## **TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT JAN - DEC 2023**
## **Progress and Accounts for the Charity**
**United Through Sport is a UK Registered Charity (number 1102107)**
## **Table of Contents**
## **1. Charity Details**
- 1.1. Charity Name and Contact Details
- 1.2. Charity Trustees for year ending 31[st] December 2023
- 1.3. Professional Advisors and Bankers
**2. Charity Objectives and Governance**
- 2.1. Charity Vision and Objectives
- 2.2. Management and Governance
- 2.3. Funding Policy
**3. Charity Achievements and Performance**
- 3.1. Achievements for 2023
- 3.2. United Through Sport Beneficiaries
## **4. Financial Review**
- 4.1. Financial Policy
- 4.2. Statement of Trustees' Responsibilities
**5. Independent Examiner’s Report**
- 5.1. Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner
- 5.2. Basis of the independent examiner’s report
- 5.3. Independent examiner’s statement
**6. Financial Activities for Year Ending 31st December 2023**
- 6.1. Receipts and Payments
- 6.2. Statement of Assets and Liabilities
## **1. Charity Details**
## _**1.1. Charity Name and Contact Details**_
## **Charity Name:**
United Through Sport
## **Registered Charity Number:**
1102107
## **Correspondence Address:**
Hamilton House, 80 Stokes Croft, Bristol, BS1 3QY, United Kingdom.
## _**1.2. Charity Trustees for year ending 31[st] December 2023**_
## **Mr David Burton (Chair) Mrs Amy Whiting Mr Ben Spier**
## _**1.3. Professional Advisors and Bankers**_
## **Bankers:**
CAF Bank, 25 Kings Hill Avenue, Kings Hill, West Malling, Kent, ME19 4JQ.
## **Independent Examiner:**
Egle Vainauskyte
## **2. Charity Objectives and Governance**
## _**2.1. Charity Vision and Objectives**_
United Through Sport is a sports development charity operating on an international basis to support individual and community development in deprived regions throughout the world. The charity works with a reliable and accountable network of vetted grassroots charities and not-for-profit organisations located in specific target countries, through which sponsored programmes are run and managed. United Through Sport works in partnership with these organisations to raise awareness and funds as well as advising on project direction and policy.
The Vision of United Through Sport, as ratified by the charity trustees is as follows:
1. To bring people together to play sport, have fun, build friendships and advance community development.
2. To develop people to their full potential in:
- Sport
- Education
- Health
3. Use sport as a tool for development – through it’s direct benefits, by developing life-skills and addressing critical issues
All projects funded by United Through Sport must fulfil this Vision. The target countries for United Through Sport during the year were South Africa, Argentina and St Lucia.
## _**2.2. Management and Governance**_
Trustees are elected by the majority vote of the existing trustee body. Additional trustees are introduced to the charity provided it is considered that they bring significant benefit to the organisation through their specific skills and their dedication to the United Through Sport Vision. There is no official limit on trustee numbers, but the body is not expected to rise above three members at present.
The chair of trustees is responsible for the induction of any new trustee which involves awareness of a trustee’s responsibilities, the governing document, administrative procedures, and the Vision of the charity.
The trustees annually review the risks that the charity faces. The friends and members of the charity are currently protected through employers liability and public liability insurance. In addition, the charity works with a trusted network of registered charitable organisations overseas to avoid the risk of irresponsible, fraudulent or criminal use of funds.
## _**2.3. Funding Policy**_
During the course of 2023, funds were distributed at the point of need. All beneficiary payments were reviewed and approved by unanimous trustee vote.
Funds are allocated in response to requests from trusted organisations responsible for projects in the target countries. Each request must be accompanied by an outline proposal which identifies the cost, benefit and sustainability of the projects requiring funding.
## **3. Charity Achievements and Performance**
## _**3.1. Achievements for 2023**_
We continue to maintain a good impact in the communities of Port Elizabeth, South Africa, with guidance provided to satellite units in St Lucia, Argentina and the introduction of Ghana and Mauritius. These two new countries are financially independent until such a time the global board agrees to support capital growth or ongoing needs. However, they are using the charity name, and other resources to leverage good will in the countries they operate in order to make their divisions sustainable. This is a positive step in delivering our values into more communities that can benefit from it.
## **2023 income: £119,883**
Below is a summary of progress in each programme country.
**----- Start of picture text -----**
South Africa
**----- End of picture text -----**
United Through Sport Trustees, Report
Empowefing Cnilthien Ana On Their
PATHWAY TO SUCCESS
EARIY INSPIRATION
5-9 yèa18
PIIIWts AOOLESCENCE
10-Id y•ors
FWURE GENERATION
13-19 v•ari
YOUTH RISING
18-35 y•ar&
2838
7.
OUG
4TH
809
63
52
139
A TWELVE-YEAR
JOURNEY
to becoming Dr. 6ionwyn Whlta
potlunlly. all•YtlNg m• to aM•nd a
"UNITE
$poW OAYI MI
'AVCH AII AMAZINO
Y>PPQRIVNITY...
¥ADE ME
AYI CAPA
IE
01 IOLIOWIN13
MY DKAMS AND
•ICOMINO A
MIDICAL DOCTOR.
iorbwyh Whll•
rupubi• yl loiluvlng
Q UTrIt Through Sport
I RWIJ ReBBed
United Through Sport Trustees, Report
LEAf2N TO
MOVE
Ip klow•
2.555
Q85%
READ TO
LEAD
385
fr88°
ij,
AMITY
6.374
Q UTrIt Through Sport
I RWIJ ReBBed
United Through Sport Trustees, Report
KEEP
ACTIVE
8,807
55e4&J
PAVIICIPAMTJ
lu •¢
•ioo%
87/
GIRLS
UNITE
63
tioo%
CONFIDirici
tioo%
Qioo%
Q UTrIt Through Sport
I RWIJ ReBBed
United Through Sport Trustees, Report
BOYS
UNITE
52
i fjiooy.
SCHOOL OF
EXCELLENCE
93
24
*¥PIMTS AWAID¢D
ill
98%
IATE
tioo%
Q UTrIt Through Sport
I RWIJ ReBBed
United Through Sport Trustees, Report
YOUTH
RISING
294
ylwT1TrPCT
64/
IldAU YQUt
159
125
30
VQUThQ*MID
United Through Sport.
IMPACT IN
PARTNER SCHOOLS
Q UTrIt Through Sport
I RWIJ ReBBed
United Through Sport Trustees, Report
CHAf21TY
GALA
102) Ci
1117 r
VISION 2024,
AND BEYOND
lod•l palli11 1£•. W•
Jb
32SM*
Q UTrIt Through Sport
I RWIJ ReBBed
**----- Start of picture text -----**
***
**----- End of picture text -----**
## **St Lucia**
2023 has been a transformative year for United Through Sport Caribbean as we continue to empower children and young athletes across the region through sports, education, and health initiatives. This year, we achieved remarkable growth and launched new programs that have furthered our impact, particularly in underserved communities. Notably, our Learn to Swim Programme has expanded to reach more children than ever, and we proudly opened our first free physiotherapy clinic in Saint Lucia, enhancing the support we provide to our partner athletes.
## **2023 Key Achievements**
## **1. Learn to Swim Programme Expansion**
Our Learn to Swim Programme has seen tremendous growth in 2023, becoming one of our most impactful initiatives.
- **Weekly Open-Water Lessons in Anse la Raye and Canaries** : This year, we expanded our Learn to Swim Programme to offer weekly lessons in the coastal communities of Anse la Raye and Canaries. These areas are at high risk for water-related accidents, and we recognize the urgent need to teach children essential water safety and swimming skills.
- **Record Participation During Summer:** At its height, during the summer holidays, we provided open-water swim lessons to an astounding 500 children per week. This massive turnout reflects the community's trust in the programme and the children's enthusiasm for learning a life-saving skill.
- **Increased Impact:** The programme has not only taught children how to swim but also promoted awareness of water safety and built confidence among participants. By ensuring regular access to qualified swim instructors, we are creating a safer environment for children and their families in these coastal communities.
- **Community Engagement:** The success of the programme is due, in large part, to the strong relationships we have built with local leaders, parents, and volunteers. Their support has been invaluable in creating a positive, safe, and sustainable learning environment.
## **2. Opening of Free Physiotherapy Clinic in Saint Lucia**
2023 marked the exciting launch of our free physiotherapy clinic in Saint Lucia, an essential service designed to support the health and performance of our partner athletes and sports clubs.
- **Partnership with Student Physiotherapists:** Our clinic is staffed by 12 student physiotherapists who, under the guidance of our Physiotherapy Coordinator, have provided free treatment and rehabilitation services to athletes from our partner sports clubs. This has filled a critical gap in healthcare for young athletes who often lack access to professional physiotherapy services.
- **Comprehensive Services:** In addition to injury treatment, our physiotherapy clinic works proactively with sports clubs to conduct injury prevention screenings. These screenings aim to identify potential risk factors early, helping to prevent injuries and improve overall athletic performance.
- **Community Impact:** The opening of the physiotherapy clinic has been widely praised by athletes, coaches, and parents alike. For many of our athletes, this is the first time they have had access to professional physical therapy services, allowing them to recover from injuries faster and perform at their best.
- **Hands-On Experience for Students:** The clinic has also provided an excellent training ground for the 12 student physiotherapists, giving them hands-on experience in injury diagnosis, rehabilitation, and athlete care, under the mentorship of experienced professionals.
## **3. Ongoing Sports Coaching and Youth Development**
Beyond the Learn to Swim Programme and our physiotherapy clinic, United Through Sport Caribbean has continued to run our regular sports coaching and youth development programmes in various disciplines including football, netball, and athletics.
- **Football:** Our football clinics continued to engage over 300 children in both rural and urban areas, focusing on developing technical skills, teamwork, and sportsmanship. Regular competitions and friendly matches were organised to give participants a chance to showcase their skills.
- **Netball:** Netball has also seen increased participation, with more girls joining the sport and excelling in regional tournaments. Our focus has been on creating inclusive environments where all young people can thrive regardless of their background or skill level.
- **Holistic Development:** In addition to sports training, we continued to emphasise education and life skills development. Many of our participants benefited from academic tutoring, mentorship, and life coaching sessions aimed at fostering personal growth and resilience.
## **Challenges and Opportunities**
While 2023 has been a year of growth, it has also highlighted some of the challenges we face in scaling our programmes. The rapid increase in demand for our services—particularly in the Learn to Swim Programme and the physiotherapy clinic—has placed a strain on our resources. We are committed to addressing these challenges by strengthening partnerships with local and international donors and increasing our pool of volunteers and staff.
At the same time, these challenges present exciting opportunities for further expansion. With the success of our Learn to Swim Programme, we aim to introduce similar initiatives in other coastal areas. Additionally, the positive response to our physiotherapy clinic has opened the door to potentially offering more healthcare services in the future.
## **Looking Ahead to 2024**
As we look to 2024, our focus will be on sustaining and expanding our existing programmes while launching new initiatives to broaden our impact. Key goals for the coming year include:
- Expanding the Learn to Swim Programme to additional communities along Saint Lucia's coastline.
- Increasing the capacity of our physiotherapy clinic and enhancing its services to support more athletes and sports clubs.
- Introducing new sports development programmes such as cricket and volleyball.
- Strengthening our educational and mentorship programmes to ensure that all participants receive holistic support.
## **Acknowledgements**
None of our achievements in 2023 would have been possible without the generous support of our partners, donors, volunteers, and staff. We extend our heartfelt gratitude to everyone who has
contributed to our mission. Your commitment and passion have allowed us to make a real difference in the lives of children and young athletes across Saint Lucia and beyond.
## **Conclusion**
2023 has been a remarkable year for United Through Sport Caribbean, with significant milestones achieved in both our sports and healthcare initiatives. The growth of our Learn to Swim Programme and the opening of our physiotherapy clinic are just two examples of the meaningful impact we are having in the communities we serve. As we look to the future, we are excited to continue building on this foundation and reaching even more children and young athletes in the Caribbean.
Thank you for being part of this incredible journey.
## *******
## **Argentina**
Argentina has developed different activities throughout 2023 to keep promoting sport and non-sport projects in vulnerable communities located in the area of Buenos Aires.
We started the year in full speed by continuing with the Matanza programme based on the funds we received from the **UEFA Foundation** . We managed to welcome three new primary schools so we can include 500 more participants who can benefit from the sport coaching sessions.
Through the month of March we continued to deliver sessions in 5 schools in La Matanza with an average of three times a week sessions of 1.5 hour divided in life skill sessions -looking to cover topics such as leadership, team-work and communication and sport coaching sessions focusing mainly on football.
As result, this brought the attention in the community and we are now having conversations with other municipalities in the area to be able to increase the number of participants in Greater Buenos Aires.
We are looking to add 5 more schools and purchase an additional minibus so it will help us reach a bigger audience.
In the meantime, we continue with our work at Barracas (in the south area of the city of Buenos Aires), with sports and non-sports programmes. We are working closely with our partners of the catholic church who are endlessly working towards the improvement of the community living conditions. During 2023 we reached 1,500 with our work throughout the various programmes - community healthcare, teaching English, life skills and sport sessions and the childcare project.
Likewise, 3 new members joined the team to increase the impact in the community. Thus, 4 new nurses joined the team to help international volunteers carry out daily actions at the community healthcare project, one new member joined the coordination of the childcare project and we added a new PE teacher at the sport project in Barracas and Matanza.
From November 2023, we again organised our own Summer Camp. In the past, we used to join forces with the city government to share responsibilities and fundings in the development of the summer camp, but since we were looking to work closely with the Barracas community and thanks to the funds granted by the UEFA Foundation we were able to run our own project. The goal of the summer camp is to deliver life skills and sport coaching sessions to kids aged 8 -15 in the area of Barracas with the aim of recruiting more kids who will be joining our year round sessions after the summer camp finishes.
Finally, UTS Argentina has hosted 160 volunteers in the year 2023 who worked in various projects and helped to reach 2,200 kids and adults through our sport sessions and community healthcare outreach. With the inclusion of other communities we are looking to raise the number of beneficiaries of our programmes.
## **4. Financial Review**
## _**4.1 Financial Policy**_
For 2023, United Through Sport has taken a low-risk policy to investment and had no liabilities to address at the close of the year.
The charity has a reserves policy to ensure that unreserved cash balances do not fall below £10,000 at any time. This policy will remain in 2023..
At present the charity only supplies payments to beneficiaries for initiatives which are sustainable without a guarantee of future support from United Through Sport. The charity therefore has no fixed future financial commitments to beneficiaries and will offer support on a case-by-case basis until further notice. This implies that the charity’s reserves policy is dictated only by operational expenditure and not by future commitments to beneficiaries.
The charity has a target of distributing 75% of total income to beneficiary projects in country, with 25% retained for UK administration.
## _**4.2 Statement of Trustees' Responsibilities**_
Charity law requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which show a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and its financial activities for that period. In preparing those financial statements, the trustees are required to:
- select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
- make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
- state whether applicable accounting standards and statements of recommended practice have been followed, subject to any departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements; and
- prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in operational existence.
The trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and to enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charities Act 1993. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
Signed on Behalf of the Trustees by David Burton.
**Signed:**
**Date: Oct 2024**
## **5. Independent Examiner’s Report**
I report on the accounts of the charity for the year ended 31[st] December 2023, which are set out in Section 6.
## _**5.1 Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner**_
The charity’s trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year (under section 43(2) of the Charities Act 1993 (the Act)) and that an independent examination is needed.
It is my responsibility to:
- examine the accounts (under section 43 of the Act);
- to follow the procedures laid down in the General Directions given by the Charity Commission (under section 43(7)(b) of the Act); and
- to state whether particular matters have come to my attention.
## _**5.2 Basis of the independent examiner’s report**_
My examination was carried out in accordance with the General Directions given by the Charity Commissioners. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeking explanations from you as trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently I do not express an audit opinion on the view given by the accounts.
## _**5.3 Independent examiner’s statement**_
In the course of my examination, no matter has come to my attention:
(1) which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in, any material respect, the trustees have not met the requirements to ensure that:
- proper accounting records are kept (in accordance with section 41 of the 1993 Act); and
- ● accounts are prepared which agree with the accounting records and comply with the accounting requirements of the Act; or
(2) to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
**Signed:**
**Date: Oct 2023**
## **6. Financial Activities for Year Ending 31st Dec 2023**
## _**6.1 Receipts and Payments**_
||**Unrestricte**
**d Funds**
**£**
**Restricted**
**Funds**
**£**
**Total Funds**
**2023**
**£**
**Total**
**Funds**
**2022**
**£**|
|---|---|
|**RECEIPTS**||
|General Income|7,894
107,629
115,523
160,115|
|JustGiving, VMG & Total Giving Income|302
2,074
2,376
-|
|
Sales|1,735
-
1,735
5,393|
|Bank Interest|-
249
249
98|
|**Total Receipts**|**9,931**
**109,952**
**119,883**
**165,606**|
|||
|**PAYMENTS**||
|Beneficiary Payments|11,293
86,181
97,475
98,213|
|
Sales Costs|-
5,000
5,000
-|
|Fees deducted from Income|82
383
465
373|
|Marketing and Event Costs|2,027
-
2,027
1,578|
|
Personnel Costs|-
23,506
23,506
8,928|
|IT Costs (inc JustGiving)|216
-
216
-|
|
Administration Costs|686
3,199
3,885
1,955|
|Gift Aid Repayment|-
-
-
-|
|
**Total Payments**|**14,304**
**118,269**
**132,573**
**111,046**|
|||
|**LOAN RECEIVED FROM UTS SOUTH**
**AFRICA**||
|Loan Received|-
-
-
80,000|
|Loan Repayments|-
(26,667)
(26,667)
(2,222)|
|||
|||
|||
|**NETSURPLUS**||
|Net of Receipts / Payments|(4,373)
(34,984)
13,977
132,337|
|
Transfer|-
-
0
0|
|Cash Funds Last Year End|43,362
106,268
149,631
17,293|
|**Cash Funds This Year End**|**38,990**
**71,284**
**110,274**
**149,631**|
## _**6.2 Statement of Assets and Liabilities**_
||**Unrestricted**
**Funds**
**£**
**Restricted**
**Funds**
**£**
**Total Funds**
**2023**
**£**|
|---|---|
|**ASSETS**||
|Cash at Bank|38,990
71,284
110,274|
|**Total Cash Funds**|**38,990**
**71,284**
**110,274**|
|||
|**LIABILITIES**||
|Loan from UTS South Africa|-
51,111
51,111|
|**Total Liabilities**|**-**
**51,111**
**51,111**|