2023-09-30-accounts - Epistemic

This text was generated using OCR and may contain errors. Check the original PDF to see the document submitted to the regulator.

Trustees’ Annual Report for the period

From 01/10/2022 Period start date To 30/09/2023 Period end date

Charity name: Epistemic

Charity registration number: 1193217

Objectives and Activities

	SORP reference
Summary of the purposes of the charity as set out in its governing document	Para 1.17	To act as a resource for young people living in the United Kingdom by providing advice and assistance and organising programmes of educational and other activities, in particular but not exclusively through workshops and sessions in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) topics and careers as a means of: a) Advancing in life and helping young people by developing their skills, capacities and capabilities to enable them to participate in society as mature and responsible individuals; b) Advancing education; c) Relieving unemployment.
Summary of the main activities in relation to those purposes for the public benefit, in particular, the activities, projects or services identified in the accounts.	Para 1.17 and 1.19	Epistemic aims to ensure that all young people in the UK, regardless of their geographical location, have the opportunity to engage with professionals working in STEM in order to inspire and encourage them to pursue STEM careers. We do this by providing a free service connecting schools and youth groups directly to STEM professionals via a video conferencing platform. These sessions are flexible and allow young people to engage in open dialogue with those working in STEM industries/academia. The Epistemic trustees are focussing on maturing the charity including finalising the required policies, development of a logo and

		aesthetics, applying for funding and carrying out trials with schools and training providers.
Statement confirming whether the trustees have had regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit	Para 1.18	The trustees of Epistemic have volunteered their time and energy to the activities of Epistemic so that the charity can fulfil its goal to engage with and inspire young people into STEM. The trustees have taken the commission’s public benefit guidance into account when making any decision it is relevant to. Epistemic is in a ‘maturation’’ stage where the activities being carried out and decisions being made by the trustees are to establish the charity and will enable us to conduct our main activities (providing interactive sessions between young people and STEM professionals to educate and advise on potential career pathways) that will directly benefit of all young people across the UK that engage with our services. Unfortunately, our trustees have had personal life changes in the last year and activities have been paused to allow the trustees to focus their attention on these matters. The trustees anticipate return to activity in the near future.

Additional information (optional) You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:

SORP reference N/A Para 1.38 Policy on grant making N/A Para 1.38 Policy on social investment including program related investment Epistemic has been set up and is being progressed entirely by the voluntary action of its trustees. They commit their personal time

Contribution made by volunteers	Para 1.38		and energy to this endeavour and the founding members of Epistemic are extremely grateful for this so would like to use this opportunity to once again express their thanks and deep gratitude to them. The scope for volunteers for Epistemic will grow as it does and policies and strategies have been worked up to help with recruitment and management of said volunteers. As mentioned above, the volunteers have had personal life changes in the last year and activities have been paused to allow the volunteers to focus their attention on these matters. Epistemic anticipates return to activity in the near future.
Other			Future Activity The trustees of Epistemic previously laid out a detailed action plan, before the formal pausing of activities. This plan is still considered to be valid however it will be reviewed when the trustees are able to resume volunteering activities. When setting out this plan, the trustees of Epistemic specifically considered the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit to ensure we align our targets. The activities within the plan aim to transition the charity from ‘maturing’ to full scale delivery for public benefit. These activities include: ● More trial sessions with primary schools ● More trial sessions with secondary schools ● Publicity campaign to promote the service within schools ● Recruitment campaign for STEM professionals ● Update of all policies and regulations ● Review of all policies and regulations by a legal professional ● Finalisation of logo and general aesthetic to help build the charity’s

brand (related to publicity campaign)

Application for grants and other funding/donations - this has been a critical issue for the last financial year, so we are making this top priority
Gather more testimonies
Generation of templates for STEM pros to use for their sessions
Engagement with Professional Engineering Institutions and other STEM related organisations
Expand delivery of sessions following feedback from trials

Achievements and Performance

SORP reference As described above, the formal activities of Epistemic needed to be paused during the financial year due to personal life changes that occurred. The trustees anticipate return to activity in Summary of the main the near future. achievements of the charity, identifying the difference the Para 1.20 charity’s work has made to the circumstances of its beneficiaries and any wider benefits to society as a whole.

Additional information (optional)

You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:

Unfortunately due to the pausing of activities, Epistemic were not able to achieve the objectives set. Epistemic hopes to be able to resume activities in the near future. Achievements against objectives set Para 1.41


Performance of fundraising activities against objectives set	Para 1.41	As described above, Epistemic were unfortunately unable to raise any more funds. Epistemic hopes to be able to achieve against these objectives once normal activity can resume.
Investment performance against objectives	Para 1.41	N/A
Other		N/A

Financial Review

Financial Review
Review of the charity’s financial position at the end of the period	Para 1.21	No changes to finances (positive or negative). Current balance remains and Epistemic aims to submit in the future.
Statement explaining the policy for holding reserves stating why they are held	Para 1.22	Donation amount is being held while the graphic designer is developing our logo. As agreed, we will pay the designer upon completion of work.
Amount of reserves held	Para 1.22	£500
Reasons for holding zero reserves	Para 1.22	N/A
Details of fund materially in deficit	Para 1.24	No funds are materially in deficit.
Explanation of any uncertainties about the charity continuing as a going concern	Para 1.23	The trustees do not have any concerns of the uncertainties about the continuation of the charity.
Additional information (optional) You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:
The charity’s principal sources of funds (including any fundraising)	Para 1.47	1x donation from DeskLodge
Investment policy and objectives including any social investment policy adopted	Para 1.46	N/A
A description of the principal risks facing the charity	Para 1.46	The key risk facing the charity at the moment is the lack of funds secured at present, which is holding up progress. This is the main priority of the trustees at present and will continue into the next reporting year.

NIA Other

Structure, Governance and Management

Description of charity’s trusts:
Type of governing document (trust deed, royal charter)	Para 1.25	Constitution, adopted 14/01/2021, updated 14/08/2022
How is the charity constituted? (e.g unincorporated association, CIO)	Para 1.25	Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO)
Trustee selection methods including details of any constitutional provisions e.g. election to post or name of any person or body entitled to appoint one or more trustees	Para 1.25	Trustees are appointed for a term of three years and can stand down or stand for re- elected by the remaining trustees at the end of their term, as per the constitution. The three founding trustees have been appointed for 7, 6 and 5 years to ensure continuity. At the end of their terms they may stand down or stand for re-election. Trustees are recruited in one of two ways: ●Skills Gap Analysis: a gap analysis of the skills and experiences of the current trustees to identify where existing trustees skills are not sufficient to progress Epistemic, for example in this financial reporting year we identified a gap for a treasurer with financial knowledge/experience. We then reached out to our networks and asked for applicants. The applicants were then proposed and voted at an Epistemic trustees meeting (in line with the constitution) and an offer made to the right applicant, who accepted and joined the Board of Trustees. ●Expression of interest: an individual approaches one of the existing trustees and is interested in supporting. The trustees then discuss this at the next meeting and vote to determine if the potential trustee is able to provide benefit to the Board of Trustees and/or has the capacity to support on-going activities (in line

with the constitution). A decision is then recorded in the minutes and the potential trustees informed of the outcome.

Additional information (optional)

You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:

Policies and procedures adopted for the induction and training of trustees	Para 1.51	When a trustee is adopted, they must complete a checklist for ‘onboarding’, which must be signed by the new trustee and the general secretary of Epistemic. This includes reading/reviewing the Epistemic Constitution, the government guidelines on becoming a trustee of a charity, the Charity Commission’s web pages on “public benefit”, and HM Revenue & Customs’ ”Fit and Proper Person” declaration, among other requirements which are made clear to the trustee.
The charity’s organisational structure and any wider network with which the charity works	Para 1.51	The Board of Trustees of Epistemic are structured with the following: ●A chair of the Board of Trustees who is accountable for the progress of the trustees ●A rotating ‘chair’ of the Epistemic meetings ●A rotating ‘general secretary’ of Epistemic meetings ●A treasurer responsible for all financial elements of the charity Additionally, the trustees are in ‘working groups’ responsible for the following areas: ●IT & Website ●Grants & Funding ●Liaison with schools ●Liaison with STEM professionals

● Media & Marketing, including logo development Finally, Epistemic is a member of Teach First’s Innovation Network. The involvement with the network has been limited to date however it is an objective to increase the utilisation of this network for reaching out to schools. N/A Relationship with any related parties Para 1.51 The Board of Trustees, in line with the voting described in the constitution, currently Other makes all decisions. There are no staff members currently employed by Epistemic. Epistemic unfortunately had 3 trustees step down from the board this year, not due to any conflicts, but due to time constraints and personal circumstances. We are currently looking to replace those trustees and are midway through a skills gap analysis.

Reference and Administrative details

Charity name	Epistemic
Other name the charity uses	N/A
Registered charity number	1193217
Charity’s principal address	12 Burrows Close Penn HIGH WYCOMBE HP10 8AR

Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity

Trustee name	Office (if any)	Dates acted if not for whole year
Sophie Harker	Chair
Andrew Hoang	Treasurer	From 09/08/2021
Anika Ved		From 10/04/2021
Ryan Holmes
Nicola Gibbs
Thomas Taylor- MacLean	Founding Trustee
Laura Hoang	Founding Trustee

Funds held as custodian trustees on behalf of others

Description of the assets N/A held in this capacity Name and objects of the N/A charity on whose behalf the assets are held and how this falls within the custodian charity’s objects Details of arrangements for N/A safe custody and segregation of such assets from the charity’s own assets

Exemptions from disclosure

Reason for non-disclosure of key personnel details

N/A

Other optional information

N/A

Declarations

The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.

Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees

Signature(s) Thomas Taylor-MacLean Full name(s) Sophie Harker Position (eg Chair Co-founder Secretary, Chair, etc) Date 29/06/2023

Charity Name No (if any) Epistemic 1193217

Receipts andpayments accounts	Receipts andpayments accounts	Receipts andpayments accounts	Receipts andpayments accounts
For the period from	Period start date 1/10/22	To	Period end date 30/9/23

CC16a

Section A Receipts and payments

A1 Receipts	Unrestricted funds to the nearest £	Restricted funds to the nearest £	Endowment funds to the nearest £	Total funds to the nearest £	Last year to the nearest £
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_AR) _	£0	£0	£0	£0	500

~~A2 Asset and investment sales,~~ (see table).
	-
	-				-
*Sub total*	£0				-
*Total receipts*					0
	£0				£0

A3 Payments

- 100	-	-	- 100	-
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CCXX R1 accounts (SS)

**Sub total **	- 100	- 100	- 100	- 100	£0

A4 Asset and investment purchases, (see table)
	-
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**Sub total **	£0				£0
*Total payments* *Net of receipts/(payments)* A5 Transfers between funds A6 Cash funds last year end *Cash funds this year end*
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	- 100	-	-	- 100	-
	-	-	-	-	-
	500	-	-	500	-
	400	-	-	400	500

Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period

Unrestricted funds to nearest £	Restricted funds to nearest £	Endowment funds to nearest £
400	-	-
-	-	-
-	-	-
400	£0	£0
		£0
		Endowment funds to nearest £
-	-	-
-	-	-
-	-	-
-	-	-

CCXX R2 accounts (SS)

B3 Investment assets

B4 Assets retained for the charity’s own use

B5 Liabilities

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Details	Fund to which asset belongs	Cost (optional)	Current value (optional)
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Details	Fund to which asset belongs	Cost (optional)	Current value (optional)
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Details	Fund to which ~~liability relates~~	Amount due ~~(optional)~~	When due ~~(optional)~~
		-
		-
		-
		-
		-

CCXX R3 accounts (SS)

Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees

Signature ~~oh~~	Print Name Sophie Harker Thomas Taylor-MacLean	Date of approval
	Sophie Harker	06/07/2025
	Thomas Taylor-MacLean	06/07/2025

CCXX R4 accounts (SS)