**Trustees’ Annual Report for the period 1[st] January 2020 to 31[st] December 2020**
**Born Equal 1182740**
During this reporting period Born Equal, like all other charitable organisations in the UK and across the world, was impacted by the unpredicted and unprecedented Covid-19 pandemic. The pandemic has caused immeasurable anxiety, pain and exacerbated existing inequalities all over the world. Born Equal would like to pay tribute to those civil society organisations involved in the direct response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
As a volunteer led organisation, all trustees in their professional capacity have been involved in the response to the pandemic in the UK, from civil service policy work to food distribution. Although this has undoubtedly impacted shortterm on Born Equal’s development as a new charity, Born Equal remains confident that the skills and experienced gained by the Trustees during this period will be invaluable to Born Equal’s future needs.
Born Equal decided to stay out of direct delivery and fundraising whilst important causes compete within that market and face to face activity is limited by social distancing restrictions.
Born Equal has continued to focus on compliance and strategic planning to ensure the most effective delivery of our work, both financially and for the beneficiaries.
Born Equal were proud to launch the first round of our Small Grants Scheme which invited applications from small international civil society organisations. Three grant applications were successful, two focused on advocacy for children’s rights in the Niger Delta and one to support street children. Born Equal is looking forward to hearing how these projects progress into 2021.
As we move forwards, Born Equal will re-evaluate its approach, strategy and priorities in light of the new circumstances presented by the Covid-19 pandemic. As a charity that supports other charities, we recognise the importance of charity in the recovery phase of the Covid-19 pandemic. We recognise that individuals will likely have less disposable income, events will be more difficult to hold, and individuals will re-evaluate their own priorities. We intend to continue to help the sector, and the wider public, wherever possible.
## **Objectives and Activities**
|Summary of the
purposes of the charity
as set out in its
governing document|(1)The promotion of equality and diversity for the
public benefit by:
(a) The elimination of discrimination on the
grounds of race, gender, disability, sexual
orientation, age or religion;
(b) Advancing education and raising awareness in
equality and diversity;
(c) Promoting activities to foster understanding
between people from these diverse
backgrounds;
(d) Cultivating a sentiment in favour of equality
and diversity.
(2)The prevention or relief of poverty for the public
benefit anywhere in the world.
(3)The promotion of human rights for the public
benefit throughout the world by all or any of the
following means:
(a) Monitoring abuses of human rights;
(b) Obtaining redress for the victims of human rights
abuse;
(c) Relieving need among the victims of human rights
abuse;
(d) Research into human rights issues;
(e) Providing technical advice to government and
others on human rights matters;
(f) Contributing to the sound administration of human
rights alw;
(g) Commenting on proposed human rights legislation;
(h) Raising awareness of human rights issues;
(i) Promoting public support for human rights
(j) Promoting respect for human rights amongst
individuals and corporations;
(k) International advocacy of human rights;
(l) Eliminating infringements of human rights.|
|---|---|
|Summary of the main
activities in relation to
those purposes for the
public benefit, in
particular, the activities,
projects or services
identified in the
accounts.|This reporting period has seen the launch of the first
round of funding under Born Equal’s Small Grants
Scheme. Three grant applications were successful;
support to a street child centre which offers housing,
sanitation, education and feeding; an advocacy project
about sexual violence experienced by children; and a
research and advocacy project about gender inequality
and gender-basedviolence. These projects are due to|
||conclude in 2021 and Born Equal looks forward to hearing
about the outcomes of these projects.
Born Equal is a learning focused organisation and intends
to conduct a thorough review of the first phase of the
Small Grants Scheme. It is essential that the Scheme is
efficient and continues to be of value to grant recipients
and continue to contribute to Born Equal’s public benefit.
One of Born Equal’s Trustees has continued to sit on the
steering group for the Stop Child Witchcraft Accusations
Coalition (SCWA). During this reporting period, SCWA has
continued to develop training materials for church leaders
on responding to witchcraft accusations against children,
evaluated training previously delivered in the Democratic
Republic of Congo, planned future training in the Niger
Delta, and delivered online discussion forums for
practitioners across the world.|
|---|---|
|Statement confirming
whether the trustees
have had regard to the
guidance issued by the
Charity Commission on
public benefit|Yes, Born Equal Trustees are aware of the guidance
issued by the Charity Commission regarding charitable
activity being completed for public benefit.
Trustees have all read the guidance and are committed to
keeping up-to-date with this guidance on an annual
basis, or sooner where new guidance is issued. This is a
regular area of discussion in Board of Trustee meetings.|
## **Achievements and Performance**
|Summary of the main
achievements of the
charity, identifying the
difference the charity’s
work has made to the
circumstances of its
beneficiaries and any
wider benefits to society
as a whole.|**Small Grants Scheme:**
This reporting period has seen the launch of the first
round of funding under Born Equal’s Small Grants
Scheme. Three grant applications were successful;
support to a street child centre which offers housing,
sanitation, education and feeding; an advocacy project
about sexual violence experienced by children; and a
research and advocacy project about gender inequality
and gender-based violence.
Although each project has different objectives and
activities, the beneficiaries of all projects are similar. All
projects are based in the Niger Delta where there is a
pandemic of violence against children, gender based-
violence and street-connected children.
Children are at the heart of all three projects and are
both directly and indirectly supported by the projects. In
Akwa Ibom, Nigeria the new Akwa Ibom State Violence
Against Persons (Prohibition) Law 2020 has been
enacted. This is an important milestone for the
advancement of child rights in the region. Born Equal’s
Small Grants Scheme has supported a project which will
raise awareness of this new law amongst teenagers.
The Small Grants Scheme has also supported a Centre
that provides essential basic services for children who
were living on the streets. The work of this Centre is
particularly vital because it supports children who have
been accused of witchcraft and may have suffered
physical and emotional abuse as a result. Coupled with
Born Equal’s work with SCWA, Born Equal is continuing
to support some of the most vulnerable people in
society.|
|---|---|
## **Financial Review**
|**Financial Review**||
|---|---|
|Review of the charity’s
financial position at the
end of the period|The Charity has no financial liabilities and has little
financial expenditure on administrative costs.
Born Equal is structured with voluntary labour at the
heart of the organisation. This means that Born Equal
can maximise the funds donated to it for direct
charitable purposes. Although the Trustees appreciate
that Born Equal needs to raise additional funds to
support its work there is no present concern that the
Charity’s financial position will prevent the delivery of
our charitable aims.|
|Statement explaining the
policy for holding
reserves stating why
they are held|For at least the next two years, the Trustees do not
anticipate that Born Equal will commit itself to regular
financial liabilities and therefore there is no present
need to establish a reserve.
No reserves held.|
|Amount of reserves held|£0|
|Reasons for holding zero
reserves|Born Equal has no anticipated financial liabilities for
the next 12 months. Therefore, there is no current
requirement to build up reserves. The Charity’s
intention is to build reserves over the next 5 years to
support the grant giving programme to offset against
deficit in expected income or unexpected costs.
At present, the Trustees do not consider there to be a
financial risk in holding zero reserves. This will be
reviewed on a regular basis.|
|Details of fund materially
indeficit|The Charity does not hold any funds materially in
deficit.|
|Explanation of any
uncertainties about the
charity continuing as a
going concern|The Trustees consider that there are no uncertainties
about the Charity’s ability to continue as a going
concern.|
## **Structure, Governance and Management**
|Type of governing
document|Constitution|
|---|---|
|How is the charity
constituted?|Born Equal has been established as a CIO with Charitable
purposes|
|Trustee selection
methods including
details of any
constitutional provisions
e.g. election to post or
name of any person or
body entitled to appoint
one or more trustees|As part of our constitution the Trustees have agreed that a
Chair and Treasurer will be elected on an annual basis
with this being agreed and minuted by the Trustees at one
of their standard meetings, this will typically be the AGM.
We will recruit/select new Trustees based on the needs of
the Charity and this will be informed by the Advisory panel
when this is established.|
## **Reference and Administrative details**
|Charity name|Born Equal|
|---|---|
|Other name the charity
uses|None|
|Registered charity
number|1182740|
|Charity’s principal
address|62 Market Street
Lancaster
LA1 1HP|
## **Names of the trustees who manage the charity**
|**Trustee name**|**Office (if**
**any)**|**Dates acted if not for**
**whole year**|**Name of person**
**(or body)**
**entitled to**
**appoint trustee**
**(ifany)**|
|---|---|---|---|
|Lisa Atkinson|Chair|||
|Emilie Secker||||
|Aimee Smith|Treasurer|||
|Beverley Reid
(resigned
01/12/2020)||01/01/2020 –
01/12/2020||
Born Equal has no Corporate Trustees, no Director and no paid staff. No trustees hold title to property belonging to the charity.
## **Funds held as custodian trustees on behalf of others**
|Description of the assets
held in this capacity|None|
|---|---|
|Name and objects of the
charity on whose behalf
the assets are held and
how this falls within the
custodian charity’s
objects|n/a|
|Details of arrangements
for safe custody and
segregation of such
assets from the charity’s
own assets|n/a|
## **Declarations**
The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.
Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees
**----- Start of picture text -----**
Signature
Full name Lisa Atkinson
Position Chair
Date
27/10/2021
**----- End of picture text -----**
||**Born Equal**|**Born Equal**|**Born Equal**|**1182746**|**1182746**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||**Receipts and payments accounts**|||||
||**For the period**
**from**|01/01/2020|**To**||31/12/2020|
|||**Restricted**
**funds**
**to the**
**nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**|**Endowment**
**funds**
**to the**
**nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**|||
|||**-**|**-**||**841**|
|||**-**|**-**||**195**|
|||**-**|**-**||**-**|
|||**-**|**-**||**-**|
|||**-**|**-**||**-**|
|||**-**|**-**||**-**|
|||**-**|**-**||**-**|
|||**-**|**-**||**-**|
|||**-**|**-**||**1,036**|
## **A2 Asset and investment sales, (see table).**
|None||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**|
||**_Sub total_**|
**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**|
||||||||||||
||**_Total receipts_**|**1,036**||**-**||**-**||**1,036**||**1,078**|
|**A3 Payments**|||||||||||
|Small Grants Scheme|||||||||||
|||**512**||**-**||**-**||**512**||**-**|
|International Day for Street|||||||||||
|Children (prior to Charity|||||||||||
|Registration)||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**||**255**|
|||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**|
|||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**|
|||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**|
|||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**|
|||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**|
|||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**|
|||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**|
|**_Sub total_**|**512**||**-**||**-**||**512**||**255**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
**A4 Asset and investment purchases, (see table)**
|None||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**|||||
||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**|||||
|**_Sub total_**||||||||||||
||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**|||**-**||
|||||||||||||
|**_Total payments_**|**512**||**-**||**-**||**512**|||**255**||
|||||||||||||
|**_Net of receipts/(payments)_**||||||||||||
||**524**||**-**||**-**|||**524**||**824**||
|**A5 Transfers between funds**||||||||||||
||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**|||**-**||
|**A6 Cash funds last year end**||||||||||||
||**824**||**-**||**-**||**824**|||**-**||
|**_Cash funds this year end_**||||||||||||
||**1,348**||**-**||**-**||**1,348**|||**824**||
**Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period Unrestricted Restricted funds funds Endowment funds Categories Details to nearest £ to nearest £ to nearest £**
**B1 Cash funds** All cash funds **1,348 - - - - - - - -** _**Total cash funds**_ **1,348 - -** (agree balances with receipts and payments account(s)) OK OK OK **Unrestricted Restricted funds funds Endowment funds Details to nearest £ to nearest £ to nearest £ B2 Other monetary assets** None **Fund to Current Cost which asset value (optional) Details belongs (optional) B3 Investment assets** None **-**
**----- Start of picture text -----**
- -
- -
- -
- -
**----- End of picture text -----**
**----- Start of picture text -----**
Fund to Current
Cost
which asset value
(optional)
Details belongs (optional)
B4 Assets retained for the None
- -
charity’s own use
- -
- -
- -
- -
- -
- -
- -
- -
**----- End of picture text -----**
**Fund to Amount due When due which (optional) (optional) liability Details relates B5 Liabilities** None **-**
Signed by two trustees on behalf of all the trustees
|Signature||Print Name||Date of
approval|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|||Lisa Atkinson (Chair)||27/10/2021|
|||Aimee Smith (Treasurer)||27/10/2021|