2021-03-31-accounts

Financial Statements 31 March 2021

Philo Trust Philo Trust, Witton House, Lower Road, Chorleywood, WD3 5LB

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Charity Number 285762

Contents

Contents
Administrative Information	3
Annual Report of the Trustees	4-9
Message from Chair of Trustees	10-11
Annual Report of the Director	12-23
Independent Auditor’s Report to the Trustees	24-27
Statement of Financial Activities	28
Balance Sheet	29
Cashflow Statement	30
Notes to the Accounts	31-37

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Administrative Information

Registered Charity Name Philo Trust Registered Charity Number 285762 Principal Office Witton House, Lower Road, Chorleywood, Rickmansworth, WD3 5LB Tel: [phone] Director Revd Canon J.John Trustees Mr Terry Baker (Chair) Mrs Juanita Baker Mr Adrian Bignell Mr Mike Carson Revd Mike Pavlou Mr Alex Stewart-Clark Auditors Cansdales Audit LLP, Chartered Accountants and Registered Auditors, Bourbon Court, Nightingales Corner, Little Chalfont, HP7 9QS Bankers NatWest, 16 South Parade, Nottingham, NG1 2JX

PHILO TRUST – Administrative Information for the year ended 31 March 2021

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Annual Report of the Trustees

The Trustees present their report and the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2021, which includes the administrative information on page 3.

Constitutional information

Philo Trust is constituted by a Deed of Trust and was established in 1982. The charity’s registration number is 285762.

Objectives, organisation and activities

• To proactively take initiative in the organisation and implementation of evangelistic opportunities.

• To reactively respond to invitations – to co-labour with others involved in ongoing and existing evangelistic strategies.

• To equip the next generation of evangelists to fulfil the full measure of their potential within their calling.

• To educate, equip and enthuse believers in order that they may live out the Christian life to its full.

Operational structure

The Trustees met two times this year due to the pandemic, one being a remote meeting. Each meeting has substantially the same principal agenda items: to review current finance and resources, staff and employment matters, the immediate past and future diary of commitments, and to receive reports from staff on particular areas relevant to their responsibilities. The Trustees believe that they serve Philo Trust under God, and Trustee meetings are therefore held in the context of devotional and intercessory prayer.

All policy decisions are reserved to the Trustees, following which implementation is delegated to the staff under the direction of J.John. Any significant financial commitment is referred back to the Trustees before it is agreed and there is close liaison between the Trustees and J.John.

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Trustees

New Trustees invited to serve Philo Trust are provided with a copy of the Charity Commission’s leaflet ‘The Essential Trustee – CC3’, and join the Board of Trustees where they are encouraged to ask questions and brief themselves on the current issues being addressed.

At an early stage new Trustees have the opportunity to meet all key members of staff and learn first hand about the activities, operations and protocols of Philo Trust.

Each Trustee is encouraged to take responsibility for a particular area of the Trust’s operation commensurate with their interest, experience and proven competence, and thereafter take the lead when supervising that area, and when developing policy and future plans.

New Trustees are encouraged to identify an area of responsibility in communication with the Chair of the Trustees.

New Trustees are nominated either by a Trustee or J.John. After discussion between the Chair of Trustees and J.John, the nominee meets the present Trustees; prayer and consideration follows. Only if there is unanimous agreement will he or she be appointed to the Board. Decisions are made between the Trustees after prayer, discussion and unanimous agreement between all Trustees and J.John.

Financial review

The year 2020–2021 was a year of fast-paced adjustment due to the ever-changing landscape caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Philo Trust focused on ensuring that despite the change in delivery style, its objectives would continue to be met. In the process of pivoting around the deliverables of the Trust, we were able to make significant expenditure reductions through a restructuring process to ensure that the fall in the levels of income were matched by a reduction in expenditure. Relying on our reserves enabled us the ability to invest in a new TV studio, prior to receiving donations for the expenditure, which facilitated most of our online media and broadcast work as our traditional methods of delivering services were unavailable. We developed new ways of working, which enabled organisations and individuals to stay connected with the charity when traditional support mechanisms were in disarray. We continued to bring our debtor balances down to a more realistic level and worked to reduce the levels of stock held.

In the light of the coronavirus crisis, Philo Trust has taken regard to its Going Concern Policy in line with the Financial Reporting Council’s notes for the current situation. Philo Trust was well situated to be able to manage the constraints around the virus. We continued to ensure that our IT Security Policy and Business Continuity Policy were robust ensuring that staff were able to continue with their work, regardless of whether they were in the office or working from elsewhere.

Entering the second annual budget with the coronavirus situation still ongoing, we have prepared a budget based on our experience of the previous year, rather than what we consider a year

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where Philo Trust is able to communicate its message at full capacity. Working in a situation where we are significantly below normal expenditure levels does give the appearance of inflating the reserves. However, there is an expectation that reserve levels will return to normal in the 2022– 2023 year.

Early results for the first two months of 2020–2021 showed Philo Trust was slightly below expected budget levels. As our cash funds remain strong, we expect to weather the 2021–2022 year reducing any going-concern issues.

Reserves policy

The Trustees have established a policy whereby the unrestricted general funds not committed or invested in tangible fixed assets and stock (‘the free reserves’) held by the charity should not be less than three months normal running costs of the following year’s budgeted expenditure. Due to the coronavirus situation that was developing at the year-end a budget was prepared, reducing the expenditure budget to show quarterly budgeted expenditure of £179,266. Philo Trust, which has worked hard to recoup its reserves over the last few years, had free reserves (excluding those invested in fixed assets, stock and those held in designated funds) at 31 March 2021 of £360,522 for which the Trustees are very grateful. The Trustees review this policy and the level from time to time.

Risk policy

The Trustees review major risks to which the charity is exposed, and systems have been established to mitigate those risks wherever possible. These systems are reviewed periodically to ensure best practice is established for the needs of the charity.

The Trustees have adopted a risk management statement and policy and established a risk register. This enables them to rank risks according to probability and severity.

The Trustees believe that the principal risks and uncertainties are:

Reputational The Trustees regularly discuss any potential areas which may cause reputational harm to the charity and any necessary action required is discussed and taken accordingly.

Funding Philo Trust constantly seeks to widen its donor base and encourage regular donations. In order to provide stability during periods of low income Philo Trust seeks to maintain sufficient liquid reserves.

Loss of records Daily back up of computerised records takes place. This is done via the Cloud so that nothing is only held physically within the Witton House office.

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Vision, mission and values

Vision

Our vision is to transform lives by communicating the truth of Christianity.

Mission

To have an impact in every region of the UK, locally and nationally, and specific countries worldwide:

• by presenting the truth of Christianity in a way that enables people to make an informed decision about Jesus Christ.

• by teaching and training Christians to do the same.

How?

Philo Trust has four main areas of operation:

• Proclamation – communicating Christianity

• Training – equipping Christians to communicate Christianity

• Training evangelists – mentoring

• Producing resources for evangelism

Values

Our key focus is to transform the lives of people we meet by communicating the Good News of Christianity in a relevant and accessible way.

We value Bible-based lifestyles, teachable attitudes and unity in the hearts of all those involved.

We desire to be responsive to need and produce resources that meet the needs of the people with whom we are communicating.

We desire everything we do at Philo Trust to be birthed in prayer, in line with the Bible, and in step with the Holy Spirit.

Review of activities

The review of activities for the year is set out in the Annual Report of the Director on pages 12-23.

Plans for future periods

The charity plans to continue the activities outlined above in the forthcoming years subject to satisfactory funding arrangements. We have learned from our operations in the past and will apply the lessons we have learned from our experience to further our future plans.

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Public benefit

The Trustees have considered the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit and, in particular, the specific guidance on charities for the advancement of religion, when reviewing the Trust’s aims and objectives and in planning future activities and setting the grant-making policy for the year.

The Trustees have, in their view, met the public benefit requirement by holding a variety of events across the world which are open to the general public and which seek, in accordance with their vision, to transform lives and thus enable people to live as responsible citizens in their community.

The vision, mission and values of the Trust along with the year’s objectives, activities and achievements are set out in this report and in the Annual Report of the Director.

Responsibilities of Trustees

The Trustees are responsible for preparing the Trustees’ Report and the financial statements 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 Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs in the charity and of the incoming resources and application of resources of the charity for that period.

In preparing these financial statements, the Trustees are required to:

• select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;

• observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP;

• make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;

• state whether applicable accounting standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements;

• prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in operation.

The Trustees are responsible for keeping accounting records that 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 2011, the Charity (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 and Trust deed.

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.

Disclosure

We, the Trustees of the charity confirm, so far as we are aware, that:

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• there is no relevant audit information of which the charity’s auditors are unaware; and

• we have taken all the steps that we ought to have taken as Trustees in order to make ourselves aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the charity’s auditors are aware of that information.

On behalf of the Board of Trustees

Mr Terry Baker Chair of Trustees

Date: 6 September 2021

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Message from Chair of Trustees

In my fourteen years as the Chair of Trustees, I have been privileged to witness the work of God first-hand through the work and ministry of Philo Trust. Like every charity across the UK and around the world, this financial year has been defined in many ways by the coronavirus pandemic, but as this set of Annual Accounts shows, Philo Trust has not only survived but thrived throughout this season.

Two words that have been used frequently this year to define our work during this season have been adapt and increase.

Philo Trust has adapted incredibly well into a new season of ministry brought about by the onslaught of the coronavirus pandemic. With months of events cancelled in March 2020, the new financial year began with a requirement to move the whole ministry online. With the entire staff team working from home, the report below details the significant amount of work undertaken to allow the charity to continue to meet its charitable objectives as we have always done, but incredibly in completely new and creative ways.

Not only was the adaption to this new way of working a real success, but we have also seen significant increase in many areas of the ministry. To give an example, in ‘normal’ years, Philo Trust might expect to be involved in up to 20 town/city-wide Christmas carol services. The pandemic forced us to do things differently and so our Share Christmas initiative saw 1,398 churches from around the world register their interest in using our video resources in their online carol services. This enabled many thousands of people to hear the message of Christianity in an online setting.

This year, perhaps more than ever, I want to thank our wonderful donors from around the world who have not only enabled this work to continue throughout the pandemic but have really invested to allow the charity to adapt and thrive during this season. Without their support, this ministry would simply cease to exist.

On behalf of the Trustees, I would like to thank J.John and Killy and all of the staff. The Philo Trust team have worked very hard this year to achieve an amazing response to the coronavirus pandemic despite the numerous challenges that have come their way. The new ideas, and the strategic changes made as we navigated the pandemic, have been an overwhelming success and make this an excellent report.

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I also take this opportunity to thank my fellow Trustees for their input, wisdom, and the diversity of wisdom they bring to Philo Trust.

Mr Terry Baker Chair of Trustees

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Annual Report of the Director

Philo Trust is committed to evangelism through proclamation, training, mentoring and resources. This last year has been unlike any other year we have seen in 41 years of ministry, but despite the challenges of lockdowns and cancelled meetings, we have had many opportunities to share the relevance of Christianity. I am delighted to share them with you in this report.

Evangelism through Proclamation

We are committed to proclaiming the Good News of Christianity across the UK and around the world. With church communities meeting online we have adapted our way of working and have participated in thousands of churches’ services and online events sharing a positive message of hope. Additionally, we have shared that same message through television, radio, podcast, print media and a renewed and strategic focus on social media.

Evangelism through Training

We are committed to training Christians to share their faith because we believe that evangelism is the task of the whole church. This year, we have had a significant number of opportunities to teach the principles of praying, caring and sharing.

Evangelism through Mentoring

We are committed to mentoring and coaching other evangelists. Although we have not been able to meet in person with many of our associate evangelists, we have continued to develop and sharpen our shared desire to see communities changed and lives restored through online meetings.

Evangelism through Resources

We have expanded the range of resources available in the last year. Our books have been shared by many Christians to encourage those with no faith to better understand Christianity. We have also seen our range of digital resources used and utilised by an incredibly diverse range of churches worldwide.

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Our opportunities: Proclamation

This year began with the first national lockdown in the UK due to the coronavirus. We have remained steadfast in our commitment to sharing the message of Christianity, and although our usual methodology was not possible due to the coronavirus, our team have adapted and enabled many hundreds of thousands of people to hear the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Easter 2020

We shared an Easter message during the first lockdown which was broadcast live on YouTube and Facebook. This live event was billed as ‘Easter with J.John’ with Christians encouraged to ‘hit share’ to share the broadcast with their friends and social media followers. Many viewers indicated a response to the message or a desire to connect with a local church. Our team worked remotely with a broadcast partner to arrange the live event with staff working from four locations to ensure its success.

We also pre-recorded an Easter message that was broadcast to 120 prisons and across the GOD TV global network. It was a privilege to be able to share at a particularly difficult time with prisoners who were unable to see family over the Easter weekend. In the early days of the pandemic, prior to building our studio, we filmed this message on a mobile phone at my home, with my wife, Killy, operating the camera.

Pentecost 2020

With the increase in online events and an increased number of speaking requests, I spoke at seven different Pentecost events in 2020. I would normally speak at one.

I spoke at:

• Cornerstone The Church, Walton-on-Thames

• Soul Survivor, Watford

• KingsGate, Peterborough

• Enfield Vineyard

• Soul Church, Norwich

• London School of Theology

• Christ Church, Chorleywood

Christmas 2020

As demand for speaking engagements continued to rise, and with the cancellation of our Christmas events, we launched Share Christmas , an initiative with free-to-use Christmas video content for churches including:

• A Christmas message.

• A Christmas Bible reading by Sir David Suchet.

• A Christmas message from Sir Cliff Richard.

• A Christmas song by Matt Redman.

• The Christmas Story – an animated retelling of the nativity for children and families.

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• A full Christmas service – for churches without the technical ability to create a full-length online service.

• A full Christmas service for Elim churches – we partnered with the Elim denomination to produce a full service that Elim churches could use as part of their Elim Christmastime initiative.

Incredibly, we saw the following:

• 1,398 churches register for Share Christmas . Our analysis shows:

• 1,322 from the UK

• 76 from elsewhere around the world

Whilst it is not possible to have a definite number for how many of the registered churches used the content, our analysis shows that the sermon, full Christmas service and the full service specifically for Elim churches were jointly downloaded a total of 1,093 times.

Additionally, I was able to speak at a special Christmas service for the National Prison Radio to 120 prisons.

Our content was used by various broadcast partners as part of special shows or throughout their Christmas period:

• UCB2 Radio

• GOD TV

In-person events

We overcame the limitations of lockdown on a number of occasions, and I was able to speak at a number of events including Carols by Carlight , a joint event with the Vineyard Church, Enfield and New River Church. Together we shared the Good News of Jesus at a special Christmas event with over 400 cars and an estimated 2,000 people at a drive-in cinema.

I also had numerous opportunities to speak at ‘in-person’ events at my home church in Chorleywood to support the leadership during the pandemic.

Online events

Across the year there were opportunities to share the relevance of Christianity with communities meeting online. I was able to share evangelistic talks with local churches in Enfield and Loudwater.

I also shared an evangelistic message at a 24-hour online event titled ‘TODAY’. During this event 50 evangelists from around the world each shared the gospel on a continuous live stream. We are encouraged that 128,000 people viewed some part of the livestream with 57,000 engaging whether ‘liking’ or commenting. It was encouraging to see many of our associate evangelists also taking part.

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Our opportunities: Training

Training Christians to be more intentional in communicating the relevance of Christianity has continued to form an integral part of our ministry. We work with churches and organisations to equip and inspire Christians to share a positive message of hope.

It was a joy to participate in numerous online opportunities as ministries and organisations gathered Christians to be encouraged and inspired to share their faith.

A number of conferences that might typically take place ‘in person’ moved online and I was delighted to speak at:

• The Exponential Europe Conference for church leaders looking to grow their churches with church leaders attending from all over Europe.

• The Ekklesia Conference hosted by Share Jesus International.

• The Stronger Network hosted by St Albans, Fulham.

• Keswick Ministry , Ayrshires’ online conference.

• Thy Kingdom Come , with an interview with Revd Chris Russell distributed on their Instagram account.

With the increased use of digital events, I was able to speak at events outside the UK without needing to travel. A number of opportunities included:

• Speaking with Elim Church pastors from across New Zealand at an online gathering.

• Participating in an online event with churches across Ireland to celebrate St Patrick’s Day. Hosted by the Evangelical Alliance, Ireland.

• An interview with ARC Church, USA which has since become an online evangelism resource.

• Speaking to over 7,500 who joined an online evening event at Life Church, Memphis.

• Encouraging staff, volunteers and interns at The Altitude Mission, France.

• Speaking at a Refuel event hosted by Cornerstone Community Church, Singapore.

I was also able to encourage my local church and filmed many different videos for use during online Sunday services and at their morning devotions.

Other opportunities included:

• A personal full-length message to encourage the Christian bookshop trade in the UK. This was in place of their annual conference.

• Reflections on marriage broadcast on GOD TV.

• An online interview with the Salvation Army, Sunderland.

• A Facebook live event with the Evangelical Alliance, UK focusing on how to share our faith during the pandemic.

• An interview with Youth for Christ, UK.

• Speaking at a training event hosted by Christians Against Poverty.

• Joining Ruach City Church, London for an online event.

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• Speaking at The Common Sense Network hosted by Mike Omoniyi.

• Speaking at an online event hosted by Christians at Your Service.

• Speaking with the church leaders from across Bromley, London.

My colleague Andrew Hawkins was able to run six training events as online webinars covering how to share our faith and The Natural Evangelism Course . These live events were later available online for use by churches and their communities.

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Our opportunities: Mentoring

Philo Trust seeks to help support and mentor those who work to share the Christian faith. This takes a number of forms such as speaking ‘one-on-one’ with individuals and online gatherings of groups of evangelists.

Our usual Evangelists’ Conference scheduled for January 2021 was postponed owing to Covid restrictions to January 2022.

We continued to place a specific focus on mentoring associate evangelists, despite not being able to meet in person. Philo Trust hosted three online zoom meetings providing a small group of ministry leaders with an opportunity to network and refocus.

Killy John and I have also met one-on-one with over 40 associates, evangelists and ministry leaders including:

Lou Fellingham Keith Mitchell Joe Boot Stephen Hance Pastor Agu Ruth Roff Barry Woodward Amy Orr-Ewing Leighton Ford Carrie Headington Carson Pue Thea Muir Andy Economides David Bennett Steve Beegoo Mike Pilavachi Steve Abbott Mike T. Omoniyi Victoria Craig Tom Smiley Greg Downes Mark Warom Ian McDowall Tim Saiet Jodie Collins

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Our opportunities: Resources

We seek to resource a wide variety of individuals to better understand and communicate the Christian faith. We do so through a variety of methods. Encouraging the church to remain optimistic and faith filled has been an essential element of our work during the past year.

Published Books

Philo Trust continues to expend effort to publish books which convey and communicate Christianity to a wide audience.

This year we have published a Bible reading aid titled The Robert Murray M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan. This has been used to encourage Christians to develop healthy habits to read the Bible.

Titles are also available for those who are blind and partially sighted through our partnership with the Torch Trust. Where available, we have promoted these on our website to encourage their use.

We donated 3,290 copies of our Easter title It Is Finished for use in prisons.

Articles

Over the course of the year, we have produced 52 articles to resource Christians to better understand and communicate their faith. There have been over 98,000 views of articles on our canonjjohn website in the last year, with over 48,000 of those views coming from Facebook. Additionally, eLetters which included an article as their main feature were opened 292,000 times.

With an increased number of articles published in the last year, we have found that many media outlets have chosen to regularly feature my articles in their printed publications and online platforms. These outlets include C hurch of England Newspaper , Sorted Magazine , GOD TV blog, Christian Today , Keep the Faith , and Joy! (South Africa). Other outlets such as My Christian Daily , Inspire magazine, and the Paphos Post (Cyprus) have also published articles.

I wrote a number of articles to inspire and encourage people at the start of the coronavirus pandemic. These are listed below:

• Touching Reality

• A Letter I Don’t Want to Write

• For a Time of Anxiety

• Recipe for Resilience

• Solving the Mystery

• Will We Have a Summer Holiday?

• Don’t Rush for the Exit!

• The Rainbow

• Behind the Mask

• Living in Times of Turmoil

• Nothing to Fear

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Heroes of the Faith

I have written 36 articles on some of my Heroes of the Faith . These have been a real encouragement to me as I have learnt more and pondered what we can learn from their lives and their work. The team have enabled these articles to be shared through a wide variety of means including:

• As articles on our website and mailing list.

• Through our social media accounts.

• My wife Killy has recorded a podcast sharing a different hero each week with a brand-new audience.

I have chosen a wide variety of heroes highlighting some amazing men and women from a wide variety of nationalities and cultures including:

William Wilberforce	Amy Carmichael	Elizabeth Fry
Josephine Butler	Charles Simeon	Rembrandt
Billy Bray	Edward Jenner	Pandita Ramabai
Harriet Tubman	Blaise Pascal	Charles Spurgeon
John Bunyan	Shi Meiyu	Lilias Trotter
George Müller	Lord Shaftesbury	St Valentine
John Chrysostom	Sojourner Truth	Michael Faraday
Mary Jones	Johann Sebastian Bach	George Washington Carver
Augustine of Hippo	Mary	Gladys Aylward
Robert Murray M’Cheyne	Joseph	Apolo Kivebulaya
William Seymour	St Nicholas	James Clerk Maxwell
Corrie ten Boom	C.S. Lewis	William Holman Hunt

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Digital services and broadcast

In the past we have reported website and social media statistics as part of our commitment to produce high-quality resources. Our commitment to evangelism through proclamation, training, mentoring and resources has happened over the past 12 months both physically at opportunities such as events but also more commonly now through digital outlets.

Philo Trust has a range of outlets which we review regularly and seek to grow to increase our presence and reach.

Websites

Our websites remain an important signpost to content and an integral part of our strategy to communicate the relevance of Christianity to a wide audience. They inform visitors of our charitable objectives, our events and the resources produced by the Trust. We have a range of resources available free of charge and also others available to purchase through our online shop.

• Our primary website (www.canonjjohn.com) has continued to be updated. We have continued to refine the efficiency of e-commerce processes and added extra functionality and security.

• The canonjjohn.com website has been visited over 364,000 times by more than 247,000 people since its launch in 2019.

• The JustOne website supporting the various JustOne events we have held and are planning has been visited over 111,000 times by more than 75,000 people since its launch in 2017.

• The Evangelists’ Conference website has been visited over 23,000 times by more than 17,000 people since its launch in 2017.

Social Media

A defining hallmark of the global response to the coronavirus has been the increased use of online media. It was a joy to see our team rise to the challenge of continuing to share the Good News of Jesus with an increasing global audience.

Without a doubt, social media channels have also grown in their reach and significance for the ministry over the past year. A key focus has been to reflect the charitable objectives of the Trust in our online presence and this has been done to great effect. To use Facebook as an example, engagement saw an increase of 113% in comparison to the previous year, new follower numbers increased 77.8% more than the previous year, and our posts had a reach that was 60.8% higher than the previous year.

Facebook

• The total number of impressions of our Facebook posts was over 13 million.

• The total reach of our Facebook posts was over 2.6 million.

• There have been 2.2 million views of the videos posted on our @canonjjohn Facebook page this last year.

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Twitter

• The total number of tweets made on the @canonjjohn Twitter account was 725.

• The total number of impressions was over 2.2 million.

Instagram

• The total number of posts made to our @canonjjohn Instagram profile this last year was 512.

• Total followers on Instagram increased by 34% to 24,200 people.

• The total number of impressions was over 6.1 million.

• Interaction on Instagram has grown considerably this year. We had 126,159 video views (an increase of 336%).

YouTube

• Our Philo Trust YouTube channel has had over 600,000 views during this year. In comparison, in the previous year there were 251,400 views.

• The number of views on our Philo Trust YouTube channel equates to approximately 51,200 hours of viewing. In comparison, the previous year equates to approximately 27,600 hours of viewing.

• An additional 4,000 people subscribed to the J.John YouTube channel over the course of the year. In comparison, there were 1,500 new subscribers in the previous year.

• Our Facing the Canon YouTube channel has had over 167,000 views this year.

• The number of views on our Facing the Canon YouTube channel equates to approximately 49,900 hours of viewing.

• An additional 905 people subscribed to the Facing the Canon YouTube channel over the course of the year.

Over the year we have been involved with many different initiatives and opportunities. The following are some highlights.

It was a joy to interview 25 different guests using the ‘Live’ feature on Instagram . The social media platform allowed me an opportunity to discuss faith with a diverse range of guests including:

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• Pat Allerton

• Ray Bevan

• Christine Caine

• Dr Katie Chimes

• Phil Cooke

• Dr Andrew Fox

• Laurie Gear

• Richard Green

• Danny Guglielmucci

• Benjamin John

• • Jason McCarthy

• Eric Metaxas

• Michael Ramsden

• Mark Ritchie

• Dudley Rutherford

• Olga Thompson

• Alexa Vega and Carlos Pena

• Barry Woodward

Word of the Day – daily videos

At the beginning of the first lockdown, I took the decision to record a daily encouragement first thing each morning. Sharing these with our social media accounts saw a huge amount of engagement and reports of Christians and those with no connection to church being inspired during this difficult time.

Overall, I shared 136 messages with a total viewership conservatively over 1.5 million views across our social media platforms.

Broadcast

One of the largest and most significant initiatives we have had the privilege of working on this last year has been the development of a range of new ways of sharing our message. This last year, the team have developed the following new outlets:

• New weekly TV programme on GOD TV: J.John on Sundays . Also premiered on Facebook and YouTube.

• 2 new weekly podcasts: The J.John Podcast and Heroes of the Faith: with J.John and Killy.

• 1 seasonal podcast: God With Us.

We have endeavoured to work sharper by recording messages by myself and interviews with a wide range of inspiring guests. Each episode is worked on by almost the entire staff team, from pre-production through to post-production and distribution, and is shared across all of our digital platforms, being adapted to best suit the platform and reach the widest audience possible.

During the first few weeks, my wife Killy was filming a talk in one take on a mobile phone which was then edited and broadcast on TV. Realising the reach of our work and the need to develop what we were doing, we worked to establish a studio space within our office to enable us to make high-quality content without hiring equipment or compromising our message with distracting poor production values.

J.John on Sundays has had:

• 359,000 views on Facebook and YouTube.

• Our podcasts have had 37,000 downloads.

An additional podcast recorded by Killy titled God With Us has been downloaded 2,881 times.

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Radio

One particular encouragement over this last year has been the number of opportunities to join broadcasters on radio and TV stations:

• Multiple radio interviews on UCB2 with Ruth O’Reilly-Smith.

• Radio interview with Premier Radio on their breakfast show.

• Participated in a ‘Lockdown special’ show on Premier Radio.

• Radio interview on BBC 3 Counties Radio.

• Radio interview with Pure West Radio, USA.

• Radio interview with Konnect Radio.

• Radio interviews with Trans World Radio, UK.

Two live talks were re-broadcast on US radio network Focus on the Family.

We partnered with UCB Radio who shared an audio recording of our publication It Is Finished over seven instalments during the Easter period.

I also participated in live TV shows with Daystar and GOD TV. With Daystar we heard 78 people telephoned the station to say they had made a commitment to Christ.

The reach of Philo Trust has undoubtedly never been as great and as the year has progressed we have seen more opportunities open up and develop.

To summarise, we have been hugely encouraged by the sheer variety of opportunities both large and small to see communities in the UK and around the world transformed by Jesus Christ.

Thanks be to God.

Revd Canon J.John Date: 6 September 2021 Director

PHILO TRUST – Annual Report of the Trustees for the year ended 31 March 2021

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Independent Auditor’s Report to the Trustees of Philo Trust

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of Philo Trust (the “charity”) for the year ended 31 March 2021 which comprise the statement of financial activities, the balance sheet, the cashflow statement and notes to the financial statements, including a summary of significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including 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 financial statements:

• give a true and fair view of the state of the charity’s affairs as at 31 March 2021, and of its incoming resources and application of resources, for the year then ended;

• have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice; and

• have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011.

Basis for opinion

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the charity in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC’s Ethical Standard, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

PHILO TRUST – Annual Report of the Trustees for the year ended 31 March 2021

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Conclusions relating to going concern

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

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

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

Other information

The Trustees are responsible for the other information. The other information comprises the information included in the Trustees’ annual report, other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon.

In connection with our audit of the financial statements, our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether there is a material misstatement in the financial statements or a material misstatement of the other information. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.

We have nothing to report in this regard.

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 (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 require us to report to you if, in our opinion:

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

• sufficient accounting records have not been kept; or

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

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

PHILO TRUST – Annual Report of the Trustees for the year ended 31 March 2021

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Responsibilities of Trustees

As explained more fully in the Trustees’ responsibilities statement set out on page 8, the Trustees are responsible for the preparation of financial statements which give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the Trustees determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

In preparing the financial statements, the Trustees are responsible for assessing the charity’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the Trustees either intend to liquidate the charity or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

We have been appointed as auditor under section 144 of the Charities Act 2011 and report in accordance with regulations made under section 154 of that Act.

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor’s report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.

As part of an audit in accordance with ISAs (UK), we exercise professional judgement and maintain professional scepticism throughout the audit. We also:

Identify and assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to fraud or error, design and perform audit procedures responsive to those risks, and obtain audit evidence that is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion. The risk of not detecting a material misstatement resulting from fraud is higher than for one resulting from error, as fraud may involve collusion, forgery, intentional omissions, misrepresentations, or the override of internal control.

Obtain an understanding of internal control relevant to the audit in order to design audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the charity’s internal control.

Evaluate the appropriateness of accounting policies used and the reasonableness of accounting estimates and related disclosures made by the Trustees.

Conclude on the appropriateness of the Trustees’ use of the going concern basis of accounting and, based on the audit evidence obtained, whether a material uncertainty exists related to events or conditions that may cast significant doubt on the charity’s ability PHILO TRUST – Annual Report of the Trustees for the year ended 31 March 2021 26

to continue as a going concern. If we conclude that a material uncertainty exists, we are required to draw attention in our auditor’s report to the related disclosures in the financial statements or, if such disclosures are inadequate, to modify our opinion. Our conclusions are based on the audit evidence obtained up to the date of our auditor’s report. However, future events or conditions may cause the charity to cease to continue as a going concern.

Evaluate the overall presentation, structure and content of the financial statements, including the disclosures, and whether the financial statements represent the underlying transactions and events in a manner that achieves fair presentation.

We communicate with those charged with governance regarding, among other matters, the planned scope and timing of the audit and significant audit findings, including any significant deficiencies in internal control that we identify during our audit.

Use of our report

This report is made solely to the Trustees of the Charity, as a body, in accordance with Part 4 of the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the Trustees of the Charity 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 Trustees of the Charity as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

Cansdales Audit LLP

Date: 6 September 2021

Chartered Accountants and Statutory Auditors Bourbon Court, Nightingales Corner Little Chalfont Bucks, HP7 9QS

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

PHILO TRUST – Annual Report of the Trustees for the year ended 31 March 2021

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Statement of Financial Activities

For the Year Ended 31 March 2021

		Unrestricted	Total	Unrestricted	Total
	Note	Funds	2021	Funds	2020
		£	£	£	£
Income & Endowments from:
Donations and legacies	3	685,271	685,271	844,805	844,805
Investments		111	111	1,561	1,561
Charitable activities:
Sales		65,331	65,331	145,813	145,813
Other income		24,935	24,935	125	125
Income from royalties		126	126	1,473	1,473
Total Income and endowments		775,774	775,774	993,777	993,777
Expenditure on:
Raising funds		-	-	8,005	8,005
Charitable activities	4	742,691	742,691	932,898	932,898
Total expenditure		742,691	742,691	940,903	940,903
Net Income/(Expenditure) for the	year	33,083	33,083	52,874	52,874
Transfers between funds		-	-	-	-
Total funds brought forward		502,134	502,134	449,260	449,260
Total funds carried forward		535,217	535,217	502,134	502,134

PHILO TRUST – Annual Report of the Trustees for the year ended 31 March 2021

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Balance Sheet

As at 31 March 2021

	Note	2021		2020
		£	£	£	£
Fixed Assets:
Tangible assets	8		59,381		26,910
Current assets:
Stock	9	76,721		109,991
Debtors	10	71,124		62,027
Cash at bank and in hand		360,522		335,312
			508,367		507,330
Creditors:
Amounts fallingdue in oneyear	11	(32,531)		(32,106)
			(32,531)		(32,106)
Net current assets			475,836		475,224
Total assets less current liabilities			535,217		502,134
Funds
Restricted general funds
Designated funds	12		59,381		26,910
Unrestricted funds	12		475,836		475,224
			535,217		502,134

These financial statements were approved and authorised by the Trustees on 6 September 2021 and signed on their behalf by:-

Mr Terry Baker Chair of Trustees

Date: 6 September 2021

PHILO TRUST – Annual Report of the Trustees for the year ended 31 March 2021

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Cashflow Statement

For the Year Ended 31 March 2021

Note	2021		2020
	£	£	£	£
Net movement in funds		33,083		52,874
Adjustment for:
Depreciation	16,337		9,303
Investment income	(111)		(1,561)
		16,226		7,742
Decrease/(Increase) in stock	33,270		(11,904)
Decrease/(Increase) in debtors	(9,097)		54,869
Increase/(Decrease)in creditors	425		5,232
		24,598		48,197
Net cash from operating income		73,907		108,813
Investing activities
Purchase of fixed assets	(48,808)		(5,062)
Disposal of fixed assets	-		-
Investment income	111		1,561
		(48,697)		(3,501)
Net change in cash and cash equivalents		25,210		105,312
Cash and cash equivalents at start ofyear		335,312		230,000
Cash and cash equivalents at the end ofyear		360,522		335,312

PHILO TRUST – Annual Report of the Trustees for the year ended 31 March 2021

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Notes to the Accounts[31 March 2021]

Note 1. Accounting Policies

The charity constitutes a public benefit entity as defined by FRS 102. The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention with items recognised at cost or transaction value except for investment assets, which are shown at fair value.

The financial statements have been prepared to give a “true and fair” view and have departed from the Charities (Account and Reports) Regulations 2008 only to the extent required to provide a “true and fair” view. This departure has involved early adoption of the 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) for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2019 rather than the Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice effective from 1 April 2005 which has been withdrawn. The financial statements are prepared in accordance with the Charities Act 2011.

These financial statements are presented in Sterling, which is the functional currency of the charity and rounded to the nearest £0.

The Trustees consider that due to the amount of reserves available there is no material uncertainty about the Trust’s ability to continue as a going concern. There were no transition amendments required upon adoption of FRS 102.

Income

Income is recognised in the period in which the charity is legally entitled to the income and the amount can be quantified with reasonable accuracy. For legacies, income is accounted for as soon as the Trust is notified of its legal entitlement, the amount due is quantifiable and its ultimate receipt is more likely than not. Tax recoverable on gift aid is accounted for in the period in which the related gift aided amount is received and included in donations with the original gift.

Expenditure

Resources expended are included in the financial statements on an accruals basis including VAT where this cannot be recovered. Grants are accounted for when paid. Certain expenditure is directly attributable to specific activities and has been allocated to those cost categories. Certain other costs, irrecoverable VAT and staff costs are attributable to more than one activity. In these cases the costs have been apportioned to the individual activities on the basis of time spent by staff on matters relating to those activities. Central support costs have been allocated on the basis of resources used.

Governance costs comprise all costs relating to the public accountability of the charity and its compliance with regulation and good practice. These costs include costs relating to the statutory audit.

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Fixed Assets and Depreciation

Tangible fixed assets are stated at cost, less accumulated depreciation. Items with a unit cost below £1,000 are written off through the Statement of Financial Activities unless a number of items bought together with a unit cost below that value exceed £1,000 in total. Depreciation is calculated on a monthly basis so as to write off the unit cost of an asset, less its estimated residual value, on a straight-line basis over the useful economic life of that asset as follows:

Motor vehicles	25%
Office furniture and equipment	20-33%
Fixtures and Fittings	20%
Leasehold	10%

Operating Leases

Rentals applicable to operating leases where substantially all of the benefits and risks of ownership remain with the lessor are charged in the Statement of Financial Activities on a straightline basis over the period of the lease.

Pensions

The charity offers a workplace pension scheme to all staff members. Charges are made in Statement of Financial Activities as they arise.

Stock

Stock is stated at the lower of cost and net realisable value where cost is the purchase price. Production costs are written off as incurred.

Foreign Exchange

All assets are liabilities held in foreign currencies are translated into sterling at the rate of exchange at the balance sheet date. Translations in foreign currencies during the year are translated into sterling at the rate of exchange on the transaction date. All exchange differences are taken into account in arriving at the result for the year.

Tax Status

The Trust is a registered charity within the definitions of section 506(1) Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988 and therefore is not assessable to Income Tax on any surplus charitable funds.

Fund Accounting

Funds held by the charity are:

Unrestricted general funds – these are funds which can be used in accordance with the charitable objects at the discretion of the Trustees.

Designated funds – these are funds set aside by the Trustees out of unrestricted general funds for specific future purposes or projects.

Restricted funds – these are funds which can only be used for particular purposes within the objects of the charity. Restrictions arise when specified by the donor or when funds are raised for particular restricted purposes.

The Trustees make transfers between funds when expenditure is to be met from more than one type of fund. The maximum level of these transfers is agreed by the Trustees prior to the expenditure.

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Note 2. Net incoming / (outgoing) resources

		2021	2020
		£	£
This is stated after:
Auditor’s remuneration	- In relation to audit work	5,100	4,950
	- In relation to other work	4,815	2,724
Depreciation		16,337	9,303
Operating lease payments		56,314	53,153

Note 3. Voluntary income

	2021	2020
	£	£
Donations	663,733	685,119
Gift Aid	18,090	12,812
Honoraria	5,771	146,874
Total	687,594	844,805

Note 4. Charitable expenditure

			Other	Total	Total
	Salaries	Depreciation	costs	2021	2020
	£	£	£	£	£
Grants made (see note 7)	-	-	17,592	17,592	23,331
Resource production costs	37,871	1,485	20,504	59,860	73,350
Resource sales costs	53,020	2,079	14,645	69,744	80,352
Training costs	17,042	668	8,787	26,497	32,310
Conferences	26,510	1,040	17,575	45,125	56,465
Missions	147,698	5,792	140,596	294,086	382,402
Support costs	123,081	4,827	84,943	212,851	267,476
Governance costs	11,361	446	5,129	16,936	17,212
Total	416,583	16,337	309,771	742,691	932,898

Note 5. Governance cost

Note 5. Governance cost
	2021	2020
	£	£
Staff salaries	11,361	11,978
Professional fees	5,129	4,980
Office and other costs	446	254
Total	16,936	17,212

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Note 6. Staff costs

Note 6. Staff costs
	2021	2020
	£	£
Wages and salaries	363,287	378,276
Social Security costs	32,070	38,047
Pension costs	21,226	22,875
Total	416,583	439,198

Staff numbers

Staff numbers
	2021	2020
Evangelism	3	3
Support and administration	8	8
Average number of monthlyfull-time equivalent employees	11	11

During the year, there were 4 (2020: 4) members of staff who are considered key management of the charity. They received remuneration totalling £139,980 (2020: £168,082). Included in this was £69,159 (2020: £71,869) which was paid to one member of staff.

No remuneration directly or indirectly out of funds of the charity was paid or payable for the year to a Trustee or any persons known to be connected with them in their capacity as Trustees (2020: nil). No reimbursement of expenses has been made or is due to be made to any of the Trustees in respect of the year (2020: nil).

Note 7. Analysis of grants made

	Grants to	Grants to	Total	Total
	institutions	individuals	2021	2020
	£	£	£	£
Grants to carry out Christian ministries and evangelism	3,575	14,017	17,592	23,331
Total	3,575	14,017	17,592	23,331

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Note 8. Fixed assets

Note 8. Fixed assets
	Fixtures &	Leasehold	Office furniture
	Fittings	Improvements	& Equipment	Total
	£	£	£	£
Cost:
At 1 April 2020	15,001	20,087	73,066	108,154
Additions	24,735	-	24,073	48,808
Disposals	-	-	-	-
At 31 March 2021	39,736	20,087	97,139	156,962
Depreciation:
At 1 April 2020	15,001	4,018	62,225	81,244
Charge for the year	2,680	2,009	11,648	16,337
Disposals	-	-	-	-
At 31 March 2021	17,681	6,027	73,873	97,581
Net Book Values:
At 31 March 2021	22,055	14,060	23,266	59,381
At 31 March 2020	-	16,069	10,841	26,910
Note 9. Stock
			2021	2020
			£	£
Books and DVDs			76,721	109,991
During the year the amount of purchased stock		expensed had a value of £92,124.
Note 10. Debtors
			2021	2020
			£	£
Trade debtors			26,809	7,410
Gift Aid			15,767	10,425
Wages control			5,098	13,037
VAT			462	3,843
Prepayments and accrued income			22,988	27,312
Total			71,124	62,027

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Note 11. Creditors: Amount falling due in less than one year

	2021	2020
	£	£
Trade creditors	11,334	5,094
Credit card	13,691	7,108
Accruals	6,854	19,904
PAYE Creditor	652	-
Total	32,531	32,106

Note 12. Funds

	Balance Brought	Income	Expenditure	Transfers	Balance
	Forward				Carried
					Forward
	£	£	£	£	£
Designated – Fixed assets	26,910	48,808	16,337	-	59,381
General funds	475,224	726,966	726,354	-	475,836
Total	502,134	775,774	742,691	-	535,217

Note 13. Analysis of net assets between funds

	Unrestricted	Designated	Restricted	Total
	Funds	Funds	Funds
	£	£	£	£
Fixed assets	-	59,381	-	59,381
Stock	76,721	-	-	76,721
Other assets less current liabilities	399,115	-	-	399,115
Total	475,836	59,381	-	535,217

Note 14. Operating lease commitments

	2021	2020	2021	2020
	Land and Buildings			Other
Amounts due:	£	£	£	£
In less than one year	30,000	30,000	8,489	21,362
In one to two years	15,000	30,000	3,534	3,776
In two to five years	-	15,000	-	-
In more than fiveyears	-	-	-	-
Total	45,000	75,000	12,023	25,138

Note 15. Capital commitments and contingent liabilities

There were no capital commitments or contingent liabilities at 31 March 2021 (2020: nil).

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Note 16. Related party transactions

During the year, the charity received donations totalling £4,200 (2020: 3,600) from 3 (2020: 2) Trustees.

Note 17. Control

There is no ultimate controlling party.

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