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2021-04-05-accounts

CHARITY REGISTRATION NUMBER: 1185175

Martsang Kagyu UK Buddhist Centre CIO Unaudited Financial Statements

Period start date 6[th] April 2020 Period end date 5[th] April 2021

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Martsang Kagyu UK Buddhist Centre

Financial Statements Year ended 5[th] April 2021

Page Trustees' annual report 1 Statement of financial activities Statement of financial position Notes to the financial statements Independent Examiner's Report

The trustees present their report and the unaudited financial statements of the charity for the year ended 5[th] April 2021

Reference and administrative detail

Registered Charity Name Martsang Kagyu UK Buddhist Centre CIO Charity registration number 1185175 Principal office 4 Crossways Ely CB6 3TP

The trustees His Holiness Gangri Karma Rinpoche C Gyaltsen Mr J A Mclntyre Ms T A Bryson

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Martsang Kagyu UK Buddhist Centre

Trustees’ Annual Report (continued)

Year ended 5[th] A ril 2021 p

The Trustees present their report with the financial statements of the charity for the year ended 5[th] April 2021. The trustees have adopted the provisions of Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice relevant to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102).

Introduction

The Martsang Kagyu tradition of Tibetan Buddhism is an unbroken lineage based on the teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha’s sutras and tantras which was founded 856 years ago by Choje Marpa Sherab Yeshe in 1167 (1134-1203).

His Holiness Gangri Karma Rinpoche, C Gyaltsen, is the spiritual director of the Martsang Kagyu London Buddhist Centre and is eminently qualified to carry out this role. Not only he is the current lineage holder of the Martsang Kagyu tradition of Tibetan Buddhism and the reincarnation of the Eleventh Gangri Karma Rinpoche, but also an exceptional scholar of the Dharma, who has played a key role internationally, exploring the interface of Buddhism with modern science and psychology.

Structure, governance and management

Governing document

Martsang Kagyu UK Buddhist Centre is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation and was registered as such with the Charity Commission on 5th September 2019. The CIO was established under the constitution based largely on the Standard Constitution drafted by the Charity Commission which establishes the objects, powers and governance of the CIO. Some of the amendments and additions made relate to Martsang Kagyu traditional Tibetan Buddhism.

Trustees are provided with copies of Public Benefit Guidance Notices from the Charity Commission on the organisation (PB1), activities (PB2), and reporting responsibilities (PB3) to maintain the objectives of the organisation, and in turn their Public Benefit.

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Martsang Kagyu UK Buddhist Centre

Trustees’ Annual Report (continued)

Year ended 5[th] A ril 2021 p

Trustees are drawn from the volunteers of the organisation. In order to fulfil their duties they must have knowledge and experience of practice of the Martsang Kagyu tradition. Trustees are appointed for a period of three years as per the governing document.

On induction the trustees are provided with a copy of the current version of the constitution, and Charity Commission Guide CC3 The Essential Trustee. The trustees are also provided with an induction regarding their duties and responsibilities and trustees are drawn from volunteers and service users who have significant knowledge and experience of the tradition. As such, trustees are familiar with the core values of the organisation. This being said it has been agreed to generate a theory of change incorporating those values to enhance the line of sight within the organisation.

During this period trustee meetings were held online on a weekly basis. This is not written in the constitution but has been adopted as an appropriate procedure while the organisation is in a growth and development phase.

In order to maximise a line of sight, meetings took place online on a monthly basis between trustees, events coordinators and volunteers. These are conducted to increase transparency throughout the organisation, and ensure all understand the values and objectives of the organisation. The responsibility for day to day management of the centre and its communications falls on Dolma Sherab.

The CIO has been building relationships with other Buddhist organisations and plans to create relationships with academic bodies also, to increase knowledge and understanding, and to explore the potential to share resources.

Risk management

The courses, workshops and practices operate on an experiential level. As such the CIO has implemented a risk policy to increase awareness of any participant or visitor who is experiencing any difficulty when exploring or practising any of the Buddhist material or activities. Events coordinators are aware of and contribute to the generation of risk policy. A risk register is available for all volunteers and coordinators. Mental and physical health services in the area have been identified for access where necessary. Additionally, the temple is a place of worship, and can be visited by members of the public. Risk policy has also considered the need to address issues arising from the circumstance

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Martsang Kagyu UK Buddhist Centre

Trustees’ Annual Report (continued)

Year ended 5[th] A ril 2021 p

where a member of the public may pose risk to other visitors. No incidents were reported in this period but volunteers and coordinators were made aware of necessary steps to take.

Objectives and activities

The object of the charity is “To advance Buddhism in the UK for the benefit of the public in accordance with the Martsang Kagyu tradition of Tibetan Buddhism mainly but not exclusively by the holding of prayer meetings, lectures, seminars, public celebrations of religious festivals and meditation to enlighten others about the Buddhist religion.”

In exercising the powers of the trust and pursuing the objects of the charity, public benefit is accomplished by:

We currently run five mediation classes a week that help all our students increase their wellbeing, reduce stress and gain a sense of peace. In addition, meditation increases patience and compassion so helps to improve personal and family relationships. This feedback from our meditation students has been documented which support the aims and objectives of the activities. Feedback from service users suggested that many were achieving excellent results.

Knowledge of Tibetan Buddhism was provided through training in the Marsang Kagyu tradition, as transmitted through His Holiness Gangri Karma Rinpoche and handouts distributed in respect to Buddhism and other media to inform others about Buddhism.

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Martsang Kagyu UK Buddhist Centre

Trustees’ Annual Report (continued)

Year ended 5[th] A ril 2021 p

This included exploring the relationship between Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism and different types of meditation skills in addition to deeper meditations to Vajrayana teachings, practice and understanding.

In the Buddhist theory of change, the practice of the Medicine Buddha within Martsang Kagyu actualises prayers that the Medicine Buddha made in the past to bring happiness by bringing about causes for enlightenment, appeasing problems, satisfying good wishes, and helping those in a state of distress due to illness.

The Martsang Kagyu Green Tara puja practice was conducted on a monthly basis during this period. This puja is traditionally understood to bring strong help to people's careers. This is understood to bring them benefit and benefit those with whom they interact.

The precious Avalokiteshvara Puja is within the Martsang Kagyu system which includes the Avalokiteshvara offering, Refuge and so on. It is a prayer for increasing fearlessness and longevity.

Lama Chopa is a practice of guru devotion specific to the Martsang Kagyu tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. We celebrate the Nirvana and enlightenment Day of our lineage founder, Choje Marpa Rinpoche. In gratitude to our founder Choje Marpa's compassion, charitable activities provided by Martsang Kagyu on the day, included releasing animals from captivity into the wild.

Due to lockdown and the uncertain situation of COVID 19, we received many more enquiries than usual from members of the public. Many requested Buddhist advice on their mental health, jobs, family, and other personal issues from a Buddhist perspective. Our spiritual master, His Holiness Gangri Karma Rinpoche, provided his professional knowledge to help them as much as possible. Students who were trained by His Holiness also had the appropriate knowledge to help people where possible under the guidance of His Holiness. Feedback from service users suggested that many achieved excellent results.

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Martsang Kagyu UK Buddhist Centre

Trustees’ Annual Report (continued)

Year ended 5[th] A ril 2021 p

Making available Buddhist books, images, pray items and other materials as aids to the study and practice of Martsang Kagyu Tibetan Buddhism.

Providing translations of Tibetan Buddhist texts and cultural and social events to increase access to the centre by the local community.

We ensure young monks are educated and receive the appropriate training so they are then in a position to continue our charity objectives in the future.

One of His Holiness's students has a farm in Scotland who our centre support to ensure the animals she has saved have enough food to survive for the year.

Meditation teacher training is necessary to provide more regular classes for the public, particularly during these uncertain times. There are many benefits to meditation that have been proved scientifically to improve mental wellbeing, reduce stress, improve concentration and sleep all of which have a positive impact on both our professional and personal lives.

Contribution of volunteers

The charitable activities are staffed entirely by unpaid volunteers. The role of volunteering is essential to our charity and the contributions of our volunteers has a tremendous impact in terms of public benefit. This includes greater community engagement and developing caring and compassionate qualities in our daily life. The direct social impact and improved wellbeing helps to increase resilience which is essential during these uncertain times for both volunteers and public.

Volunteering helps in many different ways on a personal basis including increasing employability skills, reducing stress, supporting personal development, increasing happiness, making friends and strengthening communities.

Achievement and performance

Charitable activities that were undertaken for public benefit:

The CIO is governed in a manner where the intention is to achieve a degree of public benefit in all activities

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Martsang Kagyu UK Buddhist Centre

Trustees’ Annual Report (continued)

Year ended 5[th] A ril 2021 p

The charity’s meditation teachers who work as volunteers and were trained by His Holiness Gangri Karma Rinpoche have delivered free meditation classes for 162 residents. The meditation teacher training is an ongoing project and will continue to benefit many more people in the future.

The charity’s spiritual director His Holiness Gangri Karma Rinpoche held prayers and blessings for 210 residents when performing online the Green Tara puja, Medicine Buddha puja, Martsang Lama Chopa and Avalokiteshvara Puja. The attendance rate for all our pujas was 100%. The pujas were free to attend. To assist the public with mental health issues and to gain an understanding from a Buddhist perspective, 38 beneficiaries contacted MKUKBC for advice on problems that had an impact on their mental health, jobs, family relationships, and other personal issues.

Our Charity supported one of our students who has a farm in Scotland and rescues animals in the area. We donated food to ensure they had enough to eat for a year. In addition, we donated fruits and food to a total of 18 homeless people during the celebration of the founder of Martsang Kagyu.

There were 4.8K visitors to the MKLBC website between 6[th] April 2020-5[th] April 2021. The numbers have continued to increase which will be instrumental in the next Annual Report.

Our students contributed by writing articles during the COVID period for our website for which we received many positive comments.

In total His Holiness supported and trained 2 young monks.

Fundraising activities

We continue to suggest donations for the Support Fund through the opportunity to pay a "support" fee for all our events.

We held a successful sale of goods kindly donated by members and disciples to raise money for the charity.

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Martsang Kagyu UK Buddhist Centre Trustees. Annual Report (continued) Year ended 5th April 2021 We continue to apply for grants to support the {￿e classes throughout the year. Martsang Kagyu UK Buddhist Centre were successful in securing a grant to allow an increase in classes for the public durin9 COVID 19. PESTLE and Stakeholder analysis has been introduced as a practice to increase financial resilience to meet future turbulent times, as well to ensure we can maximise public benefit. Financial Review Reserves policy The charity's unallocated reserve allows for the value of five months'rentsl and utilities. bills to be paid. This will enable the charity to continue to operate in the event of a major decline in donations. Efforts continue to be made to keep our cost base as low as possible whilst looking ahead to the development of the strategic d1￿ctIon of the charity. The accounts show a surplus on 5th April 2021 of £13661.15. They represent the continued commitment from the CIO to provide a hig quality seTvice to the public. The trustees. annual report was approved on 2810112022 and signed on behalf of the board of trustees by.. His Holiness Gangri Kanna Rinpoche C Gyaltsen TTUStee Mr J A Mclntyre Trustee Ms T A Bryson Trustee Ji

Martsang Kagyu UK Buddhist Centre

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