## RG Spaces 

## Trustees’ Annual Report & Financial Statements 

## for the year 

1 November 2021 to 31 October 2022 



**Trustees’ Annual Report for the year ended 31 October 2022** 

## **Reference and administrative information** 

**The name of the charity:** RG Spaces 

**Other names by which the charity makes itself known:** rgspaces 

**Charity Commission number:** 1160023 

**The address of the registered offices of the charity:** 33 Alexandra Rd, Reading RG1 5PG 

**The names of the charity’s trustees:** 

Jenny Halstead Annette Haworth Paul Johnson Adam Koszary Mark Stanley 

**Bank:** Barclays, Broad Street, Reading 

**Insurance:** Zurich 

## **Structure, Governance and Management** 

**The nature of the governing document:** Constitution 

**How the charity is constituted:** as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) 

**Methods for new trustee recruitment:** personal knowledge of relevant professionals 

**Methods for new trustee appointment:** by trustees as laid down in the Constitution. 

## **Public Benefit Statement** 

The Trustees confirm that they have complied with their duty under section 4(6) of the Charities Act 2006 to have due regard to the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit and that the public benefit requirement has informed the activities of the charity in the year covered by this report. 

## **Risks** 

Trustees are confident that financial risk is insignificant due to their reserves policy, and that choice of 

projects to support, and their subsequent management through the Board, will result in the effective and efficient use of resources. 

## **Strategy** 

The Trustees have adopted a strategy of seeking projects which can be worked on jointly with other local organisations having similar cultural and/or heritage interests. The Trustees’ Board acts as Project Board where RG Spaces takes the lead management role in any project. 

**Trustees** 

**Induction:** Potential new trustees will be invited to meet with trustees and to attend Board meetings. All the Charity’s policies are made available and activities described through the website, together with reference to the Charity Commission’s ‘The Essential Trustee’ documentation. 



**Training:** A Trustee/Volunteer actively monitors the charity press and Charity Commission communications. Relevant local training opportunities are monitored mainly through subscribing to Reading Voluntary Action newsletters. 

. 

## **Objectives** 

- a) the advancement of education for the public benefit in particular, but not exclusively, by assisting with the enhancement of publicly accessible spaces in Reading which have educational learning spaces and those provided virtually, through the internet, such as web space, and other media through the provision of human, technical and other resources, grants and other finance; 

- b) the advancement of arts, culture and heritage for the public benefit in particular, but not exclusively, by assisting the publicly accessible work of Reading-based organisations which have these aims through the provision of human, technical and other resources, grants and other finance; 

- c) the beautification of publicly accessible spaces in Reading for the public benefit through the provision of human, technical and other resources, grants and other finance. 

## **Activities** 

Activity began to pick up this year after 2 years of pandemic-induced restrictions, though some events such as the University’s community festival are not due to restart until 2023. The info tricycle attended a few events, we were able to liaise with and subsequently give grants to three community organisations and the Really Local Company and a volunteer has been involved with enhancing a website for a community space. 

Trustees transacted business mainly via email this year. 

|**Summary of activities**|(a)|(b)|(c)|
|---|---|---|---|
|Grant giving||||
|Website support||||



Activity for 2023 

We will: 

- continue to monitor progress of some local heritage and arts projects to assess whether RG Spaces could/should become more involved. At the time of reporting, discussions are ongoing with a member of the University, Friends of Old Reading Cemetery (Econet) and a local publishing house on a possible artist-inspired book and we envisage further, more formal, input to the development of a website. Discussion with the Art Café, Whitchurch, with whom we worked on a large community sculpture in 2019, have just reopened around a community project mooted in 2020 but postponed to 2023 due to the pandemic. 

- increase participation in local heritage/cultural events. 



## **Charitable activities in 2021-2022** 


**Grants** – we gave a grant for a bench in a community garden, incorporating steel from the now demolished gasometer which had become an icon of the Newtown area and wood from a large cedar tree within the nearby Reading Old Cemetery. We supported the purchase of two hanging systems, in the Progress Theatre and the recently opened Biscuit Factory community space, and gave a grant for the a small publicly accessible garden space in front of the Grade II listed St Luke’s Church. 




**Huntley  and Palmers bicentennial celebrations:** – the info tricycle in biscuit-tin livery took part in some events: Joseph Huntley blue plaque unveiling, Museum of English Rural Life ‘visit’ by Mr George Palmer, advertising a Heritage Open Day art exhibition ‘Biscuits and Bricks’, Friends of the University of Reading event on the Huntley and Palmer families. 

**Other Events –** we supported the Friends of Reading Old Cemetery and The Friends of the University of Reading with equipment and material loans at the East Reading Festival and had our own stand - a mini ‘cinema’ for young children to investigate the cemetery and some of its insects. We also attended a work-party day at Reading Old Cemetery but otherwise event activity did not completely pick up to pre-pandemic levels this year. 

**Online** – a volunteer began work on supporting the website ReadingOldCemetery.uk which is being led by Professor Yota Dimetriades of the University of Reading Institute of Education. 

We still host some other heritage related mini-websites: turbocharged, 100.rgspaces, relics.rgspaces, holybrook.gallery. These now need reviewing as activity changes. 

**Fundraising:** No active fundraising was planned for or needed this year. 

**Volunteers:** the bulk of our administration is undertaken by a trustee/volunteer. With few physical events we have not sought to recruit long-term this year but were grateful for the help of a couple of ad hoc volunteers for some events. 

**Other resources:** Website hosting is provided on an ongoing basis free courtesy of a trustee. Trustees and volunteers use their own IT equipment for the Charity’s work. 

## **Finance** 

**Policy on reserves:** the Trustees have a policy of holding enough funds to cover any known liability without relying on any future income. 

**Funds materially in deficit:** none. 

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in notes to the accounts and comply with the charity’s governing document, 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 published on 16 July 2014. 

**This report was approved by the Trustees and signed on their behalf by** 

**Signature:** 

**date:  23/11/2022** 

**Name:   Jenny Halstead, trustee** 



**Statement of Financial Activities for the year to 31 October 2021** 

||**Note**|**Unrestricted**<br>**2022**|**Restricted**<br>**2022**|**Total**<br>**2022**|**Total**<br>**2021**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||£|£|£|£|
|**A Income & endowments**||||||
|A1 Donations and legacies||0|0|0|5,000|
|**B Expenditure on**||||||
|B2 Charitable activities|1|(9,250)|0|(9,250)|(500)|
|**Net income/(expenditure)**||**(9,250)**|**(0)**|**(9,250)**|**4,500**|
|**Reconciliation of funds**||||||
|Total funds brought forward|||0|9,271|5,221|
|**Total funds carried forward**|||**0**|**471**|**9.721**|





## **Balance sheet at 31 October 2021 (charity number: 1160023)** 

||**Note**|**2022**|**2021**|
|---|---|---|---|
|||**£**|**£**|
|**B Current assets**||||
|B4 Cash at bank (none in hand)||471|9,721|
|**C Current liabilities**||||
|C1 Creditors: amounts falling due within 1 year|2|1,500|1,500|
|**Total net assets or liabilities**||**(1,029)**|**8,221**|
|**D The funds of the Charity**||||
|D2 Restricted funds||0|0|
|D3 Unrestricted funds||(1,029)|8,221|
|**Total charity funds**||**(1,029)**|**8,221**|



## **Audit exemption statement** 

With an income of less than £25,000, the Charity is not required to have either an independent examination or audit. In addition, the constitution does not require an audit and the trustees have agreed that no external scrutiny is needed this year. 

Signed 

Name       Jenny Halstead 

Trustee, on behalf of the trustees 

Approved by the trustees on 23/11/2022 



## **Notes to the financial statement for the year ended 31 October 2021** 

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with 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) (effective 1 January 2015) 

|Note 1<br>Grants||
|---|---|
|Progress Theatre|£250|
|Biscuit Factory|£5000|
|Community garden – St Luke’s|£2000|
|CommunityGarden – Newtown ‘heritage’ bench|£2000|
|Note 2||
|Designated for Christchurch Green heritage board|£1,500|



There have been no related party transactions in the reporting period that require disclosure. 

No staff were employed in the period.