Mater Ecclesiae College
Charity Trustees’ Annual Report and Accounts for the period January 2023 to 31 July 2023
Registered Charity No: 1186431
Contents
| Pages | |
|---|---|
| Charity Trustees | 2 |
| Governance and Management | 2 |
| Explanation of the Work of the CIO | 3 |
| Activities | 3 |
| Achievements and Performance | 4 |
| Financial Review | 4 - 5 |
| Plans for Future Years | 5 |
| Declaration | 5 |
| Independent Examiner’s Report | 6 |
| Receipts and Payments Account | 7 |
| Statement of Assets & Liabilities | 8 |
| Statement of Accounting Policies | 9 |
| Notes to the Receipts and Payments Account | 10 |
Mater Ecclesiae College P a g e | 1
Registered Charity No: 1186431
Mater Ecclesiae College
Charity Trustees’ Annual Report for the period January 2023 to 31 July 2023
Charity Trustees
The charity trustees are pleased to present the report of Mater Ecclesiae College (referenced later as the CIO) which was registered as charity number 1186431 on 19 November 2019. The registered office is at St Mary’s University, Waldegrave Road, Twickenham, TW1 4SX.
The CIO was formed to advance the Catholic religion for the benefit of the public, by:
a) Conducting the Ecclesiastical Faculties of Theology and Philosophy founded by the English Province of the Society of Jesus (The Jesuits) in Leuven in 1614 and transferred from Heythrop College to St Mary's University on 17 July 2019;
b) Conducting any other ecclesiastical faculties that may be erected in addition to the ecclesiastical faculties mentioned in (a) above, whether as an ecclesiastical university or otherwise;
c) Providing such other education and formation as is incidental to the objects set out in (a) and (b) above.
The charity’s trustees for the whole of the period were as follows:
The Most Revd Bernard Longley The Right Revd Professor Charles Roderick Strange The Revd Professor Simon George Gaine OP The Right Revd John Francis Sherrington The Most Revd Mark Anthony O’Toole Professor Gavin Gregory D’Costa The Most Revd Malcolm Patrick McMahon OP The Most Revd John Wilson
Governance and Management
The governing document of the charity is the Mater Ecclesiae College Constitution adopted by the charity trustees in August 2019, which became recognised by the Charity Commission when the Charitable Incorporated Organisation was registered on 19 November 2019. The trustees are the Governing Body of the Ecclesiastical Faculties of Theology and Philosophy conducted by the CIO under the canonical Statutes of the Faculties made by the Governing Body and approved by the Holy See.
Under the Statutes made by the Governing Body, operational details are delegated to the College’s Operational Board, which meets 3 times each academic year.
The trustees work entirely on a voluntary basis.
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Registered Charity No: 1186431
Explanation of the Work of the CIO
Mater Ecclesiae College, the Pontifical Athenaeum based at St Mary’s University, Twickenham, opened at St Mary’s in autumn 2019. Mater Ecclesiae College is the latest civil incarnation of the Ecclesiastical Faculties of Theology and Philosophy founded by the English Province of the Society of Jesus (The Jesuits) in Leuven in 1614. Known most recently as the Bellarmine Institute, it had been a part of Heythrop College, a chartered college within the University of London. The Jesuits’ decision to close Heythrop as a College of the University of London was finalised in 2018, when students who had been studying for civil degrees there completed their courses.
With the closure of Heythrop College, it became urgent to re-locate the Ecclesiastical Faculties of Theology and Philosophy to St Mary’s University as Mater Ecclesiae College, in order to continue the intellectual formation of the students at Allen Hall, the seminary of the Archdiocese of Westminster.
Activities
The main activities of the CIO are:
Firstly, to provide opportunities for the study, teaching, and research of Theology and Philosophy in a way that promotes a more profound knowledge and understanding of Christian revelation, and of those matters connected with it; to enunciate systematically the truths contained therein; to consider in the light of revelation the most recent progress of the sciences and to present them effectively to the people of today.
Secondly, to provide students with an education in Catholic doctrine in the first, second, and third cycles (baccalaureate, licence and doctorate); to prepare them to carry out their future tasks effectively and to provide for the continuing education of the ministers of the Church.
Thirdly, to collaborate closely in the work of evangelisation with the hierarchy and with the local and universal Church.
Fourthly, to establish fruitful collaboration with other Ecclesiastical faculties and with nonEcclesiastical faculties and centres of Theology and Philosophy.
Under the arrangements with St Mary’s University, Twickenham, students will typically study a civil Bachelor’s Degree in Theology (‘BA (Hons) in Theological Studies’) awarded by St Mary’s, and also a Sacrae Theologiae Baccalaureus or Baccalaureate of Sacred Theology (‘STB’) which is awarded by Mater Ecclesiae College.
Mater Ecclesiae College as such is now into the fifth year of its existence. All courses have been delivered and attendance has been high.
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Registered Charity No: 1186431
Achievements and Performance
As the academic year began, there were twenty full-time students and six auditors, following combined studies. These students came from the dioceses of Westminster, Southwark, and Cardiff, East Anglia, Arundel and Brighton, and Plymouth; there were also Salesians, Oratorians and an Augustinian, as well as members of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, and a female student from Hong Kong who is studying philosophy at present so as to enrol for an STB in due course. May she be the first of many, as we seek to help Mater Ecclesiae develop with lay students both male and female.
Mater Ecclesiae College and St Mary’s University
Aligning two distinct institutions is bound to create challenges. It has been a particular pleasure this period, therefore, to learn of the comments made at the final exam board by the External Examiner, Dr George Corbett from St Andrews University, which provide evidence for ways in which this alignment is taking place. Last year he had indicated limitations, but during this period he was well satisfied and promised that his report would be enthusiastic. That did not mean, as he observed, that there was not room for further improvement, but his comments were full of encouragement. He stated that he was impressed by the quality of teaching material and the assessments.
Financial Review
Whilst Mater Ecclesiae College is an independent institution, it has a collaboration arrangement with St Mary’s University, Twickenham. Under this arrangement, the teaching is arranged by St Mary’s and much teaching takes place on the premises of St Mary’s University.
A Service Arrangement exists between the CIO and St Mary’s, and there is a charge of £50,000 plus VAT per annum to the CIO, for the University’s provision of the following services:
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Registration & Admissions
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Student services (including wellbeing)
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Arranging and paying Hourly Paid Academics to teach the ecclesiastical modules for the STB
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Marketing, Recruitment and Communication of programmes
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Human Resources support
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IT support & Library services
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Finance support
The College’s students are permitted to have access to library facilities at Allen Hall Seminary.
The charges are reviewed on an annual basis and may be increased to reflect the scale of costs, activity levels and inflation.
Management and transactional accounting for the CIO is carried out by St Mary’s Finance Department.
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Registered Charity No: 1186431
The charity trustees are grateful to the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England & Wales for providing funding for the above costs.
The College has changed its financial year-end (or Accounting Reference Date) from 31 December to 31 July, in order to better align with the academic year-end. As it happens, the timing of the College’s annual donation from the Bishop’s Conference of England & Wales and the annual payment of its service charge to St Mary’s University fell outside the accounting period ended 31 July 2023. Accordingly, the College therefore reports no net receipts or payments during this period.
The College did not have its own bank account during this period, and it had no assets nor liabilities as at the period end.
Reserves policy
The CIO is in the early years of its formation, with its activities being funded by a donation from Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England & Wales, received via the Catholic Trust for England and Wales. The trustees will develop a meaningful reserves policy in the next few years.
Plans for Future Years
Two primary areas of development are underway; firstly, with regard to Canon Law and secondly, with regard to the establishment of a Licentiate in Sacred Theology (STL) programme. A PGCert in Canon Law and Safeguarding was validated with the hope that a cohort would be ready in September. The requirements of the National Tribunal Service have since modified slightly however, and St Mary's and Mater Ecclesiae await further guidance as to subsequent programme development. Plans for the development the STL are underway and this will be developed from the MA Theology programme in the first instance, and launch in 2025 to enable sufficient time to advertise and recruit a viable cohort.
The establishment of the CertHE Philosophy programme has enabled (a) lay students to take the full programme of studies necessary for them to be eligible for the STB and (b) ensures that seminarians receive civil accreditation for their Philosophy studies. Interest in the BA (Hons) Theological Studies with CertHE Philosophy has been encouraging, and the launch of this programme represents a significant expansion of MEC's work.
Graduation
The 2023 graduation ceremony took place on 10 September 2023.
Declaration
The charity trustees declare that they approved the report and accounts for the period ended 31 July 2023 on 5 March 2024
Signed: + John Sherrington
Bishop John Sherrington, Chairman of the Governing Body on behalf of the Charity Trustees
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Registered Charity No: 1186431
Independent Examiner's report to the trustees of Mater Ecclesiae College
I report to the trustees of the Mater Ecclesiae College (the charity) on my examination of the accounts of the charity for the period from 1 January 2023 to 31 July 2023.
Responsibilities and basis of report
As the charity trustees of the charity you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the Act’).
I report in respect of my examination of the Trustee’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the 2011 Act.
I have satisfied myself that the accounts of the charity are not required to be audited and are eligible for independent examination.
Independent examiner’s statement
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with my examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:
-
accounting records were not kept as required by section 130 of the Act; or
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the accounts do not accord with those records; or
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
Amanda Francis, Independent Examiner 5 April 2024 (Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales) Buzzacott LLP 130 Wood Street London EC2V 6DL
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Registered Charity No: 1186431
Mater Ecclesiae College
Receipts and Payments Account for the period ending 31 July 2023
| Notes | Total funds Total funds |
|---|---|
| 7 months to Jul 2023 Year ended Dec 2022 |
|
| £ £ |
|
| Receipts 1 |
|
| Donations | - 60,000 |
| Sub Total (Gross income for Annual Return) |
- 60,000 |
| Asset and investment sales | - - |
| Total Receipts | - 60,000 |
| Payments 2 |
|
| Service charge paid | - 60,000 |
| Sub total (Gross expenditure for Annual Return) |
- - |
| Asset and investment purchases |
- - |
| Total Payments | - 60,000 |
| Net receipts/(payments) | - - |
| Transfers between funds | - - |
| Cash funds last period end | - - |
| Cash funds this period end | - - |
*All funds are unrestricted
Mater Ecclesiae College P a g e | 7
Registered Charity No: 1186431
Statement of Assets & Liabilities at 31 July 2023
| Total Funds Total Funds |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 2023 Dec 2022 |
||||
| £ £ |
||||
| Total Cash funds | — — |
|||
| Other monetary assets |
— — |
|||
| Investment assets | — — |
|||
| Total Assets | — — |
|||
| Liabilities | — — |
|||
| Total Net Assets | — — |
|||
| Total Reserves | — — |
*There are neither Assets nor Liabilities as at the period end
Signed on behalf of all the trustees
- John Sherrington
Trustee Date 3[rd] April 2024
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Registered Charity No: 1186431
Statement of Accounting Policies
A. Basis of preparation
The accounts are prepared on a receipts and payments basis as permitted under section 133 of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the Charities Act’).
The accounts are for the seven month period from 1 January 2023 to 31 July 2023. Comparative information is provided for the year ended 31 July 2022.
B. Fund accounting
Unrestricted funds are general funds that are available for use at the charity trustees’ discretion in furtherance of any of the objectives of the charity.
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Registered Charity No: 1186431
Notes to the Accounts 31 July 2023
| Total funds Total funds |
Total funds Total funds |
|
|---|---|---|
| 7 months to Jul 23 Year ended Dec 2022 |
||
| 1 Receipts £ £ |
||
| Donations – Catholic Trust for England and Wales - Contributiontowardsrunning costs - 60,000 |
||
| Total - 60,000 |
||
| 2 Payments £ £ |
||
| Service charge to St Mary’s University - 60,000 |
||
| Total | - 60,000 |
3 Related party transactions
The Most Revd Bernard Longley and The Most Revd Malcolm Patrick McMahon OP, are both trustees of the CIO and also trustees of the Catholic Trust for England and Wales, a charity that donated £60,000 in 2022 to the CIO as contribution towards its running costs and is expected to continue supporting the work of Mater Ecclesiae College.
The College has changed its financial year-end (or Accounting Reference Date) from 31 December to 31 July, in order to better align with the academic year-end. The timing of the College’s annual donation from the Bishop’s Conference of England & Wales to the charity is such that no contribution was received in the period from 1 January 2023 to 31 July 2023.
There were no other related party transactions.
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Registered Charity No: 1186431