2025-02-28-accounts - The Hellenic Community of Edinburgh

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The Hellenic Community of Edinburgh Trustees’ Annual Report

1[st] March 2024 to 28[th] February 2025

Charity contact information

The Hellenic Community of Edinburgh

Scottish Charity Number: SC048115

Website: https://hce.scot/en/home/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/399946286841198/

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Charity Trustees
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Past Charity Trustees
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Objectives and Activities

The Hellenic Community of Edinburgh (HCE) aims:

To promote fellowship and strengthen the links among members of the Hellenic community residing in Edinburgh and surrounding area;
To foster and promote a better understanding and appreciation of the Hellenic culture by the local community;
To represent the Hellenic community of Edinburgh in any matter that the membership feels that is of common interest, also in cases where there is a collective view, which is deemed important to be stated. That includes communicating with the British local and national Authorities, institutions and other organisations worldwide; and
To not be involved in party politics i.e. the Community shall not actively participate in a campaign on behalf of, or in opposition to, any candidate for public office in any country.

In essence, HCE aspires to foster and support a reference point for Greeks, and friends of the Greek culture, within Edinburgh and the surrounding areas.

To that end, HCE plans to carry out as many of, and not exclusively, the activities shown in the table shown overleaf.

Activity Type	Activity	Summary	Frequency	Location
Hellenic Tradition Event	Vasilopita	A customary event that involves the cutting of the Vasilopita Cake (an equivalent to the western ‘King Cake’) to bring good luck for the new year. It’s a gathering of HCE’s members, their families and friends.	At the beginning of each calendar year (Jan-Feb)	At 14AUGB Centre, 14 Royal Terrace, Edinburgh, EH7 5AB
Hellenic Tradition Event	Tsiknopempti	A customary event that celebrates the last day of meat consumption before a 59-day fasting before Easter, following the Greek Orthodox Christian tradition. It involves a communal dinner with grilled meats, together with the consumption of traditional Greek accompaniments and all the trimmings. It is an open event for HCE members, their families and friends.	Once every year 59 days before Easter.	At 14AUGB Centre, 14 Royal Terrace, Edinburgh, EH7 5AB
Hellenic Tradition Event	Easter BBQ	A customary event that celebrates the resurrection of Christ at the end of Lent, following the Greek Orthodox Christian tradition. It involves a communal dinner with grilled meats, mainly lamb together with the consumption of traditional Greek accompaniments and all the trimmings. It is an open event for HCE members, their families and friends.	Once every year on Easter Sunday.	In a park or an outdoor, yet sheltered space depending on the weather forecast
Fundraising & Cultural Events	Variety of activities	A customary event which involves live music and a communal dinner with traditional Greek gyros, together with the consumption of accompaniments and all the trimmings. It is an open event for HCE members, their families and friends.	Ad hoc, usually twice per year.	At 14AUGB Centre, 14 Royal Terrace, Edinburgh, EH7 5AB
Cultural and/or Educational Events	Variety of activities	Presentation of various topics to HCS members and friends from professional or specialised individuals. Q&A follow.	Ad hoc, probably once per month.	At 14AUGB Centre, 14 Royal Terrace, Edinburgh, EH7 5AB
Community Recreational Events	Variety of leisure activities	Gathering of HCE’s members, their families and friends to catch up, make new friendships and generally spend quality leisure time together.	Every Thursday - 6-8pm	At 14AUGB Centre, 14 Royal Terrace, Edinburgh, EH7 5AB
Non-partisan Pressure Group Activities	Variety of activities	Ad hoc activities that help promote the Hellenic community’s interests to the Local Authority and other Government agencies.	Ad hoc, depending on needs.	Via post/email or in person via HCE’s representatives and any advocates.

Community Support	One-to-one discussion via phone/email	Responding to enquiries on regular basis either from newcomers or from people interested in immigrating in the UK, asking for information and assistance on number of issues, ranging from immigration rules, finding work, finding accommodation, access to banking system, culture and lifestyle, education, access to health care and more.	Ad hoc depending on needs.	Administered mainly by the Secretary and President of the Community.

The activities shown in the previous table satisfy the four aforementioned aims of HCE. More in particular:

Aim 1 can be fulfilled by the following afore-mentioned activity types:

Hellenic tradition events
Community recreational events
Community support

Aim 2 will be fulfilled by the following afore-mentioned activity types:

Hellenic tradition events
Fundraising & Cultural events
Cultural and/or Educational Events

Aim 3 will be tackled by the following afore-mentioned activity types:

Non-partisan pressure group activities

Aim 4 is tackled by explicitly avoiding carrying out activities that fall within the area of party politics.

Structure, Governance and Management

Type of governing document

HCE’s governing document is its constitution. The constitution is public available at:

https://hce.scot/files/HCE CONSTITUTION 20241110.pdf

Achievements and Performance

The following summary presents HCE’s key achievements during the reported financial period.

HCE has now a dedicated space for its’ activities at 14AUGB Centre, 14 Royal Terrace, Edinburgh, EH7 5AB.
In last Autumn HCE organised a fundraising and cultural event “glenti refene” with about 80 participants (HCE members, family & friends), with live music, dance and traditional food.
HCE celebrated Christmas with an open event with traditional Christmas treats, inviting the ambassador of Greece in Manchester and the Honorary Ambassador of Greece in Edinburgh along with HCE members, friends & families.
HCE purchased the traditional vasilopita cake and organised an event inviting HCE’s members and friends. The lucky one who found the coin was given a £30 Amazon voucher.
HCE organised Tsiknopempti a very successful fundraising and cultural event with about 70 participants (HCE members, family & friends), with music, dance and traditional food.
HCE hosted an event involving a discussion between the Greek consulate in Edinburgh with Greek members of the public.
HCE continued to answer questions and provided feedback over emails and telephone calls to various individuals from Greece looking to migrate to Scotland. Ad hoc throughout the year and it was in the order of around 2 individual enquiries per month;
HCE continued to use our website and Facebook group to communicate with the public and provide updates on issues relevant to the community like for example news coming from the Greek Embassy.

Financial Review

Statement of the charity’s policy on reserves

HCE’s Council has not yet made any decision regarding a policy on holding reserves. This may be reviewed in the next accounting year.

Details of surplus funds during this period

The available funds (cash, Paypal and bank balances) at the end of the reporting period (28/02/2025) of this financial period is £465.53.

Details of any deficit

There is no deficit for the accounting period presented in this report.

Donated facilities and services

HCE does not have any donated facilities and services. The Council is keen to explore opportunities to that end.

Future plans

HCE’s plans for the next year revolve around the activities shown within Table 1, as previously presented. Aside from that and more in particular, effort towards the following activities will be particularly amplified.

Ensure the Greek library is up and running and further develop HCE’s relationship (e.g. co-organise community events) with the City of Edinburgh Library Services;
Cultivate and deepen relationships with other Greek communities in Scotland and beyond;
Further forge HCE’s working relationship with the Greek Authorities and push for more efficient consulate services in Edinburgh.
Focus on fundraising and volunteer recruitment in support of specific activities, such as Yoga/Pilates, children education/play time, social media coordinator, etc.
To this end, communicate with Lord Provost providing a space and prepare funding applications to build the budget required for a 2-day Greek Festival in September 2026.

Additional information

HCE is keen to hear from organisations or persons interested to support, in kind or through financial support.

Declaration

Signed on behalf of the charity trustees:

Print name

Designation

[od Council Secretary [od

Date

[oT

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APPENDIX 2

The Hellenic Society of Edinburgh

SC048115

Section B Statement of balances

Details	Unrestricted funds to nearest £ 559	Restricted funds to nearest £	Expendable endowment funds to nearest £	Permanent endowment funds to nearest £	Total current period to nearest £	Total last period to nearest £
Cash and bank balances at start of year					559	930
Surplus / (deficit) shown on receipts and payments account					-	75
					-
					-
Cash and bank balances at end of year (Agree balances with receipts and payments account(s)) Details	466	-	-	-	466	1,005
	93	-	- Fund to which	- asset belongs	93	-
					Market valuation to nearest £	Last year to nearest £





Details		Fund to which	asset belongs	Total Cost (if available) to nearest £	-	-
					Current value (if available) to nearest £	Last year to nearest £









Details			Total Fund to which l	-	-	-
				iability relates	Amount due to nearest £	Last year to nearest £





Details			Fund to which l	Total iability relates	-	-
					Amount due (estimate) to nearest £	Last year to nearest £



Signature*			Print Name	Total	-	-
						Date of approval

2024 2025 HCE Accounts / Statement of balances

December 2007

APPENDIX 3 ’ Independent examiner s report on the accounts V2

Report to the trustees/members of

The Hellenic Community Edinburgh

Registered charity	SC048115
number
On the accounts of the	Period start date Period end date
charity for the period	Day Month Year Day Month Year
	01 03 2024 to 28 02 2025
Set out on pages	(remember to include the page numbers of additional sheets)

Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner	The charity’s trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the terms of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) 2005 Act and the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006. The charity trustees consider that the
	audit requirement of Regulation 10(1) (d) of the Accounts Regulations does not apply. It
	is my responsibility to examine the accounts as required under section 44(1) (c) of the
	Act and to state whether particular matters have come to my attention.
Basis of independent	My examination is carried out in accordance with Regulation 11 of the Charities
examiner’s statement	Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006. An examination includes a review of the
	accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with
	those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the
	accounts and seeks explanations from the trustees concerning any such matters. The
	procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit
	and, consequently, I do not express an audit opinion on the accounts.
Independent examiner’s statement	In the course of my examination, no matter has come to my attention 1. which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the
	requirements:
	• to keep accounting records in accordance with section 44(1) (a) of the 2005 Act and
	Regulation 4 of the 2006 Accounts Regulations, and
	• to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with
	Regulation 9 of the 2006 Accounts Regulations
	have not been met, or
	2. to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper
	understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Signed:

Name:

Relevant professional qualification(s) or body (if any):

Address:

*Please delete the words in the brackets if they do not apply. If the words do apply, set out those matters which have come to your attention on the following page.

APPENDIX 3 Disclosure section Only complete rf the examiner needs to highlight material problems. Give here brief details of any items that the examiner wishes to disclose The accounts received by me on the 17th of October. I have reviewed the accounts and supporting records and found them to be accurate and consistenL No issues or irregularrlies came to my attention during my examination. The accounts appear to be in good order and consistent with th8 chaiyty's activities during the period.