## **TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT** # **For the period beginning: 1 January 2022 Ending: 31 December 2022** - - 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. **2022** **TAR** 1 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.| **2022** **TAR** 2 **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, **2022** **TAR** 3 ## **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.” **2022** **TAR** 4 ## **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 balance**as of 31 December 2022
£809| **2022** **TAR** 5 ## **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**||| |---|---|---| ||Jonathan Hill|| ||Chair|| ||31 October 2023|| **2022** **TAR** 6 **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**| |||||**-**| |||||**-**| |||||**-**| |||||**-**| |||||**-**| |||||**-**| |||||**-**| |||||**3,723**| |||||| ||**-**
**-**
**-**|**-**
**-**
**-**|**-**
**-**
**-**|| |||||**-**| |||||**-**| |||||| ||**-**|**-**|**1,913**|**3,723**| |||||| ||**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**|**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**|**1,104**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**1,104**|**2,901**| |||||**-**| |||||**-**| |||||**-**| |||||**-**| |||||**-**| |||||**-**| |||||**-**| |||||**-**| |||||**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**| |---|---|---|---|---| |||||**-**| |||||**-**| |||||**-**| |||||**-**| |||||OK| |||||**to nearest £**
**Endowment**
**funds**| |||||**-**| |||||**-**| |||||**-**| |||||**-**| |||||**-**| |||||**-**| |||||**Current value**
**(optional)**| |||||**-**| |||||**-**| |||||**-**| |||||**-**| |||||**-**| |||||**Current value**
**(optional)**| |||||**-**| |||||**-**| |||||**-**| |||||**-**| |||||**-**| |||||**-**| |||||**-**| |||||**-**| |||||**-**| |||||**When due**
**(optional)**| ||||**-**|| ||||**-**|| ||||**-**|| ||||**-**|| ||||**-**|| Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees Date of approval Signature Print Name J HILL 1012712023