## **Trustees’ Report 2021** The 2021 Trustees’ Report represents the activities and results from the year 2020. The document also includes plans for 2021 and a statement of ongoing viability. All parts of this Annual Return have been seen by the CPR Board of Trustees who have approved their content. ## **How did we do in 2020 – board outstands** Increased contact with non-UK members Drop in memberships Increased sales Increased online activity Successful fundraising for a replacement boat for Danilo Loss of Trustees, and the gaps it created Successful recruitment of new trustees and volunteers Increased provision of quality information online, including cycling Covid restrictions across Europe leading to a virtual closure of the Via Francigena Introduction of zoom-socials for members Improvements to our accounting processes and new software Successful application for Gift Aid status Restricted income received for the first time Managing to sustain overall income levels despite the negative impacts of lockdown Increased international activity and partnerships, such as FFVF and AEVF Increased domestic liaison such as other pilgrim bodies, CSJ and BPT Tightening of internal policies and procedures Improvement to CPR governance structure ## **2020 Finances** Despite a tough year, significantly impacted by the global pandemic, income levels remained healthy, with a good growth in online shop sales helping to offset the reduction in membership subscription income. For the first time the CPR had restricted income of £6.2k, funds raised for a replacement boat for Danilo – a hugely successful fundraising campaign. We also benefitted from a full year of Gift Aid income claimed on membership subscriptions for the first time. Expenditure was reduced as needed to protect the reduced income streams, so that we did not incur accommodation or AGM costs. Work on the proposed London to Canterbury route generated significant interest and we incurred some costs. The higher level of online shop sales meant that we had higher costs to purchase shop merchandise versus last year, and we also invested in improving our website & increasing our online presence for our members. The CPR also strengthened links with the FFVF through offering an updated and translated version of the booklet in our online shop. Overall, 2020 for the CPR closed with a small surplus compared to the previous year and with cash levels slightly higher than 2019, which was a positive result in light of the significant challenges posed by external events. ## **Board composition and elections** The board currently consists of the following ten trustees :- Jennifer Stearn Brian Mooney Tim Greig Tim Redmond Mary Kirk David Matthews Robert White Paulo Seth Paul Blackett Carlo Laurenzi Renewal of tenure: Second term of three years as a trustee on the CPR Board for Robert White and Carlo Laurenzi. Second term of one year as trustee for Mary Kirk. Election of office holders: Chair: Carlo Laurenzi. Vice chair: Brian Mooney. Treasurer: Jennifer Stearn. Secretary (interim): Mary Kirk ## **Risks** 1. **The ongoing impacts of Covid-19** may continue to hamper efforts to generate sufficient funds to operate the charity effectively, in particular, membership income may not recover to pre-pandemic levels in 2021. ## _Mitigation_ – F&GP Ensure that the charity adheres to the agreed principle of only developing further projects, or spending funds outside of the agreed budget, if it feels it is able to sustain this new expenditure. Promote the CPR on our website home page and improve awareness among users that we are a membership organisation dependent upon subscriptions promoting the Via Francigena pilgrimage 2. **Grant funding fails to materialise** . This could seriously impact on the charity’s ability to set up on the ground projects such as festivals or the new London route. ## _Mitigation_ – FR Group Ensure that appropriate bids are put into funders in a timely fashion, failing that, be prepared to put projects on hold. 3. More and **increasingly demanding tasks** land on a diminishing number of trustees, leading to disillusionment and departure. ## _Mitigation_ – Chair Ensure that sufficient people and financial resources are available for any agreed work programmes to be delivered as planned. The board might also consider greater use of volunteers, working alongside of named trustees to pick up some of the slack. 4. **Brexit** becomes a major obstacle. Visa and entry restrictions coupled with delays at borders may deter pilgrims. Economic impacts of leaving the EU could be heavy and as such people feel unable to walk the VF. ## _Mitigation_ – board Ensure high quality and fresh information and advice appears on the website. Having London-Canterbury route ready may appeal to pilgrims unable to attempt the VF, as a whole. ## **Statement of viability** The charity broke through the £10,000 income barrier for second year in a row, despite facing severe operating conditions due to C19 restrictions. It ended with a small margin of around £650, thereby increasing the balance sheet value to around £6,000. The longer-term impact of the Covid-19 restrictions are expected to lessen over time, thereby reducing its effect on the CPR’s ability to raise funds. At the start of 2021, the charity reduced its planned expenditure by two thirds, to take into account the expected fall in income. The various new policies planned and already in place will strengthen the charity’s governance and overall management. The principal areas of concern at this point are more permanent restrictions on entering the EU both borne of C19 and Brexit. The second area, is our potential inability to recruit for the remaining two vacant roles on the board, thereby continuing the heavy workload on the existing nine trustees. On balance, the charity meets the standards of ongoing viability. ## **Plans for 2021** ## VF development - Second phase of the proposed feeder route plans: London to Canterbury - Fully engage in, and coordinate, the UK leg of the 2021 EAVF ## Communication - Website restructure proposals for approval. - 4x e-newsletters. - 1x printed newsletter and renamed eg annual report or annual journal. - Zoom and other virtual sessions for members. - Growth of social media activity. - Develop notion of opt-in or opt-out of printed paper. - Accommodation list. ## Membership - Review life membership. - Consider external member benefits. - Fee increases from 1[st] January and review in two years. - Creation of “Friend” category. ## Merchandising - Increase range of goods offered in online shop. - Introduce new no-stock holding model. - Test out Amazon style links as an offering. - Expand Working Group ## Grow volunteer base - Grow key volunteer base, using trustees to recruit. - Aim to recruit a volunteer lead within the board. - Mary to collate ideas and establish level of need. - Set up working group to develop proposal. ## Cycling – new working group - Group consisting of trustees. ## Events A mixed year of online and some face-to-face events - Increase online presentations - Annual conference. - FR event. - AEVF event – probably mid-June. - Launch of Danilo’s boat. Influence - Carlo - Identify key organisations and produce priority list and plan. - Agree representation on outside organisations. ## **G Carlo Laurenzi OBE** **On behalf of the CPT Board** **6 May 2021** ## **Confraternity of Pilgrims to Rome Financial Activities** ## **January - December 2020** |**Income**
**Charitable donation**
**Gift Aid**
**On Line shop sales**
**On Line shop sales - product**
**On Line shop sales - shipping**
**Total On Line shop sales**
**Restricted Income**
**Danilo Boat fund**
**Total Restricted Income**
**Services**
**Subscriptions**
**Total Income**
**Total**
**Expenditures**
**Accounting software**
**Accommodation list**
**AGM hotel / travel costs**
**CPR label pins**
**Charitable payments**
**Charitable payments - other**
**Charitable payments - Danilo's boat**
**Total Charitable payments**
**FFVF booklet**
**Insurances**
**London Canterbury route**
**Mail Chimp fees**
**Map - Web page**
**Passport / credential printing**
**Paypal commission**
**Phone Costs**
**Print newsletter**
**Printing, Postage and Stationery**
**Purchases**
**Stock write off**
**Travel and Accommodation**
**US Postage, distribution**
**Web dev & maintenance**
**Zoom**
**Total Expenditures**
**Net Operating Income**|**2020**
**2019**
362
1,407
913
0
1,707
972
523
0
**2,229**
**972**
6,210
0
**6,210**
**0**
0
0
6,878
8,567
**16,592**
**10,946**
**16,592**
**10,946**
344
48
0
758
0
1,816
0
306
190
6,078
0
**6,078**
**190**
547
0
311
307
891
0
169
0
0
30
1,328
0
444
514
34
0
1,923
2,300
1,077
1,691
3
0
37
63
417
683
186
0
2,022
1,328
130
0
**15,940**
**10,034**
**653**
**912**| |---|---| Sunday , Jan 24, 2021 04:18 PM GMT0 - Accrual Basis