LETTER
BOX
STUDY
GROUP
Letter Box Study Group
Charitable Incorporated Organisation
Charity Registration Number 1198577
Trustees Report and Financial Statements
For the period I IApril 2022 to 30 April 2023

Letter Box Study Group
Charity No: 1198577
REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS
Registered Charity Number: 1198577
Trustees
The affairs of the CIO are managed by its Tru5tee5. The Trustees who served during the period are:
Andrew R Yolliig (appointed I I April 2022)
(Chairman and Acting Treasurer)
Paul Snelling (appointed I l April 2022)
(Vice Lhairmanl
Valerie P Scott (appointed I l April 2022)
(Secretary)
Wayne E Cox (appointed I l April 2022)
Robert R Huiit (appointed I l April 2022)
Simon Vaughaii Winter (appointed I l April 2022)
Andrew W Young (appointed I l April 2022)
The Trustees Met formally on three occasions during the period using Zoom, with additional
discussions taking place by email.
Contact address
7 Bow Close, Newport, TFIO 7GR
Independent Examiner
Cyril R H Parsons, 83 Ingram Avenue, Aylesbury, HP219DH
Bankers
TSB Bank PLC, 30-31 Long Causeway, Peterborough, PEI IXP
Objects
The objects of the LBSG as laid out in its constitutioii are to advaiice the education of the public in the
heritage and history, development and maiiitenance of letter boxes in the United Kingdom. aiid British
letter boxes worldwide where they are found. including by..
maintaining the only comprehensive data base of the 115,500 roadside letter boxes including
location, style, type, monarchical cipher, and rarity
2. providiiig educational information via the CIO'S website and social media channels, newsletter,
meetiiigs, publications, email discussions and picture sharing
working collaboratively particularly with Royal Mail and The Postal Museum, their heirs and
successors, oil heritage issue5, including through heritage meetings chaired by the CIO, aiid to
help support the policy agreement of Royal Mail and English Heritage on the coiiservation of
roadside letter boxes
4. providiiig educational materials for the use of schools aiid informal education organisations on
the hislory of the design oland social communications through roadside letter boxes

Letter Box Study Group
Charity No: 1198577
REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES for the period I l April 2022 to 30 April 2023
The Trugtees are pleased to present their report together with the financial statements of the charity for
the period I l April 2022 to 30 April 2023.
The Group is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO} incorporated on I l April 2022, having
previously been an unincorporated association founded iii 1976.
Public Benefit
The Trustees have regard to the Charity Commissions guidance on public benefit. Under their Guidance
the Group fulfils its Public Beiiefit requirement particularly through points 2, 3, and 4 of its Objects as
stated on the previous page, and through its Geiieral Enquiries facility available to the public on its
website.
Membership
At the start of the period the Group had a membership of 506. On 30 April 2023 membership stood at
514. Most interest Groups are fiiiding it difficult to recruit new members and are losing members each
year through a8in& so it is very pleasing to see this small increase in iiumbers. Our Secretary, Val Scott,
manages our rnembership records and deals with new members who joiii duriiig the year. She is
particularly busy during membership renewal period in Julie and [uly.
Newsletter
Four editions of the Groups high-quality and well-respected Newsletter were produced in the period.
edited by Simon Vaughan Winter. All were in full colour and the conteiit totalled 240 page& As always,
a broad raiige of tOPiC5 were covere& varying widely in approach and fully-reflecting the many letter
box-related subjects that interest n]embers.
Meetings
Our Ineetings programme has returiied to normal following the PandemiG three meetiiigs were held in
the period. The first was held at Portchester on 7May 2022. A group of attendees travelled to the Isle of
Wight the followiiig day tovisit Arthur Reeders 'Last Post" Museum. TheAGM took place at Checkley,
near Stoke-oii-Trenl, in October and this was followed by our second virtual meeting via Zoom in
January 2023. Sixty members joined in from as far afield as Australia aiid the US
Publications
A wide raiige of publications are available to members with an order form appearing in each Newsletter.
The Group's flagship full-colour Guidc to British Lcttcr Boxe5 now extends to 26 Secti011S, With
compilation of the 27th uiiderway al the end of the period. Supporting the Guidc is a comprehensive
series of 41 Sn7art Vicwing Notes. The Directory is the LBSG database of box types and their location5
and is available iii full, normally supplied on USB memory stick. Printed lists offering a wide range of
Directory extracts are also available. The Regi5tcr of Box Types reached version 19 during ihe year.
Copies of Newsletters 1-180 were available on DVD, prior to moving onto USB memory stick at the end
of the period. The free Index to New51cttcrs cover5 numbers 11¥185, with that for iiurnbers 1-113 in
preparation.
Website
'Ihe LBSG website continues to offer information to visitors and is an important recruitment tool. The
news pages were updated throughout the period. The most popular item followed the death of Her
Majesty Queen Elizabeth Il in Septeinber 2022. it looked back at what happened after the deaths of
George V and George Vl and the abdication of Edward Vlll and went on to explain when the first
Charles Ill letter boxes rnight appear and the new royal ciphers that they will carry. Other work on
developing the website coiitinues behind the scene&

Letter Box Study Group
Charity No: 1198577
Social Media
We recognise fully the importance of social media ag a means of reachiiig and educating thepublic about
letter boxes (thereby fulfilling one of our Public Benefit obligations) and enticing some of them to
become meinbers. Isla Keniiedy rnaiiages our Foccbook, Instagram, and TwittCT accounts and had a lot
of success with regular posts covering a wide raiige of themes. She is supported by members who make
their photographs available, aiid then join in with the discussions that follow.
Post Box WorkAng Group
The Group's liiformatioii Officer, Paul Snellin& chairs this Workiiig Group attended by the LBSG, Royal
Mail aiid The Postal Museum. It is a very useful forum lor the exchange of information relating to letter
boxes and allows us to highlight importaiit matters and keeps up to date on Royal Mail's managerneiit of
their post box estate. The Group met twice during the perio& with more iiiformal contact by email iii-
between time.
Email Discussion Group
The LBSG Mailing List is a forum via einail which allows members to discuss aiiything relevant to the
LBSG and to share photographs. Its origins can be traced back to May 1999 aiid it remaiiis as popular
as ever. During the period 85 different inembers made 10,255 postings to LIST.
The Directory
The Directory is the LBSGS fully-computerised database of box type5 and their locations. The Groups
liiformation Officer, Paul Snelling, Manages theupdates received daily from members. These are entered
reniotely into the database by Paul and his RaK (Records and Knowledge) leam. 9,547 eiitries were
made in the period and the database contaiiied a total of 766,629 individual records on 30 April 2023.
relatiiig to nearly 123,000 British and Irish letter boxes in use and preserve& in the UK, Ireland and
overseas. Paul also deals with any General Enquiries we receive from the public and keeps in contact
with Royal Mail.
IT
The LBSGS IT Officer, Andrew W Young, is responsible for all the Groups computer equipment and
softw'are, iiicluding the PCS with which we run the Directory and email systems, and our backup
operation5. During December 2022, we had to migrate our email system to another supplier with no
notice and this necessitated a lot of additional work over a very short period. Two of our Directory Pcs
failed in the period due to their age and were replaced without the loss olany dala.
Educational Materials
Aiiother of our Public Benefit obligations is to provide educational Materials for the use of schools and
iiiformal educalion organisatioiis on the history of the design of, and social communications through,
roadside letter boxes. Ali education pack is downloadable froin our website and consists of worksheets
and activities for EYFS (Early Years Foundation Stage}. and Key Stages l and 2. There are also noteg for
extension activities. The LBSG Education Pack helps children
and adults look a little rnore closely
at post boxes, their place iii our community landscape, and the importance of staying iii touch with
friends, family and neighbour5 all over the world.
Finances
The Group continues to be financially stable. The financial report and statement of accounts follow this
report.
Signed on behalf of the Trustees on 31 July 2023.
Andrew R. Young
Chairman
Valerie P. Scott
Secretary

Letter Box Study Group
Charity No: 1198577
FINANCIAL REPORT FOR THE PERIOD I I APRIL 2022- 30 APRIL 2023
The accounts for the period I IApril 2022 to 30 April 2023 are the first for Letter Box Study
Group CharitablL' Incorporated Organisation (CIO). AftL'r this slightly extended first year our
financial year will in future run from l May to 30 April annually. Our subscription year is
unchanged, and subscriptions continue to fall due on l June.
The income and expenditure account covers a period of 385 days for the reasons outlined above.
Subscription income was £14,649 and net sales income £1,103. The comparative figures for the
final period when we were The Letter Box Study Group Trust were £14,399 and £982
respectively. HMRC has approved our registration for Gift Aid and we anticipate receiving a
paiment of £1,510 in respect of subscriptions and donations paid by UK tax payers to the Group
during the period. Gift Aid means we can claim an extra 25p for every £1 given, at no cost to
members. We ask members who live in the UK and pay sufficient tax and have not yet
completed a Gift Aid Declaration Form to please consider doing so. Forms are available from
the Groups Secretary> Val Scott.
Members received four full-colour Newsletters as usual. three were standard issues with 56
pages, and our Autumn journal was a bumper one of 72 pages. Although Newsletter postage
costs increased we were able to limit this once more by buying a stock of NVI stamps ahead of
Royal Mail's price increase. Yet again I would likL¥ to thank our Editor, Simon Vaughan Winter,
not only for the superb Newsletterwith which he rewards us every quarter, but also for ensuring
we continue to get such good production costs and service from our printers.
After adjusting for the different lengths of accounting periods between this year and our final one
as a Trust, there was an increase in website and internet costs of about £722. This is due to the rising
costs of our technology and communication systems, most of which are invoiced in US Dollars.
We ended the period with a surplus of £1,209 - without the benefit of Gift Aid we would have
had a small deficit of £301.
The balance sheet shows the value of the stamps we held at the year-end (£3,720) which Thryll
cushion the effect of this year's increase in postage cost. The final balance shown in the Letter
Box Study Group Trust accounts last year has been transferred into this first set of accounts for
Letter Box Study Group CIO, and together with this year's surplus on the Income and
Expenditure Account we now have reserves of £21,117. 1 am pleased to say that the Group
continues to enjoy a sound financial position.
Finally, I must give my thanks to Cyril Parsons who has undertaken an independent
exarnination of these accounts once again. Producing this first set of accounts for the CIO has
entailed both additional work and a tighter timetable as it is now a requirement of our being a
charity that these accounts are published as part of the Trustees Report in our Autumn
Newsletter in advance of October s AGM. Things should be more straightforward next year.
Cyril s assistance and advice are invaluable to me. I arn very pleased to Teport that he has agreed
to act as our Independent Examiner once again, andwe will be proposing his reappointment at
this year s Annual General Meetin&
Andrew R Young
Acting Treasurer

Letter Box Study Group
Charity No: 1198577
INDEPENDEf+rr EXAMINER'S REPORT ON THE ACCOUNTS TO THE TRUSTEES OF
THELETTERBOXSTUDYGROUP FOR THE PERIOD I I APRIL2022 TO 30APRIL 2023
I report to the Trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity for the period
I l April 2022 to 30 April 2023
Responsibilities and basis of report
As the charitys Trustees, you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance
with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (°the Act").
I report in respect of my examination of the Trusts accounts carried out under section 145 of
the 2011 Act and in my examination, I have followed all the Directions given by the Charity
Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.
Independent Examiner's Statement
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention
in connection with the examination which gives me cause to believe that in any material Tespect:
the accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act; or
the accounts did not accord with the accounting records; or
the accounts did not Comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and
contents of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other
than any requirernent that the accounts give a 'true and fair view which is not a matter
considered as part of an independent examination.
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination
to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of
the accounts to be reached.
l August 2023
c￿11 R H Parsons, Bsc
831ngram Avenue
AYLESBURY, HP219DH

Letter Box Study Group
Charity No: 1198577
LETTER BOX STUDY GROUP
BALANCE SHEET
AS AT 30 APRIL 2023
2023
[385 doy5]
Fixed Assets
Computer Equipinent
Web Development
Less.. Depreciatioii
1,109
217
(5871
739
Current Assets
TSB Bank
Cash
14,586
Debtor5
Prepaid Expenses
Gift Aid
970
1,510
Stock
Directory, Guide, &c
Newsletter. stamps. &c
230
3.720
21,019
Less.. Current Liabilities
CreditOtrS
Prepaid subscriptions
641
(6411
Total Assets less Current Liabilities
21,117
Represented By
Transferred fron] Unincorporated Association
Surplu511Deficit) of Incorne over Expenditure
19,908
1,209
21,117
Signed on behalf of the Trustees on 31 July 2023.
Andrew R. Young
Chairman
ValL'rie P. Scott
SL'cretary

Letter Box Study Group
Charity No: 1198577
LETTER BOX STUDY GROUP
INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT
FOR THE PERIOD I I APRIL 2022 TO 30 APRIL 2023 30 APRIL 2023
2023
[385 day5]
Income
Subscriptions
Sales
Gross sales
Less.. Purchases
14,649
1,783
(6801
Net sales income
Donations, gifts, &c
Gift Aid
Bank Interest
1,103
945
1.510
136
18,343
Expenditure
Neivsletters
Printing
Postage and distribution
7,659
3,583
11,242
Meetings
Meinbers
Trustees
180
180
Group Administration
Print, postage, stationery
Travel and subsistence
liisurance
Website and internet
Depreciation
142
760
173
560
3.490
587
5,712
(17,134)
SurpluslDeficit of Income over Expenditure
1,209