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2024-04-05-accounts

Company number: CE024865 Charity number: 1193467

Sex Education Forum CIO (A Charity governed by its constitution, charity number 1193467) Financial Statements and Trustees' Report for the year ended 31 March 2024

(A Charity governed by its constitution, charity number 1193467)

Index to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2024

AT Sex Education Forum CIO

Page
Index to the Financial Statements 2
Charity Information 3
Trustees' Report 4 - 10
Statement of Trustees' Responsibilities 11
Independent Examiner's Report 12
Statement of Financial Activities 13
Statement of Financial Postion 14
Statement of Cash Flows 15
Accounting Policies 16
Notes to the Accounts 17 - 20

Page 2

(A Charity governed by its constitution, charity number 1193467)

AT Sex Education Forum CIO

Charity Information

for the year ended 31 March 2024

Status: Sex Education Forum CIO is a charitable Incorporated Organisation governed by its
constitution.
Charity name: Sex Education Forum CIO
Other operating names: SEF
Charity registration number: 1193467
Registered office: PO Box 78778
London
SW4 4GP
Trustees who held office Alison Hadley OBE
during the year: Corah Gritton
Sarah Faithfull
Cindy Xin Win Zhang
Yoan Tranholm Reed
Jane C Lees OBE
Liam Beattie
Robbie Currie
Chair: Alison Hadley OBE
Deputy chair: Yoan Tranholm Reed
Treasurer Robbie Currie
Chief Executive: Lucy Emmerson
Independent Examiner: Anthony Armstrong FCA
Armstrong & Co
Chartered Accountants & Statutory Auditor
4a Printing House Yard
Hackney Road
London
E2 7PR
Bankers: Unity Trust Bank
Four Brindleyplace
Birmingham
B1 2JB

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(A Charity governed by its constitution, charity number 1193467)

A Sex Education Forum CIO

Trustees' Report

for the year ended 31 March 2024

The Trustees of Sex Education Forum CIO present their report together with the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2024.

Letter from our Chair and Chief Executive

Our third annual report spans a year during which a Government review of RSHE dominated the public narrative around relationships and sex education. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced the review in March 2023, just days after we launched our annual young people’s RSE poll findings.

Throughout the year, there was a mood of uncertainty around RSHE, but there were also plenty of schools and educators working diligently to deliver high quality RSE, engaging constructively with parents and meeting the needs of children and young people. Given our track record in sharing evidence based information about RSHE we were able to meet the needs of both educators and policy-makers for clear information about the benefits of RSHE, gaps in current provision, features of good practice and the views and experiences of young people.

In May, our Chief Executive was called to give evidence to the Women and Equalities Select Committee for a one-off session on the RSHE Review, where she was asked about the objectives of RSHE, and highlighted the specific needs of learners with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and the importance of working in partnership with parents and carers.

Our role as convenor of a wide range of organisations with a strategic and specialist interest in RSE has been pivotal to achieving our objectives. In collaboration with Brook, we hosted a joint Parliamentary RSHE Event where we launched a ‘RSHE pledge’, with the backing of over 100 organisations. Events in Parliament can be unpredictable, and on the day of our event MPs were called at short notice to vote. Working as a team, we quickly changed the sequence of the agenda so that MPs would hear from the panel of young people before they had to leave the room. This really epitomised the way that Parliamentarians and civil society can work together to quite literally give priority to listening to young people.

Our annual young people’s RSE Poll has become an invaluable barometer on the state of RSE in England, and each year we seek to vary the focus of the poll to respond to current issues as well as retaining benchmark questions that allow for year-on-year comparison.

In readiness for the next iteration of our poll, we worked closely with young people at youth-led organisations Sexpression:UK and Make it Mandatory* to explore the current issues that they felt would benefit from the poll’s attention. Our conversations led to a new question focused on understanding what young people see as their main source of information on key topics – such as school, friends, family, or online. Our collaboration with young people resulted in poll questions to explore the impact of RSE on experiences of consent in relationships, and to get views on extending mandatory provision beyond Year 11. Our poll questions went out to the field with an independent survey agency in March with results published in April 2024 to give us a fresh data set with which to measure progress on the implementation of statutory RSHE. The monitoring function of the poll feels more important than ever as a tool for documenting progress and gaps with RSE and giving young people a voice.

Our internal capacity doubled in size this year as we grew from three part-time members of staff to six. We now have increased capacity to deliver SEND specialist RSE training and extend the reach of our high quality training programmes for special schools. Our new staff members lead on projects that tackle gender-based relationship violence and a project targeting foster carers in order to benefit cared for young people with improved RSE. We are very proud of these new projects, which address the needs of marginalised young people and improve the competence of educators at home and at school. The pilot foster carer RSE training will be independently evaluated, enabling us to assess the potential of a fuller roll out. It is incredibly rewarding to see our exploratory work with foster carers grow to the point where we can directly address the training needs that were identified by both the foster carers and care experienced young people with whom we spoke.

Through a new collaboration with Exeter University, SEF is bringing valuable practitioner know-how to inform the development of intervention materials for use in secondary schools to prevent gender-based-violence and dating and relationship violence – issues that are of immense societal concern. Once our intervention has been tested it will lead to a study to research its’ feasibility for a randomised control trial. The close connection between practice, policy and research is a hallmark of our approach at SEF.

Whilst we have increased in size in the last 12 months it never ceases to amaze us how much a small staff team can achieve. Our impact is possible because of the diverse range of strategic partnerships that we have formed, ranging from partnerships with academics to the youth-led grass roots organisation Make it Mandatory. We also take pride in being a dynamic organisation that will continue to evolve, and the early work on our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion vision statement and action plan has demonstrated the strength of our governance and the important journey we have ahead.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank our Partners, members, supporters, volunteers, donors, staff and wider stakeholders for the time, knowledge, curiosity and commitment you bring to SEF, enabling us to better meet our shared ambition of high quality RSE to support children and young people’s health and wellbeing.

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(A Charity governed by its constitution, charity number 1193467)

A Sex Education Forum CIO

Trustees' Report

for the year ended 31 March 2024

Our door is always open to new members and supporters. If you are not already part of our community please have a look at the values and principles that we share, and we do hope you will consider joining us.

Alison Hadley OBE, Chair of Trustees

Lucy Emmerson, Chief Executive

*Sexpression:UK is a near-peer UK charity with the goal of empowering young people to make decisions about relationships and sex by running informal and comprehensive RSHE in the community.

**Make it Mandatory is a grass-roots, youth led movement campaigning for RSE to be extended into post-16 education.

Aim and objectives of the Sex Education Forum (SEF)

Our aim is clear: to improve children and young people’s access to RSE and thereby promote their physical and mental health.

SEF has a unique role as a convenor of key stakeholders, including strategic and specialist organisations committed to the same goal. Our three objectives are:

Governance of SEF

With no changes to our board membership during this period we took the opportunity to add variety to trustees’ roles, including transfer of the Deputy Safeguarding Lead role from Yoan Reed to Sarah Faithfull, and the formation of a new sub-group to steer the development of our Equity, Diversity and Inclusion vision statement and action plan.

We introduced rotation of participation in our risk-register review sub- group so that all board members would have involvement in this crucial governance process.

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

This year we felt the time was right to create a statement and action plan that reflects our commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI). Discussions with staff and trustees have brought to the fore our desire to go further and create a more ambitious vision for where we would like to be, and so we have begun an exciting new journey. To get started, we formed a task and finish group and held a joint workshop for staff and trustees. We felt it was important that our vision was relevant to our work, which is about improving RSE for all children and young people. The nature of the topics that come up in a comprehensive RSE curriculum, the way it is taught, who accesses that education and who delivers it raise numerous equity, diversity and inclusion issues and opportunities. During the course of the year we completed the first draft of our EDI vision statement and action plan and we look forward to publishing a final version and starting to implement and monitor the action plan.

GDPR and compliance

Our Operations Manager has taken on the role of Data Protection Officer (DPO), establishing our organisation-wide Record of Processing Activity (ROPA) and embedding the use of a range of templates such as Data Protection Impact Assessment, Appropriate Policy Documents, and Legitimate Interest Assessments. Our Operations Manager is now the first port of call for data enquiries and advice for all members of staff , ensuring that data compliance and good practice is built into project proposals, partnerships and project delivery.

Organisational structure.

Our staff team grew from 3 to 6 members this year. In April we appointed a RSE Trainer & Specialist at 0.4FTE with a focus on SEND. We recruited a project lead for the new Foster Carer RSE training pilot, who began in September 2023 (1.0FTE), and a project lead for the STOP / Think Again intervention, who began in November 2023 (0.7FTE). Sex Education Forum is also staffed by a Chief Executive (0.9FTE), Senior RSE Specialist (0.6FTE) and Operations Manager (0.6FTE*) and RSE Trainer & Specialist (0.4FTE).

All staff work from their own homes, with occasional travel to meetings, events and to deliver training or projects. The geographical footprint of our staff team has now spread from Sunderland to Southampton. To supplement our regular online contact, we held two team staff workshops in person during this period, which were valuable opportunities for staff to get to know each other better and connect face to face.

The increased capacity has not only enabled us to deliver more specialist training but ensures that project delivery has appropriately skilled and dedicated resource, and there is greater opportunity for internal skills sharing and peer support. *FTE points are correct at March 2024.

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(A Charity governed by its constitution, charity number 1193467)

A Sex Education Forum CIO

Trustees' Report

for the year ended 31 March 2024

Learning and development for staff and trustees

The Chief Executive is a member of ACEVO (the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations), which has been an invaluable source of peer support and practical advice. The Chair and Deputy of trustees are members of the Association of Chairs. Staff training and development opportunities are identified through quarterly reviews and has included training on ‘TraumaInformed Approaches, safeguarding and finance.

Memberships: Partners and Educators

We operate two types of membership: ‘Partner’ and ‘Educator’. A formal application process is used for organisations and individuals wishing to join the Sex Education Forum as Partners, with applications assessed to ensure alignment with our values and principles for evidence-based RSE. Educator members are asked to confirm that they agree with our values and principles. Partner membership fees start at £199 per year, Educator membership is £49.50 per year. A full list of benefits can be found here.

This year we have accepted applications from the following who are confirmed as Partners: The Schools Consent Project, Talk Consent, Jigsaw Education, Timbrell Education and HFL Education. Applications are reviewed with voluntary help from a Partner in collaboration with our trustees. We held ‘new Partner welcome meetings’ online to provide an induction for new Partners.

Our partners are drawn from a wide range of sectors – voluntary sector organisations of varying sizes, statutory organisations, schools and social enterprises. All have either a strategic or specialist interest and involvement with RSE and are in agreement with the SEF values and principles.

Partners are invited to a calendar of online events and meetings throughout the year. These occasions provide an invaluable networking space and opportunity to share updates about policy, research and practice. Partners share their experiences of delivering or supporting RSE provision in schools and other settings and are able to feedback about challenges and solutions on the ground.

Agendas for our termly events are geared towards providing continuing professional development for Partners, so that they can cascade up-to-date research evidence, policy and practice through their networks and within their own practice. We held three online ½ day continuing professional development (CPD) events for our Partners and wider membership:

We held the following shorter (one hour – to 90 minute) CPD events for our membership across the year. These events were free for our members.

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(A Charity governed by its constitution, charity number 1193467)

A Sex Education Forum CIO

Trustees' Report

for the year ended 31 March 2024

At the start of each academic term we produce a packed newsletter for all our members, which enables us to update our wider membership about new resources and support available and to feature new initiatives from our Partners.

Stakeholder engagement

SEF has continued to engage with civil servants at the Department for Education, with whom we attend ‘keeping in touch’ meetings. We maintain productive links with RSE specialists within international bodies such as UNESCO and World Health Organisation and with academics so that we can seek out and share new and cutting edge research with our Members. We also contribute to academic-led projects such as University of Lincoln RSHE in Initial Teacher Training mapping survey, led by Dr Joshua Heyes, which SEF forms part of the advisory group for. SEF was represented/ contributed at the following external events:

Policy engagement

A Government Review of RSHE was announced by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in March 2023, and the review lasted throughout the period of this report (until the publication of draft guidance in May 2024). As part of the Review, Government announced an expert panel, and we met with the panel in July 2023.

RSHE pledge and SEF – Brook Parliamentary Event

SEF convened monthly Partners Policy Group meetings throughout the year, and this Forum highlighted that our Partners felt strongly that young people’s voices were absent from the review process, and there was little formal means for stakeholders to inform the review. Together with one of our Partners, Brook, we designed a pledge for RSHE, which our Partners and wider stakeholders were invited to sign, and co-hosted a Parliamentary Event to launch the pledge and engage directly with Parliamentarians, giving young people a platform to share their experiences, views and needs for RSHE. The following RSHE Pledge is signed by over 100 organisations:

High quality RSHE is:

The event was held on 5 September 2023 and was co-Chaired by Rt Hon Maria Miller MP (Conservative) and Sarah Champion MP (Labour). A panel of young people spoke to Parliamentarians about what changes they believe are needed to improve RSE and Brook and SEF, a panel of teachers inspired attendees with the progress made at their schools in providing high quality RSHE, and sector leaders, including NSPCC and the End Violence Against Women Coalition spoke about the protective role of RSHE in safeguarding young people from harm. More than 10 Parliamentarians attended, in addition to over 50 stakeholders. Parliamentarians were invited to sign the pledge and briefings in advance of and during the event were provided by SEF and Brook.

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(A Charity governed by its constitution, charity number 1193467)

A Sex Education Forum CIO

Trustees' Report

for the year ended 31 March 2024

Throughout the year we have reiterated through our events and communications that SEF welcomes the Government Review of RSHE because regular updates are needed to RSHE guidance, and that these updates should be informed by research evidence and the views and experiences of young people.

Partnership with Make it Mandatory

In January 2024 we launched a year-long partnership between ourselves and youth-led grass roots organisation Make it Mandatory - see SEF web-site story and Darius’ video in MIMs insta reel. The objective of the partnership is to provide mutually beneficial support to progress our shared objectives to improve, include and extend RSE with and for young people. The partnership is a bespoke agreement drawn up between our two organisations, enabling two different styles of organisations – one being a youth social action group, and the other being a registered charity – to work productively together drawing on our strengths. Make it Mandatory is sharing insights from young people on RSE and was closely involved in the design of the Young People’s RSE Poll 2024, which included a question focused on their campaign goal of extending mandatory RSE to young people aged 16+ years old. Faustine Petron, founder of Make it Mandatory will be writing a foreword for the Poll report.

We have learnt through our Partnership with Make it Mandatory that items such as travel costs can be a barrier for young people to access and interact with a range of influential spaces. One of the ways in which SEF contributes to the partnership is to pay for travel costs for Make it Mandatory to attend relevant events and training, so as to help remove this barrier.

“Your believing in us and being so kind to let us contribute to the foreword means a lot and has helped me feel respected and seen and this has not happened often in my journey as a young campaigner.” Faustine Petron, founder of Make it Mandatory

Embedding youth inclusion in the work of the Sex Education Forum

Building on learning from our youth inclusion development grant from the Big Lottery and our experience developing a new bespoke partnership with Make it Mandatory we developed a proposal for a three-year funding bid to the National Lottery Community Fund to embed youth inclusion in the work of the Sex Education Forum, this was submitted in December 2023.

Training educators

The training that we offer to educators through our open courses is always interactive. We have developed techniques to ensure a high-quality participatory experience for both online and face to face delivery, with attention paid to supporting participants to gain from being together as a peer group. Our SEND RSE training continues to provide much needed specialist support for schools in implementing meaningful, accessible RSE for learners with a range of SEND. As part of our calendar of open-access training events we ran courses focused on all key phases in education – primary, secondary and further education. We ran 17 ticketed events (open to members and non-members) between April 2023 and March 2024.

Our ‘Preparing for Adulthood’ training ran 4 times this year, with a total of 45 participants attending, and addresses ways to deliver RSE training to older learners with an Education Health Care Plan (EHCP) in conjunction with the preparing for adulthood outcomes outlined in the SEND Code of Practice. This training explores ways that RSE can enhance teaching around the PFA outcomes, and covers key topics including supporting older learners with SEND to have independence around their sexuality, sexual health and relationships, developing learners skills for independent living and their role in society, and next steps after school into further learning, work, or adult services. The course supports teachers to gain confidence to develop meaningful curriculum for learners in key stage 4 and 5 and beyond, equipping them with skills to navigate their personal and social lives safely.

Our specialist PMLD (profound and multiple learning disabilities) one day training ran 2 times this year, providing support with RSHE to 19 teachers from specialist settings. This one-day course explores ways to deliver meaningful and age-appropriate RSE teaching to learners who have profound and multiple, or combined and complex learning disabilities, and who are likely to be nonverbal, unable to move around independently, and who would need personal care. This course encourages teachers to identify the skills that their learners do have, and consider ways to explore RSE topics in an accessible and meaningful way, including consent and touch. The course also explores staff values and ways to bring the school community together. Participants feedback that this level of specialist support for learners with complex needs is extremely hard to find and the training is highly valued.

“The facilitator was extremely knowledgeable and had a wealth of resources and ideas to share!” Participant on October 2023 course

Building on the launch of our ‘Developing RSE Specialism in SEND settings’ training programme last year, we ran a further two cohorts during this period, receiving excellent feedback from participants on this five-part programme which includes 20 hours CPD: “Immediately relevant and reassuring that many schools had familiar problems. Instantly gave ideas and strategies that could be implemented and resources that could be used”.

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(A Charity governed by its constitution, charity number 1193467)

A Sex Education Forum CIO

Trustees' Report

for the year ended 31 March 2024

Our training courses have attracted educators from a wide range of settings including primary schools, secondary schools, alternative provision, colleges, youth services and special schools.

We take on a range of commissioned training, always working carefully with the commissioner to ensure that the training will be of maximum benefit to participants, within the available resources. We delivered commissioned training for customers including local authorities Islington Council, Hertfordshire County Council, Kingston, Richmond and Wandsworth Council, Merton Council and Derbyshire County Council. We delivered INSET training for individual schools particularly for special schools, as well as multiacademy trusts. The audience for our commissioned training included RSE training for school Governors.

Positive Choices - research trial

SEF is the intervention partner for the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) funded Positive Choices randomised control trial research study run by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM). Our role in the period April 2023 – March 2024 has been to support 25 secondary schools to implement the second year of the two-year intervention, using the lesson materials and whole-school components that SEF designed. Training and support events provided during the second year included an ‘inspiration webinar’ featuring a school case study on ‘student led social marketing’ (November 2023) and a webinar on teaching ‘Tricky topics’ (January 2024). We also provided regular email communications to support schools and tailored support, especially where there were changes of personnel in the intervention schools. SEF’s role in the intervention tails off after Summer 2024, as the researchers complete field-work and data collection and begin their analysis.

Fundraising for foster carers RSE training pilot project

Delivery of this innovative pilot project (funded by Sebba Foundation and The Balcombe Trust) began in September 2023, with the arrival of our newly recruited project lead. A steering group was formed to oversee the project, partnership agreements were drawn up with three local areas (Plymouth, Leeds and Wandsworth) in which the pilot training for foster carers would be run and an independent evaluator was appointed. Our project lead facilitated co-production workshops with care experienced young people in Leeds and Plymouth, resulting in a ‘letter to foster carers’ and art-work featuring foster carers as superheroes. These written and illustrated pieces were then utilised within the training programme with foster carers. The project lead completed the development of a four-part (8 hour) RSE training programme for foster carers, informed by co-production activities with care experienced young people, social workers from the pilot areas and taking a trauma-informed approach throughout.

Building a strong relationship with local areas has been pivotal to success in recruiting good numbers of foster carers to attend the training, which has been offered both in person and online, as preferred in each area. Training delivery began in March 2024 with a full cohort in Leeds, including a waiting list. Initial feedback was incredibly positive with foster carers commenting that the training was the most valuable they've had in their fostering careers. The training is highly interactive and delivered to groups of max 20 participants, co-facilitated by SEF project lead and local supervising social worker or equivalent. We expect to deliver the pilot training to 36 foster carers. A full evaluation will be produced which utilises feedback from training participant diaries and stakeholder interviews.

Think Again – formerly ‘STOP’

‘Think Again!’ is the name of a new secondary school intervention for the prevention of gender-based-violence (GBV) and dating and relationship violence (DRV) which SEF has created and begun ‘optimising’, in consultation with researchers and young people. SEF is the intervention partner for this Exeter University-led research study, with funding for SEF’s input from Bridges Impact Foundation and Exeter University. The full partnership supporting the project includes the End Youth Violence Lab, LSHTM and other colleagues with relevant experience.

SEF recruited a dedicated project lead who began working for SEF in November 2023 to create and/or update intervention activities using components with previously proven efficacy in reducing GBV and/or DRV, drawing on research findings such as the substantial literature review by Principal Investigator Professor G.J. Melendez-Torres et al*. The project lead recruited two secondary schools for the optimisation phase, which involved working closely with students and RSE teachers to test and modify a set of curriculum and whole-school intervention materials to ensure that they were acceptable and appealing for use in schools. Feedback was actively garnered from class pupils and weekly pupil focus groups, as well as from RSE teachers, and used to inform further iterations of the intervention materials. Year 9 pupils were encouraged to identify activities and elements that resonated with them, as well as those that they found more difficult to engage with. For example, they found the original introduction to a lesson on sexual objectification a little bland, so used their enjoyment of a story element from a different lesson to help create a new ‘fairy tale’ which has received more positive responses from subsequent groups of pupils.

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(A Charity governed by its constitution, charity number 1193467)

A Sex Education Forum CIO

Trustees' Report

for the year ended 31 March 2024

A full set of curriculum and whole-school approach materials will be finalised by the end of the academic year (July 2024). The acceptability and ease of delivery of the intervention will be further tested in a Feasibility Study which commences in July 2024, in four new secondary schools recruited by the University of Exeter. This process will be supported by training for school staff, which will be designed and provided by SEF’s project lead. After further modification as required, the intention is to test the efficacy of the intervention in a large-scale, randomised controlled trial.

*https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38421001/

School-based interventions TO Prevent Dating and Relationship Violence and Gender-Based Violence: STOP-DRV-GBV systematic review, Feb 2024, Public Health Research12(3):1-192National Institute for Health and Care Research

Melendez-Torres GJ, Orr N, Farmer C, Shaw N, Chollet A, Rizzo AJ, Kiff F, Rigby E, Hagell A, Priolo Filho SR, Taylor B, Young H, Bonell C, Berry V

Public benefit

When planning Sex Education Forum’s activites, the board of trustees are committed and have due regard to the Charity Commission’s public benefit guidance.

Governing Document

Sex Education Forum CIO is a charitable incorporated organisation which is governed by its constitution.

Trustees

The Trustees of the charity who held office during the year are disclosed on page 3.

No trustee recruitment was carried out in this period.

Trustees accessed safeguarding training.

Risks facing the charity

The board has examined the principal areas of the charity's operations and considered the major risks which may arise in each of these areas. In the opinion of the trustees the charity has established resources and review systems which, under normal conditions, should allow the risks identified by them to be mitigated to an acceptable level in its day to day operations.

Sex Education Forum holds a risk register and these are updated quarterly, with mitigating actions identified.

Financial Review

Results for the year

The results of the period and financial position of the charity are shown in the annexed financial statements.

The Statement of Financial Activities shows net expenditure for the year of £43,852 and reserves of £102,510.

Tangible fixed assets for use by the charity.

Fixed assets are set out in Note 8 to the accounts.

Reserves Policy

Our reserves policy is 3 months salaries, plus £5-8K for 3 months running costs, plus £20K for the value of membership sales. The reserves policy at March 2024 was £75,000.

Independent Examiner

The Independent Examiner, Anthony Armstrong FCA of Armstrong & Co, has indicated his willingness to be proposed for reappointment.

The financial statements were approved by the Board of Trustees on 29 January 2025 and signed on its behalf by:

Alison Hadley OBE Chair of Trustees

Page 10

(A Charity governed by its constitution, charity number 1193467)

A Sex Education Forum CIO

Statement of Trustees' Responsibilities for the year ended 31 March 2024

The trustees are responsible for preparing the Trustees Annual Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

The trustees are required by law to prepare financial statements for each financial period which give a true and fair view of the financial activities of the charity and of its financial position at the end of that period. In preparing those financial statements the trustees are required to:

The trustees are responsible for maintaining proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and to enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with Charities Act 2011. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

Page 11

(A Charity governed by its constitution, charity number 1193467)

A Sex Education Forum CIO

Independent Examiner's Report

to the Charity Trustees of Sex Education Forum CIO

I report on the accounts of Sex Education Forum CIO for the period to 31 March 2024, which are set out on pages 13 to 20.

This report is made solely to the charity's trustees as a body in accordance with section 145 of the Charities Act 2011 (the Charities Act) and regulations made under section 154 of that Act. My examination has been undertaken so that I might state to the charity's trustees those matters I am required to state to them in an independent examiner's report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, I do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charity's trustees as a body, for my examination, for this report, or for the opinions I have formed.

Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner

As described on page 11, the trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The charity's trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year under section 144 of the the Charities Act and that an independent examination is needed.

Having satisfied myself that the charity is not subject to audit under charity law and is eligible for independent examination, it is my responsibility to:

Basis of independent examiner's statement

My examination was carried out in accordance with the general Directions given by the Charity Commission. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeking explanations from the trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a 'true and fair view' and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below.

Independent examiner's statement

In connection with my examination, no material matters have come to my attention which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect:

I have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Anthony Armstrong FCA, Independent Examiner of Armstrong & Co Chartered Accountants & Statutory Auditor

Dated: 29 January 2025

4a Printing House Yard Hackney Road London E2 7PR

Page 12

(A Charity governed by its constitution, charity number 1193467)

FS Sex Education Forum CIO

Statement of Financial Activities

for the year ended 31 March 2024

Notes
Donations and legacies
2
Charitable activities
3
Other income
4
Total income
Expenditure on:
Charitable activities
5
Total expenditure
Reconciliation of funds:
Total funds brought forward
9
Total funds carried forward
9		 2024
2023
Total Funds
Total Funds
£
£
6,000
2,984
162,554
173,550
180
971
168,734
177,505
212,586
136,910
212,586
136,910
(43,852)
40,595
146,362
105,767
102,510
146,362
Unrestricted
Funds		 Restricted
Funds
£
6,000
81,129
180		 £
-
81,425
-
81,425
86,740
86,740
(5,315)
15,000
9,685
87,309
125,846
125,846
(38,537)
131,362
92,825

All incoming resources and resources expended are derived from continuing activities. The accompanying accounting policies and notes form an integral part of these financial statements.

Page 13

(A Charity governed by its constitution, charity number 1193467)

Sex Education Forum CIO

Statement of Financial Postion

as at 31 March 2024

Notes
Current assets:
Debtors
7
Cash at bank and In hand
11
Total current assets
8
Net current assets/(liabilities)
Total net assets
The funds of the charity:
Restricted income funds
11
Unrestricted funds
9
Total charity funds
9
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year		 £
£
£
£
13,772
5,229
107,241
146,724
121,013
151,953
18,503
5,591
102,510
146,362
102,510
146,362
9,685
15,000
92,825
131,362
102,510
146,362
31 March 2024
31 March 2023		 £
£
£
£
13,772
5,229
107,241
146,724
121,013
151,953
18,503
5,591
102,510
146,362
102,510
146,362
9,685
15,000
92,825
131,362
102,510
146,362
31 March 2024
31 March 2023
£
13,772
107,241
121,013
18,503		 £
146,362
146,362
15,000
131,362
146,362

The financial statements were approved by the Board of Trustees on 29 January 2025 and signed on its behalf by:

Alison Hadley OBE Liam Beattie Chair of Trustees Deputy Chair, Trustee

The notes on pages 16 to 20 form part of these accounts.

Page 14

Sex Education Forum CIO

(A Charity governed by its constitution, charity number 1193467)

Statement of Cash Flows

for the year ended 31 March 2024

Notes
(Increase)/decrease in debtors
Increase/(decrease) in creditors
Cash flows from operating activities:
Net cash provided by/(used in) operating activities
Cash flows from investing activities:
Change in cash and cash equivalents in the reporting period
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the reporting period
B
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the reporting period
B
Notes to the Cash Flow Statement
B] Analysis of cash and cash equivalents
Cash at bank and in hand
Total cash and cash equivalents
Net income/(expenditure) for the reporting period (as per the statement of
financial activities)		 2024
£
(43,852)
(8,543)
12,912
(39,483)
(39,483)
146,724
107,241
2024
£
107,241
107,241		 2023
£
40,595
6,133
614
47,342
47,342
99,382
146,724
2023
£
146,724
146,724

Page 15

(A Charity governed by its constitution, charity number 1193467)

Sex Education Forum CIO

Accounting Policies

for the year ended 31 March 2024

Basis of preparation

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with:

Public benefit entity

The charity meets the defination of a public benefit entity under FRS 102.

Going concern

The trustees consider that there are no material uncertainties about the charity's ability to continue to operate and accordingly the accounts have been prepared on a going concern basis.

Income recognition

Income is recognised when the charity has a contractual or other right to its receipt, it is probable that the income will be received and that the amount can be measured reliably. Income with conditions attached to its receipt is recognised when those conditions have been fulfilled.

Deferred income

Income received which is contractually or otherwise not expendable until a future period is deferred to the period in which

Restricted Funds

Restricted funds are to be used for specified purposes as laid down by the funder. Direct and support expenditure which meets these criteria are identified to the fund together with a fair allocation of other costs.

Unrestricted Funds

Unrestricted funds are funds received which have no restrictions placed on their use and are available as general funds.

Allocation of costs

Costs are allocated directly to projects where they can be identified as relating solely to that project. Other costs are allocated between the funds based on staff time spent on the fund activities or other appropriate criteria.

Hire purchase and leasing commitments

Rentals paid under operating leases are charged to the Statement of Financial Activities on a straight line basis over the period of the lease.

Pensions

The charity operates defined contribution schemes which are administered by outside independent pensions providers. Contributions payable for the year are charged to the Statement of Financial Activities.

Page 16

(A Charity governed by its constitution, charity number 1193467)

F Sex Education Forum CIO

Notes to the Accounts

for the year ended 31 March 2024

1 Incoming resources

The incoming resources and surplus are attributable to the principal activities of the charity.

Net outgoing resources
Net outgoing resources
Net outgoing resources are stated after charging:
Independent Examiner's fees - reporting service
Independent Examiner's fees - other services
Trustees' emoluments		 2024
£
1,440
1,584
-		 2023
£
1,200
1,744
-

Trustees' emoluments

Emoluments include salaries, fees, bonuses, expense allowances and estimated non-cash benefits receivable. All trustees serve in a voluntary capacity and do not receive payment for their services.

2
Income from donations and legacies
Donations
3
Income from charitable activities
Grant income
Training courses
Project income
Consultancy
Membership & subscriptions		 Unrestricted
£
6,000
6,000
Unrestricted
£
-
53,792
-
1,075
26,262
81,129		 Restricted
£
-
-
Restricted
£
70,000
-
11,425
-
-
81,425		 2024
Total
£
6,000
6,000
2024
Total
£
70,000
53,792
11,425
1,075
26,262
162,554		 2023
Total
£
2,984
2,984
2023
Total
£
15,000
59,387
69,277
4,622
25,264
173,550
4
Other income
Miscellaneous income		 Unrestricted
£
180
180		 Restricted
£
-
-		 2024
2023
Total
Total
£
£
180
971
180
971

Page 17

(A Charity governed by its constitution, charity number 1193467)

F Sex Education Forum CIO

Notes to the Accounts

for the year ended 31 March 2024

5
Expenditure on charitable activities
Unrestricted
£
Staff salaries
97,346
Project expenses
-
Office administration
299
Printing, postage & stationery
115
Telephone
469
Repairs & maintenance
-
Insurance
39
Computer expenses
4,453
Travel & subsistence
3,428
Training
1,418
Membership & subscriptions
3,521
Publications
3,564
Conferences/exhibitions
1,160
Advertising & marketing
1,786
Legal & professional
2,158
Youth involvement fee
500
Website costs
2,349
Bank charges
86
Booking & card fees
2,229
Independent examiner's fees
440
Accounting & payroll
486
125,846
6
Staff costs
Staff salaries
Staff social security
Staff pensions
Employees paid in excess of £60,000 during the current year and previous year:
7
Debtors: amounts falling due within one year
Operating debtors
Other debtors
Prepayments
Accrued income
8
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year
Operating creditors
Payroll taxes
Pensions liability
Net wages
Accrued expenses
Deferred income
Average number of employees during the year was:		 Restricted
£
61,920
7,500
-
36
267
-
-
2,661
1,609
478
249
-
-
796
6,590
400
2,136
-
-
1,000
1,098
86,740		 2024
Total
£
159,266
7,500
299
151
736
-
39
7,114
5,037
1,896
3,770
3,564
1,160
2,582
8,748
900
4,485
86
2,229
1,440
1,584
212,586
2024
£
145,968
8,972
4,326
159,266
5
1
2024
£
12,384
-
1,388
-
13,772
2024
£
2,795
3,975
1,178
-
6,655
3,900
18,503		 2023
Total
£
105,011
-
1,905
75
642
80
1,055
1,352
2,839
674
2,470
6,243
-
329
5,715
2,281
1,386
96
1,813
1,282
1,662
136,910
2023
£
97,080
5,038
2,893
105,011
3
None
2023
£
-
466
504
4,259
5,229
2023
£
-
2,651
709
(67)
2,298
-
5,591

Page 18

(A Charity governed by its constitution, charity number 1193467)

F Sex Education Forum CIO

Notes to the Accounts

for the year ended 31 March 2024

9
10
11
**12 **		 The funds of the charity: current year
Restricted funds
Restricted income funds
Unrestricted funds
General funds
The funds of the charity: prior year
Restricted funds
Restricted income funds
Unrestricted funds
General funds
Restricted funds: current period
Balcombe Trust
Positive Choices
Sebba Foundation
Stop / Think Again project [Bridges Impact Fdn]
Restricted funds: prior period
Balcombe Trust
Big Lottery Funding - Youth Inclusion
Positive Choices		 Opening
balance
£
15,000
131,362
146,362
Opening
balance
£
44,438
61,329
105,767
Opening
balance
£
15,000
-
-
-
15,000
Opening
balance
£
-
44,438
-
44,438		 Resources
arising
£
81,425
87,309
168,734
Resources
arising
£
84,277
93,228
177,505
Incoming
resources
£
-
11,425
40,000
30,000
81,425
Incoming
resources
£
15,000
-
69,277
84,277		 Resources
utilised
£
(86,740)
(125,846)
(212,586)
Resources
utilised
£
(113,715)
(23,195)
(136,910)
Resources
expended
£
15,000
11,425
30,315
30,000
86,740
Resources
expended
£
-
44,438
69,277
113,715		 Other
movements
£
-
-
-
Other
movements
£
-
-
-
Transfers &
gains/(losse
£
-
-
-
-
-
Transfers &
gains/(losse
£
-
-
-
-		 Closing
balance
£
9,685
92,825
102,510
Closing
balance
£
15,000
131,362
146,362
Closing
balance
£
-
-
9,685
-
9,685
Closing
balance
£
15,000
-
-
15,000

Restricted funds (continued)

Projects financed by restricted funds are supported by unrestricted funding where necessary. This occurs where the funding is in arrears or the incidence of expenditure on the project occurs disproportionately at the beginning of the project compared to the income flows. Where restricted projects end the year with a deficit, this is met by after year-end restricted income or transfers from unrestricted funds.

Balcombe Trust Pilot project to design, deliver and evaluate a trauma-informed RSE training course for foster
carers.
Big Lottery Funding - Youth
Inclusion		 Developing partnerships and youth inclusion for high quality relationships and sex education.
Positive Choices Randomised control trial research collaboration for whole-school intervention.
Sebba Foundation Pilot project to develop, deliver and evaluate a trauma-informed RSE training course for foster
carers.
Stop / Think Again project
[Bridges Impact Fdn]		 Optimisation and delivery of a pilot cluster randomised control trial of the STOP gender-based
violence and dating and relationship violence secondary school intervention.

Page 19

(A Charity governed by its constitution, charity number 1193467)

F Sex Education Forum CIO

Notes to the Accounts

for the year ended 31 March 2024

13 Net assets attributable to funds: current period
Current assets
Current liabilities
Net assets represented by funds
14 Net assets attributable to funds: prior period
Current assets
Current liabilities
Net assets represented by funds		 General
funds
£
111,328
(18,503)
92,825
General
funds
£
136,953
(5,591)
131,362		 Designated
funds
£
-
-
-
Designated
funds
£
-
-
-		 Restricted
funds
£
9,685
-
9,685
Restricted
funds
£
15,000
-
15,000		 Endowment
funds
£
-
-
-
Endowment
funds
£
-
-
-		 Total
£
121,013
(18,503)
102,510
Total
£
151,953
(5,591)
146,362

15 Taxation

The entity is a registered charity. Accordingly, it is exempt from taxation in respect of income and capital gains to the extent that these are applied to its charitable objects.

16 Post balance sheet events

There were no significant post balance sheet events.

17 Contingent liabilities

The charity had no material contingent liabilities at 31 March 2024.

18 Related parties

There were no disclosable related party transactions during the year.

19 Transactions with trustees
Alison Hadley
(Cindy) Xin Wen Zhang
Jane Lees
Liam Beattie
Yoan Reed
Robbie Currie
Sarah Faithful
Reimbursement of charity operating expenses
During the year the following transactions with trustees were recorded:
Reimbursement of charity operating expenses
Reimbursement of charity operating expenses
Reimbursement of charity operating expenses
Reimbursement of charity operating expenses
Reimbursement of charity operating expenses
Reimbursement of charity operating expenses		 2024
2023
£
£
137
609
22
19
-
1,285
-
23
314
157
25
-
40
-

Page 20