Founded 1980
Chair:        
Secretary: 
Treasurer: 

Graham Smith
Jan Thompson
Graham Mumby-Croft


 Issue No. 83 SPRING Anniversary Edition 2020
FROM THE TREASURER

In your reading of this edition of the Newsletter you will now be in possession of the information that this years AGM has been cancelled as a “live event” and will instead be held as a “virtual meeting” via the wizardry that is ZOOM. 

Please refer to my Computer Corner article for further details of exactly what “Zoom” is. 

The result of this is that where I would have presented my financial report as part of the AGM I am doing so in advance so that they can be published to you, the members in this edition of the Newsletter.

As you are probably aware the financial year for the RPGA mirrors that of the main PGA in that it runs from 1st January to 31st December. Therefore my annual routine is that at sometime in early February I look to balance off the books, and send them off to the PGA Auditors for checking, and certification. This is because the RPGA is an associated part of the PGA under their constitution, and our accounts, and any funds we hold, are an integral part of their financial structure.

I was lucky enough to get the books off to the auditors in advance of the Coronavirus restrictions coming into force, especially as when the lockdown came the auditors, along with many other companies, were forced to close down their offices, and to furlough their staff. Whilst this situation did cause some delay, it was related to getting the books back to me, rather than the auditing process itself, and I did manage to get the books back in late April.

I am therefore in a position to confirm that the figures for the RPGA accounts for the 2019 financial year are audited and certified. They are published below for the information of members, and full copies of the certified accounts are available from me at graham.mumbycroft@gmail.com In addition, if you have any questions or queries regarding the accounts then contact me through the same email address.

As far as the accounts for 2019 are concerned I am happy to report that it has been another steady year, where although income from subscriptions has reduced from 2018 by £54, this has been more than offset by a reduction in our expenditure for the year leading to an increased surplus of income over expenditure of £1668.94. The main decrease in expenditure has mostly come from a reduction in committee costs where, by not replacing committee members who have retired/resigned, we have saved money on travel expenses. In addition the generous offer from the PGA to allow us to share the venue and facilities used for their Annual Conference, as the location for our AGM, has saved us a considerable outlay on room hire and catering.

One of the results of this reduction in our costs, has been that I have been able to advise the committee that our finances are strong enough for us to be able to ensure that we are not constrained by costs, when it comes to producing the Newsletter. The result of this is that as editor, Paul does not have to trim the content in order to meet a predetermined cost, and you will note as you are reading this, the 40th anniversary edition, we have really pushed the boat out for a bumper colour edition. We hope that you enjoy it.

The other benefit of our healthy finances is that, at the moment, I do not envisage a need to increase subscription rates for the foreseeable future. Whilst our income has reduced year on year, the amount is not significant, and as long as we manage to control our outgoings, then we should be in a position of being able to maintain the subscription rates at their current levels, with only the cost of PGA diaries to be adjusted for, should costs increase.

At the 2019 AGM a resolution was proposed, and passed, that the RPGA would open discussions with the PGA regarding the handing back of the Benevolent Fund to them to administer. There were several reasons behind this proposal, not least of which was the fact that the fund had originally belonged to the PGA, as a Charity Fund before being passed to the RPGA. Additional reasons for passing this back to the PGA were, that in the time the RPGA had been responsible for this fund, very few grants for aid had been made, and indeed very few qualifying applications had been made. The Treasurer and President of the PGA agreed in January 2020 that the PGA would indeed accept these funds back onto their books on the basis that they would be in a better position to make use of the funds than we were..

With this in mind, once the RPGA accounts had been checked and certified by the accountants, I transferred the whole of the amount in the Benevolent Fund Account over to the PGA and as a result we, The RPGA, no longer hold a Benevolent Fund. However, this does not mean that the situation regarding aid and financial assistance has changed. As part of the agreement in transferring the funds, the PGA have given an undertaking that should an RPGA member find themselves in the unfortunate position at a time of dire need, or emergency, of requiring financial assistance, a request for a Grant of Aid would be considered, under the same criteria that were applied by the RPGA.



Graham Mumby-Croft
Treasurer


Graham Mumby-Croft
Treasurer