## **Trustees Annual Report and Accounts** 

## **CIO 1188791 - January 2022 to January 2023** 

## **Buddhist Society of Manchester** 

The committee of the Buddhist Society of Manchester (Charity number 1072411) applied to the Charity Commission in 2020 to change to a CIO. This was granted on 07/09/2020 in the same title of “Buddhist Society of Manchester” CIO 1188791. 

The application had been made with the assistance of a solicitor, and they advised that the next step after the CIO was granted was the transfer of the assets from the existing charity (1072411) to the new CIO. The main asset was the terraced house property which the society owns, at 3, Grosvenor Square, Sale M33 6QU. 

The solicitor made the application to the Land Registry in October 2020 to make the transfer, and advised that until the transfer was complete we should continue to operate under the existing charity (1072411) and not close it down. Due to the pandemic the Land Registry has developed a large backlog of applications and the solicitor was still awaiting a result, well over a year later. The new CIO therefore had not been operative since its creation, and all account details and activity had been recorded using the annual return process for charity number 1072411. 

The asset transfer was finally completed late January 2023. As required by the constitution of the “old” charity (1072411) an Extraordinary General Meeting was held on March 26[th] 2023 to agree the closure of the charity. This was agreed and the online process to close the charity 1072411 was carried out on March 28[th] 2023. 

As the old charity no longer exists, the accounts for the period January 20[th] 2022 to January 20[th] 2023 are being reported under the new CIO, and this report will also cover that period. 

January, February and March 2022 saw the premises of the CIO still closed due to the latter end of the Covid pandemic. The main meeting room can only accommodate about fifteen people, with no possibility of the social distancing requirements being met. During 



this time a large meeting room was hired for one evening a week at the Light of Hope Centre a short distance from the Buddhist Society premises. Here it was possible to safely observe social distancing requirements for up to ten people, enabling some continuity of society meetings, which were of great benefit to those who could attend. 

In addition throughout the pandemic, meetings on-line using the “Zoom” facility had been established, and this also helped a great deal with members being able to keep up a level of contact throughout lock-down and beyond. This had a secondary benefit of bringing some older members who had moved away from Manchester back into contact via the on-line sessions, and as a result Zoom meetings have been continued beyond the resumption of normal meetings being re-established back at the society house. 

Normal meetings open to the public were recommenced at the society house in April 2022. Good numbers began to attend straight away, although it took a while for some members to feel confident again about meeting with others in a relatively confined space. 

The remainder of 2022 has felt like a period of getting back to some kind of “new normal”, and to a great degree this has been achieved, with meetings sustaining good numbers attending. 

A residential retreat at Hill Cottage Retreat Centre (mid-Wales) was held in early September, with eighteen people attending. 

On a practical note whilst the house was closed during the pandemic, a request to set up standing orders for regular monthly donations was made to members, as cash donations made at meetings could no longer be made, but running costs still had to be covered. A number of members kindly took the request up, and as a result the running costs of the society are now more than covered by the existing standing orders. 

The society has emerged from a difficult time in a buoyant mood, and now looks forward to ongoing activities and meetings at the house, and a positive future. 

Paul Shambrook Chairman 



## **Buddhist Society of Manchester CIO 1188791 Expenditure and Income Account for the Financial Year Ended 20[th] January 2023** 

|**Expenditure**|||
|---|---|---|
||**2022/23**|**2021/22**|
||**£**|**£**|
|Electricity|395.46|822.62|
|Gas|629.70|1,412.28|
|Telephone|140.76|140.70|
|Water Rates|125.72|259.50|
||------------|------------|
|Utility sub-total|1,291.64|2,635.10|
|Insurance|576.52|695.30|
|House|||
|Maintenance|395.00|242.00|
|Retreat costs|1,600.00|1,440.00|
|Booklets|431.49|1,131.00|
|Books|228.48||
|Air filter||869.00|
|Bay windows|1,725.00||
|Stone circle|276.66||
|------------|------------|--------------|
|**Total exp:**|**6,524.79**|**7,012.10**|
|**Income**|||
||**2022/23**|**2021/22**|
||**£**|**£**|
|Donations|6,063.77|7,497.12|
|Subscriptions|720.00|760.00|
|Book royalties|286.72|1,927.61|
||**------------**|**------------**|
|**Total income**|**7,070.49**|**10,184.73**|



**Society current account balance at 20[th] January 2023 = £9,323.95**