THE BRITISH SOCIETY FOR CELL BIOLOGY FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023 Registered Charity number: 265816
Jacob Cavenagh & Skeet 5 Robin Hood Lane Sutton Surrey SM1 2SW
THE BRITISH SOCIETY FOR CELL BIOLOGY
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023
Contents
| Contents | Page |
| Officers and Advisers | 1 |
| Executive Committee’s Report | 2-7 |
| Independent Examiner’s Report | 8 |
| Statement of Financial Activities | 9 |
| Balance Sheet | 10 |
| Notes to the Financial Statements | 11-14 |
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THE BRITISH SOCIETY FOR CELL BIOLOGY REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS
Trustees/Officers:
Trustees/Officers: Laura Machesky President Giampietro Schiavo Treasurer Carine De Marcos Lousa Secretary Jason King Membership Secretary Susana Godinho Meetings Secretary Stephen Robinson Web and social media Officer Ciaran Morrison Newsletter Secretary Tom Nightingale Newsletter Secretary Trustees/Officers Elect: Simon Allison Secretary Elect Nathalie Signoret Membership Secretary Elect Viji Draviam Meetings Secretary Elect Other Executive Committee Members: Sharon Tooze until 8.11.23 Honor Fell Secretary Folma Buss until 8.11.23 Honor Fell Secretary Daniel Booth from 8.11.23 Honor Fell Secretary/Childcare Officer Victoria Cowling Summer studentships Darius Koester Science advocacy Officer Alex Fellows until 8.11.23 Postdoc representative Aymen al-Rawi from 8.11.23 Postdoc representative Elect Emily Lucas PhD student representative Liz Miller from 8.11.23 Tom McVicar from 8.11.23 Helen Matthews from 8.11.23
Co-opted Committee Members: David Archer (Schools Liaison) until 15.04.24
Key Management Personnel: Prof L Machesky President Prof G Schiavo Treasurer Dr Carine De Marcos Lousa Secretary Bankers: HSBC Bank plc Arlington Business Centre Millshaw Park Lane Leeds LS11 0PA Virgin Money 7 Gold Street Northampton NN1 1EN Independent Examiner: Miriam Hickson CTA FCA 5 Robin Hood Lane Sutton Surrey SM1 2SW Contact Address: C/O Prof G Schiavo Queen Square Institute of Neurology University College London Queen Square London WC2N 3BG
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THE BRITISH SOCIETY FOR CELL BIOLOGY EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE’S REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023
The Officers (who are the trustees of the Society for the purposes of charity law) have pleasure in presenting their report and the independently examined accounts of the Society for the year ended 31 December 2023. These accounts have been prepared in accordance with the Charities Act 2011, the Statement of Recommended Practice (Charities SORP 2019 (FRS102)), Financial Reporting Standard 102 (FRS 102); and the constitution of the Society.
Structure, Governance and Management
Officers and committee
Under the constitution of the Society, the Officers of the Society are a President, a Secretary, a Treasurer, a Meetings Convenor, a Membership Secretary, a Newsletter Editor and a Website Co-ordinator. There is also an Executive Committee of the Society consisting of the Officers and twelve other elected members.
The Executive Committee is elected at the Annual General Meeting, with the Officers being elected by the Executive Committee and the President being nominated by the Executive Committee.
The trustees are trained by having an at least 1-year transition period in which case the new trustee shadows the previous trustee, thus ensuring they know how to fill the role.
The Executive Committee prepares the Agenda for meetings of the Society, and between meetings acts as necessary on behalf of the Society; reporting on any such actions to the next meeting of the Society.
The individuals who served as Officers and Executive Committee members during the year, and since the yearend, were as follows:
Dr D Archer (Joined 1998) Dr S Godinho (Joined 2017) Dr S Robinson (Joined 2017) Dr J King (Joined 2018) Dr C de Marcos Lousa (Joined 2018) Prof C Morrison (Joined 2019) Prof V Cowling (Joined 2020) Dr T Nightingale (Joined 2020) Prof G Schiavo (Joined 2020)
Dr A al-Rawi (Joined 2023) Dr H Matthews (Joined 2023) Dr T McVicar (Joined 2023) Dr L Miller (Joined 2023)
Dr D Koester (Joined 2022) Prof V Draviam (Joined 2022) Prof L Machesky (Joined 2022) Prof N Signoret (Joined 2022) Ms E Lucas (Joined 2022) Dr S Allison (Joined 2022) Dr D Booth (Joined 2022)
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THE BRITISH SOCIETY FOR CELL BIOLOGY EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE’S REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023
(CONTINUED)
The Executive Committee members in office at the date of this report are detailed on the previous page. The Key Management Personnel of the charity as listed on page 1 are in charge of directing, controlling, running and operating the charity on a day-to-day basis. No remuneration is paid to any of the Key Management Personnel or the other trustees.
Constitution
The Society is constituted under a constitution executed in 1965 and amended in 2014. The Society is a registered charity, number 265816.
Risk assessment
The major risks to which the Society is exposed, as identified by the Executive Committee, have been reviewed in the year and systems are in place to mitigate those.
As we are a society, one major risk is a drop in numbers of members. To mitigate this risk, we have introduced easier ways of maintaining membership via direct debit, and introductory packages for PhD students that include 3 years membership at reduced rate. We hope that once students see the benefit of membership they will continue once they graduate.
Objectives and Activities
The objects of the Society are to promote the advancement of research in relation to all branches of cell biology and to encourage the interchange of information and support career development. The Society generally aims to fulfil these objects by organising and sponsoring meetings each year on topics relevant to cell biology; funding travel grants to PhD students, postdoctoral scientists and group leaders; Funding training courses in Cell Biology for early career scientists; Issuing a yearly newsletter and maintaining a website (www.bscb.org).
The Executive Committee confirm that they have had due regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission relating to public benefit.
Achievements and Performance
The Company of Biologists (CoB) awarded the BSCB with a Block Grant of £35,000 and a Travel Grant of £40,000 in 2023, and kindly allowed the BSCB to carry over funding for PI Support Grants and Practical Courses. The support provided by the CoB is vitally important for the BSCB and enables it to promote Cell Biology within the UK across schools, universities and to support the research community. Despite the continuing threat represented by the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, hybrid and in person conferences and meetings, as well as summer placements, have been resumed in 2023. As a result, the BSCB has experienced sustained demands for travel grants and summer fellowships. In contrast, the requests for PI support and courses remain lower than before the pandemic.
Membership
At the end of 2023, the BSCB had 1018 members, of which 345 are students. The total membership is slightly higher than last year, with numbers continuing to slowly recover towards pre-pandemic levels. Nevertheless, the BSCB is continuing to promote new membership initiatives to secure new members. Our membership fulfilment services are provided by HG3 Ltd.
Scientific Networking
The BSCB has fully resumed its well-established function of organising scientific meetings for the Cell Biology community. In 2023, we co-organised the Dynamic Cell V Meeting in partnership with the Biochemical Society The conference was very successful with 159 participants and 94 abstracts submitted, which resulted in 64 onsite posters.
In addition, we provided support for several annual short meetings, such as the UK Microbiology Network and the UK Microtubule meeting. Selected reports from these smaller meetings will be published in the BCSB Magazine where they are widely accessible to all our members.
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THE BRITISH SOCIETY FOR CELL BIOLOGY EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE’S REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023
(CONTINUED)
Career development
BSCB postdoc and PhD representatives have established two prizes to recognize excellence at their career stages. At our last meeting, they have helped to select talks for the conference and organised an Early Career Researcher (ECR) social event (pub quiz) that took place on the first night, where people networked and had fun. A “meet the speaker” lunch time event has also been organised.
Summer Internships
These awards aim to encourage the very best undergraduate students to consider research careers in cell biology. Awards were based on competitive applications scored by by eight members of the BSCB committee. In 2023, we received 43 applications, and chose 13 for funding. These research projects were designed to be carried out in the laboratory, but several proposals had contingency plans for been carried out remotely, if necessary, e.g., using bioinformatics approaches, with a clear description of how remote supervision would be conducted. We confirmed our increased level of funding to £340/week (to be in line with the minimum wage for under 23s, which is £9.18/h for a 36.5 h week and increased living costs). Most projects were for 8 weeks. Once completed, each student generated a report that was published in our BSCB newsletter.
Scientific Awards
We continued to promote Cell Biology by awarding prestigious scientific prizes at multiple career levels.
The Hooke medal is awarded to an outstanding cell biologist who started their own laboratory within the last 14 years. In 2023, we awarded the Hooke Medal to Andrew Carter , a group leader at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge. Andrew fosters a research environment where cell biology, biochemistry and structural biology are integrated and has widely contributed to our understanding of how molecular motors work. The other BSCB senior award is the Women in Cell Biology (WICB) Early Career Medal , which was established in 2015 to mark the 50[th] anniversary of the founding of the BSCB. It is an annual honour awarded to an outstanding female cell biologist who has started her own research group in the UK within the last seven years. In 2023, the WICB award went to Anjali Kusumbe , a group leader at the MRC Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Oxford. Anjali made fundamental contributions to the understanding of vascular regulation of bone ageing and vascular control of age-associated diseases, such as arthritis and bone metastases. We hope that this BSCB award contributes to recognizing women’s success and provides role models for future generations.
Two junior prizes, which are awarded by ad-hoc committee, led by the BSCB postdoc and PhD representatives, are associated with two additional medals. The BSCB postdoc award is given to the next generation of inspirational scientific leaders, who have already made a major contribution to UK/Ireland Cell Biology during their postdoctoral training. The BSCB Postdoctoral Researcher Medal Winner 2023 is Tom Williams , a postdoctoral fellow at the MRC Protein Phosphorylation and Ubiquitylation Unit (MRC PPU), University of Dundee. During his PhD at the MRC LMB, University of Cambridge, he investigated the regulatory mechanisms of micropinocytosis, whereas for his postdoc at the MRC PPU, he transitioned to studying how proteasome assembly is induced upon stress. Tom is also a champion of outreach activities, designing several cell biologybased games and activities for young kids.
Luka Smalinskaitė is the recipient of the 2023 Raff Medal BSCB PhD Award . Luka’s PhD project in the laboratory of Ramanujan Hegde at the MRC LMB in Cambridge aims to explain how membrane proteins are correctly inserted into the lipid membrane in the endoplasmic reticulum, and how alterations of this process cause diseases, such as cystic fibrosis and retinitis pigmentosa. In addition to her research, Luka is helping to organise the annual international MRC LMB student symposium and is a trained mental health first-aider.
The four winners were awarded their medals during the 2023 Dynamic Cell V meeting. Further details of their work can be found on the BSCB website.
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THE BRITISH SOCIETY FOR CELL BIOLOGY EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE’S REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023
(CONTINUED)
We run two additional competitions each year which are open to junior scientists: the BSCB Science Writing Prize and Image Competition . The winning image was submitted by Liam Hill (Cardiff University) with honorable mentions for Nikki Paul (Beatson Institute for Cancer Research) and Hoang Anh (University College London). The winning essay was submitted by Aleksandra Pluta , a PhD student with Shona Murphy at the University of Oxford. These awards have been presented during the 2023 Dynamic Cell V meeting and published on our website and in the next edition of the BSCB newsletter.
Supporting attendance at scientific meetings
The Honor Fell Travel Awards have been extremely popular, enabling students and postdocs to attend meetings worldwide. These have been administered by Folma Buss and Sharon Tooze until November 2023, when their role has been taken by Daniel Booth and Thomas McVicar. Because attending national and international meetings is a crucial aspect of early career scientist training, we attempt to fund all eligible applications providing they are presenting a poster. As mentioned before, we experienced an overwhelming interest for this scheme, with 61 awards made in 2023.
Our PI Support scheme is also very important. It enables PIs with limited or no funding to attend meetings to support their development. Despite the relaxation of the COVID-19 rules, applications for this scheme have not yet recovered to pre-pandemic levels, or to the same level of other funding initiatives (e.g., Honor Fell Travel Awards). Similarly, the Practical Courses fund has tended to be slightly undersubscribed. However, we anticipate that this trend will revert soon, and in fact courses were identified in our member survey as something people want more of. We aim to advertise more this possible source of funding to members.
Details of the application process for these CoB Award Schemes are provided on the website and in our BSCB Magazine.
Outreach Activities
Committee member Darius Koester from the University of Warwick is our “Science Advocacy and Outreach Officer”. Darius continues to use the email list of interested BSCB members to coordinate our society’s responses to various governmental calls for consultation flagged up by the Royal Society of Biology. Key science policy information is shared with our membership via the website and Magazine.
We also published our 2023 BSCB magazine to publicize the BSCB and our work. The BSCB magazine is in colour, the last edition has been printed in 1,000 copies and distributed to all members. It was also available at the Dynamic Cell V meeting at Loughborough University for attendees to pick up and take away. Tom Nightingale and Ciaran Morrison are the committee members responsible for this task and have finalised an editorial topic on sustainability in cell biology in the last edition, which also features a special interview with the BSCB President Laura Machesky.
Website and Social Media
The BSCB website (www.bscb.org) also allows members and the wider cell biology community to keep informed about our activities. The process of revamping the BSCB website has continued in 2023 under the coordination of committee member Stephen Robinson with the external support of the company Blue2. The new BSCB website will be directly linked to social media, such as X (formerly known as Twitter) and YouTube, and will be more accessible to members with disabilities.
The CoB logo is placed in a prominent position on the top of the sidebar and on every page, and the CoB’s very generous support is acknowledged on the main landing page text and at various places throughout the site. We also promote CoB events and journals on our website and Magazine, and through re-tweeting.
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THE BRITISH SOCIETY FOR CELL BIOLOGY EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE’S REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED
31 DECEMBER 2023
(CONTINUED)
The BSCB committee has recently decided to enhance the BSCB presence on social media, mostly X. To this end, the BSCB has adopted the creation of a X subgroup (Viji Draviam, Susana Godinho, Stephen Robinson) who will share the BSCB X login details and will regularly tweet about cell biology from the @official_BSCB account, inviting ambassadors and students to retweet.
Financial Review
Reserves
The Executive Committee regularly reviews the reserves of the charity to ensure that sufficient liquid funds are available for the Society to meet its ongoing obligations. The trustees require a level of unrestricted free reserves of £125,000 to meet existing and committed expenditure in case income is not received. Total funds at 31 December 2023 were £236,264 (2022 funds: £263,574, and 2021: £330,891).
Of these, £28,022 (2022: £35,522) were restricted unspent COB grants. Unrestricted funds, which constitute free reserves were £208,242 (2022: £228,052). The current level of free reserves is therefore more than sufficient to cover all the existing and committed expenditure.
Investment Policy
The Executive Committee’s policy at present is to invest in low-risk and reasonably liquid assets, so that funds are available to meet any unforeseen needs that arise because of meeting activities.
Future Plans
We are currently planning in person meetings for 2024-2026. The BSCB will co-organise the European Cytoskeleton Forum meeting with the Biochemical Society, which will be focused on cell migration and mechanical forces and will include a specific session of early career researchers. The 2025 Meeting will be the Commemorative CoB 100-year Anniversary Conference (in the UK) with BSCB, SEB and BSDB, likely to take place in April 2025. The goal is to bring the three societies together in a larger conference covering the three interest areas. In 2026, we are discussing with the Biochemical Society and the BSDB for a new edition of the Dynamic Cell joint meeting.
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THE BRITISH SOCIETY FOR CELL BIOLOGY EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE’S REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023 (CONTINUED)
Executive Committee’s Responsibilities
The Executive Committee is responsible for preparing the Annual Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice.
Charity law requires the Executive Committee to prepare financial statements for each financial year, which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Society and of the surplus or deficit for that period. In preparing those financial statements, the Executive Committee have:
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select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
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observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP;
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make judgments and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
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state whether applicable UK Accounting Standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements; and
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prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in business.
The Executive Committee has overall responsibility for ensuring that the Society has an appropriate system of controls, financial and otherwise. It is also responsible for keeping proper accounting records, which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the Society. It is also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the Society and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
Giampietro Schiavo Trustee
Date: 13/06/2024
INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES OF THE BRITISH SOCIETY FOR CELL BIOLOGY I report lo the charity trustees on my examination of the accounts of the Trust (the Trust) for the year ended 31 December 2023. Responsibilities and basis of report As the charity's trustees you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 I'the Act'l. I report in respect of my examination of the Trust's accounts as carried out under section 145 of the Act and in carrying out my examination I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 14515llbl of the Act. Indepèndent examine$ statement I have completed my examination. l confim that no matters have come lo my attention in connection w'f(h the examination giving me cause lo believe that in any material respeel.. accounting records were not kept in respect of the Trust as required by section 130 of the Act., or the accounts do not accord with those records". or the accounts do not comply with the app11cable requirements coneerning the form and conlenl of accounts sel out in the Charities (Accounts and Report) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a 'lrue and fair view, which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination", or the accounts have not been prepared in aOrdanCe with the methods and principles of Aecounling and Reporting by Charities. Slalemenl of Recommended Practice applicable lo charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and the Republic of Ireland IFRS 1021 I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination lo which attention should be drawn in this report in order lo enable a proper understanding of the accounts lo be reached. Miriam Hickson CTA FCA Jacob Cavenagh & Skeel 5 Robin Hood Lane Sutton Surrey SM12SW Date. l 2014
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THE BRITISH SOCIETY FOR CELL BIOLOGY STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES FOR THE YEAR TO 31 DECEMBER 2023
| Note | Unrestricted | Unrestricted | Restricted | Total 2023 | Unrestricted | Unrestricted | Restricted | Restricted | Total 2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Funds | Funds | Funds | Funds | |||||||
| Income from: | £ | £ | £ | £ | £ | £ | ||||
| Grants | 2 | 35,000 | 40,000 | 75,000 | 35,000 | - | 35,000 | |||
| Investments | 255 | - | 255 | 453 | - | 453 | ||||
| Charitable activities | ||||||||||
| Subscriptions | 26,610 | - | 26,610 | 33,016 | - | 33,016 | ||||
| Other income | 1,715 | - | 1,715 | - | - | - | ||||
| Total income | 63,580 | 40,000 | 103,580 | 68,469 | - | 68,469 | ||||
| Expenditure on: | ||||||||||
| Charitable activities | ||||||||||
| Grants payable: | ||||||||||
| CoB | 4 | - | 47,500 | 47,500 | 7,964 | 42,854 | 50,818 | |||
| Other grants | 871 | - | 871 | 5,723 | - | 5,723 | ||||
| Studentships | 34,320 | - | 34,320 | 35,055 | - | 35,055 | ||||
| Costs of meetings | 2,707 | - | 2,707 | 2,899 | - | 2,899 | ||||
| Website expenses | 1,873 | - | 1,873 | 5,816 | - | 5,816 | ||||
| Newsletter costs | 4,734 | - | 4,734 | 4,033 | - | 4,033 | ||||
| Membership fulfilment | 34,198 | - | 34,198 | 25,654 | - | 25,654 | ||||
| services | ||||||||||
| Examiner’s | 3,516 | - | 3,516 | 3,119 | - | 3,119 | ||||
| remuneration | ||||||||||
| Miscellaneous | 354 | - | 354 | 323 | - | 323 | ||||
| Subscriptions | 242 | - | 242 | 705 | - | 705 | ||||
| Insurance | 575 | - | 575 | 1,641 | - | 1,641 | ||||
| Total expenditure | 83,390 | 47,500 | 130,890 | 92,932 | 42,854 | 135,786 | ||||
| Net | (19,810) | (7,500) | (27,310) | (24,463) | (42,854) | (67,317) | ||||
| (expenditure)/income | ||||||||||
| Transfer between | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||||
| funds | ||||||||||
| Net movement in | (19,810) | (7,500) | (27,310) | (24,463) | (42,854) | (67,317) | ||||
| funds | ||||||||||
| Funds brought forward | ||||||||||
| at 1 January 2023 | 228,052 | 35,522 | 263,574 | 252,515 | 78,376 | 330,891 | ||||
| Funds carried | ||||||||||
| forward at 31 | 208,242 | 28,022 | 236,264 | 228,052 | 35,522 | 263,574 | ||||
| December 2023 |
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THE BRITISH SOCIETY FOR CELL BIOLOGY BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31 DECEMBER 2023
| Current assets: Debtors 5 Cash at bank and in hand Liabilities: Creditors: amounts falling due in one year 6 Total assets less current liabilities 7 Funds Restricted funds 4 Unrestricted funds Total funds |
2023 2022 £ £ 699 1,119 249,524 265,525 250,223 266,644 (13,959) ( 3,070) 236,264 263,574 28,022 35,522 208,242 228,052 236,264 263,574 |
2023 2022 £ £ 699 1,119 249,524 265,525 250,223 266,644 (13,959) ( 3,070) 236,264 263,574 28,022 35,522 208,242 228,052 236,264 263,574 |
|---|---|---|
35,522 228,052 263,574 |
Approved by the Trustees 13/06/2024 and signed on their behalf by:
Laura Machesky Giampietro Schiavo Trustee Trustee
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THE BRITISH SOCIETY FOR CELL BIOLOGY NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023
1. Accounting Policies
The Society is constituted under a constitution executed in 1965, and amended in 2014 and in 2022. The Society is a registered charity, number 265816. It’s registered office is C/O Prof G Schiavo, Queen Square Institute of Neurology , University College London , Queen Square, London WC2N 3BG. The Society meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS 102.
The principal accounting policies adopted, judgements and key sources of estimation uncertainty in the preparation of the financial statements are as follows:
a) Basis of accounting
The financial statements are prepared in accordance with the charity’s constitution, the Charities Statement of Recommended Practice (Charities SORP (FRS 102)) and Financial Reporting Standard 102 (FRS 102). The financial statements are drawn up on the historical cost basis of accounting. The financial statements are prepared in sterling, which is the functional currency of the charity and rounded to the nearest £.
The trustees have prepared detailed forecasts and cashflow projections which they believe are based upon reasonable assumptions. The forecasts show that the charity should be able to operate for the foreseeable future and thus the trustees consider it appropriate to prepare the financial statements on a going concern basis.
b) Funds
General unrestricted funds represent the funds of the Society that are not subject to any restrictions regarding their use and are available for application on the general purposes of the Society.
Restricted funds are those subject to specific trusts, which may be declared by the donor or with their authority. The restricted funds of the Society are restricted income funds given for specific purposes, which are expendable at the discretion of the Executive Committee in accordance with particular activities of the Society.
c) Income
Voluntary income and donations (including legacies) are accounted for once the charity has entitlement to the income, it is probable the income will be received and the amount of income receivable can be reliably measured.
Subscriptions and mailing list sales represent amounts receivable during the year. Meetings income is recognised in the period when the meeting takes place and investment income (which represents interest on National Savings deposits and bank accounts) are the amounts receivable for the year.
d) Expenditure
Expenditure is accrued as soon as a liability is considered probable, discounted to present value for longer term liabilities.
Certain expenditure is directly attributable to specific activities and has been included in those cost categories. Support and governance costs attributable to more than one activity are apportioned across categories based on an estimate of the proportion of time spent by staff on those activities.
Grants and awards are accounted for when paid over, or when awarded, if that award creates a binding obligation on the charity.
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THE BRITISH SOCIETY FOR CELL BIOLOGY NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023 (continued)
1. Accounting Policies (continued)
e) Joint arrangements
Where applicable the share of income and expenditure from joint arrangements to put on meetings in the year is accounted for under the appropriate heading in the Statement of Financial Activities.
f) Debtors
Grants receivable and other debtors are included at the settlement amount due. Prepayments are valued at the amount prepaid.
g) Cash at bank and in hand
Cash at bank and in hand includes cash and short term highly liquid investments with a short maturity of three months or less from the date of opening of the deposit.
h) Creditors and provisions
Creditors and provisions are recognised where the charity has a present obligation arising from a past event that will probably result in the transfer of funds to a third party and the amount due to settle the obligation can be measured or estimated reliably. Creditors and provisions are recognised at their settlement amount.
i) Financial instruments
The charity only has financial assets and 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.
j) Foreign currency translation
Transactions in foreign currency are translated at the rate ruling on the date of the transaction. Balances denominated in foreign currencies are retranslated at the year-end, with the gain or loss on retranslation going through the Statement of Financial Activities for the year.
2. Grants received
Grants of £75,000 (2022: £35,000) were received from The Company of Biologists during the year. £40,000 (2022: £nil) of this was restricted as set out in Note 4 below, and £35,000 (2022: £35,000) was unrestricted.
3. Trustees/Officers and employees
No Trustees or any person connected with them, received, or is due to receive, any remuneration for the year directly or indirectly from the Society's funds.
There were five Trustees paid in 2023 totalling £2,289 (2022: 6 trustees paid £2,005) in respect of reimbursed travel, subsistence, subscriptions, meetings, website expenses, membership and other expenses during the year. There were Nil third parties paid in 2023 (2022: nil) of costs for the Trustees to attend the Annual Spring Meeting. Nil (2022: nil) Trustees received Travel Grants of £Nil (2022: nil).
The Society has no employees.
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THE BRITISH SOCIETY FOR CELL BIOLOGY NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023 (continued)
4. Restricted funds
| 2023 Balance b/f £ Abercrombie Conference Fund 1,324 CoB/Honor Fell Travel Fund - CoB/PI Travel Fund 28,555 CoB/Training Course Fund 5,643 35,522 |
Income Expenditure Transfers Balance c/f £ £ £ £ - - - 1,324 40,000 40,000 - - - 7,500 - 21,055 - - - 5,643 40,000 47,500 - 28,022 |
|---|---|
| 2022 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Balance b/f | Income | Expenditure | Transfers | Balance c/f | |||
| £ | £ | £ | £ | £ | |||
| Abercrombie Conference Fund | 1,324 | - | - | - | 1,324 | ||
| CoB/Honor Fell Travel Fund | 37,987 | - | 37,987 | - | - | ||
| CoB/PI Travel Fund | 33,422 | - | 4,867 | - | 28,555 | ||
| CoB/Training Course Fund | 5,643 | - | - | - | 5,643 | ||
| 78,376 | - | 42,854 | - | 35,522 |
The Abercrombie Conference Fund is money held on behalf of the Trustees of the Abercrombie Conference Fund which will be used to sponsor meetings on cell motility.
The CoB/Honor Fell Travel Fund relates to funds granted specifically to enable the making of grants to student delegates to cover the costs of travel to meetings of the Society.
The CoB/PI Travel Fund relates to grants made to members and principal Investigators to enable them to travel to cell biology meetings – not just BSCB meetings, but also other meetings where cell biology is covered.
The CoB/Training Course Fund relates to grants made to members to attend training courses.
Further details of the awards made in the year are given in the Executive Committee’s Report.
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THE BRITISH SOCIETY FOR CELL BIOLOGY NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023 (continued)
| 5. Debtors Prepayments and accrued income 6. Creditors due within one year Accruals and deferred income 7. Analysis of net assets by fund Current assets Current liabilities At 31 December 2023 Current assets Current liabilities At 31 December 2022 |
Unrestricted Funds £ 222,201 (13,959) 208,242 Unrestricted Funds £ 231,122 (3,070) 228,052 |
2023 2022 £ £ 699 1,119 2023 2022 £ £ 13,959 3,070 Restricted Total Funds Funds £ £ 28,022 250,223 - (13,959) 28,022 236,264 Restricted Total Funds Funds £ £ 35,522 266,644 - (3,070) 35,522 263,574 |
2023 2022 £ £ 699 1,119 2023 2022 £ £ 13,959 3,070 Restricted Total Funds Funds £ £ 28,022 250,223 - (13,959) 28,022 236,264 Restricted Total Funds Funds £ £ 35,522 266,644 - (3,070) 35,522 263,574 |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 236,264 | ||||
| Total Funds £ 266,644 (3,070) 263,574 |