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2021-04-30-accounts

Charity no. 1179417

Agenda CIO Report and Unaudited Financial Statements

30 April 2021

Agenda CIO

Reference and administrative details

Reference and administrative details Reference and administrative details
For theyear ended 30 April 2021
Charity number 1179417
Registered office and 35-47 Bethnal Green Road
operational address London
E1 6LA
Trustees The trustees who served during the year and up to the date of this report
were as follows:
Kaammini Chanrai (Appointed 4 March 2021)
Victoria Harfield (Treasurer)
Liz Hogarth (Resigned 17 June 2021)
Sarah Hughes
Henrietta Imoreh
Rt Hon Fiona Mactaggart (Chair)
Laura McIntyre (Appointed 4 March 2021)
Polly Neate
Lynn Percival
Esther Sample
Shivani Uberoi (interim Treasurer)
Rachel White (Appointed 4 March 2021)
Chief executive officer Jemima Olchawski (Until 16 July 2020 and from 1 June 2021 to
25 October 2021)
Jessica Southgate (Interim from 16 July 2020 to 1 June 2021)
Tracey Fletcher (From 25 October 2021)
Bankers CAF Bank Limited
25 Kings Hill Avenue
Kings Hill
West Malling
Kent
ME19 4JQ
Independent Godfrey Wilson Limited
examiners Chartered accountants and statutory auditors
5th Floor Mariner House
62 Prince Street
Bristol
BS1 4QD

1

Agenda CIO

Report of the trustees

For the year ended 30 April 2021

Reference and administrative information set out on page 1 forms part of this report. The financial statements comply with current statutory requirements, the Constitution and the Statement of Recommended Practice - Accounting and Reporting by Charities (effective from 1 January 2019).

Structure, Governance and Management

Agenda is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation, charity number 1179417, its members are its charity trustees. Its governing document is a constitution registered 1 August 2018.

Agenda became a registered charity in 2018. It had previously been hosted by The Young Foundation. On 1 October 2018 Agenda span out from the Young Foundation and became independent.

Overall governance of Agenda is the responsibility of the trustees. The day to day running of the organisation is delegated to the CEO. From July 2020 Agenda’s CEO, Jemima Olchawski was on maternity leave. For this period the CEO post was covered by Jessica Southgate.

On founding on 1 August 2018, Agenda had three trustees, who had previously sat on Agenda’s steering group. These were:

Apart from the first charity trustees, every appointed trustee must be appointed for a term of four years by a resolution passed at a properly convened meeting of the charity trustees. In selecting individuals for appointment as appointed charity trustees, the charity trustees must have regard to the skills, knowledge and experience needed for the effective administration of the CIO.

Early in the year, we agreed to extend the term of our trustees who were coming to the end of their tenure for an additional year. This enabled us to continue benefitting from their expertise during a critical period as we responded to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Trustees meet at least quarterly. There are three sub-committees:

Agenda was founded as an Alliance and now has over 100 members who have signed up to support our mission and values.

Objectives and activities

Agenda’s objects are

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Agenda CIO

Report of the trustees

For the year ended 30 April 2021

To achieve those objectives Agenda works to ensure that women and girls at risk of abuse, poverty, poor mental health, addiction and homelessness get support and protection. We campaign for systems to be transformed. We raise awareness across sectors and promote public understanding. We do this through research and making and supporting the implementation of proposals designed to improve provision.

Public benefit

Agenda works to create a society where women and girls can fulfil their potential and live their lives free from inequality, poverty and violence. The notion of public benefit is enshrined in our objectives and we do not restrict access to this benefit. The board of trustees has had regard to the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit as they established Agenda as an independent charity and agreed the charity’s objectives and priorities.

Our purpose

We exist to ensure that women and girls at risk of abuse, poverty, poor mental health, addiction, contact with the criminal justice system and homelessness get the support and protection they need.

Our mission

We campaign for systems and services to be transformed; to raise awareness across sectors; and to promote public and political understanding of the lives of women and girls facing multiple disadvantage.

Our values

Justice: We are determined and steadfast in upholding the rights of women and girls and in working to challenge structural inequalities and systemic failures.

Courage: We are courageous in speaking out and taking action for and with women and girls. We provide platforms for their views and voices.

Vision: We work with imagination to reframe the debate around women and girls at risk, challenge current thinking and practice, and open the door to new solutions and approaches.

Collaboration: We listen to different perspectives and draw strength from diversity. We seek to develop shared understanding, to collaborate and find new ways of talking, thinking and working across divides and boundaries.

Credibility: Our work is grounded in robust evidence, proven good practice and the experiences of women and girls.

Our activities and impact

Since Agenda became an independent charity, we have continued to focus on four strategic priorities:

1. Strategies and policies relating to multiple disadvantage have a focus on women. Greater awareness of and action on issues facing women and girls at risk;

2. Needs of girls at risk are well articulated and there is a clear agenda for change. Active discussions about girls amongst relevant policy, sector and service audiences;

3. Systems and services work more effectively to meet the needs of women and girls at risk. Increased focus on commissioning joined-up, gendered informed support; and

4. Mental health policy and practice takes gender into account. Mental health services better joined up and meet needs of women and girls at risk.

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Agenda CIO

Report of the trustees

For the year ended 30 April 2021

The global Covid-19 pandemic had a significant impact on Agenda’s work and on the women and girls we exist to create change with and for. As the year progressed we moved from our emergency and short term response to the initial lockdown to finding sustainable ways to adapt, ensuring sustainability and impact in the new political and social environment.

From April 2020 we added two additional priorities to our urgent work in response to the pandemic focused on:

Strategies and policies relating to multiple disadvantage have a focus on women

Agenda continues to work effectively with officials to ensure government policy reflects the needs of women and girls with multiple disadvantage. Our work has seen the needs and perspectives of the most marginalised women and girls reflected where they would otherwise have been overlooked. Our reputation for gathering robust evidence and working in partnership ensures we have highly effective relationships with policy makers, enabling us to have a real impact on policy for women.

Agenda has a number of advisory roles to inform the development of policy at the earliest possible stage. Throughout the year we have worked with members of the Advisory Board of Female Offenders (ABFO), one such group Agenda sits on, to raise concerns with the Ministry of Justice and the Minister with responsibility for women offenders about plans to build 500 new prison places for women. We welcomed the publication of the Concordat on Female Offenders, which we were involved in developing, which included commitments to work in a gender and trauma informed way, encouraged for local areas to take a whole systems approach to working with women at risk of offending and recognition of the complex needs and multiple disadvantage experienced by women in the criminal justice system.

Ask and Take Action campaign

Our Ask and Take Action campaign focused around amending the Domestic Abuse Bill, introduced in July 2019, to include an amendment that would introduce a statutory duty on public authorities to train frontline staff to ask about abuse and respond appropriately with pathways to support .

As the Bill progressed, we raised awareness of this key issue at all stages, supported by additional research estimating the cost of the amendment, which was featured in the Guardian. In September 2020 we produced a film to share on social media to raise awareness of the campaign, which we screened at a well-attended briefing event for members of the House of Lords. Held in partnership with Safe Lives, and chaired by Baroness Hilary Armstrong, who tabled the amendment, this brought together Crossbench, Conservative, Liberal Democrat and Labour peers, following which seven peers added their voices in support.

As part of this campaign we met with a number of key decision makers MPs and influencers to make the case for an amendment to the Bill, including: Liz Twist MP, a member of the Domestic Abuse Public Bill Committee who publicly championed the amendment in the House of Commons; Alex Norris MP, the Shadow Minister Health and Social Care; Caroline Nokes, Chair Women and Equalities Select Committee, and the lead of the Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy; and Home Office Officials working with ministers on the bill.

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Agenda CIO

Report of the trustees

For the year ended 30 April 2021

Our cross-sector group of supporters for the campaign grew across the year, organisations including Imkaan, Women’s Aid, Refuge, Southall Black Sisters, LAWRS, Safety4Sisters, the Step Up Migrant Women coalition and Respect, and was widely referenced in briefings and evidence submitted by sector partners. Our partnership with other women’s and children’s organisations to raise awareness of the needs of children affected by abuse continued, led by Action for Children, through which we continued to raise the profile of girls as survivors of abuse in their own relationships.

The Domestic Abuse Act received royal assent 29 April 2021. Whilst we were not successful in securing an amendment to the Bill, our campaign led to us significantly raising the profile of the connection between domestic abuse and multiple disadvantage, and of the importance of training public services staff to understand, ask about and respond to the impact of this trauma.

Our Rosa funded Changing the Conversation project worked throughout the year to raise awareness of experiences of sexual harassment among all women, including the most marginalised who are otherwise overlooked in mainstream discussions around sexual harassment.

As part of this project, we established a new Women's Advisory Group with women with lived experience of the issues we work across. We worked with this advisory group to launch our Unsafe Spaces campaign, with findings from nationally representative public polling in April 2021, covered in the Independent. This found that over half of women have been sexually harassed in their lifetime, and over 1 in 10 women who have experienced sexual harassment said it happened whilst accessing a public service such as the job centre, a hostel or a mental health hospital.

As a result of these findings we are calling for services to better understand and respond to women’s needs, so these are safer and more trauma-informed environments for women, alongside investment in specialist women’s services that are safe spaces for women.

Alongside this, we worked with other sector partners, led and funded by Rosa, on communications work around sexual harassment in the workplace, through which we were able to champion the experiences of the most marginalised and disadvantaged women.

We grew a partnership with a number of specialist women’s criminal justice and organisations led ‘by and for’ Black, Asian, migrant and minoritised women and girls, to establish our Doubling Down on Double Disadvantage project. Three years on, the publication of our report Double Disadvantage, in partnership with Women in Prison and funded by the Barrow Cadbury Trust, the project aims to develop an action plan based on women’s lived experience to improve the criminal justice response to Black and minoritised women.

We will continue to work with Hibiscus, Muslim Women in Prison, Zaid Mubarak Trust, Women in Prison and the Criminal Justice Alliance in the coming year to progress this important project.

Needs of girls at risk are well articulated

Agenda has built two important projects to raise awareness of the needs of girls at risk and develop a strong case for change.

Funded by Paul Hamlyn Foundation, our Girls Speak project has worked alongside girls at risk to explore the issues they face, the ways they are excluded or marginalised in current policy debates and to create and campaign for solutions.

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Agenda CIO

Report of the trustees

For the year ended 30 April 2021

Our first publication in November 2020, Struggling Alone, focused on the mental health crisis facing girls and young women. This aimed to move beyond commonly cited causes such as social media, body image and exam pressure, and show that violence and abuse, poverty and discrimination are key drivers of this. The paper called for a national women and girls’ mental health strategy, with dedicated funding for services for girls and young women that takes into account their specific needs and experiences.

Despite the challenges presented by the pandemic, we built relationships remotely with girls and services around the country, including specialist "by and for" services and mainstream children’s and youth sector organisations.

This year we formed a young women’s advisory group, who met throughout the project to inform the development of our priority areas of focus, and co-produced a Girls Speak brand. Agenda also launched an Instagram account for the first time, with a specific focus on the Girls Speak project.

We continued to build our profile of this project through meeting with decision makers and influencer MPs, including Rosena Allin-Khan (Shadow Mental Health Minister), who also met Young Women’s advisory group members, Cat Smith’s office (Shadow Minister for Youth Affairs), officials from the Department for Education’s (DfE) Tackling Harms Unit, and the Children’s Social Care Child Criminal Exploitation Lead.

We have drawn on evidence from Girls Speak to develop policy submissions throughout the year, including to the Health and Social Care Select Committee’s Inquiry into Children and Young People’s Mental Health, and the Home Office VAWG Strategy consultation.

Supporting our Girls Speak work, our paper Often Overlooked: young women, poverty and selfharm, was launched in May 2020 in partnership with the National Centre for Social Research, which evidenced the connection between poverty and self-harm among girls and young women. This was covered widely through the media at time of publication and has been referenced throughout the year since.

Funded by Lloyds Bank Foundation, our Young Women’s Justice Project, focused on young adult women (aged 17-25 years old) in contact with the criminal justice system. In partnership with The Alliance for Youth Justice (formerly The Standing Committee for Youth Justice), the project engaged with young adult women, front-line practitioners and other experts to develop a strong and credible evidence base on the needs of this group, influence government policy to take these into account, inform more effective practice and empower girls and young women as advocates. It particularly considered the needs, voices and experiences of Black, Asian and Minoritised Ethnic (BAME) and care-experienced girls, reflecting the disproportionality of the representation of these young women in the system.

With the pandemic limiting our ability to visit services and speak to girls face to face, we adjusted the work to carry out further desk-based research, and in January 2021 published a literature review on young adult women in the criminal justice system. Following this, at the end of April, we published a transitions briefing paper on girls turning 18 in the justice system, ‘Falling Through the Gaps, as a result of which we secured a 15-minute segment on BBC Woman’s Hour speaking alongside Minister Alex Chalk and one of the young women involved in this project.

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Agenda CIO

Report of the trustees

For the year ended 30 April 2021

To support evidence gathering for the project, we held expert seminars, including on the theme of girls transitions from youth to adult services and within the criminal justice system, and on violence against young adult women. These meetings convened attendees from a large number of women’s and youth sector organisations, key academics, to grow knowledge and understanding about the issues facing this group.

We met with a number of key decision makers and MPs to raise findings from the project, including influential officials from the Ministry of Justice with oversight for female offenders, Women’s policy, Victim and Witness Policy, Policy Team lead on BAME women, Family and Criminal Justice Policy Directorate, lead on Farmer Review for women, the MOPAC Transitions to Adulthood Hub Manager and from the Youth Justice Board (YJB) Youth Custody Service (YCS) teams. We raised our concerns about young women and the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill at a meeting with Alex Cunningham MP, Shadow Minister for Courts and Peter Kyle MP, Shadow Minister for Victims and Youth Justice.

Our high-level expert advisory group met across the year to shape and frame the project, and act as advocates and ambassadors for the research. Members include Florence Eshalomi MP, Frances Crook (Chief Executive of the Howard League), and Keith Fraser (Chair of the Youth Justice Board). We also fed into research into girls in custody, led by the Centre for Mental Health, to inform the development of a girls’ custody strategy at the YJB YCS.

Systems and services work more effectively to meet the needs of women and girls at risk

Through this strand of Agenda’s strategy we work in two ways: with local leaders and services to improve systems’ responses to women and girls with multiple disadvantage.

As part of our work with local decision makers, and following the publication of our report Breaking Down the Barriers in January 2019, we partnered with AVA on a project in Greater Manchester, funded by Lloyds Bank Foundation. The project took forward the findings of our National Commission on Domestic and Sexual Abuse and Multiple Disadvantage to campaign for systems and policy change to support women with multiple disadvantage at a local level with devolved responsibilities.

To help inform the work we ran two workshops, focused on the impact of the pandemic on women involved in ‘survival sex’, and on women’s homelessness, co-produced with the Greater Manchester Homelessness Action Network to develop awareness and recommendations for the forthcoming GMCA homelessness prevention strategy.

Following these events, we published Tackling Multiple Disadvantage in Greater Manchester, aimed at officials, decision makers and local services across the Greater Manchester ten boroughs and the combined authorities, encouraging them to use their local powers to make profound and long-lasting change to the lives of women and girls most at risk in society through its new Greater Manchester Strategy. Recommendations included ensuring allocation of specific services for women, improved data collection, co-production with women with lived experience, increased funding for specialist services and multi-agency working to ensure women are given the help they need coming out of this pandemic

Our strong relationships with local sector organisations, women with lived experience in the area and officials allowed us to input at an early stage into the Violence Against Women and Girls strategy and the Homelessness Prevention Strategy, as well as informing the emergency response to women at risk through the coronavirus pandemic, in particular those who were rough sleeping and moved into emergency accommodation.

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Agenda CIO

Report of the trustees

For the year ended 30 April 2021

In the coming year Agenda and AVA will produce a national policy briefing, focused on devolution and women’s disadvantage to support decision makers to tackle women and girls’ multiple disadvantage at a regional level. This will be shared at a national learning event, with decision makers, local authorities, mayors and PCCs, raising the importance of recognising the challenges facing women and girls facing multiple disadvantage at the local and regional level to drive change.

The second element of our approach is to collaborate with organisations delivering systems change at scale to ensure gender is embedded in their approach. During the immediate crisis of the lockdown, we worked with a number of organisations to discuss how women’s needs could be best met locally, including contributing to responses led by MEAM and through our work in partnership with Clinks leading the quarterly Women’s Criminal Justice Networking forums, for practitioners working in the criminal justice field.

As we move out of the pandemic, we will revisit how we can build on these discussions and work with the multiple disadvantage sector to reflect on lessons learned during the pandemic.

We also began work with Lancashire Women as a partner in their three-year Digital project, exploring how specialist women’s services can best use digital to better support women on their journeys. We held an evidence gathering roundtable in December 2020 with voluntary sector, technology industry, funders and commissioners to share learning to date and learn from others exploring the use of digital through their services and the pandemic.

In the coming year we will publish a briefing on the use of digital services in meeting women and girls’ needs.

Mental health policy and practice takes gender into account

Agenda has continued to build on our strong ongoing campaign to raise awareness of women and girl’s mental health, as well as the profile of the need for gendered and trauma informed approaches to mental health.

At the start of the year our Tampon Tax Funded Women Side by Side partnership project with Mind came to a close. Agenda led on developing a policy report sharing findings of the project evaluation. Women highlighted a range of benefits of the programme including: improvements in their social networks; being better connected to friends and neighbours; feeling less lonely and isolated; being more able to talk about mental health with friends, neighbours and acquaintances; and increased self-esteem, self-confidence and skills.

We also worked with Health Education England and Skills for Care to develop a scoping report on how best to embed trauma informed ways of working into the new roles of Peer Support Workers and Mental Health Social Workers in the NHS. In the coming year we plan to launch this report publicly and explore the findings in more depth with other public and voluntary sector services to which the findings can also be applied.

This report will build on Agenda’s strong and growing suite of evidence around gender and traumainformed mental health practice.

We responded to the Mental Health Act consultation, raising the need for women’s gender-specific experiences to be taken into account, for responses to be gender- and trauma-informed and for steps to be taken to reduce the likelihood of re-traumatisation following contact with mental health services.

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Agenda CIO

Report of the trustees

For the year ended 30 April 2021

Women and girls facing multiple disadvantage during COVID-19

The global COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on women and girls facing multiple disadvantages and the services supporting them. Despite this, policy making throughout the year continued to largely ignore the gendered impact of the health crisis, and failed to provide the adequate support needed to meet the extent of women and girls’ needs.

To raise awareness of these challenges, Agenda led an extensive research project tracking and highlighting the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on our alliance members and the women and girls we advocate for through the year, funded by the Pilgrim Trust. Our final report ‘A Way Forward for Women and Girls’ was published on 22nd March 2021, a year on from the first lockdown. This outlined that women and girls facing multiple disadvantage are in a state of emergency, with the pandemic pushing more and to the sharpest end of inequality.

The findings revealed that over the course of one year 100% of organisations reported the complexity of women and girls’ needs has increased; three quarters (76%) of organisations reported demand for their services had increased from the first lockdown; and 95% of organisations said that the pandemic has made existing mental health problems worse, with 90% saying it has created new mental health problems.

The research also highlighted that young women, and Black and minoritised women, have been disproportionately impacted, in particular by the economic and mental health impacts of the pandemic, and lack of access to appropriate support.

Based on these findings, Agenda, called for a dedicated Minister to take responsibility for the social recovery for women and girls most at risk following the pandemic and develop a long-term crossdepartmental strategy to deliver this. Supported by over 70 organisations including Fawcett Society, Women’s Aid, Women’s Budget Group, Mind and the National Youth Agency, we wrote to Prime Minister Boris Johnson calling for a social recovery strategy, supported by a long-term delivery plan and adequate funding, to ensure women and girls needs are addressed and prevent further longterm damage to the most vulnerable.

To support the campaign we also produced a short film, widely shared online and viewed on Instagram, outlining the key messages and statistics, and featuring the voices of women with lived experience.

We had extremely positive responses from our membership, as well as the women and girls involved in the work, demonstrating both the value of the research for the sector, the impact of engaging with women and girls with lived experience through our research and campaigns, and in Agenda’s unique role in bringing those expert voices to the attention of decision makers would not otherwise be heard.

This research has given us a strong and valuable evidence base to continue advocating for the need for a gendered approach following the pandemic, in all policy decisions made to support the recovery of the country and society.

The difference we make

Since we were established, Agenda continues to make a significant difference to the lives of women and girls affected by multiple disadvantage. By working in a strategic and long-term way, we have built the evidence, developed strong relationships with decision makers, partners, and members across the country, and applied and maintained pressure over time to help bring about long-term systems change.

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Agenda CIO

Report of the trustees

For the year ended 30 April 2021

Recent independent evaluation of our work found that Agenda is seen as a unique, credible, campaigner, leader, and researcher. We are valued for our integrity and our work in keeping women and girls’ issues on the national agenda - with the potential to bring a wide range of organisations together in alliance around a common vision.

Examples of the impact of our work over the last year includes:

Financial review

During the year Agenda CIO made a net surplus of £48,991 resulting in net assets of £291,340. Principal sources of funding were from Lankelly Chase Foundation, Barrow Cadbury Trust, Pilgrim Trust, Esmee Fairbairn and a number of other supporters. All expenditure in the year is directly related to fulfilling the aims and objectives of the funders requirements.

Reserves policy

The trustees have determined a target level of unrestricted reserves of 6 months’ annual expenditure is realistic and appropriate, this equates to £150,000. The unrestricted reserves at the end of the year were £205,744.

Free reserves, those not allocated to specific future costs, stood at £205,744.

Management of risk

The trustees have a risk management strategy that involves quarterly review of risks by the Finance, Risk and Fundraising committee and annually as a board. Systems of monitoring and mitigating identified risks is continually reviewed and implementation of procedures to minimize any impact of risks on the charity.

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Agenda CIO

Report of the trustees

For the year ended 30 April 2021

Statement of responsibilities of the trustees

The trustees are responsible for preparing the trustees' report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102: The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

The law applicable to charities in England and Wales 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 the incoming resources and application of resources, including the net income or expenditure, of the charity for the year. In preparing those financial statements the trustees are required to:

The trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and which enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charities Act 2011, the Charity (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 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.

The trustees are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial information included on the charity's website. Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.

Members of the charity have no liability to contribute to the assets of the charity in the event of winding up. The trustees are members of the charity but this entitles them only to voting rights. The trustees have no beneficial interest in the charity.

Independent examiners

Godfrey Wilson Limited were re-appointed as independent examiners to the charity during the year and have expressed their willingness to continue in that capacity.

Approved by the trustees on 27 January 2022 and signed on their behalf by

Fiona Mactaggart

Fiona Mactaggart - Chair

11

Independent examiner's report

To the trustees of

Agenda CIO

I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of Agenda CIO (the CIO) for the year ended 30 April 2021, which are set out on pages 13 to 28.

Responsibilities and basis of report

As the charity trustees of the CIO 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 CIO’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

Since the CIO’s gross income exceeded £250,000 your examiner must be a member of a body listed in section 145 of the 2011 Act. I confirm that I am qualified to undertake the examination because I am a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW), which is one of the listed bodies.

Godfrey Wilson Limited also provides bookkeeping and payroll services to the CIO. I confirm that as a member of the ICAEW I am subject to the FRC’s Revised Ethical Standard 2016, which I have applied with respect to this engagement.

I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving 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 to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Date: 31 January 2022 Laura Richards ACA Member of the ICAEW For and on behalf of: Godfrey Wilson Limited Chartered accountants and statutory auditors 5th Floor Mariner House 62 Prince Street Bristol BS1 4QD

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Agenda CIO

Statement of financial activities

For the year ended 30 April 2021

Restricted
Note
£
Income from:
Donations
3
154,843
Charitable activities
4
-
Investments
-
Total income
154,843
Expenditure on:
Raising funds
-
Charitable activities
157,978
Total expenditure
6
157,978
7
(3,135)
Reconciliation of funds:
Total funds brought forward
88,731
Total funds carried forward
85,596
Net income and net movement
in funds		 Unrestricted
£
209,391
989
129
210,509
86,255
72,128
158,383
52,126
153,618
205,744		 2021
Total
£
364,234
989
129
365,352
86,255
230,106
316,361
48,991
242,349
291,340		 2020
Total
£
266,595
629
172
267,396
52,809
180,113
232,922
34,474
207,875
242,349

All of the above results are derived from continuing activities. There were no other recognised gains or losses other than those stated above. Movements in funds are disclosed in note 14 to the accounts.

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Agenda CIO

Balance sheet

As at 30 April 2021

Note
Fixed assets
Tangible assets
10
Current assets
Debtors
11
Cash at bank and in hand
Liabilities
Creditors: amounts falling due within 1 year
12
Net current assets
Total assets less current liabilities
Net assets
13
Funds
14
Restricted funds
Unrestricted funds
Designated funds
General funds
Total charity funds		 899
300,040
300,939
(10,414)		 2021
£
815
290,525
291,340
291,340
85,596
-
205,744
291,340		 2020
£
1,053
300
251,809
252,109
(10,813)
241,296
242,349
242,349
88,731
50,000
103,618
242,349

Approved by the trustees on 27 January 2022 and signed on their behalf by

Fiona Mactaggart

Fiona Mactaggart - Chair

14

Agenda CIO

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 30 April 2021

1. Accounting policies

a) Basis of preparation

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities in preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2019) - (Charities SORP (FRS 102)), the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102).

Agenda CIO meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS 102. Assets and liabilities are initially recognised at historical cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policy note(s).

b) Going concern basis of accounting

The accounts have been prepared on the assumption that the charity is able to continue as a going concern despite the impact of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. There are no material uncertainties about the charity's ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least 12 months from the date on which these financial statements are approved.

c) Income

Income is recognised when the charity has entitlement to the funds, any performance conditions attached to the item(s) of income have been met, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount can be measured reliably.

Income from the government and other grants, whether 'capital' grants or 'revenue' grants, is recognised when the charity has entitlement to the funds, any performance conditions attached to the grants have been met, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount can be measured reliably and is not deferred.

d) Donated services and facilities

Donated professional services and donated facilities are recognised as income when the charity has control over the item, any conditions associated with the donated item have been met, the receipt of economic benefit from the use by the charity of the item, is probable and the economic benefit can be measured reliably. In accordance with the Charities SORP (FRS 102), general volunteer time is not recognised.

On receipt, donated professional services and donated facilities are recognised on the basis of the value of the gift to the charity which is the amount the charity would have been willing to pay to obtain services or facilities of equivalent economic benefit on the open market; a corresponding amount is then recognised in expenditure in the period of receipt.

e) Interest receivable

Interest on funds held on deposit is included when receivable and the amount can be measured reliably by the charity: this is normally upon notification of the interest paid or payable by the bank.

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Agenda CIO

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 30 April 2021

1. Accounting policies (continued)

f) Funds accounting

g) Expenditure and irrecoverable VAT

Expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to make a payment to a third party, it is probable that settlement will be required and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably.

Irrecoverable VAT is charged as a cost against the activity for which the expenditure was incurred.

h) Allocation of support and governance costs

Support costs are those functions that assist the work of the charity but do not directly undertake charitable activities. Governance costs are the costs associated with the governance arrangements of the charity, including the costs of complying with constitutional and statutory requirements and any costs associated with the strategic management of the charity’s activities. These costs have been allocated between cost of raising funds and expenditure on charitable activities on the following basis, being the proportion of staff costs:

2021 2020
Raising funds 28% 24%
Charitable activities 72% 76%

i) Tangible fixed assets

Depreciation is provided at rates calculated to write down the cost of each asset to its estimated residual value over its expected useful life. The depreciation rates in use are as follows:

Computer equipment 3 years straight line basis
Office equipment 3 years straight line basis

j) Debtors

Trade and other debtors are recognised at the settlement amount due after any trade discount offered. Prepayments are valued at the amount prepaid net of any trade discounts due.

k) Cash at bank and in hand

Cash at bank and cash in hand includes cash and short term highly liquid investments with a short maturity of three months or less from the date of acquisition or opening of the deposit or similar account.

16

Agenda CIO

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 30 April 2021

1. Accounting policies (continued)

l) Creditors

Creditors and provisions are recognised where the charity has a present obligation resulting from a past event that will probably result in the transfer of funds to a third party and the amount due to settle the obligation can be measured or estimated reliably. Creditors and provisions are normally recognised at their settlement amount after allowing for any trade discounts due.

m) Financial instruments

The charity only has financial assets and financial liabilities of a kind that qualify as basic financial instruments. Basic financial instruments are initially recognised at transaction value and subsequently measured at their settlement value with the exception of bank loans which are subsequently recognised at amortised cost using the effective interest method.

n) Accounting estimates and key judgements

In the application of the charity's accounting policies, the trustees are required to make judgements, estimates and assumptions about the carrying values of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. The estimates and underlying assumptions are based on historical experience and other factors that are considered to be relevant. Actual results may differ from these estimates.

The estimates and underlying assumptions are reviewed on an ongoing basis. Revisions to accounting estimates are recognised in the period in which the estimate is revised if the revision affects only that period, or in the period of the revision and future periods if the revision affects both current and future periods.

There are no key sources of estimation uncertainty that have a significant effect on the amounts recognised in the financial statements.

17

Agenda CIO

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 30 April 2021

2. Prior period comparatives: statement of financial activities

Income from:
Donations
Charitable activities
Investments
Total income
Expenditure on:
Raising funds
Charitable activities
Total expenditure
Net income / (expenditure)
Transfers between funds
Net movement in funds
3.
Income from donations
Grants:
Lloyds Bank Foundation
Barrow Cadbury Trust
Esmee Fairbairn
Lankelly Chase
Paul Hamlyn Foundation
The Pilgrim Trust
Rosa
Health Education England
The Sisters' Trust
Lancashire Women
Other donations
Gifts in kind
Total income from donations*		 Restricted
£
£
135,300
131,295
-
629
-
172
135,300
132,096
-
52,809
50,638
129,475
50,638
182,284
84,662
(50,188)
1,069
(1,069)
85,731
(51,257)
Restricted
£
£
50,562
-
-
39,000
6,060
25,000
19,640
80,872
30,000
20,000
10,690
35,000
9,916
-
18,975
-
9,000
-
-
4,000
-
769
-
4,750
154,843
209,391
Unrestricted
Unrestricted		 2020
Total
£
266,595
629
172
267,396
52,809
180,113
232,922
34,474
-
34,474
2021
Total
£
50,562
39,000
31,060
100,512
50,000
45,690
9,916
18,975
9,000
4,000
769
4,750
364,234

18

Agenda CIO

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 30 April 2021

3. Income from donations (continued) Prior period comparative:

Grants:
Lloyds Bank Foundation Transform/AVA
Barrow Cadbury Trust
Esmee Fairbairn
Lankelly Chase
Lloyds National Criminal Justice Programme
Mind
Paul Hamlyn Foundation
The Pilgrim Trust
Plan International
Rosa
Other donations
Gifts in kind
Total income from donations*		 Restricted
£
£
5,475
-
-
40,000
-
50,000
-
4,800
37,601
-
19,778
-
30,000
-
7,500
35,000
5,089
-
29,712
-
145
870
-
625
135,300
131,295
Unrestricted		 2020
Total
£
5,475
40,000
50,000
4,800
37,601
19,778
30,000
42,500
5,089
29,712
1,015
625
266,595

4. Income from charitable activities

2021 2020
Restricted Unrestricted Total Total
£ £ £ £
Earned income - 989 989 629

All income from charitable activities in the prior period was unrestricted.

5. Government grants

The charity receives government grants, defined as funding from Heath Education England to fund charitable activities. The total value of such grants in the period ending 30 April 2021 was £18,975. There are no unfulfilled conditions or contingencies attaching to these grants in 2020/21.

19

Agenda CIO

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 30 April 2021

6. Total expenditure

Total expenditure
Support and
Raising Charitable governance
funds activities costs 2021 Total
£ £ £ £
Staff costs (note 8) 51,062 131,181 56,349 238,592
Other staff and volunteer costs - 641 1,206 1,847
Partners, consultants and research - 40,627 - 40,627
Events - 1,090 - 1,090
Web, phone and I.T. - - 2,859 2,859
Office costs - - 10,007 10,007
Legal and professional - - 1,445 1,445
Accounting, bookkeeping and payroll - - 6,053 6,053
Depreciation - - 667 667
Strategic development 13,174 - - 13,174
Sub-total 64,236 173,539 78,586 316,361
Allocation of support and
governance costs 22,019 56,567 (78,586) -
Total expenditure 86,255 230,106 - 316,361
Total governance costs were £1,440 (2020: £1,176).
Prior period comparative
Prior period comparative
Support and
Raising Charitable governance
funds activities costs 2020 Total
£ £ £ £
Staff costs (note 8) 36,997 114,591 36,803 188,391
Other staff and volunteer costs - 369 5,694 6,063
Partners, consultants and research - 15,468 - 15,468
Events - 709 - 709
Web, phone and I.T. - - 3,998 3,998
Office set up - - 394 394
Office costs - - 11,999 11,999
Legal and professional - - 1,164 1,164
Accounting, bookkeeping and payroll - - 4,210 4,210
Depreciation - - 526 526
Sub-total 36,997 131,137 64,788 232,922
Allocation of support and
governance costs 15,812 48,976 (64,788) -
Total expenditure 52,809 180,113 - 232,922

20

Agenda CIO

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 30 April 2021

7. Net movement in funds

This is stated after charging:

Operating lease payments
Depreciation
Trustees' remuneration
Trustees' reimbursed expenses
Independent examiner's remuneration:
Independent examination (including VAT)
Other services		 2021
£
7,139
667
Nil
Nil
1,440
4,613		 2020
£
9,600
526
Nil
Nil
1,176
3,034

8. Staff costs and numbers Staff costs were as follows:

Salaries and wages
Social security costs
Pension costs		 2021
£
207,817
19,562
11,213
238,592		 2020
£
165,508
14,471
8,412
188,391

No employee earned more than £60,000 during the year.

The key management personnel of the charity comprise the Chief Executive Officer post. The total employee benefits of the key management personnel were £103,081 (2020: £75,936).

Average head count 2021
No.
7		 2020
No.
5

9. Taxation

The charity is exempt from corporation tax as all its income is charitable and is applied for charitable purposes.

21

Agenda CIO

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 30 April 2021

10. Tangible fixed assets

Cost
At 1 May 2020
Additions
At 30 April 2021
Depreciation
At 1 May 2020
Charge for year
At 30 April 2021
Net book value
At 30 April 2021
At 30 April 2020
11. Debtors
Trade debtors
12. Creditors : amounts due within 1 year
Trade creditors
Accruals
Tax and social security
Other creditors		 Computer
equipment
£
1,471
429
1,900
490
631
1,121
779
981		 Office
equipment
£
108
-
108
36
36
72
36
72
2021
£
899
2021
£
834
9,580
-
-
10,414		 Total
£
1,579
429
2,008
526
667
1,193
815
1,053
2020
£
300
2020
£
3,866
3,250
3,454
243
10,813

22

Agenda CIO

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 30 April 2021

13. Analysis of net assets between funds

Tangible fixed assets
Current assets
Current liabilities
Net assets at 30 April 2021
Prior year comparative
Tangible fixed assets
Current assets
Current liabilities
Net assets at 30 April 2020		 £
-
85,596
-
85,596
£
-
88,731
-
88,731
Restricted
funds
Restricted
funds		 £
-
-
-
-
£
-
50,000
-
50,000
Designated
funds
Designated
funds		 General
funds
£
815
215,343
(10,414)
205,744
General
funds
£
1,053
113,378
(10,813)
103,618		 Total
funds
£
815
300,939
(10,414)
291,340
Total
funds
£
1,053
252,109
(10,813)
242,349

23

Agenda CIO

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 30 April 2021

14. Movements in funds

Movements in funds
Restricted funds
Tampon Tax (Mind project)
Women Side by Side (Mind)
ROSA - Changing the Conversation
Paul Hamlyn Foundation
Lloyds Bank Foundation Transform/AVA
Health Education England
Pilgrim Voices For Lockdown
The Sisters' Trust
Esmee Funder Plus
Lankelly Chase
Lankelly Women: Lottery Digital Fund
Total restricted funds
Designated funds:
Esmee Fairbairn
Total designated funds
General funds
Total unrestricted funds
Total funds
Unrestricted funds
Public Health Research
Council / NatCen Social
Lloyds National Criminal
Justice Programme		 At 1 May
2020
£
2,000
8,187
11,591
20,124
20,632
-
26,197
-
-
-
-
-
-
88,731
50,000
50,000
103,618
153,618
242,349		 Income
£
£
-
(1,250)
-
-
-
(11,591)
9,916
(30,040)
30,000
(25,616)
7,221
(7,221)
43,341
(37,921)
18,975
(18,975)
10,690
(10,690)
9,000
(1,500)
6,060
(5,854)
15,640
(7,320)
4,000
-
154,843
(157,978)
-
(50,000)
-
(50,000)
210,509
(108,383)
210,509
(158,383)
365,352
(316,361)
Expenditure		 £
750
8,187
-
-
25,016
-
31,617
-
-
7,500
206
8,320
4,000
At 30 April
2021
85,596
-
-
205,744
205,744
291,340

Purposes of restricted funds

Public Health Research Council / NatCen Social Research

Often overlooked- Agenda published new research, undertaken by analysts at the National Centre of Social Research, which focused on connections between poverty and non-suicidal selfharm in young women across England. It is based on new analysis of data from more than 20,000 people.

Tampon Tax (Mind project)

This is funding for a forthcoming project in partnership building on the Women Side by Side Project.

24

Agenda CIO

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 30 April 2021

14. Movements in funds (continued)

Women Side By Side (Mind project)

Agenda partnered with Mind to run this grant making programme which funded peer support programmes with women with multiple disadvantage.

Rosa - Changing the Conversation

Agenda took part in Rosa’s Changing the Conversation Programme, working to shift the dial on public understanding of sexual harassment. The grant funded our Senior Communications and Campaigns Officer as she worked to establish our Women’s Advisory Panel. Together with women with lived experience we ran the Unsafe Spaces campaign which highlighted that 1.6 million women have experienced sexual harassment when accessing a public service.

Paul Hamlyn Foundation

Girls Speak- This is Agenda’s campaign to ensure girls and young women facing inequality, poverty and violence get the support and protection they need. By working directly with girls, we will ensure their needs and experiences are taken into account in policy and practice – creating real, lasting change for girls across the country.

Lloyds Bank Foundation Transform/AVA

Breaking Down the Barriers in Greater Manchester- This project in partnership with AVA took forward the findings of The Commission on Domestic and Sexual Violence and Multiple Disadvantage. Through collaborative work in Greater Manchester the project influenced local policy makers to improve responses to survivors with multiple disadvantage.

Lloyds National Criminal Justice Programme

Young Women’s Justice Project- In partnership with The Alliance for Youth Justice the Young Women’s Justice Project is part of our ‘Girls Speak’ campaign and will engage with young women (17-25), front-line practitioners, and other experts, over two years with the aim of:

Health Education England

Scoping principles for trauma- informed training for new roles in mental health- This project was delivered in partnership with Skills for Care. Through interviews with experts by experience and practitioners we developed a framework for creating trauma informed training for professional and peer support workers in mental health services.

Pilgrim Voices For Lockdown

Over the first year of the pandemic Agenda conducted research with women with multiple disadvantage and the services they rely on to chart the impact of lockdown and make proposals for rebuilding including a social recover strategy for women and girls.

The Sisters' Trust

The Sisters’ Trust funded additional fundraising capacity for Agenda.

25

Agenda CIO

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 30 April 2021

14. Movements in funds (continued)

Esmee Funder Plus

Agenda received funding from Esmée Fairbairn’s Funder Plus programme for support with the development of a fundraising strategy.

Lankelly Chase

Stakeholder Perceptions Audit- Agenda undertook a stakeholder perception audit to support the development of our new strategy.

Staff Wellbeing- This grant has enabled us to invest in staff wellbeing, for instance through clinical supervision and social events.

Lankelly Women: Lottery Digital Fund

Agenda is working in partnership with Lancashire Women on Developing Digital Early Intervention Support for Women facing Multiple Disadvantage.

Purposes of designated funds

Esmee Fairbairn

This fund from Esmée Fairbairn contributes to Agenda’s core costs including towards the salary of our Public Policy Manager.

26

Agenda CIO

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 30 April 2021

For the year ended 30 April 2021
14. Movements in funds (continued)
Prior period comparative
At 1 May
2019
£
Restricted funds
3,000
Tampon Tax (Mind project)
-
Women Side by Side (Mind)
-
-
Paul Hamlyn Foundation
-
-
-
Plan International
-
The Pilgrim Trust
-
Total restricted funds
3,000
Designated funds:
Esmee Fairbairn
50,000
Lankelly Chase
102,400
Total designated funds
152,400
General funds
52,475
Total unrestricted funds
204,875
Total funds
207,875
Unrestricted funds
ROSA - Changing the
Conversation
Lloyds National Criminal
Justice Programme
Lloyds Bank Foundation
Transform/AVA
Public Health Research
Council / NatCen Social
Research		 Income
£
-
8,187
11,591
29,712
30,145
5,475
37,601
5,089
7,500
135,300
50,000
4,800
54,800
77,296
132,096
267,396		 £
(1,000)
-
-
(9,588)
(9,513)
(6,544)
(11,404)
(5,089)
(7,500)
(50,638)
(50,000)
(107,200)
(157,200)
(25,084)
(182,284)
(232,922)
Expenditure		 £
-
-
-
-
-
1,069
-
-
-
1,069
-
-
-
(1,069)
(1,069)
-
Transfers
between
funds		 £
2,000
8,187
11,591
20,124
20,632
-
26,197
-
-
At 30 April
2020
88,731
50,000
-
50,000
103,618
153,618
242,349

15. Operating lease commitments

The charity had operating leases at the year end with total future minimum lease payments as follows:

Amount falling due:
Within 1 year
Within 1 - 5 years		 2021
£
6,682
-
6,682		 2020
£
6,682
-
6,682

27

Agenda CIO

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 30 April 2021

16. Related party transactions

There were no related party transactions during the current or prior period.

28