## **Annual Trustees Report 2023** 

This was a year of mixed fortunes. On the negative side, the impact of the costof-living crisis on the price of building materials meant a further upward revision of the estimated costs of the St Grade Church restoration project. Phase One (the re-roofing of St Grade) would now cost £195K, as compared with £140K only a year ago.  This was potentially dispiriting news, but we are a resilient group, and the situation led us to rethink our strategy. 

First we began to look at ways in which the costs of the re-roofing phase could be reduced, possibly by using less expensive slates or by employing an alternative contractor, though of course the conditions laid down in the Diocesan Faculty and in Grade One Listed status will have to be respected. Second, we decided now was the time to consider approaching  major grantawarding bodies like the National Churches Trust (NCT) and the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) with a view to securing the large awards needed to bring us to our target. By the end of the year, our (two-stage) application to NCT was already underway, and we had started to prepare an HLF Project Enquiry Form in consultation with the Principal Historic Environment Officer at Cornwall Council. Finally we looked at ways of improving our fundraising resources. To this end we installed a battery-powered card reader in the Church to offer our many visitors an additional method of making donations. This quickly proved remunerative. We also decided to transfer £50K from our bank account to a new investment account with Churches, Charities and Local Authorities (CCLA). At the current rates of interest, this promises to bring in at least £2000 a year. 

Our fundraising efforts brought in £11.5K in 2023. Our ‘Buy a Slate’ appeal via Just Giving and the various other routes for private donations accounted for nearly half of this total, and included a generous contribution of £2000 from our Parochial Church Council (PCC). We were also boosted at the start of the year by a grant of £2500 from the Grade Ruan Community Trust. Our diverse fundraising events included Village Hall Jazz concerts in March and December, Coronation Teas in May, our usual lucrative midsummer combined event of Cream Teas/Jazz in the Garden, a Cadgwith Singers concert at Grade Church in September, and Christingle at St Grade before Christmas. This high level of activity reflects the strength of community support our campaign enjoys. Not 


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only do we have a growing band of activists we can rely on to help out at events, but there are also an increasing number of supporters who organize events on our behalf, or are willing to perform or play music free of charge at our own fundraising events. Our local theatre group _Ruan Revellers_ are once again planning to donate the proceeds of their next show to our campaign.  For this reason, we  look forward with growing confidence to 2024. 

## **On behalf of the Trustees** 

**Brian Jenkins, Treasurer** _**Friends of St Ruan and St Grade Historic Church Buildings**_ **27.05.24** 


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## FRIENDS OF ST RUAN & ST GRADE ANNUAL ACCOUNTS TO 31 DECEMBER 2023 

|2023|||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||||INCOME|AND EXPENDITURE|||
|Income||||||TOTAL INCOME|
|||||||12370.25|
|Subs & Renewals|||349.59||Expenditure||
|Gif Aid Tax|||0.00||||
|Life Membership||(Note 1)|0.00||Fund Raising costs|1031.37|
|Donatons|||26.51||Insurance|100.80|
|Interest|||514.57|890.67|Capital Costs|0.00|
||||||Post & Statonery|0.00|
||||||Subscriptons|0.00|
|Grade Appeal|2021||||Sundries|16.34 1148.51|
|Merchandise|131.60 Buy a Slate||1459.97||||
|Gif Aid Tax|||0.00||||
|Donatons|||4242.52||||
|Life Membership|||0.00||||
|Events|||3145.49||||
|Grants|||2500.00|11479.58|||



TOTAL EXPENDITURE 1148.51 

NET INCOME (DEFICIT) OVER EXPENDITURE 11221.74 

|BALANCE SHEET|
|---|
|Cash<br>80.75|
|Investment accou 50040.00|
|Bank<br>12466.98|
|TOTAL FUNDS 62587.73|



## Proft and Loss a/c 

Balance carried forward 51365.99 Profit (Loss) current year 11221.74 62587.73 

AUDITOR'S REPORT 



From the books and paperwork provided, I have examined the accounts for the year ending 31st December 2023 

Friends of St Ruan and St Grade Historic Church Buildings 


q5 


/2024