31/03/2025
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Braillists Foundation Annual Report
Braillists Foundation CIO
Annual Report for the Period 01/04/2024 to 31/03/2025
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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Matthew Horspool (Treasurer to 28/03/2025, Ordinary Trustee from 28/03/2025)
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Ami Turnbull (Treasurer from 28/03/2025)
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Laurent Cadet de Fontenay (from 06/09/2024)
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Stuart Lawler
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Darren Paskell (from 06/09/2024)
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Ed Rogers (to 06/09/2024)
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Stephanie Sergeant (from 06/09/2024)
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Ilka Staeglin (to 06/09/2024)
Staff and Contractors
There were no designated paid staff during the financial period.
The Foundation procured the services of a freelance text transcriber 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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Sponsorship: 61%
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Interest and Donations: 39%
Expenditure was made against:
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Grant funding obtained in previous years: 65%
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Sponsorship: 21%
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Interest and donations: 14%
Decision-Making and Supervision
The Trustees met eight 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.
Two Trustees retired and four new Trustees were appointed within the financial period to help drive our mission, and to maintain adequate trustee oversight.
Operational meetings with regular volunteers were held on a weekly basis, except where holiday or conflicts with significant events prevented this, and at least one Trustee was present at all such meetings.
Management of contractors remained delegated to the Treasurer, with oversight from the Board of Trustees.
Braillists Foundation is a registered charity in England and Wales, no. 1187244
31/03/2025
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Braillists Foundation Annual Report
Activities and Achievements
The following activities and achievements occurred during the financial period:
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Hosting the UK's first face-to-face World Braille Day Conference, in celebration of 200 years of braille, at New College Worcester, with approximately 80 attendees, keynote speakers and workshops, a world class braille heritage exhibition and a braille technology showcase featuring ten exhibitors
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Presenting about our work at Braille Matters , a celebration of World Braille Day 2025 by the Braille Revival League, a special interest affiliate of the American Council of the Blind
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Generating income through corporate sponsorship for the first time
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Moving our Newsletter to a new platform, reducing costs and improving the accessibility of the Newsletter itself and the publication process
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Training additional volunteers to support with event moderation and facilitation
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Building and maintaining relationships with organisations in other countries through Braillists Trustees being present at the eighth General Assembly of the International Council on English Braille in New Zealand and other international events
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Attending key conferences and exhibitions in the UK, including Sight Village Central and South East
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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 offer the braille Book Club, allowing braillists to practice their reading in five breakout rooms based on their ability
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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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Maintaining our presence and two-way interaction on social media
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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 | 2103 subscribers | 1858 subscribers |
| Braillecast | 29 episodes, average 369 weekly downloads |
12 episodes, average 373 weekly downloads |
| Masterclasses and Special Events |
13 events, average 65 attendees | 20 events, average 69 attendees |
| Braille for Beginners | 118 new registrants | 126 new registrants |
Braillists Foundation is a registered charity in England and Wales, no. 1187244
31/03/2025
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Braillists Foundation Annual Report
| Braille Bar | 16 occurrences, average 34 attendees |
17 occurrences, average 36 attendees |
|---|---|---|
| Book Club | 42 occurrences, average 29 attendees |
43 occurrences, average 27 attendees |
| 416 likes/497 followers | 406 likes/467 followers | |
| X(formerlyTwitter) | 933 followers | 917 followers |
Future Plans
In 2025-26, the Braillists plans to build on the work undertaken in 2024-25. In particular, we hope to:
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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 Foundation CIO | 1187244 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Receipts andpayments accounts | CC16a | |||
| 01/04/2024 Period start date For the period from |
To | 31/03/2025 Period end date |
| Section A Receipts and payments | Section A Receipts and payments | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A1 Receipts | Unrestricted funds to the nearest £ - 688 2,334 - 19 - - - 3,042 - - - 3,042 - - 855 - - - - 99 563 - 1,260 2,777 - - - 2,777 265 - 2,477 2,742 |
Restricted funds to the nearest £ - 800 - - - - - - 800 - - - 800 - 4,163 398 - - 423 84 1,500 - - 800 7,367 - - - 7,367 - 6,567 - 8,567 2,000 |
Endowment funds to the nearest £ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - |
Total funds to the nearest £ - 1,488 2,334 - 19 - - - 3,842 - - - 3,842 - 4,163 1,253 - - 423 84 1,599 563 - 2,060 10,144 - - - 10,144 - 6,302 |
Last year to the nearest £ |
|
| Grants | - | 9,000 | ||||
| Donations | 688 | 1 | ||||
| Sponsorship | 2,334 | 1,639 | ||||
| Awards | - | - | ||||
| Interest | 19 | 17 | ||||
| Recruitment | - | 56 | ||||
| - | - | |||||
| - | - | |||||
| Sub total(Gross income for AR) |
3,042 | 10,713 | ||||
| A2 Asset and investment sales, (see table). |
||||||
| - | ||||||
| - | - | |||||
| Sub total | - | - | ||||
| Total receipts A3 Payments |
||||||
| 10,713 | ||||||
| Staff | - | 3,160 | ||||
| Contractors | - | 1,435 | ||||
| Donated equipment/resources | 855 | 808 | ||||
| Equipment/resources for future donation | - | - | ||||
| Postage | - | - | ||||
| Infrastructure | - | 545 | ||||
| Memberships | - | 82 | ||||
| Presenters | 99 | 900 | ||||
| Transport | 563 | 263 | ||||
| Recruitment | - | 56 | ||||
| Exhibitions | 1,260 | 402 | ||||
| **Sub total ** | 2,777 | 7,651 | ||||
| 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 |
||||||
| 7,651 | ||||||
| 265 | - 6,567 | - | - 6,302 | 3,062 | ||
| - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2,477 | 8,567 | - | 11,044 | 7,982 | ||
| 2,742 | 2,000 | - | 4,742 | 11,044 |
CCXX R1 accounts (SS)
05/01/2026
1
Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period
| Categories Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees Matthew Horspool Ami Turnbull B5 Liabilities B3 Investment assets B2 Other monetary assets B4 Assets retained for the charity’s own use B1 Cash funds |
Details Details Details Total cash funds (agree balances with receipts and payments account(s)) Stock items for future donation Details Great Western Credit Union Lloyds PayPal Details Signature |
Unrestricted funds Restricted funds to nearest £ to nearest £ - 175 1,340 2,238 798 679 - 139 2,742 2,000 OK OK Unrestricted funds Restricted funds to nearest £ to nearest £ - - - - - - - - - - - - Fund to which asset belongs Cost (optional) - - - - - Fund to which asset belongs Cost (optional) - - - - - - - - - Fund to which liability relates Amount due (optional) - - - - - Print Name Matthew Horspool |
Endowment funds to nearest £ |
|---|---|---|---|
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| OK | |||
| Endowment funds to nearest £ |
|||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| Current value (optional) |
|||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| Current value (optional) |
|||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| When due (optional) |
|||
| Date of approval |
|||
| Matthew Horspool | 10-Jan-25 | ||
CCXX R2 accounts (SS)
05/01/2026
2