TALKBACK-UK_LIMITED - Accounts

Welcome to the Annual Financial Report for the year to 30th September 2021.

It is only right to start with a tribute to our former Chair, Janice Campbell, who sadly died this year. She served the charity as a trustee and as Chair for over 19 years and made a huge difference to so many lives. We hold her family in our thoughts and are so grateful for the time, expertise, and effort she has given Talkback.

Every financial report in the UK mentions the pandemic. We now see this as the way it is and, yet again, we saw many positives from a hard situation. For many of our members being isolated and unable to get around is a way of life. So perhaps the pandemic helped us see the world a bit more through their eyes.

Key for us is maintaining personal contact with our members, digitally or by telephone, and this has been excellently handled by all our staff. We are grateful for their continuing creativity, patience, and engagement with all our members.

None of this could have been achieved without the continuing support of our existing funders as well as some welcome new funding to meet additional costs and develop new ways of working. We greatly appreciate the support we have received this year.

As we go into the new financial year we continue to adapt our ways of working. We are using what people have told us, plus our learning from this period, to develop what we do, with the aim of ensuring our long-term capability to meet the needs of people with learning disability and autistic people.

Jeremy Hay

CEO

The Trustees, who are also directors of the charity for the purposes of the Companies Act 2006, present their report with the financial statements of the charity for the 12 months ended 30 September 2021. The Trustees comply with the charity’s Constitution, the Companies Act 2006 and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102 (update bulletin 2)).

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in note to the financial statements and comply with the charity's governing document, 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)".

The charity's objectives and principal activities are:

• •    To provide opportunities for people with a learning disability and/or autism to speak up and have their say on local services and community life and enable them to obtain their full rights and privileges as citizens through embedding the skills of self-advocacy.

These are achieved by:

•     supporting and developing self-advocacy skills, providing opportunities for people to engage meaningfully and participate, feeding into the planning, development, and delivery of services.

• training and consultation with a range of professionals and agencies, the wider community, and families to educate and raise awareness, to increase the quality of life experienced by people with a learning disability and/or autism, plus other disability groups.

• providing education support and personal development services as well as life skills and employment support.

Talkback - Our Passion

Our overwhelming passion and drive is to see the slogan “Developing a World of Possibilities” lived out in the lives of all our members. We positively look at each person uniquely, never assuming, always listening, and forever exploring possibilities. Our Annual Impact Review is full of great stories and is available on our website.

Our vision

“To help autistic people and people with a learning disability embrace new opportunities, lead the fulfilling lives they want and actively contribute to their community.”

The Trustees confirm that they have referred to the guidance contained in the Charities Commission general guidance on public benefit when reviewing the organisation’s aims and objectives and are confident that Talkback is complying in this area. We also follow the Code of Practice on Fundraising and are audited by Ofsted, Bucks County Council, and the Bucks College Group amongst others for the quality of our work as well as having our own monthly observations and those annually done by experts by experience- a trained group of people with lived experience who look at our services as part of our quality improvement.

Our Programmes:

Equip for Learning:

The Equip Education Programme continues to deliver exciting and innovative life skills sessions for young people aged 16-25 with a learning disability and autistic individuals.

We work closely with the colleges, and they have been exemplary in the way they have dealt with the crisis that 2020-1 presented. Our thanks go to the management and staff of Bucks College Group and BCA for the way they have supported us and all our members.

Our results this year have included: -

Community/College

•     Running our first Summer Activities programme to help young people successfully make the transition from school to college, ensuring they can cope with the first term and reduce the possibility of dropping out.

•     67 students completed the academic year in July 2021

•     40 students returned in September 2021

•     37 new students joined in September 2021

•     Equip currently run 19 community groups across the week

Transitions to Work

•     We doubled the number of work experience employers to six. We are most grateful to them for the 25+ students who have weekly experience of work.

•     Creation of a new Talkback work experience at in “The Accessible Workshop” in Aylesbury. The woodwork group now has 22 members weekly and is producing great results.

Adult Services - Personal Development and Skills for Life:

Our member base continues to grow and the 2020-21 period saw many exciting developments. We started 3 new work experience groups and have 18 members accessing work experience opportunities through Adult Services:

•     Lady Ryder Memorial Garden in Frieth. Garden Project started on 29th July 2021. 11 people access this opportunity

•     Healthy Living Centre Aylesbury. Roles include working in the reception and shop. Started 8th September 2021. 4 people access this opportunity

•     All Saints Church, High Wycombe. Assisting in running Coffee Shop. Started 7th September 2021. 3 people access this opportunity

We are extremely grateful to those three organisations who have embraced us with open arms.

Personal Development and Skils gained 17 new members over the period, reflecting the quality of our services.

Sports Academy (PDS STATS)

The Talkback Sports Academy has been a driving Force behind the hugely successful Virtual Dance and Wake Up Shake Up Sessions and YouTube channel which has had over 12,000 visits. We have an aim of providing new inclusive fun experiences and the opportunity to learn new skills. We have introduced netball alongside our much-loved badminton and 12 other sports.

We are so grateful to the financial supporters and the excellent coaches like Alistair Jones at Wycombe Badminton Centre who have been inspirational.

Employability - Transitions to Work

We are revolutionising our approach in providing support into volunteer opportunities, work experience and full-time employment. We want to give every person with autism or a learning disability the same opportunities as everyone else. We will work with every member to understand what they want to do and help them achieve their realistic aims.

Our success rate is more than double the national average, based on the support we give each person as they settle into their jobs.

Building Better Opportunities (BBO) – Support into Employment

This project brings together funding from the Big Lottery Fund and the European Social Fund (ESF) to help tackle the poverty and social exclusion faced by the most disadvantaged people in England.

Since 2017, we have engaged with 50 people with a learning disability and/or autism throughout Milton Keynes and Aylesbury in supporting them to move a step closer to employment. We are achieving employment rates, even in these unique times, of 25% against the national average of 6%.

We continue our proactive working relationship with the DWP and are part of a consortium of providers in Milton Keynes who work together in sharing best practice, sharing employer leads, participant engagement and referrals. We are grateful for all the support.

Supported Employment:

The Supported Employment project is a result of what people with a learning disability and/or autism have told us they need. The aim of Supported Employment is to work closely with members in supporting them into successful, meaningful, paid employment of their choice. We want people with a learning disability and/or autism to feel valued and respected in the workplace. This is achieved by providing both the individual and the employer with realistic and ongoing support mechanisms within the workplace.

We currently have:

• 7 participants in paid employment and 10 undertaking work experience placements.

• 4 new people joined us for supported employment in last quarter.

• We have 3 participants volunteering with the gardening team at Cliveden National Trust. We hope opportunities may arise in their new café when it opens in Easter 2022. We would like to replicate this “small group set up” at other NT properties, such as Waddesdon and Hughenden.

• We developed a closer working relationship with Aylesbury DWP, which enabled us to refer Supported Employment participants onto the government Kickstart scheme. This has resulted in one of our participants gaining a full-time paid job with a local furniture company.

We strive to achieve choice, opportunity, independence, and respect for all people with a learning disability and/or autism.

Your Voice – Our Professional Services:

Talkback reaches people throughout Buckinghamshire, Milton Keynes and Berkshire and is also working nationally on issues.

We are engaging in work with various Councils to help them build new and lasting solutions to problems that have been around for too long. The intent, from many parties, has always been to fix these issues and our focus is to help other organisations embed better ways of seeing the world through the eyes of people with learning disability and/ or autism and making reasonable adjustments to make sure there is no exclusion.

In Reading, our work supports people with autism to overcome loneliness and isolation by offering a community “Drop In” service and outreach programme which has doubled in size. We also run a programme to support people with learning disability and mental health needs to support and promote wellbeing, self-advocacy, and social inclusion; this includes a self-advocacy programme within Campion Unit (specialist hospital).

In Milton Keynes, we continue to support people with a learning disability and/or autism and provide a community advocacy service. We also coordinate and facilitate the new People’s Partnership Board- the two we had before Covid restrictions attracting over 80 people.

In Buckinghamshire we launched an advisory service as well as other “come and meet each other” groups around healthy living and relationships.

Our work continues to thrive, with our team actively supporting people to grow in confidence and self-esteem and lead a more independent life.

Talkback is an active member of Staying Healthy and Safeguarding Boards and involved in the range of the Preparing for Adulthood work groups.

Safeguarding and Quality

All our staff have been trained on Safeguarding, FGM, Prevent and Suicide First Aid. Our specialist training programmes include staff trained on Child Exploitation and Online Protection Awareness, and staff Trained by Terence Higgins Trust on Sex, Relationships and Gender.

We maintained our outstanding grade from Bucks County Council for our systems and processes around college provision and development of staff.

In Buckinghamshire we have launched an advisory service as well as other come and meet each other groups around healthy living and relationships.

Our work continues to thrive, with our team actively supporting people to grow in confidence and self-esteem and lead a more independent life.

Talkback is an active member of Staying Healthy and Safeguarding Boards and involved in the range of the Preparing for Adulthood work groups.

These accounts are the second since the year end date was moved to September 30th from March 31st to improve phasing of financial plans.

Talkback’s plans for the 12 months to 30th September 2021 built on the excellent previous 12 months and continued the five year plan to build a resilient, sustainable and innovative organisation. The focus on effective cost control, particularly of overheads, was maintained.

The charity operated normally, either face to face or virtually, following the government and local authority guidelines. Financial performance tracked slightly above plan, due to an increase in member numbers in our Personal Development and Skills for Adult Services. This rise comes from 3 years of hard work to design and deliver our high quality and highly-regarded services.

Some costs were lower than planned due to the stop-gap delivery of services online or by phone and from coronavirus-related government rebates and grants. Additional short-term venue rental costs in the past 12 months, needed for the covid safety of our members, were closely monitored and adjusted.

The Finance Committee and Board of Trustees maintained oversight of Talkback’s finances and satisfied themselves it continues to operate efficiently and effectively, balancing the immediate need to deliver services and support to its members with due regard to the longer-term financial health of the charity.

Azets undertook their first audit of our accounts last year. They gave us an unqualified opinion and provided useful feedback in their report to management. We are grateful for their professional help in moving us forward.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank our principal funders during this period. We are grateful for the support of each of the Councils and Commissioners. They are under continual pressure to deliver more with less and continue to make a positive impact which is often not recognised.

They are:

•     Buckinghamshire County Council

•     Milton Keynes Council

•     Reading Borough Council

•     NHS Partnership Development Fund, Berkshire West Clinical Commissioning Group

•     National Lottery & European Social Fund (ESF)

•     Trusts including Rothschilds, Baily Thomas

•     Partnership work with some key partners around the area of Domestic Abuse and Sexual violence including AVMKSAASS and Women’s Aid

We received additional funding through one-off pieces of work, donations, and training.

We would also like to thank Amersham & District Community Association, MPLC Ltd, Mencap, Amersham Rotary Club, Findlay Park Investments, and several groups and parents for their continued support.

Reserves Policy

In line with the SORP developed by the Charity Commission, our Trustees ensure reserves are set aside for our long-term financial viability.

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 between three and six month’s expenditure. 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. This level of reserves has been maintained throughout the year.

To address the uncertainty in funding streams, the social care sector, property requirements and workplace pension scheme, the Trustees feel a general fund reserve of no less than £150k should be maintained at all times to cover between 15 and 75 days essential expenditure, This excludes rent as this is covered by a separate building reserve, as is the pension commitment.

Risk Management:

The risks for the organisation are regularly reviewed by the Board, Chief Executive, Finance and Business Managers and include Strategy, Governance, Operations, Staff, Organisational Culture and Finance.

There is an updated risk register which is reviewed quarterly and there is an ongoing plan for the risks to be reduced or eliminated.

The Trustees ensure that there are set policies, procedures, and insurances in place to mitigate risks.

The Finance subcommittee carries responsibility on behalf of, and reports to, the Board regarding the management and review of financial risk.

The charity is controlled by its governing document, a deed of trust, and constitutes a limited company, limited by guarantee, as defined by the Companies Act 2006.

The trustees, who are also the directors for the purpose of company law, and who served during the year and up to the date of signature of the financial statements were:

In accordance with the Articles of Association, the management of the charity is carried out by a Management Committee of voluntary directors, who are also Trustees. They are appointed in accordance with the Articles of Association. Talkback is also a Company Limited by Guarantee.

Recruitment is by personal approach/nomination, advertisement and by using specialist recruitment services for the voluntary sector. Talkback's induction programme introduces new/potential trustees to the Talkback Team and to the different activities of the organisation. As an organisation for and with people with a learning disability, involvement in the activities is essential to truly understanding the organisation, its direction and development and gives ongoing opportunity to work alongside people with a learning disability. This includes being fully involved with the Management Groups.

All Trustees complete an application form and provide a full CV. Before appointment they attend a Board meeting as an observer and attend a Management Group meeting where they are invited to discuss their interest in the role and the organisation including how they would like to be involved.

Before appointing new Trustees, the Board undertakes a review of current and required skills to remain relevant and identify new requirements in response to any development areas and new opportunities. The skills audit, job descriptions and person specification are updated to reflect this.

Organisational structure and how decisions are made:

The Trustees delegate the day-to-day running of the organisation to the Chief Executive, Jeremy “Jay” Hay.

The Management Committee is responsible for taking decisions in the areas of governance, strategic planning, financial and risk management. A subcommittee covers finance.

Each Talkback locality has its own Management Group (people with a learning disability or autistic people) to act as a lead on the development and direction of Talkback.

The trustees' report was approved by the Board of Trustees.

The trustees, who are also the directors of Talkback-UK Limited for the purpose 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 Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

Company Law requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable company for that year.

In preparing these financial statements, the trustees are required to:

- select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;

- observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP;

- make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;

- state whether applicable UK Accounting Standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements; and

- prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in operation.

The trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that disclose with 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 steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.Each of the trustees has confirmed that there is no information of which they are aware which is relevant to the audit, but of which the auditor is unaware. They have further confirmed that they have taken appropriate steps to identify such relevant information and to establish that the auditor is aware of such information.

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of Talkback-UK Limited (the ‘charity’) for the year ended 30 September 2021 which comprise the statement of financial activities, the balance sheet, the statement of cash flows and the notes to the financial statements, including significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including FRS 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

In our opinion, the financial statements:

give a true and fair view of the state of the charitable company's affairs as at 30 September 2021 and of its incoming resources and application of resources, for the year then ended;

have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006.

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor's responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the charity in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC’s Ethical Standard, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the trustees' use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.

Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the charity’s ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.

Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the trustees with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.

Other information

The other information comprises the information included in the annual report other than the financial statements and our auditor's report thereon. The trustees are responsible for the other information contained within the annual report. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon. Our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the course of the audit, or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.

We have nothing to report in this regard.

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 require us to report to you if, in our opinion:

the information given in the financial statements is inconsistent in any material respect with the trustees' report; or

sufficient accounting records have not been kept; or

the financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records; or

we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit.

As explained more fully in the statement of trustees' responsibilities, the trustees, who are also the directors of the charity for the purpose of company law, are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the trustees determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error. In preparing the financial statements, the trustees are responsible for assessing the charity’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the trustees either intend to liquidate the charitable company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

We have been appointed as auditor under section 144 of the Charities Act 2011 and report in accordance with the Act and relevant regulations made or having effect thereunder.

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor's report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.

A further description of our responsibilities is available on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at: https://www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our auditor's report.

Extent to which the audit was considered capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud

Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above and on the Financial Reporting Council’s website, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud.

We obtain and update our understanding of the entity, its activities, its control environment, and likely future developments, including in relation to the legal and regulatory framework applicable and how the entity is complying with that framework.  Based on this understanding, we identify and assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to fraud or error, design and perform audit procedures responsive to those risks, and obtain audit evidence that is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.  This includes consideration of the risk of acts by the entity that were contrary to applicable laws and regulations, including fraud.

In response to the risk of irregularities and non-compliance with laws and regulations, including fraud, we designed procedures which included:

• Enquiry of management and those charged with governance around actual and potential litigation and claims as well as actual, suspected and alleged fraud; 

• Reviewing minutes of meetings of those charged with governance;

• Assessing the extent of compliance with the laws and regulations considered to have a direct material effect on the financial statements or the operations of the entity through enquiry and inspection; 

• Reviewing financial statement disclosures and testing to supporting documentation to assess compliance with applicable laws and regulations;

• Performing audit work over the risk of management bias and override of controls, including testing of journal entries and other adjustments for appropriateness, evaluating the business rationale of significant transactions outside the normal course of business and reviewing accounting estimates for indicators of potential bias. 

Because of the inherent limitations of an audit, there is a risk that we will not detect all irregularities, including those leading to a material misstatement in the financial statements or non-compliance with regulation.  This risk increases the more that compliance with a law or regulation is removed from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, as we will be less likely to become aware of instances of non-compliance.  The risk of not detecting a material misstatement resulting from fraud is higher than for one resulting from error, as fraud may involve collusion, forgery, intentional omissions, misrepresentations, or the override of internal control.

Use of our report

This report is made solely to the charity’s trustees, as a body, in accordance with part 4 of the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charity's trustees those matters we are required to state to them in an auditors' report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charity and the charity’s trustees as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

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 30 September 2021, although an audit has been carried out under section 144 of the Charities Act 2011.

The directors acknowledge their responsibilities for complying with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 with respect to accounting records and the preparation of financial statements.

Talkback-UK Limited is a private company limited by guarantee incorporated in England and Wales. The registered office is Amersham Community Centre, Chiltern Avenue, Amersham, Buckinghamshire, HP6 5AH, United Kingdom.

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the charity's governing document, 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)". 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, modified to include the revaluation of freehold properties and to include investment properties and certain financial instruments at fair value. 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. In making this assessment, the trustees have considered the impacts, and expected future impacts, of the Covid-19 pandemic on both the charity and the environment in which it operates.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.

Designated funds comprise funds which have been set aside at the discretion of the trustees for specific purposes. The purposes and uses of the designated funds are set out in the notes to the financial statements.

Restricted funds are subject to specific conditions by donors as to how they may be used. The purposes and uses of the restricted funds are set out in the notes to the financial statements.

Allocation and apportionment of costs

Where costs cannot be directly attributed to particular headings they have been allocated to activities on a basis consistent with use of the resources. Administration costs are apportioned to program costs as follows:

         Program Support

Community services        80%        20%

Postage, printing and stationery     70%        30%

Sundry expenses            80%        20%

Liabilities are recognised as expenditure as soon as there is a legal or constructive obligation committing the charity to that expenditure, it is probable that a transfer of economic benefits will be required in settlement and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. Expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis and has been classified under headings that aggregate all cost related to the category. Where costs cannot be directly attributed to particular headings they have been allocated to activities on a basis consistent with the use of resources.

Grants offered subject to conditions which have not been met at the year end date are noted as a commitment but not accrued as expenditure.

Intangible assets acquired separately from a business are recognised at cost and are subsequently measured at cost less accumulated amortisation and accumulated impairment losses.

Intangible assets acquired on business combinations are recognised separately from goodwill at the acquisition date where it is probable that the expected future economic benefits that are attributable to the asset will flow to the entity and the fair value of the asset can be measured reliably; the intangible asset arises from contractual or other legal rights; and the intangible asset is separable from the entity.

Amortisation is recognised so as to write off the cost or valuation of assets less their residual values over their useful lives on the following bases:

Tangible fixed assets are initially measured at cost and subsequently measured at cost or valuation, net of depreciation and any impairment losses.

Depreciation is recognised so as to write off the cost or valuation of assets less their residual values over their useful lives on the following bases:

The gain or loss arising on the disposal of an asset is determined as the difference between the sale proceeds and the carrying value of the asset, and is recognised in net income/(expenditure) for the year.

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.

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.

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.

Payments to defined contribution retirement benefit schemes are charged as an expense as they fall due.

Leases

Rentals payable under operating leases, including any lease incentives received, are charged as an expense on a straight line basis over the term of the relevant lease.

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.

Grant funding (conditional)

Fees

Other income represents the grant provided by HMRC under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.

Rent and utilities

Insurance

Communication services

Postage, printing and stationery

Subscriptions and publications

Sundries

Recruitment

Equipment and office costs

Travelling

Personal development

Consultancy costs

IT costs

Repairs and renewals

Office costs

Communication services

Postage, printing and stationery

Sundries

Travelling

Accountancy and payroll

Bad debts

Other support costs

Consultancy costs

Governance costs includes payments to the auditors of £10,750 (2020- £8,950) for audit fees.

The analysis of auditor's remuneration is as follows:

None of the trustees (or any persons connected with them) received any remuneration or benefits from the charity during the year. No trustees were reimbursed any expenses during the year (2020: £nil).

The charity's insurance cover includes Trustees' indemnity insurance. The cost associated with this cover forms part of the overall insurance premium paid by the charity and can not be estimated. (2020: same)

The average monthly number of employees during the year was:

The variance between 2020 and 2021 Trade debtors relates to the timing of invoices raised only.

The variance between 2020 and 2021 Accruals and Deferred income relates to the timing of invoices raised only.

At the reporting end date the charity had outstanding commitments for future minimum lease payments under non-cancellable operating leases, which fall due as follows:

During the year the company paid £16,000 (2020: £13,500) to STE Enterprises Limited in respect of the provision of the interim Head of Finance service provided by the company. Simon Evans, the interim Head of Finance, is the owner and director of STE Enterprises Limited.

During the year the company paid £2,421 (2020: £nil) to Patrick van Aalst. Patrick van Aalst is the current interim Head of Finance.

The trading subsidiary, NClude-UK Limited CIC, was dissolved on 30 March 2021. The activities of the subsidiary were hived up to the Charity with effect from 1 October 2019. The dissolution of NClude-UK Limited CIC has no effect on the figures presented in the financial statements for the year to 30 September 2021.

The charity had no debt during the year.