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2022-03-31-accounts

Charity Registration No. 1085443

Company Registration No. 3904882 (England and Wales)

READ - THE READING AGENCY

ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

READ - THE READING AGENCY

LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

Trustees M Littleford MBE, Chair
A Durcan OBE, Vice Chair
T Moody-Stuart
A Langley
D O'Gara
P Cocozza
S Hariff-Khan
S Hall
M Lentin (resigned 7 October 2021)
P Kelly
H Telfer
D Green (appointed 14 December 2021)
J Sanderson (appointed 14 December 2021)
M Abidin (appointed 14 December 2021)
CEO K Napier MBE
Finance, Commercial and D Giwa
Business Director
Creative Director D Hicks MBE
Charity number 1085443
Company number 3904882
Registered office 8 High Street
Brentwood
Essex
CM14 4AB
Auditors M J Bushell Ltd
8 High Street
Brentwood
Essex
CM14 4AB
Bankers Lloyds Bank plc
High Street
Winchester
SO23 9DA
Solicitors Bates, Wells and Braithwaite
Cheapside House
138 Cheapside
London
EC2V 6BB

CONTENTS

Page
Chair's report 1
CEO’s report 2
Trustees' report 3 - 12
Statement of Trustees' responsibilities 13
Independent auditor's report 14 – 16
Statement of financial activities 17
Balance sheet 18
Statement of cash flows 19
Notes to the accounts 20 - 36

READ - THE READING AGENCY CHAIR'S REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022 As we began to emeryJe from the Lrf Il CO￿19 ￿l%1￿M[< S￿1 in tho fa¢e of SOCiet81 challeng85. f( even mre imrrttsnt lo ￿ at The R&￿1￿j Ag￿. to thamF4on the ad ol readlng as a way to a better lile. Ov8r past year WB contÉnued lo rdlaborate willE a brilliant group of Valu￿ partners, an of whom have helped us rnake a drfferen￿. knYJst many othws, ￿ Arts Counril England. 200+ library 8uItrMjri￿, Librarie¥ Connected. DCMS and DIE and ow putAi%her partners, have enabled us to maintsin our reach across the UK. Thafs 1.9 millw)n p80p￿ 8cn)ss yw. On Worfd Book NighL we managed to iknble gNeaway of fantasuc t¥))ks to L¥ganisatic￿$ 8cross the UK, gfvlffj away 100,IKK) (x)pstr) 738 orgBnl￿ti(Th irK4uding prt50ns. lTrbraTies, hospitaks and health seNiees. )melessness shelters. and adult kaming servi￿. We were deh'w to pathér wlh Specs8VWS to ￿mMISsion a cdlèction ofshortstori¢sead'Sknèstt) Makeyou SrnI￿, and oureventwiihthe British Library. hosted by SarKli Tr3vig. was streamed to over 5,QW ￿e0￿e. ()Jr fflagship thildrsn's pryramme, The Summer Reading ChaWenge. saw The Readiry Agency pair up with WMIF for a dirnate-themgj Wild Worfd Heroes. chalkrpe. capiurir¥J the imagination of childmn. parènts. and carsrs in the run up to thg gk)bal COP26 8unwniL Thè Rèa(Ilng Agarw has 18sp￿thI to n￿1 ro81ty with rntivity. oxnpassion, and thoUghffUln￿. by K8ren. Debbie and Debbie. Ihe WI￿ tearn. indudr¥J our dedI￿ted grtMJP of InJst895. has ￿K)rked tyrdessty and inclLK8Iv8￿ to make 8 diffe￿nCe to peorAe'8 IlvesthrowJh the pr(v￿n prywerof reajku. We hav& thought innovativaty at¥Jut how wo ddrvw our lrffrcangirffJ pwrammes to ever-changitYJ audiènces. We have deepened the charity's research capabiliNes to ensurg id•ntify thè S￿81 needs of our work and measurg and d8mtsn5trate th8 re8ch 8nd impact of our prcgramrres. We have conunued to invest in our digitaf infrastructL5r8 following the PNoi to online delivery ￿ have ￿raCed the many oppMNlurHtigs fu le8mir4J that Ihis has presented. And most impJrtanUy. w9. 9¥ 4 tgarn, h8¥97hthed caNirg a path as a kading tharity in reading and ¥walju8tice. This ygar. we not only t¢ rexh audien￿ but that th8 prown of rgadiThJ is fvndamental to F¥)sitiva social thangè. By cffitinuing to Trhyxk in cxHxethn wth pathers and re$k￿lir0 to thèlr n8ds, we 8fg rnmitled to cTrating a worfd where ￿ one is left t￿[1￿1 aThJ pèts￿.$ ￿1181 tan be unlo¢W thrO￿h the power of Littlefo MBE. Dated: ..

READ - THE READING AGENCY

CHIEF EXECUTIVE’S REPORT

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

While the world has recently changed in so many ways, the role of reading is as needed as ever before, and our work could not be more relevant to today’s society. I am delighted that with the inspiring partnership of libraries all across the country, we continue to extend our reach and impact sparking conversations and connections through reading.

From delivering national campaigns, to virtual events and investing time in creating opportunities with new partners, I am hugely grateful to our team, for demonstrating such fantastic creativity, diligence and enthusiasm this year. It has been as a result of all this hard work, that we have maintained our reach in the past year and shared the proven power of reading with 1.9 million people. We are hugely grateful to DCMS and Arts Council England for believing in our mission and for their continued investment, support and encouragement as we continue to innovate and imagine new ways of reaching diverse communities across the country.

This year, we have much to look forward to, including expanding on our much-valued partnerships with libraries, publishers, charities and businesses. Whoever they are, whatever age or background, whatever the challenge and however big, we know that there is a book out there for everyone, which can inspire and encourage them on their reading adventure as we tackle life’s big challenges through the proven power of reading.

Karen Napier MBE Chief Executive

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TRUSTEES' REPORT (INCLUDING DIRECTORS' REPORT)

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

The Trustees are pleased to present their annual report and the accounts of the charity for the year ended 31 March 2022, which are also prepared to meet the requirements for a directors' report and accounts for Companies Act purposes.

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in note 1 to the financial statements and comply with the charity's Memorandum and Articles of Association, the Companies Act 2006 and "Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2019)".

Objectives and Activities

Our vision is for a world where everyone is reading their way to a better life. Our mission is tackling life’s big challenges through the proven power of reading. We do this by:

Overview

Like all organisations The Reading Agency has been affected by COVID-19. The pandemic impacted and changed our work in a number of ways, but as highlighted throughout the report, the commitment to our mission of tackling life's big challenges through the proven power of reading could not be stronger as we look for new ways to diversify our delivery models and funding to have even greater reach and positive impact.

The impact of covid last year and in the early part of this year of many of our trusted delivery partners including schools, libraries, prisons, hospitals, surgeries and community centres, hugely affected the delivery of our wellestablished programmes and significantly impacted on our finances. Having dropped by a third last year, we are pleased to report that our commercial sales of programmes (unrestricted income) including the Summer Reading Challenge and Reading Ahead, have recovered to pre-pandemic levels.

We have increased our commitment and delivery of work to address big societal issues such as mental health and wellbeing, and loneliness.

As part of developing new ways of working we, like many other organisations, offer flexible working to all our staff, and as such, have taken a lease of much smaller office premises. We have continued to develop and extend the digital offer across all programmes, now providing a hybrid of digital, print and other resources. Successful fundraising campaigns, establishing new partnerships, have led to a transformation of the organisation and its activities.

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Highlights of Performance

Our impact in 2021-22

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National Reading Programmes

Life Skills and Learning

In 2021-22 we continued to grow our range of delivery partners despite the challenges brought on by the pandemic, whilst maintaining our core partnership with public libraries, to build the impact and reach of our national reading programmes. We have reached 1.9 million people of all ages and from all across the UK this year. Our robust approach to evaluation has proven the difference this engagement has made to their skills, confidence and wellbeing and social connectivity.

Children:

Summer Reading Challenge: the UK’s biggest reading for pleasure programme for children is now in its 22nd year. In 2021, we partnered with WWF UK on Wild World Heroes to share the fun and benefits of reading with families across the UK, including those that need them most. Although 2021 was still a pandemic year, we were delighted at the role the Summer Reading Challenge played in successfully getting families back into libraries, a vital community space, whilst also allowing access to the Challenge to even more families through our digital platform. We saw fantastic reach and engagement through public libraries with a substantial increase in participation, library membership and book loans on the previous year.

Our family surveys indicate that in 2021, children increased positive behaviours and attitudes towards reading and that the Summer Reading Challenge helped to improve family connections through the power of reading. We also reached a total of 587,267 children and families through the Summer Reading Challenge.

Summer of Reading Campaign: Following the successes of the Reading Together Day, the first programme of joint activity held on 16 July 2020 with Department for Education, The Reading Agency brought participating organisations together again to build on previous work and continue to inspire children’s and family reading. As families and individuals continued to experience disruptions to education, communities and lives caused by Covid-19, the Summer of Reading aimed to highlight the benefits of reading and provides children and families with activities they could take part in at home or in their local communities.

The Summer of Reading launched on 14 June, with new events and resources being announced every week through to 17 September, including both digital activity and in-person events as Covid-19 restrictions gradually lifted. The timing was chosen to overlap the end of the school summer term and beginning of the Autumn term, enabling teachers to get involved. The Summer of Reading Campaign reached over 870,000.

Teachers' Reading Challenge: piloted in 2020 and launched in 2021, in partnership with the Open University, the Challenge aims to support teachers, librarians and people in other education support roles to expand their repertoire of children’s literature and equip them with the material to confidently promote and engage reciprocally with children and young people’s reading for pleasure. The Teacher’s Reading Challenge is thought to be the first of its kind and we drew on findings and learnings from the 2020 Pilot to increase the reach and engagement, and to restructure the Challenge model. A total of 2,667 people took part reading 5,893 books and 97% reported widening their knowledge of children’s literature. Most intended to incorporate aspects of the programme into their teaching programme.

Reading Sparks: is a new project to engage children and families with science through reading. With funding from Arts Council England and the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), The Reading Agency is delivering a pilot project in 2021-2023 which harnesses the proven power of reading to build science confidence among families in communities living with deprivation in England. The pilot project has been developed in partnership with public libraries, the British Science Association and NUSTEM at the University of Northumbria and aims to explore new ways of using creative reading to increase STEM engagement. Initial assessment of the reach and impact of this programme is very positive.

Get Islington Reading is a place-based approach programme supporting transition-age children moving from primary to secondary to maintain engagement with reading at a time when it traditionally drops off. It is an integrated schools/library programme delivered in partnership with the National Literacy Trust, a cohort of primary and secondary schools in Islington and Islington Library Service. Funded by the Charity of Sir Richard Whittington (Mercer’s) the programme has seen 450 families receiving books and activity boxes with a total of 2,700 books distributed and clear impact on increasing reading enjoyment and reading frequency.

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Adults:

Reading Ahead: This programme is designed to improve people’s reading skills, change their perception of reading, open up opportunities and build confidence. It is run as a reading challenge model through libraries, prisons, adult learning organisations, colleges and workplaces. Between September 2019 and November 2020 18,710 people took part in the programme and participants consistently report improved reading skills, enjoyment and confidence, and improved communication skills. Our 2021/2022 programme evaluation is still in progress with reach and impact results anticipated in August 2022.

Quick Reads: This programme, designed to bring the benefits of reading to less confident readers, publishes short accessible books by high profile authors and is now in its 10[th] year. Six new titles were published in 2021 and over 130,000 copies were distributed through sales, public libraries and donations. Eight new titles were commissioned and published in April 2022, and Quick Reads partnered with World Book Night in the same month to expand donations and reach. Our 2021/2022 evaluation is ongoing but the programme has consistently demonstrated its ability to improve reading skills and increase confidence in less confident readers.

Health and Wellbeing

Reading Well: This programme consists of curated book lists to help people to understand and manage health and wellbeing using helpful reading. The books are all chosen and recommended by health experts, as well as people living with the conditions covered and their relatives and carers. There is a continuing legacy from the DCMS funded Read, Talk, Share campaign in 2020/2021 which enabled the Reading Well mental health collections for adults, young people and children to be provided to all public libraries in England, resulting in the distribution of 311.873 books distributed across 2,975 public and community managed libraries across 150 library authorities.

We have now commenced work on the new Reading Well for Young People list. This list is an update to the 2016 Reading Well for Young People or “Shelf Help” list and is focused on supporting young people’s mental health in a post-pandemic context. It will launch in Autumn 2022. For the first time we have had Welsh involvement from the start of the process and the new list will launch in England and Wales at the same time. During the period we have also continued our strong partnership working with key healthcare professionals, librarians, organisations and people with lived experience.

We continue to support the public library health group deliver the Universal Health Offer and, in collaboration with Cruse, we have developed a bereavement toolkit for use in public libraries. Additionally, and in conjunction with Libraries Connected, we have been reviewing the public library offer for people living with No Fixed Abode. A toolkit to provide support for libraries engaging people with no fixed abode is being developed.

In partnership with Health Education England, we launched Uplifting resources: for the NHS, from the NHS during Health Information Week 2021, a crowd-sourced uplifting book and digital resource collection, all recommended by NHS staff for NHS staff.

Our reach is growing with 467,094 books issued to support the UK’s health and wellbeing. In terms of impact both Reading Well users and health sector professionals consistently report the programme’s benefits.

Winter of Wellbeing campaign: Our partnership with Welsh public libraries to support their Winter of Wellbeing campaign has delivered strong results. It was an 11 week Welsh Government funded campaign launched mid-January with an ambition to support 0–25 year olds in Wales as they recovered from the pandemic. The 22 library authorities in Wales received up to £10,000 to fund activities on the ground and were assisted by our bespoke Reading Agency linked bilingual Winter of Wellbeing/Gaeaf Llawn Lles website, which had nearly 13000 visits over a period of 13 weeks.

Due to Covid restrictions in Wales in January and early February live events in libraries didn’t get going until well into the campaign. Nevertheless, when restrictions did lift, they saw more than 24,000 people (over 20,000 of them children/young people) taking part in Winter of Wellbeing activities and they are now reporting a lasting legacy through schools booking repeat visits or campaign activities (like Lego Clubs or mindfulness sessions or quiz nights) continuing into Spring.

Reading Friends: Our UK-wide programme connecting people by starting conversations through reading. DCMS funding in early 2021 as part of the Read, Talk, Share Campaign led to a significant expansion of the delivery of Reading Friends to 102 library authorities. In October 2021 we entered a new phase of Reading Friends, with library authorities paying a subscription to deliver the programme. To date we have 68 library authorities signed up to deliver

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Reading Friends across England, Wales and Scotland. We have also further diversified and broadened our audience and are now working with new and expectant mums, refugees, young people and women affected by domestic abuse.

Our last evaluation report shows that people felt more connected and less lonely by taking part in Reading Friends,

Connected Communities

World Book Night: The annual celebration of books and reading for adults took place in April 2021. In 2021 100,000 books were donated to people across the UK who don’t regularly read for pleasure or have access to books. Other highlights in 2021 included the commissioning, in partnership with Specsavers, of a book of short ‘stories to make you smile’ in print, e-book and audiobook versions and featuring well-known and celebrity authors. Sandi Toksvig (one of our ambassadors) hosted a celebratory event at the British Library which was also streamed online to 5,000 people.

We received overwhelmingly positive response to the events and activities around World Book Night 2021, with 100% of attendees saying they would take part in something similar again. 15 million people were reached through World Book Night and Reading Hour.

The Reading Agency Presents (TRAP): This is our flagship virtual events programme, born out of the need to keep people connected and engaged with reading during the Covid-19 pandemic. Since our first event in May 2021, we have welcomed over 14,000 live audience members with hundreds more watching our recordings on YouTube. Our virtual events have remained an invaluable opportunity for people who struggle to access in-person events to discover brilliant books and meet authors. It has also enabled us to bring writers and illustrators to audiences across the country using a single link, continuing our mission to amplify voices and grow new audiences. We work with an engaged network of partners including public, school and prison libraries, health professionals, learning providers, care homes and more, and are a trusted and respected authority in the sector.

Reading Partners: Reading Partners grew out of our shared agenda of getting more people to read more and is designed to support publishers, and other partners in the commercial drive to build audiences and reach readers. During the 2021/2022 subscription year our promotional campaigns reached over 3,300 libraries, schools, prisons, care homes, hospitals, and community centres and 220,030 people took part in Reading Partner activities.

A highlight of our year for our publishing partners is our annual, virtual Reading Partners Roadshow. In 2021 this ran across two days with 52 authors and publishers presenting and approximately 1,496 delegates (predominately librarians) engaging. We were also active in increasing our profile by attending the Bookseller’s Marketing and Publicity Conference in July 2021 that highlighted how libraries are vital for publisher campaign goals, supporting our publisher partners with campaigns for high-profile authors such as Kate Mosse, David Walliams, Anthony Horowitz, Lenny Henry, Rosie Jones and Kit De Waal and developing The Reading Agency Presents, our flagship virtual events programme that has welcomed over 14,000 live audience members since May 2021.

'Reading Partners has been invaluable in amplifying our campaigns to reach librarians and teachers across the UK. Our campaigns have always been received with enthusiasm and we've seen long-lasting support from those we engage beyond the immediate campaign.' Head of Zeus

Promotions and Prizes: We support prizes, book clubs and other partners to connect with libraries, reading groups and new readers by providing read and review opportunities, coordinating selection panels and promoting titles and authors across our channels. This year we worked with 12 prizes, book clubs and other literary organisations including the Women’s Prize for Fiction, the Booker Prizes, National Poetry Day and Hay Festival. We also continued our relationship with the BBC working on BBC Two’s Between the Covers television series and BBC Radio 2 Book Club.

Reading Groups for Everyone and Chatterbooks

Through Reading Groups for Everyone, the UK's largest network of reading groups, we connect with over 5,000 registered groups (an average estimate of 41,912 reading group members) to distribute sets of books, run promotional activities, and generate online reviews. Since 2001, The Reading Agency has also run Chatterbooks, the UK's largest network of children's reading groups. Through Reading Groups for Everyone and Chatterbooks, our publisher and promotional partners reach active and engaged readers. It’s an opportunity for them to discover new books and expand their reading. This year our reading groups networks accessed 7,404 books gifted by our publishing partners to read and review.

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National Reading Group Day aims to celebrate reading groups and the benefits of being a reading group member by inspiring more people to join reading groups and Promoting Reading Groups for Everyone as a resource for reading groups across the UK. In 2021, National Reading Group Day was moved to 14 September from its original date in June to coincide with Independent Bookshop Week. Activity focused on an online discussion of The Foundling by Stacey Halls on Facebook at 6.30pm on 14 September. The hashtag #NationalReadingGroupDay had an estimated social media reach of 670,403 and there were more than 300 downloads of the three toolkits developed for libraries, Reading Friends groups and Chatterbooks.

StoryTrails (Unboxed): The Reading Agency is one of 6 partners working on StoryTrails, an immersive storytelling experience taking place in libraries across the UK in 2022. In Spring of 2021 StoryTrails was confirmed as one of 10 projects commissioned from hundreds of applications to deliver UNBOXED: Creativity in the UK, a ground-breaking UK-wide celebration of creativity which will go live in 2022.

The project will support The Reading Agency's ongoing mission to tackle life's big challenges through the proven power of reading by working in partnership with libraries across the UK and Northern Ireland to get the UK engaged in immersive storytelling. The project aims to support libraries through Covid recovery by increasing library visitor numbers, introducing new audiences into the library space, and celebrating their position within communities as centres of innovation and storytelling. The project will be recruiting 50 of the next generation of creative UK-based talent to help tell the stories of local communities.

Sue Williamson, Director, Libraries, Arts Council England said: "We are thrilled that The Reading Agency is helping to put immersive technologies into libraries next year. Library users, visitors and passers-by will be able to use state-of-the-art equipment to explore unheard community stories in innovative ways."

Organisational Development

We are bold and ambitious, and are deeply committed to our mission of tackling life’s big challenges through the proven power of reading: making positive change in society as we deepen and widen our measurable impact across all ages and across the country, particularly in areas of greatest need.

Future Plans

We do not underestimate the challenges that we will face in the coming year, but our vision and mission continue to shape all that we do. We have developed The Reading Agency’s 2022-2023 Business Plan against the background of the most extraordinary circumstances following the Covid 19 pandemic, with an overriding commitment to continue to make a positive difference to society through our charitable endeavours. In 2022 The Reading Agency will be celebrating its 20[th] anniversary and will be taking the opportunity to highlight the benefits of reading with a year-long campaign that features all of our programmes, allowing individuals of all ages, families and communities to participate in creative and cultural reading activities to support the development of individual skills and confidence, reduce loneliness, support physical and mental health and wellbeing and as well as build and strengthen social ties.

The key ambitions of the 2022–23 plan are:

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Risk Review

The key risks we have identified in developing and delivering our future plans are as follows:

Achievements and performance

Financial review and strategy

Income for the year was £2,974,375 (2021: £6,497,434). Of this income, 32% was generated through the creation and sale of materials designed to promote reading (2021: 4%), while a further 54% came from grants and donations from other organisations (2021: 89%, including £131,461 from the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and funding from DCMS of £3.5 million for the Read, Talk, Share programme). The balance of 14% (2021:7%) was generated from other partnerships and fees.

The Reading Agency was designated as a National Portfolio Organisation (NPO) for the periods 2012/13 to 2017/18 and 2018/19 to 2021/22 by Arts Council England. It has additionally received confirmation that it will receive the same amount in the 2022/2023 financial year and has recently lodged its application for continued NPO status, for 2023/2024 to 2026/2027. The NPO funding contributed £484,141 towards core funds in the current year (2021: £481,141). Other grants and donations contributed £1,106,784 in the current year, including a further £208,264 in Arts grants from the Arts Council, £366,928 from the Welsh Government and £250,000 from the Society of Chief Librarians (Wales). Total expenditure amounted to £2,823,629 (2021: £6,171,132). Net incoming resources were £150,747 (2021: £326,302).

Under Future Plans (see above) The Reading Agency has outlined its business plan for 2022-23 aimed at both maintaining existing and developing exciting new programmes for promoting reading, literacy and engagement. Also as noted above the charity has recently lodged its NPO application to Arts Council England for the period 2023/2024 to 2026/2027, including an application to increase annual core funding. If successful, this will allow The Reading Agency to fast-track new programmes and to significantly expand existing programmes to allow it to broaden its reach and impact.

Reserves Policy

It is the charity’s policy to maintain unrestricted funds, at a sufficient level to maintain a positive cash balance at all times and to ensure the prudent day-to-day financial management of the charity.

At 31 March 2022 total reserves amounted to £1,881,663 (2021: £1,730,916) of which unrestricted reserves amounted to £1,097,753 (2021: £1,069,013). The trustees have reviewed the reserves position and consider that adequate resources continue to be available to fund the activities of the charity for the foreseeable future. The trustees are of the view that the organisation is a going concern.

Unrestricted reserves at the end of the year stand at £1.098m. Our stated policy is to maintain reserves to cover 3 to 6 months working capital. This constitutes between approximately £300k and £600k of unrestricted reserves. The

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remaining £500k will be used to underpin our operations, to continue the remodeling of our programmes and to act as a contingency for rising costs linked to inflation and economic uncertainty. This portion of reserves is expected to be largely spent by the end of the financial year to 31st March 2023 (based on the current budget), as the charity continues to invest in deepening its impact and national reach to tackle life’s big challenges through the proven power of reading.

Structure, governance and management

Governing Document

Read - The Reading Agency is a company limited by guarantee governed by its Memorandum and Articles of Association of Well Worth Reading incorporated on 11 January 2000. In July 2002 Well Worth Reading merged with Launchpad and the Reading Partnership, forming The Reading Agency for Libraries Limited. In November 2007 the organisation changed its name to Read – The Reading Agency Limited.

Trustees

The Trustees, who are also the directors for the purpose of company law, and who served during the year were:

M Littleford MBE, Chair

A Durcan OBE, Vice Chair

T Moody-Stuart A Langley D O'Gara P Cocozza S Hariff-Khan S Hall M Lentin (resigned 7 October 2021)

P Kelly H Telfer D Green (appointed 14 December 2021) M Abidin (appointed 14 December 2021) J Sanderson (appointed 14 December 2021)

Trustee Recruitment, Election, Induction and Training

The Board of Trustees appoints new trustees from time to time, to fill a vacancy or as an addition to the existing trustees.

In accordance with the company’s Memorandum and Articles of Association, a new trustee may be appointed by nomination from any of the existing trustees. The nomination must take place, and be seconded, at a Board meeting (other than the Annual General Meeting).

At every Annual General Meeting, the longest serving third of the trustees retire from office. Trustees retiring in this manner are eligible for re-election.

A key priority of governance is to ensure the diversity of thought, experience, background, class, race, ethnicity, gender, age, religion and disability as part of TRA Board. An annual review is led by the Vice Chair.

Potential trustees are invited to attend a Board meeting to assess whether they would like to join the Board. They are provided with a Board induction pack containing legal, financial and structural policy and planning information, and they meet with the Senior Management Team before their first Board meeting to discuss the information in the pack and clarify any questions about trusteeship and the organisation. If the trustee has a special role, then they may also meet with the relevant specialist employee to discuss this area.

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Organisational Structure

The Board of Trustees, of which there should be a minimum of at least six members, agrees the strategic direction of the charity, measures success against agreed objectives and oversees the administration of the charity. The Board meets quarterly and an observer from Arts Council England has a standing invitation to attend these Board meetings.

From within the Board of Trustees, members have been selected to form a Finance Sub-Committee (FSC). It is responsible for providing the Board with an independent and objective review of The Reading Agency’s financial affairs. It serves to provide assurance of effective systems being in place for governance, regulatory and legislative compliance, risk management and internal control, supporting the achievement of The Reading Agency strategic objectives. FSC meets quarterly.

The day-to-day running and forward planning of the organisation is the responsibility of the Senior Management Team. To ensure the organisation meets its charitable remit, the Senior Management Team reports to the Board regularly on finance, employment, risk management and strategic development.

Members of the charitable company guarantee to contribute an amount not exceeding £1 to the assets of the charitable company in the event of winding up. The total number of such guarantees as at 31 March 2022 was 13.

Risk Management

The Board recognises the importance of risk management and the current most significant risk being financial, associated with continuous rises in costs and uncertainty in the fundraising landscape. To mitigate this risk the board have made income diversification and fundraising a key priority.

The charity has a developed risk management strategy. This strategy comprises:

Public Benefit

The Trustees confirm that they have complied with the duty in Section 17(5) of the Charities Act 2011 to have due regard to the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit: “Charities and Public Benefit”.

Our charitable purpose dictates all that The Reading Agency does.

The purpose and aims of The Reading Agency are for the greater public good; i.e. the charity produces creative reading and writing experiences for many public audiences and works with delivery partners to drive up participation in reading and literature. The charity further supports reader development for the public through helping national and community organisations develop their skills and benefit from increased partnership working.

12

READ - THE READING AGENCY STATEMEMf OF TRUSTEES. RESPONSIBILrriES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022 The Trustees, w￿& are also the dir￿￿$ of - The Agw ts the purFKJse of company law, a roswnsibla preparing th& Trustees. Rèp￿ and thè Acc￿N￿ in aCU)rdan￿ with sp￿[Cabb IAW Unitsd KIng￿ Ac£ounting Standards (United Kin￿J￿n Generaly AC(￿ h£cwntirvJ Pra(aicel. Company Law requtres the Twstee5 to Prepa￿ ￿¢￿nts each flnandal year a true and falr of the state of affaif5 of the ch8ty arKI ofts inc4)ming resources and a01cats￿ of resources, 1￿UdIr￿j the In(xJme 8nd éxpènditum. ofthe charltabl& company lor that ￿r. In wp8ring thw ¢Lwnts. th¥ Tr11￿ •re rwuirnd to: . $818et suita￿8 c(xJnlfjng Olci8s aTh1 thèn aKWy Ih8m tr￿lS18￿. - observe the methods and princ3￿eS in the Chwities SORP. - make judgerrffjnts and estimates that are rea8onalAe and pnthnl - stato wh8lh8r applkablè UK Accounung Standaids boan foltr¢d. SLtycl to ony m8torfa doparbJrn8 dlsdosed and eX￿ained in tr a￿)Unts., arky -prap8rè aceountsontt)a wng COEKem b&%is unlo85 it4B pwBsunwth#ttsthpritywill c￿tinue In owation. The Trustees are yes￿nSIble for keeplng ad&Juate accountlThJ records that disclose wih reasonat4e aceuracy at ¥ny lim8 thè financial of Ihe tharity arKI enab them to ensu￿ Ihat the rnnts comFty with the Companies Act 20(k8. They are also respon&ble Ic safeguardirvJ the assats of thaiity and hène• tor tsking re&ryonable steps for Ihe pre¥￿tt0n aThJ detec11￿ of frasjj olher irregulaFities. Audltor The auditcrf. M J Bushel Ltd, is deern￿ to te ￿pp￿￿ted WKler sth 487121 oflhe Crynles Act 20￿. Dl8¢losure of Inf0rn7￿On to audltor Each of thè Trustees has confirmed that Ilw8 is ro infDrmth of whi( they are 8w8rg whith is rdev8Dt lo Ihe audit, but of vthich auditor is unawa￿. They have luthef confim)ed that they have taken ap[￿￿¥al& stèps to identify such relevant Inf￿rna￿ and to e8tsblith that th8 wJdts)r 15 Ware ofsuL information. Ap roved by the Tru81ees aryj Bigned cffl thelr t*haf try: BE. Ch•lr i16L I 13

READ - THE READING AGENCY

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT

TO THE TRUSTEES OF READ - THE READING AGENCY

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of Read - The Reading Agency (the ‘charity’) for the year ended 31 March 2022 which comprise the statement of financial activities, the balance sheet, the statement of cash flows and the notes to the financial statements, including a summary of significant accounting policies. 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).

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 charity 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 charity’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 other than the financial statements and our auditor's report thereon. The Trustees are responsible for the other information contained within the annual report. 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. 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 our audit:

READ - THE READING AGENCY

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT (CONTINUED) TO THE TRUSTEES OF READ - THE READING AGENCY

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the charity and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the directors' report included within the Trustees' report.

In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the 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:

Responsibilities of Trustees

As explained more fully in the statement of Trustees' responsibilities, the Trustees, who are also the directors of the charity for the purpose 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 are responsible for assessing the charity’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.

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.

The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud, is detailed below.

Management override of controls

Non compliance with laws and regulations

A further description of our responsibilities is available on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at: https:// www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our auditor's report.

READ- THE READING AGENCY INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT (CONTINUED) TO THE TRUSTEES OF READ- THE READING AGENCY Use of our report This report is made solely lo the charitable company's members, as a body, in a¢¢ordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies AGI 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state lo the Charitable company's members those matters we are required to State lo them In an auditor5. report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitlèd by law, we do not accept or assume responsibllily lo anyone other than the Charitab￿ COTnpany and the charitable company's members as a body, for our audit work. for this rèport, or for the opinions we have formed. Corné von Wielligh ACA Isènior Statutory Auditor} for and on behalf of M J Bushell Ltd 13.D7.2022 Chartarèd A¢¢ountants Statutory Auditor 8 High Street Bren￿lOod Essex CM14 4AB

READ - THE READING AGENCY

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES INCLUDING INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

Unrestricted
Restricted
funds
funds
Notes
£
£
Income and endowments from:
Donations and legacies
3
495,883
10,000
Charitable activities
4
1,361,513
1,106,784
Investments
6
134
-
Other income
5
61
-
Total income
1,857,591
1,116,784
Expenditure on:
Raising funds
7
95,156
-
Charitable activities
8
1,733,695
994,777
Total resources expended
1,828,851
994,777
Net income for the year/
Net movement in funds
28,740
122,007
Fund balances at 1 April 2021
1,069,013
661,903
Fund balances at 31 March 2022
1,097,753
783,910		 Total
2022
£
505,883
2,468,297
134
61
2,974,375
95,156
2,728,472
2,823,628
150,747
1,730,916
1,881,663		 Total
2021
£
1,446,780
5,050,301
289
64
6,497,434
105,931
6,065,201
6,171,132
326,302
1,404,614
1,730,916

The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year.

All income and expenditure derive from continuing activities.

The statement of financial activities also complies with the requirements for an income and expenditure account under the Companies Act 2006.

READ- THE READING AGENCY BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31 MARCH 2022 2022 2021 FSx•d assets TangilAe assets 14 14.581 6.532 Curr•nt 4•$0ts Debtors Cash at bank and In ￿nd 15 1.219,424 1.9)9,067 1.243,654 1.TT5.450 3.128.491 3.019.104 Cr•dltorn: amounts f•lliNJ due withth ono y¢•r 16 11261.389) {1.294.7201 Net ￿rrent a58ets 1￿7.102 1.724.384 Total asgetg IMS current Ilabllltl•s 1.881.663 1,730,916 In¢om¢ funds Restrictsd funds Unreth¢l•J funds 19 783,910 1.097.753 661,9)3 I.(￿9.013 1.881.663 1.730.916 These finan(ial statements have in •xorfKe with the wDMsioro appli(3ble to ￿M[￿nIeS subject to Ihe small conynias rggiff. 2810612022 . and are swJned on th half by: M Litueford MB Chair Company R•glstratlon No. 3W882 18-

READ - THE READING AGENCY

STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

Notes
Cash flows from operating activities
Cash generated from operations
23
Investing activities
Purchase of tangible fixed assets
Interest received
Net cash used in investing activities
Net cash used in financing activities
Net increase in cash and cash equivalents
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of year
Cash and cash equivalents at end of year		 £
(13,410)
134		 2022
£
146,893
(13,276)
-
133,617
1,775,450
1,909,067		 £
(3,174)
289		 2021
£
127,025
(2,885)
-
124,140
1,651,310
1,775,450

READ - THE READING AGENCY

NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

1 Accounting policies

Company information

Read - The Reading Agency is a private company limited by guarantee incorporated in England and Wales. The registered office is 8 High Street, Brentwood, Essex, CM14 4AB.

1.1 Accounting convention

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the charity's Memorandum and Articles of Association, the Companies Act 2006 and "Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2019)". The charity is a Public Benefit Entity as defined by FRS 102.

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

The accounts are prepared in sterling, which is the functional currency of the company. Monetary amounts in these accounts are rounded to the nearest £.

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

1.2 Going concern

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

1.3 Charitable funds

Unrestricted funds are available for use at the discretion of the Trustees in furtherance of their charitable objectives.

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

1.4 Incoming resources

Income is recognised when the charity is legally entitled to it after any performance conditions have been met, the amounts can be measured reliably, and it is probable that income will be received. Where the income relates to charitable trading activities, it is shown net of VAT.

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

Income from government and other grants is recognised when the charity 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.

READ - THE READING AGENCY

NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

1 Accounting policies

(Continued)

1.5 Resources expended

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. Expenditure excludes attributable VAT where it is recovered.

Where VAT on programme costs is irrecoverable, it is included in the programme costs. Where VAT on support costs is irrecoverable it is included within support costs.

Expenditure is allocated to particular activities where the cost relates directly to that activity. Support costs comprise costs relating to the overall direction and administration on each activity, including salary, and overhead and governance costs of the central function. Support costs are apportioned to activities on the basis of usage.

1.6 Tangible fixed assets

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

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

Computer and office equipment 33% straight line

The gain or loss arising on the disposal of an asset is determined as the difference between the sale proceeds and the carrying value of the asset, and is recognised in the statement of financial activities.

1.7 Cash and cash equivalents

Cash and cash equivalents include cash in hand, deposits held at call with banks and other short-term liquid investments with original maturities of three months or less.

1.8 Financial instruments

The charity 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 and subsequently measured at their settlement value.

1.9 Employee benefits

The cost of any unused holiday entitlement is recognised in the period in which the employee’s services are received.

Termination benefits are recognised immediately as an expense when the charity is demonstrably committed to terminate the employment of an employee or to provide termination benefits.

2 Critical accounting estimates and judgements

In the application of the charity’s accounting policies, the Trustees are required to make judgements, estimates and assumptions about the carrying amount of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. The estimates and associated assumptions are based on historical experience and other factors that are considered to be relevant. Actual results may differ from these estimates.

The estimates and underlying assumptions are reviewed on an ongoing basis. Revisions to accounting estimates are recognised in the period in which the estimate is revised where the revision affects only that period, or in the period of the revision and future periods where the revision affects both current and future periods.

READ - THE READING AGENCY

NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

3 Donations and legacies

Unrestricted
Restricted
funds
funds
£
£
Donations and gifts
11,742
10,000
Grants receivable for core activities
484,141
-
495,883
10,000
For the year ended 31 March 2021
1,304,780
142,000
Grants receivable for core activities
Arts Council England (Revenue Grant)
484,141
-
Arts Council England (Covid-19 Emergency Fund)
-
-
Arts Council England (Culture Recovery Fund)
-
-
HMRC (Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme Grant)
-
-
484,141
-		 Total
2022
£
21,742
484,141
505,883
484,141
-
-
-
484,141		 Total
2021
£
288,928
1,157,852
1,446,780
1,446,780
484,141
92,250
450,000
131,461
1,157,852

READ - THE READING AGENCY

NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

4 Charitable activities

Sales within charitable activities
Performance related grants
Analysis by fund
Unrestricted funds
Restricted funds
For the year ended 31 March 2021
Unrestricted funds
Restricted funds		 Life Skills &
Learning		 Health &
Wellbeing
Connected
Communities
£
£
69,088
278,205
701,928
122,500
771,016
400,705
69,088
278,205
701,928
122,500
771,016
400,705
23,268
411,209
2,926,000
1,000,000
2,949,268
1,411,209		 Total
2022
£
1,361,513
1,106,784
2,468,297
1,361,513
1,106,784
2,468,297		 Total
2021
£
707,593
4,342,708
£
1,014,220
282,356
1,296,576
1,014,220
282,356
1,296,576
273,116
416,708
689,824		 £
69,088
701,928
771,016
69,088
701,928
771,016
23,268
2,926,000
2,949,268
5,050,301
707,593
4,342,708
5,050,301

READ - THE READING AGENCY

NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

4 Charitable activities

Charitable activities
Performance related grants
Arts Council England (Grants for the
Arts)
Arts Council National Lottery Project
Grant
Beatrice Laing Trust
Bromley Trust
Charity of Sir Richard Whittington
Cyngor Llyfrau Cymru - Books
Council of Wales
Department of Culture, Media and
Sport
Gisela Graham Trust
Goldsmiths
Hobson Charity
Kusuma Trust
Libraries Connected
Open University
Pearson
Sigrid Rausing Trust
Science & Technology Facilities
Council
Society of Chief Librarians (Wales)
Welsh Government		 Health &
Wellbeing
Connected
Communities
£
£
-
92,500
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
30,000
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
60,000
-
-
-
-
-
25,000
-
-
-
250,000
-
366,928
-
701,928
122,500		 (Continued)
Total
Total
2022
2021
£
£
208,264
85,184
-
144,705
-
5,000
-
25,000
75,000
-
12,963
9,904
30,000
3,500,000
-
1,000
20,000
-
-
(345)
-
10,000
60,000
60,000
-
4,000
-
3,000
25,000
-
58,629
91,259
250,000
38,000
366,928
366,000
1,106,784
4,342,708
Life Skills &
Learning
£
115,764
-
-
-
75,000
12,963
-
-
20,000
-
-
-
-
-
-
58,629
-
-
282,356		 £
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
60,000
-
-
25,000
-
250,000
366,928
701,928

READ - THE READING AGENCY

NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

5 Other income

Unrestricted Unrestricted
funds funds
2022 2021
£ £
Royalties 61 64
6 Investments
Unrestricted Unrestricted
funds funds
2022 2021
£ £
Interest receivable 134 289

7 Raising funds

Unrestricted
Restricted
funds
funds
£
£
Fundraising and publicity
Staff costs
68,066
-
Other fundraising costs
-
-
Share of support costs (see note 9)
27,090
-
95,156
-		 Total
2022
£
68,066
-
27,090
95,156		 Total
2021
£
64,761
17,970
23,200
105,931

READ - THE READING AGENCY

NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

8 Charitable activities

Staff costs
Programme materials including
distribution
Website development
Activities, events and other
operational costs
Share of support costs (see note 9)
Share of governance costs (see note
9)
Analysis by fund
Unrestricted funds
Restricted funds
For the year ended 31 March 2021
Unrestricted funds
Restricted funds		 Life Skills &
Learning		 Health &
Wellbeing
Connected
Communities
£
£
260,355
266,670
113,687
19,867
43,109
3,732
58,967
29,753
476,118
320,022
89,377
57,068
8,575
13,220
574,070
390,310
148,317
338,529
425,753
51,781
574,070
390,310
51,093
548,681
2,767,090
1,360,197
2,818,183
1,908,878		 Total
2022
£
1,001,929
890,060
77,602
324,761
2,294,352
398,390
35,730
2,728,472
1,733,695
994,777
2,728,472
Total
2021
£
806,977
3,253,374
104,616
1,211,025
5,375,992
668,302
20,907
6,065,201
1,621,823
4,443,378
6,065,201
£
474,904
756,506
30,761
236,041
1,498,212
251,945
13,935
1,764,092
1,246,849
517,243
1,764,092
1,022,049
316,091
1,338,140		 £
260,355
113,687
43,109
58,967
476,118
89,377
8,575
574,070
148,317
425,753
574,070
51,093
2,767,090
2,818,183

READ - THE READING AGENCY

NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS (CONTINUED)

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

9 Support costs

Staff costs
Depreciation
Premises costs
Communications and PR
Irrecoverable VAT
Office and other support
costs
Audit fees
Accountancy
Legal and professional
Analysed between:
Fundraising
Charitable activities		 Support Governance
costs
costs
£
£
201,347
15,945
5,381
-
31,779
-
68,847
-
24,853
-
93,273
-
-
5,600
-
1,695
-
12,490
425,480
35,730
27,090
-
398,390
35,730
425,480
35,730		 Total
2022
£
217,292
5,381
31,779
68,847
24,853
93,273
5,600
1,695
12,490
461,210
27,090
434,120
461,210		 Total Basis of allocation
2021
£
368,593
Time on activities
9,320
Time on activities
104,301
Time on activities
20,893
Time on activities
41,722
Time on activities
153,173
Time on activities
5,550 Governance
2,510 Governance
6,347 Governance
712,409
23,200
689,209
712,409

10 Net income

Net income 2022 2021
£ £
Net income is stated after charging/(crediting):
Depreciation of owned tangible fixed assets 5,252 9,320
Loss on disposal of tangible fixed assets 129 -
Operating lease charges 24,659 104,265

11 Trustees

None of the Trustees (or any persons connected with them) received any remuneration or benefits from the charity during the year.

During the year, expenses of £80 were reimbursed to Matthew Littleford (2021: Matthew Littleford £40).

READ - THE READING AGENCY

NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

12 Auditors' remuneration

The analysis of auditor's remuneration is as follows:
Fees payable to the company's auditor for the audit of the company's annual
accounts
Other assurance services
All other non-audit services
Total non-audit fees		 2022
£
5,600
700
995
1,695		 2021
£
5,550
-
2,510
2,510

READ - THE READING AGENCY

NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

13 Employees

Number of employees

The average monthly number of employees during the year was:

Voluntary income generation
Life Skills & Learning
Health & Wellbeing
Connected Communities
Governance
Employment costs
Wages and salaries
Other staff costs
Social security costs
Other pension costs		 2022
Number
2
8
5
7
2
24
2022
£
909,438
241,591
90,813
45,445
1,287,287		 2021
Number
2
7
6
8
2
25
2021
£
933,001
183,828
80,688
42,814
1,240,331
The number of employees whose annual remuneration was £60,000 or
more were:
2022 2021
Number Number
Between £60,000 and £70,000 1 1
Between £70,000 and £80,000 - 1
Between £80,000 and £90,000 1 1
Between £90,000 and £100,000 1 -

Contributions totalling £11,988 (2021: £11,688) were made to defined contribution pension schemes on behalf of employees whose emoluments exceed £60,000.

READ - THE READING AGENCY

NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS (CONTINUED)

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

14 Tangible fixed assets
Computer and office equipment
£
Cost
At 1 April 2021 35,215
Additions 13,410
Disposals (17,294)
At 31 March 2022 31,331
Depreciation and impairment
At 1 April 2021 28,683
Depreciation charged in the year 5,252
Eliminated in respect of disposals (17,165)
At 31 March 2022 16,770
Carrying amount
At 31 March 2022 14,561
At 31 March 2021 6,532
15 Debtors
2022 2021
Amounts falling due within one year: £ £
Trade debtors 398,295 281,853
Other debtors 1,000 1,000
Prepayments and accrued income 820,129 960,801
1,219,424 1,243,654
16 Creditors: amounts falling due within one year
2022 2021
Notes £ £
Other taxation and social security 118,340 75,691
Deferred income 17 696,605 515,148
Trade creditors 232,620 271,739
Accruals and deferred income 213,824 432,142
1,261,389 1,294,720

READ - THE READING AGENCY

NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

17 Deferred income

Deferred income
Other
deferred
income
£
At 1 April 2021 515,148
Released in year (515,148)
Deferred in year 696,605
At 31 March 2022 696,605

The deferred income relates to income for projects taking place in the next period where the charity is not yet entitled to the use of the resources.

The amounts deferred at the year end are as follows:

Summer Reading Challenge 2022
Donations
Fees
Subscriptions		 £
547,425
27,384
100,171
21,625
696,605

18 Retirement benefit schemes

Defined contribution schemes

The charity operates a defined contribution pension scheme for all qualifying employees. The assets of the scheme are held separately from those of the charity in an independently administered fund.

The charge to expenditure in respect of defined contribution schemes was £45,445 (2021: £42,814).

Contributions of £7,271 (2021: £6,607) were payable to defined contribution schemes at the year end.

READ - THE READING AGENCY

NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

19 Restricted funds

The income funds of the charity include restricted funds comprising the following unexpended balances of donations and grants held on trust for specific purposes:

Movement in funds
Balance at 1 Incoming Resources Balance at 31
April 2021 resources expended March 2022
£ £ £ £
Arts Council England: Grants for the Arts 85,184 - (68,081) 17,103
Arts Council England: Grants for the Arts - 92,500 (19,405) 73,095
Arts Council England 88,485 115,764 (129,411) 74,838
Beartrice Laing Trust 5,000 - (466) 4,534
Bromley Trust 24,640 - (9,955) 14,685
Charity of Sir Richard Whittington 122,756 75,000 (164,124) 33,632
Cyngor Llyfrau Cymru - Books Council of Wales - 12,963 (12,963) -
Department of Culture, Media and Sport 103,709 30,000 (133,709) -
Goldsmiths - 20,000 (15,484) 4,516
Libraries Connected 55,200 60,000 (66,811) 48,389
National Lottery Fund 2,376 - (2,376) -
Pearson - 10,000 (10,000) -
Science & Technology Facilities Council 22,873 58,629 (26,980) 54,522
Sigrid Rausing Trust - 25,000 - 25,000
Society of Chief Librarians (Wales) - 250,000 (250,000) -
Welsh Government - 366,928 (5,233) 361,695
Jojo Moyes 141,680 - (79,779) 61,901
Other donations 10,000 - - 10,000
661,903 1,116,784 (994,777) 783,910

Arts Council England: Grants for the Arts (SRC Impact Review)

ACE originally awarded this grant to allow us to commission an external evaluation to explore the impact of participation in the SRC on children's reading skills, attitudes and engagement. Due to the pandemic, it was not possible to complete this work and we have now agreed to refocus the work around a new integrated local authority pilot.

Arts Council England: Grants for the Arts (Big Jubilee Read)

The Reading Agency in partnership with BBC Arts is delivering a reading for pleasure campaign celebrating great reads from celebrated authors from across the Commonwealth to coincide with Her Majesty The Queen's Platinum Jubilee.

Arts Council England and The Science & Technology Facilities Council (Reading Sparks)

This funding is a contribution to the Reading Sparks science engagement project which is testing new approaches to raise the participation in science by working collaboratively with young people in disadvantaged communities to explore how creative reading and library-based activities can engage new audiences. Pilot library services, in 11 sites across England with low science capital and cultural engagement, are recruiting young people to programme science-related events and activities inspired by creative reading to engage children and families living in these areas.

READ - THE READING AGENCY

NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

19 Restricted funds

(Continued)

The Beatrice Laing Trust: Reading Ahead in Women's Prisons

This grant was to intended to contribute to our use of Reading Ahead with women in prison across the UK, enabling us to support prison library and education staff to deliver the programme effectively in this important part of the prison estate. Due to the pandemic, it has not yet been possible to carry out all the work and so the grant will be fully utlisised during the 2022/2023 year.

The Bromley Trust: Reading Ahead in Prisons

Funding from the Bromley Trust contributes to our work using Reading Ahead with priority groups in prisons and young offender institutions across the UK where it helps to support skills development in preparation for release and employment and will allow us to carry out detailed evaluation of this work. After a hiatus in the work due to the pandemic, this work has now been resumed.

Charity of Sir Richard Whittington: Get Islington Reading

The start of this programme was delayed due to Covid restrictions. Get Islington Reading is now being delivered in partnership with the National Literacy Trust and will focus on an integrated schools/library campaign to build a reading community for children living in disadvantaged communities. It aims to inspire young people across the borough to develop and sustain a love of reading by connecting schools and public libraries through a suite of reading for pleasure opportunities underpinned by a powerful new campaign focusing on the critical transition between primary and secondary school.

Cyngor Llyfrau Cymru - Books Council of Wales: Support for production of Welsh language materials for SRC

We received a grant of £9,904 from the Welsh Books Council as a contribution towards the cost of producing bilingual materials to enable the Summer Reading Challenge to run in Wales.

Department of Culture, Media and Sport: Read, Talk, Share Campaign

In December 2020 DCMS awarded The Reading Agency £3.5 million to roll-out two programmes - Reading Friends and Reading Well - during the financial year 2020-2021. A small residual balance remained at 31 March 2021 and has been spent in the 2021-2022 financial year.

Goldsmiths

This is a donation in support of Teachers’ Reading Challenge.

Libraries Connected: Reading Well

In 2020/21 Libraries Connected, with a grant from Arts Council England, funded The Reading Agency for the continued delivery of the Reading Well scheme and the management of the national strategic library health group. Through this leadership, The Reading Agency delivered a universal library strategy and infographic for social prescribing, updated staff training for Reading Well and a book collection to support children to stay safe, calm and connected during the COVID-19 pandemic. Part of this funding will also be used to develop a national library bereavement strategy.

National Lottery Fund: Accelerating Ideas (Reading Friends)

Reading Friends was awarded £2.1 million in 2016 for the programme over four years. When Covid struck, the programme adapted its model to telephone and virtual models and new projects came on board to test out these models during spring 2020. In summer 2020 the Lottery kindly agreed to a 6 months’ extension. The funding was due to be spent by September 2020, but an end date of 31 March 2021 was agreed to accommodate for the uncertainty caused by the pandemic. The remaining funding was largely spent on website development, evaluation for the Covid phase and final reporting to the Lottery, resource creation, adaption of training materials, re-printing of incentives and translation.

Pearson: Summer Reading Challenge and Teachers' Reading Challenge

Donations made to both programmes.

READ - THE READING AGENCY

NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

19 Restricted funds

(Continued)

Sigrid Rausing Trust

This is a donation in support of our Reading Well programme and activity with young people.

Society of Chief Librarians (Wales): Winter of Wellbeing

Public libraries in Wales are working with The Reading Agency to showcase the proven power of reading when it comes to tackling life’s big challenges. The Winter of Wellbeing is part of the Welsh Government’s big picture thinking which aims to connect children and young people to each other and their community in a myriad of creative ways with the goal of helping everyone overcome current challenges.

Welsh Government: Reading Well in Wales

In 2021/22 Welsh Government funded The Reading Agency to continue the roll out of Reading Well to all Welsh public library authorities including the Reading Well for Children scheme. All Welsh library authorities are being provided with two collections of the booklist in English and Welsh. We have worked with the Books Council of Wales to publish these booklists, together with supporting materials. Leaflets have also been provided to every health board in Wales. The scheme supports people to access an accredited reading list of helpful books to support their mental health and wellbeing, available free from local libraries.

Jojo Moyes: Quick Reads

The final donation from Jojo Moyes to support the commissioning, editing and promotion of six Quick Reads books was received in the 2020-2021 financial year. Quick Reads provide a route into reading that prioritises great storytelling and adult-focused content while ensuring the books are written in an easy-toread style. Each year, The Reading Agency works with authors and publishers to produce six new titles, with the aim of introducing readers to new authors and genres, as well as to the benefits of reading. The titles are designed to be engaging, accessibly written and affordably priced. The balance of this donation will be utilised during the 2022-2023 financial year.

Other donations

The Reading Agency would like to express its gratitude to the members of the public who supported our work through their generous personal donations.

20 Analysis of net assets between funds

Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
funds
£
£
Fund balances at 31 March 2022 are represented by:
Tangible assets
14,561
-
Current assets/(liabilities)
1,083,192
783,910
1,097,753
783,910		 Total
£
14,561
1,867,102
1,881,663

READ - THE READING AGENCY

NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

21 Operating lease commitments

Lessee

The charity has entered into an operating lease agreement for the rental of its offices.

At the reporting end date the charity had outstanding commitments for future minimum lease payments under non-cancellable operating leases, which fall due as follows:

Within one year
Between two and five years		 2022
£
27,000
93,279
120,279		 2021
£
3,650
-
3,650

22 Related party transactions

Remuneration of key management personnel

Key management personnel have been identified as the Chief Executive Officer, the Commercial and Business Director and the Creative Director.

The remuneration of key management personnel is as follows:

2022 2021
£ £
Aggregate compensation 251,748 245,448

READ - THE READING AGENCY

NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS (CONTINUED)

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

22 Related party transactions

Transactions with related parties

During the year the charity entered into the following transactions with related parties:

Subnum Hariff-Khan, a trustee of the charity, was also Library and Information Manager for Oldham Libraries and Culture Lead for Greater Manchester Libraries. During the year, Greater Manchester and Oldham Libraries purchased goods to the value of £6,479 (2021: £14,019) from the charity and received grant funding of £426 (2020: £10,000) from the DCMS fund for Read, Talk, Share.

No other trustee or other person related to the charity had any personal interest in any contract or transaction entered into by the charity during the current or previous year.

No guarantees have been given or received.

23 Cash generated from operations

Cash generated from operations 2022 2021
£ £
Surplus for the year 150,747 326,302
Adjustments for:
Investment income recognised in statement of financial activities (134) (289)
Loss on disposal of tangible fixed assets 129 -
Depreciation and impairment of tangible fixed assets 5,252 9,320
Movements in working capital:
Decrease/(increase) in debtors 24,230 (489,709)
(Decrease)/increase in creditors (214,788) 289,232
Increase/(decrease) in deferred income 181,457 (7,831)
Cash generated from operations 146,893 127,025

24 Analysis of changes in net funds

The charity had no debt during the year.