Report of the trustees for the year ending 28 February 2022
The trustees of Keele World Affairs present their sixth annual report and accounts for the year ended 28 February 2022 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.
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.
Registered charity number 1164457
http://kwaku.org.uk
1
During the year this report covers we operated primarily as World Affairs Digital and anyone could sign up and attend meetings online without being a member. Our activities returned to the Westminster at the end of January 2022 and 16 new members were admitted in the four weeks to the end of the year.
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 members of the management team. All trustees and management team members give of their time freely and no remuneration or expenses (other than out of pocket expenses) were paid in the accounting period.
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 care 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 has played a vital role in developing and maintaining the Keele World Affairs website, for over ten years. His untimely death during a heart operation in February 2022 has led the other Trustees to seek alternative support for the duties he carried out
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 Response to Covid-19 Pandemic
World Affairs Digital which started in October 2020 continued in the light of restrictions until January 2022 by which time over 30 meetings had taken place with remote audiences of over 300. An agreement with Keele University enabled us to return to the Westminster Theatre in the last week of January with speakers meeting a live audience while the proceedings were also streamed to other members via the Crowdcast platform used since October 2020, thereby operating a ‘hybrid’ mode. Health provisions meant that the theatre could be filled to only 50% of its capacity and attendees were required to wear masks.
Trustees found that the hybrid approach was leading to low audiences in the theatre, and thus a disincentive for important speakers to travel long distances to speak at Keele World
Registered charity number 1164457
http://kwaku.org.uk
2
Affairs. The Trustees therefore decided to terminate streaming at the end of February 2022 so that future meetings would only be available to attending members, the status quo before the pandemic.
4 OUR FINANCES
The financial statements and Examiner's report follow this report. In fairness to members, course enrollment fees were suspended whilst proceedings were broadcast during the World Affairs Digital programme, but voluntary donations were invited in to compensate.
Normal expenditure changed in nature and value during the digital broadcast programme Meeting expenses fell, whilst IT costs increased. Overall, the modest deficit was in line with expectations and is considered satisfactory. Our reserves are also satisfactory and close to the previous level.
Next year's operations are expected to follow the pattern of earlier years (pandemic permitting), improving the experience for speakers and members alike.
5 REVIEW OF ACTIVITIES AND ACHIEVEMENTS
5.1 Programme of meetings
During the period, 20 meetings took place, the last five of which were live in the Westminster Theatre at Keele University.
5.2 Speakers
The following speakers addressed Keele World Affairs meeting during the period covered by the report. They include academics, historians, scientists, diplomats, and politicians. Sustainability was again in important thread with three speakers on different aspects.
Professor Sir Tom Devine
Sir William Fraser Professor Emeritus of Scottish History and Palaeography, University of Edinburgh The Fraying of the Anglo-Scottish Union: An Interpretation
Baroness Helena Kennedy
Member of the House of Lords, Chair Justice, Director of the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute
International Law in a time of Political Disruption
Lord David Blunkett
Professor of Politics in Practice, University of Sheffield The Future Politics for the Left and Centre
Professor Michael Clarke
former Director-General, RUSI (Royal United Services Institute) International Security in 2021: Reasons for Optimism and Pessimism
Rt. Hon Sir Stephen O'Brien KBE
former Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, United Nations What is Britain’s Future Role in International Organisations?
Dr Emily Shuckburgh
Director, Cambridge Zero, University of Cambridge Sustainability: Innovations to Change the World
Sir Jeremy Farrar OBE FRS
Director, Wellcome Trust Can We Outsmart Pandemics?
Registered charity number 1164457
http://kwaku.org.uk
3
Professor Kerry Brown
Director, Lau China Institute, King’s College London
The World According to Xi Jinping
Lord Simon McDonald
former Head of the Diplomatic Service
Statecraft and Diplomacy: Coping with the 21st Century
Karla Hill
Associate Director, E3G
Climate Action: The Law, Politics and COP26
Professor Stephen Chan OBE
Professor of World Politics, SOAS, University of London Africa’s Future: Its Politics and the Impact of Religion
Jonathan Powell
Chief Executive and Founder, Inter Mediate, diplomat, former Chief of Staff, Blair government Talking to Terrorists
General Sir Richard Barrons KCB CBE
Former Commander Joint Forces Command, UK Armed Forces
How Can Britain Defend Itself in the 21st Century?
Professor Margaret MacMillan CH
Professor of History, University of Toronto, Emeritus Professor of International History, Oxford The Nature of Leadership: Why and When It Matters
Professor Meg Russell FBA
Director, Constitution Unit, Department of Political Science, University College London How should the House of Lords be reformed?
Chris Doyle
Director, Council for the Advancement of Arab-British Understanding What Future for Syria?
Dr Fiona Hill
Robert Bosch Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution
There Is Nothing for You Here: Opportunity in an Age of Decline
Professor Anand Menon
Professor of European Politics and Foreign Affairs, King's College London Life Outside the EU: Britain's New Politics?
Daniel Bruce
Chief Executive, Transparency International UK
Global Corruption: For Better or Worse?
Dr Heidi Wang-Kaeding
Dir of International Governance & Public Policy, Keele University
Can China Become an "Ecological Civilisation"?
5.3 Attendances
Attendances, remote and in the Westminster, were subject to some decline in the spring of 2022, as live meetings resumed.
5.4 Communications
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
Registered charity number 1164457
http://kwaku.org.uk
4
Information about Keele World Affairs and its aims is available to subscribing members and to the public at www. htp://kwaku.org.uk/. To make our educational activities available as widely as possible, we maintain an archive of our meetings at
htp://kwaku.org.uk/Video.html where videos of the lectures and Question/Answer sessions are published whenever we have the consent of the speaker. Therefore meetings delivered digitally and in the Westminster Theatre both feature in the Archive.
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 for the season to spring 2022 shown as MS22 in the chart below.
Extremely & Very Satisfied % 2014-2022
----- Start of picture text -----
100%
95%
90%
85%
80%
75%
70%
65% Speakers/ Lec-
tures
60% Q&A Sessions
55% Pre-meeting
Communica-
50% tions
Lifelong Learn-
45% ing Experience
Social En-
40%
vironment
35%
30%
MS15 MS16 MS17 MS18 MS19 MS20 MS21 MS22
----- End of picture text -----
Only Social Environment remains below the pre-pandemic levels for the obvious reason that most members were obliged to watch meetings in their own homes
Registered charity number 1164457
http://kwaku.org.uk
5
5.7 Engagement with our educational programme
During the period covered by this report, books by the following speakers were available through website links:
Sir Jeremy Farrar OBE FRS Professor Kerry Brown Dr Fiona Hill
6 ACTIONS/DECISIONS
6.1 Appointment of Hon Members of Advisory Panel
Rt. Hon Sir Stephen O'Brien KBE joined our Advisory Panel during the autumn of 2021.
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.
7 RELATIONSHIP WITH KEELE UNIVERSITY
Despite not meeting on campus, our relationship with the university remains strong. Of particular importance was the support of Audio Visual Services who assumed responsibility for studio management of Digital meetings from October 2021 owning the ill-health of the late Andrew Shepherd.
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 look forward to resuming meetings in the Westminster Theatre in the coming season.
Signed: Bill Boynton Date: Chair
Registered charity number 1164457
http://kwaku.org.uk
6
CIO Keele World Affairs
Financial Statement 2022
The Trustees present the financial report of Keele World Affairs ("the CIO"), for the financial year ended 28 February 2022.
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
Receipts and Payments
For the year ended 28 February 2022
| Receipts Course enrollment fees Donations Total receipts Payments Speaker expenses Other Meeting Expenses Internet & Audio Visual services Other IT costs KWA Digital streaming Admin costs Insurance, Legal, Comms Total payments Net surplus (deficit) |
2022 £ 166 3,723 3,889 972 104 130 2,790 765 49 328 5,138 (1,249) |
2021 £ notes 1 11,350 18 2 11,368 1,114 80 1,078 424 7,447 3 0 326 10,469 899 |
|---|---|---|
| 972 104 130 2,790 765 49 328 |
1,114 80 1,078 424 7,447 0 326 |
|
Registered charity number 1164457
http://kwaku.org.uk
1
CIO Keele World Affairs
Financial Statement 2022
| Balance Sheet Information | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year ended 28 February 2022 | |||||
| 2022 £ |
2021 £ |
notes | |||
| Bank accounts | 22,801 | 24,050 | |||
| Equipment | 3,500 | 2,600 | 4 | ||
| Accounts Payable | 94 | 28 | 5 | ||
| Accounts Receivable | nil | nil | 6 |
Notes to the Accounts
-
This statement has been prepared on the Receipts & Payments basis, for the financial year to 28 February 2022;
-
Donations include Gift Aid, where appropriate;
-
KWA Digital streaming is the operating cost of the live video service implemented in the previous year; it was available to the general public until February 2022;
-
Equipment: the Trustees' valuation of equipment after disposals and replacements is £3,500 (mainly computer systems etc.);
-
The accounts payable were in line with expectations;
-
There were no accounts receivable at year end.
Signed as a true record
J W BOYNTON, Chairman 12 December 2022
G J PEARSON, Trustee 12 December 2022
Registered charity number 1164457
http://kwaku.org.uk
2
CIO Keele World Affairs Financial Statement 2022
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 2022.
I can report as follows:
-
this examination is based on records requested, submitted, or volunteered to me for examination by the Trustees and Finance Officer of the charity.
-
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);
-
that the records requested by me and submitted for examination include but are not limited to bank statements, subscription and donation records, invoices, other records and explanations, and unfettered access to online bank and accounting records. No information was withheld or unreasonably delayed;
-
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 2022;
-
also that the charity's expenditures conform in all material respects with its objects and responsibilities;
-
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
12 December 2022 Trustee and Internal Examiner
Registered charity number 1164457
http://kwaku.org.uk
3