THE IAN WILLIAMS FOUNDATION Trustee Report & Financial Review Year ended: 5[th] April 2021
Charity Number 1188414
St Lawrence House, Tenby, Pembrokeshire, SA70 8RA. communicate@theianwilliamsfoundation.org
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MISSION STATEMENT
Ian Michael Williams was a talented tight-head prop fulfilling his dream of being a professional rugby union player. But sadly in February 2018, aged just 27, he collapsed and died whilst training with Doncaster Knights.
Our vision for The Ian Williams Foundation is to move beyond this sadness and create an impactful vehicle for change. Like Ian, we want his Foundation to be big, sporty, strong, compassionate, dynamic, driven and caring.
Our plan is to Screen, Encourage and Enable in order to SEE out this vision and Safeguard the Heart of Sport.
STRUCTURE & GOVERNANCE
The Ian Williams Foundation is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO), charity number 1188414, whose only voting members are its charity trustees and has its principal office located in Wales.
Where new trustees are appointed they are given a formal introduction to our work and provided with the information they need to fulfil their roles, which includes information about the role of trustees and charity law. New trustees are nominated by members of the board of trustees and appointed where they have the necessary skills to contribute to the charity’s management and development. There must be a minimum of 3 trustees and a maximum number of 13. We are not yet large enough to require sub-committees of the trustee board to act in specific operational areas, and all decisions are made by the current board of charity trustees:
Helen Williams (Chair) Philippa Williams Nicola Wager Christina Haddad James Hay
All trustees give of their time freely and no trustee remuneration was paid during the year.
POLICIES
To date (and in part due to limited activity as a result of Covid-19 restrictions) the trustees have elected not to implement any particular policies. However, the potential need for policies on grant making and volunteer management will be reviewed in the coming year.
www.theianwilliamsfoundation.org
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OBJECTIVES
The legal objects of The Ian Williams Foundation as set out in our governing document are:
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The advancement of health and the saving of lives by raising awareness of cardiovascular issues and cardiac health in athletes and people taking part in sport’ promoting the need for cardiac screening as a preventative measure; and, raising awareness of mental health issues which may affect those participating in sport and the options available for such people
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The promotion of community participation in healthy recreation, in particular by the making of grants to other charities and sports clubs for the playing of Rugby Union
ACTIVITIES
The trustees have taken the Charity Commission’s public benefit guidance into account when making any decision where it is relevant to planning our activities for the year.
The restrictions imposed as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic during 2020/2021 and in particular on organised sport at all levels meant an inevitable pause in The Foundation’s campaign to extend cardiac screening to rugby players at all levels. However, having secured the RFU’s agreement to include cardiac screening as part of the ‘Standard Operating Procedures’ for the Championship (the second professional division, below the Premiership) we are following up this decision by checking that they have indeed been adopted into the Championship’s governing rules, and in turn (and more importantly) implemented by the clubs.
Many activities were undertaken by our supporters, and friends of Ian’s, raising both funds and awareness, including participation in Iron Man Wales, the London 10k, the Vitality Half Marathon, Ride London, the Brighton marathon, the Bournemouth marathon, and even a Channel swim. We are humbled by all of these amazing efforts and participants choosing to raise money for The Foundation.
The largest event that is organised and ‘hosted’ by The Foundation itself is the annual Ian Williams Memorial Match which sees peers from his two alma maters (Swansea University and Oxford University) compete in a rugby match between alumni. Sadly due to Covid-19 restrictions this could not take place in the summer of 2020 as planned, but has instead been scheduled for 4[th] December 2021 – Ian’s 31[st] birthday. Due to be played in London, this will be the third and final match played between alumni and we hope it will be a wellattended event to mark the occasion. Moving forward, from 2022 and beyond, this will become a fixture between current 1[st] XV players at the two university rugby clubs.
We are grateful to all of our supporters for their contributions and fundraising efforts.
www.theianwilliamsfoundation.org
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FINANCIAL REVIEW
To date the trustees have not opened a bank account and therefore have no financial reports to submit. We have, however, had income and thus include a financial review herewith our trustee report.
All funds raised and donated are currently being held with our charity partner The Atlas Foundation (charity number 1161179) in the Ian Williams Foundation Fund, from which we get a monthly fund report.
The only costs incurred have been administrative (such as web domain and PR costs etc). The remaining majority of our income is awaiting the decision of the trustees regarding its application.
The main financial risk to the charity is a reduction in donations and fundraising activities of our supporters and volunteers, however this is currently of no cause for concern as we do not have any regular financial commitments to meet at this stage.
The latest fund report (for the year ending April 2021) read as follows:
www.theianwilliamsfoundation.org
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FUTURE PLANS
The year ending April 2022 will see the 3[rd] Ian Williams Memorial Match on 4[th] December 2021, Ian’s 31[st] birthday. Covid restrictions allowing, the trustees hope to continue lobbying various professional bodies who control the health and safety requirements for both amateur and professional athletes in rugby (both men and women’s). Having secured commitment to the screening process from the English Championship, we are looking to move to National One League and into the Welsh Premiership (the top amateur division(s) in England and Wales respectively) as a starting point.
We will be looking in to the potential appointment of trustees relating to the requirements and goals of TIWF and how we can best place experts in our governance to ensure that we continue to move in the right direction for achieving our objects and vision.
The trustees will continue to assess the requirement for grant making and volunteer management policies as they pertain to our activities (both from the perspective of policy writing as well as implementation).
The trustees plan to open a bank account and use these details to facilitate opportunities for fundraising and donations on social media platforms and in other charitable spheres (such as Benevity).
We are in discussions to sponsor a screening opportunity for The Varsity Matches scheduled to take place in Spring 2022. We will also be pursuing formalising this partnership in order to facilitate an ongoing relationship with both Oxford and Cambridge Universities.
Similarly, we are working towards a relationship with Swansea and Cardiff Universities relating to their Welsh Varsity matches.
We will be considering the possibility of screening options and financial contributions to such options from our current funds.
www.theianwilliamsfoundation.org