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2021-03-31-accounts

The Avenues Youth Project – Where young lives thrive Charity number: 1090210 Company number: 04045031

The Avenues Youth Project Report 2020–2021

Company information page 3
Report of the Executive Committee 4 - 14
Report of the Independent Examiner 15
Statement of fnancial activities 16
Balance sheet 17
Notes to the fnancial statements 18 - 21
Direct charitable expenditure 22
Management and administration expenditure 23

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The Avenues Youth Project Report 2020–2021

Company information

PATRONS

Susan Aglionby OBE, Founder Karen Buck MP Gill Fitzhugh MBE

COMPANY NUMBER

04045031

CHARITY NUMBER

1090210

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Jennie Marshall (Chair) Corrina Ralph (Hon Treasurer) Virginia Ashton Julia Court Cllr Eartha Pond Geoffrey White Youssef Arakji (resigned 3 Sept 2020) Graeme Miller Russell Keir Tutt Cristina Fedi Louisa Gregory (appointed 10 Feb 2021) Chris Murray (appointed 14 Sept 2021)

CHARITY OFFICES

3/7 Third Avenue, Queen’s Park London W10 4RS

INDEPENDENT EXAMINER

M Barry Boydell Chartered Accountant 146B Chiswick High Road London W4 1PU

BANKERS

Royal Bank of Scotland plc High Street Kensington (A) Branch Kensington High Street London W8 6SH

CHIEF EXECUTIVE

Fabian Sharp

COMPANY SECRETARY

Geoffrey White

Metro Bank 160-166 Kensington High Street Kensington London W8 7RG

Barclays Bank 35 Notting Hill Gate London W11 3JR

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The Avenues Youth Project Report 2020–2021

Report of the Executive Committee

The Members of the Executive Committee present their report with the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2021. The Financial Statements comply with current statutory requirements, the Memorandum and Articles of Association and Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the provision of section 1A ‘Small Entities’ of Financial Reporting Standard 102.

Objectives and Aims

The charity’s objects are to:

Ensuring our work delivers our aims

We review our aims, objectives, and activities each year. This review looks at what we achieved and the outcomes of our work in the previous 12 months. It looks at the success of each key activity and the benefits they have brought to those groups of people we are set up to help. The review also helps us ensure our aim, objectives and activities remain focused on our stated purposes. We have referred to the guidance contained in the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit when reviewing our aims and objectives and in planning our future activities. In particular, the trustees consider how planned activities will contribute to the aims and objectives they have set.

Safeguarding

The charity puts children and young people at the heart of all that we do, so our commitment to keeping our service users safe is paramount. The Avenues acknowledges its duty to act appropriately to any allegations, reports, or suspicions of abuse in a professional and speedy manner.

Our Safeguarding and Child Protection policy was reviewed and renewed in 2021 to make sure The Avenues promotes best practice and works in a way that prevents harm of any sort, including bullying, abuse, and coercion, and that staff, volunteers and partners recognize when this may be happening and what to do about it.

Staff, unsupervised volunteers, and youth work contractors are required to obtain an enhanced DBS certificate and attend an induction which includes Equality, Diversity and Inclusion training as well as Safeguarding and Child Protection training. This training must be completed before coming into contact with the young people who use our service.

A repeat DBS check is obtained for all staff, qualifying volunteers and Trustees every three years. Refresher Safeguarding and Child Protection training is provided to both Staff and Trustees including the designated Safeguarding Lead at least every two years.

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The Avenues Youth Project Report 2020–2021

Report from the Chair Jennie Marshall

The 2020-21 financial year was not a typical year. Four days before the start the UK went into a full lockdown due to Covid-19. We had been planning our Easter programme when we took the decision, prior to the Government announcement, to suspend activities and pivot immediately to a food distribution service for our most vulnerable members. This would not have been possible without support from The Felix Project, City Harvest, BNP Paribas, The Seashell restaurant and numerous volunteers who enabled us to deliver over 6,500 hot meals to 96 of our most in-need members, at a time when genuine fear of possibly fatal infection was widespread, and isolation of the most vulnerable was compulsory. For many of our families, who rely on precarious employment, the pandemic forced them into unemployment, squeezing already tight household budgets. As well as providing the hot meals we quickly partnered with the North Paddington Foodbank, becoming a distribution hub, and able to refer our members families for further support.

We mobilised the youth work team who were working from home to provide online sessions to young people, and developed an activity box scheme which saw us deliver materials (e.g. colouring pencils and paper) and/or ingredients to the 27 most in need to allow them to follow our online courses.

When it became clear that online schooling was disadvantaging some of our members, particularly those without access to the internet at home, we made provision for access to our facilities and called on our supporters to donate equipment. We worked with the Young Westminster Foundation to help distribute hundreds of laptops to young people to help them keep up with their schooling.

For those young people who were beginning to suffer emotionally from the social isolation we provided telephone support and even accompanied them oneto-one on socially distanced walk-and-talks as part of their daily exercise allowance.

When GCSE results were announced in August our youth workers were there to help provide emotional

and practical support to those who, despite not having sat exams, had not achieved sufficient grades to remain at their school. The youth workers mentored these young people into applying for places at college helping them to navigate the clearing system, while providing the encouragement to believe they still had a future if they applied themselves.

We took the opportunity of the lockdown to bring forward some of the planned refurbishment works to the building, starting with the recording studios, which benefitted from a full and professional makeover while we were closed to young people.

In January 2021 the government conferred Key Public Service status on Youth Services. From this date we were able to open our doors to young people while offering a reduced, socially distanced, in-person service as prescribed by the National Youth Agency.

Mental health issues, learning loss and employability came to the fore as areas of prime focus for us in assisting our young people, and the team set about reimagining some of our services to meet this burgeoning area of need. Leaning into our strategic aim of developing partnerships with complementary services we:

In particularly difficult circumstances our staff stepped up to provide a rapid reaction, critical support service in the community that was truly appreciated. The Trustees are grateful to our extraordinary staff team for their professionalism and dedication, to the selfless volunteers who helped us to mitigate the worst social and financial effects of the crisis for the most vulnerable families, and to all those who stepped up to support and fund our work in these exceptional circumstances.

Jennie Marshall

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The Avenues Youth Project Report 2020–2021

Activities & Achievements

Chief Executive - Fabian Sharp

During lockdowns

For most of this financial year, our ability to deliver in person youth-work was severely curtailed by the three national lockdowns. The majority of our members come from low-income households, without a financial safety net, so the absence of work, coupled with a prolonged period of isolation, meant many families were facing debt and hunger. Coupled with overcrowding and a lack of outside space, for many the stress of lockdown severely impacted the mental and physical health of our children and their families.

In the first lockdown we repurposed our building as a food preparation and delivery hub, staffed by local volunteers including furloughed chefs. Cooked lunches and food parcels were accompanied by fun activity sheets, games and quizzes and delivered to the doors of our 96 most disadvantaged members.

The majority of our youth work was delivered online through a variety of channels, and included:

We integrated face-to-face activities such as Walk ‘n’ Talk, where youth workers walked around the block with young people to check on their wellbeing and boost their morale. Each youth worker was assigned a list of the most vulnerable members and called them on a weekly basis, which proved a successful way of retaining engagement and finding additional support where needed.

For some sessions, activity boxes were delivered to the young person’s house. For example, a Girls Hub session on female health would include information sheets, deodorant, bodywash, menstrual products and a drink and snack to be consumed during the online session.

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Following National Youth Agency guidelines, we were eventually able to deliver targeted youth work in small ‘bubbles’ to help the most vulnerable, focusing on building their resilience and offering learning support.

On Friday nights we held ‘Breaking Bread’ sessions with a selected group of our most vulnerable Senior members who ate together. A different young person cooked each week under the supervision of a Youth Worker and emphasis was put on the importance of listening to, respecting and caring for one another.

Whilst having to be flexible and imaginative under great pressure to completely reinvent our modus operandi, our staff ensured that we provided positive, stimulating and fun activities for the housebound young people of our community, a testament to the extraordinary commitment and imagination of our youth worker team.

Food Delivery

During the first lockdown, between April and July 2020, we re-purposed our building to become a food preparation and delivery hub for almost 100 of the most vulnerable young people in our area.

Supporters stepped in with food and donations, a team of 24 volunteers was mobilised and by early April we were delivering 50 cooked meals and food boxes each lunchtime, rising to 100 a day within two weeks. Head Chefs Steve and Lewis ran the kitchen, ensuring high quality, healthy meals every day.

Alongside cooked meals, deliveries included fresh fruit and veg, smoothies, Easter eggs and other occasional treats and activity worksheets and puzzles to help young people remain engaged. Regular supplies of ingredients came from Felix Project, City Harvest, North Paddington Foodbank and local businesses Devlin’s (Portobello Road), The Sea Shell (Lisson Grove) and BNP Paribas (Marylebone) were exceptionally generous, making our food budget stretch significantly further.

A total of 6,500 meals were cooked and delivered.

“I knew how important Avenues was before, because I never had to worry about what I would have to do in half-term and I always knew she [her daughter] was learning new things and interacting with people. But this [food service] became more personal, the relationship is much deeper, the appreciation is much deeper. It is like a family, a deep-rooted community belonging. It’s not just a youth centre, it is a community belonging and safe-haven. I am really happy, appreciative and I am really grateful.” Parent, June 2020

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Holiday programmes

In between lockdowns we were able to offer limited places to our members during Summer and October half-term. Alongside the usual choice of music, cooking, dance and art, we ran football camps, learning loss sessions, mental health support, a social action project, and sociable evening sessions for our older age group. We also offered transition support for year 6 students about to move from junior to secondary school.

Covid rules on social distancing restricted numbers to 162 participants in Summer and 69 in October, all of whom were provided with free breakfast and lunch over the six weeks of service.

Youth Work Level 1 training

Our second cohort of eight young people successfully completed their Youth Work Level 1 qualification during the first six months of the pandemic, under the guidance and support of our teachers and youth work team. We were especially proud of our group of learners this year; battling with a pandemic and the move to online learning alongside school and college commitments.

This programme, funded by the Mayor of London, is one of our flagship projects, providing local young people with the first experience of volunteering and employment. We hope some will go on to become our next generation of youth workers, while others will have taken a valuable step towards employment whilst learning to play an important role in their community.

Mic Drop

2020 saw the start of Mic Drop, an advanced music course for 14-18 year olds, funded by Youth Music and led by Del, one of our trained youth workers who is also an experienced music industry professional. Aimed at young people with a talent and passion for music, who need guidance, knowledge, experience and the confidence to pursue a potential career in the music industry.

Over 24 weekly sessions our team provides a grounding in all aspects of music creation and production, including lyric writing, composition, arrangement and sound engineering. The course introduces participants to the music radio scene, live event management and promotion and it illuminates the various music career pathways. Participants learn to write, perform and produce an EP, then organise a performance, finally playing live in front of an audience. Between sessions, participants complete coursework that earns them an Arts Award Bronze accreditation.

Despite being first delayed by Covid, then forced online for several months, the output from the first cohort was sensational, and has set a high standard for the next intake.

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Peer Mentoring and Social Action

A peer mentoring project called Teen Spirit was scheduled to run in 2020, training young people to mentor their more vulnerable peers, whilst receiving professional support and guidance, and a qualification. As face-to-face contact was prohibited, we re-purposed the budget to engage young people in a social action project.

Following George Floyd’s murder in May 2020, we focused on Black Lives Matter with some of our young people, to examine the pressing issues of race and justice in the UK. The aim was to inform the young people and increase their critical awareness of the world around them, through various workshops, over Zoom and in person when restrictions allowed.

Girls Hub

Every Tuesday evening is our long-running girls-only project, developed and led by Programme Director, Carol Archibald in collaboration with our female youth workers and in consultation with the girls themselves. Activities include cooking, dance, art and group discussions.

During the lockdowns we moved delivery online in small groups, with weekly activity boxes, designed, packaged and delivered to the girls by our staff. Whilst hugely challenging to deliver, we kept 30 girls feeling wanted and listened to. A number of specific mental health needs (anxiety, depression, self-harming) emerged during the pandemic which are addressed in confidence, with signposting to additional services where needed. Group discussions include cyber bullying, sleep and mindfulness, emotional and physical care, and relationships.

A free-to-access service that provides a safe space for girls to socialise, become motivated, enjoy physical exercise, receive mental health support, learn new skills and develop into responsible young adults has multiple benefits for the girls, their families and the wider community.

Case study 1 – Amil*

Amil had attended The Avenues for several years and, like most teenagers living locally, he was susceptible to the temptations of criminality and gang membership that pervade the area. At 17 years, Amil agreed to become a volunteer for a few hours a week with The Avenues, and showed such promise that Programme Director Carol persuaded him to take a place on our Junior Youth Worker training programme. He completed 39 weeks of training, much of it during lockdown, thanks to the dedication of our team who kept Amil (and nine other participants) motivated and engaged via Facetime, Zoom and finally face-to-face in our classroom again.

Amil completed his Level 1 training, then with further encouragement from our team, applied for, and gained a place at, university. In between studies he now works for 10 hours a week at The Avenues as a Junior Support Worker, whilst progressing towards his Level 2 youth work qualification. As a 19 year old with a natural aptitude for youth work, numerous members aged 8 to 18 cite him as their favourite worker. Amil is a credit to The Avenues and a great example to younger members of where choosing the right path can take you.

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Case Study 2 – Sally*

At 11 years old Sally had been attending The Avenues for three years and was known for her sunny disposition, willingness to help anyone and keen sense of adventure. During lockdown Sally was one of the recipients of weekly phone calls and activity boxes that we provided to our members in a bid to sustain communication and provide the young people with something positive to do away from schoolwork. Sally said that she had felt very isolated and alone, but responded well to the outreach, saying she looked forward to receiving her weekly call and activity box as she felt someone was looking out for her.

Then tragically, during the lockdown, Sally’s brother was a victim of postcode-fuelled youth violence and died of stab wounds. The impact of losing her brother on Sally was immense. Our lead youth worker met with Sally’s family before our Summer Programme began to put together a support plan so she could attend. We wanted to ensure we could support Sally and her family in any way possible.

On her first day back at the youth club, it came as no surprise that the once vivacious girl had become withdrawn and quiet, and struggled to even make eye contact. At this point Sally was not ready to discuss her situation and became tearful at the thought of her brother. Throughout the summer Sally was assigned a specially trained youth worker to provide support twice a week through mentoring sessions. During these sessions the youth worker equipped Sally with tools to help process and handle her bereavement. Sally told us that attending The Avenues over summer provided a sense of normality for her. Being with adults that she trusts, and her friends, enabled her to play, socialise, laugh and speak about her situation without feeling judged or different. These sessions in our safe environment helped Sally express herself again.

After the summer programme ended, our youth workers continued to work with Sally, focusing on emotions and resilience. She once again started to attend on a regular basis after school and continued improving day by day.

Strategic development

Having completed an organisation-wide deep-dive into our vision, mission and values in 2019, we introduced an organisational Theory of Change in 2020. This essentially defines the six changes we aim to bring about in our members, guiding us to be very focused on the outcomes we monitor and measure, to better understand the impact of our youth work and explain it to our stakeholders.

In tandem with this work, our friends and supporters at Adam & Eve/ DDB developed our new identity, reinvigorating how The Avenues Youth Project brand appears across all our communications. We immediately put our vibrant new colour scheme and fonts to work, launching a new website that speaks more clearly to both our members and supporters, and better reflects our personality.

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Systems improvements

Having sharpened our focus on outcomes, we also introduced:

Continual Professional Development

We encourage all our staff to keep adding to their skills and knowledge and support them in doing so. In 2020, our Senior Youth Worker, Marcus Leon started (remote) studying towards his Masters in Applied Anthropology and Youth Work at Goldsmiths, within his employed hours.

“The Avenues has really helped, just being able to get a decently balanced meal has been great, especially for the kids. It is also something to look forward to, we have become familiar with the people that deliver the food and it is lovely and comforting knowing that someone will be coming to the house every day, so we get to see someone’s face.”

Parent

“Delivering lunches to those who needed them for the last couple of months has truly been one of the best parts of the lockdown for us. We got so much out of our little gesture of help. It lifted our spirits and made us feel a small part of something really wonderful. We so enjoyed meeting all of the amazing volunteers at The Avenues. We thought it was incredibly well organised and executed and we loved meeting the recipients of the food as they were very sweet and truly grateful.”

Meredith, W2

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Financial Review

The charity achieved significant financial improvements in the year ended 31 March 2021. Total income increased 10% year on year to £850,136 (2020: £774,464). Expenditure before depreciation also increased by 29% to £580,692 as the charity delivered additional programs in line with funds raised (2020: £451,052). Depreciation, the non-cash method of allocating costs of tangible assets (mainly the charity’s building) over their useful life spans, was £36,545 in 2021 (2020: £36,772).

These factors resulted in a net surplus before depreciation in 2021 of £269,444 (2020: £323,412) and a net surplus after depreciation of £232,899 (2020: £286,640).

This surplus was used to a) maintain our reserves at £238,522 which is 4.77 months of our budgeted operating costs for 2021/22 and b) transfer £136,838 to a designated account in relation to our 40th Anniversary Appeal Fund which is intended to develop our workforce and fund investment in building renovations to help maximise rental income.

The reserves policy is set out below and is monitored as part of the monthly Financial Dashboard.

Reserves Policy Statement

The Avenues Reserves Policy is to maintain a target reserve of unrestricted funds equal to six months of budgeted operating costs and with the actual reserves of unrestricted funds being not less than three months of budgeted operating costs.

The principal purpose of The Avenues Reserve Policy is to mitigate the following risks:

The base case risk is that The Avenues will not have sufficient funds to enable normal operating activities to be provided on a continuous basis due to temporary shortfalls in typical income streams or other events which trigger an unexpected funding demand; the reserves should at no time be in a sum lower than that needed to enable The Avenues to continue normal operating activities on an uninterrupted basis despite the occurrence of the relevant temporary contingency.

The fundamental case risk is that The Avenues will suffer a material and most likely permanent drop in revenue which, if not addressed, would most likely lead to a permanent cessation of activities; ideally the reserves should at no time be in a sum lower than that needed to fund any restructuring of the business or other significant change in circumstances, such as moving premises, which The Avenues Executive Committee believes could enable the activities and support to continue being provided to the beneficiaries.

Monitoring and Reviewing Reserves Policy

The actual operating costs of The Avenues are closely monitored by each of the Trustees and the Treasurer of The Avenues and, together with details of the actual unrestricted reserves amount, are the subject of monthly reports to the Executive Committee of The Avenues. At each of its quarterly meetings, the Executive Committee considers whether, in light of events which have occurred or are expected to occur, any change or changes should be made to the respective amounts of the targeted and minimum unallocated reserves.

Structure, Governance and Management

Constitution

The charity is a company limited by guarantee constituted pursuant to, and governed by, a Memorandum and Articles of Association dated 1 November 2001.

Members’ Liability

The charity has no share capital. Rather, its members have “guaranteed” (i.e., agreed) that in the event of winding-up of the charity they will each contribute £1, or any smaller sum needed, towards funding any shortfall in the assets of the charity as compared with its liabilities. The members have no right, in the event of a windingup of the charity, to receive any distribution of any surplus of the value of the charity’s assets over its liabilities; pursuant to the Memorandum and Articles of Association any such surplus is required to be given to another charity having similar objects to those of the charity.

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Executive Committee

The business of the charity is managed by its Executive Committee which currently comprises a Chair and ten others. All members of the Executive Committee are also both directors and the only members of the charity and as members of the Executive Committee constitute the trustees of the charity.

New members of the Executive Committee are recruited with regard to the balance on the Executive Committee from time to time of persons with relevant skills, experience, knowledge and qualifications.

Any person appointed by the Executive Committee to fill a vacancy in the Executive Committee holds office until the next succeeding annual general meeting of the members at which time such person is eligible for re-election.

At each annual general meeting of the charity one-third of the existing members of the Executive Committee are required to retire but all such persons are eligible for re-election.

The Executive Committee meets a minimum of four times a year and in addition has an annual “Away Day” for the purpose of in-depth review and study of particular subjects relevant to the charity’s affairs.

There are four sub-committees of the Executive Committee, viz Personnel, Finance, Fundraising and Buildings as well as a new Youth Work Advisory Panel; each such sub-committee and the Youth Work Advisory Panel meets on an ad-hoc basis.

In light of the Black Lives Matters call for greater equality, a BLM Forum was formed in mid-2020 bringing members of the Executive Committee and Staff together to agree and oversee best practice. This group is working closely with the Personnel sub-committee.

No member of the Executive Committee is remunerated by the charity for any time spent by him or her in connection with the affairs of the charity.

Chief Executive

The Executive Committee has delegated dayto-day management of the charity to the Chief Executive. The Chief Executive attends all meetings of the Executive Committee and is an ex-officio member of each of the Executive Committee’s subcommittees.

The performance of the Chief Executive is the subject of annual reviews carried out by the chair of the Executive Committee.

Plans for the future & future fundraising

In line with our 2019-22 business plan we continue to work on fundraising to:

After a difficult year in which our rental income was drastically reduced, and all fundraising events cancelled, we expect that the physical improvements and adaptations we have made during lockdown (including provision of dedicated access to the first floor studios), and those that are planned for the year ahead, will lead to growing revenues in future.

Our investment in hiring a Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Officer, who is focused on demonstrating the impact of our work against a set of organisational outcomes, marks a positive attempt to help attract support from the most demanding funders, corporates and private donors. Our aim is to deliver a full 6-day-a-week programme of youth work activities for the first time in our 42 year history.

The overwhelming demand for our support during lockdown and in the aftermath serves as ample evidence that we should be trying to maximise the support we can provide to a community that is experiencing disproportionate levels of disadvantage. In particular, the experience of

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young people through the pandemic and beyond has led us to re-double our efforts around mental health, vocational training and educational inequality, which we will do while remaining true to our core purpose as a provider of professional youth work.

Public sector commissioning opportunities, particularly around Public Health, Community Protection and Early Help continue to be a target for The Avenues as part of a diversified income base - despite being elusive to date. Enduring reductions in Public Sector budgets make this a diminishing prospect for the time-being, but we continue to believe that in the absence of statutory protection, a solid future for youth services requires a blend of funding streams including public sector resourcing complementing corporate and private philanthropy and self-generated revenue.

In order to build greater resilience in the private philanthropy strand of our fundraising model we will continue to widen our network of supporters, raise awareness of the charity with new audiences

To compensate for the shortcomings in our public funding projections we will seek new partnerships that will add value to our offer to young people.

Trustees

The trustees who are also directors of the company for the purpose of company law are all members of the Executive Committee. Changes to Trustees are shown on page 3.

Independent Examiner

The trustees consider that for the year ended 31 March 2021 the company was entitled to exemption from a statutory audit under section 477 of the Companies Act 2006. Under the provisions of the Act, the directors have appointed Mr M Barry Boydell FCA, as Independent Examiner.

This report has been prepared in accordance with the special provisions of Part 15 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small companies.

ON BEHALF OF THE TRUSTEES: Jennie Marshall - CHAIR, 2021

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Report of the Independent Examiner

I report on the accounts of the company for the year ended 31 March 2021, which are set out on pages 16 to 21.

Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner

The trustees (who are also the directors of the company for the purposes of company law) are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year under section 144(2) of the Charities Act 2011 (the 2011 Act) and that an independent examination is needed.

Having satisfied myself that the charity is not subject to audit under company law and is eligible for independent examination, it is my responsibility to:

Basis of Independent Examiner’s report

My examination was carried out in accordance with the general Directions given by the Charity Commission. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts and seeking explanations from you as trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit and consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a ‘true and fair view’ and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below.

Independent Examiner’s statement

In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention:

(1) which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requirements:

(a) to keep accounting records in accordance with section 386 of the Companies Act 2006; and

(b) to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records, comply with the accounting requirements of section 386 of the Companies Act 2006 and with the methods and principles of the Statement of Recommended Practice: Accounting and Reporting by Charities have not been met; or

(2) to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of to be reached.

M B Boydell FCA, Chartered Accountant 146B Chiswick High Road, London W4 1P

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The Avenues Youth Project Report 2020–2021

Statement of financial activities Income and expenditure for year ended 31 March 2021

Note Unrestricted Restricted
Restricted
2021		 2020
Funds Funds Building
Funds
£ £ £ £ £
Incoming Resources
Grant & donations 2 191,958 522,589 - 714,547 555,219
Investment income 613 - - 613 957
Rental income 52,210 - - 52,210 92,298
Fundraising 82,766 - - 82,766 125,990
_ _ _ _ _
Total incoming resources 327,547 522,589 - 850,136 774,464
_ _ _ _ _
Resources Expended
Cost of generating funds:
Fundraising expenses 39,028 - - 39,028 44,220
Charitable expenditure:
Direct Charitable
Expenditure 3 230,549 290,861 - 521,410 387,945
Management and
Administration 4 21,541 - 35,258 56,799 55,659
_ _ _ _ _
Total resources expended 291,118 290,861 35,258 617,237 487,824
_ _ _ _ _
Net surplus/(deficit) for the
year 5 36,429 231,728 (35,258) 232,899 286,640
Fund balances brought
forward 212,500 77,147 1,270,873 1,560,520 1,526,631
Transfer to designated
fund 9 (10,407) (126,431) - (136,838) (252,751)
_ _ __ __ __
Fund balances carried
forward 238,522 182,444 1,235,615 1,656,581 1,560,520
_ _ __ __ __

The notes on pages 18-21 form an integral part of these financial statements.

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Balance sheet at 31 March 2021

Note 2021 2020
£ £ £ £
FIXED ASSETS 7
Tangible assets 1,379,747 1,279,454
CURRENT ASSETS
Cash at bank and in hand 770,348 600,763
Debtors - prepayments 8,031 -
______ _
782,379 680,763
CREDITORS: amounts falling due
within one year 8 (68,828) (23,818)
______ ______
709,551 576,945
_ _
NET ASSETS 2,089,298 1,856,399
_ _
Represented by:
UNRESTRICTED FUNDS 238,522 212,500
DESIGNATED FUND 9 432,717 295,879
RESTRICTED FUNDS 10 182,444 77,147
RESTRICTED BUILDING FUND 11 1,235,615 1,270,873
__ __
2,089,298 1,856,399
__ __

These accounts have been prepared in accordance with the special provisions relating to small companies within Part 15 of the Companies Act 2006.

For the financial year ended 31 March 2021 the company was entitled to exemption from audit under section 477 [small company exemption] Companies Act 2006; and no notice has been deposited under section 476 [member or members requesting an audit].

The trustees acknowledge their responsibilities for ensuring that the company keeps accounting records which comply with s. 386 and for preparing accounts which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the company as at the end of the financial year and of its surplus or deficit for the financial year in accordance with the requirements of sections 394 and 395 and which otherwise comply with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 relating to accounts, so far as applicable to the company.

The financial statements were approved by the Trustees on

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………………………………………………. …………………………………………….
J Marshall (Chair) Corrina Ralph (Honorary Treasurer)
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The notes on pages 18-21 form an integral part of these financial statements.

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Notes to the financial statements

1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Basis of preparation of accounts

The financial statements are prepared under the historical cost convention and include the results of the charity’s operations which are described in the Report of the Executive Committee and all of which are continuing.

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the provision of section 1A ‘Small Entities’ of Financial Reporting Standard 102.

The charity has taken advantage of the exemption in Financial Reporting Standard No.1 from the requirement to produce a cash flow statement.

Unrestricted Funds

Unrestricted funds are donations and other incoming resources receivable or generated for the objects of the charity without further specified purpose and are available as general funds.

Designated Funds

Designated funds are unrestricted funds earmarked by the management for particular purposes.

Restricted Funds

Restricted funds are to be used for specific purposes as laid down by the donor. Expenditure which meets these criteria is charged to the fund, together with a fair allocation of management and support costs.

Tangible fixed assets and depreciation

Tangible fixed assets are stated at cost less depreciation.

Depreciation is provided at rates calculated to write off the cost or valuation of fixed assets, less their estimated residual value, over their expected useful lives on the following basis:

Furniture and equipment - 15% net book value.

Value Added Tax

Value Added Tax is not recoverable by the charity and as such is included in the relevant costs in the Statement of Financial Activities.

Expenditure of management and administration of the charity

Administration expenditure includes all expenditure not directly related to the charitable activity. This includes costs of staff salaries for administrative staff and audit fees.

18

The Avenues Youth Project Report 2020–2021

Notes to the financial statements

2.
GRANTS AND DONATIONS		 Unrestricted Restricted Restricted Total Total
Funds Funds Building 2021 2020
Fund
£ £ £ £ £
Adam & Eve DDB 27,882 27,882 78,740
Angus Lawson Memorial Trust 24,745 24,745 -
A2 Dominion 6,000 6,000 -
BBC Children in Need 46,638 46,638 42,080
Hyde Park Place Estates 5,000 5,000 -
Garfield Weston 30,000 30,000 -
Groundwork 13,486 13,486 -
Greater London Authority 29,975 29,975 34,717
Mayor’s Young Londoners Fund 32,175 32,175 -
Jack Petchy 1,500 1,500 -
John Lyon’s Charity 45,000 45,000 -
London Funders: COVID Response 62,664 62,664 -
Paddington Charities 12,500
People’s Health Trust 13,918
Pineapple Trust 7,500 7,500 7,500
Queen’s Park Community Council
25,000		 25,000 25,000
St James Place Foundation 10,000
Strand Parishes Trust 5,000 5,000 5,000
The Carlile Foundation 15,000
The National Lottery 23,185 23,185 15,230
Two Magpies 10,000 10,000 -
Westminster Almshouses 6,985 6,985 5,000
Westminster Amalgamated 9,220 9,220 9,000
Westminster Foundation 75,000 75,000 -
Westminster Ward Budget 9,625 9,625 -
Westminster City Council 97,730 97,730 94,466
Youth Music 26,978 26,978 -
Young Westminster Foundation 16,402 16,402 48,219
Other donations 74,458 61,026 135,484 138,849
191,958 522,589 714,547 555,219

19

The Avenues Youth Project Report 2020–2021

Notes to the financial statements

3. DIRECT CHARITABLE EXPENDITURE

3. DIRECT CHARITABLE EXPENDITURE
Unrestricted Restricted Restricted Total
Total
Funds Funds Building 2021
2020
Fund
£ £ £ £
£
Salaries and staff costs 149,158 79,016 - 228,174
208,470
Youth work activities - 211,845 - 211,845
106,401
Office and other costs 81,391 - - 81,391
73,074
_ _ _ _
_
230,549 290,861 - 521,410
387,945
_ _ _ _
_____
4. MANAGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATION EXPENDITURE
Unrestricted Restricted Restricted Total
Total
Funds Funds Building 2021
2020
Fund
£ £ £ £
£
Salary costs 15,000 - - 15,000
15,000
Other 6,541 - 35,258 41,799
40,659
_ _ _ _
_
21,541 - 35,258 56,799
55,659
_ _ _ _
_
5. OPERATING SURPLUS/(DEFICIT)
Operating deficit is shown after charging 2021 2020
£ £
Staff costs 243,174 201,565
Depreciation on tangible fixed assets 36,545 36,772
______ ______
6. STAFF COSTS
2021 2020
£ £
Wages and salary 206,509 175,285
Social security costs 18,732 15,453
Staff pension 17,933 10,827
______ ______
243,174 201,565
______ ______

As a charity, no trustee received any remuneration during the year in their capacity as a trustee. During the year no employee received emoluments in excess of £ 60,000. The average weekly number of full time equivalent staff employed by the charity during the year was as follows:

the year was as follows:
2021 2020
Administrative work 3 3
Direct charitable work 6 4

20

The Avenues Youth Project Report 2020–2021

Notes to the financial statements

7. TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS

. TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS
Leasehold Furniture & Total
Property Equipment
£ £ £
COST
As at 1stApril 2020 1,867,959 184,117 2,052,076
Additions/(Disposals) 136,868 - 136,838
_ _ _
As at 31stMarch 2021 2,004,797 184,117 2,188,914
_ _ _
DEPRECIATION
As at 1stApril 2020 597,086 175,536 772,622
Charge for the year 35,258 1,287 36,545
_ _ _
As at 31stMarch 2021 632,344 176,823 809,167
_ _ _
NET BOOK VALUES
As at 31stMarch 2021 1,372,453 7,294 1,379,747
_ _ _
As at 31stMarch 2020 1,270,873 8,581 1,279,454
_ _ _

Construction costs of the building included under leasehold property above, amounted to £1,762,923 and the company took possession of the completed property in May 2003. Since this date the cost of the building is being depreciated evenly over 50 years.

8. CREDITORS: Amounts falling due within one year

8. CREDITORS: Amounts falling due within one year
2021 2020
£ £
Accruals and after date payments 62,096 15,068
Rent received in advance 6,732 8,750
______ ______
£ 68,828 £ 23,818
______ ______

9. DESIGNATED FUND

The trustees have decided to transfer unrestricted funds in excess of 6 months operating costs to a designated fund earmarked for investments including building alterations to future proof

the Avenues ability to generate income and continue to deliver youth activities.

£136,838 has been transferred to this fund at year end taking the balance to £438,341. Works on the building are on-going and this amount has been earmarked for spend throughout 2021/22.

10. RESTRICTED FUNDS

The balance of £77,147 brought forward from 2020 has been spent during the current year. Restricted funds received during the year to be carried forward to 2021/22 are made up of:

Westminster Brighter Futures
National Lottery
GLA Youth Support
Health Lottery
Westminster Council
BBC CiN
Angus Lawton
Lydford
GLA Mentoring
Two Magpies
Youth Music
Groundwork		 10,000
19,321
23,975
18,006
34,405
18,927
9,762
6,000
6,000
5,959
15,831
14,258
______
£182,444

11. RESTRICTED BUILDING FUND

This fund relates to donations received in 2003 for the sole purpose of constructing the existing building which the youth project has occupied since.

21

The Avenues Youth Project Report 2020–2021

FOR INFORMATION ONLY

The following do not form part of the statutory accounts

Direct charitable expenditure

Unrestricted Restricted Restricted Total Total
Funds Funds Building 2021 2020
Fund
£ £ £ £ £
Salaries and staff costs
Salaries, NI and pensions 140,337 79,016 - 219,353 206,133
Training and supervision 7,303 - - 7,303 780
Staff recruitment costs 1,518 - - 1,518 1,557
_ _ _ _ _
149,158 79,016 - 228,174 208,470
_ _ _ _ _
Youth work activities - 211,845 - 211,845 106,401
_ _ _ _ _
Office and other costs
Insurance 3,910 - - 3,910 4,156
Light and heat and water rates 12,128 - - 12,128 17,205
Telephone and internet 2,641 - - 2,641 1,822
Repairs and renewals 13,703 - - 13,703 13,559
Maintenance and cleaning 17,776 - - 17,776 18,450
Printing, Postage and stationery 1,246 - - 1,246 922
Subscriptions 1,230 - - 1,230 1,844
Website 5,986 - - 5,986 495
Sundry expenses 676 - - 676 2,428
Computer support and consumables 5,632 - - 5,632 2,631
Consultancy - - - - 500
Marketing and PR 16,463 - - 16,463 9,062
_ _ _ _ _
81,391 - - 81,391 73,074
_ _ _ _ _
TOTAL COSTS 230,549 290,861 - 521,410 387,945
_ _ _ _ _

22

The Avenues Youth Project Report 2020–2021

Management and administration expenditure

Unrestricted
Restricted
Restricted
Total
Total
Funds
Funds
Building
2021
2020
Fund
£
£
£
£
£
Salary costs
Salary
15,000
-
-
15,000
15,000
_
_
_
_
_
Other costs
Depreciation
1,287
-
35,258
36,545
36,772
Bank charges and interest
514
-
-
514
587
Independent examiners fee
4,740
-
-
4,740
3,300
_
_
_
_
_
6,541
-
35,258
41,799
40,659
_
_
_
_
_
TOTAL COSTS
21,541
-
35,258
56,799
55,659
======
======
======
======
======

23

3-7 Third Avenue, London W10 4RS Tel: 020 8969 9552 info@avenues.org.uk www.avenues.org.uk

AvenuesYouthProject @AvenuesYouth79 @avesyouth