Choice Words CIO Charity No 1163536
Trustees’ Annual Report for the year ended 31[st] January 2024
Objectives and Activities
The purpose of Choice Words CIO as detailed in its constitution is:
To run the Christian bookshop, Choice Words, in the South West of England. The CIO aims to further the Christian religion and the beneficiaries of the CIO will be those purchasing and accessing Christian books and associated resources – and these can be individuals, churches, schools and other organisations. Customers include pastors, church leaders, bible students, missionaries, youth workers and the general public. The main retail outlet is in Newton Abbot, Devon. The CIO also provides bookstalls at conferences, exhibitions, festivals and other community events.
At the date of this report, the CIO has not fully taken over the operation of Choice Words. The planned schedule to do this was further delayed by the economic consequences of the pandemic experienced from 2020 to 2022 but also due to staff and volunteer changes during 2023 and also due to the continuing absence of one of the trustees and co-founders of Choice Words during this reporting period. The latter refers to Pamela Brittle who underwent a further lengthy period of recovery and rehabilitation during 2023 after major surgery in December 2022. Bookstall events began to pick up again during the reporting period after ceasing altogether during the pandemic. Of four previous Choice Words bookstall outlets which existed at local churches and a conference centre before the pandemic, three have now permanently closed – however, two new outlets have since opened. The main Newton Abbot shop continued to operate with reduced opening hours of four days per week throughout most of 2023 due to reduced staff availability but this increased to five days per week before the end of 2023 and has since returned to six days (Monday to Saturday) during 2024. An online/telephone order and delivery service continued to be made available for customers as had been offered throughout the pandemic.
As per previous public statements confirming the intention of the CIO to take over the day to day running of operations, the trustees have continued to encourage fundraising activities to make this happen and staff changes during 2023 resulted in the appointment of a new Development Manager who has taken over management of the Friends of Choice Words scheme throughout the year where customers and supporters donate on an annual or monthly membership subscription basis to be a Friend, the proceeds of which go directly to the charity, enabling customers to support the charity and accessing specific member benefits at the same time. A section of the Newton Abbot shop continued to be dedicated to second hand book sales and a significant proportion of these proceeds went directly to the CIO during the reporting period. The Choice Words CIO website, launched in 2019, has continued to be the main public online face of the charity. Ongoing email communications with the Friends, email communications to the local network of South Devon churches and also communications via Choice Words’ Facebook page have continued to raise the profile of Choice Words CIO and awareness of the charity’s mission and vision.
Net income for Choice Words CIO was 3.65% up for the 12 months to 31[st] January 2024 and the cash at bank has continued to increase. As will be shared in the annual report to January 2025, there has been a continued improvement since this time with new staff joining Choice Words, participation in more bookstall events during 2024 and the local Speaking Volumes scheme which enables books and media to be distributed to libraries at schools, prisons and other institutions at no cost to them. In addition, outstanding gift aid applications have been processed with HMRC generating further supplementary income.
Structure, Governance and Management
The charity is established by constitution as a Foundation CIO which was registered with the Charity Commission in England and Wales on 14[th] September 2015 and was amended on 25[th] January 2024. The trustees met together once formally during the year but also remained in regular contact regarding the progress of plans towards the CIO taking over the full operation of Choice Words.
The trustees who served during the year to 31[st] Jan 2024 and up to the date of this report are:
Nigel Brittle (Chair); Edel Brittle; Roy Brittle; Pamela Brittle; Anne Landricombe; Fraser Nute
Confirmed on behalf of the Trustees
Nigel Brittle 29 November 2024
CHOICE WORDS CIO
Receipts and Payments Account for the Year Ended 31[st] January 2024
Income Donations Expenditure Net Income Bank balance at beginning of year Bank balance at end of year Statement of Assets and Liabilities at 31st Cash at bank |
2024 £ 5,215 60 5,155 28,022 33,237 January 2024 33,237 |
2023 £ 5,033 60 4,973 23,049 28,022 28,022 |
|---|---|---|
Note
The trustees confirm, in accordance with the Charitable Incorporated Organisations (General) Regulations 2012, that at the year end the CIO did not have any outstanding guarantees to third parties nor any debts secured on the assets of the CIO.
Approved by the Trustees on 29 November 2024
And confirmed on their behalf by Nigel Brittle (Chair of Trustees)