The trustees present their annual report and financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2024.
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in note 1 to the financial statements and comply with the charity's memorandum and articles of association, the Companies Act 2006 and "Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102)" (effective 1 January 2019).
The objects of the charity are to promote the Christian faith by publishing or translating and distributing Christian literature including maintaining the quarterly publication "The Overcomer".
The activities undertaken to achieve these objectives continued to be the production of the devotional magazine known as "The Overcomer" to be distributed free of charge to anyone who requests it.
The trustees have paid due regard to guidance issued by the Charity Commission in deciding what activities the charity should undertake. They are satisfied that such benefit has been achieved by the charity in that the devotional magazine continues to be made available free of charge for the moral and spiritual benefit of its readers.
The charity produced three issues of "The Overcomer" during the year which were freely dispatched to regular readers held on its mailing list. A second issue of the Russian edition of The Overcomer magazine was produced in the year. The charity relies on donations from its readers to cover the production and distribution costs, and during the year a total of £20,029 was received for which the Trustees are very grateful.
All income received by the charity in the year was in the form of donations which amounted to £20,029 (2023 - £16,063). The direct cost of printing and distributing the magazine amounted to £6,992, (2023 - £5,875), honorarium and management fees paid for the editing and production of the magazine amounted to £8,460 (2023 - £10,095). Support costs relating to the production of the magazine (including depreciation) amounted to £4,843 (2023 - £4,151). Governance costs amounted to £630, (2023 - £600). The result for the year is a deficit of £896 compared to a deficit of £4,658 in the previous year. The Company’s reserves stood at £33,178 at the year end (£34,074 at 31 December 2023).
It is the policy of the charity that all funds of the charity are held in cash, so as to be available to cover expenditure in years in which donations income is insufficient to cover costs.
Overcomer Literature Trust is a company limited by guarantee (company number 227064). It is also a registered charity (charity number 256633). It is governed by Memorandum and Articles Association incorporated 3rd January 1928 and amended 28th March 1950,15th March 2024 and 20th May 2024.
The trustees, who are also the directors for the purpose of company law, and who served during the year and up to the date of signature of the financial statements were:
Trustees are recruited by recommendations from the members of the board as and when the need arises. Those with suitable gifts are approached and, if willing, are appointed on agreement by the board. Background information is provided to new Trustees and an introduction to the regular activities of the charity.
The charity is administered by the chair of the magazine, who is also a Director, who takes day to day decisions regarding the production and distribution of the magazine. The full board of directors, who are also the Trustees of the Charity, meets annually to review the progress of the charity, and to establish appropriate policies.
The trustees' report was approved by the Board of Trustees.
In order to assist you to fulfil your duties under the Companies Act 2006, we have prepared for your approval the financial statements of Overcomer Literature Trust Limited for the year ended 31 December 2024, which comprise the statement of financial activities and the related notes from the charity’s accounting records and from information and explanations you have given us.
As a practising member firm of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, we are subject to its ethical and other professional requirements which are detailed at https://www.accaglobal.com/gb/en/member/standards/rules-and-standards/rulebook.html.
This report is made to the charity's trustees, as a body, in accordance with the terms of our engagement letter dated 27 March 2023. Our work has been undertaken solely to prepare for your approval the financial statements of Overcomer Literature Trust Limited and state those matters that we have agreed to state to the charity's trustees, as a body, in this report in accordance with the requirements of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants as detailed at https://www.accaglobal.com/content/dam/ACCA_Global/Technical/fact/technical-factsheet-163.pdf. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than Overcomer Literature Trust Limited and the charity's trustees as a body, for our work or for this report.
It is your duty to ensure that Overcomer Literature Trust Limited has kept adequate accounting records and to prepare statutory financial statements that give a true and fair view of the assets, liabilities, financial position and deficit of Overcomer Literature Trust Limited. You consider that Overcomer Literature Trust Limited is exempt from the statutory audit requirement for the year, and is not required to obtain an independent examiner's report.
We have not been instructed to carry out an audit or a review of the financial statements of Overcomer Literature Trust Limited. For this reason, we have not verified the accuracy or completeness of the accounting records or information and explanations you have given to us and we do not, therefore, express any opinion on the statutory financial statements.
The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year. All income and expenditure derive from continuing activities.
Overcomer Literature Trust Limited is a private company limited by guarantee incorporated in England and Wales. The registered office is 129 Sandgate, Swindon, Wiltshire, SN3 4HJ.
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the charity's memorandum and articles of association, the Companies Act 2006, FRS 102 “The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland” (“FRS 102”) and the Charities SORP "Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102)" (effective 1 January 2019). The charity is a Public Benefit Entity as defined by FRS 102.
The charity has taken advantage of the provisions in the SORP for charities not to prepare a Statement of Cash Flows.
The financial statements are prepared in sterling, which is the functional currency of the charity. Monetary amounts in these financial statements are rounded to the nearest £.
The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention. The principal accounting policies adopted are set out below.
At the time of approving the financial statements, the trustees have a reasonable expectation that the charity has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. Thus the trustees continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the financial statements.
Unrestricted funds are available for use at the discretion of the trustees in furtherance of their charitable objectives.
Income is represented by donations for the charity's magazine, which are derived from donors in the UK and overseas, mainly from the USA and Canada.
Gifts are credited to income at the time of their receipt. Royalties are brought into account on a receipts basis.
Expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to transfer economic benefit to a third party, it is probable that a transfer of economic benefits will be required in settlement, and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably.
The charity is not registered for VAT, and unrecoverable VAT is included in the expenditure to which it relates.
Property, plant and equipment are initially measured at cost and subsequently measured at cost or valuation, net of depreciation and any impairment losses.
Depreciation is recognised so as to write off the cost or valuation of assets less their residual values over their useful lives on the following basis:
The gain or loss arising on the disposal of an asset is determined as the difference between the sale proceeds and the carrying value of the asset, and is recognised in the statement of financial activities.
At each reporting end date, the charity reviews the carrying amounts of its tangible assets to determine whether there is any indication that those assets have suffered an impairment loss. If any such indication exists, the recoverable amount of the asset is estimated in order to determine the extent of the impairment loss (if any).
Cash and cash equivalents include cash in hand and deposits held at call with banks.
Basic financial assets, which include trade and other receivables and cash and bank balances, are measured at transaction price including transaction costs.
Basic financial liabilities, including trade and other payables and bank loans are recognised at transaction price.
Financial liabilities are derecognised when the charity’s contractual obligations expire or are discharged or cancelled.
In the application of the charity’s accounting policies, the trustees are required to make judgements, estimates and assumptions about the carrying amount of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. The estimates and associated assumptions are based on historical experience and other factors that are considered to be relevant. Actual results may differ from these estimates.
The estimates and underlying assumptions are reviewed on an ongoing basis. Revisions to accounting estimates are recognised in the period in which the estimate is revised where the revision affects only that period, or in the period of the revision and future periods where the revision affects both current and future periods.
Trustee, Mr M McNaughton, received an Honorarium of £3,000 (2023: £3,000) for work done on the production of the magazine.
The wife of a Trustee was paid a monthly fee for her role as office manager. The amount paid in the year amounted to £5,460 (2023: £4,095). She was also was reimbursed £2,000 for use of her home as the charity's office during the year. These payments were authorised by the Charity Commission.
Two Trustees were reimbursed for travel expenses amounting to £153.
None of the other trustees (or any persons connected with them) received any remuneration or benefits from the charity during the year.
The average monthly number of employees during the year was:
The charity is exempt from taxation on its activities because all its income is applied for charitable purposes.
The unrestricted funds of the charity comprise the unexpended balances of donations and grants which are not subject to specific conditions by donors and grantors as to how they may be used. These include designated funds which have been set aside out of unrestricted funds by the trustees for specific purposes.
There were no disclosable related party transactions during the year (2023 - none) other than those included in the Trustees note, note 7.