31/03/2024
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Braillists Foundation Annual Report
Braillists Foundation CIO
Annual Report for the Period 01/04/2023 to 31/03/2024
Trustees
The following people served as Trustees during the financial period:
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Dave Williams (Chair)
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Megan Hastings (Secretary)
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Elaine Cheong (Treasurer to 05/05/2023)
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Matthew Horspool (Treasurer from 10/11/2023)
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Ed Rogers
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Ilka Staeglin
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Stuart Lawler
Staff and Contractors
The role of General Manager was the only designated paid role during the financial period, and came to an end in June 2023. This was filled on a self-employment basis, with the General Manager responsible for his own tax, national insurance, holiday and sick pay.
In addition, the Foundation procured the services of a freelance text transcriber and two freelance braille transcribers for which remuneration was arranged in line with industry best practice.
Income and Expenditure
The Foundation's income was obtained through:
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Grant funding: 84%
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Sponsorship: 15%
-
Interest and Donations: 1%
All expenditure was made against grant funding.
Decision-Making and Supervision
The Trustees met 8 times during the financial period, with meetings lasting an hour on average. No meetings were declared inquorate and all business was ratified in meetings, although discussions took place by email outside meetings from time to time.
Staff and volunteers met on a weekly basis, except where holiday or conflicts with significant events prevented this, and there was usually at least one Trustee present at all such meetings.
Management of contractors was delegated to the General Manager, with Trustee supervision as appropriate, until the role came to an end. The General Manager subsequently continued on a voluntary basis until November 2023, at which point he was appointed Treasurer, and he has continued to manage contractors as part of these roles.
Activities and Achievements
The following activities and achievements occurred during the financial period:
- Partnering with VIEW (Vision Impairment Education Workforce) to present Multi-Line Braille in the Classroom in November 2023, reaching over 200 Qualified Teachers of the Visually Impaired and featuring six industry stakeholders
Braillists Foundation is a registered charity in England and Wales, no. 1187244
31/03/2024
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Braillists Foundation Annual Report
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Presenting about our work at Braille Matters , a celebration of World Braille Day 2024 by the Braille Revival League, a special interest affiliate of the American Council of the Blind
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Building relationships with similar organisations in other countries, most notably the Tactile and Technology Literacy Centre in New Zealand
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Attending key conferences and exhibitions, in particularly Sight Village Central and South East, in our own right for the first time
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Expanding the braille Book Club into five breakout rooms to allow braillists to practice their reading based on their ability
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Developing and expanding our presence on social media, increasing two-way interaction
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Continuing to deliver free Masterclasses to improve competency amongst braille users, with recordings, handouts and text and braille transcripts available afterwards
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Continuing to deliver a free “Braille Bar” drop-in service
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Continuing to deliver a free “Braille for Beginners On-Demand” course
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Continuing to support the Braillists email forum for braille users to exchange advice and support, alongside dedicated groups for beneficiaries of “Braille for Beginners On-Demand” and Book Club
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Continuing to publish the Braillecast podcast and make text and braille transcripts of all episodes available
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Continuing to produce SD cards containing all of our audio and text content for distribution at exhibitions, and periodically updating the master copy of that card with new content
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Continuing to provide personalised and personable email support
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Continuing to offer face-to-face “Braille and Beer” social gatherings
Audience and Reach
The reach of the Braillists Foundation is comprised predominantly of blind and partially sighted people, but also includes teachers and other professionals supporting braille users. It can be summarised at the end of this financial period as follows:
| ummarised at the end of this | financial period as follows: | |
|---|---|---|
| Medium | Reach This Year | Reach Last Year |
| Newsletter | 1858 subscribers | 1585 subscribers |
| Braillecast | 12 episodes, average 373 weekly downloads |
27 episodes, average 929 weekly downloads |
| Masterclasses and Special Events |
20 events, average 69 attendees | 14 events, average 58 attendees |
| Braille for Beginners | 126 new registrants | 109 new registrants |
| Braille Bar | 17 occurrences, average 36attendees |
15 occurrences, average 22 attendees |
| Book Club | 43 occurrences, average 27attendees |
43 occurrences, average 21attendees |
| 406 likes/467 followers | 376 likes/420 followers | |
| 917 followers | 862 followers |
N.B. we have improved how we record and interrogate our statistics during this financial period. Where figures for last year in this report differ from the figures reported in 2022-23, the figures in this report are more accurate.
Future Plans
In 2024-25, the Braillists plans to build on the work undertaken in 2023-24. In particular, we hope to:
- Celebrate World Braille Day in-person
Braillists Foundation is a registered charity in England and Wales, no. 1187244
31/03/2024
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Braillists Foundation Annual Report
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Improve the functionality of the Braillists' website and IT systems
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Improve the discoverability of Braillists content on smart speakers
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Be present at key conferences and events
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Expand opportunities for braille groups to meet in person
Braillists Foundation is a registered charity in England and Wales, no. 1187244
The Braillists Found
Receip For the period from
Section A Receipts and payments
Unrestricted funds
to the nearest £
A1 Receipts
| A1 Receipts | |
|---|---|
| Grants | - |
| Donations | 1 |
| Sponsorship | 1,639 |
| Awards | - |
| Interest | 17 |
| Recruitment | 56 |
| - | |
| - | |
| Sub total(Gross income for AR) |
1,713 |
A2 Asset and investment sales, (see table). - - Sub total -
| Total receipts 1,713 A3 Payments |
1,713 |
|---|---|
| Staff | - |
| Contractors | - |
| Donated equipment/resources CCXX R1 accounts(SS)1 |
- 24/01/2025 |
| Equipment/resources for future donation | - |
|---|---|
| Postage | - |
| Infrastructure | - |
| Memberships | - |
| Presenters | - |
| Transport | - |
| Recruitment | - |
| Exhibitions | - |
| **Sub total ** | - |
| A4 Asset and investment purchases, (see table) |
|
| - | |
| - | |
| **Sub total ** | - |
| Total payments Net of receipts/(payments) A5 Transfers between funds A6 Cash funds last year end Cash funds this year end |
|
| - | |
| 1,713 | |
| - | |
| 764 | |
| 2,477 |
CCXX R2 accounts (SS)2
24/01/2025
Section B Statement of assets and l
Categories
Details
B1 Cash funds
Great Western Credit U To
(agree balances with
Details
B2 Other monetary assets
Stock items for future do
Details
B3 Investment assets
CCXX R3 accounts (SS)3
24/01/2025
Details
B4 Assets retained for the charity’s own use
Details
B5 Liabilities
Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees
Signat
CCXX R4 accounts (SS)4
24/01/2025
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dation CIO
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1187244
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pts and payments accounts Period start date Period end date To 01/04/2023 31/03/2024 Restricted Endowment Total funds funds funds to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £
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9,000 - 9,000
- - 1
- - 1,639
- - -
- - 17
- - 56
- - -
- - -
9,000 - 10,713
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- - -
- - -
- - -
9,000 - 10,713
3,160 - 3,160
1,435 - 1,435
808 CCXX R5 accounts - (SS)5 808 24/01/2025
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| - | - | - | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| - | - | - | ||
| 545 | - | 545 | ||
| 82 | - | 82 | ||
| 900 | - | 900 | ||
| 263 | - | 263 | ||
| 56 | - | 56 | ||
| 402 | - | 402 | ||
| 7,651 | - | 7,651 |
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- - -
- - -
- - -
7,651 - 7,651
1,349 - 3,062
- - -
7,218 - 7,982
8,567 - 11,044
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CCXX R6 accounts (SS)6
24/01/2025
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liabilities at the end of the period
Unrestricted Restricted
funds funds
to nearest £ to nearest £
Union
2,477 8,567
- -
- -
otal cash funds 2,477 8,567
receipts and payments
account(s)) OK OK
Unrestricted Restricted
funds funds
to nearest £ to nearest £
onation - -
- -
- -
- -
- -
- -
Fund to which
Cost (optional)
asset belongs
-
-
-
-
-
CCXX R7 accounts (SS)7 24/01/2025
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Fund to which
Cost (optional)
asset belongs
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Fund to which Amount due
liability relates (optional)
-
-
-
-
-
ture Print Name
Matthew Horspool
CCXX R8 accounts (SS)8 24/01/2025
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CC16a
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Last year
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to the nearest £
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9,100
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
9,100
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-
-
9,100
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7,780
2,026
CCXX R9 accounts 498 (SS)9 24/01/2025
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570 75 350 188 - - 11,487
11,487 - 2,387 - 10,369 7,982
CCXX R10 accounts (SS)10
24/01/2025
Endowment
funds
to nearest £
- OK
Endowment funds
to nearest £ - - - - - -
Current value (optional) - - - - -
CCXX R11 accounts (SS)11
24/01/2025
Current value (optional) - - - - - - - - -
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When due
(optional)
Date of
approval
10-Jan-25
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CCXX R12 accounts (SS)12
24/01/2025