DOC_SOCIETY_CHARITABLE_TR - Accounts

The trustees present their report and financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2019.

The accounts have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in note 1 to the accounts and comply with the Charities Act 2011, the Companies Act 2006 and "Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS102)” (as amended for accounting periods commencing from 1 January 2016).

The charity's objects are:

-To advance the education of the public in the subject of documentary film, in particular by promoting public understanding and appreciation of documentary film and its capacity to raise awareness of social, historical and other issues;

-To advance the education of children and young people by developing and promoting the use of documentary film as a learning resource in schools and further and higher education institutions;

-To advance the arts and culture by promoting high standards of creativity in the making of documentary film;

-The advancement of any other charitable purposes for the public benefit by identifying, harnessing and developing the capacity of documentary film to improve the lives of people and communities affected by conflict or other social or economic disadvantage and to contribute to the protection and improvement of the physical and natural environment.

There was no change in the charity’s objects during the period.

The trustees have paid due regard to guidance issued by the Charity Commission in deciding what activities the Charity should undertake.

In the year Trust pursued its objects in the following ways:

Support for documentary filmmakers

With funds provided by the Adessium Foundation, the Trust funded Doc Society’s Good Pitch EU programme: the Impact Producers’ Lab which took place in Putten, the Netherlands in April 2018; and the Good Pitch event itself in Amsterdam in October 2018.

The Good Pitch programme is one of the most important ways by which Doc Society supports the international community of documentary filmmakers. The programme develops producers’ capacity to create impact for their own work; fosters a global support network of filmmakers and activists; provides them with free online resources; and attracts financial and other support for filmmakers through live pitching events. Each Good Pitch live event is the result of over a year’s worth of deep planning, research, strategizing, engagement and curation.

Good Pitch Amsterdam

Good Pitch Amsterdam took place on October 1 2018 at the Koepelkerk in the centre of Amsterdam. 138 projects from 44 countries applied to take part in the Amsterdam event, of which six films were selected to pitch:

#387 (France)

Every day, more migrants die at sea. The migrant identified as Number 387 was one of them. With exclusive access to their work in Italy and Greece, this film follows a team of forensic pathologists who are fighting to give these people back a name, a memory, a dignity. At their side, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is facing a new challenge: to find the families of the missing migrants, from Senegal to Afghanistan. Together they converge into the matrix of the search for identity, drawing us into a philosophical thriller.

Arica (Sweden/UK)

The trade in toxic waste can have devastating consequences for communities where the waste is dumped. Arica follows a group of victims fighting to help themselves, and asks whether justice is ever really possible when the economic scales are so unbalanced.

Evelyn (UK)

Evelyn is a story about a family overcoming the unthinkable. On a walking odyssey across the United Kingdom, three siblings must confront a past they’ve been unable to talk about, whilst simultaneously repairing the fractures in their own relationships.

iHuman (Norway)

Artificial Intelligence is possibly the most powerful technology of our time. It has the potential to solve humanity’s biggest challenges yet some fear AI will be our downfall. iHuman follows pioneers at the frontline of the race to develop the ever more sophisticated AI to find the questions we need to ask at this crucial point in history.

The Bellingcat Method (Netherlands)

The Bellingcat Method follows the quick rise of the first-ever known civil online investigation group named Bellingcat - an international network of civil researchers who are investigating current conflicts and are putting news agencies and governments to the test.

The Girl in the Mirror (Norway)

The Girl in the Mirror is a coming-of-age story of Emilie (18) who is on her way into adult life after a childhood with fear, sexual abuse and her youth spent in different homes selected by child welfare authorities. The film offers an intimate insight into what it is like to get a grip on your future when your experiences so far in life have mainly been painful. Everybody around Emilie seems to struggle trying to relate and support her. Now the public authorities are demanding Emilie to start work and participate in society but she is struggling to cope on the road to this new found freedom.

275 participants representing 176 organisations from 20 countries came to the event, including representatives of NGOs, foundations, campaigners, philanthropists, government agencies, technology platforms, policymakers, think tanks, brands, broadcasters and the media.

At Good Pitch Europe 2018 pledges of help, advice, funding and networks for the six film teams included: access to high-level policy makers and decision makers (#387), offering connections to journalistic networks and donors in support for the work of citizen investigators group Bellingcat (The Bellingcat Method), help with developing an educational platform (The Girl In The Mirror), sharing of expertise and access to networks (iHuman), offering of screenings with a variety of youth networks worldwide (Evelyn), and pledges of funding to complete the film and kickstart the first two years of the impact campaign as well as pro-bono legal support for the Arica community (Arica).

Impact Producers’ Lab

Good Pitch Amsterdam was preceded by the Impact Producers’ Lab, which took place from April 23 – 26 2018 at Kasteel de Vanenburg in Putten, the Netherlands. The nine participating Impact Producer trainees included representatives of the films that pitched at Good Pitch Amsterdam. In addition, the Lab was attended by 15 European directors, producers and impact producers from Sweden, Norway, The Netherlands, UK and France, including three Alumni from previous Impact Labs.

The Labs are the means through which Doc Society is helping to train Europe’s first generation of Impact Producers: a new class of professionals who are working within film teams, production companies as well as setting up as new, small businesses, to build impact campaign for documentary film. At the Impact Producers Lab, Doc Society offers inspiration and practical frameworks to help design impact campaigns that compliment and augment traditional film distribution, to help Impact Producers define new kinds of partnerships, understand realistic budgeting and fundraising, and learn from best practice execution and also campaign evaluation. The Lab’s goal is to create a new paradigm within European filmmaking; to enable the best independent documentary films to achieve ambitious distribution, to reach strategic audiences and make lasting social impact.

Mothers of Invention

With funding from the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation and a private individual the Trust support Doc Society’s Mothers of Invention podcast series. Launched in April 2018, this podcast series is co-hosted by Mary Robinson, the first female President of Ireland and climate justice campaigner, and Maeve Higgins, the Irish comedian. The podcast, which shows how women from around the world are solving the problems of climate change, was born of Mary Robinson’s conviction that the next two years are crucial to deliver the goals of the Paris Agreement; its aim is to bring this message to an audience of global citizens. Over 80,000 people have subscribed to the first series of Mothers of Invention, and in the first seven month from launch it had over 185,000 downloads.

Financial review

As of 31st March 2019, Trust had Restricted Funds of £17,255 (2018: £58,625) and a surplus on Unrestricted Funds of £2,782 (2017: £4,957). The Charity outsources project management to Doc Society and therefore has low core operating costs. These consist of accountancy fees, bank charges, and statutory filing fees. It is the charity's policy to maintain an Unrestricted Funds balance sufficient to cover one year's worth of such expenses, which the Trustees estimate are unlikely to exceed £3,000 annually.

The charity is a company limited by guarantee and is governed by its memorandum and articles of association. The trustees, who are also the directors for the purpose of company law, and who served during the year were:

Stephan Chambers

Edith Finzi

Natalie Samarasinghe

Jess Search

Angela Seay

William Sieghart

Rt Hon Edward Vaizey

None of the trustees has any beneficial interest in the company. None of the trustees are members of the company. The sole member of the company is Doc Society, which has guaranteed to contribute £1 in the event of a winding up.

Doc Society Charitable Trust is a grant-making entity which itself has no employees: project management together with financial and administrative services are provided by Doc Society, a separate company limited by guarantee (company registration number 05278207).

Two of the Directors of Doc Society, Jess Search and Edith Finzi, are also Trustees of the Charity, and hence Doc Society is a related party. Potential conflicts of interest are managed through the structure of the Charity’s Board, as specified in its Articles. The Articles state that “No person may be appointed as a Trustee if as a result of their appointment the number of Doc Society Trustees would equal or exceed the number of Independent Trustees.” A Doc Society Trustee is a Trustee who is either an officer or director of Doc Society, or a person connected to such employee or director, or who has been appointed by Doc Society. An Independent Trustee is a Trustee other than a Doc Society Trustee. In addition, at the start of each Board meeting each Trustee must declare any interests in the items to be discussed at the meeting; such interests, if any, are minuted.

The Charity’s Independent Trustees (Stephen Chambers, Angela Seay, Natalie Samarasinghe, William Sieghart, Edward Vaizey) have wide experience in the for-profit and not-for-profit sectors.

The trustees have assessed the major risks to which the Charity is exposed, and are satisfied that systems are in place to mitigate exposure to those risks.

These accounts have been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to companies subject to the small companies' regime.

The trustees report was approved by the Board of Trustees.

I report to the trustees (who are also Directors for the purpose of company law) on my examination of the financial statements of Doc Society Charitable Trust (‘the charitable company’) for the year ended 31 March 2019 which comprise the Statement of Financial Activities, the Balance Sheet and related notes.

This report is made solely to the charity’s trustees, as a body, in accordance with section 145 of the Charities Act 2011. My work has been undertaken so that I might state to the charity’s trustees those matters I am required to state to them in this report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, I do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charity and the charity’s trustees as a body, for my work, for this report, or for the opinions I have formed.

As the trustees of charitable company you are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 (‘the 2006 Act’).

Having satisfied myself that the financial statements of the charitable company are not required to be audited under Part 16 of the Act and are eligible for independent examination, I report in respect of my examination of the charitable company’s financial statements carried out under section 145 of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the 2011 Act’) and in carrying out my examination I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the 2011 Act.

An independent examination does not involve gathering all the evidence that would be required in an audit and consequently does not cover all the matters that an auditor considers in giving their opinion on the financial statements. The planning and conduct of an audit goes beyond the limited assurance that an independent examination can provide. Consequently I express no opinion as to whether the financial statements present a ‘true and fair’ view and my report is limited to those specific matters set out in the independent examiner’s statement.

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 accord with those records; or

the financial statements do not comply with the accounting requirements of section 396 of the 2006 Act other than any requirement that the accounts 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 accounts 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.

The company is entitled to the exemption from the audit requirement contained in section 477 of the Companies Act 2006, for the year ended 31 March 2019.

The trustees acknowledge their responsibilities for ensuring that the charity keeps accounting records which comply with section 386 of the Act and for preparing accounts which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the company as at the end of the financial year and of its incoming resources and application of resources, including its income and expenditure, for the financial year in accordance with the requirements of sections 394 and 395 and which otherwise comply with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 relating to accounts, so far as applicable to the company.

The members have not required the company to obtain an audit of its financial statements for the year in question in accordance with section 476.

These accounts have been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to companies subject to the small companies' regime.

Doc Society Charitable Trust (Formerly Britdoc Charitable Trust) is a private company limited by guarantee incorporated in England and Wales. The registered office is 37 Warren Street, London, W1T 6AD.

The accounts have been prepared in accordance with the Charities Act 2011, the Companies Act 2006 and “Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102)” (as amended for accounting periods commencing from 1 January 2016). The Charity is a Public Benefit Entity as defined by FRS 102.

The Charity has taken advantage of the provisions in the SORP for charities applying FRS 102 Update Bulletin 1 not to prepare a Statement of Cash Flows.

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 accounts 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.

Restricted funds are funds which are used in accordance with specific restrictions imposed by donors or which have been raised by the charity for a particular purpose. The cost of raising and adminsistering such funds are charged to the specific fund. The purposes and uses of each restricted fund is set out in the notes to the financial statements.

All incoming resources are included in the Statement of Financial Activities on a receivable basis. No amounts are included in the financial statements for services donated by volunteers.

All expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis and has been classified under the heading that aggregates all costs related to the category. Where costs cannot be directly attributed to a particular heading they have been allocated on a basis consistent with the use of the resource.

Corporate governance costs are recognised as they fall due.

Cash and cash equivalents include cash in hand, deposits held at call with banks, other short-term liquid investments with original maturities of three months or less, and bank overdrafts. Bank overdrafts are shown within borrowings in current liabilities.

Basic financial assets, which include debtors and cash and bank balances, are initially measured at transaction price including transaction costs and are subsequently carried at amortised cost using the effective interest method unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, where the transaction is measured at the present value of the future receipts discounted at a market rate of interest. Financial assets classified as receivable within one year are not amortised.

Financial assets are derecognised only when the contractual rights to the cash flows from the asset expire or are settled, or when the Charity transfers the financial asset and substantially all the risks and rewards of ownership to another entity, or if some significant risks and rewards of ownership are retained but control of the asset has transferred to another party that is able to sell the asset in its entirety to an unrelated third party.

Basic financial liabilities, including creditors and bank loans are initially recognised at transaction price unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, where the debt instrument is measured at the present value of the future payments discounted at a market rate of interest. Financial liabilities classified as payable within one year are not amortised.

Debt instruments are subsequently carried at amortised cost, using the effective interest rate method.

Trade creditors are obligations to pay for goods or services that have been acquired in the ordinary course of operations from suppliers. Amounts payable are classified as current liabilities if payment is due within one year or less. If not, they are presented as non-current liabilities. Trade creditors are recognised initially at transaction price and subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method.

Financial liabilities are derecognised when the Charity’s contractual obligations expire or are discharged or cancelled.

Transactions in currencies other than pounds sterling are recorded at the rates of exchange prevailing at the dates of the transactions. At each reporting end date, monetary assets and liabilities that are denominated in foreign currencies are retranslated at the rates prevailing on the reporting end date. Gains and losses arising on translation are included in net income/(expenditure) for the period.

The charity is a company limited by guarantee. Doc Society is the sole member of the company. In the event of the charity being wound up, the liabilities in respect of the guarantee is limited to £1 per member of the charity.

Grants receivable - Adessium Fund    

Total Income

Grant funding

Other costs

Doc Academy

Adessium

Unrest

Bank charges

Sundry expenses

Profit on foreign exchange

Management fees

Doc Society Charitable Trust (Formerly Britdoc Charitable Trust) is a charity for tax purposes. All income receivable is exempt from corporation tax.

Incoming resources

During the year the charity paid management fees of £0.00 (2018: £38,000) to Doc Society, a member of the charity. As at the year end, the balance due to Doc Society is £43,010 (2018: £66,713).