such as lawyers and surveyors plus service providers such as electricians and plumbers.
The London Spiritual Mission (LSM) comprises an unincorporated association (as mentioned above), which comprises a committee and the church membership as well as the Trust. The LSM is the sole beneficiary of the Trust. The LSM Association was purportedly dissolved in 2023 and its activities taken over by a limited company the London Spiritual Mission Limited. The current trustees have made it clear they do not accept the legitimacy of the company LSM Limited nor that it is the lawful successor of the LSM Association
PUBLIC BENEFIT.
The trustees have complied with their duty to have due regard to the guidance on public benefit published by the commission in exercising their powers and duties. The property repair program planned to continue over a rolling five- year period whilst still allowing the LSM to flourish as a leading independent spiritualist church was suspended due to a lack of sufficient funds.
TRUSTEE'S BENEFITS.
As set out in the trustees 2022 and 2023 reports Trustees Christopher Norris and Doreen Quinnell occupied the church house at 13 Pembridge Place from November 2017 until October 2022 under license from the Trust. Whilst this was unanimously agreed by the other trustees in 2017, the trustees were influenced in their decision by the 13 members of the Committee of the LSM, which included Christopher Norris, Doreen Quinnell and Gordon Smith who were all were prominent members of the Committee and simultaneously trustees. The intended purpose of Mr Norris and Ms Quinnell occupying the church house was to better facilitate the management of the property and also to further spiritual development at the LSM. All 5 trustees, as part of their ongoing obligations to the Trust, were required to regularly review this arrangement. In 2021 and 2022 it was clear to two of the trustees, Corin Johnson and Sandra Manning, that due to Christopher Norris’s mismanagement and misconduct in his role as trustee, the Trust’s finances had been significantly depleted, and a significant proportion of its rental income had been terminated by Mr. Norris. Those trustees was unable to continue to support the arrangement of Mr .Norris and Ms .Quinnell occupying the church house. Mr. Norris and Ms. Quinnell would not vacate the church house and would not contribute towards its outgoings when asked to do so by Mr. Johnson and Ms. Manning. Mr. Johnson and Ms. Manning were unable to pay for legal advice to require Mr .Norris and Ms. Quinnell to vacate the church house and they were completely overpowered by Mr. Norris, Ms .Quinnell and Gordon Smith in their dual roles as both trustees and prominent Committee members. The Charity Commission and the trustees were provided with regulatory advice and guidance as part of a regulatory compliance case on the 22[nd] December 2021.
On the 27[th] September 2022 the Commission opened a further Regulatory Compliance case in respect of concerns expressed by Corin Johnson and Sandra Manning in respect of the above matters and them not being provided with financial information concerning the charity expenditure and therefore not being able to agree the submission of the financial returns/accounts for 31[st] December 2020, 31[st] December 2021 and 31[st] December 2022 by the statutory deadlines. As a result of the above matters the Charity Commission opened an enquiry on the 7[th] December 2023 in relation to the following matters.
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The trustee’s compliance with their legal duties in respect of the administration, governance and management of the charity with particular regard to the management of the charity’s finances and their compliance with accounting and reporting responsibilities.
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Whether the trustees have appropriately identified and managed conflicts of interests.
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Whether there has been any misconduct and/or mismanagement in the administration of the Charity by the trustees.
Though the enquiry involved all trustees conduct its principal focus was on the activities of Mr. Norris as reported to the Charity commission by Mr. Johnson and Ms. Manning. The enquiry is still currently ongoing.
ACTIVITIES AND RESULTS FOR THE YEAR
In direct alignment with the trust deed the main aim for 2022 was to: -
-
Enable the continued use of the church, the healing room and library by the LSM Association (and since the purported dissolution of the LSM Association) access by the LSM Limited has been permitted though the current trustees have made it clear they do not accept the legitimacy of the company LSM Limited nor that it is the lawful successor of the LSM Association. It is noted that Mr. C. Norris and Ms. D Quinnell who were trustees and directors of the LSM Limited resigned as directors of LSM Limited on the 31[st] October 2024.
-
Complete the refurbishment works commenced by the Trust on flat 3, 13a Pembridge Place in 2020 and to make habitable flat 2, 13a Pembridge Place the interior of which was demolished by Mr Norris without the authority of his co-trustees in 2020. However, due to Christopher Norris’s unauthorised overspend on the refurbishment works on Flat 3 in 2020, plus his unauthorised works on flat 2 also in 2020, the Trust was left with significantly depleted funds and only 1 of the 4 flats belonging to the Trust in a position to supply the Trust with a limited rental income. This flat (flat 1) however also needed to be refurbished due to damage caused by Mr. Norris’s work on flats 2 & 3.
Aim one was achieved and the LSM has conducted a full program of events with the help of some funding from the LSM Association and LSM Limited.(with the caveat expressed above applying to LSM Limited’s use the church and its facilities).
Due to the state of the Trust’s finances, it has not been possible for the Trustees to complete the refurbishment of flats 2 and 3 ,13a Pembridge Place during 2024 and the works continue to remain on hold. This also applies to flat 1 which is in need of refurbishment work in respect of damaged caused by Mr. Norris’s activities in relations to flats 2 and 3.
INVESTMENT POLICY
As set out previously in the 2022 and 2023 reports the trustees’ ability to invest in an approved Charitable Investment Fund has been severely curtailed by the mismanagement of the refurbishment works of flats 2 and 3, 13a Pembridge Place by Mr Norris as mentioned above. The Trust has not had any funds to invest during 2024 and has therefore not needed the services of an investment manager or Broker. The Investment intent in the long term is to produce income by completing the refurbishment of flats 2, 3 and also flat 1, 13a Pembridge Place and short-term fluctuations in market value do not affect this policy. All income from the Trust fund is currently used towards funding the expenses of keeping the church open. This value of the Trust estate may go down as well as up.
RISK MANAGEMENT
The disagreement that arose in relation to the occupation of the Church flat by Mr. Norris and Ms. Quinnell, the
unauthorized overspend and unauthorized works on flat 2 by Mr. Norris and the inability of the trustees to agree on the submission of the financial returns/accounts for 31[st] December 2020, 31[st] December 2021 and 31[st] December 2022 by the statutory deadlines is a matter currently under investigation by the Charity Commission. Mr. Johnson and Ms. Manning concerns about the risk management arising from those issues still persist and the proposed attempted to a Conflicts of Interest Policy they sought to introduce has still not been brought into effect. Both Mr. Johnson and Ms. Manning rermain concerned that the other trustees have not properly assessed the major risks to which the charity was exposed including those related to the operations of the charity, and are still not satisfied that measures are in place to mitigate exposure to the major risks. These concerns, as indicated above, were brought to the attention of the Charity Commission and are currently being investigated.
STRUCTURE,
GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT
RESERVES
As far as possible the trustees endeavour to utilise all incoming funds in the furtherance of the charitable objectives. The trust property comprises 4 flats. Due to the unauthorised works to flat 2 and over spend on flat 3, 13a Pembridge Place by Christopher Norris, the trustees have been unable have therefore been unable to build up cash reserves having been left with minimal rental income. Once the trust is able to source funds to complete the refurbishment works on flats 2 and 3, 13a Pembridge Place it will be able to build up cash reserves to deal with property maintenance over a rolling five-year period whilst ensuring that the LSM too can continue its own growth.
As described above and in the report for 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 there were not sufficient reserves to progress the refurbishment of 13a Pembridge Place.
REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS
Registered Charity number
1152206
Principal address
Church House 13 Pembridg e Place London W2 4XB
Trustees in 2024
C. B. Johnson. D. Quinnell S. Manning C. Norris. G Smith (retired on the 24[th] June 2024)
Trustees at the time of submission of the Accounts.
C. Johnson
G. A. Carter-Stephenson
S. Robertson
R. Brown.
STATEMENT OF TRUSTEES' RESPONSIBILITIES
The trustees are responsible for preparing the Report of the Trustees and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).
The law applicable to charities in England and Wales, the Charities Act 2011, Charity (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 and the provisions of the trust deed requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charity for that period. In preparing those financial statements, the trustees are required to
-
select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
-
observe the methods and principles in the Charity SORP;
-
make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
-
prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in business.
The trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and to enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charities Act 2011, the Charity (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 and the provisions of the trust deed. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDING 2024
Approved by order of the board of trustees on ………………………… and signed on its behalf by
Independent Examiner
TRUST PROPERTY HELD IN CONNECTION WITH THE LONDON SPIRITUAL MISSION INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES OF TRUST PROPERTY HELD IN CONNECTION WITH THE LONDON SPIRITUAL MISSION I report to the trustees on my examination ol the financial statements ol the trust property held In connection with the London Spiritual Mission for th8 year 8nded 31 December 2024. Responslbllltles and basls of report As the trustees of the charity you are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements in accordan with the reqU1MentS ol the Charities Act 2011. I report in SpeCt of my examination olthe charity's finanual statements carried out under section 145 ofthe Charities Act 2011. In carrying out my examination I have followed the Directions given by tt)e Charity Commission under S8ction 14515llbl of the Charit18s Act 2011. Independent examIne$ statement Your attention Is drawn to the lact that the charity has prepared the financial statements In accordance with the relev8nt version of the Statement of Recorntnended Practice applicable to charities preparing their financial statements in accordance with the Financi81 Reporting St8nd8rd applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland IFRS 1021 In prtfenTr to the Accounting and Reporting by Charities". Statement of Recommended PractiTr issue(l on 1 April 2005 which is referred to in the extant regulations but has now been withdrawn. l understand that this has been done in order for the finanryal statements to provide a true and fair view in aCMrd8n with UK Generally Accepted Accounting Practi. I have completed my 8xarnination I confirm that no matters have com8 to my 8tt8ntion in connection with th8 examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect.. a¢wunting records were not kept in respect of the charity as required by section 130 of the Charities Act 2011. the financial st8tements do not 8ccord with those records., or the financial st8tements do not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form 8nd Content of financial statements set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the financial ststements give a true and fair view, which Is not a mattel considered as part of an ind8pendent examination. I have no conTrms and have cotne scross no other matters in connection with the exarnination to which attention should be drawn in this report in older to 8nabl8 a proper und8r5t8nding of th8 financial stst8ments to be reached. DSA Prospect Limited Mrs Ashlagh VV£tsJ CTA FCCA First Floor 1 Des Roches Square Wtsn Way Witney OX284BE 14 May 2026