CLA CHARITABLE TRUST

	Contents
		Officers & Advisers
		Report of the Chairman of Trustees
		Report of Directors
		Statement of the Responsibilities of the Trustees
		Report of the Auditors
		Statement of Financial Activities
		Balance Sheet
		Notes on Accounts

CLA CHARITABLE TRUST

My report this year is somewhat shorter than usual, as the Directors' report covers very comprehensively all the activities of the Trust in the past year; however, this gives me a chance to look at the future.

With the arrival of Andrew and Ruth Pym as co-directors, we have had a host of new ideas and initiatives put forward, several of which I hope will come to fruition in the near future and lead to increased funding for the Trust. Their enthusiasm and dedication to the Trust has been terrific, and the Trustees are enormously grateful to them for all that they have done in their first year.

As they have pointed out in their report, we have been inundated with applications this last year. Success breeds success, very largely because of all the excellent publicity we receive, and for this a lot of the credit must go to Lindy Margach for all the splendid work she does on our behalf.

Needless to say what we need more than anything is more money, so that we can help more of the very deserving causes that approach us; this despite the very hard work and fundraising of many of the CLA branches. I do ask all who take the trouble to read this report to remember the Trust, whether writing a will, deciding how to spend a windfall or just in general cash flow planning. I can promise you it will go to a very good cause and be immensely appreciated by somebody much less fortunate than ourselves.

In conclusion, may I thank the many who help the Trust so ably and kindly, the CLA branches, the Regional Directors, my fellow Trustees who give of their time unhesitatingly and unstintingly, Bruce Monnington and the Legal Department, and especially Bob Maule, who in a very difficult year in the finance department, has still found time to cope with all our finances.

Anthony Duckworth-Chad
Chairman

CLA CHARITABLE TRUST

The Charitable Trust Deed was made on 29^th March 1980 and presented to the Commissioners of the Inland Revenue on 2^nd June 1980. The Registered Charity Number is 280264.

OBJECTS OF THE TRUST

1. The relief of persons who are mentally or physically handicapped by the making of grants or loans to landowners for the provision of facilities for recreation and leisure time occupation for such persons PROVIDED THAT a suitable charge upon the land where such facilities are to be provided shall secure the repayment to the Trustees of such loans and such grants in appropriate circumstances.
2. To promote the advancement of education including:

1. The encouragement and promotion of study and research into economic, social, scientific or technical matters affecting agriculture, forestry or rural society or the rural environment including the provision of travelling scholarships and the publication of the useful results of all such study and research.
2. The advancement of the education of the public in legal, financial and economic knowledge with particular reference to agriculture and estate management by means of public lectures, conferences and seminars.

1. The relief of poverty.
2. Such other charitable purposes as the Trustees may in their absolute discretion from time to time think fit.

POLICIES OF THE TRUST

At present the Trustees have two main policies for the raising of funds and the award of grants.

To raise money, the Trustees seek to encourage CLA members to provide funds by covenants or donations. They also encourage CLA Branch Committees in England and Wales to raise funds through events for projects within their region. The Trustees also seek other sources of revenue, including sponsorship, for their general activities or for specific projects.

In allocating the funds, it is the policy of the Trustees to give grants and awards, focussing on smaller projects where the grant makes a real contribution to the success of that project. The Trustees consider applications for specific projects or items of capital equipment, rather than on-going running costs. The Trustees do not give grants to individuals.

ORGANISATION

The Trust is administered by a committee of four Trustees, appointed by the President of the CLA, one of whom is the Chairman. The business of the Trust is conducted by two part-time Directors. Legal and accountancy services are provided by the CLA professional departments. From time to time advice is sought from the other professional departments of the CLA.

ACTIVITIES AND ACHIEVEMENTS

The past year has been a busy and active one. CLA members should be aware of the Trust's activities and of the grants made during the year through the publicity in the Landowner Magazine, and in local and national press. CLA members should also be aware of the significant benefits to many deserving projects from these grants.

Regular giving by CLA members continues to decline but this reflects the economic reality of the countryside and agriculture; the level of income continues to give the Trustees and Directors some cause for concern. There are a number of initiatives being pursued which could generate substantial income for the Trust and it is hoped that the effect of these will be seen in the coming year. The support from the Branches continues to be welcome and the Trustees are pleased to channel that money, where possible, into local projects.

The Open Gardens scheme was launched by Mr. and Mrs. Ian MacNicol when their gardens at Stody Lodge, Norfolk were opened to the public in May - £3,885 was raised. There will be three gardens opened for the Trust in 2001.

The bucket collection at the Game Fair made with the help of Oxfordshire Young Farmers was a great success with a record amount of money - £6,030 - being collected. After the Trust's expenses, £4,515 was given to Farms for City Children and £1,125 to the Young Farmers.

The 1999 Christmas Card sales were also improved on the previous year, with a total profit of £3,785. The quality and design of the cards has been much appreciated.

The oil company Total Butler continued to support the Trust, sponsoring the brochure and making a payment for each litre of fuel sold to CLA members to Event Mobility via the Trust. They will support another charity in the same way in 2001.

The Charitable Trust has received an ever increasing number of applications for grants, many of them not within the terms of the Trust; Guidance Notes for Applications have been produced to try to address this. The information given to charity reference books has also been tightened and the Trustees now have a strict policy on the type of projects they will consider. Many of the applications are for excellent schemes but the Trustees have to turn down a large proportion for lack of funds.

The size and variety of projects supported by the Trustees has been maintained. For example, they include a grant of £8,000 to the National Memorial Arboretum in memory of Peter Giffard, former President of the CLA. This included a substantial amount generated by the local Branch Committees.

£1,000 was provided towards the cost of a wheelchair board walk, which is part of a major coastal footpath scheme for the Millennium at Kings Lynn. £1,500 was also awarded to the Northamptonshire County Centre for farm machinery: this is a centre for adults with learning and physical disabilities which struggles to survive, while providing activity and pleasure to its clients.

The Directors have regular contact with other charitable organisations with similar interests and organisations publishing periodicals and reference books, including:

HALE MOSS

The Trust was left 21 acres of land in Lancashire by the late Mr. F.S. Shrigley-Feigl, along with a substantial capital sum. This area is overseen by Bill Grayson, who manages it as a nature reserve while grazing livestock to produce organic meat. The land is in year 9 of a Countryside Stewardship scheme under which substantial works have been undertaken to improve the nature conservation value. It has a bird hide and pond, and is open for visits by arrangement through the local CLA Regional Office; it also includes provision for access by the disabled.

REVIEW OF TRANSACTIONS AND FINANCIAL POSITION

The transactions of the Trust for the year to 30^th November 2000 are recorded in the Statement of Financial Activities, the Balance Sheet and Notes, as set out in pages 9-14.

GRANTS TO OTHER ORGANISATIONS

Grants of £1,000 or more made in the year to individual organisations are detailed in Note 10 to the accounts.

RESERVES POLICY

The Trustees review the level of reserves held by the charity at regular intervals. In their opinion the current level of reserves should be maintained in order to ensure that adequate resources are available to allow continued furtherance of the objects of the charity in the event of a temporary shortfall in incoming resources.

STATEMENT OF RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE TRUSTEES

We are required to prepare accounts for each financial period which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Trust and of the surplus or deficit of the Trust for that period.

In preparing these accounts we are required to:

• select suitable accounting policies and apply them consistently,

• make reasonable and prudent judgements and estimates,

• state whether applicable accounting standards have been followed, and give details of any departures, and

• prepare the accounts on a going concern basis unless in our view the Trust will be unable to continue in business.

We are also responsible for:

• keeping proper accounting records,

• safeguarding the Trust’s assets, and

• taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud.

On behalf of the Trustees

We have audited the accounts on pages 9 – 14 which have been prepared under the accounting policies set out in this report.

Respective Responsibilities of the Board of Trustees and Auditors

As described on page 7 the Trustees are responsible for the preparation of accounts. It is our responsibility to form an independent opinion, based on our audit, on those accounts and to report our opinion to you. We have been appointed as auditors under Section 43 of the Charities Act 1993 and report in accordance with regulations made under Section 44 of that Act.

Basis of Opinion

We conducted our audit in accordance with Auditing Standards issued by the Auditing Practices Board. An audit includes examination, on a test basis, of evidence relevant to the amounts and disclosures in the accounts. It also includes an assessment of the significant estimates and judgements made by the Board in the preparation of the accounts, and of whether the accounting policies are appropriate to the Charity's circumstances, consistently applied and adequately disclosed.

We planned and performed our audit so as to obtain all the information and explanations which we considered necessary in order to provide us with sufficient evidence to give reasonable assurance that the accounts are free from material misstatement, whether caused by fraud or other irregularity or error. In forming our opinion we also evaluated the overall adequacy of the presentation of information in the accounts.

Opinion

In our opinion, the accounts give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Trust as at 30th November 2000 and of its incoming resources and application of resources in the year then ended and have been properly prepared in accordance with the Charities Act 1993.

Saffery Champness
Registered Auditors
Chartered Accountants
London

14th January 2001

The accounts on pages 9 to 14 were approved by the Board of Trustees on 14 February, 2001