## **Trustees’ Annual Report for the period** ## **From 1st July 2023 to 30[th] June 2024** ## **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.
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|Number of young people reached
•
We’ve now reached just under 20,000 students since
inception!
How did we reach them?
•
Students were engaged through Career Insight Days, Work
Experience Programs, WYZ for work courses and donations
of tech equipment (via Project Spark), online articles &
videos, and through partner organisations.
Our Focus
•
We remain committed to creating an equal start line and
bridging the skills gap by offering career exposure, job
readiness skills, and opportunities for young people to
explore various sectors like law, tech, design, and more.
Collaborations & Partnerships
•
HSBC: Hosted one of our Tech Careers Insight Day, giving
students hands-on exposure to tech careers and an
opportunity to network with professionals.
•
Microsoft: Participated in career insights on Generative AI
and shared inspiring career journeys with our students.
•
Mayer Brown: Sponsored work experience placements. 10
students from OP’s WYZ For Work course wereplaced in| ||Mayer Brown’s legal departments, providing them with a| |---|---| ||deeper understanding of corporate law.| |•|Steelcase: Conducted a Career Insight Day focusing on the| ||creative industries, including architecture and design.| |•|Which?: Worked together to offer a career insight day.| |•|AlixPartners: Worked together to offer a career insight day.| |Details of all career insight days are available on OP’s website.|| |Donations and Support Provided to Schools|| |•|Through OP’s Project Spark, we donated devices to students| ||in need, helping them engage more effectively with their| ||lessons, homework, and exams. This initiative has impacted| ||over 3,000 students since inception. This year we were able| ||to fully fund calculator devices to aid classroom teaching| ||and examinations.| |•|We donated scientific calculators to Mulberry School (Dec| ||2023) for Girls Tower Hamlets, London to help with their| ||studies.| |•|In partnership with Monzo (Apr 2024), we donated 12| ||MacBooks to Oakland school in Bethnal Green, London to| ||help transform the learning experience of students.| |Apprenticeship Program|| |•|3 apprentices from our 2022 Apprenticeship Cohort with| ||Charles Stanley Wealth Managers were nominated for and| ||given awards at the MetaGedu Apprenticeship Awards.| |Feedback|| |•|Feedback from students was overwhelmingly positive, with| ||many expressing that they felt more confident in their| ||future career decisions after participating in our various| ||programs| |Brand Awareness & Social Media Engagement|| |•|Our social media presence grew significantly, with more| ||young people engaging with our content. The career| ||insights, student success stories, and event highlights| ||reached a wider audience, encouraging more young people| ||to apply for our programs.| |Fundraising|| |•|Partnerships with corporations: We collaborated with| ||companies like Charles Stanley & Steelcase also supported| ||fundraising efforts, which contributed to our capacity to| ||fund more career insight days, work experience placements,| ||and educational support.| |•|With a generous grant from CISI, we were able to revamp| ||our financial literacy WYZ Money course.| |•|Tech Donations: Funding donations from partners helped to| ||ensure that young people from disadvantaged backgrounds| ||had access to necessary tech devices.| ## **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.| |---|---|---| |Performance of fundraising
activities against objectives set|Para 1.41|Fundraising efforts exceeded expectations, and we welcomed a
generous donation of £40K from our first public grant from CISI
Future Foundation. In addition, our regular income from Just Giving
and Charles Stanley was enough to leave us in a healthy position to
fund our actives on an on-goingbasis.| |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 higher than the
prior financial year owing to our first major grant from the Chartered
Institute of Securities and Investments Future Foundation (CISI).
Donations for the year totalled £53,969 of which:
•
CISI - £40,000
•
Charles Stanley Wealth Managers - £6,647
•
JustGiving - £3,065
•
Charities Aid Foundation - £2,531
•
Other direct giving - £1,726
Expenses for the period totalled £63,740 of which the largest
element related to;
•
Consultancy & Professional Fees (£50,272) - We engaged
Hopscotch Consultancy to support of the design and
marketing of our refreshed WYZ Money Course, laid out in
our grant funding plan. We also engaged two part-time
consultants to manage operations and social media
support.
•
Programme Accreditation (£1,834) - This is the annual cost
to recognise Open Palm as an ASDAN training centre. This
allows our WYZ courses to be accredited.
•
Career Insight Days (£1,024) - 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.
•
IT Software (£997) - Our IT costs allow us to work remotely
and efficiently, supporting automation and safeguarding
data privacy.
•
Work Experience (£910) - We fund the travel and lunch
costs for young people to ensure that this doesn’t become a
barrier to entry.
•
Programme Software (£757) - This is the cost of our scalable
online learning platform which hosts our courses.
OP had no paid staff working for the charity during the year.
The year ended with a deficit of £9,771 funded by substantial cash
reserves from the prior financial years. This leaves OP in a strong
position to grow and support beneficiaries in 2024/25 where many of
them will be squeezed by the on-going cost of living increases.| |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 £56,353. 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
7|**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| ||Roshan
Ramlugan|Trustee|15 July 2024|Lynette Emesibe, Ralph McBaiden, Sophie McBaiden,
Emmanuella Omolara Akala| ||Jaisha Bruce|Trustee|15 July 2024|Lynette Emesibe, Ralph McBaiden, Sophie McBaiden,
Emmanuella Omolara Akala| ||Ngomah
Temukum|Trustee|15 July 2024|Lynette Emesibe, Ralph McBaiden, Sophie McBaiden,
Emmanuella Omolara Akala| 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| |Independent
Advisor –
Technology|Hakan Candaner|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|| ||04/03/2025|| ||04/03/2025|| ||**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 2023||**To**||30th June 2024||| ||||||||||| |**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 £**| |
Donations|**53,969**||**-**||**-**||**53,969**||**15,482**| ||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**| ||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**| ||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**| ||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**| ||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**| ||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**| ||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**| |**_Sub total_**_(Gross income for AR)_|**53,969**||**-**||**-**||**53,969**||**15,482**| ||||||||||| |**A2 Asset and investment sales,**
**(see table).**|||||||||| ||**-**||||||||| ||**-**||||||||**-**| |**_Sub total_**|**-**||||||||**-**| |**_Total receipts_**
**A3 Payments**|||||||||| ||||||||||**15,482**| ||||||||||| |
Charitable activities|**5,387**||**-**||**-**||**5,387**||**4,414**| |Support costs|**57,424**||**-**||**-**||**57,424**||**10,338**| ||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**| ||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**| ||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**| ||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**| ||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**| ||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**| ||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**| |**_Sub total_ **|**62,811**||**-**||**-**||**62,811**||**14,752**| ||||||||||| |**A4 Asset and investment**
**purchases, (see table)**|||||||||| |Office equipment & IT|**929**||||||||**995**| ||**-**||||||||| |**_Sub total_ **|**929**||||||||**995**| |**_Total payments_**
**_Net of receipts/(payments)_**
**A5 Transfers between funds**
**A6 Cash funds last year end**
**_Cash funds this year end_**|||||||||| ||||||||||**15,747**| ||||||||||| ||**- 9,771**||||||||**- 265**| ||**-**||||||||**-**| ||**66,125**||||||||**66,124**| ||**56,353**||||||||**65,859**| 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))
Office equpiment & IT
**Details**
**Details**
**Details**|**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Restricted funds**
**to nearest £**
**to nearest £**
**25,488**
**-**
**30,865**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**56,353**
**-**
OK
OK
**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Restricted funds**
**to nearest £**
**to nearest £**
**1,473**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**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 £**| ||||**-**| ||||**-**| ||||**-**| ||||**-**| ||||**-**| ||||**-**| ||||**Current value**
**(optional)**| ||||**-**| ||||**-**| ||||**-**| ||||**-**| ||||**-**| ||||**Current value**
**(optional)**| ||||**-**| ||||**-**| ||||**-**| ||||**-**| ||||**-**| ||||**-**| ||||**-**| ||||**-**| ||||**-**| ||||**When due**
**(optional)**| ||||| ||||| ||||| ||||| ||||| ||||Date of approval| |||RALPH MCBAIDEN|08/03/2025| ||||| CCXX R2 accounts (SS) 27/02/2024 2 **Independent examiner's report on the accounts** ## **Section A Independent Examiner’s Report** |**Report to the trustees/**
**members of**
**On accounts for the year**
**ended**
**Set out on pages**|Open Palm|Open Palm|Open Palm| |---|---|---|---| ||||| ||||| ||30thJune 2024
**Charity no**
**(if any)**
1190203||| ||||| ||Above||| I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity (“the Trust”) for the year ended **30 June 2024** . - **Responsibilities and** As the charity trustees of the Trust, you are responsible for the preparation **basis of report** of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (“the Act”). I report in respect of my examination of the Trust’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I have followed the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act. **Independent** I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have **examiner's statement** come to my attention (other than that disclosed below *) in connection with the examination which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect: - accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Act or - the accounts do not accord with the accounting records I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. |**Signed:**
**Name:**
**Relevant professional**
**qualification(s) or body**
**(if any):**
**Address:**|**Date:**|09/03/2025| |---|---|---| |||| ||Tomas Wilcox|| |||| ||FCIE|| |||| ||Counterculture Partnership LLP|| ||Bank Chambers, Main Street|| ||Hawes, North Yorkshire, DL8 3QL|| **Section B Disclosure** Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight matters of concern (see CC32, Independent examination of charity accounts: directions and guidance for examiners). **Give here brief details of any items that the examiner wishes to disclose** .