2024-06-30-accounts - Milton Keynes Central Lions Club (CIO)

This text was generated using OCR and may contain errors. Check the original PDF to see the document submitted to the regulator.

We Serve

Milton Keynes Central Lions Club (CIO) Registered Charity Number: 1202469

Trustees’ Annual Report and Financial Statements

for the year ended 30 June 2024

Contents	Contents
1.	Charity Information ........................................................................................................ 3
	1.1 Reference and Administration Details...................................................................... 3
2.	Report of the Trustees for the year ended 30thJune 2024 .................................................. 4
	2.1 Structure, Governance and Management ................................................................. 4
Review of the year .................................................................................................................. 8
	Achievements and Performance ......................................................................................... 8
	Financial Review................................................................................................................. 8
	Declaration ...................................................................................................................... 10

1. Charity Information

1.1 Reference and Administration Details

Name:

Milton Keynes Central Lions Club (CIO)

Charity Reg. No: 1202469

Trustees:

Mr. S.A.Jones Mr. B.M.Miangar Mrs. S.Jethra Mrs. K.Shah

Principal Address:

5 Alverton Great Linford Milton Keynes MK14 5EF

2. Report of the Trustees for the year ended 30[th] June 2024

Introduction

The Trustees present their annual report, together with the financial statements of the Charity for the year ended 30th June 2024.

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS102) (effective 1 January 2015) (amended 2 February 2016).

2.1 Structure, Governance and Management

The Charity’s main governing document is its Constitution – a comprehensive document, which is available on request to the Club. It is complemented by the Club’s By Laws. The two documents, taken together, fully define the Club’s Structure, Government and Management.

In summary: Milton Keynes Central Lions Club (CIO) - the “Charity” - was registered as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation on 23 March 2023, number 1202469. The Club itself - (i.e. prior to becoming a CIO) - was founded in 2006. During this time the Club has striven to always work on the basis of fairness, common sense and ‘best business practice’.

The Constitution and By Laws are supplemented by a number of Policies – e.g. Grant Making, Conflict of Interest, Volunteers etc.

Trustees are appointed by the Club and meet at least four times a year to consider grant applications and to deal with and oversee the governance of the Charity.

In addition, business meetings of all Club Members, including the Trustees, are held monthly, to consider applications and other Club business. Applications for assistance or support are considered at each meeting. In cases where decisions are needed quickly, the Trustees operate a fast track grant processing system for sums of up to £500.

The Secretary is appointed by the Trustees and the Club Membership, to assist in the day to day administration of the Charity.

The induction process for newly appointed Trustees comprises an initial meeting with the Trustees to brief them on their legal obligations under charity law; the decision making processes of the Charity, and its Policies and Procedures.

Each Trustee of the Club shall be given the following on/before his/her first appointment:

a copy of the Club's Constitution and By-laws (and any amendments made to them);
a copy of the Constitution and By-laws of Lions Clubs International;
a copy of the Club's latest Trustees' Annual Report and statement of accounts;
a copy of the latest Lions Club's guidance for Charity Trustees;
a copy of CC3 The Essential Trustee: what you need to know, what you need to do.

Note: These procedures seek to allow the Charity to comply with the statutory declaration that Trustees have in regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit.

Risk management

The Trustees have examined the major strategic, business and operational risks which the Charity faces and confirm that systems have been established to ensure regular reports are produced for Trustees to ensure all necessary actions are taken to lessen the risks.

Public benefit

The Trustees have complied with the duty in Section 17(5) of the 2011 Charities Act to have due regard to guidance published by the Charity Commission in respect of public benefit and in planning the activities for the year, have kept this in mind.

The full Public Benefits Statement is detailed below:

Public Benefits Statement

Background

All current Lions Clubs located within our Multiple District, including Milton Keynes Central Lions Club, are part of Lions Clubs International Multiple District 105 which mainly covers the UK. MD105 has agreed standard objects for Lions Clubs with the Charity Commission.

The Milton Keynes Central Lions Club will operate within these agreed objects, but the Trustees may change the particular focus from time to time. The information provided as part of the application for registration illustrates the current focus of the Club. The Trustees are independent and make their own decisions, but as a Lions’ Charity they will take into account national appeals and guidance as part of their decision making.

What is our purpose?

As a Lions Club, our main purpose is:

To serve our local, national and international communities – (and to uphold the Lions’ principles, (to which all the clubs must adhere), and which include acting to benefit the public interest)
To meet humanitarian needs
To encourage peace
To promote international understanding

Further, the Club seeks to promote Lions’ causes in five major areas:

Diabetes - to reduce the prevalence of diabetes and improve quality of life for those diagnosed.
Vision - to prevent avoidable blindness and improve quality of life for people who are blind and visually impaired.
Hunger - to ensure all community members have access to nutritious foods.
Environment - to sustainably protect and restore our environment to improve the wellbeing of all communities.
Childhood Cancers - to help those affected by childhood cancer survive and thrive.

In broad terms, examples of activities undertaken by this Club in the past, to support and progress the above purposes and causes, include, (but are not limited to):

Promoting the advancement of citizenship: encouraging service minded people to volunteer - as part of our Friends of Lions scheme. This provides the capability for people to participate in community service activity - by joining our select group of volunteers, who are invited to help us in our Fund Raising or Community Service (or Social) activities.
Promoting volunteering and community service: running an active Club and also, recruiting new Lion Members, to support our Volunteering, Fund Raising and Community Service efforts; (as well as encouraging members of the wider community to volunteer and support Lions events (as noted above)).
Promoting the advancement of good health: supporting the Message in a Bottle scheme; participating in the Lions Recycle Spectacles for Sight Scheme; supporting local disabled groups who assist people with disabilities to live independent lives, providing support for local people who need help. Collecting old spectacles and recycling them. Providing grants to purchase special equipment to improve people’s quality of life.
Helping protect and sustain the environment: creating grant funding and service activity that support and protect the environment - e.g. to support the planting of trees in parts of the towns and surrounding villages.
Donating to charitable causes: making grants to local, national and international causes

How our purpose is beneficial and how does is benefit the public?

As indicated above, our purpose is beneficial, and benefits the public by:

Promoting the advancement of citizenship
Promoting volunteering and community service
Promoting the advancement of good health
Helping protect and sustain the environment
Donating to charitable causes

How our purpose is beneficial and how does is benefit the public?

As noted above, in Section 2.1, the Charity provides thorough briefings to incoming Trustees. These briefings seek to allow the Charity to comply with the statutory declaration that Trustees have in regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit.

The Trustees, working with and in cooperation with the Membership, will continue to progress its purpose, by carrying on its existing programme of Fund Raising, Community Service and by Making Donations, as indicated below:

Encouraging people to volunteer in community service projects e.g. volunteering at Buddhist temple in Milton Keynes, litter picking.
Engaging in community service projects with other voluntary organisations, by providing human resources – e.g. , marshalling at MND sponsored walk stewarding support for

Willen Hospice Midnight Moo; and attending the annual India Day celebration in Milton Keynes

Providing community service –by collecting and re-cycling old spectacles, and hearing aids
Sharing pride in our towns and working with other bodies to raise awareness and
community spirit; running joint projects with other local Lions Clubs; working with other local organisations, and canvassing local businesses for support
Organising Fund Raising Events – that both enhance the social lives of our community, and ultimately raise funds for making donations to charitable and good causes (see below).
Making donations to charities and other good causes. We have supported International Causes (particularly through our International Charity, LCIF); National Causes and (mainly) Local causes in Milton Keynes and the surrounding villages and towns. In particular, this year we have supported:
Animal Antiks
Jubilee Wood Primary School
Milton Keynes Hospital – family room in cancer ward
Lions global vision cause
Balls for All – provide footballs for blind children

Further, the Club seeks to promote Lions’ causes in five major areas:

Diabetes - to reduce the prevalence of diabetes and improve quality of life for those diagnosed.
Vision - to prevent avoidable blindness and improve quality of life for people who are blind and visually impaired.
Hunger - to ensure all community members have access to nutritious foods.
Environment - to sustainably protect and restore our environment to improve the wellbeing of all communities.
Childhood Cancers - to help those affected by childhood cancer survive and thrive.

These objectives are realised primarily by the provision of service activity and charitable grants. (This includes both grants to organisations and to individuals - via third parties and directly).

The money needed to fund such grants is raised by means of identifying, organising and running various Fund Raising Events throughout the year – sometimes by participation in larger events, organised by others. The Club also conducts a number of Service Activities in pursuance of these objectives.

These Fund Raising Events and Service Activities have included:

Organising Spectacle / Hearing Aid Collection and Re-cycling (Service Activity) – ongoing
• Shoeboxes containing presents for local children
Organizing quiz to raise funds for charity
Raising funds for Balls for All project

Grants to organisations could be for: medical equipment; mental health or other therapies; activity or self-help groups; capacity building – i.e. expansion of services; capital costs for improvements to service delivery (other than building work); training; education or raising

awareness of health related conditions; respite care or trips/activities for those with long term or life limiting conditions. This list is not exhaustive and is just meant to provide a flavour of our activities.

Grants for individuals can be made by a third party referee, such as GP, social worker, housing association or local authority – or applications can be made directly from groups or individuals. Such grants could be for: medical or disability related equipment; domestic or personal items for health or disability related issues (including mental health); health or disability related training; activities to alleviate health or disability related conditions (including mental health). This list is not exhaustive and is just meant to provide a flavour of our activities.

The Club also makes ad hoc donations to charitable and good causes.

All such requests are filtered by a Service Committee, who present worthy cases to the Trustees and to the Membership, for approval or rejection – in accordance with our internal policies.

Review of the year

Grants were split between grants to charitable causes or organisations and grants for individuals.

The Club continues to prioritise one-off grants for specific purposes rather than supporting ongoing routine or core costs, such as rent, rates and salaries - and continues to prioritise making awards that will have the greatest impact.

The Club welcomes applications from all sources.

The Trustees and Secretary are always willing to informally discuss possible applications to advise if they fall within the remit of the Club.

Achievements and Performance

The Charity received multiple applications for donations in 2023/24. These were considered by Community Service Committee during the year, and by the monthly business meetings of the Club (attended by the Membership).

In total the Trustees and the Club approved 8 donation requests - with the remainder either being rejected, further information being requested or the applications being subsequently withdrawn.

Financial Review

In the current year, the Trustees awarded charitable grants totalling £5,735.

The total income for the year was £9,064. £1,626 was from charity donations, £5,739 was from other fund raising related activities, and a further £1,699 from Administration charges - contributed mainly by the Membership in the form of mandatory membership dues.

Plans for Future Periods

Trustees have been keen to steadily expand the charitable giving of the charity for some time, but have been cautious not to create a demand that cannot be met. In summary, the Clubs main plans are to get back up to speed following the pandemic, build our Charity Fund (and thus

be able to support more good causes), increase membership, promote service in Milton Keynes and maintain our profile via the Club Website and Facebook pages.

Declaration

The Trustees declare that they have approved the Trustees’ Annual Report above.

Declarations tru•tw d•cl4ro th•t th•y hav• approv•d tho trt. rnport ab¢)v•. Signod on bo11 of the charity's trust•es Slgnatur•($) Full nam8(s) Pwltlon l•g So¢r•tary. Ch•lr, •1¢) Stuart Jones Treasurer Date 2810412025

Declaratlons Th¢ trustee8 declare that they hav8 apprtsved the trustses. reptsrt abova. Slgned on bèhalf of the charlty'5 tru*tee8 Slgnaturelsl Full namolsl Bharat Mlang Po$lllon leg Secretary. Chalr. ètcl sl Oat8

Signature(s) Full name(s) Sangeeta Jethra Position (eg Secretary, Chair, etc) Date 28/04/2025

Declarations Slqn•d on b•h•tl ofth• ehrlty tnMt• Slgn•tsr•(•l Full n•m•l81 Po•ltlon {•q S•cr•t•ry. Chalr. •trl Sw ?19rftJcX Dt• 6/J*1Lq5


Milton Keynes Central Lions Club CIO - Administration Account July 2023 to June 2024

OpeningBalance 01/07/2023			£10,678.89
ClosingBalance 30/06/2024			£7,402.72

Income
Dues	1,699.96 £
CharityIncome	1,626.30 £
Other	5,739.90 £

	Total	£9,066.16

Expenditure
Members Expenses	3,636.28 £
Payments for Charity	5,735.00 £
Zone Payments / LCIF	1,698.10 £
DG Expenses	957.62 £
Other	315.33 £
#REF!		£12,342.33

Surplus			-£3,276.17