ASSOCIATION OF COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITIES
Charity overview
Activities - how the charity spends its money
Working with our members and others to promote and contribute to the provision of excellent higher education for the benefit of all people throughout the Commonwealth and beyond. Administration and funding of student scholarships.
Income and expenditure
Data for financial year ending 31 July 2024
Total income:
£7,747,000
| Donations and legacies | £33.00k | |
| Charitable activities | £6.51m | |
| Other trading activities | £0 | |
| Investments | £963.00k | |
| Other | £243.00k |
Total expenditure:
£10,104,000
| Raising funds | £208.00k | |
| Charitable activities | £8.21m | |
| Other | £1.69m |
£2,460,000 investments gains (losses)
Total income includes £3,990,000 from 5 government contract(s) and £42,000 from 3 government grant(s)
Charitable expenditure
Charitable expenditure with investment gains
Charitable expenditure
Some charities generate all, or a substantial part, of their income from investments which may have been donated to the charity as endowment or set aside by the charity from its own resources in the past. Such investments usually take the form of stocks and shares but may include other assets, such as property, that are capable of generating income and/or capital growth.
In managing their spending and investments charities need to strike a balance between the needs of future and current beneficiaries. They also need to take account of spending commitments that may stretch over a number of future years. To do this, charities will normally adopt an investment strategy designed to generate both income and capital growth. To maximise returns trustees may commit to investment strategies for several years.
Investments can experience large swings in value so trustees may, in a particular year, decide to realise and spend part of their charity’s capital or to invest part of its income.
By clicking the investment gains checkbox the charitable spending bar is adjusted to take account of capital growth as well as income. This shows the balance the charity is striking, between spending on current beneficiaries and retaining resources for future beneficiaries.
| Raising funds and other expenditure | £1.90m | |
| Charitable expenditure | £8.21m |
People
85 Employee(s)
19 Trustee(s)
Employees with total benefits over £60,000
| Number of employees | |
|---|---|
| £60k to £70k | 5 |
| £70k to £80k | 3 |
| £110k to £120k | 1 |
| £140k to £150k | 1 |
Fundraising
Trading
Trustee payments
What, who, how, where
- Education/training
- Other Defined Groups
- Makes Grants To Individuals
- Makes Grants To Organisations
- Provides Services
- Provides Advocacy/advice/information
- Acts As An Umbrella Or Resource Body
- Camden
Governance
- 05 March 1963: Standard registration
- A C U (Working name)
- Bullying and harassment policy and procedures
- Complaints policy and procedures
- Conflicting interests
- Financial reserves policy and procedures
- Internal charity financial controls policy and procedures
- Investing charity funds policy and procedures
- Investment
- Paying staff
- Risk management
- Safeguarding policy and procedures
- Safeguarding vulnerable beneficiaries
- Serious incident reporting policy and procedures
- Social media policy and procedures
- Trustee conflicts of interest policy and procedures
- Trustee expenses policy and procedures
Trustees
Trustees are the people responsible for controlling the work, management and administration of the charity on behalf of its beneficiaries. Generally trustees are treasurer, chair, board member etc. The trustees are responsible for keeping this list up to date and can do this by updating their details as they happen through the online service
19 Trustee(s)
| Name | Role | Date of appointment | Other trusteeships | Reporting status of other trusteeships | ||||
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| Professor Cheryl de la Rey | Chair | 19 August 2020 |
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| Professor Edmund Kieran Burke | Trustee | 28 October 2024 |
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| Professor Shearer Carroll West | Trustee | 01 August 2024 |
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| Professor Prabha Shankar Shukla | Trustee | 01 August 2024 |
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| Professor Chockalingam Raj Kumar | Trustee | 01 August 2024 |
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| Professor Stephen Bruce Dowton | Trustee | 01 August 2024 |
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| Professor Dato' Ir. Dr Azuan Abu Osman Noor | Trustee | 01 August 2024 |
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| Professor Nana Aba Appiah Amfo | Trustee | 01 August 2024 |
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| Professor Benedict Mwavu Mutua | Trustee | 01 August 2024 |
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| Professor Kabiru Aderemi Adeyemo | Trustee | 01 August 2023 |
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| Professor Hina Tayyaba Khalil | Trustee | 01 August 2023 |
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| Professor Sibongile Muthwa | Trustee | 01 August 2023 |
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| Professor Wendy Thomson CBE | Trustee | 01 August 2022 |
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| Professor Abiodun Humphrey Adebayo | Trustee | 01 August 2022 |
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| Professor Sir Hilary McDonald Beckles | Trustee | 01 August 2022 |
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| Professor Barnabas Nawangwe | Trustee | 19 August 2020 |
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| Professor Davinder Pal Singh Ahluwalia | Trustee | 19 August 2020 |
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| Dr Rhonda L Lenton | Trustee | 15 July 2019 |
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| Professor Amanda J Broderick | Trustee | 15 July 2019 |
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Financial history
Financial period end date
| Income / Expenditure | 31/07/2020 | 31/07/2021 | 31/07/2022 | 31/07/2023 | 31/07/2024 | ||
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Total gross income | £10.06m | £9.87m | £10.43m | £11.13m | £7.75m | |
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Total expenditure | £11.16m | £10.92m | £12.04m | £12.28m | £10.10m | |
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Income from government contracts | £6.36m | £6.54m | £6.70m | £7.40m | £3.99m | |
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Income from government grants | £978.00k | £893.00k | £497.00k | £160.00k | £42.00k | |
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Income - Donations and legacies | £81.00k | £30.00k | £132.00k | £876.00k | £33.00k | |
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Income - Other trading activities | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | |
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Income - Charitable activities | £9.02m | £8.90m | £9.34m | £9.27m | £6.51m | |
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Income - Endowments | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | |
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Income - Investment | £962.00k | £936.00k | £964.00k | £984.00k | £963.00k | |
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Income - Other | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £243.00k | |
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Income - Legacies | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £33.00k | |
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Expenditure - Charitable activities | £10.96m | £10.66m | £11.76m | £12.05m | £8.21m | |
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Expenditure - Raising funds | £196.00k | £264.00k | £283.00k | £229.00k | £208.00k | |
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Expenditure - Governance | £60.00k | £19.00k | £20.00k | £98.00k | £57.00k | |
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Expenditure - Grants institution | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | |
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Expenditure - Investment management | £196.00k | £264.00k | £283.00k | £229.00k | £208.00k | |
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Expenditure - Other | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £1.69m |
Assets and liabilities
Definitions for assets and liabilities
These are assets, other than investments, which are held for more than 12 months and used to run and administer the charity such as buildings, offices, exhibits and fixtures and fittings.
Long term InvestmentsInvestments are assets held by the charity with the sole aim of generating income which will be used for their charitable purposes such as deposit accounts, shares, rental property and unit trusts.
Investment assets are re-valued every year and included in the balance sheet at their current market value.
Long term investments are held for more than 12 months.
These are assets held generally for less than 12 months such as cash and bank balances, debtors, investments to be sold within the coming year and trading stock.
Defined benefit pension scheme asset or liabilityThis is a surplus or deficit in any defined benefit pension scheme operated and represents a potential long-term asset or liability.
Total liabilitiesThese are all the amounts owed by the charity at the balance sheet date to third parties such as bills due but not yet paid, bank overdrafts and loans and mortgages.
| Asset / Liability | 31/07/2020 | 31/07/2021 | 31/07/2022 | 31/07/2023 | 31/07/2024 | ||
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Own use assets | £870.00k | £684.00k | £447.00k | £211.00k | £134.00k | |
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Long-term investments | £31.47m | £35.42m | £33.94m | £32.41m | £32.79m | |
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Other assets | £2.26m | £3.20m | £2.22m | £2.69m | £1.89m | |
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Defined benefit pension scheme asset or liability | -£471.00k | -£435.00k | -£369.00k | -£310.00k | £0 | |
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Total liabilities | £2.25m | £3.04m | £2.42m | £2.56m | £1.96m |
Accounts and annual returns
| Title | Reporting year | Date received | Received | Download |
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| Annual return | 31 July 2024 | 20 May 2025 | On time | |
| Accounts and TAR | 31 July 2024 | 20 May 2025 | On time | Download Open in new window |
| Annual return | 31 July 2023 | 13 June 2024 | 13 days late | |
| Accounts and TAR | 31 July 2023 | 13 June 2024 | 13 days late | Download Open in new window |
| Annual return | 31 July 2022 | 17 April 2023 | On time | |
| Accounts and TAR | 31 July 2022 | 17 April 2023 | On time | Download Open in new window |
| Annual return | 31 July 2021 | 20 May 2022 | On time | |
| Accounts and TAR |
31 July 2021
(These accounts |
20 May 2022 | On time | Download Open in new window |
| Annual return | 31 July 2020 | 07 May 2021 | On time | |
| Accounts and TAR | 31 July 2020 | 07 May 2021 | On time | Download Open in new window |