2023-07-31-accounts - Donor Conception Network

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REGISTERED CHARITY NUMBER: 1041297

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES AND UNAUDITED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2023

FOR

DONOR CONCEPTION NETWORK

CONTENTS OF THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2023

		Page
Reference and Administrative Details		1
Letter from the chair		2
Report of the Trustees	3	to	5
Independent Examiner's Report		6
Statement of Financial Activities		7
Balance Sheet		8
Notes to the Financial Statements	9	to	13
DetailedStatementofFinancialActivities	14	to	15

DONOR CONCEPTION NETWORK

REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2023

TRUSTEES

Mrs S Dean Chair Mr G Marx Trustee Mrs H Drinkwater Trustee (resigned 13/10/2023) Mrs E Issacs Trustee (resigned 19/9/2023) Mr T Amies-Cull Trustee Mrs R Wall Trustee

Mrs R Gundesen Trustee Mrs C Le Guyader (appointed 6/11/2023) Mrs C Gilling Smith (appointed 6/11/2023)

PRINCIPAL ADDRESS 154 Caledonian Road London Ni 9RD REGISTERED CHARITY 1041297 NUMBER

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DONOR CONCEPTION NETWORK

LETTER FROM THE CHAIR FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2023

This year has been a high profile one for the Donor Conception Network. Not only did we celebrate the Network's 30th anniversary but 2023 was a significant year as the first cohort of children conceived after the UK law change turned 18 at the end of the year. We held a successful fundraising drinks event and launched a major social media campaign to celebrate our 30th and are preparing new support services for young people and families. This year has been another busy year and saw some significant progress in several areas as we continued to bounce back from the difficulties caused by Covid 19. We have seen the Network go from strength to strength thanks to expanding our services online and continued investment into our presence and engagement on social media. We have also made a significant investment in development of a new website, which went live March 2024. This will transform the way we offer services and increase our efficiency. Combined with a new simplified membership scheme, launched in November 2022, our members are now seeing the benefits in terms of improving access to the support and information we offer.

We have continued to offer many of our services online in tandem alongside in-person events as we know there is huge value in both. We ran conferences in London and Bristol, both well-attended, a testament to the value of bringing our community together. Our online offer continues to been very successful and continues to attract a lot of participants to our workshops from beyond the UK, which is fantastic. We are always very grateful to our volunteer team of around 100 dedicated individuals who manage to do such great work supporting members, often acting as our frontline. We continue to welcome more new members, as well as increasing retention of existing members. In addition, as our Annual Report shows, we had another very busy year undertaking the following activities for our members and non-members:

Support interactions on the Helpline
- Local meet ups across the UK - Online chats
Our popular Friday Bulletin and Perspectives Magazine
Workshops
Communications and advocacy opportunities

My thanks go to the staff, volunteers, trustees and supporters for your ongoing commitment to the Network. We are well placed to capitalise on a successful 30th anniversary year and the launch of our new website and for the Network to continue to thrive and meet the support and information needs of the wider donor conception community.

Sue Dean

April 2024

See.————————————

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DONOR CONCEPTION NETWORK

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2023 Sen eee

eee

The trustees present their report with the financial statements of the charity for the year ended 31 July 2023. The trustees have adopted the provisions of 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) (effective 1 January 2019),

OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES

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 30 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.

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DONOR CONCEPTION NETWORK

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2023

OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES

Our activities

30th Anniversary

In 2023, we celebrated the charity's 30th anniversary year. This involved holding member picnics around the country and a drinks evening in June for our key supporters and stakeholders. We also marked the moment at our conferences and used the opportunity to run a social media campaign showcasing the services and resources that we've developed over three decades.

Membership

In November 2022 we launched a reorganised, rebranded and upgraded membership structure. We also increased fees (which we hadn't done for 6 years) to bring things up to date.

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. Local groups/ meetups and online chats - for members During 2022/23 our volunteers ran local meetups around the UK, some events being for adults only and others catering for families with children. We also ran our popular, facilitated Zoom Chats for members. These activities, plus welcoming new members, were made possible by our team of around 100 volunteers. We ran several volunteer support sessions during the year which were well attended and appreciated. Communications We rebranded our bi-annual Journal - now calling it a magazine with a new name, 'DCN Perspectives’. We produced our regular 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.

Workshops

We ran a full programme of workshops which are open to both members and non-members. We_ offer Destination Parenthood workshops for people considering donor conception and Telling and Talking for those with children up to 7yrs. We also run a workshop for professionals working in the field 'Making It Real’. DCN Conferences After an 18-month hiatus, this year we were back to normal with our biannual conference programme (one in London and one out-of-London). In October 2022 we headed to Bristol for a half day out-of-London conference, our first outside London since 2019. In April 2023 we ran our very popular and well-attended annual members in-person London conference. Projects April Trust funding to make a new film for our workshops: Following a review of the project, given the restructured workshop programme, we revised the plan to complete it as a series of full individual interviews, adding voiceover and slides. We needed to find a new editor for the films and that took until spring 2023, when the project work resumed.

Website and Digitalisation project

This project ran into difficulty integrating the front and back end of the website which delayed progress. However, the design and build continued and the content rewrite is underway.

Advocacy and awareness

We evaluated and circulated 4 research projects to our membership. DCN Research Officer, Yael Ilan, continued in here role as part of the ConnecteDNA project being run by Manchester University. She also joined the advisory board for the DigitalDC project. Nina Barnsley continued her role as part of the HFEA's Legislative Reform Advisory Group to discuss proposals for changing the HFE Act. Through the year we Participated in the regular HFEA and POSG meetings.

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DONOR CONCEPTION NETWORK REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2023

OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES

In the autumn of 2022, we attended the My Surrogacy Journey conference and had a stand at the Modern Family Show, where we also spoke. The Fertility Show was back in person in May 2023 and we had a stand in London, as well as a speaking slot that weekend. In November 2022 we participated in National Fertility Awareness Week and in April 2023 we participated in the second International Donor Conception Awareness Day (IDCAD).

2023 was a significant year as the first cohort of children conceived after the UK law change turned 18 at the end of the year. As a result, there was a huge amount of media coverage and we were invited to speak on several radio and TV programmes including BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour and Radio 5 Live. We were asked to contribute to various other media programmes and articles, raising our profile and also raising awareness of the particular issues relating to donor conception. 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 a large proportion of our income and_ this income supports the services that we offer to members. These include: planning our annual conferences; biannual journal/magazine to members; supporting our local groups and meetups throughout the UK; 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.

FINANCIAL REVIEW Reserves policy

At the balance sheet date the total funds of the Charity were £57,422 (2022: £80,692).

STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT Governing document The charity is controlled by its governing document, a deed of trust and constitutes an unincorporated charity.

29/05/2024

Approved by order of the board of truste@s OM ........cceeceessseesseeseteessesseteerereee and Signed on its behalf by:

Mrs S Dean - Trustee

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INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES OF DONOR CONCEPTION NETWORK

NN

Independent examiner's report to the trustees of Donor Conception Network I report to the charity trustees on my examination of the accounts of Donor Conception Network (the Trust) for the year ended 31 July 2023.

Responsibilities and basis of report As the charity trustees of the Trust you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the Act’).

I report in respect of my examination of the Trust's accounts carried out under Section 145 of the Act and in carrying out my examination I have followed all applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under Section 145(5)(b) of the Act.

Independent examiner's statement Since your charity's gross income exceeded £250,000 your examiner must be a member of a listed body. I can confirm that I am qualified to undertake the examination because Iam a member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, which is one of the listed bodies.

I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:

ls accounting records were not kept in respect of the Trust as required by Section 130 of the Act; or 2. the accounts do not accord with those records; or 3. the accounts do not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 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.

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.

Mr David Ashby FCCA

Date: _ABIOS| 2024.

NN

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DONOR CONCEPTION NETWORK

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2023

----- Start of picture text -----
||||||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |2023|2022| |Unrestricted|Restricted|Total|Total| |fund|funds|funds|funds| |Notes|£|£|£|£| |INCOME|AND|ENDOWMENTS|FROM| |Donations|and|legacies|78,838|-|78,838|70,252| |Charitable|activities| |Workshops|38,013|-|38,013|32,274| |Conferences|and|events|31,906|-|31,906|20,865| |Subscriptions|99,689|.|99,689|86,733| |Other|trading|activities|2|36,819|-|36,819|38,263| |Total|285,265|-|285,265|248,387| |EXPENDITURE|ON| |Charitable|activities| |Staff and|management|138,777|=|138,777|118,233| |Operations|103,703|19,495|123,198|89,397| |Workshops|22,613|-|22,613|31,966| |Conferences|and|events|20,330|3,617|23,947|19,531| |Total|285,423|23,112|308,535|259,127| |NET|INCOME/ (EXPENDITURE)|(158)|(23,112)|(23,270)|(10,740)| |RECONCILIATION|OF|FUNDS| |Total|funds|brought|forward|51,420|29,272|80,692|91,432| |TOTAL FUNDS|CARRIED|FORWARD|51,262|6,160|57,422|80,692|

----- End of picture text -----

The notes form part of these financial statements

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DONOR CONCEPTION NETWORK

BALANCE SHEET

31 JULY 2023

				2023	2022
		Unrestricted fund	Restricted funds	Total funds	Total funds
	Notes	£	£	£	£
CURRENT ASSETS
Debtors	6	1,900	-	1,900	-
Cash at bank		56,473	6,160	62,633	80,692
		58,373	6,160	64,533	80,692
CREDITORS
Amounts falling due within one year	7	(7,111)	-	(7,111)	-
NETCURRENTASSETS		51,262	6,160	57,422	80,692
TOTAL ASSETS LESS CURRENT
LIABILITIES		51,262	6,160	57,422	80,692
NETASSETS		51,262	6,160	57,422	80,692
FUNDS	8
Unrestrictedfunds				51,262	51,420
Restricted funds				6,160	29,272
TOTALFUNDS				57,422	80,692

The financial statements were approved by the Board of Trustees and authorised for issue on vevverseses 20912024... .ceseerseeee and Were Signed on its behalf by:

Mrs S Dean - Trustee

The notes form part of these financial statements

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DONOR CONCEPTION NETWORK

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2023

ACCOUNTING POLICIES

BASIS OF PREPARING THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

The financial statements of the charity, which is a public benefit entity under FRS 102, have been prepared in accordance with the Charities SORP (FRS 102) ‘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) (effective 1 January 2019)', Financial Reporting Standard 102 'The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland' and the Charities Act 2011. The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention.

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.

TAXATION

The charity is exempt from tax on its charitable activities.

FUND ACCOUNTING

Unrestricted funds can be used in accordance with the charitable objectives at the discretion of the trustees.

Restricted funds can only be used for particular restricted purposes within the objects of the charity. Restrictions arise when specified by the donor or when funds are raised for particular restricted purposes.

Further explanation of the nature and purpose of each fund is included in the notes to the financial statements.

PENSION COSTS AND OTHER POST-RETIREMENT BENEFITS

The charity operates a defined contribution pension scheme. Contributions payable to the charity's pension scheme are charged to the Statement of Financial Activities in the period to which they relate.

2. OTHER TRADING ACTIVITIES

		2023	2022
		£	£
Publication	sales	36,819	38,263

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continued...

DONOR CONCEPTION NETWORK

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - continued FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2023

TRUSTEES' REMUNERATION AND BENEFITS

There were no trustees’ remuneration or other benefits for the year ended 31 July 2023 nor for the year ended 31 July 2022.

TRUSTEES' EXPENSES

There were no trustees’ expenses paid for the year ended 31 July 2023 nor for the year ended 31 July 2022.

STAFF COSTS

The average weekly number of employees remunerated during the year, calculated on a full time equivalent basis was 6 (2022: 4)

COMPARATIVES FORTHE STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES	COMPARATIVES FORTHE STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES
	Unrestricted	Restricted	Total
	fund	funds	funds
	£	£	E
INCOME AND ENDOWMENTS FROM
Donations and legacies	70,252	-	70,252
Charitable activities
Workshops	32,274	-	32,274
Conferences and events	20,865	-	20,865
Subscriptions	86,733	-	86,733
Other trading activities	38,263	-	38,263
Total	248,387	-	248,387
EXPENDITURE ON
Charitable activities
Staffand management Operations Workshops	118,233 83,611 31,966	= 5,786 -	118,233 89,397 31,966
Conferences and events	15,821	3,710	19,531
Total	249,631	9,496	259,127
NET INCOME/(EXPENDITURE)	(1,244)	(9,496)	(10,740)
RECONCILIATION OF FUNDS
Total funds brought forward	52,664	38,768	91,432
TOTALFUNDSCARRIEDFORWARD	51,420	29,272	80,692

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DONOR CONCEPTION NETWORK

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - continued FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2023

6.	DEBTORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR	DEBTORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR
			2023	2022
			£	£
	Trade debtors		1,900	-
7.	CREDITORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR
			2023	2022
			£	£
	Taxation and social security Other creditors		2,424 4,687	- -
			7,111	-
8.	MOVEMENT IN FUNDS
			Net
			movement	At
		At 1/8/22	in funds	31/7/23
		£	£	£
	Unrestricted funds
	General fund	51,420	(158)	51,262
	Restricted funds
	April Trust Film Project Digital fund 30th Anniversary Fund	5,434 21,338 2,500	(1,117) (19,495) (2,500)	4,317 1,843 -
		29,272	(23,112)	6,160
	TOTAL FUNDS	80,692	(23,270)	57,422
	Net movement in funds, included in the above are as follows:
		Incoming	Resources	Movement
		resources	expended	in funds
		£	£	E
	Unrestricted funds
	General fund	285,265	(285,423)	(158)
	Restricted funds
	April Trust Film Project Digital fund 30th Anniversary Fund	° - -	(1,117) (19,495) (2,500)	(1,117) (19,495) (2,500)
		-	(23,112)	(23,112)
	TOTALFUNDS	285,265	(308,535)	(23,270)

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NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - continued FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2023

DONOR CONCEPTION NETWORK

8. MOVEMENT IN FUNDS- continued

Comparatives for movement in funds

		Net
		movement	At
	At 1/8/21	in funds	31/7/22
	£	£	£
Unrestricted funds
General fund	52,664	(1,244)	51,420
Restricted funds
April Trust Film Project	10,448	(5,014)	5,434
Digital fund	25,820	(4,482)	21,338
30th Anniversary Fund	2,500	-	2,500
	38,768	(9,496)	29,272
TOTAL FUNDS	91,432	(10,740)	80,692
Comparative net movement in funds, included in the above are as follows:
	Incoming	Resources	Movement
	resources	expended	in funds
	£	£	£
Unrestricted funds
General fund	248,387	(249,631)	(1,244)
Restricted funds
April Trust Film Project	-	(5,014)	(5,014)
Digital fund	™	(4,482)	(4,482)
	=	(9,496)	(9,496)
TOTALFUNDS	248,387	(259,127)	(10,740)

A current year 12 months and prior year 12 months combined position is as follows:

		Net
		movement	At
	At 1/8/21	in funds	31/7/23
	£	£	E
Unrestricted funds
General fund	52,664	(1,402)	51,262
Restricted funds
April Trust Film Project	10,448	(6,131)	4,317
Digital fund	25,820	(23,977)	1,843
30th Anniversary Fund	2,500	(2,500)	-
	38,768	(32,608)	6,160
TOTALFUNDS	91,432	(34,010)	57,422

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continued...

DONOR CONCEPTION NETWORK

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - continued FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2023

MOVEMENT IN FUNDS - continued

A current year 12 months and prior year 12 months combined net movement in funds, included in the above are as follows:

----- Start of picture text -----
|||||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |Incoming|Resources|Movement| |resources|expended|in|funds| |£|£|E| |Unrestricted|funds| |General|fund|533,652|(535,054)|(1,402)| |Restricted|funds| |April|Trust|Film|Project|-|(6,131)|(6,131)| |Digital|fund|-|(23,977)|(23,977)| |30th|Anniversary|Fund|-|(2,500)|(2,500)| |-|(32,608)|(32,608)| |TOTAL FUNDS|533,652|(567,662)|(34,010)|

----- End of picture text -----

RELATED PARTY DISCLOSURES

There were no related party transactions for the year ended 31 July 2023.

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DONOR CONCEPTION NETWORK

DETAILED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2023

Saaee

	2023	2022
	£	E
INCOME AND ENDOWMENTS
Donations and legacies
Donations Gift aid P&P income Donated services and facilities	29,540 22,798 6,900 19,600	16,088 19,146 7,707 27,311
	78,838	70,252
Othertrading activities
Publication sales	36,819	38,263
Charitable activities
Conferences and events Workshops Memberships	31,906 38,013 99,689	20,865 32,274 86,733
	169,608	139,872
Total incoming resources	285,265	248,387
EXPENDITURE
Charitable activities
Workshops Conferences and events	22,613 23,947	32,830 18,667
	46,560	51,497
Support costs
Management
Wages Social security Pensions Rent Insurance Postage and stationery Advertising Sundries Publicationsand journals Travel and meetings Library service	131,625 5,525 3,172 7,800 1,004 9,852 15,788 2,380 18,871 4,006 171	111,286 4,650 2,297 7,800 982 17,443 23,183 - 16,046 432 183
	200,194	184,302
Finance
Bank charges PayPal fees	2,663 1,946	191 3,543
	4,609	3,734

This page does not form part of the statutory financial statements

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DONOR CONCEPTION NETWORK

DETAILED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2023

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||||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---| |2023|2022| |£|E| |Finance| |Information|technology| |Telephone|2,428|5,423| |Computer|costs|300|-| |Website|costs|50,662|13,619| |53,390|19,042| |Human|resources| |HR|costs|854|=| |Governance|costs| |Accountancy|and|legal|fees|2,928|552| |Total|resources|expended|308,535|259,127| |Net expenditure|(23,270)|(10,740)|

----- End of picture text -----

This page does not form part of the statutory financia! statements

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