Anonymous donor leaves Trocaire a bequest of €1 million

Overseas charity Trócaire benefited from a bequest of almost €1 million from an anonymous donor last year.

Trócaire is the overseas charity of the Catholic Church and the agency's 2012-2013 annual report confirmed the amount received in bequests in the year to the end of February 2013 almost doubled from €2.38 million the previous year to €4.16 million.

The chief factor behind the increase was the once-off bequest of almost €1 million.

'Extremely grateful'

A spokesman for the agency said yesterday: “The value of bequests varies from year to year but last year we were extremely fortunate and grateful to receive a single bequest of almost €1 million. To receive such a large sum is a tremendous affirmation of the faith placed in Trócaire by our supporters.”

However, the report shows Trócaire last year recorded a loss of €4.4 million following a surplus of €5.5 million in 2011. The charity remains cash-rich with €45.6 million in the bank.

Explaining the loss, the spokesman said: “The difference is accounted for by the fact Trócaire did not launch any emergency appeal last year.

"In 2011, the emergency appeal for east Africa saw the public donate €10 million. Trócaire's response to the drought and famine in east Africa is to build long-term resilience and so a portion of this money was spent in 2012 as we continued to support vulnerable people in the region.

Lenten income

“Last year our Lenten income and grants received through institutional donors both rose . . . Our income and expenditure for 2012/13 was in line with our budget for the financial year.”

The figures show Trócaire raised €60 million in revenues compared to €66 million in 2011 and spent €64.7 million compared to €61.3 million in 2011. It raised €8.6 million from its Lenten campaign and spent €4.8 million on fundraising and publicity.

The amount spent on charitable works last year topped €59.4 million – an increase of €3.9 million on 2011’s spend.