EAST LONDON OUT PROJECT
ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS YEAR ENDED 31ST MARCH 2024
Company Number 03355423 Charity Number 1067474
EAST LONDON OUT PROJECT
YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
CHAIR’S REPORT
This annual report provides an overview of the work undertaken this year and our future plans as we move forward. I, on behalf of the Board, would like to thank all those who have supported the work of the organisation as staff, volunteers and supporters; we could not achieve what we do without you.
As a community we have continued to be impacted by a hostile environment which is particularly impacting trans and non-binary people including the changing support being offered to young trans and non binary people. We have seen the impact of the increasing hostility faced by the community and the increase in hate crimes; the emotional impact of a more hostile environment is felt by many of those who use our services and many of have also been impacted by the cost of living crisis and have been supporting those with increased need. During this year we have been able to provide more mentoring support to young people demonstrating the need for this additional service, in addition to youth counselling and youth groups.
We have continued our search for affordable premises this year, which continues to be a challenge to find premises that can suit our needs. By the end of the year we had submitted a proposal of interest for premises held with one local authority.
We have also focused efforts on trust and foundation applications which this year have been more competitive than previously. We have successfully secured funding for 2024- 2025. We have continued to run fundraising activities and are continuing to work on diversifying our range of income to consolidate our sustainability and have built reserves in the anticipation of both increased costs with a return to new premises and the need for fit out costs.
We thank our staff, volunteers, funders and other supporters who have enabled us to continue to provide our vital services which have continued to be in high demand.
Sarah Humphreys - Chair of Board of Trustees.
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Report of the Trustees for the Year Ended March 2024
The directors are pleased to present their annual report with the financial statements of East London Out Project (elop) for the year ending 31 March 2024. The statements appear in the format required by the Statement of Recommended Practice for Accounting and Reporting by Charities (revised March 2005). The report and statements also comply with the Companies Act 2006 as elop was incorporated by guarantee on 14 April 1997. It has no share capital and is a registered charity. The guarantee of each member is limited to £1. The governing document is the Memorandum and Articles of Association of the company and members of the Board of Trustees are the Directors of the Company.
Reference and administrative details
Charity Number: 1067474 Company Number: 03355423 Address: 56-60 Grove Road, Walthamstow, London E17 9BN Bankers: Co-operative Bank PO Box 101, 1 Balloon Street, Manchester M60 4EP Solicitor: Russell-Cooke Solicitors 2 Putney Hill, London SW15 6AB
Members of the Board of Trustees who are Directors for the purpose of company law and Trustees for the purposes of charity law, who served during the year and up to the date of this report are:
Sarah Humphreys: Chair David Pearson: Treasurer Victoria Fox Vice Chair Susan Baines Lewis Allett – Fundraising Committee Lead Matthew Davies – Fundraising Committee Lead Sarah Milne – appointed 16 March 2024 Christine Lehmann
Company Secretary and Chief Executive: Teresa Sharpe
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Structure, Governance and Management
The directors of the charitable company (the charity) are its Trustees for the purposes of charity law and throughout this report are collectively referred to as the Trustees.
The Board of elop also constitutes the membership of the charity. The Board has a number of mechanisms in place to consult with key stakeholders, including staff, volunteers and service users to inform its work and decision-making. As set out in the Articles of Association, Trustees are elected annually at the Annual General Meeting. The Trustees have the power to co-opt further members. When considering Trustees for election or cooption, the Board has a process for recruiting and selecting Board members with the appropriate skills necessary to govern and strategically lead. Board recruitment is reviewed annually and additionally where needed. Trustees are recruited through open recruitment and appointed based upon their skills and experience according to the prevailing needs and aspirations of the Board and organisation. Trustees are appointed for a minimum two-year period, with no limit on the number of times a Trustee can stand for re-election if in the organisation’s best interest. We have successfully recruited to ensure that we now have a full board of Trustees, and they have been no changed in the board composition this year.
All new Trustees take part in the organisation’s induction training and are provided with support and training to brief them on their legal obligations under charity and company law. All Trustees are provided with the company’s Memorandum and Articles of Association and information about the Board, the organisation’s decision-making structures and prevailing issues facing the organisation. All Trustees are offered the opportunity to undertake external training in relation to their role. A Board Management Charter, signed by all Trustees upon co-option and election, sets out how the Board will work together and the commitment required. This Charter is reviewed on an annual basis. Peer buddying is available for Trustees who require this. Full Board meetings are held at a minimum of four times a year, along with two strategic planning days, in addition to other strategic meetings, subcommittees or task and finishing groups as required. This year we have had groups focused on fundraising, premises and a Business Management group.
elop’s Board holds overall responsibility for the organisation’s strategic direction and policy development. Responsibility for strategic implementation and the operational running of the organisation is delegated to the Chief Executive Officer, who reports directly to the Board via Board meetings. The Board’s work programme for the year is overseen by the Chair and reviewed at Board meetings and the work is carried out by individual Board members. The Board holds responsibility for reviewing key areas of financial activity and policy and holds overall responsibility for the organisation’s financial position and procedures.
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Public Benefit
The Trustees, in exercising their powers and duties, have complied with their duty in section 4 of the Charities Act 2006 to have due regards to the public benefit guidance published by the Charity Commission. In preparing the report and accounts the Trustees have complied with the requirements set out in relation to the requirement to report on public benefit and have reported on the significant activities and achievements of the charity in 2023/24. They have reported in a way that both sets out the aims and strategies of the charity and demonstrates how the aims and activities of the charity were carried out for the public benefit.
Risk Management
The Trustees have assessed the major risks to which the charity is exposed, in particular those related to the operations and finances of the charity and are satisfied that the systems are in place to mitigate the charity’s exposure to the major risks.
Risk assessment remains a standing item on each Board meeting agenda, to ensure that risks are identified and discussed at Board level. Risks are identified through a number of routes including output from Management Board, via staff Senior Management Team meetings and the annual planning cycle. Risks are recorded in the minutes of each meeting along with steps required to mitigate the risk.
The Board and staff continue to work hard to respond to the financial risks the organisation faces in the current economic climate and the impact this is expected to have on the charity sector. The board has implemented a salary review policy and there is a rolling programme of review for all posts now in place.
The Board are pleased that they again have been able to increase the organisation’s reserves and very pleased that we have continued to achieve meeting the organisation’s reserve policy of 3-6 months of core funding at any one time. We recognise that as income and expenditure increases there continues to be a need to increase the reserves held by the organisation. We have increased our property reserve to be able to meet the relocation and refurbishment costs this will entail without this impacting on our ordinary reserve policy, and potentially to cushion the organisation from additional costs faced in a new premise.
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Related parties
elop continues to work collaboratively with several other agencies and service providers to advance an awareness of the needs and issues of our service user groups and share best practice. This includes running occasional joint activities and working as part of wider alliances, such as the National LGBT Partnership, and our partnership funding with London Friend and LGBT Hero. We have remained involved in a local equalities’ partnership in Tower Hamlets.
Objectives and activities
The principal objectives for which the company is formed are, by charitable means, to preserve and promote mental health and well-being of members of LGBT communities, in particular by:
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the provision of counselling, support, information and advice services; and
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raising awareness of mental health and well-being issues affecting members of LGBT communities.
elop’s vision is a world in which the mental health and wellbeing needs of the LGBT+ community are met and LGBT+ people can flourish.
elop’s mission is to better the mental health and well-being of LGBT+ people, and to challenge the discrimination and inequalities that our community faces.
Last year we said we would look to find suitable premises in East London and return to running our services from a community centre whilst retaining some online support for those that need it. We have continued to provide much of our counselling in person and have rented two rooms for this full time moving from the different locations we were previously using to help streamline the service. We have found a suitable premise and have expressed interest in this to the local authority. We have enabled mentoring volunteers to have online access to their relevant documentation and have communicate with volunteers via their online accounts making more use of our cloud-based accounts. We have been able to provide dedicated youth counsellor as well as provide additional mentoring support for young people up to the age 24. We have worked on expanding our training provision and during this year have worked to be able to take applications for our forthcoming Advance Diploma in LGBT+ Affirmative Counselling. We have grown our volunteer team and have in some groups been able to have two volunteers in support. We finalised and published our business plan.
elop provides support and direct services to up to 200 people a week, and whilst mainly providing these services online, we have continued to introduce more face-to-face support during the year. Despite not being able to find new premises we have been able to maintain our services and continue to provide much needed support. We have been able to grow our
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mentoring services for young people and have explored new activity programmes. We have continued to provide a range of consultation, training, representation and awareness-raising initiatives to advocate and provide an LGBT+ voice.
Counselling services
2023-2024 has remained a busy time for our counselling service, as we started the year with a high waiting list and have been continuing to work to reduce this over the year. working to reduce this and for most of the year this has been between 12 – 16 weeks reduced from 26 weeks the previous year. Having introduced a system last year in managing the numbers of referrals we have taken 335 referrals this year. During this year we consolidated where we were providing counselling from and moved all our face-to-face service to Durning Hall in Forest Gate. Over 60% of our support is now provided in person. With more opportunity to provide in person counselling we have been able to maintain the capacity in our counselling service. Due to the high demand on our services this year we have continued to only offer a 14-session service but are mindful that we which to increase this again in the future. We have had increased capacity within the service at times with the new appointment of a counselling co-ordinator post and we have recruited sessional youth counsellors during the later part of this year. We have also been able to provide relationship counselling this year and have had 3-5 spaces in the service dedicated to this in the year. Where necessary those using the counselling service are offered additional support through the Heads Out Service and this additional support ensure that we can provide a safe service to those who are at increased risk.
We provided training for the counselling team, which included assessment training, trauma informed practice, working with shame, and Intersectionality: Understanding Multiple Diversity and Oppression .
Our outcome evaluation shows that all those using the service improve their scores and their mental health had improved. All those who scores captured have improved mental health and wellbeing self-esteem, increased confidence and resilience, and ability to manage their mental health and have achieved this for 100% of people who return or fill in score with their counsellor. Improvements vary with some people improving slightly whilst others can have increases of over 200%. On average pre sessions scores average were 26 and post counselling the scores were 43.
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Feedback
email from ex-client re-referring: I had counselling with yourselves back in 2022 and I can honestly say it changed my life and allowed me to see who I truly am and has allowed me to move forward and be much more comfortable in myself.
email from current counsellor: Enjoyed waxing lyrical about my time with elop with my school supervision group yesterday, our penultimate for the course, and hearing the supervisor say one of their students just got a placement with elop and was massively impressed with the induction process. Keep doing what you’re doing, it’s truly setting the standards!
email from client: I want to say a huge thank you to you and everyone at elop for the wonderful service you provide, for all your care and support and for being such wonderful humans. It has meant so much to me and I would certainly recommend you. Also, if ever there is something I can do to help in return, please don't hesitate to ask.
new counsellor induction: Thanks for a rigorous and informative induction. I really wanted to tell you the word I was left with that describes how I felt afterwards was “held”. I felt very held. Thank you.
conversation with counsellor: 'The shame workshop was just amazing, it really blew me away. So much knowledge in that session.'
email from counsellor leaving elop: elop has been a very significant, steady, powerful and consistent presence during my 2 year tenure during my Level 4 counselling training, and words barely come close to the depth of appreciation I have for the organisation as a whole, but more specifically the clients, supervisors, admin staff and you - the steady rock at the core of elop. It has all been received and felt very deeply.
email from client: Thank you so much for your work with elop - I've had a really positive experience and felt a real change since I started.
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email from client: My sessions have now come to an end, and they have been extremely helpful to me. I feel like they have opened my eyes to certain aspects about myself, and getting past that first step of noticing things is very important.
email from client: Thanks for all your help over the last few months, the service has been amazing and I am super grateful to my counsellor and the whole team. If there is anything I can do in terms of former client participation to keep the service going, please let me know, I'd be happy to help.
Heads Out Service
Having only had one member of staff in this service during this year we have not been able to run all our groups and have focused on running Imago and ReCharge alongside our Mental health plans and have currently paused our Reclaim group as we are without funding for this. We have provided mental health plans to 38 people. During this year we were able to provide for some of the year a programme for GBT+ men called Refit, which provided a range of gentle physical activity to support their mental health
Overall we have run 93 group
sessions were delivered and 126 people have been supported through our Heads Out Service.
“ This has been more helpful than many other mental health support services that I accessed in the past. I especially liked the worksheets that allowed me to better understand and reframe some of my negative thinking patterns. I liked how interactive it was and that I had an influence on how the final plan will look like! “
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“I shared the mental health plan with my long-term therapist. It's very helpful as a resource that I can use between sessions to remind myself of positive affirmations and ways in which I can make myself feel better. Accessing a mental health plan made me realise that I need much more self-compassion and allowed me to build a more empathetic approach towards my current situation. It was queer-positive, and helpful. “
“It really helps to have a mental health support space where I can also be myself - bisexual and non-binary”
“I had some concerns for joining in person - you never know how it's going to be like, but I am glad I came to the meet up. Imago allows me to ground myself and I realise I need these sessions more than I thought. I always feel like there's something missing, whenever I skip one”
“I am so glad I came to Imago today. I didn't understand why I felt the way I did - depleated, overwhelmed, lost and low. Speaking to others made me realise that I am grieving and important loss. It suddenly makes more sense and allows me to be more selfcompassionate. I realised I need more time. I feel less isolated and alone in this. Thank you, this is a great feeling!”
Befriending
We continued to run our befriending programmes over the year and 10 programmes delivered over the year with 42 referrals to this service, although at times there was dropout from some of the programmes. During the sessions, there was good engagement with people enjoying the mix of focused activities and discussions. The groups have evolved to focus on supporting people to enhance their social skills. There have been four volunteers involved in supporting these groups over the year. This programme has continued to be more difficult to deliver online and we have started to plan how we can replace this support with small activity groups that will be introduced during 2024-25.
Youth support services
This year we have continued our youth and family work, including a weekly 12-15s group and a weekly 15-18s group. We have continued to provide more individual mentoring work with young people and have had an additional worker join the team to lead this work. We have also recruited volunteer youth mentors and have specifically recruited people of colour, of faith and trans and non-binary volunteers to these positions. Over the course of the year
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we supported 59 young people within our youth groups or mentoring and eight specifically for counselling only. A high proportion of young people we support identity as non-binary, gender fluid or trans.
We continue to support a proportionally high number of young people with a range of disabilities and mental health concerns, with common issues being generalised anxiety, social anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts, self-harm, low self-esteem and gender dysphoria. We work with young people who are involved in social care, either on child protection plans or children in need, also those who are using CAMHS and early help services. Referrals have come from parents/foster carers, young people, Social Workers, Family Support, CAMHS Neurodevelopmental Team, Teachers, designated safeguarding leads in schools and Colleges, and AKT (Albert Kennedy Trust)
We have continued to provide work in schools and ran a programme of activities within a Pupil Referral unit to widen acceptance of LGBT young people.
Wellbeing group support programme
We ran a varied programme of activities this year, which has included online support, as well as groups in Tower Hamlets and activities programme in Hackney. We have run groups for over 50’s, a general social support group, monthly Rainbow Family group, LGBT+ group for people seeing asylum, twice monthly group for 18-25’s, activities for GBT+ Men. Our activities continue to reach new people, and our group activities have supported 227 people over the course of the year.
I am writing to express my heartfelt gratitude for the incredible support you provided me during my asylum journey, your emotional, mental health support and letter of support played a pivotal role in my successful application, and I am delighted to inform you that I have been granted the right to remain in the UK. The compassion and dedication of your organisation have made a profound difference in my life. Your unwavering support has not only given me hope but also a new chance for a secure and promising future in this wonderful country. I cannot adequately express how much your letter of support meant to me during this challenging time. Your charity's commitment to assisting individuals like me in seeking asylum is a testament to the goodness and generosity of the human spirit. I will be forever grateful for the role you played in my journey to finding safety, stability and peace in the UK
'I feel so much more confident about myself and I feel safe. I have made a lot of friends at elop who I can talk to and they care about me. I can see a future for myself now. Everyone encouraged me to be myself' Asylum Group Member
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Consultation and representational activities
elop continues to attend community and statutory forums to ensure an LGBT+ voice is represented and heard and, recognising the value in partnership working, has formed excellent working relationships with other organisations and networks. elop has also provided consultancy services and training to a wide range of personnel and organisations and continued its involvement in The National LGBT Partnership. As part of our work we were involved in a number of projects, including leading on the National Lesbian and Bisexual Women’s Health week.
elop has run the Tower Hamlets LGBT Community Forum, providing a monthly forum, and the five aims of the forum are Connector & Agent of Change, Nothing About Us, Without Us, LGBT Voices Are Heard, Improving Access To Services and Creating Safe Spaces. The forum has actively been involved in raising community concerns in relation to hate crime and has been working with the Tower Hamlets Together Board, raising knowledge of the health inequalities experienced by the LGBT+ community.
elop continues to be involved in a partnership bid in Tower Hamlets bringing together userled equality organisations to foster intersectional work, and is now the representative from the Tower Hamlets Mental Health Alliance at the Tower Hamlets Partnership Board
elop was invited to LBC to speak about our services and experiences of LGBT+ people seeking asylum on Make Some Noise Day. elop was represented by elop’s chair and two users of our LGBT+ asylum support group.
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Other activities and events
elop stepped in to run Waltham Forest Pride, in order to ensure this event would take place as the committee running the event disbanded. This event was hugely successful and over 4000 people attended throughout the afternoon. In addition to this event elop has again this year provided a range of LGBT+ events in Tower Hamlets. These events have been well received and have included the annual pride picnic and bandstand event, IDAHOBIT event, annual peace walk, events for LGBT+ History month and for Trans Day of Remembrance in partnership with the Break-Up Monologues attracting over 3,500 people to our events in Tower Hamlets. In addition, over the summer a Pick n Mix event was held which was greatly enjoyed by all those who attended the picnic and games afternoon.
Pick 'n' Mix Event:' Everyone was so friendly. I was shy to come at first but I really appreciate you helping me mix with people and get to know them and I enjoyed it so much'
Pick 'n' Mix Event: A fantastic event! The kids all played so well together and it was so nice to meet some of the other parents and chat to them. The children were so well entertained by all of the activities and races'
elop was awarded the Leaders Special Recognition Award in December 2023 from Waltham Forest for our work in the borough supporting the LGBT+ community for over 25 years
Congratulations on a fabulous Waltham Forest Pride event on Saturday! It was a lovely day, good vibes, great entertainment - and the sun came out!
I have to say it was one of the best run events I’ve been too, everyone was so helpful and the crowd were so joyous. I loved every moment!
"Thank you SO much to you and the team for organising a really lovely Pride! There was such a nice vibe and you and the team were friendly and calm, despite am sure there being a fair amount of stress during the day!
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Peace Walk: "It is always lovely to be part of elop as volunteer and participate in lovely events." -
Peace Walk: "It was a pleasure as always to take part and support this important event." - Mark Healey, speaker
Training and Education
During this year we have continued to run our foundation course in LGBT+ affirmative counselling. We ran two courses with 25 people attending and successfully completing and passing. We have continued to work towards establishing the Advanced Diploma in integrative affirmative counselling with a successful launch event in May 2024 followed by the course start in October 2024. We have increased the amount of training we have delivered which has meant that our earned income
through our training has continued to increase. As part of our training provision this year we run a World Mental Health Event and provided a free seminar on LGBT+ Mental health: Pathways to inclusive and affirmative services.
Thank you once again for yet another excellent session (Nelft LGBT+ allies)
I thought our trainer was excellent. He was very funny, confident and put us at ease. He addressed tricky questions and made me feel included. (Buttle UK)
FC evaluation: A transformative environment for learning and reflection was created between the group members and tutors. This nurtured a group dynamic that allowed vulnerability, personal experience and deep learning. I was constantly surprised by how much personal experience combined with learning has already impacted positively on my own personal life, relationships, and career perspectives. This course is transformational – thank you so much!
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I got a lot of insight into myself which wasn’t always comfortable but it allowed an opportunity to do this which was new to me. It was challenging in a way I have come to appreciate"
CPD: Working with Shame: There was so much in the session, and it was clear that we were scratching the surface of what is a massive topic with plenty of scope for exploration. I'm not sure exactly how to frame it, but I would definitely attend more workshops/seminars/group discussions
Lunch & Learn (LBBD): A fantastic presentation - one of the best I've been to
Lunch & Learn (LBBD): Awesome session! Very informative and interesting
"Leyton 6th form: I found this training really helpful, especially the tips on what to do if a situation comes about in a classroom. Thanks for this, I think it’ll really prove useful in the future.
Autumn FC: Transformational – enlightening – genuinely one of the best learning experiences I’ve ever had
Autumn FC: The course allowed me to take seriously the possibility of training and qualifying as a therapist. This is something I wasn’t sure about before, but the course allowed me to get an introduction to some of the core skills and principles that therapists use. It helped me consider that it’s actually something I could do. I feel like I already use lots of the learning about myself and my stuff uncovered in the course day to day, when thinking about my feelings and responses. I’m also hoping to bring the things I learned into future facilitation work with LGBTQ+ people.
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Fundraising
Having been successful last year with our trusts and foundation fundraising this year we have looked to increase our fundraising efforts in the community to support our diversifying of our funding streams. We have been able to establish a relationship with Abba Voyage which has supported our fundraising efforts greatly this year.
In addition, we have continued our community and event fundraising efforts through our participation in the Red Run, our exercise4elop campaign, drag bingo and support from other organisations including the Depressed Baker. We have been supported by a range of other organisations who have
held benefits for us and we would particularly like to thank Misfits Gym for their support this year.
We have raised £17,000 through fundraising (which was an increase of £4,000) and £45 785 through donations, which was an increase of £26,000, much of which came through the support of Abba Voyage. During this year elop again successfully increased its earned income and were able to increase the amount raised through providing training and consultation to others.
Funding
elop would like to thank our funders for the support we have received this year which has enabled us to provide the range of services. We were successful in being awarded one year continuation funding from the Tudor Trust as an unrestricted grant for the year and this year has seen the start of our two-years funding from New Deal For Young People Propel Grant for mentoring support for 12-24 year olds. During the year we applied for 8 grants and were successfully awarded a grant from London Borough of Tower Hamlets which started during this year and will fund our work in the Borough until March 2027 as well as a Fellowship Suare Grant to run Waltham Forest Pride. Additionally, we were successful in applying for funding from Make Some Noise which will fund our work supporting LGBT+ people seeking asylum from April 2024 for two years and will be supported by Clarion Housing next year with some additional funding for our group work.
We want to thank all our funders who have supported our work during this year and going forwards.
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Individual donors
We would like to thank all the individuals who have made one-off or regular donations to the charity over the course of the year. We have again been successful this year in raising additional money through individual donations.
Organisational change
During this year we have had significant changes to the staff team with changes to the staff team with 8 people joining the organisation and 7 people leaving the organisation. Working remotely continues to have challenges for the organisation which has been felt by some new members of staff who found it hard to sustain working remotely. We had two new posts during the year, one was a temporary post for a short period and the second post was for a youth mentor. All staff during this year undertook safeguarding training and trauma-informed practice.
The demand for support has continued to be unrelenting, and the ability to provide much needed mental health support during this time would not have been possible without the dedication of our staff team. The Trustees would like to take this opportunity to thank the whole staff team for their enormous and continued commitment and ongoing support. We would like to recognise the leadership of the CEO, who has been able to support and steer the organisation to be in a good position for the years ahead.
Contribution by volunteers
Many of elop’s activities are carried out and supported by the skills, dedication and commitment of our volunteer teams. elop had more than 110 volunteers involved during the year and generally maintained a core team of around 80 volunteers at any one time. We have been successful this year in recruiting new counsellors, group facilitators, and fundraising volunteers. Our volunteer counsellor team continues to be our largest single volunteer team, and whilst numbers fluctuate during the year we have worked hard to maintain the team between 36-40 counsellors at any one time. Our group facilitators continue to do a great job of supporting our groups and have supported online delivery, in person-support and outdoor sessions.
elop recognises that we need to continue to recruit and retain volunteers to help us deliver the wide range of services we have. elop’s Board would like to sincerely thank all volunteers for their continued hard work, loyalty and achievements; without their support elop could not successfully provide the range of activities on offer nor support as many individuals as we do.
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A massive thank you from Out in the Forest for putting on such a spectacular Pride on Saturday! It was an absolute triumph and you really did the borough proud. Particularly commend you for your approach to working with volunteers. You were superb at keeping us all updated until the day of the event – once there everyone knew what they were doing and it was clear everyone felt supported, not as easy task with so many people involved. Well done.
Thank you for your email. I had a wonderful time volunteering with the youth group! It was a great experience.
Thanks for your email and your words. It was a pleasure to support ELOP in a small way as I really believe in what you do.
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Financial review and reserves policy
Our reserves policy is that we should be working towards holding 3-6 months of reserves to demonstrate our sustainability and be able to cover the equivalent of 3-6 months of core funding at any one time. We have achieved this and have reserves dedicated for our move to new premise beyond our 3-6 months core funding. We will remain vigilant about our expenditure to ensure stability and sustainability for the future.
The charity made a surplus of £204,316 (2023 - £73,653) and has unrestricted reserves totalling £715,805 (2023 - £511,489) of which £350,000 (2023 - £220,000) has been designated towards the relocation and expansion of the Charity’s premises.
The future
During 2024/25 we will look to find suitable premises in East London and return to running our services from a community centre whilst retaining some online support for those that need it. We will look to bring more services back to in person provision and will focus on enhancing our mental health support and support to young people through increased provision of counselling and mentoring. We will increase our training team to support the Advanced Diploma in Integrative LGBT+ Affirmative Counselling and will hold a launch event to promote this groundbreaking initiative. Our focus for the next three years are laid out in our business plan with the initial focus being on our mental health, youth and training provision.
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Statement of Trustee’s Responsibility in relation to Financial Statements
The charity’s Trustees (Directors) are responsible for preparing the 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 financial 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 charitable company for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the Trustees are required to:
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Select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
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Observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP;
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Make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
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State whether applicable UK Accounting Standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements; and
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Prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in business.
The Trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy, at any time, the financial position of the charity and 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 as well as exercising proper financial controls.
By order of the trustees
Sarah Humphreys (Chair)
Date 30th Jan 2025
19
INDEPENDENT EXAMINERS REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF EAST LONDON OUT PROJECT YEAR ENDED 31ST MARCH 2024
Independent Examiner's Report
I report to the charity trustees on my examination of the accounts of the charity for the year ended 31st March 2024.
Responsibilities and basis of report
As the charity trustees of the company (and also its directors for the purposes of company law) you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 (‘the 2006 Act’).
Having satisfied myself that the accounts of the company are not required to be audited under Part 16 of the 2006 Act and are eligible for independent examination, I report in respect of my examination of your company’s accounts as carried out under section 145 of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the 2011 Act’). In carrying out my examination I have followed the Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the 2011 Act.
Independent examiner's statement
Since the company’s gross income exceeded £250,000 your examiner must be a member of a body listed in section 145 of the 2011 Act. I confirm that I am qualified to undertake the examination because I am a member of Institute of Chartered Accounts of Scotland which is one of the listed bodies.
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:
-accounting records were not kept in respect of the company as required by section 386 of the 2006 Act; or
-the accounts do not accord with those records; or
-the accounts do not comply with the accounting requirements of section 396 of the 2006 Act other than any requirement that the accounts give a ‘true and fair view’ which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination; or
-the accounts have not been prepared in accordance with the methods and principles of the Statement of Recommended Practice for accounting and reporting by charities
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached
M J Laughton CA MUNRO BROWN LTD Chartered Accountants
Date: 30th Jan 2025
Scots House, Scots Lane, Salisbury SP1 3TR
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EAST LONDON OUT PROJECT
STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES
(including summary income and expenditure account)
YEAR ENDED 31ST MARCH 2024
| Notes INCOME Donations and Gifts 5 Charitable Activities 6 Other trading activities 5 TOTAL INCOMING RESOURCES 9 EXPENDITURE ON Charitable Activities 7 TOTAL EXPENDITURE 9 NET INCOMING RESOURCES FOR YEAR BEFORE TRANSFERS TRANSFERS BETWEEN FUNDS 9 NET MOVEMENT IN FUNDS FUNDS BROUGHT FORWARD AT 1ST APRIL FUNDS CARRIED FORWARD AT 31ST MARCH |
UNRESTRICTED RESTRICTED TOTAL TOTAL FUNDS FUNDS FUNDS FUNDS 2024 2024 2024 2023 |
UNRESTRICTED RESTRICTED TOTAL TOTAL FUNDS FUNDS FUNDS FUNDS 2024 2024 2024 2023 |
UNRESTRICTED RESTRICTED TOTAL TOTAL FUNDS FUNDS FUNDS FUNDS 2024 2024 2024 2023 |
UNRESTRICTED RESTRICTED TOTAL TOTAL FUNDS FUNDS FUNDS FUNDS 2024 2024 2024 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| £ £ £ £ 121,255 - 121,255 94,408 77,898 387,369 465,267 329,430 65,489 - 65,489 48,091 |
||||
| 264,642 | 387,369 | 652,011 | 471,929 | |
| 76,676 371,019 447,695 398,276 |
||||
| 76,676 | 371,019 | 447,695 | 398,276 | |
| 187,966 16,350 204,316 73,653 - - - - |
||||
| 187,966 16,350 204,316 73,653 511,489 - 511,489 437,836 |
||||
| 699,455 16,350 715,805 511,489 |
The Statement of Financial Activities includes all gains and losses in the year. All incoming resources and resources expended derive from continuing activities.
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EAST LONDON OUT PROJECT
BALANCE SHEET
AT 31ST MARCH 2024
| Notes | 2024 | 2023 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| £ | £ | £ | £ | ||||
| FIXED ASSETS | 10 | - | - | ||||
| CURRENT ASSETS | |||||||
| Debtors & prepayments | 11 | 23,553 | 21,775 | ||||
| Cash at bank and in hand | 828,713 | 601,562 | |||||
| 852,266 | 623,337 | ||||||
| CREDITORS, AMOUNTS FALLING | |||||||
| DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR | 12 | 136,461 | 111,848 | ||||
| NET CURRENT ASSETS | 715,805 | 511,489 | |||||
| TOTAL NET ASSETS | £ | 715,805 | £ | 511,489 | |||
| FUNDS | |||||||
| Unrestricted Funds | |||||||
| General Funds | 9 | 349,455 | 291,489 | ||||
| Designated Funds | 9 | 350,000 | 220,000 | ||||
| Restricted Funds | 9 | 16,350 | - | ||||
| TOTAL FUNDS | £ | 715,805 | £ | 511,489 |
The directors are satisfied that the company was entitled to exemption from audit under section 477 of the Companies Act 2006 and that members have not required an audit in accordance with section 476.
The directors acknowledge their responsibilities for:
i) ensuring that the company keeps accounting records which comply with section 386; and
ii) preparing accounts which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company as at the end of the financial year and of its profit or loss for the financial year in accordance with the requirements of section 396 and which otherwise comply with the requirements of this Act relating to accounts, so far as applicable to the charitable company.
Approved by the Trustee Directors and signed on their behalf on :
S Humphreys 30th Jan 2025
Company Number : 03355423
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EAST LONDON OUT PROJECT
NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS
YEAR ENDED 31ST MARCH 2024
1) ACCOUNTING POLICIES
The principal accounting policies adopted in the preparation of the financial statements are set out below, and have been consistently applied within the accounts.
- a) The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard 102 (FRS 102), the Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP), "Accounting and Reporting by Charities" published in 2015 and applicable charity and company law. Assets and liabilities are initially recognised at historical cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policy note.
The charity adopted SORP (FRS 102) in the current year and and there were no transition adjustments
-
b) The charity is a company limited by guarantee. The members of the company are the trustees named on page 1. 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.
-
c) Incoming resources are recognised on an accruals basis, except that donations and legacies are recognised only upon receipt unless the donor advises otherwise. Grants are treated as income for the period to which the grantor assigns the grant and the stipulated period of service provision and deferred as necessary. Service contracts or grants where the grantor stipulates performance targets and does not specify that a surplus is retrievable, are regarded as unrestricted once the targets are achieved. The value of services provided by volunteers is not incorporated into these financial statements. Donated assets are valued at fair market value. During the year no assets were donated.
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d) Resources Expended/ Expenditure
Charitable activities relate to the costs incurred in providing the company's charitable services. These include expenses to provide training to counsellors and education for relevant groups as well as the majority of staff costs. They include all materials and literature provided to run the projects and support costs like telephone, postage and stationery. Costs are shown inclusive on non-recoverable VAT.
e) Fixed assets are capitalised at cost and depreciation is provided to write off the cost of the assets over their expected useful economic lives. Office equipment (General Fund) is written off at a rate of 33.3% per annum on a reducing balance basis. Leasehold improvements (General Fund) are written off at a rate of 20% per annum on a straight line basis. The length of the orginal lease was 5 years and these costs have now been fully amortised. The cost of subsequent refurbishments has been written off as incurred. Office equipment (restricted funds) is written off over the length of the funding. The estimated residual value of the fixed assets is nil.
- f) Stocks of safe sex literature relating to the Charity's services & general information are written off as incurred.
g) The value of services provided by volunteers is not included within these financial statements.
-
h) The Charity operates a defined contributions pension scheme
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i) The accounts have been prepared on a going concern basis.
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j) Unrestricted funds are available for the use in the furtherance of the charity's objectives. Restricted funds are subject to restrictions imposed by the donors as set out in the notes to the accounts.
-
k) Debtors
Trade and other debtors are recognised at the settlement amount due after any trade discount offered. Prepayments are valued at the amount prepaid after taking account of any trade discounts due.
- l) Creditors Creditors and provisions are recognised where the charity has a present obligation resulting from a past event that will probably result in the transfer of funds to a third party and the amount due to settle the obligation can be measured or estimated reliably. Creditors and provisions are normally recognised at their settlement amount after allowing for any trade discounts due.
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EAST LONDON OUT PROJECT
NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS
YEAR ENDED 31ST MARCH 2024
2) FUNDS & FUNDING
General Fund
The General Fund includes all grant income from Local Authorities or other statutory bodies who support the main objectives and services provided by elop in their areas. The individual grants require a certain level of service provision, which are individually reported back to each funder.
The General Fund also accounts for unrestricted charitable trusts & foundation funding, donations, fundraising and investment income.
The London Borough of Tower Hamlets provided funding for the provision & delivery of an LGBT community forum for engaging local LGBT communities, representation & consultation, the provision, and delivery of LGBT community events, plus the delivery of LGBT mental health crisis prevention plans, support groups and awareness training to local providers.
DH (National LGB&T Partnership) an England-wide consortia of LGBT voluntary & community organisations who are committed to reducing health inequalities & challenging homophobia, biphobia & transphobia in public services. elop is one of the partners. The Partnership is currently funded by the Department of Health to support & enable the partnerships strategic engagement & consultation with Government & statutory bodies.
Equalities Partnership in Tower Hamlets (Cornerstone) provided funding to ensure LGBT representation in partnership project.
London Community Foundation: GVC provided a 12-month grant for GBT men’s health work.
Tesco Community Grant: contribution funding towards work with LGBTQ families.
BBC Children in Need - part of a 3-year grant to deliver a dedicated LGBTQ children’s and young people’s project including weekly youth support groups, one-to-one support, and counselling.
The National Lottery Community Fund (Partnership Grant) – part of a 3-year grant in partnership with London Friend & LGBT Hero funding mental health and befriending support.
Tudor Trust - part of a 3-year grant for Director of Wellbeing Services post.
LB Waltham Forest (Health Inequalities Impact Fund) – one-off grant to provide LGBT health project for LGBT residents.
LB Waltham Forest - provided funding to deliver the annual WF Pride event.
LB Hackney – one-off grant to provide community activities for LGBT residents.
The National Lottery Community Fund – part of a 3-year grant to support LGBT counselling.
LB of Tower Hamlets: Mayor’s Community Grants Programme – part of a 3yr 5mth grant to provide LGBTQ oneto-one mental health support and group activities.
GLA - New Deal for Young People Grant: - part of a 2yr grant to support delivery and expansion of quality mentoring services specific to the needs of London’s disadvantaged LGBTQ+ young people (12-24yrs) and learn about shifting needs.
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EAST LONDON OUT PROJECT
NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS
YEAR ENDED 31ST MARCH 2024
| **3) ** | OPERATING SURPLUS/(DEFICIT) | 2024 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|
| £ | £ | ||
| The net operating surplus/(deficit) of income over expenditure is stated after charging: | |||
| Staff costs (note 4) | 343,119 | 319,224 | |
| Depreciation of equipment & loss on disposal | - | - |
| 4) STAFF COSTS Staff costs for the year were as follows: Salaries Social security costs Pensions Costs |
2024 £ 306,839 24,494 11,786 |
2023 £ 284,142 23,950 11,132 |
|---|---|---|
| 343,119 | 319,224 |
The average number of persons employed by the charitable company in the year was 11 persons. (2023 - 10). One member of staff was paid more than £60,000.
The key management personnel of the charity comprises the trustees and the Chief Executive, to whom responsibility for the day-to-day activities of the charity is delegated. The total employee benefits received by key management personnel during the year (excluding employer pension costs) were £61,764 (2023: £59,385).
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EAST LONDON OUT PROJECT
NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS
YEAR ENDED 31ST MARCH 2024
| 5) INCOMING RESOURCES FROM GENERATED FUNDS UNRESTRICTED FUNDS GENERAL FUND Donations and Gifts Donations User Contributions Other trading activities Fund-raising activities Training & Placement fees Investment Income Interest receivable TOTAL RESOURCES FROM GENERATED FUNDS |
£ £ 45,785 75,470 121,255 20,562 37,890 58,452 179,707 7,037 186,744 TOTAL 2024 |
£ £ 45,785 75,470 121,255 20,562 37,890 58,452 179,707 7,037 186,744 TOTAL 2024 |
£ £ 19,703 74,705 94,408 13,601 32,356 45,957 140,365 2,134 142,499 TOTAL 2023 |
£ £ 19,703 74,705 94,408 13,601 32,356 45,957 140,365 2,134 142,499 TOTAL 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20,562 37,890 |
13,601 32,356 |
|||
| 179,707 7,037 |
140,365 2,134 |
|||
| 186,744 | 142,499 |
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EAST LONDON OUT PROJECT
NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS
YEAR ENDED 31ST MARCH 2024
| 6) ANALYSIS OF GRANTS UNRESTRICTED FUNDS GENERAL FUND London Borough Tower Hamlets Postcode Society Trust Arnold Clark Auto DWF Charitable Foundation Queen Marys University FORD Trust LB Waltham Forest (Early Help Project) Equalities Partnership in Tower Hamlets (Cornerstone) London Community Foundation: GVC LB Tower Hamlets - LCF Groundwork Uk (Tesco) DH (National LGBT Partnership) TOTAL GENERAL FUND RESTRICTED FUNDS BBC Children in Need The National Lottery Community Fund (Partnership Grant) The National Lottery Community Fund LB Waltham Forest (Health Inequalites Impact Fund) LB Waltham Forest LB Waltham Forest (Vulnerable Resident Fund) LB Hackney (LBH) London Community Foundation: MOPAC VAWG Grassroots Fund Tudor Trust City Bridge Trust( 2 year continuation) LB-Tower Hamlets Grants Restricted New Deal for Young People 2024 TOTAL RESTRICTED FUNDS TOTAL UNRESTRICTED & RESTRICTED |
GRANTS Opening Closing Deferred Rec'd in year Debtors Debtors Income TOTAL & Creditors movement 2024 2023 £ £ £ £ £ £ 25,000 (8,333) 8,333 - 25,000 25,000 - - - - - 12,977 - - - - - 1,000 - - - - - 1,500 - - - - - 200 - - - - - 2,260 - - - - - 5,000 17,938 - - - 17,938 8,542 - - - 15,000 15,000 8,250 16,110 - - - 16,110 27,618 1,000 - - 1,000 - 2,340 - - 510 2,850 2,178 |
|---|---|
| 62,388 (8,333) 8,333 15,510 77,898 94,525 |
|
| 32,494 - - - 32,494 31,795 40,848 - - 13,616 54,464 54,464 164,935 - - 1,068 166,003 25,132 - - - 2,600 2,600 4,190 15,000 - - - 15,000 - - - - - - 9,762 19,820 - - (4,955) 14,865 19,880 - - - 37,307 84,000 - - (44,000) 40,000 40,000 - - - - - 12,375 10,417 - - - 10,417 - 58,164 - - (6,638) 51,526 - |
|
| 425,678 - - (38,309) 387,369 234,905 |
|
| 488,066 (8,333) 8,333 (22,799) 465,267 329,430 |
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EAST LONDON OUT PROJECT
NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS
YEAR ENDED 31ST MARCH 2024
7) TOTAL RESOURCES EXPENDED
TOTAL
| SERVICE AREA Core Service activities TOTAL RESOURCES EXPENDED |
Core Services Governance Support £ £ £ 423,717 12,989 10,989 423,717 12,989 10,989 |
2024 2023 £ £ 447,695 398,276 |
|---|---|---|
| 447,695 398,276 |
Where not directly attributable, costs are allocated on a basis of estimated time associated with specific activities.
8) GOVERNANCE & SUPPORT COSTS
| GOVERNANCE & SUPPORT COSTS Staff salaries Apportioned office running costs and resources Independent Examination |
2024 2024 £ £ Governance Support 6,074 6,074 4,915 4,915 2,000 - |
|---|---|
| 12,989 10,989 |
9) MOVEMENT ON FUNDS IN YEAR
| Note UNRESTRICTED FUNDS 2 General Fund Designated Funds: Property Reserve RESTRICTED FUNDS 2 BBC Children in Need The National Lottery Community Fund (Partnership Grant) The National Lottery Community Fund LB Waltham Forest (Health Inequalites Impact Fund) LB Waltham Forest LB Hackney (LBH) Tudor Trust LB-Tower Hamlets Grants Restricted New Deal for Young People 2024 TOTAL RESTRICTED FUNDS TOTAL UNRESTRICTED & RESTRICTED |
Opening Incoming Outgoing Transfers Closing Balance Resources Resources between Balance at 1/4/2023 (notes 5 & 6) (note 7) funds at 31/3/2024 £ £ £ £ £ 291,489 264,642 76,676 (130,000) 349,455 220,000 - - 130,000 350,000 |
|---|---|
| 511,489 264,642 76,676 - 699,455 |
|
| - 32,494 32,494 - - - 54,464 54,464 - - - 166,003 166,003 - - - 2,600 2,600 - - - 15,000 15,000 - - - 14,865 14,865 - - - 40,000 40,000 - - 10,417 10,417 - - 51,526 35,176 - 16,350 |
|
| - 387,369 371,019 - 16,350 |
|
| 511,489 652,011 447,695 - 715,805 |
The Trustees have designated £40,000 in the year towards the relocation and expansion of the charity's premises
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EAST LONDON OUT PROJECT
FIXED ASSETS
YEAR ENDED 31ST MARCH 2024
| 10) FIXED ASSETS Cost Brought forward Additions Disposals AT 31ST MARCH 2024 Depreciation Brought forward Charge for year On disposals Transfers between funds AT 31ST MARCH 2024 Net Book Value AT 31ST MARCH 2024 AT 31ST MARCH 2023 11) DEBTORS, amounts falling due within one year Grants receivable Other debtors & prepayments 12) CREDITORS, amounts falling due within one year Other taxation & social security Deferred income Other creditors & accruals |
Leasehold General Fund £ 7,116 - - |
Office Equipment General Fund £ 30,037 - - 30,037 30,037 - - - 30,037 - - 2024 £ 8,333 15,221 23,553 2024 £ 7,789 111,018 17,654 136,461 |
TOTAL £ 37,153 - - |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7,116 | 37,153 | ||
| 7,116 - - - |
37,153 - - - |
||
| 7,116 | 37,153 | ||
| - | - | ||
| - | - | ||
| 2023 £ 8,333 13,442 |
|||
| 21,775 | |||
| 2023 £ 9,504 88,219 14,125 |
|||
| 111,848 |
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EAST LONDON OUT PROJECT
NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS
YEAR ENDED 31ST MARCH 2024
13) ANALYSIS OF NET ASSETS BETWEEN FUNDS
| ALYSIS OF NET ASSETS BETWEEN FUNDS | |
|---|---|
| Tangible Fixed Assets Current Assets Current Liabilities |
Restricted Unrestricted Total £ £ £ - - - 127,368 724,898 852,266 (111,018) (25,443) (136,461) |
| 16,350 699,455 715,805 |
14) TRUSTEES' REMUNERATION & EXPENSES
In the year there were no payments to Trustees, . (2023- nil.)
15) TAXATION
The charity is exempt from tax on its charitable activities.
16) STATUS, CONNECTED CHARITIES & RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS
The company is incorporated by charitable means and is limited by guarantee without share capital. The company is not part of any group.
No payments were made to any related party.
30