Annual Report to the Charity Commission for Year Ending 31 March 2025
Newcastle Philosophy Society (NPS)
Reporting period: 1[st] April 2024 to 31[st] March 2025
List of trustees to Jan 2025: Mike Boggon (Treasurer), Gerard Barrie, Tim de Groot, Clare Moody, Leigh Rooney (Secretary), Roy Sturgess, Tony Ward.
Trustees Jan-March 2025: Joel Yoeli (Chair), Jen Thomas (Secretary)
Objectives and activities
The objective of the NPS is “to advance the education of the general public in the North of England in the field of philosophy”, as noted in its Constitution. It does this through running and promoting public philosophy events.
An entirely new board of trustees was elected at an Emergency General Meeting (EGM) on 19[th] July 2024. Following a motion at that meeting it was tasked with acting “primarily to resolve the administrative issues of the Society” (see EGM minutes) inherited from the previous boards of trustees, issues which had prompted the calling of the EGM by members. It was also agreed that an AGM would be called within 6 months.
In addition to identifying and addressing administrative issues, it undertook the ongoing administrative facilitation of NPS activities, including the management and facilitation of NPS events.
Achievements and performance
The board identified a number of administrative issues and implemented responses to these:
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Communication problems. Some members had noted problems in making timely communication with the NPS prior to the EGM. The new board found that the NPS email account had over 1000 unread emails. Whilst most of these emails did not require response, this did include correspondence from members and a complaint that had not been responded to within the required timeframes. The new board read through each of these unread emails, responded to the sender where appropriate, and set up a system to ensure monitoring of the account and the timely response to new emails. This system involves all trustees being granted access to the NPS email account, ensuring that access is not reliant on one particular individual.
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NPS document storage. The previous Chair communicated to the current board that NPS documents were held digitally online at box.com. The current board identified that the Society’s account with box.com had lapsed under the previous board due to inactivity and all data held on the account had been permanently deleted. The previous Chair provided a backup file taken of the
documents uploaded on box.com that had itself been passed to him from the Chair before him. In addition, a file of separate paper documents was passed from the previous Chair to the current board of trustees. The current board are currently engaged in a process of categorising both the digital and paper documents, primarily to identify governance documents pertinent to the functioning of the Society. All digital documentation is now held on the NPS Google Drive account, with access possible to all trustees.
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Access to NPS bank account. The previous board were unable to provide access to the NPS bank account for the new board, following an ongoing problem with lack of access to the account. At the AGM held in 2023 a plan was put in place to secure access to the bank account, but as of the EGM in 2024 access had not been gained. The current board were able to secure access to the account in December 2024.
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Charity Commission reporting. The previous boards of trustees had not submitted mandatory reports to the Charity Commission (trustees’ annual report, statement of accounts, and annual return), resulting in reports for the reporting years 31 March 2022 and 31 March 2023 showing as overdue. The were information via bank access until December 2024. However, following securing bank account access the current board intend to liaise with the Chairty Commission to appropriately respond to the overdue reports (recognising that the current board have limited knowledge of activities of the previous board, and that these activities were not those of the current board). There was then a further delay following the election of a new Board in January 2026, with the new Treasurer not gaining access to the bank account until April 2026.
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Membership list. Previous boards maintained the list of NPS members via a Mailchimp account, which was used to periodically check that members wished to continue membership. The current board found that the NPS Mailchimp account (like the box.com account storing NPS documents) had lapsed under the previous board due to inactivity and all data within it deleted. The list of members was not kept in another location, and as such the membership list of the Society was lost. The current board has started a new membership list, storing this within the contacts section of the NPS email account.
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Website. Ownership of the domain name of the NPS website (newphilsoc.org) had lapsed under the previous board and the domain was deleted. The current board have developed a design for a new website and approached a website designer to implement this.
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Funding. The major source of funding for the Society for many years has been The Royal Institute of Philosophy (TRIP). However, the previous board did not
submit an application for funding for 2024/25. TRIP contacted the current board shortly after it was installed, inviting the NPS to make a late application. The current board developed a proposal for funding and submitted this within a short deadline. This was successfully awarded, with funds having now been received for 2024/25.
In addition to the board’s remit of responding to administrative challenges left by the former board, the current board of trustees has also been involved in overseeing the management of NPS activities. This has involved:
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Producing an events plan for 2025 which includes speaker-based events on A.N. Whitehead, which took place in February 2025, and was attended by 35 people in addition to the invited speakers, and on Plato which took place after the end of the reporting period on 12[th] April 2025
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Maintenance of NPS groups. Several new groups were introduced. Currently there are 4 regular groups: Life’s Big Questions, Dramatic Discussions. Plato (reading group), and Echoes of the Ancients (reading group).
Groups and events are advertised via the NPS’ account on Meetup.com. As of January 2025 the account has a following of 2,168 on the platform and there were a total of 546 RSVPs across all NPS groups and events advertised within the last year.
Financial review
As of 25 March 2025 the NPS held £5356.89 in its bank account. The only sources of income over the reporting period is the Royal Institute of Philosophy (£1,500) and two donations totalling £400 from a member. One of these donations, of £300, was made in February 2025 with a specific request that it be used to compensate the former Treasurer, Michael Boggon, for continuing to carry out the administrative work of the NPS for a period after he resigned as a trustee at end of January. There were regular payments made for Zoom and Meetup subscriptions. The income has exceeded the expenditure over the reporting period, reflecting the lack of access to the bank account other than through historic subscriptions. There are no concerns that outgoings will exceed income in the future. Overall, the Society is financially stable and secure, with capacity to use more funds for philosophy-related activities.
Structure, governance and management
The NPS is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation governed by a board of trustees. Most trustees are appointed at a General Meeting following a vote of members present but a small number can be co-opted by the existing trustees. Trustees are currently (and traditionally) drawn from those involved in the Society’s philosophy events, though anyone may stand for election or consideration for co-option. Two officer roles were assigned to the current trustees: Secretary (Leigh Rooney) and Treasurer (Mike Boggon). Administrative tasks were broadly shared across the trustees, including the chairing of
meetings of trustees. The current board of trustees sought to ensure that access to various NPS accounts was made available to all trustees. NPS groups have an assigned group leader responsible for organising the group. Typically group leaders are those who have developed the idea of the group. They may or may not be trustees.
Reference and administrative details
Registered charity name: Newcastle Philosophy Society
Charity Number: 1180305
Trustees from 1 April 2024 to 18 January 2025: Mike Boggon (Treasurer), Gerard Barrie, Jane Cooper, Tim de Groot, Adam Hunter, Clare Moody, Leigh Rooney (Secretary), Roy Sturgess, Tony Ward. On 18 Jan 2025, Mike Boggon, Tim de Groot and Tony Ward resigned and Joel Yoeli, Jennifer Thomas and Penelope Tasker were elected in their place.
Exemptions from disclosure: not applicable.
Funds held as custodian trustee on behalf of others: not applicable.
Adapted by Clare Moody (Co-secretary) and Tony Ward (Treasurer) from the Annual Report prepared for the 2025 AGM by Leigh Rooney (then Secretary), 18 January 2025. Signed by Leigh Rooney (Secretary) on behalf of the board of trustees.
NEWCASTLE PHILOSOPHY SOCIETY ACCOUNTS: Y/E 31 MARCH 2
| Date | Description | Deposits | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Withdrawal | |||
| 27 MAR 24 | BROUGHT FORWARD | ||
| 12 APR 24 | 1211 ZOOM.US 888-7 | £ 15.59 | |
| 13-May-24 | 1211 ZOOM.US 888-7 | £ 15.59 | |
| 12-Jun-24 | 1211 ZOOM.US 888-7 | £ 15.59 | |
| 12 JUL 24 | 1211 ZOOM.US 888-7 | £ 15.59 | |
| ]]12/08/2024 | 1211 ZOOM.US 888-7 | £ 15.59 | |
| 12 SEP 25 | 1211 ZOOM.COM 888- | £ 16.79 | |
| 25 SEP 25 | 1211 CCC GBP 159.2 | £ 4.38 | |
| 25 SEP 25 | 1211 MEETUP ORG SU | £ 159.29 | |
| 14 OCT 24 | 1211 ZOOM.US 888-7 | £ 15.59 | |
| 16 OCT 24 | THE ROYAL INSTITUT TRIP LPP | £ 1,500.00 | |
| l12/11/2024 | 1211 ZOOM.US 888-7 | £ 15.59 | |
| 12 DEC 24 | 1211 ZOOM.COM 888- | £ 15.59 | |
| ## 7-Jan-25 |
Leigh Rooney Printing | £ 57.16 | |
| ## 13-Jan-25 |
1211 ZOOM.COM 888- | £ 15.59 | |
| ## 21-Jan-25 6-Feb-25 |
Trinity Centre Ltd Room hire 000000 CREDIT 4569301118880000 |
£ 66.00 | £ 300.00 |
| 12-Feb-25 | 1211 ZOOM.COM 888- | £ 15.59 | |
| 25-Feb-25 | Trinity Centre Ltd Room - Whitehead | £ 122.50 | |
| 28-Feb-25 | 8844 CCC GBP 5.54 | £ 0.15 | |
| 28-Feb-25 | 8844 NAME-CHEAP.CO | £ 5.54 | |
| 3-Mar-25 | Mr MJ Boggon Expenses Jan-Mar | £ 300.00 | |
| 12-Mar-25 | 1211 ZOOM.COM 888- | £ 15.59 | |
| 20-Mar-25 | ANAND D ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP | £ 100.00 | |
| 25-Mar-25 | 1211 CCC GBP 166.7 | £ 4.58 | |
| 25-Mar-25 | 1211 MEETUP ORG SU | £ 166.71 | |
| TOTAL | £ 1,074.59 | £ 1,900.00 | |
| TOTAL |
| INCOME | EXPENDITURE | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Balance | |||||||
| Donations | RIP grant | Events | Subscription | Printing | Misc. | ||
| £ | 4,533.23 | ||||||
| £ | 4,517.64 | £ 15.59 | |||||
| £ | 4,502.05 | £ 15.59 | |||||
| £ | 4,486.46 | £ 15.59 | |||||
| £ | 4,470.87 | £ 15.59 | |||||
| £ | 4,455.28 | £ 15.59 | |||||
| £ | 4,225.47 | £ 16.79 | |||||
| £ 4.38 | |||||||
| £ | 4,061.80 | £ 159.29 | |||||
| £ | 4,257.48 | £ 15.59 | |||||
| £ | 5,757.48 | £ 1,500.00 | |||||
| £ | 5,741.89 | £ 15.59 | |||||
| £ | 5,726.30 | £ 15.59 | |||||
| £ | 5,669.14 | £ 57.16 | |||||
| £ | 5,653.55 | £ 15.59 | |||||
| £ | 5,587.55 | £ 66.00 | |||||
| £ | 5,887.55 | £ 300.00 | £ 300.00 | ||||
| £ | 5,871.96 | £ 15.59 | |||||
| £ | 5,749.46 | £ 122.50 | |||||
| £ 0.15 | |||||||
| £ | 5,743.77 | £ 5.54 | |||||
| £ | 5,443.77 | ||||||
| £ | 5,428.18 | £ 15.59 | |||||
| £ | 5,528.18 | £ 100.00 | |||||
| £ 4.58 | |||||||
| £ | 5,356.89 | £ 166.71 | |||||
| £ 400.00 | £ 1,500.00 | £ 188.50 | £ 518.66 | £ 62.70 | £ 304.73 | ||
| £ 1,074.59 |