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2020-12-31-accounts

Sunday Assembly 2020 Sunday Assembly Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31st December 2020 A Company Limited by Guarantee | CHARITY REGISTRATION NUMBER 1162995 | COMPANY REGISTRATION NUMBER 08818905

About Sunday Assembly

Sunday Assembly was established in 2013 as a registered charity and based in London. In 2019, its international network became community groups affiliated with the charity, which meant that the charity was no longer responsible for governing each community group. However, we all continue to bring people together through our motto to live better, help often and wonder more as well as share that one thing we have in common: ‘life’.

Sunday Assembly is a volunteer-led secular community. Our volunteers are at the heart of the charity and a true representation of the work done to provide opportunities to all. To help us achieve this, we also have the support of two paid roles - the Producer and Bookkeeper - who are part-time contractors and give so much of their time and energy. Thank you all .

Live better: our vision

We strive for everyone to live as fully as possible. Through the events we host and the many community groups and activities - occurring in addition to our bi-monthly events - people are able to connect, build relationships, and share a sense of belonging; all of which we believe are everyone’s right to have.

Help often: our mission

Beyond coming together as a community, we extend our activities to supporting other causes and raising awareness of other local movements. Above all, we try to help each other. Covid-19 has meant going above and beyond for our community, including volunteers creating a virtual Christmas Day to alleviate social isolation and loneliness at a time when many more people would have been alone.

Wonder more: our approach

We provide a platform for inspiring expert speakers, budding poets, and musicians for our community to enjoy. Each bi-monthly event is themed and the choir and band align their performances with that. We aim to bring awareness of interesting topics that provide insight, reliable facts and figures grounded in evidence.

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Contents

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Welcome from the Board

Firstly, on behalf of the Board, thank you for taking an interest in reading this report. It represents an extraordinary year for Sunday Assembly and highlights accomplishments which we are proud to present.

With the arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic and the UK being put into lockdown in March 2020, our Organising Team worked tirelessly to transition over to fully virtual assemblies that commenced from 5 April, with 17 more held by the end of 2020.

In a year where community and connection were more critical than ever, we turned what could have been a devastating crisis for a small charity into an opportunity that expanded our reach, explored new mediums, and ultimately connected us with a greater number of people.

Sunday Assembly saw a reduction in expenditure and impressive fundraising efforts which led to the charity being able to strengthen its core functions. The focus of the Board has been on building strong foundations from which to look to the future. Six factors drive the charity’s new three-year strategy, these are:

Impact. Have a greater positive impact for our community and the world

Quality. Continually enhance the quality of our services, delivering brilliant community experiences, compliantly and consistently

Community. Optimise the size, diversity and engagement of our community to reach more people, increase the proportion returning again and again for the long term and look after our volunteers

Geography. Consider the right geographic scope of the Sunday Assembly charity

Awareness. Build brand recognition for Sunday Assembly with our target audience

Finances. Grow donations and other income and optimise our costs to ensure a sustainable long-term future and reinvest to make our charity bigger and better

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2020 highlights

January

5 Jan - Happy new year, and happy seventh birthday to us!

February

19 Jan - How community spaces should be redesigned to help integrate the elderly into our daily lives in ‘Designed To Care’.

2 Feb - ‘Misunderstood Mammals’ featuring Michelle Lindson, known as @hyenalady, who explained her love for hyenas.

March

1 Mar - Gulwali Passarlay shared his inspiring story with us in our assembly called ‘Paying it Forward’: he was a child refugee from Afghanistan who made it to the UK against all odds, and now as an adult helps other child refugees.

16 Feb - Margot De Broglie demonstrated that we can communicate with each other in more ways than just words, ‘Ways We Connect’. Naturally, as the founder of Secret Sunrise London, she got the whole room up and dancing together.

15 Mar - Our last assembly at Conway Hall during 2020. Daniel Zoran of DeepMind spoke about machine learning and debunked some myths for us.

...and then we went into lockdown.

The impact of Covid

The Organising Team hit the ground running, making plans to take our assemblies online. It was a steep learning curve to bring all of the elements that make an assembly enjoyable in a physical shared space, into a fun and rewarding experience in a virtual space. After a few trials, we signed up for a Zoom account, and began contacting our speakers and poets who were all happy to participate online.

We held seventeen virtual assemblies in 2020 - click here to view them all on YouTube.

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Our first virtual assembly was ‘Global Goals’ on 5 April and our main speaker surprised us all. Henry Blanchard co-founded an organisation called Uganda Marathon that combines charity with fitness goals. Memorably, he invited all of the participants in the Zoom meeting to pick another person in the gallery to look at, make eye contact with them for 15 seconds, and wish the very best for them. In that instant, we all realised the potential of this

new medium to convey the deep sense of connection and belonging that we have experienced so many times in our gatherings at Conway Hall. The Organising Team knew they had made the right decision to move our assemblies online.

April

May

3 May - James Sills, the author of ‘Do/ Sing’ and founder of The Sofa Singers, showed us the power of group singing , even when done online, in our assembly ‘Many Voices, One Song’. We also welcomed the return of our community choir!

17 May - A member of our community spoke about mental healthcare at our assembly ‘Cool to Be Kind’ as part of Mental Health Awareness Week.

5 Apr - ‘Global Goals’, our first virtual assembly, with over 300 attendees.

19 Apr - Anna Hughes told us how we could ‘Have More Fun By Flying Less’ in honour of Earth day. And the talented double-bassist and beatboxing champion Bellatrix gave us a live performance.

June

July

5 July - At our Pride-themed assembly ‘World Wide Pride’, our amazing host, Laura Barker, shared her inspiring stories and experiences. Her talk encouraged powerful conversations and exchanges of other community member’s LGBTQ+ stories and experiences in breakout rooms afterwards, highlighting the essence of what Sunday Assembly is about, and that our events open meaningful conversations.

19 July - We geared up for summer break with a talk from the director of Camp Quest UK at our assembly called ‘Asking Deep Questions’.

7 June - our main speaker tuned in all the way from Vancouver! The inspiring Jacques Martiquet broke down all the steps needed to make a gathering of people deeply meaningful, memorable, and fun in ‘The Science of Celebration’.

21 June - At our assembly ‘How To Care Intensively’, paediatric neurosurgeon Jay Jayamohan shared his wisdom about what’s really important in those quick, crucial decision-making moments in our lives.

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August

Every year we leave the confines of Conway Hall in August and meet up in nearby Lincoln’s Inn Fields instead to be in the great outdoors together. This year, despite all the other challenges, we managed to organise our picnics and meet face-to-face for the first time since March. The government restrictions had lifted enough for us to gather in socially-distanced, small groups in an outdoor space, in line with the government’s contact tracing program and a risk assessment. We held picnics as planned on 2 and 16 August, and they were such a huge success that we added a third date on 31 August.

September

October

4 Oct - In ‘A Whole New World: Lessons We Learn From Musical Theatre’, Ray Rackham of piano bar Overtures proved that musical theatre can be for everyone!

18 Oct - Dr Nikki Ramskill, ‘The Female Money Doctor’ taught us ‘Why Money Matters’ and how to start tackling our personal issues surrounding money.

6 Sept - After our August break, we returned with lecturer Lindsay Jordan’s insightful talk about whether we should ‘Sit on the Fence or Take a Stand’.

20 Sept - We joined forces with six other assemblies across the UK to create the first ever Mega Assembly! It was called ‘All Together Now’ and it was a huge success. We made plans to do another mega assembly in six months.

November

December

6 Dec - ‘Everything is Awesome’ according to The Lego Movie. We celebrated all things Lego as author Abbie Headon explained some of the ways playing with toys like Lego can improve our wellbeing as a mindfulness practice.

19 Dec - We upped the ante from our UK-wide assembly by having a planet-wide event! ‘Yule Lockdown Rockdown’ was co-produced by Sunday Assembly London and Sunday Assembly Nashville and featured contributions from eleven different assemblies from around the world.

20 Dec - We held our final assembly of the year, ‘Hail Santa’. Instead of a featured speaker or poet, we invited members of our community to sing some of their favourite holiday songs and tell some of their own stories.

1 Nov - We acknowledged October’s Black History Month with Dr Nadena Doharty’s powerful talk about how to improve the way history is taught in our schools in our assembly, ‘The Miseducation of Britain’.

15 Nov - Author of the fitness manual ‘The Cell Workout’ L J Flanders told us his personal story of how writing helped him get through his darkest days in our assembly ‘The Power of the Pen’. Another former prisoner, David Breakspear, recited poetry.

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Community impact

Community meetings

Community meetings occur monthly and an opportunity for people to share feedback on Sunday Assembly events as well as any new ideas. Over time, these meetings were not what the community needed, rather it was essential to use this time to check in with each other and provide peer support to prevent isolation and depression. We soon changed the name to ‘Chat, Check In, Catch Up’ to indicate a more casual format.

Live Better groups

Towards the end of 2020, two community members, trained in delivering holistic support, began hosting a monthly meetup under the name Live Better. Although these were different to the original Live Better groups, these groups served a purpose which was to continue providing much needed peer support during an extraordinary time.

Band and choir volunteering

Music and singing are known to benefit us all and are at the heart of Sunday Assembly. Even during a pandemic, our band and choir have impressively embraced all the challenges faced from doing online rehearsals and persevered. Both have been in full swing and included the production of videos too. This has really been at the crux of what people enjoy about our events.

Click here to watch our music videos on YouTube

Other interest groups

In addition to our assemblies, we have many interest groups that people can join. They provide people with a space to pursue what they enjoy or try something new. During the pandemic many of these groups were still able to continue, including:

The Walking Group The Board Games Group organised monthly walks held 34 ‘lockdown when permitted. sessions’ online.

Article Club hosted six online meetings.

We also share other people’s events which bring people together and imbibe our values, including:

The Lively Poets Society was created in March.

Social Distancing Dance Party (SDDP) became a sensational hit and continues twice-weekly.

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Skills building

Sunday Assembly plays a key role in developing our volunteers’ skills. We encourage people to bring their existing expertise, knowledge and skills to support others in their learning and we saw astounding results during 2020.

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Paving the way forward

Two teams, one vision

In our 2019 Annual Report we detailed the evolution of our ‘Labs’ work, which experimented with different ways our events could work and developed feedback mechanisms to improve our offering. After a year of implementation, Labs changed its name to the Organising Team in early 2020.

Following the appointment of a new Chair, the Board had its first (virtual) away day where Trustees agreed to have a rolling vice-chair role to reflect the Board’s capacity. The Board also identified key strengths to create formalised roles. Each trustee uses their areas of expertise to strengthen the pillars of Sunday Assembly.

In July 2020, the Board began a consultative period to bring together Sunday Assembly’s first ever three-year strategy. Despite the extended lockdowns, which prohibited us from coming together, our strategy is proving to be robust and well-measured. Its ambitious nature is dedicated to strengthening the charity’s core and infrastructure, focusing on building capacity to prepare for growth.

Growing our community

The Board of Trustees has this year focused on strengthening the core of the charity’s functions such as its infrastructure to support volunteer management and establish opportunities for much needed growth and development.

Sunday Assembly’s three-year organisational strategy prioritises key initiatives that aims to lead to the growth and development of our community and the charity. Mindful of the pandemic at the time of implementation, priorities include: being more data-driven, establishing a fundraising strategy, building more strategic partnerships and finding alternative ways to sustain consistent and professional support without overburdening our volunteers.

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Our objectives

2019

2020/21

Last year we focused on This year we are nurturing creating stable and fertile our existing community in foundations for growth tough times, and planting the seeds of future growth

Revitalise “Help Often” with a focus on Covid support

Impact

Focus on maintaining current virtual attendance and encouraging engagement with other SA services / ”touchpoints” to keep up momentum

Community

Financial transparency & stability (incl. clear and accurate reporting and more regular donors)

Finances

Secure PR coverage positioning SA as a solution to Covid isolation. Increase following/ engagement with social channels

Awareness

Virtual Assemblies with a London focus but accessible to all

Geography

Develop a “one-stop-shop” of standards, governance and policy documentation and frameworks for Quality consistent high-quality activities

2021/22

Next year we will focus on growing a strong and sustainable core

Focus on making our impact measurable

Focus on growing inperson attendance to 300+ people with greater diversity (target to be refined based on required donations & “the vibe”)

Agree a sustainable model for assemblies (to zoom or not to zoom) and reach a level of financial security sufficient to begin recruitment for an employee

Invest in a bold marketing push for our in-person relaunch and secure at least two high profile speakers

Get back to Conway Hall, focus on London. Consider continuing Zoom in some form for inclusivity and reach

Focus on the sustainability and morale of our volunteers. Ensure

any virtual experience available once we return to Conway Hall meets quality standards

2022/23

In the future we will strengthen our infrastructure, explore opportunities to expand the reach and breadth of services we offer with truly professionalised, seamless delivery

Encourage members to engage across multiple “touchpoints” (not just assemblies)

Pack out the room!

Secure financial position to enable growth aspirations and required infrastructure incl. hiring/retention of employee(s)

Drive greater brand recognition amongst our target audience

Drive greater collaboration with other assemblies. Consider building the infrastructure to support stable geographic expansion (e.g. taking back oversight of UK assemblies, expanding across London - TBC)

Ensure every assembly has seamless, professionalised delivery

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The power of giving and receiving donations

Every assembly we host is free and it is open to anyone to attend. This has been the charity’s commitment since inception, and one that we aim to continue. For this to be achieved and keep doing what we do, we need to fundraise for Sunday Assembly.

Fundraising events

Lates

The 2.6 Challenge

On 26 April we ran Sunday Assembly’s first digital fundraiser in conjunction with the organisers of the cancelled 2020 London Marathon. With the focus on the numbers two and six, we organised a 26-minute online dance party and a community member ran a marathon over a week. We raised an incredible £2,274.82.

We had our last ‘Lates’ evening event in March . With Covid-19 uncertainties brewing, we found fewer people attended, and although the event was surprisingly successful, once lockdown was announced our efforts were needed to transition our events to become accessible virtually.

Aviva Community Fund

National Lottery Community Fund

In November, Sunday Assembly secured a grant from the National Lottery Community Fund of £7,000 to support our long-term goals to continue live streaming once we are able to return to a physical location, and to embed the principles and best practice of accessibility, diversity and inclusion . This funding is intended to be spent on new key roles to support this journey. We look forward to updating you on ways we’ve improved these at Sunday Assembly!

In October, our application to be part of Aviva’s crowdfunding page was successful . The funding will only be released when we reach our £1,500 target. The aim is for Aviva staff to contribute their ‘workplace tokens’, which hold a financial value that is donated through Aviva.

12 Days of Giving

Our signature annual fundraising event is usually ‘Yule Rock’ but we couldn’t do this due to Covid (of course). Instead we hosted a series of online events between 8 and 20 December, called the ‘12 Days of Giving.’ Volunteers led events each and every day for free with a £12 suggested donation. We raised an amazing £1,519.08 from the campaign which ended with our final assembly of the year!

In an effort to make the festive times less lonely, we joined forces with affiliate members from across the world for a one-off international assembly. This was followed by a virtual party in collaboration with DJ Ian Joliet’s Social Distancing Dance Party and the online live radio called The Thursday Night Show (TTNS).

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The challenges are real, but our supporters and volunteers keep us going!

Supporters and volunteers are the backbone of Sunday Assembly - we couldn’t fulfil the charity’s purpose without their generosity. On behalf of the charity, a huge thank you for everything you do!

Fundraising aims to provide financial resilience and sustainability of Sunday Assembly events, and wider networks, by nurturing supportive relationships that are aligned to our motto: live better, help often and wonder more.

Regular giving

Our regular giving supporters have been declining for some time but at the height of the pandemic we saw regular donors nearly double in April. Unfortunately, this was not sustained and we saw one in six people cancel. Despite this, we still have 47 regular donors who give an incredible £1,300 per month!

One-off giving

Sunday Assembly has had to establish a more digital fundraising model during the pandemic which has led to seeing growth when using new ways of giving, including our text-to-donate platform. This helped us to still raise money during our virtual assemblies but raised only 16.8% of what the community gave in 2019.

Volunteers

Fundraising events

Two of our biggest fundraising events, Yule Rock and our Anniversary assembly, couldn’t happen in the same way. Ordinarily, these would raise about £10,000, but this year we saw a 42% drop in donations from these events. However, our community has pulled out all of the stops, shared wonderful virtual moments together and maintained connection as such a difficult time.

Volunteering continues to be a source of great drive and enthusiasm. Without this vital resource we could not have transitioned from our physical venues to live streaming online. Despite the ongoing demands on people’s time, it did not deter our dedicated volunteers from rallying together when the first national lockdown was announced in March.

Over 5,200 hours of volunteering took place in 2020. It has been incredible to feel such support towards Sunday Assembly as a charity, as well as towards the community.

Thank you to everyone who supports Sunday Assembly - it makes all the difference!

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The future can be brighter

Having an individual leading our fundraising efforts has helped to establish a ‘Fundraising Hub’ which recruited fundraising volunteers to to help raise much needed funds for the charity. It was as a direct result of having this Hub that we were able to achieve the following:

There is a lot for Sunday Assembly to potentially look forward to in 2021. The fundraising landscape is making strides in bringing funding opportunities to the forefront, particularly to support small, local, and community-led charities. With the added capacity to the Fundraising Hub, we are hopeful that headway will be made to secure additional funding that will secure and sustain Sunday Assembly’s future.

Our fundraising promise

Sunday Assembly registered with the Fundraising Regulator in April 2020 to mark our commitment to delivering fundraising best practice that is legal, open, honest and respectful. This extends beyond the existing community and supporters, as it harnesses our values-driven approach to fundraising.

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Where does our money come from?

Up until our National Lottery Community Fund grant, all of our income came from the ongoing generosity of our community and regular givers. This has truly helped to sustain Sunday Assembly to the present day.

----- Start of picture text -----
10% Gift Aid
Fundraising 11%
platforms
20% Pre-Covid
activities (Jan-
Mar)
4% Text donations
49.5%
5.5%
Regular
Website
giving
donations
----- End of picture text -----

Here you can see the breakdown of how our community, and HMRC, brought in £30,300. This doesn’t include the National Lottery Community Fund grant as this was restricted to specific work.

The numbers here reflect that our income is entirely dependent on the generosity of our community. This is putting the charity at great risk and this was most evident during the pandemic.

How was the money spent?

We can see clearly that our largest costs are that of our two part-time contractors who provide vital services that enable Sunday Assembly to function, deliver accessible events and assure its financial governance. However, a breakdown like this is unique to 2020 due to the reduction in our venue costs.

We are very happy that even during this difficult time, we did not need to make anyone redundant.

We realised that by not having the expense of Conway Hall, Sunday Assembly was saved from being in a very dire situation during the pandemic.

Our total expenses for 2020 were £22,589 which is a fraction of what we would usually spend. Such figures reflect a very different Sunday Assembly than the one we are aspiring to be when we return to Conway Hall.

----- Start of picture text -----
Governance
4% [2%] Equipment
Storage at 4%
Conway Hall
26%
37%
Conway Hall Producer
(Jan - Mar)
3%
Activities &
events (Jan - Mar)
11% 13% Bookkeeper
Communications
and advertising
----- End of picture text -----

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Financial performance

For the year to 31 December 2020, Sunday Assembly generated a surplus of £11,023, of which £7,000 was restricted to the National Lottery Community Fund. Although this is very different to where we were in 2019, our expenditure has dramatically fallen as we have been able to save on venue costs during the pandemic - ordinarily at least £16,000 per year.

The lack of expenditure in 2020 has repaired the deficit caused in 2019 when we relied heavily on our reserves. Therefore, this progress means that the charity has been able to secure its future more robustly and achieve the necessary milestones to implement the second year of its 3-year strategy, despite the ramifications that COVID-19 had on financials.

Although income is lower in comparison to 2019, so is our expenditure and therefore our returns are 1.49 in comparison to 0.79 in 2019 - meaning that for every pound we spent in 2020 we received 49p more. This marked difference has had a positive impact on Sunday Assembly and is due to diversifying income streams to include crowdfunding platforms such as JustGiving and applying for grants.

Net assets

The charity’s net current assets position has strengthened considerably during the year, especially the large benefit to cash holdings from retaining a surplus of £11,023 compared to the depletion caused by last year’s deficit of £14,367. An analysis of net assets between funds can be found in Notes 12 and 13. In 2021, our Fundraising Hub will lead an open session to discuss with the community how any additional income should be allocated. This approach aims to improve inclusivity and engagement to improve affinity and connection with the charity.

Reserves

The purpose of implementing a reserves policy at Sunday Assembly is to ensure the stability of being able to take the steps we need to achieve our mission, delivering events, providing robust volunteering and mentoring programmes, and having ongoing operations that demonstrate our motto: live better, help often, wonder more. The Board is drafting a reserves policy to cover six months of operational cost.

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Principal risks and uncertainties

During this unprecedented year, the pandemic demanded that our small community and volunteer led charity continued building a robust core. Having lived through the lessons already learnt from Sunday Assembly’s accelerated growth between 2013 and 2017, the charity continued its existing work to embed governance and risk management, revamp processes and capture feedback from the community and volunteers. These vital efforts needed to adapt quickly to an online world, and were achieved with little to no impact on what we delivered.

Initially, a Taskforce Group was developed with the outputs of a Risk Management Audit and a Disaster Recovery Plan, which the charity did not have in place before Covid-19. The Taskforce Group, composed of members of the Board of Trustees and Organising Team, met on a weekly basis following Government Announcements. As 2020 went on this was relaxed, and has been under constant review during Board Meetings, Strategy Meetings, and Quarterly Meetings between the Board and the Organising Team.

At present, key risks faced by the organisation can be broadly categorised in the following three ways:

A highly challenging and unpredictable operating environment

The challenging environment means that we don’t know when we will go back to Conway Hall. With our usual practice including having mass gatherings (above 50 people), live singing, practising musical instruments, hugging, and dancing together, our whole event would be considered high risk. Therefore, returning to Conway Hall without the ability to operate normally would detrimentally implicate our finances and unravel the majority of the net savings we have accrued in 2020.

Nevertheless, we are undeterred by these challenges and have so far found workable and practical solutions online without compromising any element of our events. In planning our return to Conway Hall we have to also consider these risk factors, foreseeing a period of time whereby our ability to return to ‘normal’ will be compounded by people’s heightened anxiety for events to operate as normal.

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Diversity, inclusion and participation

Two key driving forces that make Sunday Assembly possible are its community and volunteers, without which nothing would be able to happen. Our ability to retain both of these is critical, and in doing so we recognise this also means diversifying our audience and improving how accessible we are in practice.

We strive to always be committed to having free events but in 2020 we recognised that more emphasis needed to be placed on expanding people’s broader experience of our events and a culture that is more representative of our local community.

Sunday Assembly adapting to online events has made a positive impact on people’s lives, particularly for community members who are in the most vulnerable groups: elderly people, and those living with underlying medical conditions, disabilities and mental health conditions.

Likewise, fully integrating people who are experiencing social isolation and loneliness, and enriching lives through connection and a community of belonging, are principles embedded at every level of our charitable goals. Embracing the journey towards achieving this will be a continuous learning curve and one that Sunday Assembly is now making progress with.

Local solutions for lasting change

The Mayor of London is encouraging organisations across London to rebuild local communities in the post COVID-19 recovery. Given the essence of what Sunday Assembly offers, we provide a vital space to be part of this and achieve just that. Accessible to all, we have the tools already in place to invite more people and build a community that supports the regeneration of communities across London. At present, this will of course be in the comfort of one’s living room, but over time this has the potential to broaden our reach and welcome all who welcome all; another primary principle of Sunday Assembly’s ethos.

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Corporate directory

Legal and administrative information

Charity number Company registration number Date of incorporation Start of financial year End of financial year

1162995 08818905 18 December 2013 1 January 2020 31 December 2020

Directors at 31 December 2020

Ms J Booth (appointed Chair June 2020) Ms F Tulley

Mr A Baker (Treasurer, appointed 20 April 2020) Ms A Perez (Secretary)

Mr A Newton

Mr J Herbert

Dr L Chisholm (appointed 20 April 2020) Mr A Scott Taggart (appointed 20 April 2020) Ms E Bull (appointed 20 April 2020, resigned 9 November 2020 ) Ms S Morgan (resigned 1 June 2020) Ms G Claus (resigned 6 January 2020)

Governing document Memorandum & Articles of Association dated 18 December 2013

Objects

To provide or assist in the provision of facilities in the interests of social welfare for recreation or other leisure time occupation for the public at large, with the object of improving the condition of life of all who use such facilities, in particular but without limitation by providing facilities for people to meet and associate on a Sunday, without distinction of sex, sexual orientation, race or of political, religious or other opinions.

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Independent examiner

Oluyinka Afolayan CPFA Independent Examiner 22 Redpoll Way Erith Kent DA18 4BY

Bankers

Metro Bank One Southampton Row London WC1B 5HA

Secretary

Annette Perez Conway Hall Red Lion Square London WC1R 4RL

Email: trustees@sundayassembly.com

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Independent Examiner’s report

Report of the Independent Examiner to the Directors of the charitable company on the accounts for the year ended 31 December 2020

I report to the Directors on my examination of the financial statements of the charitable company on pages 24 to 36 for the year ended 31 December 2020 which have been prepared in accordance with the Charities Act 2011 (the Act) and with the Financial Reporting Standard 102, (effective 1 January 2016) as modified by FRS 102 SORP (Statement of Recommended Practice for Accounting and Reporting by Charities) 2015, (as amended by the Bulletin issued in October 2018 and applicable to all accounting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2019), (The SORP), published by the Charity Commission in England & Wales (CCEW), and under the historical cost convention and the accounting policies set out on page 28 and 29.

Respective responsibilities of the Directors and the Independent Examiner and the basis of the report

As described on page 19, you, the charitable company’s Directors, who are also the Directors of the Company for the purposes of Company law, are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements in accordance with the Companies Act 2006, the Charities Act 2011 and all other applicable law and with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice, applicable to smaller entities, and for being satisfied that the financial statements give a true and fair view.

The Directors consider that the audit requirement of Section 144(1) of the Charities Act 2011 (the Act) does not apply, and that there is no requirement in the memorandum and articles of the charity for the conducting of an audit, and that the accounts do not require an audit in accordance with Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006 and that no member or members have requested an audit pursuant to Section 476 of the Companies Act 2006. As a consequence, the Directors have elected that the financial statements be subject to independent examination.

Having satisfied myself that the financial statements are not required to be audited under any legal provision, or otherwise, and are eligible for independent examination, it is my responsibility to:

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Opinion

I report in respect of my examination of the charity’s financial statements carried out under Section 145 of the Act. In carrying out my examination, I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under Section 145(5)(b) of the Act setting out the duties of an independent examiner in relation to the conducting of an independent examination. An independent examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charitable company and of the accounting systems employed by the charitable company and a comparison of the financial statements presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the financial statements, and seeking explanations from you, as Directors, concerning such matters. The purpose of the examination is to establish as far as possible that there have been no breaches of charity legislation and that, on a test basis of evidence relevant to the amounts and disclosures made, the financial statements comply with the SORP.

Basis for opinion

The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and information supplied by the Directors in the course of the examination is not subjected to audit tests or enquiries and does not cover all the matters that an auditor would consider in arriving at an opinion. The planning and conduct of an audit goes beyond the limited assurance that an independent examination can provide.

Examiner’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

Consequently, I do not express an audit opinion on the view given by the financial statements, and in particular, I express no opinion as to whether the financial statements give a true and fair view of the affairs of the charity, and my report is limited to the matters set out in the statement below.

I planned and performed my examination so as to satisfy myself that the objectives of the independent examination are achieved and before finalising the report I obtained written assurances from the Directors of all material matters.

Conclusions

Attention is drawn to the accounting policy stating that, notwithstanding the explicit requirement in the extant statutory regulations, the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008, to prepare the financial statements in accordance with the SORP 2005, in view of the fact that the SORP 2005 has been withdrawn, and in order to accord with current best practice, the Directors have determined to prepare the financial statements in accordance with the FRS 102 SORP (Statement of Recommended Practice for Accounting and Reporting by Charities) 2015, (as

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amended by the Bulletin issued in October 2018 and applicable to all accounting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2019), (The SORP). I concur with this approach, and any references in my report to the regulations should be read subject to this comment.

Subject to the limitations upon the scope of my work as detailed above, I have completed my examination and can confirm that:

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 financial statements to be reached.

Oluyinka Afolayan CPFA

This report was signed on 8 June 2021.

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Statement of financial activities

Statement of Financial Activities (including the Income and Expenditure Account for the year ended 31 December 2020, as required by the Companies Act 2006)

----- Start of picture text -----
Current year Current year Current year Prior Year
Unrestricted Funds Restricted Funds Total Funds Total Funds
2020 2020 2020 2019
----- End of picture text -----

£ £ £ £
Income & endowments from:
Donations & legacies 25,168 7,000 32,168 47,150
Charitable activities 1,444 - 1,444 7,116
Other trading activities - - - 478
Total income 26,612 7,000 33,612 54,744
Expenditure on:
Charitable activities 22,589 - 22,589 69,111
Total expenditure 22,589 - 22,589 69,111
Net income for the year 4,023 7,000 11,023 (14,367)
Net income afer transfers 4,023 7,000 11,023 (14,367)
Net movement in funds 4,023 7,000 11,023 (14,367)
Reconciliation of funds:-
Total funds brought forward 26,277 - 26,277 40,644
Total funds carried forward 30,300 7,000 37,300 26,277

Resources applied in the year ended 31 December 2020 towards fixed assets for Charity use

2020 2019
£ £
Funds generated in the year as detailed in the SOFA 11,023 (14,367)
Net resources available to fund charitable activities 11,023 (14,367)

24

Movements in revenue and capital funds for the year ended 31 December 2020

Revenue accumulated funds

Unrestricted Restricted Total Last year
Funds Funds Funds Total Funds
2020 2020 2020 2019
£ £ £ £
Accumulated funds brought forward 26,277 - 26,277 40,644
Recognisedgains and losses before transfers 4,023 7,000 11,023 (14,367)
Revenue accumulated funds 30,300 7,000 37,300 26,277
Revaluation reserve fund 30,300 7,000 37,300 26,277
Total funds 30,300 7,000 37,300 26,277

25

Income and Expenditure Account for the year ended 31 December 2020 as required by the Companies Act 2006

2020 2019
£ £
Income
Income from operations 30,527 42,760
Gif Aid 3,085 11,984
Investment income - -
Gross income in theyear before exceptional items 33,612 54,744
Gross income in theyear includingexceptional items 33,612 54,744
Expenditure
Charitable expenditure, excluding depreciation and amortisation 22,589 67,671
Governance costs - 1,440
Total expenditure in theyear 22,589 69,111
Net income before tax in the financialyear 11,023 (14,367)
Net income afer tax in the financialyear 11,023 (14,367)
Retained surplus for the financialyear 11,023 (14,367)

All activities derive from continuing operations.

In accordance with the provisions of the Companies Act 2006, the headings and subheadings used in the Income and Expenditure account have been adapted to reflect the special nature of the charity’s activities.

26

Sunday Assembly - Balance Sheet as at 31 December 2020

Notes
2020
2019
£
£
Current assets
Debtors
8
997
-
Cash at bank and in hand
37,367
27,717
Notes 2020 2019
Total current assets
38,364
27,717
Creditors: amounts fallingdue within oneyear
9
(1,064)
(1,440)
Net current assets
37,300
26,277
The total net assets of the charity
37,300
26,277

The total net assets of the charity are funded by the funds of the charity, as follows:

Restricted funds 7,000 -
Restricted revenue funds 15 7,000 -
Unrestricted funds 30,300 26,277
Unrestricted revenue funds 15 30,300 26,277
Designated funds
Total charity funds 37,300 26,277

The Directors are satisfied that the company is entitled to exemption from the requirement to obtain an audit under section 477 of the Companies Act 2006.

The members have not required the company to obtain an audit in accordance with section 476 of the Act.

The Directors acknowledge their responsibilities for complying with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 with respect to accounting records and the preparation of accounts.

The charity is subject to Independent Examination under charity legislation, and the report of the Independent Examiner is from page 21 to 23.

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the provisions in Part 15 of the Companies Act 2006, applicable to companies subject to the small companies regime.

Jessica Booth

Director

Approved by the Board of Trustees on 8 June 2021

The notes attached on pages 28 to 36 form an integral part of these accounts.

27

Notes to the Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2020

1. Accounting policies

Policies relating to the production of the accounts

Basis of preparation and accounting convention

The accounts have been prepared on the accruals basis, under the historical cost convention, and in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard 102, (effective 1 January 2016) and ‘FRS 102 SORP (Statement of Recommended Practice for Accounting and Reporting by Charities) 2015, (as amended by the Bulletin issued in October 2018 and applicable to all accounting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2019), (The SORP), published by the Charity Commission in England & Wales (CCEW), effective January 2016, and in accordance with all applicable law in the charity’s jurisdiction of registration, except that the charity has prepared the financial statements in accordance with the FRS 102 SORP (Statement of Recommended Practice for Accounting and Reporting by Charities) 2015, (as amended by the Bulletin issued in October 2018 and applicable to all accounting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2019), (The SORP), in preference to the previous SORP, the SORP 2005, which has been withdrawn, notwithstanding the fact that the extant statutory regulations, the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 refer explicitly to the SORP 2005. This has been done to accord with current best practice.

Going concern

Preparation of the accounts is on a going concern basis. The trustees consider that there are no material uncertainties about the Charity’s ability to continue as a going concern.

Risks and future assumptions

The charity is a public benefit entity.

The Directors actively review the major risks which the charity faces on a regular basis and believe that maintaining the free reserves stated combined with the annual review of the controls over key financial systems carried out on an annual basis will provide sufficient resources in the event of adverse conditions. The Directors have also examined other operational and business risks which they face and confirm that they have established systems to mitigate the significant risks.

Recognition of liabilities and expenditure

A liability, and the related expenditure, is recognised when a legal or constructive obligation exists as a result of a past event, and when it is more likely than not that a transfer of economic benefits will be required in settlement, and when the amount of the obligation can be measured or reliably estimated.

Liabilities arising from future funding commitments and constructive obligations, including performance related grants, where the timing or the amount of the future expenditure required to

28

settle the obligation are uncertain, give rise to a provision in the accounts, which is reviewed at the accounting year end. The provision is increased to reflect any increases in liabilities, and is decreased by the utilisation of any provision within the period, and reversed if any provision is no longer required. These movements are charged or credited to the respective funds and activities to which the provision relates.

Fixed assets

The Charity held no fixed assets during this or the previous financial year.

Volunteers

In accordance with the SORP, and in recognition of the difficulties in placing a monetary value on the contribution from volunteers, the contribution of volunteers is not included within the income of the charity.

However, the Directors value the significant contribution made to the activities of the charity by unpaid volunteers and this is described more fully in Note 5.

Debtors

Debtors are measured at their recoverable amounts at the balance sheet date.

Financial instruments including cash and bank balances

Cash held by the charity is included at the amount actually held and counted at the year end. Bank balances, whether in credit or overdrawn, are shown at the amounts properly reconciled to the bank statements.

Fund accounting

Unrestricted funds are available for use at the discretion of the Directors in furtherance of the general objectives of the charity.

There are no endowment funds.

2. Liability to taxation

The charity is exempt from tax on its charitable activities.

3. Winding up or dissolution of the charity

If upon winding up or dissolution of the charity there remain any assets, after the satisfaction of all debts and liabilities, the assets represented by the accumulated fund shall be transferred to some other charitable body or bodies having similar objects to the charity.

29

4. Net surplus before tax in the financial year

2020 2019
£ £
The net surplus before tax in the financial year is stated afer charging:
Pension costs - 541

5. The contribution of volunteers

Sunday Assembly is a volunteer-led organisation whereby volunteers are at the heart of the charity. This approach reflects our commitment to providing opportunities for everyone to engage, be involved and influence our work. We do have two paid, part-time contractor roles: Producer and Bookkeeper. The Producer’s main focus is leading the production of Sunday Assembly’s core service - the assemblies on the first and third Sundays of the month.

Outside of this, the running of Sunday Assembly is managed by two volunteer teams:

6. Staff costs and emoluments

6. Staff costs and emoluments
2020 2019
£ £
Salary costs
Gross salaries excluding trustees and key management personnel 8,250 29,775
Employer's National Insurance for all staf - 767
Pension contributions - 541
Total salaries, wages and related costs 8,250 31,083
Number of staf employed
The average number of total staf employed in the year was 0 5

Neither the Directors nor any persons connected with them have received any remuneration from the charity or any related entity, either in the current or prior year.

No employees received emoluments (excluding pension costs) in excess of £60,000 per annum.

30

7. Remuneration and payments to trustees and persons connected with them

No Director or persons connected with them received any remuneration from the charity, or any related entity.

8. Debtors

8. Debtors
2020 2019
£ £
Current receivables
Enthuse 679 -
Other onlinepaymentproviders 318 -
Total receivables 997 -

9. Creditors: amounts falling due within one year

2020 2019
£ £
Current payables
Conway Hall - Storage space 54
Bookkeeper - up to 31 Dec 2020 260
Producer - upto 31 Dec 2020 750
Totalpayables 1,064 1,440

10. Income and expenditure account summary

2020 2019
£ £
At 1 January 2020 26,277 40,644
Surplus afer tax for theyear 11,023 (14,367)
At 31 December 2020 37,300 26,277

11. Related party transactions

No payments were made to Directors or any persons connected with them during this financial period. No other transaction took place between the charity and a trustee or any person connected with them.

31

12. Particulars of how particular funds are represented by assets and liabilities

iabilities
At 31 December 2020
Current assets
Current liabilities
At 1 January 2020
Current assets
Current liabilities
Unrestricted
funds
Designated
funds
Restricted
funds
Total funds
£
£
31,364
7,000
38,364
(1,064)
-
-
(1,064)
30,300
7,000
37,300
27,717
-
-
27,717
(1,440)
-
-
(1,440)
26,277
-
-
26,277

13. Change in total funds over the year as shown in Note 14, analysed by individual funds

analysed by individual funds
Funds
brought
forward from
2019
Movement in
funds in 2020
Transfers be-
tween funds
in 2020
Funds carried
forward to
2021
£ £ £ £
Unrestricted and designated funds
Unrestricted revenue funds 26,277 4,023 - 30,300
Total unrestricted and designated funds 26,277 4,023 - 30,300
Restricted funds
National LotteryCommunityFund - 7,000 - 7,000
Total restricted funds - 7,000 - 7,000
Total charity funds 26,277 11,023 - 37,300

14. Analysis of movements in funds over 2020 as shown in Note 15

Income
2020
Expenditure
2020
Other gains
and losses
2020
Movement in
funds
2020
£ £ £ £
Unrestricted and designated funds
Unrestricted revenue funds 26,612 (22,589) - 4,023
Restricted funds
National Lottery Community Fund 7,000 - - 7,000
Total charity funds 33,612 (22,589) - 11,023

32

15. The purposes for which the funds are used

Unrestricted and designated funds

Unrestricted revenue funds

These funds are held for the meeting the objectives of the charity, and to provide reserves for future activities, and, subject to charity legislation, are free from all restrictions on their use.

Restricted funds

National Lottery Community Fund

In November, Sunday Assembly secured a grant from the National Lottery Community Fund of £7,000 to support our long-term goals to continue live streaming once we are able to return to a physical location, and to embed the principles and best practice of accessibility, diversity and inclusion. This funding is intended to be spent on new key roles to support this journey, including a British Sign Language interpreter, Diversity and Inclusion specialist as well as an expert in accessibility both on the physical aspects of our events as well as across our digital platforms.

16. Ultimate controlling party

The charity is under the control of its legal members.

Every member of the charity is obliged to contribute such amount as may be required not exceeding £10 to the assets of the company in the event of its being wound up while he or she is a member, or within one year after he or she ceases to be a member.

17. Donations, grants and legacies

Current year
Current year
Current year
Prior Year
Unrestricted
Funds
Restricted
Funds
Total Funds
Total Funds
2020
2020
2020
2019
Donations and gifs from individuals
£
£
£
£
Small donations individually less than £1,000
17,363
-
17,363
15,874
Gif Aid from HMRC
3,085
-
3,085
11,984
Other donations
4,720
-
4,720
14,792
Current year Current year Current year Prior Year
Unrestricted
Funds
Restricted
Funds
Total Funds Total Funds
2020 2020 2020 2019
Total donations andgifs from individuals
25,168
-
25,168
42,650
Revenue grants from government and public bodies
Small grants individually less than £1,000
-
-
-
4,500
National Lottery Community Fund
-
7,000
7,000
-
Total public sector revenue grants
-
7,000
7,000
4,500
Total donations, grants and legacies
25,168
7,000
32,168
47,150

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18. Income from charitable activities - trading activities

Current year
Current year
Current year
Prior Year
Unrestricted
Funds
Restricted
Funds
Total Funds
Total Funds
2020
2020
2020
2019
Primary purpose and ancillary trading
£
£
£
£
March Lates event
1,404
-
1,404
1,411
Merchandise
34
-
34
705
Yule Rock 2019
6
-
6
5,000
Current year Current year Current year Prior Year
Unrestricted
Funds
Restricted
Funds
Total Funds Total Funds
2020 2020 2020 2019
Totalprimary purpose and ancillary trading
1,444
-
1,444
7,116
Total income from charitable trading
1,444
-
1,444
7,116
Total from charitable activities
1,444
-
1,444
7,116

19. Expenditure on charitable activities - Direct spending

Current year
Current year
Current year
Prior Year
Unrestricted
Funds
Restricted
Funds
Total Funds
Total Funds
2020
2020
2020
2019
£
£
£
£
Gross wages and salaries - charitable activities
-
-
-
29,775
Employers' NI - charitable activities
-
-
-
767
Defined contribution pension costs - charitable activities
-
-
-
541
Contract staf - Charitable activities
8,250
-
8,250
-
Marketing and advertising of charitable services
2,525
-
2,525
2,309
Activities and events
227
-
227
2,464
Choir expenses
-
-
-
2,171
Meetingexpenses
-
-
-
237
Current year Current year Current year Prior Year
Unrestricted
Funds
Restricted
Funds
Total Funds Total Funds
2020 2020 2020 2019
Total direct spending
11,002
-
11,002
38,264

34

20. Support costs for charitable activities

Current year
Current year
Current year
Prior Year
Unrestricted
Funds
Restricted
Funds
Total Funds
Total Funds
2020
2020
2020
2019
£
£
£
£
Premises expenses
Conway Hall - rent
5,919
-
5,919
17,483
Administrative overheads
Stationery and printing
-
-
-
88
Catering services
480
-
480
1,068
Equipment expenses
399
-
399
2,155
Liability and contents insurance
241
-
241
437
Sundry expenses
844
-
844
1,320
Travel and subsistence
-
-
-
90
Yule Rock
-
-
-
2,257
Professional fees paid to advisors other than the
auditor or examiner
Bookkeeping costs
3,015
-
3,015
3,735
Regulator fees
50
-
50
-
Financial costs
Bank charges
639
-
639
774
Current year Current year Current year Prior Year
Unrestricted
Funds
Restricted
Funds
Total Funds Total Funds
2020 2020 2020 2019
Support costs before reallocation
11,587
-
11,587
29,407
Total support costs - Current Year
11,587
-
11,587
29,407

The basis of allocation of costs between activities is described under accounting policies.

All the expenditure in the prior year was unrestricted.

21. Other expenditure - governance costs

Current year
Current year
Current year
Prior Year
Unrestricted
Funds
Restricted
Funds
Total Funds
Total Funds
2020
2020
2020
2019
£
£
£
£
Current year
Independent Examiner's fees
-
-
-
1,440
Current year Current year Current year Prior Year
Unrestricted
Funds
Restricted
Funds
Total Funds Total Funds
2020 2020 2020 2019
Total Governance costs
-
-
-
1,440

All the expenditure in the prior year was unrestricted.

35

22. Total charitable expenditure

22. Total charitable expenditure
Current year
Current year
Current year
Prior Year
Unrestricted
Funds
Restricted
Funds
Total Funds
Total Funds
2020
2020
2020
2019
Current year
£
£
£
£
Total direct spending
11,002
-
11,002
38,264
Total support costs
11,587
-
11,587
29,407
Total governance costs
-
-
-
1,440
Current year Current year Current year Prior Year
Unrestricted
Funds
Restricted
Funds
Total Funds Total Funds
2020 2020 2020 2019
Total charitable expenditure
22,589
-
22,589
69,111

All the expenditure in the prior year was unrestricted.

All the expenditure in the prior year was unrestricted. d.
Prior Year
Prior Year
Prior Year
Unrestricted
Funds
Restricted Funds
Total Funds
2019
2019
2019
Prior year
£
£
£
Total direct spending
38,264
-
38,264
Total support costs
29,407
-
29,407
Total governance costs
1,440
-
1,440
Prior Year Prior Year Prior Year
Unrestricted
Funds
Restricted Funds Total Funds
2019 2019 2019
Total charitable expenditure
69,111
-
69,111

36

Thank you

We would like to thank all of those involved in bringing together this wonderful edition of the Annual Report.

It is also with huge appreciation to our incredible team of volunteers, led by our Organising Team, that Sunday Assembly events have continued during this exceptionally challenging year. We could not have achieved what we have without you. Thank you all.

www.sundayassembly.com