For the year ended 6 April 2022
Annual Report 21/22
At The Heart
Report of the trustees for the year ended 6 April 2022
Charity No: 1189831
The Trustees of At The Heart present their annual report and audited accounts for the year ended 6 April 2022 and confirm they comply with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011, the charity constitutionand the Charities SORP (FRS 102).
Cover Photo by Montsera from Pexels
1
Objectives and activities
The object of the CIO is:
To advance in life, relieve needs of and help young adults between the ages of 18 – 30 living in London and its surrounding areas, with a particular focus on young adults from the Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) community, by developing their skills, capacities and capabilities to enable them to participate in society as independent, mature and responsible individuals, and in particular by:
1. advancing education through the provision of information, advice and guidance in areas relating to life, employability and social skills, progression into higher education, career development, citizenship, financial literacy and physical and mental health and well-being;
2. relieving unemployment through hosting workshops and mentorship programmes.
In planning our activities for the year, we kept in mind the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit at our trustee meetings. The main activities for this year are as follows:
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Virtual Outreach
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Mentorship Scheme
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Skill Development Workshops
Although our primary focus is to support young adults aged 18 – 30 from black and minority ethnic backgrounds, we are open to support all young adults regardless of personal background, faith, gender or personal circumstances.
We have referred to the guidance contained in the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit when reviewing our aim and objectives and in planning our future activities. In particular, the trustees consider how planned activities will contribute to the aims and objectives they have set.
2
A review of our achievements and performance:
a) Virtual Outreach
i. Social Media Engagement
In line with the charity objectives, we have been using social media platforms to provide our beneficiaries with information, advice and guidance in areas relating to life, employability and social skills, progression into higher education, career development, citizenship, financial literacy and physical and mental health and well-being.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the charity social media platforms allowed for outreach work to take place, where the charity was able to engage with beneficiaries, communicate with them so as to better understand their needs and provide services virtually. We have invited beneficiaries to share peer advice on our Instagram platform and have encouraged reflective discussions in the comments sections of our posts.
Peer Advice Project
Beneficiaries were invited to record short clips (which were posted on the charity’s Instagram page), sharing advice to their peers on topics related to adulthood, goal setting and managing university. Nine clips were posted in total.
Career & Planning for the Future (Psychology) Project
Psychology professionals were invited to take part in a brief Q&A session on Instagram Live, to inform Black and other ethnic minorities, who may be interested in a career in psychology, about the different psychology career paths available to them. Each panellist was invited to describe their role, talk about their professional journey, and answer some questions from the audience. An additional three psychology professionals, who were unable to attend the live Q&A session, gave the charity permission to post pre-recorded information sessions on our Instagram page.
Heart-to-Heart Project
Mentors were invited to have a “heart-to-heart” conversation with a member of the charity, to discuss topics that affect our beneficiaries. They were given the opportunity to share practical tips, wisdom, and knowledge with the At the Heart community. Three mentors were available to participate in this project and their recorded conversation was posted onto our Instagram page for beneficiaries to access.
12 Days of Christmas
Beneficiaries were invited to engage with the charity through interactive puzzles and activities on our Instagram page during the Christmas season.
Social Media Engagement Achievement*:
Total Instagram Plays: 4245 Total Instagram Views: 666 Total Instagram Likes: 269 Total Instagram Accounts Reached: 5135
*As of 6 April 2022
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ii. At The Heart Website
In line with the charity objectives, the At The Heart website (www.attheheartuk.org) also serves as a
platform to provide our beneficiaries with information, advice and guidance. The website is home to free resources (booklets, audios) that beneficiaries can download, as well as a list of relevant services that beneficiaries can be signposted.
The website not only increases visibility for the charity, so that our services reach more of our target group, but it is also essential for showcasing reliability and improving accessibility.
b) At The Heart Mentorship Scheme
This year we completed the mentorship scheme pilot started in 2020/21 and started a second cohort for 2021/22 with a revised approach.
Our mentorship scheme is a key part of At The Heart’s mission. Young adults from black and other ethnic minority groups need mentors who can offer advice, challenge, motivate and encourage them to lead happy and successful lives.
The 'At The Heart' Mentorship Scheme was developed with the main objectives of wanting to:
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Provide young adults with an opportunity to tap into a direct source of experience and knowledge
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Empower young adults to make better academic, career and/or personal life choices
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Support young adults to approach new opportunities and challenges with self-confidence and drive
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Support young adults to be able to formulate a clear sense of personal direction
Pilot Scheme (2020/21)
For the pilot scheme, we offered three separate pathways: peer, educational and professional mentorship programmes.
We received 27 mentor (volunteer) applications and 17 mentee (beneficiary) applications.
Of the 27 mentors who applied for the scheme, nine (33.3%) were matched with one or more mentees. Nine (33.3%) of the mentor applicants did not complete the mandatory online training required to ensure that they understand their role as a mentor, understand what is expected from them as a mentor and highlight the skills and attitudes needed to perform well in their role as a mentor. They were therefore unable to volunteer as a mentor for the scheme. Two (7.4%) of the mentors withdrew from the scheme before being matched with a mentee and seven (26%) of the mentees were placed on the reserve list.
Of the 17 mentees who applied for the scheme, 10 (58.8%) were matched with a mentor. Eight (47%) of the mentee applicants dropped out of the scheme at some point before the end of the programme. We were unable to follow-up with many of these applicants, however the few that we were able to get a response from, reported that they no longer required a mentor. We were unable to find a suitable mentor for one of the mentee applicants during the pilot scheme but were able to add them to a ‘waiting list’ and match them in the 2021/22 mentorship scheme programme.
This cohort had 8 successful mentoring matches.
4
Monitoring Achievement:
Aimed to analyse the success of the programme at the mid-point (3 months) and the end (six months) of each mentoring relationship. Feedback from mentors and mentees were collected through progress reviews and feedback forms.
Only five of the ten mentoring pairs (50%), completed the mid-point reviews:
At this stage…
100% of the mentees felt that they and their mentor had been working towards the goals outlined in their first session
80% of the mentees felt that their mentor had been addressing all their concerns
100% of the mentees felt that their mentor had been prepared for their mentoring sessions
100% of the mentees felt that theirmentorhas been providing a positive learning experience
100% of the mentees considered the communication between themselves and their mentor to be very good.
100% of the mentees reported that their experience with their mentor had been very good so far
80% of the mentees reported that their mentor had made themselves available always, whilst 20% reported that their mentor had made themselves available often.
60% strongly agreed that they had learnt a lot from their mentor so far, whilst 40% agreed.
80% of the mentees strongly agreed that their mentor assisted them with their problems, whilst 20% agreed.
80% of the mentees strongly agreed that their mentor was an asset to them, whilst 20% agreed.
60% of the mentees strongly agreed that their mentor provided appropriate feedback, whilst 40% agreed.
100% of the mentees reported that their mentor had demonstrated a reasonable interest/ concern towards them
100% of the mentees reported that their mentor’s general behaviour and attitude was an example of professionalism
80% of the mentees were very satisfied with the mentoring so far, whilst 20% were very dissatisfied (we are unsure whether this was an error or not, as other feedback seemed to be positive and no additional feedback was provided when prompted).
100% of the mentees wanted to continue their existing mentorship arrangement with their mentor
All mentees and mentors were given feedback on ways to develop or work on their mentoring relationship based on feedback given during the mid-point review.
5
Only three of the ten mentoring pairs (33.3%), completed the end of scheme reviews/feedback forms:
At this stage…
100% of the mentees felt that they and their mentor had been working towards the goals outlined in their first session
66.6% of the mentees strongly agreed that they and their mentor had achieved the goals outlined in their first session, whilst 33.3% agreed.
100% of the mentees felt that their mentor had been addressing all their concerns
100% of the mentees felt that their mentor had been prepared for their mentoring sessions
100% of the mentees felt that their mentor has been providing a positive learning experience
66.6% of the mentees considered the communication between themselves and their mentor to be good, whilst 33.3% rated it as very good.
100% of the mentees reported that their experience with their mentor had been very good.
100% of the mentees reported that their mentor had made themselves available always.
66.6% agreed that they had learnt a lot from their mentor so far, whilst 33.3% strongly agreed.
66.6% of the mentees strongly agreed that their mentor assisted them with their problems, whilst 33.3% agreed.
66.6% of the mentees strongly agreed that their mentor was an asset to them, whilst 33.3% agreed.
66.6% of the mentees strongly agreed that their mentor provided appropriate feedback, whilst 33.3% agreed.
100% of the mentees reported that their mentor had demonstrated a reasonable interest/ concern towards them
100% of the mentees reported that their mentor’s general behaviour and attitude was an example of professionalism
100% of the mentees were overall very satisfied with their mentoring relationship
100% of the mentees wanted to continue their existing mentoring relationship with their mentor independently, beyond the mentorship scheme programme.
Our Reflections:
Engagement with the scheme was poorer than expected, with there being an almost 50% drop-out rate. Despite there being a low feedback response, we were able to use the feedback we received from beneficiaries and volunteer mentors to make changes to the structure of the scheme to improve engagement and experience for all applicants.
6
Mentorship Scheme (2022/23)
Moving forward with this project, we decided to move away from the three-pathway model and offered a more generalised mentorship scheme that allowed mentors and mentees to tailor their mentoring relationship in line with needs more fluently. We also provided mentees with more structure in an attempt to improve engagement rates, by providing an introductory mentees meeting, a mentee handbook and a graduation ceremony.
For this cohort, we received 13 mentor (volunteer) applications – of which four (30.8%) were on the reserve list from the previous cohort and three (23.1%) had been a mentor in the previous cohort. One mentor did not complete the mandatory training and therefore was withdrawn from the programme.
We received 15 mentee (beneficiary) applications – one of which was on the reserve list from the previous cohort. Four (26.7%) of the mentee applicants have dropped out of the mentorship scheme programme so far. All mentee applicants were matched with a mentee.
This cohort had 11 successful mentoring matches by 6 April 2022.
Monitoring Achievement:
As the previous cohort, we expect to analyse the success of the programme at the mid-point (3 months) and the end (six months) of the mentorship scheme. Feedback from mentors and mentees will be collected through progress reviews and feedback forms.
We aim to continue running the mentorship scheme as an on-going project to support our beneficiaries with building meaningful connections for their personal, academic and/or professional development.
c) Skill Development Workshops
We provided free skill-development workshops to young adults (18-25) primarily living in the Borough of Southwark (North Bermondsey and South Bermondsey) from black and minority ethnic backgrounds. This project aimed to focus on providing life skills to a group of society who had been especially affected by disadvantages in accessibility to resources and support.
We received a total of £2,215.50 in funding from Southwark Council’s Neighbourhood Funds to deliver this project.
7
4th September 2021 – 2 hour, in-person Networking Workshop (4 attendees). The workshop involved: providing top tips for networking, support with networking online and in-person, key networking “rules”, practice exercises and beneficiaries were provided with free resources to takehome.
Feedback:
On a scale of 0-5, how would you rate your networking skills?:
Pre-Workshop: 50% said 3 out of 5, 10% said 2 out of 5, 10% did not respond. Post-Workshop: 50% said 5 out of 5, 10% said 3 out of 5, 10% said 4 out of 5.
On a scale of 0-5, how would you rate your networking knowledge?:
Pre-Workshop: 10% said 3 out of 5, 10% said 1 out of 5, 10% said 4 out of 5, 10% did not respond. Post-Workshop: 50% said 5 out of 5, 50% said 4 out of 5.
On a scale of 0-5, how would you rate your networking confdence?:
Pre-Workshop: 50% said 3 out of 5, 10% said 1 out of 5, 10% did not respond. Post-Workshop: 50% said 5 out of 5, 10% said 3 out of 5, 10% said 4 out of 5.
Workshop Usefulness: 75% said 5 out of 5, 25% said 3 out of 5. Presentation Quality: 50% said 5 out of 5, 50% said 4 out of 5.
8
29th December 2021 – 2 hour, online Personal Reflections Workshop (6 attendees). The workshop involved practice self-reflection exercises, support and advice on how to set practical goals and beneficiaries were provided with free resources to use at home.
Feedback:
On a scale of 0-5, how well do you feel you've been able to reflect on the past year?
100% said 5 out of 5
On a scale of 0-5, how well do you feel you've been able to plan for the upcoming year?
33.3% said 3 out of 5
66.7% said 4 out of 5
On a scale of 0 to 5, how useful was this workshop for you?
100% said 5 out of 5
On a scale of 0 to 5, overall, how would you rate the presentation of the workshop?
100% said 5 out of 5
On a scale of 0 to 5, how likely are you to recommend this workshop to someone?
100% said 5 out of 5
100% of respondents said that the workshop met their expectations.
9
29th January 2022 – 2 hour, online Wellbeing Workshop (8 attendees). The workshop involved practical tips and advice on managing and setting goals for positive physical, mental and social wellbeing. Beneficiaries were provided with free resources to use at home.
Feedback:
On a scale of 0-5, how well do you feel you've been able to reflect on your overall wellbeing?
33.3% said 4 out of 5
66.7% said 5 out of 5
On a scale of 0-5, how well do you feel you've been able to plan for improving your wellbeing?
50% said 4 out of 5
50% said 5 out of 5
On a scale of 0 to 5, how useful was this workshop for you?
16.7% said 4 out of 5
83.3% said 5 out of 5
On a scale of 0 to 5, overall, how would you rate the presentation of the workshop?
16.7% said 4 out of 5
83.3% said 5 out of 5
On a scale of 0 to 5, how likely are you to recommend this workshop to someone?
100% said 5 out of 5
100% of respondents said that the workshop met their expectations.
10
26th February 2022 – 2 hour, online Financial Workshop (10 attendees). The workshop involved providing knowledge and advice about savings, debt, credit and investing. Beneficiaries were also provided with free handouts to remind them of their learning.
Feedback:
On a scale of 0-5, how well do you feel you've been able to reflect on your financial habits and literacy? 42.9% said 4 out of 5
57.1% said 5 out of 5
On a scale of 0 to 5, how useful was this workshop for you? 14.3% said 3 out of 5
85.7% said 5 out of 5
On a scale of 0 to 5, overall, how would you rate the presentation of the workshop?
42.9% said 4 out of 5
57.1% said 5 out of 5
100% of respondents said that the workshop met their expectations.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many of the planned workshops were cancelled or moved online. We also aimed to host focus groups for beneficiaries to have a space to discuss their current challenges and needs, however we did not go ahead with this due to limited resources and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Monitoring Achievement:
(See feedback responses on previous pages) .
11
Financial Review
This financial year, the charity’s principal source of funds was grants. We were extremely fortunate to have been awarded grants from Southwark Council’s Neighbourhood Funds (£2,215.50) in October 2021 towards our Skills Development Workshops. We were also awarded £2175.00 in April 2022, for the same project ahead of the next financial year, from The National Lottery Community Fund.
Our focus is still the same as it was in the previous financial year: to continue to reach as many young adults as possible by providing them with free resources, mentoring and workshops on a variety of relevant topics. During our monthly meetings, we have thoroughly discussed what this ‘reach’ looks like and have collectively agreed that in this day and age, especially post pandemic, we are able to effectively reach young adults virtually.
The amount we have received in grants is extremely generous and we are grateful to have been considered by Southwark councillors and The National Lottery Community Fund.
Reserves Policy
Following on from last year, we have reviewed the reserves policy and have decided that the reserves amount will be £300. The reason for this is that the bulk of our activities as a charity is done virtually, e.g.: our website houses a number of free resources and information on how to connect with us. Our free workshops are done via zoom and we use interactive platforms which require a fee, amongst other factors.
We agree that £300 will be a solid amount to pay for these costs and enable us to continue running effectively and smoothly. This amount will only be spent to pay for website/domain fees and any subscription which ensure we are able to maintain an online presence and run our skills workshops.
We will continue to review this reserves policy on an annual basis and adjust it accordingly should the trustees feel there is a need for this to change.
The charity has no funds materially in deficit and there are no uncertainties about the charity continuing as a going concern. The trustees are positive we have financial stability and that we’re in a strong position to continue working on initiatives which help young adults.
12
Structure, Governance and Management
At The Heart was registered as a charity on 8th June 2020.
The charity is constituted as a Foundation Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO). The constitutionwas adopted 14th March 2020 and last amended 7th June 2020.
Apart from the first charity trustees, every trustee must be appointed for a term of one year by a resolution passed at a properly convened meeting of the charity trustees.
The charity follows a “closed”membership model where the charity trustees are the only voting members and are responsible for making key decisions.
Reference and Administrative details
Charity Name: At The Heart Registered charity number: 1189831
Charity’s principal address: Flat 33, 41 Grange Walk, London SE1 3DY
| Charity Trustees | Ofce (if any) | Dates Acted (if not for whole year) |
|---|---|---|
| Blessing Bakare | Chair | |
| Vanessa Pinto | Treasurer/Vice-Chair | |
| Deborah Bakare | Secretary | |
| Ahyeesha Dembele | Marketing Ofcer | |
| Ruth Muleya | Liaison Ofcer | |
| Evelyn Asihene | Funding Ofcer | |
| Warden Njandjo | Strategy Ofcer |
Professional Advisers
Bankers: Metro Bank Plc 1 Southampton Row, Holborn, London WC1B 5HA
Declarations
The trustees declare that they have approved the trustee’s report above. Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees:
Signature
Full name BlessingBakare Position Chair Date 26 July 2022
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| At The Heart | At The Heart | At The Heart | At The Heart | At The Heart | 1189831 | 1189831 | 1189831 | CC16a | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| For the period from |
4/7/2021 | To | 4/6/2022 | ||||||
| Section A Receipts and payments | |||||||||
| Unrestricted funds to the nearest £ A1 Receipts |
Restricted funds to the nearest £ |
Endowment funds to the nearest £ |
Total funds to the nearest £ |
Last year to the nearest £ |
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| GRANTS | - 4,391- |
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- -- |
- 4,391- |
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| DONATIONS | - 55- |
- -- |
- -- |
- 55- |
- 581- |
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| UNUSED SUBSCRIPTION | - 28- |
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- 28- |
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| Sub total(Gross income for AR)- 4,474- A2 Asset and investment sales, (see table). |
- 4,474- |
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- -- |
- 4,474- |
- 581- |
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| A2 Asset and investment sales, (see table). |
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| Sub total- -- Total receipts - 4,474- A3 Payments |
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| - 4,474- |
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- 4,474- |
- 581- |
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| COST OF CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES | - 244- |
- -- |
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- 244- |
- 7- |
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| HIRE OF ROOMS | - 60- |
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- -- |
- 60- |
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| POSTAGE, STATIONARY & EQUIPMENT | - 186- |
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- 186- |
- -- |
CCXX R1 accounts (SS)
9/11/2022
1
| WEBSITE & EMAIL MAINTENANCE | - 195- |
- -- |
- -- |
- 195- |
- 121- |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NON-STERLING FEES | - 2- |
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- 2- |
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| MARKETING | - 4- |
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- 4- |
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| **Sub total ** | - 690- |
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- 690- |
- 128- |
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| A4 Asset and investment purchases, (see table) |
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| Sub total Total payments Net of receipts/(payments) A5 Transfers between funds A6 Cash funds last year end **Cash funds this year end ** |
- -- |
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| - 690- |
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- 690- |
- 128- |
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| - 3,784- |
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- 3,784- |
- 453- |
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| - 3,784- |
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- 3,784- |
- 453- |
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| Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period | |||||||||
| Categories B1 Cash funds |
Details | Unrestricted funds to nearest £ - -- - -- - -- |
Restricted funds to nearest £ - -- - -- - -- |
Endowment funds to nearest £ |
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| Total cash funds | - -- |
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Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period
| Unrestricted | Restricted funds | Restricted funds | Endowment | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Categories | Details | funds | funds | |||||||||||||
| to nearest £ | to nearest £ | to nearest £ | ||||||||||||||
| B1 | Cash funds | - | -- | - | -- | - | -- | |||||||||
| - | -- | - | -- | - | -- | |||||||||||
| - | -- | - | -- | - | -- | |||||||||||
| Total cash funds | - | -- | - | -- | - | -- | ||||||||||
CCXX R2 accounts (SS)
9/11/2022
2
| B2 Other monetary assets B3 Investment assets B4 Assets retained for the charity’s own use |
(agree balances with receipts and payments account (s)) Details |
Agreement Error | OK | OK |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unrestricted funds to nearest £ |
Restricted funds to nearest £ |
Endowment funds to nearest £ |
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| Current value (optional) |
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| - -- |
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| Current value (optional) |
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CCXX R3 accounts (SS)
9/11/2022
3
| - | -- | - | -- | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| - | -- | - | -- | ||||||
| - | -- | - | -- | ||||||
| Fund to which | Amount due | When due | |||||||
| Details | liability relates | (optional) | (optional) | ||||||
| B5 Liabilities | - | -- | |||||||
| - | -- | ||||||||
| - | -- | ||||||||
| - | -- | ||||||||
| - | -- | ||||||||
| Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees |
Signature | Name | Date of approval | ||||||
| BLESSING BAKARE | Blessing Bakare | 7/8/2022 | |||||||
| VANESSA PINTO | Vanessa Pinto | ||||||||
| 7/8/2022 |
CCXX R4 accounts (SS)
9/11/2022
4