2023-03-31-accounts

The change we’ve made

Support Through Court’s Annual Report 2022-23 Report and financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2023

Company number: 4360133 Charity number: 1090781

Introduction from Caroline Artis, Chair of the Board of trustees

I am delighted to have joined the charity as Chair of the Board of trustees last Summer, offering all that I can to support people facing court alone. It’s a privilege to be involved in this important work and I look forward to meeting many of you in the months to come.

It has been a significant year for Support Through Court and I have been impressed by the creativity, adaptability, and sheer determination of the charity’s staff and volunteers. Thank you to the university staff and service managers who have worked tirelessly to set up and relaunch partnership services. Thank you to the volunteers that have adapted, working in new ways to ensure that we can continue to be there when people need us the most. Thank you to our fundraising team and support staff who have enabled this work, as well as seeking vital funding for the future. And thank you to you, our supporters, for all you give, whether that’s time, energy, or money. I’m personally very grateful.

You have all gone above and beyond to find solutions to the challenges we’ve faced and overcome. Your ingenuity has enabled us to develop and implement new models of working seamlessly, and in such a short time frame.

We’re thrilled to have developed close partnerships with universities across the country. So far, we have set up partnerships with Nottingham Trent University, Cardiff University, Birmingham City University, Leeds Beckett University, Liverpool John Moores University, Manchester Metropolitan University, and the University of Sheffield. These partnerships offer us sustainability and the ability to plan further ahead. As well as hosting Support Through Court Nottingham, Nottingham Trent University will host our new remote service: Support Through Court Online. This exciting new service will launch in summer 2023 and is a result of countless hours of research, development, and collaboration. It represents a significant milestone for us and our ability to reach more people across England and Wales.

We have seen the need for our support grow in recent years and now more than ever, our services are vital, as the cost-of-living crisis throws more people into desperate situations. We’re incredibly grateful to our university partners for their support, collaboration, and funding, which is enabling us to step up to the challenge and provide hope to more people facing court alone.

Caroline Artis, Chair of the Board of trustees

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Support Through Court Annual Report For the year ended 31 March 2023

No one should face court alone

Every year, thousands of people in the UK face court alone. Often through no choice of their own, they must represent themselves at a moment that could have life-changing outcomes such as loss of access to children or homelessness. They may find themselves up against a party with legal representation. They are instantly at a disadvantage, often scared, confused, and overwhelmed by the enormity of the challenges they are up against. In a legal system that was not designed with laypeople in mind, amid rigid, complicated procedures and complex terminology, they are surrounded by legal professionals who have years of training and experience in the law. Clients’ anxiety about the frightening potential outcomes is compounded by this bewildering and intimidating environment. This can prove to be too much for people alone in court, leaving them desperate for somewhere to turn.

We provide a safe space, with volunteers who listen to each client’s individual story. We help people to get their thoughts in order, problem solve and decide next steps, source relevant and reliable legal information, explain complex procedures, complete court forms and clearly present statements. Our practical and emotional support alleviates clients’ concerns about the complicated legal system. Our partnerships with legal clinics and third sector organisations enable us to source complimentary specialist support for clients, such as domestic abuse or homelessness charities, and legal support if it’s available.

Our close work with HMCTS and the judiciary, also enable us to provide a more holistic support system for litigants in person, who are often overwhelmed and up against short deadlines.

Everyone has a right to access justice. No one should have to face court alone.

Review of the year

Last summer, our biggest funder, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), made changes to the way it was distributing funding to access to justice charities. We would no longer receive the annual funding we’d relied upon for a decade and needed a contingency plan. Thanks to our incredible supporters, we raised over £100,000 with our Urgent Appeal, whilst we restructured and looked to find ways of becoming more sustainable. We have worked hard on our university partnerships, which have gone from strength to strength, and offered some financial security for the coming years. Our efforts will continue to focus on increasing this, to ensure we secure the charity’s future.

Even in the face of funding changes, we’ve seen the need for our support grow. We helped clients on 57,383 occasions last year, with 17,031 of these contacts being through our National Helpline which enables us to reach people, irrespective of where they live in England or Wales. This service means that people do not need to live near a local office to benefit from our volunteers’ support.

The high call volume and low delivery cost also mean our cost-per-client-contact for the National Helpline was just £4.65. We’re confident that demand will continue to grow, highlighting the importance of planning for remote support in the future.

Last summer our CEO and Head of Service left after several years dedicated work at Support Through Court. We restructured, with a streamlined senior leadership team. Our newly formed Executive Team consists of Emma Taylor, CEO, who also continues her role in leading the Fundraising Team. Karen Sng-Sugden, previous Head of IT and Systems, has, in addition, taken on the role of Chief Operating Officer, whilst our

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Support Through Court Annual Report For the year ended 31 March 2023

Head of Finance and Resources, Ingela Ekström, is now our Chief Financial Officer. We were delighted to welcome Caroline Artis as our new Chair of the Board of trustees last Summer and appreciate her extensive expertise and experience.

Our Guardians Network has continued to grow: Guardians commit to investing in what we do, helping to bring our plans into reality. It's been great to meet with our Guardians throughout the year and consider future aspirations for the charity. With continuing uncertainty about future funding from the MoJ, our Guardians are more important than ever. Thank you to all our Guardians for your part in securing the charity’s future.

We’ve enjoyed celebrations with supporters at events such as our summer garden party and at our annual festive celebration at the Royal Courts of Justice. Alongside our in-person events, we’ve continued to run online events which allow greater diversity and number of attendees. We enjoyed a Legal Tech Breakfast and a Family Law Breakfast focusing on transparency in the Family Courts, ‘Breaking the News with the British Library’, and a book event with Leslie Thomas KC. We’re grateful to everyone who’s taken part and for all those individuals who have put their time and effort into holding their own fundraising events across the country. Every £1 raised enables us to support more people alone in the courts. Find out more about fundraising for us.

Client feedback

“I received help quickly and had a meeting which didn’t feel rushed - I felt like everything was explained very carefully and clearly. I felt respected and supported. The help I received went beyond my expectations. I’m very grateful. ”

“I am representing myself in court and was feeling lost and overwhelmed. The volunteer found out things I was unsure of, he emailed valuable links and went through them. He was extremely thorough and on a personal level, he put the spring back in my step and has given me the confidence I needed to see this process through.”

“This service has helped me immeasurably and given me the tools I need to approach the hearing with more confidence and less anxiety.”

I was so nervous and shaking. I couldn't have done it without you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. You've really helped me, and I feel so grateful. I couldn't have done it without you.

“Its’ easy to get caught up in the legal aspects, especially when English isn’t fully understood -you help people understand the legal system.”

"The staff and volunteers are friendly, helpful, knowledgeable about the process and have provided me with the information and guidance I have needed. They have stood beside me every step of the way. I will always be grateful for their support.”

“They have done so much for me! I am so grateful. As a domestic violence and PTSD survivor, this help has been so helpful. I can easily imagine that I'd have had a breakdown if this help hadn't been there.”

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Support Through Court Annual Report For the year ended 31 March 2023

Who we’ve helped

The people we support often face complex and challenging personal circumstances. Our clients face the prospect of going through court without anyone to help them. But with our help and guidance, they are given an opportunity to represent themselves to the best of their abilities and have the best chance of accessing justice.

This year, 19% of our clients who completed our diversity monitoring form told us English was their second language, 54% were unemployed or retired, and 29% reported serious health problems, with 11% registered as disabled.

Types of case we’ve supported litigants through

Number of client contacts recorded for each type of case (contact case sheets)	Number of client contacts recorded for each type of case (contact case sheets)
Types of cases	# of contacts	% of contacts
Bankruptcy/debt	656	1%
Criminal	404	<1%
Employment	1,011	2%
Housing	3,976	9%
Immigration/asylum	104	<1%
Money claim	11,050	24%
Probate	312	<1%
Welfare benefits	163	<1%
Civil - other	2,017	4%
Other (describe)	2,182	5%
Total unique family cases	24,011	52%
family - children	16,098	67%
family - divorce	2,729	11%
family - financial (as part of divorce)	1,766	7%
family - non molestation	2,788	12%
family - other	630	3%
TOTALUNIQUERESPONSES:	45,886

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Support Through Court Annual Report For the year ended 31 March 2023

How we’ve helped people facing court alone

We ask our clients to give us feedback on our service. This year’s results are provided below:

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	984	75%
Felt more anxious after	36	3%
Felt equally anxious before and after	300	23%
Felt equally anxious before and after (Felt at least some anxiety before)	91	30%
Felt equally anxious before (Felt calm before, and remained calm after)	209	70%
TOTAL RESPONSES with before and after responses:	1,320
Helped client have more confidence (Feedback)
The volunteer helped me to have more confidence	# of clients	% of responses
Yes	1,047	96%
No	47	4%
TOTAL RESPONSES:	1,094
Helped make procedures clearer to client (Feedback)
The volunteer helped make the procedures clearer to me	# of clients	% of responses
Yes	1,119	96%
No	43	4%
TOTAL RESPONSES:	1,162
Helped client be better prepared (Feedback)
The volunteer helped me be better prepared	# of clients	% of responses
Yes	1,079	96%
No	47	4%
TOTAL RESPONSES:	1,126
Helped client get a fairer hearing (Feedback)
The volunteer helped me get a fairer hearing	# of clients	% of responses
Yes	292	88%
No	39	12%
TOTAL RESPONSES:	331

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Support Through Court Annual Report For the year ended 31 March 2023

Helping people to access justice

I first came across Support Through Court under its previous name, Personal Support Unit, when I worked at Manchester County Court in the noughties. My initial reaction was a little negative as I couldn’t really see how a volunteer could practically help a litigant if they weren’t able to give them legal advice or represent them. My opinion changed, as I began to realise the benefits of having a volunteer assisting a litigant in person both to the litigant and the court.

Over the course of my career, I have seen a huge increase in the numbers of litigants who are not legally represented. There are many reasons for this, but one is the significant restriction in the breadth of legal aid provision over many years and the other is the reduction in funding for advice agencies which has decimated provision. This means that a significant proportion of court users now cannot afford legal representation and must navigate the complex procedures involved unaided. Of those unrepresented court users, many are elderly, some speak only limited English and others have significant mental health issues. If they can get help filling in the relevant forms, marshalling their documents, preparing for a hearing and perhaps even having support during the hearing they have a much better chance of putting the case effectively before the court so that a fair outcome can be reached.

Some court users are very anxious about the whole process. My experience has been that if the litigant has somebody with them, calmly helping them find the right document and giving them support with how to address the court and deal with the issues then they put their case forward much more effectively. This means the Judge has a much better opportunity to make a fair decision having had all the relevant evidence put before them in a business-like way. I have often been very grateful for the assistance of the Support Through Court volunteer as their calming influence has made the hearing much more effective and helped me reach what I hope is a fair decision that I then have the chance to communicate to the court user.

We are currently undergoing a reform programme which involves the digitisation of court procedures. I can see that particularly with the elderly and those who have English as a second language, help with navigating and completing the digital court forms will be invaluable.

His Honour Judge Gosnell, Designated Civil Judge for North and West Yorkshire.

Post-COVID recovery

Total number of occasions we’ve helped

Year	Number of contacts
2020/21(Covid Year, three national and further local lockdowns)	28,154
2021/22	49,346
2022/23	57,383
Predicted 2023/24	70,000

These numbers are based on information gathered after each client session. In some instances, the figure for 2021/22 has been adjusted based on calendar appointments and email logs.

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Support Through Court Annual Report For the year ended 31 March 2023

Client Stories

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

Sheila’s story

Sheila is a grandmother to two children. One is her son’s child and the other is his partner’s child. Sheila has been caring for them since they were only a few months old because they were not cared for appropriately and were neglected. With parental consent, Sheila took them in and provided for them as though they were her own children. However, she had no legal rights to the children.

Sheila was seeking a special guardianship order to give her some rights. She hoped this would be simple as the parents had agreed this would be the best for the children. During a court hearing, however, the mother said that she would want some custody, although she couldn’t say exactly what. The case became more complex.

When we first met Sheila, she broke down in tears. She was overwhelmed with stress, exhausted, and miserable with not knowing what she faced with the court procedure and hearings. We explained how the court system works, and helped Sheila write her statement clearly and in an appropriate format. This enabled Sheila to represent herself effectively at the court hearing.

Our help reduced Sheila’s stress and alleviated her worries about court procedures, which freed up her time and energy to do more for the children. Her increased clarity and well-being helped her to represent herself more effectively and get the outcome best for her grandchildren.

The magistrates thanked us for what we had done to help them deliver justice.

Donovan’s story

Donovan is a single parent, to a young child. When we met him, he had just started a new job after a period of unemployment. He was already the subject of a suspended possession order due to rent arrears. Donovan was waiting for his first wage packet and, as a result, had missed a payment due under the previous court order. As his benefit payments had stopped, a gap in income meant he needed a little extra time to get the money. He had every intention of paying. His landlord had obtained an eviction warrant, which would make Donovan and his child homeless in a matter of days.

We helped Donovan to complete a form to apply to suspend the warrant. This enabled him to offer to pay a lump sum off the arrears as soon as he was paid, and then regular monthly payments on top of his rent thereafter. Donovan was able to show the Judge that he was working hard to resolve the situation and that it wouldn’t be long until his new job enabled him to pay reliably.

Donovan returned to our service the following week to tell us that his landlord had accepted his proposal and the eviction had been cancelled, thus enabling him and his child to stay in their home. His furrowed brow of concern had transformed into a beaming smile of hope, and he thanked us for our help.

Janet’s Story

Janet came to us when her ex-partner refused to return their 13-year-old daughter, Annabelle. Annabelle’s father did not allow her to contact her mother or her other siblings. Janet was worried for their daughter as she had called her secretly and would speak very quietly so as not to be heard by her father and would cut off the call quickly. Janet explained that her ex-partner could be aggressive, and this was the reason for the breakdown in their relationship. Janet was understandably very upset and worried.

We directed Janet to a solicitor at RCJ Advice. The solicitor advised Janet to apply to the family court for a specific issue order for Annabelle to be returned to her care. They also explained that should the father try

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and remove Annabelle from her care again, she could apply to the family court for a prohibited steps order as well.

Janet said that before speaking to us, she did not know what she could do. Now she had the legal advice she needed and knew that we could support her with any applications she decided to make.

Sarika’s story

Sarika has a 23-year-old disabled daughter. Last summer, Sarika bought an adapted bike from eBay for her daughter but, when it arrived, she discovered it didn’t work properly; the brakes and gears were broken. Sarika contacted the seller, but they didn’t respond. Sarika informed eBay and they got involved. As the seller wouldn't settle the dispute eBay refunded Sarika and told her she can keep the bike, as per eBay's guarantee. However, the seller wanted the money or the bike back. Sarika attended mediation with him, but this was unsuccessful, so a hearing was scheduled for June.

Sarika called our service, very anxious. We provided emotional support and calmed her down, as well as booking her an appointment in our court-based office. One of our volunteers helped Sarika to write a witness statement as required by the court. A few days before Sarika’s hearing she emailed us to ask what she could expect at her hearing – some of the queries were dealt with by email. Our National Helpline team also got in touch to provide her with some helpful information and links to resources. As Sarika was nervous about her hearing, we booked a volunteer to go into her court hearing with her.

Sarika won the case and contacted us the next day, “Just a quick email to say a big THANK YOU TO YOU… for being by my side and chatting to me making me less nervous, anxious and taking my mind off the case.”

We empowered Sarika to deal calmly and effectively with her case and she said she was now looking forward to focusing on looking after her daughter rather than the court case.

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Support Through Court Annual Report For the year ended 31 March 2023

Our five-year strategy: what we’ve achieved

We’re two years into our five-year strategy: here’s how we’re doing so far.

Objectives 2021-2026	What we’ve achieved so far
We will double the number of client contacts from 80,000 in 2019/20 to 160,000 in 2025/26.	• We supported clients in person, by video call or spoke with them over the phone 57,383 times during the last financial year, providing a solid platform for future growth. • With our new partnerships in place, we have focussed on recruiting new volunteers and on student training in line with the new SQE route. • We have over 500 volunteers and will continue to recruit in the coming year to replace those leaving.
We will extend the geographic coverage of our service to provide a service to people using the civil and family courts throughout England and Wales.	• We had 17,031 contacts through our National Helpline last year. This was 30% of all last year’s contacts. • We have begun work to extend our coverage digitally by partnering with Nottingham Trent University to set up Support Through Court Online. We have appointed a service manager and we are building our IT capacity.
We will offer a range of ways to access our support through a multi-channel service, offering clients choice and tailoring our support to our clients’ needs as far as we are able.	• We are grateful to our volunteers for their dedication and support in enabling us to offer client appointments by phone, in person, by email, and by video call. • Our National Helpline continues to go from strength to strength: calls to the Helpline this year represented 30% of all recorded client contacts. The success of our Helpline has resulted in our partnership with Birmingham City University, which hosts our National Helpline service, being renewed. Our systems have been updated to enable clients to request a support session through our website, and, in some locations, to book their own appointment times.
We will grow our income to achieve long term sustainability of our financial resources.	• Our income this year sits at £1,218,183. • We are delighted to have 59 Guardians in our network and 53 companies who have joined our community of Guardians championing the work we do. • New partnerships, such as our media partnership with Today’s Family Lawyer, will enable us to further our reach to other potential funders. • We’ve invested in our fundraising team, with the recruitment of a new Supporters Manager.
We will make more efficient use of our resources including volunteers, providing value for money, resulting in efficiency savings and enabling investment in service improvements.	• We have recruited and trained new student volunteers in order to increase our capacity. • We have reviewed how we monitor and evaluate our services.

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Support Through Court Annual Report For the year ended 31 March 2023

	• Our talented staff team will continue to grow in the coming year as we look to invest in the training and development of existing staff, ensuring that we are offering an informed service.
We will use our knowledge of the court system and the issues faced by Litigants in Person (LiPs) to seek improvements for LiPs navigating the court system, offering a better opportunity to access justice.	• We are contributing to the use of more accessible language in new online court procedures. • Although the Litigant in Person Support Strategy (LIPSS) funding ended, we continue to work with the other LIPSS organisations to provide joined up support to people going through court without legal representation. • We’ve continued to build relationships with HMCTS and court staff in cluster courts around our main service sites.

Looking ahead – our five-year strategy

We’re looking to make some big changes in the way that we work so that we can support more clients than ever before. We won’t lose sight of the importance of face-to-face work, but we’ll take advantage of technology to connect with more people, in more places, more cost effectively.

By summer 2023, we’ll have an online service, Support Through Court Online, which will support clients who may or may not live near an existing office, in England or Wales. Volunteers will guide clients by video call, working together on online forms and attending remote hearings with clients. Thank you to Nottingham Trent University for partnering with us on this project and for providing the facilities, and student volunteers, to make our online service a reality.

We will look to strengthen and grow our funding partnerships, increasing our University Partners, our Guardians network and hosting our first gala dinner. We will also build service partnerships, continuing to work closely with HMCTS. We have joined the HMCTS Strategic Engagement Group, representing our clients’ voices as well as being active members of Network for Justice groups.

Thank you for empowering people facing court

We’re enormously grateful to all our funders: individuals across the country, law firms, chambers, universities, trusts and foundations, as well as our Guardians, Champions, and the Business and Family Ambassadors Boards. Thank you for empowering people going through court and enabling them to access justice.

Support Through Court aims to maintain our quality service whilst helping even more people going through court without representation, for many years to come. We can only do this by working in partnership with others. The committed support of Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service allows us to keep our costs low. We’re extremely grateful to them for accommodation and utilities. This ongoing generosity will allow us to carry on providing our core service from bases in court buildings.

We value our partnerships with others involved in the justice system: court staff all over the country who so generously devote time and energy to enabling our service to flourish; and the judiciary, who consistently

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support our work, in particular our Liaison Judge, Lady Justice Asplin, and our Liaison Judges across England and Wales.

You’re changing lives

To all those who have so generously donated to us: thank you. You’re making a world of difference to people going through court without representation.

Corporate supporters	Individuals	Universities
1 Crown Office Row Chambers	Ali Malek KC	Birmingham City University
1 Hare Court	Andrew Hochhauser KC	BloomsburyInstitute London
11KBW	Angela Camber	Cardiff University
12 King's Bench Walk	AudleySheppard KC	City University, London
29 Bedford Row	Brian Smith	Leeds Beckett University
3 Verulam Buildings	Caroline Artis	Liverpool John Moores University
30 Park Place	CecilyCrampin	Manchester Metropolitan University
5 Stone Buildings	Damien Byrne Hill	Nottingham Trent University
5RB	David Lewis	University of Essex
7BR	Diarmuid O'Hegarty	University of Sheffield
9 St John Street	Duncan Matthews KC
Ampla Finance	Edna Young	Trusts
AnthonyGold	Eleanor Brass	Access to Justice Foundation
Atkin Chambers	EmilyWood	Cityof London Solicitors' Company
BCLP	Graham Huntley	Clifford Chance Charitable Foundation
Blackstone Chambers	GuyBeringer	Elizabeth Frankland Moore and Star Foundation
Brown Rudnick	GuyFetherstonhaugh KC	Garfield Weston Foundation
Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner	Helen Lawrence	Gerald Palmer Eling Trust Company
Burges Salmon	Henrietta Hill KC	Ince GroupCharitable Foundation
Chambers & Partners	James Goss	Irwin Mitchell Charitable Foundation
Cooley	James Kessler	Moondance Foundation
Debevoise & Plimpton	Javan Herberg	MulberryTrust
Deka Chambers	Jean Edwards	The Jones 1986 Charitable Trust
Devereux Chambers	Jennyand Stephen Kingsly	PH Holt Foundation
Doyle Clayton	Joanne Wicks	The Stevenson Family's Charitable Trust
Edwin Coe LLP	John Gould	Zochonis Charitable Trust

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Support Through Court Annual Report For the year ended 31 March 2023

etiCloud	LadyJustice Andrews
Eversheds Sutherland	LadyJustice Asplin
Faber & Faber (gift in kind raffle books)	LadyJustice Carr
Falcon Chambers	Lis Long
Fountain Court Chambers	Lord Justice David Richards
Freemans Solicitors	Lord Justice Nugee
Gray's Inn	Lord Justice Stuart-Smith
HenryDannell	Lord Pannick KC
Herbert Smith Freehills LLP	Lord Sales
Inner Temple	Marcus Haywood
KeatingChambers	Mark Warby
Landmark Chambers	Martin Lewis CBE
Laura Devine Immigration	Michael Todd KC
Lewis Silkin LLP	Michael Zuckerman
Lincoln's Inn	Mr Justice Murray
Littleton Chambers	Mr Justice Zacaroli
Middle Temple	Mrs Justice McGowan
Mills & Reeve	MurrayRosen
Monckton Chambers	Nigel Tozzi KC
Nine St John Street	Niranjan Venkatesan
Old Square Chambers	Patrick Corr
Old Square Chambers	Peter Crisp
OurFamilyWizard	PhilipWaller CBE
Radiant Law	Pieter Knook and Anne Wolff
Rhea FamilyFinance	Professor Sara Chandler KC
Ropewalk Chambers	Richard Liddell
Sedgwick
Selborne Chambers	Richard Lissack KC
SentryFunding	Sean Wilken
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett	Simon Davis
South Square	Simon Hale
Stephenson Harwood	Sir Christopher Floyd PC
The Bar Standards Board	Sir David Wootton
Weil, Gotshal & Manges	Sir Julian Flaux
White & Case	Sir Rupert Jackson
	Sir Vivian Ramsey

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Support Through Court Annual Report For the year ended 31 March 2023

The Rt. Hon. Lord Carnwath of Notting Hill Thomas Seager Berry Tina Kyriakides Tom Smith KC William Norris

Help us transform more lives

Could you help us reach more people facing court alone by volunteering, fundraising or partnering with us visit: www.supportthroughcourt.org or email us: [e-mail]

Please consider making a donation so that we can secure our financial future and continue to be there for those alone in court: https://bit.ly/3AsVOR6

Let’s help more people to effectively represent themselves and access justice. Thank you.

Where to find us

All our locations can be found on our website.

Who we are

Trustees

The trustees, who are also directors of Support Through Court for the purposes of company law, are:

Caroline Artis, Chair appointed 4 July Peter Crisp, Chair resigned 4 July Stephen Adler Zubair Chaudhry, Treasurer Anthony Fincham Samantha Gargaro Alexander Hulbert Ben Moore Tim Nash Kay-Dene Petgrave Robert Pitt David Wilkin, Vice Chair

Founder

The late Diana Copisarow OBE

Patrons

Martin Lewis, CBE The Rt. Hon. Sir Terence Etherton The Rt. Hon. Lord Dyson, PC The Rt. Hon. The Baroness Butler-Sloss, GBE PC

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Support Through Court Annual Report For the year ended 31 March 2023

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 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 The Rt. Hon. The Lord Reed of Allermuir, PC FRSE

Liaison Judge

The Rt. Hon. Dame Sarah Asplin

Chief Executive: Eileen Pereira (Jul 2022,) Emma Taylor, Interim (Jan 2023), CEO (Feb onwards) Company Secretary: Eileen Pereira (Jul 2022) Ingela Ekstrom thereafter

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

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:

• (a) to pursue charitable purposes by the provision of personal support and assistance, without regard to race, gender, sexuality, age or disability, for (i) those suffering or likely to suffer emotional or psychological stress or otherwise in need of such support or assistance by reason of their involvement with actual or anticipated legal proceedings at the Royal Courts of Justice, Strand, London or elsewhere in the United Kingdom, and (ii) their spouses, partners, families and friends supporting them in relation to such legal proceedings; and

• (b) to further all and any purposes which are charitable according to English law.

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.

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Support Through Court Annual Report For the year ended 31 March 2023

Financial review

Our income this year sits at £1,218,183. We’ve received income from the following sources:

Source of funding 2022/23	£	%
Trusts	167,841	13.8
Government	432,267	35.5
Corporate	204,910	16.8
University partnerships	139,107	11.4
Friends and individuals	242,815	19.9
Community	20,028	1.7
Investments	11,215	0.9
Total	£1,218,183	100.0
Non-budget relieving gifts in kind	6,267

We received 23% of our funding in a bridging grant from the Ministry of Justice, via the Access to Justice Foundation through the Litigant in Person Support Strategy and 6% from the Ministry of Justice, via the Access to Justice Foundation through the Help Accessing Legal Support grant. This was to enable us to develop our infrastructure and sustain our existing services.

We received a total of £345,500 from our university partnerships in the year, however, £176,500 has been deferred to 2023/24 and £31,500 to 2024/25 to align with the academic year.

Our total expenditure sits at £1,505,406. We’ve invested in new staff positions, and training and development to retain existing staff. We also worked on our systems, including rolling out our phone system across all services.

The organisation has maintained strong control of expenditure as well, ending the year with an underspend of £154,242 against the set budget. The charity holds its reserves in cash, utilising interest-bearing bank accounts.

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 reviewed our approach to risk in the year and adopted a new and improved risk register. The comprehensive risk register is updated on a quarterly basis and reviewed by the trustees. The Board pays particular attention to those risks with critical and high-risk scoring (based on impact and probability) and whether there have been any changes in the score since the previous review. The Board also questions and analyses the existing controls and planned actions.

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Support Through Court Annual Report For the year ended 31 March 2023

Safeguarding and data protection incidents are reported on to the trustees as standing agenda items during the Audit and Risk Committee meetings.

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

The keyrisks identified for the	pastyear, and the actions taken to mitigate them, were:
Risk	Mitigating actions
Significant reduction or loss of income; delays in funding decisions and inability to replace funding for strategic objectives in the short term.	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 reviewed target of four and a half months reserves provides enough time to consider options and take action to maintain a viable service in line with a changing funding environment. Pledged and required income and the risk assessment are reviewed monthly within the management account reporting processes. Fundraising pipelines and plans are in place to establish new funding streams and targets and progress are reviewed by the Fundraising Committee quarterly.
Client Support and Safeguarding- Change in complexity of cases and clients’ needs resulting in staff and volunteers not having the skills needed.	Safeguarding is an ongoing risk for the charity, and we are continuing to monitor our responses to clients’ needs. Staff and volunteers are aware of contact details for local Adult Safeguarding Boards. Also, each service builds a close working relationship with local court security services. Volunteers receive training regarding our safeguarding processes and policy. 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 after children for clients. Our safeguarding monitoring process ensures all safeguarding incidents are recorded and reviewed by the designated Safeguarding Officer.
System security and permissions compromised (virus, hackers, cyberattack) Data compromised.	All main systems are cloud based and delivered by providers with appropriate accreditations and cyber security. Permission and set up/deletion of cloud accounts is restricted to nominated authorised staff only. Homeworkingdataprotection and acceptable usepolicies are inplace.

Reserves policy

The trustees consider it appropriate for Support Through Court to hold a general reserve, primarily to maintain its service if funding is disrupted through the ebb and flow in fundraising streams. The remainder of the Designated Development Fund (DDF) set up in April 2021 was fully utilised in the year with £17,866 spent on setting up Support Through Court Online, £40,926 spent on developing our technology and systems and £92,673 invested in our team. The Trustees agreed to release £28,000 back into general reserves.

Our reserve is available to support in-year short-term cash flow issues arising from intermittent income receipts. Taking this into account, the trustees have agreed to target an unrestricted reserve equating to four and a half months of the charity’s expected running costs for the following financial year. The trustees

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Support Through Court Annual Report For the year ended 31 March 2023

understand that the level of reserves will fluctuate as strategic aims are met and have agreed that the general reserve should not fall below two and a half months of the charity’s expected running costs for the following financial year. The trustees have put trigger points in place to ensure that there is enough time to consider and take the best course of action 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, CFO and CEO (under the scrutiny of the Audit & Risk Committee) quarterly. A contingency plan is in place to deal with delays in funding and inyear 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. Trigger points alert the trustees to any deteriorating reserves position. The charity’s running costs for the year to 31 March 2024 are expected to be £1,622,463 (2022: £1,505,406). The restricted reserve at 31 March 2023 was £nil (2022: £nil), the designated reserves were £nil (2022: £151,465) while the unrestricted reserve was £553,594 (2022: £689,352) which equates to 4.1 months of 2023-24 total running costs (2022: 6.5).

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. Following the decision of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) to change the funding regime under which the charity has been funded over the past 11 years, we have been moved to a new MoJ department. The extension of the LiPSS and the new Help Accessing Legal Support grants represented 29% of income in 2022/23. We successfully applied for the new Improving Outcomes Through Legal Support through the Access to Justice Foundation which has provided some certainty for the period ending 31 March 2025. The grant represents 17% of the total income budget for 2023/24 and 18% for 2024/25.

This brings a degree of financial certainty, and we are confident that the charity remains a going concern. Nonetheless, we have plans in place to deal with any significant losses in other income streams and to mitigate against this key risk, the charity has been taking several steps, including investing in fundraising to increase its non-government income and targeting a level of reserves that the Board believes provides the charity with a suitable breathing period.

The trustees do not consider that there are any sources of estimation of 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 and CAF Charity Deposit Platform. These accounts are kept under review by the Treasurer, CFO 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, CFO and CEO, having sought the agreement of the Audit & Risk Committee.

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Support Through Court Annual Report For the year ended 31 March 2023

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 eight to the accounts.

Trustee appointment and induction

The term of office of a trustee is three years from 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. In 2021/22 a Nominations Committee was introduced to improve trustee recruitment practice and support equality and diversity within the trustee group. Three of the trustees in office 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 members of the Nominations Committee (serving trustees) 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 about the operation of the charity.

In keeping with good governance, the Board of trustees engaged in succession planning prior to the Chair stepping down. The 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 our new ChairElect has been agreed and joined the Board in July 2022. The trustees engaged with an outside agency for this post, The Good Board, who supported the application process including advertising, review of

applications, supporting short-listing, interviews, and the taking up of two references for the appointee. Since 2020/21 the Nominations Committee have achieved their aim of producing a more diverse Board addressing factors including age, gender, and ethnicity.

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 our service.

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Support Through Court Annual Report For the year ended 31 March 2023

As a charity that complies with the charity code of governance, 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, and the CFO. 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 Salary and Remuneration 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.

Volunteers engaged in the provision of the charity’s services are supported by paid Service Managers, except at Support Through Court’s Bristol, Southend, Exeter, Wandsworth, West London Family Court, and Barnet services, where volunteers coordinate these services, with the support of a local Service Manager. 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 staff to review plans and share good practice. The charity regularly reviews all governance arrangements.

Related parties and relationships with other organisations

Support Through Court was part of the LIPSS group which came to an end in September 2022, coordinating and collaborating with other independent charities to enhance the provision of support to people facing court alone, magnifying the delivery of our objectives. The CEOs of the LIPSS partners

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Support Through Court Annual Report For the year ended 31 March 2023

continue to meet regularly and share opportunities and they are now part of HMCTS’ Strategic Engagement Group.

Support Through Court has ongoing relationships across England and Wales with universities and their law clinics, HMCTS, the judiciary and other agencies, (Citizens Advice, housing, debt advice) offering cross referral and support for LiPs.

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 continued to consult on our fundraising appeal and recruit new supporters for that appeal. This fundraiser follows the Fundraising Regulators Code of Practice and their progress was monitored with regular catch-ups. No fundraising complaints were received last year. The charity has a privacy policy and complies with data protection law and has a Donor Policy. 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 13 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:

• select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently

• observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP

• make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent

• state whether applicable UK Accounting Standards and statements of recommended practice have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements

• prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis, unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in operation.

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

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Support Through Court Annual Report For the year ended 31 March 2023

financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charitable company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

In so far as the trustees are aware:

• there is no relevant audit information of which the Charitable Company’s auditor is unaware

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

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 10 July 2023 and signed on their behalf by

Caroline Artis Support Through Court Chair

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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 2023 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:

• Give a true and fair view of the state of the charitable company’s affairs as at 31 March 2022 and of its incoming resources and application of resources, including its income and expenditure for the year then ended

• Have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice

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

Basis for opinion

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the 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.

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Independent auditor’s report To the members of Support Through Court

Our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements, or our knowledge obtained in the course of the audit, or otherwise appears to be materially misstated.

If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.

We have nothing to report in this regard.

Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006

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

• The information given in the trustees’ Annual Report, including the strategic report, for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements; and

• The trustees’ Annual Report, including the strategic report, has been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements.

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:

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

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

• Certain disclosures of trustees’ remuneration specified by law are not made; or

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

Responsibilities of trustees

As explained more fully in the 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

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Independent auditor’s report To the members of Support Through Court

in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements. Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations.

We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud 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:

• We enquired of management, which included obtaining and reviewing supporting documentation, concerning the charity’s policies and procedures relating to:

• Identifying, evaluating, and complying with laws and regulations and whether they were aware of any instances of non-compliance;

• Detecting and responding to the risks of fraud and whether they have knowledge of any actual, suspected, or alleged fraud;

• The internal controls established to mitigate risks related to fraud or non-compliance with laws and regulations.

• We inspected the minutes of meetings of those charged with governance.

• We obtained an understanding of the legal and regulatory framework that the charity operates in, focusing on those laws and regulations that had a material effect on the financial statements or that had a fundamental effect on the operations of the charity from our professional and sector experience.

• • We communicated applicable laws and regulations throughout the audit team and remained alert to any indications of non-compliance throughout the audit.

• We reviewed any reports made to regulators.

• We reviewed the financial statement disclosures and tested these to supporting documentation to

• assess compliance with applicable laws and regulations.

• We performed analytical procedures to identify any unusual or unexpected relationships that may indicate risks of material misstatement due to fraud.

• In addressing the risk of fraud through management override of controls, we tested the appropriateness of journal entries and other adjustments, assessed whether the judgments made in making accounting estimates are indicative of a potential bias and tested significant transactions that are unusual or those outside the normal course of business.

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 noncompliance. The risk is also greater regarding irregularities occurring due to fraud rather than error, as fraud involves intentional concealment, forgery, collusion, omission or misrepresentation.

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

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Independent auditor’s report To the members of Support Through Court

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) 18 September 2023

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

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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: [phone] Email: [e-mail]

Support Through Court Bristol Bristol Civil and Family Justice Centre, 2 Redcliff Street. Bristol, BS1 6GR. Tel: [phone] Email: [e-mail]

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: [phone] Email: [e-mail]

Support Through Court Chelmsford Chelmsford Civil Justice Centre, Chelmsford County Court, Priory Place, New London Road, Chelmsford, Essex, CM2 0PP. Tel: [phone] Email: [e-mail]

Support Through Court Exeter Exeter Combined Court Centre, Southernhay Gardens, Exeter, EX1 1UH. Tel: [phone] Email: [e-mail]

Support Through Court Leeds Leeds Combined Court Centre, 1 Oxford Row, Leeds, LS1 3BG. Tel: [phone] Email: [e-mail]

Support Through Court Liverpool Liverpool Civil and Family Court Hearing Centre, 35 Vernon Street, Liverpool, L2 2BX. Tel: [phone] Email: [e-mail]

In London

Support Through Court Barnet, Barnet Civil and Family Courts Centre St Marys Court Regents Park Road, Finchley Central, London, N3 1BQ. Tel: [phone] Email: [e-mail]

Support Through Court Central Family Court Central Family Court, First Avenue House, 42-49 High Holborn, London, WC1V 6NP. Tel: [phone] Email: [e-mail]

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: [phone] Email: [e-mail]

Support Through Court Wandsworth Wandsworth County Court, 76-78 Upper Richmond Road, London SW15 2UU. Tel: [phone] Email: [e-mail]

Support Through Court West London Family Court West London Family Court, Room 1, Gloucester House, 4 Dukes Green Avenue, Feltham, Middlesex, TW14 0LR. Tel: [phone] Email: [e-mail]

Support Through Court Manchester Room 2.15, Manchester Civil and Family Justice Centre, 1 Bridge Street West, Manchester M60 9DJ. Tel: [phone] Email: [e-mail]

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: [phone] Email: [e-mail]

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Support Through Court Nottingham Nottingham County Court, Canal Street, Nottingham, NG1 7EJ. Tel: [phone] Email: [e-mail]

Support Through Court Sheffield Sheffield Combined Court Centre, The Law Courts, 50 West Bar, Sheffield, S3 8PH. Tel: [phone] Email: [e-mail]

Support Through Court Southend The Court House, 80 Victoria Avenue, Southend on Sea, SS2 6EU Email: [e-mail]

Support Through Court National 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: [phone] E-mail: [e-mail] www.supportthroughcourt.org

Our locations

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Support Through Court

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

For the year ended 31 March 2023

For theyear ended 31 March 2023
Note Income from: 2 3 4 5b 5b Reconciliation of funds: Donations and legacies Charitable activities Local services Raising funds Other trading activities National helpline Legal Support For Litigants in Person Support Through Court Online Total expenditure Charitable activities Local services Investments Total income Expenditure on: National helpline Legal Support For Litigants in Person Support Through Court Online Net movement in funds Net movement in funds Total funds brought forward Total funds carried forward	Unrestricted £ 564,130 - - - - 11,248 11,215	Restricted £ 79,630 469,628 12,135 - 70,197 - -	2023 Total £ 643,760 469,628 12,135 - 70,197 11,248 11,215	Unrestricted £ 521,487 - - - - 3,605 1,786	Restricted £ 82,400 711,017 49,105 - 154,113 - -	2022 Total £ 603,887 711,017 49,105 - 154,113 3,605 1,786
	586,593	631,590	1,218,183	526,878	996,635	1,523,513
	526,623 262,318 67,009 17,866 -	2,205 547,053 12,135 - 70,197	528,828 809,371 79,144 17,866 70,197	466,585 96,899 20,811 - -	90 795,100 50,265 - 154,113	466,675 891,999 71,076 - 154,113
	873,816	631,590	1,505,406	584,295	999,568	1,583,863
	(287,223) (287,223) 840,817	- - -	(287,223) (287,223) 840,817	(57,417) (57,417) 898,234	(2,933) (2,933) 2,933	(60,350) (60,350) 901,167
	553,594	-	553,594	840,817	-	840,817

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 15a to the financial statements.

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Support Through Court

Company no. 4360133

Balance sheet

As at 31 March 2023

As at 31 March 2023
Note Fixed assets: Current assets: 11 Liabilities: 12 15a General unrestricted funds General funds Total charity 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 Short term deposits Tangible assets Unrestricted income funds: Designated funds Restricted income funds Debtors	£ 18,633 295,530 510,429	2023 £ -	£ 29,015 255,000 632,122	2022 £ -
		- 553,594		- 840,817
	824,592 (270,998)		916,137 (75,320)
	- 553,594		151,465 689,352
		553,594		840,817
		- 553,594		- 840,817
		553,594		840,817

Approved by the trustees on 10 July 2023 and signed on their behalf by

Caroline Artis Chair

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Support Through Court

Statement of cash flows

For the year ended 31 March 2023

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

Net (expenditure) / income for the reporting period (as per the statement of financial activities) Depreciation charges Dividends, interest and rent from investments (Profit)/loss on the disposal of fixed assets Decrease / (increase) in debtors Increase / (decrease) in creditors Net cash (used in) / provided by operating activities Cash at bank and in hand Total cash and cash equivalents Change in cash and cash equivalents in the year Change in cash and cash equivalents due to exchange rate movements Analysis of cash and cash equivalents Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the year Cash flows from operating activities Net cash provided by investing activities Net cash provided by operating activities Cash flows from investing activities: Interest received	£ £ (92,378) 11,215 11,215 (81,163) 887,122 - 805,959 At 1 April 2022 Cash flows £ £ 887,122 (81,163) 887,122 (81,163) 2023	£ £ (92,378) 11,215 11,215 (81,163) 887,122 - 805,959 At 1 April 2022 Cash flows £ £ 887,122 (81,163) 887,122 (81,163) 2023	2023 £ (287,223) - (11,215) - 10,382 195,678	2022 £ (60,350) - (1,786) - 54,596 (11,688)
			(92,378)	(19,228)
	At 1 April 2022 £ 887,122		Other changes £ -
		805,959		887,122
		Cash flows £ (81,163)		At 31 March 2023 £ 805,959
	887,122	(81,163)	-	805,959

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Support Through Court

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2023

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.

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. Following the decision of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) to change the funding regime under which the charity has been funded over the past 11 years, we have been moved to a new MoJ department. The extension of the LiPSS and the new Help Accessing Legal Support grants represented 29% of income in 2022/23. We successfully applied for the new Improving Outcomes Through Legal Support through the Access to Justice Foundation which has provided some certainty for the period ending 31 March 2025. The grant represents 17% of the total income budget for 2023/24 and 18% for 2024/25.

This brings a degree of financial certainty, and we are confident that the charity remains a going concern. Nonetheless, we have plans in place to deal with any significant losses in other income streams and to mitigate against this key risk, the charity has been taking several steps, including investing in fundraising to increase its non-government income and targeting a level of reserves that the board believes provides the charity with a suitable breathing period.

The Trustees do not consider that there are any sources of estimation of 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.

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Support Through Court

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2023

1 Accounting policies (continued)

e) Income

Income is recognised when the charity has entitlement to the funds, any performance conditions attached to the income have been met, it is probable that the income will be received and that the amount can be measured reliably.

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.

f) Donations of gifts, services and facilities

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.

h) Fund accounting

Restricted funds are to be used for specific purposes as laid down by the donor. Expenditure which meets these criteria is charged to the fund.

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.

i) Expenditure and irrecoverable VAT

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:

• Costs of raising funds relate to the costs incurred by the charitable company in inducing third parties to make voluntary contributions to it, as well as the cost of any activities with a fundraising purpose.

• Expenditure on charitable activities includes the costs of delivering the service, undertaken to further the purposes of the charity and their associated support costs.

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

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Support Through Court

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2023

1 Accounting policies (continued)

j) Allocation of support costs

Resources expended are allocated to the particular activity where the cost relates directly to that activity. However, the cost of overall direction and administration of each activity, comprising the salary and overhead costs of the central function, is apportioned on the following basis which are an estimate, based on staff time, of the amount attributable to each activity.

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

�	Local services	56%
�	National Helpline	6%
�	Support Through Court Online	1%
�	Raising Funds	37%

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:

• Computer equipment

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

Creditors and provisions are recognised where the charity has a present obligation resulting from a past event that will probably result in the transfer of funds to a third party and the amount due to settle the obligation can be measured or estimated reliably. Creditors and provisions are normally recognised at their settlement amount after allowing for any trade discounts due.

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.

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Support Through Court

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2023

2 Income from donations and legacies

Gifts Grants Coronavirus Job Retention Grant Donated services 3 Litigants in Person Support Strategy 4 Grants from the Ministry of Justice Fundraising Events Income from other trading activities Legal Support For Litigants in Person Help Accessing Legal Support Total income from charitable activities Grants Income from charitable activities	Unrestricted £ 387,581 176,549 - -	Restricted £ 78,415 - - 1,215	2023 Total £ 465,996 176,549 - 1,215	Unrestricted £ 350,036 97,847 73,604 -	Restricted £ 82,310 - - 90	2022 Total £ 432,346 97,847 73,604 90
	564,130	79,630	643,760	521,487	82,400	603,887
	Unrestricted £ - - - -	Restricted £ 124,691 282,070 70,197 75,000	2023 Total £ 124,691 282,070 70,197 75,000	Unrestricted £ - - - -	Restricted £ 220,981 539,140 154,113 -	2022 Total £ 220,981 539,140 154,113 -
	-	551,958	551,958	-	914,234	914,234
	Unrestricted £ 11,248	£ - Restricted	2023 Total £ 11,248	Unrestricted £ 3,605	Restricted £ -	2022 Total £ 3,605
	11,248	-	11,248	3,605	-	3,605

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Support Through Court

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2023

5a Analysis of expenditure (current 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 2023	Raising funds £ 368,045 1,287 - - 12,899 439 - - 48 - - - -		Charitable activities	Governance costs £ 14,541 - - - - - - - - - 296 9,840 204	Support costs £ 311,513 4,854 6,008 1,913 - 3,875 34,595 - 6,385 - 2,509 - -	2023 Total £ 1,357,507 19,082 6,008 3,283 14,831 4,898 60,023 12,555 14,370 - 2,805 9,840 204	2022 Total £ 1,392,118 22,073 21,644 1,072 27,403 4,591 73,492 10,620 19,263 - 2,986 8,550 51
		Local services £ 541,076 6,935 - 746 1,873 540 16,190 11,441 6,950 - - - -	National Helpline Support Through Court Online Legal Support For Litigants in Person £ £ 52,192 9,677 60,463 259 3 5,744 - - - - 624 - 59 - - 44 - - 4,412 2,626 2,200 114 - 1,000 197 - 790 - - - - - - - - - - - -
	382,718 136,942 - 9,168	585,751 209,589 - 14,031	57,277 12,930 70,197 20,495 4,626 - - - 1,372 310 -	24,881 - (24,881)	371,652 (371,652) -	1,505,406 - -	1,583,863 - -
	528,828	809,371	79,144 17,866 70,197	-	-	1,505,406	1,583,863

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Support Through Court

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2023

5b Analysis of expenditure (prior year)

Charitable activities

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 2022	Raising funds £ 307,477 82 - - 26,239 233 474 - 41 - - - -	Local services £ 604,402 6,244 - 107 1,164 203 11,947 8,966 6,415 - - - -	National Helpline £ 43,141 171 - 26 - 11 441 4 7,158 - - - -	Legal Support For Litigants in Person £ 127,878 11,816 - - - - 11,314 1,650 1,455 - - - -	Governance costs £ 15,343 - 15,600 - - - - - - - 602 8,550 51	Support costs £ 293,877 3,760 6,044 939 - 4,144 49,316 - 4,194 - 2,384 - -	2022 Total £ 1,392,118 22,073 21,644 1,072 27,403 4,591 73,492 10,620 19,263 - 2,986 8,550 51
	334,546 119,026 13,103.00	639,448 227,504 25,047.00	50,952 18,128 1,996	154,113 - -	40,146 - (40,146)	364,658 (364,658) -	1,583,863 - -
	466,675	891,999	71,076	154,113	-	-	1,583,863

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Support Through Court

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2023

6 Net income / (expenditure) for the year

This is stated after charging / (crediting):

This is stated after charging / (crediting):
	2023	2022
	£	£
Depreciation	-	-
Auditor's remuneration (excluding VAT):
Audit	8,200	7,125

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

Staff costs were as follows:

Salaries and wages Social security costs Employer’s contribution to defined contribution pension schemes Redundancy and termination costs	2023 £ 1,136,302 13,059 116,169 91,977	2022 £ 1,205,059 - 111,581 75,478
	1,357,507	1,392,118

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

the year	between:
		2023	2022
		No.	No.
£60,000	- £69,999	1	2
£70,000	- £79,999	1	1

The total employee benefits (including pension contributions and employer's national insurance) of the key management personnel were £293,626 (2022: £356,358).

The charity Trustees were neither paid nor received any other benefits from employment with the charity in the year (2022: £nil). No charity Trustee received payment for professional or other services supplied to the charity (2022: £nil).

Trustees' expenses represents the payment or reimbursement of travel and subsistence costs totalling £204 (2022: £51) incurred by 2 (2022: 2) 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 35 (2022: 40).

The average number of employees (head count based on equivalent number of full-time staff) during the year was 32.6 (2022: 37.8).

9 Related party transactions

There are no related party transactions to disclose for 2023.

Aggregate donations from related parties were £7,051 (2022: £8,751).

10 Taxation

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

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Support Through Court

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2023

11 Debtors

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 Trade creditors Accruals Deferred income (note 13) Other debtors Accrued income Creditors: amounts falling due within one year Deferred income Taxation and social security	2023 £ 11,784 6,849	2022 £ 28,448 567
	18,633	29,015
	2023 £ 9,847 29,754 9,840 221,557	2022 £ 40,213 230 20,377 14,500
	270,998	75,320
	2023 £ 14,500 (4,500) 211,557	2022 £ 65,080 (65,080) 14,500
	221,557	14,500

12 Creditors: amounts falling due within one year

13 Deferred income

14a Analysis of net assets between funds (current year)

Analysis of net assets between funds (current year)
Current assets Current liabilities Tangible fixed assets Net assets at 31 March 2023	General unrestricted £ - 824,592 (270,998)	Designated £ - - -	Restricted £ - - -	Total funds £ - 824,592 (270,998)
	553,594	-	-	553,594

14b Analysis of net assets between funds (prior year)

Analysis of net assets between funds (prior year)
Net assets at 31 March 2022 Current liabilities Tangible fixed assets Current assets	General unrestricted £ - 750,172 (60,820)	Designated £ - 151,465 -	Restricted £ - 14,500 (14,500)	Total funds £ - 916,137 (75,320)
	689,352	151,465	-	840,817

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Support Through Court

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2023

15a Movements in funds (current year)

Birmingham Bristol Caerdydd/ Cardiff Chelmsford Exeter Leeds Liverpool London Services: Central Family Court Royal Courts of Justice West London Family Court Total restricted funds Total designated funds General funds Unrestricted funds: Other funds National Helpline Restricted funds: Local services Total funds Support Through Court Online Designated funds: Total unrestricted funds Developing technology and systems Investing in our team Manchester Newcastle Nottingham Legal Support For Litigants in Person Other service funds	At 1 April 2022 £ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -	Income & gains £ 13,705 8,300 39,500 9,670 2,000 1,116 22,184 57,268 12,010 1,615 9,970 11,515 10,518 81,030 12,135 70,197 268,857	Expenditure & losses £ (13,705) (8,300) (39,500) (9,670) (2,000) (1,116) (22,184) (57,268) (12,010) (1,615) (9,970) (11,515) (10,518) (81,030) (12,135) (70,197) (268,857)	Transfers £ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -	At 31 March 2023 £ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
	-	631,590	(631,590)	-	-
	17,866 40,926 92,673	- - -	(17,866) (12,926) (92,673)	- (28,000) -	- - -
	151,465	-	(123,465)	(28,000)	-
	689,352	586,593	(750,351)	28,000	553,594
	840,817	586,593	(873,816)	-	553,594
	840,817	1,218,183	(1,505,406)	-	553,594

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Support Through Court

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2023

15b Movements in funds (prior year)

Movements in funds (prior year)
Birmingham Bristol Caerdydd/ Cardiff Chelmsford 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 Total designated funds General funds Unrestricted funds: Designated funds: Total funds Total unrestricted funds Restricted funds: Developing technology and systems Investing in our team Support Through Court Online Designated funds: Sheffield Other service funds National Helpline Legal Support For Litigants in Person Other funds Local services Manchester Newcastle Nottingham	At 1 April 2021 £ 111 - - - - - - - - - - - 1,662 - - - - - 1,160 - -	Income & gains £ 46,718 26,050 27,723 29,576 - 4,200 24,552 29,018 - 30,187 45,846 126 15,000 45,840 25,774 21,628 23,500 123,063 49,105 154,113 274,616	Expenditure & losses £ (46,829) (26,050) (27,723) (29,576) - (4,200) (24,552) (29,018) - (30,187) (45,846) (126) (16,662) (45,840) (25,774) (21,628) (23,500) (123,063) (50,265) (154,113) (274,616)	Transfers £ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -	At 31 March 2022 £ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
	2,933	996,635	(999,568)	-	-
	- - -	- - -	- (27,674) (82,993)	17,866 68,600 175,666	17,866 40,926 92,673
	-	-	(110,667)	262,132	151,465
	898,234	526,878	(473,628)	(262,132)	689,352
	898,234	526,878	(584,295)	-	840,817
	901,167	1,523,513	(1,583,863)	-	840,817

40

Support Through Court

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2023

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.

Support Through Court Online, is an extension of our current service supporting people alone in the courts. People that currently don’t live near one of our existing court-based or university-based services will be able to meet with a volunteer remotely and get practical and emotional support by email and videocall.

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

Other service and other funds cover expenditure of the Litigants in Person Support Strategy and Help Accessing Legal Support grants on salaries for service and support staff as well as other service and support costs, such as staff and volunteer expenses, audit fees, systems, insurance and stationery.

Investment pot for development : Over the next five years we’re looking to make significant changes in the way that we work, so that we can double the number of clients we’re working alongside. An investment pot will enable this development. The investment we’re making will help us to improve our systems and tech, launch a new remote service that allows us to reach clients anywhere across England and Wales, and grow as a team so we have the capacity to meet this need.

Support Through Court Online: our investment in new technology and a Support Through Court Online Service Manager will enable us to reach more people.

Developing technology and systems: We’ll use technology to connect with more people, in more places, more cost effectively. The investment in new technologies and telephony systems will support our National Helpline and Support Through Court Online, our new remote service. The Trustees agreed to transfer £28,000 of these funds into general reserves as we are now looking to obtain funding for the client data base and volunteer rota externally.

Investing in our team: We'll invest in recruiting and training staff and volunteers; this pot will enable the training required for volunteers as we launch a new remote service.

16 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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