Page 144 - Demo

Ÿ Parishioners and those that members come across in their daily lives – possibly through their social and pastoral work or their church based work
Ÿ Organisations that the religious institute charity is contracting with for the provision of supplies or services. For example, before agreeing to carry out a signi cant construction project such as an extension to a property, the building company may wish to review the charity’s report and accounts
to ascertain the sort of organisation it is and whether it has the nances available to pay for the work!
Ÿ For those religious institute charities that operate schools and/or care homes, their report and accounts may be of interest to prospective parents or relatives of residents
In addition to the above, the Charity Commission itself will be interested in the accounts as may other regulators such as OFSTED and the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
Finally, rightly or wrongly, inquiries such as those being carried out into child sexual abuse in Ireland, Scotland and England, mean that religious institutes and their related charities are under the spotlight and will be of interest to various parties that might access their report and accounts including the media.
WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE TRUSTEES’ REPORT?
Ultimately, responsibility for the report rests with the trustees. However, this does not mean that the trustees necessarily should draft it – they simply need to approve the nal text.
In the case of many religious institute charities, responsibility for writing the report often rests with the provincial bursar. This is probably right provided that others within the institute understand that they will need to assist in providing material including text and photographs etc. The provincial bursar collates and combines these together into a nal document – probably with assistance from the charity’s professional advisers also.
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