## Trustees’ Report & Financial Statements 

**For the year ended 31 August 2020** 

**TRUST PROPERTY HELD IN CONNECTION WITH THE ENGLISH PROVINCE OF THE CONGREGATION OF CHRISTIAN BROTHERS** 

**(THE ENGLISH PROVINCE OF THE CONGREGATION OF CHRISTIAN BROTHERS TRUSTEES)** 

**Registered Charity No. 254312** 



_**THE ENGLISH PROVINCE OF THE CONGREGATION OF CHRISTIAN BROTHERS TRUSTEES Financial Statements**_ 

|**INDEX**|**Page Number**|
|---|---|
|Legal and Administrative Details|1|
|Trustees’ Report|2-38|
|Auditor’s Report|39-41|
|Statement of Financial Activities|42|
|Balance Sheet|43|
|Statement of Cash Flows|44|
|Notes to the Financial Statements|45-60|





_**THE ENGLISH PROVINCE OF THE CONGREGATION OF CHRISTIAN BROTHERS TRUSTEES Financial Statements**_ 

## **Legal and Administration details:** 

|Full Name|Trust Property Held in Connection with the English Province of the|
|---|---|
||Congregation of Christian Brothers|
|Governing Document|Amended Trust deed dated 01 July 2011|
|Charity Registration|Number 254312|
|Trustees|E. Garvey (Chair of Trustees)|
||P.G. Gordon|
||E. O’Brien|
||D Sassi|
||D Gibson (appointed 02/07/2020)|
|Principal Address|“Woodeaves”|
||Wicker Lane|
||Hale Barns|
||Altrincham|
||Cheshire WA15 0HF|
|Financial Administrator|L&P Trustee Services Ltd|
|Auditors|Mazars LLP|
||One St. Peter’s Square|
||Manchester|
||M2 3DE|
|Solicitors|Hill Dickinson|
||1 St Paul’s Square|
||Liverpool L3 9SJ|
|Principal Banker|HSBC|
||11 Stamford New Road|
||Altrincham|
||Cheshire WA14 1BW|
|Investment Advisors|Cantor Fitzgerald Ireland|
||75 St. Stephens Green|
||Dublin 2|



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_**THE ENGLISH PROVINCE OF THE CONGREGATION OF CHRISTIAN BROTHERS TRUSTEES Financial Statements**_ 

## **TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2020** 

The Trustees present their report, together with the audited financial statements for the year ended 31 August 2020. 

## **INTRODUCTION** 

The Congregation of Christian Brothers is an international Roman Catholic Religious Congregation.  It was founded in Waterford, Ireland in 1802 by Blessed Edmund Rice. It is divided into 5 distinct Provinces across the world. 

The financial stratements accompanying this report are the financial statements of the charitable trust in which the assets of the Christian Brothers in England are held.  The Christian Brothers in England, in canon law terms, forms part of the European Province. 

## **Background** 

Edmund Rice was born at Westcourt, Callan, Co. Kilkenny on 1 June 1762. It was a time of political and religious oppression, when poverty and want affected the lives of the vast majority of the citizens of the land. 

As there was no formal schooling available to Catholics at that time, Edmund was educated both at home and at the local ‘pay school’ in Moate Lane, where Catholics who could afford to pay sent their children to school. After his early schooliong Edmund moved to Waterford in 1779.  In Waterford, he worked for his uncle, Michael Rice, in the family business, provisioning ships calling at Waterford’s busy dockside. Edmund was a good businessman, and in due course inherited the family business from his uncle. Under his careful management, it prospered greatly. He became a wealthy man. 

In 1785, at the age of 23, Edmund married Mary Elliott. There is very little that history reveals about the marriage other than that it came to an abrupt end with the tragic death of his young wife in 1789. Edmund found himself the sole parent of a small child who was delicate in health, and possibly suffering from a disability. Being a strong family man, Edmund initially entrusted the care of young Mary Rice to his stepsister, Joan, in 3 Arundel Place in Waterford where he had set up house. 

The next twelve years of Edmund’s life were hidden years during which he coped with his sorrows, ran his business, and ensured the wellbeing of his little daughter, Mary. 

In 1802, at the age of 40, Edmund took a very decisive step. He embarked on a spiritual journey that changed his life utterly. The inspiration for his decision probably came from the example of Nano Nagle, the founder of the Presentation Sisters. Like Nano, he decided to devote the remainder of his life, and all of his resources, to the education and care of the poor. He sold his victualler’s business in Waterford and arranged for his step-sister, Joan Murphy, and his handicapped daughter to move to Callan. He himself moved to a large stable in New Street, which he opened as a free school for poor Catholic boys. To help him with his project, Edmund recruited some hired help. 

Edmund’s decision to educate the poor was seen by his friends as both foolhardy and unwise. Some advised against it, arguing that the poor were better off ignorant. Technically, Edmund’s action was also illegal because, although the political scene had changed greatly and the Act of Union had been passed in 1800, many of the Penal Laws were still on the Statute Books, and educating poor Catholics could be interpreted as a seditious act.  The beginning of Edmund’s educational project was tentative and inauspicious. The hired help evaporated early on, demoralised by the enormity and difficulty of the task. On his own again, Edmund trusted in God, believing that if it was God’s work it would surely prevail. His faith was rewarded when two young men from his own town of Callan, Patrick Finn and Thomas Grosvenor, volunteered to join ranks with him in his new venture. The nucleus of a new religious congregation was forming, and Edmund was inspired to take the next step. 

In June 1802, Edmund began to build a monastery to accommodate his small community. This was another seditious act that left him vulnerable before the Law. The monastery was soon completed, 

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_**THE ENGLISH PROVINCE OF THE CONGREGATION OF CHRISTIAN BROTHERS TRUSTEES Financial Statements**_ 

which he called Mount Sion. By this time, a fourth member, John Mulcahon, had joined the little group. 

Word soon got around and, gradually, other volunteers came to Mount Sion offering their services freely for the realisation of Edmund’s dream. This little group formed itself into a small, religious community following a well ordered way of life inspired by the Rule of the Presentation Sisters, a way of life with which Edmund was familiar through his contact with the Presentation Sisters in Waterford. 

As the number of volunteers grew, so too did the capacity for service of the poor, and in due course a school was opened in Carrick-on-Suir in 1806, and another in Dungarvan towards the end of 1807. By 1808, the new movement had eight members, and Edmund believed that the time was right for formally establishing themselves as a religious congregation. He approached the Bishop of Waterford, Reverend Dr. John Power, to allow them to formalise their religious commitment by professing religious vows according to the Rule of the Presentation Sisters. Bishop Power agreed enthusiastically and on 15 August 1808, the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Edmund and his seven followers made simple profession of vows in the chapel of the Presentation Sisters in Hennessy’s Road, Waterford. The Bishop, on behalf of the Church, formally received their professions. 

The good news of Edmund’s educational crusade on behalf of the poor soon spread beyond the boundaries of the diocese of Waterford. Other bishops got to hear about it, and because the social conditions of the poor were much the same in every diocese in the country, a number of bishops expressed the wish that Edmund would open a school for the poor in their diocese also. In 1811 the Brothers opened a school in Cork; In 1812, at the invitation of the Archbishop of Dublin, the Brothers opened another school in Hanover Street on the south quays. In quick succession the following schools were opened: Cappaquin (1813), Limerick (1816), Thurles (1816), Mill Street (Dublin, 1816), Francis St. (Dublin 1820), and eventually in Preston (England 1825).  Preston was the first opening outside of Ireland, and constituted a major development in the missionary outreach of the new congregation. 

The poverty and deprivation with which some of these early foundations had to contend shocked even Edmund himself, and grounded him even more solidly in his trust in Divine Providence. “May the will of God be done in it (Hanover Street)”, he prayed. 

The spread of the new fraternity into several dioceses created huge administrative difficulties for the early Brothers. Since each community was under the jurisdiction of the local Ordinary of the diocese in which it was located, the transfer of Brothers from one community to another, issues of finance, formation matters, and community policy generally all became fraught with difficulties. Edmund felt that these difficulties amounted to a serious constraint on the development of his burgeoning congregation, and he looked around for an alternative model of administration to the diocesan model which was proving so cumbersome. Very quickly, he discovered that the solution to these difficulties lay in getting papal approval for his congregation as an Apostolic Institute, a status enjoyed by the congregation of De LaSalle Brothers for many decades. 

To facilitate the move away from a diocesan structure, in 1817 Edmund and his Brothers with the approval of the Archbishop of Dublin, applied to the Holy See for an Apostolic Brief. In due course, and despite some opposition, His Holiness, Pope Pius VII granted Edmund’s request, and issued the formal brief establishing the Congregation as an Apostolic Institute in 1820. The Brothers formally accepted the brief on 20 January 1822. Edmund Rice was elected Superior General of the new Apostolic Institute. 

Nineteen of the thirty Brothers eligible to vote were present in Mount Sion on that historic day. Of those early Brothers who did not sign, some withdrew from the congregation at that point, while others wished to retain their diocesan affiliations and consequently refused the Brief. One of these, Br. Michael Austin Riordan, became the nucleus around which the Presentation Brothers Congregation developed. 

The spread of the Congregation from small beginnings in Waterford in 1802 to the worldwide organisation it is today, working in over thirty countries spread across the five continents, is a matter of history. What the story points to is the resilient nature of Edmund’s founding charism, and its ability to incarnate itself in many countries, proclaiming its message of liberation through education in many languages and many cultures. 

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## **OBJECTIVES** 

## **Charitable Objects** 

The principal object of the Charity, as set out in the amended Trust Deed, is to “advance the religious and other charitable work for the time being carried on in Great Britain or abroad by or under the direction or with the support of the Province as the Trustees with the approval of the Provincial Leader shall from time to time think fit”. 

## **Aims** 

The Charity aims to support the religious and other charitable works carried on in the name of the Congregation and to care for those members throughout their lives within the Congregation.  These Ministries of the Brothers of the Congregation, all of which benefit numerous members of the general public, fall into the following main areas: 

- Education 

- Faith development 

- Social and pastoral work 

- International missionary work 

- Care and welfare of members 

Each of these is considered in turn below: 

## **Education** 

The Charity provides support and services for seven schools in direct or Academy Trusteeship and, without charge, to a further four associated schools in diocesan or independent Trusteeship. 

## **Criteria for Measuring Success in Edmund Rice Schools** 

Measuring success for beneficiaries and the wider society in terms of numerical and scientific criteria is rather difficult for the English Region of the European Province but, being the Trustees of the four independent Preparatory schools in England and being an important part of the overall successful operations of the four Academy Colleges as well as involvement in the ethos of the four Associate schools, is important and is undertaken under two strands: 

## First Strand 

Answering to outside Agencies to whom the schools are accountable and which have their own measurable standards as follows: 

The **Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted)** - as it applies to the Academy Schools: 

• Pupil progress - the precise measure of students across three key stages (key stage 3, 4 and 5) is done through internal and external examinations. 

• Pupil attendance - set at 95%> school attendance across each academic year. 

• Pupil Premium - extra targeted funding allocated to schools who have eligible students (FSM) – schools have to account for their use of funding and its measured outcomes in terms of pupil progress compared to non-recipients. 

- Provision for safeguarding of children in education. 

Schools undergo regular inspections during which their statistics are analysed. 

**Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI)** - as it applies to Preparatory schools: 

Use of inspections (every six years) to measure pupil progress; provision of a series of policies / procedures in a variety of areas e.g. Finance, measurement of pupil progress, safeguarding, safe recruitment, behaviour and discipline etc. 

Schools are rated according to their compliance against the standards as perceived by an inspectorate team. 

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_**THE ENGLISH PROVINCE OF THE CONGREGATION OF CHRISTIAN BROTHERS TRUSTEES Financial Statements**_ 

## Second Strand 

Answering to the standards as laid out in the ‘Eight Essentials of an Edmund Rice Education’ and on which many of our schools build their annual School Improvement Plan (SIP). These plans use the SMART acronym; **Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Timely** . Each target has a clear set of smart outcomes which allow the school to perform an accurate measure of its degree of success. 

The Trustees meet annually face-to-face with the senior leadership and governors of the Academies and Preparatory schools and undertake an audit of success within the school which includes both external and internal judgements. 

## **Secondary schools** 

_All four of the secondary schools are now Academy Trusts and invite the Trustees to their annual AGMs in accordance with the Articles of Association:_ 

- St Edward’s College, Liverpool 

- St Ansem’s College, Birkenhead 

- St Ambrose College, Hale Barns 

- St Joseph’s College, Stoke-on-Trent 

The Trustees have taken the view that it would not be appropriate to consolidate the accounts of the academy trusts under FRS102 section 9, “Consolidated and Separate Financial Statements”, as the Academies must abide by strict financial and operating provision laid down by the Department for Education and these amount to severe long term restrictions as defined by FRS102 section 9. 

## **Primary schools** 

One of the independent schools, Redcourt St Anselm’s Preparatory School Birkenhead, was closed in December 2019 because of the falling numbers. 

There are three independent primary schools which continue in direct trusteeship, with the Congregation Trustees as registered proprietors: 

- Runnymede St. Edward’s Preparatory School, Liverpool 

- St. Ambrose Preparatory School, Hale Barns, Altrincham 

- • St. Joseph’s Preparatory School, Stoke-on-Trent 

The results of these schools are included in these financial statements. 

## **Associated schools:** 

There are four associated schools in other trusteeships and, as such, it is not appropriate to include their results in these financial statements. 

- St. Aidan’s Catholic Academy, Sunderland (11-18) -  diocesan trusteeship (Hexham and Newcastle) 

- St. Boniface _RC Academy_ , Plymouth  (11-18) – diocesan trusteeship (Plymouth) 

- St. Mary’s College, Crosby (HMC independent  secondary 11-18) – St. Mary’s College Crosby Trust 

- St. Mary’s College Preparatory School (independent primary) -– St. Mary’s College Crosby Trust 

These schools continue within the family of Edmund Rice schools. All four receive in-service and immersion opportunities and ethos support, co-ordinated and delivered by the Network Support Team employed by the Congregation Trustees. 

The ‘difference’ the Charity seeks to make through its schools operation is the provision and support of outstanding Catholic faith-based education in the Edmund Rice tradition.  The aim is to achieve 

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_**THE ENGLISH PROVINCE OF THE CONGREGATION OF CHRISTIAN BROTHERS TRUSTEES Financial Statements**_ 

outstanding educational outcomes for boys and girls from nursery entry to the age of 18+, through the realisation of eight core principles set out by the Trustees. 

The 11 schools belong to the Edmund Rice  family of schools by  providing, and  seeking continuously to  improve, an educational programme grounded on the eight principles set out in a shared vision document, _‘Reaching Out - The Essential Elements of Edmund Rice Education’_ . These eight governing criteria define the identity and mission of the schools in England and provide a template for school development and mission evaluation.  Through the implementation of these values the Charity seeks to promote individual educational, spiritual, physical, moral, social and cultural development within a Christian vision of the person and in the spirit of service established by the Founder, Blessed Edmund Ignatius Rice.  Each school strives to be a Christian community where the fullest talents of each pupil are developed in a spirit of wider social awareness and with commitment to social justice and community responsibility. 

## The **‘Essentials’** are: 

**1. Evangelising the modern world** - Participating in the mission of the Catholic Church by bringing the Good News of Christ to all aspects of the life of the school community, and in dialogue with youth and contemporary culture, thus fulfilling the specific calling of the Congregation of Christian Brothers: The Evangelisation of youth through the Apostolate of Christian Education 

**2. Promoting the spiritual** - Nurturing a living faith, fostering Christian spirituality, educating in Gospel-based values, living beyond the material dimension . 

**3. Building a Christian community** - Growing as a school community in which the quality of care and relationships is Christ-inspired, based on mutual respect, self-sacrifice, and fully human dignity. 

**4. Compassion for those in need** - Showing, in the spirit of Blessed Edmund Rice, particular love and concern towards the weakest members of the school community and reaching out beyond the school in compassion and practical action for the poor and marginalised both locally and internationally. 

**5. Concern for the whole person** - Centering the curriculum, opportunities, and challenges of the school on the balanced and integrated development of its students, and staff, across all the positive dimensions of personal growth- religious, moral, intellectual, cultural, physical, and social. 

**6. Striving for excellence** - Encouraging each individual to use his or her talents to the full, whether academic, cultural, or physical, and pursuing the highest standards in all aspects of learning, teaching, and extracurricular endeavour. 

**7. Education as a Christian calling** - Valuing and enabling the role and vocation of Christian teachers and support staff as a calling from God and a sharing in the Church’s mission. 

**8. Education for justice** -  Inspiring the minds and hearts of the young to care for all God’s creation and build a more just society, God’s Kingdom on earth, and developing in them the talents for active citizenship and transformational leadership. 

The Trustees’ expanded ‘Charter’ document, ‘ _Reaching Out’_ continues to be the basis for in-school inservice training to further embed, apply, and develop the eight guiding principles of the charity and thereby continue to improve the learning experience and opportunities of all pupils. The Trustees ensure the implementation of the ‘Eight Essentials’ in the life of the schools through: 

- Their role in selecting and appointing the Foundation Governors of eight of the schools, and in the selection, appointment, and continuing formation of committed Headteachers and members of the school leadership teams. This applies both to the schools in direct trusteeship and to the newly formed Academies. 

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_**THE ENGLISH PROVINCE OF THE CONGREGATION OF CHRISTIAN BROTHERS TRUSTEES Financial Statements**_ 

- Continuous liaison and meeting with and support for Governing Bodies, Heads, and school leadership teams 

- The provision of in-service training for teachers and governors 

- The active promotion of the ‘Eight Essentials’ as the template for school development planning, SEF (self-evaluation) and for state and diocesan inspection. 

Each school is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of its pupils, and fully adheres to statutory requirements and best practice in this respect and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. Inspections of the state–funded schools by Ofsted (Office for Standards in Education Children Services and Skills) and of the independent schools by ISIS  (Independent Schools Inspectorate) report that the quality of pastoral care in our schools is outstanding, that safeguarding and anti-bullying practices are effectively in place, and that the quality of provision for social, moral, and spiritual development and for social engagement, is excellent. 

Each school welcomes pupils from all backgrounds. Though the first obligation is to admit Roman Catholic pupils, the schools are open to pupils of all faiths or none and are committed, in relation to all pupils admitted, to complete inclusivity. The admissions and oversubscription criteria of the selective schools comply fully with the current statutory Admissions Code and with equal opportunity legislation. 

As equal opportunity providers the schools are committed to a working environment free from any form of discrimination.  The schools are committed to making reasonable adjustments to meet the needs of staff or pupils who are, or become, disabled. 

In the financial year the Trustees’ objectives in the educational sector included: 

- Continued improvement to the delivery of the eight core values through ongoing formation and in-service training for Heads, teaching and support staff and governors. 

- Continuing to expand the social outreach activities of the schools. The Schools’ Team encourages each school to engage pupils in actions of charity, justice and advocacy towards the needy, especially those made poor and marginalised, in the local community and the wider world, in the spirit of Edmund Rice and engaging with the work of Edmund Rice International and Edmund Rice Education Beyond Borders. 

- The growth and further inspiration of the wider Edmund Rice Network in the spirit of the themes agreed at the last General Chapter of the Christian Brothers at Nairobi, Kenya in March 2014, the European Chapter in Emmaus in August 2014 and continuing Network gatherings and cluster meetings in Ireland and England on the theme of commitment to spiritual and social renewal: ‘Drawn by mystery, destined for Life’ within the eight calls of the General Chapter. 

The work of the Trustees in the schools is co-ordinated by a full-time Schools Officer, who provides guidance and support for Heads and Governing Bodies and: 

- Organises in-service training for newly qualified and established staff. 

- Organises inter-school conferences for Heads, Governors and for staff. 

- • Assists with school development planning. 

- Advises on the recruitment and appointment of senior staff. 

- Offers support for the spiritual life of senior staff and governors. 

- • Oversees best practice and compliance with safeguarding procedures 

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_**THE ENGLISH PROVINCE OF THE CONGREGATION OF CHRISTIAN BROTHERS TRUSTEES Financial Statements**_ 

## **Faith development** 

As a Religious Congregation, faith development is of prime importance to the Trustees.  All aspects of the Trust’s work involve the advancement of religion whether it is in the educational, pastoral or international missionary fields.   The Trust continues to assess its work and to search for better ways of carrying out this ministry in today’s world. 

The work in this area is mainly carried out through the schools and the local parishes where members of the Province reside. In addition, members of the Province provide prayer guidance and spiritual direction. 

From the early 1990s the Congregation of Christian Brothers, as a religious institute, has made a priority of sharing its mission with the laity, laicising the leadership and governance of the schools. Beyond that, as with other religious orders, there is an expanding emphasis on the growth of “spiritual families”, groups of associated lay people offered opportunities to draw spiritual and apostolic fruitfulness from the original charism. Thus the Trustees’ objectives include the development of an Edmund Rice Network of lay people who wish to associate themselves with the spirituality and apostolic mission of the Brothers. 

The ‘Edmund Rice Network’ consists of local groups of interested adults gathering for spiritual sharing and reflection and who are encouraged to involve themselves in some form of social outreach. Although the majority of Network participants are drawn from staff and parents in the schools, meetings are open to all interested adults – indeed to anyone who wishes in some way, however informally, to connect with the charism of Blessed Edmund Rice.  Opportunities for spiritual conversation and faith-based social action are provided.  The Network Support Team, in addition to its work with schools, seeks to build new local groups of lay associates on this model. 

The Trustees fund combined school and Network services delivered by a Network Support Team employed by the Trustees and based at the Edmund Rice Centre within the Christian Brother community at “Woodeaves”, Wicker Lane, Hale Barns, Altrincham. The Team of three consists of: 

- A  Schools Officer and Coordinator of the Edmund Rice Network 

- A Network Facilitator who promotes and organises involvement in Network events and opportunities; these include spiritual and adult immersion opportunities across the European and global Edmund Rice Network for teachers and support staff from the 12 schools and for parents and friends and interested adults. The Facilitator also writes the English Network magazine and develops resources for schools and the Network. 

- A Youth Development Facilitator with particular responsibility for the development and expansion of three specific programmes: Developing World Immersion programmes for students; Edmund Rice Camps for disadvantaged children; the Edmund Rice Awards Scheme (extending student voluntary service), links to the work of Edmund Rice International in advocacy and social justice within our schools including the promotion of the six Priorities identified by a new initiative within the schools named _Edmund Rice Education Beyond Borders_ which is a Congregation wide project. 

The Manchester-based Edmund Rice Network group acts as a hub for Network development involving both lay associates and Christian Brothers. Extensive use is made of the Network Centre, within the Brothers’ residence in Hale Barns, which provides a base for Network meetings, for in-service sessions with teachers, support staff, governors, and pupils from the schools, and for gatherings with the wider community. 

Since 2010 small spiritual conversation groups have developed in Manchester, Liverpool, the Wirral and Salford.  These groups are focused on the three challenges, _‘_ Love tenderly, walk humbly, and act justly. _’_ 

In addition, a series of sessions has been organised at the Network Centre, offering all comers the opportunity for spiritual conversation and prayerful reflection on life experience. 

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_**THE ENGLISH PROVINCE OF THE CONGREGATION OF CHRISTIAN BROTHERS TRUSTEES Financial Statements**_ 

## **Social and pastoral work** 

The following are examples of the social and pastoral work undertaken by the Edmund Rice Network and  individual Brothers: 

- Working in parishes, visiting, helping in catechetical programs and helping parishioners develop their spiritual lives 

- Community social work with the homeless 

- Advocacy and support for asylum seekers and refugees 

- Various justice and peace initiatives 

- Guiding prayer groups 

- Working as counsellors 

The aims of the Trustees in this area include: 

- Enabling members of the Province to carry out meaningful social and pastoral work within the community after assessing their skills and the needs of the local area; and 

- Encouraging and motivating members to work with and assist the poor, elderly and marginalised. 

## **International missionary work** 

The charity supports the international religious and other charitable works carried on in the name of the Congregation.  Members of the Congregation of Christian Brothers are working in developing countries around the world.  The Brothers work to help restore the education provision in those countries.  They are involved in school education, special education for handicapped children and adult literacy programmes.  In addition others are working with orphans and children displaced because of war.  The tracing of families of displaced children and the former child combatants is another area of vital importance. 

These young people are also offered literacy, numeracy and other skills-training programmes to help them re-integrate into society and to find ways of living economic and socially independent lives. 

In addition, the Trust contributed to the establishment of Edmund Rice Bicentennial Trust (ERBT), an English registered charity whose purpose is to support the mission of the Congregation worldwide but especially in the majority (developing) world. 

## **Care and welfare of members** 

Those members who earn salaries or receive pensions donate them to the Trust and therefore have no independent means of support.   Many also give their services free in their various ministries and continue to do so well beyond retirement age.  Hence the work of the Trust includes both the upkeep and up-skilling / retraining of the members so that they will be able to continue in their service to the public. 

In addition, the Trust must also care for the elderly members who are now themselves in need of care. These members have no resources of their own and have devoted a significant part of their lives to the mission of the Congregation. 

In this regard, the aims of the Trustees over the current and forthcoming years include: 

- Providing the necessary training to ensure that the members of the Trust can continue to further the mission of the Congregation. 

- 

   - Enabling members to continue with their individual ministries for as long as possible. 

- Reviewing the properties used as Community houses and assessing their suitability for an ageing membership. Those identified as being unsuitable will be adapted or replaced with more appropriate properties. 

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- Ensuring members receive the level of care they require to provide them with the quality of life they should rightly have. 

## **Public benefit** 

In setting objectives and planning activities, the Trustees and the Governing Bodies of the schools have given careful consideration to the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit. 

The four secondary schools supported and serviced by the Trustees and the Schools Office educate over 4,000 students, are state-funded and completely non-fee paying. They are open to all with places accessed according to the admissions and oversubscription policies determined by Governing Bodies in conformity with the statutory Admissions Code and appeals procedures currently in force. All of the senior schools deliver further public benefit through the social outreach activities described elsewhere in this report and through community use of their facilities. 

One of the independent prepatory schools, Redcourt St Anselm’s, was closed in December 2019 because of the falling numbers. 

The three primary schools are independent fee-paying schools. The Trustees and the Governing Bodies of the schools have given consideration to the supplementary public benefit guidance on advancing education and on fee-charging.  Each school has its own annual statement of objectives to fulfil its mission and excellence as an Edmund Rice school. This forms part of each school’s development planning.  The three fee-paying primary schools are committed to maximising access by keeping fees as low as possible. Fees are kept well below the average for the independent sector nationally, below average regionally, and within the reach of families where both parents work. 

Each of the primary schools continues to develop its own bursary scheme to make a number of places available to children whose parents cannot pay fees. The number of advertised bursaries available remains limited because of the unusually low level of fees and the need for due regard for other families already struggling to fund their child’s education. Considerable bursary assistance is given to families who become unemployed or fall on hard times. Bursaries are awarded, subject to meeting the standard entrance requirements of the school, solely on the basis of parental means or to relieve hardship when a pupil’s education or future prospects would be at risk (for example, in the case of redundancy or divorce).  In addition, discounts are provided to families when they have more than one child attending the school. 

Each of the fee-paying primary schools seeks to provide wider public benefit by a range of means, for example: 

- Providing facilities for Edmund Rice Camps (summer holiday weeks) for disadvantaged children from inner city primary schools. 

- 

   - Participation in curricular and staff development partnership links with local state schools. 

- Opening facilities to community groups free of charge out of school hours e.g. adult education classes, neighbouring state schools, and sports teams. 

The Edmund Rice Network delivers public benefit through its outreach work with refugees and aslyum seekers in Liverpool and Greater Manchester and with marginalised youth in Salford, as described elsewhere in this report. 

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_**THE ENGLISH PROVINCE OF THE CONGREGATION OF CHRISTIAN BROTHERS TRUSTEES Financial Statements**_ 

## **ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE** 

## **Educational Programme / School Governance** 

All four of the state-funded secondary schools are high performing Catholic schools in their authorities, oversubscribed, performing powerfully in national league tables, and highly valued regionally for the strength of their Christian-Catholic ethos. They are notable also for their contribution to local improvement partnerships and to community cohesion through outreach activities, collaboration with other schools in the maintained sector, and the community use of their facilities. 

St. Joseph’s College in Stoke on Trent has continued to play a substantial role in educational regeneration within a previously failing authority both as a Teaching School and running the SCITT (school centred initial teacher training) to provide new teachers for the Local Authority. 

St. Edward’s College, St. Ambrose College and St. Anselm’s College provide collaborative partnerships within their areas. 

The three independent Preparatory Schools are subject to inspection by the Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI) 

Some examples of the in-school support services and opportunities provided and funded across the 12 schools by the Trustees are: 

- Joint inset with all staff from Prep schools 

- Joint inset with senior schools 

- Residential conference for heads and chairs 

- Training with all year 7 students in each of our academies 

- Induction for all new staff and Governors 

- Heads’ retreat 

- Leadership training for senior leadership teams 

- Advocacy work with both Junior and senior school pupils. 

## **Year 7 induction days with the ER team – September 2019** 

For the second year in a row, we delivered induction sessions for all Year 7 pupils in the Colleges, meeting our new ‘Edmund’s People’. We were delighted with the enthusiastic responses from schools wanting us to come back and repeat this experience. 

Most students are unaware of Edmund Rice or his legacy in their school, so this is where we begin. We use quiz-style interactive sessions so that children engage with the information. We explore the global network, EREBB (Edmund Rice Education Beyond Borders), the essentials and social justice campaigns for this year. Students are left with welcome to the network cards and a badge with the new logo. 

They also make a ‘pocket pledge’ to promise to ‘change the world for the better’. Year Heads and RE departments are left with a pack they can continue work on should they so wish. This year, thanks to the contacts made in Peru, 14 CB schools across the globe sent ‘welcome’ videos for our year 7s which you can see at: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=5&v=UEiO1_-MLVE 

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**New Staff / Governors Induction - 25 September 2019** 

We welcomed a good number to Woodeaves for our induction day. We have challenged the participants to find out some information prior to attending this time. We have also created new activities and were inspired by sharing the resources that the team from EREA have kindly shared with us. 


## **ASIST (Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training)** 

The Edmund Rice Office delivered an ASIST Workshop at Woodeaves on 7[th] – 8[th] October. This was attended by staff from the schools as well as a significant cohort of 7 Edmund Rice Camps volunteers. It is great to see the commitment of the schools to ensuring they have trained members of staff in place to deal with the issue of suicide, and we have now had 20 English and 13 Irish ER Camps volunteers receive the training. 

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St Anselm’s College have been particular proactive in sending at least two staff members to each ASIST workshop. They have developed this focus into a dedicated mental health and wellbeing program in the 6[th] Form. As part of this, the Edmund Rice Office delivered an adapted and condensed version of ASIST to 10 students and 2 staff at St Anselm’s on 23[rd] October. The success of this workshop provides an excellent basis for running similar sessions across the colleges in the future. 



## **ERI (Edmund Rice International) Youth Ambassadors** 

2019-20 ERI Youth Ambassadors met in Liverpool on 16[th] October for their annual Induction Workshop. They visited the John Lennon and Yoko Ono exhibition at the Museum of Liverpool before gathering at Parr St for the workshop. They were joined by Hettie Miles from the Whitechapel Centre, to discuss plans for a youth forum around homelessness in Merseyside. 

Youth Ambassadors from St Ambrose, St Mary’s, St Anselm’s and St Edward’s attended the meeting. Those in attendance looked in detail at the setting up of the youth forum and committed to attending the introductory meeting at the Whitechapel Centre on 7[th] November. It was decided that this forum would coordinate campaigns and activities across all the ER schools around homelessness. Representatives of all ages from each school can attend the regular meetings, with committees formed in school to share the work between students across each year group. 

The Edmund Rice Office organised a video message from Brian Bond to the group and a message from Ciara Church, outgoing ERI Intern in Geneva and former youth Ambassador from St Joseph’s. 

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## **Youth Homelessness Forum** 

The first meeting of the youth forum for homelessness (Young Friends of Whitechapel) was held at the Whitechapel Centre on 7[th] November. Facilitators from the Edmund Rice Office attended along with Hettie Miles, but the emphasis is on this forum being peer-led. Despite horrendous weather, students from St Anselm’s, St Mary’s and St Edward’s attended. Joe Lynam attended on behalf of the Argentina Immersion Group. 

A number of decisions were made at the meeting. Primarily, future meetings are planned at Parr St on 2[nd] December and 9[th] January. Thereafter, meeting will be every half term. Initial projects include forming a group to take part in the Santa Dash 5k in Liverpool on 1[st] December and working on a calendar of key items to be collected each month to properly meet the needs of homeless people in Liverpool. Alongside the calendar we will produce resources and a short Powerpoint to help schools raise awareness and promote the collections. 


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## **Belfast Domestic Immersion** 

Edmund Rice Office Facilitators took 10 students from St Joseph’s, St Anselm’s and St Mary’s to Belfast for a Domestic Immersion on 4[th] and 5[th] December. These annual visits, during Belfast’s Homeless Awareness Week, have proven to be very successful in introducing Y12 students to some aspects of campaigning around social justice. The target group are students who would like to become ERI Youth Ambassadors in Y13. 


## **ER (Edmund Rice)  Network Day, Dublin** 

Six young people from England will attend the ER Network Day in Dublin on 23[rd] November. Br Chris Glavey has organised accommodation for the group at Edmund Rice House through Br Colm Griffey. Focusing on the post-school youth Network, the gathering seeks to form connections between likeminded young people from across the European Province and explore ways of sharing best practice across ministries such as advocacy, Edmund Rice Camps and Immersion. 

It is wonderful that these young people, all of who have shown tangible commitment to the Network, are able to take part in what will surely be an enriching experience for them. They come from a wide range of backgrounds, schools, ministries and activities so will no doubt have plenty to contribute to conversations with their peers from Ireland. The English group includes Didier Muller (former ERI Intern), Martin McGovern (ER Camps), Aimee Rothwell (Advocacy Week and ER Camps), Sam Quayle (ER Camps and Argentina Immersion), Joe Lynam (ER Camps, Argentina Immersion and Project Carrick), and Emphany McLaughlin (Advocacy Week). 

## **Salford Edmund Rice Volunteers (S.E.R.V.)** 

Based in Salford (one of the 3% most deprived localities in the UK), the project consists of a community of Christian Brothers, a Youth Work coordinator (funded by the Christian Brothers) and a number of Edmund Rice volunteers. The Network Team, based at Woodeaves, provide support throughout the Year. 

We see our centre a place of hospitality and welcome in the community and we certainly make full use of it! 

On Mondays, we run a drop-in and advice centre for those seeking asylum and refugees, managed by a team of wonderful volunteers some of which are able to translate Arabic and Farsi. Here we help in our clients to engage with the Home Office, the Job Centre, accessing medical services, housing associations, etc. 

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On Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays, English classes are held, attended by about 30 students, and a clinic for writing and understanding travel documents. Our students and clients come from Iran, Iraq, Pakistan Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Kuwait. Many of them, especially the Iranians, are highly educated. Presently, in our classes we have a University lecturer, a lawyer, a journalist, a PE teacher, and many other University graduates. On the other hand, we also have some students who have had never the opportunity of receiving a formal education. This means that our lessons have to be very flexible, practical and highly differentiated. Recently, it has been wonderful to see a big influx of female students who enjoy the safe environment and company at the centre. 

Apart from the classes and drop-in, our centre is also used for a variety of social and religious events. On Sunday, the Eritrean community hold their worship here, we have had events for the bereaved, the newlyweds, celebrations to mark the birth of children, family reunions and international cultural celebrations. 

For us, it a truly special, sacred and privileged place to work; where people care, respect and trust one another irrespective of nationality, religion or status, we are often referred to as their ‘second home’. On a daily basis we encounter a range of emotions; from great sadness - when someone gets overcome by loneliness or gets bad news from home or when someone is refused refugee status through to great joy when refugee status is granted or if a client is reunited with their family. 

SERV has a close connection with our Colleges, especially St Ambrose (Manchester) and St. Joseph’s (Stoke -on -Trent) and also with the local Catholic school, All Hallows. St Joseph’s College annually organises a Christmas party for the refugees and their families. Recently, we had a very worthwhile visit from St Joseph’s College rugby team when some of our clients shared their stories and the students were able to get to know more about the refugees and ask them questions. 

Current and former pupils from Loreto Grammar School, St. Ambrose College and St Joseph’s College together with local volunteers organise a wonderful Edmund Rice camp for the young people of Salford every year in July. 

Our Christian Brother’s community is a place of welcome and hospitality for those who wish to call to see us. Many of our refugee friends do just that and love to bring us their traditional dishes to share, we have enjoyed the most delicious fare from all over the globe. The resilience, kindness and generosity that these people are able to show, even when they are experiencing the most traumatic and desperate times never ceases to amaze us. Some of our Muslim friends, keen to become an integral part of the local community and to be with us spiritually, have also started to attend our Sunday mass at St. Sebastian’s. 

## SERV and the ER Office 

Following a call for help SERV assisted a woman who attends their services. She was an asylum seeker who had been homeless for some time and whose story we had been aware of, was given accommodation but it was completely empty. 

With help from Warrington Churches we arranged to get all the essentials for her flat - furniture, bedding, kitchen equipment etc. The Facilitators from the Edmund Rice Office hired a van and helped move all the items into her flat in Salford just 2 days later. Her life is transformed now she has the safety and security of her own home. It was great to be able to help out and amazing to get the help from Warrington Churches. 

Both centres continue to be supported by our schools and they write updates for the network magazine. 

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## **The Eight Essentials Review** 

Along with the help of Mark Davis from Shoreline Consultancy, we have been looking at the Eight Essentials as used in all our schools. 

It was felt that the time was right to examine the structure and wording and to research their use in our schools. 

We had an initial meeting, just the office team, to brainstorm ideas on wording. We looked at the ‘essentials’ as they are used as fundamental elements across the world network where they are ‘charters’, ‘touchstones’ etc. We also used a document created at the Leadership Symposium in Peru that overlaid all of our global wording around charism and mission to enlighten further our new examination. 

It was universally felt that we needed to consult a wider audience from our schools and to ensure any changes are worthwhile and future-proof. 

We then held a consultative meeting with key staff from both Colleges and Preps and Network members. Again, people were shown the global wording around the ‘essentials’ and consulted about the day to day use in schools. We split into groups to look at; the essentials for primary schools, the teachings of Edmund Rice, updated versions, rewording. 

This was all shared and as a result we have sent a further consultative document out to schools. We will be looking at all our feedback before any decisions around change happen.  The general feeling seems to be that slightly fewer statements would be better and that wording may need to be updated / clarified. 

## **EREBB Update (Edmund Rice Education Beyond Borders)** 

Since meeting Network leaders from across the globe in Peru, The Edmund Rice Office has been working on closer international links becoming available to our students and staff. 

There is a very active What’s App group where ideas are shared. At an on-line follow up meeting ‘post Peru’ in October, many members of the group highlighted the English office’s promotion and sharing of projects as being the best outcome from the symposium. 

For example, many areas of the global Network have joined our #ERplasticfree campaign; Peru, South Africa, Ireland, Zimbawe, India. 

Our social justice action plan has been adopted by the South African schools.  Classes have been 

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linked up, a student exchange between St Aiden’s and Uruguay, with more possibilities for student exchanges in Australia and one for staff to Argentina. 


Our Sixth Form Students are working closely with the Ard Scoil na Mara (Tramore) Peace and Justice / ERI group on the environmental campaign around getting rid of single use plastics and creating a more sustainable approach to life. 


## Head and Chairs (Schools) Conference 

We gathered at the Hayes Centre for our annual conference. 

‘Love one another as I have loved you’ was the title of this year’s Schools Conference. 

Our opening session was inspired by the Leadership Symposium in Peru where Ann was lucky enough to meet and hear from Fr Gustavo Gutierrez, one of the founders of Liberation Theology; we examined the preferential option for the poor and how we, in our privileged catholic schools can fulfil our call to mission to be a church of and for the poor. An inspiring video message created just for our conference by Dr Wayne Tinsey, Director of Edmund Rice Education Australia further provoked discussion about our roles in Catholic education in the Edmund Rice tradition and our responsibilities to the poor and marginalised. We were blessed to have throughout the conference and as our closing speaker, Br Julian 

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McDonald from the Congregation Leadership Team whose presence was greatly appreciated. 

Other guests included alumni and students from the Cork Life Centre who had travelled to Argentina this summer on the new immersion programme. This new venture, organised by Guillermo Bullrich, ERI regional advocacy coordinator for South America of Defensorio Edmundo Rice concluded with a house building project with the NGO ‘Techo’ (us.techo.org) whose mission is to bring together volunteers and families living in poverty across South America; transforming slums into thriving communities. It is true to say that the experience transformed not only the lives of the families whose house was built that week but also of our volunteers who contributed to the build and got to know the community they were helping. 

We were delighted that 4 senior pupils (in-coming and outgoing ERI Youth Ambassadors) from Ard Scoil na Mara in Tramore also joined us to present their work to date on curbing plastic pollution. Their campaign ‘SOS Save our Seas’ was begun last year, working with local schools and the wider community to reduce plastic pollution and raise awareness of environmental degradation. The quality of their presentation and the passion with which they spoke were outstanding. The girls have joined with our Colleges to lead on the social justice action campaign #ERplasticfree in a bid to have all our schools be free of single use plastics by the end of this year. Promotion of the Social Justice Action plan amongst all our schools was well received and we had up the exhibition that we have shared from the Westcourt Centre in Belfast ‘Still Somebody’ highlighting the situation faced by homeless people. Schools will be showing this exhibition throughout the year as part of their commitment to social justice. We challenged our school leaders to go back to school with the message: ‘Dare to Love them All.’ 


Edmund Rice Senior Schools Debating Competition 

Tuesday 19[th] November sees the second year of the Debating Competition between schools. 

St Anselm’s have been great at taking on the host role this year. Very interesting motions are in place such as: 

- ‘We should impose severe penalties to deter crime’ 

- ’Voting in a General Election should be compulsory for all adults’ 

- ‘The sale of single use plastics should be banned’ 

- ‘Proper regulation of social media is essential to a healthy society’. 

We have St Ambrose, St Josephs and St Anselm’s competing. 

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## **– Network Gathering Poetry day with Br Brian Monaghan** 

On Saturday 7[th] December 20 friends of the Network gathered at Woodeaves for our highly-valued Poetry day. This has become an annual event enjoyed by Brothers and friends. The theme this year was New Beginnings with Brian offering input with some carefully chosen poems. Some people had brought poems to contribute. Much deep conversation was shared and feelings evoked by the thoughtfully put together day. We enjoyed a full day together sharing lunch too. 

## **EREBB (Edmund Rice Education Beyond Borders) European Region** 

Our aims continue to be collaboration, co-ordination of activities and promoting a unified model of Edmund rice education. 

To this end we are working on: 

- A European school pledge to incorporate the ideas of all three regions; process to be started in England and then shared with Ireland. 

- Continued promotion of the Social Justice Action Plan 

- Jointly the 3 areas have produced the Immersion handbook for schools and an accompanying student version 

- Ideas around student leadership opportunities / certificates to be shared 

- A showcase of social justice work in schools to be organised 

- School clusters to be formed across the 3 areas. First one launched – Ardscoil na Mara, CBGS St Mary’s Belfast and St Anselm’s College, Birkenhead. 

- Shared ‘street retreat’ opportunity – Liverpool and Manchester 27-28 Feb. Staff to be invited from 3 regions. 

- Sharing of Feast day activities via the hashtag #ERFeastDay 

- Another European EREBB Congress at Emmaus, Oct 15 2020. 

## **Charism Committee – ROE (Religious Orders in Education)** 

Members of the ROE charism group met at Woodeaves. A member of the Edmund Rice Office sits on this committee. We share ideas on how Charism can be promoted across our Network and in schools via: 

- Induction sessions/ weekends 

- Awards systems (in house or across the network) 

- Celebrations 

- Leadership training 

- Conferences at different levels including refresher sessions 

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- Resources to use in school from youngest years up 

- Accountability for mission processes (e.g: Loreto 2 day visit every 4 years, emphasis on affirmation) 

- How do you know people are living the mission? Framework for Evaluation 

- Setting up a trust: a framework for living the mission 

- Embedding mission in all policies etc (whether this be the Values of ER or Goals of SH education etc) 

- Involvement of associates and friends (De La Mennais) 

- Presence of mission at Open Evenings and events (leaflets/banners, magazines) 

- International Links: such as (Edmund Rice Beyond Borders)  http://www.erebb.org/ 

We agreed to share resources such as programmes, presentations etc. – this is done and is successfully used. 

It was also agreed to plan a Charism Conference for Headteachers / senior leaders from across our networks of schools. The exact aims/format/date are to be decided at a future meeting. 

## **ASIST Workshop – Stoke-on-Trent schools** 

Facilitators from the Edmund Rice Office delivered an ASIST Suicide Intervention Skills training workshop to 3 schools from Stoke on 17 – 18 January at St Joseph’s College. The course continues to be extremely popular with schools as it is so necessary in their drive to increase awareness and support for students struggling with mental health issues. Teachers are reporting to us that they use the skills learned regularly and that it is really beneficial. ‘safe area’ posters were produced and given out at the schools’ request. We had staff from St Margaret Ward Catholic Academy, Birches Head Academy and St Joseph’s College. 

## **ERI Youth Ambassadors – Geneva** 

This visit to ERI and the United Nations slightly differed as we met and worked with the schools from the North of Ireland and the South. It was a great and powerful experience for them to share. 


## **Project Carrick** 

“Joe”, our first Carrick intern had the most amazing experience in Oceania. We are so grateful to Br Damien Price, ERMO and the wider Australian Network including ministries and schools for the excellent preparation they did in setting this up. 

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In Joe’s words.. 

_“Project Carrick has been an incredibly fulfilling experience so far. Edmund Rice Camps in Tasmania showed that there are like-minded people on the other side of the world trying to make a difference. The leadership conference with the house captains from EREA schools captivated the cultural divisions and the need to recognise the importance of aboriginal and Torres Strait Island people. I'm currently in Brisbane, working at Gregory terrace in the campus ministry team. The school has put social justice programmes at the forefront and working on some of them has inspired me to try and implement some of their ideas into the network back in England and Ireland. Finally, I would just like to say that the brothers have taken care of me so well and finally meeting Damien Price and hearing the amazing words spoke about him was amazing. I am looking forward to the next 2 months in Oceania and hopefully I will be able to continue learning and working in Edmund Rice ministries.”_ 

We have shared Joe’s experiences via social media to raise the profile of this opportunity. 




## Communities Meetings 

The Edmund Rice Office continue to meet with Brothers communities and invited friends and past staff members every 2 – 3 months. We have been using the generative listening process to share experiences and offer mutual support. 


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## Joint Secondary Schools INSET Day ‘Schools for the World’ 

On February 7[th] we held our joint INSET day for College staff. It was themed to pre-empt the EREBB Congress in May ‘Schools for the World’ understanding and implementing the sustainable development goals. Following our opening reflection, Edmund Rice Office Facilitators urged schools to ‘leave no-one behind’ and be brave in their approach to sustainability. There was an overview of what the goals are and the staff divided into 17 goals, all working on how to teach and implement that goal in their communities. We were joined by 2 members of the Liverpool World Centre who delivered a session on the best ways to achieve the goals. All feedback has been sent out to schools as a ‘sustainability plan’. We will revisit their plans when we have planned INSET time with staff in schools. It is hoped to establish a member of the governing body as a ‘sustainability’ governor and to invite those, along with a senior staff member to further training with us at Woodeaves. 

3 Leaders who have been involved with EREBB gave an overview of what they hope to bring back from the Congress in South Africa. We commissioned Headteachers to lead on sustainability, making it a lived reality in Edmund Rice schools.  After lunch we began the process of the Edmund Rice school pledge. Good progress was made. We will follow this up with a guided session on the summer term to finalise the pledge. On the following Friday we delivered a separate session to St Edward’s staff who could not join us. 




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## Street Retreat 

On 27-28 February, 10 staff from Irish and English Edmund Rice schools came together in Liverpool and Manchester on our first Street Retreat. Inspired by experiences like the domestic immersion to Belfast, we wanted to offer real hands-on work with the outreach agencies and ministries in our Network. Some of the staff were familiar with the locations of ALM, Whitechapel centre and SERV (Salford Edmund rice Volunteers) through our presentations or fundraising but they won’t have spent any time helping and visiting these places. The evenings consisted of reflection followed by baking cakes and creating some ESOL activities in preparation for visiting SERV on Friday. As well as the Brothers, Wilf Hammond gave the participants a handle on case work for processing asylum claims. This was a very worthwhile 2 days of shared experience across the Network. 


## School Clusters 

This has been set up in the European Province with one cluster. Students worked together in Geneva, 2 of the 3 are at the Street Retreat. We will encourage further collaboration. The Edmund Rice Office will be creating clusters following a process of engagement with school leaders in South Africa. 


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## School Council Conferences 

March saw our Senior School Council year a separate Conference is being organised for secondaries and prep schools. School Councils already had tasks sent out to them in preparation. 


## Charism and being an Edmund Rice School: New Headteacher 

An Edmund Rice Office Facilitator visited the new Headteacher at St Joseph’s Prep school to explore all the ways that the Edmund Rice office can and does support schools to truly be the living, breathing spirit of Blessed Edmund in all they do. As St Joseph’s Prep has been such a flagship school in terms of its commitment to the charism and to the Network, time was taken to explore all the possibilities of embedding the charism into school life for both pupils and staff. Also, to get to know him better and explain opportunities, annual events etc. 

## UN75 Conversation 

‘From January 2020, the UN75 campaign will initiate dialogues in all settings – from classrooms to boardrooms, parliaments to village halls. The aim is to reach as many people as possible: to listen to their hopes and fears; and learn from their ideas and experiences. Anybody can join the global conversation - physically or online, individually or as a group, in every region of the world.’ 

The Edmund Rice Office will be facilitating some of these conversations – e.g. with the communities group, with ERI groups, with the Street Retreat participants. We also hope to organise one with our senior students, the Director of the Whitechapel centre and Asylum Link. As the findings go straight to the UN, it is a great way for our contributions for creating a better world for everyone to be heard. We have begun the process by having all St Edward’s staff complete the online survey style conversation. We will facilitate a more formal discussion under the UN75 banner with staff from across the international Network at Congress in South Africa. 

## **COVID19 – Virtual Events following Lockdown** 

## **EREBB (Edmund Rice Education Beyond Borders)** 

Since lock-down began it seems that the international network began to flourish more than it had before; many leaders from across schools, ethos development coordinators and others communicated more often and more deeply – reaching out in a time of global need. The Edmund Rice Office became a member of an EREBB Leadership Taskforce that met every three weeks in a Covid-19 global response. They planned a series of webinars, discussed the situations in our schools and countries as well as planned the restructuring of the EREBB website. The series of webinars have been very successful and 

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very important to many people in the network through this time of strain and uncertainty. There were on average 150 people online during these. They looked at the state of our educational world, spirituality in times of Covid, using on-line learning platforms, sport during Covid. We encouraged and promoted the webinars in our region via social media and messages. We enlisted some of our English school staff to present at these international settings. These sessions are recorded and available on the resource pages of the EREBB website. https://www.erebb.org/our-initiatives/ 

The Edmund Rice Office has contributed many global initiatives, courses and resources for both students and teachers that have been uploaded onto the EREBB main site. 

We also translated the Edmund Rice celebration event resources, that we held on-line, into Spanish. 

Along with Alberto Olivero, Principal of Cardinal Newman College in Buenos Aires we produced a video for Easter so that the Network would receive it on Easter Sunday, keeping us connected and making this Easter https://youtu.be/TSdolLK2mlM 

Sunday, one like no other, a little more special.  We got as many people from the Network to send an Easter greeting and put together as a video. 


## **Connecting Classrooms and the British Council** 

Through our connections with Liverpool world Centre and Global education, We learned about the Connecting Classrooms project run by the British Council.  This project encourages engagement with the SDGs, global connections and international collaboration between schools. We approached our English schools; engaged 3 of them and via the international network reached out to global schools. The result is we have 5 schools engaged in a year-long mutual collaboration based on the theme of zero waste. St Vincent’s in Asinsol was not accepted by the British Council but will still collaborate. We are overseeing the various projects and helping the staff and pupils to work together. We have 2 more panning meetings this term and will begin actual collaborative working after Christmas. The application process was very complex and time consuming, and it wonderful to report that in July that we received news that our application was successful. We have received the full grant (lead school St Anselm’s holds the money) to be able to fund projects with a view to teacher exchange visits in the summer. 

## **Social Media / website** 

It was vital to be able to keep up with schools via social media during lock down. We shared good ideas and stories of hope across the Ul, Ireland and international network from all our schools. We now have a very large following who share our posts on twitter, Instagram and Facebook.  News items continue to be shared via our website. 

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## **ROE (Religious Orders in Education) Charism group** 

The Edmund Rice Office continues to be involved with the Charism group of ROE. Since lockdown there have been many the Zoom meetings for the group. The Edmund Rice Office manages the documentation and the minutes and she is currently working on the production of the ROE website with a working group of 4. www.roe-uk.co.uk 

With the Charism group we are organising a Leadership Symposium around Charism. It is aimed at new Headteachers and SLT members in our schools and will explore Charism in schools in a series of webinars and a 1-day conference. 

We produced the materials for the conference and has been planning the structure. An Edmund Rice Office Facilitator also presented at ROE’s AGM on the Charism group’s work to date. 

## **Communities** 

We have continued to meet during lockdown via Zoom. All involved are glad to be able to connect; ER office staff, friends and brothers have continued to share current situations and challenges as well as some reflective resources via these meetings. It has been so good to continue to talk with one another. 

## **New Staff Induction** 

In July we ran a two-session online induction into the ER network for new staff and governors.  We had 28 participants and excellent feedback.  We covered; Edmund’s life and legacy, held discussions on the Eight Essentials, network opportunities and had Br Ger O’Connell as a live guest. Staff also heard, via pre-recorded ‘talking heads’ videos from a diverse range of network members from around the world who spoke to them about their role and the Charism.  We interspersed the two sessions with an evening wellness workshop that was kindly hosted by Aiveen Mulally from Marino. The feedback was excellent – staff felt ‘inspired’ and said it was ‘a brilliant insight into the Network’. We were pleased with how smoothly it ran and how great the response was. We are running a similar session for new staff and governors in late September. 

## **Year 7 Induction** 

We have developed the Year 7 induction sessions into an on-line session accompanied by resources that can be used in class. Each class will be ‘visited’ online by the team where we will ensure they are familiar with Edmund’s story and legacy, that they feel welcomed into the global network and that now they have a responsibility, as ‘Edmund’s people’ to look outside their windows and make a change for the better, in the world.  We have dates on-going this term to see all year 7 pupils in all our schools. 

## **SERV / Asylum Link** 

We have been doing what we can to help with asylum seekers and refugee, it is so difficult during lockdown. The Edmund Rice Office has sourced lots of baby paraphernalia for a client who has recently had a baby and met, with a member of SERV, with a female asylum seeker who is living in a refuge due to domestic violence. The Edmund Rice Office has worked with the schools, her children attend, to ensure they are supported and have sourced free uniform and school equipment for them. She continues to support this woman. 

## **ER Camps** 

The Network of ER Camps Leaders continued to meet at least on a weekly basis via Zoom over the summer. The efforts of many of the senior leaders to retain some sense of the ER Camps during lockdown was rewarded with their nomination of ER Charism Awards. 

- Through our regular meetings, the group were collaboratively able to: - send t-shirts and cards to children who would have attended Camp this summer 

- distribute activity and resource packs to families 

- send written personal letters to children from previous Camps 

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- send communications to parents explaining the current situation as regards Camp 

- launch an online forum, ClassDojo, for sharing resources, activities, messages, reflections and songs with families 

In addition, we were able to offer some training to volunteers in the form of weekly workshops around wellbeing, behaviour management etc, and weekly reflections to stimulate the leaders during lockdown. 


## **Network Reflections** 

A Facilitator from the Edmund Rice Office has delivered weekly Network Reflection every Friday morning throughout the lockdown period. These are to continue as people return to work and school. The reflections have been very well-received and have attracted participants from across the global Network. 

In addition, we are running an extra session every week on Wednesday mornings at 08.15 so that school staff for whom the Friday morning sessions don’t suit are able to attend. The reflections can also be used as a useful resource and are available in Powerpoint form. 


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_**THE ENGLISH PROVINCE OF THE CONGREGATION OF CHRISTIAN BROTHERS TRUSTEES Financial Statements**_ 

## **Student Leadership Certificate** 

Following a series of planning meetings during the lockdown period, the materials for the Student Leadership Certificate are complete. This is a collaborative project with ERST (Edmund Rice Schools Trust, an Irish Charity), the Westcourt Centre (part of the Christian Brothers in Northern Ireland) and ERSTNI (a Northern Ireland Charity). The course has been outlined in previous reports, and includes for Themes, each containing 3 Topics, which groups or individuals can work through. Each Theme offers Assessment requirements. 

The Edmund Rice Office have put the materials into Powerpoint and plan to offer the course to schools. Each Topic can be facilitated by Facilitators remotely by Zoom or can be delivered by staff using the Powerpoints and instructions. 

## **Social and Pastoral work** 

Throughout the year, the Edmund Rice Network and the Brothers continued to carry out various forms of social and pastoral work in order to fulfil their individual Ministries.  This work enables the charity to reach out to those in need within society generally and benefit a significant number of people. 

Within the Network ‘religion’ is understood as requiring committed social outreach as well as faithsharing and prayer. The principal current expression of this commitment is outreach in the spirit of Edmund Rice, to the ‘strangers in our midst’. Network members continue to provide weekly throughthe-year support to: 

- AsylumLink Merseyside, working with a Christian Brother at the St. Anne’s Centre in Overbury Street, Liverpool. The focus here is on befriending, accompaniment, and the (free) provision of ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) classes. 

- SERV – Edmund Rice colunteers working with asylum seekers and refugees as well as hosting a youth club and an Edmund Rice Camp. 

- Homelessness organisations such as the Whitechapel Centre in Liverpool invl;oving students in awareness raising and fundraising. 

## **International missionary work** 

The Trust donated £27,700 to an NGO group called Dalit.  This group works in Bangladesh to improve the social economic condition and the social position of socially excluded individuals and groups through education, health and income generating activities.  This funding helped facilitate the education of 5,000 young people, from pre-primary to higher education level.  This project has been visited by a member of the Congregation.  In addition, ongoing reports of the work undertaken were received during the year and a full financial report with supporting documents was received at year end. 

## **Positive Impact Investing** 

We view our investment portfolio as part of our Mission.   Alongside our active Ministries, we also seek to bring about change through our investment portfolios. 

## **The Portfolio and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)** 

All of the investments within the Portfolio contribute towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).  The SDGs were developed and adopted by all member states of the United Nations to help achieve “…a more sustainable future for all”.   They represent a call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and promote prosperity and people’s wellbeing by 2030.  They integrate and balance the three dimensions of sustainable development: economic, social and environmental. Achieving the SDGs on a global basis requires collaboration between governments, the private sector, civil society and citizens alike.  The Portfolio plays a role in the realisation of the goals. 

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The Sustainable Development Goals are also closely aligned with the charitable objectives of religious organisations.  Since the publication of Laudato Si, Pope Francis has made a strong commitment to sustainable development.  His appeal to “…every person living on this planet for an inclusive dialogue about how we are shaping the future of our planet”, provides a firm ethical foundation for actions that need to be taken urgently at all levels.  Pope Francis’ speech ahead of the United Nations General Assembly’s formal adoption of the 17 SDGs gave further support to the ambitious and transformational vision of the goals. 

A comprehensive Ethical and Positive Impact policy ensures the Portfolio remains consistent with the ethos of the charity.  The Portfolio currently excludes companies involved in the production of weapons, tobacco, alcohol, pornography, and activities such as gambling and embryonic stem cell research. Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) criteria complements the screening as it improves the overall ESG risk exposure of the Portfolio.   In particular, climate risk is addressed through the exclusion of fossil fuel companies and a focus to reduce the carbon footprint of the Portfolio through investment in such areas as renewable energy and forestry. 

## **Environmental Impact** 

## _**Overall Carbon Footprint**_ 

The Portfolio includes a number of carbon sink-type investments, which sequester or draw carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere.  Forestry in particular is a very effective carbon sink, as trees absorb carbon dioxide as part of their growing process.  Therefore, the presence of two forestry funds means that any carbon emissions from the majority of the portfolio are effectively offset entirely by the forestry investments. 

Put another way, this means that the Portfolio in aggregate will sequester (withdraw) -415 tonnes of CO2e from the atmosphere per annum while an unscreened portfolio of the same size would produce c. 1,039 tonnes of CO2e.  We believe that these extremely strong carbon emission statistics makes the Portfolio very much part of the solution to climate change, rather than part of the problem. 

## _**Fossil Fuel Reserves**_ 

Following the Trustees decision to entirely divest from fossil fuels in early 2017, the Portfolio now holds no fossil fuel reserves.  This section addresses the level of exposure that the portfolio has to companies owning thermal coal, oil gas reserves and other unconventional sources of reserves such as oil sands, shale oil, and shale gas.  Many of these reserves may not be useable if we are to keep the targeted temperature rise (as a result of global warming) below 2 degrees Celsius.  This risk is referred to as stranded asset risks and it is addressed through avoidance of companies holding fossil fuel reserves. 

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_**THE ENGLISH PROVINCE OF THE CONGREGATION OF CHRISTIAN BROTHERS TRUSTEES Financial Statements**_ 

Hence, in addition to the impact, not holding these assets reduces the financial risk within the portfolio. The chart below shows the fossil fuel reserves held by investments within the Portfolio across the major fossil fuels in comparison to an unscreened portfolio.  As the chart shows, the Portfolio holds no fossil fuel reserves at all.  This is a key metric to ensure that the Portfolio is not supporting fossil fuel activities that are diametrically opposed to the impact the Portfolio is trying to achieve elsewhere in the investments, namely promoting transition from fossil fuels to sustainable energy. 


**----- Start of picture text -----**<br>
Fossil Fuel Reserves (thousands of tonnes<br>per €1m invested)<br>2<br>1.8<br>Charity<br>1.6<br>Portfolio<br>1.4<br>Unscreened<br>1.2<br>Portfolio<br>1<br>0.8<br>0.6<br>0.4<br>0.2<br>0<br>Coal Gas Oil<br>**----- End of picture text -----**<br>


_**Chart showing the Charity’s Investment Portfolio holds no fossil fuel reserves (no blue bar)**_ 

## _**Renewable Energy**_ 

Increasing the proportion of renewable energy in the world is a critical aspect of achieving sustainable development.  The world remains highly dependent on fossil fuels for energy.  Roughly 72% of energy demand is currently met by fossil fuels, a quarter by renewable sources and the remainder by nuclear generation.  Given the importance of promoting renewable energy sources to address climate change, any investor interested in impact investing generally seeks a high level of renewable power output from their investment portfolio. 

Within the Portfolio, renewable power is produced by a number of investments based in Ireland, Europe and the developing world. We note some of the key impact metrics of these funds below: 

## **Solar Income Fund** 

Fund holding approximately 40 solar plants in Europe 

- Energy for 150,000 houses per annum 

- Avoids emissions of 162,000 tonnes of CO₂ per annum 

- 480,000 MWh of renewable power per 

- annum 


Source: Fund Annual Report 2019 

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_**THE ENGLISH PROVINCE OF THE CONGREGATION OF CHRISTIAN BROTHERS TRUSTEES Financial Statements**_ 

## **Renewable Energy Fund** 

Renewable energy fund holding both onshore and offshore projects 

- Energy for 300,000 houses per annum 

- Avoids emissions of 400,000 tonnes of 

- CO₂ per annum 

- 1,000,000 MWh of renewable power per 

annum 


Source: Fund Annual Report 2019 

The benefit of generating renewable power can be measured by how much fossil fuel power (and resulting CO2 emissions) it replaces.  In 2020, the Portfolio avoided the release of almost 7,812 tonnes of CO2e. This is equivalent to: 

- Removing 1,687 cars from the roads every year 

- 17,967 barrels of oil saved 

- 6,507 acres of pine forest absorbing CO2 for one year 

 859 round trips around the world by one typical passenger car (travelling at the equator). In terms of renewable energy produced, the Portfolio produced 7,213 MWh in 2020, enough energy to power approx. 2,243 homes. 

## _**Environmental Protection and Carbon Sequestration**_ 

Environmental protection is a critical aspect of sustainability addressed by the Portfolio.  The forestry investments within the Portfolio have a mandate to: 

- Produce sustainable timber; 

- Sequester carbon from the atmosphere; 

- Protect natural resources and biodiversity of the area, in order to minimise the effect on the biodiversity and general environmental welfare. 


**The managers of the forestry investments in the portfolio keep a register of sightings of protected species to ensure the conservation of biodiversity. Some examples of the species in the register include red squirrels, harriers, badgers, hawks, pine martins and hares. This process allows them to track the impact of forestry operations on the biodiversity and animal life within their forests, and ensures that negative effects on wildlife are kept to a minimum** 

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## **Social Impact** 

## _**Job Creation**_ 

The Portfolio has a number of funds which provide job creation through their economic activity.  The equity funds provide capital to companies that employ anywhere between hundreds to hundreds of thousands, and therefore in theory the provision of additional capital by investors will enable these companies to create jobs.  However, as these funds generally invest in well-established businesses in the developed world, the job creation impact from additional investment is low.  The new jobs created by an unscreened portfolio of the same size as the Portfolio would only create 8 new jobs, while the Portfolio helped create around 63 direct jobs in 2020. 

One of the Venture Capital Funds in the Portfolio, which invests in small technology companies in Ireland, has strong job creation statistics, as small growing companies tend to have larger requirements for new recruits.  However, funds that operate in the developing world, such as the Microfinance Fund in the Portfolio, tend to produce far higher job creation, and comprise the majority of the additional jobs produced for the portfolio as a whole. 

## _**Financial Inclusion**_ 

Closely allied to job creation, the provision of financial services has been proven to be one of the most successful methods of reducing poverty.  Financial inclusion is crucial for sustainable development and the achievement of the SDGs.  However, according to the latest available data, 1.7 billion adults across the globe have no access to a bank account, 56% of them are women, and 59% of these women do not participate in their country’s labour force.  Globally, unbanked adults of both genders are generally among the poorer and younger sectors of the population. 

Within the Portfolio, the Microfinance Fund has a clear mandate to address financial inclusion as it lends money to communities that are underserved by mainstream financial institutions in the developing world.  Moreover, it has a strong focus on lending to women, particular single mothers.  Below are a number of key impacts from the Fund: 

## **Microfinance Fund** 

Provides lending to small credit unions in the developing world, who lend to microenttrepeneurs 

- 25,700,000 entrepeneurs served by 

- microcredit institutions that have received fund lending 

- 1,333,000 entrepeneurs served directly by the fund 

- 77% of borrowers are female 

- Excellent source of poverty alleviation and economic development 


Source: Fund Annual Report 2019 

## _**Vita Green Impact Investment**_ 

The Vita Green Impact investment is committed to social impact and climate action, delivering sustainable water and energy services in rural African communities.  It contributes to the delivery of the SDGs with a particular focus on SDGs 3, 5, 6 and 7 relating to improved health and gender equality as well as access to water and energy.  Below is a summary of Vita positive impacts: 

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Source: Vita Impact Report 2019 

## **Care and Welfare of Members** 

Throughout the year the charity continued to assist members of the Congregation in their charitable and religious work.  A number of members were cared for in the Cowper Care nursing care home in Ireland whilst the charity enabled other members to work and volunteer in their chosen ministry.  In addition, the charity welcomes members from other Provinces to stay in England to allow them to study and acquire skills they can take back to their own Provinces. 

## **FINANCIAL REVIEW** 

## **Results for the year** 

During the year, total incoming resources amounted to £3.5m (2019: £4.2m).  Of the incoming resources, a total of £2.6m (2019: £3.7m) related to the fees receivable and other income of the charity’s independent schools, with other incoming resources accounting for £0.9m (2019: £0.5m).  Investment income and interest receivable totalled £406k (2019: £172k), while donations and gifts totalled £46k (2019: £15k). 

Resources expended totalled £5.6m (2019: £6.0m), with 99% (2019: 99%) being expended on direct charitable activities.  Expenditure in the charity’s independent schools totalled £3.3m (2019: £3.8m). Expenditure incurred on maintaining the members of the Congregation and supporting them in their ministry and pastoral work amounted to £1.7m (2019: £1.5m). Mission support costs totalled £429k (2019: £309k) in the year. Expenditure on governance during the year was well controlled and amounted to £122k (2019: £639k). 

Net outgoing resources for the year, therefore, were £2,060k (2019: £1,758k). Investment losses of £158k (2019: gains of £493k) offset by £87k actuarial gains (2019: £482k actuarial losses) on the befined benefit pension scheme resulted in a net movement in funds for the year of £2,130k (2019: £1,747k). 

## **Investment policy** 

The charity’s investments are held in unitised funds, the purpose of which is to provide investment income to promote the charitable objectives of the Trust, and to provide capital growth in the reserves over the medium term.  They are invested with a conservative investment strategy.   The objectives for the investments are as follows: 

- To provide an annual income for the charity 

- To preserve the capital value of the portfolio in real terms 

- To generate a real return, depending on conditions in financial markets, after the initial two objectives have been met 

- To achieve the above targets while utilising the charity’s stated ethical investment policy 

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The majority of the investment funds are under the management of Setanta Asset Management, and Unigestion.  The Charity also has a holding of Alternative Investments which are held via the Ethical Investment Initiative Ltd and the Alternative Investments Ltd.   As noted above, all funds have an ethical investment screen; they exclude companies that fall foul of certain ethical criteria, and in most cases favour stocks that provide positive benefits to society; these funds only hold investments that are compatible with the Charity’s religious ethos. 

## **Reserves policy** 

At the end of the financial year, the total funds of the charity amounted to £10.6m (2019: £12.7m).  Of this, £3.5m (2019: £3.8m) is represented by properties and other tangible fixed assets essential for the running of the charity.  The Trustees have designated another £5.1m to provide for school and education funding, mission and ministry works and the care and welfare of the members.  Details are given in note 19 of these Financial Statements.  The Trustees review and reassess these designations on an on-going basis. 

Un-designated or general funds amount to £2.0m (2019: £3.3m). This equates to approximately 5 months (2019: 7 months) of unrestricted charitable expenditure. The Trustees consider that, given the nature of the charity’s work and its commitments, the level of free reserves should be approximately equal to between 4 and 8 months’ expenditure. 

## **FUTURE PLANS** 

The charity intends to continue to review its spending plans and needs and to make every effort to manage its existing assets as efficiently as possible in order to generate the income necessary to achieve the charity aims. 

The Trustees intend to meet the following objectives: 

- Through the work of the Network Support Team to continuously improve the implementation of the ‘Essential Elements of Edmund Rice Education’  through the provision of support services, including support for Governing Bodies, Heads, and leadership teams and in-service training for teachers and support staff. 

- To continue to investigate the options around the transition to a lay trust or trusts for Edmund Rice Schools to continue to develop links with Edmund Rice Education Beyond Borders, the International network of Catholic schools educating young people from many different faiths and cultures. 

- To continue to extend the Developing World Immersion Programme.  This will include the investigation of immersion opportunities in other Developing World Countries and the drawing in of schools yet to send groups on immersion. 

- To continue to develop links with the work of ‘Edmund Rice International’, the Christian Brother non-governmental organisation based in Geneva and working within the United Nations on issues of global social justice, in particular the rights of the child. 

- To continue to grow the wider Edmund Rice Network in England, using school communities as the core but establishing local groups open to the wider community and providing opportunities for faith-sharing, spiritual reflection, and action for social justice (in particular support for refugees and asylum seekers). 

- To continue to grow the Edmund Rice Network specifically for the age group 18-25, continuing the connection with ex-students of the schools, providing them with further opportunities for immersion, service, social engagement, and reflection both in Britain and Ireland and in the Developing World. 

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## **COVID-19 (Coronavirus)** 

On the 11th March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared COVID-19 a pandemic. While this is a constantly changing situation, the Trustees are monitoring and following the advice from the Government and the National Health Service. This would include, for example, the need for social distancing and so the Communities in England and the Edmund Rice Office in Woodeaves is temporarily closed. In addition, meetings are taking place by conference or video calls. However, the largest financial impact to date has been to the Charity’s investment portfolio.   Financial markets, and stock markets in particular, have fallen significantly since the announcement however, they did begin to recover by the financial year end.  The Trustees and the Investment Advisors continue to monitor the situation. 

The Trustees note that of the total income received by the Charity for the financial year 2020, Covid has impacted the income from the operation of schools however, there are sources of income that continue to be received by the charity despite the effects of Covid19. These sources of income that continue to be received after year end are Teaching and Old Aged Pensions and investment income from the Charities investments which are continuing to pay investment income. 

The Trustees are satisfied that they can continue to operate as a going concern despite the current challenges facing the Charity sector, the country and the world. 

## **STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT** 

In terms of Civil Law, the charity is governed by an Amended Trust Deed dated 27 February 2015.  The charity is registered with the Charity Commission in England and Wales (charity number 254312). 

In accordance with the Amended Trust Deed “the number of Trustees shall not be less than four including any ex-officio Trustee and shall never be more than eight and on the occurrence of any vacancy reducing the Trustees to less than four a new Trustee or new Trustees shall be appointed as soon as possible in order to restore the number of Trustees to four at the least” 

In terms of Canon Law, the Congregation is governed at an international level by the Congregation Leader and the Leadership Team in Rome.    They are elected every six years at a General Chapter. The European Province is governed by the Province Leader and the Province Leadership Team, who are nominated by members of the European Province.  Members of the Province Leadership Team are chosen for their personal qualities, their understanding and experience of the ministries of the Brothers and to secure a good skills mix among them.  Each Community in the Province is governed by a local leader, who is appointed by the Province Leader. The Province Leadership Team visits each Community at least once a year and throughout the year there is a system of accountability operational throughout the Province to help to ensure that the Province Leadership Team are aware of the progress and development of the ministries carried out in the name of the Province. 

## **Appointment and Training of Trustees** 

The statutory power of appointing new or additional Trustees is vested in the Province Leader.  Trustees are chosen for their personal qualities and their understanding and experience of the ministries throughout the Province.  To date, the Trustees have been members of the European Province of the Congregation and as such they will already be well informed about the Mission, governing documents and strategic planning and history of the charity. 

When a new Trustee is appointed they are given a copy of the Amended Trust Deed and the Charity Commission’s booklets for Trustees.  In addition, they meet with the existing Trustees during which they are given an outline of their responsibilities and continuing obligations. 

## **Organisational Structure** 

The Trustees are ultimately responsible for the policies, activities and assets of the charity.  They meet on a regular basis to review developments with regard to the Charity and its activities.   When necessary, they seek advice from the charity’s professional advisors. 

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The day to day running of the Academies is delegated to Governing Bodies appointed according to the statutory framework and instruments of government for state-funded schools. The day to day running of the Independent Preparatory Schools is delegated to Governing Bodies, in accordance with the instruments of government provided by the Trustees.  The Trustees receive regular financial and educational reports from all the Boards of Governors and Headteachers of the schools. 

The Independent School Governors and the Foundation Governors in the state-funded schools are appointed by the Trustees for a given term of years and may be re-appointed when their term ends. 

## **Risk Management** 

The Trustees undertake a full risk assessment on an annual basis and monitor progress on a annual basis.   This process is supported by the Finance Office, who works closely with the Trustees in this area.   The Trustees identified the following as being the principal risks to which the Charity is exposed: 

Governance and management: considers the efficiency of the Trustee body.  Risks considered include a lack of planning, a Trustee body which lacked sufficient skills or appropriate decision making procedures.  Such risks could include a lack of training / induction or poor stewardship of resources – human, financial and property.   The Trustees have addressed these risks by operating both annual and longer term plans, holding regular Trustee meetings which include the monitoring of actual performance against these plans, having meaningful induction / handover for incoming Trustees, attending Trustee training days, seeking third party advice as required, etc. 

Financial: considers the financial capacity of the Charity and ensuring it has the available financial resources to continue to carry out its activities both now and in the years ahead. This incorporates the management of the operating (day-to-day) position, capital or building requirements and the returns earned on the Charity’s investment portfolios.   These risks are mitigated in a variety of ways, including budgeting, the setting of an investment strategy / investment objectives that consider diversity, prudence and liquidity criteria, regular financial and investment reporting against budget, cash-flow planning, the appointment of Stewardship advisors where necessary. 

Age Profile: considers the ageing population of the members of the Congregation of Christian Brothers – English Province which is supported by the Charity. This incorporates the review of the training, skillsets and energy of the Brothers in a leadership, Ministry or Mission role. The risks are mitigated through training, Trustee visitation to each Community, regular Province meetings, healthcare reviews and rotating Brothers in different roles and the sharing of knowledge. The Trustees invest time, energy and allocate resources to ensure the continuing of the Charity both now and into the future. This can also include the involvement of lay people to support the Brothers and the involvement of professional advisors in relation to stewardship advice to the Trustees. 

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## **Statement of Trustees’ responsibilities** 

The Trustees of the Charity are required to prepare for each financial year accounts which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Charity and of the source and application of resources of the Charity for that period.  In preparing those financial statements, the Trustees are required to: 

- select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently; 

- make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent; 

- state whether applicable accounting standards and statements of recommended practice 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 this basis applies. 

The Trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the Charity, and to enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the statutory requirements. The Trustees are conscious of their responsibility for safeguarding the assets of the Charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities. 

## **Statement as to disclosure of information to auditors** 

So far as the Trustees are aware, there is no relevant audit information of which the Charity’s auditors are unaware, and each Trustee has taken all the steps that he or she ought to have taken as a Trustee in order to make himself or herself aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the Charity’s auditors are aware of that information. 

## **Auditors** 

A resolution to re-appoint Mazars LLP as auditors to the Charity will be proposed to the forthcoming Trustee Meeting. 

Approved by the Trustees on Dec 13, 2021 and signed as authorised on their behalf by: 

E I garvey E I garvey (Dec 13, 2021 15:59 GMT) E Garvey Trustee 

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_**THE ENGLISH PROVINCE OF THE CONGREGATION OF CHRISTIAN BROTHERS TRUSTEES Financial Statements**_ 

## **INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES OF THE ENGLISH PROVINCE OF THE CONGREGATION OF CHRISTIAN BROTHERS** 

## **Opinion** 

We have audited the financial statements of The English Province of the Congregation of Christian Brothers (the ‘charity’) for the year ended 31 August 2020 which comprise the Statement of Financial Activities, the Balance Sheet, the Statement of Cash Flows 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 August 2020 and of its income and expenditure 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 for 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. 

## **Conclusions relating to going concern** 

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the ISAs (UK) require us to report to you where: 

- the trustees’ use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is not appropriate; or 

- the trustees have not disclosed in the financial statements any identified material uncertainties that may cast significant doubt about the charity’s ability to continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting for a period of at least twelve months from the date when the financial statements are authorised for issue. 

## **Other information** 

The trustees are responsible for the other information. The other information comprises the information included in the Trustees’ Report other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and 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. 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. 

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## **INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES OF THE ENGLISH PROVINCE OF THE CONGREGATION OF CHRISTIAN BROTHERS (continued)** 

## **Matters on which we are required to report by exception** 

In light of the knowledge and understanding of the charity and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the Trustees’ Report. 

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 require us to report to you if, in our opinion: 

- the information given in the financial statements is inconsistent in any material respect with the Trustees’ Report; or 

- sufficient accounting records have not been kept; or 

- the financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records; or 

- we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit. 

## **Responsibilities of Trustees** 

As explained more fully in the trustees’ responsibilities statement set out on page 38, 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. 

## **Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements** 

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 the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements. 

A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our auditor’s report. 

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## **INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES OF THE ENGLISH PROVINCE OF THE CONGREGATION OF CHRISTIAN BROTHERS (continued)** 

## **Use of the audit report** 

We have been appointed as auditor under section 144 of the Charities Act 2011 and report in accordance with the Act and regulations made or having effect thereunder. Our responsibility is to audit and express an opinion on the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and International Standards on Auditing (UK). Those standards require us to comply with the Financial Reporting Council’s Ethical Standard. 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 anyone other than the charity and the charity’ trustees as a body for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed. 

Mazars LLP (Dec 17, 2021 17:33 GMT) 

For and on behalf of Mazars LLP Chartered Accountants and Statutory Auditor 5[th] Floor 3 Wellington Place Leeds LS1 4AP Date: Dec 17, 2021 

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_**THE ENGLISH PROVINCE OF THE CONGREGATION OF CHRISTIAN BROTHERS TRUSTEES Financial Statements**_ 

## **STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES For the year ended 31 August 2020** 

|||**Unrestricted**|**Restricted**|**Total**|**Total**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||**Note**|**funds**|**funds**|**2020**|**2019**|
|||**£**|**£**|**£**|**£**|
|**INCOME:**||||||
|Donations and legacies|3|25,066|20,500|45,566|14,902|
|Investment income|4|406,448|<br>-|406,448|171,838|
|**_Income from charitable activities_**||||||
|Operation of the schools|5|2,614,612|3,919|2,618,531|3,722,673|
|Other income|6|426,058|-|426,058|328,944|
|||───────|───────|───────|───────|
|**Total income**||**3,472,184**|**24,419**|**3,496,603**|**4,238,357**|
|||───────|───────|───────|───────|
|**EXPENDITURE ON:**|7|||||
|Raising funds||30,301|-|30,301|35,452|
|Charitable activities||5,133,198|392,759|5,525,957|5,961,405|
|||───────|───────|───────|───────|
|**Total expenditure:**||**5,163,499**|392,759|**5,556,258**|**5,996,857**|
|||───────|───────|───────|───────|
|**Net expenditure**||**(1,691,315)**|<br>**(368,340)**|<br>**(2,059,655)**|**(1,758,500)**|
|Transfers between funds|19|-|-|-|-|
|**Net expenditure after transfers**||**(1,691,315)**|<br>**(368,340)**|<br>**(2,059,655)**|**(1,758,500)**|
|Net (losses)/gains on investments|11|(157,597)|<br>-|(157,597)|492,691|
|**Other recognised (losses)/gains**||||||
|Actuarial gains/(losses) on defined benefit||||||
|pension scheme|23|87,400|-|87,400|(482,000)|
|||───────|────────|────────|───────|
|**Net movement in funds**||**(1,761,512)**|<br>**(368,340)**|<br>**(2,129,852)**|**(1,747,809)**|
|**_Reconciliation of funds_**||||||
|Total funds brought forward||12,367,671|380,669|12,748,340|14,496,149|
|||───────|───────|───────|───────|
|**Total funds carried forward**||**10,606,159**|**12,329**|**10,618,488**|**12,748,340**|
|||═══════|═══════|═══════|═══════|



The Statement of Financial Activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year. All income and expenditure derive from continuing activities. 

42 



_**THE ENGLISH PROVINCE OF THE CONGREGATION OF CHRISTIAN BROTHERS TRUSTEES Financial Statements**_ 

|**BALANCE SHEET**|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|**AS AT 31 AUGUST 2020**|||||
|||**Note**|**2020**|**2019**|
||||**£**|**£**|
|**FIXED ASSETS**|||||
|Tangible fixed assets||10|3,526,052|3,770,401|
|Investments||11|7,912,298|9,076,370|
||||────────|────────|
|**_Total fixed assets_**|||**11,438,350**|**12,846,771**|
|**CURRENT ASSETS**|||||
|Stock||12|4,680|4,680|
|Debtors falling due within one year||13|229,416|367,690|
|Debtors falling due in more than one year||13|287,500|312,500|
|Cash at bank and in hand|||1,391,411|1,934,418|
||||────────|────────|
|**_Total current assets_**|||**1,913,007**|**2,619,288**|
|**CREDITORS**|||||
|Amounts falling due within|one year|14|(1,513,224)|(1,051,978)|
||||────────|────────|
|**NET CURRENT ASSETS**|||**399,783**|**1,567,310**|
|**TOTAL ASSETS LESS CURRENT LIABILITIES**|||**11,838,133**|**14,414,081**|
|**CREDITORS**|||||
|Amounts falling due after more than one year||14|(595,145)|(603,641)|
|**PROVISIONS FOR LIABILITIES**||16|(624,500)|(662,500)|
||||────────|────────|
|**NET ASSETS EXCLUDING PENSION LIABILITY**|||**10,618,488**|**13,147,940**|
|Defined benefit pension scheme liability||23|-|(399,600)|
||||────────|────────|
|**TOTAL NET ASSETS**|||**10,618,488**|**12,748,340**|
||||════════|════════|
|**FUNDS OF THE CHARITY**|||||
|Restricted funds||18|12,329|380,669|
|Unrestricted funds||19|10,606,159|12,767,271|
|Pension reserve||23|-|(399,600)|
||||────────|────────|
|**TOTAL CHARITY FUNDS**|||**10,618,488**|**12,748,340**|
||||════════|════════|
|Approved by the Trustees|Dec 13, 2021||||
|and signed as authorised on their behalf by|||||
|E I garvey (Dec 13, 2021 15:59 GMT)<br>E I garvey|||||
|E Garvey|||||
|Trustee|||||



43 



_**THE ENGLISH PROVINCE OF THE CONGREGATION OF CHRISTIAN BROTHERS TRUSTEES Financial Statements**_ 

## **STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS For the year ended 31 August 2020** 

||**Note**|**2020**|**2019**|
|---|---|---|---|
|||**£**|**£**|
|**Cash used in operating activities**|22|(2,261,372)|(1,530,105)|
|||────────|────────|
|**Cash flows from investing activities**||||
|Investment income||406,528|171,838|
|Purchase of investments||(794,912)|(32,835)|
|Sale of investments||2,121,889|15,854|
|Cash movement on investments||32,918|708,378|
|Purchase of tangible fixed assets||(50,009)|(45,243)|
|||────────|────────|
|**Net cash provided by investing**||||
|**activities**||1,716,414|817,992|
|||────────|────────|
|Decrease in cash and cash equivalents||||
|in the year||(544,958)|(712,113)|
|Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of||||
|the year||1,934,418|2,646,531|
|||────────|────────|
|**Total cash and cash equivalents at the end of**||||
|**the year**||1,389,460|1,934,418|
|||════════|════════|
|**Cash and cash equivalents**||||
|Cash at bank and in hand at 31 August||1,391,411|1,934,418|
|Overdraft at 31 August||(1,951)|-|
|||────────|────────|
|Total cash and cash equivalents||1,389,460|1,934,418|
|||════════|════════|



44 



_**THE ENGLISH PROVINCE OF THE CONGREGATION OF CHRISTIAN BROTHERS TRUSTEES Financial Statements**_ 

## **NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS For the year ended 31 August 2020** 

## **1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES** 

## **Accounting convention** 

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP 2015) “Accounting and Reporting by Charities”, effective 1 January 2015 and applicable Accounting Standards in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2015) - (Charities SORP (FRS 102)), the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) and the Charities Act 2011. 

The English Province of the Congregation of Christian Brothers Trustees meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS 102.  Assets and liabilities are initially recognised at historical cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policy note.  The financial statements have been prepared in Pound Sterling as this is the currency of the primary economic environment in which the company operates. 

The financial statements have been prepared to give a 'true and fair' view and have departed from the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 only to the extent required to provide a true and fair view. This departure has involved following the Charities Statement of Recommended Practice (FRS 102) in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) rather than the “Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice Charities SORP 2005” which has since been withdrawn. 

## **Going concern** 

These financial statements have been prepared on a going concern basis. 

The Trustees have carefully considered the impact of COVID-19, noting the widespread disruption to normal activities and the uncertainty over the duration of the disruption. They are satisfied that given the cash position of the charity and the recovery of the investment portfolio, that it is appropriate for the financial statements to be prepared on a going concern basis. 

The current economic conditions present increased risks for all charities.  In response to such conditions, the Trustees have carefully considered these risks, included an assessment of uncertainty on future forecasts for a period of at least 12 months from the date of signing the financial statements, and to the extent to which they might affect the preparation of the financial statements on a going concern basis. 

The Trustees have a reasonable expectation that the charity has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future and have not identified any material uncertainties within their review.  They therefore continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the annual financial statements. 

## **Fixed assets** 

The original sites and buildings for the Charity’s four schools and various other buildings are included on the balance sheet at an aggregate nominal value of £1.  Building work completed more recently has been capitalised at cost.  Consequently, the balance sheet does not reflect the full value of the freehold land and buildings used by the Charity and the charge to the Statement of Financial Activities for depreciation excludes any amount in respect of the assets in question. 

Property used by the academy schools is classified as a programme related social investment as any financial return obtained is not a primary reason for making the investment in that the property is held specifically to enable the schools to undertake particular activities using the property that contribute to the charitable purposes. 

## **Depreciation** 

Depreciation is provided to write off assets over their useful economic lives at the following rates: 

Freehold land and buildings 2% straight line Fixtures, fittings and office equipment 15% reducing balance Motor vehicles 25% reducing balance 

## **Social investments** 

Social investments are stated at cost less depreciation.  Social investments consist of premises relating to the four academy schools. 

## **Operating leases payable** 

Rentals payable under operating leases are charged on a straight-line basis over the term of the lease. 

## **Operating leases receivable** 

Assets leased out under operating leases are included within the freehold properties and are depreciated over their useful life.  Rental income from operating leases is recognised on a straight-line basis over the term of the lease. 

45 



_**THE ENGLISH PROVINCE OF THE CONGREGATION OF CHRISTIAN BROTHERS TRUSTEES Financial Statements**_ 

**NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS For the year ended 31 August 2020** 

**1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES** (continued) 

## **Investments** 

Investments are included at market value at the year end.  Gains and losses on disposal and revaluation of investments are charged or credited to the Statement of Financial Activities. 

## **Stocks** 

Stocks are stated at the lower of cost and net realisable value. 

## **Foreign currency** 

Transactions in foreign currencies are recorded at the rate ruling at the date of the transaction.  Monetary assets and liabilities are retranslated at the rate of exchange ruling at the balance sheet date.  All differences are taken to the Statement of Financial Activities. 

## **Pension costs** 

A multi-employer defined benefit scheme was closed to future accrual of benefit on 31 October 2010.  Up to and including the year ended 31 August 2013, the Charity could not identify its share of the underlying assets and liabilities on a consistent and reasonable basis.  Therefore, in accordance with FRS17, payments to the scheme were accounted for as for a defined contribution scheme.  A creditor was, however, recognised in respect of an agreed deficit recovery plan. 

During the year ended 31 August 2014, the Charity entered into a Deed of Amendment and Apportionment in relation to this scheme which resulted in there being only one employer (the Charity) and therefore the multiemployer exemption is no longer applicable.  Accordingly, the scheme is now accounted for as a defined benefit scheme as detailed in note 23. 

Contributions payable to the Charity’s defined contribution pension scheme are charged to the Statement of Financial Activities so as to spread the cost of the pensions over the remaining service lives of employees in the scheme.  The pension charge is calculated on the basis of actuarial advice. 

The Charity also contributes to the Teachers' Pension Scheme at rates set by the Scheme Actuary and advised to the Trustees by the Scheme Administrator.  This scheme is treated as a multi-employer defined benefit scheme and contributions are accounted for a defined contribution scheme. 

## **Educational income** 

Fees receivable are accounted for in the period in which the service is provided. 

## **Donations** 

Donations receivable are credited to the Statement of Financial Activities in the period to which they relate, generally the earlier of notification or receipt. 

## **Legacies** 

Legacies receivable are credited to the Statement of Financial Activities in the period to which they relate, when the relevant recognition criteria has been met. 

## **Investment income** 

Investment income is accounted for in the period in which the Charity is entitled to receipt. 

## **Province Support Programme** 

This consists substantially of pensions received by the Charity on behalf of the Christian Brothers.  The corresponding living costs of Christian Brothers are included under Province Support. 

## **Expenditure** 

Expenditure is included in the Statement of Financial Activities on an accruals basis.  Support costs have been allocated to the main charitable activities in accordance with the total direct costs of those activities. Governance costs include those costs incurred in the governance of the Charity and its assets and are primarily associated with constitutional and statutory requirements.  Expenditure on raising funds comprises investment management fees. Redundancy costs are recognised when incurred. 

## **Fund accounting** 

Restricted funds are to be used for specified purposes laid down by the donor.  Expenditure for those purposes is charged to the fund, together with a fair allocation of overheads and support costs. 

Unrestricted funds are income received or generated for expenditure on the general objectives of the Charity. 

Designated funds are unrestricted funds which have been designated for specific purposes by the Trustees. 

46 



_**THE ENGLISH PROVINCE OF THE CONGREGATION OF CHRISTIAN BROTHERS TRUSTEES Financial Statements**_ 

## **NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS For the year ended 31 August 2020** 

## **1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES** (continued) **Financial instruments** 

The Charity only has financial assets and financial liabilities of a kind that qualify as basic financial instruments. Basic financial instruments are initially recognised at transaction value, and subsequently measured at their settlement value. 

## **2. JUDGEMENTS IN APPLYING THE CHARITY’S ACCOUNTING POLICIES AND KEY SOURCES OF ESTIMATION UNCERTAINTY** 

In applying the Charity’s accounting policies, the Trustees are required to make judgements, estimates, and assumptions in determining the carrying amount of assets and liabilities.  The Trustees’ judgements, estimates and assumptions are based on the best and most reliable evidence available at the time when the decisions are made, and are based on historical experience and other factors that are considered to be applicable.  Due to the inherent subjectivity involved in making such judgements, estimates and assumptions, the outcomes may differ. 

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, if the revision affects only that period, or in the period of revision and future periods, if the revision affects both current and future periods. 

## **Critical judgements in applying the charity’s accounting policies** 

The critical judgement that the Trustees’ have made in the process of applying the charity’s accounting policies that have the most significant effect on the amounts recognised in the financial statements is discussed below. 

## i) Assessing indicators of impairment for trade receivables 

In assessing whether there have been any indicators of impairment of assets, the Trustees have considered both internal and external sources of information such as market conditions and experience of recoverability. There have been no indicators of impairments identified during the current financial year. 

## **Key sources of estimation uncertainty** 

The key assumptions concerning the future, and other key sources of estimation uncertainty, that have a significant risk of causing a material adjustment to the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities within the next financial year are discussed below. 

## i) Recoverability of receivables 

The charity establishes a provision for receivables that are estimated to not be recoverable.  When assessing recoverability the Trustees’ consider factors such as the ageing of receivables, past experience of recoverability, and the credit profile of individuals. 

ii) Determining residual values and useful economic lives of property, plant and equipment 

The charity depreciates tangible assets over their estimated useful lives.  The estimation of the useful lives of assets is based on historic performance as well as expectations over future use and therefore requires estimates and assumptions to be applied by management.  The actual lives of these assets can vary depending on a variety of factors, including technological innovation and maintenance programmes. 

## iii) Provisions 

The charity provides for potential litigation payments in respect of historical abuse claims.  This is done in conjunction with the charity’s solicitor and is based on the individual claim facts and historical outcome of settled claims and therefore requires some judgement from management. 

47 



_**THE ENGLISH PROVINCE OF THE CONGREGATION OF CHRISTIAN BROTHERS TRUSTEES Financial Statements**_ 

## **NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS For the year ended 31 August 2020** 

## **2. JUDGEMENTS IN APPLYING THE CHARITY’S ACCOUNTING POLICIES AND KEY SOURCES OF ESTIMATION UNCERTAINTY** (continued) 

## (iv) Pensions 

The charity operates a defined benefit pension fund.  This means that the charity has an obligation to pay pension benefits to certain former employees.  The cost of these benefits and the present value of the associated obligation depend on a number of factors, including: 

- life expectancy 

- salary increases, 

- assets valuations, 

- discount rate as determined with reference to return on high quality corporate bonds. 

The charity uses an independent actuary to help determine reasonable estimates for these factors in determining the net pension obligation in the balance sheet.  The assumptions reflect historical experience and current trends.  See note 23 for the disclosures relating to the defined benefit pension scheme. 

## **3. INCOME FROM DONATIONS AND LEGACIES** 

|**3.**|**INCOME FROM DONATIONS AND LEGACIES**|||
|---|---|---|---|
|||**2020**|**2019**|
|||**£**|**£**|
||Donations and legacies|45,566|14,902|
|||────────|────────|
|||45,566|14,902|
|||════════|════════|
|**4.**|**INVESTMENT INCOME**|||
|||**2020**|**2019**|
|||**£**|**£**|
||Investment fund income|404,528|169,511|
||Bank interest|1,920|2,327|
|||────────|────────|
|||406,448|171,838|
|||════════|════════|
|**5.**|**INCOME FROM OPERATION OF THE SCHOOLS**|||
|||**2020**|**2019**|
|||**£**|**£**|
||Fee income|2,353,482|3,227,265|
||Education related income|265,049|495,408|
|||────────|────────|
|||2,618,531|3,722,673|
|||════════|════════|
|**6.**|**OTHER INCOME**|||
|||**2020**|**2019**|
|||**£**|**£**|
||Province support programme|281,937|280,580|
||Sundry income|125,253|29,548|
||Rent receivable in respect of operating leases|18,868|18,816|
|||────────|────────|
|||426,058|328,944|
|||════════|════════|



48 



_**THE ENGLISH PROVINCE OF THE CONGREGATION OF CHRISTIAN BROTHERS TRUSTEES Financial Statements**_ 

**NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS For the year ended 31 August 2020** 

## **7. ANALYSIS OF TOTAL EXPENDITURE** 


**----- Start of picture text -----**<br>
|||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|Operation|Province|Mission|Total|Total|
|of schools|support|support|2020|2019|
|£|£|£|£|
|Raising funds|-|30,301|-|30,301|35,452|
|Staff costs (note 8)|2,281,158|202,591|-|2,483,749|3,162,279|
|Living allowances|-|222,364|-|222,364|488,746|
|Nursing homes|-|113,327|-|113,327|135,684|
|Governance costs (note 9)|16,020|56,533|-|72,553|639,406|
|Donations|-|-|1,289,868|1,289,868|309,435|
|Administration|336,339|334,842|-|671,181|301,303|
|Premises|237,097|-|-|237,097|316,304|
|Teaching goods|73,203|-|-|73,203|125,780|
|Services|128,725|-|-|128,725|261,528|
|Loss on disposal of fixed assets|-|2,626|-|2,626|-|
|Unpaid fees provision|54,525|-|-|54,525|-|
|Depreciation & impairment (note 10)|124,222|52,517|-|176,739|220,940|
|────────|──────── ──────── ──────── ────────|
|3,251,289|1,015,101|1,289,868|5,556,258|5,996,857|
|════════|════════ ════════ ════════ ════════|

**----- End of picture text -----**<br>


## **8. STAFF COSTS** 


**----- Start of picture text -----**<br>
||||
|---|---|---|
|2020|2019|
|£|£|
|Gross wages|1,942,060|2,460,002|
|Social security costs|164,939|201,192|
|Pension costs|366,749|282,765|
|Redundancy costs|10,000|218,320|
|──────── ────────|
|2,483,748|3,162,279|
|════════ ════════|
|2020|2019|
|Average number of employees|83|112|
|════════ ════════|

**----- End of picture text -----**<br>


One employee (2019: two employees) received remuneration in excess of £60,000 in the year in the band £60,000 to £70,000. 

During the year the charity incurred redundancy costs totalling £10,000 (2019: £218,320). Amounts outstanding in respect of redundancy costs as at 31 August 2020 total £nil (2019: £173,566). 

The Trustees comprise Christian Brothers who, in common with the non-Trustee Brothers, are provided with living accommodation and daily essentials by the Charity. 

The Trustees consider that they and the Heads, Chairs and Governors of the four Independent Preparatory Schools along with the Schools Officer and Coordinator of the Edmund Rice Network comprise the key management of the Charity in charge of directing and controlling, running and operating the charity on a day to day basis.  The Trustees are members of the Congregation of Christian Brothers - English Province and whilst their living and personal expenses are borne by the charity they receive no remuneration in connection with their duties as Trustees. Similarly the Boards of Governors receive no remuneration in connection with their duties as Governors. Expenses relating to travel and other costs of £nil (2019: £nil) were reimbursed to no (2019: none) Trustees. 

Remuneration of the Heads is reviewed regularly by the Board of Governors while the remuneration of the Schools Officer is reviewed regularly by the Trustees. 

The total employee benefits of the key management personnel in 2020 was £245,983 (2019: £342,425). 

49 



_**THE ENGLISH PROVINCE OF THE CONGREGATION OF CHRISTIAN BROTHERS TRUSTEES Financial Statements**_ 

## **NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS For the year ended 31 August 2020** 


**----- Start of picture text -----**<br>
|||||
|---|---|---|---|
|9.|GOVERNANCE COSTS|2020|2019|
|£|£|
|Auditors’ remuneration|- audit|43,866|60,263|
|- non-audit|-|-|
|Other legal and professional advisory|28,687|579,143|
|─────── ───────|
|72,553|639,406|
|═══════ ═══════|

**----- End of picture text -----**<br>


## **10. TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS** 


**----- Start of picture text -----**<br>
||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|Freehold|Fixtures,|
|Land &|Fittings &|Motor|
|Buildings Equipment|Vehicles|Total|
|£|£|£|£|
|COST|
|Balance as at 1 September 2019|6,381,104|1,491,352|295,345|8,167,801|
|Additions|-|15,368|34,647|50,015|
|Disposals|(125,000)|-|(8,299)|(133,299)|
|──────── ──────── ──────── ────────|
|Balance as at 31 August 2020|6,256,104|1,506,720|321,693|8,084,517|
|════════ ════════ ════════ ════════|
|ACCUMULATED DEPRECIATION|
|Balance as at 1 September 2019|2,820,873|1,318,368|258,159|4,397,400|
|Charge for year|120,074|37,627|19,037|176,738|
|Disposals|(10,000)|-|(5,673)|(15,673)|
|──────── ──────── ──────── ────────|
|Balance as at 31 August 2020|2,930,947|1,355,995|271,523|4,558,465|
|════════ ════════ ════════ ════════|
|NET BOOK VALUES|
|As at 31 August 2020|3,325,157|150,725|50,170|3,526,052|
|════════ ════════ ════════ ════════|
|As at 31 August 2019|3,560,231|172,984|37,186|3,770,401|
|════════ ════════ ════════ ════════|

**----- End of picture text -----**<br>


The net book value at 31 August 2020 represents fixed assets used for: 


**----- Start of picture text -----**<br>
||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|Freehold|Fixtures,|
|Land &|Fittings &|Motor|
|Buildings Equipment|Vehicles|Total|
|£|£|£|£|
|Direct charitable purposes:|
|Schools|2,082,420|134,296|35,788|2,252,504|
|Other support|1,242,737|16,429|14,382|1,273,548|
|──────── ──────── ──────── ────────|
|3,325,157|150,725|50,170|3,526,052|
|════════ ════════ ════════ ════════|

**----- End of picture text -----**<br>


50 



_**THE ENGLISH PROVINCE OF THE CONGREGATION OF CHRISTIAN BROTHERS TRUSTEES Financial Statements**_ 

## **NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS For the year ended 31 August 2020** 

## **10. TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS (Continued)** 

Of the assets noted above, the following represents fixed assets used for social investments: 


**----- Start of picture text -----**<br>
||||
|---|---|---|
|2020|2019|
|£|£|
|Social investments:|
|Schools|878,423|911,184|
|──────── ────────|
|911,184|911,184|
|════════ ════════|
|11. FIXED ASSET INVESTMENTS|
|2020|2019|
|£|£|
|Investments:|
|Market value at 31 August 2019|9,076,370|9,247,304|
|Less: disposals at opening book value|(2,121,889)|(15,854)|
|Add: purchases at cost|794,912|32,835|
|Foreign exchange movements|(42,576)|27,772|
|Cash movements|363,078|(708,378)|
|────────  ───────|
|8,069,895|8,583,679|
|Add: gains on investment|(157,597)|492,691|
|────────   ───────|
|7,912,298|9,076,370|
|════════  ═══════|
|A summary of the investments held is shown below:|
|31 August 2020|
|Market|
|Cost|Value|
|£|£|
|Unit trusts|4,324,538|7,912,298|
|──────── ─ ───────|
|4,324,538|7,912,298|
|════════ ═ ═══════|

**----- End of picture text -----**<br>


## **11. FIXED ASSET INVESTMENTS** 

At 31 August 2020 the charity held investments representing over 5% of the total portfolio in the following entities: 


**----- Start of picture text -----**<br>
||||
|---|---|---|
|% holding|
|Unigestion SRI world equity fund|24%|
|Reditus income fund|10%|
|Setanta Global Equity|7%|
|SSGA Property|6%|
|ILIM Infrastructure Fund|9%|
|Blufield Income Fund|5%|
|Dalmore infrastucture Fund (PIP)|7%|
|═══════|
|2020|2019|
|£|£|
|Uniforms|4,680|4,680|
|════════ ════════|

**----- End of picture text -----**<br>


## **12. STOCK** 

51 



_**THE ENGLISH PROVINCE OF THE CONGREGATION OF CHRISTIAN BROTHERS TRUSTEES Financial Statements**_ 

## **NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS For the year ended 31 August 2020** 

|**13.**|**DEBTORS**|||
|---|---|---|---|
|||**2020**|**2019**|
|||**£**|**£**|
||**Due within one year:**|||
||Trade debtors|129,013|230,214|
||Other debtors and prepayments|100,403|137,476|
||Other loan|-|-|
|||────────|────────|
|||229,416|367,690|
|||════════|════════|
||**Due after one year:**|||
||Other debtors|287,500|312,500|
|||────────|────────|
|||287,500|312,500|
|||════════|════════|
|**14.**|**CREDITORS**|||
|||**2020**|**2019**|
|||**£**|**£**|
||**Due within one year:**|||
||Trade creditors|21,763|43,526|
||Bank overdraft|1,951|-|
||Tax and social security|118,212|51,475|
||Sundry creditors and accruals|1,048,281|515,875|
||Deferred income (note 15)|323,017|441,102|
|||────────|────────|
|||1,513,224|1,051,978|
|||════════|════════|
|||**2020**|**2019**|
|||**£**|**£**|
||**Due after one year:**|||
||Deferred income (note 15)|595,145|603,641|
|||────────|────────|
|||595,145|603,641|
|||════════|════════|
|**15.**|**DEFERRED INCOME**|||
|||**2020**|**2019**|
|||**£**|**£**|
||Balance as at 1 September 2019|1,044,743|1,079,801|
||Amount released to income|(436,693)|<br>(478,659)|
||Amounts returned to parents|(83,738)|<br>(30,134)|
||Amount deferred in the year|393,850|473,735|
|||───────|────────|
||Balance as at 31 August 2020|918,162|1,044,743|
|||═══════|════════|



Deferred income comprises payments in advance for school fees and lease rentals received in advance. 

52 



_**THE ENGLISH PROVINCE OF THE CONGREGATION OF CHRISTIAN BROTHERS TRUSTEES Financial Statements**_ 

## **NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS For the year ended 31 August 2020** 

## **16. PROVISIONS** 


**----- Start of picture text -----**<br>
|||
|---|---|
|Total|
|£|
|At 1 September 2019|662,500|
|New provisions in the year|317,500|
|Increase in provisions in the year|-|
|Provisions reversed in the year|(305,500)|
|────────|
|At 31 August 2020|624,500|
|════════|

**----- End of picture text -----**<br>


The above provisions related to ongoing legal cases. 

## **17. FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS** 


**----- Start of picture text -----**<br>
||||
|---|---|---|
|2020|2019|
|£|£|
|Financial assets measured at amortised cost|146,427|249,894|
|════════ ════════|
|Cash at bank and in hand|1,391,411|1,934,418|
|════════ ════════|
|Financial liabilities measured at amortised cost|120,316|132,042|
|════════ ════════|

**----- End of picture text -----**<br>


Financial assets measured at amortised cost comprise trade and other debtors. Financial liabilities measured at amortised cost comprise trade and other payables 

## **18. RESTRICTED FUNDS** 


**----- Start of picture text -----**<br>
|||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|Balance at|Income Expenditure|Transfers Balance at|
|31.08.19|31.08.20|
|£|£|£|£|£|
|Education in Africa|379,933|20,500|(389,933)|-|10,500|
|School trips|736|3,919|(2,826)|-|1,829|
|──────── ──────── ──────── ──────── ─ ───────|
|380,669|24,419|(392,759)|-|12,329|
|════════ ════════ ════════ ════════ ═ ═══════|

**----- End of picture text -----**<br>


The Education in Africa fund represents funds received and thus to be expended for that purpose. The school trips reserve is used to cover costs of trips run as part of school operations. 

53 



_**THE ENGLISH PROVINCE OF THE CONGREGATION OF CHRISTIAN BROTHERS TRUSTEES Financial Statements**_ 

## **NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS For the year ended 31 August 2020** 

## **19. UNRESTRICTED FUNDS** 

|**Designated Funds**<br>CCB Designated Fund 1<br>CCB Designated Fund 2<br>CCB Designated Fund 3<br>CCB Designated Fund 4<br>St Joseph Designated Fund<br>St Ambrose Designated Fund<br>**Total Designated Funds**<br>General Funds<br>Pension Reserve<br>**Total Unrestricted Funds**|**Balance at**<br>**31.08.19**<br>**Income**<br>**Expenditure**<br>**Gains/**<br>**(losses)**<br>**Transfers**<br>**Balance at**<br>**31.08.20**<br>**£**<br>**£**<br>**£**<br>**£**<br>**£**<br>**£**<br>3,770,401<br>-<br>(176,738)<br>-<br>(67,611)<br>3,526,052<br>1,077,310<br>81,290<br>(429,868)<br>-<br>-<br>728,732<br>1,602,129<br>47,062<br>(537,433)<br>-<br>-<br>1,111,758<br>2,931,778<br>578,902<br>(335,692)<br>-<br>-<br>3,174,988<br>36,043<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>36,043<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-|
|---|---|
||**9,417,661**<br>**707,254**<br>**(1,479,731)**<br>**-**<br>(67,611)<br>**8,577,573**<br>3,349,610<br>2,764,930<br>(3,995,968)<br>(157,597)<br>67,611<br>2,028,586<br>(399,600)<br>-<br>312,200<br>87,400<br>-<br>-|
||**12,367,671**<br>**3,472,184**<br>**(5,163,499)**<br>**(70,197)**<br>**-**<br>**10,606,159**|



The Trustees have designated funds equating to the following: 

Designated Fund 1 – total of the tangible fixed assets and work in progress costs of the Charity. Designated Fund 2 – Mission and Ministry Funding. This fund exists to support the non-educational Mission and Ministry activities of the Trust over the next decade. 

Designated Fund 3 – schools/educational funding. This represents working capital needed by the schools together with a provision for the shortfall in the non-teaching staff pension scheme over the next decade. Designated Fund 4 – amount committed for the care and welfare of the Province’s members over the next decade. 

St Joseph’s Designated Fund – relates to funds held by the school for specific extra-curricular activities. St Ambrose’ Designated Fund – relates to funds set aside for the future replacement of the boiler and school roof. 

## **20. ANALYSIS OF NET ASSETS BETWEEN FUNDS** 

|**ANALYSIS OF NET ASSETS BETWEEN FUNDS**||||
|---|---|---|---|
||**Unrestricted**|**Restricted**||
||**Funds**|**Funds**|<br>**Total**|
||**£**|**£**|<br>**£**|
|Fund balances at 31 August 2020 are represented by:||||
|Tangible fixed assets|3,526,052|-|<br>3,526,052|
|Investments|7,912,298|-|<br>7,912,298|
|Current assets|1,900,678|12,329|<br>1,913,007|
|Creditors|(2,108,369)|-|(2,108,369)|
|Provisions|(624,500)|-|<br>(624,500)|
|Pension deficit|-|-|<br>-|
||───────|───────|───────|
||10,606,159|12,329|10,618,488|
||───────|───────|───────|
||**Unrestricted**|**Restricted**||
||**Funds**|**Funds**|<br>**Total**|
||**£**|**£**|<br>**£**|
|Fund balances at 31 August 2019 are represented by:||||
|Tangible fixed assets|3,770,401|-|<br>3,770,401|
|Investments|9,076,370|-|<br>9,076,370|
|Current assets|2,238,619|380,669|<br>2,619,288|
|Creditors|(1,655,619)|-|(1,655,619)|
|Provisions|(662,500)|-|<br>(662,500)|
|Pension deficit|(399,600)|-|<br>(399,600)|
||───────|───────|───────|
||12,367,671|380,669|12,748,340|
||───────|───────|───────|



54 



_**THE ENGLISH PROVINCE OF THE CONGREGATION OF CHRISTIAN BROTHERS TRUSTEES Financial Statements**_ 

## **NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS For the year ended 31 August 2020** 

## **21. LEASING** 

At 31 August 2020 the charity was committed to making the following payments under non-cancellable operating leases. All operating leases relate to the rent of equipment. 

|operating leases. All operating leases relate to the rent of|equipment.||
|---|---|---|
||**2020**|**2019**|
||**£**|**£**|
|Payments due within:|||
|Within one year|22,394|41,165|
|Between two and five years|34,749|89,900|
||──────|──────|
||57,144|131,065|
||**══════**|**══════**|



The total operating lease payments recognised as an expense was £41,165 (2019: £33,481). 

At 31 August 2020 the charity had entered into operating lease agreements acting as lessor. The following amounts are due to be received within the following time periods: 

||**2020**|**2019**|
|---|---|---|
||**£**|**£**|
|Within one year|117,600|117,600|
|Between two and five years|470,400|470,400|
|In over five years|913,200|1,030,800|
||──────|──────|
||1,501,200|1,618,800|
||**══════**|**══════**|



## **22. RECONCILIATION OF NET (EXPENDITURE)/INCOME TO NET CASH FLOW FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES** 

||**2020**|**2019**|
|---|---|---|
||**£**|**£**|
|Net expenditure for the period|(2,059,655)|(1,758,500)|
|Adjustments in respect of:|||
|Depreciation charges|176,738|192,980|
|Impairment charges|-|27,961|
|Investment income|(406,528)|(171,838)|
|Investment gains|(157,597)||
|Net loss on disposals of fixed assets|2,626|898|
|Decrease in stock|-|2,135|
|Decrease/(increase) in debtors|163,478|(2,672)|
|Increase in creditors|414,750|454,903|
|Pension adjustment|(399,600)|(248,200)|
|Foreign exchange gains|4,416|(27,772)|
||──────|──────|
||(2,261,372)|(1,530,105)|
||══════|══════|



55 



_**THE ENGLISH PROVINCE OF THE CONGREGATION OF CHRISTIAN BROTHERS TRUSTEES Financial Statements**_ 

## **NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS For the year ended 31 August 2020** 

## **23. PENSION COMMITMENT AND OTHER POST RETIREMENT BENEFITS** 

## **Defined Benefit Pension Scheme** 

The group operated a defined benefit scheme in the UK. The last full actuarial valuation was carried out at 5 April 2011 by a qualified independent actuary. The scheme was closed to future accrual of benefit on 31 October 2010. 

Up to and including the year ended 31 August 2013, the Charity could not identify its share of the underlying assets and liabilities on a consistent and reasonable basis. Therefore, in accordance with FRS102 Section 28 ‘Retirement and post-employment benefits’, payments to the scheme were accounted for as for a defined contribution scheme. A creditor was, however, recognised in respect of an agreed deficit recovery plan. 

During the year ended 31 August 2014, the Charity entered into a Deed of Amendment and Apportionment in relation to this scheme which resulted in there being only one employer (the Charity) and therefore the multiemployer exemption is no longer applicable. Accordingly, the scheme is now accounted for under FRS102 Section 28 as a defined benefit scheme as detailed below. 

On 26 October 2018, the High Court handed down a judgement involving the Lloyds Banking Group’s defined benefit pension schemes.  The judgement concluded the schemes should be amended to equalise pension benefits for men and women in relation to guaranteed minimum pension benefits, (‘GMP’).  The Government will need to consider this outcome in conjunction with the Government’s recent consultation on GMP indexation in public sector schemes before concluding on any changes required to LGPS schemes. 

## **The major assumptions used by the actuary were:** 

||**31 August 2020**|**31 August 2019**|
|---|---|---|
|Rate of increase in salaries per annum|N/A|N/A|
|Rate of increase in inflation linked pensions in payment per|||
|annum|3.4%|3.5%|
|Expected rate of return on the plan assets|3.75%|3.85%|
|Discount rate per annum|1.6%|1.7%|
|Inflation assumption per annum|3.4%|3.5%|
|Mortality table pre-retirement|AM/F00|AM/F00|
|Mortality table post retirement|100% S2PA|100% S2PA|
||CMI2019 (1.25%)|CMI2016 (1.25%)|
|**he assets in the scheme were:**|||
||**31 August 2020**|**31 August 2019**|
||**Value £’000**|**Value £’000**|
|Equities|3,596|3,201|
|Bonds|2,292|2,189|
|Cash|896|1,067|
||──────|──────|
|Total fair value of assets|6,784|6,457|
|Present value of funded obligations|(6,592)|(6,857)|
||──────|──────|
|**Total surplus/(deficit)**|**182**|**(400)**|
||══════|══════|



## **The assets in the scheme were:** 

As per section 28.22 of FRS 102 a defined benefit plan asset shall only be recognised to the extent that the Charity is able to recover the surplus. Given there is no expectation the surplus will be recovered, the asset has not been recognised on the balance sheet. 

56 



_**THE ENGLISH PROVINCE OF THE CONGREGATION OF CHRISTIAN BROTHERS TRUSTEES Financial Statements**_ 

## **NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS For the year ended 31 August 2020** 

## **23. PENSION COMMITMENT AND OTHER POST RETIREMENT BENEFITS (continued)** 

**Analysis of gain included in Statement of Financial Activities:** 

||||**31 August 2020**|**31 August 2020**|**31 August 2019**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||||**£’000**|**£’000**|
|(Gains)/losses on scheme assets|and obligations|||(400)|482|
|||||──────|──────|
|**(Gains)/losses shown in Statement of Financial Activities**||||**(400)**|**482**|
|||||══════|══════|
|**Reconciliation of change in defined benefit obligation:**||||||
||||**31 August 2020**||**31 August 2019**|
|||||**£’000**|**£’000**|
|Opening defined benefit obligation||||6,857|5,946|
|Interest cost||||115|157|
|Actuarial losses/(gains) on obligation||||(180)|1,162|
|Benefits paid||||(200)|(476)|
|Past service cost||||-|68|
|||||──────|──────|
|**Closing defined benefit obligation**||||**6,592**|**6,857**|
|||||══════|══════|
|**Reconciliation of change in plan assets:**||||||
||||**31 August 2020**||**31 August 2019**|
|||||**£’000**|**£’000**|
|Opening fair value of plan assets||||6,457|5,780|
|Expected return on plan assets||||111|157|
|Actuarial gains on assets||||90|680|
|Contributions paid by the employer||||316|316|
|Benefits paid||||(200)|(476)|
|||||──────|──────|
|||||**6,774**|**6,457**|
|||||══════|══════|
|**Amounts for the current and previous four periods:**||||||
||**2020**|**2019**|**2018**|**2017**|**2016**|
||**£’000**|**£’000**|**£’000**|**£’000**|**£’000**|
|Defined benefit obligation|6,784|(6,857)|(5,946)|<br>(6,568)|(7,013)|
|Plan assets|(6,592)|6,457|5,780|5,475|5,440|
|Surplus/(deficit)|182|(400)|(166)|(1,093)|(1,573)|



Based on the current Schedule of Contributions, the company/group expects to pay contributions in the region of £316k to the scheme during the next accounting period. 

57 



_**THE ENGLISH PROVINCE OF THE CONGREGATION OF CHRISTIAN BROTHERS TRUSTEES Financial Statements**_ 

## **NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS For the year ended 31 August 2020** 

## **23. PENSION COMMITMENT AND OTHER POST RETIREMENT BENEFITS (continued)** 

## **Teachers’ Pension Scheme** 

The Teachers' Pension Scheme (TPS) is a statutory, contributory, defined benefit scheme, governed by the Teachers' Pensions Regulations 2010, and, from 1 April 2014, by the Teachers’ Pension Scheme Regulations 2014. These regulations apply to teachers in schools and other educational establishments, including academies, in England and Wales that are maintained by local authorities. In addition, teachers in many independent and voluntary-aided schools and teachers and lecturers in some establishments of further and higher education may be eligible for membership. Membership is automatic for full-time teachers and lecturers and, from 1 January 2007, automatic too for teachers and lecturers in part-time employment following appointment or a change of contract. Teachers and lecturers are able to opt out of the TPS. 

## **Teachers' pension budgeting and valuation account** 

The Teachers' Pension Scheme (TPS) is a statutory, contributory, defined benefit scheme, governed by the Teachers’ Pension Scheme Regulations 2014.  These regulations apply to teachers in schools, colleges and other educational establishments.  Membership is automatic for teachers and lecturers at eligible institutions. Teachers and lecturers are able to opt out of the TPS. 

The TPS is an unfunded scheme and members contribute on a ’pay as you go‘ basis – these contributions, along with those made by employers, are credited to the Exchequer under arrangements governed by the above Act. Retirement and other pension benefits are paid by public funds provided by Parliament. Under the definitions set out in FRS 102 (28.11), the TPS is a multi-employer pension plan. The School is unable to identify its share of the underlying assets and liabilities of the plan. 

Accordingly, the charity has taken advantage of the exemption in FRS 102 and has accounted for its contributions to the scheme as if it were a defined-contribution plan. The School has set out above the information available on the plan and the implications for the School in terms of the anticipated contribution rates. 

The valuation of the TPS is carried out in line with regulations made under the Public Service Pension Act 2013. Valuations credit the teachers’ pension account with a real rate of return assuming funds are invested in notional investments that produce that real rate of return. 

The latest actuarial review of the TPS was carried out as at 31 March 2016. The valuation report was published by the Department for Education (the Department) in April 2019.  The valuation reported total scheme liabilities (pensions currently in payment and the estimated cost of future benefits) for service to the effective date of £218 billion, and notional assets (estimated future contributions together with the notional investments held at the valuation date) of £198 billion giving a notional past service deficit of £22 billion. 

As a result of the valuation, new employer contribution rates were set at 23.68% of pensionable pay from September 2019 onwards (compared to 16.48% during 2018/19). DfE has agreed to pay a teacher pension employer contribution grant to cover the additional costs during the 2019-20 academic year. 

A full copy of the valuation report and supporting documentation can be found on the Teachers’ Pension Scheme website. 

## **24. CUSTODIAN TRUSTEE HOLDINGS** 

The Trustees hold certain investments and bank accounts as custodian Trustee holdings only. The assets, totalling £175,104 at 31 August 2020 (2019: £174,783) are held securely and separately from those of the Trustees who are responsible for their safe custody.  They are not therefore included in the Trust’s balance sheet. 

58 



_**THE ENGLISH PROVINCE OF THE CONGREGATION OF CHRISTIAN BROTHERS TRUSTEES Financial Statements**_ 

## **NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS For the year ended 31 August 2020** 

## **25. POST BALANCE SHEET EVENTS** 

**Runnymede St Edward’s Preparatory School voluntary aided school application** 

Prior to the balance sheet date, a plan was proposed whereby an application was submitted for the school to become a Voluntary Aided school. 

This application was approved and the school will become a voluntary aided school from 1 September 2020 and will cease to form part of the operations of the charity from this date. 

The net book value attributed to the operations of Runnymede St Edward’s Preparatory School, and therefore donated to the voluntary aided school on 1 September 2020 totalled £582,689. 

## **Sale of Redcourt St Anselm’s Preparatory School building** 

After the balance sheet date the premises of Redcourt St Anselm’s Preparatory School Birkenhead have been sold for a value in excess of their carrying value. 

## **26. RELATED PARTIES** 

During the year the Trustees were involved with the following related party transactions: 

|**Related party**|**Lease**|**Contributions**|**Reimbursement**|**Donations**|**Outstanding**||**Outstanding**||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||**payments**|**by colleges to**|**of costs incurred**|**made to the**|**at 31 August**||**at 31 August**||
||**received**|**programmes**||**college**|**2020**||**2019**||
||**£**|**£**|**£**|**£**||**£**||**£**|
|St Ambrose College|26,700|-|-|-||-||-|
|St Anselm’s College|30,000|-|-|-||-||-|
|St Edward’s College|-|-|-|-||-||-|
|St Joseph’s College|30,000|-|-|-||-||-|



## **Related party relationships** 

The four colleges named above are considered to represent related parties due to either the English Province itself or certain of its Trustees being members of the colleges, together with the English Province having the ability to appoint a number of college governors. 

The Trustees have taken the view that it would not be appropriate to consolidate the accounts of the academy trusts under FRS 102 as the Academies must abide by strict financial and operating provisions laid down by the Department for Education and these amount to severe long term restrictions. 

The Trustees comprise Christian Brothers who, in common with the non-Trustee Brothers, are provided with living accommodation and daily essentials by the Charity. 

During the year the Trustees, similar to the non-Trustee Christian Brothers, donated all of their earned income by perpetual gift aid to the Charity. In the year to 31 August 2020 this amounted to £60,396 (2019: £58,827). Similarly, as stated in Note 8, the Trustees have their living and personal expenses borne by the Charity and they receive no remuneration in connection with their duties as Trustees. Expenses relating to travel and other costs of £nil (2019: £nil) were reimbursed to two Trustees. 

## **Other entities** 

The Charity has also had transactions with the Edmund Rice Bicentennial Trust in the year. A total of £nil has been donated in the year (2019: £nil). During the year £nil (2019: £223) was recharged to the Edmund Rice Bicentennial Trust in respect of catering costs incurred by the Charity. This is linked to the Charity as Br P Gordon is a trustee of the Edmund Rice Bicentennial Trust as well as this charity. 

59 



_**THE ENGLISH PROVINCE OF THE CONGREGATION OF CHRISTIAN BROTHERS TRUSTEES Financial Statements**_ 

## **NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS For the year ended 31 August 2020** 

## **26. RELATED PARTIES (continued)** 

The Charity has also had transactions in the year with CCB Northern Ireland Trust. During the year the Charity recharged the Northern Ireland Trust £8,454 representing expenses incurred on their behalf (2019: £6,305). At the year end the amount owed to the Charity was £8,454 (2019: £6,305). This is linked to the Charity as Br E Garvey is a Trustee of CCB Northern Ireland Trust as well as the English Trust. 

The Charity also had transactions in the year with ‘The Congregation of Christian Brothers European Province - Republic of Ireland” (CCBEP-ROI), a Charity registered in the Republic of Ireland. At 31 August 2020 the Charity owed £13,558 (2019: £23,908) to the CCBEP-ROI representing expenses incurred. 

## **27. COMPARATIVE STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES** 

||**Unrestricted**|**Restricted**|**Total**|**Total**|
|---|---|---|---|---|
||**funds**|**funds**|**2019**|**2018**|
||**£**|**£**|**£**|**£**|
|**INCOME:**|||||
|Donations and legacies|14,902|-|14,902|561,043|
|Investment income|171,838|-|171,838|241,257|
|**_Income from charitable activities_**|||||
|Operation of the schools|3,699,412|23,261|3,722,673|4,094,922|
|Other income|328,944|-|328,944|386,321|
||───────|───────|───────|───────|
|**Total income**|**4,215,096**|**23,261**|**4,238,357**|**4,947,092**|
||───────|───────|───────|───────|
|**EXPENDITURE ON:**|||||
|Raising funds|33,467|-|33,467|41,591|
|Charitable activities|5,593,506|31,990|5,625,496|5,265,623|
||───────|───────|───────|───────|
|**Total expenditure:**|**5,626,973**|**31,990**|**5,658,963**|**5,307,214**|
||───────|───────|───────|───────|
|**Net (expenditure)/income**|**(920,420)**|**545,000**|**(375,420)**|**(360,122)**|
|Transfers between funds|-|-|-|-|
|**Net (expenditure)/income after transfers**|**(920,420)**|**545,000**|**(375,420)**|**(360,122)**|
|Net gains on investments|235,909|-|235,909|647,912|
|**Other recognised gains/(losses)**|||||
|Actuarial gains/(losses) on defined benefit|||||
|pension scheme|634,000|-|634,000|193,000|
||────-──|────-───|─-──────|───────|
|**Net movement in funds**|**(50,511)**|**545,000**|**494,489**|**480,790**|
|**_Reconciliation of funds_**|||||
|Total funds brought forward|14,001,660|-|14,001,660|13,520,870|
||───────|───────|───────|───────|
|**Total funds carried forward**|13,951,149|545,000|14,496,149|**14,001,660**|
||═══════|═══════|═══════|═══════|



60