RICHMOND PARISH LANDS CHARITY

ANNUAL REPORT 2007 - CHAIRMAN'S REPORT

Chairman's Report

Change with Continuity
During the last year we have seen a significant change of personnel at the Richmond Parish Lands Charity.  There have not, however, been changes in the focus of the charity, nor any lessening of the challenges facing the voluntary sector.  For over 200 years the RPLC’s aim has been the relief of need in our borough. It is appropriate that we seek to offer continuity of support to this and future generations.  With the limited resources available to the charity, the Trustees have reaffirmed that the RPLC should concentrate its efforts in two areas: the support through grants to individuals in need and to charitable organisations active in the borough, and the provision of social housing.

Grant Giving
Our key activity is in grant giving which amounted to a total of £826,659 in 2006/7. Trustees have approved a strategic plan for 2007-2010 outlining key priorities. It was agreed that there will be greater emphasis given to the following in the future:

*  Maintaining our support for Vulnerable Young People
*  Beginning to direct more funding towards Mental Health Issues
*  Focussing our help in the areas of Mortlake and Ham
*  Supporting those affected by family breakdown

Our policy has been to allocate about 80% of our funding for renewable grants to key charitable organisations active in relieving need in our borough. These ‘core’ grants, often used to fund the rent of offices or pay key administrators, offer those charities some degree of financial security. We review our core grant recipients every four years to ensure that their activities remain aligned with our own.   Whilst this charity is also active in supporting individuals in need in the borough through grants for education, heating or for essential items, we believe that the most effective way to meet wider needs is to act through our local charities. As an example, we gave more than £70,000 towards youth disability projects during the last year.

A practical demonstration of what we are trying to achieve through grant giving was given at our Annual Meeting in November. Under the theme of ‘Changing Lives’ we listened to presentations from Emma King of RBMind and Ed Tytherleigh of SPEAR, reminding us of what those organisations are successfully achieving in Richmond.

Our funding of discretionary grants was in excess of £200,000, an increase of nearly £40,000 over the previous year. In the coming year we aim gradually to shift more of our discretionary grant giving toward the newer priority of Mental Health issues. So that we can understand better the needs of individuals and the activities of the voluntary sector organisations in our area, later in this year we are planning a forum for organisations active in this field. 

Social Housing
Housing costs in Richmond continue to escalate both through house prices which have risen faster than almost anywhere in the United Kingdom, and through rising residential rents. This is leading to a generation of individuals and a section of society being unable to afford to live in the borough. Whilst the RPLC can do little to lessen this problem, the charity continues to provide as many affordable properties as possible.  We achieve this, either through direct ownership and letting, or through nomination rights to the London & Quadrant Housing Trust properties around the Borough. The resources which we commit to this objective are substantial. As well as spending last year some £400,000 on managing and maintaining our properties, we give a rent subsidy estimated at just over £700,000to our tenants by offering affordable rents.

During the year we sold a property and purchased a replacement in Lambert Avenue.  We currently have 88 units available at affordable rent levels housing over 220 adults and children.  It is a reflection of the need for such housing in the Borough that having housed 11 tenants during the year, and having added a further 7 families to our waiting lists, we have now had to close the lists for the time being.

Governance
It is too easy to look upon governance issues in terms of box-ticking bureaucracy, but charity trustees have a particular responsibility to ensure that the charitable funds which they are privileged to administer are managed in the most efficient way. At our strategy meeting last year we spent some time reiterating the values which we want this charity to demonstrate.

We confirmed these values as:-

* Progressiveness in our appraisal and our approach towards need,
* Responsiveness to need, without prejudice and with generosity of 
   spirit,
* Openness, so that we are accountable and transparent in our  
   activities
* Compassion in all our dealings with people, and
* Fairness, so that we are independent and balanced in our approach

These are challenging standards for us to aspire to but all of the Trustees and our very committed staff are working to achieve them. The Trustees have been especially involved in a number of particular governance matters this year so that we can be sure that we are addressing the Objects of the charity in the context of the changing needs within this borough.

We have been examining carefully our organisation, with the valuable input of our new Director, Jonathan Monckton.  We are seeking to use the great strength of our committees and our excellent staff wisely and efficiently. 

We have undertaken a careful review of risks within the charity, using external advisors where appropriate, to ensure that all risks, including our investment powers and asset management, are properly monitored. 

A review of our policy on Socially Responsible Investment was undertaken and whilst that has not led to any substantial change to our investment policy at this time, we are committed to keeping this matter under review.

A major exercise has been undertaken to monitor the balance between how much of the charity’s resources are being distributed in social housing and grants, and the value of the ongoing, permanent endowment of the charity. We have been concerned to ensure that we are neither over-distributing, so that we disadvantage future generations of beneficiaries, nor yet applying too prudent policies such that we are unfairly penalising this generation of people in need.

Based on excellent long term research undertaken by Peter Willan, we have altered our reserves policy to lessen the chance of our having to reduce future funding of social housing or core grants. A framework has been set up so that this balance between distributions versus endowment can be monitored in future years – an important responsibility in a charity which has been running since 1786.

Finances
This year has shown another strong improvement in RPLC’s finances. We have benefited from growth in both income and capital values of our equity and bond investments. Overall our income from properties has risen marginally and these factors combined with good control over administration and governance costs, have increased the funds available for grant giving. This year our total grants awarded have risen by just over 6% to £826,659.

Two thirds of our income arises from Stock Market investments, and because of the volatility of those markets, the result of our review of the long term forecasts of RPLC’s resources has led us to build up our reserves to lessen the risk of having to reduce core grants in future years. Our aim is to establish adequate levels of reserves whilst maintaining and hopefully increasing core grants in real terms.

One other important financial event happened during the year. For many years we have held in our Income Fund various properties which we believed really represented permanent endowment. Previously the effect of this had been to restrict the amount of reserves which were available for grant giving. During the year we reached agreement with the Charity Commission so that this misclassification has been corrected in these accounts with the result that our distributable Income Fund reserves have increased by £1,131,000.

This increase in distributable reserves is very welcome. It may lead to a higher level of grant giving. We are required to obtain the Charity Commission’s prior approval before we can use Endowment Funds for improvements or renovations to our social housing properties.  The Commission’s rules on the eligibility of renovation spend are being tightened. It appears likely that more of our capital renovation costs may have to be funded out of Income Fund, hence we may need the greater reserves to provide for these costs in the future.

Management
Our constitution which requires that Trustees shall not serve more than eight years, is both a great strength but sometimes can result in periods of considerable change. This has been one such period. In October last year Marian Mollett retired as our Chairman of Trustees and I am grateful to my fellow Trustees for their support in appointing me as her successor.  During her two years as Chairman, Marian brought great personal commitment to this charity.  She combined humility with absolute clarity of purpose which led to significant improvements in our governance and the effectiveness of our organisation. Her hard work has helped build the strong and effective charity which RPLC is today. Truly a difficult act to follow.

We have also seen the retirement of three of our longest serving Trustees, Richard Jeffries, Gill Marshall-Andrews and Peter Willan. Richard has served for many years on our Property and Grants Committees and his sensitivity and great experience in the community has been hugely valuable to us, particularly in our dealings with social housing matters.  Gill has served on both the Education and the Finance & Investment Committees bringing both detailed knowledge of the voluntary sector in the borough and also creativity and conscience to our debates. Peter has chaired our Grants Committee for several years and also sat on the Finance & Investment Committee. His recent extensive work on codifying past and future financial trends of the charity has been hugely valuable, and current and future Trustees have much to thank him for.

Two of our Council nominated Trustees have also retired during the year. Councillor Frances Bouchier has served on both the Grants and the Education Committees and we thank her for that valuable input and for helping us to maintain the close links which we enjoy with the borough.  Councillor Bill Treble has completed his term as Mayor of the Borough; we thank him for his input to our discussions and welcome his successor, Councillor Marc Cranfield-Adams.  

Three of our Co-opted Committee Members have also retired, Felicity Clarkson (Grants Committee), Lady Harrop (Grants Committee) and John Simon (Finance & Investment Committee). We are most grateful to them for the valuable advice which they have given to us over several years.

I am delighted to welcome four new Trustees. Following a public recruitment process, we are very pleased that Susan Goddard and Robert Guy have both joined us as Trustees. We look forward to their bringing both local experience and extensive professional knowledge to our discussions. Councillor Sue Jones and Margaret Saunders join the Trustee body as Council nominees and are already contributing to voluntary sector activities.

Plans for the Future
I believe all of us who are involved in Richmond Parish Lands Charity feel a sense of privilege for the chance to participate, whilst being inspired by what is being achieved. Over long debates during last year we believe that we have struck the right balance between how much we can prudently distribute through grants or housing subsidy, and how much we must put by so that future generations can receive the same benefits.

Equally important to us is the choice over which causes deserve the limited support which we can give. Through close links with the Council, many contacts with other organisations in the voluntary sector, and forums which we run to co-ordinate aid to particular groups, we try to ensure that we help those in greatest need. All of us involved in the voluntary sector are keenly aware that however much we achieve, there are still many areas of real deprivation and distress that we cannot reach, even in an affluent borough like Richmond.

As you read this report, if you believe that there are organisations within the borough which deserve our help, or if you know of individuals who would be eligible for our personal grants, contact us so that we may have the chance to help them.  

I am particularly grateful to Jonathan Monckton for the energy and enthusiasm which he has brought to his first months as Director, but also to all of the team at The Vestry House for the great enthusiasm which they bring to this charity. With such a strong team and the commitment of our Trustees, I feel very confident of our ability to fulfil those Objects which King George III set for us in 1786.

Jeff Harris
Chairman, RPLC

© 2008 RPLC