The Gandhi Foundation
ANNUAL REPORT
2020
Registered Office :
Kingsley Hall, Powis Road, London E3 3HJ
E-mail: contact@gandhifoundation.org Website: www.gandhifoundation.org
Registered Charity No. 292629
About The Gandhi Foundation
The purpose of the Foundation is to promote knowledge about the life and teaching of Gandhi and to relate it to some of the major challenges and conflicts of our time such as social injustice, poverty, discrimination, destruction of the environment, the arms race and war. Gandhi’s advocating of non-violent approaches to conflict are valued and promoted. On 15 June 2007, the United Nations General Assembly voted to establish Gandhi’s date of birth, 2 October, as the International Day of Non-Violence.
The Gandhi Foundation was set up at a meeting in October 1983, following Richard Attenborough’s film “Gandhi” and the renewed interest that it aroused. The Foundation has no full-time staff, but is administered by the Executive Committee whose members take forward the purpose of the Foundation through its ongoing projects. All Gandhi Foundation Friends are encouraged to become involved in areas that are of particular interest to them.
President: Lord Bhikhu Parekh
Patrons: Godric Bader, Navnit Dholakia, Denis Halliday, Eirwen Harbottle, Martin Polden, Diana Schumacher, Mark Tully Baroness Sandip Verma
Executive Committee: (‘T’ signifies a trustee of the Foundation)
Mark Hoda T, GF Chair since 2010, (also The Hoda Evans Memorial Fund) Graham Davey T, Treasurer Omar Hayat T, Gandhi Peace Award, Annual Lecture Trevor Lewis Summer Gathering Co-ordinator George Paxton T, Editor of ‘The Gandhi Way’ and GF Membership Secretary William Rhind
Shaheen Choudhury-Westcombe Kingsley Hall Link Jane Sill
Trustees Report
The activities of the Gandhi Foundation were restricted in 2020 because of government regulations imposed to counter the Covid 19 pandemic. The Executive Committee met once in a face-to-face meeting at Kingsley Hall in January but the other four Committee meetings and the AGM in November all took place on-line by Zoom. It is likely that we shall use Zoom for most of our meetings in future because it is easier for Committee members to participate and there is a less detrimental impact on the environment.
One of our long-serving trustees, John Rowley, resigned in May. This was partly because the Committee felt unable to support him with regard to a particular project he wanted to carry out but also because he had been appointed as a trustee of the Buddhist Society and wanted to concentrate on work with the Buddhist Christian Dialogue Forum. The Committee thanked John for his years of service and regretted losing his energy and enthusiasm.
Activities
The Multi-faith Celebration took place on 8[th] February when about fifty people gathered in person in Golders Green Unitarian Church, North London, to appreciate a varied programme of songs, readings and music from different cultures of the world.
The Covid 19 regulations prevented us from holding the Gandhi Foundation Ashram Experience, our annual residential week of study and other activities which in recent years has been held at Christopher School, Letchworth Garden City. However, people were able to participate in a day of events on-line on 28 July. Firstly, Graeme Nuttall of the European law firm Fieldfisher, gave the Annual Lecture as a webinar with the title ‘Employee Ownership with Added Gandhian Purpose’. He described the benefits of the employee ownership business model and, in particular, how companies owned by employee ownership trusts could help to address social problems and take better care of the environment. He related this to Gandhi’s theory of trusteeship which he saw as an expression of Gandhi’s criticism of both capitalism and Marxism.
In the afternoon, a Zoom meeting enabled participants to discuss a lecture by David Runciman for which a link had been provided earlier. The lecture was devoted to ‘Gandhi on Self-Rule – Hind Swaraj 1909’ and covered the radical views in that book that Gandhi held to the end of his life over forty years later. The day ended with a session of yoga led by Jane Sill.
It had been hoped to present the Annual Peace Award later in the year to Leslee Udwin of ‘Think Equal’ but this was not possible.
There has been contact with several other organisations during the year, notably Action Village India and Neve Shalom/Wahat al Salaam in Israel. A donation of £500 was made to Neve Shalom/Wahat al Salaam in view of the two arson attacks which destroyed the Peace School and damaged the library.
We were also offered most of the very large collection of Gandhi memorabilia which had been gathered over the last thirty years by Peter Rühe under the title ‘GandhiServe’. After lengthy deliberations, Peter decided to return the collection to Germany.
Membership and the Gandhi Way
At the end of 2020 there were about 190 members who had either paid for life membership or paid a subscription annually. The total membership has been declining in recent years and efforts to address this have not yet reversed the trend.
The Gandhi Way is the 24 page newsletter which is published quarterly and consists of articles on subjects related to Gandhi’s life and teaching as well as reporting on events organised by the Gandhi Foundation. Printed copies are sent by post to 140 members and some complimentary copies are sent to organisations and individuals. Fifty members receive the Gandhi Way by e-mail.
Annual Lecture and the International Peace Award
Those who have given the Annual Lecture in recent years are:
Prof. Anthony Parel; Rt Hon Vince Cable; Dr Navichandra Ramgoolan; Satish Kumar; Gopal Krishna Gandhi.
The International Peace Award aims to recognise the work of people who have promoted the nonviolent resolution of conflict without have received major awards from other sources. Recipients of the Award in recent years are:
Tore Naeland of ‘Bike for Peace’; Peter Tatchell- Campaigner for Human Rights; Ramzi Abu Redwan of ‘Al Kamandjati’; Victoria Tauli Corpuz – UN Human Rights Special Rapporteur; Leslee Udwin of ‘Think Equal’.
Annual Statement of Accounts for 2020
The year was exceptional in that the Foundation received three bequests:
David Stevens became a member only in 2016 but had a special interest in organisations relieving poverty in India. He left the Foundation £10,000.
Gerard Winstanley may have been a distant relative of Gerrard Winstanley, a leading member of the 17[th] Century movement, The Diggers. Their efforts to keep all common land in community ownership was very much in keeping with Gandhi’s principles. Gerard left a modest estate which was shared between many charities. The Foundation received £88.54.
Negeen Zinovieff had a deep interest in Gandhi’s life and teaching. She contributed three essays in the collection of fifty essays by distinguished writers compiled by J S Mathur and published in 2007 with the title ‘Gandhi: In the Mirror of Foreign Scholars’. Negeen was a long-standing member of the Foundation and made extremely generous monthly donations. She bequeathed £20,000 to the Foundation.
The accounts for 2020 follow:
The Gandhi Foundation
STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITY – 31/12/2020
| Balance Sheet As at 31/12/2021 Income from: Donations and legacies Charitable activities Other trading activities Investments Separate material item of income Other Total Resources expended (Note 6) Expenditure on: Raising funds Charitable activities Separate material item of expense Other Total Net income/(expenditure) before investment gains/(losses) Net gains/(losses) on investments Net income/(expenditure) Extraordinary items Transfers between funds Other recognised gains/(losses): Gains and losses on revaluation of fixed assets for the charity’s own use Other gains/(losses) Net movement in funds Reconciliation of funds: Total funds brought forward Total funds carried forward |
Current Year £ |
Last Year £ |
|---|---|---|
| 32,494.40 | 6,984.40 | |
| - | - |
|
| - | - |
|
| 42.59 | - | |
| - | - |
|
| - | - |
|
| 32,536.99 | 6,984.40 | |
| - | - |
|
| 3,330.13 | 7,097.53 | |
| - | - |
|
| - | - |
|
| 3,330.13 | 7,097.53 | |
| 29,206,86 | (113,13) | |
| 2,478.87 | - | |
| - | - |
|
| - | - |
|
| 31,685.73 | (113.13) | |
| - | - |
|
| - | - |
|
| 31,685.73 | (113.13) | |
| 29,726.58 | 29,839.71 | |
| 61,412.31 | 29,726.58 |
|
----- Start of picture text -----
Total this year Total last year
£ £
Fixed assets
Intangible assets -
Tangible assets
----- End of picture text -----
| - | - | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heritage assets | - | |||||
| Investments | - | |||||
| Total fixed | - | |||||
| Current assets | ||||||
| Stocks | - | |||||
| Debtors | - | |||||
| Investments | 14,976.87 | 12,498.00 | ||||
| Cash at bank and in hand | 46,435.44 | 17,228.58 | ||||
| Total current assets | 61,412.31 | 29,726.58 | ||||
| Creditors: amounts falling due | ||||||
| within one year | - | |||||
| Net current assets/(liabilities) | 61,412.31 | 29,726.58 | ||||
| Total assets less current liabilities | 61,412.31 | 29,726.58 | ||||
| Creditors: amounts falling due after | ||||||
| one year | - | |||||
| Provisions for liabilities | - | |||||
| Total net assets or liabilities | 61,412.31 | 29,726.58 | ||||
| Total funds | 61,412.31 | 29,726.58 | ||||
| Signed by one or two trustees/directors on behalf of all the trustees/directors |
Print Name/Sign | Date of approval |
||||
| Graham H Davey | 8-11- | |||||
| 2021 | ||||||
The Gandhi Foundation
STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITY – 31/12/2020
| Income from: Donations and legacies Charitable activities Other trading activities Investments Separate material item of income Other Total Resources expended (Note 6) Expenditure on: Raising funds Charitable activities Separate material item of expense Other Total Net income/(expenditure) before investment gains/(losses) Net gains/(losses) on investments Net income/(expenditure) Extraordinary items Transfers between funds Other recognised gains/(losses): Gains and losses on revaluation of fixed assets for the charity’s own use Other gains/(losses) Net movement in funds Reconciliation of funds: Total funds brought forward Total funds carried forward |
Current Year £ |
Last Year £ |
|---|---|---|
| 32,494.40 | 6,984.40 | |
| - | - |
|
| - | - |
|
| 42.59 | - | |
| - | - |
|
| - | - |
|
| 32,536.99 | 6,984.40 | |
| - | - |
|
| 3,330.13 | 7,097.53 | |
| - | - |
|
| - | - |
|
| 3,330.13 | 7,097.53 | |
| 29,206,86 | (113,13) | |
| 2,478.87 | - | |
| - | - | |
| - | - |
|
| 31,685.73 | (113.13) | |
| - | - |
|
| - | - |
|
| 31,685.73 | (113.13) | |
| 29,726.58 | 29,839.71 | |
| 61,412.31 | 29,726.58 |
Balance Sheet As at 31/12/2021
Total this year Total last year £ £
Fixed assets
| Intangible assets Tangible assets Heritage assets Investments Total fixed Current assets Stocks Debtors Investments Cash at bank and in hand Total current assets Creditors: amounts falling due within one year Net current assets/(liabilities) Total assets less current liabilities Creditors: amounts falling due after one year Provisions for liabilities Total net assets or liabilities Total funds |
- | |
|---|---|---|
| - | ||
| - | ||
| - | ||
| - | ||
| - | ||
| - | ||
| 14,976.87 | 12,498.00 | |
| 46,435.44 | 17,228.58 | |
| 61,412.31 | 29,726.58 | |
| - | ||
| 61,412.31 | 29,726.58 | |
| 61,412.31 | 29,726.58 | |
| - | ||
| - | ||
| 61,412.31 | 29,726.58 | |
| 61,412.31 | 29,726.58 |
Signed by one or two trustees/directors on behalf of all the trustees/directors
| Print Name/Sign | Date of approval |
|---|---|
| Graham H Davey | 8-11- 2021 |
Independent examiner's report on the accounts
Section A Independent Examiner’s Report
Report to the trustees/ Charity Name The Gandhi Foundation members of On accounts for the year 31[st] Dec,2020 Charity no 292629 ended (if any) Set out on pages Accounts are included as separate document. (remember to include the page numbers of additional sheets) I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity (“the Trust”) for the year ended 31/12/2020 Responsibilities and As the charity's trustees, you are responsible for the preparation of the basis of report accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (“the Act”).
I report in respect of my examination of the Trust’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.
Independent I am qualified to undertake the examination by being a qualified member of examiner's statement ACCA (Association of Certified Accountants) . I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination.
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
- Please delete the words in the brackets if they do not apply.
Date: 05/11/2021 Signed: Name: Jahanzab Arshad Relevant professional ACCA qualification(s) or body (if any): Address: Ground Floor, Ascot Court, Whitehorse Business Park, Trowbridge, BA14 0XE
Oct 2018
1
IER
Section B Disclosure
Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight material matters of concern (see CC32, Independent examination of charity accounts: directions and guidance for examiners).
Give here brief details of any items that the examiner wishes to disclose .
N/A
Oct 2018
2
IER