RG Spaces
Trustees’ Annual Report & Financial Statements for the year
1 November 2022 to 31 October 2023
Trustees’ Annual Report for the year ended 31 October 2023
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 (resigned 31 December2022) Adam Koszary Mark Stanley (resigned 31 July 2023)
We were sad to say goodbye to two tr u stees this year, both of whom have moved from the area.
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.
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Objectives
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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;
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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;
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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 has more or less returned to normal this year after 2 years of pandemic-induced restrictions, followed by a year during which some activities such as the University’s Community Festival were still not revived.
Trustees held two face-to-face meetings but transacted business mainly via email.
| Summary of activities | (a) | (b) | (c) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grant giving | | ||
| Events | | | |
| Website support | | |
Activity for 2023-24
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We expect the current Reading Old Cemetery project to complete just after the end of our 2023-24 financial year.
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Butterflies on the Bridge project will exhibit at Henley River and Rowing Museum in May and we are investigating involvement in the Reading Climate Festival in June.
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We expect to participate and support related organisations in various other festivals.
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Our participation in Reading Museum’s “Reading’s Digital Revolution” project will continue until late 2025.
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We will continue to monitor progress of some local heritage and arts projects to assess whether RG Spaces could/should become more involved
Charitable activities in 2022-2023
Grants – we gave a grant to Reading Museum towards equipment to help oral history collection for their Reading’s Digital Revolution project. A trustee will sit on the project’s steering group from late 2023.
We agreed a grant to Two River Press towards production of a book ‘Beyond the Junction’ on Reading Old Cemetery, to be published late 2024.
We previously pledged a grant to the Christchurch Green Community Group towards a heritage information board to be erected on the Green. This is being carried forward for completion in 2024.
Events – we supported The Friends of the University of Reading with equipment and material loans at the East Reading and UOR Comm u nity Festivals. as well as having our own stands.
We were the guest charity at the Museum of English Rural Life Fledglings with the mini‘cinema’ showing insect life at Reading Old Cemetery.
The info tricycle attended a few other events.
Online – a volunteer continued work on supporting the website ReadingOldCemetery.uk which is being led by Professor Yota Dimitriadi of the University of Reading Institute of Education.
We implemented and continue to host the rgspaces.org. uk/butterflyeffect/… websites, collecting sustainability promises. We still host some other heritage-related mini-websites. These are under review as activity changes. Reading Library has informed us that the holybrook.gallery website is no longer required and that is being decommissioned.
Fundraising: No active fundraising was planned for or needed this year.
Volunteers: the bulk of our administration is undertaken by a trustee/volunteer. We were grateful for the help of a couple of ad hoc volunteers for some events. The Butterflies project is run by a community artist on a voluntary basis. Other activity is undertaken by trustees acting as volunteers.
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
date: 25/1/2024
Name: Jenny Halstead, trustee
Statement of Financial Activities for the year to 31 October 2023
| Note | Unrestricted 2023 |
Restricted 2023 |
Total 2023 |
Total 2022 |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| £ | £ | £ | £ | ||
| A Income & endowments | |||||
| A1 Donations and legacies | 8,000 | 0 | 8,000 | 0 | |
| B Expenditure on | |||||
| B2 Charitable activities | 1 | (458) | 0 | (458) | (9,250) |
| Net income/(expenditure) | 7,542 | 0 | 7,542 | (9,250) | |
| Reconciliation of funds | |||||
| Total funds brought forward | 471 | 0 | 471 | 9,271 | |
| Total funds carried forward | 8,013 | 0 | 8,013 | 471 |
Balance sheet at 31 October 2023 (charity number: 1160023)
| Note | 2023 | 2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| £ | £ | ||
| B Current assets | |||
| B4 Cash at bank (none in hand) | £8,013 | £471 | |
| C Current liabilities | |||
| C1 Creditors: amounts falling due within 1 year | 1 | £6,500 | £1,500 |
| Total net assets or liabilities | £1,513 | (£1,029) | |
| D The funds of the Charity | |||
| D2 Restricted funds | 0 | 0 | |
| D3 Unrestricted funds | £1,513 | (1,029) | |
| Total charity funds | £1,513 | (1,029) |
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 25/1/2024
Notes to the financial statement for the year ended 31 October 2023
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
| Note 1 | |
|---|---|
| Designated for Christchurch Green heritage board(carried forward from 2021-22) | £1,500 |
| Designated for Reading Museum Reading’s Digital Revolution oral history work and exhibitions |
£5,000 |
Trustees also agreed a grant of £2000 towards colour printing of the book on Reading Old Cemetery. This will become due early in our 2023-24 financial year.
There have been no related party transactions in the reporting period that require disclosure.
No staff were employed in the period.