## **Charitable Incorporated Organisation** **Trustees Annual Report and Financial Statements Year: 06 Apr 2023 - 05 Apr 2024** **Charity number:1169219** **From To 06 04 2023 05 04 2024** ## **Avon Buddhists** ## **None** **1169219** Registered charity number| **35 Coronation Road Downend Bristol** —— **BS16 5SN** **Mr Ashok Mali Chairperson 20/02/2015 To Date Trustees Appointed Mr Stephen Holley Treasurer 20/02/2015 To Date Trustees Appointed Mr Scott Pomery Secretary 20/02/2015 To Date Trustees Appointed Mr Chris Hill Trustee 20/02/2015 To Date Trustees Appointed** **Dr Mark Fahey** **Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO). An association consisting of everyone who uses the Avon Buddhists or volunteers their time. Trustees are appointed or reappointed annually at the Annual General Meeting held in October.** ## **All trustees and staff give their time voluntary and received no remuneration or other benefits.** **Avon Buddhist Group was set up with the primary purpose to preserve and maintain the Mahayana Tradition of Tibetan Buddhism and make the teachings available to the wider public. Our central tenet is to offer the teachings as a clear path for the future well being and happiness of our community and the wider public. Paramount to this is to provide the right conditions for our spiritual guide, Ven Geshe Lobsang Thinley to teach and give advice. Around him, a small group of dedicated students have gathered in order to bring about some of our objectives. As follows:** **(i) To provide accommodation for the teacher and his day-to-day needs. In the beginning, this was offered by students on a six-monthly basis, but eventually, it was decided that he needed to be independent and so rented accommodation was acquired. The present accommodation above is the principal address of the charity.** **(ii) Provide suitable venues for the teachings to be held. Rented spaces were made available in the local area which gave us the opportunity to advertise** **our events to the public. These were on a weekly basis where a talk was given by the Geshe and then a discussion would follow. Weekend courses were also offered on particular topics every two or three months.** **(iii) Social events were organised on special days/celebrations. This gave us the chance to fund-raise and get the message out regarding our purposes to a wider audience.** **(iv) Business models. Discussion amongst the group on how we can generate a more sustained and stable income rather than relying on donations as our main source. As part of our ethos, we wish to provide not just spiritual/emotional nourishment but physical nourishment/comfort too. The cafe and a social gathering place ideas were discussed and how these could be realised.** **(v) Following on from this point the need for a more substantial space/property is still the next priority: the aim is to bring together all of the above under one roof and thus we hope it would become an integral part of the community and to give us the opportunity to expand our aims into other areas of service.** **After the problems experienced with lockdowns due to Covid 19 and rises in the overall cost of living, our plans in the coming year will attempt to find further means of income and find a space/property as an Avon Buddhist Centre.** **The Avon Buddhist Group had great difficulties providing its core purpose as there apperes less intrest after the covid restrictions and the increase in the overall cost of living. We will continue to offer Buddhist teachings to the general public. These remain on a weekly basis by our resident teacher Ven. Geshe Lobsang Thinley. The general programme begins with offering prayers chanted in Tibetan (although an English translation is there for those who wish to read it), followed by the main topic of the evening. A discussion amongst the group follows. Emphasis is always placed on making the teachings relevant to our everyday experiences with a particular focus on strategies enhancing wellbeing and reducing problems. Similarly, weekend courses are held to give students a more in-depth study of the Buddhist Path by focusing on particular topics in the Canon. These are generally well attended.** **Furthermore, our outreach program will extended to include groups outside the Bristol area. Links to other communities are encouraged who might share common interests. In the past invitations have come from local schools for our teacher to talk about Buddhism to the students as part of their studies on Comparative Religions. Also encouragement in the learning of mindfulness and stress relief techniques to help with their studies and enhance their general health and happiness.** **We will continue to organise social events so we can keep in touch with our extended associate members who are unable to attend regularly. The core group meet fairly often to discuss current needs, progress reports and future projections. Special events to commemorate Losar or Tibetan New Year and to celebrate the birthday of His Holiness the Dalai Lama are organised. Thanks go to the volunteers who give their time and make it all possible.** **During this annual report, the Charity Commission requested the removal of a Trustee under section 178 of the Charities Act 2011.** **----- Start of picture text -----**
|||| |---|---|---| |Concerns over our finances have been in review|for some time. The need to| |reduce our overall costs has meant we have had to consider where our| |priorities lie.|Our primary outgoing|has been the rent on Geshe Thinley’s| |residence.|It has also become apparent that his situation has become difficult| |and inappropriate for his status as a monk and so the need for him to move to| |more suitable accommodation has become absolutely necessary.|In due| |course, placement has been found and while not ideal ie. it is smaller, a single| |room with shared facilities, it is a temporary solution.|However, it is more| |affordable and nearer his place of|work.| |Inquiries concerning finding Geshe Thinley a council accommodation have been| |successful. However, due to the smallness of|his current accommodation,|we| |cannot hold our weekly classes there and have had to look|for alternative| |venues. Fortunately one of our core members has access to a Community| |Room in the block of|flats where she lives. As a resident, she is entitled to hire| |the room at no cost and so this is at present where we hold our meetings.|It is| |a large space with an adjacent kitchen facility so ideal for our purposes.| |Advertising this and other functions are now on our web page.| |Dr Mark Fahey will pay all internet and administration expenses until our| |financial situation improves.| |Since our last review, the organization has continued to function due to the| |generosity of our donors and volunteers. However, regular donations| |generated from our teaching programme have fluctuated from month to| |month making forward planning difficult. For this reson, many of our| |projects have been put on hold for the time being. We hope to bring some| |of these to fruition shortly; to this end, we are looking for sponsors.| **----- End of picture text -----**
**Mail-shots with publicity materials, fundraising events etc at some cost and effort to the volunteers and active members have not generated enough in the past. We continue to inform by email and on our web page about our activities.** **However our catchment is small, relatively speaking, and so it has been decided to spread the net wider, literally on the Net by opening our Facebook and Twitter pages. Posting various Buddhist related topics, articles, teachings etc along with who we are and what we are trying to achieve we hopefully are broadening our appeal.** **Recognising the situation as it has been, our teacher Ven Geshe Thinley took the unprecedented decision to find work in order to help supplement our costs. An excellent cook learnt from his time in his monastery he took courses to up his skills in preparation for the world of work. This while still teaching and carrying on his own personal studies. While it was never our intention for this to happen, his practical solution to all things has stabilised, for the moment at least the drain on the finances. His subsequent move to his present address again has shown his willingness to help lift the financial burden and secure a future for Avon Buddhists.** **Please find statements relating to the relevant financial periods in the appendices of cc16a.** **Mr Ashok Mali Mr Stephen Holley Chairperson Treasurer** **01/11/2024** |**Charity**||**No**||| |---|---|---|---|---| |**Avon Buddhists**||**1169219**||| |**Receipts andpayments accounts**||||**CC16a**| |**For the period**
**from**
~~es~~|**06/04/2023**
**Period start date**
~~ee~~|**Period end date**
**05/04/2024**
**To**
~~ee~~||| ## **Section A Receipts and payments** |||**Unrestricted**
**funds**||**Restricted**
**funds**||**Endowment**
**funds**||**Total funds**|||**Last year**|| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |||**to the nearest £**||**to the nearest £**||**to the nearest £**||**to the nearest £**|||**to the nearest £**|| |**A1 Receipts**||||||||||||| |Donations||**13**||**-**||**-**||**13**|||**5**|| |PayPal Donations
~~Cash at PayPal Account~~||**59**||**-**
**-**||**-**
**-**||**59**|||**287**
**63**|| |||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**|||**-**|| |||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**|||**-**|| |||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**|||**-**|| |||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**|||**-**|| |||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**|||**-**|| |**_Sub total_**_(Gross income for_
_AR)_|_AR)_|**72**||**-**||**-**||**72**|||**365**|| |**A2 Asset and investment sales,**
**(see table).**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**_Sub total_**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**_Total receipts_**
**72**
**-**
**-**
**72**
**365**
~~—————~~||||||||||||| |**A3 Payments**||||||||||||| |RentforSpiritual Teacher||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**|**-**|| |Administration||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**|||**-**|| |Room Rent||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**|||**-**|| |||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**|||**-**|| |||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**|||**-**|| |||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**|||**-**|| |||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**|||**-**|| |||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**|||**-**|| |||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**|||**-**|| |**_Sub total_**||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**|||**-**|| |**A4 Asset and investment**
**purchases, (see table)**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**_Sub total_**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**_Total payments_**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
~~——=———~~||||||||||||| |**_Net of receipts/(payments)_**
**72**
**-**
**-**
**72**
**68**
**A5 Transfers between funds**
**- -**
**-**
**-**
**A6 Cash funds last year end**
**3,722**
**- -**
**3,722**
**3,654**
**_Cash funds this year end_**
**3,794**
**-**
**-**
**3,794**
**3,722**
~~SSSS~~||||||||||||| CCXX R1 accounts (SS) 01/11/2020 1 ## **Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period** ||**Unrestricted**
**Restricted**
**Endowment**| |---|---| |**Categories**|**funds**
**funds**
**funds**
**Details**| ||**to nearest £**
**to nearest £**
**to nearest £**| |**B1 Cash funds**|**3,449**
**-**
**-**
**345**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**3,794**
**-**
**-**
**_Total cash funds_**
Cash at Bank
Cash at PayPal
~~—====~~| ||(agree balances with receipts and payments| ||OK
OK
OK
account(s))| ||**Unrestricted**
**Restricted**
**Endowment**| ||**funds**
**funds**
**funds**| ||**to nearest £**
**to nearest £**
**to nearest £**
**Details**| |**B2 Other monetary assets**|**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
~~—_——~~| ||**Fund to which**
**asset belongs**
**Cost (optional)**
**Current value**
**(optional)**
**Details**| |**B3 Investment assets**|**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
~~at~~| |**B4 Assets retained for the**
**charity’s own use**|**Fund to which**
**asset belongs**
**Cost (optional)**
**Current value**
**(optional)**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Details**
~~matt~~| ||**Fund to which**
**Amount due**
**When due**| |**B5 Liabilities**|**liability relates**
**(optional)**
**(optional)**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Details**
~~ae~~| |Signed by one or two trustees on
behalf of all the trustees|Date of
approval
**01/11/2024**
**01/11/2024**
Print Name
Mr Ashok Mali
Mr Stephen Holley
Signature
~~——=~~| CCXX R2 accounts (SS) 2 01/11/2020 **Appendix (I): Avon Buddhists Barclay's Account (73323595) 06/04/2023-0S/04/2024** ## Avon Buddhists Statements 06/04/2023 Through 05/04/2024 (in U.K. Pounds Sterling) |Avon Buddhists Statements
06/04/2023 Through 05/04/2024 (in U.K. Pounds Sterling)|Avon Buddhists Statements
06/04/2023 Through 05/04/2024 (in U.K. Pounds Sterling)|Avon Buddhists Statements
06/04/2023 Through 05/04/2024 (in U.K. Pounds Sterling)|| |---|---|---|---| |Date
Account
Num
Description
Memo
**BALANCE 05/04/2023**
19/05/2023 Avon Buddhi...
Direct Credit From Amazon Europe
Ref:- 6577638589667777699664
**TOTAL 06/04/2023 - 05/04/2024**
**BALANCE 05/04/2024**
21/10/2024|||Category
Amount
**3,435.29**
Other Income:Gifts Received
13.41
**13.41**
**3,448.70**
**TOTAL INFLOWS**
**13.41**
**TOTAL OUTFLOWS**
**0.00**
**NET TOTAL**
**13.41**
Page 1| ||||| ||**BALANCE 05/04/2023**||| |||19/05/2023 Avon Buddhi...
Direct Credit From Amazon Europe
Ref:- 6577638589667777699664|| |||**TOTAL 06/04/2023 - 05/04/2024**|| ||**BALANCE 05/04/2024**||| ||||| **Appendix (II): Avon Buddhists PayPal Account 06/04/2023-05/04/2024** 21/10/2024 Page 1 ## Avon Buddhists PayPal Statment 06/04/2023 Through 05/04/2024 (in U.K. Pounds Sterling) |Date
Account
Description
Memo
Category
Amount|Date
Account
Description
Memo
Category
Amount|Date
Account
Description
Memo
Category
Amount| |---|---|---| |||| |**BALANCE 05/04/2023**
**286.71**||| |

|29/04/2023 AB PayPal
PayPal
5JU05863JL996925P
Account Hold for Open Authorisati...
-2.06
29/04/2023 AB PayPal
eBay Commerce U... 76P68107D9020972G
Express Checkout Payment
-2.06
29/04/2023
AB PayPal
PayPal
5TB54362LR469682J
Reversal of General Account Hold
2.06|| |

|03/05/2023 AB PayPal
Dental Sky Wholes...7N535322CX331013M
Error:Wrong PayPal account Use...
-59.87
03/05/2023 AB PayPal
Tanya Liddiatt
0K914403PH7241920
Donation Payment
9.66
07/05/2023
AB PayPal
Dental SkyWholes...
17K82781F5100121Y
Error:WrongPayPal account Use...
-58.32|| |

|10/06/2023 AB PayPal
Mark Fahey
2KT741276Y327391E
Error Correction
116.34
10/06/2023 AB PayPal
Mark Fahey
71B88789FP316990S Split
Error Correction
1.85
10/06/2023
AB PayPal
Mark Fahey
71B88789FP316990S Split
Donation Payment
2.88|| |

|25/06/2023 AB PayPal
Tanya Liddiatt
42S88360V02891811
Donation Payment
9.66
25/08/2023 AB PayPal
Tanya Liddiatt
3H024666UL314903B
Donation Payment
4.73
26/08/2023
AB PayPal
Tanya Liddiatt
1KN8353687746952K
Donation Payment
9.66|| |
|01/11/2023 AB PayPal
Tanya Liddiatt
6TH49241R12633105
Donation Payment
14.59
02/02/2024 AB PayPal
Tanya Liddiatt
2FC24040EN604012B
Donation Payment
9.66|| ||**TOTAL 06/04/2023 - 05/04/2024**|**58.78**| |**BALANCE 05/04/2024**||**345.49**| |||| |||**TOTAL INFLOWS**
**181.09**| |||**TOTAL OUTFLOWS**
**-122.31**| |||**NET TOTAL**
**58.78**| |||**TOTALDONATION**
**58.78**|