DOC_SOCIETY_CHARITABLE_TR - Accounts

The trustees present their report and financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2021.

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in note to the financial statements 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)” (effective 1 January 2019).

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.

Other Doc Society entities

Doc Society Charitable Trust cooperates closely with its sister entities: Doc Society in the UK, Doc Society Inc in the US, and Stichting Doc Society in the Netherlands. These entities are legally independent, but have identical aims and objectives and often collaborate with one another.

Climate change continues to be an extremely important focus for all Doc Society entities. We want to support documentary filmmakers and other media makers to communicate stories about climate change in ways that have a transformative impact at scale.

In the year The Charity pursued its objects in the following ways:

Film funds

With funds from the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation the Charity granted £154,114 to Doc Society to support three films dealing with climate change and sustainability: Fashion Reimagined, A Very British Revolution, and The Promise.

With funds from the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust the Charity granted £30,000 to five filmmakers for development funding on climate-related film projects: Weathering, Skin Deep, Land of Many Waters, The Promise, and The World is (Y)ours.

The Charity made a grant of £7,500 to Evelyn, Orlando von Einsiede’s account of how his family survived and came to terms with the suicide of their son and brother.

Climate Reframe

The Charity also granted £31,487 to Doc Society for the Climate Reframe project (climatereframe.co.uk), with funds from the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust. Climate Reframe is a resource which amplifies some of the best UK-based People of Colour and Indigenous Peoples who are climate experts, campaigners and advocates. This initiative is born of a desire to make it easier, in the lead up to COP26, for media, funders, and campaigners to identify and work with those climate experts from ethnic minorities whose voices are underrepresented but whose perspective and insight is essential.

The Charity had total income of £887,949 in the year (2019/20: £365,035), of which £881,674 was restricted and £6,275 was unrestricted (2019/20: £322,797 restricted, £42,238 unrestricted). Total expenditure was £234,347 (2019/20: £372,643), of which £229,351 was restricted and £4,996 was unrestricted (2019/20: £329,782 and £42,861 respectively). At 31st March 2021, the Charity had Restricted Funds of £662,593 (2020: £10,270) and Unrestricted Funds of £3,438 (2020: £2,159). The Charity expects that approximately £563,000 from the balance of restricted funds will be released over the next 12 months to fund Doc Society’s Climate Story Unit. 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 significantly exceed £3,000 annually.

COVID 19 impact

The COVID pandemic has not had any adverse effect on the Trust’s financial position, or on its ability to fulfil its mission. Funders have continued to support the Trust generously, and the Trust’s related party, Doc Society, has moved to online working with significant disruption to its activities. For this reason the Trustees are confident that the Trust will continue to be able to fulfil its mission even if the pandemic continues for an extended period.

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:

Matthew Ajanaku (appointed 5th November 2020)

Robert Berkeley (appointed 4th March 2021)

Anuradha Henriques (appointed 5th November 2020)

Fatima Ibrahim (appointed 5th November 2020)

Stephen Johns(appointed 5th November 2020)

Peter Noorlander (appointed 5th November 2020)

Jess Search

Sandra Whipham (appointed 5th November 2020)

Rt Hon Edward Vaizey

Dilhani Wijeyesekera (appointed 5th November 2020)

Angela Seay (resigned 4th November 2021)

Stephan Chambers (resigned 4th March 2021)

Edith Finzi (resigned 5th November 2020)

Natalie Samarasinghe (resigned 17th June 2020)

William Sieghart (resigned 4th March 2021)

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 Charity’s current Trustees, Jess Search and Sandra Whipham (appointed 5th November 2020), are employed by Doc Society, hence Doc Society is a related party. Jess Search and Edith Finzi (resigned 5th November 2020) are also Directors of Doc Society.

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 current Independent Trustees (Matthew Ajanaku, Robert Berkeley, Anuradha Henriques, Fatima Ibrahim, Stephen Johnson, Peter Noorlander, Natalie Samarasinghe, Angela Seay, and 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 2021 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 2006 Act and are eligible for independent examination, I report in respect of my examination of the Doc Society Charitable Trust’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.

Since the Charity’s gross income exceeded £250,000 your examiner must be a member of a body listed in section 145 of the 2011 Act. I confirm that I am qualified to undertake the examination because I am a member of ACCA, which is one of the listed bodies.

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 2021.

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 is a private company limited by guarantee incorporated in England and Wales. The registered office is 37 Warren Street, London, W1T 6AD.

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the Charity's memorandum and articles of association, 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) (effective 1 January 2019)". 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.

Unrestricted funds are available for use at the discretion of the trustees in furtherance of their charitable objectives.

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.

The Charity has elected to apply the provisions of Section 11 ‘Basic Financial Instruments’ and Section 12 ‘Other Financial Instruments Issues’ of FRS 102 to all of its financial instruments.

Financial instruments are recognised in the Charity's balance sheet when the Charity becomes party to the contractual provisions of the instrument.

Financial assets and liabilities are offset, with the net amounts presented in the financial statements, when there is a legally enforceable right to set off the recognised amounts and there is an intention to settle on a net basis or to realise the asset and settle the liability simultaneously.

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, other than those held at fair value through income and expenditure, are assessed for indicators of impairment at each reporting date. Financial assets are impaired where there is objective evidence that, as a result of one or more events that occurred after the initial recognition of the financial asset, the estimated future cash flows have been affected.

If an asset is impaired, the impairment loss is the difference between the carrying amount and the present value of the estimated cash flows discounted at the asset’s original effective interest rate. The impairment loss is recognised in net income/(expenditure) for the year.

If there is a decrease in the impairment loss arising from an event occurring after the impairment was recognised, the impairment is reversed. The reversal is such that the current carrying amount does not exceed what the carrying amount would have been, had the impairment not previously been recognised. The impairment reversal is recognised in net income/(expenditure) for the year.

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 Inc 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

Grants receivable - Pass through

Grants receivable - Climate    

Total Income

Grant funding

Other costs

Pass through

Other grants

Bank charges

Dues and subscriptions

Profit on foreign exchange

The average monthly number of employees during the year was:

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

As at the year end, the balance due to Doc Society, an associated company, is £31,487 (2020: £382,319), and the balance due to Doc Society Inc, a member of the charity, is £Nil (2020: £10,000).