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2023-03-31-accounts

‘’OFF THE RECORD’’ YOUTH COUNSELLING CROYDON

(A Company Limited by Guarantee)

ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

Charity Registration Number 1051144 Registered Company Number 02987817

AZETS AUDIT SERVICES Chartered Accountants 1[st] Floor River House 1 Maidstone Road Sidcup Kent DA14 5RH

“OFF THE RECORD” YOUTH COUNSELLING CROYDON (A company Limited by Guarantee)

CONTENTS

Page
Reference and Administrative Details 1
Report of the Management Committee 2
Statutory Auditors’ Report 19
Statement of Financial Activities 22
Balance Sheet 24
Statement of Cash Flows 25
Notes to the Financial Statements 26

“OFF THE RECORD” YOUTH COUNSELLING CROYDON (A company Limited by Guarantee)

REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS

Management Committee Ohenewaa Adu-Akyeampong
Alefiyah Kapasi (nee Bharmal)
Laura Haigh
Brij Kalia (resigned 07/11/2022)
Patricia Nearn
Mark Penlington (resigned 07/05/2022)
Ben Randall (appointed 20/05/2023)
Nicola Shoults (resigned 07/11/2022)
Key Management Karen Stott – Chief Executive
Geoff Jones – Assistant Chief Executive
Allie Cairnie
Emily Collinsbeare
Caroline Dwan
Geneen Gray
Michelle Handley
Steph Hernandez
Lisa Malangone (left July 2022)
Gosia Pawlowska
Bodhakari Kirsti Rand (left May 2023)
Roz Turner-Drage (left August 2023)
Principal Address 72 Queens Road
Croydon
Surrey
CR0 2PR
Statutory Auditor Azets Audit Services
1st Floor
River House
1 Maidstone Road
Sidcup,DA14 5RH
Bankers Santander UK plc
BBAM
Bridle Road
Bootle
Merseyside
GIR 0AA
Virgin Money plc
Jubilee House
Gosforth
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE3 4PL
HSBC
9 Wellesley Road
Croydon
CR9 2AA

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“OFF THE RECORD” YOUTH COUNSELLING CROYDON (A company Limited by Guarantee)

REPORT OF THE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE

The Management Committee have pleasure in presenting their Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2023.

“Off the Record” Youth Counselling Croydon is a registered charity (Charity Number 1051144) and a company limited by guarantee (Company Number 2987817).

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in note 1 to the accounts and comply with the charity’s trust deed, the Companies Act 2006 and “Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102)” (effective 1 January 2019).

STRATEGIC REPORT

OVERALL VISION

“Building a compassionate mental health community for children and young people”

OBJECTIVES, ACTIVITIES, ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE

Off the Record’s legal objects are stated in our Memorandum and Articles of Association as:

These objects are met through the charity’s strategic aim – to provide a broad range of high quality, safe, accessible, fast and effective (SAFE) support services for children and young people. The objects are further supported through our strategic objectives:

Throughout 2022/23 the Charity continued to deliver its established core activities and services – Counselling/Mental Health Services (including online counselling) in the London Boroughs of Croydon, Sutton and Merton; Outreach work (including our Black Minority Ethnic Community Development work and our ‘CHRIS’ youth violence work); Refugee & Asylum Seeker Counselling Service and the Croydon Young Carers Service. In January 2020, the Charity embarked on a new area of service delivery – Mental Health in Schools Teams and Off the Record now hosts one schools’ team in Merton and two in Croydon (hosted jointly with Croydon Drop In).

Throughout this period The Charity continued to manage the transition of our work back into our buildings and our local communities. We took the strategic decision to run a substantial proportion of our work face to face. We identified that we needed to continue to integrate the virtual work that we had developed out of necessity during successive lock downs but that we also needed to sustain a substantive presence in “the real world” for children and young people. We recognise that for some young people their lives have moved increasingly “online” and that communication, navigating day to day social situations, developing social skills, all represent a substantial challenge for increased numbers of young people – particularly some boys/young men – and therefore our work needs to address some of these problems- by facing them “head on.”

Young people have been particularly impacted by the pandemic with disruption to education; family stress and bereavement; increased levels of isolation and anxiety. We recognise that Covid represents a ‘generational trauma’ for children and young people and the mental health implications of these challenges will undoubtedly be evident for many years to come. We are currently working within, what is commonly seen as, a mental health emergency for many young people. Demand for mental health support continues to remain significantly above pre-pandemic levels in all our services

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and that demand is expected to continue to rise. We are also finding increased levels of complexity and elevated levels of suicidal ideation.

Responding to high demand is particularly difficult when many in our own workforce have faced personal and professional challenges over the last three years. In many ways we recognise that we currently have a vulnerable work force working with substantial amounts of vulnerable young people. This situation represented a unique challenge in 2022/23. We have therefore seen a much higher than usual level of staff turnover this year with many staff making decisions about new life directions in the wake of their pandemic experiences. This represents a “watershed” moment for many of our workforce as they make important professional life decisions. The challenge for the Charity is navigating these” choppy” human resources waters while at the same time continuing to provide a consistent quality mental health service.

To build on our Covid learning and to meet the increased demand, the Charity remains focussed on dynamic and innovative new ways of working that offer immediate and meaningful short-term interventions to young people at the point of need. We recognise that for many young people - “need help now” remains their focus. Increasingly in this digital age young people are also turning online to sites like Tik Tok, for their mental health support. We have decided that our “calling card” remains the humanistic relational offer delivered by friendly compassionate mental health practitioners who can empathise and respond quickly and appropriately. Young people are reporting that they really appreciate immediate support that they can relate to, delivered by professionals who “look and sound” like themselves.

Central to all of this is the continued development of our new First Contact Team who will be responsible for initial contact with all young people seeking help from Off the Record, and providing fast and effective responses including short-term interventions, resources, and signposting. The team started work in the Sutton borough in early 2022 and have since moved into Croydon. Our Peer Support Workers who bring lived experience of mental health into the work with young people have continued to work across our different boroughs. This has been a hugely positive development with Peer Support Workers now based in all our borough services and within the First Contact Team offering shorter term interventions to those with less complex needs.

Another important aspect of our modernising agenda is the increased amount of community work, outreach and networking that is required in our traumatised local communities. Young people and their families often want to have mental health conversations in the settings that are familiar to them. We are increasingly meeting young people in the places that they go and working with prominent levels of flexibility. We envisage that this will be the case for many years to come.

Very sadly serious youth violence remains a recurring concern within a couple of our boroughs. Our CHRIS service has been designed to respond quickly and appropriately and reach out to young people impacted by tragic and violent events. We have recently been successful in extending this approach into local Custody suites for young people who have been recently arrested. We are working in partnership with Croydon Drop In on this.

Another aspect of our strategic approach remains our partnership work with a wide range of voluntary sector groups, statutory partners and community groups in all three boroughs that we work in. We recognise that our mental health work and messaging is strengthened if it takes place within the groups and activities that local people already know, engage with and trust.

Despite the temporary closure of buildings during lockdown periods, the charity has maintained all its existing office premises. We continue to operate from the freehold property at 72 Queens Road, Croydon, which the charity purchased in 1995 by means of a central grant of £138,672 from the South Thames Regional Health Authority. The Queens Road office serves as a base for the Croydon counselling service, the Outreach & Community Development Service and Refugee Counselling service. The Young Carers Service has maintained a base in rented offices in the Carers Support Centre in Central Croydon, whilst the Sutton counselling service operates from rented premises at 172 Croydon Road, Beddington and our Merton counselling service is based in rented rooms at Vestry Hall in Mitcham. In addition to our existing premises, the charity has recently started renting three offices at The Business Xchange Hub in East Croydon to accommodate increased staff numbers post-Covid. With limited exceptions, all staff are now based back in our offices for the majority of their working hours.

The Management Committee have considered the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit and our main activities are described below. All these activities are undertaken to further our charitable purposes for the public benefit in accordance with our aim to provide a broad range of high quality, safe, accessible, fast and effective (SAFE) support services for children and young people. The overall strategy within which the charity operates is set by the Management

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“OFF THE RECORD” YOUTH COUNSELLING CROYDON (A company Limited by Guarantee)

REPORT OF THE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE

Committee and the objectives and achievements of our activities are detailed in this report. The necessary funding, in the form of grants and contracts, is in place and the risks to the charity have been listed and reviewed by both the Management Committee and senior staff of the agency.

The Management Committee wish to express their appreciation for the challenging work, undertaken by all staff within the agency, in delivering and developing the agency’s services to children and young people particularly considering the recent unprecedented pressures arising from Covid-19. We are also appreciative of our local commissioners and external funders who have fully maintained and extended their financial support for our work during this period.

The following reports have been written by the service leads for each of our services.

1. COUNSELLING SERVICES

a) CROYDON COUNSELLING SERVICE

Objectives and Activities

The Croydon Counselling Service offers free and confidential counselling & mental health support to young people aged 14-25 who either live, study, work or have a GP in the borough of Croydon. Young people predominantly self-refer to the service via a short enquiry form on the OTR website. We are also part of a formal referral pathway through the CAMHS Single Point of Contact and across the last 2 years have received an increasing number of direct referrals of young people under 18 through this pathway.

In summer 2022, Off the Record’s ‘First Contact Team’ took over responsibility for initial assessments of all new selfreferrals to the service with the goal of increasing fast access to initial assessments and short-term support. CAMHS SPOC referrals continue to be assessed directly by the Croydon service.

We have been working to broaden the mental health support offer within the Croydon service and in 2022 added a CBT practitioner and a Peer Support Worker to the team.

Off the Record also co-hosts two of Croydon’s Mental Health Support teams (alongside Croydon Drop-In). These teams provide early intervention and whole school support for a designated cluster of primary and secondary schools in the borough.

Achievements and Performance

The most prominent aspect of the last year has been the great demand for our services, both from those who self-refer, and those who have been signposted by Croydon Council’s Single Point of Contact (SPOC) via CAMHS.

We continue to work closely with CAMHS, with regular meetings with the CAMHS lead for SPOC where we can raise the possibility of referring on or referring back young people who appear to be in need of CAMHS services, as well as keeping in touch with each service’s practices and waiting times. In addition, we attend the strategic SPOC meeting hosted by the local authority where all the stakeholders including the NHS commissioner is present. This provides more of an overview of how services function and interlink and the level of overall demand in the borough.

In total, we had 704 new contacts from young people April 2022-March 2023, very similar to the previous two years. Of the new contacts, 686 were offered assessments with 92% being accepted for counselling and the majority of the others being referred onto another Off the Record service. The service offered 3,323 counselling sessions to 676 young people during the period.

We have continued to offer counselling through in-person and remote options (telephone/video) depending on the young person’s choice. There has been a gradual increase in the number of young people requesting in-person sessions but in 2022-23, 48% of sessions were still delivered through the telephone and a much smaller 4% through video. Young people tell us that remote options make it easier for them to commit to sessions without the added pressure of travel to our buildings. However increasing numbers of young people are also telling us that they value in-person sessions after the forced isolation of Covid.

Across the year around 25% of our clients were male and 73% female. The remaining 2% were young people who defined themselves as trans or non-binary which is becoming an increasing feature of our work. The ages of young people accessing counselling is split approximately 54% aged 14-17, and 46% aged 18-25. The proportion of young people under 18 has been gradually increasing across the last 3 years due to the increasing number of clients from the

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younger age group being signposted from our partnership within the Single Point of Contact (SPOC), as well as many being signposted by other sources.

Croydon is a very diverse borough and this is reflected in the ethnicity of young people approaching the Croydon service. 33% of new contacts described themselves as from Black African, Black Caribbean, Black British or Black other backgrounds; 10% identified as being from a range of Asian backgrounds; 33% as White British and the remaining 24% described themselves as being of dual and other heritage.

The main issues brought to counselling continue to be Anxiety (303 clients), Family Issues (193), Self Esteem (168), Peer Relationships (146) and Depression (132). These are the same issues as have been most frequently presented over a number of years. Trauma is an issue that is now being presented more frequently (94), alongside intrusive thoughts (82). [Note: young people usually present with more than one issue].

Levels of risk in the service remain high with approximately 13% (1 in 8 young people) presenting with self-harming behaviour or suicidal ideation.

Examples of feedback from young people using the Croydon service include:

“It really helped me with my toxic situations that was causing me to have anxiety I feel more happier and at peace.”

“I felt as though I was always listened to and my therapist made me feel proud of the things that she helped me realise I have accomplished.”

“The highly competent, kind and absolutely amazing staff. The service is 5 stars and has made a significant impact on my life.”

“She listened to me, never felt judged, I would come out of a session with less of a weight in my heart.”

“My feelings were validated and I learned a lot about myself and I received so much kindness.”

Mental Health in Schools Team

Off the Record, in partnership with Croydon Drop In, have been part of the national mental health in schools' initiative since January 2020. In January 2022, the two partners were offered the opportunity to co-host a second Mental Health Support Team, doubling the number of practitioners within the service and increasing the reach to a combined student population of around 16,000 students in Croydon primary and secondary schools. The teams are staffed by Education Wellbeing Practitioners working alongside school counsellors and have three core functions, to deliver evidence-based interventions for mild-to-moderate mental health issues, to support the school's senior mental health lead to develop whole school approach and to give timely advice to school and college staff and liaise with external services to help children and young people to get the right support.

In 2022-23 Off the Record school practitioners delivered interventions to 218 individual children and young people alongside the group and whole school work.

b) SUTTON COUNSELLING SERVICE

Objectives and Activities

Off the Record’s Sutton counselling service has been providing free, confidential one-to-one counselling support to young people aged 11-25 in Sutton since May 2013. Since October 2016, the service has been located at Off The Record’s offices in Beddington.

The service has two referral routes: through the Sutton CAMHS Single Point of Access (for ages 11-17) as part of Sutton Alliance contract delivered in partnership with South West London and St George’s Mental Health Trust and Jigsaw4u; and through self-referrals (for ages 11-25) funded through SWL ICB.

As part of our Sutton Alliance contract we also offer support to parents and carers of young people who are struggling with self-harm in the form of a two-part workshop. This is completely separate from the work we do with young people, whose confidentiality is assured.

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“OFF THE RECORD” YOUTH COUNSELLING CROYDON (A company Limited by Guarantee)

REPORT OF THE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE

Over the last year, we have been offering two ‘creative’ based groups for young people run by our qualified art therapists. One is a formal art therapy group for young survivors of abuse, the other is a wellbeing group targeting younger adolescents. Both these groups have proved popular and provide a medium for young people to express their feelings and concerns using art rather than words.

Our Sutton services also include two posts specifically delivering mental health support to young adults aged 18-25 through our partnership with Sutton Uplift. One post is a Wellbeing Navigator working within the Wellbeing Team at Uplift and the other is a Peer Support Worker, part of a new mental health transformation programme in SWL.

Sutton young people have access to the charity’s Support Line which runs 6 days p.w. offering immediate access to a mental health practitioner as well as our online webinars and resources.

Achievements and Performance

During this year there were 711 new contacts to the Sutton service, the highest figures since the service began. 586 young people received ongoing counselling, again the highest number seen through the service and up from 432 the previous year. Access via the self-referral pathway has increased slightly to 52% (2022 - 49.5%).

We offered 3,129 ongoing counselling sessions and 407 assessments (over 50% increase on the previous year). The increase has been possible through the implementation of our new ‘First Contact Team’ who are focussed on making fast initial responses to young people who contact the charity and offering short-term focussed early interventions. We also had good rates of ongoing counselling engagement, with almost 90% of young people reaching a planned ending and only 8% DNA rate.

One of the changes accelerated by the pandemic, has been the increase in the number of young people requesting support through remote means (online, telephone, video). Although there has been a gradual move back towards faceto-face sessions, 24% of sessions in the year were still delivered through telephone support and a much smaller 3% through video.

The age profile of young people using the Sutton services was 31% aged under 14; 49% aged 14-17 and 20% aged 1825. This is consistent with previous years and representative of the fact that our Sutton Alliance pathway is only open to young people under 18.

Of the young people who accessed ongoing counselling, 70% presented with anxiety issues; 25% with depression symptoms; 55% with school issues; 43% with worries around self-esteem and over 50% with family or peer relationship issues. Other issues presented include: self-harm (27%); sleep problems (23%); intrusive thoughts (22%); panic attacks (21%); anger (21%); suicidal ideation (17%). Anxiety, sleep problems, intrusive thoughts, panic attacks and anger have all shown marked increases since the pandemic possibly partly as a result of the isolation caused by lockdowns.

The Sutton service uses the YP CORE & CORE-10 outcome measures. 381 young people had paired measures in the year with 51% showing statistically significant improvement in their scores. The average score at the start of counselling was in the moderate-severe range and the average score at ending was in the mild-moderate range.

Feedback from young people who accessed the service indicated that they felt listened to and respected, that the support was of benefit, and many were appreciative of the provision.

“Care is really centred around you, this is both for how you are feeling / what you need from the sessions, and also the timing, location etc. They do everything they can to cater for you and your needs.”

“I felt listened to and respected. I really enjoyed being part of the group and making art instead of just talking.

“I felt that the techniques were given to help me and managed my anxiety and felt the sessions really helped me.”

“The way I was treated; the strength and knowledge I have learnt; what I have learnt to overcome”

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“OFF THE RECORD” YOUTH COUNSELLING CROYDON (A company Limited by Guarantee)

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c) MERTON COUNSELLING SERVICE

Objectives and Activities

Off the Record’s Merton Counselling Service started in April 2019 and launched a further expanded service supporting 17 schools via Merton Schools Wellbeing Team (MSWT) in April 2021. These services are complemented by an outreach worker who provides a range of counselling, wellbeing and outreach support with schools, local youth clubs and other community organisations, as well as delivering workshops for the parents and carers of young people struggling with self-harm.

The counselling service is open to young people ages 11 to 25 who live in the London borough of Merton, are registered with a Merton GP or attend a Merton school. Young people may access support by self-referral or being referred by a professional (e.g., GP, social worker, teacher), in addition to a referral route through Merton CAMHS SPA. Emotional support and counselling are offered in-person and via video and telephone.

The Merton School’s Wellbeing Team (MSWT) provides mental health support to a cluster of 17 primary and secondary schools in Merton offering direct support to children and young people as well as their families. The team offers a flexible ‘counselling-based’ model with emphasis on a whole school approach, universal and targeted group work and short-term one-to-one interventions suited to school delivery. The team has also been running a very successful parent group focused on addressing and helping families to manage children’s challenging behaviour, and workshops for parents of children with an ADHD diagnosis, supporting emotional regulation, coping with diagnosis and learning ways of supporting their children and improving their own self-care.

The counselling, schools and outreach support services were funded this year through SWL ICB. The service provides a safe space where young people can receive support and encouragement to deal with whatever challenges or difficulties they are facing.

In conjunction with staff in OTR Croydon’s schools' team, our outreach worker has continued to offer themed weekly psychoeducation online workshops to young people across our Croydon, Sutton and Merton boroughs and a weekly peer support group “Keeping Connected”. Online workshops have continued for parents and carers of young people who struggle with self-harm, alongside workshops for parents and carers of young people struggling with emotion-based school avoidance.

Our service hub is based in Vestry Hall, a local authority owned building, in the east of the borough (Mitcham). Counselling and emotional support sessions are also offered at The Nelson Medical Practice and within 17 local schools in the borough. Young people may choose whether they engage with our support in-person, via video, or telephone.

Achievements and Performance

We are in the 4th year of our ICB contract and have continued to build capacity within our team; we have been joined by two Peer Support Workers who are each working with us part-time. Our Peer Support Workers have lived experience of mental health challenges themselves and use their experience to empathically support young people. Their support is offered to young people who present as low risk and with low complexity and includes work focusing on understanding their experiences and developing strategies to cope with the challenges they are experiencing. We have been asked for input in a range of borough initiatives around children and young people’s mental health and continue to work closely with our ICB, LA and community colleagues.

This year we received 806 referrals with a sustained increase quarter on quarter throughout the year going from 164 referrals in the first quarter to 208 referrals in the fourth quarter. The service supported a total of 763 young people across 4250 sessions. Of those that accessed our services 45% self-referred, 42% were referred by a professional (often educational establishments) and 19% were referred by Merton CAMHS.

These numbers reflect a continuation of the increase in referrals and levels of needs alongside an increased level of provision when compared with the period preceding the Covid-19 Pandemic. Whilst we continue to aim to provide support at the point of need, in line with the i-Thrive model, this has not always been possible this year due to increased referral numbers, staff sickness or absences for other reasons.

The demographics of young people receiving support in the service indicated that 63% of clients identified as female 32% identified as male and less than 1% identified as other (a category which includes non-binary and transgender). Of these young people: 18% were aged 4-10; 27% were aged 11 to 13; 39% were aged between 14 and 18, and 15% of clients in the 19 to 25 age group. Data indicates that 60% identified as being from diverse BAME backgrounds, with the

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remaining 40% identifying as coming from a White British background. The majority of young people accessing the services in Merton came from the CR4 (38%) postcode.

Young people presented most with the following issues: anxiety, which is by far the most common (77%); issues around family (53%); school (46%); peer relationship difficulties (44%); self-esteem (40%); issues related to anger (28%). Over one-quarter of young people seen experienced self-harm and suicidal ideation (26%); this reflects the ongoing need for an increased level of safeguarding support in response to higher levels of risk as young people which emerged from the lockdowns.

These figures paint a picture of young people who are struggling with anxiety and stresses in both school and family environments alongside peer relationships difficulties, low self-esteem and anger as well as symptoms including sleep problems and a risk to their own safety.

Young people accessing support presented on average with levels of psychological distress in the “moderate” range (average score 17.3) and, at the end of interventions, on average scored within the “mild” range for psychological distress (average score 14.8), as measured using the YP-CORE and CORE-10 measures.

Feedback shared with the service demonstrated repeatedly that young people appreciated that they were listened to and treated with patience and respect with 100% of young people who gave feedback said that the help they had received with OTR Merton was good.

d) ONLINE SERVICES

Objectives and Activities

Through our dedicated secure website (www.talkofftherecordonline.org), we provide free online services to young people aged 11-25 in the London boroughs of Croydon, Sutton and Merton. Our online services include the delivery of individual ongoing counselling (6-12 sessions) and a range of online psycho-educational workshops for young people and parents/carers on a variety of wellbeing topics.

The online counselling service allows young people to write about their problems rather than talking, meaning they can have their counselling and support entirely online in a format of exchanging messages. This can either be through a weekly live chat session with a designated counsellor (where the young person and counsellor meet in real time and exchange messages on the counselling platform); or through the exchange of weekly messages (when the young person can send messages throughout the week at the point of need and receive a weekly therapeutic response at an agreed time).

To complement this one-to-one support, targeted workshops are also delivered, providing practical help and information about key issues young people might be struggling with (for example: exam stress, results day, sleep solutions, managing low mood and anxiety), as well as supporting parents and carers with a child who self-harms or is struggling to attend school.

Achievements and Performance

In the last year 522 young people accessed the online platform for online counselling support, in line with the previous year (2021-22: 554) suggesting that demand for the online service has stabilised after significant fluctuations during the COVID-19 pandemic. Approximately 1700 ongoing counselling sessions were delivered and a significant number of additional ‘assessment’ (or triage) sessions were also completed. This high number of assessment sessions is a result of our new triage system, which aims to provide a rapid response to all young people who register for our service. During the triage process, each young person is given one-to-one contact from an experienced online counselling practitioner who explains how online counselling works, signposts to any relevant services and also assesses any risk or considerations around the young person’s suitability for online work.

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“OFF THE RECORD” YOUTH COUNSELLING CROYDON (A company Limited by Guarantee)

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Our targets to respond to young people in a timely, accessible and effective way were fully met over the year, with 97% of new registrations responded to within 72 hours. The triage process has enabled young people to accelerate through the assessment and allocation processes, with approximately 50% of young people being both triaged and allocated to an ongoing counsellor within two weeks, and a further 80% allocated within four weeks.

Service satisfaction remains high, with 99% of young people agreeing that the help they received via the service had been good and 90% stating that they would recommend the service to a friend or family member. 100% of young people found it easy to talk to their counsellor and felt that their views and worries were taken seriously.

Outcome data shows that the levels of distress young people were experiencing upon entering the service were aligned with previous years, falling at the very top of the ‘moderate to severe’ range. Improvement rates remained in line with the previous year and the number of young people returning to Off the Record for additional support had slightly increased (up to 55%). We recognise that the online service has a high number of returning clients as it is succeeding in both being quick to respond, easy to access and effective in offering ‘therapy at your fingertips’ to young people.

A key objective of the online counselling service is to enable young people to access mental health services who might otherwise not receive any support or may struggle to attend face-to-face services. The service therefore particularly targets young people from a Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic (BAME) background, LGBTQ+ young people, young people with disabilities, young carers and looked after children. Accordingly, 56% of online clients come from a background where they do not identify as white British, 37% identify as LGBTQ+ (including 5% identifying as trans), 4% identify as having a disability, 4 were young carers and 14 were Looked After Children. These statistical demographics are highly consistent with those reported last year and demonstrates that the online service is continue to widen access to talking therapies.

“It is great how flexible the service is (and) you can find a way of communicating that best suits you.”

“Lots has changed (since I started) - I am now signed up with young carers and have been able to speak with my mum, particularly about my self harm which she has helped me with and I have not self harmed since which is great.”

Alongside our online counselling offer, the online workshops provide an accessible and approachable way for young people to access psychoeducation and peer support. The webinars are delivered through our safe and secure platform (where 98 workshops were hosted) alongside some delivery through zoom (where 18 workshops were hosted).

Over 600 registrations to the workshops were received across the platform and zoom workshops and in excess of 350 attendances were recorded to both our weekly ‘Keeping Connected’ support group our themed workshops which included ‘Managing Anxiety’, ‘Managing Low Mood’, ‘Managing Stress’, and ‘Sleep Solutions’.

Finally, during 2021-2022 the online services were successfully transferred to a new digital supplier and are now supported by WEB. As we look to the year ahead, the platform will be launching video capability which will enable the provision of counselling on the platform via phone and video as well as through written formats (such as live chat and message-based support). The focus will therefore be on integrating this offer across Off the Record’s other provision, whilst ensuring the service maintains it’s reaching young people who might otherwise not access or engage in therapy.

2. OUTREACH SERVICES

COMMUNITY & OUTREACH TEAM & BAME MENTAL HEALTH COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT WORK

Objectives and Activities

The Community Team based within Off the Record delivers community development work focussed on addressing mental health inequalities for BAME communities alongside community and outreach work focussed on meeting the needs of marginalised young people who struggle for a range of reasons to access mental health, wellbeing and counselling support. The team is comprised of community development workers, mental health practitioners, outreach counsellors and community engagement professionals.

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“OFF THE RECORD” YOUTH COUNSELLING CROYDON (A company Limited by Guarantee)

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Our CHRIS work, provides community located therapeutic and developmental support to young BAME people aged 1425, affected by escalating incidences of serious youth violence or sudden death. Young people contacting CHRIS are fast-tracked to a BAME counsellor able to respond flexibly to their needs. From April 2022, our CHRIS work has expanded to offer support to young people passing through the Croydon custody suite.

Achievements and Performance

2022/23 has be a productive year for the Community Team, despite some staffing challenges with colleagues moving on to new roles and sickness.

Our Youth Ambassadors meet monthly to discuss themes linked to mental health and current affairs. They record a monthly podcast on topics they chose, which have ranged from ‘social media and TV portrayals of mental health’ (both positive and negative) to ‘grief and loss of friends in school’, these podcasts are then posted online on the Off the Record website and shared on social media. Youth Ambassadors have also been creating content for Off the Record social media, including short Instagram and Tik Tock video’s about visiting Queens Rd and Croydon Rd if you are coming to inperson mental health support. The Youth Ambassadors have met with key staff to discuss service developments and have attended the Off the Record Innovations meeting, thinking about new ways of working and ideas for innovative projects in the community. Two of the Youth Ambassadors go to University in Sep 23 so we will look to recruit new Youth Ambassadors during summer 23. Youth Ambassadors also have their own Off the Record branded t-shirts and hoodies, in different colours to staff clothing.

In summer 22 the Community Team has some really successful outreach events, Off the Record attended Croydon PrideFest at Wandle Park for the first time. We engaged with over 500 people and focused on promoting Off the Record and giving space for people to talk about their own mental health journeys, many people spoke about how they had engaged and used OTR when younger and the resilience and benefits it had given them. We created a post-it notes artwork with people who felt comfortable writing and drawing their opinions. The Community Team also attended PlayPlace’s Croydon Play Fest in New Addington for the first time, this event was aimed at families and younger children, but the team still engaged with over 200 people, particularly promoting the services Off the Record provide across the borough and with schools.

The Community Team attended Cut It Out organised by My Ends and Palace for Life Foundation, attendance was good and was a great opportunity to network and build on relationships with partners. A couple of OTR colleagues played in the adult team in the football matches (OTR were in the winning team).

In May 22 Off the Record invested in a selection of merchandise for use at outreach events; pens, pencils, keyrings, stress balls and wallets were branded with our logo and contact information. The feedback from using these to engage with young people has been very positive, it often sparks conversations and opens up people to talking to us. Merch is also a great way to promote OTR and create brand/organisational awareness among communities and young people.

The Comms and Proms practitioner in OTR has been reviewing the website and our social media, involving the Youth Ambassadors in content creation and meeting with service leads to update specific pages and relevant information.

We have had a good commitment from other Off the Record colleagues outside of the Community Team in supporting outreach and events, several new colleagues to OTR are particularly positive about engaging in the community as well as with their individual clients/work.

Community Team staff attend a number of partnership and networking meetings including My Ends in West Croydon/London Road and the Croydon Community Gangs meeting. Attendance at these and other meetings increases our community knowledge and promotes Off the Record’s commitment to supporting young people in our three boroughs of delivery. We are open to further partnerships in 23/24, and would like to focus on smaller grassroots organisations and groups that represent marginalised groups of young people who don’t normally access mental health support.

Barbershop work in 22/23 has been good, we have delivered 6 Trim n Grin sessions at P4YE, a Merton pupil referral unit, a Merton school and in the community at Croydon and Merton barbers shops. These sessions focus on mental health conversations in a barbershop setting. We developed a new logo and some merchandise for barbers who take part in Trim n Grin sessions, we have also had new OTR staff supporting the sessions.

The Community Team are adding LGBTQ+ support and accessibility for Neurodiverse young people to their plans for 23/24, particularly as Metro Charity have faced a funding cut for their Croydon work. Service leads have reported increased numbers of young people exploring identity and sexuality and discussing their opinions and needs around Neurodiversity diagnosis’. There is also more media coverage and open discussions in the community and from parents, carers and borough residents about individual needs on these themes.

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“OFF THE RECORD” YOUTH COUNSELLING CROYDON (A company Limited by Guarantee)

REPORT OF THE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE

Work with refugees has continued in 22/23 with a CDW working closely with Injera Club and Da’aro Youth weekly to ensure there is a good relationship with young people and they feel comfortable engaging in mental health support with Off the Record. In the summer we ran a wellbeing session for young people who attend Da’aro Youth, this included wellbeing and self-care gift bags. In Autumn we attended art and creative sessions with Injera Club for young people to access an exhibition about trauma and migration, this was an emotional experience for the young people and staff and triggered signposting to counselling and group workshops on stress and anxiety and sleep hygiene.

Additionally for refugees the Community Team has worked with Croydon College to develop workshops, targeted at new students to the college, around ‘wellbeing’ and ‘understanding your own mental health’. Community Team colleagues trained Croydon College staff to deliver these workshops and feedback from staff was very positive. They have since signposted a number of students to additional therapeutic support with OTR.

Weekly drop-in sessions at Croydon College continue as normal on a Tuesday in term time, numbers of students engaging has increased since Sep 22 and we hope to expand these sessions in the next school year to Coulsdon College, John Ruskin College and East Surrey College (35% of their students are Croydon residents) so that there is equal access for sixth form and further education students across Croydon and neighbouring boroughs. While these sessions are in the planning stages, we have offered one off sessions during Mental Health Week 2023 at all colleges to highlight our presence and self-referral process for students.

3. REFUGEE & ASYLUM SEEKER COUNSELLING SERVICE

Objectives and Activities

The Refugee Service provides individual counselling and group work to young refugees, asylum seekers or forced migrants aged 11-25yrs in Croydon. Counselling is generally short-term and delivered through a mixture of sessions offered in colleges, youth groups and at Off the Record’s offices as this maximises our accessibility for this vulnerable group of young people.

Following the Covid pandemic, the Refugee Service has resumed normal operations. We are offering in-person sessions alongside the telephone work we had been doing and our group work continues in the Young Roots Youth Group. We have also maintained the holding call system so that our young people have regular contact while they are waiting for ongoing counselling.

We are still seeing the effects of Afghan crisis in August 2021 which saw the withdrawal of the US troops and seizure of power by the Taliban. Large numbers of Afghans who escaped the situation have been living in hotels since that time and we are working with many who are suffering as a result of the conditions. We are partnering with Young Roots for a new group that caters solely for young hotel residents. We will be providing therapeutic interventions using a photography and art group.

Achievements and Performance

Our service is now fully running from the Queens Road building bringing back the face-to-face work and connecting with each other. In addition to our system of calling young people every 3 weeks for holding calls and regular check-ins before allocation to weekly counselling, we have added drop-in sessions. These sessions are a progression from holding calls in that a young person can request to be seen in person rather than have phone calls. We find this works well to see clients who present with risk and also to build a relationship. Clients have appreciated being contacted regularly, to feel connected and thought about, and it has also been invaluable for us to maintain contact with those who frequently get moved to other areas or change their phone number. Many young people have found telephone counselling to be more convenient and fits into their life better while others like to meet face to face.

Attendance has remained high at 72%, this figure benefitting from the option for telephone sessions which makes up 61% of our contact with clients. Our holding calls are recorded as brief interventions and pre-therapy waiting list calls. The brief interventions have totalled 186 and are carried out by the whole team. These can total between 10- 20 calls per week. Pre-therapy waiting list calls are often longer than the brief interventions. These total 88 over the year. We have started the drop-in face-to-face sessions only recently and so far have had 4 clients take up the offer in 1 month.

Referrals are now returning to pre-Covid levels with 146 new contacts. The self-referral numbers seem to be increasing with 22 this year. These are included within the 41 young people returning to the service for additional support. As is typical for this service, 84% of referrals were male and 15% female.

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“OFF THE RECORD” YOUTH COUNSELLING CROYDON (A company Limited by Guarantee)

REPORT OF THE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE

A total of 120 young people received individual counselling with the refugee service in the past year. Client ages ranged from 12 to 25 years old with 48% being aged between 14 and 18, a drop from last year and 44% being aged between 19 and 25 which is an increase on last year. 64 of the 120 clients were looked after children. Clients came from 17 reported different countries, 5 more than last year, with the majority still typically coming from Afghanistan (29%) and Albania (14%) with Eritrea and now Sudan and Iran, making up the other significant percentages.

We are working with more young people who get suddenly moved out of the area by the Home Office. This is happening frequently with our young people and can have a devastating effect on their mental health after they have built up relationships not only with our counsellors but also with friends and other local professionals. This is especially significant for those who have experienced traumatic separation from family and culture. As this is a point of crisis for these clients, ending the counselling feels it would add to the impact. Therefore, we can sometimes work for a number weeks with these young people to manage the transition while being mindful of our remit and referring on to other local services.

124 assessments were carried out with 22% waiting up to 6 weeks, 30% waiting 6-12 weeks and 35% waiting 12-16 weeks. We now have one team member carrying out assessments, managing the waiting list and holding calls and this enables dedicated time to these tasks. We are hoping to see a reduction in wait time for assessments.

Our long-standing Young Roots partnership continues to be successful with our counsellor providing drop-in counselling at the ‘hub’ weekly youth group. In-person sessions are fully resumed unless an established client has unexpectedly been moved out of the area. This has been of huge benefit for the young people to see the counsellor at the hub and to develop a relationship with her. When there are no young people needing counselling, the counsellor engages with informal activities with the group to build relationships thus enabling future therapeutic interventions and to bring a mental health message into the setting.

The feedback we have had from young people regarding the holding calls has been good with one client saying;

“Thank you for not forgetting me”

And another saying;

”Since you have started helping, I feel a bit happier, a bit less low”.

More generally, young people and their carers have commented on the benefits that the counselling has given;

‘G is talking and opening up for the first time in his life and had never spoken to anyone about this stuff before. He feels like a big weight has been lifted each session and that he feels proud of himself for doing the counselling. G said that counselling has been “a safe place for me” and that he really appreciated the time and felt encouraged to share things, as opposed to feeling like a burden.’

And finally, one young man said;

“When I came to the UK, you changed my life. I will never forget you, thank you so much.”

4. YOUNG CARERS’ SERVICE

Objectives & Activities

The Young Carers Service is a free and friendly service, offering support to young people aged 7-25, caring for someone with a physical disability, mental health issue, long-term physical illness, learning difficulty or for drug and alcohol dependency. The service offers assessment, respite, and educational, emotional and social support to children and young people.

The team offer casework aimed at reducing the effects of harmful caring and enabling young carers to build their aspirations, to have positive mental health and healthy minds and fulfil their potential beyond their caring role.

The Young Carers Service is staffed by a multidisciplinary team and is co-located with other carers services in the Carers Support Centre in central Croydon.

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“OFF THE RECORD” YOUTH COUNSELLING CROYDON (A company Limited by Guarantee)

REPORT OF THE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE

Achievements and Performance

The Young Carers Service received 183 referrals this year, the highest number of referrals we have received in a year since we started recording them. This represents a year-on-year increase since 2019 and can’t now be presumed as a Covid spike but is more likely the result of ongoing increased identification of young carers in Croydon. Our current assessment worker capacity is not able to cover the amount of work involved in processing referrals and assessments and signing young carers into the service. We are reviewing other ways of supporting this work, including the possibility of other case workers supporting assessments as needed or taking on additional resources for a day a week in the next financial year. This increase in referrals and assessments has meant a slight fall in the speed of the assessments, although 87% are still completed within the 8-week period.

Our largest group of young carers referred over the last year have been age 9, followed by 11-year-olds and 8-year-olds, this matches our assumption that the School Census including young carers has triggered an increase in primary and secondary schools identifying young carers within their settings.

Amongst new referrals females still outnumber males but the gap is reducing which is positive (111 females and 72 males). We continue to work on supporting schools and families to identify and refer young men as young carers to our service.

Schools continue to be largest individual referrers at 47 but collectively Croydon Children’s Social Care and Croydon Early Help made 79 referrals. We do not get many referrals from SLAM, CAMHS, Croydon Adult Social Care, substance misuse services or GP’s. We have delivered training to SLAM and Croydon Children’s Social Care in 22/23 and are building relationships with Croydon Adult Social Care but we have struggled to make a sustainable contact in GP services, this will be an aim for 23/24.

Cost of living has been one of the biggest issues affecting families since Sep 2022. We have frequent requests for food and directly for money to pay for food and household bills. This also impacts on the mental health of staff as these calls and discussions can be disturbing when the reality of a young carer’s situation is recognised. We also understand the impact of adults having to overcome shame of asking YCS for support. Young carers are often aware of the family finances because of their role and responsibilities which is likely different from other families where the children and young people may not realise what is going on for their parents and household finances. We have increased the number of referrals we make to foodbanks and make sure to signpost to food banks and the cost of living page on OTR’s website. We think the increase in young carers signing up to respite that provides food is also linked to this issue so we also try to provide healthy snacks at all respite just in case there are families and young carers who aren’t able to tell us about their situations.

Other issues and themes that the young carers team have highlighted over the last year include:

In addition to our direct work with young carers and their families, the service delivered several workshops for professionals including to Redgate School, SLAM, Croydon College, John Ruskin and East Surrey College and Croydon Council Schools Network. The team’s outreach work with schools and colleges is helpful in raising awareness, how to refer young carers, the School Census for young carers (Dec 2022), and how to support young carers in the respective settings.

We have tested out some workshop ideas for young carers to engage with in 22/23, these have included a selection on the theme of ‘anxiety’ and a young adult carers project on bereavement and grief. Both these pilot projects are something we would like to continue into 23/24 and expand on the range and themes, potentially around school/education transitions for those in Yr. 6 and Yr. 11. The anxiety sessions got good sign-up, young carers felt they benefited from their time with the staff team and the tools they learned in the session to try and manage their anxiety in their lives.

In 2022 we designed and implemented sessions for newly registered young carers to support them forming a good relationship with the staff team and therefore more able to engage in respite and support. These are happening three times a year and have so far proved helpful in getting to know newly registered young carers and they families and to build a positive connection with the Carers Information Service, who have also attended these sessions with Sendias (a partner organisation based in CIS).

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“OFF THE RECORD” YOUTH COUNSELLING CROYDON (A company Limited by Guarantee)

REPORT OF THE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE

In 2022 Croydon Young Carers Service joined the newly formed Young Carers Alliance, facilitated by the Carers Trust. This has been a valuable connection for networking, attending training and gaining insights into young carers' services and experiences in other areas. We have made a small submission to the APPG on Young Carers and the team have attended a range of training hosted by the Alliance.

In July 2022 we completed a detailed survey and report of young carers voices during Covid, this was a reflective piece of work to build on a large review that was completed by the YCS team in summer 2020 and held valuable information about the lived experience of young carers and their views and needs in relation to education, wellbeing and home life. This report was circulated widely in Croydon and Off the Record networks.

48 young adult carers have been signed out of the service either through choice, age or due to their caring status changing. All those who are still carers but over 25 are signposted and supported to access support from the Carers Information Service.

In January 2023 the 2021 Census data was released and we were able to review the numbers of people who selfidentified as carers in Croydon. There will be some discrepancies with our registered young carers data as the Census was completed during a national Covid lockdown by people in the household who are over 18. However, the stated numbers of young carers aged 18 and under was broadly comparable with our own data. This was less true in terms of young adults self-identifying as carers possibly because the majority of these carers feel they are coping with their home situations or are unaware of specific support for their age range. We aim to do more work, in partnership with Carers Information Service, around the data and publicity in 23/24.

In January 2023 the Department for Education introduced an amendment to the compulsory annual Schools Census, to include identification of young carers. Many schools struggled with this transition, and we believe the influx of new referrals received in December and January may have been from schools who had started planning for their census submission and identified new young carers.

In this year the YCS has been part of the Croydon Carers Strategy working group, to review and develop a new Carers Strategy for the borough. This work will continue into 2023/24 with the aim to have strong voice of young carers and young adult carers in the strategy.

STATEMENT ON PUBLIC BENEFIT

The objectives and activities, and achievement and performance sections of this report clearly set out the activities which the charity undertakes for the public benefit. The Management Committee confirm that they have complied with the duty in section 4 of the Charities Act 2011 to have due regard to public benefit guidance published by the Commission in determining the activities undertaken by the charity.

RISK MANAGEMENT

The Management Committee actively review the major risks which the charity faces on a regular basis and has established systems to mitigate those risks including reports to Management Committee meetings against an agreed risk register. The risk register was substantially expanded in 2020 to include consideration of risks arising from Covid-19 pandemic. Following the ending of Covid regulations, these risks have largely now been removed from the register. Some of the key risks kept under regular review are:

Financial – the risk of loss of funding through non-renewal of grants/contracts; over-expenditure through lack of financial control; fraud; potential future VAT/ tax liability. This risk is managed through robustly implemented financial procedures overseen by the Treasurer and Finance Committee; monthly cashflow and quarterly management accounts presented to the Trustee Board; professional VAT/ tax advice; fraud response plan; and by maintaining a sufficient level of reserves to safeguard the charity in the event of adverse conditions.

Clinical – the charity works with vulnerable young people in the area of mental health. Risks include clients harming themselves or others; deterioration in mental health; stress levels for staff; staff feeling unclear about policies and procedures. This risk is managed through regular clinical/casework supervision for staff in line with professional guidance and robust risk and safeguarding training and procedures. Additional training and guidance was produced to equip staff for delivering clinical work through telephone and/or video as a response to remote working initiated during Covid lockdowns. Strong recruitment practices target high quality clinical staff including mandatory videos whereby a mock example of a counsellor's work is recorded and reviewed. All staff are required to attend annual safeguarding training.

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“OFF THE RECORD” YOUTH COUNSELLING CROYDON (A company Limited by Guarantee)

REPORT OF THE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE

Premises & Facilities – risks include Health & Safety breaches within maintained premises creating potential risks to staff or service users and risk of litigation; financial risks from costs of building maintenance & upkeep; catastrophic events e.g. fire/flood making one or more building unusable. These risks are managed by having a Health & Safety Officer in place, regular Health & Safety checks & risk assessments, routine maintenance of key facilities inc. fire safety. A business continuity plan is in place with provisions to deal with loss of building use/facilities.

FINANCIAL REVIEW

During the year Off the Record received income totalling £2,483,441 (2022: £2,328,321). Resources expended totalled £2,591,672 (2022: £1,960,057). The net movement in funds for the year is a deficit of £108,231 (2022: a surplus of £368,264). This resulted in total funds at 31 March 2023 of £1,044,796 (2022: £1,153,027).

Our principal funding sources in this year were:

SWL ICB (Croydon, Sutton and Merton Place); London Borough of Croydon; London Borough of Sutton; Wimbledon Foundation; Health Education England.

Reserves Policy

Off the Record’s general unrestricted reserves represent funds of the charity that are freely available, excluding designated funds and restricted funds.

The Reserves Policy, is reviewed by the Management Committee annually. This states that Off the Record holds reserves for the following purposes:

The target level of reserves is reviewed by the Management Committee each year as part of the annual budget process taking into account:

For the 2023/24 budgetary period the charity is aiming for a target of approx. 4 months operating costs (approximately £880,000) of unrestricted reserves. The current level of reserves is broadly on target.

Total general unrestricted funds at 31 March 2023 are £848,914 (2022: £921,085), designated funds were £195,672 (2022: £228,672) and restricted funds £210 (2022: £3,271). This is considered adequate as the monthly expenditure of the charity is relatively stable, and we now have significant contracts with a range of funders.

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“OFF THE RECORD” YOUTH COUNSELLING CROYDON (A company Limited by Guarantee)

REPORT OF THE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE

Included in designated funds are the fixed asset funds. The property asset is not available to spend as the Charity operates from its premises.

STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT

Structure

‘’Off the Record’’ Youth Counselling Croydon (Off the Record) is a registered charity and a company limited by guarantee, registered in England and governed by a Memorandum and Articles of Association. The Memorandum and Articles of Association are currently being reviewed and updated in accordance with the current Charity Commission template and, pending any necessary statutory permissions/notifications, are expected to be operational within the next financial year.

PLANS FOR FUTURE PERIODS

We recognise that the Charity is operating in a transition period – in many ways “between worlds” i.e. the pre-pandemic reality for many young people and a post-pandemic world that is yet to emerge clearly.

As Jung wrote: Every transformation demands as its precondition “the ending of a world”- the collapse of an old philosophy of life.

Young people increasingly acknowledge and are aware of their own mental health - they are increasingly searching online for support and answers to the complexities that life is presenting. Increased geopolitical instability, climate crisis and the continued cost of living crisis are all presenting children and young people with a unique set of existential challenges. Off The Record needs to be alongside them as they navigate their way through these unprecedented times.

Our old model of providing mental health support at a particular point in a young person's life in a detached and contained way is no longer relevant. We need to be “out there” in local communities e.g. in the mental health marketplace, ensuring that we are carrying clear and healthy messages about mental health and resilience in 2023.

As already acknowledged, the way in which we have delivered our services over the last three years has been fundamentally impacted by the pandemic and the major challenges that have been faced by young people and our own staff team. The post-pandemic levels of demand have been heralded as a ‘tsunami’ of need which will have huge impacts on all mental health services for years to come. Off the Record staff and all our services have risen to the challenge. We are now working with more young people every week than ever in our history but at the same time are looking to keep innovating and building on the learning that Covid demanded.

The development of our First Contact Team and our Peer Support Workers are both examples of trialling new ways of working to deliver fast, holistic, and effective responses to young people, keeping young people’s needs and wishes at the centre of everything we do. These new responses are part of a broader goal to bring greater integration across our services and boroughs maximising the skills and capacity of our staff.

At the same time, we recognise the burden our staff have faced over the pandemic and with the continued cost of living crisis. All have continued to work across the whole period with extraordinary commitment and flexibility and we are committed to making sure that we also pay attention to their needs.

Our Outreach and Community work is a key priority for Off the Record over the next year as this was severely impacted by lockdown restrictions. In 2023/24, we want to continue to focus on re-engaging with local communities and with young people in the community. This will include re-energising the work of our ‘CHRIS’ counsellors who engage with young people in Croydon impacted by sudden or violent death; further developing our support to young refugees through joint working with local refugee organisations; and broadening our work targeting positive mental health messages to BAME young men through our barbershop work and through new partnerships with youth services in Croydon, Sutton and Merton. At the core of this work is a commitment to significantly raise our awareness and response to issues of inclusion and diversity across the whole charity.

Whilst it is important that we don’t underestimate the significant challenges and uncertainties that lie ahead, we have witnessed extraordinary resilience and determination over the last three years amongst both young people and our staff. To all the new staff who have joined us we extend a warm welcome; to those who have stayed with us we offer our thanks and appreciation; to those who have moved on we send our heartfelt good wishes. We take our inspiration from the young people who continue to trust us with their challenges and concerns and, through our work, we will continue to focus on our vision of building a compassionate mental health community for all children and young people.

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“OFF THE RECORD” YOUTH COUNSELLING CROYDON (A company Limited by Guarantee)

REPORT OF THE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE

Governance and Management

The governance of the charity is the responsibility of the Management Committee who are elected and co-opted under the terms of the Articles of Association. The Management Committee consists of up to 12 elected trustees, elected by the members at the Annual General Meeting (AGM), up to 5 co-opted members, a representative from any body which the Management Committee certifies is providing substantial funding to the company (non-voting members of the Committee) and the honorary officers.

Every elected Trustee (excluding honorary officers) will retire from office at the end of the third annual general meeting following their election. Retiring Trustees may be eligible for re-election. The number of the Management Committee shall not fall below five. The Management Committee who served during the year were as follows:

Ohenewaa Adu-Akyeampong Alefiyah Kapasi (nee Bharmal) Laura Haigh Brij Kalia (Resigned 07/11/22) Patricia Nearn Mark Penlington (Resigned 07/05/22) Ben Randall (Appointed 20/05/23) Nicola Shoults (Resigned 07/11/22)

Induction and Training of Management Committee

The charity recruits new Management Committee members through local and national adverts and interviews potential members with reference to a job description and person specification. If selected from interview, Management Committee members are offered an induction process including an induction pack and the opportunity to observe a Management Committee meeting. The Management Committee has created a Governance Manual which is provided to all new Trustees.

Organisational Structure and Decision Making

The Management Committee consider governance issues at their regular meetings. The Committee meet at least quarterly throughout the year to ensure all governance issues are regularly addressed.

The Management Committee continue to make decisions relating to the overall strategic direction of the charity and ensure that the organisation is working in accordance with its aims and objectives and Memorandum and Articles of Association. The Management Committee delegate responsibility to senior staff for ensuring that service provision is carried out within the charity’s overall strategy; for overseeing the charity’s progress in meeting its objectives; and ensuring that the charity meets its legal and financial obligations including compliance with laws on equalities and diversity; Information Governance and Health and Safety in the way it employs and delivers services.

Key management personnel remuneration

The Management Committee consider the board of trustees and staff listed on page 1 as comprising the key management personnel of the charity in charge of directing and controlling the charity and running and operating the charity on a day-to-day basis. All trustees give of their time freely and no trustee remuneration was paid in the year. Details of trustee expenses and related party transactions are disclosed in note 7 & 19 to the accounts.

Trustees are required to disclose all relevant interests and register them with the Director and, in accordance with Management Committee policy, withdraw from decisions where a conflict of interest arises.

The charity employs a team of senior managers comprised of a Director, Assistant Director and ten service managers who together oversee the delivery of work to young people and the line management of paid staff and volunteers. Most managers also undertake a level of direct service delivery. Managers’ pay is primarily aligned to local government pay scales with pay increases mirroring nationally agreed increases to the scales. One long-serving manager left during the year and another has left since the year end with existing managers stepping up to cover those services.

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“OFF THE RECORD” YOUTH COUNSELLING CROYDON (A company Limited by Guarantee)

REPORT OF THE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE

STATEMENT OF THE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE’S RESPONSIBILITIES

The Management Committee (who are also directors of Off The Record Youth Counselling Croydon for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the Management Committee’s Annual Report (including the Strategic Report) and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

Charity law requires the Management Committee 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 surplus or deficit of the charity for that period. In preparing those financial statements the Management Committee are required to:

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

Statement as to Disclosure of Information to Auditors

So far as the Management Committee are aware, there is no relevant audit information of which the charitable company's auditors are unaware, and each trustee has taken all the steps that he or she ought to have taken as a trustee in order to make himself or herself aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the charity’s auditors are aware of that information.

Approved by the Management Committee on 25 November 2023 and signed on their behalf by:

Laura Haigh

Alefiyah Kapasi

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“OFF THE RECORD” YOUTH COUNSELLING CROYDON (A company Limited by Guarantee)

REPORT OF THE INDEPENDENT AUDITORS TO THE MEMBERS OF ‘’OFF THE RECORD’’ YOUTH COUNSELLING CROYDON

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of “Off the Record” Youth Counselling Croydon for the year ended 31 March 2023 which comprise the Statement of Financial Activities, Balance Sheet and Statement of Cash Flows and notes to the financial statements, including a summary of significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102 ‘The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland’ (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

In our opinion, the financial statements:

Basis for opinion

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the 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 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 case significant doubt on the company’s ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.

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

Other information

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

In connection with our audit of the financial statements, our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether there is a material misstatement in the financial statements or a material misstatement of the other information. 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:

19

“OFF THE RECORD” YOUTH COUNSELLING CROYDON (A company Limited by Guarantee)

REPORT OF THE INDEPENDENT AUDITORS TO THE MEMBERS OF ‘’OFF THE RECORD’’ YOUTH COUNSELLING CROYDON

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 directors’ report included within the trustees’ 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 trustees’ responsibilities statement, 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.

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.

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

Extent to which the audit was considered capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud

Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above and on the Financial Reporting Council’s website, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud.

We obtain and update our understanding of the entity, its activities, its control environment, and likely future developments, including in relation to the legal and regulatory framework applicable and how the entity is complying with that framework. Based on this understanding, we identify and assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to fraud or error, design and perform audit procedures responsive to those risks, and obtain audit evidence that is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion. This includes consideration of the risk of acts by the entity that were contrary to applicable laws and regulations, including fraud.

In response to the risk of irregularities and non-compliance with laws and regulations, including fraud, we designed procedures which included:

20

“OFF THE RECORD” YOUTH COUNSELLING CROYDON

(A company Limited by Guarantee)

REPORT OF THE INDEPENDENT AUDITORS TO THE MEMBERS OF ‘’OFF THE RECORD’’ YOUTH COUNSELLING CROYDON

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 of not detecting a material misstatement resulting from fraud is higher than for one resulting from error, as fraud may involve collusion, forgery, intentional omissions, misrepresentations, or the override of internal control.

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.

Catherine Cooper (Senior Statutory Auditor) For and on behalf of Azets Audit Services

Statutory Auditor 1[st] Floor River House 1 Maidstone Road Sidcup Kent DA14 5RH

Date: 29 November 2023

21

“OFF THE RECORD” YOUTH COUNSELLING CROYDON

(A company Limited by Guarantee)

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT

Unrestricted Restricted Total Total
funds funds 2023 2022
Notes £ £ £ £
Income from:
Donations 7,705 - 7,705 10,159
Interest 269 - 269 136
Charitable activities 2 2,440,467 35,000 2,475,467 2,313,094
Other income - - - 4,932
_____ _____ _______ _______
Total income 2,448,441 35,000 2,483,441 2,328,321
_____ _____ _______ _______
Expenditure on:
Charitable activities:
Counselling services 1,860,261 32,290 1,892,551 1,337,188
Outreach Services 212,483 2,500 214,983 216,466
Young Refugees Project 152,732 - 152,732 146,522
Young Carers Project 328,135 3,271 331,406 259,881
_____ _____ _____ _____
Total expenditure 3 2,553,611 38,061 2,591,672 1,960,057
_____ _____ _____ _____
Net movement in funds 8 (105,170) (3,061) (108,231) 368,264
Funds brought forward at
1 April 2022		 1,149,756 3,271 1,153,027 784,763
_____ _____ _____ _____
Total funds carried forward at
31 March 2023 1,044,586 210 1,044,796 1,153,027
_____ _____ _____ _____

All of the charity’s transactions are derived from continuing activities.

The Statement of Financial Activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year.

22

“OFF THE RECORD” YOUTH COUNSELLING CROYDON

(A company Limited by Guarantee)

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

COMPARATIVE INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT

Unrestricted
funds
Notes
£
Income from:
Donations
9,809
Interest
136
Charitable activities
2
2,274,536
Other income
4,932
__
Total income
2,289,413
_
Expenditure on:
Charitable Activities:
Counselling services
1,310,838
Outreach Services
202,637
Young Refugees Project
146,522
Young Carers Project
258,895
__
Total expenditure
3
1,918,892
_
Net movement in funds
8
370,521
Transfer
(1,621)
Funds brought forward at
1 April 2021
780,856
_____
Total funds carried forward at
31 March 2022
1,149,756
 Restricted
funds
Total
2022
£
£
350
10,159
-
136
38,558
2,313,094
-
4,932
__
_
38,908
2,328,321
_
___
26,350
1,337,188
13,829
216,466
-
146,522
986
259,881
___
__
41,165
1,960,057
_
__
(2,257)
368,264
1,621
-
3,907
784,763
__
_____
3,271
1,153,027

23

“OFF THE RECORD” YOUTH COUNSELLING CROYDON

(A company Limited by Guarantee)

Company number 2987817

BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31 MARCH 2023

Note 2023 2022
£ £ £ £
Fixed Assets 10 138,672 138,672
Current Assets
Debtors 11 96,892 77,801
Cash at bank and in hand 889,695 1,048,909
____ ____
986,587 1,126,710
Creditors:amounts falling
due within one year 12 (80,463) (112,355)
____ ____
Net Current Assets 906,124 1,014,355
__ __
Net Assets 1,044,796 1,153,027
__ __
Represented by:
Restricted funds 13 210 3,271
Unrestricted funds:
Designated funds 14 195,672 228,672
General fund 848,914 921,084
__ __
Total funds 15 1,044,796 1,153,027
__ __

Approved by the Board of Management Committee on 25 November 2023 and signed on their behalf by:

Laura Haigh

Alefiyah Kapasi

24

“OFF THE RECORD” YOUTH COUNSELLING CROYDON (A company Limited by Guarantee)

CASHFLOW STATEMENT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

Notes 2023 2022
£ £
Cash flow from operating activities 18 (159,483) 455,507
____ ____
Net cash flow from operating activities (159,483) 455,507
____ ____
Cash flow from investing activities
Interest received 269 136
____ ____
Net cash flow from investing activities 269 136
____ ____
Net increase/(decrease) in cash and cash equivalents (159,214) 455,643
Cash and cash equivalents at 01 April 2022 1,048,909 593,266
____ ____
Cash and cash equivalents at 31 March 2023 889,695 1,048,909
____ ____
Cash and cash equivalents consists of:
Cash at bank and in hand 889,695 1,048,909
____ ____
Cash and cash equivalents at 31 March 2023 889,695 1,048,909
____ ____

25

“OFF THE RECORD” YOUTH COUNSELLING CROYDON (A company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

1 ACCOUNTING POLICIES

a. Basis of preparation

Off the Record Youth Counselling Croydon is a company limited by guarantee in England & Wales. In the event of the charity being wound up, the liability in respect of the guarantee is limited to £1 per member of the charity. The address of the registered office is given in the charity information on page 1 of these financial statements. The nature of the charity’s operations and principal activities are set out on page 2.

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

The financial statements are prepared on a going concern basis under the historical cost convention, modified to include certain items at fair value. The financial statements are prepared in sterling which is the functional currency of the charity.

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

b. Income

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

For donations and grants receivable, including donations and gifts, are included in full in the Statement of Financial Activities when receivable.

Investment income is accounted for when received. Tax recoverable on investment income is accounted for on a receivable basis.

Other income is included in full in the Statement of Financial Activities when receivable.

c. Expenditure

All expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis and has been classified under headings that aggregate all costs related to the category. Expenditure is recognised where there is a legal or constructive obligation to make payments to third parties, it is probable that the settlement will be required and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. It is categorised under the following headings:

Irrecoverable VAT is charged as an expense against the activity for which expenditure arose.

d. Support Costs

Support costs are those that assist the work of the charity but do not directly represent charitable activities and include office costs, governance costs and administrative payroll costs. They are incurred directly in support of expenditure on the objects of the charity and include project management carried out at Headquarters. Where support costs cannot be directly attributed to particular headings they have been allocated to cost of raising funds and expenditure on charitable activities on a basis consistent with use of the resources.

The analysis of these costs is included in note 5.

26

“OFF THE RECORD” YOUTH COUNSELLING CROYDON (A company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

1 ACCOUNTING POLICIES (continued)

e. Fund accounting

Unrestricted funds are available for use at the discretion of the trustees in furtherance of the general objectives of the charity and which have not been designated for other purposes.

Restricted funds are funds which are to be used in accordance with specific restrictions imposed by donors or which have been raised by the charity for particular purposes. The cost of raising and administering such funds are charged against the specific fund. The aim and use of each restricted fund is set out in the notes to the financial statements.

Designated funds represent funds invested in fixed assets. The designated fund balance has been represented to ensure that fund balance stated accurately reflects the designation policy adopted by the Management Committee.

f. Tangible fixed assets

All assets costing over £5,000 are capitalised. Tangible fixed assets are stated at cost less depreciation. Depreciation is provided at rates calculated to write off the cost or valuation of fixed assets, less their estimated residual value, over their expected useful lives as follows:

Office Equipment - 33 1/3 % straight line

A review for impairment of a fixed asset is carried out if events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value of any fixed asset may not be recoverable. Shortfalls between the carrying value of fixed assets and their recoverable amounts are recognised as impairments. Impairment losses are recognised in the Statement of Financial Activities.

Debtors and creditors with no stated interest rate and receivable or payable within one year are recorded at transaction price. Any losses arising from impairment are recognised in expenditure.

h. Cash and cash equivalents

Cash at bank comprises balances held on the charity’s current bank account.

i. Leasing commitments

Rentals payable and receivable under operating leases are charged to the SoFA on a straight line basis over the period of the lease.

j. Going concern

The Management Committee have renewed the charitable company’s budgets and taken into account the expected impact of Coronavirus. Whilst it is difficult to predict the potential implications on the future revenue with any certainty, on the basis of the Management Committee’s review, there is a reasonable expectation that the charitable company will have adequate resources to continue an operational existence for the foreseeable future and it is therefore appropriate to adapt the going concern basis of accounting for these financial statements.

k. Judgements and key sources of estimation uncertainty

The following judgements (apart from those involving estimates) have been made in the process of applying the above accounting policies that have had the most significant effect on amounts recognised in the financial statements:

Useful economic lives of tangible assets

The annual depreciation charge for tangible assets is sensitive to changes in the estimated useful economic lives and residual values of the assets. The useful economic lives and residual values are re-assessed annually. They are amended when necessary to reflect current estimates, based on technological advancement, future investments, economic utilisation and the physical condition of the assets. See note 10 for the carrying amount of the tangible fixed assets, and note f. for the useful economic lives for each class of assets.

The are no key assumptions concerning the future and other key 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 financial year.

27

“OFF THE RECORD” YOUTH COUNSELLING CROYDON (A company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

2 GRANTS & CONTRACTS RECEIVABLE

Restricted Funds:
Counselling services
- BME Championing Covid 19 vaccine
- Wimbledon Foundation
- Merton Connected Community Champions
Outreach Services
- Comic Relief BAME Outreach
Unrestricted Funds and Contracts:
- Counselling Croydon Community & Crisis Support
- Counselling Sutton Adult Mental Health Transformation
- First Contact Team
- NHS Croydon/LB Croydon
- Counselling Sutton LBS/CCG
- Young Carers’ LBC
- Young Refugees Croydon CCG
- Counselling Online Croydon Transformation Fund
- Counselling Croydon Transformation Fund
- Counselling Croydon CYP Mental Health
- Outreach Sutton Uplift
- Young Refugees LBC
- Young Carers’ IYSS
- Young Carers’ CSG
- Young Carers’ CCG
- Young Carers Mental Health Post
- Young Adult Carers Assessments
- Counselling Online Sutton Transformation Fund
- Counselling Online Sutton Transformation Fund Staffing Cost
- Counselling Sutton Transformation Fund Walk in Session
- Counselling Merton
- NHS SWL CCG Workforce Transformation Agenda
- Young Adult Carers Work
- CAMHS/LB Croydon
- CAMHS Transformation – BAME Manager & BAME Outreach work
- NHS Croydon/Outreach BME CDW
- Mental Health in Schools
- Counselling NHS England Wait Times
- Young Refugees DfE (Dept for Education) project
- Young Refugees Young Roots
- Young Refugees Unrestricted
- BBC Children in Need
TOTAL GRANTS AND CONTRACTS		 Total
2023
£
5,000
27,500
2,500
-
__
35,000
_
46,676
41,556
79,847
153,052
163,284
-
75,767
101,920
114,688
28,956
38,910
30,000
50,000
62,500
58,126
37,000
13,880
55,000
45,000
25,000
548,152
-
45,000
34,000
53,000
101,151
418,811
-
-
6,441
12,750
-
_
2,440,467
_____
2,475,467		 Total
2022
£
-
25,087
-
13,471
__
38,558
_
39,399
40,000
32,807
203,052
220,500
112,500
75,767
101,920
114,688
28,956
38,000
30,000
-
-
58,126
37,000
13,880
55,000
-
-
548,151
2,417
45,000
34,000
53,000
101,151
244,736
15,000
13,118
6,835
12,750
(3,217)
_
2,274,536
_____
2,313,094

28

“OFF THE RECORD” YOUTH COUNSELLING CROYDON (A company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

3 EXPENDITURE

Staff
costs
£
Charitable activities:
Counselling Services
1,601,263
Outreach Services
185,180
Young Refugees Project
119,822
Young Carers Project
272,324
____
2,178,589		 Direct
costs
£
Support
costs
£
Total
2023
£
Total
2022
£
80,532
210,756
1,892,551
1,337,188
5,430
24,373
214,983
216,466
17,139
15,771
152,732
146,522
23,239
35,843
331,406
259,881
_
__
___
_____
126,340
286,743
2,591,672
1,960,057

All costs are allocated between the expenditure categories noted above on a basis designed to reflect the use of the resource. Costs relating to a particular activity are allocated directly, others are apportioned on an appropriate basis, being, time spent.

4 CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES

Unrestricted
Funds
£
Restricted
Funds
£
Total
2023
£
Counselling Services
1,860,261
32,290
1,892,551
Outreach Services
212,483
2,500
214,983
Young Refugees Project
152,732
-
152,732
Young Carers Project
328,135
3,271
331,406
_
__
___
2,553,611
38,061
2,591,672


 Total
2022
£
1,337,188
216,466
146,522
259,881
_____
1,960,057

In 2022 £1,918,892 of the expenditure in relation to charitable activities was attributable to the unrestricted fund, with the remaining £41,165 being attributable to the restricted fund.

5 SUPPORT COSTS

HR and Consulting
Cleaning and waste collection
Office Supplies
Telephone and Internet
Staff costs including recruitment and training
Rent, Rates and Utilities
Operating lease payments
Computer Maintenance
Office and Computer Equipment
Repairs
Insurance
Payroll
Printing and postage
Website and publicity
Other
Governance costs (note 6)		 2023
£
7,187
14,880
10,740
14,253
18,185
80,461
34,429
12,452
47,260
4,368
6,066
7,348
912
8,546
4,675
14,981
_____
286,743
 2022
£
8,828
11,927
2,866
9,554
-
47,075
35,000
11,279
18,933
3,404
6,469
6,390
1,617
-
525
8,220
_____
172,087

29

“OFF THE RECORD” YOUTH COUNSELLING CROYDON (A company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

6 GOVERNANCE COSTS



Auditors’ remuneration
Other governance costs
Professional fees		 2023
£
10,110
583
4,288
__
14,981
__		 2022
£
8,172
-
48
__
8,220
__

7 MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE REMUNERATION AND REIMBURSED EXPENSES

During the year no Management Committee member received remuneration (2022: None) or reimbursed expenses.

8 MOVEMENT IN FUNDS

This is stated after charging:

2023 2022
£ £
Auditors’ remuneration – audit fees 10,110 8,172
____ ____
9 STAFF COSTS 2023 2022
£ £
Wages and salaries 1,913,757 1,493,157
Employer’s National Insurance 191,628 127,817
Pension contributions 73,204 61,507
_____ _____
2,178,589 1,682,481
____ ____
The average monthly number of employees by headcount during the year was:
2023 2022
Direct charitable activities 63 58
Administration and management 6 6
_ _
69 64
______ ______

The full time equivalent number of employees amounted to 56 (2022: 44)

No employee received remuneration in excess of £60,000 (2022: none).

The total amount of employee benefits received by key management personnel is £549,494 (2022: £403,130). The charity considers its key management personnel to compromise those individuals listed on page 1.

30

“OFF THE RECORD” YOUTH COUNSELLING CROYDON (A company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

10
TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS
Land &
buildings
£
Office
equipment
£
COST
At 1 April 2022 and 31 March 2023
138,672
6,221
__
_
DEPRECIATION
At 1 April 2022 and at 31 March 2023
-
6,221
__
_
NET BOOK VALUE
At 31 March 2023
138,672
-
__
__
At 31 March 2022
138,672
-

 Total
£
144,893
__
6,221
__
138,672
_____
138,672

The costs of the freehold property and other expenditure (£135,000 and £3,672 respectively) are shown gross of a £138,672 grant received from Department of Health. Under the conditions attaching to grant dated 28 April 1995 the premises are to be used for the charitable objectives of ‘Off the Record’ Youth Counselling Services. Should the conditions of the grant cease to be met the charitable company is duty bound to inform the Secretary of State and to refund to the Department of Health an amount equal to that portion of the open market value of the property as is attributable to the expenditure of the capital sum.

11
DEBTORS
Prepayments and accrued income
Grants receivable
12
CREDITORS
Accruals and deferred income		 2023
£
55,207
41,685
_
96,892
_
2023
£
80,463
____
80,463
 2022
£
40,087
37,714
_
77,801
_
2022
£
112,355
____
112,355

31

“OFF THE RECORD” YOUTH COUNSELLING CROYDON (A company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

13
RESTRICTED FUNDS
Balance at
01.04.22
Incoming
Resources
Resources
expended
£
£
£
Counselling Services
-
32,500
(32,290)
Outreach Services
-
2,500
(2,500)
Young Refugees Project
-
-
-
Young Carers Project
3,271
-
(3,271)
___
__
____
3,271
35,000
(38,061)


 Transfers
-
-
-
-
_______
-
 Balance at
31.03.22
£
210
-
-
-
_______
210

Counselling: These funds are for the provision of free, confidential young people’s counselling services including online services.

Outreach Services: This fund is the provision of BAME mental health outreach and community development work and a Mental Health Wellbeing Navigator in Sutton.

Young Refugees Project: These funds are for the provision of counselling and group work support for young refugees and asylum seekers.

Young Carers’ Project: These funds are for the provision of information, advocacy, support and respite activities for children and young people with caring responsibilities at home.

Comparative Restricted Funds
Counselling Services
Outreach Services
Young Refugees Project
Young Carers Project		 Balance at
01.04.21
Incoming
Resources
Resources
expended
£
£
£
-
25,087
(26,350)
-
13,471
(13,829)
-
-
-
3,907
350
(986)
___
__
____
3,907
38,908
(41,165)		 Transfers
Balance at
31.03.22
£
1,263
-
358
-
-
-
-
3,271
___
_____
1,621
3,271
14
DESIGNATED FUNDS
Balance at
01.04.22
New
Designations
Designations
Released
Property fund
138,672
-
-
Database
75,000
-
(28,000)
Online platform
15,000
10,000
(15,000)
___
__
____
228,672
10,000
(43,000)


 Balance at
31.03.23
138,672
47,000
10,000
_______
195,672

Purposes of designated funds:

Property fund – this represents the net book value of the property which the charity operates from and therefore the funds are not available for general purposes (see note 10)

Database – this represents monies in respect of costs to produce a new database for the charity

Online platform – this represents monies in respect of costs to update the online platform for the charity

32

“OFF THE RECORD” YOUTH COUNSELLING CROYDON (A company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

14 DESIGNATED FUNDS (continued)

Comparative Designated funds Balance at New Designations Balance at
01.04.21 Designations Released 31.03.22
Property fund 138,672 - - 138,672
Database 40,000 35,000 - 75,000
Online platform - 15,000 - 15,000
_______ _______ _______ _______
178,672 50,000 - 228,672
_______ _______ _______ _______
15 ANALYSIS OF NET ASSETS BETWEEN FUNDS
Restricted Unrestricted Total
funds funds Funds
£ £ £
Fixed assets - 138,672 138,672
Current assets - 986,587 986,587
Current liabilities - (80,463) (80,463)
_____ _____ _____
-
_____		 1,044,796
_____		 1,044,796
_____
Comparative analysis of net assets between funds Restricted Unrestricted Total
2022 funds funds Funds
£ £ £
- 138,672 138,672
Fixed assets 3,271 1,123,439 1,126,710
Current assets - (112,355) (112,355)
Current liabilities _____ _____ _____
3,271
_____		 1,149,756
_____		 1,153,027
_____
16 LEASE COMMITMENTS Land and Buildings
Operating leases which expire: 2023 2022
£ £
Within one year 54,561 35,000
Between one and five years 99,019
_____		 124,370
_____

17 COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE

The Charity is limited by guarantee and accordingly has no share capital.

The liability guaranteed by each member is £1. The authorised membership of the company is unlimited. At 31 March 2023 the membership was five (2022: five).

18. RECONCILIATION OF NET EXPENDITURE TO NET CASH FLOW FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES

33

“OFF THE RECORD” YOUTH COUNSELLING CROYDON (A company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

Net (expenditure) / income for 31 March 2023
Bank interest
Decrease/(increase) in debtors
(Decrease)/increase in creditors
Net cash flow from operating activities		 2023
£
(108,231)
(269)
(19,091)
(31,892)
_____
(159,483)
_______		 2022
£
368,264
(136)
102,088
(14,709)
_____
455,507
_______

19. RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

There were no related party transactions during the year (2022: None).

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