The trustees present their report and accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023.
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in note 1 to the financial statements and comply with the charity's Memorandum & Articles of Association, the Companies Act 2006 and “Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their financial statements in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective from 1 January 2019).
The charity is a company limited by guarantee governed by the Articles of Association dated 16 May 2011 as amended on 28 September 2011 and 30 October 2013.
The trustees, who are also the directors for the purpose of company law, and who served during the year were:
The Charity’s governing document is its Articles of Association which defines the Charity’s objectives and sets out the role of the Board of INSIUK to ensure that these objectives are achieved by INSIUK’s staff, supervise its management and finances and more generally work to promote the cause of journalist safety.
None of the trustees has any beneficial interest in the company. All of the trustees are members of the company and guarantee to contribute £1 in the event of a winding up.
INSIUK will recruit by either identifying individuals known to them or by giving due consideration to nominations and recommendations. Once identified as a potential Trustee, the candidate will be invited to an interview which will be conducted by one or more of the existing Trustees to identify the applicant's suitability to act as a Trustee for the Charity. Details of the interview will be submitted to all existing Trustees who should unanimously agree upon the appointment of an applicant in order for it to proceed. The successful applicant will be given a detailed explanation of the Charity's aims and objectives which they will be required to accept and support in addition to the tenets of faith which are fundamental to the Charity. Should the applicant accept the above, their appointment will be confirmed in writing and the necessary searches made of Companies House will take place to ensure their suitability which will then be followed by the completion of appropriate legal documentation for their registration.
INSIUK has staff to manage its day to day administrative requirements in the UK. The staff report regularly to the Trustees and interface with the accountancy firm and lawyers appointed to act on INSIUK's behalf.
The Trustees will meet periodically to ensure that the aims and objectives of the charity are being fulfilled. To do this, a formal Agenda will be prepared by the Chairman who will receive submissions in advance by any Trustee wishing to place items on the Agenda. Meeting dates will be agreed upon and the Agenda distributed in advance. Notes will be kept of the discussions and distributed in a timely manner to Trustees for them to review before they are formally ratified. In some cases a meeting might be by conference call rather than a physical gathering depending on the availability of Trustees.
Risk management
The trustees have assessed the major risks to which the charity is exposed, and are satisfied that systems are in place to manage exposure to the major risks.
Objectives and activities
The charity's objectives are to advance health, promote safety and save lives of news and media workers, often working in dangerous and potentially high risk situations worldwide such as natural disasters and war. In furtherance of this objective, the charity’s main activities are to provide financial assistance, training, support and practical advice; to provide organisational and financial support for activities such as conferences, workshops and symposia around the world on topics in news safety for news media workers; to engage with employers to collaborate in providing financial support for news safety training; and to formulate and promote news safety best practices for training, equipment and field work.
Public benefit
The charity’s main activities undertaken to further its purposes are for the public benefit – the protection of journalists from physical and psychological harm to allow them to report freely is a key factor in ensuring and promoting Freedom of Expression – an important public right as defined in Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The trustees have given regard to the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit.
The trustees have considered this matter and concluded:
That the aims of the organisation continue to be charitable;
That the aims and the work done give identifiable benefits to the charitable sector and both indirectly and directly to individuals in need;
That the benefits are for the public, are not unreasonably restricted in any way and certainly not by ability to pay; and
That there is no detriment or harm arising from the aims or activities.
Achievements and performance
In the last year, INSIUK has continued to hold the majority of its regular meetings on journalists’ safety online, rather than in person, for its members in the news media. The charity has organised webinars and Q&A sessions, facilitated confidential information exchanges about a variety of global events and published safety advisories to address key areas of concern for news organisations. Our members tell us they find these meetings extremely valuable for keeping their journalists safe, sharing good practices and providing networking opportunities. This has been particularly true throughout the war in Ukraine, which continued to dominate INSIUK members’ activities the past year. From the onset, INSIUK organised regular Zoom meetings to huge attendance and participation, had an extremely active confidential email chain with hundreds of safety exchanges, and worked tirelessly to share high-level advice and feedback from members on the ground.
Financial review
The charity was financed predominantly by donations from UK and international media organisations.
It is the policy of the charity that unrestricted funds which have not been designated for a specific use should be maintained at a level equivalent to around one year of expenditure. The unrestricted funds of the charity as at 31 March 2023 amounted to £280,169 (2022 : £300,752).
The trustees considers that reserves at this level will ensure that, in the event of a significant drop in funding, they will be able to continue the charity's current activities while consideration is given to ways in which additional funds may be raised.
Plans for the future
Throughout the coming year it will be the charity's intention to ensure it expands its provision of services globally. Furthermore the Trustees will pay careful consideration to both existing and new projects in the news safety field that could possibly be assisted with funds from the charity and that fall within the aims and objectives of the Charity.
The trustees' report was approved by the Board of Trustees.
As the trustees of the charity (and also its directors for the purposes of company law) you are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 (the 2006 Act).
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:
accounting records were not kept in respect of the charity as required by section 386 of the 2006 Act; or
the financial statements do not comply with the accounting requirements of section 396 of the 2006 Act other than any requirement that the financial statements give a true and fair view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination; or
the financial statements have not been prepared in accordance with the methods and principles of the Statement of Recommended Practice for accounting and reporting by charities applicable to charities preparing their financial statements in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102).
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the financial statements to be reached.
The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year.
All income and expenditure derive from continuing activities.
INSIUK is a private company limited by guarantee incorporated in England and Whales. The registered office is Thomson Reuters 5 Canada Square, Floor 8, London, E14 5AQ.
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance charity's Memorandum & Articles of Association, the Companies Act 2006, Charities Act 2011 and “Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their financial statements in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102)” (effective from 1 January 2019). The charity is a public benefit entity as defined by FRS 102.
The financial statements are prepared in sterling, which is the functional currency of the charity. Monetary amounts in these financial statements are rounded to the nearest £.
The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention. The principal accounting policies adopted are set out below.
At the time of approving the financial statements, the trustees have a reasonable expectation that the charity has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. Thus the trustees continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the financial statements.
Unrestricted funds are available for use at the discretion of the trustees in furtherance of their charitable objectives.
Liabilities are recognised as expenditure once there is a legal or constructive obligation committing the charity to that expenditure, it is probable that settlement will be required and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably.
All expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis, inclusive of value added tax. All expenses, including support costs and governance costs, are allocated to the one charitable activity in the statement of financial activities.
Governance costs include those costs incurred in the governance of the charity's assets and are primarily associated with constitutional and statutory requirements.
The charity only has financial assets and financial liabilities of a kind that qualify as basic financial instruments. Basic financial instruments are initially recognised at transaction value and subsequently measured at their settlement value, with the exception of bank loans which are subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method.
The cost of any unused holiday entitlement is recognised in the period in which the employee’s services are received.
Termination benefits are recognised immediately as an expense when the charity is demonstrably committed to terminate the employment of an employee or to provide termination benefits.
In the application of the charity’s accounting policies, the trustees are required to make judgements, estimates and assumptions about the carrying amount of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. The estimates and associated assumptions are based on historical experience and other factors that are considered to be relevant. Actual results may differ from these estimates.
The estimates and underlying assumptions are reviewed on an ongoing basis. Revisions to accounting estimates are recognised in the period in which the estimate is revised where the revision affects only that period, or in the period of the revision and future periods where the revision affects both current and future periods.
The Trustees do not consider there to be any estimates or judgements that are critical to the financial statements.
Project
income
Project
income
Consultancy
Travel
Safety training course
Foreign exchange difference
Members meeting expense
Website & IT expenses
Bank charges
Insurance
Miscellaneous expense
Advertising & marketing
Accountancy includes payments to the independent examiner of £5,812 (2022: £5,535) for independent examination fee and £1,740 (2022: £596) for other services.
None of the trustees (or any persons connected with them) received any remuneration or benefits during the current or prior year. One of the trustees was reimbursed expenses of £820 (2022: £nil) for expenses paid on behalf of the charity.
The average monthly number of employees during the year was:
There were no other related party transactions during the current or prior period, apart from the transactions already disclosed in note 8.