## **Trustees’ Annual Report for the period** ## **From 01/04/2022 To 31/03/2023** **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: - 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. - 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** This year has been a core year for consolidation of the charity coming out of the pandemic. This has included a recruitment drive for new Regional Ambassador volunteers across the UK to be the local link to the charity. We successfully recruited 15 new Regional Ambassadors covering the South East, South West, Midlands and Scotland, however we still have large areas of the UK that are not reflected. We will continue to focus on those areas next year. Alongside onboarding the new volunteers we have also invested in our marketing materials to equip them with the resources to undertake their activity. Due to the current climate and the impact on LGBTQ+ people, and in order to best support the volunteers who are central to what we do we have also invested in Mental Health First Aid training, which was completed by eight volunteers who are now certified Level 2. With the Covid-19 restrictions now lifting we were able to attend Pride events again, including Pride in London. We will continue to scale this activity across the UK next year with the onboarding of the Regional Ambassadors. We have continued to create videos and social media content which is core to our activity. Our content reached 590,000 people last year, which is a reduction of 16% from last year. However, whilst the reach went down we saw an increase in followers of 32%, an increase of engagement of 86% and an increase in views of our videos of 534%. ## **Financial Review** As a small, volunteer run charity our financial position at the end of the reporting period remained healthy. We had a significant increase in expenditure this year, resulting in a small deficit. Our core running costs and expenditure continue to be low. The largest expenditure was the one off purchase of new materials to equip the Regional Ambassadors to undertake local Pride events. Where possible these have been chosen to be ever-green to increase sustainability and reduce future costs. This was partly funded through a grant we received from the Iola Foundation, which with their approval was re-purposed towards this activity. 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. 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 eight trustees who are appointed by the board. The Board would like to thank Becca Williamson, for all their contributions. The board regularly reviews the skills of the trustees to review if further appointments are needed. During this period the board appointed two additional trustees with expertise in volunteer management – Imogen Burt and Amalia Loizidou. 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 Jesse Finch Gnehm Victoria Clarke Imogen Burt (appointed October 2022) Amalia Loizidou (appointed October 2022) Becca Williamson (resigned July 2022) 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** 6 August 2023 ## **Receipts and Payment account** |**Unrestricted**
**Restricted**
**Receipts**
Donations
£2,559.56
Corporate Pride Partnership
£10,000.00
**Total Receipts**
**Payments**
Volunteer Recruitment
£704.03
Volunteer Training
£1,291.00
Charitable Activity
£4,974.68
Raising Funds
£248.00
Tools and Equipment
£2,894.37
£2,615.59
**Total Payments**
**Cash funds at 31 March 2022**
**Cash funds at 31 March 2023**|**Total**
£2,559.56
£10,000.00| |---|---| ||**£12,559.56**
£704.03
£1,291.00
£4,974.68
£248.00
£5,509.96| ||**£12,727.67**| ||**£22,148.37**| ||**£21,980.26**| ## **Statement of Assets and Liabilities as of 31 March 2023** **Cash funds** Cash at bank and in hand £21,980.26 **Total cash funds £21,980.26 Funds** Restricted funds £0 Unrestricted funds General funds **£21,980.26 Total funds £21,980.26**