2020-12-31-accounts - Alliance Francaise D'oxford

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Alliance française d'Oxford Annual Trustees’ report for 2020

The Mission

The mission of the Alliance française d'Oxford continues to be the promotion of French language and francophone cultures in Oxford. The decline of French and generally modern languages as a choice in A levels, and the current political uncertainty as to the future relationship of the UK with Europe, makes this mission all the more relevant today.

Main achievements

The achievements of Alliance française d'Oxford in 2020 were:

OUR FRENCH CLASSES

When the global COVID-19 pandemic forces us into lockdown, we managed to keep our students online and through pro-active work, to maintain the number of students registered with us, although quite a few children classes had to be shut down through lack of registrations.
The switch to online teaching was operated quickly & effectively
We offered training to most of our teachers to improve their use of the virtual tools and teaching support for online classes
We maintained French Diploma Exam sessions in December 2020 with a COVID-safe protocol and welcomed 21 candidates

OUR CULTURAL EVENTS

In terms of cultural activities, we programmed 35 events, including a Francophonie festival, but had to cancel 5 due to the pandemic. We had to switch to an online offer after the first lockdown in March 2020 but managed to maintain our main Festival event, a free conference with author Faïza Guene, whose book “Kiffe Kiffe Demain” is on the A-level syllabus. More than 110 A-level students came to event at the Taylorian Institute, which was in partnership with the University of Oxford Modern Languages department

We are the Alliance française d'Oxford

the charity whose mission is to promote French language and culture in Oxford

30 Polstead Rd, 1[st] Floor, Oxford, OX2 6TN

www.af-oxford.org Charity Registration No. 1163206

Another successful free online conference about James Tissot with the curator from Musée D’Orsay exhibition attracted 56 attendees.
Finally, our offer for children included an in-person event at Pitt Rivers – children’s treasure hunt on the theme of masks and vocabulary of identity.

OUR OUTREACH WITH SCHOOLS

In 2020, we delivered 7 workshops in schools, 4 of which were free
We also organised a French pop video workshop at St Joseph Primary School
We received six applications for our new A-level scholarship and the winning applicant is still benefiting from the scholarship or a year and a half.

Objectives for 2021

The objectives for 2021 are to maintain student registration numbers post-pandemic and to adapt our online/onsite class offering to suit the modified habits of our students. It will be important to reconquer our young students.

In the longer term, the charity needs to prepare for the context of post-Brexit recruitment. We are also planning to restart our charitable outreach programme with schools and preschoolers when social distancing measures have relaxed.

Governance

A resolution was proposed to simplify the provisions in the AFO constitution relating to the election and retirement of trustees, as detailed in the notice sent to members with the notice of the AGM. The new provisions should be more practical while still enabling sufficient refreshment of the trustee group. Members were asked to vote on the resolution, which was duly approved. The amended constitution was registered with the Charity Commission

We are the Alliance française d'Oxford

the charity whose mission is to promote French language and culture in Oxford

30 Polstead Rd, 1[st] Floor, Oxford, OX2 6TN

www.af-oxford.org

Charity Registration No. 1163206

Finances

The charity managed to create a surplus of £12,000 despite the upheaval of moving to an online environment. This was due in part to the fact that an online summer offer was created for the first time, which increased revenue from classes subscription. While in lockdown, through the course of the summer, more adult students decided to opt for online tuition. Meanwhile the charity saw an increase in requests for private online tuition, and this boosted revenue. To maintain registration numbers in a uncertain climate, the trustees approved a discount of 20% for private tuition and 10% for group classes which as effective in maintaining revenue. This compensated a loss in revenue in the children classes, as parents did not want to continue online lessons after a full day of online schooling.

The significant costs continue to be salaries and rent. However, an early discussion took place with the landlord, who offered a “Covid” rent reduction. Significant costs related to office expenses were reduced because of the lockdown.

A grant of £4,300 was received from the IF/French government to cover the costs of the Festival which was a great success before the lockdown forced the charity to cancel some events. £1,300 was spent on the Festival de la Francophonie.

Early on in the life of the AFO, the trustees took the decision to ensure a buffer and put aside a modest amount of profit each year for a rainy day, so that the charity is on a position to run/meet its forward oligations for a year at least in the event that there was a important set-back.

This year, the AFO has a deposit/reserves account of £30k vs £28k last year.

The charity remains in a good financial position.

We are the Alliance française d'Oxford

the charity whose mission is to promote French language and culture in Oxford

30 Polstead Rd, 1[st] Floor, Oxford, OX2 6TN www.af-oxford.org Charity Registration No. 1163206

CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES Alllancè franGaise d'Oxfor(I Recei ts and ments accounts CC16a For the period from To 01101r2020 3111212020 Section A Receipts and payments Unrestrlcted funds Restricted funds to th• noarost e Endowmènt lunds tothe nwresl £ Total funds Last year to nur•8t totho nrn*t£ A1 R•cel 176 J20 1$2 888 ACTIVITIES TEACHING ROOM LETTINGS BANK INTEREST RECEWED Grani COVID parthic Clien15 CdI18 176 320 4099 55 4292 110 ross Income or 167 04Z AR) 1T6 459 4292 180 751 an see tabl• . ment 80 Total rn¢elpts lllo 7$1 A3Pa ments COST OF SALES EMPLOYEE PAYROLL RENTAL EXPENSES WEBSITE AND ITCOSTS TRAVEL ADVERTISING PAYROLL SERVICESI LEGAL. PROFESSIONALAND OTHER 65 B97 fja OB1 17 4B1 3184 505 2T29 65 897 68 OB1 17481 3184 105 2729 46912 71654 20 930 3248 441 YOBf 1806 5069 MEALS ENTERTAINMENT ANO STAFF OFFICE GENERAL ADMINISTPATfvE PE PRINTING. PHOTOCOPIER. POSTAGE ND TATI OTHER Office refurbishmeniexp8nses COVID related expenses 136r 365B 1367 1 867 1263 6991 t341 1125 1 341 1125 3433 34J3 3433 167311 Sub total 183878 186 088 A4 A8a•t and Inv88tmont 2T38 2979 1 342 lvl Mle ment ITando h r fumltu Sub total 70fj9 163 878 3433 167311 173145 Net of rnceipW(payments) A5 Transfers be88n funds A8 Co$h fund8 last year ond Cash fund$ this end 12581 859 13440 6103 49 63 070 62 211 859 49 830 CCXX R18ccouni6 ISSI 1010612021

Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period Unrfrstrlcted fund to n?aro8t E Rè8trtcteil fund to nearn•t E Endowmem fund8 to noareBt£ Categories Details 81 Cash funds BBnk- Curnantknwnl 32 132 Bank. reseNes Armunt 30 030 Pety CBsh Covid Gtsnt 49 B59 Total cash fvnds 82211 859 iagmo rgwpllAM paymeni8 Unmtrl¢ted fundg R¢8trl¢td lund8 to nearest£ Endowmgnt lund8 to n8are8t£ Detslls to nparost£ FuTrd towhlch AM•t bfrlon Current valuo Dtsttlls Cc•t loptlona Ftrnd to which bBIo Unre8iri¢tea Currontv•luo Details AUDIOVISUAL EQUIPEMENT CoJt{optionall 5749 84 Assets retained for the ¢hrity'$ own use FURNITURE Unresthcted 7154 If and oth un$tcted 2171 Fund to whlch rolate8 iountduo tlon•l ¥1 Detall$ 86 Llabllltlo8 Signed by one or iwo truste8s on behawof all the tru8t8es Signatur8 Print Name Dale of roval Peterknderson 10th June 2021 CCXX R2 accounts Issi 101(bll021

ALLIANCE FRANGAISE D'OXFORD INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S REPORT YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020 I report lo the Iruslees on my examination of the financial statements ol Alliance Franpise d'oxford I'lhe charity'l for the year ended 31 De¢ember 2020. Re8ponsibilitia$ and basis of report As the Iruslee of the charity you are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 20111'the Act'}. I report in respect of my examination of the charity's financial stslemenls 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 14515llbl of the Act. Indepondent 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.. accounting records were not kept in respect of the charity as required by section 130 of the Act,. or the financial slalements do not accord with those records., or the financial slalements do not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content of accounts sel out in the Charities IAccounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accoun15 give a 'true and fair, view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination. 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 reaehed. a 4L. A Churchill Stone FCA DChA Mercer Lewin Ltd Chartered Accountants 41 Cornmarket Street Oxford OX1 3HA 10 June 2021