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PROVINCE OF CAMBRIDGESHIRE CHARITY FOR CARE AND RELIEF 


ANNUAL REPORT 

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 

31ST MARCH 2025 



PROVINCE OF CAMBRIDGESHIRE CHARITY FOR CARE AND RELIEF 

## **Charity name and number:** 

Province of Cambridgeshire Charity for Care and Relief – No 275991 

## **Correspondence address:** 

Freemasons’ Hall Bateman Street Cambridge CB2 1NA 

**Trustees:** 

D M Blair –  Chairman KJ Mader A Delaune –  Secretary G Brennan C E Brown –  Treasurer S V Napier J Ferries                    –  Asst Secretary P B Kilby A M Badcock J Lambert J Rowney J Sinclair 

## **Professional advisors:** 

## _**Bankers:**_ 

Lloyds TSB Bank plc Cattle Market Branch 3 High Green Great Shelford Cambridge CB2 5EQ 

## _**Investment advisors:**_ 

Rathbones City House 126 – 130 Hills Road Cambridge CB 2 1RE 

## _**Independent examiners:**_ 

P Skipper 

H Aouad 

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## **PROVINCE OF CAMBRIDGESHIRE CHARITY FOR CARE AND RELIEF ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025** 

The Charity is constituted by Deed of Trust and is a Registered Charity, number 275991.  The objects of the Charity are to dispense funds for the benefit of poor and distressed masons of the Province of Cambridgeshire, Masonic Charities, and for other charitable institutions, societies or objects.  The Trustees who served during the year were: 

|D M Blair–Chairman|J Lambert|G Brennan|
|---|---|---|
|A Delaune –Secretary|P B Kilby|K J Mader|
|C Brown –Treasurer|J Rowney||
|J Ferries - Assistant Secretary|A Badcock||
|J M A Sinclair|S V Napier||



The Chairman, Treasurer and KJ Mader are Trustees by virtue of their office in the Province of Cambridgeshire whilst the Provincial Grand Master appoints the secretary (annually) and three other members (for three years). The Trustees may also co-opt Trustees from time to time.  The Trustees met four times in the year to consider grants and review operational, financial and investment performance. None of the Trustees received any remuneration or other payment from the Charity in the year. 

Total incoming resources, comprising grants, donations and investment income, for the year were £61,061 (2024-  £20,919), whilst total grants made during the year amounted to £13,092 (2024 - £38,203), details of which are shown in note 3 to the accounts. In addition to supporting brethren and their dependents throughout Cambridgeshire the Trustees are committed to making significant donations to appropriate non masonic causes where we are able to do so. 

The Charity’s total funds at the end of the year stood at £624,659 (2024 - £563,318) none of which was held for restricted purposes. The year to March 2023 saw an improvement in valuations coupled with a switch towards a greater percentage of the portfolio held in fixed interest bonds. 

The investments of the Charity are professionally managed by Rathbones. Their performance is monitored by the investment sub-committee who, in turn, report to the Trustees.  The investment committee has continued to implement and revise, where appropriate, the investment strategy formulated in 2004 whilst endeavoring to establish the right balance of investments from cash deposits to equity investments The policy, nevertheless, remains one for a balanced portfolio of investments with a low to medium level of risk and remains structured to deliver long term growth 

The Trustees consider they have complied with the duty in Section 4 of Part 1 of the 2006 Charities Act which requires them  to have due regard to guidance published by the Charity Commission, including public benefit guidance.  In addition to using its own funds, during the year, the Trustees dealt with 19 cases where the assistance of the Masonic Charitable Foundation was sought. Of these 19 cases all were successfully resolved and over £45,500 was distributed to beneficiaries. A number of other cases were dealt with locally by the Provincial Grand Almoner and his team. 

It is the Charity’s policy to hold reserves for two purposes – firstly to provide sufficient income from its investments to meet its principal objectives; and secondly to have funds available at short notice for unforeseen emergency grants, particularly in these unprecedented and challenging times..  The Trustees believe that the current reserves within the General Fund of £624,659 continues to place the Charity in a strong position to be able to carry out its objectives when market conditions improve as well as continuing to develop the respite care initiative, originally started in 2005. 

## _Statement of trustees’ responsibilities_ 

Law applicable to charities in England and Wales requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year, which give a true and fair view of the Charity’s financial activities during the year and of its financial position at the end of the year.  In preparing those financial statements, the trustees are required to: 

- (a) select suitable accounting policies and apply them consistently 

- (b) make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent 

- (c) state whether applicable accounting standards and statements of recommended practice have been followed, subject to any departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements 

- (d) prepare the financial statements on a going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the Charity will continue in operation 

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The trustees are responsible for keeping accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the Charity and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charities Act 1993.  They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the Charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities. 

D M Blair – Chairman On behalf of the Trustees 

17[th] May 2025 

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## **INDEPENDENT EXAMINERS’ REPORT** 

## **TO THE TRUSTEES OF THE PROVINCE OF CAMBRIDGESHIRE CHARITY FOR CARE AND RELIEF** 

We report on the accounts of the Charity for the year ended 31[st] March 2025 as set out on pages 4 to 7. 

## **Respective responsibilities of Trustees and Examiners** 

The charity’s trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The charity’s trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year under section 144 of the Charities Act 2011 (the Charities Act), and that an independent examination is needed. 

It is our responsibility to: 

- examine the accounts under section 145 of the Charities Act; 

- to follow the procedures laid down in the General Directions given by the Charity Commission (under section 145 (5)(b) of the Charities Act); and 

- to state whether particular matters have come to our attention. 

## **Basis of Independent Examiners’ statement** 

Our examination was carried out in accordance with the General Directions given by the Charity Commission. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the Charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records.  It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeking explanations from the Trustees concerning any such matters.  The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit and, consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a “true and fair” view and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below. 

## **Independent Examiners’ statement** 

In connection with our examination, no matter has come to our attention: 1. which gives us reasonable cause to believe that, in any material respect, the requirements (a) to keep accounting records in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act; and (b) to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with the accounting requirements of the Charities Act have not been met; or 

2. to which, in our opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. 

**P Skipper H Aouad** 10[th] May 2025 Independent Examiner Independent Examiner 

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## **PROVINCE OF CAMBRIDGESHIRE CHARITY FOR CARE AND RELIEF** 

## **STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES** 

## **FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31ST MARCH 2025** 

||**Note**<br>**s**|**Unrestrict**<br>**ed Funds**|**Restric**<br>**ted**<br>**Funds**|**Total**<br>**2025**||**Unrestrict**<br>**ed Funds**|**Restric**<br>**ted**<br>**Funds**|**Total**<br>**2024**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||||||||||
|Donations||43000||43000||1800||1800|
||||||||||
|Income from<br>Investments|2|18061||18061||19119||19119|
||||||||||
|**Total Income**||61061||61061||20919||20919|
||||||||||
|**Charitable Activities**|||||||||
|Grants Made||13092||13092||38203||38203|
||||||||||
|Investment Management<br>fees||4676||4676||4386||4386|
||||||||||
||||||||||
|Net Operational<br>Gain/(Loss)||43293||43293||-21670||-21670|
||||||||||
|Net Gains/(Losses) on<br>Investments||18048||18048||28877||28877|
||||||||||
||||||||||
|Net Movement in Funds||61341||61341||7207||7207|
||||||||||
|Total Funds brought<br>forward||563318||563318||556112||556112|
||||||||||
||||||||||
|Total Funds carried<br>forward||624659|0|624659||563318|0|563318|
||||||||||



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## **PROVINCE OF CAMBRIDGESHIRE CHARITY FOR CARE AND RELIEF** 

**BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31ST MARCH 2025** 

||Notes|**2025**|**2024**|
|---|---|---|---|
|**Fixed Assets**||||
|Investments|5|556775|533695|
|||||
|**Current Assets**||||
|Debtors|6|342|1628|
|Cash and bank deposits|7|68743|33495|
|||69084|35123|
|**Current Liabilities**||||
|Accruals||1200|5500|
|||||
|**Net Current Assets**||67884|29623|
|||||
|**NET ASSETS**||624659|563318|
|||||
|Unrestricted Funds||624659|563318|
|||||
|Restricted Funds||||
|||||
|TOTAL FUNDS||624659|563318|



The financial statements were approved by the Trustees on 17[th] May 2025 and signed on their behalf by:- 

D M Blair - Chairman 

C Brown - Treasurer 

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## **PROVINCE OF CAMBRIDGESHIRE CHARITY FOR CARE AND RELIEF** 

## **NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS as at 31[st] MARCH 2024** 

## **1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES** 

- a) The accounts have been prepared under the historical cost convention as modified by the inclusion of investments at mid-market value, and in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Statement of Recommended Practice (Charities SORP (FRS102) 

- b) The accounts are prepared on an accruals basis 

- c) Legacies are included when the charity has legal entitlement and the amount can be determined with reasonable certainty.  All other income is accounted for when receivable, generally when received by the Charity. 

- d) All grants and donations payable are accounted for in the financial year in which approved. 

- e) Investments are stated at mid-market value at the balance sheet date.  The Statement of Financial Activities includes the net gains and losses arising on revaluations and disposals throughout the year. 

## 2. **INVESTMENT INCOME** 

||**2025**|**2024**|
|---|---|---|
|Listed Securities|17062|<br>18943|
|Bank and other interest|193|<br>175|
||18061|<br>19119|



## 3. **GRANTS MADE** 

|||**Unrestricte**||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||**d**|**Restricted**|**Total 2025**|**Total 2024**|
|**Masonic Grants**||**£**|**£**|**£**|**£**|
|Brethren and Dependants||1,510||1,510||
|District of East Anglia||1,500||||
|**As reported in 2024**|||||28,309|
|||3,010|-|1,510|28,309|
|**Non-Masonic Grants**||||||
|PULSE||200||200||
|Little Miracles||300||300||
|BranchingOut||1,000||1,000||
|ElyFoodbank||1,000||1,000||
|Newmarket Open Door||1,000||1,000||
|Rosmini Centre||1,000||1,000||
|FACET||1,000||1,000||
|East of England Ambulance Service||2,500||2,500||
|CHAPS||2,082||2,082||
|**As Reported in 2024**|||||9,894|
|||10,082|-|10,082|9,894|
|||||||
|**Totalgrants made**||13,092|<br>-|<br>11,592|<br>38,203|



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## 4. **TAXATION** 

As a registered charity the Charity is exempt from taxation on its income and gains where they are applied for charitable purposes. 

## 5. **INVESTMENTS** 

|||||
|---|---|---|---|
||**2025**||**2024**|
|||||
||**£**||**£**|
|||||
|UK listed securities|284,198|||
||||305,550|
|Overseas listed securities|272,577|||
||||228,145|
|**Market value at 31st March, 2025**|556,775|||
||||520,891|
|||||
|**Historical cost at 31st March, 2025**|507,788|||
||||440,459|
|||||
|Market value at 1st April,2024||||
||533,695||520,891|
|Additions at cost||||
||131,306||101,547|
|Proceeds from disposal||||
||(126,274)||(117,618)|
|Gains/(losses)on investments||||
||18,047||28,875|
|**Market value at 31st March 2025**||||
||556,775||533,695|



## 6. **OTHER DEBTORS** 

||**2025**|**2024**|
|---|---|---|
||£|£|
|Debtors||679|
|Investment income|342|<br>948|
||342|<br>1627|



## 7. **CASH AND BANK DEPOSITS** 

||**2025**|**2024**|
|---|---|---|
||£|£|
|Charities Deposit Fund|31|<br>31|
|Uninvested funds held byRathbones|36425|<br>6133|
|Bank balances|32287|<br>27332|
||68743|<br>33496|



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