Page 166 - Demo

Financial position
The balance sheet shows total reserves of £39,895,842.
£17,800,000 represents a retirement reserve designated to provide for sisters as they increase in age. The value of the fund has been calculated using actuarial principles to provide for the institute’s sisters, but is not meant to guarantee suf cient resources. It is merely an estimate designed to recognise, and make some provision for, the nancial undertaking implicit in the relationship between a religious congregation and its members.
Following the disposal of the freehold property in Cambridge, the trustees have set aside a total of £5,000,000 in a “Financing and Institutional fund” at 31 December 2016. While much work has to be done on deciding exactly how these funds are to be applied, the broad intention of the trustees is to use them to nance the work of the sisters for the mission of serving refugees, asylum seekers and homeless people, in Britain and Ireland. A large proportion of
the money has been invested with a view to generating income to apply each year but it is anticipated also that some of the money may be applied directly towards grants and donations in the short term.
The tangible xed assets fund totals £6,930,213 and is represented by tangible xed assets used to support the work of the sisters.
The balance sheet also includes a permanent endowment fund of £47,998, the interest from which may be used for the general work of the charity.
Restricted funds of £7,236,823 are held for speci c purposes as detailed in note 17.
Funds which are available to support the work of the sisters in the future i.e. free reserves are those shown on the balance sheet as general funds and total £2,880,808. These free reserves fall within the parameters of the charity’s reserves policy set out above.
The free reserves are considered adequate when viewed in the light of the commitment to fund the running costs of a care home in Ireland, the charity’s annual expenditure and the increasing age pro le of the members of the institute. There is also a lack of new vocations and therefore no prospect of increased income in the future. There are only modest resources remaining
162 Chapter 8