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← The Challenging Behaviour Foundation

2025-01-31-accounts

The Challenging Behaviour Foundation making a difference to the lives of people with severe learning disabilities ANNUAL REPORT 2024-2025

Contents

Contents
Page
1.
Foreword from our Chair		 3
2.
Report of the Trustees		 4
a.Objectives and Activities
i.
Information and Support		 9
ii.
Strategic Influencing		 10
iii.
Sharing Best Practice		 11
b. Achievements and Performance
i.
Information and Support		 12
ii.
Strategic Influencing		 16
iii.
Sharing Best Practice		 21
3.
Financial Review		 25
4.
Our Plans for the Coming Year		 27
i.
Information and Support		 28
ii.
Strategic Influencing		 30
iii.
Sharing Best Practice		 31
5.
Structure, Governance and Management		 32
6.
Reference and Administrative Data		 33
7.
Statement of Trustees’Responsibilities		 35
8.
Report of the Independent Auditors		 36
9.
Statement of Financial Activities		 40
10.
Balance Sheet		 41
11.
Cash Flow Statement		 42
a.
Notes to Cash Flow Statement		 43
12.
N
otes to the Financial Statements		 44
Mt l t f h I' hi

given him a reason to

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1. Foreword

From Dr David Allen

Chair of Trustees

This has been another momentous year for The Challenging Behaviour Foundation (CBF). We have seen the well-earned retirement of our former CEO, Viv Cooper. Viv started the charity from scratch and has overseen its growth into the thriving organisation that CBF has become today. She is entirely unique and quickly became one of the UK’s most passionate, dedicated, and hard-working champions of people with severe learning disabilities and their family carers. Her achievements are too numerous to mention here, but it is sufficient to state that our whole landscape of policy and practice for this group would look entirely different had Viv not taken on the huge task of founding CBF in 1997. We wish Viv a long and happy retirement – but are also delighted that her knowledge and expertise will not be entirely lost to us as she has agreed to take on a time-limited role of Family Carer Research Advisor.

We have also been delighted to welcome our new CEO, Jacqui Shurlock, who took up post early in 2025. Jacqui has worked for us previously and will already be known to many of you. She quickly hit the ground running, is bringing lots of new ideas about how CBF can develop in the future and has been extremely busy in her first few months in post. The Board of Trustees was delighted to offer Jacqui the post and extremely pleased that she is there to steer the charity forward.

We saw the election of a new government in the past year and, as always, that brought challenges in terms of maintaining and developing our strategic influencing work. Jacqui and colleagues have been very active in terms of trying to forge links with new ministers and MPs in order to ensure that the needs of the people that we support are not just widely understood but acted upon.

The present financial climate is difficult for all charities, and we are working hard to ensure our future financial stability. The legacy of the Jan Seamer Fund has helped enormously in terms of managing the current choppy economic waters and in the past year enabled us to undertake important strategic work in relation to succession planning, completing some key resource updates, and providing a series of memorial workshops for family carers.

As ever, we are hugely indebted to the many families, donors, and volunteers who have contributed to our work over the past year – we are so grateful to you for your continuing support. Finally, I would also like to thank the brilliant staff team, whose output and quality of work always manages to astonish me, and a wonderful team of trustees who have made managing the last year such a positive and productive experience.

Dr David Allen, Chair of Trustees

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2. Report of the Trustees

For the year ended 31st January 2025

The Trustees who are also the directors of the charity for the purposes of the Companies Act 2006, present their report with the financial statements of the charity for the year ended 31st January 2025. The Trustees have adopted the provisions of the Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP) ‘Accounting and Reporting by Charities’ issued in 2015.

Objectives and aims

The Challenging Behaviour Foundation (CBF) exists to improve the quality of life of children, young people and adults with severe learning disabilities whose behaviour challenges, and their families.

Our Values

Inclusion – We embrace diversity and actively ensure every perspective is sought, valued, and included respectfully and with dignity, promoting connections and collaboration.

Understanding and Compassion - We aim to comprehend diverse perspectives with empathy and openness, to support and help make things better for people in need.

Co-production and collaboration - Our work is co-produced, and we work collaboratively.

Integrity and Independence - We ensure that our work is not compromised by conflicts of interest (e.g. through accepting funding from a particular source) and we retain our core focus on getting the right support in the right place at the right time, upholding honest and ethical principles in all our work.

Advocacy – We champion the rights and well-being of individuals with severe learning disabilities and their families with passion and dedication.

Learning through experience - We record, reflect and learn from our work and its outcomes to improve and amplify our impact.

We are the only UK charity specifically focused on the needs of children, young people and adults with severe learning disabilities whose behaviour may be described as challenging, and their families.

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Our vision is for all people with severe learning disabilities, whose behaviour challenges, to have the right support and opportunities to live full and active lives.

Our mission is to make a difference to the lives of people with severe learning disabilities, whose behaviour challenges, and their families, working together to:

What is Challenging Behaviour

The term ‘challenging behaviour’ first came into widespread use in the UK through a publication by the King’s Fund Centre. This clearly explained that the term emphasises: ‘… that such behaviour represents challenges to services rather than problems that individuals with learning disabilities in some way carry around with them. If services could rise to the “challenge” of dealing with these behaviours they would cease to be “problems”. The term challenging behaviour places the focus of discussion on services rather than on the individuals showing the behaviours.’*

The NHS estimates that there are over 30,000 people in the UK who have a severe learning disability and are at risk of developing behaviours that challenge. A person with a severe learning disability may have little or no speech, find it difficult to learn new skills and need ongoing support to carry out daily activities such as washing and dressing.

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have a severe learning
30,000+
disability and are at risk of
people developing behaviours
in the UK
that challenge
Challenging behaviour has a formal definition
Terminology: challenging behaviour
SE
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Challenging behaviour has a formal definition and is a term used to refer to a variety of behaviours which some people with a learning disability may display. These behaviours vary and include aggression, eating inedible objects, severe self injury or significant obsessive repetition, typically putting the safety of the person or others at risk and/or restricting their access to ordinary life opportunities.

Without appropriate support, children, young people and adults with severe learning disabilities whose behaviour may challenge find themselves at greater risk of poor healthcare, poor life prospects and abuse. Families often find themselves isolated from their local community, unsupported by local services and separated from their relatives. Our work focuses on family-led carer support and adopts a Positive Behaviour Support (PBS) approach.

We have carefully built a reputation within the field of learning disability for advocating strongly for this client group, for proactively joining people and organisations up, and for making a difference at an individual, organisational and national level. Lived experience and co-production is embedded in all our work, and we are focused on delivering good outcomes for individuals and their families.

- PBS your questions

People whose behaviour challenges have the same needs as everyone else, in addition to special needs for help to overcome the problems their behaviour presents. They do not surrender their needs for personal relationships, for growth and development or for anything else because their behaviour presents a challenge to services. They have the same human rights as everyone else.

– Mansell 2, 2007

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How we work

Our primary objective is to ensure that with good support each individual can live a happy, active life in their community with access to healthcare, employment, leisure and education, as well as a fulfilling family life. Our focus is enabling children, young people and adults to exercise their rights to participate in ordinary life opportunities through a proper understanding of their behaviour and access to appropriate support.

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Information
and support
10; The CBF
Sharing Strategic
best practice influencing
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Families have to deal with a wide range of services across health, education, social care and housing to get the support they need for their relative. These services are not joined up, and we support families to navigate this complex system by providing information and support . Based on what we hear from families, we work to change and improve the system through strategic influencing and to deliver the right support in the right place at the right time by sharing best practice . These three strands of our work together effect change at an individual and strategic level and aim to tackle discrimination, marginalisation and the root causes and barriers that create problems for this disadvantaged and vulnerable group. More information about the work of the charity can be found on our website.

CBF’s website

Lived experience is embedded within the organisation and informs and shapes all our work. As an organisation we prioritise families’ needs over administrative convenience. The range and scope of our work is wide as it reflects the breadth and complexity of the systems and services that families must navigate through to secure the support they and their relative needs. We adopt a lifelong human rights approach across education, health, and social care, using legal, policy and best practice frameworks to drive change.

More can be achieved by working together. Although our focus is on supporting families, we know that working collaboratively with a range of other partners can achieve good outcomes. We therefore provide a range of information and support to professionals and families involved in supporting children and adults with severe learning disabilities whose

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behaviour challenges.

As a charity we rely on support from our generous funders and donors who make it possible for us to provide essential services. Without their help, we simply wouldn’t be able to offer the level of support that is desperately needed. In addition to partnering with us on specific projects and research, the unrestricted core funding we receive is particularly valuable as it enables us to operate effectively and have an impact for the families who need us.

As a small charity with limited resources, we need to carefully consider the impact of our work on an ongoing basis. We are grateful to Paul Hamlyn Foundation, who funded consultancy support which allowed us to undertake a Theory of Change exercise last

year. From this we were able to develop a new approach to impact measurement across four key communities where we can have the greatest impact on people's quality of life:

Early years – early intervention and prevention

Transition – moving from child to adult services

Risk of crisis (at any age) - helping families to get additional support to meet their relatives’ needs

Through our three strands of work, we will particularly focus on these four communities, trialling this approach to impact measurement. We will review and embed it as we go forward, developing and working towards long-term outcomes.

Internships

This year we have been able to offer another two internships at CBF. We have now had thirty-four paid internships since 2011 covering family support, policy, research and communications. Each internship is for one year and provides valuable experience in learning disability, working with a range of professionals in the field, and gives insight into the experience of family carers. Our Interns are paid the Real Living Wage.

Previous Interns have gone on to:

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What stands out most about this internship is how fulfilling it has been. Being part of an organisation which makes a clear difference in people’s lives has been incredibly motivating. This experience has been instrumental in building both my skills as an employee but has also developed my personal growth. I am extremely grateful for the opportunity that CBF has given me, and that opportunity to contribute meaningfully to the work of CBF.

Florence, 2024 Policy and Research Intern

Information and Support

Objectives and activities

Lived experiences gathered from our information and support service drives our strategic influencing work which interconnects with sharing best practice. Our family support service offers a range of free, confidential, and expert resources to families including support delivered through:

Support for families Support for professionals

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Strategic Influencing
Objectives and activities
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Our strategic influencing work is informed by the lived experience of families gathered through our family support team, utilising examples of evidence-based best practice. This work focuses on ensuring all parts of a complex system work well together and deliver positive outcomes for children, young people and adults with severe learning disabilities whose behaviour challenges, and their families. These activities require an understanding of the holistic context, particularly within systems that are often fragmented and organisationally disconnected.

We are solution focused, believe more can be achieved by working together and facilitate joined up, collaborative working. We actively identify, seek out and engage with the many individuals and organisations in the sector to build strong relationships and foster collaboration and co-production.

We established and continue to chair the influential Challenging Behaviour - National Strategy Group (CB-NSG), a unique multi-stakeholder group which brings together members including family carers, senior representatives from health, education and social care, government departments, regulators, service providers, clinicians, and researchers.

- CB NSG

We promote and highlight the need for an early intervention approach, to work with and invest in families as valued partners, and with full and meaningful co-production. In partnership with others, we work to find ways to seek the views and input of children, young people and adults with the most complex needs and share and promote their engagement. We have developed positive relationships with researchers to amplify the voice of the families of individuals with severe learning disabilities in research, and we support them to input into national policy making and service development. Our work aims to push forward the agenda for better and timely local provision, investment in family support and promotion of enhanced skills and training for support workers and paid carers.

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Sharing Best Practice

Objectives and activities

Sharing best practice is embedded in our strategic influencing work and our information and support. Best practice provides evidence that it is entirely possible to deliver the right support in the right place at the right time.

Sharing, modelling, and actively promoting best practice in real-world settings is a core thread running through all our work. We do this through our family support casework, information and resources, strategic influencing work, and family carer and professional email networks, as well as through specific projects involving local authorities, government departments, and other partners.

We have used our reserves to invest in additional capacity, to support, build on and deliver the best practice learning from our project work. We continue to work with local family carers and stakeholders in specific geographical areas to provide additional resources and experience to empower local families and facilitate their input at a strategic level.

The importance of hearing from a professional trainer and a family carer trainer. By co-hosting, both professionals and families can get a better understanding of the other and how important both roles are in supporting loved ones. A person's life can be greatly improved when everyone supporting them understands their way of communication.

Professional - workshop participant

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Information and Support
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Achievements and performance

Family support service

Our family support service has responded to 3,248 individuals through our support line, email and website this year, an increase of 0.4% on the previous year. We had 39,970 resources downloaded from our website, a 2.49% increase on the previous year. Many families who have relatives with severe learning disabilities require ongoing support through complex situations and caseloads remain high within the team with sixty cases worked on and anywhere between thirty to forty cases open at any one time. These are shared between the Family Support Lead and Caseworkers. Each case is given individual and personalised support with an average case length of four months (113 days).

The family support triage function continues to be successful and when contacting the Triage Administrator, a family may be offered a call with a caseworker or signposted. This year the service has supported 1,251 triage activities, provided 214 families with tailored support or information and a further 294 families by signposting to other organisations more appropriate for their needs.

At the start of 2024 we saw a 25% increase in occasions where family carers were signposted to other organisations as their relative does not have a severe learning disability and there were other peaks with increased all rates throughout the year. This may be due to other organisations closing or temporarily suspending their helplines.

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This year we began to classify cases using the four communities identified through our Theory of Change; early intervention, transition, crisis or at risk of crisis and older families. Most of our casework this year involved supporting families at risk of crisis.

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In addition, we have been tracking feedback and comments from the family carers that we support, as well as evaluating through self-scoring before and after receiving support for 6 areas; wellbeing, isolation, current situation, making changes, empowerment and hope for the future.

Case Study

In May 2023 CBF’s Family Support Team received a call from a family carer who lives in Medway. Her thirty-three year old son (K) has a severe learning disability and epilepsy and displays behaviours described as challenging. He lives in the family home and his parents were finding it difficult to meet K’s needs. He is peg fed, incontinent and has seizures each day.

K attends a Day Centre three days per week and is supported with his personal care by Community Care Workers for an hour each morning. The parents had the services of a PA who provided a sitting service four hours per week. K’s parents wanted support to obtain some respite but do not have internet access or use emails. All contact is on the telephone or via letters in the post.

The Caseworker agreed to communicate with social care on their behalf. However, maintaining contact with the parents on the telephone and by post provided some challenges. The Caseworker contacted Adult Social Care. They were aware of K’s need for respite and were waiting to allocate a social worker. A carers assessment was not due until November 2023.

Following contact by the Caseworker, a review of K’s needs was carried out in June 2023 and his parents informed social care their caring role was becoming harder and requested overnight respite. A panel meeting agreed the local authority would provide twenty-eight days respite per year including overnight stays. However, brokerage could not source a respite service.

The Caseworker contacted Adult Social Care in July 2023 who visited the parents to complete a carers assessment. The Direct Payment (DP) hours were increased to eight hours per week. The Caseworker continued to contact Adult Social Care but due to four changes in social workers, delays occurred and in February 2024, they informed the parents they could not locate a respite service. K’s parents asked the Caseworker to request overnight respite in the home. Social care needed to agree funding for DP’s. However, due to a delay in providing the DP the parents asked the Caseworker to help them to make a complaint.

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A draft complaint letter was written and submitted on 1st May 2024. The complaint detailed the delay carrying out a review of K’s care plan, completing a carers assessment and the delay in providing services during and after the assessment process. On 1st July 2024 Adult Social Care informed the parents the care package had been increased to twenty-four hours of care in the home twenty-eight times per year. This information was not provided in writing and the DP was not organised for some time.

K’s parents were worried they would have to find places to go in order to benefit from the respite hours on a regular basis but as they had received a carers assessment and their needs had been identified, the Caseworker asked the LA for funding for them to access accommodation away from the family home whilst care was provided for K. This was initially declined and a referral was made to a local carers service for one off funding.

The Caseworker was asked to contact social care again and very soon after receiving the Caseworker’s email, the parents received £600 from social care to use towards accommodation costs whilst waiting for the one-off payment. The family now have access to local overnight accommodation whilst the council continue the search for respite accommodation for K.

Legal Panel

The Legal Panel, which is convened and chaired by CBF and consists of specialist legal experts from all of the leading law firms specialising in the law as it affects people with learning disabilities, continues to provide valuable expertise and support on a voluntary basis. Six referrals have been made to the Legal Panel this year and we have also supported families to access Rook Irwin Sweeney’s Social Justice fund. Families are also supported to find legal representation outside of the Legal Panel using the list of solicitors that we keep within the team.

Of note: it is becoming increasingly difficult to find a solicitor who has the time or capacity to take our families’ cases via the Legal Panel or otherwise. This means that families with urgent concerns are reliant on the statutory complaints process which can be subject to delay and sometimes ineffective in bringing about the desired change.

Helpline collaboration

The CBF continues to convene and facilitate the Helpline Collaboration (made up of charities that provide helpline support to families of people with learning disabilities) which meets monthly. This helps to identify common issues and provide peer support to staff.

Resources

Thanks to a legacy from Jan Seamer we were able to update eight resources this year, making sure that information is fully up to date and informed by the latest evidence. We also produced four brand new resources.

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Peer support

Families tell us that peer support is incredibly valuable and helps to address feelings of isolation. We continue to provide a range of peer support including:

We are proud to have developed our podcast, Challenge Accepted, which focuses on sharing the lived experiences of family carers and offering tips for wellbeing. The podcast features conversations with family carers about maintaining their wellbeing and has been downloaded over 1,300 times.

This year, two episodes focused on the summer holidays, including honest conversations about keeping everyone happy and entertained, the challenges of accessing play schemes and respite and the simple joy of a hose pipe in the garden! Thanks to funding from The Masonic Charitable Foundation, we have launched a new series of podcasts focused on transition and will release more episodes in the coming year.

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Strategic Influencing

Achievements and performance

As a small charity we can achieve much more by specifically informing and encouraging individuals and organisations in positions of power and influence to increase their understanding and awareness of the issues individuals and families face, and to influence their activity. We aim to drive progress through the promotion of collaboration. The three strands of our work are inextricably linked and closely aligned. In practice, this means that the experiences of family carers coming through our helpline and casework steer our influencing work. We continue to raise concerns and challenges to a range of senior individuals and organisations at both a local and national level where the human rights of individuals are being breached.

The “system” which should be there to support individuals with severe learning disabilities whose behaviour challenges and their families in reality, is complex, disjointed and difficult to navigate. Our strategic work is therefore wide-ranging across education, health, social care and housing, and across child and adult services. We often work in partnership with others where our aims align, in order to make the most impact for the families we represent.

We submitted twenty consultation responses on issues relevant to people with severe learning disabilities and challenging behaviour this year.

Challenging Behaviour-National Strategy Group (CB-NSG)

We are very grateful to John Ellerman Foundation and Paul Hamlyn Foundation for their continued support and funding towards the CB-NSG and its work. The CB-NSG includes representatives from

professional bodies, networks, charities, and the government alongside family carers, people with learning disabilities and researchers, who are all equal partners in the group. It is based on the principle that if all the individuals and organisations who have a role to play in supporting this group work together in a coherent and coordinated way it will deliver better outcomes.

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15

There are currently over ninety core CB-NSG members who have significant knowledge and expertise or lived experience and/or a senior level role in supporting and delivering services to people with learning disabilities, and over six hundred associate members who commit to working with the values and principles of the co-produced Challenging Behaviour Charter.

We held a national CB-NSG meeting in May on ‘Cultures: Working Together to Ensure Good Support for People with Learning Disabilities’, with a focus on how to get things right from the start and how to identify and address issues. This meeting launched the Insider Voices film. The concept of this film was co-produced with a group of nine family carers who have lived experience of inpatient units, along with a representative from the Royal College of Nursing and NHS England. There has been sustained media coverage over the past decade of the abuse and neglect of people with learning disabilities in inpatient units and the film explores how the leadership and culture of an inpatient unit has a significant impact on the people who use the service and their families.

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Too often the concerns raised by the families of those with learning disabilities and/or autism are considered to be hostile, the families are seen as the problem. This is unacceptable, they must be recognised as human rights defenders and, other than in exceptional circumstances, be fully involved in all relevant discussions and decisions.

Baroness Hollins

The meeting included nineteen ‘talking posters’ - a chance for attendees to share current initiatives and research that they are involved in including: housing; how to ensure co-production is meaningful and impactful; supporting family carers to plan for the future, and advocacy.

The CB-NSG subgroups took forward a wide range of strategic influencing this year including:

Work by the Data Subgroup which resulted in confirmation from NHS Digital that the Assuring Transformation dataset would continue to be published for the next two years. This means we can continue to track inpatient numbers of people with a learning disability and autistic people.

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Co-produced Action Plan

A significant piece of work led by the CB-NSG, the Co-produced Action Plan draws on lived experience, research and best practice. It sets out how to make a positive difference to the lives of children and adults with a learning disability and how to ensure that they get the right support, in the right place at the right time. It includes actions for policy makers, CB-NSG members and individuals. It has been co-produced with families, people with learning disabilities and CB-NSG members, thereby reflecting all parts of the system.

The co-produced action plan was published on CBF’s website in early 2024 alongside an easy-read version. It was formally launched in November at a reception hosted by the CB-NSG at Central Hall in Westminster. This event was an opportunity to share examples of good practice and discuss the opportunities for the new government to make policy changes that will improve the lives of people with learning disabilities and their families.

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There were over 100 attendees at the reception including several MPs, a lived experience group from Campaign 4 Change, family carers, professional representatives from NHS England and Care Quality Commission, representatives from Kids, BASW, CDC, Inclusion London, Mencap and Bild amongst others. Work has taken place following this meeting to start or continue to engage with key stakeholders, including through follow-up discussions with MPs and peers.

Co-ordinated Campaigns Group

The CBF brought together a new group of over ten campaigning organisations to coordinate campaigning work.

These include organisations that have not historically worked together but who all agree that in a general election year we would have greater success in making an impact with key messages about people with learning disabilities and autistic people if we worked together.

All of the organisations shared our campaigning activities to develop a calendar of events, so that activities were co-ordinated and mutually supported. The aim was to amplify the campaign messages and to join up the work. One of the benefits of this has been that the campaign activity to reduce inpatient numbers, jointly run by CBF and Mencap was formally endorsed and supported by other organisations.

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Mental Health Bill

The Mental Health Bill was announced in the King’s Speech on 17 July 2024 and is a significant opportunity to reduce the number of people with learning disabilities and autistic people inappropriately detained. The CBF’s policy team has worked closely this year with the co-ordinating campaigns group to understand the implications of the Bill, share information with our community and provide briefings for MPs and Peers. Key issues for the CB-NSG are the development of good community support and they have produced a briefing on funding issues related to this.

The CBF attended a meeting of the All-Party Parliament Group on Autism, which was focused on the Mental Health Bill, and which was also attended by Stephen Kinnock MP (Minister of State for Care). Following this meeting, we wrote to Stephen Kinnock to emphasise the need to develop community support. We have also been working with the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Coalition to share key messages.

Other Strategic influencing activities

Protecting Rights; Eliminating Restraint Group (PR;ERG)

At the start of the year parliamentary questions and Ministerial Correspondence from this group led to publication of research by the Department for Education (DfE) into restraint in schools. The CBF published a statement in response to the research which was shared widely by other group members. Plans by DfE to consult on changes were put on hold due to the election.

There was media coverage in April and June of two examples of abuse and restraint in schools which CBF followed up with the Child Safeguarding Review Panel, DfE and Ofsted. The PR;ERG met twice this year and had updates from each nation in the UK regarding restraint. The group wrote to MPs expressing concern around a lack of action on restraint in their nations, including John Swinney MSP, Bridget Phillipson MP, Claire McClelland DoE NI, and Lynne Neagle MS.

Local Services for Children

The CBF were involved in a research study which identified that there appears to be no service for children with learning disabilities whose behaviour challenges in as many as eleven local authorities and across ten Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) in England. We have completed follow-up work to understand the offerings in the local areas and have contacted them about their service provision. We have also sent letters, co-signed by Mencap, to the Chief Executive of each respective ICB to follow up on these potential service gaps.

The External Support Group

The External Support Group (ESG) brings together experts with significant experience of supporting people with complex needs in community settings. Members of the ESG supported an individual in a Trust this year– their input was helpful, and progress was made. We are also working with a provider to consider further ESG input for another person which is due to commence summer 2025.

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CBF’s Response to the National Safeguarding Review

This Review was led by Dame Christine Lenehan following the abuse uncovered at schools in the Hesley Group. The response by the previous government to the recommendations from this review was weak. CBF followed up through a number of channels including the National Building the Right Support Children and Young People Steering Group chaired by Anne Longfield.

CBF’s Response to the Law Commission

The Law Commission announced a major review of disabled children’s social care legislation. We consulted with family carers via a focus group and survey as well as holding a Legal Panel and Transition Sub-group meeting to inform our position, before submitting a detailed consultation response.

Sharing Best Practice

Achievements and performance

The principle of sharing and actively promoting best practice runs through all aspects of our work from our family support service to our national influencing work. This includes disseminating information via all members of CB-NSG and our extensive networks, including our family carer and professional email networks. We are regularly invited to contribute to research projects—ranging from recruiting advisory group members to leading public and patient involvement, facilitating focus groups with family carers, and supporting trial recruitment.

Training Workshops

Our workshops have all been co-designed with families on topics where they have identified gaps in knowledge and understanding. The workshops are uniquely coproduced and co-delivered with family carers, modelling the partnership working approach that we promote.

Our workshops include:

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This year we delivered thirty-five training workshops and were also commissioned to deliver additional workshops, including a series funded by Skills for Care to provide training for Individual Employers and Personal Assistants. We have updated our Communication and Behaviour Workshop in partnership with family carers and developed a new communications plan to promote wider awareness of the workshops we offer to new audiences. We have started work to explore the best way to evaluate the effectiveness of the workshops, which is ongoing.

What Matters to Me

What Matters to Me is an innovative three-year project which built on previous approaches led by CBF and involved directly engaging with eleven young people who have severe or profound and multiple learning disabilities, and their families and support circles.

This year CBF successfully identified two project partner sites to work with and one individual who we engaged with at home. We worked with the expert advisory group to develop a methodology for engagement which can be completely personalised for each young person. A number of engagement sessions were held throughout the year with the 11 young people participating in the project, and we held family carer focus groups.

We have carried out celebration and soft launch events at both project partner sites to recognise and celebrate the contributions of the young people throughout this project in familiar settings. We welcomed local MP Kevin McKenna, who attended, met the young people and spoke to their families to find out about the focus of the What Matters to Me project and what CBF does more broadly.

We have interest nationally from disabled children’s organisations and locally from Kent County Council, working with their Social Care Involvement Officers and attending the Learning Disability Partnership Board Meeting.

Forward Together

This is a new three-year project which started in April 2024, working with three regions to bring together families, professionals and commissioners to create regional Communities of Practice. The aim is to improve local support for families of people with severe learning disabilities. A Family Carer Project Worker will be recruited, and a set of our training workshops will be delivered in each region.

Care Quality Commission Share for Better Care project

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) recruited partners, including CBF to help raise awareness of their Share For Better Care Campaign. We shared information about the campaign on social media, in our newsletter, and across our email networks, encouraging families to give feedback to CQC on their experiences.

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MindEd

CBF supported family carers as co-authors to help write the session content for ten STOMP/STAMP MindEd modules which we have promoted through our communication channels.

Getting it Right – Black Country NHS Foundation Trust

Following on from our successful Getting it Right project we were commissioned by Black Country NHS Foundation Trust to deliver actions from the action plan developed during the project. We co-produced A Need, Not a Want, a resource comprising of a short film and reflective checklist to highlight the benefits of engaging with families who have relatives with a learning disability to shape local support and services and an information pack on transition to adulthood which were disseminated within the Black Country. Additionally, we identified two local organisations who were able to deliver an early intervention programme and worked with them to develop a costed proposal.

We were also commissioned to deliver Positive Behaviour Support workshops to family carers and professionals in the Black Country and Pica Awareness and Trauma Awareness to professionals. Feedback included: “Brilliant, friendly, non-judgmental and understood everything. Just brilliant! Would highly recommend.” (family carer, Positive Behaviour Support Workshop) and “Everyone working with adults with learning disabilities or autism should do this training!” (Professional, Trauma Awareness)

NHS England – re-design of inpatient services for children and young people

NHS England commissioned CBF to consult family carers with lived experience of their child or young person having an inpatient admission or lived experience of their child or young person receiving intensive support in the community. The focus of the consultation was the proposed re-design of NHS inpatient services, and the needs of children and young people with a moderate-severe learning disability, and their family carers. In July 2024, a small focus group was held with five family carers in London and the write-up of the event was shared with NHS England to inform revisions to guidance for commissioners. Positive feedback was received from NHS England regarding this work:

Really helpful summary of the day and some absolutely brilliant feedback, points that we can now pull into the commissioner guidance.

As part of this work, we also recruited nine family carers with lived experience of an inpatient admission when their relative was of transition age, and an autistic person who was detained following a failed discharge at transition stage to speak to NHS England online. The nine online meetings went ahead over the summer, with participants sharing their views on what could have been done to prevent the admissions. NHS England have since shared a report internally with the senior management team.

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Learning Disability Professional Senate Conference

In October over 180 people attended the listen-and-learn event, “Working Together to Stay Well”, held by the Learning Disability Professional Senate, and jointly organised by CBF. Post-conference meetings have been held about the need for a national learning disability strategy and a public health focus for this population, connecting with the Intergrated Care Board Learning Disability Leads.

Child Poverty Taskforce

We were commissioned by Save The Children to consult with family carers to inform the government’s new Child Poverty Strategy. An online focus group was held with six family carers in November 2024. The meeting was attended by a Senior Member of the Cabinet Office who is part of the Taskforce. The meeting was transcribed, and key quotes were shared with Save the Children detailing the impact of poverty on children with severe learning disabilities and their families.

Input to research projects and influencing a national research strategy

In line with our aim of sharing families lived experiences and building evidence to inform our strategic influencing work, we have continued to support and shape a variety of research applications and funded projects with a wide range of academics and researchers. We have continued to provide input to steering and advisory groups and supported paid family carer participation in consultations and focus groups, including translating research findings into practice.

This year we have been involved in ten research projects. We have also updated the ‘Involving Families in Research’ brochure to better reflect the work CBF does to coproduce research with family carers and professionals. We have held a number of meetings throughout the year to press for a national learning disability research strategy and for a research lead in NHSE to take this forward. We understand that a new research lead will take up post in NHSE soon.

Newsletter

We produced two electronic and printed newsletters on the topics of Cultures and CoProduction in Summer 2024 and Working Together, Driving Change in Winter 2024, Both newsletters went out to nearly 4,000 people electronically and the Winter newsletter also went to 3,000 people in hard copy, thanks to funding from the CQC, to ensure families throughout the UK without digital access were not excluded.

Social Media

We continue to use our social media platforms to share news, statements, best practice information and practical resources. All our social media platforms have all seen an increase in followers this year and we have started work to introduce a more strategic approach to our social media channels.

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3. Financial review

Financial Position

Incoming resources for the year amounted to £543,061 compared with £836,108 in 2023/24. However, the previous year’s figure was pushed up by the receipt of a one-off legacy of £316,004. Excluding the legacy, incoming resources rose by £22,957, including a £169,064 increase in grant income. This consists mainly of the first tranche of £144,871 for a three-year project, Forward Together, funded by the National Lottery Community Fund. Higher grant income was largely offset by reduced earnings from charitable activities, especially sharing best practice. This type of work is, however, made up mainly of ad hoc projects which inevitably fluctuate from year to year, although the tightening of budgets in the public sector undoubtedly contributed to the reduction in this source of income.

Resources expended rose from £571,304 in 2023/24 to £593,382, an increase of 3.9%, the result of a slightly higher level of charitable activity, combined with the inflationary pressures felt across the economy.

As in the previous year, expenditure within unrestricted funds exceeded the associated income. Despite careful planning and stringent budget management, this negative position is expected to continue in the next financial year, reflecting the increasingly challenging external financial environment.

As noted above, grant funding remains crucial in enabling CBF to continue its work, and indeed represented 69% of total incoming resources in 2024/25. We would like to extend our grateful thanks to all those who have provided this support. The grant from the National Lottery Community Fund has enabled us to expand our sharing best practice activities, while funding from the Blagrave Trust and John Ellerman Foundation have allowed us to further our policy and influencing work. We are grateful to Paul Hamlyn Foundation which has supported our policy work relating to young people and transition while the Colyer-Fergusson Charitable Trust, the Masonic Charitable Foundation and Alex Ferry Foundation have helped to fund our family support service. Thanks are also due to the Garfield Weston Foundation and Pears Family Charitable Foundation for their invaluable contributions towards CBF’s core running costs, which, although essential for the efficient and effective running of the charity, are always particularly difficult to fund.

Looking ahead, the financial environment is growing increasingly challenging. Grant funding is subject to fierce competition and usually one-off or relatively short-term. Paid work, always unpredictable and fluctuating in volume, is becoming harder to secure due to severe financial pressures in the public sector. At the same time, inflation continues push up costs, exacerbated by the recent increases in employers’ National Insurance Contributions.

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The CBF’s overall short-term financial position has been boosted by the legacy received in 2023/24. This is, however, one-off income, and does not in itself provide underlying financial sustainability. The legacy is being used, via the Jan Seamer Memorial Fund, to invest in measures to bolster the charity’s longer-term sustainability, for example through the recent recruitment of a full-time fundraiser, providing a sharper focus on income generation going forward.

Reserves Policy

The Trustees have reviewed the key risks across the organisation and have set a target of holding closure costs plus six months running costs in general funds to ensure the charity is in a stable position to:

1. Fulfil notice periods, statutory redundancy and meet all other obligations and liabilities in event of closure of the charity

2. Provide effective staffing to seek alternative funding and support the development of alternative forms of support for families in need of long-term casework in the event of a downturn in income or closure (we typically provide casework support to families for a period of six months to three years)

3. Enable the organisation to respond to unforeseen external challenges such as an increase in demand similar to that experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic.

4. Provide a level of flexibility to respond to any opportunities that may arise at short notice to influence national policy on behalf of our beneficiaries. In taking any decision to use reserves in this manner the Trustees take account of CBF’s charity’s financial position ensuring that any risks do not impact on its sustainability.

In determining the reserves strategy, the Trustees have taken a holistic and strategic approach, considering carefully the reasons for maintaining reserves as well as the logistics of utilising them.

This includes consideration of the external factors that may affect reserves such as demands on capacity and the high competition for and relatively short-term nature of grant funding, which forms a large part of the charity’s income, and often involves a long lead time to secure.

General funds amounted to £365,905 at 31 January 2025, representing approximately 4.6 months of running costs, after taking account of estimated closure costs, based on predicted expenditure for 2025/26. This is below the target and reflects the challenges CBF faces in securing funding for its work.

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4. Our plans for the coming year

Although our ultimate aim as an organisation continues to be that we are not needed because the ‘system’ works, we know this is a long-term aim and in the interim, we need to sustain and develop our work to maximise our impact. To support this, we will continue to focus on our key communities; early years, transition to adulthood, supporting older family carers and supporting individuals in or at risk of crisis.

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In January 2025 our CEO retired from her role as part of a carefully planned succession process. Following open competition we recruited a new CEO (who previously worked for CBF for nine years) and there was a month-long handover period in January. Thanks to the legacy donation from Jan Seamer in 2022, we are able to take forward this period of leadership transition for the charity with minimal risk to delivery. The new CEO is planning to develop a strategic plan for the charity, to start in 2026 which will guide CBF’s activity over the next three years. A period dedicated to learning, reflection, and review will be an essential part of this process.

We have also recruited a new Training Workshops Manager and a new Fundraising and Communications Lead, who both started their roles in January 2025. This has resulted in some review of our work in these areas, to build on and develop the work done to date.

We will recruit two new paid interns in the coming year as our current interns reach the end of their contracts. Internships require skilled investment from our Senior Management Team (SMT) and a comprehensive induction and line management process. As a result of this investment, our internships have proved very successful and provide recent graduates with valuable work experience and insight into the issues faced by families, as well as giving CBF additional capacity delivering good value for money.

Following the general election and with a new intake of MPs we will focus on:

Building relationships with the new government and key MPs likely to have an interest in our work

Maintaining strong relationships with current stakeholders

We will trial our new impact measurement framework during the first half of the year aiming to embed impact measurement across all our work by the end of 2025.

We will review staff wellbeing and development as leadership change can be a challenge for staff, but we feel positive the next year will bring an opportunity to build on what has gone before to drive the charity forward.

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Funding challenges continue as the pandemic costs are repaid alongside the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on our organisation, the families we support, and the wider community. Trustees are mindful of potential future financial risks and plan accordingly, including close financial monitoring. In addition, the General Election in 2024 created additional disruption, uncertainty and delays to the systemic change we work with others to drive forward.

Our core aim remains to ensure that “the system” and society enable individuals with severe learning disabilities, and their families, to receive the right support in the right place at the right time. Our approach, and all our work, is carefully planned, thought through and regularly reviewed to consider outcomes and impact. In the coming year we will continue to focus on our successful model of three key interconnected areas of work. Our many years of experience have informed and refined our work and how it is delivered to achieve impact and good outcomes. The change we want to see is significant and systemic and takes time. Although we are acutely aware of the urgency and are ambitious and impatient for change, we are realistic regarding our capacity, the inertia and resistance to change within the system, and the need and investment required to work collaboratively.

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Information and Support
Future plans
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We plan to continue to ensure our specialist family support and information service is maintained, continues to be family centred, and provides high quality independent expertise and advocacy for families in need. The families we support are often in very complex situations, navigating through disjointed education, health and care systems, and experiencing marginalisation, “parent blame” and exclusion often simultaneously. Families clearly describe “the fight” for the support and services their relatives need, and their experiences of discrimination and basic human rights being ignored.

We are grateful to Pears Foundation, Garfield Weston Foundation, Masonic Charitable Foundation and Alex Ferry Foundation who generously provide core funding for our specialist family support helpline and casework which are vital to enable this work to continue. As some multi-year funding ends, we will continue to prioritise seeking further funding to ensure we can maintain and develop the support and information we provide for families who are often in crisis.

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We will continue to offer our:

Listening Ear Telephone Service to provide trained and supported peer support

Work will continue to:

Promote the new comprehensive family carer advocacy guide

Due to the success of Challenge Accepted, CBF’s podcast, and thanks to funding from The Masonic Charitable Foundation we will be launching a series of podcasts focused on transition to adulthood. The first episode will be released in February 2025 and following consultation with families, the focus of the remaining five podcast episodes in the series is being finalised. These podcasts will form part of a wider package of resources for the transition stage alongside web and video content.

A planned review of all of our information resources will take place over the coming year. Resources will be updated or rewritten to provide the most up to date information and to ensure they are accessible to families.

Our family support and information service take a lifelong approach and we will consider how we target families in particular situations to increase our impact. As part of that, we have begun to track feedback and comments from the family carers that we support across six areas; wellbeing, isolation, current situation, making changes, empowerment and hope for the future. When we have a full year’s worth of data we will begin to analyse this.

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Strategic Influencing
Future plans
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We will continue to ensure that families’ views are represented in all key policy discussions about people with severe learning disabilities.

In 2025 we plan to:

Protect children from restrictive interventions in school:

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Sharing Best Practice

Future plans

We will continue to ensure that families’ views are used to share best practice for people with severe learning disabilities.

In 2025 we plan to:

Continue to deliver co-produced and co-delivered training workshops

Continue work on the What Matters to Me project:

Continue work on the Forward Together project:

Continue our strategic approach to learning disability research, including:

Deliver locally commissioned work including:

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5. Structure, governance and management

Governing Document

The charity is controlled by its governing document, a deed of trust, and constitutes a limited company, limited by guarantee, as defined by the Companies Act 2006.

Recruitment and appointment of new Trustees

Trustee skills are reviewed annually to ensure the board has the range of skills and experience required. Any gaps in specific skills are identified and addressed through training or pro bono consultancy input or through the recruitment of new members to the Trustee Board. We also have a network of Trustee Advisors who are supported, involved, and contribute to CBF and we are exploring new ways for family carers to input strategically through additional online meetings with Trustees.

Organisational structure

The Trustees, who are directors for the purpose of company law and Trustees for the purpose of charity law, who served during the year and up to the date of this report, are set out on the following page. Members of the charitable company guarantee to contribute an amount not exceeding £10 to the assets of the charitable company in the event of winding up. Day-to-day management of the charity’s activities is delegated by the Trustees to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Following several years of careful succession planning, a new CEO was successfully recruited and started in January 2025. The Trustee Board meets quarterly to review achievements and performance, finances, and future plans.

Risk management

The Trustees have a duty to identify and review the risks to which the charity is exposed, including ensuring appropriate controls are in place to provide reasonable assurance against fraud and error. The Trustees have a risk management strategy in place, comprising an annual review of the risks the charity may face, the establishment of systems and procedures to mitigate risks identified, and the implementation of procedures designed to minimise any potential impact on the charity should any of these risks materialise. In common with many voluntary organisations, the risks are ongoing due to the nature of the work and the context in which we operate.

The trustees have identified as a major risk funding shortfalls, potentially leading to a lack of financial sustainability, as a result of pressure on public sector finances, along with increased competition for grant funding. In mitigation, a full-time fundraiser has recently been recruited to provide increased focus on income generation, while the regular updating and review of financial projections and tight budget management are also key elements in the management of this risk. The receipt of a significant legacy in 2023/24 has also helped to strengthen the charity’s financial position in the short term.

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Another major risk is loss of senior staff members, especially in the light of the ongoing inflationary pressures on salaries, although CBF is fortunate to have a highly motivated and experienced senior management team. Attention has also focused on areas such as reputational, governance and compliance risks, ensuring that suitable mitigating actions are in place.

6. Reference and administrative details Registered Company number Registered office 3307407 (England and Wales) c/o The Old Courthouse, New Road Avenue, Chatham Kent ME4 6BE Registered Charity number 1060714 Trustees Company Secretary Dr D Allen (Chair) Mrs C Million Ms. S Cooper Mr. J Dodd Dr N J Gore Dr K Jankulak Ms P S Joshi (Appointed October 2024) Ms. D E Lightfoot (Resigned October 2024) Mrs C Million Mr. A Rook Mrs K Sanger

Auditors

Xeinadin Audit Ltd 12 Conqueror Ct Sittingbourne Kent ME10 5BH

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Public Benefit

The charity provides public benefit by providing free information and support to families caring for individuals with severe learning disabilities and behaviour described as challenging.

Someone with a severe learning disability may have little or no speech, find it difficult to learn new skills and need ongoing support to carry out daily activities such as washing and dressing. The NHS estimates that there are around 350,000 people in the UK with a severe learning disability. Around 10- 15% of people with severe learning disabilities are likely to develop behaviours described as challenging.

Challenging behaviour is a term used to describe a range of behaviours which some people with severe learning disabilities may use to communicate their needs or exert control over a situation. Behaviours can vary from hair pulling or aggression to eating inedible objects, obsessive repetition or making inappropriate noises. In many cases these behaviours are not intended to cause disruption or distress but offer a form of communication to children and adults with learning disabilities who find verbal communication difficult.

In addition to the immediate health and safety concerns becoming known as "challenging" can mean that an individual can find themselves excluded from local services and left with little control over how their support is provided. Families often find themselves isolated from their local community, unsupported by local services and separated from their relative. Without appropriate support children and adults with severe learning disabilities whose behaviour may challenge find themselves at greater risk of poor healthcare, poor life prospects and at greater risk of abuse. We believe that with good support each individual can live a happy active live in their community with access to healthcare, employment, leisure and education, as well as a fulfilling family life.

More information about the work of the charity can be found at . www.challengingbehaviour.org.uk

The trustees have paid due regard to Charity Commission guidance on public benefit in deciding what activities the charity should undertake.

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7. Statement of trustees

responsibilities

The trustees (who are also the directors of The Challenging Behaviour Foundation for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the Report of the Trustees and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

Company law requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable company for that period. In preparing those financial statements, the trustees are required to:

select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently; observe the methods and principles in the Charity SORP;

prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charitable company will continue in business.

The trustees 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 and other irregularities.

In so far as the trustees are aware:

there is no relevant audit information of which the charitable company’s auditors are unaware; and

the trustees have taken all steps that they ought to have taken to make themselves aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the auditors are aware of that information.

Auditors

The auditors, Xeinadin Audit Ltd (via Calcutt Matthews Ltd), will be proposed for reappointment at the forthcoming Annual General Meeting.

Report of the trustees, incorporating a strategic report, approved by order of the board of trustees, as the company directors, on 31 August 2025 and signed on the board's behalf by:

............................................................. Oo 2—. Mrs C MILLION - Trustee and Company Secretary

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8. Report of the Independent Auditors

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of The Challenging Behaviour Foundation (the 'charitable company') for the year ended 31 January 2025 which comprise the Statement of Financial Activities, the Balance Sheet, the Cash Flow Statement 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 (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

In our opinion the financial statements:

Basis for opinion

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditors' 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 that 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 cast 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.

2025 The Challenging Behaviour Foundation 2025 The Challenging Behaviour Foundation. www.challengingbehaviour.org.uk Tel. 01634 838739 Registered charity no. 1060714. Reg office: The Old Courthouse, New Road Avenue, Chatham, Kent ME4 6BE.

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Other information

The trustees are responsible for the other information. The other information comprises the information included in the Annual Report, other than the financial statements and our Report of the Independent Auditors thereon.

Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon.

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

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 Trustees.

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters where the Companies Act 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:

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Responsibilities of trustees

As explained more fully in the Statement of 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.

Our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

Our 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 a Report of the Independent Auditors that includes 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.

The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud is detailed below:

The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud is detailed below:

Our objectives in performing the audit are to identify and assess the risk of material misstatement in the financial statements due to fraud or error and to obtain sufficient audit evidence to support this. We also evaluate and respond to the risk of material misstatements.

Audit procedures performed by the engagement team included:

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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 Report of the Independent Auditors.

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 auditors' 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.

............................................................ Nicustad Hung ea Nicholas Hume FCA (Senior Statutory Auditor) for and on behalf of Xeinadin Audit Ltd 12 Conqueror Ct Sittingbourne Kent ME10 5BH

Date: ....10 September 2025....

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9. Statement of Financial

Activities

for the Year Ended 31 January 2025

Total
TOTAL FUNDS CARRIED
FORWARD
EXPENDITURE ON
Raising funds
Charitable activities
Information and Support
Strategic Influencing
Sharing Best Practice
Core Funding
RECONCILIATION OF FUNDS
Total funds brought forward
NET INCOME/(EXPENDITURE)
INCOME AND ENDOWMENTS
FROM
Donations and legacies
Charitable activities
Information and Support
Strategic Influencing
Sharing Best Practice
Other trading activities
Investment income
Total
2
5
3
4
6
7
Notes
2
5
3
4
6
7		 78,620
22,913
58,952
20,852
90,399
23,932
7,150
9,147
88,613
4,477
16,943
204,950
217,048
378,003
365,905
General
funds
£
(12,098)
-
-
53,590
337,545
306,605
-
-
22,650
-
-
22,650
2,434
-
21,156
30,000
(30,940)
315,461
322,744
127,156
119,873
-
-
-
315,461
-
56,417
105,774
160,553
-
Designated funds
(Unrestricted)
£
Restricted
funds
£
(7,283)
22,913
394,081
7,150
9,147
111,263
543,061
117,803
126,626
272,108
53,932
593,382
842,704
792,383
31.01.25
Total
funds
£
(50,321)
31.01.24
Total
funds
£
22,507
545,193
9,349
73,877
202,272
836,108
93,144
116,883
240,993
97,777
571,304
264,804
577,900
842,704
-
-
4,477
16,943
2,187
3,230

The notes form part of these financial statements

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10. Balance Sheet

31 January 2025

31.01.25 31.01.24
Notes General
funds		 Designated funds
(Unrestricted)		 Restricted
funds		 Total
funds		 Total
funds
CURRENT ASSETS £ £ £ £ £
Debtors 12 17,256 - 1,832 19,088 21,891
Cash at bank 422,411 306,605 182,202 911,218 937,681
439,667 306,605 184,034 930,306 959,572
CREDITORS
Amounts falling due within
one year		 13 (73,762) - (64,161) (137,923) (116,868)
NET CURRENT ASSETS 365,905 306,605 119,873 792,383 842,704
TOTAL ASSETS LESS
CURRENT LIABILITIES 365,905 306,605 119,873 792,383 842,704
NET ASSETS 365,905 306,605 119,873 792,383 842,704
FUNDS 14
General funds 365,905 378,002
Designated funds 306,605 337,546
Unrestricted funds Total 672,510 715,548
Restricted funds 119,873 127,156
TOTAL FUNDS 792,383 842,704

The financial statements were approved by the Board of Trustees and authorised for issue on 31 August 2025 and were signed on its behalf by:

.............................................................

Mrs C MILLION - Trustee

The notes form part of these financial statements

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11. Cash Flow Statement

for the Year Ended 31 January 2025

(45,995)
2,589
(43,406)
16,943
16,943
(26,463)
937,681
911,218
Cash flows from operating activities
Cash generated from operations
Gift Aid
Net cash (used in)/provided by operating
activities
Cash flows from investing activities
Interest received
Net cash provided by investing activities
Change in cash and cash equivalents in the
reporting period
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning
of the reporting period
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of
the reporting period
1
Notes
31.01.25
£		 242,561
4,846
31.01.24
£
247,407
3,230
3,230
250,637
687,044
937,681

The notes form part of these financial statements

2025 The Challenging Behaviour Foundation

4241

Notes to the Cash Flow Statement for the Year Ended 31 January 2025

1. RECONCILIATION OF NET (EXPENDITURE)/INCOME TO NET CASH FLOW FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES

Net (expenditure)/income for the reporting period
(as per the Statement of Financial Activities)
Adjustments for:
Interest received
Gift Aid Income
Decrease in debtors
Increase/(decrease) in creditors
Net cash (used in)/provided by operations
(50,321)
(16,943)
(1,891)
2,105
21,055
(45,995)
31.01.25
£		 264,804
(3,230)
(3,744)
3,184
(18,453)
31.01.24
£
242,561

2. ANALYSIS OF CHANGES IN NET FUNDS

At
Net cash
Cash at bank
Total		 937,681
937,681
937,681
01.02.24
£
Cash Flow
£
At 31.01.25
£
(26,463)
(26,463)
(26,463)
911,218
911,218
911,218

The notes form part of these financial statements

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4341

12. Notes to the Financial Statements

for the Year Ended 31 January 2025

1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Basis of preparing the financial statements

The financial statements of the charitable company, which is a public benefit entity under FRS 102, have been prepared in accordance with the Charities SORP (FRS 102) 'Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2015)', Financial Reporting Standard 102 'The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland' and the Companies Act 2006. The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention.

Income

All income is recognised in the Statement of Financial Activities once the charity has entitlement to the funds, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount can be measured reliably.

Expenditure

Liabilities are recognised as expenditure as soon as there is a legal or constructive obligation committing the charity to that expenditure, it is probable that a transfer of economic benefits will be required in settlement and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. Expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis and has been classified under headings that aggregate all cost related to the category. Where costs cannot be directly attributed to particular headings they have been allocated to activities on a basis consistent with the use of resources.

Allocation and apportionment of costs

Support costs are allocated pro rata to staff numbers involved with each charitable activity.

Taxation

The charity is exempt from corporation tax on its charitable activities.

Fund accounting

Unrestricted funds can be used in accordance with the charitable objectives at the discretion of the trustees.

Restricted funds can only be used for particular restricted purposes within the objects of the charity.

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4442

Notes to the Financial Statements Continued

for the Year Ended 31 January 2025

Restrictions arise when specified by the donor or when funds are raised for particular restricted purposes.

Further explanation of the nature and purpose of each fund is included in the notes to the financial statements.

Pension costs and other post-retirement benefits

The charitable company operates a defined contribution pension scheme. Contributions payable to the charitable company's pension scheme are charged to the Statement of Financial Activities in the period to which they relate.

Donations
Gift aid
Legacies
Grants
Grants received, included in the above, are as follows:
BBC Children in Need
Colyer-Fergusson Charitable Trust
John Ellerman Foundation
Garfield Weston Foundation
The Stonewall Park Charitable Trust
The Esmee Fairbairn Foundation
Pears Family Charitable Foundation
The Blagrave Trust
The Baily Thomas Charitable Fund
Paul Hamlyn Foundation
Masonic Charitable Foundation
The National Lottery Community Fund – RC England Wide
Alex Ferry Foundation
Skills for Care (ULO workshops)
2. DONATIONS AND LEGACIES
Fundraising activities
3. OTHER TRADING ACTIVITIES
Deposit account interest and other interest received
4. INVESTMENT INCOME		 18,566
3,744
316,004
206,879
545,193
44,571
14,800
30,000
-
1,500
10,500
25,000
45,508
10,000
25,000
-
-
-
-
206,879
16,229
1,891
-
375,961
394,081
-
12,333
30,000
30,000
1,500
-
25,000
45,792
-
50,000
19,485
144,871
4,000
12,980
375,961
31.01.25
£
31.01.24
£
4,477
2,187
31.01.25
£
31.01.24
£
16,943
3,230
31.01.25
£
31.01.24
£		 18,566
3,744
316,004
206,879
545,193
31.01.24
£
44,571
14,800
30,000
-
1,500
10,500
25,000
45,508
10,000
25,000
-
-
-
-
206,879

2025 The Challenging Behaviour Foundation

4542

Notes to the Financial Statements Continued

for the Year Ended 31 January 2025

Contract and Other Non
Grant Income
127,560
5. INCOME FROM CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES
31.01.25
£
Information
and Support
Strategic
Influencing
Sharing
Best
Practice

Total
activities
7,150
9,147
111,263
6. RAISING FUNDS
7. CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES COSTS
Raising donations and legacies
Staff costs
Fundraising
Information and Support
Strategic Influencing
Sharing Best Practice
Core Funding
22,300
613
22,913
31.01.25
£
-
-
-
4,988
4,988
Support
costs
£
117,803
126,626
272,108
48,944
566,481
Direct
Costs
£
See note 8
8. SUPPORT COSTS
Core Funding
9. NET INCOME/(EXPENDITURE)
Net income/(expenditure) is stated after charging/(crediting):
Auditors' remuneration
2,200
31.01.25
£		 285,498
31.01.24
£
Total
activities
22,061
446
22,507
31.01.24
£
117,803
126,626
272,108
53,932
570,469
Totals
£
4,988
Totals
£
31.01.24
£
2,200

2025 The Challenging Behaviour Foundation

46

Notes to the Financial Statements Continued for the Year Ended 31 January 2025

10. TRUSTEES’ REMUNERATION AND BENEFITS

One trustee received a total of £608 in expenses for the year ended 31 January 2025. There were no trustees' expenses paid for the year ended 31 January 2024.

One trustee received a total of £743 in expenses for travel and replacement care costs whilst carrying out voluntary work, not as part of their role as trustee.

No trustee or any person related to the charity had any personal interest in any contract or trustee transaction entered into by the charity during the year other than as disclosed above and in Note 15.

11. STAFF COSTS

No employee was paid over £60,000 in the year.

The average monthly number of employees during the year was as follows:

The average monthly number of employees during the year was as follows:
2025 2024
Information & Support 4 5
Strategic Influencing 6 5
Sharing Best Practice 4 4
Core/General 5 5
Total 19 19
Total full time equivalent number of employees 13 12
12. DEBTORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR 31.01.25 31.01.24
£ £
Trade debtors 15,389 19,294
Other debtors 1,832 32
Gift Aid reclaimable 1,867 2,565
19,088 21,891

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47

Notes to the Financial Statements Continued

for the Year Ended 31 January 2025

13. CREDITORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR
13. CREDITORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR 31.01.25 31.01.24
£ £
Trade creditors 14,747 5,299
Social security and other taxes 8,079 6,302
VAT 1,287 3,556
Funds held for other organisations
Accruals and deferred income		 9,414
104,396		 15,423
86,288
137,923 116,868
Funds held for other organisations £9,414 (2024: £15,423) represents Funds held for other organisations £9,414 (2024: £15,423) represents monies held by the monies held by the
charity where it is working with other charities on joint projects. At 31 January 2025 these are
as follows:
Learning Disability Senate £6,831
Employment Dissemination £2,583
Net
14. MOVEMENT IN FUNDS At movement At
01.02.24 in funds 31.01.25
£ £ £
Unrestricted funds
General Funds 378,003 (12,098) 365,905
Training Designated Fund 21,541 1,494 23,035
The Jan Seamer Memorial Designated Fund 316,004 (32,434) 283,570
715,548 (43,038) 672,510
Restricted funds
John Ellerman Foundation 24,401 3,118 27,519
The National Lottery Community Fund – RC England Wide - 44,927 44,927
The Baily Thomas Charitable Fund 6,000 (6,000) -
CB-NSG 4,198 (4,198) -
SHIEC 3,572 - 3,572
Asquith Legacy 2,792 (2,792) -
National Lottery People's Project 20,105 (11,220) 8,885
Colyer-Fergusson Charitable Trust 2,314 (2,314) -
The Blagrave Trust 23,638 2,937 26,575
BBC Children in Need 38,386 (38,386) -
Paul Hamlyn Foundation 1,750 (30) 1,720
Masonic Charitable Foundation - 6,675 6,675
127,156 (7,283) 119,873
TOTAL FUNDS 842,704 (50,321) 792,383

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48

Notes to the Financial Statements Continued for the Year Ended 31 January 2025

14. MOVEMENT IN FUNDS - CONTINUED

Net movement in funds, included in the above are as follows:

Net movement in funds, included in the above are as follows: Net movement in funds, included in the above are as follows:
Incoming
resources		 Resources
expended		 Movement
in funds
£ £ £
Unrestricted funds
General Funds 204,950 (217,048) (12,098)
Training Designated Fund 22,650 (21,156) 1,494
The Jan Seamer Memorial Designated Fund - (32,434) (32,434)
227,600 (270,638) (43,038)
Restricted funds
John Ellerman Foundation 30,000 (26,882) 3,118
The National Lottery Community Fund – RC England Wide 144,871 (99,944) 44,927
The Baily Thomas Charitable Fund - (6,000) (6,000)
CB-NSG - (4,198) (4,198)
Skills for Care 12,980 (12,980) -
Asquith Legacy - (2,792) (2,792)
National Lottery People's Project - (11,220) (11,220)
Colyer-Fergusson Charitable Trust 12,333 (14,647) (2,314)
The Blagrave Trust 45,792 (42,855) 2,937
BBC Children in Need - (38,386) (38,386)
Paul Hamlyn Foundation 50,000 (50,030) (30)
Masonic Charitable Foundation 19,485 (12,810) 6,675
315,461 (322,744) (7,283)
TOTAL FUNDS
543,061 (593,382) (50,321)

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Notes to the Financial Statements Continued for the Year Ended 31 January 2025

14. MOVEMENT IN FUNDS - CONTINUED

Comparatives for movement in funds Net
At movement At
01.02.23 in funds 31.01.24
£ £ £
Unrestricted funds
General Funds 423,251 (45,249) 378,002
Training Designated Fund 27,772 (6,230) 21,542
The Jan Seamer Memorial Designated Fund - 316,004 316,004
451,023 264,525 715,548
Restricted funds
John Ellerman Foundation 25,335 (934) 24,401
The Esmee Fairbairn Foundation 5,613 (5,613) -
The National Lottery Community Fund – RC England Wide 38,716 (38,716) -
The Baily Thomas Charitable Fund - 6,000 6,000
CB-NSG 4,197 - 4,197
SHIEC 3,572 - 3,572
Asquith Legacy 3,199 (406) 2,793
National Lottery People's Project 27,395 (7,290) 20,105
Colyer-Fergusson Charitable Trust 1,568 747 2,315
The Blagrave Trust 17,282 6,355 23,637
BBC Children in Need - 38,386 38,386
Paul Hamlyn Foundation - 1,750 1,750
126,877 279 127,156
TOTAL FUNDS 577,900 264,804 842,704

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Notes to the Financial Statements Continued for the Year Ended 31 January 2025

14. MOVEMENT IN FUNDS - CONTINUED

Comparative net movement in funds, included in the above are as follows:

Incoming
resources		 Incoming
resources		 Resources
expended		 Movement
in funds
£ £ £
Unrestricted funds
General Funds 297,571 (342,820) (45,249)
Training Designated Fund 45,151 (51,381) (6,230)
The Jan Seamer Memorial Designated Fund 316,004 - 316,004
658,726 (394,201) 264,525
Restricted funds
John Ellerman Foundation 30,000 (30,934) (934)
The Esmee Fairbairn Foundation 7,501 (13,114) (5,613)
The National Lottery Community Fund – RC England Wide - (38,716) (38,716)
The Baily Thomas Charitable Fund 10,000 (4,000) 6,000
Asquith Legacy - (407) (407)
National Lottery People's Project - (7,290) (7,290)
Colyer-Fergusson Charitable Trust 14,801 (14,054) 747
The Blagrave Trust 45,508 (39,153) 6,355
BBC Children in Need 44,571 (6,185) 38,386
Paul Hamlyn Foundation 25,000 (23,250) 1,750
177,382 (177,103) 279
TOTAL FUNDS 836,108 (571,304) 264,804

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Notes to the Financial Statements Continued for the Year Ended 31 January 2025

14. MOVEMENT IN FUNDS - CONTINUED

A current year 12 months and prior year 12 months combined position is as follows:

Net
At movement At
01.02.23 in funds 31.01.25
£ £ £
Unrestricted funds
General Funds 423,251 (57,346) 365,905
Training Designated Fund 27,772 (4,737) 23,035
The Jan Seamer Memorial Designated Fund - 283,570 283,570
451,023 221,487 672,510
Restricted funds
John Ellerman Foundation 25,335 2,184 27,519
The Esmee Fairbairn Foundation 5,613 (5,613) -
The National Lottery Community Fund – RC England Wide 38,716 6,211 44,927
CB-NSG 4,197 (4,197) -
SHIEC 3,572 - 3,572
Asquith Legacy 3,199 (3,199) -
National Lottery People's Project 27,395 (18,510) 8,885
Colyer-Fergusson Charitable Trust 1,568 (1,568) -
The Blagrave Trust 17,282 9,293 26,575
Paul Hamlyn Foundation - 1,720 1,720
Masonic Charitable Foundation - 6,675 6,675
126,877 (7,004) 119,873
TOTAL FUNDS 577,900 214,483 792,383

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Notes to the Financial Statements Continued for the Year Ended 31 January 2025

14. MOVEMENT IN FUNDS - CONTINUED

A current year 12 months and prior year 12 months combined net movement in funds, included in the above are as follows:

Incoming
resources		 Incoming
resources		 Resources
expended		 Movement
in funds
£ £ £
Unrestricted funds
General Funds 502,521 (559,867) (57,346)
Training Designated Fund 67,801 (72,538) (4,737)
The Jan Seamer Memorial Designated Fund 316,004 (32,434) 283,570
886,326 (664,839) 221,487
Restricted funds
John Ellerman Foundation 60,000 (57,816) 2,184
The Esmee Fairbairn Foundation 7,501 (13,114) (5,613)
The National Lottery Community Fund – RC England Wide 144,871 (138,660) 6,211
The Baily Thomas Charitable Fund 10,000 (10,000) -
CB-NSG - (4,197) (4,197)
Skills for Care 12,980 (12,980) -
Asquith Legacy - (3,199) (3,199)
National Lottery People's Project - (18,510) (18,510)
Colyer-Fergusson Charitable Trust 27,134 (28,702) (1,568)
The Blagrave Trust 91,301 (82,008) 9,293
BBC Children in Need 44,571 (44,571) -
Paul Hamlyn Foundation 75,000 (73,280) 1,720
Masonic Charitable Foundation 19,485 (12,810) 6,675
492,843 (499,847) (7,004)
TOTAL FUNDS 1,379,169 (1,164,686) 214,483

The Training Designated Fund represents funds set aside by the trustees to invest in CBF's capacity to deliver training and help diversify the charity's income.

The Jan Seamer Memorial Designated Fund is to be used to reflect Jan Seamer's support of CBF and designated for the specific purposes of promoting the sustainability of CBF and to fund development opportunities that cannot be funded elsewhere.

15. RELATED PARTY DISCLOSURES

Two trustees received remuneration and out of pocket expenses totalling £170 for their roles in Patient and Public Inclusion and Engagement (PPIE) in research projects, by sharing their lived experience of caring for an individual with severe learning disabilities whose behaviour is described as challenging.

Dr K Jankulak received £100 remuneration and £15 expenses. Mrs K Sanger received £50 remuneration and £5 expenses.

2025 The Challenging Behaviour Foundation

53

2025 The Challenging Behaviour Foundation. www.challengingbehaviour.org.uk Tel. 01634 838739 Registered charity no. 1060714. Reg office: The Old Courthouse, New Road Avenue, Chatham, Kent ME4 6BE