2022-12-31-accounts - Waltham St Lawrence Charities

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Waltham St Lawrence Charities

Foot, Knight and Newbery Relief in Need Charity Wandesford and How Educational Charity Beale and Braybrooke Relief in Sickness Charity

Registered Charity No. 204983

ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31st 2022

Index Pages Trustees’ Report 2-3 Independent Examiner’s Report 4-5 Accounts 6-9

WALTHAM ST LAWRENCE CHARITIES

Foot, Knight and Newbery Relief in Need Charity Wandesford and How Educational Charity Beale and Braybrooke Relief in Sickness Charity

Registered Charity No. 204983

Trustees’ Report for the year ended December 31st 2022

The Charities are governed by Schemes of the Charity Commission dated 18 March 2009 and 12 April 2011. The correspondence address of the Charities, as of the date of this report, is c/o Morland House, Hungerford Lane, Shurlock Row, Berkshire RG10 0NY.

The Trustees during the year were:

c Mr Richard Sykes Chairman
c Dr Rob Lyman Vice Chairman n Mr Nicholas Kohl Honorary Treasurer The Revd Charles Mason Ex officio
n Mrs Prudence Williams
c Mrs Polly Pollecutt
n Mr Jeremy McEvett
c = Co-opted Trustee, n = Nominated Trustee

The Charities are administered for the benefit of those resident in the Parish of Waltham St Lawrence, with the following objects:

to relieve those in need
to relieve those who are sick
to promote education and training
to promote any charitable purpose in the Parish

For the first time since 2019 the Charities were not overshadowed by Covid. Their income level was back to normal, and accordingly so was the level of grants they were able to make out of income to others.

The traditional main group of beneficiaries has comprised those more senior in years who receive an annual payment in January. In January 2022 this amounted to £22,250.

As energy prices rose during the year due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and then as price rises more generally started to squeeze ordinary people’s budgets the Charities decided to draw on their reserves and make a one-off cost of living grant to those receiving the annual payment. This cost of living grant amounted to £24,750. So a total of £47,000 was given during the year in grants to this group of older residents in the parish.

The promotion of education has been one of the ‘objects’ of the Charities for over 300 years. Grants are today given to help with the costs of further education, whether that is for apprenticeships or university fees.

These grants are of course intended for those who would struggle financially without the grants. Three years ago we introduced a system whereby, without requiring means-testing (which the trustees believe to be inappropriate in a village community context for any of the grants we make), applicants for education grants were required to provide with their applications a justification as to why they should receive a grant.

In 2020 education grants to individuals amounted to £2,300; in 2021 the figure was less than £1,000 and in 2022 £8,000 in total. Grants to the village school (just over £1,000 in 2022) are not included in those figures.

The People to Places bus service for qualifying residents continued to operate, with a total of 330 people trips. When Bracknell Forest Council announced they were increasing their charges for personal alarms nearly three-fold Nick Kohl and Jeremy McEvett kindly sourced another provider and arranged the substitution of new alarms for the old ones for all the recipients in the parish. Personal alarms are currently available through the Charities to 15 individuals.

The total given away in grants and services provided by the Charities in 2022 was £64,543 (£23,535 in 2021), a record in the Charities’ 400 year old history. The resulting income deficit of £26,388 was covered partly by a sale of investments and partly by the surplus in the preceding year. Despite the year’s stock market turbulence the Charities’ reserves represented by their COIF investments had a year end value of £257,251, a little above what the trustees believe prudentially they ought to have according to their reserves policy.

The Gansons’ lease of the Bell came to an end in December 2022. One other person who had expressed an interest in taking on the lease was invited to put in an application, but did not do so even after being given extra time. A new lease was signed with Scott Ganson. Scott has always been an excellent tenant of the Charities, and the trustees are very pleased that he has taken on the new lease.

I would like to thank all the trustees for their contributions to the running of the Charities during the year and in particular Nick Kohl for acting as Treasurer in addition to his other involvements with the Charities, Polly Pollecutt for organising the People to Places bus service and Jeremy McEvett for his work with Sue’s Piddle and with the personal alarms, but on this occasion I would like to pay a special tribute to Prue Williams, now the longest-serving of the trustees who for more than 20 years has benefited our meetings with her wisdom and deep knowledge of the village, not to mention her unfailing good humour, and who has now retired as a trustee in March 2023, as indeed have I. In our respective places as trustees we welcome Mrs Francesca Seligman and Mrs Joy Aldred.

For the Trustees

R Sykes

Richard Sykes

Chairman March 2023

Independent Examiner's Report To The Trustees of Waltham St Lawrence Charities (No. 204983)

I report on the accounts of the Waltham St Lawrence Charities for the year ended December 31st 2022, which are set out on pages 6 to 9.

Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner

The charity's trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The charity's trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year under section 144 of the Charities Act 2011 (the Charities Act) and that an independent examination is needed.

It is my responsibility to:

examine the accounts under section 145 of the Charities Act,
to follow the procedures laid down in the general Directions given by the Charity
Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Charities Act, and
[to state whether particular matters have come to my attention. ]

Basis of independent examiner's report

My examination was carried out in accordance with the general Directions given by the Charity Commission. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeking explanations from you as trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit and consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a 'true and fair view' and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below.

Independent examiner's statement

In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention:

(1) which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requirements:
to keep accounting records in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act; and
• to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with the accounting requirements of the Charities Act

have not been met; or

(2) to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

R Sparrow

Dr Roger Sparrow Meirion House Innings Lane White Waltham

Waltham St Lawrence Charities (Reg. Charity No. 204983)

Income & Expenditure January through December 2022

290.00 0.00 1,028.57 1,296.20 225.00 0.00 1,596.00	1,250.00 -425.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 902.19 10.82	Jan - Dec 21
		£ 31,958.33 0.09 1,322.90 291.67
		33,572.99 19.20 1,738.01 23,535.10 695.00
22,250.00 24,750.00 8,000.00 21.00 1,000.00 3,503.00 2,655.87 102.00 2,261.00	18,550.00 0.00 1,095.50 79.00 450.00 30.00 1,232.20 385.40 1,713.00
3,567.00 0.00	0.00 695.00

		25,987.31
		7,585.68
		7,585.68

Waltham Lawrence Charities (Reg. Charity No. 204983) Balance Sheet

As of December 31, 2022

23,737.33 12,611.97 299.29	35,958.04 12,599.80 296.40	Dec 31, 21
		£ 260,000.00 30,000.00 15,000.00
		305,000.00 177,384.03 127,199.10
		304,583.13 1,498.31
12,611.97 -112.90	12,599.80 825.92	48,854.24 50,352.55
		13,425.72 13,425.72
		36,926.83
		646,509.96 646,509.96

Waltham St Lawrence Charities Notes to Accounts Year Ended December 31[st] 2022

Land with buildings known as THE BELL INN Estimated Market Value 1999. Current Insured Sum £2,534,236
Land containing 2.2 acres or thereabouts known as Sue’s Piddle Estimated Market Value 2005.
Land containing 1.3 acres or thereabouts known as The Bell Orchard Estimated Market Value 2005.

The Trustees do not feel it appropriate to go to the expense of updating these valuations as they do not feel it would currently serve any useful purpose.

All three of above are vested in THE OFFICIAL CUSTODIAN FOR CHARITIES

This is a holding of COIF Global Equity Fund at valuation 31/12/22
This is a holding of COIF Charities Investment Fund at valuation 31/12/22
This liability is covered by matching funds held on a separate deposit account

Accounting Basis – The Accounts are dealt with on an accrual basis

Reserves

The Trustees feel that, if for any reason the Charities’ income temporarily dries up, it is only the Annual Benevolence, services (Personal Alarms, People to Places and Taxis) and certain other grants to individuals that the Trustees would want to continue paying during the period without income. Also, the Charities’ insurance would provide up to 3 years’ rent should The Bell be destroyed or damaged to such an extent that the rent was not payable.

The Benevolence Reserve is the total of the previous 2 years’ Annual Benevolence plus services and grants to individuals but excluding education and Cost of Living grants.

The Bell General Reserve was for some years considered sufficient and was only increased each year by whichever was greater of RPI or CPI. However the exterior works to The Bell in 2016 cost considerably more than the Trustees had expected, and they decided that with effect from 2017 they would increase the reserve by £5,000 each year in addition to the greater of RPI (2022: 13.4%) or CPI (9.2%) to cover anticipated increased costs of c.5-yearly maintenance. For 2023 the Trustees have decided the General Reserve is sufficient without an additional £5,000.

Following the new thatch in 2020 the Bell Thatch Reserve was re-set at £1500 and is increased in subsequent years by £1500 plus whichever is the greater of RPI & CPI.

`` Benevolence Reserve Bell General Reserve (plus RPI = 13.4%) Bell Thatch Reserve (plus RPI & £1,500pa) Total Specific Reserves	2022 2021 50,621 42,328 175,001 158,731 5,010 3,095 230,632 204,154

Actual Reserves at 31.12.22:

COIF Global Equity Fund COIF Charities Investment Fund Total	148,950 108,301 £257,251

The valuation of £257,251 is after sales during the year of £15,000 split between both funds. These proceeds were used to cover part of the income deficit of £26,388.

Additional Information

Additional Information
	Individuals	Institutions	People Trips
Annual Payment	50
Cost of Living Payment	44
Education	16	1
Elizabeth Knight Bequest	20
Grants	2
Personal Alarms	15
Travel – Taxi	2		8
Travel – P2P	10		330