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← The Avenues Youth Project

2025-03-31-accounts

The Avenues Youth Project Annual Report 2024 - 2025

AND FINANCIAL | FOR THE YEAR ENDED

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The Avenues Youth Project Charity Number: 1090210 Company Number: 04045031

The Avenues Youth Project Annual Report 2024 - 2025

Contents

Contents
Company Information 2
Report of the Board of Directors 3
Chief Executive’s Welcome 5
Activities & Programme Achievements 7
Operational Achievements 14
Fundraising Review 14
Financial Review 15
Reserves Policy Statement 16
Structure, Governance and Management 17
Report of the Auditors 18
Statement of Financial Activities 21
Balance Sheet 22
Statement of Cashflow 23
Notes to the Financial Statements 24

Company Information

PATRONS

Susan Aglionby OBE, Founder Dame Karen Buck, DBE Gill Fitzhugh, MBE

CHARITY OFFICES

3-7 Third Avenue, London W10 4RS

COMPANY NUMBER

DIRECTORS

Jennifer Marshall (Chair) Keir Tutt Elad Brindt Shavit: Appointed 05 February 2025 Louisa Gregory Geoffrey White Cllr Eartha Pond Julia Court Chris Murray: Resigned 06 August 2025 Tony Bonnar: Resigned 08 September 2025 Virginia Ashton: Resigned 12 November 2024 Graeme Russell: Resigned 04 March 2025

CHIEF EXECUTIVE

Simon Stanley

04045031

CHARITY NUMBER

1090210

AUDITORS

Azets Audit Services Regis House, 45 King William Street London EC4R

BANKERS

Royal Bank of Scotland 2 Elgin Avenue Harrow Road London W3 3QR

COMPANY SECRETARY

Geoffrey White

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The Avenues Youth Project Annual Report 2024 - 2025

Report of the Board of Directors

The members of the Board of Directors present their report with the financial statements for the financial year ended 31 March 2025. 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:

Our Mission

Our mission is to deliver high quality recreation activities and skills training to young people in west London, to help them fulfil their potential and boost their long-term outcomes.

Our Values

  1. Safe and compassionate - taking our role as trusted adults seriously to provide a kind, respectful and supportive approach to others.

  2. Positive and joyful - inspiring everyone to be themselves, get creative, discover new interests and forge strong friendships.

  3. Empowering - creating opportunities and empowering young people to fulfil their potential.

  4. Trustworthy – delivering high standards of conduct and reliability and keeping our promises.

  5. Committed to community - striving to understand and represent the needs of local young people and to improve their outcomes.

  6. advance the education of such inhabitants;

  7. provide the relief of need, hardship or distress of those living in the area of benefit.

We review our aims, objectives, and activities each year. This review looks at what we achieved and the outcomes of our work in the 12 months to 31 March 2025. It 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 members of the Board of Directors (being our charity’s trustees) consider how planned activities will contribute to the aims and objectives they have set.

Safeguarding

The charity puts children and young people’s best interests 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 Vision

We believe that every child and young person should have the opportunity to realise their potential, whatever their life circumstances.

Our Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy is reviewed and updated annually 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

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that staff, volunteers and partners recognize when this may be happening and what to do about it.

All 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.

Repeat DBS checks are obtained for all staff, qualifying volunteers and members of the Board of Directors every three years. Refresher Safeguarding and Child Protection training is provided to both staff and members of the Board of Directors including the designated Safeguarding Lead at least every two years.

Report from the Chair Jennie Marshall

our transparency with donors and the community, and the way we celebrate and elevate youth voice. It is especially rewarding to see our commitment to placing young people at the centre of all we do formally recognised.

For the first time, The Avenues opened during the Christmas holidays. We ran a three-day programme for Seniors (ages 11–18), including a day of organised trips and two days of varied in-club activities, with a nutritious hot meal made available each day. As always, these were fun days providing valuable experiences free of charge and open to all. It is clear there is a need for this programme, and we are looking forward to opening again this coming Christmas.

The ‘alumni party’ in August 2024, celebrating 45 years of The Avenues, as well as the British Empire Medal awarded to much-loved former leader, Carol Bent, was a joyful end of summer event for former members and staff.

The 2024/25 financial year was a year of success and joy, but also one of sadness for The Avenues, as this and the report below record. It was also a year of transition, as we prepared to say goodbye to our Chief Executive, Paddy Barnes. Originally taking up the role for a oneyear term, Paddy generously extended his leadership to three years. His work was central to ensuring we have been able to remain at the heart of our community, offering a safe, caring, youth-led space for young people, and we offer him sincere thanks and our very best wishes for his year of travel.

We are delighted we were able to secure Simon Stanley as our new Chief Executive from June. With deep local knowledge and a broad range of experience, we are confident he is well placed to lead The Avenues into its next chapter, ensuring we remain that special place where young people choose to come.

It was a proud moment to receive the London Youth Quality Gold Mark once again - now renewed for a further three years - as it recognises our team's hard work and ongoing commitment to the highest standards. It reflects the excellence in the impact of our services, how we evaluate and improve them,

But alongside the highs, we also experienced profound sorrow. The tragic and random fatal shooting of a former Avenues member and youth worker, a lifelong friend and neighbour to many of our staff, sent shockwaves through our community. In response, the North Paddington Serious Violence Task Force was formed, bringing together local individuals, agencies, police borough commanders and gangs’ unit, and organisations like The Avenues, to develop meaningful strategies to

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combat youth violence across borough lines. The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, also visited us to launch a new funding initiative through his Violence Reduction Unit for summer holiday sporting activities. A new government report on serious youth violence emphasised that true change comes when education, statutory, and voluntary sectors work together, so we sincerely hope that this new partnership will have lasting impact.

Thus, we have had times to celebrate and times to come together in sadness to try to create change for a more positive future. We are so fortunate to have a dedicated team of staff who have managed this and whose hard work and commitment bring all our programmes to life. A huge thank you to them all, as well as to our directors, who give so generously of their time and expertise, and to the many individuals, trusts, foundations, and Westminster City Council, without whose generous support and funding none of what we do would be possible.

Jennie Marshall

Chief Executive’s Welcome

Simon Stanley

The financial year 2024/25 was another eventful period for The Avenues. The spectre of youth violence continues to hang over the area, making the efforts to provide a safe space for our young people increasingly important. At the same time, the cost of living placed ever more pressure upon the community in which we operate and the challenges being faced by young people continued to place a great deal of pressure on organisations across the board.

Since its inception in 1979, The Avenues has been at the heart of this community. This financial year we felt that, building on the

activities of the last few years, we wanted to embrace the community even more, in a bid to address some of the issues being faced and seek to reduce youth violence. So, in many ways, 2024/25 became our year about the community.

We started with the recruitment of a Community and Engagement Manager who was tasked with a number of responsibilities intended to promote and enhance our interactions with the community. This role is fundamental to raising the awareness of local people of the services that we offer at The Avenues, at schools and other youth organisations to promote the benefits for young people of attending our centre regularly. We also connect with many other organisations to bring in wider knowledge, and design programmes expected to develop and grow young people in the future. Although perhaps the most important part of the role is Youth Voice, the opportunity for young people to be part of social and political discussions, supporting their right to be heard. Collaborating with local community partners, we hope to develop mechanisms for young people to raise their concerns, hopes and desires.

Our community focus continued with active involvement in local area initiatives. In particular, The Avenues has been a key contributor to the North Paddington Serious Youth Violence Taskforce, a multi agency initiative collaborating with local organisations, police, and schools to address root causes of youth violence. Following the tragic deaths of two young people in the local area, including a former member of The Avenues, we launched a coordinated support programme including trauma-informed counselling, safe transport options, and a reevaluation of our own activities to ensure young people's safety.

More cheerfully, events throughout the 2024/25 financial year have continued to provide opportunities for us to bring the community together and we ran a number of different activities and initiatives: These included:

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The Avenues Youth Project Annual Report 2024 - 2025

Maintaining this focus, over the 2024/25 financial year, we were able to deliver a vibrant, high-impact programme offering over 200 sessions per quarter and engaging over 1,100 individual young people. With a strong focus on inclusion, empowerment, creativity, and community wellbeing, the year saw significant growth and innovation across our core sessions and specialist programmes. Balancing open access sessions and targeted programmes, we have been able to increase the number of young people we have engaged with again this year.

We are committed to the highest quality of youth work and are particularly proud that the year culminated with once again our being awarded the London Youth Gold Award for outstanding provision of youth services. This is the badge of excellence for our sector, a quality assurance programme co-delivered with UK Youth and recognised by City and Guilds, local authorities and funders.

However, none of this would be possible without the support of all of our funders, who collectively provided income exceeding £1.1 million. Whether it is larger organisations who support us with grants or the smaller contributions like running the London Marathon for us, we are truly indebted to the people that help us.

This support allows us to continue to build a fantastic team of people, whose dedication and support in helping young people, both within The Avenues and in the wider community, cannot be beaten. I would like to round off this report by expressing my profound thanks and gratitude to all of the team that make this possible.

Simon Stanley Chief Executive

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The Avenues Youth Project Annual Report 2024 - 2025

Activities & Programme Achievements

Our reach in numbers

Over the 2024/25 financial year we worked with 1,155 children and young people

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After School Provision

We continued to run our term time afterschool programme, with food served at all sessions. Zone Clubs ran three days a week with after-school activities including arts & crafts, kickboxing, cooking, basketball and radio, for children aged 8-11 years. Aves After School ran five days a week for young people aged 11-16 years. Activities included cooking, sports, arts & crafts, time in our music and radio studios, and our Pizza Social Enterprise ‘A Slice of Aves’, where a group of young people have been learning pizza-making and business skills. On Tuesdays, we continued to run our Homework Club for children aged 11-16 years. We are very aware that external academic support such as tutoring is costly and often prohibitive for families in our community. Our

Homework Club is staffed by qualified teachers and Youth Workers. As 20% of those attending Homework Club this year had a disability such as cognitive delays, autism and ADHD, and other young people experienced learning difficulties such as dyslexia, we developed and provided specialised materials to ensure these students were able to access the curriculum effectively. In addition to learning support, we have actively engaged with our students’ families when needed and assisted several families in advocating for better in-school support for their children. Many families lack the confidence or knowledge of the education system to do this and appreciate the help of our staff to navigate the system.

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Girls Only Sessions

We continued to meet the need for space that is just for girls with our Tuesday evening Girls Hub sessions for girls aged 11-18 years. Girls Hub is a space where girls can socialise, eat, chat and have fun. We also provided a minibus service to take girls safely home after each session. The highlight was the Girls’ Hub Sleepover at The Avenues in November 2024. The girls designed the evening which included sharing food, wearing matching PJs, karaoke and games. The sleepover ended with everyone having breakfast together before heading home. All the girls had a great time, including two girls for whom it was their first time sleeping away from home.

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As part of our Sporty Saturday offering we also ran weekly Girls Football sessions facilitated by our FIFA-qualified coach, and during all of our holidays our daily, girls-only Girls World sessions were always popular, with the girls doing crafts, cooking, trips and having fun together without boys!

attributed to the efforts our Youth Workers made to develop sessions that directly responded to our young people’s needs.

“I’ve been able to feel welcome in an area with new people and make new friends and even feel comfortable to speak to workers to help overcome problems or strong feelings. Everyone within Avenues is so nice and have made me feel safe and want to come back every time. I have now started my [Youth Work] level one course that I’m enjoying, and it would not of happened without the motivation and kindness of all the workers setting a good example. Friday Seniors gives me a reason to leave my house and have fun with my friends and provides a safe way to get home which makes me feel safe and comfortable. It has changed me as a person.”

Friday Seniors participant – 2025

Fit Fusion takes place every Saturday night with a range of activities on offer including fitness, tasty food, games and workshops. Active games and challenges such as murder mystery and hide and seek flag tag have been particularly popular this year, alongside sports such as basketball and dodgeball. We were also able to hold workshops in partnership with MIND on topics chosen by young people including anxiety, peer groups and bullying.

Seniors

We continued to run two sessions each week exclusively for our Seniors (those aged 13 to 18 years). Friday Seniors is our weekly Friday evening session which comprises a mix of activities including music production, videography, cooking, podcasting, sports, roller-skating and time to relax. Sessions end with a healthy hot meal. During the 2024/25 financial year, attendance increased significantly from an average of 25 young people per session in 2023/24 to 37 young people in 2024/25. The increase can be

Music at The Avenues

Music plays a big part at The Avenues and this financial year we were excited to develop our partnership with Sony Music Publishing. Besides funding, this included opportunities for our young people to engage with Sony Music Group staff to seek their advice.

As an introduction to music making, we delivered approximately 300 hours of music writing and recording opportunities during the school holidays and Friday Seniors.

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Our holiday programmes were often the first time our young people came into our studios and our sessions focused on introducing studio equipment, understanding different genres of music, and building confidence in singing songs to which they knew the lyrics.

During Friday Seniors , operating a booking system to manage demand, our young people worked individually or in groups. Most of the young people came along on Fridays with ready-written lyrics and our Youth Worker then helped them to structure the lyrics and support them with their confidence while recording.

platform to record original music, create an artist identity and release music onto streaming platforms. During the 2024/25 financial year, we worked one-to-one in our studio with 15 young artists aged between 18 and 21, helping them to develop based on their individual needs. The young people have had access to producers and videographers who have given them guidance, feedback and opportunities to create videos alongside information and support from industry professionals. Several of our cohort were able to release music videos on the Bars Upon Bars Freestyle platform.

Those that progress through our music feeder projects are then offered the chance to participate in Mic Drop , where they learn the tools to develop their musical talents. This last financial year, eight young people completed Mic Drop. Highlights were the visits to Church Studios and Sony Music Group’s London Headquarters. At Church Studios the young people were able to record tracks in their state-of-the-art studios. At Sony, publishing staff hosted our young people for an amazing day where they toured the building, worked with Sony’s publishing engineers and created music. It was a fantastic insight into the world of music for our young people. The 2024/25 Mic Drop Cohort culminated with our young people performing live at our 2025 Fundraiser at The Paradise Pub and Restaurant and during the Final Showcase at The Institute of Contemporary Music Performance (ICMP) London.

Releasement is our advanced music-creation programme that works with Mic Drop graduates and other exceptionally talented local music creators. This gives them a

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Employability

Over the 2024/25 financial year we ran a wide range of skills-based courses. These included our 39-week Youth Work Level 1 Course which once again was a great success. As with previous cohorts we reached out to neighbouring youth clubs and allocated four spaces to North Paddington Youth Club to enable their members to benefit as well. Of the 10 young people who started our 2024/25 course, eight successfully completed it and were awarded their SEG Level 1 Certificate in Exploring Youth Work Youth Work. All four of the young people from Avenues who completed the course were offered 12-month contracts with us as Support Workers, as have two of the young people from North Paddington Youth Club, and are all doing a great job.

have included cooking, videography, hairdressing and barbering, and various beauty skills including Lash, Lift and Tint, and Acrylic Nails.

“Taking part in the Kickstart Kitchen course was an awesome experience! Before, I only knew how to make simple stuff like toast, but now I can cook real meals. I learned how to chop, sauté, and bake, and the best part was trying out recipes from different countries. My favourite was making homemade sushi and Italian pasta from scratch. The instructors were super nice and made everything easy to understand. Now, I feel confident in the kitchen, and I can't wait to keep cooking for my family and friends!” Kickstart 2024 Participant

Kickstart Careers are our entry level 6–12week careers courses which in the last year

Case study: Youth Work Level One Course

AA has been a member of The Avenues for the past 3 years and has attended a range of sessions. In early 2024, AA was facing problems with friendship groups outside of school, and at school she was struggling to engage and was placed in a temporary education facility. AA’s mum was desperate for AA to do something positive and when she found out about our Youth Work Level 1 course she wanted AA to be involved. Following our interview process we were able to offer AA a place in our 24/25 cohort of learners.

Initially, AA was extremely quiet and withdrawn; she wouldn’t make eye contact when speaking to staff or peers. Other members in the group were also very quiet, so we started doing more group work in our lessons to encourage discussion and connections, and within a few weeks we saw AA becoming more confident; she spoke out more and her cheeky character started to show.

During the course, staff at The Avenues saw AA’s confidence change significantly to the point where she now jokes with our staff in the corridors, openly comes and asks questions, and shows an interest in how the club is run. AA was committed to her studies and particularly excelled in the work experience element of the course. She arrived early to work, wearing her uniform and demonstrating a great attitude to learning. As a result, when AA successfully graduated with her SEC Awards Level 1 Certificate in Exploring Youth Work we were delighted to offer her a 12-month role as a Support Worker at The Avenues.

AA’s mother explained how the course has positively impacted AA’s life; telling us that AA’s “confidence has gone from 0-150 and she has become so confident in everything she does” . There have also been impressive changes in her school life. Her mum shared that AA has a much more positive attitude to school now. During the last year her school grades have “drastically improved” to the extent that AA asked to be moved into higher academic sets. Her school said no and gave AA an action plan to meet before they would consider making the change. AA exceeded the plan and has now moved up sets in almost all of her subjects. Her mum told us it is no longer a headache to get AA to complete homework as she is much more independent and approaches school far more positively.

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Sporty Saturdays

We continued to run Sporty Saturdays every Saturday afternoon year-round and it remains one of our busiest sessions. Activities included Beginner and Intermediate Judo sessions (delivered in partnership with Moberly Stars Judo Club), football, girls-only football and multisports, which in the last year has included basketball, roller-skating, dodgeball, badminton and circuits. We also ran chess sessions which have helped young people develop problem-solving and concentration skills and have been a great way to promote fair play in sport for those that don’t want to engage in a physical activity every session. In addition, we run cooking classes where young people learn how to make healthy meals.

The highlight of our holiday programmes are always the trips, with young people having the opportunity to try a range of new activities and experiences. This year popular trips included to Thorpe Park, iFly (where young people tried indoor sky diving), indoor skiing, Ninja Warrior, Woburn Safari Park, Gootopia and immersive gaming experiences such as The Cube. We also trialled a loyalty card app for our older members, with young people getting a virtual ‘stamp’ for term time attendance and spaces on our main summer trip to Thorpe Park being awarded to those with the most ‘stamps’. This was a great success with session attendances during the summer term significantly increasing.

School Holidays

The school holidays continue to be the busiest time of year at The Avenues. During the 2024/25 financial year we were open every weekday from 10am to 4pm during 11 weeks of the school holidays including, for the first time, opening for three days over the Christmas holidays. Every day young people were able to choose from a range of activities including arts & crafts, cooking, games, multisports, football and time in our music studio and podcasting room. We also held daily girlsand boys-only sessions.

In addition to our day trips, we sent two groups of young people on residentials. One group went to Sayers Croft Outdoor Learning centre in Surrey and the other to the Hambleden Valley with The Turville School Trust. Residentials like these are often the first experience our young people have of being away from the city and spending time surrounded by nature. The impact of this change in environment is immediate and powerful, with children able to run, explore, and play in ways that they cannot at home.

Another highlight this year was our partnership with drinks company Duppy Share on a British Bake-off competition during our Summer 2024 programme. Each week participants learnt a new theme, related to cake baking, presentation, design and marketing. After they sourced recipes, we provided the ingredients and space to bake. Duppy Share staff judged the competition and provided a

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£100 voucher for the winning team. We noticed this activity really helped boost the confidence of some of our shyer members.

Mentoring

Informal mentoring is a key element of all our youth programmes, with our dedicated and qualified Youth Workers acting as role models and providing support and advice to our young people as and when they need it. Our Mentoring Programme , however, enables us to work intensively on a one-to-one basis with young people who need additional support or guidance to help them address issues including low self-esteem, low ambition, and poor lifestyle choices. Over 12 weeks, our qualified mentors work with their mentee to present alternative perspectives, provide consistent support and an empathic understanding of their lived experience. Over the 2024/25 financial year we ran three mentoring cohorts, supporting a total of 25 young people. Based on results across the three cohorts, our mentoring programme made a consistently positive impact on young people, particularly in the areas of happiness and self-esteem.

concept by the videographer David Blandy, who created a film at The Avenues in 2003 looking at culture, language and slang in Queens Park. This time we were able to run a series of sessions for young people, supporting them to create their own film exploring the same topic. The highlight was screening the film in February during one of our Friday Seniors sessions where the new film was shown alongside the original 2003 film. David Blandy returned for the screening which was also attended by family and friends of those involved in the film production.

Our 2024 Wellbeing Champions programme saw two cohorts of young people aged 15-18 complete a six-week training programme which equipped them to provide peer-to-peer wellbeing support. These Wellbeing Champions are now active around the club, providing support as needed to their peers.

Food

Food remains at the heart of our programmes, and we continued to provide food at all of our open access sessions, ensuring no young person went hungry while they were with us. We also continued to partner with The Felix Project and City Harvest to distribute food boxes to the most vulnerable members in our community.

Special Projects

Thanks to generous funding we were also able to run several short-term projects during the 2024/25 financial year. Our Queen’s Park Film Project enabled us to revisit an original

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Operational Achievements

Over the 2024/25 financial year the following operational developments took place:

Fundraising Review

As we have no endowment fund, The Avenues raises income from external sources to cover running costs and deliver our wide range of services. Our income strategy focuses on maintaining a diverse and sustainable funding

base, reducing reliance on any single funder. During the 2024/25 financial year, this approach continued to be effective, with a combination of 47 grant funders and donations, and self-sustainability income through regular rental income. This enabled us to meet our budgeted programme and operational costs.

Our small fundraising team comprises a parttime Fundraising Manager and a part-time Impact and Evaluation Manager, both supported by the Chief Executive. In addition, we are fortunate to have committed community supporters who assist with events and help connect us to potential donors and partners.

During the 2024/25 financial year, the majority of non-capital income came from a number of generous trusts and foundations. Key funders included the National Lottery, Henry Smith Foundation, Westminster Foundation, City Bridge Foundation and The Hadley Trust, to name just a few of our highly valued supporters. We were also pleased to participate in The Childhood Trust’s Champion’s For Children Big Give campaign for the first time. This successful online match funding campaign raised an amazing £40,000 towards our activities.

Westminster City Council remained our largest funder over the last 12 months, with grants for both core costs and projects; accounting for over £250,000 of our total income in 2024/25.

We were delighted to start a new relationship with Sony Music Group which is supporting our music programmes both financially and with opportunities for our young people to learn from Sony Music Group professionals.

Our fundraising efforts were supplemented by rental income, regular donations, and community fundraising initiatives by local businesses all contributing to our unrestricted funding. This included income from our annual community party which was once again held at The Paradise pub in Kensal Green. Huge thanks as ever to Nick Pring at Urban Pubs & Bars for once again letting us use his amazing venue and for donating a share of the bar takings.

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Financial Review

Income

At £1,184,480 (2024: £1,181,477) operational income (excluding capital grants), was very close to that received last year and, at 97%, was broadly in line with target income for the year.

This enabled us to continue our varied and extensive programme of activities for young people as described above. A capital grant of £4,200 from The Percy Bilton Charity also allowed us to install the basketball hoops recommended by the London Basketball Association.

Over 80% of income continues to come from grants and donations, and we are indebted to the many trusts and foundations who support us, as well as Westminster City Council in its many different guises. With 2024/25 being the ‘fallow year’ for our flagship auction dinner, income from direct fundraising reduced, but we are looking to increase other self-sustaining sources of income in the future. Meanwhile, sterling work has been undertaken by our company secretary to ensure that we have taken advantage of the interest rates on offer for fixed deposits, while still limiting our exposure.

Expenditure

Overall expenditure increased by 13% to £1,246,684 (2024: £1,107,252).

Although management and administration costs were impacted by the decision to hire an experienced HR manager in October, and to raise the contracted hours of the Financial Controller, the majority of the increase in spend related to direct charitable expenditure.

Within this category, the charity’s main cost will always be its dedicated team of staff and youth workers, and a pay increase recognising inflationary pressures and the continued commitment to paying the London Living Wage inevitably added to staff costs, some of which are covered by restricted grants.

An increase of 34% in the amount spent on other aspects of youth work is indicative of a

focus on delivery. This will have been felt directly by our service users – in the opportunities they have been offered, the materials purchased for their benefit and the food that has been provided for them as they enjoy the activities on offer.

Fundraising costs were significantly reduced this financial year without any auction dinner costs.

Of note within Office and Other Costs:

Net Result

The income and expenditure outlined above resulted in a deficit of £58,004 in 2024/25 compared to a surplus of £450,347 in 2023/24. The latter reflected the significant capital grant from Westminster City Council which helped modernise and secure our building. It increased the Restricted Fixed Asset Fund immediately but will only impact the statement of financial activity and reduce the Fund gradually over the term of the lease through the depreciation charge. Excluding this charge in 2024/25, there was a surplus of £20,048.

The full deficit is reflected in a £17,094 reduction in the Restricted Fixed Asset Fund (with the depreciation charge outweighing the purchase of new assets) and a reduction of £48,100 in the Designated Funds held in readiness for such purchases. The Restricted Youth Work Activity Funds also reduced by £52,819 with fewer balances on individual projects needing to be carried forward. On the other hand the general reserves increased by

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£60,009, keeping them in line with our Reserves Policy.

access to the funds. The interest earned helps counter inflationary pressures on wages and other costs without us having to turn to funders to meet these increased costs.

Reserves Policy

Statement

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

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

The base case risk is that The Avenues will not have sufficient funds to enable our 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 any other significant change in circumstances, such as moving premises, which The Avenues’ Board of Directors believes could enable the activities and support to continue being provided to the beneficiaries.

Following guidance by the Charity Commission, the charity has adopted a low-risk investment strategy, placing the majority of reserves in deposit and treasury accounts which have Financial Services Compensation Scheme protection, whilst holding sufficient funds in instant access accounts to meet short-term needs. We carefully spread deposits to mature at regular intervals in case we need emergency

Monitoring and Reviewing Reserves Policy

The actual operating costs of The Avenues are closely monitored by the Board of Directors and the Finance Committee of The Avenues. Together with details of the cash balances, deferred income, and restricted and unrestricted reserves, these are the subject of monthly ‘financial dashboards’ presented to the Finance Committee and quarterly reports submitted to the Board of Directors. At each of its quarterly meetings, the Board of Directors considers whether, in the light of events which have occurred or are expected to occur, any change or changes should be made to the expected amounts of the targeted and minimum unallocated reserves.

Reserves as at 31 March 2025

The Restricted Fixed Asset Fund of £1,909,865 now includes all tangible fixed assets.

While Westminster Council owns the freehold to the land, The Avenues leases the property and pays the council a peppercorn rent in recognition of The Avenues’ agreement to providing services and support to young people and the local community. The nature of the lease, which has 76 years remaining, is that The Avenues is wholly responsible for the repair, maintenance and improvement of the property. The Board of Directors therefore considers it prudent to hold a Designated Fund of £148,500 to cover repairs and building works required to maintain and further improve the charity’s youth centre and major asset. A schedule of proposed works, alongside the inevitable repairs, supports this balance.

The Restricted Youth Work Activity Fund balance of £53,307 represents project income recognised in the period but not yet spent and so carried forward to be spent on the intended project in the following year.

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The Avenues Youth Project Annual Report 2024 - 2025

At £469,891, the remaining Unrestricted reserves cover 4.5 months of 2025-26 budgeted expenditure. When combined with designated funds this rises to 6 months - in line with our stated policy.

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 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 winding-up 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.

The Board of Directors

The business of the charity is managed by its non-executive Directors, of whom there are currently seven, including Jennie Marshall, the Chair. The Directors, who are also only members of the charity, constitute the trustees of the charity.

The Directors meet a minimum of four times a year and normally hold an annual ‘Away Day’ for in-depth review of particular subjects relevant to the charity.

There are three committees of the Directors: Personnel, Finance and Buildings, and each of these committees meet on an ad-hoc basis, coopting qualified volunteers where appropriate. A Black Heritage Action forum brings a number of the Directors and staff together to agree and oversee best practice on equality, diversity and cultural competence.

No Director is remunerated by the charity for any of their time spent in connection with the affairs of the charity.

Chief Executive

The Directors have delegated day-to-day management of the charity to the Chief Executive. The Chief Executive attends all meetings of the Directors and is an ex-officio member of each of the Directors’ committees. The performance of the Chief Executive is the subject of annual reviews carried out by the Chair.

Signed on behalf of the Directors Jennie Marshall - Chair, 11[th] November 2025

New Directors, with relevant skills, experience, knowledge and qualifications are recruited from time to time. Any person appointed as a Director by the existing Directors holds office until the next Annual General Meeting of the members at which time they become eligible for re-election.

At each AGM one-third of the then existing Directors are required to retire but are eligible for re-election.

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The Avenues Youth Project Annual Report 2024 - 2025

Report of the Auditors

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of The Avenues Youth Project (the ‘charitable company’) for the year ended 31 March 2025 which comprise the statement of financial activities, the balance sheet, the statement of cash flows and the notes to the financial statements, including a summary of significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

In our opinion, the financial statements:

Basis for opinion

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

Conclusions relating to going concern

In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the Board of Director’s 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 Board of Directors with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.

Other information

The other information comprises the information included in the annual report other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. The Board of Directors 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.

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The Avenues Youth Project Annual Report 2024 - 2025

Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006

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

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the company and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the Board of Director’s report.

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

preparing the Board of Directors’ report and from the requirement to prepare a strategic report.

Responsibilities of the Directors

As explained more fully in the statement of the Board of Directors’ responsibilities, the Directors, 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 Board of Directors 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 Board of Directors 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 Board of Directors either intend to liquidate the charitable company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

A further description of our responsibilities is available on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at:

https://www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities

This description forms part of our auditor’s report.

Extent to which the audit was considered capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud

Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above and on the Financial Reporting Council’s website, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud.

We obtain and update our understanding of the entity, its activities, its control

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The Avenues Youth Project Annual Report 2024 - 2025

environment, and likely future developments, including in relation to the legal and regulatory framework applicable and how the entity is complying with that framework. Based on this understanding, we identify and assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to fraud or error, design and perform audit procedures responsive to those risks, and obtain audit evidence that is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion. This includes consideration of the risk of acts by the entity that were contrary to applicable laws and regulations, including fraud.

In response to the risk of irregularities and noncompliance with laws and regulations, including fraud, we designed procedures which included:

the financial statements, as we will be less likely to become aware of instances of noncompliance. The risk of not detecting a material misstatement resulting from fraud is higher than for one resulting from error, as fraud may involve collusion, forgery, intentional omissions, misrepresentations, or the override of internal control.

Use of our report

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

John Howard (Senior Statutory Auditor)

For and on behalf of Azets Audit Services, Statutory Audit, Chartered Accountants 2nd Floor, Regis House 45 King William Street London EC4R 9AN

27 November 2025

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

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The Avenues Youth Project Annual Report 2024 - 2025

Statement of Financial Activities

Income and expenditure for year ended 31 March 2025

Note
Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
Youth
Work
Activity
Funds
Restricted
Fixed Asset
Fund
Total
2025
Total 2024
£
£
£
£
£
Incoming Resources
Grants and donations
2
299,400
695,917
4,200
999,517
1,373,769
Other Fundraising
43,972
-
-
43,972
81,139
Investment income
29,552
-
-
29,552
16,625
Rental income
97,088
-
-
97,088
85,376
Other income
18,551
-
-
18,551
690
Total incoming resources
488,563
695,917
4,200
1,188,680
1,557,599
Resources Expended
Cost of generating funds:
Fundraising expenses
8,793
-
-
8,793
21,686
Charitable expenditure:
Direct charitable
expenditure
3
341,417
662,151
-
1,003,568
884,174
Management and
administration
4
59,040
93,032
82,251
234,323
201,392
Total resources expended
409,250
755,183
82,251
1,246,684
1,107,252
Net surplus for the year
79,313
(59,266)
(78,051)
(58,004)
450,347
Fund balances brought forward
606,482
106,126
1,926,959
2,639,567
2,189,220
Transfer between funds
(67,404)
6,447
60,957
-
-
Fund balances carried forward
618,391
53,307
1,909,865
2,581,563
2,639,567

CONTINUING OPERATIONS

All income and expenditure has arisen from continuing activities.

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The Avenues Youth Project Annual Report 2024 - 2025

Balance Sheet

As at 31 March 2025

As at 31 March 2025
Note Total 2025 Total 2024
£ £
Fixed Assets
Tangible assets 7 1,909,865 1,926,959
Investments - 8 - 87,991
Deposits falling due after one year
Current Assets
Cash at bank & in hand 286,724 422,952
Debtors 9 40,056 53,030
Investments - 8 671,442 492,229
Deposits fallingdue in under oneyear
998,222 968,211
Creditors
Amounts falling due within one year 10 (326,524) (343,594)
Net Assets 2,581,563 2,639,567
Funds
General reserves 11 469,891 409,882
Designated funds 11 148,500 196,600
Restricted Youth Work Activity Funds 11 53,307 106,126
Restricted Fixed Asset Fund 11 1,909,865 1,926,959
2,581,563 2,639,567

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

The financial statements were approved by the Board of Directors on 11 November 2025 and were signed on its behalf by:

J. Marshall (Chair)

Geoffrey White (Company Secretary)

The Avenues Youth Project Charity Number 1090210 Company Number 04045031

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The Avenues Youth Project Annual Report 2024 - 2025

Statement of Cashflow

Statement of Cashflow Statement of Cashflow Statement of Cashflow Statement of Cashflow
Reconciliation of net cash (used in) Operating
Activities
2025
2024
£
£
Net income/(loss) for the reporting period
(58,004)
450,347
Adjustments
for:
Bank interest
Depreciation
(Increase)/ decrease in debtors
Increase/ (decrease)in creditors		 (29,552)
82,251
12,974
(17,070)		 (16,625)
76,065
(18,134)
20,807
(9,401) 512,460
Net cash used in operating activities
Cash flows from investing activities
Deposit interest
Fixed assets purchases
Investment in fixed deposits		 (9,401)
24,249
(65,157)
(91,222)		 512,460
11,974
(399,551)
(580,220)
Cash flows from financing activities
Bank interest received		 5,303 4,651
(136,228) (450,686)
Net (decrease)/increase in cash and cash equivalents
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of year
422,952
873,638
Cash and cash equivalents at end of year
286,724
422,952

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The Avenues Youth Project Annual Report 2024 - 2025

Notes to the Financial Statements

Note 1. Accounting Policies

1.1 Basis of preparation

These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with Financial Reporting Standard 102 "The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland" and the Companies Act 2006; and the requirements of the Statement of Recognised Practice, Accounting and Reporting by Charities (effective 1 January 2015).

The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention as modified by the revaluation of certain assets and the recognition of certain financial assets and liabilities at fair value.

The financial statements are presented in sterling (£) which is also the functional currency for the charity.

1.2 Going concern

After reviewing the charity’s cashflow projections and taking into account the economic conditions (given inflation levels), the members of the Board of Directors have a reasonable expectation that the charity has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. The charity therefore continues to adopt the going concern basis in preparing its financial statements.

Accounting estimates and judgements are continually evaluated and are based on historical experience and other factors, including expectations of future events that are believed to be reasonable.

The following judgements (apart from those involving estimates) have been made in the process of applying the above accounting policies:

Useful economic lives of tangible assets

The annual depreciation charge for tangible assets is sensitive to changes in the estimated useful economic lives and residual values of the assets. The useful economic lives and residual values are re-assessed annually. They are amended when necessary to reflect current estimates, based on technological advancement, future investments, economic utilisation and physical condition of the assets. See note 7 for the carrying amount of the land and buildings, plant and equipment and motor vehicles, and note 1.10 for the useful economic lives for each class of assets.

There are no key assumptions concerning the future and other key sources of estimation uncertainty at the reporting date that have a significant risk of causing a material adjustment to the carrying amount of assets and liabilities within the next financial year.

1.4 Legal status

The charity is a private limited company by guarantee and has no share capital. The liability of each member in the event of winding up is limited to £1.

1.5 Public benefit

The charitable company meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS 102

1.6 Fund accounting

Unrestricted funds can be used in accordance with the charitable objectives at the discretion of the members of the Board of Directors.

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The Avenues Youth Project Annual Report 2024 - 2025

Designated funds are unrestricted funds of the charity which the Board of Directors has decided, at its discretion, to set aside to use for a specific purpose. Further explanation of the nature and purpose of each fund is included in the notes to the financial statements.

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

The Restricted Fixed Asset Fund represents historic grants received to fund expenditure on leasehold property and other fixed assets; this expenditure has been capitalised and will be written off as set out in Note 1.10 below. The Restricted Asset Fund exactly represents the Net Book Value of all Fixed Assets and will be released annually to match the Depreciation Charge for each future year.

1.7 Income recognition

Incoming resources are included in full in the Statement of Financial Activities (SoFA) when the charity is legally entitled to the income after any performance conditions have been met, when the amount can be measured reliably and when it is probable that the income will be received. For the charity this comprises:

Grants, where entitlement is not conditional on the delivery of specific performance by the charity, are recognised over a period not exceeding 18 months from the time there is unconditional entitlement to the grant.

1.8 Expenditure recognition

All expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis and has been classified by category. Expenditure is recognised where there is a legal or constructive obligation to make payments to third parties, it is probable that the settlement will be required and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. It is categorised under the following headings:

1.9 Allocation of support and governance costs

Support costs are those that assist the work of the charity but do not directly represent charitable activities and include office costs, governance costs and administrative costs. They are incurred directly in support of expenditure on the objects of the charity. At present these costs are not allocated across the charitable activities.

1.10 Fixed assets

Tangible fixed assets are stated at cost less accumulated depreciation. Cost includes costs directly attributable to making the asset capable of operating as intended. Depreciation is provided on all tangible fixed assets, at rates calculated to write off the cost, less estimated residual value, of each asset on a systematic basis over its expected useful life as follows:

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The Avenues Youth Project Annual Report 2024 - 2025

1.11 Investments – Deposits

The charity's cash balances all relate to Working Capital but full advantage is taken of shortterm deposit interest where our cash flow indicates this is possible e.g. where grants have been received for a future period or where funds have been designated for future cyclical or extraordinary costs associated with the building we occupy. The amounts and maturity dates are approved in advance by the Finance Committee, ensuring that exposure is limited and maturity dates are spread in accordance with cashflow requirements.

Deposits are recognised at the value of the amount deposited and classified according to maturity. Amounts maturing over one year are shown as fixed assets and amounts maturing under one year are shown as current assets.

1.12 Debtors

Trade and other debtors are recognised at the settlement amount due. Prepayments are valued at the amount prepaid. Accrued income is measured at the amount due to be received.

1.13 Cash and cash equivalents

Cash at bank and cash in hand includes cash and deposits with a maturity date of three months or less from the date of opening.

1.14 Creditors

Creditors are recognised when there is a present obligation resulting from a past event that will probably result in the transfer of funds to a third party and the amount due to settle the obligation can be measured or estimated reliably. Other creditors and accruals are recognised at their settlement amount due.

1.15 Financial instruments

The charity only has assets and financial liabilities of a kind that qualify as basic financial instruments. Basic financial instruments are initially recognised at transaction value and subsequently measured at their settlement value with the exception of bank loans which are subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method.

1.16 Taxation

The charitable company is considered to pass the tests set out in Paragraph 1 Schedule 6 Finance Act 2010 and therefore it meets the definition of a charitable company for UK corporation tax purposes. Accordingly, the charity is potentially exempt from taxation in respect of income or capital gains received within categories covered by Chapter 3 Part II Corporation Tax Act 2010 or Section 256 of the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992, to the extent that such income or gains are applied exclusively to charitable purposes.

1.17 Value added tax

Value added tax is not recoverable by the charitable company and as such is included in the relevant costs in the Statement of Financial Activities.

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The Avenues Youth Project Annual Report 2024 - 2025

Note 2. Grants and Donations

Restricted Restricted
Youth Work Restricted
Unrestricted Activity Fixed
funds Funds Asset Fund Total 2025 Total 2024
£ £ £ £ £
Bernard Sunley Foundation - - - - 25,000
CHK Foundation - - - - 31,250
City Bridge Foundation - 41,667 - 41,667 30,000
City of Westminster Charitable
Trust		 - 12,245 - 12,245 15,745
Dan Silverton Parker 10,000 - - 10,000 -
Drapers Charitable Fund - - - - 3,750
Edward Harvist Trust - 1,125 - 1,125 1,875
Esmée Fairbairn Foundation - 15,000 - 15,000 7,500
Everyone Active - 8,016 - 8,016 7,020
For Foundation - - - - 10,000
French American Charitable
Trust		 - - - - 8,000
Garfield Weston Foundation 30,000 - - 30,000 17,500
Global Media - - - - 16,500
Greater London Authority - - - - 6,899
Henry Smith Foundation 53,750 - - 53,750 48,750
HS2 Community Fund - 22,500 - 22,500 25,000
Hyde Park Place Estate Charity 6,000 - - 6,000 6,000
Jack Petchey Foundation - 2,700 - 2,700 2,700
Joan Ainslie Charitable Trust 10,000 - - 10,000 10,000
John Lyon's Charity - 55,000 - 55,000 65,667
Kusuma Trust UK - - - - 10,417
London Youth - 2,800 - 2,800 6,480
Luckies of London - - - - 9,321
Mayor's Fund for London
(Kitchen Social)		 - 13,911 - 13,911 10,051
Mayor’s Office for Policing and
Crime		 - 36,267 - 36,267 -
Navarac Ltd - - - - 3,138
Octavia Foundation - - - - 6,000
Paddington Charities 5,000 - - 5,000 7,500
Peoples Postcode Lottery - - - - 25,000
Pineapple Youth Trust 18,333 - - 18,333 22,500
Queen's Park Community
Council		 - - - - 3,333
Sony Music Group - 22,518 - 22,518 -
Sovereign Network Group - 7,621 - 7,621 1,524
Sport England - 3,475 - 3,475 8,614
St James' Place Charitable Trust
- - - - 5,000
Strand Parishes Trust 5,000 - - 5,000 10,000
The Angus Lawson Memorial
Trust		 - - - - 7,063
The Childhood Trust - 7,500 - 7,500 -

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The Avenues Youth Project Annual Report 2024 - 2025

Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
Youth Work
Activity
Funds
Restricted
Fixed
Asset Fund
Total 2025
Total 2024
£
£
£
£
£
The Church Studios -
5,000
5,000
-
The Hadley Trust 30,000
13,000
-
43,000
12,000
The Hobson Charity -
-
-
-
5,000
The Joe Strummer Foundation -
-
-
-
9,000
The National Lottery
Community Fund		 -
104,821
-
104,821
110,906
The Percy Bilton Charity -
-
4,200
4,200
-
The Sheldon Trust -
10,000
-
10,000
8,333
The Swire Charitable Trust 3,333
-
-
3,333
6,667
The Tom ap Rhys Pryce
Memorial Trust		 -
10,000
-
10,000
5,000
The Young Westminster
Foundation		 -
8,867
-
8,867
19,470
Two Magpies Fund -
20,000
-
20,000
13,750
Universal Music Recordings -
5,000
-
5,000
10,000
Westminster Almshouses
Foundation		 -
8,333
-
8,333
1,667
Westminster Amalgamated -
-
-
-
8,000
Westminster City Council 78,333
146,123
-
224,456
482,373
Westminster City Council (HAF) -
26,550
-
26,550
33,108
Westminster Foundation -
55,119
-
55,119
52,878
Wyseliot Rose Charitable Trust 5,500
-
-
5,500
5,500
Other grants -
11,527
-
11,527
13,323
Other donations 44,151
19,232
-
63,383
101,697
299,400
695,917
4,200
999,517
1,373,769

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The Avenues Youth Project Annual Report 2024 - 2025

Note 3. Direct Charitable Expenditure

Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
Youth Work
Activity
Funds
Total 2025
Total 2024
£
£
£
£
Salaries and staff costs
Salaries, NI and pensions 180,953
385,655
566,608
544,969
Training and supervision 3,294
-
3,294
2,229
Staff recruitment costs 17,468
-
17,468
2,506
201,715
385,655
587,370
549,704
Youth work activities -
261,076
261,076
195,318
Office and other costs
Insurance 9,002
-
9,002
10,548
Light and heat and water rates 17,189
9,420
26,609
27,773
Telephone and internet 3,387
-
3,387
2,767
Repairs and renewals 11,003
3,000
14,003
7,506
Maintenance and cleaning 66,142
-
66,142
57,927
Printing, postage and stationery 2,896
-
2,896
1,230
Subscriptions 3,341
-
3,341
3,177
Website -
-
-
-
Sundry expenses 142
-
142
180
Computer support and consumables 8,557
-
8,557
7,207
Consultancy 1,083
-
1,083
11,540
Subsistence 10,049
-
10,049
4,197
Motor vehicle costs 2,079
-
2,079
2,078
Bad debt 463
-
463
-
Marketingand PR 4,369
3,000
7,369
3,022
139,702
15,420
155,122
139,152
341,417
662,151
1,003,568
884,174

Note 4. Management and Administration Expenditure

Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
Youth Work
Activity
Funds
Restricted
Fixed
Asset Fund
Total 2025
Total 2024
£
£
£
£
£
Salary Costs
Salary 41,476
93,032
-
134,508
102,883
Other Costs
Depreciation -
-
82,251
82,251
76,065
Bank charges and interest 1,716
-
-
1,716
1,088
Audit fee 9,507
-
-
9,507
17,428
Legal andprofessional fees 6,341
-
-
6,341
3,928
59,040
93,032
82,251
234,323
201,392

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The Avenues Youth Project Annual Report 2024 - 2025

Note 5. Operating Surplus/ (Deficit)

Operating deficit is shown after charging:
Total 2025
Total 2024
£
£
Depreciation on tangible fixed assets 82,251
76,065
Auditors’ remuneration (fees including
VAT):
- for audit 11,400
9,600
- for other services (1,893)
7,828

Note 6. Staff Costs

Note 6. Staff Costs
Total 2025
Total 2024
£
£
Wages and salaries 648,457
595,012
Social security costs 35,726
38,925
Staff pension 16,933
13,915
Other staff costs -
-
701,116
647,852

As a charity, no trustee received any remuneration during the year in their capacity as a trustee. None of the trustees have reclaimed travelling and other expenses.

The average weekly number of full time equivalent staff employed by the charity during the year was as follows:

as follows:
Total 2025
Total 2024
Administrative work 3
3
Direct charitable work 13
13
16
16

The number of employees whose annual remuneration was £60,000 or more were:

Total 2025 Total 2024
£60,000 - £69,999 - -
£70,000 - £79,999 1 1

The key management of the charity comprises the Chief Executive. The total employee benefits of the key management personnel for the year were £74,380 (2024: £71,933).

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The Avenues Youth Project Annual Report 2024 - 2025

Note 7. Fixed Assets

Note 7. Fixed Assets
Furniture
Leasehold and Motor
property Equipment Vehicles Total
£ £ £ £
COST
As at 31 March 2024 2,711,501
194,323		 22,420 2,928,244
Additions 41,315
23,842		 - 65,157
Disposals -
-		 - -
As at 31 March 2025 2,752,816
218,165		 22,420 2,993,401
DEPRECIATION
As at 31 March 2024 805,647
183,307		 12,331 1,001,285
Charge for theyear 68,926
8,841		 4,484 82,251
As at 31 March 2025 874,573
192,148		 16,815 1,083,536
NET BOOK VALUES
As at 31 March 2025 1,878,243
26,017		 5,605 1,909,865
As at 31 March 2024 1,905,854
11,016		 10,089 1,926,959

Note 8. Investments

UK cash deposits
31-Mar-24
Disposal/
Transfer
Additions
31-Mar-25
£
£
£
£
Maturity date of over 1year
Cambridge & Counties Bank 87,991
(87,991)
-
-
Maturity date of less than 1 year
Cambridge & Counties Bank -
87,991
-
87,991
Royal Bank of Scotland 303,449
(303,449)
-
-
Allica Bank 85,000
(85,000)
90,000
90,000
Clydesdale Bank 103,780
(85,000)
4,671
23,451
Redwood Bank -
-
85,000
85,000
Close Brothers Saving -
-
215,000
215,000
Hampshire Trust Bank -
-
85,000
85,000
United Trust Bank -
-
85,000
85,000
492,229
(385,458)
564,671
671,442

31

The Avenues Youth Project Annual Report 2024 - 2025

Note 9. Debtors

Note 9. Debtors
Total 2025
Total 2024
Trade debtors 29,709
42,285
Prepayments 4,222
9,065
Accrued income 6,125
1,680
40,056
53,030

Note 10. Creditors

Note 10. Creditors
Total 2025
Total 2024
Trade creditors 5,960
12,507
SS & other taxes 9,168
10,732
Accruals 24,289
17,113
Deferred Income 276,035
295,812
Other creditors 11,072
7,430
326,524
343,594

32

The Avenues Youth Project Annual Report 2024 - 2025

Note 11. Funds

Note 11. Funds
Current year fund note:
Opening
Balance
Incoming
Resources
Resources
Expended
Transfers
Closing
Balance
£
£
£
£
£
Unrestricted Funds
General reserves 409,882
488,563
(409,250)
(19,304)
469,891
Designated Funds 196,600
-
-
(48,100)
148,500
606,482
488,563
(409,250)
(67,404)
618,391
Restricted Youth Work Activity
Funds		 106,126
695,917
(755,183)
6,447
53,307
Restricted Fixed Asset Fund 1,926,959
4,200
(82,251)
60,957
1,909,865
Total Funds 2,639,567
1,188,680
(1,246,684)
-
2,581,563
Prior year comparative fund
note:
Opening
Balance
Incoming
Resources
Resources
Expended
Transfers
Closing
Balance
£
£
£
£
£
Unrestricted Funds
General reserves 290,831
644,304
(501,312)
(23,941)
409,882
Designated Funds 200,000
-
-
(3,400)
196,600
490,831
644,304
(501,312)
(27,341)
606,482
Restricted Youth Work Activity
Funds		 94,916
537,173
(529,875)
3,912
106,126
Restricted Fixed Asset Fund 1,603,473
376,122
(76,065)
23,429
1,926,959
Total Funds 2,189,220
1,557,599
(1,107,252)
-
2,639,567

Designated Funds

This represents the amount that the trustees felt it prudent to ring fence for building maintenance and improvements in the coming year.

Restricted Funds

Youth Work Activity Project Funds: This amount represents restricted project income remaining as at the year end - to be spent in 2025/6.

Fixed Assets Fund: This amount represents the value of fixed assets shown in note 7.

33

The Avenues Youth Project Annual Report 2024 - 2025

Note 12. Analysis of Net Assets between Funds

Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
Youth Work
Activity
Funds
Restricted
Fixed
Asset Fund
Total
£
£
£
£
Fixed Assets -
-
1,909,865
1,909,865
Current assets 944,915
53,307
-
998,222
Current liabilities (326,524)
-
-
(326,524)
618,391
53,307
1,909,865
2,581,563

Note 13. Related Party Transactions

There were no related party transactions in either the current or the prior year.

Note 14. Ultimate Controlling Party

The charitable company is considered to have no ultimate controlling party.

Note 15. Subsequent Events

There have been no subsequent events.

34

THE AVE UES YOUTH P OJECT 3-7 Third Avenue. London. WIO 4RS Tel: 020 8969 9552 info@avenues.org.uk www.ovenues.org.uk ovesyouth avesyouth ovesyouth th ALITY MARK LD ACCREDI IE