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2024-03-31-accounts

NSPCC Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24 EVERY CHILDHOOD IS WORTH FIGHTING FOR

Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

Protecting children today, preventing abuse Protecting tomorrow children today, preventing abuse tomorrow

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

Contents

Contents
Welcome 4
Welcome from our chair 5
Welcome from our chief executive 8
Hello from our Young People’s Board for Change 10
Our strategy 12
Objectives and achievements 14
Our impact goals 15
Strengthening our ability to deliver the strategy 30
Fundraising highlights 32
Plans for future activities 45
Our values, principles and standards 48
Remuneration policy 49
Structure, management and governance 58
Financial review 80
Independent Auditor’s Report to the Trustees of the NSPCC 92
Financial Statements 97
NSPCC Consolidated Statement of Financial Activities 100
NSPCC and Consolidated Balance Sheets 101
Consolidated Cash Flow Statement 102
Notes to the Consolidated Accounts 103
NSPCC ofces 125

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

Welcome

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

Welcome from our chair

It gives me huge pride to present you with this year’s annual report, marking three years of progress on our ambitious longterm strategy. The report speaks for itself in demonstrating the talent, hard work and sheer determination of our employees, volunteers, supporters and partners to make a difference to children and young people across the UK and Channel Islands.

And it’s thanks to their tireless dedication that we have taken such huge strides forward in our mission to keep children safe, as well as supporting parents and families to thrive from a child’s earliest moments.

Our strategy is clear, and its three central goals have never been more embedded at the heart of everything we do. We continue to encourage everyone to play their part in keeping children safe from harm. We have seen significant advances this past year in our efforts to keep every child safe online. And crucially, we continue to make sure that children and young people feel heard and listened to – that they are empowered and supported to help design and build the society they would like to see.

The UK, and the world, continues to be a challenging environment for young people and families. The cost of living remains high, children’s services remain under strain, and conflicts and instability around the world are adding to children’s worries about the society they will inherit. Amid this difficult picture, it's more important than ever that young people have somewhere to turn, and that we are here to listen.

The voices of young people continue to be fundamental to every pillar of our work. Everything from our policy and campaigns work, to providing muchneeded services to children, to generating the funds that sustain them and is informed by them. And so much of the social safety net the NSPCC provides is dependent on our indispensable volunteers who, alongside our employees, supporters and partners, keep lifelines like Childline and the Helpline open to the children and families who need them. Crucially, none of those vital services would be possible without the generosity and good will of our supporters, who continue to donate much-needed funds.

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

It is that unwavering support which not only funds our ongoing work, but which gives us the drive to carry on. It proves that our work is not only worthwhile but absolutely essential to the young people we serve.

It would be remiss of me not to pay tribute to more than a decade of service of our Chief Executive, Sir Peter Wanless, without whom the NSPCC would not be the organisation it is today. During his tenure, Peter has led the NSPCC with wisdom, courage, humility, resilience and, above all else, integrity. He has focussed our efforts on listening to children and young people and then placing the NSPCC where and how they need us to be - today and tomorrow. Peter has worked tirelessly to reposition the organisation further up the prevention end of the spectrum and he has been instrumental in ensuring the NSPCC works in true partnership with others, acting as the rallying point for children, inspiring and enabling everyone to play their part in ending child abuse and neglect. Furthermore, he has always championed the experiences and the contribution of our people - our supporters, our volunteers and our staff - acknowledging and valuing effort and, the positive, lasting impacts made for children and young people. Peter will be missed by us all and, as Chair of the Board of Trustees, both personally, and on behalf of the Board, I would like to thank him for his unrivalled contribution over that time, and for positively impacting the lives of so many young people across the country – through his tenure and beyond.

Finally, the Board and I would like to extend our most sincere thanks to you – every one of our employees, volunteers, donors, supporters and partners whose unwavering support is critical in helping us to be there, to keep our children and young people safe.

Neil Berkett Chair of trustees

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

Welcome from our chief executive

The past year has brought with it yet another raft of challenges and worries for babies, Children and young people. Those have included the enduringly high cost of living, escalating conflicts around the world, rapid advances in artificial intelligence technology and all the excitement and uncertainty that came with a sudden General Election.

Alongside all this, rising numbers of our children and young people are grappling with their mental health, unhealthy relationships, the risks associated with their online presence and a future in which most of them foresee prospects that don’t represent an advance on what was experienced by their parents. All of these are issues that our Childline counsellors and our NSPCC practitioners support children with daily, making sure that whatever their worries, no child bears them alone.

In 2023/24, Childline service carried out 187,999 counselling sessions for children and young people across the UK and Channel Islands, with mental and emotional health and wellbeing; family relationships; friendship issues being among the top concerns. Increasing numbers also found support through the Childline website and our online message boards.

The year saw a huge win for young people as the Online Safety Act entered into law, compelling technology companies to do more to help keep young people safe on their platforms. We will be influencing its implementation closely and encouraging its enforcement as it aims to protect future generations of children from harm online. Alongside other children’s charities we have also championed “Children at the Table” in an effort to see the influence and impact on young people’s lives being considered much more explicitly in the decisions made by Government.

This year we have also extended our offer of support to parents. The launch of our Public Awareness Campaign brought with it refreshed parenting advice and guidance on our website, covering everything from toddler tantrums to teen relationships. We are determined to ensure our relevance to every family, offering advice for a host of parenting anxieties while also continuing to

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provide robust support to children at risk of or already experiencing abuse and neglect.

In that vein, our Listen Up, Speak Up campaign scaled up this year. At the time of writing, over 54,000 people have signed up. By sharing essential safeguarding information, we're making it easier for everyone to play their part in keeping children safe.

Our support for professionals who work with children is delivered via our NSPCC Learning website. Last year over 2.3 million visitors accessed our safeguarding information, resources and training, cementing our status as an industry leader in this area.

It has been a great privilege to serve the NSPCC for the past 11 years. As I pass the reins onto my successor, I'm confident this very special charity will continue in its vital work to the benefit of so many children – by supporting those in need, ensuring children are heard at the top tables of Government, and providing services which give children at risk of being failed a chance to thrive.

It is only with your support that we can achieve those goals – and together I know that we will meet them.

My sincere thanks to you all.

Sir Peter Wanless, Chief Executive Officer

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Hello from our Young People’s Board for Change

The NSPCC’s Young People’s Board for Change is instrumental in offering a young person’s viewpoint to the incredible work the NSPCC does to keep children safe. If the organisation is going to truly ‘work together’ to protect children and young people, it is vital that it has access to the perspective and experiences of young people themselves, allowing us to help shape priorities and decision making.

To be part of that process is a privilege and I know that all of us on the Young People’s Board for Change feel that the responsibility we hold, to support the work of the NSPCC, is also a great honour. We all want to support this important agenda and make an impact by young people, for young people.

Reflecting on the past 14 months since I applied for a place on the board has really been quite inspiring. I cannot believe how many projects and activities we have had the opportunity to be involved in. Working as a team has allowed us to share the huge number of opportunities and focus on the topics we are individually committed to. The Participation Team have been amazing at making everyone feel welcome and included, and keeping sessions a balance of important, serious content and of course, fun.

Our first task in April 2023 was to create our own manifesto, based on the priorities we all care most about. It was interesting to get to know the other board members and hear them speak so eloquently and passionately about the issues that they feel matter to young people today. I was already an ambassador for the TIRED movement, which drives change to improve inclusivity in dance education. I was able to raise my concerns about lack of representation of the global majority in dance and the safety of young people in clubs that are not protected by a governing body.

The most exciting project I have been involved in was a live event in London for Childline with Cocoa Magazine. It was all about considering how to better listen to and support children and young people from black, Asian and ethnically minoritised communities. We met some celebrities and heard a range of views, including from the Childline teams themselves, about

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the incredible work they do when children are most at risk, and how they want to be a service that reaches all children.

I can hardly believe that I am halfway through my time on the board, and I am so excited to see what the next year brings. In May, we kicked off with our residential, where we met each other in person for the first time. We are all different ages, from different cities, and with such different experiences of growing up in the UK today. Our discussions are so interesting because we have so many perspectives to share, yet we all care so much about helping to make a difference.

Thank you so much for this opportunity. I cannot wait to see what comes next.

Lily Reyes, Age 14 Member of YPBC

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Our strategy

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

Objectives and achievements

Throughout the third year of our 2021-31 strategy, we put children and families’ needs at the forefront of our work, while continuing to cement the internal foundations for achieving our ten-year goals.

As we approach year four of our strategy, we move forward acknowledging our achievements, while maintaining focus on the continued delivery of our strategic programmes. Together, these will help prevent child abuse and neglect.

We’ve made good progress against the targets we set ourselves for our impact framework measures. In 2023/24, we met or exceeded 46% of our targets and were close to target for a further 26%. This section of the report summarises what we achieved under each of our three impact goals between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024.

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

Our impact goals

Goal 1 – everyone plays their part to prevent child abuse

Our strategy is structured around what we will do, what we will enable and what we will influence. We need everyone to play their part to prevent child abuse and neglect. That's why we work in partnership with others, often in local communities, influencing the changes we’d like to see in the world.

We are there to support adults who work or volunteer with children, and adults who need our support to keep children safe. None of this would be possible without the continued efforts of our supporters.

Overall, the Number of times we enabled others to safeguard children sat near target at the end of 2023/24. Within this we exceeded target Helpline calls, Podcast Listens and, attendances at our How Safe Conference. Within this measure a number were also below target, notably E-learning completions which we think is due to a decrease in the education sector’s training budget.

The number of times we influenced policy changes was on target this year, however the overall number of supporters we can contact decreased, falling below target along with the number of volunteers.

The number of times we enabled others to better safeguard children

NSPCC Helpline

NSPCC Helpline is a free service, offering advice, guidance and support to any adult with a concern about a child. We want everyone, from parents and professionals to the wider public, to know that they can contact the service – whatever their worry, and without hesitation.

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

In 2023/24, NSPCC Helpline responded to over 75,600 contacts from people with concerns about a child’s welfare, 17% above target and 28% more than last year. Contacts about neglect continue to increase, accounting for around 27% of contacts handled.

The NSPCC Helpline also runs specific lines in partnership with external agencies. 26 commissioned helplines were operational this year and they handled a total of 1,930 child welfare contacts. Currently, this includes partnerships with holiday companies, where we work together to identify safeguarding incidents that involve UK residents travelling overseas.

Listen up Speak up

Having run a pilot in 2022/23, this year we launched a new bilingual campaign, Listen up Speak up, to support more adults to know what to do if they have concerns about a child. In our recent YouGov polling, 30% of UK adults surveyed said that they have had concerns that made them think a child may be experiencing abuse or neglect. But one in five didn’t act on those concerns. Our new, free, 10-minute digital training helps adults to learn what to do if they’re ever worried about a child. Over 54,000 people have signed up to the campaign.

Our work in local communities

Together for Childhood

Together for Childhood is an ambitious, 10-year NSPCC initiative that uses a place-based approach to build and sustain local community partnerships. These partnerships are designed to understand, share and promote a preventative approach to ending child abuse. This year, Together for Childhood events were attended by parents, carers and the public over 6,854 times and 8,018 times by professionals.

Local campaigns

This year, local campaigns events were attended by parents, carers and the public over 9,634 times, 20% above target and 6,791 times by professionals, 15% below target. Our local campaigns include Talk PANTS and Look Say Sing Play, which is a set of resources that supports higher quality interaction between parents and their babies.

2023 marked the tenth anniversary of our Talk PANTS campaign. Talk PANTS helps parents and schools talk to children in an age-appropriate way about sexual abuse. Over 1.1 million parents of children aged 3-8 said they had had at least one conversation with their children about PANTS in the last year.

In 2023/24, our Local Campaigns team also started to run face-to-face and virtual workshops throughout the UK as part of Listen up Speak Up.

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

Blackpool Better Start

Blackpool Better Start is a 12-year Lottery Funded programme which started in 2015. It supports speech and language, diet and nutrition, and social and emotional development of children aged four and under across Blackpool. This is achieved by working with statutory partners and the local community to create systems change and deliver evidence-based interventions.

The NSPCC Centre for Early Child Development delivers directly to children and families through the Community Connector Service. This service provides community-based signposting and support to families. This helps engage families in early years services and identifies unmet needs. Connectors provided support to parents 2,253 times this year, 25% below target. This was to 818 individual parents, which benefitted 936 children aged 0-3.

Additionally, the Home Learning Environment Community Based groups are delivered by Children Services Practitioners. These groups support early learning and engage families in wider provision across the town through Family Hubs. These groups have had 2,111 attendees, made up of 672 individual parents and 649 children aged 0-3. As a result of improvements to services for pregnant women and children 0-3 across the town, Blackpool families have received over 25,000 contacts with partners delivering across the partnership.

Supporting professionals to keep children safe

Throughout the year we continued to develop our NSPCC Learning website, we had almost 3million visits to safeguarding content on our NSPCC Learning website. Our goal is to be the UK’s centre of excellence on safeguarding information, guidance and training. We provide high-quality resources and learning, including through our extensive library catalogue and national case reviews collection. We aim to improve the practice of people who work and volunteer with children, enabling them to recognise and respond to signs of child abuse and neglect.

Our series of NSPCC Learning and Child Protection in Sport Unit podcasts had almost 40,000 listens, 32% more than target and 37% more than last year. Our elearning courses were completed over 54,000 times, 16% below target. By the end of the year, we had over 100,000 subscribers to our weekly CASPAR (Current Awareness Service for Policy, Practice and Research) email, keeping people up-to-date with all the latest developments in the world of child protection.

How Safe Conference

Our flagship conference for safeguarding professionals took place in June 2023. It focused on child protection in a cost-of-living crisis. Our keynote speaker, Professor Sir Michael Marmot, University College London Institute of Health’s Equity Director, reflected on the challenges facing children and young people in 2023 and called for change to better protect children. The online

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event brought together experts from health, social work, education, policy development and delivery. 484 professionals attended the event, 21% more than target.

Influencing national laws and policy frameworks

We know that preventing abuse is a task that’s much bigger than the NSPCC. Making sure that laws and systems have children’s needs rooted into them is key to keeping children safe. This year, we influenced 13 policy and practice changes, achieving target. This included:

Ahead of the general election, we joined forces with Action for Children, Barnardo’s, National Children’s Bureau and The Children’s Society to launch the ‘Children at the Table’ campaign. We want all political parties to commit to making childhoods safer, happier and healthier, with all children having more equal access to opportunities right across the UK.

Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA)

Following the publication of IICSA’s final report in October 2022, we have pressed for the UK Government to take forward the recommendations that would help transform the response to victims and survivors. This has included leading a coalition of children’s organisations advocating for the Victims and Prisoners Bill to be strengthened. This would make sure young survivors’ needs are met and they can access specialised support wherever they live in England.

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

Since IICSA has concluded, the baton needed to be picked up. We are now playing a core role in coordinating – survivors, charities, law enforcement, frontline public sector organisations, health and sport bodies – to ensure the evidence, research and findings from IICSA’s work are taken forward to prevent child sexual abuse in the future, through the ‘IICSA Changemakers’. This is a group of 65 organisations, facilitated by the NSPCC.

This group has come together as an informal coalition to help inspire a national mission to prevent child sexual abuse and provide much improved support to victims and survivors. The IICSA Changemakers recognise the importance of working collectively to make sure the prevention of child sexual abuse, and support for victims and survivors, is given a much greater priority in public life.

In their first year, the Changemakers have spoken collectively at numerous events. They've explained the need for collaboration that's required across sectors and Government departments to deliver the recommendations of the inquiry. These conversations took place with Government at party conferences, and with parliamentarians at cross-party events in Westminster. Alongside this were structured conversations with practitioners and academics at events such as Care Knowledge's hosted webinars, reaching over 600 individuals and organisations.

They have submitted (as a collective of over 65 organisations) consultation responses on mandatory reporting, the criminal compensation scheme and online harm regulations. Every consultation has sought to support survivors' voices from the existing IICSA work and draw on survivor networks supported across the changemaker network. The Changemakers work alongside organisations such as the Office for National Statistics, who are developing an improved data mechanism for capturing the scale and nature of abuse.

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Goal 2: Every child is safe online

Impact goal two focuses on ensuring that:

Online Safety Act

After six years of campaigning by the NSPCC, we finally have an Online Safety Act focused on keeping children safe online. This is a huge step towards making the internet a safer place. The Act means that tech companies running social networking sites or search engines must promote online safety. They now have to tackle illegal material and content that is harmful to children, conduct regular risk assessments, and properly enforce age limits. We worked closely with parliamentarians, civil society and the Government to ensure the final Act can deliver change for children, including by securing a number of important amendments to strengthen the child protection measures in the new legislation.

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To make sure companies meet these new legal requirements, the Government has placed the independent regulator Ofcom in charge of enforcing the regulatory framework and raising awareness around online safety. Over 147,635 supporters joined our campaign to bring about this change. We're now working to make sure children’s voices are heard, so the regulation has impact.

Our Young People’s Board for Change played a significant role in bringing about the Online Safety Act. They helped shape the NSPCC vision and policy, attended multiple Parliamentary events, spoke directly to decision makers, and attended Party Conferences and fringe events. In October 2023, they joined us in Parliament to celebrate the passing of the Act.

Research and influencing on child safety online

We were fortunate to be able to undertake research and influencing activity that helped secure the Online Safety Act, supported by a grant from the Oak Foundation.

We have also started to build working relationships with the new regulator Ofcom. By sharing research and insight from young people, inputting into consultations and working directly with the regulator, we have influenced the initial implementation of the new legislation.

Throughout 2023 and 2024, we published a series of policy briefings and research reports.

These covered topics including:

We will continue to generate evidence, insights and policy solutions to ensure government, tech companies and Ofcom maintain a focus on child safety. This will mean the new regulatory regime is as effective as possible in making the online world safe for children.

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Child Safety Online programme

This year, building on our achievements to date, we developed our forward plan to keep more children safe online. The focus of our Child Safety Online (CSO) work over the next two years will be amplifying the voices of children. We have recruited a young person’s taskforce to inform and lead this work. We are also working in a targeted way with underrepresented groups, starting with autistic children and those in care.

We lead our CSO Taskforce, a diverse group of industry leaders passionate about helping us transform the online world for children. The Taskforce is working with us to help accelerate and unlock the ambitions of our online safety work.

The CSO Taskforce is making an impact through:

Report Remove

Through Childline and the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) we launched Report Remove in 2020, to help young people get nude images removed from the internet. This year we worked to remove requirements for young people to prove their age, which has resulted in a significant increase in the number of young people we can support.

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909 reports were made to the IWF via Report Remove this year

This was 709 more reports than our target, and an increase of 626 from last year. 580 reports were actioned and a total of 1,243 items (URLs, images or videos) were removed as a result of a report through the tool.

Our partnership with Common Sense Media

In 2023, we began a three-year partnership with US Charity Common Sense Media. Our aim is to respond to emerging challenges facing children in the US, UK and globally. Together, we aim to:

  1. Educate: Deliver best-in-class, age-appropriate digital learning tools to primary schools across the UK, focused on reaching schools in need. We also aim to localise and distribute AI literacy lessons in targeted UK schools.

  2. Advocate: Use our organisations’ established youth advisory councils to support young people to engage with decision-makers in tech companies, parliaments, regulators and other spaces where their perspectives are needed, in the UK, US and Europe.

  3. Research: Exchange learnings and develop shared research evidence to strengthen global understanding of children’s experiences in the digital world. We have a specific commitment to exploring the impact of generative AI on children.

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Goal 3: Children feel safe, listened to, and supported

By working together to give children the supportive response they need, we can also make sure abuse doesn’t shape their future. And we’ll build on and share our expert support to help children recover from abuse.

The number of times we supported children exceeded target by 7% this year. We exceeded what we had planned with Speak Out Stay Safe, Report Remove and the number of children that attended our local campaign activities. We fell below target for the number of referrals accepted into our direct services and Childline Message boards, mainly due to planned changes.

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Childline

Our Childline service gives children and young people a voice when no one else is listening. Our volunteers delivered 187,999 Childline counselling sessions in 2023/24, 8% below target and 4% less than last year. We also ran two campaigns this year. Our goal was to make sure Childline is accessible to and inclusive of all young people, and to increase the number of young people that Childline supports.

‘The Team Talk’ campaign aimed to reach and engage young people from Black, Asian, and ethnically minoritised communities. We wanted to make these young people feel that Childline is a service they can come to for support. To do this we partnered with VERSUS, a multicultural media and fan community that connects with young people interested in music, sports, and culture. The video asked influential figures in music and sport, like Dilan Markanday, Blackburn Rovers footballer, to reflect on their own experiences. The campaign was advertised to 13–18-year-olds on social media, generating over 1.2 million impressions and over 250,000 completed video views.

The second campaign, ‘Find your Calm’, launched at the end of 2023/24. This is a mental health campaign, encouraging young people to find their calm if they have a low mood or are feeling depressed. The campaign also aims to inform young people that Childline isn’t just for high-risk issues. Instead, Childline has lots to offer, and is there to help all young people, even with everyday ups and downs. To create the campaign videos, we worked collaboratively with four young people to capture their real, day-to-day experiences.

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Building Connections

We launched Building Connections, an online service for young people up to the age of 19 experiencing loneliness, in October 2023. Each young person works with a trained befriender over 11 sessions, building resilience and learning coping techniques. The Building Connections Service delivered 348 sessions in 2023/24, including during the pilot.

Young People's Board for Change

Our previous Young People’s Board for Change (YPBC) came to the end of their two-year term. We marked this with a celebration in London. Then, we recruited and onboarded a brand-new group of 15 children and young people.

The YPBC’s role is to steer, advise and influence the NSPCC on issues affecting children and young people in the UK. They help us make sure children and young people’s opinions and ideas are considered in the strategic direction of the organisation. As well as playing a significant role in campaigning for the Online Safety Act, the YPBC were instrumental when we were developing our new three-year participation strategy, ‘Children and Young People at the Heart’. This included the launch of The Collective (our participation network) and The YPBC Alumni (for past board members).

Speak out Stay Safe

Speak out Stay safe (SOSS) is a safeguarding programme for children aged 5 to 11. It is available to all primary schools in the UK and Channel Islands. Our virtual assemblies, which feature Ant and Dec, equip a generation of children with the knowledge and skills they need to stay safe from abuse and neglect. They learn how they can speak out and stay safe, including how to access relevant classroom resources.

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5,605 schools in the UK had the SOSS programme delivered to them

In 2023/24, we delivered the SOSS programme to 1,376,756 children across 5,605 schools in the UK, 10% more than target. This represents an increase of 11% on the previous year, covering an extra 273 schools. In September 2023, we launched a refreshed version of SOSS. This included new virtual assemblies for each age group (available in English, Welsh and incorporating British Sign Language (BSL)) and revised lesson plans with activities and resources to help reinforce key messages. We also have new face-to-face workshops (for children aged 6-7 and 9-11) led by NSPCC volunteers, with over 280,000 children attending a workshop in 2023/24.

Talk Relationships

Talk Relationships was created in response to the widespread problem of sexual harassment and abuse in UK secondary schools, and relationships and sex education (RSE) becoming a statutory part of the curriculum in England and Wales. Our aim is for all secondary school-aged young people to speak out and access the help they need. They should be able to do this in a safe education environment that fosters healthy relationships, and that recognises, responds to and prevents abuse.

Phase one launched in September 2022. It aimed to increase the knowledge, skills, and confidence of teachers to teach RSE through a suite of e-learning courses, lesson plans and a dedicated helpline. All our lesson plans are also available as Welsh language versions.

In April 2024 we launched phase two of Talk Relationships, which is a framework for promoting a Whole-School Approach to RSE. The framework will be free to access and is based on evidence and best practice.

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Direct services

Our direct services teams accepted 1,197 referrals in 2023/24, including for Pregnancy in Mind, Domestic Abuse Recovering Together and Letting the Future In, this was 46% less than target.

Pregnancy in mind

The NSPCC Pregnancy in Mind (PIM) service is a preventative, evidence-based, groupwork, mental health service. It is for parents-to-be who are at risk of experiencing, or are experiencing, mild to moderate anxiety and/or depression during the perinatal period. The programme is for any expectant parent. This year we accepted 303 referrals into our PIM service.

This year we have been looking at more innovative way of delivering services. For example, we developed a PIM pilot in New Hall Prison, so that women who are pregnant in prison have the same opportunities to access support services as those not in prison.

Domestic Abuse Recovering Together

This year we accepted 91 referrals into our Domestic Abuse, Recovering Together (DART) service. DART is an NSPCC group work programme aimed at improving outcomes for mothers and their children following domestic abuse. This programme has a unique focus on strengthening the mother-child

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relationship, as well as supporting other aspects of recovery from domestic abuse.

DART is delivered at NSPCC Hubs, and externally, by domestic abuse support organisations or Local Authority teams. This year, the Youth Endowment Fund and Kings University undertook an independent study of DART to assess whether it should be further evaluated . The study identified a number of strengths and areas of further development for the service.

Letting the Future In

Letting the Future In (LTFI) helps children recover from the impact of sexual abuse. This year we have supported and trained 64 professionals, both internal NSPCC practitioners and external partners, so they can deliver and implement this vital service. We have also facilitated four Community of Practice events for professionals delivering the service, with over 130 attending these events. These events help provide support and improve confidence for all practitioners delivering LTFI.

We were delighted to be awarded funding from the Home Office Support for Victims and Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse (SVSCSA) fund. This fund will be used to help children and families recover from the impact of child sexual abuse (CSA), and strengthen multi-agency responses to CSA. We'll use the funding to deliver our system-wide CSA snapshot, our 'Developing an Understanding of CSA' training and the CSA recovery service LTFI.

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Strengthening our ability to deliver the strategy

We can only achieve the changes we want for children by continuing to build our internal capabilities. Internal teams across the NSPCC take part in various programmes of work that will help us deliver our strategy, alongside our supporters, volunteers and partners.

Equality, diversity and inclusion

Equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) is key area that is fundamental to us delivering our ten-year strategy. We continue to see progress in both attracting and recruiting a more diverse workforce, as a result of our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) action plan 2022-2025.

There is now increased representation in our workforce of:

Our senior leadership and trustee board have both become more diverse. They now meet or exceed national diversity when it comes to sexuality and disability.

During the second year of our EDI action plan, we delivered over 44 work packages across our three areas of focus:

In our annual engagement survey, our approach to EDI was overwhelmingly the most referenced by staff as an area where we continue to make positive progress. We now have seven Lived Experience Network Groups, with the most recent addition of our Menopause Lived Experience network.

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

Embedding trauma-informed approaches

Becoming trauma informed is another area that is fundamental to us delivering our ten-year strategy. Continuing our journey to become a trauma-informed organisation, we now have a dedicated Trauma-Informed Lead.

In February 2024, we launched a basic training course and accompanying guidance document. These resources help our people build a foundational knowledge of trauma and our organisational approach to it. In under two months, 270 staff and volunteers had completed the training.

Staff engagement

In September 2023, we invited all staff and volunteers to make their voice count through our annual engagement survey. We had a total of 851 respondents, which is 54.1% of staff. Results showed that 95% of respondents feel proud to work for the NSPCC, and 76% would recommend the NSPCC as a great place to work.

In addition to our EDI action plan, we held our NSPCC People Awards this year. This provided an opportunity for our people to showcase best-practice examples of our values and behaviours in action.

The Work Life Balance project launched in January 2024. This project brings together a range of information and resources to improve everyone’s wellbeing at work. We are also bringing to life the career and personal development opportunities we have to offer through the ‘Grow Your Own’ series, which showcases staff member’s real experiences.

Public awareness campaign

Our new public awareness campaign, ‘Not Letting Go’, launched in January 2024. We refreshed our online parenting advice and created a TV campaign to raise awareness of the free, easy-to-understand support that's available for families, parents, and carers. By sparking meaningful conversations and raising awareness, the campaign has taken strides towards inspiring positive change within our society.

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

Fundraising highlights

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

Major Giving: Philanthropy – Individuals

Philip Gower Charitable Foundation

We are incredibly grateful to the Philip Gower Charitable Foundation. In June 2023, the Gower Centre in Jersey celebrated its 10[th] anniversary since its opening in 2013, thanks to Philip's generous donation of the building. Philip's unwavering dedication has been instrumental in safeguarding thousands of Jersey children, leaving a lasting impact on the community.

Moondance Foundation

Thank you to the Moondance Foundation who continued their phenomenal support of the NSPCC. Their gift of £500,000 supported vital services which made a big difference to the lives of children and young people in South Wales.

The Syncona Foundation

Thank you to the Syncona Foundation for their continued support. Over 10 years they've helped us meet the needs of children and young people, most recently with a gift of £70,000.

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

Partnerships: National Corporate Partnerships

Vodafone

We welcomed Vodafone into the NSPCC family this year. We're working together to develop guidance for Vodafone’s Digital Parenting site and a parenting toolkit for families to navigate the online world.

Lidl GB

We're celebrating 7 years of our partnership together. Our current focus is supporting young people’s mental health through funding Childline and raising over £1.5 million this year.

Omaze

Thank you Omaze for raising over £2.0 million during the Million Pound House Draw Cotswold. This incredible amount allows the NSPCC to reach more than 700,000 primary school children through the Speak out, Stay safe programme.

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

Partnerships: Volunteer Partnerships and Special Events

Our four Volunteer Boards: Rebuilding Childhoods Board, Childline Board, Property Board and Sports Steering Group

Thank you to our Volunteer Boards for their ongoing hard work and commitment. The boards have continued to open up their networks, make introductions to new corporate partners and individuals, and host fundraising events. They have collectively raised over £1.8 million this year for the NSPCC and Childline, as well as securing over £1.1 million worth of gift-in-kind opportunities.

Our four Event Committees: City Fine Wine Challenge, Great Chefs Dinner, Merry Little Christmas and White Hat Ball plus the Heavy Metal Truants.

Thank you to our Event Committees for collectively raising over £1.0 million net for Childline. They've helped to organise a wide range of high-value fundraising events throughout the year, as well as sharing their expertise and contacts. Each event attracts a variety of senior professionals from a number of industries, which is invaluable to us. Our committees and supporters come together to raise incredible funds in the fight for every childhood.

Newsquest

We launched a new partnership with Newsquest, the UK’s leading local media group. They have gifted us advertising across their extensive portfolio of titles, online and in print, to the value of £1.0 million in 2023/24. The partnership, which launched in January and will run throughout 2024, includes a series of advertising and editorial activities which will increase public awareness of our work.

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

Community Supporters

The 2023 London marathon saw 265 runners take part in #TeamNSPCC raising over £915,000. It's not only the runners who make the London Marathon the world's biggest – NSPCC had over 90 staff and volunteers cheering on all runners throughout the course and being on hand to help at the end of the race for the important massages, food and celebrations! Shaun Gregory, part of the Childline Board, raised over £13,000 for the 2023 London Marathon!

Mass Participation – 2023 Cardiff Half Marathon

We have continued our partnership with Run for Wales, being the lead charity partner for the event. 2023 saw 589 runners take part in the marathon, raising a massive £160,000.

The Cardiff Half is more than just 13.1 miles on a Sunday morning. The event organisers kick off the running fever on Saturday morning with a full day of fun activities, entertainment and running for all ages and abilities. This includes a family-focused Fun Run, a Toddler Dash started by Buddy, and a Future Challengers race for talented young athletes looking for an accessible and competitive race. This is a great event for us to engage with families and friends in Wales, building the profile of the NSPCC in local communities.

Mass Participation – DIY fundraising

Over 1,000 fundraisers have organised their own activities to raise money to protect children. From baking cakes, to organising coffee mornings and dressup days, to taking on daily squat challenges and walking a million steps, they've all taken time to support children and collectively raised over £150,000.

Community Fundraising

In the financial year of 2023/24, our Community Fundraising teams across the UK and Channel Islands recruited a further 11 fundraising groups while also supporting and developing the 24 new fundraising groups created in the previous year.

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

Within the 11 new groups we had two new District Committees, a new business board in Leeds, a board to lead our Drive it Day campaign, and we continued to see new groups developing in universities. To support our new groups to be as sustainable as possible, we have developed a new group checklist and criteria. It's great to see the breadth of new supporters joining our Community Fundraising family!

South West and Channel Islands - Jersey

In Jersey we celebrated the 10-year anniversary of the Gower Centre. We were joined on the day by Phillip Gower OBE, who donated the centre to NSPCC Jersey 10 years ago, and Lieutenant Governor of Jersey Jerry Kyd CBE. While this was an opportunity to look back and mark the achievements of our staff, volunteers and supporters over the last 10 years, it also launched NSPCC Jersey as a specialist centre for child sexual abuse.

Midlands

The West Midlands Business Board have had another very successful year. The group raised a very impressive £80,000 to support services in the West Midlands, including Childline Birmingham and the Helpline Birmingham base.

New membership was crucial for the Board. The new-look Board now has a Head of Events, a Social Media Manager and a younger, more diverse membership all round. New events include a St Patrick's Day Networking Breakfast with the Mayor of Birmingham and a Christmas event at Birmingham Cathedral. Work has already begun on this year's 140[th] Birthday Ball at the International Convention Centre, celebrating NSPCC’s special birthday.

The Board also use their networks and reach to help the NSPCC. Thanks to a Business Board connection, HSBC supported Uncomfortable Conversations Birmingham with a community grant of over £9,000. And through the partnership with Birmingham City FC, the NSPCC Annual Council meeting will be held at the football Club in October. We look forward to welcoming you all.

North East Yorkshire and Humber

After identifying that we didn’t have a challenge event specifically for the Yorkshire region, in 2023 we launched our first NSPCC Yorkshire Abseil. The event was a huge success and had new supporters sign up to take part as well as corporate partners. In total we had 27 participants abseiling down Ilkley’s

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

Cow and Calf rocks, raising £7,000 for the NSPCC. Following this great success, the next abseil will be taking place in August 2024.

North West

The Manchester Special Events Committee held a new Christmas lunch in late November at King Street Townhouse. It was a fantastic afternoon with celebrity hosts, games, great food and fantastic entertainment, courtesy of Elvis. This lovely event raised an amazing £13,000.

We also had two great Carols by Candlelight events in the North West. The Liverpool event, which was again very generously sponsored by Home Bargains, hosted over 1,000 people in Liverpool’s iconic Metropolitan Cathedral. It featured performances from local bands and choirs and a reading from actor Joe McGann. It raised the incredible sum of nearly £15,000 and was supported by 26 volunteers. The Blackburn Carol Concert at Blackburn Cathedral was a relaunch of an old event. The event featured some fantastic regional and local musical performers and raised over £5,000.

Finally, the annual Cumbria Fair was held on 11 and 12 October at The Garden at Eden, Cumbria and raised over £12,000. It had a wonderful selection of pop-up shops and food stalls, all in beautiful surroundings.

Northern Ireland

In Northern Ireland the fantastic partnership with Lidl NI continued to raise incredible amounts of money through a wide range of fundraising activities, including Superhero Weekend for Childhood Day and the Christmas Spectacular Trolley Dash. As our partnership draws to a close, we are delighted to celebrate nearly £1.0 million raised during our seven-year partnership.

The Magheramourne Foundation have been very special supporters of our work in Northern Ireland for over 20 years. Another fantastic donation of over £13,000 this year brings their total giving to the NSPCC in Northern Ireland to an amazing £250,000.

Our wonderful corporate supporter, Bell and Company, took on their gruelling Power of 4 challenge for the fourth year, raising over £18,000. Participants ran or walked 4 miles every 4 hours, over a 48 hour period! An incredible achievement.

NSPCC Ambassador and Expleo Director Rob McConnell organised the 2023 Expleo Cycle Challenge. Almost 100 cyclists from technology companies based in Northern Ireland participated in a 40km or 80km course, enjoying the breath-taking views of the Causeway Coastal Route and Glens of Antrim, starting and finishing in Ballygally. Since 2016, the Expleo Cycle Challenge has raised over £115,000 for the NSPCC in Northern Ireland.

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

Scotland

Our Glasgow Fizz and Fabulous volunteer committee presented NSPCC Scotland with a cheque for nearly £60,000 after a year of fundraising activity, including their sixth annual Fizz and Fabulous lunch with over 500 attendees. The ten-strong volunteer committee, chaired by Janette McAllister, also won an Esther Award in the annual NSPCC People awards. On top of that, they surpassed their own ambitious target and welcomed new committee members to help them do even more next year. Their commitment and dedication to children is exceptional.

We were delighted that the National Lottery Community Fund renewed their commitment to Together for Childhood in Govan, Glasgow with a three-year grant of £200,000. By 2026, they will have funded the project for six years, and have been a key partner in developing our community engagement work in the local area. The Lottery have also supported our Winter Warmer Programme, offering practical items such as gloves and scarves to children in the community.

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

Wales

NSPCC Dyserth Community Shop

The team at the NSPCC Dyserth Community Shop has gone from strength to strength this year. They now have 45 volunteers, and together work tirelessly six days a week to support the NSPCC and their local community. They develop innovative ideas and events to increase their income while always having children and young people at the forefront of what they do. The Dyserth shop has been part of the local community for over 20 years and they continue to support local family groups and services with donations of clothing, baby items, appliances and school uniforms. This year the Dyserth shop have exceeded last year’s income by a fantastic 20% and have raised an astonishing £110,000 for the NSPCC.

Ride Cymru Knievels

Ride Cymru Knievels, dressed for the occasion donning red, white and blue jumpsuits, set off on an epic journey through villages, towns and cities across Wales. Their route was an incredible 1,200 miles and the journey spanned five days. The self-funded team was made up of 46 bikers and 2 support crew from across the UK and further afield. They began fundraising and planning events such as quiz nights and auctions individually, sharing the NSPCC’s values and campaigns along the way. Their efforts meant they hit their original target of £20,000 before leaving the starting line in Wrexham in May 2023. On returning from their five-day tour, the figure increased again, leading to the final amount of over £30,000!

Schools Fundraising – Number Day

Friday, 2 February 2024 saw Number Day, the NSPCC’s flagship fundraising day for schools, reach a record number of registrations. We had over 9,096 sign ups, representing an increase of 24% compared to last year. Many nurseries took part again this year - with 1,750 registrations, this was an increase of 601 compared to 2023.

TV and Maths legend Johnny Ball helped launch Number Day and we introduced a new Ambassador, financial expert Emmanuel Asuquo, who took part in a Number Day school tour. New support came from BBC Teach, Sums of Anarchy and Promote Your School, who donated a wall art installation to a school worth thousands of pounds.

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

JCB

JCB celebrated the launch of their biggest ever appeal for the NSPCC in July 2023, where they are aiming to raise £2.0 million over two years, concluding in 2025 when JCB will be celebrating 40 years working with the NSPCC. Funds raised will support local children from our Together for Childhood site in Stoke on Trent.

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

YPO

YPO is one of the UK’s largest public sector buying organisations and education suppliers. For our initial three-year partnership, they committed to donating a minimum of £20,000 per year through a percentage of profits from their YPO own brand products sales and other fundraising. This target has already been smashed, with a donation of over £60,000 in the second year of their partnership. That makes a total of over £100,000 in donations in just two years.

Home Bargains

Home Bargains are one of the NSPCC’s longest standing corporate partnerships.

They have raised nearly £1.5 million to support the NSPCC, funding our Liverpool Hub and Childline service delivered from Liverpool. Their incredible support has included a range of products sold in their Christmas range benefitting the NSPCC, sponsoring Liverpool Carols by Candlelight event, and holding NSPCC collection tins in stores, which has raised over £200,000 to date.

Our regular givers

We continue to be incredibly grateful to our loyal and committed supporters who give to us on a regular basis. We received £39.0 million (income from the 416,000 people who support us with a regular gift. This year we are thankful to the 13,000 supporters who have chosen to play our weekly lottery.

Supporters that may leave us a gift in their Will or have done so already

Each year around a quarter of the NSPCC’s donations comes from Gifts in Wills. These gifts come from kind

Every single gift makes a difference A quarter of the NSPCC’s income comes from Gifts in Wills

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

supporters who have continued their own legacy, supporting the NSPCC after they have gone.

Supporters like Annie’s mother, who left a gift in her estate and said

“Everyone is entitled to a full and happy life. Abuse survivors are cheated out of their childhoods. With my gift, I want to show people that your past doesn’t have to cheat you out of your future.” Annie, Supporter

If you’d like to find out more about leaving a gift to the NSPCC in your Will, visit: NSPCC.org.uk/Wills .

Professional Learning Services

Carnival UK

The NSPCC consultancy team continued its ongoing partnership with P&O Cruises and Cunard with a new contract. These cruise lines welcome large numbers of child guests and provide on board children’s clubs. This contract is part of a long-term relationship to enhance safeguarding arrangements. The five-month project was to review and influence their current recruitment, vetting and onboarding policies and procedures in relation to safeguarding children. This included making changes to role qualifications and suitability criteria for staff responsible for children’s supervision and entertainment while on board.

Sport England

The NSPCC’s Child Protection in Sport Unit (CPSU) secured a grant of £520,000 from Sport England to deliver the second year of a five-year safeguarding contract worth over £2.6 million. This grant allows the CPSU to support sports organisations across England to develop their knowledge of safeguarding issues in sport, improve their safeguarding practice to meet sector standards, and develop tools to help parents and carers keep children safe in sport.

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

West London NHS Trust

The West London NHS Trust commissioned us to deliver a bespoke training contract. It was designed to support teams providing psychological therapy services to children and young people aged 16-17.

We designed and delivered 13 bespoke safeguarding training sessions aimed at providing the clinical teams with the skills to navigate key safeguarding issues such as child sexual exploitation, county lines, consent, handling of disclosures, adverse childhood experiences and positive healthy relationships. The trust has recommissioned the NSPCC for 2024/25 to deliver further safeguarding training.

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

Plans for future activities

Looking forward to the year ahead, we will focus on being inspired and led by children – one of the underpinning principles of our strategy. This means that children’s voices and experiences will be front and centre of all we do.

In 2024/25, we will prioritise:

Implementing our new three-year participation plan. The contributions of young people are invaluable to the NSPCC. Our participation strategy details how we will listen and work with children and young people, so they are involved in the decisions that affect them. In 2024/25 we will build on the success of our Young People’s Board for Change (YPBFC), establishing ‘The Collective’ (a wider group of young people including YPBFC alumni and applicants) and creating a ‘culture of participation’ throughout the NSPCC. Our plans for next year outline our ambition to embed a culture of participation throughout the NSPCC.

We will continue to offer opportunities for young people to share their views and opinions to shape our work. As part of our strategy work, we are exploring how to reward and recognise the time and insight that young people contribute to the organisation. We will also work internally with colleagues to guide, advise and support continued learning and development in best participation practice.

This work supports our goals to:

Today's children are the first generation to be growing up online, but decisions about the online world are made without them, by adults with a fraction of the knowledge about what they are seeing and experiencing.

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

Our focus to 2025/26 is to amplify the voices and experiences of children and young people across ages and stages to help keep them safe online. We have launched a strategic group of 15 young people aged 13-16 called the ‘Voice of Online Youth’ to direct this work. They will be developing their own manifesto for change and co-creating solutions to support with online safety concerns. We will also be giving children a voice on online safety issues through schools, our Childline Online service and through targeted participation work with autistic children and those with care experience. This will allow the NSPCC to gain vital nuanced understanding from young people on the issues facing them online and use our reach and reputation to amplify this to key stakeholders and audiences.

Children at the Table

Children at the Table, our joint children’s charities coalition campaign ahead of the general election pressed political leaders to become champions for babies, children and young people. We will call on politicians to commit to a crossGovernment strategy to drive better outcomes for children, invest more of our national wealth in improving children’s lives, and embrace a new approach to decision-making that listens and responds to children’s needs and voices. This influencing work with our charity partners will help us move governments towards decision making and investment that focusses on early intervention and systemic change and take the NSPCC closer to achieving our goal of creating a social safety net that prevents child abuse and neglect

Childline Vision

Childline provides a safe confidential space for children to be listened to and heard. At the core of the Childline vision work is the imperative to be there for more of the children who need us.

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

Schools Programmes

We continue to develop our schools programmes, with children informing the work that we do. The NSPCC's Talk Relationships Service supports secondary schools to deliver sex and relationships education (SRE). The next phase of our Talk Relationships programme will focus on a whole-school approach (WSA) to relationship and sex education (RSE), including supporting schools to involve children in the design and evaluation of RSE.

This will help schools to create a safe and responsive educational environment, where young people can speak out and seek help. We have developed a framework together and several tools for launch, which will enable school leaders to embed sex and relationships education across the whole school.

Research suggests that to have the biggest impact, we need to work with school leaders to help them embed sex and relationships education across the whole school. This will help create safe educational environments for young people, so they feel able to talk and learn about healthy relationships and ask for help when they need it. We have listened to young people and their views have helped us shape the whole school approach framework. We continue to champion the importance of actively including young people in all aspects of SRE.

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

Our values, principles and standards

As the only charity focused on ending child cruelty across the UK, everything we do protects children and prevents abuse. The values that embody our charity and reflect what we stand for are:

Putting children first

We put children first in everything we do. For more than 140 years, we’ve put children first. We believe in children, we want what’s best for them, and we make sure that we fight for every childhood.

a way that protects every child and prevents abuse. We’re brave in our actions, are prepared to be unpopular when necessary, and sometimes force society to face uncomfortable truths where things get in the way of achieving our goal.

Taking a stand

We’re courageous in standing up for what’s right. We campaign, change laws where necessary, lead public debate and are on the frontline, supporting those who work with children. We’ll speak out when something’s wrong and celebrate success with those who help things improve.

Making an impact

We base our actions on evidence and the difference we’ll make to children. Our work won’t end until we’ve changed attitudes and transformed services for children in

Striving for excellence

We always strive to be the best and give every child a life free from abuse. We’re constantly learning and developing our work. We measure what’s effective by sharing knowledge with others.

Working together

We achieve more for children when we work together. We can’t prevent cruelty to children on our own. Luckily, we don’t have to. Our passion inspires others, and our desire to listen, learn and improve means we continually work with inspirational people, organisations and children.

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

Remuneration policy

We aim to be an employer of choice, with around 1,700 paid employees operating from ten regions in the UK and the Channel Islands. We regularly engage with employees and volunteers. We value their opinions and seek feedback through various events and surveys.

Our mission is core to us, but it’s not just about our purpose. It’s about purpose through people. We work hard to attract, nurture and retain talented employees to ensure our continued success. We have a transparent pay and total reward aspiration. Our pay promise sets out what our employees can expect of us in terms of direct and indirect financial rewards. Although pay and financial benefits are only one aspect of an individual's motivation, it’s important – especially in a tight job market and when considering the soaring cost of living.

The Board of trustees is responsible for our pay policy and for the salaries of executive directors. The remuneration and people committee, a sub-group of the Board of trustees, approves executive pay and annual pay awards. They do this in line with appropriate best practice standards, including those of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO).

In line with NCVO recommendations, the annual salaries of our chief executive and other executive Board members are disclosed on our website, no more than two clicks away from the homepage. The table below shows the annual remuneration of the executive Board as at 31 March 2024, including a defined contribution pension and other benefits.

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

Executive Board annual remuneration as at 31 March 2024

Paid in
Annual year
Executive Board salary* Salary
Benefts
Pension
director Responsibilities £’000 £’000
£’000
£’000
Chief executive Leading the organisation, which has
Peter Wanless an annual income of around £120
million and employs around 1,600
employees, delivering services		 189 187 1 23
across the UK and the Channel
Islands.
Director of Manages the directorate responsible
Communications
for all communication initiatives,
David Hamilton ensuring that all communication on
behalf of the organisation is
appropriate, consistent with our
brand and key messages, and of a		 126 125 1 9
high standard. Also works on behalf
of the whole organisation promoting
the NSPCC’s work, policies,
campaigns and publications.
Director of Manages the Finance and
Finance Procurement functions. Responsible
Paul Taylor for the fnancial management of the
NSPCC. Ensures that the		 109 108 1 13
organisation has efective fnancial
controls to safeguard resources for
appropriate use.
Director of Manages the directorate responsible
Income for generating the fnancial
Generation resources we need to help end
Josephine
Swinhoe		 cruelty to children. Responsible
for managing the NSPCC’s
supporters and delivering income		 150 149 1 10
from donations, legacies and other
trading activities of over £100
million.
Director of Manages the directorate responsible
People for recruitment, development, and
Brett Terry retention of around 1,600 NSPCC
employees and thousands of		 114 114 1 5
volunteers across the NSPCC.

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

Director of Manages the directorate responsible
Services for providing our services, including
Claire Watt Childline, Schools Services and all of
our direct services we provide		 138 136 1 17
across the UK.
Director of Manages the directorate responsible
Strategy and for the organisational strategy and
Knowledge for developing and testing activities.
Maria Neophytou
Responsible for our research
programme, the evaluation of our		 120 119 1 6
services and our policy-infuencing
work.
Director of Leads our Technology Directorate,
Technology focused on supporting our strategy
Greig Sharman by enabling a step change in the
tech-enabled experiences of our
service users, employees,		 131 130 1 9
volunteers, donors and every other
community that’s a part of the
NSPCC.

*Annual salary refers to annual salary excluding benefits in kind as at 31 March 2024.

Our policy is to pay competitive rates within the charity sector. They must be affordable and reflect the nature and complexity of roles. They must also enable us to recruit any specialists we require to deliver our strategy, and to reward and retain strong performers.

Rates are consistent with our charitable objectives. To demonstrate this, and in collaboration with our Trade Union Community , we made a pay promise to our employees in 2019 to pay salaries that are at least comparable with the median salaries in the UK’s top charities.

The overall aim is to ensure our median earner at the NSPCC is on a comparable salary to the median salary paid in the wider charity sector. Our commitment has been to move towards this over time and within the parameters of affordability. To enable progress, we’ve identified and committed to a series of targeted activities. These include lifting the bottom of our pay bands to ‘track’ the median. We’ll aim to stay at least 90% of the charity sector median. We’re also aligning our annual performance-related pay awards to increases in the charity sector median. We offer two pay progression uplifts to those longer serving employees who meet certain performance criteria. Additionally, we voluntarily offer our lowest earners the real London and real living wage, set annually. We effectively pay this from November of each year, when the rate is set.

Pay is also reviewed when existing employees take on additional responsibilities.

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

New recruits are usually paid between the minimum and mid-point of the relevant pay band, as below, depending on their experience and skills. Where necessary, they may be paid at a higher rate, but never more than the pay band maximum. For some roles that are difficult to recruit for, a market premium of up to 10% above the pay ranges may be paid. The reasons for recruiting at market premium rates must be explained in a business case, which the relevant executive Board director and the director of People must approve. We also have 81 employees paid at ‘spot rates’ outside these ranges, including our executive Board, whose annual

remuneration details are shown on the previous page.

We regularly assess our rates, including our use of market premiums and location-based allowances. This ensures our pay practices are fit for purpose and we're using our limited financial resources appropriately.

P3 21,840 22,362 28,951
P4 26,388 29,986 36,631
P5 32,203 36,595 44,903
P6 38,648 43,918 51,993
P7 45,395 51,585 62,629

Pay ranges exclude regional allowances.

In compliance with the Pensions Act 2008, we operate an auto-enrolment pension scheme. All eligible employees are automatically enrolled into the pension scheme after three months. Employer contribution pension rates are set in line with legislative requirements. Employees are also offered a salary exchange defined contribution pension scheme, where employer contribution rates match employee contributions, ranging from 4% to a maximum of 7%. We continue to operate an historic defined contribution pension scheme, now closed to new entrants. Our employees in the Channel Islands have different pension arrangements in compliance with local legislation.

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

Members of the defined pension contribution scheme receive life assurance cover equivalent to five times their annual salary. Non-members, those autoenrolled and our employees based in the Channel Islands, receive life assurance cover equivalent to one times their annual salary.

At 31 March, the ratio between the highest paid and median salaries is as follows:

2024 2023
Highest paid salary (£’000) 189 183
Median (£’000) 36 35
Ratio 5.3 5.3

The spread of annual salary entitlements for all our employees, excluding executive Board members, is detailed in the graph below.

Annual salary entitlements (full-time equivalent basis) for all NSPCC employees, excluding executive Board, employed at 31 March 2024

----- Start of picture text -----
90
88 Male Female
84
82
80
78
76
74
72
70
68
66
64
62
60
58
56
54
52
50
48
46
44
42
40
38
36
34
32
30
28
26
24
22
20
18
16
14
0 50 100 150
Employee numbers
Annual Salary £'000
----- End of picture text -----

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

Diversity pay gap

In our equality, diversity and inclusion charter, we commit to ‘publish wider diversity pay gaps including but not limited to Black and Minoritised Ethnic, disability, sexuality and gender identity’. We have honoured this for the past two years.

We will, in March 2024, be extending our pay gap reporting ‘suite’ to include religion. Next year, we will expand our reporting further to look how some of these characteristics intersect when it comes to pay. These steps allow us to do fuller pay gap reporting and will better inform our pay equity actions.

Our latest 2023 median pay gap data shows:

Our gender pay information is also available on our website, in line with The Equality Act 2010.

Expenses policy

Our expenses policy applies to trustees, employees and volunteers. The policy highlights each claimant’s obligation to only spend money if necessary and always choose the most economical option. Video conferencing and teleconferencing facilities are encouraged to reduce spending on travel and to save employees time. Expenses are only reimbursed when authorised by the relevant line manager, up to maximum limits set in the expenses policy.

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We use a travel management company to make bookings for rail, air, vehicle hire, hotel accommodation, conference and event venues. Using this service reduces travel costs and is good value for money. These bookings are paid for directly by the organisation.

Since our trustees give their time voluntarily, they receive no remuneration or other benefits. Expenses incurred by trustees while carrying out their roles are included in note 6 of the accounts. Executive Board directors’ expenses incurred on business-related activity are disclosed below, where they have chosen to claim.

Procurement policy and modern slavery statement

We’re committed to acting ethically and with integrity internally and in our business relationships. We expect the same high standards from the organisations we work with. Our ethical values and procurement principles are communicated to our suppliers, and new suppliers are asked to evidence that they share our values. We’ll never knowingly support or do business with organisations in any way connected with slavery, human trafficking or child labour.

Our procurement process aims to ensure we achieve value for money and that preferred suppliers meet or exceed our requirements regarding ethical procurement. Suppliers are asked to demonstrate that they embrace diversity, understand the risks within their supply chain and remunerate their employees fairly.

Our supply chain is predominantly UK-based and is compliant with UK legislation. We take a risk-based approach to purchase, applying increased levels of scrutiny to high-risk supply categories, such as goods sourced from overseas. We focus our scrutiny on the policies, procedures and controls demonstrated by our direct suppliers, recognising that it is not always possible for us to have a close relationship with all parties in a supply chain.

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

Our relationship with donors and funders

The NSPCC subscribes to the Fundraising Regulator’s fundraising promise, which is available to download on our website. And, in addition, we have published our ‘promise to you’ as follows:

Our promise to you

We receive over 80% of our funding from generous supporters. We raise funds from individuals through one-off donations, regular donations by direct debit, payroll giving, gifts in Wills and gaming products, such as raffle and lottery. We communicate with our supporters through a selection of mailings, telephone calls, email, and SMS.

Throughout 2023/24, we regularly shared with supporters how their donations allowed us to meet the needs of children. We also shared resources with supporters to help them to support the children in their lives. We have also recruited new donors during the period through online activity, television advertising, payroll giving, legacy promotion activity, contactless and direct debit payment collections. As a fundraising charity, we incur expenditure in order to raise income. The expenditure on raising funds incurred in 2023/24 not only resulted in income being raised in the year, but will also generate future income, particularly through ongoing regular donations and future legacy gifts, which are our largest sources of income.

During the year, we had external agencies fundraising directly with the public on our behalf, including outbound calls to existing supporters and Face to Face fundraising in private sites such as supermarkets and travel hubs. We strictly adhere to the Fundraising Regulator’s Code of Fundraising Practice and all relevant Chartered Institute of Fundraising rulebooks, as well as guidance on fundraising activity including the Treating Donors Fairly guidance.

All fundraisers representing us, including external agencies and their subcontractors, are required to adhere to these standards and receive rigorous training, monitoring and mystery shopping to ensure they understand the standards we expect when they are speaking to members of the public on our behalf, and to ensure a positive experience for the people they talk to. Above and beyond industry guidance, we also have additional levels of protection built into our contracts and the training and guidance we provide to all

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fundraisers. Our donors do not receive more than two financial asks in any fundraising interaction.

Nobody who appears to be in potentially vulnerable circumstances is asked to commit to giving and those highlighting any form of diminished financial circumstances are offered an opportunity to give at lower value or alternative ways of supporting our fight for every childhood, such as volunteering and campaigning. We also voluntarily subscribe to the following fundraising bodies and uphold their standards:

Body Standards
The Code of Fundraising Practice
Fundraising Regulator Rulebooks for private site
fundraising
Chartered Institute of Fundraising CIoF Rulebook Treating Donors
(CIoF) Fairly Guidance
Direct Marketing Association The Direct Marketing Code of
Practice
Cabinet Ofce / Department for National Exemption Order
Culture, Media and Sport operational guidance

We have a complaints policy published on our website, which includes reference to inappropriate or improper fundraising methods. We are committed to dealing with all complaints constructively, impartially and effectively and will make every effort to ensure that all complaints receive a complete, accurate and timely response. No complaint is ever disregarded. During this financial year, we received (either directly or through a person acting on our behalf) a total of 431 complaints relating to all methods of fundraising. We define a complaint as ‘any expression of dissatisfaction’ and we actively encourage members of the public to share with us their views on our work to resolve problems and to improve our performance. All agencies we worked with were closely monitored while carrying out fundraising on our behalf. For telephone agencies, we listened to a random selection of calls each week to ensure compliance with regulatory and legislative standards, and that our supporters have been offered a positive experience. All complaints received are tracked and discussed with our agencies on a weekly basis to ensure anything highlighted that could be improved upon is addressed and developed where needed.

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

Structure, management and governance

How we are organised and governed

Good governance is fundamental to our sustained success as a charity. With good governance in place, we're most able to deliver on our mission and achieve our objectives. It enables all our people to use their skills, together with our resources, to best effect.

Good governance helps make sure that we are:

We review our charity governance using the Charity Governance Code, and report against the principles contained within the code in this report.

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

Organisational purpose

We were initially founded as The London Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children in 1884. We then became the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC), incorporated by Royal Charter in 1895. We are also a charity registered with the Charity Commission in England and Wales, the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, the Jersey Charity Commissioner and with the relevant authorities in Guernsey. We are still the only UK children's charity with statutory powers that means we can take action to safeguard children at risk of abuse.

We work in England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and the Channel Islands. Our services for children and young people are adapted appropriately, taking regional and local interests into account.

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

Leadership

Strong and effective leadership helps us deliver our aims. It also sets the tone for the charity, including its vision, values and reputation.

We are headed by a strong Board of trustees (the Board) that provides strategic leadership in line with our aims and values. The Board has collective responsibility for everything that we do, including the legal responsibility to ensure the charity is controlled and properly managed. They exercise their powers in accordance with our Royal Charter, other legal requirements, and the principles of good governance. They act in the best interests of the organisation and our work to protect children and young people.

The Board also makes sure that we are delivering our work effectively and sustainably. The Board regularly reviews our charitable purposes and the external environment in which we are working to make sure that the NSPCC, and its purposes, stay relevant and valid.

The Board agreed the 2021-2031 strategy, which launched on 1 April 2021. The Board also agrees the priorities in the annual HOSHIN (plan) in March every year, together with a three-year roadmap. The Board monitors progress against, and the impact of, the strategy on a quarterly basis.

Integrity

The Board acts with integrity. It adopts our organisational values, uses ethical principles to make decisions, and creates a welcoming and supportive culture to help us achieve our charitable purposes. The Board understands how important it is that the public have confidence and trust in the integrity of the NSPCC. trustees carry out their duties with this in mind, considering our values and ethics in everything they do.

Trustees declare any interests which might conflict with NSPCC business. Trustees also declare any gifts and hospitality they receive from NSPCC partners and contractors. All of our trustees give their time on a voluntary basis; they receive no remuneration or any other benefits. Note 6 details any out-of-pocket expenses, along with other costs paid directly by the charity, that the trustees have incurred while carrying out their duties.

Decision-making, risk and control

The Board makes sure that its decision-making processes are informed, rigorous and timely. They also make sure that effective delegation, control and risk assessment are set up and monitored.

Our Board meets six times a year. We also hold two Board away days each year, where trustees and the executive Board focus on key strategic issues in more depth.

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

There are certain matters which the Board reserves to itself through a written schedule. These include approval of our annual plan and budget, and our overall strategic direction. The Matters Reserved for the Board statement makes clear the trustee Board’s responsibilities and where there are clear delegated authorities to act on their behalf.

The trustee Board delegates certain responsibilities to its committees or through the Chief Executive. The Chief Executive is accountable to the trustee Board for the day-to-day running of the NSPCC and for executing the strategy and policies agreed by the Board and/or its committees.

Each Board committee has defined terms of reference, detailing the delegated authorities where appropriate.

Co-opted members, who are not themselves trustees, serve on some of our committees. We are very grateful for the expertise, skills and experience they bring.

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

Committees of the Board

Maintains an overview of the fnancial aspects of our
strategy. Reviews and monitors our policies, processes and
standards to ensure efective fnancial management.
Oversees our systems for quality, performance, risk
management and internal controls ensuring that our
systems are robust, efective and ft for purpose.
Finance, Audit
and Risk
committee
Reviews the NSPCC income generation strategies, their
relationship with wider brand positioning and marketing
activities. Reviews impact on NSPCC’s reputation and,
where appropriate, recommends relevant strategies to the
Board.
Income
Generation
Committee
Nominations Ensures that we comply with our Royal Charter and
byelaws as well as best practice in governance. Reviews
the role and membership of the Board of trustees and its
committees.
and
governance
committee
Responsible for identifying key issues on which we must
have a public policy position and reviews our work with
Government and other agencies.
Policy
committee
Decides on the appropriate level of remuneration for our
Chief Executive and reviews recommendations for
remuneration of the executive Board. Further information
on executive Board and other senior staf remuneration is
included earlier in this report.
Remuneration
and People
committee
Service Reports to and advises the Board on the development and
impact of our services for children and young people.
Ensures that high-quality services meet the needs of
children and families based on local need.
development,
Safeguarding
and Quality
committee
Provides oversight, leadership and critical friendship to the
executive in ensuring we create an environment in which
volunteers feel valued and able to be their best. Has
oversight of a programme of activity where senior leaders,
including trustees, engage directly with volunteers across
the country in a reasonably systematic way.
Volunteer
Engagement
Committee

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

Risk management and control

The Board has overall responsibility for risk management. It discusses and decides the level of risk it is prepared to accept for both specific and combined risks. In September 2021, the Board defined its risk appetite, and during the summer of 2023, we reviewed our risk management framework and risk registers.

The Board regularly reviews our specific significant risks and the cumulative effect of these risks. It makes plans to mitigate and manage these risks appropriately.

The Board puts in place and regularly reviews our process for identifying, prioritising, escalating and managing risks. Where applicable, it also reviews our system of internal controls to manage these risks. There were two internal audits on risk management in the year: one on the risk management framework and one on risk identification and escalation. Any recommendations made in the report have been implemented, strengthening our risk management framework.

We committed to ongoing reviews of the internal and external risks facing the organisation. We have an annual review of risk appetite and effectiveness. Key to the effectiveness of our risk management system is the annual review of the Strategic Risk Register by the Board of trustees and the reviews of risk by the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee. Risks are also reviewed by the Executive Board quarterly. There is an established process for identifying risks, involving senior management leadership teams, risk owners and risk champions regularly reviewing our strategic and operational risks.

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

Principal risks and uncertainties

The Strategic Risk Register (SRR) defines risks that could threaten our ability to deliver our strategy, if they took place.

Our Strategic risk register includes 15 Strategic risks, which fall into the following categories:

  1. Income Generation – historic decline in donor base; competition against other charities for donors;

  2. Economic uncertainty – cost of living, inflation, and interest rate impacts on the level of giving, operational costs and reserve cover. This also impacts staff recruitment and retention;

  3. Cyberattack/data breach – cyber risk strategy; prevention measures; crisis management policy and procedures;

  4. Reputation or brand damage – impact on revenue streams; use of external PR advisers on a contingency basis;

  5. Operational risks – failure to successfully implement a major and critical systems project;

  6. Failure to innovate – failure to initiate new revenue streams and use technology and social media platforms effectively;

  7. Legacy technology systems – ageing technology impacts productivity and requires considerable support to stay operational;

  8. Regulatory or legislative changes – compliance strategy to keep updated on significant changes which could affect the Society internally or externally; and

  9. Business interruption – disaster recovery and contingency policies

(in place and being regularly tested).

The principal risks facing the organisation are as follows:

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

Risk category Mitigations and actions
1
INCOME
GENERATION		 To help mitigate this risk category, we're prioritising six
growth driver income streams as agreed with the Board
of trustees.
We're using business planning tools to regularly review
and report against KPIs in the annual and three-year
fnancial plans.
Alongside this, we're preparing evidence to activate new
income streams and expand the portfolio. We're
continuing to invest in brand awareness for supporter
attraction and retention, especially in the current
challenging market.
Contingencies are in place for an emergency fundraising
appeal if necessary and reserves in place to help
counteract any in-year net fnancial declines.
2
ECONOMIC
UNCERTAINTY		 The Society closely monitors income and expenditure
against budgets which include operational costs, staf
recruitment and retention.
While the external economic climate is outside our
control, we use our political ongoing infuencing
activities and evidence-based publications and insights
to keep children's needs high on the agenda. This helps
us mitigate economic uncertainty.
Work in this area includes a general election infuencing
campaign and co-developing services focused on early
intervention and prevention.
3
CYBER
ATTACK/DATA
BREACH		 To help mitigate this risk category, key controls include:
• mandatory cyber security awareness/training with
regular phishing attack exercises;
• proactive monitoring of critical vulnerabilities so
we can deploy critical patches in a timely manner;
• Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) protection
and other targeted testing to protect key services;
and
• preventing users from installing unauthorised
software).
3 To help mitigate this risk category, key controls include:
CYBER • mandatory cyber security awareness/training with
ATTACK/DATA regular phishing attack exercises;
BREACH • proactive monitoring of critical vulnerabilities so
we can deploy critical patches in a timely manner;
• Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) protection
and other targeted testing to protect key services;
and
• preventing users from installing unauthorised
software).

To help mitigate this risk category, key controls include:

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

4

REPUTATION OR BRAND DAMAGE

There are additional quality assurance and processes in place for use of web analytics tools. This includes quarterly scans across our websites, and an external audit to ensure cookie compliance and review new cookie requirements.

New projects/products are part of a Data and Analytics Strategy. Information security and digital ethics are considered by Information Security Governance and Digital Ethics Boards.

We have a qualified Data protection and compliance team in place, with support from the DPO Centre who conduct Data Protection Impact Assessments on new - high risk projects.

Key controls that are currently in place to help mitigate this risk category include:

5

OPERATIONAL RISKS

Controls that are currently in place to help mitigate this risk category include:

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

for future strategic programmes.

6

FAILURE TO INNOVATE

Controls that are currently in place to help mitigate this risk category, in addition to those for Income Generation (see no. 1 above), include:

7

LEGACY TECHNOLOGY SYSTEMS

Controls that are currently in place to help mitigate this risk category include:

Controls that are currently in place to help mitigate this risk category include:

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

group make sure we are able to respond effectively. Our CEO is chairing the ‘IICSA Changemakers’ alliance to mobilise the wider sector;

9

BUSINESS

INTERRUPTION

In addition to controls that are currently in place to mitigate Cyber-attack/Data Breach (see no. 3 above) and Legacy Technology Systems (see no. 7 above) categories, there are Business Continuity Plans in place with exercises carried out to test business critical activities.

Board effectiveness

The Board works as an effective team, using the appropriate balance of skills, experience, backgrounds and knowledge to make informed decisions. Trustees are appointed on the basis of the skills that they bring. We undertake regular diversity and skills audits to make sure there is an appropriate mix of skills, experience and backgrounds around the Board table.

Trustees usually serve an initial term of three years. This can be extended once, up to a maximum of six years. In very exceptional circumstances there may be a further extension, in accordance with the Charity Governance Code. (Trustees elected before 2016 were able to serve for three terms.)

The Board has plans to reduce it size to twelve, however this cannot be achieved without causing instability for some years. Our trustees are recruited through a variety of means, including open advertising. The Society has a trustee recruitment policy in place which was approved during 2019.

Our trustees take part in a comprehensive induction programme and are offered training and development opportunities throughout their trusteeship. The induction typically consists of:

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

Trustees will also have induction meetings with the chairs of the committees on which they will sit.

Trustees have adopted the Charity Governance Code, and the nominations and governance committee continually works to improve our governance. At the end of each Board meeting, trustees discuss areas that worked well and what more is needed to inform discussion and decision making. Additionally, the Chair meets with each trustee to discuss their effectiveness individually.

From January to March 2024, the Board completed a Board evaluation exercise with an external facilitator, in accordance with the Charity Governance Code.

The report stated:

"The last review of the Board of trustees of NSPCC was in 2020 and this review compares very favourably with that one, which was itself very positive. The Board is very well chaired. The atmosphere is open and inclusive and there is a real sense of shared commitment to the Society’s success. Decision-making is effective with trustees able to constructively challenge and engage with the executive team on any aspect of its work. Trustees demonstrate their commitment through their considerable contributions both in and outside formal meetings."

The report contained 14 recommendations to further improve our governance. These will be implemented during 2024/25.

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

Equality, diversity and inclusion

The Board has a clear, agreed and effective approach to supporting equality, diversity and inclusion throughout the organisation and in its own practice. In order to be there for every child and young person, the Board recognises the need to consider equality, diversity and inclusion when making decisions.

This includes making sure the voices of children and young people are considered during the decision-making process.

The Board approved the NSPCC EDI Charter in 2020. Since then, the Board has taken part in training, including unconscious bias training, and has appointed a lead trustee for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. This trustee act as a bridge, joining the organisational efforts and priorities with the Board of trustees’ governance responsibility, focus and plans.

The Board also recognises that in order to make the best-informed decisions, the widest variety of backgrounds and experience is needed around the Board table. We have undertaken diversity audits which are used by the Chair to inform the trustee recruitment process.

Our employee diversity breakdown at the NSPCC is as captured in the table below. These percentages show the average proportion of our workforce, per demographic, for the 12 months ending 31 March 2024.

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

People Count
NSPCC benchmark
Female % 81% 72.5%
LGBTQ+ % 10% 9%
Black, Asian and minoritised ethnicities
%		 13% 8.2%
Disability % 10% 4.3%
Average Age 40 44.7

All our diversity and inclusion actions centre around three main areas of focus in our NSPCC Equality, Diversity and Inclusion action plan (202225). These are:

We call these three focal points our ‘diversity triangle', because we understand that there is interdependence between all three aspects.

Within our action plan, pinned against these three areas of focus, our priorities remain:

Openness and accountability

The public’s trust that we are delivering public benefit is fundamental to our reputation and success. We engaged a range of stakeholders while developing the 2021-31 strategy. Having set out our ambition in the strategy, it’s important we understand how well we’re progressing towards these changes for children, and that we are open about our impact.

The Impact Framework stems from, and is intrinsically linked to, the 20212031 strategy. It is anchored in helping us understand whether the changes for children set out in our strategy are being achieved. The Impact Framework includes wider, deeper research and evaluations. It also includes the measures we will track and report against regularly. Each quarter, the Board reviews its impact against our strategic priorities and publishes its impact report to staff and volunteers.

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

We have a published complaints process, and complaints are monitored by the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee on behalf of the Board of trustees. The Board reports any serious incidents to the Charity Commission and other regulators as appropriate. A register of interests for trustees and senior staff is maintained and is available on request.

Public benefit and how our activities deliver it

We must have due regard to the Charity Commission’s public benefit guidance under section seventeen of the Charities Act 2011. We’re confident that we meet those public benefit requirements. We’ve taken Charity Commission guidance into consideration.

Our vision is to end cruelty to children in the UK and the Channel Islands. It may take many generations to achieve. We believe cruelty to children is preventable. By having our strategy in place, we can achieve much more: ‘Every childhood is worth fighting for’.

We believe we meet the public benefit requirements through the range of activities we undertake, most significantly through Childline, our free, confidential helplines and our range of services for children and families. We deliver projects in local communities for children who have experienced or are at risk of abuse as well as those in care, focusing on children who most need help. We also provide advice to adults and professionals who are concerned about children. We work with other organisations that come into contact with children. Ensuring they protect children and challenging those who don’t. We visit schools, providing young people with the knowledge and resilience to keep themselves safe. And we campaign to make children safer and improve the child protection system across the UK and the Channel Islands.

Trustees’ responsibilities statement

The trustees are responsible for preparing the trustees’ annual report and financial statements following the law and UK Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice), including FRS 102 (The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland).

The law applicable to charities in England, Wales and Scotland requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Statements must give a true and fair view of the charity's state of affairs and the incoming and application of resources for the charity for that period. In preparing these financial statements, trustees:

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

The trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the charity's financial position. Accurate records ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charities Act 2011, the Charity (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008, the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005, the Charity Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended) and the provisions of the royal charter. Trustees are also responsible for safeguarding the charity's assets and taking reasonable steps to prevent and detect fraud and other irregularities.

The trustees are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the charity and the financial information on the charity’s website. Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.

Subsidiaries and related parties

NSPCC Trading Company Limited and Childline are both wholly owned subsidiaries of the NSPCC, and their accounts are consolidated in the accounts presented on pages 100–124.

The principal activities of NSPCC Trading Company Limited are organising participation fundraising events on behalf of the NSPCC, a mail order operation and the sale of NSPCC branded goods. The company has seen a small reduction in income this year, as although fundraising events have largely returned to pre-pandemic levels several sponsorship partnerships have come to an end. The company had a profitable year and continues to develop its activities to support our work. The profit before tax of £0.3 million (2023 £0.2 million) was donated under Gift Aid to the NSPCC.

Childline continues as a separate legal entity in order to receive legacy income not otherwise receivable by the NSPCC. In the year ending 31 March 2024 it received £1.6 million legacy income (2023 £1.0 million). This is paid by way of a grant to the NSPCC towards the operation for the Childline service for which the funds were received.

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

Patrons, trustees, officers and professional advisors

Royal Patron HRH The Duchess of Edinburgh

Royal Patron of Childline HRH The Duchess of Edinburgh

President HRH The Duchess of Edinburgh

President of Childline Dame Esther Rantzen DBE

Deputy President of Childline Rebecca Wilcox

Board of trustees

Neil Berkett

Pippa Gough MA MSc PGCEA RN RM HV FQNI FRSA

74

Sarah Ridgway

Dr Joanna Begent MBBS

Mark A. Corbidge

Pete Daffern

Eithne Daly

Ifeoluwapo (Ife) Grillo

Albert Heaney

Andrew Kerr

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

Tarek Khlat MBA

Derrick Mortimer

Sheanna Patelmaster

Emma Smyth

Thomas Toumazis MBE

Chanelle Wilson

Gaby Zein

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

Co-opted members

We thank the following for the support on our committees, recognising the expert advice they give:

Angela Cha

Finance, Audit and risk committee

Dr Carlene Cornish Policy Committee

Professor Julia Davidson Policy Committee

Sally Essler

Service Development, Safeguarding and Quality Committee Volunteer Engagement committee

Eddie Golding

Service Development, Safeguarding and Quality Committee

Ed Grimsey Volunteer Engagement committee

Steve Hart

Service Development, Safeguarding and Quality Committee

Estelle Lloyd

Income generation committee

Mark Luboff Finance, Audit and Risk committee

Jonathan Middup FCA Finance, Audit and risk committee

Hywel Peterson

Income generation committee

Gavin Dein

Income generation committee

Julian Short

Income generation committee

Paul Snell

Service development, Safeguarding and Quality committee

Sarah Timby

Finance, Audit and Risk Committee

Francesca Valli

Income generation committee

We also thank the trustees of the NSPCC Pension Scheme Limited:

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

Senior management (the Executive Board)

Chief Executive Peter Wanless

Director of Communications and Marketing David Hamilton to 8 May 2024

Director of Finance Paul Taylor

Director of Income Generation, Fundraising and Engagement Jo Swinhoe

Director of Services Claire Watt

Director of People Brett Terry

Director of Strategy and Knowledge Maria Neophytou

Director of Technology and Data

Greig Sharman to 28 June 2024

Bankers and professional advisers

Bankers

Barclays Bank Plc

1 Churchill Place, London E14 5HP

Internal Audit Partner

KPMG LLP

15 Canada Square, London E14 5GL

The Co-operative Bank Plc

9 Prescot Street, London E1 8BE

Investment managers

NatWest Plc

250 Bishopsgate, London EC2M 4AA Auditors

Crowe U.K.

55 Ludgate Hill, London EC4M 7JW

Blackrock

12 Throgmorton Avenue, London EC2N 2DL

Credit Suisse (UK) Limited 1 Cabot Square, London E14 4QJ

J.P. Morgan International Bank Ltd.

25 Bank Street, Canary Wharf, London E14 5JP

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

Legal advisors

Bates Wells & Braithwaite

10 Queen Street Place, London EX4R 1BE

Carbon Law Partners

89 Eastgate, Cowbridge CF71 7AA

Wilson’s Law

4 Lincoln’s Inn Fields, London WC2A 3AA

Withers Worldwide

20 Old Bailey, London EC4M 7AN (who also advise us on a probono basis)

Carson McDowell LLP

Murray House, Murray Street, Belfast BT1 6DN (who also advise us on a probono basis)

We would like to thank the following firms for their pro-bono work:

Baker & McKenzie

100 New Bridge Street, London EC4V 6JA

CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang LLP

Cannon Place, 78 Cannon Street, London EC4N 6AF

Herbert Smith Freehills LLP Exchange House, Primrose Street, London EC2A 2EG

Mayer Brown International LLP

201 Bishopsgate, London EC4V 6JA

Devereux Chambers

Devereux Court, Temple, London WC2R 3JH

Simmons and Simmons City Point, 1 Ropemaker Street, London EC2Y 9SS

DLA Piper

3 Noble Street, London EC2V 7EE

Doughty Street Chambers

53-54 Doughty Street, London WC1N 2LS

Gowling WLG

Walker Morris

Kings Court, 12 King Street, Leeds LS1 2HL

Weil, Gotshal & Manges 110 Fetter Lane, London EC4A 1AY

3 Waterhouse Square, 142 Holborn, London EC1N 2SW

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

Financial review

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

Summary

This year’s annual report marking three years of progress on our ambitious ten-year strategy. Much of the social safety net the NSPCC provides is dependent on our indispensable volunteers who, alongside our employees, supporters and partners, keep lifelines like Childline and the Helpline open to the children and families who need them. Crucially, none of those vital services would be possible without the generosity and good will of our supporters, who continue to donate much-needed funds.

Our total income increased in the year, with increases in our legacies and investment income offsetting a decline in individual direct giving. As well as this increase in total income in the year, our income from supporters (donations and legacies*, and other trading activities) also grew, making up over 80% of total income received, which continues to illustrate the clear mandate we hold to act on behalf of the public to protect children.

Although the amount spent on charitable activities has increased by £8.2 million to £85.5 million, we have also had to spend more on raising funds and therefore the percentage of our funds spent on directly helping children and families has reduced slightly to 73.4% (2023 75.0%). We have chosen to invest in fundraising infrastructure, including our supporter engagement platform, and for a period, acknowledge that this will have an impact on this percentage. However, this still means that for every pound we spend, almost 75 pence** goes on charitable activities.

We would like to thank everyone who stands with us in the fight for every childhood and who continues to support our work.

*Income from supporters included income from donations and legacies (excluding statutory non- performance related grants) and other trading activities.

**Expenditure on charitable activities is 73.4% (2023: 75.0%) of total expenditure excluding other expenditure. Excluding donated services of £5.0 million (2023: £3.3 million), expenditure on charitable activities would be 76.3% (2023: 77.2%) of total expenditure excluding other expenditure. Donated services are recognised within raising funds (£4.6 million (2023: £3.0 million)) and charitable activities (£0.4 million (2023: £0.3 million)).

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

How we helped children

Our ambition over our ten year strategy is to work with more children and make the biggest impact we can help prevent child abuse and neglect. This year we spent a total of £85.5 million on charitable activities, which was £8.2 million higher than last year (2023: £77.3 million), with the amount spent to directly help children and families remaining around 75% of expenditure.**

£85.5 million on charitable activities

Expenditure on services for children and families reduced by £1.1 million to £25.1 million (2023: £24.0 million), primarily due to recruitment to vacant roles in staff across our service centres. You can read more about the delivery of our direct services throughout the annual report.

Expenditure on Childline and our Schools Service increased by £0.1 million to £24.3 million (2023: £24.2 million). Through 2023/24, Childline has continued to listen to and respond to children and young people’s needs for help and support. This year we delivered fewer counselling sessions – almost 188,000 (2023: over 195,000), with the help of over 1,000 volunteer counsellors (2023 over 1,100 volunteer counsellors) who provided over 123,000 hours (2023 over 132,000 hours).

**Expenditure on charitable activities is 73.4% (2023: 75.0%) of total expenditure excluding other expenditure. Excluding donated services of £5.0 million (2023: £3.3 million), expenditure on charitable activities would be 76.3% (2023: 77.2%) of total expenditure excluding other expenditure. Donated services are recognised within raising funds (£4.6 million (2023: £3.0 million)) and charitable activities (£0.4 million 82 (2023: £0.3 million)).

Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

Childline continues to face challenges in providing enough capacity during the busiest periods: evenings and weekends are often the hardest shifts to fill with volunteers. We’re focusing on recruiting more volunteers and getting them trained as efficiently as possible.

Delivery of our Speak out. Stay safe. program through school assemblies remained largely virtual through the year. We delivered assemblies to over 5,600 schools (2023 over 5,300 schools) reaching over 1,376,000 children across the UK (2023 over 1,235,000 children). You can read more about our Childline service and Speak out. Stay safe. on pages 25–27.

Expenditure on child protection advice and awareness increased by £6.0 million to £29.9 million (2023: £23.9 million). This year we have spent more on awareness campaigns, as well as increased Helpline staff costs. The NSPCC Helpline continues to support adults, including parents, professionals and other members of the public, who have concerns about a child. During the year, our Helpline responded to over 75,600 contacts in relation to child welfare (2023: nearly 60,000). You can read more about our Helpline on page 15 and 16.

Expenditure on child protection consultancy increased by £1.0 million to £6.2 million (2023: £5.2 million). A major component is our NSPCC Learning activity, where we offer our range of online courses that help organisations and individuals working with children and young people to gain the knowledge and skills they need to keep them safe. In 2023/24, we had almost 3 million visitors to the NSPCC Learning website. And, we’re well on our way to achieving our vision to be the ‘go-to’ place for safeguarding information, and for training professionals working or volunteering with children. You can read more about our NSPCC Learning on page 15 and 16.

Expenditure on raising funds increased by £5.3 million to £31.0 million (2023: £25.7 million). This includes increased advertising costs for our awareness and fundraising campaigns, including gifted advertising, as well as increased events costs.

Our efforts over the years to streamline all that we do have enabled us to continually reduce support costs, and to reduce this as a percentage of our total expenditure from 7% in 2012 to just 4% in 2019, which has since been maintained. This year, although support costs increased to £5.2 million, this has remained 4.4% of total expenditure (2023: £4.6 million, 4.4%). Support costs include expenditure on governance activities of £0.5 million (2023: £0.4 million). Governance costs include the cost of internal audit, legal advice, costs associated with meeting constitutional and statutory requirements and strategic planning.

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The support we received

This year our total income increased by £4.1 million to £124.7 million (2023: £120.6 million). Of that, overall income from donations and legacies increased by £3.8 million to £100.6 million (2023: £96.8 million).

£124.7 million total income

Income from individual giving , including regular donations, reduced by £2.1 million to £43.3 million (2023: £45.5 million), continuing the trend of decline in the number of committed regular giving relationships. Economic hardship that many people have faced over the last 12 months has resulted in continued cancellations, though lower than last year, reducing by 20,000 to 402,000 (2023: reducing by 26,000 to 422,000). This year we were able to secure 10,000 new regular donors (compared to 9,000 in 2023), largely due to a continued increase in face-to-face fundraising and a focus on regular giving.

Legacy income increased by £2.6 million to £30.8 million (2023: £28.2 million), partly due to an increase in high value gifts. In the year there were 13 gifts over £250,000 with a total value of £11.5 million (2023: 9 gifts over £250,000 with a total value of £9.2 million). This includes a significant gift of £6.0 million compared to a similar gift of £5.0 million last year.

Income from corporates, trusts and major donors increased by £3.5 million to £16.1 million (2023: £12.6 million). This is primarily due to a significant partnership with Omaze of £2.1 million as well as new marketing services provided as gifts in kind. You can read more about our corporate partners on page 34.

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

Other voluntary income streams remained consistent with the prior year. We received £0.3 million of capital income to develop one of our service centres, which is offset by decreases in our schools fundraising and in participation events when compared to last year.

Income from trading activities decreased by £0.3 million to £5.3 million (2023: £5.6 million). This was due to a reduction in some of the high value events compared to last year, though this was offset by the reintroduction of the Childline Ball in February 2024, run for the first time since 2019. This was also supported by an increase of £0.1m to £2.1m in income from the sale of goods and other activities.

Income from charitable activities , received primarily from government and other statutory sources through grants and contracts, increased by £1.1 million to £15.7 million (2023: £14.6 million). Sales from our bespoke training increased and our elearning sales through NSPCC Learning, which was launched in 2019, have remained consistent, with our range of online courses that help organisations and individuals working with children and young people to gain the knowledge and skills they need to keep them safe. We also received £1.4 million (2023: £nil) from the Home Office to support the longterm aim of building public awareness about child sexual abuse and to ensure the provision of accessible expert advice and a confidential reporting mechanism for whistleblowers.

Income from supporters (donations and legacies*, and other trading activities) remains above 80% of total income received, which continues to illustrate the clear mandate we hold to act on behalf of the public to protect children. We would like to thank all our supporters for their commitment to the cause and their passion for what we do, which leads them to give generously in so many ways. This support is as vital as it has ever been, and we simply could not reach the children who need us without our supporters standing with us.

*Income from supporters included income from donations and legacies (excluding statutory non- performance related grants) and other trading activities.

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Reserves

Total reserves now stand at £119.6 million, an increase of £14.2 million compared to last year.

This reflects:

----- Start of picture text -----
£14.2 million
increase on last year
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The £10.7 million increase in unrestricted general funds reflects net income for 2023/24 of £12.4 million, partly offset by transfers of £1.7 million, with £2.2 million transferred to the pension reserve for defined benefit contributions paid during the year.

The £3.9 million increase in designated funds reflects £6.0 million income set aside for strategic expenditure, investment property gains of £0.6 million and net property additions of £0.5 million, offset by expenditure of £2.7 million and fixed asset property depreciation of £0.6 million. Designated funds are funds set aside by the trustees out of general funds to cover the value of

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property fixed assets held, which includes freehold and leasehold properties, or to fund specific future purposes or projects. Designated funds relating to freehold and leasehold properties were £22.2 million, consisting of property fixed assets, with a land value of £1.9 million, investment property value of £1.9 million and depreciating property assets of £15.0 million, and related provision for property dilapidations of £3.4 million. The remaining average depreciation time for these property assets is 32 years. In addition, £19.3 million is held for the furtherance of strategic projects.

The £0.2 million reduction in restricted funds reflects the drawdown of funds in order to support activities specified by the donor when making the gift, or related to the terms of an appeal. Restricted funds at 31 March 2024 represent unspent restricted income of £1.4 million, being £0.3 million for our Letting The Future In program, £0.3 million for our Healthy Relationships Campaign and £0.2 million for The Lighthouse as well as £0.5 million restricted to programmes and £0.2 million with other regional restrictions. The remaining balance of £0.3 million relates to capital restricted income, where the asset is yet to be brought in to use.

Endowment funds , being donations where the capital needs to be preserved, have increased to £1.6 million (2023: £1.5 million).

Per our reserves policy we aim to retain sufficient unrestricted free reserves in a range equivalent to three to six months’ forward expenditure. Unrestricted free reserves are calculated as excluding fixed assets included within general funds, adjusted for the actuarial deficit in the pension scheme and investment volatility. We hold these unrestricted free reserves in case of any sudden decline in income, so that we can honour our commitments to children and young people by ensuring contractual obligations to staff, premises and funding partners can be met with confidence.

Our unrestricted free reserves totalled £59.3 million (2023: £50.9 million) and are equivalent to 5.8 months forward expenditure (2023: 5.1 months), which are within our target range.

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Investments and cash

Our reserves are largely represented by the amounts that we hold in investments and cash.

The trustees’ responsibilities with respect to investments are set out in the Royal Charter and by-laws. These responsibilities are delegated to the Finance Committee, which oversees the management of the portfolio.

JP Morgan and Credit Suisse are our investment managers, with each actively managing a mixed portfolio of equities, bonds and cash deposits with the aim of achieving return goals within risk parameters, and applying a set of ethical screens using industry recognised screening tools such as provided by MSCI ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) Research and ECPI Research.

At 31 March 2024, total investments and cash totalled £126.9 million

(2023: £109.2 million). Fixed asset investments totalled £122.3 million (2023: £100.3 million), of which £30.2 million was held in equities (2023: £25.2 million), £41.5 million was held in fixed income bonds (2023: £39.0 million), £48.7 million was held in bank deposits and money market funds (2023: £35.4 million) and £1.9 million in investment property (2023: £0.7 million).

A total of £75.1 million is held by Credit Suisse and JP Morgan (2023: £66.8 million). This increase is due to £7.2 million of investment gains combined with £1.1 million net investment income. The table below shows the performance of our investment managers at 31 March 2024:

Fund
manager		 Benchmarks used Fund value
31 March 2024
£’000
Inception		 Fund value
31 March 2024
£’000
Inception		 Performance
Since Inception
%
JP
Morgan		 51% BBG Capital Sterling
Corporate 1-10yrs
49% MSCI World After Tax		 Equities
Bonds
Deposits		 18,203
19,606
952
1st October
2018
38,761		 Performance
Benchmark
39.38
45.93
Total Variance
(6.55)
Credit
Suisse		 37% Bloomberg GBP Non-Gilts
1-10yr
31% MSCI World Idx TR Net
Hdg into GBP
24% Bloomberg GBP Gilts
1-10yr
8% JPMorgan Cash GBP 1M		 Equities
Bonds
Deposits		 12,022
21,852
2,503
2nd July
2018
36,377		 Performance
Benchmark
24.32
23.68
Total Variance
0.64

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

The investment managers’ performance against their respective benchmarks is monitored closely by the Finance, Audit & Risk Committee. JP Morgan’s underperformance versus its benchmark since inception has been impacted by sustainability objectives. Although JP Morgan’s performance has been below benchmark, it has delivered a strong overall absolute return since inception.

Current investments and cash were £4.6 million (2023: £8.9 million), comprising operational cash held plus overnight money market investments. The overall return on cash investments for the year ending 31 March 2024 was 4.2% (2023: 1.3%). We also earned rental income of £0.1 million (2023: £0.1 million) from our investment properties.

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Pensions

We provide a defined contribution pension scheme available to all staff, operated by Aviva. We also operate a defined benefit scheme.

The non-contributory section of this defined benefit scheme was closed to new members on 1 July 2002, and the contributory section was closed to new members on 1 July 2008. The full scheme was closed to future accrual on 31 December 2009; on closure, members of the scheme had the opportunity to join the defined contribution scheme.

The most recent triennial actuarial valuation at 31 March 2021 reported a deficit of £23.3 million, being the valuation used for funding purposes. Based on this valuation, the Society agreed with the pension scheme trustees that it would aim to eliminate the deficit over a period of five years and six months from 31 March 2021 by the payment of annual contributions of £1.8 million. In addition to the annual contributions, it was agreed that a lump sum of £11.4 million would be paid by 31 December 2021. Also, and in accordance with the actuarial valuation, the Society has agreed with the pension scheme trustees that it will pay £0.4 million per annum to meet expenses of the scheme and levies to the Pensions Protection Fund (previously £0.5 million per annum). The Society trustees consider that the pension deficit is recoverable from future cash flows.

The actuarial deficit as at 31 March 2024 has been estimated as £25.2 million (2023: £24.9 million). This deficit increase reflects £1.0 million actuarial losses, and expenses of £1.5 million, partly offset by £2.2 million of contributions during the year.

The basis of calculating a pension surplus and deficit for funding purposes is different to the basis that needs to be adopted to determine an accounting valuation under FRS 102. The FRS 102 valuation as at 31 March 2024 reported assets of £113.3 million with liabilities of £138.5 million, giving a deficit of £25.2 million (2023: £24.9 million).

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Going concern

When setting the 2024/25 budget, we reviewed our income expectations in light of historic returns and future scenario modelling.

We have considered our risks and opportunities, to ensure that our income targets are realistic, and have aligned our planned services and activities with our expected future short term income. We have considered our need to balance investment in future income streams to ensure financial longevity, against the desire to do as much as we can for children now, and the potential consequences of upward trends in inflation on our financial position.

Despite management’s view that the 2024/25 budget represents a realistic, risk adjusted, view of our expected outcome for the year, we acknowledge that our operating environment continues to reflect some uncertainty. Sensitivity analysis has been prepared to model the impact that unexpected changes in income might have on our overall position and viability. Two scenarios have been considered: firstly, the impact of a worsening of economic and political climate, with higher inflation and reductions in donor contribution and, secondly, the impact of damage from an adverse reputational event.

We have assessed projected future income, expenditure and cash flows over the period to 31 March 2026, including additional downside scenarios, and analysed the strength of the Society’s reserves, liquid assets and its ability to withstand a short-term material fall in income. In conclusion, the trustees have agreed that there is a reasonable expectation that the Society and its subsidiaries have adequate resources to continue their activities for the foreseeable future. Therefore, we have continued to adopt the going concern basis in preparing the financial statements.

Neil Berkett Chair, 17 July 2024

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Independent Auditor’s Report to the Trustees of the NSPCC

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of NSPCC (‘the charity’) and its subsidiaries (‘the group’) for the year ended 31 March 2024 which comprise the Consolidated Statement of Financial Activities, Consolidated Balance Sheet and Charity Balance Sheet, Consolidated Cash Flow Statement and 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 Financial Reporting Standard 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:

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’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the group 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.

Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

Conclusions relating to going concern

In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the trustee's 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 or the group’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 trustees are responsible for the other information contained within the annual report. The other information comprises the information included in the annual report, other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. 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.

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 and the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:

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Responsibilities of trustees

As explained more fully in the trustees’ responsibilities statement, the trustees 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 group’s and the parent 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 charity or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

We have been appointed as auditor under section 151 of the Charities Act 2011, and section 44(1)(c) of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and report in accordance with the Acts 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.

Details of the extent to which the audit was considered capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulations are set out below.

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 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 identified and assessed the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements from irregularities, whether due to fraud or error, and discussed these between our audit team members. We then designed and

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performed audit procedures responsive to those risks, including obtaining audit evidence sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

We obtained an understanding of the legal and regulatory frameworks within which the charity and group operates, focusing on those laws and regulations that have a direct effect on the determination of material amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. The laws and regulations we considered in this context were the Charities Act 2011 and The Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005, together with the Charities SORP (FRS 102). We assessed the required compliance with these laws and regulations as part of our audit procedures on the related financial statement items.

In addition, we considered provisions of other laws and regulations that do not have a direct effect on the financial statements but compliance with which might be fundamental to the charity’s and the group’s ability to operate or to avoid a material penalty. We also considered the opportunities and incentives that may exist within the charity and the group for fraud. The laws and regulations we considered in this context for the UK operations included General Data Protection Regulation, Fundraising regulations, Child Welfare legislation and Employment legislation.

Auditing standards limit the required audit procedures to identify noncompliance with these laws and regulations to enquiry of the Trustees and other management and inspection of regulatory and legal correspondence, if any.

We identified the greatest risk of material impact on the financial statements from irregularities, including fraud, to be within the timing of recognition of legacy income and the override of controls by management. Our audit procedures to respond to these risks included enquiries of management, legal counsel and the Finance, Audit & Risk Committee about their own identification and assessment of the risks of irregularities, sample testing on the posting of journals, reviewing accounting estimates for biases, reviewing regulatory correspondence with the Charity Commission, and reading minutes of meetings of those charged with governance.

Owing to the inherent limitations of an audit, there is an unavoidable risk that we may not have detected some material misstatements in the financial statements, even though we have properly planned and performed our audit in accordance with auditing standards. For example, the further removed noncompliance with laws and regulations (irregularities) is from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, the less likely the inherently limited procedures required by auditing standards would identify it. In addition, as with any audit, there remained a higher risk of non-detection of irregularities, as these may involve collusion, forgery, intentional omissions, misrepresentations, or the override of internal controls. We are not responsible for preventing non-compliance and cannot be expected to detect noncompliance with all laws and regulations.

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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 and Regulation 10 of the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006. 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 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 charity and the charity’s trustees as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

Crowe U.K. LLP Statutory Auditor,

London,

18 July 2024

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

----- Start of picture text -----
Financial statements
are
huts. , = —_
97
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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

The support we received

Donations and legacies

£100.6 million (80.7%)

Voluntary donations made by our supporters on a regular or one-off basis, including grants which do not have performance-conditions attached. (£96.8 million in 2023)

----- Start of picture text -----
Total income
£124.7 million
----- End of picture text -----

Income from carrying out our charitable work

£15.7 million (12.6%)

Income which we receive in the course of carrying out our charitable work. For example, income received from service level agreements with local authorities; government grants; and income received from provision of training and education in child protection to professional groups.

(£14.6 million in 2023)

Other trading activities

£5.3 million (4.2%)

Activities undertaken for the purpose of raising funds to support our charitable work. For example, dinners and balls, auctions, challenge events, sale of Christmas cards and allowing commercial organisations to use our name and logo in their marketing activity.

(£5.6 million in 2023)

Investment income

£3.1 million

(2.5%)

Income received from our bank accounts and investment holdings.

(£2.1 million in 2023)

Other

£nil

This includes profit on sale of properties and other capital assets.

(£1.5 million in 2023)

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

How we helped protect children

Charitable expenditure

£85.5 million (73.4%)

The cost of undertaking direct charitable activities which are defined under the following headings: (£77.3 million in 2023)

----- Start of picture text -----
Total expenditure
£116.5 million
(excluding other
costs)
----- End of picture text -----*

Raising donations and legacies

£25.1 million (21.5%)

The cost of receiving voluntary donations, attracting new supporters and ongoing supporter care. (£20.5 million in 2023)

Other trading activities

£5.4 million (4.6%)

The cost of fundraising events, attracting support for our weekly lottery and other trading activities to raise funds to support our work.

(£4.8 million in 2023)

Investment management costs £0.5 million (0.4%)

The cost of managing our investments. (£0.4 million in 2023)

Other*

£1.7 million

Costs outside business as usual activities, such as restructuring and impairments.

(£0.5 million in 2023)

*Total expenditure was £118.2 million (£103.5 million in 2023) including other expenditure of £1.7 million (£0.5 million in 2023). These costs have been excluded from the figures presented above as they are outside business as usual activities.

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

NSPCC Consolidated Statement of Financial Activities for the year ended 31 March 2024

Year
Year
Restricted &
ended
ended
Unrestricted endowment
31 March
31 March
funds funds [i]
2024
2023
Notes £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Income from:
Donations and legacies 3 86,176 14,463
100,639
96,790
Charitable activities 4 5,018 10,683
15,701
14,594
Other trading activities 3 3,173 2,079
5,252
5,635
Investments 3 3,093 49
3,142
2,068
Other - -
-
1,495
Total income 97,460 27,274
**124,734 **
120,582
Expenditure on:
Raising donations and legacies
6 24,831 309
25,140
20,527
Other trading activities 6 5,320 34
5,354
4,821
Investment management costs 6 456 4
460
404
Raising funds **30,607 ** 347
**30,954 **
25,752
Net income available for charitable 66,853 26,927
93,780
94,830
**application **
Expenditure on:
Services for children and families 15,299 9,782
25,081
23,955
Childline and the schools service 10,987 13,326
24,313
24,158
Child protection advice and awareness 26,761 3,133
29,894
23,948
Child protection consultancy 5,540 720
6,260
5,192
Charitable activities 6 58,587 26,961
85,548
77,253
Other 6 1,728 -
1,728		 528
Total expenditure 90,922 27,308 118,230 103,533
Net income before investment 6,538 (34)
6,504
17,049
gains/(losses)
Netgains/(losses) on investments 14 8,570 101
8,671
(4,187)
Net income 15,108 **67 **
15,175		 12,862
Transfer between funds 22 96 (96) -
-
Other recognised losses:
Actuarial losses on defined benefit
pension scheme 20 (1,012) -
(1,012)		 (26,824)
Net movement in funds **14,192 ** (29) 14,163 (13,962)
Reconciliation of funds:
Total fundsbrought forward 102,193 3,246 105,439 119,401
Total funds carried forward 116,385 3,217
**119,602 **
105,439

[i] The net gains on investments shown under Restricted & endowment funds are attributable to permanent endowment investments and along with the allocation of investment management fees are the only movements on the Permanent endowment fund. All other income and expenditure relates to restricted funds. Details of the Permanent endowment fund are given within notes 22 and 23.

There were no other recognised gains and losses other than those listed above and the net income for the year. All income relates to continuing operations.

The Consolidated Statement of Financial Activities with fund comparatives is detailed within note 2.

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

NSPCC and Consolidated Balance Sheets

as at 31 March 2024

Balance Sheets
as at 31 March 2024
Group Charity
2024 2023 2023
2024		 2023
Notes £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Fixed assets
Tangible assets 12 18,106 18,579 18,579
18,106		 18,579
Intangible assets 12 3,041 2,533 2,533
3,041		 2,533
Investments 14 122,288 100,320 100,320
122,288 100,320		 122,288 100,320
Total fixed assets 143,435 121,432 143,435 121,432 143,435 121,432
143,435 121,432		 143,435 121,432
Current assets
Debtors 15 13,871 17,265 17,265
13,549		 17,136
Investments 16 4,210 8,555 8,555
4,210		 8,555
Cash at bank and in hand 16 375 336 336
308		 297
Total current assets 18,456 26,156 26,156
18,067		 25,988
Creditors - amounts falling due within one year 17 (13,514) (13,596) (13,596)
(13,155) (13,458)		 (13,155) (13,458)
Net current assets 4,942 12,560 12,560
4,912		 12,530
Total assets less current liabilities 148,377 133,992 148,377 133,992 148,377 133,992
148,347 133,962		 148,347 133,962
Provisions for liabilities 18 (3,531) (3,638) (3,638)
(3,531)		 (3,638)
Net assets excluding pension scheme liability 144,846 130,354 144,846 130,354 144,846 130,354
144,816 130,324		 144,816 130,324
Defined benefit pension scheme liability 20 (25,244) (24,915) (24,915)
(25,244) (24,915)		 (25,244) (24,915)
Total net assets 119,602 105,439 119,602 105,439 119,602 105,439
119,572 105,409		 119,572 105,409
Total funds 22 1,563 1,466 1,466
1,563		 1,466
Endowment funds
Restricted income funds 22 1,654 1,780 1,780
1,654		 1,780
Unrestricted funds:
Designated funds 22 41,531 37,644 37,644
41,531		 37,644
General funds 22 100,098 89,464 89,464
100,068		 89,434
Unrestricted funds excluding pension liability 141,629 127,108 141,629 127,108 141,629 127,108
141,599 127,078		 141,599 127,078
Pension reserve 22 (25,244) (24,915) (24,915)
(25,244) (24,915)		 (25,244) (24,915)
Total unrestricted funds 116,385 102,193 116,385 102,193 116,385 102,193
116,355 102,163		 116,355 102,163
Total funds 119,602 105,439 119,602 105,439 119,602 105,439
119,572 105,409		 119,572 105,409

The accompanying notes form part of these accounts.

Approved by the Board of Trustees on 17 July 2024 and signed on its behalf by

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Neil Berkett, Chair

Mark Corbidge Treasurer

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

Consolidated Cash Flow Statement

for the year ended 31 March 2024

2024
2023
Notes £'000
£'000
Cash flows provided from operating activities:
Net cash provided/(used) by operating activities a 7,848
18,106
Cash flows from investing activities:
Dividends and interest from investments 3,142
2,068
Proceeds from the sale of tangible and intangible fixed assets -
2,826
Purchase of tangible and intangible fixed assets (2,331) (3,572)
Proceeds from sale of investments 55,518
68,041
Purchase of investments (68,483) (87,620)
Net cash used in investing activities (12,154) (18,257)
Change in cash and cash equivalents in the reporting period (4,306)
(151)
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the reporting period b 8,891
9,042
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the reporting period b 4,585
8,891
Notes to the cash flow statement
2024
2023
£'000
£'000
a. Reconciliation of net income to net cash flow from operating
activities
Net income 15,175
12,862
Adjustments for:
Depreciation and amortisation charges 1,964
2,332
Impairments -
(16)
(Gains)/losses on investments (8,671)
4,187
Dividends and interest from investments (3,142) (2,068)
Profit on the sale of tangible and intangible fixed assets - (1,495)
Decrease/(increase) in debtors 3,395
2,930
Increase in creditors (82)
1,381
Decrease in other provisions (107)
(98)
Difference between pension contributions paid and charges made (684) (1,909)
Net cash provided/(used) by operating activities 7,848 18,106
b. Analysis of cash and cash equivalents
Cash at bank and in hand 375
336
Current investments 4,210
8,555
Total cash and cash equivalents 4,585
8,891

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

Notes to the Consolidated Accounts

for the year ended 31 March 2024

1 Accounting policies

1.1 Basis of accounting

The NSPCC is a public benefit entity. The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in notes to the accounts and comply with the charity’s governing document, the Charities Act 2011 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 issued in October 2019. The accounts are prepared under the historical cost convention as modified for the revaluation of investments.

After making enquiries, the trustees have a reasonable expectation that the charity and its subsidiaries have adequate resources to continue their activities for the foreseeable future. When setting the 2024/25 budget, we reviewed our income expectations in light of historic returns and income modelling. We have considered our risks and opportunities, to ensure that our income targets are realistic, and have aligned our planned services and activities with our expected future short term income. Having assessed projected future income, expenditure and cash flows over the period to 31 March 2026, including additional downside scenarios and analysed the strength of the charity’s reserves, liquid assets and its ability to withstand a short- term material fall in income we have concluded that there is a

reasonable expectation that the charity and its subsidiaries have adequate resources to continue their activities for the foreseeable future. Therefore, we have continued to adopt the going concern basis in preparing the financial statements.

1.2 Consolidated accounts The results of NSPCC Trading Company Limited (the 'Trading Company') and Childline, which are wholly-owned subsidiaries, have been consolidated on a line-by-line basis in the Statement of Financial Activities (SOFA) and Balance Sheet. A summary of the results of the parent charity are given within note 11.

Where Childline is used to describe part of charitable income or expenditure by activity, this does not refer to the results of the statutory entity. Childline, the entity, exists to receive legacy income otherwise not receivable by the NSPCC. Childline, the charitable activity, provides support and advice to ensure that every child is listened to and protected.

NSPCC Pension Scheme Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary, has not been consolidated as it is a dormant entity with no assets or liabilities. The company acts solely as a corporate trustee of the NSPCC Pension Scheme and does not trade on its own behalf.

1.3 Principal accounting estimates and judgements

In the application of the Charity’s accounting policies, management is required to make judgements, estimates

and assumptions about the carrying amounts 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 those estimates and the estimates, along with their underlying assumptions, are continually reviewed. 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 if the revision affects only that period, or in the period of the revision and future periods if the revision affects both current and future periods.

The following critical

judgements have been made in the process of applying the Charity's accounting policies and that has the most significant effect on the amounts recognised in the financial statements:

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policy 1.6.

1.4 Financial instruments

Financial assets and financial liabilities are recognised when the Society becomes a party to the contractual provisions of the instrument. All financial assets and liabilities are initially measured at transaction price (including transaction costs). Basic financial instruments are initially recognised at transaction value and subsequently measured at their settlement value, with the exception of fixed asset investments, as detailed within accounting policy 1.9.

Trade and other debtors are recognised at the settlement amount due after any discount offered and net of the bad debt provision. Prepayments are valued at the amount prepaid net of any trade discounts due. 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.

1.5 Income

All income is accounted for in the SOFA when the Charity is legally entitled to the income, it is probable that the income will be received, and the amount can be quantified with reasonable accuracy.

For pecuniary legacies the recognition point is normally at the date probate is granted, and residuary legacies are normally recognised when draft

estate accounts are available or

other suitable information which allows the legacy to be measured with reasonable accuracy. Income is not recognised for legacies which remain subject to a life interest.

Income received from fundraising activities organised by volunteer groups operating under the Charity’s control is in many cases received net of related expenditure. An estimate of the expenditure has been calculated according to payments made out of the branch bank accounts and returns sent from the volunteer groups. Income and expenditure have been increased by this amount. The trustees have concluded that this is a reasonable estimate to use given the cost and administrative effort involved to account for the actual gross branch income.

Gifts in kind and donated

services have been included at the lower of their value to the Society and their estimated open market value. No amount has been included for services donated by volunteers.

All grants and contractual payments are included on a receivable basis. Contract income is recognised as performance obligations are satisfied. Grant income with performance related conditions received in advance of delivering specified goods and services, or income with a time restriction placed on it by the donor, is deferred until the donor stipulated criteria are met. Income is also deferred if it is probable it could become refundable. Income from contracted services and performance related grants generated through the delivery of goods and services furthering the objects of the Charity is included under income from charitable activities. This policy applies to both non-government and government grants, including coronavirus job retention scheme.

1.6 Expenditure

Expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis and allocated to the appropriate heading in the accounts.

Charitable activities expenditure enables the Society to meet its charitable aims and objectives. Expenditure on raising funds includes expenditure incurred in raising donations and legacies, other trading activities and investment management costs. These costs are regarded as necessary to generate funds that are needed to finance charitable activities.

Expenditure is apportioned where it relates to more than one cost category, such as communication with the public around child protection advice and awareness with the parallel purpose of encouraging potential donors to contribute funds to the Society. The method of apportionment uses the most appropriate basis in each case. Marketing activities with the dual purpose of generating funds and informing the public about child protection are allocated based on content. An analysis of the split between directly attributable costs and allocated costs incurred for fundraising activities and child protection advice and awareness is detailed within note 7.

Support costs are those costs which enable raising funds and charitable activities to be undertaken. These costs include finance, human resources, information systems, communications, property management, legal costs, and governance costs. All support costs are apportioned on the basis of full time equivalent staff numbers, except costs relating to information systems which are apportioned based on the number of computers and laptops in use.

Redundancy costs are recognised when there is a legal or constructive obligation. Employment related costs and redundancy costs are detailed

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

within note 9.

Any irrecoverable VAT is included as part of the cost to which it relates. The amount suffered in the year is detailed within note 6.

1.7 Fund Accounting

General funds - these are funds given freely to the organisation that can be applied at the discretion of the trustees in accordance with the Society’s charitable objects.

Designated funds - these are funds set aside by the trustees out of general funds, to cover the value of property fixed assets and investment property held, or to fund specific future purposes or projects. Restricted funds - these are funds received for undertaking an activity specified by the donor when making the gift, or may result from the terms of an appeal for funds.

Endowment funds - these are funds where the assets must be held permanently by the Society, principally in the form of investments. Endowment funds are not shown separately on the SOFA on the basis of materiality but are detailed within note 22. Income received from endowments is added to the appropriate fund in accordance with any restriction placed upon it. Any capital gains or losses arising on the investments form part of the fund.

Further explanation of the nature and purpose of each fund is detailed within note 22.

1.8 Tangible and intangible fixed assets

Tangible and intangible fixed assets are stated at cost. Depreciation and amortisation is calculated to write off the cost of fixed assets by equal annual instalments over their expected useful lives as follows:

Freehold property 50 years Leasehold property the shorter of the lease term or 50 years Furniture, fittings and equipment 2 - 5 years Intangible assets 2 - 5 years

No depreciation is provided on freehold land.

Tangible and intangible fixed assets costing less than £2,000 are not capitalised, and are written off in the year of purchase. Technology hardware refresh projects that purchase individually insignificant items but that in aggregate are over £100,000 are capitalised in order to reflect the hardware’s pattern of use.

Impairment reviews on fixed assets are conducted on an annual basis and if found to have a carrying value materially higher than its recoverable amount, it is written down accordingly. As part of the impairment review, an assessment is performed to record properties at the lower of net book value and recoverable amount. Fair value is estimated through property valuations which are conducted triennially by an independent valuer. The valuation, which conforms to International Valuation Standards, was arrived at by reference to market evidence of transaction prices for similar properties.

1.9 Investments

Other than investments in subsidiaries, which are stated at cost, and donated shares as in the paragraph below, investments are stated at fair value (market value) through the SOFA.

Investment properties are held by the Society to earn rentals or for capital appreciation, or both rather than for use by the entity. Investment properties are initially recognised at cost which includes purchase cost and any directly attributable expenditure. They are subsequently held at fair value with the fair value assessment being conducted triennially by an independent valuer. The valuation, which conforms to International Valuation Standards, was arrived at by reference to market evidence of transaction prices for similar

properties.

No depreciation is provided on the investment properties and changes in fair value are recognised in the SOFA. Rental income from operating leases is recognised as income from investments in the SOFA on a straight-line basis over the term of the lease.

Donated shares that come with a requirement that they be held for a fixed period or are infrequently traded are included in the balance sheet at the lower of market value if available and a value assessed by the trustees. This value is reviewed by the trustees at each balance sheet date. Investment income is recognised gross of costs when the Charity is entitled to it, it is probable that it will be received, and it can be reliably measured. Realised and unrealised gains and losses are combined in the appropriate section in the SOFA.

1.10 Pension costs

The NSPCC defined benefit scheme is closed to new entrants and to further accrual. The assets of the scheme are held separately from those in the group, in a separate trustee administered fund. Pension scheme assets are measured at fair value and liabilities are measured on an actuarial basis using the projected unit method and discounted at a rate equivalent to the current rate of return on a high quality corporate bond of equivalent currency and term to the scheme liabilities. The resulting defined benefit asset or liability is presented separately after other net assets on the face of the balance sheet. Whilst the scheme includes a provision to allow the Society to claim a refund after the payment of all outstanding benefits, the scheme trustees retain full discretion over whether to grant such a refund and may instead apply any balance of assets to augment members' benefits. As such, the Society does not

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

recognise an asset in respect of potential future refunds. Full actuarial valuations are obtained triennially.

The amounts charged in expenditure are gains and losses on settlements and curtailments. These are included as part of staff costs together with losses and gains due to benefit changes which are recognised immediately if the benefits have vested. The net amount of interest cost and the discount rate applied to the assets are included within other expenditure. Actuarial gains and losses are recognised immediately under Other recognised gains and losses. Costs incurred in relation to the defined contribution scheme are included in staff pension costs.

Costs recognised are equivalent to the contributions in the year and are recognised on an accruals basis and any unsettled amounts are included in other creditors.

1.11 Operating leases

Rentals under operating leases are charged on a straight-line basis over the lease term, even if the payments are not made on such a basis. Benefits received and receivable as an incentive to sign an operating lease are similarly spread on a straight-line basis over the lease term.

1.12 Tax

The NSPCC as a registered charity is exempt from tax under Chapter 3 of Part 11 to the Corporation Tax Act 2010 or Section 256 of the Taxation

for Chargeable Gains Act 1992, to the extent surpluses are applied to its charitable purposes. No corporation tax charge has arisen in the Charity's subsidiaries since all their profits are gifted to the NSPCC.

1.13 Cash flow

The Society meets the definition of a qualifying entity under FRS 102 and has therefore taken advantage of the disclosure exemption in relation to presentation of a cash flow statement in respect of its separate financial statements, which are presented alongside the consolidated financial statements.

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

2 Consolidated Statement of Financial Activities with fund comparatives

Unrestricted Restricted & Year ended Unrestricted Restricted & Year ended Year ended
funds endowment 31 March funds endowment 31 March
£'000 funds 2024 £'000 funds 2023
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Income from:
Donations and legacies 86,176 14,463 100,639 85,345 11,445 96,790
Charitable activities 5,018 10,683 15,701 5,040 9,554 14,594
Other trading activities 3,173 2,079 5,252 3,204 2,431 5,635
Investments 3,093 49 3,142 2,047 21 2,068
Other - - - 1,495 - 1,495
Total income 97,460 27,274 124,734 97,131 23,451 120,582
Expenditure on:
Raising donations and legacies 24,831 309 25,140 20,381 146 20,527
Other trading activities 5,320 34 5,354 4,808 13 4,821
Investment management costs 456 4 460 399 5 404
Raising funds 30,607 347 30,954 25,588 164 25,752
Net income available for charitable 66,853 26,927 93,780 71,543 23,287 94,830
**application **
Expenditure on:
Services for children and families 15,299 9,782 25,081 14,546 9,409 23,955
Childline and the schools service 10,987 13,326 24,313 12,615 11,543 24,158
Child protection advice and awareness 26,761 3,133 29,894 21,872 2,076 23,948
Child protection consultancy 5,540 720 6,260 4,524 668 5,192
Charitable activities 58,587 26,961 85,548 53,557 23,696 77,253
Other 1,728 - 1,728 528 - 528
Total expenditure 90,922 27,308 118,230 79,673 23,860 103,533
Net income before investment 6,538 (34) 6,504 17,458 (409) 17,049
gains/(losses)
Net gains/(losses) on investments 8,570 101 8,671 (4,128) (59) (4,187)
Net income 15,108 67 15,175 13,330 (468) 12,862
Transfer between funds 96 (96) - 83 (83) -
Other recognised losses:
Actuarial losses on defined benefit (1,012) - (1,012) (26,824) - (26,824)
pension scheme
Net movement in funds 14,192 (29) 14,163 (13,411) (551) (13,962)
Reconciliation of funds:
Total funds brought forward 102,193 3,246 105,439 115,604 3,797 119,401
Total funds carried forward 116,385 3,217 119,602 102,193 3,246 105,439

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

3 Analysis of income from raised funds

3 Analysis of income from raised funds
2024
2023
£'000 £'000
Donations and legacies:
Individual giving including regular donations 43,291
45,527
Legacies 30,832
28,183
Regional and community fundraising 9,035
9,349
Corporates, trusts and major donors 16,075
12,646
Schools fundraising 499
599
Otherdonations and gifts 907
486
**Total ** 100,639 96,790
Other trading activities:
Fundraising events 3,182
3,618
Sale ofgoods and otheractivities* 2,070 2,017
**Total ** **5,252 **
5,635
Investments:
Dividends 385
483
Interest 2,632
1,470
Investment property 125 115
**Total ** **3,142 **
2,068

*Other activities include sponsorship, promotions, training, sundry sales, lotteries and rental income, none of which are individually material.

Donated goods and services amounted to £4,970,000 (2023 £3,279,000), of which £4,309,000 (2023 £2,580,000) has been recognised within Corporates, trusts and major donors, £350,000 (2023 £400,000) within Regional and community fundraising and £311,000 (2023 £299,000) within Other donations and gifts.

Donations and legacies includes £250,000 (2023 £nil) income received for a capital purpose within Other donations and gifts.

Income from donations and legacies includes £5,785,000 from non-performance related grants (2023 £5,488,000), of which £614,000 are government grants (2023 £790,000). £2,600,000 was received from People's Postcode Lottery (2023 £2,500,000), recognised within Corporates, trusts and major donors. There were no unfulfilled conditions or other contingencies relating to government grant income recognised in the year.

None of the income received from government grants has been used to fund political campaigning.

Although required to disclose the aggregate donated by trustees the Society recognises that all of our trustees give their time on a voluntary basis and make valuable non-financial contributions. Total trustee donations of £37,000 (2023 £70,000) have been received in the year, of which £36,000 (2023 £66,000) was restricted. In addition, in 2023, included in fundraising events was £8,000 income reflecting trustee support for other trading activities (such as the purchase of tickets).

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

4 Analysis of income from charitable activities

Income raised by the following child protection activities:

Statutory funding Statutory funding Non-Statutory funding Non-Statutory funding
Contracts Performance Contracts Performance Total
Total
and fees related grants and fees related grants 2024 2023
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Services for children and
families		 929 5,387 149 - 6,465
6,427
Childline and the schools service
-		 1,916 4 - 1,920
1,969
Child protection advice and
awareness		 12 1,780 54 315 2,161
1,259
Child protectionconsultancy 424 720 4,011 - 5,155 4,939
**Total ** 1,365 9,803 4,218 315 **15,701 ** 14,594

Statutory funding includes income received from government, government agencies and similar bodies whether local, national or international.

Income from charitable activities includes £10,118,000 from performance related grants (2023 £9,025,000), of which £9,803,000 are government grants (2023 £8,689,000). There were no unfulfilled conditions or other contingencies relating to government grant income recognised in the year. Other forms of government assistance include income from statutory contracts and fees of £1,365,000 (2023 £1,386,000). None of the income received from government grants has been used to fund political campaigning.

Statutory contracts and fees include donated services and facilities under service level agreements (SLAs) of £10,000 (2023 £10,000) in respect of premises and other facilities which have been recognised as gifts in kind.

5 Analysis of other income

5 Analysis of other income
2024 2023
£'000 £'000
Profitfromsale oftangiblefixed assets - 1,495
**Total ** - 1,495

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

6 Analysis of total expenditure

Direct Support Total Total
Costs Costs 2024 2023
Notes £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Expenditure on raising funds:
Expenditure on raising donations and
legacies: 8,554 254 8,808 6,157
Individual giving including regular
donations
Legacies 2,204 64 2,268 2,212
Regional and community fundraising 5,391 255 5,646 5,426
Corporates, trusts and major donors 7,426 213 7,639 5,979
Schools fundraising 582 27 609 578
Otherdonations and gifts 161 9 170 175
**Total ** 24,318 822 25,140 20,527
Expenditure on other trading
activities: 3,440 106 3,546 3,109
Fundraising events
Sale ofgoods and otheractivities 1,772 36 1,808 1,712
**Total ** 5,212 **142 ** 5,354 4,821
Investmentmanagement costs 460 - 460 404
Total expenditure on raising funds 7 29,990 964 30,954 **25,752 **
Expenditure on charitable activities:
Services for children and families 23,830 1,251 25,081 23,955
Childline and the schools service 22,825 1,488 24,313 24,158
Child protection advice and awareness 7 28,666 1,228 29,894 23,948
Child protectionconsultancy 5,952 308 6,260 5,192
Total expenditure on charitable 81,273 4,275 85,548 77,253
activities
Other expenditure:
Dilapidations 86 - 86 179
Restructuring 100 - 100 49
Impairments - - - (16)
Defined benefit pension costs (see note 1,542 - 1,542 316
20)
Total other expenditure 1,728 - 1,728 528
Total expenditure **112,991 ** 5,239 118,230 103,533

Included in total expenditure is irrecoverable Value Added Tax of £4,635,000 (2023 £4,307,000).

Included in total expenditure are grant payments of £3,292,000 (2023 £3,265,000) which are grants to Blackpool council for delivery of services for the Big Lottery funded ‘Better Start’ programme.

The Society undertakes annual property impairment reviews, comparing the properties' net book value to value in use. Properties identified with a net book value in excess of value in use are written down to the higher of market value or value in use.

During the year the Society completed a full review of the potential liability to dilapidations at the end of the leases on occupied buildings. The provision is calculated based on average historic landlord claims received. The movement on the provision reflects both changes in the average landlord claims and changes in properties occupied by the Society.

The restructuring costs relate primarily to the cost of redundancies (see note 9).

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

The activities underlying the costs above under each heading are:

Services for children and families - work with children, young people, families and communities throughout Great Britain, Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands to provide preventive, therapeutic and assessment services across the United Kingdom. The services work in partnership with local authorities and Local Safeguarding Children Boards, health services and other statutory and voluntary agencies; and children and young people's participation activities.

Childline and the schools

service - work to provide accessible support and advice to ensure that every child is listened to and protected. Childline includes a free 24-hour helpline (telephone, online and

automated text services) for children and young people to access advice and support from trained counsellors; and work with schools to educate children about how to protect themselves.

Child protection advice

and awareness - work in partnership with adults across the UK, empowering them to take action on behalf of children. This includes the NSPCC helpline (telephone and online services) providing advice and support to adults; the Child Trafficking Advice Centre (CTAC); the provision of comprehensive and expert information services; public campaigning and government lobbying; and activities to raise awareness and influence behaviour within adult audiences.

Child protection

consultancy - work with organisations, networks and professionals that come into contact with children, challenging them to ensure that children are protected from harm. This includes the provision of training and consultancy services; use of the NSPCC's authorised person status; work in partnership with other bodies; and representation on boards and committees where the NSPCC can influence change.

Expenditure on raising donations and legacies - promoting the awareness of the NSPCC and its work to create the income flow needed to support our activities.

Expenditure on other trading activities -

investing in products and organising events to create the income flow needed to support our activities.

l

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

2024 2023
Total expenditure is stated after charging: £'000 £'000
Operating lease rentals:
Land and buildings 935 961
Other 152 124
Fees payable to the Charity's auditor for:
Statutory audit of the Charity and Group accounts 122 116
Statutory audit ofthe Charity's subsidiaries'accounts 8 8
Total audit fees 130 124
Otherassurance services 4 3
Total non-audit fees 4 3
Charges on owned assets:
Depreciation and amortisation 1,964 2,332
Impairment - (16)
Trustees' expenses:
Trustees’travel, subsistence and otherexpenses 4 3

Our trustees are based all over the United Kingdom and give their time on a voluntary basis; the trustees are not entitled to and did not receive any remuneration or other benefits during the year (2023 £nil). Total trustee expenses of £4,000 (2023 £3,000) were incurred in the year, in respect of ten trustees (2023 seven). In addition the Society paid indemnity insurance in respect of the trustees of £16,000 (2023 £16,000).

The trustee expenses disclosed above were incurred solely in furtherance of their duties. Trustee expenses include travel, subsistence and other incidental expenses reclaimed or paid directly by the charity.

7 Child protection advice and awareness

As part of its mission to end cruelty to children, and in accordance with its Royal Charter, the NSPCC undertakes a broad range of publicity and educational work aimed at influencing adults. It aims to work in partnership with adults across the UK, empowering them to take action on behalf of children. Expenditure of this nature:

Communication with the public through child protection advice and awareness has a parallel purpose of encouraging potential donors to contribute funds to achieve the mission of the NSPCC.

2024
2023
Raising
funds
Child protection
advice and
awareness
Raising
funds
Child protection
advice and
awareness
£'000
£'000
£'000
£'000
14,765
17,195
11,566
10,736
15,225
11,471
13,355
12,166
29,990
28,666
24,921
22,902
964
1,228
831
1,046
30,954
29,894
25,752
23,948
Charged directly
Allocated costs
Direct costs allocated
Support costs allocated
Total

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

Expenditure incurred each year is, where possible, charged directly to raising awareness or raising funds. Where there is more than one purpose, costs are shared between the activities in proportion to the work undertaken. For example, marketing materials are evaluated by content.

8 Allocation of support costs

Raising Charitable Total Total
funds activities 2024 2023
Type of cost £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Central management and administration 601 2,605 3,206 2,894
Premises, infrastructure and communications 266 1,253 1,519 1,263
Governance 97 417 514 425
Total support costs allocated 964 4,275 **5,239 ** **4,582 **

Central management and administration costs includes the relevant proportion of human resources, legal services and risk management, and central finance including procurement and transaction processing.

Premises, infrastructure and communications are costs which enable the buildings and NSPCC facilities to operate effectively, this includes provision of information system services and internal and external communications.

Governance cost are costs associated with the governance arrangements of the NSPCC, including internal and external audit costs, legal advice for trustees and costs associated with constitutional and statutory requirements.

Support costs are allocated on the basis of relevant full time equivalent staff numbers. Information Systems support costs are allocated on the basis of personal and laptop computers in use.

9 Employees

9 Employees
2024 2023
Total staff costs recognised in the year £'000 £'000
Wages and salaries 54,062 47,988
Social security costs 5,438 4,976
Pension costs 7,594 5,670
Other forms of employee benefits 346 343
Total 67,440 58,977

Redundancy costs of £50,000 have been paid (2023 £253,000). The amount expensed in the accounts, not included in the above table, is £50,000 (2023 £137,000), of which £nil is provided for (2023 £nil).

Included within pension costs of £7,594,000 (2023 £5,670,000) are costs relating to the defined contribution scheme of £6,052,000 (2023 £5,354,000) and costs relating to the defined benefit scheme of £1,542,000 (2023 £316,000). Pension costs in relation to the defined benefit pension scheme are detailed within note 20.

Other forms of employee benefits include life assurance and car allowances, where applicable.

The average number of employees on the payroll for the year was 1,648 (2023 1,555). The average number of employees, calculated on a full time equivalent basis for the year was 1,468 (2023 1,372). The NSPCC operates a family-friendly policy including part-time work and job-sharing. The above numbers include staff responsible for the management and support of the volunteers.

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The average number of employees, calculated on a full-time equivalent basis, analysed by function was:

analysed by function was:
2024 2023
**Number ** **Number **
Activities to end cruelty to children 1,115 1,039
Raising funds 220 213
Support and governance 133 120
**Total ** 1,468 1,372

The number of employees whose total employee benefits (excluding employer pension and national insurance costs) for the reporting period amounted to over £60,000 was as follows:


£60,000 was as follows:
2024 2023
**Number ** Number
£180,001-£190,000 1 1
£140,001-£150,000 1 1
£130,001-£140,000 2 -
£120,001-£130,000 2 3
£110,001-£120,000 1 1
£100,001-£110,000 1 2
£90,001-£100,000 5 -
£80,001-£90,000 8 10
£70,001-£80,000 21 17
£60,001-£70,000 41 35
**Total ** 83 70

The table above does not include termination benefits paid in the year. If these were included, there would be no change in banding for 2024. In 2023 one additional employee would be included in banding £60,001-£70,000, one in banding £70,001-£80,000, and one in banding £80,001-£90,000.

2024 2023
Key managementpersonnel(Executive Board) - Group and Charity £'000 £'000
Total employee benefits* received by the Executive board for their services
during the year		 1,288 1,241

*Employee benefits are all forms of consideration paid by a charity in exchange for the service rendered by employees and include all remuneration, salary, employer’s pension and national insurance contributions and any termination payments made.

10 Contribution from volunteers

We are very grateful to our large and hugely supportive volunteer base. Some work tirelessly to raise funds for our work, whilst others work directly with children, young people and families through our services such as being a trained volunteer counsellor for our Childline service or delivering our schools service.

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Volunteer and Business Boards, each focussing on NSPCC activities they feel particularly passionate about, and where their skills and expertise can be best utilised. Our Board and Committee members use their expertise and contacts from their own fields of business, employing a range of fundraising techniques, from corporate introductions to charity event creation, securing major gifts and legacies, and raising awareness. In the year, the Boards and Committees supported our fundraising team in generating income of £6,063,000 (2023 £4,533,000).

Given the absence of a reliable measurement basis, donated services from our volunteers are not included within the financial statements. This is in line with the requirements of Charities SORP (FRS 102).

11 Subsidiary companies and their activities

The Charity has three wholly-owned subsidiaries. Information and financial data on Childline and NSPCC Trading Company Limited are detailed below. The NSPCC Pension Scheme Limited acts solely as a corporate trustee of the NSPCC Pension Scheme, does not trade on its own behalf and has no assets or liabilities.

NSPCC Trading Company Limited

NSPCC Trading Company Limited (NSPCC Trading) is incorporated in the UK (Company registration number 00890446). The main activities consist of corporate sponsorships, fundraising events, sale of goods – including Christmas cards, and income from promotional activities.

A summary of the trading company results are below. The information is taken from the audited accounts for the company and therefore includes transactions undertaken with the NSPCC.

NSPCC.
NSPCC NSPCC
Trading Trading
2024 2023
Profit and loss account £'000 £'000
Revenue 649 723
Cost ofsales (83) (79)
Gross profit 566 644
Net operating costs (302) (425)
Operating profit 264 219
Amount gift aided toNSPCC (264) (219)
Retained profit for the year - -
Assets, liabilities and funds:
Assets 789 662
Liabilities (759) (632)
Total funds including 100 ordinary shares of £1 each 30 30

NSPCC Trading runs fundraising events that benefit the NSPCC. As such the NSPCC has been charged a management fee to cover these costs plus a commission totaling £1,132,000 (2023 £1,211,000). Revenue includes £33,000 in commission for fundraising events (2023 £35,000).

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In addition NSPCC Trading pays the NSPCC £10,000 for the use of the NSPCC logo (2023 £10,000) and £576,000 in staff and building costs (2023 £647,000).

Profits from NSPCC Trading are gift aided to the NSPCC at the value of the taxable profits.

Childline

Childline is a charitable company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales and incorporated in the UK (company registration number 2622689, charity registration number 1003758). Childline the entity exists to receive legacy income otherwise not receivable by the NSPCC. These funds are paid by way of a grant to the NSPCC.

A summary of Childline results are below. The information is taken from the audited accounts for the charity and therefore includes transactions undertaken with the NSPCC.

Childline Childline
2024 2023
£'000 £'000
Total income 1,579 954
Total expenditure (1,579) (954)
Net expenditure - -
Reconciliation of funds:
Total funds broughtforward - -
Funds balance carried forward - -
Assets, liabilities and funds:
Assets 33 142
Liabilities (33) (142)
Total funds - -
NSPCC results (excluding subsidiaries)
A summary of the results of the parent charity are below.
NSPCC results (excluding subsidiaries)
A summary of the results of the parent charity are below.
NSPCC NSPCC
Excluding excluding
subsidiaries subsidiaries
2024 2023
£'000 £'000
Total income 123,260 118,912
Total expenditure (116,756) (101,863)
Net gains/(losses) on investments 8,671 (4,187)
Net income 15,175 12,862
Actuarial losses on defined benefit pension scheme (1,012) (26,824)
Net movement in funds 14,163 (13,962)
Reconciliation of funds:
Total funds brought forward 105,409 119,371
Funds balance carried forward 119,572 105,409

Total income for the NSPCC excluding subsidiaries, includes the gift aid donation from the NSPCC Trading Company Limited of £264,000 (2023 £219,000) and the grant from Childline of £1,579,000 (2023 £954,000).

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12 Tangible and intangible fixed assets

Furniture, Total Total Total
Freehold Leasehold fittings, and Tangible Intangible Fixed
property property equipment assets assets assets
Group and Charity £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Cost
1 April 2023 25,964 10,770 7,754 44,488 12,140 56,628
Additions 197 415 421 1,033 1,298 2,331
Disposals - (196) (325) (521) (187) (708)
Transfers (467) - - (467) - (467)
31 March 2024 25,694 10,989 7,850 44,533 **13,251 ** 57,784
Depreciation and
amortisation
1 April 2023		 10,734 8,806 6,369 25,909 9,607 35,516
Depreciation and
amortisation		 388 208 578 1,174 790 1,964
Disposals - (196) (325) (521) (187) (708)
Transfers (135) - - (135) - (135)
31 March 2024 10,987 8,818 6,622 26,427 10,210 **36,637 **
Net book value
31 March 2024 14,707 2,171 1,228 18,106 **3,041 ** **21,147 **
31 March 2023 15,230 1,964 1,385 18,579 2,533 21,112

Intangible assets represent the cost of software development and other computer software.

The Society undertakes annual property impairment reviews, comparing the properties’ net book value to value in use. Properties identified with a net book value in excess of value in use are written down to the higher of market value or value in use.

Depreciation and amortisation is recognised as an expense in the SOFA. The expense is charged or apportioned to the relevant SOFA headings reflecting the assets use.

The transfer from tangible assets represents the rental of part of a property that has been reclassified as an investment property as disclosed within note 14.

13 Capital commitments

There were capital commitments of £55,000 at 31 March 2024 (2023 £1,162,000).

14 Investments

Bank Investment Total
Total
Equities Bonds deposits properties 2024 2023
Group and Charity £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Market value at 1 April 25,232 39,019 35,361 708 100,320 84,928
Transferred from fixed assets - - - 332 332 -
Purchases at cost 8,016 11,593 48,874 - 68,483 87,620
Disposals at carrying value (8,567) (10,486) (36,465) - (55,518) (68,041)
Realised (loss)/ gain on investment 205 50 533 - 788 (1,974)
Unrealised gain/(loss) on investment 5,341 1,282 410 850 7,883 (2,213)
**Value at 31 March ** 30,227 41,458 48,713 1,890 **122,288 ** 100,320
Historical cost as at 31 March 21,848 45,317 48,674 1,303 117,142 99,486

The majority of fixed investments are held with and managed by Credit Suisse and JP Morgan. Bank deposits also include £45,260,000 of deposits held directly (2023 £32,840,000).

Investments are accounted for as detailed within accounting policy 1.9.

With reference to FRS 102 properties that are held to generate rental income are included within investments properties. This year part of our Head Office has been let out in order to generate rental income and therefore this has been transferred from tangible fixed assets to

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investments properties. These properties are leased to not for profit organisations, however as their activities are not in line with NSPCC charitable objectives, these elements of the properties are classified as investment properties. These properties have been revalued based on an independent property valuations carried out as at 31 March 2024. The lease for the previous investment property was renewed in February 2024 on comparable terms.

Future minimum lease payments for rent receivable under non-cancellable operating leases on investment properties are:

leases on investment properties are:
Total Total
2024 2023
Group and Charity £'000 £'000
Less than 1 year 193 68
Between 1and 5 years 245 -
**Total ** 438 68

15 Debtors

15 Debtors
Group Charity
2024 2023
2024		 2023
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Trade debtors 943 939 895 839
Amounts owed by group undertakings - - 433 637
Prepayments 2,743 2,688 2,111 2,226
Accrued income 7,269 10,910 7,235 10,763
Otherdebtors 2,916 2,728 2,875 2,671
**Total ** 13,871 17,265 13,549 17,136

Amounts owed to by group undertakings are non-interest bearing and repayable on demand.

16 Current investments and cash at bank and in hand

Group Group Charity Charity
2024 2023 2024 2023
**£'000 ** £'000 £'000 £'000
Current investments 4,210
8,555		 4,210 8,555
Cashat bankandin hand 375 336 308 297
**Total ** **4,585 ** **8,891 ** 4,518 **8,852 **

Current investments represents monies invested through the NSPCC's bankers in short-term money market instruments, and available for return on demand.

17 Creditors: amounts falling due within one year

Group Group Charity Charity
2024 2023 2024 2023
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Trade creditors 1,938 2,087 1,723 2,070
Accruals 4,930 6,923 4,886 6,872
Deferred income (see note 19) 1,863 1,543 1,763 1,473
Taxation and social security 1,469 1,307 1,469 1,307
Grants payable 2,509 1,023 2,509 1,023
Othercreditors 805 713 805 713
**Total ** 13,514 13,596 13,155 13,458

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18 Provisions for liabilities

Dilapidations on
leasehold properties Other Total
Group and Charity **£'000 ** £'000 £'000
Carrying amount at 1 April 2023 3,589 49 3,638
Additions and remeasurement 266 - 266
Amounts utilised against the provision (193) - (193)
Unused amountsreversed (180) - (180)
Carrying amount at 31 March 2024 **3,482 ** 49 **3,531 **
Commitments are likely to be met:
Within one year 1,399 49 1,448
After one year and less than five years 1,535 - 1,535
After five years 548 - 548
**Total ** **3,482 ** 49 **3,531 **

The provision for dilapidations on leasehold properties relates to the estimated future cost of landlord claims at the end of the lease. The provision is calculated based on average historic landlord claims received. The movement on the provision reflects both changes in the average landlord claims and changes in properties occupied by the Society.

No discounting has been applied to any of the provisions as the effect of this would be immaterial.

19 Deferred income

1 April 31 March
2023 Deferred Released 2024
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Statutory sources 382 35 (382) 35
Other non-statutory sources 369 396 (369) 396
Incomefrom fundraising activities 722 1,332 (722) 1,332
Total for the Charity 1,473 1,763 (1,473) 1,763
Incomefrom fundraising activities 70 100 (70) 100
Total for the Group 1,543 1,863 (1,543) 1,863

The main reasons for deferrals are as follows:

The main reasons for deferrals are as follows:
Group Charity
2024 2023 2024 2023
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Performance related grant conditions not met - 427 - 427
Potentially refundable income received for future
events		 1,432 792 1,332 722
Otherdeferrals 431 324 431 324
**Total ** 1,863 1,543 1,763 1,473

20 NSPCC Pension Schemes

The NSPCC operates both a defined contribution and a defined benefit pension scheme which require contributions to be made to separately administered funds for the benefit of the employees. Further details of these schemes are provided below.

NSPCC defined contribution pension scheme

The pension costs for the year in relation to the defined contribution pension scheme were £6,052,000 (2023 £5,354,000). As at 31 March 2024, £523,000 was outstanding and included in creditors (2023 £478,000). Expenditure is allocated to the appropriate heading in the accounts on the basis of full time equivalent staff numbers.

NSPCC defined benefit pension scheme

The Society operates a defined benefit scheme in the UK. This is a separate trustee

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administered fund holding the pension scheme assets to meet long term pension liabilities. A full actuarial valuation was carried out at 31 March 2021 and this has been updated to 31 March 2024 by a qualified actuary, independent of the scheme's sponsoring employer. The present value of the defined benefit obligation, the related current service cost and past service cost were measured using the projected unit credit method. The major assumptions used by the actuary are shown below.

This most recent triennial actuarial valuation showed a deficit of £23,300,000. Based on this valuation the Society has agreed with the trustees that it will aim to eliminate the deficit over a period of five years and six months from 31 March 2021 by the payment of annual contributions (payable monthly) of £1,800,000. In addition to the annual contributions it was agreed that a lump sum of £11,400,000 would be paid by 31 December 2021. In addition and in accordance with the actuarial valuation, the Society has agreed with the trustees that it will pay £425,000 per annum (payable monthly) to meet expenses of the scheme and levies to the Pensions Protection Fund (previously £475,000 per annum).

Present values of defined benefit obligation, fair value of assets and defined benefit asset

31 March 31 March
2024 2023
Group and Charity £'000 £'000
Fair value of plan assets 113,328 116,174
Presentvalue ofdefined benefit obligation (138,572) (141,089)
Defined benefit liability to be recognised (25,244) (24,915)

Reconciliation of opening and closing balances of the defined benefit obligation

31 March 31 March
2024 2023
£'000 £'000
Defined benefit obligation at start of period 141,089 181,813
Expenses 389 343
Interest expense 6,622 4,998
Actuarial gains (2,803) (39,100)
Benefits paid and expenses (6,725) (6,965)
Defined benefit obligation at end of period 138,572 141,089

Expenses include £43,000 Pension Protection Fund levy (2023 £75,000) and £15,000 pension regulator fee (2023 £21,000).

Reconciliation of opening and closing balances of the fair value of plan assets

31 March 31 March
2024 2023
£'000 £'000
Fair value of plan assets at start of period 116,174 184,887
Interest income 5,469 5,111
Actuarial losses (3,815) (69,084)
Contributions by the Society 2,225 2,225
Benefits paid and expenses (6,725) (6,965)
Fair value of plan assets at end of period 113,328 116,174

The actual return on the plan assets over the period ended 31 March 2024 was a gain of £1,654,000 (2023 loss of £63,973,000).

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Defined benefit costs recognised in the Statement of Financial Activities

Defined benefit costs recognised in the Statement of Financial Activities
31 March 31 March
2024 2023
£'000 £'000
Expenses 389 343
Netinterest cost 1,153 (27)
Defined benefit costs recognised inexpenditure **1,542 ** 316
Actuarial losses on assets (3,815) (69,084)
Actuarial gains on liabilities 2,803 39,100
Changesinasset ceiling (excludinginterestincome) - 3,160
Actuarial losses on defined benefit pension scheme (1,012) (26,824)

Assets:

Assets:
2024 2023
£'000 £'000
Equity instruments 10,873 10,318
Property - 6,059
Cash and cash equivalents 8,350 2,979
Other 94,105 96,818
Total assets 113,328 116,174

None of the fair values of the assets shown above include any direct investments in the Society’s own financial instruments or any property occupied by, or other assets used by, the Society.

Assumptions:

Assumptions:
2024 2023
£'000 £'000
Discount rate 4.80% pa 4.80% pa
Inflation (pre and post 2030) 3.30% pa 3.40% pa
Inflation (CPI Pre 2030) 2.30% pa 2.40% pa
Inflation (CPI Post 2030) 3.20% pa 3.30% pa
Allowance for revaluation of deferred pensions of CPI or 5% pa if less (Pre 2030) 2.30% pa 2.40% pa
Allowance for revaluation of deferred pensions of CPI or 5% pa if less (Post 2030) 3.20% pa 3.30% pa
Allowance for revaluation of deferred pensions of CPI or 2.5% pa if less (Pre 2030) 2.30% pa 2.40% pa
Allowance for revaluation of deferred pensions of CPI or 2.5% pa if less (Post 2030) 2.50% pa 2.50% pa
Allowance for pension in payment increases of RPI or 5% pa if less (Pre and post 2030) 3.10% pa 3.20% pa

The mortality assumptions adopted at 31 March 2024 imply the following life expectancies:

Life expectancy at age 65
(Years)
Male retiring in 2024 20.7
Female retiring in 2024 23.2
Male retiring in 2044 21.6
Female retiringin 2044 24.3

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21 Operating lease commitments

Total of future minimum lease payments for the Group and Charity under non-cancellable operating leases for each of the following periods:

Land and Land and
buildings Other buildings Other
2024 2024 2023 2023
Group and Charity £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Not later than one year 779 3 760 12
Laterthanone yearandnotlaterthan five years 712 - 675 2
**Total ** **1,491 ** 3 1,435 14

22 Endowment, restricted and designated funds

Balance Balance Balance
1 April Gains / 31 March Gains / 31 March
Permanent endowment funds 2022 **Income ** Expenditure (losses) Transfers
2023		 **Income ** Expenditure **(losses) ** Transfers 2024
Charity £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
£'000
£'000		 £'000 £'000
£'000		 £'000 £'000
Permanent endowment fund 1,501 - (5) (59) -
1,437		 - (4)
101		 1,534
N Knatchbull endowment fund 10 - - - -
10		 - -
-		 10
M Glaister fund 10 - - - -
10		 - -
-		 10
A Sykes fund 9 - - - -
9		 - -
-		 9
Total permanent endowment funds 1,530 - (5) (59) -
1,466		 - (4)
101		 - 1,563
Restricted funds
Charity
Childline restricted funds received by NSPCC including
funding received from the Child's Voice Appeal for the 76 9,382 (9,305) - 14
167		 11,716 (11,569)
-		 (14) 300
Helpline Development Project
Activities to end cruelty to children funded by other restricted
donations		 1,976 5,300 (5,781) -
(90)
1,405		 5,652 (6,070)
-		 15 1,002
Capital Projects, including Acquisition of Buildings 70 - - - 10
80		 267 -
-		 (97) 250
Details are given below in respect of restricted funds where separate disclosure is required by the funder:
Childline and NSPCC Helpline funded by the Department for
Education		 - 2,600 (2,600) - -
-		 2,000 (2,000)
-		 - -
Childline Foyle Helpline in Londonderry funded by the
Department of Education Northern Ireland		 - 266 (266) - -
-		 159 (159)
-		 - -
Childline counselling staff salaries in Northern Ireland funded
by the Department of Health, Social Services & Public Safety 47 (47) - -
-		 23 (23)
-		 - -
(DSSHPS) of Northern Ireland -
"A Better Start" project in Blackpool funded by the Big
Lottery Fund		 - 4,773 (4,773) - -
-		 4,952 (4,952)
-		 - -
Building public awareness about child sexual abuse set out in
the Tackling Child Sexual Abuse Strategy 2021 funded by the - - - - -
-		 1,447 (1,447)
-		 - -
Home Office.
Childline in Wales funded by the Welsh Government 'Children
and Families Organisation' (CFOG)		 - 90 (90) - -
-		 90 (90)
-		 - -
Northern Ireland Young Witness Support Service funded by
the Department of Justice Northern Ireland		 13 471 (472) -
(12)
-		 467 (467)
-		 - -
Community Potential in Plymouth funded by the National
Lottery Community Fund		 132 91 (90) -
(5)
128		 55 (81)
-		 - 102
Practitioner Salaries delivering ‘Pregnancy In Mind’ in
Northern Ireland funded by Community Foundation Northern - 82 (82) - -
-		 7 (7)
-		 - -
Ireland
Delivery of ‘Letting The Future In’ and scale-up in England
and Wales funded by the Home Office		 - 289 (289) - -
-		 359 (359)
-		 - -
Delivery of 'Letting The Future In' Project in South Wales
funded by the South Wales Police and Crime Commissioner		 - 30 (30) - -
-		 48 (48)
-		 - -
Delivery of 'Domestic Abuse, Recovering Together' Project in
South Wales Funded by the South Wales Police and Crime - 30 (30) - -
-		 12 (12)
-		 - -
Commissioner
Provide bilingual ‘Pantosaurus’ books to all primary schools
and libraries in Wales funded by the Welsh Government.		 - - - - -
-		 20 (20)
-		 - -
Total restricted funds 2,267 23,451 (23,855) -
(83)
1,780		 27,274 (27,304)
-		 (96) 1,654
Total restricted and endowment 3,797 23,451 (23,860) (59)
(83)
3,246		 27,274 (27,308)
101		 (96) 3,217
funds
Designated funds
Charity
Freehold and leasehold properties 23,004 - (657) -
(663)
21,684		 - (597)
658		 504 22,249
Strategic spend 12,595 5,000 (1,124) -
(511)
15,960		 6,000 (1,789)
-		 (889) 19,282
Total designated funds 35,599 5,000 (1,781) -
(1,174)
37,644		 6,000 (2,386)
658		 (385) 41,531

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

Other unrestricted funds
Charity
General funds 79,975
90,454		 (75,899) (4,128) (968) 89,434
89,232		 (84,766) 7,912 (1,744) 100,068
Total general funds for the Charity 79,975
90,454		 (75,899) (4,128) (968) 89,434
89,232		 (84,766) 7,912 (1,744) 100,068
Subsidiary companies
NSPCC Trading Company Limited 30
723		 (723) - - 30
649		 (649) - - 30
Childline -
954		 (954) - - -
1,579		 (1,579) - - -
Total general funds for the Group 80,005
92,131		 (77,576) (4,128) (968) 89,464
91,460		 (86,994) 7,912 (1,744) 100,098
Pension reserve -
-		 (316) (26,824) 2,225 (24,915)
-		 (1,542) (1,012) 2,225 (25,244)
Total funds for the Group 119,401 120,582 **(103,533) ** (31,011) - 105,439 124,734 (118,230) 7,659 - 119,602

Income within general funds for the charity excludes the gift aid donation of £264,000 (2023 £219,000) from NSPCC Trading Company Limited and the grant of £1,579,000 from Childline (2023 £954,000).

Transfers include £2,225,000 transferred from general funds for payments in relation to pensions (2023 £2,225,000), and £504,000 to designated funds in relation to property additions. In 2023 £663,000 was transferred from designated funds in relation to property disposals.

23 Analysis of group net assets between funds

Fund balances are represented by:

Unrestricted Unrestricted 2024 Unrestricted Unrestricted 2023
General Designated Restricted Endowment Total funds General Designated Restricted Endowment Total funds
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
£'000		 £'000
Tangible and intangible fixed assets 4,270 16,877 - -
21,147		 3,668 17,387 57
-		 21,112
Investments 99,553 21,172 - 1,563 122,288 82,186 16,668 -
1,466		 100,320
Current assets and liabilities (194) 3,482 1,654 -
4,942		 7,248 3,589 1,723
-		 12,560
Provisions (3,531) - - -
(3,531)		 (3,638) -
-		 (3,638)
-
Total net assets excluding pension reserve 100,098 41,531 1,654 1,563 144,846 89,464 37,644 1,780
1,466		 130,354
Pension reserve (25,244) - - -
(25,244)		 (24,915) -
-		 (24,915)
-
Total net assets 74,854 41,531 1,654 1,563 119,602 64,549 37,644 1,780
1,466		 105,439

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24 Legacies

The NSPCC has been notified of 822 legacies (2023: 772 legacies) which have not been included within the financial statements as they do not yet meet the income recognition criteria. This includes 37 pecuniary legacies which have an average value of £4,400 (2023: 52 cases with an average value of £4,324). Pecuniary legacies are only recognised once notification of probate is received. The remaining 785 are residuary legacies, which have an average value of £46,779 (2023: 720 cases with an average value of £43,807). Residuary legacies are normally recognised once draft accounts are received or other information which allow them to be measured with reasonable accuracy. Included within the above figures are 7 pecuniary legacies (2023: 9) and 135 residuary legacies (2023: 135) which are not recognised because they are subject to a life interest.

The NSPCC waived the rights to two legacy entitlements totalling £7,505 (2023: two totalling £600) related to claims made by the family of the deceased on the basis that the claim reflected the deceased's wishes.

25 Related party transactions

Related party transactions with and between wholly-owned subsidiaries are detailed as follows. Further details on subsidiaries and their activities are provided in note 11.

Further details on subsidiaries and their activities are provided in note 11.
2024 2023
£'000 £'000
Management charge (payable by NSPCC to NSPCC Trading) 1,132 1,211
Logo licence fee (payable by NSPCC Trading to NSPCC) 10 10
Staff and building costs (payable by NSPCC Trading to NSPCC) 576 647
Profits distributable under Gift Aid (payable by NSPCC Trading to NSPCC) 264 219
Profits distributable under Gift Aid (payable by Childline to NSPCC) 1,579 954

Related party transactions with NSPCC Pension Scheme are disclosed in note 20. Related party transactions with the trustees are detailed within in notes 3 and 6.

There were no transactions with other related parties in the year.

124

Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

NSPCC offices

Headquarters and registered office address

Weston House, 42 Curtain Road, London EC2A 3NH Tel: 020 7825 2500

North East, Yorkshire and the Humber Regional Hub

Suite 1-3 5[th] Floor, St Johns Offices, Albion Street, Leeds, LS2 8LQ Tel: 01274 381 440

National and regional hubs

North West Regional Hub

Cymru/Wales National Office and Hub

Diane Engelhardt House, Treglown Court, Dowlais Road, Cardiff CF24 5LQ Tel: 02920 108 081

Hargreaves Centre

112 Great Homer Street, Liverpool, L5 3LQ Tel: 0151 556 1000

Midlands Regional Hub

Northern Ireland National Office

and Hub

Unit 7, The Lanyon Building, Jennymount Business Park, North Derby Street, Belfast BT15 3HN Tel: 028 2044 1524

Scotland National Office

3rd Floor, Templeton House, 62 Templeton Street, Glasgow, G40 1DA Tel: 0141 212 3844

Jenny Farr House, 1 Cranmer Street, Nottingham, NG3 4GH Tel: 0115 960 5481

South West and Channel Islands Regional Hub

5 Little London Court, Albert Street, Swindon, SN1 3HY Tel: 01793 683 100

London and South East Regional Hub

Alexandra Ciardi House, 7-8 Greenland Place, Camden, London NW1 0AP Tel: 020 3772 9905

125

Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

Together, we can stop child abuse and neglect – by working with people and communities across the UK and Channel Islands to prevent it, transforming the online world to make it safer for children, and making sure every child has a place to turn for support when they need it.

We campaign for change. We work with schools to help children understand what abuse is and support them to speak out and feel safe. Childline is there for young people when they need us. And the NSPCC Helpline is ready to respond to adults with any worry about a child. We develop services in local communities to stop abuse before it starts and help children recover, so it doesn’t shape their future.

And, above all, we work together – because we can’t stop child abuse alone. Everyone has a part to play in keeping children safe. By building a bigger team, we can give more children the safety and support they need. Every pound you raise, every petition you sign, every minute of your time, will make a difference. Together, we can change children’s lives.

nspcc.org.uk

©NSPCC 2024. Registered charity England and Wales 216401. Scotland SC037717 and Jersey 384. 126 Photography by Tom Hull, Patch Dolan, Casey Gutteridge, Andrew Parish, Benjamin Fleming, Abbie Trayler-Smith, Adrian James White, Sibling and Rival & Adobe Stock. The adults pictured are models and volunteers. Illustrations by Alice Chang & Harriet Nobel. J20240001.