## **Ipswich Hindu Samaj Secretary’s Report 2025** We have consolidated our position over the last year, there areas of improvement in our finances, membership is stable, and we have run a significant number of events. We have been involved in the community and the Samaj is offering additional services to our members. ## **1. Membership** We are currently at 56 annual family or single members and 20 life members. It would be good to increase membership, and we welcome suggestions from members as to how we can do this. The Finance report gives a breakdown of the income we receive from our members. The Charity is stable, but we need to consider increasing our annual membership fees as our biggest cost is in renting the premises we are currently using. We also need to consider how feasible it will be to move to new premises as the current premises does not have sufficient capacity for the numbers of people who are now attending our major events. ## **2. Events Held by the IHS in 2024** The table below illustrates the events that have been held at the Samaj premises or in Ipswich. |**Month**|**Event**| |---|---| |Apr-24|Hindu Nav Varsh / Gudi Padwa / Ugadi / Telugu
New Year and Chaitra Navratri| ||Chaitra Shri Ram Navami| ||Hanuma Janam-Utsav| |May-24|Narasimha Jayanti| |Jun-24|Shani Jayanti| |Jul-24|Guru Purnima| |Aug-24|Shravan Mass - NagPanchami| ||Raksha Bandhan, Gayatri Janyanti and Shravan
Purinma| ||Varalakshmi Pooja| ||Shri Krishna Janmashtami| |Sep-24|Ganesh Chathurti| |Oct-24|Navratri| ||Karwa Chauth| |Nov-24|Dipawali| ||Goverdhan/Annakut| ||Bhaiya Dooj| ||Shirdi and Sathya Sai Puja| ||Satsang| |Dec-24|Bhagavad Gita Slokas| ||Shri Sathya Narayan Vrat Katha| ||Ramayan Path| I would like to thank everyone involved with these events, and in particular Dr Pravin Desai and the Marathi community working with the IHS to organise the Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations in 2024. Various events and competitions were held involving the wider community and this contributed to our overall success. The Navarati event held by the IHS drew in many memebers and their familes with people coming from the surrounding counties to attend over the weekend. There were approximately 140 people on the Friday evening and 200 people on the Saturday evening. A special mention goes to Thanusha Soni for working tirelesly over the two days selling raffle tickets. Seema Shrivastav has taken a lead in our Karva Chauth events in previous years and did not disappoint again in 2024. We also thank Dipika Thakerar and Lovleen Sargent for their dedication and support over the years in looking after, cleaning and clothing our Deities at the Mandir. Finally, I have to thank our Chairman Dr Sachin Karale for his unwavering support of the Samaj not only from a volunteering perspective but also from sponsoring varous events, providing Prasad at the weekends and for working behind the scenes to engage members of the Hindu community to come and support the Samaj. The IHS is a Limited Company with Guarantee (No:9817054) and Charity (No:1165048) ## **Ipswich Hindu Samaj Secretary’s Report 2025** ## **3. IHS in the Community** Listed below are a few of the events that your Committee and Samaj members have been involved in representing the Hindu Community:- ## • **Amnesty International Thanksgiving** The IHS was represented at the Amnesty International Thanksgiving service held at the Unitarian Meeting House to mark the 50th Anniversary of the founding of Ipswich Amnesty Group which started there. The event was attended by several faiths and the Lord Mayor of Ipswich. ## • **One Big Multicultural Festival** A whole day event to promote the Ipswich Hindu Samaj run by the BCS Multicultural Services and sponsored by Dr Sachin Karale. Our thanks to all of the committee members and Samaj members who turned up on the day to support this event. ## • **Ipswich Remembrance Day Service** The Service took part at the cenotaph in Christchurch Park, first unveiled 100 years ago in May 1924,which bears 2,811 names from both World Wars and later conflicts, many of whose families still live in Ipswich today. The IHS represented the many Indians who supported or took part in both wars, who gave their lives for freedom from tyranny. - **School visits** Sanjaya Martin Spettigue as in previous years lead and hosted school visits at the Mandir for schools wishing to learn about Hinduism. These a re a good way to inform and educate children of other faiths as is evident from the letters received by Martin from the school children and displayed on the boards at the Mandir. ## • **End of Life Prayers and Ceremony at Bury Hospital** From time to time the IHS receives requests to provide end of life prayers for Hindus from our surrounding counties where there may not be a Mandir or Priest available. Pandit Premchand Thug and Raj Mistry answered a request from the Chaplin at Bury St Edmunds Hospital and visited a terminally ill lady whose husband had requested a Hindu priest. ## **4. Financial Report** Our thanks to Vinor Masani and Pradip Ghosh for taking on the Treasurer and Assistant Treasurer posts. They have worked tirelessly to ensure our accounts are sound not only from a membership perspective but also from tracking donations made at all of our events. Details can be found in the Treasurers report. The IHS is a Limited Company with Guarantee (No:9817054) and Charity (No:1165048) ## **Ipswich Hindu Samaj Secretary’s Report 2025** ## **5. Members Support Always Welcome** As with most Charities, all of the work for the charity is done by volunteers. In that respect we would like to encourage more members to come forward and volunteer to help with events, open the temple or bring along suggestions of what else we can do to make our Samaj even better. ## **6. Thank You to all of our Volunteers** I have already mentioned some specific individuals for their help in running our events. I would like to express specific appreciation to Pandit Ji Premchand, his wife Rosey and Krishna whose dedication to the temple is unwavering. Without their support we would not have been able to run many of the events that were held in 2024. They are a shining example of dedicated service to the community. We also thank the Marathi, Telegu, Bangladeshi and Tamil communities, for supporting and taking part in our events. A special thank you goes to our volunteers on the committee ( Sachin Karale, Martin Spettigue, Vinod Masani, Pradip Ghosh, Thanusha Soni, Krishan Pillay, Bhima Vungarala) and Temple Rota (Debarata Chowdhuri, Vijaya Mitnala, Ritwik Mangal, Punna Athwall, Srikanth Konda) for their support during the year. ## **7. Concluding Remarks** We want to grow our Samaj and move to new premises going forward. With your support I know we can achieve both. We look forward to seeing you all in the coming months, volunteering and taking part in the events that are being organised. If you have any questions, suggestions or feedback than please contact me at secretary@theihs.co.uk. Raj Mistry IHS Secretary The IHS is a Limited Company with Guarantee (No:9817054) and Charity (No:1165048) **Ipswich Hindu Samaj Summary of Unaudited Accounts 2024** **----- Start of picture text -----**
The Ipswich Hindu Samaj Limited (Charity No 1165048)
Income and Expenditure Account as on 31-12-2024
Item# 2024 2023
Full Family Membership £ 750.00 £ 450.00
Single Membership £ 460.00 £ 80.00
Life Membership £ 900.00 £ -
Associate Membership £ - £ 45.00
Donations - Classes £ 717.00 £ 13,441.52
Gift Aid Tax Return £ 4,982.43 £ -
Fund Raising & Local Giving £ 3,967.00 £ 130.51
Rent Received £ 95.00 £ 45.00
Event sponsorships £ 4,171.50 £ -
Donations - Temple Collections £ 7,545.78 £ -
Donations - SOM (Regular Monthly) £ 4,117.00 £ 4,678.84
Interest £ 1,336.21 £ 1,000.70
Petty Cash £ 225.92 £ -
TOTAL INCOME (A) £ 29,267.84 £ 19,871.57
Postage £ - £ -
Stationary £ - £ 21.00
Expenditure £ 965.02 £ -
Insurance & Advertising £ 1,543.67 £ 212.80
Hire Charges £ 540.00 £ 516.50
Fund Raising Expenses £ - £ 417.60
Professional Fees + NIC £ 13.00 £ 13.00
Phone £ - £ 567.28
Membership £ 100.00 £ 100.00
Maintenance & Cleaning £ 335.00 £ 512.10
Fixtures & Fittings £ 43.46 £ 39.22
Office Furniture £ - £ -
Donation £ 100.00 £ -
Rent & Service Charges £ 14,374.27 £ 18,289.64
Electricity £ 1,172.67 £ 1,210.76
Repairs & Enhancements £ - £ -
Restricted Grants Expenses £ - £ 143.88
DBS £ 12.00 £ -
TOTAL EXPENDITURE (B) £ 19,199.09 £ 22,043.78
SURPLUS/DEFICIT (C) = (A) - (B) £ 10,068.75 -£ 2,172.21
Starting Balance 0n 01-01-2024 (D) £ 82,152.81 £ 82,407.80
Ending Balance 0n 31-12-2024 = (D + C) £ 92,221.56
Vinod Masani, Treasurer VM
Pradip Ghosh, Asst. Treasurer PG
INCOME
EXPENDITURE
**----- End of picture text -----**
The IHS is a Limited Company with Guarantee (No:9817054) and Charity (No:1165048) **Ipswich Hindu Samaj Summary of Unaudited Accounts 2024** **----- Start of picture text -----**
The Ipswich Hindu Samaj Limited (Charity No 1165048)
Income and Expenditure Account as on 31-12-2024
Item# 2024 2023
Full Family Membership £ 750.00 £ 450.00
Single Membership £ 460.00 £ 80.00
Life Membership £ 900.00 £ -
Associate Membership £ - £ 45.00
Donations - Classes £ 717.00 £ 13,441.52
Gift Aid Tax Return £ 4,982.43 £ -
Fund Raising & Local Giving £ 3,967.00 £ 130.51
Rent Received £ 95.00 £ 45.00
Event sponsorships £ 4,171.50 £ -
Donations - Temple Collections £ 7,545.78 £ -
Donations - SOM (Regular Monthly) £ 4,117.00 £ 4,678.84
Interest £ 1,336.21 £ 1,000.70
Petty Cash £ 225.92 £ -
TOTAL INCOME (A) £ 29,267.84 £ 19,871.57
Postage £ - £ -
Stationary £ - £ 21.00
Expenditure £ 965.02 £ -
Insurance & Advertising £ 1,543.67 £ 212.80
Hire Charges £ 540.00 £ 516.50
Fund Raising Expenses £ - £ 417.60
Professional Fees + NIC £ 13.00 £ 13.00
Phone £ - £ 567.28
Membership £ 100.00 £ 100.00
Maintenance & Cleaning £ 335.00 £ 512.10
Fixtures & Fittings £ 43.46 £ 39.22
Office Furniture £ - £ -
Donation £ 100.00 £ -
Rent & Service Charges £ 14,374.27 £ 18,289.64
Electricity £ 1,172.67 £ 1,210.76
Repairs & Enhancements £ - £ -
Restricted Grants Expenses £ - £ 143.88
DBS £ 12.00 £ -
TOTAL EXPENDITURE (B) £ 19,199.09 £ 22,043.78
SURPLUS/DEFICIT (C) = (A) - (B) £ 10,068.75 -£ 2,172.21
Starting Balance 0n 01-01-2024 (D) £ 82,152.81 £ 82,407.80
Ending Balance 0n 31-12-2024 = (D + C) £ 92,221.56
Vinod Masani, Treasurer VM
Pradip Ghosh, Asst. Treasurer PG
INCOME
EXPENDITURE
**----- End of picture text -----**
The IHS is a Limited Company with Guarantee (No:9817054) and Charity (No:1165048)