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2024-03-31-accounts

11 l j /* Age UK Mid Mersey Annual Report & Accounts 2023/24 Mid Mersey ageuK Halton | Knowsley | St Helens | Worrington Registered Charity Number 1003476 . Registered Company Number 02625647

The trustees are pleased to present their annual directors, report together with the financial statements for the year ending 31 March 2024. The financial statements comply with the Charities Act 2011, the Companies Act 2006, the Memorandum and Articles of Association 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 (published in October 2019).

AUKMM Annual Report 2023/24

Contents

ontents
Welcome from our CEO’s 1
Welcome from our Chair’s 2
Who we are 3
Our Public Benefit - Living Well in Later Life 4
Our Clients 5
Living Well Independently 6
Living Well Socially 9
Living Well Connectedly 12
Living Well Healthily 14
Our Strategic Priorities 17
Looking to the Future 22
Governance & Responsibility 23
Risk Management 25
Financial Review 27
Independent Auditors Report 33
Accounts 37

AUKMM Annual Report 2023/24

Welcome from our CEO’s

I feel very privileged to have joined Age UK Mid Mersey at the start of our journey realising our strategic ambitions. I have been humbled by the passion and dedication of our staff, volunteers, and Trustees during what has been a significant period of change. My first priority was to create stability for our amazing charity and, with the joining of Jane Brown, our Head of Services, and the appointment of our previous CEO Shelley Brown as Director of Operations, we have created a robust senior leadership team able to work collaboratively, sharing our skills and experience and driving us forward in our mission. Whilst I have the honour of introducing our Annual Report, most of the achievements and activities detailed are the result of the vision and efforts of our Board of Trustees and Shelley’s leadership in 2023-24. I accept the baton of responsibility for leading the next phase of our transformation with gratitude alongside determination to create sustainable impact for older people living in Mid Mersey’s four boroughs.

Rachel McKernan

CEO from November 2023

As I reflect on the past year as the outgoing CEO, I am proud of the resilience and dedication demonstrated by the staff team in navigating a challenging period. Despite the unprecedented recruitment interruptions we faced throughout the year, our small team demonstrated remarkable spirit and continued to excel in supporting clients across the Mid Mersey region, driven by a commitment to enhancing the quality of life for older people and providing them with the information, resources and community connections they need to live with dignity and independence. This report highlights the key initiatives we have undertaken and the impact of our efforts.

Shelley Brown

CEO until December 2023

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AUKMM Annual Report 2023/24

Welcome from our Chairs

I have the privilege of joining Age UK Mid Mersey as its new Chair of Board of Trustees from March 2024. Firstly, I would like to thank the outgoing Chair, Pete Stubbs for his stewardship and commitment during his tenure. This year has been one of challenges and opportunities, and I am proud to report that the charity has demonstrated remarkable resilience and adaptability within a challenging operating environment. As we look to the future, I remain optimistic. I believe that our strong market position and profile, and dedicated workforce position us well for continued success. We will continue to invest in our people, technology, and sustainability initiatives, as these are key to creating a long-term future for the charity. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to our colleagues for their hard work. I would also thank our customers for their continued trust, our partners for their collaboration, and our Trustees, for their ongoing support and commitment.

Nick Farmer

Appointed Chair March 2024

To stay relevant and fulfill our mission of improving the quality of life for people over 50, Age UK Mid Mersey had to adapt to the changing world. This meant developing a long-term strategy and transforming the organisation to support our team in delivering new services and securing long-term funding. In 2023, after consulting with clients, staff, and stakeholders, we created this strategy. The Covid19 pandemic made us realise that we need to be able to be adaptable and responsive to needs. We also evaluated our structure and leadership to ensure we were equipped to move forward. From 2023 to 2024, we underwent significant changes, including appointing a new CEO, strengthening our leadership team, and welcoming a new Chair of the Board of Trustees. I’m confident this new team will support and empower the 50+ community for years to come.

Pete Stubbs

Retired Chair March 2024

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Who We Are. 1/0

AUKMM Annual Report 2023/24

Who We Are

Age UK Mid Mersey is a local, independent charity that is a brand partner of Age UK. This means we operate under the Age UK brand name, but source our own funding and set our own services. We offer support to anyone aged 50+ living in Knowsley, St Helens, Warrington or Halton. We have been operating across MidMersey since 2008, when Age Concern and Help the Aged merged to form what is now Age UK.

Our Vision: Age UK Mid Mersey exists to promote improved quality of life and empowerment for people aged 50+ and their carers

Our Mission: To be enabling, caring, influential, proactive and to share our expertise

Our Values:

Continually Strive for Excellence Value, promote and protect the welfare of our beneficiaries

Treat all people fairly, positively and with respect Always act with integrity

Be transparent and accountable for our actions

We put our values into action by independently speaking out on what effects people the most, campaigning to improve policy and attitudes in partnership with others & developing excellent local services to meet and fulfil unmet needs.

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O r Public Benefit Living Well In Later Life /1

AUKMM Annual Report 2023/24

Our services and activities are centered around creating public benefit and positive impact in four key dimensions of wellbeing in later life.

Our holistic Living Well approach recognises that each of these dimensions of wellbeing interact, strengthening and supporting each other to promote overall wellbeing and quality of life.

Our team of dedicated Living Well Officers work across all activities and services, ensuring that wherever older people access our services they receive a holistic, tailored response based on their needs and expressed preferences.

We work in partnership with, and receive funding from, Halton and St Helens Borough Councils to deliver holistic Living Well Support to older residents in these boroughs.

This year we also benefited from funding from Bradford Teaching Hospitals for a research project supporting older people in Warrington and from Widnes Primary Care Network for a pilot wellbeing project in GP surgeries. We offered information and signposting support in all four boroughs.

Our approach is underpinned by the New Economics Foundations evidence based “5 Ways to Wellbeing”

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ur Clients

AUKMM Annual Report 2023/24

Who We Supported in 2023-24

In 2023-24 we provided support to 2453 clients across Mid-Mersey

We responded to 2767 individual enquiries/requests for support and provided 7082 contacts with clients. Of our 2453 clients, 2287 were new and 166 were existing clients continuing to receive support from March into April 2024. In addition, 131 individual clients regularly attended our groups and activities and 85 were engaged in community consultation events and expert panels.

Clients by Borough

Age Profile of our Clients

----- Start of picture text -----
90+ 50-59
5.1% 6.1%
60-69
80-89
23.2%
26.3%
70-79
39.4%
----- End of picture text -----

Gender of Our Clients

Our Clients Living Arrangements

----- Start of picture text -----
Lives with Family
Transgender
7.8% Other 1.3%
0.6%
Male
38.8%
Partner/Spouse Lives Alone
35.7% 55.2%
Female
60.7%
----- End of picture text -----

98% of our clients were aged over 50 and 70% were aged over 70. Our oldest 3 clients were over 100 years of age. 60% of our clients were female, and we supported a small but growing number of transgender clients. 54% of our clients who received advice and support live alone. A further 36% live with their partner or spouse.

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Living Well Independently

AUKMM Annual Report 2023/24

Advice & Information Service

Our flagship Advice and Information service is the cornerstone of our Living Well Offer providing critical support for older people. Our trained Living Well Officers provide free, confidential, up-to-date information and advice for people aged 50 plus and their significant others.

We do this by:

And – if we are not able to help, we will try to put them in touch with people who can help.

Over the last year we provided the following areas of support:

The Living Well Team have given me confidence to face difficult situations, they have been such great help to me - thank you

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AUKMM Annual Report 2023/24

This year we responded to the following number of advice, information and signposting enquiries in each topic area:

Adult Education 4
Employment/Voluntary Work 7
National AUK Services 23
Personal & Family Issues 27
Residential Care 43
Consumer Rights/Issues 44
Health Conditions 88
Social Isolation 99
Money Management 101
Travel 108
Health Services 133
Legal Information 138
Housing Options 197
Leisure & Social Activities 244
Community Care 577
Our Services/Activities 860
Welfare Benefts 1121
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200

I looked forward to talking to someone that I didn't have to see face to face, that I could tell my troubles to and know I wouldn't be laughed at... if I had to sit in front of someone I wouldn't have spoke openly

I felt they listened to me... I came in unannounced and they still helped me. I find it difficult to keep appointments as I have no car

I didn't know where to turn, you went out of your way to help me... I’d have been lost without you

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Welfare Benefit Checks

By far the greatest number of enquiries were relating to welfare benefit entitlements.

We know nationally that £8 million goes unclaimed in welfare benefits for older people and that the continuing cost of living crisis and spiralling energy costs has meant many older people have struggled to make ends meet.

As we serve some of the most deprived areas in the country it is not surprising that we have seen this volume of enquiries relating to welfare benefits. As well as supporting clients with assessments to determine if they are eligible to claim certain benefits, we will also support those who need it with form filling, submitting claims and lodging appeals if necessary. Having support to navigate online forms or to find the right words to describe someone’s worst days can be invaluable in facilitating access to entitlements.

Last year we undertook 205 welfare benefit checks on behalf of clients.

Additionally, we provided support to 316 clients to start new benefit claims, providing direct support to 121 clients with claiming for attendance allowance.

This resulted in awards of additional annual income for clients of £458,020 in welfare benefits.

Living Sociall

AUKMM Annual Report 2023/24

Our Groups & Activities

Throughout the year we continued to provide weekly opportunities for socialisation and peer support through our Social and Activity Groups.

In response to the cost-of-living crisis and the ending of the energy price cap we widened the remit of our groups to become warm spaces and ensured they were all dementia friendly by default.

The groups are volunteer led with support from Living Well Officers. They help individuals to get out and meet new people, learn new skills or knowledge from guest speakers. Having a regular place to go and being part of a group with a common interest is recognised as having a positive impact on mental wellbeing.

In total we hosted 249 group sessions that attracted 131 clients culminating in 2207 individual attendances.

Our volunteers and group attendees came together in December to enjoy a festive film night. The event was an opportunity to say thank you to our amazing volunteers for all their help and support during the year and allowed the attendees to come together in a more informal setting, enjoy some food and watch the traditional Christmas film ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’.

Billinge Coffee & Chat

Upton Mens Group

Runcorn Coffee & Chat

St Helens Mens Group

----- Start of picture text -----
Mixed Crafts
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We also have a digital WhatsApp Group

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AUKMM Annual Report 2023/24

Volunteering

Volunteering is the life blood of the voluntary sector – providing meaningful opportunities for volunteers to make a difference in their community, supporting their own wellbeing, whilst also creating benefit for the other people they support.

This year we have benefited from the support provided by a small group of incredibly dedicated and passionate volunteers who undertook various roles enabling us to expand our reach and provide support to more clients.

Digital Champion Volunteers

The Digital Champion Volunteers support older people with whatever they wish to learn to do on digital devices at their own pace, with the aid of step-by-step picture instructions. We are also able to provide a media tablet / laptop and access to the internet to those who do not have access to technology at home. The program has enabled participants to connect digitally with friends, family, groups & the wider world and has given them the confidence and knowledge to get online.

Our volunteers provide critical support across various areas of the organisation. Below is a snapshot of some of the roles undertaken and the impact they create within our community;

Group Support Volunteers

These volunteers work directly within our groups, facilitating activities and providing hand-on assistance to participants, offering guidance and support. Their presence enhances the experience for participants by creating a welcoming, supportive environment, allowing our staff to manage larger groups and deepen group engagement.

My favourite part about volunteering is getting together with the group and enjoying their company

A Digital Champion Volunteer with a client

Admin & Reception Volunteers

Our admin & reception volunteers play a critical role in maintaining organisational efficiency and providing a friendly first point of contact for clients visiting our premises. Volunteers assist with behind-thescenes tasks including updating leaflets and literature, data entry and other office support functions.

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AUKMM Annual Report 2023/24

Wellbeing Befrienders

This is a new role and we expect numbers to significantly increase in the next 12 months. The Wellbeing Befrienders provide companionship and emotional support to older clients who may be isolated, lonely, or lacking social interaction. Through regular check-ins, phone calls and in person visits, the Wellbeing Befrienders offer a listening ear and provide encouragement to reconnect, for example re-engaging with a hobby, assisting on a short walk or accompanying them to a community group.

Across all roles, our volunteers contributed over 1,278 hours per annum, providing the equivalent of £14,620 added value (based on national living wage rate) in support.

Pandemic Recovery

As with many local charities we saw a significant decline in our volunteer numbers after the pandemic, which was proving difficult to reverse. This required us to review the way in which we recruited, inducted, trained, and supported volunteers to ensure they felt safe and secure in their volunteering roles with us.

Trustees have invested in the creation of a dedicated Volunteer Coordinator Role, who is working with our Director of Operations to create a simple and supportive volunteering pathway that will enable more residents to volunteer their time with us.

Our investment in volunteering is starting to mature and by the end of the year we had increased the number of active volunteers by 34%. We expect this to continue to grow at similar rates for the year ahead.

A few of our volunteers meet John Bishop when he dropped into our Runcorn Coffee & Chat group.

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Living W Connect &X

AUKMM Annual Report 2023/24

Digital Inclusion

Digital technology is playing an increasing role in all our lives, and for many people, it is essential to the way that they socialise, work, shop, manage their finances, access NHS services, and get entertainment.

This programme will match specially trained digital champion volunteers with older people who wish to develop their digital skills. It will include an equipment loan scheme and provide data to enable participants to learn in their own homes as well as our venues.

Although many older people fully embrace the digital world, evidence shows that digital exclusion increases with age. 18% of people aged 65 & over, around 2.3m, do not use the internet, increasing to 29% of people aged 75 & over.

We believe that this is a barrier to older people being able to live well in later life. This year we were awarded UK prosperity funding in Halton to develop a programme to support access to digital technology for older residents. This enabled us to purchase laptops and tablets and create a digital inclusion drop-in session in Runcorn for older people to learn digital skills at their own pace, supported by trained volunteers and/or living well officers.

This programme was so successful that we wished to expand this to all four boroughs. We were able to use the learning from this project to successfully apply for funding from Age UK national for an 18 month Digital Champions programme which will commence delivery in July 2024.

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AUKMM Annual Report 2023/24

Community Consultation

Our established Older People Expert Panels in Halton and St Helen’s ensure the views of older people are at the centre of all our activity, including service design, consulting on issues affecting older people and influencing policy makers locally and wider.

Our Expert Panels have a total of 14 members and met 8 times this year. They have helped us design our digital service, develop our Living Well Service, improve volunteer recruitment and provided feedback on our opening times.

We also continue to actively participate in multiple partner networks across all 4 boroughs.

We continued to support system partners by engaging older residents in consultations to inform their strategic priorities and service design.

This year we supported the engagement of over 75 older people in 12 public consultations and events.

This included Halton and St Helen’s Borough Councils Loneliness surveys and St. Helen’s Joint Strategic Needs Assessment for Older People.

A few members of our Halton Expert Panel & our Engagement, Inclusion & Co-Production Officer

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Living Well Healthily

AUKMM Annual Report 2023/24

Prosper

Age UK Mid Mersey were one of only a handful of local Age UK charities selected to conduct Prosper Research following a partnership between Age UK and the Universities of Leeds and Manchester, funded by the National Institute for Health Research.

The project concluded in February 2024 and supported 300 clients in total over the course of the project.

Prosper was a clinical trial working with people 65+ who were selected based on strict frailty criteria.

Working closely with GP practices, the study involved our specially trained Living Well Officers visiting older adults and helping them identify life changes and goals.

The benefits for older people taking part in the trial included:

They encourage clients to talk about the things they feel are important in life and what they would like to achieve, developing a plan of support to make things happen.

The Prosper team for Age UK Mid Mersey, Age UK Bradford, Age UK Leeds and Age UK Wakefield

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AUKMM Annual Report 2023/24

Widnes Primary Care Network Pilot

We were proud to work in partnership with Widnes PCN to deliver a 6-month pilot project providing personalised and holistic support for older people across 6 GP practices, focusing on preventative interventions that would help older people maintain independence and manage long-term conditions effectively.

The benefits for older people supported by the project include;

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AUKMM Annual Report 2023/24

Winter Warmth Campaign

Through our Warm Homes Project, we completed 94 Home Energy Checks, supporting the most vulnerable and fuel poor older people in our boroughs.

We installed energy efficient night lights, provided a Winter Warmth bag and gave tips and advice on keeping warm and saving energy.

We also referred individuals to their local council and charity partners to access grants and other help with boiler repairs or replacement.

We partnered with the Public Health Team at Halton Borough Council to access money from their Household Support Fund to deliver tutor-led cooking sessions to 16 individuals – all participants received a free crockpot and supermarket vouchers to enable them to cook healthy meals whilst reducing their energy bills.

Our

AUKMM Annual Report 2023/24

In 2023 we were proud to launch our new 3-year strategic plan following a period of needs assessment and consultation with clients, stakeholders, and staff.

We committed to the following key strategic priorities:

We commenced planning for and working towards these key priorities during 2023-24 as follows:

Building Organisational Resilience

Strengthening our Board and Senior Leadership Team

Throughout the year we worked with specialist recruitment agency Charity People to recruit and appoint a new Chair and two new Trustees (one of whom was formally elected to the board in April 2024).

A campaign to recruit a new Treasurer rolled into 2024-25 with Jeanette Stringer being appointed in October 2024.

We also appointed a new Chief Executive Officer in November 2023 who undertook a strategic review of the requirements of a senior leadership team leading to the creation of a Director of Operations Role and a Resources Manager role.

These roles alongside the CEO and Head of Services comprise the Charity’s new Senior Leadership Team charged with planning for and delivering our strategic priorities on behalf of the board of trustees.

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AUKMM Annual Report 2023/24

Reviewing our business model

We have recognised the inherent risk to financial sustainability in our current business model where the large majority of our income comes via restricted grants for the provision of services.

The current economic climate has created challenges for charities receiving grant funding from, or delivering commissioned services to, Local Authorities.

In addition, competition for funding from grant making bodies is becoming fiercer. Whilst we still have the ambition to be the provider of choice for funded wellbeing services for older people in Mid Mersey’s four Boroughs, we also recognise the need to grow our internal capacity to generate income and widen our income streams, whilst also creating impact for our beneficiaries.

Quality

A key factor in creating organisational resilience is ensuring the Charity and the services we deliver are of the highest standards and can demonstrate best practice in operations, management, and governance.

In September 2023 we were proud to achieve the Age UK Charity Quality Standard.

This achievement recognises the high standards of our charity, demonstrating that we are well governed and managed, have a clear direction and strategy and are committed to ensuring the well-being and safety of our staff, volunteers and clients.

In January 2024 we requested assessment against the new Age UK Quality of Advice Standards and commenced planning to ensure that our provision of Advice and Information services meets the latest highest standards in terms of accuracy of advice and quality of experience for our beneficiaries. The assessment is scheduled to take place in Autumn 2024.

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AUKMM Annual Report 2023/24

Our People

We recognise that our people create the impact that we seek to achieve in our communities. Without our staff and volunteers, we would achieve nothing.

Investing In Our People

In January we held an Age UK Mid Mersey Team away day exploring several themes including: what will help us achieve our strategic priorities and what will hold us back, what would make us the best place to work and what would help us increase our impact.

The whole team at our Team Away Day

Insights from this event, alongside benchmarking against other charity employers, led to a review of our current employee package.

This included the harmonising of terms and conditions which had over many years become unequal amongst team members, alongside improvements in key contractual terms and conditions including:

We also reviewed our salary scales and increased these for all staff below Senior leadership Team grade by 9.8% in line with the increase in The National Living Wage. This followed several years of little or no pay award and brought us in line with other employers in the charitable sector.

Following the awayday we established a “staff action group” of team members from across the organisation. We will be undertaking a staff satisfaction survey in 2024 and the staff action group will help the Senior Leadership Team to interpret the results and plan to address any areas of concern.

To enable our team members to care for their own, each other’s and their client’s mental health and wellbeing we provided Mental Health First Aid Training. This enables mental health first aiders to identify when people may be struggling with their mental health and provide information about self-help strategies and signpost to professional support.

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AUKMM Annual Report 2023/24

Service Development

This year saw us pilot a new service in partnership with Widnes Primary Care Network and continue our Prosper research partnership with the Institute of Health Research.

Whilst the funding for these projects ended in year, the learning from them has been used to inform continuous service improvement within our Advice and Information service and Living Well support.

We were active partners in the development of the Warrington Living Well Hub.

The Living Well Hub is a one stop shop which helps people to look after themselves, to live happily, healthily, and independently for longer. It is an important part of Warrington’s wider Living Well programme.

Tuesday is dedicated to older people’s health and wellbeing services and we have provided an Advice and Information Surgery at the hub since it opened in March 2024.

For full details of our service and activity offer in 2023-24 please see pages 6-16.

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AUKMM Annual Report 2023/24

Raising Our Profile & Positioning

To achieve our aspirations of creating impact for more residents and increasing our income via fundraising it is pivotal that we are well known and trusted locally.

This year we invested in extra capacity in our marketing and communications activity and have been raising our local profile by:

Dementia Awareness Event Outreach

Radio Halton Interview

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Looking to the Future

AUKMM Annual Report 2023/24

We continue to work towards our strategic aims and ambitions and Trustees have designated funds in 2024-25 to align to these strategic priorities.

We continue with the process of conveyancing on the sale of Mansion House to release capital to invest in much needed services in Mid Mersey. The process has been complicated and convoluted due to the building’s Grade 2 listed status and the number of covenants attached.

We have identified several priority areas for the development and expansion of our services. These include:

We are proactively seeking funding opportunities to enable us to develop or expand services to meet these identified priorities.

Recognising that our income model is precarious, we are also investing in widening our public appeal and image and developing sustainable income streams through fundraising – widening our income sources and broadening our business model. Trustees and the senior leadership team are sighted on the risks to our financial sustainability in the future and have developed a range of scenarios to address and manage these risks should they become reality.

A key priority for 2024-25 is to be able to better demonstrate the impact of our activities and services. We will be reviewing our data system and collection processes, ensuring we consistently capture what matters, and are able to report on our outputs and outcomes. We will also be working on developing a meaningful outcomes framework and introducing systematic outcome measuring, reporting and analysis, enabling continuous service improvement and development.

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ci si Resp

AUKMM Annual Report 2023/24

During the year, trustees have carried out their responsibilities with due diligence.

They work within their obligations under the brand partner agreement currently in place with Age UK. Age UK Mid Mersey is an active member of the “Age England Association (AEA),” a membership body who represents all brand partner’s interests in its legal partnership with Age UK nationally.

Governing Document

The company is governed by its Memorandum and Articles of Association and is limited by guarantee, whereby every member of the company undertakes to contribute to the assets of the company in the event of winding up, while they are members or within one year after they cease to be a member, for payment of the debts and liabilities of the company contracted before they cease to be members, such amounts as may be required not exceeding £1.

Organisation

The Board of Trustees administers the charity. The board meets formally with the Chief Executive Officer and Director of Operations six times a year to manage the charity. In addition, they meet annually to review strategic aims and objectives. The trustees appoint a Chief Executive to manage the day-to-day operations of the charity. To facilitate effective operations, the Chief Executive has delegated authority, within terms of delegation approved by the trustees, for all operational and procurement matters.

Appointment of Trustees

The trustees (listed on page 24) are appointed by the members of the company and one third of the trustees retire by rotation each year and may offer themselves for re-election in accordance with the Articles of Association.

Trustee Induction & Training

New trustees are inducted into the Organisation by attending the same induction course as staff, sessional workers, volunteers, and placements. Additionally, trustees are offered training, given advice and information and charity commission guidance on their role & responsibilities.

Trustees attend events and visit sites regularly to facilitate their understanding of the organisation.

Key Management Personnel

The Trustees and the Senior Leadership Team comprise the key management personnel of the charity in charge of directing and controlling, running, and operating the charity. All trustees are volunteers and no trustee received remuneration in the year. Details of trustees’ expenses and related party transactions are disclosed in notes to the accounts. The pay of the Chief Executive and senior staff is reviewed annually following completion of a satisfactory performance appraisal and consideration is given for any increase in accordance with average earnings (subject to budgetary constraints). In view of the nature of the charity, the directors benchmark against pay levels of other local charities and similar Age UK brand partners in the region. The remuneration benchmark is the mid-point of the range paid for similar roles adjusted for a weighting of up to 30% for any additional responsibilities. 23

AUKMM Annual Report 2023/24

Directors and Trustees

The directors of the charitable company (the charity) are its trustees and are collectively referred to as the trustees. The trustees serving during the year and since the year end were as follows:

The trustees serving during the year, and since the year end, were as follows:

Elected Trustees:

Key Management Personnel

Mrs. Shelley Brown –Company Secretary, Chief Executive Officer (to December 2023), Director of Operations (from January 2024)

Mrs. Rachel Mckernan – Chief Executive Officer (appointed November 2023)

Auditors Solicitors Senior Statutory Auditor Livesey Spottiswood Fordshams Solicitors Mr. D Hudd BA FCA Chartered Accountants & 17/19 Hardshaw Street Registered Auditors St. Helens 17 George Street Merseyside St. Helens WA10 1RB Merseyside WA10 1DB

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$1 *r • Risk Management

AUKMM Annual Report 2023/24

The Board of Trustees considers the major strategic, business, and operational risks that the charity faces each year when considering budgets and business planning.

The incoming CEO worked with the Board of Trustees to review and update the Charities Risk Management Policy and Procedures in line with Charity Commission Guidance and National Council of Voluntary Organisations best practice.

The Finance and Risk Sub Committee presents a reviewed risk register at each board meeting so the board can agree and monitor the organisation’s risk management plan. This plan is kept under constant review by the Senior Leadership Team.

We categorise our risks as Governance, External, Regulatory and Compliance, Financial and Operational. During the year these were the principal risk management activities that the charity was executing:

Strengthening Our Governance

With the planned retirement of four Trustees this year, it was imperative that the charity recruit experienced Trustees to continue leading our strategic vision. Throughout the year we worked with specialist recruitment agency Charity People to recruit and appoint a new Chair and two new Trustees (one of whom was formally elected to the board in April 2024). A campaign to recruit a new Treasurer rolled into 2024-25 with Jeanette Stringer being appointed in October 2024.

Managing the sale of Mansion House

In November 2022 Trustees accepted an offer on the property and entered conveyancing. Being a grade 2 listed building, subject to covenants and part of a National Lottery Heritage Funding arrangement with St Helen’s Borough Council, has meant that this process has been protracted and expensive. Throughout the year trustees and the management team have worked with our solicitors to respond to all enquiries and undertake all necessary work to progress towards exchange of contracts. Unfortunately, this was not achieved in year and this risk has carried over into 2024-25

In January 2021 Trustees decided to put the Charity’s main asset, the Mansion House, up for sale. This decision was taken as the property was no longer fit for purpose for the charity’s activities and incurred significant costs to operate and maintain, which could better be spent delivering services and activities for our beneficiaries.

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AUKMM Annual Report 2023/24

Strengthening the Senior Leadership Team

Risks were identified regarding the capacity and resilience of the Charity’s leadership team. Previous approaches to managing financial pressures had stripped capacity from the leadership team and it was recognised that without investment and transformation of leadership structures the charity would be at significant operational risk and unable to capitalise on opportunities for growth and expansion.

The appointment of a new Head of Services in November 2023 was pivotal in stabilising the staff teams and completing the new Senior Leadership Team.

The trustees confirm that they have identified and fully understand all other risks to which the charity is subject and that systems are in place to manage these risks.

Trustees designated funds to invest in strengthening organisational resilience and growth.

CEO, Shelley Brown recognising that she did not have the strategic leadership skills to lead the new strategic plan decided to step down and make way for new leadership.

Trustees appointed a new CEO and worked with them to review the organisational structure, resulting in Shelley remaining with the charity in the role of Director of Operations, providing stability for the Charity through a period of significant change.

This was alongside the creation of the role of Head of Resources to enable the organisation to develop and implement the processes and systems required to operate effectively and more cost-efficiently.

Jane Brown, Head of Services

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Financial Review

AUKMM Annual Report 2023/24

Our income for the year was £497,481 (2023 - £564,644). The reduction in income during the year of £67,163 is largely due to a reduction in income in respect of legacies and donations of £49,516. In addition, there is a smaller reduction in income from charitable grants of £19,632 and, as we have now wound up the Age UK Mid Mersey trading arm, a reduction in income from trading activities of £5,781. These reductions were partly offset by an increase in income from investments of £7,793.

Where our income came from in 2023-24

----- Start of picture text -----
3% 2%
95%
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Charitable Activities

Investments

Donations & Legacies

What we spent money on in 2023-24

Raising funds

----- Start of picture text -----
4%
----- End of picture text -----

----- Start of picture text -----
96%
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Charitable activities

Our expenditure amounted to £592,957 (2023- £592,137). This was broadly equivalent to spending in the previous year.

At year end there was an effective budget deficit of £11,734, before spending against designated funds was taken into account. Trustees are sighted on the financial uncertainties facing our Charity and have developed multi-faceted approaches to maximising income, reducing expenditure and releasing funds currently held as fixed assets.

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AUKMM Annual Report 2023/24

Investment Powers & Policy

Reserves Policy

Under the Memorandum and Articles of Association, the trustees have unlimited powers of investment subject only to seeking advice from a person or organisation authorised under the Financial Services Act.

The trustees have a cautious approach to investments. They continue to monitor the deposit account market for higher yielding accounts, looking to reallocate funds should suitable opportunities arise.

The return on investments of £13,568 in the year saw an increase of £7,793 (138%) on that received in the previous year.

The Trustees have reviewed the charity’s needs for reserves in line with the guidance issued by the Charity Commission and have a reserves policy which is reviewed annually in accordance with financial audit processes. The trustees believe that in addition to known commitments there is a need to hold six months’ running costs in reserve given that the charity’s sources of funding are not certain.

The policy statement provides that the trustees will produce annually a detailed analysis of reserves, both restricted and unrestricted based on the audited accounts, indicating the trustees’ intentions about the use of those reserves.

Our Funds March 2023 & March 2024

----- Start of picture text -----
March 23 March 24
£356,699
Free Reserves
£383,672
£402,733
Designated Reserves
£282,000
Restricted Funds £13,816
£18,016
£558,544
Unrestricted Fixed Assets
£552,628
----- End of picture text -----

At 31 March 2024, our total reserves were £1,236,316, of this, £552,628 was held as unrestricted tangible fixed assets, £282,000 was held within designated funds, £18,016 was held as restricted funds and the remaining balance of £383,672 represents approximately 7.5 months operating costs based on the 2024-25 budget.

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AUKMM Annual Report 2023/24

Investing Our Reserves to Further Our Strategic Priorities

At 31st March 2023 the Trustees designated £402,733 of our reserves to be spent over the following two years to further our strategic priorities.

Having reviewed our reserves position and to further our strategic ambitions trustees have designated the following funds for 2024-25

----- Start of picture text -----
Designated Fund Amount
Future Cash Flows £134,184
Staff Costs £32,000
Property Maintenance £105,000
Expansion & Growth £50,349
IT & Equipment Upgrades £45,200
Replacement Vehicles £15,000
Training £11,000
Legal & Professional Fees £10,000
Total £402,733
----- End of picture text -----

At 31st March 2024 a total of £83,742 had been spent against the named designated funds. Only £11,732 was spent against the protected future cash flow designated reserves. This was due to a combination of robust cost management practices and successfully applying for additional funds, meaning the predicted budget deficit at point of publishing the previous year’s annual accounts was significantly reduced from a projected £134,184. In line with our reserves policy, we require free reserves of £296,479 for the operating year 2024-25 and currently this figure stands at £383,672.

----- Start of picture text -----
Designated Funds 2024-25 Amount
Future Cash Flows
Predicted budget deficit at October £53,300
2024
Investing in People
Costs of implementing new £50,200
employee benefits package
Property Maintenance
Costs of maintaining and running
£44,100
Mansion House during
conveyancing
Expansion & Growth
Partnership with Competitive £32,000
Solutions Limited
IT & Equipment Upgrades
New laptops for outreach and £17,000
mobile working
Service Delivery
Expansion of Advice and
Information service to Knowsley £59,000
and Warrington Boroughs and
Volunteer Coordinator
Training
Living Well Team training in
£4,400
preparation for Quality of Advice
Assessment
Legal & Professional Fees
Solicitor’s fees for ongoing £22,000
conveyancing on Mansion House
Total £282,000
----- End of picture text -----

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AUKMM Annual Report 2023/24

Financial Uncertainties

The current financial environment within which the charity operates is precarious. There are severe pressures in the wider system which are impacting on the financial security of many charities and from which Age UK Mid Mersey are not immune.

There are continued funding pressures on Local Authorities, Integrated Care Boards and NHS Trusts leading to fewer or reduced grant and contract awards to the third sector.

In addition, the reduction in statutory funding to local charities is leading to greater competition for funds from nonstatutory sources, such as grant making charities and National Lottery Funds.

One of our Borough Council Grants has been cut by 30% for 2024-25 and we have worked collaboratively with commissioners to remodel our offer to deliver continued impact within the reduced resource envelope. At the time of writing a three-year funding arrangement has just been offered by this funder in place of the usual annual award, which will provide us with a higher degree of funding certainty into the near future.

Going Concern Assessment

Trustees have a legal duty to assess the Charity’s ability to continue as a going concern, and in so doing have taken into consideration the following:

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AUKMM Annual Report 2023/24

Trustees monitor the financial situation 6 weekly via the Finance and Risk Sub Committee and have prepared efficiency and restructuring scenarios for 2025-26 should the sale of mansion house not be realised by March 2025 and if currently unconfirmed income targets are not achieved.

Bankers

The organisation has accounts in the following Banks:

Barclays Bank Cambridge & Counties Shawbrook Bank 19 Church Street Bank Ltd Lutea House St. Helens Charnwood Court Warley Hill Business Merseyside New Walk Park Brentwood WA10 1BG Leicester Essex LE1 6TE CM13 3BE

United Trust Bank Redwood Bank 1 Ropemaker Street The Nexus Building London Letchworth Garden City EC2Y 9AW SG6 3TA

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AUKMM Annual Report 2023/24

Statement of Trustee’s Responsibilities

TRUSTEES RESPONSIBILITIES IN RELATION TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENT

Responsibilities of the Board of Trustees The trustees (who are also the directors of Age Concern Mid Mersey for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the Trustees’ Annual Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

The trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the company and to enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for

safeguarding the assets of the company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

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 charitable company and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable company for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the trustees are required to:

Statement as to Disclosure of Information to Auditors

In so far as the trustees are aware at the time of approving our trustees’ annual report:

The Report of the Trustees, incorporating the Strategic Report was approved by the trustees as the Company’s Directors on 4th December 2024

SIGNED BY ORDER OF THE TRUSTEES

Mr. Nick Farmer (Chair)

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AUKMM Annual Report 2023/24

Independent Auditor’s Report

Age UK Mid Mersey Limited Company Number 02625647 Charity Number 1003476

AUKMM Annual Report 2023/24

Independent auditor’s report to the members of Age UK Mid Mersey (Age Concern Mid Mersey)

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of Age Concern Mid Mersey (the charitable company) for the year ended 31 March 2024 which comprise the Statement of Financial Activities, the Balance Sheet, the Cash Flow Statement and notes to the financial statements, including a summary of significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

We are independent of the charitable company 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 the provisions available for small entities, in the circumstances set out in note 20 to the financial statements, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with those requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

In our opinion the financial statements:

Basis for opinion

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 responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report.

Conclusions relating to going concern

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 doubt on the charitable company’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. 33

AUKMM Annual Report 2023/24

Other information

The other information comprises the information included in the trustees’ 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, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, 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 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.

Opinion on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006

In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of the audit:

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the charitable company and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the Report of the Trustees.

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Companies Act 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:

Responsibilities of trustees

As explained more fully in the Statement of Trustees’ Responsibilities, the trustees (who are also the directors of the charitable company for the purposes 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 charitable company’s ability to continue

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AUKMM Annual Report 2023/24

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.

Our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

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 a Report of the Independent Auditors 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.

Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud is detailed below. However, the primary responsibility for the prevention and detection of fraud rests both with those charged with governance of the entity and management.

Our approach was as follows:

There are inherent limitations in the audit procedures described above. The further removed non- compliance with laws and regulations is from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, the less likely we would become aware of it. Also, the risk of not detecting a material misstatement due to fraud is higher than the risk of not detecting one resulting from error, as fraud may involve deliberate concealment by, for example, forgery or intentional misrepresentation, or through collusion.

A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at

www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities.

This description forms part of our Report of the Independent Auditors.

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AUKMM Annual Report 2023/24

Use of our report

This report is made solely to the charitable company’s members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charitable company’s members those matters we are required to state to them in an auditor’s 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 charitable company and the charitable company’s members as a body, for our audit work, for this report,or for the opinions we have formed.

Mr David Hudd BA FCA (Senior Statutory Auditor) For and on behalf of Livesey Spottiswood Limited Chartered Accountants & Statutory Auditors

17 George Street St Helens Merseyside WA10 1DB

Date:

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AUKMM Annual Report 2023/24

Accounts

Age UK Mid Mersey Limited Company Number 02625647 Charity Number 1003476

AUKMM Annual Report 2023/24

Statement of financial activities (Incorporating an income and expenditure account) for the year ended 31 March 2024

----- Start of picture text -----
Unrestricted Restricted 2024 2023
Income Notes Funds Funds Total Total
£ £ £ £
-
Donations and Legacies 2 12,157 12,157 61,673
-
Other Trading Activities 3 596 596 6,377
Income from
-
13,568 13,568 5,775
Investments
Income from
4 13,896 457,264 471,160 490,792
Charitable Activities
- - -
Other Income 5 27
Total Income 40,217 457,264 497,481 564,644
Expenditure On
-
Raising Funds 6 23,795 23,795 36,257
Charitable Activities 7 116,098 453,064 569,162 555,880
Total Expenditure 139,893 453,064 592,957 592,137
Impairment of fixed - - -
(299,656)
assets
Net
Income/(expenditure) (99,676) 4,200 (95,476) (327,149)
for the year
Reconciliation of
funds
1,317,976 13,816 1,331,792 1,658.941
Total funds brought
forward 1 April 2023
Total Funds carried
1,218,300 18,016 1,236,316 1,331,792
forward 31 March 2024
----- End of picture text -----

The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year. The notes on pages 40 to 53 form part of these accounts.

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AUKMM Annual Report 2023/24

Balance sheet as at 31 March 2024

Fixed Assets
Notes
2024
£
2023
£
ee
Tangible Assets
10
566,188
572,360
a
Current Assets
Stock
11
227
240
Debtors
12
81,513
93,485
Cash at bank and in hand
633,009
719,806
Total
714,749
813,531
Creditors: Amounts falling due
within one year
13
(44,621)
(54,099)
ee
ee eee
yy
a
ss
ee
ee ee ee
ee
Net Current Assets
670,128
759,432
Net Assets
1,236,316
1,331,792
a
a
Funds
Restricted Funds
14
18,016
13,816
Unrestricted funds held in fixed
assets
15
552,628
558,544
Designated Funds
15
282,000
402,733
Unrestricted general funds
15
383,672
356,699
Total
1,236,316
1,331,792
ee
eee
ss
ee
ss
SS
ee
ee

The accounts were approved by the Trustees on 4th December 2024 and signed on its behalf by: -

Mr N Farmer (Chair) ________

Mrs S Haden (Vice Chair) ________ SWac—

The notes on pages 32 to 44 form part of these accounts.

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AUKMM Annual Report 2023/24

Cash flow statement for the year ended 31 March 2024

----- Start of picture text -----
2024 2023
Cash Flow from operating activities Notes
£ £
Cash generated from operations 1 (100,365) (56,478)
Cash Flow from operating activities
Interest received 13,568 5,775
Change in cash and cash
(86,797) (50,703)
equivalents in the reporting period
Cash and Cash equivalents at 1
719,806 770,509
April 2023
Total cash and cash equivalents at
633,009 719,806
31 March 2024
Note 1
Reconciliation of net income/(expenditure) to net cash flow from operating activities
2024 2023
£ £
Net income/(expenditure) for the reporting
period (as per the statement of financial (95,476) (327,149)
activities)
Adjustments for:
-
Non-cash donations (2,360)
Depreciation charges 6,172 30,344
-
Impairment of fixed assets 299,656
Investment income (13,568) (5,775)
Decrease/(Increase) in stocks 13 (80)
Decrease/(Increase) in debtors 11,972 (55,836)
(Decrease)/Increase in creditors (9,478) 4,722
Net cash provided by operating activities (100,365) (56,478)
----- End of picture text -----

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AUKMM Annual Report 2023/24

Notes to the accounts for the year ended March 2024

1. Accounting Policies General information and basis of preparation

The charity is a company limited by guarantee and has no share capital. In the event of the charity being wound up, the liability in respect of the guarantee is limited to £1 per member of the charity.

Income Recognition

All incoming resources are included in the Statement of Financial Activities (SoFA) when the charity is legally entitled to the income after any performance conditions have been met, the amount can be measured reliably and it is probable that the income will be received.

Basis of preparing the accounts

The charity constitutes a public benefit entity as defined by FRS 102. The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with 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 issued in October 2019,the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102), the Charities Act 2011, the Companies Act 2006 and UK Generally Accepted Practice.

The financial statements are prepared on a going concern basis under the historical cost convention. The financial statements are prepared in sterling which is the functional currency of the charity.

The significant accounting policies applied in the preparation of these financial statements are set out below. These policies have been consistently applied to all years presented unless otherwise stated.

For donations to be considered the charity will have been notified of the amounts and the settlement date in writing. If there are conditions attached to the donation and this requires a level of performance before entitlement can be obtained then income is deferred until those conditions are fully met or the fulfilment of those conditions is within the control of the charity and it is probable that they will be fulfilled.

Donated facilities and donated

professional services are recognised in income at their fair value when their economic benefit is probable, it can be measured reliably and the charity has control over the item. Fair value is determined on the basis of the value of the gift to the charity. For example, the amount the charity would be willing to pay in the open market for such facilities and service. A corresponding amount is recognised in expenditure.

No amount is included in the financial statements for volunteer time in line with the SORP (FRS 102). Further detail is given in the Trustees Annual Report.

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AUKMM Annual Report 2023/24

1. Accounting Policies (continued)

Income Recognition (continued)

Where practicable, gifts in kind donated for distribution to the beneficiaries of the charity are included in stock and donations in the financial statements upon receipt. If it is impracticable to assess the fair value at receipt or if the costs to undertake such a valuation outweigh any benefits, then the fair value is recognised as a component of donations when it is distributed and an equivalent amount recognised as charitable expenditure.

Gifts in kind donated for resale are included in ‘income from other trading activities’. Where it is impracticable to value the item due to the volume of low value items they are not recognised in the financial statements until they are sold.

Fixed asset gifts in kind are recognised when receivable and are included at fair value. They are not deferred over the life of the asset.

For legacies, entitlement is the earlier of the charity being notified of an impending distribution or the legacy being received. At this point income is recognised. On occasion legacies will be notified to the charity however it is not possible to measure the amount expected to be distributed. On these occasions, the legacy is treated as a contingent asset and disclosed.

Income from trading activities includes income earned from fundraising events and trading activities to raise funds for the charity. Income is received in exchange for supplying goods and services in order to raise funds and is recognised when entitlement has occurred.

The charity receives grants in respect of various projects. Income from government and other grants is recognised at fair value when the charity has entitlement after any performance conditions have been met, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount can be measured reliably. If entitlement is not met then these amounts are deferred.

Investment Income

Interest on funds held on deposit is included when receivable and amounts can be measured reliably by the charity; this is normally upon notification of the interest paid or payable by the bank.

Fund Accounting

Unrestricted funds are available to spend on activities that further any of the purposes of charity. Designated funds are unrestricted funds of the charity which the trustees have decided at their discretion to set aside to use for a specific purpose. Restricted funds are donations which the donor has specified are to be solely used for particular areas of the Charity’s work or for specific service provision projects being undertaken by the Charity.

Expenditure & Irrecoverable VAT

Expenditure is recognised once there is legal or constructive obligation to make a payment to a third party, it is probable that settlement will be required and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. All expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis under the following headings:-

Cost of raising funds comprises of fundraising costs incurred in seeking donations and legacies;costs of fundraising activities including the cost of goods sold, used in fundraising activities and any associated support costs.

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AUKMM Annual Report 2023/24

1. Accounting Policies (continued)

Expenditure & Irrecoverable VAT (continued)

Fundraising costs do not include the costs of disseminating information of support of the charitable activities.

Expenditure on charitable activities includes the costs of providing care and support,community services and other educational activities undertaken to further the purposes of the charity and their associated support costs.

Support costs comprise those costs which are incurred directly in support of expenditure on the objects of the charity and includes governance costs, finance and office costs.

Support costs are allocated to each of the activities on one of the following bases: either floor space, staff time or staff headcount depending on the nature of the support costs, to best allocate the costs to each attributable heading.

Costs are allocated between direct charitable and other expenditure according to the nature of the cost. Where items involve more than one category, they are apportioned between the categories according to the nature of the cost.

Irrecoverable VAT is charged as an expense within support costs.

Operating Leases

The charity classifies the lease of printing equipment and office space as operating leases; the title remains with the lessor. Rental charges are charged on a straight line basis over the term of the lease.

Tangible Fixed Assets

Fixed assets are capitalised at cost, where acquired, or management's approximate valuation of cost where donated. Individual fixed assets costing £1,000 or more are capitalised at cost, depreciation is provided on all tangible fixed assets at rates calculated to write off the cost,less estimated residual value of each asset on a systematic basis over its expected useful life as follows:

Annual Rate

Asset Category

Land and buildings Equipment Furniture, fixtures & fittings Motor Vehicles

1% on cost 20% to 33% on cost 20% to 33% on cost 20% on cost

Assets are reviewed for any indication that the asset may be impaired at each balance sheet date. If such indication exists, the recoverable amount of the asset is compared to the carrying amount. Where the carrying amount exceeds its recoverable amount, an impairment loss is recognised in the statement of financial activities.

Stock

Stocks are stated at the lower of cost and estimated selling price. Cost includes all costs of purchase, costs of conversion and other costs incurred in bringing stock to its present location and condition. Cost is calculated using the average cost formula. Provision is made for damaged, obsolete and slow-moving stock where appropriate.

Debtors

Trade and other debtors are recognised at the settlement amount. Prepayments are valued at the amount prepaid after taking account of any trade discounts due.

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AUKMM Annual Report 2023/24

Cash at bank & cash equivalent

Cash at bank and cash in hand includes cash and short term highly liquid investments with a short maturity of three months or less from the date of acquisition or opening of the deposit or similar account

Creditors and provisions

Creditors and provisions are recognised where the charity has a present obligation resulting from a past event that will probably result in the transfer of funds to a third party and the amount due to settle the obligation can be measured or estimated reliably. Creditors and provisions are normally recognised at their settlement amount after allowing for any trade discounts due.

Financial Instruments

The charity only has financial assets and financial liabilities of the kind that qualify as basic financial instruments. Basic financial instruments are recognised at their transaction value.

Pensions

Age Concern Mid Mersey operates a defined contribution plan for the benefit of certain employees. Contributions are charged in the Statement of Financial Activities.

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AUKMM Annual Report 2023/24

2. Donations & Legacies

----- Start of picture text -----
Unrestricted Restricted 2024 2023
Donations Funds Funds
£ £ £ £
-
Sundry Donations 4,335 4,335 26,795
- - -
Donated Minibus 2,360
- - -
Gift Aid 526
Legacies
- - -
Mrs Fuller c/o Age UK 31,992
- -
Mr Cheetham 7,822 7,822
-
Total 12,157 12,157 61,673
----- End of picture text -----

Of the £61,673 received in 2023, £20,000 related to restricted funds and £41,673 related to unrestricted funds.

3. Other Trading Activities

----- Start of picture text -----
Unrestricted Restricted 2024 2023
Funds Funds
£ £ £ £
- - -
Rental Income 6,028
- - -
Lottery 95
-
Fundraising 596 596 254
-
Total 596 596 6,377
----- End of picture text -----

The £6,377 received in 2023 related entirely to unrestricted funds.

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AUKMM Annual Report 2023/24

4. Income from Charitable Activities

----- Start of picture text -----
Unrestricted Restricted 2024 2023
Funds Funds
£ £ £ £
-
St Helens MBC 88,767 88,767 108,767
-
Halton Council 168,724 168,724 168,724
-
Bradford Teaching Hospital 79,938 79,938 72,091
- -
VOLA Consortium 10,000 10,000
Age UK 10,000 39,118 49,118 53,217
LCR Community Renewal - - -
22,745
Fund
-
PCN Highfield Hospital 8,885 8,885 14,216
- - -
NHSCT - VCS Partnership 7,500
- - -
British Red Cross 20,472
-
Service User Fees 5,243 5,243 2,849
-
SEETEC (1,347) (1,347) 20,211
The National Lottery - -
61,832 61,832
Community Fund
Total 13,896 457,264 471,160 490,792
----- End of picture text -----

Of the £490,792 received in 2023, £452,777 was restricted funds and £38,015 was unrestricted.

5. Other Income

----- Start of picture text -----
Unrestricted Restricted 2024 2023
Funds Funds
£ £ £ £
- - -
Sundry Income 27
----- End of picture text -----

The £27 received in 2023 related entirely to unrestricted funds.

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AUKMM Annual Report 2023/24

6. Expenditure on Raising Funds

----- Start of picture text -----
Unrestricted Restricted 2024 2023
Funds Funds
£ £ £ £
- - -
Wages and social security 31,842
- - -
Telephone 144
- - -
Advertising & Promotion 468
- -
Professional Fees 20,292 20,292
-
Support Costs (Note 8) 3,503 3,503 3,803
Total 23,795 - 23,795 36,257
----- End of picture text -----

The £36,257 expended in 2023 related entirely to unrestricted funds.

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AUKMM Annual Report 2023/24

7. Expenditure on Charitable Activities

----- Start of picture text -----
Unrestricted Restricted 2024 2023
Funds Funds
£ £ £ £
-
Wages and social security 195,324 195,324 152,304
-
Repairs and renewals 4,561 4,561 697
-
Rent and room hire 2,412 2,412 5,715
-
Telephone 1,176 1,176 597
Printing, stationary & -
128 128 197
postage
-
Advertising & promotions 385 385 503
-
Heat, light & water 72 72 4,643
-
Catering costs 1,468 1,468 2,661
Motor & travel costs 117 5,603 5,720 4,124
- -
Training costs 113 113
-
Tutor fees and materials 2,955 2,955 1,715
-
Cleaning & sundry 109 109 46
-
Depreciation 256 256 256
Support costs (Note 8) 115,981 238,502 354,483 382,422
Total 116,098 453,064 569,162 555,880
----- End of picture text -----

Of the £555,880 expended in 2023, £473,033 was restricted funds and £82,847 was unrestricted.

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AUKMM Annual Report 2023/24

8. Analysis of Governance and Support Costs

----- Start of picture text -----
Raising Charitable
Governance 2024 2023
Funds Activities
Function
£ £
£ £ £
1% 99%
Wages and social -
2,004 198,357 200,361 202,578
security
- -
Recruitment costs 148 14,730 14,878
-
Irrecoverable VAT 55 5,445 5,500 12,449
-
Repairs & Renewals 377 37,315 37,692 56,031
-
Rent & room hire 81 8,012 8,093 8,547
-
Heat, light & water 201 19,911 20,112 17,956
-
Telephone 44 4,309 4,353 4,553
Printing, stationery & -
49 4,793 4,842 3,917
postage
Advertising & -
42 4,166 4,208 7,118
promotion
-
Insurance 122 12,114 12,236 8,480
-
Motor & travel costs 31 2,998 3,029 1,643
-
Training costs 48 4,797 4,845 2,990
- -
Audit & accountancy 7,530 7,530 6,150
Legal & professional -
196 19,336 19,532 19,027
fees
-
Cleaning & sundry 48 4,811 4,859 4,698
-
Depreciation 57 5,859 5,916 30,088
Total 7,530 3,503 346,953 357,986 386,225
----- End of picture text -----

The trustees have considered the support costs and the above allocations are based on estimated percentages for each category.

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9. Staff Costs

----- Start of picture text -----
2024 2023
£ £
Wages and salaries 347,748 341,347
Social security costs 23,473 22,676
Pension contribution 24,454 22,701
Total 395,675 386,724
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The average monthly number of employees of the charitable company analysed by function was: -

----- Start of picture text -----
2024 2023
£ £
-
Raising funds 1
Charitable activities 21 21
Total 21 21
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No employee earned £60,000 per annum or more and the Trustees did not receive any emoluments during either year. The Trustees received £Nil in total throughout the year for the reimbursement of general expenses. (2023 - £Nil).

The key management personnel of the charitable company are comprised of the senior leadership team. The total remuneration paid in respect of the charitable company’s key managerial personnel was £123,387 (2023 - £139,987).

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AUKMM Annual Report 2023/24

10. Tangible Fixed Assets

----- Start of picture text -----
Freehold Furniture,
At Cost or Land Motor Fixtures
Valuation & Buildings Vehicles Equipment & Fittings Total
£
£ £ £ £
At 1 April 2023 570,000 2,360 9,782 13,367 595,509
At 31 March 2024 570,000 2,360 9,782 13,367 595,509
Depreciation
- -
At 1 April 2023 9,782 13,367 23,149
- -
Charge for the year 5,700 472 6,172
At 31 March 2024 5,700 472 9,782 13,367 29,321
Net Book Value
- -
At 31 March 2024 564,300 1,888 566,188
- -
At 31 March 2023 570,000 2,360 572,360
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11. Stock

----- Start of picture text -----
2024 2023
£ £
Stock 227 240
12. Debtors
2024 2023
£ £
Trade Debtors 46,702 69,981
Prepayments 22,871 25,504
-
VAT 11,940
Total 81,513 93,485
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13. Creditors: Amounts falling due within one year

----- Start of picture text -----
2024 2023
£ £
Trade creditors 15,575 13,339
Social security and other
6,069 6,061
taxes
Accruals and deferred
22,977 34,207
income
-
Other creditors 492
Total 44,621 54,099
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AUKMM Annual Report 2023/24

14. Restricted Funds

----- Start of picture text -----
Balance at Incoming Expenditure Balance at
01/04/23 Resources & Transfers 31/03/24
£ £ £ £
- -
St Helens MBC 88,767 (88,767)
- -
Halton Council 168,724 (168,724)
Age UK 13,816 39,118 (39,374) 13,560
- -
PCN Highfield Hospital 8,885 (8,885)
- -
Bradford Teaching Hospitals 79,938 (79,938)
-
VOLA Consortium 10,000 (5,544) 4,456
- -
The National Lottery Community Fund 61,832 (61,832)
Total 13,816 457,264 (453,064) 18,016
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Funds received from St Helen’s MBC towards the provision of Positive Living Services and Social Inclusion Services.

Funds received from PCN Highfield Hospital towards living well services and primary care support.

Funds received from Halton Council towards provision of Office Based Information Service, Stay Safe, Participation Groups and Halton Older People’s Empowerment Network.

Funds from Age UK towards various areas of support;

Funds received from Bradford Teaching Hospitals towards improving quality of life for older people with frailty.

Funds received from VOLA Consortium towards community digital connectivity.

Funds received from Nationa lLottery Community Fund to financially assist the Charity during the cost of living crisis.

Benefits take up programme

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AUKMM Annual Report 2023/24

15. Unrestricted Funds

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Unrestricted
Funds
Held In Designated Unrestricted
Fixed Assets Funds Funds Total
£ £ £ £
Balance at 1 April 2023 558,544 402,733 356,699 1,317,976
Movement in Funds in the year (5,916) (120,733) 26,973 (99,676)
Total 552,628 282,000 383,672 1,218,300
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Funds have been designated in the year for the following purposes:

----- Start of picture text -----
£
Future cash flows 53,300
Investing in people 50,200
Property maintenance 44,100
Expansion and growth 32,000
IT & equipment upgrades 17,000
Training 4,400
Service delivery 59,000
Legal and professional fees 22,000
Total 282,000
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The trustees expect the above designated funds to be spent in the next twelve months.

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AUKMM Annual Report 2023/24

16. Analysis of Net Assets by Fund

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Tangible Current
Fixed Assets Assets Creditors Total
£ £ £ £
-
Restricted Funds 13,560 4,456 18,016
Unrestricted Funds 552,628 710,293 (44,621) 1,218,300
Total 566,188 714,749 (44,621) 1,236,616
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17. Pension Costs

The charity contributes to defined contribution pension schemes all of which are qualifying workplace pension schemes with regards to auto enrolment. The charge for the year was £24,454 (2023 - £22,701).

18. Operating Lease Commitments

19. Related Party Transactions

Age UK Mid Mersey is a member of Age England Association which includes a large number of connected charities working around the UK. The charitable company hold licenses to use the Age UK name and logo for an unlimited period so long as they meet the conditions of use in terms of standards and procedures within the organisations.

At 31 March 2024, the charity had annual commitments under non-cancellable operating leases as set out below: -

20. Provisions Available for Smaller Entities

----- Start of picture text -----
Operating
2024 2023
leases which
£ £
expire:
Within one year 2,480 2,125
Between one &
23,902 15,805
five years
Total 26,382 17,930
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In common with many other organisations of our size and nature we use our auditors to prepare and submit returns to the tax authorities and assist with the preparation of the financial statements.

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AUKMM Annual Report 2023/24

References & Administrative Details

Charity Name Age Concern Mid Mersey Charity Number 1003476 Company Number 2625647

Registered Office The Mansion House Victoria Park City Road St Helens Merseyside WA10 2UE

Key Management Personnel

Rachel McKernan

Chief Executive Officer (Appointed November 2023)

Shelley Brown

Director of Operations (Appointed January 2024)

Jane Brown

Living Well Services Manager (Appointed November 2023)

@AgeUKMidMersey

www.ageuk.org.uk/midmersey

Halton | Knowsley | St Helens | Warrington