COMPANY REGISTRATION NUMBER: N1629047 CHARITY REGISTRATION NUMBER: 106797 Social Change Initiative Company Limited by Guarantee Financial Statements 31 March 2023 Finegan Gibson Ltd Chartered accountants & statutory auditor Causeway Tower 9 James Street South Belfast BT2 8DN
Social Change Initiative Company Limlted by Guarantee Financial Statements Year ended 31 March 2023 Page Trustees, annual report (incorporating the director's report) Independent auditor's report to the members Staternent of financial activities (including income and expenditure account) 13 Statement of financial position 14 Statement of cash flows 15 Notes to the financial statements 16
Social Change Initiative Company Limited by Guarantee Trustees. Annual Report (Incorporating the Directorfs Report) Year ended 31 March 2023 The trustees, who are also the directors for the purposes of company law, present their report and the financial statements of the charity for the year ended 31 March 2023. Reference and administrative details Registered charity name Social Change Inittative Charity registration number 105797 Company registration number N1629047 Principal office and registered 3rd Floor office Wellington Buildings 24 Wellington Street Belfast BT16HT The trustees Maggie Beirne Christine Bell Michael Posner Company secretary Martin O'Brien Auditor Finegan Gibson Ltd Chartered accountants & statutory auditor Causeway Tower 9 James Street South Belfast BT2 8DN Bankers Ulster Bank Ltd 11-16 Donegall Square East Belfast BT15UB Solicitors Farrer & Co 66 Lincoln's Inn Fields London WC2A 3LH
Social Change Initiative Company Limited by Guarantee Trustees, Annual Report (Incorporating the Directorfs Report) (¢ontlnued) Year ended 31 March 2023 Structure, governance and management Governing Document The Social Change Initiative is a company limited by guarantee governed by its Memorandum and Articles of Association dated 31st October 2017. Its application to be recognised as a charty was accepted by the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland on 30th April 2018. Its registered charity number is". NIC105797. Appointment of Trustees The Trustees recruit and select new Trustees as needed. New Trustees are recruited on the relevance of their professional skills, and their potential to be able to make a helpful contribution to the govemance of the company. As part of the recruitment process they are made aware of their obligations and of the content of the Memorandum and Articles of Association, the schedule for meetings and the work plan and financial position of the company. Relationships with related parties None of the Trustees receive remuneration or other benefrt from their work with the company.
Social Change Initiative Company Limited by Guarantee Trustees. Annual Report (Incorporating the Director's Report) (continued) Year ended 31 March 2023 Objectives and activities The purposes of the company are.. To promote national and international conflict resolution and reconciliation with a view to relieving suffering and distress and building and maintaining social cohesion and trust wtihin and belween communities., To promote human rights (in particular the human rights of victims of conflict and forced migration) as set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and subsequent Untted Nations conventions and declarations by all or any of the following means-. (a) research into human rights issues (b) raising awareness of human rights issues; (c) promoting public support for human rights: (d) promoting respect for human rights among IndridUalS and Corporations: To promote religious or racial hamiony by: (a) promoting knowledge and mutual understsnding and respect of the beliefs and practices of different religious faiths., (b) promoting knowledge and mLrtual understanding between different racial groups: and - To advance citizenship or communty development by promoting social inclusion. The strategies employed to achieve the cotnpany'5 aitns and objectives are to.. Convene individuals Support research and publish materials - Award fellowships - Operate a mentoring scheme Provide advice, training and consultancy support
Social Change Initiative Company Limited by Guarantee Trustees. Annual Report (Incorporating the Directorfs Report) (¢onllnuedJ Year ended 31 March 2023 Achievements and perforniance After operating successfully for eight years, the company continues to focus on three thematic areas of work - Migration. Equalty & Human Rights. and Peacebuilding. In the current year it has prioritised two issues in particular - support for social change activists both locally and around the world and the advancement of human rights. peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland. Creating online and in person opportunities for people to come together and leam about important issues and build solidarity and connections continues to be a key organisational priority. During the year the company hosted numerous events to do this. Participants were drawn from across the UK, Ireland, the rest of Europe, Africa. Asia and the United States. A significant number of educational resource materials and tools continued to be produced. Further efft)rts were made to strengthen the dissemination of these materials via social media and the organisation's website. Lessons from peacebuilding work in Northern Ireland continue to be popular among funders and those working in other deeply divided societies around the world. Staff have also continued to be directly involved in peacebuilding efforts designed io builrj and sustain better community relations In Northern Ireland anrj to ensure no diminution in rights protections. We have continued to enhance atld develop the SCI website which profiles the otganisation's woik and presents its resources and materials in an accessible manner. During the year the company has steadily expanded its reach and presence in social media and through a regular newsletter sharing useful resourGes foi funders and activists involved in Ghangemaking. It has been gratfying to see the continued growth in visitors to the site and the increase in the number of downloads for the resources available there. The company increased its efforts to support activism for social change and enhance the skills and capacity of activists around the wortd. We fimily believe that enhancing the skills of people already engaged in working for change yields a significant return on investment. Our fellowship awards, mentoring support, convenings and resource materials all help to deliver on this objective and advance a fairer, more inclusive and peaceful world. The group of fellows and the wider SCI activist communty continued to receive advice and support from our team. It's also very encouraging to see how the participants themselves continue to help and support each other in often very challenging circumstances. Networking the actNists involved and providing practical support and opportunities for shared leaming and solidarity across themes and geographies continues to be a particular priority. Locally SCI has also maintained its work to develop the leadership skills of people working in the peacebuilding and human rights fields in Northern Ireland. On a separate front donors and organisations have continued to approach SCI for strategic advice and consultancy support. This continues to generate a small amount of income for the company. One element of this work has been to try to apply the lessons from the partnership funding work done by Atlantic Philanthropies and the Northem Ireland government. This has led to several publications and some ongoing dialogue with policy makers about the scope for further philanthropylgovernment partnership to tackle inequalities and improve public services particularly for disadvantaged communities. During the year the company relocated premises in the wake of COVID to a smaller but more central office location which provides a more suitable base and will result in some signtficant savings on core running costs.
SoGial Change Initiative Company Limited by Guarantee Trustees. Annual Report (Incorporating the Director's Report) (¢ontinuedJ Year ended 31 March 2023 Financial review The Company's activities continue to be resourced by a range of donors most notably through the generous support provided by Atlantic Philanthropies. The grants provide a mixture of support for core costs and project related costs associated with specific SCI programmes such as rts leadership development work and support for activists. The rate of spend is very simllar to the prevlous year. Annual Income Is also reduced due to the anticipated closure of Atlantic Philanthropie5 and the absence of any further new grants from that source. The company finishes the year with a healthy balance and reseNe to fund ongoing and fLrture activities in the coming years. Reserves policy and going concern The company remains committed to building its unrestricted reserve largely by selling some specialist services, to funders and social change organisations. Its goal is to secure beeen nine to twelve months expenditure in an unrestricted reserve. The healthy balance sheet and the multi-year funding commitrnents raise no questions al)out the company's ability to trade as a going concem. Plans for future periods The company has a full programme of events for the year ahead. It will also select a new cohort of SCI fellows and maintain its ongoing support for local and international social change aclivists. supporting some signrficant research into social values and hopes to disseminate the resutts widely. Plan5 are also UndeaY to host a major international donor conference in Belfast on the role that funders can play in tackling violent conflict and the growing problem of polarisation. SCI will also continue is support for locally based peacebuilding work in Northern Ireland. Trustees, responsibilities ststement The trustees, who are also directors for the purposes of company law, are responsible for preparing the trustees, report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards {United Kingdom General Accepted Accounting Practice).
Social Change Initiative Company Limited by Guarantee Trustees. Annual Report (Incorporating the Director's Report) (continue Year ended 31 March 2023 Company law requires the charity trustees to prepare financial statements for each year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company and the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expendrture, for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the trUStS are required to.. select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently: observe the methods and principles in the applicable Charities SORP" make judgments and accounting estimates that are reasonable and prudent; prepare the financial statements on the going concem basis unless rt is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in business. The trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explaln the charlty's iransactlons ancl dlsclose wlth reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity 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 charity and hence for taking reasonable sleps for the preventlon and detection of fraud and other irregularities. Auditor Each of the persons who is a trustee at the date of approval of this report confirms that: so far as they are aware, there is no relevant audit information of which the charty's auditor is unaware,. and they have taken all steps that they ought to have taken as a trustee to make themselves aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the charty's auditor is aware of that information. Small company provisions This report has been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to companies entitled to the small companies exemption. The Irustees, annual report was approved on 16 November 2023 and signed on behalf of the board of trustees by: Maggie Beirne Trustee