Docusign Envelope ID: 03082654-B2E8-45AB-A028-BDD50B10B79A
Registered number: 04018315 Charity number: 1084106
THE ADVOCACY PROJECT
(A company limited by guarantee) TRUSTEES' REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
Docusign Envelope ID: 03082654-B2E8-45AB-A028-BDD50B10B79A
THE ADVOCACY PROJECT
(A company limited by guarantee)
CONTENTS
| Page | |
|---|---|
| Reference and administrative details of the Charity, its Trustees and advisers | 1 |
| Trustees' report | 2 - 12 |
| Independent auditors' report on the financial statements | 13 - 16 |
| Statement of financial activities | 17 |
| Balance sheet | 18 |
| Statement of cash flows | 19 |
| Notes to the financial statements | 20 - 34 |
Docusign Envelope ID: 03082654-B2E8-45AB-A028-BDD50B10B79A
THE ADVOCACY PROJECT (A company limited by guarantee)
REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS OF THE CHARITY, ITS TRUSTEES AND ADVISERS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
Trustees
Dele Olajide, (Chair) Roger Skipp Adam Antonio Helen Richardson Mike Hagan (Retired 13 November 2023) Jonathan R Ellis (Resigned 9 March 2024) Gemma Bull (Retired 30 April 2024) Hasib Z Dewan (Appointed 1 October 2024) Jayesh R Patel (Appointed 1 October 2024) Pankaj N Shah (Appointed 1 October 2024) Rachel G Russell (Appointed 11 October 2024) Rachel Hutchings (Appointed 18 October 2024)
Company registered number
04018315
Charity registered number
1084106
Registered office
C/O Seeds Hub Empire Way London HA9 0RJ
Company secretary
Katherine Shaw (Appointed 8 July 2024) Alison Wright (Resigned 8 July 2024)
Independent auditors
Cooper Parry Group Limited New Derwent House 69-73 Theobalds Road London WC1X 8TA
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Docusign Envelope ID: 03082654-B2E8-45AB-A028-BDD50B10B79A
THE ADVOCACY PROJECT (A company limited by guarantee)
TRUSTEES' REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
The Trustees present their annual report together with the audited financial statements of the Charity for the year 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024. The Trustees are also directors, therefore the Annual report serves the purposes of both a Trustees' report and a directors' report under company law. The Trustees confirm that the Annual report and financial statements of the charitable company comply with the current statutory requirements, the requirements of the charitable company's governing document and the provisions of the Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP) applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS102) (effective 1 January 2019).
“Life is about relationships and relationships are built on trust and that’s what the Advocacy Project is all about to me, trust and feeling safe” Advocacy Project Service User Council member.
1. Objectives and activities
1.1. Aims and objectives
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.
1.2. 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.
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Docusign Envelope ID: 03082654-B2E8-45AB-A028-BDD50B10B79A
THE ADVOCACY PROJECT (A company limited by guarantee)
TRUSTEES' REPORT (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
1. Objectives and activities (continued)
1.3. Performance and achievements
External context
Throughout the year inflation remained high. We saw more stability and the impact of the increase in cost of living, while still being felt, was less apparent. We do, however, remain acutely aware that many people were still struggling to make ends meet and this often had a significant impact on their physical and mental health.
Waiting lists have become common place in the health and social care system and the impact this has on the people that use our services should not be underestimated. This, in turn, has seen the services we deliver struggle to meet demand. With resources and budgets under pressure, we’ve seen rises in referrals and increased scrutiny from commissioners on our delivery.
The 2023/24 job market in health and social care was challenging and we struggled to recruit to some of our services, which presented significant risk to our service quality. However, this pressure has reduced and as of the beginning of 2024/25 we are fully staffed and receiving good quality applications for advertised roles. This has provided us an opportunity to develop and staff our own non-statutory services utilising other income streams we have identified.
Internal context
We saw a significant change in our Senior Leadership Team (SLT) in 2023/24 with an overall reduction in team from 7 to 4 people and were joined by an interim CEO, Donna Covey, in September 23 to support our SLT while we recruited to a permanent position. We are delighted to have appointed a permanent CEO, Katherine Shaw who joined the Charity in July 2024.
Donna and the SLT worked hard to reintroduce opportunities for staff to get together and to be involved in all aspects of the charity and will continue to build on this in 2024/25. It was important to build relationships within the team and regroup as an organisation focused on providing a good quality service to all. SLT also launched the regular managers meeting which focused on cross departmental work and identifying opportunities to collaborate and share ideas.
Many contracts were extended, and we were able to develop some of the services we held through adding additional provision. The lack of certainty politically impacted on decision making at a local government level although we did see an increased number of statutory tenders realised compared to the previous year.
Service highlights
Despite a challenging external environment and a reduction in resources, The Advocacy Project has successfully reached over 3,000 people through our range of services.
Referrals across all types of advocacy (statutory and non-statutory) have continued to increase past prepandemic levels, our advocacy services worked with just under 1,000 advocacy partners over the year, we’ve seen our other three key areas of work continue to benefit service users, user involvement, personal health budgets and Healthwatch services. Our Healthwatch saw over 1,500 people come to us for advice and signposting and an equal amount share their views with us.
Personal Health Budget (PHB)
Our PHB service in Hackney, Tower Hamlets and Newham received over 1,300 referrals and our pilot Children and Young People’s (CYP) PHB service in Tower Hamlets had a fantastic year, with four times as many referrals as the first year and 58 young people receiving items chosen by them to help support their wellbeing which this story illustrates so well:
Sayeed is a young person living in Tower Hamlets receiving support from Tower Hamlets CAMHS. Sayeed is 12yrs old and from Uganda. He was referred to CAMHS to assess a possible ADHD diagnosis because of his difficulties with focus/attention, self-regulation and over–activity. Sayeed has a history of medical complexities having sustained a traumatic brain injury in 2018 and his father has also been seriously ill with cancer and recovering from a stroke. Sayeed’s mum cares for his dad as well as the three children, all with their own challenges. In school, Sayeed often requires adult support to maintain focus, manage behaviour and access
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Docusign Envelope ID: 03082654-B2E8-45AB-A028-BDD50B10B79A
THE ADVOCACY PROJECT
(A company limited by guarantee)
TRUSTEES' REPORT (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
1. Objectives and activities (continued)
learning. He was given an ADHD diagnosis and is now on medication. Since receiving his PHB items of clothing, football boots and a football for £298, Sayeed’s mum has told us his confidence has grown as he’s has been able to get outside and make new friends in the area whilst playing football.
Ealing Forensic
Service expansion: our Ealing Forensic team successfully expanded service delivery to ensure that an advocate is now present on every ward, meeting a key standard. This expansion has led to a steady increase in referrals throughout the year.
Establishment and positive feedback: Our team is now well-established across the wards, and we have received excellent verbal feedback from both staff and patients. Notably, our service was highlighted for its outstanding reporting at the forensic consortium. Patients attending external groups have praised the service as the best, often noting they are aware of their advocate, unlike patients in other hospitals who frequently don’t know who their advocate is.
Impactful Mental Health Review Tribunal (MHRT) Statements: feedback from patients has underscored the value of our support in writing MHRT statements. We’ve successfully assisted four patients in presenting their stories and viewpoints, which has significantly impacted their cases. Solicitors have commented positively on the quality of these statements and have referred clients to us specifically for this support, highlighting the effectiveness and importance of our work in this area.
Ealing and Bi Borough Advocacy
Ealing: Our Advocacy teams in Ealing have provided valuable feedback to the Care Quality Commission (CQC) on how Ealing manage their responsibilities under the Care Act 2014, as part of the CQC inspection of local authorities. They’ve also delivered an advocacy awareness session and provided promotional leaflets at the Ealing Social Work Managers’ team meeting and attended the Ealing Learning Disability Partnership board meeting.
Bi Borough: The team have supported patients to get their views heard as part of the Gorden Hospital consultation and supported Care Homes in Westminster to understand their duty to make a Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) application for residents who aren’t allowed to leave the home.
User Involvement
Our User Involvement projects continue to enable the voices of elderly residents, those with learning disabilities and/or individuals facing mental health challenges, to be heard and influence both local and strategic level decisions about health and social care.
Highlights include:
• Service User Involvement Team – the team have run additional digital inclusion sessions with our Learning Disability (LD) groups, looking at blocks to services caused by a lack of technological understanding in the LD community. This work has been recommissioned in 2024/25.
• Camden – our Synergy Reps took part in an interview panel to recruit a new Head of Service in Commissioning for Camden. They developed their own questions and score sheets. Feedback has been positive – Chris Lehman (Head of Adult Social Care Strategy and Commissioning and Deputy Disability Advisory and Support Service) reported that their contribution to the selection was valuable, especially regarding Synergy’s commitment to ‘Jargon-Busting’.
• Bi-Borough Learning Disability User Involvement (Big Voice and Our Choice) – as part of this project we delivered a Women’s Health survey on behalf of NHS North West London. The Easy Read material produced was shared across eight boroughs within the local Integrated Care Board.
• Cancer Screening Project and Digital Inclusion projects – we secured funding to improve access to cancer screening for people with learning disabilities across Brent, Westminster and Kensington and Chelsea through identifying and reducing barriers to screening and support services.
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Docusign Envelope ID: 03082654-B2E8-45AB-A028-BDD50B10B79A
THE ADVOCACY PROJECT (A company limited by guarantee)
TRUSTEES' REPORT (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
1. Objectives and activities (continued)
• Westminster Older Adults UI (Older People’s Voice - OPV) – Members of our OPV were consulted on the draft Bi-Borough Health & Wellbeing Strategy for Westminster and Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. They raised ten points of concern including: long waiting phone times to get through to the GP practice receptionist; the need for staff to more appropriately reflect the communities they serve; the need for Equality and Diversity training. These concerns and suggestions were accepted by the presenter who agreed to take them to the relevant agencies, the wider team, and the place-based leadership team.
• City & Hackney Mental Health UI (Mental Health Voice - MHV) – Members of our MHV project continue to work with the Mental Health Integrated Committee (MHIC) focusing on the delivery of integrated mental health care between Health and Social Care within the City & Hackney System. Three new MHV User Representatives have been elected to the MHIC.
• Camden Mental Health UI – Members supported 7 Patients’ Council members to undertake monthly ward inspections at St. Pancras and, following the move, at Highgate Mental Health wards.
Healthwatch
• Mental Health Services work - in the bi-borough, our work on changes to acute mental health services has encouraged Central and North West London NHS and the Integrated Care Board to do more to address the needs of diverse communities. This has included dedicated work looking at how mental health services can better address the needs of people who are currently homeless, and people who are neurodiverse.
• Brent outreach - we worked with local partners from the Somali community to help build knowledge and understanding of mental health conditions and to share information about how to access mental health services. 160 people attended drop-in sessions to learn more about accessing care, 45 people were assisted in accessing services through outreach, and 120 people from the local Somali community attended training sessions.
• Across all three boroughs - we have helped put pressure on the local Integrated Care System (ICS) to delay plans to change the way patients access same-day care from their GPs. We have called for more engagement with patients to ensure that any changes to care reflect their needs, and we’re pleased to say that the ICS have delayed their plans by 12 months to make this engagement possible. Healthwatch teams across all three boroughs will be involved in this engagement, ensuring that our networks are fully involved in developing primary care across the area.
• Health Equalities lecture series - continues to prove popular with over 500 people registering for the 10 events we ran, with varied and fascinating subjects including: o Raising the voice of our unpaid carers o Leading the fight against sickle-cell disease o Challenging the myths: what does it mean to live well with HIV?
Wider organisational news
• National Annual Advocacy Conference – staff attended the conference in Birmingham to work with other advocacy providers to share best practice and review the challenges to the sector.
• Staff cohesion – our Senior Development Team have worked to reintroduce regular staff days and catch-ups to gather feedback, hear staff opinions and provide actions and responses where possible. We’ve worked hard to build confidence and relationships across SLT and the wider organisation to create a more collaborative workforce. As a result, we have a strong team who we know feel better supported to help us reach our organisational goal of supporting vulnerable people.
• Training – we’ve been looking at ways to make training available to as many staff as possible within a limited budget, and have signed up for the charities learning consortium. This has enabled staff to select the online courses that work for them and attend at a convenient time. It also means that development needs and learning opportunities identified during appraisals can be followed up in a meaningful way.
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Docusign Envelope ID: 03082654-B2E8-45AB-A028-BDD50B10B79A
THE ADVOCACY PROJECT (A company limited by guarantee)
TRUSTEES' REPORT (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
1. Objectives and activities (continued)
• IT Training – In response to feedback gathered during team days and monthly meetings, we’ve prioritised IT training, recognising its importance to our staff. We arranged for an external trainer to conduct sessions twice a week during the first and last weeks of June, so that everyone could find a date that they were able to attend.
• Internal Comms – our comms team have developed a new internal newsletter based on staff feedback that they wanted to know more about what was happening across the organisation internally. The newsletter goes out on a 6-weekly basis and includes key-dates, updates on teams, successes and key messages for staff. Feedback on this has been positive.
• External Comms
We have updated elements of the website, ensuring a new section on partnerships and how funders and partners can work with us, as well as adding volunteering information (including a new volunteer handbook and information booklet). We have ensured the website is updated with current news stories which line up with our communications strategy and which focus on celebrating key dates in the calendar. We upload stories onto all our social media channels to drive footfall to the website directly, therefore improving our SEO and ensuring more people are aware of our services.
We have run a successful series of ‘Speak Up’ lectures over the last 12 months, with attendance between 30 – 40 and a mix of staff and external partners or stakeholders. Originally intended as a staff development opportunity on themes and topics related to our work, we are reviewing the series for the new year. Recent topics have included: Obsessive Compulsive Disorder; Hoarding Behaviour and an introduction to NHS DIALOG+ care planning tool.
• Spot-purchase work – our Head of Service has developed a spot-purchase model supported by the volunteers and staff available to meet an increased need for ad-hoc advocacy across London. Many providers need advocacy but are unaware of the demand and haven’t gone to tender. If we’re able to meet this demand, we can build relationships and strengthen our advocacy network, therefore giving us better opportunities to win new business.
Staffing and structure
This year has brought some changes in our senior management. We’ve welcomed an interim CEO and Head of Service, two new members of staff to our Senior Leadership Team who brought a wealth of experience from the sector and beyond.
Ali Wright, most recently our Acting CEO, handed over to our interim CEO Donna Covey in September 23. Ali had been with the organisation since 2001. The board, the Senior Leadership Team and all staff would like to thank Ali for all her hard work and dedication. Within the organisation, we have focused on our skill and capacitybuilding as part of our commitment to social value in each of the boroughs where we work.
We reviewed our IT infrastructure and digital strategy and identified the need for an IT manager to enable us to modernise and meet the needs of staff and service users. We successfully recruited to this post at the beginning of 2024/25.
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Docusign Envelope ID: 03082654-B2E8-45AB-A028-BDD50B10B79A
THE ADVOCACY PROJECT (A company limited by guarantee)
TRUSTEES' REPORT (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
1. Objectives and activities (continued)
1.4. Looking forward
Our permanent CEO, Katherine Shaw joined us in July 2024 and under her leadership our attention will be on continuing our work to strengthen the foundations and therefore ensuring sustainability of the charity, with a focus on securing the Bi Borough Advocacy contract (where we have a rich history of delivery) whilst looking ahead and undertaking a strategic review to identify our vision and goals for the future. The challenges in the health and social system and the impact this has on the voluntary sector remain a concern. We need to continue to be open-minded to the opportunities available for the organisation, for example working closely with others in the sector through partnerships, to ensure we can meet the needs of the communities in the most effective and efficient ways.
In 2024/25 we undertook a trustee recruitment drive and have been extremely pleased with the calibre of applications and have appointed 5 new Trustees that will be formally ratified at our forthcoming AGM.
Staff and service user collaboration continue to be a key theme for us. The service user council has 6 members and provides a vital link between service users and the board. Last year, we were able to provide training for the council in both safeguarding and recruitment. This year, they will receive development to act as critical friends supporting our tender submissions. Their voices and perspectives will be central in the development of our new strategy. Opportunities for staff to come together and be involved in the future direction of the Advocacy Project will be key to our success.
We’re keeping a watching brief on plans under the new government and welcome the commitment to review the outdated Mental Health Act, although what this will mean in practice we are waiting to see.
Our income generation focus will initially be to secure the future of our current contracts and maximise opportunities generated through our current service areas. Following our strategic review, we’ll develop supporting strategies - including income generation - to clearly set out intention and targets.
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Docusign Envelope ID: 03082654-B2E8-45AB-A028-BDD50B10B79A
THE ADVOCACY PROJECT (A company limited by guarantee)
TRUSTEES' REPORT (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
2. Strategic report
Financial review
2.1. Financial review: overview
The voluntary and charitable sectors have faced considerable challenges in securing new income, especially with the rising cost of living. However, through the introduction and improvement of several internal processes, we have achieved notable cost savings, culminating in a surplus of £164k.
Despite fluctuations in our contract portfolio, we enter the next financial year, 2024/25, with strengthened financial reserves. We also welcomed new leadership with the appointment of a CEO. The dedication and hard work of our staff, supported by senior management, continue to ensure the delivery of high-quality services to the individuals we support.
For the financial year 2023/24, our turnover stood at £2.4m, reflecting a decrease of £301k from 2022/23. Expenditure for 2023/24 was £2.3m, down by £519k compared to £2.79m in the previous year. During the year, we successfully secured a modest new contract for Cancer Awareness, further diversifying our service offerings.
As a result of tender process in 2022/23, contracts for advocacy services in Hammersmith and Fulham, Hackney, and Broadmoor came to an end at the start of the 2023/24 financial year.
Aligned with our strategic goals, both the trustees and the Senior Leadership Team are committed to investing in organisational development to support long-term growth and sustainability. This includes a continued focus on staff training and development. In response to the increasing cost of living, we have introduced pay increases that align with our staff's skills, education, and experience. These measures are aimed at ensuring competitive and equitable compensation across the organisation.
We are also investing in technology to enhance service delivery, and a new IT manager has been appointed to drive this transformation.
Our financial position remains robust, with a significant proportion of our current assets held in cash reserves, ensuring a healthy liquidity ratio of 1.4, which provides sufficient coverage for our current liabilities. To strengthen our financial governance, we plan to appoint a new Treasury Trustee to further enhance our financial processes.
The Trustees remain committed to the continued financial health and operational success of the organisation as we look ahead to the future.
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Docusign Envelope ID: 03082654-B2E8-45AB-A028-BDD50B10B79A
THE ADVOCACY PROJECT (A company limited by guarantee)
TRUSTEES' REPORT (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
2. Strategic report (continued)
Financial review (continued)
2.2. Income generation
As a result of a significant reduction in Senior Leadership Team resources in 2023/24, the Business Development Plan was refocused several times. We responded to all relevant advocacy and Healthwatch tenders that met our criteria, meeting our target on the Business Development action plan to respond to at least 6 large tenders over the year. We responded to 7 tenders with a collective annual value of £1.4 million, including Brent Advocacy, Tower Hamlets Advocacy, Kingston Healthwatch, Lambeth Healthwatch, Barnet Enfield and Haringey Forensic Advocacy and Croydon Advocacy. We believe with a change of government we may see an influx of contracts that may be relevant for The Advocacy Project.
The tendering environment for the advocacy contracts is becoming exceptionally competitive, with several highly qualified bidders offering similar services In addition ,the current market conditions such as a high demand for cost efficiency have made local councils to be particularly selective. Although we did not win a new contract in 2023/24, we’ve carried out an analysis to further develop our tender responses and develop ways to improve our bidding process. We discovered scores have matched, or in some cases been higher than, historical winning scores and this represents the increased competition for winning these contracts overall. All contracts we bid for went to incumbent suppliers or the big-name providers. We also found it very challenging to meet the requirements of the budgets given, whilst maintaining our expected standard – a few bids were lost due to this.
In response to feedback and analysis, as well as perceived demands on these contracts, we’ve developed a new volunteering model for advocacy which we can use to add value. We’ve also developed our carbon reduction plan to improve our commitment to reducing carbon emissions, in line with NHS goals. These actions will significantly increase our social value scores, giving us better opportunity to win new contracts.
In response to this extremely competitive market, we’ve kept a focus on: expanding our existing projects; maintaining quality; looking for development opportunities within these priority areas and developing small innovative projects that can bring additional experience and resource to the organisation. We’ve extended the Autism Spectrum Disorder service, brought more provision to the Ealing Forensic team and added additional advocacy resource to Lavender Walk.
We’ve looked at developing smaller models of non-statutory work which we can use to fundraise around. For example, the health inequality work around cancer screening can be upscaled and sold to different local authorities or expanded across different themes to bring in new income. Local authorities have expressed significant interest in this type of work. In relation to this, we’ve been able to send our first wave of trust and foundation applications for which we have received our first £5,000 grant for cancer screening. Cases for support around health inequalities and cancer screening, as well as non-statutory community-based advocacy, have been written up and are now being actively sent to funders. This work is already showing levels of success and interest in the sector.
Additional one-off project funding:
Healthwatch won an additional £8,000 to run projects focused on health inequalities including two additional projects covering mental health and a series of visits to local food banks and community kitchens to have conversations with people accessing the services about the winter healthcare that they’re entitled to ways to stay well.
We gained £30,000 funding under RMP partners in Brent and the Vibrant and Health Communities community chest fund to deliver a project focused on reducing health inequalities for people with learning disabilities. The model involved creating video case studies of people’s experiences of cancer screening and hosting peer-led question and answer sessions. This is a completely new stream of funding we can package and deliver on a larger scale covering health inequalities which we are looking at doing for sexual and reproductive health as well as healthy lifestyles which is in line with the majority of local authority health and wellbeing strategies.
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.
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Docusign Envelope ID: 03082654-B2E8-45AB-A028-BDD50B10B79A
THE ADVOCACY PROJECT (A company limited by guarantee)
TRUSTEES' REPORT (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
2. Strategic report (continued)
Financial review (continued)
Our governance handbook, our business development procedures and our 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 don’t use direct marketing fundraising techniques. We don’t 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.
2.3 Reserves Policy
As part of our financial strategy, our policy remains to maintain unrestricted funds equivalent to three to six months' expenditure. The trustees are confident that maintaining reserves at this level will allow us to continue operations in the event of a significant drop in funding, providing time to explore alternative income streams.
2.4 Investment policy
The Trustees take a prudent view to the investment of surplus funds as these are being retained as reserves to allow the Charity to continue in operations in the event of an unexpected reduction in income. Accordingly, the surplus funds are placed on deposit with UK financial institutions.
3. Structure, governance and management
3.1. 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 SLT.
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Docusign Envelope ID: 03082654-B2E8-45AB-A028-BDD50B10B79A
THE ADVOCACY PROJECT (A company limited by guarantee)
TRUSTEES' REPORT (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
3. Structure, governance and management (continued)
3.2. 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 2020-21, 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 of 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.
In 2023/24 we said goodbye to two trustees. Mike Hagan, our service user trustee, who brought such insight and perspective and Jonathan Ellis, whose knowledge and support was invaluable.
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.
3.3. 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.
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Docusign Envelope ID: 03082654-B2E8-45AB-A028-BDD50B10B79A
THE ADVOCACY PROJECT (A company limited by guarantee)
TRUSTEES' REPORT (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
Statement of Trustees' responsibilities
The Trustees (who are also the directors of the Charity for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the Trustees' report including the Strategic report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).
Company law requires the Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Under company law, the Trustees must not approve the financial statements unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Charity and of its incoming resources and application of resources, including its income and expenditure, 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 of the Charities SORP (FRS 102);
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make judgements and accounting estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
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state whether applicable UK Accounting Standards (FRS 102) have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements;
-
prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the Charity will continue in business.
The Trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the Charity's transactions and 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 Charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
Disclosure of information to auditors
Each of the persons who are Trustees at the time when this Trustees' report is approved has confirmed that:
-
so far as that Trustee is aware, there is no relevant audit information of which the charity's auditors are unaware, and
-
that Trustee has taken all the steps that ought to have been taken as a Trustee in order to be aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the charity's auditors are aware of that information.
Auditors
The auditors, Cooper Parry Group Limited, have indicated their willingness to continue in office and their reappointment will be proposed at the forthcoming Annual General Meeting.
Approved by order of the members of the board of Trustees and signed on their behalf by:
................................................ 22B68A7237C041A... D Olajide (Chair)
27 November 2024 Date:
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Docusign Envelope ID: 03082654-B2E8-45AB-A028-BDD50B10B79A
THE ADVOCACY PROJECT
(A company limited by guarantee)
INDEPENDENT AUDITORS' REPORT 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 2024 which comprise the Statement of financial activities, the Balance sheet, the Statement of cash flows and the related notes, including a summary of significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102 'The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland' (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).
In our opinion the financial statements:
-
give a true and fair view of the state of the charitable company's affairs as at 31 March 2024 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; and
-
have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011.
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 United Kingdom, including the Financial Reporting Council'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.
Page 13
Docusign Envelope ID: 03082654-B2E8-45AB-A028-BDD50B10B79A
THE ADVOCACY PROJECT
(A company limited by guarantee)
INDEPENDENT AUDITORS' REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF THE ADVOCACY PROJECT (CONTINUED)
Other information
The other information comprises the information included in the Annual report other than the financial statements and our Auditors' report thereon. The Trustees are responsible for the other information contained within the Annual report. 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. 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 course of 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.
Matters on which we are required to report by exception
We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters where the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:
-
the information given in the Trustees' report is inconsistent in any material respect with the financial statements; or
-
sufficient accounting records have not been kept; or
-
the financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; 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.
Page 14
Docusign Envelope ID: 03082654-B2E8-45AB-A028-BDD50B10B79A
THE ADVOCACY PROJECT
(A company limited by guarantee)
INDEPENDENT AUDITORS' REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF THE ADVOCACY PROJECT (CONTINUED)
Auditors' responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements
We have been appointed as auditor under section 144 of the Charities Act 2011 and report in accordance with the Act and relevant regulations made or having effect thereunder.
Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an Auditors' report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.
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, andremained 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.
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. In assessing the potential risks of material misstatement we obtained an understanding of; the entities operations, including the nature of its revenue sources and services and of its objectives and strategies to understand the classes of transactions, account balances, expected financial statement disclosures and business risks that may result in risks of material misstatement. We did not identify any matters relating to non-compliance with laws and regulations relating to fraud.
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
Page 15
Docusign Envelope ID: 03082654-B2E8-45AB-A028-BDD50B10B79A
THE ADVOCACY PROJECT
(A company limited by guarantee)
INDEPENDENT AUDITORS' REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF THE ADVOCACY PROJECT (CONTINUED)
Auditors' report.
Use of our report
This report is made solely to the charitable company's trustees, as a body, in accordance with Part 4 of the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charitable company's trustees 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 its members, as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.
01264AFE1AF54B3... Cooper Parry Group Limited
Jane Wills (Senior Statutory Auditor) for and on behalf of Cooper Parry Group Limited New Derwent House 69-73 Theobalds Road London WC1X 8TA 27 November 2024 Date:
Cooper Parry Group Limited are eligible to act as auditors in terms of section 1212 of the Companies Act 2006.
Page 16
Docusign Envelope ID: 03082654-B2E8-45AB-A028-BDD50B10B79A
THE ADVOCACY PROJECT
(A company limited by guarantee)
STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES (INCORPORATING INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
| Note Income from: Donations and legacies 2 Investments 3 Other income 4 Total income Expenditure on: Charitable activities: 5 Support costs Governnace costs Staff costs Direct expenditure Depreciaiton Total expenditure Net (expenditure)/income Transfers between funds 17 Net movement in funds Reconciliation of funds: Total funds brought forward Net movement in funds Total funds carried forward |
Restricted funds 2024 £ 757,286 - 2,428 759,714 191,263 6,331 184,046 381,187 - 762,827 (3,113) 88 (3,025) 89,206 (3,025) 86,181 |
Unrestricted funds 2024 £ 1,620,762 33,040 23,015 1,676,817 437,724 13,975 974,308 73,439 10,405 1,509,851 166,966 (88) 166,878 420,055 166,878 586,933 |
Total funds 2024 £ 2,378,048 33,040 25,443 2,436,531 628,987 20,306 1,158,354 454,626 10,405 2,272,678 163,853 - 163,853 509,261 163,853 673,114 |
Total funds 2023 £ 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 (53,695) |
||||
| 509,261 |
Page 17
Docusign Envelope ID: 03082654-B2E8-45AB-A028-BDD50B10B79A
THE ADVOCACY PROJECT (A company limited by guarantee) REGISTERED NUMBER: 04018315
BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31 MARCH 2024
| 2024 | 2023 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Note | £ | £ | |||
| Fixed assets | |||||
| Intangible assets | 10 | 1,440 | 2,271 | ||
| Tangible assets | 11 | 3,554 | 8,755 | ||
| Current assets | |||||
| Debtors: amounts falling due after more than | |||||
| one year | 12 | 1,317 | 1,217 | ||
| Debtors: amounts falling due within one year | 12 | 100,987 | 284,430 | ||
| Cash at bank and in hand | 1,961,148 | 2,052,738 | |||
| 2,063,452 | 2,338,385 | ||||
| Creditors: amounts falling due within one | |||||
| year | 13 | (1,395,332) | (1,840,150) | ||
| Net current assets | 668,120 | 498,235 | |||
| Total net assets | 673,114 | 509,261 | |||
| Charity funds | |||||
| Restricted funds | 17 | 86,181 | 89,206 | ||
| Unrestricted funds | |||||
| Designated funds | 17 | - | 2,271 | ||
| General funds | 17 | 586,933 | 417,784 | ||
| Total unrestricted funds | 17 | 586,933 | 420,055 | ||
| Total funds | 673,114 | 509,261 |
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to entities subject to the small companies regime.
The financial statements were approved and authorised for issue by the Trustees and signed on their behalf by:
................................................ 22B68A7237C041A... D Olajide (Chair)
Date: 27 November 2024
Page 18
Docusign Envelope ID: 03082654-B2E8-45AB-A028-BDD50B10B79A
THE ADVOCACY PROJECT
(A company limited by guarantee)
STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
| Note Cash flows from operating activities Net cash used in operating activities 14 Cash flows from investing activities Purchase of intangible assets Purchase of tangible fixed assets Interest received Net cash provided by investing activities Change in cash and cash equivalents in the year Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the year Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year 15 |
2024 £ (120,256) (2,160) (2,214) 33,040 28,666 (91,590) 2,052,738 1,961,148 |
2023 £ 1,309,927 - (5,954) 11,762 |
|---|---|---|
| 5,808 1,315,735 737,003 |
||
| 2,052,738 |
Page 19
Docusign Envelope ID: 03082654-B2E8-45AB-A028-BDD50B10B79A
THE ADVOCACY PROJECT
(A company limited by guarantee)
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
1. Accounting policies
1.1 Basis of preparation of financial statements
The financial statements 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), the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) and the Companies Act 2006. The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention.
1.2 Going concern
These financial statements have been prepared on a going concern basis, as the Trustees have a reasonable expectation that the company will continue for the foreseeable future. The Trustees have reviewed and considered relevant information, including the annual budget and future cash flows in making their assessment. In the year the chairty has proactively taken steps to ensure current contracts are mainted and growth is achieved by winning new contracts.
1.3 Income
All income is recognised once the Charity has entitlement to the income, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount of income receivable can be measured reliably.
1.4 Expenditure
Liabilities are recognised as expenditure as soon as there is a legal or constructive obligation committing the charity to that expenditure, it is probably 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.
1.5 Alloaction and apportionment of costs
Staff and support costs are allocated to the particular activty where the costs relate to that activity.
1.6 Interest receivable
Interest on funds held on deposit is included when receivable and the amount can be measured reliably by the Charity; this is normally upon notification of the interest paid or payable by the institution with whom the funds are deposited.
1.7 Intangible assets
Intangible assets comprise primarily of computer software and internal database systems. Such assets are defined as having useful lives and the costs are amortised on a stright 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 imparied.
1.8 Tangible fixed assets
Tangible fixed assets are initially recognised at cost. After recognition, under the cost model, tangible fixed assets are measured at cost less accumulated depreciation and any accumulated impairment losses. All costs incurred to bring a tangible fixed asset into its intended working condition should be included in the measurement of cost.
Page 20
Docusign Envelope ID: 03082654-B2E8-45AB-A028-BDD50B10B79A
THE ADVOCACY PROJECT (A company limited by guarantee)
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
1. Accounting policies (continued)
1.8 Tangible fixed assets (continued)
Depreciation is charged so as to allocate the cost of tangible fixed assets less their residual value over their estimated useful lives, using the straight-line method.
Depreciation is provided on the following basis:
Fixtures and fittings
33% on cost
1.9 Taxation
The Charity is exempt from corporation tax on its charitable activities.
1.10 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 objectives of the Chairty. 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.
1.11 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.
1.12 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.
1.13 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.
1.14 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.
Page 21
Docusign Envelope ID: 03082654-B2E8-45AB-A028-BDD50B10B79A
THE ADVOCACY PROJECT (A company limited by guarantee)
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
1. Accounting policies (continued)
1.15 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.
1.16 Trade Creditors
Trade creditors are not interest bearing and are stated at their nominal value.
1.17 Signifcant 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.
2. Other trading activities
| Donations legacies Donations legacies |
Restricted funds 2024 Unrestricted funds 2024 £ £ 757,286 1,620,762 Restricted funds 2023 Unrestricted funds 2023 £ £ 507,774 2,214,075 |
Total funds 2024 £ 2,378,048 |
|---|---|---|
| Total funds 2023 £ 2,721,849 |
Page 22
Docusign Envelope ID: 03082654-B2E8-45AB-A028-BDD50B10B79A
THE ADVOCACY PROJECT
(A company limited by guarantee)
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
3. Investment income
| Unrestricted funds 2024 £ Interest receivable 33,040 Restricted funds 2023 Unrestricted funds 2023 £ £ Interest receivable 2,194 9,568 |
Total funds 2024 £ 33,040 |
|---|---|
| Total funds 2023 £ 11,762 |
4. Other incoming resources
| Other donations Other donations |
Restricted funds 2024 £ 2,428 Restricted funds 2023 £ 782 |
Unrestricted funds 2024 £ 23,015 Unrestricted funds 2023 £ 3,412 |
Total funds 2024 £ 25,443 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total funds 2023 £ 4,194 |
Page 23
Docusign Envelope ID: 03082654-B2E8-45AB-A028-BDD50B10B79A
THE ADVOCACY PROJECT
(A company limited by guarantee)
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
5. Analysis of expenditure on charitable activities
Summary by fund type
| Support costs Staff costs Direct expenditure Governance costs Support costs Staff costs Direct expenditure Governance costs |
Restricted funds 2024 Unrestricted funds 2024 £ £ 375,309 1,432,338 381,187 73,439 - 10,405 6,331 (6,331) 762,827 1,509,851 Restricted funds 2023 Unrestricted funds 2023 £ £ 422,766 1,941,362 116,797 300,066 - 10,509 7,102 (7,102) 546,665 2,244,835 |
Total 2024 £ 1,807,647 454,626 10,405 - |
|---|---|---|
| 2,272,678 | ||
| Total 2023 £ 2,364,128 416,863 10,509 - |
||
| 2,791,500 |
6. Analysis of expenditure by activities
| Support costs Staff costs Direct expenditure |
Activities undertaken directly 2024 £ 1,158,354 454,626 10,405 1,623,385 |
Support costs 2024 £ 649,293 - - 649,293 |
Total funds 2024 £ 1,807,647 454,626 10,405 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2,272,678 |
Page 24
Docusign Envelope ID: 03082654-B2E8-45AB-A028-BDD50B10B79A
THE ADVOCACY PROJECT
(A company limited by guarantee)
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
6. Analysis of expenditure by activities (continued)
| Support costs Staff costs Direct expenditure |
Activities undertaken directly 2023 £ 1,562,552 416,863 10,509 1,989,924 |
Support costs 2023 £ 801,576 - - 801,576 |
Total funds 2023 £ 2,364,128 416,863 10,509 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2,791,500 |
Analysis of support costs
| Support costs Governance costs Support costs Governance costs 7. Auditors' remuneration Fees payable to the Charity's auditor for the audit of the Charity's annual accounts |
Support costs 2024 £ 628,987 20,306 649,293 Support costs 2023 £ 763,305 38,271 801,576 2024 £ 18,040 |
Total funds 2024 £ 628,987 20,306 |
|---|---|---|
| 649,293 | ||
| Total funds 2023 £ 763,305 38,271 |
||
| 801,576 | ||
| 2023 £ 16,345 |
Page 25
Docusign Envelope ID: 03082654-B2E8-45AB-A028-BDD50B10B79A
THE ADVOCACY PROJECT
(A company limited by guarantee)
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
8. Staff costs
| Wages and salaries Social security costs Pension costs Management salaries |
2024 £ 960,513 123,262 74,579 344,007 1,502,361 |
2023 £ 1,316,410 159,430 86,712 369,605 |
|---|---|---|
| 1,932,157 |
The average number of persons employed by the Charity during the year was as follows:
| Employed staff Sessional |
2024 No. 62 - 62 |
2023 No. 64 11 |
|---|---|---|
| 75 |
The number of employees whose employee benefits (excluding employer pension costs) exceeded £60,000 was:
| 2024 | 2023 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| No. | No. | ||
| In the band £70,001 | - £80,000 | - | 1 |
9. Trustees' remuneration and benefits
The Trustees were not paid or received any other benefits from employment (2023: Nil) except for service users A Antonio and M Hagan, who have been paid the London Living Wage and incurred expenses during the year of £1,130 (2023: £2,859). 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 (2023: Nil) except for J Davey, who was paid remuneration of £26,013 (2023: £79,988) in her capacity as the CEO. The charity also paid £NIL (2023: £8,135) 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 remunerations of key management personnel of the charity were £309,730 (2023: £301,531).
Trustee's expenses
There were no Trustees' expenses paid for the year ended 31 March 2024 nor for the year ended 31 March 2023.
Page 26
Docusign Envelope ID: 03082654-B2E8-45AB-A028-BDD50B10B79A
THE ADVOCACY PROJECT
(A company limited by guarantee)
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
10. Intangible assets
| Cost At 1 April 2023 Additions At 31 March 2024 Amortisation At 1 April 2023 Charge for the year At 31 March 2024 Net book value At 31 March 2024 At 31 March 2023 |
Computer software £ 22,709 2,160 |
|---|---|
| 24,869 | |
| 20,438 2,991 |
|
| 23,429 | |
| 1,440 | |
| 2,271 |
Page 27
Docusign Envelope ID: 03082654-B2E8-45AB-A028-BDD50B10B79A
THE ADVOCACY PROJECT
(A company limited by guarantee)
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
| 11. Tangible fixed assets Cost or valuation At 1 April 2023 Additions At 31 March 2024 Depreciation At 1 April 2023 Charge for the year At 31 March 2024 Net book value At 31 March 2024 At 31 March 2023 |
Fixtures and fittings £ 90,650 2,214 |
|---|---|
| 92,864 | |
| 81,895 7,415 |
|
| 89,310 | |
| 3,554 | |
| 8,755 |
12. Debtors
| Due after more than one year Other debtors Due within one year Trade debtors Other debtors Prepayments and accrued income |
2024 £ 1,317 2024 £ 67,694 403 32,890 100,987 |
2023 £ 1,217 2023 £ 184,862 8,714 90,854 284,430 |
|---|---|---|
Page 28
Docusign Envelope ID: 03082654-B2E8-45AB-A028-BDD50B10B79A
THE ADVOCACY PROJECT
(A company limited by guarantee)
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
13. Creditors: Amounts falling due within one year
| 2024 £ Trade creditors 84,149 Other taxation and social security 31,328 Other creditors 13,811 Accruals and deferred income 1,266,044 1,395,332 Reconciliation of net movement in funds to net cash flow from operating activities 2024 £ Net income/expenditure for the period (as per Statement of Financial Activities) 163,853 Adjustments for: Depreciation charges 10,405 Decrease/(increase) in debtors 183,343 Increase/(decrease) in creditors (444,817) Interest received (33,040) Net cash provided by/(used in) operating activities (120,256) Analysis of cash and cash equivalents 2024 £ Cash in hand 1,961,148 Total cash and cash equivalents 1,961,148 |
2023 £ 41,232 42,557 35,310 1,721,051 1,840,150 2023 £ (53,695) 10,509 (86,724) 1,451,599 (11,762) 1,309,927 2023 £ 2,052,738 2,052,738 |
|---|---|
14. Reconciliation of net movement in funds to net cash flow from operating activities
15. Analysis of cash and cash equivalents
Page 29
Docusign Envelope ID: 03082654-B2E8-45AB-A028-BDD50B10B79A
THE ADVOCACY PROJECT
(A company limited by guarantee)
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
16. Analysis of changes in net debt
| Cash at bank and in hand | At 1 April 2023 £ 2,052,738 2,052,738 |
Cash flows £ (91,590) (91,590) |
At 31 March 2024 £ 1,961,148 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1,961,148 |
Page 30
Docusign Envelope ID: 03082654-B2E8-45AB-A028-BDD50B10B79A
THE ADVOCACY PROJECT
(A company limited by guarantee)
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
17. Statement of funds
Statement of funds - current year
| Unrestricted funds Designated funds Designated Funds - all funds General funds Reserves Total Unrestricted funds Restricted funds WJC LD Our Choice WJC LD Advocacy Big Voice Speak Up Speak Out WJ OA Advocacy WJ OA UI City & Hackney PHB Newham PHB Tower Hamlet PHB Tower Hamlet CYP PHB Speak Up Radio Total of funds |
Balance at 1 April 2023 £ 2,271 417,784 420,055 6,055 18,795 - - 61,742 114 - - - 2,500 - 89,206 509,261 |
Income £ - 1,676,817 1,676,817 41,663 79,928 47,711 13,107 191,028 35,607 250,670 33,000 55,000 12,000 - 759,714 2,436,531 |
Expenditure £ (2,991) (1,506,860) (1,509,851) (36,407) (88,573) (47,249) (10,380) (195,342) (31,618) (250,670) (33,000) (55,000) (14,500) (88) (762,827) (2,272,678) |
Transfers in/out £ 720 (808) (88) - - - - - - - - - - 88 88 - |
Balance at 31 March 2024 £ - |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 586,933 | |||||
| 586,933 | |||||
| 11,311 10,150 462 2,727 57,428 4,103 - - - - - |
|||||
| 86,181 | |||||
| 673,114 |
Restricted funds represent income designated for specific purposes within the charity. These funds are allocated to support various projects, including user engagement services, a supported volunteering scheme, the "Big Plan" initiative, the Dual Diagnosis User Involvement Project, and the Mental Health Recovery Personal Health Budget Support Service. Each fund is utilised strictly according to donor conditions, ensuring the charity fulfils its intended impact in these areas.
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Docusign Envelope ID: 03082654-B2E8-45AB-A028-BDD50B10B79A
THE ADVOCACY PROJECT
(A company limited by guarantee)
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
17. Statement of funds (continued)
Statement of funds - prior year
| Unrestricted funds Designated funds Designated Funds - all funds General funds General Funds - all funds Total Unrestricted funds Restricted funds Restricted Funds - all funds Total of funds |
Balance at 1 April 2022 £ 6,813 475,748 482,561 80,395 562,956 |
Income £ - - - 510,752 510,752 |
Expenditure £ (4,542) (43,077) (47,619) (516,828) (564,447) |
Transfers in/out £ - (14,887) (14,887) 14,887 - |
Balance at 31 March 2023 £ 2,271 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 417,784 | |||||
| 420,055 | |||||
| 89,206 | |||||
| 509,261 |
18. Summary of funds
Summary of funds - current year
| Designated funds General funds Restricted funds |
Balance at 1 April 2023 £ 2,271 417,784 89,206 509,261 |
Income £ - 1,676,817 759,714 2,436,531 |
Expenditure £ (2,991) (1,506,860) (762,827) (2,272,678) |
Transfers in/out £ 720 (808) 88 - |
Balance at 31 March 2024 £ - 586,933 86,181 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 673,114 |
Page 32
Docusign Envelope ID: 03082654-B2E8-45AB-A028-BDD50B10B79A
THE ADVOCACY PROJECT
(A company limited by guarantee)
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
18. Summary of funds (continued)
Summary of funds - prior year
| Designated funds General funds Restricted funds |
Balance at 1 April 2022 £ 6,813 475,748 80,395 562,956 |
Income £ - - 510,752 510,752 |
Expenditure £ (4,542) (43,077) (516,828) (564,447) |
Transfers in/out £ - (14,887) 14,887 - |
Balance at 31 March 2023 £ 2,271 417,784 89,206 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 509,261 |
19. Analysis of net assets between funds
Analysis of net assets between funds - current period
| Tangible fixed assets Intangible fixed assets Debtors due after more than one year Current assets Creditors due within one year Total |
Restricted funds 2024 Unrestricted funds 2024 £ £ - 3,554 - 1,440 - 1,317 86,181 1,975,954 - (1,395,332) 86,181 586,933 |
Total funds 2024 £ 3,554 1,440 1,317 2,062,135 (1,395,332) 673,114 |
|---|---|---|
Analysis of net assets between funds - prior period
| Tangible fixed assets Intangible fixed assets Debtors due after more than one year Current assets Creditors due within one year Total |
Restricted funds 2023 £ - - - 89,206 - 89,206 |
Restricted funds - class ii 2023 Unrestricted funds 2023 £ £ - 8,755 2,271 - - 1,217 - 2,247,962 - (1,840,150) 2,271 417,784 |
Total funds 2023 £ 8,755 2,271 1,217 2,337,168 (1,840,150) 509,261 |
|---|---|---|---|
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Docusign Envelope ID: 03082654-B2E8-45AB-A028-BDD50B10B79A
THE ADVOCACY PROJECT (A company limited by guarantee)
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
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 scheme was £74,579 (2023: £86,859).
21. Related party disclosures
Expect for the transactions referred to in Note 9 to the accounts, there were no related party transactions for the year ended 31 March 2024 or 31 March 2023.
22. Designated fund
There are funds of NIL (2023: £2,271) 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.
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