Nottingham Liberal Synagogue (Registered charity, number 246773) Financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2020 Page Contents Trustees, annual report Independent examiner's report Receipts & payments account Statement of assets & liabilities Notes to the accounts capLUS COMMUNITY ACCOUNTING
Nottingham Liberal Synagogue Trustees, annual report for the year ended 31 December 2020 Full name Nottingham Liberal Synagogue Registered charity number 246773 Principal address Lloyd Street, Sherwood, Nottingham, NG5 4BP Trustees Peter Gordon, President, from 15112120 Paula Scott, Vice President Jeff Cohen, Co-chair Jonathan Corne, Co-chair Susan King, Co-chair David Leigh, Hon Treasurer Jeff Book, Joint Hon Secretary, from 13109120 Rachel Reeves, Joint Hon Secretary, from 13109120 Mary Brewer, Rites & Practices, from 13109120 Naomi Posner, Education Nick Rubins, Management Catherine Strauss, Burial John Youens, Membership Allyson Kingsley Mike Sacker, from 13109120 Jonathan Berber, from 13109120 Philip Cottam, from 13109120 Hernan Feinberg. until 13109120 Peter Strauss. until 15112120 Michelle Hillary, until 13109120 Antony Moss. until 13109120 Catherine Shipsides, until 13109120 Holding Trustees Danny Rubins David J. Lipman Michael Harris Independent examiner John O'Brien, employee of Community Accounting Plus, Units 1 & 2 North West, 41 Talbot Street, Nottingham, NG1 5GL Public benefit statement The Trustees confirm that they have complied with the duty in section 17 of the Charities Act 2011 to have due regard to the Charity Commission's general guidan on public benefit, 'Charities and Public Benefit..
Nottingham Liberal Synagogue Governance and management The charity is operated under the rules of its constitution adopted 1 st April 1965 and most recently amended 11th September 2020. All new Trustees are briefed by the Chair as to their duties and responsibilities at their first meeting attended. Where specific training is identified or necessary, to ensure that Trustees can carry out their responsibilities, this training is undertaken. All Trustees sign a declaration that they are eligible to act as Trustees of the congregation as required by the Charities Commission. Aims, objectives and the main activities undertaken for the public benefit The object of the Congregation is the advancement of Liberal and Progressive Judaism. In furtherance of this, the Congregation has the following obligations- To provide and maintain a place of worship and spiritual leadership- To conduct services., To provide religious education for members and their children., To provide facilities for the instruction of proselytes under the rules of Liberal Judaism., To solemnise baby blessings, BarlBatmitzvah, Kabbalat Torah, Marriages, Burials and Cremations for members; b) d) fl To perfom such other religious, social and charitable activities as the Council shall determine- g) To use its best endeavours to play an active role in the lrfe of the Jewish and wider communities., h) To be a member of Liberal Judaism and to support its aims. Results and achievements during the period from the co-chairs Covid 19 has dominated the past year, and required us to adapt very rapidly. Little did we know when we started that we would still be under lockdown at the end of the year. While we have not been able to come to Lloyd Street, we have brought the synagogue into our homes through the miracle of modern technology. Our first live streamed services were on Shabbat of 27th128th March 2020. Since then we have not only celebrated Shabbat every week and the festivals, but held an amazing number of events. Among the highlights were: our Zoom Yom Kippur service., the special Shabbat ServIS when we were able to join our Bat Mitzvah or Kabbalat Torah celebrants" the Covid 19 panel discussion, where we learned from our members on the front line about how the NHS was managing the pandemic., the question and answer session with our local Labour MPS., stimulating educational talks- small group discussion on the weekly sedra., opportunities to chat with other members in one of the wellbeing sessions or social events. fun events around Chanukah and Purim; sessions on a hobby or interest. playing backgammon or chess online., desert island discs.
Nottingham Liberal Synagogue Some of our members had difficulty accessing Zoom and we made a point of offering help and tutorials to anyone who asked. None of this would have been possible without our Zoom hosts. led by our Zoom- meister, Mike Harris, and our Comms Group (Paula Scott, Susan King, Wendy Prestney and Lauren Knifton), who sent out newsletters every day to notify us of all these events. We hope now to be looking forward to a time when we begin the process of reopening to live events, whilst keeping online options available. While we have managed the pandemic crisis very well, the year was also dominated by the news that our beloved Rabbi Tanya would be leaving us. We have been working to come to terms with this and lo plan for her departure at the end of July. Council have had iwo Zoom meelings with Rabbi Charlie Baginsky, Chief Executive Officer of Liberal Judaism, to help explore our thinking about a replacement. We will now involve the whole congregation in these discussions. Meanwhile, we are delighted to announce Ihat Rabbi Danny Rich will be leading our 2021 High Holyday Services. Our future will also be shaped by the community development project led by Wendy Prestney. Her first annual reporl of the project covering 2020 described how she had to revise the objectives in response to the pandemic and how much she achieved in doing so, notably in the support she gave the Care Group, in coordinating the festival gift deliveries. which helped to connect our members to the NLS community during the lockdown, the organization of the Zoom activities described above and the analysis of themes emerging from the initial one-to-one engagement meetings. The Future Vision group has also been meeting to consider the issues we need to address to make ourselves fit for the future, and these discussions will also be shared with the wider congregation over the next months. It is certainly encouraging that our membership now stands at its highest ever level with 178 members and 19 associate members. Finally, we would like to thank two members of our executive for their tremendous service to the congregation. One is Peter Strauss, who stood down as President at Chanukah. He worked tirelessly both in front and behind the scenes to promote our congregation. The other is David Leigh, who is retiring as treasurer after doing a sterling job in balancing our accounts for 8 years. With Iheir help, the leadership of our Rabbi and Ihe involvement of the whole community we are slronger than ever, able to adapt to changing circumstances and confident of our future as a dynamic congregation. Jeffrey Cohen, Jonathan Corne, Susan King March 2021
Nottingham Liberal Synagogue Financial review from the Treasurer 2020 was a year when physical activities were restricted, but our fInanS were remarkably busy. The accounts show a cash surplus of £25,923 (in contrast to the loss of £10,373 in 2019) of which £13.454 has been set aside into our new Building Fund. The key drivers of this net change of £36,296 are explained by a few lines in the accounts. Total income was an exceptional £222,155, up £67,551. Total expenditure was £196,232, up £31,255. The major individual changes were.. Income.. Grants and donations were £110,964, up £60,248 (ohel donations, David Haspel Trust bequest, CST, support for our Community Development worker)., Gift Aid £24,723. up £7,540 (mainly extra gift aid from the ohel donations)., and Fund Raising income £2,619. down £1,971 {redUd activities)- Expenditure.. Caretaker costs £6,876, down £5,966 (we had no caretaker for six months). Donations £4,250, down £3,712 (one-off donations in 2019 and the timing of Kol Nidrei Appeal payments); Management costs £34,471, up £18,347 (mainly salaries) and Repairslrenewals £41,930. up £21,253 (including the ohel construction). Membership subscriptions amounted to £64,794 with additional voluntary giving approaching £4,000. Membership was broadly stable during the year. We closed 2020 with 170 full members and 19 associate members, across a total of 134 households. The early months of 2021 have seen a small spurt in new members and at the time of writing we have 178 full members. The major physical activity in 2020 was the construction of the ohel at the cemetery. The cost ofjust over £38,000 was raised entirely from members, donations. Our particular thanks go to the Rubins and Bendell families who contributed the lion's share of the cash, effectively paying for the whole construction. A ceremony dedicating the ohel to the memories of Eileen Rubins and Sulli Bendell will take place when circumstances permit. Taking all donations received in 201912020 and Gift Aid, there was a surplus of £13,454 at the end of the project which has been transferred into our new Building Fund. When the first lockdown was announced in March 2020, we rapidly purchased iPads, Zoom licences and other'stuff so that we could run our services and activities on line. A call to members for donations raised £1,443 largely covering these sel-up costs. In 2019, we were informed that we had been left a bequest from the David Haspel Trust. David Haspel was never a member of the congregation but was a regular visitor in the early days of NLPS before moving lo the USA where he lived until he passed away in 2018. He never forgot his time in Nottingham and left us the remarkably generous sum of $10,000 {£7,632) which we received in March 2020. A letter of thanks from NLS was sent to Ihe US lawyers who dealt with the bequest and is now lodged with the Trust papers.
Nottingham Liberal Synagogue Financial support of £17,349 from our external benefactor has fully supported the cost of employing Wendy Prestney as our Community Development Worker. We extend our thanks for this continuing act of generosity. Gift Aid receipts were £24,723. The increase of £7,540 over 2019 is explained primarily by the Gift Aid of £6,499 on the ohel donations. We received a total of £11,460 in two grants from the CST. The first was for £7,582 in respect of the security upgrade we completed in 2019. The second was through the scheme which CST manages for the Home Office providing funds to synagogues to offset the security costs at Shabbat and High Holyday services. It seems there was some money left in the budget and we received £3,878, including nearly £3,000 backdated from 2019. Although the lockdown curtailed our nomal fund-raising activities, Fress Friday generated a profit of £360 in the early months of 2020. The 2020 People's cOnrt had to be cancelled but ticket sales had started in earnest when lockdown struck in March. Many people requested that their ticket purchases be treated as donations and this, together with the refund of the deposit for the piano hire (which we had paid for in December 2019), meant Ihe non-existent Concert turned a profit of £89011 Bravo to our impresario, Rabbi Tanya!! Our 201912020 Kol Nidrei Appeal raised £6,944 (of which £21 was received in 2021, so the accounts show £6,923) and was distribuled in early 2021 to Tracy's Kitchen (£2,537), Krembo Wings (£2,248) and Freedom from Torture (£2.159}. Our Scrolls Restoration project continues. The Swiss scroll was repaired in 2020 for a cost of £3,850. The balance of £3,450 in the Scrolls Restoration Fund, including £300 donated by our own Czech Scrolls Committee, covers the repair of the Derby scroll which we will commission in due course. The Austerlitz scroll will be the last scroll to be restored. The accounts reflect the funerals of Beulah Worth, Brian Samuels and Dr D Appelbaum together with the stone-setting for Greta Burley z'l. Council decided not to increase subscriptions in 2021. Our payroll will fall when Rabbi Tanya leaves for paslures new at the end of July. However, increasing costs will continue to put pressure on our annual finances. Our reserves remain healthy, but interest rates are very low and likely lo remain so for the foreseeable future. Finally, as I conclude my final Financial Report, I would like to extend my thanks to everyone who has supported me over the last eight years. David Leigh Honorary Treasurer
Nottingham Liberal Synagogue Thè charlty's pollcy on reserves We hold reserves to allow us to face uiiforeseen financial commitments and expenditLire. Our target is £50,000, which represents approximately six months, expenditure Reserves stand at £185,000. We add to the reserves from time to time If the financial situation permits. There ale no current plans to draw down from the reserves. The policy is reviewed annually Risk analysis & assessment The major strategic financial risk is that income does not cover our annual outgoings. We minimise this risk by encouiaging additional donations from members, running fund raising events and, if required, transferring funds from the reserves. Day to day financial risks are managed by having a policy requiiing Council approval for any unusual or large items of expenditure. All expenditure is supported by documentation. All payments (cheques and BACS transfers) are signed by the Treasurer and countersigned by another duly authorised Executive member. Signed on behalf of the charity's trustees. Signed Susan King, Trustee Date
Independent examiner's report to the trustees of Nottingham Liberal Synagogue for the year ended 31 December 2020 I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of Nottingham Liberal Synagogue (the charity} for the year ended 31 December 2020. Responsibilities and basis of report As the trustees of the charity 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 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(bl of the Act. Independent examiner's statement I have completed my examination. I 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 charity as required by section 130 of the Act., or 2. the accounts do not accord with those records. I have no COnrnS and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in Ihis report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. Signed John O'Brien MSC, FCCA, FCIE Employee of Community Accounting Plus Date 21104121
Nottingham Liberal Synagogue Receipts & payments account for the year ended 31 December 2020 2019 Total 2020 Totsl Unrestricted Restricted Funds Funds Funds Funds Note Receipts Grants & dona'OnS Gift Aid recovery Fundraising actiwties Members, subscriptions Board of Deputies levy Investment income Burial fund, funerals & memorial income Other receipts Total receipts 50716 17183 4590 60652 2623 3116 13880 1844 154604 65770 23883 2619 64794 2479 2623 13555 275 175998 45194 840 110964 24723 2619 64794 2479 2746 13555 275 46157 222155 123 Payments Affiliation fees Burial, furEral & memorial experEes Carelakels salary & NIC Cheder costs Donations Equipment Fundraising costs Ground rent & water Heat & light Insurances Management & admin costs Ministels fees & expenses Professional fees Repairs & renewals Scrolls restora'on Service costs sUry payTnents Total payments 17491 5291 12842 3764 7962 277 3571 1268 2369 6152 16124 62985 1802 20677 870 787 745 164977 17018 4492 6876 3954 495 1348 1574 1046 2685 6122 17064 31768 1938 41930 17018 4492 6876 3954 4250 1348 1574 1046 2685 6122 34471 63536 1938 41930 3850 1142 3755 17407 31768 3850 1142 139452 56780 196232 (10373) 105577 Net receiptsl(payments) Cash furKls at start of this period Transfers between funds Cash funds at end of this period 36546 (10623) 55533 39671 13754 13754 78325 42802 121127 25923 95204 95204
| NottinghamLiberal Synagogue Statementofassets andIiabilities at31December202A |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2A19 | Nofe | 2020 | |
| f | Cash assets | f | |
| 94980 | Bankaccounts | 120806 | |
| 224 | Cashinhand | 321 | |
| 95204 | 121127 | ||
| Other monetary assets | |||
| 2031 | Debtors:lVembers'subscri ptions | 1121 | |
| 137 | Prepayments:Affiliation fees | 137 | |
| 185000 | lnvestments- NS&l income Bonds (RabbinicFund) | 185000 | |
| 187168 | 186258 | ||
| Assets retainedforthecharity's ownuse | |||
| Building &contents insuredfor (includinginflation): | |||
| - Buildings,t1,200,683 | |||
| -Stock,f7,392 | |||
| -Generalcontents,t99,554. | |||
| - Scrolls,L111354 | |||
| -Silvennrare.t31,257. | |||
| Cenreteryshelter,purchased filarch2A20,[38,112 | |||
| Cemeteryland,purchased1993,t14,000. | |||
| Liabilities | |||
| (11716) | Creditors | I | (12681) |
| (3e7) | Advancereceipts:lVlembers' subsci'ipti ons | t2178) | |
| t12113) | (1485e) |
Nottingham Liberal Synagogue Notes to the accounts for the year ended 31 December 2020 1. Receipts & payments accounts Receipts and payments accounts contain a summary of money received and money spent during the period and a list of assets and liabilities at the end of the period. Usually, cash received and cash spent will include transactions through bank accounts and cash in hand. 2. Grants & donations Unrestricted Restricted Totsl The Dawd Haspel TNst Community Security Trust General donations Rabbinic fund donations 7632 11460 46678 7632 11460 24272 70950 20922 20922 45194 110964 65770 3. Gift Aid recovery unan¢t¢d Restri¢t¢d Total Subscription iome General donatior Rabbinic Fund Total 14681 9202 14681 9202 840 24723 840 840 23883 4. Fundraising activities Unrestrlcted Reslrlcted Totsl Social event Prayer book sales Judaica slTrJp sales Guild 1446 180 154 839 2619 1446 180 154 839 2619 5. Cheder costs Teachers, salaries other costs 3904 50 3954 11
Nottingham Liberal Synagogue 6. Management & administration Unrestricted Restri¢tsd Totsl Administrator costs Community Developmentworker Website management Telephone & internet Postage & office supplies Members & sundry expenses Cleaning & laundry Gardening Refuse collection Bank charges Licences 8614 8614 17380 3276 1118 351 548 863 1989 66 57 209 34471 17380 3276 1118 351 548 863 1989 66 30 209 17064 27 17407 7. Funds analysis Opening balance Receipts (Payments) Transfers Closing balance Restricted funds Rabbinic nd Kol Nidrei Alan Mann Scrolls restoration Community Developmentworker Building fund 24580 6226 4174 4636 55 21885 6923 131768) (3782) 12364) 14697 7003 4174 3450 24 13454 42802 (3850) 117380) 2664 17349 13454 {56780) 13754 39671 46157 Unrestricted funds General fund Guild 52328 3205 55533 175159 (138502) (13754) 75231 839 950 3094 175998 78325 139452 13754 In addition to these cash funds, the investments held in the NS&I bonds, totalling £185,000 form part of the Rabbinic Fund. The Rabbinic Fund is used to support the cost of employing a Rabbi. The Kol Nidrei appeal is used to collect and distribute donations to annually nominated charities. The Alan Mann Fund is used for bursaries to help members attend synagogue andlor external events. The Scrolls Restoration fund is for the repair and restoration of our Sefer Torah scrolls. The Community Development Worker fund finances the post of the Community Development Worker. 12
Nottingham Liberal Synagogue The Building fund is to support the enhancement and development of the synagogue buildings. The transfer from the Kol Nidrei fund to the Scrolls Restoration fund is to allocate donations which were collected for this purpose during the 2019 Kol Nidrei appeal. The transfer from the General fund to the Scrolls Restoration fund is to allocate funds which were donated for this purpose in 2019 but not identified as such until later. The transfer from the General fund to the Building fund is to reallocate and restrict surplus donations previously received towards the construction of the cemetery shelter. 8. Creditors 2020 2019 Affiliation fees (Board of Deputies donations) Caretaker's salary & NIC Cheder costs Donations (Kol Nidreil Heat & light Management & admin costs Ministerfs fees & expenses Professional fees 2479 2572 12 132 7003 921 116 816 1214 12681 6225 970 91 599 1247 11716 9. Contingent Liability Members of the Burial Fund are entitled to be buried at the Synagogue's expense. The current membership of the Burial Fund generates a contingent liability of £27,500. It is unlikely that this risk would crystallise in any one year. 10.Trustees' remuneration During the accounting period. the charity purchased Trustee Indemnity Insurance for the sum of £346. Trustees received no expenses. remuneration or benefits in this period. 11.Related party transactions There were no related party transactions in this period. 12.Glossary of terms Advance receipts: These are amounts received by the charity in the accounting period, for use in a future period. Creditors: These are amounts owed by the charity, but not paid during the accounting period. 13
Nottingham Liberal Synagogue Debtors: These are amounts owed to the charity, but not received in the accounting period. Prepayments: These are services that the charity has paid for in advance, but not used during the accounting period. Restricted funds: These are funds given to the charity, subject to specific restrictions set by the donor, but still within the general objects of the charity. 14