Trustees’ Annual Report for the period
From 1st July 2022 to 30[th] June 2023
Charity name: Open Palm
Charity registration number: 1190203
Objectives and Activities
| Objectives and Activities | ||
|---|---|---|
| SORP reference | ||
| Summary of the purposes of the charity as set out in its governing document |
Para 1.17 | Open Palm’s purposes are to advance education and promote racial equality. We achieve this by delivering educational life-skills programmes, improving learning environments and addressing racial inequality. Our mission is to close the opportunity gap for young people so that no one is left behind, regardless of their ethnic or social background. |
| Summary of the main activities in relation to those purposes for the public benefit, in particular, the activities, projects or services identified in the accounts. |
Para 1.17 and 1.19 | Open Palm (‘OP’) furthers its purposes through three key initiatives: Advancing education (I) Making education more accessible to students, by delivering tech and academic resources to under-funded schools. This improves students’ access to learning resources, helps them to better engage with lessons and homework, and improves attainment. This is delivered through our ‘Project Spark’. Promoting racial equality (ii) Addressing disparities in income and employment for Black, Mixed Heritage, Asian and Ethnic Minorities, by delivering free life- skills courses that also offer nationally recognised accreditations. These courses equip under-represented and disadvantaged young people for skills for success, thereby improving prospects. This is delivered through our WYZ® courses and related workshops. (iii) Promoting knowledge of different racial groups, in order improve race relations and eliminate racial discrimination. Amplifying voices, tackling negative stereotypes and normalising achievement within Black, Mixed Heritage, Asian and Ethnic Minority communities through awareness initiatives. These include sharing career insights and interviews with changemakers in addition to celebrating everyday people in these communities. These activities help to raise aspirations of ethnically under-represented youths. This is delivered through our Project Enlighten’. |
| Statement confirming whether the trustees have had regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission onpublic benefit |
Para 1.18 | Open Palm’s Trustees have had due regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit. The spirit of this guidance |
is embedded within Open Palm’s purpose and values and drives decision-making when considering and delivering initiatives.
Additional information (optional)
You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:
| SORP reference | ||
|---|---|---|
| Policy on grant making | Para 1.38 | OP does not perform any grant-making activities and as such, it does not have a grant making policy. |
| Policy on social investment including program related investment |
Para 1.38 | OP has not made social investments; whilst it applies its funds to further their purposes, they do not aim to make a financial return. Further, OP does not make program related investments (such as granting loans, investing in complex high profile or regeneration projects or pooled funds). |
| Contribution made by volunteers | Para 1.38 | Regular direct debits are made by some of OP’s Trustees. The charity has also received the benefit of one-off donations from some volunteers such as through donating Virgin Red points or supporting on their day-to-day shop via Amazon Smile. OP has relied on the dedication and skill of all Trustees and volunteers who support the charity’s initiatives. Trustees and volunteers have helped us deliver and execute on numerous key activities, including creating and delivering WYZ® courses, delivering youth workshops, supporting fundraising events, and delivering online events such as OP’s one-year anniversary celebration and educational interview segments. |
| Other | N/A |
Achievements and Performance
| SORP reference | ||
|---|---|---|
| Summary of the main achievements of the charity, identifying the difference the charity’s work has made to the circumstances of its beneficiaries and any wider benefits to society as a whole. |
Para 1.20 | During this financial year, we have continued to exceed expectations including placing 80 young people on our work experience programmes with our corporate partners. and have reached over 1,400 young people, in excess of our target, through our free WYZ life-skills programmes. Our focus remains to support underfunded schools and partner with some to donate technology. We supported Kingsdale Foundation School in December 2022 with a donation of laptops. The positive feedback from the young people and schools, demonstrates that these initiatives are achieving the desired effect and proves that OP is bridging a gap which is invaluable. We have continued to collaborate with firms who have expressed a desire to partner with the Charity. This partnership has enabled us to offer many Career Day and Work Experience opportunities to some of the young people who have completed successfully the WYZ for Work programme. We delivered 4 work experience programmes, partnering with some of the UK’s largest employers, which enabled students to gain vital access to the workplace and develop skills of the future. We collaborated with Charles Stanley, a leading Wealth Management firm, to develop their apprenticeship programme. Through this partnership, we sourced the firm’s first ever apprenticeship candidates and were delighted to see a range of diverse backgrounds. All 5 apprentices began with the firm in September |
2022 for a 2-year period, whilst studying towards a professional qualification in either Finance or Operations. We continued to benefit from the services of Google, which has enabled the Charity to utilise SEO marketing services. This has the potential to significantly boost the Brand awareness of the Charity via the adverts posted. Following the success of our three volunteer Youth Ambassadors in the previous year, we continued to explore ways to engage young people via our TikTok and other social media accounts. Our fundraising efforts exceeded expectations, with strategic partnerships with Virgin Red, Amazon Smile, JustGiving and Charities Aid Foundation (payroll giving) all generating important income to support our work. We also delivered our first in-person employability workshop to a school in Birmingham, led by a local volunteer. This was a key part of our strategy to expand our in-person delivery to the Midlands.
Additional information (optional)
You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:
| Achievements against objectives set |
Para 1.41 | Achieved a wider reach, supporting a Birmingham school with an in- person workshop. Delivered a tailored work experience offering in collaboration with our corporate partners; we were proud to work with Charles Stanley to create their first ever apprenticeship programme. |
|---|---|---|
| Performance of fundraising activities against objectives set |
Para 1.41 | Fundraising efforts exceeded expectations and we welcomed a generous donation of £10K from AlixPartners, in addition to regular income from Virgin Red, Just Giving, Amazon Smile and CAF. |
| Investment performance against objectives |
Para 1.41 | N/A |
| Other |
Financial Review
| Financial Review | ||
|---|---|---|
| Review of the charity’s financial position at the end of the period |
Para 1.21 | Financial donations for the year were substantially lower than the prior financial year owing to a fall in our support from our corporate partners. Donations for the year totalled £15,482 of which: • AlixPartners – £4,202 • Capital Group - £3,800 • Charities Aid Foundation - £3,621 • JustGiving - £2,783 • Other direct giving - £1,076 Expenses for the period totalled £14,752 of which the largest element related to; • Consultancy & Professional Fees (£4,950) - We engaged the support of the marketing and PR consultancy Hopscotch to help us broaden our reach to schools. • Programme Accreditation (£1,801) - This is the annual cost to recognise Open Palm as an ASDAN training centre. This allows our WYZ courses to be accredited. • IT Software (£1,177) - Our IT costs allow us to work remotely and efficiently, supporting automation and safeguarding data privacy. • Focus Groups (£989) - We want to ensure that our offerings stay relevant to the young people we serve. We gather insights through our focus groups, consisting of our target beneficiaries. This allows us to hear directly what they would like to learn more of which they do not get through their school curriculum. • Programme Software (£854) - This is the cost of our scalable online learning platform which hosts our courses. • Career Insight Days (£760) - We partner with corporates to provide educational career insight days, giving young people the opportunity to network with professionals and learn more about different roles within a company. • Work Experience (£126) - We fund the travel and lunch costs for young people to ensure that this doesn’t become a barrier to entry. OP had no paid staff working for the charity during the year. The year ended with a surplus of £730 and substantial cash reserves from the prior financial year. . This leaves OP in a strong position to grow and support beneficiaries in 2023/24 where many of them will be squeezed by the on-going cost of living crisis. |
| Statement explaining the policy for holding reserves stating why they are held |
Para 1.22 | Reserves are that part of OP’s unrestricted funds that is freely available to spend on any of the charity’s purposes. We maintain free unrestricted reserves: • to provide a level of working capital that protects the continuity of our core work • to provide a level of funding for unexpected opportunities • to provide cover for risks such as unforeseen expenditure or unanticipated loss of income. The board of trustees will review the above criteria with reference to our strategy and Annual Plan and determine the target level of free reserves to meet these. |
| The Board of Trustees will at times designate funds from free reserves for significant project costs or replacement of major assets. |
||
|---|---|---|
| Amount of reserves held | Para 1.22 | The total reserves held at year end are £67,119. These are entirely unrestricted. |
| Reasons for holdingzero reserves | Para 1.22 | N/a |
| Details of fund materiallyin deficit | Para 1.24 | N/a |
| Explanation of any uncertainties about the charity continuing as a goingconcern |
Para 1.23 | There are no matters of material significance to report or any known uncertainties about the charity’s ability to continue as a going concern. |
Structure, Governance and Management
| Description of charity’s trusts: | ||
|---|---|---|
| Type of governing document (trust deed,royal charter) |
Para 1.25 | Foundation Model Constitution |
| How is the charity constituted? (e.g unincorporated association, CIO) |
Para 1.25 | Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) |
| Trustee selection methods including details of any constitutional provisions e.g. election to post or name of any person or body entitled to appoint one or more trustees |
Para 1.25 | Trustees are selected based on a range of considerations, including their skillset, experience, interest and commitment. Appointments to the Board are approved by unanimous decision of existing Trustees. Existing Trustees complete an annual skills audit, which is a self- assessment of their existing skillset and any skills gaps. This document is considered by the Trustee Board and gaps are plugged through recruitment (e.g. recruitment of a Trustee or other volunteer(s)) and/or training. |
Additional information (optional)
You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:
| Policies and procedures adopted for the induction and training of trustees |
Para 1.51 | Trustees annually reflect on their skills and no less than every 2 years complete a skills assessment. The output of the skills audit is discussed at a Board meeting. Skills gaps are addressed either through training or recruitment of additional volunteers possessing the necessary skillset. Trustees annually complete training, including on the topic of safeguarding; the training content varies each year to ensure a breadth of coverage. |
|---|---|---|
| The charity’s organisational structure and any wider network with which the charity works |
Para 1.51 | The charity is run by Trustees, who in turn receive advice from Independent Advisor (covering Governance & Risk matters) and Advisory Group members who support particular initiatives. The charity is run wholly by volunteers. There is a lead volunteer structure covering a range of key areas, from People (HR) to Fundraising. Each lead volunteer has a team of volunteers supporting them, with directional support provided by Trustees unless the lead volunteer is a Trustee. Lead volunteers provide updates to their Trustee champion, who in turn provides visibility and escalates any issues to the Board. |
| Relationship with any related parties |
Para 1.51 | The charity collaborates with various organisations, including other youth organisations. However, these relationships are informal. There are no related parties and the charity is not part of a wider organisational group. |
| Other | N/A |
Reference and Administrative details
| Charityname | Open Palm |
|---|---|
| Other name the charityuses | |
| Registered charitynumber | 1190203 |
| Charity’s principal address | 86-90 Paul Street London EC2A 4NE |
Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity
| 1 2 3 4 5 6 |
Trustee name | Office (if any) | Dates acted if not for whole year |
Name of person (or body) entitled to appoint trustee (if any) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lynette Emesibe | Trustee & Fundraising Lead |
25 April 2021 to present |
Sophie McBaiden, Ralph McBaiden | |
| Sophie McBaiden |
Trustee & Chair | 01 July 2020 to present |
Ralph McBaiden | |
| Ralph McBaiden | Trustee & Treasurer | 01 July 2020 to present |
Sophie McBaiden | |
| Emmanuella Omolara Akala |
Trustee | 01 June 2023 to present |
Lynette Emesibe, Ralph McBaiden, Sophie McBaiden | |
Corporate trustees – names of the directors at the date the report was approved
Director name N/A
Name of trustees holding title to property belonging to the charity
| Trustee name | Dates acted if not for wholeyear | |
|---|---|---|
| N/A | ||
Funds held as custodian trustees on behalf of others
| Description of the assets held in this capacity |
N/A |
|---|---|
| Name and objects of the charity on whose behalf the assets are held and how this falls within the custodian charity’s objects |
N/A |
| Details of arrangements for safe custody and segregation of such assets from the charity’s own assets |
N/A |
Additional information (optional)
Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)
| onal information (optional) ames and addresses of advisers (Optional information) |
onal information (optional) ames and addresses of advisers (Optional information) |
onal information (optional) ames and addresses of advisers (Optional information) |
|---|---|---|
| Type of adviser Name Address |
||
| Independent Advisor – Governance & Risk |
Raz Hussain | 86-90 Paul Street, London, EC2A 4NE |
| Independent Advisor – Partnerships |
Kate Griffiths Lambeth |
86-90 Paul Street, London, EC2A 4NE |
| Advisory Group member |
Rory Brelsford- Stewart |
86-90 Paul Street, London, EC2A 4NE |
| Advisory Group member |
Anthony Oshodi | 86-90 Paul Street, London, EC2A 4NE |
| Advisory Group member |
Lorna Strong | 86-90 Paul Street, London, EC2A 4NE |
| Advisory Group member |
Sheila Ratnasingham | 86-90 Paul Street, London, EC2A 4NE |
| Advisory Group member |
David Waboso | 86-90 Paul Street, London, EC2A 4NE |
| Advisory Group member |
Rhiannon Blackmore | 86-90 Paul Street, London, EC2A 4NE |
Name of chief executive or names of senior staff members (Optional information)
No staff members applicable – all individuals are volunteers
Exemptions from disclosure
Reason for non-disclosure of key personnel details
N/A
Other optional information
None
Declarations
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 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Ralph McBaiden | ||
Trustee - Chair |
||
| 27/02/2024 | ||
| 27/02/2024 |
| Charity Name: Open Palm | Charity Name: Open Palm | Charity Name: Open Palm | Charity Name: Open Palm | Charity Name: Open Palm | No: 1190203 | No: 1190203 | No: 1190203 | CC16a | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| For the period from |
1st July 2022 | To | 30th June 2023 | ||||||
| Section A Receipts and payments | |||||||||
| A1 Receipts | Unrestricted funds to the nearest £ |
Restricted funds to the nearest £ |
Endowment funds to the nearest £ |
Total funds to the nearest £ |
Last year to the nearest £ |
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Donations |
15,482 | - | - | 15,482 | 49,414 | ||||
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| Sub total(Gross income for AR) | 15,482 | - | - | 15,482 | 49,414 | ||||
| A2 Asset and investment sales, (see table). |
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| - | |||||||||
| - | - | ||||||||
| Sub total | - | - | |||||||
| Total receipts A3 Payments |
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| 49,414 | |||||||||
Charitable activities |
4,414 | - | - | 4,414 | 1,885 | ||||
| Support costs | 10,338 | - | - | 10,338 | 4,068 | ||||
| - | - | - | - | - | |||||
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| **Sub total ** | 14,752 | - | - | 14,752 | 5,953 | ||||
| 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 |
|||||||||
| 5,953 | |||||||||
| 730 | 43,461 | ||||||||
| - | - | ||||||||
| 66,389 | 22,928 | ||||||||
| 67,119 | 66,389 |
CCXX R1 accounts (SS)
27/02/2024
1
Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period
| Categories Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees B1 Cash funds B2 Other monetary assets B4 Assets retained for the charity’s own use B5 Liabilities B3 Investment assets |
Signature Details Bank balance - Main account Bank balance - Reserve account Details Total cash funds (agree balances with receipts and payments account(s)) Details Details Details |
Unrestricted funds Restricted funds to nearest £ to nearest £ 37,119 - 30,000 - - - 67,119 - OK OK Unrestricted funds Restricted funds to nearest £ to nearest £ - - - - - - - - - - - - Fund to which asset belongs Cost (optional) - - - - - Fund to which asset belongs Cost (optional) - - - - - - - - - Fund to which liability relates Amount due (optional) - - - - - Print Name RALPH MCBAIDEN |
Endowment funds to nearest £ |
|---|---|---|---|
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| OK | |||
| Endowment funds to nearest £ |
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| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| Current value (optional) |
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| Current value (optional) |
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| - | |||
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| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| When due (optional) |
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| Date of approval | |||
| RALPH MCBAIDEN | 27/02/2024 | ||
CCXX R2 accounts (SS)
27/02/2024
2