2023-12-31-accounts

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(Registered charity no. 1169251)

TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT

AND

RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

CONTENTS

Legal and Administrative information	1
Trustees' Report	2
Independent Examiner's Report	9
Receipts and Payments Accounts	10
Statement of Assets and Liabilities	11

TOOLS FOR INNER PEACE TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

Trustees	Minna Maaria Jarvenpaa (Chair)
	Kristina Hemon
	Susan Meirion Owen
	Bryan Wayne Dalton (resigned 16 August 2023)
Charity Reg. No.	1169251
Working name	TIP
Registered Office	1 Sawley Close
	Murdishaw
	Cheshire
	WA7 6RD
Webstie	www.tools4innerpeace.org
Independent Examiner	Charles Ssempijja, FCA
	NfP Accountants Ltd
	3rdFloor, 86-90 Paul Street
	London
	EC2A 4NE
Bankers	Barclays Bank Plc
	1 Churchill Place
	London
	E14 5HP

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TOOLS FOR INNER PEACE

TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

The trustees present their annual report and financial statements of the charity for the year ended 31 December 2021. Reference and administrative information set out on page 1 forms part of this report. The financial statements have been prepared on a Receipts and Payments basis, and they comply with current statutory requirements and the charity's governing document. The Trustees’ Annual Report has been prepared in compliance with the Statement of Recommended Practice: Accounting and Reporting by Charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102). The financial statements have been prepared on a Receipts and Payments basis, taking advantage of provisions available for smaller charities.

OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES FOR THE PUBLIC BENEFIT

Charitable objects

1. To promote, develop, nurture and protect mental, physical and emotional health of individuals, for the public benefit, focusing in particular but not exclusively and without limitation, on people working in conflict zones around the world, as well as civilian victims of war, and children and youth suffering from transgenerational trauma, by the provision of yoga and associated or other services such as, without any limitation whatsoever, training, counselling and support.

2. To provide public education and training in the therapeutic use of yoga to alleviate trauma and mental suffering.

Activities

The charity offers yoga as a means of coping with stress and trauma. The charity's primary beneficiaries include refugees and other disadvantaged and marginalised people, such as homeless street youth.

Statement of public benefit

The Trustees confirm that they have complied with their duty to have due regard to the guidance on public benefit published by the Charity Commission in exercising their powers or duties.

The Trustees have referred to the guidance contained in the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit when reviewing the charity’s aims and objectives and in planning its future activities. The Trustees consider how planned activities will contribute to the aims and objectives that have been set.

ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE: REVIEW OF ACTIVITIES FOR THE YEAR

In 2023, Tools for Inner Peace has continued to focus on sharing trauma-informed yoga with refugees, conflict survivors, homeless street youth and vulnerable populations in the UK, Lebanon and Sierra Leone. Our aim in offering yoga is seek to empower trauma survivors to manage their own healing and wellbeing. While we carried on offering weekly classes, our emphasis shifted to providing training for people from marginalised communities themselves to share the tools and techniques from yoga for the wellbeing of others, including family, friends and neighbours. To this

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TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT

TOOLS FOR INNER PEACE

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

end, we developed a range of foundation trainings and community yoga facilitator trainings, as well as made possible the participation of our students in other classical yoga training courses.

United Kingdom

In the UK, we have carried on conducting free classes for refugees living primarily in deprived areas in Merseyside or in refugee hotels in the greater Liverpool area. For many of our participants yoga is a lifeline for developing healthy habits, recovering from trauma and making social connections. Our students appreciate the warmth of our teacher, Lynn Mooney, who always has time for a cup of tea and a chat after the class, and has helped bring childcare services to the refugee hotels so that mothers can participate in yoga classes. She also provides general advice and refers participants to community centres, English classes, sports clubs, women’s services and more in the local area.

"I'm really thankful for all your help. Since I came to the Daresbury refugee hotel I have been attending the yoga class, Our teacher is more than a yoga teacher to us; she is always friendly and helps us in different ways. She gave me a yoga mat so that I can do some practice in my room.”

Some of the most committed participants in our weekly yoga classes - refugees from Uganda, Iran, Ukraine and Namibia - joined a first six-month foundation training that we offered in classical yoga. This training was designed for students who wanted to go deeper in their personal practice and may eventually undertake training to teach yoga to others in their communities. Our foundation training was held at the Bidston Observatory in Liverpool and led by Kerry Gallagher and Catherine Nelson.

"The trainers went out of their way to make all trainees feel welcome and guided us through a lot of basic poses at the beginning with good tips on how to deal with any back pain, knee pain, etc. that you might encounter as you start on your yoga journey. They were very mindful and sympathetic about the physical restrictions that could be coming in an individual ’ s way of learning. It really is a fabulous and friendly place to start the yoga learning journey. At the end of the sessions, we shared how we felt and how we could incorporate what we learnt in our day-to-day life. We had homework and had to create our own daily practice at the end, that was best suited for us.”

Classes and training in the UK were funded by the John Younger Trust, Sport England ’ s through Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Activity Funds, and the National Lottery Community Fund. Refugee Women Connect continued as our key partner in Liverpool.

Lebanon

Tools for Inner Peace completed its first Community Yoga Teacher Training in Lebanon in March 2023. This training was held over the course of one year and consisted of 15 residential weekends, with daily home practice in between weekend modules. Our 17 Lebanese, Syrian, Palestinian and Lebanese-Armenian trainees came from conflict-torn neighbourhoods in Tripoli and Arsel in the northern and eastern parts of Lebanon, refugee camps in Beirut, marginalised communities in the south of Lebanon, as well as neighbourhoods affected by the 2020 Beirut port blast.

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TOOLS FOR INNER PEACE

TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

We gave participants a chance to practise teaching in Arabic, with the intention that they would in turn offer free yoga sessions to share their skills within Arabic speaking communities. By the end of the training all participants were expected to be able to teach simple yoga sequences or ‘ capsules ’ in their communities, including beginner-level asana and pranayama and a deep relaxation practice. To maintain a high standard, we only certified those we were confident were ready to teach yoga without supervision; for the remainder, we set up opportunities to be reassessed in the future. We also gave each trainee an individual roadmap to what it would take to be certified.

Feedback received from participants reflected the deep learning and personal transformation that participants experienced by committing themselves to near-daily home practice during the 12 months of the training:

"This training was life-changing. It's a treasure that I'll hold in my body, heart, and mind for the rest of my life. I learned how to love myself more and how to connect to others. I'm learning to trust myself and the process.”

“ I understand now how yoga is a whole coherent system, not just something we do to be more fit, flexible or relaxed.”

"It has helped me a lot to manage my emotions and feelings, when heavy emotions come up how to observe it and be the witness. Using practices to release heavy energy and to connect back to the breath and the body.”

"It has open my eyes to the fact that it's not about the physical practices, but it ’ s about the inner work as well. How to bring awareness into every aspect of my life, the body, the emotions, the thoughts, the choices and actions of my daily life.”

The core Tools for Inner Peace team running the training consisted of Cara Khatib (Lebanon), Zena Takieddine (Syria) and Minna Jarvenpaa (Finland).

Tools for Inner Peace also completed in March 2023 a three-year yoga instructor training for Syrian refugee women in Bekaa valley. This simplified training was tailored to the needs of illiterate participants and was been conducted by Minna Jarvenpaa, in person and using video materials to support the home practice of the trainees.

In April 2023, we launched a new training project partnering with Alsama, a non-profit organisation that runs informal education centres for teenagers in the Palestinian refugee camps of Shatila and Burj al-Brajneh, located on the outskirts of Beirut. Alsama approached us to train 20 of their students, aged between 14 and 20, to learn to teach simple yoga practices to their peers. The intention was that the teenage yoga facilitators would then share yoga with a total of 800 other teenagers at the Alsama refugee schools. Led by Cara Khatib and Zena Takieddine, and supported by Nathaly Massoud, Nabila Zekzak and Rima Hammoud, we provided 10 full weekends of training between April and December 2023.

Sierra Leone

Tools for Inner Peace has been running a Yoga and Healing for Street Youth project in Sierra Leone since the start of 2022. The team of four yoga trainees who started this project has grown to eight

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FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

TOOLS FOR INNER PEACE

TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT

and is now operating in both Freetown and Makeni. They share yoga with some of the most marginalised and vulnerable members of society, including narcotics addicts and street workers living in neglected slums and ghettos. They are committed to sharing yoga because of having personally experienced the deeply transformative benefits of yoga.

“We know the harsh reality of living a life of poverty, and recognise the depression, isolation, despair, hunger and addictions of life on the street. We want to uplift those who might otherwise be a menace to society, and teach them to live with full awareness, to care for themselves, and to be kind to others.”

The participants are feeling the benefits, too, as witnessed by this video clip in which one street youth talks about yoga as medicine: https://youtu.be/7mDBQa_8Zek.

Tools for Inner Peace is supporting the project by paying the trainees a small stipend that covers transport and a teaching allowance; we also provide money for a warm meal to be offered after each yoga session, as well as a monthly visit by a nurse. The yoga sessions offered by the trainees reach as many as 45-60 street youth per session.

We have continued providing further training for the teaching team, both in Sierra Leone - in person and online - and abroad. Two of the trainees, Babardee Samura and Samuel Michael Kamara, joined a two-month Yogic Studies training at the Bihar School of Yoga ashram in India from 15 April-15 June 2023. We also held a training weekend open to all the Sierra Leone trainees in August 2023.

Organisational matters

At the end of 2023, trustees of Tools for Inner Peace were Kristina Hemon (secretary), Minna Jarvenpaa (chair) and Susan Owen (treasurer). Minna Jarvenpaa continued as Safeguarding Lead to ensure implementation and monitoring of our Children and Vulnerable Adults Safeguarding Policy. A key aim for the coming year is to bring on board as trustees and volunteers people with personal experience of the UK asylum system, as well as people who originate from the communities for which Tools for Inner Peace is providing training.

FINANCIAL REVIEW

The Charity achieved net receipts for the year of £34,572 (2022 - £31,148), details of which are shown in the Receipts and Payments Accounts below.

Total receipts in 2023 included a total of £4,566 in contributions from individual donors around the world, £2,945 in payments for trainings, as well as £27,020 in new grant funds from the National Lottery Community Fund, Eleanor Rathbone Trust, Ashworth Charitable Trust, Carmela and Ronnie Pignatelli Foundation, John Younger Trust and the Pollination Project.

The total value of payments amounted to £29,086 (2022 - £29,685). These included payments of yoga teachers ’ and retreat facilitators ’ stipends, travel costs, purchase of yoga mats, accommodation, food and transport expenses for retreats, as well as web hosting costs and other administrative expenses.

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TOOLS FOR INNER PEACE

TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

Cash at bank at the end of the financial year was £22,481 (2022 – £16,995), of which £15,821 were unrestricted funds.

Reserves policy

The charity does not currently have a reserves policy. However the board will discuss putting one in place during the coming financial year.

Going concern

The Trustees have a reasonable expectation that the charity has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. For this reason, they continue to adopt the going concern basis in preparing the financial statements.

STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT

Constitution and governing document

Tools for Inner Peace is a registered charity, number 1169251, constituted as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) and was registered with the Charity Commission on 19 September 2016. The charity is also referred to by its working name, TIP.

The charity is governed under its Constitution logged with the Charity Commission on 19 September 2016. The governance of the charity is the responsibility of the Trustees.

The charity currently has no staff. The day-to-day management of the charity is delegated to one trustee who acts as a managing trustee.

Method of appointment or election of Board of Trustees

Trustees are elected and co-opted under the terms of the charity ’ s constitution. Regular reviews are held to identify gaps within the knowledge and expertise of the Board of Trustees and appointments are made where required to strengthen the Board.

When it is necessary to appoint new Trustees, due to either a Trustee stepping down or a gap of expertise in the board is identified, recruitment will initially begin through the networks of the board and management team. Applicants will be reviewed by Trustees and the successful applicant will be invited to attend a Trustee meeting. Following this, on the provision that the board are satisfied and the applicant still wishes to join the Trustee board, they will be appointed. No other person or external organisation is entitled to appoint any Trustees of the charity. The Trustees who served during the period and after the year end are shown on page 1.

Policies adopted for the induction and training of Trustees

The charity provides new trustees with an induction pack and mentoring from the Chair. The charity has limited resources for formal training of the trustee body. However, on-going training opportunities are announced to Trustees when these become available pro bono.

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FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

TOOLS FOR INNER PEACE

TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT

Related party relationships

The charity has no related party connections with other organisations. The Trustees consider that members of the board and their close connections to be the only related parties of the charity. During 2023, one trustee received payments amounting to £2,609 in reimbursement for out-ofpocket expenses made on behalf of the charity (2022 – one trustee was reimbursed a total of £1,699).

Remuneration policy for key management personnel

The Trustees consider the Board of Trustees and the managing trustee as comprising the key management personnel of the charity in charge of directing and controlling the charity and running and operating the charity on a day-to-day basis. All Trustees give of their time freely and no trustee remuneration was paid in the year.

Trustees are required to disclose all relevant interests and to withdraw from decisions where a conflict of interest arises.

Risk management

The Trustees fully accept their responsibilities for ensuring that the major risks to which the Charity is exposed are identified, and that there are systems and procedures in place to mitigate those risks.

APPROVAL OF THE REPORT

This report was approved by the Board of Trustees on …………………... and signed on its behalf by:

………………………………………………………. Susan M Owen Trustee

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TOOLS FOR INNER PEACE

RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

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Section A Independent Examiner’s Report

Report to the trustees/ Charity Name members of Tools for Inner Peace

On accounts for the year 31 December 2023 Charity no 1169251 ended (if any) Set out on pages appended (remember to include the page numbers of additional sheets)

I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity (“the Trust”) for the year ended 31 December 2023 .

Responsibilities and basis As the charity trustees of the Trust, you are responsible for the preparation of the of report accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (“the Act”).

I report in respect of my examination of the Trust’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I have followed the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.

INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S

STATEMENT

I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention ( ~~other than that disclosed below *)~~ in connection with the examination which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect:

• accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Act or

• the accounts do not accord with the accounting records

I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

• Please delete the words in the brackets if they do not apply.

Signed: Date: 05 March 2024 Name: Charles Ssempijja Relevant professional FCA, ICAEW qualification(s) or body (if any):

Address: NfP Accountants Ltd 3[rd] Floor, 86-90 Paul Street, London, EC2A 4NE

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TOOLS FOR INNER PEACE

RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

	Tools for Inner Peace	Tools for Inner Peace	Tools for Inner Peace	Tools for Inner Peace	Tools for Inner Peace	1169251	1169251		CC16a
	Receipts andpayments accounts
	For the period from		1/1/23		To		31/12/2023
Section A Receipts and payments
	Unrestricted funds		Restricted funds		Endowment funds		Total funds		Last year
	to the nearest £		to the nearest £		to the nearest £		to the nearest £		to the nearest £
A1 Receipts
Grants	5,068		21,952		-		27,020		27,070
Individualdonations	4,566		-		-		4,566		2,559
Training	2,945		-		-		2,945		1,029
Workshops	-		-		-		-		490
Miscellaneous	41		-		-		41		-
(
_AR) _	12,620		21,952		-		34,572		31,148
A2 Asset and investment sales, (see table).
	-		-		-		-
	-		-		-		-		-
Sub total	-		-		-		-		-
**Total receipts **	12,620		21,952		-		34,572		31,148
A3 Payments
Stipends foryoga teachers and facilitators	-		**18,281 **		-		**18,281 **		12,509
Administrative costs	1,355		-		-		1,355		-
Purchase ofgoods	-		**532 **		-		**532 **		376
Purchase of services	-		-		-		-		1,748
Independent examination	-		-		-		-		720
Mobile services	-		-		-		-		12
Transport & travel	1,563		349		-		1,912		1,330
Workshopcosts(venue, food, etc)	1,536		3,556		-		**5,092 **		12,990
Internet services and web hosting	20		-		-		20		-
Purchase of services	720		**1,131 **		-		**1,851 **		-
Sundryexpenses	42		-		-		42		-
**Sub total **	5,236		23,850		-		29,086		29,685
A4 Asset and investment purchases, (see table)
	-		-		-		-
**Sub total **	-		-		-		-		-
Totalpayments	5,236		23,850		-		29,086		29,685
Net of receipts/(payments)	7,384		(1,898)		-		5,486		1,463
A5 Transfers between funds	-		-		-		-		-
A6 Cash funds last year end	8,437		8,558		-		16,995		15,532
Cash funds thisyear end	15,821		6,660		-		22,481		16,995

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TOOLS FOR INNER PEACE

RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

	Tools for Inner Peace	Tools for Inner Peace	Tools for Inner Peace	Tools for Inner Peace	Tools for Inner Peace	1169251	1169251		CC16a
	Receipts andpayments accounts
	For the period from		1/1/23		To	31/12/2023
Section B Statement of assets and			liabilities at the end of the period
Categories	Details				Unrestricted funds		Restricted funds		Endowment funds
					to nearest £		to nearest £		to nearest £
B1 Cash funds	Cash at bank				15,821		6,660		-
					-		-		-
	Total cash funds				15,821		6,660		-
	(agree balances with receipts and payments account(s))				OK				OK
					Unrestricted funds		Restricted funds		Endowment funds
	Details				to nearest £		to nearest £		to nearest £
B2 Other monetary assets					-		-		-
					-		-		-
					-		-		-
	Details				Fund to which asset belongs		Cost (optional)		Current value (optional)
B3 Investment assets							-		-
							-		-
	Details				Fund to which asset belongs		Cost (optional)		Current value (optional)
B4 Assets retained for the charity’s own use							-		-
							-		-
							-		-
	Details				Fund to which liability relates		Amount due (optional)		When due (optional)
B5 Liabilities	Independent examination						600
							-

The accounts were authorised by the board on ……………………………… and signed on behalf of the Trustees by:-

Susan M Owen Trustee

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