2025-03-31-accounts

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‘‘OFF THE RECORD’’ YOUTH COUNSELLING CROYDON

(A Company Limited by Guarantee)

ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

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)

	Page
Reference and Administrative Details	1
Trustees’ Report	2
Statutory Auditors’ Report	20
Statement of Financial Activities	23
Balance Sheet	25
Statement of Cash Flows	26
Notes to the Financial Statements	27

“OFF THE RECORD” YOUTH COUNSELLING CROYDON

(A company Limited by Guarantee)

REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS

Charity Trustees and	Patricia Nearn
Company Directors	Ben Randall
	Clement Amankwah
	Samantha Griggs
	Grainne Beeney
	Amy Lee
Key Management	Geoff Jones – Chief Executive - from 01/09/24
	Karen Stott – Chief Executive – left 24/08/24
	Emily Collinsbeare
	Caroline Dwan
	Geneen Gray
	Michelle Handley
	Gosia Pawlowska
	Elizabeth Conway
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

“OFF THE RECORD” YOUTH COUNSELLING CROYDON

(A company Limited by Guarantee)

TRUSTEES’ REPORT

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

The Trustee Board has pleasure in presenting their Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2025.

“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 charities trustee deed, the Charities Act 2011 and Accounting and Reporting by Charities Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland published on 16 the July 2014.

STRATEGIC REPORT

Our Overall, Vision

Big, beautiful, brilliant and better mental health for all.

Our Mission

“Showing Up” for all children and young people's mental health in South London and Southwest London.

OBJECTIVES, ACTIVITIES, ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE

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

To promote the preservation of good health

To undertake any other charitable activity

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

To ensure safety, quality and effectiveness
To increase service choice and relevance and performance and clinical excellence
To make services fast and accessible
To strengthen Charity integration and development
To ensure sustainability for the Charity and our services

Throughout 2024/25 the Charity continued to deliver its core activities and services – Counselling / Mental Health Services (including on-line counselling) in the Boroughs of Croydon, Sutton and Merton; Outreach work (including our Black Minority Ethnic Community Development work) and our CHRIS youth violence work); Refugee and Asylum Seeker Counselling Service and the Croydon Carers Service. In January 2025 the Charity added a new Wave 12 team to its mental health delivery in schools and now hosts one schools team in Merton and three in Croydon (hosted jointly with Croydon Drop In – our trusted local partner).

Our founder and CEO Karen Stott retired in August 2024 after thirty years of leading Off the Record. Karen’s vision determined the direction and development of our charity over the during this period and always stayed true to the original conception of a humanistic free offer of talking therapies for as many children and young people as possible. Initially the charity operated in the borough of Croydon, but in recent years extended into Merton and Sutton.

At the heart of Karen’s vision and day-to-day work as a CEO was a depth of compassion and kindness and a humanistic model that all young people given the right conditions would be able to make choices and decisions about their own lives. This belief remains in our DNA as Charity as we move forward. Geoff Jones, the assistant CEO, stepped into the role after 23 years working alongside Karen.

Off the Records Vision remains vibrant and luminous in these challenging times for many young people; Big, Beautiful, Brilliant and Better mental health for all. Our mission remains “Showing up “for all children and young people's mental health in South London and Southwest London.

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

TRUSTEES’ REPORT

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

OBJECTIVES, ACTIVITIES, ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE (continued)

Throughout this period our aim has always been to deliver a wide menu of high-quality humanistic support services to children and young people in Southwest London. Demand remains high following the pandemic with young people presenting increased complexity. These are challenging times for young people, and Off the Record is determined to respond appropriately to meet the ever-changing mental health needs of young people. This has meant that we have continued with the modernisation of our therapeutic offer and ensure that our work forces “looks and sounds like” the local demographic. We place a high store on relatability, effectiveness, engagement, and brilliant and compassionate communication skills delivered by a talented and diverse workforce.

Another aspect of our strategic approach remains our partnership work with a wide range of voluntary sector groups, statutory partners and community groups in the three boroughs that we work in. We believe that our mental health work and messaging is strengthened and enriched if it takes place within the groups and activities that local people know engage and trust. We are continuing to renew, strengthen and refresh our partnerships in order that they remain ethical, meaningful and bring increased added value to ourselves and the wider voluntary sector.

We continue to operate from the freehold property at 72 Queens Rd, 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 offices serve as a base for the Croydon Counselling service, the outreach and Community Development service and the Refugee Counselling Service.

The Sutton counselling service operates from rented premises at 172 Croydon Road, Beddington and our Merton counselling services is based in rented rooms at Vestry Hall in Mitcham. In addition to our existing premises, the charity moved its central administration and management to a newly rented property at Portland Hoose at 678 London Rd near our Queens Road building.

With limited exceptions, all our staff are now back in our offices for their working hours. We made the strategic decision to have a higher profile in our local communities and ensure that the bulk of our mental health offers to young people are relational and face to face in response to what young people were asking us.

We saw a continuing increase in the numbers of young people accessing our services and we prioritised seeing young people as quickly as possible – support at the point of need rather than availability.

The Trustee Board wishes to express its appreciation for the challenging work undertaken by all the staff within the charity, in delivering and developing the charities services to children and young people. We are also appreciative of our local commissioners and external funders who have fully maintained and extended their financial support for our work throughout 2024/2025.

Plans For Future Periods

We recognise that the world, the country and our local communities are in an increased state of flux and heightened alert and our local demographic of children and young people particularly so.

We are fully committed to accompanying and supporting young people with their mental health throughout this time of change. We have recognised that while many children and young people live predominantly online lives, we are committed to being in the “real world” and offering relational help and support at the point of need. We are 100% committed to maintaining low waiting and no waiting times throughout the expansion of our First Contact Team. We are committed to agility, energy, and movement in our offers to young people and plan to run regular drop-ins for young people in the short-term future. The development of our First Contact Team and our new peer support workers are both examples of energising our support package and keeping young people's needs, wishes and demands at the centre of everything that we do.

Over the last year we have built and piloted a new database from which we can collect session by session feedback and data from young people themselves. We believe that we are one of the biggest voluntary sector suppliers of data to the NHS. The collection and scrutiny of our data will continue to drive our strategic development alongside the amplification and celebration of a strong “Youth Voice.” Alongside our data – young people's stories will continue to inspire and drive our work throughout 2025 /26.

We will continue to respond with agility to the “call out” for help at the point of need rather than availability and will increase the number of mental health open access drop-ins that we provide in our local communities.

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

TRUSTEES’ REPORT

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

OBJECTIVES, ACTIVITIES, ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE (continued)

We will continue to consolidate our internal restructuring – ensuring that we have an integrated and consistent management structure that can respond to mental health needs quickly and effectively.

We will continue to develop innovative and creative responses to the mental health needs of boys and young men, tackle the needs that flow from the increase in violence to girls and young women, and ensure that we are supporting young people who identify as trans with their mental health. We will continue to work with our partners in Manchester; 42[nd] Street in developing our national online platform Breathe.

From the accumulated reserves we will be designating funds for our online work and refurbishment of several of our premises.

Our central team

As the Charity has grown since the Pandemic and following on from the development of the First contact assessment team, it was agreed to centralise our service administration team. This is in line with our ‘one front door’ vision for young people, making it easier and more user-friendly to access our services with one phone number, one point of contact and a central team of administrators able and ready to support and process referrals with high levels of friendliness and competence.

Previously our service administrators worked from the building in the borough, they provided admin support for and were managed by the Service Lead/Manager in that borough. We wanted to bring them together, under one manager, to create a team and to centralise and streamline our service administration processes across the whole organisation, creating a more collaborative way of working and in turn and most importantly providing a quicker more efficient service to the young people accessing our services.

And having agreed that The Hub wasn’t a suitable space for our needs, we searched for suitable properties to accommodate our service administration team (along with our CEO, Senior Management team, and core operations team).

In July 2024 we signed the lease on Portland House, 678 London Road, Croydon. A full renovation took place, led by our Office and Facilities Manager, supported by our Operations Manager.

In September 2024 we opened Portland House, and the team of service administrators came together to function as one team under one line manager.

We have centralised the main OTR telephone number (rather than having a different number per borough), making the ‘journey’ for those young people phoning in more straight forward. We have started bi-monthly planning meetings, meeting off site for a dedicated day, as a team to look at cross training and processes with a goal that the administrators will be agile and able to provide administration support across each of the different services within Off The Record. We will continue to have these planning meetings to work towards that goal.

With a more focused and joined up approach to the service administration team we have streamlined the processes which, along with the new database, has proved more time efficient, in turn we have been able to spend more time contacting young people and booking them in for appointments. This has meant that the waiting time for young people waiting for initial appointments has already been reduced considerably, meaning we are starting to really meet the young people at the point of need.

As the service administrators are often the first point of contact having one team means we are able to maintain a high level of service standards to the young people, parents, carers and professionals who we are in contact with, it also means we can quickly and efficiently identify and manage any risk or safeguarding issues that may become apparent to us.

It also allows us to identify any training or development needs within the team, one administrator will be signing up for being the first point of contact often means the team are exposed to some difficult information, therefore we have implemented group supervision for the team on a monthly basis in order for them to have a space to unpack this and between sessions being a collective, they also support each other as a team if the need arises.

There is still more work to do, but so far, it’s been a great success.

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

TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

OBJECTIVES, ACTIVITIES, ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE (continued)

Our Croydon Counselling Service

Objectives and Activities

The Croydon Counselling Service is the oldest service within Off The Record and was established in October 1994. We offer free and confidential counselling and 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 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 3 years have received an increasing number of direct referrals of young people under 18.

In the summer of 2022, Off the Record’s First Contact Team took over responsibility for initial appointments of all new self-referrals to the service with the goal of increasing fast access to initial assessment and short-term support. The First Contact team have aimed to make contact with young people at the point of need rather than availability and this has had a huge impact on our waiting lists and, despite the number of referrals increasing year on year, the First Contact Team has meant that the waiting list for an initial appointment and longer term sessions has decreased.

Since January 2024, CAMHS SPOC referrals are now seen within the First Contact Team and we have seen more engagement due to young people being picked up more quickly for initial appointments and short-term support.

All young people who sign up with the Croydon service whether self-referral or SPOC are sent a text/email with our support line details and our central administration number to contact us if they are struggling. The support line offers immediate access to a mental health practitioner and offers resources should a young person need this. We have had practitioners available to listen and offer emotional support, provide details of our services and if risk is identified in any of the calls, will provide safety planning and book the young person in for an immediate initial appointment.

Although we have not offered a regular drop-in service since the start of the Covid period, our First Contact Team have offered initial weeks and drop-in’s where we have seen an increase in sign-ups and also over Exam weeks and the Christmas period.

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 (more details below).

Achievements and Performance

As per previous years, 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 attended the strategic Croydon 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.

Our Croydon Service is accredited with the BACP and we have completed and met the Annual Rolling Review. The service is accredited until January 2028.

In total, including self-referrals and SPOC referrals, we had 1,272 new contacts from young people between April 2024 – March 2025, which is a substantial increase from last year of 906. During this period, the service offered 3,725 sessions.

We have continued to offer counselling through in-person and remote options (telephone/video) depending on the young person’s preference. There continues to be an increase in the number of young people requesting in-person sessions and a much smaller number through video. This year, our online service have introduced an offer of telephone/video sessions through the online platform which has meant that we have been able to move young people who have presented with low risk to this medium where they have been offered sessions within a few weeks, and has created a further reduction in our waiting times. Young people tell us that remote options make it easier for them to commit to sessions without the added pressure of travelling to our buildings. However, they also value in-person sessions, particularly after the forced isolation of Covid.

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

TRUSTEES’ REPORT

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

OBJECTIVES, ACTIVITIES, ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE (continued)

Across the year around 21% of our clients were male and 69% female. The remaining 10% were young people who defined themselves as transgender or non-binary which is becoming an increasing feature of our work and an increase from last year. As with the previous year, we have seen that more young women access our Croydon service compared to young men. We continue in our efforts to engage young men and diverse gender identities through our outreach work.

Splits between age groups are relatively consistent with previous years with 46% aged 14-17, 27% aged 18-21 and 27% aged 22-25.

Croydon is a very diverse borough, and this is reflected in the ethnicity of young people approaching the Croydon service. 49% of new contacts described themselves as from Black African, Black Caribbean, Black British or Black other backgrounds. 18% identified as being from a range of Asian backgrounds, 26% as White British and the remaining 7% described themselves as being of dual and other heritage.

The main presenting issues brought to counselling continue to be anxiety (246 clients), family related issues (226), school/work difficulties (217), interpersonal/friendship issues (isolation/loneliness (105), trauma/PTSD (94), suicidal ideation/attempts (89)176), depression (131), anger (127), identity (74) and self-harm (64). (Note: young people usually present with more than one issue).

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

“5 star services, kind and down to earth people, highly understanding and patient”.

“I have spread the word about Off the Record to friends that may be in need. I want to commend the service for being super beneficial to people like me and how accommodating it is. I feel very strongly that your service has and always will be able to help young people like me”

“I felt incredibly safe, looked after and listened to and taken seriously”.

“I felt understood and validated. They listened and didn’t judge me. Everyone is so nice and understanding”.

“I was taken care of. There are not enough words to describe how impactful my journey has been from start to finish”.

CHRIS & Custody Suite

Our CHRIS work provides 1:1 therapeutic support to young people aged 14-25. This support has been available at our Croydon service, over the phone/zoom or in the community at a space that is safe and confidential for the young people who have been affected by escalating incidents of serious youth violence or sudden death. Our CHRIS practitioners have also attended spaces where there have been reports of youth violence or sudden death to ensure that we are available to speak with young people and in some cases lay flowers and leave our service cards.

Young people contacting CHRIS are fast-tracked to a BAME counsellor who are able to respond flexibly to their needs.

From April 2023, our CHRIS work expanded to offer support to young people passing through the Croydon custody suite and this year we were successful in our bid to continue the custody suite work. Support is offered to young people aged 10-25 who have been arrested and includes counselling and support/advice on housing, welfare benefits and engagement with sports and other positive activities. We have also attended several events to speak about this work and engage with professionals and young people so they are aware of this service.

Young Refugee Service

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 outreach locations and at Off the Record’s offices as this maximises our accessibility for this vulnerable group of young people.

We had 132 referrals in 24-25, this has stayed relatively stable across the year, young people from Afghanistan continue to be our biggest cultural group at almost 30%. Young men represent more than 80% of our client group. 56% of the client group are currently looked after by a local authority (social care/leaving care team) but a significantly higher number have lived care experience and now live independently but in isolated and complex situations in a hostile environment in England.

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

TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

OBJECTIVES, ACTIVITIES, ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE (continued)

We have strong working relationships and partnerships with a range of refugee supporting organisations, we are an active part of the Croydon Young Refugees Network.

We facilitate a wellbeing and mental health afternoon at the Croydon Virtual School during term time every Friday. The relationships here between staff and pupils is strong and young people find the activities (mainly creative based) a good way to explore mental health language and wellbeing tools, particularly through metaphors. Young people will attend the Virtual School for at least one term at a time so there is space for them to develop themselves and explore their feelings over time.

We provide art and craft sessions at Crystal Palace hotel for children, young people and parents once a week. There isn’t a private counselling space at the hotel, so group sessions are a way to promote the work of the Young Refugee Service in Off the Record and encourage some play and safe space for children and young people to be themselves for a few hours. Parents often sit with their children and young people which creates a community and intergenerational experience.

A mental health practitioner attends Young Roots youth club once a week, they provide 1:1 sessions as mental health check-in's and also engage with young people in a group setting to let young people feel comfortable with mental health staff and conversations. When not offering 1:1’s the colleague is part of the wider staff team and activities that happen for young people.

Young people’s voices:

“Young person said he likes coming here and thinks OTR is a very good place. He said before he came here, nobody asked him how he was on a deeper level and that felt really bad. But here, he feels he can open up because he is asked how he 'really' feels and that encourages him that he can share his real feelings. He said he used to have headaches lasting very long but now he comes here his headaches are less frequent.”

“Young person said he came to Off the Record as a boy and has finished as a man, he said he has grown and matured through this process, learned to be more present and calmer and leave the past in the past and not worry about the future. Young person said he is so thankful for the support and that he is willing to share his experiences of OTR because it might help someone else. Young person said 'you have really been there for me through everything.”

Young Carers Service

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 provides 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 based at Portland House.

We had 265 referrals into the service this year, this continues to rise quarter by quarter, this is positive that young people and their support structures know there is a service for them but increases our pressure to do the best for them. The two largest referral pathways are from Croydon social care and Education setting; this makes up more than 60% of our professional referrals.

We have 984 young carers and young adult carers registered with the service attending 183 different education settings, with a breakdown of 58% young women and 41% young men. Mothers and brothers are the most cared for, being 79% of those recorded, over 80% of families report that the young carer care for one person in their family/home, we believe that this is an under-reporting in multi person caring based on anecdotal discussions with young people.

The biggest success of 2024-25 has been the fantastic news that we were awarded the new Young Carers contract from Croydon Council and SWL ICB. There was a huge amount of work put into this procurement process and how we could offer a new service specification after delivering the service for 20+ years. We have suggested a faster engaging, more responsive and holistic approach which will be a change of some processes and roles in team but still keeps young carers and young adult carers at the centre.

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

TRUSTEES’ REPORT

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

OBJECTIVES, ACTIVITIES, ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE (continued)

We have had excellent respite engagement this year, as an example during the winter break, we hosted 5 activities with 207 individual young people attending. Particularly popular was the Stanley Arts, South Norwood panto on 21[st] Dec, we had 44 young people attending and many parents/guardians commented on how positive it was for the festive feelings and for young people to see live creative theatre in a community setting. Young carers continue to ask for respite that includes food, both as a treat and because during the school holidays they often don’t have a hot meal or can’t afford to eat in restaurants.

This year we refreshed our connection with Sutton Young Carers Service at a Sutton community partnership event in December 24. It was helpful to exchange thoughts about young carers needs across both boroughs and to hear about their processes of referral, registration and their data around wait times/numbers in service etc.

We continue to engage with colleagues in Croydon Council and SLAM, delivering training/workshops for them and sharing data and information about the cohort of young carers in the borough.

In November 24 the Young Carers Service staff team, Off the Record CEO and a group of young carers attended the Croydon Carers Strategy Launch at Bernard Weatherill House. The YCS had submitted two recordings of young adult carers speaking about their lives and caring roles which were played at the event and one young carer spoke ‘live’ about their caring role and how the YCS has supported them. These two examples of young people’s voices were very poignant, and many professionals spoke to us about the impact they had.

Community Team and CDW

The Community Team based within Off the Record delivers community development work focused on addressing mental health inequalities for racialised communities alongside community and outreach work with the aim to meet the needs of marginalised young people who struggle for a range of reasons to access mental health, wellbeing and counselling support.

Our work as part of the ‘Life House’ project funded by the Suicide Prevention Grant (DHSC) has been strong, delivering six ‘residencies’ in three boroughs across the year. The ‘Youth Caff’ residency in Croydon with youth charity Reaching Higher was launched in September, and practitioners continued ongoing residencies at Champz Youth Zone (Sutton), Pollard’s Hill youth club (Merton) and Stanley Arts (Croydon) while The Quad (Sutton YOS) and High St Detached Team (Sutton) residencies have ended. In addition to providing direct support and signposting to young people, a diverse range of mental health interventions were carried out by practitioners, including:

Supporting with cooking classes
Leading football training sessions
Boxing/MMA-style sessions
Printmaking
Collaborations with performers and artists
Support with CV and job hunting
Anger management coping skills
Relationship and family difficulties coping skills

Practitioners worked in collaboration with other non-mental health professionals to design and implement new interventions and services and worked together to manage risk and safeguarding. Positive feedback was received from all service providers.

We regularly attend the Suicide Prevention and Self Harm steering group in Croydon that is facilitated by Croydon Public Health.

Legacy Onside Youth Zone sessions continue fortnightly during term time, we have continued with the same member of staff so there is consistency in the relationship building. Young people have started to self-refer into Off the Record from check in sessions with the practitioner and feeling comfortable about the support they might get. Young people have a space to talk about their weeks and the feelings that is comfortable and safe.

“OFF THE RECORD” YOUTH COUNSELLING CROYDON

(A company Limited by Guarantee)

TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

OBJECTIVES, ACTIVITIES, ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE (continued)

Feedback from Inclusion Co-ordinator:

“At the beginning we saw slow progress as young people adjusted to having Off the Record practitioners in the building, but a solid, respectful relationships has since developed. Practitioners have been valuable assets to Legacy and the Wellbeing Room, bringing a welcoming atmosphere where young people regularly engage. The Trim n Grin session was particularly successful, providing haircuts/trims for young people who cannot afford them and creating a vibrant atmosphere. The grin was really grinning, which has also increased engagement from young people who previously did not enter the Wellbeing Room. Participation in Off the Record's Charity Day allowed young people to meet staff and better understand Off the Record's services and values.”

Off the Record practitioners attended the annual Preparing for Adulthood event held by Sutton Council at the Sutton Life Centre on 14th November. The event was attended by a wide range of organisations providing opportunities and support to young people with SEND in the borough. As well as giving out flyers, business cards and small kits with stress toys, Off the Record hosted a participatory art activity in which young people were invited to write a positive message on a small square of fabric to be attached to a ‘wellbeing quilt’. 50 young people with SEND age 16-18 were engaged in mental health conversations around the following subjects:

What we can do when we're feeling low to help us feel better
Different types of support networks
Encouraging friends and loved ones to reach out
Exam stress
Worries about the future
Friendship/relationship difficulties

We had a small pot of funding to deliver some Trim n Grin’s in Merton this year, they have been well attended (particularly at Pollard’s Hill youth club). We have a great relationship with Krish the Barber who uses a mobile van for his barbering. We also had a Trim n Grin for Young Refugees Service over the summer holiday, although not as well attended it had a big impact on the young people, practitioners and barber.

Practitioners self-reported interventions which reflect the variety of mental health conversations:

“W e talked about the importance of having someone safe, trustworthy and with good knowledge to speak to about mental health”

“We spoke about how we can be ‘in tune’ with our emotions”

“This session I spoke for 30 minutes with two neurodiverse young people who spoke about their struggles in school and fitting in. I supported them and heard their stories whilst offering emotional support and the option of 1:1s”

“A group of girls talked about the struggles of people being judgmental in school after one of the girls had some arguments that day. They initially were very angry, however myself and a youth club worker managed to regulate and calm them down and spoke to them a little bit about the unfortunate judgements that go on in school, and other places too.”

“Young people were feeling down about cost of living crisis and events that are happening across the world. I supported them in this time and we thought about how an individual can allow their life to be positive in times where there is a lot of negative around.”

We continue to attend and have good partnerships with community organisations in all three boroughs as well as Public Health, SWL ICB and Local Authorities and get invited to a range of partnership/network/strategy meetings as well as community events. We have worked closely this year with Be Inspired, Reaching Higher, Sutton Uplift, Merton Uplift Croydon CVA. We have refreshed our relationships with Croydon College and John Ruskin College and were present with student stalls at their freshers' fairs in Sep and well as London South Bank University.

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

TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

OBJECTIVES, ACTIVITIES, ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE (continued)

Croydon’s Mental Health in Schools Team

Off the Record, have been part of the national mental health in schools' initiative since January 2020 with the initiation of the Wave 2 Croydon team. In January 2025, in collaboration with CDI, Off the Record were offered the opportunity to cohost the Croydon Wave 12 Mental Health Support Team. Off The Record’s Mental Health Support Team offer meets a combined student population of around 12,000 students across 21 primary and secondary schools in Croydon. 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 2024-2025 Off the Record’s Schools teams received 330 referrals for 1-1 and targeted small group interventions. In addition to this, they have supported over 1000 contacts under Function 2 and 3 whole school approach support. These have consisted of coffee mornings, assemblies, psychoeducational workshops for children, staff and parents, supporting school’s Wellbeing Champions staff training and wellbeing, consultations and attending parent’s evenings.

Function 1 – Targeted 1-1 and group work

We received 330 Referrals for 1-1 and targeted group work. 129 young people were referred for anxiety, 89 for behavioural related difficulties, 59 for other, 46 for low mood and 7 for trauma. Other is defined as loss, bereavement, relationship issues, eating issues, family issues, anger etc.

1,174 young people attended sessions over this period. 49% were female, 49% male and 2% identified as other.

We use goal based outcomes to set client-led goals as a tool to measure growth and improvement towards their therapy goal. They score this goal on a scale of 0-10 throughout their intervention. An increase of 2.45 from beginning to end of intervention is deemed a reliable improvement.

88% of young people showed a reliable improvement, 8% as no reliable change and 4% as showing a deterioration.

Feedback: For client-led interventions:

"The support I received was really beneficial not only for now but for future too. I have gained a lot of information and where to go in future if I or any of my friends need help."

“It helped me because I could tell about my feelings, it released stress and made me feel happy. I've opened up more at home and less shy with friends. And it feels good."

"I got to say things that I'd not tell anyone else. I got them out of my head. I don't feel stressed anymore."

"It helped me chill out and feel happy. I was feeling stressed before. I can focus more in lessons. I play more with friends. “

"It feels nice to open up, I usually stay quiet. It feels nice to have somebody to talk to about your feelings…once I start to open to people, you see a different side of me. It makes me feel happier, makes me want to come to school and have a good day. “

For parent-led interventions:

"My practitioner listened to all my concerns, and she was able to direct me on the right path. E.g. how to improve my relations with my daughter, what to do when she is upset."

"I could talk about things outside of my child, but also connected to him, it was the bigger picture"

"We have been given really good techniques to help with anxiety flares and we have noticed a very visible change in our son since we started this course.”

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

TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

OBJECTIVES, ACTIVITIES, ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE (continued)

For targeted group interventions:

"I learnt in this cool connections group empathy, how to be a good friend and not cross people's boundaries." "I learnt how to express myself."

"I learnt to try to talk to new people and getting out my comfort zone.”

Function 2 and 3

Function 2: Supporting with Senior Mental Health Lead in implementing a Whole School and College Approach to Wellbeing.

Function 3: Offering consultation and sign posting

We reached over 1000 individuals with function 2 and 3 work. This consisted of universal group work, such as psychoeducational workshops on transitions, online safety and emotional regulation, staff trainings, parent webinars, coffee mornings, assemblies, training and supporting school’s wellbeing champions, consultations, attending parents’ evenings and other school events.

We had 336 attendees join our online parent/carer webinars which covered topics on transitions, anxiety, low mood, common behaviour challenges, emotionally base school non-attendance, ASC, ADHD and self-care for parent/carers.

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. We have regular monitoring meetings with CAMHS and the Sutton Commissioner and also attend regular meetings with our Sutton partners.

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. From February we have paused our self-harm workshop to refresh its content.

We have continued to offer two creative based groups for young people run by our qualified art therapists. One is an art therapy group for young survivors of abuse, domestic violence and trauma. The other is an art therapy group targeting younger adolescents who struggle to engage in a 1:1 setting or have had a short-term intervention of 1:1 support but feel would benefit from being in a group. Both these groups have proved popular and provide a medium for young people to express their feelings and concerns using art rather than words. We have also continued to offer individual 1:1 art therapy sessions to both SPA and self-referrals.

Art therapy has been particularly helpful and popular for young people who struggle to communicate their feelings and thoughts as it uses images and the art making process as a means of self-discovery and expression. Art in a therapeutic context can act as a form of non-verbal, symbolic communication which can be helpful for young people who find it difficult to find words for their experiences.

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

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

TRUSTEES’ REPORT

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

OBJECTIVES, ACTIVITIES, ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE (continued)

All new Sutton referrals, whether self-referral or SPA are offered an initial assessment through our First Contact Team which offers immediate support through short-term interventions, at the point of need rather than the point of availability. Young people who come in for an initial appointment are offered a choice of practitioner either male or female and are risk assessed and an opportunity to discuss their presenting issues and what type of support they would like going forward. A follow-up email is sent with appropriate resources, details of our workshops and a plan going forward. For some young people, one initial appointment with a follow-up check-in is all that has been needed, in other cases, we offered 3 immediate sessions.

For those where the level or risk/complexity means short-term interventions would not be appropriate, they are placed directly onto the counselling pathway within the Sutton counselling service but are still provided with details of our current support options, resources and an intervention to ‘hold’ them whilst they wait. They also receive regular check-in calls and the offer of holding sessions if needed. The result of the first contact team initiative has been that our waiting list for counselling has reduced, and feedback has been that young people have been pleased to have been offered immediate support and have felt satisfied with the support they have been given.

Achievements and Performance

During this year, there were 851 new contacts to the Sutton service, the highest figures since the service began and an increase from last year when the figure was 790. There were 568 referrals came via our self-referral pathway and 282 were via SPA (Single Point of Access).

Our First Contact team continues to work in the Sutton service, seeing both SPA and self-referrals for an initial appoint and offering short-term focused early interventions, which means our waiting list for longer-term intervention has reduced.

The age profile of young people using the Sutton services was 36% aged 11-13, 45% aged 14-17, 13% aged 18-21 and 6% aged 22-25. The largest increase has been for those age 11-13 where last year we saw 31%.

Of the young people who accessed ongoing counselling, 257 presented with anxiety, 233 with school/work issues, 198 presented with friendship issues, 197 with family issues, 122 with anger, 99 with self-harm, 91 with depression, 74 with isolation/loneliness, 74 with suicidal ideation/attempts, 64 with trauma/PTSD, 55 with identity, 34 with loss/bereavement. Other issues presented include: 31 neurodiversity/diagnosis, 29 abuse of client and 28 with other abuse related issues, 24 eating, 21 domestic violent/abuse, 12 with sexuality/gender, 8 with racism/discrimination/cultural issues, 7 with financial/welfare difficulties, 5 with gang related issues and 3 with immigration. Young people normally present with more than one related difficulty.

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

” The loveliest person ever, really made a massive positive impact in my life even in the short period we got sessions."

"I am very grateful and would definitely recommend this. I feel listened to extremely well and has changed a lot and made my situation easier.

"It helped me to feel its ok to talk to people about how I am feeling. I was pleased my mum learned about risks I was taking, because mum understands it better now and we can try and work through things together moving forward."

"The service was kind and understanding of my emotions. I feel ready to take on the next stage of my journey from the help of this stage here."

" My counsellor was really friendly and kind. He was extremely helpful and understanding to my issues and always made me feel heard. He offered insight with ideas and suggestions and always made me feel comfortable. He had a way about him that made me feel I was just talking to a really wise old friend rather than a professional which was lovely and comfortable."

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

TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

OBJECTIVES, ACTIVITIES, ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE (continued)

Merton Counselling Report

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 community 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 referral 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 17 primary and secondary schools in Merton offering direct support to children, young people, and their families. Following the successful recruitment of 4 Educational Mental Health Practitioner trainees, our team became an official MHST in January. The team offers both a flexible ‘counselling-based’ model and EMHP CBT-based intervention with emphasis on a whole school approach, universal and targeted group work and short-term one-to-one interventions suited to school delivery. In addition to clinical support, MSWT has been actively engaged in setting up an EPEC (Empowering Parents Empowering Families), a wellevidenced program designed to improve access to parenting support within the local community. In collaboration with EPEC Coordinator and practitioners from other MHST teams, the first parent group has been successfully launched. 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.

Our outreach team 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.

In Merton we introduced a new Peer Support Worker delivering mental health support to young adults aged 18-25 as part of a new mental health transformation programme in SWL and working in partnership with the SWLSTG Trust.

Achievements and Performance

We are in the 6th year of our ICB contract and have continued to have a consistent, multidisciplinary team within Merton including two part-time Peer Support workers, two MH practitioners, one Manager and an administrator. 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. During this period, we have introduced a series of group sessions within the counselling service focusing on using creativity and CBT to support young people, particularly those who present with difficulties such as ASD or ADHD. Also in 2024, we mobilised a service offering PSW to young adults 1825y

This year we received 854 referrals, which is a similar number to the previous year. The service offered 1:1 support to 808 young people across 3,702 sessions. Our group work and workshops across the counselling, MSWT and community outreach parts of the service engaged over 2,100 children, young people, parents and professionals in the borough. Of those that accessed our services for emotional support 56% self-referred, 36% were referred by a professional (often educational establishments) and 8% were referred by Merton CAMHS. This data reflects sustained numbers of referrals and levels of need within Merton.

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

TRUSTEES’ REPORT

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

OBJECTIVES, ACTIVITIES, ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE (continued)

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 65% of clients identified as female 31% identified as male and 4% identified as non-binary or transgender. Of these young people: 19% were aged 4-10; 22% were aged 11 to 13; 30% were aged between 14 and 17, and 30% of clients in the 18 to 25 age group. Data indicates that 53% identified as being from diverse BAME backgrounds, with 37% identifying as coming from a White British background and 10% identifying as having a White ‘other’ background. Young people presented most with the following issues: anxiety, which is by far the most common (13%); school (11%); peer relationship difficulties (9%); family issues (9%); low mood/depression (7%). Nearly half of young people seen experienced suicidal ideation (45%) and just under a quarter disclosed the experience of self-harm (23%); this reflects the ongoing need for an increased level of safeguarding support in response to higher levels of risk experienced by young people which emerged from the lockdowns. These figures describe a population of young people who are struggling with anxiety and stresses in both school and family environments alongside peer relationship difficulties, low mood 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 19) and, at the end of interventions, on average scored within the “mild” range for psychological distress (average score 15), 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. In answer to the question “what was really good about your care”, examples of answers from young people are:

"Epic and super helpful"

"I felt listened to and understood. Could be myself with no judgement"

"Having space to talk about what I needed too, and my issues were spoke about in really an appropriate way which I appreciated"

"I felt listened to. Gave me a third person perspective with good ideas that help."

"Felt listened to and able to speak about anything”.

Online Service

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 (3-12 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 access support in a range of ways, including writing, phone and video. Our written counselling offer has been established since 2016 and enables young people to write about their problems rather than talking, meaning they can have their counselling and support 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).

This year we have also introduced the options of phone and video sessions to our site. We can call young people direct from the site or meet them via our website via an embedded video in the chat space. It gives young people a wider choice of ways to access remote counselling. We have found that it has been very helpful for clients to be able to move seamlessly between different mediums when they have wanted to change, and to be able to stay with the same counsellor rather than wait to be referred to a different service.

To complement this one-to-one support, we have also delivered targeted workshops, 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.

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

TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

OBJECTIVES, ACTIVITIES, ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE (continued)

Achievements and Performance

This year we have seen a consistent number of new registrations to the online platform (239 new registrations, compared with 232 in 2024-25), and 155 returning clients, who have signed up for further support.

1527 counselling sessions were delivered, including initial assessments and ongoing counselling sessions. All clients are offered assessment sessions, either ‘live’ phone or chat sessions, or asynchronous message-based communication, which provide a rapid response (initial contact within 72 hours) to all young people who register for our service. During the assessment 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 assesses any risk or considerations around the young person’s suitability for online work.

Our targets to respond to young people in a timely, accessible and effective way were fully met over the year, with 99% of new registrations responding within 72 hours. We continue to comfortably meet our target timeframes for allocating clients to a counsellor following registration and assessment, with 99% of young people completing the assessment process within 4 weeks and 100% being allocated for ongoing counselling within 8 weeks from assessment.

Service satisfaction remains high, with 98% of young people agreeing (true or partially true) that the help they received via the service had been good and 100% stating that they would recommend the service to a friend or family member. 98% said that their ‘views and worries were taken seriously’, and 100% felt that ‘the people providing the online support service read and understood what I wrote’.

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 have remained consistent and in line with previous years, with 77% of clients showing improvement.

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, 58% of online clients come from a background where they do not identify as white British, and 35% identified as LGBTQ+. These percentages remain consistent with previous years. Over recent years we have noticed a significant increase in young people who describe themselves as having a disability (from 3% in 2022/23 to 11% this year). This will include a range of different types of disability, as defined by the young person themselves, and may reflect an increasing awareness and widening acceptance of a wide range of disabilities. For example, neurodiverse clients can value the option to connect in a range of ways, not just face to face; those with physical disabilities may appreciate the ease of accessing online support.

Some feedback from clients :

“A lot of time and care was clearly put into all responses which made me feel seen/heard.”

“I felt listened to and encouraged and I for a lot of positive affirmation to help me on the right track”

“They genuinely were concerned about my worries/concerns. They gave me very unique advice from an incredibly positive perspective. They took all my concerns seriously no matter how small.”

“All of my issues and thoughts are all taken into consideration. Nothing is ignored or left out. I am not given any empty responses, and the counsellor always tries to understand how I feel from my point of view being able to give sufficient input and advice”

“My thoughts, feelings and problems are fully listened to and in my responses, nothing is ignored - everything I say is considered. I am given questions and responses that make me reflect on how I feel and what I’ve been through which is quite helpful.”

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 74 workshops were hosted.

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

TRUSTEES’ REPORT

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

OBJECTIVES, ACTIVITIES, ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE (continued)

Over 400 registrations to the workshops were received and 220 attendances were recorded to both our weekly ‘Keeping Connected’ support group and our themed workshops which included ‘Managing Anxiety’, ‘Managing Low Mood’, ‘Managing Exam Stress’, and ‘Sleep Solutions’. In addition to workshops for young people we also run workshops for parents and carers including ‘Self harm support for parents/carers’ a two-part workshop, and ‘Support for parents/carers of young people who struggle to get to school’. Alongside our work within the Mental Health Schools Teams, our webinars for parents provide an important layer of support to the young people’s mental health community across Croydon, Sutton and Merton.

STATEMENT ON PUBLIC INTENT

The objectives, activities and performance sections of this report clearly set out the activities which the charity undertakes for the public benefit. The Trustees confirm that they have compiled 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 company.

RISK MANAGEMENT

The Trustee Board actively review the major risks which the charity faces on a day-to-day basis and has established systems to mitigate those risks including timely reports to the Trustee Board against an agreed risk register. The risk register was expanded in 2020. Risks include:

Financial – the risk of loss of funding through non-renewal of grants/ contracts; over expenditure through lack of financial control: fraud; potential VAT /tax liability. The 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 in accordance with our reserves policy.

Clinical – the charity works with vulnerable young people in 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. 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.

Premises & Facilities – risks include Health and Safety breaches within maintained premises creating potential risks to staff or service users and risk of litigation; financial risks from costs of building maintenance and upkeep; catastrophic events e.g. fire/flood making one or more building unusable. These risks are managed by having a Health and Safety Officer in place, regular Health and Safety checks and 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 £3,028,391 (2024: £2,694,844). Resources expended totalled £2,712,797 (2024: £2,610,087). The net movement in funds for the year is a surplus of £315,594 (2024: £84,757). This resulted in total funds at 31 March 2025 of £1,445,147 (2024: £1,129,553).

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; NHS England, DHSC.

“OFF THE RECORD” YOUTH COUNSELLING CROYDON

(A company Limited by Guarantee)

TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

FINANCIAL REVIEW (continued)

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 Trustees annually. This states that Off the Record holds reserves for the following purposes:

To aid cash-flow management – To facilitate effective cash management as expenditure can sometimes precede receipt of the corresponding income. Additionally, to mitigate against delays in funding.
To cover unforeseen expenditure – To meet unexpected operational costs that may accumulate throughout the year.
To provide transitional funding – To provide transitional funding for core programmes which suffer a short-term shortfall in funds.
To facilitate programme closure – To support the orderly wind-up of one or more programmes which are being closed or for which future funds have not been secured.
For future planned expenditure – To support planned commitments or designations that cannot be met by future income alone.

The target level of reserves is reviewed by the Trustees each year as part of the annual budget process considering:

a) The forecast income and expenditure for the coming budgetary period and any material uncertainties in those projections.
b) The pattern of income and expenditure for the forthcoming budgetary period, with particular attention given to programmes where funding is in arrears of expenditure.
c) Off the Record’s strategic and operational plans for the coming budgetary period and for future years. This includes an analysis of material future expenditures which cannot be met solely by future income of that period (e.g. new IT commitments).

For the 2025/26 budgetary period the charity is aiming for a target of approx. 4 months operating costs (approximately £1.05m) of unrestricted reserves. The current level of reserves is broadly on target.

Total general unrestricted funds at 31 March 2025 are £1,146,315 (2024: £921,430), designated funds were £298,827 (2024: £208,123) and restricted funds £5 (2024: £nil). 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.

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

“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, as amended on 19 July 2025.

The governance of the charity is the responsibility of the Trustee Board who are elected and co-opted under the terms of the Articles of Association. The Trustee Board consists of a minimum of 4 elected trustees, with no maximum, elected by the members at the Annual General Meeting (AGM). Trustees shall retire from office at the end of their third year of their term of office following their election. Retiring trustees are then eligible for re-election. The Trustees can co-opt up to 5 additional trustees during the year, and they will hold office until the next AGM.

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

TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT (continued)

The trustees who served during the year and up to the date of signature of the financial statements were:

Alefiyah Kapasi	(resigned 30/11/24)
Laura Haigh	(resigned 31/03/25)
Patricia Nearn
Ben Randall
Kerry Smith	(resigned 11/6/25)
Clement Amankwah
Samantha Griggs	(appointed 13/07/24)
Grainne Beeney	(appointed 13/07/24)
Amy Lee	(appointed 30/11/24)

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 Trustee Board shall not fall beyond five.

Induction and Training of the Trustee Board.

The charity recruits new Trustee Board members through local and national adverts and interviews potential candidates with reference to a job description and person specification. If selected from interview, Trustee Board members are provided with an induction pack and the opportunity to observe a Board meeting. The Board has developed a manual which is given to all board members.

Organisational Structure and Decision Making

The Trustee Board consider governance issues at the regular meetings. The Board meet at least 5 times a year throughout the year to ensure that governance issues are regularly addressed.

The Board continue to make decisions relating to the overall strategic development of the charity and ensure that the organisation is working in accordance with its aims and objectives and the Memorandum and Articles of Association. The Board delegate responsibility to the CEO and Senior Managers to ensure that service provision is carried out within the charity’s overarching 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 its operations.

The Trustee Board considers the board of trustees and senior staff as 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 their time freely and no trustee renumeration 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 CEO and, in accordance with the Trustee Board policy, withdraw from decisions where a conflict of interest arises.

The Charity employs a team of senior managers comprising a CEO, an assistant CEO (currently vacant) and currently 3 senior managers who together oversee the delivery of the work to young people and the line management of staff. The management is currently in the process of structural transition which is likely to be completed in 25/26. Managers pay is primarily aligned to local government pay scales with pay increases mirroring nationally agreed increases to the scales.

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

TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

STATEMENT OF THE TRUSTEES’ RESPONSIBILITIES

The Trustee Board (who are also directors of “Off The Record” Youth Counselling Croydon for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the Trustee Board ‘s Annual 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 Trustee Board to prepare financial statements for each fiscal year which give a true and fair view of the financial situation of the charity and of the surplus or deficit of the charity for that period. In preparing those financial statements the Trustee board are required to:

Select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently.
Observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP 2015 (FRS 102)
Make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and reasonable and prudent.
State whether applicable UK Accounting Standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements.
Prepare the financial statements on the ongoing concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charitable company will continue in operation.

The Trustee Board 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 Trustee Board 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 Trustee Board on 29 November 2025 and signed on their behalf by:

……………………………………. ………………………….. CLEMENT AMANKWAH GRAINNE BEENEY

“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 2025 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:

give a true and fair view of the state of the charitable company’s affairs as at 31 March 2025 and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including its income and expenditure for the year then ended;
• have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice; and
have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006.

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 charitable 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 other information comprises the information included in the annual report other than the financial statements and our auditor's report thereon. The trustees are responsible for the other information contained within the annual report. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon. Our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the course of the audit, or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.

We have nothing to report in this regard.

Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006

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

the information given in the Trustees’ Report, which includes the Report of the Trustee Board prepared for the purposes of company law, for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements; and
the strategic report included within the Trustees’ Report has been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements.

“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 Report of the Trustee Board.

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:

adequate accounting records have not been kept by the charitable company, or returns adequate for our audit have not been received from branches not visited by us; or
the charitable company’s financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or
certain disclosures of trustees’ remuneration specified by law are not made; or
we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit.

Responsibilities of trustees

As explained more fully in the Statement of the Trustees’ Responsibilities, 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.

“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

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:

Enquiry of management and those charged with governance around actual and potential litigation and claims as well as actual, suspected and alleged fraud;
Reviewing minutes of meetings of those charged with governance;
Assessing the extent of compliance with the laws and regulations considered to have a direct material effect on the financial statements or the operations of the charity through enquiry and inspection;
Reviewing financial statement disclosures and testing to supporting documentation to assess compliance with applicable laws and regulations;
Performing audit work over the risk of management bias and override of controls, including testing of journal entries and other adjustments for appropriateness, evaluating the business rationale of significant transactions outside the normal course of business and reviewing accounting estimates for indicators of potential bias.

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.

Sarah Jennings FCA (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: 16 December 2025

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

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT

		Unrestricted	Restricted	Total	Total
		funds	funds	2025	2024
	Notes	£	£	£	£
Income from:
Donations		12,176	-	12,176	3,291
Interest		-	-	-	1,021
Charitable activities	2	2,859,278	146,170	3,005,448	2,690,267
Other income		10,767	-	10,767	265
		_____	_____	_______	_______
Total income		2,882,221	146,170	3,028,391	2,694,844
		_____	_____	_______	_______
Expenditure on:
Charitable activities:
Counselling services		2,065,437	29,995	2,095,432	1,941,238
Outreach Services		157,198	105,170	262,368	238,537
Young Refugees Project		100,513	1,000	101,513	139,174
Young Carers Project		243,484	10,000	253,484	291,138
		_____	_____	_____	_____
Total expenditure	3	2,566,632	146,165	2,712,797	2,610,087
		_____	_____	_____	_____
Net movement in funds	8	315,589	5	315,594	84,757
Funds brought forward at 1 April 2024		1,129,553	-	1,129,553	1,044,796
		_____	_____	_____	_____
Total funds carried forward at
31 March 2025		1,445,142	5	1,445,147	1,129,553
		_____	_____	_____	_____

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.

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

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

COMPARATIVE INCOME AND	EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT	EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT
		Unrestricted	Restricted	Total	Total
		funds	funds	2024	2023
	Notes	£	£	£	£
Income from:
Donations		3,291	-	3,291	7,705
Interest		1,021	-	1,021	269
Charitable activities	2	2,636,108	54,159	2,690,267	2,475,467
Other income		265	-	265	-
		_____	_____	_______	_______
Total income		2,640,685	54,159	2,694,844	2,483,441
		_____	_____	_______	_______
Expenditure on:
Charitable activities:
Counselling services		1,913,528	27,710	1,941,238	1,892,551
Outreach Services		221,968	16,569	238,537	214,983
Young Refugees Project		139,174	-	139,174	152,732
Young Carers Project		281,048	10,090	291,138	331,406
		_____	_____	_____	_____
Total expenditure	3	2,555,718	54,369	2,610,087	2,591,672
		_____	_____	_____	_____
Net movement in funds	8	84,967	(210)	84,757	(108,231)
Funds brought forward at 1 April 2023		1,044,586	210	1,044,796	1,153,027
		_____	_____	_____	_____
Total funds carried forward at 31 March 2024		1,129,553 _____	- _____	1,129,553 _____	1,044,796 _____

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

Company number 2987817

BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31 MARCH 2025

	Note		2025		2024
		£	£	£	£
Fixed Assets	10		138,672		138,672
Current Assets
Debtors	11	392,512		547,608
Cash at bank and in hand		1,032,940		594,977
		____		____
		1,425,452		1,142,585
Creditors:amounts falling
due within one year	12	(118,977)		(151,704)
		____		____
Net Current Assets			1,306,475		990,881
			__		__
Net Assets			1,445,147		1,129,553

			__		__
Represented by:
Restricted funds	13		5		-
Unrestricted funds:
Designated funds	14		298,827		208,123
General fund			1,146,315		921,430
			__		__
Total funds	15		1,445,147		1,129,553
			__		__

Approved by the Board of Trustees on 29 November 2025 and signed on their behalf by:

……………………………………. ………………………….. CLEMENT AMANKWAH GRAINNE BEENEY

…………………………..

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

CASHFLOW STATEMENT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

	Notes	2025	2024
		£	£
Cash flow from operating activities	18	437,963	(295,739)
		____	____
Net cash flow from operating activities		437,963	(295,739)
		____	____
Cash flow from investing activities
Interest received		-	1,021
		____	____
Net cash flow from investing activities		-	1,021
		____	____
Net increase/(decrease) in cash and cash equivalents		437,963	(294,718)
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of the year		594,977	889,695
		____	____
Cash and cash equivalents at end of the year		1,032,940	594,977

		____	____
Cash and cash equivalents consists of:
Relating to:
Cash at bank and in hand		1,032,940	594,977
		____	____

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

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

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), 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. Monetary amounts in these financial statements are rounded to the nearest £.

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:
Raising funds are those costs incurred in attracting voluntary income.
Expenditure on charitable activities include expenditure associated with the organization.

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.

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

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

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 Trustees.

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.

Further to note 10, the balance held in land and buildings in relation to 72 Queens Road, Croydon, is not depreciated despite not being held at market value to reflect that it is a donated asset. Management believe the residual value of the is equal to or in excess of its cost.

g. Debtors and creditors receivable/payable within one year

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 Trustees 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 Trustees’ 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 1.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.

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

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

2 GRANTS & CONTRACTS RECEIVABLE

Restricted Funds:	Total	Total
	2025	2024
Counselling services	£	£
- Wimbledon Foundation	30,000	27,500
Outreach Services
- DHSC Suicide Prevention Fund	105,170	16,569
Young Refugee Project
- Young Roots	1,000	3,090
- Asylum Seeker Support Fund	-	7,000
Young Carers’ Services
-Young Carers’ Respite Grant	10,000	-
	_	_
	146,170	54,159
	_	_
Unrestricted Funds and Contracts:
Counselling Services
- First contact team	51,463	51,463
- NHS Croydon /LB Croydon	156,742	155,807
- CAMHS/LB Croydon	34,000	34,000
- Counselling Croydon CYP Mental Health (Data Manager)	29,654	29,477
- Counselling Croydon Transformation Fund	117,452	116,752
- Counselling Croydon Community & Crisis Support	49,802	49,802
- Mental Health in Schools	581,119	438,476
- CYP IAPT Trainee Support	101,265	88,047
- Counselling Online Croydon Transformation Fund	104,377	103,755
- Counselling Online Sutton Transformation Fund	55,000	55,000
- Counselling Sutton LBS/CCG	164,651	150,500
- Counselling Online Sutton Transformation Fund Staffing Costs	45,000	45,000
- Counselling Sutton Transformation Fund Walk In Session	25,000	25,000
- Counselling Sutton Adult Mental Health Transformation	44,947	43,260
- Counselling Merton	428,908	571,389
- Counselling Merton Mental Health in Schools	180,840	-
- Counselling Merton Adult Mental Health Transformation	43,915	-
Outreach Services
- NHS Croydon /Outreach BME CDW	103,590	102,972
- CAMHS Transformation – BAME Manager post &
BAME Outreach work	54,278	53,954
- Custody Suite Pilot	69,313	92,418
- Outreach Sutton Uplift	42,700	41,097
Young Refugee Project
- Young Refugees Croydon CCG	77,593	77,130
- Young Refugees LBC	30,000	30,000
- Young Refugees Virtual School	12,750	12,750
Young Carers Service
- Young Carers’ IYSS	50,000	50,000
- Young Carers’ CSG	62,500	62,500
- Young Adult Carers Work	45,000	45,000
- Young Adult Carers Assessments	-	13,880
- Young Carers' CCG	59,527	59,013
- Young Carers Mental Health Post	37,892	37,666
	_	_
	2,859,278	2,636,108
	_	_
TOTAL GRANTS AND CONTRACTS	3,005,448	2,690,267
	______	______

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

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

3 EXPENDITURE

Staff costs £ Charitable activities: Counselling Services 1,775,141 Outreach Services 203,732 Young Refugees Project 77,185 Young Carers Project 188,163 ____ 2,244,221	Direct costs £ Support costs £ Total 2025 £ Total 2024 £ 2,035 318,256 2,095,432 1,941,238 2,140 56,496 262,368 238,537 8,117 16,211 101,513 139,174 17,680 47,641 253,484 291,138 _ __ ___ _____ 29,972 438,604 2,712,797 2,610,087

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 2025 £ Counselling Services 2,065,437 29,995 2,095,432 Outreach Services 157,198 105,170 262,368 Young Refugees Project 100,513 1,000 101,513 Young Carers Project 243,484 10,000 253,484 _ __ ___ 2,566,632 146,165 2,712,797	Total 2024 £ 1,941,238 238,537 139,174 291,138 _____ 2,610,087

In 2024 £2,555,718 of the expenditure in relation to charitable activities was attributable to the unrestricted fund, with the remaining £54,369 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)	2025 £ 16,704 23,933 22,121 29,387 41,411 75,334 35,571 16,599 53,398 46,692 10,947 - 3,152 17,696 13,875 31,784 _____ 438,604	2024 £ 8,430 16,017 6,115 16,099 26,871 92,012 35,000 24,416 40,750 7,983 11,917 7,283 2,764 - 4,121 27,157 _____ 326,935

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

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

6 GOVERNANCE COSTS

Auditors’ remuneration Other governance costs Professional fees	2025 £ 23,370 - 8,414 _____ 31,784	2024 £ 16,260 540 10,357 _____ 27,157

7 TRUSTEE REMUNERATION AND REIMBURSED EXPENSES

During the year no Trustee received remuneration (2024: None) or reimbursed expenses. In the prior year, trustee expenditure in note 6 above was primarily the cost of refreshments at Trustee meetings.

8 MOVEMENT IN FUNDS

This is stated after charging:

2025 £ 2024 £ Auditors’ remuneration – audit fees 23,370 16,260 _ _ 9 STAFF COSTS 2025 £ 2024 £ Wages and salaries 1,978,426 1,947,731 Employer’s National Insurance 191,468 184,128 Pension contributions 74,327 70,385 __ __ 2,244,221 2,202,244 _ _ The average monthly number of employees by headcount during the year was: 2025 2024 Direct charitable activities 67 61 Administration and management 6 6 _ _ 73 67	2024 £ 16,260	2024 £ 16,260
	___	_ 2024 61 6 _ 67

The full time equivalent number of employees amounted to 54 (2024: 54)

One employee received remuneration in excess of £60,000 (2024: none).

The total amount of employee benefits received by key management personnel is £467,081 (2024: £424,566). The charity considers its key management personnel to compromise those individuals listed on page 1.

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

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

10
TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS
Land &
buildings
£
Office
equipment
£
COST
At 1 April 2024
Disposals
138,672
-
6,221
(6,221)
__
_
At 31 March 2025
138,672
-
__
_
DEPRECIATION
At 1 April 2024
Eliminated in respect of disposals
-
-
6,221
(6,221)
__
_
At 31 March 2025
138,672
-
______
____
NET BOOK VALUE
At 31 March 2025
138,672
-
__
_
At 31 March 2024
138,672
-

Total
£
144,893
(6,221)
__
138,672
_
6,221
(6,221)
__
138,672
_____
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	2025 £ 290,539 101,973 _ 392,512 _ 2025 £ 118,977 ____ 118,977	2024 £ 44,038 503,570 _ 547,608 _ 2024 £ 151,704 ____ 151,704

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

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

13 RESTRICTED FUNDS

Balance at 01.04.24 Incoming Resources Resources expended £ £ £ Counselling Services - 30,000 (29,995) Outreach Services - 105,170 (105,170) Young Refugees Project - 1,000 (1,000) Young Carers Project - 10,000 (10,000) ___ __ ____ - 146,170 (146,165)	Transfers - - - - _______ -	Balance at 31.03.25 £ 5 - - - _______ 5

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

Outreach Services: This fund is for the provision of mental health outreach work, including BAME mental health, working around serious youth violence and suicide prevention.

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 01.04.23 Incoming Resources Resources expended £ £ £ 210 27,500 (27,710) - 16,569 (16,569) - - - - 10,090 (10,090) ___ __ ____ 210 54,159 (54,369)	Transfers Balance at 31.03.24 £ - - - - - - - - ___ _____ - -

14 DESIGNATED FUNDS Balance at 01.04.24 New Designations Designations Released Property fund 138,672 - - Database 19,451 - (10,656) Online platform 10,000 - (8,640) Portland refurbishment 40,000 - (40,000) Online development - 100,000 - Premises refurbishment - 50,000 - ___ __ ____ 208,123 150,000 (59,296)	Balance at 31.03.25 138,672 8,795 1,360 - 100,000 50,000 _______ 298,827

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 funds set aside for the new online database

Portland refurbishment: costs of refurbishing new leased property

Online development: funds set aside for further online development

Premises refurbishment: refurbishment of the Queens Road and Croydon Road properties

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

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

14 DESIGNATED FUNDS (continued)

	Comparative Designated funds	Balance at	New		Designations	Balance at
		01.04.23	Designations		Released	31.03.24
	Property fund	138,672		-	-	138,672
	Database	47,000		-	(27,549)	19,451
	Online platform	10,000		-	-	10,000
	Portland refurbishment	-	40,000		-	40,000
		_______	_______		_______	_______
		195,672	40,000		(27,549)	208,123
		_______	_______		_______	_______
15	ANALYSIS OF NET ASSETS BETWEEN FUNDS
			Restricted		Unrestricted	Total
			funds		funds	Funds
			£		£	£
	Fixed assets		-		138,672	138,672
	Current assets		5		1,425,447	1,425,452
	Current liabilities		-		(118,977)	(118,977)
			_____		_____	_____
			5 _____		1,445,142 _____	1,445,147 _____
	Comparative analysis of net assets between funds		Restricted		Unrestricted	Total
	2024		funds		funds	Funds
			£		£	£
			-		138,672	138,672
	Fixed assets		-		1,142,585	1,142,585
	Current assets		-		(151,704)	(151,704)
	Current liabilities		_____		_____	_____
			- _____		1,129,553 _____	1,129,553 _____
16	LEASE COMMITMENTS				Land and	Buildings
	Operating leases which expire:				2025	2024
					£	£
	Within one year				79,340	130,794
	Between one and five years				134,167	273,968
	Due greater than 5 years				- _____	11,667 _____

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 2025 the membership was nine (2024: eight).

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

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

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

Net (expenditure) / income for year Bank interest Decrease/(increase) in debtors (Decrease)/increase in creditors Net cash flow from operating activities	2025 £ 315,594 - 155,096 (32,727) _____ 437,963	2024 £ 84,757 (1,021) (450,716) 71,241 _____ (295,739)

19. RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

There were no related party transactions during the year (2024: None).

‘‘OFF THE RECORD’’ YOUTH COUNSELLING CROYDON

(A Company Limited by Guarantee)

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

CONTENTS

“OFF THE RECORD” YOUTH COUNSELLING CROYDON

(A company Limited by Guarantee)

REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS

“OFF THE RECORD” YOUTH COUNSELLING CROYDON

(A company Limited by Guarantee)

TRUSTEES’ REPORT

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

STRATEGIC REPORT

Our Overall, Vision

Our Mission

OBJECTIVES, ACTIVITIES, ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE

TRUSTEES’ REPORT

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

OBJECTIVES, ACTIVITIES, ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE (continued)

Plans For Future Periods

TRUSTEES’ REPORT

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

OBJECTIVES, ACTIVITIES, ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE (continued)

Our central team

TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

OBJECTIVES, ACTIVITIES, ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE (continued)

Our Croydon Counselling Service

Objectives and Activities

Achievements and Performance

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

TRUSTEES’ REPORT

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

OBJECTIVES, ACTIVITIES, ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE (continued)

CHRIS & Custody Suite

Young Refugee Service

TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

OBJECTIVES, ACTIVITIES, ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE (continued)

Young people’s voices:

Young Carers Service

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

TRUSTEES’ REPORT

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

OBJECTIVES, ACTIVITIES, ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE (continued)

Community Team and CDW

“OFF THE RECORD” YOUTH COUNSELLING CROYDON

(A company Limited by Guarantee)

TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

OBJECTIVES, ACTIVITIES, ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE (continued)

TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

OBJECTIVES, ACTIVITIES, ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE (continued)

Croydon’s Mental Health in Schools Team

Function 1 – Targeted 1-1 and group work

TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

OBJECTIVES, ACTIVITIES, ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE (continued)

Sutton Counselling Service

Objectives and Activities

TRUSTEES’ REPORT

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

OBJECTIVES, ACTIVITIES, ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE (continued)

Achievements and Performance

TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

OBJECTIVES, ACTIVITIES, ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE (continued)

Merton Counselling Report

Objectives and Activities

Achievements and Performance

TRUSTEES’ REPORT

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

OBJECTIVES, ACTIVITIES, ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE (continued)

Online Service

Objectives and Activities

TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

OBJECTIVES, ACTIVITIES, ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE (continued)

Achievements and Performance

Some feedback from clients :

TRUSTEES’ REPORT

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

OBJECTIVES, ACTIVITIES, ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE (continued)

STATEMENT ON PUBLIC INTENT

RISK MANAGEMENT

FINANCIAL REVIEW