## The Churches Fellowship for Psychical and Spiritual Studies (CFPSS) Registered charity number 233778 ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31st MARCH 2021
## Trustees:
Dr Santha Bhattacharji (President re-elected 4 December 2020) Rev. Jennifer Lane (elected Chair from 4 December 2020) Mrs Davina Thomas, (Chair until 4 December 2020) Miss Cherry Simpkin, (Hon Treasurer) Rev Neil Broadbent Mrs Barbara Broadbent (from 4 December 2020) Mrs Vicky Jeffs, Mr Roger Straughan Mrs Helen Beck (from 4 December 2020} Mrs Ruth Bird (re-elected 4 December 2020) Ms Rhoda Martin (re-elected 4 December 2020; resigned 1 July 2021) Rev Alison Earl (re-elected 4 December 2020) Mrs Margaret Lee Ms Ellen Davis (from 4 December 2020) Dr Robert Gilbert (from 4 December 2020)
Independent Examiner: Myrus Smith, Norman House, 8 Burnell Road, Sutton, Surrey SM148W
Solicitors: Porter Dodson, Telford House, The Park, Yeovil, Somerset, BA20 1DY.
## General Secretary
Mrs Joanne Arnold
## Office Address
Office 8, The Creative Suite, Mill 3, Pleasley Vale Business Park, Mansfield, NG19 8RL
## Structure, Governance & Management
The governing document of the trust is a Constitution amended by resolution on 1 April 1963 and 8 September 2017. Under the Constitution the charity is governed by a Council consisting of the President, a Chair, an Honorary Treasurer, 1 Representative from each Region and up to 6 others. Up to 3 Vice-Presidents and up to 2 Vice-Chairs may also be elected.
Members of the Council are elected by the members of the charity at an AGM, the President to serve for 5 years and all others to serve for 3 years. All Council members are eligible for re-election.
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Due to the Covid 19 pandemic and as permitted by the CFPSS Constitution, the Council decided not to hold an in-person Annual General Meeting in 2020 but instead to hold the AGM by post by sending out reports and voting papers to members and enable comments and votes to be sent by post or email. This decision was minuted at the Council Meeting on 24 August 2020.
The next AGM will be held as normal at the Annual Conference in September 2021.
The Council has the power to co-opt up to 3 trustees to serve until the next AGM, when they will be eligible for election by the members. It may co-opt trustees in the event of casual vacancies to serve for the remainder of the term of the person replaced.
The Council may also appoint a paid General Secretary and any other staff as they see fit. Remuneration and duties of all staff shall be determined by the Council. At present, the charity’s only member of staff is the General Secretary. The Editor of the charity’s magazine The Christian Parapsychologist receives an honorarium.
The CFPSS does not hold any funds as a custodian trustee on behalf of others.
## Objectives of the Charity
The objects of the Charity are to encourage the study in a Christian context of spiritual, paranormal, psychological and other scientific phenomena and to try to assess their validity and their relevance to the Christian faith.
## Public Benefit
In setting objectives and planning for activities, the Council have given due consideration to general guidance published by the charity commission relating to public benefit.
Membership of the CFPSS is open to all those who belong to a recognised Christian denomination or are themselves in sympathy with the Christian faith. Within that framework, we welcome ail adults regardless of personal circumstances. The minimum annual donation for membership is determined by General Meeting from time to time but the Council have the power to reduce such sum in cases of hardship or other reasons as the Council sees fit. The Council may also grant bursaries as appropriate to enable members with limited resources to attend CFPSS events.
The CFPSS provides a forum for discussion on subjects such as the healing and deliverance ministry, religious experience, paranormal phenomena, mysticism and prayer, particularly in terms of their relevance to the Christian faith. In doing this, it seeks to foster a general understanding of these subjects and to contribute to academic research.
The CFPSS offers a safe meeting place where members and enquirers may share and explore their experiences in these areas, in an open atmosphere of love and acceptance. Many people value the help they have received when they have experienced spontaneous gifts of the Spirit, the pain of bereavement or simply a call to deeper
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spiritual understanding, especially when they have found little encouragement or support from elsewhere.
The CFPSS takes seriously its duty of care towards Trustees, Staff, Members and the general public. It discourages any form of abuse for whatever reason. The Trustees regard their safeguarding responsibilities in respect of vulnerable adults particularly important since that the nature of the charity’s objectives may lead those in mental and spiritual distress to seek its help. The Charity is not involved with children.
## Achievements and Activities
In line with Government Covid19 guidance, the CFPSS held no physical meetings of members during the year. However, discussion groups continued using online platforms and are well used.
An online one-day conference using Zoom was held shortly after the year end.
The CFPSS also held online Eucharists and other services e.g. Compline.
The CFPSS published two editions each of its two magazines The Christian Parapsychologist and The Fellowship Review.
During the year, the CFPSS continued to work on improving its website and presence on social media. The online store for the sale of CP and other publications continued to be well used and the number of new members joining through the website increased.
The CFPSS library continued to be well-used. The library holds over 1500 books and booklets and 500 audio recordings and is free to use (subject to paying postal costs). The library is available to members through the website or by contacting the general secretary.
The Council has appointed a Publications Committee with a view to restarting the CFPSS’ book and booklet publishing activities. A number of new publications are in the pipeline.
During the year, the Council carried out a skills audit of the existing trustees.
## Safeguarding
The Council agreed an updated policy on safeguarding. The policy is reviewed annually. Due to the size of the charity and its limited human resources, the posts of Safeguarding Officer and Trustee are combined. Jenni Lane took on the role 25 November 2020. The Council are investigating whether all trustees should be DBS checked.
## Data Protection
The Council’s data protection policy is in line with the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR).
In order to keep email and paper data private and safe the CFPSS uses two documents,
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a. The CFPSS privacy notice informs members or public what information is held and for what purpose, how long it is kept and deleted. Their rights are also explained. This Notice is displayed on the CFPSS website.
b. The CFPSS Consent Form which has to be filled in to authorise consent for personal information to be held. This can be done by email or paper. This form must be returned to the General Secretary. If it is not, any information held is deleted.
Mrs Helen Beck is the appointed Trustee Responsible for GDPR and Mrs Joanne Arnold, the General Secretary, is the main data user.
The CFPSS is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office for Data Protection.
The CFPSS has never had a data breach but knows how to report one should it happen.
## Financial Review
## Going concern
The trustees have a reasonable expectation that the company has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. For this reason, they continue to adopt the going concern basis in preparing the financial statements.
## Overall results
.
During the year ended 31 March 2021 the Charity made an operating surplus of £23,937 (£(18984) in 2019/20). The overall surplus was £45516 (£(22070) in 2019/20).
As at 31 March 2021, investments were valued at £240,312 (2019/20: £218,733).
Total net assets at 31 March 2021 were £290,203 (2019/20: £244,687).
4 legacies totalling over £41,000 were received.
## Trustee expenses
Trustees expenses during the year amounted to £153 for 15 trustees (2019/20: £1319 for 12 trustees ). No trustees received any remuneration for work as a Trustee.
## Reserves
Trustees aim to maintain reserves at a sufficient level to ensure our financial resilience and sustainability, including protecting the charity against identified risks. The Trustees aim to strike the appropriate balance between ensuring a sustainable financial position and using our available funds to fulfil our charitable mission. The Trustees aim to retain sufficient unrestricted funds to cover a year’s running costs.
The charity has no long-term liabilities.
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## Investment Policy
The charity’s main sources of income are donations and legacies from members. It also receives returns on investments and interest on cash deposits and some income from the sale of books and copies of the Christian Parapsychologist to non-members.
The charity’s policy is to mitigate the risks presented by stock market volatility and the - economic uncertainty by spreading it investments over a number of different types of funds and to move investments between funds from time to time to maximise returns. The funds are managed by the CCLA.
## Risk Management
The Trustees have continued to assess the major risks to which the charity is exposed and are working to ensure that systems and procedures are in place to mitigate our exposure to them.
## Future plans
In 2021-22, the Trustees plan to:
- e publish two editions each of its two magazines The Christian Parapsychologist and The Fellowship Review.
- e publish at least 3 new booklets
- e hold an Annual Conference at a physical venue, including the AGM
- e run events for members online, including a one-day conference in Autumn 2022
- e continue with online discussion groups and services of worship
- e look for new venues for conferences in order to vary where they are held and thus make them more accessible to members in various parts of the country.
- e seek ways to get the CFPSS better known, in particular by increasing its presence on social media platforms and promoting its work at external events.
- e find new ways to raise funds and increase membership
- e ensure all trustees are DBS checked if and as appropriate
- e review the CFPSS Constitution to ensure it is fit for purpose
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## Statement of Trustees’ Responsibilities
The Trustees are responsible for preparing the Trustees Annual Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).
The law applicable to charities in England & 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 the methods and principles in the Charities SORP 2019 (FRS 102); e 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 operation.
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, the Charities {Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 and the provisions of the trust deed. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities
## Deciaration
The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.
Signed on their behalf:
Dr Santha Bhattacharji President Date: 27 August 2021
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## THE CHURCHES FELLOWSHIP FOR PSYCHICAL AND SPIRITUAL STUDIES
## income and Expenditure Account for the year ended 31 March 2021
**----- Start of picture text -----**
|||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|2021|2020|
|£|£|£|£|
|income|
|Donations|&|Membership|7,790.77|7,144|
|Legacies|41,464.30|1,000|
|Investment|Income|8,043.66|9,653|
|Profit on|Books, Tapes & CD|390.02|490|
|Conferences|2,766.79|12,509|
|Sale|of Christian|Parapsychologist|140.68|166|
|Other|income|84,30|279|
|60,680.52|831,244|
|Expenditure|
|Cost|of|Quartely|Review|&|Christian|
|Parapsychologist|3,465.08|4,433|
|Pension|contributions|385.79|468|
|Salaries, Wages &|NIC|17,552.98|15,600|
|Council|Retreat & Working|Parties|1,914.38|3,852|
|Conference|expenses|1,528.00|11,194|
|Travelling &|Car|Expenses|82.75|2,936|
|Profit on|disposal|of Motor|Vehicle|0.00|ie)|
|Rent,|Rates,|Light &|Heat|3,829.91|4,083|
|Postage & Stationery|1,968.89|1,360|
|Telephone|397.63|414|
|Insurance|1,816.07|1,810|
|Accountancy|1,217.00|275|
|Legal &|Professional|35.00|840|
|IT support|708.19|762|
|Sundries|183.06|194|
|Staff Recruitment|0.00|0|
|Office|Move|Costs|0.00|192|
|Equipment|0.00|246|
|Depreciation|of Equipment|374.60|466|
|Movement|in|stock of books|336.00|345|
|Net|cost|of|Regions &|Branches|48.25|125|
|Bank|Charges|0.00|0|
|Honorarlum|CP|900.00|600|
|36,743.58|50,195|
|23,936.94|~|[(18,984)]|
|Realised and|unrealised|(toss)|/ gain|on|investments|21,579.00|(3,087)|
**----- End of picture text -----**
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## THE CHURCHES' FELLOWSHIP FOR PSYCHICAL AND SPIRITUAL STUDIES
Balance Sheet as at 31 March 2021
|Balance Sheet as at 31 March 2021||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||Notes|2021||2020||
|||£|£|£|£|
|Fixed Assets||||||
|Investments|4|240,312.00||218,733.00||
|Tangible assets|2|1,491.00||1,865.60||
||||241,803.00||220,598.60|
|CurrentsAssets||||||
|Stock||44,520.00||14,856.00||
|Debtors|3|0.00||1,114.24||
|Cash atbank and in hand||37,367.27||9,809.82||
|||51,887.27||25,777.06||
|Creditors||||||
|Amounts falling due within one year|4|3,487.20||1,688.53||
|Netcurrent assets|||48,400.07||24,088.53|
|Netassets|||390,203.07||244.687.43|
|Funds||||||
|Unrestricted -General&HQ
Designated ~Regional Fund|5
5||284,855.61
§,347.46
290,203.07||237,995.22
6,691.94
244,607.13|
Approved by the Board of Trustees on 27 August and signed on its behalf by:
President - Dr Santha Battacharji
**----- Start of picture text -----**
a
**----- End of picture text -----**
Treasurer - Ms Cherry Simpkin
THE CHURCHES’ FELLOWSHIP FOR PSYCHICAL AND SPIRITUAL STUDIES
## NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS
|1|INVESTMENTS|2021|2020|
|---|---|---|---|
|||£|£|
||Marketvalue broughtforward at 1 Aprit2020|218,733.00|245,820.00|
||Disposals|0.00|(24000)|
||Realised& Unrealised Gains|21,579.00|(3087)|
||Marketvalue carried forward at31 March 2021|“240,312.00.|“218,753.00.|
|2|FIXED|Office||
||ASSETS|Equipment||
||COST|||
||As at 1 April 2020|6,509.00||
||Disposals|0.00||
||As at 31 March2021|~~6,509.00.||
||DEPRECIATION|||
||As at 1 April 2019|4,643.40||
||Eliminated on disposal|0.00||
||Charge forthe year|35.00||
|||4,678.40||
||NETBOOKVALUE|||
||At 31 March 2021|1,830.60||
||At 31 March 2020|1,865.60||
|3|DEBTORS|2021|2020|
|||£|£|
||Retreat deposit prepaid (Launde Abbey)|0.00|684.00|
||Deposit - Yorkshire Electricity|0.00
0.00|427.24
Tit|
|4|CREDITORS|||
||PAYE Control|348.10|426.16|
||Pension Control|91.00|182.00|
||Membership fees inadvance|4125.83|103.31|
||Accruals|2,922.27|977.06|
|||3,487.20,|7,688.53|
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4
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## THE CHURCHES' FELLOWSHIP FOR PSYCHICAL AND SPIRITUAL STUDIES
## NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS
|5|MOVEMENT
INFUNDS|MOVEMENT
INFUNDS|||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||||Balance bff|Income —_Gain on||Expenditure|Transfer|Balance b/f|
||||at 1April||investments|||at31|
||||2020|||||March|
|||||||||2021|
||Unrestricted||||||||
||GeneralandHQ|HQ|237,995.22|60,676.97|21,579.00|36,723.29|1,327.71|284,855.64|
||Designated||||||||
||Regional Fund||6,691.91|3.55||20.29|(1327.71)|5,347.46|
||||244,607.13|60,680.52|21,579.00|36,749.58|0.00|290,200.07|
||Comparative|figures for 31 March 2019|||||||
||||Balance b/f
at tApril|income|Gaon
investments|Expenditure||Balance b/f
at31|
||||2019|||||March|
|||||||||2020|
||Unrestricted||||||||
||General and|HQ|259,949.62|31,201.78|(3087)|50,069.18||237,995.22|
||Designated||||||||
||Regional Fund||6,808.24|8.84||125.17||6,691.91|
||||266,757.86|31,210.00|73,087.00|50,194.35||244,007.13|
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The Churches Fellowship for Psychical and Spiritual Studies
## INDEPENDENT EXAMINERS’ REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES OF THE CHURCHES FELLOWSHIP FOR PSYCHICAL AND SPIRITUAL STUDIES
| report to the charity trustees on my examination of the accounts of the company for the year ended 31st March 2021 which are set out on pages 7 to 10.
## Responsibilities and basis of report
As the charity trustees of the company (and also its directors for the purposes of company jaw) you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 (‘the 2006 Act’).
Having satisfied myself that the accounts of the company are not required to be audited under Part 16 of the 2006 Act and are eligible for independent examination, | report in respect of my examination of your company’s accounts as carried out under section 145 of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the 2011 Act’). In carrying out my examination | have followed the Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the 2011 Act.
## independent examiner's statement
| have completed my examination. | confirm that no matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:
1. accounting records were not kept in respect of the company as required by section 386 of the 2006 Act: or
2. the accounts do not accord with those records; or 3. the accounts do not comply with the accounting requirements of section 396 of the 2006 Act 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; or
4. the accounts have not been prepared in accordance with the methods and principles of the Statement of Recommended Practice for accounting and reporting by charities applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of treland (FRS 102).
| 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.
K C Fisher FCA c/o Myrus Smith Chartered Accountants Norman House, 8 Burnell Road, Sutton, Surrey. SM1 4BW
Date: 3 September 2024
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## Reglonal Balance
||2021|2020|
|---|---|---|
||£|£|
|East Anglia|178.56|178.00|
|West Midlands|0.00|1,330.89|
|SouthWest|845.32|842.12|
|South East|1781.06|1,774.56|
|London|1164.57|4,177.41|
|East Midlands|238.57|237.57|
|NorthWest|1139.38|1,183.54|
|Total|5a4746|6,724.06|
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