Lady Downés Charlty Annual Report and ftlpts and Payments Account for the year ended 31 March 2024 Charlty number: 286577
Lady Downds Charity Contents Page Legal and èdmlnistratlve Informatlon Trustees Annual Rep)rt 2to4 Independent Examlnerfs Report Recelpts and Payments A¢count Statement of Assets and Liabilitie5 Notes to the Receipts and Payment Atcount
Lady Downe's Charfty Legal and admlnlstratlve infonnatlon Trustees and advlsers Trustees Appolnted by the Upton St Leonards Parlsh Councll: MrKHArdron Until January 20251 Mrs J Cloutlng {From November 20221 Appolnted by the Parochlal Church Councll of the Eccleslastlcal Parlsh of Upton St Leonards". MrGHBuck (Until June 20231 MrsDSCox (Untll May 20261 Cwpted: Mrs R M Ball DrT G Harbottle (Until May 20251 (Untll May 20241 Clerktothe trustees Mr5 K E L Brooks (From October 20211 tharlty number 286577 Admlnlstratlve offiee 29 Bondend Road Upton St Leonards Gloutester GL4 8DX Independent examlners Randall & Payne LLP Chargrove House Shurdlngton Cheltenham, Gloucestershlre GL514GA Bankers Lloyds Bank plc 19 Eastgate Street Gloucester GLI INU Solkltors Tayntons Solicitors 8-12 Clarence street Gloucester GLI IDZ Pa1
Lady Dobvne's Charfty Trustees Annual Report For the yèar ended 31 March 2024 structure, Governance and Management The charlty Is run In accordance wlth the Scheme of 1982 whlch specffied that the body of trustees shall cons15t of seven competent persons, being one ex officio. four nominative and two co-optative trustees. Appolntlng bodies are made aware of the terms of office and the duties of their appolntees and co-optative trustees {who are similarly informed of the above) are selected by the Board a5 the need arlses. Legal and administration information Is set out on Page l of the Financial Ststements. Pages 24 Include extracts from the goveming document, policy statements on publicityi grant makin& investments, reserve5 and actountin81 and the Independent Examlner's Report. Followlngfeedback from applicants. a separate application form wa5 deslgned 5peclflcally for student applicants and uploaded onto the webslte. This seems to be worklng well and feedback has been positive. Rlsk Management Pollcy The charity maintains awareness of The charlty Governance Code for Smaller Charltles, recognlilng observance of good risk management by An acknowledgement of the trustees, responsibilities outlined in the Charity Commission publlcation CC3- The Essential Trustee. Maintalning an oveNtew of the rfsk Identlflcatton process. Confirmation that major rlsks identlfled have been assessed and wlll continue to be reviewed, Confirmation that control 5yStem5 have been established to manage those risks. General Data Protecllon Regulations The charity ha5 in place, and will keep under review, policies for the retentlon and safe destructlon of all Information Ilncludlng personal datal whlth It holds In paper and elertronic form. The charivs retention )licy shall confirm the periad for which infonnation lincluding personal datal shall be retained. Objeetfves and Artlvltles The charlty's obleciives are prlmarlly to provlde grant aid to residents of the parish of Upton St Leonards who may find themsehres in conditlons of need, hardship or dlstress, to provlde speclal beneflts for Upton St Leonards Church of England Primary School. and secondarlly to provlde beneffts to other schools attended by children resident within the parish; to provide financial a55iStance to advance the education of such chlldren under the age of 25, and to provide assistance to other charitable organisations withln the parish. The trustees of the eharlty seek to comply wlth the temis and the splrit of the Trust Deed. In thls connection current concepts of need and hardship tend to be more liberal than those applicable when the Deed wa5 reated and the trustee5 tske thls into account wh115t a150 havlng regard to advlee 8lven from tlme to tlme by the Charity Commission In reachlng declslons. The admlnlstratlon of the Charlty, Includlng a degree of rinancial management, calls for significant skill and effort and it is the policy of the tru5tee5 to pay Bn approprlate fee to Its Clerk to ensure that the work Is earrled out efflclently. The trustees have referred to the Charity Commission's 8uidance on the preparation of the flnancial statements and Conflrm that they have complled with theSr duty In Sectlon 4 of the Charitie5 Act 2011 to have due regard to public benefit guidance published by the Charity Commission for England & Wales, Relief of poverty and access to educational awards are available to all irrespective of age, ethnicity, sexual orlentation or rellglon but are subject to geographlcal requlrements as ststed in the charlvs goveming document. Athievements and Perfomiance During the past year, theTrust delivered almost £27,IX(I In 15 awards, down from the previous year1£25.700 in 17 awards in the previous yearl. The Trust was pleased to grant £IO.000 to USL Primary School for addltional security as well as £4,8CQ to CIK)pers Edge khool to help fund theiryr 6 residential trlp to London. In addltlon. £1,500 was glven to USL football club5 to help with equipment costs, the junior teams had all disbanded during Covid and this was to help get them back in plate again. £2,500 was 8lven to hardship P•ge 3
Lady Oownds Charlty Trustees Annual Report {contlnuedl For the year ended 31 March 2024 requests, £6,000 went to students and £500 each to the village show and village brownie pack5 to support their residential trip in September. The Trustees are graieful to Keith Ardron for supervising and managing The Trusts investments. Grants Poli The trustees seek to distribute as nearly as can be achieved the available annual income,. this, of course, being dependent on the number and type of applications made. They do not intend, in any foreseeable situation, to distribute any part of the capital fund. Grants are made after a detailed ex3mination of each applicant's needs and resourtes. but a degree of uniformity and con51Stency is applied where there are common featu$. Where appropriate, interviews are held or pastoral visits made by the trustees. Strict confidentiality is maintained and financial reports are in a form which does not breach this rule. We are always conscious of the need to make the public within our area aware of our objectives. In addition to contacting medical, professional and village organisations, we use the press and have our own website www.lad downe.or through which applications can be mède. From time to time, we distribute a leaflet outlining the awards we can make to households in our area and we have placed articles about the Trust in USL Life magazine. In general terms, our scheme requires US to help residents who are in hardship or need in an appropriate way and it's here where it tan be difficult to make potential recipients aware of the help we may be able to give and we often have to rely on friends who can encourage people to apply. A second major requirement of the scheme is to support the village school and others in the area with items not normally provided by the Local Education Authority. We can give Erants to younB people under the age of 25 to help their education and training with computer equipment, books and travel. In addition. we have the Lady Downe Award which can be up to £3,000 fur specific educational project5 for young people. Finally, we can help charitable organisations in the parish that have objectives relevant to OL¢r scheme. It should be noted that Okjr rules specify applicants must currently live in our area, or have lived within our area in the past for at least 10 years, before becoming eligible for an award. In thi5 context the area is defined as the village of Upton St Leonards as it existed in 1966 which includes parts of Abbeydale, Abbeymead and Coopers Edge,. qualifying streets are listed on our website. Financial Review Income from investments has been subdued during much of the year but picked up towards the end of the period in line with financial markets generally. Investment income for 2024 was £30,73912023 - £30,401) and total payments were £30,49812023 - £27,069>. The value of the portfolio has increased by £92,80612023- Increase of £40,2991 increasing the endowrnent fund to £1.087.01512023 - £997,5291 and the unrestricted fund to £55,95212023 - £52,632). Investment policv Towards the end of 2017 the Trustees moved most of Its portfolio to the Charities Official Investment Fund managed by CCIA, resulting in a small10ss both in capital value and in income at the time, which picked up subsequently. The twin aims of the Trustee5 are to maintain and if possible, enhance the capital value of the Trust Fund, whilst achieving, a5 far as is possible, an increased flow of income generated by the portfolio, at least in line with inflation over the longer term Idefined as over 10 years). The Trustees are aware of the relaxation of former restrictions on the use of endowment capital but will seek to maintain these funds at a sufficient level to generate enough income to fund the Charity's objectives. Page 3
La(ty Downe'5 Charity Trustees Annual Report (contlnuedl For the year ended 31 March 2024 The Endowment Fund now stands at £1,087,015, owing to good management of the investment portfollo. It ts the intention of the trustee5 to retain a major part of these reseNe5 in order to malntèln Income levels. but they are aware of the Total Return Pollcy under whlch they could, if necessaryi better utllise the income and capital from some of thls endowment. A significant sym, £55,952 cash funds, has also accrued to the unrestricted fund- the Trustees wish to retain a worklng balance of approximately this size in order to cover at least one yearfs total grants and expendlture. The availability of grants Is publlclsed by regular and targeted advertislng wlthin the area covered by the charlty and through contacts wlth a wlde range of local organisations whlch Involve almost every facet of communlty life, but it remain5 diffi¢ult to flnd indlvlduals wlthin the area who would be eliglble for the benefits on offer. New buildlng on a large scale within the paylsh. including a new school, has resulted in applications from relatlvely new resldents there as wÈll as from the school Itself. The trustees will contlnue to apply the prlnclples as outllned above In meetlng the challenges that may be plad before them. Trustees. Responslbllltles The trustees are responsible for keeping propef accounting records whSch disclose with reasonable accuracy at any tlme the financial posltlon of the charity and to enable them to ensure that the flnancial statements comply with the Charities Act 2011. They are a150 responslble for safeguarding the asset5 of the charlty and hence for takSn8 reasonable Steps for the pentIon and detectlon of fraud and other iffegularftles. Independent Examlners The Trustees recommend that Randall & Payne LLP remain in Offi until the next Annual General Meeting. Th15 report was approved by the Trustees on ..I.4¥.,1,..,l........ and slgned on theSr behalf by DrT. G. Harbottle Chaitinan K H Ardron Trustee Page 4
Independent knmlnerfs Report to the Trustees of Lady Downds Chartty I report to the charlty trustees on my examlnatlon of the accounts of the Charity for the year ended 31 March 2024 which are set out on pages 6 to 8. Responslbllltles and basls of report As the charIt5 tn15tees you are responslble for the preparation of the accounts In accordance with the requlrements of the Charltles Act 20111'the ACVI. I report in respect of my examination of the charity'5 accounts carried out under sectlon 145 of the ALt and in carrylng out my examlnatlon I have followed all the appllcable Dlrections given by the Charity Commission under sertlon 14515llbl of the ACL Independent oxamlnw's statement I have completed my examination. l confirm that no materlal matters have come to my attentlon In connertlon wlth the examinatlon 8lvln8 me cause to belleve that in any material respect: accountlng records were not kept In respect of the charfty as required by section 130 of the Act: or the accounts do not accord with those records I have no concerns and have come across no other matter5 in connection wlth the examinatlon to which attention should be drawn In this report In orderto enable a proper undèrstandingof the Bccountsto be reached. Ryan Moore CA For and behalf of Randall & Payne LLP Chartered Accountants & Independent Examiners Chargrove House Shurdlngton Road Cheltenham GL514GA Date: 8 202 Page S
lady Downe's Charfty Receipts and Payments Account For the yr end¢d 51 Mah 2024 2024 unStleted lunds 2023 Unr05tflrted funds Note Recelpts Investment income Safe Custody refund 30,739 30,401 Total Recelpts 30,739 30,441 Payments Grant to Upton St Leonards Church of England Primarysehool Other grants Clerk's fee Annual offlts allowance and expenses Postage. statlonery and admin costs Website costs Trustees indemnlty insurance Attountancy and independent examlnatlon fees 10,000 16,745 10,000 13,620 I,0 1.277 1.402 223 248 144 348 780 Totsl Payments 30A99 27.069 Net reedptsllpaymentsl 240 3,372 Bank and ¢ash balan5 at 31 March 202312022 31.138 31.138 Bank balances at 31 March 2024 31A79 31.879 Page 6
Lady Downds Charlty Statement of Assets and Liabilltles For the year ended 31 March 2024 Cash funds Unre5trlcted funds 2024 2023 Current account 31.879 31,138 Totsl cash funds 3179 31.138 Other monetary assets Z024 2023 Investment assets Unrestrfcted funds 2024 2023 UK equities COIF Charlty Funds 17,671 38281 17,528 35,11)4 Markd value at 31 Marth 2024 55,952 52,632 Endowmentfunds 2023 UK equlties COIF Charity Funds 9,959 1.077,056 9,879 987,650 Market value at 31 March 2024 1,087,015 997,529 Unrestrlcted funds 2024 Llabllltles 2023 Accountancy and Independent Èxamlnatlon fees Website costs 780 173 953 The above Recelpts and Payments Account was approved by the trustees on .Iw.II.rf.24p and slgned on their behalf by Dr T Harbottle Chalrman K H Ardron Trustee Page 7
Lady l)own¥s Charlty Notes to the Recelpts and Payments A¢count Forthe year ended 31 March 2024 Other grants Unre5tr1cted funds 2024 2023 Student award Student grant5 Ibooks and equipment) - 6 cases (2023 - 9) Hardship/disabillty grants- 2 cases {2023- 3) Upton St Leonard's Brownies Upton 5t Leonard's Childrens Football Teams- funding for new equipment Upton St Leonard's Show Children's Classes Abbeydale Communlty Assoclation- new notlceboard Coopers Edge School- Year 6 Residential Trlp 6,950 2,070 2,517 1,51X) 500 578 4lJ0 500 4.100 16,Z45 13,620 Trttees emoluments and related paitytransactlons No remuneratlon or expenses was paid or was due to be pald to any trustee durlng the year. There were no related party transartions in the year. Endowment fund There hès been no movemont on the endowment fund expt for the revaluation of the investment assets. Pase 8