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2021-12-31-accounts

Trustees’ Annual Report for the period 1[st] January 2021 to 31[st] December 2021

Born Equal 1182740

Born Equal provides support to people affected by in-equality across the world, with particular focus on those considered hidden or ignored. We provide support through grant making, advocacy and supporting the work of other charitable organisations.

The impact and ripple effect of the coronavirus global pandemic has continued to cause disruption and bring about new challenges to the operation and objectives of charities and not-for-profit organisations the world over.

While Born Equal has continued to operate through this period the charity has cautiously and intentionally adapted initial plans of growth and scale to best monitor the changing and shifting priorities of those we exist to serve and support.

We have been able to provide practical support to our existing partners through our small grant scheme enabling:

Our advocacy work continued via membership of the Stop Child Witch Accusations (SCWA) steering group. SCWA works with churches and communities to prevent and reduce the harm caused by witchcraft accusations against children.

As the full and lasting affects of the pandemic become apparent to our existing beneficiaries we will continue to listen, reflect and evaluate how to best achieve our aims and objectives and to use learnings to date to build and adapt a strategic roadmap onwards.

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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 law;
(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.		 Three projects under the pilot Small Grants Scheme were
finalised this year, commonly focused on violence against
women and children. All projects achieved their initial
aims, reaching and providing support to some of the
most vulnerable in society, who live under compacted
inequalities.

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We’d like to commend those involved in the delivery of
the projects on their commitment, diligence and fortitude
when faced with challenges.
Born Equal will now conduct an evaluation of the pilot
Small Grants Scheme, particularly focusing on lessons
learned for beneficiaries, project staff and Born Equal
Trustees.
A detailed summary of the objects and achievements of
the Small Grants Scheme and our work with SCWA can
be found further on in this report.
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
Project 1 – Challenging Gender Stereotypes (Nigeria)
Over two months, an advocacy campaign was conducted
on social media and local radio to raise awareness of
Gender Based Violence. The campaign particularly
focused on the abuse endured by children aged 4 to 12
years. The campaign highlighted the issue of gender
stereotypes and the consequential abuse that stems from
it to a wide audience where violence against females is
widespread and somewhat normalised.
The project recognised that state provided education
material used in primary schools perpetuates these
unhelpful stereotypes, such as discouraging or
prohibiting girls to study STEM subjects. A meeting was
held with the Ministry of Education and other influential
policy makers, highlighting the issue and its
consequential effects, and asked for a curriculum review.
This issue will continue to be pursued through local
advocacy and continued lobbying.
This project was particularly significant, considering
Nigeria ranks 128 out of 153 in the Global Gender Gap
Index. We’dlike to thankallthosewho engagedwiththe

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project and commend the resilience of those conducting the advocacy campaigns that challenge the norm. Project 2 – Awareness of Sexual Violence (Nigeria) During the pandemic, the perpetration of sexual violence, particularly against children, rose to unprecedented levels. A new law (Akwa Ibom State Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Law 2020) was passed specifically prohibiting this type of violence and providing a legal framework for which perpetrators can be brought to justice. The project focused on raising awareness of the law and available support to children who are most at risk of sexual violence. Parents and teachers were also involved and given educational materials about the new law and advice on how to support children who have experienced violence. In total, the project reached over 2000 children, all of whom were provided with resources to support their understanding of the issues and the new law. The children were also guided to support services available to them. During the outreach session, children spoke with the project staff about abuse they had suffered and the team continued to receive contact from the children in the weeks following the event. The project team continue to take action to support these children and others under the new law. We’d like to thank the team for their resilience in the face of these challenging conversation and for taking swift action when abuses were reported. We’d also like to acknowledge the bravery of those children that spoke up about their experiences. Project 3 – Support centre for street-connected children (Nigeria) The project supported a centre for street-connected children in a city in southern Nigeria. Many children in Nigeria turn to the streets to escape violence, abuse and absolute poverty. Particularly in southern Nigeria, children who are accused of witchcraft are commonly made to ensure tortuous abuses in the hope of a cure, or shunned from their communities to live on the streets. Children who have previously been labelled a witch continue to be ostracised by other street-connected children and the wider community and are routinely denied access to basic resources. This support centre for

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street-connected children welcomes those accused of witchcraft and children who have suffered other abuses, providing accommodation, food, basic medical care and access to education or vocational training. In recognition of the project’s continued and unwavering support of some of the most vulnerable in the community, who continue to be impacted by compounding inequalities, funding was provided under the Small Grants Scheme to enable to shelter to continue to provide medical care and access to education for the children. We’d like to pay tribute to the founder of the Centre, who sadly died this year. Advocacy – Stop Child Witchcraft Accusations Now Coalition During 2021, SCWA ran two multi-agency forums including presentations by church leaders and child rights advocates from DRC and Nigeria, and with participants from human rights and developments organisations from across the world. SCWA continued to deliver training on its Heart of the Matter framework for supporting church leaders to address the harm caused by child with accusations, including initial train the trainers sessions in Nigeria, following up previous training in DRC and translation of the materials into additional languages in order to prepare for delivery in more countries. SCWA steering group members attended conferences on witchcraft accusations in Papua New Guinea and Geneva, and continued to develop links and collaborate with other relevant organisations. SCWA also contributed to the advocacy work which led to the UN Human Rights Council Resolution in August 2021 on the Elimination of Harmful Practices relating to Witchcraft Accusations and Ritual Attacks.

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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 year, 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 4 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.

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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

Charityname Born Equal
Other name the charity
uses		 None
Registered charity
number		 1182740
Charity’s principal
address		 33 Arnold Drive
Rugby
CV23 9FU

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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

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

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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
31-10-2022
----- End of picture text -----

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Born Equal 1182746 Receipts and payments accounts CC16a 01/01/2021 31/12/2021 For the period To from

Section A Receipts and payments

A1 Receipts Unrestricted
funds
to the nearest £
680
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
680		 Restricted
funds
to the nearest £
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-		 Endowment
funds
to the nearest £
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-		 Total funds
to the nearest £
680
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
680		 Last year
to the nearest £
Individual donations 680 - - 680 841
Gift Aid - - - - 195
- - - - -
- - - - -
- - - - -
- - - - -
- - - - -
- - - - -
Sub total(Gross income for AR) 680 - - 680 1,036

A2 Asset and investment sales, (see table). None

A2 Asset and
table).		 investment sales, (see
None - - - -
- - - - -
Sub total
-		 - - - -
Total receipts 680 - - 680 1,036

A3 Payments

Small Grants Scheme - - - - 512
Administrative Costs (domain) 24 - - 24 -
- - - - -
- - - - -
- - - - -
- - - - -
- - - - -
- - - - -
- - - - -
Sub total 24 - - 24 512

A4 Asset and investment purchases, (see table)

----- Start of picture text -----
None - - - -
- - - -
Sub total
- - - - -
Total payments 24 - - 24 512
Net of receipts/(payments) 656 - - 656 524
A5 Transfers between funds - - [-] - -
A6 Cash funds last year end - - - - -
Cash funds this year end 656 - - 656 524
----- End of picture text -----

Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period

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Categories
B1 Cash funds
B2 Other monetary assets		 Details
All cash funds
Total cash funds
(agree balances with receipts and payments
account(s))
Details
None		 Unrestricted
funds
to nearest £
656
-
-
656
OK
Unrestricted
funds
to nearest £
-
-
-
-
-
-		 Restricted
funds
to nearest £
-
-
-
-
OK
Restricted
funds
to nearest £
-
-
-
-
-
-		 Endowment
funds
to nearest £
-
-
-
-
OK
Endowment
funds
to nearest £
None - - -
- - -
- - -
- - -
- - -
- - -

B3 Investment assets

Details
None		 Fund to which
asset belongs		 Cost (optional)
-
-
-		 Current value
(optional)
None - -
- -
- -

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B4 Assets retained for the charity’s own use

B5 Liabilities

Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees

- -
- -
Details Fund to which
asset belongs		 Cost (optional) Current value
(optional)
None - -
- -
- -
- -
- -
- -
- -
- -
- -
Fund to which Amount due When due
Details liability relates (optional) (optional)
None -
-
-
-
-
Signature Print Name Date of
approval

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Lisa Atkinson (Chair) 31/10/2022 Aimee Smith (Treasurer) 31/10/2022

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