RG Spaces
Trustees’ Annual Report & Financial Statements
for the year
1 November 2023
to 31 October 2024
Trustees’ Annual Report for the year ended 31 October 2024
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
Adam Koszary Hannah Lyons (from January 2024)
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 Board members, 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 or individuals having similar cultural and/or heritage interests. If RG Spaces takes the lead management role in a project, the Trustees’ Board acts as Project Board.
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 (RVA) newsletters and the Organisation is a member of RVA.
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
Trustees held one face-to-face meeting and transacted business mainly via email.
Our charitable activity during this year has been mainly through grant giving, involvement in a couple of projects and participation in events. A fuller list is given below.
Activity for 2024-2025
The Reading Old Cemetery book project completion has been delayed and we now expect it to complete 1- 2Q25.
Butterflies on the Bridge project will shortly end at Henley River & Rowing Museum.
We expect to participate and support related organisations in various festivals.
We will investigate helping mount exhibitions around the textile artist’s local history theme.
Our participation in Reading Museum’s “Reading’s Digital Revolution” project will continue until late 2025.
We will continue to monitor progress of some local heritage and arts projects to assess whether RG Spaces could/should become more involved, in particular seeking those which could benefit from both a modest grant and from our involvement.
Charitable activities in 2023-2024
Grants - Last year we agreed a grant to Reading Museum towards equipment to help oral history collection. The initial use was for their Reading’s Digital Revolution project this year. The project created small exhibitions in Reading Museum and at the National Computer Museum to mark DEC’s arrival in Reading 60 years ago. The next phase towards a more general exhibition in 2025 has begun. This project is run by RM and one of our trustees sits on the steering group.
We had previously agreed a grant to Two River Press towards production of a book ‘Beyond the Junction’ on Reading Old Cemetery. Work has continued fitfully and publication has been delayed by approximately 6 months. One of our trustees is also the book’s illustrator and is a member of the project’s steering group.
We previously pledged a grant to the Christchurch Green Community Group towards a heritage information board to be erected on the Green. They completed the project this year.
We agreed a grant to a textile artist who is interpreting local history through the exhibiting of doll-like figures, storytelling, booklet publication and video creation.
Events - We supported The Friends of the University of Reading with equipment and material loans at the East Reading, Lower Earley and University of Reading Community Festivals and at the Freshers’ Community Fair, as well as having our own stands at some events. Butterfly installations were created on bridges over the Kennet river at the Oracle shopping centre in support of Reading’s Climate Festival, at East Reading Festival and at the Henley River & Rowing Museum.
Online - A volunteer continued work on supporting the website ReadingOldCemetery.uk which is being led by Professor Yota Dimetriades of the University of Reading Institute of Education. We continue to host and maintain the rgspaces.org.uk/butterflies website, which has collected around 650 sustainability promises. We host some other heritagerelated mini-websites. These are under review 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. We were grateful for the help of a couple of ad hoc volunteers for some events. The Butterflies project was 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.
Policy on reserves: the Trustees have a policy of holding enough funds to cover any known liability without relying on any future income.
none. Funds materially in deficit:
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 on 6 November 2024 and signed on their behalf by
Name: Annette Haworth , trustee date: 6 November 2024
Statement of Financial Activities for the year to 31 October 2024
| Note | 2024 | 2023 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | £ | £ | |
| A Income & endowments | |||
| A1 Donations | 10,000 | 8,000 | |
| B expenditure on | |||
| B2 Charitable activities | 2 | 8864 | 458 |
| Net income/(expenditure) | 1136 | 7542 | |
| Reconciliation of funds | |||
| Total funds brought forward | 8013 | 471 | |
| Total funds carried forward | 9149 | 8013 |
Balance sheet at 31 October 2024 (charity number: 1160023)
| Note | 2024 | |
|---|---|---|
| £ | ||
| B Current assets | ||
| B4 Cash at bank(none in hand) | 9149 | |
| C Current liabilities | ||
| C1 Creditors amount fallingdue in oneyear | 3 | 2296 |
| Total net assets or liabilities | 6853 | |
| D The funds of the Charity | ||
| D3 Unrestricted funds | 6853 |
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 Annette Haworth Trustee, on behalf of the trustees Approved by the trustees on 12/2/2025
Notes to the financial statement for the year ended 31 October 2024
Note 1
All funds are unrestricted in this and the previous financial year.
Note 2
| Note 2 | |
|---|---|
| Heritage board – Christchurch Green CommunityGroup | £1609 |
| Textile artist – video/pamphlets/materials etc. | £2255 |
| Reading’s Digital Revolution – ReadingMuseum exhibition etc. | £5000 |
Note 3 (Items not yet paid out)
| Note 3 (Items not yet paid out) | |
|---|---|
| Grant towards Beyond the Junctionprinting (project delayed) | £2000 |
| Reimburse expenditure on stationary, printing,insurance,ERF | £296 |
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)
There have been no related party transactions in the reporting period that require disclosure. No staff were employed in the period.