Trustees’ Annual Report for the period
From 01/04/2021 To 31/03/2022
Charity name: Inspire LGBT (operating as It Gets Better UK)
Charity registration number: 1176164
Objectives and Activities
The object of the charity as outlined within the governing constitution is:
To promote equality & diversity for the public benefit and in particular the elimination of discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity by:
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A. Producing an archive of material to raise awareness of the public about the issues & difficulties affecting the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual & transgender (LGBT) people.
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B. Providing an online resource created by the wider lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community with a view to combat the disproportionate levels of reported suicidal thoughts and actions in LGBT youth.
In the performance of meeting these objectives the trustees have had regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit.
Achievements and Performance
Following the first year of Covid-19 and the impacts on our plans, this year was hoped to be a more fruitful year in starting to scale the charity more across the UK, including attending various Pride events. Unfortunately like many charities, as Covid continued into its second year and Pride events were cancelled across the UK the impact on our activity was significant.
Nonetheless we have continued to make It Gets Better videos which have been promoted through our website and social media channels.
With the debate around banning conversion therapy re-opening across the UK, we also produced our first video series of conversion therapy survivors talking about their experiences which have been well received.
Alongside the video series we have also introduced a new blog series including interviews with members of the LGBTQ+ community talking about their lives and experiences. This has added a new and valued method of engaging with members of the community outside of our normal video series.
With face to face meetings and Pride events confirmed as going ahead next year our work will now focus again on scaling the charity across the UK. This includes growing our Regional Ambassadors programme which sees volunteers across the UK form links to their local community about the charity.
During the last year we have seen a 20 percent increase in growth across our social media accounts, and our content has reached over 700,000 people.
For the first time we have also undertaken a programmatic campaign to engage people with our video content. We’re grateful for the agency ‘twogether’ who have chosen us as their charity partner for their guidance and support in developing and implementing the campaign. The campaign launched during LGBT History Month reaching over a million people, resulting in over a thousand people engaging with the website.
Financial Review
As a small, volunteer run charity our financial position at the end of the reporting period was healthy. Our annual running costs and expenditure continue to be low, with the majority being spent on our first programmatic advertising campaign, and the creation of new videos.
We received a number of donations through our website, as well as receiving funds through retailers where part of the purchase is donated to charity. In particular we are again grateful to ELF for their generous donation as part of their Pride partnership with us.
We have again significantly increased our current funds – this is largely in part due to the ongoing pandemic resulting in Pride events being cancelled for a second year. We would normally have expected attendance at these events to have been a significant annual expenditure which was not realised.
We continue to hold some restricted funding due to a grant from the Iola Foundation last year. The aim of this funding was to run a programme of work that was cancelled during the pandemic. We are in conversations with the Iola Foundation on whether that grant can be redirected to another project or returned to them.
Our reserves policy is that we will always hold enough to ensure we can pay core costs for 6 months, or £500, whichever value is greater.
Structure, Governance and Management
The charity is constituted as a CIO operating under a constitution.
The charity is currently managed by seven trustees who are appointed by the board. The Board would like to thank Cecilia Dominici, for all her contributions having recently stepped down. The board regularly reviews the skills of the trustees to review if further appointments are needed. During this period the board appointed four additional trustees with expertise in volunteer management, knowledge of the wider LGBTQ+ community and social media expertise – Becca Williamson, Suneet Sharma, Victoria Clarke and Phil Adlem. One of those trustees, Phil Adlem, unfortunately had to step down following their appointment. Recruitment of any trustees is done through a competitive selection process, including interviews by at least two trustees.
Reference and Administrative details
Charity name: Inspire LGBT (operating as It Gets Better UK)
Registered charity number: 1176164
Charity’s principal address: 41B Ridgeway Road, Chesham, HP5 2EH
Trustees: Dr Alexander Rhys Dr Hefin Rhys Sophie Macken Suneet Sharma Becca Williamson Jesse Finch Gnehm Victoria Clarke Assets: The charity does not own any property or land.
Declarations
The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.
Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees
Signature(s) A Rhys
Full name(s) Dr Alexander Rhys Position (eg Secretary, Chair Chair, etc)
Date 23 August 2022
Receipts and Payment account
| Unrestricted Restricted Receipts Donations £3,032.09 Corporate Pride Partnership £4,988.00 Total Receipts Payments Advertising £1,655.50 Income Generation £129.60 Volunteer Recruitment £108.00 Website £111.75 Video expenses £600.00 ICO registration £35.00 Total Payments Cash funds at 31 March 2021 Cash funds at 31 March 2022 |
Total £3,032.09 £4,988.00 |
|---|---|
| £8,020.09 £1,655.50 £129.60 £108.00 £111.75 £600.00 £35.00 |
|
| £2,639.85 | |
| £16,768.13 | |
| £22,148.37 |
Statement of Assets and Liabilities as of 31 March 2022
Cash funds Cash at bank and in hand £22,148.37 Total cash funds £22,148.37 Funds Restricted funds £2,615.59 Unrestricted funds General funds £19,532.78 Total funds £22,148.37