2024-08-31-accounts - Lmk (Let ME Know)

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LMK Annual Report and Accounts LET ME KNOW

Reference and administrative information for year ended 31[st] August 2024

Charity name: LMK Let Me Know

Registered Number: 1191149

Registered Address: 85-87 Bayham Street, London NW1 0AH

Co-Founders: Kirsten Westlake

Saloni Thakrar

Trustees: Emma Nellie (Treasurer and Chair of Finance Sub-Committee) Esther Timson (Chair of Safeguarding Sub-Committee - joined 13[th] March 2024) Helen Wolstenholme Keith Morgan (Equality, Diversity, Inclusion Lead) Kirsten Westlake (Co-founder and Chair of Trustees) Louise Harland Ndubuisi Uchea Nicole Walsh (joined 13[th] March 2024) Saloni Thakrar (Co-founder and Trustee/Chair of Safeguarding SubCommittee until 19[th] September 2023) Sophie Newton (Chair of Human Resources Sub-Committee) Umeeda Nathoo

LMK Core Team: Ailish Emmett (Head of Fundraising and Development) Anna Olliffe (Research and Evaluation Manager) Clare Hoddinott (Internal Operations Manager) Deirdre Kehoe (CEO) Rob Hogg Thompson (Fundraising Manager) Rosie Dickenson (Community Engagement Manager) Shelly Khaled (Programme Manager) Shekina Rose (Marketing & Communications Manager) Youth Advisory Board: Almas, Arthur, Asha, Atitiya, Basma, Daria, Dorsa, Grace, Hope, Ice, Issac, Kashi, Kaya, Keenayah, Louise, Mehraveh, Merle, Sophia, and Sophie Bank: CAF Bank Ltd, West Malling, Kent ME19 4JQ

Independent Examiner: Charles Ssempijja FCA, NfP Accountants Ltd, 3rd Floor, 86-90 Paul Street, London, EC2A 4NE

The trustees present their annual report and financial statements of the charity for the year ending 31[st] August 2024. The Reference and administrative information set out on page 1 forms part of this report.

The financial statements outlined in this document comply with current statutory requirements, the charity’s governing document, and the Statement of Recommended Practice - Accounting and Reporting by Charities: SORP 2015 (FRS102).

ents
A Message from LMK’s Chair	5
Foreword from LMK’s CEO	6
Why is LMK needed?	8
About LMK	11
LMK programmes	14
How many people LMK has reached	18
Measuring impact	24
LMK in education settings	26
LMK in the community	31
Inclusive workshops	36
Training for adults	39
Digital engagement	42
Growing and scaling up	44
Our Youth Advisory Board	48
Collaborating with others	51
What next for LMK	54
Statement of public beneft	56
Structure, governance and management	57
Financial review	61
The Independent Examiners Report	63
The fnancial statements	65
Thank you	77
Endnotes	79

Kirsten Westlake, Chair of Trustees

The past year has once again seen too many stark reminders of the devastating impact of abuse and violence in relationships. And we know that our efforts, and the hard work of our partners in the sector, has never been more needed. At the same time, we are seeing a welcome increase in public awareness around the pervasiveness of these issues and a new resolve to address the root cause of the problem. It feels like there is genuine appetite for change.

I am proud that over the past year, LMK has been part of that change: offering a proven prevention programme that teaches young people how to recognise abuse, leave unhealthy relationships safely, and view online content (including pornography) critically. Amid the turbulence of global conflicts and economic pressures, the charity has continued to strengthen its programmes and to grow: extending across London, as well as into primary schools and workplaces. We have now worked with over 15,000 young people, and around three quarters of them report that LMK interventions have significantly increased their ability to recognise abusive behaviours.

As you read the following pages, keep in mind that all this has been achieved in only our fourth year of operation – no mean feat! None of this would have been possible without the tireless work of our team and our wider network of volunteers, funders and friends. We are so grateful to them all for standing with us to create a world in which relationship abuse, domestic violence and sexual assault no longer exist and where every young person can thrive in safe, respectful relationships.

Kirsten Westlake

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Deirdre Kehoe, Chief Executive Officer

We are immensely proud of what we have achieved at LMK this year. We are now connected into schools and community groups right across London, with 10 Signs workshop participation growing by 28% year-on-year . Our offer for adults - training for youth work professionals and Workplace Relationships Workshops - has further developed and extended to reach new audiences across the UK.

Our passionate and engaged Youth Advisory Board (YAB) and our robust evaluation systems allow us to constantly monitor workshop feedback and gather new insights from young people. This means we can regularly refresh our workshop content , ensuring that the topics we talk about are relevant and current for those who participate. Feedback has shown we are having a strong impact:

of young people who attended an LMK workshop told us it changed their understanding of healthy relationships 72%

of young people said that the LMK workshop would be useful in their future relationships

would be useful in their future relationships of young people said they knew how to seek help for themselves or a friend after attending a workshop 79% 80%

Our online presence is growing, with a 42% increase in social media followers this year, while our website is being accessed more than ever before.

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Foreword

One of our highlights of the year was the launch in February 2024 of our , first ever awareness campaign ‘Know the Signs’ , which enabled us to reach over 15 million people online and over three million through radio. This campaign was underpinned by our poll of 2,000 young people who told us about their experiences within relationships. Seven in ten (71%) respondents, aged 16-25, told us they had already experienced a form of relationship abuse, and this abuse happened across all types of relationships including romantic relationships, in familial connections and in friendships.

Although these results are shocking, they don’t come as a surprise to us at LMK. This year we’ve seen so many alarming reports on the harmful influences that are shaping young people’s views of healthy and unhealthy relationships. For example, the National Crime Agency’s urgent alert [1] to all schools nationwide asking education professionals to help raise awareness about the rise in “sextortion” of young men aged 1418, and the UK government labelling violence against women and girls as a national threat [2] .

Relationship abuse has a huge impact on young people’s mental and physical health, with knock on effects that last their whole lives. And we don’t believe enough is being

done to prevent it. Our survey of young people told us that six in ten young adults have never been taught the signs of a healthy or unhealthy relationship. Relationship education is failing our young people and this is putting their lives at risk.

So it’s never been a more important time for LMK to be out there, doing what we do best - delivering nonjudgemental, relatable relationship education, tackling real life issues that young people want to talk about so that we can prevent harm before it happens.

We have dedicated much time this year widely collaborating with young people, the organisations who host our workshops, funders, sector supporters and our amazing staff and trustees to create our

next 3 year strategy 2024-2027 , launching in September 2024. As we look to the future, we are ambitious and determined in our drive to engage more young people in our preventative work, and to give them the greatest gift possible - that of a happy life.

Deirdre Kehoe

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Everyone dreams of a happy and healthy life. The Harvard Study of Adult Development, the longest study ever conducted on the factors that enable human happiness, shows that the single most important aspect of a happy life is the quality of the . relationships you have [3]

But for many, knowing what a safe and healthy relationship looks like is not straightforward. Economic circumstances, childhood

experiences, support networks and online influences are amongst the many factors that shape our view of what a healthy relationship looks like.

In LMK’s poll of 2000 young people aged 16-25 years, taken in January 2024, we found that 60% of young people didn’t know the signs of a healthy or unhealthy relationship[4] , whether that be a relationship with family, friends, an intimate relationship or with colleagues.

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How this impacts day to day life:

1 in 4 women & 1 in 6 men

their life [5]

particularly targeted [8]

Relationship issues being identified as one of the top three factors driving poor mental health in women and girls [6]

Three in five women have experienced bullying and harassment, or sexual harassment , in the workplace [9]

2 million victims

Increasing incidences of sexual offences and harassment of girls - one in every 12 women will be a victim of Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) every year in England and Wales (2 million victims) and one in 20 adults in England and Wales will be a perpetrator of VAWG every year (2.3 million perpetrators) [7]

Two in five children (41%) aged 11-17 have experienced verbal abuse from the adults around them (with parents, carers, teachers, friends’ parents, and activity leaders the primary sources), leading to lower self esteem and confidence issues [10]

And relationship abuse starts early in a person’s life - you are most likely to . experience relationship abuse between the ages of 16 and 19 [11]

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The consequences of unhealthy relationships can be profound and long-lasting:

2.8x

Children exposed to domestic violence are 2.8 times more likely to obtain low school grades[12]

£78 billion

The estimated social and economic costs of domestic abuse are £78 billion [16]

30

30 women attempt suicide every day as a result of experiencing domestic abuse and every week three women take their own lives[13]

2.4x

Girls who have experienced sexual violence are 2.4 times more likely to have committed self harm in the past year [17]

Sending and soliciting nudes is becoming “normalised” in UK schools, with most child abuse images ending up online [14] . 73% of online grooming crimes in the last 5 years involved Snapchat and Meta platforms (Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp) [15]

Seven in ten women who experience harassment at work do not report it because they believe it would impact negatively on their relationships at work (37%) or on their career prospects (25%) [18]

LMK wants to stop relationship abuse before it starts – but we know you can’t see the signs, until you know the signs.

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LMK is a charity working in education settings, community organisations and workplaces, providing non-judgemental, relatable relationship education, tackling real life issues that young people want to talk about. We want to stop relationship abuse in all its forms; in romantic relationships, within friendships of any age, in

familial relationships, in personal connections where there is abuse of power between an adult and child, maltreatment where there is a power imbalance between adults, gender-based abuse and in online activity. Our focus is on educating young people so that we can prevent abuse before it . happens

Our mission is to provide young people with the knowledge and skills to thrive in their relationships.

LMKs vision is that, through education, we can create a world in which relationship abuse, domestic abuse and sexual assault no longer exist.

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About LMK

Through our work, we want young people to be empowered to seek for themselves:

healthy romantic relationships with safe boundaries
safe homes free from violence and abuse
positive friendships that support mental health and wellbeing
healthy workplace relationships that allow for personal/professional growth
help if they or their friends are in an unsafe and abusive relationship.

How we do this

At LMK our two greatest and unique strengths are:

Our easily accessible ‘10 Signs’ framework that helps young people to spot and stop unhealthy relationship behaviours in themselves and others, while providing the vocabulary for them to talk about how they experience relationships.
Our network of ‘near-peer’

workshop leaders , a talented and diverse group of youth work professionals from a broad range of backgrounds, who are matched to each delivery session to ensure they can relate to the lived experience

of the people in the room, truly making a connection and therefore magnifying their impact.

Why our approach is so important

Relationship & Sex Education (RSE) is part of the National Curriculum in England and Wales. However, teachers often lack the time, resources, expertise and confidence to teach it in a way that connects with young people. In 2022, a National Association of Schoolmasters/Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT) study found that almost half of all secondary school teachers do not feel confident teaching RSE.

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About LMK

Workshops educating young people about healthy and unhealthy relationships are an intervention recognised by the Youth Endowment Fund (YEF) [19] as being effective in reducing teenage violence. The YEF highlights that this intervention is

particularly effective when delivered by the right facilitators. YEF say: “This tends to be external facilitators or teachers that feel comfortable discussing complex issues related to relationships, sex and different forms of violence.”

Our own feedback from our host organisations support this:

Thanks so much for the workshops, the group has continued to speak about how much they learned, but also the relationship and trust they established with the facilitators. They really appreciated that their ideas were heard and listened to and that there was plenty of time for discussion

and debate. It felt like the space was equal and that everyone was learning from each other - this was due to how the workshops were facilitated and it made it a really inspiring and creative space. The implementation of games and activities kept the workshop engaging and fun.

Participation Manager, Big House

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Workshops LMK delivered in 23-24, type by percentage

----- Start of picture text -----
Bespoke workshops 4% 4% Training for adults (CPD and Workplace
Relationships Workshops)
Inclusive module workshops
Impact of pornography 6%
workshops 6%
Sharing of intimate 8%
58% 10 Signs workshops
images workshops
14%
Delving deeper workshops
----- End of picture text -----*

Bespoke modules are tailored to the specific needs of a particular school or community group

Our offer for young people

while embedding behaviours and expectations that are carried through into adult life.

LMK offers a prevention programme against relationship abuse, domestic abuse and sexual assault that equips young people to have healthy relationships during their teen years,

We work with young people aged 11-24. All of our workshops for young people are delivered face to face - we think this is critical to achieve a meaningful and lasting connection with young people.

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LMK programmes

10 Signs workshop Our 10 Signs workshop is the starting point for our programme. In this workshop we teach young people to spot and stop unhealthy relationship behaviours in

themselves and others, using the 10 Signs framework. Our Leaders give young people the tools and confidence they need to speak out, seek help and keep themselves and their friends safe.

Once the 10 Signs is completed, participants can continue to expand and embed their learning through our Continuing the Conversation modules, which can be delivered as stand-alone sessions or put together into a comprehensive, wider programme.

Our Continuing the Conversation modules have been created in direct response to young people’s most frequent questions:

Sharing of Intimate Images This workshop gives young people a deeper understanding of the consequences of sharing intimate images and equips them with strategies to protect themselves.

Impact of Pornography This workshop challenges young people to think about pornography differently, debunks widely held myths and examines how porn really affects them and their relationships.

Delving Deeper

Having learned about the 10 Signs, this workshop offers young people the opportunity to explore the signs in different contexts, applying critical thinking skills and a problemsolving approach. Often, in this workshop the young people in the room will choose the signs they want to explore in more detail, allowing them an opportunity to discuss issues that are most relevant to their situation right now.

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LMK programmes

Our workshops raise awareness of unhealthy behaviours within relationships that sometimes lead to our participants taking steps to end a personal relationship. Research shows that a person can be most in danger when they are taking steps to leave, . or have just left, a toxic relationship [20] This is why LMK have ensured that young people take away information on how to leave a relationship safely and are signposted to organisations that can support them to do so.

[Read more about our work in ] education settings
[Read more about our work in ] the community
[Read more about our Continuing ] the Conversation modules

Our workshops for young people with SEND

All young people need a space to discuss their relationships. However, young people with special education needs and disabilities (SEND) often miss out on these conversations, even though they can be at greater risk of . relationship abuse [21]

Our SEND programme provides an opportunity to have safe, open discussions about relationships in ways tailored to the needs of the participants. Developed with SEND professionals, parents of children with SEND, and young people with lived experience, the workshops can be fully adapted to make sure that the content is tailored to

the experiences of people with SEND and Adapted individual modules available: learning 10 Signs styles. Sharing of intimate images[Read ] Impact of pornography more about our inclusive workshops

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LMK programmes

Training for adults

LMK has two training programmes aimed at adults:

1. Training for youth work

professionals – Designed for professionals working with young people (including adult volunteers), this training course introduces LMK’s 10 Signs framework and helps youth workers using it to have an inclusive, accessible, non-judgemental approach to relationship conversations with young people.

2. Workplace relationships – LMK knows that having healthy work

relationships is critical to both young people’s happiness and an organisation’s success. Our programme for workplaces is the most recent addition to our programme. Using our 10 Signs framework, we give employees confidence in identifying healthy and unhealthy relationships in the workplace and knowing what steps to take if they are concerned about a colleague’s behaviour.

Both of our adult training programmes can be delivered either in-person or online.

[Read more about our training for ] -
adults in 2023 24

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LMK is a young charity: created in 2020, this is just our fourth year, but already we’ve worked with more than 15,000 participants in our . workshops

In 2023-24, 6,291 people participated in our workshops, an increase of 1,388 on the previous

year. This growth has been achieved steadily and sustainably, with a balance of rebookings from organisations who we have worked with in previous years (44%) and delivery to new organisations who have experienced LMK workshops for the first time (56%).

Total number of workshops LMK delivered, by year, since 2020

----- Start of picture text -----
2020-21 70
2021-22 134
2022-23 236
2023-24
----- End of picture text -----

276

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How many people LMK has reached

Over the last four years we’ve maintained a balance of working in education settings and with local community groups who support young people. Whilst the number of community organisations is significantly higher than schools (as it includes community organisations who have come to either a youth workshop or a CPD workshop), we tend to get higher numbers of young people participating in our workshops when they come via their school.

Number of community organisations we’ve worked with

----- Start of picture text -----
2023-24 52
All time 110
----- End of picture text -----

Number of schools we’ve worked with

----- Start of picture text -----
2023-24 25
All time
44
----- End of picture text -----

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How many people LMK has reached

We have achieved our aim of working across London. Since 2020 LMK has delivered workshops in 27 London Boroughs, five of which were new to LMK in 2023-24.

And we’ve continued to increase the number of organisations who host our workshops, working with ten new education settings and 33 new community organisations in 23-24.

----- Start of picture text -----
Map of boroughs we
worked in during 23-24
Harrow
Haringey
Waltham
Forest
Brent
Camden Hackney
Islington Barking and
Dagenham
Tower
Westminster Newham
Hamlets
Kensington
and Chelsea
Hammersmith
and
Fulham Southwark Greenwich
Hounslow
Lambeth
Wandsworth
Lewisham
Merton
Kingston
upon
Thames
Bromley
Sutton
[Boroughs we work in]
[New boroughs for 2024]
----- End of picture text -----

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How many people LMK has reached

The young people LMK works with

It’s important to us that the young people attending our workshops represent London’s diversity.

Ethnic background

*Ethnic background*
	2021 census stats for London’s population	LMK workshop participants
White British	36.8%	12.9%
Asian, Black, mixed, or “other” ethnic groups	46.2%	66.1%
White ethnic minorities	17.0%	14.8%

We are especially pleased that we have reached our goal of supporting those who are more vulnerable to relationship abuse - young people with SEND [22] , young people who live in poverty [23] , those who have experienced multiple adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) [24] and young people from the LGBTQIA+ . community [25]

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How many people LMK has reached

Young people with SEND

The 2021 Census showed that across London, 13.2% of people are Disabled (using the definition under the Equality Act 2010).

LMK workshop participants: Do you consider yourself to have a disability?

----- Start of picture text -----
77.63% No
11.79% Yes
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10.58% I prefer not to say

LMK workshop participants: Do you consider yourself to have a learning difficulty or learning disability? [26]

----- Start of picture text -----
72.99% No
16.22% Yes
10.79% I prefer not to say
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Young people living in poverty

According to data from the London Datastore, 24% of Londoners were in relative poverty in 2020/21–2022/23 after housing costs were taken into account. In January 2024, 24.6% of state-funded pupils in the UK were eligible for free school meals.

LMK workshop data: Percentage of individual state schools with children on free school meals

Schools with under 24.6% 25.00% of pupils receiving free school meals

Schools with between 24.6% 31.25% and 50% of pupils receiving free school meals

43.75% Schools with over 50% of pupils receiving free school meals

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Young people who have experienced trauma or ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences)

Due to the prevalence of ACE’s, we know many young people who attend our workshops in education settings have had adverse childhood experiences.

Alongside this, at LMK we purposefully work with community groups who provide specific programmes for young people who have encountered trauma and multiple adverse childhood experiences, including survivors of sexual abuse, rape and grooming,

homeless youths, refugees and young people who are currently part of the criminal justice system.

This year, through community groups, we worked with 91 young people experiencing homelessness, 10 young people who had experienced relationship abuse, 90 who had left the care system, and 30 young refugees.

LMK workshop data: Percentage of LMK workshops delivered to vulnerable groups

6.99% Vulnerable groups

Young people from LGBTQIA+ communities

According to the 2021 census, 4.3% of London residents aged 16 and over identified as LGB+ (gay or lesbian, bisexual, or other sexual orientation).

LMK workshop participants: Youth survey respondents sexuality

LMK workshop participants: Youth survey respondents gender

----- Start of picture text -----
81.98% Straight/
Heterosexual
8.68% I prefer not
to answer
4.7% Bisexual or
Pansexual
2.11%
Other 2.52% Gay or Lesbian
----- End of picture text -----

----- Start of picture text -----
47.48% Male
45.89% Female
4.36% I prefer not
to answer
0.76%
Other 1.52% Non-binary
----- End of picture text -----

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From the early days of LMK, we our impact and constantly refresh embedded rigorous evaluation to our programmes to keep them ensure we were able to understand relevant for our participants.

What we have achieved so far:

of young people know how to seek help for themselves or a friend. 80%

of young people believe today’s workshop will be useful in their relationships. 79%

of young people told us the workshop changed their understanding of healthy relationships. 72%

of host organisations feel we supported their practice when talking to young people about sensitive topics. 89%

of partners would invite us back to run another workshop. 95%

of partners have invited us back to run another

workshop. 44%

of young people rated their leader as excellent or good. 87%

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Measuring impact

Measuring longer term impact

We recognise that although the data we collect provides a comprehensive overview of impact on young people in the short term, it gives a limited indication of longer-term impact. In 2023, LMK received funding from Camden Community Impacts Resilience Fund to strengthen our existing evaluation programme, and investigate longitudinal data collection to allow us to better

understand the longer term impact of our work.

Through this longitudinal study, How does relationships we returned to education impact young people’s lives? Measuring LMK’s medium-term young people impact on young people aged 16-22. who had engaged

with LMK’s workshops between one and three years previously. Speaking to students at a secondary school where we had delivered a workshop seven months prior, young people told us they had happier, healthier . relationships after an LMK workshop

Positive impacts included:

Young people having the skills to resolve conflict
Young people recognising negative

behaviours in themselves and taking steps to address these

Young people leaving toxic relationships
Young people naming and practising key relationship skills such as owning actions.

Here are just some of the real-life scenarios young people told us about:

I have started to acknowledge when I am saying something wrong in order to get what I want.

I started to feel like people were taking advantage of me, in terms of my kindness. I’ve also recently been talking to someone who didn’t like when I hung out with certain friends. They often got upset.

I talked with those people, realised that they had no malicious intentions, and set more boundaries. They also apologised. I brought it up to them, and found out it stemmed from a fear of being abandoned. Instead, we decided to communicate and set healthy boundaries. I’m now able to hang out with anyone without conflict.

This evaluation has supported LMK to identify ways of improving our workshop delivery and impact measurement, which we are putting into action throughout 2024-25.

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Our work in education settings has never been more important. Although schools are required to deliver an expanded relationships and sex education (RSE) curriculum, our survey of 2000 young people in January 2024 [29] showed that:

young people have never

six in ten

been taught about what makes a healthy or unhealthy relationship

of young people have only 35%

received education at school on unwanted sexual contact or abuse

of young people had been taught about what makes a healthy or unhealthy relationship. just 37%

of young people believe there should be more education in schools about topics such as relationships, abuse and sexual health. 87%

With so much pressure on our education system, teachers lack the time, resources, expertise and confidence to deliver relationship education in a way that connects with young people. Topics required by the RSE guidance - such as power imbalances, pornography, culture and faith perspectives, LGBTQ+ issues and healthy relationships - are often absent from the classroom, despite young people often telling us that these are topics they most need to talk about.

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LMK in education settings

LMK is working with schools of all kinds to fill this gap in provision. This year LMK has delivered workshops in a whole range of school settings; maintained schools, private schools, faith schools, free schools, sixth form colleges, academies, alternative provision and specialist SEND schools. We have extended our reach from 20 schools and 3,688 young people in 2022-23, to 25 schools and 5163 . young people in 2023-24

Schools most frequently ask LMK to deliver workshops to years 9, 10 and 12, with these year groups making up 70% of our delivery within education settings.

Number of young people worked with in schools/ 5163

colleges

Number of schools and colleges worked with 25

Percentage of workshops delivered in school settings 73%

of teachers feel more confident and better equipped to have relationship conversations in the classroom after attending an LMK workshop 90%

of teachers and youth workers feel more confident approaching conversations on sensitive topics with young people after attending CPD sessions 95%

Graph showing percentages of workshops delivered per type of school

----- Start of picture text -----
66.75% Maintained
School
16.62% Academy
7.79% SEND School
6.75% Independent
School
0.52%
Hospital 1.56% Alternative
School Education
----- End of picture text -----

Keeping our content fresh and relevant

LMK strives to keep workshop content fresh and respond to the changing issues affecting young people. This is at the heart of our strategy and one of the ways we ensure the deep level of engagement from workshop participants. It also means that when our schools book us year after year, the conversations remain relevant . For example, this year we’ve added conversations around sextortion and our YAB members have created a brand new video depicting the longterm negative impact of sharing intimate images. We have also updated the film clips we show in workshops to ensure the content is current, fresh and familiar to young people.

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LMK in education settings

For pupils with SEND, we have tailored our workshops to meet specific needs, including using different terminology or replacing reading exercises with discussions and film clips to better engage with those who are visual learners. Here is a reflection from one of our LMK Leaders on our SEND sessions at Leighton College:

Our sessions at Leighton College were very impactful this term

because we had worked with many of these students last academic year, where we were able to really break down what relationships are and some of the signs of good or tricky relationships.

When we returned this year, many of the students remembered a lot of the things we’ve been saying which was wonderful because we knew from just asking questions that what we had done in the previous year had been impactful. It also enabled us to dig even deeper this year.

We were able to have complex conversations around relationships and tricky scenarios and how they might deal with them, and so were able to add even more value to relationship decisions they would need to make.

It was great to go back and see many of the same students but also reach some new students as well.

Penny, LMK Leader

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LMK in education settings

Supporting staff and students to create a culture that promotes and encourages healthy relationships

We made some important first steps towards extending our support to embed a healthy relationship culture within schools. This included trialling a peer-led Relationship Ambassador programme and testing a tailored version of our 10 Signs programme in primary schools . We intend to continue rolling out both of these new programmes in 2024-25.

How schools experience LMK

We were thrilled to return to Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School, a faith school based in west London, working collaboratively with the staff there to tailor our Continuing the Conversation modules to navigate sensitive topics in a way that aligned with the school’s values and LMK’s.

I just wanted to say a huge thank you to you and the leaders for your work over the last couple of days. It’s really brilliant for our pupils to have the opportunity to discuss these sorts of

issues in a controlled environment under the expert guidance of your team, so we are really grateful for that. All of the feedback which I’ve received from staff and pupils has been overwhelmingly positive. So, thank you!

Extended Curriculum Co-ordinator, Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School

This was our first year delivering to the Year 12’s at Harris Westminster Sixth

Form, who were introduced to our 10 Signs Programme.

I really liked how confrontational it was, the leaders of the session

were brilliant at challenging people’s views and getting them to justify why they have it.

Y12 student, Harris Westminster Sixth Form

Thomas’s Day school has embedded our workshops in their annual delivery plan, and we were so impressed at the continuing commitment of the school to deliver high quality relationship education.

Thank you very much to you for organising and to all of the facilitators for

engaging the pupils so well. We really look forward to continuing to work with you in the future. Teacher, Thomas London Day School

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LMK in education settings

The head of Bromley Trust Academy worked with us to ensure the scenarios and activities within our

10 Signs workshop, in this alternative provision setting, reflected the real life experience of their pupils. We ensured they had a particular focus on unhealthy relationships which exploit a child’s sense of self-worth. We also dialled up the experiential elements of our workshops to ensure it met the learning styles of the pupils participating.

The feedback from staff and students was great so thank you so much for

coming in! Teacher, Bromley Trust Academy

Already a great supporter of our work within their secondary school, the Reach Academy Feltham helped us rework our 10 Signs workshops to make it appropriate for a younger age group and use in their primary school. We are incredibly grateful to the staff and pupils there who provided us with such great insight and feedback which ensured that our delivery had a lasting impact with the Year 5s.

I’ve learned that if you are in an unhealthy relationship, you should leave it. And if you are in a healthy relationship, continue it and build it more. I enjoyed that we all worked together and that we built a better relationship in the group. Year 5, Reach Academy

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Whilst working through schools means our participant numbers are higher, working with community groups often means we make a huge difference to particularly vulnerable young people. In 2023-24, 28% of LMKs workshops were delivered within a community setting, ranging from youth groups to sports clubs and cultural organisations.

Percentage of workshops in community settings 28%

Number of young people worked with in community 1004

settings

Number of community youth organisations worked with 22

Where we are working with vulnerable groups, such as asylum seekers, young people with previous

Often, community organisations proactively approach LMK to deliver workshops in response to particular needs they have identified for their young people, for example addressing dangerous online behaviour, responding to the expression of worrying misogynistic views, or addressing the harm caused by ‘cancel culture’.

experience of serious abuse, or young people with other adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), we lower the maximum number of young people within each session, double the number of LMK Leaders who deliver the session, and use a trauma informed lens to ensure that we provide a safe space for participants to engage and for difficult experiences to be explored sensitively and expertly.

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LMK in the community

This year LMK was happy to be asked back to The Big House , an organisation which runs theatre participation programmes to support young people who are leaving care or have touched the criminal justice system. LMK’s 10 Signs workshops have been embedded into the induction of each new group, with the language and content being used all the way through their planning and theatre production.

Unfold support young people aged 10 – 25 and women with children aged 5+ in Westminster and the neighbouring boroughs. They also run a specialised programme of support for asylum seekers and refugees. This year, LMK ran two 10 Signs sessions with their young asylum seekers, tailoring our programme to address language and cultural barriers.

I just wanted to say a HUGE thank you… for two amazing workshops this week at our Youth Support Groups. You all brought great energy and did a wonderful job of making the sessions engaging, fun and accessible to all the young people.

At the end, young people were feeding back to me about how this made them think about dynamics with their friends, family and at their hotels. I think all of them came away learning and reflecting on the topic and I saw a few boys in particular who are normally a little reserved really coming out of their shell to contribute their ideas. A really important topic for the groups, delivered so well by you and your team as always so thank you once again! Youth worker, Unfold

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The findings of LMK/One Poll research with 2000 young people earlier this year only reiterates the importance of our work:

Less than half (45%) of those surveyed said they had been taught about the risk of sharing or taking nude pictures at school. Yet, almost one in five (18%) admit to having their private images used, shared, or shown to people by a partner or potential partner, without their consent.
Abusive behaviour taking place on social media platforms include: receiving insults, threats or hurtful comments (23%), and receiving an overwhelming amount of messages (22%) from a partner or potential partner. A fifth (19%) also said their partner

has controlled their social media content, including which photos they share and what they wear in their posts.

Almost a third (32%) of young adults said that social media influencers, including Andrew Tate and Jordan B. Peterson, influence their opinions and attitudes towards relationships.

As schools and community groups are ever more alarmed by the impact of this on the behaviour and expectations of the young people they work with, there has been a sharp increase in the uptake of our Continuing the Conversations workshops. These have increased from 11 workshops/210 participants in 2022/23 to 40 workshops/928 participants this year.

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Continuing the conversation

In last year’s report we talked about the reasons for developing our Continuing the Conversation modules: Sharing of Intimate Images and Impact of Pornography. They were developed in response to the Ofsted review into findings of the sexual abuse in schools, research published by England’s Children’s Commissioner expressing concern about children’s use of pornography, and because of the concerns we

had about some views young people commonly expressed within our workshops.

Worryingly, these issues have not improved. For example, the International Policing and Public Protection Research Institute recently highlighted that sending

and soliciting nudes is becoming “normalised” in UK schools [27] . We continue to adapt our workshop content to reflect the issues affecting young people, for example, this year we added a greater focus on sextortion in our programmes.

I thought that the session that we were given was really useful and insightful... In our age group many people are affected by sextortion it can be really dangerous and I think that’s really tragic and really sad. I think the advice was really good as it was teaching us how you can avoid it and where you can get support. Y9 student, male, Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School

Spotlight - Langdon Park

In 2023-24 we partnered with Langdon Park Community School to deliver all four of our youth programme modules to their year 10 students. We worked with the staff at Langdon Park to create a schedule that reinforced their existing PSHE curriculum, spacing out our interventions across the year. Students were highly engaged in the sessions and continuous reinforcement by staff in their classrooms allowed the students to explore the different topics and embed the language of the 10 Signs into their day to day discussions.

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Continuing the conversation

Statistics for our CTC workshops

Number of CTC workshops delivered in 23-24 40

Number of young people who have attended a CTC workshop 23-24 928

Agree with the statement ‘I learned something about sharing sexual images today that I didn’t know before’ 67%

I know where to get support for myself or a friend if I am worried about intimate image abuse 77%

Agree with the statement ‘I learnt about the impact using pornography can have on my relationships’ with agree or strongly agree 77%

I feel confident that I can use the 10 signs to manage situations involving pornography and keep myself safe 69%

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Navigating relationships can

be especially difficult for young people with special education needs and disabilities (SEND). Research shows that they partake in fewer activities and participate less frequently in relationship education than their peers without a learning disability. They also tend to have fewer friends [28] .

This can make young people with SEND particularly vulnerable to risks such as bullying and exploitation

From early in our charity’s development, we have provided relationship education specifically designed for young people with SEND.

In an inclusive setting like Leighton College, it is so important that the workshops that we deliver are young people focused and that we cater to the specific needs of the young people in front of us.

For these sessions, we focussed on a theme that was helpful and relatable, using TV shows the participants were watching and linking these to healthy and unhealthy relationships. Marcus, LMK Leader

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Inclusive workshops

In 2023-24 we delivered our Inclusive Modules to 190 participants across three SEND schools, six community groups, and a hospital school.

Number of SEND workshops delivered 16

Number of young people receiving SEND workshops 190

of LMK workshops were to young people with SEND 6%

In 2023-24 we worked with young people with SEND, their teachers, and specialist youth workers to design and trial our evaluation surveys adapted for young people with SEND, so that we can continuously learn and improve our programme. We will continue to work with young people, SEND specialists and our experienced LMK Leaders to iterate our programme content in response to the findings.

of young people told us they can use the signs to spot a good relationship 65%

of young people told us they can use the signs to spot a tricky relationship 46%

of people can name someone who would help them with a tricky relationship 80%

Year 2023/4 saw LMK experiment with the format of our workshops for young people with SEND, based on feedback received from host organisations. For example, we worked with St. Marylebone Bridge School to trial special versions of our Sharing of Intimate Images and Impact of Pornography modules, tailored for young people who are visual learners. We will be rolling out these new modules in 2024-2025

It [taught] us what to do when we are in a tricky relationship.

Year 8 student, St Marylebone Bridge School

We have also learned lessons the hard way - by trying and failing. We learned that we cannot break down our programme into one-hour sessions over a number of weeks, as it doesn’t provide enough time to create the safe space required for the young people to fully participate. Furthermore, there is often disruption in young people’s schedules, meaning they cannot attend weekly sessions consistently. We also learned that it’s particularly challenging to have mixed year groups in our SEND sessions due to the wide variation in learning needs that this brings.

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Inclusive workshops

Spotlight - Roots and Shoots

Roots and Shoots provide accessible and positive vocational and educational opportunities for young Londoners with an Education, Health and Care Plan. They have worked with LMK for two years now to deliver our 10 Signs programme to the young people aged 16-24 who they support. In 2023-24 we delivered three of our modules to their young people, with about 30

participants each time. The sessions were specifically tailored to the needs of the group, with modified language, scenarios and activities.

We learnt about different relationships like a good relationship and a tricky relationship.

Participant, Roots and Shoots Study Programme.

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Training for youth work professionals (CPD)

To facilitate ongoing conversations about the 10 Signs of healthy/ unhealthy relationships, LMK developed a training programme for adults who work with young

people, helping them use the framework to have an inclusive, accessible, non-judgemental approach to relationship conversations with those they engage with.

In 2023-24 we delivered 10 of these training courses to 124 youth work professionals.

It’s a situation and topic I’ve dealt with before, but now I feel much better equipped to have a constructive conversation with a young person about their relationships. Senior Manager, Happy Lizzy Event Planning, Westminster

It was helpful to put terminology to abusive experiences and also put a name to healthy behaviours as well. Youth Worker, Mary’s Youth Club Islington

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Training for professionals

Spotlight on Laburnum Boat Club

Laburnum Boat Club is a voluntary organisation based in Hackney that provides opportunities for the personal development of children, young people and their families in the local community, through participation in a range of waterbased activities. LMK first delivered workshops directly to the young people involved in the club, we then

went on to provide our ‘training for youth work professionals’ to Laburnum staff who led holiday activities with young people. This ensured that the 10 Signs framework was deeply embedded in the club and staff were equipped to continue the learning after LMK completed their workshops with young people.

CPD workshops delivered 10

Professionals trained at CPD workshops 124

Organisations who accessed CPD training 35

of participants learnt the right language to talk to young people about relationships 99%

of participants have a 95%

better understanding of issues facing young people in their relationships

of participants feel more confident approaching conversations about sensitive issues with young people 95%

of participants feel better equipped to offer help to a young person experiencing an unhealthy or abusive relationship 96%

Workplace relationships

In 2022-23 we piloted our first Workplace Relationships Workshop and continued to iterate the pilot in 2023-24. This half-day workshop uses our 10 Signs framework to help staff thrive, providing them with the knowledge and skills to improve their workplace relationships.

In this programme, employees learn to:

Identify healthy and unhealthy behaviours in the workplace
Practise inclusive and positive conversations
Learn how to lead and be part of a happy and productive team
Learn the formal steps for addressing bullying or harassment

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Training for professionals

of participants agreed that they are better able to identify healthy and unhealthy behaviours inside and outside of the workplace 95%

agreed that they know where to access help and advice if they or their colleagues experience unhealthy behaviours 96%

agreed that the workshop will be useful in current or future relationships, inside or outside of work 96%

LMK’s workshop was interactive, engaging, and helped our team develop essential skills.

Training Facilitator, People’s Postcode Lottery

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We have made big strides in strengthening our digital engagement in LMK in 2023-24.

Awareness campaign

in schools about topics such as relationships, abuse and sexual health.

One of the highlights of the year for us was the launch of our first major online campaign . With the generous, pro bono support of the R Agency and Flight Story, the campaign centred around the creation and launch of a short ‘hero’ flm called Know the Signs, which highlighted some of the 10 unhealthy signs of relationships and raised awareness of LMK’s work. We also published the results of a survey of 2000 young people’s (16-25) experience of relationship abuse, which was commissioned by LMK/One Poll in January 2024, another first for LMK.

six in ten young adults have never been taught the signs of a healthy or unhealthy relationship (at school).
seven in ten (71%) young adults, aged 16-25, have experienced a form of relationship abuse, almost half (47%) say it has happened in the last 12 months.

Our social media campaign and PR push yielded 11 radio interviews, reaching well over 3m people across the UK. Articles in Yahoo! Life and BNN, generated a 520% increase in traffic to our website.

Some results from the research with young people included:

87% of young people believe there should be more education

Stills from the campaign film

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Digital engagement

Brand refresh

As part of our preparations for the campaign launch, with input from our YAB, we refreshed LMK’s brand to help keep LMK relevant for young people as well as ensuring we have a consistent look and feel across our workshops, website and social media. This included a logo redesign, colour palette refresh and development of a messaging house.

Old and new logo

Growing our social media

letmeknowuk

LMKletmeknow LMKLetMeKnow LMKLetMeKnowCharity

At a time when the spread of misinformation online is translating into hate-incidents, harmful misogynistic attitudes, racist attacks and damaging beliefs, it’s never been more important for LMK to be a trusted source of relevant, high quality digital content via our social media channels. We provide regular

posts showing a mixture of our day to day work, commenting on topical events and news and educating people on the 10 Signs of healthy/ unhealthy relationships.

~~Over the year we grew our social media by 1135 followers, a 41.48% increase for LMK.~~

Developing our website

As we improve our understanding of our audiences, we have been developing our website to make it easier to navigate. For example, we have added user journeys depending on whether you are a young person or an adult supporting young people. We have also added new content designed to appeal to our audiences, such as blogs on relevant issues including our research on, and response to, the proposed government changes to the RSE curriculum.

Brook and the Women and Girls Network Partnership

We completed the second year of our three-year partnership with Brook and the Women and Girls Network, delivering 43 10 Signs workshops within community and education settings, as part of the Sexual Violence Education and Training programme. 1,086 young people took part across the boroughs of Brent, Camden, Lambeth, Newham, Southwark, and Tower Hamlets.

We continue to be bowled over by the power of this partnership and the impact it is having on the young people involved.

I understood and got a wider perspective on how people can use

manipulative tactics in relationships. What I took from [the workshop] was to understand that circumstances had to be put in place to cheat. I learned that not everyone deserves to be judged.

Male participant, Sexual Violence Education and Training workshop

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Collaborating with others

Place2Be Staffroom

Place2Be’s Staffroom is an online community, where education professionals who have completed the Mental Health Champions Programme can access additional resources and discuss tips and learning with other school staff, trainee teachers and professionals across the UK.

LMK was delighted to collaborate with Place2Be this year to create a video with our YAB members and LMK Leaders. The video featured tips on how to have conversations with young people about relationships, and was shared on Place2Be’s platform. This collaboration has allowed LMK to reach a much wider audience across the UK, engaging professionals in our learnings far beyond our immediate service beneficiaries.

I really love the video – actually hearing young people’s voice & thoughts on the topic makes it that much more impactful.

End Violence Against Women (EVAW) Coalition Prevention Network

As active members of the EVAW Coalition, LMK stands shoulder to shoulder with our friends in the sector, creating a louder voice together to influence the change needed to end violence against women and girls.

Some of the actions we took as EVAW members this year include:

Signing the EVAW Coalition letter to OfCom outlining our concerns about how the Online Safety Act is being implemented
Providing feedback to the Home Office on the draft resources for schools as part of their ENOUGH

campaign

Submitting our response to the Government consultation

on proposed changes to the Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) guidance , where we have huge concerns around the proposed changes to delay extremely important conversations about relationships with young people.

Place2Be Rosie to check with Paul

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Collaborating with others

Meeting between our YAB, The Good Side and Movember Foundation

Evening Standard Show Respect Campaign

We are honoured to be one of 12 organisations to be awarded funding as part of The Evening Standard’s Show Respect Campaign, an initiative tackling violence against girls by funding workshops about healthy relationships in schools for year 9 pupils. We attended the launch event in March 2024, where there was a lively discussion about the issues underlying violence against women and girls. We look forward to finding ways to collaborate over the coming year.

Movember

We were pleased to facilitate our young people on our YAB to meet with The Good Side and Movember Foundation to talk about best practice in running successful youth advisory/ outreach programmes. Our young people shared their stories from their time with LMK, so that Movember could learn from their experiences as they crafted their own youth advisory programme. This is just one of the ways LMK is committed to sharing best practice and helping the charity sector improve its understanding of young people’s relationships.

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The second half of 2023-24 was an exciting time for LMK as we set our minds to developing our next three-year strategy . We were really pleased with the amount of internal and external engagement we achieved as part of our work. This included:

Over 50 funders, supporters, staff and delivery organisations attended our strategy event in March 2024, contributing to our thinking around a new strategy.
One-to-one interviews with people across the sector including representatives of the Department of Education, NCVO, other charities within the sector, schools, community groups and government policy influencers.
Deep engagement from our YAB, Trustees, core team and LMK leaders through surveys, workshops and project working.

As well as adding depth and professional insight to our strategy, this work has extended our contacts across the sector and generated interest from external stakeholders about what LMK does next.

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What next for LMK

LMK strategic objectives 2024-2027

In July 2024, our Board of Trustees signed off the new strategy, which is effective from 1[st] September 2024. Our 10 Signs workshops for young people continue to be at the heart of LMKs work, and we are determined not only to reach more people, but also to ensure that we keep our focus on engaging those who are most at risk of relationship abuse.

We will embed our work by expanding the support we provide to young people and the adults around them beyond our workshops, reiterating the learning, providing opportunities for further information and signposting about the signs of healthy and unhealthy relationships.

We will continue to be a collaborative ally in the sector, widely sharing our onthe-ground knowledge of how young people are experiencing relationships with those who campaign and lead on policy change, with the aim of achieving better relationship education for all young people.

We will do these things whilst holding true to our LMK values of being kind, brave, collaborative and open, and will continue to have young people at the very centre of our organisation, shaping our content, sharing their experiences, being LMK ambassadors and helping to govern our charity.

----- Start of picture text -----
LMK wants to stop relationship abuse before it starts – but we
know you can’t see the signs, until you know the signs.
Our vision Our mission
Through education, we To provide young people
can create a world in which with the knowledge and
relationship abuse, domestic skills to thrive in their
violence and sexual assault relationships.
no longer exist.
Our work
LMK is an education charity working in schools, community organisations
and workplaces using a ‘10 Signs’ framework to provide non-judgemental,
relatable education that tackles real life issues that young people want to
talk about.
Through our work, we want young people to be empowered to seek for
themselves:
• safe homes free from violence and abuse • healthy workplace relationships that
• positive friendships that support mental allow for personal/professional growth
health and wellbeing • help if they or their friends are in an
• healthy romantic relationships with safe unsafe and abusive relationship.
boundaries
Goal
To bring our 10 Signs workshops to more young people, 1
directly and through the adults around them
We will continue to reach new people in schools and community
groups, further education settings and workplaces. Our priority is engaging
young people that we know are at greater risk of abuse, tailoring our 10
Signs workshops to meet their needs and reflect their experiences.
Goal
To deepen our connection with young people 2
We will work with staff and young people in education settings and
community organisations to create a culture that promotes and
encourages healthy relationships, and we will consider other ways
for young people to find out more about the healthy and unhealthy
relationship signs, beyond our workshops.
Goal
To be a collaborative ally in the sector, fuelling and 3
enabling meaningful education about relationships
We will widely share our knowledge of how young people are
experiencing relationships to inform how education needs to evolve to
reflect the needs of young people. We will stand shoulder to shoulder with
our friends in the sector, creating a louder voice together to influence
educational change.
Our Values
LMK values are at the heart of LMK’s culture and inform how we work every day.
Kind - We always act Collaborative - We support
with compassion and one another - valuing
understanding. We role teamwork and striving for
model the 10 Signs of a impact through partnership.
healthy relationship.
Brave - We aren’t afraid Open - We represent a diverse
to be bold. We’re changing society and value difference.
something big and are We are inclusive, accessible,
courageous in our approach. and non-judgmental.
As part of our 2024-27 strategy we will:
• Be young person centred – This means practices – We will continuously evolve
we share our power with young people and improve our EDI practices to be
to ensure our work stays relevant to responsive to the experiences of our
young people’s experiences today. staff and the expectations of the young
• Work in partnership with others – For people we support.
the good of young people, we must • Focus on raising our brand awareness
maximise our impact by working – We recognise that a strong brand
collaboratively with others. increases school & community
• Continue to evolve and improve our equality, diversity and inclusion engagement and leads us to young people.
For more information about LMK, please visit lmkletmeknow.org
Our ways of working
Our goals for 2024-2027
LMK Strategy 2024-2027
----- End of picture text -----

Strategy document - Click here to view the document

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Statement of public benefit

Domestic violence and relationship abuse have a devastating effect on the lives of around 2.4 million people in the UK each year. It can affect anyone, of any background, and commonly starts as early as teenage relationships. LMK was created to take a much-needed preventative approach to this complex problem. We help young people thrive in their relationships and prevent them from becoming victims or perpetrators of abuse. In the creation and subsequent governance of LMK, all trustees have had regard to the Charity Commission For England and Wales’ public benefit guidance when exercising their powers and duties.

Although we are primarily a charity focused on long-term prevention, we know that our workshops have an immediate impact on the lives of the young people we work with. As part of our medium term impact study, workshop participants reported the following changes as a direct result of attending an LMK workshop:

I have started to acknowledge when I am saying something wrong in order to get what I want. I plan to stop saying things now that I know it is wrong.

My relationships now are undeniably healthy since I am able to distinguish the difference between toxic conflicts and healthy, respectful ones.

Furthermore, our LMK Leaders regularly deal with disclosures of abuse during our workshops. We escalate any safeguarding concerns to our host organisations within 2 hours to get the young person the help they need, following up any concerns raised to ensure steps are taken to address the issues raised. It is clear that LMK provides social value far beyond our workshop interventions.

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1. Constitution and governing document

LMK is a CIO registered charity (charity number 1191149). We are an education charity with the following charitable objects:

~~To advance health by educating children and young people, their parents or guardians and those who work with them, on the subject of healthy relationships; and~~

~~To advance education by providing information and training on the topic of healthy relationships, in particular but not exclusively for the beneft of children and young people, their parents or guardians and those who work with them.~~

We are governed by our charity constitution.

2. Governing body and delegation of day-to-day management

LMK’s Board of Trustees is the governing body. Meeting quarterly mainly online, the Board determines

the charity’s long-term strategy and approves the annual business plan and budget.

Currently we have 10 Trustees who bring wide and varied skills and expertise to the governance of LMK, including experts in Finance, HR, law, safeguarding, gender-based violence, marketing, consumer research, EDI and education. Our trustees voluntarily give their time to oversee the work of the charity.

Our Chair of Trustees, Kirsten Westlake, is also a Co-Founder of the charity. Our second Co-Founder, Saloni Thakrar, resigned from the Board in September 2023 although remains a keen supporter of LMK’s work.

Specific Board of Trustee

responsibilities are delegated to three sub-committees which report back to the Board on a quarterly basis; the Finance Sub-Committee, the HR SubCommittee and the Safeguarding Sub-Committee. Each sub-

committee has a Terms of Reference, with clear responsibilities and legal requirements managed through an

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Structure, governance and management

overarching Governance Planner that we introduced this year.

In August 2023, LMK’s very first CEO, Deirdre Kehoe, took up her role and now manages the day-to-day activities of the charity. Reflecting the collaborative values of LMK, the CEO and Chair of Trustees work together closely, outside of formal Board of Trustee meetings, to ensure the smooth running of the charity.

We have also been privileged that so many of our trustees have given their time, over and above their governance duties, to provide guidance and expertise in the dayto-day activities of the charity. A particular highlight this year has been working with Umeeda Nathoo to deliver LMKs first marketing campaign.

3. Method of appointment or election of Board of Trustees

In line with our constitution, all trustee recruitment happens openly, with oversight by our HR Sub-Committee and through an interview process conducted by a range of members of the Board as well as the CEO.

This year, our Chair of the Board of Trustees and the CEO undertook NSPCC Safer Recruitment Training, and applied that learning as they looked to recruit new trustees to the Board.

Following a skills audit, in 2023-24 we recruited two new trustees to our Board: Nicole Walsh, a consultant on gender-based violence and violence against women and girls with 15 years experience of working with young people, as well as Esther Timson, a safeguarding expert with experience across domestic violence, victim support, and national and international development, who now Chairs our Safeguarding SubCommittee.

4. Policies adopted for the induction and training of Board of Trustees

New trustees receive an extensive induction to LMK, which includes a mandatory requirement to shadow at least one of our 10 Signs workshops and introductory meetings with the Chair, CEO and key members of the core staff team. They are also provided with a full information pack about the work of LMK which includes our strategy, annual plan, budget and risk registers.

New trustees are required to sign up to the LMK Trustee Code of Conduct (which has been refreshed this year), as well as confirming that they have read and understood some key LMK policies including our Safeguarding Policy and our Data Protection Policy.

All new trustees are required to undertake the NSPCC Safeguarding

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Structure, governance and management

Training for Trustees. As part of their induction, and to support them in their governance role, new trustees are supported to identify specialist training where appropriate.

5. Related party relationships

All trustees are required to complete a Conflict of Interest Form and an Automatic Disqualification Form on an annual basis, and there is also a verbal check of any updates on Conflict of Interest before each Board and Committee Meeting.

No charity trustees were paid or received any other benefits from their association with the charity in the year 2023-24. No charity trustee received payment for professional or other services supplied by the charity.

There is just one related party relationship known to LMK; Kirsten Westlake, Co-Founder and Chair of our Board of Trustees, is also a trustee of Two Magpies Fund, with decision making influence. LMK received a grant of £100k from the Two Magpies Fund in 2023-24.

6. Remuneration policy for key management personnel

This year LMK created a new Remuneration policy, setting out how we seek to remunerate our employees in a fair and consistent manner to attract and keep

appropriately qualified staff to lead, manage and support its charitable activities.

When setting salaries at LMK, we strive to balance:

affordability (determining a reasonable rate we can afford, which allows us to attract external applicants)
internal fairness (ensuring jobs with more responsibility are paid at a higher rate)
external parity (market rates)

In 2023-24, one member of staff earned more than £60,000.

7. Risk Management

The Board of Trustees understands that it is responsible for ensuring that the major risks to which LMK is exposed are identified, particularly those related to the operations and finances of the charity, and that they must oversee systems to mitigate those risks.

LMK has risk monitoring processes embedded in it’s day-to-day activity:

A series of individual risk registers are kept up to date on a rolling basis, covering key areas such as finance, HR, safeguarding, operational and governance risks. In 2023-24 we created a topline strategic risk register to ensure

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Structure, governance and management

that the Board of Trustees could easily access the top risks which could affect the implementation of our organisational strategy. All of our risk registers are reviewed by the Board of Trustees every six months, with some risk registers (HR, Finance, Safeguarding) receiving additional security by the relevant Sub-Committee.

This year, we have also taken a risk-based approach to our income forecasting , building in risk levels on predicted income to allow for greater robustness in our forecasting work. This work is then scrutinised and approved by the Finance Sub-Committee and our Board of Trustees. In addition, our Chair of the Finance Sub-Committee meets with the CEO and Head of Fundraising and Development on a monthly basis to review the latest management accounts and understand any variances that may heighten our financial risk.

following the Stockport attack and far-right riots in summer 2024.

8. Complaints

At LMK we track and review all complaints received, whether formal or informal. We provide a report to our Board of Trustees outlining complaints received, actions taken and lessons learned so that we can continuously improve our practice. In 2023-24 we received and resolved 2 formal complaints.

On a day-to-day, operational basis, we have risk assessments in place for all our programme activity, tailored for whether this work happens within a face-toface or online environment. Risk assessments have been reviewed and updated in light of the updated National Youth Agency guidance

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1. Review of performance and position

We are pleased to report that LMK has experienced strong and steady income growth over the year. Income for 2023-24 was £686,390, a 35% increase on 2022-23. Our expenditure has increased correspondingly to £604,242. This is due to the costs associated with the increased number of workshops delivered (40 more workshops in 2023-24, reaching 1,388 more participants). We have had an increase in the number of people in our team with the addition of our first CEO and a Fundraising Manager to support our Head of Fundraising and Development. Our CEO took over the operational leadership of the charity from the Co-Founders in August 2023, and investing in our Fundraising Team ensures greater resilience and long term sustainability in our income growth.

Fundraising Compliance

Over the past 12 months, LMK closely monitored our fundraising practices to ensure they are in line with guidelines set out in the Fundraising Regulator’s Code of Practice, the Charities Act and General Data

Protection Regulations. We complete annual CC20 reviews to ensure all of our fundraising activity is compliant to the Charity Commission requirements. At the beginning of each financial year we complete an annual review of our Fundraising Policy and due diligence processes around fundraising activity.

Statement of trustee responsibilities

With operational support from our external accountant and core team, LMK trustees have prepared the annual report and the financial statements in accordance with the applicable law and United Kingdom (UK) Accounting Standards (UK Generally Accepted Accounting Practice). In preparing these financial statements, the trustees are aware of their requirement to:

Select suitable accounting policies and apply them consistently;
Observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP;
Make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent.

2. Reserves Policy

As part of Trustee sign off of the 2023-24 budget, in July 2023 they

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Financial review

considered the level of reserves they felt most appropriate for the charity and agreed on a minimum of three months operating costs which equated to £62,000, based on the plans and associated budget for the year ahead. This was in line with the established Reserves Policy of the charity. In the longer term, we aspire to growing reserves towards six months of core running costs.

The Reserves policy requires LMK to hold funds to meet core running costs. These equate to the staff costs for two months (based on their notice period), LMK leaders for three months and the costs of giving three month notice on committed expenses.

laid our in our three-year strategy and annual plan for the year ahead, we expect that LMK will continue to operate for the foreseeable future.

The Trustees’ Annual Report has been approved by the Trustees on 22/01/2025 and signed on their behalf by

Kirsten Westlake

Chair, LMK

Throughout 2023-24 our cash flow remained strong and we were successful in securing a higher proportion of unrestricted funding which provided greater flexibility to meet core costs. Unrestricted reserves at the end of the year was £109,555, significantly above our original aim of three months but in line with the Trustees longer term ambition to grow reserves from 3 months of costs to six months of costs.

3. Going Concern

Based on the continued growth in income shown in accounts for 2023-24, our forecasted income for 2024-25, our risk monitoring and the activities we are aspiring towards as

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63 The Independent Examiners Report Back to contents

Section A Independent Examiner’s Report

Charity Name Let Me Know (LMK)	Charity Name Let Me Know (LMK)	Charity Name Let Me Know (LMK)

31 August 2024	Charity no (if any)	1191149

appended (remember to include the page numbers of additional sheets)

I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity (“the Trust”) for the year ended 31 August 2024 .
Responsibilities and basis As the charity trustees of the Trust, you are responsible for the preparation of the of report 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.

The charity’s gross income exceeded £250,000 and I am qualified to undertake the examination by being a qualified member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.

Independent Examiner’s I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to Statement 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:
		14 January 2025

	Charles Ssempijja

	FCA

	3rdFloor, 86-90 Paul Street
	London, EC2A 4NE

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65 The financial statements Back to contents



 



                                                 	                  	                   	                  	                 	         
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					 
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					 
					 
					

 

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





                       	  	  	  
 		 
		
			
	 		 

			



 

 

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





         	             	    
		  
		
		    
		

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





 

 

 

 

     

 

 



 

    

  



 

  

 

  

 

   

 

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





 

 



 

 

 



 

  

 

  





 

  



 



   

 

  

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





 

 

   

 

 



       	          	         
		



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





 

 
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					
					
					
					
					
					

					
					
					
					
					
					
					
					
					
					
					
					
					
					
					
					
				

 

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



 




   	     	     
		

 



	
	
	

  

 

 

 

	  	  
		

 



  

 

 

 



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







 

 

    	  	  
		
	    	    
		

 

 

   	  	   
		
   	  	   
		

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

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 

                  	                  	                  	                	                  
				
				
				
				

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

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 

                       	                    	                     	                 	                       
				
				
				
				

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The LMK Family extends beyond our trustees, YAB Members and staff to the many freelancers, advisors and funders who support us to deliver our work in the most impactful way possible. We

cannot thank you enough for the insight, support, expertise and funding you provide that allows us to deliver our service to young people and the adults around them.

Advisors and freelancers

LMK Leaders

Abi Angus Aleysha Rattray Alison Longster Becky Pugh Connor Moore Diana Dewing Lildonia Lawrence Louise Yalonetzky Manish Gajria Rebecca Waclawyj R-Agency & Flight Create Rob Sproston Sam Whitaker Shruti Soni Sophie Klein Warwick Leicester

Ameliah Rayn Anshu Kashyap Anthony Powell Dan Curran Ella Sheltawy Esri Chippendale Ivy McIntyre-Baron Jeremy Lyons Joseph Winer Kaine Senkumba Katie Fotis-Heeney Lildonia Lawrence Lois Dunn Louise Ashwell Louise Yalonetzky Lu Wilson

Marcus Walters-Pearce Nicholas Morgan Penny Wood Prince Kwakye Rebecca Waclawyj Rhys Shirley-Clarke Ruin Massia Ryan Carthy Saira Kamaly Sharareh Avazzadeh Shirin Taherzadeh Simone Ujah

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Thank you 78 Funders (i CharityJob +,,° ChildhoodTrust COMMUNITY FUND Garfield Weston FOUNDATION klL HORIZON LINE FOVNOATIO JOHN LYON'S CHARITY The London Communty Foundation thc Mohn Westlake MRS SMITH & MOUNT TRUST foundation The Pixel Fund Two Mfy3rie Back to contents

1 National Crime Agency, April 2024 back to reference
2 Lords Library, June 2023 back to reference
3 Harvard Study of Adult Development - established 1938, still ongoing, approx 1300 participants back to reference
4 OnePoll Survey of 2000 young people aged 16-24yrs, Jan 2024 back to reference
5 Office for National Statistics - Domestic abuse in England and Wales overview: Nov 2022 back to reference
6 Royal College of Psychiatrists, March 2024 back to reference
7 National Policing Statement 2024 for Violence Against Women and Girls back to reference
8 National Crime Agency, April 2024 back to reference
9 Trade Union Congress, 2023 back to reference
10 Words Matter charity survey, Sept 2023 back to reference
11 ONS November 2022 back to reference
12 International Journal of Child, Youth and Family Studies (2014) back to reference
13 Women and Equality Unit: The Cost of Domestic Violence September 2004 Professor Sylvia Walby (University of Leeds) cost of domestic violence. Women and Equality Unit back to reference
14 Research from the International Policing and Public Protection Research Institute (IPPPRI - formerly PIER – Policing Institute for the Eastern Region) part of Anglia Ruskin University back to reference
15 NSPCC, 2023 back to reference
16 Government Response to Domestic Abuse Commissioner’s Report: “A Patchwork of Provision: how to meet the needs of victims and survivors across England and Wales”, March 2023 back to reference
17 Bentivegna, F and Patalay, P (2022). The impact of sexual violence in midadolescence on mental health: a UK population-based longitudinal study. The Lancet Psychiatry: VOLUME 9, ISSUE 11 back to reference
18 Trade Union Congress, 2023 back to reference

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Endnotes

19 Youth Endowment Fund Toolkit: Relationship Violence Prevention Lessons and Activities back to reference
20 Femicide Census 2021 back to reference
21 Safe Lives, Disability and Domestic Violence, 2016 back to reference
22 National Institute for Health and Care Excellence(NICE) 2023 Domestic Abuse - What are the Risk Factors?, Safelives (2017) Disabled Survivors Too back to reference
23 Skafida, V. (2023) Poverty, social inequality and domestic abuse: The impact on children. Implications for Social Work Practice. Nuffield (2022) Relationship between poverty and child abuse and neglect back to reference
24 NHS Wales Adverse Childhood Experiences back to reference
25 Galop (2021) Commissioning for Inclusion:Delivering service for LGBT+ survivors of domestic abuse back to reference
26 Derived from survey responses from young people participating in LMK workshops back to reference
27 IPPPRI “It’s normal these days.” Self generated child sexual abuse fieldwork back to reference
findings report, December 2023
28 Taheri et al., 2016; Merrells et al., 2018 back to reference
29 LMK/One Poll Survey, 2000 young people aged 16-24, Jan 2024
back to reference

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