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2021-03-31-accounts

Report and financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2021

Company number: 4360133 Charity number: 1090781

2020/21 has been a year of great challenge and uncertainty for the whole country. It has been an incredibly hard year for many individuals and organisations. I am very grateful to all of those at Support Through Court who have worked to make such a positive difference in our courts during this time.

During this unprecedented public health emergency, the MoJ and HMCTS have worked hard to keep our justice system functioning and have changed their working practices to ensure people can still access the court system with extensive use of remote hearings via telephone and video conferencing. Most courts were still functioning with a focus on priority cases, such as domestic abuse, and we are proud to report that with your support, our volunteers have helped litigants in person on over 28,000 occasions last financial year.

Thanks to the resilience and hard work of staff and volunteers, we swiftly moved to a home working model for the charity. We temporarily closed our face-to-face services and refocused our efforts on remote support for those facing the justice system alone. Our National Helpline, launched in March 2020, grew quickly, and recorded over 15,000 client contacts over the year.

I would like to thank all our volunteers who have continued to support the charity and many of whom have taken up supporting clients over the phone and on remote video hearings. We are so grateful to our 558 dedicated volunteers who donate so much time and care and make such a difference to our clients’ experiences of the law.

A big thank you also to all of Support Through Court’s funders and supporters. We have been able to give vital help to thousands of vulnerable court users who have no access to legal representation in times of crisis. During the year, we launched our new Guardians’ Network, and are proud of and delighted by the number of distinguished members of the legal profession who have pledged their financial support at this challenging time.

Our fantastic volunteers and staff, together with our loyal supporters, have all come to together magnificently to help vulnerable court users navigate the justice system during the COVID crisis. I am enormously proud to chair a charity that has risen to resolve the difficulties created by the pandemic and to work with the challenges presented by social distancing and online courts through the development of both a Helpline and our remote service. With your continued support we will develop and strengthen our service in the year to come, enabling more court users in England and Wales to reach out for help when they need it most and to engage with our civil justice system with confidence and dignity.

Professor Peter Crisp Support Through Court Chair

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Support Through Court

Trustees’ Report

For the year ended 31 March 2021

Barriers to justice in a pandemic year

Traditionally, members of the public have exercised their rights and pursued justice through the services of lawyers. Since the 2013 Legal Aid and Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act, however, there are many reasons why access to professional legal advice has been dramatically reduced, and thousands more people must represent themselves in court without lawyers. The effects of Covid-19 added further barriers this year, as the courts implemented social distancing restrictions and held many hearings remotely. For some litigants in person, this has made the courts more accessible, but the most disadvantaged court users have been further left behind: for anyone digitally excluded, or with language barriers, or simply in need of extra support, the pandemic has made it even more difficult to navigate the court system and achieve justice.

Litigants in person represent themselves in cases of enormous importance, often in distressing circumstances and frequently against professional representation. The impact of Covid-19 has magnified many of our usual areas of work, especially family disputes about care of children, and domestic abuse; as well as debt and money claims, arising from loss of income. While protections were put in place to avoid mass evictions and homelessness, we continued to help people with housing problems.

The pandemic has accelerated HMCTS’s use of digital support, including remote hearings and online court procedures. Some of these developments are successfully simplifying the justice system, and yet for people with multiple disadvantages or complex cases, the new systems can feel even more difficult and unfathomable than ever. The people we support are usually unable to access any formal legal help, and are often digitally excluded, leaving them with seemingly insuperable barriers to justice. The volunteers on our National Helpline therefore ensured that anyone contacting us by phone received the same warm, friendly, and effective support normally provided face-to-face. Despite closing our court-based services for 70% of the year, we were still able to help clients on 28,154 occasions, including support at remote hearings for many people who felt particularly anxious about attending court by phone or video. This was a significant achievement in the circumstances, and we have learned valuable lessons which will help us reach even more people in future.

Total client contacts each year

Year # of
contacts
2001/02 339
2002/03 812
2003/04 1,328
2004/05 2,458
2005/06 3,413
2006/07 5,047
2007/08 4,443
2008/09 5,584
2009/10 5,857
2010/11 6,760
2011/12 9,217

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For the year ended 31 March 2021

2012/13 13,107
2013/14 21,508
2014/15 38,595
2015/16 44,480
2016/17 56,119
2017/18 65,456
2018/19 75,432
2019/20 78,506
2020/21 (Covid Year, three national and further local lockdowns) 28,154
2021/22(Planned Covidrecovery year) 54,500

The people alone in court

Many people who come to Support Through Court for help have disadvantages that stretch beyond finding themselves in court alone. Many of our clients also deal with challenging personal circumstances: in 2020/21, 19% did not speak English as a first language, 24% had serious health problems, and 53% were not employed.

“It was like having an angel rescue you. It made the whole process less intimidating and lonely.” Support Through Court client

Types of cases in 2020/21 contacts %
bankruptcy/debt 317 1%
criminal 203 1%
employment 615 2%
housing 1,272 4%
immigration/asylum 82 <1%
moneyclaim 5,365 17%
probate 215 1%
welfare benefits 116 <1%
civil - other 1,797 6%
other 2,222 7%
Total unique familycases 19,458 61%
family - children 12,310 63%
family - divorce 2,003 10%
family - financial(aspart of divorce) 1,287 7%
family - non molestation 1,815 9%
family - other
2,043		 10%
TOTALUNIQUERESPONSES:
Note: As cases can involve more than one area, more
than one case type can be selectedper a response.		 26,863

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How we help

When people are alone in court to tackle hugely emotive subjects including family breakdown, bankruptcy and eviction, the stress can seem insurmountable. Support Through Court provides emotional reassurance and practical help in person and over the phone. Volunteers talk our clients through the legal processes, and we help them understand what will happen in the courtroom. In short, we aim to help our clients engage with the justice system and, regardless of the outcome of their cases, know that they represented themselves to the best of their abilities.

Our 558 volunteers are united by the desire to make the courts more accessible and to help people in times of great stress. Some volunteers have been with us for several years and many are retired professionals. Others are law students who not only give their time to us but also gain valuable experience of court life.

"Countless people who do not have lawyers need help and support in our courts. Support Through Court provides an invaluable public service in aid of the administration of justice.” Lord Burnett of Maldon, Support Through Court Patron

Support Through Court volunteers give emotional and practical assistance to people going through court alone . We offer our services free of charge, by phone and now by video, and we will return to face-to-face support in courts as soon as we can. What our volunteers do depends on who asks them for help, and how they contact us. Typically, we:

“Thank you for your call today. The silent, patient moments were as equally valued as the [practical support] ' Support Through Court client, Cardiff

” We are able to reach clients who might not have been able to get to our offices.” Support Through Court Volunteer on our remote service (London)

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Support Through Court

Trustees’ Report

For the year ended 31 March 2021

Satisfaction (Feedback)
How satisfied were you with the help from the
volunteer?		 # of clients % of
responses
Completely satisfied 1,521 92%
Partly satisfied 125 8%
Not satisfied 5 0%
TOTAL RESPONSES: 1,651
Client's feeling after vs before receiving help
(Feedback)
How did you feel before and after getting help from
the volunteer?		 # of clients % of
responses
Felt less anxious after 1,194 74%
Felt more anxious after 12 1%
Felt equally anxious before and after 400 25%
Felt equally anxious before and after - before not calm 258 65%
Felt equally anxious before and after - before calm 142 36%
TOTAL RESPONSES: 1,606
Helped client have more confidence (Feedback)
The volunteer helped me to have more confidence # of clients % of
responses
Yes 1,345 99%
No 14 1%
TOTAL RESPONSES: 1,359
Helped make procedures clearer to client (Feedback)
The volunteer helped make the procedures clearer to
me		 # of clients % of
responses
Yes 1,452 99%
No 12 1%
TOTAL RESPONSES: 1,464
Helped client be better prepared (Feedback)
The volunteer helped me be better prepared # of clients % of
responses
Yes 1,327 99%
No 12 1%
TOTAL RESPONSES: 1,339
Helped client get a fairer hearing (Feedback)
The volunteer helped me get a fairer hearing # of clients % of
responses
Yes 160 97%
No 5 3%
TOTAL RESPONSES: 165

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Support Through Court

Trustees’ Report

For the year ended 31 March 2021

People need help at times of great stress

Support Through Court Volunteers are there for whoever contacts us. Our volunteers give the time to listen, and then empower people to cope with the pressures of our court system. Here, three volunteers share how they helped…

I supported Kyle, a young father who wanted more contact with his son

Kyle suffered with severe anxiety and could not read, so he brought his mother to his appointment for extra support. He had only seen his 18-month-old son twice in the last 8 months. He said the child's mother was being difficult about him having any contact. She would cancel arranged contact at short notice with no reason. This really upset him and heightened his anxiety, as he just wanted to see his son.

I helped him to fill in a form asking the court to order when his son will spend time with each parent. I read the questions out on the form for him, as I was aware he could not read, and ensured that the form was completed correctly to avoid any delays in the client seeing his son. We worked out which days in the week would be appropriate for the client to suggest to the court he could have contact with his son, based around his part-time job.

The client felt reassured that he would be able to see his son again and said he thought it was important for a child to have contact with both parents. He said he was less anxious knowing that seeing his son infrequently would only be for the short term and that he could now aim to see him more frequently in the future, at structured times.

Kyle and his mother both thanked me for my help during a very stressful time for them. They said they would not have been able to fill in the form without my help or understand what their next steps would be in having a more formal contact arrangement. I explained that we would be able to go into a hearing with him, if required, and provide practical and emotional support for this. After the client’s appointment I felt proud that I had been able to offer my support to him during an extremely difficult and distressing time. The anxiety he was suffering was evident at the start of his appointment and he seemed a lot calmer by the end.

Elaine, a mother of three, came to us defending a money claim made against her by her father

Elaine was getting a divorce from her husband, with whom she had a good-natured relationship, but her divorce had been complicated by her father: he had controlled and abused her all her life and had elected to control the divorce proceedings, by paying for the services of a solicitor on her behalf. Elaine’s relationship with her father broke down completely and in 2019, she cut ties with him. Her father no longer wished to pay for the solicitor and went further in bringing a claim against Elaine for several thousand pounds for the costs of the divorce proceedings to date. Unfortunately, Elaine missed the notification of the hearing, so had not defended her father’s claim against her - but she was able to complete an online appeal, resulting in a further opportunity to defend herself.

After assistance from Citizens Advice with making her statement, she was referred to Support Through Court. She called us two days before her remote hearing and was relieved that someone would attend the hearing alongside her but was very distressed at the prospect of going to court, never having been involved in anything like this before. She felt the whole system was against her

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and she couldn’t understand why the court had awarded the money to her father, especially during the difficulties of lockdown.

The day before the hearing, the volunteer explained the purpose of the hearing, which was her opportunity to appeal for a chance to defend the original claim because she had not been able to submit her defence in time. Together they went through her evidence. On the morning of the hearing, the volunteer called to check in with the client, and found her very worried and distressed. The volunteer helped her calm down so that she could put forward her argument with more confidence.

The Judgment was set aside because the Judge was satisfied that Elaine had behaved reasonably and, given the opportunity to defend herself against the money claim, would “have a real prospect of success”. After the hearing, Elaine discussed the next steps with the volunteer on the phone, to prepare her defence against the claim itself.

“It gave me confidence knowing the volunteer was there taking notes and able to explain things I didn't understand in the follow-up phone call”. Elaine

“Managing her expectations meant she was better prepared mentally for today (the hearing). My providing emotional and practical support to Elaine enabled her to successfully appeal against the judgement and helped her find a better place mentally to attend a future hearing and provide a full defence to the claim.” Maria, Support Through Court Volunteer

Carly’s daughter no longer wanted to visit her dad

Carly is the mother of two children by her ex-husband. Her children were having contact with the father under a previous court order, but her elder daughter no longer wanted to go. The father had started enforcement proceedings and Carly was unsure of what to do and did not have the money for a lawyer.

Due to social distancing, Carly was called to a remote hearing, and she requested support from our volunteers. We spoke to her before the hearing and helped her to collect her thoughts and set them out in logical notes that she could refer to during the hearing, so she felt better prepared and had a structure for what she wanted to say.

With a second hearing scheduled, we were able to arrange for Carly to have 30 minutes of free advice from a local solicitor, so she could receive some expert legal advice about her rights and responsibilities.

At the final hearing, the parties were able to reach agreement about ongoing contact. The Chair of the Magistrates thanked us for supporting Carly and commented on the amazing role we play in supporting clients. It was lovely to also get a ‘thank you’ email from Carly.

Client stories as told by volunteers. Names have been changed to protect confidentiality.

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Support Through Court

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For the year ended 31 March 2021

Achievements and performance

During the year, Covid-19 severely affected our court-based services, with the three periods of national lockdown shutting down our face-to-face services for 70% of the year. We had just relaunched the National Helpline in March 2020 and within four weeks, the Helpline became a vital lifeline in supporting litigants in person. Meanwhile, our local services quickly worked out how to help people remotely, and with volunteers working from home, we re-established a level of Service across the country, which steadily reached more people over the year.

Despite these challenges, we helped clients on 28,154 occasions, with the Helpline covering 15,168 of these contacts. This represented over 53% of our overall client contact figures, and an unprecedented average of 1,200 calls per month. The high call volume and low delivery cost also means our cost-per-client-contact for the Helpline was just £3.01, making our Helpline service our busiest and most cost-effective service over the year.

Following the onset of the pandemic, our volunteers once again demonstrated their unwavering support for our cause with many transferring to the Helpline after the closure of face-to-face services. We started the Helpline with 34 trained volunteers and by May 2020, just three months later, our Service Managers had trained and recruited an additional 49 volunteers and purchased an additional 10 phonelines on top of the original 6, to help us meet the increasing demand. We are also particularly proud of how many of our volunteers negotiated a steep learning curve, learning new skills and areas of law, and how they adapted to the unfamiliar service delivery, using telephone and, eventually, video calls.

A further challenge was that staff and volunteers needed easy access to records and information while working from home. The in-house IT team implemented several new systems, including an online client record system to replace the paper records used before COVID. Also, due to the need to plan appointments in advance, a lot of time was spent liaising with clients to understand the support they needed, to book a tailored session for them. A new online request form was created, allowing us to gather this information immediately. We are pleased to have coped with this additional pressure without any decrease in the quality of our service: 97% of clients giving feedback felt they got a fairer hearing and 99% felt better prepared.

When HMCTS developed their own provision for remote hearings, we were approached to see if we could support litigants in person remotely, as we used to in physical hearings. Again, with admirable speed, and working closely with HMCTS, we set up a joint agreement to enable volunteers to log in to remote hearings in ways that supported litigants and helped them feel less alone, just as we had done for court-room hearings before the pandemic.

In July 2020, we started work on a new initiative funded under ‘Stream 3’ of the £3.1M government funding announced in late 2018 to support LIPS. We set up a partnership with RCJ Advice, a fellow member of the LIPSS partnership, to provide clients with digital safe space support and early legal advice in private family law. Our volunteers support clients to manage the court processes and - very importantly - refer them to early legal advice on matters such as divorce and separation, child arrangements and finances. Since launching in October 2020, this partnership has supported over 300 LIPs to access safe support, including 138 LIPS receiving early legal advice from a dedicated family lawyer based at RCJ Advice. In 2020/21 two of our court-based services and the National Helpline took part in the project, which will increase to four court-based units in 2021/22. Numbers are increasing monthly, and we expect the project to go from strength to strength, providing muchneeded evidence of the value of early legal support.

Feedback from clients is excellent:

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After working with a volunteer: ‘ I cannot adequately thank you for kindly volunteering your time and expertise to help me so encouragingly and wisely today. Thank you for sharing your experience and time with me.’

After working with the RCJ Advice lawyer : Loretta told us that the most useful support she received was the referral to RCJ Advice: knowing that she had the guidance of a solicitor to help her face the court proceedings made all the difference to her.

Objectives 2018-2021 What we’ve done so far
PROVISIONOF SERVICES TO LITIGANTS IN PERSON FACING COURT PROCEEDINGS
We will continue to provide face-
to-face support at court		 •Despite 3 lockdowns mostly closing our face-to-face
services, we recorded over 28,000 client contacts
through our National Helpline and local phone services
We will continue to focus our
support in the Civil and Family
Courts and in those tribunals
where we can add value		 •While the mechanisms of our support changed, the
nature of our work remained very similar, with over 60%
of the year’s workload concerning family cases
•We began work on the Safe Spaces project which offers
safe areas for support and early legal advice in
partnership with RCJ Advice
We will expand face-to-face
provision, as funds allow, to offer
services to a greater proportion of
the population of England and
Wales		 •Due to Covid, we focused all our efforts on developing
our remote provision, including expanding the National
Helpline which helped people on over 15,000 occasions
•Our local remote work reached more people using courts
in the HMCTS clusters around our existing on-site
services
We will prioritise opening new
units in areas with greater social
deprivation and where we can
most efficiently help more people		 •The National Helpline reaches people all over England
and Wales.
•The Chelmsford Service increased its hours to offer a
full-time service to meet the local need
We will pilot and develop a
National Helpline service, inviting
phone clients into the office when
face-to-face contact is essential		 •The National Helpline has been vital in supporting clients
during Covid-19 lockdowns and is now a central service
that we offer alongside on-site provision
We will support and invest in our
staff and volunteers, ensuring they
have the skills and training to
deliver a wider range of service
options		 •The CEO held Zoom sessions with all Services, to meet
volunteers across the country
•100 volunteers adapted to the technology of the National
Helpline during the Covid-19 lockdowns
•All Staff contributed to developing remote working,
sharing skills and best practice

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•We quickly developed new ways of working and
supported staff and volunteers to operate them, including:
offering service delivery across new channels; developing
the new Remote Hearings Service; moving volunteer
training online; developing a web-based application
process and a new central client record system; improving
efficiencies and capacity; and setting the seeds of a new
5-year Strategy to create integrated multi-channel delivery
geared to LIPS needs
•External training sessions included: a series of Family law
sessions by Simon Bruce, Partner at Farrer & Co;
Birmingham University and Lewis Silkin on employment;
Howells in Sheffield + HHJ Luba on housing +
possessions; and sessions from AdviceNow, Free Legal
Answers and FLOWS
•Internal training included online induction courses;
checking for Legal Aid eligibility; completing Form E; and
Safeguarding
PARTNERSHIPTO MAXIMISE SUPPORT TO LITIGANTS IN PERSON
We will build on our membership
of the Litigants in Person Support
Strategy (LIPSS) group, to help
identify partners to work with
across the country in supporting
Litigants in Person		 •Regular meetings with LIPSS CEOs and Senior Service
Staff led to combined work on vulnerable court users
and understanding mental health issues
•We worked with Advocate to increase referral points
and introduced an online application process which no
longer needs a partner’s signature
•All our Services referred to LawWorks clinics for legal
advice, and encouraged new pro bono provision, which
was vital during lockdown
•Staff and volunteers used LawWorks training
opportunities
•Through the LSLIP £3.1m we created the Safe Spaces
project with RCJ Advice and made new partnerships
with other Stream 1 & 2 partners across England and
Wales, attending forums and exchanging information
and knowledge
We will build more connections
locally that broaden the range of
help available to our clients and
that enable effective referral
pathways		 •We continued to work with the Network for Justice to
ensure our services are known across England and
Wales
•Local connections led to several new legal clinics: a
solicitor-led Housing clinic for Cardiff clients; Family
advice in Newcastle; Family, Debt + Employment
advice in Nottingham; and Family advice at Liverpool
JMU clinic. Birmingham SM worked with the local Law

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Support Through Court

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For the year ended 31 March 2021

Society Pro Bono committee to increase access to legal
advice; and in London we met with University House
Legal Advice Centre.
•Sheffield SM started new referrals to Rotherham Rise
(DA) and The Archer Project (homelessness);
Nottingham SM improved referral agreements with CA;
and the Helpline SM opened discussion with Money
Advice Trust for debt advice.
•New University partnerships led to new volunteers and
funding opportunities, including Salford, Newcastle,
Sunderland and the University of Essex
We will make better use of
partnership working with new and
existing partners		 •We worked more closely with court staff, reaching more
courts through remote services, and showing the value
of supporting LiPs in remote hearings. This led to a
webinar promoting our services, which was distributed to
HMCTS staff and raised awareness of how we help LiPs,
and to more involvement in local user groups
•Our DA Legacy Team continued working with DA
partners, old and new, to maintain referral routes for LiPs
experiencing domestic abuse
•STC Manchester and the Helpline continued to work in
partnership with Good Things Foundation to support
LiPs needing extra digital support
•We launched our Guardians network with 15 founder
guardians, already joined by 5 individual supporters and
16 companies
We will seek opportunities to
share learning		 •Online training sessions have shown us how easy it is to
reach more people. We moved our training online and
started consultation with the Open University to create an
online platform consisting of 10 modules to support
volunteer induction, which will be available to partners
INFLUENCINGTO IMPROVE THE EXPERIENCE OF LITIGANTS IN PERSON
We will also make the best use of
partnership opportunities with law
firms		 •Corporate partners helped us by making donations and
offering bespoke volunteer training (see above)
We will improve our data
gathering and the information we
produce from that data		 •Moving our client records online enabled us to more
easily analyse the support we provide, helping us identify
ways to improve our services. We will continue
simplifying and streamlining our data-gathering in future

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We will make better use of our
data and our legitimate voice to
influence the wider policy
environment more effectively		 •The LIPSS group responded to several consultations
over the year, including the recent spending review plan
•Staff and Volunteers contributed to post-Covid reviews of
remote hearings and digital delivery, including feeding
into reports by the Heads of Civil + Family Justice
•SM Bristol contributed to an HMCTS private family law
review and SM Sheffield to a Family Law sub-group,
piloting the Financial Remedies Portal; a staff working
group fed into a JUSTICE report on access to justice;
and our DA SMs helped HMCTS improve FL401
information leaflets about non-molestation orders
•We were instrumental in the development of the new
Official Injury Claim portal for ‘whiplash’ injuries, offering
the LIP perspective throughout the process
We will continue to work to make
the needs and experiences of
Litigants in Person more visible		 •We continued to contribute to consultations with our
LIPSS partners; attended various fora, including
LIPEG, Legal and Advice Sector Roundtable, Advice
panels, local Court User Groups, and Family Justice
Boards; and responded to HMCTS user research
requests. This work has grown as everyone explores the
impact of C-19, and we continue to support it as a way of
influencing on behalf of the LIPs we serve
•SM RCJ took part in events at Kings University, LSE,
and Middle Temple, and attended the APPG on Legal
Aid; SM CFC presented at a forum on Next Steps for
Domestic Abuse; SM Cardiff spoke at Support Through
Court’s breakfast seminar on Welsh Housing Law and
we hosted a popular webinar on Women who challenge
the legal sector
• Newcastle SM spoke on BBC Radio Newcastle, and SM
CFC was interviewed for Port Magazine
We will review our brand and
marketing and make the
necessary changes to strengthen
our brand recognition		 •We created a Communications Manager role and will
recruit in the coming year
We will increase the promotion of
our brand and our work		 •We formed a digital marketing committee across staff
teams and reviewed our digital objectives
•We recruited digital marketing volunteers to help us
increase our social media presence

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Future plans

Our vision is that every Litigant in Person (LIP) should receive the support they need so that they do not have to face court alone.

The pandemic has completely changed parts of the legal landscape, and we have yet to fully understand its true impact. As we re-open our services in the courts, we will continue to reach more LIPs by using remote services alongside face-to-face support. We will continue to work with partners and other agencies to help LIPs where they most need extra support. Domestic Abuse charities have consistently reported the worrying levels of domestic abuse resulting from lockdown, and over the coming year we will aim to contribute to effective implementation of new measures set out in the Domestic Abuse Act. HMCTS has plans to improve support available to vulnerable people in the civil courts, and we will use our unique voice to influence this work. Two critical issues in the civil courts are likely to be housing - evictions and repossessions - and employment, particularly around Covid-19 related claims. Reforms to personal injury claims arising from road traffic accidents are likely to cause a surge of people representing themselves, and we don’t yet know how this will affect the population and LIPs. Help must be available to people without legal representation.

Support through Court is currently reviewing our future and we will launch a new 5-year strategy in Summer 2021. Through the agile and flexible attitude of our teams throughout the pandemic, we have created several channels to continue supporting LIPs despite the lockdowns and office closures. The learning from that creativity will be used within the 5-year strategy to develop a multichannel approach: we will maintain face-to-face support from our current court-based units, while expanding our reach across England and Wales through increased remote support alongside the National Helpline. The next five years will be pivotal for Support Through Court, moving the charity to the next level of service delivery for the people seeking our support in the courts. It will require an overhaul of our infrastructure, including IT and systems, online training methods and volunteer support. At the heart of all these changes lies careful thought about how best to serve the LIPS who approach us however they arrive at our virtual or actual doors. It is an exciting and challenging programme.

Eileen Pereira CEO

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Thank you to everyone who has made a difference to people in court

Source of funding 2020/21 £ %
Trusts 333,234
21.0
Government 901,972
56.8
Corporate 206,009
13.0
Friends and individuals 120,502
7.6
Community 22,192
1.4
Investments 4,017
0.3
Total 1,587,927 100.0
Non-budget relieving gifts in kind 25,000

At the end of the financial year, the number of active volunteers delivering our service was 558. This represents 49.4 full-time-equivalent members of staff and a total volunteer in-kind contribution of £1,037,400, based on a corresponding salary within the charity.

Support Through Court would like to thank our Volunteers and all our supporters: individuals across the country, law firms, chambers, universities, trusts and foundations, as well as our Guardians, Carey Club members, Friends, Alumni, and Business Board.

We received 33% of our funding in an annual grant from the Ministry of Justice, via the Access to Justice Foundation through the Litigant in Person Support Strategy. This was to enable us to develop our infrastructure and sustain our existing services. The Charity received furlough payments of £268,256, enabling us to retain staff while we were unable to run face-to-face services. The furlough income also helped us avoid cutting services in spite of the pandemic’s detrimental effect on our ability to raise funds.

Support Through Court aims to maintain our quality service while increasing our reach. We can only do this by working in partnership with our supporters. The committed support of Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service allows us to keep our costs low, as they provide free accommodation, access to the internet and telephony services for our face-to-face services and back-office teams. This ongoing generosity will allow us to carry on providing our core service from bases in court buildings.

We would also like to thank Birmingham City University for hosting our National Helpline and providing the IT support and equipment that connects our volunteers to clients throughout England and Wales. With their support, we have increased our service reach to cities without a physical Support Through Court presence. Given the unprecedented year our charity has faced, and the challenges it brought, the National Helpline truly became the lifeline of the organisation.

We value our partnerships with others involved in the justice system: the courts, who provide us with valuable free office space and utilities; court staff all over the country who so generously devote time and energy to enabling our service to flourish; and the judiciary, who consistently support our work, in particular our Liaison Judge in the Royal Courts of Justice, Lady Justice Asplin and our Liaison Judges across England and Wales.

If you would like to help people facing court alone by volunteering, donating, or fundraising, please…

go to our website www.supportthroughcourt.org or email fundraising@supportthroughcourt.org

14

Support Through Court

Trustees’ Report

For the year ended 31 March 2021

Thank you to all supporters who donated last financial year, with special mention to…

Corporate Supporters Individuals Universities
11KBW Anthony du Boulay Charitable
Trust		 Anglia Ruskin University
3 Verulam Buildings Lady Justice Andrews Birmingham CityUniversity
Allen & Overy Lady Justice Asplin Bloomsbury
Institute London
Bar Standards Board Guy Beringer Kings College London
Brown Rudnick Eleanor Brass Liverpool John Moores University
Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner Damien Byrne Hill Manchester Metropolitan University
CILEx The Rt. Hon. Lord Carnwath of
Notting Hill		 Newman University
Dentons UKMEA LLP Professor Sara Chandler QC Northumbria University
Edwin Coe LLP Lady Justice Carr Nottingham Trent University
Falcon Chambers Simon Davis Sheffield Hallam University
Gray's Inn Jean Edwards The Open University
Herbert Smith Freehills LLP Guy Fetherstonhaugh QC The Universityof Leeds
Inner Temple Sir Christopher Floyd PC The Universityof Nottingham
Landmark chambers Andrew Hochhauser QC The Universityof Sheffield
Lewis Silkin LLP Sir Rupert Jackson Trusts
Lincoln's Inn Pieter Knook and Anne Wolff Cityof London Solicitors' Company
Macfarlanes Sarah Lee Elizabeth Frankland Moore and Star
Foundation
Middle Temple Martin Lewis OBE April Trust
Monckton Chambers Ali Malek QC Loppylugs & Barbara Morrison Charitable
Trust
Our FamilyWizard Mrs Justice McGowan Mercers' Charitable Foundation
QEB William Norris Moondance Foundation
Skadden, Arps, Slate,
Meagher & Flom LLP		 Lord Pannick QC The Brook Trust
South Square Lord Justice David Richards The G & K Boyes Charitable Trust
Tak AdvisoryLimited Lord Sales The GoslingFoundation
The Law Society Thomas Seager Berry London CommunityResponse
Weil,Gotshal & Manges LLP Michael Todd QC Essex CommunityFoundation
White & Case Philip Waller CBE The Three Oaks Trust
Sir David Wootton The Swire Charitable Trust
Mr Justice Zacaroli Adint Charitable Trust
Tudor Trust
Zochonis Charitable Trust

15

Support Through Court

Trustees’ Report

For the year ended 31 March 2021

Support Through Court

Charity number 1090781 Company number 4360133

Trustees

The Trustees (who are also directors of Support Through Court for the purposes of company law) who served during the year are set out below:

Peter Crisp, Chair Kirit Naik, Treasurer Stephen Adler, Volunteer Angela Camber, Volunteer Elisabeth Davies, Vice Chair Samantha Gargaro Caroline Field, Volunteer Elisabeth Long, former Volunteer Tim Nash David Wilkin

Founder

The late Diana Copisarow OBE

Patrons

Martin Lewis, OBE The Rt. Hon. Sir Terence Etherton, Master of the Rolls (until January 2021) The Rt. Hon. Lord Dyson, PC The Rt. Hon. The Baroness Butler-Sloss, GBE PC The Rt. Hon. The Baroness Hale of Richmond, DBE PC FBA The Rt. Hon. The Lord Burnett of Maldon, the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales The Rt. Hon. The Lord Clarke of Stone-cum-Ebony, Kt PC QC The Rt. Hon. The Lord Judge, Kt PC The Rt. Hon. The Lord Neuberger, PC GBS HonFRS The Rt. Hon. The Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, KG PC The Rt. Hon. The Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd, Kt PC The Rt. Hon. The Lord Woolf, CH PC FBA FMedSci

Liaison Judge

The Rt. Hon. Lady Justice Asplin

Chief Executive and Company Secretary

Eileen Pereira

Registered Address: Invicta House, 108-114 Golden Lane, London, EC1Y 0TL

Principal Office: Support Through Court, Royal Courts of Justice, Strand, London WC2A 2LL Bankers: CAF Bank Ltd, Kings Hill, West Malling, Kent ME19 4TA

16

Support Through Court

Trustees’ Report

For the year ended 31 March 2021

Auditor: Sayer Vincent LLP, Chartered Accountants and Statutory Auditor, Invicta House, 108-114 Golden Lane, London, EC1Y 0TL

Objects and activities

The Charity’s objects are:

The Trustees have fully complied with their duty to have due regard to the guidance on public benefit published by the Charity Commission in exercising their powers and duties.

The Trustees review the aims, objectives and activities of the charity each year. This report looks at what the Charity has achieved and the outcomes of its work in the reporting period. The Trustees report the success of each key activity and the benefits the Charity has brought to those groups of people that it is set up to help. The review also helps the Trustees ensure the Charity's aims, objectives and activities remained focused on its stated purposes.

The Trustees have referred to the guidance contained in the Charity Commission's general guidance on public benefit when reviewing the Charity's aims and objectives and in planning its future activities. In particular, the Trustees consider how planned activities will contribute to the aims and objectives that have been set. The Charity’s Covid-19 activities come under its existing objects and aims.

Financial review

The launch of the National Helpline had a limited impact on expenditure being funded by grants received. This project has proven invaluable in providing ongoing service delivery as we faced the Covid-19 outbreak. Due to 3 national and many local lockdowns, we were not able to provide our usual face-to-face services and our client contact numbers dropped by 50,000. Subsequently our cost-perclient-contact figure increase to £49.69

Our income decreased in 2020/21 to 1,562,926, 14.9% less than the previous year. This was in part due to the end of a time-limited project with the MOJ to improve Domestic Abuse support for Litigants in Person. The fundraised income from non-MOJ sources dropped as community fundraising and events were no longer able to take place and funders shifted priorities to frontline Covid-19 charities.

The charity benefitted from the government furlough scheme, using it to support staff who could not do their roles during lockdown, and ensure our services were there to reopen. The organisation has maintained strong control of expenditure as well, ending the year with an underspend of £68,934 against the set budget.

The Charity holds its reserves in cash, utilising interest-bearing bank accounts. Whilst the Covid-19 pandemic has affected the investment markets our reserves have remained intact. Our pension is

17

Support Through Court

Trustees’ Report

For the year ended 31 March 2021

with Royal London, who are keeping us informed of the Covid-19 measures they are taking. The pension is not a defined liability policy, and no liability will arise from the current financial climate

Principal risks and uncertainties

The Trustees have overall responsibility for ensuring that the Charity has an appropriate system of controls, financial and otherwise. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the Charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

As part of the Charity’s risk management process, the Trustees acknowledge their responsibility for the Charity’s system of internal control and reviewing its effectiveness. It is also recognised by the Trustees that such a system is designed to manage rather than eliminate the risk of failure to achieve the Charity’s objectives and can only provide reasonable, not absolute, reassurance against material misstatement or loss.

Support Through Court produces a comprehensive corporate risk register which is reviewed during the year by the Trustees. The Board pays particular attention to those risks with a higher risk scoring (based on impact and probability) and whether there has been a change in direction since the previous review. The Board also questions and analyses the existing controls and planned actions.

The key risks identified for the past year, and the actions taken to mitigate them, were:

**Risk ** Mitigating actions
Adequacy and
Irregularity of income
streams -the charity’s
income streams are
neither predictable nor
regular, with funding
being received
intermittently. The
economic effects of
Covid-19 outbreak add to
that uncertainty,
fundraising in this climate
is an unknown quantity		 The Charity’s reserves policy is set out in full below. The principal
purpose of this policy is to maintain service provision as well as
resolving short-term, in-year, cash flow issues that might arise. The
Trustees believe that the target of six months reserves provides
enough time to consider options and take action to maintain a viable
service in line with a changing funding environment. In addition to the
policy, a prudent approach is taken to new projects or expansion in
work requiring additional funds. These are not commenced until
funding based on full costs recovery has been confirmed and after
scrutiny of cash-flow projections.
The pandemic has had little effect within the reporting period,
however, looking forward into the new financial year the Head of
Fundraising has produced a risk assessment of the income
projections to the Board. We have assessed the nature of funders
and activities; postponing events to the latter six months of the year,
reaching out to funders and maintaining closer links with Individual
donors. Actual pledged, required income and the risk assessment are
reviewed monthly within the management account reporting
processes. At the same time, the Charity has taken advantage of the
Corvid-19 Job Retention Scheme, which offers some support to the
cashflow position at this time.

18

Support Through Court

Trustees’ Report

For the year ended 31 March 2021

Volunteer Retention
and recruitment		 The Charity reached its highest level of volunteer participation in
2019/20, with 880 people supporting and delivering our work. The
temporary closure of our Court Based services due to Covid-19 has
meant that many of those volunteering with the charity are no longer
able to do so. The risk of a significant number not returning to our
services is being considered by the Leadership Team. All Service
Managers are reaching out to their volunteers to ensure their
continued engagement. Over 100 volunteers are manning the duty
rota for the National Helpline and we hope to engage more volunteers
as lines increase.
Safeguarding– the
charity’s staff and
volunteers work with
clients, often previously
unknown to them, in
potentially emotionally
highly-charged situations.
Clients themselves can
be vulnerable and could
potentially be open to
abuse		 The CEO’s safeguarding review was presented to the Trustees in
March 2020. Subject to policy amendments the Trustees noted that
they accepted the review and recommendations.
Safeguarding is an ongoing risk for the charity, and we are continuing
to monitor our responses to client need. Staff and volunteers are
aware of contact details for Adult Safeguarding Boards. Also, each
service builds a close working relationship with local court security
services. Where clients are being supported at courts away from the
local service office, volunteers are forbidden from travelling to
appointments with them. Clients accompanied by children are
responsible for them at all times: volunteers and staff are forbidden
from looking afterchildren forclients.
Data protection–
ensuring understanding
of latest legislation and
good practice across the
charity		 Policies and procedures are regularly reviewed for best practice and
legislative updates. Risks under current data protection legislation
(e.g. Data Protection Act of 2018, UK GDPR, etc.) continue to be
reviewed within the Audit and Risk Committee. Trustees are kept up
to datewithalldata protectionactivity.

The effect of Covid-19 outbreak in 2019/20 led to the first lockdown taking place a few days after we temporarily closed our offices on 20[th] March 2020. We entered the financial year 2020/21 in lockdown and we moved swiftly to remote working through our National Helpline, email and service phone lines. The charity has been agile in its approach to change and in 2020/21 we were constantly reviewing our delivery model, as we recognise that capacity to deliver face to face work will be more difficult in the post-COVID-19 climate. We aim to use the learning from the past yearns to introduce a new multichannel model in the coming two to three years.

Reserves policy

The Trustees consider it is appropriate for Support Through Court to maintain a general reserve, primarily to maintain its service if funding is disrupted. Most of the charity’s fundraising streams are not predictable, or regular. Additionally, our programme of expansion causes the Charity’s expenditure and commitments to increase year on year. Taking this into account, the Trustees have agreed to target an unrestricted reserve equating to six months of the Charity’s expected running costs for the following financial year. Our reserve is also available in-year to resolve short-term cash flow issues, arising from funding being received intermittently. The Trustees believe that this is enough time to consider the courses of action available to them and to select the most appropriate

19

Support Through Court

Trustees’ Report

For the year ended 31 March 2021

to allow the Charity to maintain a level of service commensurate with any change in its funding environment.

The Charity's reserves and cash flow are reviewed by the Treasurer, Head of Finance & Resources and CEO (under the scrutiny of the Audit & Risk Committee) quarterly. A contingency plan is in place to deal with delays in funding and in-year cash flow issues. This plan comes into effect at the point the level of unrestricted reserves based on months of the following years expenditure fall below 3 months. During the first six months of the pandemic period, the Board met monthly to review our position. Trigger points are in place at which the Trustees must be alerted to any deteriorating reserves position. The Charity’s running costs for the year to 31 March 2022 are expected to be £1,652,911 (2021: £1,437,912). The restricted reserve at 31 March 2021 was £2,933 (2020: £5,595) while the unrestricted reserve was £898,234 (2020: £731,709) which equates to 6.5 months of 2021-22 total running costs (2020: 6.1)

Going concern

The Trustees consider that there are no material financial uncertainties that affect the Charity’s ability to continue as a going concern.

The ability of the Charity to continue in its current shape is dependent on its ability to secure funding. A significant portion of the Charity’s funding is from the government, which reviews its commitment at least once per annum. The Trustees recognise that the ongoing financial climate means it is not possible for the government to commit to long-term funding, but should this funding not be forthcoming, the Trustees would have to take action to adjust for its loss. To mitigate against this key risk, the charity has been taking several steps, including investing in fundraising to increase its non-government income, working closely with partners in the Litigants in Person Support Strategy, and targeting a level of reserves that the Board believes provides the charity with a suitable breathing period.

Over the course of the year 2020/21, the Trustees have taken steps to maintain the financial stability of the charity in the face of the pandemic and will continue to maintain those steps and a watching brief over the coming year. The results for the year to 2020/21indicate that the charity is maintaining funding at optimum levels.

The Trustees do not consider that there are any sources of estimation uncertainty at the reporting date that have a significant risk of causing a material adjustment to the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities within the next reporting period.

Investment policy

The Trustees have the power to invest monies not immediately required. Given the level of reserves, whose primary use is to ensure that a continuous service can be maintained, and intending to expand the reach of the service, the Trustees have, for the time being, decided to keep any monies not immediately required, in interest-bearing accounts with CAF Bank Ltd, Nationwide Building Society, Shawbrook Bank Ltd and Virgin Money Plc. These accounts are kept under review by the Treasurer, Head of Finance & Resources and CEO (under the scrutiny of the Audit & Risk Committee) regarding levels of interest provided by these and alternative accounts. Changes to location of investments can be made in-year by the Treasurer, Head of Finance & Resources and CEO, having sought the agreement of the Audit & Risk Committee.

20

Support Through Court

Trustees’ Report

For the year ended 31 March 2021

Governing document

The organisation is a Charitable Company limited by guarantee, incorporated on 24 January 2002 and registered as a charity on 26 February 2002.

The Company was established under a Memorandum of Association, which established the objects and powers of the Charitable Company and is governed under its Articles of Association.

All Trustees give their time voluntarily and receive no benefits from the Charity. Any expenses reclaimed from the Charity are set out in note 8 to the accounts.

Trustee appointment and induction

The term of office of a Trustee is three years from his/her date of appointment. Trustees retiring at the end of the first term of office of three years may be reappointed for a further term of office of three years, save that, should either the Chair or Vice-Chair so recommend, a Trustee, having served two consecutive terms of three years may be reappointed by resolution for a final term of three years, subject to such resolution being passed by 75% of the other Trustees. The selection of Trustees is made based on vacancies arising, sympathy with the objects of the charity and the additional skills and experience that potential new Trustees can offer that complement those of continuing Trustees. Three of the Trustees in office in 2020-21 are currently service volunteers within the Charity.

Under the Articles of Association, Trustees are appointed by a majority vote of the members (who are all the current Trustees) by ordinary resolution. Each new Trustee is interviewed by at least two other Trustees and the CEO before being recommended for appointment. Following appointment to the Board, each receives all relevant Charity Commission guidance, as well as the most recently published annual report, the Board's terms of reference and other management information necessary to exercise fully their governance role. At the time of joining, Board sub-committee Trustees receive relevant sub-committee terms of reference. The CEO arranges induction visits to the offices of the Charity for new Trustees and briefs them fully about the operation of the Charity.

In keeping with good governance, the Board of Trustees has engaged in succession planning over the past three months, looking ahead to September 2021 when four Trustees will step down including the current Chair of the Board. A nominations committee was convened, chaired by the Deputy Chair of the Board. Terms of reference were agreed by the full Board and work commenced. The need to increase the diversity of the board was a strong driver in the selection process alongside a good understanding of the skill sets required to support the management of the charity. A good outcome was achieved and six new Trustees including a Chair-Elect have been appointed following an open and transparent recruitment process including applications, short-listing, interviews and the taking up of two references for each appointee. The nominations committee have achieved their aim of producing a more diverse board addressing a number of factors including age, gender, and ethnicity. The new trustees will take up their roles in July 2021 allowing a short handover period before the current post holders retire from office.

Organisational structure

The Charity was established to enable volunteers to provide services to clients. Volunteers are involved as far as is reasonably practical in the daily operations of each service unit of the Charity.

21

Support Through Court

Trustees’ Report

For the year ended 31 March 2021

The Trustees are responsible for the governance of the Charity and for setting its strategic direction, meeting as a Board four times a year as a minimum. The CEO is responsible for the overall management of the Charity and reports to the Trustees formally as a Board, and more informally as circumstance demands.

A Trustee chairs the Fundraising Committee of the Board, which comprises three Trustees, the CEO, the Head of Finance and Resourcing and the Head of Fundraising. A Trustee chairs the Audit & Risk Committee of the Board, which comprises five Trustees, the CEO and finance staff, and scrutinises financial matters, principally regarding risk, control, and policy. The approval and setting of strategic plans and associated budgets are reserved to the full Board.

A Pay Committee comprising three Trustees and the CEO annually scrutinises remuneration proposals made by the CEO based on job evaluations carried out by a Job Evaluation Committee and makes recommendations to the Board, benchmarked against similar organisations including those in the charitable sector, and concerning other factors such as the cost of living. The Board sets remuneration for the CEO, again benchmarked against the charitable sector.

During the lockdown, Trustee committees met remotely, and the full Board met monthly to review risk and cash flow.

Support Through Court’s organisational structure Support Through Court’s organisational structure Support Through Court’s organisational structure
Trustees
CEO, Eileen Pereira
Head of Service,
Lizzie Iron		 Head of Fundraising,
Emma Taylor		 Head of Finance and
Resources, Ingela
Ekström		 Head of Systems and
Information, Karen
Sng-Sugden
Service Team Fundraising Team Finance and
Resources Team		 Finance and Resources
Team

Volunteers engaged in the provision of the Charity’s services are supported by paid Managers, except at Support Through Court Wandsworth and Support Through Court West London Family Court, where the Coordinators are volunteers supported by the Service Managers. Volunteers have representative committees in more established Support Through Court services, whilst others use various ways to ensure the voice of volunteers is heard. Volunteer representatives from each service are usually invited to meet annually with senior charity to review plans and share good practice. With the impact of Covid-19, we have rapidly got used to video calls to communicate across the network and will increase virtual meetings with volunteers to gather views. A Volunteer Strategy group reviewed how volunteers engage with the charity and looked at ways they wish to contribute and that enhance the charity’s purposes.

The Charity regularly reviews all governance arrangements.

Related parties and relationships with other organisations

Support Through Court is part of the Litigants in Person Support Strategy group, coordinating and collaborating with other independent charities to enhance the provision of support to people facing court alone, magnifying the delivery of our objectives. Ministry of Justice funding to Support Through Court is received through this strategy, and Support Through Court’s CEO sits on the Strategy’s steering committee, along with the heads of the other member organisations.

22

Support Through Court

Trustees’ Report

For the year ended 31 March 2021

Fundraising statement

Support Through Court’s fundraising is done by an in-house team of staff who comply with the code of fundraising practice laid out by the fundraising regulator. No street fundraising or telephone fundraising took place. One third party fundraiser was hired to consult on a new fundraising appeal and recruit new supporters for that appeal. The fundraiser follows the Fundraising Regulators Code of Practice and their progress was monitored with regular catch-ups with the Head of Fundraising and a shared progress database. No complaints were received last year. The charity has a privacy policy and complies with data protection law. Fundraisers do not put undue pressure on individuals (vulnerable or otherwise), are clear in communications about who they are, and are open and honest about the service provided and fundraising activities.

Compliance with statutory requirements

Reference and administrative information set out on page 15 forms part of this report. The financial statements comply with current statutory requirements, the memorandum and articles of association and the Statement of Recommended Practice - Accounting and Reporting by Charities: SORP applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with FRS 102. This trustees’ annual report includes a directors’ report as required by company law.

Statement of responsibilities of the Trustees

The Trustees (who are also directors of Support Through Court for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the Trustees’ annual report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

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

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

In so far as the Trustees are aware:

23

Support Through Court

Trustees’ Report

For the year ended 31 March 2021

The Trustees are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial information included on the charitable company's website. Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.

Members of the Charity guarantee to contribute an amount not exceeding £1 to the assets of the Charity in the event of winding up. The total number of such guarantees at 31 March 2020 was 10. The Trustees are members of the Charity, but this entitles them only to voting rights. The Trustees have no beneficial interest in the Charity.

Auditor

Sayer Vincent LLP was appointed as the charitable company's auditor during the year and has expressed its willingness to continue in that capacity.

The Trustees’ annual report was approved by the Trustees on 22 June 2021 and signed on their behalf by

Professor Peter Crisp Support Through Court Chair

24

Independent auditor’s report

To the members of

Support Through Court

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of Support through Court (the ‘charitable company’) for the year ended 31 March 2021 which comprise the statement of financial activities, balance sheet, statement of cash flows and notes to the financial statements, including significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including FRS 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 trustees' use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.

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

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

Other Information

The other information comprises the information included in the trustees’ annual report, including the strategic report, other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. The trustees are responsible for the other information contained within the annual report. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon. Our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the

25

Independent auditor’s report

To the members of

Support Through Court

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.

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 charitable company and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the trustees’ annual report including the strategic 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:

Responsibilities of trustees

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

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

Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor’s report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered

26

Independent auditor’s report

To the members of

Support Through Court

material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.

Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud are set out below.

Capability of the audit in detecting irregularities

In identifying and assessing risks of material misstatement in respect of irregularities, including fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulations, our procedures included the following:

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

27

Independent auditor’s report

To the members of

Support Through Court

A further description of our responsibilities is available on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at: www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our auditor’s report.

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 auditor’s 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.

Jonathan Orchard (Senior statutory auditor) 6 July 2021

for and on behalf of Sayer Vincent LLP, Statutory Auditor Invicta House, 108-114 Golden Lane, LONDON, EC1Y 0TL

28

Support Through Court

Statement of financial activities (incorporating an income and expenditure account)

For the year ended 31 March 2021

Note
Income from:
2
3
4
5a
5a
Reconciliation of funds:
Donations and legacies
Charitable activities
Court-based services
Raising funds
Total expenditure
Charitable activities
Court-based services
Investments
Total income
Expenditure on:
Other trading activities
Domestic abuse project
National helpline
National helpline
Domestic abuse project
Legal Support For Litigants in Person
Legal Support For Litigants in Person
Total funds carried forward
Net movement in funds
Total funds brought forward		 Unrestricted
£
655,565
-
-
-
-
19,751
4,017		 Restricted
£
60,343
686,071
45,603
91,576
-
-
-		 2021
Total
£
715,908
686,071
45,603
91,576
-
19,751
4,017		 Unrestricted
£
416,327
-
-
-
-
61,586
3,430		 2020
Restricted
Total
£
£
82,307
498,634
861,725
861,725
10,000
10,000
-
-
400,000
400,000
437
62,023
-
3,430
1,354,469
1,835,812
39,393
389,074
908,229
920,579
28,593
28,593
-
-
400,000
400,000
1,376,215
1,738,246
(21,746)
97,566
27,341
639,738
5,595
737,304
679,333 883,593 1,562,926 481,343
369,415
143,393
-
-
-		 103
750,133
44,443
91,576
-		 369,519
893,526
44,443
91,576
-		 349,681
12,350
-
-
-
512,808 886,255 1,399,063 362,031
166,525 (2,662) 163,863 119,312
731,709 5,595 737,304 612,397
898,234 2,933 901,167 731,709

All of the above results are derived from continuing activities. There were no other recognised gains or losses other than those stated above. Movements in funds are disclosed in Note 16a to the financial statements.

29

Support Through Court

Company no. 4360133

Balance sheet

As at 31 March 2021

Note
Fixed assets:
11
Current assets:
12
Liabilities:
13
15a
General unrestricted funds
Debtors
Restricted income funds
Unrestricted income funds:
The funds of the charity:
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year
Net current assets
Total net assets
Cash at bank and in hand
Tangible assets
General funds
Total charity funds		 £
83,611
904,564		 2021
£
£
-
-
31,529
832,037
863,566
(127,225)
901,167
901,167
2,933
731,709
898,234
901,167		 2020
£
964
964
736,341
988,175
(87,008)
898,234
737,305
5,595
731,709
737,304

Approved by the trustees on 22 June 2021 and signed on their behalf by

Peter Crisp Chair

30

Support Through Court

Statement of cash flows

For the year ended 31 March 2021

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

Net income for the reporting period
(as per the statement of financial activities)
Depreciation charges
Dividends, interest and rent from investments
(Decrease) / increase in debtors
(Increase) / decrease in creditors
Net cash provided by operating activities
Analysis of cash and cash equivalents
Cash at bank and in hand
Total cash and cash equivalents
Cash flows from operating activities
Net cash provided by investing activities
Net cash provided by operating activities
Cash flows from investing activities:
Interest received
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the year
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year
Change in cash and cash equivalents in the year		 £
£
68,510
4,017
4,017
72,527
832,037
904,564
At 1 April
2020
Cash flows
£
£
832,037
72,527
832,037
72,527
2021		 £
£
68,510
4,017
4,017
72,527
832,037
904,564
At 1 April
2020
Cash flows
£
£
832,037
72,527
832,037
72,527
2021		 2021
£
163,863
964
(4,017)
(52,082)
(40,217)		 2020
£
97,566
964
(3,430)
121
14,755
68,510 109,976
At 1 April
2020
£
832,037		 Other
changes
£
-
72,527
832,037		 113,406
718,631
904,564 832,037
Cash flows
£
72,527		 At 31 March
2021
£
904,564
832,037 72,527 - 904,564

31

Support Through Court

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2021

1 Accounting policies

a) Statutory information

Support Through Court is a charitable company limited by guarantee and is incorporated in the United Kingdom.

The registered office address is Invicta House, 108-114 Golden Ln, London EC1Y 0TL. The principal office address is Royal Courts of Justice, Strand, London WC2A 2LL.

b) Basis of preparation

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) - (Charities SORP FRS 102), The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) and the Companies Act 2006/Charities Act 2011.

Assets and liabilities are initially recognised at historical cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policy or note.

In applying the financial reporting framework, the trustees have made a number of subjective judgements, for example in respect of significant accounting estimates. 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 under the circumstances. The nature of the estimation means the actual outcomes could differ from those estimates. Any significant estimates and judgements affecting these financial statements are detailed within the relevant accounting policy below.

c) Public benefit entity

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

d) Going concern

The Trustees consider that there are no material financial uncertainties that affect the Charity’s ability to continue as a going concern.

The ability of the charity to continue in its current shape is dependent on its ability to secure funding. A significant portion of the charity’s funding is from the government, which reviews its commitment at least once per annum. The Trustees recognise that the ongoing financial climate means it is not possible for the government to commit to longterm funding, but should this funding not be forthcoming the Trustees would have to take action to adjust for its loss. To mitigate against this key risk, Support Through Court has been taking a number of steps, including investing in fundraising to increase its non-government income, working closely with partners in the Litigants in Person Support Strategy and targeting a level of reserves that the Board believes provides the charity with a suitable breathing period.

The Trustees have taken steps to maintain the financial stability of the charity in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic and believe these will ensure the viability of the charity going forward. In recognising the changed financial climate that the virus has led to, the Trustees have worked with the Fundraising team to manage risk; contact has been made with funders, trusts, individuals and partners to assess funding opportunities going forward. Each area of Fundraising has been reviewed and risk assessed, with ongoing risk assessments performed on a monthly basis and discussed with the Chair of the Fundraising Committee. The charity is taking advantage of the support provided by the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) while staff are unable to provide services in the court based units. Budgets have been redrawn based on the changes arising from the temporary closure of our court-based services, offering savings that together with the CJRC income support, the conservative use of funds throughout the Covid period has left the organisation in a better position than originally predicted. The Trustees' aim is to be in a position to reopen court based services in the coming three months with all staff in place and ready to support the deluge of cases expected in this period.

The Trustees do not consider that there are any sources of estimation uncertainty at the reporting date that have a significant risk of causing a material adjustment to the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities within the next reporting period.

32

Support Through Court

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2021

1 Accounting policies (continued)

Income from government and other grants, whether ‘capital’ grants or ‘revenue’ grants, is recognised when the charity has entitlement to the funds, any performance conditions attached to the grants have been met, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount can be measured reliably and is not deferred.

For legacies, entitlement is taken as the earlier of the date on which either: the charity is aware that probate has been granted, the estate has been finalised and notification has been made by the executor(s) to the charity that a distribution will be made, or when a distribution is received from the estate. Receipt of a legacy, in whole or in part, is only considered probable when the amount can be measured reliably and the charity has been notified of the executor’s intention to make a distribution. Where legacies have been notified to the charity, or the charity is aware of the granting of probate, and the criteria for income recognition have not been met, then the legacy is treated as a contingent asset and disclosed if material.

Income received in advance of the provision of a specified service is deferred until the criteria for income recognition are met.

Donated professional services and donated facilities are recognised as income when the charity has control over the item or received the service, any conditions associated with the donation have been met, the receipt of economic benefit from the use by the charity of the item is probable and that economic benefit can be measured reliably. In accordance with the Charities SORP (FRS 102), volunteer time and free office space and utilities provided by the courts are not recognised so refer to the Trustees’ annual report for more information about their contribution.

On receipt, donated gifts, professional services and donated facilities are recognised on the basis of the value of the gift to the charity which is the amount the charity would have been willing to pay to obtain services or facilities of equivalent economic benefit on the open market; a corresponding amount is then recognised in expenditure in the period of receipt.

g) Interest receivable

Interest on funds held on deposit is included when receivable and the amount can be measured reliably by the charity; this is normally upon notification of the interest paid or payable by the bank.

Unrestricted funds are donations and other incoming resources received or generated for the charitable purposes.

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

Expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to make a payment to a third party, it is probable that settlement will be required and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. Expenditure is classified under the following activity headings:

Irrecoverable VAT is charged as a cost against the activity for which the expenditure was incurred.

33

Support Through Court

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2021

Where information about the aims, objectives and projects of the charity is provided to potential beneficiaries, the costs associated with this publicity are allocated to charitable expenditure.

Support and governance costs are re-allocated to each of the activities on the following basis which is an estimate, based on overall direct cost, of the amount attributable to each activity

71% 29%

Governance costs are the costs associated with the governance arrangements of the charity. These costs are associated with constitutional and statutory requirements and include any costs associated with the strategic management of the charity’s activities.

k) Operating leases

Rental charges are charged on a straight line basis over the term of the lease.

l) Tangible fixed assets

Items of equipment are capitalised where the purchase price exceeds £1,000. Depreciation costs are allocated to activities on the basis of the use of the related assets in those activities. Assets are reviewed for impairment if circumstances indicate their carrying value may exceed their net realisable value and value in use.

Where fixed assets have been revalued, any excess between the revalued amount and the historic cost of the asset will be shown as a revaluation reserve in the balance sheet.

Depreciation is provided at rates calculated to write down the cost of each asset to its estimated residual value over its expected useful life. The depreciation rates in use are as follows:

3 years

m) Debtors

Trade and other debtors are recognised at the settlement amount due after any trade discount offered. Prepayments are valued at the amount prepaid net of any trade discounts due.

n) Cash at bank and in hand

Cash at bank and cash in hand includes cash and short term highly liquid investments with a short maturity of three months or less from the date of acquisition or opening of the deposit or similar account.

o) Creditors and provisions

p) Financial instruments

The charity only has financial 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.

q) Pensions

The charity operates a defined contribution pension scheme. Contributions payable under the scheme are charged to the Statement of Financial Activities in the year to which they relate.

34

Support Through Court

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2021

Gifts
Grants
Coronavirus Job Retention Grant
Donated services
3
Litigants in Person Support Strategy
Domestic Abuse Project
4
Grants
Income from charitable activities
Grants from the Ministry of Justice
Fundraising Events
Income from other trading activities
Legal Support For Litigants in Person
Total income from charitable activities		 Unrestricted
£
243,609
143,700
268,256
-		 Restricted
£
60,343
-
-
-		 2021
Total
£
303,952
143,700
268,256
-		 Unrestricted
£
240,327
176,000
-
-		 Restricted
£
79,255
-
-
3,052		 2020
Total
£
319,582
176,000
-
3,052
655,565 60,343 715,908 416,327 82,307 498,634
Unrestricted
£
-
-
-
-		 Restricted
£
192,534
539,140
91,576
-		 2021
Total
£
192,534
539,140
91,576
-		 Unrestricted
£
-
-
-		 Restricted
£
332,585
539,140
400,000		 2020
Total
£
332,585
539,140
400,000
- 823,250 823,250 - 1,271,725 1,271,725
Unrestricted
£
19,751		 £
-
Restricted		 2021
Total
£
19,751		 Unrestricted
£
61,586		 Restricted
£
437		 2020
Total
£
62,023
19,751 - 19,751 61,586 437 62,023

35

Support Through Court

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2021

5a Analysis of expenditure

Salary costs (Note 7)
Other staff costs
Legal and professional
Recruitment costs
Fundraising costs
Marketing costs
IT costs
Volunteer costs
Office costs
Depreciation
Insurance
Audit Fees
Trustee expenses
Support costs
Governance costs
Total expenditure 2021		 Raising funds
£
272,484
893
-
-
4,288
125
32
-
111
-
-
-
-		 Charitable activities Charitable activities Governance
costs
£
13,851
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
602
8,142
674		 Support
costs
£
232,650
4,021
5,864
1,956
-
3,840
34,155
-
5,098
964
1,228
-
-		 2021
Total
2020
Total
£
£
1,267,916
1,472,848
15,714
57,198
5,864
9,019
3,548
15,872
4,328
27,937
3,965
18,260
58,707
22,190
2,321
79,023
25,090
24,657
964
964
1,830
1,815
8,142
7,980
674
484
1,399,063
1,738,247
-
-
-
1,399,063
1,738,247
Court-based
services
£
643,860
1,173
-
248
40
-
16,746
2,298
7,701
-
-
-
-		 National
Helpline
£
39,509
502
-
-
-
-
450
-
3,982
-
-
-
-		 Legal Support For
Litigants in
Person
£
65,562
9,125
-
1,344
-
-
7,324
23
8,198
-
-
-
-
277,933
84,778
6,808		 672,066
204,998
-
16,462		 44,443
-
-		 91,576
-
-		 23,269
-
(23,269)		 289,776
(289,776)
-
369,519 893,526 44,443 91,576 - -

36

Support Through Court

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2021

5b Analysis of expenditure (prior year)

Salary costs (Note 7)
Other staff costs
Legal and professional
Recruitment costs
Fundraising costs
Marketing costs
IT costs
Volunteer costs
Office costs
Depreciation
Insurance
Audit Fees
Trustee expenses
Support costs
Governance costs
Total expenditure 2020		 Raising funds
£
268,300
1,694
-
-
25,705
9,074
-
154
1,452
-
-
-
-		 Charitable activities Charitable activities Charitable activities Governance
costs
£
13,234
-
150
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
602
7,980
484		 Support
costs
2020
Total
£
£
199,342
1,472,848
4,160
57,198
8,869
9,019
13,784
15,872
-
27,937
8,688
18,260
18,403
22,190
-
79,023
2,487
24,657
964
964
1,213
1,815
-
7,980
-
484
257,910
1,738,247
(257,910)
-
-
-
-
1,738,247
Court-based
services
£
611,949
25,789
-
1,621
2,232
498
845
63,187
18,794
-
-
-
-		 National
Helpline
£
26,239
338
-
146
-
-
1,515
355
-
-
-
-		 Domestic Abuse
Project
£
353,784
25,217
-
321
-
-
1,427
15,682
1,569
-
-
-
-
306,379
76,620
6,075		 724,915
181,290
-
14,375		 28,593
-
-		 398,000
-
2,000		 22,450
-
(22,450)
389,074 920,580 28,593 400,000 -

37

Support Through Court

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2021

This is stated after charging / (crediting):

This is stated after charging / (crediting):
2021 2020
£ £
Depreciation 964 964
Auditor's remuneration (excluding VAT):
Audit 8,142 7,980

7 Analysis of staff costs, trustee remuneration and expenses, and the cost of key management personnel

Staff costs were as follows:

Employer’s contribution to defined contribution pension schemes
Salaries and wages
Social security costs
Redundancy and termination costs		 2021
2020
£
£
1,118,185
1,280,204
-
22,889
102,245
114,496
47,486
55,259
1,267,916
1,472,848

The following number of employees received employee benefits (excluding employer pension costs and employer's national insurance) during the year between:

2021 2020
No. No.
£60,000 - £69,999 1 1

The total employee benefits (including pension contributions and employer's national insurance) of the key management personnel were £252,894 (2020: £243,531).

The charity Trustees were neither paid nor received any other benefits from employment with the charity in the year (2020: £nil). No charity Trustee received payment for professional or other services supplied to the charity (2020: £nil).

Trustees' expenses represents the payment or reimbursement of travel and subsistence costs totalling £nil (2020: £484) incurred by nil (2020: 3) members relating to attendance at meetings of the Trustees.

8 Staff numbers

The average number of employees (head count based on number of staff employed) during the year was 40 (2020: 50).

9 Related party transactions

There are no related party transactions to disclose for 2021.

Aggregate donations from related parties were £7,731 (2020: £34,639).

10 Taxation

The charitable company is exempt from corporation tax as all its income is charitable and is applied for charitable purposes.

38

Support Through Court

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2021

11
Additions in year
Charge for the year
12
13
14
Balance at the beginning of the year
Amount released to income in the year
Amount deferred in the year
Balance at the end of the year
Other debtors
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year
At the start of the year
Debtors
At the end of the year
Net book value
All of the above assets were used for charitable purposes.
Deferred income
At the start of the year
Tangible fixed assets
Eliminated on disposal
At the end of the year
At the end of the year
At the start of the year
Cost or valuation
Depreciation
Disposals in year
Trade creditors
Accruals
Deferred income		 Computer
equipment
£
2,892
-
-		 Total
£
2,892
-
-
2,892 2,892
1,928
964
-		 1,928
964
-
2,892 2,892
- -
964 964
2021
£
83,611		 2020
£
31,528
83,611 31,528
2021
£
13,787
8,141
65,080		 2020
£
10,664
26,853
89,708
87,008 127,225
2021
£
89,708
(40,603)
15,975		 2020
£
45,250
(45,250)
89,708
65,080 89,708

39

Support Through Court

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2021

15a Analysis of net assets between funds (current year)

Analysis of net assets between funds (current year)
Net assets at 31 March 2020
Current liabilities
Current liabilities
Analysis of net assets between funds (prior year)
Tangible fixed assets
Current assets
Tangible fixed assets
Net assets at 31 March 2021
Current assets		 General
unrestricted
£
-
920,162
(21,928)		 Restricted
£
-
68,013
(65,080)		 Total funds
£
-
988,175
(87,008)
898,234 2,933 901,167
General
unrestricted
£
964
857,970
(127,225)		 Restricted
£
-
5,595
-		 Total funds
£
964
863,565
(127,225)
731,709 5,595 737,304

15b Analysis of net assets between funds (prior year)

40

Support Through Court

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2021

16a Movements in funds (current year)

Birmingham
Bournemouth
Bristol
Caerdydd/ Cardiff
Chelmsford
Chester
Coventry
Exeter
Leeds
Liverpool
London Services:
Barnet Civil and Family Court
Central Family Court
Royal Courts of Justice
Wandsworth County Court
West London Family Court
Total restricted funds
General funds
Manchester
Newcastle
Newport
Nottingham
Preston
Sheffield
Southampton
Southend
Legal Support For Litigants in Person
Court-based services
Other funds
National Helpline
Restricted funds:
Other service funds
Total funds
Unrestricted funds:		 At 1 April
2020
£
-
-
-
-
-
-
1,810
-
-
-
3,785
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-		 Income &
gains
£
49,166
-
22,377
25,352
17,508
2,000
-
1,507
24,607
17,572
641
38,241
43,729
594
15,094
35,556
23,465
1,188
19,201
-
17,003
-
-
100,015
45,603
91,576
291,598		 Expenditure &
losses
£
(49,055)
-
(22,377)
(25,352)
(17,508)
(2,000)
(1,810)
(1,507)
(24,607)
(17,572)
(4,426)
(38,241)
(43,729)
(594)
(13,432)
(35,556)
(23,465)
(1,188)
(19,201)
-
(17,003)
-
-
(100,015)
(44,443.00)
(91,576)
(291,598)		 Transfers
£
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-		 At 31 March
2021
£
111
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
1,662
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
1,160
-
5,595 883,593 (886,255) - 2,933
731,709
737,304		 679,333
1,562,926		 (512,808)
(1,399,063)		 -
-		 898,234
901,167

41

Support Through Court

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2021

16b Movements in funds (prior year)

Movements in funds (prior year)
Birmingham
Bournemouth
Bristol
Caerdydd/ Cardiff
Chelmsford
Chester
Coventry
Exeter
Leeds
Liverpool
London Services:
Barnet Civil and Family Court
Central Family Court
Royal Courts of Justice
Wandsworth County Court
West London Family Court
Total restricted funds
General funds
Newcastle
Newport
Nottingham
Preston
Sheffield
Southampton
Southend
Other service funds
Court-based services
Manchester
Restricted funds:
Total funds
National Helpline
Domestic Abuse Project
Other funds
Unrestricted funds:		 At 1 April
2019
£
-
-
2,348
5,241
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
1,159
-
18,593
-
-		 Income &
gains
£
44,336
14,828
24,939
26,840
21,570
5,813
9,260
31,382
34,684
29,885
13,877
35,250
32,655
2,500
17,072
52,412
34,800
376
30,772
20,603
35,107
18,766
9,936
132,354
10,000
400,000
264,452		 Expenditure &
losses
£
(44,336)
(14,828)
(27,287)
(32,081)
(21,570)
(5,813)
(7,450)
(31,382)
(34,684)
(29,885)
(10,092)
(35,250)
(32,655)
(2,500)
(17,072)
(52,412)
(34,800)
(376)
(30,772)
(20,603)
(35,107)
(18,766)
(11,095)
(132,354)
(28,593)
(400,000)
(264,452)
(1,376,215)
(362,031)
(1,738,246)		 Transfers
£
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-		 At 31 March
2020
£
-
-
-
-
-
-
1,810
-
-
-
3,785
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
27,341 1,354,469 - 5,595
612,397
639,738		 481,343
1,835,812		 -
-		 731,709
737,304

Restricted funds have been restricted for use in specific geographical service locations, as shown above.

The National Helpline provides support to people calling in to our service through a central phone number.

The Legal Support for Litigants in Person project (LSLIP3) is designed to achieve joint working in a way that has not previously been addressed by the LIPs Support Strategy; piloting safe spaces; providing direct access to legal advice from our partner in this project, RCJ Advice, who have a dedicated LSLIP3 lawyer on hand for life of the project together with remote legal assistance which will improve the pathway to the vital range of support needed by LIPS including virtual/remote contact and access to digital packages. The project is further supported the LIPSS partnership and the wider LSLIP projects under streams 1 & 2

The Domestic Abuse Project recruited specialist support workers to improve our understanding of the impact of domestic abuse on our clients, leading to bespoke training and improved staff and volunteer engagement in this important field of work.

Other service and other funds covers expenditure of the Litigants in Person Support Strategy grant on salaries for service and support staff as well as other service and support costs, such as staff and volunteer expenses, audit fees, insurance and stationery.

42

Support Through Court

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2021

17 Legal status of the charity

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

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Where to find Support Through Court Volunteers

Support Through Court Birmingham Birmingham Civil and Family Justice Hearing Centre, 33 Bull Street, Birmingham B4 6DS. Tel: 0121 250 6354 Email: birmingham@supportthroughcourt.org

Support Through Court Bristol Bristol Civil and Family Justice Centre, 2 Redcliff Street. Bristol, BS1 6GR. Tel: 0117 366 4809 Email: bristol@supportthroughcourt.org

Cefnogaeth Trwy’r Llys Caerdydd / Support Through Court Cardiff Canolfan y Llysoedd Sifil Caerdydd, 2 Stryd y Parc, Caerdydd CF10 1ET/ Cardiff Civil and Family Justice Centre, 2 Park Street, Cardiff CF10 1ET. Tel: 0292 034 3685 Email: cardiff@supportthroughcourt.org

Support Through Court Chelmsford Chelmsford County Court, Priory Place, New London Road, Chelmsford, Essex, CM2 0PP. Tel: 01245 245 527 Email: chelmsford@supportthroughcourt.org

Support Through Court Chester Chester Civil and Family Justice Centre, Trident House, Little St John St, Chester, CH1 1SN. Tel: 01244 404 299 Email: liverpool@supportthroughcourt.org

Support Through Court Coventry Coventry Combined Court, Much Park Street, Coventry, CV1 2SN. Tel: 0121 250 6354 Email: birmingham@supportthroughcourt.org

Support Through Court Exeter Exeter Combined Court Centre, Southernhay Gardens, Exeter, EX1 1UH. Tel: 01392 415 335 Email: exeter@supportthroughcourt.org

Support Through Court Leeds Leeds Combined Court Centre, 1 Oxford Row, Leeds, LS1 3BG. Tel: 0113 306 2764 Email: leeds@supportthroughcourt.org

Support Through Court Liverpool Liverpool Civil and Family Court Hearing Centre, 35 Vernon Street, Liverpool, L2 2BX. Tel: 0151 296 2296 Email: liverpool@supportthroughcourt.org

In London

Support Through Court Barnet, Barnet Civil and Family Courts Centre St Marys Court Regents Park Road, Finchley Central, London, N3 1BQ. Tel: 020 7421 8533 Email: LondonCFC@supportthroughcourt.org

Support Through Court Central Family Court Central Family Court, First Avenue House, 4249 High Holborn, London, WC1V 6NP. Tel: 020 7421 8533 Email: LondonCFC@supportthroughcourt.org

Support Through Court Royal Courts of Justice and Support Through Court County Court at Central London Room M21, Royal Courts of Justice, Strand, London WC2A 2LL. Tel: 020 7947 7701 Email: rcj@supportthroughcourt.org

Support Through Court Wandsworth Wandsworth County Court, 76-78 Upper Richmond Road, London SW15 2UU. Tel: 020 8333 4366 Email: wandsworth@supportthroughcourt.org

Support Through Court West London Family Court West London Family Court, Room 1, Gloucester House, 4 Dukes Green Avenue, Feltham, Middlesex, TW14 0LR. Tel: 0208 8313 573 Email: wlfc@supportthroughcourt.org

Support Through Court Manchester Room 2.15, Manchester Civil and Family Justice Centre, 1 Bridge Street West, Manchester M60 9DJ. Tel: 0161 240 5037 Email: manchester@supportthroughcourt.org

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Support Through Court Newcastle Newcastle upon Tyne Combined Court Centre, The Law Courts, The Quayside, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, Tyne & Wear, NE1 3LA. Tel: 0191 261 8016 Email: newcastle@supportthroughcourt.org

Cefnogaeth Trwy’r Llys Casnewydd / Support Through Court Newport Llys Sifil a Theulu Casnewydd, Tŷ Clarence, Casnewydd, NP19 7AA / Newport Civil and Family Court, Clarence House, Clarence Place, Newport, NP19 7AA. Tel: 0292 034 3685 Email: cardiff@supportthroughcourt.org

Support Through Court Nottingham Nottingham County Court, Canal Street, Nottingham, NG1 7EJ. Tel: 0115 947 3592 Email: nottingham@supportthroughcourt.org

Support Through Court Sheffield Sheffield Combined Court Centre, The Law Courts, 50 West Bar, Sheffield, S3 8PH. Tel: 0114 281 2456 Email: sheffield@supportthroughcourt.org

Support Through Court Southend Southend County Court and Family Court, Tylers House, Tylers Avenue, Southend-On-Sea SS1 2AW. Tel: 01245 245 527 Email: chelmsford@supportthroughcourt.org

Support Through Court Helpline 03000 810 006

Support Through Court . Registered Charity No. 1090781 A company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales no. 4360133 Registered Office: Invicta House, 108-114 Golden Lane, London, EC1Y 0TL Principal Office: Royal Courts of Justice, Strand, London, WC2A 2LL Tel: 020 7947 7701 E-mail: enquires@supportthroughcourt.org www.supportthroughcourt.org

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