TRUSTEES ANNUAL RPORT AND UNAUDITED ACCOUNTS FOR THE PERIOD 18[TH] FEBRUARY 2022 TO 5[TH] APRIL 2023
Locate International CIO (Converted from Locate Missing People CIC 18 February 2022)
Charity Number 1197991 Registered number: CS028394
Monahans
Chartered Accountants Blackdown House Blackbrook Park Avenue Taunton Somerset TA1 2PX
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LOCATE INTERNATIONAL CIO
ACCOUNTS
PERIOD ENDED 5 APRIL 2023
| CONTENTS | PAGES |
|---|---|
| Legal and administrative information | 3 |
| Trustees report | 4 – 9 |
| Accountants Report | 10 |
| Receipts and payments account | 11 |
| Statement of assets and liabilities | 12 |
| Conversion notes from CIC to CIO | 13 |
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LOCATE INTERNATIONAL CIO
LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION PERIOD
ENDED 5 APRIL 2023
| NDED 5 APRIL 2023 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Trustees | C Allsop | Appointed 18 February 2022 |
| C Hedges | Appointed 18 February 2022 | |
| D Peach | Appointed 18 February 2022 | |
| S Farrer | Appointed 18 February 2022 | |
| Resigned February 2023 | ||
| T Conway-Crim | Appointed 25 April 2023 | |
| J Carter | Appointed 8 September 2022 | |
| Registered charity name | Locate International CIO | |
| Registered charity number | 1197991 | |
| Registered office | Suite B | |
| Blackdown House | ||
| Blackbrook Park Avenue | ||
| Taunton | ||
| Somerset | ||
| TA1 2PX | ||
| Accountants | Monahans, Chartered Accountants | |
| Suite B | ||
| Blackdown House | ||
| Blackbrook Park Avenue | ||
| Taunton | ||
| Somerset | ||
| TA1 2PX |
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LOCATE INTERNATIONAL CIO TRUSTEES
ANNUAL REPORT PERIOD ENDED 5 APRIL
2023
The Trustees present their report and the financial statements of the Charity for the period ended 5 April 2023. The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting policies set out therein and comply with the Charity’s Trust Deed and applicable charity law. The Trustees who served the Charity during the period are as shown on page 1.
STRUCTURE GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT
The Charity is constituted under its governing document, constitution 18 February 2022.
The Charity was incorporated on the conversion from a CIC (previously Locate Missing People CIC) on the 18 February 2022.
The charity is registered with the Charity Commission registered number 1117666.
Appointment of Trustees is governed by the Trust Deed of the Charity. The Board of Trustees is authorised to appoint new trustees to fill vacancies arising through resignation or death of an existing trustee.
New Trustees receive induction and training by working alongside existing Trustees to gain an insight into the different aspects of the Charity's activities. All new Trustees are invited to attend and contribute to committee meetings, and on joining the committee are assigned specific tasks to assist in the Charity's activities.
OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES
The objectives of the CIO are, for the public benefit, the relief of need by the provision of support to the relatives and friends of missing persons and by assisting in the location of such persons, at no cost to the families, primarily in the UK and globally.
Nothing in this constitution shall authorise an application of the property of the CIO for the purposes which are not charitable in accordance with section 7 of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and section 2 of the Charities Act (Northern Ireland) 2008.
Specifically, we will:
Mobilise communities
The potential to draw resource from the community and to harness the energy of individuals and organisations in support of families and policing is enormous.
Building a community to mobilise people and resources aligns with the UK Policing Vision 2025 (College of Policing, 2016), and the approach towards missing people endorsed by the Council of the European Union (2021).
We will:
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Raise awareness to encourage greater participation in the community mobilisation programme.
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Train volunteers effectively utilising Locate International’s virtual learning environment.
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Share our knowledge and expertise with academia, law enforcement agencies and national and
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international partners and stakeholders.
Analyse and investigate
We have developed QUEST, an online analytical and investigative tool which collates and links information from family, friends, and associates of the missing using a smart, fully searchable platform powered by Altia Intelligence.
We have co-founded the International Cold Case Analysis Project (ICCAP) to channel the resources from our community and university teams to directly support the police with investigative reviews of cold cases.
We will:
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Increase awareness of, and engagement with, QUEST across all UK law enforcement agencies, Missing People UK, and families, friends, and associates.
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Maximise and leverage our community and academic resource to support the police in reviews of long-term missing and unidentified people.
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Embed and expand Locate International’s analytical and research capabilities.
Advocate for missing people
A key aim of Locate International is to advocate for long-term missing and unidentified people and provide investigative advice and support for their families, friends, and associates, at no cost to them.
We help them through the QUEST Review; providing a comprehensive review of cases to highlight potential further investigative and technical opportunities and to ensure that all that can be done has been done.
We will:
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Maintain effective communication with families, friends, and associates of missing or unidentified people on cases under review.
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Build trust with families, friends, and associates to ensure the best outcome.
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Continue to offer an independent and free service for those who have missing loved ones.
Our financial objectives
We want to develop a sustainable funding strategy that will support Locate International in embedding current investigative practices and techniques to provide satisfactory outcomes on more QUEST Reviews.
We will:
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Add strategic level financial and funding expertise.
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Apply for core and project funding for key roles and systems.
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Extend our fundraising capacity.
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Seek corporate funding and sponsorship.
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ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE
The Trustees consider that the results of the Charity this year have been satisfactory.
The Trustees recognise that donations and services in kind were an important contributor to the overall financial wellbeing of the Charity.
Specifically, the following has been carried out.
2022 in numbers
180
cold case reviews undertaken
200
volunteers engaged in supporting our cause
10 partner academic institutions
5 police force partners
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countries where cold case reviews have been carried out.
Mobilise communities
The potential to draw resources from the community and to harness the energy of individuals and organisations in support of families and policing is enormous. Building a community to mobilise people and resources aligns with the UK Policing Vision 2025 and the approach towards missing persons endorsed by the Council of the European Union. We believe our community mobilisation programme will be/ is instrumental in delivering better outcomes, whilst activating people in their own communities.
2022 marked the third year of operation(s) for our community-based teams. We currently have three hundred volunteers working across several teams and in a range of roles, from community and university team investigators, team leaders, senior reviewers, open-source intelligence, genealogy, and media specialists.
We also have unrivalled access to specialists from a range of disciplines who are either Locate volunteers or who provide their expertise and consultancy to us pro bono. This includes experts in service development, intelligence analysis, serious crime investigation, open-source intelligence, genealogy, academic research, search coordination, human trafficking and modern slavery, child sexual and criminal exploitation, forensic computing and digital media technology, forensic science, forensic anthropology, forensic artistry, forensic oceanography, and forensic odontology, all supporting the QUEST and ICCAP.
Developing QUEST and International Cold Case Analysis Project
There are over 40,000 unsolved missing persons and 15,000 unidentified bodies across Europe. We understand the police service continues to be stretched by increased demands and budget constraints. We know missing person and cold cases are areas that present huge challenges to forces in terms of resources, as investigative teams are deployed elsewhere. We have developed QUEST for Missing and Unidentified People and co-founded the International Cold Case Analysis Project (ICCAP) to channel the resources from our community and university teams to directly support police with investigative reviews of cold cases. The last two years have seen hundreds of students and staff applying their skills
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and expertise to advance investigations.
The International cold case analysis project (ICCAP) is a ground-breaking project co- founded by Locate International, Amber Alert Europe, Police Expert Network Missing Persons (PEN-MP), Police Academy Lower Saxony and UK and Australian Universities. This involves teams from universities in the UK, Germany, North Macedonia, Australia and trainee police officers from the Police Academy at Lower Saxony and the German Federal Criminal Police Office Wiesbaden, both in Germany and the French Gendarmerie. These teams come together over a four-month period to review a number of unsolved murders, unidentified remains or missing people cases, culminating in a presentation of their findings to the German Public Prosecutor and representatives from police forces across Europe. The ICCAP has gained support from the Council of Europe and PEN-MP. So far, students have worked on a total of thirty-nine cold cases including ten missing persons and twenty- nine homicides, of which nine were unidentified victims and seven started as a missing person case.
Advising and advocating for families and friends of missing persons, at no cost to them, to bring cold case investigations to a satisfactory conclusion.
Whilst most missing incidents are resolved quickly, many thousands remain open for longer periods of time, increasing the emotional and practical burden on their family and friends. Research shows that families will often launch their own search strategies that can last for years with trust in the police broken. There is no dedicated, specialist service for families to turn to when a case remains unsolved or is not being progressed satisfactorily. Locate International aims to help families through QUEST, providing families with a comprehensive review of cases to highlight further investigative and technical opportunities. We have supported families with direct advocacy with the police service, and specialist advice to advance investigations.
There is psychological support provided by a range of agencies for families where a person is missing. Locate International is the only charity dedicated to providing investigative advice and advocacy for families at no cost. This can be a bridge between the police and families which can be vital if communication has broken down, yet investigations need to be advanced.
We recognised the need for this service speaking to families of the missing. In one case a family was left to support themselves through an inquest into the disappearance of their son. Whilst the man accused of his murder was entitled to legal aid and legal representation, the family was not awarded any such support.
In another case the family of a man missing for decades were told a man of similar description had been found on a beach in France, but the police could not assist them with the exhumation applications. With experienced detectives on our team, we can advise and advocate directly with the police service to ensure that all that can be done, is being done.
Our financial objectives
We want to develop a sustainable funding strategy that will support Locate International in embedding current investigative practices and techniques to provide satisfactory outcomes on more QUEST Reviews.
We will:
-
Add strategic level financial and funding expertise.
-
Apply for core and project funding for key roles and systems.
-
Extend our fundraising capacity.
-
Seek corporate funding and sponsorship.
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COLLABORATION AND TRAINING
Police and Coroners: UK
Locate International established a groundbreaking pilot project where specialist volunteers worked directly with missing person’s units in Devon and Cornwall Police. This was piloted in collaboration with the Citizens in Policing Team and has resulted in four long-term missing persons being recovered in 2022. Following evaluation, the project is now established as a permanent role with volunteers working alongside missing person’s investigation teams.
In Scotland, the Cold Case Unit at Glasgow Caledonian University has developed a good working relationship with Police Scotland whereby they have tasked the Unit with cases, and they meet monthly for updates and reviews of Scottish cases. The team also have a burgeoning relationship with the Scottish Police Authority Forensic Services and the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service.
Pending a national information sharing agreement, collaboration has progressed with other individual police forces, Norfolk, and Hampshire. These are restricted to specific investigative tasks.
Coroners
Coroners are responsible for found human remains. We currently receive a mixed response to requests for assistance. While some Coroners are engaging with us and sharing information, others are more reluctant to do so. This sometimes presents barriers in this aspect of our work.
Collaboration with the police: International
Locate International are working directly with the specialist homicide team in Wilhelmshaven, Germany to pursue investigations relating to a murder investigation reviewed during ICCAP 2 (see below).
Academic research
Teams are also engaged in academic research, providing an evidence base for this work, and driving the development of more effective responses to missing people and unidentified remains investigation and cold case review. Examples of this are:
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A research project on missing Vietnamese adults in the UK, focusing on a way to support those who have lost contact with relatives in the UK and to improve responses to those who go missing.
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A project on missing and murdered sex workers in the UK, exploring geographical, temporal, and behavioral patterns of risk and harm.
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A project to develop an online self-administered interview to enable families to report information about a missing relative.
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A series of systematic reviews of literature pertaining to missing people and investigation.
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Doctoral research on ‘Buried justice – a critical review into the cross-matching of unidentified bodies and missing persons reports in England and Wales.
The ethos of this collaboration is to help the families of the missing and unidentified where they
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otherwise may not get the focused investigative help they need. In so doing, students gain real world transferable skills both on how to conduct investigations, and in problem-solving more broadly, thereby nurturing, and developing, student talent as future investigators. Teams have allied specialisms from criminology, policing and forensic psychology to forensic science, computer science and forensic anthropology and are currently working on twenty unsolved missing people and unidentified found remains from the UK and overseas.
Training
During 2022, Locate International has utilised their charitable status to acquire a dedicated learning platform, Moodle, and course authoring tool, Articulate 360. These are being used to facilitate the delivery of a comprehensive, online modular training and development programme to enable volunteer skills acquisition and development. Each volunteer has their own individualised training plan, depending on their experience, organisational need, as well as being commensurate with their role and aspirations. Some training is available now whilst other modules are still in development. We have also developed a unique collaboration with eleven UK universities, each led by a director:
| CanterburyChristchurch | Dr Sofia Graca and Andrew Carpenter |
|---|---|
| University of Central Lancashire |
John Dempsey and Matt Sessions |
| Coventry University | Dr Sarah Forbes-Robertson and Dr Rachael Carew |
| Glasgow Caledonian University |
Professor Lesley McMillan and Dr Maureen Taylor |
| Goldsmiths University | Professor Fiona Gabbert and Dr Adrian Scott |
| Greenwich University | Dr Diane Gan and Charlotte Pilbeam-Bailey |
| Plymouth Marjon University | Dr TimothyLee |
| Plymouth University | Dr Sharon Beckett and Theresa Waight |
| Universityof South Wales | Dr Cheryl Allsop |
| Staffordshire University | Professor Caroline Sturdy Colls and Dr Rachel Bolton- King |
| Universityof Winchester | Dr Anna Chaussee |
FINANCIAL REVIEW
The Charity reports gross income for the period of £6,480 with expenditure of £8,931.
PLANS FOR FUTURE PERIODS
The Charity will continue to grow and increase its awareness to fulfil their objectives.
Charlie Hedges
Charlie Hedges (Jan 4, 2024 14:52 GMT)
Signed by order of the Board of Trustees C Hedges MBE Trustee Approved by the Trustees on....12/12/2023.....................
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LOCATE INTERNATIONAL CIO
ACCOUNTANTS REPORT PERIOD
ENDED 5 APRIL 2023
In order to assist you to fulfil your duties under the Charities Act 2011, we have prepared for your approval the accounts of Locate International CIO for the period ended 5 April 2023 which comprise the receipts and payments account and statement of assets and liabilities.
As a practising member firm of the Institute of Chartered Accounts in England and Wales (ICAEW), we are subject to its ethical and other professional requirements which are detailed within the ICAEW’s regulations and guidance at http://www.icaew.com/en/membership/regulations-standards-and-guidance.
This report is made solely to the trustees of Locate International CIO in accordance with our terms of engagement. Our work has been undertaken solely to prepare for your approval the accounts of Locate International CIO and state those matters that we have agreed to state to the trustees of Locate International CIO in this report in accordance with ICAEW Technical Release 07/16AAF. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than Locate International CIO and its trustees for our work or for this report.
It is your duty to ensure that Locate International CIO has kept adequate accounting records and to prepare accounts that show the receipts and payments and assets and liabilities of Locate International CIO. You consider that Locate International CIO is exempt from the statutory audit and independent examination requirements for the period.
We have not been instructed to carry out an audit or review of the accounts. For this reason, we have not verified the accuracy or completeness of the accounting records or information and explanations you have given to us and we do not, therefore, express any opinion on accounts.
Monahans, Chartered Accountants Suite B, Blackdown House Blackbrook Park Avenue Taunton Somerset TA1 2PX
Date: ……………………….
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LOCATE INTERNATIONAL CIO
RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNT
PERIOD ENDED 5 APRIL 2023
| RECEIPTS Donations and legacies: Donations and legacies Investment income: Interest received TOTAL INCOMING RESOURCES PAYMENTS Charitable activities: Case costs and DCC DBS Screening fees Registry info request fees Raising funds: Accountancy fees Bank Charges Computer costs Insurance Other Professional fees Other Expenditure TOTAL PAYMENTS NET (PAYMENTS)/RECEIPTS RECONCILIATION OF CASH FUNDS Cash funds introduced from CIC CASH FUNDS CARRIED FORWARD |
Unrestricted al Funds 2023 £ 6,467 13 6,480 706 2,402 110 1,185 271 2,984 609 503 161 8,931 (2,451) 7,937 5,486 |
|---|---|
All of the above amounts relate to continuing activities.
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LOCATE INTERNATIONAL CIO
STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES
PERIOD ENDED 5 APRIL 2023
| Note CASH FUNDS Bank Account CIO #1 Bank Account CIO #2 Bank Account CIC #1 TOTAL CASH FUNDS CURRENT LIABILITIES Loan: Mr Smith Loan: Mr Grimstead Loan: Mr Farrer Loan: Mr Shepherd TOTAL CURRENT LIABILITIES NET ASSETS/(LIABILITIES) |
2023 £ 2,008 3,485 (7) 5,486 (3,947) (1,412) (2,510) (2,093) (9,962) (4,476) |
|---|---|
These accounts were approved and authorised for issue by the Trustees on the …………………… and are signed on their behalf by:
Charlie Hedges Charlie Hedges (Jan 4, 2024 14:52 GMT) C Hedges MBE TRUSTEE
- Tanja Conway Grim Tanja Conway-Grim (Jan 4, 2024 11:39 GMT)
TRUSTEE
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LOCATE INTERNATIONAL CIO
CONVERSION NOTES FROM CIC TO
CIO PERIOD ENDED 5 APRIL 2023
| CIC CONVERSION INTRODUCED | ||
|---|---|---|
| 18 Feb | ||
| 2022 | ||
| Note | £ | |
| CASH FUNDS INTRODUCED | ||
| Bank Account CIOs | 7,937 | |
| LOANS INTRODUCED | ||
| Loan: Mr Smith | (3,947) | |
| Loan: Mr Grimstead | (1,412) | |
| Loan: Mr Farrer | (2,510) | |
| Loan: Mr Shepherd | (2,093) | |
| TOTAL LOANS INTRODUCED | (9,962) | |
| NET CIC INTRODUCTION | (2,025) |
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