2021-03-31-accounts

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Sported
Foundation’s
Annual
Report
2021
Company Number: 6541137 | Charity number: 1123313 | SCO43161
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Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2021

3 Message from our chair 6 Our objectives What we do 6

Our activities 8 Plans for the future 30 Financial review 32

33 Structure, governance and management Reference and administrative information 35 37 Statement of responsibilities of the trustees Independent auditor’s report 38 Statement of financial activities 42 Balance sheet 43 Statement of cash flows 44 Notes to the financial statements 45

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2021

Message from our chair

The last year has proved beyond doubt the role that grassroots sports plays in holding communities together, whilst also shining a light on the financial fragility of this sector. As young people were unable to attend local community groups, so the negative effect on their physical and mental health became apparent. As with many aspects of the pandemic, the impact was not universal. Those in deprived areas and ethnically diverse communities were hit hardest and girls suffered more than boys.

Community group leaders were often at the forefront of services to support these young people. Aware of local needs, they were able to create safe online spaces and provide equipment to help young people be physically active at home, some even created food banks to support those at risk.

“We couldn’t have managed without Sported, to be honest. They have been there every step of the way.”*

With the UK’s largest network of ‘sport for development’ organisations, our longterm role in developing the resilience and sustainability of community groups, through supporting their workforce, was put to the test.

During the last year, we were able to engage with 89% of our membership, a 19% increase on the previous year. This help came in various forms, from a simple call to give moral support to the provision of services and benefits, to help group leaders strengthen and often save their organisation from closure. Thanks to the kind support of funders, we were able to give out grants to those most in need. During the year, we distributed £454,000 worth of funds from Sport England, Simplyhealth, LMCT, GLA, Barclays, Ronson, The Times Christmas Appeal and CVC - targeting those groups who may be overlooked by other channels.

“The support has been non-stop, much better than other statutory organisations. I find Sported much more relevant, and they really listen to grassroots organisations.”*

We benefitted hugely from the generosity of readers from The Times and The Sunday Times this year. Fortunate to be chosen as one of the beneficiaries of The Times Christmas Appeal, we received over £670,000 from individual donations. This funding, along with the excellent journalism which showcased the role of community sport and its impact on young people, was transformational for Sported.

Sported ran the sector’s largest insight project, cumulatively receiving over 900 survey responses. Further issues were explored through focus groups. This feedback, at different stages of the pandemic, meant we were able to maintain a strong understanding on what community sports groups needed – and used this to adapt, flex our offer and ensure policymakers were informed.

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2021

Message from our chair

“It’s THE most pro-active organisation I’ve come across.” **

As we recover and rebuild from Covid-19, we want to make sure that these local leaders, and others who have been affected by the pandemic, have access to the best possible support, from both Sported and the wider community sport system, to help their organisation to rebuild and to thrive. To that end the grassroots ‘workforce’ is at the core of our new 4-year strategy. We are committed to strengthening the local workforce and building the resilience of community sports groups across the UK.

Sport and physical activity have wide-ranging benefits for young people, communities, and society. Our new strategy identifies 3 priority areas - wellbeing, equality and community - these are hugely relevant and important within the current climate, and where we believe we have the expertise and experience to make the biggest difference.

“It’s the dedication in helping you when you need it. It’s a key point with Sported – nothing is ever too much.” *

Sported enters this next phase in a sound financial position. During the past 12 months, we have improved our cash flow and met our reserves policy. Our fundraising is focused and based on the desire for long-term relationships with strategic partners. Despite the societal and health challenges of the past year, we are in a strong position to expand our services over the next 4 years. We have a clear long-term strategy, bolstered financials, a stable, high-performing management team and an engaged board of trustees; we are looking forward to strengthening the community sport system and making a difference to more young lives.

Finally, on behalf of all at Sported, we would like to thank both Alan Pascoe and Richard Lewis, who have stepped down as trustees, for their invaluable contribution to the organisation.

We welcome Priya Nair and Kilian Toms, who we are very pleased to have on board.

Simon Cummins

*Impact of Covid-19 focus group participant, May 2020

**Impact of Covid-19 focus group participant, December 2020

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2021

Sporied Foundation i Year ei Ide 021

Our objectives

Reference and administrative information set out on page 35 forms part of this report. The financial statements comply with current statutory requirements, the memorandum and articles of association and the Statement of Recommended Practice - Accounting and Reporting by Charities: applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with FRS 102.

Our objectives

Sported’s governing documents, the memorandum and articles of association, set out its purposes:

To advance the education of children and young people through participation in sport to provide opportunities for them to develop their full capacities.

To provide and assist in providing facilities for sport, recreation or other leisure time occupation of such persons who have need of such facilities by reason of their youth, age, infirmity or disablement, poverty or social and economic circumstances (in particular children and young people) or for the benefit of the public at large in the interests of social welfare and with the object of improving their conditions of life.

To promote the health of the public (especially young people), in particular through the provision of sports facilities and sports coaching.

To promote community participation in healthy recreation by providing facilities for the playing of sports capable of improving health.

Such other exclusively charitable purposes as the trustees shall in their absolute discretion decide.

What we do

Sported is the UK’s largest network of ‘sport for good’ community groups. Our vision is for every young person to achieve their potential. We achieve this by supporting sustainable local provision of sport and physical activity. We help community groups to survive, to help young people thrive.

Our network comprises over 2,500 groups from across the UK which collectively support around 500,000 young people and offer nearly 100 sports and activities. 52% are run entirely by volunteers, and many rely on just two or three key people. 43% run on less than £10k per annum.

Sported membership and services are free. Our diverse network is open to groups which deliver physical activity as a vehicle to engage young people, and includes faith groups, youth groups and disability groups. Many are not affiliated to a sport governing body, operate outside other formal networks and often miss out on opportunities available to larger charities and traditional sports clubs. Sported fills that gap, providing information, guidance and advice and bringing groups together to ensure that they have the support they need to thrive. Support is provided by our staff team comprised of central and field staff, boosted by our 345 professionally skilled volunteer base. Members can also access comprehensive resources including ‘how-to’ guides, webinars, funding information and more, via our online Sported Hub.

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2021

Our objectives

When Covid-19 struck, Sported provided targeted information and help, notably with support for groups to start online delivery, to secure emergency funding, and with crisis business planning. Our engagement with groups increased from 70% to 89%. Covid continues to impact our groups - in April, 21% of groups had not reopened.

“It’s an indoor team sport for some of the most vulnerable in society. When we got close to reopening, we couldn’t get a venue”.

“We are a learning disability club… we cannot in essence follow the Covid-19 requirements to start”.

We will achieve our charitable objectives by strengthening and connecting the community ‘sport for good’ workforce and delivering targeted programmes of work.

How we do it

Support and strengthen groups in our network COLLABORATE Create strategic partnerships

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7
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Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2021

Our activities

Our Impact

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Reaching 52%
2,572 481,202 entirely
community volunteer led
young people
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43% have an income under £10k a year

90+ different sports and activities

46% work in the 30% most deprived areas of the UK

Our activities

Regional support & networking

We have a passionate, expert and on-the-ground delivery team located in all regions and nations of the UK. Our delivery team accounts for 56% of total headcount and enables us to deliver place-based solutions. Our local presence ensures our members can benefit from the personal support of someone who lives in and understands the local landscape and its challenges, as well as someone who can plug them into local support networks.

Volunteer support

The regional team and the network services team are supported by a network of skilled volunteers who have valuable professional skills and experience. Sported match these volunteers with Sported members in need of business expertise.

The support and guidance provided by our volunteers assist with both operational challenges such as fundraising and marketing to more strategic issues such as future planning and governance. Our volunteers support members either through:

A focused longer-term placement lasting on average 6 – 9 months.
A short “light touch” assignment lasting on average up to 6 hours.

Member services & benefits

All members can access a range of free services and benefits. These include webinars based on members’ needs, networking events to support members connecting with others, a variety of communications including newsletters and funding bulletins, alongside ‘how-to’ guides and access to legal advice and other money-saving offers. These services and benefits are run by our network services team.

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2021

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Our activities
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Grant distribution

We work with funding partners (Government, foundations and corporations) to distribute grants to those often overlooked in funding rounds. Identifying groups most in need has been a focus for us during the Covid-19 pandemic; we have been looking to get money to those needing to cover emergency costs and provide focused support to their young people. Where possible, we provide additional support to magnify the impact of grant distribution and that can come in the form of professional volunteers or focused support on ensuring long-term sustainability and impact, alongside grant giving.

Bespoke programmes & partnerships

Our programmes and partnerships provide members with tailored support to help them build their capacity, become more inclusive and tackle major societal problems. They bring together expert insight and knowledge from specialist partner organisations, with the support of Sported’s volunteers, to embed the learning into their day-to-day activities.

At the close of the 2020-21 year, we had 2,572 accepted members across the UK reaching approximately 480,000 young people aged between 11 and 25. 806 members accessed 1,658 support services from us, the remainder engaging via reading our communications, completing our consultations, and speaking to our team. We saw a huge increase in the number of members accessing webinars, the most popular focused on funding, fundraising and planning for the future. Our webinar programme branched out from more traditional subjects to provide support for members around how to engage with young people digitally and responding to the need to find ways to keep young people engaged during lockdown.

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2021

Our activities

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2021

During 2020-21, 120 members benefited from long-term support from a Sported volunteer and over 420 light touch support sessions were delivered. This amounts to over 4,400 hours of volunteer time - an incredible figure - which continues to demonstrate why our volunteer programme is so integral to the work that we do. 97% of members who completed the feedback on their light touch support reported that they were ‘satisfied’ or ‘very satisfied’ with the service they received.

Responding again to the needs of our members, we introduced new support around leadership coaching, specifically aimed at people leading a team of staff/ volunteers with the purpose of enabling them to become more effective leaders. This is being delivered by specialists within our volunteer team and has so far been accessed by 18 members.

Even without an objective to grow our volunteer team, we welcomed 48 new experienced professionals in 2020-21, bringing the total number of volunteers to 345 (including a number who are currently taking some time out). We continue to focus on growing the diversity of our volunteer team and ensuring that their skills match the ongoing needs of our members.

Sported’s Capacity Measurement Tool

In order to better understand our members’ needs, Sported has developed a comprehensive model of capacity, which identifies the key elements a community club or group should have in place to ensure sustainability.

In conjunction with the model, we have developed our ‘Game Plan’ and ‘Time Out’ surveys, which are completed by members before and after long-term mentor support. From the surveys a capacity score is calculated, for each area and overall.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, we have gained more clarity around the needs of our members than ever before. This was thanks to the data collected from the Community Pulse survey and being flexible as an organisation to alter our delivery plan to focus on what our members told us they needed. As a result of this, we engaged with an incredible 89% of our membership - 2,283 groups - and they reported an amazing satisfaction rate of 93% with the support that they received from Sported.

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2021

Our activities

Communuty Pulse

Phase 1 - initial challenges

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Biggest current challenges
70%
reported by members
60%
50%
Week 1-2
40% Week 3-4
Week 5-6
30%
20%
10%
0%
Maintaining Immediate
Retaining Retaining
the wellbeing financial
participants volunteers
of participants commitments
59%
57%
55%
53%
47%
45%
44%
41%
35%
19%
16%
10%
% of respondents who reported as big challenge
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Overall, biggest challenge is maintaining wellbeing of participants

Phase 2 – Priorities over next 6 – 12 months

[Size of box indicates strength of feeling for different support needs]

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No support needs
Fundraising
Funding
Connecting
with
participants
Emotional support
Partnerships
Improving
governance
Campaigning
Advice on Covid-19
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Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2021

Our activities

Jeorgina Soares, Triangoals said: “We can’t say ‘thank you’ enough for all the support you guys have been giving to small organisations, like Triangoals, and many many others in the community who don’t have the capacity to reach their full potential. Without your expertise, without your knowledge, without your skills, without your time, without your commitment, without your passion we would not be able to be where we are, here. Thank you for providing everything that you guys have been providing for us!”

Elizabeth Ferris, Founder and Chair of Dundee Dragons said: “It’s no exaggeration to say that becoming a Dragon has been life-changing for some of our members. I can think of multiple players who openly testify to the benefits the club brings to not only their physical, but mental health. Having the support of Sported has been huge for us. Gaining access to expertise in areas like business planning and strategic decision-making has been such a help. These are topics that are vital to the growth and sustainability of a charity like ours, but they’re not light reading! So, when Sported advised they could pair us with industry experts to help navigate those areas of charity governance, we were over the moon.”

Sebastian Glazer, Managing Director at the Vulcan Centre said: “I’m really proud of what we’re achieving here at Vulcan. It’s really an honour for me to see how sport is helping these young people change for the better and I’m in awe every day of the dedication they show. Having the backing of Sported has been incredible. As a small organisation, you’re often on your own, so being part of the Sported network has been a huge support. Thanks to Sported’s advice and support we’ve become quite successful at attracting funding, which will help us continue to grow as a centre and support even more young people.”

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2021

Ji rch 2021

Our activities

Our impact

Operations, partnerships and projects

This year, more than ever, our partnerships have proved critical in enabling us to support our network of community groups with their most urgent needs. Our Covid-19 Pulse survey of members provided a clear picture of their primary concerns which, with support from a range of new and existing partners, we were able to respond to in a timely and powerful manner.

As a result, during 2020/21, Sported directly channelled £453,656 of grant funding from a variety of funders, including Sport England, Simplyhealth, Barclays and CVC Capital Partners, to groups in areas of high deprivation and great need. These partners recognised our ability to reach community sports groups that were responding in amazing ways to the emerging and urgent needs during the pandemic, but who might otherwise have remained unfunded from emergency grant pots.

Additional core support for Sported’s Covid response was secured from The National Lottery Fund and continued for a further year by the Steve Morgan Foundation. Other funders including Sport England, City Bridge Trust, and Nike generously relaxed their grant requirements recognising the greater need to support Sported members’ survival.

Despite Covid, we continued to expand our work on inequalities with new and existing projects. In Scotland, Project 21 in Dundee established a new model to develop confidence and capacity amongst 8 groups, wishing to welcome and support young people with disabilities, to engage in sport and physical activity.

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2021

Our activities

Meanwhile, our partnership with Nike progressed the project ideas of 12 ethnically diverse ‘Future Leaders’ in London by supporting them with a range of personal, technical and organisational skills. Our London Marathon Charitable Trust project, Girls Unite, concluded having reached an amazing 400 groups with a mix of resources, training and small grants to benefit their work in encouraging girls to get or remain active.

Our Sporteducate II project, supported by the Gerald & Gail Ronson Foundation, delivered professional, tailored support on the issue of youth violence to 10 community organisations operating with young people at risk in North London. It has created resources available now for use by others across the network.

However, perhaps the most impactful of all partnerships in 2020/21 was Sported’s partnership with The Times and The Sunday Times, through their Christmas charity appeal. Thirteen Sported stories featured over the course of 6 weeks highlighting the work of community sports groups and the amazing impact they have had on the lives of local young people, in particular responding to the impact of the pandemic restrictions. The appeal generated more than £670k for Sported through readers’ donations, several foundations and major donor contributions. These included The Rind Foundation, Matthew Moulding Foundation, and The Black Heart Foundation, which ensured a significant proportion of readers’ donations were matched. Aside from reinforcing Sported’s own financial position, and creating a new 2,000 strong donor base, the appeal will enable Sported to reach 150 new members, develop new IT systems to better serve existing members and create a mental health focused programme, based on member feedback.

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2021

Our activities

Partnerships are key to creating greater impact through community sports

At Sported, we leverage our networks, insight and experience by partnering with organisations to strengthen community groups and create opportunities for some of the most marginalised and hard-to-reach young people in the UK.

Our partnerships include:

So what?

We provided 10 groups with 1:1 support from Sported volunteers, with 8 developing their Theory of Change frameworks.

Girls unite

We increased sustained participation in physical activity of over 4,500 women and girls by reducing barriers to participation in 380 groups across the UK.

Scottish FA

We supported 30 grassroots football teams through our Capacity Measurement Tool to show increases in community engagement.

Steve Morgan

We built the capacity of 73 groups in Wales to support their sustainability and built our volunteer workforce in Wales.

Satellite clubs

We offered light touch volunteer support to 32 groups increasing their knowledge of sustainability planning and increasing their chances of survival.

Barclays

We distributed Barclays funding to grassroots clubs delivering football activities, enabling them to survive the Covid-19 pandemic.

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2021

Our activities

TAMHI

Tackling Awareness of Mental Health Issues

Small project with just 2 groups; We are forever grateful 2011 using sport and activity to promote for our Sported mentor positive mental health for the support and guidance he gave in the early days and helping us kickstart. 2012 TAMHI joined Sported Sported were fundamental and pivotal 2012 Business Planning mentor support – to that happening. building strong foundations If that didn’t happen, we 2013 wouldn’t be where we are Received large grant for ‘Change Makers’ now” programme Became a constituted organisation with support from Sported Sported ignited the fire… they were one of the first to believe in us” 2014 Joined ‘Inspiring Impact’ project – help to measure impact of their work 2016 Ongoing catch-ups and support . Sported signpost other NI members 2020 Light Touch support around finance processes Achieved charitable status in 2015 ; 2021 now working with over 100 groups in Northern Ireland and branching into rest of UK

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2021

Our activities

We are incredibly grateful to all of our donors for their generosity and support. Sadly, we are unable to list everyone, but we would like to thank the following for their grants or donations in 2020-21: Sport England, The Times Appeal, Simplyhealth, Rind Foundation, The Black Heart Foundation, Greater London Authority, CVC, London Sport, Nike, City Bridge Trust, The National Lottery Community Fund, London Marathon Charitable Trust, Wales Council for Voluntary Action, Garfield Weston, Baillie Gifford, Moondance Foundation, Barclays, Sport Wales, Santander, Champniss Foundation, Halifax Foundation for Northern Ireland, National Lottery Community, Fund Scotland: Community Jobs Scotland, Football Foundation, Scottish FA, Procter & Gamble, Welsh Boxing, Clothworkers Foundation, Creative Artists Agency, Manchester Football Association, National Lottery Community Fund Scotland: Young Start, The Gerald and Gail Ronson Family Foundation, The Steve Morgan Foundation, Moulding Foundation.

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2021

Our activities

Example Project Ensuring survival

Funded by

Objective: To provide support during Covid-19, to ensure the survival of our grassroots community clubs

What we did

282 groups were offered support as part of the delivery of this project; 259 placements were delivered by volunteers and 158 by Sported staff across several areas including:

Fundraising
Financial Planning
Governance
Strategic & Business Planning
Marketing &
Impact Practice

Our impact

94%

of groups have been awarded grant funding since working with a Sported volunteer

89%

of groups believe the support increased their confidence around their continued existence and long-term sustainability

97% ‘satisfied’ or ‘very satisfied’ with knowledge and expertise of their Sported volunteer

We, as a club, had a road map of where we want to be in three years’ time, the support from Sported has given us confidence to pursue our goal”

Southchurch Park, Bowls Club

The support has given us the confidence that we can survive this pandemic” Oakdale House Trust

Over 53%

received fundraising support; reflecting the financial strain of the pandemic on groups.

“Our work with Sport England was initially focused on increasing participation; with the pandemic came a change in direction. The Sport England funding gave us the ability to support the community sports groups in our network through the toughest of times, and create strong resilient organisations that are able to provide activity for underserved communities. We thank Sport England for their flexibility during the pandemic.”

Helen Clayton, Partnership Manager

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2021

Our activities

Example Project Covid-19 response

Funded by

Objective: To provide grant funding to support groups across the UK to get activities back up and running. In turn, this would protect the future of community groups and allow young people to return to these positive environments.

OUR IMPACT

WHAT WE DID

Groups received a £2,000 grant to be spent on whatever was required to get activities back up and running for young people (11-25 years)

50 grants distributed

1,560 young people were able to positively participate

Support was provided to navigate the various Covid-19 guidelines to ensure they could operate safely in the delivery of sport and activity
Marketing and communications support was given to help groups promote themselves

96%

of groups were able to use funds to get back to delivering activities in their community

The money given to us by Simplyhealth has meant we could buy additional cleaning products and equipment needed to run the classes and also pay the coaches for the additional time they needed for cleaning.”

Fromeside Gymnastics Club

“This grant allowed us to react to the ever-changing situation. We were aware of the negative impacts that young people were facing and wanted to make sure that our programme continued in a safe manner so that young people could still feel part of the club and see their friends.”

Swindon Shock Basketball

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2021

Our activities

Example Project

Funded by

Nike Future Leaders

Objective: To provide opportunity for inspirational young leaders from ethnically diverse communities to develop and launch their own sport for change project in the community.

The Nike Future Leaders programme was designed to support, empower and enable the next generation of young leaders.

The programme has adapted to these challenges through regular, personal communication, flexibility around workshops and extending delivery past the planned conclusion.

Inspirational individuals, who created and developed their own ideas for ‘sport for change’ community projects in the capital, were selected to benefit from a 12-month package of support, mentoring and personal development opportunities.

12

inspirational leaders (16-30) trained

12

Covid impacted all aspects of delivery. Workshops and mentoring sessions were moved online, which not only affected attendance and engagement but prevented the group from building organic, personal relationships with one another.

workshop sessions delivered, including a workshop with Nike’s brand team

Participants were each experiencing their own individual tribulations throughout the year, including uncertainty around work and education, alienation, and of course, loss within their families and communities.

Delivering the Nike Future Leaders project over the last 15 months has been hugely challenging and rewarding, with the pandemic disrupting much of the planned delivery. What stands out to me is the resilience shown by each of the participants involved in the programme and their continued desire to create lasting change in their communities. Working with and supporting these Future Leaders develop their plans for community sports projects has really highlighted the incredible impact and potential of young people living in London.”

Sanaa Qureshi, Project Manager

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2021

Our activities

Insight

Our ambition throughout 2020/21 was to ensure we were data-driven and led by insight, focusing on the needs and values of Sported.

When Covid-19 hit in March 2020, our insight priorities became:

To gather insight from our members on the challenges facing their groups and their communities
To better understand which members were at risk of closure and how such risks might be mitigated
To listen to our members’ needs and offer support in response to those needs
To present the needs and views of our members to funders and strengthen our role as a trusted voice for the sector

Research released this year

1. Impact of Covid-19 on grassroots groups

We conducted large-scale surveys of our membership, known as the Community Pulse, at 3 different touch points during the year: March 2020, June 2020, and January 2021. We also conducted a three-part series of focus groups to capture more in-depth information from 18 of our members in May 2020, July 2020 and December 2020.

This data created the UK’s largest bank of information on how community sports groups were coping with the pandemic. It enabled Sported to gain a clear understanding of what community sports groups were experiencing in different locations, which we used to influence our operations and guide our conversations with stakeholders.

We released numerous research reports sharing our findings throughout the year, including a report on the effect of Covid-19 on disabled sports groups specifically. Most significantly, our research cumulated in a longitudinal research report summarising the year community groups had faced and highlighting the concerns for the immediate future. The report called for more essential support for community sports groups, as they face new challenges surrounding financial support, re-engaging their young participants and support with mental health for the groups and the young people who attend them.

2. Inclusive community groups

In April 2020, we commissioned University of Hertfordshire to evaluate the impacts and challenges of community sports groups becoming more inclusive and accessible for girls, and to look into whether being inclusive of society’s under-represented groups is helpful in becoming an effective and sustainable community sports organisation.

The research found there is a clear case for increased girls’ engagement across community sports groups. The majority of community sports leaders reported a wide range of positive impacts because of increased girls’ engagement, in relation to organisational effectiveness, capacity, growth and sustainability.

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2021

Our activities

3. Racism in grassroots sport

In October 2020, we conducted a qualitative study with 16 community group leaders to understand, directly from our network, what the experiences of racism within the community sports sector were. The key themes drawn out through this research were: systemic racism; current approaches to tackling racism; the Black Lives Matter agenda; representation in sport; and funding.

Our research found that Black, Asian and minority ethnic people working or volunteering in community sport can feel “patronised and poorly represented” within the grassroots and community sport sector and made several key recommendations to tackle racism in community sport.

4. Grant funding for grassroots groups

In January 2021, we explored whether grant funding excludes those it is designed to help. From first-hand accounts of Sported members in England,

the research focused on grant funding for reducing inequalities for ‘less well-off’ participants and Black, Asian and minority ethnic participants.

The research found that the marginalised groups that funders often intend to reach are broad and diverse, yet the terminology used to define them is very restrictive. Community groups who work with these audiences have several common characteristics which mean they are very good at delivering to these marginalised audiences. However, these same characteristics mean they are disadvantaged when it comes to applying for funds.

Alongside our research work this year, we have also improved our impact measurement. We increased our resource within the insight team to include a monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL) coordinator. The MEL coordinator has helped to ensure we are measuring the effectiveness of our activities and our projects.

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2021

Our activities

Communications & marketing

In summer 2020, we refreshed our brand and updated our website, making Sported’s brand more appealing and our key messages clearer. We continue to hone and improve the way we talk about what we do and the words we use, in line with the sector and our involvement in the work being carried out on language with the Sport for Development Coalition Comms working group.

The comms and marketing capabilities of the organisation were boosted by the appointment of two new staff members in January 2021 – the strategic communications manager and the marketing co-ordinator.

Media coverage

We endeavoured to ensure that Sported insight reach the desired audiences and secured some significant press coverage on the Community Pulse survey results. There has also been success in securing media coverage on other areas of work, such as the launch of P&G’s #Fuelherfuture campaign in support of Sported, which appeared in national and broadcast media, some of which featured interviews with Chief Executive Officer, Nicola Walker.

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2021

Our activities

Ambassadors

First planning steps have been made to create a new ambassador programme, which we hope will help to deliver our messages further afield and with more impact, raising the profile of Sported, in order to boost fundraising and influencing power.

We are delighted that Eric Dier, Tottenham Hotspur and England defender, and Rory Best, former Ireland rugby captain, have become ambassadors for Sported and help us to raise the charity’s profile.

Website

The website is being injected with regular stories and case studies of Sported groups, insight generated from Sported’s research and moments with Sported ambassadors. This is vital in keeping our supporters and interested parties moved by our mission and abreast of our activities.

Influencing

We have reached out to counterparts across the sector to join forces, share expertise and build relationships. These are the first steps to building our influencing power for the future.

Social media

Sported is going through an ongoing process to develop its tone of voice for social media channels targeting both external audiences and those in the network. Through these channels, we celebrate our achievements, share our organisational news, comment on sector-wide issues, raise awareness of the support that we provide, as well as engaging with members.

Member and volunteer communications

Our monthly e-mail brings together the latest Sported news, details of member events and support opportunities for our members, with information from external partners. Volunteers are sent updates via e-mail every two months with volunteer events and news from Sported and the sector. Both members and volunteers have separate Facebook groups where the Network services team post additional information and resources and where we encourage engagement and networking amongst members.

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Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2021
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26 Sporte.1

Our impact

The Times & The Sunday Times Christmas appeal

We were absolutely thrilled to have been selected from a huge number of organisations as one of the three beneficiary charities for The Times and The Sunday Times Christmas Charity appeal.

The appeal has proven transformative for Sported, strengthening both our financial position and brand awareness through readers donations and public profile, and through ambassadors such as Eric Dier. The results have created a strong platform for 2021/22 at such a challenging time for our network.

What we will do

Sported’s priority in utilising those funds is to ensure relevant, tailored, 1:1 support is available to our network, as they continue to respond and recover from the impact of the pandemic. More specifically, that will consist of:

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Our activities
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Credit: Ben Stevens / The TImes

£650k donations

33 new groups joined our network

Protecting 600 groups most vulnerable Lauching a new mental health to closure programme in response to the needs of our network

15% increase in online following

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Recruiting
150
‘at-risk’ groups for
sos support
Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2021
The Sunday Times November 29, 2020
Martin Hemming “Oi! Get back behind the line!” Anelaborate relay race is about to startinvolving fancy footwork around somecones, hopping in and out of hoops, morefancy footwork and, finally, a shot at abasketball hoop. The teenagers of Team Bare nervous.afternoon’s session. Eric Dier, TottenhamHotspur’s 6ft 2in centre half, has chosento spend his Monday afternoon on anAstroturf pitch in Haringey, northLondon, two miles south of Tottenham’sflashy new stadium.one of The Times and Sunday Times’sthree which helps 2,600 community groupsuse sport to help young people fulfil theirTeam A, you see, has a ringer for thispotential. Last year Sunday Times read-ers raised £1,322,017 for good causes. doing their bit, led of course by Manches-ter United’s Marcus Rashford. “Everyonetries to give back in different ways,” saidDier of his Premier League colleagues. Dier is here to launch the campaign forand took his place in English footballinglegend when he scored the winningpenalty against Colombia in the 2018World Cup in Russia, England’s firstshootout win for 22 years. It has been the year of footballersAcademy are buzzing to have him there.Even the Arsenal fans. They also really,really want to beat Dier.of The player, 26, has 45 caps for EnglandHaringey is the borough with the thirdhighestThe young people of HR SportsHR Sports Academy is exactly the sortChristmas project proportion of deprived areas inthat charities, Sported h Sported,econd-highestsupports. murdered. His friend had had a passionfor football; Kedesh wanted to achievesomething in his name. “I’m not goodwith a ball, so I’d rather be on the side-lines,” he said. Through Mickela, he hasdone his Level 1 FA coaching badge.When Covid’s out of the way, he is due tostart a paid apprenticeship with HR. Hisnot long after a family friend wasunteering at HR 18 months ago,balls. Kedesh, 17, started vol-b t ChelseaThis is not daycare withthen his own club.h mentors who spend as long as six monthsworking with a group, free of charge. Italso brings like-minded groups togetherto share ideas and resources. As lock-down hit, it helped them to move online.and sustainable, said Nicola Walker,Sported’s chief executive: “Then we letthem do what they do best. Because theyknow who the kids are. They know whatthe social issues are in the area and theyare best placed to resolve them.” multiple sports — they find the rightactivity for the person, rather than theother way round. This means they canfallIt is about making organisations viableMany betweenof Sported’s the stools of governingf groups di g Sportedoffergroup,” said Dier, who was born inCheltenham and grew up in Portugal. interact with others, the fitness elementof it — for your body and most impor-tantly your mind. Being able to handlefrustration, winning, losing, learninghow to handle those different emotions.Sport plays a massive part in all thosethings that you can take into life.”as HR. Long periods of shutdown havedeprived many young people of the high-light of their week, the chance simply to“Respect, discipline, being able torun around with their mates. HR this yearlost out on one of its main revenuestreams: school holiday camps. It lookedinto the logistics of running a “safe”Covid has been tough on groups suchld have been able to take
Mickela’s runs HR with her.Chris Hall-Ramsay, 28,brother, who
3
NEWS CHRISTMAS APPEAL
With your help, grassroots clubs can
give young people a sporting chance
A World Cup hero is getting behind our campaign to help community groups recover from Covid closures
£10
BEN STEVENS
CHRISTMAS
APPEAL
WHAT YOUR
DONATION BUYS
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Our activities

Sported receives a combination of grants and donations, which are unrestricted and can be used for any of its charitable purposes and restricted grants to support specific projects, delivered on behalf of our funders.

We have a fundraising team who work with our national managers to make bids. They also liaise with external consultants for specialist bids.

During the year, Sport England funded a report by Sport Collective which looked at our financial sustainability and recommendations from the report were implemented as follows:

A new corporate fundraiser was recruited to increase corporate funding
An individual giving programme was developed, significantly helped by over 2,000 donors from The Times appeal
A new strategic communications manager was recruited to better
communicate our insight, to increase our reach and influence

The focus is on building long-term relationships with major funders and strategic partnerships continue to be identified and approached.

Additionally, a board development subcommittee has been set up for select trustees to work with the fundraising team, to implement the fundraising strategy and give advice and support. The committee is meeting quarterly and report back to the full board.

In financial terms, the income generated in the year was the highest in the charity’s history, with The Times Christmas appeal producing a huge level of unrestricted donations, alongside generous donations from CVC and Simplyhealth.

This year has seen the reserve policy met and future fundraising will focus on maintaining this reserve whilst ensuring that we continue to achieve our core objectives.

Diversity & Inclusion

George Floyd’s death created a surge of anger and energy across the globe, and many reacted in different ways. Staff at Sported’s own response kickstarted a journey of education into the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement and learning about the discrimination and racism experienced by Black people in the US and the UK. We took the opportunity to start sharing and reading resources, listening to each other’s lived experience, attending training courses, and looking at the levels of diversity across management, volunteers, and trustees.

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2021

Our activities

As a network organisation, we saw it as a priority to gather the views of our members and make sure their voices were heard. This was brought together in our 2020 research piece ‘Tackling racism at the grassroots.’

In March 2021 we appointed internal Inclusion champions to lead our activity on race, religion/belief, disability, gender and LGBTQ+. The champions (2 to 4 staff members per inclusion area) will monitor and develop Sported as an inclusive and accessible organisation for all staff, volunteers and its network, ensuring everyone has equal opportunity to access Sported and its programmes.

Equality is a key theme in the recently launched 2021-25 Sported strategy and we are prioritising increasing our staff team to include a race equity lead and an equity, diversity & inclusion strategic lead to bring necessary expertise and capacity to Sported, to advance all our work in this area and to make strategic connections into the sector.

At Sported, we are committed to becoming an anti-racist organisation and we appreciate that this cannot be achieved overnight. However, we absolutely acknowledge that to remove racism and encourage equity, systemic change is needed within organisations and specifically for us, within community sport. To effectively do this we will continue listening to those who know best, those with lived experiences. We will ensure every member of our staff team can come to work without fear or judgment and with confidence they have equal opportunity to grow and achieve.

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2021

Plans for the future

In April 2021, we launched a new 4-year strategy: Reach. Include. Empower: 2021-25 Strategy. The strategy maintains our original vision and mission, whilst focusing on 3 specific objectives that we believe will become even more important over the next 4 years; improving mental health and physical wellbeing; tackling inequalities both in sport and through sport; and connecting community groups for collective action. We know that Sported, and the groups in our network, are well placed to make a difference to these 3 objectives which is why they will be our focus over the next 4 years.

We will take a 2-strand approach to delivering our strategy. Firstly, we will focus on what we will do for our network. We will continue with our core work to strengthen and support our community sports groups, by helping the local leaders within our network to improve their skills, knowledge and confidence of running a grassroots sports group, and by helping to build capacity and resilience. After a turbulent year for community sport, and the country, there is even greater need to support the survival of community groups and help them to thrive. All groups within our network are addressing at least one of our three objectives, and by helping them to be stronger and more sustainable, we will be enabling them to help hundreds of thousands of young people across the UK.

Our second approach is how we will work through our network. We will design and deliver targeted projects in conjunction with various funders and partners that will address our objectives. We will use the reach and connections of our network to deliver useful, impactful programmes of activity.

Our volunteers remain essential to our delivery model, and within the first year of our strategy we will be launching a new model for volunteering with Sported, enhancing utilisation and engagement.

The success of our strategy will depend on the way we work, our enablers and our values. Our ambitions within these ‘foundations’ are to nurture and develop a diverse, high-performing and satisfied team; to be financially flourishing; to become a trusted authority for grassroots sport and to increase Sported’s profile, and, we will do so whilst embedding and embodying our lived-by values.

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Girls had a more positive
perception of themselves,
including feeling less of a
failure and being happy with
who they are
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Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2021

Plans for the future

demonstrate integrity

We lead by example

We are honest, open and trustworthy

We are diligent and committed

We are willing to challenge and be challenged

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be
people
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We are led by the needs of our network and volunteers

We invite feedback and respond quickly

We collaborate and support our colleagues

commit to inclusion

We are positive, supportive and approachable

We value an inclusive culture

We demonstrate respect and equality for all

drive change

We are innovative and make things happen

We strive for continuous improvement professionally and personally

We make a significant impact to communities and young people

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2021

Financial review

In 2021, income was £3,262k for the year compared with £1,973k in the year to 31 March 2020. Expenditure for the year was £2,308k (2020: £1,860k). The net result was a surplus of £954k, another improvement on 2020’s surplus of £113k. However, the major improvement was in the unrestricted fund with a surplus in the year of £812k and the charity’s unrestricted reserve has now recovered, to be in excess of the board’s 13-week reserve policy.

The surplus on the unrestricted reserve was largely as a result of successful fundraising in the year, but given the uncertainties of the pandemic, we also furloughed unfunded staff for 2 months where we assessed that it would not impact project delivery or our members. We cut costs where possible, including reducing desk space and ceasing office rental when the work from home directive was given.

On 31 March 2021, net assets were £983k (2020: £28k), of which £685k was unrestricted.

The charity will continue to work on maintaining its unrestricted reserve with strict cost controls and restricted project cost allocations.

Sported continues its aim to build on a base of contracted revenue as well as a strong pipeline of funds. We will continue to focus on cementing relationships with existing and new funding partners, with multi-year contracts that support our strategic objectives.

Principal risks and uncertainties

The strategic leadership team and the finance and audit committee of the board undertake a formal review of risk management quarterly. Risks are identified, assessed and mitigation strategies put in place to minimise the impact.

At the beginning of the year the key risk continued to be that insufficient funding would be secured to meet running costs. This is even more crucial in the post Covid economic environment. Key mitigation strategies include a strong focus on conversion of existing funding prospects and bids, securing multi-year funding, continued development of new and diverse funding streams that support our strategic objectives, as well as tight cost management.

Going Concern

The trustees have considered plans for the twelve months from the date of this report and have a reasonable expectation of receiving adequate resources to continue operations, based on detailed cash projections that set out contracted funding and a strong pipeline for the rest of 2021 and beyond. In addition, cost management strategies are in place to mitigate risk.

However, at the time of sign off of the accounts, contracts are not in place to generate sufficient income to cover all projected expenditure so there is some uncertainty about the future. Despite this, based on current conversion levels and discussions being held with several potential funders, the trustees are confident that there will be sufficient income to cover projected expenditure.

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2021

Financial review / Structure, governance and management

Reserves policy

The charity’s reserve policy Is to have sufficient unrestricted reserves to cover 13 weeks of non-project related expenditure on an ongoing basis. This level of reserves has been set to enable sufficient time to secure new income sources should any be lost, and to ensure that major costs are covered in any period of funding hiatus.

The unrestricted reserve on 31 March 2021 met the policy above with reserves sufficient to fund 22 weeks of non-project related expenditure.

Going forward, the focus is to ensure that this reserve is maintained at or above the reserve policy level. Careful cost allocation and agreements with funders that core costs will be covered will contribute to this aim.

The finance and audit committee receive bi-monthly reports including the cash and reserves position, and the finance reports are a standing item on the agenda at the quarterly board meetings.

Structure, governance, and management

We have used third party organisations, professional fundraisers and commercial participants to fundraise for us this year and use consultants to assist in bid writing.

We comply with relevant fundraising regulations and guidance and have had no instances of non-compliance over the year. No complaints have been received in 2020/21.

Governing document

The charity is a charitable company limited by guarantee, incorporated on 20 March 2008 and registered as a charity with the Charity Commission on 25 March 2008 and the OSCR on 17 May 2012.

The company was established under a memorandum of association that established the objects and powers of the charitable company and it is governed under its articles of association.

Trustees

The trustees are the directors of the charitable company. New trustees are appointed according to the charity’s governing document, and to meet specified capability requirements. The appointments are overseen by the Nominations Committee.

New trustees go through a formal induction and training process and are encouraged to meet the charity’s beneficiaries.

All trustees give their time voluntarily and receive no benefits from the charity. No trustees claimed expenses from the charity in 2021 or 2020.

A chief executive is appointed by the trustees to manage the day-to-day operations of the charity.

The trustees review the aims, strategic objectives and activities of the charity each year and approve all decisions relating to strategy and budget.

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2021

Structure, governance and management

Board diversity

The board has agreed a diversity policy which is published on the charity’s website. The policy of maintaining at least 3 female board members and 20% of board roles to be held by Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic (“B.A.M.E.”) executives by the end of 2020 has been met.

Board evaluation

The board carries out an annual skills audit to ensure that the board has the requisite mix of skills. An external evaluation was carried out in July and August 2020 and the board is carrying out the action points arising.

Reporting

The trustees receive quarterly reports on Sported activities, which include progress against the strategic objectives, key performance indicators, feedback from our members and suggestions for the future. Trustees receive a report from the Chief Executive Officer, key performance indicators and financial reports.

Public benefit

The trustees have referred to the guidance contained in the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit when reviewing the charity’s aims and objectives and in planning its future activities. In particular, the trustees consider how planned activities will contribute to the aims and objectives that have been set. More detail is shown in the activities section of the annual report.

Governance

The trustees carried out a governance review in 2019 and 2020 to ensure compliance with the Sport England Tier 3 governance requirements and this was achieved in August 2020.

Remuneration policy

The strategic leadership team reviews the staffing structure annually to ensure salaries are fair and reasonable, taking into account both internal comparability of responsibilities and external market factors.

The chief executive officer approves any proposed revisions to salary grades and the chief executive officer’s remuneration is agreed by the trustees. In advance of each financial year the strategic leadership team recommend to the trustees the level of inflationary uplift to be applied to salaries, in a way which seeks to balance the need to reward and retain staff and the affordability of any pay awards.

Related parties and relationships with other organisations

Pinsent Masons LLP, the charity’s solicitors, is a related party of Sported Foundation by virtue of Trevor Watkins, a trustee of Sported Foundation, being a partner in Pinsent Masons LLP.

Khilna Shah, who is a co-opted member of the finance and audit committee, is married to the CFO of the Football Foundation, one of our funders, and he is also a trustee of Women in Sport, one of our project partners.

The Black Heart Foundation is a related party of Sported Foundation by virtue of Richard Lewis being a director and one of the ultimate controlling parties.

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2021

Reference and administrative information

We Play are a related party of Sported Foundation by virtue of Simon Cummins being chair of both.

Trading subsidiary

Sported Foundation has a wholly owned trading subsidiary, Sported Trading Limited, incorporated in England and Wales (company number 08623400). The trustees of Sported Foundation do not consider the results of Sported Trading Limited to be material to the charity and so have decided not to produce consolidated accounts.

Reference and administrative information

Company name

Sported Foundation [known as ‘Sported’]

Company number

06541137

Charity number

1123313 | SCO43161

Registered office

House of Sport 190 Great Dover Street London, SE1 4YB

Country of registration

England and Wales

Country of incorporation

United Kingdom

Patron

Sir Keith Mills

Trustees

Trustees, who are also directors under company law, who served during the year and up to the date of this report were as follows:

Simon Cummins Louise Dier Abigail Mills Neil Wood Alan Pascoe Priya Nair (resigned 23 April 2020) (appointed 23 July 2020) Carnegie Smyth Rebecca Mills Karen Buchanan Richard Lewis (resigned 17 February 2021) Kilian Toms (appointed 17 February 2021) Trevor Watkins

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2021

Reference and administrative information

Key management personnel

Nicola Walker, Chief Executive Officer

Tom Burstow, Deputy Chief Executive Officer Debbie Salman, Head of Finance and Administration Emma Heel, Head of Insight and Strategy

Debbie Salman, Head of Finance and Administration

Erica Thornton, Head of Delivery and Development

Kathryn King, Head of Network Services

Bankers

HSBC Bank plc 60 Queen Victoria Street London EC4N 4TR

Solicitors

Pinsent Masons LLP 30 Crown Place Earl Street London EC2A 4ES

Auditor

Sayer Vincent LLP Invicta House 108-114 Golden Lane London EC1Y 0TL

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2021

Statement of responsibilities of the trustees

Statement of the responsiblities of the trustees

The trustees (who are also directors of Sported Foundation for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the Trustees’ annual report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

Company law requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable company for that period. In preparing these 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 UK Accounting Standards and statements of recommended practice have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements.
Prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in operation.

The trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable company and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charitable company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

In so far as the trustees are aware:

There is no relevant audit information of which the charitable company’s auditor is unaware
The trustees have taken all steps that they ought to have taken to make themselves aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the auditor is aware of that information.

The trustees are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial information included on the charitable company’s website. Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.

Members of the charity guarantee to contribute an amount not exceeding £1 to the assets of the charity in the event of winding up. The total number of such guarantees at 31 March 2021 was 10 (2020: 10). The trustees are members of the charity but this entitles them only to voting rights. The trustees have no beneficial interest in the charity.

Auditor

Sayer Vincent LLP were appointed as the charitable company’s auditor in 2016.

The Trustees’ annual report has been approved by the trustees on 22nd July 2021 and signed on their behalf by: Simon Cummins

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2021

Independent auditor’s report

Independent auditor’s report to the members of Sported Foundation

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of Sported Foundation (the ‘charitable company’) for the year ended 31 March 2021 which comprise the statement of financial activities, balance sheet, statement of cash flows and notes to the financial statements, including significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including FRS 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

In our opinion, the financial statements:

Give a true and fair view of the state of the charitable company’s affairs as at 31 March 2021 and of its incoming resources and application of resources, including its income and expenditure, for the year then ended

Have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice

Have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006, the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and regulation 8 of the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended)

Basis for opinion

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the charitable company in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC’s Ethical Standard and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

Conclusions relating to going concern

In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the trustees’ use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.

Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on Sported Foundation’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.

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2021

Independent auditor’s report

Other Information

The other information comprises the information included in the trustees’ 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 the audit:

The information given in the trustees’ annual report for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements; and

The trustees’ annual report has been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the charitable company and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the trustees’ annual report.

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Companies Act 2006 and the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended) require us to report to you if, in our opinion:

Adequate accounting records have not been kept, or returns adequate for our audit have not been received from branches not visited by us; or

The financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or

Certain disclosures of trustees’ remuneration specified by law are not made; or

We have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit; or

The directors were not entitled to prepare the financial statements in accordance with the small companies regime and take advantage of the small companies’ exemptions in preparing the trustees’ annual report and from the requirement to prepare a strategic report.

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2021

Independent auditor’s report

Responsibilities of trustees

As explained more fully in the statement of trustees’ responsibilities set out in the trustees’ annual report, the trustees (who are also the directors of the charitable company for the purposes of company law) are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the trustees determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

In preparing the financial statements, the trustees are responsible for assessing the charitable company’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the trustees either intend to liquidate the charitable company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

We have been appointed as auditor under section 44(1)(c) of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and under the Companies Act 2006 and report in accordance with regulations made under those Acts.

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor’s report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.

Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud are set out below.

Capability of the audit in detecting irregularities

In identifying and assessing risks of material misstatement in respect of irregularities, including fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulations, our procedures included the following:

We enquired of management, which included obtaining and reviewing supporting documentation, concerning the charity’s policies and procedures relating to:

Identifying, evaluating, and complying with laws and regulations and whether they were aware of any instances of non-compliance;

Detecting and responding to the risks of fraud and whether they have knowledge of any actual, suspected, or alleged fraud;

The internal controls established to mitigate risks related to fraud or noncompliance with laws and regulations.

We inspected the minutes of meetings of those charged with governance.

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2021

Independent auditor’s report

We obtained an understanding of the legal and regulatory framework that the charity operates in, focusing on those laws and regulations that had a material effect on the financial statements or that had a fundamental effect on the operations of the charity from our professional and sector experience.

We communicated applicable laws and regulations throughout the audit team and remained alert to any indications of non-compliance throughout the audit.

We reviewed any reports made to regulators.

We reviewed the financial statement disclosures and tested these to supporting documentation to assess compliance with applicable laws and regulations.

We performed analytical procedures to identify any unusual or unexpected relationships that may indicate risks of material misstatement due to fraud.

In addressing the risk of fraud through management override of controls, we tested the appropriateness of journal entries and other adjustments, assessed whether the judgements made in making accounting estimates are indicative of a potential bias and tested significant transactions that are unusual or those outside the normal course of business.

Because of the inherent limitations of an audit, there is a risk that we will not detect all irregularities, including those leading to a material misstatement in the financial statements or non-compliance with regulation. This risk increases the more that compliance with a law or regulation is removed from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, as we will be less likely to become aware of instances of non-compliance. The risk is also greater regarding irregularities occurring due to fraud rather than error, as fraud involves intentional concealment, forgery, collusion, omission or misrepresentation.

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

Use of our report

This report is made solely to the charitable company’s members as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006 and section 44(1)(c) of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charitable company’s members those matters we are required to state to them in an auditor’s report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charitable company and the charitable company’s members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

Noelia Serrano (Senior statutory auditor)

21 September 2021

for and on behalf of Sayer Vincent LLP, Statutory Auditor Invicta House, 108-114 Golden Lane, LONDON, EC1Y 0TL

Sayer Vincent LLP is eligible to act as auditor in terms of section 1212 of the Companies Act 2006

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2021

Statement of financial activities

Sported Foundation

Statement of Financial Activites (Incorporating an income and expenditure account) for the year ended 31 March 2021

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For the year ended 31 March 2021 For the year ended 31 March 2020
Unrestricted Restricted Total Unrestricted Restricted Total
Note £ £ £ £ £ £
Income from:
Donations and legacies 2 1,081,458 80,000 1,161,458 370,581 90,000 460,581
Charitable activities
Capacity building and
4 475,184 1,614,239 2,089,423 493,446 964,892 1,458,338
advocacy
Other trading activities 3 11,223 - 11,223 53,918 - 53,918
Investments 30 - 30 2 - 2
Total income 1,567,895 1,694,239 3,262,134 917,947 1,054,892 1,972,839
Expenditure on:
Raising funds 5 170,503 - 170,503 178,215 - 178,215
Charitable activities
Capacity building and
5 585,255 1,552,182 2,137,437 666,966 1,015,088 1,682,054
advocacy
Total expenditure 755,758 1,552,182 2,307,940 845,181 1,015,088 1,860,269
Net income for the year and net
812,137 142,057 954,194 72,766 39,804 112,570
movement in funds
Reconciliation of funds:
Total funds brought forward (126,703) 155,171 28,468 (199,469) 115,367 (84,102)
Total funds carried forward 17 685,434 297,228 982,662 (126,703) 155,171 28,468
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All of the above results are derived from continuing activities. There were no other recognised gains or losses other than those stated above. Movements in funds are disclosed in Note 17 to the financial statements.

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2021

Balance sheet

Company Number: 6541137

Sported Foundation

Balance Sheet as at 31 March 2021

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2021 2020
Note £ £ £ £
Fixed assets:
Tangible assets 12 14,132 14,208
Current assets:
Debtors 13 147,820 92,036
Cash at bank and in hand 1,024,173 123,820
1,171,993 215,856
Liabilities:
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year 14 (189,606) (201,596)
Net current assets 982,387 14,260
Total assets less current liabilities 996,519 28,468
Creditors: amounts falling due over one year 15 (13,857) -
Net assets 982,662 28,468
The funds of the charity: 16
Restricted income funds 297,228 155,171
297,228 155,171
Unrestricted income funds
General funds 685,434 (126,703)
Total unrestricted funds 685,434 (126,703)
- -
Total charity funds 982,662 28,468
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Approved by the Trustees on 22nd July 2021 and signed on their behalf by:

Simon Cummins Chair

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2021

Statement of cash flows

Sported Foundation

Statement of cash flows for the year ended 31 March 2021

	Year to 31	March 2021	Year to 31	March 2020
	£	£	£	£
Net income for the reporting period	954,194		112,570
Depreciation charges	4,644		2,652
(Increase)/decrease in debtors	(55,784)		5,900
Increase/(decrease) in creditors	1,867		(14,961)

Cash flows from operating activities		904,921		106,161

Cash flows from investing activities:
Purchase of fixed assets	(4,568)		(14,208)

Net cash provided by investing activities		(4,568)		(14,208)

Change in cash and cash equivalents in the reporting period		900,353		91,953

Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the reporting period		123,820		31,867

Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the reporting period		1,024,173		123,820

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Analysis of cash and cash equivalents
----- End of picture text -----

Analysis of cash and cash equivalents

	At 1 April 2020	Cash flows	At 31 March 2021
	£	£	£
Cash at bank and in hand	123,820	900,353	1,024,173
Total cash and cash equivalents	123,820	900,353	1,024,173

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2021

Notes to the financial statements

Sported Foundation

Notes to the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2021

1 Accounting policies a) Statutory information Sported Foundation is a charitable company limited by guarantee and is incorporated in the United Kingdom. The registered office and operational address is 4th Floor, Marathon House, 190 Great Dover Street, London SE1 4YB. b) Basis of preparation The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with 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) - (Charities SORP FRS 102) and the Companies Act 2006/Charities Act 2011. Assets and liabilities are initially recognised at historical cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policy or note. In applying the financial reporting framework, the trustees have made a number of subjective judgements, for example in respect of significant accounting estimates. Estimates and judgements are continually evaluated and are based on historical experience and other factors, including expectations of future events that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances. The nature of the estimation means the actual outcomes could differ from those estimates. Any significant estimates and judgements affecting these financial statements are detailed within the relevant accounting policy below. Sported Foundation has a wholly owned trading subsidiary, Sported Trading Limited, incorporated in England and Wales (company number 08623400). The trustees of Sported Foundation do not consider the results of Sported Trading Limited to be material to the charity and so have decided not to produce consolidated accounts. c) Public benefit entity The charitable company meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS 102. d) Going concern The trustees have considered detailed plans, scenarios and cashflow forecasts for the 12 months from the date of this report and have a reasonable expectation of receiving adequate resources through contracted and pipeline funding to continue operations. Further, the trustees do not consider that there are any sources of estimation uncertainty at the reporting date that have a significant risk of causing a material adjustment to the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities within the next reporting period. e) Income Income is recognised when the charity has entitlement to the funds, any performance conditions attached to the income have been met, it is probable that the income will be received, and that the amount can be measured reliably. Income from government and other grants, whether ‘capital’ grants or ‘revenue’ 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 and is not deferred. Income received in advance of the provision of a specified service is deferred until the criteria for income recognition are met. f) Donations of gifts, services and facilities Donated professional services and donated facilities are recognised as income when the charity has control over the item or received the service, any conditions associated with the donation have been met, the receipt of economic benefit from the use by the charity of the item is probable and that economic benefit can be measured reliably. In accordance with the Charities SORP (FRS 102), volunteer time is not recognised. Please refer to the trustees’ annual report for more information about volunteers’ contributions. On receipt, donated gifts, professional services and donated facilities are recognised on the basis of the value of the gift to the charity which is the amount the charity would have been willing to pay to obtain services or facilities of equivalent economic benefit on the open market; a corresponding amount is then recognised in expenditure in the period of receipt. g) Interest receivable Interest on funds held on deposit is included when receivable and the amount can be measured reliably by the charity; this is normally upon notification of the interest paid or payable by the bank.

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2021

Notes to the financial statements

h) Fund accounting

Restricted funds are to be used for specific purposes as laid down by the donor. Expenditure related to the specific purpose is charged to the fund. Unrestricted funds are donations and other incoming resources received or generated for the charitable purposes.

i) Expenditure and irrecoverable VAT 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 is classified under the following activity headings: • Costs of raising funds relate to the costs incurred by the charity in inducing third parties to make voluntary contributions to it, as well as the cost of any activities with a fundraising purpose

Expenditure on charitable activities includes the costs of delivering capacity building and advocacy services to sports clubs, providing financial support in the form of grants to sports clubs, and maintaining and developing resources used to measure the impact of the improving access to sports activities

Irrecoverable VAT is charged as a cost against the activity for which the expenditure was incurred.

j) Allocation of support costs Resources expended are allocated to the particular activity where the cost relates directly to that activity. However, the cost of overall direction and administration of each activity, comprising the salary and overhead costs of the central function, is included as part of support costs.

Support and governance costs are re-allocated to each of the activities on the following basis which is an estimate, based on the direct cost of each activity:

Raising funds – 10%
Capacity building and advocacy - Direct costs – 90%

Governance costs are the costs associated with the governance arrangements of the charity. These costs are associated with constitutional and statutory requirements and include any costs associated with the strategic management of the charity’s activities.

k) Operating leases

Rental charges are charged on a straight line basis over the term of the lease.

l) Tangible fixed assets

Items of equipment are capitalised where the purchase price exceeds £500. Depreciation costs are allocated to activities on the basis of the use of the related assets in those activities. Assets are reviewed for impairment if circumstances indicate their carrying value may exceed their net realisable value and value in use. Major components are treated as a separate asset where they have significantly different patterns of consumption of economic benefits and are depreciated separately over its useful life.

Where fixed assets have been revalued, any excess between the revalued amount and the historic cost of the asset is shown as a revaluation reserve in the balance sheet.

Depreciation is provided at rates calculated to write down the cost of each asset to its estimated residual value over its expected useful life. Fixed assets are depreciated over 3 years.

m) Debtors

Trade and other debtors are recognised at the settlement amount due. Prepayments are valued at the amount prepaid net of any trade discounts due.

n) Cash at bank and in hand

Cash at bank and cash in hand includes cash and short term highly liquid investments with a short maturity of three months or less from the date of acquisition or opening of the deposit or similar account. Cash balances exclude any funds held on behalf of members.

o)

Creditors and provisions

Creditors and provisions are recognised where the charity has a present obligation resulting from a past event that will probably result in the transfer of funds to a third party and the amount due to settle the obligation can be measured or estimated reliably. Creditors and provisions are normally recognised at their settlement amount after allowing for any trade discounts due. No interest loans are recognised at face value.

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2021

Notes to the financial statements

p) 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 with the exception of bank loans which are subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method.

q) Pensions

Sported contributes to a defined contribution pension scheme for all staff at or above the statutory rate. Pension costs are accounted for as expenditure when due.

----- Start of picture text -----
2 Donations and legacies
For the year ended 31 March 2021 For the year ended 31 March 2020
Unrestricted Restricted Total Unrestricted Restricted Total
£ £ £ £ £ £
The Times Christmas Appeal 430,234 - 430,234 - - -
The Times Christmas Appeal matched funding - Rind 100,000 - 100,000 - - -
Foundation
The Times Christmas Appeal matched funding - 100,000 - 100,000 - - -
Moulding Foundation
The Times Christmas Appeal matched funding - Black 50,000 - 50,000 250,000 - 250,000
Heart Foundation (2020: Donation)
Simplyhealth 143,630 - 143,630 - - -
CVC Foundation 136,403 - 136,403 - - -
Baillie Gifford (Scotland) - 40,000 40,000 40,000 40,000
Moondance Foundation (Wales) - 40,000 40,000 - - -
Barclays 14,000 - 14,000 - - -
Procter & Gamble 7,000 - 7,000 - - -
City Charitable Trust (Scotland) - - - - 50,000 50,000
Other (including in 20/21 CJRS grant of £53,964) 100,191 - 100,191 120,581 - 120,581
Total income from donations 1,081,458 80,000 1,161,458 370,581 90,000 460,581
----- End of picture text -----

3 Income from other trading activities

This comprises consultancy and business development support and is all unrestricted income.

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2021

Notes to the financial statements

4 Income from charitable activities
	For the year ended 31 March 2021			For the year ended 31 March 2020
	Unrestricted	Restricted	Total	Unrestricted	Restricted	Total
	£	£	£	£	£	£
Barclays - Supporting community football	-	36,000	36,000	-	-	-
Big Lottery Fund Wales	-	-	-	-	12,380	12,380
Black Heart Foundation	-	-	-	-	2,500	2,500
City Bridge Trust	-	84,000	84,000	-	10,000	10,000
Clothworkers Foundation	-	5,067	5,067	-		-
Comic Relief - Volunteer Programme	-	-	-	-	30,579	30,579
Comic Relief Women and Girls Programme - Project 51	-	-	-	-	3,391	3,391
Football Foundation - Support of LSEG Pilot Programme	10,000	-	10,000	-	-	-
Foundation Scotland - Fundraising SOS	-	4,914	4,914	-	-	-
Garfield Weston Foundation	-	50,000	50,000	-	-	-
GLA Open Doors London	-	128,000	128,000	-	-	-
Halifax Foundation for Northern Ireland - Restart	-	4,000	4,000	-	9,760	9,760
Halifax Foundation for Northern Ireland - Skilled	-	8,290	8,290	-	-	-
London Marathon -The Big Half	-	-	-	48,500	-	48,500
London Marathon - Women and Girls	-	63,200	63,200	-	126,800	126,800
London Sport/GLA - Organisational Support and Development Programme	111,591	-	111,591	26,800	-	26,800
London Sport - Satellite Clubs	34,482	-	34,482	20,700	-	20,700
National Lottery - Young Start 2		24,936	24,936
National Lottery Covid 19 Emergency Funding	-	70,900	70,900	-	-	-
NIKE	-	88,022	88,022	-	86,578	86,578
Ronson Foundation	-	-	-	-	50,000	50,000
Santander - volunteering	-	25,000	25,000	-	-	-
Sport England Seconded Staff	-	-	-	40,323	-	40,323
Sport England Building Capacity and Contribution to LSEG Target	291,711	652,289	944,000	352,073	592,315	944,388
Sport England Tackling Inequalities Fund	-	250,000	250,000	-	-	-
Sport Northern Ireland - Include Project	-	-	-	-	3,883	3,883
Sport Northern Ireland - Engage Her	-	-	-	-	5,643	5,643
Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations	-	10,861	10,861	-	1,063	1,063
Sport England Consultancy - Sport Collective	-	35,088	35,088	-	-	-
Sport Wales - Member Engagement	-	32,100	32,100	-	-	-
Steve Morgan Foundation	-	-	-	-	30,000	30,000
WCVA - Third Sector Resilience Fund	-	41,572	41,572	-	-	-
Other sources of income (sums of less than £20,000)	27,400	-	27,400	5,050	-	5,050
Total income from charitable activities	475,184	1,614,239	2,089,423	493,446	964,892	1,458,338

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2021

Notes to the financial statements

5 Analysis of expenditure (current reporting period)
		Charitable activities Capacity building and advocacy
	Raising funds	Direct costs	Governance costs	Support costs	Total 2021
	£	£	£	£	£
Staff costs (Note 7)	143,041	1,168,323	-	143,129	1,454,493
Project costs	-	233,749	-	-	233,749
Grants payable		453,657			453,657
Staff cover, consultants, recruitment and training	9,351	-	-	14,090	23,441
Travel and subsistence	-	738	-	(16)	722
Office supplies and rents	-	34,855	-	2,210	37,065
Events, meetings, conferences inc. mentoring	-	6,909	-	661	7,570
IT, databases and telephones	-	39,241	-	7,054	46,295
Marketing costs	-	32,321	-	304	32,625
Insurance, legal and banking	-	-	2,031	-	2,031
Audit	-	-	11,274	-	11,274
Accountancy, payroll and pension administration	-	-	374	-	374
Depreciation	-	4,644	-	-	4,644

	152,392	1,974,437	13,679	167,432	2,307,940

Reallocation of support costs	16,743	150,689	-	(167,432)	-

Reallocation of governance costs	1,368	12,311	(13,679)	-	-
Total expenditure 2021	170,503	2,137,437	-	-	2,307,940

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2021

Notes to the financial statements

5b Analysis of expenditure (prior period)
		Charitable activities Capacity building and advocacy
	Raising funds	Direct costs	Governance costs	Support costs	Total 2020
	£	£	£	£	£
Staff costs (Note 7)	153,353	1,061,200	-	145,595	1,360,148
Project costs including grants payable	-	223,929	-	-	223,929
Staff cover, recruitment and training	-	6,753	-	575	7,328
Travel and subsistence	346	39,631	-	24,752	64,729
Office supplies and rents	-	46,263	-	8,199	54,462
Events, meetings, conferences inc. mentoring	-	40,003	-	9,811	49,814
IT, databases and telephones	-	9,250	-	5,466	14,716
Marketing costs	-	30,851	-	14,705	45,556
Insurance, legal and banking	-	876	13,263	-	14,139
Audit	-	-	15,300	-	15,300
Accountancy, payroll and pension administration	-	-	7,496	-	7,496
Depreciation	-	2,652	-	-	2,652


	153,699	1,461,408	36,059	209,103	1,860,269

Reallocation of support costs	20,910	188,193	-	(209,103)	-

Reallocation of governance costs	3,606	32,453	(36,059)	-	-
Total expenditure 2020	178,215	1,682,054	-	-	1,860,269

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2021

Notes to the financial statements

----- Start of picture text -----
6 Net income for the reporting period
This is stated after charging:
2021 2020
£ £
Depreciation 4,644 2,652
Auditor’s remuneration (excluding VAT): 11,274 12,750
----- End of picture text -----

7 Analysis of staff costs, trustee remuneration and expenses, and the cost of key management personnel

Staff costs were as follows:
	2021	2020
	£	£
Salaries and wages	1,291,902	1,201,685
Social security costs	128,392	124,105
Pension costs	34,199	34,358
	1,454,493	1,360,148


The following number of employees received employee benefits (excluding employer pension costs and employer national insurance contributions) during the reporting period between:
2021 2020
No. No.
£80,000 - £89,999 2 2

The total employee benefits, including pension contributions and employer’s national insurance, of the key management personnel were £369,419 (2020: £349,373).
The charity trustees were not paid and did not receive any other benefits from employment with the charity in the reporting period (2020: £nil). No charity trustee received payment for professional or other services supplied to the charity.

8 Ex-gratia payments

No ex-gratia payments were made during 2020/21 (2019/20: £nil).

9 Staff numbers

The number of employees (head count based on number of staff employed) during the reporting period was as follows:

	2021	2020
	No.	No.
	36.9	34.2

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2021

Notes to the financial statements

10 Related party transactions

Pinsent Masons LLP, the charity’s Solicitors, is a related party of Sported Foundation by virtue of Trevor Watkins, a Trustee of Sported Foundation, being a partner in Pinsent Masons LLP. During the reporting period, there were no transactions with Pinsent Masons LLP.

We Play are a related party of Sported Foundation by virtue of Simon Cummins being Chair of both. During the prior year We Play raised invoices totalling £80,000 for a social media campaign which was part of the Sport England LSEG project. This amount was all paid in the year and no amount is outstanding at the year end.

Khilna Shah, who is a co-opted member of the Finance and Audit Committee, is married to the CFO of the Football Foundation, one of our funders where we received income of £10,000 in the year (2020:£nil) and he is also a trustee of Women in Sport, one of our project partners.

Richard Lewis, who acted as a Trustee in the year, is a director and one of the ultimate controlling parties of The Black Heart Foundation that made donations to Sported in the years ended 31 March 2021 and 2020.

Aggregate donations from Trustees were £50,000 including gift aid (2020: £267,875). Aggregate donations in kind from related parties were £nil (2020: £nil).

11 Taxation

The charitable company is exempt from corporation tax as all its income is charitable and is applied for charitable purposes.

12 Tangible fixed assets
	Computer equipment	Total
	£	£
Cost or valuation
At the start of the reporting period	41,669	41,669
Additions during the reporting period	4,568	4,568

At the end of the reporting period	46,237	46,237

Depreciation
At the start of the reporting period	27,461	27,461
Charge for the reporting period	4,644	4,644

At the end of the reporting period	32,105	32,105

Net book value
At the end of the reporting period	14,132	14,132

At the start of the reporting period	14,208	14,208

All of the above assets are used for charitable purposes.

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2021

Notes to the financial statements

----- Start of picture text -----
13 Debtors
2021 2020
£ £
Trade debtors 40,908 8,277
Other debtors 6,949 11,915
Prepayments 24,270 11,350
Accrued income 75,693 60,494
147,820 92,036
----- End of picture text -----

14 Creditors: amounts falling due within one year
	2021	2020
	£	£
Trade creditors	56,478	60,527
Taxation and social security	37,183	33,637
Other creditors	21,341	22,015
Accruals and deferred income	74,604	85,417
	189,606	201,596

15 Creditors: amounts falling due over one year	15 Creditors: amounts falling due over one year
		2021	2020
		£	£
Loan	from WCVA	13,857	-
		13,857	-

16a Analysis of net assets between funds (current period)	16a Analysis of net assets between funds (current period)
		General unrestricted	Restricted	Total funds
		£	£	£
Tangible fixed assets		14,132	-	14,132
Net current assets		671,302	311,085	982,387
Creditors: amounts falling due over one year		-	(13,857)	(13,857)
Net	assets at the end of the year	685,434	297,228	982,662

16b Analysis of net assets between funds (prior year)	16b Analysis of net assets between funds (prior year)
			Restricted	Total funds
		£	£	£
Tangible fixed assets		14,208	-	14,208
Net	current assets	(140,911)	155,171	14,260
Net	assets at the end of the year	(126,703)	155,171	28,468

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2021

Notes to the financial statements

17a Movements in funds (current period)
	At 1 April 2020	Income & gains	Expenditure & losses	At 1 March 2021
	£	£	£	£
Restricted funds:
Baillie Gifford - Supporting Scotland	-	40,000	(26,666)	13,334
Barclays	-	36,000	(36,000)	-
City Bridge Trust	-	84,000	(84,000)	-
Clothworkers Foundation	-	5,067	(5,067)	-
Foundation Scotland	-	4,914	-	4,914
Garfield Foundation	-	50,000	(50,000)	-
GLA Open Doors	-	128,000	(75,579)	52,421
Halifax Foundation for Northern Ireland	3,659	4,000	(7,659)	-
Halifax		8,290	(210)	8,080
London Marathon - Women and Girls	4,548	63,200	(65,777)	1,971
Moondance Foundation	-	40,000		40,000
National Lottery - Young Start	-	24,936	(12,462)	12,474
National Lottery Covid Fund	-	70,900	(70,900)	-
Nike	10,889	88,022	(27,749)	71,162
Ronson Foundation	56,258	-	(56,258)	-
Santander - volunteering	-	25,000	(3,870)	21,130
Sport England LSEG	54,817	652,289	(707,106)	-
Sport England Tackling Inequalities Fund	-	250,000	(250,000)	-
SCVO	-	10,861	(10,861)	-
Sport Collective	-	35,088	(35,088)	-
Sport Wales	-	32,100	(820)	31,280
Steve Morgan Foundation	25,000	-	(25,000)	-
WCVA	-	41,572	(1,110)	40,462
Other	-	-	-	-
Total restricted funds	155,171	1,694,239	(1,552,182)	297,228

Unrestricted funds:
General funds	(126,703)	1,567,895	(755,758)	685,434

Total unrestricted funds	(126,703)	1,567,895	(755,758)	685,434

Total funds	28,468	3,262,134	(2,307,940)	982,662

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2021

Notes to the financial statements

17b Movements in funds (prior year)
	At 1 April 2019	Income & gains	Expenditure & losses	At 31 March 2020
	£	£	£	£
Restricted funds:
Baillie Gifford - Supporting Scotland	-	40,000	(40,000)	-
Big Lottery Fund Wales - TSS: Strengthening the Sport for Development Sector in Wales	22,692	12,380	(35,072)	-
City Bridge Trust	-	10,000	(10,000)	-
City Charitable Trust	-	50,000	(50,000)	-
Comic Relief - Volunteer Programme	(9,162)	30,579	(21,417)	-
Comic Relief Women and Girls Programme - Project 51	20,390	3,391	(23,781)	-
Halifax	-	9,760	(6,101)	3,659
Nike	-	86,578	(75,689)	10,889
London Marathon - Women and Girls	32,036	126,800	(154,288)	4,548
Ronson Foundation	39,285	50,000	(33,027)	56,258
Sport England Big Volunteer	6,103	-	(6,103)	-
Sport England LSEG	-	592,315	(537,498)	54,817
Sport Northern Ireland - Engage Her	4,479	5,643	(10,122)	-
Sport Northern Ireland - Include Project	(456)	3,883	(3,427)	-
SCVO	-	1,063	(1,063)	-
Steve Morgan Foundation	-	30,000	(5,000)	25,000
Other	-	2,500	(2,500)	-

Total restricted funds	115,367	1,054,892	(1,015,088)	155,171

Unrestricted funds:
General funds	(199,469)	917,947	(845,181)	(126,703)

Total unrestricted funds	(199,469)	917,947	(845,181)	(126,703)

Total funds	(84,102)	1,972,839	(1,860,269)	28,468

Purposes of restricted funds

Funds which are derived from grants awarded to the charity for specific projects are held as restricted funds. Grants received during the year are transferred into restricted funds and expenditure on specific projects is transferred out of restricted funds. A brief description of each of the main projects funded from restricted funds is provided below.

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2021

Notes to the financial statements

18 Funds and income sources

A brief description of the use of each major source of funding and project is shown below.

Baillie Gifford - Supporting Scotland: This funding has supported Sported’s work with groups in Scotland to become more sustainable and effective. Barclays - Supporting Community Football: Emergency funding for groups delivering football activities to young people, especially girls. Big Lottery Fund Wales - Strengthening the Sport for Development Sector in Wales: This multi year grant has enabled the charity to expand its work in Wales, focusing on Sport for Development groups in deprived communities to make them stronger and more sustainable. City Bridge Trust, the funding arm of The City of London Corporation’s charity, Bridge House Estates (1035628) - Connected Communities: Launch and embed new community-led Connected Communities model in London aimed at improving social integration through grassroots sport by building the capacity, resilience and partnerships of community groups. City Charitable Trust: Donation supporting Sported’s work in Scotland. Clothworkers Foundation: Funding to purchase new laptops. Comic Relief - Volunteer programme: Supports the charity’s volunteer function including recruitment and training of volunteers and a ‘light touch’ service which provides timely, short-term support for member groups to assist with a specific area of need. Comic Relief - Project 51: This grant is part of Comic Relief’s Levelling The Field programme. Sported is working with Women in Sport to increase the capacity of our members to engage and increase female participation in sport. CVC - Funding including to distribute grants to Sported members in Northern Ireland and Wales. Football Foundation: Provide consultation to three selected Football Foundation funding applicants. Provide support to each site on community consultation and engagement so LSEG audiences co-produce the offer on each site. Foundation Scotland - Fundraising SOS: To employ additional staff members to roll out bespoke training and support on fundraising and grant applications for grass root community groups. Garfield Weston Foundation: Funding for core costs in Wales. Greater London Authority - Open Doors: Opening school facilities to provide sport and physical activity opportunities for vulnerable young people. Halifax Foundation - So What?: Members given 4 regional workshops, 12 groups matched with a mentor to develop Theory of Change and impact measurement plan. Halifax Foundation - Re-start: Funding to cover core costs to support groups to restart following Covid. Halifax Foundation - Skilled: Upskilling volunteers and members by developing a training package to support the Sported network. London Marathon - Women and Girls: A project with the London Marathon Charitable Trust focusing on increasing participation amongst women and girls specifically within London and Surrey but also across our wider membership. London Sport/GLA - Sport Unites - Organisational Support and Development: Building and sharing best practice sustainably amongst community sports groups across London . London Sport - Satellite Clubs: Supporting Sported members to develop sustainability plans following their funded activity as a satellite club. Moondance Foundation: Funding for core costs in Wales. National Lottery Community Fund Young Start Programme - Project 21: Funding to support community groups in Dundee to address inequality in sport and to promote inclusion for disabled young people. National Lottery Covid Fund: Funding to deliver activities specifically aimed to support communities through the COVID-19 crisis and the funding will support organisations facing acute financial difficulties as a result of the pandemic. NIKE - Future Leaders in Sport Programme: a programme to empower 13 inspirational young BAME people (aged 16-30) who are passionate about harnessing the power of sport to promote equality. Proctor and Gamble: Fuel Her Future P&G Always campaign featuring Sported as charity partner. Funds to provide Sported groups with a kit pack and grants to support their activities with women and girls. Ronson - Education and Development Programme: A project focussed in London to use the power of sport to divert the most marginalised young people away from the dangers of knife crime and youth violence. Santander: Virtually connect Santander staff with community sports groups across the UK, to allow their skills to positively impact the current and future ability of communities to meet the needs of their young people. SCVO - Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations - Community Jobs Scotland: Funding to employ a new administrator role in Scotland to support delivery.

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2021

Notes to the financial statements

Sport England funded consultancy work by Sport Collective: Amount paid by Sported Foundation to Sport Collective and reimbursed by Sport England. The consultancy work looked at Sported becoming more financially sustainable.

Sport England - Big Volunteer: Working alongside Team London, Greater London Volunteering, London Marathon Events and Volunteer Centres to support volunteers into our member clubs following volunteering at The Big Half.

Sport England - Building Capacity and Contribution to LSEG Target: Building the capacity of community groups in bottom 20% IMD to engage more 16+ LSEG participants in sport and physical activity.

Sport England Seconded Staff: Payment for staff that were seconded to Sport England for 12 months.

Sport England - Tackling Inequality Fund: Distribute funds to Sported members in most immediate need across all regions LSEG/BAME/ Disability focus.

Sport Northern Ireland - Engage Her: funding of a pilot project to enable Sported to work together with Women In Sport to develop an understanding of engagement issues in Northern Ireland.

Sport Northern Ireland - Include - disability pilot working with Angel Eyes. 4 groups across NI provided with direct capacity-building support to improve their understanding around visual impairment in sport. In addition, Angel Eyes young people (living with visual impairment) supported groups to address challenges in accessibility, creating an inclusion action plan.

Sport Wales - Member Engagement: Funding to increase volunteer and member engagement. Volunteers will engage with a cohort of members and connect with them on a monthly basis.

Steve Morgan Foundation: Award of a grant for the role of North Wales Development Officer.

WCVA - Welsh Council for Voluntary Action - Third Sector Resilience Fund: Funding to employ a Fundraising Manager for Wales and to increase knowledge and capacity of Sported members to access a diverse range of funding streams.

Funds in deficit

Occasionally payments for projects are received in arrears of project payments being made. In these instances the charity pays for the continuing work out of the unrestricted fund and the late funder payment then clears the fund in deficit. As at 31 March 2021 and 31 March 2020 there were no funds in deficit.

Transfers between funds

There were no transfers between funds in 20/21 or 19/20.

19 Legal status of the charity

The charity is a company limited by guarantee and has no share capital. The liability of each member in the event of winding up is limited to £1.

Sported Foundation | Year ended 31 March 2021

~~Contents~~

~~Message from our chair~~

“It’s THE most pro-active organisation I’ve come across.” **

**“It’s the dedication in helping you when you need it. It’s a key point with Sported – nothing is ever too much.” ***

~~Our objectives~~

Our objectives

What we do

How we do it

~~Our Impact~~

Our activities

Regional support & networking

Volunteer support

Member services & benefits

Grant distribution

Bespoke programmes & partnerships

Sported’s Capacity Measurement Tool

~~Communuty Pulse~~

Phase 1 - initial challenges

Overall, biggest challenge is maintaining wellbeing of participants

Phase 2 – Priorities over next 6 – 12 months

~~Our impact~~

Operations, partnerships and projects

Partnerships are key to creating greater impact through community sports

Our partnerships include:

So what?

Girls unite

Scottish FA

Steve Morgan

Satellite clubs

Barclays

~~TAMHI~~

Tackling Awareness of Mental Health Issues

Example Project ~~Ensuring survival~~

Funded by

What we did

Our impact

Southchurch Park, Bowls Club

Over 53%

Example Project ~~Covid-19 response~~

Funded by

OUR IMPACT

WHAT WE DID

96%

Example Project

Funded by

~~Nike Future Leaders~~

12

12

Insight

Research released this year

1. Impact of Covid-19 on grassroots groups

2. Inclusive community groups

3. Racism in grassroots sport

4. Grant funding for grassroots groups

Communications & marketing

Media coverage

Ambassadors

Website

Influencing

Social media

Member and volunteer communications

~~Our impact~~

The Times & The Sunday Times Christmas appeal

What we will do

£650k donations

Diversity & Inclusion

~~Plans for the future~~

demonstrate integrity

commit to inclusion

~~Financial review~~

Principal risks and uncertainties

Going Concern

Reserves policy

Structure, governance, and management

Governing document

Trustees

Board diversity

Board evaluation

Reporting

Contents

Message from our chair

“It’s the dedication in helping you when you need it. It’s a key point with Sported – nothing is ever too much.” *

Our objectives

Our Impact

Communuty Pulse

Our impact

TAMHI

Example Project Ensuring survival

Example Project Covid-19 response

Nike Future Leaders

Our impact

Plans for the future

Financial review