2026-04-05-accounts - Avon Buddhists

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Charitable Incorporated Organisation

Trustees Annual Report 06 Apr 2025 - 05 Apr 2026

Charity number:1169219

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06 04 2025 05 04 2026
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Avon Buddhists

None 1169219 35 Coronation Road Downend Bristol BS16 5SN

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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 Trustee 10/08/2025 To Date Trustees Appointed
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Administrator and primary contact

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, normally held between August and October.

All trustees and staff give their time voluntarily and receive no remuneration or other benefits.

Avon Buddhist Group was set up with the primary purpose of preserving and maintaining the Mahayana Tradition of Tibetan Buddhism and making 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 to bring about some of our objectives:

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, he decided that he needed to be independent, and so council accommodation was acquired.
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 initially held 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.
Social events were organised on special days/celebrations. This gave us the chance to fundraise and get the message out regarding our purposes to a wider audience.
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. A cafe and a social gathering place were discussed, and how these could be realised.
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 allow us to expand our aims into other areas of service.

As in past years, Buddhist teachings are offered to the general public by our resident teacher, Ven. Geshe Lobsang Thinley.

The general programme begins with prayers chanted in Tibetan (with an English translation 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 enhancing well-being and reducing problems. This year, weekend courses were put on hold due to a lack of interest.

The Avon Buddhist Group has had great difficulty fulfilling its core purpose, as there appears to be less interest after the COVID restrictions and the increase in the overall cost of living. We have continued to offer Buddhist teachings to the general public; however, these have become less wellattended.

Due to the above lack of interest, funding and bank account dormancy (see financial review), it was decided by all trustees to consider the dissolution of the charity. A summary of the relevant details of this AGM is as follows:

1. Dr Mark Fahey was appointed as a Trustee to aid with the administration of any such dissolution.

2. As no liquidator will be acting for the CIO, Dr Mark Fahey will be acting on behalf of the trustees in this dissolution process.

3. The winding-up and dissolution process through the Charity Commission requires that we follow section 28 (page 16) of our governing document precisely.

4. Our governing document does not allow a dissolution until all charity assets can be transferred to a charity of our choice.

5. Until these assets are reclaimed or the account is reactivated, the charity will be considered on hold. However, during this time, our website will be dedicated as a teaching resource that will be available to anyone browsing for Avon Buddhists.

Concerns over our decreasing funding have been under review for some time. However, this financial year has been particularly troubling:

1. We had a total lack of funding in the financial year 06 Apr 2025 - 05 Apr 2026.

2. Barclays Bank's unexpected closure of the Avon Buddhist Bank account on 17 April 2025. The reason given was that we had not made any transactions on our account. Although we were notified on 18 December 2024, the notice was sent to Mr Steve Holly’s old address. This was surprising as all correspondence had been redirected to the charity's official address two years before. Clearly, an internal banking error caused this unfortunate event, which could not be rectified post-closure.

Recovering the assets from the dormant account has proven difficult for the following reasons:

The Avon Buddhist bank account is held by the following trustees: i) Mr Ashok Mali, ii) Mr Stephen Holley, iii) Miss Danielle Rose.
The first two signatories are often out of the UK for extended periods; the third signatory was removed as a trustee by the Charity Commission in 2023.
Barclays Bank and the Charity Commission provided advice to help recover the account funds. Unfortunately, this advice has proven unhelpful regarding our particular account type. After some frustrating dead ends, the department responsible for administering the recovery of funds is the Dormancy Team, Barclays Bank, Leicester, LE87 2BB, which can only be contacted in writing.
Responsibility for the recovery of funds is in the hands of the signatories of the account, Mr Ashok Mali and Mr Stephen Holley.
As Dr Mark Fahey is not a signatory on this account, he can only act as an intermediary and collate the information needed to assist in either the recovery of assets or reactivation of the account.
It is important to note that until the dormant funds are returned, Avon Buddhists Charity will remain in a state of Limbo.

Other Financial Information

The funds in the Avon Buddhist PayPal account were unaffected and still accessible. As Dr Mark Fahey had always paid the majority of administration costs since 2017, it was agreed at the 2025 AGM that some of this be used to pay any closing administration costs, with any receipts provided within the appendix of this year's financial submission.

Financial statements and receipts for the year 06 Apr 2025 - 05 Apr 2026 are submitted in the appendices of CC16a.

Mr Ashok Mali Mr Stephen Holley Chairperson Treasurer

31/08/2026