2021-03-31-accounts - Alliance Francaise De York

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DocuSign Envelope ID: E6218358-7857-422F-814F-8B92CD6CE310

ALLIANCE FRANÇAISE DE YORK

Registered Charity Number: 1171386 Company Number: CE008958

TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT

AND

RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021

HPH, Chartered Accounts 54 Bootham YORK YO30 7XZ

DocuSign Envelope ID: E6218358-7857-422F-814F-8B92CD6CE310

ALLIANCE FRANÇAISE DE YORK

TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT

AND

RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021

Contents	Page
Trustees' Annual Report	1 to 4
Independent Examiner's Report	5
Receipts and Payments Account	6
Statement of Assets and Liabilities	7
Notes to the Accounts	8

DocuSign Envelope ID: E6218358-7857-422F-814F-8B92CD6CE310

ALLIANCE FRANÇAISE DE YORK TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021

The Trustees have pleasure in presenting their Annual Report together with the Receipts and Payments Account, and the Statement of Assets and Liabilities of the charity for the year ended 31 March 2021. The accounts have been prepared on the receipts and payments basis and comply with the charity's governing document and the Charities Act 2011.

REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATION INFORMATION

Charity name: Alliance Française de York

Registered charity number: 1171386

Company number: CE008958 Charity’s principal address:[HPH] Chartered Accountants 54 Bootham York YO30 7XZ Charity’s contact and Christine Grimaud-Brown address: Director 114 Eastgate Pickering North Yorkshire YO18 7DW

Names of the charity trustees who managed the charity during the year:

Suzi Bewell Chair Appointed 26 June 2020 Alison Smith Honorary Treasurer Appointed 26 June 2020 Nick Folkard Honorary Secretary Appointed 26 June 2020 Bryan Irving Appointed 26 June 2020 Kim Loader Appointed 9 November 2020 Gaëlle Claire-Marks Resigned 24 August 2020 Nadine Tilbury Chair/Treasurer Resigned 26 June 2020 Patricia Wilson Honorary Secretary Resigned 26 June 2020 Susan Carpenter Resigned 26 June 2020 Olivia Doorn Resigned 26 June 2020 Jack Donovan Resigned 26 June 2020 Clare Usher Resigned 26 June 2020

The names and addresses of the charity’s advisers:

Independent Examiner: Robert William Woolley BA(Hons), BFP, FCA, MAAT, DChA, MCMI HPH, Chartered Accountants 54 Bootham, York, YO30 7XZ

Bankers: HSBC Bank plc, 13 Parliament Street, York, YO1 8XS CAF Bank, Kings Hill, West Malling, Kent, ME19 4JQ

Solicitors:

Grays Duncombe Place York, YO1 7DY

DocuSign Envelope ID: E6218358-7857-422F-814F-8B92CD6CE310

ALLIANCE FRANÇAISE DE YORK TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021

STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT

The charity is constituted as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (Association model) (CIO) and was registered with the Charity Commission on 31 January 2017. Prior to this it had been an unincorporated charitable association for over 20 years.

Our constitution allows for a maximum of 8 trustees and we currently have 5 in post. Trustees are selected at the AGM. Members are invited to apply before the AGM. Existing trustees may also co-opt members to become trustees if vacancies remain after the AGM.

The administration of the charity is carried out by the Director and an Administrator; both are employees and native French speakers. The Director is also an experienced teacher and there are three other part-time teaching staff. In addition, we have previously regularly had postgraduate French students visiting and studying as part of their university courses but this activity has been impossible his year due to Covid restrictions.

Wherever possible and in accordance with Government guidelines Trustees have continued to attend training seminars for small charities. We have been fortunate to have had trustees with legal, human resources and safeguarding expertise, but we continue to take outside legal, accounting and human resource advice as needed.

During the past year we have reviewed and updated various policies including our Health and Safety and our Safeguarding of Children and Adult policies.

We continue to belong to a wider UK network of Alliance Française organisations, working closely with the Institut Français.

OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES

Alliance Française de York (AfDY) is an educational charity whose aims are: -

To advance the education of the public of York and the surrounding region in French language and culture, in particular but not exclusively by:

Organising courses in French language, civilisation and literature;
Promoting social and cultural activities relating to France and for French speakers in York and the surrounding area (such as lectures, musical concerts, drama, exhibitions, film, shows);
Collaborating with the cultural service of the French Embassy in London;
Supporting French language teaching and the diffusion of French culture in schools, colleges, and universities.

The Trustees believe they have complied with the duty in Section 17 of the 2011 Charities Act to have due regard to guidance published by the Charity Commission in respect of public benefit.

Volunteers play a significant role in delivering the objectives and activities of the charity. In addition, members volunteer to organise and assist at many of the activities listed further below.

DocuSign Envelope ID: E6218358-7857-422F-814F-8B92CD6CE310

ALLIANCE FRANÇAISE DE YORK TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021

ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE

In response to the coronavirus pandemic lockdown began on 23 March 2020. We immediately took steps to convert our activities, where possible, from physical gatherings to online delivery. For example, we moved to online classes and virtual cafés.

We continue to follow government guidance and to monitor the easement of restrictions, adjusting our processes as appropriate and thinking creatively about how we can deliver our services in new ways.

The current uncertainty obviously makes it difficult to plan ahead for the new academic year and to begin our usual summer marketing events, but we have been fortunate in having a business model that has meant no furlough/redundancies have been needed to date. In accordance with Government guidelines , staff have worked from home and all teaching has been moved onto the Zoom platform . During this time our Landlord informed us that the rental of the premises in which we were based was no longer viable for them and we, together with all other tenants, were given notice to quit. All physical assets were removed and put into storage until such time as the Trustees decide on a future operating model.

We had sufficient reserves to trade through the period and together with other UK Alliances Françaises we have benefited from a small financial grant from the Institut Français to purchase computer hardware/software and Zoom licences to enable us to provide our services online. There have been trading losses , however, our loss of booked income has not been significant, since classes form our main income and the fees for the 30-week courses are paid for at the beginning of the academic year; and a loyal learner base has indicated a willingness to continue with online classes, if this proves to be necessary in the next academic year.)

The charity continued to provide language classes to a wide range of student abilities, and supplemented the tuition with lectures and social events dealing with French culture and life, including the following: -

Annual French language and culture courses over 30 weeks – 8 weekly courses involving just under 70 learners.
Individual (1-2-1) and small group (1-2-2/3/4) courses held throughout the year.
Summer classes between June and July: we will be running 4 such regular courses this summer2021.
Free Open sessions on Zoom: successful sessions for a number of people wishing to discuss their situation and options directly with the course Director.
Six conferences in French: online, free, and open to all with an average of maybe 15 people attending.
Café Conversation – Free to members and led by native French speakers, twice weekly. This year, they did run online; we’ve had 102 such sessions since our last AGM with an average of 6 people per session.
York-Dijon Twinnage. We are actively preparing the 70th anniversary of the twinning (in 2023) with other local partners (Twinning association, City of York) and partners in France. Various events are already taking place, all of them free.
In addition to our regularly updated website, and social media postings, we produce a monthly email newsletter with news of our activities and articles on French culture.

DocuSign Envelope ID: E6218358-7857-422F-814F-8B92CD6CE310

ALLIANCE FRANÇAISE DE YORK TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021

POLICY ON RESERVES

The charity’s policy is to ensure that there are sufficient funds to cover liabilities in the event of closure. The charity has no debt and no significant future liabilities following the closure of the office in November 2020. Our annual accounts include the cost of the office closure and storage of property. We anticipate costs for meeting rooms going forward once it is possible to meet in person again.

FINANCIAL REVIEW

Income

Classes were quickly moved online in response to the pandemic lockdown with the result that the course fee income has remained fairly constant at £37,078, with just a small decrease of £805 from the year to 31 March 2020. We have not been able to run many social activities and events with the result that income from these has fallen to less than 20% of the previous year’s figure, however, expenditure has also fallen, albeit not by the same percentage.

We are very grateful to the Institut Francaise in London for 2 grants, £603 received early in April to cover the cost of IT equipment used for online classes, and £1,818 received in November towards running costs. We also received £510 to fund the development of a pop video to be used in schools.

Expenditure

By far the largest running cost for AfDY are staff costs, both for the course tutors and administration. Our grateful thanks go to Christine, Mina, Kristell and all of the tutors for keeping AfDY active through the year.

The office in the Railway Institute was closed at the start of lockdown and as we had no access no rent was due. We were given notice to move out in September 2020 when they decided to close the building. All of the furniture and paperwork was put into storage and remains there as we wait to see how things develop.

Approved on behalf of the board by:

Suzi Bewell Trustee and Chair

17 May 2021

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INDEPENDENT EXAMINER’S REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES OF ALLIANCE FRANCAISE DE YORK

I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of Alliance Francaise De York (“the charity”) for the year ended 31 March 2021.

This report is made solely to the charity’s trustees, as a body, in accordance with section 154 of the Charities Act 2011. My independent examiner’s work has been undertaken so that I might state to the charity’s trustees those matters I am required to state to them in an independent examiner’s report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, I do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charity and the charity’s trustees as a body for my independent examiner’s work, for this report, or for the opinions I have formed.

Responsibilities and basis of report

As the charity trustees you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the Act’).

I report in respect of my examination of the charity’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the 2011 Act.

Independent examiner’s statement

I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:

accounting records were not kept in respect of the charity as required by section 130 of the Act; or
the accounts do not accord with those records.

I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Robert W Woolley BA(Hons), BFP, FCA, MAAT, DChA MCMI HPH, Chartered Accountants 54 Bootham York YO30 7XZ

1 June 2021

DocuSign Envelope ID: E6218358-7857-422F-814F-8B92CD6CE310

ALLIANCE FRANCAISE DE YORK

Registered Charity Number: 1171386 Company Number: CE008958 RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021

Receipts Course fees Membership fees Events and social activities Other receipts Grants from Institut Francais Other receipt - landlord settlement Bank interest received Payments Tutors' salaries and pensions Lecture costs Activities and events Rent and service charges Subscriptions, including French Institute Delf-Dalf Administration salary and pensions Insurance Telephone and internet costs IT equipment and website costs Stationery, postage and photocopying Office relocation DBS check Publicity and advertising Legal and professional fees: Accountancy and payroll fees Independent examination fees Total payments Cash funds brought forward Cash funds carried forward Net of (payments over receipts) / receipts over payments for the year Total receipts	Unrestricted Funds Year to 31/03/2021 £ 37,078 1,045 535 106 2,421 - 25 41,209 17,093 535 914 - - 26,874 710 671 188 93 1,455 23 - 1,130 250 49,936 (8,727) 56,043 47,316 £	Unrestricted Funds Year to 31/03/2020 £ 37,883 865 2,886 - - 6,205 108
		47,947
		11,825 150 1,375 4,829 31 23,758 750 591 1,337 249 575 - 557 1,130 250
		47,407
		540 55,503
		56,043 £

The notes on page 8 form part of these accounts.

DocuSign Envelope ID: E6218358-7857-422F-814F-8B92CD6CE310

ALLIANCE FRANCAISE DE YORK

STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES AS AT 31 MARCH 2021

Cash funds Bank current accounts Bank savings account Other assets Debtors and prepayments of expenses Liabilities Creditors and accruals for expenses	31 March 31 March 2021 2020 £ £ 36,851 3,105 10,464 52,938 47,316 £ 56,043 £ 932 789 932 £ 789 £ 952 2,524 952 £ 2,524 £ Unrestricted Funds	31 March 31 March 2021 2020 £ £ 36,851 3,105 10,464 52,938 47,316 £ 56,043 £ 932 789 932 £ 789 £ 952 2,524 952 £ 2,524 £ Unrestricted Funds
		56,043 £
		789
		789 £
		2,524
		2,524 £

The notes on page 8 form part of these accounts.

Approved by the board on 17 May 2021 and signed on its behalf by:

Alison Smith

Trustee & Treasurer

DocuSign Envelope ID: E6218358-7857-422F-814F-8B92CD6CE310

ALLIANCE FRANCAISE DE YORK

NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021

1. ACCOUNTING POLICY

a) Basis of Preparation

The accounts are prepared on the receipts and payment basis.

2. FUNDS

The charity only has unrestricted funds.