2020-12-31-accounts - Remembering The Past, Resourcing The Future

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Remembering the Past, Resourcing the Future CIO (Registered Charity 1155014)

Trustees Report and Financial Statements for the period 1st January to 31st December 2020

Trustees Report 2020

Charity name: Remembering the Past, Resourcing the Future

Other names the charity is known by : RPRF

Registered charity number: 1155014

Charity’s Principal address: Room 11B, The Linskill Centre, Linskill Terrace, North Shields, Tyne & Wear, NE30 2AY

Names of charity trustees who manage the charity:

David Hodgson - Treasurer Emily Tench Ron Hillaby Kath Smith (from 17th June 2020) Chris Wray (from 13th November 2020).

Structure, governance and management

Description of charity’s trusts

Type of governing body: Constitution adopted 16[th] December 2013

How the charity is constituted: Charitable Incorporated Organisation

Trustee selection methods: Trustees are appointed for a period of three years.

Charitable Objectives:

Advance the education of the public in Tyne and Wear in particular but not exclusively by: Educating school children through the collection and dissemination of memories, experiences and thoughts of older people and establishing and maintaining a community archive recording social history through the medium of oral history and reminiscence.
Promote social inclusion for the public benefit by preventing people from becoming socially excluded, relieving the needs of those people and assisting them to integrate into society.

Additional governance information

Risk assessment has made us aware of the importance of protecting all participants at every stage of the memory collection process and especially the importance of data protection. There is a vulnerable adults and equal opportunities policy in place which guides all of our work.

In 2019 our policies and procedures in relation to General Data Protection Regulation were upgraded. This was in addition completion of a review of all other policies and procedures relevant to our activities.

RPRF is a member of North Tyneside VODA, the local voluntary development agency, which provides support and guidance on governance and good practice in employment matters. RPRF is also a member of the Oral History Society which provides guidelines for good practice in the collection and archiving or oral histories.

All trustees give their time voluntarily and received no remuneration of other benefits.

Trustees meetings

All trustees give their time voluntarily and received no remuneration or other benefits. Kath Smith and Chris Wray joined the Board during the year and the Board met on 4 occasions in 2020, both in person and virtually, receiving quarterly reports on activities and financial updates. Trustees spent additional time managing the impact of the pandemic on the organization.

Achieving Public Benefit

Trustees have complied with the duty in Section 4 of the 2006 Charities Act to have due regard to guidance on public benefit. The focus of our activities continues to be the alleviation of loneliness, social and digital isolation faced by older people in North Tyneside. The method used to achieve this is the collection by volunteers of older people’s memories of the cultural and social life of the area and the dissemination of the history collected in this way to the wider community. Details of these activities and achievements are laid out in this report.

Activities and Achievements of the Charity during 2020

The picture of activities which has emerged this year is totally different from 2019 because of the impact of the covid19 global pandemic. RPRF could easily have been overwhelmed as the scale of the pandemic became clear but thanks to the quick thinking of some key volunteers we were able to continue to provide activities and to develop the resilience of the organization. The early months of lockdown were stressful but, looking back on the year now the year was a time of innovation, experimentation, opportunity and reward.

The best way to describe this is to include an extract from a blog written in July 2020 by Kath Smith for the Oral History Collective at Newcastle University:

“I have a calendar on my desk that is frozen on the date 23rd March 2020, I don’t feel able to change it because it represents a pivotal point in Remembering the Past’s existence. This was the day that our building closed its doors and some very quick decisions had to be made about how to run the organisation from that point on. No mean feat when you’re a micro charity. In practice this meant grabbing the laptop and some sound equipment and taking it all home. I often wonder what happened to the milk in the office fridge. On 24th March the volunteers took up the challenge of turning the laptop on my kitchen table into a connected virtual office. First it was Team Viewer, then in quick succession they restored our email networks, installed Zoom and MS365 with all of its capabilities. Suddenly the challenge wasn’t about survival but of development and opportunity.

Operationally we’ve used the freedom to change that CV19 offered to introduce a new project management system and improved communication links between volunteers. Strategically we’ve used the time to reflect on the huge gaps that have emerged between those who are digitally included those who are not. Care homes are a salutary, but not exclusive, example.

Was it easy – not always, was it fun – not always, was it worthwhile – amazingly so. Things will never be the same again and, so far as Remembering the Past goes, that’s absolutely fine.”

Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service

That blog was written as the pandemic was at its height but later in the year, and after some intense activity, which is described later in this report, the achievement which gave us the most pride was being nominated for, and eventually being awarded, the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service, the highest award given to volunteer groups across the UK, recognising outstanding work by volunteer groups to benefit their local communities. The nomination was put forward by a group of local organisations which was very affirming and the assessment process, carried out under covid restrictions, was a unique experience. We were one of two organisations in North Tyneside who were successful and feel very proud to have been recognised in this way.

Spirit of North Tyneside Award

We were also delighted to receive a Spirit of North Tyneside Award from North Tyneside Council. In her award letter the Elected Mayor, Norma Redfern, made the following comments which gave the volunteer team a great boost:

“I would like to offer my sincere thanks to you all for the support you have offered during this difficult year, particularly for some of our most vulnerable residents. I have received some truly excellent feedback about the work you have carried out. I understand that following lockdown, with some members considered age-vulnerable or who were either shielded or were shielding others there was no option to “become digital”. From week one in lockdown, your volunteers committed to continue managing the organisation, delivering heritage talks and capturing local memories to share on your website. Linskill Centre have asked that I recognise the work that you have carried out to allow some of our older community members find magic in lockdown, turning the negative impact of COVID and lockdown into an opportunity to learn something new, take on a new set of skills and remain positive, socially supportive of each other”.

As a result of the piece of work that she is referring to we managed to host digital events that reached 269 people, many of whom we had never met before.

The Contribution of Volunteers

RPRF is an organisation which only exists because of the work done by its committed team of volunteers. It does not employ staff. We are grateful for the many hours they have spent collecting and disseminating memories, developing new local history resources and managing the day to day running of the organisation. Without this valuable contribution of time, energy and expertise the organisation would not exist. In 2020 the team’s contribution exceeded 2500 hours, the greatest investment of time to date in our organisation’s history. This reflects the exceptional commitment of all of the volunteers but especially a key group who spearheaded our response to the pandemic.

Some volunteers rightly stepped back from active work to shield and self isolate during the height of the pandemic. Our interview teams were especially affected by this and we will wait and see how many people have the confidence to come back and meet people on a face to face basis. We are anticipating that it will be a long process for people to regain confidence.

Unexpectedly, four new volunteers joined the organisation in 2020 having seen our website. A virtual recruitment process was developed to bring them on board formally. Several of these are younger people who were caught up in lock down and working from home. Their commitment has been wonderful and they have brought new skills, talents and life experience into the volunteer mix. They have also indicated that they will continue to volunteer with us when they are back in their full time roles.

RPRF offers the following benefits to volunteers:

· Varied and rewarding volunteering opportunities to ensure that the RPRF community history archive is maintained, expanded and made publicly available to as wide an audience as possible and in as many formats.

· A non-threatening introduction to every aspect of IT technology through activities relating to collecting memories for the organisation’s website and archive.

· An opportunity to develop high levels of skills in oral history collection, archiving and dissemination. These are recognised to be at professional or skilled level by National Heritage Fund criteria.

· An opportunity to influence the development of new projects and develop new organisational skills as well as the core skills of the organisation.

Meeting the Public

We would normally expect to meet approximately 800 people per year on a face to face basis but none of this activity took place once the March lockdown came into effect. The saddest part of early 2020 was receiving calls from groups we regularly work with cancelling talks, presentations and memory collection events. This was particularly upsetting as we were ready to roll out a whole new programme of awareness raising events across North Tyneside during the year. This work was grant funded and we’d like to thank the grants team at the Community Foundation for the support which they gave us to reconfigure how the grant could be used in the light of the pandemic.

It was essential that new ways of reaching people were quickly worked out as it became clear that the need to offer activities to people experiencing social isolation was as urgent as ever. With this in mind we focused on delivering our presentations virtually. After some intense training and with great trepidation we were able to deliver our first virtual talk on 28th May, opening up a whole new way of engaging with people.

There were several learning points from these events. Principally we realised there was a different, additional audience of people who enjoyed participating, people who were isolated at home but who could access the events through their Ipads, laptops and mobile phones. It was especially pleasing to see family members supporting older relatives to access the events. We learned that people quickly gained confidence to share their life experience in the virtual space and that people who were more confident with digital skills encouraged beginners and helped them gain confidence. Feedback from events showed that people had gained confidence to join other online events after attending ours.

One of the main things that came out of the survey was how participants valued the social interaction that the online talks gave them, especially during the lockdown periods. People appreciated the opportunity to enjoy the past and share enjoyment with others. The events were great fun and feedback about the style and content was very positive. We also discovered from feedback that there were many comments such as these which inferred the level of isolation people were feeling:

“These sessions have been an activity to look forward to. An activity to share with others instead of feeling so isolated alone.”

“They have given me something to look forward to in an otherwise pretty empty calendar.” “These sessions have provided a significant part of my ‘social life’

Alongside of the success of our online offer there was a realisation that our usual audiences were missing out. This may have been because they were overwhelmed by the covid experience, but we know that lack of access to digital devices and confidence to use them played a part. Principally however it was access to in person social events which was being missed. Our challenge in 2021 will therefore be to re-engage with the local network of organisations where these people used to meet as well as maintaining an active online presence.

Finding and engaging with new audiences

2020 was the year that we were to undertake a significant re-engagement exercise in North Tyneside. Consultants had been engaged to support us in the work and plans were in place for a number of in person activities. All of these plans had to be abandoned. In consultation with the funders it was agreed that a new programme of virtual activities could be developed. Our first action therefore was to devise a way of carrying out an online community mapping exercise and delivering virtual activities to online communities. During July and August a brief was written and a marketing consultant with heritage and community expertise was appointed to write a marketing strategy for Remembering the Past. This strategy was finalised in September 2020 and we began implementing it from October 2020.

Our inactive Facebook page was re-energised thanks to a new volunteer who joined the RtP team during the lifetime of this project. A detailed community mapping exercise was undertaken to research and document active locally based online heritage groups on Facebook. A document detailing the group name and geographical area of all groups and their membership has been compiled. We discovered that the admin of one group in particular (Classic Photos Of Newcastle and of the East End with a membership of over 32K) had been sharing memories (giving credit) from the Remembering the Past website. These posts have been receiving a lot of interest (likes and comments with memories shared) so we quickly recognised the potential for us to do this ourselves once our marketing strategy is in place.

We also prepared to start a new Twitter profile from January 2021 as a way of reaching new audiences. These new social media channels have given us more reach and engagement opportunities with new audiences which we didn’t have before. They have also led to conversations with organisations which are new to us for future project opportunities as well as reengaging with existing networks and partnerships.

Volunteer development in 2020

In the past many volunteers have been happy to do what they were asked to do on a day to day basis. Volunteer meetings, training sessions and an annual awayday provided the conventional means of consulting on personal satisfaction with their roles and the work they were involved with. The pandemic, in conjunction with the loss of a paid staff role, has completely changed this style of working. Looking back on last year it is clear that the team has, in a number of different ways, taken on the challenge of leading and directing the work we do, while the trustees provide a strategic framework in line with our charitable objectives. We all agree that this major change would have taken years to achieve in the normal run of events. The following are a few examples of the way things have changed:

Technical/Digital Leadership

Our core technical team, supported by the trustees, took a series of key decisions at the beginning of lockdown which enabled two thirds of our volunteers to stay in contact with each other using virtual communications methods. They realised that this was the only way of keeping a core of the volunteers in touch with each other. They trained volunteers to use Zoom and Microsoft Teams and gave them the confidence and support for new volunteer groupings to set up. Teams has become a strong communications platform, enabling the volunteers to keep in touch, to train together and to run projects. This single initiative, made very early in the pandemic, set the tone for the other important developments which occurred during the year and which have all now been embedded in our style of working. It has been pleasing to see how other organisations have been impressed by the way we have embraced advanced digital technologies and continued to work effectively throughout 2020.

Developing an autonomous transcription team

This has been a really exciting development in 2020 as there is a wealth of material in our back collection that needs to be transcribed and published. Our existing team of transcribers has gained new members and they have worked together to create new systems of working. All this has been done in the virtual world and it has been fascinating to see the way the team members have grown in confidence to suggest new systems and to challenge methods that could be improved.

Establishing a Facebook and Twitter presence

Trustees took a strategic decision to have a Facebook and Twitter presence several years ago but were never able to put it into practice. In 2020 a combination of circumstances has meant that we had new volunteers with the right skills and confidence to make our presence felt on social media and also, thanks to a grant from the Kellett Fund, the support of an experienced community development practitioner to guide them to organisations who enjoy seeing our content. This combination is beginning to bear fruit now and the team are extremely enthusiastic about the results they are getting.

Plans for the Future

At the time of writing the organisation finds itself in a stronger position than could have been imagined this time last year. In February 2020 we had no idea what would happen to the organisation as a result of the pandemic or a plan to manage the situation. The actions of a few key volunteers set up the framework for everything that happened after that and the successes that have been outlined here. Because of this collegiate style of leadership and management trustees have been able to focus completely on keeping the underpinning structure of the organisation strong while the team kept delivering on promised and new work.

Risk Management

Financial Review

2020 is the first complete year of operation without having to raise funds to pay salaries, a period of adjustment in terms of fundraising. Applications to larger funders have been unsuccessful but we have been generously supported by local funders. We also received a welcome boost at the end of the year with the award of a grant for core costs from the Post Code Neighbourhood Trust. This grant has provided security for the organisation going into 2021, something which proved particularly timely as the implications of the pandemic began to sink in. Had this grant not been in place, bearing in mind the way in which the grant funding world pivoted towards providing Covid relief projects, trustees would have had to give serious thought to closing the organisation. Instead, our core financial security left us able to focus energies on building the structural resilience of the organisation. We’d also like to acknowledge the support of the Linskill Trust in the early stages of lockdown. They provided a 50% rent reduction for several months to us as a permanent tenant in the centre. This was most welcome and made us appreciate the advantages of being part of the Linskill family of organisations.

At a practical level one glaring weakness in our IT set up emerged as soon as the lockdown occurred and home working became the norm. We needed to replace an old laptop and buy equipment and licences to enable as many volunteers as possible to meet on Zoom and eventually Microsoft teams. Again, it was a local funder who came to our rescue, providing funds quickly and with the minimum of fuss. The benefit of this investment was massive, enabling us to develop online activities with confidence.

Again unexpectedly, we were encouraged during the year to receive several enquiries for our services that will generate unrestricted income. A pilot piece of work with Nexus to collect memories of the Tyne & Wear Metro transit system opened up an opportunity for more work which will get into full swing in 2021. As well as this RPRF is a Heritage Partner in North Shields’s Heritage Action Programme, providing community based memory collection activities. A pilot piece of work is planned for early 2021 and it is possible that a larger piece of work over a 30 month period will follow. This type of activity will balance our financial picture away from dependency on grant funding.

The charity’s policy on reserves

As Trustees we continue to take a cautious approach to running the organisation. As at 31st December 2020 we hold funds of £9,146 of which £1,974 is unrestricted.

Other financial information

In 2020 RPRF raised funds from the following charitable sources:
Community Foundation Tyne & Wear (Kellett Fund)	£9,600
R W Mann Trust	£1,000
Postcode Neighbourhood Trust	£5,070
The Yapp Charitable Trust	£1,000
In 2020 RPRF raised funds from the following sources as a result of fees for service:
Linskill Trust (talks programme)	£767
Nexus (Metro 2020 project)	£250

Compliance with Prevailing Law and Regulations

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in the notes to the accounts and comply with the charity’s governing document, the Charities Act 2011 and Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the financial reporting standard for Smaller Entities published on 16th July 2014.

Looking Forward

I began by saying that pre-2020 volunteers had a mainly passive engagement with the strategy and leadership of the organisation. One year on this has changed significantly for the better and the trustees’ have also changed their perspective on the role of the volunteers, acknowledging more fully their role in decision making. Remembering the Past has much more strength in depth and feeling of teamwork and camaraderie than it did in early 2020. It is fascinating to know that there are volunteers who joined the organisation in 2020 who have never met each other face to face but who work together to make decisions and get work done in a very effective way.

The pandemic has shown that many team members are willing and able to take on responsibility and there is an air of optimism and enjoyment within the group that will be a foundation for the future when things begin to get back to the new normal.

The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report,

Treasurer Trustee

On behalf of the Trustees

North Shields Library Club's Remembering the Past, Resourcing the Future Project

INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S REPORT

Report to the trustees of Remembering the Past, Resourcing the Future CIO

On accounts for 31 December 2020 Charity no 14 the year ended

Respective The trustees of the organisation are responsible for the preparation of responsibilities of accounts; they consider that an audit is not required for this year under trustees and section 144(2) of the Charities Act 2011 and that an Independent examiner Examination is needed. It is my responsibility to

examine the accounts (under section 145 of the 2011 Act),
follow the procedures laid down in the General Directions given by the
Charity Commission (under section 145(5)(b) of the Act), and
state whether particular matters have come to my attention.

Basis of My examination was carried out in accordance with General Directions independent given by the Charity Commissioners. An examination includes a review of examiner’s the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the statement accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeking explanations from the trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently I do not express an audit opinion on the accounts.

Independent In the course of my examination, no matter has come to my attention: examiner's 1. which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in, any material statement respect, the trustees have not met the requirements to ensure that: • proper accounting records are kept (in accordance with section 41 of the Act); and • accounts are prepared which agree with the accounting records and comply with the accounting requirements of the Act; or
to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Signed: Date: 26 September, 2021 Name: Mark Thompson MAAT Address: VODA Linskill Centre Linskill Terrace North Shields NE30 2AY

Remembering the Past, Resourcing the Future CIO (Registered Charity 1155014)

Statement of Financial Activities for the Year to 31st December 2020

Unrestricted Funds - - 5,070 - 1,017 745	Unrestricted Funds - - 5,070 - 1,017 745	Restricted Funds 9,600 1,000 1000	Restricted Funds 9,600 1,000 1000

£	6,832	£	11,600 £	*7,130* £
	- 15 79 539 823 2,749 397 622 54 133 250 220		5,500 200 1,850 1,000	*3,992* *1,594* - *227* *641* *566* *4,854* *3,703* *134* *628* 67 36 7 - *220*
£	5,880	£	8,550 £	*16,669* £
	951 3,211		3,050 1,450	*9,539* - *11,250*
£	4,162	£	4,500 £	*1,711* £

Remembering the Past, Resourcing the Future CIO (Registered Charity 1155014)

BALANCE SHEET as at 31 December 2020

Current Assets Cash at Bank Prepayments Total Assets Current Liabilities Creditors and Accruals Total Expenses Net Current Assets Net Assets at 31 December 2016 Represented by:- Restricted Funds Unrestricted Funds Funds Carried Forward		31-Dec-20 £ 8,292 854 9,146 484 484 8,662 8,662 4,500 4,162 8,662	31-Dec-19 £ *3,853* *808*
	£		*4,661* £
			-
	£		- £
			*4,661*
	£		*4,661* £
			*1,450* *3,211*
	£		*4,661* £

Signed:-

…………………………………………….. RON HILLABY - Trustee …………………………………………….. DAVID HODGSON -Trustee/Treasurer Date - September 2021

Remembering the Past, Resourcing the Future CIO (Registered Charity 1155014)

Notes to the Accounts

Year to 31st December 2020

1). Basis of Accounts

These accounts have been prepared on an Income and Expenditure basis, reflecting prepayments and accruals.

2). Grants

Grants were received during the Period as follows:- Community Foundation YAPP Charity Postcode Neighbour RW Mann Trust	9,600 1,000 5,070 1,000
	16,670 £

3). Fee for Service Work

Work carried out on this basis during the period was as follows:- Linkskill Trust Nexus	767 £ 250 £
	1,017 £

4). Analysis of Funds

Restricted Funds analyse as follows:-

Community Foundation (Shipyard Project) Community Foundation (Kellet Fund) Yapp Charity R W Mann Trust		Balance 01-Jan-20 1,450 - - - 1,450		income 9,600 1,000 1,000 11,600
	£		£