2022-02-28-accounts

Independent Examiner's Report on the Accounts of

RIVERSIDE COUNSELLING SERVICE

(charity no. 1018853)

for the year 1st March 2021 to 28th February 2022

I report on the accounts of the Charity for the year ended 28th February 2022, which are set out on the following page and prepared on an accruals basis.

Respective Responsibilities of Trustees & Examiner:

The charity's trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The charity's trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year under section 144(2) of the Charities Act 2011 (the 2011 Act) and that an Independent Examination is needed. It is my responsibility to:

-examine the accounts under section 145 of the 2011 Act;

• -to follow the procedures laid down in the general Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the 2011 Act; and

• to state whether particular matters have come to my attention.

Basis of Independent Examiner's Report:

I am qualified to perform this examination as I am a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales. My examination was carried out in accordance with the general Directions given by the Charity Commission. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeking explanations from you as trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit and consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a 'true and fair view' and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below.

Independent Examiner's Statement:

In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requirements:

1. accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the 2011 Act;

2. the accounts do not accord with those records;

3. the accounts do not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a “true and fair” view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent investigation.

David White Channers High Street Hurley Berks

Accounts for the year to 28[th] February 2022

----- Start of picture text -----
Year to 28 [th] Year to 28 [th] Year to 28 [th] Year to 28 [th]
February February February February
2022 2022 2022 2021
Restricted Unrestricted Total Total
STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES
Income:
Fees Received from Clients 132,709 132,709 116,310
Receipts from fundraising and donations 5,069 5,069 18,536
Grants 62,845 30,536 93,381 157,171
Total Income 62,845 168,314 231,159 292,017
Expenditure:
Clinical Management & Counselling 18,203 69,764 87,967 73,477
Supervision 8,550 23,888 32,438 31,823
Administrative Support 3,613 22,743 26,356 28,798
Room Hire 2,040 16,863 18,903 5,348
Assessment Support 3,425 18,529 21,954 16,761
Fundraising Staff Costs 0 17,489 17,489 13,020
Insurance 161 599 760 775
Stationery & Postage 67 287 354 381
Travel 147 1,887 2,034 912
Subscriptions 94 504 598 705
Equipment, IT & consulting 18,378 3,825 22,203 40,848
Telephone [phone]
Marketing 0 0 0 66
Other Costs 361 2,323 2,684 955
Training 13,624 40,423 54,047 49,616
Total Expenditure 68,663 219,268 287,931 263,714
Net income / (expenditure) for the year (5,818) (50,954) (56,772) 28,303
Funds brought forward 23,641 79,207 102,848 74,545
Funds carried forward 17,823 28,253 46,076 102,848
BALANCE SHEET
Cash in bank 24,168 45,979 70,147 133,688
Accounts Receivable 5,792 5,792 500
Accounts Payable (6,345) (20,262) (26,607) (28,084)
Accrued Expenses (3,256) (3,256) (3,256)
Current and Total Assets 17,823 28,253 46,076 102,848
----- End of picture text -----

Approved on 11[th] July 2022

Adrian Marsh John Morrow

Chair

Treasurer

Analysis of Restricted Funds

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Donor b/fwd Income Expenditure c/fwd
Thamesfield YA 3,000 6,000 6,000 3,000
Doris Field 750 750 0
Tony Lane Foundation 1,000 1,000 0
Groundwork (Tesco) 1,475 2,000 3,475 0
Berinsfield PC 250 250 0
Albert Hunt 2,000 2,000 0
Shanly Foundation 3,500 3,500
Oxfordshire Community Foundation 10,475 8,573 1,902
Invesco Perpetual 3,000 3,000
Postcode Lottery 7,500 4,750 2,750
SODC Councillors 1,477 1,477
Comic Relief 2,000 2,000
Big Lottery Fund 9,970 9,550 420
Berks Community Foundation 1,500 1,150 350
John Hodges Trust 2,000 200 1,800
Edward Gostling Foundation 1,906 1,906 0
Emery Owen 300 300 0
Openwork 10,000 3,000 7,000
OCF Step Change 15,783 15,783
Baylis 600 600
TOTAL 23,641 62,845 68,663 17,823
----- End of picture text -----

Notes to the accounts

Note 1: Basis of preparation

1.1 Basis of accounting

These accounts have been prepared under the historical cost convention with items recognised at cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant note(s) to these accounts.

The accounts have been prepared in accordance with the Statement of Recommended Practice: Accounting and Reporting by Charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) issued on 16 July 2014 and with the Charities Act 2011.

1.2 Going concern

The accounts have been prepared on a going concern basis and the trustees are not aware of any events or conditions that cast significant doubt on the charity’s ability to continue as a going concern

1.3 Change of accounting policies or estimates

The accounts present a true and fair view and the accounting policies adopted are those outlined in note 2. There have been no changes in accounting policies during the year. There have been no changes in accounting estimates and there are no prior year adjustments.

Note 2: Accounting Policies

This standard list of accounting policies has been applied by the charity:

Recognition of income

These are included in the Statement of Financial Activities (SoFA) when:

• the charity becomes entitled to the resources;

• it is more likely than not that the trustees will receive the resources; and

• the monetary value can be measured with sufficient reliability.

Grants and donations

Grants and donations are only included in the SoFA when the general income recognition criteria are met (5.10 to 5.12 FRS 102 SORP). Where a donor puts stipulations on the use to which a grant or donation can be put the amount received is designated as a restricted fund and expenditure relevant to it is accounted for accordingly.

Tax reclaims on donations and gifts

Gift Aid receivable is included in income when there is a valid declaration from the donor. Any Gift Aid amount recovered on a donation is considered to be part of that gift and is treated as an addition to the same fund as the initial donation unless the donor or the terms of the appeal have specified otherwise.

Support, trustee and employee costs

The charity has incurred expenditure on support costs during the year but had no employees and made no payments to trustees or related parties.

Balance Sheet

All amounts are due within one year.

Creditors

The charity has creditors which are measured at settlement amounts less any trade discounts.

Debtors

Debtors are measured on initial recognition at settlement amount, subsequently they are measured at the cash amount expected to be received.

Treasurer’s report on the accounts to 28[th] February 2022

Income

There was an increase in the number of sessions provided during the year (10%) but average fee income per session fell slightly. A large increase in income from training sessions helped push the total income from clients up from last year. Unfortunately the number of Covid related grants which were offered in the previous year were not repeated so that charitable income for running costs fell by 32%

Expenditure

Overall expenditure increased by over £24,000. The move back to face to face counselling pushed up room hire costs and the increase in providing the rise in the number of sessions had an impact on overall operational costs.

Net Income

The drop in the amount of charitable funding received had a dramatic impact on the overall result of the charity so that an overall deficit of £56,772 was achieved, most of which was on unrestricted funds. An analysis of income and expenditure of restricted funds is shown above.

Balance Sheet

The deficit reduced the total reserves from £102,848 to £46,076 of which the majority (£28,253) was unrestricted. Unfortunately this is below the amount required in our reserves policy.

Outlook

Charitable funds are in short supply but every effort will be made to acquire as much funding as possible from this source. In addition efforts will be made to gain funds from holding local events and utilising social media. Cost control will become used much more and fees to clients will be increased wherever possible. The Trustees are confident that these measures will result in a surplus for the year which will make inroads into restoring our reserves.

Thanks

Riverside Counselling Service continues to be indebted to the many individuals, organisations and trusts who support it and without whom it would not exist. The charity is reliant on them to be able to provide the services it does to those who otherwise could not afford the sort of help the charity offers.

Director’s report on the accounts to 28[th] February 2022

It is the case that during this year our worlds continued to be affected by the enduring turn of events caused by the Coronavirus. As a service we have continued to adapt and respond to both government guidelines and ever-increasing demands for mental health support. We transitioned from working f2f as we came out of lockdown, to working online as we entered lockdown again. As we emerge from what we have been told is the final lockdown we have continued working online with clients who had particular physical health needs and clients who found travel to one of our venues difficult. As a result of this, and recognising the value of being accessible to some vulnerable clients, we have continued to offer an Online service (OPT) alongside working with clients f2f.

We continue to develop and extend the use of our new cloud-based client management system, Counsel360, which has enabled us to share information on a safe platform. We have also continued to develop expertise within the clinical team in time limited work so that we can meet community need. The pandemic has far reaching ramifications particularly in relation to the impact it has had on our mental health, exacerbated by the socio-economic impact of the restrictions. As a frontline service we are encountering the damage inflicted, both by the virus itself, and the measures imposed to attempt to contain it. In May 2021, as the country began to open up again, we had the highest number of referrals we have ever recorded, (43 Adults & 17 YP – Total of 60) and the clients we are seeing are presenting with greater complexity. NHS services are under extreme strain and therefore the fall out is greater demand for our services. During the year ending February 22 we supported 476 individuals of which 128 were aged between 12-17 and 348 were adult clients over 18. Despite our best efforts, due to demand, our waiting list continues to be consistently around 100 clients. Our current intention is to increase our offering of shorter time limited contracts and our therapeutic group offering. We have also in June 21 recruited a further 16 counsellors to join the team which will increase the number of clients we are able to support. Only time will tell if these measures enable us to reduce our waiting time for ongoing counselling, and if it is possible for the Senior Clinical Team to manage this number of counsellors.

We have been able to offer again this year the Stage One YP training to enable adult trained counsellors to meet the BACP requirements to work with the 12-17 year client group, increasing our capacity to work with this age group.

Our team continues to remain robust and resilient. The calibre of both trainee and qualified counsellors we recruit is of the highest level- all our counsellors are training or have completed a training at postgraduate level, many are on master’s or doctorate programs. We continue to be in demand as a placement provider which is evident by the number of counsellors we have been able to recruit. Our supervisors add a high degree of clinical expertise to the team and the administrative support we have is of the highest quality. Our board of Trustees are both engaged and offer a diverse range of expertise to the service. We have been able to align our fundraising with the needs of the service so we remain viable and sustainable.

We looked forward to a more settled year.