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← We Are Purposeful

2021-08-31-accounts

Company Registration Number: 10346701 Charity Registration Number: 1169844

We Are Purposeful

(a company limited by guarantee)

Annual Report and Financial Statements for the Year ending 31 August 2021

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We Are Purposeful

Contents

Reference and Administrative Detail 3-4
Trustees’ Report 5-21
Statement of Trustees’ Responsibilities 22
Independent Auditor’s Report 23-25
Statement of Financial Activities 27
Balance Sheet 28
Cash Flow Statement 29
Notes to the Financial Statements 30-42

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Reference and Administrative Details

Company Registered Number 10346701 Charity Registered Number 1169844

The charity is incorporated in England and Wales.

Principle Offices:

Studio 3a Blue House Yard 2 Lewis Drive 5 River Park Road Hill Station Wood Green Freetown London Sierra Leone N22 7TB UK

The charity is governed by the Board of Trustees. The trustees are responsible for overseeing the management of all the affairs of Purposeful and delegate day-to-day management of the charity to the Executive Leadership Team.

The Advisory Board in Sierra Leone provides an advisory role and continues to play a vital role in Purposeful’s development and programming. The boards consist of:

UK Board of Trustees Appointed Resigned Sierra
Leone		 Advisory
Mrs
Margaret
Collier		 25 August 2016 Board
Asmaa James
(Chair)
Ms Jody Myrum		 25 August 2016 11 Feb 2021 Farouk Sessay
Ms Christina Fuller 25 August 2016 Valnora Edwin
Rev. Dr. Marie Barnett
Mrs Chloe Pope
Dr Ramatu Bangura		 2 July 2019
20 April 2020
31 July 2020		 Rev. Dr. Marie Barnett

With and For Girls Strategic Advisory Board

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Comic Relief Wellspring Philanthropic Foundation
Empower NoVo Foundation
FRIDA – The Young Feminist Fund Plan International UK
MamaCash Ford Foundation
The Global Fund for Children The Global Fund for Women
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Purposeful - Executive Leadership Team

Chernor Bah Co- founder / Co-Chief Executive Officer Rosa Bransky Co-Founder / Co-Chief Executive Officer Sian Lord-Baptiste - Chief Operating Officer

Senior Leadership Team

Zanele Sibanda- Programme Director Purity Kagwiria - Director of With and For Girls Collective Annemarieke Murthi – Head of Finance

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Safeguarding Team

Chernor Bah Designated Safeguarding Lead Aminata Kamara Designated Safeguarding Person – Network / Karo Kura Haja Umu Jalloh Designated Safeguarding Person – Karo Kura Haja Sowa Designated Safeguarding Person – Karo Kura Girls Circles Valnora Edwin Designated Safeguarding Person – Advisory Board Sierra Leone Jody Myrum Designated Safeguarding Person – UK Trustee

Full biographies of the whole Purposeful team are available on the website www.wearepurposeful.org

Professional Advisors

The following organisations provide professional advice and services to Purposeful:

Banks

NatWest Commercial & Private Banking Guaranty Trust Bank (SL) Ltd Ground Floor Sparta Building Gredley House Freetown 1-11 Broadway, Sierra Leone Stratford, E15 4WG UK

Solicitors

Bates Wells Braithwaite KMK Solicitors 10 Queen Street Place Top Floor, London 81 Pademba Road EC4R 1BE Freetown UK Sierra Leone

Auditors

Moore Kingston Smith Moore Sierra Leone Devonshire House 55 Sir Samuel Lewis Road, 60 Goswell Road Freetown London EC1M 7AD 1278 UK Sierra Leone

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We Are Purposeful Annual Report and Financial Statements for the Year Ending 31 August 2021

STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND LEADERSHIP

Purposeful is a charitable company limited by guarantee, incorporated under the name of Purposeful Productions on the 28th August 2016, and registered as a charity with the UK Charity Commission. On 9[th] March 2021 the name was changed to We Are Purposeful to better align to the values, ethos and activities of the charity. The charity’s articles of association provide that its trustees are the only members of the charity.

Its principal office is Studio 3a, Blue House Yard, 5 River Park Road, Wood Green, London N22 7TB, with a country office located at 2 Lewis Drive, Hill Station, Freetown, Sierra Leone.

The charity is governed by the Board of Trustees. The trustees are responsible for overseeing the management of all the affairs of Purposeful and delegate day-to-day management of the charity to the Executive Leadership Team.

WHO WE ARE – OUR VALUES AND MISSION

Purposeful is an Africa-rooted global hub for girls’ activism. For millennia girls have played a critical role in struggles for freedom and liberation. From Africa’s anticolonial movements to the Arab spring to climate justice organising and everything in between - their resistance has always sparked and sustained transformational change. And yet, too often girls are separated from resources and shut out from decision-making spaces, their power deliberately obscured and hidden from view.

Centering the political power of young feminists across the world, we work so that girls and their allies have access to the resources, networks and platforms they need to power their activism and remake the world.

Our vision:

Girls are living in safety, dignity and freedom, and the world is transformed.

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Our Values:

A set of core beliefs and values guide all that we do at Purposeful, from the decisions we make to our organisational policies and practices, and most importantly, how we show up in this work as girls’ allies and advocates, holding ground so that girls can step into their power.

Taking bold action Many ways of knowing Centering lived expertise Deep embodiment Cultivating radical imagination Joy as resistance Power in diversity Rooted in sisterhood

What We Do:

Centering the political power of girl activists, we enter all of our work through a power-building lens - redistributing power assets, building collective power, organising power holders and transforming power structures.

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LETTER FROM THE CHAIRS

As the pandemic continued to ravage communities across the world this last year, so too has the roll back of hard won human rights been breathtaking in sheer speed and audacity. The climate crisis rages on, human rights defenders are being disappeared at alarming and ever increasing numbers. Too many of our girls have been lost to violence at the hands of men, of the state, of illness and disease that should never have taken them, of systems and structures of extraction and exploitation that continue to claim and claim them. Two years into this pandemic and we are tired. Our people are tired. Two years of working from rooms that are too small and too noisy, of being apart from each other. Of the fear and the loneliness, of the upsidedown-ness. And yet somehow, despite all of this, there is hope. There is hope in every village, in every corner of the globe where girls and young women are gathering, organising, pushing back to imagine better worlds for themselves and us all. There is hope in the ways that girls are modelling another kind of way of being together in the world. There is hope in the ways young activists have mobilised for their communities - providing emergency relief support while continuing to work towards a world that is more just and fair and free. As the state and traditional aid agencies have retreated everywhere, the space that young activists have always occupied has taken on a beautiful and at times technicolour clarity.

This belief, this renewed clarity, has powered our work at Purposeful in ever more rooted and radical ways. We have moved with speed but also care and accountability to redistribute resources to hundreds and hundreds of girls and young women’s groups and collectives across more than 90 countries. We have held space to learn and document together, launching landmark reports that lift up the stories and experiences of thousands of girls in Sierra Leone and hundreds of young women activists across the world. In the face of politically motivated Aid cuts, we have reimagined our programmes to ensure that tens of thousands of girls can continue to gather across Sierra Leone every week. To gather in circles of sisterhood and solidarity, connected to resources and spaces of consciousness raising and feminist political education. After a landmark win in the West African Court of Human Rights last year we spent 2021 working to ensure that legal provision would translate to real life action for pregnant and parent learners, co-creating a first of its kind Radical Education Policy with and for the Ministry of Education and all of Sierra Leone’s girls. Oh how we have fought, and oh how we have won.

But we have also loved, and cared, and held, and even amongst it all we have danced and sung. We have tried to rest, as much as to rest has sometimes felt like the opposite of what we must do in the face of all of this pain and need and energy and momentum. We renewed our commitment to collective care, launching a feminist wellness academy and commiting to holding space for thousands of activists and allies with a first of its kind, trauma informed pedagogy in Sierra Leone and across the world. We continued to build our feminist boat that is Purposeful, commiting to policies and practices that will see us through this and future storms together. As we look back on this last year, amongst all that has been lost and won, we know that a world of safety, dignity and freedom for girls and us all is a little closer in reach.

Dr Reverend Marie Barnett and Margaret Collier

Co-Chairs, We Are Purposeful Board of Trustees

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PURPOSEFUL TRUSTEES’ REPORT

HIGHLIGHTS – SEPTEMBER 2020 – AUGUST 2021

Year in Numbers:

Countries where we’ve funded:

Afghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Barbados, Belarus, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Canada, Chad, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, DRC, Ecuador, Egypt, France, Georgia, Ghana, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Lebanon, Malawi, Malaysia, México, Morocco, Namibia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Palestine, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Romania, Rwanda, Saint Lucia, Samoa, Senegal, Serbia and Montenegro, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, St Kitts, Sudan, Tanzania, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United States, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Vietnam, Yemen and Zimbabwe.

Programmatic issues Purposeful has supported:

Abortion Assistance / Rights, Access to education, Afrodescent Rights, Arts and creativity, Artivism, Climate Justice, Civil Society, Digital Safety, Disabilities, Early and Forced Marriage, Economic empowerment, Education, Gender equality, Gender-Based Violence, Indigenous rights, LGBTIQAI+ rights, Migration and displacement, Mobilisation / Strengthening Movements, Participation & Democracy, Peace Building, Sex Workers’ Rights, Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights, Sports, Technology, Trans people with disabilities, Tackling Violence Against Girls & Women, Youth rights Girls rights

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Key Initiatives September 2020 - August 2021:

Redistributing Power Assets:

Building Collective Power:

Organising power holders:

Transforming Power Structures:

SUPPORTING GIRLS THROUGH A GLOBAL HEALTH CRISIS

COVID-19, like any other crisis, is exposing and exacerbating all of the existing systemic inequality and violence that positions girls as particularly vulnerable – especially girls who face multiple forms of oppression. Public health, the economy and girls’ safety and bodily autonomy are inextricably linked. All over the world — across countries and context — girls play the role of primary caregivers for so many in the community. In a health crisis, this caregiving burden increases dramatically. In the absence of functioning health and social care services in so many places, girls become frontline health responders. Girls also face huge cultural pressures to provide for their families, even though they are the most likely to be distanced from assets like money, goods, services, transportation and so on. Closing of schools and other learning settings not only limit girls' access to education, but further isolate them from communities of other girls. When girls and young women are removed from their peers, we know rates of violence, teenage pregnancy and forced marriage soar.

But this is only part of the story. While we know girls face extreme vulnerabilities, we also know that they are immensely powerful. Across the world, local communities are organising and collectivising at an unprecedented scale. Never has there been a truer example of citizen organising power, and of the deep transnational bonds that connect us all as humans. Whether they know it or not, these communities are using the very organising tools that girl activists and their feminist allies have been using for decades in their struggles for justice. Indeed, it has never been more important to learn from the leadership of the girls and young women who live through lock-downs, political uncertainty and economic instability every day.

Our Covid Response, globally and in Sierra Leone, has responded to the specific needs, potentials and possibilities of and for girl led change, including:

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THE GLOBAL RESILIENCE FUND

The Global Resilience Fund for Girls and Young Women was conceived in April 2020 and officially launched on May 28th. The Fund is a collective effort in response to the Covid-19 crisis. It has continued to bring together more than 234 partners since its inception, and to date has leveraged over $1.2m for young feminist activists across the world. In 20/21, the Fund built on the grants made in the previous financial year, making an additional 131 rapid and fully flexible grants with a ceiling of $5,000 to girls collectives and organisations led by girls or young women under 30 years and whose income is below $50,000 a year. The fund is operating in 5 languages and continues to grow, with second year commitments made by some existing partners, and new partners such as Channel Foundation joining the collective response.

The Fund has also been an incredible learning journey for us, as we’ve reached so many girl activist groups in a short period of time, disbursing over $688k. It didn’t come without challenges, as we strived to keep the Fund as inclusive and rapid as possible, managing the overheads ourselves and redesigning reporting requirements through the use of learning calls and reflections with activists and panellists. Many of these reflections can be found in our Weathering the Storm Report.

Direct from grantees:

Virtual Safe Spaces and Mass Media in Sierra Leone

At the programmatic level, all of our work aims to connect girls with each other , with critical assets (including information) and with community level mentors, in order that they can learn - together, support each other and imagine alternative futures for themselves and their communities. We do this through the provision of evidence based safe-spaces - run by grass-roots partners and young women mentors, underpinned by best in class curriculum designed specifically for marginalised girls in Sierra Leone.

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As the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded in Sierra Leone and social distancing measures were inevitably put into place, the potential for girls to be together with mentors was greatly diminish. Drawing on extensive experience developing communications for social change initiatives - in and beyond emergencies - we created a virtual safe space for adolescent girls through a mixture of factual and fictional radio/audio content that was pushed to mentors via mobile phones to be consumed by small groups of girls still meeting in safespace groupings, and via radio for mass girls’ consumption.

In a short space of time the radio content has had a huge impact on cultural conversations in Sierra Leone, with FCDO agreeing to fund the initiative beyond the emergency for a full 2 year term. Feedback from the drama and talk show throughout the year has been incredibly positive and evidenced real impact:

“The girls circle has gained a wider audience in the community as such their knowledge and perceptions about rape, early marriage and any form of GBV has changed for the better” – Field Officer, Bombali (Feb 2021)

AN OVERVIEW OF OUR CORE PROJECTS THIS YEAR

★ With and For Girls Fund: Under the leadership of the new Fund Director, WFG started a strategic planning process in February 2020 which was completed at the end of 2020. Purposeful used this process to collapse all the separate fund strands under one With and For Girls Fund, acting as Purposeful’s grant making arm. This involved fully integrating the Sierra Leone and International teams and centred on four objectives:

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Whilst there remains some work to finalise in operationalising the new WFG strategic plan, WFG also disbursed its first funding round in August 2021 under the First Moon window, disbursing 52 grants to girl-led and girl-focused groups. Under the new strategic plan, a higher volume of grants will be disbursed in coming years to reach a greater number of grassroots organisations.

Work finalising the strategy of the WFG Collective continues and is anticipated to be completed in early 2022.

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The network continues to share resources and evidence-based best practices, including safeguarding and communication skills sessions, coordinate a range of campaigns and catalysed collective voice with and for girls. The Network successfully formed 4 district chapters in Koinadugu, Kambia, Kono and Moyamba which now consist of a total of 62 members.

“The girls enjoy that being a girl is very powerful and special , because they can stand and fight for themselves also they have confidence to talk in public. That is, to make a choice, and also make a decision for themselves. The other things that the girls enjoy most, is about friendship, how friendship is very important in their life – those make them enjoy most about life skills sessions in this month” Mentor – Falaba

“Last month, the topic power brings changes to the girls in my club. At first they did not know that they have power to refuse early marriage, but now girls are putting their power into actions ” Mentor – Bombali

★ Alternative Rites of Passage: On 8[th] October 2020, the International Day of the Girl Child, Purposeful launched ‘A Bloodless Rite’ – a short documentary on the journey of a group of girls as they are initiated into Bondo Society through alternative rights of passage. Launched both online and at a venue in Freetown, the screening attracted activists, partners and representatives from the US and Irish Embassies. During the 16 Days of Activism (25[th] November – 10[th] December 2020), film screenings were shown in 4 different districts in Sierra Leone, sparking conversations with Soweis (FGM Practitioners), women, men, girls and community elders about alternative rites of passage.

Building on these successful activities, and in commemoration of the Zero Tolerance Day to FGM (6[th] February 2021), we partnered with the Amazonian Initiative Movement to conduct a media takeover with Soweis, FGM survivors and alternative rite initiates, in 15 radio stations across 7 districts. In May, we entered a partnership with Irish Aid to expand our work against FGM across Sierra Leone as part of our Wati Kura initiative.

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Purposeful has supported, co-organised and facilitated girls participation in the following events:

LOOKING FORWARD

With the success of the Global Resilience Fund, and the ongoing challenges faced by girls the world over exacerbated by Covid-19, we anticipate that the Global Resilience Fund will continue to operate for another year. Funding is still being raised for this emergency fund, and grants will continue to be disbursed although Purposeful will no longer continue to fully fund the overheads of this fund in future. Alongside grant making, we will continue to accompany grantees, facilitating webinars and workshops to build capacity of grantees and strengthen networks and bonds between them. Recognising the emotional toll of the pandemic, we also plan to host a Collective Care Festival in Latin America to work with physical, emotional and spiritual care, and have plans to bring together activists and funders to facilitate action orientated conversations to allow both activists and funders to reflect and rethink approaches and practices in current philanthropy models.

The With and For Girls Fund will continue to grow in the next year, as we seek to provide multi-year grants to grantees and resource more grass-roots activists throughout Sierra Leone and more widely across the world. Work with the Collective to finalise a learning and advocacy strategy continues and we anticipate that process being finalised by early 2022.

Our FCDO funded programme Girls’ Circles will end in February 2022, at which point Purposeful will use the platform to transition to a new way of working with the existing mentors, partners and girls that we recruited at the start of the programme. Running repeats of the radio drama and talk show has allowed the space for re-strategizing the future of this work, and building on other key themes, such as FGM, which are sensitive and therefore important to broadcast in an appropriate way, and setting up clubs to become collectives, giving them

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the economic freedom to support each other. Purposeful has successfully fundraised other resources to maintain programming for another year, and continues to seek alternative resources to maintain and document this important work.

Under our Purposeful Feminist Academy, work is under way to negotiate an MOU with ministries within the Sierra Leone government to provide SGBV practitioners with evidence based MHPSS training. This would be a monumental shift in Sierra Leone, as MHPSS has been widely neglected across survivor services.

Following the success of the Radical Inclusion in Education policy, our Advocacy and Movement Building work will continue to strive for change in Sierra Leone. Key themes that will be focused on in the coming years include:

Purposeful will also work towards finalising a learning agenda, to allow us to more intentionally capture data and advocate key messages within the sector.

THE PURPOSEFUL TEAM

Purposeful continues to build an extraordinary team of leaders, activists and advocates with a diverse range of experience, knowledge and technical expertise. This year has been a challenging year, where restricted funding cuts have challenged our ways of being to our core. As we have continued to ground in our new strategy, and hold girls central to that, we have transitioned one of our key programmes, resulting in the loss of 5 staff in Sierra Leone. We have gone from a team of 49 to 36 staff in Sierra Leone, Kenya and the UK. This has been supported by a number of freelance consultants who have brought their external expertise to developing our MEL, strategic plans and media products.

Purposeful strengthened its operational team to support this transition of programmes and welcomed a new Chief Operating Officer in Sierra Leone, Operations Manager and HR & Operations Coordinator, with plans in 2021/22 to build the finance, communications and advocacy teams across the organisation.

As a proudly feminist organisation with a deep commitment to embodying our values in all that we do, we have invested heavily in visioning and values alignment and a comprehensive onboarding process for all new staff. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we have not been able to come together face to face in nearly two years, but have invested in additional activities that regularly bring the team together including weekly Radical Reading, a political feminist education session that provides space for the team as a whole to consider a reading and weave it into their practice and also group wellness to connect and support the team through the additional stress and anxiety caused by the pandemic as well as manage the emotional impact of the work. As new waves of Covid-19 spread, Purposeful continued to be agile with teams working remotely and coming back into offices when and where appropriate. The leadership team also met three times a week to review and revise operational and delivery plans during these peaks and staff supervision and team meetings were increased to ensure consistent communication and delivery. When vaccinations became available in Sierra Leone, Purposeful arranged for vaccines to be administered at the office for staff and their families to help protect them from the virus, and strongly encouraged UK and International staff to become vaccinated as soon as practicable. We also arranged for a doctor to speak to staff

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about Covid-19 vaccinations and immunity to help provide medical reassurance and counteract any vaccine hesitancy.

A new Trustee Dr Ramatu Bangura was approved as a new board member in July 2020 and officially joined the Purposeful board of Trustees in November 2020. She brings a wealth of knowledge in advocacy, philanthropic funding and girls programming and will be an additional asset to the already dynamic board of Trustees. One of our founding trustees, Jody Myrum, stepped down from the board in February 2021, and has since acted as a co-leader of the Global Resilience Fund whilst Rosa Bransky (Co-CEO and Co-Founder) took maternity leave.

INTERNAL POLICIES AND COMPLIANCE

Policy Development:

In depth work took place last year to update and revise Purposeful’s internal policies and processes to support the expansion of the organisation and projects. There were a number of minor updates that were outstanding that have now been completed including the Safeguarding, Procurement, Bribery and Anti Corruption, Value for Money Policy and the development of the organisation’s Internal Controls.

In response to Covid -19, Purposeful revised its working practices and introduced proactive measures to ensure the welfare of our team and mitigate against any additional risks. These are and continue to be monitored by the senior leadership team and are regularly revised as required.

Legal:

Work is taking place with Purposeful legal teams in the UK and Sierra Leone to review and strengthen the legal agreements and governing documents between the two entities.

Purposeful has now registered in the US and now has 501(c)(3) charitable status. Further work to establish a fully functioning entity in the US is taking place, including opening a bank account and building up infrastructure to allow the organisation to employ staff and receive funding. This process should be completed in the next financial year.

Safeguarding:

Purposeful’s safeguarding policy was revised last year and amendments to the policy were adopted by the Purposeful Board of Trustees in July 2020. The main purpose of this policy revision was to ensure a robust policy to support the expansion of our team and programmatic activity in Sierra Leone and globally. Our safeguarding policy is normally reviewed and amended every year, however, as Covid-19 limited face to face engagement with girls, the board agreed that a policy review would take place in 2022.

Purposeful’s Safeguarding Policy is a statement of intent that outlines our commitment to safeguard adolescent girls, children, young people and vulnerable adults who may come into contact with our organisation. Purposeful staff, volunteers and others working on behalf of our organisation are obliged to create and maintain environments that prevents sexual exploitation and abuse and child abuse and promotes the implementation of this policy, which the policy provides a framework of principles, standards and guidelines for both individual and organisational practice.

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Purposeful is committed to ensuring that staff, volunteers and others working on behalf of our organisation receive training, understand and prioritise the safety and welfare of adolescent girls, children, young people, vulnerable adults and the wider community at all times.

All staff, freelancers, partners and Trustees have received training on the updated processes and policies. The following safeguarding training has taken place this year:

Purposeful All Staff - Safeguarding Refresher Training took place on - 5th October 2021, after the year end.

All of our implementing partners in Sierra Leone received safeguarding training in August 2020. We aim to carry out training for our implementing partners annually and there were plans to do so last year. However, there were limitations due to Covid-19 and virtual training was not possible due to some partners' facilities and connectivity challenges in Sierra Leone. Safeguarding refresher training has now been planned for March 2022 for partners.

Annual Risk Statement

Purposeful considers good risk management to be a vital part of its operational requirements. Purposeful recognises that risk is an everyday part of charitable activity and managing it effectively is essential to achieve our key objectives and meet our obligation to use the funding we receive responsibly and in an efficient and effective manner, despite the challenges faced. Purposeful’s revised risk management policy was approved by the Board of Trustees on the 25/02/2022.

Risk management is an ongoing concern and risk registers are reviewed and updated monthly by the leadership team. Risk management updates are included in the organisations quarterly review and presented to the Board of Trustees at every board meeting. Purposeful’s risk appetite is a key factor in setting our reserves policy.

Overall our risks fall into external, delivery, safeguarding, fiduciary, reputational and operational risks.

Coronavirus Risk Mitigation

Currently the greatest source of external risk is the ongoing presence of COVID-19, which

impacts various aspects of our work.

In response to Covid 19, Purposeful developed a responsive strategy to ensure the retention of staff and delivery of programming for girls as outlined in this report. The leadership team meets weekly to review and revise plans according to the developing situation, which includes programming, budgets and operational constraints.

Safeguarding Risks are ever present given our focus on vulnerable adolescent girls. A range of mitigation strategies have been put in place as outlined in the safeguarding section above.

Most recently our fiduciary risks increased due to the funding cuts from FCDO and uncertainty of annual budgets. Whilst this is likely to continue until the end of the Supporting Adolescent Girls’ Empowerment programme, Purposeful has no plans to accept further FCDO funding which should lower this risk in the long term.

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Overall our risk levels are moderate to major, with impacts also falling in moderate to major. Risks and their impacts are higher for fiduciary risks (e.g. risk of fraud in a cash economy) and safeguarding. For each risk we have identified mitigating actions, which are integrated into our ongoing engagement with partners.

Full details of Purposeful’s approach to Risk management is included in our Risk Management Policy which is available to all members of staff, freelancers, partners, donors, volunteers and Trustees.

Public Benefit

The Trustees confirm that they have complied with the requirements of section 4 of the Charities Act 2011 to have due regard to the public benefit guidance published by the Charity Commission of England and Wales.

Remuneration of the Executive Leadership Team

The Trustees signed initial remuneration for the Executive Leadership team at the beginning of Purposeful for the duration of the initial three-year Novo grant. Remuneration levels were reviewed in April 2020, with the board agreeing an initial 10% increase and asking a subcommittee to conduct a more thorough benchmarking exercise to critically assess market rates and recommend new remuneration levels to the wider board for adoption. Following this process, the CEO and Co-Founders’ remuneration was revised on 1st January 2021 again to bring it in line with market conditions. Details of the senior leadership remuneration can be found in Note 6 of the financial statements.

Reserves Policy

The majority of the funding received is restricted to specific programmes under Purposeful, namely With and For Girls, or the FCDO funded SAGE programme that we refer to as Karo Kura Girls’ Circles. These include both direct and indirect cost allocation.

Purposeful ensures that all key operational activities are covered and are within the terms of the grants provided before allocating surplus funds as grants to grassroots organisations. Due to the organisation’s current growth phase, the increased uncertainty on the fundraising landscape due to the economic fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the ambition to continue innovating and strategically responding to crises as they deepen and disproportionately affect girls, Purposeful seeks to hold reserves of £2-2.5m with at least £1m of unrestricted reserves. This level continues to be reviewed by the board on an annual basis, and may be revised should external or internal factors change in future.

At the year end, Purposeful holds unrestricted reserves of £0.9m and restricted reserves just over £2.5m. We will seek to continue to grow our unrestricted reserves in the next year to reach the £1m target.

Going Concern

The effects of the Covid-19 pandemic continue to be felt globally. As part of Purposeful's commitment to flexible working under feminist principles, systems and processes for remote working already existed prior to the pandemic, and as such, there has not been a material impact to Purposeful's ability to continue working in the UK and internationally. Our multi-year unrestricted funding grants remain in place, and cash reserves are being kept at over £1m to ensure sufficient liquidity. Purposeful has been successful at galvanising a collective response

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to girl-led groups globally throughout the pandemic to help respond to the changing needs of girls globally in this pandemic, allowing us to continue our organisational growth trajectory.

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FINANCIAL REVIEW

In our fourth year of operating, Purposeful has seen a dramatic increase in activity as we had a full year of programming for both the FCDO Girls’ Circles Safe Space+ programme and the With and For Girls programme. We were also proud to build on the rapid grant making popup fund in response to the challenges that girl groups face globally due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Accordingly, total income is at a record level this year of £5.7m (increasing by 25%) with an increase in our restricted income as the Global Resilience Fund and With and For Girls Fund have grown, despite the challenges to our FCDO funding.

Like many INGOs, government grant funding has been a challenge as the Covid-19 pandemic caused a near 10% decline to UK GDP - the worst economic performance in peace time for 300 years. This, coupled with the UK Government’s decision to cut the percentage of GNI that is spent on overseas development assistance to 0.5% from 0.7%, resulted in a significant budget cut to our FCDO funded Girls’ Circles Safe Space+ programme. This resulted not only in a hit to Purposeful’s charitable income, but also to our charitable expenditure as we had to make significant cuts to the programme, including dropping partners and making redundancies, in line with a revised grant amount.

Our expenditure this year is up 10% to £4.6m, reflecting the additional spend due to increased income, and the delays and cuts to FCDO funding. Expenditure continues to be driven by grant making (46% of total expenditure, up from 37% in 2020), demonstrating the commitment to resourcing girls’ resistance. By switching to a low value high volume model of grantmaking, Purposeful has managed to broaden its distribution of resources to more grassroots groups. Capacity and movement building remains another key area of activity within Purposeful (12% of expenditure), and our change in staffing base will seek to grow both this and our advocacy and influencing activities in the coming years.

Our balance sheet at the year end is representative of our organisational growth, with all balances increasing compared to last year. Notably our fixed asset base is up significantly (657%) as Purposeful purchased a building in Sierra Leone to act as a new, sustainable girls’ hub for the movement and office for our staff. We ended August in a highly liquid position again this year, driving an increase to our current assets of 40% to £3.5m, mainly due to fundraising being received in advance of grants being paid out and a decrease in our receivables days from FCDO compared to 2020.

Our end of service provision for Sierra Leone staff has increased by 23% to £50k from £41k, reflecting the annual increases owed to staff employed for over 12 months, as well as the deductions paid out to staff made redundant as a result of the FCDO funding cuts. We anticipate this continuing to increase annually and continue to monitor the exposure to this.

Group net assets in the balance sheet of £3.5m have increased by 48% from £2.4m at the end of last year, reflecting the increase in Purposeful operations through the With and For Girls Fund, our Advocacy, movement building and wellness operations and FCDO programmes, including the transition to the programme beyond FCDO funding. Purposeful’s restricted reserves remain strong at just under £2.6m, and critically, our unrestricted reserves have increased by 8% to £0.9m, thanks to the second year of our operating grant from Novo.

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Principle funding sources

The Novo Foundation, through Tides, continues to be an important funding source, as we are in the second year of our $6m unrestricted funding grant (secured until December 2024). This unrestricted funding source is allowing Purposeful to build up unrestricted reserves to mitigate some of the risks of FCDO funding and allows Purposeful to maintain a risk appetite for innovation in the sector.

In 2020/21, Purposeful’s funding has continued to diversify away from Novo, with FCDO (previously DFID) remaining the biggest funder of Purposeful activities for the Girls Circles’ Safe Space+ programme. FCDO funding will fall away from February 2022, with the programme transitioning to a new model, funded by new donors.

Significant contributions from Ford Foundation and Wellspring Philanthropic Foundation (a 2 year grant) and the Fund for a Just Society, as well as continuing contributions from the rest of the WFG collective have fully covered the grant making and operational costs of the programme this year. With and For Girls is also collaborating with Irish Aid, Plan International and others on the Generation Equality Fund as part of the Beijing+25 commitments.

The Global Resilience Fund has also continued to bring exposure to other key players in the philanthropic sector, with funding received from Chanel Foundation, Channel Foundation, MacArthur Foundation as well as second year commitments from some existing funding partners. Presently, the funding partners recognise the need for a continued response but Purposeful does envisage that this fund will pop down as initially intended in future.

Purposeful has also acted as a fiscal sponsor to Eyala, a feminist communications project that profiles and explores what it means to be an African feminist today through conversations with young women. Funded through the Fund for a Just Society, Purposeful provides capacity building and operational support for Eyala, managed by Françoise Moudouthe.

21

STATEMENT OF TRUSTEES’ RESPONSIBILITIES

TRUSTEES’ RESPONSIBILITIES IN RELATION TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

The charity trustees (who are also the directors of We Are Purposeful for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the Trustees’ Report and financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice). Company law requires trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year that give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable company for that period.

In preparing the financial statements, the trustees are required to:

The trustees are responsible for keeping accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy the financial position of the charitable company at any time and which enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. The trustees are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charitable company and hence take all reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and any other irregularities.

This report has been prepared in accordance with the special provisions of Part 15 of Companies Act 2006.

STATEMENT AS TO DISCLOSURE TO OUR AUDITORS

In so far as the trustees are aware at the time of approving our trustees’ annual report:

This report has been prepared in accordance with the Statement of Recommended Practice: Accounting and Reporting by Charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) and the Charities Act 2011.

This report was approved by the board of directors and trustees on 25/02/2022 and signed on its behalf by:

Ms Margaret Collier and Dr Rev Marie Barnett Chairs of the Purposeful Board of Trustees

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INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT TO THE MEMBERS AND TRUSTEES OF WE ARE PURPOSEFUL

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of We are Purposeful (the ’parent charitable company’) and its subsidiaries (the ‘group’) for the year ended 31 August 2021 which comprise the Group Statement of Financial Activities, the Group and Parent Charitable Company Balance Sheets, the Group Cash Flow Statement and notes to the financial statements, including significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including FRS 102 ‘The Financial Reporting Standard Applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland’ (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

In our opinion the financial statements:

Basis for opinion

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor’s Responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the charitable company in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC’s Ethical Standard, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

Conclusions relating to going concern

In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the trustees’ use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.

Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the group’s and parent charitable company's ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.

Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the trustees with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.

Other information

The other information comprises the information included in the annual report, other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. The trustees are responsible for the other information contained within the annual report. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon.

Our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the course of the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine

23

whether there is a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.

We have nothing to report in this regard.

Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the group and parent charitable company and their environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the trustees’ annual report.

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters where the Companies Act 2006 and the Charities Act 2011 require us to report to you if, in our opinion:

Responsibilities of trustees

As explained more fully in the trustees’ responsibilities statement set out on page 22, the trustees (who are also the directors of the charitable company for the purposes of company law) are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the trustees determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

In preparing the financial statements, the trustees are responsible for assessing the group and parent charitable company’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the trustees either intend to liquidate the group or parent charitable company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

Auditor’s Responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

We have been appointed as auditor under the Companies Act 2006 and section 151 of the Charities Act 2011 and report in accordance with those Acts.

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Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor’s report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.

As part of an audit in accordance with ISAs (UK) we exercise professional judgement and maintain professional scepticism throughout the audit. We also:

We communicate with those charged with governance regarding, among other matters, the planned scope and timing of the audit and significant audit findings, including any significant deficiencies in internal control that we identify during our audit.

Explanation as to what extent the audit was considered capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud

Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud is detailed below.

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The objectives of our audit in respect of fraud, are; to identify and assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements due to fraud; to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence regarding the assessed risks of material misstatement due to fraud, through designing and implementing appropriate responses to those assessed risks; and to respond appropriately to instances of fraud or suspected fraud identified during the audit. However, the primary responsibility for the prevention and detection of fraud rests with both management and those charged with governance of the charitable company.

Our approach was as follows:

There are inherent limitations in the audit procedures described above. We are less likely to become aware of instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations that are not closely related to events and transactions reflected in the financial statements. Also, the risk of not detecting a material misstatement due to fraud is higher than the risk of not detecting one resulting from error, as fraud may involve deliberate concealment by, for example, forgery or intentional misrepresentations, or through collusion.

Use of our report

This report is made solely to the charitable company’s members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006 and, in respect of the consolidated financial statements, to the charity’s trustees, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 8 of the Charities Act 2011. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charitable company’s members and trustees those matters which we are required to state to them in an auditor’s report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to any party other than the charitable company, the charitable company’s members, as a body, and the charity’s trustees, as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinion we have formed.

James Saunders (Senior Statutory Auditor) for and on behalf of Moore Kingston Smith LLP, Statutory Auditor

Devonshire House 60 Goswell Road London EC1M 7AD

Date: 2 March 2022

Moore Kingston Smith LLP is eligible to act as auditor in terms of Section 1212 of the Companies Act 2006.

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CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31[ST] AUGUST 2021

31ST AUGUST 2021
2021 2020
Note Unrestricted Restricted Total Unrestricted Restricted Total
funds funds funds funds funds funds
£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
Incoming resources
Income and endowments
from:
Grants, Donations and 3,13 - 1 1 - 365 365
legacies
Charitable activities 3,13 916 4,802 5,718 1,034 3,192 4,226
Total 916 4,803 5,719 1,034 3,557 4,591
Resources expended
Expenditure on:
Raising funds 4,13 - - - - 1 1
Charitable activities 4,13 848 3,750 4,598 203 3,987 4,190
Total 848 3,750 4,598 203 3,988 4,191
Net (expenditure) / 68 1,053 1,121 831 (431) 400
income
Other recognised Gains
/ (Losses)
Exchange differences on - - - - 2 2
translation
Net movement in funds 68 1,053 1,121 831 (429) 402
Reconciliation of funds:
Total funds brought 13
forward at 1stSeptember
2020 855 1,506 2,361 24 1,935 1,959
Total funds carried 13 923 2,559 3,482 855 1,506 2,361
forward at 31stAugust
2021

27

BALANCE SHEETS AS AT 31[ST] AUGUST 2021

Note
Fixed assets
Intangible assets
9.1
Tangible assets
9.2
Total fixed assets
Current assets
Debtors
10
Cash at bank and in hand
Total current assets
Current Liabilities
Creditors and accruals
11
Net current assets
Total assets less current liabilities
Non-current Liabilities
11
Provisions for liabilities
12
Total net assets or liabilities
Funds of the Charity
Restricted income funds
13
Unrestricted funds
13
Total funds		 Consolidated Group
Parent
2021
2020
2021
2020
£’000
£’000
£’000
£’000
22
6
22
6
196
23
5
6
218
29
27
12
46
459
24
420
3,450
2,039
2,535
1,634
3,496
2,498
2,559
2,054
181
125
160
87
3,315
2,373
2,399
1,967
3,533
2,402
2,426
1,979
-
-
-
-
51
41
-
-
3,482
2,361
2,426
1,979
2,559
1,506
1,974
1,125
923
855
452
854
3,482
2,361
2,426
1,979

The notes on p29 to p41 form a full part of these financial statements. The financial statements were approved and authorised for issue on the authority of the board and signed on its behalf by:

Ms Margaret Collier Chair of the Purposeful Board of Trustees 25 February 2022

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CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31[ST] AUGUST 2021

2021 2020
£’000 £’000
Cash Flows from Operating Activities
Net Income 1,121 402
Depreciation and amortisation 25 9
Exchange differences on translation - (2)
Changes in Debtors and Prepayments 413 (267)
Changes in Creditors & Accruals 56 (8)
Changes in Provisions 10 40
Net Cash Flows from Operating
Activities 1,625 174
Cash Flows from Investment Activities
Purchase of Property Plant and Equipment (214) (5)
Net Cash Flows from Investment Activities (214) (5)
Net Increase in cash 1,411 169
Beginning Cash Balance 2,039 1,870
Ending Cash Balance 3,450 2,039

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NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31[ST] AUGUST 2021

1. Charity Status

The Charity is limited by guarantee, incorporated in England and Wales, and consequently does not have share capital. Each of the trustees is liable to contribute an amount not exceeding £1 towards the assets of the charity in the event of liquidation.

The address of its registered office is: Studio 3a Blue House Yard 5 River Park Road Wood Green London N22 7TB

2. Accounting Policies

2.1 Summary of significant accounting policies and key accounting estimates

The principal accounting policies applied in the preparation of these financial statements are set out below. These policies have been consistently applied to all the years presented, unless otherwise stated.

2.2 Statement of compliance

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standards applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS102) effective 1 January 2015 - (Charities SORP (FRS 102)). They also comply with the Companies Act 2006 and Charities Act 2011.

2.3 Basis of preparation

We Are Purposeful meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS 102. Assets and liabilities are initially recognised at historical cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policy notes. The financial statements are prepared in Sterling, which is the functional currency of the company. Monetary amounts are rounded to the nearest thousand pounds.

2.3.1 Basis of consolidation

We Are Purposeful has prepared consolidated accounts to include the parent charity and Sierra Leone based subsidiary, We Are Purposeful (SL) Ltd, a company limited by guarantee (company number SL301216PURPO01079) whose year end is also 31[st] August 2021. The UK board of trustees are the sole members of the subsidiary.

The UK board of trustees also have effective control over a subsidiary in US, Purposeful Productions Inc, a non-profit corporation registered in New Jersey (Business ID: 0450278599) with a 31 December year end. This subsidiary has not been consolidated because it is currently dormant.

2.4 Going concern

The trustees consider that there are no material uncertainties about the charity's ability to continue as a going concern nor any significant areas of uncertainty that affect the carrying value of assets held by the charity. The charity has sufficient funds for project delivery and has a commitment from funders to continue programming during the Covid-19 pandemic and beyond. Cash levels at the time of signing remain above $1m, providing ample liquidity for Purposeful to meet its obligations to suppliers, partners, staff and girls globally, and we are predicting increased cash levels in the next 12 months as new donor relationships crystalise. The trustees have reviewed the charity’s projections and forecasts for a period of at least 12 months from the date of approval of these financial statements and are satisfied that there is a reasonable expectation that the charity will continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future, Accordingly they continue to prepare the financial statements on a going concern basis.

2.5 Income and endowments

All income is recognised once the charity has entitlement to the income, it is probably that the income will be received, and the amount of income receivable can be measured reliably.

Donations and legacies

Donations are recognised on a receipt basis unless a donation is subject to conditions that require a level of performance by the charity before the charity is entitled to the funds. In this case, the income is deferred and not recognised until either those conditions are fully met, or the fulfilment of those conditions is wholly

30

within the control of the charity and it is probable that these conditions will be fulfilled in the reporting period. Legacies are recognised when Purposeful is notified, there is probability of receipt and the amount is quantifiable.

Grants receivable

Grants are recognised when the charity has entitlement to the funds and any conditions linked to the grants have been met. Where performance conditions are attached to the grant and are yet to be met, the income is recognised as a liability and included on the balance sheet as deferred income to be released.

Gifts in kind

Gifts in kind are recognised in different ways depending on how they are used by the charity: (i) Those donated for onward transmission to beneficiaries are included in the Statement of Financial Activities as incoming resources and resources expended when they are distributed. They are valued at the amount the charity would have had to pay to acquire them.

(ii) Those donated for use by the charity itself are included when receivable. They are valued at the amount the charity would have had to pay to acquire them.

Donated services and facilities

Donated services and facilities are valued at the amount the charity would have had to pay to acquire them.

2.6 Expenditure

All expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to that expenditure, it is probable settlement is required and the amount can be measured reliably. All costs are allocated to the applicable expenditure heading that aggregate similar costs into that category. Where costs cannot be directly attributed to particular headings they have been allocated on a basis consistent with the use of resources, with central staff costs allocated on the basis of time spent, and depreciation charges allocated on the portion of assets' use. Other support costs are allocated based on the spread of staff costs.

Raising funds

There are costs incurred in attracting voluntary income, the management of investments and those incurred in trading activities that raise funds.

Charitable activities

Charitable expenditure comprises those costs incurred by the charity in the delivery of its activities and services for its beneficiaries. It includes both costs that can be allocated directly to such activities and those costs of an indirect nature necessary to support them.

Grant expenditure

Grants payable are payments made to third parties in the furtherance of the charitable objectives. Where the charity gives a grant with conditions for its payment being a specific level of service or output to be provided, such grants are only recognised in the Statement of Financial Activities once the recipient of the grant has provided the specific service or output.

Grants payable without performance conditions are recognised in the accounts when a commitment has been made and communicated to the recipient, and there are no conditions to be met relating to the grant which remain in the control of the charity.

Grant provisions

Provisions for grants are made when the intention to make a grant has been communicated to the recipient but there is uncertainty about either the timing of the grant or the amount of grant payable.

2.7 Support Costs

Support costs include central functions and have been allocated to activity cost categories on a basis consistent with the use of resources, for example, allocating property costs by floor areas or per capita, staff costs by the time spent and other costs by their usage.#

2.8 Governance Costs

These include the costs attributable to the charity's compliance with constitutional and statutory requirements, including audit, strategic management and trustee's meetings and reimbursed expenses.

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2.9 Taxation

The charity is considered to pass the test set out in Paragraph 1 Schedule 6 of the Finance Act 2010 and therefore it meets the definition of a charitable company for UK corporation tax purposes. Accordingly, the charity is potentially exempt from taxation in respect of income or capital gains received within categories covered by Chapter 3 Part 11 of the Corporation Tax Act 2010 or Section 256 of the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992, to the extent that such income or gains are applied exclusively to charitable purposes.

2.10 Fixed Assets

Individual fixed assets costing £150 or more are initially recorded at cost.

Depreciation and amortisation

Depreciation is provided on tangible fixed assets so as to write off the cost or valuation, less any estimated residual value, over their expected useful economic life as follows:

Asset Class Depreciation / amortisation method and rate Computer Equipment 3 years straight line Intangible Software 3 years straight line Vehicles 3 years straight line Furniture and Fixtures 4 years straight line

2.11 Cash and cash equivalents

Cash and cash equivalents comprise of cash on hand and call deposits with original maturities of three months or less.

2.12 Trade creditors

Trade creditors are obligations to pay for goods or services that have been acquired in the ordinary course of business from suppliers. Accounts payable are classified as current liabilities if the charity does not have an unconditional right, at the end of the reporting period, to defer settlement to the creditor for at least twelve months after the reporting date. If there is an unconditional right to defer settlement for at least twelve months after the reporting date, they are presented as non-current liabilities.

Trade creditors are recognised initially at the transaction price and subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method.

2.13 Foreign Exchange

Transactions in foreign currencies are recorded at the rate of exchange at the date of the transaction. Monetary assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currencies at the balance sheet date are reported at the rates of exchange prevailing at that date.

The results of overseas operations are translated at the average rates of exchange during the period and their balance sheets at the rates ruling at the balance sheet date. Exchange differences arising on translation of the opening net assets and results of overseas operations are reported in the Statement of Financial Activities and accumulated in the appropriate fund.

Other exchange differences are recognised in the Statement of Financial Activities in the period in which they arise, except for:

1) exchange differences on transactions entered into to hedge certain foreign currency risks (see above). 2) exchange differences arising on gains and losses on non-monetary items which are recognised in other comprehensive income.

2.14 Fund structure

Unrestricted funds are donations and other incoming resources receivable or generated from the objectives of the charity without further specific purpose and are available as general funds.

Restricted funds are to be used for the specific purpose as laid down by the donor. Expenditure which meets this criteria is charged to the fund, together with a fair allocation of management and support costs, where applicable.

2.15 Pensions and other post-retirement benefits

The charity operates a defined contribution pension scheme which is a pension plan under which fixed contributions are paid into a pension fund and the charity has no legal or constructive obligation to pay

32

further contributions even if the fund does not hold sufficient assets to pay all the employees the benefits relating to employee service in the current and prior periods.

Contributions to defined contribution plans are recognised in the Statement of Financial Activities when they are due. If contribution payments exceed the contribution due for service, the excess is recognised as a prepayment.

2.16 Financial Instruments

Classification

Financial assets and financial liabilities are recognised when the charity becomes party to the contractual provisions of the instrument.

Financial liabilities and equity instruments are classified according to the substance of the contractual arrangements entered into. An equity instrument is any contract that evidences a residual interest in the assets of the charity after deducting all of its liabilities.

Recognition and measurement

All financial assets and liabilities are initially measured at transaction price (including transaction costs) except for those financial assets classified as at fair value through profit or loss, which are initially measured at fair value (which is normally the transaction price excluding transaction costs) unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction. If an arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, the financial asset or financial liability is measured at the present value of the future payments discounted at a market rate of interest for a similar debt instrument.

Financial assets and liabilities are only offset in the Balance Sheet when, and only when there exists a legally enforceable right to set off the recognised amounts and the charity intends either to settle on a net basis, or to realise the asset and settle the liability simultaneously.

Financial assets are derecognised when and only when:

a) the contractual right to the cash flows from the financial asset expire or are settled

b) the charity transfers to another party substantially all of the risks and rewards of ownership of the financial asset, or

c) the charity, despite having retained some, but not all, significant risks and rewards of ownership, has transferred control of the asset to another party.

Financial liabilities are derecognised only when the obligation specified in the contract is discharged, cancelled or expires.

2.17 Judgements and key sources of estimation uncertainty

In the application of the charity’s accounting policies, trustees are required to make judgements, estimates and assumptions about the carrying amount of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. The estimates and associated assumptions are based on historical experience and other factors that are considered to be relevant. Actual results may differ from these estimates.

The estimates and underlying assumptions are reviewed on an ongoing basis. Revisions to the accounting estimates are recognised in the period in which the estimate is revised if the revision affects only that period or in the period of revision and future periods if the revision affects the current and future periods.

The most significant estimates and assumptions which affect the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities in the financial statements relate to:

The useful economic lives of assets, which Purposeful have estimated to be 3 years. Most Purposeful assets relate to computer equipment and furniture and fixtures where historical experience has formed the basis of this judgement.

Preparation of the accounts on a going concern basis, which Purposeful trustees judge to be a fair assumption based on the intentions of Purposeful for the next 12 months and availability of funding.

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NOTE 3 - ANALYSIS OF INCOME

2021 2020
Unrestricted Total Prior
funds Restricted funds funds year
£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
Donations and legacies:
Donations and gifts - 1 1 365
Grants including capital grants:
Grants provided by government/other
charities 916 4,802 5,718 4,226
Donatedgoods, facilities and services - - - -
Total 916 4,803 5,719 4,591

NOTE 4 - ANALYSIS OF EXPENDITURE

NOTE 4 - ANALYSIS OF EXPENDITURE
2021 2020
Unrestricted Restricted
funds funds Total funds Prior year
£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
Expenditure on raising funds
Fundraising - - - 1
Total expenditure on raising funds
 - - - 1
Expenditure on charitable activities
Grants Awarded 356 1,778 2,134 1,563
Capacity Building & Movement 98 464 562 611
Advocacy and Influencing 4 189 193 192
Global Projects - 14 14 129
Staff Costs 211 1,029 1,240 1,187
Operating Costs 133 227 360 400
Governance 46 49 95 108
Total expenditure on charitable activities 848 3,750 4,598 4,190
TOTAL EXPENDITURE 848 3,750 4,598 4,191

NOTE 5 – AUDIT FEE

2021 2020
£’000 £’000
Audit Fee – UK 15 15
Audit Fee – Overseas Subsidiary 3 3
Total Audit Fees 18 18

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NOTE 6 – STAFF COSTS

6.1 – Staff Costs

2021 2020
£’000 £’000
Salaries and wages 974 980
Consultants and Contractors 141 102
Social security costs 48 45
Pension costs (defined contribution scheme) 7 9
Other employee benefits 70 51
Total staff costs 1,240 1,187

----- Start of picture text -----
Band Number of employees
2021 2020
£60,000 to £69,999 1 -
£70,000 to £79,999 - 1
£80,000 to £89,999 - -
£90,000 to £99,999 - 1
£100,000 to £109,999 - -
£110,000 to £119,999 1 -
£120,000 to £129,999 1 -
----- End of picture text -----

The total pension costs made by Purposeful in respect of the individuals above was £2,632 (2020: £2,554).

The key management personnel of the charity comprises of the Co-Founders and Chief Operating Officer. The total remuneration and employee benefits, including salary, employer’s National Insurance and employer’s pension contributions of the key management personnel of the charity was £385,555 (2020: £307,811).

6.2 – Average headcount in the year

2021 2020
Charitable Activities 27 32
Governance 3 3
Total 30 35

NOTE 7 – PENSION SCHEME

Purposeful operates a defined contribution pension scheme. The pension cost charge for the year represents contributions payable by the charity to the scheme and amounted to £6,931 (2020 - £8,813)

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NOTE 8 – GRANT EXPENDITURE BY REGION

2021 2020
£’000 £’000
Grants awarded 2,134 1,563

8 Analysis of grants paid (included in cost of charitable activities)

2021 2020
£’000 £’000
Sierra Leone Projects 1,320 981
Asia Pacific 165 133
Middle east and North Africa 118 146
Europe and Central Asia 163 131
Americas and the Caribbean 214 96
Sub Saharan Africa 154 76
Total 2,134 1,563

NOTE 9 – FIXED ASSETS

9.1 – Intangible assets for Group and Charity

Computer Total
Software
Cost or valuation £’000 £’000
As at 1stSeptember 2020 14 14
Additions 23 23
As at 31stAugust 2021 37 37
Depreciation and impairments
As at 1st September 2020 8 8
Amortisation 7 7
As at 31st August 2021 15 15
Net book value
As at 31 August 2020 6 6
As at 31 August 2021 22 22

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9.2 – Tangible assets

9.2 – Tangible assets 9.2 – Tangible assets
Land and
Buildings
(under
construction)
Computer
Equipment
Plant,
machinery
and motor
vehicles
Fixtures and
fittings
Total
Cost or valuation
£’000
£’000
£’000
£’000
£’000
As at 1stSeptember 2020
12
13
12
37
Additions
153
6
31
1
191
As at 31stAugust 2021 153
18
44
13
228
Depreciation and impairments
As at 1stSeptember 2020
Depreciation		 -
4
6
5
15
-
8
5
4
17
As at 31stAugust 2021 -
12
11
9
32
Net book value
As at 31stAugust 2020 -
8
7
7
22
As at 31stAugust 2021 153
6
33
4
196
Tangible assets – Parent Only
Cost or valuation
As at 1stSeptember 2020
Additions
As at 31stAugust 2021
Depreciation and impairments
As at 1stSeptember 2020
Depreciation
As at 31stAugust 2021
Net book value
As at 31stAugust 2020
As at 31stAugust 2021		 Computer
Equipment
Plant,
machinery
and motor
vehicles
Fixtures and
fittings
Total
£’000
£’000
£’000
£’000
10
-
1
11
2
-
-
2
12
-
1
13
4
-
-
4
4
-
-
4
8
-
-
8
6
-
1
7
4
-
1
5

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NOTE 10 – DEBTORS AND PREPAYMENTS

Consolidated Group Parent Charity
2021 2020 2021 2020
£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
Accrued Income - 406 - 406
Staff Working Cash Advances 12 19 - -
Prepaymentsa 34 34 24 14
accrued income
Total 46 459 24 420

NOTE 11 – CREDITORS AND ACCRUALS

Amounts falling due within one year

Consolidated Group Consolidated Group Parent Charity
2021 2020 2021 2020
£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
Trade creditors 136 62 128 56
Taxation and social security 30 48 16 16
Accruals and deferred income 15 15 16 15
Total 181 125 160 87

Included in other creditors this year is an amount of £1,275 relating to a pensions creditor (2020:£nil)

Amounts falling due after more than one year

Consolidated Group Parent Charity
2021 2020 2021 2020
£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
Accruals and deferred income - - - -
Total - - - -

NOTE 12 – PROVISIONS

Balance at 1st September
Provision during the year
Payments
Balance at 31st August		 2021
2020
£'000
£'000
41
-
26
41
(16)
-
51
41

The provision relates to the end of service benefits made for staff within the group as at 31st August 2021 based on the Sierra Leone gazette.

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NOTE 13 – FUNDS

NOTE 13 – FUNDS
Balance at 1 Incoming Resources Balance at
September Resources Expended 31 August
2020 2021
£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
Unrestricted Funds (855) (916) 848 (923)
Restricted Funds
Novo (236) (113) 334 (15)
Fund for Global Human Rights (6) (30) 25 (11)
FCDO (340) (2,044) 1,986 (398)
With and For Girls (556) (1,498) 661 (1,3923)
Global Resilience Fund (258) (620) 682 (196)
Wellspring Philanthropic Foundation (77) - 13 (64)
Irish Aid (12) (227) 27 (212)
Survivors’ Solidarity Fund (21) (1) 19 (3)
Red Rosa - (143) (2) (145)
ICONIQ - (34) 2 (32)
Fund for a Just Society (Eyala) - (92) 2 (90)
Total Restricted Funds (1,506) (4,802) 3,750 (2,559)
Total Funds (2,361) (5,719) 4,598 (3,482)
Parent Charity
Unrestricted Funds (855) (916) 1,319 (452)
Restricted Funds
Novo (65) (113) 90 (88)
Fund for Global Human Rights (3) (30) 30 (3)
FCDO (165) (2,044) 2,214 5
With and For Girls (556) (1,499) 696 (1,359)
Global Resilience Fund (258) (620) 682 (196)
Wellspring Philanthropic Foundation (76) - 13 (63)
Survivors’ Solidarity Fund (1) (1) (1) (3)
Red Rosa - (143) (2) (145)
ICONIQ - (34) 2 (32)
Fund for a Just Society (Eyala) - (92) 2 (90)
Total Restricted Funds (1,124) (4,576) 3,726 (1,974)
Total Funds (Parent) (1,979) (5,492) 5,045 (2,426)

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NOTE 13.1 – PRIOR YEAR CONSOLIDATED AND PARENT FUNDS

Balance at 1 Incoming Resources Balance at
September Resources Expended 31 August
2019 2020
Unrestricted Funds (24) (1,034) 203 (855)
Restricted Funds
Novo (1,265) - 1,030 (235)
Global Girl Academy (146) - 146 -
Fund for Global Human Rights - (22) 16 (6)
FCDO (previously DFID) (120) (1,699) 1,479 (340)
With and For Girls (404) (1,185) 1,033 (556)
Global Resilience Fund - (456) 198 (258)
Wellspring Philanthropic - (80) 3 (77)
Foundation
Restricted Funds in Sierra Leone - (35) 22 (13)
Survivors’ Solidarity Fund - (81) 60 (21)
Total Restricted Funds (1,935) (3,558) 3,987 (1,506)
Total Funds (1,959) (4,592) 4,190 (2,361)
Parent Charity
Unrestricted Funds (24) (1,033) 203 (854)
Restricted Funds
Novo (1,167) - 1,103 (65)
Global Girl Academy (146) - 146 -
Fund for Global Human Rights - (22) 18 (3)
FCDO (previously DFID) (120) (1,699) 1,654 (165)
With and For Girls (404) (1,185) 1,033 (556)
Global Resilience Fund - (456) 198 (258)
Wellspring Philanthropic - (80) 3 (77)
Foundation
Survivors’ Solidarity Fund - (46) 45 (1)
Total Restricted Funds (1,837) (3,488) 4,200 (1,125)
Total Funds (1,861) (4,521) 4,403 (1,979)

The specific purpose of the funds are as follows:

Unrestricted Fund / General Fund – reserves available for general operating costs Novo – to support projects which promote advocacy for girls in Sierra Leone

Global Girl Academy – to support inter agency co-operation and act as a point of contact in Sierra Leone

Fund for Global Human Rights – to support our participatory grant making model, Tar Kura, in Sierra Leone

FCDO – to support our Safe Space+ programme in Sierra Leone

With and For Girls – to support our With and For Girls programme for girl led global advocates and activists.

Global Resilience Fund – to provide emergency funding to global grass roots activists through the Covid-19 pandemic

Wellspring Philanthropic Foundation – to support Purposeful organisational development and document learning

Irish Aid – to support publishing and communication of the Radical Inclusion education policy and anti FGM work with 4 partners across Sierra Leone

Survivors’ Solidarity Fund – to support 4 local partners in Sierra Leone providing services to girls who have survived sexual abuse and rape

40

Red Rosa – to support resistance stories in East Africa ICONIQ – to support our Safe Space+ programme in Sierra Leone

Fund for a Just Society – to fiscally sponsor the Eyala project, curating and amplifying African feminist stories

NOTE 14 – COMMITMENTS UNDER LEASES

Total future minimum lease payments under operating leases are given in the table below for each of the following periods:

the following periods:
Consolidated Group Parent Charity
2021 2020 2021 2020
£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
Buildings
No later than oneyear - 3 - 3
Total - 3 - 3

NOTE 16 – RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

During the year, Purposeful made the following related party transactions:

Chernor Bah (Chief Executive Officer)

During the year, Purposeful paid Chernor Bah £130,781 (2020: £102,117) for partnership and advocacy services and reimbursed expenses totalling £nil (2020: £nil) for expenses incurred on behalf of Purposeful during the year. At the balance sheet date the amount due to / from Chernor Bah was £nil (2020: £Nil).

As agreed with the Board of Trustees, medical insurance payments were also made by Purposeful for Chernor Bah directly to Cigna Life totalling £14,087 (2020: £14,569)

Jody Myrum (Trustee)

Jody Myrum has been a Trustee of Purposeful since its incorporation as a registered charity. During part of the 20/21 financial year, Jody worked for the NoVo Foundation, a key funder of Purposeful, as Director - Initiative to Advance Adolescent Girls' Rights. In 2020/21, Purposeful received total grant income (including for With and For Girls) of £1,437,884 from the NoVo Foundation (2020: £1,212,461). Jody left the NoVo Foundation on 31st December 2020.

Rosa Bransky (Co-Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder)

In April 2021, Purposeful received a $200,000 grant from Red Rosa, a consultancy firm of which the Purposeful Co-Founder and Co-CEO is also the CEO. The grant provided funds to capture resistance stories and grant making in East Africa. Activities relating to the grant occurred during Rosa’s maternity leave and are being managed by separate Purposeful staff. Purposeful reports to another employee of Red Rosa, as required by the grant agreement.

41

NOTE 17 – ANALYSIS OF NET ASSETS BY FUND

As at 31 August 2021
Fixed Assets
Current Assets
Current Liabilities
Non Current Liabilities
Total Net Assets
As at 31 August 2020
Fixed Assets
Current Assets
Current Liabilities
Non-Current Liabilities
Total Net Assets		 Consolidated Group
Unrestricted
Funds
Restricted
Funds
Total
£'000
£'000
£'000
165
53
218
778
2,718
3,496
(20)
(161)
(181)
-
(51)
(51)
923
2,559
3,482
4
25
29
862
1,636
2,498
(11)
(114)
(125)
-
(41)
(41)
855
1,506
2,361		 Parent Charity
Unrestricted
Funds
Restricted
Funds
Total
£'000
£'000
£'000
4
8
12
862
1,191
2,503
(11)
(87)
(98)
-
-
-
855
1,112
1,967
4
8
12
862
1,191
2,503
(11)
(87)
(98)
-
-
-
855
1,112
1,967

NOTE 18 – SUBSIDIARY PERFORMANCE

The Board of We Are Purposeful has effective control over We Are Purposeful Sierra Leone, a NonGovernmental Organisation, limited by guarantee in Sierra Leone. Summary financial information for Purposeful Sierra Leone is as follows (detailed information is given in the full financial statements of We Are Purposeful Sierra Leone):

Statement of Income and Expenses
Income
Expenditure
Surplus / (Deficit)
Balance Sheet as at 31 August 2019
Fixed Assets
Current Assets
Creditors: Amounts falling due within one year
Creditors: Amounts falling due after more than one year		 2021
2020
£'000
£'000
2,902
2,049
(2,179)
(1,746)
723
(303)
192
39
937
440
(20)
(48)
(50)
(57)
1,059
374

The Board of We Are Purposeful also has effective control over Purposeful Productions Inc, a Non-Profit Corporation registered in the State of New Jersey in the United States of America. Purposeful Productions Inc has 501(c)(3) status but is currently dormant.

42