Free Movement Skateboarding CIO UK Charity No. 1184649 

Trustee Annual Report and Financial Statements 

01 September 2021 – 31 August 2022 



## Contents 

|Contents||
|---|---|
|Contents|1|
|Reference and Administrative Details|3|
|Report of the Trustees|4|
|Structure, governance & management|4|
|Objectives|4|
|Charitable Activities and Public Benefit in the past year|4|
|Impact|4|
|Operating Environment|6|
|Coronavirus and Lockdown:|6|
|Situation in Athens:|6|
|Skateboarding:|6|
|Developments in the Team:|7|
|Greek NGO:|7|
|Filika Skate Meets:|7|
|Concrete Jungle Foundation:|7|
|Highlights|8|
|Beyond Skateboarding tour:|8|
|Community Events:|8|
|Game of Skate Contest:|9|
|Premier of ‘The Invincible Summer’:|9|
|Sessions Insights|10|
|2022 - 2023 Plans|11|
|More Community Events:|11|
|Developing Edu-Skate and being active in Network:|11|
|Expansion and Project Development:|11|
|Fundraising diversification:|11|
|Statement of Financial Activities|12|
|Statement of Responsibility of the Trustees|18|
|Independent Examiners Report|20|
|Responsibilities and Basis of the Report|20|





Independent Examiner’s Statement Trustees Acknowledgement 

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## Reference and Administrative Details 

|||
|---|---|
|Registered office and operational address:|73 Marshal’s Drive, St Albans, Herts, England, AL1 4RD<br>Feidippidou 25A, 15351 Pallini, Greece|
|Trustees:|Trustees appointed as of the submission of this report.<br>David Ascott<br>Daniel Schweppestedde<br>Keshini Mauree-Bain<br>Alex Segiet|
|Full Time Staff:|Full time staff as of the submission of this report.<br>William Ascott<br>Denia Nicholas<br>Giannis Katsaounos<br>Denia Kopita|
|Sessional Staff:|Sessional staff as of the submission of this report.<br>Christos Seferlis<br>Erato Chatira<br>Valentina Davitidou<br>Andreas Chatzigianelis|
|Bank:|Barclays Community Account<br>Barclays, 86 Town Centre, Hatfield AL10 0JP|
|Independent Examiner:|Michael Richmond<br>5 Traherne Close, Hitchin, Herts, SG4 9DS|



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## Report of the Trustees 

The Trustees present their report and the independently examined financial statements for the year ended 31 August 2022. 

Reference and administrative information set out on page 2 forms part of this report.  The financial statements comply with current statutory requirements, the memorandum and articles of association and the Statement of Recommended Practice - Accounting and Reporting by Charities (Charities SORP FRS 102). 

## Structure, governance & management 

FMS is a registered Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO), number 1184649. 

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

The Trustees review the aims, objectives and activities of the charity each year. This report looks at what the charity has achieved and the outcomes of its work for the 12 months in the year ending 31 August 2022. The Trustees report the success of each key activity and the benefits the charity has brought to those groups of people that it is set up to help. The review also helps the Trustees ensure the charity's aims, objectives and activities remain focused on its stated purposes. 

## Objectives 

1. The promotion of community participation in healthy recreation for the public benefit by providing facilities capable of improving health including but not limited to skateboarding. 

2. To provide or assist in the provision of facilities in the interests of social welfare for recreation or other leisure time occupation of individuals who have need of such facilities by reason of their youth, age, infirmity or disability, financial hardship or social circumstances with the object of improving their conditions of life. 

## Charitable Activities and Public Benefit in the past 

## year 

## Impact 

- We delivered 202 sessions to 677 participants over the past year, in 10 different locations. 

- There was a 160% increase in participants that attended our sessions this year 

- There was a decrease in the percentage of girl participation. This was largely impacted by the increase in new sessions and participants, as 69% of new participants were boys, especially when 

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we first start sessions. However, we continue to work on empowering girls to skateboard and providing them access to skateboarding and a safe space. Positively when looking at regular participation of girls in comparison to boys, more girls remain regulars than boys. 33% of girls attended more than 5 sessions compared to 29% of boys. 

- 65% of new participants returned to sessions, with 31% of participants becoming regular attendees (having participated in more than 5 weekly sessions). There was an increase in participants' regularity this year, meaning that our regular participants can experience more of the benefits of skateboarding. 

- Our participants were from 38 different cultural backgrounds this year, and 52 since we started, all residing in Athens. 

Athens can sometimes be a scary and unwelcoming city, with many cases of racism, obstacles, bureaucracy, and exclusions based on difference and othering. Much is due to it being a relatively recent multicultural city with few broader schemes to encourage social cohesion and understanding. We ensure our sessions and community feel safe and are welcoming, inclusive and accessible to everyone despite differences. 


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As a community we speak more than 18 different languages spoken between us, and there are many things we can share and learn from one another as we connect through skateboarding. 

FMS sees potential and beauty in diversity. We know the importance of feeling a sense of belonging and safety, of building community, and its importance for an individual’s mental well-being and ability to meet their potential. These bonds at the micro-level form the basis for a neighbourhood's and city's social cohesion, as well as for a more peaceful society in the future. 

## Operating Environment 

## Coronavirus and Lockdown: 

Fortunately, Coronavirus caused less disruption to our activities this year. Despite our persistence in taking all the precautions necessary, it was a relief once all the team got fully vaccinated. There was a slight scare at the end of December with the Omicron variant causing a large impact in Athens and causing many of the team to have to quarantine, meaning that it took us a while to begin sessions at the start of January, especially due to the large number of cases causing a larger risk in gathering people in a public space. The disruption caused last year is reflected in the large increase of sessions and participants this year, there was a 57% increase in sessions. 

## Situation in Athens: 

Greece continues to face complex societal and economic issues. Athens still has a lack of accessible and inclusive recreational activities and spaces, wellbeing services and social cohesion initiatives, especially spaces shared by young people of diverse backgrounds. Many issues of divisions, exclusion, isolation, mental wellbeing and health were only exacerbated with Covid-19. These are only made worse by added crises over the past year, including the increase in living expenses impacted by the energy crisis caused by the latest of wars. These increases in living costs and even supermarket prices, has put an increased strain on many families. In addition, the withdrawal of resources towards migration NGOs has caused many projects and NGOs to withdraw from Greece and reduce services. This has not only put a strain on those that remain, but also made the life of those that live in the periphery even harder. Moreover, during the past year various stories have come to light that have shocked Greek society; whether it is femicides, racism, police brutality, abuse, paedophilia or other safety concerns. The relevance and need for the goals and service provided by FMS remain, skateboarding in solidarity remains as important as ever to safeguard the mental and physical wellbeing of youth in Athens, to empower them, build community, networks and cohesion are as important as ever. 

## Skateboarding: 

Interest in skateboarding has only continued to increase, and interest in sessions and new young people that attend has grown. This year we also witnessed the establishment of the National Federation of Skateboarding in the country, following the Olympics. 

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## Developments in the Team: 

In the past year, Giannis, a long time FMS skate instructor, joined the core team, he has since become the volunteer and sessions coordinator, running the Edu-Skate curriculum in partnership with Concrete Jungle Foundation, and playing an important role in the development and quality of our sessions. This was a key development to meet our expansion and project development goals for 2021. Koger joined the team becoming a strong asset in making connections with the local skate scene and the skate industry. Unfortunately, he left the team due to finding a job that got him closer to obtaining some of his dreams, which we fully support despite missing him. Denia Kopita (yes, we now have two Denias in the team) joined us part-time in June and is now full time since September. She joins the team as a one of the top women skaters in the city, bringing her connections to the local and international skate scene and industry, as a fantastic skate instructor who has been with us for more than a year, inspiring and supporting the local girls skate scene. She will also create communication and promotional content for social media, as well as reigniting the blog. She’s truly an asset to the project and the team. 

Our team of paid sessional and volunteer skate instructors has also expanded dramatically, especially with the switch in focus last year from international to local skaters. This year we have welcomed a brilliant group of instructors to the team: Christos, Erato, Valentina and Andreas. We greatly appreciate their efforts! 

## Greek NGO: 

We have officially become a NGO in Greece in April (AMKE Free Movement Skateboarding). This has been a goal of ours for a while now, and finally it has happened, and will open many new doors for us. 

## Filika Skate Meets: 

Ruby, our co-founder, and Denia K. began weekly evening skate meets for girls, women and all nontraditional skaters. This is following the success of last year’s skate meets and to fill the need for a space like this in the Athenian skate scene with a supportive and welcoming environment for all. 

## Concrete Jungle Foundation: 

We are rolling out the Concrete Jungle Foundations Edu-skate curriculum. ‘Edu-skate is an innovative curriculum to teach skateboarding through the life-skills its practice induces. The programme’s aim is to empower and support its participants (ages 6-16 years old) in their development as a skateboarder, as well as a human being.’ One of our goals is to continue to improve the quality of our sessions for the young people we support and this curriculum will help us do so, thanks to CJF. In June, we even joined a multilateral initiative aimed at connecting social skate projects and exchanging perspectives on the implementation of life-skills focused skateboarding classes through the Concrete Jungle Foundation’s Edu-Skate programme. We are extremely happy to be participating in this initiative, supporting to build and strengthen the social skateboarding community, as well as participating amongst many other incredible projects worldwide. 

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## Highlights 

## Beyond Skateboarding tour: 

In February some of the team went on a UK training and networking tour! Together with Concrete Jungle Foundation and Skate Nottingham, Will, Giannis, Denia K. and Erato visited different cities and social skateboarding projects in the UK. The FMS instructors also completed the Skateboard GB Get Rolling coach course. 

They visited Manchester, Nottingham, Birmingham and London, meeting and sharing knowledge with many social skateboarding projects in these cities and beyond. They also had the opportunity to talk at Nottingham Trent University. 

The team returned to Athens with new knowledge, new ideas, new connections and contacts, and the social skateboarding network has been strengthened. This was all part of our goal to improve the quality of our sessions. 

More information about what they got up to is on our social media. 

The team undertook impact surveys following the trip. The following quote from Giannis says it all: ‘Before the trip I was completely lost on what to follow in my work and my life in general. Now I know what I want to do in my work life.’ 

## Community Events: 

A major goal of ours over the past year was community development in our public sessions, but also in the bigger sense the FMS community with the local skate community. This year we have had different sized events and brought together diverse communities. Whether it was small workshops or bigger events by the Athenian skate shops and community for our participants or at sessions, skate demos, community events with other grassroot organisations in Athens or participating in big skate events in Athens or Refugee Week Greece. All community events, whatever size, have been a great opportunity to bring communities together, widen support and demonstrate skateboarding in solidarity, on and off the board, in practice. 

Skate events allow our participants the opportunity to be included in the skate community, creating a sense of belonging and community. They also offer an opportunity to watch the FMS team skate and smash it with their incredible talent, bringing respect and admiration. 

Each event welcomes lovely reactions and comments from participants, their families, the neighbourhood and the skate scene. Moreover, there have been opportunities to introduce our participants to new activities, skills and experiences through the wider community and our collaborations with others. 

In October we hosted our first community skate event at our public session in Patisia. We invited local skaters from the Athenian skate community to come and skate with us and the FMS community. Local skaters skated at our mobile skatepark for the first time, while demonstrating to our participants different tricks and what can be achieved through years of committed skating. After this, our participants got to skate with them, bringing the skatepark experience to them in one of the most unlikely and unconventional settings and neighbourhoods. We mixed skaters and non-skaters, beginners and advanced skaters, the 

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FMS community and the local Athenian skate community, Athenians from different neighbourhoods, communities, backgrounds etc. It really was communities coming together on and off the board. Moreover, we were incredibly happy to see how many local and known skaters turned up, brought enthusiasm, interacted with our participants and showed support for our work. 

In March, we collaborated with Color Skate shop and Latraac skate cafe. We invited our most regular, dedicated and enthusiastic participants from different sessions to participate in a workshop on how to assemble a skateboard. These skateboards were generously donated to the children and young people at the event. They also got the opportunity to skate the bowl at Latraac, which was kindly opened for us for the event. We then watched the Color Skates team skaters and FMS instructors skate the bowl, as well as side activities like creating a massive collage out of skate magazines, used to inspire everyone. Moreover, Color arranged donuts and refreshments to treat all the kids. We had a lovely Sunday in the sun! 

## Game of Skate Contest: 

We hosted a Game of Skate contest for the Athens skate community. Our aims were to support the local skate scene but also support and showcase the girls skate scene’s skills and talents, as the feel unsupported in this country. It is important to support the girls skate scene in Athens, as these are the people that will offer inspiration for younger girls and empower them. Additionally, we want to support them to claim their space in the scene, by highlighting their skills to other skaters. We felt it was crucial to host for the first time in the country a contest that included them equally and had an equal prize to their male counterparts. 

After 2 months of Game of Skate battles, in May the finals took place and it came to an end at a famous Athenian skate sport in the centre of Athens. All the finalists battled it out and we declared the winners. Notably the girl’s winner won the same amount as the men. The finals were a celebration of Greek skateboarding and a great opportunity to gather, importantly showcasing women’s skateboarding in Greece. We heard male skaters talking about women’s skating seriously, which was a great achievement. Hopefully this is the first of many to come, as we continue to play a role in supporting and inspiring girl skaters. 

All games are available online on our blog and YouTube channel. 

## Premier of ‘The Invincible Summer’: 

In July, The Skateroom and Evan Maragoudakis premiered the film they created about FMS. The premier was hosted at Metaphor Creative Hub in Athens, Jack and Aurelie from The Skateroom were there to present their work, the collaboration and display some of their Cindy Sherman boards. Denia N., Denia K. and Lefty, along with Evan, stood up for the panel, talking about FMS present and future in Athens, as well as answering the audience's questions. There was a great turnout and the screening went wonderfully, there were so many positive comments from people that attended, everyone loved the film and wanted more. We also met various people that have leads for our future plans and that are enthusiastic to help us out. 

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## Sessions Insights 

We delivered 66 sessions in the Patisia neighbourhood throughout the entire fiscal year. It is our largest session, and with 45% of our participants, it is the most popular and well attended session. 

24% of our participants attended the 27 sessions we delivered in both Pedion tou Areos Park and Platia Protomagias next to the park, which we started delivering in November 2021. Due to the inconsistency of sessions, it being a new session and it not being amongst a neighbourhood, it took a long time to have regular attendance, as a result it has a low attendance.  We are confident it will grow greatly over the coming year. 

We chose to end our session in Exarchia as we felt the neighbourhood change, seeing lower interest and participation, understanding that we could meet a real need by moving to Pedion Tou Areos. 


We delivered sessions at Agios Andreas children’s shelter from September 2021 until June 2022, therefore it accounted for 24% of our sessions. However as it is a closed session it had the least of our participants, but a high attendance as we delivered sessions at the shelter. 

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In Kolonos we delivered 5 sessions to 49 participants in the short period we were delivering sessions at the location, there was a lot of interest and good attendance. We were forced to stop due to a participant safety concern in the space. We are developing plans to return to the neighbourhood. 

## 2022 - 2023 Plans 

## More Community Events: 

Aim for even more community events and collaborations this year. We value the importance of bringing people together and introducing our participants to new experiences. 

## Developing Edu-Skate and being active in Network: 

To continue developing the Edu-Skate curriculum to fit our context and sessions. As well as being active in the Edu-Skate network with other social skateboarding projects worldwide. 

## Expansion and Project Development: 

Set up a community space in the Patisia neighbourhood to better support our participants and community there. Allowing us also to expand our mobile activities and impact to other neighbourhoods. 

## Fundraising diversification: 

We will always aim to improve and diversify our funding, to ensure greater financial security for our activities. 

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## Statement of Financial Activities 

The financial results are set out in the attached receipts and payments account. 

All charity funds are maintained at Barclays. 


|Charity Name|||No (if any)|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|FREE MOVEMENT|SKATEBOARDING||1184649|||
||||||CC16a|
|Receipts and payments accounts||||||
|For the period<br>from|Period start date<br>01.09.2021|To|Period end date<br>31.08.2022|||



Section A Receipts and payments 

|A1 Receipts|Unrestricted<br>funds<br>to the nearest<br>£<br>40.573|Unrestricted<br>funds<br>to the nearest<br>£<br>40.573|Restricted<br>funds<br>to<br>the<br>nearest £<br>-|Restricted<br>funds<br>to<br>the<br>nearest £<br>-|Endowment<br>funds<br>to the nearest<br>£<br>-|Endowment<br>funds<br>to the nearest<br>£<br>-|Total funds<br>to the nearest<br>£<br>40.573<br>22.112|Last year<br>to the nearest £|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|CHOOSE LOVE Grant|40.573||-||-||40.573|51.867|
|Other Grants|19.634||2.478||-||22.112|11.061|





|Partnerships|2.635||-||-||2.635||289|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|Donations|8.399||-||-||8.399||8.597|
|Merchandise|102||-||-||102||1.648|
|Volunteer scheme|-||-||-||-||326|
|Other|577||-||-||577||310|
|Sub total(Gross income for AR)|71.920||2.478||-||74.398||74.098|
|||||||||||
|A2 Asset and investment sales,||||||||||
|(see table).||||||||||
||-||-||-||-||-|
|Sub total|-||-||-||-||-|
|||||||||||
|Total receipts|71.920||2.478||-||74.398||74.098|
|A3 Payments||||||||||



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|Staff stipends|46.515||-|<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br>|-|<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br>|46.515|<br> <br>|33.736|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|Instructor Training|3.166||-||-||3.166||-|
|Van expenses|3.902||-||-||3.902||3.713|
|Marketing (Digital Strategy)|714||-||-||714||1.589|
|CPH Trip (Networking)|636||-||-||636||-|
|FMS GR Costs|882||-||-||882||-|
|Merchandise|114||-||-||114||1.640|
|Session equipment|977||-||-||977||1.345|
|Programmes|-||-||-||-||1.620|
|COVID-19 response|-||-||-||-||8.968|
|Staff Welfare|1.619||-||-||1.619||3.108|
|Vol scheme|-||-||-||-||409|
|Other|725||-||-||725||191|
|Sub total|59.249||-||-||59.249||56.319|



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|-<br>-<br>-<br>2.478<br>-<br>-<br>2.478|-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-|-<br>-<br>59.249<br>15.149<br>-<br>55.746<br>70.895||
|---|---|---|---|
||||-|
||||-|
|||||
||||56.319|
|||||
|2.478|-|15.149|17.779|
|-|-|-|-|
|-|-|55.746|37.967|
|2.478|-|70.895|55.746|



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

Categories 

Details 

Unrestricted Restricted funds funds 

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## Endowment 

funds 

B1 Cash funds 

B2 Other monetary assets 

B3 Investment assets 

to nearest £ to nearest £ 

to nearest £ 

||||to nearest £||to nearest £||to nearest £|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||BARCLAYS Community (Main)||18.565||2.478|||-||
||BARCLAYS Savings||49.852||-|||-||
||BARCLAYS Merchandise||-||-|||-||
||Total cash funds||68.417||2.478|||-||
||(agree balances with receipts|||||||||
||and payments account(s))||OK||OK||OK|||
||||Unrestricted||Restricted|||||
||||funds||funds||Endowment|||
||||||||funds|||
||Details||to nearest £||to nearest £||to nearest £|||
||||-||-||-|||
||||-||-||-|||



Fund to which Current value Cost (optional) asset belongs (optional) - - - - 

Details 

16 



Fund to which Current value Cost (optional) Details asset belongs (optional) B4 Assets retained for the - - charity’s own use - - 

Details B5 Liabilities Signed by one or two trustees on Signature behalf of all the trustees 

Fund to which Amount due When due (optional) liability relates (optional) - - 

Print Name Date of approval DAVID ASCOTT 01.02.2023 

17 



## Statement of Responsibility of the Trustees 

FMS’ 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 give 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 these financial statements, the Trustees are required to: 

- Select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently (in this case on a receipts and payments basis); 

- Observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP; 

- Make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent; 

- State whether applicable UK Accounting Standards and statements of recommended practice have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements; and 

- Prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in operation. 

The Trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable company and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charitable company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities. 

In so far as the Trustees are aware: 

- There is no relevant information of which the charity’s independent examiner is unaware; and 

- • The Trustees have taken all steps that they ought to have taken to make themselves aware of any relevant information and to establish that the independent examiner is aware of that information. 

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. 

The opinion of the trustees is that the charitable organisation is entitled to the exemptions conferred by Section 477 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small charities. 

The trustees acknowledge the following responsibilities: 



- The members have not required the company to obtain an audit of its accounts for the year in question in accordance with section 476 

- The trustees acknowledge their responsibilities for complying with the requirements of the Act with respect to accounting records and the preparation of accounts 

These accounts have been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to charities subject to the small companies’ regime. 

Signed on behalf of the trustees Name: David Ascott 

Date: 01.02.2023 

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## Independent Examiners Report 

I report to the Free Movement Skateboarding trustees on my examination of the accounts of Free Movement Skateboarding for the year ending 31[st] August 2022. 

## Responsibilities and Basis of the Report 

As the charity trustees of Free Movement Skateboarding, 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 Free Movement Skateboarding’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 Charities Commission under section 145 (5) (b) of the Act. 

## Independent Examiner’s Statement 

I have completed my examination and 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: 

1. Accounting records were not kept in respect of Free Movement Skateboarding as required by section 130 of the Act; or 

2. The accounts do not accord with those records. 

I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which the attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. 

Signed: 

Name: Michael Richmond 

Relevant Professional qualification or membership of professional bodies (if any): FCCA Address: 5 Traherne Close, Hitchin, Herts, SG4 9DS 

Date: 01.02.2023 

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## Trustees Acknowledgement 

The trustees acknowledge their responsibility for complying with the requirements of the Act with respect to accounting records and for the preparation of accounts. 

These accounts have been prepared in accordance with provision applicable to charities subject to the small companies’ regime. 

The financial statements were approved by the Trustees and authorised for issue on 31.01.2023 and signed on their behalf by: Name: David Ascott 

Date: 01.02.2023 

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