A VIEW FROM THE TREASURER’S DESK   This Newsletter, instead of lots of numbers I’m    going to give you the view from the Treasurer’s Desk-although in spite of GIN’s progress and greater office space, no such desk exists. At current HQ the space I fight to occupy is actually owned by Lynne and also grabbed by volunteers, visitors and some- times our auditor. If I do get settled, I must cope with Lurchy, who prowls the whole office making sure that he has first bite at anything edible, also getting noisy when anyone rings our doorbell. When I do get a chance to reflect quietly on GIN’s financial position, 2008 was a good year, although supporter income is down and the last three months, which include Christmas, were disappointing, as the poor economic climate in UK took its toll on GIN. This is common to most charities, we know, but worse still for GIN, the slowdown in income came at the same time as the slump in the value of the £, and as most of our aid to galgos is spent in Euros we have seen our costs rise (comparing January 2008 with January 2009)  by 40%. GIN still has adequate reserves so we will not cut-back on our help for galgos, but you will see elsewhere in this Newsletter that  Carolyn has written about the      veterinary bills we pay in Spain, and how we need supporter involvement in this area so that even in these tough times GIN can expand its work in Spain. The old British hate figures used to be double-glazing salesmen and estate agents-in 2009 it’s greedy MPs and bankers! While Gordon Brown has unlimited billions to spend on saving the banks, he helps charities more modestly via Gift Aid. This was introduced by the Labour Government and does produce millions of pounds of tax rebates for registered charities. GIN’s tax rebates in 2008 totalled £8800, around 40% of the amount GIN could get if all our supporters signed a Gift Aid declaration. Some of our supporters think Gift Aid is complex and even costs them money- neither is true. Let us suppose that over the course of a year a lady supporter gives GIN £60-perhaps in a number of donations or even by £5 per month to the sponsorship scheme. If this supporter signs a Gift Aid Declaration, the Inland Revenue deems that she has paid GIN £75, but deducted £15 of tax at the standard rate. As we always advise, don’t sign the Declaration unless you       8 Drawing by Monica Monti