## **Women’s Engineering Society**
**Annual Report** 2020/21
**www.wes.org.uk**
**Women’s Engineering Society Report of the Trustees 2020-21**
## **WES: INSPIRING WOMEN IN ENGINEERING**
The Women’s Engineering Society is a charity and a professional network of women engineers, scientists and technologists offering inspiration, support and professional development. Working in partnership, we support and inspire women to achieve as engineers, scientists and as leaders; we encourage the education of engineering; and we support companies with gender diversity and inclusion.
## **CONTENTS**
Introduction from the President ����������������������������������������������������� **5** ��������������������������������� **7** Report from the Chief Executive Officer WES Heritage ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� **8** WES Membership **9** Supporting Women Engineering Students ����������������������������� **12** Corporate Partners �������������������������������������������������������������������������������� **14** Projects ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� **15** International Women in Engineering Day (INWED) ������ **16** Top 50 Women in Engineering 2020 ���������������������������������������� **18** Judges of the WE50 Awards ��������������������������������������������������������� **20** Awards ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� **21** Annual Report of the Trustees for 2020-2021 �������������������� **23** Financial Review ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������� **26** Structure, Governance and Management **28** Report and Financial Statements ������������������������������������������������ **33**
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**Women’s Engineering Society Report of the Trustees 2020-21**
“I know that the new strategy will set us up very well for the next few years”
## **INTRODUCTION FROM THE PRESIDENT**
This Annual Report sees us starting our second century as a society which is a remarkable milestone. Therefore, with a great sense of purpose we started the year very proactively reviewing our governance structure and the Society’s Memorandum and Articles to ensure they allowed us to work as effectively as possible for our members and made sense for today’s ways of working. Little did we know that what we considered to be today’s way of working would change quite so dramatically in this year!
Following this positive start to 2020 the world rapidly descended into turmoil and tragedy with the onset of the COVID pandemic and a punishing lockdown. Who would have believed how much could change in such a short space of time? One significant point that I continually reflect on is that engineers and scientists were right at the heart of many strands of the COVID response: protecting us against this unwelcome adversary; keeping us connected in these troubling times; and of course, figuring out a way to combat the enemy. As a charitable Society we too had to figure out a way to not only endure through the crisis but also to provide as much support as possible to our members and partners. I was really impressed by the great work of the team and many volunteers who swiftly moved our event programme online. I am incredibly proud of, and grateful to staff, Trustees, Members and Partners of WES who enabled us to not only continue with all our work remotely, but also to expand its reach. It was incredible to see how well the team managed to set up a hugely successful and well received INWED event and still present the WE50 Women in Sustainability! The Partner events have also been very well supported and received great feedback, which is fabulous to see. The ever-increasing number of partners is testament to the impact of our work with partners.
One other key moment for the Society was the finalisation of the work that we kicked the year off with when we passed the updated Articles and voted in the new governance structure at the EGM in June. The transition from the more formal Council to more adaptive Directors’ Committees will help to drive growth and provide more opportunities for members to get involved so that we deliver the programmes and events that they value. I have no doubt that we will continue to grow and evolve over the coming years with this new construct.
One unexpected benefit of the enduring COVID challenge through 2020 was the ability for our events to be more inclusive to members who would not routinely have travelled to our events. This was definitely seen at the EGM also at the AGM where we welcomed the new Board of Trustees which consisted of a healthy mix of some familiar faces (mine included) but also some new Board members. We are all extremely grateful to the long serving Trustees who stood down this year for their unswerving support and dedication to WES over many years.
One inevitable but challenging outcome of the pandemic was the extra strain on some staff; and we sadly had some departures of long serving staff members. Everyone was grateful to Roz and Jacqui for their help and efforts over several years; but particularly Cath who has been a mainstay of WES and was indeed the only member of staff for many years. I know we will all miss her sunny outlook and positivity.
With the new Board of Trustees in place we turned our focus to a strategy review as not only was it due to be refreshed, but also given the lessons learnt through COVID it was evident that some revised approaches may well be needed! Insights were gathered from all our stakeholders with a series of surveys and interviews which painted a very rich picture for us. A series of workshops were then run to set out future direction. The challenges of COVID have of course played a part in shaping our thinking about what we can do and the kind of new offerings and services that will be impactful for our Members and Partners – it has really made us reflect on what is feasible and expand our thinking. I know that the new strategy will set us up very well for the next few years.
## **Dawn Childs**
**President, Women’s Engineering Society**
Dawn Childs, **FREng MA MDA CEng FICE FIMechE FRAeS FWES President, Women’s Engineering Society**
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**Women’s Engineering Society Report of the Trustees 2020-21**
“Despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, WES has had many successes in the last year”
## **Elizabeth Donnelly**
**Chief Executive Officer, Women’s Engineering Society**
## **REPORT FROM THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER**
When I wrote my report for the 2019-20 financial year, we were just heading into a national lockdown, and I did not imagine that I would again be writing this year’s report from my desk at home. I have not seen anyone from the Women’s Engineering Society in person for over a year.
Despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, WES has had many successes in the last year and some of the initiatives we introduced in response to lockdown will continue. We welcomed new partners who look to WES for advice and support in employing women, and we welcome the new Members they bring.
Our theme for 2020 was Shape The World in response to the Climate Emergency, because it will be engineers who provide the solutions the world needs. We celebrated the Top 50 Women in Engineering by focusing on Sustainability. We found women engineers of all ages and experience who were not only responding with ingenuity and passion to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals but were also encouraging and supporting other women to do the same. We could not meet in person to celebrate, so we posted trophies to the winners and asked them to pose in the outfits they would have worn to our traditional Afternoon Tea celebration. These amazing women also sent us photographs of their workwear to show the world that engineering doesn’t always involve wearing a hard hat and hi-visibility clothing.
International Women in Engineering Day 2020 was held entirely online, and we were delighted that we extended our social media reach from a potential 63 million in 2019 to 103 million. Not only that, but the INWED webinar attracted almost 500 guests – something that would have been impossible in person, and we will be extending the use of webinars in order to reach more people.
Our Student Conference and the Caroline Haslett Lecture, given by Amanda Fisher, CEO of Amey plc, were also held online, and we were glad we could continue our work with young people, though we could discern signs of webinar fatigue towards Christmas. As such we will be making future online events shorter and more interactive.
We also held an Extraordinary General Meeting online to update our Articles and change the terms of the Board of Directors. Moving to staggered three-year terms will give the Board long-term stability, whilst also welcoming fresh faces annually.
Sadly, we said goodbye to four of the team in 2020: Jo Weaver, Roz Hamilton, Jacqui Hawkes and Cath Heslop. They will all be missed, and we wish them well in the future. However, the beginning of 2021 saw two new staff members join us: Tristan Holland as Membership Manager, and Anna Pluck as my PA and Administrator. Both have settled in extremely well and it’s a pleasure to have them working for us, even if it is peculiar that we have never met in person.
We have been fortunate in knowing that we will be working remotely until at least January 2022 because the premises we work in are being refurbished. While this has given us greater certainty than many others who are dependent on the government relaxing lockdown rules, it is still a long time to work in solitary conditions. We hope to at least meet up in person in a central venue for a team meeting before too long.
My thanks go to everyone at WES, whose support has enabled us to continue our great work during a very challenging year.
## Elizabeth Donnelly, **MSc FRSA MRAeS MINCOSE Chief Executive Officer**
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**Women’s Engineering Society Report of the Trustees 2020-21**
**Women’s Engineering Society Report of the Trustees 2020-21**
## **WES HERITAGE**
Following the great success of the Centenary Trail project, the decision was taken to create a permanent Heritage Officer role to continue the essential curation and promotion of the Women’s Engineering Society’s history and legacy. WES was delighted to welcome Helen Close, Project Manager of the Centenary Tail project, in this role.
## **WES MEMBERSHIP**
## WES offers four types of Membership as follows:
**Individual Members** who pay an annual fee for Membership. There are various classes, including Associate Membership, Student Membership and Concessionary rates.
**Supporters** receive our newsletter but pay no fee and are not entitled to participate in WES governance.
Figure 1: Workers at Holmes and Leather © Alamy
## **Centenary Trail Project**
The WES Centenary Trail project, started in 2019, was finalised in April 2021 following three extensions on the original deadline. The project was extended initially due to a change in project manager and subsequently due to the impact of the pandemic causing delays in completion. Despite these delays, the project was still delivered on budget.
The overall objective of the project was to research and highlight the lives, careers, and achievements of historical members of the Women’s Engineering Society, creating an interactive map with pins linking to Wikipedia and Wikidata pages about the members. The WES Centenary world map featured over 360 pins, a significantly larger figure than the proposed target of 200.
The project also saw a higher social media profile than expected, with Twitter in particular reaching new audiences, recruiting new Wikipedia editors, linking with more experienced ones, and making new connections in the field of the history of women in engineering.
## **Verena Holmes Diaries**
The diaries and letters of Verena Holmes, WES President in 1931 and an influential mid-20th century engineer were shared with WES, when the current owner, a relative of a friend of Holmes, heard about the Centenary project. The diaries document the periods of 1945-47, which covers the formation of the engineering firm Holmes and Leather, and 1956-58. Content from the post-war diaries has already been used in several blogs and presentations and the transcriptions will be invaluable for future research.
**Sponsored Members** are supported by their employer or education facility who pay their Membership fees. They have all the rights of individual Members.
**Patrons, Honorary Members and Fellows** are individuals who are invited to join WES due to their place in the engineering community, their contribution to engineering, or in the case of Fellows, have shown meritorious achievements in engineering. Fellows pay a higher fee to the Society whereas Patrons and Honorary Members do not pay fees. The Associate Fellowship was introduced in 2020 and the first Associate Fellows, Emma Nicholson, Vince Pizzoni, Will Whittow and Fiona Hopkinson, were welcomed.
## **Table 1:** WES Membership Figures 2020-21
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% change
Membership Type March 2020 March 2021
from 2020
Members 1,095 882 [1] -19%
Supporters 1,207 711 -41%
Sponsored 447 542 [2] 21%
Patrons, Honorary Members
59 86 [3] 46%
and Fellows
TOTAL 2,808 2,221 -21%
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1 Since changes in WES’ Articles in June 2020, members who are more than six months in arrears are now removed from the official figures, whereas previously they would have remained in the database until they were more than 15 months in arrears. The significant decline in Members and Supporters over the past financial year is entirely due to the database clean-up.
2 As more partners have joined WES, so the number of Sponsored Members has increased.
3 A concerted effort has been made to recruit more Fellows, and the changes in the Articles now permit Fellows of Professional Engineering Institutions to become WES Fellows automatically.
Figure 2: Verena Holmes and Ruth Faris ©Alamy
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**Women’s Engineering Society Report of the Trustees 2020-21**
## **Regional Clusters**
WES has regional clusters to support Members at a local level and this work is undertaken through the volunteer efforts of our Cluster Coordinators. WES is sharing practice across the UK to encourage increased regional networking including with other regional groups, networks and local companies.
## As of the end of March 2021, there were nine active Clusters:
Bristol, Bath, Gloucestershire & Somerset Merseyside & Wirral South Coast Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire & Midlands Tees & Tyneside Buckinghamshire Scotland Wales
London
## **Membership Engagement**
WES provides three Boards for Members starting out in engineering, the **Early Careers Board** , the **University Groups’ Board** and in 2020-21 we introduced the **Apprentices’ Board** to support the growing number of apprentices who have become WES Members. These Boards give young women valuable experience in committee work and governance, allowing Members to progress to the Directors’ Committees and the Board of Directors, which also assists them in their work life. WES benefits from the perspective and viewpoint of our younger Members, giving us increased diversity.
## **Apprentices’ Board**
The WES Apprentice Board (WES APB) was formed in June 2020. With a wide range of individuals from different schemes, companies and backgrounds, they have completed a year of virtual-only work and interaction. Their key achievement this year has been planning a podcast mini-series, to be launched on INWED 2021 with weekly episodes to follow, based around different topics affecting young women coming into engineering apprenticeships.
## **Early Careers Board**
The Early Careers Board (ECB) comprises 12 WES Members in the early stages of their career, pursuing their personal passions through suitable outlets supporting WES’ ethos and mission statement. They represent the voice of early career WES Members and act as role models for women and girls who are considering a career in engineering. The WES ECB creates and supports projects which promote both inclusivity in engineering and career opportunities in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). In the five years since the WES ECB was formed, it has been both a partner and inventor of many projects including the WES Lottie Tour, WES 100 Violets Challenge, Draw an Engineer, Essay Competition, Engineering a Better World poster and has created its own ECB YouTube channel.
This year, the ECB ran a poster competition for 11–18-year-olds, and a Draw an Engineer competition for 5-11 year olds. Draw an Engineer has been a huge success, with an incredible 247 entries.
The ECB YouTube channel has been reaching more viewers over the last year, thanks to a combination of ECB Profile Videos, and STEM Challenge Videos. A huge amount of work has been put into these videos and they have been enjoyable both to create and to watch. A particular highlight was the Christmas STEM challenge that the ECB completed together on a video call.
Applications to join the ECB reached record numbers this year. This is testament to WES’ strong links with partner organisations, and the Board’s work increasing their reach on social media. The ECB is grateful for the hard work of those members that have stepped down and is excited to welcome new members.
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**Women’s Engineering Society Report of the Trustees 2020-21**
**Women’s Engineering Society Report of the Trustees 2020-21**
## **SUPPORTING WOMEN ENGINEERING STUDENTS**
## **University Groups’ Board**
The WES University Groups Board (UGB) is made up of representatives of 12 WES Affiliated University Student Groups from across the country. Chaired this year by Helena Dodd, the group meets quarterly to share best practice, aid networking and provide valuable feedback to WES on issues relevant to women engineering students as well as assisting in the planning of the WES Student Conference.
They self-motivate, self-organise and self-deliver their own projects which have included articles for the newsletter, members area content and the INWED University Poster Competition.
Recent articles for the WES website include Founding a Student Group – FAQs on how to start a WES student group written by a student group, a hints and tips article for mentoring and a guidance document about studying abroad. There has been a slight increase in the UGB numbers, with the majority of active groups being represented on the Board. The UGB also has a presentation slot at the WES Student Conference to inform the attendees about the University affiliated groups and their benefits.
## **Post A-Level Support Hub**
In 2020, the government decided to cancel A-Level examinations because of the disruption to learning caused by the pandemic. The temporary measures put in place to assess students were a cause of concern for many. In response, WES published a comprehensive guide for A-Level students in August 2020 detailing how grades were reached, and how to appeal them, along with information on next steps, available university courses and apprenticeships, and advice from the WES Community.
## **12th Student Conference**
The 2020 WES Virtual Student Conference took place on 20 November 2020 with a full programme of talks, discussions and professional development and training opportunities. In addition to the formal presentations, break-out sessions and online chat rooms hosted by volunteers from WES Student Groups, Early Careers Board and University Groups Board enabled attendees to meet and chat during breaks. The conference attracted nearly 300 attendees representing engineering faculties from 19 UK universities, across many disciplines and all years of study. The conference was sponsored by BAE Systems, Crane Building Services and Utilities, and FM Global.
## **WES Affiliated Student Groups**
There were 17 WES-affiliated Student Groups in 2020-21:
|Aston|Nottingham|University College London|
|---|---|---|
|Bath|Open|University of the West of England|
|Glasgow|Plymouth|Warwick|
|Hertfordshire|Queen Mary, London|Welbeck|
|Leeds|Surrey|York|
|Loughborough|Swansea||
## **WES Lottie Tour**
With fewer site visits taking place and less time spent in laboratories, the 2020 WES Lottie Tour sponsored by GKN, had to adapt. Rather than sharing dolls as in previous years, volunteers were given the option to purchase their own doll at a discounted rate. Alternatively, volunteers could sign up to participate in a virtual tour where they could download images of Lottie and create their own photos without even having to leave their homes. Volunteers got hugely creative this year with Lottie getting involved in some incredible DIY projects, lockdown adventures and the odd Teams call here and there.
Numerous engineering companies took part, including GKN, Amazon, Arup, BAE Systems, Airbus, Hitachi, WSP and Ramboll, along with UK universities including the University of Exeter, University of Warwick, Loughborough University, and the University of Southampton.
Figure 3: Lottie working from home
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**Women’s Engineering Society Report of the Trustees 2020-21**
**Women’s Engineering Society Report of the Trustees 2020-21**
## **CORPORATE PARTNERS**
The WES Partnership Programme enables organisations to support women engineers and their own diversity and inclusion programmes. Benefits include:
- Knowledge and experience sharing opportunities among Partners
- Support for developing an organisation’s Diversity and Inclusion strategy
- Opportunities to raise the company profile as an investor in women
Partners join WES of their own accord, often approaching the Society for support and advice and becoming partners as a result. It has been rare for WES to intentionally recruit partners, yet the numbers of partners continue to increase steadily, rising to 98 by the end of March 2021. In comparison, there were 42 partners in August 2018 – an increase of 133.33% in barely two and a half years.
## **Table 2:** WES Partnership Figures 2020-21
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% change on
Partnership Type 31 March 2020 31 March 2021
2021
Event Partner 1 1 0%
Company Partner 40 46 13.95%
Company Plus Partner 5 6 33.33%
Education Partner 21 21 0%
Not For Profit 7 10 35.29%
SME Partner 9 12 28.57%
Start Up 0 2 200%
TOTAL 83 98 16.57%
**----- End of picture text -----**
Bearing in mind the number of women who start their own business in order to flourish as engineers and entrepreneurs, WES introduced the Start-up Partnership in 2020. This introductory level is offered for 12 months during the company’s first three years of incorporation, with the assumption that the company will then move onto the SME Partner level. Progress will be reviewed annually to see if this is a viable option.
WES launched monthly webinars in April 2020 to enable Partners to stay connected during the pandemic and to explore topics that matter to them. Following live broadcast, the webinars have been archived on a dedicated YouTube channel. The webinars that took place in 2020-21 were:
- Inclusive Leaders & Recruitment Retention
- Returners
- Implementing Diversity Networks in • Recruitment, Retention and Creating and your Organisation Developing an Inclusive EDI Action Plan
- Diversity & Inclusion Strategy
- Smallpeice Trust and Stemazing: Strategy for Engineering Early Engagement
- Using the Athena Swan Framework
- Implementing Health and Wellbeing in your Organisation
- Sharing Diversity Success & Why Confidence Matters
- The Power of Difference in STEM
- Early Engagement and Leadership
Following an overwhelmingly positive response, the webinar series has become an ongoing initiative and will continue beyond the pandemic. As part of our increased support for partners, we also introduced the Partner section of the website in 2020, to include downloadable resources, access to the partner webinar archives and FAQs among many other things.
## **PROJECTS**
## **Centenary Engineering Survey**
In conjunction with the Royal Academy of Engineering, WES funded a survey of 6,229 UK Engineers, with 56% of responses from men and 43% from women carried out by Katalytik. The Survey was open for six months in late 2019 and WES and the Academy received the first draft of the final report in mid-February 2020. The pandemic delayed the finalising of the report, and it was anticipated that the findings would be published in early 2021. However, the difficulties of remote working meant the report was further delayed and the report is now expected to be published in Autumn 2021.
## **MentorSET**
**MentorSET** is a unique cross-sector mentoring scheme developed by the Women’s Engineering Society in 1998 to support women working in STEM. The scheme provides independent mentors who understand the challenges faced by women engineers and who provide support and advice.
WES continues to offer mentoring to individual Members for a fee as well as managing the mentoring programme for STEM Returners and as part of its Company Plus Partnerships.
The scheme is now provided by Mentorloop, which has allowed WES to offer a rate of £48 for members and £120 for non-members, encouraging women to join WES to take advantage of the reduced fee.
The scheme had a total of 132 participants comprised of 77 mentors and 41 mentees, with positive user feedback including “By choosing my own mentor I feel more invested in the relationship” and “We both feel we’re getting what we need from the relationship”.
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**Women’s Engineering Society Report of the Trustees 2020-21**
**Women’s Engineering Society Report of the Trustees 2020-21**
## **INTERNATIONAL WOMEN IN ENGINEERING DAY (INWED)**
INWED is an international awareness campaign which raises the profile of women in engineering and focuses attention on the amazing career opportunities available in this exciting industry. Since its origins on the 23 June 2014 to celebrate the 95th anniversary of the Women’s Engineering Society INWED has grown enormously, receiving UNESCO patronage in 2016. The interest and enthusiasm from our international audience and participants has grown INWED considerably to the global phenomenon it is today.
The 2020 theme was **#ShapeTheWorld** , celebrating how engineers can use their skills and knowledge to make the world a better place. Following the previous success of INWED, the same levels of celebration and coverage were expected, but INWED20’s future became a lot more uncertain when the world was suddenly struck by the global COVID-19 pandemic. Determined to make the campaign another great success, resources were adapted to support home learning, home working and social distancing on a worldwide scale. Digital tools and platforms were explored to enable INWED20 to still make an impact and despite the potential setbacks, INWED20 had a **potential reach of 103 million** , far exceeding the 63 million enjoyed in 2019.
- During the month of June 2020, the INWED website was viewed over **56.5k times** , with **33,263 unique visits** .
- **International events** were registered with INWED in countries such as Canada, Japan, Hong Kong, Nepal, Nigeria, Ecuador, USA, and Australia.
- The 2020 campaign had a potential reach of **103 million users** , up from 63 million in 2019.
## **INWED20 was sponsored by:**
- INWED 2020 had direct engagement with **75.4K** up from 40K in 2019.
Boeing Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula Royal Air Force One Team Dialog Semiconductor Sonnedix National Structural Integrity Engineering Construction Industry V12 Footwear Research Centre (NSIRC) Training Board (ECITB) Wiley OPITO GCHQ Royal Academy of Engineering Institute of Refrigeration (IOR)
- Twitter followers on the @INWED1919 account increased by **1,228 since INWED 2019**
- The campaign had top tweets from **The Royal Family** , **Labour Party** , **Mercedes-Petronas F1 Team UK Space Agency** , **Rolls Royce Cars** , **Red Arrows and NASA** .
- INWED Instagram followers doubled from **400 to 875 followers** since the account launched in 2019.
- At noon (GMT) on 23 June (official INWED day), #INWED20 was **trending number 1 in the UK on Twitter** .
- **1,000 individuals** signed up to access the **resource pages** of the INWED website.
- Over **200 entries** were received for the three INWED 2020 poster competitions.
- **In the press** : in 2020 ‘International Women in Engineering Day’ was reported in local, national and international press and online media sites, plus a multitude of company websites. There was coverage in the broadsheets in the UK, in South African press, Australia and the United States.
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**Women’s Engineering Society Report of the Trustees 2020-21**
## **The 2020 WE50 (in alphabetical order):**
## **TOP 50 WOMEN IN ENGINEERING 2020**
The theme for 2020 was **Sustainability** to celebrate women engineers who have contributed to sustainability within engineering and related roles.
The judges stated that the standard of the nominations was extremely high, highlighted the exceptional attainments made by women in sustainability and is testament to the difference that female engineers are making in shaping the world.
Sally Sudworth, the Environment Agency’s National Programme Manager for Asset Management & FCRM Sustainability Lead (Net Zero Carbon Programme), WES Honorary Secretary and WE50 Head Judge said, “The panel of judges was thrilled with the outstanding achievements demonstrated by all of the winners and by the difference being made by the candidates”.
In 2020, the presentation of the awards took place online. Winners had trophies sent directly to their homes and posed for a picture with their trophy (as seen in the montage below).
## Yasmin Ali,
**Energy Innovation Project Manager, UK Government, Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy**
Laura Bishop, **Director, Infinitas Design Ltd**
Laura Brown,
**Energy Research Programme Manager, Newcastle University**
Adele Carey,
**Senior Sustainability Engineer, Arup**
Dr Ellie Cosgrave, **Lecturer in Urban Innovation and Policy, UCL** Carla Denyer,
**Councillor, Bristol City Council**
Dr Pamela Dugdale, **Engineering Teacher, International Study Centre Liverpool John Moores University** Rhiannon Evans, **Technician, Aecom** Laura Frost, **Associate, Cities & Climate Change, Arup**
Ritu Garg, **Senior Transport Engineer, Arup** Dr Barnali Ghosh, **Technical Director, Mott MacDonald** Dr Rachel Gomes, **Associate Professor, Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of Nottingham** Prof Deborah Greaves, **Head of School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics, University of Plymouth**
Prof Sandy Halliday, **Director, Gaia Group Ltd** Caireen Hargreaves, **Associate Director Product Sustainability, AstraZeneca** Kelly Harrison, **Associate, Heyne Tillett Steel**
Martha Hart, **Senior Consultant, Ove Arup & Partners Ltd** Laura Hepburn, **Director, Greenology**
Katherine Ibbotson, **Programme Carbon and Cost Manager, Environment Agency** Michelle Johnson, **Technical Director, Wood Environment and Infrastructure UK Ltd**
Jennifer Kelly, **Associate, Arup** Eftychia Koursari, **Civil Engineer, Amey**
Clare Lavelle, **Energy Consulting Leader - Scotland, Arup** Professor Claire Lucas, **Associate Professor (Reader), University of Warwick** Dr Xuanli Luo, **Research Associate, The University of Nottingham**
Brogan MacDonald,
**Structural Engineer, Ramboll**
Prof Mercedes Maroto-Valer, **Champion UK Industrial Decarbonisation Research and Innovation Centre (IDRIC), Heriot-Watt University** Dr Kerry Mashford,
**Non-Executive Director, Portfolio**
Senamiso Mathobela,
**Delivery Manager (TNCC), National Grid UK**
Mhairi McCann,
**Founder & CEO, Youth STEM 2030**
Gill Nowell,
**DSO Lead, Electralink**
Prof Rachel Oliver,
**Professor, Director of the Cambridge Centre for Gallium Nitride, CSO of Poro Technology, University of Cambridge** Jo Parker,
**Director, Watershed Associates**
Sally Povolotsky,
**Low Carbon Business Development Consultant, Straight 6 Design Ltd**
Philippa Ross,
**Associate Director, Atkins**
Anusha Shah, **Director - Resilient Cities, Arcadis** Sandra Šlihte, **Head of Engineering, Vattenfall Heat UK**
Holly Smith,
**Civil Engineer, Skanska UK**
Chitra Srinivasan, **Real Time Control Software Engineer, United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority** Annie Stapley, **Assistant Engineer, WSP**
Dr Alisa Stratulat,
**Innovation Manager, Groupe Atlantic**
Judith Sykes,
**Senior Director, Expedition Engineering**
Dr Petra Szilágyi, **Lecturer in Functional Materials, Queen Mary University of London**
Dr Elizabeth Tennyson,
**Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Fellow,**
## **University of Cambridge**
Dr Camilla Thomson,
**Chancellor’s Fellow in Energy, The University of Edinburgh**
Dr Mi Tian,
**Lecturer, University of Exeter**
Prof Valeska Ting,
**Professor of Smart Nanomaterials, University of Bristol**
Kusum Trikha, **Senior Engineer, WSP** Jana Marie Weber,
**PhD Candidate, University of Cambridge**
Laura Williams,
**Health, Safety, Environment and Quality (HSEQ) advisor, Keller**
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**Women’s Engineering Society Report of the Trustees 2020-21**
**Women’s Engineering Society Report of the Trustees 2020-21**
## **JUDGES OF THE WE50 AWARDS**
The judges for the WE50 2020 awards were as follows:
Sally Sudworth,
## Ann-Christin Andersen,
**National Programme Manager for Asset Management & FCRM Sustainability Lead, Environment Agency, (Head Judge)**
**Rotork Board Member, Chair ESG Committee,**
**CEO 4ADA, also Board Member for Maersk Drilling, Glitre Energi, and Quantafuel**
Richard Coackley, **Past President & Sustainability Leader, Institute of Civil Engineers**
Andrew Conway,
**BAI Communications**
## **AWARDS**
## **Caroline Haslett Lecture**
The 2020 Caroline Haslett Lecture was held virtually on 10 December 2020 and also celebrated our annual award winners.
The Lecture was delivered by **Amanda Fisher** , CEO of Amey Plc. Having confessed to not being an engineer, Amanda Fisher opened the lecture by championing the trust she has in the “expertise” of her many employees who are engineers. She gave an inspiring lecture about leadership, equity, and impact of the pandemic.
## **Karen Burt Memorial Award**
Each year WES asks Professional Engineering Institutions to nominate their best newly chartered female engineer, from which a winner of the Karen Burt Memorial Award is chosen. This most prestigious annual WES award was set up to encourage more women to aim for and celebrate the achievement of Chartered Engineer status. The 2020 Karen Burt Award Winner was **Tina Gunnarsson** , Digital Transformation Lead for Balfour Beatty Major Projects, nominated by the Institution of Civil Engineers.
Sally Sudworth, Head Judge for the 2020 Karen Burt Award, supported by Dr Katherine Critchley, said,
“The judges were very impressed by Tina’s commitment to sustainability, demonstrating the application of her technical skills to improve transport links at Rubavu, Rwanda. From learning the local language of Kinyarwandan to deliver effective communications and engagement, to promoting engineering at the local schools, Tina’s talent was evident.
“Her role in promoting SECT was also very impressive together with her support for the reverse mentoring scheme at Balfour Beatty. Tina was awarded the Renee Redfern Hunt prize by the ICE for her chartership assignment on the subject.”
Tina Gunnarson’s response to winning the award was:
Louise Kingham, **CEO, Energy Institute**
Joanna Wood, **Group Engineering Director, BAE Systems**
Davide Stronati,
**Global Sustainability Leader, Mott Macdonald**
Elizabeth Donnelly, **CEO, Women’s Engineering Society**
“It is an honour to have been awarded the Karen Burt Memorial Award. Dr Karen Burt was an incredibly accomplished engineer, and to share a passion with her for recruiting and retaining women in engineering is exciting. Engineering has empowered me to make positive changes in our communities to improve sustainability and diversity through teamwork, and I’d like to thank all the amazing people that I have worked with. I hope I can help to inspire more engineers to use their knowledge and skills to create positive changes in the world.”
## **WES Prize Winner**
WES is a sponsor of the **WES Prize** , awarded at the Young Woman Engineer of the Year Awards organised by the IET. WES CEO was once again on the judging panel and this year’s winner was **Shrouk El-Attar** . An Electronic Engineer, Shrouk was recognised for her innovative work with smart tech and her inclusive approach to design.
## **Amy Johnson Inspiration Award**
This award was created in 2016 to honour an individual not currently working in engineering or the applied sciences who has made a truly remarkable achievement in furthering diversity in these fields. The 2020 winner was **Fiona Hopkinson** , who was recognised for her dedication and commitment to raising the profile of STEM with young people and improving girls’ perception of engineering.
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**Women’s Engineering Society Report of the Trustees 2020-21**
**Women’s Engineering Society Report of the Trustees 2020-21**
## **Men As Allies Award**
Launched in 2017, this award celebrates a a male engineer or professional, working within the engineering, technical and applied sciences sectors, who has gone above the call of duty to support his female colleagues and address gender imbalance. The 2020 winner was **Mark Wild** , CEO of Crossrail. Mark was recognised for driving real change to improve diversity, with the percentage of women in senior leadership roles at Crossrail rising from 16% to 58% during his first 18 months as CEO.
## **ANNUAL REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR 2020-2021**
## **Objects**
The Society is an educational charity. The Objects for which it is established are:
## **Isabel Hardwich Medal**
The Isabel Hardwich Medal is presented to WES members who have made an outstanding contribution above the call of duty to the Society over a sustained period. The 2020 winner was **Dawn Bonfield MBE** . Joining WES as a volunteer in 2012, Dawn became President in 2014 and CEO in 2016. Dawn is credited with founding National Women in Engineering Day (now International Women in Engineering Day), the Top 50 Women in Engineering Awards and the Amy Johnson Inspiration Award. Since leaving WES, Dawn continues to support WES.
## **Gillian Skinner Award**
The Gillian Skinner Award recognises ‘behind the scenes’ contributions to WES undertaken by volunteers. The 2020 winner was former Chair of the University Groups’ Board (UGB), **Jennifer Glover** , who was recognised for her initiative and hard work. Following her year as Chair, Jennifer took on the role of Student Liaison Officer, providing invaluable support to the UGB and managing the WES Student Groups programme.
1. To promote the education of women in engineering sciences and other skills, the better to fit women to the practice of engineering;
2. To advance the education of the public concerning the study and practice of engineering among women; and
3. To relieve poverty amongst women who are or have been professional or technician engineers or technologists in allied sciences or educated in science or technology or in the art of techniques of engineering and allied sciences in other disciplines considered by the Directors to be complementary, their dependants and (if they are deceased) their former dependants.
The trustees have reviewed the guidance contained in the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit and have considered how the Society’s activities will contribute to the Society’s Objects.
The government lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, came a week before the beginning of the financial year, and as such had a significant effect on WES’ activities during the 2020-21 financial year. Consideration of the effect the pandemic has had on WES’s ability as a going concern is given below in the Financial Review, along with the measures taken by the Society to protect staff, volunteers and beneficiaries.
## **Activities**
**Promote the education of women in engineering sciences and other skills, the better to fit women to the practice of engineering**
The Society promotes the education of women in engineering through its relationships with:
- WES Education Partners
- WES Student Members and Supporters
- WES Affiliated Student Groups and the University Groups’ Board
- WES Apprentices Board, created in 2020
- WES Early Careers Board
## and the following activities:
- 12th WES Student Conference, held online in November 2020.
- Post A Level Support Hub
- Supporting Member Clusters
- MentorSET, the WES mentoring programme
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## **Women’s Engineering Society Report of the Trustees 2020-21**
## **To advance the education of the public concerning the study and practice of engineering among women**
The Society promotes the education of women in engineering through its relationships with:
- Partners – companies, not for profit organisations and education
- Event Sponsors
- Professional Engineering organisations e.g. the Royal Academy of Engineering, WISE, and the PEIs.
## And the following activities:
- International Women in Engineering Day
- Caroline Haslett Prestige Lecture
- WES Awards including the Top 50 Women in Engineering (WE50); the WES Prize at the IET’s Young Woman Engineer of the Year and the Karen Burt Memorial Award
- WES Centenary Trail Project
- WES Lottie Tour
- Representation at external events and in the media.
**To relieve poverty amongst women who are or have been professional or technician engineers or technologists in allied sciences or educated in science or technology or in the art of techniques of engineering and allied sciences in other disciplines considered by the Council to be complementary, their dependants and (if they are deceased) their former dependants.**
In the century since the founding of the Women’s Engineering Society, the need for poverty relief has mostly been removed following the introduction of the NHS and social security benefits to the UK population. In the 21st Century WES’ focus is now to encourage women to enter engineering as the best way to relieve poverty, given the significantly higher than average salaries commanded by engineers.
In 2020 there has been a focus on working with the many Corporate Partners to remove workplace barriers for women engineers and encourage more women to apply. WES has a job board on its website promoting engineering roles in the UK and has worked closely with STEM Returners to enable more women to return to engineering roles after a career break.
## **Achievement And Performance**
The Society continues to perform well above expectations in view of its size. In recent years WES has moved from a wholly
volunteer-led organisation to one with a small staff led by a Chief Executive Officer.
## **Membership and Partnerships**
Membership subscriptions increased by 25% from £38,000 to £47,562. This was due to the bulk of Membership renewals occurring in April 2020 at the new rate of Membership fees, agreed at the AGM in October 2019.
The number of Company Partnerships increased by 18% from to 83 to 98 within the year. This produced an income of £174,755 (2020: £214,000 due to recognition of previously deferred partnership income). A further £43,635 contributed towards specific projects, notably International Women in Engineering Day (INWED).
INWED attracted 13 sponsors, increased its potential reach on Twitter by 63.5% to 103 million (2019: 63 million) and trended at No 1 on Twitter on the day.
## **List of WES Partners**
## **33.** Equinix
## **1.** ABB
## **34.** FCDO Services
**2.** Airbus
**35.** FIND CDT EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Future Innovation in NonDestructive Evaluation
**3.** Alexander Associates
**4.** Allianz Engineering Inspection Services
**5.** Amey plc
## **36.** Firstco
**6.** Anthony Best Dynamics Ltd
**37.** FM Global (FM Insurance Company Ltd)
**7.** Arup (Ove Arup & Partners Ltd)
**38.** Foram Brown Ltd
**8.** Aston University
**39.** GCHQ
**9.** AstraZeneca
**40.** General Dynamics UK Ltd
**10.** BAE Systems
**41.** GKN Automotive
**11.** BAI Communications
**42.** Glasgow Caledonian University
**12.** BESA (Building Engineering Services Association)
**43.** Gratte Brothers
**13.** Blue Ocean Seismic Services Ltd
## **44.** H+H Fire
**45.** Henry Royce Institute
**14.** BMet
**46.** Heriot-Watt University
**15.** BMR Solutions
**47.** Hitachi Information Control Systems
**16.** Burns & McDonnell
**17.** Cadent Gas Ltd
**48.** HMD Sealless Pumps Ltd (Sunddne)
**18.** CityFibre
**49.** Imperial College London
**19.** Cordant People
**50.** Institute of Refrigeration
**20.** Costa Express
**51.** Johnson Controls (ADT)
**21.** Coventry University
**52.** KONE
**22.** Crane Building Services & Utilities
**53.** Konecranes
**23.** Cubic
**54.** Leonardo
**24.** Cundall
**55.** Malvern Panalytical
**25.** Dialog Semiconductor
**56.** McCann
**26.** Dornan Engineering Services Ltd
**57.** Met Police
**58.** Metis Consultants
**27.** DP World (London Gateway Port Ltd)
**59.** MOD Defence Equip & Support
**28.** Durham University
**60.** Mott MacDonald
**29.** Dyson Institute of Engineering and Technology
**61.** National Grid
**62.** Network Rail
**30.** East Sussex County Council
**63.** Newcastle University
**31.** Edinburgh Napier University
**64.** NMITE
**32.** EEMUA (The Engineering Equipment and Materials Users Association)
**65.** Nova Systems
**66.** Open University
**67.** Pareto Facilities Management
**68.** QMUL (Queen Mary University of London)
**69.** RAEng
**70.** Ramboll
**71.** Rotork
## **72.** RSK
**73.** RWC (Reliance Worldwide Corporation Ltd)
**74.** Safran Landing Systems
**75.** Scottish Power
**76.** Sellafield Ltd
**77.** SME Graduate Employment
**78.** Sonnedix UK Services Ltd
**79.** Spirit Energy
**80.** SSE (Scottish & Southern Energy PLC)
**81.** Stirling Dynamics Ltd
**82.** SusHy
**83.** Thales
**84.** The Smallpeice Trust
**85.** Toyota Manufacturing (UK)
**86.** Transport for London
**87.** Two Sigma International Limited
## **88.** UCL
**89.** Ulster University
**90.** Uniper Energy
**91.** University of Birmingham
**92.** University of Bristol
**93.** University of Edinburgh **94.** University of Sheffield
**95.** University of Surrey
**96.** University of Sussex
**97.** University of Warwick
**98.** YASA Limited
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**Women’s Engineering Society Report of the Trustees 2020-21**
**Women’s Engineering Society Report of the Trustees 2020-21**
## **FINANCIAL REVIEW**
## **Investment policy**
The funds of the Society in excess of those needed to manage the day-to-day activities are currently invested in a specialist charity savings account. Whilst this offers an acceptable level of security of the capital invested the return reflects current interest rates and is therefore very low (an annual average of 0.3%).
## **Reserves policy**
The Society finished the year with reserves of £219,222 (2020: £225,490) of which £13,588 (2020: £14,588) is restricted and £33,705 is in endowment funds, leaving £171,929 (2020: £177,197) in unrestricted funds. The Trustees keep income and expenditure under close review. Our current reserves policy is to maintain a minimum level of unrestricted reserves of £150,000 reflecting the anticipated costs of meeting our ongoing obligations for six months in the absence of further income. Income decreased significantly over the previous year, and though expenditure also decreased, the Society had to withdraw some funds from reserves to cover cashflow. The result was a small but acceptable deficit, given the extraordinary circumstances of the year.
## **Financial results**
Total income for the year decreased by 33% to £311,474 (2020: £462,241), resulting in a net deficit of £6,268 (2020: surplus of £13,848) largely due to the pandemic-related cancellation of events in person, and the resulting loss of ticket sales. Total expenditure fell by 29% to £317,352 from £448,393 in 2020, largely due to a reduction in event costs.
## **Restricted funds**
The Society maintains two restricted funds which were received for the following purposes:
## **Karen Burt Memorial Award**
Prize for the best newly chartered female engineer; award made from fund interest and further donations.
## **NEC Lady Finniston Fund**
Hardship grants for electronic engineering students starting first degree or equivalent courses who have needs over or above the norm; awards made from the fund interest. No grants have been made from this Fund during the last financial year. WES is considering how it may best allocate funds.
## **Gifts in kind**
The Society is very fortunate and grateful to have the support of the IET who provide office space and other facilities at a discounted rate. No rent was charged during the pandemic as the IET seized the opportunity of remote working to refurbish its building. WES expects to return to the building with a hybrid working model in January 2022 when rent will be charged again.
The main gifts that cannot be quantified are the valuable volunteer hours contributed to the Society by our Members. This especially applies to Trustees and Members involved with governance, many of whom are highly skilled and valuable professionals.
The Society continues to be grateful to the many Members who continue to make donations and to all those many individuals and organisations that provide time, services and support to help WES to achieve its aims.
## **Going concern with respect to COVID-19**
The measures put in place by the government to limit the spread of COVID-19 involved a high degree of social disruption which had an impact on the delivery of and demand for WES activities and the availability of staff for work. In WES’ case we weathered the first year of the pandemic with a loss of 33% of our income, together with a 29% decrease in our expenditure. This resulted in a small deficit of £6,268 (2020: surplus of £13,848) which the Trustees found acceptable in the circumstances. The Trustees continue to maintain close supervision of the charity’s income and expenditure and are keeping a careful watch on the impact COVID-19 may continue to have.
Following the government announcement of the lockdown, the Trustees met by telephone conference on the 7 April 2020 to discuss WES’ response to the pandemic. The Board had already instructed the staff to work from home from the 16 March 2020 and put in place the following measures to limit WES’ exposure to financial risk.
- An immediate ban on paid overtime for all staff.
- All meetings and events in person scheduled before the end of July 2020 were immediately converted to virtual meetings. This limited WES’ exposure to venue costs, but also limited WES’ income from events.
- The Student Conference in person was cancelled and an online Student Conference webinar put in its place to support students with concerns about their future as a result of the pandemic.
- VAT payments were deferred until September 2020, and PAYE/NIC payments were deferred until the end of July 2020 to ease immediate cashflow concerns.
- Statutory Sick Pay was claimed for staff absences due to COVID-19.
- Planned raises in partnership fees in May 2020 were introduced for new partners, but renewing partners were given the opportunity to renew at 2019 prices before the end of July 2020 to reduce the risk of partners leaving.
- The Board anticipated a significant reduction in Student Membership fees, but the timing of the lockdown did not affect the bulk of annual Membership renewals in April 2020.
- Consideration was given to furloughing staff but only one staff member was furloughed for health reasons.
On assessing WES’ ability to continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting, trustees considered all available information about the future at the date they approved the accounts – in particular they gave consideration to their agreed 2020-21 budget and forecast for income, expenditure and cash-flows.
The Board was concerned about the effects of the pandemic on our partners’ sectors, particularly the university sector and manufacturing, given the severe loss of income in aerospace. However, only six partners ended their relationship with WES, and not all because of the pandemic, but an additional 21 partners came on board, making a net gain of 15 partners overall.
Events in person did not resume in the financial year, and continuing uncertainty about the ability to hold meetings in person means that WES will only schedule such events when Covid infection rates are falling, and it is safe to do so. It is anticipated that most events will remain online until 2022 at the earliest.
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**Women’s Engineering Society Report of the Trustees 2020-21**
**Women’s Engineering Society Report of the Trustees 2020-21**
The Society is based in the Headquarters of the Institution of Engineering and Technology who took advantage of remote working to refurbish their building. The WES team will continue to work from home until the refurbishment is completed, likely to be in January 2022. Return to work in person will then continue in a hybrid fashion with staff mostly working from home and only coming into the office for meetings or if homeworking is unsuitable.
Despite the small deficit for 2020-21, forecasts for the 2021-22 financial year are buoyant, with at least 10 more partners expected to join WES in the first quarter. WES’ expenditure remains low due to homeworking and our income continues to increase. It is possible that we will be in a position to return some funds to the reserves in the next financial year and the Board will continue to review the situation.
## **STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT**
## **Governing document**
The Women’s Engineering Society was founded in 1919 and is governed by its Memorandum and Articles, amended in 1970, 1991, 2006 and 2014. It constitutes a charitable company, limited by guarantee, as defined by the Companies Act 2006 and in the event of WES being wound up, Members are required to contribute an amount not exceeding £1.
## **Recruitment and Appointment of New Trustees**
Following the successful adoption of the new Articles in June 2020 elections were held in October 2020 for a President and eight elected Directors. The Directors of the company are also Trustees of the charity. Decision-making powers belong to the Board, which meets quarterly and communicates by e-mail and telephone conference as required between quarterly meetings. Board meetings are currently held online via Microsoft Teams during the pandemic.
The President and the Board of Trustees are elected for a period of three years in thirds by a ballot of all Members and the ballot results are announced at the Annual General Meeting in October. Any Member may stand for election to the Board with the exception of the President who must be nominated from among the former and current Board Directors.
Dawn Childs put herself forward for election as President and was elected unopposed for three years until October 2023.
Six other Members put themselves forward for election as Directors and there not being enough candidates for an election were all elected unopposed. In line with Article 26.3 the terms of the six candidates were determined by lot as follows:
|**2020-2023**|**2020-2022**|**2020-2021**|
|---|---|---|
|Dr Katherine Critchley|Emma Nicholson|Chrisma Jain|
|Alexandra Knight|Dr Pauline Smith||
||Adriana Vargas-Colwill||
## **Extraordinary General Meeting June 2020**
The appointment of the current CEO, Elizabeth Donnelly, in 2018 led to a governance review. Elizabeth has extensive governance experience in a wide range of organisations and advised the Board that they needed to take legal advice to bring the Memorandum and Articles up to current legal requirements. Advice was sought and given by the summer of 2019, and it was anticipated that the revised WES governing document would be put to the Society for approval at the 2019 AGM. However, the CEO sustained a broken leg in an accident in September 2019 and was unable to prepare the requisite documentation. An Extraordinary General Meeting was therefore called on 20 June 2020.
Under new legislation, any Memorandum has to be preserved and remain fixed permanently. This would not give WES the opportunity to alter its objects, so the WES Memorandum and Articles were revised to comprise a set of Articles with two parts. The first part retains much of the historic nature of the original document, yet still allows future revision. The second comprises detailed governance.
It was agreed that with the exception of the President, the Honorary Officers would be abolished, and the new Board of Trustees would comprise a President and eight elected Directors, with the ability to co-opt three additional Directors if required. Each Director and the President will serve a three-year term, staggered to retire in thirds, giving long-term stability to the Society, while also gaining fresh viewpoints annually. Transitional arrangements were put in place for the 2020 elections to enable staggered elections from 2021.
There were two vacancies which were filled at the first Board Meeting of the new Board on the 7 November 2020 by co-opting Paul Cliff from North Face Consulting, who has extensive experience in Human Resources, and Susan Robson from National Grid, who is an expert in developing strategy. In accordance with Article 25.5.3 both Directors were co-opted for one year and may be re-co-opted if required.
## **Staff**
The Trustees are supported by an executive team of paid staff, comprising a Chief Executive Officer (CEO), four support staff and a number of contracted professionals.
The change in the nature of WES’ work as a result of the pandemic, meant that some long-standing staff members chose to pursue other opportunities and left WES. The continuing uncertainty meant WES welcomed two new team members to replace the departing staff, one to support our Membership and the other to support the Chief Executive Officer. Following the successful Centenary campaign, WES was delighted to appoint Helen Close as its Heritage Officer at the end of March 2021 to manage the extensive archives. At the same time, it was decided to appoint a Marketing and Communications Agency to manage the INWED campaign.
The formal role of the Council was removed from the Articles and Council Members formed Directors’ Committees to support the work of the staff.
Other changes include the addition of Associate Fellowship as a class of Membership for women who are not engineers and men, but who should be rewarded for their meritorious achievements in assisting the Society. Both this class and the Associate Member class have been awarded the postnominals AFWES and AMWES, respectively. Members in arrears for more than six months may now be struck from the Register of Members and the new Articles also codify the use of electronic meetings, messaging and voting.
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**Women’s Engineering Society Report of the Trustees 2020-21**
**Women’s Engineering Society Report of the Trustees 2020-21**
## **Current Staff**
**Chief Executive Officer** Elizabeth Donnelly **Administrator/PA to the CEO** Anna Pluck from March 2021 **Heritage Officer** Helen Close **Membership Manager** Tristan Holland from February 2021 **Partnerships Manager** Beatrice Pryor
## **Risk Management**
The trustees have a duty to identify and review the risks to which the charity is exposed and to ensure appropriate controls are in place to provide reasonable assurance against fraud and error. The Society maintains a Risk/Opportunity Register which reviews major risks and establishes mitigation systems and activities to reduce/eliminate those risks.
## **Trustees’ Responsibilities**
## **Departing Staff**
**Events Manager** Jo Weaver to September 2020 **Operations Manager** Roz Hamilton to November 2020 **Head of Marketing and Communications** Jacqui Hawkes to February 2021 **Membership and Volunteers Manager** Cath Heslop to February 2021
## **Contractors**
**Editor, The Woman Engineer** Lynn Postle **Editor, e-newsletter** Jo Yates **Events Associate** Sarah Yates **Marketing and Communications** Genius Marketing
The trustees (who are also Directors of the Women’s Engineering Society for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the Trustees’ report and financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).
Company law requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which gives a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company and of its income and expenditure for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the trustees are required to:
- Select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently.
- Observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP.
- Make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent.
- State whether applicable accounting standards, including FRS 102, have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements.
- State whether a Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP) applies and the methods and principles in the SORP have been observed, subject to any material departures which are explained in the financial statements.
- Prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charitable company will continue in business.
- The trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable company and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charitable company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
None of the Trustees had any beneficial interest in any contract to which the Organisation was party during the year.
Signed on behalf of the Board of Trustees on 24 July 2021
Dawn Childs, **FREng MA MDA CEng FICE FIMechE FRAeS FWES President, Women’s Engineering Society**
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**Women’s Engineering Society Report of the Trustees 2020-21**
## **Women’s Engineering Society**
## **(A Company Limited by Guarantee)**
## **CONTENTS**
Independent Examiner’s Report �������������������������������������������������� **34** Legal and Administrative Information ������������������������������������ **35** Statement of Financial Activities ������������������������������������������������ **36** Balance Sheet ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ **37** Notes to the Financial Statements ���������������������������������������������� **38**
Report and Financial Statements Year ended 31 March 2021
Registered Charity No. 1008913 Company No. 00162096
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**Women’s Engineering Society Report of the Trustees 2020-21**
**Women’s Engineering Society Report of the Trustees 2020-21**
## **Women’s Engineering Society Year Ended 31 March 2021**
## **Independent Examiner’s Report**
I report to the charity trustees on my examination of the accounts of the Company for the year ended 31 March 2021.
## **Respective Responsibilities of Trustees and Examiner**
As the charity’s trustees of the Company (and also its directors for the purposes of company law) you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 (‘the 2006 Act’).
Having satisfied myself that the accounts of the Company are not required to be audited under Part 16 of the 2006 Act and are eligible for independent examination, I report in respect of my examination of your charity’s accounts as carried out under section 145 of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the 2011 Act’). In carrying out my examination I have followed the Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5) (b) of the 2011 Act.
## **Independent Examiner’s Statement**
Since the Company’s gross income exceeded £250,000 your examiner must be a member of a body listed in section 145 of the 2011 Act. I confirm that I am qualified to undertake the examination because I am member of the ICAEW, which is one of the listed bodies.
1. I have completed my examination. I confirm that no matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe:
2. accounting records were not kept in respect of the Company as required by section 386 of the 2006 Act; or the accounts do not accord with those records; or
3. the accounts do not comply with the accounting requirements of section 396 of the 2006 Act other than any requirement that the accounts give a ‘true and fair view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination; or
4. the accounts have not been prepared in accordance with the methods and principles of the Statement of Recommended Practice for accounting and reporting by charities.
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
## Silvia Vitiello
## **For and on behalf of Moore Kingston Smith LLP Chartered Accountants**
4 Victoria Square St. Albans Hertfordshire AL1 3TF
Date: 30 September 2021
## **Women’s Engineering Society Year Ended 31 March 2021 Legal and Administrative Information**
The Women’s Engineering Society is registered as a charity and is a company limited by
guarantee governed by its Articles of Association.
## **Charity No. 1008913, Company No. 00162096**
## **Directors/Trustees**
The directors of the Charitable company (the Charity) are its trustees for the purposes of charitable law and, throughout this report, are collectively referred to as the trustees.
## **The trustees who served during the year were as follows:**
**Trustees:**
Benita Mehra Resigned 24 October 2020 Dawn Childs Sally Sudworth Resigned 24 October 2020 Dr Josephine Douglas-Harris Resigned 24 October 2020 Adriana Vargas-Colwill Dr Pauline Smith Jay Surti Resigned 24 October 2020 Alexandra Knight Dr Katherine Critchley Chrisma Jain Elected 24 October 2020 Emma Nicholson Elected 24 October 2020 Paul Cliff Appointed 7 November 2020 Susan Robson Appointed 7 November 2020 **Registered Office and Principal Office:** Michael Faraday House Six Hills Way Stevenage Hertfordshire SG1 2AY **President:** Dawn Childs **Vice Presidents:** (to 24 October 2020) Adriana Vargas-Colwill (to 24 October 2020) Katherine Critchley **Honorary Treasurer:** (to 24 October 2020) Pauline Smith **Honorary Secretary:** (to 24 October 2020) Sally Sudworth
At the Extraordinary General Meeting of the Society held on the 20 June 2020, it was agreed to replace the Honorary Officers and Council-appointed Directors, with an elected President and eight Board Directors.
**Independent Examiner:** Moore Kingston Smith LLP 4 Victoria Square St Albans Hertfordshire AL1 3TF
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**Women’s Engineering Society Report of the Trustees 2020-21**
**Women’s Engineering Society Report of the Trustees 2020-21**
## Women’s Engineering Society
Year Ended 31 March 2021
## **Statement of Financial Activities**
|
**Notes**
**Income and endowments from:**
Donations and legacies
2
Charitable Activities
3
Other Trading Activities
4
Investment Income
5
**Total**
**Expenditure on:**
Raising funds
6
Charitable activities
7
Other
8
**Total**
**Net income/(expenditure)**
**Other recognised gains/(losses):**
(Loss) on fxed assets disposal
**Net movement in funds**
**Reconciliation of funds:**
Total funds brought forward
13
**Total funds carried forward**
13
**Income and endowments from:**
**Notes**
Donations and legacies
2
Charitable Activities
3
Other Trading Activities
4
Investment Income
5
**Total**
**Expenditure on:**
Raising funds
6
Charitable activities
7
Other
8
**Total**
**Net income/(expenditure)**
**Other recognised gains/(losses):**
(Loss) on fxed assets disposal
**Net movement in funds**
**Reconciliation of funds:**
Total funds brought forward
13
**Total funds carried forward**
13|**Unrestricted**
**Funds**
**£**
**Restricted**
**Funds**
**£**
**Endowment**
**Fund**
**£**
**Total**
**2021**
**£**
87,187
-
-
87,187
218,390
-
-
218,390
5,670
-
-
5,670
227
-
-
227|
|---|---|
||**311,474**
**-**
**-**
**311,474**|
||26,518
1000
-
27,518
259,854
-
-
259,854
29,980
-
-
29,980|
||**316,352**
**1000**
**-**
**317,352**|
||**(4,878)**
**(1,000)**
**-**
**(5,878)**
**(390)**
**-**
**-**
**(390)**|
||**(5,268)**
**(1000)**
**-**
**(6,268)**|
||177,197
14,588
33,705
225,490|
||**177,197**
**13,588**
**33,705**
**219,222**|
||**Unrestricted**
**Funds**
**£**
**Restricted**
**Funds**
**£**
**Endowment**
**Fund**
**£**
**Total**
**2020**
**£**
136,615
-
-
136,615
313,363
-
-
313,363
10,593
-
-
10,593
1,670
-
-
1,670|
||**462,241**
**-**
**-**
**462,241**|
||40,531
1000
-
41,531
364,539
-
-
364,539
42,323
-
-
42,323|
||**447,393**
**1000**
**-**
**448,393**|
||**14,848**
**(1,000)**
**-**
**13,848**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**|
||**14,848**
**(1000)**
**-**
**13,848**|
||162,349
15,588
33,705
211,642|
||**177,197**
**14,588**
**33,705**
**225,490**|
## Women’s Engineering Society
Year Ended 31 March 2020 **Balance Sheet at 31 March 2021**
|**Company number: 00162096**
**Notes**
**Fixed assets:**
Tangible assets
10
Total fxed assets
**Current assets**
Debtors
11
Cash at bank and in hand
Total current assets
**Liabilities**
Creditors: Amounts falling due with-
in one year
12
**Net current assets**
**Net assets**
**The funds of the charity:**
Unrestricted funds
13
Restricted funds
13
Endowment funds
**Total Charity funds**
13|**31 March**
**2021**
**£**
5,344|**£**|**31 March**
**2020**
**£**
8,343|**£**
**217,147**|
|---|---|---|---|---|
||5,344
70,378
219,811||8,343
105,780
211,025||
||**290,189**
(76,311)||**316,805**
(99,658)||
||171,929
13,588
33,705|**213,878**|177,197
14,588
33,705
**-**||
||||||
|||**219,222**||**225,490**|
||||||
|||**219,222**||**225,490**|
The charitable company is entitled to exemption from audit under Section 477 of the Companies Act 2006 for the year ended 31 March 2021.
The members have not required the company to obtain an audit of its financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2021 in accordance with Section 476 of the Companies Act 2006.
The trustees acknowledge their responsibilities for:
a) ensuring that the charitable company keeps accounting records that comply with Sections 386 and 387 of the Companies Act 2006 and
b) preparing financial statements which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company at the end of each financial year and of its surplus or deficit for each financial year in accordance with the requirements of Sections 394 and 395 and which otherwise comply with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 relating to financial statements, so far as applicable to the charitable company.
The accounts on pages 24 to 31 were approved and authorised for issue by the Board of Trustees on
24 July 2021 and signed on their behalf by:
## **Dawn Childs President**
The notes of pages 26 to 31 form part of these financial statements.
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37
**Women’s Engineering Society Report of the Trustees 2020-21**
**Women’s Engineering Society Report of the Trustees 2020-21**
## **Women’s Engineering Society Year Ended 31 March 2021 Notes to the financial statements**
## **1. Accounting policies**
## **General information**
The **Women’s Engineering Society** is a Company limited by guarantee, incorporated in England and Wales. The address of its registered office and principal place of business is disclosed in the Company information.
The financial statements are presented in Sterling and this is the functional currency of the Charity.
## **Basis of preparation**
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102). The company is a public benefit entity for the purposes of FRS102 and a registered charity established as a company limited by guarantee and therefore has also prepared its financial statements in accordance with the Charities SORP FRS 102 (second edition - October 2019) - Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland and the Companies Act 2006 and Charities Act 2011.
The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention.
## **Going concern**
The Board have assessed whether the use of the going concern basis is appropriate and have considered possible events or conditions that might cast significant doubt on the ability of the charity to continue as a going concern including the impact of Covid-19 pandemic. The Board have made this assessment for a period of at least one year from the date of approval of the financial statements. In particular the Board have considered the charity’s forecasts and impact on income sources.
## **Income**
All income is recognised in the Statement of Financial Activities once the charity has entitlement to the funds, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount can be measured reliably.
## **Expenditure**
Liabilities are recognised as expenditure as soon as there is a legal or constructive obligation committing the charity to that expenditure, it is probable that a transfer of economic benefits will be required in settlement and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. Expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis and has been classified under headings that aggregate all cost related to the category. Where costs cannot be directly attributed to particular headings they have been allocated to activities on a basis consistent with the use of resources.
## **Fund accounting**
Unrestricted Funds are considered by the Directors as funds coming into the Charity and held in reserves to provide for the services of the Charity. Restricted funds are considered by the Directors to be funds that are granted to the Charity with certain additional requirements to provide specific charitable activities. Accounting for restricted activities is maintained separately to unrestricted funds, being reported separately to the commissioning bodies as required under the terms of the grant.
## **Women’s Engineering Society Year Ended 31 March 2021 Notes to the financial statements**
## **1. Accounting policies (continued)**
## **Cash and cash equivalents**
Cash and cash equivalents are cash and short term highly liquid investments with a short maturity of three months or less from the date of acquisition or opening of the deposit or similar account.
## **Fixed Assets**
Depreciation is provided at the following annual rates in order to write off each asset over its estimated useful life.
Electronic Equipment - 20% of cost
## **VAT**
The Charity is registered for VAT. Irrecoverable VAT is included in the cost of the item to which it relates.
## **Creditors**
The Charity seeks to pay all creditors within agreed credit terms.
## **Leased Assets**
Rental applicable to operating leases, where substantially all benefits and risks of ownership remain with the lessor, are charged to the income and expenditure account as incurred.
## **Governance Costs**
Board expenses, insurances, clinical supervision, HR support and audit fee incurred are reported to comply with constitutional or statutory requirements of the Charity.
## **Financial Instruments**
The Charity only enters into basic financial instrument transactions that result in the recognition of financial assets such as trade and other debtors and short term investments (notice period not exceeding 3 months) and financial liabilities such as trade and other creditors. Basic financial instruments are initially recognised at transaction value and then subsequently measured at their settlement value.
## **Prior year restatement**
Prior year restatements are accounted for by restating the comparative figures for the preceding period in the primary statements and notes and adjusting the opening balance of reserves for the cumulative effect.
## **Judgements in applying accounting policies and key sources of estimation uncertainty**
Due to the nature of the charitable company’s activities and financial statements, the Trustees do not consider there to be any significant judgements or sources of estimation uncertainty which could influence the reader’s understanding of the financial statements.
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**Women’s Engineering Society Report of the Trustees 2020-21**
**Women’s Engineering Society Report of the Trustees 2020-21**
## Women’s Engineering Society
|Year Ended 31 March 2021
**Notes to the fnancial statements**
**(continued)**
**2. Donations and legacies**
Donations
Grants
Membership
Pro bono donated services
**3. Charitable activities**
Conference and event income
Partnership income
**4. Other trading activities**
Mentorset income
Stem returners income
**5. Investment income**
Bank interest received|**2021**
**Unrestricted**
**Funds**
**£**
26,998
12,627
47,562
-
**87,187**
**2021**
**Unrestricted**
**Funds**
**£**
43,635
174,755
**218,390**
**2021**
**Unrestricted**
**Funds**
**£**
4,020
1,650
**5,670**
**2021**
**Unrestricted**
**Funds**
**£**
227
**227**|**2020**
**Unrestricted**
**Funds**
**£**
15,402
79,463
38,150
3,600|
|---|---|---|
|||**136,615**|
|||**2020**
**Unrestricted**
**Funds**
**£**
83,416
229,947|
|||**313,363**|
|||**2020**
**Unrestricted**
**Funds**
**£**
9,633
960|
|||**10,593**|
|||**2020**
**Unrestricted**
**Funds**
**£**
1,670|
|||**1,670**|
## Women’s Engineering Society
Year Ended 31 March 2021 **Notes to the financial statements (continued)**
|**6. Raising funds**
Grant costs
Membership related costs
Awards|**2021 Unrestricted**
**Funds - £**
5,140
20,378
2,000
**27,518**|**2020 Unrestricted**
**Funds - £**
13,445
26,086
2,000|
|---|---|---|
|||**41,531**|
|Included in 2021 Awards is £1,000 (2020: £1,000) relating to restricted funds and £2,000|Included in 2021 Awards is £1,000 (2020: £1,000) relating to restricted funds and £2,000|Included in 2021 Awards is £1,000 (2020: £1,000) relating to restricted funds and £2,000|
|---|---|---|
|(2020: £1,000) relating to unrestricted funds.|||
||**2021 Total**|**2020 Total**|
||**Funds - £**|**Funds - £**|
|**7. Charitable activities**|||
|Conference and event costs|5,616|58,143|
|Project costs|18,141|49,786|
|General support costs|19,421|25,406|
|Employee costs (note 9)|216,676|231,204|
||**259,854**|**364,539**|
||**2021 Unrestricted**|
**2020 Unrestricted**|
||**Funds - £**|**Funds - £**|
|**8. Other**|||
|Mentorset costs|11,315|22,862|
|Governance|2,925|5,097|
|Finance costs|15,740|6,846|
|Travel costs|-|7,518|
||**29,980**|**42,323**|
|**Governance costs analysis**|||
|Council meeting costs|127|2,111|
|AGM costs|48|586|
|Independent Examiner Fees|2,750|2,400|
||**2,925**|**5,097**|
||**2021 - £**|**2020 - £**|
|**9. Employee costs**|||
|**Analysis of staf costs, Trustee**|||
|**remuneration and expenses**|||
|Wages and salaries|182,452|185,792|
|Social security costs|13,782|14,801|
|Pension costs|4,251|4,281|
|Other costs|15,815|26,330|
||**216,300**|**231,204**|
There were no trustees’ remuneration or other benefits for the year ended 31 March 2021 nor for the year ended 31 March 2020.
No employees received emoluments in excess of £60,000.
Key management personnel received remuneration of £58,708 during the year.
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**Women’s Engineering Society Report of the Trustees 2020-21**
**Women’s Engineering Society Report of the Trustees 2020-21**
## Women’s Engineering Society Year Ended 31 March 2021 **Notes to the financial statements (continued)**
## **Trustees’ Expenses**
During the year ended 31 March 2021, no trustee expenses were reimbursed (2020: £494)
|**Average number of employees by activity**
CEO
Ofice Staf
**10. Tangible fxed assets**
**Cost**
At 1 April 2020
Additions
Disposals
At 31 March 2021
**Depreciation**
At 1 April 2020
Charge for the year
Depreciation eliminated on disposal
**Net Book Value**
**At March 2020**
**At March 2021**
**11. Debtors**
Trade creditors
Prepayments and accrued income
**12. Creditors: Amounts falling due**
**within one year**
Trade debtors
Social security and other taxes
Accruals and defered income
Other creditors
**Deferred income movement**
Deferred income b/fwd
Utilised in the year
Deferred movement increase in the year
Deferred income c/fwd|**2021**
1
6
**7**
**Electronic**
**Equipment**
**£**
15,113
-
(487)
14,626-
6,770
2,610
(98)
9,282
8,343
**5,344**
**2021**
**£**
65,559
4,819
**70,378**
**2021**
**£**
18,159
13,397
44,140
615
**76,311**
39,927
(39,927)
30,100
30,100|**2020**
1
6|
|---|---|---|
|||**7**|
|||**Total**
**£**
15,113
-
(487)|
|||14,626
6,770
2,610
(98)|
|||9,282
8,343|
|||**5,344**|
|||**2020**
**£**
70,226
35,554|
|||**105,780**|
|||**2020**
**£**
43,235
11,896
44,527
-|
|||**99,658**|
||||
## Women’s Engineering Society
Year Ended 31 March 2021 **Notes to the financial**
**statements (continued)**
|**Notes to the fnancial**
**statements (continued)**||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|**13. Movement in funds**|||**Movement in resources**|||||||
||**Balance**||||||**Gains/**||**Balance**|
||**01 April 2020**||
**Income**||**Expenditure**||**losses**||**31 March 2021**|
||**£**||**£**||**£**||**£**||**£**|
|**Unrestricted funds**||||||||||
|General funds|177,197||311,474||(316,352)||(390)||171,929|
|**Restricted funds**||||||||||
|Karen Burt Memorial|14,588||**-**||(1,000)||**-**||13,588|
|**Endowment funds**||||||||||
|NBC - Lady Finniston|33,705||-||-||-||33,705|
||**225,490**||**311,474**||**317,352**||**(390)**||**219,222**|
|**14. Analysis of net assets between funds**||||||||||
||**Unrestricted**||**Restricted**||**Endowment**||**Total**||**Total**|
||**Funds**||**Funds**||**Funds**||**2021**||**2020**|
|**Fixed Assets**|5,344||-||-||5,344||8,343|
|**Current assets**||||||||||
|Debtors|70,378||-||-||70,378||105,780|
|Cash and cash equivalent|172,518||13,588||33,705||219,811||211,025|
|**Current liabilities**||||||||||
|Falling due within one|(76,311)||-||-||(76,311)||(99,658)|
|year||||||||||
||**171,929**||**13,588**||**33,705**||**219,222**||**225,490**|
## **15. Share capital**
The charitable Company is limited by guarantee with each of its members liable to contribute £1 in the event of its being wound up.
## **16. Related party transactions**
There were no related party transactions for the year ended 31 March 2021.
## **17. Control**
The Board of Trustees are deemed to be the controlling party.
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## **Women’s Engineering Society**
**Annual Report** 2020/21
**www.wes.org.uk**