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2023-03-31-accounts

John Schofield Trust

Trustees’ Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023

Charity number:

1061065 England and Wales

20206396 Republic of Ireland

Registered address: PO Box 108, Haslemere GU27 9GU

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Contents

Objectives of the Trust ........................................................................................................................ 3 Theory of change ................................................................................................................................ 3 Governance of the Trust ..................................................................................................................... 3 The aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic ......................................................................................... 4 Ireland ................................................................................................................................................. 4 John Schofield Trust /RTS Young Talent of the Year Award ............................................................... 5 The Fellowship .................................................................................................................................... 5 John Schofield Trust mentoring scheme for early career journalists ............................................. 5 John Schofield Trust online mentoring scheme for 16-18 year-old students ................................. 7 University student Fellowship pilot ................................................................................................ 7 Masterclasses and networking events ............................................................................................ 7 Social media ........................................................................................................................................ 8 E-newsletter ........................................................................................................................................ 9 Fundraising .......................................................................................................................................... 9 Staffing .............................................................................................................................................. 10 Regulatory and Trust Policies ............................................................................................................ 10 Income and expenditure ................................................................................................................... 10 Gift Aid .......................................................................................................................................... 10 Risk management .......................................................................................................................... 10 Reserves ........................................................................................................................................ 10 Future plans ...................................................................................................................................... 11 Financial report of the trustees ........................................................................................................ 11 Appendix ........................................................................................................................................... 15 Progress made from future plans outlined in 2021-22 annual report.......................................... 15 Online events ................................................................................................................................ 15

Bankers: HSBC 12A North Street Guildford GU1 4AF

Independent examiner: Tomas Wilcox FCIE

Counterculture Partnership LLP

Unit 115, Ducie House, Ducie Street, Manchester, M1 2JW

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Trustees’ Annual Report

Objectives of the Trust

The John Schofield Trust exists to promote and advance education and social diversity in journalism. It does this by supporting young journalists and by encouraging young people from under-represented groups to consider a career in journalism. It was set up by the friends and family of the journalist John Schofield who was killed in Croatia while working on the BBC’s World Tonight programme in 1995.

Theory of change

Governance of the Trust

The John Schofield Trust is governed by a Declaration of Trust dated 1996 which was amended by supplemental deeds dated 6 January 1997, 16 June 2011, 6 October 2017 and 21 September 2022. It is managed by a board of trustees, who give their time voluntarily to the Trust. There are regular meetings of the board of trustees and sub-groups set up to advise on different aspects of the Trust’s activities.

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The trustees confirm that they have had regard to the Charity Commission guidance on public benefit and to that end set out in this report the main activities undertaken during the year in pursuit of the Trust’s objectives.

The trustees who served during the year were as follows:

Jenny Clark (treasurer) Julie Randles (stepped down Louise Hastings 14/05/23, reappointed 29/9/23) Zaiba Malik (appointed Chair 10/5/23) Kate Riley (stepped down 31 August Emma Maxwell (Stepped down 2022) 28/04/23) Nick Pollard (stepped down 10 Susannah Schofield (Chair) January 2023) Sunita Bhatti (joined 20 Sept 2022) Dhruti Shah Alison Comyn (joined 20 Sept 2022) Anand Shukla (stepped down 31 August 2022)

The Strategy Sub-Group grew the advisory panel to support the board’s work and reflect the views of the Trust’s beneficiaries.

The aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic

During the period under review the Trust was finally able to step out from under the cloud of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mentoring, which had been conducted largely online during the pandemic, moved to a hybrid model and mentors and mentees were able to meet each other in-person. The ingenuity which mentors and mentees had shown in “staying in touch” became the theme of a video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yTQzNOQ4JY) celebrating the mentors who volunteer their time to the Trust.

We were able to stage masterclasses in person, and arranged two very valuable events – a day of masterclasses in the BBC’s New Broadcasting House in London and a live event in Leeds, coorganised by the BBC and Channel 4.

Access to our masterclasses had grown during the pandemic, as virtual events removed many of the barriers to access (travel, costs of transport) which prevented full in-person participation. Increasing the number of Fellows we recruit from outside London is a Trust priority so masterclasses are likely to remain hybrid in nature from now on.

Ireland

In accordance with our strategic plan which commits us to expanding our work in the Republic of Ireland, we successfully registered with the Irish Charity Regulator during the year under review.

We were notified on 26 May 2022 that our registration had been completed and the Trust's charity number in Ireland is 20206396.

The Trust is grateful to RTE, Ireland’s national TV and radio broadcaster, which has become a supporter of the Trust.

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In September 2022 we opened our mentoring scheme to applications from the Republic of Ireland. We received applicants from a wide range of broadcast and print titles and admitted seven Fellows from the Republic of Ireland to the 2023 early career mentoring scheme.

John Schofield Trust /RTS Young Talent of the Year Award

In keeping with previous years, we funded a bursary (of £1,500) to accompany the RTS Young Talent of the Year Award, which the Trust set up in 1996 in memory of John Schofield. For the first time, Trust CEO David Stenhouse was a member of the jury for the Young Talent of the Year award. The 2023 winner of this award – the 28[th] – was Vasilisa Stepanenko, a Ukrainian journalist and videographer working for Associated Press in Ukraine. Vasilisa accepted the Trust’s offer of a mentor and was paired with Muhammed Darwish of CNN who was mentored by the Trust in 2015.

The Fellowship

John Schofield Trust mentoring scheme for early career journalists

During our 2023 applications round we received more interest than ever before with applications rising by 32%. The number of applications received from print and multimedia based candidates rose, in conjunction with our communications campaign which promoted th fact the scheme was open to all types of journalists.

We selected and matched a record number, arriving at a total of 72 early career Fellows (up from 60 in 2022 and 49 in 2021).

Applicants can either complete an online form or submit their application via video or audio. This is to encourage candidates who prefer this to paper-based applications.

Applications from apprentices have recovered after the lull during the COVID-19 pandemic. Whilst we saw two applications from apprentices in both 2022 and 2021, in 2023 15% of all applications were from apprentices or those in training. We will build on these positive figures in future years.

An analysis of the characteristics of our mentees on the early career scheme demonstrates we are making excellent progress towards our mission of newsrooms being as diverse as the audiences they serve.

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All national average statistics are sourced from the 2022 NCTJ report into diversity in journalism (for clarity: ‘national average’ reflects those in the media sector, not the national population).

Feedback survey 2022-23

The Trust now conducts two surveys over the course of the year, rather than simply a single exit survey. In June and July we conduct a mid-point survey to check-in with Fellows and make any interventions or changes if necessary.

The surveys are conducted to measure engagement, learning gain, satisfaction levels and to collect testimony from participants.

In the exit survey for our 2022 early career mentoring scheme:

In addition to quantitative assessment, the Trust gathered quotes as part of the same survey:

“[The mentoring] expanded my idea of the type of journalism that exists, gave me new insights into the sector through joining my mentor at his newsroom and meeting with key colleagues, encouragement and feedback throughout, and the sense that someone had my back.”

“I have had a promotion and feel more confident in my new role.”

“Speaking with [my mentor] every month forced me to take time to reflect on my career, my goals and what I wanted to achieve. It was also great to have her there to sound off any ideas and get advice on ad hoc basis - especially when I changed jobs midway through the year.”

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“[My mentor] really helped me work through some big choices in my career - going freelance, salary conversations [and] setting myself up for success so I'm very grateful.”

Recommendations

The surveys with Fellows and also Senior Fellows uncovered an increasing number of conversations that were happening around mental health and wellbeing. We felt that there is a need to signpost to professional help in these areas for future programmes, and to cover the topic where appropriate at masterclasses. Furthermore, we have increased the amount of information we share with mentors about their mentees before commencement of the programme begins to help them better prepare.

John Schofield Trust online mentoring scheme for 16-18 year-old students

The Trust made the decision in 2022 to pause our scheme for 16–18-year-olds to conduct a review of its impact as well as to identify what existing support schemes there are for young and aspiring journalists in the sector. This review recommended that the programme should be closed, and this decision was approved by the trustees.

Whilst we received excellent feedback from participants on the programme, the Trust concluded that our impact was limited given the scale of the project, the churn of staff within schools which made an annual programme difficult, and a high cost per participant which was increasing due to costs associated with running the scheme.

University student Fellowship pilot

Our review what schemes exist to support young and aspiring journalists highlighted a gap in terms of supporting undergraduate students of journalism from disadvantaged backgrounds.

To remedy this and investigate what intervention we could make, in 2023 we set about piloting a programme with six universities for mentoring for their students. The universities involved were Liverpool John Moores University, University of Central Lancashire, University of Northampton, University of Kent, Dublin City University and Edinburgh Napier. The pilot is 12 months long and tailored based on the individual mentee’s needs and wants.

A full review will be conducted regarding the success of this pilot in 2023, which will determine our next steps.

Masterclasses and networking events

The Trust’s masterclasses are an opportunity to stage discussions, share experiences, expose our Fellows to career insights from distinguished journalists, and to raise the profile of the Trust. Some of our masterclasses are public-facing whilst others are hosted exclusively for our Fellows. Public-facing masterclasses are posted to our YouTube channel and social media. In planning masterclasses, the Trust is responsive both to the news agenda and suggestions from Fellows.

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Over the course of the year the format “How to...” developed as a practical skills-based strand within the masterclass programme, and we staged events on How to be a Science Journalist, and How to Present a News Programme.

We were also able to meet for a Day of Masterclasses in London and an event in Leeds on “How to have a career outside London”.

See Appendix for a list of the masterclasses we ran during the year under review.

In addition, we held briefing sessions and online support sessions for mentees and mentors.

Cicero/HAVAS generously hosted our annual event for the second time at their central London offices, and our guest speaker was Naga Munchetty of BBC Breakfast.

Recommendation

Social media

Over the course of 2022-23, the Trust committed to developing and building social media activity, with concerted efforts given to increase visual platform engagement (Instagram, Facebook) as well as to sustain and grow engagement with established platforms (Twitter, LinkedIn). This was achieved largely through the following strategies:

Twitter followers have increased from 5,000+ to 8,715 over the year. The most appealing content by far on Twitter continues to be that relating specifically to our Fellows: introducing new Fellows, sharing and celebrating Fellows’ news. These posts receive consistent, positive engagement and interaction. In common with past trends for the Trust, social media activity increased significantly at the beginning of the year, when new Fellows are introduced and engagement increases with the announcement of a Trust event.

We are exploring Twitter alternatives as a contingency plan in case the platform becomes unsuitable for our needs.

Instagram followers have steadily increased and engagement is also increasing as we post more content. Instagram is likely to become a more important platform for the Trust with continuation of

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the university mentoring schemes. When preparing for the launch of the 2023 early career scheme application round, the Trust had the invaluable support of a 2022 Fellow who provided insight as to social media tone and content appropriate to attract a new intake.

E-newsletter

Subscribers to the Trust’s monthly newsletter continues to grow . Our average open-rate has risen from 42% to 43.4% (where the average of similar organisations is 34%).

Two sections introduced to the monthly newsletter in the last year – the Fellow ‘feature blog’ and the ‘awards and opportunities’ to apply for – have proved popular. Both consistently feature in the ‘most clicked links’ list, and also gain further engagement through social media likes and shares.

We continue to highlight success stories from Fellows, Senior Fellows and Trust friends/partners in our monthly newsletter, and re-purpose these stories by posting on our social media platforms as well as on our website.

Fundraising

We comply with the Charities (Protection and Social Investment) Act 2016 and adhere to the Code of Fundraising Practice.

The Trust was the Subject of a Radio 4 Appeal presented by Jon Snow on the 4 September 2022. This appeal, plus the distribution of unallocated funds to the Trust, raised £ 9,759.44

The Trust took part in The Big Give Christmas Fundraiser 2022 for a second year. This is an intense week-long national match-giving fundraising campaign which took place from 29 November to 6 December. Pledges came from long-time supporter of the Trust Martin Lewis, Knight Ayton and trustees Kate Riley and Susannah Schofield. The Trust generated social media assets and collected testimonials to support our campaign which raised £ 22,099.75 (£21,780.45 net after fees)

Our work continues to be dependent upon the generous support of our current funders: 5 News, BBC News, Channel 4, CNN, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, ITV News, Knight Ayton, Martin Lewis of MoneySavingExpert.com, RTE, Sky News. We also received gifts in kind from Cicero/HAVAS for hosting our annual reception, as well as the New York Times . Gareth Shoulder, a Trust Fellow, shot and edited the video of Fellows and Senior Fellows that we played at our reception, as an in kind gift to the Trust.

All other fundraising was carried out on a voluntary basis by the trustees.

In 2021-22, we were charged £396 (incl VAT) in fees for using fundraising platforms.

There have been no complaints relating to our fundraising activities.

We have no other form of income other than funds raised. We do not charge application fees or joining fees to our participants or entry fees for our events. All our mentors and speakers at events are volunteers to whom we are greatly indebted. During 2022-23 the Trust benefited

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from the work of nearly 300 volunteers (trustees, mentors, champions, speakers, campaign support).

Staffing

David Stenhouse is employed as Trust CEO, Howard Littler as Fellowship Manager, and Ursula Billington as Co-ordinator.

Regulatory and Trust Policies

We continue to be registered with the ICO and Fundraising Regulator. We adhere to GDPR guidance in managing and keeping our data secure. We have a safeguarding policy in place and CEO David Stenhouse is our designated safeguarding lead.

Income and expenditure

The John Schofield Trust had income of £131,935 during the year, 2021-22: (£82,726) This included donations from 5 News, BBC News, Channel 4, CNN, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, ITV News, Knight Ayton, Martin Lewis of MoneySavingExpert.com, RTE, Sky News.

We also received gifts in kind from Cicero/HAVAS for hosting our annual reception, as well as the New York Times for providing access to their digital content for Fellows taking part in the 2023 mentoring programme.

The key elements of the Trust’s expenditure in 2022-23 are:

Trustees are not remunerated for their services but are paid out of pocket expenses.

Gift Aid

The Trust was registered for Gift Aid during the year and applied to eligible donations. We received £7,315 in Gift Aid.

Risk management

The trustees take their responsibilities for effective risk management seriously. W e currently have in excess of three months worth of operating costs in cash reserve.

Mentees are required to sign up to terms and conditions before joining the scheme.

We have Charities Liability Insurance and Trustees Indemnity Cover in place with Hiscox.

Reserves

The trustees aim to maintain free reserves in unrestricted funds at a level which equates to approximately three months of unrestricted charitable expenditure. The trustees consider that this level will provide sufficient funds to ensure that support and governance costs are covered and to allow other sources of income to be found should this be needed.

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The balance held as unrestricted funds at 31 March 2023 was £68,833 (2021-22: £59,365). The reserves policy will be reviewed annually by the trustees.

Future plans

Financial report of the trustees

Receipts and payments for the 12 months to 31 March 2023

Receipts
Donations
Gift Aid
Total Receipts
Payments
Salaries
BBC CEO
Redundancy
Employer NI
Employer Pension
Payroll costs
RTS Bursary
Insurance
Software charges
Website charges
Online mentoring
Consultancy
Audit examination fee
Legal Costs
Database
Other expenses
Travel
Staff/Trustee Expenses
Surplus (Deficit)		 2023
2023
2023
2022
2022
2022
Unrestricted Restricted Total
Unrestricted Restricted
Total
Funds
Funds
Funds
Funds
£131,935
£131,935
£82,276
£82,276
£7,315
£7,315
£139,250
£0 £139,250
£82,276
£0
£82,276
£100,377
£100,377
£42,924
£42,924
£0
£0
£39,600
£39,600
£0
£0
£5,112
£5,112
£11,216
£11,216
£3,040
£3,040
£2,695
£2,695
£869
£869
£786
£786
£786
£786
£0
£0
£1,500
£1,500
£519
£519
£626
£626
£2,825
£2,825
£2,279
£2,279
£0
£0
£1,152
£1,152
£0
£0
£7,135
£6,725
£13,860
£0
£0
£2,589
£2,589
£495
£495
£495
£495
£0
£0
£3,139
£3,139
£0
£0
£2,722
£2,722
£1,592
£1,592
£3,363
£3,363
£4,172
£4,172
£463
£463
£5,105
£5,105
£0
£0
£129,782
£0 £129,782
£117,793
£6,725
£124,518
-£35,517
-£6,725
-£42,242
£9,468
£0
£9,468

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Assets and Liabilities

Assets
Cash at Bank
Debtors
Liabilities
Net Assets
Total
Reserves		 Unrestricted
Reserves
Restricted
Funds
Total
Funds
2023
Unrestricted
Reserves
Restricted
Funds
Total
Funds
2022
£68,833
£0
£68,833
£59,365
£0
£59,365
£0
£0
£0
£0
£0
£0
0
£0
£0
£0
£0
£0
£0
£68,833
£0
£68,833
£59,365
£0
£59,365
0
£68,833
£0
£68,833
£59,365
£0
£59,365

Signed by Zaiba Malik Chair of Trustees Date 13th January 2024

Jenny Clark Trustee Date

13th January 2024

Independent Examiner's Report to the Trustees of John Schofield Trust

I report to the charity trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity for the year ended 31[st] March 2023.

Responsibilities and basis of report

As charity’s trustees 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 your charity's accounts as carried out under section 145 of the Act. In carrying out my examination I have followed the Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.

Independent examiner's statement

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

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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 order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Signed

Tomas Wilcox FCIE

Date: 13th January 2024

Accounting Policies

Basis of accounting

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the Charities Act 2011 and “Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice – Accounting and Reporting by Charities (SORP (FRS102), second edition issued in January 2019)”, the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102).

John Schofield Trust 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 note.

Going concern

The financial statements are prepared, on a going concern basis, under the historical cost convention.

Funds

The charity maintains a general unrestricted fund which represents funds which are expendable at the discretion of the trustees in furtherance of the objects of the charity. Such funds may be held in order to finance both working capital and capital investment.

Restricted funds have been provided to the charity for particular purposes, and it is the policy of the board of trustees to carefully monitor the application of those funds in accordance with the restrictions placed upon them.

Incoming resources

All incoming resources are included in the statement of financial activities when the Charity is entitled to the income and the amount can be quantified with reasonable accuracy. Donations are recognised on receipt.

Resources expended

Liabilities are recognised as resources expended when there is a legal or constructive obligation committing the Charity to the expenditure. Irrecoverable VAT is charged as a cost against the activity for which the expenditure was incurred.

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Taxation

As a registered charity, the company is exempt from income and corporation tax to the extent that its income and gains are applicable to charitable purposes only.

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Appendix

Progress made from future plans outlined in 2021-22 annual report

No **Plan ** Progress Note
i. To continue funding the RTS/John
Schofield Trust Young Talent of the
Year Award bursary		 28thaward-winner named Vasilisa
Stepanenko
ii. To increase the number of mentees on
theEarly Career mentoring scheme		 Increase in number of mentees to 72 from
60
iii. To increase the number of apprentices
ontheEarly Career mentoring scheme		 15% of applications in 2022 were from
apprentices orthoseintraining
iv. To increase the number of in-person
masterclasses once social distancing
has eased and to build on the online
events programme		 Achieved – two in-person masterclass
events and a range of monthly online
events (see masterclass appendix).
v. To seek registration as a charity in the
Irish Republic to allow us to run our
mentoring scheme for early career
journalists there		 Achieved – registered as Irish charity
20206396 on 26 May 2022
vi. To investigate running a mentoring
scheme for undergraduate students
who wish to pursue a career in
journalism		 Pilot programme with six universities
running in 2023.

Online events

The masterclasses we held in 2022-23 were (those with * indicate public events):

JST Masterclasses over the course of the year included.

How to be a sports journalist – Broadcaster Gary Taphouse chaired a discussion with Ellen Ellard BBC Radio 5 Live Sport and Final Score, Nate Williams, chair of The Ability Group in Sports (TAGS), Carl Anka, Staff Writer at The Athletic FC.

How to be a science journalist – Hannah Devlin of the Guardian chaired a discussion with podcaster Shivani Dave, Thomas Moore of Sky News, David Shukman former Science Editor of BBC News

How to have a career outside London- Judith Moritz BBC chaired a discussion with Dino Sophos of Persephonica, Hannah Al Othman of the Sunday Times, Ciaran Jenkins of Channel 4 and Sallie Leak True North

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Independent examiner's report on the accounts

Section A Independent Examiner’s Report

Report to the trustees/
members of
On accounts for the year
ended
Set out on pages		 John Schofield Trust John Schofield Trust John Schofield Trust
31stMarch 2023 Charity no
(if any)		 1061065
Above

I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity (“the Trust”) for the year ended 31/03/23.

I report in respect of my examination of the Trust’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I have followed the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.

Independent examiner's statement

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

I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Signed: Date: 13th January 2024 Name: Tomas Wilcox Relevant professional FCIE qualification(s) or body (if any): Address: Counterculture Partnership LLP Unit 115 Ducie House, Ducie Street Manchester, M1 2JW

Section B Disclosure

Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight matters of concern (see CC32, Independent examination of charity accounts: directions and guidance for examiners).

October 2018

IER

Give here brief details of any items that the examiner wishes to disclose .

October 2018

IER