2025-03-31-accounts - Keston College

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Keston College

operating as Keston Institute

Financial Statements for the year ended 31st March 2025

Wenn Townsend

Chartered Accountants

Oxford

Keston College operating as Keston Institute

Reference and Administrative Details

Chair:	Mrs Xenia Dennen
Council members (trustees):	Mr Tim Abraham (from 10 February 2025)
	Dr Christopher Campbell
	The Revd Dr Keith Clements
	Dr Wallace Daniel
	Mrs Xenia Dennen
	Mr David Gowan CMG (retired 2 November 2024)
	Professor Kathy Hillman,ex officio(Keston Center)
	Ms Helena Kojevnikov
	Dr Elisabeth Robson
	Professor Mary Heimann
Secretary:	Mr Michael Hart
Registered Office:	262 Watford Road
	Croxley Green
	Rickmansworth
	Herts
	WD3 3DD
Registered Company Number:	991413
Registered Charity Number:	314103
Auditors:	Wenn Townsend
	Chartered Accountants and Statutory Auditor
	Oxford
Bankers:	National Westminster Bank
	Beckenham
Solicitors:	Freeths
	5000 Oxford Business Park South
	Oxford
	OX4 2BH

Keston College Operating as Keston Institute

	Contents
		Page
Report of the Council of Management		1 - 6
Auditor’s Report		7 - 8
Statement of Financial Activities		9
Balance Sheet		10
Notes to the Accounts		11 - 15

Keston College operating as Keston Institute

Report of the Council of Management for the year ended 31st March 2025

The Council present their report and the financial statements of the charity for the year ended 31st March 2025. The trustees have adopted the provisions of the Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP) “Accounting and Reporting by Charities” (FRS 102) in preparing the annual report and financial statements of the charity.

Objectives and Activities for the Public Benefit

Keston Institute’s Memorandum and Articles of Association define the objects of Keston Institute as follows:

A. To promote the advancement of education in religion, the history of religion, including religious beliefs, and practices in furtherance of the above objects and ancillary thereto.

B. To promote and encourage the study of and research into religion, religious beliefs and religious practices in Communist States, or States which have been Communist or present or former Totalitarian States (whether in Europe, Asia or elsewhere) and the relationship between organised religion and the State in such States and the relationship between different religions and between religion, the ideologies of Marxism, humanism and other ideologies and the relation between religion, national cultures and national life in such states; the result of such research to be disseminated.

C. To establish at any University within the United Kingdom a centre for the Study of Religion and Communism in the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe and any other state which the Council of Management shall, at its absolute discretion, think fit.

D. To endow Chairs, Lectureships or Fellowships at any University within the United Kingdom or elsewhere for the purposes of the said study and research.

E. To print or publish (or assist in the making of grants or otherwise) the product of such study and research, or relevant source material to such study and research, and to assist in the printing or publication or dissemination (whether through films, recordings or any other medium of communication) of works (including books, periodicals or leaflets) that the Institute may think desirable for the promotion of its objects.

F. To provide scholarships, grants or bursaries to students (whether graduate students or not) or research workers engaged in the said study and research whether in the United Kingdom or elsewhere.

Keston Institute, founded in 1969 by the Revd Canon Dr Michael Bourdeaux and Sir John Lawrence, with the help of the distinguished academics Professor Leonard Schapiro and Professor Peter Reddaway, under the title of Centre for the Study of Religion and Communism, has specialised in the study of all religions and all forms of religious expression in Communist and formerly Communist countries. Its field of expertise has focused particularly on the former Soviet Union as well as on Eastern and Central Europe. In order to distribute well-researched information, Keston has published books and journals. It has always had an academic emphasis which complements its wider public education role.

Keston Institute has continued to encourage research in its field by offering grants and short-term scholarships to students from all over the world. It has been particularly keen to support students from Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union who have been unable in their own countries to find archival material from the Communist period that is preserved by Keston Institute in its archive.

The creation and development of an archive to support the study of religion in Communist and formerly Communist countries has always been a core aim of Keston Institute, whose reputation for reliability is based on careful research and verification of information through primary sources. The archive was composed originally of samizdat and research materials collected by the founder, the Revd Canon Dr Michael Bourdeaux. Over the years it has grown extensively, until today it comprises a large and unique collection of primary source material for those studying the 20[th] century religious history of the former Soviet Union and the countries of Eastern and Central Europe.

In addition, Keston has built up a library of over 8,000 books and 200 periodicals which complement the archive. This library and archive continue to grow year by year. With the agreement of the Charity Commission and Keston’s members, and following the signing of a contract between Keston Institute and Baylor University in June 2007, the archive and library were transferred to the newly created Keston Center for Religion, Politics and Society at Baylor University, Texas, USA, in August 2007.

Keston College operating as Keston Institute

Report of the Council of Management for the year ended 31st March 2025

…………………continued

Objectives and Activities for the Public Benefit (continued)

Within its own field, Keston is widely recognised as a leading repository of knowledge and expertise, and has always striven to ensure that its material is as freely available as possible to the interested public, both in the United Kingdom and worldwide. Through the agreement with Baylor University, the material in Keston’s unique archive is being made accessible to internet users throughout the world. At the same time, by providing scholarships and grants for research using the archive, Keston is seeking to ensure that the many stories which it contains are brought to life and communicated to the public.

The Institute’s members continue to support its work most generously, and the value of the work is undiminished. Keston’s trustees believe that it is important to remember the religious history of the former Soviet Union and that of Central and Eastern Europe, with its heroic examples of how to resist tyrannical systems of control. This history provides vital clues about what is most important in human society. For this reason, Keston Institute believes that its archive will provide the basis of much future research. To make sure that the documentary evidence in the archive about religious faith during the Communist era is preserved for future generations, the Trustees work closely with the Keston Center for Religion, Politics and Society at Baylor University to ensure that the collection is well managed and made available to researchers worldwide.

Public Benefit Statement

The Trustees confirm that they have referred to the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit when reviewing Keston’s aims and objectives, and in planning future activities.

Achievements and Performance

Keston Institute’s Council of Management met three times during the year, with the facility of joining virtually for the Director of the Keston Center for Religion, Politics and Society, at Baylor University, Texas, Professor Kathy Hillman. This also enabled Dr Wallace Daniel, also based in the US who joined the Council in 2023, and those for whom the journey to London was difficult, to attend the meetings on-line. The 2024 Annual General Meeting was held in November at the Royal Foundation of St Katharine, Limehouse, London. The speaker, Dr Mykhailo Cherenkov, born in the USSR, raised in the family of a former prisoner of conscience and now senior pastor of a Baptist church in Vancouver, WA, gave a talk on Ukrainian churches during the war against Russia.

Keston Institute’s major research project, which began twenty-six years ago, is the production of an Encyclopaedia in seven volumes (in Russian) about all aspects of religious life in the Russian Federation, entitled Religious Life in Russia Today: A Systematic Description. The first edition of this Encyclopaedia was completed by the end of 2008. Work on an updated second edition began soon afterwards. The first volume of the second edition was published at the beginning of 2014, the second volume in early 2016, and the third in the spring of 2018, with a book launch (attended by the Chairman) on 24 May 2018 in Moscow. All volumes are made available on the Keston Institute’s website as soon as possible after publication. Although the Covid-19 pandemic hampered the research work required for this project, a volume on St Petersburg was published in December 2021. Owing to the war against Ukraine, research has continued at a slower pace, but it is hoped another volume will be published in late 2025. Field trips have taken place during the year to Pskov, Omsk, and Orenburg, with further field trips to Yakutsk and Rostov-on-Don planned for later in 2025.

In the light of a feasibility study on the best way to present the Encyclopaedia to an English readership, Keston’s Council of Management decided some time ago to fund an English edition once a suitable editor and translator, or team of translators, became available. This will not be a simple question of translation – the information will be presented in rather less detail than in the Russian edition, but on the other hand, a good deal of additional explanation will be required to give English readers the necessary geographical and religious background. No further progress was made on this project during 2024-2025.

Keston College operating as Keston Institute

Report of the Council of Management for the year ended 31st March 2025

……………………..continued

Achievements and Performance (continued)

The Keston Newsletter continued to be published during the year and then posted on the Keston Institute’s website. The autumn 2024 issue included an article by Keston’s founder, Canon Michael Bourdeaux, on the Chronicle of the Lithuanian Catholic Church and Keston’s role in publicising the Lithuanian Catholic Church’s struggle for religious freedom during the Soviet period. A remarkable Lithuanian human rights activist, Nijolė Sadūnaitė, who secretly became a nun and helped the church in its struggle, died in March 2024: the Keston Newsletter included her powerful defence speech at her trial in 1975 when she was imprisoned for three years in a strict regime labour camp, followed by three years of exile. In 2018 she was awarded the Freedom Prize, established by the Lithuanian parliament for people who had contributed to freedom, democracy and human rights. This issue of the Newsletter also published an article on Protestant culture in St Petersburg, an update on Lutherans in Russia and a report on the Encyclopaedia field trip to Vladivostok. The spring 2025 issue published Dr Mykhailo Cherenkov’s talk, given at the 2024 Annual General Meeting, on the Ukrainian Churches during the current war, and the Keston Spring Lecture at Baylor University given by Dr Wallace Daniel, a Keston trustee, on the Russian Orthodox priest, Fr Gleb Yakunin, who “fought for freedom of conscience under some of the harshest conditions imaginable during the darkest years of Soviet Russia”. This issue also included an article on the history and religious traditions of a littleknown ethnic group called the Saami people, and a remarkable letter written by Canon Michael Bourdeaux to Mikhail Gorbachev soon after he had become leader of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, in which Michael Bourdeaux pleaded with him to engage the support of religious believers in his efforts to reform his country.

During the year Keston Institute worked with Cardiff University on setting up a 3-year post-doctoral Research Associate’s post. Keston has committed over £183,000 to fund this post, which was advertised in time for interviews to take place in the spring of 2025. In early 2025, Keston Institute helped cover a shortfall in funding for a conference organised by the Northwestern University Research Initiative in Russian Philosophy, Literature, and Religious Thought. After giving a grant in 2023 of £10,000 to Forum 18 which monitors and analyses religious freedom issues, Keston gave this organisation a further £10,000 grant, stipulating that this should be spent on monitoring the religious situation in Ukraine and Russia. Keston Institute continued to fund an audio-visual digitising project at the Keston Center, which will guarantee the preservation of the large collection of videos that form an important part of the Keston archive. It also funded an Oral History Project at the Keston Center, which involved Dr Wallace Daniel interviewing former Keston staff members, including Lorna Bourdeaux, Helena Kojevnikov, Keston’s Chairman Xenia Dennen and Dr Philip Walters; further interviews will take place with retired Bishop Alan Scarfe, who headed Keston’s research on Romania, and Dr Michael Rowe, Keston’s expert on Pentecostalism. Keston Institute also awarded two scholarships during the year to enable a Slovenian scholar and a Latvian scholar to spend some weeks working in the Keston archive. During the year discussions have taken place on translating and publishing a Russian edition of Canon Michael Bourdeaux’s memoir, One Word of Truth . The collection of essays by current researchers in Keston’s field entitled Freedom of Conscience in (Post)Soviet Space: Michael Bourdeaux and the Keston Archive, edited by Dr Michael Long, Dr Julie deGraffenried and Keston’s Chairman, Xenia Dennen, is due to be published by Cornell University Press in 2025: to enable this collection to be freely available to readers immediately after publication, Keston Institute paid $15,000 to Cornell University Press so that this book would be part of Open Educational Resources.

The Chairman, who is a member of the Advisory Board of the Keston Center at Baylor University, attended a meeting of the Board in March 2025. Liana Kirillova, a new member of the Board from Izhevsk, Udmurtia (Russian Federation), spoke about her work with students in the Keston Center after she had been awarded a Summer Teaching Fellowship in 2024. She had used material from the archive in two of her classes: her students focused on nationalism and multiculturalism within the USSR. She herself was interested in the Soviet dissident movement, was a supporter of Alexei Navalnyi, and had discovered information from the Keston archive about her grandfather who had been imprisoned in the gulag in a Vorkuta labour camp. Another lecturer, Zac Wingerd, spoke about his class of 100 students, held in the Keston Center, which had focused on US international relations: he had found material on Cuba, Nicaragua and Afghanistan in the Keston archive and had used this for his class. Josh Beuker, a student from Liana Krillova’s class, spoke about his research on the Latvian Roman Catholic Church’s resistance to Soviet oppression in the 1970s. He had discovered the role played by the Riga Seminary and its influence on Catholic dissent in other parts of the USSR. Heather Helton, the 2024 Nancy Logan Intern, who was working on a degree in Museum Studies and Management, spoke about her project entitled “Through the Archives” which involved processing material on religious denominations in the Keston archive. She had also worked on digitising the series Keston books, had done research on the UK’s Campaign for Soviet Jewry and had organised an exhibition about Soviet Jewish emigration. Jeff Pirtle, in charge of the strategic plan for archives at Baylor University,

Keston College operating as Keston Institute

Report of the Council of Management for the year ended 31st March 2025

……………………..continued

spoke about a new digital storage format, ArchivesSpace, which would help make special collections, including the Keston archive, more “discoverable”.

Financial Review

Following the diminution in the value of Keston's investment assets in Spring 2020 as markets were hit significantly by the impact of Covid-19, markets had largely recovered in the prior years. 2024 saw a reverse in that trend, but in the year under review there was a gain on revaluation at the 31[st] March 2025 of £45,264 (2024: loss of £9,490). The aggregate value of Keston's investments at 31[st] March 2025 was £1,027,834 (2024: £982,570).

The Keston Institute’s principal funding sources have been donations from its members and income from its investments. These have been used to promote the aims of the charity by funding academic work and publications which contribute to research on religion in Communist and formerly Communist countries; by supporting the Keston Center at Baylor University and funding the on-going digitising programme for the Keston archive’s collection. Work in Russia on a second edition of the Encyclopaedia, entitled Religious Life in Russia Today: A Systematic Description , received financial support from Keston during the year, as did Northwestern University’s Research Initiative for the Study of Russian Philosophy and Religious Thought.

Reserves Policy

The unrestricted reserves at 31[st] March 2025 total £1,535,407 (2024: £1,489,614), but only £327,573 of this is deemed to be freely available (2024: £507,044), as the balance is represented by the investments held and designated funds of £280,000. Investments with a value of £1,027,834 are held as at 31st March 2025 in order to generate sufficient income for carrying out the future objects of the charity. When necessary, the Council are prepared to draw on reserves in order to carry out the objects of the charity.

The Council is satisfied with the level of free reserves held, which is more than sufficient to cover around twelve months budgeted expenditure by the charity. With the increase in the level of reserves, the Council will consider making additional contributions to the Endowed Excellence Fund, established in November 2022, and other work at the Keston Center, as well as contributions to other items mentioned in “Plans for Future Periods”.

The work of the Keston Center for Religion, Politics and Society at Baylor University continues to open up new possibilities for Keston and to enable its mission to continue. Conservation work on the archive will continue, and more digitised material from the collection will be made available to a world audience on the Keston Center’s website. Further funding will be offered by the Keston Institute for digitising more material in the Keston archive and for projects to enhance the archive, as and when recommended by the Director of the Keston Center. The library in the Keston Center will continue to add new books to its holdings. As part of Keston Institute’s 2007 legal agreement with Baylor University, the Keston archive was established as a “living” archive: the Keston Center will therefore continue to welcome donations of further documents and historical materials relevant to Keston’s period and area of study.

The Council will continue to offer scholarships and grants to encourage research in Keston’s field. The website will continue to be improved and updated and will be used for future publishing. The Keston Newsletter will continue to be produced for Keston members and for others interested in the work of the Institute. The November 2025 Annual General Meeting will be organised as a hybrid meeting, with those members unable to travel attending virtually. At this meeting, Professor Randall Poole, Professor of Intellectual History and Co-Director of the Northwestern University Research Initiative in Russian Philosophy, Literature, and Religious Thought, will give a talk on the Russian Orthodox priest and thinker, Fr Aleksandr Men. The Chairman, Xenia Dennen, will continue to promote the public face of the Institute. Under current plans, the work on Keston’s Encyclopaedia project, Religious Life in Russia Today: A Systematic Description , will continue, but at a slower pace owing to the political situation. Future field trips are planned to Yakutsk and Rostov-on-Don, and another volume is due to be published in late 2025. So

Keston College operating as Keston Institute

Report of the Council of Management for the year ended 31st March 2025

……………………..continued

Plans for Future Periods (continued)

far, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has not weakened this aspect of the work of the Keston Institute. The Council will continue to keep the situation under review.

Close contact with the Keston Center at Baylor University will be maintained. Keston Institute’s Council of Management will continue to hold hybrid meetings, so that Professor Kathy Hillman, the Center’s Director and an ex officio Council member, can continue to participate virtually. Regular reports about the activity at the Keston Center will continue to be published in the Keston Newsletter. Professor Kathy Hillman will attend the London meeting of the Council of Management in June 2025, and Keston’s Chairman plans to visit the Keston Center and attend an Advisory Board meeting in 2026. The Keston Center’s Oral History project, which is recording more of Keston’s history, will continue during 2025 and will be funded by Keston Institute. Keston’s Council of Management will continue to work closely with Cardiff University in support of a new 3-year Research Associate’s post for a postdoctoral candidate, who will focus on a subject within Keston’s field and thus in accordance with the charity’s objects.

Structure, Governance and Management

The charity is governed by its Memorandum and Articles of Association. It is a company limited by guarantee of its members as well as a registered charity.

The Trustees, who constitute the Council of Management, are elected by the membership. In seeking suitable candidates for election, every effort is made to ensure that the Council will have a range of appropriate expertise. This includes not only general administrative and managerial experience, in particular in the not-for-profit sector, but also knowledge of the former Soviet Union and of other Communist and/or former Communist countries, and especially of the treatment of religious believers and communities. New Trustees are provided with documentation about Keston, and are helped by the existing Trustees to familiarise themselves with the charity’s work. They are also encouraged to play as full a part as possible in this work. The Council of Management meets usually four times a year and is responsible for policy decisions.

Data Protection

Keston is fully committed to observing the provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). In order to operate, Keston needs to collect, store and use certain forms of information about its members and a few other individuals. This data is carefully protected, and is not passed on to other organisations. A regular review of data is carried out every two years to establish if Keston still has good reason to retain the information held at the time of the review. If there is no reason to hold information, it is safely destroyed. There are legal guidelines on the period for which Gift Aid declarations need to be retained.

Organisational Risk Management

The trustees have identified the major risks to which the charity is exposed and systems have been established to mitigate those risks. Risk assessments are reviewed every year by the Trustees.

The Council of Management has considered and defined its exposure to risk in its financial resources. The Institute's investments are held for the most part in unit trusts specifically tailored for the charitable sector, with an underlying asset base consisting of UK property and equities.

Keston College operating as Keston Institute

Report of the Council of Management for the year ended 31st March 2025

……………………..continued

Statement of Trustees’ responsibilities

The Trustees (who are also directors of Keston College operating as Keston Institute for the purposes of company law) 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).

Company law requires the Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year, which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable company for the year. 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 2019 (FRS 102);
make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
state whether applicable UK 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 charitable company will continue in operation.

The Trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable company and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charitable company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

In so far as the Trustees are aware:

there is no relevant audit information of which the charitable company’s auditor is unaware; and
the Trustees have taken all steps that they ought to have taken to make themselves aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the auditor is aware of that information.

The Trustees are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial information included on the charitable company’s website. Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.

This report has been prepared having taken advantage of the small companies’ exemption in the Companies Act 2006.

The accounts were approved at a meeting of the Trustees on 24[th] June 2025 and signed by:

Chairman, Mrs Xenia Dennen

Keston College operating as Keston Institute

Independent Auditor’s Report to the members of Keston College operating as Keston Institute

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of Keston College (the ‘charitable company’) for the year ended 31st March 2025 which comprise the Statement of Financial Activities, the Balance Sheet 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 charitable company’s affairs as at 31st March 2025, and of its incoming resources and application of resources, including its income and expenditure, 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 Companies Act 2006.

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 charitable company 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.

Conclusions relating to going concern

In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the trustees’ use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements 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 charitable company’s ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.

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

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.

Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006

In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of the audit:

the information given in the trustees’ report (incorporating the directors’ report) for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements; and
the directors’ report has been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements.

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

In the light of our knowledge and understanding of the charitable company and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the directors’ report.

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Companies Act 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:

adequate accounting records have not been kept, or returns adequate for our audit have not been received from branches not visited by us; or
the financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or
• certain disclosures of directors’ remuneration specified by law are not made; or

Keston College operating as Keston Institute

Independent Auditor’s Report to the members of Keston College operating as Keston Institute

Matters on which we are required to report by exception (continued)

we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit; or
the trustees were not entitled to prepare the financial statements in accordance with the small companies’ regime and take advantage of the small companies’ exemptions in preparing the directors’ report and from the requirement to prepare a strategic report.

Responsibilities of trustees

As explained more fully in the trustees’ responsibilities statement set out on page 6, the trustees (who are also the directors of the charitable company for the purposes of company law) are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they 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 charitable company’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 charitable company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

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.

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 specific procedures for this engagement and the extent to which these are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud is detailed below:

Enquiry of management, those charged with governance and the entity’s solicitors around actual and potential litigation and claims;
Reviewing minutes of meetings of those charged with governance;
Reviewing financial statement disclosures and testing to supporting documentation to assess compliance with applicable laws and regulations;
Performing audit work over the risk of management override of controls, including testing of journal entries and other adjustments for appropriateness, evaluating the business rationale of significant transactions outside the normal course of business and reviewing accounting estimates for bias.

Because of the inherent limitations of an audit, there is a risk that we will not detect all irregularities, including those leading to a material misstatement in the financial statements or non-compliance with regulation. This risk increases the more that compliance with a law or regulation is removed from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, as we will be less likely to become aware of instances of non-compliance. The risk is also greater regarding irregularities occurring due to fraud rather than error, as fraud involves intentional concealment, forgery, collusion, omission or misrepresentation.

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

Use of our report

This report is made solely to the charitable company’s members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charitable company’s members 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 charitable company and the charitable company’s members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

...........................................

Benjamin Hayes BSc FCA (Senior Statutory Auditor) For and on behalf of Wenn Townsend Chartered Accountants and Statutory Auditor 30 St Giles Oxford OX1 3LE

24[th] June 2025

Keston College operating as Keston Institute

Statement of Financial Activities (including Income and Expenditure Account) for the year ended 31st March 2025

			Unrestricted	funds
	Note		Total	Total
			2025	2024
Income from:
Donations			10,071	13,355
Legacies			21,000	90,758
Investments	3		60,715	65,907
Publications			284	30
			───────	───────
Total income			92,070	170,050
			───────	───────
Expenditure on:
Charitable activities: Endowed
Encyclopaedia costs			14,321	11,696
Digitalisation project			12,786	-
Scholarships and bursaries			27,981	23,268
Publication costs			2,173	1,214
Support costs : administration and governance			34,280	24,713
			───────	───────
Total expenditure			91,541	60,891
			───────	───────
Net income before gains on investments			529	109,159
Net gains/(losses) on investment assets		5	45,264	(9,490)
			───────	───────
Net income			45,793	99,669
Balance at 1st April 2024			1,489,614	1,389,945
			───────	───────
Balance at 31st March 2025			£ 1,535,407	£1,489,614
			═══════	═══════

All income and expenditure derive from continuing activities.

The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised during the year.

Registered Company Number : 991413

Keston College operating as Keston Institute

		Balance Sheet
		31st March 2025
			2025		2024
	Note
Fixed assets
Investments	5		1,027,834		982,570
Current assets
Debtors	6	29,751		14,423
Cash at bank and in hand		495,687		500,892
		──────		──────
		525,438		515,315
Creditors: Amounts falling due
within one year	7	(17,865)		(8,271)
		──────		──────
Net current assets
			507,573		507,044
			──────		──────
Net assets		£	1,535,407		£1,489,614
			══════		══════
Funds
Unrestricted funds – general	8		1,255,407		1,489,614
Unrestricted funds – designated	8		280,000		-
			──────		──────
Total		£1,535,407			£1,489,614
			══════		══════

The financial statements are prepared in accordance with the special provisions of part 15 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small companies.

Approved by the Council of Management on 24[th] June 2025, and signed on its behalf by:

Chairman, Mrs Xenia Dennen

The notes on pages 11 to 14 form part of the financial statements

Keston College operating as Keston Institute

Notes to the Accounts for the year ended 31st March 2025

1 Accounting policies

Keston College is a charitable company limited by guarantee in England and Wales. In the event of the charity being wound up, the liability in respect of the guarantee is limited to £1 per member of the charity. The address of the registered office is given in the charity information page of these financial statements. The nature of the charity’s operations and principal activities are detailed in the Trustees’ Report.

The charity constitutes a public benefit entity as defined by FRS 102. The financial statements 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 UK and Republic of Ireland issued in October 2019, the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102), the Charities Act 2011, the Companies Act 2006, and UK Generally Accepted Accounting Practice.

Assets and liabilities are initially recognised at historical cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policy note. The financial statements are prepared in sterling which is the functional currency of the charity. Monetary amounts in these financial statements are rounded to the nearest pound sterling.

The significant accounting policies applied in the preparation of these financial statements are set out below. These policies have been consistently applied to all years presented unless otherwise stated.

Income

All income is included in the Statement of Financial Activities (SoFA) when the charity is legally entitled to the income after any performance conditions have been met, the amount can be measured reliably and it is probable that the income will be received.

For donations to be recognised the charity will have been notified of the amounts and the settlement date in writing. If there are conditions attached to the donation and this requires a level of performance before entitlement can be obtained then income is deferred until those conditions are fully met or the fulfilment of those conditions is within the control of the charity and it is probable that they will be fulfilled.

For legacies, entitlement is the earlier of the charity being notified of an impending distribution or the legacy being received. At this point income is recognised. On occasion legacies will be notified to the charity where it is not possible to measure the amount expected to be distributed. On these occasions, the legacy is treated as a contingent asset and disclosed.

Investment income is earned through holding assets for investment purposes and includes dividends and interest. It is included when the amount can be measured reliably, and dividend income is recognised as the charity’s right to receive payment is established.

Expenditure

All expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis and has been classified under headings that aggregate all costs related to the category. Expenditure is recognised where there is a legal or constructive obligation to make payments to third parties, it is probable that the settlement will be required and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. Where costs cannot be directly attributed to particular headings they have been allocated to activities on a basis consistent with use of the resources.

Support costs are those costs incurred directly in support of expenditure on the objects of the charity. Governance costs are those incurred in connection with administration of the charity and compliance with constitutional and statutory requirements.

Keston College operating as Keston Institute

Notes to the Accounts (continued) for the year ended 31st March 2025

1 Accounting policies (continued)

Funds

General funds are unrestricted funds which are available for use at the discretion of the trustees in furtherance of the general objectives of the charity and which have not been designated for other purposes.

Foreign currencies

Transactions in foreign currencies are recorded at the rate ruling at the date of the transaction. Monetary assets and liabilities are retranslated at the rate of exchange ruling at the balance sheet date. All differences are taken to the SOFA.

Investments

Investments are recognised initially at fair value which is normally the transaction price excluding transaction costs. Subsequently, they are measured at fair value with changes recognised in ‘net gains / (losses) on investments’ in the SoFA if the shares are publicly traded or their fair value can otherwise be measured reliably. Other investments are measured at cost less impairment.

Impairment

Assets not measured at fair value are reviewed for any indication that the asset may be impaired at each balance sheet date. If such indication exists, the recoverable amount of the asset, or the asset’s cash generating unit, is estimated and compared to the carrying amount. Where the carrying amount exceeds its recoverable amount, an impairment loss is recognised in profit or loss unless the asset is carried at a revalued amount where the impairment loss is a revaluation decrease.

Tax

The charity is an exempt charity within the meaning of schedule 3 of the Charities Act 2011 and is considered to pass the tests set out in Paragraph 1 Schedule 6 Finance Act 2010 and therefore it meets the definition of a charitable company for UK corporation tax purposes.

Going concern

The financial statements have been prepared on a going concern basis as the trustees believe that no material uncertainties exist. The trustees have considered the level of funds held and the expected level of income and expenditure for 12 months from authorising these financial statements. The budgeted income and expenditure is sufficient with the level of reserves for the charity to be able to continue as a going concern.

2. Net income for the year

Net income for the year
	2025		2024
Net income for the year is stated after charging:
Auditors’ remuneration - audit fee	£ 1,900	£	1,705
- other	£ 1,820	£	2,075
	══════		═════

Keston College operating as Keston Institute

Notes to the Accounts (continued) for the year ended 31st March 2025

3. Investment income

Investment income
	2025	2024
Bank interest receivable	11,414	13,588
Income from fixed asset investments	49,301	52,319
	───────	───────
	£ 60,715	£ 65,907
	═════	═════
Governance costs
	2025	2023
Audit and accountancy	3,720	3,780
Bank charges and office costs	48	118
Meeting expenses	7,689	7,645
Trustee expenses	4,969	3,642
	───────	───────
	£ 16,426	£ 15,185
	═════	═════

4. Governance costs

4.1 Trustee and key management personnel remuneration and expenses

The trustees neither received nor waived any remuneration during the year (2024: £Nil).

The total amount of employee benefits received by key management personnel is £5,683 (2024: £5,418). The Trust considers its key management personnel comprise the Council of Management and the Secretary.

Expenses of administration totalling £4,969 (2024: £3,642) were reimbursed to one trustee during the year. Travel expenses of £1,634 were reimbursed to five other trustees (2024: five for £2,246).

Keston College operating as Keston Institute

Notes to the Accounts (continued) for the year ended 31st March 2025

5. Investments

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|||| |---|---|---| |Quoted investments| |Cost|Valuation| |1st April 2024|685,992|982,570| |Unrealised gains/(losses) in the year|-|45,264| |───────|───────| |31st March 2025|685,992|1,027,834| |═══════|═══════|

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The following investments represent the portfolio:

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||||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---| |Cost at|Cost at|Market|Revaluation|Market| |1st April|31st March|Value at|Value at| |2024|2025|1st April|31st March| |2024|2025| |M & G Charifund|418,315|418,315|538,524|23,012|561,536| |The Charities Property Fund|222,052|222,052|243,762|5,356|249,118| |Standard Life Managed Fund|45,063|45,063|200,229|16,896|217,125| |Royal Bank of Scotland plc|562|562|55|-|55| |───────|─────── ───────|───────|───────| |£ 685,992|£ 685,992 £ 982,570|£ 45,264 £ 1,027,834| |═══════|═══════ ═══════|═══════|═══════|

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6. Debtors: amounts falling due within one year

7.

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|||| |---|---|---| |2025|2024| |Income tax recoverable|638|606| |Prepayments and accrued income|29,113|13,817| |£ 29,751 _|£ 14,423 _| |═════|═════| |Creditors:|amounts falling due within one year| |2025|2024| |Accruals and deferred income|£ 17,865|£ 8,271| |═════|═════|

----- End of picture text -----

Keston College operating as Keston Institute

Notes to the Accounts (continued) for the year ended 31st March 2025

8. Funds

In the prior period the funds held by the charity were all unrestricted general funds. During the current year transfers of funds have been made into two designated funds as summarised here:

General funds Designated – Cardiff University Research Post Designated – Encyclopaedia Project	At 1st April 2024 £ Income/gains £ Expenditure £ Transfers £ At 31st March 2025 £ 1,489,614 137,334 (91,541) (280,000) 1,255,407 - - - 180,000 180,000 - - - 100,000 100,000
	1,489,614 137,334 (91,541) - 1,535,407

9. Related party transactions

Trustee donations in the period totalled £270 (2024: £491). There were no other related party transactions during the period aside from those detailed in note 4.1.

10. Legacies

As at the year end date the charity was aware of further legacies expected for receipt, but for which at the date of this report income recognition criteria had not been met. The current broad estimate of these future receipts is £80,000 (2024: £100,000).