Treasurer’s Report, 2019-20

I have now drawn up the accounts for the year to 31 March 2020 and they can be seen here: SSS 2020 Accounts

Once again John Phillips very kindly agreed to serve as the Independent Examiner, and we are all most grateful to him. Because of the present lockdown it was not possible to get all the supporting documents to him, and his note on the accounts reflects this position.

You will see that we had a surplus of income over expenditure. As a result our reserves now stand at the equivalent of around three years expenditure.

A few of points of detail may be helpful. Lucia brought in a surplus of £244. We had not planned for a significant surplus, but the event turned out to be unusually well attended this year. In the light of this outcome we decided to make an additional donation to the Church over their usual, modest, fee for using their buildings. Once again, the food was provided at no cost, partly by Ikea and partly by our members.

Expenditure on the website this year was rather higher than the previous year. This is because we pay the main bill for hosting on a two year cycle. In the current year expenditure will, unless something unexpected happens, be a lot lower.

The Pea Soup evening covered its costs as we planned.

Subscription income held level after a number of years of steady decline. Already in 2020-21 we have received a reasonable number of subscription payments. I am grateful to the members concerned for this demonstration of loyalty to the Society even though we are unable for the time being to continue with our activities.

The overall surplus in 2019-20 was a little smaller than the previous year, but somewhat larger than we had planned. It contributed to reserves which now equate to 3 years expenditure. After some years of unsustainable losses, we have now had a run of profitable years which have rebuilt our finances. We are in a strong financial position

Towards the end of the year the Committee decided to cancel the AGM for reasons we all know only too well. There is, of course, no charge for attending the AGM and consequently it is usually our largest single item of net expenditure. For the current year, 2020-21, the immediate result of the cancellation will be to save us some hundreds of pounds. The Committee is considering how to put this saving to good use as soon as the Society is able to resume its activities.

Stephen Hampson

(Treasurer)