## The Trustees’ Annual Report & Accounts
## For the Financial Year Ended 31[st] March 2023
Company Limited by Guarantee Registration Number 03075681 (England and Wales) Charity Registration Number 1060267
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## CONTENTS
## Reports
|CONTENTS
Reports||
|---|---|
|Reference and administrative information|3|
|Trustees’ annual report|4|
|Independent auditor’s report|18|
## Financial Statements
|Statement of financial activities|22|
|---|---|
|Balance sheet|23|
|Statement of cash flows|24|
|Principal accounting policies|25|
|Notes to the financial statements|29|
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## REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS
**Charity Name:** Women in Sport **Charity Number:** 1060267 **Company Number:** 03075681 **Registered Office:** House of Sport, 4[th] Floor, 190 Great Dover Street London, SE1 4YB **Trustees:** J Haines MBE (Chair to March 2023) S Young (Vice Chair, Treasurer to July, Acting Chair from March 2023) S Power (Treasurer from July 2022) S Wicks Dr S Mann M Chapman N Rusling R Shah (to October 2022) **Key Management** Chief Executive Officer: S Hilborne OBE **Personnel:** Head of People, Finance & Operations: H Wijeweera Head of Insight & Innovation: T Martin (from Jan 2023) K Nicholson (to Dec 2022) Head of Engagement & Communications: S Bellew (acting from April 2023) W Hawk (to April 2023) Head of Policy, Partnerships & Public Affairs: L West (from August 2022) C Long (to June 2022) **Company secretary:** H Wijeweera **Bankers:** CAF Charities Aid Foundation 25 King Hill Avenue West Malling, Kent, ME19 4JQ **Auditor:** Buzzacott LLP 130 Wood Street London EC2V 6DL
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## Introduction
This was an historic year on many fronts. Externally we saw war in Europe, bade farewell to Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and two Prime Ministers. For women’s sport the trajectory was more positive. England hosted a highly successful and memorable Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and an extraordinary European football tournament which culminated in an unforgettable win for the Lionesses in July. Women’s rugby and cricket also rocketed into the public consciousness!
As Women in Sport approaches its 40[th] Anniversary, the trustees are delighted with the charity’s progress, ending the year in a very strong position, in terms of reputation, influence and finances. It has been an outstanding year, with a very high media profile allowing us to celebrate the progress that is being made whilst challenging the speed of change. Teamsport participation is highly imbalanced, with 22% fewer girls and women experiencing its joy and freedom than men and boys. Our newest survey showed that whilst the Lionesses helped to smash the dream deficit for very sporty girls, the vast majority remained unmoved, at least when it came to whether they dreamed of reaching the top of sport. So there is still much work to do.
We published ground-breaking research highlighting the scale and depth of early years stereotyping. This exposed the limiting expectations we surround young girls with, and the lack of opportunity. On prime-time TV we talked about how we crush girls’ self-belief even before puberty so all the more vital that we showed through our massively successful Big Sister project how to turn this around for teenage girls.
The charity’s voice and well evidenced opinions on matters related to safe and fair sport for women and girls was increasingly valued by a range of sports and partners in the sector. We were commissioned to help sports, local authorities and businesses understand the lives of women and girls at various life stages and in many contexts. We made strong cases in our submissions to various reviews including the review of women’s football.
It was a very successful year for fundraising with challenge-eventers and generous individual donors to our Big Give campaign. We also secured increased great corporate support. This increases the value of our very welcome core support from Sport England.
Jayne Haines MBE stood down as our chair in March 2023 after nine years as a trustee, more than half of those of those as chair. The charity is deeply grateful to Jayne for her stewardship of the charity and her leadership, as am I personally.
I would like to welcome Julia Newton who we have co-opted on to the Board with the expectation that she will be elected our new Chair from October 2023. We have big plans for the future, and anticipate a highly successful 40[th] year in 2024.
Susan Young (Sep 6, 2023, 6:23pm)
Susan Young, Acting Chair of Trustees
Date: 06 Sep 2023
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## 1. Structure, Governance and Management
## **1.1 Legal Status and Governance**
Women in Sport was founded in 1984, incorporated as a private company limited by guarantee on 4 July 1995 (company number 03075681), and registered as a charity on 21 January 1997 (charity registration number 1060267). The office base is The House of Sport, 4th Floor, 190, Great Dover Street, London, SE1 4YB.
The company was established under a Memorandum and Articles of Association which set out the objects and powers of the charitable company. These were amended in 2017. In 2022, we updated the articles to amend the terms of trustees and align these with the recommendations in the Sports Governance code.
Women in Sport is governed by a Board of Trustees that appoints the Chief Executive. The Chief Executive is then accountable to the Board. Women in Sport has no less than three and no more than twelve Trustees appointed at the AGM, who may serve as trustees for a maximum period of nine years, broken into three year terms. If an existing Trustee is elected chair they can continue their term of office for a maximum of 12 years. Trustees may be co-opted provided that the appointment does not cause the number of Trustees to exceed twelve.
The Board has two sub-committees: Finance and Audit Committee and Governance and Nominations Committee. Both meet at least twice a year and normally comprise no more than four members. The Finance and Audit Committee supports the Board by looking in detail at financial planning, reporting and policies, external audit and annual report and accounts, and relevant risks. The Governance and Nominations Committee covers human resources, governance development and review as well as recommendations on trustee appointments.
All Trustees give their time voluntarily and receive no benefits from the charity. Any expenses reclaimed from the charity are set out in note 9 to the accounts.
The majority of Board meetings during the year were held virtually with the away day and the July meeting being held face to face at our offices at House of Sport. Four Board meetings, three meetings of Governance & Nominations Committee, four meetings of Finance & Audit Committee, an AGM and an away day were held during the year. The away day allowed the trustees time to work together to reflect on what they brought to the table and what they needed to operate at their best, review our three-year business plan and engage in the Board Effectiveness Review.
As part of our ongoing commitment to excellent governance we appointed an experienced external provider to review our Board Effectiveness.
Trustees engaged actively in strategic task and finish groups related to certain strands of development work including our future vision for how women and girls relate to sport, fundraising, brand development and gender budgeting.
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Day-to-day management is delegated to the Chief Executive. This post is held by Stephanie Hilborne OBE. Key management personnel are the respective Heads of Insight & Innovation; Communications & Engagement; People, Finance & Operations; and Policy, Partnerships and Public Affairs.
Remuneration of the Chief Executive is recommended by the Governance and Nominations Committee and considered and agreed by the full Board. All other pay decisions are delegated to the Chief Executive within the scope of the remuneration policy agreed by Governance and Nominations Committee. Awards to cover increases in the cost of living are not automatic but where made are recommended by the Committees to the Board. There was significant well-managed turnover in the Senior Management Team this year.
As a charity we aim to represent the needs of the full diversity of women and girls at each life stage. We therefore value the diversity of perspectives that can only happen with a team of diverse people. We have changed how we recruit and are attracting diverse shortlists for appointments, and across the year a quarter of our staff team came from diverse communities.
The trustee board for the year saw some change with the planned departure of our chair Jayne Haines MBE and with Rupen Shah leaving to take up a role on the board of UK Sport. Our current board remains gender-balanced but not ethnically diverse. A successful recruitment process led to the co-option of Julia Newton and Kuldeep Kaur as new trustees, with intended roles being as chair and finance trustee respectively.
## **Statement of Compliance with the new Code for Sports Governance**
Sport England and UK Sport have issued a revised code for Sports Governance. The Board of Trustees is committed to continuing high standards of governance in compliance with both charity law and this new Code for Sports Governance. We submitted a statement of continued compliance with unchanged elements of the code in April 2023, and have also put in place policies and procedures to ensure compliance with new elements.
## 2. Objectives and Activities
## 2.1 Charity’s Objects
Women in Sport has the following charitable objects:
A) The provision or assistance in the provision, in the interests of social welfare, of sport and leisure facilities and opportunities for women and girls which will improve their conditions of life by promoting their physical, mental and social wellbeing.
B) The promotion and advancement of the education of women in management and sports-related job skills.
## 2.2 Our Strategy
Our **vision** is that “no one should be excluded from the joy, fulfilment and life-long benefits of sports and exercise”.
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## We **believe** that:
- gender stereotypes and institutional bias are holding girls & women back in life and sport;
- it is wrong to deny women and girls equal access to sport;
- inclusive sport can help tackle social and economic inequalities; and
- the distinct physicality and needs of women and girls must be reflected in sport.
That’s why our **purpose** is to give every woman and girl the opportunity to take part in sport and inspire her to do so.
To do this we **aim** to:
- deeply understand the needs and aspirations of the full diversity of women and girls at each stage in their life;
- raise the profile of gender inequality in sport and the impact on women & girls;
- define concepts, policies and solutions;
- campaign, collaborate and influence to inspire change; and
- ensure the charity is highly effective.
## 2.3 Public Benefit
The Trustees have referred to the guidance contained in the Charity Commission's general guidance on public benefit when reviewing the charity's aims and objectives and in planning its future activities.
Women in Sport’s insight and research clearly highlights the persisting gender gap in sport. Every aspect of society needs to respect women and girls and offer them equal opportunities. In sport there remains a long way to go before this level of equality is achieved, and Women in Sport exists to champion the rights of women and girls to have equal access to playing, working in and leading sport. Women in Sport is aware that women and girls in lower socio-economic groups often have least access to the joy, fulfilment and lifelong benefits of sport and addressing this is a key part of our work.
Women in Sport’s work with National Governing Bodies, Active Partnerships and Sport for Development Charities that deliver sport and physical activity, enables the barriers to women and girls’ participation in sport to be broken down through practical measures, and each year more women and girls enjoy the benefits of sport as a result of our interventions. Women in Sport also collaborates with organisations outside the sector and leads change through influencing, campaigns and mass communications.
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## 3. Key Achievements & Performance
2022/23 is our second year of delivering to our new strategic framework and aims. Despite the challenges faced due to the pandemic especially at the start of the financial year we have made progress within all the aims outlined and continue to grow our thought leadership, profile and momentum to create change for women and girls.
We have this year presented the statement of financial activities against each of our strategic aims in line with the annual report.
## 3.1 Understanding the Needs and Aspirations of Women and Girls in all their diversity
Women in Sport continues to build on our expertise and deep understanding of the barriers to girls’ and women’s participation in sport and exercise. Two major pieces of work stand out:
## **‘Sport, stereotypes and stolen dreams: Why girls still feel they don’t belong in**
**sport’.** In 2022-23 we published our insights focused on girls aged under eleven both with partners in the sports sector, listening to their feedback and to develop our thinking and through dissemination to wider stakeholders. The research conducted in depth work with 24 families who have daughters and ran two nationally representative surveys to over 2,000 parents of girls and boys aged 5-11 years old. We explored girls’ early experiences of sport and physical activity and the attitudes and influences that shape perceptions at this young age. We strongly believe that ‘getting it right’ at an early age is key. Our insight starts to build an understanding of how to provide girls the best possible start-point, nurturing girls’ competence and self-belief from a young age to build resilience and kick-start a life-long love of being active. This research was further enhanced by a nationally representative survey of over 2,000 parent’s attitudes to sport and physical activity for their sons and daughters.
**Dream Deficit.** In August, immediately following the Euros, we repeated our ‘Dream Deficit’ survey to see if the Women’s Euros had changed young people’s attitudes and motivations (2,500 young women and men 13-24 years were surveyed). A key learning was that the success and visibility of the Women’s Euros has paved the way for sporty girls to **dream** . These girls’ aspirations have soared. The summer of women’s sport boosted aspirations and fuelled dreams of being successful in sport. There were many other benefits as a result of the Euros amongst both boys and girls **BUT** the aspirations of those girls who are not actively pursuing sport, the vast majority, were unaffected.
## 3.2 Raising the Profile of Gender Inequality in Sport
We have had an incredible year of media coverage spotlighting the teamsport gender deficit, self-exclusion and early years gender stereotypes through using the power of storytelling, putting women and girls central to all our communications and driven by our thought leadership and ground-breaking insight. Our communications during 2022/23 reached over 300 million and our media coverage had an Advertising Value Equivalent of almost £2.5 million.
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## **Trustees’ Annual Report 2023**
Key milestones included:
- The Euros win created an opportunity to raise awareness of the importance of teamsport to girls and women and the gaps in opportunity. We were featured in The Times, Independent, Mail Online, The Metro, The Sun, The Observer, BBC Radio Kent and LBC. Our insights around teenage girls also fed into several online articles.
- Our Big Sister project was covered in relevant local and trade press and received endorsement from MPs local to our pilot sites and from the Sports Minister.
- We launched our ground-breaking primary girls research in March in line with International Women’s Day. We gained coverage across broadcast, radio, feature led media and wider sport sector trade press.
The Women in Sport Podcast continues to bring to life insight, advice and expertise from across the sector and on themes that reflect today's world. Guest blogs have grown from these discussions including one with the National Farmers Union President. The total number of listens for our podcasts now stands at thirty-one thousand.
Our research reports, infographics, impact reports and insight packs were viewed over 33,000 times and downloaded over 9,500 times.
Our social engagement has been impressive, particularly around key spotlight moments such as the Euros. We reached a peak on our Lionesses congratulations post on LinkedIn with a total of 45k likes, 480 comments, 1,220 shares and 1.8m impressions. Our #TimeTogether campaign, our thoughts around the Commonwealth Games and Women’s Rugby and our under 11s research launch was particularly impactful with our film gaining over 80,000 views.
## 3.3 Defining Concepts, Policies and Solutions
## **Duty of Care in Sport and Gender Budgeting – Concepts**
We are actively advocating for policy changes within two key areas - eradicating abuse in sport and gender budgeting. Following the publication of the Whyte Review into abuse in gymnastics we published an updated statement on our website, calling again for the implementation of the 2017 **Duty of Care in Sport** Review and the creation of a body for duty of care in sport. We also responded to the UK Government consultation on the Statutory Guidance for Coercive or Controlling Behaviour.
We continue to develop our **Gender Budgeting** concept to ensure fair and representative investment in women and girls’ sport, both with the sports sector and government stakeholders. Our plans will be developed and launched later in 2023.
## **Transgender Inclusion and Women’s Sport – Policy**
We released our updated statement in July working closing with critical experts in this area. We are continuing to engage with sports on this area of policy to ensure that the needs of women and girls are met. These include the opportunity for fair competition and to represent their community, and the requirement for safety from injury.
## **Big Sister - Solutions**
Our flagship ‘Big Sister’ programme for teenage girls (aged 9-15 years) in partnership with Places Leisure, Places for People and Hey Girls, has delivered incredible results over the
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12 months of delivery across three locations – Amber Valley, South Yorkshire and Norwich and has secured significant profile. Its success has been rooted in the extensive insights into understanding the unique challenges girls face in communities of high social deprivation as well as putting girls at the heart of the design, development and delivery of the programme. Significant impact and outcomes of this year pilot include:
- Education of sport and exercise community and sports leaders
- Development of the Big Sister Digital Hub and Instagram channel to equip girls
- Training of ‘Big Sisters’ to help us to connect with and support girls
- Increased girls’ exercise and sport participation through free membership
- Provided access to the Places Leisure Places Locker App free virtual online classes.
- Reduced period poverty through provision of free sanitary products.
## 3.4 Campaigning, Collaborating and Influencing to Inspire Change
Women in Sport has a strong track record of collaboration with the sports sector to inform and inspire it to engage and retain more women and girls through their policies, programme design and marketing. This work is based on the strength of our insights and accumulated foundational knowledge and leading policy development.
## **#TimeTogether - Campaigning**
Now in its third year our #TimeTogether campaign continues to grow both in scale and reach with the aim to inspire a generation of active teenage girls alongside their mums/mother figures. The campaign ran throughout October 2022 working with 20 partners supporting the campaign with inspiring stories and activities aligned to the key objectives of the campaign. TimeTogether reached 6 million this year through digital and media channels and using a whole host of influencers too including Zara Philips.
## **Influencing and supporting change in sport:**
We are building strong and strategic relationships across the sector with a holistic approach to supporting organisations through our gendered lens and expertise of insight, innovation and influence/campaigning. Examples include:
**Yorkshire Sport Foundation ‘Make Spaces for Us’** – finding key insights on the barriers and needs of girls, recommending ways to drive change to create more inclusive parks and green spaces.
**Cherwell Valley Parks** project, which follows similar objectives to the Yorkshire Sport Foundation Parks project, but in a more rural environment.
**England Netball and Well HQ** - monitoring and evaluation of a pilot project with called NetballHer, **Table Tennis England –** engaging midlife women **and RFU** - the importance of allyship and how to develop those skills.
Our support for the International Working Group on Women and Sport with our insight expertise and thought leadership will continue to gain momentum inline with the group’s longer term 4-year plans.
We continue to have respected partnerships with Youth Sport Trust and our work to support the different life stages of under 11s and teenage years.
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We have built important relationships with the FA, and received a very positive response to our submission to the women’s football review. We are deepening links to LTA, British Triathlon, England Boxing, England Ice Hockey Association, British Wrestling, Access Sport, UK Youth, UK Active, Sport Scotland, Sport and Rec Alliance, Active Partnerships and British Gymnastics.
Our relationship with Sport England as a system partner continues to create a platform for building support to the sports sector across their portfolio of partnership and including the workforce team allowing wider conversations to the Women’s Coaching Taskforce.
## **Influencing Government** :
We continue to increase our reach into government. We have been supported through the last quarter by agency Field Consulting, building a forward-thinking strategy as well as capacity alongside our new policy and public affairs manager. Some headline examples of where we are building our profile include:
- Future of Women’s Sport conference hosted by Westminster Insights.
- DCMS roundtable to discuss the Sporting Futures Strategy.
- All Party Parliamentary Group for Sport discussing school PE as a core subject.
- The Speaker of the House of Commons, Sir Lynsay Hoyle, invited Women in Sport to an event at Speakers House to mark the start of Women’s History Month.
- A Member of the Scottish Parliament lodged a member’s motion related to our teenage girls research report which gained support of over 30 MSPs.
We are growing our profile across the countries in Scotland, Wales and Ireland through our relationships and commissioned work. We will continue to gain wider traction in the new year around local government, building our conversations with local councils in Cherwell, Brent Cross, Yorkshire through our commissioned work, projects such as Big Sister and our growing profile across the UK.
## **Influencing through events**
An important part of our work is to share our thought leadership and expertise across a range of partner events. Headlines this year included:
- **Westminster Insights Conference** on Women’s Sport
- **Elevate** (a major fitness and leisure conference) on the importance of understanding women and girls, particularly women’s life stages
- **Soft Power Conference** sharing our expertise and thought leadership around building soft power through sport
- **Youth Sport Trust** annual conference sharing our insights into teenage girls
- **PwC held a joint event** and gave a keynote at an event held on women’s sport
- **Sport Wales** delivered a workshop as part of their summer EDI series.
- **Sport Ireland** sharing our research and together building ideas to improve current training around teenage girls’ participation.
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3.5 Securing the Future of the Charity We are delighted by the end of year fundraising and commissioned income results building strong partnerships and relationships with our generous and much-appreciated supporters, delivering our strongest year yet. The external climate continues to put strain on the charity sector as a whole, and now more than ever we will seek to build, cultivate and nurture our trusted relationships to sustain our work for women and girls across the UK.
Headlines across our fundraising work includes:
- Galvanising and growing a movement of individual supporters who can continue to support our work, our influence and our impact through money, voice and time.
- A successful portfolio of fundraising events demonstrating opportunities for 2023. This included the Gill Family Bike Ride from London to France, the Big Half and other 3[rd] party, community and challenger events.
- Growth in corporate partnerships demonstrating our expertise and knowledge in insights, thought leadership and campaigning. This included our cycling campaign with Raleigh, our Euros campaigns with Hisense and Green King, and our International Women’s Day campaign with Adanola.
- Growing partnerships with the sport sector to build our commissioned work around needs and gaps in female participation.
- Government funding to support running the 18-month pilot of the Big Sister.
- Continued five-year commitment from our largest funder and partner Sport England for the years 2022-2027.
The charity would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge its funders for which without them, our work would not be possible. This includes: Sport England, DCMS Tampon Tax, Garfield Weston, The Gill Family Foundation, Nike, Vitality, CSM Live, Stronger, Raleigh, Related Argent, Adanola, Capital Group, Hisense, Greene King, Sports Direct, Yorkshire Sport, Ireland Gymnastics and Sport Ireland and Cherwell District Council. Our pro bono supporters Lucky7 and Savanta and all the other corporate supporters and the many individual donors who contribute towards ensuring no-one is excluded from the life-long benefits of sport and exercise.
Women in Sport follows the fundraising practices as per section 13 of the Charities (Protection and Social Investment) Act 2016. Women in Sport does not currently work with any commercial or professional fundraisers. Women in Sport has received no complaints relating to fundraising during the year. If any complaints were received, these would be dealt with by the Trustees and/or senior management through our complaints procedure.
## 4. Financial Review
## 4.1 Overview
Women in Sport realised a surplus on unrestricted funds for the financial year as result of successful grant, corporate and individual fundraising. This has led to an increase in unrestricted reserves to £679,899 (£634,791 at 31 March 2022) and gives the organisation greater financial stability as we look to capitalise on our 40[th] anniversary celebrations in 2024.
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2022/2023 saw continuing instability brought about by the war in Ukraine, the aftereffects of the global pandemic, gas and energy supply shocks alongside more global political, economic and financial uncertainty for both the public and private sector. We expect fundraising to continue to be challenging going forward but our success this year and our new strategy and team gives us confidence that more and more people and organisations not only recognise the value of our work but will also come behind our cause in the coming year and beyond. Certainly, the growth of our thought leadership as an influencing charity has seen our profile increase not only within the sector but beyond and we have put in place the foundations to capitalise on this through our fundraising.
Given this wider uncertainty, having our expert partner core grant with Sport England secured to 2027 gives us greater financial stability. We have now completed the first year of the five year (£3.4 million) grant cycle. The relationship with Sport England remains of fundamental importance to us and we continue to maintain strong ties with colleagues working collaboratively to share knowledge and support our mutual objectives.
We start 2023/2024 with 67% of funding secured through Sport England and other grants, corporates, commissioned and major gifts. Our pipeline is robust and we invested more in resource and understanding our individual givers during 2022/23. Women in Sport regularly reviews fundraising progress tracking its pipeline and closely monitoring overall expenditure. It was the organisation’s aim to maintain and build financial stability and diversify our income base, as we face increasing external challenges which are beyond our control. Our cash flow is positive and our forecast indicates that it will remain so over the next 12-18 months.
In 2022/2023 Women in Sport’s income was £1,315, 643. Overall income increased from £1,146,073 by £169,570 compared to 2021/22. This was due to the tampon tax and other grant funded projects as well as increased income from individuals, corporates and commissioned income. In fact, unrestricted funds grew by £45,108 during the year, driven by individuals and corporate donations. We have ended the year with a surplus against unrestricted funds.
It was the organisation’s aim to maintain and build financial stability, and diversify our income base, as we face increasing external challenges which are beyond our control. So, seeing success in fundraising and continuing to grow our pipeline of support is reassuring. We secured increased funding from the Tampon Tax for our “Big Sister” project, received core funding from Garfield Weston for the second year in a row, worked with multiple corporate partners including Vitality, Nike, Adanola, Argent and CSM Ltd. We also received generous support from Adanola who raised funds for us for International Women’s Day, The Gill Family Foundation and through high profile challenge events. We will continue to build on these relationships to further strengthen and diversify our income but also look at proactively engaging with new funders who support our ambition.
While there is no respite from the ongoing economic and political uncertainty in the UK and beyond, continuing to grow our unrestricted reserves provides us with the ability to invest in the future. This together with a strong fundraising pipeline and the Sport England grant gives us a greater degree of confidence. No doubt that this uncertainty may impact government, corporate and individual financial support for charities in the future however, we are confident that as an organisation we are building momentum for our cause and purpose and engaging with a far wider audience than ever before. As mentioned before, we have seen this engagement translate into increased unrestricted funding over the past
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two years and we will continue to build and capitalise on this. So the trustees remain positive about the charity’s financial position for the coming 12 months.
## 4.2 Investments
The charity had £1,003,446 in cash balances as at 31 March 2023. The charity holds cash to ensure that it can manage its working capital requirements for project expenditure. In most instances, funds are received in advance (quarterly) and are drawn down over the course of each quarter. Therefore, the charity does not carry sufficient fund balances over the course of the year for investments over 3 months. However given increasing interest rates and its cash requirements the charity is in the process of opening a fixed deposit account. We will continue to monitor requirements and review investments in light of ongoing inflationary pressures.
## 4.3 Reserves Policy
The reserves are monitored regularly by the Finance & Audit Committee and the trustees review the level of reserves and the reserves policy annually as part of their review of the business plan and budgets. The high dependency the charity has on its large grant from Sport England is noted by trustees. To ensure financial stability we continue to diversify and grow our income channels and to build reserves to ensure the charity is able to deal with unforeseen circumstances and is confident to invest in the future of the organisation.
Currently our policy is to hold between 3-6 months of operating costs to ensure financial stability given the current operating environment and in line with charity best practice. Having considered its overall financial position, fundraising pipeline and plans for the future the Finance & Audit Committee has recommended, and the Board approved the designation of £100,000 of reserves to support the planning and activation of our 40[th] anniversary. Therefore, our free reserves were £579,899 at 31 March 2023 and represent 6 months of operating costs.
The trustees are comfortable with this position which provides confidence to the charity to invest further in securing its financial position as well as providing an opportunity to invest in a milestone year going forward.
## 4.4 Risk Management
Risk Management is integral to the governance of the organisation. The Charity’s risk policy (2022) sets out a framework for the identification, assessment and mitigation of risks. The Board and each committee has reviewed relevant risk at every meeting this year and updated the risk register. The day-to-day management of risk is managed by the Chief Executive working closely with the Senior Management Team.
Risks are scored for impact and likelihood and are actively mitigated and monitored. Those of most concern to the Board include the scale of socio-economic uncertainty and instability related to the war in Ukraine and the rising cost of living, the change process the charity has been going through, and the rapidly changing context for our work. As a charity with long term aims to shift societal culture and build strategic knowledge in other organisations the pressures on those bodies, whether in government, the private sector
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or in sport itself can mean that even issues such as gender equality with a high profile can feel too great a burden to address.
## 5. Plans for the future
As we look forward to 2023/24 we are conscious of the huge opportunity to make strides forward with our charitable mission given the high profile of gender equality, including in sport. Commercial interest in women’s sport has grown significantly but deep inequalities persist and have been reinforced by the cost of living crisis hot on the heels of the pandemic. Limited access to high quality public green space, clean rivers and seas, swimming pools and leisure facilities are affecting women and girls disproportionately.
We are looking through a gendered lens at the UK’s health and social inequalities and challenges including obesity, mental ill-health & social care. Women for example are most affected by anxiety and self-harm when young, and carry a disproportionate burden of care responsibilities in midlife, and suffer most from osteoporosis in wiser life. Women and girls who want to be active must also manage their unique physicality around periods, child-bearing, breast health and menopause.
All these issues provide a context for our charity’s work going forwards and we are committed to sustaining a uniquely strong research capability, ensuring we understand and genuinely represent the needs of the full diversity of women at each life stage. We intend to continue our thought leadership, forming and sharing evidence-based opinions on key issues as well as a clear vision of our ideal future.
We will celebrate our 40th Anniversary in 2024. We have a proud history, a great track record and strong trust and goodwill from those in the sector and beyond and there is demand for our voice. Our aims for 2023/24 and beyond are to:
1. **Capitalise on the level of interest in women’s sport:** engaging those inspired by the events of 2022 not least the Lionesses’ victory and ensure that the major events of 2023 including the Women’s World Cup drive more exposure to our cause.
2. **Represent the full diversity of women** : sustaining focus on diversity in our staff and Board, training managers in inclusion, demonstrating intersectionality in our stories and deepening the granularity of our research.
3. **Help to clarify the unique physicality of women:** we work at the intersection of sociology and sport, of health and education and sport, and it is vital we understand female physiology and biology, and gendered inequalities in mental & physical health as well as stereotyping.
4. **Have opinions on key issues so we can help lead sport** : our thoughtful positions on issues such as gender ideology and abuse have been valued. We intend to clarify our stance on wider issues such as how mixed sport affects safety and fairness.
5. **Stay connected to high level politics and social change** , focusing on emerging trends that affect our mission, such as access to nature & leisure, and understanding gendered impacts of cost of living crisis.
6. **Focus on building individual support** : whether challenge events or straight unrestricted donations we want to build our capability and capacity through unrestricted income generation to we can increase our impact.
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7. **Capitalise on the opportunity of our 40[th] Anniversary** to celebrate the pioneers of the past, raise the profile of what still needs to change, and make a call to action around gender budgeting & stamping out stereotypes.
## 6. Statement of responsibilities of the trustees
The trustees who are also directors of the charity 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 give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company and of the income and expenditure for the year. Under company law the trustees must not approve the financial statements unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company and of the income and expenditure for the year. In preparing those financial statements the Trustees are required to:
- select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
- observe the methods and principles in Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Report Standard applicable in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102);
- make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
- state whether applicable accounting standards and statements of recommended practice have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements; and
- prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in operation.
The Trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and which enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006.
The Trustees are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate financial information included on the charity’s website. Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.
The Trustees are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
Each of the trustees confirms that:
- so far as the trustee is aware, there is no relevant audit information of which the
Page **16** of **36**
## **Trustees’ Annual Report 2023**
auditor is unaware, and
- the trustee has taken all necessary steps that he/she ought to have taken as a trustee in order to make himself/herself aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the auditor is aware of that information.
This information is given and should be interpreted in accordance with the provisions of S418 of the Companies Act 2006.
Members of the charity guarantee to contribute an amount not exceeding £1 to the assets of the charity in the event of winding up. The total number of such guarantees at 31 March 2023 was six (2022: eight).
The Trustees are members of the charity, but this only entitles them to voting rights. The Trustees have no beneficial interest in the charity.
The above report has been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to the small companies regime as set out in part 15 of the Companies Act 2006.
Approved by the Trustees on Thursday 6[th] July 2023, and signed on their behalf by:
Susan Young (Sep 6, 2023, 6:23pm)
Susan Young, Acting Chair of Trustees
Date: 06 Sep 2023
Page **17** of **36**
**Independent auditor’s report** 31 March 2023
## 7. Independent auditor’s report to the members of Women in Sport
## **Opinion**
We have audited the financial statements of Women in Sport (the ‘charitable company’) for the year ended 31 March 2023 which comprise the statement of financial activities, the balance sheet, and statement of cash flows, the principal accounting policies and the notes to the financial statements. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102 ‘The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland’ (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).
In our opinion, the financial statements:
- give a true and fair view of the state of the charitable company’s affairs as at 31 March 2023 and of its income and expenditure for the year then ended;
- have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice; and
- have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006.
## **Basis for opinion**
We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the charitable company in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC’s Ethical Standard, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.
## **Conclusions relating to going concern**
In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the trustees’ use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.
Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the charitable company’s ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.
Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the trustees with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.
## **Other information**
The other information comprises the information included in the annual report and financial statements, other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. The trustees are responsible for the other information contained within the annual report and financial statements. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon.
Page **18** of **36**
**Independent auditor’s report** 31 March 2023
Our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the course of the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.
We have nothing to report in this regard.
## **Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006**
In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of the audit:
- the information given in the trustees’ report, which is also the directors’ report for the purposes of company law for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements; and
- the trustees’ report, which is also the directors’ report for the purposes of company law, has been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements.
## **Matters on which we are required to report by exception**
In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the charitable company and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the trustees’ report. We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Companies Act 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:
- adequate accounting records have not been kept, or returns adequate for our audit have not been received from branches not visited by us; or
- the financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or
- certain disclosures of trustees’ remuneration specified by law are not made; or
- we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit; or
- the trustees were not entitled to prepare the financial statements in accordance with the small companies regime and take advantage of the small companies’ exemptions in preparing the trustees’ report and from the requirement to prepare a strategic report.
## **Responsibilities of trustees**
As explained more fully in the trustees’ responsibilities statement, the trustees (who are also the directors of the charitable company for the purposes of company law) are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the trustees determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.
In preparing the financial statements, the trustees, who are also the directors for the purposes of company law, are responsible for assessing the charitable company’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the trustees either intend to liquidate the charitable company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.
Page **19** of **36**
**Independent auditor’s report** 31 March 2023
## **Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements**
Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor’s report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.
Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud is detailed below:
Our approach to identifying and assessing the risks of material misstatement in respect of irregularities, including fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulations, was as follows:
- the engagement partner ensured that the engagement team collectively had the appropriate competence, capabilities and skills to identify or recognise non-compliance with applicable laws and regulations;
- we identified the laws and regulations applicable to the charitable company through discussions with management, and from our commercial knowledge and experience of the sector;
- the identified laws and regulations were communicated within the audit team regularly and the team remained alert to instances of non-compliance throughout the audit;
- We focused on specific laws and regulations which we considered may have a direct material effect on the accounts or the activities of the charity. These included but were not limited to the Charities Act 2011, Companies Act 2006, the Code for Sports Governance and data protection legislation; and
- we assessed the extent of compliance with the laws and regulations identified above through making enquiries of management, inspecting legal correspondence and reviewing trustee meeting minutes.
We assessed the susceptibility of the charity’s financial statements to material misstatement, including obtaining an understanding of how fraud might occur, by:
- making enquiries of management and those charged with governance as to where they considered there was susceptibility to fraud, their knowledge of actual, suspected and alleged fraud; and
- considering the internal controls in place to mitigate risks of fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulations.
To address the risk of fraud through management bias and override of controls, we:
- performed analytical procedures to identify any unusual or unexpected relationships;
- tested journal entries to identify unusual transactions;
- tested the authorisation of expenditure as part of our substantive testing thereon;
- assessed whether judgements and assumptions made in determining the accounting estimates set out in the accounting policies were indicative of potential bias; and
- used data analytics to identify any significant or unusual transactions and identify the rationale for them.
Page **20** of **36**
## **Independent auditor’s report** 31 March 2023
In response to the risk of irregularities and non-compliance with laws and regulations, we designed procedures which included, but were not limited to:
- agreeing financial statement disclosures to underlying supporting documentation;
- reading the minutes of trustee meetings;
- enquiring of management and those charged with governance as to actual and potential litigation and claims; and
- reviewing any available correspondence with HMRC and the Charity Commission.
There are inherent limitations in our audit procedures described above. The more removed that laws and regulations are from financial transactions, the less likely it is that we would become aware of noncompliance. Auditing standards also limit the audit procedures required to identify non-compliance with laws and regulations to enquiry of the trustees and other management and the inspection of regulatory and legal correspondence, if any.
Material misstatements that arise due to fraud can be harder to detect than those that arise from error as they may involve deliberate concealment or collusion.
A further description of our responsibilities is available on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our auditor’s report.
## **Use of our report**
This report is made solely to the charitable company’s members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charitable company's members those matters we are required to state to them in an auditor's report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charitable company and the charitable company's members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.
Catherine Biscoe (Senior Statutory Auditor) For and on behalf of Buzzacott LLP, Statutory Auditor 130 Wood Street London EC2V 6DL
Date: 15 September 2023
Page **21** of **36**
**Statement of financial activities** for the year ended 31 March 2023 (Incorporating an income & expenditure account)
|Notes|**Restricted**
**funds**
**£**|**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**£**|**2023**
**Total**
**funds**
**£**|Restricted
funds
£|Unrestricted
funds
£|2022
Total
funds
£|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|**Income from:**
Donations and grants
1
Charitable activities:
_. Aim 1 Understand_
2
._Aim 2 Raise Profile_
3
._Aim 3 Define Solutions_
4
._Aim 4 Influence_
5
Other trading activities
6
Other investment income
**Total income**
**Expenditure on:**
Raising Funds:
Charitable activities:
_. Aim 1 Understand_
_. Aim 2 Raise Profile_
_. Aim 3 Define Solutions_
_. Aim 4 Influence_
**Total expenditure**
8
**Net income (expenditure)**
**and net movement in**
**funds**
9
**Reconciliation of funds:**
Total funds brought
forward
**Total funds carried**
**forward**|**99,212**
**248,748**
**165,844**
**236,097**
**188,846**
**-**
**-**|**195,115**
**33,338**
**12,500**
**36,925**
**16,100**
**81,575**
**1,343**|**294,327**
**282,086**
**178,344**
**273,022**
**204,946**
**81,575**
**1,343**|||256,156
257,789
173,314
239,606
149,382
69,825
-|
||**938,747**|**376,896**|**1,315,643**|||1,146,073|
||**99,212**
**248,748**
**165,844**
**236,097**
**188,846**|**30,253**
**38,003**
**30,893**
**130,795**
**101,844**|**129,465**
**286,751**
**196,737**
**366,892**
**290,690**|||103,880
212,487
181,481
315,275
182,490|
||**938,747**|**331,788**|**1,270,535**|||995,614|
||**-**|**45,108**|**45,108**|||150,459|
||**-**|**634,791**|**634,791**|||484,332|
||**-**|**679,899**|**679,899**|||634,791|
All of the above results are derived from continuing activities. There were no other recognised gains or losses other than those stated above. Movements in funds are disclosed in note 16 to the accounts.
Page **22** of **36**
**Balance sheet** 31 March 2023
|Notes|**2023**
**£**|**2023**
**£**|2022
£|2022
£|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|**Fixed assets**
Tangible assets
12
**Current assets**
Debtors
13
Cash at bank and in hand
**Liabilities:**
Creditors: amounts falling due
within one year
14
**Total net assets**
16
**Funds**
Restricted funds
Unrestricted funds:
General funds
Designated funds
16
**Total funds**
16|**49,999**
**1,003,446**|**—**
**679,899**|94,615
839,666|—
634,791|
||**1,053,445**
**(373,546)**||934,281
(299,490)||
||||||
|||**—**
**579,899**
**100,000**||—
634,791
—|
|||**679,899**||634,791|
These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the special provisions relating to companies subject to the small companies regime within Part 15 of the Companies Act 2006.
Approved by the trustees on Thursday 6[th] July 2023 and signed on their behalf by:
Susan Young (Sep 6, 2023, 6:23pm)
Susan Young, Acting Chair of Trustees
06 Sep 2023 Date:
Women in Sport (Company Registration Number 03075681 (England and Wales))
Page **23** of **36**
**Statement of cash flows** 31 March 2023
||**2023**
**£**|2022
£|
|---|---|---|
|**Cash flows from operating activities:**
Net cash provided by operating activities
A
**Increase in cash and cash equivalents in the year**
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the year
**Cash and cash equivalents at the end of theyear**
B|**163,780**|199,744|
||**163,780**
**839,666**|199,744
639,922|
||**1,003,446**|839,666|
## **A Reconciliation of income to net cash provided by operating activities**
||**2023**
**£**
**45,108**
**44,616**
**74,056**
**163,780**|2022
£
150,459
(27,850)
77,135
199,744|
|---|---|---|
|**Net income for the year (as per the statement of financial activities)**
Adjustments for:
. decrease (Increase) in debtors
. Increase in creditors|||
## **B Analysis of cash and cash equivalents**
|**B**|**Analysis of cash and cash equivalents**||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|**C**|||**2023**
**£**|2022
£
839,666
839,666
**At 31 March**
**2023**
**£**
**1,003,446**|
||Cash at bank and in hand
**Total cash and cash equivalents**||**1,003,446**||
||||**1003,446**||
||**Analysis of changes in net debt**|At 1 April
2022
£|Cashflows
£
163,780||
||**Cash at bank and in hand**|839,666|||
Page **24** of **36**
**Principal accounting policies** 31 March 2023
The principal accounting policies adopted, judgements and key sources of estimation are laid out below, presented in sterling, and rounded to the nearest pound.
## **Basis of preparation**
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities in preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (issued in October 2019) - (Charities SORP (FRS 102)), the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) and the Companies Act 2006.
Women in Sport meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS 102. Assets and liabilities are initially recognised at historical cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policy notes.
The financial statements are presented in sterling and rounded to the nearest pound.
## **Going concern**
The accounts have been prepared on the assumption that the charitable company is able to continue as a going concern, which the trustees consider appropriate having regard to future confirmed funding, the budget for 2023/24, three-year projections, the fundraising pipeline and cash balances at the signing date.
As explained in the trustees’ report, the ongoing impact of global political and economic instability remains in the backdrop. We know we must continue to cement our position and profile as we continue to invest in our corporate, commissioned and individual fundraising to ensure greater financial stability.
Sport England currently provides two thirds of the charity’s income and we are delighted that they continue to work with us and have committed £3.4 million to Women in Sport over 20222027 as a system partner to deliver their “Uniting the Movement” strategy. This is the first time that we have been given a five year grant and this provides us with far greater certainty as we face the next few years.
The current year has seen greater visibility of the impact of the lockdown on women’s sport and on the lives of women and girls. We have contributed to raising awareness and as a result have built strong relationships and greater profile among corporates and individuals. We have made good progress on our fundraising strategy around individuals and corporates as well as developing our commissioned services offer and will continue to invest and build these pipelines. All these areas of growth would help support the ongoing operations of the charity if it were to face reduced grant funding income. The strong fundraising performance this year has meant that trustees were confident in designating a £100,000 fund to maximise the opportunity of our 40[th] year in 2024 while maintaining reserves at just over six months’ operating costs, providing a welcome buffer for the future.
Taking into account the above, as well as the charity’s cost base and reserves position at 31 March 2023, and having looked at least 12 months from the date of signing these accounts, the trustees have concluded that there are no material uncertainties about the charitable company's ability to continue as a going concern.
Page **25** of **36**
**Principal accounting policies** 31 March 2023
## **Critical accounting estimates and areas of judgement**
Preparation of the accounts requires the trustees and management to make significant judgements and estimates.
The items in the accounts where these judgements and estimates have been made include:
- the useful economic lives attributed to tangible fixed assets used to determine the annual depreciation charge;
- the allocation of support costs;
- the estimation of the value of donated goods, services and facilities; and
- the estimation of future income and expenditure for the going concern assessment.
## **Income**
Income is recognised when the charitable company has entitlement to the funds, any performance conditions attached to the items of income have been met, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount can be measured reliably.
Income from the government and other grants, whether 'capital' grants or 'revenue' grants, is recognised when the charitable company has entitlement to the funds, any performance conditions attached to the grants have been met, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount can be measured reliably and is not deferred.
Where the charity is a lead partner for a grant agreement, only the income and expenditure which is specific to Women in Sport is recognised in the statement of financial activities. Amounts received on behalf of partners are included within creditors until distributed.
Income received in advance of provision of a service relating to specific periods is deferred until criteria for income recognition are met. Membership and consultancy fees are recognised when invoiced, unless they relate to a future event or period, in which case they are deferred.
## **Donated services and facilities**
Donated professional services and donated facilities are recognised as income when the charitable company has control over the item, any conditions associated with the donated item have been met, the receipt of economic benefit from the use by the charitable company of the item, is probable and the economic benefit can be measured reliably. In accordance with the Charities SORP (FRS 102), general volunteer time is not recognised.
On receipt, donated professional services and donated facilities are recognised on the basis of the value of the gift to the charitable company which is the amount the charitable company would have been willing to pay to obtain services or facilities of equivalent economic benefit on the open market; a corresponding amount is then recognised in expenditure in the period of receipt
## **Interest receivable**
Interest on funds held on deposit is included when receivable and the amount can be measured reliably by the charitable company; this is normally upon notification of the interest paid or payable by the bank.
Page **26** of **36**
**Principal accounting policies** 31 March 2023
## **Sponsorship**
Income received in the form of sponsorship is recognized on a straight line basis over the life of the relevant contractual term.
## **Fund accounting**
Unrestricted funds are available to spend on activities that further any of the purposes of the charity. Designated funds are unrestricted funds of the charitable company which the trustees have decided at their discretion to set aside to use for a specific purpose. Restricted funds are donations which the donor has specified are to be solely used for particular areas of the charitable company's work or for specific projects being undertaken by the charitable company.
## **Allocation of income**
Sport England grant income has been allocated to activities in direct proportion to restricted expenditure, including all directly attributable restricted costs and allocated salaries and overheads. Grant income received for general fundraising activities and building capacity has been recognised as income from donations.
## **Expenditure**
Expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to make a payment to a third party, it is probable that settlement will be required and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably.
Irrecoverable VAT is charged as a cost against the activity for which the expenditure was incurred.
## **Allocation of support costs**
Support costs are those functions that assist the work of the charity but do not directly undertake charitable activities. These costs have been allocated between cost of raising funds and expenditure on charitable activities based on the percentage of direct costs (staffing and project) of each activity.
## **Tangible fixed assets**
Depreciation is provided at rates calculated to write down the cost of each asset to its estimated residual value over its expected useful life. The depreciation rates in use are as follows:
Computer equipment 4-5 years straight line Office furniture 4 years straight line
Items of equipment are capitalised where the purchase price exceeds £1,000. Assets are reviewed for impairment if circumstances indicate their carrying value may exceed their net realisable value and value in use.
## **Debtors**
Trade and other debtors are recognised at the settlement amount due after any trade discount offered. Prepayments are valued at the amount prepaid net of any trade discounts due.
## **Cash at bank and in hand**
Cash at bank and cash in hand includes 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.
27
**Principal accounting policies** 31 March 2023
## **Creditors**
Creditors and provisions are recognised where the charitable company has a present obligation resulting from a past event that will probably result in the transfer of funds to a third party and the amount due to settle the obligation can be measured or estimated reliably. Creditors and provisions are normally recognised at their settlement amount after allowing for any trade discounts due.
## **Financial instruments**
The charitable company only has financial assets and financial liabilities of a kind that qualify as basic financial instruments. Basic financial instruments are initially recognised at transaction value.
## **Pension costs**
The company operates a defined contribution pension scheme for its employees. There are no further liabilities other than that already recognised in the SOFA.
## **VAT**
The company is registered for VAT but has not agreed a business/non-business apportionment. It is therefore not able to reclaim all the input VAT it suffers. Irrecoverable VAT is included with the cost it relates to.
Page **28** of **36**
## **Notes to the financial statements** 31 March 2023
## **1 Donations and grants**
|**Donations and grants**||||
|---|---|---|---|
||Restricted
funds
£|Unrestricted
funds
£|**2023**
**Total**
**funds**
**£**|
|Sport England
General donations
Corporate donations
Gifts in kind
**Total donations**
Gifts in kind are represented by:
Media support
Insight support|99,212
-
-
-|-
114,711
69,464
10,940|**99,212**
**114,711**
**69,464**
**10,940**|
||99,212|195,115|**294,327**|
||-
-|5,000
5,940|**5,000**
**5,940**|
||-|10,940|**10,940**|
||_Restricted_
_funds_
_£_|_Unrestricted_
_funds_
_£_|_2022_
_Total_
_funds_
_£_|
|_Sport England_
_General donations_
_Corporate donations_
_Gifts in kind_
_Total donations_
_Gifts in kind are represented by:_
_Legal support_
_Media support_
_Engagement support_|_83,934_
_-_
_-_
_-_|_-_
_130,828_
_16,394_
_25,000_|_83,934_
_130,828_
_16,394_
_25,000_|
||_83,934_|_172,222_|_256,156_|
||_-_
_-_|_12,500_
_12,500_|_12,500_
_12,500_|
||_-_|_25,000_|_25,000_|
## **2 Charitable activities: Understand**
|**Charitable activities: Understand**||||
|---|---|---|---|
||Restricted
funds
£|Unrestricted
funds
£|**2023**
**Total**
**funds**
**£**|
|**Grants and service level agreements**
Sport England Expert Partner
Nike Learning Grant
**Other**
Consultancy
**Total**|234,628
14,120
-|-
-
33,338|**234,628**
**14,120**
**33,338**|
||248,748|33,338|**282,086**|
Page **29** of **36**
**Notes to the financial statements** 31 March 2023
## **2 Charitable activities: Understand** (continued)
|**Charitable activities: Understand**(continued)||||
|---|---|---|---|
||_Restricted_
_funds_
_£_|_Unrestricted_
_funds_
_£_|_2022_
_Total_
_funds_
_£_|
|_Grants and service level agreements_
_Sport England Expert Partner_
_Sport England Covid Grant_
**_Other_**
_Consultancy_
_Total_|_190,384_
_8,400_
_-_|_-_
_-_
_59,005_|_190,384_
_8,400_
_59,005_|
||_198,784_|_59,005_|_257,789_|
## **3 Charitable activities: Raise Profile**
||Restricted
funds
£|Unrestricted
funds
£|**2023**
**Total**
**funds**
**£**|
|---|---|---|---|
|**Grants and service level agreements**
Sport England
**Other**
Consultancy/workshops/webinars
**Total**|165,844
-|-
12,500|**165,844**
**12,500**|
||165,844|12,500|**178,344**|
||_Restricted_
_funds_
_£_|_Unrestricted_
_funds_
_£_|_2022_
_Total_
_funds_
_£_|
|_Grants and service level agreements_
_Sport England_
_Other_
_Consultancy/workshops/webinars_
_Total_|_163,258_
_-_|_-_
_10,057_|_163,258_
_10,057_|
||_163,258_|_10,057_|_173,314_|
|**Charitable activities: Define Solutions**|Restricted
funds
£|Unrestricted
funds
£|**2023**
**Total**
**funds**
**£**|
|**Grants and service level agreements**
Sport England
Tampon Tax Grant
**Other**
Consultancy/workshops/webinars
**Total**|12,912
223,185
_-_|_-_
_-_
36,925|**12,912**
**223,185**
**36,925**|
||236,097|36,925|**273,022**|
## **4 Charitable activities: Define Solutions**
30
**Notes to the financial statements** 31 March 2023
## **4 Charitable activities: Define Solutions** (continued)
|**Charitable activities: Define Solutions**(continued)||||
|---|---|---|---|
||_Restricted_
_funds_
_£_|_Unrestricted_
_funds_
_£_|_2022_
_Total_
_funds_
_£_|
|_Grants and service level agreements_
_Sport England_
_Sport England Families Fund_
_Tampon Tax Grant_
_Total_|_100,663_
_42,421_
_96,521_|_-_
_-_
_-_|_100,663_
_42,421_
_96,521_|
||_239,606_|_-_|_239,606_|
## **5 Charitable activities: Influence**
|**Charitable activities: Influence**||||
|---|---|---|---|
||Restricted
funds
£|Unrestricted
funds
£|**2023**
**Total**
**funds**
**£**|
|**Grants and service level agreements**
Sport England
**Other**
Consultancy/workshops/webinars
**Total**|188,846
-|-
16,100|**188,846**
**16,100**|
||188,846|16,100|**204,946**|
||_Restricted_
_funds_
_£_|_Unrestricted_
_funds_
_£_|_2022_
_Total_
_funds_
_£_|
|_Grants and service level agreements_
_Sport England_
**_Other_**
_Consultancy/workshops/webinars_
_Total_|_128,203_
_-_|_-_
_21,179_|_128,203_
_21,179_|
||_128,203_|_21,179_|_149,382_|
## **6 Other trading activities**
|**Other trading activities**||||
|---|---|---|---|
||Restricted
funds
£|Unrestricted
funds
£|**2023**
**Total**
**funds**
**£**|
|Sponsorship
**Total other trading activities**|-|81,575|**81,575**|
||-|81,575|**81,575**|
||_Restricted_
_funds_
_£_|_Unrestricted_
_funds_
_£_|_2022_
_Total_
_funds_
_£_|
|_Sponsorship_
_Total other trading activities_|_-_|_69,825_|_69,825_|
||_-_|_69,825_|_69,825_|
31
**Notes to the financial statements** 31 March 2023
## **7 Government grants**
The charitable company receives government grants, defined as funding from Sport England and DCMS (Tampon Tax) to fund charitable activities. The total value of such grants in the period ending 31 March 2023 was £ 924,628 (2022: £813,785). There are no unfulfilled conditions or contingencies attaching to these grants as at 31 March 2023.
## **8 Expenditure**
|Staff costs (note 10)
Travel and accommodation
Training and recruitment
Project costs
Publicity and marketing
Office costs
Premises expenses
Legal and consultancy
Website dev/management
Audit and accountancy
Sundry
Sub-total
Allocation of support and
governance costs
**Total expenditure**|Diversify
Income
£
Understand
£
81,879
153,433
331
1,134
1,200
6,874
-
60,152
1,935
3,440
18
-
-
-
-
-
14,645
8,136
-
-
862
-
100,870
233,169
28,595
53,582
129,465
286,751|Raise
Profile
£
Define
Solutions
£
131,438
133,223
773
3,697
-
1,200
308
60,665
3,991
91,653
-
720
-
12,501
6,190
6,000
8,136
10,709
-
-
-
-
150,836
320,368
45,901
46,524
196,737
366,892|Influence
Change
£|Support
and
governance
costs
£|**2023**
**Total**
**funds**
**£**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||||176,004
3,014
3,600
22,873
5,032
-
-
10,320
8,383
-
-|60,753
2,434
34,850
-
-
56,290
36,774
20,310
14,318
11,490
(1,153)|**736,730**
**11,383**
**47,724**
**143,998**
**106,051**
**57,028**
**49,275**
**42,820**
**64,327**
**11,490**
**(291)**|
||||229,226
61,464|236,066
(236,066)|**1,270,535**|
||||290,690|-|**1,270,535**|
||_Diversify_
_Income_
_£_
_59,424_
_572_
_-_
_-_
_172_
_1,073_
_-_
_20,600_
_5,786_
_-_
_-_
_87,627_
_16,253_
_103,882_|_Understand_
_£_|_Raise Profile_
_£_|_Define_
_Solutions_
_£_|_Influence_
_Change_
_£_|_Support and_
_governance_
_costs_
_£_|_2022_
_Total_
_funds_
_£_
_638,106_
_8,982_
_21,518_
_61,067_
_81,723_
_41,428_
_42,169_
_69,224_
_19,638_
_11,760_
_-_|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|_Staff costs (note 10)_
_Travel and accommodation_
_Training and recruitment_
_Project costs_
_Publicity and marketing_
_Office costs_
_Premises expenses_
_Legal and consultancy_
_Website dev/management_
_Audit and accountancy_
_Sundry_
_Sub-total_
_Allocation of support and_
_governance costs_
_Total expenditure_||_127,426_
_293_
_-_
_44,523_
_4,380_
_-_
_-_
_1,000_
_24_
_-_
_-_|_108,856_
_598_
_-_
_230_
_23,656_
_-_
_-_
_18,367_
_-_
_-_
_-_|_164,613_
_1,549_
_1,450_
_14,577_
_53,018_
_1,850_
_6,251_
_22,423_
_4,520_
_-_
_-_|_130,981_
_4,755_
_3,320_
_1,737_
_498_
_-_
_-_
_5,375_
_-_
_-_
_-_|_46,815_
_1,215_
_16,748_
_-_
_-_
_38,505_
_35,918_
_1,458_
_9,310_
_11,490_
_-_||
|||_177,637_
_34,850_|_151,707_
_29,774_|_270,251_
_45,024_|_146,665_
_35,825_|_161,728_
_(161,728)_|_995,614_
_995,614_|
|||_212,487_|_181,481_|_315,275_|_181,491_|_-_||
32
**Notes to the financial statements** 31 March 2023
## **9. Net movement in funds**
This is stated after charging:
||**2023**
**£**|2022
£|
|---|---|---|
|Trustees’ reimbursed expenses
Auditors’ remuneration:
Statutory audit (including VAT) current year
Statutory audit (including VAT) prior year
Tax advice(includingVAT)|-
**11,833**
**(343)**
**1,710**|-
11,760
-
558|
Trustees indemnity insurance is included as part of the charity’s general insurance premium, £4,668. No Trustees were remunerated during the financial year 2022/2023 (2021/2022: nil). No trustees were reimbursed expenses for travel in the year (2022: nil).
## **10. Staff costs and numbers**
Staff costs were as follows:
|**Staff costs and numbers**
Staff costs were as follows:|||
|---|---|---|
||**2023**
**£**|2022
£|
|Salaries and wages
Social security costs
Pension contributions|**646,904**
**66,528**
**23,298**|561,899
54,960
21,247|
||**736,730**|638,106|
The number of employees earning more than £60,000 (including taxable benefits but excluding pension contributions) are as follows:
||**2023**
**No.**|2022
No.|
|---|---|---|
|£90,000 to £100,000|**1**|1|
Pension contributions for higher paid staff totalled £ 4,739 (2022 - £4,556).
The key management personnel of the charitable company comprise the Chief Executive and senior managers. Total employee benefits paid to key management personnel were £347,005 (2022: £333,123).
Remuneration for the Chief Executive is recommended by the Governance and Nominations Committee and considered and agreed by the full Board. All other pay decisions are delegated to the Chief Executive, with the pay of Senior Managers reviewed by the Governance and Nominations committee. Awards to cover increases in the cost of living are not automatic but where made are recommended by the Committees to the Board and agreed by the full Board.
||**2023**
**No.**|2022
No.|
|---|---|---|
|Average staff head count|**17**|15|
Page **33** of **36**
**Notes to the financial statements** 31 March 2023
## **11. Taxation**
The charitable company is exempt from corporation tax as all its income is charitable and is applied for charitable purposes.
## **12. Tangible fixed assets**
|**Tangible fixed assets**||||
|---|---|---|---|
||Office
equipment
£|Furniture
and fittings
£|**Total**
**£**|
|**Cost**
At 1 April 2022 and 31 March 2023
**Depreciation**
At 1 April 2022 and at 31 March 2023
**Net book value**
At 31 March 2023 and at 31 March 2022|3,187|1,173|**4,360**|
||(3,187)|(1,173)|**(4,360)**|
||**-**|**- **|**-**|
||-|-|**-**|
## **13. Debtors**
|**Debtors**|||
|---|---|---|
||**2023**
**£**|2022
£|
|Trade debtors
Prepayments
Accrued income|**30,168**
**19,831**
_-_|50,475
29,907
14,233|
||**49,999**|94,615|
## **14. Creditors: amounts due within one year**
|**Creditors: amounts due within one year**|||
|---|---|---|
||**2023**
~~**£**~~|2022
£|
|Trade creditors
Accruals
Deferred income
PAYE/ NI
Pension
VAT
Funding payable to partners*
Other creditors|**55,425**
**101,208**
**30,420**
**18,865**
**4,264**
**6,894**
**156,310**
**160**|36,159
47,847
13,000
17,666
8,692
13,428
162,684
14|
||**373,546**|299,490|
*Funding payable to partners relates to funds received under the Tampon Tax Grant to undertake the Big Sister Project not yet distributed to partners.
Movements in deferred income consist of:
||**2023**
**£**|2022
£|
|---|---|---|
|Brought forward
Released in the year
Deferred in the year
Carried forward|**13,000**
**(13,000)**
**30,420**|3,500
(3,500)
13,000|
||**30,420**|13,000|
Income has been deferred where it relates to the provision of a service in the next financial year.
Page **34** of **36**
**Notes to the financial statements** 31 March 2023
## **15. Analysis of net assets between funds**
|**Analysis of net assets between funds**||||
|---|---|---|---|
||Restricted|Unrestricted|**Total**|
||funds|funds|**funds**|
||£|£|**£**|
|Tangible fixed assets|-|-|**-**|
|Current assets|269,596|783,850|**1,053,446**|
|Current liabilities|(269,596)|(103,951)|**(373,547)**|
|Net assets at 31 March 2023|-|679,899|**679,899**|
||_Restricted_|_Unrestricted_|_Total_|
||_funds_|_funds_|_funds_|
||_£_|_£_|_£_|
|_Tangible fixed assets_|_-_|_-_|_-_|
|_Current assets_|_(175,684)_|_758,597_|_934,281_|
|_Current liabilities_|_(175,684)_|_(127,806)_|_(299,490)_|
|_Net assets at 31 March 2022_|_-_|_634,791_|_634,791_|
## **16. Movement in funds**
|**Movement in funds**||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||**At 1 April**
**2022**
**£**|**Income**
**£**|**Expenditure**
**£**|**Transfers**
**£**|**At 31**
**March**
**2023**
**£**|
|**Restricted funds**
Sport England
Tampon Tax
Nike Learning Grant
**Total restricted funds**
**Unrestricted funds**
Designated funds
General funds
**Total unrestricted funds**
**Total funds**|**-**
**-**
**-**|**701,443**
**223,184**
**14,120**|**(701,443)**
**(223,184)**
**(14,120)**|**-**
**-**
**-**|**-**
**-**
**-**|
||**-**|**938,747**|**(938,747)**|**-**|**-**|
||**-**
**634,791**|**-**
**376,896**|**-**
**(331,788)**|**100,000**
**(100,000)**|**100,000**
**579,899**|
||**634,791**|**376,896**|**(331,788)**|**-**|**679,899**|
||**634,791**|**1,315,643**|**(1,270,535)**|**-**|**679,899**|
||_At 1 April_
_2021_
_£_|_Income_
_£_|_Expenditure_
_£_
_(666,443)_
_(8,400)_
_(67,422)_
_(96,521)_
_(11,151)_
_(6,405)_
_(856,342)_
_(139,272)_
_(995,614)_|_At 31_
_March 2022_
_£_
_—_
_—_
_—_
_—_
_—_
_—_
_—_
_634,791_
_634,791_|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|_Restricted funds_
_Sport England_
_Sport England Covid grant_
_Families Fund_
_Tampon Tax_
_Beyond30% (Comic Relief)_
_National Lottery Comm Fund_
_Total restricted funds_
_Unrestricted funds_
_General funds_
_Total unrestricted funds_
_Total funds_|_—_
_—_
_25,001_
_—_
_11,151_
_6,405_|_666,443_
_8,400_
_42,421_
_96,521_
_—_
_—_|||
||_42,557_|_813,785_|||
||_441,775_|_332,288_|||
||||||
||_484,332_|_1,146,073_|||
35
**Notes to the financial statements** 31 March 2023
## **14 Movement in funds** (continued)
## _**Purposes of restricted funds**_
## _Sport England_
Sport England funds Women in Sport to deliver a number of programmes of work with the overall intention of helping sports deliverers transform their sport(s) in order to increase participation amongst women and girls. Programmes of work are as follows: 1. Insight; 2. Bespoke consultancy to National Governing Bodies of sport; 3. Working with delivery partners; 4. Policy and Governance; 5. Dissemination and Communications.
## _Tampon Tax_
The Department of culture, media and sport have funded us through the tampon tax grant. Women in Sport together with partner organisations Places Leisure, Places Foundation and Hey Girls are delivering the ‘Big Sister’ project. The project aims to provide a supportive space and resources to inspire teenage girls to find and reclaim the joy of sport and exercise during puberty.
## _Nike Learning Grant_
Nike Foundation has funded continuing learning from our initial primary girls research to get a broader understanding of girls aged 5-11 years and their families, with in-depth understanding of girls within specific age groups and different ethnicities.
## _**Designated funds**_
The trustees have designated funds to support the thinking, planning and celebration of the charity’s 40th anniversary in 2024. Specifically with the view of taking advantage of the opportunity to create a lasting legacy from the body of insight, knowledge and history that is WiS’ heritage. We anticipate these funds will be utilised in 23/24 and 24/25.
## **15 Related party transactions**
There were no related party transactions for the financial year ended 31 March 2023 (2022: None).
## **16 Operating lease commitments**
|**Operating lease commitments**|||
|---|---|---|
||Land and|buildings|
||**At 31**
**March 2023**
**£**|At 31 March
2022
£|
|Amounts due within 1 year
Amounts due with 1-2 years|**15,120**
**-**|34,020
15,120|
||**15,120**|49,140|
36
## **Issuer**
Women in Sport
**Document generated** Mon, 14th Aug 2023 9:57:49 UTC
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## **Document processed**
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