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← The Eikon Charity

2024-03-31-accounts

helping young people in Surrey

The Eikon Charity Annual Report and Financial Statements 2023/24

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Contents

• Being a young person today 2
• How we are responding 4
• Chair and CEO report 5
• Mission and strategy 6
• Our year at a glance 8
• Activities and Performance 10
• Equality, diversity and inclusion 27
• Our staff and volunteers 28
• Leadership and development 29
• Employee pay and benefits 29
• Fundraising highlights 30
• Plans for the future 34
• Key risks and uncertainties disclosures 35
• Governance, structure and management 37
• Trustees’ report and accounts for the year ended 31 March 2024 42
• Independent auditor’s report to the members of The Eikon Charity 45
• Statement of financial activities for the year ended 31 March 2024 48
• Balance sheet as at 31 March 2024 49
• Statement of cash flows for the year ended 31 March 2024 50
• Notes to the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2024 51
• Special thanks 60

1

Being a young person today

My biggest challenge is people not understanding how it feels to be a young person.

We all worry occasionally, but for some children and young people, anxiety can become constant, intense and overwhelming. This persistent anxiety can interfere with their daily lives, preventing them from doing things they want and need to do. When anxiety takes over, it can cause significant harm, leading to issues such as controlling their eating, self-harm, angry outbursts and negative thoughts. It can also result in lost friendships and declining school performance. Additionally, this anxiety can impact family life, leaving parents and caregivers feeling hopeless.

Young people have shared that they often feel misunderstood and powerless. They describe their experiences as complex, hard, confusing and even hellish. They feel tired, frustrated, and burdened by difficulties such as peer pressure, social media, and bullying, which make them feel small and constantly judged.

Opposite is a poem by an 11-year-old girl, still in primary school. Many of the children we support describe similar thoughts and feelings. They’re struggling with poor emotional and mental wellbeing and often have been for quite some time, without the help they need.

This is a great shame, because we know from experience, and all the evidence shows, that helping early improves outcomes for children and prevents harm.

With the right early support, many children would not need to access mental health services. It is shocking to see so many children being referred to mental health services because they have reached crisis.

– DAME RACHEL DE SOUZA, THE CHILDREN’S COMMISSIONER

1 Children's mental health services 2022-23 | Children's Commissioner for England (childrenscommissioner.gov.uk)

2

Poem written by an 11-year-old girl in year 6

No-one understands That I am so sad If I could just be happy for one day It would mean the world to me I don't even know who I am meant to be My voice can't be heard So why bother talking I feel so invisible I just can't be seen What do the words that come out of my mouth even mean No-one understands That I am so sad I try to explain my feelings But the emotions are too strong to let out People say there is no need to cry, no need to pout Although I just can't help it I need to sit In private Peace and quiet No-one understands That I am so sad

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How we are responding

All children and young people in Surrey deserve to be safe and to thrive.

Growing up in today’s world can be incredibly challenging. That’s why we empower children and young people with the inner resources they need – skills, knowledge and confidence – as they develop and navigate life. Additionally, we ensure they know where to find more help if they need it. We help children and young people to build the confidence and the skills they need to be safe and to thrive.

Every young person deserves to feel safe, heard and supported. So, we create spaces for them where they can be themselves and talk about their thoughts and feelings. We’re also there for them when problems have developed, and they need more focused help.

Everything we do is guided by our values:

We elevate and amplify the voices of children and young people

The needs of young people guide everything we do, shaping every decision and action we take.

We act with compassion

We empathise with the pressures of modern life and help without judgement.

We take responsibility

We recognise the part we have to play in the future of children and young people, and we hold ourselves accountable for their success.

Children themselves understand better than anyone what’s happening in their own lives, so we listen, without judging. We make sure that they get the right kind of help and advice, at the right time, to build the confidence and the skills they need to be safe, be well and to thrive.

We help early because it often stops problems from becoming much bigger. But we’re also there for them when problems have developed and they need more focused help.

Schools, parents and carers sometimes need help too, so we work with families and professionals to provide networks of support and care around children and young people.

We work together

We work together with children and young people themselves, and with everyone involved in caring for and supporting them, including parents, carers, schools and policymakers, because that’s the best way to help them to be safe and to thrive.

As a founding member of the Surrey Wellbeing Partnership, we provide some of our services on behalf of Mindworks Surrey, the Emotional Wellbeing and Mental Health service. We partner with local councils working on behalf of their communities and we work with companies and community organisations to mutual benefit.

All the insights we gain from our work are used to inspire positive change for children.

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Chair and CEO […] is a completely different girl to report

[…] is a completely different girl to when I first brought her in! She doesn't wake up with nightmares anymore, she doesn't cry regularly anymore and she's a lot more confident now! It's been very warming to see her relationship build with Saf and, honestly, I can't thank him enough. He's been super patient with me also and accommodated me and […] the whole way. I want to give a special mention to the receptionist also, Liz. While I waited for […], she was always very warm, kind and comforting. It's been a great experience at Eikon!

We can look back on the last year with pride at the work of an amazing team of people. Together, our staff and volunteers helped thousands of children, young people and their families.

What is most striking, though, is not the numbers. It’s the passion, dedication and commitment to the children and young people they support. It’s the many stories we hear of the Eikon team going the extra mile to make absolutely sure that each and every young person gets the help they need.

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– PARENT
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A report released by the Children’s Commission for England in March 2024 highlighted what we already knew – that children are still waiting far too long to access the help they need, and that we need fresh, long-term thinking when it comes to children’s mental and emotional health and wellbeing.

We are doing just that – improving our understanding of the root causes of poor emotional wellbeing and mental health in children, striving to ensure our work delivers lasting positive impact, and inspiring change in the care and support systems around children and young people.

As a result of these considerations, we have updated the charity’s strategy to make sure we continue to have as much positive impact as we can on young lives. We have built on and further developed previous strategic thinking to reflect our changing context. Resources remain limited and the new strategy focuses those resources for maximum impact.

The new strategy includes a particular focus on extending our offer for primary-aged children, equipping them with the skills and confidence they need to thrive as they grow and transition to secondary school.

Thanks to support from The Community Foundation for Surrey, we designed and launched

High Five! – a new programme based on existing successful approaches to empowering children.

Overall, voluntary income grew by more than a third, and income from charitable activities by almost a quarter. Income exceeded £2.5m for the first time, helping us to strengthen the charity and provide greater support for children, young people and families.

We are indebted to all those who helped us continue to succeed. We look forward to continuing to work together with you in the coming year, so that every child in Surrey is supported to thrive.

Chris Hickford, CEO and Nigel Goddard, Chair

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Mission and Strategy

Our mission

To support children and young people in Surrey to have the wellbeing and resilience they need to stay safe and to thrive. To make this happen we Empower children and young people We use the word empower to describe how we encourage and onl tk support children and young people to understand and adopt tools and techniques to thrive early on. This is at the heart of our mission. By preparing them for the future, we help build their confidence in their own abilities and readiness to embrace opportunities. Acting early, either before challenges emerge or as soon as they appear, we aim to prevent problems from developing or growing and becoming more serious.

Enable adults

Children and young people need support from the adults in their lives to reach their full potential. If we can provide adults with the knowledge and skills to support their child, or the children they work with, they’ll feel fully prepared to help if the need arises. This can stop issues from escalating and reduce demand on essential services and charities such as Eikon.

Commit to be there

Where early help hasn’t been enough or an issue is more deeply embedded, we provide support in a way that is right for that child or young person and their family. Sometimes that will be a one-toone session. Sometimes that will be through group work. But however it’s delivered, we provide a judgement-free safe space and work with young people to find their own solutions.

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We work to

Inspire systemic change

Helping children thrive and preventing harm

We are committed to understanding and tackling the causes of declining mental health and wellbeing in children and young people with the aim of reducing the amount of crisis support they require.

Improving support for children and young people

Through collaboration with our partners, we are dedicated to transforming the support systems for children and young people to be more responsive, relational and attuned to their needs, creating lasting and positive change in their lives and communities.

Our strategy

Everything we do aligns to our strategy. It sets out how we will achieve our mission to help children, young people and families over the next three years and beyond.

Our annual plans and budgets all support the strategy. It drives all the significant decisions we make.

The Activities and Performance section in this report highlights how we met our commitments to the children and young people we worked with during 2023-24, guided by our strategy.

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Our year at a glance 19,180 We were there for children and young people were 1,988 2,256 empowered adults were children and enabled young people @ We asked children and young people directly what they thought. Here’s what they said … 96% 97%[Agreed that ] Agreed that ‘Eikon gave me the ‘The support Eikon support I needed gave me improved at the right time’. my situation’. = 99% 94% Agreed that Agreed that ‘I would recommend ‘I know which support knoat Eikon to a friend networks are who needed available to support OR support’. me in the future’.

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Activities and performance

Safeguarding

Keeping children and young people safe is our top priority. Ensuring the protection and wellbeing of every young person we support is fundamental to our work.

Safeguarding isn't just a policy; it's deeply ingrained in our culture and something we all take responsibility for. Our commitment is reinforced through detailed safeguarding procedures that are regularly updated and shared, extensive staff training and annual 'SafeWeek' audits, during which we thoroughly evaluate our practices against expectations, using the results to inform future planning and training.

As we grow as an organisation, we support children, young people and families who are facing increasingly complex situations. To address this, we provide our staff with additional training (such as suicide prevention training and training about

trauma) to make sure we are always prepared to support young people effectively.

Our commitment to keeping children and young people safe is absolute. Our safeguarding team continually works to stay ahead of the curve, monitoring the latest safeguarding legislation and trends within the UK. We proactively align ourselves with current standards and our community’s needs.

Our Safelink group includes representatives from teams across Eikon, and we meet regularly to discuss safeguarding themes and issues. For example, during the 2023-24 financial year, the Safelink group discussed the rise in peer-on-peer sexual harm and the need to provide additional training to staff on that.

By working together to uphold our high standards and continuously refining our safeguarding practices, we hope to make a meaningful difference to the lives of those we support.

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Empowering children and young people to find the inner and outer resources to stay well

Through our evidence-based programmes and resources, our aim is to empower children and young people, providing safe spaces for them and helping them become more resilient and stay well.

Our Deputy has said the children are really enjoying the positive statements that you gave out in the assembly. They keep them in their pencil cases and are using them throughout the day.

– TEACHER

Outcome-focused programmes

Over the past year, we empowered the young people we worked with by supporting them in setting their own goals based on what they hoped to achieve through our collaboration, ensuring that our work together was meaningful for them.

Over 2023-24, 96% of young people who used our services made progress towards the goals they set for themselves.

(CeONUY

Of this group, 72% experienced a meaningful improvement as a result of their time with us.

Meaningful improvement

The Child Outcomes Research Consortium (CORC) promotes evidence-based support for children's wellbeing. CORC defines 'meaningful improvement' as a positive change of three or more points on a 10-point scale measuring a young person's progress from the beginning to the end of their support period.

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Activities and performance

We empower children and young people by Providing safe spaces

School-based wellbeing

If I couldn’t come to lunchtime club I wouldn't know where to go and would be so anxious. I probably wouldn't want to come to school if I couldn't come to the clubs.

– YOUNG PERSON

Our Youth Support Practitioners and Early Intervention Co-ordinators worked with young people in secondary schools over the past year, creating safe spaces for discussions about anxiety, identity, exam stress, friendships, confidence and other concerns.

Garden club

During 2023-24, we held regular garden clubs in the Hopes & Dreams Garden on the grounds of Fullbrook School. Led by adult garden volunteers and our youth support practitioners, these clubs invited students to learn gardening skills, make friends and experience a huge sense of achievement when their hard work resulted in flowers or vegetables they could enjoy.

We added irrigation to the garden to help the plants develop more quickly, allowing young people to see the fruits of their labour, and the peaceful reflection zone has received a makeover.

I chose to go to the garden club because it’s very calming.

– YOUNG PERSON

Our staff ran lunchtime clubs, providing a refuge for children who don’t enjoy school social spaces or would otherwise be alone. They also offered after-school clubs.

At Kings College in Guildford, we facilitated after-school drama sessions for young carers, in collaboration with the Guildford Shakespeare Company, along with a regular drop-in club. These sessions provided these incredible young people with a break from their responsibilities and an opportunity to share their experiences with peers in similar situations.

Children and young people from Fullbrook visited the Hopes & Dreams Garden as part of the regular garden club 596 times in 2023-24.

The garden is also used for one-to-one sessions with children and young people. We are improving our processes for capturing data to understand the impact the garden has on them and other users.

Children and young people attended a lunch club 5,726 times across schools in Surrey.

The difference it makes

I know my child really valued the sense of security it gave her to know she could come to Eikon at lunchtime, and she got a lot out of the one-to-one and group sessions Kate organised.

– PARENT

Young people often say that without the lunch club, they would sit in the toilets alone as they are not confident to speak to others.

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I enjoyed feeling equal during the training.

- WELLBEING AMBASSADOR

Wellbeing Ambassadors

We empower children and young people by

Bolstering their resilience

Smart Moves®

This is such a valuable resource for our year 6 children, and I am so grateful that you continue to offer this transition support at no cost. It makes a massive difference in the children's preparedness to move on.

– HOME/SCHOOL PARTNER

Our Smart Moves® programme is delivered by teachers to pupils in years 6 and 7 to help them prepare for their transition to secondary school. Mindworks Surrey, the Emotional Wellbeing and Mental Health Service, funds it for Surrey schools.

We launched Smart Moves® for Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) in 2023-24. Working with Surrey’s Access to Education service, we further identified children who would benefit most from the resource, including those not attending school. The book can be used during any transition, from joining an education setting to planning a long-term hospital admission.

We also published Smart Moves® Surrey Police, which supports Youth Engagement Officers in building relationships with young people. The adaptable programme allows officers to be creative in their approach while working from an evidence-based resource when building a young person's resilience.

The resources were used by 16,084 young people across Surrey and beyond at 174 schools during the year. This includes 2,100 SEND booklets.

I liked learning about wellbeing, so I really do know how to help and what to do.

– YOUNG PERSON

Wellbeing Ambassadors, part of Mindworks Surrey, amplifies children’s voices, providing them with the tools and a platform to promote wellbeing across their school.

After completing their training, ambassadors shared what they learned with their peers and introduced activities that helped everyone feel good. Ambassadors this year have created gratitude display boards, shared the Five Ways to Wellbeing with classmates, and introduced a ‘daily mile’ to boost fitness. The initiative empowers the ambassadors themselves and benefits the wellbeing of everyone in the school.

During 2023-24 we trained 592 Wellbeing Ambassadors at 29 schools.

We empower children and young people by

Working with primary schools

Surrey schools tell us they are seeing an increase in children and young people of primary age suffering from poor emotional wellbeing and mental health, reflecting the national trend. Our secondary school partners report that many of their young people’s challenges began during primary school. All of this supports our own findings that more needs to be done to support children aged 10 and under.

We are therefore delighted to have received funding from the Community Foundation for Surrey to deliver a wide-reaching programme for primary school children. Planning and a pilot began in the 2023-24 financial year. Giving children the support they need from an early age can make a significant difference to their life path as they enter secondary school with more confidence and resilience.

Our new High Five! programme focuses on primary-age children to prevent their challenges from escalating and becoming deeply rooted.

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Activities and performance

Working with teachers, parents and children to build the programme, we have started to deliver the following:

This programme began in January 2024 and will run over five years. In the first year, it will focus on primary schools in Runnymede and Elmbridge.

Tom's Story

Jacqui, a Wellbeing Support Practitioner, met Tom through the Safer Streets project. She says:

“From the outset, it was clear that Tom possessed natural leadership qualities. However, his behaviour was disruptive, and he struggled to channel his influence constructively.

“Following eight weeks in group sessions, Tom joined a group that went to High Ashurst, an outdoor activity centre. Through the activities that the group did, we saw him begin to channel his leadership and teamwork in a positive way. Tom began demonstrating improved teamwork skills and a growing awareness of how his actions influenced others. He started to encourage and support his peers rather than dominate or disrupt.

We piloted the programme with 38 children between January and March 2024, providing 112 moments of support.

We empower children and young people by Helping them stay safe

In October 2023, we launched our Safer Streets project, created in partnership with Runnymede Borough Council and funded through the Government’s Safer Streets initiative.

The project aims to keep young people in Addlestone safe and help them make positive choices. Safer Streets provides young people with the tools to overcome anxiety, manage anger and form healthy friendships and relationships.

We ran two trips as part of the programme, including a visit to High Ashurst Outdoor Education Centre where a group completed activities at height, demonstrating teamwork skills and resilience.

We worked with 81 young people through the Safer Streets project with 484 moments of support.

We attended events across the year in the Runnymede area that gave young people 400 additional moments of support.

The activities were fun and helped me to develop a positive mindset.

“These positive changes in Tom's behaviour have led to new opportunities to further develop his leadership skills. Looking forward, Tom was invited to volunteer his time with Eikon to help run a sports group during the school holidays, where he would lead a younger group of children.”

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Activities and performance

Enabling adults

(families, schools, and communities) to provide networks of support and care around children and young people.

When we provide schools, parents and carers with the tools and knowledge to support their young people, everyone benefits. Young people feel heard, teachers are better equipped to support their classes on wellbeing and mental health, and parents feel more confident.

We provide teachers with resources and work with senior leaders to ensure that schools are supportive of wellbeing and mental health issues.

It was really good to get an opportunity to talk with yourself and other people about the whole school approach… I look forward to the next meeting as it was great to hear your expertise.

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– SCHOOL PARTNER
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We also hold sessions for parents where they can share their concerns and find out how to support their child at home.

We enable adults by

Supporting teachers

Smart Schools

Thank you so much! The resources [provided] are so helpful. – TEACHER

We support schools in creating and maintaining a culture of positive mental health and wellbeing across eight key areas outlined by Public Health England.

Over the past year, we collaborated with senior leaders from 15 schools as part of our Smart Schools programme. We carried out a comprehensive audit and worked together to set a 'whole school approach' goal. We created tailored sessions to build action plans, assess risks and measure progress towards these goals. This was achieved through meetings, training sessions and reflective supervision.

By working with these schools, we fostered environments that are supportive and understanding of mental health and wellbeing issues. This approach enabled children, young people, staff and parents to feel supported and to thrive.

We worked with 15 schools through the Smart Schools programme.

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The information in this infographic has been used with kind permission of Public Health England.
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Smart Moves® Teacher Guide

Smart Moves® is a programme that helps children transition from primary to secondary school. We supplied teachers with guides to facilitate lessons related to the programme. These guides equipped teachers with everything they needed to plan and deliver a series of short, evidence-based sessions, ensuring that young people developed the resilience and confidence necessary for stepping up to secondary school.

We enable adults by

Supporting parents

One-to-ones and group sessions

Over the past year, we equipped parents to handle the challenges of childhood and the transition into adolescence, making them better prepared to address issues as they arise.

Our Early Intervention Co-ordinators ran primary school coffee mornings, which allowed parents to share their concerns and enabled us to connect families with our other services.

Through programmes like High Hopes!, we included elements specifically for parents, such as taking on physical challenges with their children and creating powerful bonding experiences.

[The Eikon Counsellor’s] personal input into our situation, the determination and persistence she has shown and the reassurance she has provided to me as a mother during the most traumatic and stressful time of my life cannot be adequately conveyed in words. I can, however, assure you she completely outshines every single professional I have had contact with in the last 24 days in so many ways. – PARENT

We worked with the parents of neurodivergent young people before engaging with the young people themselves. The parents shared valuable insights, helping us align home environments with our work.

Our LGBTQ+-focused practitioners offered oneto-one sessions for parents, enhancing their understanding of their child’s experiences. This support significantly boosted young people's confidence in embracing their identities.

Parent webinars

During the pandemic, we found webinars to be an effective way to support parents. Although we scaled them back during the 2023-24 financial year, we continue to monitor their popularity and hope to run more to support a large number of adults at a time.

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Activities and performance

Sadie's Story

Sadie was referred to us by Mindworks alongside her brother, having experienced extreme anxiety and mental health issues for many years. She was the oldest person to attend the High Hopes! weekend at 16 but was very keen to go.

On the residential, she threw herself into the activities including the anxiety-provoking high ropes course. The younger kids looked up to her and her confidence skyrocketed. It also helped her to see that even younger children can feel anxiety and she shared her own anxiety to validate their feelings.

Before attending High Hopes!, she didn’t know how her mum was feeling, but the residential setting helped them realise that they shared similar feelings. She connected well with her brother, too, and since returning, they have been better at listening and being there for each other.

Sadie's mum – Rebecca's Story

The High Hopes! residential has also been a game changer for Sadie’s mum, Rebecca. After initially being unsure whether she would come due to her low confidence, Rebecca found being surrounded by other parents in the same situation reassuring.

In the parenting programme, Rebecca learned new strategies, shared stories and reflected on parenting styles. The group discussed how making little changes at home can lead to bigger changes.

Rebecca said she took so much away from the weekend, from the new tools she gained to a new network of parents who could support one another. She also enjoyed the quality time with her children.

Reflecting on the High Hopes! residential, she says, “It helped me realise that I am not alone. People feel the same or similar ways that I do, and there are people out there who understand me. I feel like a different person since the residential.”

She’s now taking part in dancing competitions, something she’d never dreamed of doing before, and she hopes to go to Equestrian College after her GCSEs.

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Support
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Committing to be there

for children and young people when they need help

We are passionate about empowering and equipping children and young people to learn healthy ways to respond to the challenges life presents. But we recognise that growing up in today’s world can be incredibly challenging and that we all need help from time to time.

It has helped me to build my confidence up. I know I am not alone, and that other people feel similar to me.

– YOUNG PERSON

We are committed to being there for children and young people whenever they need advice, support or just a listening ear. We help them find the confidence and skills they need to stay safe and thrive.

Children and young people who need support come to Eikon via their schools, their families and through the Mindworks Surrey service. As part of the Youth Support Programme that we run at Fullbrook and Kings College, Guildford, young people can also drop in to see their Eikon Youth Support Practitioner.

At the heart of Mindworks Surrey

Since 2021, we’ve delivered some of our services as part of Mindworks Surrey, the Emotional Wellbeing and Mental Health service for children and young people in Surrey.

This includes our work in the Access and Advice Mindworks Surrey Team, where we have a Discovery Team embedded to provide signposting. They may also recommend oneto-one support or group work sessions with our practitioners or partners if that is the best course of action.

The Discovery Team signposted 2,758[1] young people to services, including those delivered by Eikon.

1 613 of these young people were supported by Eikon’s Mindworks funded services

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Activities and performance

We commit to be there through

One-to-ones

Community support

One-to-ones are a core part of our service, providing children and young people with a safe space to share. We have three teams providing one-to-one support in the community.

Over the past year, our Community Wellbeing Practitioners and Emotional Wellbeing

I love our chats. I always feel better afterwards.

– YOUNG PERSON

Practitioners have provided support for children, young people and their families facing challenges around mental health and emotional wellbeing. They have worked closely with the child and their family to achieve the best outcomes for them through one-to-ones and group activities. Community Wellbeing Practitioners have also partnered with other agencies to ensure that all of the family’s needs are met.

Our Counsellors work one-on-one and in groups, making decisions with the child to ensure they get the help they need in a timely manner.

It feels like talking to a friend, you’re very welcoming.

– YOUNG PERSON

The difference it makes

“One of the young people I work with presented lots of OCD tendencies such as repeatedly 'checking' things. She was refusing to go to school or engage in certain lessons.

“We explored why she was ‘checking’ so much, and the young person worked out that it was her seeking reassurance due to anxiety. We worked on strategies to overcome the anxiety by restructuring her thoughts and gradually exposing her to situations that she was avoiding.

“When our sessions finished, she barely did any 'checking' behaviours and was more engaged with lessons.”

– GEORGIE, EMOTIONAL WELLBEING PRACTITIONER

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One-to-ones in schools

We also have three teams of professionals supporting young people through one-to-ones in a school setting.

Early Intervention Co-ordinators worked in secondary schools across Surrey, collaborating with partners to identify schools requiring support.

Our Youth Support Practitioners are embedded within secondary schools across Surrey and work independently. They provided one-to-one support and a safe space for children during their school day.

When I was in year 7, I felt I had nothing in my life I could control without manipulating others or raising my voice. Then speaking to Eikon in a one-to-one capacity made me realise who I am and who I can be. It made me a lot calmer and a lot more mature.

– YOUNG PERSON

Volunteer Mentors met with young people in schools for face-to-face sessions. They provided advice and support that helped build on the young person’s strengths as early as possible to prevent issues from escalating.

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Activities and performance

I have volunteered with young people since 2010 and am now a Volunteer Mentor for Eikon at Kings College, Guildford.

Volunteer Mike’s story

“What motivates me to volunteer is a combination of seeing the need for one-to-one support and the great feeling you get from making a difference. Kings College is on the edge of an area of deprivation in a wealthy county. Young people are trapped in a cycle of tough lives and low aspirations, none of which is their fault. Giving these young people hope of a better life, a belief they can achieve it and the tools to make it happen is immensely rewarding. You can see them grow in front of you in just a few weeks.

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When I leave these sessions, I just feel lighter and happier, like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders. Even if I am having a really bad day, like I was this morning, I just feel better after a session.

– YOUNG PERSON

“As an example, I was mentoring a young man with low self-confidence. He wanted to do a car maintenance course at college but didn't know whether this was available at his local college. I remember when I suggested calling them his face went white at the idea of speaking to someone he didn't know over the phone. So we worked on it. I had him script the questions he wanted to ask. We found two people he liked and trusted (one male and one female) and I had him visualise that person on the other end of the phone. We rehearsed the call. He did really well and got all the information he needed, but more important was the look of pride on his face afterwards, when he realised that he had managed it. He will now be able to handle this sort of challenge by himself in future. I went home on a high too!

“To anyone thinking of volunteering I’d say, ‘do it’. It may seem scary, but you get all the training and support you need to be successful. You will be surprised at what a difference you can make. Then prepare to feel great!”

Being able to volunteer in such a hands-on role gives me the opportunity to make a real difference to young people in need of support, and that's really rewarding. If we can help the next generation become happier and healthier, then we're all winners.

– STEPHANIE, VOLUNTEER MENTOR

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The difference it makes

“I supported a young person who was extremely unhappy at school because she felt she didn't have a secure group of friends. Things had got so bad that her mum was seriously considering pulling her out of school and home schooling.

We supported 1,329 children and young people through one-to-ones.

“Over the sessions, we worked on what qualities are important to her in her friends and how she can model those qualities herself. Over time, she built up the confidence to approach a new friendship group and is now thriving with her new friends, is much happier at school and is very glad she didn't leave.”

– HELEN, EARLY INTERVENTION CO-ORDINATOR

We commit to be there through

Group work

In addition to the preventative group work highlighted on page 13, we also commit to be there through specific group programmes that we run with children and young people.

High Hopes!

Our High Hopes! programme, delivered in conjunction with Surrey Outdoor Learning and Development, boosts the confidence of children and young people aged 10 to 16 through outdoor activities and one-to-one support.

Its physical focus has made it particularly successful with young people who haven’t engaged with other forms of support. Parents are invited to join for the final activity, giving the young people an opportunity to show them how their confidence has grown.

This program helped me in every way I can be helped, and I now know it is okay to feel stressed because I am only human. I am super proud of myself.

– YOUNG PERSON

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Activities and performance

High Hopes! residential

Based on the success of the High Hopes! programme, in 2023-24 we ran our first High Hopes! residential weekend with six families.

The residential brought the families together for an intensive and transformative weekend where young people and their parents gained essential resilience skills.

Our first residential in October 2023 received 100% positive feedback.

Children and young people attending the High Hopes! residential experienced an average improvement of seven points on a 10-point goals-based outcomes scale, all exceeding the CORC's benchmark for meaningful improvement (three or more points).

Amazing, wonderful, life changing, I felt so supported here.

– YOUNG PERSON WHO ATTENDED HIGH HOPES! RESIDENTIAL

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I felt quite shy at first but once I got to know the others it was good. – YOUNG PERSON We commit to be there for Neurodivergent people and their families Our team of (Neurodevelopmental Specialism) . Heads Up! Delivered in schools to groups of up to 15 young people, Heads Up! helps them understand their programmes. minds and bodies better over the course of eight weeks using interactive learning, such as challenging your thoughts and building selfesteem.

Neurodivergent children and young people and their families

Our team of Emotional Wellbeing Practitioners (Neurodevelopmental Specialism) helps neurodivergent children and young people whether they have a formal diagnosis or not. This includes support for their parents or carers and education professionals. The team continues to grow with the demand for this specialised help and now offers a range of one-to-one and group programmes.

Over the past year, our Finding Balance programme supported parents of children aged 12 and under who were experiencing extreme stress responses. The programme included online sessions exploring stress triggers and communication, followed by one-to-one conversations to help parents apply their learnings to their own situations. We offered parents of older children 10 to 12 individual sessions instead of group sessions. In total, we ran 14 Finding Balance programmes, supporting 126 families.

We’re pleased that Heads Up! has grown this year. We were invited to run sessions in new schools, which approached us directly based on recommendations from other schools.

The difference it makes

Group work is amazing because across the schools we go into a safe space is created where peer support is built. This is vital in helping children and young people to increase their confidence and reduce their worries.

After working with the parents to ensure a firm foundation at home, we provided the young people with six to eight sessions to understand their neurodivergence and develop their social skills or emotional literacy. We offered 88 families bespoke parenting sessions, with each family receiving between eight and 10 sessions, totalling a minimum of 704 sessions across the year. Additionally, 42 young people received individual support throughout the year.

– ANNA, EIKON COMMUNITIES TEAM

210 children and young people attended Heads Up! group sessions, delivering 1,200 moments of support.

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Activities and performance

To help neurodivergent children practice their social skills in a safe environment, we ran termly Making Links sessions. Groups of eightto 11-year-olds gathered to meet new peers with similar needs. The child-led, often sensory activities ranged from baking to slime making. While many children were initially nervous, they began to enjoy participating in the activities and making new friends after one or two sessions. A total of 38 families accessed the Making Links groups.

We worked with 294 children and young people and their families through our neurodivergence support programmes.

We commit to be there for

LGBTQ+ children and young people

Young people who identify as LGBTQ+ often need additional support as they explore their sexuality and gender, as well as changing relationships with family, friends and partners. They can sometimes face isolation, bullying and rejection, which can have a significant impact on their mental health.

In 2023-24, Eikon provided young people with spaces to voice their experiences, empowering them and giving them opportunities to meet peers facing similar challenges.

We invested in new activities while continuing our longstanding programmes. Our popular IAmMe youth groups brought together LGBTQ+ young people to make friends and have fun in a safe environment. These groups also provided opportunities to ask questions, learn about LGBTQ+ culture and explore different gender identities within a welcoming, friendly community.

We offered young people up to 10 one-to-one emotional wellbeing sessions with our LGBTQ+ Practitioners . These sessions provided a confidential and supportive environment for discussing their emotions and experiences.

Defining Neurodiversity: Key Concepts

In addition to helping young people, we supported families and schools to encourage inclusivity and acceptance. Parents and carers accessed one-toone support sessions, and schools and colleges requested visits and LGBTQ+ assemblies.

LGBTQ+ History Month

February is LGBTQ+ History Month. We visited schools, attended events and ran assemblies about historical figures who had fought for equality and inclusion. This led to some important discussions about LGBTQ+ history and its impact on young people today.

We also attended Pride in Surrey’s LGBTQ+ Expo to raise awareness of our online groups.

We worked with 49 children and young people and delivered 160 moments of support through our LGBTQ+ support programme.

We attended events across the year in Surrey that helped empower 830 young people.

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Equality, diversity and inclusion

During 2023-24, equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) continued to be an important part of our daily agenda. All managers had further EDI training. Some of the topics covered were understanding definitions of EDI and how we can promote it in the workplace, being more selfaware, taking care not to allow stereotypes and prejudice to cloud our judgement and helping employees learn how to operate appropriately amongst an equal and diverse workforce.

We also invited a National Centre for Diversity facilitator to conduct conscious inclusion training for all employees. This was recorded for anyone unable to attend and Conscious Inclusion eLearning is now part of induction training.

We have built on our neurodiverse and LGBTQ+ service offers to children, young people and their families. We have employed additional Emotional Wellbeing Practitioners with neurodevelopmental specialism and an LGBTQ+ Practitioner. We plan to expand our work with neurodivergent children with a new school-based Neurodevelopmental Practitioner and plan to hire another LGBTQ+ specialist.

We were delighted to achieve this award but acknowledge that the journey is ongoing. We are continuously learning and developing our understanding and awareness. For 2024-25 we want to further develop and integrate EDI into all areas of the organisation. We are keen to consider our use of language further and learn from others, but we recognise that these developments can’t happen overnight and are complex. Our EDI steering group continues to operate and we plan to strengthen this group and formalise connections with the whole of the Senior Leadership Team.

Building on our EDI work, in October 2023 we achieved a Silver Investors in Diversity Award. The criteria for receiving this award was:

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Our People

Our staff and volunteers

We are so proud of the work that Eikon’s staff and volunteers do to help young people. We have a talented team of individuals who bring a multitude of skills and experience to the work they do and are united by their purpose of helping young people.

To support our people, we continue to run equality, diversity and inclusion, events, wellbeing, Safelink employee and volunteer groups. We also run a quarterly drop-in menopause café. We have appointed a volunteer mentor manager to oversee our volunteer mentoring programme in schools.

We undertook a workforce survey and were delighted with the results. We were particularly proud of our line management relationships, which scored very positively. As with all surveys, we were able to highlight areas for improvement. Staff suggested improvements we could make to the facilities we use for sessions with children and young people and the office space used by our staff and volunteers. This was something we were aware of and a review of our needs and options is already underway.

We continue to work on how to come together more frequently face-to-face for work and social events. In 2024-25, we plan to bring our volunteers together to celebrate their contribution to Eikon. We are also planning an organisational away day.

Improving internal communications was a priority for 2023-24. To address this, we continued to build on the success of our full team meetings, sharing anecdotes from service users and feedback from parents and carers. We also use this opportunity to invite employees to talk about how they are feeling in their work. Sharing our experiences helps us understand how we move forward together as an organisation.

It’s really difficult to express in words the appreciation I have for all of the . hard work and time our volunteers give to us. Their amazing dedication allows many young people in Surrey to obtain the support they really need. The Eikon Charity could not do all that it does without the support of our volunteers.

– JO DIXON, VOLUNTEER MENTOR MANAGER

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Leadership and development

An internal management learning programme was developed and delivered to improve managers’ knowledge of employment law, ways of working and good practice. The learning programme also covered equality, diversity and inclusion, performance management and effective communication.

Following positive feedback, we are reviewing what went well and how we can build on this. We’re also considering how to ensure new managers have similar learning opportunities.

The Senior Leadership Team focused on improving collaboration by deepening our understanding of ourselves and each other. We challenged ourselves to consider not just what we were doing but how we were doing it together. This effort has significantly enhanced our ways of working, allowing us to operate more effectively as a team.

In 2024-25, we will examine further training for the organisation to ensure that everyone has the same opportunities and can develop. Looking forward, our ambition is to have mandatory role and career development training.

Employee pay and benefits

Eikon continues to use a well-respected job evaluation and benchmarking tool to set salary ranges across the organisation. In the first instance, jobs are evaluated and ranked. Then benchmark data for comparable charity sector organisations is used to set the salary ranges. Senior salaries are set using the same job evaluation and benchmarking process, which has been approved by the Board.

We want to attract, develop and retain the best people and recognise that our remuneration policy must be competitive to ensure we have the best chance of doing this, particularly during the cost of living crisis.

Building on the evaluation and benchmarking work done in 2021-22, we offered a uniform cost of living pay increase in April 2023 to help ensure we continue to support and retain our teams. We will continue to look at pay and reward this year.

We continue to promote our Employee Assistance Programme, which offers a range of support for our team members, including access to a 24/7 helpline for staff, volunteers and their families. Practitioners and managers who work directly with children and young people also receive clinical supervision. Due to the complexity of the needs of the children we work with, this is an important aspect of supporting staff wellbeing.

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Fundraising highlights

Our donors and fundraisers are essential to ensuring children and young people get the support they need, when and how they need it.

Examples of how a gift or grant can support children and young people:

£70 An hour of counselling with a specialist practioner in a safe place. This could be the first time a young person finds the courage to open up, for example about self-harming.

£83 A lunch club for a group of children in school. This could be the first time a young person feels they can relax and have fun with their peers. £256[ One day of a Youth Support Practitioner's time to provide personalised support and safe ] spaces for students to get the help they need to thrive.

Trusts and foundations

I really enjoyed the day, and the atmosphere was amazing. I was very proud to run and raise money for such an amazing charity.

– LONDON MARATHON RUNNER FOR EIKON

----- Start of picture text -----
High
Five!
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Grant income is our biggest single source of voluntary income and is an excellent, stable source of both unrestricted and restricted funding. We are fortunate to have the support of national, regional and local grant makers, some who give year on year.

We were proud to secure two significant fiveyear commitments in support of our long-term strategy. Through the Mental Health Scale Up Fund, the Community Foundation for Surrey is supporting the scale up of our work in primary schools in Surrey. This is in response to a significant unmet need for early support to be delivered in schools for children 10 years of age and under. We will help them build resilience and learn strategies that will help them respond in healthy ways to the challenges they will inevitably face. The High Five! programme (see page 13) will prevent problems developing as children grow and reduce the need for more focused help in secondary-aged young people.

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The National Lottery Community Fund has generously awarded Eikon a grant to provide safe, affirming and inclusive spaces for LGBTQ+ young people across Surrey. The grant will also support parents, carers and allies of LGBTQ+ young people in understanding the young LGBTQ+ person in their lives better and learn skills to support them. Through the charity’s whole team

Community

Actively engaging in the community through networks, events and partnerships ensures our services are known locally, and is an important source of donations for the charity. We are grateful to our local schools, sports clubs, churches and community groups for their support.

We were proud to be nominated as Captains’ Charity for two prestigious golf clubs this year, which has proven extremely beneficial to Eikon. Over the past year, the Captains of West Surrey Golf Club and Woking Golf Club raised record amounts for their chosen charities through various fundraising initiatives. These included charity golf days, quiz nights, raffles, silent auctions and charity bridge nights. The Lady Captain of Woking Golf Club, Jane Moore, even ran the London Landmarks Half Marathon with her son Daniel. By the end of the year, the Men’s Captain of West Surrey Golf Club, Alan Wilkinson, had raised a fantastic £19,258 for Eikon, while the Men’s and Lady Captains of Woking Golf Club had raised a total of £35,000, the highest amount ever raised by a Captains’ Charity appeal in the club’s long history.

Corporate partnerships

The value of our partnerships with local and national companies goes beyond the funds raised, as demonstrated through two of our most important corporate relationships this year.

Eight Waitrose branches across Surrey came together last year to support The Eikon Charity

of staff, trustees and other volunteers, we will enable improved representation and support for LGBTQ+ young people across all of our projects and services to help us build an even more inclusive organisation.

Grant makers who gave us multiyear commitments for other projects included William Wates Memorial Trust, Walton Charity and St. James's Place Charitable Foundation. These grants make long-term planning possible, create financial stability and mean our work can have a greater, more long-lasting impact.

and collectively raised £4,633. The partnership included community grants, sponsorship of a local event, staff participating in our Santa Run at Christmas and donation of goods including refreshments, plants, raffle prizes and John Lewis toys for our therapy rooms. They also helped raise awareness of our work through social media promotion.

Bigmore Associates, a specialist financial services company in Walton-on-Thames, has supported Eikon for the past two years. This year's support included volunteering their time to offer free advice to our staff, offering special discounted rates on their services, sourcing prizes for auctions, attending events, supporting employees taking part in the London Marathon and donating annually to our appeals.

Dave Sykes, Director at Bigmore Associates, said, “With many of our staff having young families, the work the charity does in our local community was close to our heart. As our partnership with Eikon developed, we saw the amazing support Eikon provides to young people in our community and we're proud of the relationship we've built.”

Volunteers play an important role at The Eikon Charity, and we are grateful to the corporate volunteers who share their time, skills and enthusiasm across the year. In June, volunteers from Bupa UK and local marketing agency Space & Time Media, spent a day volunteering in the Tea Garden. They helped with weeding, clearing and scrubbing, leaving our Tea Garden area looking spotless and ready for the gardening club to lay gravel and grow more plants.

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Fundraising highlights

Major relationships

We can only help as many young people as we do thanks to a committed community of VIP friends and long-term supporters who are fundamental to the charity. This group grows stronger each year, united by their commitment to ensuring local children are safe, heard and supported.

Many of our committed supporters provide unrestricted funding, directing critical resources where they are most urgently needed. Their invaluable contributions extend far beyond financial support. They actively support us by forging new introductions, donating their time through volunteering and participating in events that raise awareness of the charity's work.

This depth and breadth of involvement strengthens our ability to be there for children who need us as they grow up. One particular project that has been supported by major donors this year is the development of Eikon’s Hopes & Dreams Garden. Funding was given for a range of improvements to the garden, including heating which enables crops to ripen during the school term, meaning the young people who are part of the gardening club can see the fruits of their labour. Also, the water feature enhances the garden as a reflective, calm space for them all, and the maintenance element of the funding allows them to focus on growing plants and vegetables to aid their learning.

Over the past year, we have facilitated opportunities for Eikon’s dedicated advocates to connect, share insights and inspire one another. Together, Eikon's VIP supporters contribute greatly to our work of empowering the next generation with the help, skills and resources they need to thrive.

I am delighted to support Eikon with an unrestricted donation each year. I have been supporting its work with young people for a number of years now and have seen the positive impact of all its services through good leadership and high-quality delivery. – RICHARD HOLWAY MBE

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Running 5 km dressed as Santa was so much fun! And knowing every step was helping raise money for such a great cause made it all the more special. Can't wait to do it again next year! – DENBIES RUNNER 2023

Campaigns and events

London Marathon

In April 2023, six runners participated in the London Marathon on behalf of Eikon. This turnout was particularly impressive considering how close it was to the rescheduled 2022 marathon held in October due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As an important fundraising event for Eikon, we deeply appreciate the dedication of these runners. The total income raised for the marathon exceeded £7,000, with £3,952 recognised in this financial year. This generous contribution will play a significant role in supporting children.

donations during a specific period, has been significant. This understanding that their support goes twice as far has appealed to both individuals and organisations, leading to both fundraising appeals exceeding their target. The campaigns between them raised £30,000.

Denbies Santa Run

In December, we were thrilled to take part again in a 5K Santa Run at Denbies Wine Estate. Building on last year's success, 41 walkers and runners took part, all braving the cold and the sleet to raise over £6,000 to ensure young people thrive.

Fundraising campaigns

We successfully met our campaign targets in two matched funding campaigns run by The Big Give: Kind2Mind in May 2023 and The Big Give Christmas Challenge in December. The impact of matched funders, who double the value of

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Plans for the future

We take responsibility for our role in improving things for children and young people and holding ourselves accountable for their success. Those values, our core beliefs and what children, young people and families have been telling us moved us to review and renew our strategy during the course of 2023-24.

Our new strategy for the next three years builds on the previous one, affirming what the evidence shows is needed for us to achieve our mission. To help more local children to thrive, we will continue to:

Objectives

The new strategy sets out three objectives that will bring together and shape our work. Over the next three years we will:

1. Deliver, develop and grow our services, with a focus on extending our offer for primaryaged children.

2. Use our influence to collaborate with others to bring about lasting, strategic change and improvement in support for children, young people and families.

3. Further strengthen our charity to meet the challenges ahead and support long-term sustainability.

Our internal annual plan for 2024-25 sets out the work we will do to accomplish those objectives.

The new strategy also brings into sharper focus our commitment to create lasting change for children and young people:

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Key risks and uncertainties disclosures

We seek to identify, assess, manage and mitigate risks to ensure they are balanced against the needs of the organisation and our services. We have in place:

At the end of the year, the risk register comprised nine principal risks. It clearly identifies the associated consequences or potential impacts, risk ownership, controls or actions to reduce or mitigate risk, action owners, and risk impact and likelihood scores. These risks are kept up to date by the senior team, analysed in depth by trustees at semi-annual Governance and Risk Committee meetings, and discussed by trustees at quarterly Board meetings. This ensures control and mitigation plans are reassessed and updated as appropriate.

As at year end, the three top-ranked principal risks the charity faced were as below, with their associated risk scores reflecting the year-end assessment and controls and/or actions clearly identified to reduce the risk scores over time. The plans and strategies to manage these risks are set out in our annual plan for 2024-25.

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Key risks and uncertainty disclosures

----- Start of picture text -----
Risk Title Risk description Key controls/actions to reduce/
mitigate this risk
Service critical Death, serious injury and/or • [Critical Incident and Safeguarding Policies ]
incident critical incident involving a and Procedures in place and reviewed
young person who Eikon is annually, including communication support and
supporting/has supported/ infrastructure to enable confidence across the
is waiting to support. Senior Leadership Team to manage.
Serious complaint against • [Access to support services internally and ]
a member of the Eikon
externally including an Employee Assistance
delivery team or about our
Programme and clinical supervision in place.
delivery, with complaint
potentially making local or • [Operational management and oversight ]
national headlines. including referral types and complexity;
waiting list management; service procedures;
It is acknowledged that
case assessment and notes; practitioner and
these risks could happen
manager capability; risk management; escalation
regardless of how good
routes and whistleblowing policy; safeguarding
Eikon's delivery and support
training continuously refreshed; learning and
is for a young person.
development.
Contract Failure of contract • [Continued focus on robust service delivery plans ]
and system governance, contract and evaluation, demonstrating the outcomes
management management and/or achieved and reporting outputs delivered.
delivering children and
young people support • [Enhancing and connecting user voice data ]
services as defined in the across individual services to evidence impact.
annual plan. • [Active participation across the Surrey Wellbeing ]
Partnership and Mindworks Alliance.
Finance/ Financial stability risk. Finance:
fundraising
Fundraising opportunities • [Monthly management accounts monitoring and ]
are limited and/or do not
reporting to trustees.
deliver budget aspirations.
• [Robust quarterly forecasting process to ensure ]
The simultaneous impact
no significant deviation from budget/plan without
of financial and voluntary
specific justification.
income generation
risks such that charity Fundraising:
reserves deplete beyond
an acceptable level, which • [Voluntary income strategy and plan developed, ]
in turn may require cost managed and monitored to meet the voluntary
cutting. income requirements to support the overall
Eikon strategy and plan.
• [Project specific funding to support service ]
delivery growth and development plans.
----- End of picture text -----

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Governance,

structure and management

Legal and administrative information

Trustees and directors

Current serving trustees

Company number

5402398

Registered name

The Eikon Charity Commonly known as Eikon

Registered address and operational office

Selsdon Road, New Haw, Addlestone, Surrey KT15 3HP

Website

www.eikon.org.uk

Other trustees who served during the year

Auditors

Brewers Chartered Accountants, Bourne House, Queen Street, Gomshall, Surrey GU5 9LY

Bankers

CAF Bank Ltd, 25 Kings Hill Avenue, Kings Hill, West Malling, Kent ME19 4JQ

Chief Executive Officer

Barclays Bank plc, Town Gate House, Church Street East, Woking, Surrey GU21 1AE

Chris Hickford MBE

Solicitors

Charity number

Blandy & Blandy LLP, 1 Friar Street, Reading, Berkshire RG1 1DA

1109190

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Governance, structure and management

Trustees

We are committed to understanding and adopting best practices in the governance and management of the charity, but we are not complacent and continually seek to improve. To this effect, during the 2023-24 financial year, we revisited and updated our compliance with the Charity Commission Governance Code and our associated Action Plan to address the minor gaps identified. In accordance with the Code, we secured the service of a pro bono consultant from the Cranfield Trust to undertake an independent, external evaluation of the effectiveness and efficiency of our Board and governance processes. A feedback report was presented at the charity’s November 2023 Board meeting and the suggestions arising, where appropriate, were integrated into our Governance Code Action Plan.

The Board of Trustees is responsible for the strategic direction, governance and performance of the charity. It approves the strategy, the annual business plan and budget, and monitors performance of our main service delivery activities and our monthly management accounts. The Board meets four times a year and has an annual away day to review strategy and plans together with the Chief Executive Officer and other members of the Senior Leadership Team. We have a dedicated Finance Trustee, a Risk Champion and trustees with oversight for safeguarding and health and safety. The Board develops its understanding of the needs of our beneficiaries by inviting young people or their representatives and/or Youth Work Practitioners to address it at each meeting.

The Board has three committees supporting its work:

A trustee chairs each committee, with members including other trustees and staff. Nominated trustees have oversight of the charity’s core policies and procedures and participate in ad hoc advisory or steering groups to provide advice, input and support in the development of key subjects. During the year, these included strategy, marketing, contract management and equality, diversity and inclusion.

In view of the increasing demand for and delivery of services, we developed draft terms of reference for a fourth committee to cover our operations. This committee will oversee the development and implementation of our organisational strategy, ensure the quality and innovation of our services, review our safeguarding practices, and monitor the performance and impact of our non-financial services. We plan to formally establish this committee in the 2024-25 financial year.

Key discussions at Board meetings during 202324 focused on the charity’s delivery of essential youth services and the associated outputs and outcomes framework, and the safeguarding of children and young people. There was also focus on evolving the charity’s organisational strategy, monitoring progress against the approved annual business plan and budget, the charity’s financial position, fundraising performance and strategy, charity governance, risk management and the Annual Report and Accounts.

In accordance with the Charity Commission Governance Code recommended practice, trustee terms are subject to re-appointment every three years for up to three terms, following which their further re-appointment can only be for exceptional circumstances. These are subject to a rigorous review balancing the need for progressive refreshing of the Board with existing experience and are fully explained in the related Annual Report and Accounts.

Each new trustee receives a comprehensive induction programme, including a Trustee Handbook, and is invited to attend relevant training sessions, including safeguarding and data protection. Trustees are also required to sign annual declarations of their personal interests and of their eligibility to continue as a trustee.

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Trustee biographies Julie Gillis

Following a long career in the public sector, where she delivered major government change programmes, Julie brings a wealth of experience at board level, in operations and in financial compliance. She is passionate about improving social mobility and children’s mental health and shares a strong sense of purpose and values with Eikon’s CEO and leadership team. Julie is a committed mentor with a focus on equality and diversity, and has more recently been working in secondary schools supporting children and young people with special educational needs.

Current serving trustees

Nigel Goddard, Chair

After retiring from a 35-year international career with BP, Nigel wanted to give something back to local communities. Having strong family values, he looked to support the wellbeing of children and young people, given the ever-increasing pressures in their daily lives. He fully subscribes to Eikon’s strategic aims, values and focus on youth services, and joined us in 2016 following a merger with the Windle Valley Youth Project, which he Richard Moseley chaired. Now an independent consultant to the oil and gas industry, Nigel is also a business advisor with Young Enterprise and a former Volunteer Mentor and Youth Club Volunteer.

Richard is a retired banker with broad general management experience in a number of countries. He joined us after feeling inspired while talking to our CEO, Chris Hickford, about the challenges faced by children in Surrey and becoming convinced of the importance of early help. His motivation to work with us was strengthened after he heard stories from young adults who had benefited from our service. In his words, ‘the question should be, how could one not help Eikon?’

Debbie Boughtflower

Debbie has worked with vulnerable children for over 30 years, volunteering for a number of charities at home and abroad, and as a respite foster carer for Surrey County Council for 14 years. Following 30 years as a programme and operations manager in the private and public Michael Pyman sectors, Debbie moved to the charity sector, first with the NSPCC and currently with The Poppy Factory, supporting service development, delivery and evaluation for vulnerable young people and adults. Debbie was drawn to Eikon because of its focus on prevention and early help, as she believes in empowering young people to thrive and develop the confidence to be whoever they want to be.

Mike brings a young person’s perspective to Eikon’s board. He was motivated to join us as a trustee after receiving support from Eikon at secondary school. He was also inspired by our CEO, Chris Hickford, and by what he describes as Chris’s drive, selflessness and dedication to improving young people’s lives. Supported by us during his five years at Fullbrook School, Mike believes he wouldn’t be where he is today without Chris or Eikon and wants other young people to

Anneke de Boer

A retired Morgan Stanley investment banker, Anneke served three terms as a Governor at St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and is part of a multidisciplinary team providing business support to charities. Her belief that programmes like ours can leverage local understanding to provide a faster and more tailored strategy than national initiatives led her to join Eikon. A parent to two young men herself, Anneke knows being a teenager isn’t easy. She is driven to help her community so that all young people have the opportunity to shape their own futures.

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Governance, structure and management

Amanda Stevens

Mandy is a registered nurse with 33 years’ clinical and managerial expertise and experience at NHS board director level. Recognised as a subject matter expert in mental health, Mandy has 15 years’ clinical experience across a range of mental health services and says her personal experience of using mental health services has had a significant impact on the way she approaches her work. A vocal advocate for mental health, including national mental health awareness campaigns, suicide prevention and antistigma campaigns, Mandy is also a national expert advisor to the Mental Health Safety Improvement Programme.

Stefanie Verdorfer

Stefanie is a philanthropy expert with a background in global fundraising, developing multi-million philanthropic partnerships, capacity building and strategy development. She works with international funders and organisations to advance their philanthropic goals in a wide range of areas including global health, education, gender equality and climate change. She is passionate about driving impact through meaningful partnerships. Stefanie lives with her family in Surrey and is keen to use her experience and skills to support children and young people in her community.

Rebecca Wakefield

Rebecca is a communications and engagement specialist with extensive experience in both the public and private sectors, focusing on a wide range of issues such as education, climate and the built environment. She brings valuable knowledge and support to our communications strategy, marketing efforts and work to develop external relationships. Rebecca lives close to the area we serve, enjoys helping to support local children and says ‘it would have been great’ to have had access to a service like ours when she was at school.

Ian Watson

Ian is a qualified accountant who has extensive nonexecutive and executive board experience in both the private and charitable sectors. Having been aware for some time of our services for young people, he found that joining Eikon was ‘a natural choice’ when he was looking to assist a Surreybased charity helping children and young people.

Kevin Young, Finance Trustee

Kevin is a Price Waterhouse-trained chartered accountant with more than 30 years’ experience in senior finance roles, including at local civil engineering business Mouchel. He was inspired to join Eikon by our leadership and management and the team’s enthusiasm, dedication and determination. Kevin wanted to use his experience to support our work, having experienced firsthand, through wider family and other volunteering work, some of the many difficulties and problems young people face.

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Our organisational structure

Overall responsibility for the charity’s strategy, governance and policy rests with the trustees.

Day-to-day operational responsibility sits with the Chief Executive Officer, who leads the staff and volunteer team.

Our Senior Leadership Team collectively manages the work of the charity and our staff and volunteers, and consists of:

‘ =

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Trustees’ report and accounts for the year ended 31 March 2024

Financial review

There was an overall gain for the period of £132,566 compared with a loss of £145,602 in 2022-23. Total income increased by 28% to £2,586,379 in 2023-24 from £2,018,130 in 2022-23. Total expenditure increased by 14% to £2,451,898 in 2023-24 from £2,156,376 for 2022-23. The disproportionate increase in income compared to expenditure reflected the timing of grant income and strong performance from the Mindworks contract. During the year, Eikon continued to work as part of an alliance to deliver Mindworks, the Emotional Wellbeing and Mental Health service for children and young people in Surrey.

Income from donations and similar income increased by 37% to £729,630 from £530,831 in 2022-23. Within this, income from donations, including from major donors, improved slightly to £325,293 in 2023-24 compared with £320,582 in 2022-23. Amounts received in grants from trusts and foundations increased to £398,828 in 2023-24 compared with £188,029 in 2022-23 mainly due to Eikon securing two significant grants both for the next five years for new projects. Income from fundraising events during the year was £11,583 compared with £22,220 raised in 2022-23,

Income from charitable activities increased by 24% to £1,824,838 in 2023-24 from £1,474,119 in 2022-23, partly due to the availability of additional one-off funding in relation to Mindworks for 2022-23 aimed at reducing the waiting lists for children and young people in Surrey as well as increased activity overall within our existing contract. The Mindworks contract is for a

minimum of seven years from April 2021, extendable to 10 years, meaning that the alliance can plan for the long term together.

Investment income increased by 142% from £13,180 to £31,911, mainly due to the increase in interest rates on cash deposits during the year.

Expenditure on Charitable Activities increased by 16% to £2,244,972 due to the additional oneoff funding in relation to Mindworks as will as other new contracts including the 18-month Safer Streets project in conjunction with Runnymede Borough Council.

Expenditure on raising funds decreased by 9% to £206,926 in 2023-24 from £227,421 in 2022-23. This was due to staff vacancies within this area during the year. For every £1 spent on fundraising in 2023-24, we raised £2.53 in income, compared with £2.33 in 2022-23.

42

Reserves policy

Total reserves at the year-end were £924,478 versus £791,912 at the end of the 2022-23, comprising unrestricted general £355,558 (202223: £296,840), unrestricted designated £390,000 (2022-23: £407,539) and restricted £178,920 (202223: £87,533).

Unrestricted designated reserves of £390,000 were received in 2020-21 from the winding up of a charitable trust. The trustees agreed to treat these funds as designated with the aim of holding them for the long-term strategic development of the charity.

The trustees have reviewed the charity’s reserves policy, specifically the level of unrestricted general reserves required to cover the main risks facing the organisation. These principally include continuing to support young people while we help to put in place alternative arrangements to support them and their families if we were suddenly faced with a significant reduction in our funding or other financial challenge.

The trustees have determined that we would aim to provide such support for a period of between four and six months, which in financial terms equates to £350,000 to £450,000 for our core services, excluding subcontracted activities. As a result, we have set the target range for unrestricted reserves at £350,000 to £450,000. At 31 March 2024, unrestricted reserves were £745,558.

Statement of trustees’ responsibilities

The trustees (who are also the directors for the purpose of company law) are responsible for preparing the Annual Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and regulations.

Company law requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Under that law the trustees must prepare the financial statements in accordance with UK generally accepted accounting practice (UK accounting standards and applicable law). Under company law the trustees must not approve the financial statements unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs

of the charitable company and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable company for that period.

In preparing these financial statements, the trustees are required to:

The trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the charitable company’s transactions and 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 company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

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 UK governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.

The trustees confirm that so far as they are aware, there is no relevant audit information (as defined by section 418(3) of the Companies Act 2006) of which the charitable company’s auditors are unaware. They have taken all the steps that they ought to have taken as trustees in order to make themselves aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the charitable company’s auditors are aware of that information.

43

Trustees' report and accounts for the year ended 31 March 2024

The Eikon Charity is a company, limited by guarantee and governed by its Articles of Association. The trustees’ report also represents the directors’ report, as required by company law. The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in notes to the financial statements and comply with the charity’s governing document and the Companies Act 2006 and 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 published on 16 July 2014.

The trustees confirm they have given due consideration to the Charity Commission’s published Guidelines on the Public Benefit requirement under section 4 of the Charities Act 2011.

This report has been prepared in accordance with the special provisions of Part 15 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small companies.

Fundraising Code of Practice

As a charity, we rely on donations as part of our income and we fundraise in a number of ways for the funds needed to help more children and young people.

We engage members of the public, our supporters and organisations directly through our own fundraising team to encourage donations to Eikon’s work. We also offer a number of events, such as marathons, where supporters can take on challenges that raise money for Eikon through sponsorship. We do not use any external professional fundraisers and have not worked with commercial participators in 2023-24.

Our staff and trustees regularly monitor our fundraising activity to ensure our staff and volunteers are upholding our high standards and commitment to our supporters. This includes taking part in our fundraising events and initiatives, regular reviews of practice and lessons learned from completed activities and an annual report and quarterly updates to our Board. No failures to comply with the standards in the Code of Fundraising Practice were identified in 202324. We are proud that we received no complaints about our fundraising activity during 2023-24.

The welfare of everyone we engage with is of paramount importance for us, and we ensure potentially vulnerable members of the community are able to engage with Eikon in a way that is right for them. Individuals can have the same experience and benefits of our news, stories, engagement and activities without making a donation. Any supporters or members of the public who do not want contact from us can easily tell us their wishes and then are not included in those communications. We ensure that everyone working on behalf of Eikon to raise funds is briefed or trained on what is expected of them in their role, including to ensure that our fundraising is not unreasonably intrusive or persistent and that we do not pressurise anyone to give to Eikon.

We remain committed to our goal of offering the best experience possible for anyone and everyone engaging with Eikon.

Approved by the Eikon board of trustees on 19 November 2024 and signed on its behalf by:

Mh

Nigel Goddard Chair of Trustees

Our supporters are crucial to our work with young people and we are registered with the Fundraising Regulator to help us continue in our goal to offer people the best experience possible when engaging with us. This means that we are committed to meeting the standards in the Code of Fundraising Practice and to the Fundraising Promise.

44 e

Independent auditor’s report

to the members of The Eikon Charity

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of The Eikon Charity (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:

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 the entity’s ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least 12 months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.

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

Other information

The other information comprises the information included in the Annual Report other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. The trustees are responsible for the other information contained

45

Independent Auditors Report

within the Annual Report. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon. Our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements, or to 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 this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.

We have nothing to report in this regard.

Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006

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

Responsibilities of trustees

As explained more fully in the trustees’ responsibilities statement, 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.

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

46

Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor’s report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.

Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. These matters were discussed amongst the engagement team at the planning stage and the team remained alert to non-compliance throughout the audit.

Audit procedures undertaken in response to the potential risks relating to irregularities (which include fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulations) comprised: enquiries of management and trustees as to whether the entity complies with such laws and regulations; enquiries with the same concerning any actual or potential litigation or claims; inspection of relevant legal correspondence; review of trustees’ meeting minutes; testing the appropriateness of journal entries; and the performance of analytical review to identify unexpected movements in account balances which may be indicative of fraud.

the audit has been planned and performed in accordance with ISAs (UK).

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

Use of our report

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

AM Skilton (Senior Statutory Auditor)

For and on behalf of Brewers Chartered Accountants, Statutory Auditor

Bourne House Queen Street Gomshall Surrey GU5 9LY Date: 19 November 2024

No instances of material non-compliance were identified. However, the likelihood of detecting irregularities, including fraud, is limited by the inherent difficulty in detecting irregularities, the effectiveness of the entity’s controls, and the nature, timing and extent of the audit procedures performed. Irregularities that result from fraud might be inherently more difficult to detect than irregularities that result from error. As explained above, there is an unavoidable risk that material misstatements may not be detected, even though

47 e

The Eikon Charity Statement of financial activities for the year ended 31 March 2024

(incorporating income and expenditure account)

----- Start of picture text -----
Total
General Designated unrestricted Restricted Total funds Total funds
Notes funds funds funds funds 2024 2023
£ £ £ £ £ £
Income and endowments
Donations and similar 3 312,350 - 312,350 417,280 729,630 530,831
income
Charitable activities 4 1,824,838 - 1,824,838 - 1,824,838 1,474,119
Investment income 5 31,911 - 31,911 - 31,911 13,180
Total income 2,169,099 - 2,169,099 417,280 2,586,379 2,018,130
Expenditure
Raising funds 6 206,926 - 206,926 - 206,926 227,421
Charitable activities 7 1,901,540 17,539 1,919,079 325,893 2,244,972 1,928,955
Total expenditure 2,108,466 17,539 2,126,005 325,893 2,451,898 2,156,376
Net income/ 60,633 (17,539) 43,094 91,387 134,481 (138,246)
(expenditure) before
investments gain/(loss)
Net loss on investments 12 (1,915) - (1,915) - (1,915) (7,356)
Net income/ 58,718 (17,539) 41,179 91,387 132,566 (145,602)
(expenditure) after
investments gain/(loss)
Transfers between funds - - - - - -
Net movement in funds 58,718 (17,539) 41,179 91,387 132,566 (145,602)
Reconciliation of funds
Total funds brought 296,840 407,539 704,379 87,533 791,912 937,514
forward 1 April 2023
Total funds carried
355,558 390,000 745,558 178,920 924,478 791,912
forward 31 March 2024
----- End of picture text -----

There were no recognised gains or losses other than those shown in the statement of financial activities. All income and expenditure is derived from continuing activities. The accompanying notes form part of these financial statements.

48

The Eikon Charity

Balance Sheet as at 31 March 2024

Registered company number 5402398

Notes
a		 Total
2024
a		 Total
2023
a
£ £
Fixed assets
Tangible assets 11 - 17,539
Investments 12 12,286 46,641
Total fixed assets 12,286 64,180
Current assets
Debtors 13 29,682 56,292
Investments 12 255,000 -
Cash at bank and in hand 820,602 916,299
Total current assets 1,105,284 972,591
Liabilities
Creditors: amounts fallingdue within oneyear 14 (193,092) (244,859)
Net current assets 912,192 727,732
Total net assets 924,478 791,912
Funds of the charity
General funds 16 355,558 296,840
Designated funds 16 390,000 407,539
Total unrestricted funds 745,558 704,379
178,920 87,533
Restricted funds 16
Total funds 924,478 791,912

The accompanying notes form part of these financial statements. The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the special provisions relating to companies subject to the small companies regime within Part 15 of the Companies Act 2006. The financial statements were approved by the board and authorised for issue on 19 November 2024 and signed on its behalf by:

Mfraaoce

Nigel Goddard Chair of Trustees

Kevin Young Finance Trustee

49 e

The Eikon Charity

Statement of cash flows

for the year ended 31 March 2024

----- Start of picture text -----
Total Total
2024 2023
£ £
Cash flows from operating activities
Net income/(expenditure) for the year 132,566 (145,602)
Adjustments for
Depreciation 17,539 17,538
Revaluation and disposal of investments 1,915 7,356
Dividends and interest from investments (31,911) (13,180)
Decrease in debtors 26,610 39,831
(Decrease) in creditors (51,767) (8,439)
Net cash (used in)/provided by operating activities 94,952 (102,496)
Cash flows from/(to) investing activities
Dividends and interest from investments 31,911 13,180
-
Proceeds of sale of fixed asset investments 32,440
Net cash from/(to) investing activities 64,351 13,180
Changes in cash and cash equivalents in the year 159,303 (89,316)
Net cash and cash equivalents at the start of the year 916,299 1,005,615
Net cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year 1,075,602 916,299
----- End of picture text -----

The accompanying notes form part of these financial statements.

50

The Eikon Charity Notes to the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2024

1. Charity information

The charity is a private limited company (registered number 5402398), which is incorporated and domiciled in the UK and is a public benefit entity. The address of the registered office is Eikon, Selsdon Road, New Haw, Addlestone, Surrey KT15 3HP.

2. Accounting policies

a) Basis of accounting

The financial statements of the charity, which is a public benefit entity, 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) (2nd edition, effective January 2019; ‘Charities SORP’) and Companies Act 2006. The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention.

The trustees have assessed whether the use of the going concern basis is appropriate and have considered possible events or conditions that might cast significant doubt on the ability of the charity to continue as a going concern. The trustees have made this assessment for a period of at least one year from the date of approval of the financial statements. In particular, the trustees have considered the charity’s

forecasts and projections. After making enquiries, the trustees have concluded that there is a reasonable expectation that Eikon has adequate resources to continue its activities for the foreseeable future. Accordingly, they continue to adopt the going concern basis in preparing the financial statements.

b) Fund accounting

Restricted funds are those received for undertaking an activity specified by the donor when making the gift. The charity makes an administrative charge for the operation of restricted funds, which is included in the cost of raising funds. The costs for administration are also shown as restricted fund expenditure.

General funds are unrestricted funds given freely to the charity that can be applied at the discretion of the trustees in accordance with the objectives of the charity.

Designated funds are funds set aside by the trustees out of unrestricted funds for specific purposes.

c) Income

All income, including donations and associated income tax recoveries from donations received under Gift Aid, is included in the statement of financial activities where the charity is entitled to the income and the amount can be quantified with reasonable accuracy.

51

The Eikon Charity Notes to the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2024: 2. Accounting policies (continued)

All grants and contractual payments are included on a receivable basis. Contractual income is recognised as performance obligations are satisfied. Grant income with performance-related conditions received in advance of delivering specified goods and services, or income with a time restriction placed on it by the donor, is carried forward in restricted reserves until the donor-stipulated criteria are met. Income is also deferred if it is probable it could become refundable or if it is received in advance for a future accounting period.

Gifts in kind and donated services have been included at the lower estimate of their value to the charity and their estimated open market value. No amount has been included for services donated by volunteers. Where out-of-pocket travel and other expenses have been reimbursed to volunteers, these costs are included in the accounts.

Surplus funds are invested in bank deposits to earn interest.

d) Expenditure

Expenditure is recognised on an accruals basis and allocated to the appropriate heading in the financial statements. Expenditure includes attributable VAT which cannot be recovered.

Charitable activities expenditure enables Eikon to meet its aims and objectives for its beneficiaries. It includes both costs that can be allocated directly to such activities and those costs of an indirect nature necessary to support them.

Expenditure on raising funds includes the direct costs of fundraising activities (which promote fundraising and the activities of the charity generally) and a proportion of support costs.

Governance costs are those costs associated with meeting the constitutional and statutory requirements of the charity and include the audit fees and costs linked to the strategic management of the charity.

Support costs are those costs which enable fundraising and charitable activities to be undertaken. These costs include finance, human resources, premises, IT, legal and governance costs. All support costs are apportioned on the basis of time spent by staff on each category of work.

e) Tangible fixed assets

Tangible assets are stated at cost. Depreciation is calculated to write off the cost of the asset over its estimated useful life as follows:

Tangible assets costing less than £2,000 are not capitalised and are written off in the year of purchase.

f) Investments

Fixed asset investments are a form of basic financial instrument and are initially recognised at their transaction value and subsequently measured at their fair value as at the balance sheet date using the closing quoted market price. The statement of financial activities includes the gains and losses arising on revaluation and disposals throughout the year. Current asset investments are held in the form of cash on the CAF Charity Deposit Platform..

g) Cash management

Cash not required for day-to-day operations, but for the medium term is placed, via the CAF Charity Deposit Platform (CAF Platform), on deposit having regard to the duration, amount relative to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme limit and credit rating of the institution concerned. The CAF Platform is a charity deposit platform provided by Flagstone Investment Management which enables the charity to diversify its cash holdings.

h) Debtors and Prepayments

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.

i) Creditors

Creditors 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 are recognised at their settlement amount after allowing for any trade discounts due.

52

The Eikon Charity

Notes to the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2024: 2. Accounting policies (continued)

j) Taxation

The charity is exempt from corporation tax on its charitable activities under Part 1 Schedule 6 Finance Act 2010.

l) Transfer between funds

The trustees have the authority to transfer monies out of the general funds into the restricted funds if required.

k) Pensions costs

With effect from 1 January 2017, the charity has incurred costs in relation to the definedcontribution scheme, operated by Aviva, which are included in staff pension costs. Costs recognised are equivalent to the contributions in the year and are recognised on an accruals basis and any unsettled amounts are included in other creditors.

m) Reserves policy

On a yearly basis, the trustee board examines Eikon’s reserves in the light of the risks facing the organisation and takes into account the Charity Commission’s guidance. The policy on reserves is set out in the trustees’ report.

3. Donations and similar income

----- Start of picture text -----
Unrestricted Restricted 2024 2023
£ £ £ £
Donations 241,767 77,452 319,219 320,582
Grants 59,000 339,828 398,828 188,029
Fundraising events 11,583 - 11,583 22,220
312,350 417,280 729,630 530,831
----- End of picture text -----

4. Income from charitable activities

----- Start of picture text -----
Unrestricted Restricted 2024 2023
£ £ £ £
Mental health services income 1,693,086 - 1,693,086 1,370,152
Community based youth work 51,671 - 51,671 -
Schools income 80,081 - 80,081 103,967
-
1,824,838 1,824,838 1,474,119
----- End of picture text -----

5. Investment income

----- Start of picture text -----
Unrestricted Restricted 2024 2023
£ £ £ £
Bank deposit interest 31,251 - 31,251 11,922
Schroder portfolio dividend income 660 - 660 1,258
-
31,911 31,911 13,180
----- End of picture text -----

53

The Eikon Charity Notes to the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2024

6. Raising funds

----- Start of picture text -----
Unrestricted Restricted 2024 2023
£ £ £ £
-
Staff costs 163,123 163,123 163,734
Other direct costs 43,803 - 43,803 63,687
-
206,926 206,926 227,421
----- End of picture text -----

7. Charitable activities

----- Start of picture text -----
Youth Mental Organisational Total Total
work health work support 2024 2023
£ £ £ £ £
Staff costs 249,525 1,102,612 538,054 1,890,191 1,611,799
Activities undertaken directly 23,238 70,739 - 93,977 52,537
Premises costs allocated 7,518 33,426 16,902 57,846 52,043
Support costs allocated 26,333 100,387 41,489 168,209 187,201
- -
Governance (see note below) 34,749 34,749 25,375
306,614 1,307,164 631,194 2,244,972 1,928,955
Governance 2024 2023
£ £
Audit 10,510 9,324
Staff costs 24,239 16,051
34,749 25,375
----- End of picture text -----

8. Trustees

During the year, no trustees received any remuneration and no trustees were paid travel expenses or small administrative expenses (2023: £0). The total donations received by Eikon from trustees and their related parties was £980 (2023: £1,750).

Related party transactions: Surrey Wellbeing Partnership (SWP) is a partnership with twelve organisations, of which The Eikon Charity is one. The Chief Executive of The Eikon Charity is appointed to the Board of Trustees of SWP as a nominated representative and is entitled to one vote only. During the year, there were related party transactions in the form of contract payments from SWP, and any unutilised balances payable to SWP. At 31 March 2024 the total payments from and amounts due to SWP were £1,644,834 payments (2023 : £1,447,548) and amounts due £17,205 (2023 : £137,911).

54

The Eikon Charity Notes to the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2024

9. Employees and key management personnel

The key management personnel of the charity are the Board of Trustees and the Senior Leadership Team (SLT). The SLT comprises of the Chief Executive Officer, Deputy CEO, Head of Engagement, Head of Finance and the joint Heads of Services. The total remuneration and benefits received by SLT was £334,223 (2023: £254,346). The SLT was expanded during the year from 4 to 6 by the appointment of the joint Heads of Services and the creation of a new role, the Deputy CEO.

----- Start of picture text -----
2024 2023
£ £
Staff costs were as follows:
Wages and salaries 1,857,702 1,601,293
Social security costs 168,107 145,276
Pension costs 51,744 45,015
Total staff costs 2,077,553 1,791,584
----- End of picture text -----

The average number of actual employees and full-time equivalent employees, analysed by function, during the year was as follows:

----- Start of picture text -----
2024 2023
Average no. FTE no. Average no. FTE no.
Fundraising 4.0 2.7 6.0 3.3
Charitable activities 43.7 35.4 42.2 34.8
Governance - 0.1 - 0.1
Other 14.8 10.7 15.4 10.8
Average number of employees employed 62.5 48.9 63.6 49.0
during the year:
----- End of picture text -----

The number of employees whose remuneration, excluding employer pension costs, fell within each band of £10,000 from £60,000 upwards is as follows:

----- Start of picture text -----
2024 2023
No. No.
£60,001 to £70,000 3 1
----- End of picture text -----

The salary received by the highest paid member of staff (the Chief Executive) was:

----- Start of picture text -----
2024 2023
£ £
Salary 69,153 64,860
----- End of picture text -----

Contributions to the defined contribution pension scheme on behalf of the Chief Executive were £2,074 (2023: £1,946).

Changes to staff salaries and benefits are proposed by the Chief Executive and approved by the Board of Trustees.

55

The Eikon Charity Notes to the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2024

10. Defined-contribution pension scheme

----- Start of picture text -----
2024 2023
£ £
Costs of the scheme to the charity for the year 51,744 45,015
----- End of picture text -----

The charitable organisation operates a defined-contribution pension scheme for permanent staff with an employer contribution of 3% (2023: 3%) in the year. The amount owed to the pension scheme at 31 March 2024 was £4,952 (2023: £3,943).

11. Tangible fixed assets

----- Start of picture text -----
Office
Portakabin/ furniture and
Unrestricted upgrades equipment Total
£ £ £
Cost
At 1 April 2023 175,384 2,818 178,202
At 31 March 2024 175,384 2,818 178,202
Depreciation
At 1 April 2023 157,845 2,818 160,663
Charge for year 17,539 - 17,539
At 31 March 2024 175,384 2,818 178,202
Net book value
At 31 March 2023 17,539 - 17,539
At 31 March 2024 - - -
----- End of picture text -----

12. Investments

----- Start of picture text -----
2024 2023
£ £
Fixed Asset Investments
Cost
At 1 April 2023 46,641 53,997
Disposals (32,440) -
Loss on disposal (2,138) -
Gain/(loss) on revaluation 223 (7,356)
At 31 March 2024 12,286 46,641
Current Asset Investments
Cash held as an investment 255,000 -
255,000 -
----- End of picture text -----

56

The Eikon Charity Notes to the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2024

13. Debtors

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2024 2023
Due within one year: £ £
Trade debtors 15,557 3,756
Other debtors - 25,000
Prepayments 5,679 14,415
Accrued income 8,446 13,121
29,682 56,292
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14. Creditors

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2024 2023
Amounts falling due within one year: £ £
Trade creditors 38,859 171,700
Other creditors 20,892 8,774
Accruals 23,667 25,144
Deferred income (see note 15) 62,459 675
Social security and other taxes 47,215 38,566
193,092 244,859
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15. Deferred income

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2024 2023
£ £
Balance at 1 April 2023 675 144,657
Income deferred 1,713,563 1,302,374
Income released to SOFA (1,651,779) (1,446,356)
Balance at 31 March 2024 62,459 675
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Income is deferred when it is received in advance of delivering specified goods or services or in relation to a future accounting period.

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The Eikon Charity Notes to the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2024

16. Funds

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At 1 April Other gains At 31 March
2023 Income Transfers and (losses) Expenditure 2024
£ £ £ £ £ £
Unrestricted funds
General funds 296,840 2,169,099 - (1,915) (2,108,466) 355,558
Designated funds
Portakabin 17,539 - - - (17,539) -
depreciation
Investment fund 390,000 - - - - 390,000
- - -
Total designated 407,539 (17,539) 390,000
funds
Total unrestricted 704,379 2,169,099 - (1,915) (2,126,005) 745,558
funds
Restricted funds
Youth work – 52,146 86,556 (12,032) - (75,917) 50,753
communities
Youth work – schools 12,887 221,224 12,032 - (144,823) 101,320
Support costs 22,500 109,500 - - (105,153) 26,847
Total restricted funds 87,533 417,280 - - (325,893) 178,920
Total funds 791,912 2,586,379 - (1,915) (2,451,898) 924,478
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17. Analysis of net assets by funds

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Unrestricted Designated Restricted
funds funds funds Total
£ £ £ £
Fixed assets 12,286 - - 12,286
Current assets 536,364 390,000 178,920 1,105,284
Current liabilities (193,092) - - (193,092)
355,558 390,000 178,920 924,478
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The Eikon Charity Notes to the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2024

18. Comparatives for the statement of financial activities

The Eikon Charity statement of financial activities for the year ended 31 March 2023 (incorporating income and expenditure account)

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Total
General Designated unrestricted Restricted Total funds Total funds
funds funds funds funds 2023 2022
£ £ £ £ £ £
Income and endowments
Donations and similar 351,221 - 351,221 179,610 530,831 531,031
income
Charitable activities 1,474,119 - 1,474,119 - 1,474,119 1,302,485
Investment income 13,180 - 13,180 - 13,180 5,085
Total income 1,838,520 - 1,838,520 179,610 2,018,130 1,838,601
Expenditure
Raising funds 227,421 - 227,421 - 227,421 178,901
Charitable activities 1,668,563 17,538 1,686,101 242,854 1,928,955 1,638,751
Total expenditure 1,895,984 17,538 1,913,522 242,854 2,156,376 1,817,652
Net income/(expenditure) (57,464) (17,538) (75,002) (63,244) (138,246) 20,949
before investments
gain/(loss)
- -
Net (loss)/gain on (7,356) (7,356) (7,356) (1,657)
investments
Net income/(expenditure) (64,820) (17,538) (82,358) (63,244) (145,602) 19,292
after investments gain/
(loss)
Transfers between funds - - - - - -
Net movement in funds (64,820) (17,538) (82,358) (63,244) (145,602) 19,292
Reconciliation of funds
Total funds brought 361,660 425,077 786,737 150,777 937,514 918,222
forward 1 April 2022
Total funds carried 296,840 407,539 704,379 87,533 791,912 937,514
forward 31 March 2023
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Restricted donations and similar income of £179,610 relates to £92,031 restricted donations and £87,579 restricted grants.

Unrestricted income from donations and similar income of £351,221 relates to £228,551 donations, £100,450 grants and £22,220 fundraising events. Unrestricted income from charitable activities of £1,474,119 relates to £1,370,152 mental health services income and £103,967 schools income. Unrestricted investment income of £13,180 relates to £11,922 bank deposit income and £1,258 Schroder portfolio dividend income.

Unrestricted expenditure under raising funds of £227,421 relates to £163,734 staff costs and £63,687 other direct costs.

Expenditure under charitable activities of £1,928,955 relates to £1,611,799 staff costs, £52,537 activities undertaken directly, £52,043 premises costs, £187,201 support costs and £25,375 governance costs.

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We’re incredibly grateful to the following organisations who supported our work helping young people so generously during 2023–24:

Special thanks

We appreciate the kindness and generosity of all of our friends and supporters towards Eikon this year. Your support has enabled us to assist children and young people in Surrey. Thanks to your contributions, these young individuals receive the support they need and deserve, making a significant difference in their lives. We are extremely grateful to all our supporters, both new and those who have shown commitment to Eikon over many years. Thank you .

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The Eikon Charity is helping young people in Surrey to feel safe, heard and supported, now and in the future.

We listen, we talk, and we help young people with the skills they need to live their best life.

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helping young people in Surrey

The Eikon Charity Selsdon Road New Haw Addlestone Surrey KT15 3HP

01932 347434 YM info@eikon.org.uk @ eikon.org.uk

f facebook.com/eikoncharity xX twitter.com/eikoncharity instagram.com/theeikoncharity in linkedin.com/company/eikon

Charity number: 1109190 Company number: 5402398