KLS-Annual Report-17-18-ONLINE

Finance
Treasurer’s report
Last year was another tough year financially for KLS
with only a very small surplus being made despite only
having a Rabbi for part of the year.
The last time we had a full complement of staff was
in 2015. With the surplus of £18,582 being made in
2016 and a full complement of staff for 2018 we have
budgeted to run a deficit of £14,823. This is to be
financed from the prior years’ surpluses.
Obviously this cannot continue beyond 2018 and
therefore Council are looking into various ways of
raising our funding levels on a sustainable basis.
For 2018 Rabbi René is still on 80% of a full time
commitment but assuming that moves onto 100% as
soon as possible and our staffing levels stay full then
we would need to raise our level of funding by roughly
£30,000 per year.
One major activity to help raise our level of income is
to push harder for new members as subscriptions are
the major part of our income. We are also examining
other ways of raising funds from the building itself and
from various other activities including the 100 club
and donations from members.
Subscriptions
Over many years Brenda Dombey has been the
mainstay of our subscriptions administration but she
has informed Council that 2018 will be her last year.
Council would formally like to thank Brenda for all of
her efforts over many years.
To help the administration of subscriptions Council
have been looking at ways of making the task easier
both for Council and for Members. To this end we
have introduced a new Direct Debit option to pay for
2018 subscriptions. We hope that members will take
advantage of this new option and find it easier each year.
Funeral scheme
Our funeral scheme covers the basic expenses of a
funeral and enables members to be buried at a section
of the Long Ditton cemetery, in Rectory Lane, close
to the synagogue. Although we have been forced by
rising funeral costs to increase the funeral contribution
of members’ subscriptions, we consider the scheme
compares very favourably with those available
commercially.
Bookkeeping
Council would also like to thanks Karen Nicholas for
her great work on our finances and bookkeeping as
without her diligence and hard work our lives would all
be much more difficult.
Fundraising
Fundraising for more specific causes is always
important and a list of our targeted areas is on
the table.
Judaica shop
The Judaica shop, run by Hilary Cohen, provides a
convenient service to members and an additional
source of income for KLS. It has a large stock of cards,
gift wrap, candles and gifts for all Jewish lifecycle
events and festivals, including kippot, tallitot, challah
covers, bread boards, matzah holders, chanukiot,
children’s toys and games. Items not stocked can be
sourced by request. The shop is open whenever the
synagogue office is open (except when outside events
are being held within the synagogue building) and at
other times by arrangement.
24 – KLS Annual Report 2017