2021-02-28-accounts

Report of the trustees for the year ending 28 February 2021

The trustees of Keele World Affairs present their annual report and accounts for the year ended 28 February 2021 and confirm they comply with the requirements of the Charity Commission and the constitution of Keele World Affairs.

1 OUR AIMS

The charitable aims of Keele World Affairs are

(1) To advance education for the public benefit through lectures and other forms of learning in fields of international politics, economics, and global issues;

(2) To create an environment that encourages lifelong learning through the programmes it organises;

(3) To share the knowledge gained during its programme with the wider community.

Since the foundation of Keele World Affairs in 1980 as an informal community association, its primary focus has been on international politics, economics, and global issues. This remained the aim of the trustees following the registration of Keele World Affairs as a charity and has continued in the latest year.

2 OUR ETHOS AND OUR ACCESS POLICY

Keele World Affairs serves the region and society more widely (by for example bringing public figures into contact with our members) and as a charitable trust it seeks to benefit the public through the pursuit of the above aims. Our policy is for subscriptions to be affordable by any member of the community whatever their economic status.

In return for the voluntary effort that is made to sustain the efforts of the charity, we expect subscribing members to follow our guiding principles of lifelong learning by regular attendance during the season, engagement in the questioning of speakers on the topics covered, and support that leads to a good learning environment.

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Applications to join Keele World Affairs are considered in the light of these principles and we are committed to maintaining a membership that is free from any form of discrimination on the grounds of colour, race, ethnicity, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age, or disability. We believe that our members benefit from learning within a diverse community and that a great deal of learning occurs through social interaction, conversation and shared experiences during our meetings.

Demand to join Keele World Affairs normally exceeds our ability to accept new members and most admissions take place during the summer months when we know the extent of membership renewals. The Covid-19 pandemic created unusual circumstances discussed later in this report but nonetheless it is pleasing to report that we were able to admit 16 new members in the second quarter of 2020.

3 STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT

3.1 Overall Management

The charity trustees are responsible for the overall management and control of Keele World Affairs activities and meet during the season and the summer recess. The work of implementing most of the policies is carried out by the Chair supported by individual trustees and other volunteers in the management team, who give freely of their time.

Membership matters are looked after by the trustee for member liaison and the membership secretary. One trustee assesses risk, monitors health and safety, and arrangements with St John Ambulance. Another trustee manages attendance and order at the meetings during the season with support from various members to ensure the effective running of these large occasions.

The Chair manages relationships with and invitations to visiting speakers with support from a team member to create specialist software for these purposes. A trustee and hosting team cares for speakers on the day of their visit. We have a trustee who takes responsibility for our accounts (assisted by a financial officer), insurances, data security, privacy policy, compliance with the requirements of the Charity Commission, and copyright/legal matters.

The trustee for systems plays a vital role in developing and maintaining the Keele World Affairs website, managing all systems activities at our meetings, and helping us to make use of third party systems to improve the World Affairs experience. He also leads projects to research, conduct feasibility, evaluate requirements, design and implement new applications that will improve service to members and ability to manage the trustees.

Another trustee acts as meeting chair in the absence of the Chair and another advises on our educational values and relationship with Keele University.

3.2 Covid-19 Pandemic

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In March 2020, with increasing cases of coronavirus in the UK, Trustees decided in emergency session to cancel the last two lecture meetings of the season: there would be no more until further notice. The scheduled speakers were invited to postpone to next season.

Trustees realised the pandemic was a potential existential threat to the charity. Our series of lectures — dependent on the physical presence of visiting speaker, organisers and members alike — could not continue in its traditional form with social distancing. Also, future planning could become unmanageable, with a schedule of speakers arranged a year or more in advance. Keele University, which hosts our meetings, was already planning lectures and classes online: Keele World Affairs would have to do the same.

During the Spring and Summer of 2020, the Chair and Trustee for systems investigated the feasibility of moving Keele World Affairs lectures online for an indeterminate period.

A member survey confirmed a large majority was keen to watch remotely.

The project was ambitious. It involved selecting a hosting platform, configuring new hardware and software, management of live streaming on the internet, extensive testing, ensuring both KWA personnel and speakers had appropriate equipment.

However, live transmission had to be as normal as possible — including Questions and Answers — both for the speaker and for the online audience.

Trustees were supportive, but recognised the system must be tested ready for live operational use in the first lecture. The urgency, our finite resources, and increasingly onerous Covid restrictions meant it was not feasible to go out to tender.

After the most careful consideration, Trustees agreed the constraints imposed by regulation and Charity Commission advice did not preclude awarding a Professional Services Contract to one of their number in these circumstances; the Trustee for systems was uniquely qualified, in view of his professional background and in-depth knowledge of Keele World Affairs, its culture and systems. He agreed to take it on.

Full-time development quickly got under way; the Crowdcast platform was quickly selected for broadcasting. All other software, hardware and ancillary equipment had to be evaluated, delivered, configured, linked and tested. Testing was completed in September 2020.

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"World Affairs Digital" launched on 1 October 2020 for the 40[th] season of Keele World Affairs. It was operated with few glitches throughout the remainder of that lecture season and will continue as required in future periods.

4 OUR FINANCES

Our financial statements and Examiner's report follow this report. The usual expenditure pattern has changed with World Affairs Digital, but the modest surplus is satisfactory.

5 REVIEW OF ACTIVITIES AND ACHIEVEMENTS

5.1 Programme of meetings

During the period, 18 meetings took place, two in March 2020 in the Westminster Theatre and 16 remotely as World Affairs Digital. The format of Digital meetings mirrored the Westminster Theatre format as far as possible.

Each digital event started with a 30-minute video with excerpts from past meetings, comments by distinguished Members of our Advisory Panel, and an introduction to the topic by the invited speaker. Lectures were 35 – 45 minutes in length and PowerPoint presentations and video material were fully supported. The Crowdcast platform allows attendees to post questions during the lecture and short interval. Each Q & A session was curated by the Chair and answered by the speaker with a thorough 45 minute examination of the issues, as would happen in the Westminster Theatre.

In the view of the trustees, the digital format maintained the substantial learning opportunity for which Keele World Affairs is known

5.2 Speakers

The following speakers addressed Keele World Affairs meeting during the period covered by the report. They include academics, historians, journalists, scientists, diplomats, and economists. A major thread was Sustainability with five distinguished speakers on different issues.

Lord Nigel Crisp KCB

Co-chair APPG on Global Health, House of Lords Global Health: Turning the World Upside Down

Alan Rusbridger

The Principal, Lady Margaret Hall, University of Oxford Breaking News: The Remaking of Journalism

Professor 'Fumni Olonisakin

Vice President and Vice Principal (International), King’s College London Peace, Conflict, and Leadership in Africa

Lord Jonathan Sumption

former Justice, The Supreme Court, Senior Research Fellow, Institute of Historical Research Brexit and the British Constitution

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Professor Danny Dorling

Halford Mackinder Professor of Geography, University of Oxford Is the Human Species Slowing Down?

Professor Mark Miodownik

Professor of Materials & Society, UCL Mechanical Engineering Stuff Matters: Materials and Global Sustainability

Sir Ivan Rogers KMCG

former UK Permanent Representative to the European Union

9 Lessons in Brexit: Negotiating Britain’s Future Trading Relationships

Tom Holland

award-winning historian, author and broadcaster The Rise and Retreat of Secularism

Lord Adair Turner

Chair, Energy Transitions Commission, Senior Fellow INET, former Chairman FSA Sustainability and National Infrastructure

Rt Hon Andrew Mitchell MP

former Minister for International Development International Development: Britain’s Future Role?

Tanya Steele

CEO, World Wildlife Fund (WWF)

The Living Planet: What Hope for Biodiversity?

Professor Michael Wood

historian, film-maker, broadcaster The Story of China

Isabel Hilton OBE

Journalist, writer, CEO of China Dialogue Trust China and Climate Change

Philip Collins

Journalist, editor, author, political advisor Britain Adrift on a Large Ocean

Professor Philip Murphy

Director & Professor of British and Commonwealth History, ICS, University of London Worrying about the Commonwealth

Professor Sarah Bridle

Professor of Astrophysics, University of Manchester Food and Climate Change - Without the Hot Air

Professor Ali Ansari

Prof of Modern History, Founder of the Institute for Iranian Studies, St Andrews University Iran, Islam and Democracy

Professor Richard Murphy

Visiting Professor at Sheffield University Management School and Anglia Ruskin University Global Sustainability Institute

Who Pays for Covid-19? In Search of Tax Justice

5.3 Attendances

Attendances by members during the season matched the numbers achieved in recent seasons so this has amply justified the effort to develop and run World Affairs Digital.

In addition, we were able to invite members of the public internationally to sign up for meetings and this boosted attendances further to over 400 per meeting.

5.4 Communications

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We communicate frequently with all World Affairs members by email and this encourages commitment to the programme that is the basis of their educational experience. There is a preview of each meeting, information about videos are now available, and other links when our speakers achieve visibility elsewhere.

5.5 Our Website

Information about Keele World Affairs and its aims is available to subscribing members and to the public at www. http://kwaku.org.uk/. To make our educational activities available as widely as possible, we maintain an archive of our meetings at http://kwaku.org.uk/Video.html where videos of the lectures and Question/Answer sessions are published whenever we have the consent of the speaker. The effect of World Affairs Digital has been to allow interested non-members to enjoy the live meetings too.

5.6 Member Feedback and Opinion

Keele World Affairs is run by the trustees on the Foundation Model in which they take the decisions, so regular surveys of subscribing members are important to provide feedback about their educational experience. Surveys consistently show high levels of satisfaction. Excellent results were reported from the survey conducted March to June 2021 for the World Affairs Digital experience as shown in the chart below.

----- Start of picture text -----
Overall Satisfaction with Keele World Affairs Experience
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Speakers/Lectures
Q&A Sessions
Communications
Lifelong Learning
Social Environment
Extremely Satisfied Very Satisfied Fairly Satisfied
Fairly Dissatisfied Very Dissatisfied Extremely Dissatisfied
----- End of picture text -----

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Few members recorded any degree of dissatisfaction and the proportion that were extremely or very satisfied ranged from 78% to 88% with the exception of Social Environment which is difficult to offer in a remote digital context.

5.7 Engagement with our educational programme

The Question & Answer session continues to provide a deeper engagement between the visiting speaker and the large member audience. Though we could not bring attendees onto the stage to put their questions in person, typically 20 – 40 questions were submitted through the Crowdcast ‘Ask a Question’ feature available to everyone with keyboard access, and these were curated by the Chair to ensure in-depth querying on every topic.

Our previous informal agreement with Blackwells was continued with a link on each speaker’s bio page on our website through which attendees can buy relevant books online. This has maintained our purpose to stimulate deeper learning of topics covered by our programme and more generally to encourage members to continue their education.

During the period covered by this report, books by the following 13 speakers were available, in the first case at a signing in the Westminster Theatre, in other cases through website links:

Alan Rusbridger, Lord Jonathan Sumption, Prof. Danny Dorling, Prof. Mark Miodownik, Sir Ivan Rogers, Tom Holland, Lord Adair Turner, Prof. Michael Wood, Philip Collins, Prof. Philip Murphy, Prof Sarah Bridle, Prof. Ali Ansari, Prof Richard Murphy.

6 ACTIONS/DECISIONS

6.1 Appointment of Hon Members of Advisory Panel

Professor Anand Menon joined our Advisory Panel during the summer of 2020. With sadness we report the death of Prof Rosemary Hollis, an expert on Middle East affairs, who was also a frequent speaker at Keele World Affairs over a period of 30 years. She will be greatly missed.

The President and the Advisory Panel members contribute suggestions informally and help the Chair to introduce thinkers with new ideas to the Keele World Affairs platform. This invaluable support has continued in the latest season; our emphasis on sustainability and climate change has benefitted greatly from support by Jonathon Porritt.

6.2 Managing Meetings

With digital meetings, the numbers attending pose no challenges. Nonmembers may be unfamiliar with the ethos of Keele World Affairs but some may be sufficiently encouraged to become members in the future. At only one meeting we briefly encountered inappropriate use by a couple of non-member

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attendees of the Crowdcast Chat feature which distracted and annoyed other attendees, a problem quickly resolved by switching it off temporarily.

Digital meetings depend on the reliability of internet connections and streaming and place greater demands on the studio manager compared with a theatre event. We learned progressively how to deal with the few disruptions that occurred (the longest delay being no longer than four minutes). As a result, attendees remained committed and most stayed for the full duration of each meeting.

7 RELATIONSHIP WITH KEELE UNIVERSITY

Despite not meeting on campus, our relationship with the university remains strong. We collaborated with the Marketing Department to communicate details of the Keele World Affairs meetings, leading to worthwhile attendances by staff and students. Particularly noteworthy was their interest in the lecture by Lord Jonathan Sumption.

8 CONCLUDING REMARKS

Outstanding speakers and in-depth discussion of a wide range of international issues enabled us to fulfil our aims once more. We are confident that we have the ability to continue as World Affairs Digital until it is reasonable and we are permitted to resume in the Westminster Theatre.

Signed: Bill Boynton, Chair Date: 13 December 2021

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CIO Keele World Affairs

Financial Statement 2021

The Trustees present the financial report of Keele World Affairs ("the CIO"), for the financial year ended 28 February 2021.

The Trustees have prepared the accounts on the Receipts and Payments basis, verified by internal examination, as permitted by its constitution and by regulation.

The financial situation is considered satisfactory.

The CIO has continued and developed its educational activities which began as an informal community association: a full report of activities and Trustees is contained in the accompanying Annual Report.

The notes following the accounts form part of this report.

	Keele World Affairs	Keele World Affairs
	Receipts and Payments
	For the year	ended 28 February 2021
		2021	2020
		£	£		notes
	Receipts				1
	Course enrollment fees	11,350	12,539
	Donations	18	0
	Licensing income	0	0
	Other Receipts	0	0
	Total receipts	11,368		12,539
	Payments
	Speaker expenses	1,114	3,229
	Other Meeting Expenses	80	1,793
	Internet & Audio Visual services	1,078	3,093
	Other IT costs	424	538
	KWA Digital streaming	7,447	0		2
	Admin costs	0	1,119
	Insurance, Legal, Comms	326	345
	Other expenses	0	0
	Total payments	10,469		10,117
	Net surplus (deficit)	899		2,422

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CIO Keele World Affairs

Financial Statement 2021

		Balance Sheet Information
	Year ended 28 February 2021
		2021 £	2020 £	notes
	Bank accounts	24050	23151
	Equipment	2600	2000	3
	Accounts Payable	28	2194	4
	Accounts Receivable	nil	nil	5

Notes to the Accounts

1. This statement has been prepared on the Receipts & Payments basis, for the financial year to 28 February 2021;

2. KWA Digital streaming – this item represents total expenditure on the new live internet streaming service described in the Annual Report. Implementation was carried out through a £5000 Professional Services contract awarded to a trustee, with scrupulous attention to regulations and Charity Commission advice on such payments;

3. Equipment: the Trustees' valuation of equipment after disposals and replacements is £2,600 (mainly computer systems etc.);

4. The accounts payable were in line with expectations;

5. There were no accounts receivable at year end.

Signed as a true record

J W BOYNTON, Chairman 13 December 2021

G J PEARSON, Trustee 13 December 2021

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CIO Keele World Affairs Financial Statement 2021

Internal Examiner's Report on the Accounts

The purpose of this examination was to establish an opinion on the accounts of Keele World Affairs (“the CIO”) for the financial year ended 28 February 2021.

I can report as follows:

1. this examination is based on records requested, submitted, or volunteered to me for examination by the Trustees and Finance Officer of the charity.

2. the Internal Examiner has not been involved in day-to-day operation of book-keeping records, or authorisation of purchases (with the sole exception of a public liability insurance policy);

3. that the records requested by me and submitted for examination include but are not limited to bank statements, subscription details, invoices, other records and explanations, and unfettered access to online bank and accounting records; no information was withheld or unreasonably delayed;

4. that in my opinion, the financial statements of the CIO appear in all material respects to be a true and correct record of receipts and payments and all other prescribed financial information during the financial year to 28 February 2021;

5. also that the charity's expenditures conform in all material respects with its objects and responsibilities;

6. that the annual turnover from operations was less than £250,000, and also less than £25,000, justifying both the Receipts & Payment basis of accounting and the appointment of an Internal Examiner;

This opinion is based solely on the records submitted to me and due examination according to Charity Commission prescriptions as described above, by an Internal Examiner whose commercial experience includes various industries, and systems experience in banking, but no accounting qualification.

DONALD MUIR

5 December 2021 Trustee and Internal Examiner

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