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2024-12-31-accounts

London Zen Group (LZG)

Trustees Report for the year ending 31[st] December 2024

OUR AIMS

It is our aim to advance the Sōtō Zen Buddhism religion in London for the benefit of the public through the holding of

REVIEW OF ACTIVITIES AND ACHIEVEMENTS

Schedule and Activities

LZG maintained a daily schedule of zazen meditation entirely staffed by its volunteers and trustees. This year, in April, we began to hold a session on Saturday afternoons as well - with introductions beginning at 17:30 and zazen beginning at 18:00.

Members of the public were welcome to join our daily morning sessions from Monday to Friday from 7.00 to 8.00 AM in person at our dojo or via our Zoom channel. Regular evening sessions of zazen have been held on Mondays (18:30 – 19:45), Thursdays(19:30 – 20:00 pm), Fridays (18:30 – 19:15 pm) and Saturdays (17:00 - 18:30). Drop-in introductions to the practice of zazen-meditation were offered on Monday, Thursday evenings as well as Saturday Afternoons. These were always a half-hour duration, and took place just before each session’s normal start time.

On Sunday mornings LZG offered a slightly extended period of zazen from 9.00 to 10.30 AM, followed by an extended ceremony, communal cleaning of the dojo space ( samu ) and socializing with coffee and biscuits. Evening and Sunday morning periods of meditation also offered opportunities for training attendees in various ceremonial elements of our tradition.

LZG continued its successful study group activity on Monday evenings following the regular evening zazen sessions on these days. Participants are discussing texts from the Buddhist and Zen traditions under the guidance of one of LZG’s ordained priests. This year was focused on traditional koans from the Blue Cliff Record and transitioned to a study of many of the main masters in the historic zen lineage.

Each Friday evening, after our scheduled sitting, from 7:00 – 8:00pm, LZG offered public talks on Zen-Buddhist doctrine, philosophy and history. The talks are followed by socializing and free discussion.

Guided workshops for sewing Zen-Buddhist ceremonial robes ( kesas and rakusus) were offered on Sunday afternoons. This activity was designed for those seeking to formally Take Refuge in the Three Treasures and receive the Buddhist Precepts, or for those to be formally ordained as priests in the Sōtō Zen tradition.

Of those who attended the sewing workshop, four of our regular members received the precepts at formal ceremonies in the UK (Crosby, outside of Liverpool) as well as at a retreat in the Aran Islands near Galway in Ireland. These ceremonies were completed with two different senior teachers/priests in our lineage, each from France. As with previous years, our sewing workshop was attended by another person from a different

group/lineage who needed direct advice and supervision in their sewing for receiving the precepts. As we are open to all, we welcome people from different groups to this activity.

LZG also offered Japanese calligraphy classes on selected Wednesday evenings at its premises.

LZG also held a half-day of silent zazen practice on the morning of December 7th to commemorate the Buddha’s awakening

This year during April, we painted our meeting space. This redecoration occurred over the course of 3 very full days and was possible thanks to the hard work of the trustees along with dozens of volunteers from our extended community, one of which was a professional painter and decorator. Food was donated to fuel the endeavour and volunteers were able to drop in and out throughout the 3 days. We estimate about 24 people volunteered in total, and the result was a freshly painted, clean and fresh meeting space.

ATTENDANCE

From January to December 2024, LZG, hosted 547 events and meetings with a total of 3,332 attendees. This included:

The statistics describe a 15% increase in attendance over the previous year. A detailed statistical summary of activities is attached to this report.

OUR FINANCES

As a small, non-company charity, we prepare our annual accounts in the receipts and payments format according to the Charity Commission CC16a standard.

LZG received £16,298 worth of donations for the financial period of 1st January to 31st December 2024. LZG is primarily financed through voluntary donations, and earns a small amount (£660) for renting our practice space out to a group which is in line with the goals of our charity (another Soto Zen Group), we also operate a tiny used book boutique operating on a break-even basis. This year the boutique made £135 which is partly due to the selling of home-printed sutra books, with minimal cost.

During the same time, LZG made payments of £11,629 in operational expenses.

As a result, LZG realized net receipts of £5463.92. This surplus reflects a 25.9% increase over our surplus from last year, and may be due to higher attendance, along with the offering of a contactless payment method for donations.

LZG’s funds increased to £39,913 by the end of the year.

STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT

LZG is governed by its board of trustees who are at the same time the caretakers of the group. Trustees meet several times per year and manage the current operations. They plan events and plan future operations and direction of the charity.

TRUSTEES

New trustees are co-opted by the body of existing trustees. New trustees will typically be long-standing members of the community who are also responsible to run regular sessions of zazen. Volunteers are experienced members of the community who may volunteer and be trained and qualified to lead zazen sessions or introductory sessions.

No new trustees were appointed during 2024.

One new volunteer committee member (caretaker) was appointed this year

Volunteers:

Trustees of LZG in 2023

SIGNATURES

----- Start of picture text -----
Rev. Edgar 20 February
Koeb 2025
Rev. Alana Berrington [19 February ]
2025
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Charity Name No (if any) London Zen Group - CIO 1194847 Receipts and payments accounts

CC16a

For the period Period start date Period end date To from 1/1/2024 12/31/2024

Section A Receipts and payments

Unrestricted Restricted Endowment funds funds funds

Total funds Last year

Section A Receipts and payments
Unrestricted
funds		 Restricted
funds		 Endowment
funds		 Total funds Last year
A1 Receipts
Donations - Online
6,431
5,715
Donations - Cash
1,585
Donations - Contactless
2,567
Income - 3rdpartyusergroups
660
Book Sales
135
Gift Aid and GASDS
-
-
17,093
-
-
Sub total -
Total receipts 17,093
A3 Payments
Rent
9,000
Gas and Electric
834
Internet
428
Council Rates
375
Boutique
13
Godo expenses
26
DIY
195
Equipment
26
Supplies
303
Zoom
156
Miscelaneous expenses
273
Sub total 11,629
-
-
Sub total -
Total payments 11,629
Net of receipts/(payments) 5,464
A5 Transfers between funds
-
A6 Cash funds last year end
34,450
Cash funds this year end 39,914
to the nearest £
Donations - Direct Deposits/Standing
Orders
Sub total(Gross income for AR)
A2 Asset and investment sales,
(see table).
A4 Asset and investment
purchases, (see table)		 to the nearest £
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-		 to the nearest £ to the nearest £
6,431
5,715
1,585
2,567
660
135
-
-
17,093
-
-
-
17,093
9,000
834
428
375
13
26
195
26
303
156
273
11,629
-
-
-
11,629
5,464
-
34,450
39,914		 to the nearest £
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-		 6,431 -
5,715 -
1,585 -
2,567 -
660 -
135 -
- -
- -
17,093 -
-
-
-		 -
- -
- -
- 17,093 -
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-		 9,000 -
834 -
428 -
375 -
13 -
26 -
195 -
26
303
156 -
273 -
11,629 -
-
-
-		 -
-
- -
- 11,629 -
- -
-
-
-		 5,464 -
- - -
- 34,450 -
- 39,914 -

Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period

Categories
B1 Cash funds
B2 Other monetary assets
B3 Investment assets
B5 Liabilities
B4 Assets retained for the
charity’s own use
Signed by one or two trustees on
behalf of all the trustees		 Details
Cooperative Account 65214200
Details
Details
Details
Details
Signature
Total cash funds
(agree balances with receipts and payments
account(s))		 to nearest £
39,914
-
-
39,914
OK
to nearest £
-
-
-
-
-
-
Print
Unrestricted
funds
Unrestricted
funds
Fund to which
asset belongs
Fund to which
asset belongs
Fund to which
liability relates
Rev. Ryan Roberts
Rev. Alana Berrington