Annual
Report
2024
RLF
SUPPORTING
WRITERS
SINCE1Th)
## Contents
**RLF Beneficiary 2024**
|Trustees’ Report|**4**|
|---|---|
|Financial Review|**30**|
|Statement of trustees’ responsibilities in respect of the
trustees’ annual report and fnancial statements|**36**|
|Independent auditor’s report to the trustees of The Royal Literary Fund|**37**|
|Statement of fnancial activities|**46**|
|Balance sheet|**48**|
|Cash fow statement|**49**|
|Notes to the Financial Statements|**50**|
|Administrative Information|**70**|
|Some applicants helped during the year|**74**|
|Extracts from thank you letters|**77**|
|Members|**78**|
**The Royal Literary Fund** Trustees’ report and financial statements
Registered Charity number 219952 31 March 2024
Photography and Illustration credits: Diana Ejaita, Tony Hay, Adam Laycock, Fernando Manoso, Andy Martinez, Jennifer Tapias Derch, Paul Wearing and Adïam Yemane.
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Trustees’ Report
## **INTRODUCTION**
Through 2023 work continued on the governance, strategy and process development that has been a focus of recent years. Between October and December staff and trustees worked with Sandeep Mahal and Caroline McCormick of Achates to review the Fund’s organisational strategy, culminating in a day-long workshop held at the Royal Society of Arts. The conclusions from these discussions are now being developed to form the foundation of a new three-year strategy and business plan which will be unveiled in 2024-25.
In parallel to this work, the trustees approved a new set of grants guidelines and handbook, the first major review of the grants process in this century. Central to the new process are revised eligibility criteria to reflect an increasingly diverse publishing landscape and more objective criteria for the assessment of literary merit. A new points-based scoring system was piloted in September 2023 and fully adopted in March 2024.
Dawn Cameron of Cameron & Co has been commissioned to undertake evaluations of Writing for Life and _WritersMosaic_ . Included in the brief is a proposal to devise a method for future internal evaluation of the impact of our programmes.
Having agreed to a one-year extension to aid transition, Mark Le Fanu retired as trustee and Treasurer. Paula Hawkins was elected Treasurer. Mark Lawson joined the Education Subcommittee.
A major feature of the year was the development of a new brand and communications strategy for the RLF. The fresh identity was created by Hat-trick Design and was launched in October 2023, leading to the build of a new website and delivery of a new content strategy developed by Situation UK, which went live in April 2024. Our first paid digital and print campaign quadrupled the number of grant enquiries in six weeks. Since the relaunch, we have received over 1,500 email newsletter sign-ups and a similar number of subscribers on Substack, together with a near 300% increase in social media followers. The marketing team have learned much from this initial campaign and will use the data gathered to refine public messaging and objectives over the next year.
The plan to move the next tranche of beneficiary files into the British Library, where the Fund’s archive is on long-term loan, has been delayed by the Library’s cyberattack in October 2023. Joan Winterkorn has completed her review of the archive and produced a paper for the trustees on significant items from the post-war period.
The year saw a further expansion of our Bridge workshops in schools, with Karin Altenberg and Laura Hird being appointed Heads of Bridge in England & Wales and Scotland & Northern Ireland respectively.
As part of the re-branding process our social sector work, under the leadership of Katharine McMahon, was re-titled ‘Writing for Life’. Kerry Young, who has been a fundamental part of the development of this work since 2017, stepped down to pursue other freelance activities.
For the first time we recruited a proportion of new Reading Round Fellows (or Lectors) via the _WritersMosaic_ team, rather than exclusively from those writers who had already completed a university Fellowship. This successful development has enabled us to fast track a greater diversity of writers into our social and community programmes.
_WritersMosaic_ has gone from strength to strength. Now recognised as a division rather than an initiative of the RLF, it has seen a significant growth in live events, notably a regular series at the British Library, curated in collaboration with the Library’s Eccles Centre.
More detail on the RLF’s activities within the year is provided in the reports that follow.
**RLF Beneficiary 2024**
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Trustees’ Report
## **ROYAL PATRON**
In May 2024, slightly outside the timescale of this report, we were informed by Buckingham Palace that Her Majesty The Queen would be the RLF’s new Royal Patron. As a patron of numerous other literary bodies, including her own Queen’s Reading Room, we were delighted to welcome a patron who has such an evident passion for and engagement in literature. We very much look forward to introducing Her Majesty to the RLF’s work in the years to come.
## **ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE**
The Fund was established in 1790. It was incorporated and granted a Charter in 1818 and in 1842 this was made a Royal Charter. Subsequently, the Charter has been revised by Order of the Privy Council in 1968, 2002, 2006 and most recently in 2023. The Fund is governed by the General Committee chaired by the President, Sir Ian Blatchford, and in his absence by the Deputy President, Hilary Hale.
The General Committee defines the RLF’s strategic direction and policies. Trustees ensure that the activities of the Fund are in accordance with its Royal Charter. The Committee currently meets eleven times a year. Four of these meetings are nominated as ‘Board’ meetings when the committee consider the whole range of the RLF’s activity, receiving and reviewing reports from sub-committees and considering the financial and strategic direction of the Fund. The remaining seven meetings focus primarily on grantgiving activity.
The General Committee delegates discussion and consideration of some areas of policy and activity to sub-committees. These are currently:
**Finance and Investment** (including Remuneration) - reviews budgeting, financial and investment strategy, financial and investment performance.
**Nominations** – considers the appointment of trustees and co-opted advisors in collaboration with the Chief Executive and makes recommendations to the General Committee.
**Education** – reviews the work of the Education team, including the RLF Fellowships, Bridge, Reading Round and Writing for Life. Oversees the appointment of RLF university Fellows.
Executive decisions are delegated to the Chief Executive, the Director of Education, the Director of Digital and the Director of _WritersMosaic_ in their respective areas of responsibility.
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William Somerset Maugham was born 150 years ago on 25 Jan 1874.
Maugham bequeathed his estate to the Royal Literary Fund after he died in 1965.
© National Portrait Gallery, London.
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Trustees’ Report
## **CHARITABLE OBJECTS**
The Royal Charter (2023) delineates two charitable objects:
**i)** The relief of poor and distressed authors of published works of approved literary merit including important contributions to Periodical Literature and of the families of such deceased authors who are themselves in distress and in need of relief; and
**ii)** the advancement of public education and the improvement of the public taste in the field of literary work.
## **PUBLIC BENEFIT**
When setting the objectives and planning the work of the charity for the year the trustees have given careful consideration to the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit.
## **GRANT-GIVING**
The Fund awards hardship grants to professional authors facing financial hardship. Writers applying to the Fund must meet the eligibility criteria and may be asked to provide samples of their work.
The committee meets 11 times a year to consider applications. Before an application may be considered, the literary merit of the author must first be passed by the committee. Once passed, the committee will consider the writer’s circumstances and, if need is established, a grant may be awarded.
Grants are usually one of three kinds: a one-off grant; a non-renewable recurring grant across two or three years; a recurring grant across five years which can be renewed.
The last of these, formerly referred to as ‘pensions’, are inflation-indexed and generally only awarded to writers above pensionable age or those with long-term disabilities.
**Writer supported by the RLF**
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## Trustees’ Report
## **GRANTS**
**The total sum of grants made to beneficiaries during the year was £1,680,943.**
The total number of individual writers assisted between 01 April 2023 and 31 March 2024 was 227; of these 46 were new to the RLF (an increase from 25 in the previous year) and 181 had previously received grants. At 31 March 2024, the Fund had a commitment to make five-year recurring grants to 95 beneficiaries. During the year, 11 new recurring grants were awarded, 13 were renewed, and ten writers in receipt of these grants died.
In October 2023, the General Committee completed a review of the grant-giving programme. The review, led by Head of Grants Justine Palmer, considered all policies and procedures to ensure that they are clear, inclusive, and accessible to all professional writers who meet the eligibility criteria. These policies are now gathered together in a handbook for trustees and a digest of key information is made available on the new website. As part of the review, the committee updated the process by which literary merit is assessed by the trustees. While the reading of applicants’ work by trustees remains a valuable and necessary part of the process with some applicants, where possible the new process draws on objective criteria to establish a writer’s standing in the literary community. This would appear to be the first major reconsideration of the Fund’s process for assessing literary merit since the 1960s.
In November 2023, the Grants department introduced a new database, digitising the applications process for the first time in the RLF’s history. Working alongside Time Technology Ltd, the Grants team developed a robust and fully customised system allowing for more efficient processing of the grants applications.
In December 2023, the General Committee awarded one-off ‘winter top-up’ grants to 27 current UK-based beneficiaries in response to the cost-of-living crisis. Writers in receipt of the winter top-ups were identified as being particularly vulnerable due to low household income. They were not asked to apply and grants were awarded automatically by the Fund.
Also in December, the Fund launched the Robert Holman Award, in memory of the playwright and RLF beneficiary. The award is for playwrights from the north of England and is partly funded by donations to a designated fund. This is the first newly named award created by the RLF since the JB Priestley Award began in 1997.
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There is no judgment. It is one of the most generous
places that I have ever reached out for help for and been
granted something that has absolutely changed my life.
RLF beneficiary, Anna Ellroy
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This service changes people’s lives in a
most positive and immeasurable way.
Professor Jean Webb, Worcester University
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## Trustees’ Report
## **EDUCATION**
## **RLF Advisory Fellow, Clare Morgan**
RLF Education programmes provide educational benefits to the public, while enabling writers to earn additional income and share their professional skills and knowledge. Most writers begin their work with the RLF on the university Fellowship scheme, from where they may progress to one or more of a range of other programmes, including Bridge, Reading Round and Writing for Life.
## **University Fellowships**
The RLF Fellowship scheme, launched in the autumn of 1999, places published authors from an array of genres into universities and colleges across the UK where, through one-to-one coaching, they help students develop better writing abilities. Fellows work with students at all levels and across the disciplines.
In its 25th year, the Fellowship scheme welcomed 38 new recruits:
|Peter Arnott|Sharon Duggal|Gregory Keen|Ian Seed|
|---|---|---|---|
|Craig Baxter|Ele Fountain|Matt Killeen|Miranda Seymour|
|Anna Beer|Ella Frears|Richard King|Amanda Smyth|
|Melissa Benn|Clare Furniss|Olivia Lichtenstein|Em Strang|
|Matthew Carr|Caroline Gawn|Richard Madden|Gillian Thompson|
|Jim Carruth|Kate Hewitt|Karen McCombie|Roz Watkins|
|Rowan Coleman|Christopher Hill|Simon Okotie|Roy Williams|
|Vanessa Collingridge|Julia Hollander|Mary Paulson-Ellis|Alex Wong|
|Brian Conaghan|Megan Hunter|Ian Pople||
|Ben Cottam|Anjali Joseph|Chris Power||
Another 58 Fellows continued in post from the previous year and 17 former Fellows returned to take up new posts. In total, 113 writers worked as RLF Fellows at 81 university/college postings, including four new ones: Birkbeck University London, University of Edinburgh, Kellogg College Oxford and the University of Law in Birmingham.
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Trustees’ Report
## **CONSULTANT FELLOWS**
## **Humanities doctoral student**
## **Science doctoral student**
## **Arts doctoral student**
Consultant Fellows (CFs) provide specialised writing development interventions to clients across higher education and beyond. A small cohort of Fellows, after several years working in the university Fellowship programme, undertake rigorous training to design and deliver bespoke workshops, training days and writing retreats. Once qualified, they form a community of independent practitioners showcased on the Consultants Fellows website.
This year saw a 40% increase in the total number of interventions, working with 34 different institutions. As well as their monthly online meetings featuring topics such as workshop feedback and the impact of large language models, this year the CFs met in person to bolster their professional development through presentations and discussion.
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Trustees’ Report
## **BRIDGE**
**Pupil, Swan School, Oxford**
**Student, Currie Community High School**
As young people continue to suffer from the disruption to their education during lockdowns, the Bridge programme offers a series of structured workshops that builds their confidence. The carefully developed materials, delivered by an RLF Fellow, demystify the process of writing and providing practical techniques to make writing easier. Bridge Fellows have all previously worked in our university programme and understand the challenges faced by young people in committing their thoughts to paper or screen.
This year we trained 16 additional Fellows to deliver Bridge, enabling us to expand our coverage across the nations of the UK. Bridge workshops have now taken place from Shetland to Cornwall. As well as working in schools, we strengthened our existing partnerships with libraries and other educational organisations to deliver nearly 500 Bridges to thousands of students.
The young people have not stopped raving about the workshop since last Monday. It was such an invaluable experience for them to approach learning through a university lens and they feel like they’ve gained so much from it. Students have already commented how they plan to apply the practical writing advice to their UCAS personal statements, their AH dissertation and even the reports they have to write in the sciences.
**Teacher, Kilwinning Academy, North Ayrshire**
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Trustees’ Report
## **WRITING FOR LIFE**
A significant development this year has been a new title, Writing for Life, which is the umbrella for all the RLF’s projects in the community and workplace.
We ran over a hundred Writing for Life projects, many with organisations with whom we are now in long-term collaboration, and we have developed new relationships within the sectors where we are firmly established – NHS, Recovery Colleges, Unions and the Voluntary Sector. New ventures have been a successful pilot in a Hospice Outpatients, where we ran a form of Reading Round, more Story Tree projects with refugee and asylum seekers, and Writing for Self-Expression courses with an approved premises and a charity for the blind and partially sighted.
Some of our Fellows have also delivered outreach sessions with groups such as Doctors in Distress and Waterloo Community Counselling which have led to further project work.
We ran a continuous training programme, including compulsory safeguarding training, which we also provide for university Fellows; a day on our new iteration of Writing for SelfExpression; refresher training for all writers, with a presentation from a visiting speaker on listening skills; and training on individual workshops such as Report-Writing and Story Tree.
As ever, Writing for Life has been fleet-footed in responding to requests from partner organisations. We have also managed to replace the work lost due to central government removing funding for the regional Academies for Social Prescribing (aka Thriving Communities) through developing more partnerships in the community sector.
Kerry Young, who was instrumental in pioneering and developing many of our Writing for Life projects, retired from RLF work at the end of March. We are hugely grateful for her unfailing commitment and dynamic approach to our work and we are delighted to welcome Anna Reynolds to replace her two days a week.
## **What our Fellows say about Writing for Life:**
It’s honestly the first time in my working life that I can see where I am having a positive impact. At last, I feel useful.
Just that it is the BEST work. I really love it. I always say that if I ever got a brilliant book deal there is a lot of freelance work I’d be happy to give up **–** but never this!
I had the most wonderfully positive and uplifting experience working with the students at the Recovery College. It was one of the most engaged, articulate, insightful, compassionate, open and generous group of people I have ever worked with.
I learn so much about myself during these sessions and am grateful for the time spent with these extraordinary, trusting, clever, funny, creative people.
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The course was excellent, the facilitator
was warm, welcoming and immediately
put everyone at ease. The content was
very well researched, and the chosen
pieces were thought provoking and invited
insightful discussion. As a participant I
gained a lot from the social interaction
and the acquired skills from the course will
benefit me greatly moving forward.
Writing for Life participant
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Trustees’ Report
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Reading Round has... reconnected me to my roots in fiction and poetry...
It’s hard to explain how deeply I’ve enjoyed reading aloud with the group.
I will miss this. There’s been a wonderful, generous shared energy around
the room... So I have learned ( if I didn’t know it before ) how much is
lacking in life at the writing table. I can also say that, with every text I’ve
shared with the group, someone has come up with an observation, a new
angle, that has enriched my own reading.
Teacher, Kilwinning Academy, North Ayrshire
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## **READING ROUND**
This year saw a major departure for Reading Round in that half the new Lectors (soon to be called Reading Round Fellows in line with other RLF nomenclature) were recruited through _WritersMosaic_ . Contracts for Lectors were restricted to one rather than two years, as previously.
The 19 new Lectors were Nathalie Abi-Ezzi, Lulu Allison, Michael Bird, Sue Brown, Edson Burton, Trish Cooke, Jonathan Edwards, Fiona Evans, Shanta Everington, Deanne Heron, Andy Jackson, Carol Leeming, Simon Mason, Louise Mulvey, Chitra Ramaswamy, Juliet Gilkes Romero, Amaal Said, Umi Sinha, Heidi Williamson.
The pilot proved highly successful. A bond was created between all the writers and mentors (experienced Reading Round Lectors) at the Induction, and everyone involved in the scheme benefitted from the much increased diversity of the group. Groups were run in a variety of locations – from St Ives to Dundee, Gwent to Leigh-on-Sea, and in venues that varied from libraries and community centres to the back room of a pub.
For most groups the Reading Round experience creates a literary and community bond that they hope to continue once the writer no longer leads them.
We ran two group lunches, in London and Glasgow, to give writers the opportunity to exchange experience, and writers attended safeguarding training, and another session on RLF record-keeping and text selection.
Isabel Ashdown, Sarah Salway, John Siddique and Rhiannon Tise continued to support the project as mentors, helping to select texts for the Text Bank (along with Judith Allnatt) and contributing to discussions on the Online Forum.
## **Reading Round group member**
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Trustees’ Report
## **WRITERSMOSAIC**
This year _WritersMosaic_ has endeavoured increasingly to spread its wings and to provide new opportunities and support for writers of the global majority.
We published the profiles of 22 writers, commissioning them to write pieces and interviewing them about their writing lives. We continued to publish guest editions with themes ranging from ‘Fantasy and Science Fiction’ to the legacy of James Baldwin. We increased the number of new reviewers and feature writers on the site in the Reviews and Close Up sections.
We further developed our strategy of raising our profile and that of the RLF by attending literary festivals and putting on our own live literature events. In June, we were invited to attend the Hay Festival for the first time, where our writers took part on several panels in front of audiences of over 200 people. We also hosted a press breakfast presentation at Hay to introduce _WritersMosaic_ as a division of the Royal Literary Fund, and to announce our new collaboration with the British Library. We were invited to the Bradford Literature Festival to curate a couple of panels, building on our previous participation at the festival last year. We had just published a timely guest edition on writing and AI called ‘Cybernetics and ghosts: the digital future of writing’. Our panel reflected on this pivotal moment in our culture and our writers took part in other debates on the subject during the festival. We attended the Edinburgh International Book Festival again, where _WritersMosaic_ Director Colin Grant shared a stage with Alford Gardner, a nonagenarian pioneer of the Windrush generation, and we were also invited to take part in the Cheltenham Festival for the first time.
As is reported elsewhere, _WritersMosaic_ proposed ten writers to become Reading Round Fellows. The enthusiasm for the project is summed up by _WritersMosaic’s_ Carol Leeming: “Leicester is a literary beacon. Our Royal Literary Fund Reading Round was scintillating.”
We also introduced a new strand of post-theatre production Q&A sessions, starting with Tanika Gupta talking about her play _The Empress_ which transferred from the RSC to the Lyric Hammersmith in October.
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WritersMosaic writers’ residency in Italy supported by Hawthornden Foundation
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James Baldwin’s Centenary at the British Library
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## Trustees’ Report
Our most exciting collaboration was with the British Library: a year-long series of public literary events, staged approximately every six weeks in the Eccles Centre at the Library. Launching on 12 September with an audience of 255 in the Pigott Theatre, the evenings have featured a range of _WritersMosaic_ writers, including poets, playwrights, novelists, and lyricists, and a significant musical component. We have also broadened the number of young creatives we have worked with, commissioning photographers such as Adïam Yemane to take portraits of profiled writers, and videographers such as Rob Akin to film the British Library events.
In November, _WritersMosaic_ received a grant from the Hawthornden Foundation to take six writers to a retreat planned for May 2024. In completing the requirements for the grant, we applied for, and successfully received, CAF International accreditation which will ensure eligibility for other possible US grants in the future.
This year we continued to expand the kind of writing that we commission for _WritersMosaic_ , including an oral history project on migration called ‘What We Leave We Carry’ and a new strand, My Hit List, where a writer is tasked with writing a feature on six subjects which they consider to be the year’s cultural highlights.
**Chitra Ramaswamy**
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Trustees’ Report
## **FUTURE PLANS**
The newly formed _WritersMosaic_ board, a subcommittee of the General Committee, will come into existence in late 2024. Composed of RLF trustees and elected members from the existing _WritersMosaic_ Editorial Board it will significantly strengthen and clarify the status of _WritersMosaic_ within the RLF structure. Due to an increasing number of applications for grants a wide-ranging review is underway to establish an appropriate and effective governance model for grant-giving.
An outline of a new three-year strategy will be considered by the General Committee in Autumn 2024, with a fuller proposal and outline business plan to be reviewed in early 2025.
The staffing of the grants team will be reviewed in 2024-25 to adjust to the increase in grant applications and the additional demands of the new application and grant-giving process.
The long-standing role of grants assistant will be made redundant and two new grants officers posts created.
Work continues to refine and develop the new visual identity, website and marketing operation. A social media strategy is being evolved, alongside new marketing assets for both grants and education programmes. A new area of the website will celebrate the wide range of authors who have bequeathed all or part of their estate to the Fund. Michael Salu, who originally designed the _WritersMosaic_ visual identity, has been commissioned to integrate the new RLF brand with _WritersMosaic_ , especially for the growing number of public collaborations being undertaken by the latter.
A new format for our audio content, Collected, will be launched in early 2025. We have also been exploring how we can improve access to the large archive of material about writers and writing commissioned from RLF Fellows over the years.
The new Customer Relationship Management (CRM) database for grants and marketing, and improved systems across Education programmes, will permit more effective monitoring and reporting of the range of writers engaging with the Fund. We will be building on the work already undertaken with Dawn Cameron on Writing for Life/Social Sector to explore appropriate models of evaluation for the diverse array of programmes run across the RLF.
The first major review of the university Fellowship has been commissioned from Caroline McCormick and Fiona English of Achates. This will be received by trustees in July 2024 and should provide useful guidance on the future development of the scheme within the new long-term strategy.
The strategy is also considering how to build upon the considerable experience and expertise accumulated over the last 25 years in training and preparing writers to work in a wide range of educational, community and workplace setting. There is much here that is of value to writers and organisations beyond the RLF and we are considering how we can make it available.
There are also plans to enhance the RLF’s national presence by strengthening our extensive regional networks with the creation of ‘hubs’ outside London to connect and promote RLF writers and activity.
We will repeat the successful experiment of drawing on _WritersMosaic_ writers to become Reading Round Fellows, and we are also exploring how to use the Reading Round model as the basis of future Writing for Life projects, along the lines of work already undertaken with refugees and asylum seekers, and in hospices.
_WritersMosaic_ will run its first writers’ retreat in May 2024, supported by the Hawthornden Foundation, which has committed the funds to run a second retreat in 2025. A successful bid to the Adrian Brinkerhoff Poetry Foundation will lead to the creation of six short poetry films to be released in early 2025. Colin Grant has also been in discussion with the Hay Festival regarding a regular appearance at the festival.
After a pause in Autumn 2024 _WritersMosaic_ will continue the programme of public events at the British Library.
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## Financial Review
The Fund depends on its investment portfolio for the greatest part of its income. The portfolio is managed as expendable endowment funds on a total return basis, so that charitable expenditure may be supported both by investment income, such as dividends and bond coupons, and by capital gains harvested from the growing portfolio. The objective remains to support a target spending rate of 3 ¼% of the average asset value of the portfolio over the three preceding years, while at the same time maintaining the real value of the investments over time.
The chart shows that over the long term the Fund has consistently outperformed this objective, though results have varied considerably over shorter periods.
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FUND VALUE VS INFLATION
250
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Fund £m CPIH rebased
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
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We completed the transfer of the bulk of our investment portfolio to the management and administration of Cazenove Capital at the start of the year. Cazenove manages just over half the portfolio on a discretionary basis, while at the same time administering a satellite portfolio comprising the Fund’s low cost passive equity investments as well as its property fund holdings. The new arrangements have bedded in well and have greatly assisted the smooth running of the Fund, as well as helping to lower investment management costs.
Alongside the main portfolio, the Fund retains holdings in and commitments to a number of private equity funds; the trustees have decided to make no new allocations to this private equity portfolio but to allow it to run off over time. The combined private equity holdings were valued at £30.99 million at 31 March 2024.
Returns from the portfolios rebounded strongly in the year ended 31 March 2024, following the disappointing performance recorded in the prior year. Investments were valued at £194.4 million at 31 March 2024, up 10% from the prior year. Overall investment income in the year was £3.66 million (2023: £2.82 million), while investment management costs totalled £1.19 million (2023: £1.26 million).
The size of the Fund’s investment portfolio means that swings in the market value of investments are usually the dominant factor in our statement of financial activities. That remained the case last year, with these largely unrealised investment gains more than accounting for the Fund’s reported net income of £10.25 million.
Investment performance benefited from exposure to US equities, aided by the sizeable allocation within our passive global equity funds, while the actively managed allocation to Japan also proved helpful to performance. Cash balances delivered better returns, helped by the trustees’ decision to move surplus bank balances to money market funds paying higher interest. Our property fund investments were less helpful to performance.
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Financial Review
## **RESERVES**
The majority of the Fund’s assets are held as an investment fund and are recorded as expendable endowment funds. These totalled £193.9 million at 31 March 2024 (2023: £182.0 million). These investments are intended to produce income to finance the Fund’s activities, but a significant portion of the investment portfolio is held in cash and most of the remainder is in highly liquid and easily accessible securities, which therefore, though not formally designated as free reserves, also provide a substantial buffer that can be accessed to help the Fund weather any unforeseen adverse shocks.
## **RISK MANAGEMENT STATEMENT**
Risk is managed by the trustees and senior staff. A Risk Register indicating likelihood, impact and mitigating actions is reviewed regularly by the General Committee and separate sub-registers for particular areas of activity reviewed by relevant sub-committees.
## **REMUNERATION**
Remuneration is considered annually by the Finance and Investment Subcommittee. It takes advice from the Chief Executive, who provides current figures and relevant information for all key management personnel. The sub-committee determines pension arrangements and other benefits, and ensures that contractual terms on termination are fair to the individual and the charity, and that poor performance is not rewarded. It recommends its decisions to the General Committee for approval. In determining the RLF’s remuneration policy, the Subcommittee takes into account that as an organisation it has few employees; it wishes therefore to recognise the broader than normal range of skills and competencies required in many roles.
The appropriateness and relevance of the remuneration policy is reviewed annually, including reference to comparisons with other charities and/or Higher Education roles, ensuring the RLF remains sensitive to the broader issues – for example, pay and employment conditions elsewhere.
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Statement of trustees’ responsibilities
## Auditor’s Report
## **STATEMENT OF TRUSTEES’ RESPONSIBILITIES IN RESPECT OF THE TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS**
The trustees are responsible for preparing the Trustees’ Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards.
The law applicable to charities in England and Wales requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and of the incoming resources and application of resources of the charity for that period.
## **In preparing these financial statements, the trustees are required to:**
- **select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;**
- **observe methods and principles in the Charities SORP;**
- **make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;**
- **state whether applicable accounting standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements;**
- **prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in business.**
The trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charities Act 2011 and the Charity (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008. 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.
## **OPINION**
We have audited the financial statements of The Royal Literary Fund for the year ended 31 March 2024 which comprise the Statement of Financial Activities, the Summary Income and Expenditure Account, the Balance Sheet, the Cash Flow Statement and notes to the financial statements, including a summary of significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including FRS 102 ‘The Financial Reporting Standard Applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland’ (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).
## **In our opinion the financial statements:**
- **give a true and fair view of the state of the charity’s affairs as at 31 March 2024, and of its incoming resources and application of resources, for the year then ended;**
- **have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice; and**
- **have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011.**
## **BASIS OF OPINION**
We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs(UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor’s Responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the charity in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC’s Ethical Standard, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.
Approved on behalf of the General Committee and signed on its behalf by
George Graham Trustee
15 January 2025
36
37
Auditor’s Report
## **CONCLUSIONS RELATING TO GOING CONCERN**
In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the trustees’ use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.
Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the charity’s ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.
Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the trustees with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.
## **OTHER INFORMATION**
The other information comprises the information included in the annual report, other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon.
The trustees are responsible for the other information. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon.
In connection with our audit of the financial statements, our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated.
## **MATTERS ON WHICH WE ARE REQUIRED TO REPORT BY EXCEPTION**
We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters where the Charities Act 2011 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:
- **the information given in the Trustees’ Annual Report is inconsistent in any material respect with the financial statements; or**
- **the charity has not kept adequate accounting records; or**
- **the financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or**
- **we have not received all the information and explanations we required for our audit.**
## **RESPONSIBILITIES OF TRUSTEES**
As explained more fully in the trustees’ responsibilities statement, the trustees are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the trustees determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.
In preparing the financial statements, the trustees are responsible for assessing the charity’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the trustees either intend to liquidate the charity or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.
If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether there is a material misstatement in the financial statements or a material misstatement of the other information. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.
We have nothing to report in this regard.
38
39
Auditor’s Report
## **AUDITOR’S RESPONSIBILITIES FOR THE AUDIT OF THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS**
We have been appointed as auditor under section 144 of the Charities Act 2011 and report in accordance with regulations made under section 154 of that Act.
Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor’s report that includes our opinion.
Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements. Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations.
We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud is detailed below.
## **EXPLANATION AS TO WHAT EXTENT THE AUDIT WAS CONSIDERED CAPABLE OF DETECTING IRREGULARITIES, INCLUDING FRAUD**
The objectives of our audit in respect of fraud, are; to identify and assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements due to fraud; to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence regarding the assessed risks of material misstatement due to fraud, through designing and implementing appropriate responses to those assessed risks; and to respond appropriately to instances of fraud or suspected fraud identified during the audit. However, the primary responsibility for the prevention and detection of fraud rests with both management and those charged with governance of the charity.
Our approach was as follows:
- **We obtained an understanding of the legal and regulatory requirements applicable to the charity and considered that the most significant are the Charities Act 2011, the Charity SORP, and UK financial reporting standards as issued by the Financial Reporting Council.**
- **We obtained an understanding of how the charity complies with these requirements by discussions with management.**
- **We assessed the risk of material misstatement of the financial statements, including the risk of material misstatement due to fraud and how it might occur, by holding discussions with management.**
- **We inquired of management and those charged with governance as to any known instances of non-compliance or suspected non-compliance with laws and regulations.**
- **Based on this understanding, we designed specific appropriate audit procedures to identify instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. This included making enquiries of management and obtaining additional corroborative evidence as required.**
40
41
Auditor’s Report
As part of an audit in accordance with ISAs (UK) we exercise professional judgement and maintain professional scepticism throughout the audit. We also:
- **Identify and assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to fraud or error, design and perform audit procedures responsive to those risks, and obtain audit evidence that is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion. The risk of not detecting a material misstatement resulting from fraud is higher than for one resulting from error, as fraud may involve collusion, forgery, intentional omissions, misrepresentations, or the override of internal control.**
- **Obtain an understanding of internal control relevant to the audit in order to design audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purposes of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the charity’s internal control.**
- **Evaluate the appropriateness of accounting policies used and the reasonableness of accounting estimates and related disclosures made by the trustees.**
- **Conclude on the appropriateness of the trustees’ use of the going concern basis of accounting and, based on the audit evidence obtained, whether a material uncertainty exists related to events or conditions that may cast significant doubt on the charity’s ability to continue as a going concern. If we conclude that a material uncertainty exists, we are required to draw attention in our auditor’s report to the related disclosures in the financial statements or, if such disclosures are inadequate, to modify our opinion. Our conclusions are based on the audit evidence obtained up to the date of our auditor’s report. However, future events or conditions may cause the charity to cease to continue as a going concern.**
## **USE OF OUR REPORT**
This report is made solely to the charity’s trustees, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 8 of the Charities Act 2011. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charity’s trustees those matters we are required to state to them in an auditor’s report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to any party other than the charity and charity’s trustees as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinion we have formed.
**Jonathan Aikens Moore Kingston Smith LLP Statutory auditor 9 Appold Street London EC2A 2AP**
Moore Kingston Smith LLP is eligible to act as auditor in terms of Section 1212 of the Companies Act 2006.
Date: 15 January 2025
- **Evaluate the overall presentation, structure and content of the financial statements, including the disclosures, and whether the financial statements represent the underlying transactions and events in a manner that achieves fair presentation.**
We communicate with those charged with governance regarding, among other matters, the planned scope and timing of the audit and significant audit findings, including any significant deficiencies in internal control that we identify during our audit.
42
43
Fin
St
ncial
eme
44
45
Statement of financial activities
Statement of financial activities
## **for the year ended 31 March 2024**
|Note
**Income**
_Income from_
Donations and legacies
3
Investments
2
Other income
4
Total income
**Expenditure**
_Expenditure on_
Raising funds
7
Charitable activities
8
Total expenditure
Net income/(expenditure)
before gains on investments
Exchange gains
Net gains/(losses)
on investments
11
Net (expenditure)/income
5
Transfers between funds
Net movement in funds
Fund balances brought forward
Fund balances carried forward|**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Restricted**
**funds**
**Expendable**
**endowment**
**funds**
**£**
**£**
**£**
75,817
98,321
–
3,663,835
–
–
382,166
–
–
4,121,818
98,321
–
–
–
(1,187,470)
(7,123,208)
(17,687)
–
(7,123,208)
(17,687)
(1,187,470)
(3,001,390)
80,634
(1,187,470)
(50,670)
–
(665,552)
–
–
15,069,935
(3,052,060)
80,634
13,216,913
1,000,000
–
(1,000,000)
(2,052,060)
80,634
12,216,913
2,288,960
792
181,688,339
236,900
81,426
193,905,252|**2024**
**Total**
**funds**
**£**|
|---|---|---|
|||174,138
3,663,835
382,166|
|||4,220,139|
|||(1,187,470)
(7,140,896)|
|||(8,328,366)|
|||(4,108,226)
(716,222)
15,069,935|
|||10,245,487|
|||–|
|||10,245,487
183,978,091|
|||194,223,578|
|Note
**Income**
_Income from_
Donations and legacies
3
Investments
2
Other income
4
Total income
**Expenditure**
_Expenditure on_
Raising funds
7
Charitable activities
8
Total expenditure
Net income/(expenditure)
before gains on investments
Exchange gains
Net gains/(losses)
on investments
Net (expenditure)/income
5
Transfers between funds
Net movement in funds
Fund balances brought forward
Fund balances carried forward|**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Restricted**
**funds**
**Expendable**
**endowment**
**funds**
**£**
**£**
**£**
4,420
792
–
2,816,813
–
–
338,827
–
–
3,160,060
792
–
–
–
(1,264,689)
(6,552,303)
–
–
(6,552,303)
–
(1,264,689)
(3,392,243)
792
(1,264,689)
260,503
–
3,236,444
–
–
(10,562,502)
(3,131,740)
792
(8,590,747)
–
–
–
(3,131,740)
792
(8,590,747)
5,420,700
–
190,279,086
2,288,960
792
181,688,339|**2023**
**Total**
**funds**
**£**|
|---|---|---|
|||5,212
2,816,813
338,827|
|||3,160,852|
|||(1,264,689)
(6,552,303)|
|||(7,816,992)|
|||(4,656,140)
3,496,947
(10,562,502)|
|||(11,721,695)|
|||–|
|||(11,721,695)
195,699,786|
|||183,978,091|
The income and the resulting net movement in funds arise from continuing operations. The charity has no recognised gains or losses other than those shown above.
46
47
Balance Sheet
Cash Flow Statement
## **as at 31 March 2024**
## **for the year ended 31 March 2024**
|**as at 31 March 2024**
**for the year ended 31 March 2024**|||
|---|---|---|
|Note
**2024**
**2023**
**£**
**£**
**£**
**£**
**Fixed assets**
Tangible fxed assets
10
360,740
394,835
Investments
11
194,438,300
177,416,214
194,799,040
177,811,049
**Current assets**
Debtors
12
225,936
370,557
Cash at bank and in hand
1,597,470
8,065,217
1,823,406
8,435,774
Creditors: amounts falling due
within one year
13
(1,111,059)
(948,366)
Net current assets
712,347
7,487,408
Total assets less current liabilities
195,511,387
185,298,457
Creditors: amounts falling due
in more than one year
14
(1,287,809)
(1,320,366)
Net assets
17
194,223,578
183,978,091
**Funds**
Restricted funds
81,426
792
Unrestricted funds
236,900
2,288,960
Expendable endowment funds
193,905,252
181,688,339
17
194,223,578
183,978,091
The fnancial statements were approved by the General Committee on the
15th January 2025 and signed on its behalf by:
George Graham
Trustee
Note
**2024**
**£**
**£**
Net cash used in operating activities
(8,223,984)
**Cash fows from investing activities**
Investment income
3,663,835
_Capital expenditure and fnancial investment:_
Purchase of tangible fxed assets
–
Purchase of fxed asset investments
(84,314,038)
Proceeds from sale of fxed assets
–
Proceeds from sale of investments
80,332,004
Net cash provided by investing activities
(318,199)
Change in cash and cash equivalents
in the reporting period
18
(8,542,183)
Change in cash and cash equivalents
at the beginning of the year
(8,542,183)
Net cash at the start of the year
18
16,741,191
Net cash at the end of the year
18
8,199,008
**Reconciliation of changes in net expenses before**
**other recognised gains and losses to net cash fow**
Net expenses before
other recognised gains and losses
(4,108,226)
Investment income
(3,663,835)
Depreciation
34,095
Net investment income/(expenses)
(714,795)
Foreign exchange movements
(45,980)
Decrease/(Increase) in debtors
144,621
Increase/(Decrease) in creditors
130,136
Net cash outfow from operating activities
(8,223,984)|**2023**
**£**
**£**||
||(5,491,394)
2,816,813
(21,516)
(64,081,546)
–
73,115,943
11,829,694
6,338,300
6,338,300
10,402,891
16,741,191
(4,656,140)
(2,816,813)
36,591
938,368
206,708
407,318
392,574
(5,491,394)||
||||
|||6,338,300|
|||6,338,300|
|||10,402,891|
|||16,741,191|
|||(4,656,140)
(2,816,813)
36,591
938,368
206,708
407,318
392,574|
|||(5,491,394)|
Edward Kemp Chief Executive Officer
48
49
Notes to the Financial Statements
## **1 ACCOUNTING POLICIES**
## **Basis of accounting**
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 (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2019) – (Charities SORP FRS 102), the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) and Update Bulletin 2, and the Charities Act 2011.
Assets and liabilities are initially recognised at historical cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policy or note.
## **ACCOUNTING POLICIES (CONTINUED)**
## **Expenditure**
Expenditure is classified under the principal categories of charitable and other expenditure rather than the type of expense, in order to provide more useful information to users of the financial statements. Resources expended are included in the Statement of Financial Actitvities (SOFA) on an accruals basis.
Charitable activities comprise direct expenditure including direct staff costs attributable to the activity. Support costs, including governance costs, have been allocated to activities based on the average staff time spent.
## **Heritage assets**
The trustees have assessed whether the use of the going concern basis is appropriate and have considered possible events or conditions that might cast significant doubt on the ability of the charity to continue as a going concern. In particular the trustees have considered the charity’s forecasts and projections and have taken account of pressures on donation and investment income. The trustees have concluded that there is a reasonable expectation that the charity has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the forseeable future. The charity therefore continues to adopt the going concern basis in preparing its financial statements.
The financial statements are prepared in sterling, which is the functional currency of the charity. Monetary amounts in these financial statement are rounded to the nearest pound.
The Fund’s archives which consist of the records of cases, minutes, annual reports and matters of administration and are of considerable interest to scholars and researchers are maintained principally for their contribution to knowledge and culture and therefore fall within the definition of heritage assets under Financial Reporting Standard 102 and the Charities SORP. The archives of the Fund from 1790 up to 1939 have been placed at the British Library on indefinite loan. Reliable market valuation information is not available, however, recent valuations for insurance and indemnification purposes suggest a value for the total archive of around £3 million.
Heritage assets are measured at cost (or valuation on the date received if donated to the charity). Given the historic nature of the heritage assets the charity currently holds, they have no attributable cost / minimal value at the date they were donated to the organisation and as such are held in the financial statements at £nil value.
## **Income**
All income is included when the charity has entitlement to the income, there is probability of receipt and the amount can be measured. Donations are recognised on a receipts basis unless the donor specifies that the donation relates to a future period or that certain pre-conditions must be fulfilled before use. Interest income is included on a receivable basis.
50
51
Notes to the Financial Statements
## **ACCOUNTING POLICIES (CONTINUED)**
## **Funds**
## _Unrestricted funds_
## **Depreciation**
Depreciation is provided to write off the cost less the estimated residual value of tangible fixed assets, except freehold land, by equal instalments over their estimated useful economic lives as follows:
Freehold buildings 2% of cost per annum Fixtures and fittings 25% of written down value per annum Office equipment 25% of written down value per annum Motor vehicles 25% of written down value per annum
Rentals payable under operating leases are charged to the Statement of Financial Activities as incurred over the term of the lease.
## **Three and five year grants**
Liabilities for three and five year grants are recognised in the balance sheet when the Fund has a legal or constructive obligation as a result of a past event, and it is probable that an outflow of economic benefits will be required to settle the obligation. One off grants are recognised when they are awarded. Instalment three and five year grants are awarded over a three and five year period respectively. Annual payments are made based on the initial award on application. Five year grants are reviewed for renewal after the five year period.
## **Operating leases**
Operating lease rentals are charged to the income and expenditure account on a straight line basis over the period of the lease.
## **Post-retirement benefits**
The amount charged against profits represents the contributions payable to employees’ private pension schemes in respect of the accounting period.
These funds are used to satisfy the provision of the charter of The Royal Literary Fund and are used at the discretion of the Trustees.
Income for the fund is generated through donations, but is mainly derived from the expendable endowment fund.
## _Restricted funds_
Restricted funds are funds that are used in accordance with specific restrictions imposed by donors or that have been raised by the Fund for particular purposes. Details of the restricted funds held are given in note 16 to the financial statements.
## _Expendable endowment funds_
From funds obtained from the sale of its share of the commercial rights to Winnie the Pooh received from AA Milne Estate, the Fund invested money in an investment portfolio. It is from this portfolio that income is generated every year to fund the majority of the grant making programme.
The Trustees have the power to release the expendable endowment funds to the Fund’s unrestricted income funds, which may be spent on charitable activities.
## **Investments**
Investments are shown at market value in accordance with Statement of Recommended Practice “Accounting and Reporting by Charities”.
Realised gains or losses on the sale of investments represent sale proceeds, less market value brought forward and investment management fees and commissions.
Unrealised gains or losses represent the movement between the brought forward and carried forward market value of the investments in the period.
## **Intangible fixed assets**
The Fund owns the copyright to the works of several authors. The Committee does not consider it practical to place a value on these copyrights, so they are not shown on the balance sheet.
52
53
Notes to the Financial Statements
## **ACCOUNTING POLICIES (CONTINUED)**
## **Financial instruments**
The charity has elected to apply the provisions of Section 11 ‘Basic Financial Instruments’ of FRS 102 to all of its financial instruments. Financial instruments are recognised in the company’s balance sheet when the company becomes party to the contractual provisions of the instrument. Financial assets and liabilities are offset, with the net amounts presented in the financial statements, when there is a legally enforceable right to set off the recognised amounts and there is an intention to settle on a net basis or to realise the asset and settle the liability simultaneously.
With the exceptions of prepayments and deferred income all other debtor and creditor balances are considered to be basic financial instruments under FRS 102. See notes 13, 14 and 15 for the debtor and creditor notes.
## **Cash and liquid resources**
Cash, for the purpose of the cash flow statement, comprises cash in hand and deposits repayable on demand, less overdrafts payable on demand. Liquid resources are included within fixed asset investments which are disposable without curtailing or disrupting the business and are either readily convertible into known amounts of cash at or close to their carrying values or traded in an active market. Liquid resources comprise term deposits of less than one year.
## **Foreign currencies**
Transactions in foreign currencies are recognised at the rate of exchange at the date of the transaction. Monetary assets and liabilities are translated into sterling at the exchange rate on the balance sheet date. Exchange differences are recognised through the statement of financial activities. The charity does not own any non-monetary assets abroad.
## **Judgements and key sources of estimation uncertainty**
In the application of the charity’s accounting policies, the trustees are required to make judgements, estimates and assumptions about the carrying amount of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. The estimates and associated assumptions are based on historical experience and other factors that are considered to be relevant. Actual results may differ from these estimates.
The estimates and underlying assumptions are reviewed on an ongoing basis. Revisions to accounting estimates are recognised in the period in which the estimate is revised where the revision affects only that period, or in the period of the revision and future periods where the revision affects both current and future periods.
The most significant estimates and assumptions which affect the carrying amount of assets and liabilities in the accounts relate to:
Useful Economic Lives – The annual depreciation charge for fixed assets is sensitive to change in the estimated useful economic lives and residual value of the assets. These are reassessed annually and amended where necessary to reflect current circumstances.
54
55
Notes to the Financial Statements
## **2. Investment income**
|Income from fxed interest securities
Income from managed or unitised funds
Interest on cash deposits held by
investment managers
Interest on other cash deposits|**2024**
**£**
–
3,097,889
489,637
76,309
3,663,835|**2023**
**£**|
|---|---|---|
|||829,672
1,929,017
30,839
27,285|
|||2,816,813|
All investment income is held as unrestricted income (2023: all held as unrestricted income).
## **3. Donations and legacies**
|Legacies
**Donations and grants**
Charities Aid Foundation America
In memory Robert Holman
The Louise Edith Collis Charitable Trus
Anonymous
The Kington Oliphant of Gask Trust
Other donations under £500
Total|**Unrestricted**
**Restricted**
**£**
**£**
68,285
–
68,285
–
–
49,169
–
8,152
t
6,146
–
–
41,000
1,201
–
185
–
7,532
98,321
75,817
98,321|**2024**
**Total**
**£**
68,285
68,285
49,169
8,152
6,146
41,000
1,201
185
105,853
174,138|**Unrestricted**
**Restricted**
**£**
**£**
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
792
–
–
3,231
–
1,079
–
110
–
4,420
–
4,420
–|**2023**|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|||||**Total**
**£**|
|||||–|
|||||–|
|||||–
792
–
3,231
1,079
110|
|||||5,212|
||||||
|||||5,212|
## **4. Other income**
|**Royalties**
Pooh Properties Trust
W Somerset Maugham
A Ransome
P Hamilton
GK Chesterton
P Clough
NF Simpson
Henry Reed
C Maclnnes
A Wilson
E Marshall
H F Summers
M Robson
L Summers
T J Lawson
J Hanson
R Ketton-Cremmer
A Gotch
R Brooke
P Mallett
M Steen
M Hamilton
M Roberts
V G Wort
M Hocking
A Vivis
Anonymous
Other income
Total|**2024**
**£**
127,500
117,990
47,789
34,448
30,249
14,933
2,612
1,639
1,052
463
246
167
166
166
165
139
138
138
138
117
47
25
16
14
3
–
2,014
382,374
(208)
382,166|**2023**
**£**|
|---|---|---|
|||150,000
106,210
38,207
23,924
6,060
1,519
405
681
4,670
511
–
–
55
122
–
103
103
103
198
–
110
–
–
–
33
1,078
2,039|
|||336,131|
|||2,696|
|||338,827|
56
57
Notes to the Financial Statements
## **5. Net income/(expenditure) is stated after charging:**
|Depreciation
**Amounts paid to auditor**
Audit fee – current year
Audit fee – prior year under accrual|**2024**
**£**
34,095
18,000
6,600|**2023**
**£**|
|---|---|---|
|||36,591|
|||18,000
1,480|
## **6. Taxation**
The Royal Literary Fund, as a registered charity, is exempt from taxation on its income and gains falling within Section 505 of the Taxes Act 1988 or Section 256 of the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992 to the extent that they are applied to its charitable objectives. No tax charge has arisen in the year.
## **7. Raising funds expenditure**
|Investment management fees
Commissions on royalties|**2024**
**£**
1,153,718
33,752
1,187,470|**2023**
**£**|
|---|---|---|
|||1,240,424
24,265|
|||1,264,689|
58
59
Notes to the Financial Statements
## **8. Charitable activities expenditure**
||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|**Direct costs**
Direct activity costs*
Direct staff costs
Outright grants
Three year instalment grants
Five year grants – total commitments payable
Other direct costs
**8. Charitable activities expenditure**|**Education**
**Grant**
**making**
**Writers**
**Mosaic**
**£**
**£**
**£**
3,233,983
–
321,817
362,979
100,038
75,336
–
722,545
–
–
426,851
–
–
551,839
–
76,820
22,879
16,261
3,673,782
1,824,152
413,414|**2024**
**Total**
**£**
3,555,800
538,353
722,545
426,851
551,839
115,960
5,911,348
**Direct costs**
Direct activity costs*
Direct staff costs
Outright grants
Three year instalment grants
Five year grants – total commitments payable
Other direct costs|**Education**
**Grant**
**making**
**Writers**
**Mosaic**
**£**
**£**
**£**
3,090,096
–
254,973
257,357
84,606
47,280
–
554,754
–
–
455,910
–
–
1,025,527
–
51,986
2,110
6,692
3,399,439
2,122,907
308,945|**2023**
**Total**
**£**|
|||||3,345,069
389,243
554,754
455,910
1,025,527
60,788|
|||||5,831,291|
*Of which £16,989 _WritersMosaic_ activity costs were restricted
*Of which £16,989 _WritersMosaic_ activity costs were restricted
|**Support costs**
_Governance costs_
Audit fees
Board costs
Legal and strategy costs
_Other support costs_
Staff costs
Staff travel, accomm, subsistence,
training, healthcare
Professional fees
Recruitment and temporary staff
Finance and insurance costs*
Premises expenses
Postage, printing, stationery, telephone and IT**
Communications
Depreciation
Total charitable activity costs by sector|8,220
8,220
8,220
11,151
11,151
11,151
11,154
11,154
11,154
83,061
83,061
83,061
12,241
12,241
12,241
17,779
17,779
17,779
_
4,620
18,300
4,898
4,898
4,898
27,952
27,952
–
18,354
18,354
18,354
205,352
205,352
205,352
23,629
10,465
–
423,791
415,245
390,510
4,097,573 2,239,399
803,924|24,660
33,453
33,462
249,183
36,723
53,337
22,920
14,694
55,904
55,062
616,056
34,094|
|---|---|---|
|||1,229,547|
||||
|||7,140,896|
|**Support costs**
_Governance costs_
Audit fees
Board costs
Legal and strategy costs
_Other support costs_
Staff costs
Staff travel, accomm, subsistence,
training, healthcare
Professional fees
Recruitment and temporary staff
Finance and insurance costs*
Premises expenses
Postage, printing, stationery, telephone and IT**
Communications
Depreciation
Total charitable activity costs by sector|6,493
6,493
6,493
10,767
10,767
10,767
3,688
3,688
3,688
64,100
64,100
64,100
7,246
7,246
7,246
20,602
20,602
20,602
4,077
4,077
13,607
5,644
5,644
5,644
54,655
54,655
–
12,526
12,526
12,526
53,384
53,384
53,384
27,071
9,520
–
270,252
252,702
198,057
3,669,692 2,375,609
507,002|19,479
32,301
11,064
192,300
21,738
61,806
21,761
16,932
109,310
37,578
160,152
36,591|
|---|---|---|
|||721,012|
||||
|||6,552,303|
*Of which £502 restricted **Of which £196 restricted
- *Of which £502 restricted **Of which £196 restricted
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60
Notes to the Financial Statements
## **8. Charitable activities (continued)**
## **Grants paid to individuals**
The aggregate amount of three and five year grants paid to individuals during the year was £963,398 (2023: £1,104,798). The total number of grants awarded to other charities was 0 (2023: 0). At the year end £2,161,699 (2023: £2,141,407) of three and five year grants were committed and a liability has been recognised in the accounts to reflect this (see notes 13 and 14).
The total number of writers in receipt of a three year grant annual instalment during the year was 59(2023: 59).
## **9. Employees**
The average number of employees during the year was 11 (2023: 8.5).
|Support
Education
Grant making
Note
**Staff costs**
Wages, salaries and benefts
Social security costs
Other pension costs
15|**2024**
2.00
7.00
2.00
11.00
**2023**
**£**
624,595
69,584
93,358
787,537|**2023**|
|---|---|---|
|||1.50
5.00
2.00|
|||8.50|
|||**2022**
**£**|
|||454,390
52,537
74,616|
|||581,543|
The Charity considers its key management personnel comprise the Chief Executive Officer, the Directo of Education, the Director of Digital and the Head of Grants. The total management benefits including employer pension contributions of the key management personnel were £446,446 (2023: £386,295).
3 employees (2023: 0) earned between £90,000 and £100,000 per annum. Total employer pension contributions for these individuals were £42,801 (2023: N/A).
No employees (2023: 2) earned between £80,000 and £90,000 per annum. Total employer pension contributions for these individuals were N/A (2023: £26,305).
No employees (2023: 1) earned between £70,000 and £80,000 per annum. Total employer pension contributions for this individual was N/A (2023: £11,340).
Reimbursement of out of pocket expenses totalling £3,422 were made to 2 trustees during the year (2023: £4,050 to 3 trustees). These expenses related to travel costs incurred in relation to work carried out for the charity.
## **10. Tangible fixed assets**
|**Cost**
At 1 April 2023
and 31 March 2024
**Depreciation**
At 1 April 2023
Charge for the year
At 31 March 2024
**Net Book Value**
At 31 March 2024
At 1 April 2023|**Freehold**
**buildings**
**Fixtures**
**and fttings**
**Offce**
**equipment**
**Motor**
**vehicles**
**£**
**£**
**£**
**£**
613,020
99,138
46,300
90,522
305,524
72,910
36,108
39,603
12,260
6,557
2,548
12,730
317,784
79,467
38,656
52,333
295,236
19,671
7,644
38,189
307,496
26,228
10,192
50,919|**Total**
**£**|
|---|---|---|
||||
|||848,980|
|||454,145
34,095|
|||488,240|
||||
|||360,740|
|||394,835|
63
62
Notes to the Financial Statements
## **11. Fixed asset investments**
|Fixed interest securities
Managed or unitised funds
Cash deposits held by investment managers
**Quoted investments**
Market value as at 1 April 2023
Additions
Disposals
Net (losses)/gains
Investment management fees
Exchange gain
Market value as at 31 March 2023
Historical cost as at 31 March 2023
**Geographical analysis**
United Kingdom
Overseas|**2024**
**£**
_
187,836,762
187,836,762
6,601,538
194,438,300
168,740,239
84,314,038
(80,332,004)
15,069,935
714,795
(670,241)
187,836,762
163,533,335
48,102,097
146,336,203
194,438,300|**2023**
**£**|
|---|---|---|
|||8,420,706
160,319,533|
|||168,740,239
8,675,976|
|||177,416,214|
|||185,985,266
64,081,546
(73,115,943)
(10,562,502)
(938,368)
3,290,239|
|||168,740,239|
|||121,571,799|
|||108,236,680
69,179,534|
|||177,416,214|
## **12. Debtors**
|Accounts receivable
Prepayments and accrued income
All debtors fall due within one year.|**2024**
**£**
–
225,936
225,936|**2023**
**£**|
|---|---|---|
|||350
370,207|
|||370,557|
||||
## **13. Creditors: amounts falling due within one year**
|Trade creditors
Accruals
Tax and social security
Other creditors
Accrued grants and pension commitments|**2024**
**£**
115,413
83,422
27,462
10,872
873,890
1,111,059|**2023**
**£**|
|---|---|---|
|||72,088
27,690
21,661
5,886
821,041|
|||948,366|
The following investments represent more than 5% of the value of the portfolio. Their year end market values have also been stated for clarity. Cazenove, £163,445,391 and Pantheon RLF 2014 Fund, £10,533,616.
During the year a number of investments were transferred into a consolidated portfolio with Cazenove. Investments representing more than 5% of the value of the portflio in 2023 were Cazenove, £61,570,719; Blackrock MSCI, £52,406,202; Blackrock Midcap UK Equity, £14,152,824 and Pantheon RLF 2014 Fund, £11,335,955.
65
64
Notes to the Financial Statements
## **14. Creditors: amounts falling due in more than one year**
|Accrued grants and pension commitments|**2024**
**£**
1,287,809|**2023**
**£**|
|---|---|---|
|||1,320,366|
The trustees have accrued for three and five year grants awarded in the year, which are payable over a three and five year period, respectively. Although all payments are subject to an annual review, the Fund accepts a ‘no changes in circumstances’ return. Since the assessment of the beneficiary’s financial well being is outside the Fund’s control, a full accrual for this commitment has been made this year.
## **15. Pension scheme**
The company operates a defined contribution pension scheme. Contributions of £93,358 ( 2023: £74,616) were charged to the statement of financial activities as they became payable in accordance with the rules of the scheme. Contributions of £7,667 (2023: £5,889) remained outstanding at the year end.
## **16. Analysis of movements on the funds**
|Opening funds
Income
Expenditure
Fund transfers
Other net recognised gains
Closing value of funds
Opening funds
Income
Expenditure
Fund transfers
Other net recognised gains
Closing value of funds|**Unrestricted**
**Funds**
**Restricted**
**Funds**
**Restricted**
**Funds**
**Restricted**
**Funds**
**Expendable**
**Endowment**
**Funds**
**General**
**R Holman Hawthornden**
**H Kureishi**
**General**
**£**
**£**
**£**
**£**
**£**
2,288,960
792
–
–
181,688,339
4,121,818
8,152
49,169
41,000
–
(7,123,208)
(698)
(16,989)
–
(1,187,470)
(712,430)
8,246
32,180
41,000
180,500,869
1,000,000
–
–
–
(1,000,000)
(50,670)
–
–
–
14,404,384
236,900
8,246
32,180
41,000
193,905,253
**Unrestricted**
**Funds**
**Restricted**
**Funds**
**Expendable**
**Endowment**
**Funds**
**General**
**R Holman**
**General**
**£**
**£**
**£**
5,420,700
–
190,279,086
3,160,060
792
–
(6,552,303)
–
(1,264,689)
2,028,457
792
189,014,397
–
–
–
260,503
–
(7,326,058)
2,288,960
792
181,688,339|**2024**|
|---|---|---|
|||**Total**
**£**|
|||183,978,091
4,220,140
(8,328,366)|
|||179,869,864
–
14,353,713|
|||194,223,579|
|||**2023**|
|||**Total**
**£**|
|||195,699,786
3,160,852
(7,816,992)|
|||191,043,646
–
(7,065,555)|
|||183,978,091|
The general fund and designated funds are unrestricted and are used to satisfy the provision of the charter of The Royal Literary Fund. There are sufficient funds to enable this to occur.
The Robert Holman Award has been established with the friends and executors of playwright and Royal Literary Fund beneficiary Robert Holman with funds donated at Robert’s funeral and subsequently. It will provide hardship support for professional playwrights from the North of England.
Hanif Kureishi: In 2022 the writer Hanif Kureishi suffered a fall which has left him paralysed. The restricted fund receives donations made towards Hanif’s ongoing care and is administered by the RLF to this end.
Hawthornden Foundation: The RLF received a grant from the Hawthornden Foundation via CAF America to support a writers’ retreat led by _WritersMosaic_ editors. The grant is being repeated in 2024/25.
67
66
Notes to the Financial Statements
## **17. Analysis of net assets between funds**
|Fixed assets
Investments
Net current assets
Creditors due
in more than one year
Closing value of funds|**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Restricted**
**funds**
**Expendable**
**endowment**
**funds**
360,740
–
–
–
–
194,438,300
1,163,969
81,426
(533,048)
(1,287,809)
–
–
236,900
81,426
193,905,252|**2024**|
|---|---|---|
|||360,740
194,438,300
712,347
(1,287,809)|
|||194,223,578|
## **18. Net cash**
|Cash in hand, at bank
Cash deposits held by Investment Managers
Total|**Cash**
**brought**
**forward**
**Cash**
**£**
**£**
8,065,217
(6,467,747)
8,675,974
(2,074,436)
16,741,191
(8,542,183)|**Cash**
**carried**
**forward**
**£**|
|---|---|---|
|||1,597,470
6,601,538|
|||8,199,008|
## **19. Related party transactions**
|Fixed assets
Investments
Net current assets
Creditors due
in more than one year
Closing value of funds|**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Restricted**
**funds**
**Expendable**
**endowment**
**funds**
394,835
–
–
–
–
177,416,214
3,214,491
792
4,272,125
(1,320,366)
–
–
2,288,960
792
181,688,339|**2023**|
|---|---|---|
|||394,835
177,416,214
7,487,408
(1,320,366)|
|||183,978,091|
As one of the beneficiaries of the Estate of AA Milne, the Fund is one of four members of the Pooh Properties Trust (PPT). Mark Lawson represented the Fund’s interests as a trustee of PPT. PPT’s decisions are based upon unanimous agreement and no trustee has any controlling interest. Mark Lawson received no remuneration from either charity for this role. During the year Royalties of £127,500 (2023: £150,000) were received.
69
68
ministrati
)rmation
SANIT
Administrative Information
## **The Royal Literary Fund**
Registered Charity 219952
## **Patron**
## **Auditors**
Moore Kingston Smith LLP 9 Appold Street London EC2A 2AP
Her Majesty The Queen
## **Accountants**
**President and Chair** Sir Ian Blatchford
## **General Committee (as at 31 March 2024)**
Nelle Andrew Terence Blacker Dan Franklin – Registrar Brenda Gardner George Graham – Treasurer Hilary Hale – Deputy President & Registrar Paula Hawkins – Treasurer Mark Lawson Colin Ludlow Colin Luke - Treasurer Dreda Say Mitchell MBE Judith Murray Susheila Nasta MBE Michael Symmons Roberts – Registrar Fiona Sampson MBE Marianne Velmans Ellah P Wakatama OBE
## **Sub-committees**
## **Finance and Investment**
Ian Blatchford, George Graham, Paula Hawkins, Colin Luke
## **Nominations**
Ian Blatchford, Hilary Hale, Mark Lawson, Dreda Say Mitchell, Fiona Sampson
## **Education**
Michael Symmons Roberts (Chair), Brenda Gardner, Mark Lawson, Colin Luke, Judith Murray
Amanda Hall CounterCulture LLP
## **Solicitors**
Farrer & Co 66 Lincoln’s Inns Fields London WC2A 3LH
## **Bankers**
Coutts & Co 440 Strand London WC2R 0QS
## **Staff**
Karin Altenberg _Head of Bridge (England and Wales)_
Mary Colson _Assistant Head of Outreach_
Steve Cook Hon FRSL _Director of Education_
Colin Grant FRSL _Director, WritersMosaic_
Laura Hird _Head of Bridge (Scotland and N Ireland)_
Vanessa Holt _Grants Assistant_
Edward Kemp _Chief Executive_
Richard Le Cocq _Head of Marketing and Communications_
Katharine McMahon _Head of Outreach_
Justine Palmer _Head of Grants_
Dr David Swinburne _Systems Director, Co-Director of Education_
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73
Some applicants helped during the year
## **Amongst those awarded grants during the year:**
A poet approached the fund after being required to take an extended period of time away from work to care for her elderly mother. The Fund provided her with a three-year grant whilst she found new supporting work and helped cover the cost of repairs to her home following flood damage.
A travel writer, whose work had been severely impacted by the pandemic, was struggling with rising fuel costs. He was suffering from depression and struggling to find suitable supporting work. The Fund provided him with a two-year grant to help cover his living costs whilst he waited for his state pension to start.
A novelist and single parent to a young child with complex needs was struggling to cover the cost of her rent. The Fund awarded her a three-year grant to assist with the rent and helped clear credit card debts to reduce her liability repayments.
An elderly romantic fiction writer was living on a low income. She suffered from osteoporosis and sciatica; both of which greatly affected her mobility and led to additional costs. The Fund renewed her five-year grant to help cover her day-to-day living expenses and additional support needs.
A poet with a disability and his partner received an unexpected bill for home repairs that they were unable to cover. The committee awarded an outright grant to pay for the repairs.
The widow of a playwright, diagnosed with terminal cancer, required round-the-clock care. The Fund helped cover the cost of her care whilst the family applied for support from their local authority.
A novelist and former asylum seeker was suffering from health complications due to injuries sustained in the conflict in his home country. His family was struggling with budgeting and covering household costs. The committee awarded him an interim grant to help cover the cost of expenses and referred him to Pennysmart for advice on debts and budgeting.
A non-fiction writer had been left unable to work and without an income following a serious stroke. The Fund awarded him an interim grant to help cover his immediate living costs whilst his family helped him to apply for the state support to which he was entitled.
A retired poet and short story writer was living alone in a property with damp issues. She was living on a very low income and had been severely impacted by the rising costs of fuel and food. The committee increased her five-year grant to help cover the increased costs.
A screenwriter and regular contributor to a long-running television series contacted the Fund after the show was cancelled with little notice, causing a sudden loss of income. He was looking for new work but had nothing under contract. The committee awarded him a one-off grant to help cover day-to-day living costs whilst he looked for new work.
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75
**----- Start of picture text -----**
In 1955, Doris Lessing applied for financial help and was awarded a grant which allowed
her to sustain her writing career as a single mother. Lessing is the only British female
writer to date to win the Nobel Prize for Literature.
**----- End of picture text -----**
## Extracts from thank-you letters
I am still walking around in the clouds... The sense of calm it has left, knowing the real worry that has burdened me for some time now has lifted, means I can write and work in a happier mindset. Thanks again to the people who gave me this peace of mind and not just for this year but for the three years of support. I cannot even begin to say what that means. I am so grateful to the Royal Literary Fund.
The grant will make every difference and really help me get my finances back in order. I can’t tell you the relief - and I know it will make a huge impact on my writing and other work, too, freeing up my headspace now that constant, pressing worry has been removed.
It also means so much to me that the committee saw literary merit in my work and also understood my situation. As I said in my original note, even writing the letter was helpful, and I’m so glad I took the plunge and contacted you.
Oh my goodness ... I’m just agog at the RLF’s generosity and kindness. Emotional and speechless! Please pass on my huge, heartfelt thanks.
I am writing to express my profound gratitude to the Literary Fund for their generous grant. This level of financial support will have a significant impact on my circumstances, freeing up psychic space to allow me to continue to write. The application process was also instructive - it enabled me to gain an overview of my financial situation and to begin to think more clearly about possible next steps. I especially appreciated the formal approval of my literary merit given the current tough publishing climate. After years of challenge, such affirmation serves as a major confidence boost which I am sure will sustain me going forward. Hopefully the outcome will be a publication **(** or two **)** where I can formally acknowledge the Literary Fund’s generous support.
I wanted to add my heartfelt thanks for the grant you’ve awarded my husband. We are both blown away by the generosity and the profound impact this will have on our lives for the next three years. My husband probably didn’t underline how much of a caring role he has undertaken in the last few years due to my health, and with upcoming surgery in January, my recovery will again mean I can’t work and put strain on him. This money makes the next year feel possible. Thank you for believing in my husband as much as I do.
Now that I have got used to the grant, I realise what a difference it makes. It means I don’t have to worry. I feel so much more relaxed and confident because I have this security. I also have choices that make me feel empowered.
77
## Members
## **As at 31 March 2024**
Sir Alan Ayckbourn
David Bacon Antonia Barber Janet Barber Nicholas Baring* M Bernstein Philippa Blake-Roberts Sir Hugo Brunner KCVO Michael Bunting
Mrs Catherine M Lambert David Lodge CBE Mark Le Fanu OBE
Rupert Murdoch Stephen Maitland-Lewis Michelle Magorian
P O’Leary
Derek Parker* Betty Parvin Kate Pool*
## **RLF Beneficiary 2024**
Andrew Crawshaw
Mrs B Quartermaine
Peter Daniels Dame Margaret Drabble*
Miss EJ Fenwick Michael Frayn Ingrid Freebairn
EA Greey I Gundry
Celia Haddon Duff Hart-Davis Lady Selina Hastings Sir Max Hastings Sir Michael Holroyd* Bruce Hunter
Michael Ridpath
Katherine Scholfield Mike Shaw Hilary Spurling*
Andrew Taylor Judy Taylor MBE Claire Tomalin* Peter Troughton CBE
Lady Jane Willoughby de Eresby
* _Honorary Member_
Sir Kazuo Ishiguro
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79
**The Royal Literary Fund** Trustees’ report and financial statements
Registered Charity number 219952 31 March 2023
3 Johnson’s Court London EC4A 3EA
020 7353 7150 www.rlf.org.uk