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2023-04-05-accounts

ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 5TH APRIL 2023

RLABS UK

CHARITY REGISTRATION NUMBER 1182970

Independent Examiner

Beata Lee 146 Heathfield Road Southport PR8 3EW

RLABS UK

CONTENTS

Page 1 Page 2 – 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 to 13

Legal and Administrative Information Report of the Trustees Statement of trustees’ responsibilities Independent Examiner's Report to the Trustees Statement of Receipts and Payments Statement of Assets and Liabilities Notes to the Accounts

LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

CHARITY NUMBER 1182970 START OF FINANCIAL YEAR 06 April 2022 END OF FINANCIAL YEAR 05 April 2023 TRUSTEES AT 5 APRIL 2023 Jonathan Mills Carl Wills Rene Elizabeth Parker

The existing trustees appoint any new trustees following the provisions laid out in the Charity's governing instrument.

LEGAL STATUS Charitable Incorporated Organisation Date registered 15th April 2019 GOVERNING INSTRUMENT Constitution Adopted 4th May 2018

OBJECTS

1) TO DEVELOP THE CAPACITY AND SKILLS OF THE MEMBERS OF SOCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED COMMUNITIES IN THE UK AND INTERNATIONALLY IN SUCH A WAY THAT THEY ARE BETTER ABLE TO IDENTIFY, AND HELP MEET, THEIR NEEDS AND TO PARTICIPATE MORE FULLY IN SOCIETY.

2) TO ADVANCE SUCH OTHER CHARITABLE PURPOSES (ACCORDING TO THE LAW OF ENGLAND AND WALES) AS THE TRUSTEES SEE FIT FROM TIME TO TIME.

The charity operates throughout England, Tanzania and South Africa.

CORRESPONDENCE ADDRESS 2 Anglesey Road Alverstoke Gosport Hants PO12 2EQ PRIMARY BANKERS CAF Bank Ltd 25 Kings Hill Avenue West Mailing Kent ME19 4JQ INDEPENDENT EXAMINER Beata Lee 146 Heathfield Road Southport PR8 3EW

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Report of the Trustees

For the year ended 5th April 2023

RLabs UK was set up with the following objectives:

To advance in life young adults (18-25) through: providing support and activities which develop their skills, capacities and capabilities to enable them to participate in society as mature and responsible individuals.

The promotion and advancement of community capacity building, using innovation, technology and training in the UK and abroad.

To advance such other exclusively charitable purposes as are compatible with the purposes referred to at a) and b) above, as the trustees in their discretion think fit.

Specifically, our mission is to bring RLabs South Africa’s award-winning programmes to the UK to transform lives and support youth entrepreneurs and leaders in emerging RLabs hubs across Africa, starting with Tanzania.

1. Background to RLabs South Africa, UK and Tanzania

RLabs (Reconstructed Living Labs) was started in South Africa in 2008 and has become a leader in social entrepreneurship transforming hope and economic opportunities in deprived communities. RLabs’ work in South Africa has sparked a global movement for social change, impacting 10 million people in 23 countries.

RLabs Tanzania started in 2012 as the Iringa Living Lab, set up by social entrepreneur Yusuf Ssessanga through inspiration from the joint Finnish and Tanzanian government TanzICT programme. Mentored by RLabs South Africa, the team worked voluntarily from 2014 – 2019 achieving impressive impact in helping young people create businesses. RLabs UK was created in 2019 to raise funds to support the growth of RLabs Tanzania. Financial support and capacity building from RLabs UK since 2019 has enabled RLabs Tanzania to scale up the programme, build organisational capacity, and secure funding within Tanzania.

2. Support to RLabs South Africa

For the first time in 2022 RLabs UK channelled donations for RLabs South Africa from a UK supporter. The donations were unrestricted to advance RLabs’ work in Cape Town. Among many achievements, in 2022 RLabs completed construction of a major new centre fostering innovation and entrepreneurship in the heart of Mitchell’s Plain, a deprived area of the Cape Flats.

3. Support to RLabs Tanzania

During this year, RLabs built a strong reputation in Tanzania for the impact of its model of empowering young people to start businesses. RLabs Tanzania secured major grants to scale the Grow Leadership programme to 4 regions in Tanzania:

Iringa Region: trained 953 young people to start businesses and create Youth Savings and Loans Associations, with support from Egmont Trust, RL Charitable Trust and Treebeard Trust Mbeya and Songwe Regions : 8,207 young people trained, the majority adolescent out of school girls, in partnership with UNICEF

Tanga Region : trained 1,035 young people trained in partnership with Fondation Botnar

This achievement was the result of investment by RLabs UK in RLabs Tanzania’s capacity to

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manage larger scale programmes and grants. The RLabs Tanzania team was operating at full capacity, and as funds were sufficient for the work planned for the year, no additional fundraising was undertaken in the UK. RLabs Tanzania’s income for the financial year January - December 2022 was £291,922.

Senior representatives of Egmont Trust visited RLabs’ work in Iringa in 2022 were delighted with RLabs’ impact and approach and subsequently increased their support for the following year.

“An initiative with the energy and innovative flair of RLabs does need to be seen in person to get a true sense of the content of the work and, equally important, the substance of the organisation. It is clear that the intervention is very effective and is creating real and lasting change for many people.”

Colin Williams and Clare Evans, Founders and Trustees, The Egmont Trust

Young people reported many benefits from starting new businesses including greater financial independence, being able to support themselves and their families, and being more respected and empowered within their community.

“After training and joining the YSLA group I got the idea of opening a kiosk and a restaurant. Now I make up to £100 per week. I got the capital for my business from my savings. I worked really hard to get to where I am now. I really enjoy what I do, and I know I couldn’t get where I am if it wasn’t for the training. It helped me to have a growth mindset that has allowed me to pursue my goals.”

Grace, 27

Key results from the Grow Leadership 2022 cohort include:

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In partnership with UNICEF, RLabs also engaged girls in design thinking to develop solutions to nutrition and Adolescent Sexual Reproductive Health (ASRH) challenges (example right). There were many positive impacts reported by the girls including greater confidence and status in their communities, confidence to seek family planning services, starting businesses, and saving for their future goals.

While RLabs’ primary role was to facilitate the development of ASRH and nutrition innovations, an external evaluation for UNICEF highlighted the Grow Leadership model as a best practice in achieving behaviour change in relation to contraceptive use.

“There is strong evidence that demonstrates the efficiency of RLabs’ mindset approach in achieving positive attitudinal and behavioural changes among trained girls, including an increase in confidence that contraception is safe and effective. The focus on empowerment and building confidence at the heart of the mindset approach appears to be highly effective in boosting the level of knowledge integration. Efforts should therefore be made to scale up this approach.”

Bodhi Global Analysis, Mid-term Evaluation of UNICEF Girls’ Reproductive Rights and Empowerment Accelerated in Tanzania (GRREAT), 2022

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4. Statement in relation to public benefit

The trustees have considered the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit. The activities to enhance the opportunity for marginalised people in the UK and Tanzania to participate in society are of public benefit in the reduction of poverty, and building community capacity.

5. Financial Review

The impact of RLabs UK technical support to RLabs Tanzania was evident in successfully securing and managing grants to the value of £291,922.

RLabs UK does not currently have any paid staff or overhead costs, so we have not held reserves. Funds designated for RLabs Tanzania are transferred to Tanzania with a small percentage retained to cover bank account charges.

6. Objectives for 2023 – 2024

RLabs UK will support the continued strategic development of RLabs Tanzania’s programmes and organisational capacity including in finance and grant management, fundraising and monitoring and evaluation. Depending on RLabs Tanzania’s funding needs, RLabs UK will provide support to engage UK-based donors.

7. Structure, Governance and Management

RLabs UK was registered as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation in April 2019. RLabs UK is governed by board of trustees with the following members:

Trustee name Office (if any) Dates acted if not for
whole year
1 Rene Parker Chair April 2019 - present
2 Jonathan Mills Secretary May 2020 – present
3 Carl Wills Member April 2021 - present

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STATEMENT OF TRUSTEES RESPONSIBILITIES

The trustees are responsible for preparing the Report of the Trustees and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

Company law requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which gives a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable company for that period. In preparing those financial statements, the trustees are required to:

presume that the charitable company will continue in business.

The trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable company and to enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets for the charitable company 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 charitable company’s website. Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.

This report has been prepared in accordance with the special provisions of Part 15 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small companies.

The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees' report

above. Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees

Signature(s)

Full Name …Jonathan Mills………………..

Position (e.g. Secretary / Chair etc) …Trustee………………….

Date …14th January 2024………….

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RLABS UK

INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S REPORT ON THE ACCOUNTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 5TH APRIL 2023

I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the charitable company for the year 5th April 2023

Responsibilities and basis of report

As the charity Trustees, who are also directors for the purposes of company law, are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 ('the 2006 Act').

Having satisfied myself that the accounts of the Company are not required to be audited under Part 16 of the 2006 Act and are eligible for independent examination, I report in respect of my examination of your charity's accounts carried out under section 145 of the Charities Act 2011 ('the 2011 Act'). In carrying out my examination I have followed the directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the 2011 Act.

Independent examiners statement

I have completed my examination. I confirm that no matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:

  1. accounting records were not kept in respect of the Company as required by section 386 of the 2006 Act; or

  2. the accounts do not accord with those records; or

  3. the accounts do not comply with the requirements of section 396 of the 2006 Act other than any requirement that the accounts give a 'true and fair view' which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination; or

  4. the accounts have not been prepared in accordance with the methods and principles of the Statement of Recommended Practice for accounting and reporting by charities applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102).

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.

Beata Lee

Date: 12th January 2024

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RLABS UK

STATEMENT OF RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 5TH APRIL 2023

The notes on pages 10 form part of these financial statements.

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RLABS UK

TRUSTEES RESPONSIBILITIES IN RELATION TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Charity Law requires the Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which comply with the regulations set out in the Charities Act 2011. The Trustees have elected to take advantage of the provisions that apply to small charities and have prepared a Receipts and Payments Account and Statement of Assets and Liabilities which are set out on pages 11 and 12.

Approved by the Trustees on 14th January 2024 Signed on their behalf by Trustee

Print Name: Jonathan P Mills

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RLABS UK

NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS FOR THE

YEAR ENDED 5TH APRIL 2023

1. BASIS OF ACCOUNTING

The accounts have been prepared under the “Receipts and Payments” basis as prescribed by the Charity Commissioners and they meet the appropriate legal requirements.

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RLABS UK

This page does not form part of the statutory financial statements

5. PAYMENTS TO TRUSTEES

No payments were made to trustees or any persons connected with them during this financial period. No other material transaction took place between the organisation and a trustee or any person connected with them.

6. RISK ASSESSMENT

The Trustees actively review the major risks which the charity faces on a regular basis and believe that maintaining the free reserves stated, combined with the annual review of the controls over key financial systems carried out on an annual basis will provide sufficient resources in the event of adverse conditions. The Trustees have also examined other operational and business risks which they face and confirm that they have established systems to mitigate the significant risks.

7. RESERVES POLICY

The Trustees have considered the level of reserves they wish to retain, appropriate to the charity's needs. This is based on the charity's size and the level of financial commitments held. The trustees aim to ensure the charity will be able to continue to fulfil its charitable objectives even if there is a temporary shortfall in income or unexpected expenditure. The Trustees will endeavour not to set aside funds unnecessarily.

8. PUBLIC BENEFIT

The Charity acknowledges its requirement to demonstrate clearly that it must have charitable purposes or ‘aims’ that are for the public benefit. Details of how the charity has achieved this are provided in the trustees report. The trustees confirm that they have paid due regard to the Charity Commission guidance on public benefit before deciding what activities the charity should undertake.

9. DONATED GOODS, FACILITIES AND SERVICES

Independent consultant Naomi Rouse led RLabs UK on a pro bono basis.

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