Report of the trustees for the period ending 28 February 2023
The trustees of Keele World Affairs present their third annual report and accounts for the period ended 28 February 2023 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.
At the start of the year covered by this report, attendance at our meetings was solely in the Westminster Theatre for the first time since March 2020.
3 STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND 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 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.
Following the death of our Systems Trustee in February 2022, steps were taken during the year that followed, principally by the Chair, to investigate alternative support for different systems activities. This is crucial to the effectiveness of Keele World Affairs and progress is described later in this report.
Another trustee acts as meeting chair in the absence of the Chair and another advises on our educational values and relationship with Keele University.
4 OUR FINANCES
Our financial accounts are shown at the bottom of this report.
5 REVIEW OF ACTIVITIES AND ACHIEVEMENTS
5.1 Programme of meetings
During the period, 20 meetings took place. In order to rebuild ‘live’ attendances that would encourage our high-profile speakers, all streaming had been discontinued at the end of February 2022, with videos of meetings posted for the benefit of the public, always subject to the consent of the speaker. This policy was quickly vindicated in the first week of March 2022 when 200 members attended the meeting with Bill Emmott on the Russian invasion of Ukraine that had just started
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 five speakers on different aspects.
Bill Emmott
Chair, Institute for International Strategic Studies Putin's War: The Future of Geopolitics
Professor Lynda Gratton
Professor of Management Practice, London Business School The Future of Work
Sara Khan
Co-founder & Director, Inspire Countering Extremism in the 21st Century: Challenges and New Approaches
Lord Peter Hain
Labour Peer and former Minister
Whither Mandela’s ‘Rainbow Nation’? A Personal Journey from South Africa’s Past to Future
Mary Ann Sieghart
Journalist & Visiting Professor, King’s College London The Authority Gap: Removing Gender Bias for a Better World
Henry Dimbleby
Director, National Food Strategy, DEFRA Miracle and Disaster – How to Create a National Food Strategy for the UK
Professor Paul Rogers
Emeritus Professor of Peace Studies, Bradford University Putin: Implications for Future Conduct of War
Michael Stephens
Research Fellow for Middle East Studies, RUSI The Arab View of the World
Professor Mike Berners-Lee
Founder of Small World Consulting, Lancaster University There is No Planet B/The Carbon Footprint of Everything
Professor Elizabeth David-Barrett
Professor of Governance and Integrity, University of Sussex State Capture: A World View
Professor Nicola McEwen
Professor of Territorial Politics, University of Edinburgh The Disunited Kingdom: Devolution or Dissolution?
Dr Mark Britnell
Vice-Chairman, KPMG in the UK, KPMG Human: Solving the Global Workforce Crisis in Healthcare Professor David Hulme Director Global Development Institute, Prof. of Development Studies University of Manchester Water Wars: Should We Build More Dams?
Professor David Hulme
Robin Maynard
CEO, Population Matters Population Matters Professor Rana Mitter Professor of the History and Politics of Modern China, University of Oxford The Geopolitics of Xi’s China
Professor Rana Mitter
Bill Emmott
Chairman Japan Society of the UK, former editor-in-chief The Economist, x What We Can Learn From Japan
Torsten Bell
Chief Executive, Resolution Foundation Who does 21st Century Britain work for?
Professor Katy Hayward
Professor of Political Sociology, Queen’s University Belfast What Should We Do About the Irish Border?
Professor David Marsh CBE
Chairman OMFIF, Visiting Prof Kings College London & Sheffield University Global Finance in a Divided World
Professor Dame Henrietta Moore
Director of the Institute for Global Prosperity, UCL Regenerative Agriculture: A Global Solution
5.3 Attendances Attendances in the Westminster during the period was 4,560.
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 and guidance on how to benefit mosdt from attendance at our meetings.
5.5 Our Systems
After discussion with potential suppliers about various systems we use, there was a breakthrough when a senior manager at Keele University volunteered to be our Webmaster, thus taking on the most crucial role at the end of March 2022.
One member gave some help to the Chair from late April to create materials for the website. The intention is to find more support in 2023.
A key strategy for our Speaker Programme, and to reduce dependence on the Chair was to move the Speaker Database, a bespoke Microsoft Access solution developed by a member, onto a multi-user platform and this was achieved from the end of August 2022.
Various cloud storage options were discussed but we chose to continue with our secure Tresorit platform under advantageous terms as a charity that our late Systems Trustee had agreed.
5.6 Our Website
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.
5.7 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. Inevitably there was a dip while we were World Affairs Digital, especially with regards to ‘Social Environment’ but following our return to face-toface meetings, we again see high levels of satisfaction in the survey conducted for the season to spring 2023 shown as MS23 in the chart below.
Extremely & Very Satisfied % 2014-2023
Speakers/ Lectures Q&A Sessions Pre-meeting Communications Lifelong Learning Experience Social Environment
----- Start of picture text -----
100%
95%
90%
85%
80%
75%
70%
65%
60%
55%
50%
45%
40%
35%
MS15 MS16 MS17 MS18 MS19 MS20 MS21 MS22 MS23
----- End of picture text -----
5.8 Engagement with our educational programme
During the period covered by this report, books by the following speakers were available at book signings at our meetings. We invite local booksellers to organise them and seek no profit:
Lord Peter Hain Mary Ann Sieghart Professor Mike Berners-Lee Dr Mark Britnell
6 ADVISORY PANEL .
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
Our relationship with the university remains strong . The Vice-Chancellor is invited annually to address our members about developments at Keele University and did so in February 2023, the first opportunity since the outbreak of Covid
8 CONCLUDING REMARKS
Outstanding speakers and in-depth discussion of a wide range of international issues enabled us to fulfil our aims once more.
Signed: Bill Boynton Date: Chair Website www.kwaku.org.uk Registered Charity No. 1164457
CIO Keele World Affairs
Financial Statement 2023
The Trustees present the financial report of Keele World Affairs ("the CIO"), for the financial year ended 28 February 2023.
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 Afairs
Receipts and Payments
For the year ended 28 February 2023
| Receipts Course enrollment fees Donations Other Receipts 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) |
14,567 211 204 14,982 5,372 313 4,655 2,531 221 869 342 14,303 679 2023 £ |
notes 1 166 3,723 2 0 3,889 972 104 130 2,790 765 3 49 328 5,138 (1,249) 2022 £ |
|---|---|---|
| 5,372 313 4,655 2,531 221 869 342 |
972 104 130 2,790 765 49 328 |
|
Registered charity number 1164457
http://kwaku.org.uk
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CIO Keele World Affairs
Financial Statement 2023
| Balance Sheet Information | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year ended 28 February 2022 | |||||
| 2023 £ |
2022 £ |
notes | |||
| Bank accounts | 23,481 | 22,801 | |||
| Equipment | 3,000 | 3,500 | 4 | ||
| Accounts Payable | nil | nil | 5 | ||
| Accounts Receivable | nil | nil | 6 |
Notes to the Accounts
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This statement has been prepared on the Receipts & Payments basis, for the financial year to 28 February 2023;
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Donations include Gift Aid, where appropriate;
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KWA Digital streaming is residual cost from the service operated until February 2022;
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Equipment: the Trustees' valuation of equipment after disposals and replacements is £3,000 (mainly computer systems etc.);
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There were no accounts payable at year end.
-
There were no accounts receivable at year end.
Signed as a true record
J W BOYNTON, Chairman 14 December 2023
F J SPARKES, Trustee 14 December 2023
Registered charity number 1164457
http://kwaku.org.uk
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CIO Keele World Affairs Financial Statement 2023
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 2023.
I can report as follows:
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this examination is based on records requested, submitted, or volunteered to me for examination by the Trustees and Finance Officer of the charity.
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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);
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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;
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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 2023;
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also that the charity's expenditures conform in all material respects with its objects and responsibilities;
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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
14 December 2023 Trustee and Internal Examiner
Registered charity number 1164457
http://kwaku.org.uk
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