2024-03-31-accounts

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Company number: 05206298 Charity number: 1108160 OSCR number: SC041034

The Cleft Lip and Palate Association

Report and financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2024

CLAPA (~ *\ Cleet Lip ¢ Palate Association"_/

The Cleft Lip and Palate Association

For the year ended 31 March 2024

Reference and administrative information ...................................................................................... 1 Trustees’ annual report .................................................................................................................. 2 Independent auditor’s report ....................................................................................................... 28 Statement of financial activities (incorporating an income and expenditure account) ................... 33 Balance sheet ............................................................................................................................... 34 Statement of cash flows ................................................................................................................ 35 Notes to the financial statements ................................................................................................. 36

The Cleft Lip and Palate Association

Reference and administrative information

For the year ended 31 March 2024

Company number 05206298 Charity number 1108160 OSCR number SC041034 Registered office CLAPA and operational The Green House, 244-254 Cambridge Heath Road address LONDON, E2 9DA Country of registration England & Wales Country of incorporation United Kingdom

Trustees, who are also directors under company law, who served during the year and up to the date of this report were as follows:

O Rendell Chair from October 2024 O Hopkins Interim Chair from November 2023 until December 2024 N Astor Chair until October 2023 J Bhachu Treasurer until October 2024 T Millward Co-Treasurer from August 2024 D Drake E Howes Until December 2023 M Pinkstone Until June 2024 R Slator Until October 2023 A Strangeways Until June 2023 J Williams A Beedham Until June 2024 L Hughes S Handley M Spencer From October 2023 I Williams From October 2023 J Kerby From October 2023 S Bragg From November 2023

C Cunniffe Company Secretary Bankers Barclays Bank plc Hatton Garden Business Centre 99 Hatton Garden LONDON, EC1N 8DN Auditor Sayer Vincent LLP Chartered Accountants and Statutory Auditor 110 Golden Lane LONDON, EC1Y 0TG

The Cleft Lip and Palate Association

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2024

Objectives and Activities

The Trustees present their report and the audited financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2024.

Reference and administrative information set out on page 1 form 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.

Purposes and Aims

The charity’s objects are set out in its governing documents, the Memorandum and Articles of Association (July 2004): “the relief of and support for all those with cleft lip, cleft palate or both or associated craniofacial birth anomalies; the promotion of research into the causes of and the relief, treatment or care of those with cleft lip, cleft palate or associated craniofacial birth anomalies and conditions or any of them and to publish the useful results of such research.”

The Trustees have paid due regard to the public benefit guidance issued by the Charity Commission in deciding what activities the charity should undertake. These activities are documented in the Strategic Plan for 2022-25, approved at the Trustee Meeting on 24[th] March 2022. This plan is available on the CLAPA website: www.clapa.com/strategy.

In this strategy, a new ‘Vision’ and ‘Purpose’ were agreed upon and communicated with the charity’s beneficiaries. These are as follows:

Vision: “No one affected by cleft lip and palate in the United Kingdom will go through their journey alone.”
Purpose: “CLAPA is the national charity for people affected by cleft lip and palate in the United Kingdom. We support people to take control of their journey, connect with others, and use their voices to impact the future of care.”

These statements reflect CLAPA’s status as a well-respected organisation with a vital role in the UK’s cleft community. In this strategic period, the charity has continued to grow its reputation for innovative, high-quality, evidence-based services for people affected by cleft as well as its valuable work with researchers and NHS Cleft Teams.

With ‘adaptability’ as a key value, this year has seen CLAPA continue to change with the times to sustainably fulfil its objectives, support stakeholders, and ensure the ongoing financial health of the charity in a challenging economic environment.

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

The Cleft Lip and Palate Association

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2024

future activities. In particular, the Trustees consider how planned activities will contribute to the aims and objectives that have been set.

Beneficiaries and Services

Every day in the UK, three babies are born with a cleft. It can have an ongoing impact on feeding, speech, hearing, teeth placement and more. The treatment pathway is 20+ years, and many babies have their first surgery at just three months old.

The Cleft Lip and Palate Association (CLAPA) is the United Kingdom’s cleft lip and palate support charity. It supports people born with a cleft and their families from diagnosis through to adulthood with comprehensive and reassuring information, a welcoming community of people with shared experiences, and evidence-based services and resources.

CLAPA’s regular online events help people to connect with others who truly understand their experiences and concerns, while social media support groups offer a vibrant 24/7 community full of reassurance, encouragement and celebration when it is most needed. Trained volunteers give confidential one-to-one support to help people through the most difficult parts of their journeys and reassure them that they can cope with whatever lies ahead.

CLAPA’s services for under-18s help children and young people born with a cleft to build confidence and feel in control of their care, while ‘Camp CLAPA’ adventure weekends encourage them to make friends feel positive about being different. As they grow into adults, CLAPA’s tailored Adult Services connect them to others with shared experiences and ensure they can access the care and support they need.

Babies born with a cleft often need special bottles and teats to feed, and CLAPA provides over 10,000 items of free and subsidised feeding equipment to families and hospitals every year. The charity also produces tailored on cleft which is led by the needs and experiences of the cleft community and supported by experts. For those with more complex needs, the Advocacy Service provides tailored support and signposting to help people access treatment and cope with their cleft journey.

While CLAPA is independent of the NHS, the charity works closely with the nine specialist NHS Cleft Services in the UK and generic health professionals to ensure that people born with a cleft receive the best possible care. CLAPA is also committed to empowering people affected by cleft and ensuring patients and families are represented at all levels, including in cleft research and wherever decisions are made about NHS cleft care.

The charity's main activities are described in more detail later in this report. All its charitable activities focus on supporting families and individuals affected by cleft and are undertaken to further CLAPA’s charitable purposes for the public benefit.

The Cleft Lip and Palate Association

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2024

Strategic Report

Achievements and Performance

Thanks to the incredible success of the #SaveCLAPA Appeal in 2022, CLAPA was able to start 2023/24 more confident in its future than had been possible for many years previously. Never content to settle for ‘good enough’, CLAPA used this momentum to drive forward its 2022-25 strategy.

What followed was a year of exciting new projects and leaps forward in different areas of service delivery and supportive functions like fundraising and data management. CLAPA is proud to end 2023/24 having supported thousands of people in need, made plans to support thousands more, and secured the funding to make it all possible.

CLAPA’s dedicated staff team and passionate volunteers and patient representatives are the driving force behind the charity’s successes in 2023/24, and thanks to their creativity and innovation in an ever-changing environment, there is a great deal to celebrate this year.

Support Services

Feeding Service

Many babies born with a cleft cannot breastfeed or use regular feeding equipment. For over 30 years, CLAPA’s feeding service has supplied specialist bottles and teats to new parents and carers as well as hospitals around the United Kingdom. This equipment allows babies to quickly establish a feeding routine and leave the hospital faster after birth so families can enjoy those precious early weeks bonding with their baby at home.

CLAPA brought the Feeding Service online during the pandemic and has continued to develop it in consultation with NHS Cleft Nurse Specialists to ensure it remains a service that families and Cleft Services alike can trust and rely on.

“At such an overwhelming and daunting time, it is so reassuring and helpful having CLAPA provide the welcome pack of bottles and teats which were needed to feed my baby right from day one. I was able to feed my son with no difficulty, using the Dr Browns bottles and it was such a relief that I knew he could suck well from them and also the knowledge that CLAPA were able to help provide the bigger teats and bottles when needed, but most importantly that they were able to do so very quickly.”

Parent of a child born with a cleft

In 2023/24, CLAPA sent 728 free ‘Welcome Packs’ of specialist bottles and teats to families around the UK. In total, CLAPA dispatched 10,838 items of feeding equipment to families and hospitals from the charity’s small office, including 141 free-of-charge items sent to vulnerable families at the request of their NHS Cleft Nurse Specialist.

The Cleft Lip and Palate Association

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2024

“Thank you so much for your help. Mum received these a few days ago and was very happy […and] grateful. Baby has gone from taking 45 minutes to feed to 15 minutes!”

NHS Cleft Nurse Specialist who requested free-of-charge items for a vulnerable family

One-to-one Support

CLAPA’s Parent and Peer Support Service provides confidential one-to-one support to people affected by cleft. The trained volunteer Supporters are parents and grandparents of people born with a cleft and adults born with a cleft themselves.

These Supporters are experts by experience who use their knowledge of the cleft care pathway to reassure those in need that they can cope with whatever lies ahead. The people using this service often have acute concerns they don’t feel able to share with the wider community, and this service gives them a way to express these worries in a safe and secure environment where they’ll find empathy and understanding.

In 2023/24, this service had 61 enquiries, 39 of which led to a match with a Supporter. The rest were signposted to a more suitable service within CLAPA, a partner organisation, or the NHS. Key concerns for parents and carers included coping with antenatal diagnosis, feeding, dental/orthodontic issues, and hearing.

“I would like to express my gratitude for the insightful conversation I had with the assigned Peer Support member. I am eager to continue the discussions, work towards my dreams, and achieve personal and professional goals. The guidance received so far has been invaluable, and I look forward to more sessions.”

Adult using the Peer Support Service

To ensure these Supporters’ skills and knowledge remained up-to-date, CLAPA ran a Volunteer Development Day in January 2024, the first such in-person training day since the pandemic. Rail strikes meant only seven volunteers could attend, but the feedback was very positive, with one attendee remarking:

“Meeting other volunteer supporters has given me more confidence in my abilities. As they have experienced similar issues from the peer you are supporting. The course today has been beneficial to my peer support role. The timing was good as I had experience to reflect upon and share. Sal was an excellent facilitator/instructor. It was also good to meet others face to face. Everyone was really interesting with different experiences. Thank you for making this happen.”

Volunteer Peer Supporter attending Volunteer Development Day

Last year, CLAPA began a pilot of a Counselling Service which saw student counsellors on placement providing more structured, in-depth support to those in need. This pilot completed in October 2023, and in total supported 13 clients. Ten were adults born with a cleft and three were parents of children born with a cleft. Following the success of this pilot, new students were recruited and trained, and this will become part of CLAPA’s core services in April 2024.

The Cleft Lip and Palate Association

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2024

In an exciting development, September 2023 saw CLAPA launch a new one-to-one support service, this time aimed at under-18s born with a cleft. This will help CLAPA to ensure that no one affected by cleft will go through their journey alone. This service, named Cleft++, is outlined in more detail in the ‘Children and Young People’s Services’ section below.

Advocacy Service

As the NHS continues to face difficulties, enquiries from the cleft community regarding access to cleft care remain high. CLAPA’s Advocacy Service offers streamlined and consistent support and information for those getting in touch with complex enquiries.

The issues raised in these enquiries are anonymously recorded so that they can inform CLAPA’s future service delivery and resource development in line with the new and emerging concerns of the cleft community.

In total last year, 84 people contacted CLAPA for support with a variety of concerns, the most common being about dental and orthodontic care (34%) or accessing specialist NHS cleft treatment (27%). Other enquiries covered a range of issues including accessing disability benefits, talking to children about related conditions, and treatment for asylum seekers.

“Having been away from Cleft Care for 35+ years (when there wasn't the support there is now) I feel like I'm starting a new journey and although it's scary it is also nice to know that you guys are there to support/guide/offer advice. Thank you SO much.”

Adult born with a cleft

Online Events

CLAPA is committed to providing a variety of spaces where people affected by cleft lip and palate can share their experiences, receive practical advice, and find their ‘cleft community’. The needs and concerns of the cleft community lead the formats and topics of these events through feedback forms, surveys and other sources. The charity now has a regular schedule of diverse and engaging online events which welcome people from across the UK at all stages of their cleft journey.

All of CLAPA’s online events have a strong volunteer presence, with most being facilitated by volunteers with personal experience of cleft who can use this to steer the conversation and create meaningful connections with attendees. This year, volunteers spent a record 559 hours supporting CLAPA’s events; an increase of over 50% on the previous year.

All of CLAPA’s online events, including workshops and courses, were provided free of charge to the cleft community. They can be broadly divided into the following categories:

Events include:

Support Groups: Regular online meet-ups such as ‘Coffee Clubs’, ‘CLAPA Lounges’ and ‘Dads Discuss’ bring together people with similar experiences to share conversations on topics such as ‘diagnosis’, ‘cleft repair surgery’ and ‘bullying’. Several of these events (such as the Antenatal Support Group and the Grandparents’ Coffee Club) run bimonthly or

The Cleft Lip and Palate Association

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2024

quarterly to allow regular attendees to form supportive relationships as their journeys progress together. Some events include NHS cleft clinicians to give expert advice and answer questions alongside CLAPA’s own volunteers sharing their personal experiences.
Skill workshops : Events have more of a lasting impact when they actively help to build confidence and skills so people can participate more fully in their or their child’s care. NHS Speech and Language Therapists volunteer to support ‘Babble and Play’ workshops where parents and carers learn how to support speech development, and ‘Baby Signing’ classes help parents and carers communicate with young children who may struggle with their speech.
Information Events : Live webinars and Q&As invite cleft experts answering common questions on topics such as orthodontic care, emotional wellbeing and hearing. Led by volunteers, these sessions help to demystify what can feel like complicated medical information. Due to the open format, the recordings of these events can then be edited into online video resources which continue to provide accessible information for many more people in the future.

In 2023/24, CLAPA ran 53 ‘ticketed’ online events. Of these, 79% were fully booked and 73% of bookings attended on the day - a 41% increase compared to the previous year! These events welcomed 960 attendees made up of 620 individuals, meaning each person attended an average of 1.5 events.

Adults born with a cleft made up just 9% of attendees the previous year, but in 23/24 a review and redevelopment of the ‘CLAPA Lounge’ events in particular saw this rise to 22%.

“I always enjoy meeting up with others like me, and sharing our experiences and just talking freely about stuff with no judgement. It's always nice when new people come along and you can hear about their situation and hopefully reassure them and tell them about how things have been for you. Continue doing what you do - it is appreciated!”

Adult who attended a ‘CLAPA Lounge’ event

Parents and carers of children born with a cleft made up 63% of attendees. This year, the charity focused on creating a dedicated space for fathers by launching ‘Dads Discuss’ in August 2023. These now run every quarter and have received excellent feedback from the attendees.

“I've never really spoken to any other dads who have a child born with a cleft, so it was nice chatting to dads who have shared similar experiences as me.”

Attendee of a ‘Dads Discuss’ event

CLAPA also worked to engage more grandparents by creating a dedicated online event which often sees the same people returning to talk about how their grandchildren are getting on with surgeries, speech, school, and all the other milestones.

The Cleft Lip and Palate Association

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2024

“The event was welcoming, informative, and protected. I feel better equipped to help my son, daughter in law and future grandchild. I am very grateful to the volunteers for all their practical tips.”

Attendee of a ‘Coffee Club: Grandparents’ event

Another regular event which has gained traction this year is the ‘Antenatal Support Group’, a space especially for those with a recent diagnosis who can talk through their worries. These groups are supported by volunteer NHS Cleft Nurse Specialists who can answer questions and give expert advice.

“It’s absolutely wonderful. It feels like our journey is part of a similar club of people and it gives me strength to do my absolute best for the baby and give them the most wonderful start in life - free from worrying- all our questions are answered- and we all feel supported- it is massively beneficial.”

Parent attending an Antenatal Support Group

CLAPA also started running quarterly ‘Chat and Chill’ events for young people where young volunteers support a discussion on topics affecting 7-12-year-olds, including Alveolar Bone Graft surgery, bullying, braces and starting secondary school. Where possible, these are supported by a health professional from an NHS Cleft Team.

“Thank you, this was so timely and helpful. My daughter had been worrying about when she would get braces (she's had two bone grafts now) and was so upbeat after the call!”

Parent of a child who attended a Chat and Chill on the topic of ‘braces’

Feedback for these events was excellent across the board, with an average score of 4.4 out of 5.

87% of respondents said these events helped them feel more connected with others in the cleft community
81% felt more confident about their ability to cope with cleft-related challenges in the future
82% felt more positive about their connection to cleft lip and palate
84% felt more knowledgeable about the topic of the event (such as Baby Signing)

Over this year, CLAPA also ran six live Q&As on topics including Genetics, Hearing and Surgery. These invited experts from NHS Cleft Teams to answer community-submitted questions asked by volunteers. These live events gained 1,225 viewers during and after the livestream.

"The really practical, straight forward advice given by the [Speech and Language Therapists] will make a real difference to how I support my baby’s speech development. It was an extremely useful & informative session, thank you.”

Parent who attended a ‘Babble and Play’ session

The Cleft Lip and Palate Association

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2024

Children & Young People’s Services

For children and young people born with a cleft, connecting with others who look and sound like them is crucial to building self-esteem and confidence so they can grow into adults who feel positive about their future.

This year saw the continuation of the Children and Young People’s Plan, furthering its vision of a world where young people feel confident and positive about having a cleft.

Underpinning all of CLAPA’s decisions around these services is the Children and Young People’s Council (CYPC). The CYPC is a group of 12-17-year-olds born with a cleft who meet regularly to help CLAPA design services and resources and give valuable feedback to partner organisations and researchers.

In 2023/24, CLAPA’s Children and Young People’s Council:

Contributed articles, stories an members acted as ‘Guest Editors’ and were involved in content, design and layout decisions throughout the publication process.
Took a key role in developing the new ‘Cleft++’ Mentoring Service as well as the upcoming ‘CLAPA Companions’ PenPal Service due to launch in July 2024.
Contributed articles, stories and suggestions for the Cleft Youth Magazine. Two CYPC members acted as ‘Guest Editors’ and were involved in content, design and layout decisions throughout the publication process.
Featured in content created for Cleft Lip and Palate Awareness Week 2023
Hosted two ‘Chat and Chill’ events to help support other young people by sharing their experiences of different topics like surgery and getting braces.
Delivered a teaching session to Cleft Nurse Specialists about their experiences of growing up with a cleft.
Shared their stories at a webinar for cleft health professionals
Contributed to several resources for other young people, ensuring the content, tone, and design was appropriate and engaging

“'If you or someone you know has a cleft, remember, you're not alone. CLAPA is a friendly club where everyone understands and supports each other. It has been amazing for my confidence. I know that I can turn any challenge into something fun and rewarding. I can celebrate how pretty cool my condition is. I am able to speak to strangers about my cleft and my appearance with confidence and pride.”

A CYPC member in an article she wrote for the CLAPA website

Three ‘Camp CLAPA’ adventure weekends (previously called ‘Residential Weekends) took place over the summer in Doncaster, Milton Keynes, and Stirling, welcoming 37 8-15-year-olds born with a cleft. Another Camp CLAPA took place in Milton Keynes for 13 members of the Children and Young People’s Council (CYPC).

The Cleft Lip and Palate Association

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2024

These weekends involve a two-night stay at an activity centre where they enjoy outdoor games, team-building activities like climbing and kayaking, and lots of time to share their experiences and make lifelong friendships. The weekends are supported by specially trained adult volunteers who were also born with a cleft and can act as supportive role models for young people.

Each young person gets a special video souvenir featuring clips and photos from their time away. They also get a ‘CLAPA Shield’, which is a list of their positive qualities that other young people noticed during the weekend. This Shield is intended to help them keep hold of the good memories from the weekend and boost their self-esteem when things get tough.

After the weekend, parents and carers were asked about the differences they’d noticed in their child’s behaviour and attitudes, and 100% agreed that their child felt more positive about themselves, felt less alone, more confident about their cleft, and more able to cope with cleftrelated challenges. Across all measures, 80% said they had noticed a ‘great extent’ of positive change. This demonstrates that, although these kinds of intensive services can only support relatively small numbers of young people each year, they have a profound and lasting positive impact on those who attend.

“This made a hugely positive impact to our 11 year old. He faced into all sorts of situations that he would not have otherwise. His confidence was notably improved and we feel like this is a crucial time for confidence building [as he’s about to] transition to senior school.”

Parent of a Camp CLAPA Attendee

“I didn’t know many people with a cleft, next to no one. I have friends I can talk to but some things I feel uncomfortable/unsure about sharing with them. [At Camp CLAPA] I know I’m safe to share my experiences without fear of being judged or them simply not understanding. Moreover, when I’m with other young people with a cleft, I automatically feel like I fit in (a feeling I rarely feel at school or other clubs). Thank you for letting me come!!”

Young person who attended a Camp CLAPA adventure weekend

This year, CLAPA’s dedicated @CleftYouth Instagram channel continued to reach out to a younger audience, while the hard-copy ‘Cleft Youth’ magazine published its second issue, with copies sent directly to 130 children with an average age of nine. The Cleft Youth brand features stories, facts and engaging, accessible advice from other young people designed to help under-18s feel connected.

September 2023 saw the launch of ‘Cleft++’, a new service which uses a specialist online platform to safety connect 10-17-year-olds born with a cleft to a trained mentor. These mentors are young adults born with a cleft who can draw on their experiences to offer personalised support.

This service was set up in memory of a former CYPC member, Will, who tragically passed away in 2022. Some of Will’s fellow CYPC ‘graduates’ wished to create a project in his memory to ensure young people born with a cleft felt supported in whatever challenges they may face as they grow up. They identified gaps in CLAPA’s services for young people, especially for support with self-

The Cleft Lip and Palate Association

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2024

confidence, bullying and mental health concerns, and this service grew from those discussions. As Will was a talented Web Developer, the name of the service was inspired by a coding language called ‘C++’. These former CYPC members were pivotal in planning, creating and reviewing the resources needed for this work, and CLAPA is very grateful for their contributions.

Since the launch of the service, the four trained mentors have supported seven young people, with most of these mentorships continuing into 2024/25. Evaluation data will not be shared until the pilot is complete, but initial feedback from the service-users has been extremely positive.

“Their conversations have focussed on [Alveolar Bone Graft surgery] and feeling very scared and unsure about even going through with the surgery. He recently had an appointment with his consultant and felt able to ask questions. He's now feeling much better about it, isn't dreading it anymore, and he says that's because he had the best mentor.”

Parent of a child receiving mentoring through Cleft++

“The support I received in mentoring was incredible! I really appreciated being able to talk to someone who understood what I was going through as I haven't always had that opportunity. In the past few months, I have become much more confident when it comes to my cleft and a lot less worried about the future. […] Although I had a couple of primary goals in mind, I felt like I could ask about pretty much anything; no question is too small in my experience! My Cleft++ mentor helped me feel so much less isolated than before and it was a great comfort knowing that I could receive the advice I needed at any time!”

Young person who received mentoring through Cleft++

Adult Services

Around 90,000 adults in the UK were born with a cleft. Many are unaware they can access specialist treatment on the NHS for ongoing issues with their cleft, and those who try to get back into treatment often face barriers along the way. CLAPA provides research-driven resources and services to tackle the issues that matter the most to adults born with a cleft to help them feel in control of their cleft care.

‘CLAPA Lounge’ events were re-launched this year as monthly informal support groups for adults born with a cleft. These focus on a different topic each month such as dental care, genetics, and talking about the cleft journey. They are hosted by two regular volunteers who help to guide the conversations. The 12 CLAPA Lounges last year welcomed 97 attendees who gave these events an average score of 4.3/5.

Adults volunteers were also involved in the Live Q&A events and wellbeing events aimed at everyone in the UK cleft community, often linking the Live Q&A topics to the Lounge topics to ensure those with more technical questions have a chance to get a health professional’s input.

The Adults’ Focus Group continued to meet most months to give feedback on various areas of service and resource design as well as wider policy. Several of them joined the Volunteer

The Cleft Lip and Palate Association

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2024

Development Day which took place in January this year; an invaluable opportunity to update their knowledge and connect with others after a quieter few years.

Over the year, the ‘Returning to Cleft Care’ guide for adults continued to be popular, with 84 packs sent to individual adults and 430 sent to NHS Cleft Teams around the UK to distribute to their patients upon discharge from the cleft service. A review of the pack is currently underway to make it easier for the pack to read and be distributed.

“Your answers are very helpful and I am surprised to find that I have far more right to further treatment than I imagined.”

Feedback from a recipient of the Returning to Cleft Care Guide

“It has made me feel a little more proud of who I am and helped me to see things slight differently, I have also joined the CLAPA Adult Facebook group which is really helping. I have felt incredibly alone all these years and now I've found out there are safe spaces and people like me who go through the same situations and feelings it feels like I am part of something amazing with amazing people.”

Feedback from a recipient of the Returning to Cleft Care Guide

Planning is also well underway for CLAPA’s first in-person conference for five years, an event aimed at adults born with a cleft which is due to take place in June 2024 in London.

CLAPA’s Digital Community

In a digital age, CLAPA’s website and social media presence is critical in reaching the one-in-700 people born with a cleft and their families all around the UK. As well as forming the cornerstones of the ‘cleft community’, it allows the charity to promote services, raise awareness, spread influence and celebrate accomplishments.

In 2023/24, CLAPA’s following on social media increased by 6% across platforms, with nearly two million people reached by posts including myth-busting graphics and heart-warming personal stories.

Nearly 125,000 people engaged with posts by liking, commenting and sharing, and nearly 20,000 people clicked through on posts such as news articles and event listings, driving new beneficiaries to the website and support services.

A key way CLAPA promotes the idea of a ‘UK cleft community’ is by sharing personal stories from people at all stages of their cleft journeys to inspire and reassure others. In 2022/23, 32 people submitted personal stories on top of themed #FundraisingFriday stories and captioned photos shared each week.

CLAPA’s online support groups for parents/carers and adults born with a cleft gained 590 new members in 2023/24. Trained volunteers moderate these groups and provide an instant connection for those seeking an informal support network. An average of 3,662 members actively

The Cleft Lip and Palate Association

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2024

visited the group daily to post updates, ask questions, support each other with comments, or just check in.

CLAPA’s website averaged 25,000 visitors each month this year, with the information pages and photo gallery remaining the most popular sections. Since its launch in 2015, CLAPA’s current website has grown a great deal, but its infrastructure has not kept up with the charity’s changing work. This is why, in early 2024, CLAPA started the process of redeveloping its digital presence, beginning with a new website launching in 2025.

“Just came across your website after doing research for a friend and I just wanted to email you to congratulate you all for your work! What wonderful stories and pictures you have giving so many worried parents hope!”

Message received about the CLAPA website in October 2023

Community Involvement

Volunteers

CLAPA prides itself on involving the UK cleft community at all levels of its work, including asking volunteers to feed into and help run services wherever possible.

Volunteers are the backbone of CLAPA as a charity, and the continuing shift towards digital service delivery has created new, flexible ways for volunteers to give their time. Induction, training and ongoing supervision are provided for all volunteers, and eligible expenses are reimbursed. At the end of the financial year, CLAPA had 79 fully inducted volunteers, with 148 others acting as Patient Reps, regular focus group members, and more.

CLAPA’s Board of Trustees are made up of volunteers, most of whom have a personal or professional connection to cleft lip and palate. As well as taking part in formal quarterly Board Meetings, the Trustees attended interim meetings and used their expertise to support CLAPA’s staff team for approximately 438 hours in 2023/24.

Volunteers are essential to the successful running of CLAPA’s online events and, this year, contributed 544 hours to preparing and hosting various online events – an increase of over 50% on the previous year! Volunteers from the community also spent 240 hours helping with in-person Camp CLAPA events for children and young people born with a cleft.

Beyond events, volunteers spent 205 hours actively providing one-to-one support by phone and email to those in need, including the young mentors working with the new Cleft++ Service and the Counselling pilot project.

As part of CLAPA’s dedication to involving people affected by cleft in service design and review as well as external cleft research, CLAPA supported volunteers to spend 154 hours participating in focus groups, ongoing Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) groups, and in other opportunities to make their voices heard. This includes the work of the Adults’ Focus Group, and next year will include the new Family Focus Group and Young Adults Group. The Children and Young People’s

The Cleft Lip and Palate Association

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2024

Council (CPYC) of 15 12-17-year-olds continues to be an outstanding source of volunteer input with these young volunteers spending an additional 207 hours contributing to meetings and other projects in 2022/23.

Beyond this, volunteers have also spent 41 hours raising awareness of cleft amongst generic health professionals by preparing and delivering eight awareness-raising presentations. This included a special webinar delivered as part of the lead-up to the Craniofacial Society of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (CFSGBI) Conference 2024 on the importance of patient perspectives and peer support.

'”Being born with a cleft lip and palate myself, CLAPA has been an integral part of my individual development of confidence in my appearance and experiences, as well as being a support to my parents when I was younger. Being a member of the CYPC was a really rewarding experience for me, as I found sharing my personal experiences helpful in raising awareness and supporting other young people like myself. The volunteers who help facilitate these events are so important, and I would love to be able to give back to a charity that I have benefitted from so much.”

Young CLAPA volunteer who supported a ‘Camp CLAPA’ adventure weekend

Research Involvement

Even for those with lived experience, medical research into conditions like cleft can often feel inaccessible. CLAPA believes that everyone affected by cleft should have the chance to learn about current research and that opportunities to get involved should be available to all. The cleft community shares this sentiment; according to CLAPA’s past two Annual Surveys, 95% agreed it was ‘important for cleft researchers to get feedback about their projects from people affected by cleft’.

For cleft researchers, CLAPA is a gateway to the cleft community. As such, the charity supports many research projects by recruiting participants and arranging ‘Patient and Public Involvement’ opportunities. These opportunities can range from collecting feedback about an information leaflet to CLAPA creating and supervising a group of people affected by cleft to act as a steering committee for an ongoing project.

These efforts are spearheaded by ‘CLAPA Voices’, a dedicated mailing list of people affected by cleft who are keen to use their experiences to impact the future of cleft care. In 2023/24, this list grew by 97 to 225 people. Members spent a total of 154 hours contributing to research projects and focus groups, demonstrating their commitment to making their voices heard.

"[I have really enjoyed] being able to influence research programmes and seeing how my input makes a difference with cleft treatment."

Volunteer taking part in a research consultation group

In 2023/24, CLAPA shared 19 opportunities for Patient and Public Involvement, including unique opportunities from the CLAPA staff team to gather feedback on new services and policy changes.

The Cleft Lip and Palate Association

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2024

Researchers have praised the initiative and its impact on their projects, and participants have been able to receive support and encouragement with their involvement.

"CLAPA have been incredibly helpful and supportive in promoting our research. Through their assistance, our research team have been able to recruit members of the cleft community for our study with ease. [...] I would highly recommend CLAPA's consulting services to fellow researchers."

Researcher who used CLAPA Voices

Alongside more ‘casual’ opportunities provided by CLAPA Voices, CLAPA runs five ongoing Patient and Public Involvement Groups to feed into specific projects or areas of work. This includes a group working with the Cleft Collective, one of the largest cleft research projects in the world, and two other upcoming projects on which the charity is a co-applicant for funding, underlining the importance of its contributions. These groups contain 43 members made up of 37 individuals, as several people sit on more than one group.

CLAPA’s success in this area has generated interest from NHS Cleft Services who are keen to engage with those under their care. The Cleft Development Group (CDG) provides advice and guidance on all aspects of the delivery of NHS cleft care to everyone from Cleft Teams to NHS commissioning boards. CLAPA runs their Patient Engagement Group which now meets monthly to help ensure that NHS cleft care is informed by the needs and experiences of cleft patients and their families. This group has already made remarkable progress in pushing forward reform on areas of particular concern to the cleft community, such as allowing self-referral for adult patients and bypassing the often lengthy and troublesome process of securing a GP’s referral. They are also involved with the working group writing the new National Service Specification on how NHS cleft care will be delivered in the near future.

"I feel that by me being involved with this [NHS cleft care consultation group], they have been made aware of the issues adults living with a cleft have, and there are now strategies in place to move these issues on. I feel that [the clinicians] listen to our concerns and are beginning to act on them.”

Adult representative taking part in a consultation group

It is clear that CLAPA’s role in cleft research is highly valued, and to ensure this work can continue, the charity has revised the fees for its paid consultation services and encouraged researchers to include CLAPA in their funding applications. CLAPA earned £1,553 for its work with researchers in 2023/24, and has used the year to lay foundations for other upcoming work, including acting as a co-applicant on two key studies. It is hoped that this will become a reliable income stream in the future which will not only support this work but also raise CLAPA’s profile and increase its legitimacy in the eyes of the wider cleft research community. As part of this work, CLAPA will be involved in a project to produce guidance for other charities to ensure fair recognition and payment for the value of their contributions to private and public sector organisations.

CLAPA is committed to ensuring its services are as accessible as possible, and this includes its PPI services. With this in mind, CLAPA has created a bursary system due to launch next year which will

The Cleft Lip and Palate Association

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2024

allow eligible research projects with a clear benefit to the UK cleft community to apply for funding to use CLAPA’s PPI and other consultancy services. The guidelines and assessment procedures were created in collaboration with research clinicians and CLAPA volunteers. This will ensure CLAPA’s work in this area will remain sustainable and highly valued whilst not excluding smaller projects from benefitting.

Annual Survey

One of many ways CLAPA gathers feedback to help shape its plans for the future is through its Annual Survey, which provides a snapshot of the cleft community’s needs, priorities and concerns.

This year’s survey returned 194 responses from a broad mix of locations and connections to cleft. Compared to the previous year, slightly more respondents said they were adults born with a cleft or a partner/relative of someone born with a cleft. This indicates CLAPA is becoming more successful in engaging people affected by cleft beyond those early years of a baby’s life. However, the percentage of those affected by cleft palate is still below what we would expect (12% compared to approximately 45% of the UK cleft population). This indicates that CLAPA is still not doing enough to engage this group on an ongoing basis. CLAPA’s Diversity Committee will continue to monitor the demographic data collected on respondents to better understand where CLAPA should focus new outreach efforts.

The survey asked for respondents’ top concerns so these could feed into CLAPA’s future strategies. Particular issues highlighted for parents and carers this year were their child’s emotional wellbeing, access to NHS dentistry and a lack of awareness of cleft amongst teachers and non-specialist health professionals. For adults, top concerns included a lack of available, affordable dental care, a lack of knowledge and tact from generic health professionals, and emotional wellbeing. Anticipating concern over access to dental care, CLAPA asked if respondents had experienced a range of potential issues with local dental or orthodontic care, and, shockingly, only 20% said they hadn’t had any problems. Key issues included these health professionals having a poor understanding of cleft, difficulties getting appointments, and a lack of communication with Cleft Teams.

Regarding CLAPA’s services, the responses were encouraging and showed that the cleft community highly valued all areas of the charity’s work. Those ranked as ‘most important’ were unchanged from the previous year. In order, these are:

Working with the NHS to improve cleft services
Providing information on cleft
Raising awareness of cleft in the general public
Providing special bottles and teats

This survey asked in depth about barriers to accessing CLAPA’s services and what respondents would like to see regarding CLAPA’s events. The findings have directly fed into future service planning and have been instrumental in securing funding for these plans.

The Cleft Lip and Palate Association

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2024

Alongside the community-focused Annual Survey, CLAPA ran a short survey for NHS Cleft Clinicians. 97% agreed that CLAPA provided valuable information products and resources, and 87% agreed that CLAPA provided essential emotional support to the UK cleft community. This survey also asked about their familiarity with different CLAPA services to aid with future marketing, and asked clinician’s opinions about barriers their patients and families might have with accessing support services. CLAPA will repeat this survey alongside the Annual Survey in the hopes that it will reflect positively on future efforts to engage this group.

Other Activities

Cleft Lip and Palate Awareness Week 2023

Cleft Lip and Palate Awareness Week starts on the first Saturday of May each year. It is the charity’s flagship fundraising and awareness-raising event, inviting the cleft community to bust myths, share stories and help to fund CLAPA’s life-changing work.

This year’s campaign was centred around ‘Step Up for Cleft Lip and Palate’, a fundraising campaign where participants logged their steps during the week to cover the 1,464 miles needed to complete a circuit of the NHS Cleft Centres, starting and finishing in CLAPA’s London office. Each milestone was celebrated with a short feature on a fundraiser, volunteer or cleft clinician in the local area to demonstrate CLAPA’s UK-wide community and give participants even more chances to shout about their achievements. 142 participants raised over £15k during the week.

This took place alongside a video campaign to raise awareness with twelve myth-busting videos about cleft lip and palate which were seen by over 300k people during the week. On top of this, over 2,000 people posted in the #CleftLipAndPalateAwarenessWeek hashtag to share their stories with the world.

Subcommittees

CLAPA has three staff-led committees: the Diversity, Wellbeing and Safeguarding Committees. Staff members and Trustees interested in these areas volunteer to sit on these groups in addition to their usual roles.

In 2023/24, the Diversity Committee began a thorough review and redevelopment of the Diversity and Inclusion Strategy and Policy. This continued alongside an ongoing review of CLAPA’s services using the ‘Accessibility and Inclusion Checklist’ to ensure they were as welcoming and inclusive as possible. This year, CLAPA secured the services of a consultancy firm to further this work in 2024/25 and feed into future strategy.

In 2023/24, the Wellbeing Committee continued to meet monthly to examine and discuss staff wellbeing. Amongst several initiatives to boost staff morale were regular virtual ‘Coffee Breaks’, regular posts on the ‘Wellbeing’ channel on the charity’s internal communications system, and sunflower seeds being sent out for staff to plant and report back on. In CLAPA’s 2023 staff survey, these initiatives were rated positively by 75% of staff.

The Cleft Lip and Palate Association

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2024

The achievements and actions of the Safeguarding Committee are discussed later on in this report.

Fundraising Activities

Following the success of 2022’s #SaveCLAPA Appeal and the rapid development it necessitated across all of CLAPA’s fundraising systems and practices, 2023/24 was another year of capitalising on this shift in culture and focus to deliver great results.

A new Income Generation Strategy was approved by the Trustee Board in their May 2023 meeting, with a strong focus on building capacity, improving processes, diversifying income streams and embedding a culture of fundraising throughout the charity. Key activities and achievements this year are detailed below.

Step Up for Cleft lip and Palate

The ‘Step Up for Cleft Lip and Palate’ challenge, covered earlier in this report, took place early in May. A great deal of work went into creating a fresh, standalone feel for the event and to marketing it more broadly, leading to a significant upturn in the income generated.

This challenge also introduced the new ‘Enthuse’ platform which encouraged participants to work towards a community income target irrespective of how physically active they were, making it possible for more people to get involved. Focusing the challenge around step-count milestones during the week also allowed for participants to stay enthusiastically engaged as they reported back on their progress.

New Digital Donation Platform

Summer saw the launch of a new ‘Donate’ page on the CLAPA website using the ‘Committed Giving’ platform. This provides a more pleasant and streamlined experience to end-users while allowing CLAPA a lot more flexibility and control. This also provided the charity with crucial information about donor’s connection to cleft and the reasons behind their donations which will be instrumental in developing fundraising communications going forward.

Changes in Fundraising Materials Fulfilment

An increase in demand for fundraising materials led CLAPA to engage Dash as a new fulfilment partner. This allows CLAPA’s small fundraising team to focus on stewardship and securing new donations rather than packing and posting materials.

Data-Driven Fundraising

July 2023 saw CLAPA recruit a new ‘Data Officer’ to improve the charity’s data collection processes, provide analysis and increase efficiency. This post is generously part-funded by the Highway One Trust. This work has had a particularly positive impact on CLAPA’s fundraising and donation data, where more accurate reporting has already allowed the charity to claim nearly £10k of extra Gift Aid income thanks to improvements in how claims are processed. Faster reporting has also allowed the fundraising team to notice and capitalise on trends much quicker.

The Cleft Lip and Palate Association

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2024

The Big Give

November saw the launch of the Big Give Christmas Challenge 2023, representing CLAPA’s first foray into this kind of digital fundraising and matched giving. A generous regular supporter provided a match funding pot of £10k, topped up by £5k from one of the Big Give’s pledge matchers. CLAPA’s Patron and Ambassadors contributed to the marketing of the campaign which was carefully planned to maximise reach and impact. During the subsequent week-long appeal starting on ‘Giving Tuesday’, matched donations from the cleft community poured in, raising a total of £32,614 (including Gift Aid) to support CLAPA’s work. This innovation was a huge success, growing confidence in this kind of fundraising in the future.

National Fundraising Awards

Following the success of the #SaveCLAPA Appeal in 2022 onwards, this was entered into the National Fundraising Awards 2024, where it is now shortlisted for Fundraising Campaign of the Year.

New Multi-Year Funders

This year, CLAPA has found particular success with securing new and multi-year funders to support its work. These include:

The St James’ Place Foundation committing to support Camp CLAPA activity weekends for three years.
The VTCT Foundation and The Highway One Foundation investing in building capacity at CLAPA by funding the Head of Income for one year and part-funding the Data Officer role for two years respectively.
The National Lottery (Reaching Communities) has provided three years of funding to maintain and grow the Adult Services and Advocacy work.
The Croda Foundation, thanks to the nomination of a member of CLAPA’s community, funded CLAPA’s Welcome Packs for twelve months.
Awards for All funded the pilot of the Cleft++ Mentoring Service for 12-17-year-olds.

As always, CLAPA’s ‘bread and butter’ remains the fundraising initiatives organised by those with a close personal connection to cleft lip and palate. Particularly notable fundraisers this year included:

Arc Group put together a team to complete the Maldon Half Marathon, raising just over £4,000.
Lauren Urwin and family held a black tie ball and took part in the Junior and Mini Great North Run, raising over £4,000.
Kieran Panchal completed the Barcelona Marathon and raised £2,000.
Heather Williams cycled the length of the UK from John O Groats to Land’s End, raising over £3,000. She was nominated for a JustGiving award for her efforts.
Two golf clubs (Chelmsford and Calcot) selected CLAPA as Charity of the Year and raised nearly £18k and £11k respectively.
Gaziano & Girling Ltd held a charity event in their Saville Row store and raised over £4,050 for CLAPA.

The Cleft Lip and Palate Association

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2024

Financial Review

Total income for the year 2023/24 was £876,994, compared to the 2022/23 figure of £648,624, an increase of 35%. Total expenditure for the year was £680,154, an increase of 7% on the 2022/23 figure of £633,222.

The surplus for the year 2023/24 is £196,840, an increase from the 2022/23 surplus which was £15,402.

CLAPA continues to generate unrestricted income from a range of sources, including online platforms such as Just Giving and Committed Giving, gifts in memory or in celebration, and individual donations. Unrestricted income for 2023/24 totalled £675,883, a 12% increase against the prior year. Because CLAPA raised significantly more money overall, this was only 77% of total income in 2023/24 compared with 92.7% of total income in 2022/23.

The total reserves, including restricted and designated funds, were £437,121 compared to the 2022/23 figure of £240,281. The total reserves for 2023/24 are equivalent to 7.7 months of average expenditure and represent 49.8% of total income in 2023/24, compared to 4.6 months and 37.0% of total income in 2022/23. The unrestricted free reserves for this year are £324,104, which equates to 5.7 months, compared to 2022/23 unrestricted free reserves of £228,777, equating to 4.3 months.

Despite this very welcome increase in income, CLAPA is dedicated to ensuring its operations remain sustainable. The Senior Management Team continue to carefully monitor cash flow, control expenditure, and plan for the future to ensure that any increased costs do not over-extend the charity’s resources in the future.

CLAPA’s Income Generation Strategy has proven to be a success thus far thanks to sound investment in good fundraising practices and other fundamentals such as data management. There is good reason to be optimistic that the next few years will see many more wins as CLAPA follows this strategy.

The Trustees are satisfied that CLAPA will remain a going concern as it works to continue along this trajectory and will closely monitor the charity’s financial performance on a regular basis.

The Cleft Lip and Palate Association

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2024

Approach to Fundraising

CLAPA relies on the generosity of the UK cleft community to raise funds to support its work. This ranges from small single and regular donations from individuals right through to team challenge events like ultramarathons. Donations made in memory of loved ones as well as gifts from estates also help to support out work. CLAPA also receives funding from grant-making trusts and foundations as well as support from a small number of companies in the form of single donations or ‘Charity of the Year’ arrangements.

There is a great deal of overlap between CLAPA’s beneficiaries and its supporter base. As such, CLAPA is deeply committed to transparent, ethical fundraising practices and to ensuring the trust that fundraisers and donors give to the charity is well placed. While there has been a shift towards making the charity’s requests for donations more ‘urgent’, CLAPA is careful to ensure the tone of these asks does not put undue pressure on supporters and that people who cannot afford to donate are offered alternate means to meaningfully contribute towards the charity’s work.

The charity is a member of both the Fundraising Regulator and the Chartered Institute of Fundraising. As part of its membership of the Fundraising Regulator, CLAPA is signed up to the Fundraising Promise which ensures that it is clear, honest, open, respectful, fair, responsible and accountable in its fundraising. The charity complies with the relevant areas of Fundraising Regulator Codes of Practice.

CLAPA has a robust complaints procedure in place which is easily accessible on its website. During the financial year 2023/24, there were no formal complaints received about the charity’s fundraising practices.

As part of CLAPA’s commitment to ensuring that its fundraising practices are fair and respectful, the Fundraising Team regularly reviews the Fundraising Regulator’s guidance to ensure that the charity’s practices protect all groups of donors and, in particular, those who are vulnerable.

CLAPA does not undertake fundraising activities such as face-to-face or door-to-door fundraising. No third parties or professional fundraisers currently undertake fundraising activities on CLAPA’s behalf.

Where CLAPA works with commercial organisations or suppliers (for instance, when purchasing places for its supporters at third party running or cycling events) it has contracts in place which ensure compliance with the relevant legislation.

CLAPA takes data protection extremely seriously. Personal information is never shared, unless it is with the explicit permission of the data subject and where it is necessary to fulfil their instructions, such as providing information necessary to register a participant on to a third party event. In addition to its own processes for updating communications preferences, CLAPA is registered with the Fundraising Preference Service (FPS) for those making blanket non-contact requests for

The Cleft Lip and Palate Association

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2024

charities. Staff attend mandatory annual Data Protection training to ensure ongoing compliance with GDPR and other relevant regulations.

Safeguarding

CLAPA is committed to safeguarding and ensuring the welfare of children, young people and adults at risk, and expects all Trustees, employees and volunteers to share this commitment. As such, the charity has robust safeguarding policies and procedures in place. This includes carrying out disclosure and barring checks as appropriate on those staff members and volunteers whose roles involve working directly with children, young people and/or vulnerable adults. All members of staff receive annual safeguarding training as well as regular updates from the CLAPA Safeguarding Team throughout the year. The charity regularly reviews its safeguarding policies to ensure compliance with appropriate legislation and aims to meet best practice guidance from relevant bodies.

During the reporting period, seven safeguarding concerns were reported to the Safeguarding Team and escalated to the CLAPA Trustee with safeguarding responsibility. Two of the concerns met the threshold which required a report to the local authority Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH). Appropriate action was taken with all concerns and they are considered closed. In addition, the team also responded to four concerns that, on investigation, were determined to be wellbeing concerns. Appropriate support was provided in all instances and it was not necessary to escalate these concerns to the Safeguarding trustee.

Principal Risks and Uncertainties

The Trustees have approved a Risk Assessment for the charity and are satisfied that systems are in place to mitigate exposure to the major risks. At each Board meeting, the risk register is reviewed along with a sample of the risk management policies and procedures produced by the charity.

CLAPA’s main risks arise from the ongoing difficulties affecting many charities of less than £1m; namely, rising demand for services, increasing overhead costs and increased competition for grants.

The ‘cost of living’ crisis also presents a risk to staff morale and retention, and this is an ongoing focus of the Wellbeing Committee and Senior Management Team.

There continues to be significant uncertainty about income levels as a result of many external factors . To manage this risk, costs continue to be closely monitored and controlled on an ongoing basis and the charity is closely following its ‘Income Generation Strategy’ to continue to diversify its income streams.

The Cleft Lip and Palate Association

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2024

Reserves Policy

CLAPA’s policy is that unrestricted funds should be maintained at a level equivalent to between three and six month’s expenditure (2023/24: £170k - £340k). Unrestricted free reserves at 31 March 2024 were £324,104 which falls within the target range. The Trustees consider that reserves at this level will ensure that, in the event of a significant drop in funding, they will be able to continue the charity’s current activities while looking at ways to raise additional funds. This level is monitored at each Board meeting, and the charity’s cash flow is monitored.

This constant monitoring of costs and income ensures that CLAPA’s reserves do not fall below unsustainable levels, nor do they grow unnecessarily large. When this year saw a number of generous bequests received, the Trustees discussed how best to use this windfall to sustainably support the cleft community. £71,000 of this income was designated to a new ‘Future Growth Fund’ which does not form part of CLAPA’s reserves. This Fund will allow CLAPA to invest in development projects with a long-term impact on the charity, specifically:

Expertise to evaluate and enhance CLAPA’s long-term strategic objectives and services
Projects requiring multi-year investments, such as a comprehensive website redevelopment which will offer substantial long-term benefits

As a result of these strong financial controls and careful planning, the year-end total reserves were the equivalent to 7.7 months and reserves based on free, unrestricted funds were 5.7 months.

Plans for the Future

CLAPA’s 2022-2025 Strategic Plan is now entering its final year. This strategy focuses on three strands of activity:

Understanding the barriers preventing access to CLAPA’s services
Building partnerships to provide more efficient, sustainable support
Creating enduring resources aimed at people at all stages of their cleft journey

These have led to the achievements already detailed above, with even more projects and activities due to take place in 2024/25. These projects include:

Diversity and Inclusion Review: Funded by the National Lottery’s Reaching Communities programme, CLAPA has engaged a consultancy firm to review its Diversity and Inclusion Policy, Strategy and data. This work aims to provide a set of actionable short and longterm recommendations by midway through the financial year for inclusion in future strategy.

The Cleft Lip and Palate Association

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2024

Website Redevelopment: In 2024, CLAPA will begin to redevelop its website on a new platform to allow for much greater, flexibility, user-friendliness and stability moving forward. This project will include a great deal of in-depth consultation with the cleft community to ensure the new website reflects their needs and concerns.
Ongoing Branding Review: A number of offers of ‘pro bono’ support arising from the #SaveCLAPA Appeal led to the formation of a small committee to help CLAPA review its branding and communications to understand if these are a barrier to attracting more service-users and fundraisers. This group has been working throughout 2023/24 to review and update CLAPA’s brand, with recommendations due to be made to the Board of Trustees next year to take this forward.
CLAPA Companions ‘Pen Pal’ Project: CLAPA Companions is a monitored ‘pen pal’ system to help Primary School aged children connect with each other and form lifelong friendships; the service is due to launch in July 2024.
New Resources: New information resources are in development on the topics of ‘starting school’ and ‘orthodontics’, two areas of particular concern for young people born with a cleft and their families.
PPI Bursary: A bursary system will be piloted to help lower-budget research projects access CLAPA’s PPI services. This pilot will help CLAPA to iron out the processes and better understand the costs involved before external funding is sought in 2025.

As well as sustainability being at the heart of these projects, CLAPA will continue to put focus on high-quality data collection and ongoing evaluation of its work to ensure services can continue to develop to meet the changing needs of the UK cleft community.

The next year will also be focused on developing CLAPA’s next Strategic Plan, which is expected to run from 2025-2030. CLAPA will be working on developing a Theory of Change as part of this work to ensure the goals of this strategy are as aligned as possible.

Structure, Governance and Management

The charity became a company limited by guarantee in 2005, and its governing documents are the Memorandum and Articles of Association. In 2009, the Trustees passed a resolution agreeing to change the Memorandum and Articles of Association so that CLAPA could be registered as a charity in Scotland (SC041034).

All Trustees give their time voluntarily and receive no benefits from the charity. Any expenses reclaimed from the charity are set out in note 7 of the accounts.

Appointment of Trustees

The Trustees hold full responsibility for the activities of the charity, and the power to appoint new Trustees lies with the Trustees in office at the time. The Trustee Board regularly reviews its membership to ensure that it has a balance of health professionals and people personally affected

The Cleft Lip and Palate Association

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2024

by cleft, and that it has the necessary skills to fulfil its duties as well as support the charity’s activities.

Trustees are recruited through open competition. Role descriptions are advertised widely through CLAPA’s channels and charity sector websites. Applicants are shortlisted and interviewed by a panel of existing Trustees. Once a suitable candidate is selected, an offer of appointment is made.

In March 2014, the Board agreed to introduce a maximum term of office of two terms of three years. If, during their second term, a Trustee is appointed to a significant role such as Chair, Treasurer or Secretary, they can remain a Trustee until they have served a maximum of three years in that office.

In 2023/24, a number of Trustees stepped down as they came to the end of their terms of office. Amelia Strangeways came to the end of her second term of office in June 2023 and stepped down. Board Secretary, Rona Slator, and Chair of the Board, Nick Astor, stepped down in October 2023. Oliver Hopkins stepped up to be Interim Chair of the Board at this time and continued in this position until a new Chair, Oliver Rendell, was appointed in October 2024. In October 2023, three new Trustees joined the board – Jane Kerby, Melanie Spencer and Isabel Williams. A new Treasurer was appointed in August 2024 and will replace Jas Bhachu who will step down in November 2024.

Each year in September, the Trustees hold an ‘Away Day’ which includes the Annual General Meeting (AGM). This is an opportunity for the Trustees and staff team to review the strategy and the activities of the last year and to start to plan for the next year.

CLAPA’s Community are invited to contribute to CLAPA’s strategy through online surveys, direct communication, CLAPA Voices, and regular focus groups.

Related Parties and Relationships with Other Organisations

CLAPA has a wide variety of strategic partnerships with other charities and organisations to

broaden its range of stakeholders and increase its impact. In light of the charity’s current strategic plan, continuing to create and grow partnerships like this is of great importance.

Partners include:

The NHS Cleft services, each of whom now have a ‘CLAPA Link’ to ensure regular two-way communication.
Third sector partnership groups such as the Appearance Collective, the Shared Learning Group for Patient Involvement, the Vision for Volunteering Network, and the British Heart Foundation’s Peer Support Network.
Health related collectives and organisations such as the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists and the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Heath.
Related research groups such as the Cleft Collective, Cleft @18-23, and the Centre for Appearance Research.

The Cleft Lip and Palate Association

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2024

NHS/EU related groups such as Cleft Development Group (CDG) and Clinical Studies Group (CSG).
Other charities, such as the European Cleft Organisation (ECO), Changing Faces, Face Equality UK, Young Minds, and Headlines.
Commercial partners, such as Crown Worldwide, MAM, Central Medical, and Handi-Craft.

Remuneration Policy for Key Management Personal

CLAPA’s HR Committee is responsible for advising the Board of Trustees on the appropriate levels of pay for members of the Senior Management Team. When the budget for the financial year ahead is being drafted, the Chief Executive makes recommendations to the HR Committee on any inflationary increases or salary changes.

Any recommendations for salary increases are benchmarked against similar posts at similar sized organisations in the voluntary sector using published salary services and publicly advertised positions. If a recommendation for an inflationary / cost of living increase is made, only staff who have been in post for 6 months or more at the start of the next financial year will be eligible for this increase. The Chief Executive’s salary is set and reviewed by the Board of Trustees.

A pay rise of 3% was approved for all staff from April 2024 in order to ensure the salaries offered by CLAPA were brought into line with salaries in other similarly sized charities.

Statement of Responsibilities of the

Trustees

The Trustees (who are also directors of The Cleft Lip and Palate Association 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

The Cleft Lip and Palate Association

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2024

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.

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 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 re-appointed as the charitable company's auditor during the year and has expressed its willingness to continue in that capacity.

The annual report has been approved by the Trustees on 29 October 2024 and signed on their behalf by:

Jasvinder Bhachu Trustee

Independent auditor’s report

To the members of

The Cleft Lip and Palate Association

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of Cleft Lip and Palate Association (the ‘charitable company’) for the year ended 31 March 2024 which comprise the statement of financial activities, balance sheet, statement of cash flows and notes to the financial statements, including a summary of significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102 ‘The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland’ (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

In our opinion, the financial statements:

Give a true and fair view of the state of the charitable company’s affairs as at 31 March 2024 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, the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and regulation 8 of the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended)

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 Cleft Lip and Palate Association’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.

Independent auditor’s report

To the members of

The Cleft Lip and Palate Association

Other information

The other information comprises the information included in the trustees’ annual report other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. The trustees are responsible for the other information. 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. In connection with our audit of the financial statements, 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 audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether there is a material misstatement in the financial statements or a material misstatement of the other information. 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 for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements
The trustees’ annual 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.

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Companies Act 2006 and the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended) require 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; or
The trustees 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.

Independent auditor’s report

To the members of

The Cleft Lip and Palate Association

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

We have been appointed as auditor under section 44(1)(c) of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and under the Companies Act 2006 and report in accordance with regulations made under those Acts.

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 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;

Independent auditor’s report

To the members of

The Cleft Lip and Palate Association

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 judgements 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

The Cleft Lip and Palate Association

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 and section 44(1)(c) of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005. 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.

Noelia Serrano (Senior statutory auditor) Date: 4 November 2024

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

Sayer Vincent LLP is eligible to act as auditor in terms of section 1212 of the Companies Act 2006

The Cleft Lip and Palate Association

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

For the year ended 31 March 2024

For the year ended 31 March 2024
Note Income from: 2 3 4a 4a 5 Reconciliation of funds: 16a Donations and legacies Charitable activities Net income for the year Raising funds Total expenditure Charitable activities Investments Total income Expenditure on: Total funds carried forward Net movement in funds Total funds brought forward	Unrestricted £ 602,579 71,744 1,560	Restricted £ 201,111 - -	2024 Total £ 803,690 71,744 1,560	Unrestricted £ 521,307 79,904 -	Restricted £ 47,413 - -	Restated 2023 Total £ 568,720 79,904 -
	675,883	201,111	876,994	601,211	47,413	648,624
	222,955 287,116	- 170,083	222,955 457,199	222,995 307,572	- 102,655	222,995 410,227
	510,071	170,083	680,154	530,567	102,655	633,222
	165,812	31,028	196,840	70,644	(55,242)	15,402
	165,812 230,833	31,028 9,448	196,840 240,281	70,644 160,189	(55,242) 64,690	15,402 224,879
	396,645	40,476	437,121	230,833	9,448	240,281

The prior period restatement of income is a reclassification of income from other trading activities and charitable activities to income from donations and legacies in line with Charity SORP. There is no impact on the total income, expenditure or movement in funds.

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 17a to the financial statements.

The Cleft Lip and Palate Association

Company no. 05206298

Balance sheet

As at 31 March 2024

As at 31 March 2024 Balance sheet			Company	no. 05206298
Note Fixed assets: 10 Current assets: 11 12 Liabilities: 13 17a Total unrestricted funds Total charity funds The funds of the charity: Creditors: amounts falling due within one year Net current assets Total net assets Restricted funds Unrestricted funds: General funds Designated funds Cash at bank and in hand Tangible assets Stock Debtors	£ 33,165 44,842 454,479	2024 £ 1,541	£ 26,928 35,913 273,347	2023 £ 2,056
		1,541 435,580		2,056 238,225
	532,486 (96,906)		336,188 (97,963)
	71,000 325,645		- 230,833
		437,121		240,281
		40,476 396,645		9,448 230,833

		437,121		240,281

Approved by the trustees on 29 October 2024 and signed on their behalf by

Jasvinder Bhachu Trustee

The Cleft Lip and Palate Association

Statement of cash flows

For the year ended 31 March 2024

Reconciliation of net income to net cash flow from operating activities

£ £ 179,572 1,560 1,560 181,132 273,347 454,479 2024	2024 £ 196,840 515 (1,560) (6,237) (8,929) (1,057)	2023 £ 15,402 927 - 8,490 (8,059) 50,964
	179,572	67,724

181,132 273,347		67,724 205,623
454,479		273,347

Analysis of changes in net debt

The charity has not provided an analysis of changes in net debt as it does not have any long term financing arrangements.

The Cleft Lip and Palate Association

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2024

1 Accounting policies

a) Statutory information
The Cleft Lip and Palate Association is a charitable company limited by guarantee and is incorporated in England and Wales. The registered office address and principal place of business is The Green House, 244-254 Cambridge Heath Road, London, E2 9DA.
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 accounts have been prepared on the going concern basis, which the trustees consider appropriate having regard to the current level of unrestricted reserves and confirmed future funding. The charity holds unrestricted reserves of £396,645 and a cash balance of £454,479. There are no material uncertainties about the charity's ability to continue as a going concern.

e) Income

All incoming resources are included in the statement of financial activities when the charity becomes entitled to the income and the amounts can be measured reliably.

Donations are recognised upon receipt and income tax recoverable in relation to donations received under Gift Aid is recognised at the time of the donation.

Grant income is recognised upon receipt or, if earlier, at the time the charity becomes entitled to it.

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.

f) 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.

g) 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.

h) Expenditure and irrecoverable VAT

Resources expended are recognised in the period to which they relate.

Direct charitable expenditure comprises all the expenditure relating to the activities carried out to achieve the charitable objectives.

Governance includes the costs of compliance with constitutional and statutory requirements. A proportion of governance costs is allocated to fundraising and to Charitable activities.

A proportion of Support costs is allocated to fundraising and to Charitable activities involving and supporting people affected by clefts and improving services.

Staff costs have been allocated on the basis of time spent.

i) Operating leases

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

The Cleft Lip and Palate Association

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2024

1 Accounting policies (continued)

j) Tangible fixed assets

Tangible fixed assets are initially measured at cost and subsequently measured at cost less depreciation. Items costing less than £500 are not capitalised. Depreciation is provided at rates calculated to write off the cost less estimated value of each asset over its expected useful life, as follows:

Website development costs 33.33% straight line
Fixtures and fittings 25% reducing balance

The gain or loss arising on the disposal of an asset is determined as the difference between the sale proceeds and the carrying value of the asset, and is recognised in net income/(expenditure) for the year.

k) Stocks

Stocks are stated at the lower of cost and net realisable value. In general, cost is determined on a first in first out basis and includes transport and handling costs. Net realisable value is the price at which stocks can be sold in the normal course of business after allowing for the costs of realisation. Provision is made where necessary for obsolete, slow moving and defective stocks.

Stock held for free distribution for fundraising purposes is included at nil value. Stock held for free distribution with a charitable purpose is accounted for based on service potential.

l) 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.

m) 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.

n) 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.

o) 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.

p) Pensions

The charity operates a defined contribution pension scheme. Contributions are charged in the accounts as they become payable in accordance with the rules of the scheme.

The Cleft Lip and Palate Association

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2024

2 Income from donations and legacies

Income from donations and legacies
Donations Legacies Grants receivable Total income from donations and legacies Income from charitable activities Feeding Service Other Merchandise/Literature sales Postage Total income from charitable activities	Unrestricted £ 525,581 76,998 -	Restricted £ - - 201,111	2024 Total £ 525,581 76,998 201,111	Unrestricted £ 495,557 25,750 -	Restricted £ 2,350 - 45,063	Restated 2023 Total £ 497,907 25,750 45,063
	602,579	201,111	803,690	521,307	47,413	568,720
	Unrestricted £ 63,999 619 7,126	Restricted £ - - -	2024 Total £ 63,999 619 7,126	Unrestricted £ 63,972 5,611 10,321	Restricted £ - - -	Restated 2023 Total £ 63,972 5,611 10,321
	71,744	-	71,744	79,904	-	79,904

3 Income from charitable activities

The Cleft Lip and Palate Association

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2024

4a Analysis of expenditure (current year)

Analysis of expenditure (current year)
Staff costs (Note 6) Depreciation Feeding equipment Meeting and conference costs Information services Other services Office costs Audit fees Fundraising costs Support costs Governance costs Total expenditure 2024	Raising funds £ 91,262 - - - - - 7,207 - 48,091	Charitable activities £ 176,878 - 42,979 11,226 1,899 55,560 11,996 - -	Governance costs £ 21,465 - - 28 - 4,456 798 11,520 -	Support costs £ 134,817 515 - - - 9,168 50,289 - -	2024 Total £ 424,422 515 42,979 11,254 1,899 69,184 70,290 11,520 48,091
	146,560 32% 63,850 12,545	300,538 68% 130,939 25,722	38,267 - (38,267)	194,789 (194,789) -	680,154 - -
	222,955	457,199	-	-	680,154

4b Analysis of expenditure (prior year)

Analysis of expenditure (prior year)
Staff costs (Note 6) Depreciation Feeding equipment Meeting and conference costs Other services Office costs Audit fees Fundraising costs Support costs Governance costs Total expenditure 2023	Raising funds £ 93,738 - - - - 8,563 - 49,481	Charitable activities £ 161,224 - 53,180 8,124 43,410 13,285 - -	Governance costs £ 18,256 - - 186 1,620 727 11,310 -	Support costs £ 122,441 927 - - 5,749 41,001 - -	2023 Total £ 395,659 927 53,180 8,310 50,779 63,576 11,310 49,481
	151,782 32% 59,909 11,304	279,223 68% 110,209 20,795	32,099 - (32,099)	170,118 (170,118) -	633,222 - -
	222,995	410,227	-	-	633,222

The Cleft Lip and Palate Association

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2024

Net income for the year

This is stated after charging / (crediting):

Depreciation Operating lease rentals: Property Auditor's remuneration (excluding VAT): Audit	2024 £ 515 25,475 9,600	2023 £ 927 24,735 9,425

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:
Social security costs Employer’s contribution to defined contribution pension schemes Salaries and wages	2024 £ 382,890 28,733 12,799	2023 £ 357,018 27,554 11,087
	424,422	395,659

No employee earned between £60,000 and £70,000 during the year (2023: nil). There were redundancy costs of nil (2023: nil).

The charity's key management personnel comprises of the Board of Trustees and the Senior Management Team.

Included within the Senior Management Team are the following: Chief Executive, Head of Impact, Head of Finance, Head of Service Delivery and Head of Income.

Total remuneration (Salary, NI, Allowances, Pension) paid to the Senior Management Team in the year amounted to £218,037 (2023: £184,172).

None of the Trustees (or any persons connected with them) received any remuneration during the year. Trustees expenses were meeting costs totalling £28 (2023: Travel expenses £79).

7. Staff numbers

The average number of employees (head count based on number of staff employed) during the year was 16 (2023: 15).

Raising funds Sale of feeding equipment Support Administrative	2024 No. 4.1 1.2 5.9 4.8	2023 No. 4.1 1.2 5.9 3.8
	16.0	15.0

8. Related party transactions

Aggregate donations from related parties were £1,195 (2023: £1,088).

There were no other related party transactions to disclose for 2024 (2023: none).

9. Taxation

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

The Cleft Lip and Palate Association

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2024

Tangible fixed assets

Tangible fixed assets
At the end of the year At the start of the year At the end of the year At the start of the year Cost or valuation Charge for the year At the start of the year Additions in year Depreciation Net book value All of the above assets are used for charitable purposes. At the end of the year	Fixtures and £ 5,210 -	Website £ 32,464 -	Total £ 37,674 -
	5,210	32,464	37,674
	3,154 515	32,464 -	35,618 515
	3,669	32,464	36,133
	1,541	-	1,541
	2,056	-	2,056

11. 12. Stock Debtors Accrued income Prepayments Finished goods Trade debtors Other debtors	2024 £ 33,165	2023 £ 26,928
	2024 £ 2,577 2,578 12,266 27,421	2023 £ 12,028 12,278 11,608 -
	44,842	35,913

All of the charity’s financial instruments, both assets and liabilities, are measured at amortised cost. The carrying values of these are shown above.

13. Creditors: amounts falling due within one year

Creditors: amounts falling due within one year
Deferred income (note 14) Trade creditors Other creditors Accruals	2024 £ 11,761 1,559 22,430 61,156	2023 £ 10,298 3,329 25,244 59,091
	96,906	97,963

The Cleft Lip and Palate Association

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2024

14. Deferred income

Deferred income relates to project funds where the funder has specified expenditure should take place in the next financial year.

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	2024 £ 59,091 (59,091) 61,156	2023 £ - - 59,091
	61,156	59,091

15. Pension scheme

The charity operates a defined contribution pension scheme for all qualifying employees. The assets of the scheme are held separately from those of the charity in an independently administered fund.

The charge to profit or loss in respect of defined contribution schemes was £10,957 to CLAPA scheme (2023: £8,753) and £2,040 to private scheme (2023: £2,153).

16a. Analysis of net assets between funds (current year)

Analysis of net assets between funds (current year)
Net assets at 31 March 2023 Net current assets Net current assets Tangible fixed assets Analysis of net assets between funds (prior year) Net assets at 31 March 2024 Tangible fixed assets	General unrestricted £ 1,541 324,104	Designated - 71,000	Restricted £ - 40,476	Total funds £ 1,541 435,580
	325,645	71,000	40,476	437,121
	General unrestricted £ 2,056 228,777	Designated - -	Restricted £ - 9,448	Total funds £ 2,056 238,225
	230,833	-	9,448	240,281

16b. Analysis of net assets between funds (prior year)

The Cleft Lip and Palate Association

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2024

17a. Movements in funds (current year)

17a. Movements in funds (current year)
Total restricted funds Designated funds Future growth fund Total designated funds General funds 17b. JAME SCOT Eng B Total restricted funds General funds Boshier Hinton Smile Train (England) 2024-25 The VTCT Foundation (Adult Services project) The James McGowan Scholarship Fund Hugh Fraser Croda Foundation St James Place - Caritabel Foundation Michael Josephson Walter Guiness Charitable Trust Highway One Trust Restricted funds: BBC Children in Need (Scotland) Total unrestricted funds Total funds Smile Train (England) 2023-24 Restricted funds: Total unrestricted funds Total funds The Wood Foundation Movements in funds (prior year) Smile Train (England) BBC Children in Need (England) The Wood Foundation Highway One Trust The VTCT Foundation (Investing in CLAPA’s Scotland Restricted The National Lottery Community Fund (Awards for All) The National Lottery Community Fund (Reaching Communities) The VTCT Foundation (Collaborative programme Scotland) The VTCT Foundation (Investing in CLAPA’s fundraising capabilities) The National Lottery Community Fund (Awards for All) The James McGowan Scholarship Fund	At 1 April 2023 £ 6,944 - - 2,504 - - - - - - - - - -	Income £ - 16,563 2,454 - 10,000 33,365 9,163 80,534 3,500 29,182 10,000 2,000 3,850 500	Expenditure £ (6,944) (16,563) (2,454) (222) (7,500) (33,365) (9,163) (54,568) (3,500) (19,454) (10,000) (2,000) (3,850) (500)	At 31 March 2024 £ - - - 2,282 2,500 - - 25,966 - 9,728 - - - -
	9,448	201,111	(170,083)	40,476
	-	71,000	-	71,000
	- 230,833	71,000 604,883	- (510,071)	71,000 325,645
	230,833	675,883	(510,071)	396,645
	240,281	876,994	(680,154)	437,121
	At 1 April 2022 £ 8,316 9,500 18,838 - 2,704 9,227 4,597 - - - 11,508	Income £ - - - 2,350 - 23,189 - 9,920 11,121 833 -	Expenditure £ (1,372) (9,500) (18,838) (2,350) (200) (32,416) (4,597) (9,920) (11,121) (833) (11,508)	At 31 March 2023 £ 6,944 - - - 2,504 - - - - - -
	64,690	47,413	(102,655)	9,448
	160,189	601,211	(530,567)	230,833
	160,189	601,211	(530,567)	230,833
	224,879	648,624	(633,222)	240,281

The Cleft Lip and Palate Association

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2024

18. Purpose of funds

Purpose of restricted funds:

The James McGowan Scholarship Fund was established by CLAPA at the wish of the family and friends of James, who died suddenly in 2007. CLAPA administers the fund on behalf of the scholarship committee, which gives awards for the purpose of striving for excellence in the care of patients born with cleft lip and palate in Northern Ireland, but has no control over its spend.

Smile Train (2023-24) provided funding for our Community Engagement Coordinator’s salary and part funding for the salary of our External Engagement Coordinator.

Smile Train (2024-25) provided funding for our Community Engagement Coordinator’s salary and funding for delivery costs of Community Engagement Programme.

The Wood Foundation provided a grant to cover the cost of Welcome Packs for families in Edinburgh.

Highway One Trust provided funding to improve fundraising infrastructure.

The VTCT Foundation (Investing in CLAPA’s fundraising capabilities) - The VTCT Foundation have given a 1 year grant provided funding for our Head of Income's salary.

The National Lottery Community Fund (Awards for All) provided a grant for a pilot of Cleft++, an Online mentoring project for 12-17 year olds, including staffing costs.

The National Lottery Community Fund (Reaching Communities) are funding the Adults Services Programme - Improving the health and wellbeing of adults in England born with a cleft.

Hugh Fraser Foundation contributed towards a residential learning and development weekend at Aberfoyle, Perthshire for children and young people affected by cleft lip and/or palate.

The Croda Foundation funded Cleft Lip & Palate specialist feeding packs for newborns for one year.

St James Place Charitable Foundation have committed £10,000 a year for 3 years to provide 2 residential weekends for 30 disadvantaged, cleft-affected children and young people (CYP) aged 8-12.

Boshier-Hinton Foundation provided funding of £2,000 for CLAPA Welcome packs.

Michael Josephson MBE, donated from the MJ Ball profits toward a selection of Children and young people’s activities including Cleft++, the CYPC and the cost of a residential weekend in July 2024.

Walter Guinness Charitable Trust donated £500 towards Residential and learning weekends.

Purpose of restricted funds from the prior year:

BBC Children in Need (Scotland) provided funding towards the costs of running activities for children and young people in Scotland. The VTCT Foundation gave a grant to help explore the feasibilty of developing a programme of collaborative work with key partner charities working in similar fields in Scotland.

The Cleft Lip and Palate Association

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2024

Purpose of funds (continued) Purpose of restricted funds (continued)

Scotland Restricted represents small grants received for work in the geographical areas of Scotland.

BBC Children in Need (England) gave a grant for children and young people’s services in England.

The VTCT Foundation (Adult Services project) contributed towards adult services.

Purpose of designated funds:

Future growth fund represents funds designated from legacy income for various development projects, including: re-branding, website development, influencing and theory of change. The expenditure is expected to take place in the 2024/25 and 2025/26 financial years.

19. Operating lease commitments

The charity's total future minimum lease payments under non-cancellable operating leases is as follows for each of the following periods

One to five years Less than one year	2024 2023 £ £ 11,240 10,449 - - Property	2024 2023 £ £ 11,240 10,449 - - Property
	11,240	10,449

20. 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.

The Cleft Lip and Palate Association

Contents

For the year ended 31 March 2024

For the year ended 31 March 2024

For the year ended 31 March 2024

Objectives and Activities

Purposes and Aims

For the year ended 31 March 2024

Beneficiaries and Services

For the year ended 31 March 2024

Strategic Report

Achievements and Performance

Support Services

Feeding Service

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2024

One-to-one Support

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2024

Advocacy Service

Online Events

Events include:

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2024

For the year ended 31 March 2024

For the year ended 31 March 2024

Children & Young People’s Services

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2024

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2024

Adult Services

For the year ended 31 March 2024

CLAPA’s Digital Community

For the year ended 31 March 2024

Community Involvement

Volunteers

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2024

Research Involvement

For the year ended 31 March 2024

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2024

Annual Survey

For the year ended 31 March 2024

Other Activities

Cleft Lip and Palate Awareness Week 2023

Subcommittees

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2024

Fundraising Activities

Step Up for Cleft lip and Palate

New Digital Donation Platform

Changes in Fundraising Materials Fulfilment

Data-Driven Fundraising

For the year ended 31 March 2024

The Big Give

National Fundraising Awards

New Multi-Year Funders

For the year ended 31 March 2024

Financial Review

For the year ended 31 March 2024

Approach to Fundraising

For the year ended 31 March 2024

Safeguarding

Principal Risks and Uncertainties

For the year ended 31 March 2024

Reserves Policy

Plans for the Future

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2024

Structure, Governance and Management

Appointment of Trustees

For the year ended 31 March 2024

Related Parties and Relationships with Other Organisations

Partners include:

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2024

Remuneration Policy for Key Management Personal