LEThER
BOX
STUDY
GROUP
Letter Box Study Group
Charitable Incorporated Organisation
Charity Registration Number 1198577
Trustees, Report and Financial Statements
For the year ended 30 April 2024

Letter Box Study Group
Charity No: 1198577
REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE D￿AlLs
Registered Charity Number: 1198577
Trustees
The affairs ofthe CIO are managed by its Trustees. The Trustees who served during the year are-
Andrew R Young
(Chairman and Arting Treasurer)
Paul Snelling
(Vice Chairman)
Valerie P Scott
(Secretary)
Wayne E Cox
Robert R Hunt (resigned 4 Septernber2023J
Isla M Kennedy [appointed 14 October2023J
Simon Vaughan Winter
Andrew W Young
The Trustees met formally on two ocrdsions during the year 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 Longcauseway, Peterborough. PEI IXP
Objects
The objects of the LBSG as laid out in its constitution are to advance the education of the public in
the heritage and history. development and maintenance ol letter boxes in the United Kingdom.
and 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. providing educational information via the CIO'S website and social media channels,
newsletter, meetings. publications, email discussions and picture sharing
working collaboratively particularly with Royal Mail and The Postal Museum, their heirs
and successors, on heritage issues. including through heritage meetings chaired by the
CIO, and to help support the policy agreement of Royal Mail and English Heritage on the
conservation of roadside letter boxes
4. providing educational materials For the use of schools and informal education
organisations on the history of the design of and social communications through roadside
letter boxes

Letter Box Study Group
Charity No: 1198577
REPORT OF THE TRusfEES for the year ended 30 April 2024
The Trustees are pleased to present their report together with the financial statements of the
charity for the year ended 30 April 2024.
The Group is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) incorporated on I l April 2022, having
previously been an unincorporated association founded in 1976.
Public Benefit
The Trustees have regard to the Charity Commission's guidance on public benefit. Under their
Guidance the Group fulfils its Public Benefit requirement particularly through points 2, 3, and 4
of its Objects as stated on the previous page. and through its General Enquiries facility available
to the public on its website.
Membershlp
At the start of the year the Group had a membership of 514. and on 30 April 2024 membership
stood at $16. Most interest groups are finding it dilTicult to recruit new members and are losing
members each year through agin& so it is very pleasing to see our numbers remain steady. Our
Secretary. Val Scott, manages our membership records and deals with new members who join
during the year. She is particularly busy during membership renewal period in lune and july.
Newsletter
Four editions of the Group's high-quality and well-respected Newsletter were produced in the
year, edited by Simon Vaughan Winter. All were in full colour and the content totalled 236 A4
pages. As always, a broad range of topics were covered. varying widely in approach and fully-
reflecting the many letter box-related subjects that interest members.
Meetings
Three meetings were held in the year. The first was held at King's Lynn on 13 May 2023. The
AGM took place at Bishop's Monkton, near Ripon, on 14 Ortober 2023 and this was followed by
our annual virtual meeting via Zoom on 20th january 2024. Fifty members joined in from all
corners of the U
Publications
A wide range of publications are available to membets with an order form appearing in each
Newsletter. The Group's flagship fvll-colour Guide to British LetterBoxes grew to 28 Sections. with
compilation ol the 29th due to start once updates have been completed to some of the older
sections. Supporting the Guide is a comprehensive series of46 Smart Viewing NoteR The Directory
is the LBSG database of box types and their locations and is available in full, normally supplied on
USB memorystick Printed lists offeringa wide range oFDirectoryextracts are also available. The
Re9lSter of Box Trpes reached version 21 during the year. Copies of Newsletters 1-191 are
available on USB memory stick, supported by the free Index to Newslette￿, available in two
sections, numbers 1-113 and 114-191. A significant addition to the materials new members
receive in their welcome packs was rnade with the introduction of the "Beginner's Letter Boxes"
Guide, a 24 page full colour A5 booklet. compiled by mevnber Steve johnson.
Website
The LBSG website continues to offer information to visitors and is an important recruitment tool.
The news pages were updated throughout the year. and included items on the"Liverpool Special"
and Eurovision, special postboxes to celebrate the Coronation. letter box toppers. the Group's
contribution to an hour long discussion about postboxes on BBC Radio 5 Live. singing postboxes
at Christmas. an article in The Times about the difference between a Pillar Box and a Letter Box,
and the addition of-Beginner's Letter Boxes" to our new members. Welcome Pack. Work to
develop the website further is ongoing.

Letter Box Study Group
Charity No: 1198577
Social Media
We recognise fully the importance of social media as a means of reaching and educating the public
about letter boxes (thereby fulfilling one of our Public Benefit obligations) and enticing some of
thetn to become members. Isla Kennedy manages our Facebook, Instagrom, and X (fvrmerly
Twitter) accounts and continues to have a great deal of success with regular posts covering a wide
range ofthemes. She is supported by members who make their photographs available, and then
join in with the discussions that follow.
Post Box Working Group
The Group's Information Officer, Paul Snellin& chairs this Working Group attended by the LBSG.
Royal Mail and The Postal Museum. It is a very useful lorum for the exchange of information
relating to letter boxes and allows us to highlight important matters and keeps up to date on Royal
Mail's management of their post box estate. The Group met twice during the year, with more
informal contact by email in-between time.
Email Discussion Group
The LBSG Mailing List is a forum via email which allows members to discuss anything relevant to
the LBSG and to share photographs. Its origins can be traced back to May 1999 and it remain5 as
popular as ever. During the year 85 differeni metnbers made 7.869 postings to the Mailing List.
The Directory
Tlie Directory 15 the LBSG'S fully-cornputerised database of l)ox types and their locations. The
Group's Information Officer. Paul Snellin& manages the updates received daily from members.
These are entered remotely into the database by Paul and his RaK (Records and Knowledge) team.
9.534 entries were made in the year and the database contained a total of 766,395 individual
record5 on 30 April 2024, relating to nearly 123.000 British and Irish letter boxes in use and
preserved. in the UK, Ireland, and overseas. Paul also deals with any General Enquiries we receive
from the public and keeps in regular contact with Royal Mail.
IT
The LBSG'S IT Officer. Andrew W Young is responsible for all the Group's technology
infrastructure and operations including data security and risk mitigation. vendor and cost
management as well as day-to-day technical support to our volunteer teams.
Educational Materials
Another of our Public Benefit obligations is ro provide educational rnaterials for the use of schools
and informal education organisations on the history of the design of, and social communications
through, roadside leiter boxes. An education pack is downloadable from ourwebsite and consists
of worksheets and activities for EYFS (Early Years Foundation Stage), and Key Stages l and 2.
There are also notes for extension activitt"es. The LBSG Education Pack helps children- and adults
look a little more closely at posi boxes, their place in our community landscape, and the
importance of staying in touch with friends, family and neighbours 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 ofthe Trustees on 25 july 2024.
D S_tL
Andrew R. Young
Chairman
Valerie P. Scott
Secretary

Letter Box Study Group
Charity No: 1198577
FINANCIAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 APRIL 2024
The financial accounts for the year ended 30 April 2024 are for Letter Box Study Group
Charitable Incorporated Organisation's second year. We became a charity on 11 April
2022 and our first year's accounts covered the 385 day period from then until 30 April
2023- thus the comparative figures shown represent a slightly longer period. Our
subscription year runs from I lune to 31 May annually, and subscriptions for new
members who join between l March and 31 May last up to fifteen months.
In the year to 30 April 2024 both subscription income at £14,999 and net sales income at
£1.478 showed small increases on the previous year. Donations of £797 include £256.17
paid to us by easyfundmising. Gift Aid receivable this year is £1,601, a new and valuable
source ofincome since we became a registered charity. We are able to claim an extra 25p
for every £1 we receive in subscriptions and donations from members who live in the UK.
pay sufficienttax and have completed a Gift Aid Declaration Form. If you qualify but have
not yet done this, please consider doing so. Forms are available from the Group's
Secretary. Val Scott.
As always, the most significant item of expenditure is our Newsletter. This year members
received three standard issues of 56 pages. and a bumper Winter issue of 68 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. Our Editor, Simon
Vaughan Winter, treats us to a superb full-colour Newsletter every quarter, and ensures
we get excellent production costs and service from our printers.
The increase of £398 in print. post. and stationery is due to increases in the cost of ink
cartridges and postage. Website and internet costs increased too, due to the rising costs of
ourtechnologyand communication systems. This is our biggest and most importantarea of
expenditure after the Newsletter. Our IT OfficerAndrewW Young monitors these costs very
closely, always ensuring that our systems are secure and fully recoverable.
Although we ended the year with a small deficit of£29 1 am pleased to say that the Group
continues to enjoy a sound financial position. The reserves figure on the balance sheet
has reduced by this amount and stands at £21,088. The value of the stamps we held in
stock at 30 April 2024 for future Newsletter mailings was £4.574. an increase of£854 on
the figure a year earlier.
Cyril Parsons has undertaken an independent examination of these accounts once again.
Cyril took on this role in 2013 and will be retiring at our AGM this year. The help and
advice he has given me during this eleven year period has been invaluable. He was also
closely involved in our application to become a CIO and has helped ensure that we meet
the accounting requirements and tighter timetable that gaining charitable status now
dictates. On behalf of all of the Trustees I'd like to thank him for all that he has done for
the Group.
As a result of Cyril's retirement we urgently need to find a replacement independent
examiner. IFyou have the necessary expertise and are willing to help in this way please
contact me without delay.
Andrew R Young
Acting Treasurer

Letter Box Study Group
Charity No: 1198577
INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S REPORT ON THEACCOUNTS TO THE TRusfEES OF THE
LETTER BOX STUDY GROUP FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 APRIL 2024
I report to the Trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity for the
year ended 30 April 2024.
Responsibilities and basis of report
As the charity's Trustees, you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in
accordance with the requirements ofthe Charities Act 2011 ("the Act").
I report in respect of my examination of the Trust's 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 ACL
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 respert:
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 requirement that the accounts give a'true and fair. view which is
not a matter considered as part ofan 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 ofthe accounts to be reached.
26 july 2024
Cyril R H Parsons
83 Ingram Avenue
AYLESBURY, HP219DH

Letter Box Study Group
Charity No: 1198577
LETTER BOI STII)Y GROI?
LNCOIIE .￿lI) E_VENDlTi"RE .4C"COIThT
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 10.4PRIL 2024
•0?4
[500 d(nsJ
•0•3
[48) dtn'sj
14.999
I4.￿9
•950
11.47!
1.783
Pwcbase5
1.478
1_103
945
ftALd
?61
19.136
l36
18.343
E4￿0￿"14T*
7.659
3.585
3.861
11.671
4_
173
505
4.?73
3.4
587
59
5.-1!
Total

Letter Box Study Group
Charity No: 1198577
LETfER BO_I STITIY GROI"P
BAL￿NC"E SHEET
AT 30 APRIL 2024
•fj*4
•0? J
[485 da)s]
i.ILY
158n
814
739
15.419
14.586
Ca
lJ93
1.510
?30
3.-.7Q
!1.019
641
1641)
T•tsJ.4sfets CTrTelltlaAkn
R*pr•guied
T￿nsf￿[ed frLYn
19.908
SurphLS (Ikfiutl of hKcqDr o&rr
Signed on behalfofthe Trustees on 25 july 2024.
Andrew R. Young
Chairman
Valerie P. Scott
Secretary