Local Astronomers Scoop Top National Prize

by Glenn Marsden
(Rawmarsh Rotherham)

Mexborough & Swinton Astronomical Society, a local educational charity, today scooped top prize in a national competition which recognizes best practice in the online publication of charities? annual reports and accounts.

The Charities Online Accounts Awards are sponsored by the Charities Aid Foundation and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales; the aims of the awards are to: increase transparency, reward best practice in financial accounting, and raise the standard of web-based annual reports and accounts.

The Society's Annual Report and Statement of Accounts to March 31st 2008 took top honours in the category of Charities with an income below £100,000 - beating off stiff competition - and improving on the 3rd place they achieved last year.

The Society carried off a certificate and prize money of £1,500 but more importantly, took away valuable feedback as Secretary Shaun O'Dell explains "The money is a great boost to us but the recognition of the hard work we put in to running our Society in an open and transparent way is what really matters. Our supporters can have real confidence in what we do."

The judges were clearly impressed with the Society's efforts commenting "Innovation is still being driven from the smallest end of the market. Mexborough has clearly got someone there going great guns on a voluntary basis with a degree of hyperlinking and html that was missing from charities with far larger budgets. They also had a technical score of 97% which is very good."

Society Chairman Les Marsden says the Society won't be resting on its laurels though "We'll continue to ensure we're following best practice in our management, accounting, and reporting, and I know we'll continue the innovation on our web site to see if we can impress the judges again next year."

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Background Information and Notes to Editors Mexborough & Swinton Astronomical Society is a registered educational charity its objects are to promote education in astronomy and its associated sciences for the public benefit.Contact for further information is Shaun O'Dell on 07714 093723 or shaun@msas.org.ukThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it For further information please visit the Society's web site at www.msas.org.uk.

Further information about the Charities Online Accounts Awards can be found on the Charities Aid Foundation website www.cafonline.org

More information on the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and its technical activities is available from www.icaew.com and on its work regarding charities from www.icaew.com/charity. If you would like to contact the ICAEW directly regarding the Charities Online Accounts Awards, you can email coaa@icaew.comThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or call 020 7920 8692.