2021-12-31-accounts - Oxford Insight Meditation

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Trustees’ Annual Report for the period

From 1[st] January 2021 To 31[st] December 2021

Charity name: Oxford Insight Meditation

Charity registration number: 1175855

Objectives and Activities

	SORP reference
Summary of the purposes of the charity as set out in its governing document	Para 1.17	To advance the education of the public in the subject of meditation and the teachings of the Buddha, in particular but not exclusively by supporting and encouraging the study and practice of Buddhist Insight meditation for the public benefit, in particular but not exclusively for the benefit of people in Oxford and the surrounding areas.
Summary of the main activities in relation to those purposes for the public benefit, in particular, the activities, projects or services identified in the accounts.	Para 1.17 and 1.19	Oxford Insight Meditation carries out these purposes by offering a year-round programme of activities and events to the people of Oxford and the surrounding area, giving them the opportunity to study and practise Buddhist Insight Meditation and to learn about the teachings of the Buddha. We regularly invite teachers from Gaia House, a retreat centre in the Insight Meditation tradition, to lead our retreat days. These teachers are highly experienced, widely recognised and bound by a code of ethics. We are committed to creating inclusive spaces. We welcome people irrespective of religious or political beliefs, ethnicity, class, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, ability and culture. It is our hope over time to increase the accessibility of what we offer to people of all backgrounds through developing a more varied programme of events. Oxford Insight Meditation offers activities on

a sliding scale; it is committed to ensuring that no one is excluded from any of its activities because of lack of funds. People unable to afford the discounted rates will not be turned away. Pricing of events is intended to cover the costs of putting on the events; any additional income goes towards building up reserves. The price of events does not cover any payment to teachers. In the longstanding tradition of ‘Dana’, donations to the teacher are invited at the end of the session, in gratitude for their teachings. The main activities undertaken by the charity to carry out its charitable purposes for the public benefit are as follows: Teacher-led day retreats – non-residential day-long retreats in Oxford with respected teachers in the Insight tradition, who offer their teachings free of charge. We ask people to pay a small fee to cover costs and waive this fee where someone is unable to pay it. Donations are invited to support the teacher . The days are suitable for both experienced and new meditators. Weekly drop-in group – this weekly evening drop-in aims to enable people who are new to Buddhist meditation to have a taster of the practice supported by experienced practitioners, and to support more experienced meditators to practice together on a regular basis. These evenings consist of guided meditation, teaching and discussion. The sessions are facilitated by experienced teachers and those in training and are occasionally peer-led. Donations are invited to support the teacher. Occasional non-residential courses – Oxford Insight Meditation occasionally organises and underwrites courses on aspects of the Buddha’s teaching and meditation practice, to support the deepening of understanding and to foster a sense of a community of practitioners. Website and e-newsletter – Oxford Insight

		Meditation keeps in touch with supporters and engages with new people through its website which has details of events and how to book a place on retreats. We also send out regular email newsletters to a subscriber list of just under 400 people to let them know about our activities and other related events.
Statement confirming whether the trustees have had regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit	Para 1.18	The trustees confirm that they have complied with their duty to have due regard to the guidance contained in the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit when reviewing the charity’s aims and objectives, in planning charitable activities and when exercising any powers or duties to which theguidance is relevant.

Additional information (optional)

You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:

	SORP reference
Policy on grant making	Para 1.38	n/a
Policy on social investment including program related investment	Para 1.38	n/a
Contribution made by volunteers	Para 1.38	Trustees receive no remuneration for their work for the charity. All activities are planned and delivered by volunteers. The Trustees are grateful to all of the volunteers who have offered service during the period of this report. Without their regular support and commitment to the organisation, our charitable activities would be significantly reduced.
Other		n/a

Achievements and Performance

SORP reference

	Summary of the main achievements of the charity, identifying the difference the charity’s work has made to the circumstances of its beneficiaries and any wider benefits to society as a whole.	Para 1.20	During the year, Covid-19 continued to significantly impact our activities, with events remaining mostly online and with some suspended. We offered nine day-long retreats led by experienced teachers connected to Gaia House. We offered eight of these retreat days online, including a day jointly offered with Sheffield Insight Meditation. Towards the end of the year we experimented with a hybrid retreat day, with some participants attending in person and others online. This new format was very successful and helped us to accommodate those wishing to come in person again, as well as maintaining accessibility to those still shielding, those with disabilities or caring responsibilities and those living further away. Appropriate Covid-related measures were taken at the venue. The retreat days attracted between 25 and 100 participants each. We offered the online retreat days free of charge but invited donations to help cover our costs. For our new hybrid retreat day, we reintroduced fees for participation (both online and in person), to help us cover the higher cost of in-person meetings (venue hire, refreshments, etc.) and to help us make up some of the shortfall in revenues of previous years. The weekly drop-in group met throughout the year with its usual summer break in August. In the earlier part of the year all meetings were online. From September, the group met in person once a month and online in the intervening weeks. Experienced and trainee teachers led most of the sessions, and where there were gaps the group was invited to participate in the ‘Online Dharma Hall’ at Gaia House to maintain continuity. There were between 10 and 25 people at each session. The group has developed a core of regular participants with a strong commitment to practice and a deep sense of community. The Sunday Morning Meditation group remained suspended throughout the year.

We didn’t offer any study courses in the period because the trustees lacked the capacity to organise additional events. We completed the redesign and rebuilding of our website, which we hope will make our activities and events more appealing and accessible. As part of this, we revamped the resources pages and included more resources offering an introduction to Insight Meditation in a variety of formats. We also created a CAF Donate button to make it easier for people to make donations.

Additional information (optional)

You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:

Achievements against objectives set	Para 1.41
Performance of fundraising activities against objectives set	Para 1.41	n/a
Investment performance against objectives	Para 1.41	n/a
Other

Financial Review

Financial Review
Review of the charity’s financial position at the end of the period	Para 1.2	Oxford Insight Meditation made a small surplus of £618 in 2021, an improvement on the previous year when the charity incurred a loss (£728) arising from the impacts of Covid. Income was still below pre-Covid levels, due to many of the year’s activities remaining online and some activities being curtailed. The total assets at 31st December 2021 were £3,964.
Statement explaining the policy for holding reserves stating why they are held	Para 1.22	Reserves are held to cover the small number of annual fixed costs (insurance, web hosting, publicity, printing, etc.), and to provide some contingency if several day retreats fail to break even. The majority of costs incurred by OIM relate to activities that can be cancelled without incurring significant unrecoverable costs. For this reason, the reserves needed are low. Finances will be closely monitored at this time to ensure that the financial resources of the charityare not exhausted.
Amount of reserves held	Para 1.22	£1000
Reasons for holding zero reserves	Para 1.22	n/a
Details of fund materially in deficit	Para 1.24	n/a
Explanation of any uncertainties about the charity continuing as a going concern	Para 1.23	n/a

Additional information (optional)

You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:

The charity’s principal sources of funds (including any fundraising)	Para 1.47	The principal source of funds are the fees paid by participants for the various activities that we offer as well as donations from members of the public who support our work.
Investment policy and objectives including any social investment policy adopted	Para 1.46	n/a
A description of the principal risks facing the charity	Para 1.46	The charity’s income is dependent on levels of interest in its activities, and the capacity of attendees to pay booking fees and/or make donations to cover OIM’s costs. The trustees are mindful of the need to reverse the trend of recent years of a deficit, and are actively considering ways to reduce costs and increase income,without compromising

our policy of ensuring that no one is excluded from our activities because of a lack of funds. Other

Structure, Governance and Management

Description of charity’s trusts:
Type of governing document (trust deed, royal charter)	Para 1.25	Constitution
How is the charity constituted? (e.g unincorporated association, CIO)	Para 1.25	Foundation Charitable Incorporated Organisation
Trustee selection methods including details of any constitutional provisions e.g. election to post or name of any person or body entitled to appoint one or more trustees	Para 1.25	Appointed by Trustees

Additional information (optional)

You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:


Policies and procedures adopted for the induction and training of trustees	Para 1.51	When there is a vacancy for a trustee, the position is advertised to the OIM mailing list, on our website and other relevant places, and applicants are invited for interview. New trustees are provided with information on their duties as trustees and their legal obligations under charity law. They are also inducted in the work of the charity, its aims and objectives, its constitution and how it operates day to day.
The charity’s organisational structure and any wider network with which the charity works	Para 1.51	Oxford Insight Meditation is part of a network of Insight Meditation groups around the country that are connected with the residential retreat centre Gaia House. We are in regular contact on practice and ethical issues. Whilst we collaborate with these organisations, we are independent, and there is no formal legal or financial relationshipwith anyother organisation.
Relationship with any related parties	Para 1.51	n/a
Other		n/a

Reference and Administrative details

Charity name	Oxford Insight Meditation
Other name the charityuses	n/a

Registered charity number	1175855
Charity’s principal address	55 Bartlemas Road Oxford OX4 1XU

Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity

Trustee name	Office (if any)	Name of person (or body) entitled to appoint trustee (ifany)
Pamela Ruth Sutherland	Treasurer	The Charity Trustees
Andrew Martin Finney		The Charity Trustees
Dione Brigid Avison		The Charity Trustees
Isabel Grace Tucker		The Charity Trustees
Kathryn Tulip	Secretary	The Charity Trustees
Jennifer Kirsten Daniella Nicholson		The Charity Trustees

Corporate trustees – names of the directors at the date the report was approved

Director name n/a

Name of trustees holding title to property belonging to the charity

Trustee name	Dates acted if not for wholeyear
n/a

Funds held as custodian trustees on behalf of others

Description of the assets held in this capacity	n/a
Name and objects of the charity on whose behalf the assets are held and how this falls within the custodian charity’s objects	n/a
Details of arrangements for safe custody and segregation of such assets from the charity’s own assets	n/a

Additional information (optional)

Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)

Type of	Name	Address
adviser

Name of chief executive or names of senior staff members (Optional information)

Exemptions from disclosure

Reason for non-disclosure of key personnel details

Other optional information

Declarations

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

Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees

Signature(s) Isabel Grace Tucker Full name(s) Kathryn Tulip Position (eg Secretary, Secretary and Trustee Trustee Chair, etc) Date 29/10/22

Oxford Insight Meditation Accounts for year ended 31 December 2021

Income: Eventbrite Cheque/cash Expenditure: Hall hire Teacher's expenses Other expenses Insurance Drop in: Hire 0.00 Dana 262.80 Donations: CAF less fees Sunday Sangha: Costs 0.00 Dana 0.00 Surplus of income over expenditure PayPal balance at 31 Dec Bank Balance at 31 Dec Unpresented cheques Cash in hand Total Assets and Liabilities	2021 £ 1183.47 30.00 1213.47 -130.00 -131.08 -578.95 -170.80 262.80 152.54 0.00 617.98 0.00 3815.77 148.67 3964.44	-583.20 220.40	2020 £ 1826.50 0.00
			1826.50 -795.00 -295.13 -820.91 -170.80 -362.80 -110.00
		-110.00 0.00

			-728.14
			215.25 3197.79 148.67
			3561.71