## The Nalanda Trust
Operating under the name **North London Buddhist Centre** .
Annual Report and Accounts for year ended 2022
## **Charity number 801632**
The Nalanda Trust
## **Contents**
|**Contents**||
|---|---|
||Page|
|1. Charity details and governance|3|
|2. Trustees’ Report – Chair’s Report|4|
|3. Accountants Report|7|
|4. Statement of Financial Activities|9|
|5. Balance Sheet|12|
|6. Notes to the Financial Statement|13|
|7. Independent Examiners Report|16|
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The Nalanda Trust
## Charity details and governance
## Trustees
**The trustees during 2022 were:** Ratnaprabha (John Robin Cooper) – Chair Karunagita (Sara Burns) –Secretary Kusala (Guy Redmond) Vajramitra (Michael Ward) Maitrisambhava (Sharon Reed) Singhashri (Francisca Gazmuri) (resigned April 2022) Nandaraja (Obafemi Adewumi) Darsavini (Eve Lear) Anandavajra (Jonathan Turnbull) Kshantisara (Uschi Gramann)
## Property
The Property owned by the trust is held in the following names: David Zukas, Peter Gill and David Green
## Charity governance
The organisation is an unincorporated association, registered as such on 6 June 1989. The charity is governed by a constitution/trust deed revised 10 September 2014.
## Charity trustees
The trustees are members of the charity but this entitles them only to voting rights. The trustees have no beneficial interest in the charity. Trustees are elected annually from the membership by the members at the AGM. As and when needed, new trustees are sought from within the membership and from the pool of experienced committed Buddhists who are able to attend meetings in London. All trustees are required to have relevant experience and skills in order to serve on the trustee body. Trustees meetings are at present monthly. All trustees give their time voluntarily and receive no benefits from the charity for their trustee work. Any expenses reclaimed from the charity are set out in note 11 to the accounts.
## Charity details
## Name: **The Nalanda Trust**
## Operating under the name **“North London Buddhist Centre”.**
Registration number: 801632
## Registered Office
72 Holloway Road, London, N7 8JG
## Principal Bankers
Santander Bank, Bootle, Merseyside, L30 4GB
## Independent Examiner
F. G. McMahon
## Image front cover
The image on the front page is provided by Aryajit (Stephen Heppel).
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The Nalanda Trust
## **Trustees Report - (includes the Chair and Treasurer reports)**
_The trustees present their report and the unaudited financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2022._
**Achievements and developments at the North London Buddhist Centre in 2022**
_This section is aimed at charity members and interested people in the Sangha. There is a second section following closely the Charity Commission guidelines, which includes the required annual information. (The trustees’ report is a public document, available on the Charity Commission website.)_
By the beginning of the year, pandemic restrictions were in the past, and 2022 was our first postCovid year in most respects. We were able to end limits on numbers attending classes.
## People.
At the start of the year, Alana stepped down as Acting Centre Manager after over 18 months in the role, and we held interviews in February for Centre manager and bookkeeper. During the year, there were several changes in the team, as well as a shortfall in available people to cover centre team working hours, which team members handled extremely well, though we really must try to avoid this kind of pressure in the future.
Danaraja was appointed centre manager, and was in post for six months starting in February, but unfortunately had to move on owing to family circumstances. He was a very well-liked and practically able manager, and we were sad to lose him when he left in August.
In October we interviewed for a new Centre manager, and were extremely fortunate to be able to appoint Akshayapradipa, who hit the ground running. She was soon tackling some long-standing knotty centre running issues such as improving the safety of the building. She brought excellent management and organisational skills, and has already made a big difference.
Satyapurna moved on from the bookkeeper role in March in order to concentrate on her therapy work. She had of course been centre manager, and a dedicated and much loved team member for many years, crucial to bringing the centre to where it is now, and very popular and well loved.
Anita Tew took on the job of bookkeeper for part of the year, and she simplified and clarified our procedures, using her excellent accountancy knowledge. Andy Slack took over as bookkeeper towards the end of the year.
Silvia came into her own in managing our communications, web presence and social media, getting knowledge of the centre out to many thousands more people in a dedicated, effective and cheerful manner.
Alana took on full responsibility for the development of the yoga studio, as well as room hire including facilities for therapists. She spearheaded the origination of a new plan for the studio, streamlining classes, and providing a definite and distinct public image for the studio, making the publicising of it far more effective. The results of her excellent initiatives here (in financial, teacher support and other areas) were already apparent by the end of the year, and have accelerated since.
Aryavajra retired as our volunteer bookshop manager after many years running a thriving bookshop, possibly the largest specialist Buddhist bookshop in the UK. Serena, an ideal volunteer manager with
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The Nalanda Trust
her work experience in bookshops and love of books, took over, and is in the process of reorganising the shop.
Our two Mitra convenors, Anandavajra for men and Darsavini for women were active trustees, strengthening our governing body. (See the separate Mitra convenor reports.) Anandavajra also joined the centre team, specialising in programming, and supporting volunteering at the centre.
Singhashri left the council in April in order to devote more time to her other work, including Dharma teaching and very exciting projects in the US. She had been on the council for over five years, and had recently in particular contributed important initiatives highlighting the need for more racial diversity and inclusiveness at the centre.
Kulamitra, our president, completed his PhD, and so was much more available to visit the centre, with two extended stays in London. He participated in discussions, contributed Dharma talks, and met up with the trustees, team and others.
I (Ratnaprabha) completed four years as chair of the trustees in September, when I announced that I wished to step down within 1 to 2 years of that date, and so during the autumn a process started for seeking a replacement chair.
We celebrated two ordinations this year, with Akshayapradipa and Mokshayogin returning from their ordination courses in Spain in July.
## Financial
After many years as both treasurer and our accountant, Abhilasa handed over the financial management role to Ratnabodhi, and trained up Andy Slack as our new bookkeeper. Abhilasa’s contribution to the centre over the years has been enormous, both spiritually and practically. Andy Slack is based in Brighton, which means he’s not a regular face-to-face part of the centre team, but so far it has worked well. We did not have a designated treasurer on the council for the whole of 2022.
After a mortgage capital repayment holiday during the pandemic, we resumed monthly mortgage repayments in March. It became clear that the outgoings on the mortgage were compromising the financial health of the centre, and at the end of the year we decided to begin fundraising to pay off the mortgage in 2023.
An alternative suggestion was to fundraise for revamping the ground floor of the centre, taking forward draft plans produced earlier by Vajramitra, but the council agreed unanimously that this appeal would have to happen later than the mortgage repayment appeal, and so preliminary planning enquiries (which would cost several thousand pounds) were deferred.
## The centre and the Sangha
The racial diversity and inclusion Kula took forward its 2021 report, funded by the Future Dharma Fund, and made available around the Movement. Members of the Kula organised meetings for the Sangha during the year. The June meeting included discussion of the vision for the future of diversity and inclusion initiatives at the North London centre. One among a number of strategies they recommended was “Offer events by and for BIPOC, including BIPOC-led events for all, classes, courses and events specifically for BIPOC, and PoC mitra study.” We have rather lagged behind the other London Triratna centres in hosting events or courses aimed specifically for people of colour, and I do hope the number of these will increase in the future.
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The Nalanda Trust
Before the pandemic, we had agreed to institute a Kula (subcommittee) mandate system for decisionmaking and getting things done in the centre. This did not make very much progress during 2022 – it will require work and research to implement fully. For example, there was an abortive attempt to set up an aesthetics Kula. However, there were some well-functioning kulas.
An environmental Kula was active for part of the year, and presented an Energy audit of the centre, with recommendations for energy saving and green initiatives.
The Karuna Trust remained as highly valued tenants of our second floor. They renovated and beautified their space to meet their needs more effectively. The combination of some of their staff being based outside London, and the effects of the pandemic and more working from home, meant that few of their staff were regularly in the premises, and their needs for space reduced. The Centre therefore took on their top floor meeting room and parking space, and reduce their rent accordingly.
## Courses and events
Numbers attending events increased during the year, and were particularly good in the autumn.
The programme included:
- Stories of the Great Buddhists
- Life with Full Attention
- A Day on Blake’s ‘Marriage of Heaven and Hell’.
- Workshop for NLBC teachers with Vajradaka in February.
- A new death conversation café event monthly on Saturday afternoons.
- New regular whole weeks of morning meditations for men, and other events specifically for men or for women plus.
- A weekend workshop with guest Jnanavaca on ‘Doorways to Dhyana’.
- Successful weekend retreats were held at Othona in Essex, and Vajrasana in Suffolk.
- Lunchtime meditation classes were extended to every weekday.
- Monday Sangha night was held monthly in person and monthly online for most of the year, and ceased in its present form at the end of the year, pending a review. Among others, Santva and Lalitaraja were recent solid and inspiring mainstays at this class, but by the end of the year, neither were available for a weekly commitment.
- The Friday Puja evening developed an established order team to give it strength and continuity, and the numbers attending increased.
- Online classes continued, especially the Tuesday evening meditation class led by Visuddhimati, 2-3 lunchtime classes, a hybrid class every Saturday morning, and an online option at festivals and some other events. Our range of talks and meditation-leading available on YouTube expanded greatly during the year.
- Some ideas and suggestions from local order members have not yet seen fruition, unfortunately. These include more events specifically for order members and the more experienced people and a revival of a “Who’s Who” photo board.
## **(Signed)**
## **Dh Ratnaprabha (chair, on behalf of the trustees)**
**Date 11 May 2022**
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The Nalanda Trust
## Financial Report by the Accountant
Overall the charity ended the year with a surplus of £1,456, and a Balance Sheet Net Worth of £847,169. The equivalent 2021 figures were a deficit of £3,902, and Net Worth of £841,047.
## Income
The income figure was £206,069. This compares to the 2021, covid affected figure of £151,414, an increase of 36%.
There was a large improvement in Buddhist Charitable Activities – up from £83,349 to £136,203, with income from classes improving by almost 57%
Room Hire made a very good recovery from £3,198 in 2021, to £15,156 in 2022. Donations, on the other hand, which were a vital source of income during the pandemic, fell slightly from £33,781 in 2021, to £28,765 in 2022. The pre-covid income figure for 2019 was £271,970. So in 2022 The North London Buddhist Centre was making promising progress back towards that level of income.
## Expenditure
Expenditure in 2022 was £204,614, an increase of approximately 31%, with almost all categories of expenditure showing an increase, largely due to increased activity with the easing of covid restrictions.
## Reserves Policy and other information
## General reserve
At the end of 2022, after a suspension of mortgage capital repayments during the pandemic, the charity held reserves of £49,460. This was somewhat below the ideal of £55,000 but the charity is confident that this can be remedied in the near future in conjunction with a fully-costed and funded early repayment of the remaining mortgage.
## Conflict of interest
We have in place a conflicts of interest policy. This requires a Council member to absent himself or herself from any discussions of the Council in which it is possible that a conflict will arise between his or her duty to act solely in the interests of the Association and any personal interest (including but not limited to any personal financial interest) and take no part in the voting upon the matter.
Ratnabodhi (Geoff McMahon) Finance Manager, 14 May 2023
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The Nalanda Trust
## Statement of Financial Activities
||Income
Donations
Investment Income
Charitable Activities
Income Generating Activity
Other|Unrestricted
28,765
44
136,203
15,156
25,902|Restricted
|Total
28,765
44
136,203
15,156
25,902|2021
33,781
2
60,619
25,929
31,083|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||||||
||Total Income|206,070|0|206,070
151,414||
||Expenditure
Fundraising Costs
Governance
Charitable Activities|20,986
182,343|1,285|20,986
2,919
0
275
183,628
152,122||
||Total Expenditure|203,329|1,285|204,614
155,316||
|||||||
||Net Income|2,741|-1,285|1,456
-3,902||
||Funds Brought Forward
Transfer of Restricted Funds
Equity Adjustment|837,601|3,446|841,047
4,667
847,170||
||Funds Carried Forward|840,342|2,161|||
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The Nalanda Trust
## North London Buddhist Centre
## 2022 Annual Accounts
## Detailed Statement of Financial Activities
||Donations
Dana
Fundraising
Restricted
Investment Income
Interest Received
Charitable Activities
Classes
Bodywork
Charged Events
Dharma Courses
MBCT etc. Courses
Shop Sales
Retreats
Income Generating Activity
Room Hire
Other Income
Rent & Service Charges
Grants
Other||Unrestricted
24,119
4,646|Restricted|Total
24,119
4,646
0|2021
29,420
4,361|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||||28,765
44
30,491
34,828
4,707
13,524
31,858
7,640
13,155|0
|28,765
44
30,491
34,828
4,707
13,524
31,858
7,640
13,155|33,781
2
19,466
21,428
1,255
7,095
21,476
3,615
9,015|
||||136,203
15,156|0
136,203
15,156||83,349
3,198|
||||15,156
25,380
522|0
15,156
25,380
522||3,198
28,337
2,311
436|
||||25,902|0
25,902||31,083|
||Total Income||206,069|0
206,069
151,414|||
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## The Nalanda Trust
|Fundraising Costs
MBCT etc. Courses
Room Hire
Charged Events
Total Fundraising Costs
Charitable Activities Costs
Officers Expenses
Chair's Expenses
Mitra Convening expenses
President
Trustees/Council
People
Retreat Support
Support/Payroll
Travel
Volunteers
Finance Charges
Bank & Card Charges
Mortgage Interest
Centre
Communications
Office
Premises
Professional fees
Publicity
Refreshments
Shop Purchases
Shrine
Utilities
Activities Costs
Bodywork Costs
Dharma Courses
Retreat Expenses||Unrestricted
18,725
2,261|Restricted
|Total
18,725
0
2,261|2021
10,768
218|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||20,986
185
736|0|20,986
185
736
0
0|10,986
12
502
56
|
|||921
5,497
102,421
57
247|0
|921
5,497
102,421
57
247|570
5,593
85,314
20
92|
|||108,221
4,218
3,939|0
|108,221
4,218
3,939|91,019
2,941
4,482|
|||8,157
2,166
2,325
12,651
2,967
1,001
5,093
777
3,806|0
|8,157
2,166
2,325
12,651
0
2,967
1,001
5,093
777
3,806|7,423
1,982
1,385
7,942
275
1,139
59
2,638
260
1,994|
|||30,787
17,191
62
5,271|0
|30,787
17,191
62
5,271|17,673
10,157
4,547|
|||22,525|0|22,525|14,704|
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The Nalanda Trust
||Other
Central Dana
Accounting Error
Depreciation
Miscellaneous
Restricted Grant Exp.
Suspense Acc
Unknown
Total Charitable Activities Costs|792
792
792
0
10,349
10,349
10,706
311
311
809
1,285
1,285
634
280
280
0|
|---|---|---|
|||11,732
1,285
13,017
12,940
182,343
1,285
183,628
144,330|
||Total Expenditure|203,329
1,285
204,614
155,315|
||||
||Operating Balance|2,740
-1,285
1,455
-3,901|
||Capital In/Ex
Mortgage Capital
FFE|-40,976
-40,976|
|||-40,976
0
-40,976
0|
||Cash Flow Balance|-38,235
-1,285
-39,520
-3,901|
Due to the pandemic, mortgage capital repayments for 2021 were deferred until 2022
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The Nalanda Trust
||Assets
Tangible Fixed Assets
Land & Building
Plant & Machinery
FFE
Intangible Fixed Assets
Website
Total Fixed Assets
Current Assets
Stock
Debtors
Cash at Bank & In-hand|Balance Sheet
31/12/2022
31/12/2021
852,750
859,500
14,528
17,433
210
640
867,488
877,573
263
527
263
527
867,751
878,100
3,965
5,962
5,267
6,660
49,460
74,925
58,692
87,547|Balance Sheet
31/12/2022
31/12/2021
852,750
859,500
14,528
17,433
210
640
867,488
877,573
263
527
263
527
867,751
878,100
3,965
5,962
5,267
6,660
49,460
74,925
58,692
87,547|Balance Sheet
31/12/2022
31/12/2021
852,750
859,500
14,528
17,433
210
640
867,488
877,573
263
527
263
527
867,751
878,100
3,965
5,962
5,267
6,660
49,460
74,925
58,692
87,547|Balance Sheet
31/12/2022
31/12/2021
852,750
859,500
14,528
17,433
210
640
867,488
877,573
263
527
263
527
867,751
878,100
3,965
5,962
5,267
6,660
49,460
74,925
58,692
87,547|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||||31/12/2022
852,750
14,528
210||
|||||867,488
263|877,573
527|
|||||263
867,751
3,965
5,267
49,460|527
878,100
5,962
6,660
74,925|
|||||58,692|87,547|
||Total Assets|||926,444|965,647|
||Liabilities
Current Liabilities
Mortgage due in one year
Creditors
Long-Term Liabilities
Falling due after one year|||56,579
8,195|40,975
12,545|
|||||64,774
14,501|53,520
71,080|
|||||14,501|71,080|
||Total Liabilities|||79,275|124,600|
|||||||
||Net Assets|||847,169|841,047|
||Represented by:
Funds Brought Forward
Equity Adjustment
Surplus/Deficit for year|||841,047
4,667
1,455
847,169||
|||||||
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The Nalanda Trust
## Notes
## Depreciation
The building is depreciated over 100 years, the land is not depreciated Equipment, computers and printers are depreciated over 5 years Plant & Machinery (Lift) is depreciated over 5 years Website is depreciated over 3 years
## Notes
## Tangible Fixed Assets
|Tangible Fixed Assets||||
|---|---|---|---|
|Cost
1st January 2022
Additions
Revaluations
Disposals
31st December 2022
Depreciation
1st January 2022
Disposals
Charge for the year
31st December 2022
Net Book Value
31st December 2022
31st December 2021||Land &
Buildings
900,000|Plant &
Machinery
FFE
Total
29,053
4,705
933,758
0
0
0|
|||900,000|29,053
4,705
933,758|
|||40,500
6,750|11,620
4,065
56,185
0
2,905
431
10,086|
|||47,250|14,525
4,496
66,271|
|||||
|||852,750|14,528
209
867,487|
|||859,500|17,433
640
877,574|
## Intangible Fixed Assets
|Intangible Fixed Assets|||
|---|---|---|
|Cost
1st January 2022
Additions
Revaluations
Disposals
31st December 2022||Website
1,000|
|||1,000|
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The Nalanda Trust
|Depreciation
1st January 2022
473
Disposals
Charge for the year
263
31st December 2022
736
Net Book Value
31st December 2022
264
31st December 2021
527
Staff Costs
2022
2021
Wages & Salaries
94,677
79,470
Pensions
2,817
2,066
97,494
81,536
Trustees Remuneration
For Services Rendered
2022
2021
Ratnaprabha (John Cooper)
8,437
12,384
Chairman overseeing the work of the charity
Darsavini (Eve Lear)
6,344
-
Women's Mitra Convenor
Anandavajra (Jonathan Turnbull)
13,049
-
Men's Mitra Convenor
Abhilasa (David Francis)
1,746
2,798
Professional accountancy services
29,576
15,182
Trustees Donations
2022
2021
The following trustees made donations to the charity
S Burns
680
680
G Redmond
240
440
R Cooper
240
240
D Francis
120
120
S Reed
940
900
2,220
2,380||473
263
736
264
527
2022
94,677
2,817|2021
79,470
2,066|
|---|---|---|---|
|||||
|||||
|||||
|||||
|||97,494|81,536|
||For Services Rendered
2022
2021
8,437
12,384
6,344
-
13,049
-
1,746
2,798|||
|||29,576|15,182|
||||2021
680
440
240
120
900|
||2,220||2,380|
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The Nalanda Trust
## Creditors & Debtors
|Creditors & Debtors|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|Chairman's exp. Prepaid
Retreat Venue Costs Prepaid
Retreat Support Prepaid
Received in advance
Buddhism & Meditation Courses
Yoga Workshop
Other Courses
Bookshop Stock Estimate
As at 31 December 2021
2022 purchases
Stock increase
2022 Sales
Less estimated markup
Stock decrease
Stock as at 31 December 2022
Overall stock decrease||Creditors
1,025
55
2,316||Debtors
328
2,389
1,850|
|||||4,567
5,962
3,096|
|||3,396
7,640
2,547|||
|||||9,058
5,093
3,965
1,997|
||||||
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## The Nalanda Trust
Operating under the name **North London Buddhist Centre** .
Annual Report and Accounts for year ended 2022
## **Charity number 801632**
The Nalanda Trust
## **Contents**
|**Contents**||
|---|---|
||Page|
|1. Charity details and governance|3|
|2. Trustees’ Report – Chair’s Report|4|
|3. Accountants Report|7|
|4. Statement of Financial Activities|9|
|5. Balance Sheet|12|
|6. Notes to the Financial Statement|13|
|7. Independent Examiners Report|16|
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The Nalanda Trust
## Charity details and governance
## Trustees
**The trustees during 2022 were:** Ratnaprabha (John Robin Cooper) – Chair Karunagita (Sara Burns) –Secretary Kusala (Guy Redmond) Vajramitra (Michael Ward) Maitrisambhava (Sharon Reed) Singhashri (Francisca Gazmuri) (resigned April 2022) Nandaraja (Obafemi Adewumi) Darsavini (Eve Lear) Anandavajra (Jonathan Turnbull) Kshantisara (Uschi Gramann)
## Property
The Property owned by the trust is held in the following names: David Zukas, Peter Gill and David Green
## Charity governance
The organisation is an unincorporated association, registered as such on 6 June 1989. The charity is governed by a constitution/trust deed revised 10 September 2014.
## Charity trustees
The trustees are members of the charity but this entitles them only to voting rights. The trustees have no beneficial interest in the charity. Trustees are elected annually from the membership by the members at the AGM. As and when needed, new trustees are sought from within the membership and from the pool of experienced committed Buddhists who are able to attend meetings in London. All trustees are required to have relevant experience and skills in order to serve on the trustee body. Trustees meetings are at present monthly. All trustees give their time voluntarily and receive no benefits from the charity for their trustee work. Any expenses reclaimed from the charity are set out in note 11 to the accounts.
## Charity details
## Name: **The Nalanda Trust**
## Operating under the name **“North London Buddhist Centre”.**
Registration number: 801632
## Registered Office
72 Holloway Road, London, N7 8JG
## Principal Bankers
Santander Bank, Bootle, Merseyside, L30 4GB
## Independent Examiner
F. G. McMahon
## Image front cover
The image on the front page is provided by Aryajit (Stephen Heppel).
3
The Nalanda Trust
## **Trustees Report - (includes the Chair and Treasurer reports)**
_The trustees present their report and the unaudited financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2022._
**Achievements and developments at the North London Buddhist Centre in 2022**
_This section is aimed at charity members and interested people in the Sangha. There is a second section following closely the Charity Commission guidelines, which includes the required annual information. (The trustees’ report is a public document, available on the Charity Commission website.)_
By the beginning of the year, pandemic restrictions were in the past, and 2022 was our first postCovid year in most respects. We were able to end limits on numbers attending classes.
## People.
At the start of the year, Alana stepped down as Acting Centre Manager after over 18 months in the role, and we held interviews in February for Centre manager and bookkeeper. During the year, there were several changes in the team, as well as a shortfall in available people to cover centre team working hours, which team members handled extremely well, though we really must try to avoid this kind of pressure in the future.
Danaraja was appointed centre manager, and was in post for six months starting in February, but unfortunately had to move on owing to family circumstances. He was a very well-liked and practically able manager, and we were sad to lose him when he left in August.
In October we interviewed for a new Centre manager, and were extremely fortunate to be able to appoint Akshayapradipa, who hit the ground running. She was soon tackling some long-standing knotty centre running issues such as improving the safety of the building. She brought excellent management and organisational skills, and has already made a big difference.
Satyapurna moved on from the bookkeeper role in March in order to concentrate on her therapy work. She had of course been centre manager, and a dedicated and much loved team member for many years, crucial to bringing the centre to where it is now, and very popular and well loved.
Anita Tew took on the job of bookkeeper for part of the year, and she simplified and clarified our procedures, using her excellent accountancy knowledge. Andy Slack took over as bookkeeper towards the end of the year.
Silvia came into her own in managing our communications, web presence and social media, getting knowledge of the centre out to many thousands more people in a dedicated, effective and cheerful manner.
Alana took on full responsibility for the development of the yoga studio, as well as room hire including facilities for therapists. She spearheaded the origination of a new plan for the studio, streamlining classes, and providing a definite and distinct public image for the studio, making the publicising of it far more effective. The results of her excellent initiatives here (in financial, teacher support and other areas) were already apparent by the end of the year, and have accelerated since.
Aryavajra retired as our volunteer bookshop manager after many years running a thriving bookshop, possibly the largest specialist Buddhist bookshop in the UK. Serena, an ideal volunteer manager with
4
The Nalanda Trust
her work experience in bookshops and love of books, took over, and is in the process of reorganising the shop.
Our two Mitra convenors, Anandavajra for men and Darsavini for women were active trustees, strengthening our governing body. (See the separate Mitra convenor reports.) Anandavajra also joined the centre team, specialising in programming, and supporting volunteering at the centre.
Singhashri left the council in April in order to devote more time to her other work, including Dharma teaching and very exciting projects in the US. She had been on the council for over five years, and had recently in particular contributed important initiatives highlighting the need for more racial diversity and inclusiveness at the centre.
Kulamitra, our president, completed his PhD, and so was much more available to visit the centre, with two extended stays in London. He participated in discussions, contributed Dharma talks, and met up with the trustees, team and others.
I (Ratnaprabha) completed four years as chair of the trustees in September, when I announced that I wished to step down within 1 to 2 years of that date, and so during the autumn a process started for seeking a replacement chair.
We celebrated two ordinations this year, with Akshayapradipa and Mokshayogin returning from their ordination courses in Spain in July.
## Financial
After many years as both treasurer and our accountant, Abhilasa handed over the financial management role to Ratnabodhi, and trained up Andy Slack as our new bookkeeper. Abhilasa’s contribution to the centre over the years has been enormous, both spiritually and practically. Andy Slack is based in Brighton, which means he’s not a regular face-to-face part of the centre team, but so far it has worked well. We did not have a designated treasurer on the council for the whole of 2022.
After a mortgage capital repayment holiday during the pandemic, we resumed monthly mortgage repayments in March. It became clear that the outgoings on the mortgage were compromising the financial health of the centre, and at the end of the year we decided to begin fundraising to pay off the mortgage in 2023.
An alternative suggestion was to fundraise for revamping the ground floor of the centre, taking forward draft plans produced earlier by Vajramitra, but the council agreed unanimously that this appeal would have to happen later than the mortgage repayment appeal, and so preliminary planning enquiries (which would cost several thousand pounds) were deferred.
## The centre and the Sangha
The racial diversity and inclusion Kula took forward its 2021 report, funded by the Future Dharma Fund, and made available around the Movement. Members of the Kula organised meetings for the Sangha during the year. The June meeting included discussion of the vision for the future of diversity and inclusion initiatives at the North London centre. One among a number of strategies they recommended was “Offer events by and for BIPOC, including BIPOC-led events for all, classes, courses and events specifically for BIPOC, and PoC mitra study.” We have rather lagged behind the other London Triratna centres in hosting events or courses aimed specifically for people of colour, and I do hope the number of these will increase in the future.
5
The Nalanda Trust
Before the pandemic, we had agreed to institute a Kula (subcommittee) mandate system for decisionmaking and getting things done in the centre. This did not make very much progress during 2022 – it will require work and research to implement fully. For example, there was an abortive attempt to set up an aesthetics Kula. However, there were some well-functioning kulas.
An environmental Kula was active for part of the year, and presented an Energy audit of the centre, with recommendations for energy saving and green initiatives.
The Karuna Trust remained as highly valued tenants of our second floor. They renovated and beautified their space to meet their needs more effectively. The combination of some of their staff being based outside London, and the effects of the pandemic and more working from home, meant that few of their staff were regularly in the premises, and their needs for space reduced. The Centre therefore took on their top floor meeting room and parking space, and reduce their rent accordingly.
## Courses and events
Numbers attending events increased during the year, and were particularly good in the autumn.
The programme included:
- Stories of the Great Buddhists
- Life with Full Attention
- A Day on Blake’s ‘Marriage of Heaven and Hell’.
- Workshop for NLBC teachers with Vajradaka in February.
- A new death conversation café event monthly on Saturday afternoons.
- New regular whole weeks of morning meditations for men, and other events specifically for men or for women plus.
- A weekend workshop with guest Jnanavaca on ‘Doorways to Dhyana’.
- Successful weekend retreats were held at Othona in Essex, and Vajrasana in Suffolk.
- Lunchtime meditation classes were extended to every weekday.
- Monday Sangha night was held monthly in person and monthly online for most of the year, and ceased in its present form at the end of the year, pending a review. Among others, Santva and Lalitaraja were recent solid and inspiring mainstays at this class, but by the end of the year, neither were available for a weekly commitment.
- The Friday Puja evening developed an established order team to give it strength and continuity, and the numbers attending increased.
- Online classes continued, especially the Tuesday evening meditation class led by Visuddhimati, 2-3 lunchtime classes, a hybrid class every Saturday morning, and an online option at festivals and some other events. Our range of talks and meditation-leading available on YouTube expanded greatly during the year.
- Some ideas and suggestions from local order members have not yet seen fruition, unfortunately. These include more events specifically for order members and the more experienced people and a revival of a “Who’s Who” photo board.
## **(Signed)**
## **Dh Ratnaprabha (chair, on behalf of the trustees)**
**Date 11 May 2022**
6
The Nalanda Trust
## Financial Report by the Accountant
Overall the charity ended the year with a surplus of £1,456, and a Balance Sheet Net Worth of £847,169. The equivalent 2021 figures were a deficit of £3,902, and Net Worth of £841,047.
## Income
The income figure was £206,069. This compares to the 2021, covid affected figure of £151,414, an increase of 36%.
There was a large improvement in Buddhist Charitable Activities – up from £83,349 to £136,203, with income from classes improving by almost 57%
Room Hire made a very good recovery from £3,198 in 2021, to £15,156 in 2022. Donations, on the other hand, which were a vital source of income during the pandemic, fell slightly from £33,781 in 2021, to £28,765 in 2022. The pre-covid income figure for 2019 was £271,970. So in 2022 The North London Buddhist Centre was making promising progress back towards that level of income.
## Expenditure
Expenditure in 2022 was £204,614, an increase of approximately 31%, with almost all categories of expenditure showing an increase, largely due to increased activity with the easing of covid restrictions.
## Reserves Policy and other information
## General reserve
At the end of 2022, after a suspension of mortgage capital repayments during the pandemic, the charity held reserves of £49,460. This was somewhat below the ideal of £55,000 but the charity is confident that this can be remedied in the near future in conjunction with a fully-costed and funded early repayment of the remaining mortgage.
## Conflict of interest
We have in place a conflicts of interest policy. This requires a Council member to absent himself or herself from any discussions of the Council in which it is possible that a conflict will arise between his or her duty to act solely in the interests of the Association and any personal interest (including but not limited to any personal financial interest) and take no part in the voting upon the matter.
Ratnabodhi (Geoff McMahon) Finance Manager, 14 May 2023
7
The Nalanda Trust
## Statement of Financial Activities
||Income
Donations
Investment Income
Charitable Activities
Income Generating Activity
Other|Unrestricted
28,765
44
136,203
15,156
25,902|Restricted
|Total
28,765
44
136,203
15,156
25,902|2021
33,781
2
60,619
25,929
31,083|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||||||
||Total Income|206,070|0|206,070
151,414||
||Expenditure
Fundraising Costs
Governance
Charitable Activities|20,986
182,343|1,285|20,986
2,919
0
275
183,628
152,122||
||Total Expenditure|203,329|1,285|204,614
155,316||
|||||||
||Net Income|2,741|-1,285|1,456
-3,902||
||Funds Brought Forward
Transfer of Restricted Funds
Equity Adjustment|837,601|3,446|841,047
4,667
847,170||
||Funds Carried Forward|840,342|2,161|||
8
The Nalanda Trust
## North London Buddhist Centre
## 2022 Annual Accounts
## Detailed Statement of Financial Activities
||Donations
Dana
Fundraising
Restricted
Investment Income
Interest Received
Charitable Activities
Classes
Bodywork
Charged Events
Dharma Courses
MBCT etc. Courses
Shop Sales
Retreats
Income Generating Activity
Room Hire
Other Income
Rent & Service Charges
Grants
Other||Unrestricted
24,119
4,646|Restricted|Total
24,119
4,646
0|2021
29,420
4,361|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||||28,765
44
30,491
34,828
4,707
13,524
31,858
7,640
13,155|0
|28,765
44
30,491
34,828
4,707
13,524
31,858
7,640
13,155|33,781
2
19,466
21,428
1,255
7,095
21,476
3,615
9,015|
||||136,203
15,156|0
136,203
15,156||83,349
3,198|
||||15,156
25,380
522|0
15,156
25,380
522||3,198
28,337
2,311
436|
||||25,902|0
25,902||31,083|
||Total Income||206,069|0
206,069
151,414|||
9
## The Nalanda Trust
|Fundraising Costs
MBCT etc. Courses
Room Hire
Charged Events
Total Fundraising Costs
Charitable Activities Costs
Officers Expenses
Chair's Expenses
Mitra Convening expenses
President
Trustees/Council
People
Retreat Support
Support/Payroll
Travel
Volunteers
Finance Charges
Bank & Card Charges
Mortgage Interest
Centre
Communications
Office
Premises
Professional fees
Publicity
Refreshments
Shop Purchases
Shrine
Utilities
Activities Costs
Bodywork Costs
Dharma Courses
Retreat Expenses||Unrestricted
18,725
2,261|Restricted
|Total
18,725
0
2,261|2021
10,768
218|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||20,986
185
736|0|20,986
185
736
0
0|10,986
12
502
56
|
|||921
5,497
102,421
57
247|0
|921
5,497
102,421
57
247|570
5,593
85,314
20
92|
|||108,221
4,218
3,939|0
|108,221
4,218
3,939|91,019
2,941
4,482|
|||8,157
2,166
2,325
12,651
2,967
1,001
5,093
777
3,806|0
|8,157
2,166
2,325
12,651
0
2,967
1,001
5,093
777
3,806|7,423
1,982
1,385
7,942
275
1,139
59
2,638
260
1,994|
|||30,787
17,191
62
5,271|0
|30,787
17,191
62
5,271|17,673
10,157
4,547|
|||22,525|0|22,525|14,704|
10
The Nalanda Trust
||Other
Central Dana
Accounting Error
Depreciation
Miscellaneous
Restricted Grant Exp.
Suspense Acc
Unknown
Total Charitable Activities Costs|792
792
792
0
10,349
10,349
10,706
311
311
809
1,285
1,285
634
280
280
0|
|---|---|---|
|||11,732
1,285
13,017
12,940
182,343
1,285
183,628
144,330|
||Total Expenditure|203,329
1,285
204,614
155,315|
||||
||Operating Balance|2,740
-1,285
1,455
-3,901|
||Capital In/Ex
Mortgage Capital
FFE|-40,976
-40,976|
|||-40,976
0
-40,976
0|
||Cash Flow Balance|-38,235
-1,285
-39,520
-3,901|
Due to the pandemic, mortgage capital repayments for 2021 were deferred until 2022
11
The Nalanda Trust
||Assets
Tangible Fixed Assets
Land & Building
Plant & Machinery
FFE
Intangible Fixed Assets
Website
Total Fixed Assets
Current Assets
Stock
Debtors
Cash at Bank & In-hand|Balance Sheet
31/12/2022
31/12/2021
852,750
859,500
14,528
17,433
210
640
867,488
877,573
263
527
263
527
867,751
878,100
3,965
5,962
5,267
6,660
49,460
74,925
58,692
87,547|Balance Sheet
31/12/2022
31/12/2021
852,750
859,500
14,528
17,433
210
640
867,488
877,573
263
527
263
527
867,751
878,100
3,965
5,962
5,267
6,660
49,460
74,925
58,692
87,547|Balance Sheet
31/12/2022
31/12/2021
852,750
859,500
14,528
17,433
210
640
867,488
877,573
263
527
263
527
867,751
878,100
3,965
5,962
5,267
6,660
49,460
74,925
58,692
87,547|Balance Sheet
31/12/2022
31/12/2021
852,750
859,500
14,528
17,433
210
640
867,488
877,573
263
527
263
527
867,751
878,100
3,965
5,962
5,267
6,660
49,460
74,925
58,692
87,547|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||||31/12/2022
852,750
14,528
210||
|||||867,488
263|877,573
527|
|||||263
867,751
3,965
5,267
49,460|527
878,100
5,962
6,660
74,925|
|||||58,692|87,547|
||Total Assets|||926,444|965,647|
||Liabilities
Current Liabilities
Mortgage due in one year
Creditors
Long-Term Liabilities
Falling due after one year|||56,579
8,195|40,975
12,545|
|||||64,774
14,501|53,520
71,080|
|||||14,501|71,080|
||Total Liabilities|||79,275|124,600|
|||||||
||Net Assets|||847,169|841,047|
||Represented by:
Funds Brought Forward
Equity Adjustment
Surplus/Deficit for year|||841,047
4,667
1,455
847,169||
|||||||
12
The Nalanda Trust
## Notes
## Depreciation
The building is depreciated over 100 years, the land is not depreciated Equipment, computers and printers are depreciated over 5 years Plant & Machinery (Lift) is depreciated over 5 years Website is depreciated over 3 years
## Notes
## Tangible Fixed Assets
|Tangible Fixed Assets||||
|---|---|---|---|
|Cost
1st January 2022
Additions
Revaluations
Disposals
31st December 2022
Depreciation
1st January 2022
Disposals
Charge for the year
31st December 2022
Net Book Value
31st December 2022
31st December 2021||Land &
Buildings
900,000|Plant &
Machinery
FFE
Total
29,053
4,705
933,758
0
0
0|
|||900,000|29,053
4,705
933,758|
|||40,500
6,750|11,620
4,065
56,185
0
2,905
431
10,086|
|||47,250|14,525
4,496
66,271|
|||||
|||852,750|14,528
209
867,487|
|||859,500|17,433
640
877,574|
## Intangible Fixed Assets
|Intangible Fixed Assets|||
|---|---|---|
|Cost
1st January 2022
Additions
Revaluations
Disposals
31st December 2022||Website
1,000|
|||1,000|
13
The Nalanda Trust
|Depreciation
1st January 2022
473
Disposals
Charge for the year
263
31st December 2022
736
Net Book Value
31st December 2022
264
31st December 2021
527
Staff Costs
2022
2021
Wages & Salaries
94,677
79,470
Pensions
2,817
2,066
97,494
81,536
Trustees Remuneration
For Services Rendered
2022
2021
Ratnaprabha (John Cooper)
8,437
12,384
Chairman overseeing the work of the charity
Darsavini (Eve Lear)
6,344
-
Women's Mitra Convenor
Anandavajra (Jonathan Turnbull)
13,049
-
Men's Mitra Convenor
Abhilasa (David Francis)
1,746
2,798
Professional accountancy services
29,576
15,182
Trustees Donations
2022
2021
The following trustees made donations to the charity
S Burns
680
680
G Redmond
240
440
R Cooper
240
240
D Francis
120
120
S Reed
940
900
2,220
2,380||473
263
736
264
527
2022
94,677
2,817|2021
79,470
2,066|
|---|---|---|---|
|||||
|||||
|||||
|||||
|||97,494|81,536|
||For Services Rendered
2022
2021
8,437
12,384
6,344
-
13,049
-
1,746
2,798|||
|||29,576|15,182|
||||2021
680
440
240
120
900|
||2,220||2,380|
14
The Nalanda Trust
## Creditors & Debtors
|Creditors & Debtors|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|Chairman's exp. Prepaid
Retreat Venue Costs Prepaid
Retreat Support Prepaid
Received in advance
Buddhism & Meditation Courses
Yoga Workshop
Other Courses
Bookshop Stock Estimate
As at 31 December 2021
2022 purchases
Stock increase
2022 Sales
Less estimated markup
Stock decrease
Stock as at 31 December 2022
Overall stock decrease||Creditors
1,025
55
2,316||Debtors
328
2,389
1,850|
|||||4,567
5,962
3,096|
|||3,396
7,640
2,547|||
|||||9,058
5,093
3,965
1,997|
||||||
15
CHARITY COMMISSION
FOR ENGLAND AND WALES
Independent examiner's
report on the accounts
Section A
Independent Examiner's Report
R•port to the trustsesl
membors of
The Nalanda Trust
On accounts for the year
ended
31 December 2022
Charity no
lif any)
801632
Set out on pages
1-16
I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the abovè
charity ("Ihe Trust.) for tho year ended 3111212022.
Responsibilitiès and As the charity trustees of the Trust, you are responsible for the preparation
basis of report of the accounts in accordance wrth the requirements of the Charities Act
2011 ("the Act").
I report in respect of my examination of the Trust's accountg carried out
under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying cul my examination, I
have followed the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission
under section 145{S)Ib) of the Act.
I hsve Completed my examination. I confKm that no material matters havé
ome to my attention in connection with the examinatlon which gives mg
cause to believe that in. any material respect:
accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of
the Act or
the accounts do nol accord wlh the accounting record$
Independent
oxamlner's ststsment
I have no concems and have come across no other matters in connectlon
th the examination lo which allention should be drawn in order to enable a
proper understanding of the accounls to be reached.
Please d8l&fe the kvords in the brackets rf they do not apply.
Slaned:
Date:
1810512023
Name: i Franrjs Geoffrey Mcmahon
R•l•vant professional
quallficationls) or body
(if any):
Address:
Flat 6, 22-30 North Slreet
Leathertad
KT22 7AT
IER
Oclober 2018