Charity Registration No. 326903
THE MERIDIAN TRUST TRUSTEES REPORT AND UNAUDITED ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDING 30 SEPTEMBER 2023
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THE MERIDIAN TRUST
TRUSTEES' REPORT For The Year Ended 30 September 2023
CONTENTS
| CONTENTS | |
|---|---|
| Page | |
| Legal and administrative information | 3 |
| Trustees' Report | 4 - 6 |
| Independent examiner's report | 7 |
| Statement of financial activities | 8 |
| Balance sheet | 9 |
| Notes to the accounts | 10 -13 |
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THE MERIDIAN TRUST
LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION
Trustees Marie Beresford Greta Jensen Janet Millar Jane Moore resigned 14th February 2024 Tahlia Lin Acting Chair: Tahlia Lin Charity number: 326903 Principal address: The Thicket, Gare Hill, Near FROME BA11 5EY Somerset Independent Examiner Kathleen Moss ACMA, CGMA Kathleen Moss Ltd. 48 Lawn Terrace London SE3 9LP
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THE MERIDIAN TRUST
TRUSTEES' REPORT
For The Year Ended 30 September 2023
The Trustees of the Charity present their Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 30 September 2023.
OBJECTIVES
The principal activity of The Meridian Trust is the preservation and dissemination of Buddhist thought and culture. Our goal is to be an online resource and hub through which the insights of Tibetan Buddhism are available to all.
CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES
Film Production
This year brought a number of new filming opportunities. These included teachings by Ringu Tulku on Geshe Langri Thangpa's Eight Verses of Training the Mind at Bodhicharya Kent; and The Twelve Links of Interdependence and Transforming Confusion into Clarity at Samye Dzong, London. We filmed Ven. Robina Courtin during her world tour when she gave three days of teachings in Frome, Somerset on How to Develop Compassion for Oneself and Others . We also filmed the first set of teachings for a new three year course at Palpung Changchub Dargyeling in Wales created by HH Tai Situ called 'Discovering the Buddha Within'.
Collaboration with other Buddhist Organisations
We worked with Jamyang Buddhist Centre on our Wisdom of the Elders event as part of their first Jamyang Film Series. We invited Tulku Phara Khenchen Rinpoche to join us in person to talk about the life of his late teacher and Jamyang's first resident lama, Geshe Namgyal Wangchen. We showed clips from two films in our collection:
- My Life in Brief (Lam Rim Wales 1984) , a video recording of a teaching given by Tulku-la's previous incarnation, Khensur Pema Gyaltsen Rinpoche.
- Spiritual Life in a Material World (Manjushri Centre, London 1982), a video recording of a teaching by Geshe Wangchen.
We collaborated with CCN (The Contemplative Consciousness Network) and Colet House, London for a Buddhist Film Club, in person as well as on Zoom. Two of the films' directors joined us for a screening and Q&A. These included Memories of Lost
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THE MERIDIAN TRUST
TRUSTEES' REPORT (Continued) For The Year Ended 30 September 2023
and Hidden Lands (Dir. Kris Polinski); Man from a Missing Land (Dir. Paul Cohen); and The Meaning of the Path of Dharma - Lama B. Alan Wallace.
We were able to bring our historical content of restricted teachings by Chogyal Namkhai Norbu back online after clarification on the conditions for sharing content with practitioners of the Dharma.
We were gifted materials from the former Institute of Buddhist Studies in Tring from the late Tibetologist and founder of the institute, Professor David Snellgrove. The collection includes documents, photographs and 8mm films.
Project Delivery - Bringing the Archive Home
To briefly recap, we worked closely with LTWA and they now hold a digital archive of much of the archive pre-2016. This includes the extraordinary footage of the great teachers who left Tibet in the 20[th] century.
Due to flooding in Dharamsala, the original RAID was damaged. LTWA sent a new hard drive which has been filled with footage and taken to the library.
Translation Project
We launched our new project to translate teachings from our Lama Project collection into English and Chinese. A team has been put together, led by one of our trustees and Acting Chair, Tahlia Lin, who has been appointed Director of Translations. This year we have received advisory support from Geshe Namdak at Jamyang Buddhist Centre as the team begins to define the scope of the project over the coming years.
Film Footage Requests
As a film footage archive, we are sometimes approached with requests from commercial entities requesting the right to purchase film footage for their projects. This involves a lot of work on the part of The Meridian Trust to prepare contracts and deal with copyright issues arising on a case by case basis. Any monies raised commercially are used entirely within the charitable framework to fund our projects. In this financial year we still have payments pending for the use of some of our footage but no payments made between 1st October 2022 and 30th September 2023.
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THE MERIDIAN TRUST
TRUSTEES' REPORT (Continued) For The Year Ended 30 September 2023
New Staff
In May 2023, we said goodbye to our administrator of many years and welcomed a new administrator in her place.
Advisory Board
We welcomed a new advisor to the board, Professor Vesna Wallace, who brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to The Meridian Trust and who is an asset to our new Translations Project.
GOVERNANCE
The Trustees meet regularly with each other to develop policy and practice and to provide financial oversight. Regular meetings are held with team/staff, either collectively or individually to provide support and direction.
Financial Review
Incoming Resources for the year amounted to £42,038 (2022: ££49,051), the funds were unrestricted income funds. Expenditure in the year was £48,579 (2022: £46,874) all of which related to unrestricted income funds for both years.
The deficit for the year was £6,541 (2022: surplus £2,176). On 30 September 2023 total funds amounted to £12,520 (2022: £19,061) all of which related to unrestricted income funds.
This report was approved by the trustees on 27th May 2024 and signed on their behalf by
Dr Janet Millar, Trustee
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Independent Examiner's Report
To the Trustees of The Meridian Trust
I report on the accounts of The Meridian Trust for the year ended 30[th] September 2023, which are set out on pages 8 to 12.
Responsibilities and basis of report
As the charity's trustees, you are responsible for the preparation of the 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 examiner's statement
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination (other than that disclosed below *) which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect:
-
the accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act; or
-
the accounts did not accord with the accounting records; or
-
the accounts did not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a ‘true and fair’ view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent 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.
Kathleen Moss ACMA, CGMA Kathleen Moss Ltd 48 Lawn Terrace London SE3 9LP
Date: 3[rd] June 2024
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THE MERIDIAN TRUST STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES (Incorporating Income and Expenditure Account) For the year ended 30 September 2023
| Notes Unrestricted £ Incoming resources from generated funds Voluntary income 2 42,038 Incoming resources from charitable activities 3 - Other incoming resources 4 - Total incoming resources 42,038 Resources expended Cost of generating funds 5 - Cost of charitable activities 5 48,579 Total resources expended 48,579 Net incoming resources before transfers (6,541) Transfers between funds - Total funds brought forward 19,061 Total funds carried forward 12,520 |
Notes Unrestricted £ Incoming resources from generated funds Voluntary income 2 42,038 Incoming resources from charitable activities 3 - Other incoming resources 4 - Total incoming resources 42,038 Resources expended Cost of generating funds 5 - Cost of charitable activities 5 48,579 Total resources expended 48,579 Net incoming resources before transfers (6,541) Transfers between funds - Total funds brought forward 19,061 Total funds carried forward 12,520 |
Restricted £ - - - |
Total 2023 £ 42,038 - - 42,038 - 48,579 48,579 (6,541) - 19,061 12,520 |
Unrestricted £ 44,131 4,920 - |
Restricted £ - - - |
Total 2022 £ 44,131 4,920 - |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 42,038 | - | 49,051 | - | 49,051 | ||
| - 48,579 |
- - |
- 46,874 |
- - |
- 46,874 |
||
| 48,579 | - | 46,874 | - | 46,874 | ||
| (6,541) - 19,061 |
- - - |
2,176 - 16,885 |
- - - |
2,176 - 16,885 |
||
| 12,520 | - | 19,061 | - | 19,061 |
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THE MERIDIAN TRUST BALANCE SHEET As at 30 September 2023
| Notes Fixed assets Tangible assets 9 Current assets Stock Debtors 10 Cash at bank and in hand Creditors: amounts falling due within one year 11 Net current assets Total assets less current liabilities Funds of the charity Restricted funds 12 Unrestricted funds 12 |
£ - - 716 |
2023 £ 12,654 (134) 12,520 - 12,520 12,520 |
£ - - 5,133 |
2022 £ 14,928 4,133 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 716 (850) |
5,133 (1,000) |
|||
| 19,061 | ||||
| - 19,061 |
||||
| 19,061 |
The financial statements were approved by the Trustees on 27th May 2024 and signed on their behalf by
Dr Janet Millar Trustee
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THE MERIDIAN TRUST NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS (continued) For the year ended 30 September 2023
| 2. Voluntary income Unrestricted £ Donations 32,362 Legacies - Grants 9,676 42,038 Grants received: Bodhichitta Trust 3. Incoming resources from charitable activities Unrestricted £ Sales - films and filming services - 4. Other incoming resources Unrestricted £ - 5. Total resources expended |
2. Voluntary income Unrestricted £ Donations 32,362 Legacies - Grants 9,676 42,038 Grants received: Bodhichitta Trust 3. Incoming resources from charitable activities Unrestricted £ Sales - films and filming services - 4. Other incoming resources Unrestricted £ - 5. Total resources expended |
Restricted £ - - - |
Total 2023 £ 32,362 - 9,676 42,038 9,676 Total 2023 £ - Total 2023 £ - |
Unrestricted £ 34,877 - 9,254 |
Restricted £ - - - |
Total 2022 £ 34,877 - 9,254 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 42,038 | - | 44,131 | - | 44,131 | ||
| Restricted £ - |
Unrestricted £ 4,920 |
Restricted £ - |
9,254 Total 2022 £ 4,920 |
|||
| Restricted £ - |
Unrestricted £ - |
Restricted £ - |
Total 2022 £ - |
|||
| Costs of generating funds 2023 Publicity and events Direct Film & Archive Management Direct Consultancy Direct Director's Fees Staff time Staff Salaries Staff time Insurance Usage Print Postage Stationery Usage Telephone Usage Computer Costs Usage Travel & Subsistence Usage Independent Examination Governance Miscellaneous Expenses Usage Bank charges and interest Usage Depreciation Usage 2023 2022 Restricted - - Unrestricted 48,579 46,874 |
Charitable | Activities | Governance £ - - - - - - - - - - 650 - - - |
Total £ - 3,571 - 18,270 19,700 62 56 324 1,597 869 650 447 758 2,274 |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| £ - 358 - 912 5,910 11 5 65 640 217 - 112 189 1,819 Dissemination & education |
Project development & management £ - 357 - 8,222 1,970 6 6 65 319 174 - 89 152 455 |
Open the Vaults £ - 714 - 8,222 5,910 34 34 162 319 391 - 179 303 - |
Film production & distribution £ - 2,142 - 914 5,910 11 11 32 319 87 - 67 114 - |
|||
| 10,239 | 11,815 | 16,268 | 9,607 | 650 | 48,579 | |
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THE MERIDIAN TRUST NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS (continued) For the year ended 30 September 2023
| Prior year comparator: 2022 Costs of generating funds Publicity and events Direct - Film Archive Management Direct Consultancy Direct Camera Direct Computer Costs Usage Travel & Subsistence Usage Staff Training & Welfare Staff time Accountancy Governance Independent Examination Governance Miscellaneous Expenses Usage Bank charges and interest Usage Depreciation Usage |
Charitable | Activities | Governance - - - - - - - 515 800 - - - |
Total £ - 40,750 - 160 1,178 34 - 515 800 - 761 2,677 |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| £ - 4,075 - - 470 9 - - - 191 2,142 Dissemination & education |
Project development & management £ - 4,075 - - 236 7 - - - 152 535 |
Open the Vaults £ - 8,150 - - 236 15 - - - 304 - |
Film production & distribution £ - 24,450 - 160 236 3 - - - 114 - |
|||
| 6,886 | 5,005 | 8,705 | 24,963 | 1,315 | 46,874 |
6. Surplus for the year
| The surplus for the year is after charging: Depreciation External scrutiny fees |
Unrestricted £ 2,274 - |
Restricted £ - - |
Total 2023 £ 2,274 - |
Unrestricted £ 2,677 800 |
Restricted Total 2022 £ £ - 2,677 - 800 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
7. Trustees
None of the trustees (or any persons connected with them) received any remuneration during the year.
8. Employees
The number of employees during the year was Nil (2022: Nil).
| Employees The number of employees during the year was Nil (2022: Nil). |
||
|---|---|---|
| Employment costs: Wages and salaries There were no employees earning over £60,000 per annum. |
2023 £ - |
2022 £ - |
9. Tangible fixed assets
| Tangible fixed assets | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost At 1 October 2022 Additions Disposals At 30 September 2023 Depreciation At 1 October 2022 Charge for the year Disposals At 30 September 2023 Net book value At 30 September 2023 At 30 September 2022 |
Film equipment & footage £ 38,024 - - |
Office furniture & equipment £ 17,669 - - |
Total £ 55,693 - - |
| 38,024 | 17,669 | 55,693 | |
| 24,003 2,103 - |
16,762 171 - |
40,765 2,274 - |
|
| 26,106 | 16,933 | 43,039 | |
| 11,918 | 736 | 12,654 | |
| 14,021 | 907 | 14,928 |
10. Debtors
12
2023 2022 £ £
Sundry debtors
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THE MERIDIAN TRUST NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS (continued) For the year ended 30 September 2023
11. Creditors: amounts falling due within one year
| Trade Creditors Accruals and other creditors |
2023 £ - 850 |
2022 £ - 1,000 |
|---|---|---|
| 850 | 1,000 |
THE MERIDIAN TRUST
NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS (continued) For the year ended 30 September 2023
12. Analysis of net assets between funds
| Analysis of net assets between funds Tangible fixed assets Current assets Creditors: amounts falling due within one year |
Unrestricted £ 12,654 716 (850) |
Restricted £ - - - |
2023 Total £ 12,654 716 (850) |
Unrestricted £ 14,928 5,133 (1,000) |
Restricted £ - - - |
2022 Total £ 14,928 5,133 (1,000) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12,520 | - | 12,520 | 19,061 | - | 19,061 |
12. Funds
The income funds of the charity include restricted and unrestricted funds comprising the following unexpended balances of donations and grants held on trust:
| Unrestricted funds: General funds Total funds Restricted Funds - description Prior year comparator: 2021 Unrestricted funds: General funds Total funds |
At 01-Oct 2022 £ 19,061 |
Incoming £ 42,038 |
Outgoing £ ( 48,579) |
Transfer between funds At 30-Sep 2023 £ £ - 12,520 |
Transfer between funds At 30-Sep 2023 £ £ - 12,520 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19,061 | 42,038 | ( 48,579) | - 12,520 |
||
| At 01-Oct 2021 £ 16,885 |
Incoming £ 49,051 |
Outgoing Transfer between funds At 30-Sep 2022 £ £ £ ( 46,874) 0 - 0 19,061 |
|||
| 16,885 | 49,051 | ( 46,874) | - | 19,061 |
13. Taxation
The charitable company is registered as a charity and all of its income falls within the exemptions under Part 11 of the Corporation Tax Act 2010.
14. Related parties
Aggregate donations made by Trustees for general purposes amounted to £360 £320 (2022: £380). There are no other donations from related parties. No donations are outside the normal course of business and no restricted donations are from related parties.
15. Contingent assets or liabilities
There are no contingent assets or liabilities at September 2023 (2022:Nil).