2022-05-30-accounts - Cities For Children

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Charity No. 1170215

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Annual Report and Financial Statements
Year ended: 30 May 2022
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Contents Legal and administrative information 3 Report of the Trustees 4 Receipts and Payments 12 Statement of Assets and Liabilities 13 Notes forming part of the financial statements 14

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Legal and Administrative Information

Charity number 1170215 Flat 98 Registered address Artillery Mansions Victoria Street LONDON SW1H 0HY Madeeha Ansari (Chair – term renewed for three years on 20 January Trustees 2021) Nabeela Ijaz Khan (Treasurer – appointed for a three-year term on 11 January 2020) David Walker (term renewed for three years on 20 January 2021) Jetske van Dijk (Appointed for three-year term on 10 September 2019) Cleo Fatoorehchi (Appointed on 17th March 2018) Muneezay Jaffery (term renewed for three years on 11 January 2020) Bankers Barclays Bank UK PLC

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CITIES FOR CHILDREN (Reg. 1170215)

Report of the Trustees for the year ended 30 May 2022

The Trustees present their annual report and accounts for the year ended 30 May 2022.

The accounts have been prepared in accordance with the receipts and payments basis in accordance with the Charity Commission guidance

Structure, governance and management

The charity is a CIO Foundation and governed by a constitution dated 02 July 2016. The charity registered with the Charities Commission on the 16 November 2016 (Charity reg no 1170215).

Trustees are responsible of setting strategies and policies and for ensuring these are implemented.

Risk management

The charity's trustees have considered the major risks to which the charity is exposed and have reviewed potential risks. Systems and procedures have been put in place to manage the risks and to mitigate any adverse outcomes, and a risk register is being maintained. A Child Safeguarding Policy is in place and has been adapted for work in both Pakistan and the UK.

Objectives and activities

Drawing from the principles of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Cities for Children seeks to protect what we frame as the “right to a childhood” – the right to read, the right to play and the right to feel safe - for children facing the challenges of urban poverty. These include children from refugee and migrant backgrounds who experience risks of neglect, abuse, exploitation and exclusion from basic services like education.

Our model is based on partnering with small, under-resourced organisations giving crucial education or protection services to under-served children. We have been set up to improve the quality of what our partners offer through three interwoven strands of work, creating holistic programmes for child development and wellbeing:

The Right to Read: non-formal education programming supporting literacy, numeracy and socioemotional learning particularly in early childhood.
The Right to Play: structured recreation programmes, carefully designed to build socio-emotional skills and motivate children to continue learning.
The Right to Feel Safe: resources and training to build adults’ capacity to create safe and nurturing learning spaces, free from violence and corporal punishment.

Achievements and Performance

During this financial year, we emerged as a significant player offering innovative programmes as well as insights into rights for street-connected children in Pakistan. Not only did we expand our Partners in Learning programme content to include experiential science sessions with the support of the Montessori Centre International, we also launched the first national level policy brief on street-connected children in collaboration with the National Commission on the Rights of the Child (NCRC) and UNICEF. We spent time working on the quality of our programmes and evaluation processes, and further improved on our Partners in Learning delivery with a new partner school in Islamabad. In addition, our sister entity was formally registered in Pakistan as a non-profit company under the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) in October 2021.

Highlights

£10,000 grant received from Montessori Centre International to redesign Partners in Learning materials and curate science content.

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Action planning sessions with practitioners and policy-makers generated recommendations for national policy brief on rights for street-connected children, which can be used for further advocacy.
Partners in Learning programme taken to a new partner within Islamabad, Junior Jinnah Trust, engaging 60 children and creating a refined evaluation framework.
Subject specialist (Science Fuse) engaged to curate experiential science content.
Second animation in “Maar Nahi Pyaar” (Care Don’t Scare) series initiated to address the culture of violence and corporal punishment in classrooms, as a follow-up to the positive caregiving animation and resources created during lockdown.
Thought leadership role expanded through engagement in several events, including a presentation in the Global Symposium on Post-pandemic Play at Cambridge Faculty of Education.
First appearance on broadcast media in Pakistan, on a major talk show.
First major corporate partnership secured with UK consultancy Alpha FMC, that awarded us the Charity of the Year for 2022-2023. This will help us achieve fundraising targets and enable our plans for scaleup in the UK.

In detail:

a) Right to Read

Overall costs this financial year: £6,427.68.[1]

• Building Quality Content - Knowledge and Understanding of the World

Partners in Learning programme content already included a number of literacy, numeracy and sensory-motor play-based sessions, in Urdu and English, that were a combination of the Child to Child Getting Ready for School programme and Cities for Children original content. With the help of MCI, we worked to achieve the target of “Building Quality Content” to expand the scope of its subject content for the Partners in Learning program, contribute to the development of the “whole child” and have a set of science resources that can be easily tailored for programmes in different settings. We also wanted to conduct an internal review of our content, identify any gaps and have it professionally designed and laid out for future scaleup.

• Junior Jinnah Trust project - Impact on Older Children

Between December 2021 and March 2022, we implemented a 10-week iteration of Partners in Learning with Junior Jinnah Trust (JJT) that runs a school on the outskirts of Islamabad, in Burma Town. These are children at risk of dropping out of school, with parental income often depending on daily-wage labour, street hawking, or garbage and scrap collection. We ran the programme with 10 older children giving playful learning sessions to 50 younger children across three preschool classes.

In this as in the previous iterations of the programme, we saw significant difference in the younger children’s foundational skills – e.g.

o For Playgroup students, ability to count from 1-10 rose from 0% to 92%.

KG students showed improvement in “talking about a story,” as the students at the highest level in this went from 21% to 65%.

However, there was also emphasis on closely monitoring Socio-emotional learning (SEL) for older children. There is evidence that SEL programmes lead to better academic outcomes in the long run, and we wanted to tap the leadership potential in JJT students. For this we continued to utilise the CASEL framework to analyse impact on various domains of socioemotional learning, particularly self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and relationship skills. The Big Partners’ responses to focus group discussions and a body-mapping tool were clustered according to these. Some illustrative responses pointing to key themes are shared below.

“In the beginning of the sessions, I was scared about how I would do it, everything seemed hard. But now I think nothing is hard and I am more confident. Now it feels like I can do anything. Nothing is too hard unless we make it hard.” (Body Maps)
“I used to think that I won't be able to do the session, but when I did the activities I got to learn a lot.” (Body Maps)

1 The budget line "Project costs” in the accounts includes additional staff costs that were spread over the different strands of work.

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“At first I used to be angry at everything, was not able to control my anger and I used to hit when I was angry. Now I think first, I think that I want to respect everyone even if they are older or younger and I want to be nice to them.” (Body Maps)
“I learned how hard the job of a teacher is and how hard it is to make kids understand something. I also realized what I can do for the kids of this country.” (Weekly Reflection)
“Talking with respect helps, if you talk with anger then Chotay Saathi will respond with anger too.” (FGD)

Lessons learnt:

CfC in-person visits made a difference, as the programme was adapted according to observations.
Teacher engagement and buy-in was key, particularly their open-mindedness to playful learning ideas.
School management buy-in was key for programme success.
More can be done to refine the evaluation framework and hone in on the specific socioemotional competencies we are looking to impact through the programme.

b) Right to Feel Safe

Overall cost this financial year: £1380

As the next component of our ‘Maar Nahi Pyaar’ (Care Don’t Scare) series, we designed an animation to address the culture of violence in schools and spaces of learning, raising awareness of the impact of corporal punishment on children’s mental health, academic performance and school retention as well as alternative teaching and behaviour management methodologies. This animation is to be accompanied by a written resource and practical training module, for which we began the process of exploring partnerships and had conversations with multiple stakeholders including the Global Partnership to End Violence. The next steps on this will be taken in the next financial year.

c) Advocacy and thought leadership

Overall cost this financial year: £2231

• Policy events

As part of our “Mera Haq Hai” (My right is…”) campaign launched in the previous financial year, we created an animation as a public service message illustrating the barriers faced by street-connected children in accessing education.

Continuing on the advocacy work funded by the Consortium for Street Children in the last financial year, we hosted a twopart policy event entitled “Policy Meets Practice,” bringing together civil society with representatives from government and Parliament. We facilitated an action-planning exercise with civil society to generate key recommendations on education and protection for street-connected children, then collaborated with the SDGs Secretariat in Parliament to hold a roundtable discussion sharing these action points. Further information is available on our website (https://www.citiesforchildren.co/blog/policy-meets-practice/).

• Policy brief

Following this, we were approached by the National Commission on the Rights of the Child (NCRC) to author a policy brief on street-connected children in Pakistan. This was launched in collaboration with the National Commission on the Rights of the Child (NCRC) and UNICEF, on 21st April at Margalla Hotel, Islamabad . The event was attended by over 150 guests including activists, civil society and government officials, as well as senior journalists. It was widely covered by broadcast as well as print media – the collated links to print media coverage from Dawn News, Gulf News and more (link below). While we agreed to do this project pro bono, we are hopeful that this will lead to further earned income in the future. This document will be a useful tool to garner support among policymakers to take the recommendations forward.

Publications

Title and theme Date of publication Publication Link

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Teachers’ Power – op-ed addressing the culture of corporal punishment in classrooms	27 June 2021	Dawn newspaper (print)	https://www.dawn.com/ne ws/1631751
Choosing the Street – op-ed on rights-based approach for street-connected children	22 March 2022	Dawn newspaper (print)	https://www.dawn.com/ne ws/1681250/choosing-the- street
Street-Connected Children in Pakistan: Education and Protection Challenges	21 April 2022	Policy brief (print)	https://www.citiesforchildr en.co/wp- content/uploads/2022/05/P olicy-Brief-on-Street- Connected-Children.pdf

Key External Engagements and Media Coverage


Event	Date	Detail
Appearance on “Zara Hat Kay” talk show, Dawn News channel	16 June 2021	https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AonGwkqzsYw
Global Symposium on Post-pandemic play at Cambridge Faculty of Education	3 March 2022	Founder and Chair Madeeha Ansari was one of 11 speakers including representation from the Lego Foundation and the BRAC Institute of Educational Development (Bangladesh). This two-part symposium focused on how play can be incorporated into global post-COVID work with young children and their families and communities. The symposia were hosted virtually by the Faculty of Education at the University of Cambridge, with institutional support from Cambridge’s REAL and PEDAL Centres, UCL’s Centre for Education and International Development, BRAC University, and Early Start at the University of Wollongong. This year- long project was supported with a funding grant from BAICE. Recording available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aR92GQIEWU
Media coverage of NCRC policy brief launch event	21 April 2022	Collated links from national and international media coverage available here: https://linktr.ee/citiesforchildren

Progress against strategic objectives

Cities for Children was set up to plug identified gaps in awareness as well as service provision for children in urban poverty, including but not limited to street-connected children from refugee and migrant backgrounds.

There was progress against each of the strategic objectives set out for the period 2020-23:


1. Developing and expanding signature programmes that promote learning, play and wellbeing.	We substantially expanded our playful programming under the Right to Read strand, refining our implementation of what is now our signature early childhood programme.

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1.1 Developing a model for program selection based on impact vs effort (measured as time, effort, power, resources.) 1.2 Expanding our work under the Right to Read, particularly through playful learning in early childhood. 1.3 Conducting evidence-based advocacy around the importance of the Right to Play and carving a thought leadership role. 1.4 Expanding our work under the “Right to Feel Safe” strand, particularly with regard to protection from violence.	We also continued evidence-based advocacy by engaging with key national stakeholders, writing in mainstream media and communicating our ethos via social media. We were able to build our niche in terms of creating resources to counter the practice of corporal punishment and ensure safety for children. We also revisited our Theory of Change and added in a “policy” strand of work that encompasses our advocacy and policy work.


2. Capturing evidence 2.1 Laying the grounds for gathering evidence of impact from the very beginning, in order to demonstrate credibility to our partners as well as future donors.	For Partners in Learning, we developed an evaluation framework with our advisors and board that we have now further refined, based on our experience. We have created internal reports with lessons learnt, fed back to our partners and also laid out results in ways that we can share with donors.


3. Communicating effectively 3.1 Building a niche and brand awareness in the sector by engaging with relevant networks and participating in events and conferences. 3.2 Documenting our work and communicating stories of impact. 3.3 Conducting advocacy through our research and our existing communication platforms, creating a case for supporting our priorities especially in terms of play and wellbeing.	Our communication and policy advocacy efforts have culminated in the term “street-connected” being widely used to describe children who live or work on the streets in Pakistan. Our policy brief with the NCRC, “Street-connected children in Pakistan: Education and Protection Challenges” is being used as a key document in ongoing multistakeholder advocacy efforts for these children.


4. Fundraising for sustainability 4.1 Raising adequate resources through grants, community philanthropy and events. 4.2 Exploring channels for income generation.	We had large input in terms of voluntary support from the Founder and Trustees, but less in-kind and more material fundraising this year. • We obtained a £10,000/- grant Montessori Centre International • Community philanthropy – `o` Zakat donations and core costs donations `o` Contribution to core costs via three runners in the Battersea Run • Short consultancy with the Nun Academy in Jeddah (£300 of earned income) • Financial sustainability ensured for the next year through the Alpha FMC Charity of the Year Award.


5. Organisation building 5.1 Setting up policies and systems to ensure smooth functioning, including recognition of risks.	Our sister entity in Pakistan was registered in October 2021, to streamline in-country project implementation. We set up a Board of Directors, worked on formalising the relationship between the two entities and hired our first in-country Programmes Support Officer.

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5.2 identifying resources and recruiting personnel (for programmes, administration, finance, communications).

Public Benefit Statement

The section of this report below entitled 'Objectives and activities' sets out the objects and aims of the charity. The trustees have considered this, in conjunction with the guidance contained in the Charity Commission's general guidance on public benefit, and have concluded that:

1) the aims of the charity continue to be charitable;
2) the work done by the charity gives identifiable benefits to the charitable sector and both directly
3) indirectly to individuals in need;
4) the benefits are for the public; not unreasonably restricted in any way;
5) there is no detriment or harm arising from the aims or activities.

Volunteers

The growth during this time can be attributed almost entirely to voluntary contributions in terms of time from our trustees, particularly the Chair during this year, and the following:

Development Intern Ruby Blower, who played a key role in programme development and fundraising
Communications Intern Noor Khan
Communications Intern Ushna Azeem, who helped us secure the Charity of the Year Award
Evaluation Advisor Ali Nabi Nur, who contributed in-kind services worth £750.
Business development advisor Aneeq Cheema, who contributed in-kind services worth £300.

Financial review

During the period, the Charity received total income of £19.2k (2021: £16.2k) which includes £750 of in-kind donations (2021: £750). The charity incurred expenditure of £13.6k (2021: £8.4k). The carried forward cash fund balance is £40.3k (2021: £34.8k).

Reserves Policy

The trustees believe that the fund-raising plans in place are sufficiently robust to cover the next 12 months costs.

Trustees' responsibilities statement

The trustees are responsible for preparing the trustees' report and the financial statements in accordance with the United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice) and applicable law and regulations.

The law applicable to charities requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and of the incoming resources and application of resources of the charity for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the trustees are required to:

select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP;
make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;

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state whether applicable accounting standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements; and
prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in business.

The trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charities Act 2011, the applicable Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations, and the provisions of the constitution. The trustees are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

30 maart 2023

This report was approved by the trustees on…………………….and signed on their behalf by:

…………………………………….

Jetske van Dijk

Trustee

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CITIES FOR CHILDREN (Reg. 1170215) Receipts and Payments Accounts

From 1 June 2021 to 30 May 2022

Receipts Donations In-kind donations Grant Gift Aid Consultancies Sub total Assets and Investment sales Total receipts Payments Fundraising/Events Project costs Support costs Governance costs In-kind spend Evaluation Framework Subtotal Assets and Investment purchases Total payments Net of receipts/(payments) Transfers between funds Cash funds last year end Cash funds this year end	Unrestricted Restricted Total Total Funds Funds 2022 2021 £ £ £ £ 4,880 1,836 6,716 2,318 750 750 750 10,000 10,000 13,130 1,415 1,415 0 300 300 0
	7,346 11,836 19,182 16,197 0 0
	7,346 11,836 19,182 16,197
	454 454 61 4,311 6,055 10,366 6,655 1,599 1,599 606 426 426 360 750 750 750
	7,540 6,055 13,595 8,432
	7,540 6,055 13,595 8,432

	-194 5,781 5,587 7,765
	29,092 5,662 34,754 26,988
	28,898 11,442 40,341 34,754

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CITIES FOR CHILDREN (Reg. 1170215) Statement of Assets and Liabilities

As at 30 May 2022

Cash Funds Cash at Bank Total Cash funds Assets Retained for the Charity's Own Use Freehold Land & Building Total Liabilities	Unrestricted Funds £ 40,341 40,341 0 0 360	Total 2022 £ 40,341 40,341 0 0 360	Total 2021 £ 34,754
			34,754
			0
			0

			360

30 maart 2023

Approved by the Board on ………………………………. And signed on its behalf by:

…………………………………….

Jetske van Dijk

Trustee

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Notes forming part of the financial statements for the year ended 30 May 2022

1. Accounting policies

(a) Basis of preparation

The accounts have been prepared in accordance with the receipts and payments basis in accordance with the Charity Commission guidance.

(b) Charity status

Cities for Children is a CIO foundation and is a registered with the Charity Commission under the reference of 1170215.

(c) Fund accounting

General funds are unrestricted funds which are available for use at the discretion of the trustees in furtherance of the general objectives of the charity and which have not been designated for other purposes.

Restricted funds are funds which are to be used in accordance with specific restrictions imposed by donors or which have been raised by the charity for particular purposes. The cost of raising and administering such funds are charged against the specific fund. The aim and use of each restricted fund is set out in the notes to the financial statements.

(d) Receipts

All incoming resources are included in the Receipt & payment Accounts when the charity actually receives legally entitled income.

(e) Payments

All expenditure is accounted for on payments basis and has been classified under headings that aggregate all costs related to the category. Where costs cannot be directly attributed to particular headings they have been allocated to activities on a basis consistent with use of the resources.

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Notes forming part of the financial statements for the year ended 30 May 2022

1. Accounting policies

(d) Basis of preparation

The accounts have been prepared in accordance with the receipts and payments basis in accordance with the Charity Commission guidance.

(e) Charity status

Cities for Children is a CIO foundation and is a registered with the Charity Commission under the reference of 1170215.

(f) Fund accounting

(d) Receipts

All incoming resources are included in the Receipt & payment Accounts when the charity actually receives legally entitled income.