This was the Esperanto Association of Britain's site from 2005 to 2018. You will find its current site at esperanto.org.uk.
ESPERANTO-ASOCIO DE BRITIO Registered Charity no: 272676
(also known as Esperanto Association of Britain, EAB, Springboard, Esperanto-GB.)
Trustees' Annual Report 2011-2012
The trustees are pleased to present their report with the financial statements of the charity for the year ended 31 October 2012. A full copy of the report and financial statements may be obtained from Esperanto House.
[This report was published in EAB Update No. 61 (April-June 2013)]
The Management Committee of the Association are the trustees of the charity.
Those who served from 1 November 2011 to 31 October 2012 were: John Wells (President),
Edmund Grimley Evans (Vice-President), Tim Owen (Hon. Secretary), Clare Hunter (Hon. Treasurer), Ed Robertson,
Michael Seaton. Hugh Reid also served from 22 April 2012.
Staff and Appointees
Co-ordinator for Research and Development: Angela Tellier. Office Manager: Viv O'Dunne.
Admin. Assistant: Emma Hudson. Publicity Co-ordinator: Brian Barker. Honorary Librarian: Geoffrey King. Editor of La Brita Esperantisto: Paul Gubbins. Compiler of La Brita Esperantisto: Simon Davies. Editor of EAB Update: Geoffrey Sutton. Webmaster: Bill Walker. Accountant and Independent Examiner: Dains LLP, St. John's Court, Wiltell Road, Lichfield, Staffordshire, WS14 9DS.
Objects of the Association
The objects of the Association are to advance the education of the public in the international
language Esperanto in the furtherance of international communication without discrimination, and of the natural
right of all people and peoples, their languages and cultures, to be treated equally.
Public Benefit
In setting objectives and planning activities, the trustees complied with the duty in section 17 of the Charities Act
2011 to have due regard to the public benefit guidance published by the Charity Commission. The activities undertaken by
the Association during the year to further its charitable purposes for the public benefit are detailed below.
Summary of main achievements during the year 2011-2012
Education
Courses and examinations continued to have a steady, if small, uptake.
A successful Ni Muzikumu! and Drondo weekend was held in Barlaston in January 2012.
Somera Festivalo took place at the new location of Shallowford House in Staffordshire during August 2012.
Thanks are due to Jack Warren for co-ordinating the event and Zsófia Kóródy, whose teaching added an international flavour. Positive feedback was received from those who attended.
Professor Wim Jansen of Amsterdam University delivered his Buchanan lecture on 'Basque and Esperanto – What we can learn
from comparing the incomparable' at Liverpool University in April 2012. Approximately 35 people attended.
Research and development
Several primary schools continue to teach the Springboard to Languages programme. The five-year evaluation of Springboard to Languages has been successfully completed and the dissemination of summary results to selected UK ministers and European policy-makers, libraries and academics is on-going.
Publishing
Five books by Claude Piron have been scanned and made available to read online.
Publicity
The Language Show took place over three days in October 2012. The Association is indebted to the volunteers who organised and manned the stand. Visitors were offered the free CD
A Taste of Esperanto, as well as a range of leaflets. The team also secured a slot for a Taster Course, which was well attended.
For the second year running, the Association had a prominent presence at the International Language Festival which took
place at the University of Sheffield in March 2012. Six taster classes in Esperanto took place over the course of the weekend.
The domain name esperanto.org.uk has been purchased and is now the main address for the
Association's web presence.
The Association was delighted to win the Premio Cigno in recognition of its Esperanto publicity efforts.
British Esperanto Congress
A successful joint congress took place in Edinburgh in April 2012 together with the Scottish Esperanto Association. Eighty-nine Esperantists participated in the congress weekend, which had an international feel due to fifteen overseas visitors from countries as diverse as Armenia, Lithuania and Norway.
Butler Library
The Houghton archive has been rehoused within the Butler Library following the closure of Wedgwood Memorial College during the year. There are now 7,961 items in the main catalogue and the Sonbanko contains 1,381 items.
Plans for 2012–2013 and beyond
- Continue to support schools who wish to teach the Springboard programme with materials, revising and reviewing materials as necessary.
- Focus on a Research and Development programme.
- Support the organisation of a three-day Buchanan Seminar at the University of Liverpool in March 2014.
- Organise a session of the Esperanto CEFR examinations in the UK and encourage greater participation by British Esperantists.
- Publication of a Scottish-Gaelic translation of the Esperanto Mini-Course.
- Support the organisation of the British Esperanto Congress in Ramsgate.
- Install an integrated library system on the EAB webserver and upload the Butler Library catalogue to it, thus improving access and ease of use for both the Honorary Librarian and library users.
- Continue to obtain formal permission for the Association to sublicense the republishing of works by British Esperanto authors who are willing to give such permission to the Association, thus ensuring that it will be possible to republish those works in future.
- Continue to explore publicity opportunities.
- Work on updating the Association's web presence.
- Recruit more trustees.
Closure of Wedgwood Memorial College
Wedgwood Memorial College, on whose Estoril site the Association has its headquarters, was closed by Stoke-on-Trent City
Council with effect from 1 April 2012, after they rejected the proposal to transfer the running of the college to a charitable trust
via a Community Asset Transfer.
The trustees sought legal advice and received confirmation that the Association's lease on Esperanto House, which has
another 90 years to run, is fully secure. Under the terms of that lease, sole use of the Butler Library and three Esperanto bedrooms reverted to the Association following the college closure.
Membership
Life members = 22 (2011: 22),
full members = 294 (2011: 321),
family members = 11 (2011: 12),
supporters = 39 (2011: 42).
Total = 366 (2011: 397).
A few members of venerable age died during the year. New recruits and people rejoining after some years' absence were welcomed.
Members and supporters receive EAB Update newsletter (English and Esperanto) quarterly. Full members also receive La Brita Esperantisto – an all-Esperanto journal – twice a year, and are automatically affiliated to Universala Esperanto-Asocio. Full members are entitled to vote at the Annual General Meeting. Membership services include assistance with international payments via the UEA credit system.
Financial review of the year
Income is derived from investments, membership subscriptions, sales, bequests and donations, and spent on the Association's charitable objects. The unfavourable economic climate has continued to result in low investment income.
The sum of £100k previously held in a fixed-term deposit with the Harpenden Building Society was transferred to a 7-day notice
account with Scottish Widows, paying interest at 1.85%. £105k of cash previously held on deposit with CCLA and earning
interest at 0.90% was used to buy additional units in CCLA's Ethical Investment Fund. The trustees monitor the performance
of the Association's investments on a regular basis.
Reserves
The current level of reserves is designed to provide income for the long-term future of the charity.
Accounting methods
The Association has returned to preparing accounts on the accruals basis this year, following two years of cash accounting.
Investment policy
The constitution states that the
trustees have the power to make investments as they see fit. Their duty is to seek more adequate income and capital growth.
Capital is invested in deposit accounts and unit trusts specifically designed for the charity sector, which are for the greater
part socially responsible.
Responsibilities of the trustees
in relation to the financial statements Law applicable to charities in England and Wales requires the trustees to prepare financial
statements at the end of each financial year which give a true and fair view of its financial activities during the year and of
its financial position at the end of the year. In doing so the trustees are required to:
- Select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently,
- Make judgments and estimates that are reasonable and prudent,
- State whether applicable accounting standards and statements of recommended practice have been followed, subject to any departures
disclosed and explained in the financial statements, and
- Prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in business.
The trustees are responsible for keeping accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charities Act 2011. They are
also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention of fraud and
other irregularities.
Approved by the trustees and signed on their behalf on 16 February 2013.
Tim Owen,
Honorary Secretary
British Esperanto Association (Incorporated) Limited
Report for the year ended 31st October 2012.
The company is dormant and has not traded during the year.
The directors of the company during the year under review were
Edmund Grimley Evans, John Wells and Tim Owen; the Company
Secretary was Joyce Bunting. Other members of the company were
members of the administration committee of Esperanto-Asocio de
Britio plus one life member.
Signed on behalf of the board
Edmund Grimley Evans,
Director, 16 February 2013
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