John Upton Charity Annual Report 2020/22

This is the third report from the John Upton Charity, supplementing the annual financial
information submitted to the Charities Commission and available on their website.
Loraine Wood has carried out a splendid job in the position of clerk / treasurer to the charity
and I would like to thank her for all her hard work and dedication in her important role with
John Upton.

The pandemic resulted in meetings being held virtually which worked well but due to the
unprecedented times only one grant application was received. This was from St. James’ PCC
in relation to resurfacing (tarmac) by the lychgate. A grant of £1,250.40 was approved in July
2021 on the assurance that the appropriate authorisation for the work being obtained.
A comprehensive review of the operating rules of the charity was undertaken and new,
streamlined guidelines agreed, following consultation with local organisations.
A new application procedure was devised, and a new simplified small grant claims
procedure, for grants of £250 or less, was introduced.

The operational guidelines and claim forms were published on the Gawsworth Life website.
A healthy financial position was maintained during the period with financial assets of:

£410,889.89 for 2020 / 2021
£414,883.49 for 2021 /2022

Of this, £375,000 forms the Permanent Endowment Fund while the remainder is available to
make grants and cover expenses. Our constitution restricts our investment of the permanent
endowment to banks and building societies with FCS protection. Interest rates are currently
low which has generated an income of in the region of £6,000 p/a.

Expenses are kept to a minimum (under £3,000 p/a) and cover the clerk’s wages,
administration (external account checks, postage, etc) and maintaining the small piece of
land which we own adjacent to Pennington’s Lane.

The trustees hope to continue to make grants that benefit the community and we do hope
that the simplified application process for grants of less than £250 proves a success.

Rupert Richards
Chairman (until May 2022)