(a charitable company limited by guarantee)
Registered Charity No. 1054914
Company Number 3182826
The trustees are responsible for preparing the annual report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice.
Company law requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and of the net income or expenditure of the charity for the year. In preparing these financial statements 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 have been followed, subject to any material 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 proper accounting records that 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 Companies Act 1985. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
The trustees have confirmed that so far as they are aware, there is no relevant audit information of which the charitable company's auditors are unaware, and that they have taken all the steps that they ought to have taken as directors in order to make themselves aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the charitable company's auditors are aware of that information.
During the year the Trustees have reviewed the Reserves Policy and have re-examined CFDG’s requirements for free reserves in the light of the predominant risks to the organisation and its working capital requirements. The major risk is loss of reputation, causing falling membership income, and loss of corporate support along with reduced margins on key events, for example the annual conference and the annual dinner. In this light they have set a target of £150,000, based on the agreed budget for 2007/8. Total free reserves at 31 March 2007 were £284,769 (2006: £241,298). The Trustees are in the process of reviewing a three-year plan to invest the surplus of free reserves in new initiatives to improve services to members.
Page 17 - Annual Report and Financial Statements 2007