2020-08-31-accounts

THE AWEN PROJECT Trustees Annual Report and Financial Statements 2019/2020

“I love going to school now. I think I have become more confident and my social skills have improved when meeting new people. I feel I can have the freedom to get creative and learn in the ways that I like.

I found mainstream school difficult and frustrating.”

(Awen Student, aged 13)

Period ended 31 August 2020

The Awen Project Annual report and financial statements

Contents

An introduction to Awen	4
Trustees annual report	5
Objectives	5
Activities	5
What does an Awen education look like?	6
Achievements and performance	7
Goals for 2020/21	8
Financial review	9
Structure, governance and management	9
Legal and administrative information	10
Statement of Board of Trustees’ responsibilities	12
Independent examiner’s report	13
Statement of fnancial activities	14
Balance sheet	15
Notes to the fnancial statements	16

Charity number 1186305

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An introduction to Awen

Like all parents, I want to make the best choices for my children. I don’t want to choose a school for them where they will be lost amongst the crowd, or forcibly moulded into a shape I don’t recognise. I don’t want them to be part of an institution only wealthy people can access, or a school that views good GCSE results as their most important mission.

I want them to go to a place where firstly they are allowed to be themselves, but secondly they are required to be an active member of a community. I want them to have access to the tools they need to become healthy, informed and responsible members of a global society in a future that is going to require great things from them. I want them to go to a school where the teachers feel valued and are allowed to express their own superpowers, and are not oppressed by a system that only sees children as data.

That’s why I set up The Awen Project.

At the Awen Project we have this mission: to create a model of education that’s sustainable, adaptable, and personalised. We believe that this education should be free and accessible. That is why the learning communities that The Awen Project creates are able to be replicated around the world, not for our profit but for the profit of future generations.

Over the last three years I’ve spoken to thousands of practitioners in education, visited schools all over the country from a social emotional mental health school in Barnsley to Eton College, and completed what must be a PhD’s worth of research into education and child development. Armed with that knowledge and with the DIY attitude of a garage punk band, my husband and I set about dragging a school into existence: writing curricula and policies, engaging educators and parents, liaising with ESTYN (the Welsh equivalent of Ofsted) and county council planners, and we finally registered The Awen Project as a school in December 2019 for 20 students aged 9-14.

Free to attend (with the pledge of 4 hrs per month of parental volunteer time), co-created with the students and their families, entrepreneurial and driven by necessity, run by a participatory democracy, and with a passion-based curriculum focussed on relationships to the self, community, and planet. It almost killed us but we opened with enormous optimism. Our first collaborative project was the interior design of our building, turning a blank space into our home, adhering to a list of co-written “scavenger” rules to assure sustainability. It is fair to say that our first 18 months have been hard, not least because of the coronavirus pandemic, but we have learnt such a lot about what works for our students, our families, and our educators. Perhaps more importantly we have discovered what does not work for us as well.

As we look to the year ahead, our priorities are to:

• Adapt to the global pandemic by moving into the forest as a learning community and exploring how we work

• effectively online, all the while developing our expertise as democratic educators;

• Recruit a General Manager with the skills and experience to help us mature as an organisation and lay strong

• foundations for the future;

• Refine our model and create a blueprint so other communities might join us and help gather evidence to

• promote change within the UK education system.

Across the UK, parents are seeing first hand the harms inflicted on their children by our out-dated, ineffective, and inhumane education system. The coronavirus pandemic and resulting school closures have exacerbated this further. Now, more than ever, is the time to reinvent our education system and make it fit for the future.

Charlotte Church

FOUNDER AND CHAIR OF TRUSTEES

THE AWEN PROJECT

Charity number 1186305

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Trustees annual report

The Board of Trustees, submit their annual report and the financial statements of The Awen Project for the period ended 31 August 2020.

The Board of Trustees confirms that the annual report and financial statements of the Charity comply with current statutory requirements, including the Charity Act 2011, as well as the requirements of the Charity’s governing document and the provisions of the ‘Charities SORP (FRS 102) - 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) second edition (effective 1 January 2019)’, the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102).

Objectives

The Awen Project is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO), registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales (Charity number: 1186305).

The objects of The Awen Project are to advance education for the public benefit by the establishment of, or assisting in the establishment of, schools that are governed by participatory democracy.

Our aim is to pioneer a new model for education that is democratic, free-to-attend, and human-centred. We empower young people as participants within a learning community by providing conditions supportive of learning (rather than teaching) and supporting families to facilitate their children’s education.

The Trustees have referred to the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit when reviewing the Charity’s objectives and activities.

Activities

The Awen Project is pioneering a human-centred model for education where children are valued as people in their own right who are allowed to be themselves as active participants in a community. We support them to become healthy, informed, and responsible members of a global society. Today we are running a learning community based in Dinas Powys, South Wales, developing our expertise and approach in partnership with leading experts in education and human development. We plan to extend our impact on the education system through building our home community and welcoming more students and families, piloting our Awen Lite programme that welcomes mainstream educated children and is a potential revenue stream to support the project, and offering training to teachers and education practitioners.

Our vision is to co-create a network of learning communities throughout the world where every human is valued. An Awen education empowers at all levels by training and supporting parents and carers to be present in their children’s education, bringing meaning and purpose to everyone in the community. Our team of creative facilitators are developing a relationship-based pedagogy that will form the basis of a new model for education – to replicate around the world, not for our profit but for the profit of future generations.

To realise our vision we plan to:

• continue the ongoing operation of our home learning community in Dinas Powys, directly benefiting the diverse community of people we work with and enabling us to expand our impact through additional projects and opportunities;

• develop expertise in relational pedagogy which is uncommon in the UK education context so that we can benefit others (parents / wider education sector) through support and training, and;

• create a blueprint of our model so other communities can join us and gather evidence to promote change within the UK education system.

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The Awen Project

Annual report and financial statements

What does an Awen education look like?

Democratic

Governed by participatory democracy, where each member of the school (students and staff) have an equal vote in all decisions over their rules and governance. The only things that can overrule the democracy of each school are, by necessity, the school’s safeguarding policy and the law of the land. Committees to deal with specific issues may be formed but they must be transparent and answerable to the school’s democracy.

At the heart of the Awen School is the Gathering, a weekly democratic meeting where items that have been put on an agenda are discussed. All decisions upon the running of the school and its rules are decided upon by a majority vote at this meeting. Any member of the school can put an item on the agenda and every vote is equal. The Gathering is chaired by one of the students (everyone has an opportunity to chair) and the subjects raised can range from the serious and consequential, to the abstractly philosophical, and on occasion the utterly daft.

Creative

Deeply innovative, open minded and keen to explore diverse practises in all fields (not just the arts). Staff and students are always looking to improve the ways they produce. A creative environment is one that understands that the process of learning and producing is just as important, if not more, than the outcome or end product.

Entrepreneurial

Bold and enterprising, accepting of risk, tolerant of failure, and prepared to interact creatively with the real-life world of business. In order to be self- funding each school by necessity must help the students to have a pioneering attitude to the creation of businesses.

Small

In accordance with Dunbar’s number (the cognitive limit to the number of people with whom one can maintain stable social relationships) schools at their maximum should be around 150 people. Remaining small allows a school to be adaptable.

Relationship-centred

Ensuring that the people within the school know and understand each other as a community, and that members of the school community are treated with respect and equity.

Free-to-atend

Never asking parents or carers to pay fees. Whilst schools will require able parents and carers to volunteer an average of 4 hours a month in-line with their own profession and skills, Awen schools are not fee-paying as it is our belief that a parent’s personal finances should never preclude a child from accessing a good education.

Excellent

Encouraging and expectant of great personal achievements, whether they be in academics, arts and performance, sports, or more individual passion-led activities.

Project Based Learning

Our curriculum does not separate subjects as a traditional school would. Instead we look to the children’s passions and surroundings to help them develop projects through which they learn all the things that a subjectsbased curriculum could cover.

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On their very first day of term our first intake of children walked into an empty space: two rooms with no furniture and white walls. They quickly identified that if these rooms were to become a functional working space they would have to be radically altered. Working with visiting professionals in interior design and the arts, and with constant reference to a sustainability focussed “scavenger list” that the children wrote, they workshopped concepts, assessed each other’s ideas, and subsequently transformed their school into a vibrant colourful multi-functional space for learning and socialising, lunchtime and playtime, and which they have the utmost care for.

Achievements and performance

The last year has been a whirlwind. Our students, families, and staff have grown as a community and shown the joy and abundance of opportunity that can arise from a democratic approach to education. Students have filmed YouTube videos, contributed to the school’s debate club, cooked food for their peers and teachers, practised Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and worked with visiting charity workers, neuroscientists, animators, film-makers, music producers, and farmers. Their sense of achievement and pride in their work was huge and required no marking or critical assessment on the part of the teachers.

Project highlights

In December 2019, the children each exhibited a personal art project in a public gallery in Cardi and ran a stall at the Cardi Maker’s Market selling their hand-made goods. In January 2020 they built computers from parts, and by February they had written a children’s picture book and researched how to publish it. In the summer they co-constructed a theatre piece with the help of professional writers, directors, actors, set and costume designers, technical engineers and composers.

“The ‘I’ in Us” public exhibition, made up of individually conceived art pieces made by students and exhibited in the Chapter Arts centre, celebrated the view of the individual within a community. Students created short films, comic books, mixed material sculptures of cast-iron, paper, and wicker, works on canvas, clay animation, and a hand-stitched kimono. We were really getting into our stride and could see how well our students were thriving in the Awen environment.

Climate Strike! Inspired by Greta Thunburg and David Attenborough, our students completed research into why the climate strikes were taking place and what activists were hoping to achieve. After discussions in The Gathering, Awen students decided to spend a day joining the protests in London, and spent time preparing and putting their creative flair into action by making placards and protest signs.

Learning through lockdown

“The first lockdown we used zoom which was good, and we did a Personal Passion Project making our own exhibition at home. That brought many opportunities, for example, I made 3 small clay models of prehistoric animals and a powerpoint with factfiles.”

COVID-19 changed everything. We lost the use of our premises, we lost our funding opportunities, we couldn’t afford to keep our staff, and the future looked very uncertain. The transition

online was a challenge, but we found ways to make this work by listening to our students and their families, making space for community wherever we could.

Democratic, community education

This unexpected interruption gave us space to reflect on our approach so far and there are three lessons we have taken from our first year:

1. Parents must always be partners; becoming a ‘school’ inhibits this. The engagement of our parents, carers, and families is central to the educational environment we are trying to create and the operation of a low cost, free-to-attend learning community. Becoming a school came with inbuilt assumptions that are hard to move past, prohibitively higher costs, and also pushed our parents away - we lost community cohesion. Meaningful education partnership necessarily depends on the continued contribution of parents as co-educators.

2. Democratic education needs non-traditional teachers. Teacher training in the UK prepares educators for life within a culture that is hierarchical, teacher-led, and where students have little or no autonomy. Specialist recruitment, training, and on-going supervision is essential to ensuring new staff can hold the democratic space that is necessary for students to thrive in a democratic environment.

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1. Freedom rooted in community protects against individualism. Democratic education gives students freedom to act, and we noticed that sometimes this freedom manifests as selfish, individualistic acts which was at odds with our intentions. To balance the freedom of the individual with the freedom of the community, we actively promote the concept of “us” and pay attention to the collective impact of our actions and words.

Awen in the Forest

Looking to September, we have formed a partnership with the Woodland Trust, licensing an area of local woodland in which we will base an open-air school so we can provide a Covid-safe educational environment. We are excited about this partnership that could be important to our model going forwards.

Goals for 2020/21

The overarching aim for next year is to lay the foundations that will enable the Awen Project to mature from an energetic and experimental startup to a sustainable organisation, capable of achieving its ambitious aims.

This will require growth across all aspects of our work, and our goals for next year are as follows:

Organisation & Management

• Recruit a General Manager with the skills and experience to help us mature as an organisation by putting in

• place appropriate structures, policies, and procedures and taking on responsibility for the day to day management of the Awen Project.

• Expand our board of trustees to include relevant experts who can provide accountability and support by

• challenging our strategy, sharing advice and experience, and identifying opportunities for impact.

• Improve our impact monitoring by identifying the key metrics that will enable us to understand our impact and

• improve how we work as a team.

Educational practices

• Adapt to the global pandemic by moving into the forest as a learning community and exploring how we work

• effectively online, all the while developing our expertise as democratic educators.

• Recruit an experienced democratic educator to build our team and develop our experience through intentional

• development practices (e.g. supervision).

• Clarify and refine our educational philosophy by drawing upon relevant research and outside experience, so we

• develop a consistent and coherent model of education that unites theory and practice.

• Define a set of protocols and an overall timetable structure that enables us to put our approach into practice.

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Financial review

During the current financial period, which is also the first financial period of the Awen Project, the charity achieved a surplus of £24,775, increasing total reserves at year end to £24,775. Income for the period was £166,367, almost entirely made up of donations, and expenditure was £141,592.

However, within expenditure in the period is a one off expenditure item of £64,406 spent on renovating the Annex at the Spinney (see note 4 of the financial statements).

Of the reserves held at year end £24,775 were unrestricted in nature.

Reserves policy

The trustees are currently in the process of putting together a formal reserves policy, however the current reserves of £24,775 are deemed sufficient for the stage at which the Charity currently is and the current financial obligations of the organisation.

Structure, governance and management

Governing document

The Charity was registered on 12 November 2019 as a charitable incorporated organisation (CIO) governed by its constitution and whose only voting members are the Trustees.

Recruitment and appointment of Trustees

Trustees are elected onto the Board through nomination by the current Trustee Board. New Trustees are provided with an induction by the current members.

Under the governing document, the number of Trustees shall not be less than three with no maximum number. A quorum is formed when one half of the Trustees are present or three, whichever is the greater number. All decisions are made by the Trustees.

Risk management

The trustees review, on an annual basis, the major risks which the charity faces to ensure that it has sufficient resources in the event of adverse conditions. The trustees have examined the operational and business risks which the charity faces and confirm that they are satisfied that systems and controls are established over key financial systems to mitigate any significant risks.

The main risks facing the Charity are as follows:

Education Outcomes, Legislation, and Compliance

Working with young people is a privilege that comes with significant responsibility. In promoting an alternative approach to mainstream education, we must not assume that because we have positive intent that this will automatically yield positive results for the young people in our care.

To ensure the well-being and development of our young people:

• We work with experts to inform our approach

• and ensure we are guided by research and the experience of more established democratic schools;

• Students participate in weekly coaching

• sessions to discuss their aims, progress, and any challenges they may currently be facing;

• Students complete regular self-assessments

• to understand how they are developing across a range of holistic measures (a broader set of

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measures than mainstream schools, that includes academic outcomes);

• We engage our parents / carers as partners in their children’s education, which necessitates far better, deeper, and more frequent dialogue than would be normal for a mainstream setting;

• Most importantly, we listen to our young people: they are in charge of their own learning, with choice and real power over what they do and how their community is run.

There are many laws and regulations that govern the education and care of young people. We have worked with Estyn (the Welsh equivalent of Ofsted) in completing our application to register as an Independent School, and we have paused our registration for the time being while Coronavirus restrictions are in place. We currently operate as a learning community of Elective Home Educators, ensuring our provision is for less than 50% of a standard school week and that we meet requirements for parent / carer to student ratios.

Financial sustainability

Our model is very low cost however we are a young organisation and have not yet established reliable income sources with which to sustain ourselves over the longer term. To address this we are engaging with potential donors to provide further seed funding, and we will hire an experienced General Manager who can ensure we are operating effectively and bring focus to our fundraising strategy. Research into trusts and foundations has demonstrated that our work is likely to receive support because it meets the criteria for numerous education and community focused funders.

There are opportunities for us to create reliable income streams by expanding our offering to include mainstream educated children and teachers, and we plan to launch pilot programmes over the next 12 months to test the market.

Legal and administrative information

Charity name

The Awen Project

Charity registration no.

1186305

Company registration no.

CE019562

Registered office

The Spinney Twyncyn Dinas Powys CF64 4AS

Trustees

Charlotte Church Chair appointed 12 November 2019 Hannah Fitt Vice-Chair appointed 21 April 2021 Sean Bellamy appointed 10 May 2021 Nicola Blenman appointed 12 May 2021 Jonathan Powell appointed 12 November 2019, resigned 10 May 2021 Kevin Rahman-Daultrey appointed 12 November 2019, resigned 21 April 2021 Stella Smith appointed 10 May 2021

Independent examiner

Andy Nash Accounting & Consultancy Ltd Units 24 & 25 Goodsheds Container Village Hood Road Barry CF62 5QU

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Trustee spotlight: Sean Bellamy

Sean Bellamy is the founder and headteacher of Sands School, Devon, which has been running as a democratic school since 1987; a recognised expert in democratic education, he has over 30 years’ teaching experience and works as a consultant with educators across the globe. Sean has worked with The Awen Project right from the start, providing advice, support, and challenge to the team and has recently joined our trustee board.

Sean explains his excitement and involvement with the Awen Project:

“The anthropologist and author Ursula le Guin wrote a set of beautiful novels, the Earthsea Trilogy, about a young wizard called Ged. In his training, he was taught this fundamental truth about the act of magic: to change a thing, you must first know its ‘real name’. To change a rock into a flower you must first understand the qualities of both. Teaching is an act of magic too. Every child has a real name. Their real name is the essence of who they are and who they may become if nurtured and challenged sufficiently. If we understand their real names, we can help them transform. If we teach them without ‘knowing them’, we are teaching rocks.

In Charlotte and Johnny I recognised two individuals committed to designing a school with such an intention and I knew from that moment that I wanted to work with them to design and support their vision. I have already seen children transformed by the experience. Why else do we do this thing called education if not to inspire and wake children up to their potential?

Against enormous odds, teachers make this magic of transformation happen every day, in every culture and every situation across the globe. In war zones, in ghettos and in the inner cities, we turn rocks into flowers. We help the shy child discover their confidence and unlock the passion for learning within those in front of us and every time we create a new school that embraces democracy, mutual respect and agency more of this magic occurs.

In classrooms across the planet, from the remote village school of a few children to schools where children are invisible within the sheer scale of the learning enterprise, we weave our spells and struggle to find the ‘real name’ of every child. It is a struggle. The system resists, the bureaucracy disables and the exam cultures anaesthetise, but educators who believe in relational learning continue to innovate and put children first.

The Awen Project holds me in its grip because built into its foundations is the desire to offer the knowledge and support to enable others to create schools like this and because the children and adults involved demonstrate what courage and passion can do to challenge an education system that has become reductionist and more science than art. It is more physics than it is magic, an act of breaking things down into a set of rules and laws and so reducing learning into an act of filling and not waking up.

This is why I am a Trustee. Even after 35 years as both a maverick and inquisitive learner, the Awen Project is teaching me new things about what schools, post Covid, could become and that excites me.”

Sean Bellamy

SEAN BELLAMY

TRUSTEE

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Statement of Board of Trustees’ responsibilities

The Trustees are responsible for preparing the Trustees’ Annual Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and regulations.

Charity law requires the Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Under that law they are required to prepare the financial statements in accordance with UK Accounting Standards and applicable law (UK Generally Accepted Accounting Practice), including FRS 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland.

Under charity law the Trustees must not approve the financial statements unless they are satisfied that they give a ‘true and fair’ view of the state of affairs of the Charity and of the excess of income over expenditure for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the Trustees are required to:

• select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;

• make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;

• state whether applicable UK Accounting Standards 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 its activities.

The Trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the Charity’s transactions and 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 Charities Act 2011. They have general responsibility for taking such steps as are reasonably open to them to safeguard the assets of the Charity and to prevent and detect fraud and other irregularities.

The Trustees are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial information included on the Charity’s website.

Legislation in the UK governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions. In addition, the Trustees confirm that they are happy that the content of the Annual Review in pages 5-12 meet the requirements of the Trustees’ Annual Report under charity law.

They also confirm that the financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in the notes to the accounts and comply with the Charity’s governing document, the Charities Act 2011 and Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with FRS 102, The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland published on 16 July 2014.

This report was approved and authorised for issue by the Board of Trustees on 14 June 2021 and signed on its behalf by:

CHARLOTTE CHURCH

FOUNDER AND CHAIR OF TRUSTEES

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Independent examiner’s report

I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of The Awen Project (charity number 1186305) for the period ended 31 August 2020 set out on pages 14 to 19.

Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner

The CIO’s trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (the Charities Act). The CIO’s trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year under section 144 of the Charities Act and that an independent examination is needed.

It is my responsibility to:

• examine the accounts under section 145 of the Charities Act;

• to follow the procedures laid down in the general Directions given by the Charity Commission under section

• 145(5)(b) of the Charities Act; and,

• to state whether particular matters have come to my attention.

This report, including my statement, has been prepared for and only for the CIO’s trustees as a body. My work has been undertaken so that I might state to the CIO’s 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 CIO and the CIO’s trustees as a body for my examination work, for this report, or for the statements I have made.

Basis of independent examiner’s statement

My examination was carried out in accordance with general directions given by the Charity Commission. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the CIO and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeking explanations from the trustees concerning any such matters.

The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a ‘true and fair’ view and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below.

Independent examiner’s statement

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:

• accounting records were not kept in respect of the CIO as required by section 130 of the Act; or

• the accounts do not accord with those records; or

• the accounts do not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a ‘true and fair’ view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination.

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.

ANDREW PHILIP NASH ACA

MEMBER OF THE INSTITUTE OF CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS IN ENGLAND AND WALES – 2461833 DATED: 24 June 2021

Andy Nash Accounting & Consultancy Ltd Units 24 & 25 Goodsheds Container Village Hood Road Barry CF62 5QU

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Statement of financial activities

For the period ended 31 August 2020

Notes Income from: Donations and legacies 2 Charitable activites 3 Total income Expenditure on: Charitable activities 4 Total expenditure Net income/(expenditure) Reconciliation of funds: Balance brought forward 7 & 8 Balance carried forward 7 & 8	Unrestricted Restricted Total Funds Funds Funds 2020 2020 2020 £ £ £ 166,000 - 166,000 367 - 367
	166,367 - 166,367
	141,592 - 141,592
	141,592 - 141,592
	24,775 - 24,775
	- - -
	24,775 - 24,775

The notes on pages 16 to 19 form part of the financial statements.

All the above results arise from continuing activities.

There were no other recognised gains or losses other than those stated above.

As this is the first financial period of operations there are no comparative figures to present and the current period represents a period shorter than a year as it reflects the activities from registration of the Charity on 12 Novemeber 2019 to 31 August 2020.

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Balance sheet

As at 31 August 2020

Notes Current assets Debtors 5 Cash at bank and in hand Total current assets Creditors - amounts falling due within one year 6 Net current assets Net assets Funds of the charity: Unrestricted funds General funds 7 & 8	154 25,701	Total Funds 2020 £ 24,775
	25,855 (1,080) 24,775
		24,775
		24,775

The notes on pages 16 to 19 form part of the financial statements.

All the above results arise from continuing activities.

There were no other recognised gains or losses other than those stated above.

As this is the first financial period of operations there are no comparative figures to present and the current period represents a period shorter than a year as it reflects the activities from registration of the Charity on 12 Novemeber 2019 to 31 August 2020. These financial statements were approved and authorised for issue by the Board of Trustees on 14 June 2021 and signed on their behalf by:

CHARLOTTE CHURCH

FOUNDER AND CHAIR OF TRUSTEES

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Notes to the financial statements

1. Accounting policies

Basis of preparation of the financial statements

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with ‘Charities SORP (FRS 102) - 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) second edition (effective 1 January 2019)’, the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102), including Update Bulletin 1, and relevant charities law.

The effect of any event relating to the period ended 31 August 2020, which occurred before the date of approval of the financial statements by the Board of Trustees has been included in the financial statements to the extent required to show a true and fair view of the state of affairs at 31 August 2020 and the results for the year ended on that date.

The functional currency of the Charity is sterling and amounts in the financial statements are rounded to the nearest pound.

Using the exemption available to smaller charities the Board of Trustees has chosen not to include a Statement of Cash Flows within the financial statements.

Legal status

The Awen Project is a charitable incorporated organisation registered in England & Wales, and meets the definition of a

public benefit entity. The registered office is The Spinney, Twyncyn, Dinas Powys, CF64 4AS.

Shorter accounting period

As a result of this being the first accounting period of the Charity, the accounting period is shorter than twelve months as it covers the period from registration on 12 November 2019 to 31 August 2020, a period of just over nine and a half months.

Going concern

The Trustees have assessed whether the use of the going concern basis is appropriate and have considered possible events or conditions that might cast significant doubt on the ability of the Charity to continue as a going concern. The Trustees have made this assessment for a period of at least one year from the date of approval of the financial statements.

The Trustees have considered the Charity’s forecasts and projections and have taken account of pressures on income. After making enquiries, the Trustees confirm that the Charity has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future and that there are no material uncertainties that would impact this assessment. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has had no material impact on this assessment. The Charity therefore has adopted the going concern basis in preparing its financial statements.

Fund Accounting

General funds are unrestricted funds which are available for use at the discretion of the Trustees in furtherance of the general objectives of the Charity and which have not been designated for other purposes.

Restricted funds are funds that are to be used in accordance with specific restrictions imposed by donors or that have been raised by the Charity for particular purposes. The cost of raising and administering such funds are charged against the specific fund. There are currently no restricted funds within the Charity.

Income

All income is included in the Statement of Financial Activities when the Charity has entitlement, there is probability of receipt and the amount is measurable.

For donations and gifts this is when they are received. Gift Aid is recognised on a receivable basis as part of the income to which it relates.

Income from charitable activities and grants is credited to the Statement of Financial Activities when received or receivable whichever is earlier, unless it relates to a specific future period or event, in which case it is deferred.

Charity number 1186305

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Period ended 31 August 2020

The Awen Project Annual report and financial statements

Expenditure and irrecoverable VAT

Expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis and liabilities are recognised as expenditure when there is a legal obligation committing the Charity to the expenditure, it is probable that settlement will be made, and the obligation can be measured.

Non-recoverable VAT is included against the expenditure heading to which it relates.

Indirect costs, including governance costs, which cannot be directly attributed to activities, are allocated between activities proportionate to the direct costs incurred in those activities.

Taxation

As a registered charity income and gains are exempt from Corporation Tax to the extent that they are applied to the charitable objectives.

Tangible fixed assets and depreciation

Tangible fixed assets are stated at cost less accumulated depreciation and any impairment losses, with individual assets over £500 being capitalised. There are no assets held over this value currently.

Cash at bank and in hand

Cash at bank and in hand includes cash in hand, deposits with banks and funds that are readily convertible into cash at, or close to, their carrying values, but are not held for investment purposes.

Debtors

Trade and other debtors are recognised at the settlement amount after any trade discount is applied.

Creditors

Creditors are recognised where the Charity has a present obligation resulting from a past event that will probably result in the transfer of funds to a third party, and the amount due to settle the obligation can be measured or estimated reliably.

Financial instruments

Basic financial instruments are measured at amortised cost other than investments which are measured at fair value.

Critical estimates and judgements

In preparing financial statements it is necessary to make certain judgements, estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts recognised in the financial statements. The treatment of tangible fixed assets is sensitive to changes in useful economic lives and residual values of assets. These are reassessed annually.

In the view of the Trustees in applying the accounting policies adopted, no judgements were required that have a significant effect on the amounts recognised in the financial statements nor do any estimates or assumptions made carry a significant risk of material adjustment in the next financial year.

2. Income from donations and legacies

Donations Total income from donations and legacies	Unrestricted Restricted Total Funds Funds Funds 2020 2020 2020 £ £ £ 166,000 - 166,000
	166,000 - 166,000

Charity number 1186305

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The Awen Project

Period ended 31 August 2020

Annual report and financial statements

3. Income from charitable activities

4. Expenditure on charitable activities Educationalists and other consultants Refurbishment of the Annex at the Spinney Set-up costs - resources Administration and other costs Governance Total expenditure on charitable activities Contributions for activities Total income from charitable activities	Unrestricted Restricted Total Funds Funds Funds 2020 2020 2020 £ £ £ 367 - 367
	367 - 367
	Unrestricted Restricted Total Funds Funds Funds 2020 2020 2020 £ £ £ 57,972 - 57,972 64,406 - 64,406 13,743 - 13,743 2,827 - 2,827 2,644 - 2,644
	141,592 - 141,592

During the current financial period £64,406 was spent on refurbishing the Annex at the Spinney which is also the residential address for Charlotte Church and Jonathan Powell, who at the time were both trustees of The Awen Project. The expenditure included construction costs as well as consultancy and planning fees to enable an area separate from the main portion of the property, that had previously been utilised as a studio, to be altered to allow it to be used for educational activities for a temporary period up to 30 July 2020. The work carried out including installing toilets suitable for pupils, as well as amending access to the building. This was deemed to be a suitable temporary location for the activities of the charity whilst more permanent options were explored. Expenditure on provision of educational facilities is in line with the charitable objects of The Awen Project. The work brings no financial benefit to the two trustees as the space would need significant work before it could be used for residential purposes.

This expenditure has not been capitalised in the accounts as, in line with the planning permission granted by the Vale of Glamorgan Council, this area is no longer being utilised for this purpose.

In addition, the expenditure incurred on this refurbishment was more than covered by unrestricted donations into the Charity by trustees (see note 10) and so no publicly raised funds were spent on this, and no gift aid has been claimed on those donations.

Governance costs includes the following items:

Insurance expense Independent examination Total expenditure on governance	Unrestricted Restricted Total Funds Funds Funds 2020 2020 2020 £ £ £ 1,564 - 1,564 1,080 - 1,080
	2,644 - 2,644

Charity number 1186305

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Period ended 31 August 2020

The Awen Project Annual report and financial statements

5. Debtors

6. Creditors-amounts falling due within one year 7. Analysis of charity funds 8. Analysis of net assets Prepayments Total debtors Accruals Total creditors - amounts due within one year Unrestricted funds Total charity funds Current assets Current liabilities Total charity funds	Balance brought forward 2020 £ -	Income Expenditure in in period period 2020 2020 £ £ 166,367 (141,592)		Total 2020 £ 154
				154
				Total 2020 £ 1,080
				1,080
				Balance carried forward 2020 £ 24,775
	-	166,367 (141,592)		24,775
		Unrestricted Restricted Funds Funds 2020 2020 £ £ 25,855 - (1,080) -		Total Funds 2020 £ 25,855 (1,080)
		24,775 -		24,775

9. Trustee remuneration

During the year, no Trustee received any remuneration. No members of the Board of Trustees received reimbursement of expenses related to attendance at Trustee meetings.

10. Related party transactions

There were no related party transactions during the period other than the expenditure on the refurbishment of the Annex at The Spinney noted within note 4 above.

Total unrestricted donations from trustees amounted to £166,000 in the period.

11. Guarantees and secured charges

As at 31 August 2020 the Charity did not have any outstanding guarantees to third parties nor any debts secured against assets of the Charity.

Charity number 1186305

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