2023-03-31-accounts

Haines Watts

Chartered Accountants And Statutory Auditors New Derwent House 69-73 Theobalds Rd London WC1X 8TA

Dear Sirs

THE ADVOCACY PROJECT YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

The following representations are made on the basis of enquiries of management and staff with relevant knowledge and experience such as we consider necessary in connection with your audit of the charity’s financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2023. These enquiries have included inspection of supporting documentation where appropriate and are sufficient to satisfy ourselves that we can make each of the following representations. All representations are made to the best of our knowledge and belief.

General

• 1 We have fulfilled our responsibilities as trustees as set out in the terms of your engagement letter dated 16 June 2022, under the Companies Act 2006 and the Charities Act 2011 for preparing financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice), for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view and for making accurate representations to you.

• 2 All the transactions undertaken by the charity have been properly reflected and recorded in the accounting records.

• 3 All the accounting records have been made available to you for the purpose of your audit. We have provided you with unrestricted access to all appropriate persons within the charity, and with all other records and related information requested, including minutes of all management and trustee meetings and correspondence with The Charity Commission.

• 4 The financial statements are free of material misstatements, including omissions.

• 5 We accept and approve the adjustments made to arrive at the financial statements, as set out in the attached appendix.

Internal control and fraud

• 6 We acknowledge our responsibility for the design, implementation and maintenance of internal control systems to prevent and detect fraud and error. We have disclosed to you the results of our risk assessment that the financial statements may be misstated as a result of fraud.

• 7 We have disclosed to you all instances of known or suspected fraud affecting the entity involving management, employees who have a significant role in internal control or others that could have a material effect on the financial statements.

• 8 We have also disclosed to you all information in relation to allegations of fraud or suspected fraud affecting the entity’s financial statements communicated by current or former employees, analysts, regulators or others.

Assets and liabilities

• 9 The charity has satisfactory title to all assets and there are no liens or encumbrances on charity’s assets, except for those that are disclosed in the notes to the financial statements.

• 10 All actual liabilities, contingent liabilities and guarantees given to third parties have been recorded or disclosed as appropriate.

• 11 We have no plans or intentions that may materially alter the carrying value and where relevant the fair value measurements or classification of assets and liabilities reflected in the financial statements.

Accounting estimates

• 12 Significant assumptions used by us in making accounting estimates, including those measured at fair value, are reasonable.

Loans and arrangements

• 13 The charitable company has not granted any advances or credits to, or made guarantees on behalf of, directors other than those disclosed in the financial statements.

Legal claims

• 14 We have disclosed to you all claims in connection with litigation that have been, or are expected to be, received and such matters, as appropriate, have been properly accounted for, and disclosed in, the financial statements.

Laws and regulations

• 15 We have disclosed to you all known instances of non-compliance or suspected non-compliance with laws and regulations whose effects should be considered when preparing the financial statements.

Related parties

• 16 Related party relationships and transactions have been appropriately accounted for and disclosed in the financial statements. We have disclosed to you all relevant information concerning such relationships and transactions and are not aware of any other matters which require disclosure in order to comply with legislative and accounting standards requirements.

Subsequent events

• 17 All events subsequent to the date of the financial statements which require adjustment or disclosure have been properly accounted for and disclosed.

Going concern

• 18 We believe that the charity's financial statements should be prepared on a going concern basis on the grounds that current and future sources of funding or support will be more than adequate for charity's needs. We have considered a period of twelve months from the date of approval of the financial statements. We believe that no further disclosures relating to the charity's ability to continue as a going concern need to be made in the financial statements.

Grants and donations

• 19 All grants, donations and other income, the receipt of which is subject to specific terms or conditions, have been notified to you. There have been no breaches of terms or conditions in the application of such income.

We acknowledge our legal responsibilities regarding disclosure of information to you as auditors and confirm that so far as we are aware, there is no relevant audit information needed by you in connection with preparing your audit report of which you are unaware.

Each trustee has taken all the steps that he ought to have taken as a trustee in order to make themself aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that you are aware of that information.

Yours faithfully

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

DELE OLAJIDE

Name: _________

Signed on behalf of the board of trustees

Date: Dec 19, 2023

Charity No 1084106 Company No 04018315

REGISTERED COMPANY NUMBER: 04018315 (England and Wales) REGISTERED CHARITY NUMBER: 1084106

The Advocacy Project (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

Report of the Trustees and

Audited Financial Statements

for the Year Ended 31 March 2023

The Advocacy Project

Contents of the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2023

		Page
Reference and Administrative Details		1
Report of the Trustees	2	to	10
Report of the Independent Auditors	11	to	13
Statement of Financial Activities		14
Statement of Financial Position		15
Statement of Cash Flows		16
Notes to the Statement of Cash Flows		17
Notes to the Financial Statements	18	to	28

The Advocacy Project

Reference and Administrative Details for the year ended 31 March 2023

Trustees	A Antonio
	M Hagan
	D Olajide
	J Davey (resigned 31/3/2023)
	J R Ellis
	R Skipp
	G Bull
	L C Baliga (resigned 31/5/2022)
	H Richardson
Company secretaries	A Wright
Registered office	c/o SEIDs Hub
	Empire Way
	Wembley
	London
	HA9 0RJ
Registered company number	04018315 (England and Wales)
Registered charity number	1084106
Independent auditors	Cooper Parry Group Limited
	Statutory Auditor
	New Derwent House
	69-73 Theobalds Road
	London
	WC1X 8TA

Page 1

The Advocacy Project

Report of the Trustees for the year ended 31 March 2023

The trustees present their report and accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023.

The accounts have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in note 1 to the accounts and comply with the charity's governing document, the Companies Act 2006 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 2016)

Objectives and activities

Objectives and aims

The Advocacy Project supports people to speak up and to make their own choices about their lives. Our vision is a world in which every person has a voice - including those who are marginalised or vulnerable because of their circumstances. We place a relentless focus on enabling people to have their voice heard, uphold their rights, and make informed choices. We support people to have their say and help improve important services we all need, including health and social care services. We also seek to tackle testimonial injustice - this kind of injustice occurs when someone is ignored, or not believed, because of identity-prejudice towards them, for example because of their circumstances, their gender, race, disability etc.

We achieve these aims by delivering a range of projects and services - statutory and non-statutory - including advocacy, user involvement, personal health budgets and Healthwatch services. The trustees have paid due regard to guidance issued by the Charity Commission in deciding what activities the charity should carry out.

How we work

We try hard not to do things "to" people or "for" people. Instead, we help people find their own voices and develop their capacity to do things for themselves - increasing their own agency. These principles underpin our approach to evaluating our impact. We know people feel stronger, safer and more confident after working with us. Click here to read some real stories from real people we've worked with: https://www.advocacyproject.org.uk/news/real-stories-about-real-people/

Many staff who work for The Advocacy Project have lived experience of the issues we work on (whether learning disability, mental health or other disabilities). Two of our trustees are service users. Our user council involves people who use our services in decision-making about the organisation. Having the voices of lived experience at all levels of the organisation informs our approach to everything we do.

We are also a highly diverse organisation. This inclusivity and diversity helps us develop understanding and trust with service users. Understanding and trust means our work is truly focused on those things that make a real difference to the lives of people who face disadvantage, discrimination, and marginalisation.

Page 2

The Advocacy Project

Report of the Trustees for the year ended 31 March 2023

Objectives and activities Performance and achievements

External context

The emerging cost of living crisis provided the backdrop for the last financial year, together with the ongoing societal effects of the pandemic which are still being felt. We remain acutely aware of people struggling to make ends meet, and the effect this has on their physical and mental health. We have seen a resurgence in contact from people impacted by this ongoing crisis, who are having to make tough choices which exacerbate pre-existing issues and health concerns, as well as the impact it has had on our own staff.

The job market in health and social care has remained challenging throughout the year, in part a legacy of the tough situations experienced by staff during the pandemic. Across the sector all agencies found it difficult to recruit skilled staff. One significant impact of this has been that gaps in the external teams we work with can mean it takes longer to resolve issues for the people we support.

Key highlights

Despite the turbulent external environment and staffing challenges, The Advocacy Project has had a strong year. We have seen our four key areas of work continue to benefit service users: advocacy, user involvement, personal health budgets and Healthwatch services. Referrals across all types of advocacy (statutory and non-statutory) have now climbed back to pre-pandemic levels. We're feeding our successes, challenges and learning into our strategic planning and service development for the year ahead.

We continue to place ourselves as leaders in the field of advocacy and safeguarding, offering consultations and insights into development of both local and national policy.

• In the early part of the year, we came together with over 40 advocacy providers to send an open letter to the Prime Minster, raising concerns about the proposed repeal of the Human Rights Act and introduction of the Bill of Rights. The proposed reforms would make it difficult for advocacy providers and other organisations to hold public services accountable.

• Our specialist Independent Mental Capacity Advocate leads contributed detailed expertise to the consultation on the changes to the Mental Capacity Act Code of Practice and implementation of the Liberty Protection Safeguards, both in collaboration with other advocacy providers and in a direct response to the Department of Health and Social Care. - We advised colleagues in other health and social care organisations on implementing the new guidelines on use of force in mental health settings.

• In view of our specialist knowledge and experience of people with complex needs in relation to learning disabilities, mental health, and ADHD, we've been commissioned to do some very specific advocacy to support people who experience the intersection of these issues.

Our Healthwatch service has expanded considerably during this financial year.

• We successfully won two new Healthwatch contracts: Westminster and Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. We're delighted to have welcomed a new team to the organisation who have established positive relationships in the boroughs. Along with our existing service in Brent, these have pioneered work in the three boroughs to gather patient feedback on health and care services in both community and in-patient settings.

• Healthwatch Brent made a major contribution to the borough's health and wellbeing strategy and continues to go from strength to strength. The team carried out 'enter and view' visits to inpatient wards at Park Royal Hospital following intelligence from advocacy services that there's overrepresentation of young black men who have been sectioned under the Mental Health Act.

• Our work on access to GP services and the evaluation of enhanced access to practices where GPs have offered extra hours over evenings and weekends has resulted in us making some powerful recommendations for improvement. We've continued to evaluate access to primary care over the 12-month period to identify improvements.

Our commitment to excellence in safeguarding and our skill in training people with a view to their individual learning styles and information needs has continued to shine through. We've been regularly commissioned by the local voluntary and community sector to train their boards and staff.

• We have worked on a number of additional innovative safeguarding projects, including looking at how to make safeguarding processes more culturally sensitive, and analysing the first-hand experiences of people going through safeguarding processes. Following on from the extremely positive response to the Biborough Staying Safe project Phase 2, we were asked to develop Phase 3 to promote safeguarding amongst borough residents from diverse communities.

Page 3

The Advocacy Project

Report of the Trustees for the year ended 31 March 2023

Objectives and activities

• Our former CEO had a specialism in safeguarding in faith settings and in religious and spiritual abuse, an incredibly important area (as evidenced from the recent publication of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse in faith communities and other research). We've been fortunate to benefit from this insight and experience and are able to continue to offer a specialist level of support.

• In March 2023 we delivered safeguarding governance training to 14 senior leaders who sit on the safeguarding committee at Notting Hill Genesis housing association. Our former CEO and Head of Service Delivery brought their depth of experience and expertise in this area. NHG's designated safeguarding lead said "First and foremost, I want to thank you for delivering such a powerful training. It was well received, and I have already heard from a few people who thought it was excellent, very informative, and insightful. We can definitely direct our safeguarding strategy in the right direction with the help of the training." Participants said, "you really challenged us - made us think deeply about how we can improve our governance of safeguarding and our practice."

• We supported community engagement programmes to promote awareness of illegal money lending (in response to the economic crisis) and hate crime.

• In Hackney, we launched our Your Voice Matters project to capture service user feedback on their experience of safeguarding processes.

Our user-involvement and co-production continues to turn user feedback into actionable intelligence which helps shape and improve local public services.

• A highlight of this service is the teams' close work with the "What matters to you?" NHS North West London Co-Design Advisory Body (DAB). This is a small group of professionals and third sector/community groups who were invited to advise NHS NWL on how they could improve their engagement with the local community. The DAB is an opportunity to provide feedback, ideas, insights and learning from local communities and seldom heard groups to NHS North West London Integrated Care Board. Our user involvement team has been asked to support patient, resident and community engagement across North West London.

• Our specialist teams for people with learning disabilities worked with commissioners to improve the accessibility of their approach to better meet the needs of those with - or at risk of developing - type 2 diabetes. This included a redesign of website information.

The Personal Health Budget team continues to provide personalised services for both adults and children. Our PHB services have expanded into new boroughs, and we've promoted and trained staff across Newham and Tower Hamlets. We've also developed five videos for NHS England to support the training they deliver on personal health budgets, drawing on our practical experience representing a diversity of service user voices.

Our AGM and staff conference event was a great success and a highlight of the year. The talks from external speakers - Paul Morrison, Trustee of the Trussell Trust and Jo Kay, Programmes Manager, Sufra - about food poverty were very well received. This stimulated much discussion about the impact of nutrition on mental and physical health. The headline speaker was so popular we asked him to return and host a staff development session as part of our new lecture series. The AGM and staff conference highlighted the diversity of our board, our staff and our volunteers and the quality of our work, and showcased the very considerable skills of our staff with learning disabilities and their creative talents.

Our informative public discussions on reducing health inequalities continue to go from strength to strength and attract nationally renowned speakers. Our monthly lecture series on reducing health inequalities, in collaboration with Cllr Ketan Sheth, has attracted audiences of health and social care professionals, as well as members of the public, who have engaged in stimulating collaborative discussion. Highlights have included talks from nationally renowned speakers including Dame Cally Palmer (National Cancer Director, NHS England and CEO of Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust) and Claire Murdoch CBE (National Director for Mental Health). In addition, we introduced a daytime lecture series focused on continuing professional development for staff in health and social care. Both series have attracted renowned experts as speakers, and participant audiences include policy-makers, health and social care professionals, service users and members of the public from across the country. Topics we've covered over the last financial year include:

• How we can combat modern slavery with Charlotte Jamieson, Modern Slavery and Exploitation Coordinator for Kensington & Chelsea and Westminster.

• Tackling inequalities in diabetes care with Salma Mehar, consultant dietitian in North West London and Dr Ethie Kong, GP and former chair of NHS Brent.

• Challenging the myths: what it means to live well with HIV with Dr Laura Waters, Chair of the British HIV Association and HIV Treatment Advisor at NHS England.

• Covid recovery: what next for our NHS with Dr Piers Milner (Director of Strategy, LNWH), Nipa Shah (Programme Director, Brent Health Matters), Dr Ethie Kong (Senior GP, Westminster), Jenny Lanyero (Senior Nurse Practitioner, CNWL) discussing the impact of the pandemic on enduring health inequalities.

Page 4

The Advocacy Project

Report of the Trustees for the year ended 31 March 2023

Objectives and activities

• How we can fight the cost-of-living crisis with Paul Morrison, Trustee of The Trussell Trust.

Staffing and structure

This year has brought some changes in our senior management. We've welcomed two new members of staff to our senior leadership team, who bring a wealth of experience from the sector and beyond.

In November we welcomed Emilia Halupka as Head of Finance, who brings expertise in financial management from the education sector. In January we also welcomed Freya Marshall as Head of Business Development and Fundraising. Freya brings extensive experience to this role and is leading on our strategy and planning in this area.

Judith Davey, our CEO since 2016, stepped down from her role as of 31 March this year. The Advocacy Project's board of trustees thanks Judith for her hard work and commitment to the organisation and especially her work in steering the organisation through the challenges of the pandemic and helping to diversify our range of services.

Ali Wright, our former Deputy CEO, stepped into the role of Acting CEO. She has been with the organisation since 2001 and brings a wealth of knowledge of all aspects of our work. The board, Ali, the Senior Leadership Team and all staff continue to work closely together for the benefit of our service users.

Within the organisation we have focused on our skill and capacity-building as part of our commitment to social value in each of the boroughs where we work. We've seen evidence within our organisation of the significant benefit of recruiting people from outside the sector who have strong transferable skills. We've continued to use our networks and head-hunters to fill our vacant posts, and we've continued the learning and development support we give to staff. Our strong learning and development offer (as evidenced in last year's QPM report on our work, which we passed with flying colours) has meant we've been able to fill key staffing gaps and are developing innovative ways of targeting different communities of people with strong transferable skills.

Page 5

The Advocacy Project

Report of the Trustees for the year ended 31 March 2023

Objectives and activities

Looking forward

In the coming year our focus will be on continuing to embed a positive, collaborative work environment, and fostering our culture of innovation and creativity. In the first part of the year, our Acting CEO will provide seamless continuity between the outgoing CEO and the new incumbent who will then take forward our mission and vision.

As noted above, the external context over the last and previous financial years has been difficult for all organisations within the sector and beyond. We're well aware of the pressures faced by all organisations in the health and social care sector, and the knock-on effect this is having on the people we support. Our strategy for the coming year recognises the constraints of the external environment and focuses on strengthening the foundations of our organisation, embedding learning from challenges, and continuing to build an organisation with good infrastructure and brand awareness that is known for delivering top quality support for both staff and our partners.

A key part of our focus this year is on embedding the re-launched user council, with the support of our new dedicated User Voice Participation Lead. Our user council are working closely with the Board to bring their perspective into our strategic decision-making. We welcome the unique perspective that people with lived experience provide and are proud to enable them to guide decisions and development within the organisation.

In the coming financial year we're recognising the excellent work achieved by all our advocacy services including those where their contract period draws to a close. We're really proud to be able to pass the services on with such dedicated and skilled staff. One of the advantages of working in our sector is that the skills and knowledge developed within teams can be passed to colleagues in other organisations when contracts change hands, which of course helps develop the sector and ultimately benefits service users.

Our fundraising strategy for the year ahead is led by our new Head of Business and Fundraising. Having, in previous years, expanded our services into four workstreams, our medium-to-long term strategy is to consolidate. We'll focus on deepening our relationships within the sector and maximising opportunities generated through our current service areas. This includes extending our safeguarding training provision, which has been extremely well-received. The next step in our safeguarding training programme includes an opportunity for our staff to enhance their knowledge and develop their skills by shadowing safeguarding trainers and sharing their safeguarding experience with others.

Some highlights of our upcoming work across the organisation are below.

• Our Healthwatch service is planning a volunteer training programme, led by our Volunteers and Projects Officer, which focuses on building capacity of other local grassroots organisations to work with a diverse pool of volunteers and provide meaningful engagement. We will add this training to The Advocacy Project training offer and it will be open to all of our networks.

• We're excited to be continuing to lead on co-production in the Camden Mental Health Resilience Alliance and ensuring the voices of people with lived experience are front and centre of this work. Our Lived experience advisers (LExAs) will make sure the alliance respects, listens and acts on the experiences shared by people with lived experience of mental health difficulties and the mental health services in Camden.

• As part of social value commitment, we are exploring options to create a carbon reduction plan with the aim of being a net zero organisation. We feel it's important to engage with our responsibility to reduce carbon emissions across London and wish to find ways for all of our team to sincerely engage with our proposed plan.

• We're really proud to continue in our plans to host inspiring leaders and practitioners speaking on a range of health topics as part of our health inequalities lectures series in collaboration with Cllr Ketan Sheth and Healthwatch Brent. in the next financial year, lectures include:

• Leading the fight against sickle-cell disease with Dame Elizabeth Nneka Anionwu, a trailblazer who established the UK's first nurse-led sickle cell screening and counselling centre based in Brent. Dame Elizabeth and others share their work supporting those affected by the disease and development in combating sickle cell.

• Prostate Cancer: speak up, get support and boost survival rates: with Brent CSV we welcome practitioners including consultant urological surgeon, Dr Rajesh Kavia. Inspirational cancer survivor Errol McKellar MBE talks about his campaign to generate awareness about the illness and encourage men to get regularly tested.

Page 6

The Advocacy Project

Report of the Trustees for the year ended 31 March 2023

Strategic report

Financial review: overview

The voluntary and charity sector continues to be a challenging environment in terms of securing new income and managing expenditure for critical functions including staff recruitment in the context of the steep rise in cost of living. The impact of the external environment resulted in closing the year with a deficit of £54k.

Despite these challenges and movement of contracts, we move forward into the next financial year with robust financial management in place under the leadership of new Head of Finance and new CEO. The hard work and dedication of our staff, supported by senior management, continues to provide a high quality service to the people we support.

Our turnover for 2022/23 was £2.74m which is an increase of £0.21m from 2021/22 when turnover was £2.53m. Expenditure during the year was £2.79m which is an increase of £0.34m from 2021/22, when expenditure was £2.45m. During the year we secured new contracts including:

• Tower Hamlets Personal Health Budgets

• Newham Personal Health Budgets

• Healthwatch RBKC & Westminster

• Brent ASD Care Navigator pilot

Hammersmith and Fulham, Hackney and Broadmoor advocacy contracts came to the end of their contract period.

Our policy is that unrestricted funds that have not been designated for a specific use should be maintained at a level equivalent to between three- and six-months' expenditure. The trustees consider that reserves at this level will ensure that, in the event of a significant drop in funding, we can continue current activities whilst considering alternative ways to raise additional funds.Due to unpredicted one- off cost at the year end the reserves level decreased to 2.5 months cover. This will be rectified in the following years by introducing a new strategy, the employment of new SLT members including Head of Business Development and Fundraising, to strengthen the ability to achieve targets, and the continues focus on the cost control.

In line with our strategic aims, trustees and the senior leadership team are committed to investing in organisational development to support our continued growth and sustainability.

We continue to invest in staff training and development. We continue to work on development of pay progression framework supporting staff to progress up salary band in commensurate with their skills, education, and experience. We're also investing more on technology to deliver services innovatively and offer staff flexible working facilities and environment.

Page 7

The Advocacy Project

Report of the Trustees for the year ended 31 March 2023

Strategic report Financial review

Financial review: fundraising

Our approach to growth and diversifying income is to extend our core business across London and key national work through a variety of income sources, including public sector contracts, private health and social care contracts, and grants from trusts and foundations.

We exceeded our 2022-2023 income target by 250% at the beginning of the year. The surge in income for Q1 22/23 came from: two new Healthwatch services (Westminster and Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea); Personal Health Budget contracts; bespoke safeguarding work in the community.

Our new Head of Business Development, Freya Marshall, has developed our fundraising strategy for 23/24. This includes business development KPIs for 23/24 as well as a trust and foundations pipeline of potential donors with a collective value of over £1,000,000 that may be available to The Advocacy Project. The fundraising strategy will align with the upcoming organisational and communications strategies. Other key areas for development are:

• identifying innovation projects and opportunities, including projects such as peer-led advocacy and volunteer management

• key trusts, foundations and local funding including The National Lottery

• safeguarding training development

• continuing to foster strong relationships across the sector to enable us to actively contribute to meeting the needs of local people

No complaints have been received about our fundraising practices whether undertaken directly or by agencies acting on our behalf. We're registered with the Fundraising Regulator.

Our governance handbook, our business development procedures, and employee handbook show how we protect vulnerable people and others from unreasonable intrusion of a person's privacy, unreasonably persistent approaches, or undue pressure to donate. We do not use direct marketing fundraising techniques. We do not use face-to-face or door-to-door fundraising techniques, nor do we outsource donor relationships to third parties. We do not exchange or sell our donors and supporters personal data.

Page 8

The Advocacy Project

Report of the Trustees for the year ended 31 March 2023

Structure, governance and management

Structure

The Advocacy Project is a charity and a company limited by guarantee. Our objects enable us to have a governance structure with a board of trustees and a user council. We're a unitary board, and have four board committees - Finance, Risk & Audit; HR, Remuneration & Policy; Business Development and Fundraising; and Advocacy & Change.

In line with our values (and with permission from the Charity Commission), we pay service user trustees at London Living Wage for their time as trustees. The board delegates day-to-day management to the CEO (or Acting CEO) who works with and through the senior leadership team.

Governance

Our governance handbook sets out the standards which trustees must conform to, and includes clear policies on managing conflict of interest, duty and loyalty. This handbook, which was reviewed during the financial year 2020-2021, assisted the charity in passing the rigorous process of accreditation to the Quality Performance Mark (QPM) - the kitemark for advocacy providers. The QPM desktop assessment report from 2021 describes the handbook as a "really excellent document". It also states "the organisational governance framework is impressive, as is the use of external experts in governance the field as well as lawyers, health & safety and data protection experts to ensure compliance with legislation and best practice". Our safeguarding policies and practice have been assessed through the same process as being "excellent, comprehensive and clear". The 2021 desktop assessment report also states that our governance handbook and many of our policies "could be used as exemplars in other organisations".

Having a diverse board of trustees that reflect the people we support is of great importance to the charity as it demonstrates our values in practice. All recruitment is carried out using an open selection process and competency-based interviews. We're often asked to write articles for organisations like The Governance Institute (ICSA) and speak at charity sector conferences on how we have achieved board diversity in practice, and how we've made our governance processes accessible to everyone using approaches like financial accounts being available in easy read.

People management

The Employee Handbook and the Health, Safety & Wellbeing Handbook clearly set out our policies and procedures and are reviewed for compliance with legislation and best practice each year. We continue to invest in staff wellbeing by giving staff access to independent counselling in addition to a 24-hour confidential care service.

Learning and development for staff is very important to us. We support staff to achieve their independent advocacy qualification (IAQ) or other professional qualifications. We also give staff time off in lieu to attend our monthly lecture series, run in collaboration with Councillor Ketan Sheth, where national experts discuss topics of interest in the health and social care field.

Our policy is to consult with employees and discuss issues likely to affect their interests. Information is given through regular staff briefings, updates and reports which aim for a common awareness on the part of all employees of the financial and economic factors affecting the organisation's performance.

We have a recognition agreement with UNISON. We are a Mindful Employer and a Disability Confident Employer.

Trustees' responsibility statement

The trustees (who are also the directors of The Advocacy Project for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the Report of the Trustees and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice) including Financial Reporting Standard 102 "The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland".

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

• select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;

• observe the methods and principles in the Charity SORP;

• make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;

• state whether applicable 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 charitable company will continue in business.

Page 9

The Advocacy Project

Report of the Trustees for the year ended 31 March 2023

Trustees' responsibility statement - continued

The trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable company and to enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charitable company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

In so far as the trustees are aware:

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

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

Auditors

The audit business of Haines Watts London LLP was acquired by Cooper Parry Group Limited on 14 November 2023. Haines Watts London LLP has resigned as auditor and Cooper Parry Group Limited has been appointed in its place. The auditors, Cooper Parry Group Limited, will be proposed for re-appointment at the forthcoming Annual General Meeting.

Report of the trustees, incorporating a strategic report, approved by order of the board of trustees, as the company directors, on ............................................. and signed on the board's behalf by: Dec 19, 2023

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

D Olajide - Trustee

Page 10

Report of the Independent Auditors to the Members of The Advocacy Project

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of The Advocacy Project (the 'charitable company') for the year ended 31 March 2023 which comprise the Statement of Financial Activities, the Statement of Financial Position, the Statement of Cash Flows and notes to the financial statements, including a summary of significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice), including Financial Reporting Standard 102 'The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland'.

• In our opinion the financial statements:

• give a true and fair view of the state of the charitable company's affairs as at 31 March 2023 and of its incoming resources and application of resources, including its income and expenditure, for the year then ended;

• have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice, including Financial Reporting Standard 102 'The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland'; and

• have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006.

Basis for opinion

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditors' responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the charitable company in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC's Ethical Standard, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

Conclusions relating to going concern

In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the trustees' use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.

Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the charitable company's ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.

Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the trustees with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.

Other information

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

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

In connection with our audit of the financial statements, our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact. We have nothing to report in this regard.

Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006

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

• the information given in the Report of the Trustees for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements; and

• the Report of the Trustees has been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements.

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Report of the Independent Auditors to the Members of The Advocacy Project

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the charitable company and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the Report of the Trustees.

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

• adequate accounting records have not been kept or returns adequate for our audit have not been received from branches not visited by us; or

• the financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or

• certain disclosures of trustees' remuneration specified by law are not made; or

• we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit.

Responsibilities of trustees

As explained more fully in the Trustees' Responsibilities Statement, the trustees (who are also the directors of the charitable company for the purposes of company law) are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the trustees determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

In preparing the financial statements, the trustees are responsible for assessing the charitable company's ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the trustees either intend to liquidate the charitable company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

Our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue a Report of the Independent Auditors that includes 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.

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.

We gained an understanding of the legal and regulatory framework applicable to the company and the industry in which it operates, and considered the risk of acts by the company that were contrary to applicable laws and regulations, including fraud. We discussed with the Directors the policies and procedures in place regarding compliance with laws and regulations. We discussed amongst the audit team the identified laws and regulations, and remained alert to any indications of non-compliance.

During the audit we focussed on laws and regulations which could reasonably be expected to give rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements, including, but not limited to, the Companies Act 2006 and UK tax legislation. Our tests included agreeing the financial statement disclosures to underlying supporting documentation and enquiries with management.

Our procedures in relation to fraud included but were not limited to: inquiries of management whether they have any knowledge of any actual, suspected or alleged fraud, and discussions amongst the audit team regarding risk of fraud such as opportunities for fraudulent manipulation of financial statements. We determined that the principal risks related to posting manual journal entries to manipulate financial performance and management bias through judgements in accounting estimates. We also addressed the risk of management override of internal controls, including testing journals and evaluating whether there was evidence of bias by the directors that represented a risk of material misstatement due to fraud. Our tests included agreeing the financial statement disclosures to underlying supporting documentation.

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Report of the Independent Auditors to the Members of The Advocacy Project

Because of the inherent limitations of an audit, there is a risk that we will not detect all irregularities, including those leading to a material misstatement in the financial statements or non-compliance with regulation. This risk increases the more that compliance with a law or regulation is removed from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, as we will be less likely to become aware of instances of non-compliance. The risk is also greater regarding irregularities occurring due to fraud rather than error, as fraud involves intentional concealment, forgery, collusion, omission or misrepresentation.

A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on the Financial Reporting Council's website at www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our Report of the Independent Auditors.

Use of our report

This report is made solely to the charitable company's members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charitable company's members those matters we are required to state to them in an auditors' report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charitable company and the charitable company's members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

Jane Wills (Senior Statutory Auditor) for and on behalf of Cooper Parry Group Limited Statutory Auditor New Derwent House 69-73 Theobalds Road London WC1X 8TA Dec 19, 2023 Date: .............................................

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The Advocacy Project

Statement of Financial Activities (Incorporating an Income and Expenditure Account) for the year ended 31 March 2023

Unrestricted Designated funds funds Notes £ £ Income and endowments from Other trading activities 2 2,214,073 - Investment income 3 9,568 - Other income 3,412 - Total 2,227,053 - Expenditure on Raising funds 4 - - Charitable activities 5 Support costs 559,953 - Governance costs 31,131 - Staff costs 1,373,013 - Direct expenditure 300,066 - Depreciation 5,967 4,542 Total 2,270,130 4,542 NET INCOME/(EXPENDITURE) (43,077) (4,542) Transfers between funds 19 (14,887) - Net movement in funds (57,964) (4,542) Reconciliation of funds Total funds brought forward 475,748 6,813 Total funds carried forward 417,784 2,271	Restricted funds £ 507,776 2,194 782 510,752 - 203,352 7,140 189,539 116,797 - 516,828 (6,076) 14,887 8,811 80,395 89,206	2023 Total funds £ 2,721,849 11,762 4,194 2,737,805 - 763,305 38,271 1,562,552 416,863 10,509 2,791,500 (53,695) - (53,695) 562,956 509,261	2022 Total funds £ 2,463,663 242 69,520
			2,533,425
			93 588,667 18,647 1,758,999 68,763 14,029
			2,449,198
			84,227 -
			84,227 478,729
			562,956

Continuing operations

All income and expenditure has arisen from continuing activities.

The notes form part of these financial statements

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The Advocacy Project

Statement of Financial Position 31 March 2023

Notes Fixed assets Intangible assets 13 Tangible assets 14 Current assets Debtors: amounts falling due within one year 15 Debtors: amounts falling due after more than one year 15 Cash at bank and in hand Creditors Amounts falling due within one year 16 Net current assets Total assets less current liabilities NET ASSETS Funds 19 Unrestricted funds: Unrestricted fund Designated fund Restricted funds: Restricted fund Total funds	2023 £ 2,271 8,755 11,026 284,430 1,217 2,052,738 2,338,385 (1,840,150) 498,235 509,261 509,261 417,784 2,271 420,055 89,206 509,261	2022 £ 6,813 8,768
		15,581 198,556 367 737,003
		935,926 (388,551)
		547,375
		562,956
		562,956
		475,748 6,813
		482,561
		80,395
		562,956

The financial statements were approved by the Board of Trustees and authorised for issue on ............................................. and were signed on its behalf by: Dec 19, 2023

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

D Olajide - Trustee

The notes form part of these financial statements

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The Advocacy Project

Statement of Cash Flows for the year ended 31 March 2023

		2023	2022
	Notes	£	£
Cash flows from operating activities
Cash generated from operations	1	1,309,927	5,732
Net cash provided by operating activities		1,309,927	5,732
Cash flows from investing activities
Purchase of tangible fixed assets		(5,954)	(3,505)
Interest received		11,762	242
Net cash provided by/(used in) investing activities		5,808	(3,263)
Change in cash and cash equivalents in
the reporting period		1,315,735	2,469
Cash and cash equivalents at the
beginning of the reporting period		737,003	734,534
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of
the reporting period		2,052,738	737,003

The notes form part of these financial statements

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The Advocacy Project

Notes to the Statement of Cash Flows for the year ended 31 March 2023

1. Reconciliation of net (expenditure)/income to net cash flow from operating activities

Reconciliation of net (expenditure)/income to net cash flow from operating	activities
Net (expenditure)/income for the reporting period (as per the Statement of Financial Activities) Adjustments for: Depreciation charges Interest received (Increase)/decrease in debtors Increase/(decrease) in creditors Net cash provided by operations Analysis of changes in net funds At 1/4/22 £ Net cash Cash at bank and in hand 737,003 737,003 Total 737,003	2023 £ (53,695) 10,509 (11,762) (86,724) 1,451,599 1,309,927 Cash flow £ 1,315,735 1,315,735 1,315,735	2022 £ 84,227 14,028 (242) 8,946 (101,227)
		5,732
		At 31/3/23 £ 2,052,738 2,052,738 2,052,738

2. Analysis of changes in net funds

The notes form part of these financial statements

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The Advocacy Project

Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2023

1. Accounting policies

Basis of preparing the financial statements

The financial statements of the charitable company, which is a public benefit entity under FRS 102, have been prepared in accordance with the Charities SORP (FRS 102) 'Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2019)', Financial Reporting Standard 102 'The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland' and the Companies Act 2006. The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention.

Going concern

These financial statements have been prepared on a going concern basis, as the directors have a reasonable expectation that the company will continue for the foreseeable future.The Directors have reviewed and considered relevant information, including the annual budget and future cash flows in making their assessment. In the year the charity has proactively taken steps to ensure current contracts are maintained and growth is achieved by winning new contracts

Income

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

Expenditure

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

Significant judgements and estimates

There are no critical accounting judgements and estimation uncertainty at the end of the reporting period that have a significant risk of causing a material adjustment to the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities within the financial year.

Allocation and apportionment of costs

Staff and support costs are allocated to the particular activity where the costs relate to that activity.

Overhead costs are apportioned based on the income of a particular activity.

Intangible assets

Intangible assets comprise primarily computer software and internal database systems. Such assets are defined as having finite useful lives and the costs are amortised on a straight line basis over their estimated useful lives of 5 years. Intangible assets are stated at cost less amortisation and are reviewed for impairment whenever there is an indication that the carrying value may be impaired.

Tangible fixed assets

Depreciation is provided at the following annual rates in order to write off each asset over its estimated useful life.

Fixtures and fittings

• 33% on cost

Taxation

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

Fund accounting

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

Restricted funds can only be used for particular restricted purposes within the objects of the charity. Restrictions arise when specified by the donor or when funds are raised for particular restricted purposes.

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

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The Advocacy Project

Notes to the Financial Statements - continued for the year ended 31 March 2023

1. Accounting policies - continued

Financial instruments

Financial assets and financial liabilities are recognised in the balance sheet when the company becomes a party to the contractual provisions of the instrument.

Trade and other debtors and creditors are classified as basic financial instruments and measured at initial recognition at transaction price. Debtors and creditors are subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest rate method. A provision is established when there is objective evidence that the company will not be able to collect all amounts due.

Cash and cash equivalents are classified as basic financial instruments and comprise cash in hand and at bank.

Hire purchase and leasing commitments

Rentals paid under operating leases are charged to profit or loss on a straight line basis over the period of the lease.

Pension costs and other post-retirement benefits

The company operates a defined contribution pension scheme. Contributions payable to the company's pension scheme are charged to profit or loss in the period to which they relate.

Cash and cash equivalents

These comprise cash at bank and other short-term highly liquid bank deposits with an original maturity of three months or less.

Debtors

Debtors do not carry any interest and are stated at their nominal value. Appropriate allowances for estimated irrecoverable amounts are recognised in the Statement of Financial Activities when there is objective evidence that the asset is impaired.

Trade Creditors

Trade creditors are not interest bearing and are stated at their nominal value.

Significant judgements and estimates

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with generally accepted accounting practice requires management to make estimates and judgement that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities as well as the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the balance sheet date and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period.

There is estimation uncertainty in calculating accruals, accrued income and deferred income and a review of these accounts are carried regularly. Whilst every attempt is made to ensure that the calculations are as accurate as possible, there remain a risk that not all expenses and income have been considered.

The key point of estimation for accrued and deferred income relates to the point in time in which work has been completed to the standard of acceptance by the donor within restricted income.

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The Advocacy Project

Notes to the Financial Statements - continued for the year ended 31 March 2023

2. Other trading activities Charitable trading activities 3. Investment income Interest receivable 4. Raising funds Raising donations and legacies Postage and stationery 5. Charitable activities costs Support costs Governance costs Staff costs Direct expenditure Depreciation 6. Support costs Support costs Governance costs Support costs, included in the above, are as follows: Other Staff costs Building and office costs Support and development costs	2023 £ 2,721,849 2023 £ 11,762 2023 £ - Support Direct costs (see Costs note 6) £ £ - 763,305 - 38,271 1,562,552 - 416,863 - 10,509 - 1,989,924 801,576 Governance Other costs £ £ 763,305 - - 38,271 763,305 38,271 2023 Support costs £ 76,562 154,462 532,281 763,305	2022 £ 2,463,663	2022 £ 2,463,663	2022 £ 2,463,663	2022 £ 2,463,663
		2022 £ 242 2022 £ 93 Totals £ 763,305 38,271 1,562,552 416,863 10,509			2022 £ 242
					2022 £ 93
		2,791,500
		Totals £ 763,305 38,271 801,576 2022 Total activities £ 65,329 126,143 413,300 604,772	Totals £ 763,305 38,271
			801,576
			604,772

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The Advocacy Project

Notes to the Financial Statements - continued for the year ended 31 March 2023

6. Support costs - continued Governance costs

Support costs - continued Governance costs
	2023	2022
	Governance	Total
	costs	activities
	£	£
Auditors' remuneration	16,435	10,500
Management fees	1,580	1,651
Governance support	15,743	6,443
AGM & Annual report	4,513	26
	38,271	18,620
Net income/(expenditure)
Net income/(expenditure) is stated after charging/(crediting):
	2023	2022
	£	£
Depreciation - owned assets	5,967	9,488
Computer software amortisation	4,542	4,541
Auditors' remuneration
	2023	2022
	£	£
Fees payable to the charity's auditors and their associates for the audit of the
charity's financial statements	16,435	10,500

7. Net income/(expenditure)

8. Auditors' remuneration

9. Trustees' remuneration and benefits

The trustees were not paid or received any other benefits from employment (2022: Nil) except for service users, Judith Davey, A Antonio and M Hagan, who have been paid the London Living Wage and incurred expenses during the year of £2,859 (2022: £1,650). This is in accordance with the charity's governing document. These expenses included a £500 recruitment referral fee for a trustee.

No trustee received payment for professional or other services supplied to the charity (2022: Nil) except for J Davey, who was paid remuneration of £79,988 (2022: £66,687) in her capacity as the CEO. The charity also paid £8,135 (2022: £4,001) towards her pension contributions. She received no employment benefits for her role as a trustee.

The key management personnel of the charity comprise the CEO, Deputy CEO, Head of Finance, Head of Business Development, Head of Services and Head of Comms. The total employee benefits of key management personnel of the charity were £301,531 (2022: £296,291).

Trustees' expenses

There were no trustees' expenses paid for the year ended 31 March 2023 nor for the year ended 31 March 2022.

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The Advocacy Project

Notes to the Financial Statements - continued for the year ended 31 March 2023

10. Staff costs

	2023	2022
	£	£
Wages and salaries	1,686,015	1,535,819
Social security costs	159,430	138,356
Pension costs	86,712	81,116
	1,932,157	1,755,291

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

Employed staff Sessional	2023 64 11 75	2022 60 7 67

The number of employees whose employee benefits (excluding employer pension costs) exceeded £60,000 was:

£60,001 - £70,000 £70,001 - £80,000 Comparatives for the statement of financial activities Unrestricted Designated funds funds £ £ Income and endowments from Other trading activities 1,927,138 - Investment income 191 - Other income 69,520 - Total 1,996,849 - Expenditure on Raising funds 93 - Charitable activities Support costs 333,668 - Governance costs 14,703 - Staff costs 1,522,146 - Direct expenditure 54,022 - Depreciation 6,481 4,542 Total 1,931,113 4,542 NET INCOME/(EXPENDITURE) 65,736 (4,542) Reconciliation of funds Total funds brought forward 410,011 11,354	2023 - 1 1 Restricted funds £ 536,525 51 - 536,576 - 254,999 3,944 236,853 14,741 3,006 513,543 23,033 57,364	2022 1 - 1 Total funds £ 2,463,663 242 69,520 2,533,425 93 588,667 18,647 1,758,999 68,763 14,029 2,449,198 84,227 478,729

11. Comparatives for the statement of financial activities

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The Advocacy Project

Notes to the Financial Statements - continued for the year ended 31 March 2023

11. Comparatives for the statement of financial activities - continued

Comparatives for the statement of financial activities - continued
Unrestricted Designated funds funds £ £ Total funds carried forward 475,747 6,812	Restricted funds £ 80,397	Total funds £
		562,956

12. Restricted income

The income funds of the charity include restricted funds comprising the following unexpected balances of donations and grants held on trust for specific purposes:

		Movement in funds	Movement in funds	Movement in funds
	Balance at 1 April 2022	Incoming Resources	Resources expended	Transfers	Balance at 31 March 2023
	£	£	£	£	£
Professional Advocacy	14,382	79,928	(75,515)	-	18,795
RBKC Group Advocacy	-	47,104	(47,270)	166	-
Our Choice	645	41,292	(35,882)	-	6,055
Older Adult Advocacy	60,381	191,028	(189,667)	-	61,742
Dual Diagnosis	-	12,500	(20,214)	7,714	-
User Involvement	-	35,000	(34,886)	-	114
PHB	-	100,000	(106,353)	6,353	-
PHB	-	2,500	-	-	2,500
Community Speak Up Radio	4,987	1,400	(7,041)	654	0
	80,395	510,752	(516,828)	14,887	89,206

Transfers from unrestricted funds were made at the year end (2022: £8,078) to cover the deficits caused by loss making contracts.

Prior year

		Movement in funds	Movement in funds	Movement in funds
	Balance at 1 April 2021	Incoming Resources	Resources expended	Transfers	Balance at 31 March 2022
	£	£	£	£	£
PHB	-	90,000	(90,000)	-	-
Professional Advocacy	12,589	79,930	(78,137)	-	14,382
Kew Advocacy Training	-	6,000	6,068	68	-
Our Choice	-	41,056	(40,411)	-	645
Lottery Community Fund	3,838	-	(3,838)	-	-
Older Adult Advocacy	40,937	191,027	(171,581)	-	60,381
RBKC Group Advocacy	-	47,104	(47,177)	73	-
Dual Diagnosis	-	12,500	(20,165)	7,665	-
Community Speak Up Radio	-	28,458	(23,471)	-	4,987
User Involvement	-	40,500	(40,773)	273	-
	57,364	536,575	(540,779)	8,078	80,395

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The Advocacy Project

Notes to the Financial Statements - continued for the year ended 31 March 2023

13. Intangible fixed assets

Cost At 1 April 2022 and 31 March 2023 Amortisation At 1 April 2022 Charge for year At 31 March 2023 Net book value At 31 March 2023 At 31 March 2022 14. Tangible fixed assets Cost At 1 April 2022 Additions Disposals At 31 March 2023 Depreciation At 1 April 2022 Charge for year Eliminated on disposal At 31 March 2023 Net book value At 31 March 2023 At 31 March 2022 15. Debtors Amounts falling due within one year: Trade debtors Other debtors Prepayments and accrued income

Computer software £ 22,709 15,896 4,542 20,438 2,271 6,813 Fixtures and fittings £ 101,325 5,954 (16,629) 90,650 92,557 5,967 (16,629) 81,895 8,755 8,768 2023 2022 £ £ 184,862 144,303 8,714 5,653 90,854 48,600 284,430 198,556

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The Advocacy Project

Notes to the Financial Statements - continued for the year ended 31 March 2023

15. Debtors - continued

15. Debtors - continued
Amounts falling due after more than one year: Other debtors Aggregate amounts 16. Creditors: amounts falling due within one year Trade creditors Social security and other taxes Other creditors Accruals and deferred income	2023 £ 1,217 285,647 2023 £ 41,232 42,557 35,310 1,721,051 1,840,150		2022 £ 367
			198,923
			2022 £ 2,714 38,016 10,272 337,549
			388,551

17. Leasing agreements

Minimum lease payments under non-cancellable operating leases fall due as follows:

		2023	2022
		£	£
	Within one year	2,700	2,700
	Between one and five years	3,492	6,192
		6,192	8,892
18.	Analysis of net assets between funds

				2023	2022
	Unrestricted	Designated	Restricted	Total	Total
	funds	funds	funds	funds	funds
	£	£	£	£	£
Fixed assets	8,755	2,271	-	11,026	15,581
Current assets	2,249,179	-	89,206	2,338,385	935,926
Current liabilities	(1,840,150)	-	-	(1,840,150)	(388,551)
	417,784	2,271	89,206	509,261	562,956

Designated funds relate to the Intangible assets of the business.

Restricted funds relate to cash received for restricted income work which was not completed as at year end and, therefore, held within deferred income.

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The Advocacy Project

Notes to the Financial Statements - continued for the year ended 31 March 2023

19. Movement in funds

At 1/4/22 £ Unrestricted funds Unrestricted fund 475,748 Designated fund 6,813 482,561 Restricted funds Restricted fund 80,395 TOTAL FUNDS 562,956 Net movement in funds, included in the above are as follows: Unrestricted funds Unrestricted fund Designated fund Restricted funds Restricted fund TOTAL FUNDS Comparatives for movement in funds Unrestricted funds Unrestricted fund Designated fund Restricted funds Restricted fund TOTAL FUNDS	Net movement in funds £ (43,077) (4,542) (47,619) (6,076) (53,695) Incoming resources £ 2,227,053 - 2,227,053 510,752 2,737,805 At 1/4/21 £ 410,011 11,354 421,365 57,364 478,729	Transfers between funds £ (14,887) - (14,887) 14,887 - Resources expended £ (2,270,130) (4,542) (2,274,672) (516,828) (2,791,500) Net movement in funds £ 65,737 (4,541) 61,196 23,031 84,227	At 31/3/23 £ 417,784 2,271 420,055 89,206 509,261 Movement in funds £ (43,077) (4,542) (47,619) (6,076) (53,695) At 31/3/22 £ 475,748 6,813 482,561 80,395 562,956

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The Advocacy Project

Notes to the Financial Statements - continued for the year ended 31 March 2023

19. Movement in funds - continued

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

	Incoming	Resources	Movement
	resources	expended	in funds
	£	£	£
Unrestricted funds
Unrestricted fund	1,996,849	(1,931,112)	65,737
Designated fund	-	(4,541)	(4,541)
	1,996,849	(1,935,653)	61,196
Restricted funds
Restricted fund	536,576	(513,545)	23,031
TOTAL FUNDS	2,533,425	(2,449,198)	84,227

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

		Net	Transfers
		movement	between
	At 1/4/21	in funds	funds	At 31/3/23
	£	£	£	£
Unrestricted funds
Unrestricted fund	410,011	22,660	(14,887)	417,784
Designated fund	11,354	(9,083)	-	2,271
	421,365	13,577	(14,887)	420,055
Restricted funds
Restricted fund	57,364	16,955	14,887	89,206
TOTAL FUNDS	478,729	30,532	-	509,261

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

	Incoming	Resources	Movement
	resources	expended	in funds
	£	£	£
Unrestricted funds
Unrestricted fund	4,223,902	(4,201,242)	22,660
Designated fund	-	(9,083)	(9,083)
	4,223,902	(4,210,325)	13,577
Restricted funds
Restricted fund	1,047,328	(1,030,373)	16,955
TOTAL FUNDS	5,271,230	(5,240,698)	30,532

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The Advocacy Project

Notes to the Financial Statements - continued for the year ended 31 March 2023

20. Employee benefit obligations

The charity operates a defined contribution pension scheme for all qualifying employees. The charge to income and expenditure account in respect of defined contribution schemes was £86,859 (2022: £81,116).

21. Related party disclosures

Except for the transactions referred to in Note 9 to the accounts, there were no related party transactions for the year ended 31 March 2023.

22. Designated fund

There are funds of £2,271 (2022: £6,813) that have been designated by the Trustees for the purpose of specific purposes included within general funds.

23. Company limited by guarantee

The company is a private company limited by guarantee and accordingly does not have share capital. The members of the Company are the Trustees named on page 1. In the event of the company being wound up, the liability in respect of the guarantee is limited up to £1 per member of the company. The Company was incorporated in England and Wales and information relating to the registered office can be found on page 1.

Page 28

The Advocacy Project - Financial Statements

Final Audit Report 2023-12-19

Created: 2023-12-18 By: Emily Crowhurst ([e-mail]) Status: Signed Transaction ID: CBJCHBCAABAAC-eZNZBiZ6_bz9VupoGD48zOTQySjdXy

"The Advocacy Project - Financial Statements" History

Document created by Emily Crowhurst ([e-mail]) 2023-12-18 - 3:18:50 PM GMT

Document emailed to DELE OLAJIDE ([e-mail]) for signature

2023-12-18 - 3:20:15 PM GMT

Email viewed by DELE OLAJIDE ([e-mail]) 2023-12-19 - 12:24:35 PM GMT

Document e-signed by DELE OLAJIDE ([e-mail])

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Signer [e-mail] entered name at signing as Cooper Parry Group Limited 2023-12-19 - 4:32:06 PM GMT

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Agreement completed.

2023-12-19 - 4:32:08 PM GMT