2023/24 Trustees’ report and financial statements
For the year ended 31 March 2024
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Equally Ours was formerly called the Equality and Diversity Forum Company Number: 06464749Charity Number: 1135357
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| Contents | Page |
|---|---|
| Reference and administrative information | 4 |
| Trustees’ annual report | 5-23 |
| Independent examiner’s report | 24 |
| Statement of financial activities | 25 |
| Balance sheet | 26 |
| Statement of cash flows | 27 |
| Notes to the accounts | 28-36 |
We would like to thank all our funders for their commitment and support:
AB Charitable Trust, Access – the Foundation for Social Investment, Barrow Cadbury Trust, City Bridge Trust (via projects with Media Trust and Inclusion London), Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, John Ellerman Foundation, The Legal Education Foundation, MOPAC, Trust for London. All who commissioned our consultancy services during the year (details in the report). And all who provided grants or membership fees to sustain the activities of the Funders for Race Equality Alliance, for which we are proud to provide the secretariat (see the list at page 35).
We would also like to thank The Property Ombudsman, St John’s Catholic School, Advent of Change and Ribston Hall High School for their kind donations.
We are also very grateful to Herbert Smith Freehills for their generous pro-bono advice and support.
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EQUALLY OURS REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION 2023/24
COMPANY NUMBER 6464749 CHARITY NUMBER 1135357 Sonali Naik KC, Chair, co-opted, appointed 29 April 2024 Jess McQuail, Chair, co-opted , resigned 1 February 2024 Julie Bishop, Vice-chair then interim Chair, elected Mohammed Ibrahim Ali, Treasurer, co-opted Andrea Simon, elected, resigned 11 October 2023 Chris Whitwell, co-opted, resigned 20 September 2023 TRUSTEES AND DIRECTORS Catherine Burton, elected Colin Davidson, elected Kudsia Batool, elected Natalie Cresswell, elected Sarah Mann, elected Zarin Hainsworth Fadaei, elected REGISTERED OFFICE The Foundry, 17 Oval Way, London, SE11 5RR INDEPENDENT EXAMINER AGP Consulting, Q West, Great West Road, Brentford, TW8 0GP Unity Trust Bank plc, Nine Brindleyplace, 4 Oozells Square, BANKERS Birmingham, B1 2HB
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EQUALLY OURS TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT 2023/24
1. About Equally Ours
Equally Ours’ vision is a just and compassionate society, where we are free from harm and can all contribute and flourish, whoever we are, whatever we believe in, and whatever we do or don’t have. A society that is equally ours.
Our mission is to advance people’s equality and human rights in the UK. We do this by connecting people and organisations, and using our collective evidence, expertise, strength, and influence to create change.
Equally Ours is a network of member organisations, many of whom are themselves networks. We also work with public bodies, the private sector, think tanks, and lawyers. We value the relationships we have with parliamentarians across parties, ministers and civil servants, and with the Equality and Human Rights Commission, contributing through dialogue, collaboration and, where needed, constructive challenge.
2. The context for our work
In 2023-2024, the external landscape for equality and human rights was marked by significant political, legal, and societal challenges. Equally Ours played a vital role in strengthening the sector and broader civil society through member engagement, policy advocacy, and strategic change initiatives. With the looming general election, cost of living crisis, and a volatile legal environment, our focus was on protecting hard-won rights, addressing deep-seated structural inequality, and preparing for future threats and opportunities.
Our work was crucial in protecting rights by harnessing the power of our network to speak truth to power and minimise harm in the face of key legislative developments, such as the Retained EU Law Bill, attempts to dilute the Human Rights Act, and draft immigration legislation that undermined basic protections. Meanwhile, rising calls for the UK’s withdrawal from the European Convention on Human Rights further exacerbated these concerns.
At the same time, economic and social challenges, including the ongoing cumulative impacts of the cost-of-living crisis and increasing climate breakdown, disproportionately affected the communities that we and our members come from and work for.
Against this backdrop we successfully advanced rights in practice, as exemplified by our groundbreaking project with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) on reframing how rape and sexual offences are understood and prosecuted, which is already influencing meaningful change within the justice system.
There were promising opportunities to achieve progress through collaboration and partnerships, including with the Funders for Race Equality Alliance (FREA) to tackle systemic racial injustice, with organisations like Just Fair on everyday economic and social rights, and with environmental groups to embed a pan-equality, human rights-based approach to climate mitigation and adaptation. These showed that by uniting across sectors, we can drive systemic solutions to racial injustice, climate breakdown, and economic inequality. These collaborations provided a hopeful path forward, creating avenues to make lasting progress.
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EQUALLY OURS TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT 2023/24 (Cont'd)
3. Our Strategy
Together for social justice, our strategy, sets out our bold agenda for progressing social justice to 2032. It enables us to raise our sights above the maelstrom of day-to-day politics and policy changes, and focus on what we believe we can realistically achieve over the longer term.
It explains how together we can advance people’s equality and human rights by influencing national policy on the big, long-term, structural issues of
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The law – protecting and improving the law on equality and human rights, and its application in public policy and practice. This continues to be the bedrock of Equally Ours’ work.
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Climate – we will work with members and the wider equality and human rights field to prepare for and respond to climate breakdown and emergencies, and embed climate justice into policy making.
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Investment – we will focus on increasing investment in solutions to the root causes of inequality and rights abuse. This includes investment by government at every level, trusts, foundations and other funders.
Sector strength: The strategy also emphasises the continued importance of our role in equipping and strengthening both the sector and the influence of Equally Ours as a network of networks involving thousands of organisations and community groups who provide services and advocate for policy change at local, regional and national levels.
We do this in multiple ways, – through thought leadership and policy advocacy, supporting members in their own work and giving them a space to support each other, and bringing together members, stakeholders and partners to make common cause, strategic communications and targeted programmes to increase the field’s impact and sustainability.
4. Our Network and Members
Our policy network continues to be at the heart of everything we do. Their insights and contributions shape our direction, and we work tirelessly to ensure they have the resources, knowledge, and connections to drive positive social change.
Our policy network is made up of members and associate members from the civil society who take a rights-based approach to equality and human rights, and observers from governmental and statutory organisations who engage constructively with Equally Ours’ work.
Together with our members, we identify shared policy issues, and develop, agree and recommend shared policy solutions that can benefit many communities, as well as take into account intersectionality. Using our combined voice, we raise these shared issues and solutions with policy makers, as well as highlight issues that are specific to individual groups, so that policy makers can take a comprehensive and holistic approach. This is the best approach to avoid ineffective piecemeal or divisive policymaking. The board decided to pause pending and new membership applications, pending the results of our structural review to be conducted during the year.
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EQUALLY OURS TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT 2023/24 (Cont'd)
5. Our impact: What we achieved in 2023/24
With our members - and partners - Equally Ours continued to play a vital role in strengthening the equality and human rights sector and wider civil society through member engagement, policy advocacy, and a range of strategic change initiatives.
Given the challenging socioeconomic and political context, much of our policy advocacy work with and on behalf of members focused on speaking truth to power to prevent or minimise reductions in rights at UK parliamentary level.
In our annual membership survey, 8 out of 10 members expressed high levels of satisfaction. The majority noted they became better equipped to influence policy and legislation, with a stronger understanding of intersectional issues and how to integrate them into their work. Many mentioned how they gained a better understanding of a rights-based approach and/or applying it to their daily activities, while others reported increased confidence in communicating effectively on equality, human rights, and social justice.
Members also cited the importance of the connections they have made through Equally Ours. As one member said, their favourite aspect of being part of the network is "a supportive community of organisations from across the sector finding how best to collaborate." By nurturing these meaningful connections, we supported our members to work collectively towards shared goals, strengthening the entire sector and amplifying the impact of their efforts.
Our strategic change initiatives enabled us to directly achieve progressive change – and equip others to do so – through a range of grassroots, local, devolved and UK routes. For example, our strategic communications training programmes enabled 40 organisations to advocate more effectively for change, with 91% reporting a positive impact for their work and 100% reporting they would recommend the programmes to others. As the secretariat to the Funders for Race Equality Alliance, we supported funders to audit and analyse £63.4m of grants, and partnered in piloting Reimagining Horizons, an innovative programme to build community and support for Black and racialised people working within the funding sector through learning new skills and knowledge and facilitation of a safe space.
Working together, the focus of our work across our three strategic themes of the law, climate, and investment was on protecting and advancing human rights, addressing structural inequality, and preparing for future opportunities and challenges, including the next general election. Details of our activities and impact are given by strategic themes below.
5.1 The Law
Protecting human rights
A key element of our policy advocacy on equality and human rights law was on convening and representing our members’ and communities’ priorities in order to prevent the rollback of rights. This included:
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EQUALLY OURS TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT 2023/24 (Cont'd)
5.1 The Law (cont'd)
Retained EU Law Bill: In May 2023 we collaborated on parliamentary briefings and joint letters, with our colleagues at the TUC, Greener Alliance and the Civil Society Alliance, during Report stage and Third Reading in the Lords and at ‘ping pong’ stage (where the Commons either accepts or rejects Lords’ amendments).
The highest risk element of the bill was successfully removed, ie immediate revocation of all EUderived legislation on 31 December 2023 unless a minister decided otherwise. However, this remains a deeply flawed and dangerous Act of Parliament. It will allow ministers to dispose of primary legislation by using statutory instruments (secondary legislation) without needing parliamentary scrutiny.
UK Human Rights: Following several attempts over the past few years to replace the Human Rights Act with a watered-down Bill of Rights, the government confirmed in June that it had decided not to proceed with the Bill of Rights. Advocacy by Equally Ours in collaboration with and on behalf of our members and with broader human rights networks contributed to this result.
This was great news, but we then had to pivot to
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protecting rights in the Human Rights Act from being disapplied in other government bills, and resisting the use of immigration legislation to undermine the human rights framework, in particular the Illegal Migration Bill and Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill, including through providing joint briefings and statements at key stages of the parliamentary process. Our December Human Rights and Equality Strategy Group meeting focused on the Rwanda Bill & Treaty, and the wider threats and challenges to the rule of law. We were joined by speakers from JCWI and JUSTICE.
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uniting against increasingly frequent calls for the UK’s withdrawal from the European Convention on Human rights by a growing number of Conservative MPs.
Advancing rights
We also led or collaborated on a range of initiatives aimed at positively advancing people’s equality and human rights in law and in practice.
Crown Prosecution Service (CPS): Through this major groundbreaking project, which we began the previous year, we researched public understanding of ‘rape and serious sexual offences’ (referred to by the CPS as RASSO) and the law on consent, including in the digital context; and developed guidance on improving how the CPS, and potentially the wider criminal justice system, conceptualise and talk about RASSO. As part of the CPS’ strategy to improve prosecution of RASSO, we produced:
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A literature review, working with University of Teeside
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Discourse analysis, with University of Lancaster
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Focus groups and national public attitude survey, with Survation
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Tested reframes and messages
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An in-depth report of public understanding of RASSO; an in-depth report on reframing how rape is communicated; and a summary report.
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EQUALLY OURS TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT 2023/24 (Cont'd)
5.1 The Law (cont'd)
The Director of Public Prosecutions approved the summary report and implementation plan. The CPS began widespread implementation of the work, with Equally Ours providing quality assurance through a consultancy retainer, for example revising the legal guidance and CPS training for advocates and prosecutors in court.
The CPS publicly launched the summary findings, and we contributed to the CPS’ communications content which generated a significant level of media coverage, including Radio 4 Women’s Hour, The Times, Telegraph, Mirror, Express, Daily Mail, Wales online, Evening Standard, Cosmopolitan and ITV online.
General election: Following on from work to influence Labour party pre-election policy development in the previous year, we began preparing for the general election, due to be held in 2024 or early 2025 at the latest.
This included convening and equipping members through our November 2023 Policy Forum meeting on ‘The path to the general election - identifying key equality & human rights priorities’ with speakers from our members Disability Rights UK, Fawcett Society and Runnymede Trust, and our March 2024 Policy Forum meeting focused on charity campaigning ahead of the next general election, at which we were joined by speakers from Stone King, Sheila McKechnie Foundation, Friends of the Earth and the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
We also conducted a member survey about the election, and held 1-1 meetings with Children’s Rights Alliance, The Equality Trust, Black South West Network, Friends Families and Travellers, Rene Cassin and UNISON. As a result we established a dedicated Elections working group that met regularly to develop a shared set of priority asks to make of all parties, messages and principles to advancing equality and human rights through a structural, pan-equality lens, ahead of the general election and in the subsequent first phase of a new Government.
We participated in the Civil Society Alliance and the Wales Council for Voluntary Action conference: ‘Strengthening Civil Society Impact on Westminster in the Years Ahead’ in March 2024, which was attended by around 100 delegates from civil society organisations from around the UK as well as a number of leading academics. The keynote speech was from David TC Davies, the Secretary of State for Wales. We facilitated a breakout session on campaigning and the general election and spoke on the panel for the final plenary session.
Hate crime: We are contracted by the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) to convene and coordinate the activities of the London Hate Crime Stakeholder Reference Group and its quarterly steering group. This is the key route for over a hundred London community groups to share their lived experience and experience from providing direct services to community members, and to influence and improve MOPAC, the Metropolitan Police Service and Transport for London’s work on preventing and responding to hate crime, and to hold them to account.
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EQUALLY OURS TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT 2023/24 (Cont'd)
5.1 The Law (cont'd)
June: the Stakeholder Reference Group meeting focused on LGBTQIA+ hate crime, including speakers from Galop, TransActual and LGBT Consortium, and Stop Funding Hate.
September: focused on race-based hate crime, with presentations from The Monitoring Group, Stop Hate UK and HOPE not hate. UpskillU and CARG also presented on their work.
December: focused on third party support for victims of hate crime. We were joined by London’s Victim Commissioner, Clare Waxman, and Victim Support and Stay Safe East who offer support services to victims of hate crime.
March: focused on the Crime Prosecution Service and the criminal justice system.
The Scottish Human Rights Bill: We submitted a response to the Scottish government’s consultation on its Human Rights Bill, which represents an opportunity to advance and strengthen the law. We spoke on two panels at the Human Rights Consortium Scotland conference about the bill and the 25[th] anniversary of the Human Rights Act.
Economic, cultural and social rights: Throughout the year we collaborated with Just Fair, one of our members, on their campaign to advance economic, cultural and social rights in the UK:
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We focused our June policy forum meeting to build member understanding of and engagement with ensuring that these rights are fulfilled. We had speakers from Greater Manchester Poverty Action, Just Fair, the Human Rights Consortium Scotland, and the Trussel Trust.
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Our strategic communications team were commissioned by Just Fair to develop the framing for the campaign: ‘everyday rights‘ to bring economic, cultural and social rights come alive for ordinary people. This was introduced at their conference in Westminster in November. While leading the debate Philip Alston, erstwhile UN Human Rights Council Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, commented 'I love the framing of everyday rights!' 'The framing of everyday rights is perfect – it gets it.' Since then, the Scottish Human Rights Consortium have also started using ‘everyday rights’ framing when talking about ECSR.
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In January 2024 we organised a joint parliamentary briefing chaired by Caroline Nokes MP, chair of the Women and Equalities committee, about economic social and cultural rights and framed them as an equality issue, including lived and grassroots experience voices from members. Our speakers were Sado Jirde, the Director of Black South West Network, Emma Nuttall, Policy Manager at Friends Families and Travellers and Morgan Wild, Interim Director of Policy at Citizens Advice.
Covid inquiry: Having previously influenced the COVID inquiry staff team to develop specific engagement with equality organisations, we were members of an equality engagement forum run by the inquiry team to enable effective communication and engagement with civil society groups working on equality issues. This group met in September ahead of the commencement of module 2 of the inquiry. Due to successful campaigning by civil society, which we supported in collaboration with the Runnymede Trust, the inquiry appointed specialist advisers on equality issues, including experts on disability and race discrimination.
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EQUALLY OURS TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT 2023/24 (Cont'd)
5.1 The Law (cont'd)
GEO/Cabinet Office equality hub: We held regular 1-1 meetings with the GEO/Equality Hub, exchanging information on our respective priorities. An official from the Equality Hub joined our bimonthly Policy Forum meetings to facilitate dialogue with members. We participated in a Cabinet Office roundtable on the government’s Inclusion at Work initiative, to share insights from our sector.
5.2 Climate
The focus of our work on climate this year was on building a knowledge base of member activity and priorities; conducting a field analysis of relevant activity in civil society, devolved administrations, combined authorities and local authorities; and developing relationships with environmental umbrella groups.
This formed the basis for analysis of Equally Ours’s potential contribution with and for our network, in particular in articulating and promoting a human-rights based approach to climate adaptation and mitigation.
We helped influence a number of organisations to adopt more of a rights-based approach in their work on climate. This included NCVO and ACEVO who incorporated a rights-based approach in their general election manifesto draft in this space; NCP committed to using a rights-based approach in their work and ensuring those with the least voice have resources to take part in decision making on climate policy; Friends of the Earth began using a rights-based approach both with local groups and in gaining support for their healthy environment bill; the Equality and Human Rights Network in Scotland are focusing on rights and climate change.
We continued to seek funding for focused work on climate, including developing a partnership project on climate and extreme weather events (the application for which was unsuccessful) and a draft plan for further advocacy work. Our policy lead in this important area retired in March 2024, and unfortunately no further work could be committed to until funding is secured.
5.3 Investment
Tackling structural inequality requires changes to how funding is channelled, rebalancing investment away from purely addressing symptoms to investing in advocating for and delivering solutions to the systemic causes.
Funders for Race Equality Alliance (the Alliance): Equally Ours has provided the secretariat for the Alliance since 2019, helping to shape and deliver on its ambitious strategy, which aims to increase funder investment in Black and Minoritised-led organisations and is a pivotal force in driving systemic change through racial justice funding.
We report to the Alliance steering group, drawn from a range of trusts and foundations. We ran four steering group meetings and four member meetings over the year. We made progress on the Alliance’s four strategic goals as follows.
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EQUALLY OURS TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT 2023/24 (Cont'd)
5.3 Investment (cont'd)
- Increase funders’ understanding of and focus on racial justice
The June 2023 Alliance member meeting explored funders’ role in re-imagining policing and the criminal legal system, with expert contributions from Hibiscus Initiatives and UNJUST CIC to inform and mobilise funders on the urgent need for systemic change, followed by small group discussion and report back.
The September Alliance member meeting explored Lankelly Chase’s decision to redistribute all their assets over the next five years after concluding that traditional philanthropy is ‘function of colonial capitalism’. Lankelly Chase’s CEO, Julian Corner, presented the journey, learning and steps forward from this decision, followed by an extensive Q&A and group discussion.
At the February 2024 Alliance meeting, Nicole Walsh – a Youth Development Specialist, an Advocate for Trauma Informed Practice, and a Gender Based Violence Consultant – explored how funders can empower social change and racial justice beyond financial assistance.
The March 2024 Alliance meeting showcased the findings of Alliance’s 2023 audit results, and provided training on the updated 2024 audit tool. Funders who had previously completed the audit conversed with funders who had not, sharing knowledge and encouragement. There was high attendance from non-member funders.
- Increase and improve funding to address racial justice
The Racial Justice Audit was designed to deliver on our objective to increase sustainable and flexible funding for Black and Minoritised-led organisations.
We launched the report on the results of the 2023 annual funding audit, with our Twitter post receiving over 1000 views. The audit revealed that 52% of grants analysed were aimed at addressing the root causes of racial inequity through campaigning and influencing, and the majority (61%) were aimed at alleviating the symptoms through service provision. It highlighted areas for improvement in targeting funding to achieve systemic change.
We launched the 2024 annual audit, along with a toolkit that contained detailed help notes, a presentation and a training video, to help funders complete the audit with more ease.
3. Increase Black and Minoritised people’s representation
In 2021, FREA’s scoping exercise had identified a pressing need to address the low retention of Black and Minoritised people within the funding sector. In 2023 we launched the pilot for ‘Reimagining Horizons’, in partnership with Future Foundations UK and Ten Years Time, and funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
The pilot was part of our 3[rd] objective: increasing Black and Minoritised representation at all levels and developing safe, accessible, and inclusive work culture that is sustainable in progression and opportunities. Its purpose was to build community and support within the sector through learning new skills and knowledge and facilitation of a safe space.
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EQUALLY OURS TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT 2023/24 (Cont'd)
5.3 Investment (cont'd)
We received over 50 applications for Reimagining Horizons; 16 applicants were successful and completed the programme.
Feedback included “an excellent programme with first class speakers/contributors, one I will surely endorse – keep up the good work.” We evaluated the programme and will seek to extend it in 2024/25.
Enterprise Development Programme: In 2019 we set up the equality sector Enterprise Development Programme (EDP), in partnership with Access - the foundation for social investment, and it ran until March 2024. In 2023/24 we successfully delivered the Alumni phase of the programme, through which we:
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disbursed £145,000 in grants and match-trading grants to alumni organisations in the programme, working with Social Investment Business. Organisations involved included: Proud2Be CIC, Wish, Birmingham Disability Resource Centre, Friends, Families & Travellers, MindOut Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Queer (LGBTQ) Mental Health Service, ICENA Ltd, People First (Self Advocacy), AVA, North East Law Centre, Ideal for All, TourettesHeroCIC and YBY Learning.
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provided a leadership programme to 14 organisations, aimed at people who needed additional support to manage and grow their enterprises more effectively, focused on those new to this space.
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provided 1-1 coaching to ten organisations: seven accessed coaching on sales and business development, and three financial coaching.
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co-organised and hosted the Cross-sector EDP conference in Birmingham. With 110 participants from across six strands of the EDP, the event was a great success. The conference was an opportunity to celebrate the successes of the EDP, and sessions focused on possible next steps for our cohorts, including blended finance models, and social investment.
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ran a session on EDI in enterprise grant making for the Enterprise Grants Taskforce, which included Power to Change, the National Lottery, Heritage Lottery, Crowdfunder, NatWest Community Social, Social Enterprise UK, Voice4Change and the Cripplegate Foundation.
We produced a video highlighting the reflections of some of the part participants in the equality sector EDP on their journey of learning and growth, and the care and solidarity they describe experiencing in the programme. Some of those featured are People First, Proud2Be, Support and Action Women’s Network (SAWN), Coffee Afrik, and You be You.
- We also created a cross sector showcase catalogue to promote the enterprises of the participating EDP organisations. The Showcase serves as a platform to market their services and products to potential customers, social investors, and other organisations. We shared it with over 5,000 contacts thought our various networks.
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EQUALLY OURS TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT 2023/24 (Cont'd)
Enterprise Development Programme (Cont'd)
The video and catalogue are legacy products for the programme through which we will continue to highlight both the brilliant enterprises that took part and the successes of the programme. The programme ended because enterprise development was not refunded under Access’s Community Enterprise Growth Plan (CEGP) due to changes to the CEGP’s strategic focus.
In 2024/25 we will seek alternative sources of income to build on the legacy of the EDP.
Civil Society Group (CSG): Equally Ours was an active member of the Civil Society Group, taking part in the Strategic Oversight Group and in the wider Civil Society Group meetings, all of which are designed to:
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use our collective power to influence government in all parts of the UK
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promote and support programmes of beneficial change within the sector
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maintain a mechanism for cooperation and communication
£101.5m of funding was announced at Spring Budget for a VCSE Cost of Living Fund. As part of the CSG we became members of the DCMS’s Advisory Board for the Fund, which aims to enable join-up between the design and delivery of the Fund and the VCSE sector. We provided advice on equality-proofing the fund so that equality and other marginalised groups could use it.
5.4 Sector strength
Strategic communications capacity building and consultancy
We delivered a combination of grant-funded and consultancy projects, all aimed at equipping equality, human rights and poverty groups and wider civil society to advance people’s equality and human rights by applying strategic communications and narrative reframing techniques to the policy advocacy and communications. The projects were:
Reframing the narrative to improve public understanding of disability and Deaf and Disabled People’s Organisations (DDPOs): We are partners in this co-production
project led by Inclusion London (one of our members) and Inclusion Barnet and funded by the City Bridge Trust. Deaf and disabled people in the UK currently face a lack of public understanding or even hostility, and DDPOs are not well recognised beyond the sector. This project aims to change that, by offering new narratives that give insight and foster respect and inclusivity and equipping DDPOs across London to apply strategic communications in their advocacy and campaigns, and in influencing funders and policy-makers.
Building on progress the previous year, in 2023/24 we:
- conducted and reported on a London-wide quantitative survey looking at public opinion of disability and DDPOs, and exploring the impact of six new narratives that we co-designed with the DDPO partners using reframing and strategic communications techniques
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EQUALLY OURS TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT 2023/24 (Cont'd)
5.4 Sector strength (Cont'd)
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produced and launched in-depth and summary practical guides - ‘How to talk about disability’ - that incorporate the research insights and messages. The partners shared the guides amongst London DDPOs to support implementation of the new narratives.
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trained staff from the eight partners through a tailored version of our Communications for Change programme, to gain an in depth understanding of reframing and learn to use the findings in their work. Over 90% of participants reported a positive impact for their organisation and 100% would recommend the programme to others.
Feedback from participants included:
‘We’ve already started to use the gap analysis and messaging for our new campaign’
‘The accessibility was one of the best of any training session I have been on. I found the teaching style really excellent.’
‘Really great training and facilitation: clear, accessible, expert and supportive’
The work was launched at an event on 29 February 2024, attended by 60 DDPOs. At the launch we announced that Equally Ours will provide programme of three workshops to interested DDPOs wishing to implement the work, followed by one-to-one consultancy support for participating organisations - these were immediately fully booked and will begin in April 2024.
‘Why Me?’: Exploring expert and dominant narratives about restorative justice: ‘Why
Me?’ is one of our members and a restorative justice charity specialising in supporting victims of hate crime to access restorative justice.
They commissioned Equally Ours to help identify gaps in thinking between expert thought on restorative justice, and those of legal or charity professionals who choose not to refer clients to restorative justice services for support. We upskilled the Why Me? team in strategic communications, conducted stakeholder research and a gap analysis. We produced a report for ‘Why Me?’ to use to seek further funding to develop and test new narratives that give victims of crime and a wider range referring agencies confidence in restorative justice.
Just Fair – communicating economic social and cultural rights (ESCR): Just Fair is one of our members and a charity working to promote economic social and cultural rights (ESCR) such as access to food and water, housing, education, health services, work and the arts or cultural expression.
The charity commissioned support from Equally Ours to explore messaging to communicate these concepts, using existing reframing work. One of their team has also attended the Communications for Change course to gain an understanding of strategic communication. We produced a messaging guide, and a training session for their team to support implementation.
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EQUALLY OURS TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT 2023/24 (Cont'd)
End Violence Against Women (EVAW): Reframing relationships, sex and health
education: EVAW is one of our members and the national network of charities working to end violence against women and girls (VAWG). We developed and delivered an introductory workshop for their members, tailored to support organisations facing a media backlash around relationships sex and health education.
Zero Tolerance: contracted Equally Ours to undertake reframing consultancy exploring men's attitudes to gender equality, violence against women and girls (VAWG) and ways to encourage men to care about VAWG issues. The work began in February 2024 and will conclude in the autumn.
Equality Trust: We delivered two strategic communications training courses for our member the Equality Trust’s staff and trustees, prompted by their co-CEO attending a communications for change training course. This commission complements early work with the Structural Inequality Alliance (hosted by Equality Trust), exploring the possibility of reframing research into structural inequality.
Communications for Change project (Trust for London): Communications for Change is Equally Ours’ long-standing programme of training that equips London-based equality charities to improve their influence through reframing and strategic communications.
Over the year, 27 representatives from 20 organisations attended the cohort programme. Engagement was strong throughout the workshops, and around two thirds of charities chose to join the optional community of practice to help them implement what they learnt.
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100% of participants said they would recommend the training to others
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83% of respondents said that the sessions had a positive impact on their organisation
Participants reported they increased their knowledge, skills and confidence in strategic communications, and built stronger bonds across the sector.
Organisations successfully applied what they learnt. For example, City of Sanctuary produced a workbook and short workshop for members of the public discussing refugees and human rights with people who disagree with them. 120 people attended their first workshop.
Stronger Voices (with Media Trust): Stronger Voices is a City Bridge Trust funded project led by Media Trust. Equally Ours has been a delivery partner for this project since its inception six years ago. This year we supported 20 charities and community groups to communicate more effectively with their audiences and raise the profile of their work in the media. The focus was on equipping user-led groups campaigning for systemic change and/or tackling structural inequality in their work for communities. Participating organisations included My Life My Say, Tower Blocks UK, Become, Migrant Democracy Project, Positively UK, and Headway East London. 100% of participants rated the learning workshop and consultancy support we provided as very useful or useful.
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EQUALLY OURS TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT 2023/24 (Cont'd)
5.5 Equally Ours’ strength
Anti-racism programme: Equally Ours is committed to embedding anti-racism across all of our work. During the year we sought to get the balance right between leading from the top and coproduction, especially in terms of involving Black and racialised minority team members appropriately without the burden falling on them; and between reflection, learning and action. We contracted with the inchange consultancy to provide support at key points, including coaching to the Co-CEOs and an all-staff workshop in November to reset the agenda. An outcome of this was agreement resulting on a more phased step-by-step approach, including three staff-led workshops that we held from January to March 2024. Through these we developed our statement on anti-racism; identified key steps each team would take to embed anti-racism in their activities; explored how transparency and accountability operates in charities including through an anti-racist lens; reviewed our pay and wellbeing policies (which will be finalized in 2024/25); and agreed next steps for 2024/25 including further work with inchange on understanding power dynamics, and a workshop for trustees.
Organisational resilience and sustainability: The board agreed the scope of a structural review to be commissioned from external consultants. The aim is to review our organisational structure, roles, and membership in light of Together for Social Justice, our ten-year strategy, and to make recommendations for how we need to improve in order to be more sustainable and better equipped to deliver on the strategy. Recruitment of the consultant was delayed during the year due to a combination of staff ill-health and prioritisation of our anti-racism programme. It will start in summer 2024.
6. Structure, Governance and Management
Trustee board
Up to eight Equally Ours’ Trustees are elected by the members of the Equally Ours policy network; up to six can be co-opted.
Sarah Mann (Friends, Families and Travellers) and Zarin Hainsworth (NAWO) were elected by Equally Ours’ members and took office in October 2023.
Jess McQuail stood down in February 2024 as chair, with vice-chair Julie Bishop stepping up as interim chair while a new chair was recruited. Trustees Chris Whitmore and Andrea Simon stood down in July 2023 and October 2023 respectively.
17
EQUALLY OURS TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT 2023/24 (Cont'd)
Trustee board (Cont'd)
100% of our board members bring lived experience of one or more of the equality and human rights issues we work on, alongside extensive knowledge of equality and human rights together with experience of senior management and governance within the voluntary sector and other sectors. The Board and Equally Ours members are committed to ensuring that the Board maintains a diverse membership and possesses the skills and knowledge to enable Equally Ours to operate successfully, and we conduct an audit every year to help inform the elections and cooptions processes.
Trustees meet a minimum of four times a year and are responsible for the organisation’s overall strategy and governance and for proper use of its resources. Trustees pay close attention to the views of the member organisations but act independently.
Equally Ours is both a registered charity and a company limited by guarantee. It is governed by its Memorandum and Articles of Association, which were approved and adopted in January 2008 (upon registration as a charitable company) and as amended in November 2018.
Staff team
The staff in 2023/24 were:
-
Ali Harris, Co-Chief Executive, 0.6fte job-share
-
Clare Moody, Co-Chief Executive, 0.6fte job-share
-
Kamille Leon, Office and Resources Manager, full-time
-
Kathryn Quinton, Communications Director, full-time
-
Cat Whitehouse, Head of Strategic Communications, full-time
-
Tansy Hutchinson, Head of Policy, full-time
-
Liz Shannon, Parliamentary and Policy Advisor, 0.6fte, retired March 2024
-
Lukia Nomikos, Community Engagement Officer, full-time
-
Tracey Agyeman, Head of Programme, then Director, FREA, full-time
-
Yusra Ali, Programme Officer FREA, full-time, until July 2023
-
Kadija Hussein, Programme Officer for FREA, full-time, September- December 2023
-
Tanishtha Sen Gupta, Enterprise Development Programme Manager, full-time, until March 2024
-
Ellora Kowalczyk, Enterprise Development Programme, paid intern, 2 days/week
Key management personnel were the Co-Chief Executives, the Communications Director and FREA Director. Their pay and remuneration were set at the time of their recruitment or promotion by benchmarking similar roles in comparable organisations.
All fundraising activity for Equally Ours was carried out by the staff.
18
EQUALLY OURS TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT 2023/24 (Cont'd)
7. Public benefit
In carrying out its work Equally Ours pays due regard to Charity Commission guidance concerning public benefit. The Trustees are satisfied that all Equally Ours’ activities in 2023/24 were of public benefit and that the charity’s funds were spent to achieve public benefit.
8. Members
Members of the Equally Ours policy forum are formally members of the charity and play a governance role.
Age UK British Institute of Human Rights Children’s Rights Alliance for England Disability Rights UK Discrimination Law Association End Violence Against Women Coalition Equality Trust Fairness Foundation Fair Play South West Fawcett Society Friends, Families and Travellers Gender Identity Research & Education Society Humanists UK Law Centres Network Maternity Action Migrant Centre NI Mind National Alliance of Women’s Organisations Race on the Agenda Royal National Institute for Deaf People Royal National Institute of Blind People Runnymede Trust SignHealth Stonewall Trades Union Congress Traveller Movement UK Race and Europe Network UNISON Women’s Budget Group Women’s Resource Centre
19
Associate members
Amnesty International UK Black South West Network Business Disability Forum Carers UK Caritas Social Action Network Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales Child Poverty Action Group Chronic Illness Inclusion Citizens Advice Consortium of LGBT Voluntary and Community Organisations Employers for Carers Employers Network for Equality & Inclusion Equal Rights Trust EqualiTeach Faith-based Regeneration Network FiLia Galop HEAR Inclusion London Inclusion North Just Fair Law Society Liberty Migrants’ Rights Network National Association of Welfare Rights Advisers National Survivor User Network Northern Ireland Council for Racial Equality Refugee Council René Cassin Restorative Justice for All Royal College of Nursing Stop Funding Hate Unite The Union Voice 4 Change England Why Me? YESS Law Young Women’s Trust
20
8. Membership list (cont'd)
Observers
Centre on Migration, Policy and Society Equality and Human Rights Commission Government Equalities Office Greater London Authority Independent Police Complaints Commission Inter Faith Network Joint Committee on Human Rights of the UK Parliament JUSTICE Local Government Association Macmillan Cancer Support Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government Ministry of Justice Office of the Committee for Employment & Social Security, States of Guernsey Scottish Human Rights Commission The Office of the Children’s Commissioner for England UN Women UK Unicef UK Women and Equalities Select Committee
21
EQUALLY OURS TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT 2023/24 (Cont'd)
9. Financial review
During 2023/24 Equally Ours secured income of £737,070 (2023: £737,198), made up of £477,494 (2023: £571,825) for specific projects and £259,576 (2023: £165,373) of unrestricted income. This represents a decrease in total income of £128 (2023: increase of £177,574) compared to the prior year. Expenditure over the year was £680,187 (2023: £725,946), resulting in an overall net income of £56,883 (2023: net income of £11,252). At the end of 2023/24 the unrestricted funds balance decreased to £-2,887 (2022/23: £-8,665), whilst the balance of £363,238 (2022/23: £312,133) on the restricted fund balance has all been committed for expenditure during the forthcoming period.
10. Reserves policy
The funds of the charity are held in the accumulated fund for use in line with the objectives of the trust. The Trustees have established a policy whereby the unrestricted funds not committed (the free reserves) held by the charity should aim to be three months of planned expenditure, which is currently £125,555. Closing down costs will be significantly less than this. The free reserves have decreased during the year to a deficit of £2,887 (2023: deficit of £8,665).
11. Risk management
The Trustees review the risks facing the charity on a regular basis, in particular the necessity to secure sufficient income to cover both core and project costs. In 2023/24 the charity identified new accountancy and book keeping support providers and brought our payroll, pension and employee benefits provision in house, which was successfully concluded at the end of March 2024. The Trustees continued to review, update and monitor the risk register.
The Trustees reaffirmed that Equally Ours’ other main assets are its reputation and relationships and that consequently some of its main risks lie in these areas. Management of these risks is in many cases a matter of a commitment to communication and attention to our style and tone in relationships.
The Trustees believe that it is appropriate to prepare the accounts on a going concern basis.
22
EQUALLY OURS TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT 2023/24 (Cont'd)
12. Statement of Trustees’ responsibilities in relation to the financial statements
The Trustees (who are also the directors of Equally Ours for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the Trustee’s annual report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and regulations. Company law requires the Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Under that law the Trustees have elected to prepare financial statements in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice (United Kingdom Accounting Standards and applicable law). Under company law, the Trustees must not approve the financial statements unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company and the results 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
-
observe the methods and principles in Charities SORP
-
make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent
-
state whether applicable UK accounting standards have been met
-
prepare the financial statements on a 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 are sufficient to show and explain the charitable company’s transactions and 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 charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
In preparing the Trustees’ report advantage has been taken of the small company’s exemption.
Approved by the Trustees and signed on their behalf by
Sonali Naik KC Chair of Trustees 03 October 2024
23
INDEPENDENT EXAMINER’S REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES OF EQUALLY OURS
I report to the charity’s Trustees on the accounts of the company for the year ended 31 March 2024.
This report is made solely to the charity's Trustees, as a body, in accordance with Regulation 31 of the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008. My work has been undertaken so that I might state to the charity's Trustees those matters I am required to state to them in an independent examiner's report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, I do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charity's Trustees as a body, for my work, for this report, or for the statement I have made.
Responsibilities and basis for report:
As the charity’s Trustees of the Company (and also its directors for the purposes of company law) you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 (‘the 2006 Act’).
Having satisfied myself that the accounts of the Company are not required to be audited under Part 16 of the 2006 Act and are eligible for independent examination, I report in respect of my examination of your charity’s accounts as carried out under section 145 of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the 2011 Act’). In carrying out my examination I have followed the directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5) (b) of the 2011 Act.
Independent examiner’s statement
Since the Company’s gross income exceeded £250,000 your examiner must be a member of a body listed in section 145 of the 2011 Act. I confirm that I am qualified to undertake the examination because I am member of the ICAEW, which is one of the listed bodies. I have completed my examination. I confirm that no matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe:
-
accounting records were not kept in respect of the Company as required by section 386 of the 2006 Act
-
the accounts do not accord with those records the accounts do not comply with the accounting requirements of section 396 of the 2006 Act
-
other than any requirement that the accounts give a ‘true and fair view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination’
-
the accounts have not been prepared in accordance with the methods and principles of the
-
• Statement of Recommended Practice for accounting and reporting by charities applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102).
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
Forhad Ahmed FCA
03 October 2024
AGP Consulting, Q West, Great West Road, Brentford, TW8 0GP
24
EQUALLY OURS
STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES (including THE INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT) FOR YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
| Notes | Unrestricted Restricted |
Total **Total ** |
|---|---|---|
| Funds Funds |
2024 2023 |
|
| £ £ 172,497 465,519 63,722 11,975 23,357 - |
£ £ 638,016 585,375 75,697 129,573 23,357 22,250 |
|
| 259,576 477,494 |
737,070 737,198 |
|
| 253, 798 426,389 |
680,187 725,946 |
|
| 253,798 426,389 |
680,187 725,946 |
|
| 5,778 51,105 (8,665) 312,133 |
56,883 11,252 303,468 292,216 |
The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year. All incoming resources and resources expended derive from continuing activities.
The notes on pages 28 to 36 form part of these financial statements.
25
EQUALLY OURS BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31 MARCH 2024
| EQUALLY OURS BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31 MARCH 2024 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Note | Note | 2024 | 2023 | |
| £ | £ | |||
| FIXED ASSETS | ||||
| Tangible fixed assets | 7 | 2,619 | 4,719 | |
| CURRENT ASSETS | ||||
| Debtors | 8 | 224,282 | 120,250 | |
| Cash at bank and in hand | 162,880 | 307,266 | ||
| 387,162 | 427,516 | |||
| CREDITORS | ||||
| Amounts falling due within one year | 9 | 29,430 | 128,767 | |
| TOTAL NET ASSETS | 360,351 | 303,468 | ||
| ~~FUNDS~~ | ||||
| Unrestricted funds | 11 | (2,887) | (8,665) | |
| Restricted funds | 11 | 363,238 | 312,133 | |
| 360,351 | 303,468 |
The charitable company is entitled to exemption from audit under Section 477 of the Companies Act 2006 for the year ended 31 March 2024.
The members have not required the charitable company to obtain an audit of its financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2024 in accordance with Section 476 of the Companies Act 2006.
The Trustees acknowledge their responsibilities for:
(a) ensuring that the charitable company keeps accounting records that comply with Sections 386 and 387 of the Companies Act 2006; and
(b) preparing financial statements which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company as at the end of the financial year and of its surplus and deficit for each financial year in accordance with the requirements of Sections 394 and 395 and which otherwise comply with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 relating to financial statements, so far as applicable to the charitable company.
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the provisions of Part 15 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small companies.
Sonali Naik KC
Chair of Trustees
Company registration number: 06464749
26
EQUALLY OURS
STATEMENT OF CASHFLOWS AS AT 31 MARCH 2024
| Net income / (expenditure) for the year Adjustments for: Depreciation of tangible fixed assets (Increase) in debtors Increase/(decrease) in creditors Net cash generated from operating activities Purchase of tangible fixed assets Net cash used in investing activities Change in cash and cash equivalents in the reporting period Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the reporting period Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the reporting period |
2024 £ 2023 £ 56,883 11,252 2,100 1,945 (104,032) (29,249) (99,337) 56,175 |
|---|---|
| (144,386) 40,123 |
|
| - (827) |
|
| - (827) |
|
| (144,386) 39,296 307,266 267,970 |
|
| 162,880 307,266 |
The notes on pages 28 to 36 form part of these financial statements.
27
EQUALLY OURS NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
1 . ACCOUNTING POLICIES
General information
Equally Ours is a registered charity, number 1135357, and a charitable company limited by guarantee, number 06464749, incorporated in England and Wales. The address of its registered office is The Foundry, 17 Oval Way, London, SE11 5RR.
Basis of accounts
The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention with items recognised at cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant note(s) to these accounts. 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 (FRS102) (effective 1 January 2019) – (Charities SORP(FRS102)), the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS102) and the Companies Act 2006.
The financial statements are prepared in pound sterling (£) and the figures are rounded to the nearest £.
Equally Ours constitutes a public benefit entity as defined by FRS 102.
At the time of approving the accounts, the Trustees have a reasonable expectation that the charity has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. The Trustees therefore believe that it is appropriate to prepare the accounts on a going concern basis.
At the end of September 2024, the charity had £218,377 cash available.
Salaries make up a significant portion of the overall forecast expenditure for the next 12 months, however grant income is often directly linked to this. Staff are allocated to specific projects and the charity would be reactive to changes in staff requirements arising from project changes.
Company status
The charitable company is a company limited by guarantee. The members of the company are the Trustees named on page 4. In the event of the charitable company being wound up, the liability in respect of the guarantee is limited to £1 per member of the company.
Incoming resources
Income is recognised in the period in which the fund is entitled to receipt, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount can be measured with reasonable certainty.
28
EQUALLY OURS NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
1 . ACCOUNTING POLICIES (CONT'D)
Donated services and facilities
Donated services and facilities are recognised as income when any conditions associated with the donated item 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. On receipt, donated services and 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.
Resources expended
Expenditure is included on an accruals basis. Expenditure is allocated directly to the activity to which it relates, including support costs which can be identified as being an integral part of direct charitable expenditure.
Operating leases
Rentals applicable to operating leases are charged to the Statement of financial activity over the period in which the cost is incurred.
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.
Fund accounting
Unrestricted funds - These are funds which can be used in accordance with the charitable objects at the discretion of the Trustees.
Restricted funds - These are funds that can only be used for particular restricted purposes within the objects of the charity.
Pension
Contributions to the charity’s defined contribution pension scheme are charged to the statement of financial activities account in the year in which they become payable. The assets of the scheme are held separately from those of the charity in an independently administered fund.
Tangible fixed assets
Depreciation is calculated to write off the cost less estimated residual value of fixed assets over their estimated useful lives.
Computer equipment – 25% reducing balance
29
EQUALLY OURS NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
1 . ACCOUNTING POLICIES (CONT'D)
Significant judgments and estimates
In the application of the charity's accounting policies, the directors are required to make judgments, estimates and assumptions about the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. The estimates and associated assumptions are based on historical experience and other factors that are considered to be relevant. Actual results may differ from these estimates.
The estimates and underlying assumptions are reviewed on an ongoing basis. Revisions to accounting estimates are recognised in the period in which the estimate is revised if the revision affects only that period, or in the period of the revision and future periods if the revision affects both current and future periods.
There were no judgment or material estimation uncertainties affecting the reported financial performance in the current or prior year.
2 . TRUSTEES’ REMUNERATION
No Trustee has received any remuneration during the year £nil (2023: £nil). See Note 5 for Trustee expenses.
| 3. UNRESTRICTED INCOME FROM GRANTS AND DONATIONS Joseph Rowntree Foundation John Ellerman Foundation Advent of Change Esmée Fairbairn Foundation The AB Charitable Trust Others RESTRICTED INCOME FROM GRANTS AND DONATIONS Access Foundation Trust for London The Legal Education Foundation Media Trust (City Bridge Trust) Barrow Cadbury Trust City Bridge Trust MOPAC Joseph Rowntree Charitable Foundation Dr Marten Foundation Youth endowment fund Mission 44 OTHER INCOME Membership fees, training, etc. |
2024 2023 - - 46,667 46,666 - - 100,000 75,632 25,000 - 830 - |
|---|---|
| 172,497 122,298 |
|
| 181,426 166,277 53,000 26,250 72,800 97,833 - - 37,750 82,967 17,648 51,468 12,895 - - 27,282 - 3,000 - 2,000 - 6,000 |
|
| 465,519 463,077 |
|
| 23,357 22,250 |
|
| 23,357 22,250 |
30
EQUALLY OURS NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
4. ANALYSIS OF EXPENDITURE ON CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES
| Unrestricted £ Restricted £ Salaries 167,789 318,225 Other staff costs 13,590 (136) General office costs 15,900 345 Independent examination & accountancy fees 17,806 - Legal fees 6,753 - Bank charges 858 - Insurance 2,720 - Service charge & rent 22,462 6,000 Events venues & related costs 650 2,048 Research & publications 116 20,778 Campaigning - - Website 1,463 - Consultancy 103 - Travel & subsistence 713 26 Depreciation 2,100 - Bad debt provision 200 - Access and interpretation costs 495 - Subscriptions and membership costs 2,329 - Program costs (2,249) 79,103 |
2024 £ 2023 £ 486,014 450,289 13,454 8,890 16,245 15,473 17,806 16,713 6,753 - 858 237 2,720 1,189 28,462 26,620 2,698 4,719 20,894 25,381 - - 1,463 3,179 103 (120) 739 976 2,100 1,945 200 2,183 495 375 2,329 3,747 76,854 164,150 |
|---|---|
| 253,798 426,389 |
680,187 725,946 |
5. EXPENSES AND FEES
5.1 Trustees’ expenses
| Number of Trustees who were paid expenses Nature of the expense Total amount paid 5.2 Fees for examination or audit of the accounts Independent examination Accounts preparation Total amount paid |
2024 2023 1 1 Travel Travel £ 78 £ 468 2024 2023 £ £ 2,400 2,400 2,600 2,600 |
|---|---|
| 5,000 5,000 |
31
EQUALLY OURS NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
6. STAFF
6.1 Staff Costs
| 6.1 Staff Costs | |
|---|---|
| Gross wages, salaries and benefits in kind Employer's National Insurance costs Pension costs Total amount paid |
2024 2023 £ £ 417,340 383,524 38,198 39,819 30,475 26,946 |
| 486,014 450,289 |
No members of staff received emoluments over £60,000, (2023: No member of staff received emoluments over £60,000)
6.2 Average number of full-time equivalent employees in the year.
Key management personnel included the Trustees, none of whom received any remuneration. The Co-Chief Executives for whom the total amount of benefit was £91,851 (2023: £90,093). The Communications Director received total amount of benefit of £55,920 (2023: £34,284). The total benefit being £147,771 (2023: £124,377), including employer’s National Insurance and employer’s pension contributions.
| 2024 | 2023 | |
|---|---|---|
| Average number of staff | 10.8 | 10.8 |
| Average number of FTE staff | 8 | 8 |
7. TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS
| Cost At 1 April 2023 Additions At 31 March 2024 Depreciation At 1 April 2023 Charge for the year At 31 March 2024 Net book value At 31 March 2024 At 31 March 2023 |
Computer equipment Total 8,399 8,399 - - |
|
|---|---|---|
| 8,399 8,399 |
32
EQUALLY OURS NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
8. DEBTORS
| Analysis of debtors Prepayments and accrued income Aged debtors Other debtors Total 9. CREDITORS AND ACCRUALS Analysis of creditors Accounts payable Accruals Other creditors Total |
Amounts falling due within one year 2024 2023 £ £ 74,108 48,441 144,752 65,317 5,422 6,492 |
|---|---|
| 224,282 120,250 |
|
| Amounts falling due within one year 2024 2023 £ £ 300 112,008 28,890 5,869 240 10,890 |
|
| 29,430 128,767 |
33
EQUALLY OURS NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024 10 MOVEMENT OF RESTRICTED FUNDS
| 2024 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fund | Fund | |||
| balances | Incoming | Resources | balances | |
| brought | Resources | expended | carried | |
| Earned income | forward | forward | ||
| City Bridge Trust | 15,040 | 17,648 | (16,730) | 15,958 |
| The Mayors Office for Policing And Crime MOPAC) |
21,955 | 12,895 | (23,523) | 11,327 |
| Crown Prosecution Service – Framing Research Project |
3,680 | 11,975 | - | 15,655 |
| Total funds - Earned Income | 40,675 | 42,518 | (40,253) | 42,940 |
| ~~Grants and donations~~ | ||||
| Barrow Cadbury Trust | 12,165 | 37,750 | (43,630) | 6,285 |
| Access | 98,884 | 181,426 | (102,656) | 177,654 |
| Trust for London | 9,948 | 53,000 | (55,670) | 7,278 |
| Joseph Rowntree Foundation (FREA) | 26,611 | - | (26,611) | - |
| Legal Education Foundation | 62,110 | 72,800 | (70,663) | 64,247 |
| FREA Grants (Secretariat) | 61,240 | - | (82,970) - | 21,730 |
| FREA Membership | - | 90,000 | (3,935) | 86,065 |
| Total funds - Grants and donations | 270,958 | 434,976 | (386,136) | 319,798 |
| Other income | 500 | - | - | 500 |
| Total funds - Restricted Funds | 312,133 | 477,494 | (426,389) | 363,238 |
| Fund | 2023 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| balances | Incoming | Resources | Fund | ||
| brought | Resources | expended | balances | ||
| Earned income | forward | ||||
| City Bridge Trust | - | 51,648 | (36,608) | f | d 15,040 |
| MOPAC | 41,590 | - | (19,635) | 21,955 | |
| CPS – Framing Research Project | - | 57,100 | (53,420) | 3,680 | |
| Total funds - Earned Income | 41,590 | 108,748 | (109,663) | 40,675 | |
| Grants and donations | |||||
| Barrow Cadbury Trust | 9,167 | 30,500 | (27,502) | 12,165 | |
| Access | 63,917 | 166,277 | (131,310) | 98,884 | |
| Trust for London | - | 26,250 | (16,302) | 9,948 | |
| Joseph Rowntree Foundation | - | 27,282 | (671) | 26,611 | |
| Legal Education Foundation | 21,502 | 97,833 | (57,225) | 62,110 | |
| Funders for Race Equality Alliance | 55,220 | 114,935 | (108,915) | 61,240 | |
| Total funds - Grants and donations | 149,806 | 463,077 | (341,925) | 270,958 | |
| Other income | 500 | - | - | 500 | |
| Total funds - Restricted Funds | 191,896 | 571,825 | (451,588) | 312,133 |
34
EQUALLY OURS NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024 11 FUNDERS AND UTILISATION
FUNDER
AB Charitable Trust Access Foundation Barrow Cadbury Trust Crown Prosecution Service Esmée Fairbairn Foundation Inclusion London John Ellerman Foundation Legal Education Foundation Media Trust (City Bridge Trust)
PURPOSE
Core funding Grant funding for enterprise development Grant funding towards Co-Chief Executives’ salaries Framing research project Contribution towards core costs of Equally Ours Reframing disability project Core funding Grant funding - protecting rights Grant funding - Stronger Voices programme
MOPAC
Trust for London
Hate Crime Project
Communications for Change strategic communications capacitybuilding programme
Funding received for the purpose of FREA activities
The following funders have contributed to the Funders for Race Equality Alliance (FREA) either through grants or membership fees, with Equally Ours serving as the secretariat:
Baring Foundation Denise Ramsey Clothworkers Coop foundation Barnwood Trust People’s Health Trust Youth Futures Foundation The Henry Smith Charity Lloyds Bank Foundation The Legal Education Foundation Indigo Trust Justice Together The AB Charitable Trust Smallwood Trust Cloudesley Impact on Urban Health Sported Youth Endowment Fund Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust
35
EQUALLY OURS NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
12. ANALYSIS OF NET ASSETS BETWEEN FUNDS
| Fixed assets Current assets Current liabilities Total Fixed assets Current assets Current liabilities Total |
Unrestricted Funds £ 2,619 Restricted funds £ - 23,924 363,238 (29,430) - - |
2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| £ 2,619 387,162 29,430 |
|||
| (2,887) 363,238 |
360,351 | ||
| Unrestricted Funds Restricted funds £ £ 4,719 - 115,383 312,133 (128,767) - |
2023 | ||
| £ 4,719 427,516 (128,767) |
|||
| (8,665) 312,133 |
303,468 |
13. OPERATING LEASE COMMITMENTS
At 31 March 2024 the Charity had future minimum lease payments due under noncancellable operating leases for each of the following periods:
| Not later than 1 year Later than 1 year and not later than 5 years |
2024 2023 £ £ 21,102 21,102 40,410 61,512 |
|---|---|
| 61,512 82,614 |
14. RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS
Clare Moody, the Co-Chief executive of the Charity received amounts totaling £Nil (year ended 31/03/2023: £Nil) and charged £Nil (year ended 31/03/2023: £Nil) during the year for consultancy services. Equally Ours owed Clare Moody £Nil (year ended 31/03/2023: £Nil) at the year-end date.
15. PRIOR YEAR FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
For better and consistent presentation, some of the disclosure notes in the prior year have been amended to conform with presentation in the current year. The core financial statements have not been amended.
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