## **The Norman Cohn Charitable Trust** 

**Trustees’ report for period ending 31st March 2024** 

## **Objectives and Activities** 

The Norman Cohn Charitable Trust was registered as a charity with the Charity Commission on 2nd November 2017. 

Its objective is to advance education into the causes of extremism, and what can be done to counter it. 

It does this in particular, but not exclusively, by holding public lectures and by making their content widely available via the internet and other means. 

In setting its objectives and planning its activities, trustees have regard to the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit. 

## **Achievements and Performance** 

The charity was given its public launch in March 2019 in an event at the British Academy in London. (Norman Cohn, after who the charity is named, was a Fellow of the British Academy.) At the event the eminent political philosopher John Gray gave a lecture entitled ‘Politics, Religion and Psychopathology: how the work of Norman Cohn helps us understand the present’. 

A website has been established through which the charity can publicise its activities. In particular the website seeks to broaden public knowledge of the work of Professor Norman Cohn, whose worldrenowned publications looked at the historical origins of modern-day extremism or, in his words, those who sought "to purify the world, through the annihilation of some category of human beings imagined as agents of corruption and incarnations of evil”. 

In May 2022 the charity organised a lecture at the British Academy in conjunction with and support from the Centre for the Critical Study of Apocalyptic and Millenarian Movements (CenSAMM). The lecture, entitled ‘Dark Money and the Subversion of Global Politics’, was given by Peter Geoghegan, Editor-in-Chief of the award-winning news website openDemocracy. In addition to those attending the lecture in person, it was streamed on the internet and a recording has been made available on the charity’s website. 

The trustees now feel that the such large-scale public lectures are not the most effective use of the charity’s limited resources. They are exploring the possibility of promoting the charity’s aims by holding more frequent but smaller scale meetings and seminars. 

Through its website the Charity continues to monitor and promote new writing and research on themes pioneered by Norman Cohn, and encourage related debate. 



## **Financial Review** 

|Statement of financial activities for period ending 31st March|Statement of financial activities for period ending 31st March|20241|
|---|---|---|
|_Funds brought forward_||_£6,501.00_|
|**Income:**|||
||£0.00||
|**Expenditure:**|||
|Charitable activities2|£120.00||
|**_Net expenditure_**||**£120.00**|
|_Totalfunds carriedforward_||_£6,381.00_|



_Notes_ : 

## 1. All funds are unrestricted. 

## 2. Comprising: 

Annual web site charge : £120.00 

|Balance sheet at 31st March 2024||
|---|---|
|**Current assets:**||
|Cash at bank|£6,381.00|
|**Liabilities:**||
|Creditors: Amounts falling due within one year|£0.00|
|**_Net assets_**|**£6,381.00**|
|**The funds of the charity:**||
|Unrestricted funds|£6,381.00|
|**_Total charity funds_**|**£6,381.00**|
|||



The charity has no ongoing commitments and the trustees do not therefore believe that it is 

necessary for the charity to hold reserves. No trustee expenses were claimed in the period covered by this report. 



## **Structure, Governance and Management** 

The charity is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation governed by a constitution document dated 1st November 2017 which is based on the Charity Commission ‘foundation’ model. 

New trustees may be appointed by a resolution passed at a properly convened meeting of the charity trustees. In selecting individuals for appointment in this way, the trustees will have regard to the skills, knowledge and experience needed for the effective administration of the charity. 

The charity does not employ any staff. 

## **Reference and Administrative Details** 

The charity’s name is The Norman Cohn Charitable Trust, registered charity number 1175524. 

The address of the charity is 41 Gilbert Road, Cambridge, CB4 3NX. 

The trustees of the charity at the date of this report are: 

Professor Sir Michael Pepper (chair) Dr Marina Voikhanskaya Cohn Professor Sir Partha Dasgupta Professor Patrick Wright Robert Baldock (secretary) Roger Mann (treasurer) 

The charity’s website can be found at www.normancohntrust.org.uk. 

The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above. 

Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees: 

Signature: Full name: William Roger Mann Position: Treasurer 

Date: 22 November 2024