Trustees’ Report and Accounts For The Year Ended
31 March 2022
Charity number: 231022
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Catholic Concern for Animals
Chair’s Introduction
For The Year Ended 31 March 2022
I am very pleased to be able to say that, following the covid pandemic, CCA has gradually resumed face-to-face activities. This has included, for example, our Annual General Meeting followed by our St Francis and St Hubert Award Ceremony in London, and our participation in the UNEA 5.2 convention in Nairobi. On that momentous occasion, CCA was part of the working group that drafted the first ever animal welfare resolution to be passed by the United Nation, a truly historical achievement for the animal advocacy world and a contribution of which we are enormously proud.
Despite a recent drop in legacy income, CCA has continued to vigorously pursue our educational and advocacy mission. This has included, for example, the continued support of small animal rescue charities through our Phillis Mary Trust; the launch of a new educational campaign against bullfighting; and a steady increase in our digital output, through our quarterly magazine The Ark , our increasingly popular regular newsletter and our various social media channels, such as our growing collection of YouTube interviews with major representatives of the animal advocacy world.
It is both gratifying and encouraging to see how such intense activity has attracted a growing number of members worldwide and enhanced CCA’s standing as an educational and advocacy charity. Nevertheless, we are painfully aware that much of the world is sadly in great turmoil, resulting in much increased pressure on charities, whose services are in unprecedented demand, and on members of the public, whose budgets are being squeezed by runaway inflation and growing cost of living. As a result, the future of charities, particularly small ones such as CCA, is uncertain. However, for as long as we have the means, we will continue to pursue our mission with hope and determination, educating and advocating on behalf of God’s animal creation.
Prof. Clara Mancini September 2022 Chair of the Board of Trustees
Date: 23[rd]
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Catholic Concern for Animals
Chief Executive’s Statement
For The Year Ended 31 March 2022
In last year’s Chief Executive Statement , I advised that the financial year ended 31[st] March 2021 had been a very difficult year for CCA due to the Covid19 pandemic. It is the case that we have continued to face difficulties because of the ongoing Covid emergency, but we have had a “transition year” in which we have tried to engage in more “face to face” activity than had been possible in the previous 12 months. This included an excellent AGM and Awards Ceremony held in London during November 2021, which had not been possible in the previous year. We also managed to recommence our attendance at conferences and I spoke at events both in the UK and in mainland Europe, as well as attending the crucial UNEA5.2 Conference in Nairobi, Kenya.
We hope to fully re-engage in worldwide events even more fully in the coming year, although travel is still complicated and difficult, as the Covid virus is still with us across the globe and does not seem to have any intention of going away any time soon!
After the excellent financial year last year, I am afraid that we posted a loss this year due to a large reduction in legacy income on which the Charity largely depends for its income. But despite the drop in income we continued to work vigorously for the good and well-being of the animal kingdom and we once again gave Phyllis Mary Trust grants of a total of over £14,000 and this has meant an expenditure of almost £30,000 on supporting small animal sanctuaries over the last two years.
We have continued to grow our membership in all parts of the world and we are seeing increased interest in our work, especially from the United States.
Our digital output continues to grow and we reached a record number of supporters due to our increased digital presence. Our digital newsletter, in particular, grows in recognition across the animal advocacy family and beyond.
I would repeat my message from last year that we are approaching the new financial year with confidence, although the on-going pandemic and the growing insecurity throughout the world, such as the war in Ukraine, as well as the increased pressure on CCA costs due to rising inflation, and the always unknown situation regarding potential CCA legacy income, continues to makes financial planning difficult.
We will continue to deliver top quality education services for animal advocacy whilst remaining prudent with CCA’s financial resources.
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Date: 23[rd]
Chris Fegan September 2022 Chief Executive
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Catholic Concern for Animals
Trustees’ Report
For The Year Ended 31 March 2022
Mission
Catholic Concern for Animals’ mission is the advancement of Christian respect and responsibility for the animal creation with special reference to Catholic teachings and beliefs.
Activities
The charity meets its objective of advancing Christian respect and responsibility for the animal creation through the production of its members’ magazine The Ark which is now issued digitally four times a year, through its newsletter, and through its website and social media outreach. The Chief Executive promotes the work of the charity by engaging with other organisations.
Main Achievements
The undoubted highlight of the year from an internal CCA viewpoint was that we managed to present our annual St Francis and St Hubert Awards again after their absence due to the Covid lockdown in 2021. The St Francis award was presented to Juliet Gellatley and the St Hubert award was given to Randal Plunkett. You can read about the awards event on the CCA website here: https://catholic-animals.com/st-francis-and-st-hubert-awards/
The main external highlight of the year was the fantastic achievement of the animal advocacy world in the passing of the first ever United Nations resolution on animal welfare that was passed in Nairobi, Kenya in Feb/March 2022. I am very proud that CCA played our part in this historic moment and that we were on site with our colleagues to “get this over the line”. When you consider that the UN is over 80 years old and this is the first ever animal welfare resolution, you can see what a historic and major step forward for animals this was. Further details of this can be read here:
https://catholic-animals.com/uncategorized/historic-animal-welfare-resolutionadopted-by-the-united-nations/#more-16592
We also worked on a number of other worldwide animal advocacy issues throughout the year, both digital and increasingly “face to face” again, but unfortunately the last month of the financial year was dominated by working with our animal advocacy colleagues in Europe in trying to desperately support innocent animals caught up in the mayhem following the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24[th] February 2022.
https://catholic-animals.com/statement/cca-statement-on-the-ukraine/#more16668
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Financial Review
Total reserves decreased from £265,309 last year to £216,918 this year, due to reduced legacy income and a return to pre-Covid levels of activity during the latter part of the year. The year-end reserves comprised of £106,989 in the General Reserve, £100,000 in the Laudato Si’ Reserve and £9,929 in the Phyllis Mary Trust.
Legacy income for the General Fund was £41,000 this year (2021: £134,650). As a result, total income was only £44,558 (2021: £139,014). Total expenditure was £78,670 (2021: £62,617), resulting in an excess of expenditure over income of £34,112 (2021: £76,397 surplus). Despite returning to pre-Covid activity levels, CCA has controlled costs by continuing to hold some meetings online to reduce travel expenses, and by distributing The Ark digitally to reduce production and distribution costs. There has, however, been some extra investment in the use of social media.
The Phyllis Mary Trust made donations of £14,279 during the year (2021: £14,602) reducing the fund from £24,208 to £9,929. No income was received into the fund. The Fish Project fund was closed, as the project came to an end, and the balance of £6,678 was transferred to the General Fund.
£50,000 was transferred from the Laudato Si’ Reserve , a designated reserve, to the General Fund to reflect the work undertaken to promote the teachings of Laudato Si’ this year.
Structure, Governance and Management
The charity, which was founded in 1929, is governed by a board of trustees who meet four times a year, in addition to the AGM, to develop strategy and make decisions about the operations of the charity. It complies with the Charity Governance Code for smaller charities. It employs a Chief Executive and a parttime Finance Manager to manage the day to day affairs of the charity and will also engage specialist contractors as delivery tasks require. Trustees are not remunerated but can be reimbursed for reasonable expenses incurred on behalf of the charity. During the year trustees were reimbursed £633.14 (2021: £nil). There have been no related party transactions with trustees.
Reserves
The Charity holds three types of reserves – restricted, designated and free. Restricted reserves are those funds which are restricted to the activity specified by the donor. The Phyllis Mary Trust is a restricted reserve and is only to be applied to provide grants for small and struggling animal rescue organisations. Designated reserves are those funds applied by the trustees for specific purposes. The Laudato Si’ fund is a designated reserve and is to be applied for the purposes of promoting the teachings on Pope Francis’ encyclical “ Laudato Si: On Care for our Common Home” , with particular reference to care for our
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fellow creatures. The General Fund comprises the free reserves which are the total funds less the restricted and designated reserves.
The reserves policy is to aim to hold an average of two years’ operating expenditure in free reserves, where possible, to ensure the continuity of the charity. This is because of the infrequent nature of the charity’s main source of income, which is legacies.
Investment Policy
It has been the policy of the board of trustees to hold the charity’s funds in low risk, interest bearing accounts. The trustees hold funds at two banks in order to minimise the risk of losing funds should any one bank collapse.
Public Benefit Statement
The charity provides a public benefit by producing educational material and giving talks on the empathetic treatment of animals, based on the teachings of the Catholic Church, which gives a moral benefit to the human community.
Risk Management
The board of trustees have considered the major risks to the charity and have developed a risk register which includes risks relating to governance, operations, finance, external threats and compliance with law and regulation, in line with the Charity Commission’s document CC26. The trustees regularly review the risks and have implemented structures to control them. One of the major risks to the charity is a decline in legacy income. Without legacy income, CCA cannot continue to operate at its current levels beyond the next three years. To mitigate this risk, CCA has been focusing on fundraising.
The Impact of Covid-19 on Going Concern
The trustees have reviewed the three year forecasts as part of their six monthly review and are satisfied that the charity remains a going concern. The latest forecasts indicate that there are sufficient reserves to cover activity for the next three years.
Future Development
CCA has launched a major new campaign to end bull fighting in Catholic countries which is a huge and very ambitious project that will take a lot of work, time and resources to achieve, but we are starting to make a little progress and laying the groundwork for further steps forward in 2022/23:
https://catholic-animals.com/uncategorized/cca-campaign-to-end-bulltorture/#more-16471
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CCA will continue to improve and widen its digital offers and hopes to continue to see an increase in members and supporters.
We will also continue to engage with our animal advocacy colleagues in all areas of work, including working to help alleviate the dreadful suffering in Ukraine, through our education and advocacy work, as well as by giving Phyllis Mary Trust grants as appropriate.
Prof Clara Mancini September 2022 Chair of the Board of Trustees
Date: 23[rd]
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Catholic Concern for Animals
Independent Examiner’s Report For The Year Ended 31 March 2022
Independent Examiner's Report to the Trustees of Catholic Concern for Animals
I report to the charity trustees on my examination of the accounts of the charity for the year ended 31[st] March 2022 which are set out on pages 1 to 10.
Responsibilities and basis of report
As the charity’s trustees you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the Act’). I report in respect of my examination of the charity’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the Act and in carrying out my examination I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5) (b) of the Act.
Independent examiner's statement
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:
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accounting records were not kept in respect of the charity as required by section 130 of the Act; or
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the accounts do not accord with those records; or
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the accounts do not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008, other than any requirement that the accounts give a ‘true and fair view’ which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination.
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
Date: 23[rd] September 2022
L Rowsell ATT Wills Accountants Ltd Chartered Certified Accountants 2 Endeavour House
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Parkway Court Longbridge Road Plymouth PL6 8LR io
Catholic Concern for Animals
Income and Expenditure Statement For The Year Ended 31 March 2022
| 2022 |
2021 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| £ | £ | £ | |
| £ | |||
| General Fund (Unrestricted) | |||
| Income: | |||
| Legacies | 41,000 |
134,650 | |
| Membership fees | 1,434 | 2,131 | |
| Donations |
1,923 | 1,969 |
|
| Sales of literature | 135 | 137 | |
| Interest from investment | 66 | 127 | |
| 44,558 | |||
| 139,014 | |||
| Expenditure: | |||
| Publication & distribution of | The Ark |
4,925 | 2,598 |
| Digital transformation | 1,290 | 1,195 | |
| Website & social media | 10,478 | 7,916 | |
| UK & overseas activities & conferences | 4,003 |
1,908 | |
| Prizes & awards | 4,714 | 250 | |
| Governance costs | 1,482 | ||
| 0 | |||
| Remuneration | 43,900 | 44,374 | |
| Recruitment and training | 45 |
0 | |
| Accountancy & audit | 813 | 695 | |
| Member & donor admin | 4,053 | 1,841 | |
| Insurances | 639 | 566 | |
| Subscriptions & advertising | 1,284 | 209 |
|
| Stationery & sundry items | 335 | 462 | |
| Bank charges | 279 | 173 | |
| Depreciation | 430 | 430 |
|
| 78,670 | |||
| 62,617 | |||
| Net Income/(Expenditure) | (34,112) | ||
| 76,397 | |||
| Balance brought forward |
84,423 | ||
| 83,026 Transfer (to)/from the_Laudato Si’_Designated Fund | |||
| 50,000 |
(75,000) | ||
| Transfer from Fish Project | 6,678 | ||
| 0 |
|||
| Balance carried forward | £106,989 | ||
| £84,423 |
Designated Fund
£
£
Laudato Si’ Fund
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Balance brought forward 150,000 75,000 Transfer (to)/from General Reserve (50,000) 75,000 Balance carried forward £100,000 £150,000
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Restricted Funds
| 2021 The Phyllis Mary Trust Income: Legacies received 15,000 Donations received Expenditure: Donations granted 14,520 FX Charges 82 Net Income/(Expenditure) 398 Balance brought forward 23,810 Balance carried forward £24,208 Eurogroup Fish Project Fund Income: Donations received Refunded Expenditure Expenditure: Fish & Marine Welfare Conference 5,248 Net Income/(Expenditure) (3,808) Balance brought forward 10,486 Transferred to the General Reserve 0 Balance carried forward £6,678 Total Restricted Funds £30,886 |
2022 £ £ £ £ 0 0 0 0 15,000 14,099 180 14,279 14,602 (14,279) 24,208 £9,929 2022 2021 £ £ £ £ 0 0 0 1,440 0 1,440 0 0 6,678 (6,678) £0 £9,929 |
|
|---|---|---|
£ 0 |
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Catholic Concern for Animals
Balance Sheet
For The Year Ended 31 March 2022
2022 2021 £ £ Funds: Unrestricted Funds General Fund 106,989 84,423 Designated Funds Laudato Si’ Fund 100,000 150,000 Restricted Funds Phyllis Mary Trust 9,929 24,208 - Eurogroup Fish Project 6,678 9,929 30,886 Total Funds £216,918 £265,309 Represented by: Fixed Assets Computer Equipment 0 430 Current Asset Debtors and Prepayments 800 0 Cash at Bank 220,078 267,816 220,878 267,816 Current Liabilities Creditors 3,960 2,937 Net Current Assets 216,918 264,879 Total Assets £216,918 £265,309
The trustees declare that they have approved the accounts above.
Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees:
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Prof Clara Mancini Chair of the Board of Trustees
Date: 23[rd] September 2022
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Catholic Concern for Animals
Administrative Information
For The Year Ended 31 March 22
PRESIDENT: Rt. Rev. Malcolm McMahon OP, Archbishop of Liverpool
TRUSTEES:
Chair: Prof Clara Mancini Treasurer: Sheila Thomas Membership Secretary: Sarah Dunning (to 3[rd] September 2021) Retreats Secretary: Irene Casey
Trustees:
Judy Gibbons Rev. Michael Holman (to 31[st] March 2022) Ann Moody Wanda Oberman Graźyna Stenak-Czerny
STAFF:
Chief Executive: Chris Fegan Finance Manager: Barbara Gardner Membership Secretary: Dr Gerald Taylor
ADVISERS:
Theological Adviser - Dr Deborah Jones Scientific Adviser - Dr Richard D. Ryder
PATRONS:
Sir David Amess MP (to 15[th] October 2021) Rt. Hon. Jon Cruddas MP Bruce Kent
BANKERS:
CAF Bank , 25 Kings Hill Avenue, Kings Hill, West Mailing, Kent, ME19
4JQ.
INDEPENDENT EXAMINERS:
Wills Accountants Ltd , Chartered Certified Accountants, 2 Endeavour House, Parkway Court, Longbridge Road, Plymouth, PL6 8LR.
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