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← Hope For The Future

2023-12-31-accounts

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Hope for the Future

Amplifying Local Voices for Political Impact

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Annual Report and Accounts

January 2023 - December 2023

Hope for the Future is a climate charity which works to equip communities, groups and individuals across the country to communicate the urgency of climate change with their local politicians.

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Charity Number 1173547

Contents

01

Message From The Chair of Trustees

02

Objectives and Activities

Charitable Vision

Charitable Mission

Charitable Aims

03

Achievements and Performance in 2023

04

Structure, Governance and Management

Reference and Administrative Details

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05
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Financial Report

Reserves

Financial Statements For The Year To 31st December 2023

Risk Statement

06

Wknl i JIW. houLd your incoming MP prioritise for climate and nature? PL*L. 11 Message From The Chair of Trustees 01

Message From The Chair of Trustees.

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Dear Supporters and Friends,

As we reflect on the past year at Hope for the Future (HFTF), I'm immensely proud of the impact we've had in advancing climate action across the UK. Joining as a new trustee, I’ve been particularly struck by the uniqueness of our mission and the talent and enthusiasm of our team.

In 2023 we saw the world face its hottest year on record. The COP28 summit presented the increasingly pressing need for a global consensus on transitioning away from fossil fuels, and it was concerning to see the UK scale back on some of its key climate commitments in this context. These challenges underscore the critical need for sustained political action to drive meaningful change and highlight the significant role that Hope for the Future can play.

This year, we connected with 140 local politicians, spurring 50 actionable requests on critical climate issues. Our unique training approach reached 654 individuals, equipping them to engage constructively with MPs. We also launched our Climate Village, an online haven for advocacy tools and expert guidance.

Reaching the end of our core grant from the Quadrature Climate Foundation, we invested in new infrastructure and went through an organisational restructure, ensuring resilience in the first year of the new parliament. We also prioritised developing our approach to inclusivity, partnering with organisations like Wheels for Wellbeing to engage marginalised communities in climate advocacy.

As we move into 2024, we have ambitious targets to train 2,000 citizens, engage 185 politicians, and secure 50 commitments on climate issues.

None of these milestones and ambitions would be possible without our incredible donors, partners, volunteers, trustees, and staff. Thank you for your ongoing support.

Best regards,

Jonny Exon Chair of Trustees

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Message from the Chair of Trustees | 02

TLC WIRRAL PROGRESS 11 Objectives and Activities 02

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Charitable Vision:

To see communities and their elected representatives across the UK come together to take decisive action on climate change.

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Charitable object:

To promote the conservation, protection and improvement of the physical and natural environment, particularly with regard to climate change and global warming, in accordance with Christian principles.

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Charitable aims:

To enable and facilitate the processes needed to meet the UK’s legal commitments to mitigating climate change and its impacts.

To prepare and support individuals and groups of citizens so that they are better equipped to engage with their democratically elected representatives in the interests of mitigating climate change.

To build capacity among communities so that they may undertake constructive dialogue with their elected representatives in the matter of climate change and its consequences.

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Objectives and Activities | 03

From Southwark to the South Pacific: can local solutlons In Southwark help the cllmate frontllno? Cllr Jamgs MG4sh, Cabinet Member for the Climate Em8rgency (Chairl Helen Hayes MP, Labour MP for Dulwi¢h and West Norwood Cara Jenkinson, Cities Manager, Ashden International Marcus Grazett& (Extinction Rebellion Southwark) Apaar Mangal (Hope for the Future) '.IiIRIK5QUtyW 03 IJ Achievements and performance in 2023 03

Overview

For nearly 10 years, Hope for the Future (HFTF) has led the charge in improving political engagement on the climate and nature crises. Our Sheffield-based charity quickly gained national recognition with a reputable training program and a history of securing local and parliamentary action through grassroots engagement.

Drawing on advice from MPs and a range of disciplines, including conflict resolution and climate communications, our relationship-based approach is grounded in first-hand experience. We're the only organisation dedicated to researching the best methods for communicating the climate and nature emergencies with MPs on a constituency level, which allows us to provide advocacy training and support of the highest standard to NGOs, individuals, local groups, and faith communities across the UK.

In 2023, we trained 654 people in our one-of-a-kind relationship-building approach to democratic engagement. A further 237 people actively participated in events and workshops run or co-facilitated by HFTF and our resources were accessed 1,115 times, supporting people with on-demand political engagement skills. We facilitated engagements with 140 local politicians across the whole of the UK, resulting in 50 Specific, Measurable, Agreed (or Achievable), Realistic, and Time-Bound (SMART) asks on climate and nature topics being directly asked of politicians. So far 39 of those have been delivered upon, and counting, ranging from MPs submitting for debates on renewable energy to committing to back campaigns.

We have offered tailored, bespoke support to 92 citizens across the UK, and general support to 1,876 people, providing lifelong and sustainable campaigning skills. Our bespoke support spanned letter writing, research and advice, and support for preparing for politician meetings.

For several years, Hope for the Future has been grateful for a core costs grant from the Quadrature Climate Foundation, which accounted for 70% of our income. In 2023, we were informed that we had 12 months left of this grant, leading us to consolidate our activities, reduce our team size and prioritise embedding the foundations for a sustainable future.

In the second half of 2023, we made huge strides internally to enable us to have the strongest impact in 2024, a general election year, and beyond by:

1

Developing a stronger paid partnership model and successfully positioning ourselves as a vital resource for the climate sector whilst diversifying our income.

2

Launching a new bespoke CRM system to give us the data we need at our fingertips to refine and learn from our approach and to free up our delivery team's capacity to focus on empowering individuals and communities.

3

Investing in our communications . Thanks to an investment from the European Climate Foundation and the Environmental Funders Network in the latter half of 2023, we were able to refresh our website, creating a clearer user journey for organisations and individuals seeking our support. We have invested in making our social media accounts more active, engaging and up to date, and with support from Esmeè Fairbairn Foundation we launched our first ever online portal for our trainees, with 93 sign ups in just a couple of months. Hosted on the Climate Village, the portal provides people with on demand access to on-demand tools, resources and expert advice to get them talking to their politicians more effectively.

4

Prioritising training and empowering those who face barriers to engaging with their elected representatives. We conducted an analysis of our existing audience and produced a plan for diversifying our audiences. We have run a number of pilot projects throughout 2023 to work with a range of communities we haven’t before directly reached, including Climate Assembly attendees and disabled communities, among others.

Most importantly of all, 2023 saw us facilitate more excellent conversations and meaningful action between local people and their decision makers to ensure positive climate action. We’re really proud of what we have achieved, and we’re excited for what comes next!

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Achievements and performance in 2023 | 04

Areas of Work

Amplifying local voices through training and support

Training

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We delivered 48 training workshops in 2023 to varying audiences from small grassroots organisations to national nature conservation NGOs. 61% of people we trained had never engaged with their MP before , and we have plans in 2024 to gain more insight into the knowledge and skillsets of our trainees.

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90% of those attending our training sessions this year said that they felt more confident in engaging with their MP. 85% rated our training as 8 out of 10 or better.

We have continued to offer free online training entitled “Your Voice Heard” every month, and these sessions are accessible to anyone via zoom. EFN Rapid Response funding also allowed us to offer an unprecedented total of 4 sessions in December. This funding was secured in response to a series of climate action themed programmes that were broadcast by Channel 4 - we utilised and connected our online commuincations to this high profile call to action and opened up additional capacity to meet anticipated demand. As a result of this additional training capacity, we provided 51 people with the skills and knowledge to effectively engage their MPs.

Tailored Politician Meeting Support

In 2023, we directly supported 29 local groups to meet with their MPs both online and in person. We helped with research, invited the MPs to the meeting and facilitated the meetings themselves. We indirectly supported many more MP meetings through light touch training, advice and research. We have provided 42 Tailored Lobbying Strategies and as a result 50 SMART Asks on climate and nature topics went to politicians .

Our work in 2023 has been throughout the UK, from the Highlands in Scotland to St Ives in Cornwall, showing the breadth and relevance of our work within a wide range of communities.

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Achievements and performance in 2023 | 05

Testimonials

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The resources on offer to bolster a successful communication are very valuable. “ Attribution I liked how you made me realise being demanding and confrontational is not the best way to get a result Attribution Accessible. Possible. Hopeful! Attribution The list of ‘concrete asks’ of the MPs was super-useful Attribution The best thing about the training was the trainers' enthusiasm and knowledge ““““

Attribution

Hope for the Future is one of the leading (if not the leading) UK organisations working to equip people and communities across “ the UK to effectively communicate about the climate and nature crisis with politicians. Their breadth of expertise and accessible trainings, reflected by their whole staff team, has been a huge support to MP engagement efforts on the Warm this Winter campaign, such that I have often recommend them to colleagues and partners within the environment sector who are looking to maximise impact with politicians, particularly through local organising. Network Coordinator, Warm This Winter, Uplift, 2023

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Achievements and performance in 2023 | 06

A resource for the sector Case Study:

We have broadened our partnerships, as part of our active and dynamic transition to be a more substantial resource for the climate sector, - strengthening existing climate and nature campaigns whilst simultaneously improving our own financial resilience. From individual training sessions to ongoing project work looking to influence specific policy, our partner work has supported campaigns such as ‘United for Warm Homes’ by Friends of the Earth, No Fossil Funding by Fossil Free Parliament and the People’s Plan for Nature by WWF-UK, the Nature Friendly Farming Network and the National Trust.

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We set an objective at the end of 2022 to build our financial resilience in 2023. Whilst we faced financial challenges, we did begin the vital work of diversifying our income in the second half of the year. We know that HFTF’s model is at its most effective in achieving policy change when working in concert with a range of other groups to align specific policy asks with a campaign. Throughout 2023, we have begun building on this element of our work substantially, developing our offer and the range of services that we can provide to partners, to complement the work we continue to do to support grassroots groups and small NGOs free of charge. Diversifying our income, improving our long term financial health and ultimately being an essential resource for the climate and nature sector will continue to drive our work into 2024, using lessons learned in 2023.

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Achievements and performance in 2023 | 07

Outreach Case Study:

After completing an audience review in early 2023 (with funding from Esmee Fairbairn Foundation), we have firm data to confirm our assumption that the majority of people accessing our training are from similar demographics:

Increasing representation of marginalised groups in our work will continue to be a focus - political disengagement is significantly more pronounced in marginalised groups resulting in issues that matter to these communities regularly being neglected. Yet, we know that MPs are more inclined to take notice of attempts to engage them by those who are not “the usual suspects”. Recognising this need whilst working within a smaller staff team, we embedded Equality, Diversity and Inclusion across each role within the organisation rather than having a dedicated staff member. We worked within our capacity, building our role as a facilitator of post-climate assembly citizens engagement, and plan to continue to broaden our audience through contracting a creative digital agency in 2024. We will be continually seeking additional funding in order to support a broader demographic to engage with their MPs.

At the end of 2023, we made the decision to increase our outreach target to ensure that 40% of people we support to meet their politicians come from beyond the ‘usual suspects’. We will be monitoring this target into 2024.

To achieve this, we have continued to build our network of partners working with seldom-heard audiences. We have run a number of small projects in 2023, co-created with partners who are experts in their audiences, to understand how our training can best serve their communities. As its a measurable target, we'll need to be specific about how we define 'the usual suspects'.

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Achievements and performance in 2023 | 08

The Climate Village - Online Portal Case Study:

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Thanks to funding from the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation, we launched our online portal, the Climate Village (hosted by Green Squirrel) in the second half of 2023. In 2023, we saw 93 new sign-ups, joining an active membership base of 300 people through Green Squirrel. We now have 18 written and video resource guides available on the portal (and counting), covering everything from how to write a letter to your MP to what to do if they don’t respond to them. We have a series of resources to support constituents to run their own events and invite their local politicians. We know from experience events are extremely impactful for demonstrating a broad constituency mandate. However, with a smaller staff team, we are unable to offer tailored support for as many events, so we will continue to track the success of the events resource hub.

Following input from one of our funders, USPG, we have recently been able to add a series of faith-based resources. These are tailored to groups based around places of worship, explaining how they can become involved in climate action. Visitors to the faith space can access information such as “Divest Your Church” and “Keeping Faith in the Climate”. An online community space is vital for us to be able to continue our widespread support, whilst leveraging staff time and capacity for focusing on strategic projects which will have a meaningful influence on democratic engagement and climate policy. In the first year of the new parliament. In 2024, we will be working on building this work to keep people engaged after they have attended our training, and able to offer peer-to-peer support to one another.

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Achievements and performance in 2023 | 09

Case Studies

1 Community Power to Save our Wild Isles, Oxford. 2 Tailored Support in Welwyn Hatfield: Grant Shapps MP. 3 Supporting the Green Forum in the Highlands: Jamie Stone MP. 4 Nature Friendly Farming Network. 5 Warm Homes Day of Action. 6 The Climate Village - Online Portal. 7 Blackburn and Darwen People’s Jury.

8

9

Supporting Wheels for Wellbeing to campaign for disabled carbon-free transport London School of Economics Research Collaboration.

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Achievements and performance in 2023 | 10

Case Study:

1 Community Power to Save our Wild Isles, Oxford.

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During Great Big Green Week in June 2023, Hope for the Future (HFTF) partnered with WWFUK to host an event in Oxford East, titled "Community Power for Saving our Wild Isles." This collaboration was designed to galvanise local action for nature conservation and climate change mitigation. By facilitating grassroots community discussions and integrating recommendations from the People’s Plan for Nature into ongoing local efforts, we played a crucial role in transforming community aspirations into tangible actions.

Event Facilitation and Community Engagement

We led all the logistics and organisation of the event to ensure it was accessible, inclusive and impactful. On the day, our primary role was to foster meaningful community dialogues, ensuring that the voices of local residents were heard and acted upon. We collaborated with key community representatives to define their government "asks" and shaped the event to expand the constituency mandate for action on nature.

You’ve really inspired me. I have a good relationship with my councillors, but it never even occurred to me to think about “ speaking to our MP. I can now see the real value in inviting ourMP to see what we’re doing, and ask them to support our work at the nature reserve.

Feedback from one event attendee

Momentum and Follow-Up Actions

Building on the momentum from the event, HFTF and WWF-UK organised a follow-up community meeting at Oxford City Farm with Anneliese Dodds MP. Our team supported the seven community representatives in the organising committee to draft letters, secure Anneliese’s attendance, brief her office, and plan an impactful agenda.

The community meeting was a success, highlighting the critical role of nature in addressing climate change. HFTF chaired the discussion, advocating for bold and ambitious actions to harness the environmental benefits within Oxford. Anneliese Dodds MP toured the farm, committed to advancing the recommendations forward the recommendations from the People’s Plan for Nature into her work as an MP. We are currently in the follow up stage and plan to support the community and the People’s Assembly Members for Oxford to hold Anneliese Dodds MP to account on her promise.

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Achievements and performance in 2023 | 11

Case Study:

2 Tailored Support in Welwyn Hatfield: Grant Shapps MP.

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Constituent
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A constituent of Grant Shapps MP (referred to as R) was offered 1:1 training, focused on the subject of Rosebank and other new oil fields. With our support, R requested a meeting with Grant Shapps to discuss this matter. At the time, Grant Shapps was also the Energy and Net Zero Minister, but when the meeting happened just days after he moved roles. R said the training from HFTF was especially helpful in the meeting, particularly in helping them to be assertive, as opposed to aggressive, and having a well prepared agenda.

While R found Grant to be robotic in the meeting, Grant responded well to R’s request to pass on their concerns to the current Energy and Net Zero Minister, Claire Coutinho, in the form of a letter, and to request a meeting between her and R to discuss this. HFTF supported the drafting of this letter, and when discussing it, R provided some really insightful observations on Grant Shapps approach and behaviour, both on climate change and more widely which we incorporated into the draft. Grant has honoured his statement, and has passed this letter on to Claire, requesting a meeting with herself and R.

The feedback we have received from R about HFTF’s support and training has been overwhelmingly positive. They said the training and support:

...gave me reassurance and confidence “

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“
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...wouldn't have been the same without the help without HFTF.

R invested heavily in the process, engaged actively with our support and input, and is optimistic about their future relationship with Grant Shapps, his office, and potentially Claire Coutinho MP.

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Achievements and performance in 2023 | 12

Case Study:

3 Supporting the Green Forum in the Highlands: Jamie Stone MP.

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We have now been supporting the ‘Green Forum’ group in the Highlands to engage their MP for a few years, demonstrating the value of long term relationship building with politicians. We supported the group to secure an ongoing slot in his diary every few months. When asked about the benefits of meeting periodically Jamie said:

“ ...it’s fantastic, it gives us in my office an action plan, things we must do, and it means we’re discipline about doing things.

In 2023, we supported the group through research, on-call advice and meeting support, to discuss a range of topics with their MP from community energy, national energy infrastructure, local transport connections and fuel poverty. At the request of his constituents, in 2023 Jamie has:

In 2024, the Green Forum Group wrote a letter to Jamie due to concern over his support of a new golf course in the constituency. There was very little input needed from us, as they made effective use of HFTF’s approach and techniques. The letter made clear its ask explaining the research and feeling behind it, without condemning or alienating Jamie. The limited need for out support in this is a tremendous indicator of how far the group have come in having an effective relationship with their MP.

Jamie Stone MP , in an interview with Hope for the Future.

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Achievements and performance in 2023 | 13

Case Study:

4 Nature Friendly Farming Network.

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In late 2022, the Nature Friendly Farming Network (NFFN) launched their Rethink Food campaign which has had an important influence in shaping overarching narratives, demonstrating farmers' appetite for ambitious farm system change. As part of this work, NFFN have been supporting MP visits to farms, where farmers put the Rethink Food campaign asks to their MPs whilst walking around the farm. Internal capacity at NFFN became stretched for supporting each meeting fully, so they brought HFTF on board in 2023. The NFFN’s Farmer Engagement Officer attended HFTF training and has translated our approach into the tailored support offered by them.

Beyond this, we developed a training programme for farmers in their network. We ran 3 sessions and launched a resource hub for the farmers, with 4 resources for farmers to gain further tips and tricks beyond our training. All farmers who have attended the training to date say they have an improved understanding of how to engage their MP effectively, with particular feedback on the usefulness of our SMART Asks in translating the recommendations in the Rethink Food Report into concrete requests of politicians.

TRAINING RESEARCH
YOUR MP
Resource 1		 Resource 2
INVITE YOUR
MP TO YOUR
FARM		 DEVELOP
YOUR 'ASKS'
Resource 3		 HOLD YOUR
MP TO
ACCOUNT
Resource 4

As a result of our training and support for NFFN staff and their network so far, there have been wide ranging results. Derek Thomas MP (EFRA Committee) - went on to speak in favour of nature-friendly farming at an NFFN parliamentary event this year. The farmer who hosted him has also remained engaged in the network, speaking in a webinar last year and also recording a video to promote the Suits to Welly Boots scheme on social media. One farmer asked their MP, George Freeman, to speak publicly about the benefits of nature friendly farming, and he went on to publish a blog post, in which he says:

As a planet, we are currently facing the challenges of an ever“ warming climate, biodiversity loss, and widespread food insecurity exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine. One of the key solutions to these problems is innovative, nature-friendly farming – which can build resilience into our agricultural sector by boosting diversity and pioneering new approaches to farming, land management and conservation.

Derek Thomas MP , in a blog post resulting from a constituent meeting.

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Achievements and performance in 2023 | 14

Case Study:

5

Friends of the Earth: Warm Homes Day of Action.

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The Manchester FOE Group invited Afzal Khan MP along to their Warm Homes Day of Action event in November to discuss government policy for warmer homes.

Friends of the Earth (FOE) partnered with us for their United for Warm Homes campaign, which aims to ensure enhanced energy efficiency measures for houses, short-term cash supply for the most fuel-poverty vulnerable, and system change in the energy sector to ensure a move away from polluting fossil fuels towards cleaner, greener, cheaper renewable energy.

We supported FOE local groups in the run up to the “Day of Action” on 18th November, by providing a bespoke training session, where we covered the tried-and-tested HFTF methods for engaging with MPs. This included a tailored asks section, which turned the FOE goals into tangible SMART asks for the local groups, encouraging attendees to design their own asks for their Day of Action.

Following the training session, HFTF offered tailored support to one group in Ilford North. We produced a Tailored Lobbying Strategy (TLS) for Wes Streeting MP, in collaboration with the regional campaign officers for FOE who knew the ins and outs of the local area, giving valuable insight into how best to shape a lobbying strategy for the local group. Being the acting Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, we focused on the health benefits to his constituents of improved energy efficiency measures as a common ground area.

The group went on to successfully meet with Wes Streeting MP, using the asks in the TLS. Wes agreed to write to Ed Miliband, to express support for the campaign, and he also agreed to see if he would be available to speak at a parliamentary event for United for Warm Homes in February.

Going forward, HFTF has also agreed to partner with FOE and their local groups, to deliver further in-depth bespoke training sessions in a number of constituencies, tailored towards individual MPs and the experiences of each group. The focus of this next stage of work is supporting constituents to encourage their MPs to sign up for the Warm Homes Pledge. We expect to see further targeted asks being taken forward by MPs, ensuring Hope for the Future is playing a central role in the campaign for improving the UK’s energy system, bringing down household bills, and reducing home energy inefficiency.

“

The webinar you ran was invaluable for supporting groups to feel ready to meet their MPs. Senior Campaign Activism Advisor at FoE

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Achievements and performance in 2023 | 15

Case Study:

6 Blackburn and Darwen People’s Jury

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Shared Future was commissioned by Blackburn with Darwen Council to run a People’s Jury on Climate Change. The Jury was recruited through random selection using the idea that, every citizen has an equal opportunity to take part. The group was therefore representative of the population and included 26 people. The recommendations covered both national and local issues and action. Hope for the Future supported in the follow up to the Jury in 2023, supporting the jury members who wanted to take the recommendations forward, and ask Kate Hollern MP to take action.

Hope for the Future’s team worked with Shared Future to co-create a training workshop which was tailored to the needs and knowledge of the group, recognising that the jury members had agency over their recommendations. We worked to replicate the learning and communication styles, structure and physical building location from the Jury itself through to the follow up workshop, to create a sense of continuity and safety, around a topic area which was deemed to be new to a lot of the jury members.

We supported the jury members to translate their recommendations into SMART asks, ensuring that Kate Hollern MP would be more likely to take concrete action. Through providing a detailed overview of who Kate Hollern MP is, what makes her tick, and how the group may look to find common ground, the jury members then felt they had the power to create their own asks, and tailor their recommendations to what may land most successfully with Kate.

The group went on to meet with Kate, supported by Hope for the Future, and she committed to write to the relevant Shadow Ministers on housing and energy topics which the group spoke to her about. She agreed to ongoing follow up meetings, and the group are now beginning to build relationships with the other MP in the region, showing an increase in confidence and skills. Our training, coupled with the work of Shared Future during the jury has resulted in long lasting community campaigning skills.

Everyone who attended the Hope for the Future workshop reported that they felt more confident in engaging with their local MP.

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Achievements and performance in 2023 | 16

Case Study:

7 Supporting Wheels for Wellbeing to campaign for disabled carbon-free transport

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Wheels for Wellbeing is a charity which supports disabled children and adults to campaign for inclusive and safe cycling, with a hope that more disabled people in the UK can have access to cycling. HFTF has never worked before with a partner dedicated to supporting disabled people, so we initially worked with them to co-create two training sessions, using the expertise of their audience to tailor the content to the lived experience and needs of their audience.

We delivered two training workshops; one focused on engaging councillors to talk about barrier removal for disabled cyclists, and the other focused on effective MP engagement in relation to the cost of accessible cycles. Through this partnership, we trained a total of 13 people who went on to engage with their MPs about cycling.

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Case Study: LSE Research Collaboration

8

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For the last 3 years, Hope for the Future has maintained a partnership with the Department of Politics at the London School of Economics and Political Science. This partnership has involved the development of cutting edge research which has been used internally to develop our training and support for the public. Usually involving a combination of student-led interviews and academic reporting, the project enlists a team of second and third year students to explore topics close to Hope for the Future’s current and potential work. Previously, this has involved exploring further actions undertaken by HFTF trainees, insight that has greatly developed our constituent support resources, as well as an exploration of local councils-focused engagements, which resulted in the development of successful council-specific resourcing, training, and support.

In 2023, the focus of the joint project was on the support available to non-English communities, specifically how HFTF can aid communities in engaging their elected representatives in Scotland. We supported the project team at LSE by connecting them with members of the Scottish Parliament to undertake interviews as well as meeting with the student team. The team was able to meet with politicians from parties across the political spectrum and in a variety of roles, including Scotland’s Shadow Net Zero Secretary and key figures from the Scottish Green Party . In addition, through these student interviews key links were forged with the Scottish Parliamentary Information Centre (SPICe) and the Participation of Communities Team (Pact), key institutional links at the Scottish Parliament that will aid further work in the country.

“ Engaging in this project has illuminated the depth and complexity of addressing the urgent climate crisis, revealing the multitude of facets that must be carefully examined and understood.

An LSE Student on the HFTF-LSE Project 2023

Key Findings for 2023:

The additional insights into constituency and regional engagement with Members of the Scottish Parliament have been crucial in our work with NESCAN, a charity in the North East of Scotland working with communities affected by Climate Change through Climate Assemblies. This partnership involved a successful hybrid training, resourcing, and individual support for a Climate Assembly group engaging with their local MSPs on the results of their work. The group has expressed interest in additional work with HFTF in 2024.

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Achievements and performance in 2023 | 18

Looking Forward to 2024

The role of Hope for the Future in facilitating impactful conversations between citizens and MPs, to demonstrate public support for climate and nature policy, is more important than ever and thanks to our work in 2023, we know our approach works. Our ambition is to support a groundswell of UK citizens to raise their voices and ask for concrete action in 2024 and beyond. To bring this ambition to life, we will ensure that in 2024:

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2,000 citizens trained in our relationship-based approach to political engagement, empowering them to contact their MPs and local candidates, holding them accountable to strong goals.

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185 politicians personally contacted by a HFTF-trained campaigner using our tried-and-tested techniques.

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Citizens and the sector are empowered to ensure MPs commit to 50 concrete actions on climate and nature issues in 2024.

We have developed a 2024 strategy document with particular focus on the first year of the new parliament.

We will focus on building our sustainability and developing our role as a resource for the sector. We have begun trial projects with partner organisations, such as a train the trainer project with Zero Hour, to develop our suite of services and impact.

Beyond 2024

After the general election in 2024, we will begin the process of developing our next 3-5 year strategy. We plan to consult with our service users, stakeholders and our partners to ensure our next strategy is relevant, driven by the voices of those we intend to benefit and enhances our position as leaders in what we do.

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04 Structure Governance and Management 04

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Trustees

Jeanette Clifford- Chair From 16/03/2021 - 31/12/23
Luke Murphy - Co Chair From 22/09/2020 - 22/09/2023
Ben Skelton- Treasurer From 01/02/2022 - 16/03/2024
Costanza Poggi - Secretary From 01/01/2018 - 30/12/2023
Bob Reitemeier From 29/06/22- 31/12/23
Rodolfo Barradas From 12 Dec 2023 - present
Amisha Patel From 12 Dec 2023 - present
Jacob Ohrvik-Stott From 12 Dec 2023 - present
Cristina Leston-Bandeira From 1 Mar 2022- present
Uday Vartak From 22 Sep 2020 - present
Max Fyldes From 27/11/2018 - 22/08/2023
Deborah Beck From 01/08/2020 - 22/09/2023
Tyrone Scott From 17/05/2022 - 16/03/2024
Robbie MacPherson From 01/05/2022 - 16/03/2024
Jeremy Wight From 01/12/2018 - 30/03/2024

Line management of the Chief Executive by the Chair;

Senior Leadership Team attendance at meetings of the Board and Sub Committees (Finance SubCommittee, Fundraising Sub Committee, HR & Governance Sub Committee);

Joint sessions of the Board and Senior LeadershipTeam;

Designated link trustees, (Safeguarding, EDI)

Structure Governance and Management | 20

Staff

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In January 2023 HFTF employed 28 staff (26.8 full time equivalent - FTE).

This comprised:

In December 2023 HFTF employed 13 staff (11.4 FTE).

This comprised:

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----- Start of picture text -----
The senior leadership team consisted of:
Director: Sarah Jordan (née Robinson) Until 12/10/2023
Head of Delivery: Tim Allen Until 13/09/2023
Paul Harrington: Finance Manager Until 11/01/2023
Delivery & Operations Co-Director:
Laura D’Henin-Ivers From 17/07/2023
(Chief Executive Officer from 05/02/2024)
Interim Co-Director; Tim Willett From 23/10/23
----- End of picture text -----

The pay of all staff is reviewed annually and normally increased in line with cost of living. We are a Living Wage employer, with salaries set at a minimum of Living Wage plus £1 per hour. Salary levels are benchmarked against similar roles to ensure that we are attracting and retaining the talent needed to deliver impactful work.

Structure Governance and Management | 21

Partners & organisations we worked with in 2023

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We continue to work in partnership with other organisations within and beyond the climate movement. Our work alone is not enough to tackle the climate crisis, but working in collaboration with others enables us to have an impact that is greater than the sum of our parts. We are grateful to all of the partners we have worked with this year and look forward to continuing this work in the future.

Aberdeen Climate Action
Ashden
Cycling UK
Derbyshire Wildlife Trust
ECF
Festival of Debate
Grantham Centre
Green Alliance
Green New Deal
Joint Public Issues Team (JPIT)
Possible		 Shared Futures
Stitched Up
The Climate Coalition
The London School of Economics
The Women’s Institute
TPAS
Uplift
USPG
Warm this Winter
Westway Trust
World Wildlife Fund UK (WWF-UK)

Trusts and Foundations we so are grateful to have worked with and been supported by in 2023

Esmee Fairbairn Foundation
European Climate Foundation
Environmental Funders Network
Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust
Maingot Charitable Trust		 Quadrature Climate Foundation
The Samworth Foundation
United Society Partners in the Gospel
(USPG)
Cobb Charity

We would also like to say a huge thank you to everyone who donated to our work during 2023 or supported us as a monthly giver. Our work wouldn't be possible without your generous support.

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Structure Governance and Management | 22

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Reference and administrative details

Charity name: Hope for the Future

Charity number: 1173547 Charity address: The Workstation, 15 Paternoster Row, Sheffield, S1 2BX

Structure Governance and Management | 23

IJ Financial Report 05

Income

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----- Start of picture text -----
Income this year has declined by
Income
7.1% from £875,665 in 2022 to
£813,479 in 2023. This mainly 1000000
reflects changes in the grant funding
mix with smaller grants from some
of our largest funders, and others.
800000
600000
400000
200000
0
2022
----- End of picture text -----

Donations

We received £18,646 from donations in 2023, down from Donations £24,918 in the previous year. 25000 20000 15000 10000 5000 0 2022 2023

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Financial Report | 24

Training services

Over 96% of income in 2023 was Training Services unrestricted and income from provision of training services fell 14000 from the previous year, down from £14,000 to £11,388 . 12000 10000 8000 6000 4000 2000 0 2022

Expenditure

Expenditure fell in 2023 as a result Expenditure of an organisational restructure and making savings on office space. 1000000 Expenditure fell from £987,300 in 2022, to £833,360 in 2023, representing a 16% reduction 800000 through cost savings. 600000 400000 200000 0 2022 2023

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Financial Report | 25

Reserves

We ended the year with reserves at £467,701 well ahead of target reserves which equates to three months running costs plus wind down costs ( £324K in 2023).

Hope for the Future holds reserves so that in the event of a fall in income, we are in a position to manage either a contraction of or, in the worst case, the winding up of the organisation in a wellmanaged way. To this end, we hold unrestricted reserves amounting to at least three months worth of expenditure plus wind down costs.

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Financial Report | 26

Independent Examiner’s Report on the accounts

Independent Examiner’s Report on the accounts

Report to the trustees of Hope for the Future

On accounts for the year ended 31 st December 2023, Charity Number: 1173547

I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts the accounts for the year ended 31st December 2023.

Responsibilities and basis of report

As the charity’s trustees you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (“The Act”).

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

Independent examiner’s statement

The Charity’s gross income exceeds £250,000 and I am qualified to undertake the examination by being a qualified member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.

I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect:

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

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Luke Keegan

Associate Member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants Greendawn Accounting Limited

1A The Homend, Ledbury, Herefordshire, HR8 1BN

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Financial Report | 27

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06 Financial Statements For The Year To 31st December 2023 06

Statement of Financial Activities (including summary income and expenditure account)

FOR THE YEAR 1 JANUARY 2023 to 31 DECEMBER 2023

Unrestricted Restricted Restricted Total Funds 2022
Funds 2023 Funds 2023 2023
Notes £ £ £ £
Income from:
Donations 2 18,646 18,646 24,918
Grants Received 2 754,925 26,000 780,925 836,400
Income generated from
providing Training 2 11,388 11,388 14,000
Bank Interest 2,521 2,521 347
Total Income 787,479 26,000 813,479 875,665
Expended on:
Raising Funds 2&3 26,054 26,054 37,328
Support Costs 2&3 112,632 14,873 127,505 130,144
Charitable Climate
Projects		 2&3 674,703 5,098 679,801 819,829
Total Expenditure 813,389 19,971 833,360 987,300
Transfer between 7.1 0 -0 - -
reserves
Net Movement in Funds 25,909 6,029 19,880 -111,635
Reconciliation of Funds:
Total Funds Brought
Forward		 7.2 487,581 487,581 599,216
Total Funds Carried
Forward 7.1 461,672 6,029 467,701 487,581

Balance Sheet

AS AT 31 DECEMBER 2023

2023 2022
Notes
£		 £
Current assets
Debtors 4 62,898 224,158
Cash at bank and in hand 6 411,571 311,728
Total current assets 474,469 535,887
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year 5 - 6,768 - 48,305
Total assets less current liabilities 467,701 487,581
Creditors: amounts falling due after one year - -
Total net assets 467,701 487,581
Funds of the Charity 7
General funds 403,672 429,581
Designated funds 58,000 58,000
461,672 487,581
Restricted funds 6,029 - 0
Total funds 467,701 487,581
The notes on pages 5 to 9 form part of these accounts
Signed by the following on behalf of all
Trustees
Jonny Exon, Chair of Trustees Date: 01/11/2024
James Pilley, Treasurer Date: 01/11/2024

Statement of Cash Flows

FOR YEAR 1 JANUARY 2023 TO 31 DECEMBER 2023

2023 2022
£ £
Net Cash used in Operating Activites 99,843 - 289,938
Cash Flow from Investing Activities -
-
Change in Cash and Cash Equivalents in the Year 99,843 - 289,938
Cash and Cash equivalents brought forward 311,728 601,666
Cash and Cash equivalents carried forward 411,571 311,728
Reconciliation of Net Movement in Funds to net cash flow from operating activities
2023 2022
£ £
Net Movement in Funds -19,880 -111,635
Deduct interest shown in Investing Activities - -
Decrease (increase) in Debtors 161,261 -221,807
Increase (decrease) in Creditors -41,538 43,504
Net Cash Used in Operating Activities 99,843 -289,938

Notes to the Accounts 1 January 2023 to 31 December 2023

Note 1

Accounting Policies:

a) Basis of preparation and assessment of going concern

b) Funds structure:

(c) Income recognition:

(d) Expenditure recognition:

(e) Assets

Notes to the Accounts 1 January 2023 to 31 December 2023

Note 2: Analysis of Income and Costs

Donations Analysis
Regular Donations
Major Donations
Other Donations
Total Donations
QCF		 Unrestricted
funds income
year to to 2023
£
7,448
11,198
-
18,646
581,341		 Restricted
income funds
year to 2023
£
-
-
-
-
-		 Total funds
for year to
2023
£
-
7,448
11,198
18,646
581,341		 2022 £
9418
8000
7500
24,918
540,000
European Climate Foundation - 21,000 21,000 113,900
Esmee Fairbairn Foundation 70,334 - 70,334 58,000
Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust 46,250 - 46,250 50,000
The Samworth Foundation 40,000 40,000 35,000
-
Polden Puckham - - - 10,000
Maingot Charitable Trust 15,000 - 15,000 10,000
Marmot Charitable Trust - - - 10,000
USPG - 5,000 5,000 5,000
-
Other Grants 2,000 2,000 4,500
Total Grants from other 754,925 26,000 780,925 836,400
Charitable Foundations
Generated Income from Provision of 11,388 - 11,388 14,000
Income Training Services
Total Income From
Provision of Training 11,388 - 11,388 14,000
Services
Investment Interest 2,521 - 2,521 347
Income Total Interest 2,521 - 2,521 347
TOTAL INCOME: 787,479 26,000 813,479 875,665

Continues on next page:

EXPENDED
ON:
TOTAL		 Raising Funds
CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES
Core Climate Change Work
Faith Outreach
Research
Schools
Support Costs
Events
Regional Climate Work
Total Charitable Climate Projects		 -
-26,054
-26,054
-382,884
-63,461
-15,557
-55,047
-157,754
-
-2,824
-385,708
-24
-
-
-
-24
-2,224
-63,486
-15,557
-55,071
-159,979
-674,703
-5,098
-679,801
-112,632
-14,873
-127,505
-813,389
-19,971
-833,360
Unrestricted
funds income
year to to 2023
£
Restricted
income funds
year to 2023
£
Total funds
for year to
2023
£		 -
-26,054
-26,054
-382,884
-63,461
-15,557
-55,047
-157,754
-
-2,824
-385,708
-24
-
-
-
-24
-2,224
-63,486
-15,557
-55,071
-159,979
-674,703
-5,098
-679,801
-112,632
-14,873
-127,505
-813,389
-19,971
-833,360
Unrestricted
funds income
year to to 2023
£
Restricted
income funds
year to 2023
£
Total funds
for year to
2023
£		 -37,328
- 475,658
-
- 130,144
- 987,300
- 106,075
- 19,423
-139,661
- 819,829
- 79,011
-
2022 £
EXPENDITURE
Funds transfers - -
-		 -
Net Movement in Funds
(as per SoFA) -25,909 6,029
-19,880		 - 111,635

Notes to the Accounts 1 January 2023 to 31 December 2023

Note 3: Staff Costs and Benefits

3.1 Staff Costs

Staff Costs
2023 2022
£ £
Salaries and wages 592,167 650,759
Employer's national insurance 54,558 61,782
Pension contributions (defined contribution scheme) 19,637 19,491
Other employee benefits - -
Total staff costs 666,362 731,943

These staff costs are included within note 2 split across the relevant areas.

In 2022 £31,539 is included in personel costs which represents accrual of backdated salary increases which were paid in March 2023

There were no transactions with any related parties, other than Trustee expenses listed below

No employees received benefits of more than £60,000 (2022: nil).

3.2 The Trustees are not paid. During the year, expenses totalling £360.26 were reimbursed to three trustees in respect of travel costs, undertaken in the course of their Trustee responsibilities.

verage head count in the year
2023 2022
Average number of whole time equivalent employees 20.0 26.3

Notes to the Accounts 1 January 2023 to 31 December 2023

Note 4, 5 and 6: Debtors, Creditors and Cash

4 Analysis of debtors

4 Analysis of debtors
2023 2022
£ £
Trade debtors 4,430 -
Prepayments and accrued
income 57,000 224,158
Other debtors 1,468 -
Total 62,898 224,158
5 Analysis of creditors
Amounts falling due Amounts falling due after
within one year more than one year
2023 2022 2023 2022
£ £ £ £
Accruals and defferred income - 44,226 - -
Taxation and social security - - - -
Other creditors 6,768 4,080 - -
Total Cash at bank in hand 6,768 48,305 - -
6
Cash at bank in hand		 2023 2022
£ £
Cash at bank and in hand 411,571 311,728
Other - -
Total 411,571 311,728

Notes to the Accounts 1 January 2023 to 31 December 2023

Note 7 : Charity Funds

7.1: Details of material funds held and movements during the current reporting period 1 January 2023 to 31 December 2023

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Hope for the Future (charity no. 1173547)

7.2: Details of material funds held and movements during the current reporting period 1 January 2023 to 31 December 2023

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Hope for the Future (charity no. 1173547)

ri Risk Statement 07

The Trustees of HFTF bear the ultimate responsibility for the management and oversight of the charity. As part of this role, they continually identify key risks facing the organization and implement strategies to mitigate them. A comprehensive risk register has been developed, which serves as a dynamic resource for all leads and subgroups. This register evolves in response to shifting priorities and emerging risks, ensuring that our risk management practices remain current and effective.

To maintain transparency and accountability, any potential conflicts of interest among Trustees are documented in a conflict of interest register. A standing agenda item at each Trustee Board meeting ensures that any new conflicts are promptly reported and addressed.

In 2023, HFTF operated exclusively with funds for ongoing operations, with no investment income, loan repayments, or significant capital assets beyond standard office equipment. The majority of our expenditures were allocated to staff salaries. As a charity, HFTF benefits from exemptions from VAT and Corporate Tax, and our income is predominantly derived from charitable donations and grants. Given these factors, the Trustees believe that HFTF maintains a relatively simple operational structure.

Key Risk for 2023

The primary risk identified for HFTF in 2023 was its dependence on a small number of large donors for a substantial portion of its funding. Notably, we were informed that our largest multi-year grant from the Quadrature Climate Fund would conclude in mid-2024.

To proactively address this risk, the Trustees have undertaken several strategic initiatives, including:

a) Expanding our pool of grant income,

b) Diversifying our income base

c) Cost containment and staff consolidation exercises, including opportunities for further cost reduction in 2024

Through these efforts, HFTF aims to not only strengthen partnerships with its existing donors but also to reduce reliance on a limited number of donors for a significant share of our overall income.

Ongoing Monitoring and Financial Resilience

This financial risk is closely monitored by the finance sub-committee and regularly reviewed at full Trustee Board meetings. Additionally, HFTF maintains sufficient cash reserves to cover its future expenses and liabilities for a minimum of three months, ensuring financial stability in the short term.

Conclusion

The Trustees have carefully assessed the major risks facing HFTF and are confident that the systems and procedures in place provide effective management of these risks. We remain committed to safeguarding the organization’s long-term sustainability while continuing to fulfill our mission.

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Risk Statement | 27

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Hope for the Future

The Workstation, 15 Paternoster Row, Sheffield, S1 2BX

www.hftf.org.uk

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Charity Number 1173547