2025-03-31-accounts

Literature Alliance Scotland

Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31st March 2025

Scottish Charity Number: SC046387

Literature Alliance Scotland

Charity Information As at 31 March 2025

Charity name Literature Alliance Scotland Charity registration number SC046387

Trustees As at 29th October 2025

Date Appointed

Resigned

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Literature Alliance Scotland

Structure, Governance and Management for the year ended 31 March 2025

Constitution

Literature Alliance Scotland (LAS) became a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (a SCIO) on 4[th] March 2016.

Appointment of Trustees

Trustees are elected at the annual general meeting which is held in each calendar year, or may be elected or appointed at other times as described in the charity's constitution

Charitable purposes

The organisation's purpose is to advance arts, culture and heritage through the practice and dissemination of literature, by

1. Fostering creative excellence in all written, spoken and broadcast language media in Scotland.

2. Encouraging awareness of contemporary literature and oral literary traditions in all the languages of Scotland and in all sectors in society

3. Increasing knowledge of Scotland’s literary heritage.

4. Advancing education in formal and informal settings by these means.

5. Promoting writers and writing in their local, national and international contexts.

6. Advancing publishing in Scotland as a vital part of our literary, educational and cultural infrastructure.

Literature Alliance Scotland Achievements and Performance: April 2024 – March 2025

Literature Alliance Scotland (LAS) is a membership network and the sector development body for literature organisations in Scotland. Our membership of over 30 Members and Network Associates brings together all parts of the literature

ecosystem, including writers, publishers, educators, librarians, professional bodies and national cultural bodies. Our annual programmes bring our membership and the broader sector together to support advocacy, collaborations, networking and professional development.

The final projects of our 2023-24 "Building Resilience" programme - a series of training sessions focusing on the work of writers in pastoral care settings - were delivered in April and May of 2024, and we had applied to Creative Scotland's Open Fund for Organisations, for an 18-month programme entitled "Creating a Fairer Sector", to run from July 2024 to December 2025.

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Literature Alliance Scotland

Structure, Governance and Management for the year ended 31 March 2025

In May 2024, it came to light that a document had been published on the organisation's website that contained wording that did not align with the standards of a charitable and membership organisation. The document had been drafted under the auspices of the Writers' Advisory Group 2023-24, but it had not been approved by the Board of Trustees, which would have been the usual procedure for any published resource. At the time, the administrative capacity of LAS was greatly reduced due to illness. The Trustees had the document removed as quickly as possible and accepted full responsibility for the oversight that led to its publication.

Several Trustees resigned for various professional and personal reasons during the year. A special members' meeting was held in August 2024 to elect two new Trustees, and two more Trustees have since joined the Board. It has taken time to re-establish a programme of work for the remainder of the 18-month funding period, with some changes from the original plans, but the new Writer Bursaries for work-in-progress awarded in August 2025 through a lottery selection process have been well received, and the appointment of a Transformation Manager at the end of March 2025 has allowed us to align our programme with the needs of our members and of the literature sector. Other aspects of our current and future programmes are described under "Forward Strategy" below.

Financial Review

We secured funding of £65,344 from Creative Scotland's Open Fund for Organisations for the 18-month programme entitled "Creating a Fairer Sector", which runs to the end of December 2025. Other income came from membership fees. All monies are treated as unrestricted funds.

Forward Strategy

An application to Creative Scotland's Open Fund for Organisations was submitted in early October 2025 for "Developing Our Collective Voice", a 12-month programme of activity and organisational development to be delivered from May 2026. It will see LAS continue to build and resource its membership and provide strategic training and networking opportunities for literature professionals across Scotland, including; writer bursaries, online and in-person events, a pilot for travel bursaries, a coaching partnership and reviving the Scottish Book Festivals network. This sits within the framework of a 5-year plan for LAS' ongoing development as a network. Provision has been made in our plans for future periods for recruitment of the staff who will be required to administer and deliver the new programme.

Reserves

It is the policy of the Trustees to review the reserves of the charity on a periodic basis and at least annually. It has been agreed that 50% of the membership fees will be held in an interest-bearing account. As of 31 March 2025, the reserves stood at £61226

This report was approved by the Trustees on 9th December 2025 and signed on their behalf by:

……………

Chair

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Literature Alliance Scotland

Statement of Receipts and Payments for the year ended 31 March 2025

Balance Sheet

Current Assets Debtors Cash at Bank and in Hand Total Current Assets Current Liabilities Creditors Accruals/deferred income Total Assets less Current Funds of the Charity General funds Surplus/Deficit	Year ended 2025 £ 0 61226 61226 0 0 61226 13951 47275 61226	Year ended 2024 £ 0 13951
		13951
		0 0
		13951
		8233 5718
		13951

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Literature Alliance Scotland

Statement of Receipts and Payments for the year ended 31 March 2025

Income Grants Receipts from charitable activities - Membership fees Other income Total income for year ending 31st March 2025 Expenditure Fundraising costs Cost of charitable activities Governance costs Total payments Surplus/(Deficit for the year	Unrestricted Funds £ 60108 1705 84 61897 Unrestricted Funds £ 14622 14622 0 14622 47275	Restricted Funds £ 0 0 0 - Restricted Funds £ - - - - -	Year ended 2025 £ 60108 1705 84 61897 Year ended 2025 £ 14622 14622 0 14622 47275	Year ended 2024 £ 46704 2280 63
				49047
				Year ended 2024 £ 43329
				43329
				0
				43329
				5718

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Literature Alliance Scotland

Statement of Receipts and Payments for the year ended 31 March 2025

1. Basis of accounting

2 Nature and purpose of funds

Unrestricted funds are those that may be used at the discretion of the Trustees in furtherance of the objects of the charity. The Trustees maintain a single unrestricted fund for the day-to-day running of the organisation.

3. Related party transactions

There were no expenses reimbursed to Trustees during the year ( 2024-2025 - nil).

4 Grants received Creative Scotland 5.Receipt from charitable activities Membership fees Other Income Personnel Project & Finance Management Programme costs Website hosting & maintenance Professional Development/networking Miscellaneous cost Sponsorship Print costs Subscriptions Bank charges 7. Governance costs Board costs 6. Cost of charitable activities	Unrestricted funds £ 60,108 60,108 Unrestricted funds £ 1,705 84 1,789 Unrestricted funds £ 4,860 1,250 4,936 582 2,085 850 0 0 0 60 14,622 Unrestricted funds £ 0 -	Total 2025 £ 60,108 60,108 Total 2025 £ 1,705 84 1,789 Total 2025 £ 4,860 1,250 4,936 582 2,085 850 0 0 0 60 14,622 Total 2025 £ 0 -	Total 2024 £ 46,704
			46,704
			Total 2024 £ 2,280 63
			2,343
			Total 2024 £ 29,855 700 11,513 435 33 500 0 0 233 60
			43,329
			Total 2024 £ 0
			-

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