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2021-07-31-accounts

Charity Registration No. 1041297

DONOR CONCEPTION NETWORK

TRUSTEES’ REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2021

DONOR CONCEPTION NETWORK

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LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

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Trustees S Dean L Bull R Gundesen E Kippax R Wall T Amies-Cull Charity Number 1041297 Principal address 154 Caledonian Road London N1 9RD Independent Examiner M S Pinner ACA Errington Langer Pinner Chartered Accountants Pyramid House 954 High Road London N12 9RT

DONOR CONCEPTION NETWORK

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CONTENTS

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Contents
Page
Letter from the Chair 1
Trustees' report 2 - 7
Independent examiner’s report 7
Statement of financial activities 8
Balance sheet 9
Notes to the financial statements 10 – 12

DONOR CONCEPTION NETWORK LEThER FROM THE CHAIR R)R THE YEAR ENDED 31 JUL Y 2021 In September 20201 wa5 confirmed as Chair after havivJ taken over as inlerim Chair earller in Ihe yearwhen Claire Beasley stepped down. Two ￿her trustees also slepped dcAVn during tha year and w8 were lucky, after very successful recruitment drive. to bring wi new peop￿ wih a range of skills and experience. This year h8s seen Network go from streruih to strewlh thanks lo expar￿1n9 our seNices onlinè and puttlng more energy into our pre$en¢e and engagerwil on social medo. The main thing that 5111 holds us back 15 our website. At the end of 2020 we launched our Websiie aThJ Digital5ation Appeal lo raise money to develop Ihe front and back end. We also apph'ed lo Awards ForAII arKI were pkased to get a grant frcth them thi5 pr• The combtiied total has gven us a decent afflounl for the work needed arbd alowed us 10 Start inve51wJaling agencies that could do the work. As a temporary measure we invested a Small Thunt to do a 'quKk fi￿ to improve the naVigatic￿ and fomlat of the existirwJ sile in the short terry whth ha5 proved very $￿CesSfUl. During the year the charity has offered many of our servus online and the plan is lo them in tsndem alongside in-person events as we kntrw there i% huge vthe in both. Our online offer has been more successful than expected, and we have attracted a lot of participants to our workshops from beyond Ihe UK, whKh is fantastic. We are a￿ayS very grateful to our vdunteeT1oarn who manage to do such great Wofk suppcrting m@m￿rs, oftgn acting as our fron1￿ne. Trpwards the end of 2020 Olivia lknnlu5chi. one of the IcMJndeTS of the Network. stepped baek Into a volunteer role. We are so grateful for everything she ha5 (lone over the years and a￿ very glad that She is willing lo remain Involved. in a vdurw capacity, offeriThJ hw Wisd￿ and expertise lo the team wi the Off￿. Sue Dean May 2022

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TRUSTEES’ REPORT FO R TH E YEA R END ED 31JUL Y 2021

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The Trustees present their report and financial statements for the year ended 31 July 2021.

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in note 1 to the accounts and comply with the Charities Act 2011 and “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 (FRS 102)” (as amended for accounting periods commencing from 1 January 2016).

Objects of the charity

The charity is an unincorporated association which was established by a constitution dated 24 September 1994 and amended 3 March 2000 and 20th October 2015 with the following objectives: to advance education in human fertility, fertilisation and embryology, assisted conception, genetics and the impact of non-genetic relationships by the provision to parents of children conceived by sperm, embryo or egg donation, to the children themselves and to those contemplating or undergoing treatment, of information, advice, counselling and support.

Donor Conception Network’s Vision and Mission

The Donor Conception Network's vision is a society where a climate of openness and understanding about donor conception enables people considering it to make informed decisions and helps build families who are confident, accepted and have a secure identity.

The Donor Conception Network's mission is to deliver high quality, non-judgemental and inclusive support and information to would-be and current parents and their children to enable them to navigate the often complex and individual journey of donor conception.

We are a pioneering parent-led and child-centred organisation and a trusted authority on the social and emotional aspects of building or expanding a family using donor conception. We are at the forefront of the donor conception movement, bringing our 25 years' of experience and the voices of our members to inform professionals, practitioners and policy makers in the UK and worldwide.

How our activities deliver public benefit

The Network is a professionally-run support organisation for families using donor conception. It performs a vital role in providing information and support to prospective parents and donor conception families.

In 2020/21 we welcomed 596 new members to the Network. This included people considering donor conception, parents of donor conceived children, previous members who were re-joining, professionals working in the field and donor conceived adults.

During summer and autumn 2020 we ran a small number of local meetups, where permitted. Due to the government restrictions, we were unable to hold our usual annual conferences in October 2020 or April 2021.

We published two DCN Journals, produced a weekly news bulletin for members and had an active presence on social media. We spoke at various events and engaged with professionals working in the field to educate them on the long-term implications for families using donor conception.

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DONOR CONCEPTION NETWORK

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TRUSTEES’ REPORT FO R TH E YEA R END ED 31JUL Y 2021(C O NTINUED )

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Our activities in 2020/2021

Continuing the Conversation: New DCN Telling and Talking booklet published

In November 2020 we published a new book in our Telling and Talking series written by Olivia Montuschi. The book, titled Continuing the Conversation, was aimed at parents of children 12yrs+ who had been told at a young age and explores how that conversation will evolve as children enter adolescence and adulthood. We held a book launch online in November.

Building A Family – Ken Daniels

DCN took over as publisher of Ken Daniel’s book exploring donor conception.

DCN Helpline

Our phone and email helplines provide invaluable support to members, the general public and professionals working in the field wishing to discuss specific donor conception related issues. In total, we provided over 710 support interactions (beyond simple questions and queries), more than half of these coming from non-members.

Local groups/meetups

Our volunteers organised a small number of meetups for members around the UK and in Ireland, some events being adults only and others catering for families with children. These opportunities for people to meet face-toface are invaluable in helping break the isolation some people feel. They are opportunities to raise and discuss difficult topics where appropriate and generally help to build confidence in decision-making and sharing their family story. These in-person events were limited during the period due to government restrictions.

We continued running our popular Online Chats for members. Some of these are topic based, some are grouped by family-type and others are location based.

Workshops

We offer two main workshops which are open to both members and non-members, Preparation for Parenthood (for people considering donor conception) and Telling and Talking (separate events for those with children up to 7yrs and those with children 8-12yrs). These workshops are very important in helping participants explore the issues related to donor conception relevant to their stage of parenthood.

Preparation for parenthood workshops: We moved all our workshops to online ran 4 for single women and 2 for heterosexual couples. We had 76 attendees from UK, Ireland, France, Switzerland Germany, USA & Netherlands.

Telling and Talking workshops: We ran 9 online workshops for parents of children <7yrs (7 for heterosexual couples and 2 for single women and lesbian couples). We ran 1 in person workshop in London for single women and lesbian couples. We ran 1 workshop for parents of children 8-12yrs. There were 137 delegates from UK & Ireland, Australia, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Sweden, Poland, France & Germany.

In March 2021 we ran a Making It Real workshop online for professionals working with donor conception families (eg fertility counsellors, clinic staff, lawyers, HFEA staff, fertility nurses, family therapists).

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DONOR CONCEPTION NETWORK

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TRUSTEES’ REPORT FO R TH E YEA R END ED 31JUL Y 2021(C O NTINUED )

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Projects

April Trust funding to make a new film for our workshops: the restrictions on in-person activities slowed this project but we were able to hold interview days in October 2020 and June 2021.

Website and Digitalisation project: in April we received a £10k grant from Awards for All towards this project.

Advocacy and awareness

In September DCN Director, Nina Barnsley, spoke at the PET event Known Unknowns – The Pros, Cons and Consequences of Known Donation

In November Research Officer Yael Ilan-Clarke joined Dr Petra Nordqvist and Dr Leah Gilman from Manchester University in a webinar exploring connections between donors and those they donate to.

We joined an Instagram Live with LGBT Mummies Tribe and ran a webinar for My Surrogacy Journey. In April 2021 we participated in the first International Donor Conception Awareness Day.

Through the year we participated in the regular HFEA and AFPO meetings.

COVID19

DC Network support services and normal office activity continued to be impacted in some ways by the changing restrictions on in-person events, some working from home, the impact of international travel restrictions on fertility treatment abroad and other responses to the COVID19 situation.

How we are funded

The DC Network has five main sources of income: membership subscriptions and donations; membership activities (e.g. conferences); publication sales; workshop income; and income from our clinic and lawyer supporter schemes.

Membership subscriptions, gift aid and donations account for over half of our income and supports the services that we offer to members. These include: planning our annual conferences; biannual journal to members; supporting our local groups and meetups throughout the UK and Ireland; our regular bulletins to members; and our email and telephone support services.

Publication sales. Our publications continue to sell well around the world, reflecting the broader reach that our small charity achieves.

Workshop income. To keep prices as low as possible, our workshops are designed to be self-funding, rather than profit making, with the income received matching the cost of developing, organising and delivering these specialised, highly-sensitive and professionally-run events.

Our corporate supporter programmes generate part of our income and we are very grateful to all our clinic and lawyer supporters.

Our Lawyer supporters

Our lawyer supporter scheme encourages legal firms specialising in fertility law to support us and help us ensure that we are connecting people to the right support that they may need. We know many people use our website for information and signposting to appropriate services. We are enormously grateful to all our lawyer supporters for building these links with us:

4 Paper Buildings A City Law Firm Biscoes Bishop and Sewell

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DONOR CONCEPTION NETWORK

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TRUSTEES’ REPORT FO R TH E YEA R END ED 31JUL Y 2021(C O NTINUED )

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Our Lawyer supporters (continued)

Burgess Mee Clarke Willmott Harper Macleod JMW NGA Law Osbornes Penningtons Manches Cooper Simpson Miller TV Edwards

Our Clinic supporters

This scheme encourages fertility clinics to support us in the work we do. It enables us to forge closer links with these clinics, who are treating many of the people who go on to become our members at the start of their donor conception journey.

Clinics who join the scheme recognise that there are wider issues to consider when a child is being created with the use of donor gametes. Their commitment to us is helping to ensure we can support families long-term, whatever needs may come up that relate to donor conception.

Jessop Fertility Herts and Essex Fertility Centre Hewitt Fertility Centre Liverpool Jessop Fertility LWC London LWC Brentwood LWC Bristol LWC Cardiff LWC Darlington LWC Kent LWC London Bridge London Sperm Bank London Egg Bank Manchester Fertility European Sperm Bank

Review of financial position

At the balance sheet date the total funds of the Charity were £91,432 (2020: £54,737).

Trustees

Sue Dean Caroline Gibbons (resigned 30 September 2020) Linzi Bull Spencer Fox (resigned 30 June 2021) Rachel Gundesen Emily Kippax (appointed 30 September 2020) Ros Wall (appointed 30 September 2020) Tom Amies-Cull (appointed 30 September 2020)

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DONOR CONCEPTION NETWORK TRUSTEES, REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JUL Y 2021 (CONTINUED) Investment pollcy Under the constitution. the Trustees have the aUth￿rtY to invest the lund5 of the charitable trusl at their dlscretim. Reserve5 poIIcy It is the pollcy ofthe Trustees that unrestrided funds which have not been desp3nated for a specific use should be mainlained al a level that wll ensure that. in the event of a $jnrf￿anI drop in funding. they will be able to continue the ch.5 current xtNiI￿ wkmle con5Klerat>)n is gNen toways in ￿[ch additional funds may be rai¥ed. Rlsk Factors The Trustees regulady examine the rnaFY 51rategic bu5W5s and cpeTrth?nal ii5ks which the charity faces and confim that systems have been estabfished to ensu￿ that necessary steps are taken to lessen the eflect of su¢h rfsks. Truslees fesponslbllftles In relatSon to the Ilnanc5al stslements The ￿ applKable lo chariknes in Engl&￿ and Wales requires Ilk TNstees lo prepare financial State￿nts for each financid ye& whlch give a true arKI fa￿ ViV•V of the stale of affairs of the charity and of its financial aGlivi(ie5 for that yeai. In preparng fThincBI 5tatemenis gNing a true and fawview. the Trustees $I￿Uld follow besl pra¢tl¢e arKI.. select suita>le accwnlwwj polKi8s and Ihen them consister'. make judgements eslinate5 that are reasonable and pr￿￿entr. slate whether applicable accounlNig slandard5 arKI statement5 of rec(xrniended practice have been foliowed subject to a)y departures dis¢h)5ed and explained in the financHI slemenl5", prepare the financial statements on the goiTrJ CC￿￿rn basi5 unless it is inappropriate lo presume that the charity wll continue wi weralion. Th8 T￿te8S are ie5ponsible lor keepro xcountlng rewd$ rfEc1050 wilh reasonable accurxy the financkql position of the charity and which enable them to wertain the fmancHI positi)n of the charity and ensure that the financi￿ statements compty wilh the Charits Act 2011. the Chity (F￿anC￿l statemen15 and Reports) Regulations and the provisions of the trust deed. The Truslees are responsible for safeguarding the assets ofthe charity and hencg for t1￿ rea50nth steps lorthe preventlon detethn offraud and olher irwularilies. SDe Trustee Dated 31 May 2022

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INDEPENDENT EXAMINER’S REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES ON THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS OF DONOR CONCEPTION NETWORK FO R TH E YEA R END ED 31JUL Y 2021

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I report on the financial statements of the Charity for the year ended 31 July 2021, which are as set out on pages 8 to 12.

Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner

The trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year under section 144 (1) of the Charities Act 2011 (the 2011 Act) and that an independent examination is needed.

Having satisfied myself that the Charity is not subject to audit and is eligible for independent examination, it is my responsibility to:

Basis of independent examiner’s report

My examination was carried out in accordance with the General Directions given by the Charity Commissioners. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the financial statements, and seeking explanations from you as Trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently, no opinion is given as to whether the financial statements present a ‘true and fair’ view and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below.

Independent examiner’s statement

In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention:

Name:

Michael Pinner ACA

Relevant professional body: Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales

Address:

Errington Langer Pinner Pyramid House 954 High Road London N12 9RT

Date:

31 May 2022

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DONOR CONCEPTION NETWORK

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STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES FO R TH E YEA R END ED 31JUL Y 2021

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Unrestricted Restricted
Total		 Restricted
Total		 Total
Funds Funds 2021 2020
£ £ £ £
Incoming resources
Donations and subscriptions 111,018 - 111,018 119,772
Publication sales 43,532 - 43,532 37,437
Grants - 30,750 30,750 -
Other income 65,259 - 65,259 84,196
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Total incoming resources 219,809 30,750 250,559 241,405
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Resources expended
Staff and management 129,370 - 129,370 132,509
Operations 76,656 7,838 84,494 120,819
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Total resources expended 206,026 7,838 213,864 253,328
Transfers between funds 266 (266) - -
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Net incoming/(outgoing)/resources
for the year ended 31 July 2021 14,049 22,646 36,695 (11,923)
Fund balances brought forward
at 1 August 2020 38,615 16,122 54,737 66,660
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Fund balances carried forward
at 31 July 2021 52,664 38,768 91,432 54,737
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DONOR CONCEPTION NETWORK BALANCE SHEET AS AT31 JULY2021 2021 2020 Notes Current assets Cash al bank and in hand 91.432 54.737 Current Ilabllltles Crediiors.. anKJunls falling due wlhin one year Net current assets 91.432 54,737 Income funds Reslri¢led funds UnrestTicled funds 38,768 52.664 16.122 38,61S 91.432 54,737 The financial statemen15 were approved by the Truste85 on 31 May 2022 Tfustee

DONOR CONCEPTION NETWORK

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NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FO R TH E YEA R END ED 31JUL Y 2021

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1. Accounting policies

1.1 Basis of preparation

The accounts have been prepared in accordance with the Charities Act 2011 and “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 (FRS 102)” (as amended for accounting periods commencing from 1 January 2016). The charity is a Public Benefit Entity as defined by FRS 102.

The charity has taken advantage of the provisions in the SORP for charities applying FRS 102 Update Bulletin 1 not to prepare a Statement of Cash Flows.

The accounts have departed from the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 only to the extent required to provide a true and fair view. This departure has involved following the Statement of Recommended Practice for charities applying FRS 102 rather than the version of the Statement of Recommended Practice which is referred to in the Regulations but which has since been withdrawn.

The accounts are prepared in sterling, which is the functional currency of the charity. Monetary a mounts in these financial statements are rounded to the nearest £.

The accounts have been prepared under the historical cost convention. The principal accounting policies adopted are set out below.

1.2 Going concern

At the time of approving the accounts, the trustees have a reasonable expectation that the charity has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. Thus the trustees continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the accounts.

1.3 Charitable funds

Unrestricted funds are available for use at the discretion of the trustees in furtherance of their charitable objectives unless the funds have been designated for other purposes.

Restricted funds are subject to specific conditions by donors as to how they may be used. The purposes and uses of the restricted funds are set out in the notes to the accounts.

1.4 Incoming resources

Income is recognised when the charity is legally entitled to it after any performance conditions have been met, the amounts can be measured reliably, and it is probable that income will be received.

Cash donations are recognised on receipt. Other donations are recognised once the charity has been notified of the donation, unless performance conditions require deferral of the amount. Income tax recoverable in relation to donations received under Gift Aid or deeds of covenant is recognised at the time of the donation.

Legacies are recognised on receipt or otherwise if the charity has been notified of an impending distribution, the amount is known, and receipt is expected. If the amount is not known, the legacy is treated as a contingent asset.

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DONOR CONCEPTION NETWORK

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NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FO R TH E YEA R END ED 31JUL Y 2021(C O NTINUED )

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1.5 Resources expended

Resources expended are recognised in the period in which they are incurred. Resources expended include attributable VAT which cannot be recovered.

1.6 Tangible fixed assets

Tangible fixed assets are initially measured at cost and subsequently measured at cost or valuation, net of depreciation and any impairment losses.

Depreciation is recognised so as to write off the cost or valuation of assets less their residual values over their useful lives on the following bases:

The gain or loss arising on the disposal of an asset is determined as the difference between the sale proceeds and the carrying value of the asset, and is recognised in net income / (expenditure) for the year.

1.7 Cash and cash equivalents

Cash and cash equivalents include cash in hand, deposits held at call with banks, other short-term liquid investments with original maturities of three months or less, and bank overdrafts. Bank overdrafts are shown within borrowings in current liabilities.

B asic financ ialassets

Basic financial assets, which include debtors and cash and bank balances, are initially measured at transaction price including transaction costs and are subsequently carried at amortised cost using the effective interest method unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, where the transaction is measured at the present value of the future receipts discounted at a market rate of interest. Financial assets classified as receivable within one year are not amortised.

B asic financ ialliabilities

Basic financial liabilities, including creditors and bank loans are initially recognised at transaction price unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, where the debt instrument is measured at the present value of the future payments discounted at a market rate of interest. Financial liabilities classified as payable within one year are not amortised.

Trade creditors are obligations to pay for goods or services that have been acquired in the ordinary course of operations from suppliers. Amounts payable are classified as current liabilities if payment is due within one year or less. If not, they are presented as non-current liabilities. Trade creditors are recognised initially at transaction price and subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method.

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DONOR CONCEPTION NETWORK

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NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FO R TH E YEA R END ED 31JUL Y 2021(C O NTINUED )

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2. Analysis of charitable funds

Analysis of unrestricted funds movements

Balance at **Incoming ** Resources Balance at
1 August 2020 resources expended July 31 2021
£ £ £ £
General fund 38,615 220,075 (206,026) 52,664
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38,615 220,075 (206,026) 52,664
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Analysis of restricted funds movement
Balance at **Incoming ** Resources Balance at
1 August 2020 resources expended July 31 2021
£ £ £ £
Solo Mum Conference 2012 266 - (266) -
April Trust Film Project 15,856 - (5,408) 10,448
Digital Fund - 28,250 (2,430) 25,820
30th Anniversary Fund - 2,500 - 2,500
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16,122 30,750 (8,104) 38,768
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Analysis of restricted funds movement

Name of the fund Description, nature and purpose of the fund

Solo Mum Conference 2012 Solo mum support project April Trust Film Project Grant to allow the remaking of our Telling and Talking film which we use in our workshops Digital Fund Website and Digitalisation project 30th Anniversary Fund Grant to support anniversary project in 2024

3. Staff costs

The average weekly number of employees remunerated during the year, calculated on a full time equivalent basis, was 4 (2020 – 4).

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