Our Charitable Objects 

The Equality Trust’s objects, as laid down in its Memorandum and Articles of Association are:

1. To advance health, in particular through identifying and addressing physical and mental health issues arising, in whole or part, from socio-economic inequality.
2. To advance education, particularly education of the public through undertaking and/or promoting research into the scale, development, causes and effects of socio-economic inequality and means to reduce socio-economic inequality, publishing or procuring the publication of the useful results of such research;
3. To relieve poverty, including through the relief of social and economic need and disadvantage related, in whole or part, to socio-economic inequality;
4. To promote equality and diversity, in particular socio-economic equality and diversity within socio-economic groups.
5. To promote sustainable development for the benefit of the public (sustainable development being development which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs).

The central aim of the Equality Trust, and the vision that shapes our activity, is the improvement in quality of life in the UK by dismantling structural inequalities of income, wealth and power. Our work is based on a substantial and developing body of research evidence that reducing inequality has a significant public benefit, through enhanced health and social outcomes that improve the quality of life of all.

In shaping our objectives for the year and planning our activities, the Trustees have carefully considered the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit.

The Trustees do not identify any potential detriment or harm arising from the activities of the Equality Trust.

Strategic impact in 2024: our journey to change

Our activities are led by our values and aligned with the six elements of our journey to change (p10), and contribute to achieving our medium-term strategic objectives and longer-term goals. Our work across all these workstreams is essential for creating the conditions for everyone to live a good life.

RESEARCH inequalities of income, wealth and power

In 2024, we continued to develop and publish research to challenge dominant narratives about inequality, changing how people perceive it. We adopted novel methodologies, uncovered new qualitative data, analysed quantitative data to reveal new perspectives, and raised the profile of less often heard about inequities in the UK.

In March, we released Artificial Intelligence and Healthcare Inequalities– a baseline analysis of artificial intelligence (AI) use in healthcare, authored by Daniel Guest, working with us on secondment from NHS England in 2023. The report sought to outline the risks, highlight opportunities and pose critical questions for the future development of AI as a tool for tackling health inequalities. The report’s recommendations included developing intersectional AI systems, reducing bias in data interpretation to avoid worsening existing disparities, and formulating health inequality policies in tandem with AI policies.

In April, the APPG on Poverty (which we secretariat – now the APPG on Poverty and Inequality) released a report, co-authored with the APPG on Migration, The effects of UK immigration, asylum, and refugee policy on poverty. This report, which centred the lived and living experience of those subject to immigration control, showed that the UK’s migration policy causes destitution by design, leaving people vulnerable to exploitation and crime. Key recommendations included giving asylum seekers the right to work in the UK, increasing the levels of asylum support, and the reduction of fees and charges for immigration, nationality and health.

Updating The Spirit Level fifteen years after publication was a major piece of work that we undertook with our Patrons, and we are very grateful to them for giving their time and expertise. By doing this we were able to make sure that the evidence base that we work from was still relevant, robust and authoritative. We were also able to extend the analysis to further demonstrate the links between inequality and the climate crisis and inequality and the erosion of democracy – further explored in our event Has inequality broken democracy?. The Spirit Level at 15 has been cited in several academic and campaigning publications and has been translated into Japanese by the Japan Network of Health Promoting Hospitals and Health Services, further extending its reach. 

The Structural Inequalities Alliance released Stories for Change, giving 18 changemakers from across the most deprived areas of the UK the opportunity to share how they experience structural inequalities in the UK. This resource aims to increase understanding of the impact of structural inequalities and provide critical insight into how complex systems, policies and decisions embed inequity on a daily basis.

We co-produced Reconstructing the Social Contract alongside ten Young Advocates, working with them over 6 months. This project employed the Community Reporting methodology of peer research and narrative evidence gathering, increasing understanding of the social contract, how it has been dismantled and how young people view the future of their relationship with the state.

In collaboration with BLAM, we released Advancing anti-racist therapy for racialised communities. This report explores racial trauma as a public health emergency and the inadequacy of mainstream mental health services to support racialised communities in the UK. The report showcases Zuri Racial Wellness Therapy as part of a community-led solution, focusing on providing culturally appropriate and trauma-informed care, alongside other recommendations for reshaping our mental health services to respond to the needs of the most marginalised.

We started working with Dr Eleni Karagiannaki and 8 Community Reporters – who we recognise as co-researchers – to provide qualitative evidence to bolster quantitative analysis of ethnic wealth inequalities in the UK. The first part of the report was released in April 2025, with further outputs and an event planned for later in the year.

SHARE learning and evidence

With our new, distinctive branding and our accessible and informative infographics, our influence and thought leadership in the progressive economics movement were visible throughout the year. Our interventions changed how people think and talk about inequality in 2024.

Influential progressive voices such as Richard Murphy, Grace Blakely and Owen Jones used our infographics and statistics to challenge dominant narratives and argue for restructuring our economy. We reached different audiences as our analysis resonated with a new generation of people engaged in critical analysis of structural oppression.

We secured local and national press coverage for our research and campaigns, including a feature on The Spirit Level at 15, coverage of the joint APPG report into migration policies causing destitution by design, and were quoted on coverage of extreme wealth and equal pay issues.

We also used creative campaigning to shine a light on the obscene wealth vaunted in the Sunday Times Rich List, through our parody microsite (NOT) THE SUNDAY TIMES – What if the richest used their wealth for the common good? Presented by The Equality Trust.

Aligned with our more in depth research reports, consultation responses and briefings, we produced rapid yet robust and informative analysis on UK inequality during the year through our weekly email update – On The Level. This engages our subscribers in polls, digital activism and collaboration on outputs – including development of our 2024 election manifesto; with Carla Denyer MP, co-leader of the Green Party echoing many of our asks during televised election debates.  We produced swift scrutiny of government data, shining a light on how our tax system benefits the richest. Our Budget Report card and our evaluation of election manifestos tested policy proposals against our refreshed evidence base; we reflected on who benefits from COVID-19 being memory-holed and examined the continued attack on workers’ rights.

Alongside this, we were delighted that the film made by our Young Advocates on the social contract was nominated for a film award – making it to the final!

ADVOCATE to people with the power and influence to inform decision making to act to reduce inequalities

At the national policy influencing level, we successfully campaigned for the inclusion of the commencement of the socio-economic duty (SED) and the expansion of pay ratio reporting in Labour’s manifesto in the 2024 election. As we have been campaigning on the commencement of the SED since 2016, demonstrating the tenacity needed to secure policy change, particularly during hostile and turbulent political periods. In the weeks following the general election we worked with campaign partners in 1forEquality and Make Equality Real to support the development of the consultation – pushing for mechanisms for experts by experience to have power within this.

We submitted evidence to relevant consultations, including on Reform of Air Passenger Duty on Private Jets, Low Pay Commission (written and oral), Women and Equalities Committee Community Cohesion Inquiry and Just Fair’s Submission to UN Committee on Economic, Social & Cultural Rights 2025 – ensuring that the voices of those less often heard were amplified in the policy making process.

Our research continued to be mentioned in Parliament with Adrian Ramsay MP, Green Party co-leader, referencing our evidence to further demonstrate the need for a wealth tax. We have also run several petitions, including against the introduction of employment tribunal fees – a proposal that was shelved – and on the commencement of the socio-economic duty.

During 2024 we steered the APPG on Poverty to become the APPG on Poverty and Inequality – significantly increasing MP numbers and levels of engagement since the start of the new parliament. We are intentionally working with the officers to ensure that experts by experience are central to priority setting and guiding the research focus of the APPG.

Our parliamentary drop in event, focused on sharing evidence from The Spirit Level at 15, urging parliamentarians to use this in pushing for progressive change, was well attended. Through this event we were able to raise awareness of our work, increase the number of MPs involved in the APPG on Poverty and Inequality and secure further support for the Make Equality Real campaign on meaningful commencement of the socio-economic duty.

In total during 2024 around 1700 MP letters were sent by our supporters, asking their elected representative to push on reducing inequalities. As a result of this advocacy, there are now around 50 MPs directly engaged with our work – urging the government to embed inequality reduction as a goal.

CONNECT decision makers, organisations and communities around evidence, issues and solutions

The Structural Inequalities Alliance (SIA) continued to hold knowledge exchange events focused on supporting people to make changes within their spheres of influence. 75% of SIA members reported that the events, the publication Recognising Structural Inequalityand roundtable discussions had supported them to develop their work on structural inequalities in their organisations; and that they felt more equipped to challenge practices that perpetuate these. By amplifying best practice across a variety of sectors, including the business sector, SIA was able to build bridges between academics, practitioners and decision makers. The SIA Network Manager was also selected as a Democratic Wellbeing Champion, as part of Carnegie UK’s Collective Wellbeing programme, contributing to their research on participative and deliberative democracy; further sharing knowledge through attendance at the Democracy Network Conference.

We delivered Unleash Your Inner Changemaker training to officers from various local authorities, designed to help decision-makers reconnect with their core values and understand how Equality Impact Assessments—especially when including the socio-economic duty—can be powerful tools for creating positive change. At the heart of this training is the importance of building meaningful, reciprocal, and non-extractive relationships with communities, and rethinking traditional consultation processes to genuinely centre the voices of those most affected by socio-economic inequality.

WIDEN the net of who gets to imagine and design a better future

We continued our place based work in London, Birmingham and Derby, focusing on the promise of meaningful and effective voluntary adoption of the socio-economic duty, and the difference that this could make in localities. Alongside participative decision making, we posited the development of multi use community owned spaces as a different way of working which can reduce inequalities and improve the lives of everyone.

Through Reconstructing the Social Contract we worked with 10 young people with the explicit aim of thinking about what a new social contract could look like, and what could be done differently now to achieve that goal. You can read their full recommendations, which include funding for spaces, affordable housing and greater representation for young people in Parliament.

We also commenced our Community Economists project which has set out to co-create a vision of an economy that genuinely supports everyone to have a good life – this innovative and essential work will be progressing during 2025 and 2026 as we start to co-create with our 11 participants.

During 2024 we trained 36 Community Reporters, who interviewed over 100 people who would ordinarily not have a voice in research and policy development, supporting community-led storytelling and action; with the aim of amplifying less often heard voices.

RUN campaigns and support others to run their own so that voices are amplified and diverse

Alongside our national advocacy aimed at influencing national politicians, our aim is for people to have more power in addressing the inequalities affecting them and to this end we work in partnership with individuals and organisations in London, Derby and Birmingham. We use the Community Reporting methodology to gain insight into community priorities and solutions. Our approach in each of these place-based projects is led by participants and focuses on co-curating creative mobilisation tactics.

In Birmingham, the third cohort of Community Reporters came together for a Conversations of Change event in January 2024 – the culmination of months of work and with around 30 stories gathered, they created a video shown to an audience of storytellers, the Economic Justice Alliance, other peer researchers and stakeholders from across Birmingham.  We are currently working with the fourth and fifth Community Reporting cohorts to develop mobilisation plans for this and other evidence uncovered by the project. Alongside this we are engaging with Birmingham City Council to develop their capacity to meaningfully engage with residents to reduce socio-economic inequality in the city.

In Derby we started to see results from the tenacious efforts of Fair Chance Derby as they continued to take a creative, collaborative and community-led approach to influencing decision making at the local level – with the impact being that council managers now learning with and directly from the people who live the tough realities of poverty and financial struggle.

In Brent, as part of our work in London on the socio-economic duty (SED) we started a Community Reporting project, to better understand key priorities and how the SED can be a lever for both Local Authorities and communities in better decision making. Alongside this we contributed to Global Action Plan’s Clean Air, New Voices London Mayoral election campaign. 

We also convene, or are active participants in, several campaign collaborations including Equal Pay Alliance, Make Equality Real, 1forEquality, Taxing Wealth More and the Renters Reform Coalition – leading on and contributing to several open letters including on extending pay gap reporting, taxing wealth and meaningful commencement of the SED.

What others say about Equality Trust and our impact

“The Equality Trust and Community Reporters Network have played a massive part in my life in the sense that I now have confidence in my voice and also the importance of recording people’s stories to bring about impactful change. I absolutely cannot wait to use community reporting to make important changes. I have so many ideas!”

Sarah H, Birmingham Community Reporter

Thank you – I feel so much more able to approach my work in a way that can tackle inequalities properly.”

Socio economic duty workshop participant

“Working with the Equality Trust…opened my eyes to the systemic inequalities affecting young people today and allowed me to better understand the social contract and how it is broken. It gave me the tools and platform to actively contribute to important discussions about reshaping our social contract. The experience honed my skills in research, communication and advocacy while deepening my understanding of complex societal issues.”

Youth Advocate, Reconstructing the Social Contract

“Working with Equality Trust was enjoyable, their support was ongoing and I’m still in touch with the personnel running the course. The newsletter they email me keeps me in touch with topics they’re working on, it even helped me to decide my vote in the elections this year.”

Feedback from a Community Reporter

“Inspirational and hopeful… Dolls created a lot of dialogue, some powerful stories and overlapping areas of lived experience of structural injustice… Really great to focus on what change we want, how that might be possible at the local council level – empowering to think it just might be possible to make a difference”

Participant in  Fair Chance Derby campaign action

“It was great to be part of this. To share stories & meet others. The whole atmosphere was kind & respectful & the idea of a possible ‘intervention’  (or at least a slight shift) as a result of difficult and structurally unfair lived experience being collected, documented, cleverly curated then aimed at those who need to hear – brings me a little glimmer of hope for the future…”

Feedback from Structural Inequalities Alliance event participant

“While the residents had heard of The Equality Act before, the workshop helped them understand how socio-economic duties could lead to improved outcomes for people facing different socio-economic challenges. The participants particularly enjoyed the activity where they wrote a poem or described local spaces in Southall that held meaning for them. I was personally impressed to learn about the number of billionaires it would take to address various crises in the UK. Overall, this workshop was an excellent first step in engaging people about their rights and how they can work to preserve the local community spaces that matter to them.”

Feedback from Southall Community Alliance, following workshop on Socio-Economic Rights of the Voluntary Sector and Residents

Structure, governance and management

Governing Document

The organisation is constituted as a company limited by guarantee (Company Registered No. (England and Wales) 6084965) and was incorporated on 6th February 2007. The company was granted charitable status on 6th May 2015 (Charity Registration No. (England and Wales) 1161545).

 The company was established under a Memorandum of Association which established the objects and powers of the company and it is governed under its Articles of Association (as amended on becoming a charity).

The Board

The Board of Trustees meets at least four times a year. During the course of the year the Board continued looking at financial management, risk assessment, funding and staffing issues; as well as planning strategically to ensure The Equality Trust’s work would meet the organisation’s objects.

Trustee Expenses

All Trustees give their time voluntarily and receive no benefits from the charity.  Any expenses reclaimed from the charity are set out in note 5 to the accounts.

Recruitment and appointment of Trustees

At the beginning of 2024, The Equality Trust had eight trustees with a range of skills and expertise. We bade farewell to our outgoing chair Dr Fran Darlington-Pollock at the end of January 2024. Fran supported the Equality Trust through a challenging period, providing leadership and support for staff. Thanks to Fran’s stewardship, Equality Trust remains a stronger and more resilient organisation.

Chris Lynch stood down in May 2024 and Karen Turner stood down in December 2024; Mary Hill was appointed in January 2024 and stood down in May 2025. We are grateful for their contributions whilst they were in post, and acknowledge that these decisions were due to changes in personal capacity. George Weyman stood down in May 2025, having served beyond his two three year terms.

The Equality Trust currently has a board of four trustees, who bring a broad range of skills in research, digital, cybersecurity, communications, finance and governance, and a diversity of lived and learned experience of inequalities to their strategic roles.

The Equality Trust board is led by two co-chairs. During 2024 Chi Lael and George Weyman served in these positions, having been appointed in January of that year by the trustees. They stepped up to support Equality Trust when our future was far from secure, and they did this recognising that there may be significant challenges ahead. George stepped down as a trustee in May 2025, after serving beyond his two three year terms, to support trustee recruitment and a transition between co-chairs. Chi stepped down as co-chair in May 2025 and we deeply value her continued commitment, insight and support in her role as a trustee.

From May 2025 Tom Allanson and Yamini Cinamon Nair took on the co-chairing roles.

 As set out in the Memorandum and Articles of Association, any person who is willing to become a trustee, and who is not disqualified, can be appointed by the board. Trustees contribute their services voluntarily.

 In order to ensure fairness and transparency in recruitment, we advertise trustee vacancies widely and invite applications from the general public. The Board is also able to co-opt members if the Trustees are satisfied that they bring required knowledge and experience to the organisation. The selection of new trustees is presided over by at least three relevant Trustees and staff, with at least one staff member involved in the process. 

Recognising gaps in our skills and expertise, difficulties in retaining new trustees, and the imminent departure of two long standing trustees due to term limits, we embarked on a radical trustee recruitment process in the first half of 2025 – and we are due to welcome a number of new trustees to the board in the latter half of the year.

The Charity Governance Code

The Equality Trust’s governance policies and procedures are informed by the Charity Governance Code as it applies to smaller charities. The charity recognises that the code is a tool for continuous improvement and will seek to apply its principles to the furthest extent possible. The Code is discussed in our board meetings.

Induction and training of trustees

New trustees undergo an orientation process, to include meeting with Co-Executive Directors and all staff, as well as other trustees. Trustees participate in training as required and attend Equality Trust events as appropriate. 

Organisational Structure

Day-to-day responsibility for the actions of the charity rests with the Co-Executive Directors. The Co-Executive Directors are responsible for ensuring that the charity delivers against its objectives. They provide individual supervision of the staff team and also ensure that the team continues to develop their skills and working practices in line with good practice. 

Risk Management

Staff and trustees have conducted a review of the major risks to which the charity is exposed. A risk register has been established and is reviewed before each Board meeting. Where appropriate, systems or procedures have been established to mitigate the risks the charity faces. Internal financial control risks are minimised by the implementation of procedures for authorisation of all transactions and projects. Procedures are in place to ensure compliance with health and safety of staff, volunteers, clients and visitors to The Equality Trust. As for all small charities, securing adequate funding is our key risk, and we have developed a reserves policy that reflects this risk. A fundraising committee has been established to support staff to develop a sustainable income generation strategy.  We also have excellent relationships with our funders and receive substantial financial support from the public. As we moved to working from home, we enhanced our digital processes and reviewed working practices and travel commitments. Our governance review and recruitment to the Board was also a part of our risk management to ensure that The Equality Trust had the commensurate trustee capacity and skills to enable the charity to make best use of its resources. The growth in activity and the charity’s increased reach has meant that we have needed to continue to maintain a close eye on activities, the use of the charity’s name and affiliation status and its reputation in the public sphere.

Transactions and Financial Position

The financial statements have been prepared implementing the current version of the Statement of Recommended Practice for Accounting and Reporting by Charities issued by the Charity Commission for England and Wales and in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard 102. The trustees consider the financial performance by the charity during the year to have been satisfactory.

The Statement of Financial Activities show total income for the year of £558,573  (2023: £321,981) and total expenditure of £486,305  (2023: £311,805) making a net increase in funds of £72,268 (2023:net increase of £10,176).

The total reserves at the year-end stand at £297,104 including restricted reserves of £41,538 and designated reserves of £77,452 (2023: £224,836 including £63,125 restricted, £17,840 designated).

Related parties transactions

There are no related party transactions to disclose for 2024 or 2023. There are no donations from related parties outside the normal course of business or given with conditions. The charity received donations from related parties without conditions in 2024 of £1,530 (2023: £6,276).                                                                                                                 

Availability and adequacy of assets of each of the funds

The board of trustees is satisfied that the charity’s assets in each fund are available and adequate to fulfil its obligations in respect of each fund.

The investment policy and objectives

The investment objective for short-term reserves is to preserve the capital value with a minimum level of risk.  All funds are to be invested in line with its charitable aims. The trustees have opted not to adopt an exclusionary investment policy, but individual investments may be excluded if perceived to conflict with The Equality Trust’s purpose.