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2024-03-31-accounts

Trustees' Annual Report for the period

Period start date Period end date Day Month Year Day Month Year From 01 04 2023 To 31 03 2024

Section A Reference and administration details

Charity name Oxford Against Cutting Other names charity is known by N/A Registered charity number (if any) 1161597 ~~———~~ Charity's principal address Unit 7685 PO Box 6945 London Postcode W1A 6US

Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity

Trustee name Office (if any) Dates acted if not for whole
**year **		 Name of person (or body) entitled
to appoint trustee (ifany)
1 Caroline Pinder Chair 26/09/16 - now Trustees
2 Dr Sharon Dixon Treasurer 12/01/16 - now Trustees
3 Joanne McEwan 26/09/16 – 01/01/20 Trustees
4 Richard Coleman 01/03/17 - now Trustees
5 Benn Kiley 01/03/17 – 13/04/20 Trustees
6 Miranda Dobson 22/05/17 - now Trustees
7 Liz Parry Co-Chair 10/09/18 - now Trustees
8 Faith Oyegbile 02/07/19 – 23/11/20 Trustees
9 Ahd Hassan 10/08/20 - now Trustees
10 Seiza Bashir 15/09/20 - now Trustees
Naseem Sarbatta-
Walia		 21/04/20- 02/06/24 Trustees
Leethen
Bartholomew
~~————~~		 ~~————~~ 18/10/22- now
~~————~~		 Trustees
~~————~~
13
~~————~~		 ~~————~~ ~~————~~ ~~————~~
14
15
16
17
18
19
20

Name Dates acted if not for whole year ~~——_——<—<<—=—~~

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Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)

Type of adviser Name Address

Name of chief executive or names of senior staff members (Optional information)

Section B Structure, governance and management

Description of the charity’s trusts

Constitution Type of governing document (eg. trust deed, constitution) Charitable Incorporated Organisation How the charity is constituted (eg. trust, association, company) Elected by trustees Trustee selection methods

Additional governance issues (Optional information)

You may choose to include additional information, where relevant, about:

Section C Objectives and activities

Summary of the objects of the charity set out in its governing document

For the public benefit, the relief and assistance of girls and women living in the UK who have undergone or are at risk of female genital mutilation (FGM) or other harmful cultural practice by providing education, information, advice, emotional support, raising awareness and carrying out research to help prevent FGM and to support survivors.

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Oxford Against Cutting (OAC) continues to grow every year, in terms of geographical area, the number of people we reach and the subjects we cover. In the last year, we delivered workshops across the Thames Valley, as well as expanding into Birmingham and reached over 5370 participants, an increase of over 1300 from last year. Our wide range of workshops on harmful practices and abuse issues now includes No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) and Domestic Abuse; Intersectionality and Protected Characteristics; Working with Families with Spiritual Beliefs; and Conception, Genetic Conditions and Cousin Marriage. We were delighted to welcome to our team Vania Martins, our new Domestic Abuse Specialist, who brings considerable expertise from working on the frontline with Oxfordshire Domestic Abuse Services, and Alexis Hawthorne, our new Schools Coordinator. Our workshops continue to be high quality and hugely popular, with every session delivered with a facilitator who brings lived experience and community insight. We are now delivering “frontline education” for community groups, to provide culturally sensitive learning on healthy relationships. Our first Summary of the main series, “New Threads”, was created for Oxfordshire Asian Women’s activities undertaken for the Voice and delivered in partnership with the group organiser, Sabeena public benefit in relation to Rana. This innovative series supported discussion and learning using film these objects (include within clips from a popular Urdu drama. In addition, we have reached this section the statutory community groups through webinars and workshops in different declaration that trustees have languages, for example our Web Cafes on “honour” in Urdu, Punjabi and had regard to the guidance Bangla. issued by the Charity Commission on public We have also run workshop series for young people, such as our Body benefit) Image and Smart Phones series for sixth-form students at Cheney School. In addition, young people were at the forefront of our TIKTOC Web Cafes series (This is Kids Tackling Online Crime), planning and facilitating webinars to address subjects such as facial fillers and revenge pornography. Finally, we are increasing our support for frontline domestic abuse services. This year, for example, we created a Resources Bank, a free, downloadable toolkit with a list of web resources to support work on types of domestic abuse and harmful practices. Our materials have been widely recognised for their sensitive messaging, with our True Sharif films, for example, being shared on the NHS Safeguarding Adults National Network. We hope you will join our workshops and share our resources widely to help end harmful practices and support survivors. The trustees confirm that they have complied with the duty in Section 17 (5) of the 2011 Charities Act to have due regard to public benefit guidance published by the Charity Commission.

Additional details of objectives and activities (Optional information)

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In addition to a packed calendar of training, awareness-raising and education events, OAC is a member and contributor to:

Thames Valley Diverse Communities Partnership

You may choose to include further statements, where relevant, about:

The Oxford FGM Operational Group (sub group of Oxfordshire Safeguarding Children Board)

The Oxfordshire Domestic Abuse Partnership (OxDAP)

The Oxfordshire Domestic Abuse Strategy Group and Task and Finish Groups

Home Office’s Anti-FGM Stakeholder Group

We also contributed to the Thames Valley Police and Crime Panel’s VAWG Task and Finish Group

Section D Achievements and performance

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Section D Achievements and erformance p

Summary of the main achievements of the charity during the year

Working with schools

Our charity delivers lessons and workshops for schools and universities in the South East and Midlands, always with a facilitator from an affected community, who brings lived experience to learning. Evaluation of our training consistently demonstrates that participants feel greater confidence in tackling harmful practices following our workshops.

We have reached audiences totalling over 5370 participants in the last year! Our audiences included in excess of 525 school and teaching staff, 170 primary school students and 3,180 secondary school students. Schools and organisations reached Aspire Alternative Provision School Berkshire White Ribbon campaign Botley School Bracknell Forest Council Cheney Secondary School Clean Slate Cowley Road Medical Practice Didcot Girls School Fitzharry’s School Headington School James Elliman Academy John Mason School Knowles Primary School Lordswood Boys’ School Lynch Hill Enterprise Academy Montem Academy NASUWT NHSE North Oxfordshire Academy Oxfordshire Safeguarding Children Board Oxford City Council Oxford High School Oxford NHS Primary Mental Health Team Oxford Spires Academy Oxfordshire Social Services (Looked After Children) Oxfordshire Youth Pegasus Primary School Reading Borough Council SAFE! Specialist public health school nurses Sunrise Multicultural Project’s girls’ group Waddesdon Primary School Waverley Studio College Wokingham Borough Council Wycombe High School

Conferences and working group presentations

Oxford Brookes University’s VAWG conference

Diverse Worlds (Oxfordshire Diverse Communities Working Group)

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Section D Achievements and erformance p

Education Safeguarding Advisory Team (ESAT)’s annual conference OAC in partnership with OSARCC OAC in partnership with Savera Oxford Brookes University’s Human Rights Festival Oxfordshire Asian Women's Voice Thames Valley Police Web Café

Our regular series of Web Cafes provide a safe, informal online space for communities and professionals to meet, share learning and provide mutual support on sensitive topics. This year we ran TIKTOC (This is Kids Tackling Online Crime) and a series in South Asian languages called “What is Honour?”. To mark International Women’s Day, we hosted a Web Cafe on Barriers to Sexual Violence Services in partnership with OSARCC. Awareness- raising 2030 is the number of schools across the Thames Valley and Birmingham who received our postcard, with details of our lessons, safeguarding workshops and helpline numbers to protect children from harmful practices. Our postcard campaign ran in March, ahead of long school holidays, when children are at higher risk of being taken abroad to be cut or forced into marriage. A young artist was commissioned to create the image for the postcards. We updated our helpline posters for all areas, with new colours, messaging and services information and shared these on all our platforms. We also ran an online campaign, using social media advertising, to increase the reach of our Arabic True Sharif FGM films into Arabic-speaking communities, to over 12,000 people.

Learning through the Arts

We inspired creative expression and discussions on “shame” in our Creative Writing Workshop focusing on overcoming feelings of shame in relation to harmful practices. The event began with talks by Rubie Marie, who shared her story of surviving a forced marriage and Mariama, a survivor of FGM. The audience then took part in a creative writing workshop led by professional creative writer, Sunita Thind. We ran a programme comprising 5 workshops on Body Image and the Media at Cheney School for sixth-form students. The workshops included the creation of artwork to raise awareness of the issues covered, displayed at the school and shared on social media. The workshops covered: The Beauty Industry, Colourism, Pornography and Body Alterations, FGM and Female Cosmetic Genital Surgery; and an art workshop to reinforce learning.

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Section E

Financial review

Section D Achievements and erformance p

Supporting an intersectional approach to tackling abuse

We continue to lead the multi-agency group, Diverse Communities Working Group (Oxon), and run focus group discussions to help inform service delivery for women from minoritised communities suffering abuse. In the last year, we have hosted discussions on ‘Perpetrators and Accountability’ and ‘Barriers to Abuse Services for Bangladeshi Women’. We also hosted a multi-agency brainstorm session on “honour codes” and “flipping honour codes” to prevent harm.

We created a Resources Bank, a free, downloadable toolkit with an evolving list of web resources to support work on types of domestic abuse and harmful practices. The resources can be sorted and selected according to protected characteristics, language and topic. The bank is incredibly useful for domestic abuse services and several organisations have given spontaneous feedback about its significant value.

Frontline education programme

New Threads, our new workshop series for Oxfordshire Asian Women’s Voice, focused on the complicated pressures and intertwining threads of family and community relationships, for a group of 10-20 women who love to sew! The programme included measurement of some of the social norms around marriage, at the beginning and end of the series, plus learning and discussion on healthy relationships and issues around “honour”, drawing on clips from a popular Urdu language drama for learning.

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Brief statement of the charity's policy on reserves

In accordance with Charity Commission guidelines, OAC will set aside reserves of 3 months operating expenditure (from both restricted and unrestricted funds). We envisage these reserves would only be needed should fundraising bids be delayed and cash-flow compromised.

For financial year 2024/2025 the Trustees have agreed the reserves to be set at £30,000. This includes basic salaries, core charitable activities and administration costs (phone/internet).This will be reviewed on an annual basis.

Details of any funds N/A materially in deficit

Further financial review details (Optional information)

You may choose to include additional information, where relevant about:

the charity's principal sources of funds (including any fundraising); how expenditure has supported the key objectives of the charity; investment policy and objectives including any ethical investment policy adopted.

Section F

Other optional information

Section G Declaration

The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees' report above.

Signed on behalf of the charity's trustees

Signature(s) Ci han Caroline Pinder Full[name(s) ] Chair Position (eg Secretary, Chair, etc)

Date

03/06/2024

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Independent examiner's report on the accounts

Section A Independent Examiner’s Report

Report to the trustees/ Charity Name OXFORD AGAINST CUTTING members of On accounts for the year Charity no ended 31[ST] March 2024 (if any) 1161597 Set out on pages 1 /4

Respective The charity's trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. responsibilities of The charity’s trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year trustees and examiner under section 144 of the Charities Act 2011 (“the Charities Act”) and that an independent examination is needed.

It is my responsibility to:

Independent examiner's statement

In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention

  1. which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in, any material respect, the requirements:

  2. to keep accounting records in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act; and

  3. to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with the accounting requirements of the Charities Act

  4. have not been met; or

  5. to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Signed: M Watkinson Date: 11thJune 2024
Name: MICHAEL WATKINSON MBE
Relevant professional CHARITY FINANCE CONSULTANT
qualification(s) or body
(if any):

1

IER

Address: 1 COTE HOUSE FARM COTTAGES COTE OX18 2EQ

Section B Disclosure

Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight material problems.(E.g. accounting records have not been kept in accordance with s132 of the Charities’ Act 2011 and those accounts do not comply with the requirements of the 2008 Regulations setting out the form and content of charity accounts; any material expenditure or action which appears not to be in accordance with the trusts of the charity; any failure to be provided with information and explanations by any past or present trustee, officer or employee; and any material consistency between the accounts and the trustees’ annual report.)

2

IER

Give here brief details of None any items that the examiner wishes to disclose .

3

IER