Friends of the British Overseas Territories (FOTBOT)
Trustees’ Report and Financial Statements
1 April 2023
to
31 March 2024
Charitable Incorporated Organisation Registered Number 1156763
CONTENTS
| Charity information | 2 |
|---|---|
| Trustees’ report | 3-6 |
| Independent examiner’s report | 7 |
| Statement of receipts and payments | 8 |
| Statement of assets and liabilities | 9 |
| Notes to the financial statements | 10 |
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CHARITY INFORMATION
Trustees Andrew M Fox (chair) Simon M J Leary FRSA Albert A Poggio GMH OBE Address PO Box 2635 Ilford IG1 8UA President Sharlene Cartwright-Robinson, JP (appointed 1 September 2021) Vice-President Claude Hogan, MLA (appointed 1 January 2022) Parliamentary Advisers Andrew Gwynne MP Andrew Rosindell MP Baroness Foster (appointed 1 January 2024) Wendy Morton MP (appointed 1 January 2024) Lord Bellingham (appointed 1 January 2024)
Chief Executive Philip R Smith Independent examiner Jonathan Parsons FCA BSR Bespoke Chartered Accountants Linden House Linden Close Tunbridge Wells Kent TN4 8HH
Charity number 1156763 Bankers Barclays Bank plc 69 Albion Street Leeds LS1 5AA
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TRUSTEES’ REPORT
The Trustees present their annual report and financial statements for the period ended 31 March 2024.
Structure, governance and management
Friends of the British Overseas Territories (FOTBOT) (the “Charity”) is constituted under the terms of its governing document (“Constitution”) adopted on 18 September 2013 and last amended at the Annual General Meeting on 14 March 2024. The Constitution is that of a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) with voting members other than its Trustees. Andrew Fox was a first Trustee appointed under the constitution and the other Trustees were appointed by the Trustees and members. New Trustees are appointed by the nomination of Trustees and members. Trustees who served during the year are listed on page 2. The Trustees meet at least quarterly to agree the strategy of the Charity.
Charitable objects
The Charity’s objects, as set out in its Constitution, are:
(1) To advance education and relieve financial hardship of students from the British Overseas Territories who are studying in the UK.
(2) To advance the education of the public in the conservation, protection and improvement of the physical and natural environment of the British Overseas Territories and the history and geography of the British Overseas Territories
(3) To advance the education of young people aged between 18 and 25 by providing educational visits to the British Overseas Territories
(4) To further such other purposes as are exclusively charitable in accordance with the law of England and Wales as the Trustees may from time to time decide
Day-to-day management
On a day-to-day basis, the Charity is run by unpaid volunteers, led by the Chief Executive, Philip Smith, to whom management has been delegated by the Trustees since the Charity’s inception. The Chief Executive is assisted by a committee of volunteers which includes individuals with experience in finance, public relations and media, charity governance, law and events management. Volunteers, including the Chief Executive, may be reimbursed for expenses properly and reasonably incurred in accordance with the Charity’s expenses policy but they are not otherwise remunerated.
Relationships with British Overseas Territories
The Charity seeks to maintain and strengthen its relationships with UK-based representatives of the British Overseas Territories (BOTs) as well as figures within the governments of the BOTs and the UK Overseas Territories Association (UKOTA) to help further its charitable objects.
The Charity appointed a new president, Mrs Sharlene Cartwright-Robinson, former premier of the Turks and Caicos Islands, on 1 September 2021. Mrs Cartwright-Robinson replaced Mr Austin Harris Jr (a former member of the legislative assembly of the Cayman Islands) who had served as the
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Charity’s honorary president since 18 September 2019. The Charity has also appointed its first honorary vice president, Mr Claude Hogan, a member of the legislative assembly of Montserrat, with effect from 1 January 2022. The positions of president and vice president are both honorary in nature and do not have any of the rights, obligations, duties or liabilities of a charity Trustee.
Public benefit
The Trustees have referred to the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit when reviewing the Charity’s aims and objectives and in planning the Charity’s future activities. In particular, the Trustees have considered how planned activities will contribute to the aims and objectives that have been set. The Trustees are satisfied that the Charity continues to meet the Charity Commission’s guidelines with regard to carrying out its purposes for the public benefit.
Main activities undertaken for the public benefit in relation to the objects
Educational activities
The Charity continued with a programme of in-person educational events, as well as remote events delivered over the internet.
Webinars included:
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News from the Overseas Territories
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Conservation in the British Overseas Territories
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Presentation by the Maritime Archaeology Sea Trust
In-person events included:
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Tour of the National Maritime Museum
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Meet and Greet with the Charity Vice President, The Hon. Claude Hogan MLA
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Charity Summer Barbecue
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Collage of Arms Evening Tour and Supper
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Network reception event in York
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Christmas Gala Fundraising Dinner at Carpenters Hall
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British Indian Ocean Territory Reception with Henry Smith MP
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Dinner in Newcastle
Outreach activities
The Charity’s outreach activities included a visit to St Helena in August 2023 by senior leadership members of the Charity, accompanied with Andrew Gwynne MP and journalist Michael Binyon OBE. The purpose of the visit was to allow the Charity to have on the ground experience which can be used to inform our research, lobby politicians, and continue to support, promote and increase awareness of the Overseas Territories.
The delegation met with the Governor, Nigel Philips CBE and separately the Chief Minister, Julie Thomas, and Members of the Legislative Council and its Speaker. The delegation also received an honorary tour of Longwood House, the former residence of Napoleon Bonaparte throughout his exile and met with the Minister for Environment, Christine Scipio.
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Separately, Andrew Gwynne also met with the Chief Minister of St Helena, Julie Thomas, to discuss deepening the bonds between the UK and St Helena, and St Helena’s Health Minister to discuss improvements to medical services on the island.
Charity representatives also returned to the annual conference of one of the major UK political parties.
Montserrat special appeal
The Charity extended its appeal to raise money for the Montserrat National Trust into a second year, ending December 2023. The Trust requires donations in order to construct an echo play area. This planned multi-functional building and park is being developed by the Montserrat National Trust with the intention of creating a fully accessible eco-friendly educational and play space for children of all ages.
£1,500 was raised and donated, which will go towards paying for individual items of equipment for the musical play area, such as the trampoline, tubular bells, xylophone, glockenspiel, and swings.
Achievements and performance
All of the Charity’s webinars and in-person events were well-attended, with the annual black-tie dinner experiencing especially strong attendance at Carpenter’s Hall.
In addition, membership subscriptions and donations continued at a steady rate, enabling the Charity to continue to reach more people and do more work in support of its objects whilst achieving a small surplus for the period and maintaining a reasonable cash reserve.
Financial review, reserves policy and deficits
The Charity’s receipts in the period were £41,527 (2023: £55,248) primarily driven by the strong return of well-attended in-person events. This is a significant increase on the previous year, and is nearing the level of revenues the Charity saw before the pandemic.
The Trustees have set a policy of maintaining £2,000 cash reserves across the Current and Savings accounts held at Barclays, in order to cover any unexpected running costs. This level of reserves was maintained at all times during the period, with a balance of £9,225 (2023: £6,342) at the year end.
The Charity pays all invoices within terms and does not have any debtors at the time of writing.
Plans for the future
In the forthcoming year, the Charity will continue its programme of outreach and education.
The main outreach activity will be a trip to the Falkland Islands in February 2025 with one of our Parliamentary Advisers, Baroness Foster.
Our key fundraising activity will be around the St Helena Disabled Society project “No Place Like Home”, which aims to support disabled and elderly people living on St Helena to live in their homes longer. The island only has one hospital and one care home which are always under enormous pressure and often at maximum capacity. The appeal will help people live more fulfilling and comfortable lives, whilst enabling those facilities to be used for more acute care.
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Financial statements
The financial statements on pages 8 and 9 have been prepared on a receipts and payments basis. They have been drawn up in compliance with the relevant provisions of the Charities Act 2011 and the Charity’s Constitution.
Approved by the Trustees on 20 December 2024 and signed on their behalf by:
Andou Mok __
Andrew M Fox Trustee (chair)
Simon Leary Trustee
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INDEPENDENT EXAMINER’S REPORT
I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of Friends of the British Overseas Territories (the “Charity”) for the period ended 31 March 2024.
Responsibilities and basis of report
As the Charity trustees, 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 trustees’ 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 2011 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:
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accounting records were not kept in respect of the Charity as required by section 130 of the Act; or
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the accounts do not accord with those records.
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.
Jonathan Parsons FCA BSR Bespoke Chartered Accountants Linden House Linden Close Tunbridge Wells Kent TN4 8HH
Date:
STATEMENT OF RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS
YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
| Unrestricted | Restricted | Total | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 2024 | 2024 | 2023 | |
| RECEIPTS | £ | £ | £ | £ |
| Donations and grants | 7,257 | 34 | 7,291 | 15,026 |
| Members’ subscriptions | 8,596 | - | 8,596 | 5,805 |
| Income from events | 24,848 | - | 24,848 | 33,288 |
| Sales of books and merchandise | 769 | - | 769 | 1,126 |
| Other income | 23 | - | 23 | 2 |
| TOTAL RECEIPTS | 41,493 | 34 | 41,527 | 55,248 |
| PAYMENTS | ||||
| Fundraising costs | ||||
| Event costs | 27,493 | - | 27,493 | 29,779 |
| Printing and stationery | 1,165 | - | 1,165 | 1,425 |
| Website and media costs | 463 | - | 463 | 8,221 |
| Total fundraising costs | 29,121 | - | 29,121 | 39,424 |
| Charitable activities | ||||
| Donations to special appeals | 466 | 1,034 | 1,500 | - |
| Outreach and governance | 7,276 | - | 7,276 | 14,331 |
| Total charitable activities costs | 7,742 | 1,034 | 8,776 | 14,331 |
| Asset and investment purchases | ||||
| Event equipment | - | - | - | - |
| Computer and office equipment | - | - | - | - |
| Other merchandise | 747 | - | 747 | - |
| Total asset and investments | ||||
| purchases | 747 | - | 747 | - |
| TOTAL PAYMENTS | 37,610 | 1,034 | 38,644 | 53,755 |
| NET RECEIPTS / (PAYMENTS) | 3,883 | (1,000) | 2,883 | 1,493 |
| CASH FUNDS LAST YEAR END | 5,342 | 1,000 | 6,342 | 4,849 |
| CASH FUNDS THIS YEAR END | 9,225 | - | 9,225 | 6,342 |
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STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES
AT 31 MARCH 2024
| Unrestricted | Restricted | Total | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 2024 | 2024 | 2023 | |
| £ | £ | £ | £ | |
| ASSETS | ||||
| Monetary assets | ||||
| Cash at bank | 9,225 | - | 9,225 | 6,342 |
| Total monetary assets | 9,225 | - | 9,225 | 6,342 |
| Non-monetary assets | ||||
| Computer equipment | - | - | - | 1,426 |
| Event equipment | 903 | - | 903 | 956 |
| Copies of book “Britain’s Distant Lands” | 604 | - | 604 | 640 |
| Copies of DVD “Britain’s Distant Lands” | - | - | - | 140 |
| Other merchandise | 1,421 | - | 1,421 | 429 |
| Total non-monetary assets | 2,928 | - | 2,928 | 3,591 |
| TOTAL ASSETS | 12,153 | - | 12,153 | 9,933 |
| LIABILITIES | ||||
| - | - | - | - | |
| TOTAL LIABILITIES | - | - | - | - |
| NET ASSETS / (LIABILITIES) | 12,153 | - | 12,153 | 9,933 |
The notes on page 10 form part of these financial statements.
Approved by the trustees on 20 December 2024 and signed on their behalf by:
Andrew M Fox
Andrew M Fox Simon Leary Trustee (chair) Trustee
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NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
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These financial statements are prepared on a receipts and payments basis, with all revenue and expenses shown on a cash basis. Non-monetary assets and liabilities are shown at estimates of the value at the end of the period.
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No remuneration or expenses were paid to any trustee.
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