As you can see, the total income for 2002 was little changed from 2001. There were two significant changes in the sources of our income. First individual donations increased from £596,000 in 2001 to £711,000 in 2002 – an increase of 19%. On the other hand, legacies in 2002 were down by 70% against the level of 2001. If anyone would like to leave a legacy to support the ongoing work of Crosslinks, please contact us or click here 

One important feature of our financial position however does stand out – 90% of our income depends on donations and legacies from individuals and donations from parishes. We do not receive grants from the central funds of the Church of England. We do not have a permanent endowment which contributes hundreds of thousands of pounds of investment income each year to support our work unlike some other charities involved in mission work. Our work relies each year on individuals and parishes continuing to support Crosslinks and our Mission Partners.

Total expenditure in 2002 was £104,000 higher than in 2001 as a result of having to increase our reserves held to cover pensions for mission service before 1972 - this cost £172,000. Worth noting are the low level of fundraising costs at only 6% of total expenditure and management and administration at only 2% of total expenditure.

Expenditure was Greater than Income

In both 2002 and 2001 “ordinary” expenditure was greater than “ordinary” income. In 2002 the “ordinary” deficit was £348,000 against £230,000 in 2001. Taking out the increase in pension provision of £172,000 which we hope will not be a annual item, the “ordinary” deficit for 2002 was £175,000 against £230,000 in 2001.

The £175,000 deficit would have been a lot worse without the special donations which many of our supporters gave in response to our appeal in October 2002. Thank you once again.

However, Crosslinks cannot go on spending more than it receives each year as, before very long, our reserves will run out and drastic cut backs will be required. This situation will be well understood by anyone who has ever had to manage a personal or family budget: you cannot go on spending more than you earn – soon your savings run out and you are forced to cut back. 

Against this financial backdrop, you will understand our efforts to boost income and reduce support costs in order to try to balance the books.

Reserves

At the end of 2002 Crosslinks’s total unrestricted reserves were £995,000 which is less than six months of our annual budgeted expenditure: this is the bare minimum we need in order to provide a degree of financial security to all those who depend on the society for their support.

Budget for 2003

The budget approved by the Council aims for a breakeven – “ordinary” income and “ordinary” expenditure in balance – for 2003. To achieve this we are trying to increase our income and control our costs. However, in faith and trust, we are anticipating that the number of Crosslinks mission partners will increase during the year – we are relying on our supporters to provide the financial support to make this possible.

This financial information is taken from the annual accounts of Crosslinks for the year ended 31 December 2002. The purpose of publishing this is to share information  with our supporters. This information is not a summarised version of the annual accounts for 2002 and does not intend to contain sufficient information to permit a full understanding of the affairs of the charity.

The full statutory accounts will be submitted to the Charity Commission. The external auditors Mazars have made an unqualified report on the statutory accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 1993.

For further information, the full annual report and accounts which includes the external auditors report may be obtained from Crosslinks, 251 Lewisham Way, London SE4 1XF

May 2003 Crosslinks' Annual Review index