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2023-03-31-accounts

Company number: 2610559 Charity number: 1011056

SignHealth Report and financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2023

Contents

Reference and administrative information............................................................................................. 3 Message from the Chair of Trustees, Jackie Driver ................................................................................ 4 Trustees’ Annual Report ......................................................................................................................... 5 Achievements and performance ............................................................................................................. 6 Financial Review .................................................................................................................................... 17 Principal risks and uncertainties ........................................................................................................... 17 Plans for the future ............................................................................................................................... 22 Structure, governance and management ........................................................................................... ..25 Auditor .................................................................................................................................................. 29 Independent auditor's report ............................................................................................................... 30 Statement of financial activities ........................................................................................................... 34 Balance sheet ........................................................................................................................................ 35 Statement of cash flows........................................................................................................................ 36 Notes to the financial statements ........................................................................................................ 37

SignHealth

Reference and administrative information

For the year ended 31 March 2023

Reference and administrative information

Company number 2610559
Charity number 1011056
Registered office CAN Mezzanine, 7-14 Great Dover Street, London SE1 4YR
and operational
address
Country of England and Wales
registration
Country of United Kingdom
incorporation
Trustees Trustees, who are also directors under company law, who served during the year and
up to the date of this report were as follows:
Jackie Driver OBE, Chair
Sara Clare Mitchell
Andrew Sims, Vice Chair and Chair of
Audit and Risk Committee
Christine McPherson
Mark Perry
Trudi Collier Resigned 22 May 2022
Tania Hudson, Treasurer
Vanessa Longley
Jaz Mann Resigned 29 September 2022
Amanprit Arnold, Chair of People and
Pay Committee
Executive
Leadership Team James Watson-O’Neill OBE Chief Executive
Thandi Mtetwa Director of People and Finance
Christopher Reid Director of Operations
Lucy Warnes Director of Communications and Fundraising
Stacey Witter Director of Campaigns
Paul Howes Assistant Director (Governance, Planning and
Evidence)
Bankers Metro Bank 120 Cheapside London
EC2V 7JB
Solicitors Trowers and Hamlins 3 Bunhill Road London EC1Y 8YZ
Auditor Sayer Vincent LLP Chartered Accountants and Statutory Auditor
Invicta House 108-114 Golden Lane London EC1Y 0TL

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SignHealth

Report and financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2023

Message from the Chair of Trustees, Jackie Driver OBE

As I look back at SignHealth’s performance over the past year, it’s clear that 2022/23 has been a year of investment and growth. We achieved a number of major milestones during what has been an uncertain time as we tackle the aftermath of the pandemic and rising costs.

Thanks to our successful Home Office Violence Against Women and Girls funding bid, we are now expanding our Domestic Abuse service for Deaf people across England. Funding from the National Lottery Community Fund is enabling us to reach more Deaf children and young people outside of London to teach them about healthy relationships. We are also in the middle of opening our first supported living accommodation in Leeds for Deaf residents with complex mental health needs.

As we work to fulfil our British Sign Language (BSL) psychological therapy contract with NHS England, the challenge of managing our growing waiting list demonstrates the urgent need for this service. In response, as well as working to improve access to therapy for Deaf people, we have recruited three new trainee therapists who use BSL.

As part of our ongoing work to become an anti-racist organisation, we welcomed our first EDI consultant, and we are about to launch our anti-racist training videos in BSL for staff.

We are recruiting our first ever Advisory Board, made up of deaf people from all backgrounds who will shape and steer our new sector-wide campaign to end the health inequalities that all deaf people face.

Every hour of the day someone from SignHealth is working to improve the health and wellbeing of Deaf people. So, as I step down from the Board later this year, I want to express my gratitude and admiration for our specialist social care staff. They work in two languages and two cultures - BSL and English. Not only did they work tirelessly through Covid-19 lockdowns, keeping everyone safe, but also as we navigate the uncertainties of the post pandemic years, they are still ensuring that we continue to deliver high quality Deaf-led services. As a result the trustees felt it was important to increase their salaries to reflect their specialist skills and I am proud that we have prioritised this.

All this work requires strong partnerships. With the Deaf community, the NHS, commissioners, supporters, and other organisations. We are incredibly grateful for their support in improving Deaf people’s health and wellbeing.

We know too well how attitudes towards communities who aren’t ‘mainstream’ means inequalities in all aspects of life, including health. It places greater pressure on organisations like SignHealth and resources to support communities and reduce the ever-widening gap.

As the Deaf health charity, if we are to make great strides towards ending barriers to good health and wellbeing for Deaf people working in partnership with our supporters and partners is more important than ever. Together we can deliver even more life-changing impact. Thank you.

Jackie Driver OBE, Chair

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SignHealth

Trustees’ Annual Report

For the year ended 31 March 2023

Trustees’ Annual Report

The trustees present their report and the audited financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2023.

Reference and administrative information set out on page 3 forms part of this report. The financial statements comply with current statutory requirements, the memorandum and articles of association and the Statement of Recommended Practice – Accounting and Reporting by Charities: SORP applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with FRS 102.

Objectives and Activities

Vision

A world where there are no barriers to good health and wellbeing for Deaf people.

Purpose

To improve the health and wellbeing of Deaf people.

Values

Person-centred, involving, enabling, expert, respectful, and influential.

Our focus

SignHealth’s work focuses on Deaf people who use British Sign Language (BSL): this is where our expertise lies and where we feel we are best able to help. The charity will ensure our work is fully costed and planned.

Objectives

The trustees review the objectives and activities of the charity each year. This report looks at what the charity has achieved and the outcomes of its work in the reporting period. The trustees report the success of each key activity and the benefits the charity has brought to those groups of people that it is set up to support. The review also helps the trustees ensure the charity’s objectives and activities remained focused on its stated purpose.

The trustees have referred to the guidance contained in the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit when reviewing the charity’s objectives and activities, and in planning its future activities. In particular, the trustees consider how planned activities will contribute to the objectives and activities that have been set.

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SignHealth

Trustees’ Annual Report

For the year ended 31 March 2023

Achievements and performance

This year (2022/23) has been a year of investment for SignHealth. The Board of Trustees have made a number of conscious decisions to proactively invest in growth for the organisation. This includes recruiting to a number of new roles both in services and central support functions to increase our capacity and resilience. They have also heavily invested in increased salaries for our front line staff to reflect their specialist nature and help them with the ongoing cost of living crisis. This wider crisis has also had an impact on our finances through the rising costs associated with running our services such as utilities, travel and other supplier costs.

Our Three-Year Plan

We continued to use our existing Three-Year Plan as the focus of our work in 2022/23, making good progress with the milestones and targets across all three of our priority areas. Our key achievements and successes in 2022/23 are highlighted below.

Growing our services

Social care

SignHealth residential services offer registered care for 30 Deaf people with enduring mental health concerns and complex needs in five locations around the country. We also have supported housing provision in London, which provides daily support for five Deaf people. Staff receive ongoing training and support, and continuous risk assessments are undertaken to support the people who live in our services. All our flats were full at the end of 2022/23, with no vacancies at all during the year, which was in line with our target of having no more than one vacancy, overall, in a year.

Residents in SignHealth care homes are supported by highly trained staff who are Deaf themselves or hearing colleagues who are fluent BSL users. Many of our clients face significant numbers of barriers including experience of poor mental health, language deprivation, cultural exclusion and other disadvantages. Our staff liaise closely with community mental health professionals. We have a person-centred approach to our work - all residents are encouraged to achieve their individual potential and the support we offer is tailored to the requirements of every person.

In 2022/23 the Board of Trustees agreed that it was time to recognise the specialist skills of our staff and increase pay accordingly for all front line social care staff. In addition to recognising the skills of our colleagues and repositioning their roles, there were two main drivers for this change:

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SignHealth

Trustees’ Annual Report

For the year ended 31 March 2023

The Board were clear in the financial implications for this change, with a full year budget increase of £398k, however the change has been well received by the staff boosting morale and helping with recruitment. The budget increase is being mitigated by a major piece of work started in 2022/23 to renegotiate our fees with local authorities to ensure that we are being properly paid for the services we provide and that the rising costs associated with the cost of living crisis and salary rises for our specialist support workers are taken into account. This piece of work is progressing well with a number of new fees already successfully negotiated.

We have continued to develop a new residential service in Leeds. Brudenell Road will provide supported living for four Deaf people who have previously lived in secure mental health hospitals. All tenants have been identified, the service has received its CQC registration, we have started to recruit staff and the service will now open in July 2023.

We continue to use our Quality Assurance Framework for our care homes and outreach services and incorporate improvements into specific action plans which are monitored on an ongoing basis.

Our Outreach schemes in London and Manchester support Deaf people in the community with their day-to-day activities. Outreach workers enable Deaf people to lead independent lives by giving support with tasks at home and elsewhere. We develop a personalised plan with each client, after carefully looking at their needs. We delivered an average of over 1,100 hours per month in 2022/23 (13,021 hours in total compared to 12,659 in 2021/22). The Outreach teams also work with our residential services when a resident is ready to move into community accommodation so that each person is well supported throughout their move.

Our Advocacy service works with Deaf people in health and social care settings to make sure they are treated fairly and can access healthcare services. Advocates work to help people understand complicated situations, explain their rights and make sure their views and opinions are properly heard. The team delivered advocacy sessions to over 100 people in 2022/23.

Therapies

SignHealth’s therapy service is for Deaf people who are feeling stressed, low in mood, depressed, anxious or worried. Deaf people are referred to a BSL-fluent therapist, often Deaf themselves, who will listen and provide advice and support. Sessions take place face-to-face, either in person or online, and everything is confidential. Deaf clients can have a one-on-one conversation in their own language and culture, without the need for an interpreter. This therapy is highly effective and delivers excellent outcomes through treatment.

Research suggests that the best treatment for people suffering from mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety is ‘talking therapy’, which was highlighted in updates to NICE guidelines suggesting therapy, rather than antidepressant medications, should be prescribed to patients first. However, therapy relies on one-on-one communication and for Deaf people this is problematic. The moment a sign language interpreter is involved, the conversation becomes less intimate and has been shown to be less effective for the patient. SignHealth’s therapists are either Deaf or hearing and fluent in BSL, and some can also support deaf people who do not sign. This NHS contract means Deaf people can access talking therapy (previously known as IAPT) directly, in their own language, the same way as their hearing peers.

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Trustees’ Annual Report

For the year ended 31 March 2023

A key achievement for us in the previous year (2021/22) was winning the NHS England Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) contract. This was the first time NHS England had awarded a national contract to a Deaf specialist service and it was a ground-breaking step forward for the Deaf community. The contract started in November 2021 and a key achievement for 2022/23 has been to continue to embed and develop this work. We received 1,275 referrals through the contract in 2022/23 and achieved all our targets with a recovery rate, at March 2023, of 70.8% (against a target of 50%) and a reliable improvement rate of 80% (against a target of 65%). We have 97% of referrals receiving a first session within six weeks (target – 75%) and 100% within 18 weeks (target – 95%). In addition, feedback from our patients, received through regular Patient Experience Questionnaires, is consistently positive. Some examples include:

We have also continued to invest in the service. We recruited three new trainee therapists to increase our capacity, with plans for more in the coming months as well as continuing to develop new modules of CBT courses, working with creative professionals to enhance the accessibility of our course content that will be delivered online. We also have exciting plans in the future for increasing our use of digital approaches and platforms.

Despite the focus being on talking therapy nationally, we continue to help clients requiring non IAPT interventions such as counselling and clinical psychology.

Domestic abuse

SignHealth’s Domestic Abuse Service is the UK’s only BSL-based service to help Deaf women, children and people of all genders who experience domestic abuse. Deaf people are more at risk of domestic abuse than hearing people.

We provide practical and emotional support to Deaf people who are experiencing domestic abuse, and to those who have survived it. The team help people to make choices and to stay safe. One of the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic was an increased number of domestic abuse cases. As a result, this year we have seen a continuation of the demand for our domestic violence support and healthy relationship courses, with the service receiving over 100 new referrals in 2022/23. The team also continued to ensure that information on staying safe and awareness of domestic abuse was offered to people across all the areas we work in.

The COVID-19 pandemic caused us to move nearly all our support online. This has continued into 2022/23 to a certain extent and has proved to be successful, though there have been increased challenges in working with other professionals in this way, including the courts, police and housing agencies. We continue to gain valuable learning about providing online support, which had not been attempted on a large scale before.

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SignHealth

Trustees’ Annual Report

For the year ended 31 March 2023

We successfully expanded our team with one additional YPVA (Young Person Violence Advisor) joining our existing team, giving us a total of five YPVAs. In October 2022, two extra IDVAs (Independent Domestic Violence Advisors) joined the existing team, taking our total number of IDVAs up to seven. Our IDVAs supported over 125 people in 2022/23, as well as engaging with 425 professionals. We applied for Home Office Funding to expand our services nationwide and were told recently that we were successful. We are currently recruiting for 14 additional roles.

Since our Community Engagement Officer joined our team last October, we have been able to reach out more to raise awareness about our service, delivering workshops for mainstream services, professionals and deaf organisations within the boroughs of London. Between October 2022 and March 2023 we successfully delivered around 35 workshops.

We gained funding from NextLink to allow us to source a new IDVA to cover Bristol, South Gloucestershire, North Somerset and Bath & Northeast Somerset, with the new IDVA joining the team in October.

We obtained funding of £5,000 from NatWest Circle and successfully spent it all on our clients to support them to start a new life after escaping their abusers, either within a new home, refuge, or emergency accommodation. We were also able to give vouchers to support them to purchase essentials for their new homes, as well as purchasing safety equipment such as video doorbells and security cameras.

Our YPVAs engaged with 707 Children and Young People in 2022/23 and successfully created a new workshop, adding to their existing collection of topics for workshops delivered to youngsters either in schools or clubs. The new topic is ‘Puberty and Periods’ and is currently delivered to primary provision. We have received positive feedback to say that attendees felt it was informative and that the children have gained confidence in discussing the topic of periods with their peers. We also went through the various sanitary products that are available helping them to think about and understand the choices they have.

With Refuge’s Ascent Pan London funding our team are now working with the London Outreach team. This means that when our Domestic Abuse team have reached the end of support for clients where risks are low, we now handover to our outreach team of five staff who continue to provide onward support in refuges or safe accommodations.

New services

We started a brand new area of work in 2022/23 to scope out our new strategy for Children and Young People (CYP). We delivered a presentation to teachers of the deaf about children’s mental health during Q3 at the BATOD conference and have expanded our in-school counselling offer to a new school offering play therapy to deaf pupils. We also continued to raise our profile as an organisation supporting the younger deaf community by launching a new webpage for CYP during children’s mental health week in quarter four of the year.

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SignHealth

Trustees’ Annual Report

For the year ended 31 March 2023

Developing our profile

2022/23 has been a very successful year in raising our profile. In terms of figures:

In 2022 we were a proud member of the coalition of nine organisations that delivered the BSL Act Now! campaign, supporting the rallies, engaging in the detail of the parliamentary process and in engaging the Deaf community. We are incredibly proud to have been part of the process which has now led to the creation of a new BSL Act.

We also undertook a range of activities across the year including:

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SignHealth

Trustees’ Annual Report

For the year ended 31 March 2023

Strengthening our organisation

As mentioned previously, 2022/23 has been a year of investment in SignHealth to proactively grow and strengthen the organisation. Much of this growth and recruitment has been focussed on central, corporate services such as finance, people and talent (HR), governance and communications. This investment has looked to build the departmental capacity and resilience needed to move the organisation forward.

As part of this we have created a new Interpreter Co-ordinator role which gives us a more efficient and effective way of managing interpreter relationships and costs, as well as maximising our use of Access to Work budgets across the organisation. We have also worked with the Charityworks programme to place a graduate trainee in our central team to give extra capacity and bring new, fresh ideas to the organisation.

We have continued to pursue our anti-racist ambition as a health charity to remove race inequalities and barriers that affect the health and wellbeing of Deaf communities of colour and have continued our work on our Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) ambitions and our journey towards being an anti-racist organisation. We continued to develop our EDI steering group with representation from staff across the organisation and developed an action plan to guide our next steps in this area. The steering group has moved to face to face meetings and some progress has been made although this has been slower than we would like. In order to increase the pace of this work and drive it forward, we recruited an external consultant at the end of 2022/23. It is hoped that this will enable us to fully deliver the action plan in 2023/24.

We introduced a new SignHealth People and Pay Committee in 2022/23. This is a formally constituted committee of the Board which considers and make recommendations to the Board on all aspects of People Management and Staff pay, as well as making recommendations to ensure that

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SignHealth

Trustees’ Annual Report

For the year ended 31 March 2023

the Board itself maintains an appropriate structure, size and balance of skills to support the strategic objectives of SignHealth. The committee is made up of trustees and independent members with a background in HR and employment law and is co-chaired by a trustee and an independent member. The main focus of the committee in 2022/23 has been around new trustee recruitment, including the recruitment of a new Chair, with the successful recruitment of four new trustees in late March 2023. Future priorities for the committee will include advising on the development of the new SignHealth People Strategy.

We published details of our gender and ethnicity pay gap statistics in our 2021/22 Annual Report and on our website, noting at the time that more work was needed on our disability pay gap report. We are pleased to say that all elements of pay gap reporting are included in this year’s report.

Following a decision by the Board of Trustees we re-joined the Real Living Wage Foundation at the end of 2021/22. In 2022/23 we have remained a member of the foundation and continued to ensure that all of our salaries across the organisation are kept under review and consistent with the ethos of the foundation.

We continued to increase staff usage and familiarity with Office 365, following the successful migration of all shared documents in 2020/21. We continue to make use of Workplace as an internal communication channel which has been instrumental in keeping our staff connected, particularly as it enables us to share BSL video content quickly and easily with one another.

Following feedback from staff received in our staff survey, specifically in response to the closure of our Head Office in south London in March 2021, we reviewed the need and options for a permanent office space in 2022/23. As a result, we undertook a six-month pilot in October 2022, renting some office space in central London. This pilot ended at the end of March 2023 and following a full evaluation it was decided not to carry on with it, as usage data and other evidence showed that we could not justify both the amount of space we were renting and the cost, and there was limited take up from staff. However, we are still committed to looking at other alternatives such as sharing office space with other charities or NHS organisations and this work will continue into 2023/24.

We have continued to invest in new IT hardware and software to enable all staff who were previously office based to work efficiently from home, as well as carrying out regular workstation assessments and providing other equipment such as desks and chairs where necessary. This is all part of the wider implementation of cyclical upgrading and renewal of all software, hardware and office equipment across the whole of SignHealth. As last year, the renewal budget is now included in ongoing costs.

We have continued our work to review our organisational values, involving staff from across the organisation in their development. Once agreed, the revised values will be used to develop a new behavioural framework, as well as feeding into our new Three-Year Plan for 2024/27.

‘Campaign’ work

A key part of our work in 2022/23 has been the development of a new ‘high level’ campaign, working in partnership with the New Economics Foundation (NEF) and the University of Manchester’s Social Research with Deaf People team (SORD). This work is based on the fact that in order to deliver our purpose of improving the health and wellbeing of deaf people we need to work in partnership with others across the sector. It is not something we can deliver on our own. Our

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SignHealth

Trustees’ Annual Report

For the year ended 31 March 2023

health and wellbeing, in line with the work of Sir Michael Marmot, is affected by the wider social determinants of health, the majority of which are not within our scope to affect as a provider of health and social care services (e.g. housing, education etc). The work with NEF/SORD has helped us to develop a new model of inequality to better understand the factors involved and help us develop a Theory of Change. All of this work will feed into the launch of our new campaign in September 2023 and will be shared with Deaf people and other organisations.

Pay Gap

SignHealth is on a journey to become a diverse, inclusive and equitable employer. Last year we shared details of our gender and ethnicity pay gaps for the first time and this year – we are reporting on disability for the first time. SignHealth is continuing the rollout of anti-racism training in BSL and English to our people.

Snapshot data was taken from 153 staff in March 2023.

Gender pay gap

62% of staff at SignHealth are female which is a 4% decrease on last year’s percentage.

Mean gender pay gap

The mean gender pay gap is calculated by adding up the hourly pay of all female employees and dividing this by the number of female employees at SignHealth. The same calculation is carried out for male employees. The difference is the mean gender pay gap.

The mean gender pay gap for 2023 showed that women earned 6% more on average than men (2022: 7% more than men).

Median gender pay gap

The median gender pay gap is calculated by finding the exact middle point when everyone’s wages are lined up from smallest to largest. This is more representative of colleague pay when there is a lot of variation in pay.

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SignHealth

Trustees’ Annual Report

For the year ended 31 March 2023

The median gender pay gap for 2023 showed that women earned 13 % more on average than men (2022: 13% more than men).

Gender split across the quartiles

Pay quartiles show the proportion of male and female employees in each quartile from the lowest paid quartile to the highest paid quartile.

2023
Lower quartile Lower Middle Quartile Lower quartile Lower Middle Quartile Upper middle quartile Upper quartile Upper middle quartile Upper quartile
Male 45% 45% 37% 26%
Female 55% 55% 63% 74%

The results of the analysis this year show that SignHealth has more women in high salary bands – explaining why the gender pay gap is in favour of women.

Ethnicity pay gap

22% of SignHealth staff are from a minority ethnic background – this figure remains unchanged from last year.

Mean ethnicity pay gap

The mean ethnicity pay gap is the difference in average pay between white staff and minority ethnic staff.

The mean ethnicity pay gap for 2023 showed that minority ethnic staff earned 1% more than white staff (10p) more on average.

Median ethnicity pay gap

The median ethnicity pay gap is calculated by finding the middle point when white staff members’ wages are lined up from smallest to largest – this is compared to the middle point when minority ethnic staff members’ wages are lined up in the same way.

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SignHealth

Trustees’ Annual Report

For the year ended 31 March 2023

The median ethnicity pay gap for 2023 showed that ethnic minority colleagues earned 10% more than white colleagues.

This difference in our median ethnicity pay gap is because a larger proportion of minority ethnic staff are employed in higher paid roles at SignHealth.

Deaf pay gap

SignHealth is proud to be a Deaf-led charity – with over 70% of staff identifying as Deaf.

Mean Deaf pay gap

The mean Deaf pay gap in 2023 showed that Deaf staff earned 5% less on average than non-Deaf staff.

Median Deaf pay gap

The median Deaf pay gap in 2023 showed that Deaf staff earned 8% less than non-Deaf staff.

How do we plan to close the gap

As part of our work to improve equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) at SignHealth in the next year we will:

Find out more from about the gender pay gap here and ethnicity pay gap here.

*The term minority ethnic is used as this is in line with the reporting from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Beneficiaries of our services

We follow and refer to the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit when reviewing our aims and objectives and in planning our future activities. In particular, the trustees continue to consider how SignHealth’s activities will contribute to the aims and objectives we set out to achieve.

SignHealth carries out a wide range of activities to deliver our charitable aims. The trustees believe these activities provide direct benefit to the Deaf people who use our services, to Deaf people in the wider community, and to the health professionals who provide healthcare to Deaf people and their families.

The trustees have concluded that there is no detriment or harm arising from its aims and objectives.

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SignHealth

Trustees’ Annual Report

For the year ended 31 March 2023

We would like to extend our sincere appreciation to everyone who has supported SignHealth during the year. The kind and generous contributions have significantly helped to improve the health and wellbeing of Deaf people and we are grateful to have your support.

We would especially like to thank all the organisations who have supported us, including the following:

Home Office

NHS England

London Councils

Kent Police County Council

City Bridge Trust

DD McPhail Trust

City of London – London Relief Community Fund

Solace Women’s Aid

Surrey Community Fund

The Pilgrim Trust

Ovingdean Hall Foundation

Sutton Coldfield Municipal Charities

Friends at Work

The Charles Hayward Foundation

National Lottery Community Fund

National Lottery Awards for All

We would also like to say a huge thank you to all who supported SignHealth by taking part in our fundraising events to raise money for our work with adults and children. We would also like to say thank you to SignVideo, a communication organisation focussed on giving video relay services access to the Deaf community, for our ongoing Charity of the Year partnership and to all the Deaf social media influencers we have worked with over the past year.

As in previous years, much of the support we have received over the year has been towards our award-winning Domestic Abuse Service, run by Deaf people for Deaf people affected by domestic

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SignHealth

Trustees’ Annual Report

For the year ended 31 March 2023

abuse. Our service helps to improve awareness, resilience and independence and consistently achieves great results; 100% of survivors declared they were more aware of their rights, had better access to services, were better able to make safe choices, and felt more confident. The service relies entirely upon voluntary contributions and grants to operate, and the Trustees extend their thanks and appreciation to these donors for the support they have given throughout the year.

We were also delighted to begin working with the National Lottery Community Fund, who have agreed to support the expansion of our young person’s domestic abuse prevention service. They have awarded us a generous grant of £81,068 as we begin the first year of this partnership.

As always, we are grateful to each and every one of you, our work was made possible through and with your generous help.

Financial Review

SignHealth made an overall deficit of £1,142,256 (2022: £519,640 surplus) in the year to 31 March 2023, against a budgeted deficit of £481,279 (2022: break even). This includes a decrease in the value of the investment portfolio of £112,298 (2022: £77,477 gain).

In the year to 31 March 2023, total income increased by £442,961 to £5,830,609 (2022: £5,387,648) due in large part to an increase in residential fee income and an increase in grant income received to deliver SignHealth’s Domestic Abuse services.

Expenditure to 31 March 2023, before gains/losses on revaluation of investments, increased by £1,915,082 to £6,860,567 (2022: £4,945,485). The majority of this increase is as a result of an investment in SignHealth’s staff costs and consultancy costs - and therefore SignHealth’s ability to deliver its ambitions growth strategy. Following the closure of the Balham Office and the easing of Covid restrictions, SignHealth also experienced an increase in travel costs.

Principal risks and uncertainties

SignHealth’s approach to Risk Management centres on identifying, measuring, monitoring and controlling the key risks relating to all its services and operations. Our approach has always been strongly informed by guidance provided by the Charity Commission, including its overarching definition of Risk:

“the uncertainty surrounding events and their outcomes that may have a significant impact, either enhancing or inhibiting any area of a charity’s operations”.

Overall Risk Profiles are calculated using the Commission’s “xy+y” formula (x = likelihood and y = impact) giving additional weighting to the impact of risks being realised.

Overall responsibility and accountability for risk lies with the Board of Trustees. Since April 2018 this has been supported by a formally constituted sub-committee of the Board of Trustees, the Audit and Risk Committee.

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SignHealth

Trustees’ Annual Report

For the year ended 31 March 2023

The Audit and Risk Committee is responsible for ensuring a robust assurance framework is in place, along with appropriate and functioning processes and systems and processes to support it. The Committee Chair reports to the Board of Trustees on a regular basis through verbal reports at each Board Meeting and an Annual Report in the third quarter of each financial year. It should be noted that the Audit and Risk Committee does not have delegated responsibility to review the financial performance of the organisation.

Responsibility for identifying risk lies with the Executive Leadership Team (ELT), who consider existing risks and identify new ones. The ELT formally updates the organisational Risk Register and its associated Action log quarterly, in advance of Audit and Risk Committee and Board of Trustee Meetings.

Members of the Executive Leadership Team take specific responsibility for risk within each area of risk that has been identified. They play an important role in identifying and understanding risks that arise and are responsible for ensuring that appropriate controls are in place to ensure these risks are being managed and mitigated.

The Audit and Risk Committee held four meetings and one awayday during the year to review our risk management framework, agreeing that our current process continues to be sound and fit for purpose. As part of this work the committee has also continued to develop implement our approach to both Risk Appetite/Tolerance and Risk Assurance Mapping. All of our current risk areas have an assessment of risk appetite and tolerance, which have been reviewed and accepted by the Board. Each of our risk areas now also has a dedicated risk assurance map in place which sets out the controls for the risk area, linked to an action plan which addresses any gaps and areas for improvement. Reviews of this action plan and our overall approach to risk is linked to an annual Organisational Resilience Review (based on the Charity Governance Code) undertaken by the Audit and Risk Committee every autumn.

Our current risk register incorporating the risks associated with our Three-Year Plan was developed in 2019/20 and approved by the Board of Trustees in March 2020. As mentioned earlier this is updated on a quarterly basis by ELT, prior to going to the Audit and Risk Committee and Board meetings. It focuses on the following Risk Areas:

As part of our move to a new Three Year Plan for 2024/27 (outlined in the Plans for the Future section – page 22) we will develop a new Risk Register in 2023/24 which will be linked to the new Strategic Objectives of the new plan.

Of the current risk areas, we have identified our top three risks (based on risk profile scores), which remain the same as in the last financial year:

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For the year ended 31 March 2023

Safeguarding

This risk covers both potential poor practice leading to a safeguarding incident which could result in the death of a client or significant harm to a client, reputational loss or financial loss to the organisation and/or individual clients and also an increased risk if we grow our services to include providing more services to children and/or young people. We actively manage this risk in a variety of ways including having a comprehensive Safeguarding policy and procedure which is reviewed and approved by the Board each year. We have a separate Child Protection policy and procedure which is similarly reviewed and approved every year. We maintain an incident log which is regularly reviewed by the Executive Leadership Team, with all significant issues reported directly to the CEO and on to the Chair of the Board of Trustees. We undertake training for staff, including in relation to the handling/management of clients’ finances and undertake a full investigation of all incidents, with learning from every incident being captured and disseminated. Learning from any investigations relating to alleged safeguarding incidents continue to be incorporated in to updated policies, procedures and practice, particularly in terms of the safety of clients and staff when interacting with third parties. We also undertake Quality Assurance Audits.

Staff

As a Deaf-led organisation, it is vital that SignHealth recruits a large proportion of staff that have lived experience of being Deaf People. We are therefore recruiting from a small pool of potential candidates. Our best candidates will also have different prior experiences and skills to those in a non Deaf-led organisation. This can also lead to risks around hearing and Deaf staff not understanding each other, leading to poor teamwork, low staff morale and increased incidents. Deaf staff may also not understand and follow organisational policies and procedures that are delivered via 'hearing’ methods, leading to lack of career progression and increased incidents. We may not be able to find enough appropriately trained and experienced Deaf staff to meet our needs, in the right locations or at all, leading to understaffing and loss of quality. This risk is managed in a number of ways. We ensure that all policies, procedures and training are as clear and accessible as possible to everyone, regardless of background or experience. We have also invested time in assessing the accessibility of our training and policies for our diverse workforce, including the development of a number of BSL videos for our policies and procedures. In 2022/23 we recruited a BSL Communications Officer and a new Policy and Performance Manager, who will be responsible for redrafting all of our key policies in BSL and cascading these across the organisation.

We also established a new People and Pay Committee in 2022/23 which is made up of both trustees and independent members who have extensive experience and knowledge in this area. The committee has clear Terms of Reference and has been providing guidance and advice to our People and Talent Team who have started to develop a new People Strategy which will be approved by the Board in September 2023.

This risk area has also led SignHealth to adopt a different approach to learning and development than peer organisations. We have also used different methods and approaches to communication and training, that are shown to be more effective for a diverse staff group and particularly for Deaf staff. We have also started to investigate the impact of ‘language deprivation’ on the lived experience of Deaf staff. We are continually reviewing and improving the staff ‘offer’, particularly for Deaf staff, so that people value working at SignHealth because of its culture, its terms and conditions, and the opportunities for personal and professional development it provides.

19

SignHealth

Trustees’ Annual Report

For the year ended 31 March 2023

Financial Management

For SignHealth, although the risk is low, the impact can be high if we do not mitigate this risk around financial management and understanding which can lead to diminished quality of service, inefficiencies, fraud, unnecessary reduction in cash reduction and/or free reserves and/or under investment in future development, investment and sustainability. There is a small risk to our reputation with funders, as they will have less faith in our future bids and tenders if we have needed to give grant money back in the past due to poor management.

We have a performance management framework that aligns financial and non-financial data, which produces regular understandable and accurate reports for Managers and Trustees. We also have new procedures documented and ensuring all relevant people are aware of their responsibilities and ensuring a properly structured and competent Finance Team, together with a clear segregation of duties. During the year, we reviewed our Scheme of Delegation and we implemented a new structure including a Head of Finance and Head of Fundraising which will give us more capacity and resilience moving forward.

Reserves policy

The charity’s reserves policy articulates the links between the policy and the charity’s key risks and strategic objectives.

In doing so, SignHealth differentiates between short, medium and long-term risks as follows:

  1. Short term: meeting working capital requirements and mitigating unbudgeted, in-year financial risks. In SignHealth’s case, examples might be to manage the cash flow implications of seasonal variations in activity, managing the impact of an empty flat in a residential property, or paying for interim cover for key personnel.

Reserves held to mitigate these short-term risks must be held as cash or short-term deposits to allow immediate access as needed.

  1. Medium term: mitigating the financial impact of changes foreseen over the next 1-3 year planning cycle, allowing sufficient time for the charity to develop to meet these challenges whilst minimising the impact of any required changes. Examples would include managing the foreseeable impact of changes in public sector funding or benefits policy.

Reserves held to mitigate these medium-term risks can be held as long-term cash deposits, or in investment funds, as their drawdown can be planned over a longer period of time.

  1. Long term: ensuring the charity can invest in planned renewal of infrastructure and intellectual property, so that its assets do not become outdated over time. This would include investment in property, IT and digital assets, and in professional development of staff.

Reserves held to mitigate these long-term risks would be designated by the Board of Trustees, against an agreed investment plan. Trustees will expect the charity to build these reserves back up over time, in order to support ongoing investment.

20

SignHealth

Trustees’ Annual Report

For the year ended 31 March 2023

  1. Supporting innovation: having funds available to identify and act on opportunities to branch out into new activities that will achieve its charitable objectives, whilst minimising risk and impact on the charity’s existing activities. This would include research and development of new services and policy areas.

Reserves held to support innovation will be designated by the Board of Trustees against a clear investment plan. These funds would be held to support explicitly high-risk activity, and as such there is less requirement of a financial return.

The Board of Trustees will review the level of reserves set against each risk category, regularly as part of the annual budgeting cycle, and immediately in the event of a significant change in the charity’s activities, size or risk profile.

At 31 March 2023, SignHealth’s total reserves were £2,674,762 (2022: £3,817,018). Unrestricted funds were £2,672,984 (2022: £ 3,803,861) which equates to 4.5 months’ operating expenditure (2022: 9 months), and restricted reserves stood at £1,778 (2022: £13,157).

Based on SignHealth’s current size and scope of activities, the Trustees consider that one month’s operating expenditure is sufficient to cover short term risks (2023: £571,714) and a further five months’ operating expenditure is sufficient to mitigate medium term risks (2023: £2,858,570). SignHealth therefore aims to hold a minimum of six months’ operating expenditure (2023: £3,430,284).

At the Trustee Board meeting on 2 March 2023 – the Trustees reviewed SignHealth’s forecast financial position at 31 March 2023 alongside the budget for 2023-24. Despite the year end reserves position of 4.5 months being less than the target value of 6 months, the Trustees approved a deficit budget of £550,000 which would, barring any exceptional occurrences, further reduce SignHealth’s reserves position at 31 March 2024.

The approval to further worsen SignHealth’s financial position was agreed because during 2023-24, SignHealth will continue to invest significant amounts into its services. A new supported living facility is due to open in the summer of 2023 – with the requirement to invest in a significant number of staff and related start-up costs coming before the income from residential fees can be realised.

SignHealth is also expanding its Domestic Abuse service from a service based in the South East of England to a national service following a successful bid to the Home Office. This two-year contract will provide allow SignHealth to reach and support more vulnerable individuals at a difficult time in their lives.

Investments

In April 2020, SignHealth invested £1,462,690 with Rathbones. In 2022-23 the charity reported £112,298 net losses and £24,767 income (2022: £77,477 net gains and £31,357 income) as a result of difficult market conditions – the war in Ukraine, high inflation and poor projections for economic growth all contributing to the decrease shown in this year’s financial statements.

21

SignHealth

Trustees’ Annual Report

For the year ended 31 March 2023

The equity holdings are held as share unit holdings. The trustees have adopted the ethical policy of the Rathbone Core Investment Fund for Charities (into which the Charity will invest) which is:

There is no difference between fair value and market value as the investments are either fixed interest, equities or cash deposits. Market valuation shows the fair value for these assets.

Going Concern

The Trustees consider that there are no material uncertainties about the charitable company's ability to continue as a going concern. This is despite the reduction in reserves during 2022-23 and planned for 2023-24.

This going concern position is supported by:

Plans for the future

The strategic direction of SignHealth and plans for the forthcoming years are set out in the SignHealth Three Year Plan. As mentioned in the achievements and performance section, in 2022/23 our work continued to focus on the three key objectives in our existing Three-Year Plan in order to make progress towards achieving our purpose of improving Deaf people’s health and wellbeing.

In 2022/23 have started to develop a new Three Year Plan, with huge progress being made over the past few months with a number of ideas for new services and projects being suggested and

22

SignHealth

Trustees’ Annual Report

For the year ended 31 March 2023

investigated, leading to the development of four new Strategic Objectives around which the new Three Year Plan will be structured.

It became apparent at the end of 2022/23 that there are a number of mitigating factors that mean that it is more sensible and prudent to delay the finalisation of the new plan. These factors include the appointment of a new Chair in early 2023/24, the development and finalisation of a number of key supporting strategies in 2023/24 including the People Strategy, Fundraising Strategy and Children and Young People Strategy and the fact that we are still in a period of growth. With this shifting context the Board have agreed to delay the approval of the new plan until September 2023, which will give us time to build the factors outlined above and others into the finalisation of the plan. This new Three Year Plan would then start in April 2024 and run until March 2027.

Although we have not yet finalised the content of the new Three-Year Plan, as mentioned above a lot of the work to determine the new Strategic Objectives for SignHealth has been completed as part of the planning process. The Board therefore approved a ‘Year Zero’ Plan in March 2023 for 2023/24 which is structured around these four new Strategic Objectives and details the milestones/actions under each of these objectives for 2023/24. This is complemented by a ‘Year Zero’ budget for 2023/24.

The four new Strategic Objectives are:

A Healthy Deaf Community

Forward Together – Working in Partnership

A Sustainable Future

23

SignHealth

Trustees’ Annual Report

For the year ended 31 March 2023

An Accessible Future

24

SignHealth

Trustees’ Annual Report

For the year ended 31 March 2023

Structure, governance and management

The organisation is a private company limited by guarantee, incorporated on 14 May 1991 and registered as a charity on 13 May 1992.

Charitable objects

The relief of Deaf and hearing-impaired persons in particular by, but without limitation, the provision of residential services and of other such services, activities and facilities as the charity shall from time to time deem fit.

Governance

SignHealth is a company limited by guarantee, with registration number 02610559, and a registered charity with number 1011056. The company was established under a Memorandum of Association, which created the objects and powers of the charitable company and is governed by its Articles of Association. All Trustees give their time voluntarily and receive no benefits from the charity. Any expenses reclaimed from the charity are set out in note 8 to the accounts.

The Memorandum and Articles of Association were reviewed and updated in November 2017.

At the time of writing our Board now consists of eight Trustees, two below the maximum permitted by SignHealth’s Memorandum and Articles of Association (10). In line with SignHealth’s ambitions to be a Deaf-led organisation, the current Board of Trustees is made up of five Deaf and three hearing Trustees.

In October 2023, three trustees will complete their second term and stand down - this includes the Chair of the board, the Vice Chair of the board (who is also Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee) and one other trustee. This would leave the board with only five trustees. Therefore, the People and Pay Committee has been leading work to recruit both new trustees and a new Chair in early 2023. Following a successful recruitment campaign four new trustees have been recruited, one of which will take up their position in July 2023 together with the new Chair, meaning we will have a full Board of ten Trustees. The other three successful candidates will be officially appointed to the Board in October 2023 when three more vacancies arise. Following these appointments the Board will consist of seven Deaf and three hearing Trustees.

None of the Directors has any beneficial interest in the Company. All Directors agree to contribute £1 in the event of a winding up. Related party transactions are detailed in note 9 of the accounts.

The charity is governed by the Board of Trustees who meet with management regularly. Day to day management is delegated to the Chief Executive and the Executive Leadership Team. The Board of Trustees meet regularly and receive reports from the Chief Executive and Executive Leadership Team. The Chair, as representative of the Board, maintains regular contact with the Chief Executive. The Executive Leadership Team are invited to Board Meetings to provide reports on their areas of work. The Trustees provide advice and support to the Executive Leadership Team and other areas of the charity where their expertise is appropriate.

As part of our emerging Three Year Plan for 2024/27 it should be noted that a full governance review is planned for 2024/25.

25

SignHealth

Trustees’ Annual Report

For the year ended 31 March 2023

Leadership and management

In 2022/23, 50% of the SignHealth Executive Leadership Team (ELT) were deaf people.

We continued to further invest in Management and Leadership training with managers across SignHealth and this will continue across the new Three-Year Plan.

The Chief Executive continues to meet with all staff teams regularly throughout the year and has regular bi-monthly Leadership Team meetings with all senior managers across SignHealth.

We continue to take part in a cross-charity mentoring scheme, run in partnership with Sense, RNID, NDCS, Scope, Diabetes UK, Thomas Pocklington Trust and RNIB.

As part of our ongoing annual Organisational Resilience Review process, we have continued to review the organisation against the Charity Governance Code. This self-assessment continues to highlight broad compliance and good practice against the principles whilst also identifying some areas where further work remains necessary. Actions under these areas is monitored throughout the year, with progress made against them reported as part of the next Organisational Resilience Review in Autumn 2023.

Fundraising Regulations

During the year, SignHealth engaged in public fundraising, but did not use professional fundraisers or commercial participators. The charity continued to observe and comply with the relevant fundraising regulations and codes and is a member of the Fundraising Regulator. The charity received no complaints (2021/22: no complaints) relating to its fundraising practice.

Appointment of Trustees

Vetting and checks of new Trustees was carried out in line with Charity Commission guidance. All new Trustees undertake a full induction process which includes induction meetings with the Chief Executive and each of the Directors on the Executive Leadership Team, external training on finance, the legal responsibilities of being trustee and safeguarding, as well as attendance at an all-day face to face staff induction event.

We continued to run a Shadow Trustee Scheme in 2022 with five participants and mixed success. The scheme includes the opportunity to attend all Board and subcommittee meetings, have regular conversations with a Trustee mentor, receive training and attend other events with their peers. We are looking to relaunch the scheme in 2023/24 and it is hoped that it will continue to run every year, building on the learning received from the first cohort.

Related parties and relationships with other organisations

Both Trustees and key management personnel complete annual declarations of interest. Trustees declare any conflicts of interest at the beginning of each meeting and discuss how the conflict should be managed with regards to agenda items.

Details of related party transactions can be found in note 9 of the financial statements.

26

SignHealth

Trustees’ Annual Report

For the year ended 31 March 2023

Remuneration policy for key management personnel

The Chief Executive’s salary is determined by the Board of Trustees, and their review will take account of the past year’s achievements, environmental and market conditions, and of sector comparisons.

The pay of senior staff is reviewed annually and can be increased in accordance with average earnings and the level of responsibility required. In view of the charitable nature of the company, the remuneration benchmark is determined through comparative research into charities of a similar size and scope. As mentioned earlier in this report a new People and Pay committee has recently been established with the remit to advise and make recommendations to the Board on these and other matters.

27

SignHealth

Trustees’ Annual Report

For the year ended 31 March 2023

Statement of responsibilities of the trustees

The trustees (who are also directors of SignHealth for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the trustees’ annual report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

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

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

The trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable company and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charitable company, and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

In so far as the trustees are aware:

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

The trustees are members of the charity, but this entitles them only to voting rights. The trustees have no beneficial interests in the charity.

The charity has taken out indemnity insurance on behalf of the Trustees.

28

SignHealth

Trustees’ Annual Report

For the year ended 31 March 2023

Auditor

Sayer Vincent LLP was re-appointed as the charitable company’s auditor during the year and has expressed its willingness to continue in that capacity.

The trustees’ annual report has been prepared in accordance with the special provisions applicable to companies subject to the small companies' regime.

The trustees’ annual report has been approved by the trustees on 20 July 2023 and signed on their behalf by

Jackie Driver OBE Chair of Trustees

29

Independent auditor’s report

To the members of SignHealth

For the year ended 31 March 2023

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of SignHealth (the ‘charitable company’) for the year ended 31 March 2023 which comprise the statement of financial activities, balance sheet, statement of cash flows 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 FRS 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

In our opinion, the financial statements:

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 charitable company in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC’s Ethical Standard and 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.

Conclusions relating to going concern

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

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

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

Other Information

The other information comprises the information included in the trustees’ annual report other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. The trustees are responsible for the other information contained within the annual report. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon. Our responsibility is to read the other

30

Independent auditor’s report

To the members of SignHealth

For the year ended 31 March 2023

information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the course of the audit, or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.

We have nothing to report in this regard.

Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006

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

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the charitable company and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the trustees’ annual report. We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Companies Act 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:

Responsibilities of trustees

As explained more fully in the statement of trustees’ responsibilities set out in the trustees’ annual report, the trustees (who are also the directors of the charitable company for the purposes of company law) are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the trustees determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

In preparing the financial statements, the trustees are responsible for assessing the charitable company’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the trustees either intend to liquidate the charitable company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

31

Independent auditor’s report

To the members of SignHealth

For the year ended 31 March 2023

Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue 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.

Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud are set out below.

Capability of the audit in detecting irregularities

In identifying and assessing risks of material misstatement in respect of irregularities, including fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulations, our procedures included the following:

32

Independent auditor’s report

To the members of SignHealth

For the year ended 31 March 2023

Because of the inherent limitations of an audit, there is a risk that we will not detect all irregularities, including those leading to a material misstatement in the financial statements or non-compliance with regulation. This risk increases the more that compliance with a law or regulation is removed from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, as we will be less likely to become aware of instances of non-compliance. The risk is also greater regarding irregularities occurring due to fraud rather than error, as fraud involves intentional concealment, forgery, collusion, omission or misrepresentation.

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

Use of our report

This report is made solely to the charitable company's members as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charitable company's members those matters we are required to state to them in an auditor’s report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charitable company and the charitable company's members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

Jonathan Orchard (Senior statutory auditor)

23 November 2023

for and on behalf of Sayer Vincent LLP, Statutory Auditor

Invicta House, 108-114 Golden Lane, LONDON, EC1Y 0TL

33

SignHealth

Statement of financial activities (incorporating an income and expenditure account)

For the year ended 31 March 2023

Note
2
Social care
3a
Therapies
3b
Domestic abuse
3c
Other charitable activities
3d
4
Social care
Therapies
Domestic abuse
Other charitable activities
BSL Health Access (BSLHA)
5
12
6
17a
Reconciliation of funds:
(Loss)/Gain on revaluation of investments
Net losses on disposal of assets
Total funds carried forward
Net income/(expenditure) for the year
Transfers between funds
Net movement in funds
Total funds brought forward
Net income / (expenditure) before other
recognised gains and losses
Income from:
Donations and legacies
Charitable activities
Fundraising events
Investments
Total income
Charitable activities
Expenditure on:
Raising funds
Total expenditure
Net income/(expenditure) before
gains/(losses)
Other income		 Unrestricted
£
61,438
3,842,080
1,148,427
-
-
3,940
51,155
-		 Restricted
£
-
85,454
22,602
615,513
-
-
-
-		 2023
Total
£
61,438
3,927,534
1,171,029
615,513
-
3,940
51,155
-		 Unrestricted
£
103,794
3,348,156
1,215,529
1,278
45,914
12,142
60,264
-		 Restricted
£
-
24,994
53,966
473,792
47,819
-
-
-		 2022
Total
£
103,794
3,373,150
1,269,495
475,070
93,733
12,142
60,264
-
5,107,040 723,569 5,830,609 4,787,077 600,571 5,387,648
269,812
4,603,074
941,566
225,506
83,205
-		 -
85,454
22,602
629,348
-
-		 269,812
4,688,528
964,168
854,854
83,205
-		 172,203
3,319,696
640,712
116,920
61,659
-		 -
96,850
58,173
479,272
-
-		 172,203
3,416,546
698,885
596,192
61,659
-
6,123,163 737,404 6,860,567 4,311,190 634,295 4,945,485
(1,016,123)
(112,298)
-		 (13,835)
-
-		 (1,029,958)
(112,298)
-		 475,887
77,477
-		 (33,724)
-
-		 442,163
77,477
-
(1,128,421)
(2,456)		 (13,835)
2,456		 (1,142,256)
-		 553,364
-		 (33,724)
-		 519,640
-
(1,130,877) (11,379) (1,142,256) 553,364 (33,724) 519,640
(1,130,877)
3,803,861		 (11,379)
13,157		 (1,142,256)
3,817,018		 553,364
3,250,497		 (33,724)
46,881		 519,640
3,297,378
2,672,984 1,778 2,674,762 3,803,861 13,157 3,817,018

All other activities are continuing. There were no other recognised gains or losses other than those stated above. Movements in funds are disclosed in Note 17 to the financial statements.

34

SignHealth

Company no. 02610559

Balance sheet

As at 31 March 2023

Note
Fixed assets:
11
12
Current assets:
13
Liabilities:
14
16
Total unrestricted funds
17
Funds:
Restricted income funds
Unrestricted income funds:
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year
Net current assets
Total net assets
Total funds
Designated funds
General funds
Investments
Cash at bank and in hand
Tangible assets
Debtors		 1,371,423
429,833		 2023
£
78,840
1,366,478		 1,219,299
1,450,266		 2022
£
64,387
1,514,009
1,445,318
1,229,444		 1,578,396
2,238,622
1,801,256
(571,812)		 2,669,565
(430,943)
126,171
2,546,813		 111,719
3,692,142
2,674,762 3,817,018
1,778
2,672,984		 13,157
3,803,861
2,674,762 3,817,018

Approved by the trustees on 20 July 2023 and signed on their behalf by

J Driver Trustee

T Hudson Trustee

35

SignHealth

Statement of cash flows

For the year ended 31 March 2023

Note
£
£
Net income/(expenditure) for the reporting period
(1,142,256)
(as per the statement of financial activities)
Depreciation charges
45,489
Losses disposal of fixed assets
-
Dividends, interest and rent from investments
(51,155)
Loss/(Gain) on revaluation of investments
112,298
(Increase) in debtors
(152,124)
Increase in creditors
140,869
Net cash used in operating activities
(1,046,878)
51,155
(59,942)
35,971
-
(739)
26,445
(1,020,433)
1,450,266
429,833
Cash flows from operating activities
Net cash provided by/(used in) investing activities
Cash flows from investing activities:
Dividends, interest and income from investments
Purchase of fixed assets
Proceeds from sale of investments
Purchase of investments
Movement in cash held by investment managers pending
reinvestment
2023
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the year
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year
Change in cash and cash equivalents in the year		 Note
£
£
Net income/(expenditure) for the reporting period
(1,142,256)
(as per the statement of financial activities)
Depreciation charges
45,489
Losses disposal of fixed assets
-
Dividends, interest and rent from investments
(51,155)
Loss/(Gain) on revaluation of investments
112,298
(Increase) in debtors
(152,124)
Increase in creditors
140,869
Net cash used in operating activities
(1,046,878)
51,155
(59,942)
35,971
-
(739)
26,445
(1,020,433)
1,450,266
429,833
Cash flows from operating activities
Net cash provided by/(used in) investing activities
Cash flows from investing activities:
Dividends, interest and income from investments
Purchase of fixed assets
Proceeds from sale of investments
Purchase of investments
Movement in cash held by investment managers pending
reinvestment
2023
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the year
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year
Change in cash and cash equivalents in the year		 Note
£
£
Net income/(expenditure) for the reporting period
(1,142,256)
(as per the statement of financial activities)
Depreciation charges
45,489
Losses disposal of fixed assets
-
Dividends, interest and rent from investments
(51,155)
Loss/(Gain) on revaluation of investments
112,298
(Increase) in debtors
(152,124)
Increase in creditors
140,869
Net cash used in operating activities
(1,046,878)
51,155
(59,942)
35,971
-
(739)
26,445
(1,020,433)
1,450,266
429,833
Cash flows from operating activities
Net cash provided by/(used in) investing activities
Cash flows from investing activities:
Dividends, interest and income from investments
Purchase of fixed assets
Proceeds from sale of investments
Purchase of investments
Movement in cash held by investment managers pending
reinvestment
2023
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the year
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year
Change in cash and cash equivalents in the year		 £
£
519,640
47,056
-
(60,264)
(77,477)
(546,220)
20,868
(96,397)
60,264
(41,785)
234,912
-
590
253,981
157,584
1,292,682
1,450,266
2022		 £
£
519,640
47,056
-
(60,264)
(77,477)
(546,220)
20,868
(96,397)
60,264
(41,785)
234,912
-
590
253,981
157,584
1,292,682
1,450,266
2022
51,155
(59,942)
35,971
-
(739)		 60,264
(41,785)
234,912
-
590
(1,020,433)
1,450,266		 157,584
1,292,682
429,833 1,450,266

36

SignHealth

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2023

1 Accounting policies

SignHealth is a charitable company limited by guarantee and is incorporated in England and Wales.

The registered office address is: CAN Mezzanine, 7 - 14 Great Dover Street, Borough, London SE1 4YR

b) Basis of preparation

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) - (Charities SORP FRS 102), The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) and the Companies Act 2006.

Assets and liabilities are initially recognised at historical cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policy or note.

In applying the financial reporting framework, the trustees have made a number of subjective judgements, for example in respect of significant accounting estimates. Estimates and judgements are continually evaluated and are based on historical experience and other factors, including expectations of future events that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances. The nature of the estimation means the actual outcomes could differ from those estimates. Any significant estimates and judgements affecting these financial statements are detailed within the relevant accounting policy below.

c) Public benefit entity

The charitable company meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS 102.

d) Going concern

The trustees consider that there are no material uncertainties about the charitable company's ability to continue as a going concern. The trustees do not consider that there are any sources of estimation uncertainty at the reporting date that have a significant risk of causing a material adjustment to the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities within the next reporting period.

Further information on the charity's going concern conclusion can be found in the trustees' annual report.

e) Income

Income is recognised when the charity has entitlement to the funds, any requirements attached to the income have been met, it is probable that the income will be received and that the amount can be measured reliably.

Income from government and other grants, whether ‘capital’ grants or ‘revenue’ grants, is recognised when the charity has entitlement to the funds, any conditions attached to the grants are expected to be met, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount can be measured reliably and is not deferred.

For legacies, entitlement is taken as the earlier of the date on which either: the charity is aware that probate has been granted, the estate has been finalised and notification has been made by the executor(s) to the charity that a distribution will be made, or when a distribution is received from the estate. Receipt of a legacy, in whole or in part, is only considered probable when the amount can be measured reliably and the charity has been notified of the executor’s intention to make a distribution. Where legacies have been notified to the charity, or the charity is aware of the granting of probate, and the criteria for income recognition have not been met, then the legacy is a treated as a contingent asset and disclosed if material.

Income received in advance of the provision of a specified service is deferred until the criteria for income recognition are met.

f) Interest receivable

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

g) Fund accounting

Restricted funds are to be used for specific purposes as laid down by the donor. Expenditure which meets these criteria is charged to the fund.

Unrestricted funds are donations and other incoming resources received or generated for the charitable purposes.

Designated funds are unrestricted funds earmarked by the trustees for particular purposes.

37

SignHealth

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2023

1 Accounting policies (continued)

h) Expenditure and irrecoverable VAT

Expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to make a payment to a third party, it is probable that settlement will be required and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. Expenditure is classified under the following activity headings:

Irrecoverable VAT is charged as a cost against the activity for which the expenditure was incurred.

i) Allocation of support costs

Resources expended are allocated to the particular activity where the cost relates directly to that activity. The indirect costs of overall direction and administration, comprising the salary and overhead costs of the central function, is apportioned to activities as a proportion of headcount in each service area;

Raising funds 1% (2022:4%)
Social care 75% (2022:77%)
Therapies 12% (2022:8%)
Domestic abuse 11% (2022:10%)
Other charitable activities 1% (2022: 1%)

Governance costs are allocated to each of the activities on the following basis which is an estimate, based on staff headcount, of the amount attributable to each activity:

Raising funds 1% (2022:4%)
Social care 75% (2022:77%)
Therapies 12% (2022:8%)
Domestic abuse 11% (2022:10%)
Other charitable activities 1% (2022: 1%)

Governance costs are the costs associated with the governance arrangements of the charity. These costs are associated with constitutional and statutory requirements and include any costs associated with the strategic management of the charity’s activities.

Rental charges are charged on a straight line basis over the term of the lease.

k) Tangible fixed assets

Items of equipment are capitalised where the purchase price exceeds £1,000. Depreciation costs are allocated to activities on the basis of the use of the related assets in those activities. Assets are reviewed for impairment if circumstances indicate their carrying value may exceed their net realisable value and value in use. Major components are treated as a separate asset where they have significantly different patterns of consumption of economic benefits and are depreciated separately over its useful life.

Depreciation is provided at rates calculated to write down the cost of each asset to its estimated residual value over its expected useful life. The depreciation rates in use are as follows:

Freehold Land and Buildings 50 years
Leasehold Land and Buildings Over the period of the lease
Fixtures, Fittings and Equipment 4 years
IT Equipment 3 years

l) Listed investments

Investments are a form of basic financial instrument and are initially recognised at their transaction value and subsequently measured at their fair value as at the balance sheet date using the closing quoted market price. Any change in fair value will be recognised in the statement of financial activities. Investment gains and losses, whether realised or unrealised, are combined and shown in the heading “Net gains/(losses) on investments” in the statement of financial activities. The charity does not acquire put options, derivatives or other complex financial instruments.

38

SignHealth

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2023

1 Accounting policies (continued)

m) Debtors

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

Short term deposits includes cash balances that are invested in accounts with a maturity date of between 3 and 12 months.

o) Cash at bank and in hand

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

q) Financial instruments

The charity only has financial assets and financial liabilities of a kind that qualify as basic financial instruments. Basic financial instruments are initially recognised at transaction value and subsequently measured at their settlement value with the exception of bank loans which are subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method.

r) Pensions

The charitable company operates a defined contribution pension scheme. The assets of the scheme are held separately from those of the charitable company in an independently administered fund. The pension cost charge represents contributions payable under the scheme by the charitable company to the fund. The charitable company has no liability under the scheme other than for the payment of those contributions.

2 Income from donations and legacies

Income from donations and legacies
Gifts
Legacies
CoronaVirus Retention Job Scheme		 Unrestricted
£
60,424
1,014
-		 Restricted
£
-
-
-		 2023
Total
£
60,424
1,014
-		 Unrestricted
£
74,713
23,059
6,022		 Restricted
£
-
-
-		 2022
Total
£
74,713
23,059
6,022
61,438 - 61,438 103,794 - 103,794

39

SignHealth

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2023

3
3a
Social care
Access to work
Fees
Client income
Grants receivable
Sub-total for Social Care
3b
Therapies
Fees
Grants receivable
Sub-total for Therapies
3c
Domestic abuse
Fees
Grants receivable
3d
Other charitable activities
Fees
Grants receivable
Income from charitable activities
Sub-total for other charitable activities
Sub-total for Domestic abuse
Total income from charitable activities		 Unrestricted
£
-
3,775,302
66,778
-		 Restricted
£
9,102
69,366
-
6,985		 2023
Total
£
9,102
3,844,668
66,778
6,985		 Unrestricted
£
-
3,260,859
87,297
-		 Restricted
£
6,210
-
-
18,784		 2022
Total
£
6,210
3,260,859
87,297
18,784
3,842,080
1,148,427
-		 85,454
-
22,602		 3,927,534
1,148,427
22,602		 3,348,156
1,215,529
-		 24,994
-
53,966		 3,373,150
1,215,529
53,966
1,148,427
-
-		 22,602
-
615,513		 1,171,029
-
615,513		 1,215,529
1,278
-		 53,966
-
473,792		 1,269,495
1,278
473,792
-
-
-		 615,513
-
-		 615,513
-
-		 1,278
45,914
-		 473,792
47,819
-		 475,070
93,733
-
- - - 45,914 47,819 93,733
4,990,507 723,569 5,714,076 4,610,877 600,571 5,211,448

4 Income from investments

Income from investments
Interest receivable
Other rental income
Income from investments		 2023
Total
£
809
25,579
24,767		 2022
Total
£
471
28,436
31,357
51,155 60,264

All income from investments is unrestricted.

40

SignHealth

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2023

5a Analysis of expenditure (current year)

Staff costs (Note 7)
Other staff costs
Travel and subsistence
Building costs
Running costs
Fundraising and marketing
Covid-19 costs
Beneficiary costs
Other trading costs
Accountancy and audit
Legal and professional
Depreciation and impairment
Support costs
Governance costs
Total expenditure 2023
Total expenditure 2022		 Raising
funds
£
155,675
45,987
4,111
965
3,396
33,786
-
-
-
-
7
-		 Charitable activities Charitable activities Charitable activities Governance
costs
£
81,761
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
18,621
-
-		 Support
costs
£
1,083,085
693,825
79,023
82,019
350,589
102,602
-
1,617
23,492
-
41,270
30,561		 2023
Total
£
4,368,903
878,803
233,158
448,370
521,440
158,256
-
118,639
23,492
18,621
45,344
45,540		 2022
Total
£
3,555,302
358,192
60,207
361,640
339,891
83,631
22,810
41,257
24,498
14,915
36,086
47,056
Social care
£
2,040,549
51,612
108,180
360,528
66,011
194
-
112,202
-
-
4,067
3,836		 Therapies
£
516,971
54,325
15,579
4,857
54,674
828
-
-
-
-
-
6,318		 Domestic
abuse
449,146
24,157
19,939
-
46,388
20,847
-
4,820
-
-
-
4,826		 Other charitable
activities
41,715
8,897
6,326
-
382
-
-
-
-
-
-
-		 BSLHA
£
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
243,927
24,881
1,004		 2,747,180
1,866,061
75,287		 653,552
298,570
12,046		 570,124
273,689
11,041		 57,320
24,881
1,004		 -
-
-		 100,382
-
(100,382)		 2,488,082
(2,488,082)
-		 6,860,568
-
-		 4,945,485
-
-
269,812 4,688,528 964,168 854,854 83,205 - - 6,860,568 4,945,485
172,203 3,416,546 698,885 596,192 61,659 - - -

41

SignHealth

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2023

5b Analysis of expenditure (prior year)

Charitable activities

Staff costs (Note 7)
Other staff costs
Travel and subsistence
Building costs
Running costs
Fundraising and marketing
Covid-19 costs
Beneficiary costs
Other trading costs
Accountancy and audit
Legal and professional
Depreciation and impairment
Support costs
Governance costs
Total expenditure 2022		 Raising funds
£
75,023
14,130
185
-
9,594
12,788
-
-
-
-
-
-		 Social care
£
1,725,693
53,724
25,595
347,778
46,902
98
317
38,504
184
5,898
4,322
3,229		 Therapies
£
406,467
80,586
13,180
5,413
64,362
2,552
137
18
-
-
1,920
3,284		 Domestic
abuse
330,205
41,615
6,506
2,048
27,942
28,152
654
2,344
-
-
-
5,518		 Other charitable
activities
37,997
4,664
2,615
-
1,262
-
-
-
-
-
-
-		 BSLHA
£
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-		 Governance
costs
£
73,510
-
-
-
18,363
-
-
-
-
9,017
1,236
-		 Support
costs
£
906,407
163,473
12,126
6,401
171,466
40,041
21,702
391
24,314
-
28,608
35,025		 2022
Total
£
3,555,302
358,192
60,207
361,640
339,891
83,631
22,810
41,257
24,498
14,915
36,086
47,056
111,720
56,398
4,085		 2,252,244
1,085,665
78,637		 577,919
112,796
8,170		 444,984
140,995
10,213		 46,538
14,100
1,021		 -
-
-		 102,126
-
(102,126)		 1,409,954
(1,409,954)
-		 4,945,485
-
-
172,203 3,416,546 698,885 596,192 61,659 - - - 4,945,485

42

SignHealth

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2023

This is stated after charging / (crediting):

This is stated after charging / (crediting):
2023 2022
£ £
Depreciation 45,540 47,056
Loss/(gain) on revaluation/disposal of fixed assets - -
Auditor's remuneration (excluding VAT):
Audit 18,621 11,400
Other services - 1,000

Staff costs were as follows:

Staff costs were as follows:
Redundancy and termination costs
Social security costs
Employer’s contribution to defined contribution pension schemes
Salaries and wages		 2023
£
3,798,765
-
379,196
190,943		 2022
£
3,045,834
56,602
290,426
162,440
4,368,903 3,555,302

The following number of employees received employee benefits (excluding employer pension costs and employer's national insurance) during the year between:

2023 2022
No. No.
£60,000 - £69,000 1 -
£70,000 - £79,999 1 3
£100,000 - £109,999 1
£110,000 - £119,999 1

The total employee benefits (including pension contributions and employer's national insurance) of the key management personnel were £424,263 (2022: £392,376). The Key Management Personnel includes the Trustees, the CEO, and all members of the Executive Leadership Team (Director of Operations, Director of People and Finance, Director of Campaigns and Director of Communications and Fundraising).

The charity trustees were neither paid nor received any other benefits from employment with the charity in the year (2022: £nil). No charity trustee received payment for professional or other services supplied to the charity (2022: £nil).

£770.41 trustee expenses (2022: £422), for attendance at trustee meetings, was incurred or paid on behalf of 5 trustees (2022: 3) in the year.

43

SignHealth

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2023

8 Staff numbers

The average number of employees (head count based on number of staff employed) during the year was 172 (2022: 150).

The FTE number of employees for the year was 106 (2022: 99)

Staff are split across the activities of the charitable company as follows (head count basis):

Domestic abuse
Other charitable activities
Raising funds
Administration
Governance
Social care
Therapies		 2023
No.
2
101
16
15
1
31
6		 2022
No.
4
97
14
14
1
19
1
172 150

9 Related party transactions

In the year to 31 March 2023, SignHealth paid the Voluntary Organisations Disability Group (VODG) and the UK Council on Deafness (UKCOD) combined membership and other fees of £2,203 (2021-22: £5,181). The CEO of SignHealth is also a board member of VODG.

There are no donations from related parties which are outside the normal course of business and no restricted donations from related parties.

The charity has taken out indemnity insurance on behalf of the Trustees.

10 Taxation

The charity is exempt from corporation tax as all its income is charitable and is applied for charitable purposes. Its charge to corporation tax in the year was:

2023 2022
£ £
UK corporation tax at 19% - -

44

SignHealth

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2023

11 Tangible fixed assets

The charity

At the end of the year
Disposals
At the start of the year
Additions in year
Net book value
All of the above assets are used for charitable purposes.
Disposals
At the end of the year
At the start of the year
At the end of the year
Charge for the year
At the start of the year
Cost
Depreciation		 Fixtures and
fittings
£
91,296
-
-		 Computer
equipment
£
247,751
59,942
-		 Total
£
339,047
59,942
-
91,296 307,693 398,989
71,482
-
-		 203,178
45,489
-		 274,660
45,489
-
71,482 248,667 320,149
19,814 59,026 78,840
19,814 44,573 64,387

12 Listed investments

Listed investments
Investments comprise:
Cash
Fair value at the end of the year
Cash held by investment broker pending reinvestment
Fair value at the start of the year
Shares listed on the London Stock Exchange
Fair value at the end of the year
Additions at cost
Proceeds from sale of investments
Net gain/(loss) on change in fair value		 2023
£
1,514,009
-
(35,971)
(112,298)		 2022
£
1,679,736
-
(234,912)
77,477
1,365,740
738		 1,522,301
(8,292)
1,366,478 1,514,009
2023
£
1,365,740
738		 2022
£
1,522,301
(8,292)
1,366,478 1,514,009

Financial investments are measured at fair value through income and expenditure.

45

SignHealth

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2023

13 Debtors

Debtors
Trade debtors
Other debtors
Prepayments and accrued income		 2023
£
1,090,995
133
280,295		 2022
£
997,955
133
221,211
1,371,423 1,219,299

All of the group’s financial instruments, both assets and liabilities, are measured at amortised cost. The carrying values of these are shown above and also in note 14 below.

14 Creditors: amounts falling due within one year

Creditors: amounts falling due within one year
Accruals
Trade creditors
Other creditors
Taxation and social security
Deferred income (note 15)		 2023
£
107,819
129,072
38,693
213,626
82,603		 2022
£
101,787
88,773
35,198
178,524
26,661
571,812 430,943

15 Deferred income

Deferred income comprises income that has been billed in advance.

Deferred income comprises income that has been billed in advance.
Balance at the beginning of the year
Released to income in the year
Deferred in the year
Balance at the end of the year		 2023
£
26,661
(366,501)
422,443		 2022
£
25,403
(348,786)
350,044
82,603 26,661

16a Analysis of group net assets between funds (current year)

Fixed assets
Net assets at 31 March 2023
Net current assets		 General
unrestricted
£
1,366,478
1,180,335		 Designated
funds
£
78,840
47,331		 Restricted
funds
£
-
1,778		 Total funds
£
1,445,318
1,229,444
2,546,813 126,171 1,778 2,674,762

46

SignHealth

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2023

16b Analysis of group net assets between funds (prior year)

17a
At 1 April
2022
£
11,379
-
-
-
1,778
-
-
Total restricted funds
13,157
64,388
13,073
34,258
Total designated funds
111,719
General funds
3,692,142
3,803,861
3,817,018
Domestic Abuse
Residential
Restricted funds:
Brudenell Road
Two Deaf Foot fund
Total unrestricted funds
Therapy
Access to Work
Total funds
Designated funds:
Fixed asset fund
Innovation fund
Deaf with Cancer
Net assets at 31 March 2022
Movements in funds (current year)
Fixed assets
Net current assets
Corona Virus funds
Unrestricted funds:		 17a
At 1 April
2022
£
11,379
-
-
-
1,778
-
-
Total restricted funds
13,157
64,388
13,073
34,258
Total designated funds
111,719
General funds
3,692,142
3,803,861
3,817,018
Domestic Abuse
Residential
Restricted funds:
Brudenell Road
Two Deaf Foot fund
Total unrestricted funds
Therapy
Access to Work
Total funds
Designated funds:
Fixed asset fund
Innovation fund
Deaf with Cancer
Net assets at 31 March 2022
Movements in funds (current year)
Fixed assets
Net current assets
Corona Virus funds
Unrestricted funds:		 General
unrestricted
£
1,514,009
2,178,133		 Designated
funds
£
64,387
47,332		 Restricted
funds
£
-
13,157		 Total funds
£
1,578,396
2,238,622
3,692,142 111,719 13,157 3,817,018

Income &
gains
£
615,513
6,985
22,602
69,366
-
-
9,102		 Expenditure
& losses
£
(629,348)
(6,985)
(22,602)
(69,366)
-
-
(9,102)		 Transfers
£
2,456
-
-
-
-
-
-		 At 31 March
2023
£
-
-
-
1,778
-
-
13,157 723,569 (737,404) 2,456 1,778
64,388
13,073
34,258		 59,941
-
-		 (45,489)
-
-		 -
-
-		 78,840
13,073
34,258
111,719 59,941 (45,489) - 126,171
3,692,142 5,047,100 (6,189,972) (2,456) 2,546,814
3,803,861 5,107,040 (6,235,461) (2,456) 2,672,984
3,817,018 5,830,609 (6,972,865) - 2,674,762

The narrative to explain the purpose of each fund is given in note 17c.

47

SignHealth

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2023

17b Movements in funds (prior year)

Total restricted funds
Total designated funds
General funds
Unrestricted funds:
Residential
Total unrestricted funds
Total funds
Restricted funds:
Domestic Abuse
Therapy
Brudenell Road
Deaf with Cancer
Designated funds:
Fixed asset fund
Innovation fund
Two Deaf Foot fund
Corona Virus funds
Access to Work		 At 1 April
2021
£
16,859
8,289
4,207
15,748
1,778
-
-
Income &
gains
£
473,792
18,784
53,966
-
-
47,819
6,210		 Expenditure
& losses
£
(479,272)
(27,073)
(58,173)
(15,748)
-
(47,819)
(6,210)		 Transfers
£
-
-
-
-
-
-
-		 At 31 March
2022
£
11,379
-
-
-
1,778
-
-
46,881 600,571 (634,295) - 13,157
69,659
13,073
34,258		 41,785
-
-		 (47,056)
-
-		 -
-
-		 64,388
13,073
34,258
116,990 41,785 (47,056) - 111,719
3,133,507 4,745,292 (4,186,657) - 3,692,142
3,250,497 4,787,077 (4,233,713) - 3,803,861
3,297,378 5,387,648 (4,868,008) - 3,817,018

17c Purposes of restricted funds

Domestic Abuse (previously DeafHope)

SignHealth's domestic abuse service, previously called DeafHope, works with the Deaf survivors of domestic abuse and includes our work with with Deaf children and young people. It is funded by our fantastic supporters, who in 2022-23 include London Councils, the Home Office, The Police and Crime Commissioners for Kent and Sussex, Charles Hayward Foundation, Solace Women's Aid, Manchester City Council, Safe Lives, National Lottery, Ovingdean Hall Foundation, Bristol Next Link, Pilgrims and the City Bridge Foundation.

The Home Office had provided a grant over 3 years to enable SignHealth to improve its capacity to respond to deaf victims of domestic abuse. An extra £125,000 was awarded during the financial year 2022-2023, and was expended for the purpose for which it was awarded. Of the grant, £20,309 was spent on direct project and beneficiary costs, £20,898 on project overheads and £85,421 on staff costs.

£148,444 was awarded from the London Councils Committee during the financial year 2021-2022 The London Councils Committee had agreed to bring forward £7,161 from financial year 2020-2021. As a result, £155,375 was expended for the purpose for which it was awarded, on SignHealth’s domestic abuse project, Domestic Abuse (formerly DeafHope), for Deaf women and children in London. Of the grant, £32,793 was spent on direct project and beneficiary costs, £6,137 on project overheads and £116,445 on staff costs. A small balance of £230 was carried forward to financial year 2022-23.

£269,304 was awarded from the London Councils Grant Committee during the financial year 2022-2023 for SignHealth's domestic abuse service. £230 was brought forward from financial year 2021-22. As a result, £267,078 was expended for the purpose for which it was awarded: for abused Deaf women and children in London. Of the grant, £50,498 was spent on direct project costs, £27,484 on project overheads and £189,096 on staff costs. A balance of £2,456 is carried forward to the financial year 2023-24.

48

SignHealth

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2023

17c Purposes of restricted funds (continued)

Residential

Support has kindly been received for specific work in our residential schemes, including support for training costs, and small refurbishment work at some of the homes and breaks with carers for those service users with the most complex mental health needs.

Therapy/Online Therapy

With support from the Rayne Foundation, we have been able to continue the development of an online resource for Deaf people needing cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT).

Brudenell Road

Funding received for 'Brudenell Road' refers to a new housing scheme we are developing in Leeds.

Deaf with Cancer

Funding provides therapy for deaf people diagnosed with or recovering from cancer.

Access to Work

SignHealth receives funds from the Department of Work and Pensions, to reimburse the cost of additional communications support workers employed on the SignHealth payroll, providing support to SignHealth staff in receipt of an Access to Work grant.

Purposes of Designated Funds and General Funds

The fixed asset fund represents the net book value of all assets held by the charity, excluding the Restricted funds.

The Two Deaf Foot designated fund represents funds raised for SignHealth by the Two Deaf Foot fundraising walk from John O'Groats to Land's End in summer 2020. Expenditure of these funds is overseen by a committee comprising the Two Deaf Foot walkers and members of the SignHealth Board of Trustees.

The innovation designated fund represents funds set aside by the Board of Trustees, to put towards initiatives that will further SignHealth's charitable objects but that represent a high financial risk.

18 Legal status of the charity

The charity is a company limited by guarantee and has no share capital. The liability of each member in the event of winding up is limited to £1.

49