## ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS ## **April 2022 – March 2023** **Resources for Autism Legal and Administrative Information** **Company Number 3326332** ## **Registered Charity 1061253** **Directors and trustees:** Dr V E H Booth (President) R H Esdaile (Treasurer) Sir Nick Hine (Chairman) C Montgomery B A Linden R Rainbow A Levitt R. Kiran Jackson (appointed January 2022) RESOURCES FOR AUTISM ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS ## **Chief Executive:** D Mordochai **Company Secretary:** R H Esdaile **Registered Office:** 858 Finchley Road Temple Fortune London NW11 6AB ## **Bankers:** National Westminster Bank plc 89 Mount Pleasant Road Tunbridge Wells Kent TN1 1PX **Auditors:** Begbies Chartered Accountants 9 Bonhill Street London EC2A 4DJ 1 RESOURCES FOR AUTISM ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS ## **Letter from the Chair** As the charity sector faces ongoing challenges stemming from the economic and social shifts brought about by the pandemic, as well as the current cost-of-living crisis, our organization has worked diligently to overcome these obstacles. We've done so with a focus on steady and sustainable growth, along with innovation in areas of emerging need. As we reflect on the past year, we take pride in the collective impact we've achieved. Some notable achievements in the past year include: - Supporting more children and young people than the previous year, totaling 820 unique children through shortbreaks, youth clubs, and mentoring. - Welcoming 182 new users to our services. - Doubling the number of carers attending our groups and training. - Supporting 334 autistic adults and expanding our offerings to include counseling, walking groups, dating groups, and dance movement therapy. - Providing autism awareness training to over 40 organisations, reaching more than 400 professionals. - - Successfully reintegrating 12 children with complex needs, who had been permanently excluded from special schools, back into education. - Our dedicated volunteers contributed over 6,000 hours of support. - Our website had 63,332 unique visitors. - Conducting an autistic-led research project on Autism, Race, and Culture, impacting hundreds of professionals across London. However, the year hasn't been without its challenges. We've seen a significant increase in demand for our services, with referrals becoming more complex, as 25% of our children and young people and 70% of our adults have had mental health challenges. The rising cost of living has placed strain on our budget, particularly in staff costs, necessitating the use of reserves to ensure our staff are properly supported. Sector-wide staffing shortages led to the temporary closure of some of our groups during the early part of the year. To address these challenges, our team took bold and creative actions, including: - Partnering with Blackbridge, a marketing recruitment agency, to review our recruitment process pro bono, leading to a significant increase in engagement statistics. - Prioritizing staff well-being and maintaining our commitment to being a London Living Wage employer by increasing salaries and introducing a well-being strategy for all our staff. - Restructuring our Leadership and Management team to position ourselves for national growth. 2 RESOURCES FOR AUTISM ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS With over 700,000 autistic people in the UK, we firmly believe that none of them need to be 'fixed.' Instead, we strive to help them reach their full potential through understanding and mutual respect. In addition to providing on-the-ground support, we work to change systems and attitudes to allow all autistic individuals to be themselves without the need to mask their autism. This year, our training and consultancy program has aided numerous organisations and companies in becoming more inclusive and aware of autism and neurodiversity. We acknowledge that the neurodiversity landscape is ever-evolving, and our work is far from complete. The challenges are substantial and demand our continued dedication and collaboration. Over the past three years, our organization has transitioned from an emergency response mode to a resilience strategy and, now, to cautious but sustained growth. The achievements of 2022 stand as a testament to the unwavering dedication of our team, the steadfast support of our volunteers, the incredible generosity of our donors, and the fruitful collaborations with our partners. Together, we continue to build a more inclusive, compassionate, and informed society. Sincerely, Sir Nick Hine Chairman, Resources for Autism Date: 03/10/23 3 RESOURCES FOR AUTISM ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS ## **Report of the trustees for the year ending 31 March 2023** The trustees are pleased to present their annual directors’ report together with the financial statements of the charity for the year ending 31 March 2023, which are also prepared to meet the requirements for a director’s report and accounts for Companies Act purposes. The financial statements comply with the Charities Act 2011, the Companies Act 2006, the Memorandum and Articles of Association, and Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (as amended for accounting periods commencing from 1 January 2019). Structure, Governance and Management ## Company Status: Resources for Autism (or “RfA”) is a charitable company limited by guarantee. It was incorporated on 28 February 1997 and is governed by a memorandum and articles of association. These were reviewed and updated in September 2005. ## Governance and internal control: The board of directors is responsible for selecting and recruiting suitable trustees to hold office at the Annual General Meeting. The number of trustees shall be not less than three but is not subject to any maximum. One third of the trustees shall retire from office at each Annual General Meeting. A retiring trustee is eligible for re-election, and there is no limit on the number of times a trustee may be re-elected. The minimum age for a trustee is 18 years, but there is no upper age limit imposed on trustees. The Trustees from among their number appoint a chairperson. New trustees are inducted through a process of briefings by the Chairman and executive management, and they are provided with key information relating to the charity’s governance and operation. The board of trustees meets approximately four times per annum. Pay for senior staff is reviewed and agreed by the board of Trustees as and when necessary. The Senior Leadership Team supports the Chief Executive in the day-today running of the charity and efforts to sustain and grow the charity’s income and deliver the mission of the organisation. . ## Purpose and activities: The objects of Resources for Autism, as stated in the memorandum and articles, are to: - a) Support the needs of people with Autism and related conditions; and 4 RESOURCES FOR AUTISM ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS b) Promote and protect the health of families and carers of people with Autism and related conditions. Specifically, the charity aims to: - Improve independence for autistic individuals - Improve emotional wellbeing for autistic individuals and their families - Improve the life skills of autistic individuals - Raise awareness about autism Resources for Autism seeks to identify the most-needed services that reach the largest number of families and to demonstrate how these can be provided to a measurable standard of excellence. The charity aims to establish a model for the provision of services that can be delivered either as a direct activity of the charity or through the action of other organisations. ## Ensuring our work delivers our aims: We review our aims, objectives and activities at quarterly trustees’ meetings. At these meetings we review our achievements and outcomes for the previous quarter. - The review looks at the success of each key activity and the benefit it has brought to those groups of people we are set up to help. - The review also helps us ensure our aims, objectives and activities remain focused on our stated purposes. - We have referred to the guidance contained in the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit when reviewing our aims and objectives and in planning our future activities. - In particular, the trustees consider how any planned activities will contribute to the aims and objectives they have set. In order to achieve its charitable aims, RFA provides: - a) Weekly specialist play schemes and youth clubs during term time and holidays - b) Arts therapies - c) Volunteer mentoring and befriending service (Reach Out) - d) Support for Adults - e) Family Support for parent and Carers - f) School Integration: Orange House School - g) Therapies (Music and Counselling) - h) Training and Consultancy to organisations 5 RESOURCES FOR AUTISM ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS ## **Our Reach in 2022-2023** In line with our strategic priorities, we saw a cautious and sustained growth in most of our service areas across children, young people and adults. Specifically, this year our services were in the following areas: - 64,332 unique users of our online resources - 6,683 hours donated by volunteers - 820 children and young people supported - 757 families accessed our First Response Service - 548 parents and carers attended drop-in and training sessions - 495 professionals received autism training - 334 adults supported - 184 new people we supported under 18 - 77 new people we supported over 18 - 43 organisations trained in neurodiversity and autism awareness - 38 local authority partnerships This growth has been achieved by: - Successful fundraising with two key funders (National Community Fund and Garfield Weston) providing us with core infrastructure costs in order to grow our reach. - The award of a 2-year grant by Mayor of London to capacity build youth organisations in North and West London which expanded our training offer - An internal restructuring towards a more national way of working which enabled better collaboration between regions and efficiencies made as a result - Development and roll out of our 2-year strategy across different areas - Complete review of our recruitment and retention strategy which has helped us slowly recover from the staff shortages experienced earlier in the year The chart below demonstrated the growth of our reach across our key stakeholder groups over the last three years. - 6 RESOURCES FOR AUTISM ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS **----- Start of picture text -----**
Chart Title
Numbers Supported 2022
Numbers Supported 2021
Numbers supported 2020
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900
Children and Young people services Families Adults
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What we are particularly proud of is that this year (excluding Triage) we welcomed **256 new individuals** into our service. ## **Our Impact** The outcomes we seek to achieve through our work include: - _**Increased Confidence and sense of belonging**_ - Acceptance is fundamental to all our work with children and young people. We provide places and activities where they feel welcomed and valued by people outside their family, often for the first time. - _**Communication and interaction**_ - Our play and support services allow children and young people to meet and interact with each other, as well as with staff and volunteers. Engaging with other people in a safe and caring environment helps children and young people build their confidence and skills for communication - _**Relationships and social connection**_ - Our Behaviour informed services, as well as our therapy services and Community, directly help children and young people to develop their communication skills and manage their anxiety. They also benefit from fun, relaxed social interaction at playgroups and as part of our community support and Reach Out programmes. - _**Independence and resilience**_ - An improvement in confidence, communication and relationships can make a huge difference to the ability of children and young people to manage everyday life. - _**Access to other services and sources of support**_ - Our Triage services provide advice, advocacy and information and support to autistic adults. Our listening ear and carefully tailored help are especially important for people who have received a diagnosis of autism as adults, and have to adjust to a new identity, often by themselves with little or no support. 7 RESOURCES FOR AUTISM ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS ## **Children and Young People Services Impact** Across the year, we… - supported **782** children and young people, of whom **184** were new - offered **882** termtime sessions which were accessed by **229** unique children - ● provided **1,298** holiday placements for **350** unique children ## Our **Therapies** team achieved many successes: we… - launched a new school partnership, supporting 30 autistic children through 1:1 and group work - developed a new play therapy service which supported 24 children and 10 parents - supported the placement of two students in Music Therapy and Dance Movement Therapy ## **Parents told us…** - 92% My child’s wellbeing improved after joining a holiday scheme - 88% Our family has benefited from the respite offered by RfA ## **Parents or older children told us…** - 98% My child has/I have benefited from the service - 90% My child has/I have an improved capacity to try new things - 90% My child has/I have improved mood - 85% My child has/I have improved ability to interact with others - 80% My child has/I have improved ability to form relationships and friendships - 76% My child has/I have improved self-confidence - 75% My child has/I have improved communication _‘The staff were so dedicated and thoughtful. H was very reluctant to join in, but the staff went above and beyond to engage her’_ _‘Your trustworthy staff always provide a safe haven for our children, and we hope this continues into adulthood as they grow and develop further. My sons always come home so fulfilled :)’_ 8 RESOURCES FOR AUTISM ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS _‘It is the only opportunity for us to have time apart in the holidays to do things independently of each other and this benefits both of us and our relationship.’_ _‘As a parent I feel comfortable leaving my son and I know that he is safe and well looked after.’_ _‘The work you do has given me so much hope, D is just so settled at club.’_ _‘I have only attended in holiday time, but RfA has definitely provided a much-needed neuro-affirmative and non-discriminatory environment for me and an opportunity to find some social confidence’_ _‘The mentoring scheme has really been the fulcrum of a wider sense of independence and support that means everything feels better for P. His severe mental health issues are much more under control as he can now vocalise his anxiety and depression and feel heard.’_ From our base at Orange House, our Alternative Provision for children living in the London Borough of Newham, we supported **12** children who had been permanently excluded from their special education settings, of whom most have either been transitioned successfully into school or who are mid-transition in the 2022-23 academic year. ‘ _Both my boys had had no access to any autism-specific club and were highly distressed and anxious. When they joined RfA, they had a sense of belonging, felt understood and accessed activities in a trusted environment with a team who are highly trained. My children now come home fulfilled and with a sense of “being understood” as their needs are complex. I am so happy and grateful RfA are here._ ’ 9 RESOURCES FOR AUTISM ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS ## **Adult Services Impact** When autistic children transition into adulthood, most of their support disappears. We have always been committed to ensuring that the autistic adult community is not left behind. Across the year, we… - hosted **489** group sessions - supported **334** adults - received **166** new referrals - welcomed **77** new adults - delivered **46** advocacy sessions Our ten **adult groups spanning London and the West Midlands welcome those with all levels of need, focusing on fun and c** onnection, and on building independence and preparing for adulthood. This year we have focused on stretching the service users to advocate for themselves and get their voices heard. We encouraged our adults to create their own timetables and planned activities and to have more ownership over their groups through creative co-production tools. Our more **independent groups** have chosen to try new outings and activities such as canal trips along the river, mini-golf and theatre trips. Our **semi-independent groups** built their skills in areas such as cooking and planning trips. Our **complex needs groups** experimented with cooking and sensory play and created beautiful, inspiring artworks. The groups all connected with each other creatively, through art, dance and laughter. Our much-needed advoc **acy and crisis support services** continued to provide guidance on the oftencomplicated pathway to access benefits and housing services. ‘ _The support provided by you was incredibly thoughtful, empathetic and at the same time professional and detailed. I was scared to ask for help and your work helped me change my life for the better.’_ Our **virtual groups** , for those unable to access in-person groups, include our Adult Women’s Group. Its ten core members share advice, stories and compassion, exploring wellbeing, personal safety and autism acceptance. Some members now meet independently online to continue to connect with each other. ‘ _I wanted to say thank you for leading this group. I still have social anxiety about it but it’s getting better, and I actually find myself having a lot in common with the ladies.’_ 10 RESOURCES FOR AUTISM ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS **72%** of the adults we support have experienced mental health difficulties, with anxiety and depression being the most common. This year, with generous funding from the Bloomfield Foundation, we provided counselling support to 23 adults which was very well received. ## **Adults told us…** - **100%** I have benefited from the service - **85%** I have seen improvements in my mood The most significant benefit of our support has been… - **38%** Social inclusion - **25%** Social skills - **13%** Independence - **12%** Feeling understood - **12%** Wellbeing **----- Start of picture text -----**
Well being Social inclusion
Independence Feeling understood
Social skills
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‘ _The help I received from Resources for Autism is not something I can measure. I would have been mad if I did not receive their help.’_ _‘I managed to get a job and to understand people much better.’_ 11 RESOURCES FOR AUTISM ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS _‘Thanks to your help, I have been awarded Personal Independence Payment and UC50. I am actively taking part in two groups, receiving counselling sessions that are incredibly helpful.’_ _‘I have made more friends’_ _‘Since working with you, my mental health is better, I feel encouraged and even though I might not have tons of energy to advocate for myself, I feel like we have already accomplished so much in these few months.’_ _‘I love coming to the group on a Wednesday. It feels like we are all developing a really lovely connection together.’_ _‘I am more independent and have made lots of nice friends_ 😀 _’_ ## **Family Support Services Impact** Working with families is core to our work. We offer peer-led coffee mornings, crisis support, behaviour support, training, specialist workshops, signposting and a sibling’s groups. Our Family Support team staff and volunteers are all experts by experience. Our impact this year was significant: - **548** parent/carers attended drop-in and training sessions - **757** families accessed our signposting service - **481** families were referred for further support from RfA - **217** parent/carers attended our monthly peer-led coffee mornings and drop-ins - **331** parent/carers attended our 32 workshops Our **workshops** covered areas such as sleep, diet and nutrition, self-care and wellbeing, behaviours of concern and screentime. ## **Parents and Carers reported….** - **100%** experience of support groups as at least 4 out of 5 - **95%** increased confidence in dealing with their child’s behaviour - **95%** reduced isolation 12 RESOURCES FOR AUTISM ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS _‘I leave so many drop-in sessions thinking - Oh, I didn't know that.’_ _‘The workshop was eye-opening. It spoke to me as a parent and how I can influence my child’s behaviour. Reena was clear and pointed out topics which are difficult but used this as an opportunity to empower us.’_ _‘I so appreciate you taking the time to break down all the strategies and advice. Having guidelines will help me to deal with the challenges I come up against with K.’_ _‘It was great to get advice from professionals who understand autism. There is still so much lack of understanding surrounding ASD. It is comforting to have this level of support, it’s not easy to come by.’_ _‘To attend amongst peers and families who are in the same or similar situations is very comforting, as all too often it can feel very lonely.’_ _‘The value of feeling heard and supported can't be expressed.... I have felt very isolated for the past few years. We now have a greater patience and understanding. We all feel less overwhelmed by everything.’_ L, parent of an autistic child _(identifying information has been changed)_ L is the parent of an autistic boy aged 4. She is originally from Eastern Europe, living in temporary accommodation after fleeing domestic violence. She speaks only basic English and has no family in the UK. She was very tearful during our first conversation, bewildered and unsure what to do. She didn’t understand autism or her son’s dysregulated behaviour. Everything seemed hopeless. She felt stuck and ashamed of her situation, of her son, of her unfurnished flat. I visited her, showed her some visuals she could use with her son and demonstrated some strategies, but she wasn’t very interested. She felt it was easy for me as her son had ‘respect’ for me, but he would never listen to her. When I asked her how she would feel if I put her in touch with an Albanian mother of a 12-year-old autistic child whom we had supported for a few years, she suddenly got interested! She got excited at the prospect of meeting someone with whom she could talk in her own language, free from judgement or lack of understanding. 13 RESOURCES FOR AUTISM ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS They had several phone conversations and then arranged to meet. When I next spoke with L, she sounded happier and more positive about her son and their future together… She wrote to me to say, ‘ _It is so good you put me in contact with an Albanian woman with autistic child, and I can get information from her on how to act in my case, this would help me a lot, because my English is not very good, I believe that you also understood my situation. Thank you very much.’_ - Vesna Glavas, Family Support Manager ## **Organisations Impact** 94% of autistic adults report experiencing anxiety, and 83% report experiencing depression (National Autistic Society, 2021). Only 22% of autistic people are in employment - the lowest employment rate of any form of disability or difference (ONS, 2021), and 75% of autistic adults still live at home (compared to 16% of people with a disability). Numbers like these make us committed to driving behaviour change and helping to build a world which is understanding of autistic people, and which doesn’t push people to the margins of society and sentence them to a life of isolation. Highlights of our work in changing behaviours and training other organisational training include… - **43 y** outh organisations in London supported with a capacity-support programme, through a grant from the Mayor of London’s New Deal for Young People - **300+** secondary school students given autism awareness training in three school settings - **400** professionals from sectors including education and youth organisations supported across **14** training sessions - **50+** professionals attended the launch of RfA’s _Report on the Challenges Facing Autistic People and their Carers from Ethnically Diverse Backgrounds in the London Borough of Newham_ . The findings and recommendations, developed through a grant from the London Borough of Newham through Compass Wellbeing, were subsequently shared within their networks, with the aim of influencing policy, the local offer and the support offered by other organisations. The report can be found on our website - Featured in a BBC interview about autism and homelessness - Supported Communicourt, the largest provider of intermediaries for HM Courts and Tribunals Service, producing a best practice guide on how to support autistic people in the criminal justice system _‘Informative, interesting, relaxed and empowering. Made me feel like I am already doing some things correctly, and plenty of ideas for a better understanding of how to support young people with autism.’_ _‘Facilitator’s experience was brilliant. She had great knowledge and was able to answer questions. Pitched at just the right level where it was an overview of info about the subject and still tailored to our organisation.’_ 14 RESOURCES FOR AUTISM ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS _‘Emily was really clear and expanded on the learning with anecdotes that really helped to clarify an example and make it resonate and stick in my mind.’_ _‘Excellent trainer, really engaging and informed. Comprehensive slides and materials.”_ _‘Clear overview of topics on autism with opportunities for questions and clarification. Insight on how to implement strategies in real-life situations. Opportunities to stay connected for further questions.’_ ## **Volunteers** Our volunteers are core to the services we provide. We are particularly grateful for their involvement in mentoring and befriending, play therapy, parent support, gardening and office support. This year… - **6,683** volunteer hours were donated - **100+** volunteers supported our community and their families in London and the West Midlands - **78** new volunteers joined our team ## Volunteers told us that the benefits of volunteering which they most valued were… - Greater understanding and awareness of autism - Making a positive difference for autistic people - Gaining new skills and experiences - Enjoyment - Helping others - Meeting new people _‘Confidence is the BIG ONE. At first, I was nervous when I started on the training… but then you build up that confidence, as you want the best for the person you’re helping, that becomes your focus - working together to find solutions.’_ _‘I am gaining so much experience on how to plan and organise sessions, for my career in psychology, and learning so much about autism… I am really enjoying volunteering and being able to get to know and support (person-centred) the young woman.’_ 15 RESOURCES FOR AUTISM ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS ## **Spotlight on Volunteer Mentoring** This year, through a grant from Mayor Sadiq Khan's volunteering programme, Team London, our volunteers supported 76 people through mentoring. Our Mentors supported young autistic people, helping them to build personal and life skills, confidence and self-esteem, both at their home and in the community. **4,014** hours were donated by our Volunteer Mentors this year. Mentors told us that they were particularly proud to make a difference to their mentees, and noted… - Improved social skills and independence - Increased self-confidence - Confidence to try new things - Improved mood and reduced anxiety ‘ _He has historically been plagued with ‘bad voices' - where he starts speaking in the voice of people who have upset him in the past. Recently, he told me that he has a new coping strategy for this - when the 'bad voices' try to sneak in, he starts speaking back to them in MY voice, because it makes him feel safe and happy. Apart from being one of the nicest compliments I've ever received, I was really proud of him for being so resourceful and for problem-solving by himself :)’_ _‘Before, the young person would jump from one topic to another and would often not answer my questions as they would get easily distracted by something else, but now when in our conversations it is much more collaborative. I think this is due to us building a strong relationship; it's one of the things I am the most proud of from my volunteering so far.’_ _‘The young woman I am supporting struggles with anxiety and understanding emotions, she often thinks people are angry with her. Now that we are building trust she speaks more freely to me. When we first started, she would only meet up for 30 minutes as she was so anxious, and now after 3 sessions we have met for an hour! We are working on understanding emotion when out in the community and on how to cross the road other than where there are traffic lights.’_ _‘My mentor is someone I would be friends with and not just someone who's helping me. We have a lot in common. I warmed up to her very quickly.’_ 16 RESOURCES FOR AUTISM ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS _‘Our son B has found his sessions with Nazir absolutely amazing. The benefits are many but generally: 1) To have someone nearer his age who can champion him and make him feel connected is really so helpful. 2) He is mid-GCSEs and the pressure and anxiety can get very overwhelming, his mentor understands and can support in ways we, his parents, can't. 3) It helps him realise that his social isolation will change as he gets older. It gives him perspective. It takes the pressure off us and his sister and gives valuable time for us to step back and focus on her.’_ ## **Our Successes during 2022-2023** Despite the difficulties we have faced during the last 2 years with post pandemic recovery, staff shortages, cost of living increases and very tough funding reality, we have managed to grow our reach and our impact in every single area. You will read everything in detail in our Impact report but in summary we have: - supported more children and young people than last year ( **820** unique children) - welcomed **182** new users to our service. - doubled the number of carers attending our groups and training. - Offered adults more options of support with counselling, walking group, dating group and dance movement therapy. - Trained over **40** organisations in autism awareness accessing more than **400** professionals. - Our school integration service has supported **12** children this year, more than every other year since 2018. - Volunteers offered over **6000** hours of support. - Our website had **63,332** unique visitors. Internally our organisation went through a significant improvement journey across every area. Specifically: - **Workforce:** We worked with Blackbridge, a Marketing Recruitment agency who supported us on a pro-bono basis to review all our recruitment material, develop an autistic led recruitment video and develop a recruitment strategy for our social channels. As a result, we have been successful in slowly bridging the recruitment gaps we faced earlier in the year. - **Diversity and Inclusion** : We continued our work on our Diversity and Inclusion promise and this year we undertook a number of different actions. The whole organisation participated in a 5-day Race Equality Challenge where every day we reflected collectively on areas such as microaggressions, privilege, being an ally. We also redesign our recruitment and onboarding processes and developed new plans for supporting neurodivergent staff into the organisation. We also conducted autistic led research into the intersectionality between Autism, Race and Culture and we presented our findings to over 100 professionals across London. 48% of our workforce comes from ethnically diverse cultures and we are committed to our genuine efforts to create inclusive work environment. - **Employee Wellbeing** . Our employee wellbeing group continued to meet quarterly and we run a wellbeing barometer survey to ascertain the wellbeing of our workforce. Feedback from the survey has been incorporated into our retention strategy. 17 RESOURCES FOR AUTISM ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS - **Co-production.** This year we took our coproduction commitment to a whole new level by recruiting a co-production lead, running 4 co-production panels across the year, developing a co-production vision and beginning to integrate co-production in everything we do. - **Restructure to a National Service:** In November 2023, we undertook the restructuring of our Leadership and Management Team in order to move towards a much more integrated service between London and the West Midlands. The new structure took effect from January 2023 and has been working really well with Managers and Leaders between regions working closer together than ever before. - - ## **Our Challenges during 2022-2023** - **Demand** : Our demand remained stable as the level of last year (872 referrals in 2021, 850 in 2022), however it is still significantly higher (40%) than pre-Covid. The most sought-after service is our children and young people groups, and we are working very hard to increase the capacity and reach of our groups. - **Funding:** Cost of Living Rises and the impact of that on our workforce and our beneficiaries has been by far the biggest challenge of 2022-2023. Our commitment has been to remain a London Living Wage and National Minimum Wage employer and we have been successful in achieving that over the last three years. This year the LLW and NMW went up by 25% which is expense we had not anticipated or budgeted for. In addition to that cost, we also paid all our employees a £200 one-off bonus to support with rising energy costs and we also gave everyone a £50 voucher towards groceries. Our Board agreed that in these extraordinary times we needed to use part of our reserves to ensure that we support our staff and this decision was very well received by staff. - With rising costs due to inflation and our decision to increase pay for all roles, our fundraising target has been increased to £1,000,000 per year which is a stretch for our small team of two plus the CEO. We recruited a new Head of Fundraising in January 2023, and we are working relentlessly to find new and innovative avenues to increase our fundraised income, particularly to cover our increasing core costs. ## **Our Values** The organisation has a set of operating values, which govern our work. These traditionally have been success, dynamic, safe and ethical. This year, we undertook a series of workshops across all the organisation, in order to co-design new organisational values. Our new values are **Compassionate:** We offer empathetic, non-judgemental support, showing respect for each individual’s lived experiences. **Inclusive** : We welcome uniqueness and difference. We accept individuals for who they are and where they are in their personal development. 18 RESOURCES FOR AUTISM ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS **Courageous:** We continually persevere and battle to ensure our service users, staff and community get the care and support they need. **Creative** : We recognise the importance of playfulness, flexibility and fun and we empower individuals to celebrate their skills and personality, **Expert:** We listen, learn, and adapt to build our autism knowledge, experience and provide relevant, high quality, autism support **----- Start of picture text -----**
Courageous
Expert Creative
RfA
Inclusive Compassionate
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Between July and December, we will ensure that all values are operationalised into behaviours and linked into our inductions, training and appraisals. ## Risks The Directors have a risk management process to assess business risks and implement risk management strategies. This involves reviewing the risks the charity faces, prioritising them in terms of potential impact and likelihood of occurrence, and identifying means of mitigating the risks in line with a risk profile accepted by the board. As part of the risk management process, the charity complies with the Charity Commission’s list of internal financial controls in all material respects. The organisation has a full set of policies and procedures, which are read and signed by all staff on appointment, including detailed child and adult safeguarding. All staff are enhanced DBS checked. Risk assessments are completed for every activity undertaken. 19 RESOURCES FOR AUTISM ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS The organisation has employer, public, product, professional and trustee indemnity insurances in place. RfA fully complies with fundraising best practice and is registered with the Fundraising Regulator. The organisation directly employs its fundraisers. We do not use agencies, and no one receives commission for fundraising. The charity’s income is primarily derived from fees and grants rather than from the general public. We do not use direct marketing for fundraising purposes which protects vulnerable people and have no complaints regarding our fundraising during the year. ## Financial Review The charity had a deficit of £20,750 for the year, compared with a deficit of £152,512 in the previous year. Income from charitable activities, in the form of fees and contracts increased by £108,923. Expenditure increased by £140,522 which is mainly due to offering more services. This is offset by an increase in income from charitable activities of 108,923. The remaining increase in expenditure flows from the decision to increase salaries of all staff by 3% to cover inflationary rises and frontline staff by an average of 21% in line with Living Wage increases. This year, in recognition of the pressure on staff due to high cost of living the Board agreed a one-off award of £200 per staff member and a £50 voucher. The unrestricted funds held at the end of the year increased by £42,007 to £1,818,335 and restricted funds decreased by £62,757 to £13,162. Total funds at the year-end stand at £1,831,497 of which £840,135 is designated as it could only be realised by selling the charity’s fixed assets, and £978,200 represents undesignated ‘free’ reserves. More details of the reserves can be seen in note 15 of the accounts. ## Reserves The aim of Resources for Autism’s reserves policy is to ensure that its ongoing and future activities are reasonably protected from unexpected variances in income and expenditure. Resources for Autism aims to maintain reserves at a reasonable level to ensure it can meet its running costs for between 6 and 12 months. Trustees have maintained a level of 4.4 months of current expenditure and will work to grow this to a six-month level. The relevant reserves for the purposes of the reserves policy are represented by all free reserves and exclude designated funds. 20 RESOURCES FOR AUTISM ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS ## Principal Funding Sources Resources for Autism recognises the importance of having a mix of funding sources and has been successful in maintaining a balance of statutory contracts, grants, and fees. We are slowly seeing an increase in our training income and one of our priorities for next year is to package our training offer The organisation has continued to be successful in winning tenders to provide autism specialist child, youth and family provision for a number of local and regional authorities. We have successfully renegotiated our Birmingham contract to cost recovery level after this remained at the same pricing for the last 10 years. Resources for Autism has received a range of grants during the period, a full list of which is contained in the body of these accounts. Fees from individuals for services provided have been a crucial element in maintaining a healthy funding balance but RfA also recognises that no one in need of the services we offer should be turned away due to an inability to pay. Subsidised fees for families, who are in receipt of tax credit, income support or on very low income, continue to be a crucial element of our charitable services. Whilst our legacy income dropped significantly in the last two years, RfA is deeply indebted to those who have supported us in this way. ## Plans for Next Year: Having navigated a pandemic and a cost-of-living crisis, our organisation has moved from emergency response, to building resilience and now to cautious growth within our means. Over the next year we want to grow some of our most needed services and to continue to make systemic change through our capacity building offer. Specifically, our priorities will focus on: - Expanding our children and young people services by offering more spaces to existing beneficiaries - and developing new clubs in areas where none exist. - Offering support to more autistic adults around specific areas that they have chosen. We will achieve - that by improving further our work on Co-production. - Increasing the specialist support to those with more complex needs through offering more spaces to - those children who are excluded from school, offering more support to families at times of crisis and increasing our capacity for mental health support to autistic adults - Develop our training and consultancy offer even further and influence more organisation across - public, private and voluntary sector to become more neuroinclusive. 21 RESOURCES FOR AUTISM ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS ## Directors and their Interests Apart from the Directors/Trustees listed on page 1, no other person served as a charity trustee during 2022/23. ## Statement of Directors’ Responsibilities The trustees, who are also the directors of Resources for Autism for the purposes of company law, are responsible for preparing a trustees’ annual report and financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice). Company law requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charity for that year. In preparing the financial statements, the trustees are required to: - select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently. - observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP. - make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent. - state whether applicable UK accounting standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements. - Prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in operation. The trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity 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 charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities. The trustees are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial information included on the charitable company’s website. Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions. ## Statement as to disclosure to our auditors In so far as the trustees are aware at the time of approving our trustees’ annual report: - there is no relevant information, being information needed by the auditor in connection with preparing their report, of which the auditor is unaware, and 22 RESOURCES FOR AUTISM ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS - The trustees, having made enquiries of fellow directors and the auditor that they ought to have individually taken, have each taken all steps that he/she is obliged to take as a director in order to make themselves aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the auditor is aware of that information. By order of the board of trustees Sir Nick Hine **Chair** Date: 03/10/23 **Auditors** The auditors, Begbies Chartered Accountants Ltd, are deemed to be reappointed under section 487(2) of the Companies Act 2006. 23 RESOURCES FOR AUTISM ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS ## **INDEPENDENT AUDITORS’ REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF RESOURCES FOR AUTISM** ## **Opinion** We have audited the financial statements of Resources for Autism (the “Charitable Company”) for the year ended 31[st] March 2023 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, including Financial Reporting Standard 102: The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice). In our opinion, the financial statements: In our opinion, the financial statements: - give a true and fair view of the state of the Charitable Company’s affairs as at 31[st] March 2023 and of its income and expenditure for the year then ended; - have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice; - Have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006. ## **Basis for opinion** We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the Charitable Company in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC’s Ethical Standard, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion. ## **Conclusions relating to going concern** In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded 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 charity’s ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue. Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the trustees with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report. ## **Other information** The trustees are responsible for the other information. The other information comprises the information included in the annual report other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon. 24 RESOURCES FOR AUTISM ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS Our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether there is a material misstatement in the financial statements or a material misstatement of the other information. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact. We have nothing to report in this regard. ## **Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006** In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of the audit: - the information given in the trustees’ report (incorporating the directors’ report) for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements; and - The trustees’ report (incorporating the directors’ report) have been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements. ## **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 Trustees’ Annual Report. We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Companies Act 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion: - adequate accounting records have not been kept or returns adequate for our audit have not been received from branches not visited by us; - - - - the financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; - certain disclosures of trustees’ remuneration specified by law are not made; or - we have not received all the information and explanations necessary for the purposes of our audit. - the trustees were not entitled to take advantage of the small companies’ exemptions in preparing the trustees’ report and from the requirement to prepare a strategic report. ## **Responsibilities of the trustees** As explained more fully in the Director’s responsibilities statement, the trustees 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 they 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. 25 RESOURCES FOR AUTISM ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS ## **Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements** Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor’s report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements. ## **Extent to which the audit was capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud** Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud is detailed below: - agreement of the financial statement disclosures to underlying supporting documentation; - enquiries or confirmation of management and the trustees as to their identification of any non-compliance with laws or regulations, or any actual or potential claims; - review of minutes of Board meetings throughout the period; - incorporating unpredictability into the nature, timing and/or extent of testing. - evaluation of the selection and application of the accounting policies chosen by the charity. - in relation to the risk of management override of internal controls, by undertaking procedures to review journal entries and evaluating whether there was evidence of bias that represented a risk of material misstatement due to fraud; and - we assessed the susceptibility of the charity’s financial statements to material misstatement, including how fraud might occur by considering the key risks impacting the financial statements. Our audit procedures were designed to respond to risks of material misstatement in the financial statements, recognising that the risk of not detecting a material misstatement due to fraud is higher than the risk of not detecting one resulting from error, as fraud may involve deliberate concealment by, for example, forgery, misrepresentations or through collusion. There are inherent limitations in the audit procedures performed and the further removed non-compliance with laws and regulations is from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, the less likely we are to become aware of it. A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at: [www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities]. This description forms part of our auditor’s report. ## **Use of Our Report** This report is made solely to the Charitable Company’s members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the Charitable Company’s members those matters we are required to state to them in an auditor’s report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the Charitable Company’s members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed. Katherine Dee FCA (Senior Statutory Auditor) For and on behalf of Begbies Chartered Accountants, Statutory Auditors Bonhill Street London, EC2A 4DJ Date: 05/10/23 26 RESOURCES FOR AUTISM ANNUAL REPORT AND AccouNrs Flnancial Stslements Ststsment of Financial Activities Incor oratin an Income and Ex For the ear ended 31 March 2023 enditure Account Unrestricted funds 2023 Restricted funds 2023 Total funds 2023 Totsl funds 2022 Note Income from.. Donations and legacies.. Grants Other donations 147,500 58,158 657,764 805,264 58,158 700,822 16,299 Charitable aCt￿ltieS 1,739,096 1,739,096 1,630,173 Inveglments 5,790 5,790 2,229 Other 19,399 19,399 5,900 Totsl income 1,969,943 657,764 2,627,707 2,355,423 Expendltuie on.. Raising chantable funds Chantable a¢lMties 108,310 1,819,626 108,310 2,540,147 94,903 2,413,032 720,521 Totsl expendlture 1,927 936 720 521 2 648,457 2,507 935 Net lexpendllurevlncome belore Iiansfers 42,007 162,7571 120,7501 1152,5121 Transfers L￿￿een funds 14 Net movement in fund5 42,007 162,7571 120,7501 1152,5121 Reconciliation of funds Totsl funds brought forward at1 April 2022 14 1,776,328 75,919 1,852,247 2,004,759 Totsl funds Ca￿le￿ forward al 31 March 2023 14 1,818,335 13,162 1,831,497 1,852,247 27 RESOURCES FOR AUTISM ANNUAL REPORT AND AccouNrs Flnanclal Statements Balance Sheet For the ear ended 31 March 2023 Note 2023 2022 Flxed a$$ets Tangible assets 840,135 868,647 Current a88ets Debtors Cash at bank and in hand 12 150.571 1,080.773 165.620 1,073.005 1,231,344 1.238.625 Llabllltles Creditors.. amounts falling due within one year Net current asset8 13 239,982 255,025 991.362 983.600 Total a55ets Its5 current Ilabllltles 1,831,497 1.852.247 Funds Unrestricted funds-. General funds 14 978.200 907.681 978,200 840,135 907,681 868,647 Designated funds 14 1,818,335 1,776,328 Restricted funds 14 13.162 75.919 Total charfty funds 15 1,831,497 1.852.247 Notes 1 to 16 forrn part of these financial statements. The financial statements were approved antj authorised for issue by the Board of Trustees on 3rd October 2023 and signed on their behalf by.. Sir Nick Hine Trustee Resources for Autlsm (Company Number.. 33263321 28 RESOURCES FOR AUTISM ANNUAL REPORT AND AccouNrs Flnanclal Ststements statement of Cash Flov For the ear ended 31 March 2023 Total funds 2023 Totsl funds 2022 Note Cash flows from operatlng actlvltles Net lexpenditureyincome for the year {as per the Statement of Financial Activities) 120,7501 1152,512) Adjustments for: Depreciation Interesl Receivable Decreasellincrease} in debtors {Decreasellincrease in creditors Cash flows (used inllgenerated from operating activities 28,512 (5,7901 15,049 15,043 1,978 28,512 12,229) 66,754 58,748 727 Cash flows from Investlng actlvltles Purchase of Fixed assels Interest received Net cash provlded by Investlng actlvltles 5,790 5,790 2,229 2,229 (Decreasellincrease in cash and cash equivalents in the year 7,768 1,502 Cash and cash equlvalents at the beginnlng of the year 1,073,005 1,071,503 Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year li) 1,080,773 1,073,005 Note to the cashflow statement (il Analysls of Cash and cash equlvalents 2023 2022 Cash in hand Cash in bank 5,494 1,075,279 1,080,773 7,700 1,065,305 1,073,005 Total cash and cash equlvalents lill Net debt There was no net debt during the year to 31 March 2023 or the year to 31 March 2022. 29 RESOURCES FOR AUTISM ANNUAL REPORT AND AccouNrs Notes to the Accounts For the ear ended 31 March 2023 ACCOUNTING POLICIES The principal accounting policies adopted, judgements and key sources of ests'mation uncertainty in the preparation of the financial statements are as follows.. 1.1 8a$l$ of preparatlon The financial stslemenls have been prepared in accordance with Accounting and Reporting by Charities.. Slalement of Recommended Pra¢li¢e applicable lo charities preparing their financial statements in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland IFRS 1021 las amended for accounting periods commencing from 1 January 20191- Icharilies SORP IFRS 10211, the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland IFRS 1021 and the Companies Act 2006. Resources for Autism meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS 102. Assets and liat)ililies are initially re¢ognise(l at historical cost or transaction value unless othe￿1$e slated in the relevant accounting policy nolelsl. 1.2 Golng concern F￿e un￿$1[1¢ted reserves of the charity al the year end amounted to £978,20012022." £907,681). After consideration of the chanty's plans for the next three years, the Trustees consider there is a reasonable expectation that Resources for Autism has adequate resources lo continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. The Tiustees are also satisfied with the controls in place for monitoring and flexing the budget throughout the year. Whilst the coronavirus pandemic has resulted in significant national uncertainly, the Trustees do not consider that these uncertainties wll impact on the charity's ability lo continue as a going concern for the twelve months following the signing of the financial stalemenls. Accordingly we continue to adopt the going concern basis in preparing this annual report and financial statements. 1.3 Ineomlng resources Cash donations are recognised on receipt. Other donations are recognised once the chanty has been notified of the donation, unless performance conditions require deferral of the amount. Income from service level agreements is recognised lo the extent that services have been prowded or pefomance criteria have been met at the Balance Sheet date, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount can be measured reliably. Grants in response to specified time related budgets which are implicit in the grant agreement are recognised in accordance with the timing implicit in those budgets. Income to which the charity is not yet entitled in accordance with these criteria is accounted for as deferred income. For legacies, entrtlement is taken as the earlier of the date on which either-. the charity is aware that probate has been granted, the estate has been finalised and notification has been made by the execulorlsl to the charity that a distribution wll be made, or when a distribution is received from the eslale. Receipt of a legacy, in whole or in part, is only considered probable when the amount can be measured reliably and the charity has been notified of the executorfs intention to make a dislribulion. 1.4 Donated servlces The charity relies heavily on many volunteers who donate their time to assist those with autism. In accordance with the Charities SORP IFRS 1021, general volunteer time is not recognised as a monetary value in these financial statements. 1.5 Interest recelvable Interest on funds held on deposit is included when receivable and the amount can be measured reliably by the charity.. this is normally upon nob"ficabon of the interest paid or payable by the bank. 30 RESOURCES FOR AUTISM ANNUAL REPORT AND AccouNrs Note5 to the Accounts For the ear ended 31 March 2023 ACCOUNTING POLICIES Icontlnuedl 1.6 Resources expended and Irrecoverable VA T All expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis and has been listed under headings that aggregate all the costs related to that activity. Liabilities are recorgnised as expenditure as soon as there is a legal or constructive obligation to make a payment to a third party, it is probable that settlement will be required and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. Direct costs. including directly attributable salaries. are allocated on an actual basis to the key strategic areas ol acts-vity. Where costs cannot t)e directly attributed they have been allocated to activities on a basis consistent with the use of the resources. Staff time spent in setting up, organising and running charitable activities are posted directly to those activities. Support costs, including recruitment of staff for projects, accounting and other administrative costs, are allocated between charitable activities on the basis proportionally to directly allocated wages and other cost. The charty cannot recover VAT. Irrecoverable VAT is charged as a c¢)st against the actimly for which the expenditure was incurred. 1.7 Taxatlon The charity Is exempt from taxation on its charitat)le activrties. 1.8 Fund Accountlng Unrestricted funds can be used In accordance with the charitable objectives at the discretion of the trustees. Restricted lunds can only be used for the particular restricted purposes within the objects ol the charity. Restrictions arise when specffied by the donor or when funds are raised lor particular restricted purposes. 1.9 Tanglble flxed assets and depreclatlon Indwidual fixed assets costing £1.000 or more are capitalised at cost. Tangible fixed assets are stated at cost less depreciation. Depreciation is provided at rates calculated to write off the cost less estimated realisable value of each asset over its expected useful life, as follows". Long leasehold property Office equipment Motor vehicles Buildings- over 50 years, Residual v8lue of 999 year lease not depreciated 25% on cost 25% on cost 1.10 Penslon scheme The charity contributes to employees, definecl contribution pension schemes. The assets of the schemes are held separately from those of the charitable company in independently adminstered funds. The pension cost charge in the financial statements represents contrit)utions payable to the fund. Legal status of the charlty The charity is a company limited by guarantee and has no share capital. In the event of the charity being wound up, the liability in respect of the guarantee is limited to £1 per member of the charity. The charty was incorporated in England. The registered office address is 858 Finchley Road Temple Fortune London NW116A8. 31 RESOURCES FOR AUTISM ANNUAL REPORT AND AccouNrs Notes to the Accounts Forthe ear ended 31 March 2023 3 Inccfflofrom grants, donatlons and kgacles 2023 2022 Grants from trusts and foundalons 805,264 666,688 HMRC furlough gmnts 34,134 7W,822 805,264 Donatlons from companles olher ￿ganISatIonS and Indlvlduals Probono Ser¥lces 38.158 20.000 16.299 Total Other Donatlons 58.158 16.299 Total donatlons,grarts and kgacles 863,422 717,121 3a Probono Blackbridge Communcations Limrted provided recruitment 5UPWrtiia a media & digital capaign 20,000 Incomlng resources frorn charltable aclvltles Art and muslc thera Cornmunl su out and school Behavlour SU Aduh SU Tolal 2023 2023 2023 2023 2023 2023 F%5 Contra¢t In¢¢mè 39,098 72,7C6 679,954 206,618 691,6 12,900 34.956 366,278 1,372,818 Totsl 4Q,356 752,6fj0 899,224 12,900 34,956 1,739,096 2022 2022 2022 2022 2022 2022 Fees Contract Inccffle 22,897 91.￿7 684.391 304,414 469,4 4.553 3B.181 14.625 461.702 Totsl 22,897 776,248 773,869 19,178 38,191 1,630,173 Totsl income from stalulory sources amounted lo £1,372,818.0012022.' £1,202.6051 (excluding wrsonal care package funding). other Income 2023 2022 Acli¥ilies lor gener81ing fund5-. Rent recewable 2.600 14.090 2,709 2.600 Olhei 3.300 19,399 5,54)0 32 RESOURCES FOR AUTISM ANNUAL REPORT AND AccouNrs Notestothe Accounts ear¢Th￿d 31 March 2023 Analysk4 ofexpendllure on ralslng charftabk funds 2023 2022 Staff salane5. Nl¢ pensiw conknbulion$ DYe¢l ¢05ts 82,D98 91,974 2,￿9 94,¥¥)3 IC4,310 Analysb olexpendllure on Charttab￿ acuylles Artand mu81¢ thera Communl su reach out4nd $¢hool reinte Tatlon Tr Adutt bu Behaylour a aLOrt su Total $cherne8 Note 2023 2023 2023 2023 sala￿ an¢ related costs Dyect costs Supporf goYeTnan* C￿ts 70.954 3.648 23.480 9B,082 618,418 155,351 715,$81 58,059 243,489 1,017,129 49,320 1.689,044 20.508 257,031 49.778 594.072 207,936 2,540,147 19.351 36,657 153,129 15,558 64,992 998,B79 Artand rnu$lc thera Communl rÈaeh Dutand $¢hool r¢lnteuratSon 2022 su Behavlour TrL4 Su ¥u ort Total $chemes Note 2022 2022 2022 Salarip% related ¢0515 Dtect Costs Supporiand go¥efflance costs 63.503 2.753 20.148 622,016 66,138 205,848 8M,002 TY,33B 66,27B 83,564 1.831 25.968 111,383 21,858 149.749 1.695,028 23.561 160,561 52.703 557,443 226,013 2,413,032 6,647 21,505 1,oe8,745 Supwtand govemance co•ts 2023 2022 8upport¢osts 335,954 12,087 19,S)3 30,246 10,302 5,89) 318,365 2,2 Recruibnenl costs lincluding fhscknwre and Barring SeThi￿ check51 Legal and profe5$10nal fees Traning staff Premises costy In$urance 31.840 9,310 Office¢osis Travel expen General costs Ac£ountancysetwces& FinatKeChaige5 82,633 7,759 10,227 37,6SO 28,512 1,138 28,512 518ATB GoYemancett4ts Legal and profe5$10nal fees 6,013 Trustee exp2n5eg Audrt fee 4,533 594,072 557,443 SupportC05158re8pportioned between Ihe Chan￿ble aclffties on the basis oldirecl Ythge5and okner cost. 33 RESOURCES FOR AUTISM ANNUAL REPORT AND AccouNrs Notes to the A¢¢ounts For the eai ended 31 Mar¢h 2023 Net In¢omlng resources for Ihe year 2023 2022 Nel incoming resources are slated after charging. Auditors, remuneration for audit services Depreciab'on 4,533 28,512 4,533 28,512 10 Trustee and employee inforniation al Trustee Infomiatlon No Iruslees received any remuneratr.on or other benerrts during the year12022.' £Nill. Eight Iruslees served during the year12022'. Eighll. One Iruslee receNed £70 for travel 12022.. One.. £311. Fee of £5,100 was paid lo one Iruslee and organisalion linked lo the Iruslee for consultancy service12022 -.£NIll Unresliicled donations of £40,250 were received frotn Iruslees and oiganisalions linked lo Iruslees12022. £Nill. bl Employee infomiation Employee numbers.. The average monthly headcounl was 14812022." 1831. The average number ol employèes Ilull time èquwalentsl during the year was". 2023 Number 2022 Number Key management personnel Fundraising Aclminislralion Project delivery 114 127 91 105 Employee costs '. 2023 2022 Salaries Social security costs Pension costs 1,923,715 149,713 33,668 2,107,098 1,940,763 133,470 31,134 2,105,387 Ernployee remuneration received by the eight key management personnel together lotalled É3%.25912022.' Eight key staff '. £344.5951. On an annualisecl basis, one employee received remuneration plus other employee benefits in the band of £70,000 10 £80,000 and £1,316 01 employer pension contributions 12022.. One Band £70,000- £80,000 and £1,321 of employer pension conlribulionsl. 34 RESOURCES FOR AUTISM ANNUAL REPORT AND AccouNrs Notes to the Accounts For the ear ended 31 March 2023 11 Tanglble flxed asset8 Long leasehold ro Offlce Motor e ul ment wehlcles Total Cost As at 1 April 2022 Additions 1,041,105 44,638 64,342 1,150,085 A8 at 31 March 2023 1.041.105 44,638 1.150.085 Depreclatlon As at 1 April 2022 Charge for the Year 207,763 12,828 33,834 5,244 39,841 10,440 281,438 28,512 AS at 31 March 2023 220,591 39,078 50.281 309,950 Net book value As at 31 MaKh 2023 820,514 5.560 14,061 840,135 As at 31 March 2022 833,342 10.804 24.501 868,647 12 Debtors 2023 2022 Trade debtors Sundry debtors prepayments and accrued Income 103,129 47,442 158,790 6,830 150,571 165,S20 13 Credltors.. amounts falllng due wlthln one year 2023 2022 Trade creditors other creditors A¢¢ruals Defer￿d Income 29,750 94,882 4,500 110,850 58,925 45,309 4,500 146,291 239,982 255,025 Deferred Income Deferred income brought forward Transferred to income In year Deferred Income in year Deferred Income carried forward 146,291 1146,2911 110.850 110.850 39,000 139,0001 146.291 146.291 D8ferred income contains £37.800 statutory funding 12022."£nill. Any performance relate¢J requirements placed on statutory funding is recognised in the Statement of Financial Activities. £146.291 deferred income brought forward at the beginning of the year was released to income during the year 12022". £39,000). 35 RESOURCES FOR AUTISM ANNUAL REPORT AND AccouNrs 14 Analysls of ¢harftsble lund$ Analy818 of movements In funds At1 A rll 2022 Income Ex ndlture Transfers At 31 March 2023 Unrestrfrted funds General funds. free ￿selveS De51 naled funds-. - Fixed asset$ fund 907,681 1,969,943 11,927,936) 28,512 978,200 868,647 128,5121 840,135 1,776,328 1,969,943 1,927,936 1,818,335 Re5trfctsd funds Adult support Therap1¢$ Behavlor 8 Tralnlng Support Mentsl health & Well Belng g Lotttry.. Reaching Comunthes.$upportingthe AutNn FaMIty (WestMidL4nd51 Blg Lottery.. Supportlng the London Autlstlc Famlty Communlty $upport PlaylHollday 5ervlces Reach Out Famlly Support At1 A rll 2022 Income 56.068 30,601 86.833 53.634 70,172 ndlture Tran51ers At 31 March 2023 156.1681 130.6011 1101.8331 153.6341 170.1721 15,000 49.408 149.4081 47,719 134,478 134.320 42,250 1182,1971 13,162 13,200 155.4501 75,919 657,764 720,521 13,162 Total funds 1,852,247 2,627,707 2,648,457 1.831,497 Comparatlve Informatlon At1 A rll 2021 Income ndlture Transfers At 31 March 2022 Unrestrf¢ted funds General funds De51 naled funds-. Fixed assets fund 1,058,528 1,786,806 I1,￿,165) 28,512 907,681 897,159 128,5121 868,647 1,955,687 1.786,806 1,986,165 1.776,328 Restrl¢tsd funds Adult support Art 8nd music therapy 8ehavioi Support Mentsi & Wel BeiThJ 28,707 128.7071 42,500 29,971 127.5001 129.9711 15,000 Big Lottery. Reaching Communities- Supporting the Auti Big Lottery-. Suppotbng the London Aulislic Family Community SUPPOrt PlaylHoliday seNi¢e$ Reach Out Triage Service 2,570 13,839 28,600 4,063 88,240 106.727 13.659 186,039 51,100 21.674 190.8101 1120.5661 142.2591 1142.3831 151.1001 18.4741 47,719 13.2Lk) 49,072 568,617 541,770 75,919 Totsl fvndg 2,004,759 2.355,423 2,$07,935 1.852,247 36 RESOURCES FOR AUTISM ANNUAL REPORT AND AccouNrs Notes lo the A¢counts For the ear ended 31 March 2023 14 Analysls of charltable funds Icontlnuedl Unrestricted funds Name of unrestrlcled funds General funds". [￿e ￿seNe$ Designated funds Descrlptlon, nature and PU￿0$e8 of the fund The,Y￿e ￿SeNe$. after allowing for all designated funds. Unreslricled funds sel aside by the Iruslees lo improve the overall perfom)ance ollhe charity as detsiled below.. The value ol unieslncled funds represented by the tsngible fixed a￿ets owned and used by the charity on an on-going basis for charitable activities. The tsngible fixed assets are not readily convertible lo cash wlhout seriously impacting on the charity's ability lo conts'nue lo provide seNices Trustees therefore retain the value ol fixed assets in a designated fund lo clarify how free reserves are calculated. - Fixed assets fund Re$trlcted funds The reslricled funds arise from donations lo fund parbcular programmes or rtems ol expenditure as detailed above. Unused income is carried forward against expenditure on those areas. Detsils ol reslricled funds are as lollows.- Descrlpllon, nature and purposes of the fund Groups and indNidual support lor adults wrth au*'sm. Groups may be art, sport or sensory based and run in various venues throughout London and the Wesl Midlands. Adult support Therapies Individual and group arts, music and play therapies lor children and adutts with an aulists'c spectrum condition Behaviour support Funds donated by various donors lo support individuals on the autism 5￿CtruM and those who care lor them wlh sliategies and advice, enabling them lo regulate behawour and lulfil their polenlial. Funds donated specifically fvr mental health and Well Being. A three year giant that finished on 16 September 2022 to fund the extension ol selvic in the Wesl Midlands. Mentsl health & Well Being Big Lottery.. Reaching Communrties- Supporting the Autism Family (Wesl Midlandsl Big Lottery. Supporbng the London Aulisb'c A three year grant which finished in March 202210 fund a volunteer serV￿e5 lead, group Family and community support Se￿iceS lead and other costs ollhe charity associated with provision ol support lo those with auts-sm in London. Ind￿Idual support foi childien and adults with aub-sm and addrtional complex needs. {Pre￿Ou$lY releffed lo as home support). This seNice 1$ provided by the chanvs staff. Cornmunity Support Holiday schemes Specialist schemes run for children and young people aged 8-19 during the school holidays. Term lime specialist clubs for children with an autistic spectrum condrtion aged 8- 12 and 12-16 Community based support for families and indiwduals lo provide resprte support. This seNi¢e is provided by the charity's volunteers. Service prO￿dIng inrtial assessment and support al the earliest optK)rtunty. Play seryices Reach Out Family Support 37 RESOURCES FOR AUTISM ANNUAL REPORT AND AccouNrs Notes to the Accounts For the ear ended 31 March 2023 15 Analysls of net assets between funds Tan ible fixed Net current assets assets Total 2023 2023 2023 Unrestricted funds.. General funds.. free resetves Designated funds 978,200 978,200 840,135 840,135 Restricted funds 13,162 13,162 Total funds 840,135 991,362 1,831,497 Com arative inforniation Tan ible fixed Net current assets assets Total 2022 2022 2022 Unrestricted funds= General funds.. free reserves Designated funds 907,681 907,681 868,647 868,647 Restricted funds 75,919 75,919 Total funds 868,647 983,600 1,852,247 The reserves policy stales that the chanty should aim lo retain its unrestricted reserves at no less than six bul no more than IMelve months, expenditure. Sel out below are the free reserves of the chanty.. 2023 2022 Free regeDies as at 31 March 978,200 907,681 Total expenditure In the year 2,648,457 2,507,935 Months Months Number of months. expendlture In general funds 38 RESOURCES FOR AUTISM ANNUAL REPORT AND AccouNrs Notes to the Accounts For the ear ended 31 March 2023 16 Com arative Statement of Financial Activities extract Unrestrlcted 2022 Restrlcted 2022 Total 2022 Income from.. Donations and legacies- Grants other donations Legacies 132,205 16,299 568,617 700,822 16,299 Charitable activities 1,630,173 1,630,173 Investments 2,229 2,229 Olher 5,900 5,900 Totsl Income 1,786,806 568,617 2,355,423 Expenditure on: Raising charitsble funds Charitable activities 94,903 1,871,262 94,903 2,413,032 541,770 Total expendlture 1,966,165 541,770 2,507,935 Net Income l {expendlturel before transfers 1179,3591 26,847 1152,5121 Transfers betNeen funds Net movement In funds 1179,3591 26,847 1152,5121 Reconciliation of funds Total funds brought forward at 1 Aprll 2022 1,955,687 49,072 2,004,759 Total funds carried forward at 31 March 2023 1,778,328 75,919 1,852,247 39