2019-20 Annual Report Final - Flipbook - Page 14
Report by
National Chair
Commenting on the
year ended on
31 January 2020
seems a more than
usual historical
exercise, given the
viral tsunami that
bore down on the
world immediately
thereafter. Suffice
to say that, like
everywhere else,
the Churchill Trust’s
environment has
changed significantly.
However, I am pleased to record
that the Trust, led by our CEO
Adam Davey, responded quickly,
implementing a crisis management
plan, and placing principal priority
on the well-being of our Fellows,
especially those travelling or about
to travel. Fellows already overseas
returned home, some near the end
of their studies, others (unfortunately)
just starting, and future travel was
placed on hold pending clarity in
regard to the duration and spread
of the corona virus. Needless to say,
this has been highly inconvenient to
all concerned, but the feedback from
Fellows has been uniformly positive.
We will resume “normal” operations
when it is safe to do so and 2019
Fellows will have an additional 12
months to complete their travels;
hopefully by then international air
travel will again be feasible. Quite
apart from the difficulty of travelling,
and the restrictions in place, it
would have been impractical to
have attempted to carry on in the
face of the coronavirus, as many
of those about to be visited by our
Fellows were no longer available,
or conferences they were planning
to attend had been cancelled or
deferred.
Meanwhile, everyone has necessarily
become proficient with remote/
video conferencing, staff have been
working from home for the most
part, and the momentum of the Trust
has continued to the extent possible.
12
2019-20 Annual Report
David Trebeck
Inevitably, the Trust’s finances have
been adversely affected by the
economic damage being wrought,
but fortunately the strong financial
buffer built up over many years
by sound financial management
has placed us in a relatively good
position. At the time of writing,
market volatility continues, so we do
not yet know how things will unfold
over the immediate or medium term
future. However, it is highly likely
that our financial position will have
deteriorated during the 2020-21
year.
We wondered whether applicant
numbers in 2020 might be
constrained, perhaps severely so,
by the general dislocation, but this
has not proven to be the case, with
over 1100 being received, a most
encouraging outcome.
Now, back to the 2019-20 year!
At its meeting in September last year,
the Board approved the awarding
of 115 Fellowships, with $3.4 million
being allocated to meet the costs of
these Fellowships, an average of over
$29,000.
Financially, the year ending January
2020 was one of continued
strong performance. The Trust
generated a net profit (essentially,
investment income, donations etc,
less Fellowship and administration
expenditure) of $1.8 million,
compared with $5.3 million the
prior year. However, after taking into
account changes in the net value
of its investments and gains on the