The trustees present their annual report and financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2025.

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 charitable company's governing document, the Companies Act 2006, FRS 102 "The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland" 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)".

Objectives and aims

The charitable company's objects are to advance and propagate culture, education and learning among persons of Polish decent residing permanently or temporarily in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Significant activities

The charitable company's principal activity is the publishing of the Polish Weekly " Tydzień Polski” but it also promotes Polish culture by the organisation of specific events and the publishing of books and albums for the Polish community. Additionally, the online news portal mypolska.uk went live in November 2024.

Public benefit

The charitable company's trustees have referred to the guidance in the Charity Commission's general guidance on Public Benefit when reviewing the charitable company's aims and objectives and in planning its future activities. In particular, they have considered how planned activities will contribute to the aims and objectives they have set.

Grant making

The charitable company made grants to PDP during the year to enable PDP to publish the "Polish Weekly".

Charitable activities

During the year the charitable company continues to publish books and support the publishing of the ‘Polish Weekly’ by its subsidiary undertaking, The Polish Daily (Publishers) Ltd (“PDP”) and to achieve its objects by actively seeking outside financial contributions.

Financial position

The charitable company's total income for the year was £228,594 (2024: £149,157). After deducting expenditure of £254,400 (2024: £119,633), a net deficit of £25,806 (2024 net surplus: £29,524) arose for the year. At 31 December 2025 the charitable company had total funds of £79,282 (2024: £105,088), of which £18,855 is unrestricted and £60,427 is restricted.

Reserves policy

It is the policy of the charitable company to maintain funds to provide the necessary support to PDP to continue publishing the 'Polish Weekly' newspaper. In order to achieve this the charity is actively seeking financial support from outside sources.

Governing document

The charitable company is governed by its Memorandum and Articles of Association dated 18 January 1950 (as amended by special resolution on 19 November 2016).

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:

Recruitment and appointment of new trustees

The trustees are appointed by the council of Management who meet regularly to discuss the performance of the group.

Organisational structure

The charitable company is a registered charitable company limited by guarantee with one subsidiary undertaking, PDP. The charitable company's registered charity number is 277603 and its registered company number is 00477371.

The trustees are responsible for the management of risks faced by the charitable company and they continue to review the charitable company's risk management processes and systems on an ongoing basis. Policies have been put in place to mitigate any risks identified and have been formally noted by the trustees.

The trustees' report was approved by the Board of Trustees.

I report to the trustees on my examination of the financial statements of Polish Cultural Foundation Limited (the charitable company) for the year ended 31 December 2025.

As the trustees of the charitable company (and also its directors for the purposes of company law), you are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006.

Having satisfied myself that the financial statements of the charitable company are not required to be audited under Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006 and are eligible for independent examination, I report in respect of my examination of the charitable company’s financial statements carried out under section 145 of the Charities Act 2011. In carrying out my examination I have followed the Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Charities Act 2011.

I have completed my examination. I confirm that no matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:

accounting records were not kept in respect of the charitable company as required by section 386 of the Companies Act 2006.

the financial statements do not accord with those records; or

the financial statements do not comply with the accounting requirements of section 396 of the Companies Act 2006 other than any requirement that the financial statements give a true and fair view, which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination; or

the financial statements have not been prepared in accordance with the methods and principles of the Statement of Recommended Practice for accounting and reporting by charities applicable to charities preparing their financial statements in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102).

I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the financial statements to be reached.

The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year. All income and expenditure derive from continuing activities.

The company is entitled to the exemption from the audit requirement contained in section 477 of the Companies Act 2006, for the year ended 31 December 2025.

The directors acknowledge their responsibilities for complying with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 with respect to accounting records and the preparation of financial statements.

The members have not required the company to obtain an audit of its financial statements for the year in question in accordance with section 476.

These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to companies subject to the small companies regime.

Polish Cultural Foundation Limited is a charitable company limited by guarantee incorporated in England and Wales. The registered office is 238-246 King Street, Hammersmith, London, W6 0RF.

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the charitable company's governing document, the Companies Act 2006, FRS 102 "The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland" 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)". The charitable company is a Public Benefit Entity as defined by FRS 102.

The charitable company 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 charitable company. 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 charitable company 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.

Restricted funds are subject to specific conditions by donors or grantors as to how they may be used. The purposes and uses of the restricted funds are set out in the notes to the financial statements.

All income is recognised in the Statement of Financial Activities once the charity has entitlement to the funds, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount can be measured reliably.

Within this income recognition framework voluntary income, including donations and legacies, are recognised when the charitable company is entitled to the income which, on occasion, may be prior to the receipt of the monies concerned.

Income is received from one charitable activity, which is, Book and Newspaper Publishing, all of which is recognised in the year in which the income is receivable, which is when the charitable company becomes entitled to the resources.

Income from other trading activities relates to the lottery, and this income is recognised in the year in which the income is receivable, which is when the sale takes place.

Investment income, which includes interest receivable is included in the Statement of Financial Activities in the year in which it is receivable.

Liabilities are recognised as expenditure as soon as there is a legal or constructive obligation committing the charitable company to that expenditure, it is probable that a transfer of economic benefits will be required in settlement and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. Expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis and has been classified under headings that aggregate all cost related to the category. Where costs cannot be directly attributed to particular headings they have been allocated to activities on a basis consistent with the use of resources.

Charitable activities relate to the costs of publishing books and newspapers and have been allocated directly to the functional headings as shown on the SOFA.

The main activity of the charitable company is to publish books and newspapers so all costs related to this are classed as direct charitable costs and all other costs are allocated as support costs.

Grants offered subject to conditions which have not been met at the year end date are noted as a commitment but not accrued as expenditure.

Goodwill represents the excess of the cost of acquisition of unincorporated businesses over the fair value of net assets acquired. It is initially recognised as an asset at cost and is subsequently measured at cost less accumulated amortisation and accumulated impairment losses. Goodwill shall be considered to have a finite useful life, and shall be amortised on a systematic basis over its life.

Tangible fixed assets 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 bases:

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.

Investments in subsidiary undertakings are stated at cost, less provision for any impairment in value.

Cash and cash equivalents include cash in hand, deposits held at call with banks, other short-term liquid investments with original maturities of three months or less, and bank overdrafts. Bank overdrafts are shown within borrowings in current liabilities.

The charitable company has elected to apply the provisions of Section 11 ‘Basic Financial Instruments’ and Section 12 ‘Other Financial Instruments Issues’ of FRS 102 to all of its financial instruments.

Financial instruments are recognised in the charitable company's balance sheet when the charitable company becomes party to the contractual provisions of the instrument.

Creditors are recognised where the charitable company has a present obligation resulting from a past event that will probably result in the transfer of funds to a third party and the amount due to settle the obligation can be measured or estimated reliably. Creditors are normally recognised at their settlement amount after allowing for any discounts due.

The charity is exempt from corporation tax on its charitable activities.

Preparation of consolidated financial statements

The financial statements contain information about Polish Cultural Foundation Limited as an individual charity and do not contain consolidated financial information as the parent of a group. The charity is exempt under Section 399(2A) of the Companies Act 2006 from the requirements to prepare consolidated financial statements.

In the application of the charitable company’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.

None of the trustees (or any persons connected with them) received any remuneration or benefits from the charitable company during the year.

The charity is exempt from taxation on its activities because all its income is applied for charitable purposes.

The restricted funds of the charity comprise the unexpended balances of donations and grants held on trust subject to specific conditions by donors as to how they may be used.

Publication fund - This fund represents donations received from organisations and individuals which are to be used in order to help the publication of the newspapers

Calendar fund - This fund represents donations received to support the printing of the calendar.

Portal fund - This represents funds received in order for the charity to create a new website. This project has been funded by the Polish Community funds of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland, the Polonia Foundation Trust (PAFT), Wspolnota Polska, Fundacja Pomocy Polakom na Wschodzie, the Ex-Combatants Foundation and The Polish Women’s Benevolent Association (PWBA).

T. Zielinski fund - This fund represents donations received from organisations and individuals to be used towards the cost of dismantling, moving, storing and installing Tadeusz Zielinski's artwork from the Camberwell Green Magistrates Court and displaying it at the Polish Centre (POSK) in Hammersmith.

Solidarity with Ukraine - This fund represents donations received in support of Ukraine.

Exhibition fund - This fund represents donations received from the Ex-Combatants Foundation towards the costs of running exhibitions.

Special edition fund - This fund represents donations received from the Ex-Combatants Foundation, PAFT, Polish University Abroad (PUNO), and the Katyn Families Association towards the costs of producing special edition publications.

Anniversary Gala fund - This fund represents donations received from the Towarzystwo Projektow Edukacyjnych (TPE) Foundation in Poland to help fund a concert, exhibition, and special edition publication for the charity's 75th anniversary.

Special event fund - This fund represents grant income received from the Polish Embassy towards the costs of delivering a Polish Heritage Days event.

WABIM (Wspieranie archiwów, bibliotek i muzeów) - This fund represents a grant received from the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage in Warsaw to fund a project involving the cataloguing and digitisation of the Foundation's archival holdings.

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.

During the year, the charitable company paid grants to the subsidiary undertaking of £120,954 (2024: £66,994).

These financial statements are separate charitable company financial statements for Polish Cultural Foundation Limited.

Details of the charitable company's subsidiaries at 31 December 2025 are as follows: