Registered number: 032122&8 Charity number: 1056777 INVOLVE NORTHWEST (A company limited by guarantee) TRUSTEES. REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024 INVOLVE NORTHWEST (A company limited by guarantee) CONTENTS Page Reference and administrative details of the charity, its trustees and advisers Trustees. report Independent auditorfs report 10-13 Statement of tlnanclal actfvities 14 Balance sheet 15 Statement of cash flovrJ 16 Notes to the financial statements 17-33 INVOLVE NORTHWEST (A Company limited by guarantee) REFERENCEAND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS OF THE COMPANY. rrs TRUSTEES AND ADVISERS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024 Trustees D Cheyne G Doran A Barr M O'connor (resigned 26 November 2024) D Black (appointed 16 August 2023) A Wright (appointed 16 August 2023) Company registered number 03212268 Charity registered number 1056777 Reglstered office 334 New Chester Road, Birkenhead, Wirral, CH42 1LE Company secretsry L Aspinall Chief executive officer L Robinson (acting) Senior management team J Molyneux, CEO (until June 2024) L Robinson, Deputy CEO, acting CEO from June 2024 Independent auditor Crowe U.K LLP 3rd Floor St George's House 56 Peter Steet Manchester M2 3NQ Bankers Barclays Bank PLC, 2 Bebington Road. Birkenhead, CH42 6PU CCLA Investment Managemen(1 Angel Lane, London EC4R 3AB CAF Financial Solutions Limited, 25 Kings Hill Avenue, Kings Hill, West Malling Kent EC4R 3AB Solicitors Brabners, Horton House, Exchange Flags, LNerpool, L2 3YL Pagel 1 INVOLVE NORTHWEST (A company limited by guarantee) TRUSTEES REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024 The trustees are pleased to present their annual directors, report together with the financial statements of the charity for the year ending 31 March 2024 which are also prepared to meet the requirements for a directors, report and accounts for Companies Act purposes. The financial statements comply with the Charities Act 2011, the Companies Act 2006, the Memorandum and Articles of Association, and Accounting and Reporting by Charities.. Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (revised 1 January 2019). Our purposes and activities The purposes of the charty are: To benefft the inhabitants Vlfirral wide by the promots'on of such charitable purposes as the trustees in their absolute discretion may from time to time decide. The Trustees have currently decided to support the delivery of quality of life interventions for people, families and communities. The vision for the organisation has always been 'people' since its inception in 1991. The driver for the delivery of the services is about knowing what our clients, needs are by the services and projects delivered and then lookj'ng strategically at how to gain the funds to support each service area with a funding stream that can sustain longevity in delivery. Involve's clients and passionate staff team help support the growth and development of the organisation for the future. The majority of staff are recruited from the Wirral population and they bring a wealth of experience, qualificats'ons, life resources and the passion to want to make a differen￿ in whatever part of the charity they work within. The 7 key service areas are: Employment Social isolation Disability Benefits Domestic Abuse Debt Mental Health The Community Hubmell-being hub In shaping our objectives for the year and planning our activities, the trustees have considered the Charity Commission's guidance on public benefi( including the guidance 'public benefit running a charity (PB2)'. All services deltvered by Involve Northwest are free of charge as we are able to secure grant funding to deliver the key strands and often are able to provide further wrap around support packages. Page12 INVOLVE NORTHWEST (A company limited by guarantee) TRUSTEES REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024 The stratsgies employed to achieve the charity's aims and objectives are to: Offer free employment support to people who are long-temi unemployed on Vlfirral, also delivering job clubs in accessible venues in the community" Provide a service that delivers and supports socialty isolated people through a door knocking project. Support people on health related benefits maintain or enhan￿ what they receive. Provide a domestic abuse service for mums and children, peer mentoring volunteering project and deliver the domests'c abuse kite mark for businesses Provide advice and guidan￿ for individuals living in debt & financial povety Offer support to individuals with mild to moderate mental health issues Provide free clothing or pay as you feel and a range of free community activities Support the provision of free food Providing holistic therapies to our clients Putting these strategies into action we have supported annually over 12,000 vulnerable people. Our services we describe as supportlng qualty of life improvements. Reachout The Reachoutservice has been deltvered by Involve forthe past 17 years and has significantly grown in delivery. The main aim of the service is to support people who are long-temi unemployed and inacttve to help them find sustainable employment. The service is also delivered across Wirral via local community work clubs and three hub based community venues. Reachout also provides a discretionary fund to help tackle the pre employment barriers that individuals and families face whilst looking forwork, this fiJnd helps issues such as interview clothes, training and travel costs An employer engagement officer supports the Servi￿ and is able to find employers on Wirral and beyond to ensure that Reachout is the first place they recruit from wrth our bank of people looking for work. Community Connectors The community connectorfs contract was won in February 2017 has now been extended until January 2025. The main aims of the project are to go out into the community via a door knocking seNice and find isolated people to help them gain a place back in the communty. The Servi￿ also helps small voluntary groups with spark fund to help them to continue to deliver the vital resources in the community such as: Knit and natter groups IT groups Men's mental health Toast and talk The Wirral Infobank website, (WIB) which is hosted by Wirral Council was also developed and continued to be supported through this project The Community Connector service was awarded an extra contract in December 2022 to increase the team by another 23 people to be out in the community offering this vital service. This addttional contract was then extended to run until 31st January 2023 and is helping help people and communtties recover from the effects of the pandemic. Pagel 3 INVOLVE NORTHWEST (A company limited by guarantee) TRUSTEES REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024 Benefits service The benefits service is one of the longest stsnding services delivered by Involve 2nd it was actually how the organisation started in 19911 Since then various ftjnders have helped deliver this project to help many thousands of people across Wirral. The main aim of the seNice is to support people with a health related condition etther apply for benefit support, sustsin benefit support or make a Challenge rfthatfinancial support has been removed. The service also offers representation at tribunal level if needed. Domestic Abuse The award of fvnding from The Steve Morgan Foundation meant that In September 2020 we started the development of the new Lighthouse families centre. The centre has three dedicated staff members operating 5 days a week and 2 evenings offering a safe pla￿ if you are or have suffered domestic abuse. The centre is now funded until March 2026 with a grant from the National Lottery and we are aiming to be able to add services to the Lighthouse centre that complement the delivery. We also have two Independent Domestic Violence Advocates, funded through the PCC budget and a Children's Servi￿ funded by Wirral Borough Council. In order to develop new sour￿$ of funding, a new charity °The Lighthouse Centre Wirral. was incorporated and registered in 2023. Details are shown in Note 20. Debt l Money Management The aim of this project is to help indlvlduals in financial crisis tsckte their debts, advocate on their behalf with the lenders and also support individuals and families with bespoke money management plans moving forward. Mental Health This project specifically works with individuals who have presented at their GP with anxiety and depression and who are awaiting intensive therapy. The project can intervene at pre- and post-therapy stage to tackle the identified practs'cal issues to help alleviate the overall mental health pressures and reduce down NHS waiting lists. Our volunteers The charity is very involved within the community and relies on voluntsry help. The main area that volunteers are involved is through the domestic abuse service via peer mentoring (#gotthetshirtl. This crucial partofthe organisation delivers coffee mornings across Wirral supporting and helping sufferers of domestic abuse. Achievements and performance Involve has achieved the followlng during the year. 760 clients have signed up to Reachout of which 466 clients were supported into sustainable employment, with 244 new vacancies found via our local Employer engagement teaml 111 clients have recetved one-to-one mental health support from our Brighter Times tearn. 1,793 clients were signed up to the Connect Us project of which, 840/0 of clients have gone onto accessing an activity as a consequence of being supported by a connector. 127 families (inclusive of 290 children and household members) were supported by our Family Connectors, 84 % of these families reported an improvement of their wellbeing after 3 months of supporL 662 people have been supported with their Mental Health with 96 /0 feeling more in control of their lives when disengaging from the servicel The Wirral Info Bank webstte has received 73.000 views. with 3.859 servI￿S now available online for local people to a¢￿sS additional support. 1,075 local people have been referred to the Community Hub for suppor(525 local people have received a food parcel. Page14 INVOLVE NORTHWEST (A company limited by guarantee) TRUSTEES REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024 Achievements and perfomiance (cont.) 1,292 client wellbeing interventions have been delrvered by our Helpout advisors, of which 960A of clients reported an improvement in their wellbeing. 627 have been supported with Welfare and Debt issues to overcome financial povety with £1.1 million of benefits maintained andlor maximised! I OQOA of our DV children say they feel happier after receiving support from the Leapfrog Programme. 595 people have been supported with welfare beneffts support directly at local social supermarkets. 594 clients have received support from the Lighthouse Centre with 1,567 client interventions. A total of 10 Lotus programs have been delivered. Fundralslng The charity had no fundraising activities requiring disclosure under S162A of the Charities Act 2011. Financial review The results for the year and the charity's financial posits'on at the end of the year are shown in the attached financlal ststements. Incoming resources in the year were £2,862,502 (2023: £3,547,828) of which £2,744.945 (2023.. £3,475,178) related to project restricted acttvtties. The main reason for the reduction in income was the ending of additional Covid 19 related funding for Communty Connectors that ended in January 2023. The main funder for Involve Northwest is Wirral Council, who provided £936,288 (2023." £997,163) in respect of Wirral Worklessness Support (known as "Reachouf) and £936,288 (2023: £1,246,319} for the Community Connectors project in addition to funding for the Leapfrog and some other projects. Resources expended were £2,994.008 (2023. £3,270,386). £2,738,852 (2023.. £3,043,523) related to restricted activities. Total outgoing resources exceeded incoming resources by £131,506 (2023.. income exceeded expenditure by £277,442). Th was because outgoing restricted resources ex￿eded incoming restricted resources by £225,202, compared with 2023 where incoming restricted resources exceeded restricted funds expended by £245,777. In 2024, there were net incoming unre5trtcted resources of £93,696 {2023: £31,665) Our pricing policy Our pricing policy reflects our strategy of enabling all within our community, whatever their means, to take part in our acts'vities, thus everything delivered is free. Investment Policy The Charity does not have funds to invest for the long term at this stage. but it does hold bank deposits that are held for contingencies, to underwrite core costs in the event that major contract is not renewed or to cover redundancy costs in a similar situation. The trustees therefore deposit any funds that are not needed in the short term for operational needs with a variety of interest bearing deposit holders, to spread the risk of the holdings and to ensure that the funds are accessible as and when needed for operational purposes. During the year the charity operated a deposit account with CCLA Investment Management Limited that is instantty accessible and bears a competitive variable interest rate. In addition, through CAF Financial Solutions Lts, Involve Northwest aC￿sS an investment platform with Flagstone Investment Management. This enables us to a¢¢ess a range of term bank deposits through that platfO￿n for penods of up to 18 months, while spreading the risk by holding an amount that is covered by the FCA depos(t protection scheme wth each deposit taker. Pagel 5 INVOLVE NORTHWEST {A company limtted by guarantee) TRUSTEES REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024 Reserves policy Reserves are primarily needed to ensure that the core and support costs of the charity can be met should a significant contract be ended. The trustees, policy is to ensure that sufficient free reseNes are held to cover up to six months of core and support costs in order to cover such costs should major contracts be terminated and to give time for altemative funding to be obtained or for a reorganisation of the charity- In addition, the trustees have designated sufficient reserves to cover the unfunded redundancy liability to which it would be exposed should its contracts be teminated. Finally, the trustees have designated an amount equal to the net book value of the building and improvements to a designated buildings reserve. as these funds are not readily realisable. At 31 March 2024, six months core costs are estimated to be around £220,000 and free unrestricted reserves amounted to £371,969 (2023.. £269,597}. In addition, the designated redundancy reserve totals £157,135 (2023.. £128,164> and the designated building fund totsls £242.493 (2023: £280,140). Total unrestricted funds amounted to £771.597 (2023.. £677,901). Going Concern Tre trustees have considered the financial position of the charity. the levels of free reseNes and financial forecasts for 2025-26 and, as a consequence, the trustees are Satisfied that the charity is well placed to manage its financial risks successfully. The charity is funded to a signtficant extent by short term contracts that are subject to periodic re-tender or extension. The main risks that the charity faces would be the impact on recovery of core costs should ￿rtain key contracts not be renewed and the redundancy costs that might arise in the event that happens. A significant part of the income of the chartty is provided through its Reachout contract which has been extended to 31st March 2025 with the possibility of further extension, subject to funding being available. However, the trustees have considered the ability of the charity to continue as a going concem, were the contract not to be extended after March 2025. The trustees have reviewed the projected reserves p0S￿On in March 2025 and consider that it would be sufficient to continue to fund the core support and management costs of the charity for a period of at least twelve months were the contract not to be renewed after that date. This would provide time and resources to seek altemative income sources or to arrange an orderly restructure of the charity. The trustees have also designated sufficient funds in a redundancy resetve to cover the maximum estimated redundancy costs should all tts contracts not be renewed and the relevant staff team made redundant at that point. Should a contract be awarded to another provider at that date, it is likely that the staff currently employed on it would be transferred to the new provider under TUPE and the new provider would assume that redundancy liability. 1st the renewal of the contract from 1st April 2025 represents an Un￿rtaInty for the charity, the trustees consider that even if the contract is not renewed the chaty would be able to continue to operate as a going concern and deliver the remaining contracts and the financial ststements have been prepared on such a basis. Page16 INVOLVE NORTHWEST (A company Itmited by guarantee) TRUSTEES REPORT FOR THEYEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024 Plans for future periods Following the lifting of Covid restrictions and the reopening of the Hub to be a service to the Communty and the securing of the renewal of the Reachout Contract, the objectives for development over the next few months include.. Re tendering for the successor contract to the current Reach Out contract after the current contract ends in March 2025. Continuing to invest in the building to ensure its suitability and sustainability to support the work of Involve Northwest and other partner organisations who use the building into the future Furtherdeveloping thework of the Lighthouse Centre, following the establishment of a subsidiary charity to bid for new funding . Update the Memorandum and Articles of the Chartty Ensuring stsbility of current contracts in line with funders Exploration the development of services outside Wirral Maintaining a fully tenanted building in the ethos of Involve Northwest Dlrectors and trustees The directors of the charftable company (the charity) are its trustees for the purpose of charity law. The trustees and officers serving during the year and since the year end were as follows: Chair A Barr. Elected trustees: A Barr G Doran M O'connor (resigned 26th November 2024) D Black (appointed 16 August 2023) A Wright (appointed 16 August 2023 Structure, Governance and Management Governing Document Involve Northwest is a company limited by guarantee govemed by its Memorandum and Articles of Association dated 14 June 1996. It is registered as a charty wtth the Charity Commission. Appointment of trustees As set out in the Articles of Association the charty appoints trustees through a re¢ruttment process to join the board. The board will always have a quorum forvoting processes as set out in the articles. The board also retain the right to co-opt board members with specialist skills if neecfed by the charty. Trustee induction and training New trustees undergo an orientation day to brtef them on their legal obligations under charity and company law, the Charity Commission guidance on public benefit and inform them of the content of the Memorandum and Articles of Association, the committee and decision-making processes, the busin*s plan and recent financial performance of the charity. During the induction day they meet key employees and other trustees. Trustees are encouraged to attend appropriate extemal training events where these will facilitate the undertaking of their role. Page17 INVOLVE NORTHWEST (A company limited by guarantee) TRUSTEES REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024 Organisation The board of trustees, which can have up to 12 members, administers the charity. The board normally meets quarterly with an annual away day. A Chief Executive is appointed by the trustees to manage the day-to-day operations of the charty. To facilitste effective operations. the Chief Executive has delegated authority, within terms of delegation approved by the trustees, for operational matter5 including finance, employment and strategic development. Related parties and co-operation with other organisations None of our trustees re￿1ve remuneration or other benefit from their work with the charity. Any connection between a trustee or senior manager of the charity must be disclosed to the full board of trustees in the same way as any other contractual relationship w(th a related paty. In the current year no such related paty transactions were reported. Pay policy for senior staff The directors consider the board of directors, who are the charity trustees, and the senior management team comprise the key management personnel of the charrty in charge of directing and controlling, running and operating the charity on a day-to-day basis. All d1￿CtOrS give their time freely and no director received remuneration in the year. The pay of the senior staff is reviewed annually and normally increased in accordance with average earnings. In view of the nature of the charity, the directors benchmark against pay levels in other provincial charities of similar size run on a voluntary basis. Risk management The trustees have a risk management strategy which comprises: 8n annual review of the principal risks and uncertainties that the charity is compliant to ISO 9001.2015 standards the establishment of policies, systems and pro￿dureS to mttigate those risks identified in the annual review., and the implementation of procedures designed to minimise or manage any potential impact on the charity should those risks materialise. This work has identified that financial sustainability is the major financial risk for the charity- A key element in the management of financial risk is a regular review at each board meets'ng which is discussed with the trustees. The charity commissioned an updated Business Continuty Plan with support from our insurers during the year. Attention has also been focussed on non-financial rtsks arising from fire, health and safety such as lone working. These risks are managed by ensuring accreditation is up to date, having robust policies and procedures in place, and regular awareness training for staff working in these operational areas. Pagel 8 INVOLVE NORTHWEST (A company limited by guarantee) TRUSTEES REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024 Trustees, responsibiltttes in relation to the financial statements The charity trustees are responsible ft)r preparing a trustees, annual report and financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice). Company law requires the charity trustees to prepare financial statements for each year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Charitable company and the group and of the incoming resources and application of reSoUr￿s, including the income and expenditure. of the charitable group for that period. In preparing the financial statements, the trustees are required to- select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently., observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP", make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent state whether applicable UK accounting standards have been ft)Ilowed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements; prepare the financial statements on the going concem basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in business. The trustees a￿ responsible for keeping proper accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and to enable them to ensure that the financial ststements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and the group and hen￿ taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities. The trustees are responsible forthe maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial infomiation included on the charitable company's website. Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in otherjurisdictions. Ststement as to disclosure to our auditors In so far as the trustees are aware at the time of approving our trustees, annual report. there is no relevant information, being infomats'on needed by the auditor in connection with preparing their repor( of which the charities auditor is unaware, and the trustees, having made enquiries of fellow directors and the group's auditor that they ought to have individually taken, have each tsken all steps that helshe is obliged to take as a director in order to make themselves aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the auditor is aware of that information. Small Company Provisions This report has been prepared in accordan￿ with the special provisions relating to small companies within Part 15 of the Companies Act 2006. By orde the board of twstees D BLACK Trustee Pagel 9 INVOLVE NORTHWEST (A company by guarantee) INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORTTO THE MEMBERS OF INVOLVE NORTHWEST Opinion We have audited the financial statements of Involve Northwest for the year ended 31 March 2024 which comprise the Ststement of Financial Activities, Balan￿ Shee( Cash Flow Statement and notes to the financial statement5. including significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United lfjngdom Accounting Stsndards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accountsng 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 2024 and of its incoming reSoUr￿S and application of resources, including its income and expenditure for the year then ended", have been properly prepared in accordan￿ wtth Unitsd Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice., have been prepared in accordan￿ with the requi￿rnents of the Companies Act 2006. Basis for opinion We conducted our audit in accordance with Intemational Stsndards on Audtttng (UK) (ISAS (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities Llnder those standards are fijrther described in the Auditorfs responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report We are independent of the charitable company in accordan￿ with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC'S Ethical Standard, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion. Conclusions relating to going concern In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the directorfs use of the going Gon￿rn basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate. Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the charitable company's ability to continue as a going concern for a pertod of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue. Our responsibilrties and the responsibilities of the directors with respect to going concem are described in the relevant sections of this report. other information The trustees are responsible for the other information contained within the annual reporL The other information comprises the infom12tion included in the annual repor( other than the financial statements and our auditorfs report thereon. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicit]y stated in our report, we do not express any fomi of assurance conclusion thereon. Our responsibilty is to read the other inforrnation and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the audit, or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies 01 apparent material misstatements, we are required to deterrnine whether this gtves rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If, based on the work we have perfomed, we conclude that there is a material misststement of this other information, we are required to report that fact. We have nothing to report in this regard. Page | 10 INVOLVE NORTHWEST (A company by guarantee) INDEPENDENT AUDtTOR'S REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF INVOLVE NORTHWEST Opinion on other matter prescribed by the Companies Act 2006 In our opinion based on the work undertaken in the course of our audit the information given in the directors, report forthe financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements. and the trustees, report have been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements. Matter5 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 audi( we have not identified material misstatements in trustees, report. We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relatson 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 vistted by us", or the financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and retums. 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; or the trustees were not entitled to prepare the financial statements in accordance with the small companies, regime and tske advantage of the small companies, exempts.on in preparing the trustees report and from the requirement to prepare a strategic report. Responsibllltles of trustees As explained more fully in the trustees, responsibilities ststement set out on page 9, the trustees are responsible for the preparation of the financial ststements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such intemal control as the trustees detemiine is ne￿SSary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misststement, whether due to fraud or error. In preparing the financial statements. the trustees are responsible for assessing the charitsble company's abiltty to continue as a going concem, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going Goncem 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 altemative but to do so. Auditofs responsibilities for the audit of the financial ststements 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 audrtorfs 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 a￿ayS detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material tf, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of user5 taken on the basis of these financial statements. Extent to which the audit vffis considered capable of detecting irregularities. including fraud Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We identified and assessed the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements from irregularities, whether due to fraud or error. and discussed these between our audit team members. We then designed and performed audit procedures responsÈve to those risks, including obtaining audit eviden￿ sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion. We obtained an understanding of the legal and regulatory frameworks wthin which the charitable company operates, focusing on those laws and regulations that have a direct effect on the determination of material amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. The laws and regulations we considered in this context were the Companies Act 2006. Charities Act 2011 and employment legislation. Page | 11 INVOLVE NORTHWEST (A company by guarantee) INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF INVOLVE NORTHWEST We assessed the SuS￿ptibIlity of the financial statements to material misstatemen( including how fraud might occur, by meeting wtth management from relevant parts of the business to understand where management considered there was a susceptibility to fraud. We also considered the potential for management to manage earnings and influence the perceptions of the financial ststements. We identified the greatest risk of material impact on the financial statements from irregularities, including fraud, to be the override of controls by management and the timing of recognition of income. Audit procedures perfomied by the engagement team included-. Evaluation of the design of controls established to address the risks related to material irregularities in the financial statements. Testing manual joumal entries, in particularjournal entries relating to management estimates and entries detemined to be large or relating to non-routine transactions. Evaluation of income recognition policies and any judgements made around income recognition; reviewing the income system for significant deficiencies or susceptibility to fraud., Challenging assumptions and judgements made by management in their significant accounting estimates-, Agreement of the financial statement disclosures to underlying supporting documentation; Making enquiries of managemen(. Review of minutes of board meetings throughout the period. Our audit prO￿dureS were designed to respond to risks of material misstatsment in the financial statements, recognising that the risk of not detecting a material misststement due to fraud is higher than the risk of not detecting one resulting from error, as fraud may involve deliberate concealment by, for example, forgery, misrepresentations or through collusion. There are inherent limitations in the audit procedures performed and the further removed non-compliance with laws and regulations is from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, the less likely we are to become aware of it. Owing to the inherent limitations of an audit, there is an unavoidable risk that we may not have detected some material misstatements in the financial statements. even though we have properly planned and performed our audit in accordance wtth auditing standards. We are not responsible for preventing non