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2023-03-31-accounts

Annual Report & Accounts 2022 - 2023

Registered Charity Number: 1042708 / Company No: 2989722

Be Free Young Carers Charitable Non Profit Organisation No: 1042708

Company No: 2989722

Contents

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||| |---|---| |A Message from our CEO|3| |Chair of Trustees' Statement 4| |Structure, Governance & Management|5| |Our Vision, Mission & Objective|7| |Main Programmes & Projects|8| |BFYC Service Delivery 2022 - 2023|10| |Finance & Fundraising|16| |Achievements|17| |Trustees' Responsibilities|19| |Independent Examiner's Report|20| |Statement of Financial Activities|21| |Balance Sheet|22| |Notes to the Accounts|23|

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Harwell Innovation Centre 173 Curie Avenue Didcot Oxfordshire OX11 0QG

www.befreeyc.org.uk

Trustees David Wells (Chair) Loretta Light (Vice Chair) Elizabeth Paris (Vice Chair) Laurie Cooper Nicola Cole Jo Broad Colin Mitchell Roy Browne Angus Horner Alison Thompson Kirren Mahmood (Associate Trustee)

Independent Examiners UHY Ross Brooke Suite 1 Windrush Court Abingdon Business Park Abingdon OX14 1SY

Solicitors Osborne Clarke 3 Forbury Place 23 Forbury Road Reading RG1 3JH

Bankers CAF Bank 25 Kings Hill Avenue Kings Hill West Malling Kent ME19 4JQ

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A Message from our CEO

I am delighted to present our Annual Accounts for the past year, showcasing the remarkable progress and impact of Be Free Young Carers. As we navigate through these challenging times, I am grateful for the unwavering commitment and support in ensuring a brighter future for young carers across our community.

The past year has been marked by both resilience and innovation, as we adapted swiftly to the evolving needs of our young carers. Despite the hurdles presented by the global circumstances, our team's dedication and determination enabled us to extend our reach and provide crucial assistance to those in need. We have witnessed first-hand the transformative power of collective action, making a profound difference in the lives of young carers and their families. Our financial performance this year reflects the effective utilisation of resources and the successful execution of our programs. We have remained steadfast in our commitment to transparency and accountability, ensuring that every donation and contribution is invested wisely in creating sustainable and long-lasting change.

In the face of uncertainty, our charity has emerged stronger and more agile than ever before. The creativity and adaptability displayed by our team have allowed us to pioneer new initiatives, reach more young carers, and expand our support network. Together, we have created a nurturing environment that fosters growth, empowerment, and emotional well-being for our young carers, enabling them to pursue their dreams and aspirations.

As we look ahead, we remain committed to continuously improving and refining our programs, ensuring that we adapt to the evolving needs of our beneficiaries. The challenges faced by young carers demand our unwavering dedication and innovative spirit, and we embrace the opportunity to make an even greater impact in the coming year.

I want to extend my deepest gratitude to our incredible team, volunteers, donors, partners, and the young carers themselves. Your passion and commitment are the driving force behind our success, and I am honoured to lead such a dedicated and caring community.

-Sabiene North CEO, Be Free Young Carers

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Chair of Trustees' Statement

I am pleased to report a successful 2022/23 for Be Free Young Carers. The Charity has continued to provide excellent support to Young Carers in South, the Vale of White Horse and now Oxford City. The demand for our services sadly continues to grow across Oxfordshire. I am grateful to our Staff, Volunteers and Trustees for their hard work and personal contributions towards improving the life outcomes for our Young Carers.

The Charity will continue to focus on Young Carers' needs in Oxfordshire, and will look to support the West Oxfordshire area in the coming years. We continue to develop closer relations with Oxfordshire County Council and the Integrated Care Partnership in Oxfordshire, as well as our traditional supporters without whom we could not continue to grow.’

David Wells, Chair of Trustees

The Trustees present their report with the unaudited accounts for the year to 31st March 2023.

Reference & Administrative Detail

Be Free Young Carers is a company limited by guarantee, incorporated in England & Wales and a registered charity. The Trustees who are also Directors for the purposes of the Companies Act 2006, have pleasure in presenting their report and the unaudited financial statements of the Charity for the year ended 31 March 2023.

4

Structure, Governance & Management

Organisation

The Charity which during the year employed 8 people is led by a well-established, effective Board of Trustees, recruited for their complementary knowledge, skills and experience.

The Board of Trustees now meets four times a year and for the AGM. Three sub committees of the Main Board have been established to support the CEO with the day to day running of the Charity.

They are Quality and Performance, Fundraising and Partnerships, and Finance and Administration. Each has a Terms of reference, meets in advance of quarterly Trustee meetings, providing oversight and reporting on key activities.

Members of the board of Trustees, who are Directors for the purpose of company law and Trustees for the purpose of charity law, who served during the year and up to the date of approval of this report, are listed below:

David Wells – Chair Lesley Legge (resigned 07.06.2022) Roy Clifford Browne Angus Horner Loretta Light Elizabeth Paris

Rose Payne (resigned 07.06.2022) Kate Pearmain (resigned 07.06.2022) Lucy Pritchard (resigned 07.06.2022) Alison Thomson Colin Mitchell (appointed 07.06.2022) Laurie Cooper (appointed 07.06.2022) Nicola Cole (appointed 07.09.2022) Jo Broad (appointed 23.11.2022) Kirren Mahmood (Associate Trustee) (appointed 23.11.2022)

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Trustee Induction

Public Benefit

A prospective Trustee is usually known to one or more of the current board members or responded to an advert, and is invited to join the board based on their background and experience.

After meeting all the Trustees their election is put to the vote at a Trustees meeting. Those Trustees that are involved in recruitment also undergo safer recruitment training.

All new Trustees undergo an induction programme that includes all the necessary written information on the role and responsibilities of a Trustee and an understanding of the Charity’s work and mission. All Trustees undergo generalised safeguarding training and are fully DBS checked.

Young carers are just amazing. For many of them caring means hard work, patience and often not getting to have the fun other children have. We just can’t thank them enough.

The Charity’s purposes as set out in the objects contained in the company’s Memorandum of Association are to:

a) Alleviate the conditions of life among people who are caring or who have cared for elderly, sick, disabled, handicapped or otherwise infirm persons at home and who are in necessitous circumstances;

b) To promote the material welfare of such carers, to relieve and alleviate and to advance, promote, encourage and assist in the relief or alleviation of all kinds of mental and physical infirmity, sickness, disablement or handicap including mental illness attributable to caring among carers and the persons for whom they are caring in South Oxfordshire and the Vale of White horse and the surrounding areas;

c) To advance the education of the public about the part that carers and caring can play generally.

The aims of the Charity are to enable carers to better manage their caring role through advice, information and support and to identify and raise the profile of carers and caring. Our aims fully reflect the purposes that the Charity was set up to further.

- Elizabeth Paris, BFYC Vice Chair of Trustees

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Our Vision

Our Objective

Be Free Young Carers is the only charity in Oxfordshire devoted to improving young carers’ well-being and opportunities, though the provision of recreational, emotional and social support.

Our vision is to enable Oxfordshire's young carers to achieve their full potential by delivering a farreaching developmental and emotional support network of people and resources in their daily lives, their schools and communities.

To consolidate on our already established services in the areas of The Vale of White Horse and South Oxfordshire.

To build upon our recent expansion to Oxford City, by increasing our area coverage and supporting more young carers in this area.

To build upon our strategic expansion plans to become an established countywide charity, supporting Oxfordshire’s young carers.

Our Mission

To relieve the mental health burden of being a young carer.

We are the only independent charity in Oxfordshire working exclusively with young carers.

We support them by widening their life options and improving their emotional and social health, resilience and development because we passionately believe they can be free to fulfil their adult potential unhindered by their childhood responsibilities.

To support Oxfordshire schools identify and support young carers, we do this by arranging school assemblies, world book day tours and by assisting them in setting up young carer clubs.

To be advocates for young carers when liaising with statutory services, families, schools and other key stakeholders.

We are the only independent charity in Oxfordshire working exclusively with young carers.

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Main Programmes & Projects

School Holiday Activity Programme

We run respite activities throughout the school holidays, providing young carers with the mental health respite from their caring role and letting them be a child for a few hours. These can include a day out to the seaside, theme park trips and theatre visits. In 2022, 437 trip places were attended by young carers under 12 years old.

Befriending service

Young carers are paired up with our trained volunteers who will meet with our young carers weekly and give them a break from their role. The Befriender is also a trusted adult that the young carer can confide in.

1-2-1 Emotional Support & Counselling Service

Complex cases are referred to our youth workers who will visit the young carer in their school environment and deliver 1-2-1 emotional support. For our extreme cases, we use our trained counsellor to provide the counselling service. Each weekly session is usually for 60 minutes and is over a period of 6 weeks.

Mindfulness Movement

This is aimed at our young carers aged between 8 and 11 and is a preventative measure to aid good mental health and teach wellbeing techniques. Our qualified yoga teachers attend schools and hold 45minute sessions with young carers teaching them breathing techniques, relaxation methods and wellbeing tools.

Thank you so much. E had an amazing day. She's shown me all the photos and told me everything. These days out mean so much to her. Thanks again to you and your team for taking the time to makes these young people feel appreciated and rewarded.

-Parent of a Young Carer

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I felt like I got my son back, the happy one who enjoyed everything he did with his brother and your volunteer befriender did that, every time they meet up, he would come home saying it was the best day or I had so much fun.

-Parent of a Young Carer

13+ Youth Groups

Aimed at our older young carers, these youth clubs meet monthly at various locations, they are user led and are a vital way that we engage with our teenagers.

Young Carer Advocacy in School

We help and support schools to set up young carer clubs, we attend assemblies, offer young carer tool kits and videos to help teachers and children identify, understand, and support young carers.

Employability and Mentoring Programme - NEW FOR 2023

----- Start of picture text -----
This is targeted at our young carers of secondary school age that do not have access to work
experience placements, we use our corporate partnerships to secure these and provide mentors. Every
young carer in year 7 that needs a laptop is given one, so that they are on a level playing field with
other children their age.
437 90 19
Young Carers provide 121 Emotional Support Young Carers matched
with 20 respite sessions provided to with Befrienders
activities Young Carers
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Be Free Young Carers Service Delivery 2022-2023

School Holiday Activity Programme

Be Free Young Carers have continued with our flagship School Holiday Activity Programme, this has increased in popularity, especially since the pandemic as young carers are keen to get the respite that they need with their role.

We have increased the number of respite activities to keep up with demand. Each activity involves approx. 30-40 young carers and includes activities such as a theme park trip, day at the beach or a visit to a trampoline park.

Thanks to Oxfordshire Community Foundation, we are able to provide our young carers with food during these events. This is needed to ensure that in the cost of living crisis, in school holidays, our young carers have access to food.

Aims:

Impact:

To provide young carers with a respite break from their role of looking after their loved one, to reduce their stress, anxiety and improve their wellbeing in their caring role.

By being around other young carers in similar roles we hope to reduce feelings of loneliness and isolation. We hope to challenge the stigma of being a young carer, and to show young carers that they aren’t on their own.

We provide opportunities to develop friendship with other young carers, to build their confidence, establish support networks and reduce the isolation that is often felt in being a young carer.

We aim to offer young carers experiences that they wouldn’t normally have access to, to increase their confidence by undertaking activities that they may not have done before, to improve their mental health, confidence, and aspirations.

We have provided 437 trip places for young carers over 20 activities in 2022/23. We have increased the hours dedicated to respite for our young carers through activities such as circus skills, ice skating, trapease, theatre trips, climbing and martial arts.

We also have our annual family fun day, which is free for our young carers and their families. It is a chance for all our young carers to meet up alongside our supporters and volunteers.

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Befriending Service

Our Befriending Service has been a success, it provides our more complex young carers with weekly or fortnightly respite from a trained volunteer.

These volunteers become the young carers trusted adult to ‘download’ their feelings and worries. The befriending service takes place for approximately 6 months and is seen as an intervention service in the young carers' lives, to give them that much needed respite and emotional support as they continue their caring role.

L said, "it's probably the best thing I've ever done.

-Feedback from a Befriender

Aims:

These volunteers become the young carers trusted adult to ‘download’ their feelings and worries. The befriending service takes place for approximately 6 months and is seen as an intervention service in the young carers' lives, to give them that much needed respite and emotional support as they continue their caring role.

Impact:

We have provided 19 young carers with 19 befriender matches.

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1-2-1 Emotional Support & Counselling Service

Our 1-2-1 Emotional Support and Counselling Service has been an area of growth mainly in response to our young carer needs and the stretched statutory services.

We have taken on a counsellor who sees our young carers with more complex needs for 1-2-1 counselling sessions. Whereas our Senior Youth Workers conduct our 1-2-1 emotional support sessions. All of these sessions take place over a 6 week period in the school environment.

I’ve been wanting to get that off my chest for so long, but I couldn't tell anyone else because they would think I was an awful person.

-Be Free Young Carer

Aims:

Impact:

To provide young carers with a response to help their emotional and mental wellbeing over a 6 week period, improving their mental health and giving them the tools to enable them to use preventative techniques to control their mental wellbeing.

To increase young carers' confidence to become more resilient with their mental health, to offer them an outlet for their mental stresses with a trusted adult.

We have provided 90 sessions of 1-2-1 emotional support to 25 young carers and 141 counselling sessions to 27 young carers.

This has resulted in young carers reporting better mental health increased resilience, and improved coping strategies at the end of the 6 week period.

Thank you for all your dedication and support, as always. Gemma’s one-to-one sessions with J have made a huge difference to his behaviour and well-being. He appears less anxious.

"It has made a hugely positive impact on our family, so thank you from the bottom of our hearts!"

Be Free Young Carers Emotional Support & Counselling Team

-Parent of a Young Carer

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Mindfulness Movement

Our Mindfulness movement programme, which was trialled in primary schools has resulted in us rolling this service out to primary schools in The Vale and South Oxfordshire areas.

This is headed up by our Yoga practitioner, Emma Horwill, who runs weekly sessions for a 6 week period in primary schools.

Aims:

To give our primary school age young carers the tools to promote good mental health practice by teaching them breathing techniques, yoga and mindfulness.

To increase the confidence in younger children to talk about their mental health and wellbeing in relation to their caring role.

Impact:

I think the two things we really took away from the session was the two year 5 girls who are now inspired to go and get their own yoga mats and practice for themselves..

54 Mindfulness Movement sessions have been delivered to 34 young carers.

And the young chap who had a giggle fit seldom ever laughs like that, so it was wonderful to see. And just how many of them really engaged and tried something different.

-Millbrook Primary School Home School Link Worker

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13+ Youth Groups

Our 13+ Youth Groups have been running for the last 2 years, thanks to the funding from The Peoples Health Trust.

This is a user led programme of monthly meetings for those young carers age 13 – 17 years old.

They are very much in control of what they do at these meetings, where they meet and what they want to discuss. This is important as we were finding that by the time young carers reached secondary school age, they stopped engaging with us. We have seen numbers for this service increase year on year and we are now duplicating this service in the Oxford City area.

Aims:

Impact:

To increase teenage young carers engagement with us, to empower them to run workshops and activities for them, to promote their self-esteem and leadership skills.

To make meaningful friendships with other young carers, to feel comfortable to address topics that they would like to know more about, to relieve the isolation that can come with being a young carer and to promote good mental health.

We have hosted 13 meetings of our Youth Clubs and held 13 activities ranging from escape rooms to a trip to Thorpe Park.

We also provide food for our young carers to combat the impact of the cost of living crisis and food poverty.

We also provide free period products for our young carers to combat period poverty.

This is the best activity I've been on with any of the charities I've had help from - it was so fun to meet people my own age who weren't lots younger than me.

-13+ Be Free Young Carer

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Young Carer Advocacy & School Liaison

Be Free Young Carers have worked incredibly hard at this aspect of our work this year and we take pride in our achievements and the impact this work has taken.

Aims:

Our aim has been to raise awareness of young carers in schools and to be their voice wherever we can. We have paired this with the work we completed around the school census which saw young carers having to be identified by schools.

Impact:

Thanks to funding from Didcot Powerhouse, we were able to commission a video that schools could use to play in their assemblies to talk to children about young carers, how to identify them and how we can support them.

We paired this with sending a tool kit to each school to enable them to support young carers. Alongside this we have also completed a threeday world book day tour of primary schools, with award-winning author Rab Ferguson.

This saw our Youth Workers visit 10 schools where they held assemblies and author talks, and donated books to each school.

We have also supported schools in setting up young carer youth clubs in house. We provide them with the tools and resources to establish these groups.

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Finance

The Charity achieved an overall surplus of £20,762 for the year ended 31 March 2023 against a surplus of £45,313 in 2022.

Total funds at year end were £205,598 (2022: £184,836).

Income was received from Grants, Trusts, and Donations. Total Income for the year was £338,146 (2022: £296,248). Total expenditure for the year was £317,383 (2022: £250,935).

Reserves policy

The Board of Trustees has designated a reserve of £55,000 to pay liabilities, complete and close work with current clients in the event of the organisation having to close. A separate designated reserve of £36,340 is to cover the cost of the balance of the loan from Guideposts.

The charity has £16,504 in restricted funds, and £5,757 invested in Fixed Assets, with the remaining £183,337 as Free Reserves which satisfies the requirements of the policy.

Day to Day Operations

Sabiene North (CEO) and her team of seven staff deliver the day to day operations of the charity. These consist of two part time members of staff, with two staff members working remotely. Each team member has bimonthly 1-2-1 and performance reviews which reflect the charities overall business aims and objectives.

The staff handbook provides information on internal policies and procedures. Our frontline staff all have access to clinical supervision monthly and/or as and when they require this support, to help with the cases that they are dealing with. We also have a employee assistance programme in place for staff which includes free six week counselling should staff require this.

Fundraising

Be Free Young Carers fundraising was carried out by our part time fundraiser and our CEO, while we recruited a full time fundraiser.

We have worked incredibly hard to maintain our income levels during this time. Our Full time fundraiser has now joined the team, and began this role in March 2023.

We are delighted to continue to be supported by so many funders wanting to impact young carers lives.

Funding bids are carefully researched and approached by the team. We continue to build on existing relationships and develop new ones. We have been fortunate to raise our profile through winning the BBC ‘Make a difference award’, and key strategic partnerships, which have seen huge growth in our corporate partnerships.

We continue to build upon this success and work with other organisations to form partnerships. Fundraising has been an incredibly tough environment for us this year. We now have two members of the fundraising team who alongside our CEO, to provide the income needed to continue our vital services.

With our increased profile, we have seen an increase in our corporate partnerships and funds being generated through this income stream. Through our partnerships with Saïd Business School, Opendoorz and Penlon, we have attracted many more businesses to commit to supporting us. Trusts and grants have fallen slightly on previous years due to the increase in demand from charities and also due to us being a fundraiser short.

We have diverse income streams however due to the unpredictable nature of fundraising we are cautious for the future. We have seen a huge increase

in costs with our rent, transport costs and other expenses increasing higher than inflation. We have a robust fundraising strategy in place with two experienced fundraisers.

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Achievements

We have been recognised by the BBC ‘Make a difference Awards’ 2022, along with being finalists in the Oxford Business Awards, Charity of the Year. We have completed a successful school awareness campaign that took place during the week of World Book Day and Young Carers Action day, which saw us complete a school tour in Oxfordshire.

We held young carer assemblies, gave away young carer books to school and completed the tour with the author, Rab Ferguson. This not only raised awareness but also vital funds for BFYC.

Thanks to the Didcot Powerhouse grant, we distributed a video to schools that they could use in their assemblies to raise awareness of young carers.

We have worked in collaboration with the North Wall and Creation Theatre to arrange for our young carers to attend a Christmas pantomime in Oxford.

The cost of living crisis has been at the forefront of our operations. Not only have we seen it first hand with increased costs, but also with our young carers.

Period, hygiene and food poverty have increased and we have risen to the challenge of combating this by providing those young carers that need it, with period packs.

At Christmas, along with our corporate partners, we were able to distribute cost of living hampers to our young carers – these contained shampoo, conditioner, shower gel, hot water bottles, along with chocolates and hot chocolate donated by Whittards.

We have also seen food poverty and thanks to a grant from Oxfordshire Community Foundation, we are able to provide our young carers with snacks and a meal at our interactions with them.

Our CEO, Sabiene North, now sits on the Oxfordshire Safeguarding and Children's Board, representing the voluntary sector and giving vital insight into the challenges and themes that the Youth Sector are seeing on the frontline.

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BFYC helped Oxfordshire County Council by advising them on their unpaid carer strategy, playing an important role in highlighting the need and demand for young carers to get support throughout Oxfordshire.

We are looking forward to growing the charity and our services, demand continues to be high and we are seeing more complex cases referred to us from statutory services.

2023-2024 will see us run our first respite residential at the Young Carers Festival in the New Forrest. We will continue to run our Summer Family Fun Day for our young carer families and our Christmas Parties, to give our young carers a chance to come together as a community.

We have plans to expand our services to include an employability and partnership programme to engage with older young carers as they transition to secondary school, college and university, this is dependent on funding.

Special Thank You

We would like to say thank you to the following funders for their continued support:

The National Lottery – providing funds for our Oxford expansion Step Change – providing fund for our expansion into Oxford City Didcot Powerhouse – providing funds for our befriending service and assembly video for the Didcot Garden Town Area People’s Health Trust – providing funding for our 13+ Youth Group St. James’s Place Foundation – Oxford project

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Trustees' Responsibilities

The Trustees (who are also directors of Be Free Young Carers for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the Trustees' Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

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

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

select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently; observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP; make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent; state whether applicable UK Accounting Standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements; prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charitable company will continue in operation.

The Trustees are responsible for keeping proper 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.

The Trustees consider that the accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023 should be prepared on a going concern basis as there are no material uncertainties about it using this basis.

This report was approved by the Trustees on

………………………….

On Behalf of the Trustees of Be Free Young Carers

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Independent Examiner's Report to the Trustees of Be Free Young Carers

I report to the charity trustees on my examination of the accounts of the company for the year ended 31st March 2023 which are set out on pages 21 to 34.

Responsibilities and basis of report

As the charity trustees of the company (and also its directors for the purposes of company law) you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 ('the 2006 Act').

Having satisfied myself that the accounts of the company are not required to be audited under Part 16 of the 2006 Act and are eligible for independent examination, I report in respect of my examination of your company's accounts as carried out under section 145 of the Charities Act

2011 ('the 2011 Act'). In carrying out my examination I have followed the Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5) (b)of the 2011 Act.

Independent Examiner's Statement

the accounts do not accord with those records; or the accounts do not comply with the accounting requirements of section 396 of the 2006 Act other than any requirement that the accounts give a 'true and fair view' which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination; or the accounts have not been prepared in accordance with the methods and principles of the Statement of Recommended Practice for accounting and reporting by charities applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102).

I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Since the company’s gross income exceeded £250,000 your examiner must be a member of a body listed in section 145 of the 2011 Act.

I confirm that I am qualified to undertake the examination because I am a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales which is one of the listed bodies.

I have completed my examination. I confirm that no matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:

accounting records were not kept in respect of the company as required by section 386 of the 2006 Act; or

Caroline Webster FCA UHY Ross Brooke Windrush Court Abingdon Business Park Abingdon OX14 1SY

…………………. 2023

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Statement of Financial Activities (including income and expenditure) for the Year ended 31st March 2023

The notes on pages 23 to 34 form part of these accounts.

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Balance Sheet

as at 31st March 2023

These accounts are prepared in accordance with the special provisions of Part 15 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small entities and the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS102).

i. For the year ended 31 March 2023 the charity was entitled to the exemption under Section 477 of the Companies Act 2006; ii. No notice from members requiring an audit, has been deposited under section 476 of the Companies Act 2006; and

iii. The trustees acknowledge their responsibilities for: a. ensuring the company keeps accounting records which comply with Section 386 and b. preparing the accounts which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the company as at the end of the financial period and of its surplus or deficit for the financial period, in accordance with the requirements of Section 393, and which otherwise comply with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 relating to accounts, so far as applicable to the company.

These accounts were approved by the Board of Trustees on ………………………

D Wells (Director and Trustee)

Be Free Young Carers Registered Charity No: 1042708 / Company No: 2989722

The notes on pages 23 to 34 form part of these accounts.

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For the Year ended 31st of March 2023

Notes to the Accounts

1.Accounting Policies

The following accounting policies have been used consistently in dealing with items which are considered material in relation to the Charity's accounts:

a) Basis of Accounting

The accounts are prepared under the historical cost convention, and in compliance with applicable accounting standards, Statement of Recommended Practice Accounting and reporting by Charities in accordance with Financial Reporting Standards applicable in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) effective from 1 January 2019 and the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102), the Charities Act 2011 and the Companies Act 2006. The entity constitutes a public benefit entity as defined by FRS 102.

Following agreement at an Extraordinary Meeting on 21 February 2014 the Charity entered into a Constitutional and Service Level Agreement with Guideposts Trust which enables the charity to share the resources of Guideposts Trust. Additionally, Guideposts Trust has provided financial support to enable the charity to maintain services whilst a long term strategic plan to develop and grow sustainable services to carers in the region for both organisations was researched and developed. To date Guideposts Trust has outstanding financial support totalling £36,340 to the Charity by way of an intercompany loan, repayment of which will not be requested until the Charity generates the surpluses to do so.

On the back of commissioning changes in the County which has left the charity the only provider of Young Carers respite services in Oxfordshire against growing need, the charity is seeing interest from potential funders to support expansion of their support and wider awareness of the charity's work and impact. The Trustees consider that there are no material uncertainties regarding the charity’s ability to continue as a going concern.

b) Company Status

The company is limited by guarantee with no share capital and is a registered charity. The liability of each member in the event of a winding up of the company is limited to £10. The members of the company are the Trustees as named in the Trustees Report on page 5.

c) Tangible fixed assets and depreciation

Tangible fixed assets are stated at historical cost less depreciation. Depreciation is provided at rates which reflect the anticipated useful lives of the assets and their estimated residual value.

Computer Equipment 25% straight line

d) Fund Accounting

General funds are expendable at the discretion of the Trustees in the furtherance of the objectives of the charity and for the overall administration of the charity.

Restricted funds are those upon which restrictions and specific criteria for their use are imposed by the donor. The costs of raising and administering such funds are charged against the specific fund.

e) Pension Costs

The charity operates a defined contribution pension scheme for its employees. The assets of the scheme are held separately from those of the Charity in an independently administered fund. The pension cost represents contributions by the Charity to the funds, which are recognised when they become payable.

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Notes to the Accounts

For the Year ended 31st of March 2023

1.Accounting Policies (Continued)

f) Income

All income & endowments are included in the Statement of Financial Activities when the charity is entitled to the income and the amount can be quantified with reasonable accuracy and receipt is probable. The following specific policies are applied to particular categories of income:

g) Operating leases

Rentals payable under operating leases are charged against income on a straight line basis over the lease term.

h) Expenditure

All expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis when the liability is incurred and has been classified under headings that aggregate all costs related to that category, including all applicable VAT. Where costs cannot be directly attributed to particular headings they have been allocated to activities on a basis consistent with use of resources.

i) Debtors

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

j) Creditors

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

24

Notes to the Accounts

For the Year ended 31st of March 2023

2. Net Movement in Funds

Net movement in fund for the year is stated after charging:

3. Donations & General Grants

4. Income to fund charitable activities

25

For the Year ended 31st of March 2023

Notes to the Accounts

4. Income to fund charitable activities (contd.)

5. Employees

The average number of employees during the year was:

26

Notes to the Accounts

For the Year ended 31st of March 2023

5. Employees (contd.) Their total remuneration was:

The charity operates a defined contribution pension scheme for its employees. The assets of the scheme are held separately from those of the charity in an independently administered fund.

The pension cost represents contributions payable by the charity to the funds, which are recognised when they become payable.

Contributions payable by the charity amounted to £472 at 31st March 2023 (2022: £Nil). The total paid to Key Management Personnel was £46,411 (2022: £32,947) and there were no employees earning more than £60,000 in the year.

27

For the Year ended 31st of March 2023

Notes to the Accounts

6. Analysis of expenditure

Charitable activities

28

For the Year ended 31st of March 2023

Notes to the Accounts

7. Tangible fixed assets

All assets are held for charitable purposes.

29

For the Year ended 31st of March 2023

Notes to the Accounts

8. Debtors due within one year

9. Creditors: Amounts falling due within one year

10. Leasing commitments

Total commitments due under operating leases for premises used by the Charity are as follows:

30

Notes to the Accounts

For the Year ended 31st of March 2023

11. Movements on restrictive funds

Current year

31

Notes to the Accounts

For the Year ended 31st of March 2023

12. Movements on designated funds

The Guideposts Trust fund is designated to cover the loan payments. The Contingency fund is to enable an orderly winding up if the charity needs to close.

32

Notes to the Accounts

For the Year ended 31st of March 2023

13. Analysis of net assets between funds Current year

Previous year

33

For the Year ended 31st of March 2023

Notes to the Accounts

14. Trustee remuneration and related pay transactions

No Trustee received any remuneration during the year (2022: £NIL) and reimbursed expenses (2022: £NIL).

No Trustee of the Charity has any personal interest in any contract or transaction entered into by the Charity during the year (2022: £NIL).

In February 2014 the Charity entered into an agreement with Guideposts Trust, a registered charity and whose objects were compatible with that of the Charity. The agreement enabled Guideposts to support the Charity to continue providing young carers with the vital support, advice and other services to improve the quality of their lives. A member of the Guideposts Senior Management Team is able to sit on the board of Trustees of the Charity. Guideposts has previously provided financial support to the Charity; an inter-company loan of £36,340 represents financial support provided at the balance sheet date. An annual repayment is made by the Charity subject to it generating sufficient surpluses to do so.

34

Be Free Young Carers Harwell Innovation Centre 173 Curie Avenue Didcot Oxfordshire OX11 0QG

www.befreeyc.org.uk

Charitable Non Profit Organisation No: 1042708

Company No: 2989722