2022-03-31-accounts

The Article 11 Trust Charity No : 1185631

Trustees Report & Account For the year ended 31 March 2022

Contents

Contents	Page No
Charity Information	1
Trustees' Report	2 - 5
Independent Examiner's Report	6
Receipts and Payments Account	7
Balance Sheet	8
Notes	9

The Article 11 Trust

Charity No : 1185631 Receipts & Payments Account For the year ended 31 March 2022

Trust Information :

Management Committee:	Kevin Robert Blowe (Trustee)
	Rowan C Stygal (Trustee)
	Daniel Weir (Trustee)
	Thomas Barns (Trustee)
	Sam Walton (Trustee)
	Annu Mayor (Trustee)
	Imogen Richmond-Bishop (Trustee)
	Ray Morrison (Trustee
Registered Office :	162a Southwark Bridge Road
	London
	SE1 0DG
Bankers:	Unity Trust Bank
	P O Box 7193
	Planetary Road
	Willenhall
	WV1 9DG
Independent Examiner's :	Glory Community Accounting Services
	318 Barking Road
	Plaistow
	London
	E13 8HL

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For the Year Ended 31[st] March 2022

Trustees’ Report

The Article 11 Trust is registered with the Charity Commission as a CIO with registration number 1185631.

Founded in 2019 and becoming active in 2020, the Article 11 Trust is dedicated to defending the right of assembly as guaranteed by Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

We recognise that much of the most important work in this cause is carried out by grass roots organisations, working directly with those who exercise their rights. However, these groups have found it increasingly hard to access the resources they need to undertake their vital work.

As such, the Article 11 Trust seeks to identify and work closely with these groups, securing funding for their charitable endeavours and promoting their work. This includes research and education into issues surrounding the right to protest, as well as direct legal guidance and training to people who attend protests.

Charitable objectives

Our Charitable Purpose as set out in our governing documents is:

The advancement of human rights for the benefit of the public in the UK with a particular emphasis on rights to freedom of assembly and association under Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights, in all or any of the following ways:

• a) Monitoring and reporting of breaches of obligations to protect the human right to freedom of assembly and association;

• b) Promoting effective redress following any breach

• c) Disseminating information, organising events and commissioning and publishing research on the exercise of human rights to freedom of assembly and association and the obligations and duties of UK public servants

• d) Providing technical advice to government and others on human rights matters

• e) Contributing to the sound administration of human rights law

• f) Commenting on proposed UK human rights legislation

• g) Raising public awareness of human rights issues, in particular rights to freedom of assembly and association

• h) Promoting public support for protecting rights to freedom of assembly and association

In furtherance of this objective but not otherwise, the trustees shall have power to engage in political activity, provided that the trustees are satisfied that the proposed activities will further the purposes of the charity to an extent justified by the resources committed and the activity is not the dominant means by which the charity carries out its activities.

Strategic Overview

2021-22 was a critical year in which we began to see how research and education can be used to challenge conventional narratives. Covid-19 restrictions now having been lifted protest activity continued, with numerous small and large events throughout the year, such as at the

Cop26 Conference in Glasgow. In addition, the government moved ahead with the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill (PCSC Bill), which included measures explicitly aimed at restricting protest.

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Against this background the Article 11 Trust continued our work to ensure that those engaged in protest are educated in their rights, and that public bodies entrusted with upholding those rights are held to account. We have steadily expanded our operations through the recruitment of staff, the formation of new relationships and an overall increase in activity to fulfil our charitable objectives.

Goals

Funding

Further relationships with existing donors

Establish new relationships with additional donors

Secure grant to fund Research Fellow

Charitable Activities

Continue facilitation of a body of research and education work, both in respect of protest rights generally and the impact and consequences of the Police Crime Sentencing and Courts Bill

Support the adoption of Netpol’s Protest Rights Charter by relevant bodies

Further sub-granting programme to groups working to further A11 rights

Establish A11T as independent public voice in support of Protest Rights

Governance and Administration

Continue to improve internal policies and procedures to ensure rigorous compliance with charity law.

Develop recruitment process in line with principles of diversity and inclusion

Obtain staffing resource for administrative, research and funding activities

Evaluation Summary

The Article 11 Trust’s second full year of operation was broadly successful. The charity generally met or exceeded its goals for the year, as detailed below. In particular, as well as forming many new donor relationships, we successfully applied for the Barry Amiel & Norman Melburn Trust’s Research Fellowship grant, which enabled us to recruit a Research Fellow to support our operations. They were instrumental in our successes this year.

As expected, our activities this year were principally focussed on responding to the passage of the PCSC Bill. Continuing our partnership with Netpol we were able to finance critical work educating the public on the potential consequences of the Bill and laying the groundwork to ensure its impact is monitored once it became law. Our ongoing partnership with GBC, and our new relationship with SCALP have enabled us to ensure an up to date understanding of protest rights is communicated to grass roots groups.

In terms of administration, we successfully ran our first recruitment campaign, dramatically increasing our operational capability through the addition of a Research Fellow. Our policies and procedures have also been kept under review, and have attracted praise from third parties and funders for their rigour.

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Charitable Activities

Responding to the PCSC Bill

The Article 11 Trust’s main strategic objective in 2021-2022 was to respond effectively to the challenges posed by the Police Crime Sentencing and Courts Bill, which was announced following the publication of HMICFRS’s report into protest policing, published in March 2021. After reviewing the Bill, the trustees concluded that it posed a significant threat to Article 11 Rights and that contributing to work opposing its passage was within our charitable objectives. The Trustees also concluded however that the Bill was highly likely to pass parliament and so focussed on activities to support protest rights once it had entered into law.

To achieve this, we successfully applied for a grant from the Barry Amiel & Norman Melburn Trust to embed a research fellow with Netpol, with the specific aim of researching protest policing and providing key insight into the impact the PCSC Bill would likely have on protest rights. We worked with our diversity and inclusion consultant to deliver a recruitment campaign over the summer that resulted in well over 100 suitable applicants, from whom we selected a candidate who began working with us in September.

The first key deliverable was our Respect or Repression report into the Cop26 protests, which was delivered within 44 days of their conclusion, based on the witness statements of more than 100 activists. It sought to hold the police accountable for their actions, with testimony including clear breaches of protesters’ human rights. This report was promoted by members of the Scottish Parliament, as well as in the press and resulted in an official response from the Scottish Police Inspectorate, although they did not acknowledge the report’s most serious concerns. Our Research fellow is now working on a second major report detailing the experiences of legal observers, believed to be the first work of its kind. Both these reports are valuable resources in themselves, but also provide a clear assessment of attitudes towards protest policing and the likely consequences of increasing police powers.

Throughout the passage of the PCSC Bill we produced regular commentary on individual amendments and political developments. These included graphical explainers for use on social media, covering technical elements in plain language, to help activists and campaign groups understand how their rights might be impacted by the changes. We have also planned to provide a forum to bring together grass roots groups in response to the Act, and the newly proposed Public Order Bill that seeks to further restrict the right to protest.

Additional Research and Support for Partner Organisations

Although critical to our work, the PCSC bill was not the whole focus of our research efforts. Throughout the year we also produced work on other subjects including a response to the government’s proposal to replace the Human Rights Act with a British Bill of Rights, and explainers with respect to forming labour unions – another critical pillar of the right to freedom of association.

We have also worked with our partner organisations, in particular making grants to the Green and Black Cross and their counterparts in Scotland, SCALP, to support their valuable work in a year that contained both the G7 and Cop26 protests. Deliverables included multiple know your rights training sessions, both online and in person, arrestee support and the Child Q protests. We were also able to support Netpol in their wider work advocating for protest rights, for example the revelations in March 2022 that a Black Lives Matter group had closed after police attempts to instal an informer.

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In addition our grant has supported Netpol’s campaign for the Charter of Protest rights, which has also been endorsed by over 40 key organisations and a petition totalling over 200 thousand signatures. This campaign has provided a critical tool for holding the police to account for how they respond to protests, particularly in relation to the Code for the Policing of Protest, proposed by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Democracy and the Constitution, which is the same idea in all but name.

Governance and Administration

A fundamental change to the governance and administration of the Article 11 Trust was recruiting a research fellow to provide support for our activities. Early in 2021 we identified a need for additional staffing capacity and determined that the research fellowship grant offered by the Barry Amiel & Norman Melburn Trust presented a suitable opportunity to meet this requirement.. Our application was successful, as BANM agreed that with the PCSC bill the need was timely and they were confident we would support the Fellow.

This was our first recruitment campaign and we utilised our Diversity and Inclusion consultant to ensure that we recruited from as wide a pool as possible. In addition to how we framed the responsibilities of the role, this important exercise included drafting an equalities commitment and undertaking an accessibility assessment, as well as thinking about the language we use. The campaign resulted in over 140 applicants, of which the majority were suitable for the role. After a detailed shortlisting and interview process, we selected Rachel Currie to join us for one year in September. Netpol agreed to act as the host organisation, with the Article 11 Trust covering the costs of equipping and managing the position.

Rachel joining us has made a tangible difference to our capabilities and has demonstrated the need for the trust to ensure we are staffed in the future.

Responsibilities of the Trustees

The Trustees have responsibilities to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of the affairs of the charity as at the balance sheet date and of its incoming resources and application of resources, including income and expenditure, for the financial year. In preparing those financial statements the trustees should follow best practice and:

• Select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently

• Make judgments and estimates that are reasonable and prudent; and- prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to assume that the company will continue on that basis.

• The trustees are responsible for maintaining proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charity Law. Trustees are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention an detection of fraud and other irregularities

Approved by the Trustees and signed on their behalf by:

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Independent Examiners Report to the Members of The Article I l Trust I report on the attached Financial Staiements for ihe year ended 31 March 2022. which are set on pages 7 ￿ 9 and have been prepared on an accrual basis. Rtsptttiye r(ponsibilitit$ of ManagemeDt Committee and Examiner.. The Charity's trust¢¢s ar¢ r¢sponsibl¢ for the preparation of the accouiits. The Charity's trus1￿$ ¢ODsid¢r thot an audit is not r¢qUi￿d for this y¢ar und¢r s¢￿10￿ 144 of the Charities A¢1 2011 (the Charities Act) and that an indep¢nd¢nt examination is n¢ed¢d. It is my resw>nsibility to: examine the accounts under section 145 of the Charittes Act, lo follow the p￿￿edUreS laid down in th¢ general dire¢iions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5Xb) of th¢ Charities Aci , and to stslc whether particular matters have Come to my attention. Bsis of Independent Examiner's Statement: My examinalion wa5 caryi¢d out in a¢¢oTdan¢e with general directions given by the Charity Commission. An examination includes a review of the accounting rec4)rds kept by the charity and a coniparison of the a¢couniS pr¢s¢nted wilh those records. li also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeking explanaiions Irom the trustees ¢on¢ernin8 Any such matters. Tl)e procedures undertak¢n do noi provide all the evidence thai would be required in an audil, and ¢onsequenily iio opinion is givei) as to whether the accounts pr¢s¢ni a 'tru¢ and fair view, and the r¢p)rt Is limited io those matters set out in the siaiement below. Indeptndent Eyaminer'$ Sts¢emeDt: In conn¢clion with my examination, no material matters have come to my attention which gives me cause to believe that in. any mal¢rial respect . aceounting records were not kept in a¢¢ordance with section 130 of the Charities Act or the account5 do not accord with the accounting rKords I hAve come across no other matters in connection with the examinaiion to which attenlion should be drawn in ord¢r to enable a proper underslanding of the aceounis 10 be reached. Hasina Jahan (MBA, M Com. DFf, MAAD Glory CoTnmunity Accounting S¢rvices 318 Barkin8 Road Plaisiow London E13 8HL Gkffy Cmminity AccouDtiDg Servku J18 BarkiDg Ro iilow idon E13 8HL Date:

The Article 11 Trust

Charity No : 1185631

Receipts and Payments Account For the year ended 31 March 2022

Receipts Donations Grants Guerilla Foundation Barry Amiel & Norman Melburn Trust Resourcing Racial Justice Total Receipts Payments Website design & Development Staff Training Office equipment Consulting Telephone / Internet General expenses Grants to Beneficiaries Insurance Postage / Printing / Stationery Depreciation expenses Accountancy fees Payroll expenses Bank charges Total Payments Net Receipts /(Payments) Funds brought forward Funds carried forward	Unrestricted Restricted 2022 2021 funds funds Total Total £ £ £ £ 310 - 310 629 - 56,665 56,665 - - - - 15,000 - - - 5,000 - - - 10,000
	310 56,665 56,975 30,629
	Unrestricted Restricted 2022 2021 funds funds Total Total £ £ £ £ - 199 199 1,585 - 55 55 - - 90 90 - - 1,800 1,800 - - 494 494 - - 1,546 1,546 500 - 27,665 27,665 23,600 - 549 549 534 - - - 19 176 - 176 - 450 - 450 450 125 - 125 - 72 - 72 72
	823 32,397 33,220 26,760
	(513) 24,268 23,755 3,869 607 3,762 4,369 500
	94 28,030 28,124 4,369

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The Article 11 Trust

Charity No : 1185631 Balance Sheet as at 31 March 2022

Notes Tangible Assets Fixed Assets Current Assets Cash at Bank / in hand Current Liabilities Creditor & Accruals 2 (amounts falling due within one year) Net Current Assets Net Assets Funds & Reserve Unrestricted funds Restricted funds Total	2022 Total £ 529 28,045 (450) 27,595 28,124 2022 £ 94 28,030 28,124	2021 Total £ Nil 4,819 (450)
		4,369
		4,369
		2021 £ 607 3,762
		4,369

Approved by the Management Committee and signed on its behalf by:

………………………………… Kevin Robert Blowe (Trustee)

Date………………… 12 December 2022

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The Article 11 Trust

Charity No : 1185631

Notes of the Receipts and Payments Account For the year ended 31 March 2022

1.a) Accounting Policies

This financial statements have been prepared in accordance with Accounting and the Charities Act 2011 and applicable regulations.

The accounts have been prepared under the historical cost convention with items recognised at cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant note(s) to these accounts.

b) Fund Accounting

Unrestricted funds are receipts generated for the objects of the charity without further specified purpose and are available as general funds.

Restricted funds are subject to restrictions on their payments imposed by the funder or through the terms of an appeal.

c) Receipts : All receipts are included in the Receipts and Payments Account which are received during the year.

d) Payments: All payments are recognised in the period in which they are incurred. Some of the expenses incurred this year but spent from last year restricted funds.

e)Tangible Fixed Assets and Depreciation: Any Assets more than £200.00 will be count as an

fixed assets. Depreciation is provided to write off the assets in equal instalments over their useful lives.

Fixtures & Fittings Computer 2. Creditors & Accruals Accountancy fee Total 3. Fixed Assets Cost Depreciation As at 31.03.2021 Charge for the Year As at 31.03.2022	20% straight line method 25% straight line method 2022 2021 £ £ 450 450 450 450 2022 £ 705 - 176 529

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