2021-12-31-annual-report

YOUTHBANK INTERNATIONAL NETWORK (A COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE)

DIRECTORS’ REPORT AND ACCOUNTS FOR

THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021

CONTENTS	PAGE
Reference and Administrative Information	2
Forward from our Chair of Trustees	3
Operational Review	4 - 17
Director’s Report	17 - 20
Independent Examiner’s Report	21
Statement of Financial Activities	22
Balance Sheet	23
Statement of Cash Flow	24
Notes to the Accounts	25 - 36

Company Registration Number NI625358 Charity Number NI101341

REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS OF THE CHARITY, ITS DIRECTORS AND ADVISERS FOR THE YEAR ENDING 31ST DECEMBER 2021.

STATUS

The company is limited by guarantee and a registered charity governed by its articles of association dated 25th June 2014 and as such does not have any share capital. Every member of the company undertakes to contribute an amount not exceeding £1 each to the company's assets if it should be wound up.

DIRECTORS

Norman Leet (Chairperson) Lisa Rose Navjyot Johal Edel Ryder

COMPANY SECRETARY

Vernon Ringland

REGISTERED OFFICE

Community House City Link Business Park 6a Albert Street Belfast, BT12 4HQ, Northern Ireland.

INDEPENDENT EXAMINER

Christy Lau FCCA CTA DChA Slade & Cooper Limited Beehive Mill, Jersey Street Ancoats Manchester M4 6JG

BANKERS

HSBC UK 25-29 Royal Avenue Belfast, BT1 1FB

COMPANY REGISTRATION NUMBER

NI625358

CHARITY REGISTRATION NUMBER

NIC101341

YBI’s IP and Trade Mark Attorneys

Hanna-IP, 58 Howard Street, Belfast, BT1 6PJ

Foreword from Chairperson of the Trustees

Looking forward after another year of growth and development of the network and our internal capacity and capabilities, it is exciting to note the growing interest from around the world in YouthBank as an approach to giving young people real power to make a difference in their communities. The heart of our work remains focused on supporting our partners to give young people the chance to examine their communities and identify the changes they want to make and helping the young people raise the funds, plan the changes, and monitor the impact of their work.

While the common language for this would be youth led at YouthBank International we think it is more than this. Our approach ensures young people have the responsibility, skills, and resources to identify and make change within their communities, helping them to consider how this impacts them as individuals, their sense of identity and builds their self-esteem and confidence allowing them to shape more of the future they want.

We do this by continually improving our resources, skills, and abilities to:

• Create advocacy where young people can have a platform to share what they do and challenge other points of view either locally, nationally, or internationally.

• Create our online network capabilities to share and learn together whether this be young people, peer to peer groups on themes that matter to them, practitioners coming together in communities of practice, or funders, and policy makers being brought together to share, learn, and challenge policy and practices worldwide.

• Support the setting up of host organisations to run YouthBanks either locally or nationally with a sustainable approach based on a common set of shared values.

• Provide training and consultancy support to those in the network or partner organisations who would like to use the YBI model and approach.

• Data and impact being at the heart of the work providing any YouthBank or host or partner with data and impact reports that support their work and prove the difference the YouthBank approach is making.

In 2022, we will develop a number of new countries' networks. Work in England will initially realise a pilot programme of seven YouthBanks, Croatia, five YouthBanks, and Ghana and Australia will be determined later in the year. These along with our developing work in Indonesia and India mean we can proudly claim to be fully international with YouthBank operating on or in development on every continent.

In these globally challenging times of unrest, the impact of climate change, and a seemingly more uncertain and changing world, YouthBank International remains committed to putting the decision-making and leadership of change into the hands of young people so they can shape the future they want. Having inherited a planet that could have been better looked after it seems the only sensible approach.

Norman Leet Chair of Trustees

Operational Review

Formally established in June 2014, YouthBank International (YBI) started out as a simple idea with a vision of a world where all young people have the chance to lead change and make a difference in their communities.

Our mission at the YouthBank International Network is to work with those organisations who want to give young people ‘authentic’ leadership, decision-making and community building opportunities while growing the network and supporting socially conscious and active young people through grant-making. Committed to developing young people for the future, we believe in social mobility and the rights of young people. Every young person can be part of a global YouthBank network.

In 2021 the executive team continued to carry out several key functions:

• To build and grow the YouthBank International network bringing it to new jurisdictions and organisations interested in developing authentic leadership opportunities with young people

• To extend and develop the capacity and capabilities of organisations using YouthBank as a flexible model to facilitate the active participation of young people in the communities they serve

• To harness digital technologies to improve data collecting systems and procedures that tell the story of YouthBank, its impact and contribution to improving the quality of life for young people

• To mobilise resources and secure varied income streams to sustain the longer term development of the organisation.

What have we done this year?

The past 12-months have again been dominated by the continuing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. We retained our three primary objectives from the previous year:

• To maintain and grow the YouthBank network with the primary goal to keep growing the YouthBank network

• To establish best practice with young people in grant-making and civic engagement

To build a sustainable Business Model.

Across the entire YouthBank network we produced, designed, or hosted:

• 129 online training and capacity building workshops

• 48 online onboarding and outreach meetings

• 46 online dialogue meetings with CEOs and Directors of host organisations.

• 4 short explainer videos

• 3 newsletters

• 1 online webinar to launch YBI’s future plans.

The young people involved in YouthBank are not independently wealthy and yet in 2021 have been the decision makers in securing an estimated £100,000 for grantmaking within their local communities. Some of the agendas for change they addressed included:

• Living in safe, peaceful communities Racial and economic justice Environmental improvements Animal welfare and rights Health and well-being.

1. To maintain and grow the YouthBank International Network.

Partner organisations coordinate local YouthBank networks and are the primary relationship for YBI ‘on the ground’. Our purpose is to develop and support the partner organisations’ capacity to sustain continuous cycles of young people by developing the necessary and associated competencies and skills for running their own YouthBank. And at the same time YBI was in transition to be a more sustainable organisation, communicating an optimistic statement of possibilities.

Meetings with CEOs

The year 2021 began with a series of one-to-one meetings with every YouthBank host organisation’s CEO who coordinates a network of local YouthBanks, to discuss YBI’s intended future direction. This included an explanation of how and

why we believed the intended changes were important, and the reason for subscription fees. In return, YBI will deliver improved services and offers to build the capacity of local YouthBanks.

In December 2021, a follow up series of meetings drilled deeper into the subscription packages that were developed during the year and are now on offer.

At the time of preparing this report, every CEO has received an information package, and is considering their response. It is envisaged that signed Licence Agreements(LA) for the various subscription packages will be completed in the first half of 2022. A more detailed description of these packages as part of the YouthBank Business model is provided under Objective 3, Build a sustainable Business Model.

Induction to the YouthBank network

The Induction series served as a pitch to introduce YouthBank International, its values, processes, and tools to new host organisations and their practitioners. Over a six-week period between April - May, three induction programmes introduced the YouthBank Level 1 model to 23 practitioners from organisations based in India, Poland, Croatia, Sicily, Palestine, and Indonesia. Eight 60-minute episodes sampled challenge activities from each of the five phases of the model so participants could increase their understanding about how they could apply the model to help young people run their own YouthBank.

In a participant survey who attended this series the demand for ‘coaching and mentoring’, closely followed by ‘tools for sustainability and development’, ‘tools for fund development’, ‘sharing practice’, and ‘peer training’ were identified as the greatest support needs by the respondents. The need for a knowledgeable confidante as a guide when developing the YouthBank concept, particularly in places where there are few resources available to develop innovative work, was the most important aspect identified.

Digital tools

Part of the YBI digital transition is experimental as the new toolkit materials need to be in a visual format accessible on laptops and smartphones. A digital map of the five phases of the YouthBank model was designed and provides access to part of the available materials that will be included in specific subscription packages.

Four short videos were produced to assist with the onboarding process for organisations considering whether to organise and develop a YouthBank network:

An explanation of the five phases of the YouthBank model https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVp_-AhYMKE A very short elevator pitch

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUkm3PsJSig A description of why YouthBank?

https://youtu.be/54cURFbFR9E An overview of YouthBank in numbers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ELDr4GiXSc

Our work to develop new YouthBank networks.

In early 2021, hopes for fresh beginnings with partners in Egypt, India and Palestine were boosted with involvement in the induction work programme. Whilst a positive experience, none of these translated into concrete, practical commitments because operational priorities were reorganised by each host organisation after they returned from their second lockdown to address humanitarian needs of their most marginalised communities.

Efforts to work with Impact Hub in Croatia also suffered as the owners of the franchise informed us of a major change to their governance model and reliance on freelance contract workers to carry out their mission. This arrangement was not feasible for us and new possibilities were considered to put in place a registered organisation, under Croatian law. At the end of this reporting period several investors received funding proposals and initial steps have been taken to put in place the necessary legal requirements.

Our partner in Indonesia, Indonesia untuk Kemanusiaan (IKa) completed its induction series of onboarding workshops, and agreed to a 18 month YouthBank Licence to set up a pilot phase based in Jakarta. They completed 22 online workshops in the YouthBank Level 1 training model.

Further positive developments were secured with new host organisations signing up for one of our income generating packages of services.

In Italy, we entered into a three year partnership with Fondazione Guanelliana di Solidarieta (FoGs) and two Ghanaian organisations, Pure Trust Social Innovators Foundation and Ghana Philanthropy Forum. FoGs have secured funding costs for a three year period and operating partners are in the process of preparing operational running costs to be secured from several philanthropic donors.

Hope for the Future are based in Victoria, Australia and have agreed to a three year pilot programme to develop YouthBank in inner city housing estates of Melbourne with young people from indigenous and refugee communities.

A different arrangement has been determined to support YouthBank to restart in England. Trustees of YouthBank International have been working with donors and interested organisations to put in place arrangements for a three year pilot YouthBank International will manage. This will secure new resources to meet the operational development needs of establishing six pilot YouthBank networks, and in turn increase the capacity of the YBI

executive team with two part time positions and meet the costs of an existing team member.

In Belgium, two Community Foundations, covering East and West Flanders have indicated their positive interest in the YouthBank model and are committed to bringing forward proposals in 2022 to develop a coordinated approach.

Difficulties faced by existing YouthBank networks

In 2021, we were apprised of the very real difficulties being experienced by YouthBank host organisations in India, Russia, and Poland. The Indian Patriot Act, Foreign Agent status in Russia and the position of the Polish Government towards civil society organisations and their legal and regulatory mechanisms have created a difficult environment for international organisations. Individuals in these countries face the very real threat of surveillance, arrest, and restrictions being placed on organisational practices if conducting business with international organisations, such as YBI.

In June the Togliatti YouthBank network in Russia, which had operated the YouthBank model for 18 years, ceased to operate citing the impact of the Foreign Agent legislation and surveillance as primary reasons. At the time of reporting an emerging Polish YouthBank network, at the beginning of its own onboarding process, reconsidered their position and decided to withdraw for the time being.

2. To establish best practice with young people in grant-making and civic engagement.

Innovation Fund.

Our intention was to raise £25k per year as a distinctive ‘research and design’ instrument that encourages local YouthBanks to become more collaborative and promote further self organising. It was envisaged that interested participants from YouthBanks across the network would co-design the features and criteria of this collaborative activity. Whilst this did not materialise as hoped we have used some unrestricted funding to sponsor two innovations that are described below that held similar values without the decision-making component.

Focused conversations with Georgian YouthBank alumni.

Our host organisation in Georgia, Europe Foundation, identified a skills and knowledge gap in a training team of former YouthBank members they had recruited. It was felt that confidence in holding group facilitation processes was low and knowledge of how to plan a workshop was a particular need. Eight alumni members were invited to complete a short survey to identify 2-3 examples of specific challenges when faced with having to plan a workshop. The results identified was the need to find ways to introduce creativity into the workshop experience.

Change the Conversation 2021: Discover, Contribute, Lead.

An online five-day conference in July was held for 30 young people from Abkhasia, Bosnia and Georgia. As the conference title suggests, Discover, Contribute, Lead, was about affirming the strengths and capabilities of three YouthBank networks brought together to explore the possibility for practical cooperation together. Using the hackathon approach and methods, several cross- border projects were created to address one of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG):

• SDG 1, No Poverty

• SDG 4, Quality Education

• SDG 5, Gender Equality

• SDG 6, Clean Water and Sanitation.

Delivering training and implementing young people’s grant programmes.

This year we worked online with 210 young people from four countries and territories in Abkhasia, Georgia, Indonesia and South Africa,to start their YouthBank journey.

Abkhasia 1

Our first online training experience for 2021 was held in March with 49 young people from seven locations. Organised as two sets of four day back-to-back workshops, each day finished promptly with a 2pm electricity power cut in Abkhasia which severed the internet connection.

Because of the nature of the training programme, this was the first time we delivered the YouthBank programme online into Abkhasia, so we decided to produce slide decks to act as a visual roadmap for each of the 16 YouthBank Level 1 training episodes. In the delivery of each episode we presented the main piece of content as a challenge and then organised the task/activity so 70-80% of each episode was dedicated practice time for skill and knowledge development.

When compared with the content and technical ability from the previous year, the transformation for both the participants and training programme delivery has been significant. However, due to broadband and wifi difficulties, we had to shift from Zoom as the delivery platform and the extensive use of padlets, to utilizing Google Meet. Whilst breakout rooms and whiteboards were not utilised, the use of the annotation and text tools to add ideas to the slide deck replaced these more commonly used zoom tools. Screen fatigue was reduced as some of the delivery was taken on by our colleagues in Abkhasia.

Digital tools in South Africa

In April, YBI sponsored an online ‘hackathon’ with young people from South Africa who had access to a small pool of money which was used to incentivise teams to create solutions on how to build a sustainable YouthBank fund.

Sheba Bokamoso (Looking towards the future) was a blended learning approach inspiring 40 young changemakers from seven local communities in South Africa to run their own sustainable hometown fund that addressed issues that mattered to them. Young people from these largely remote rural areas experienced restricted access to authentic leadership and community building opportunities. In part, the programme was a digital learning campaign and a practical call to action for a young people's agenda for change, where youth philanthropy, social entrepreneurship and youth development combined in one initiative. The programme included eight interlinked sections of activity with online and offline challenges for young people to take part in. Each team was incentivised with access to a small grant, mentoring expertise, and virtual classroom activities to create and pitch their ideas.

Georgia

An online YouthBank Level 1 training programme for 95 young people, held over two consecutive weekends in November. Eighteen episodes were designed to introduce the key skills and knowledge to support young people lead change in their own communities by running their own local YouthBank.

Indonesia

An online YouthBank Level 1 training programme for six practitioners to run the first YouthBank network in Indonesia included 22 x 60 minute episodes to introduce the five phases of the YouthBank model over 2.5 weeks in November.

Abkhasia 2

In December, a hybrid YouthBank Level 1 training programme of online and face-to-face episodes for 20 young people was delivered. Twelve episodes were online and the Abkhasian training team facilitated six episodes face-toface. The face-to-face episodes allowed those participating in the training programme more time to storyboard their ideas and create a short video of their agenda for change. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjhqPHsJIVI&list=PLqme9soYJ4TwASEvtCH9 CXVVqqa8jjs Wg&index=11

Impact case study

To gain a perspective on the benefit of YouthBank, YBI commissioned an

independent impact survey between May - October, that asked those closest to the YouthBank action at a local, regional and countrywide level, what:

• Impact YouthBank programmes is having/had on young people, and the broader communities in which they operate?

• Are the experiences and implications of operating one or more YouthBanks for host/partner organisations?

• Reflections and lessons were learnt regarding participation in the YBI network and support provided by YBI?

Exploring the impacts YouthBank has, and how it works, the findings showed that what makes YouthBank effective is that young people:

• are allowed to independently design and run their own projects

• are actively involved in community philanthropy and grant-making

• systematically research the needs of young people in their community

• from across their communities are brought together to work in a group.

The research collected data and narratives on how YouthBank impacts on communities that represent the implementation of the YouthBank models in a variety of contexts globally. While these contexts may be different, the model implemented is very similar and so are the positive impacts on the communities in which YouthBanks operate.

More than half the stories shared were about how YouthBank supported the development of self-esteem, knowledge and skills acquisition, and a new outlook on the community in which young people are part of. Independence and diversity were also identified as important features of YouthBank because what makes the model effective is that young people step out of their comfort zones.

It concluded that globally, the YouthBank model is adapted to different languages and cultural contexts, but key features are shared, such as the YouthBank Golden Rules, which helps to make programmes very more similar no matter where they are delivered. It also confirmed that young people involved in YouthBank develop:

• New perspectives on their surrounding communities, awareness of their agency and potential to generate change for themselves and their communities

• Support projects that are sometimes relatively simple but also at times quite complex, involving a variety of stakeholders in the community

• YouthBank programmes positively influence attitudes of community members towards young people as decision- and change makers that amplify the voice and agency of young people.

The following extracts provide some indication as to tangible results and impact at the local level from young people who participate in a YouthBank.

Individual change that impacts communities

“...it is not enough just to carry out one project by placing benches in the park, but this organisation was able to change the thinking of young people, and this is the most important thing: my friends and I began to frequently conduct training in order to change something in society for the better. Thanks to YB, we have a desire to change ”. (20 year old female, Romania)

“ The most important aspects that the YouthBank program changes every year are related to communities and people. For example, many visible things have changed: we have provided schools with drinking water, we have arranged parks and we have also created playgrounds for children. Numerous schools have been equipped with the necessary techniques for the educational process and much more. Many children from socially vulnerable families have had the chance to develop skills and competences in various fields, in order to be able to integrate more and more actively in social and cultural life. There are a lot of aspects that we have changed and all this thanks to the wonderful YouthBank program” . (22 year old, male, Moldova)

“This year, we, the YouthBank team, have helped change the view of discriminated people in our city and county through financing ‘Scholar Inclusion’, where discrimination is discouraged and explained, with the purpose of battling bullying and discrimination in our schools” . (16 year old, female, Romania)

Creating a generation of influential community leaders

“YouthBank was a brilliant opportunity to gain skills and develop myself, at the same time to contribute to the development of my community. Now I can see that my teammates are the key decision makers in their community and in the country”. (21 year old female, Georgia)

“Demonstrating the role of young people in community development: due to local projects implemented by young people (park arrangements, buying equipment to local football team, facilitating the access of disabled people to local infrastructure, etc) local public authorities have become aware of young people’s capacities and now plan a separate budget line for youth initiatives”. (19 year old male, Moldova)

Forging wider connections in the community

“ We have now started raising funds for the Safe Bicycle Parking project. This project will start the construction of bicycle parking lots near the schools of our community. There is no bicycle infrastructure in the... community at all, so the first fundraiser is aimed at arranging the territory near the...school, creating a bicycle parking lot there. In the future, we plan to install safe bicycle parking on the territory of all educational institutions of the community”. (17 year old, female, Bosnia)

“ So there are a lot of problems with integration of Georgian and Abkhaz youngsters. Most important thing that YouthBank brought to me is communication with Abkhaz people, mostly the younger generation. With whom I'm keeping in touch till now days”. (24 year old, female Georgia)

“I was part of my local YouthBank programme, where I had the chance to participate in a few events and activities regarding our local community. One notable event YouthBank contributed to was "The Fortress of the Living Library", where representatives of various professions and minority groups spoke about their life experience with the public to help them understand their situations better”. (17 year old female, Romania).

3. To build a sustainable business model.

For YBI to support the next level of growth for the YouthBank network and contribute to building the capacity and capability of host organisations, a new Business Plan was necessary. The plan was completed towards the end of the reporting period reflecting a baseline of services and operational costs and signalled an important shift towards longer-term sustainability of the organisation.

The move has been made so that YouthBanks that are supported by a host organisation or the coordinating organisation of a network, must pay a fee for YouthBank International’s Services. YBI acknowledges that often these organisations do not have funds readily available for this. Our strategy is to work with them, and others, to generate the required funding. The following are the key elements of strategy:

• With a new financial baseline calculated for the next three years, an important income stream from host organisations running a YouthBank network was sought.Therefore, YBI would be asking organisations that host a YouthBank network, or an individual practitioner, to consider taking up a subscription.

• Our services have been bundled into a series of packages that are designed to meet the needs of our partners. The intention is that the range of packages provide YouthBank host organisations with a clear cost, set of inputs and resources that enables them to develop and support a thriving network of YouthBanks. Our packages have been organised to meet the needs of different YouthBank customers.

• Prices have been set for each of the services based on research we have conducted with our existing networks. They remain attractive enough for existing YouthBank networks to cover costs while providing a small margin which will enable YouthBank International to create an operating reserve to protect the organisation.

Four options were created:

1. New Networks Package - Full support for a new organisation to create and facilitate the YouthBank model. Provides training and development opportunities for a network of youth workers or facilitators, and includes a comprehensive suite of tools that workers can use to:

2. Develop and support new YouthBank groups to explore their identity and their relationships with their communities Understand the rights that underpin society and explore their own values

3. Decide how they want to improve things in their communities and define the changes they want to see Develop the skills they need to take decisions and responsibility Run a fair and open grant-making process and evaluate the change they have made.

4. Network Refresh Package - Aimed at the existing network, this package is intended for networks that have retained some capacity and wish to renew and refresh their YouthBank practice. Providing support, coaching, and training to the network coordinator is included as is a translated version of the new YouthBank Toolkit.

5. Subscription Package: Host organisations - This subscription is designed for a host organisation that coordinates a network of YouthBanks. Providing support, coaching, and training for the coordinator, the subscription also gives access to the YouthBank toolkit, new material, and several training places on YouthBank International courses throughout the year.

6. Subscription Package: Practitioner - Aimed at YouthBank Practitioners who want guaranteed access to YouthBank skills workshops and new YouthBank tools as they are developed.

Additional products, services and events

The assets of YBI are largely found in the knowledge that has been accumulated by the organisation and YouthBank practitioners over the past 20 years. Building on YouthBank International`s asset base, we have designed a range of additional products that provide the building blocks not only for the YouthBank network’s growth, but also for every organisation interested in the following:

• Hackathons - weekend innovation type events with young people to explore the sustainability of their local YouthBank fund. Techniques to develop the opening and closing of a YouthBank workshop - Organised on a monthly basis, this online series of 10 x 60–

75-minute episodes are designed to support practitioners refreshing the opening and closing of their YouthBank workshops.

• Community of Practice (CoP) - Held once per month, this online meeting is open to all YouthBank Network practitioners. Lasting between 60 and 90 mins, each episode will focus on one concern/problem/issue. Practitioners learn from each other, gathering ideas, possible actions, and solutions.

• Night of Ambition - An event for young people and the community focused on networking and innovation

• Annual Conference - An annual event for young people, host organisations and their partners

The service offer to local YouthBanks will include access to:

• An online learning platform to add to our current quality training offer. A suite of templates that will support both young people and practitioners.

• A series of dashboards that will allow young people, practitioners, host organisations and ourselves to understand the story of YouthBank and measure the impact at both a local and an international level.

Building the capacity of the organisation

YouthBank is totally focussed on young people and community development. Over the last few years we have reimagined the YouthBank model seeking to extend and expand its reach. A key element of this has been to take every opportunity to bring tools, techniques and processes online where they can be provided to participants in many locations, times and formats, that are convenient for them.

YouthBank has benefited from the Google Workspace donation and has to date built most of its systems and processes using its tools. As the Business Plan takes us forward into the next stage of our development we will begin to build more complex processes in order to maximise our effectiveness which will need more powerful tools. This will be done using Salesforce alongside the existing infrastructure that we have developed using Google Workspace.

In remodelling our onboarding processes for a new intake of host organisations in 2022 we have learnt a huge amount about the challenges these organisations face. Different from that of our previous partners, we have been challenged to provide greater clarity and a more comprehensive support process in order to enable partners to establish their YouthBank programme which includes automated step by step processes.

This year we received the Salesforce non-profit donation to support our fundraising efforts and we have begun building a bespoke app to manage our onboarding and training processes. We have built a Learning Platform using WiX to host our training resources. For those host organisations subscribing to one of the service packages they

will avail of member log-ins which will allow practitioners to access learning resources and exchange ideas with other members of the YouthBank network. We are currently building tools which will allow practitioners to share data relating to the operation and impact of YouthBanks in real time on the platform. This would substantially increase routine collection and analysis of data and improve the evidence base and strategies accordingly.

Expanding executive team functions

Three specific roles and functions were identified:

• Communications and marketing: In 2021, Katja Palaic joined us on a part time basis to increase the visible presence of the organisation, encourage potential donors and improve the impact of the organisation’s work.

• Edel Maughan will join us in the new year on a part time basis to lead the development of the YouthBank Academy - an associate team of skilled practitioners who will have specific training briefs to primarily deliver the YouthBank level 1 model.

• Helen Kersley will take on the remaining identified role of the executive team on a part time basis to lead the development of a new YouthBank network in England and strengthen our capacity in research/advocacy and impact of local YouthBanks in their communities.

Plans for action in 2022

• YBI acknowledges the profound consequences of the pandemic, particularly to host organisations and their efforts to support young people identify and act upon their own agendas for change within their communities. Resourcing priorities are based on generating funding to achieve our plans with an increase in sustainable net income from contracted work, subscription packages, income from CSR sources, trusts, foundations, and donations. This will entail sound financial planning, management, and reporting. In addition, there will be a regular review of YBI governance through its governance improvement plan.

• The expansion of the executive team with new skill sets and qualities to build the capacity and capability needs of network organisations and to develop and expand our vision and mission with new host organisations.

• The recruitment and induction of an Associate Team of Trainers will be a key milestone in the coming year.

• Complete all necessary onboarding arrangements for existing and new YouthBank networks by the end of June and new Licence Agreements for

non-subscribers and subscribers to access service and support packages.

• Improve our processes for collecting and documenting impact data, assessing practitioners’ needs, views, and satisfaction, to inform the development of services and products. We will look to increase and develop an attractive range of offers and benefits for practitioners.

• From June 2022 we will have an online data platform that complements the learning platform. We will look to document changes in knowledge, skills, behaviour and local conditions and contexts in which young people address their agenda for change.

• Work with new host organisations in Australia, Croatia, England and Ghana will begin from Autumn 2022, with a combination of face-to-face and live virtual learning activities. The delivery of 24 online sessions on the new YouthBank model with existing YouthBank host organisations will begin in early summer with practitioners clustered together.

Directors’ Report

The Directors of the company, who are also Trustees for the purpose of charity law, present their report and the unaudited accounts for the year ended 31 December 2021.

Reference and administrative information set out on page 2 forms part of this report. The financial statements comply with current statutory requirements, the memorandum and articles of association and the Statement of Recommended Practice - Accounting and Reporting by Charities: SORP applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with FRS 102.

The Trustees are pleased to present the results for 2021. There was a deficit for the year of -£16,130 (-£10,664 attributable to Restricted Reserves and -£5,466 attributable to Unrestricted Reserves). Reserves at the year-end were £63,635 comprising restricted funds of £11,255 and unrestricted funds of £52,380.

The Trustees are also pleased to have restructured the charity's business model allowing future income to be sustainably generated as we expand the YouthBank network in line with our mission. The changes will enable us to generate income from a wider range of sources including, grants, donations, fees for services, contributions from business through CSR as well as subscriptions from organisations and individuals.

Trustees meet to agree strategic direction, receive reports, approve budgets and finance reports and endorse and review policies. Trustees are required to disclose all relevant interests and register them with the Company Secretary.

All newly appointed Trustees receive instruction on the activities of the charity and their responsibilities as a Trustee. One Trustee received remuneration for their services in accordance with Article 7 of the Articles of Association - Benefits and payments to Charity Directors and Connected Persons, sub clause 2, Scope and Powers and sub clause 3, Controls. Trustees are required to disclose all relevant interests and register them with the Company Secretary.

Public Benefit Statement

Trustees have complied with their duty under Charity Law with regard to the Charity Commission Northern Ireland’s public benefit guidance when exercising any powers and duties to which the guidance is relevant. The public benefits are:

• The enhanced personal development of young people who participate in YouthBank initiatives, building their self esteem and confidence and providing them with an opportunity to learn new skills in leadership, teamwork,decision- making, problem-solving, communication, negotiation, event management and many other skill sets The articulation and consideration of issues and concerns relevant to young people and the communities they live in

The provision of grants to improve the quality of young people’s lives.

These benefits can be evidenced in records kept by country host organisations who coordinate their local YouthBank sites. Survey reports, feedback, networking events and training are organised by YouthBank International to build the capacity and capability of stakeholders to advance youth-led grant-making and decision-making.

The public benefit requirement has informed the activities of YouthBank International in this reporting year and no harm or potential for harm has resulted from our purposes.

Trustees review their public benefit and charitable status on an annual basis.

Structure, Governance and Management

YouthBank International is a global network of organisations that believe young people should have the opportunity to lead change and make a difference in their hometowns and communities, by using grant-making as a decision-making tool to run their own fund. Organisations in the YouthBank network support between 3 and 50 community based YouthBanks to address issues that matter to them in their communities.

Common to all YouthBanks are the Golden Rules that act as guiding principles for all networks to apply in their cultural contexts with a positive

regard to all activity being youth-led.

The Charity’s objects (“Objects”) are to create learning and participation opportunities for young people to be grant makers, decision makers and leaders in their own communities and in wider society by:

• assisting the setting up and development of new local YouthBank initiatives and YouthBank Networks.

• providing and coordinating the provision of technical support, training, advice, information, materials and resources and generally enhancing the capacity, effectiveness and sustainability of existing local YouthBank initiatives, YouthBank Networks and YouthBank Host organisations.

• providing and maintaining an international forum where members of the Charity can find mutual support, engage in training, exchange views, share common issues and information and create a collective voice.

YouthBank International Network is a company limited by guarantee, registration number NI625358 and it complies with corporate law, files annual returns and notifications of changes to board members/trustees, people with significant control, articles of association, name changes and other salient corporate information.

The company is registered with the Northern Ireland Charities Commission (CCNI), registration number NIC101341 and complies fully with all CCNI law and guidance, including the provision of an annual report on its finances and activities.

Trustee liability insurance and professional indemnity insurance are provided through Marsh Ltd Insurance Intermediaries, Belfast.

YouthBank International Network’s conduct is governed by its Memorandum and Articles of Association. The minutes of Trustees’ meetings clearly record all decisions taken and financial income and expenditure reviewed at each meeting. In the reporting year Trustees met online in February and May and at a face-to- face residential weekend in Northern Ireland in October.

Risk Register

Trustees have a risk register in place which addresses the major governance, operational, financial, reputational, legal and regulatory risks that might impact upon the core purposes and key objectives of the organisation. These risks are reviewed on two occasions per year. Financial controls and procedures are a shared responsibility between a trustee and a designated executive team

member. Trustees agreed to appoint Slade & Cooper Limited as independent examiners.

Statement of responsibilities of the trustees

The trustees (who are also directors of YouthBank International Network for the purposes of company law) 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).

Company law requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable company for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the trustees are required to:

• Select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently

• Observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP

• Make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent

• State whether applicable UK Accounting Standards and statements of recommended practice have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements

• Prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in operation.

The trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable company and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charitable company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

This report has been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to companies subject to the small companies’ regime of the Companies Act 2006.

Approved by the Board of Trustees on

Thursday 28th April, 2022. Signed on its

behalf.

Chairman Norman Leet