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2021-08-31-accounts

Charity number: 1183651

Solutions Not Sides

Report and financial statements For the period ended 31 August 2021

Solutions Not Sides

Contents

For the period ended 31 August 2021

Reference and administrative information ...................................................................................... 1 Trustees’ annual report .................................................................................................................. 2 Independent examiner’s report .................................................................................................... 21 Statement of financial activities (incorporating an income and expenditure account) ................... 23 Balance sheet ............................................................................................................................... 24 Notes to the financial statements ................................................................................................. 25

Solutions Not Sides

Reference and administrative information

For the period ended 31 August 2021

Charity number 1183651 Country of registration England & Wales Registered office and Haskell House operational address 152 West End Lane LONDON NW6 1SD Independent Examiner Jonathan Orchard Sayer Vincent LLP Chartered Accountants Invicta House 108-114 Golden Lane LONDON EC1Y 0TL

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Solutions Not Sides

Trustees’ annual report

For the period ended 31 August 2021

The trustees are pleased to present their annual report together with the financial statements of the CIO for the year beginning 1 September 2020 and ending 31 August 2021.

The financial statements comply with the Charities Act 2011, the Solutions Not Sides constitution, and Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2015).

Structure, governance and management

Solutions Not Sides is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation governed by its Constitution dated 30 May 2019 and it is registered with the Charity Commission of England and Wales.

All trustees give their time voluntarily and receive no benefits from the charity.

Appointment of trustees

There must be at least three charity trustees. If the number falls below this minimum, the remaining trustee or trustees may act only to call a meeting of the charity trustees or appoint a new charity trustee.

There is no maximum number of Trustees that may be appointed to the CIO.

The first charity trustees are as follows and are appointed for the following terms:

As set out in the Constitution, apart from the first charity trustees, every trustee must be appointed for a term of three 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.

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Solutions Not Sides

Trustees’ annual report

For the period ended 31 August 2021

Objectives and activities

Our vision

To contribute towards a more compassionate, educated, fair and united society for all by achieving the following outcomes in relation to attitudes and opinions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the UK.

Our mission

To create safe spaces and provide life skills for British young people to make the difficult but vital conversations about Israel-Palestine not just possible but positive.

Our activities

Solutions not Sides (SNS) is an education programme that engages students at the opinionforming stage of their development in secondary schools, ensuring that the students who most need this engagement receive it within the safe space of a structured educational environment. SNS also works in well-supported community youth group environments.

This is carried out through an innovative programme of training and workshops with the following resources:

The polarised narratives that we hear echoed in the UK are: "Free Palestine vs. Save Israel". Palestinian and Israeli speakers address this in our programme and model breaking that cycle by both recognising simultaneously that Palestinians must be free, and Israelis must be safe. The values framework that all our speakers sign up to and within which classroom discussions take place is: 1) non-violence; 2) equality for all; 3) rejection of hatred.

One of the approaches we introduce in schools is the importance of not pushing for a win-lose outcome, i.e., supporting one side against the other. This is because if you keep pushing for winlose, you will probably end up not at win-lose but at lose-lose, and the presence of the Palestinian and Israeli speakers in our sessions and their personal stories illustrate what that truly means in human terms.

Another tool that we use in our sessions is that of an iceberg. The tip of the iceberg represents the positions people hold, usually quite simplistic - i.e., ‘good guys vs. bad guys’. But the large part of the iceberg that you can't see unless you dive down and look represents all the reasons why people hold those positions, and these need to be understood for making a change in the situation.

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During the Covid-19 pandemic, we created digital resources to be used in schools, including speaker story videos. Various solutions for the conflict are explored in the sessions, be that ‘one state’, ‘two-state’, ‘two-state-one-homeland’ and other possibilities. As an organisation we do not advocate for a specific solution.

SNS also has deeper learning opportunities for students aged 16+ to continue the empowerment element of our work

People

SNS undertook the following activities in 2020-21:

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Covid-19 response and summary

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic and various lockdowns, SNS’ programming for 2020 - 2021 was a blended approach of online and in-person sessions. We had several months to plan for this and decided not to organise any tours. Instead, SNS ran individual sessions across the country and used Zoom and Microsoft Teams to bring the speakers from Israel and Palestine into the classroom. We surpassed our targets for the year, working with 8,815 students at 84 schools over 201 sessions. We also ran teacher training sessions which were taken up by 258 teachers and ran training sessions for organisations including the Council for Christians and Jews, Stand Up Education Against Discrimination, British Actors Network, local branches of the Labour Party, and members of synagogues. We were particularly busy in the summer term due to the outbreak of violent conflict in Israel and Palestine.

Autumn term 2020

During the autumn term of 2020, SNS continued to adapt and learn the lessons of our changed reality and what it means for education in schools. We ran 17 school sessions, plus some online community and teacher training sessions reaching a total of 507 people. Most of these sessions were fully online, with the exception of five of them being run in schools by SNS facilitators with the Israeli and Palestinian speakers. It was also during this term that our Managing Director undertook Negotiation and Leadership Training with Pathways Institute for Negotiation Education, strengthening the skill set of the SNS Leadership Team. SNS also published the Teacher Handbook, and the alumni showcase booklet, diversifying our resources for teachers and demonstrating how our alumni have been impacted and empowered by our work.

Spring term 2021

The spring term of 2021 was one of our busiest on record, especially given that we did not run tours. We ran 38 school sessions, plus some online community and teacher training sessions reaching a total of 1,521 people – three times the number that we reached the previous term. Most of these sessions again were fully online, with the exception of four of them being run in schools by SNS facilitators with the Israeli and Palestinian speakers up on the big screen for the Q&A via Zoom. As lockdown continued beyond the Christmas holiday, teachers and students seemed to more actively embrace online learning, and take-up for our online sessions was much better. The personal story films project continued with almost all of the planned films being completed and several of them piloted for use in online sessions and in the classroom with great success. In addition, the new freelance facilitators began work in co-facilitating and also independently leading our online sessions.

The take-up for our training sessions for teachers and community leaders was particularly strong this term, with three times the number of participants (134) than our annual target being achieved. Feedback from these sessions was very positive, but also indicated a desire for additional content and depth amongst participants.

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Bridge Builders Programme

The highlight of the term was our new Bridge Builders Programme, involving 26 young people in an online experience of 20.5 hours of workshops across 6 days, exploring issues of identity, intercommunal dialogue, conflict resolution and tackling racism. The participants are already going on to carry out their own projects with the support of the SNS team and the mentors who volunteered for the programme. The feedback results indicated that they had a significantly increased sense of empowerment, both in terms of attitude and skills to take action on the issues that were raised during the course.

Summer term

In the summer term, there was an escalation of violence in Israel and Palestine, with a short war happening between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza strip, violence internally within Israel’s mixed towns and cities, and violence in the West Bank between settlers and Palestinian residents, and the IDF. The escalation in violence there lead to an escalation of tensions here in the UK, and increased antisemitism and Islamophobia. On May 18, antisemitic incidents had risen by 500% and antiMuslim incidents were up 430% since 8 May, and the incidents of these within secondary schools was significant, hitting the news headlines in the UK. Many students wanted to discuss this issue in schools and express the strong feelings they have about it.

Due to this, the summer term 2021 was our most challenging yet successful term to date. Over the course of the term, we reached 6,844 young people with our conflict resolution education sessions and trained 162 of their teachers and community leaders in recognising and tackling antisemitism and Islamophobia in relation to this topic. This broke our record for the most activity in one term and was particularly significant considering the COVID restrictions we were still operating under.

Face-to-Face sessions and online resources

Most of our sessions (64%) were able to take place with the facilitator in the classroom this term, with 36% being conducted online. A few were with live speakers who are currently living in the UK. However, the majority were with speakers in the region using a video link. The new personal story films greatly enhanced many of these sessions – giving students a first-hand visual insight into the speakers’ homes, neighbourhoods and lives. The facilitators were then able to conduct the Q&A with them using Zoom and this worked very well for our Part 2 sessions.

During this term, the Secretary of State for Education recommended us in a public letter to all secondary school headteachers. This increased awareness of our programme in schools across the country, although he neglected to mention that Islamophobia, as well as antisemitism, was a problem facing schools during this period. This caused us some issues and we were the subject of conspiracy theories. However, our approach of face-to-face engagement in cases where it was deemed likely to be successful, combined with non-engagement with the trolling on social media, meant that our work in schools was largely unaffected, with only a few parents or teachers raising concerns. Where that did occur, we were able to allay the concerns by giving full access to our

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sessions and resources so people could understand our programme first-hand, and we continued with our programme in those schools. In addition, our own content on social media went viral, with over 80,000 likes on our Guide to Avoiding Hate Speech, and 475,000 people seeing it across the world thanks to it being shared by so many people, organisations, and celebrities who have millions of followers.

Social media campaign

Following the significant increase in SNS social media reach (on Instagram we went from 400 followers to 11,500 in a week), we understood that there is a wider appetite for our approach to looking at the conflict and to our provision of critical-thinking questions. We then decided to run an online campaign with the Alliance For Middle East Peace (ALLMEP) called #iftheycanwecan, which highlighted how Israelis and Palestinians were pushing back against the violence, against polarisation, and against lose-lose outcomes, and asked British people to do the same.

Rage, Revenge, and Repair

We also completed a new film resource called ‘Rage, Revenge, and Repair’, which has been impactful in the classroom in increasing empathy and humanising the conflict, ahead of the students meeting our speakers on Zoom or in person. The film focuses on the stories of an Israeli man and a Palestinian man, Yigal and Arab, both of whom had sisters who were killed at different points during the conflict. Yigal’s sister was killed by a Palestinian suicide bomber, and Arab’s sister was killed by an Israeli Defence Force sniper. The film shows them apart, telling their stories and explaining their emotions in relation to what happened including anger and hatred, before later coming to a denouement and showing them sitting together as friends and ‘brothers’ through their work with the Parents’ Circle, demonstrating forgiveness and the belief in peace and non-violence as the way forward. Yigal and Arab are role-models in conflict resolution and teachers have given us overwhelmingly positive feedback on the film so far including a teacher from Birmingham saying: “The film was a turning point for students. Up till that point they had been negative and sceptical about approaches that involved any kind of dialogue or listening to both sides. After watching the film, one of the students who is most passionate about this issue said, ‘I get it, it makes sense now’. The whole class engaged very positively with the rest of the programme.” By the end of the 2022 school year, the film will have been seen by almost 10,000 British teenagers.

Partnerships

Finally, SNS delivered training to partners in the UK and Europe including Encate, Stand Up Education Against Discrimination, Pathways, and Talk Matters, and appeared as guest speakers on some of their own events. These sessions strengthened our partnerships with these organisations, and some of these organisations are to provide training to our team in due course. These organisations work on related issues, racism, antisemitism, skills for youth, and Islamophobia. We believe that we need to collaborate and empower these organisations because SNS is one piece of a wider puzzle of organisations working towards a better British society.

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The SNS Israeli and Palestinian Speakers and Fellows

Time and time again we see impact in our work because we have Palestinian and Israeli speakers in the room (or on Zoom!). For the majority of the young people with whom we work in the UK, SNS is the first and possibly the only chance they have to meet their peers from the region in a safe space, and the only platform for them to listen, talk, ask questions, and think critically about the situation without judgement, ridicule, or shame. This was particularly important during the May/June violence and conflict in Israel and Palestine during which students were seeing awful and bloody images on social media and were only hearing from political leaders or those who campaign for zero-sum outcomes, causing upset, anger, and anxiety amongst students. Via our speakers, British students are provided with a completely different perspective, knowledge and insight into the peace work taking place, and a safe space to ask really difficult questions. These Palestinians and Israelis are working day in and day out to end violence, conflict, and occupation. They practice in-group criticism at even the hardest times, and they reach their hand across physical, social, political, and religious borders to say, ‘we must find peace’. They are role models for the students.

In 2020-2021, our Middle East work to recruit and train speakers took a different form to previous years as we could not travel to the region, and we could not run tours. Instead, our Managing Director worked closely with a group of around 20 Israelis and Palestinians who are already speakers in our programme and who have or will have personal story videos. Each speaker has received bespoke training individually, in their societal group, and with their partners on ‘the other side’, as well as receiving additional training from experts such as Peggy Forrell, who trains speakers in public speaking. During this year, we also ran three digital reunions, in place of our usual annual reunion, and offered training to speakers whose tours were cancelled due to the pandemic.

The 2020-2021 academic year was a challenging year for our community of Fellows and speakers. Maintaining good personal relationships through face-to-face interactions, social events, and visits to the region with the Managing Director and SNS staff is vital to strengthening trust, confidence, and motivation, and that was not possible during this year. In previous years, the Managing Director was visiting around four times a year. In addition to this, they were experiencing a global pandemic and lockdowns, and the May 2021 war. All of the speakers mentioned in feedback that running online sessions is harder for them, emotionally and mentally, than in-person sessions. This is because they are not interacting directly with the students, and often they are not able to see their faces and therefore understand the impact of the sessions. We provide termly reports for speakers now, in order to provide them with evidence that their participation is vital and valuable.

Freelance Facilitators

We have now recruited 10 freelance facilitators who are trained by SNS to run sessions in classrooms and online. The facilitators have come from diverse backgrounds; we have SLP alumni, former teachers, foster carers, and students. They have all undergone a thorough group and individual interview process, a vetting process including getting a DBS check and sending

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professional and personal references, attended six hours of group training, a one-on-one training session with someone from SNS’ Leadership Team, done practice sessions, and observed sessions. The training included Non-Violent Communication, antisemitism and Islamophobia in relation to Israel-Palestine in the UK, Israeli and Palestinian narratives, and understanding SNS’ approach in schools. The use of freelance facilitators to run sessions not only expands SNS’ network and reach across the country but frees up the core staff to carry out their central responsibilities and ensures that we can continue to scale up and expand at minimal extra cost.

Bridge Builders Programme

SNS’ first ever online course for young people aged 16-19 took place in February-March. 26 participants experienced a series of workshops, worked in smaller incubator hubs alongside experienced leaders and worked together on a number of Bridge Builder Challenges by several projects after completion. The incubator hubs and opportunity to be mentored by interfaith leaders gave this programme a uniqueness and an added advantage. Two of the Student Leadership Programme alumni joined Bridge Builders as volunteers and mentors, demonstrating the opportunity for alumni to be involved and SNS investing in their continuing development. All participants were given the opportunity to join the SLP in August. Sessions from the week included our leadership journey, interfaith and tackling division, religious persecution, understanding antisemitism and Islamophobia, the Balkans conflict, Non-Violent Communication, loving your neighbour in an age of religious conflict, and brainstorming for shared projects. We worked with SNS’ partners to run sessions including Stand Up Education Against Discrimination, LSE Faith Centre, Corrymeela, Remembering Srebrenica, and the Council for Christians and Jews.

Challenging Leadership

Our new peer-to-peer discussion series called Challenging Leadership continued this year, with two online sessions reaching 25 people. External speakers were invited to speak about the topic of bereavement, forgiveness and overcoming hate, and the participants included young people from Israel, Palestine and the UK who had a Q&A discussion centred on the issues raised by the speakers. One of the speakers was Jo Berry, who lost her father in the 1984 Brighton IRA bombing, the other was Mike Haines, whose brother David Haines was beheaded by ISIL in Syria in 2014. This series of sessions was offered as a follow-up for young people who have become part of the SNS network after participating in initial sessions and are designed to build skills and consolidate the SNS approach in a way that will enable these young people to take it forward in their own communities and institutions.

Personal story films

We began trialling the use of these films for sessions this term with overwhelming levels of success in terms of feedback from students and particularly teachers (who are able to compare with having had SNS sessions in the past without the films). Strong themes of dealing with feelings of hatred and revenge and choosing the path of peaceful activism run through all the speakers’ stories, as well as the importance of embracing diverse identities and narratives, and reaching out to those who are different from yourself. Students who have seen the personal story videos before

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the Q&A with the speakers are noticeably more enthusiastic and engaged in the dialogue, and feedback from teachers has included how good an opportunity it is for the students to see the speakers in their home context – it feels like a much more intimate encounter and more ‘real’ for them.

The Student Leadership Programme (SLP)

Due to the pandemic, SNS did not run a SLP in September 2020. However, we were able to run a 2021 SLP in August 2021. The 2021 SLP brought together 17 British Jews, Muslims, Christians and those of no faith in Year 13, on their gap year and in the first year of university. The aim of the programme was to explore three key questions:

This year’s programme was based at The Woolf Institute in Cambridge, who were generous in hosting us without cost for the duration of the programme. The students spent the week discussing issues within British society, learning more about Israel-Palestine, and receiving training such as leadership and negotiation, Non-Violent Communication, public speaking, storytelling, student activism, combatting hate and prejudice, recognising antisemitism and Islamophobia, and peace and leadership. Speakers were ‘Zoomed’ in from Palestine, Israel, the UK, and Europe, and included several of SNS’ Israeli and Palestinian speakers, and former SLP participants. We also asked partner organisations to run some training sessions, and participants visited a mosque, a church, and a synagogue which allowed students of faith to speak about what their faith means to them and to share more about their religious identity with other participants.

Analysing the quantitative responses from the pre- and post-programme forms, we can see an overall increase in those mostly or completely comfortable expressing views on the IsraeliPalestinian conflict. Most significantly, before the SLP only 3 people were completely comfortable. This rose to 8 people after the SLP. A number of participants mentioned an increased confidence in the ability to debate or to express their opinion better: “Once I understood the opposing narrative it became easier to combat it and in turn express my own opinions.” Others went further to explain how the skills learned have helped them to engage with different views or narratives: “I feel this course has taught me how to confidently distinguish between fact and opinion, and to identify a certain narrative from a wide range of examples. This, alongside my empathy/ NVC training, makes me feel more comfortable discussing, and in the right context expressing my views on the conflict.”

The SLP is designed to be a follow-on programme for students that have ideally completed the three E’s (Exploration, Empathy and Empowerment) of the SNS programme in their secondary schools. It builds upon the skills learnt in those sessions, further empowering young people in a safe space, giving them the chance to really practise critical thinking, active listening, debating, and storytelling, and sets up leadership paths for young people. Every year SNS creates an alumni

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booklet detailing what the SLP alumni from previous years have gone on to do with their experiences and each year, we see alumni continuing their work with SNS through becoming facilitators, mentors, running related presentations at their schools or universities, and going into related career fields. We look forward to seeing what this cohort of young people do.

Some participant feedback:

“I have come out of my shell and feel much more confident in carrying out activism on campus and making educational institutions safer for the youth".

“Once I understood the opposing narrative it became easier to combat it and in turn express my own opinions.”

“I feel this course has taught me how to confidently distinguish between fact and opinion, and to identify a certain narrative from a wide range of examples. This, alongside my empathy/ NVC training, makes me feel more comfortable discussing, and in the right context expressing my views on the conflict.”

““This programme has illuminated with even greater intensity just how much you can learn and understand from others, especially when they pose a challenge.”

“I am proud of who I am, and this is a safe environment to share my identity. This allows us to form good relationships and prevent arguments from occurring."

Social media and digital resources

After we increased our social media reach in May 2021, SNS partnered with ALLMEP to run the #iftheycanwecan campaign, as mentioned in the introduction to this report. The eight Instagram posts focused on organisations which are fighting violence, occupation, and conflict through peaceful means and invited British people to do the same by rejecting hatred, discrimination, violence, and zero-sum attitudes and approaches when it comes to how we talk about or act upon Israel-Palestine here in the UK. The campaign reached 31,652 people in the 30-day period of the campaign, and an additional 8,500 people via ALLMEP’s own posts.

2020-2021 also saw SNS launch the first SNS Teachers’ Handbook, written by SNS’ Managing Director, Jess Brandler, who consulted with community and religious leaders, and pedagogical experts in the field before publishing. The first two terms had some uptake by teachers who read the handbook, but the summer term had a much larger uptake by teachers and other practitioners who downloaded and used the handbook in their schools and classrooms, demonstrating the appetite by teachers and schools for additional support and resources.

SNS also brought on a new staff member in 2021; Mohammed Ali Amla, to be the Youth & Partnerships Director.

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Outcomes and impact

a) Quantitative Metrics for 2020 - 21

This year, Solutions Not Sides surpassed the 50,000 participants mark since the programme was founded in 2011. With the increasing demand from schools, the number of tours has grown from four in 2014, to 13 in 2017-2018, to 17 in 2018-19 and 20 were planned in 2019-20, of which 17 took place due to three being cancelled because of the COVID pandemic. This year, the total number of participants was around 8,900 students and 350 teachers/community leaders. This figure was spread across our main priority areas of London, Birmingham, East Midlands, Manchester and Lancashire, Bradford and Leeds, Scotland and South Wales.

During the first two terms of the year, we collected feedback from 84 students using forms in which we asked the students questions on a written survey prior to and after meeting the speakers from Israel and Palestine. This was slightly less feedback than collected in previous years. This is because we usually ask students to complete the feedback form at the end of the session and we collect the forms in. However, because many of the sessions were online instead and most teachers did not send us the feedback forms afterwards. We did receive plenty of written feedback by teachers via email, but much less student feedback than usual. Below, you can see the initial responses and learning outcomes across the first two terms.

Initial responses

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The appreciation of the safe space atmosphere this year was higher than last year at around 30% in the autumn and spring, demonstrating the professionalism of SNS staff and facilitators in their setting up of the room both online and in-person, and in their responses to questions and comments from students. The very high percentage of students who indicated that they appreciated the chance to engage with the Palestinian and Israeli speakers, and appreciated their attitudes and approaches was almost 70%, which is the highest percentage indicator for any outcome we have ever had. t was particularly high in the autumn and spring terms, demonstrating that the quality of the speakers, the messages they sent, their responses to questions, and their energy and openness were important for the students. Despite facing conflict, occupation, war, lockdowns, a global pandemic, and less satisfaction from the sessions compared to when doing them in person, the speakers were excellent and ‘showed up’ for every session both practically and mentally. Every year and in every piece of feedback, it is the presence of the speakers which is the most important and recognised aspect of the session for British youth. It is speaking to them, asking them questions, and hearing their stories which includes the ‘eureka moment’ in which they realise the ‘other side’ is also human, that moves the needle in terms of attitudinal and behavioural change.

The percentage of students who expressed an increase in awareness of the complexities of the situation, a deepening of knowledge and a sense of becoming more open-minded was just over 25%, which is less than last year. Students are asked open-ended questions and there are no prompts or suggestions for their answers, so it may be that more students chose to write about the speakers and their impact, rather than the specific knowledge obtained. It may also be due to change in format this year of sessions with the SNS facilitators and speakers being just one hour, instead of 90 minutes, therefore the end of the session which includes a summary of empowerment tools for young people, especially if beset by technical problems, may be rushed and even missed. We will be looking at this data for next year’s curriculum.

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Learning outcomes

The pattern of learning outcomes was around the same compared with previous years, however there were some significant increases in positive outcomes this year which are worth noting. Almost 65% of students noted that they now understood and recognised different perspectives on the conflict. This is 20% higher than in previous years. This may be because many of the students were entering our sessions with strongly held and single perspective attitudes and the shift is therefore more significant. Regardless of why this increase has occurred, it is encouraging to see the intended impact of our work strengthen every year. The awareness of dialogue being conducted and efforts towards peace increased by 12%, from 4% to 16%. In the spring term, we asked speakers to speak more about their peace work and we also highlighted ALLMEP in the final slide of the sessions, which probably explains this increase.

The shift from enmity to empathy increased from last year’s 9% to 17%, which is on par with the annual average. This is shown where a student holds hatred or negative stereotypes towards one side before engaging in the programme, and then writes something showing a shift in those attitudes towards empathy for the human beings on the other side,

The rejection of violence was at 16% in the first two terms, and 9% in the summer term. The learning outcome of critically assessing bias in different forms of media was at 15% in the spring and autumn terms. Whilst the question of media bias often comes up in the sessions, there is not a specific teaching point or exercise within the sessions that focuses on this learning outcome. Instead, we have developed our teacher & student led learning resources for this and discuss it during the teacher training. We point students towards our weekly news update which focuses on how different media outlets will present one story in different ways. This is sent via email to 400 people a week and reaches many more via social media.

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Summer term impact

During the summer term we changed the structure of the sessions into three parts focusing on Empowerment, Exploration, and Empathy, and therefore also changed the way that we formatted the impact report. In the summer term, we collected feedback from 35 students, during what was a time of heightened tensions in the Middle East, with the conflict prominent in our media headlines here in the UK. Please see the graphs below for the new evaluation format.

Feedback from students in the summer term continued to show that the highlight of the SNS Youth Education Programme for them is the dialogue session with Palestinian and Israeli speakers. Some of the teacher feedback below also confirms this. The shift from enmity to empathy was higher than usual this term (it’s usually around 10%), with many students acknowledging that they had a negative view of people on one side of the conflict before but are realising that viewing the human beings on the other side as ‘the enemy’ is too simplistic and that empathy will be needed as one of the tools to resolve this conflict. A few students (just under 10%) commented about the problem of violence and that they recognised the importance of remembering that everyone involved is a human being with needs and rights that should be met.

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This term, the pattern of learning and response outcomes related to exploration and embracing complexity was consistent with most of our termly findings. More than 50% expressed appreciation that there are diverse perspectives on this issue, without needing to reconcile or justify those differing perspectives, and a slightly higher than average number of students this term indicated that they had become more open-minded and had a deeper sense of knowledge around the topic. The other three outcomes in this category have been steadily rising over the last few terms, as we have brought in more of a focus in the facilitator introductions and research follow-up opportunities on the role of the media, political leaders, and peace activists in the situation. In previous years, these three outcomes were often below 10%.

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The empowerment outcomes for this term were slightly lower than usual (usually around 30% for the first one on the left of the graph). There was no direct expression from students in their feedback forms about wanting to get involved in activism or dialogue on this issue moving forward. The awareness of dialogue and peace efforts was on a par with termly averages, however, and there were several comments from students about feeling more positive or hopeful about the situation having met the speakers. This category may be slightly lower this term since we have had to separate the solutions-focused critical-thinking part of the session from the session where the students get to meet the speakers because of the COVID situation, and many schools are not following through with the ‘Part 3’ session after meeting the speakers. This has been addressed during our annual curriculum review in August, and a plan is outlined to address it in the ‘weaknesses and improvements’ section below.

Some feedback from teachers this year:

“By having the pre materials before the session we could really focus on conflict resolution. Time given to allow the pupils to ask the questions they wanted.”

“The fact that they shared some personal details before - their story really hit home with the pupils - it was lived experience that they were sharing. Open and honest and not afraid to tackle any question. Very positive with the children”

“The iceberg method came through in both pre material and the session itself. The last activity had the pupils consider the issue from different perspectives.”

“By having a case study of Palestine-Israel there was a narrative base for the pupils to grasp to then take the next step of looking at conflict.”

“Yes [useful for addressing tensions]- the fact that they need to see it from both sides and look for balance rather than just pick a side. know the details and the impact.”

“The speakers were AMAZING! It worked really well introducing them via video intros and then getting to speak to them live. Very informative presentation as well. We all learnt a lot (staff included).”

“It's always good to hear the real people experiencing the conflict be given a voice to speak to young people who want to learn more about it.”

“The speakers were particularly powerful, and I think this had the most impact on the students. Many visually relaxed throughout the course of the workshop. It was particularly wonderful to see some of our more previously upset and angry students talking to Obada in such a respectful and relaxed way.”

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Student feedback:

“I liked the fact we were treated as adults and our opinions and suggestions were really valued and listened to - especially since we will be the decision makers of the future.”

“I especially found it interesting having the Israeli and Palestinian speakers and hearing their different viewpoints.”

“I liked the fact we were treated as adults and our opinions and suggestions were really valued and listened to - especially since we will be the decision makers of the future.”

“I liked how the session was not opinionated and I was able to see the conflict through the sides of a Palestinian as well as an Israeli. I was presented with invaluable information through the eyes of people who have first handedly experienced the conflict and it was much more educational compared to biased media views that we are often presented with.”

We are really pleased with the increase in impact this academic year. The summer term threw PR challenges at us, and students and speakers had heightened emotions during this time period, and we still managed to achieve impact. It demonstrates that the purpose of SNS is being fulfilled; to provide British teenagers and their teachers with a safe space, diverse narratives, empowering tools of critical thinking, communication, and respectful disagreement, and tools to combat antisemitism and Islamophobia. This purpose is being fulfilled at the times when British youth need us the most; when they are angry, upset, disempowered, confused, and feeling as though they are not able to state their views or ask tough questions about Israel-Palestine. From 20212022, we will continue to work hard to increase reach and impact, and we will be using the Empathy, Exploration, and Empowerment categories as demonstrated in the graphs below from the 2021 summer term.

Plans for 2021-22

In 2021-22, SNS is planning to reach around 8,000 participants through a flexible combination of in school and online sessions, depending on the situation with the pandemic. We will continue to work with and to expand our network of freelance facilitators who are leading school sessions in person in their local areas, plus assist with sessions when they happen purely online. The Palestinian and Israeli speakers will mostly be connected to the students via Zoom, although for some sessions in and around London, some UK-resident speakers will be able to do some sessions. We are going to introduce a tiered approach to whether we work with schools with inperson speakers/facilitators or not, based on whether they are a priority school or not. The priority schools are those who are experiencing antisemitism and/or Islamophobia in the school related to Israel-Palestine, or/and see polarisation in the school around the issue, and/or have students who are strongly emotional and upset by the situation. This will allow us to best use our limited resources and ensure that the schools with the highest need are receiving the most interaction and support from us.

18

Solutions Not Sides

Trustees’ annual report

For the period ended 31 August 2021

In the summer of 2022, we will also plan to run a Student Leadership Programme (SLP), pending the confirmation of specific funding, and run an event for British teachers with their peers in Israel-Palestine in partnership with Retorika and Jerusalem PeaceBuilders. Throughout the year, we also plan to create more personal story videos of the speakers.

Following feedback and consultation from some community leaders, we are also creating and piloting a Christian training programme in 2021-2022.

Another key focus of the next academic year will be the crystallisation of our social media and digital strategy which will include comms and social media training for certain staff members, a focused approach to how we use each of our social media platforms in accordance with our mission, vision, and outcomes, and the creation of new digital resources for teachers and students. We will be publishing a new version of the Teacher Handbook and continuing with the successful social media guides.

Finally, we will be aiming to recruit at least three new board members throughout the year.

Financial commentary

For the year to 31 August 2021, Solutions Not Sides secured income of £389,696, £349,706 of which came from grants and donations. Expenditure in the year was £328,694 resulting in an unrestricted surplus for the year of £61,000.

This leaves an accumulated reserve of £151,000 for application in 2021/22 and to provide a financial base to secure the future operations of the charity.

SNS income

Total income (cash in) by the 12th and final month of the financial year is £389,696.

SNS expenditure

Total expenditure (cash out) for the 15th and final month of the financial year is £328,694

19

Solutions Not Sides

Trustees’ annual report

For the period ended 31 August 2021

Surplus/deficit

This leaves an accumulated reserve of £151,000 for application in 2021/22 and to provide a financial base to secure the future operations of the charity.

Sustainability and future funding

This surplus is £60,000 above the organisation’s reserves policy, which will provide a good level of sustainability moving forward. The consequences of the economic impact of COVID19 on the UK are not yet clear and may affect fundraising in the months ahead. SNS begins its new financial year in a robust position to carry forward programming.

SNS is anticipating that some of its longest-running supporters will still be in a position to support the organisation in the coming financial year, up to almost the full amount of its prospective budget for 2021-22. Combined with the expected income from charitable activities, the organisation looks likely to remain in a strong financial position for the coming twelve months.

Statement of responsibilities of the trustees

The charity trustees must comply with the requirements of the Charities Act with regard to the keeping of accounting records, to the preparation and scrutiny of statements of account, and to the preparation of annual reports and returns.

The statements of account, reports and returns must be sent to the Commission, regardless of the income of the CIO, within 10 months of the financial year end.

The charity trustees must comply with their obligation to inform the Commission within 28 days of any change in the particulars of the CIO entered on the Central Register of Charities.

These accounts have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act.

The trustees’ annual report has been approved by the trustees on 29 June 2022 and signed on their behalf by

Rachel Lewis (Jun 30, 2022 13:29 GMT+2)

R Lewis Chairperson

20

Independent examiner’s report

To the members of

Solutions Not Sides

I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of Solutions Not Sides for the year ended 31 August 2021.

This report is made solely to the trustees as a body, in accordance with the Charities Act 2011. My examination has been undertaken so that I might state to the trustees those matters I am required to state to them in an independent examiner's report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, I do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charity and the trustees as a body, for my examination, for this report, or for the opinions I have formed.

Responsibilities and basis of report

As the charity trustees 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 charity’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 Charities Act 2011 (‘the 2011 Act’).

Independent examiner’s statement

Since the charity’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 Accounts in England and Wales, which is one of the listed bodies.

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:

21

Independent examiner’s report

To the members of

Solutions Not Sides

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.

Name: Jonathan Orchard

The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales Address: Sayer Vincent LLP, Invicta House, 108-114 Golden Lane, London, EC1Y 0TL Date:

22

Solutions Not Sides

Statement of financial activities (incorporating an income and expenditure account)

For the 15 month period to 31 August 2021

Unrestricted
Note
£
Income from:
2
254,706
30,727
4,263
289,696
3
7
3
225,590
3,097
228,694
Net income / (expenditure) for year
61,002
61,002
Reconciliation of funds:
90,156
151,158
Total funds carried forward
Net movement in funds
Total funds brought forward
Governance
Total expenditure
Charitable activities
Total income
Expenditure on:
Raising funds
Donations and legacies
Charitable activities
Session fees
Other income		 Unrestricted
Note
£
Income from:
2
254,706
30,727
4,263
289,696
3
7
3
225,590
3,097
228,694
Net income / (expenditure) for year
61,002
61,002
Reconciliation of funds:
90,156
151,158
Total funds carried forward
Net movement in funds
Total funds brought forward
Governance
Total expenditure
Charitable activities
Total income
Expenditure on:
Raising funds
Donations and legacies
Charitable activities
Session fees
Other income		 Restricted
£
100,000
-
-		 2021
Total
£
354,706
30,727
4,263		 Unrestricted
£
356,239
17,227
25,246		 Restricted
£
-
-
-		 2020
Total
£
356,239
17,227
25,246
289,696 100,000 389,696 398,711 - 398,711
7
225,590
3,097		 -
100,000
-		 7
325,590
3,097		 936
299,209
8,410		 -
-
-		 936
299,209
8,410
228,694 100,000 328,694 308,555 - 308,555
61,002
61,002
90,156		 -
-
-		 61,002
61,002
90,156		 90,156
90,156
-		 -
-
-		 90,156
90,156
-
151,158 - 151,158 90,156 - 90,156

All of the above results are derived from continuing activities. There were no other recognised gains or losses other than those stated above.

23

Solutions Not Sides

Balance sheet

15 month period to 31 August 2021

Note
£
Current assets:
8
-
163,767
163,767
Liabilities:
9
(12,609)
Total unrestricted funds
Total assets less current liabilities
Debtors
The funds of the charity:
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year
Net current assets
Total net assets / (liabilities)
Cash at bank and in hand
Total charity funds		 Note
£
Current assets:
8
-
163,767
163,767
Liabilities:
9
(12,609)
Total unrestricted funds
Total assets less current liabilities
Debtors
The funds of the charity:
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year
Net current assets
Total net assets / (liabilities)
Cash at bank and in hand
Total charity funds		 2021
£
151,158		 £
1,958
94,697		 2020
£
90,156
163,767
(12,609)		 96,655
(6,499)
151,158
151,158		 90,156
90,156
151,158 90,156
151,158 90,156

The opinion of the directors is that the company is entitled to the exemptions conferred by Section 477 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small companies.

The directors acknowledge the following responsibilities:

Approved by the trustees on 29 June 2022 and signed on their behalf by

R Lewis Chairperson

24

Solutions Not Sides

Notes to the financial statements

For the 15 month period to 31 August 2021

1 Accounting policies

a) Statutory information

Solutions Not Sides is a charitable incorporated organisation registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales.

The registered office address is The Vineyards, 36 Gloucester Avenue, London, NW1 7BB.

b) Basis of preparation

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) - (Charities SORP FRS 102), The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) and the Charities Act 2011.

The financial statements have been prepared to give a ‘true and fair’ view and have departed from the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 only to the extent required to provide a ‘true and fair view’. This departure has involved following Accounting and Reporting by Charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) rather than the Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice effective from 1 April 2005 which has since been withdrawn.

Assets and liabilities are initially recognised at historical cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policy or note.

In applying the financial reporting framework, the trustees have made a number of subjective judgements, for example in respect of significant accounting estimates. Estimates and judgements are continually evaluated and are based on historical experience and other factors, including expectations of future events that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances. The nature of the estimation means the actual outcomes could differ from those estimates. Any significant estimates and judgements affecting these financial statements are detailed within the relevant accounting policy below.

c) Public benefit entity

The charity meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS 102.

The trustees consider that there are no material uncertainties about the charity's ability to continue as a going concern.

e) Income

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

Income from 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.

Income received in advance of the provision of a specified service is deferred until the criteria for income recognition are met.

Restricted funds are to be used for specific purposes as laid down by the donor. Expenditure which meets these criteria is charged to the fund.

Unrestricted funds are donations and other incoming resources received or generated for the charitable purposes.

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. Expenditure is classified under the following activity headings:

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

h) 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.

25

Solutions Not Sides

Notes to the financial statements

For the 15 month period to 31 August 2021

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.

Income from donations and legacies
Donated services
Donations
Grants		 Unrestricted
£
237,831
16,875
-		 £
100,000
-
-
Restricted		 2021
Total
£
337,831
16,875
-		 Unrestricted
£
250,974
105,265
-		 £
-
-
-
Restricted		 2020
Total
£
250,974
105,265
-
254,706 100,000 354,706 356,239 - 356,239

Donations in 2020 include the balance of funds of Solutions Not Sides held by OneVoice Europe at 1 September 2020 (see note 11).

Grants include £14,195 received under the government's Covid Job Retention Scheme.

26

Solutions Not Sides

Notes to the financial statements

For the 15 month period to 31 August 2021

3 Analysis of expenditure

Staff costs
Other direct project costs
Legal and Governance
Overheads
Fundraising
Other staff costs
Sundry
Total expenditure 2021		 Raising
funds
£
-
-
-
-
7
-
-
7		 Charitable Governance
costs
£
-
-
3,097
-
-
-
-
3,097		 2021
Total
£
192,521
117,905
3,097
10,957
7
4,207
-		 Raising
funds
-
-
-
-
936
-
-		 Charitable
activity
124,673
80,522
-
27,162
-
65,902
950		 Governance
costs
2020
Total
£
-
124,673
-
80,522
8,410
8,410
-
27,162
-
936
-
65,902
-
950
8,410
308,555
Charitable
activity
£
192,521
117,905
-
10,957
-
4,207
-
325,590
328,694 936 299,209

27

Solutions Not Sides

Notes to the financial statements

For the 15 month period to 31 August 2021

Staff costs were as follows:

Staff costs were as follows:
Employer’s contribution to defined contribution pension schemes
Net salary
Tax and social security costs		 2021
£
128,628
54,608
9,285		 2020
£
124,673
58,002
7,900
192,521 190,575

No employee earned more than £60,000 during the year (2020: nil)

The charity trustees were neither paid nor received any other benefits from employment with the charity in the year (2020: £nil). No charity trustee received payment for professional or other services supplied to the charity. No trustees claimed any expenses in the year (2020: £nil).

5 Related party transactions

There are no related party transactions to disclose for this financial year (2020: £nil).

6 Taxation

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

7 Net income resources for year

This is stated after charging:

This is stated after charging:
2021 2020
£ £
Independent examination fees 2,000 2,000
Depreciation - -

28

Solutions Not Sides

Notes to the financial statements

For the 15 month period to 31 August 2021

Debtors
Other debtors
Rent deposit
Gift aid receivable		 2021
£
-
-
-		 2020
£
172
304
1,482
- 1,958
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year
General funds
Total funds
Movements in funds
Restricted funds:
DCLG Film Project
Unrestricted funds:
Taxation and social security
Accruals
Total restricted funds
Total unrestricted funds		 At 1
September
2020
£
-		 Income &
gains
£
100,000		 Expenditure
& losses
£
(100,000)		 2021
£
10,209
2,400		 2020
£
4,099
2,400
12,609 6,499
Transfers
£
-		 At 31
August
2021
£
-
- 100,000 (100,000) - -
90,156 289,696 (228,694) - 151,158
90,156 289,696 (228,694) - 151,158
90,156 389,696 (328,694) - 151,158

10 Movements in funds

11 Transfer of activities and net assets

Prior to September 2019, the activities of Solutions Not Sides were undertaken within OneVoice Europe - a registered charity and company limited by guarantee.

Solutions Not Sides was registered as a separate charitable incorporated organisation (CIO) in May 2019. Under the terms of a transfer deed, the activities and net assets of Solutions Not Sides were transferred from OneVoice Europe to the new Solutions Not Sides CIO on 31 August 2019.

29