2021-03-31-accounts - Menstruation Matters

This text was generated using OCR and may contain errors. Check the original PDF to see the document submitted to the regulator.

Annual Report and Financial Statements For the period from: 01/04/2020 to 31/03/2021

Contents

Legal and Administrative information Objectives and Activities Achievements and Performance Financial Review Structure, Governance and Management

Legal and Administrative Information

Name of the Charity:

Menstruation Matters

Charity Structure:

Menstruation Matters is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO)

Charity Registration Number:

1185177

Jurisdiction in Which the Charity is Registered:

England and Wales

Address of the Principal Office:

3 Alexandra Crescent Ilkley Leeds LS29 9ER

Trustees:

Katherine Rahnejat (Founder and Chair trustee) Megan Lloyd (Secretary trustee) Zahra Cader (Events trustee) Eliza Bradley (Communications trustee) Olivia Stanton (Legal trustee) Tabitha Bowman (Treasurer trustee) Emily Milne (Campaigns trustee) Anna Cartledge (Sustainability/Zero Waste trustee) Anesu Matanda-Mambingo (Outreach trustee)

Website: www.menstruationmatters.co.uk Contact: generalenquiries@menstruationmatters.co.uk

Objectives and Activities

Charity Objectives (as stated in governing document):

The objects of the CIO are for the public benefit, to relieve period poverty of women living in Yorkshire and the Humber by supplying free sanitary products to women who otherwise cannot afford them. Also for the public benefit, to advance environmental protection by increasing awareness of and advocating the use of reusable sanitary products to the people of Yorkshire.

The Main Activities Undertaken to Fulfil the Charity Objectives:

Objective 1: To supply free sanitary products to women who otherwise cannot afford them.

Menstruation Matters fulfils this objective by forming connections with organisations who help vulnerable women who are unable to afford sanitary products. We then accept donations from the general public and other organisations in the form of either sanitary products, in order to distribute to our connected organisations, or monetary donations, with which we used to purchase sanitary products for distribution. A large part of the work we have done this year has been raising awareness of our charity to encourage members of the general public to support us.

Objective 2: increasing awareness of Menstruation Matters, period poverty, and reusable sanitary products.

To raise awareness of Menstruation Matters we have organised online events to encourage engagement from our following. Some of these events were educational and some were merely for enjoyment to continue to engage our followers during the COVID-19 pandemic. From previous talks with the public, we have found that many members of our local community are unfamiliar with menstrual inequalities that people living in the UK can experience. We wish to highlight this as an issue, and thus, have utilised every available opportunity to talk about period poverty with people who have attended any of our online events.

Main Activities Undertaken to Further the Charity’s Purposes for the Public Benefit:

The ‘benefit aspect’:

Menstruation Matters has fulfilled this aspect of the public benefit requirement by:

Providing free menstrual products to women living in Yorkshire and the Humber who live in period poverty.
Running reusable pad making workshops in order to encourage the use of more environmentally friendly menstrual products.
Tackling the stigma associated with menstruation through open discussions and workshops.
Educating young women on period poverty and reusable menstrual products, to encourage them to advocate for their needs with regard to the environment.

The ‘public aspect’:

Menstruation Matters has fulfilled this aspect of the public benefit requirement by:

Tackling stigma surrounding menstruation, empowering women in general to advocate for themselves and those in need.
Encouraging the use of more environmentally friendly menstrual products. The outcomes of using these types of products will benefit the public in general, as well as the individuals who use them.
Providing free sanitary products to those in period poverty. This benefits this group by not only providing them with more hygienic menstrual products, but it also means that period poverty will no longer prevent them from attending school or work.

Public Benefit:

The Trustees confirm that they have complied with the duty in Section 17 of the Charities Act 2011 to have due regard to the public benefit guidance published by the Charity Commission in determining the activities undertaken by the Charity.

Signed on behalf of the Trustees,

----- Start of picture text -----
………………………………………
----- End of picture text -----

Achievements and Performance

Menstruation Matters’ principal objective is the provision of free menstrual products to women suffering from period poverty. In this respect, our main achievements are through fulfilling this objective. Connecting with the general public and other organisations has allowed us to increase awareness of our charitable objectives. This in turn has increased donations and participation from the wider community at our events.

During this time we have utilised online events to educate our local community on period poverty and our Menstruation Matters. Education is paramount to reduce stigma, allowing for more women to advocate for their needs. These events included online documentaries which highlighted the issues surrounding period poverty and partaking in online cycling events which allowed us to integrate more with our community. Our October cycling event allowed us to integrate more with our community.

Introducing reusable pad making workshops into our repertoire has allowed us to destigmatise periods in an entertaining, encouraging environment whilst increasing reliance on environmentally-friendly sanitary products. We hope to be able to run online workshops in order to make young women more conscious of period poverty issues in the future. We hope this will also create an environment for them which, we hope, will allow them to discuss periods and period poverty in a more open way.

Financial Review

The financial statements show a net income of £4,338 for the financial year April 2019 to March 2020.

Due to the COVID-19 and national lockdown, Menstruation Matters was unable hold our usual fundraising events. This includes our Menstrual Cycle, our biggest fundraising event of the last financial year, which we hoped to make an annual event. The only fundraising event we were able to hold was an online Women’s Health Pub Quiz in conjunction with The University of Sheffield Obstetrics and Gynaecology society. Another source of income was through purchases of our reusable sanitary pads. With the ambition of selling Menstruation Matters branded reusable sanitary pads, trustees paid a reduced price to product test our initial design of the pad. This was to cover the cost of materials and postage.

Hence, the majority of our expenditure was spent on the materials and labels for making the reusable pads. The charity aims to make this money back through the sale of the pads in the future. Money was also spent on administrative items, such as paper bags and stickers to put together the donations of sanitary products for local organisations, and also the annual fee of our public liability insurance.

Reserves Policy

Menstruation Matters has decided that it is unnecessary to hold reserves. This is due to multiple reasons.

The size of the charity means we are able to rely on donations from the general public. The donations of goods in the form of sanitary products has been substantial enough for the charity to successfully supply local organisations without the need of purchasing extra products. The monetary donations and grants have financially supported the charity throughout the year and have put the charity in a healthy financial position for the start of the next financial year.
The charity does not have any recurring payments, such as rent or debt payments. This also means the expenditure of the charity varies from month-to-month, depending on the charity’s activities. This makes it difficult and impractical to suggest a reserve.

The need for a reserve will be reviewed at the end of every financial year.

Funds Materially in Deficit

The charity does not have any funds that are materially in deficit.

Investments

The charity does not have any investments.

Structure, Governance, and Management

Board of Trustees

Menstruation Matters is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) registered with the UK’s Charity Commission. The Board of Trustees comprises 9 people who are responsible for the supervision of the management of all the affairs of Menstruation Matters. Board Meetings are held at a minimum of 6 times a year.

Type of Governing Document:

Menstruation Matters is governed by a CIO foundation constitution.

How the Charity is Constituted:

Charitable Incorporated Association.

Trustee Selection Methods:

Trustee recruitment and appointment is done based on the specific skills required, the nomination of an existing trustee, and is voted upon. No other organisation or body has the right to appoint trustees to the charity.

Trustees’ Responsibilities:

The board of trustees is responsible for ensuring that all the activities are within the law of England and Wales and fall within the agreed charitable objectives.

Liability of Members:

Menstruation Matters is a registered Charitable Incorporated Organisation, limited by guarantee. The trustees have guaranteed the liabilities of the charity up to £1 each.

Declaration

The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above

Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees

Signature(s) ………………………………………….. Full Name(s)

Katherine Rahnejat ………………………………………….. Position: Chair ………………………………………….. Date: 21.12.21 …………………………………………..

	Menstruation Matters	Menstruation Matters	Menstruation Matters	1185177	CC16a
	For the period from	1-Apr-20	To	31-Mar-21

Section A Receipts and payments
A1 Receipts VoluntaryReceipts / Donations 17 Charitable Activities 14 Activities for GeneratingFunds - Other - - - - - 31 - - Sub total - Total receipts 31 A3 Payments Cost of Charitable Activities 192 Governance Costs 101 Administrative Costs 26 FundraisingCosts - - - - - - Sub total 319 Fixed assets - - Sub total - Total payments 319 Net of receipts/(payments) - 287 A5 Transfers between funds - A6 Cash funds last year end 4,625 Cash funds this year end 4,338 Unrestricted funds to the nearest £ *Sub total*(Gross income for AR) A2 Asset and investment sales, (see table). A4 Asset and investment purchases, (see table)		to the nearest £ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Restricted funds	to the nearest £ Endowment funds	Total funds to the nearest £ 17 14 - - - - - - 31 - - - 31 192 101 26 - - - - - - 319 - - - 319 - 287 - 4,625 4,338	Last year to the nearest £
			- - - - - - - - -	17	6,492
				14	-
				-	1,060
				-	174
				-	-
				-	-
				-	-
				-	-
				31	7,726

			- - -	-
				-	-
				-	-

			-	31	7,726

			- - - - - - - - - -	192	1,054
				101	186
				26	-
				-	1,840
				-	-
				-	-
				-	-
				-	-
				-	-
				319	3,080

			- - -	-	170
				-
				-	170

			-	319	3,250

		-	- - - -	- 287	4,476
		-		-	-
		-		4,625	149
		-		4,338	4,625

CCXX R1 accounts (SS)

05/14/2021

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

Categories B1 Cash funds B2 Other monetary assets B3 Investment assets B5 Liabilities B4 Assets retained for the charity’s own use Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees	Details Cash at bank Details Details Details Vintage Sewing Machines Menstruation Matters Trademark Details Signature *Total cash funds* (agree balances with receipts and payments account(s))	to nearest £ to nearest £ 4,338 - - - - - 4,338 - OK OK to nearest £ to nearest £ - - - - - - - - - - - - Cost (optional) - - - - - Cost (optional) Unrestricted 170 Unrestricted - - - - - - - - - - - - - Print Name Unrestricted funds Restricted funds Unrestricted funds Restricted funds Fund to which asset belongs Fund to which asset belongs Fund to which liability relates Amount due (optional) TABITHA BOWMAN	to nearest £ Endowment funds
			-
			-
			-
			-
			OK
			to nearest £ Endowment funds
			-
			-
			-
			-
			-
			-
			Current value (optional)
			-
			-
			-
			-
			-
			Current value (optional)
			-
			-
			-
			-
			-
			-
			-
			-
			-
			When due (optional)






			Date of approval
		TABITHA BOWMAN	14/05/2021

CCXX R2 accounts (SS)

05/14/2021