TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT
For the period beginning: 1 January 2022 Ending: 31 December 2022
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- Ref: TRTP TAP 3
Charity name THE ROAD TO PARITY
Registered charity number 1187425
Charity's principal address Office 4, Westminster Chambers
106 Lord St Southport PR8 1LF Email: steps@theroadtoparity.org Website: www.theroadtoparity.org
TRUSTEES
| No. | Trustee name | Office (if any) | Dates acted if not for whole year |
Name of person (or body) entitled to appoint trustee (if any) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jonathan Hill | Founder & Chair | ||
| 2 | Richard Owens | Secretary | ||
| 3 | Margaret Evison |
ADVISORS
| ADVISORS | ADVISORS | ADVISORS |
|---|---|---|
| Type of adviser Name Address |
||
| India partner representative |
Sudeep Dube | Learning Links Foundation, Allied House, 2nd Floor, Near B-7 Post office, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi 110070 |
| India partner representative |
Rashmi Mishra | Learning Links Foundation, Allied House, 2nd Floor, Near B-7 Post office, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi 110070 |
| India partner representative |
Rashid Siddiqui | Learning Links Foundation, Allied House, 2nd Floor, Near B-7 Post office, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi 110070 |
Structure, governance and management
Trusts
Type of governing document[The charity is governed by a constitution document, dated 27 November ] 2019. How the charity is constituted[The Road to Parity was initially set up as a community organisation. In] January 2020, the Charities Commission for England and Wales granted the organisation registered charity status – as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO). Trustee selection methods[Trustees to date have been appointed. However, the charity welcomes ] approaches from people not connected to existing trustees.
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The Road to Parity works with an overseas partner. Learning Links Additional governance Foundation in India provides on the ground support and has been engaged through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). The MOU specifies the nature of the partnership, responsibilities, expected outcomes and monies involved.
Objectives and activities
| Objectives and activities | |
|---|---|
| Summary of the objects of the charity set out in governing document Summary of main activities undertaken for the public benefit in relation to objects |
To relieve poverty in developing countries through the provision of micro grants to enable beneficiaries to participate in the local economy and sustain themselves and their families in a manner that would otherwise be beyond their reach. |
| The Road to Parity currently runs a poverty alleviation initiative in India called Project Unnati. It is run in conjunction with partner, Learning Links Foundation. Under Project Unnati, people in extreme poverty are given the opportunity to start a business with the help of a micro grant. Using a strict screening and monitoring process, entrepreneurs are provided with the equipment and supplies necessary to begin trading. Unlike many similar initiatives in developing nations, the small grant available through Project Unnati is not a loan and does not need to be repaid. TRTP believes people in extreme poverty have suffered enough. The project was named_Unnati_(meaning progress) after one of the first beneficiaries said she felt her new business would bring prosperity to her family after years of desperate poverty. While TRTP is currently focusing on its programme in India, the longer- term plan is to expand into other developing nations. |
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Additional details of objectives and activities
Project Unnati takes a three-pronged approach:
Identifying and selecting beneficiaries:
Slum and street market areas of the Indian capital, Delhi, are visited to identify aspiring entrepreneurs among the slum and pavement dwellers. Details of prospective beneficiaries are captured in a pre-defined format. Once the details are captured, a screening process starts. Beneficiaries are screened using a strict points system. At its core is identifying people in extreme poverty – households who have been scraping an existence on around £10 or less, per person, per month. Other factors considered include helping the poorly educated, sole breadwinners supporting large families, the physically and mentally challenged, women, victims of domestic violence, and young men struggling on unstable labouring income while supporting families - effectively trapping them in extreme poverty. Finalise business needs and secure required equipment/stock: Once a beneficiary has been identified, a discussion takes place on the equipment, supplies and stock that are required to get the business off the ground. With the agreement of the entrepreneur, the necessary items are sourced and procured. This supervised process is eased for recurrent business themes, such as the popular vegetable carts and boiled egg stalls. Normally, the grant awarded is around £50. Three months ‘hand holding’ support:
Each beneficiary receives support to ensure their fledgling enterprise succeeds, such as guidance on record keeping, negotiation skills, dealing with customers and marketing. This three-month period of support helps overcome initial challenges and provides a path for success. It is made clear from the start that the grant is one-off assistance and there is no coming back for more money.
Achievements and performance The Road to Parity made further progress in 2022 with Project Unnati, its Summary of the main programme to transform the lives of people in extreme poverty through achievements during the year entrepreneurship. At the same time, Covid and rising food prices pushed millions more people globally into extreme poverty (those who live on less than $1.90 per day.) Global poverty had been in decline when Covid struck. Throughout the year, 26 new enterprises were established with the help of partner organisation Learning Links Foundation. This brought the total number of businesses started under the initiative to 86. All have been set up in the slums of Delhi. Although the number of new enterprises represented an increase of 30% on 2021, it fell slightly short of the overall target of 90 businesses by the end of 2022. This was due to issues with international transactions. The businesses established in 2022 included stalls selling a range of goods, such as warm clothes, school bags, scarves, hosiery items,
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Achievements and performance
Summary of the main achievements during the year cont’d
cosmetics, and tea. Tailoring was also among the businesses - a popular choice among beneficiaries - and for the first time under Project Unnati, a beauty and cosmetics parlour.
Farida Khatoon’s story
Farida comes from a very poor family where six people had been trying to survive on £8.32 each per month. Her husband’s meagre labouring salary was trapping them in financial misery.
Farida is illiterate but knew how to sew and thought she might be able to bring some more money into the house by doing some home-based tailoring.
After discussing her idea with the Project Unnati outreach team, the 20year-old was supported with a new business kit. Farida is now earning up to 5,000 Rupees a month, which has doubled the household income. “I’m doing much better now. I’m so happy,” she says. “I’ve been able to buy some tailoring material to help expand the business.”
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Achievements and performance
Project Unnati started funding businesses in the months before Covid struck, and there have been business casualties along the way. Summary of the main achievements during the year Out of the 86 businesses supported so far, 72 are still trading or 84%. cont’d None have failed since Covid restrictions were lifted in India. However, the challenges beneficiaries face on a personal level go far deeper than the impact of the virus. In addition to being in extreme poverty, many of the beneficiaries are illiterate, while others have been victims of domestic violence, or are mentally and physically challenged – making the success stories even more remarkable.
Financial review
| Brief statement of the charity’s policy on reserves Details of any funds materially in deficit Further financial review details |
As the charity provides only one-off grants, there are no ongoing programme costs in the field. Once the businesses have been set up, they operate on a commercial basis and are self-sustaining. This minimises the necessity for reserves. |
|---|---|
| There has not been a financial deficit since TRTP was set up in November 2018. |
|
| The charity opened fund raising channels in July 2020, once the programme model had been tested in the field with positive results. The main source of funds in 2022 was donations from members of the public. These donations were encouraged by content through the charity’s communication platforms; theroadtoparity.org website, LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram. Other income came from gift aid claims and affiliate marketing activity through Amazon, ebay, and easyfundraising. Expenditure has supported the key objectives of the charity by addressing poverty in developing countries by enabling beneficiaries to become self-sustaining in the local economy. The main expenses for the year – aside from issuing grants – were field expenses, including 70% of an outreach salary. This is to secure the time of an individual who is otherwise committed to projects through his principal employer, Learning Links Foundation. All other staff involved with the charity work on a voluntary basis. The Trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy the charity’s financial position. Trustees ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charity Commission's SORP 2005. Not all funds could be dispersed to beneficiaries in 2022 mainly due to the international transaction issues. There was a balance of £809 on 31 December 2022. Total income £1,913 Total expenditure(including grant provision) £1,104 Bank balanceas of 31 December 2022 £809 |
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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) Position (eg Secretary, Chair, etc) Date |
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|---|---|---|
| Jonathan Hill | ||
| Chair | ||
| 31 October 2023 |
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No (if any) payments accountsayments accountsyments accountsments accounts CC16a 1/1/2022 12/31/2022 To
THE ROAD TO PARITY No (if any) Receipts and payments accountsayments accountsyments accountsments accounts For the period 1/1/2022 To from
Section A Receipts and payments
Unrestricted Restricted Endowment funds funds funds
Total funds Last year
| Section A Receipts and payments Unrestricted funds |
Restricted funds |
Endowment funds |
Total funds | Last year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A1 Receipts DONATIONS 1,913 - - - - - - - 1,913 - - Sub total - Total receipts 1,913 A3 Payments DONATIONS 1,104 - - - - - - - - Sub total 1,104 - - Sub total - Total payments 1,104 Net of receipts/(payments) 809 A5 Transfers between funds - A6 Cash funds last year end - Cash funds this year end 809 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 £ | to the nearest £ | to the nearest £ | to the nearest £ |
| - - - - - - - - - |
- - - - - - - - - |
1,913 - - - - - - - 1,913 |
3,723 | |
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
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| - | ||||
| 3,723 | ||||
| - - - |
- - - |
- - - |
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| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| - | - | 1,913 | 3,723 | |
| - - - - - - - - - - |
- - - - - - - - - - |
1,104 - - - - - - - - 1,104 |
2,901 | |
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
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| - | ||||
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| 2,901 | ||||
| - - - |
- - - |
- - - |
||
| - | ||||
| - | - | 1,104 | 2,901 | |
| - - - - |
- - - - |
809 - - 809 |
828 | |
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| 828 |
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 |
Details BANK Details Details Details Details Total cash funds (agree balances with receipts and payments account(s)) |
to nearest £ 809 - - 809 OK to nearest £ - - - - - - Unrestricted funds Unrestricted funds Fund to which asset belongs Fund to which asset belongs Fund to which liability relates |
to nearest £ - - - - OK to nearest £ - - - - - - Cost (optional) - - - - - Cost (optional) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Restricted funds Restricted funds Amount due (optional) |
to nearest £ Endowment funds |
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| OK | ||||
| to nearest £ Endowment funds |
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| Current value (optional) |
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| When due (optional) |
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Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees
Date of approval
Signature
Print Name
J HILL 1012712023