KAI i.Annual Report 2025 KAI
Contents:
Contents 2 Message From the CEO 3 Executive Summary 4 Impact Highlights 7 Financial Review 10 Operational Review 11 Governance and Leadership 15 Volunteers and Staff 17 Future Plans 18 Acknowledgements 21 Contact us 24.
Co-Founders Message:
Welcome to Kai’s first ever Annual Report!
As with all great ideas, Kai came into existence over several cups of coffee. Three very different people sat in a small restaurant in Plymouth and saw quite clearly that the key to success in any venture was to bring a variety of different skillsets and perspectives together in partnership towards a common goal.
Although we each came with different levels of experience in the Ocean protection area, we had all noticed that this challenge - so fundamental to the continued health of our planet - was being hampered by a lack of cooperation. A healthy marine environment matters to everyone, whether they realise it or not - especially to those whose livelihoods depend on the ocean. These individuals often hold deep, practical knowledge and share a commitment to seeing the ocean thrive. Yet despite this common purpose, the trust and subsequent information flow (or lack thereof) stifles effective resource management. Fishermen, policymakers, marine scientists and environmentalists each bring vital insights, imagine how much more proactive we could be if we brought them together.
Much as a young marine scientist, a deeply experienced technologist and a slightly less young accountant could achieve much more together than apart, we felt that there was a real benefit to be had from creating trusting partnerships - taking fragmented pieces of a jigsaw and creating something special from them.
Thus, Kai was born.
With relatively small funding to date, we have already made a great start. We now have a charity in place and are excited to see what impact we can have with strong funding.
Whether through the early work of One Kai Limited or the future activities of our new charity, One Kai, we hope that this Annual Report will be the first of many, all documenting the increasing impact this young organisation has had.
Executive Summary:
Kai is a young charity for people, policy and Ocean protection, particularly in the sustainable fisheries space. Our mission is to build strong, meaningful relationships with communities, policymakers, conservation groups and technology experts to ensure Ocean conservation efforts are effective and lasting.
As with many new organisations, the legal structure is evolving to meet the needs of the times. Being keen to start work quickly, we first incorporated One Kai Limited, a company limited by guarantee. This gave us an organisation we could use to raise and disburse funds for our first project - the production of Fighting for the Underdog. One Kai Limited operates on a not- for- profit basis and is guaranteed by its three co- founders- Richard Chubb, Liberty Denman and Laura McFarlane.
The second piece of the jigsaw came in late 2024 with the successful incorporation and registration of One Kai, a Charitable Incorporated Organisation sitting under the aegis of the Charity Commission for England and Wales. As a fully registered charity, One Kai is run by a board of trustees - currently a small board that we are seeking to grow in 2026.
We intend to limit the activities of One Kai Limited to the dissemination of Fighting for the Underdog. Funds generated will either be used to offset production costs or donated to the One Kai CIO. We will conduct any future projects through the One Kai CIO.
Currently we have three active projects:
1) Interdisciplinary research around information pathways and the impact they can have on effective fishery management. Inspired by the identified need to bring fisher voice into the scientific sphere.
2) The development of a usable, scalable data dashboard to support proactive fishery management and sustainable fishing efforts that integrates into the current legal landscape and facilitates 360 information flow between stakeholders.
3) Raising awareness of less prominent Ocean issues through a variety of scientifically rigorous yet accessible outlets such as film, toolkits and podcasts.
These projects support each other and are fundamentally interlinked. Kai’s first project, the production and distribution of “Fighting for the Underdog”, enabled us to build meaningful relationships of trust with members of the fishing community who have often felt wary of members of the Ocean conservation community who might misrepresent their own perspectives. The trust established in filming this documentary is a crucial keystone in our efforts to design a user-friendly app for fishermen and other members of the fishing community.
While we remain a new organisation, we are deeply proud of the achievements Kai has notched up so far. As you will see from the financial statements of both legal entities, this has been done with relatively low cash resources. We are excited to see what more can be achieved as funding is generated.
Impact Highlights:
1) Fighting For The Underdog
This is a 45- minute documentary about the potential threat posed by regulatory changes to a small breed of British shark- the Spurdog. Its key message is one of partnership. Meaningful protection efforts can only be enacted when all parties involved talk to each other and listen.
To date, there have been 11 in-person showings, which have typically been followed by long and constructive discussion sessions. Events were held at:
Everyman Cinema, Bristol University of the West of England Plymouth University Antony House, Cornwall Aberystwyth University
Scottish Association for Marine Science, Oban Aberdeen University Edinburgh University Oxford University Oxford Climate Society London Business School
A total of 393 attendees were able to view the documentary and participate in discussions at these showings. However, in late 2025, agreement was reached with Ecoflix, a streaming platform focused on environmental issues, to show the documentary. This will enable many more people to view Fighting for the Underdog and to share its underlying message.
The qualitative impact has also been impressive. Through talking with attendees and participants, we have noticed that perceptions have been impacted. This can perhaps be summarised best in a quote from a Mallaig fishermen interviewed in the documentary who said:
“You hit the nail on the head saying everyone has to talk but everyone also has to listen. It’s not in anyone’s interest for anything to be lost from this planet. I hope you continue with what you do and continue to listen and research things before making decisions. There’s so much more involved when our seas are struggling.” Willy John, Oban, Scotland.
We believe that the relationships formed through shooting Fighting for the Underdog will prove pivotal to the success of our upcoming efforts to develop a usable data app to support sustainable fishing efforts.
Our Impact: 2) Out Of Our Bubble community. episodes. countries.
This is a podcast series presented by Liberty, edited by Will. It aims to provide solid, scientifically supported information on marine issues. Whilst scientifically robust, the podcast is intended to be accessible to people outside of the marine biology community.
To date we have produced two series. Covering everything from the impact of discarded fishing nets to bycatch, the first season ran six episodes focused largely on fishing-related issues. The second season focuses largely on sharks and consists of five episodes.
All eleven podcasts produced to date are easily accessible either on Spotify or Amazon Music and provide an accessible yet robust means of accessing key information on these important issues. To date, the podcast has had a total of 511 plays across 21 different countries.
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One Kai Limited
Financial Overview:
One Kai
Year to 31 July 2025 Year to 31 July 2024
Revenue 3,016 1,232
Goldin Foundation
Operating Costs 5,106 7,028
£768
Operating Loss -2,090 -5,796
Oxford Climate Year to 31/7/25 Year to 31/7/24
Total Income £1,624
Society £300 Your paragraph text Venue hire 2,325 2,325
Travel 162 2,297
Consumables 39 1,904
Professional fees 1,800 0
Many smaller donors
Other 780 502
£556
Total 5,106 7,028
These numbers make our point very eloquently. The Kai team The very clear message shown by these figures is that the Kai
has made a lot of impact with relatively small amounts of team has managed to deliver significant value for money. If this
funding. The £1,624 received in the One Kai charity forms the ireport shows what can be achieved with relatively small levels
base of what we hope will be much greater funding. of funding, imagine what impact could be delivered with more.
At the same time, the spend incurred by One Kai Ltd, offset in
part by sales revenues, reuslted in the shooting, production and
dissemination of a ground breaking new documentary.
Kai: Impact Report 2024/25 Kai: Impact Report 2024/25 Kai: Impact Report 2024/25 Kai: Impact Report 2024/25
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The very clear message shown by these figures is that the Kai team has managed to deliver significant value for money. If this ireport shows what can be achieved with relatively small levels of funding, imagine what impact could be delivered with more.
Operational Review:
During 2024 and 2025, Kai’s main focus has been on establishing relationships with key stakeholders in the fishing sector, primarily through two main awareness projects.
Fighting for the Underdog:
This 45-minute documentary was shot on location in Western Scotland and South West England from late 2023 to mid 2024.
Initial shooting took place on location around the West Coast of Scotland over the course of 12 days in autumn of 2023. Although the characteristic Scottish rain and light limitations added a time pressure on capturing the necessary shots, we managed to conduct 6 interviews and gather over 48 hours of footage!
In early 2024, a further two shoots took place in and around Plymouth and Newlyn to gather the remaining 5 interviews and get an insight into the commercial broker action at 3am. Sadly, rough seas meant that the final shoot at sea had to be postponed, resulting in the final shoot happening in the spring of 2024.
The process of filming, producing and disseminating Fighting for the Underdog taught us several valuable lessons.
Firstly, while our original intention had been to keep Ocean awareness initiatives distinct from work in the monitoring and stakeholder engagement field, this proved not to be the case. A major challenge in stakeholder engagement is forming meaningful, trusting relationships with fishing communities. The conversations that fed into Fighting for the Underdog laid the groundwork for precisely the relationships we had always wanted to develop. While we had originally intended to carry out engagement work in a more structured and formal manner, we learned that strong relationships simply form when people feel heard and involved.
Importantly, we also learned that the passion for Ocean conservation remains undiminished. Without significant cash funding, we needed to rely on the goodwill of others for the project to succeed. We were not disappointed. The production team largely worked on a voluntary basis yet were willing to spend days in cold, winter seas to secure valuable footage. Donors also came in the form of equipment we needed. From Nikon cameras to diving equipment, boat usage and even free catering, people and organisations gave willingly. We also have enduring support in the form of artwork to sell at large events such as the Bristol premiere and a showing at London Business School, but also at smaller showings, the engagement shown by attendees was outstanding. Not only did people come to watch the documentary, they often continued discussions for an hour afterwards. Some screening collaborations turned into enduring relationships of their own, most notably, London Business School felt the challenges Kai identified and our approach were of particular interest to the behavioral economics professor who has folded us into their course work and continues to partner with Kai on an ongoing basis.
Out Of Our Bubble:
To date, we have released two series of this podcast. Both series have been well received and allow us to bring a mix of scientific rigour and accessibility to discussion of Ocean issues.
As with Fighting for the Underdog, production of the podcast has required significant goodwill. Guests have been willing to engage with Liberty on a voluntary basis and have provided valuable perspectives on the issues we wanted to raise. Importantly, the production process benefited from many hours provided on a voluntary basis by an experienced producer, Will Tingle. The release of such a high quality production would not have been possible without this crucial support.
What this project has highlighted is the increased need for dedicated capacity. Given more time and resource, we would seek to extend the conversations from the base of guests beyond those people already known to the team. We would also seek to build on those initial discussions and follow up in greater depth. We believe the potential exists for longer term, impactful dialogue. It is only the reliance on relatively constrained resources that prevent this initiative from reaching its full potential.
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Kai: Impact Report 2024/25 Kai: Impact Report 2024/25 Kai: Impact Report 2024/25 Kai: Impact Report 2024/25
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Other Work:
There have been many other areas Kai has worked hard on in its first years of operation. Below is a summary of key projects that have set the organisation up for future success:
Establishment of a CIO with the Charity Commission. This was a lengthy, detailed process, involving the creation and implementation of a robust corporate governance structure. This included the formation of a Board of Trustees, creation of key policies and procedures and opening of banking facilities Creation of a new and vibrant website to fully capture the work we do. This was led by the Not for Profit Design Studio, an organisation focused on supporting charities through the creation of websites on a pro bono basis. Establishment of a lasting partnership with the London Business School. Initially this focused on the use of Kai as a case study for the MBA programme. However, cooperation has developed and we now have a lasting relationship with LBS.
Continued engagement with commercial and recreational fishermen to inform our next steps in the research and data dashboard initiatives increasing our contact location number from 2 to 7 ports.
Governance and Leadership:
This report pertains to two distinct organisations operating together with the same objectives.
One Kai Limited (Company Number 15034684)
This is a company limited by guarantee, formed on 28 July 2023. Its original purpose was to enable Kai to pursue its objectives swiftly, while the process of establishing a CIO with the Charity Commission progressed. It therefore covered much of the early work in producing Kai’s first documentary, “Fighting for the Underdog”. With the One Kai CIO now fully established, it is expected that One Kai Limited will limit its future activities to matters pertaining directly to Fighting for the Underdog, with future projects being undertaken by the CIO. The company is led by three directors/ guarantors:
Richard Chubb Liberty Denman Laura McFarlane
While it is not a registered charity, One Kai Limited does contain a clause requiring that any profits generated be either reinvested in the company or donated to a charity with objects related to Ocean conservation.
One Kai (Charity Commission Number 1211096)
This is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales on 25 November 2024. It is governed by a board of trustees. There are currently three trustees:
Richard Chubb Dr Adam Wyness Ellen Tully
As the CIO takes increased prominence in the future, the three cofounders of One Kai Limited will retain active roles. Richard Chubb is already a trustee of the CIO.
With Liberty Denman and Laura McFarlane carrying out key executive functions, it was agreed that good governance would be better achieved by appointing a fully arms length board of trustees. While they are not trustees of the One Kai CIO, they remain fundamental to its operation.
It is expected that the board of trustees will be expanded during 2026 as the charity develops.
One Kai currently has the following key policies:
Anti Corruption, Bribery and Money Laundering Policy
Complaints Policy Conflicts of Interest Policy Donations Acceptance Policy New Suppliers and Partners Policy Privacy Policy Risk Management Policy Safeguarding Policy
A copy of each of these policies is available upon request.
Volunteers and Staff:
The co- founders of One Kai Ltd and trustees of One Kai recognise that any charity, and in particular a young one like ours, relies heavily on the goodwill of passionate volunteers. We are no different.
We are especially grateful to the following people who gave their time and talent freely to help us start what we hope will be a long and impactful journey:
Abbie Wise Alice Thompson Becky Vicars Chloe Renn Finn Crouch Harrison Wood Harry Mann Jasmine Somerville Josh Tarr Lydia Keeffe Lydia Koehlor
Milena Andrade Pedrosa Olivia Young Phoebe McFarlane Rob Goddard Roger Sanders Soma Mitra- Chubb Theo Russell Vineeta Ahluwalia Will Tingle Willy John
Thank you so much to each of you for your hard work.
Future Plans
Development of a Data Dashboard to support proactive sustainable fishery management:
This one of our primary objectives and, depending on funding, we will aim to achieve the following:
Run a series of formal/informal interviews and design thinking workshops to inform research and data dashboard development to its wireframe phase to act as a proof of concept.
Build a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) for pilot testing with fishers and local government bodies. This will include data algorithms and development of interface design and usability. Run pilot projects in partnership with fishermen federations, NGOs and regional governments to test and refine the tool to better cater to sector needs.
As funding allows, we will also explore the data needs of other fishing community stakeholders to further drive sustainable ocean practices. For example, recreational anglers, eco-tourists.
Establishment of Kai in the scientific/academic community: By the end of 2026, we aim to have conducted research and written a peer reviewed paper on the impact of information pathways on landings compliance in the fisheries space to be presented at conferences such as Coastal Futures, taking fishers’ voice on information pathways to the scientific sphere.
Progression of our next film ‘The Big Squeeze’:
After seeing the impact of respectfully representing a range of views, we have identified another issue that suffers from a lack of effective communication and the ability to ‘put oneself in anothers shoes’ in the workplace - spatial squeeze in British waters. We look to use 2026 to bring this to the treatment and scripting phase.
Establishment of key partnerships
With Partnership being at the core of everything Kai does, our focus will remain on broadening our partnership network and deepening cooperation with existing partners.
We are particularly keen to develop our relationships with London Business School, Ecoflix and Plymouth University. Each of these partners has provided crucial support to date but we are conscious that each relationship contains much more potential for impact.
With particular thought to the development of a data app, we would like to prioritise establishing new relationships with the following organisations:
Women in Fisheries Scottish Creel Fishermans Federation Newcastle University Plymouth University
Government organisations such as DEFRA and the iFCAs Technology developers such as..?
Acknowledgements:
In addition to our lovely volunteers, we would like to acknowledge the support provided by the following organisations:
1% for the Planet who admitted us as a member charity of their network
Ecoflix who now stream Fighting for the Underdog, thus enabling many more people to see it
Ethica Diamonds who kindly proposed us for membership of 1% for the Planet
The Goldin Foundation who made that crucial first cash donation
Etive Explorers for taking us out to the perfect dive locations HoneyDew charters for filling our tanks allowing us to dive TwoDrifters Rum for their in kind support of the Fighting for the Underdog Premiere
Karma Drinks for their in kind support of the Fighting for the Underdog premiere
London Business School for allowing their MBA students to share in our early journey and for two years of partnership we’ve had so far
Nikon Europe for the lending of crucial camera equipment Not for Profit design studio for investing time and expertise to develop our amazing website free of charge
Oban Seatours for taking us to see and film the wildlife of Oban Patricia Rose Charters for adapting the use of the vessel to facilitate filming the spurdog at their regular marks. Prospero World for their guidance in establishing our early organisation and for giving us a means to raise early funds The Shark Trust, namely Ali Hood and Jack Renwick for their involvement in the film and policy advice.
Sir Tremayne Carew Pole and his family who hosted a memorable fundraising evening and showing of Fighting for the Underdog at Antony House TAL Divers for the loan of diving gear
Various other universities and institutions for hosting showings of Fighting for the Underdog - University of Aberdeen, Aberystwyth University, Edinburgh University, London Business School, Oxford Climate Society, Oxford University, Plymouth University, Scottish Association of Marine Science, University of the West of England.
Supporting a new, unproven organisation will always require something of a leap of faith. We are therefore deeply grateful to our friends listed above for taking that chance on us.
To find out more about how you can support Kai, please visit our website at onekai.org or email liberty@onekai.org We’d love to hear from you.
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Statement of Financial Activity for One Kai
Period to 30 June 2025
Unrestricted Funds Restricted Funds Total Funds
Income from:
Donations and Legacies 1624 0 1624
Total Income 1624 0 1624
Total Expenditure 0 0 0
Net Movement in Funds 1624 0 1624
Reconciliation of Funds
Total Funds b/f 0 0 0
Net Movement in Funds 1624 0 1624
Total Funds c/f 1624 0 1624
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Balance Sheet for One Kai
At 30 June 2025
30 June 2025
Current Assets
Accounts Receivable 1589
Cash at Bank and in Hand 35
Total Current Assets 1624
Net Assets 1624
Charity Funds
Unrestricted Funds 1624
Total 1624
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