2021-12-31-accounts

CHARITY REGISTRATION NUMBER: 1175945

We Stand Together CIO Financial Statements

31 December 2021

We Stand Together CIO

Financial Statements and Annual Report

Year ended 31 December 2021

	Page
Trustees' annual report	1
Statement of financial activities	8
Statement of financial position	9
Independent examiner’s report	10
Notes to the financial statements	11

We Stand Together CIO

Trustees' Annual Report (continued)

Year ended 31 December 2021

The trustees present their report and the unaudited financial statements of the charity for the year ended 31 December 2021.

Reference and administrative details

Registered charity name We Stand Together CIO Charity registration number 1175945 Principal office C/O Crumpsall Community Hall Cleveland Rd Manchester M8 4QU The trustees Sir Peter Fahy The Very Reverend Rogers Morgan Govender Dr Erinma Bell MBE, DL Mohammed Rehman Ullah Nidhi Sinha Minocha Kate Maggs Mohammed Ali Qaisra Shahraz Jagmail Singh Mandip Singh Atwal

- 1 -

We Stand Together CIO

Trustees' Annual Report (continued)

Year ended 31 December 2021

Structure, governance and management

We Stand Together is constituted as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO). The CIO was registered with the Charity Commission on 27th November 2017 with its charity number being 1175945.

The CIO is governed by a board of trustees. Trustees meet at least once per calendar year. They are elected and opted under the terms of the Articles of Association. A third of the trustees retire at each Annual General Meeting and are eligible for re-election at that time. Overall responsibility for the management of We Stand Together rests with the board of trustees.

There is no chief executive officer. The day to day affairs are delegated to a Steering Group and Mr Jonny Wineberg, Director of Operations, under the direction of Mr Fahy, and latterly Dr Bell, on behalf of the trustees. All major decisions are taken collectively by the trustees and all the trustees give of their time freely. The trustees are unpaid and details of any related party transactions are disclosed as applicable in the notes to the accounts. The arrangements for setting the pay for the charity’s employees are the sole domain of the trustees.

A policy and procedure for the induction and training of new trustees is in place.

Risk review

The Trustees have assessed the major risks to which the charity is exposed, in particular those related to the operations and finances of the CIO and are satisfied that systems are in place to manage our exposure to the major risks.

Report back and review procedures strengthen these safeguards to ensure public benefit is achieved from all grants.

- 2 -

We Stand Together CIO

Trustees' Annual Report (continued)

Year ended 31 December 2021

The objects of the charity are:

The promotion of equality and diversity for the public benefit by:

• (a) promoting knowledge, mutual understanding and respect between communities;

• (b) advancing education and raising awareness about the nine protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010 to promote good relations between persons of different groups;

• (c) working towards the elimination of discrimination on all grounds;

• (d) promoting good relations between different groups..

We Stand Together’s Mission is to:

• Celebrate the UK’s diverse communities

• Challenge hatred and intolerance

• Build a safer and stronger UK

Our vision is for the UK to act as one nation where people from all communities and backgrounds feel included and valued and hatred has no place, worth or relevance.

Our work is underpinned by the following values:

• To affirm and celebrate the diversity of the UK by raising awareness about the importance of peaceful and respectful coexistence;

• To support the principle that dialogue and cooperation can only prosper if they are rooted in respectful relationships that do not blur or undermine the distinctiveness of different communities;

• Not to discriminate for reasons of faith, race, gender, sexuality, age, physical or mental ability;

• To challenge any who promote or practice views prejudicial to the public good and inclusion of all;

• To help make the UK a place marked by mutual understanding and respect where all can practice free speech and free expression as long as that is not harmful to others;

• To be particularly mindful of the role young people play in society and encourage their development and involvement;

• To minimise negative environmental impact in our work.

Public benefit

The trustees confirm that they have referred to the guidance contained in the Charity Commission's general guidance on public benefit when reviewing the charity's aims and objectives and in planning future activities and setting grant making policy for the year.

Grant making policy

The charity is funded by donations. The charity gives out grants in line with the above objects where applicable.

There were no individual or institutional grants made during the year.

The application of the funds is normally by way of direct charitable activity.

- 3 -

We Stand Together CIO

Trustees' Annual Report (continued)

Year ended 31 December 2021

Achievements and performance

We Stand Together started as a reaction to the terrorist attacks in Paris in 2015 to show that Greater Manchester would not be divided by the actions of violent extremists determined to create division between people of different faiths, racial heritage and other backgrounds. When a horrific terrorist attack was visited on our home city in 2017, the relationships formed meant that the communities did stand together in the wake of that attack to reaffirm that extremists would not cause people to turn against each other.

Soon thereafter, we registered with the Charity Commission and looked to step up our activity. The trustees sharpened the focus of our work on the core issues which cause division and suspicion. They reaffirmed their belief that understanding ultimately only really comes from people of different backgrounds coming together and talking to one another. This is enabled by events which bring people of different backgrounds together, by work in schools and other places of education and by our series of Difficult Dialogues, which create the opportunities for issues which can cause division to be openly discussed and debated.

There is a danger that community cohesion can be oversimplified and used for events and initiatives which, whilst really important in themselves, do not address issues of difference and division or bring together people who are already committed to the cause and entirely comfortable in multi-cultural, diverse or multi-faith settings. There is a need to go beyond the ‘usual suspects’ and, in particular, to go beyond people of influence and leadership in communities so that members of those communities get the same opportunities to build understanding and address their prejudices at the local level.

A key aim of the trustees has been to get We Stand Together as the overall campaign to promote community cohesion in Greater Manchester and beyond. We look for our philosophy to be incorporated into the day to day work on community cohesion of statutory agencies and thousands of voluntary, community and faith sector groups. We Stand Together does not want to be the sole community cohesion initiative in Greater Manchester and indeed encourages and tries to support the many other initiatives and events which are a positive sign of the commitment of many to promoting understanding. We have been fortunate to use ARIS funding to encourage this and will be making awards to groups in 2022.

2021 continued to be a difficult year for the charity with COVID-19 still affecting our ability to hold inperson events, something that is fundamental to an organisation with ‘Together’ in its name. We utilised on-line platforms wherever possible and, as the country opened up, started to meet in person again.

Achievements over the past year have included:

• Progressing our Anti-discrimination Project that is using our Anti-discrimination Workshop Pack and delivering workshops with schools, colleges, youth and community groups. We reached over 4,000 people through these workshops and hope that we will reach even more substantial numbers in the coming year.

numbers in the coming year.
Number ofpeople engaged through sessions:	4348
Schools	11
Colleges	2
Youth Groups	5
Community groups	7
Cohesion workers contacted:	7
Active Volunteers:	5

- 4 -

We Stand Together CIO

Trustees' Annual Report (continued)

Year ended 31 December 2021

Results from these included:

• Understanding of discrimination rising from an average of 6.95 to 8.31 out of 10.

• Over 80% saying that the workshops had increased their empathy towards those experiencing discrimination and prejudice.

• Over 85% being more confident to be able to challenge discrimination if they see it.

• 76% wanting to do more to help improve community cohesion locally.

Comments from participants included:

It helped me to understand the major points of both discrimination and diversity and helped me to understand how to stop discrimination.

It changed my understanding of discrimination and diversity by making me aware that some of these things go on more often than I previously thought.

It really opened my eyes to the discrimination towards millions of people and made me think about it more.

It showed me that what people may think the majority is might not be and that we should not discriminate people based on their views or things out of their control.

It showed me that even just standing up and saying something if I see something that is not right can help people and stop them from being hurt.

It changed my empathy by showing how many people have different beliefs to me.

It showed me that there is more diversity so we need to challenge discrimination and use facts to challenge the discriminator.

• Delivering10 training workshops with over 60 different participants including on:

• Train the Trainer - Using the #WeStandTogether Anti-Discrimination Pack

• Planning and Facilitating Difficult Dialogues

• Community Engagement and Consultation Facilitation

• Community Engagement and Development for Cohesion

• Fundraising for Cohesion Activities

Results from these included:

• Understanding of diversity rising from an average of 7.05 to 8.86 out of 10.

• Anti-discrimination training skills rising from an average of 5.05 to 8.00 out of 10.

• 96% saying that they now had the skills to use the Anti-discrimination Pack with local groups or communities.

• 100% expressing increased confidence to use the Anti-discrimination Pack.

Comments from participants included:

Made me think more deeply about how different demographics are portrayed in the media and how this can impact locally between different communities

It helped my understanding of how communities are made up, and how diverse their needs are. I already had a good knowledge of diversity, what I found impressive and useful about the session was how to have conversations about it with people.

I loved all the tools and worksheets for how to run sessions. Hope I get to run some, it’s so up my street all of this.

It’s completely opened my mind and made me think about minorities and our use of the word. It's great that the pack is freely available to download and edit.

Fantastic training very thought provoking.

The We Stand Together handbook is first class and really helpful and I wonder what the new versions in the future will look like.

- 5 -

We Stand Together CIO

Trustees' Annual Report (continued)

Year ended 31 December 2021

• Community development work with new affiliates and in neighbourhoods, working with Cohesion Officers, GMP and others to identify where our work can be effective.

• A series of fortnightly columns in the Manchester Evening News on community cohesion issues. The columns appear online at www.inyourarea.co.uk/news/tag/westandtogether as well as in print every other Saturday.

• Difficult Dialogue events on diverse topics, in partnership with a number of organisations to reach a wider audience, including Salford CVS, Action Together, Greater Manchester Council for Voluntary Organisations, Faith Network 4 Manchester, Sangha, Communities 4 All, Community Futures Trust, Better Things and Rainbow Surprise. Our dialogues during the year included:

• Our Ethical Wardrobe – exploring abuse of people in the sourcing of clothing, particularly Uyghur Muslims and other minorities in forced labour camps in China, partnering with the cooperative, Stitched Up.

• North South Divide and COVID-19 – exploring how inequalities have seen some communities more severely affected, partnering with the International Centre for Integration and Cohesion.

• How Open Should We Be? – exploring the balance between openness and safety in our communities.

• Monthly e-mailings and improvements to our website.

• The implementation of our affiliation scheme and affiliate awards, which will be presented in 2022.

• Mental Health ‘Breaking the Stigma’ event with several diverse partner organisations, over 50 attendees and very positive feedback.

• Arts initiative with The Whitworth with the theme ‘Look Around, Look After, Look Ahead’. We had some great entries and several schools and a Pupil Referral Unit participated.

• WeStandTogether Cricket Club, which plays in the Greater Manchester Amateur Cricket League. We also linked with Rainbow Surprise and Lancashire CC to run a 2 week Cricket Training for young people during the Summer.

• Responding to several hate attacks on individuals and institutions with messages of support and visits.

• External Organisation Networking, attending the Greater Manchester Hate Crime Working Group with Cohesion Officers from the 10 Local Authorities as well as GMP, GMCA and CPS and use this platform as an opportunity to promote our work and opportunities. We are also involved with the GM Equality Alliance, led by GMCVO, again using this platform to promote and align our work.

I am grateful for the support and time given by our diverse board of trustees during this difficult year. The real work of the charity is carried out by our Steering Group and increasing network of active supporters and we thank them for all their efforts. Our staff team, led by Jonny Wineberg, our Director of Operations, have done a tremendous job of developing and delivering our work over this year, and our thanks to our two Project Workers, Faiza Chaudhri and James Edgington and, Administrative Support Worker, Talha Chaudhry for their contributions.

There continue to be many challenges for those involved in promoting community cohesion and many brave people who have taken a stance have been subject to abuse and personal attacks. The ‘hostile environment’ is a painful reality for many migrant communities and there are too few people promoting the many positive impacts of immigration and the great diversity of our cities. On the other hand,

- 6 -

We Stand Together CIO

Trustees' Annual Report (continued)

Year ended 31 December 2021

people in Greater Manchester from many different backgrounds successfully live work and study alongside one another and carry out daily acts of kindness. The younger generation is growing up without many of the prejudices of the previous generation and, when tested in extreme circumstances, the people of Greater Manchester have shown their opposition to extremism and prejudice. We Stand Together will continue to build on this.

Financial review

The charity received £467 in donations, £50 from a bank refund, during the year, with £45,006 being carried forward from 2020, of which £23,958 was paid out by way of direct charitable activity and support costs.

This expenditure was made in line with the stated objects of the charity and was for the promotion of equality and diversity for the public benefit. Costs incurred include payments for staff and insurances.

The trustees wish to thank all their benefactors, and specifically the Greater Manchester Police Asset Recovery Incentivisation Scheme (ARIS), for their generosity without which the charity simply would not have been able to provide its vital services.

The charity has low governance costs comprising professional fees.

There were no material fundraising costs during the year.

There were no related party transactions in the reporting period.

Reserves policy

The Unrestricted Fund represents the unrestricted funds arising from past operating results. The Trustees are working towards increasing the balance of this Fund through increasing donations.

The Trustees are satisfied that the overall balance of the Fund is an acceptable level of reserves given the nature of receipts against expenditure on charitable activity.

In considering the financial obligations of the charity, the trustees have resolved to maintain a reserve equal to at least six months charity expenditure.

The trustees are delighted to have made many valuable contributions to the community and hope to be able to do so for many years to come.

The reserves stand at £21,565 of which £21,323 relates to the restricted fund and £242 the unrestricted fund.

The trustees' annual report was approved on 22 September 2022 and signed on behalf of the board of trustees by:

Erinma Bell

Chair of Trustees

- 7 -

We Stand Together CIO

Statement of Financial Activities

Year ended 31 December 2021

		Year	to 31 Dec 2021
		Unrestricted	Restricted
		funds	fundsTotal funds
	Note	£	£	£
Income and endowments
Donations, grants and legacies	1	467	0	467
Others	2	50	0	50
		-----------------------	----------------------------	----------------------------
Total income		517	0	517
		=======================	============================	============================
Expenditure
Expenditure on charitable activities	3	1286	22,672	23,958
		-----------------------	----------------------------	----------------------------
Total expenditure		1286	22,672	23,958
		=======================	============================	============================
		-----------------------	----------------------------	----------------------------
Net income and net movement in	funds	-769	-22,672	-23,441
		=======================	============================	============================
Reconciliation of funds
Total funds brought forward		1,011	43,995	45,006
		-----------------------	----------------------------	----------------------------
Total funds carried forward		242	21323	21,565
		=======================	============================	============================

The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year.

All income and expenditure derive from continuing activities.

- 8 -

We Stand Together CIO

Statement of Financial Position

Year ended 31 December 2021

		2021
	Note	£	£
Current assets
Cash at bank and in hand		21,565
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year		0
		----------------------------
Net current assets			21,565
			-----------------------
Total assets less current liabilities			21,565
			-----------------------
Net assets			21,565
			=======================
Funds of the charity
Restricted funds			21,323
Unrestricted funds			242
			-----------------------
Total charity funds			21,565
			=======================

These financial statements were approved by the board of trustees and authorised for issue on 9 August 2022, and are signed on behalf of the board by:

M Atwal Trustee

- 9 -

We Stand Together CIO

Independent Examiner’s Report

Year ended 31 December 2021

Independent examiner`s report to the trustees of We Stand Together CIO Charity Registration Number: 1175945

I report to the charity`s trustees on my examination of the accounts of the charity for the year ended 31[st] December 2021 which are set out on pages 8 to 10.

Respective Responsibilities of Trustees and Examiner

The charity's trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The charity trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year under section 144(2) of the Charities Act 2011(the 2011 Act.)

It is my responsibility to:

• Examine the accounts under section 145 of the 2011 Act;

• follow the procedures laid down in the general Directions given by the Charity

• Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the 2011 Act; and

• To state whether particular matters have come to my attention.

Basis of Independent Examiners Report

My examination was carried out in accordance with the General Directions given by the Charity Commission. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeking explanations from you as trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a "true and fair view" and the report is limited to those matters set out below.

Independent Examiner's Statement

In connection with my examination, other than listed below, no matter has come to my attention:

(1) which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requirements:

• to keep accounting records have in accordance with section 130 of the Act; and

• to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and to comply with the

• accounting requirements of the 2011 Act,

have not been met; or

(2) to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Signed: Date: 27[th] October 2022

Sugra Akbar FCCA Association of Chartered Certified Accountants Accountex Pro 16 Cestrian Street Bolton BL3 2BD

- 10 -

We Stand Together CIO

Notes to the Financial Statements

Year ended 31 December 2021

1. Donations, grants and legacies

		Unrestricted	Restricted	Total Funds
		Funds	Funds	2021
		£	£	£
	Donations
	Donations	467	–	467
	Grants
	Grants receivable	–	–	–
2.	Others
	Bank Refund	50		50
			–
		-----------------------	----------------------------	----------------------------
		517	0	517
		=======================	============================	============================

3. Expenditure on charitable activities by activity type

Activities undertaken

directly 2021

£

Publicity Marketing DBS Checks Computing Donations Venue Travel Phone Volunteering Fees	323 60 122 700 42 50 42 75 536 8
Staffing Governance costs	22,000 -
	----------------------------
	23,958
	============================

No salaries, wages or expenses have been paid to the trustees during the period. There have been no related party transactions in the year.

- 11 -