Spire Foundation Annual Report 2025
Spir Foundation Annual Report
AGM 2025
Contents
| Chair’s report | 3 |
|---|---|
| Secretary’s report | 5 |
| Treasurer’s report | 7 |
| Accounts | 8 |
Spire Foundation Annual Report 2025 A Charity Registered in England. Registration Number: 1199524
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Chair’s Report AGM 2025
- Report covering November 2023 - April 2025
Activities and Objectives and Achievements over the relevant period:
The Foundation’s Objectives over the course of the relevant period had been fourfold:
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Achieve an external membership structure for individuals and organisations.
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Widen the scope of fundraising methods/activities.
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Support at least a further 5 beneficiaries beyond those committed to in the previous year.
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Secure at least one new trustee.
External Membership:
This has not been achieved. The focus of the Foundation has been on bringing down cash reserves by supporting further beneficiaries. There needs to be an active move towards securing this aim over the coming 12 months, in my view. Whilst we have not achieved this aim, we have widened the source of our potential beneficiaries. We have worked closely with Ison Harrison and Lawyers Who Care in that regard.
Fundraising Methods/Activities:
We have continued our fundraising efforts. James, Dave and Leigh completed a mammoth three-day trek through the Lakes last summer for example.
A sizeable team completed the Yorkshire 3 Peaks on 04 May 2025 in times ranging from 11 hours 28 minutes to 11 hours 25minutes. The just giving link for donations has been circulated again.
I also understand from Colin that a further member of Chambers has signed up for the regular donations through expenses which is excellent news and will have offset the loss of Sarah B in that regard following her appointment to the Bench.
Further beneficiaries
We have supported 8 beneficiaries over the course of the year. The details of those donations will be included in the treasures report for the Foundation AGM, in brief for the purposes of this report:
Spire Foundation Annual Report 2025 A Charity Registered in England. Registration Number: 1199524
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ATQ - £3500
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Rosebank Primary (£1337.50)
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Doorstep (£500)
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Fieldhead Carr Training (2022) and software (£540 and £1000 (software) – yet to be invoiced)
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Seacroft Primary School – Interactive Table (£7500 – finalised)
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LWC mentee – laptop and suit for interviews.
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Fresh Futures – 2 x laptops (having previously been a beneficiary of funds).
Gaining an additional trustee
The Foundation has lost two Trustees over the last 12 months (Jacqui and Sarah).
The Foundation needs to recruit a further two trustees – anybody interested in taking on the role or wanting to find out more information about the role please contact me or Colin to discuss.
Further beneficiaries
I will not be setting targets for the next 12 months as in January 2025, I will be stepping down as Chair of the Foundation at this AGM and absent any other volunteer I will be nominating Leigh as my replacement. I will remain as a Charitable Trustee.
The new Chair will then set targets at, or shortly after the Foundation’s AGM.
Ash Lord Chair, Spire Foundation 06 May 2025
Spire Foundation Annual Report 2025 A Charity Registered in England. Registration Number: 1199524
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Secretary’s report AGM September 2025 Reports covering: August 2023 - July 2024 / August 2024 - July 2025
The Spire Foundation - Registered Charity 1199524 c/o Spire Barristers 3 St David’s Court Leeds LS11 5QA
Current Chair Ashley Lord. Secretary Leigh Royall Treasurer Colin Philpott Other Trustees Sarah Blackmore (Resigned December 2024) Liz Shaw Sharon Tappin Reagan Persaud
Meetings have been held on regular occasions, the most recent being 3rd February 2025.
The constitution provides as follows;
Not less than three nor more than five elected trustees, not more than one ex-officio trustee and not more than two nominated trustees.
There must be at least three charity trustees.
Officers and trustees are appointed in accordance with the constitution for terms of 1 year, renewable, for up to two years.
The object of the organisation remains as set out in the constitution;
A charity aimed at supporting vulnerable adults and children, who have learning or physical disabilities, or have experienced the care system, in the North of England. The North of England for these purposes refers to the geographical area from the counties of Lancashire and Cheshire in the west, across Greater Manchester, and covering Yorkshire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Humberside and Lincolnshire in the east. The charity has the aims of supplying those individuals with funds and support to enable them to advance themselves, through education such as the funding of courses or work placements, or other means including funds for equipment or assistive technology. This is in order to help them to improve their life outcomes, and their interactions with the care system where appropriate.
All trustees are due to retire and stand again if they so wish. The Foundation have also invited new Trustees to attend at the AGM if interested. Any new appointments, as officers or trustees need to be proposed and seconded by an existing officer or trustee,
Spire Foundation Annual Report 2025 A Charity Registered in England. Registration Number: 1199524
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AL intends to stand down as Chair of the Foundation. A new Chair will need to be appointed at the AGM.
The Chairs’ report sets out the beneficiaries over the last two years.
The Treasurers report sets out the financial review over the last two years.
Leigh Royall Secretary, Spire Foundation 06 May 2025
Spire Foundation Annual Report 2025 A Charity Registered in England. Registration Number: 1199524
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Treasurer’s report AGM September 2021
Report covering 01August 2023 - 31 July 2024
Treasurer’s Report and Accounts
The Foundation had a good year with respect to our income. We are very grateful indeed to our regular contributors and their generous donations. These amounted to £11,579 in the year, down 12.3% on last years level.
We benefitted from the donations made at Spire Barristers’ seminars, amounting to £141 and £207 from the Tuck box sales. We also received £214 in bank interest.
On the payments front, we made actual donations of £5,337.
We were pleased to give specific assistance to an individual through the Grimsby Doorstep charity amounting to £500.
We continued our support for Ask the Question and their after school tuition project to the tune of £3,500 which involved an element of ‘catch up’ from the previous year due to late starting of our standing order.
We made a donation of £1337 to Rosebank Primary School for two important areas. Dyslexia assessment materials and intervention programmes. Where the dyslexic profile uses 9 different tests which give a detailed profile of a pupil’s strengths and challenges. This will help school identify and support the specific areas of difficulty in literacy learning. The portfolio also provides age standardised scores and advice around appropriate intervention. Also 3 text readers. These are designed to convert written text into spoken words, text-to-speech helps overcome the challenges faced by dyslexic readers by helping reduce anxiety and boosts self-confidence to help achieve better results and allow students read questions easily alongside their peers. The readers also support multiple languages which is essential as % of our pupils first language is not English.
We also committed to two amounts of expenditure of £6,000 and £540 where the projects were either delayed or final amounts awaited.
Bank charges were £60.
In short we received £12,140.36 and spent £5,397.50. We retain £18,205.26 to carry forward to the next financial year.
Colin Philpott Treasurer, Spire Foundation 06 May 2025
Spire Foundation Annual Report 2025 A Charity Registered in England. Registration Number: 1199524
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Spire F{wndain Rgjistered Number 1199524 Accounts Slateffent, 1 Auojgt 2023 -Jl July 2024 tsandPa entg S&tion A UNestricknJ fuThJs Rex SpireFoundation 2023 124 2022 123 113 Months) 0.00 atn8 llidl8neou8 + Tuck B EvEnts Raff5 Bank Interest 115T&.Y2 2C6 8] 141 22 13201.09 297 76 3.08 850.00 213. TrAal rec• ts 17 3.97 0.00 9.074.43 -5.519. 1.6.-. 000 Grants and Don atn$ Events Pubhoty.....................................................................-.-..-..-.-..-..........._... Websrte Ididlaneous Bank Cha es 0.00 5000 TLal payrTEnts 397. 1S(61a3 Nd R.8.(Pa.rreDt... Cah fu15 Tnsrr1 Cath fu18 this earerMI 119.66 sl0n B, ReStl&j ir¢orr funds The tharty has no re5tnd& (yjme ndS S&kn"on Q EndoMrn)t ftmd9 The tharty has no ¢Thdent fijnds S0 D, sta1 ofASte1sd Liabiltties at yar Cash funds i$t11d tr¢ed fLrd5 fur5 Caf Cash Bank aco)unt C& 7 976. 41 6 7.22 4100 503418 0.00 0.00 0.00 DS acojunt other MUnt InveStr)ta5#et9 A¥8ets thined brthe xiety'¥oTAm U Debt>r8 Li8bilrties- Fdin and Undewtten Twgtee Spire Foundation Annual Report 2025 A Charity Registered in England. Registration Number.. 1199524
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