**S O U T H   D E V O N   A N D   C O R N W A L L** 

# **I N S T I T U T I O N   F O R   T H E   B L I N D** 

## **P L Y M O U T H** 

(The Charity is an unincorporated body managed by Trustees who are governed by the Constitution dated 9[th] March 1982.  The Charity is registered in accordance with the National Assistance Act 1948). 

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THE ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY FOURTH 


## OF THE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE 

PRESENTED AT AN ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 

HELD AT THE COUNCIL HOUSE, PLYMOUTH WEDNESDAY 13[TH] NOVEMBER 2024 AT 10.30 A.M. 

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SUPPORTED BY VOLUNTARY CONTRIBUTIONS 

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## **SOUTH DEVON AND CORNWALL INSTITUTION FOR THE BLIND 2 Stonehouse Street, Plymouth, Devon, PL1 3PY** 

## **MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE** 

2023/2024 President and Chairman: CLLR MRS M ASPINALL Hon. Secretary: MR EDWARD KEAST 

## Auditors 

NORTHCOTT TRUMFIELD Chartered Accountants Devonshire Villa, 52 Stuart Road, Stoke Plymouth, PL3 4EE 

## Bankers 

## Investment Advisors 

LLOYDS TSB BANK PLC CCLA Investment Management Limited Royal Parade CCLA Fund Manager Ltd, COIF Charity Funds Plymouth Senator House PL1 1HB 85 Queen Victoria Street London, EC4V 4ET 

(Registered in accordance with the National Assistance Act, 1948) 

Supported by Voluntary Contribution 

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## **SOUTH DEVON AND CORNWALL INSTITUTION FOR THE BLIND PRESIDENTS** 

1973 - S. NATHAN, Esq. 1974 - R. HALL, Esq. 1975 - S. NATHAN, Esq. 1976 - H. C. WILLIAMS, Esq. 1977 - H. C. WILLIAMS, Esq. 1978 - H. C. WILLIAMS, Esq. 1979 - H. C. WILLIAMS, Esq. 1980 - H. C. WILLIAMS, Esq. 1981 - H. C. WILLIAMS, Esq. 1982 - H. C. WILLIAMS, Esq. 1983 - H. C. WILLIAMS, Esq. 1984 - H. C. WILLIAMS, Esq. 1985 - H. C. WILLIAMS, Esq. – until February 1985. 1985 - G. P. BLADES, Esq. 1986 - G. P. BLADES, Esq. 1987 - G. P. BLADES, Esq. 1988 - Mrs. E. BROCK, M.B.E. 1989 - Mrs. E. BROCK, M.B.E. 1990 - Mrs. E. BROCK, M.B.E. 1991 - Mrs. E. BROCK, M.B.E. 1992 - Mrs. E. BROCK, M.B.E. 1993 - Mrs. E. BROCK, M.B.E. 1994 - Mrs. E. BROCK, M.B.E. 1995 - Councillor B. C. A. MILLER, JP 1996 - Councillor B. C. A. MILLER, JP 1997 - Councillor B. C. A. MILLER, JP 1998 - Councillor B. C. A. MILLER, JP 1999 - Councillor B. C. A. MILLER, JP 2000  - Councillor B. C. A. MILLER, JP 2001 - Councillor B. C. A. MILLER, JP 2002 - Councillor B. C. A. MILLER, JP 2003 - Councillor B. C. A. MILLER, JP 2004 - Councillor A. KERSWELL 2005     - Councillor A. KERSWELL 2006     - Councillor A. KERSWELL 2007     - Councillor A. KERSWELL 2008     - Councillor A. KERSWELL 2009     -          Councillor A. KERSWELL 2010     -         MR A   KERSWELL 2011     -          MR JOHN WARD 2012     - MR ROGER GARRATT 2013     -          MR ROGER GARRATT 2014     -         MR ROGER GARRATT 2015     -          MR ROGER GARRATT 2016     -         MR ROGER GARRATT 2017     -          MR ROGER GARRATT 2018     -          MR ROGER GARRATT 2019     -          Councillor MRS MARY ASPINALL 2020     -          Councillor MRS MARY ASPINALL 2021     -           Councillor MRS MARY ASPINALL 2022     -           Councillor MRS MARY ASPINALL 2023     -           Councillor MRS MARY ASPINALL 

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**164th  ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING** 

OF THE 

## **SOUTH DEVON & CORNWALL INSTITUTION FOR THE BLIND** 

Stonehouse Street, Plymouth Held at the Council House, Plymouth 

## **Wednesday 13th November 2024 at 10.30 a.m.** 

Chairman: Chairman of the South Devon & Cornwall Institution for the Blind Mrs Mary Aspinall 

## **AGENDA** 

The Chairman of the Institution: to welcome everyone to this, our 164th Annual General Meeting. 

Apologies: 

Minutes of the last Annual General Meeting - these are to be taken as read, having been previously circulated with the Annual Report. 

The Chairman (In the Chair):  To recommend the adoption of the Accounts and Report of the Trustees, and call upon Mr E Keast to second the motion. 

Auditors:   To appoint Northcott Trumfield as the Auditors 

New Trustees:    No new Trustees, but existing Trustees are actively looking to recruit new Trustees. 

Election of Charity Trustees: 

. 

Existing members willing to stand for the ensuing year:- 

Mr E Keast Cllr Mrs M Aspinall 

Ballot papers to be completed by Trustees.  Each Trustee may vote for themselves and must obtain 50% of the vote of the members present to be re-elected. 

To read the names of members voted onto the committee as Trustees 

Election of Officers: 

Ballot papers to be completed by Trustees. Trustees may vote for themselves and must obtain 50% of the vote of members present.   The officers were nominated at the last meeting dated 18[th] September 2024 

## **President and Chairman** 

Cllr Mrs M Aspinall 

## **Secretary** 

Mr E Keast 

Investment Policy 

Any Other Business 

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**164TH  ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF THE** 

## **SOUTH DEVON & CORNWALL INSTITUTION FOR THE BLIND** 

## **STONEHOUSE STREET, PLYMOUTH** 

## **MINUTES** 

**Presiding:** Chairman of the South Devon & Cornwall Institution for the Blind, Cllr Mrs M Aspinall 

**Members Present** : 

Cllr Mrs M Aspinall     Mr E Keast 

**Apologies:** No Apologies **Minutes** : Minutes of the last Annual General Meeting having already been circulated were taken as read. 

**Accounts and Report of the Trustees** : Cllr Mrs M Aspinall moved the adoption of the Accounts and Report of the Trustees (having been previously circulated to all Management Committee members) and Mr E Keast seconded the adoption.  All members agreed. 

**Auditors** : The Chairman proposed to appoint Northcott Trumfield as the Auditors of the Charity and Mr E Keast seconded this motion.  All members agreed. 

**New Trustees** : No new Trustees, but existing Trustees are actively looking to recruit new Trustees. 

**Election of Trustees and Officers:** The following were elected as Trustees and Officers. 

President and Chairman: CLLR MRS MARY ASPINALL Hon. Secretary: MR EDWARD KEAST 

## MEMBERS 

No other members 

## **Investment Policy** 

The Trustees, at a meeting on 17[th] July 2018 agreed to adopt a balanced approach to the investment of the Charity’s assets, other than the property in Stonehouse Street, Plymouth.  The Trustees recognised that the balanced approach adopted in CCLA’s COIF Charities Investment Fund does have a high equity content but are reassured, since one of the investment objectives of that Fund is to control volatility to 75% of the equity market, and agreed to move our investments from Lloyds Bank to CCLA in September 2018.  This decision was reaffirmed at a meeting held on 18[th] September 2024 to continue to hold our investments with CCLA’s COIF Charities Investment Fund. 

## **Any Other Business** 

There being no further business, the Chairman closed the Annual General Meeting 

The Management Committee have pleasure in presenting this the 164[th] Annual Report for the year ending 31[st] March 2024 

The full report of the Trustees is contained within the following Report and Financial Statements 

**5** 



**SOUTH DEVON AND CORNWALL INSTITUTION FOR THE BLIND** 

**TRUSTEES' REPORT AND ACCOUNTS** 

**Year ended 31 March 2024** 

**Charity No. 202125** 



**SOUTH DEVON & CORNWALL INSTITUTION FOR THE BLIND** 

## **REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS** 

## **FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024** 

CONTENTS 

||Page|
|---|---|
|Trustees’ Report|1-3|
|Independent Examiner's Report|4|
|Receipts and Payments Account|5|
|Statement of Assets and Liabilities|6|
|Notes to the Accounts|7|





## **SOUTH DEVON & CORNWALL INSTITUTION FOR THE BLIND** 

## **TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT** 

The trustees present their report along with the receipts and payments account of the charity for the year ended 31 March 2024 which comply with the charity's trust deed and applicable law. 

## **1. Reference and Administrative Details** 

## **1.1 South Devon and Cornwall Institution for the Blind** 

The Institution is governed under a Constitution dated 9 March 1982 and is a Registered Charity (No. 202125). The registered office is 2 Stonehouse Street, Plymouth, Devon, PL1 3PE.  The charity was formed in 1860. **1.2 Addresses** 

|Principal Office:|c/o Stratton Creber Commercial|
|---|---|
||75 North Hill|
||Plymouth|
||PL4 8HB|



## **1.3 Trustees and Executive Committee during the year** 

The following were the Management Committee at the time of approval of the report: 

||Councillor M. Aspinall|Chairman||
|---|---|---|---|
||Mr E. Keast|Hon. Secretary||
||Mrs J. Steyn|Treasurer<br>|(Resigned 11 September 2024|
||Mr J. Ward|Vice Chairman|(Resigned 2 May 2024)|
|**1.4**|**Professional Advisers**|||
||Independent Examiners:|Northcott Trumfield||
|||Chartered Accountants||
|||Devonshire Villa||
|||52 Stuart Road||
|||Stoke||
|||Plymouth  PL3 4EE||
||Bankers:|Lloyds Bank Plc||
|||8 Royal Parade||
|||Plymouth||
|||PL1 1HB||
||Investment Manager:|CCLA Investment Management Limited||
|||and CCLA Fund Manager Limited||
|||managers of COIF Charity Funds||
|||Senator House||
|||85 Queen Victoria Street||
|||London  EC4V 4ET||



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**SOUTH DEVON & CORNWALL INSTITUTION FOR THE BLIND** 

## **TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT** 

## **2. Structure, Governance and Management** 

## **2.1 Governance** 

The trustees who have served during the year and since the year end are set out on page 1.  Trustees are appointed by the Board of Trustees yearly at the Annual General Meeting where retiring trustees are eligible for re-election.  The trustees meet regularly throughout the year.  The Board of Trustees are known as the Management Committee. 

Decisions are made and ratified at management committee meetings. 

## **2.2 Recruitment of Trustees** 

Trustees are briefed about the charity, shown accounts and the operations of the charity. 

## **2.3 Internal Control** 

The trustees are responsible for keeping accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy the financial position of the charity and which enable them to ascertain the financial position of the charity and which enable them to ensure that the accounts comply with applicable law, regulations and trust deed. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities. 

## **3. Objectives and Activities** 

## **3.1 Objectives** 

The objectives of the charity are: 

"To promote the welfare of the blind and the prevention of blindness in the area comprising South Devon and Cornwall, and for the purposes of the constitution the word blind shall be those persons state registered blind and, therefore, substantially and permanently handicapped by defective vision." 

The trustees have paid due regard to the guidance on public benefit in deciding what activities the charity should undertake. 

## **3.2 Current Activities** 

The charity leases the freehold property to raise rent as investment income which is applied with other income to meet the running costs of the pension scheme and charity and to assist blind people in the designated area. 

## **3.3 Grant making policy** 

_Welfare for state registered blind_ 

We receive applications from individuals or other charities on behalf of individuals.  Each application is considered on its individual merits. 

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**SOUTH DEVON & CORNWALL INSTITUITON FOR THE BLIND** 

**TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT** 

## **4. Report of the Trustees for the year ended 31 March 2024** 

We continue to fund the Pension Scheme from our investments and the income from the rental of our premises. Unfortunately, we received no response from our local MP after sending a letter voicing our concerns regarding the extortionate costs that we continue pay to fund the administration of such a small scheme. 

Stratton Creber, continue to manage the rental of our premises and provide regular reports and recommendations on the condition of the building and the Trustees address all necessary repairs. We changed the address of our principal office in October 2023 from 2 Stonehouse Street to Stratton Creber at 75 North Hill and advised the Charity Commission of this in our Annual Return in November 2023. 

The Trustees agreed to send £40 Marks & Spencer vouchers to all our members as a Christmas gift in December 2023. 

The Charity received approximately 50 enquiries from blind and visually impaired persons or their helpers and where assistance could not be provided directly, they were referred to the relevant agency or charity. 

The charity is grateful for all donations and support that it has received during the year. 

## **5. Financial Review** 

The total receipts for the year were £33,939 and total payments £34,627 resulting in a deficit of £688.  Cash funds at the year-end are £32,991. Total Net Assets were £920,642 (2023: £810,394) as at page 6.  There are no restricted funds. 

We engage COIF Charity Funds as investment managers.  The investment policy is to adopt a balanced approach with CCLA Charities Investment Fund with an objective of controlling volatility to 75% of the equity market.  In this year’s accounts the investment is included at market value and the comparative has been re-stated. 

We deem it important to keep a proportion of funds in cash deposits to react to any unforeseen circumstances. 

The trustees consider the performance of the investment and its market value to be satisfactory. 

The reserves of the Institution are represented by freehold property, investments in CCLA Charities Investment Fund Accumulation Units which were valued at £886,544 at the year end. 

These investments generate income, which is used for the furtherance of our objectives, and are held in order that the Charity could survive a significant adverse change in fortune. 

Approved by the Management Committee on 14 August 2024 and signed on its behalf by 

Trustee 



## **SOUTH DEVON & CORNWALL INSTITUTION FOR THE BLIND** 

## **Independent Examiner's Report to the Trustees of South Devon and Cornwall Institution for the Blind** 

I report to the charity trustees on my examination of the accounts of the charity for the year ended 31 March 2024 which are set out on pages 5 to 7. 

## **Responsibilities and basis of report** 

As the charity’s 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 charity’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the Act and in carrying out my examination I have followed all the applicable 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 giving me cause to believe that in any material respect: 

1. accounting records were not kept in respect of the charity as required by section 130 of the Act; or 2. the accounts do not accord with those records. 

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. 

G I NORTHCOTT Bsc(Econ), FCA, DChA Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales Northcott Trumfield Chartered Accountants Devonshire Villa 52 Stuart Road Stoke Plymouth PL3 4EE 

Date:  14 August 2024 

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## **SOUTH DEVON & CORNWALL INSTITUTION FOR THE BLIND** 

## **RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNT** 

**FOR THE YEAR TO 31 MARCH 2024** 

|<br>**Receipts**<br>Interest and dividends on deposits and fixed<br>investments<br>Tenant contribution to costs<br>Rental income<br> <br> <br>**Total Receipts**<br> <br> <br>**Payments**<br>Christmas gifts and donations<br>Premises<br>Pension scheme compliance costs<br>Administrator costs<br>Insurance<br>Legal and professional<br>General expenses<br>**Total Payments**<br> <br>**Net Receipts/(Payments)**<br>**Prepayment Adjustment**<br>**Cash Funds at 31 March 2023**<br>**Cash Funds at 31 March 2024**|Unrestrict<br>ed<br> <br>Fund<br>2024<br>£<br>37<br>4,277<br>29,625<br>33,939<br>2,000<br>3,000<br>17,299<br>2,117<br>4,935<br>4,773<br>503<br>34,627<br>(688)<br>-<br>33,679<br> <br>32,991|Unrestrict<br>ed<br>Fund<br>2023<br>£<br> <br>34<br> <br>3,092<br> <br>28,482|
|---|---|---|
|||31,608|
|||<br>700<br> <br>2,504<br> <br>16,821<br> <br>2,508<br> <br>3,674<br> <br>3,498<br> <br>287|
|||<br>29,992|
|||<br>1,616<br>3,076<br> <br>28,987|
|||<br>33,679|



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**SOUTH DEVON & CORNWALL INSTITUTION FOR THE BLIND** 

## **STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES AT 31 MARCH 2024** 

|Note<br>**Cash Funds**<br>Deposit account<br>Current account<br>Legacy account<br>Pension scheme account<br>**Total Cash Funds**<br>**Prepayments and Debtors**<br>**Investment Assets**<br>COIF Investment Fund at valuation<br>Freehold property at valuation<br>2<br>**Total Investment Assets**<br>**Assets Retained for Charity's Own Use**<br>Equipment<br>**Liabilities**<br>Deferred income<br>**Total Net Assets**|Unrestricte<br>d<br> <br>Funds<br>2024<br>£<br>31,474<br>618<br>621<br>278<br> <br>32,991<br>658<br>561,544<br>325,000<br> <br>886,544<br>449<br>-<br>920,642|Unrestricte<br>d<br>Funds<br>2023<br>£<br> <br>32,280<br> <br>676<br> <br>615<br> <br>108|
|---|---|---|
|||33,679|
|||658|
|||<br>500,608<br> <br>275,000|
|||775,608|
|||449|
|||-|
|||<br>810,394|



Signed on behalf of the Trustees on 14 August 2024 

and signed on its behalf by: 

Trustee: Councillor M Aspinall 

Trustee: Mr E Keast 

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## **SOUTH DEVON & CORNWALL INSTITUTION FOR THE BLIND** 

## **NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024** 

## **1. Trustees' Remuneration** 

The trustees did not receive any remuneration or expenses in the year (2023 : nil). 

## **2. Freehold Investment Property** 

This is re-valued at estimated market value by the trustees, following a professional valuation by Chartered Surveyors in May 2023, at £325,000. 

## **3. Related Party Transactions** 

The insurance premiums are arranged by Ward Associates Insurance Brokers, of whom John Ward was the principal. 

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