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2021-09-30-accounts

ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS

30 SEPTEMBER 2021

THE CONFERENCE OF RELIGIOUS IN ENGLAND AND WALES

Charity Registration Number 277024

Contents

Reports

Reference and administrative information 1
Report of the Executive Committee 2
Independent auditor’s report 24
Accounts
Statement of financial activities 29
Balance sheet 30
Principal accounting policies 31
Notes to the accounts 35
Appendix 42

The Conference of Religious in England and Wales

Reference and administrative information Year to 30 September 2021

Executive Committee Fr Paul Smyth CMF (President)re-elected Oct 2021
Sr Frances Orchard CJ (Vice President)stepped down Oct 2021
Sr Sue Berry CSF (Anglican Associate Member)elected Sep 2017
Sr Bernadette Boland IBVM_stepped down Oct 2021_
Sr Philomena Bowers RSM_stepped down Oct 2021_
Sr Sarah Dobson CJ_elected Oct 2021_
Sr Margaret Donovan HC_elected May 2019_
Sr Ellen Flynn DC_elected Vice President Oct 2021_
Sr Catherine Lloyd RSCJ_elected Oct 2021_
Fr Robert Marsh OSA_re-elected Oct 2021_
Sr Monica Matthews SHJC_appointed Oct 2019_
Sr Anne Morris DHS_elected Oct 2021_
Rev Kenneth Okoli CSSP_stepped down Oct 2021_
Fr Richard Reid CSsR_elected Oct 2021_
General Secretary Valerie Nazareth (until 31 December 2021)
Nicholas Witherick (from 1 January 2022)
Principal office St Philomena’s
70-71 Euston Square
London
NW1 1DJ
Auditor Buzzacott LLP
130 Wood Street
London
EC2V 6DL
Investment manager CCLA Investment Management Limited
Senator House
85 Queen Victoria Street
London
EC4V 4ET
Banker The Royal Bank of Scotland plc
48 Haymarket
London
SW1Y 4SE
Solicitors Stone King LLP
13 Queen Square
Bath
BA1 2HJ

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Report of the Executive Committee Year to 30 September 2021

The trustees of the Conference of Religious (CoR) present their report together with the audited financial statements of the charity for the year ended 30 September 2021.

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out on pages 31 to 34 of the attached accounts and comply with the charity’s trust deed, the Charities Act 2011 and Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102).

INTRODUCTION

The Conference of Religious (CoR) is a small charity, with around 245 members who are superiors of religious orders or their nominees, in the Roman Catholic Church, both male or female, working in the United Kingdom and beyond. The charity also has a small number of Anglican congregations who are associate members.

OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES

The object of the charity is to promote the welfare of apostolic institutes of Religious in the Catholic Church in England and Wales, while respecting the autonomy, nature and spirit of each other. This includes:

Vision Statement of the Conference of Religious

The Conference of Religious seeks to be a dynamic and proactive presence in the Church and the world today.

Mission statement of the Conference of Religious

The Mission of CoR is to:

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OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES (continued)

Our Values

All our activities are inspired by Gospel Values.

The hallmarks of CoR are:

Our Aims and Objectives

To create a Prophetic Voice that gives witness to the values of the Gospel

To generate and participate in Networks that promote Collaboration

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OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES (continued)

Our Aims and Objectives (continued)

To serve and support Religious in England and Wales

The charity pursues these objectives by operating through its Executive Committee and other committees and groups drawn from the expertise of the membership and professionals and coordinated through the Secretariat led by the General Secretary. The Secretariat disseminates information, organises conferences and meetings and maintains links with Religious and other bodies that have similar interests.

Public benefit

CoR exists to support and promote the work of Religious in England and Wales. The members of CoR are involved through their ministry in a wide range of activities including: education, pastoral support, healthcare, working with refugees and victims of modern-day slavery, chaplaincy and counselling, which are all of direct benefit to the public.

By providing the opportunity for collaboration and undertaking the other activities on behalf of its members that are outlined in this report, CoR assists in the provision of the public benefit, by our member congregations.

When setting the objectives and planning the work for the year and future activities, the members of the Executive Committee have given careful consideration to the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit.

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ACTIVITIES AND PERFORMANCE

The Secretariat

The Secretariat is comprised of the General Secretary, the Communications and Development Lead, the Administrative Coordinator, and the Safeguarding Adviser. The restrictions resulting from the pandemic were ongoing for much of the year but have had a limited impact. We have spent part of this year out of the office and like many have found a new balance in how we work, mixing home-working with being in the office. Since the summer of 2021 we have increasingly been meeting in person. Our meeting room is beginning to be used, not just by us but also by others and we welcome congregations, religious organisations, and some charities to make use of our space.

Staff changes

Although not within this reporting period, three staff changes took place shortly after the close of the financial year. Firstly, our Safeguarding

Adviser, Dani Wardman left to join the Religious Life Safeguarding Service (the RLSS) in November. While we are sorry to see Dani go, we know that she will be with the RLSS, with whom CoR will have close links. Secondly, in September the General Secretary, Valerie Nazareth informed the Executive she would be leaving at the end of the year after three years at the helm. Lastly, our Administrative Coordinator Charlotte Vassallo left at the end of December.

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ACTIVITIES AND PERFORMANCE (continued)

The Secretariat (continued)

Staff changes (continued)

Although the staff is small, these changes should not unduly affect the Charity, for the following reasons: In relation to the Dani Wardman, the establishment of the RLSS, means that CoR should not need its own full time Safeguarding Adviser. Secondly, the Executive acted promptly to find a replacement, General Secretary, Nicholas Witherick, who began in early December, to ensure sufficient time for induction and hand over. Thirdly a temporary Admin Coordinator was found with sufficient time to ensure a full handover with Charlotte.

Meetings

This year we have held more numerous events and talks than in previous years. These have primarily been conducted on zoom which has enabled us to engage with a wider range of topics and a greater number of religious than in previous years.

Leaders’ Day, 28 October 2020

In place of the usual two-day residential AGM, the Executive decided it would be appropriate to hold a one day zoom meeting for Leaders. The day started with a presentation from the President and the General Secretary setting out information relating to the recent work of the Conference of Religious. Our auditor, Amanda Frances, then joined us for a financial review. This was followed by four videos relating to key areas of CoR’s work and collaboration. The afternoon was given over to a session on the Independent Review into Safeguarding in the Church which was presented by members of the Review - Panel and Steering Committee. Cardinal Nichols addressed the opening session and re joined the meeting for some closing thoughts.

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ACTIVITIES AND PERFORMANCE (continued)

Meetings (continued)

General Meeting, 29 October 2020

This meeting on the theme of ‘Embracing the Future with Hope ’started with a presentation from Fr Timothy Radcliffe OP. The rest of the morning and early afternoon were animated by Inno van den Berg of Smith & Williamson Investment Management LLP on the many facets of congregational planning for the future. He focused on governance, asset management, age care, legacy planning and where the laity can be used to help. Later there was a presentation from Sr Katherine O’Flynn FCJ on embracing hope, spirituality, ecology, creativity, and inter-cultural living. We concluded the day with a useful panel discussion involving the speakers and Sr Cath Lloyd RSCJ.

Talk by Fr Nicholas King SJ, 26 November 2020

In the autumn of 2020, we received the Report by IICSA into the Catholic Church and the outcome of the Independent Review on Safeguarding in the Church undertaken by Ian Elliott. Information on this is set out in the safeguarding section below, but before we began the task of dealing with the implementation of the recommendations made by IICSA and the Independent Review, we started with a talk by distinguished biblical scholar Fr Nicholas King SJ who considered the impact of IICSA and other issues facing religious in the light of the Gospel.

Roses in December: A service for the 40th anniversary of women martyrs of El Salvador

On 2 December 2020 in collaboration with the Archbishop Romero Trust, Pax Christi and CAFOD we held a service in person which was live streamed to commemorate the women martyrs in El Salvador.

Service for Religious on the Day of Prayer for Victims and Survivors of Abuse

On 4 May 2021 we held a service so that religious could join together in prayer on this day. To enable as many people as possible to participate, the service was live streamed and made available later via YouTube.

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ACTIVITIES AND PERFORMANCE (continued)

Meetings (continued)

General Meeting, 18 May 2021

At this meeting Austen Ivereigh spoke on the topic of Let Us Dream following which breakout rooms gave time for reflection on what the post Covid era might mean for Religious and what individuals and congregations might do differently as a result of the impact of the pandemic.

Faith and Arts in Lent 2021

In Lent we held a series of talks by zoom about Faith in the arts. Topics covered were:

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ACTIVITIES AND PERFORMANCE (continued)

Care for the environment

This topic has been of increasing importance to us. To promote religious engagement on this we held our first Cry of the Earth webinar in January which was addressed by Sr Sheila Kinsey FCJM of the UISG, Bishop John Arnold and Dr Carmody Grey.

After considering Faith and Creation with Dr Carmody Grey in Lent, in the run up to COP 26 we held two further online meetings:

‘ Cry of the Earth – how the Church in England & Wales is responding to the climate crisis’ on 27 September and

‘ Cry of the Earth – how can Religious respond?’ On 18 October. This featured contributions from four religious and was aimed at inspiring and encouraging others to get involved .

Divestment continues to be of interest with more congregations signing up to this.

Communications

Media

Raising the profile of Religious both within our congregations and to the wider world has been a key aim for us. Several articles generated by the Communications & Development Lead, Bernadette Kehoe have made their way into The Tablet and / or onto ICN, e.g.

The appointment by CoR of Sr Frances Orchard CJ as Lead Religious Safeguarding, a post created in response to a recommendation made by IICSA.

https://www.corew.org/news/2021/9/24/sr-frances-orchard-cj-appointed-as-religioussafeguarding-lead

A film festival organised by the charity Renate to draw attention to human trafficking:

https://www.corew.org/news/2021/9/14/film-festival-highlights-victims-of-human-trafficking

A view on life in lockdown from Hyning Monastery:

https://www.corew.org/news/2020/10/8/life-in-lockdown-the-view-from-the-monastery-1

The closure of the well-known bookshop on Kensington High Street run by the Daughters of St Paul:

https://www.corew.org/news/2020/10/6/long-established-pauline-bookshop-in-kensington-toclose-after-more-than-fifty-years

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ACTIVITIES AND PERFORMANCE (continued)

Communications (continued)

Media (continued)

A reflection on the pandemic by Sr Margaret Atkins OSA:

https://www.corew.org/blog/2020/10/5/danger-and-opportunity

A reflection on the season of creation by Sr Susan Richert:

https://www.corew.org/news/2020/10/5/reflecting-on-the-world-we-will-leave-behind-forthose-who-follow

Website

Our website https://www.corew.org continues to be a strong means of telling the stories of Religious and also to raise awareness of issues by featuring all the stories above and many more. In addition , we feature reflections for the ‘blog ’section. The website is a way of providing members with information and features documents and resources on the site they may find useful. We now include a section on changes within congregations. The website also provides information about CoR and our members to the Catholic and wider world.

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ACTIVITIES AND PERFORMANCE (continued)

Communications (continued)

The CoRespondent

The CoRrespondent, our monthly newsletter continues to be our main form of communication with members. It is now published in ‘email’ form, which means it doesn’t have to be downloaded. This monthly update from the Secretariat aims to carry significant news of our work and relevant updates, as well as being a platform for Religious to share information concerning initiatives, projects, retreats, meetings and to make requests. It is uploaded monthly to the website www.corew.org homepage to ensure it reaches as many religious as possible.

Training and development

Zoom: In early 2021 Bernadette Kehoe held zoom training sessions in conjunction with Sr Cathy Edge RSM. This covered the basic knowledge of attending meetings via zoom as well as a more advanced session on screen sharing. Close to 100 Religious benefitted from the training.

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SAFEGUARDING

Safeguarding children and vulnerable adults

This year CoR has continued to focus on safeguarding, in particular, as detailed below, the implementation of the recommendations of IICSA and the Independent Review. As well as it being part of the Executive’s standing agenda items, our specialist safeguarding subgroup, CoRSC has met regularly to discuss and support this process.

IICSA report Into the Catholic Church

The IICSA report into the Catholic Church was published in November. It included many very serious criticisms of the church and of religious congregations. When the Report was published, we made a statement expressing our profound sadness to all those who are victims and survivors of sexual abuse at the hands of Catholic clergy and members of religious congregations. We thanked IICSA for bringing to light the acute suffering that has been inflicted over many years and our failures in safeguarding and in engagement with victims and survivors. We also thanked the victims and survivors for their courage in coming forward. We are wholeheartedly committed to learning lessons from this Inquiry and making every effort to assist religious congregations to embed a safeguarding culture at all levels of religious life.

The findings were discussed by our Safeguarding Committee (CoRSC) and by the Executive and we sent a summary of what we considered to be the key points made in the Report, to leaders and safeguarding leads. On 7 December we held a meeting, by Zoom, to provide members with the opportunity to learn more and to discuss the report.

The Independent Review

CoR provided information, assistance, and a channel for communication to the review panel and worked to assist them. Religious sat on the panel and on the Steering Committee which oversaw the work. The Independent Review or the ‘Elliott Review’ as it is often called, was released in October/November 2020, and recommended a restructure of safeguarding in the Church. The review recommended the creation of a standards agency that would have regulatory power over its members aimed at strengthening safeguarding across the Church. It also recommended that Religious be taken out of the current alignment system and that a new service be set up which would provide specifically for the safeguarding needs of Religious, from casework to training.

Once the Review had been released, CoR spent time working to understand the implications of the restructure and communicating the changes to members. Much of our 2020 Leaders Day was given over to this. Ian Elliott, review panel and Steering Committee members explained the outcomes and answered the questions of Religious.

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SAFEGUARDING (continued)

Safeguarding Implementation Project

CoR has fully supported the work of the Safeguarding Implementation Project. We requested the release of Fr David Smolira SJ to lead on this work, ensuring he was able to bring his skills and experience to the project to find the best way forward. Fr David commenced work in January 2021 and CoR provided our Safeguarding Adviser Dani Wardman to support Fr David in his role. Dani Wardman has been working in this support role for Fr David (and latterly seconded to the Religious Life Safeguarding Service) on an almost full-time basis, for most of 2021. During this time , Fr David and Dani have consulted Religious, developed and implemented a new safeguarding service for Religious.

In order to inform this work CoR helped Fr David to set up various groups such as a working group of people with expertise which met every 2 weeks to discuss ideas in detail and a Religious Leaders group which met monthly to review ideas to ensure they met Religious needs. CoR’s safeguarding committee met monthly to offer Fr David support and advice in this complex task. The Executive also considered the recommendations and progress made at every meeting.

Fr David ran monthly consultation meetings facilitated by CoR to consult Religious on the best way forward and on options for the new structure and service . We also invited Religious who are not members of CoR to attend the meetings, which were generally attended by 200 plus people. This work resulted in a company called The Religious Life Safeguarding Service Ltd or RLSS being established in June 2021 .

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SAFEGUARDING (continued)

Safeguarding Implementation Project (continued)

To ensure that the services of the RLSS are available to all religious congregations, regardless of their ability to pay, a Common Fund has been created from the generous donations of religious congregations . CoR assisted with this.

We also asked people to represent Religious on various working streams set up by the overall Church Safeguarding Implementation team on topics such as standards and audit, finance, and the ending of the alignment system.

During his work on the Safeguarding Implementation Project, Fr David represented Religious by attending Church Task Group meetings to ensure that all the new safeguarding structures were representative of Religious needs, not just the dedicated service being created. He was joined in this by other Religious who sat of the Steering Committee and later the Task Group.

While recognising its status as an independent entity, CoR will continue to support the work of the RLSS and to build a close and collaborative relationship with the RLSS.

The Executive are grateful to the Jesuits for making Fr David available to do this vital work and to Fr David for all he did as well as to all those who helped him, too many for us to mention by name.

CoR Safeguarding Committee (CoRSC)

Committee members are Elizabeth Bano, Dani Wardman, Sr Anne Stewart SHCJ, Sr Eileen Glancy DC, Fr David Smolira SJ, Sr Philomena McCluskey FMSJ, Sr Frances Cullen, Fr Robert Marsh OSA (executive link member), and Fr Nicholas Edmonds-Smith Cong.Orat. During the year the committee has principally dealt with issues connected to IICSA and the Independent Review.

Religious Lead on Safeguarding

One of the recommendations made by IICSA was that the Conference of Religious and the Conference of Bishops should each appoint a Lead person with responsibility for Safeguarding. The inaugural post holder for CoR was Fr David Smolira SJ who help establish a role description. Fr David stepped back from his work on this on 30 September and on 1 October Sr Frances Orchard CJ was appointed Lead Religious for Safeguarding.

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SAFEGUARDING (continued)

General advice

CoR have worked with some individuals throughout the year to support safeguarding matters as well as safeguarding adjacent work. This has covered advice and support on paperwork, victim/survivors and safeguarding cases, welfare checks with individuals and interventions in difficult situations that have occurred in congregations. We have also supported some direct safeguarding cases working closely with the current alignment system to ensure Congregations were supported throughout the processes.

Support groups for Leaders

For some time now we have wanted to re-establish some additional regional support groups for Leaders. We began the process with a series of talks by Fr Frank Turner SJ on the topic of Fratelli Tutti. We have now established three new groups in broad geographical areas or hubs, covering:

They join the well-established North London group which has been meeting to provide mutual support and information to leaders, for many years. The new groups have been meeting by Zoom. They will continue with the support of the Secretariat, but their agendas are set by members.

Report from the Health and Care Group

This committee has continued to offer help and advice on matters of health and care to members of CoR over the year. The committee members currently are Susan Thomas who coordinates the committee, Sr Bernie Boland, IBVM (and member of CoR Executive), Sr Jacinta Boland, Religious Sisters of Charity, Sr Doreen Cunningham, Nazareth Sisters and Sr Monica Matthews, Holy Child Sisters (Chair of the group and also on the CoR Executive). We will shortly be joined by two further Religious members who also have considerable experience in healthcare.

The committee has continued to offer help and advice during this difficult period of the Covid-19 pandemic. In particular, Susan Thomas lobbied tirelessly on behalf of those communities who run care homes which are not CQC registered and so were not being included in the government’s lists of homes. Eventually she achieved her goal of having these homes recognised and they were able to have regular testing and receive the vaccines.

In January 2021, the committee organised a webinar at which two of the members gave input on power of attorney, living wills and related subjects. This was attended by close to 100 people and we were grateful for the support of the CoR staff in helping us with this first venture. Early in 2022, the committee plans to offer a series of three webinars on dementia, a topic which is of concern to so many congregations with ageing members.

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SAFEGUARDING (continued)

Report from the Health and Care Group (continued)

Having become accustomed, like so many people, to using digital platforms, this has become a much easier way to gather CoR members.

CoR members continue to approach the committee asking for advice on a number of issues, including the possibilities of partnering with another congregation in the running of a care home, where they might find a vacancy for their members in need of care, alternative ways of managing care homes and advice about individual members with special care needs. If the committee is unable to offer relevant advice itself, it can usually find someone who can, and this service is much appreciated. There is a wealth of wisdom and experience within the CoR membership, and we are grateful to be able to draw on that to give assistance to other members.

Collaboration with others

CoR continues to work to represent Religious, share information and develop relationships with others in the Church and the wider community through a variety of means. Sometimes this is done by the Executive, for example via the Mixed Commission to represent the views of religious to the Bishops (recent topics covered include safeguarding, One Church and the lack of consultation on the new lectionary) or on the CBCEW Department of Justice Committee Work. Sometimes it is done by the General Secretary e.g. in relation to IICSA work has been done through the Catholic Council and sometimes it is done by other Religious.

We also collaborate by joining organisations such as the Churches Legislative Advisory Service and the European Union of Conferences of Major Superiors. Those who sit on the committees and groups to ensure that CoR is kept abreast of activities and developments elsewhere include:

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FUTURE PLANS

Synodality

We started our Synodal process as quickly as possible, in response to a letter from the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life (CICLSAL) to gather the contributions of Religious, by establishing a steering group to assist the Executive with planning and delivering our contribution. The group comprised Sr Margaret Donovan HC, Fr Paul Smyth CMF, Lynda Dearlove IOLM, Sr Ann O’Sullivan RLR, Sr Jane Bertelsen FMDM, Sr Christine McGarry OP, Sr Bridgetta Rooney CSJP and Fr John McGowan OCD.

Our process began at the AGM 2021 with speakers on the topic including Archbishop Malcom McMahon and the Papal Nuncio. This will be followed by three meetings to which all religious in England and Wales, not just CoR members, are welcome.

24 November 2021 on Communion with reflection by Sr Gemma Simmonds CJ

12 January 2022 on Participation with a reflection by Fr John McGowan OCD

9 February 2022 on Mission with a reaction by Sr Lynda Dearlove IOLM

These meetings will be supplemented by a questionnaire to gather views and to aid the provision of information to CICLSAL at the end of the process.

New Leaders course

A course called Faith-Filled Leadership to assist those who are relatively new to leadership, led by Sr Christine Anderson FCJ will run from December 2021 to February 2022.

Future work

A review of CoR’s Strategic Plan is due in 2022.

A review CoR’s safeguarding arrangements needs to take place in light of the establishment of the RLSS this includes the function and remit of CoRSC.

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FINANCIAL REVIEW

Results for the year

The statement of financial activities shows that net income for the year before gains on investments was £11,910 (2020: net income of £57,727). Net gains on the revaluation of investments were £119,517 (2020: £53,084) leading to an overall increase in funds of £131,427 (2020: £110,811).

Income comprised mainly of membership fees, income from meetings and investment income. Some members continued to subscribe amounts in excess of their actual fees so that those members whose resources are more limited are not prevented from participating in conferences and other activities.

Investment policy and performance

The charity’s investments, managed by CCLA Investment Management Limited, were valued at £1,043,374 (2020: £923,857) at the year end date.

The investment managers operate within specific, ethical guidelines which are set out and reviewed periodically by the Executive Committee. The ethical guidelines mean that the charity cannot invest in any company connected with armaments, gambling, tobacco, alcohol, contraception and known social injustice in the third world. The charity’s investment policy is to maintain a balance between capital growth and income, so that, over the long term, the real value of assets will be maintained.

In accordance with the above policy, investments were held in COIF Charities Ethical Investment Fund Income Units and COIF Charities Ethical Investment Fund Accumulation Units during the year. The holding returned a total yield (income and capital) of 14.5% for the year.

Raising funds

The charity aims to achieve best practice in the way in which it communicates with members and other supporters. It takes care with both the tone of its communications and the accuracy of its data to minimise the pressures on members and supporters. It applies best practice to protect members’ and supporters’ data and never sells data, it never swaps data and ensures that communication preferences can be changed at any time. The charity manages its own activities in respect to raising funds and does not employ the services of professional fundraisers. The charity undertakes to react to and investigate any complaints regarding its activities for raising funds and to learn from them and improve its service. During the year, the charity received no complaints about such activities.

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FINANCIAL REVIEW (continued)

Reserves policy

The members of the Executive Committee consider that it is essential to have in place an appropriate amount of working capital so that the charity may meet its liabilities as and when they fall due. To meet this objective, the members of the Executive Committee consider that funds available for working capital and held as free reserves should be equivalent to at least six months’ operating expenses.

Financial position

At 30 September 2021, the charity had total net assets of £1,313,659 (2020: £1,182,232).

Included within these total funds are restricted funds amounting to £60,206 to fund safeguarding advisory and associated activities in the future.

£1,043,374 (2020: £923,857) of these net assets comprise the charity’s investment portfolio and represent a designated fund called the capital reserve fund. Demographic data relating to membership of religious congregations, together with the lower number of current vocations, continue to indicate that further reductions in income may be expected in future years.

The charity will rely more and more on investment income in order to fund its charitable work. Consequently, the members of the Executive Committee have set aside, or designated, the value tied up in the charity’s investment portfolio as a capital reserve in order to provide a level of assurance that investment income will continue to be generated in future years and thereby ‘finance’ the charity’s work in the long term.

Free reserves at 30 September 2021 stood at £206,527 (2020: £205,225). Comparing this to the charity’s reserves policy set out above, it is clear that normally there would be scope to reduce the free reserves. However, members of the Executive Committee believe that these additional reserves will act as a cushion against the continuing impact of Covid-19 and other unexpected events. The Executive Committee believes that the reserves will be sufficient to enable CoR to continue to operate in uncertain circumstances and do not expect material concerns to arise over the charity’s financial position. The Executive Committee, therefore, is content also to allow the free reserves to exceed the amount set out in the policy for the immediate future.

PRINCIPAL RISKS AND UNCERTAINTIES

The Executive is continuing to work on assessing the main risks to which the charity is exposed, in particular those relating to the specific operational areas of the charity, its investments, and its finances. The Executive believes that by monitoring reserve levels, by ensuring controls exist over key financial systems, and by examining the operational and business risks faced by the charity, it has established effective systems to mitigate those risks. These systems are also frequently reviewed with a view to possible updates and improvements.

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PRINCIPAL RISKS AND UNCERTAINTIES (continued)

The key risks facing CoR at present are the potential loss of income due to the creation of a new more costly new safeguarding system and the ongoing financial uncertainty caused by Covid-19. These are dealt with elsewhere in more detail.

The other key risks for the charity, as identified by the Executive, are described below together with the principal ways in which they are mitigated:

Loss of key personnel

The Executive notes the importance of consistency in staff and key personnel within the organisation. It recognises the challenges that the loss of personnel can have on an organisation that relies on a relatively small team of people particularly when more than one leave at the same time. To assist in mitigating this risk, a number of strategies are in place. Some of the Executive Trustees hold positions on external bodies, which are important to the effective functioning of CoR. There are also other Religious and lay people who participate in aspects of CoR such as its Finance Committee, Health and care Group and in safeguarding.

The CoR Secretariat has now been restructured, records and databases updated, and systems put in place ensure the future viability and functioning of the Secretariat for members. One measure of the success of this can be seen in the smooth transition between Administrative Coordinators in October 2019, despite the absence of a handover period. This time the change in the key position of General Secretary will be managed through a period of induction. The Executive Committee also recognises that the size of the Secretariat makes it vulnerable to any one member of staff being affected by the Covid-19 virus. To mitigate this risk staff work from home whenever appropriate.

Reliance on limited income sources

The reliance on one single source of income has long been recognised as a risk to the future ability of CoR to provide the service that the members require and to ensure that religious congregations are represented in areas of concern. The main source of income is the membership fees. The Strategic Plan highlighted the fact that the number of members is decreasing, resulting in a decrease in the income derived from congregations. This is reflected in the budget for 2021/2022. Addressing this remains outstanding, given the other work necessitated this year by the Safeguarding Implementation work.

It is recognised that many congregations have increasing demands on their income due to care of the elderly and related costs including safeguarding. In recognition of this risk, the Executive has discussed this reality and mandated the General Secretary to explore the possibility of external funding from agencies that support religious congregations. The charity sought external funding towards costs associated with the recruitment a safeguarding adviser.

The Executive also recognise that it receives professional support from companies and notably this year from Buzzacott; Stone King; IBB; D.E. Ford; and CCLA. The charity is indebted to these firms for their advice and guidance.

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PRINCIPAL RISKS AND UNCERTAINTIES (continued)

Risks associated with working from home

Like many other businesses and charities, for much of the year, the CoR Secretariat team has continued to work from home, and this may be necessary in the next financial year. The principal risk raised for by this is an increased cyber security risk as all our tasks are conducted online and by phone, increasing the likelihood of phishing, fraudulent emails, texts etc. We employ independent IT specialists to advise on this and our security arrangements include connecting to the office via a secure VPN.

STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT

Constitution

The Conference is governed by its own statutes and is registered with the Charity Commission (Charity Registration No. 277024). The property of the Conference is vested in a Trust, regulated by a trust deed dated 20 November 1978, as amended by deeds of variation dated 4 March 1992 and 20 September 2001.

Organisation

CoR is administered by an Executive Committee, members of which constitute the trustees of the charity. At 30 September 2021, the Executive Committee comprised a President, a Vice President, and eight other members.

The responsibility for representing the charity at meetings of other ecclesiastical and civil bodies falls mainly on members of the Executive Committee. However, the day-to-day management of the charity is delegated to the General Secretary. The Executive Committee monitors progress by meeting bi-monthly to receive reports from the General Secretary and other staff members when appropriate. The Executive Committee also maintains financial control by approving the annual budget and receiving management accounts which are prepared on a quarterly basis.

Executive Committee

As stated above, members of the Executive Committee constitute the trustees of the charity. They are incorporated under the provisions of section 251 of the Charities Act 2011 as “The trustees of the Conference of Religious of England and Wales”.

Members of the Executive Committee, who served during the year or who were in office at the date on which this report was signed, are set out on page 1.

They are appointed by means of nomination and election procedures at the charity’s Annual General Meeting. Each member is elected for a period of three years and is eligible to serve for a maximum of two terms.

The Conference of Religious in England and Wales

21

Report of the Executive Committee Year to 30 September 2021

STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT (continued)

Key management personnel

The members of the Executive Committee consider that they, together with the General Secretary, comprise the key management of the charity in charge of directing and controlling, running and operating the charity on a day to day basis.

None of the members of the Executive Committee are remunerated for their services to the charity. The remuneration of the General Secretary is based on market rates. The remuneration is considered annually by the Executive Committee and any increments to the salary are agreed and ratified.

STATEMENT OF RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

The Executive Committee is responsible for preparing the report of the Executive Committee and accounts in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

The law applicable to charities in England and Wales requires the Executive Committee to prepare accounts for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and of the income and expenditure of the charity for that period.

In preparing these accounts, the Executive Committee is required to:

The Executive Committee is responsible for keeping proper accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and enable it to ensure that the accounts comply with the Charities Act 2011, applicable Charity (Accounts and Reports) Regulations and the provisions of the trust deed. The Executive Committee is 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.

The Conference of Religious in England and Wales 22

Report of the Executive Committee Year to 30 September 2021

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The Executive would like to thank the members of the Secretariat: the General Secretary, the Communications and Development Lead and the Administrative Co-ordinator for their support and commitment to CoR throughout this year.

Signed on behalf of the Executive Committee:

Fr Paul Smyth CMF

Member of the Executive Committee Approved on: 30th April 2022

The Conference of Religious in England and Wales

23

Independent auditor’s report Year to 30 September 2021

Independent auditor’s report to the members of the Executive Committee of The Conference of Religious in England and Wales

Opinion

We have audited the accounts of The Conference of Religious in England and Wales (the ‘charity’) for the year ended 30 September 2021 which comprise the statement of financial activities, the balance sheet, the principal accounting policies and the notes to the accounts. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102 ‘The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland’ (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

In our opinion, the accounts:

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 accounts section of our report. We are independent of the charity in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the accounts 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

In auditing the accounts, we have concluded that the Executive Committee’s use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the accounts is appropriate.

Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the charity’s ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the accounts are authorised for issue.

Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the Executive Committee with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.

The Conference of Religious in England and Wales 24

Independent auditor’s report Year to 30 September 2021

Other information

The Executive Committee is responsible for the other information. The other information comprises the information included in the Annual Report and Accounts, other than the accounts and our auditor’s report thereon. Our opinion on the accounts does not cover the other information and we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon.

In connection with our audit of the accounts, our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the accounts 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 accounts 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.

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Charities Act 2011 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:

Responsibilities of the members of the Executive Committee

As explained more fully in the statement of responsibilities of the Executive Committee, the members of the Executive Committee (who are the charity’s trustees) are responsible for the preparation of the accounts and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the Executive Committee determines is necessary to enable the preparation of accounts that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

In preparing the accounts, the Executive Committee is 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 Executive Committee either intends to liquidate the charity or to cease operations, or has no realistic alternative but to do so.

The Conference of Religious in England and Wales 25

Independent auditor’s report Year to 30 September 2021

Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the accounts

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the accounts 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 accounts.

Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud is detailed below.

How the audit was considered capable of detecting irregularities including fraud

Our approach to identifying and assessing the risks of material misstatement in respect of irregularities, including fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulations, was as follows:

We assessed the susceptibility of the charity’s financial statements to material misstatement, including obtaining an understanding of how fraud might occur, by:

The Conference of Religious in England and Wales 26

Independent auditor’s report Year to 30 September 2021

Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the accounts (continued)

How the audit was considered capable of detecting irregularities including fraud (continued)

To address the risk of fraud through management bias and override of controls, we:

In response to the risk of irregularities and non-compliance with laws and regulations, we designed procedures which included, but were not limited to:

There are inherent limitations in our audit procedures described above. The more removed that laws and regulations are from financial transactions, the less likely it is that we would become aware of non-compliance. Auditing standards also limit the audit procedures required to identify non-compliance with laws and regulations to enquiry of the trustees and other management and the inspection of regulatory and legal correspondence, if any.

Material misstatements that arise due to fraud can be harder to detect than those that arise from error as they may involve deliberate concealment or collusion.

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

The Conference of Religious in England and Wales 27

Independent auditor’s report Year to 30 September 2021

Use of our report

This report is made solely to the members of the Executive Committee, (who are charity’s trustees), as a body, in accordance with section 144 of the Charities Act 2011 and with regulations made under section 154 of that Act. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the members of the Executive Committee 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 members of the Executive Committee, as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

Buzzacott LLP Statutory Auditor 130 Wood Street London EC2V 6DL

13 June 2022

Buzzacott LLP is eligible to act as an auditor in terms of section 1212 of the Companies Act 2006

The Conference of Religious in England and Wales

28

Statement of financial activities Year to 30 September 2021

Notes Unrestricted
funds
£		 Restricted
funds
£		 2021
£

Unrestricted
funds
£		 Restricted
funds
£		 2020
£
Income from:
Investments and interest receivable
1
Charitable activities
2
Total income
Expenditure on:
Charitable activities
. Promotion of the welfare of Apostolic
Institutes of Religious in England and
Wales
3
Total expenditure
Net income before investment gains
4
Net investment gains
8
Net income and net movement in
funds
Reconciliation of funds:
Fund balances brought forward at 1
October 2020
Fund balances carried forward at 30
September 2021		 15,727
186,002		 —
61,000		 15,727
247,002
15,529

193,303		 —
59,000		 15,529
252,303
201,729 61,000 262,729
208,832		 59,000 267,832
201,718 49,101 250,819
199,412		 10,693 210,105
201,718 49,101 250,819
199,412		 10,693 210,105
11
119,517		 11,899
—		 11,910
119,517
9,420

53,084		 48,307
—		 57,727
53,084
119,528
1,133,925		 11,899
48,307		 131,427
1,182,232
62,504

1,071,421		 48,307
—		 110,811
1,071,421
1,253,453 60,206 1,313,659
1,133,925		 48,307 1,182,232

All of the charity’s activities derived from continuing operations during the above two financial periods.

All recognised gains and losses are included in the above statement of financial activities.

The Conference of Religious in England and Wales 29

Balance sheet 30 September 2021

Notes
2021
£		 2021
£		 2020
£		 2020
£
Fixed assets
Tangible assets
7
Investments
8
Current assets
Debtors
9
Short term deposits
Cash at bank and in hand
Liabilities
Creditors: amounts falling due
within one year
10
Net current assets
Total net assets
The funds of the charity:
Unrestricted funds
. General funds
. Tangible fixed assets fund
11
. Designated funds
12
Restricted funds
13


8,283
150,000
171,412		 3,552
1,043,374		 17,131
150,000
156,453		 4,843
923,857
1,046,926
266,733		 928,700
253,532
329,695

(62,962)		 323,584
(70,052)


1,313,659 1,182,232
206,527
3,552
1,043,374		 205,225
4,843
923,857
1,253,453
60,206		 1,133,925
48,307
1,313,659 1,182,232

Approved by the members of the Executive Committee and signed on their behalf by:

Fr Paul Smyth CMF

Member of the Executive Committee:

Approved on: 30th April 2022

The Conference of Religious in England and Wales 30

Principal accounting policies Year to 30 September 2021

The principal accounting policies adopted, judgements and key sources of estimation uncertainty in the preparation of the accounts are laid out below.

Basis of preparation

These accounts have been prepared for the year to 30 September 2021 with comparative information provided for the year to 30 September 2020.

The accounts have been prepared under the historical cost convention with items recognised at cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policies below or the notes to these accounts.

The accounts have been prepared in accordance with Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland (Charities SORP FRS 102), the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) and the Charities Act 2011.

The charity constitutes a public benefit entity as defined by FRS 102.

The accounts are presented in sterling and are rounded to the nearest pound.

Critical accounting estimates and areas of judgement

Preparation of the accounts requires the Executive Committee and management to make significant judgements and estimates.

The items in the accounts where these judgements and estimates have been made include:

Assessment of going concern

The Executive Committee has assessed whether the use of the going concern assumption is appropriate in preparing these accounts. It has made this assessment in respect to a period of one year from the date of approval of these accounts.

The Conference of Religious in England and Wales 31

Principal accounting policies Year to 30 September 2021

Assessment of going concern (continued)

Covid-19 is likely to have a continuing impact on the charity’s in the year to 30 September 2022 although the impact on income and expenditure is expected to be small.

Although the charity’s work continues to be affected by Covid-19, the Executive Committee is delighted that much of what it wished to achieve during 2021 has been carried out. Also, on the positive side Covid-19 has accelerated the pace of change in the charity’s use of video conferencing in place on meetings. Whilst the Executive Committee looks forward to holding meetings in person, it recognises online meetings bring environmental benefits, via reduced travel, and enable wider participation in the charity’s activities.

Free reserves at 30 September 2021 stood at £206,528 (2020: £205,225). Comparing this to the charity’s reserves policy set out in the Report of the Executive Committee, it is clear that normally there would be scope to reduce the free reserves. However, members of the Executive Committee believe that these additional reserves will act as a cushion against the impact of Covid-19 and other unforeseen events. The Executive Committee believes that the reserves will be sufficient to enable CoR to operate in the exceptional circumstances created by the pandemic and do not expect material concerns to arise over the charity’s financial position.

The Executive Committee is of the opinion that the charity will have sufficient resources to meet its liabilities as they fall due. The most significant areas of judgement that affect items in the accounts are detailed above.

Statement of cash flows

The accounts do not include a statement of cash flows because the charity is considered a small charity and is therefore exempt from the requirement to prepare such a statement under the Charities SORP FRS 102 Update Bulletin 1.

Income recognition

Income is recognised in the period in which the charity has entitlement to the income, the amount of income can be measured reliably and it is probable that the income will be received.

Income comprises investment income and interest receivable and income from charitable activities, principally the income derived from membership subscriptions and financial contributions towards meetings.

Investment income is recognised once the dividend or equivalent has been declared and notification has been received of the amount due.

The Conference of Religious in England and Wales 32

Principal accounting policies Year to 30 September 2021

Income recognition (continued)

Interest on funds held on deposit is included when receivable and the amount can be measured reliably by the charity; this is normally upon notification of the interest paid or payable by the bank.

Income comprising annual membership subscriptions is credited to the statement of financial activities on an accruals basis with reference to the period covered by the subscription. Income in respect to meetings and other events is credited to the statement of financial activities when invoiced and is accounted for net of any discounts and/or rebates.

Expenditure recognition

Liabilities are recognised as expenditure as soon as there is a legal or constructive obligation committing the charity to make a payment to a third party, it is probable that a transfer of economic benefits will be required in settlement and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. All expenditure is stated inclusive of irrecoverable VAT.

All expenditure incurred by the charity relates directly or indirectly to the principal charitable objective of the charity i.e. promoting the welfare of Apostolic Institutes of Religious in England and Wales. Within this heading, expenditure is categorised between the key areas of activity and is analysed in note 3 to these accounts. Indirect expenditure comprises support costs and governance costs. Support costs include all expenditure on financial procedures, the provision of office services and general administration. Governance costs comprise the costs of public accountability (including audit costs). All support and governance costs are allocated to activities in the ratio of the direct expenditure on each activity.

Tangible fixed assets

All assets costing more than £1,000 and with an expected useful life exceeding one year are capitalised.

Improvements to leasehold property are depreciated on a straight-line basis over the life of the lease.

Depreciation is provided on office furniture and equipment purchased outright on a straight-line basis at rates of 20% and 25% per annum respectively.

Investments

Listed investments are a form of basic financial instrument and are initially recognised at their transaction value and subsequently measured at their fair value as at the balance sheet date using the closing quoted market price.

The charity does not acquire put options, derivatives or other complex financial instruments.

The Conference of Religious in England and Wales

33

Principal accounting policies Year to 30 September 2021

Investments (continued)

Realised gains (or losses) on investment assets are calculated as the difference between disposal proceeds and their opening carrying value or their purchase value if acquired subsequent to the first day of the financial year. Unrealised gains and losses are calculated as the difference between the fair value at the year end and their carrying value at that date. Realised and unrealised investment gains (or losses) are combined in the statement of financial activities and are credited (or debited) in the year in which they arise.

Debtors

Debtors are recognised at their settlement amount, less any provision for nonrecoverability. Prepayments are valued at the amount prepaid. They have been discounted to the present value of the future cash receipt where such discounting is material.

Cash at bank and in hand

Cash at bank and in hand represents such accounts and instruments that are available on demand or have a maturity of less than three months from the date of acquisition. Deposits for more than three months but less than one year have been disclosed as short term deposits. Cash placed on deposit for more than one year is disclosed as a fixed asset investment.

Creditors and provisions

Creditors and provisions are recognised when there is an obligation at the balance sheet date as a result of a past event, it is probable that a transfer of economic benefit will be required in settlement, and the amount of the settlement can be estimated reliably. Creditors and provisions are recognised at the amount the charity anticipates it will pay to settle the debt. They have been discounted to the present value of the future cash payment where such discounting is material.

Funds structure

The unrestricted funds of the charity represent those funds which are freely available for use in furtherance of the charity’s objectives at the discretion of the members of the Executive Committee. Within the total unrestricted funds of the charity, the members of the Executive Committee have designated amounts for specific purposes and have identified those non-liquid funds represented by the tangible fixed assets and fixed asset investments. Those funds not designated or represented by tangible fixed assets or fixed asset investments are classified as general funds.

Pension costs

Contributions payable to defined contribution pension schemes and/or personal pension plans are accounted for in the year in which they are payable.

The Conference of Religious in England and Wales

34

Notes to the accounts Year to 30 September 2021

1 Income from investments and interest receivable

Unrestricted
funds
£		 Restricted
funds
£		 2021
£		 Unrestricted
funds
2020
£
Investment income
. Unit trusts and common investment funds
Bank interest		 15,699
28		 —
—		 15,699
28		 15,249
280
15,727 — 15,727 15,529

2 Income from charitable activities

Unrestricted
funds
£		 Restricted
funds
£		 2021
£		 Unrestricted
funds
£		 Restricted
funds
£
—
—
—
59,000
59,000		 2020
£
Membership subscriptions
Meetings
Other income
Grants receivable		 162,171
8,678
10
15,143		 —
—
—
61,000		 162,171
8,678
10
76,143		 171,404
6,216
15,683
—		 171,404
6,216
15,683
59,000
186,002 61,000 247,002 193,303 252,303

3 Expenditure on charitable activities: Promotion of the welfare of Apostolic Institutes of Religious in England and Wales

Unrestricted Unrestricted Restricted Restricted



Total
2021
£

106,126

33,218

29,699

6,649

33,405

41,722

250,819
Direct
staff
costs
£		 Other
direct
costs
£		 Support
staff costs
£		 Other
support
costs
£		 Direct
staff costs
£		 Other
direct
costs
£
Safeguarding
Leaders’ meetings
Events
Vocations
Development
Communications		 9,753
14,935
16,344
—
18,383
22,961		 —
6,080
—
6,649
—
—		 17,343
4,477
4,900
—
5,511
6,883		 29,929
7,726
8,455
—
9,511
11,878		 48,101
—
—
—
—
—		 1,000
—
—
—
—
—
82,376 12,729 39,114 67,499 48,101 1,000

The Conference of Religious in England and Wales 35

Notes to the accounts Year to 30 September 2021

3 Expenditure on charitable activities: (continued)

Unrestricted Unrestricted Restricted Restricted
Total
2020
£
Direct staff
costs
£
Other
direct costs
£
Support
staff costs
£
Other
support
costs
£		 Direct staff
costs
£		 Other
direct costs
£
Safeguarding
Advice and information
Members’ meetings
Vocations
Development
Communications		 15,182
5,767
18,232
—
8,719
29,225
—

—

2,653

12,000

—

—
11,328
2,714
8,579
—
4,102
13,751
18,797

4,503

14,235

—

6,807

22,818
8,893

—

—

—

—

—
1,800

—

—

—

—

—
56,000
12,984
43,699
12,000
19,628
65,794
77,125
14,653
40,474
67,161
8,893
1,800
210,105

4 Net income before investment gains

This is stated after charging:

2021
£		 2020
£
Staff costs (note 5)
Audit costs including VAT
. Statutory audit services
Depreciation		 169,591
10,263
1,291		 126,492
8,690
323

5 Staff costs

Staff costs
2021
£		 2020
£
Staff costs during the year were as follows:
Wages and salaries
Social security costs
Pension costs
Staff costs per function were as follows:
Safeguarding
Leaders’ meetings
Advice and information
Development
Communications
Governance
Support		 154,685
12,369
2,537		 116,924
8,193
1,375
169,591 126,492
57,854
14,935
16,344
18,383
22,961
17,942
21,172		 24,075
18,232
5,767
8,719
29,225
18,279
22,195
169,591 126,492

There were no employees who earned £60,000 per annum or more (including benefits) during the year (2020 – none).

The Conference of Religious in England and Wales

36

Notes to the accounts Year to 30 September 2021

5 Staff costs (continued)

The average number of employees during the year, including consultants, (by head count), analysed by function, was as follows:

2021
No.		 2020
No.
Secretariat (safeguarding, advice and information, members’ meetings,
advocacy, vocations, formation)
Support
2.8
0.4		 2.8
0.6
3.2 3.4

Remuneration of key management personnel

The members of the Executive Committee, together with the General Secretary comprise the key management of the charity. No member of the Executive Committee received any remuneration in connection with his or her services during the year (2020 – £nil).

The remuneration paid in respect to the post of General Secretary for the year ended 30 September 2021 was £48,217 (2020 – £46,860).

One member of the Executive Committee was reimbursed expenses during the year of £20 (2020 – £112) in respect to travel and meeting expenses in connection with their duties as members of the Executive Committee.

6 Taxation

The Conference of Religious in England and Wales is a registered charity and, therefore, is not liable to income tax or corporation tax on income derived from its charitable activities, as it falls within the various exemptions available to registered charities.

7 Tangible fixed assets

Office
furniture
and
equipment
£		 Total
£
Cost
At 1 October 2020 and at 30 September 2021
Depreciation
At 1 October 2020
Charge for year
At 30 September 2021
Net book values
At 30 September 2021
At 30 September 2020		 5,166 5,166
323
1,291		 323
1,291
1,614 1,614
3,552 3,552
4,843 4,843

The Conference of Religious in England and Wales

37

Notes to the accounts Year to 30 September 2021

8 Investments

Investments
2021
£		 2020
£
Listed investments
Market value at 1 October 2020
Unrealised investment gains
Market value at 30 September 2021
Cost of listed investments at 30 September 2021		 923,857
119,517		 870,773
53,084
1,043,374 923,857
671,678 671,678

At 30 September 2021, the listed investments comprised holdings in the following two Common Investment Funds managed by CCLA Investment Management Limited:

9 Holding Market
value at
30
September
2021
£		 Percentage
of portfolio
%
COIF Charities Ethical Investment Fund Income Units
COIF Charities Ethical Investment Fund Accumulation Units		 554,015
489,359		 53.1
46.9
1,043,374 100.0
Holding Market
value at
30
September
2020
£		 Percentage
of portfolio
%
COIF Charities Ethical Investment Fund Income Units
COIF Charities Ethical Investment Fund Accumulation Units		 497,339
426,518		 53.8
46.2
923,857 100.0
Debtors 2021
£		 2020
£
Prepayments and accrued income
Other debtors		 499
7,784		 5,555
11,576
8,283 17,131

The Conference of Religious in England and Wales 38

Notes to the accounts Year to 30 September 2021

10 Creditors: amounts falling due within one year

11 2021
£		 2020
£
Membership subscriptions received in advance
Accruals
Other creditors		 37,055
16,305
9,603		 38,272
19,921
11,859
62,963 70,052
Tangible fixed asset fund 2021
£		 2020
£
At 1 October 2020
Movement in year
At 30 September 2021		 4,843
(1,291)		 —
4,843
3,552 4,843

The tangible fixed assets fund represents the net book value of the charity’s tangible fixed assets. A decision was made to separate this fund from the general fund and other designated funds of the charity in recognition of the fact that the tangible fixed assets are essential to the day-to-day work of the charity and as such their value should not be regarded as funds that would be realisable with ease, in order to meet future contingencies.

12 Designated funds

The income funds of the charity include the following designated fund which has been set aside out of unrestricted funds by the members of the Executive Committee for specific purposes:

At 1
October
2020
£		 New
designations
£
Utilised/
released
£		 At 30
September
2021
£
Capital reserve fund 923,857 119,517 — 1,043,374
At 1
October
2019
£		 New
designations
£
Utilised/
released
£		 At 30
September
2020
£
Capital reserve fund 870,773 53,084 — 923,857

The charity will rely more and more on investment income in order to fund its charitable work. Consequently, the members of the Executive Committee believe it prudent to set aside, or designate, the value tied up in the charity’s investment portfolio as a capital reserve in order to provide a level of assurance that investment income will continue to be generated in future years and thereby ‘finance’ the charity’s work in the long term.

The Conference of Religious in England and Wales

39

Notes to the accounts Year to 30 September 2021

13 Restricted funds

The income funds of the charity include the following restricted funds to be applied for specific purposes:

At 1
October
2020
£		 Income
£
61,000		 Expenditure
£		 At 30
September
2021
£
Safeguarding project 48,307 (49,101) 60,206

The safeguarding project fund is to be applied towards the cost of specific safeguarding advisory and associated activities.

14 Analysis of net assets between funds

Fund balances at
30 September 2021 are
represented by:
Tangible fixed assets
Investments
Net current assets
Total net assets		 Restricted
funds
£


General
funds
£		 Tangible
fixed
assets
funds
£		 Designated
funds
£
—
1,043,374
—
1,043,374		 Total
2021
£
—
—
60,206
—

—

206,527		 3,552
—
—		 3,552
1,043,374
266,733
60,206
206,527		 3,552 1,313,659
Restricted
funds
£		 General
funds
£		 Tangible
fixed
assets
funds
£		 Designated
funds
£
—
923,857
—
923,856		 Total
2020
£
Fund balances at 30 September
2020 are represented by:
Tangible fixed assets
Investments
Net current assets
Total net assets		 —
—
48,307
—

—

205,225		 4,843
—
—		 4,843
923,857
253,532
48,307
205,225		 4,843 1,182,232
Total
2021
£		 Total
2020
£
Reconciliation of movements in unrealised
assets:
Unrealised gains at 1 October 2020
Net unrealised gains arising in year
Unrealisedgains at 30 September 2021		 gains on investment 252,179
119,517		 199,095
53,084
371,696 252,179

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Notes to the accounts Year to 30 September 2021

15 Financial commitments

At 30 September 2021 the charity was committed to pay £12,000 in respect to rent and service charges payable (2020: £12,000).

16 Transactions with related parties

The religious congregations to which the members of the Executive Committee belong are all members of the charity and pay membership subscriptions to the charity. All such payments are made to the charity on an arm's length basis.

During the year, the congregations to which the members of the Executive Committee belong made contributions to the charity totalling £18,430 (2020 – £19,775). These contributions consist of membership fees and donations.

During the year, the charity incurred rent and service charges totaling £24,000 (2020 - £12,000) payable to the Poor Servants of the Mother of God (PSMG). PSMG, are members of the Conference of Religious in England and Wales.

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Appendix

APPENDIX

October 2021

I am very grateful to the Conference of Religious for its ongoing support to the National Office for Vocation, thank you for your continuing collaboration over these years.

As you know, CoR financially provides us with the means to employ Sr Frances Kelly as the Religious Life Promoter in the office. Sr Frances collaborates with me and Mr James Ryan (Discipleship Promoter) in building up a culture of vocation in the Church of England & Wales. I write this report in place of Sr Frances this year, so I have this opportunity to be able to highlight what a blessing she has been to our office in these challenging months since she started to represent you. Sr Frances has the wonderful gift of being able to “dream big” and steadfastly drives ahead with her inspirational ideas and capacity to elicit collaboration and teamwork. Our most ambitious projects this year have come through her creative presence, and we look forward to being able to build upon these precious gifts even more as we move on from the recent pandemic, with courage and hope.

Sr Elaine Penrice fsp Director of NOV

Some 2021 projects

Vocation Music Award

Sr Frances, in collaboration with Vocations Ireland, worked to bring to live a new initiative for the vocations scene here in the UK and Ireland.

We all know how important music can be for young people, and this event takes this truth to a practical conclusion. Young people were invited to reflect on the theme of vocation, either individually or as a group, and translate that into an original piece of music. This is one way of building a culture of vocation in our local church and supporting young aspiring musicians to work for God and evangelisation. The prizes included a financial gift and an opportunity to have a professional quality recording session to produce their own music CD. Many thanks go to the whole team of volunteers and collaborators in this project.

The final took place on Saturday 25 September

with 16 finalists. A programme was edited together and run over the VMA YouTube account which led into a live final with the winner announced. https://youtu.be/eBOBHcozk5E

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Appendix

Some 2021 projects (continued)

Youth 2000

27 – 30 August

The NOV team attended the Youth 2000 retreat: Rejoice which instead of Walsingham this year was held in Ampleforth college. This new location meant that 350 people could attend, 60% of these were new to the event, and came from all over the UK. This is the first time NOV has been given such wide access to this even and we really enjoyed it and are eager to continue working relationship with the Youth 2000 team in the future.

COP26

We have been working in collaboration with Vocation Network Scotland and Vocations Ireland, along with other voluntary bodies to create a faith-filled satellite event in Glasgow during the COP26 climate meeting in November. We see this as an opportunity to follow the advice of Pope Francis and the Synod on Youth – to go and meet young people where they are, rather than expect them to find us.

New Website: https://www.sowingseedsofthefuture.org

This new temporary website is to spread the word and be a place where people can find out more on how to participate in this important event.

Seeds of the Future

We have purchased packets of wild seeds with a postcard which has a prayer and reflection linking sowing of seeds and vocation. NOV will send 2 free packs of seeds to groups who request them through our website, and our collaborators in Scotland will send packs to requests which come from Scotland, and as will Vocations Ireland.

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Appendix

Some 2021 projects (continued)

Carfin Grotto

On Sunday the 31 October there will be a candlelight procession to pray the rosary for Pope Francis’s address to the delegates (the next day), and the good outcome of the conference.

Other events

100 Days of Prayer

The 100 Days of prayer started on the 1[st] of January and its focus is the Saints of England and Wales, celebrating our Church and our countries’ inspirational people. It was decided in January that this would be taken onto a live stream through Facebook every night in February at 7pm, with a guest from around the country and from various states of life. In all we had: 7 Priests, 15 Religious, 10 Married/Single and 1 Permanent Deacon. The live interviews were streamed through the NOV Facebook page stream lasting approximately 15 minutes. Everyone would discuss the history of their chosen Saint and finished with the prayer of the day. This has had on average between 300-500 watches per video, with many interacting, commenting, and sharing the posts. It has brought about an awareness of different states of life, through communities outlining their own Charisms, individual vocation testimonies and introducing to different organisations within our Church.

Website Update: www.UKVocation.org

NOV launched our updated website. The website has consolidated the different states of life and various kinds of vocation, so that we communicate a more unified message about vocation and vocational discernment. We hope to help people have a clearer understanding of the ways we can live out our Christian discipleship and take into consideration the many ways we can serve God, the Church, and our world.

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Appendix

GodCalls: Adventure

https://www.godcalls.co.uk/godcalls-adventure

NOV launched on our NOV website in time for Lent GodCalls: Adventure. This idea came from hearing about an American program called Exodus 90 which helps people deepen their spirituality by focusing their religious practices and encourages them to grow. The GodCalls Adventure is a 40-day program which aims to help people learn new spiritual habits and grow in their faith. The program is flexible so that it can accommodate all levels from beginners to experienced. The NOV team all contributed to writing this program, along with volunteers and advisors.

Small Vocation Groups

Sr Frances has worked throughout the pandemic months in collaboration with other religious, to create a network of local vocation teams throughout England and Wales. There are about 60 religious who have been asked to form local vocations groups: London, Wales, Midlands, Nottingham, Liverpool, and Lancaster. (Some of these groups already existed and some are new initiatives). We can direct new vocation directors to their local group for support.

Living Joyfully

Living Joyfully was organised by Sr Frances and Sr Lynne Baron, planned for the Thursday and Friday of the week running up to Vocations Sunday. It was an opportunity for schools to meet different religious. 9 schools got involved, which meant that 960 students met 22 different congregations. The meetings were held either by Zoom or MS Teams links sent out by the schools. The links were sent to 4 different religious, considering a mix of male and female, contemplative, and apostolic congregations. Teachers coordinated the day. Feedback was very good, and many schools are asking for more. The students and teachers were really interested in the difference between the different kinds of religious. This way the students get a very diverse view of religious life.

On the Saturday before Vocations Sunday, 60 religious signed up to participate in a day of different conversations on religious topics: poverty, chastity, obedience, and general. 30 discerners applied and 12 came. The conversations were serious and enquiring.

Year 12 General RE Module for Vocation

A vocation module is being developed with 2 Catholic Secondary Schools, Cardinal Pole Catholic School and Our Lady’s who are helping to write some of the content and trial it in Core RE Lessons. There are 7 lessons and each one is based upon various states of life, there are discussion topics and writing topics to be completed, finishing with a written essay assignment. The topic has videos and other engaging features that have already been created and placed into the module, but this can be developed in the future. This module also allows the students ample time to think about vocation, building a culture and allowing them to think about the many ways God can call them.

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Appendix

Radio Maria: Vocation

We have been developing a collaborative relationship with Radio Maria England these months and have worked with them on a season of Vocation themed programs. We are trying to promote Radio Maria so that we can further the understanding of a culture of vocation in England & Wales among public listeners. We have discussed with Helena Judd, a series on the Evangelical Councils, to help people understand that the values of the religious vows are traditional Catholic values which are for everybody, and to help people understand better how they can contribute to their own spiritual lives.

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Appendix

RELIGIOUS LIFE INSTITUTE (RLI)

The Religious Life Institute [RLI] was transferred from Heythrop College, University of London to the Margaret Beaufort Institute in 2018 with the demise of Heythrop. Its director is Dr. Gemma Simmonds CJ. Research Associates who have worked in collaboration since the move are Drs. Susan O’Brien, Carmen Mangion, Catherine Sexton, María Calderón-Muñoz, Petá Dunstan, Kate Stogdon RC, Jim Sweeney CP and Martin Poulsom SDB. The RLI continues to stand in collaboration with the Durham University Centre for Catholic Studies.

The director has continued throughout lockdown to give lectures and presentations on the RLI’s recent research on New Entrants to Religious Life from 2000-2020 to national and international congregations and organizations of religious both apostolic and monastic, male and female. A hard copy of the research booklet is available for free to all congregations who are members of CoR. Further copies are available for £6.25 + P & P. Other book and CD resources are also available on application to Gemma Simmonds at gmcas2@cam.ac.uk

RESEARCH PROJECTS: This research has also attracted a further generous research contract in collaboration with Profs. Mary Johnson and Patricia Whittberg, Dr. Mary Gautier [USA] and Sr. Nathalie Becquart, Under Secretary to the Synod of Bishops [Rome]. The two-year project, based in the RLI, brings together similar research projects on New Vocations to Religious Life in the USA, Canada, Australia, UK, Ireland, and France.

A second two-year research project begun in 2021 is being funded by the Passionist Order and the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace. It is looking at radical forms of social insertion by religious in inner city missions in the UK, especially during the lifetime of Fr. Austin Smith CP & his collaborators. So far, we have the agreed collaboration of the Society of Jesus, the Sisters of the Infant Jesus and the Faithful Companions of Jesus as well as the congregations originally named. The researchers and writers for this project are Gemma Simmonds and Drs. Susan O’Brien, Carmen Mangion and Sue Price. Any congregations or individual religious interested in being interviewed as part of this project are asked to contact Gemma Simmonds at gmcas2@cam.ac.uk

A final project currently underway is in collaboration with the Union of International Superiors General [UISG] in Rome and the Center for the Study of Consecrated Life [CSCL] at Catholic Theological Union, Chicago. This project is promoting a global network of sisters under 60 working in a variety of theological and associated disciplines. The network is fostering emerging writing on the theology of women’s religious life from a global perspective. Together with Sr. Maria Cimperman RSCJ, director of the CSCL and 2 male religious, the RLI director will be producing the synthesis on synodality in religious life on behalf of the USG/UISG which will be presented to the Vatican Synod on Synodality.

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Appendix

As director of the RLI Gemma Simmonds continues to run retreats for religious, to facilitate assemblies and to teach courses in the theology of religious life online in French, Spanish, German and Portuguese at the UISG, at the Gregorian University in Rome, for the Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Formationsleiterinnen (AGF) in Germany and the Live Out Loud Formation Program, USA 2021-2022 Live Out Loud Program | Religious Formation Conference (relforcon.org)

Dr Gemma Simmonds CJ RLI Director 9[th] October 2021

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Appendix

ANGLICAN RELIGIOUS LIFE 2021

The House of Bishops of the Church of England released an updated Safeguarding Policy for Religious Communities in November 2020. The National Safeguarding Team has been providing support for the implementation of this policy.

In November 2020 the General Synod enacted a Canon, which gives a place within the canonical structure of the Church for religious communities. All the communities have had to be registered under the conditions laid down by the Canon and the Religious Communities Regulations 2020. This has entailed ensuring the governance documents conform to the requirements of the Regulations. The Advisory Council for Religious Communities, a body first established in 1943 to provide support and advice for communities and bishops, has become a Committee of the House of Bishops. The Advisory Council has overseen this work of registration, which is continuing.

The Advisory Council continues to provide support for new and emerging communities. In many cases the members are dispersed. Some have a ministry within a particular parish or urban area. They draw on the traditional values of religious communities with a rule or rhythm of life and common prayer, expressed in a way that suits their circumstances.

The Leaders of the religious communities didn’t hold their usual annual conference in 2020 but will be meeting at the Retreat House of the Community of the Resurrection at Mirfield, West Yorkshire from 11 to 14 October 2021. This time they intend to spend time together, sharing our experiences of the past eighteen months or so. Fr Colin, Secretary of the Anglican Council and the Leaders’ Conference says, “As for everyone else, it has been a challenging year or more. Our own experience has been that it has confirmed our vocation to a life of prayer, within the monastic tradition, and that this has been our contribution. I have been very encouraged with the way we have just got on with it.”

I have attended all Zoom meetings of the Advisory Council for Religious Communities (now a Committee of the House of Bishops). Unfortunately, I am unable to attend this year’s meeting in Mirfield of the Leaders of Anglican Religious Communities, but hope to do so again in 2022.

Sr Margaret Shepherd nds

CoR Representative on the Anglican Advisory Council for Religious Communities With thanks to Fr Colin CSWG, (The Community of the Servants of the Will of God)

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