Treasurer Message – September 2023

Your Secretary will have received a copy of the Federation’s Financial Statement with this month’s Newsletter. It will be presented at the Annual Meeting in October.
Karen and I met with our accountant last week and although we are neither penniless nor homeless our finances are still some way from being in the relatively comfortable position we enjoyed prior to the pandemic and the cost of living crisis. Our assets are not in a perilous state but he suggested the need for long-term planning in order to halt the decline in those assets.
We looked carefully at where money could be saved, difficult in the current climate, and how monies might be made to compensate for the decline in income in the last 2-3 years. (Two Centenaries, National’s and Northumberland’s were also costly years prior to this). There had been progress made this year but we will need to continue to cost Federation events very carefully. We would anticipate that those events will continue to provide value for money but increased costs have to be reflected in what is charged for any event.
The Northumberland Federation is an essential part of our WI experience. The Board of Trustees and Committee Chairman thank you for the support given by so many of you at this year’s events and know that you will continue to do so.