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Justice, together: How you’re making access to justice a reality

Support Through Court Amended Annual Report 2024-25

Report and financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2025

Company number: 04360133

Charity number: 1090781

Introduction from Caroline Artis, Chair of the Board of trustees

It’s been a busy year at Support Through Court. I’m delighted that we were able to support people facing court alone on over 45,000 occasions. We’ve been able to obtain a wider reach with the development of Support Through Court Online, supporting more people where there is no local office. We’ve been able to respond to people in a way that better suits their needs, no matter where they live across England and Wales.

After three years as Support Through Court’s Chair of the Board, I’ll be stepping down this Summer. It’s been a huge privilege to be Chair of the Board for this brilliant charity. I’m proud of all that we’ve achieved together over the last three years – we’ve developed our remote services, expanded our Guardians Network and developed new partnerships with universities. These achievements have enabled us to support people facing court without representation on tens of thousands of occasions.

I’ve been so inspired by the persistence and commitment of our amazing staff and volunteers, who work tirelessly to help people access justice. I’d like to say a huge thank you to them for their dedication to empowering individuals disadvantaged by the system. I’m very grateful to you, our amazing supporters, for all your investment. As Chair, I’ve visited services and seen how truly necessary this service is. I’ve also seen how, thanks to your kind donations, we can be there for those disadvantaged by the court system. I look forward to continuing to support this remarkable charity as a Guardian.

Caroline Artis May 2025

Introduction from Katherine Milliken, our new Chair of the Board of trustees

As I step into the role of Chair, I would like, on behalf of everyone involved with Support Through Court, to express our gratitude to Caroline, our outgoing Chair, for her leadership over the past three years. She has guided the charity with clarity and compassion in a challenging economic climate, leaving us with stronger foundations for the future.

In these early days I have been learning in greater detail about Support Through Court and its work. One aspect that has stood out for me is the commitment of Support Through Court’s staff and volunteers. Their tireless work to ensure people are not alone in court and to help them navigate a daunting system with dignity is remarkable. I’d like to extend heartfelt thanks to everyone involved, and to you, our generous supporters, for the investment you’ve made in this mission. I’ve seen first-hand how vital this service is, and how your support directly empowers those most disadvantaged by the court process. It’s an honour to join this exceptional community, and I look forward to meeting many more of you, and to championing this work, in the months and years ahead.

Katherine Milliken May 2025

Support Through Court Annual Report For the year ended 31 March 2025

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. 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, both in person and digitally. 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 digital, 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 His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) and the judiciary also enables us to provide a more holistic support system for litigants in person (LiPs), 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

This year, we provided support on over 45,000 occasions for people navigating the courts without legal representation. That’s 45,000 moments of reassurance, clarity, and calm, made possible only through the dedication of our incredible volunteers and the generosity of our supporters. Behind every number is a real person facing an often intimidating process alone. Our volunteers are at the heart of what we do: offering not just practical guidance, but humanity and compassion when it’s needed most. Whether it’s standing beside someone in court or helping to complete daunting paperwork, their kindness makes a genuine and lasting impact.

We’ve continued to strengthen and grow our reach. A new partnership with the School of Law at St Mary’s University, Twickenham has added fresh energy to our network of university partners. Student volunteers are helping to shape the future of our services, and their contribution is both vital and inspiring. In the new year we were honoured to welcome Dr. I. Stephanie Boyce, former President of the Law Society, as our newest patron. Her commitment to access to justice aligns perfectly with our mission, and her support is helping to raise awareness of the challenges people face in court, and how we can all help. Over in Cardiff, we’ve launched a Welsh-speaking service, offering sessions of support in Welsh, in addition to creating Welsh resources.

The events we’ve held this year have engaged both committed and new supporters. Gina Miller joined us to discuss addressing systemic injustice through law and advocacy, whilst this year’s Family Law Breakfast focused on the use of AI in family law. We’ve also expanded our reach through public campaigns.

Support Through Court Annual Report For the year ended 31 March 2025

Broadcaster and mediator Joanna Gosling delivered a powerful BBC Radio 4 Appeal on our behalf, whilst our festive campaign shared the voices of those we’ve supported, offering insight, emotion, and a reminder of the power of human connection. Thanks to funding from The National Lottery Community Fund, we continued to develop and deliver our online support and launched a refreshed, more accessible website this year.

Our key focus in this past year has been building resilience, ensuring we can maintain quality services for vulnerable court users. We closed our part-time, volunteer-led London Satellite services at the start of the financial year to focus our resources on delivering assistance at our staff-led, face-to-face services at the Royal Courts of Justice and Central Family Court. These services are now staffed by one full-time member of staff. Our Sheffield service is now open part-time whilst our National Helpline is now based at Nottingham Trent University, alongside Support Through Court Online. With limited resources, these changes put us in a stronger financial position for this coming year and will increase impact for clients. Crucially, the Ministry of Justice and the Access to Justice Foundation’s Improving Outcomes Through Legal Support (IOTLS) programme has been extended by a further year, underpinning our delivery of faceto-face services through to March 2026.

Alongside strengthening our financial position, we’ve also improved our systems. We’ve reviewed how we use our intranet, online booking and phone systems, as well as developing new policies, including an AI policy and a social media policy. Additionally, we’ve developed our volunteer offering, with the development of Volunteer Impact teams, designed to provide better support to volunteers locally, as well as to improve communication channels with the leadership team.

To all our supporters: thank you. Whether you’ve donated, volunteered, or joined us at events like Inequality and Injustice or our Spotlight evening with Lord David Wolfson, your support makes this work possible. You are the reason we’re able to stand beside so many people in their hour of need. Together, we’re creating a society where no one has to face court alone. We couldn’t be more grateful.

Client feedback

‘Invaluable support – I can’t even begin to describe the relief I felt going through court with Support Through Court.’ - Client, Sheffield

‘It's a lifeline during such overwhelming chapters of our lives where we don't know how to navigate a path through.’ - Client, London

The volunteer helped me to have more confidence Yes: 95% No: 5% Total relevant responses: 2403

The volunteer helped me better understand the procedures Yes: 96% No: 4% Total relevant responses: 2457

Support Through Court Annual Report For the year ended 31 March 2025

The volunteer helped me be better prepared Yes: 96% No: 4% Total relevant responses: 2371

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, 24% of our clients who completed our diversity monitoring form told us English was their second language, 22% were not in employment, and 38% reported serious health problems, with 43% identifying as ethnic minorities (excluding white minorities).

Types of case we’ve supported litigants through

We most often support people with money claims, housing, employment cases, child arrangements, divorce and non-molestation cases.

Case background	Percent of support sessions involving
Civil	51%
Family	49%

Client stories

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

Megan’s story

Alys, one of our volunteers in Cardiff, shares her experience of one of her very first cases.

Megan is mum to a fifteen-year-old, Liam. She is unable to see her son very often at all, due to a court order after her initial mental health decline, and is not in regular communication with his father. She suffered a stroke, which left her with slow processing, and also very fragile mental health.

Megan explained to Alys the situation in detail. Megan had concerns about her son being with his father due to previous instances of verbal abuse, something which clearly affects her deeply. Megan was concerned for her son’s health and showed Alys photographs of him being underweight and emails from his school that mentioned that he was not performing well. Attempts to communicate with Liam’s father were in vain, as he did not respond to any emails she sent. She was desperate to support her son but the current orders in place meant she faced some challenging barriers. Megan told Alys that she felt like a shell of who she was before and the stress of her being unable to see her teenage son had taken over.

Support Through Court Annual Report For the year ended 31 March 2025

Alys was able to assist with Megan filling in her court forms to gain further access to her son. Alys said, ‘I could see that by me simply listening, the immense pressure she was feeling was slightly relieved. This interaction displayed to me how rewarding volunteering work at Support Through Court is. At the end of our appointment, I was very proud of the strength she had to come in and fight for her son, whilst also suffering from various health issues. She was so grateful to us at Support Through Court and I am beyond happy we were able to help her.’

Chioma’s story

Chioma is a single mum, unemployed, and relying on universal credit. She is originally from Nigeria. She suffers with mental health issues – both anxiety and depression. She has one child, her 12-year-old son, Femi. Chioma told us she used to be in a relationship with Femi’s father but explained that he was not Femi’s biological father.

After three years without contact from her ex-partner, Chioma was focused on moving forward with her life. One step in that journey was her wish to change her son’s surname which he shared with her ex. Chioma made an application to court to change Femi’s surname name to her own. She represented herself throughout the process. In an initial hearing, Chioma's ex, who thought of himself as Femi’s father, verbally applied for contact with Femi.

At this point, Chioma reached out to us for support. One of our volunteers, Lucy, spoke with Chioma. Like many in her position, Chioma was finding the process of facing court alone deeply stressful, an experience intensified by her ongoing mental health challenges. Lucy attended a second and then a third hearing with Chioma. Lucy explained the court process, took notes and helped Chioma to feel calm. In the hearings, the question of a paternity test came up. Chioma’s ex refused to take a paternity test. With Lucy’s support, Chioma was able to speak in court, ask questions and get her thoughts in order.

Chioma personally requested that Lucy attend the final hearing with her. In the final hearing, Chioma’s ex again refused to do the paternity test and Chioma’s application for the name change was granted. It was agreed her ex would send Femi letters each month as a form of contact. The application being granted had a positive impact on not only Chioma but on her son, too, relieving stress and anxiety for them both. Femi was able to change his name, which he had really wanted to do. Chioma emailed afterwards: ‘Thank you so much Lucy, I could not have done it without you, I appreciate you.’

Gianna’s story

Gianna sought support via our remote service, Support Through Court Online.

Gianna booked a remote appointment. She was seeking an extension of an application for a nonmolestation order – this was an order put in place to restrict contact with her father. Gianna’s father had refused to engage with the court process, dragging it out. Gianna was extremely distressed and upset.

A series of hearings were arranged. We attended each hearing with Gianna. Hearings kept getting delayed and rearranged due to Gianna’s father being late and not talking on the call. We spoke with Gianna prior to each hearing. We provided her with brief details of what to expect and we also spoke about how she was feeling.

Support Through Court Annual Report For the year ended 31 March 2025

As the first two hearings didn’t go her way, we called her afterwards to provide emotional support. We also reassured her and answered any questions she had so she had further clarification.

Gianna told us via email that our support made a huge difference, as she was able to get reassurance and have any questions she had answered. This was an extremely stressful time for her, and she reiterated how much it helped having someone to turn to for help when questions arose.

Our five-year strategy: what we’ve achieved

We’re four 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. Please note this objective has been revised as part of a strategic review. We will maintain our client contact numbers in 2025/26.	• We supported clients in person, over email, by video call or spoke with them over the phone 45,653 times during the last financial year • Given an uncertain external climate, and following a trustee-led strategic review, it has been agreed we will focus on building stability and resilience in the charity for the next two years, maintaining client contacts at 45,000
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 12,363 contacts across England and Wales through our National Helpline in the last year • Support Through Court Online, our remote service, in partnership with Nottingham Trent University, supported 2104 people facing court alone
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 now offer client appointments by phone, in person, by email, and by video call • We continue to work with We Are Digital to support people in completing online legal processes • Our online service enables video call and email support nationally and we offer remote hearing support from local offices
We will grow our income to achieve long term sustainability of our financial resources.	• Our income this year sits at £1,400,199 • We are delighted to have 55 Guardians in our network and 61 companies who have joined our community of Guardians championing the work we do • We welcomed St Mary’s as our new London University partner
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 continued to recruit and train new student volunteers to increase our capacity • We’ve taken steps this year to reshape our service model, making us more resilient and better equipped to meet future demand. These changes allow us to provide consistent,

Support Through Court Annual Report For the year ended 31 March 2025

	high-quality support while making the most of every volunteer hour and donation • Staff and volunteers are properly equipped and supported in ensuring safeguarding for clients • We have invested in our staff with training such as time management, resilience, and train-the-trainer as well as ‘all staff development day’ meetings twice a year • We have increased our staff resources to help boost our provision with secondments, pro bono consultants and interns from partner universities • Three new trustees will join the Board in the coming financial year, including a new Chair of the Board • We had four six-month secondments from the civil service, which enabled us to develop a Website Improvement Cycle, review income opportunities and improve our intranet and our client data collection • Thanks to National Lottery funding, we were able to develop our digital offering and refresh our website
We will use our knowledge of the court system and the issues faced by LiPs to seek improvements for LiPs navigating the court system, offering a better opportunity to access justice.	• We’ve continued to build relationships with HMCTS and court staff in courts around our main service sites as well as sharing volunteer insights and client stories with HMCTS user groups and the wider legal support community • Our Pathfinder Project in Birmingham and Cardiff which aims to reform child arrangement cases by reducing its adversarial nature and prioritising the voice of the children • We have carried out a Domestic Abuse Protection Order pilot in Manchester and via our online service. We are working with the courts to ensure people experiencing abuse get the support they need

Looking ahead

In the coming year, we will build on the foundations we’ve put in place this year. We are aiming for a year of stability, with all services working to deliver an effective and efficient service. We’re particularly looking at increasing capacity in our remote services. We’ll strengthen and improve our services by introducing a new client record system, exploring how we triage clients to better meet client needs, and increasing support for service management where needed.

We will continue to invest in staff development and ensure organisational policies are up to date. Alongside prioritising our staff team wellbeing, we’ll look at how we can better support and communicate with our volunteers. In the past year we’ve launched Volunteer Impact teams, with every service having a small volunteer team running meetings and feeding back to staff. We will look to develop these teams and ensure a strong feedback loop to ensure the voice of the volunteer helps shape the organisation.

Support Through Court Annual Report For the year ended 31 March 2025

In the coming year we will look to strengthen and grow our funding partnerships and further develop our Guardians Network. We will also build service partnerships, continuing to work closely with HMCTS. We will contribute to the HMCTS Engagement Groups and other legal support forums, representing our clients’ voices and volunteer insight.

As well as focussing on how we can partner with others and strengthen our external work, we are looking at how we can make internal improvements. We plan to review how we can better support our clients, ensuring we are capturing how we work and the needs of our clients, which will help us develop our services and understand the impact we're having. This year, we will strengthen our cybersecurity measures to ensure we continue protecting the information entrusted to us. We’ll improve controls and reduce risk to keep our systems secure. These steps reflect our ongoing commitment to keeping client, volunteer, and supporter data safe.

Fieldfisher and Baker McKenzie are supporting us through a joint research project in the coming year, aiming to better understand the needs and experiences of our clients. By working closely with these firms, we hope to gain deeper insight into the advice and support that local communities need most.

Thank you for empowering people facing court

We’re enormously grateful to all our funders: individuals and businesses 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, helping 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 universities and HMCTS 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 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 24/25	Individuals	Universities
1 Crown Office Row	LadyJustice Asplin	Birmingham CityUniversity
1 Hare Court	Eleanor Brass	BloomsburyInstitute London
11KBW	Damien Byrne Hill	Cardiff University
12KBW	LadyChief Justice Carr	City University, London
29 Bedford Row	Simon Davis	Leeds Beckett University

Support Through Court Annual Report For the year ended 31 March 2025

1GC	GuyFetherstonhaugh KC	Liverpool John Moores University
3VB	Sir Christopher Floyd KC	Manchester Metropolitan University
30 Park Place	Andrew Hochhauser KC	Nottingham Trent University
4PB	Sir Rupert Jackson	St Mary’s University, Twickenham
5 Stone Buildings	Ali Malek KC	University of Essex
5RB	Mrs Justice McGowan	University of Sheffield
7BR	Lord Pannick KC
36 Family	Lord Justice Richards	Trusts
AFP Bloom	Lord Sales	Essex CommunityFoundation
Ampla Finance	Michael Todd KC	Gerald Palmer Eling Trust Company
Anthony Gold	PhilipWaller CBE	Inner London Magistrates' Courts' Poor Box And Feeder Charity
Atkin Chambers	Sir David Wootton	Pilkington Charities Fund
BCLP	Mr Justice Zacaroli	St Andrew Holborn & Stafford’s Charity
Blackstone Chambers	Robin Abraham	The 29th May 1961 Charitable Trust
Burges Salmon	LadyJustice Andrews	The Adint Charitable Trust
CMS	Caroline Artis	The Anthony and Elizabeth Mellows Charitable Settlement
Cloud Gateway	Stephanie Barwise KC	The Elizabeth Frankland Moore and Star Foundation
Debevoise & Plimpton	GuyBeringer CBE	The Jones 1986 Charitable Trust
Deka Chambers	Camilla Bingham KC	The MulberryTrust
Devereux	David BradlyKC	The National Lottery Community Fund
Doyle Clayton	Angela Camber	The Norton Rose Fulbright Charitable Foundation
etiCloud	Lord Carnwath	The Three Oaks Trust
Eversheds Sutherland	Katherine Cavallo	William A Cadbury Charitable Trust
Falcon Chambers	Professor Sara Chandler KC
Farrer & Co	Mr Justice Constable
Fountain Court Chambers	LucyColter
Fourteen Grays Inn	Patrick H. Corr
Freemans Solicitors	CecilyCrampin
Grays Inn	Professor Peter Crisp

Support Through Court Annual Report For the year ended 31 March 2025

HenryDannell	Sir Julian Flaux
Herbert Smith Freehills	Mr Justice Goss
Hunters Law	John Gould
Inner Temple	Marcus Haywood
Irwin Mitchell	Javan HerbergKC
Keating	Mr Justice Holgate
Landmark Chambers	Mr James Howells KC
Lewis Silkin	Mrs Justice Hill
Lincoln’s Inn	Graham Huntley
Littleton Chambers	Phillippa Kaufmann KC
Macfarlanes	Christopher KennedyKC
Middle Temple	James Kessler KC
Mills & Reeves	HenryKingKC
Old Square Chambers	Jennyand Stephen Kingsley
OurFamilyWizard	Paul Kirtley
Payne Hicks Beach	Tina Kyriakides KC
Radiant Law	Matthew LavyKC
Rhea FamilyFinance	Helen Lawrence
Ropewalk Chambers	David Lewis KC
Sedgwick	Richard Liddell KC
Selborne Chambers	Richard Lissack KC
Serjeants’ Inn	Elisabeth Long
SentryFunding	Duncan Matthews KC
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett	Mr Justice Murray
South Square Chambers	Sir Vivian Ramsey
Stephenson Harwood	MurrayRosen KC
The Bar Standards Board	AudleySheppard KC
Watson Farley& Williams	Tom Smith KC
White & Case	Roger Stewart KC
Wilberforce Chambers	Lord Justice Stuart-Smith
	Michael Todd KC
	Nigel Tozzi KC
	Niranjan Venkatesan
	Lord Justice Warby
	Joanne Wicks KC
	Mr Thomas Seager Berry
	William Norris
	Colin Liebenrood
	Mrs Jean Edwards

Support Through Court Annual Report For the year ended 31 March 2025

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: fundraising@supportthroughcourt.org

Please consider making a donation so that we can secure our financial future and continue to be there for those alone in court: www.supportthroughcourt.org/donate

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:

Alexander Hulbert Anthony Fincham Benjamin Moore, until 30 June 2024 Caroline Artis, Chair until 31 May 2025 David Wilkin, Vice Chair until 15 July 2024 Judith Helen Lawrence Kay-Dene Petgrave Robert Pitt Samantha Gargaro Stephen Adler, Vice Chair from 15 July 2024 Timothy Nash Zubair Chaudhry, Treasurer

Founder

The late Diana Copisarow OBE

Patrons

The Rt. Hon. The Lord Burnett of Maldon The Rt. Hon. The Baroness Butler-Sloss, GBE PC The Rt. Hon. Lord Dyson, PC The late The Rt. Hon. Sir Terence Etherton The Rt. Hon. The Baroness Hale of Richmond, DBE PC FBA Martin Lewis, CBE 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 Reed of Allermuir, PC FRSE The Rt. Hon. The Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd, Kt PC The Rt. Hon. The Lord Woolf, CH PC FBA FMedSci

Support Through Court Annual Report For the year ended 31 March 2025

Liaison Judge

The Rt. Hon. Dame Sarah Asplin

Chief Executive: Emma Taylor

Company Secretary: Ingela Ekstrom

Registered Address: C/O Sayer Vincent LLP, 110 Golden Lane, London, EC1Y 0TG

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, 110 Golden Lane, London, EC1Y 0TG

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 on 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.

Support Through Court Annual Report For the year ended 31 March 2025

Financial review

Our income this year sits at £1,400,199. We’ve received income from the following sources:

Source of funding 2024/25	£	%
University partnerships	308,967	22.1%
Trust	303,428	21.7%
Government	293,375	21.0%
Corporate	257,902	18.4%
Individual	182,837	13.1%
Community	25,720	1.8%
Investment	21,871	1.6%
Earned Income	6,099	0.4%
Total	1,400,199	100%

Our total expenditure sits at £1,340,788. Aiming to be less reliant on government funding, we have increased funding from other sources over the last couple of years. We have strengthened partnerships with universities, developed our Guardians Network and worked with new trusts and funders. We successfully applied for the Ministry of Justice and the Access to Justice Foundation’s IOTLS programme, which has provided some certainty for the coming financial year. The grant was extended for a further period ending March 2026. The grant extension represents 21% of the total income budget for 2025/26.

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 utilises a comprehensive risk register which 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.

Support Through Court Annual Report For the year ended 31 March 2025

Safeguarding and data protection incidents are reported on to the trustees as standing agenda items during the Audit and Risk Committee meetings. Two Trustee Safeguarding Champions were appointed during the year and attended trustee safeguarding training sessions.

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. Income and risk are assessed monthly. Fundraising pipelines and plans are in place to establish new funding streams and targets and progress are reviewed by the Fundraising Committeequarterly.
Front line wellbeing and safeguarding	Safeguarding is an ongoing risk for the charity and we are continuing to monitor our responses to clients’ needs. We have a new safeguarding team and policy which will be renewed annually. Two Trustee Safeguarding Champions were appointed in the year. Student volunteers work in pairs to support clients and each other. Last year staff were offered flexible working opportunities and a wellbeing day, as well as training on resilience, time management and a presentation from LawCare whoprovide support for staff and volunteers.
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. Our website has been refreshed, at the same time strengthening security. Homeworking data protection and acceptable use policies are in place.

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.

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 understand that the level of reserves will fluctuate as strategic aims are met and have agreed that the general unrestricted 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 Assurance Committee) quarterly. A contingency plan is in place to deal with delays in funding and in-year cash flow issues. This plan comes into effect at the point the level of unrestricted reserves based on months of the following years expenditure fall below 3 months. Trigger points alert the

Support Through Court Annual Report For the year ended 31 March 2025

trustees to any deteriorating reserves position. The charity’s running costs for the year to 31 March 2026 are expected to be £1,441,382 (2025: £1,340,788). The restricted reserve at 31 March 2025 was £nil (2024: £nil), while the unrestricted reserve was £499,366 (2024: 439,955) which equates to 4.2 months of 2025-26 total running costs (2024: 3.6).

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. Support Through Court successfully applied for the IOTLS grant offered by the Access to Justice Foundation which has provided some certainty for the period ending 31 March 2025. The grant was extended for a further period ending March 2026. The grant extension represents 21% of the total income budget for 2025/26.

This brings a degree of financial certainty, and we are confident that the charity remains a going concern. Nonetheless, plans are in place to deal with any significant losses in income and to mitigate against this key risk, the charity has been taking several steps, including fundraising to increase its non-government income, optimising the use of the funds it has 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 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 Assurance 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 Assurance Committee.

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 seven to the accounts.

Support Through Court Annual Report For the year ended 31 March 2025

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. A Nominations Committee is in place to improve trustee recruitment practice and support equality and diversity within the trustee group. One of the trustees in office is currently a service volunteer within the charity and two are former volunteers.

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 leadership team arranges induction visits to the offices of the charity for new trustees and briefs them about the operation of the charity.

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.

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 Executive team 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, a volunteer representative, the CEO, and the CFO. A trustee chairs the Audit & Risk Assurance Committee of the Board, which comprises three trustees, the Treasurer, Chair, and Executive team, 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.

As part of the restructure the COO role was removed at the end of January and services went under the CEO and systems and information under the CFO.

Support Through Court Annual Report For the year ended 31 March 2025

From January 2025:

Volunteers engaged in the provision of the charity’s services are supported by paid staff. Each service has a dedicated Service Manager and some have an additional Volunteer Support Coordinator. Where a service is a “satellite” service, a lead volunteer coordinates the service and support is provided by a Service Manager at another service. We have one satellite service in Southend County and Family Court.

Volunteers are encouraged to share their views with their Service Manager. Volunteers are also encouraged to form impact groups to provide feedback and are formally invited throughout the year to feedback via an annual survey and national meeting with senior charity staff to review plans and share good practice. The charity regularly reviews all governance arrangements.

Support Through Court Annual Report For the year ended 31 March 2025

Related parties and relationships with other organisations

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. 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 pages 11-13 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 (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 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.

Support Through Court Annual Report For the year ended 31 March 2025

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. In addition, trustees are responsible for feeding into the direction of the charity via our Service Committee, the Audit and Risk Committee, and our Fundraising Committee.

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 on 31 March 2025 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 14 July 2025 and signed on their behalf by

Katherine Milliken Chair (as of 1[st] June 2025)

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 2025 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 2025 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.

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

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

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
The directors were not entitled to prepare the financial statements in accordance with the small companies regime and take advantage of the small companies’ exemptions in preparing the trustees’ Annual Report and from the requirement to prepare a strategic report.

Responsibilities of trustees

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

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

Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

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

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

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

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

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) Date: 2 September 2025

for and on behalf of Sayer Vincent LLP, Statutory Auditor 110 Golden Lane, LONDON, EC1Y 0TG

Support Through Court Annual Report For the year ended 31 March 2025

Where to find Support Through Court volunteers

If you’re facing court alone, get in touch by calling our National Helpline, or via a local service.

Support Through Court National Helpline 03000 810 006

A list of our face-to-face services and opening hours can be found on our website: Our locations

Support Through Court . Registered charity No. 1090781 A company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales no. 04360133 Registered Office: C/O Sayer Vincent LLP, 110 Golden Lane, London, EC1Y 0TG Principal Office: Royal Courts of Justice, Strand, London, WC2A 2LL Tel: 0300 400 0142 E-mail: enquires@supportthroughcourt.org www.supportthroughcourt.org

Support Through Court

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

For the year ended 31 March 2025

For theyear ended 31 March 2025
Note Income from: 2 3 4 5b 5b Reconciliation of funds: Net movement in funds Total funds brought forward Total funds carried forward Net movement in funds Total expenditure Charitable activities Local services Investments Total income Expenditure on: National helpline Support Through Court Online Local services Raising funds Other trading activities National helpline Support Through Court Online Donations and legacies Charitable activities	Unrestricted £ 758,912 - - - 13,803 21,871	Restricted £ 45,475 404,339 45,500 110,299 - -	2025 Total £ 804,387 404,339 45,500 110,299 13,803 21,871	Unrestricted £ 732,628 - - - 77,366 23,337	Restricted £ 97,852 426,678 - - - -	2024 Total £ 830,480 426,678 - - 77,366 23,337
	794,586	605,613	1,400,199	833,331	524,530	1,357,861
	508,440 157,003 26,154 43,578	55 449,759 45,500 110,299	508,495 606,762 71,654 153,877	585,042 233,528 70,876 57,524	897 513,633 - 10,000	585,939 747,161 70,876 67,524
	735,175	605,613	1,340,788	946,970	524,530	1,471,500
	59,411 59,411 439,955	- - -	59,411 59,411 439,955	(113,639) (113,639) 553,594	- - -	(113,639) (113,639) 553,594
	499,366	-	499,366	439,955	-	439,955

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.

Support Through Court

Balance sheet

Balance sheet
As at 31 March 2025			Company no. 04360133
Note Fixed assets: Current assets: 11 Liabilities: 12 15a Debtors Unrestricted income funds: Designated funds Restricted income funds Cash at bank and in hand Short term deposits Tangible assets The funds of the charity: Creditors: amounts falling due within one year Net current assets Total net assets General funds General unrestricted funds Total charity funds	£ 61,484 357,171 331,927	2025 £ -	£ 25,641 363,956 357,313	2024 £ -
		- 499,366		- 439,955
	750,582 (251,216)		746,910 (306,955)
	- 499,366		- 439,955
		499,366		439,955
		- 499,366		- 439,955

		499,366		439,955

Approved by the trustees on 14 July 2025 and signed on their behalf by

Katherine Milliken Chair

Support Through Court

Statement of cash flows

For the year ended 31 March 2025

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

£ £ (54,042) 21,871 21,871 (32,171) 721,269 689,098 At 1 April 2024 Cash flows £ £ 357,313 (25,386) 363,956 (6,785) 721,269 (32,171) 2025	£ £ (54,042) 21,871 21,871 (32,171) 721,269 689,098 At 1 April 2024 Cash flows £ £ 357,313 (25,386) 363,956 (6,785) 721,269 (32,171) 2025	2025 £ 59,411 - (21,871) (35,843) (55,739)	2024 £ (113,639) - (23,337) (7,008) 34,387
		(54,042)	(109,597)
		£ £ (109,597) 23,337 23,337 (86,260) 807,529 721,269 Other changes At 31 March 2025 £ £ - 331,927 - 357,171 2024
At 1 April 2024 £ 357,313 363,956		Other changes £ - -
	689,098		721,269
	Cash flows £ (25,386) (6,785)		At 31 March 2025 £ 331,927 357,171
721,269	(32,171)	-	689,098

Support Through Court

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2025

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 c/o Sayer Vincent LLP, 110 Golden Lane, London EC1Y 0TG

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. Support Through Court successfully applied for the Improving Outcomes Through Legal Support grant offered by the Access to Justice Foundation which has provided some certainty for the period ending 31 March 2025. The grant was extended for a further period ending March 2026. The grant extension represents 21% of the total income budget for 2025/26.

Support Through Court

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2025

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.

Support Through Court

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2025

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 staff head count attributable to each activity.

�	Local services	52%
�	National Helpline	6%
�	Support Through Court Online	6%
�	Raising Funds	36%

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.

Support Through Court

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2025

2 Income from donations and legacies

Income from donations and legacies
Gifts Gifts from legacies Grants	Unrestricted £ 413,280 - 345,632	Restricted £ 45,475 - -	2025 Total £ 458,755 - 345,632	Unrestricted £ 447,450 - 285,178	Restricted £ 87,852 10,000 -	2024 Total £ 535,302 10,000 285,178
	758,912	45,475	804,387	732,628	97,852	830,480

3 Income from charitable activities

Income from charitable activities
Grants Total income from charitable activities Grants from the Ministry of Justice Help Accessing Legal Support Improving Outcomes Through Legal	Unrestricted £ - -	Restricted £ 266,763 - 293,375	2025 Total £ 266,763 - 293,375	Unrestricted £ - -	Restricted £ 176,702 37,500 212,476	2024 Total £ 176,702 - 37,500 212,476
	-	560,138	560,138	-	426,678	426,678

4 Income from other trading activities

Income from other trading activities
Fundraising Events	Unrestricted £ 13,803	£ - Restricted	2025 Total £ 13,803	Unrestricted £ 77,366	Restricted £ -	2024 Total £ 77,366
	13,803	-	13,803	77,366	-	77,366

Support Through Court

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2025

5a Analysis of expenditure (current year)

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 2025	Raising funds £ 327,170 3,709 - - 5,050 595 616 - 120 - - - -	Local services National Helpline Support Through Court Online Governance costs £ £ £ 343,039 33,657 82,627 14,705 6,562 114 391 - - 1,074 3,472 - 373 - 260 586 - - - - - - - - 7,051 10,772 40,996 - 7,805 68 35 - 2,715 3 130 - - - - - - - - 356 - - - 11,500 - - - 3 367,545 45,688 127,911 27,150 224,407 24,321 24,321 - 14,810 1,645 1,645 (27,150) 606,762 71,654 153,877 - Charitable activities		Support costs £ 345,850 11,462 5,967 2,607 - - 65,102 - 1,034 - 3,212 - -	2025 Total £ 1,147,048 22,238 10,513 3,826 5,050 595 124,537 7,908 4,002 - 3,568 11,500 3	2024 Total £ 1,276,556 10,539 6,259 1,001 69,567 350 75,749 12,643 5,243 - 2,793 10,500 300
		Local services £ 343,039 6,562 - 373 - - 7,051 7,805 2,715 - - - -
	337,260 162,185 9,050	367,545 224,407 14,810	45,688 127,911 27,150 24,321 24,321 - 1,645 1,645 (27,150)	435,234 (435,234) -	1,340,788 - -	1,471,500 -
	508,495	606,762	71,654 153,877 -	-	1,340,788

Support Through Court

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2025

5b Analysis of expenditure (previous 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 2024	Raising funds £ 332,713 913 - - 69,567 350 192 - 23 - - - -	Local services £ 443,736 7,809 - 597 - - 26,858 12,643 1,849 - - - -	National Helpline Support Through Court Online Governance costs £ £ 43,178 39,786 15,004 396 476 - - - - - 18 - - - - - - - 4,491 4,354 - - - - 37 112 - - - - - - 320 - - 10,500 - - 300	Support costs 2024 Total £ £ 402,139 1,276,556 945 10,539 6,259 6,259 386 1,001 - 69,567 - 350 39,854 75,749 - 12,643 3,222 5,243 - - 2,473 2,793 - 10,500 - 300 455,278 1,471,500 (455,278) - - - - 1,471,500
	403,758 171,731 10,450	493,492 240,607 13,062	48,102 44,746 26,124 21,468 21,472 - 1,306 1,306 (26,124)
	585,939	747,161	70,876 67,524 -

Support Through Court

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2025

6 Net income / (expenditure) for the year

This is stated after charging / (crediting):

This is stated after charging / (crediting):
	2025	2024
	£	£
Depreciation	-	-
Auditor's remuneration (excluding VAT):
Audit	9,150	8,750

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

Staff costs were as follows:

Staff costs were as follows:
	2025	2024
	£	£
Salaries and wages	966,001	1,076,404
Redundancy and termination costs	2,325	-
Social security costs	94,905	106,985
Employer’s contribution to defined contribution pension schemes	83,817	93,167
	1,147,048	1,276,556

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

		2025	2024
		No.	No.
£60,000	- £69,999	-	-
£70,000	- £79,999	-	3
£80,000	- £89,999	2	-

The total employee benefits (including pension contributions and employer's national insurance) of the key management personnel were £288,164 (2024: £278,543).

The charity Trustees were neither paid nor received any other benefits from employment with the charity in the year (2024: £nil). No charity Trustee received payment for professional or other services supplied to the charity (2024: £nil).

Trustees' expenses represents the payment or reimbursement of travel, subsistence and training costs totalling £3 (2024: £300) incurred by 1 (2024: 2) member.

8 Staff numbers

The average number of employees (head count based on number of staff employed) during the year was 31.6 (2024: 34).

The average number of employees (head count based on equivalent number of full-time staff) during the year was 26.9 (2024: 30.8).

9 Related party transactions

There are no related party transactions to disclose for 2025. Aggregate donations from related parties were £52,599 (2024: £68,911).

10 Taxation

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

Support Through Court

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2025

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 Taxation and social security Deferred income Trade creditors Accruals Deferred income (note 13) Creditors: amounts falling due within one year Accrued income Other debtors	2025 £ 61,484 -	2024 £ 12,471 13,170
	61,484	25,641
	2025 £ 24,785 22,157 13,825 190,449	2024 £ 34,393 25,164 10,500 236,898
	251,216	306,955
	2025 £ 236,898 (196,189) 149,740	2024 £ 221,557 (219,757) 235,098
	190,449	236,898

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 liabilities Tangible fixed assets Net assets at 31 March 2025 Current assets	General unrestricted £ - 703,391 (204,025)	Designated £ - - -	Restricted £ - 47,191 (47,191)	Total funds £ - 750,582 (251,216)
	499,366	-	-	499,366

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

Net assets at 31 March 2024 Current liabilities Tangible fixed assets Current assets	General unrestricted £ - 535,353 (95,398)	Designated £ - - -	Restricted £ - 211,557 (211,557)	Total funds £ - 746,910 (306,955)
	439,955	-	-	439,955

Support Through Court

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2025

15a Movements in funds (current year)

Movements in funds (current year)
Birmingham Caerdydd/ Cardiff Chelmsford/ Southend Leeds Liverpool London Services: Central Family Court Royal Courts of Justice Total restricted funds General funds Total funds Total unrestricted funds Manchester Sheffield Nottingham Support Through Court Online Local services Unrestricted funds: Other funds National Helpline Restricted funds:	At 1 April 2024 £ - - - - - - - - - - - -	Income & gains £ 45,500 110,299 67,797 58,290 59,647 52,101 54,715 42,013 46,314 57,202 4,180 7,500 55	Expenditure & losses £ (45,500) (110,299) (67,797) (58,290) (59,647) (52,101) (54,715) (42,013) (46,314) (57,202) (4,180) (7,500) (55)	Transfers £ - - - - - - - - - - - - -	At 31 March 2025 £ - - - - - - - - - - - - -
	-	605,613	(605,613)	-	-
	439,955	794,586	(735,175)	-	499,366
	439,955	794,586	(735,175)	-	499,366
	439,955	1,400,199	(1,340,788)	-	499,366

Support Through Court

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2025

15b Movements in funds (prior year)

At 1 April 2023 £ - - - - - - - - - - - -	Income & gains £ 10,000 48,722 60,552 68,946 38,881 38,438 993 75,191 81,683 1,500 43,350 10,860 7,000 11,593 26,821	Expenditure & losses £ (10,000) (48,722) (60,552) (68,946) (38,881) (38,438) (993) (75,191) (81,683) (1,500) (43,350) (10,860) (7,000) (11,593) (26,821)	Transfers £ - - - - - - - - - - - - - -	At 30 March 2024 £ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
-	524,530	(524,530)	-	-
553,594	833,331	(946,970)	-	439,955
553,594	833,331	(946,970)	-	439,955
553,594	1,357,861	(1,471,500)	-	439,955

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 do not 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.

Other service and other funds cover expenditure on budget relieving gifts in kind.

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 will 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 will invest in recruiting and training staff and volunteers; this pot will enable the training required for volunteers as we launch a new remote service.

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.

16 Legal status of the charity

2025-03-31-accounts

Justice, together: How you’re making access to justice a reality

Introduction from Caroline Artis, Chair of the Board of trustees

Introduction from Katherine Milliken, our new Chair of the Board of trustees

No one should face court alone

Review of the year

Client feedback

Who we’ve helped

Types of case we’ve supported litigants through

Client stories

Megan’s story

Chioma’s story

Gianna’s story

Our five-year strategy: what we’ve achieved

Looking ahead

Thank you for empowering people facing court

You’re changing lives

Help us transform more lives

Where to find us

Who we are

Trustees

Founder

Patrons

Liaison Judge

Chief Executive: Emma Taylor

Company Secretary: Ingela Ekstrom

Objects and activities

Financial review

Principal risks and uncertainties

Reserves policy

Going concern

Investment policy

Governing document

Trustee appointment and induction

Organisational structure

Related parties and relationships with other organisations

Fundraising statement

Compliance with statutory requirements

Statement of responsibilities of the trustees

Auditor

Opinion

Basis for opinion

Conclusions relating to going concern

Other Information

Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

Responsibilities of trustees

Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

Capability of the audit in detecting irregularities

Use of our report

Where to find Support Through Court volunteers

Support Through Court National Helpline 03000 810 006

Support Through Court

For the year ended 31 March 2025

Balance sheet

Statement of cash flows

For the year ended 31 March 2025

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

For the year ended 31 March 2025

1 Accounting policies

a) Statutory information

b) Basis of preparation

c) Public benefit entity

d) Going concern

For the year ended 31 March 2025

1 Accounting policies (continued)

e) Income

f) Donations of gifts, services and facilities

g) Interest receivable

h) Fund accounting

i) Expenditure and irrecoverable VAT

For the year ended 31 March 2025

1 Accounting policies (continued)

j) Allocation of support costs

k) Operating leases

l) Tangible fixed assets

m) Debtors

n) Cash at bank and in hand

o) Creditors and provisions

p) Financial instruments