Trustees’ Annual Report and Statement of Financial Activity for the period 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2022
Trustees
Joanna Millar Vincent O’Farrell Diane Stanley Alison Boyland
Tony Meakin (from 2 November 2022) Carol Banks Peter Green
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Contents
| Contents | |
|---|---|
| 1. Reference and administration details | 3 |
| 1.1. Charity Name and Registration | 3 |
| 1.2. The Living Tree’s Address | 3 |
| 1.3. Names of the Trustees who manage the Charity | 3 |
| 1.4. Names of advisors and senior volunteers | 3 |
| 1.5. Bank | 3 |
| 2. Structure, Governance and Management | 4 |
| 2.1. Type of Governing Document | 4 |
| 2.2. Charitable Objects | 4 |
| 2.3. Trustee selection methods | 4 |
| 2.4. Register of Members | 4 |
| 3. Activities | 5 |
| 3.1. Statutory Declaration | 5 |
| 4. Achievements and Performance | 6 |
| 4.1. Outputs and Outcomes for the Charity’s Beneficiaries | 6 |
| 4.2. How the public have benefited. | 7 |
| 4.3. Contributing to activities run by other organisations | 8 |
| 4.4. Trustee development | 8 |
| 5. Financial Review | 10 |
| 5.1. Details of any Funds materially in deficit | 10 |
| 5.2. Policy on Reserves | 10 |
| 5.3. Principal sources of funding and outgoings | 10 |
| 5.4. Remuneration of Trustees | 10 |
| 5.5. Financial Status | 10 |
| 5.6. Statutory Statements on Liabilities | 10 |
| 6. Statement of Financial Activity | 11 |
| 6.1. Receipts and Payments accounts for the period ended 31 December 2022 | 11 |
| 6.2. Notes to the Accounts | 13 |
| 7. Approval of the Board of Trustees | 15 |
| 8. Independent examiner’s report on the accounts | 16 |
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1. Reference and administration details
1.1. Charity Name and Registration
The name of the Charity is The Living Tree.
The Living Tree is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation registered with the Charity Commission on 27 February 2020 with registration no. 1188213.
The Living Tree is registered with HM Revenue & Customs.
1.2. The Living Tree’s Address
The Old Vicarage, Higher Street, Bradpole, BRIDPORT, Dorset. DT6 3JA
Email address: thelivingtreedorset@gmail.com
Website address: https://www.thelivingtree.org.uk
1.3. Names of the Trustees who manage the Charity
Role Appointed Resigned Carol Banks 14 April 2021 Alison Boyland 26 September 2020 Peter Green 21 February 2020 Tony Meakin 2 November 2022 Joanna Millar Chair 21 February 2020 Vincent O’Farrell Treasurer 21 February 2020 Diane Stanley 27 January 2021
1.4. Names of advisors and senior volunteers
Ruth Jenkins, Independent Inspector of accounts
Ann Jeffrey, Outreach Stall Organiser Liz Baker, Webmaster and Newsletter Editor Steph Crabb, Trustee Minutes Secretary
Nikki Bareham, Social Media Editor
Helen Ebdon, Friday Drop-in Volunteer Coordinator
Simon Wenham, Gmail account Secretary
1.5. Bank
NatWest Bank, 22 East St, Bridport, Dorset. DT6 3LG
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2. Structure, Governance and Management
2.1. Type of Governing Document
Charitable Incorporated Organisation: Association Model
2.2. Charitable Objects
For the public benefit, to relieve the needs of, and preserve and protect good health amongst people diagnosed with and recovering from treatment for cancer (including their family, friends and relatives who have been affected by such cancer) in Dorset, East Devon and South Somerset and the surrounding areas by providing services, activities and facilities for such persons, including but not limited to the provision of social, counselling, educational, creative, musical and recreational activities and guidance and information on the setting up and running of cancer support groups.
2.3. Trustee selection methods
There must be at least three charity trustees. The maximum number of trustees is 12. In accordance with the Constitution, Trustees are appointed or re-appointed for a term of three years by a resolution passed at a properly convened meeting of the charity trustees.
In appointing Trustees, due consideration is given to ensuring that the Trustees have between them the skills and experience necessary to manage the charity effectively and in accordance with charity law.
Any suitable person who enquires about becoming a Living Tree Trustee is provided with a copy of the Charity Commission CC3 document The essential trustee: what you need to know, what you need to do and The Living Tree Constitution . If they still wish to be considered for appointment as a Trustee, they are invited for an informal interview with the Trustees. Prior to any appointment, the potential Trustee is requested to complete a DBS check, a Declaration of Eligibility form and a Register of Conflict of Interests for Trustees Form. Once formally appointed, the new Trustee is provided with copies of all Living Tree adopted Policies.
Trustees are encouraged to participate in development opportunities as and when appropriate.
The Living Tree is a member of the Dorset Community Action Trustees Club and has access to advice from them.
The Trustees are encouraged to develop their own skills and knowledge by being actively involved in not just the day to day running of The Living Tree, but also by taking on additional responsibilities such as running the allotment project, The Therapists Partnership and arranging speakers for Friday Drop-ins.
2.4. Register of Members
In order to fulfil Charity Commission requirements, we maintain a Register of Members. New attendees at our Friday Drop-ins are invited to apply to become a Member by completing a simple application form. There is no charge for membership. Non-Members can continue to benefit from services offered by The Living Tree but only Members may vote on any resolutions at General Meetings including approving the appointment of Trustees. The Membership Register is managed by our Gmail account Secretary.
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3. Activities
3.1. Statutory Declaration
The Trustees confirm that they have complied with their duty to have due regard to the Charity Commission’s public benefit guidance when exercising any powers or duties to which the guidance is relevant.
To achieve our Objects, The Living Tree holds a weekly Friday Drop-in Meeting from 2-4.30pm in an accessible venue in central Bridport, preceded by alternate weekly Yoga and Mindfulness sessions. The drop-in sessions offer regular speakers, creative activities plus access to our library stocked with relevant cancer related books and leaflets.
We also continue to provide assistance and advice every day of the year through the maintenance of a dedicated mobile phone service, an email address, an informal telephone support scheme with plans to eventually develop a more formal buddying & befriending service, website, monthly newsletter and Facebook page.
We have continued to develop The Living Tree Therapists Partnership (LTTP) with local complementary therapists whereby approved therapists provide therapies to our members funded by The Living Tree. Members can apply to receive six free sessions with a Partnership therapist of their choice. The LTTP is managed by a Trustee. All the therapists hold professional qualifications, have appropriate insurance, and have a current DBS check. Evidence of all these has been checked by the Trustee responsible for administering the Partnership. In addition, the Trustee responsible for the LTTP has continued to respond to counselling requests, offered telephone and email support, & helps link in with any potential new suitable therapists.
Our other activities include a regular Ambling (walking) group, table tennis sessions at Bridport Leisure Centre and Salwayash Village Hall each week, and a weekly Splash Club swimming session at Highlands End pool. We also offer monthly fly-fishing sessions at a Dorset fishing lake, in conjunction with the charity Fishing For Life, for those affected by breast cancer.
The allotment has thrived with weekly gatherings when we continue to grow our own produce and flowers. It remains a popular venue for newer members, men & women, to receive support from our charity whilst enjoying the emotional & physical benefits of gardening & healthy outdoors exercise. Each week towards the end of the morning we provide nutritious snacks & drinks often made from our produce.
Post COVID, we have now reconnected with regular community events in the town such as the Charter Fair, Melplash Show and the Christmas Tree Festival during which we can raise public awareness of the services we offer through our publicity material which we display on our outreach stall. This also gives us an opportunity to sell our own books and cards which we have produced which helps to maintain our income.
The main centre of all Living Tree activities is usually Bridport in Dorset where the Drop-ins are held. All other regular activities are held either in Bridport or within adjacent parishes. The allotment is in Bridport and is on a level site with parking nearby.
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4. Achievements and Performance
4.1. Outputs and Outcomes for the Charity’s Beneficiaries
We continued to remain very busy throughout 2022. We had several governance training sessions for trustees in January and February with a training consultant from Dorset Community Action. Later in the Spring we developed the Volunteer Training Pack to produce standardised materials which any new volunteer can be given, and these are available on-line and in paper format.
We had many highlights at our allotment, including visits from a local mushroom specialist who helped us to develop our own mushroom logs. We were very grateful to be offered a second adjacent allotment plot by the Town Council and throughout the year established a greenhouse and fruit cages to enable us to grow more plants from seeds. We had support from the local Community Shed who kindly provided the fruit cage frame and work benches to go within the greenhouse. In the Summer we held a delicious harvest lunch for everyone who helps at the allotment. We were very fortunate to be offered a visit to a local National Gardening Scheme Garden as a result of Macmillan and the NGS being impressed with our use of the allotment to support people with cancer. This resulted in a visit to Hogchester Meadows which was very much enjoyed by all.
We continue to prioritise recruitment of further volunteers and new trustees. This became more important following the decision of the Chair in August 2022 to inform fellow trustees of her wish to step down as Chair following ten years in office. There followed over the subsequent Autumn months several focused meetings on succession planning. As a result of wider publicity to recruit more trustees we successfully recruited two retired businessmen in the latter part of 2022 and continue to look at how the admin roles of Chair could gradually be delegated.
Fundraising continues to be supported by several outreach stalls held in local supermarkets, plus we held stalls at two local Christmas fairs at the end of November.
We took part in the annual Bridport Carnival Procession in August and were thrilled to be awarded first place in the ‘small walking entry’ category.
The main focus of the year was the planning and celebration of our 10-year anniversary which took place at the beginning of September with a wonderful exhibition in Bridport Arts Centre of much of our creative writing and artwork which we have produced over the years. A huge amount of preparation went into this including numerous workshops in the Spring and Summer months to produce the new material specifically for the exhibition. We had amazing help from two of our regular artists who work with us who oversaw and curated the exhibition. A full description and video of the exhibition is available on our website: www.thelivingtree.org.uk/ten-year-celebration
The exhibition was officially opened by the Mayor at a civic evening in early September to which over 150 guests were invited including many of the local businesses, charities, health care professionals, volunteers, therapists, artists and fundraisers who have supported us over the years. The exhibition then ran for the following four days, with Living Tree members and volunteers helping to share the rota for manning exhibition. We received an enormous amount of wonderful feedback about the quality of the work and the impact of our charity in helping people with cancer. In addition, people that had not heard of us were able to come along and see for themselves how they may benefit from becoming involved.
On the Wednesday morning of the week of celebrations, our Ambling Coordinator led a walk through the town which ended at the exhibition. On the Thursday evening, we held a poetry evening led by Rosie Jackson, the poet who had run the initial creative writing workshop at Dorchester Hospital back in September 2012, in which the two co-founders had developed their
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ideas for setting up the Charity. This was a wonderful evening, in which Living Tree members read out some of their own poems from our ‘Book of Words’, plus poems written by the late Jo O’Farrell MBE, plus some of Rosie Jackson’s poems.
Finally, the celebrations finished with a party on the Saturday evening for many of our members’ friends and guests.
Macmillan gave us a grant towards the costs of the 10-year anniversary activities with the remaining costs funded from a donation from a local older people’s group which had closed down in 2021. The donor group asked that the funds be used to financially support Living Tree art and creative activities.
The Charity held a Live Your Life After Cancer (LYLAC) workshop in November. Also in November, the Chair gave a talk to the local Inner Wheel to inform them of the work of the Charity.
As Christmas approached, we took part in a Christmas wreath making workshop for everybody involved at the allotment. We also took part in the local Christmas Tree Festival and had a stall at the annual Christmas Cheer event. Finally, one of our local parish magazines visited our Friday Drop-in in December to write a publicity raising article as a follow up from our 10-year anniversary celebrations. We also learned that Macmillan had nominated us for a national volunteer award to highlight the work of the Charity.
4.2. How the public have benefited.
For the public benefit, to relieve the needs of, and preserve and protect good health amongst people diagnosed with and recovering from treatment for cancer (including their family, friends and relatives who have been affected by such cancer) in Dorset, East Devon and South Somerset and the surrounding areas by providing services, activities and facilities for such persons, including but not limited to the provision of social, counselling, educational, creative, musical and recreational activities and guidance and information on the setting up and running of cancer support groups.
The Living Tree’s core aim is to improve the quality of life of those living in Bridport and the wider community who have been affected by cancer in any way. This includes the family, friends, and carers of those who have a diagnosis of cancer, and those who have been bereaved. Our aim is to promote a sense of well-being, to help overcome fears of isolation, loneliness and for the future, to provide mutual support, to help people share their experiences, to help them achieve improved physical and mental health, to provide help and support for the bereaved. We aim to achieve this by the provision of cancer related information, and by providing opportunities to take part in various activities which will enhance the quality of their lives.
The founders of The Living Tree, Jo O’Farrell MBE and Joanna Millar, identified an unmet need in the local community of West Dorset for a holistic cancer support group in 2012 and started The Living Tree. They were aware of the increasing body of evidence which demonstrated that focusing on survivorship helps to increase the long-term survival of those who are diagnosed with cancer.
They aimed to help people recover from the shock of a cancer diagnosis and the effects of treatment, to help them to recover their sense of autonomy and regain control over their own health outcomes.
The Living Tree also recognised the need to help all those affected by cancer- patients, carers, families, friends and the bereaved and so welcomes all those who wish to access its services.
We produce a monthly newsletter which provides an update to the public including health and voluntary sectors plus our own members on what is coming up in the next month. In addition, we share a weekly update via our Facebook and Instagram accounts.
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Our website continues to be regularly updated and is a useful initial source of information on everything we offer.
The Living Tree is able to carry out its work due to the volunteers who continue to help with our main activities, particularly the Friday drop-ins and our outreach stalls. In addition, the following responsibilities are all carried out by volunteers: Secretary, Outreach Stall rota organisation, Independent Inspector of accounts, organising table tennis, swimming & walking activities, Zoom hosting, and face-to-face Drop-in support.
We support & raise awareness of other charities through our programme of Friday afternoon Drop-in speakers whose presentations will often describe their work with the charity they support.
The existence of The Living Tree as a local support group has enabled local health services, such as the social prescribing service and the Clinical Nurse Specialists based at Dorset County Hospital and local GP’s, to refer patients, carers, relatives and the bereaved to a local support group, where they know help will be given. The charity is aware that requests to see our therapists have increased, and are likely to continue to do so, particularly as the NHS services post-pandemic try to tackle the backlog in many areas of treatment.
Our Outreach Stall at local events has raised the profile of The Living Tree and provided information to the local community and holidaymakers, who often state they don’t have time to access advice in their home county or know where to access such advice.
Updated Living Tree publicity resources, such as leaflets, have been redistributed via GP surgeries and local hospitals.
4.3.
Contributing to activities run by other organisations
We continue to network with other local cancer support groups via the bi-monthly Macmillan Network Meeting which are led by our Macmillan engagement leads. These were started during COVID and have proved to be a good source of support and information from guest speakers.
Stepping Out Cancer Rehabilitation Community Support Group is also based in Bridport, and we have continued to support this organisation by sharing information about their Scheme on our Outreach stall, our website and newsletter, sharing the stall, with Stepping Out volunteers joining Living Tree volunteers to promote both services and holding joint fundraising activities.
We have also promoted other cancer support groups, particularly local ones with whom we have direct contact, by providing links to them on our newsletter and website and distributing their leaflets.
Macmillan produced a video in 2019 about The Living Tree and Stepping Out showing how The Living Tree and Stepping Out have improved the lives of those affected by cancer in our area, by interviewing members who attend both groups. They continue to show this video to other organisations and start up support groups as a good Model of a Cancer Support Group.
4.4. Trustee development
The Trustees are encouraged to develop their own skills and knowledge by being actively involved in not just the day to day running of The Living Tree, but also by taking on additional responsibilities such as running the allotment project, The Therapists Partnership and arranging speakers for Friday Drop-ins.
The Trustees have access to the Meet and Greet training from Macmillan; some have already attended this training and other sessions are planned for 2023.
Trustees have attended relevant webinars, such as a Nutrition Conference organised by Yes to Life.
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All Trustees have been supplied with the Charity Commission’s CC3 Guide, The essential trustee: what you need to know, what you need to do , which, amongst other areas, advises them on how to develop their role bearing in mind their responsibilities.
All of our policies are reviewed annually and are available online on our Google drive. As part of our induction of new trustees, we make our policies available to them to read. We continue to update them to ensure we fit with Charity Commission guidelines.
Safeguarding risks and policies are reviewed annually, usually just before the AGM. Significant risks have been highlighted and mitigated where appropriate.
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5. Financial Review
5.1. Details of any Funds materially in deficit
The Charity has no funds which are materially in deficit.
5.2. Policy on Reserves
The Charity’s policy on reserves is to maintain a bank balance which is sufficient to cover the level of recent average annual payments (c£16,000) in case of unforeseen and/or unavoidable circumstances precipitating a short-term fall in its receipts.
5.3. Principal sources of funding and outgoings
The Receipts and Payments lines in section 6.1 are listed in more detail than last year, and now in alphabetical order. Some lines in last year’s accounts had been aggregated from more detailed lines but this aggregation obscured an understanding of Payments in particular. Despite the change making comparison between the breakdown of the two years less obvious, it was felt that the benefits of the clearer detail this year more than compensates for this disadvantage.
Principal sources of funding:
Donations from local community groups and charities that have closed.
One-off donations from members and supporters.
Sales of books and greetings cards produced by members of the Charity.
Local fund-raising events.
Collection boxes at local pubs, shops, events.
Principal outgoings:
Therapist fees.
Administration including fees for services provided by third parties (admin support, website maintenance, newsletter production, social media promotion)
Allotment expenses.
5.4. Remuneration of Trustees
All Trustees act in a voluntary capacity and receive no remuneration or other material benefits from their services to The Living Tree.
Out-of-pocket expenses necessarily and reasonably incurred by Trustees in promoting the purposes of The Living Tree are reimbursed at cost.
5.5. Financial Status
Though modest, the Charity’s current resources from all sources are more than sufficient to meet its outgoings for at least the next year.
All the indications are that this will remain the case for the foreseeable future.
5.6. Statutory Statements on Liabilities
The Trustees declare that:
-
✔ The Living Tree has given no guarantees where potential liability under the guarantee is outstanding at the date of this statement.
-
✔ The Living Tree has no debt outstanding at the date of this statement which is owed by the CIO and which is secured by an express charge on any assets of the CIO.
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6. Statement of Financial Activity
6.1. Receipts and Payments accounts for the period ended 31 December 2022
----- Start of picture text -----
Receipts and payments accounts
Period start Period end date
To
date
1/1/2022 31/12/2022
Unrestricted Restricted Endowment
Total funds Last year
funds funds funds
to the nearest to the to the nearest
to the nearest £ to the nearest £
£ nearest £ £
A1 Receipts
10 Year Anniversary - - -
2,000 2,000
Celebration
Allotment - 50 - 50 100
Donations towards
54 - - 54 88
Amblers refreshments
Card/book sales 1,309 - - 1,309 296
Collection boxes 1,034 - - 1,034 300
Other donations 8,342 5,000 - 13,342 15,848
Jo’s bench - - - - 15
Bank interest 5 - - 5 -
Sub total (Gross income -
10,744 7,050 17,794 16,647
for AR)
A2 Asset and
investment sales, (see
table).
None
Sub total - - - - -
Total receipts 10,744 7,050 - 17,794 16,647
A3 Payments
10 Year Anniversary
Celebration 23 5,000 - 5,023 -
Administration 1,058 - - 1,058 579
Allotment 486 3,050 - 3,536 2,010
Amblers refreshments 178 - - 178 143
Cost of card/book sales 60 - - 60 -
Donations passed on to
Stepping Out 485 - - 485 241
Friends Meeting House
rent 1,290 - - 1,290 654
Friday Drop-in expenses 355 - - 355 384
Insurance 297 - - 297 291
Library books 21 - - 21 27
Living Tree Therapists
- -
Partnership 2,905 2,905 1,061
Mindfulness sessions 1,250 - - 1,250 840
Printing 309 - - 309 95
Singing sessions 270 - - 270 -
----- End of picture text -----
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11
----- Start of picture text -----
Social media promotion 610 - - 610 -
Table Tennis sessions - -
1,406 1,406 1,020
Training 330 - - 330 320
Website/newsletters - -
1,524 1,524 1,320
Workshops 711 - - 711 485
Yoga 1,355 - - 1,355 660
Jo’s bench - - - - 680
Sub total
-
14,923 8,050 22,973 10,567
A4 Asset and
investment purchases,
(see table)
None
Sub total
- - - - -
Total payments 14,923 8,050 - 22,973 10,567
Net of
-
receipts/(payments) (4,179) (1,000) (5,179) 6,080
A5 Transfers between
funds
None
A6 Cash funds last
year end 42,152 42,152 42,152
Cash funds this year
end 27,968 9,000 - 36,968 37,397
Section B Statement of
assets and liabilities at
the end of the period
Unrestricted Restricted Endowment
funds funds funds
Categories Details
to nearest £ to nearest to nearest £
£
B1 Cash funds NatWest
current 27,894 9,000 -
account
Petty cash 74 - -
Total cash
-
27,968 9,000
funds
B2 Other monetary
assets
Groves Garden Centre 114
credit note
----- End of picture text -----
----- Start of picture text -----
Fund to Current
Cost
which asset value
(optional)
Details belongs (optional)
B3 Investment assets
None
----- End of picture text -----
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----- Start of picture text -----
Fund to Current
Cost
which asset value
(optional)
Details belongs (optional)
B4 Assets retained for
the charity’s own use
Table Tennis tables Two tables Fixed assets 690
at Bridport
Leisure
Centre
Jo’s bench At Fixed assets 880
Highlands
End
Allotment equipment Shed, Fixed assets 4,891
greenhouse,
planters,
gardening
tools
Fund to Amount When due
which liability due (optional)
B5 Liabilities Details relates (optional)
Therapists Invoices for Payments 176
December
Other suppliers Invoices for Payments 799
December
----- End of picture text -----
6.2. Notes to the Accounts
-
a) Accounting Policies The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the Charities Act 2011 Section 133, using the Receipts and Payments basis available to small charities and the charity’s own accounts spreadsheet.
-
b) Restricted funds Restricted funds carried forward from 2021:
-
the Chancery House fund to benefit the elderly of the area (£3,000) was used to improve the facilities at the allotment.
-
the 50+ Forum’s fund towards art and creative activities (£5,000 + £2,000) was used to cover £3,000 of the costs of the 10-year anniversary event. The fund contained £4,000 at the end of the year.
Restricted funds received in 2022:
-
£2,000 from Macmillan towards catering costs for the opening event & the closing party of the 10-year anniversary event.
-
a further £5,000 from the closure of Chancery House to benefit the elderly of the area was provisionally allocated to the LTTP and carried forward to 2023.
-
c) Reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses Out-of-pocket expenses incurred necessarily, reasonably and incidentally in the course of the Charity’s activities are reimbursed at cost.
-
d) Salaries & Professional Fees No trustee receives any payments for the services they provide to the charity. In the current financial year the charity employed no staff or external contractors.
-
e) Fixed Assets
The Charity has acquired but not disposed of any fixed assets in the current financial year.
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-
f) Creditors & Debtors Cheques for goods or services purchased, or invoices for goods or services delivered, which are issued prior to the end of the financial year but not appearing in the end of financial year bank statements are reported as outstanding creditors or debtors respectively.
-
g) Rounding Discrepancies All amounts are recorded to the penny, but in these accounts are shown as digitally rounded to the nearest pound. This can occasionally result in a total apparently not being the sum of its constituent amounts. All individual amounts, and their totals, are nevertheless correct.
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7. Approval of the Board of Trustees
The Trustees declare that they have approved the above Annual Report & Statement of Financial Activity.
Signed on behalf of the Trustees Date
Joanna Millar (Chair)
26 October 2023
Vincent O’Farrell (Treasurer) 26 October 2023
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8. Independent examiner’s report on the accounts
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