2021-03-31-accounts - Greater London Volunteering

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Greater London Volunteering (Branded as London Plus) Report of the Trustees and Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2021

Company no. 04070342 (England & Wales) Charity no. 1115303

Greater London Volunteering

Contents
Report of the Trustees	1 - 14
Report of the Independent Auditor	15 - 18
Statement of Financial Activities	19
Balance Sheet	20
Notes to the Financial Statements	21 - 29

GREATER LONDON VOLUNTEERING Report of the Trustees for the year ended 31 March 2021

The Trustees present their report and audited financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2021.

Reference and Administrative Information

Charity Name: Greater London Volunteering (GLV) Brand Name: London Plus Charity Registration Number: 1115303 Company Registration Number: 04070342 Registered Office: Norman House 8 Burnell Road Sutton, SM1 4BW

Auditors:

Myrus Smith, Chartered Accountants Norman House 8 Burnell Road Sutton Surrey, SM1 4BW

Bankers:

The Co-operative Bank PLC PO Box 250 Delf House Southway Skelmersdale, WN8 6WT

Trustees

Cameron Fitzwilliam-Grey Shaun Delaney Beau Fadahunsi Truly Johnston Hannah Tompkins Jacob Przeklasa Dominic Pinkney Jackie Rosenberg Renae Michelle Mann Edward Anderton Stephanie Hann Rahul Sinha

Chair Vice Chair Company Secretary Treasurer (Resigned November 2020)

(Resigned November 2020)

(Appointed November 2020 (Appointed November 2020) (Appointed November 2020)

Special Advisor Geraldine Blake

Senior Management Martin Brookes

Chief Executive

GREATER LONDON VOLUNTEERING Report of the Trustees for the year ended 31 March 2021

Structure, Governance and Management

Governing Document

The organisation is a charitable company limited by guarantee, incorporated on 12th September 2000 and registered as a charity on 13th July 2006.

The company was established under a Memorandum of Association which established the objects and powers of the charitable company and is governed under those Articles. The company replaced the existing Memorandum and Articles of Association with a new Articles of Association on 6 February 2018. The legal name of the company remains Greater London Volunteering, a registered charity in England and Wales. During this period, the company began using the brand name London Plus.

Recruitment and Appointment of Trustees

The recruitment and appointment of trustees are set out in our Articles of Association. Trustees are elected annually at the AGM. At the third annual general meeting after a trustee’s last appointment (whether by election or co-option) a Trustee shall retire. They shall be eligible for re-appointment provided that no Trustee may continue to serve after six years in office without a period of at least a year out of office and no Trustee may serve for more than nine years in total.

For the purposes of this Article (31.1) a “year” shall mean a complete period of service between two annual general meetings.

The Board may, from time to time, appoint a member of staff or trustees from member organisations as a member of the Board either to fill a casual vacancy or by way of an addition to the Board, subject to the provisions of the Articles of Association.

Trustee induction and Training

New trustees are provided with an induction on joining the board and are encouraged to take up relevant training and development to fulfil their role and responsibilities to London Plus.

During this period, the board continued to implement the recommendations of a governance review carried out in 2018. Recruitment took place towards the end of 2019 however the onboarding process was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and ended in November 2020.

Risk Management

The trustees review the risks to which the charity is exposed and maintain a current risk register. They have set up a number of policies which the trustees, employed staff and volunteers must follow. They now believe that there are in place adequate controls and systems to mitigate any external and internal risks that it may face.

GREATER LONDON VOLUNTEERING Report of the Trustees for the year ended 31 March 2021

Structure, Governance and Management /cont’d...

Organisation

In common with many organisations, we shifted to remote working before the formal lockdown began in March. For the whole of the year 20/21, staff worked from home.

London Plus had to adapt its work at the start of the pandemic and throughout the year. All our work with FCVS (the Funders, Community and Voluntary Sector sub-group to the London Strategic Coordination group set up at the start of the pandemic), developing GLA briefings, alongside supporting our core networks and our wider comms and other activities were not specifically funded. We were able to adapt our work thanks to our core grant from City Bridge Trust. This flexibility is valuable for the organisation and we are grateful for this support.

The charity was short-staffed for much of the year as we recruited a new Networks Manager. The position was not filled until after the end of the year.

A decision was taken during the year to recruit our first Communications Officer, following a successful appointment of an intern for three months between November 2020 – January 2021. The new officer began work in February 2021.

The two-year grant from City Bridge Trust was due to come to an end in September 2021. Towards the end of the financial year, City Bridge Trust invited an application for renewed funding. This was submitted in March and has subsequently been approved.

Objectives and Activities

Objectives

The objectives of the charity are:

To promote the efficiency and effectiveness of voluntary and charitable sector organisation.
To promote such other exclusively charitable purposes according to the law of England and Wales as the Trustees is their absolute discretion from time to time determine.

Prior to this period, the board and staff team worked alongside civil society leaders, partners and City Bridge Trust to develop London Plus as a regional infrastructure body for London.

GREATER LONDON VOLUNTEERING Report of the Trustees for the year ended 31 March 2021

Objectives and Activities /cont’d…

Objectives /cont’d…

Vision

A city where all Londoners can thrive.

Mission

We’re taking a bold approach to turn data into insight, empowering civil society organisations through better connections and ensuring that our collective voice influences positive change.

Activities

Data and Insight

We collect and collate existing, relevant data, conduct new research, and contribute new knowledge and insights about the critical issues for Londoners to the sector. Our analysis is shared to support evidence-based decision-making and the delivery of evidence-based activities within civil society. We use this data- driven approach in our own activities and planning as well as encouraging others to use it too.

Networks

We work with, bring together, and support civil society support organisations across London. Be that supporting existing networks, or spotting the need for something new and setting it up, we believe in the power of connections and partnership. We take a targeted approach, focusing on specific issues and communities of interest where we know we can add value to help bring about long-term change and sustainable impact.

Voice and Influence

We work with civil society and advocate with them to create a better understanding of their role, expertise, reach and impact to support better locality planning and coordination to make a real difference to Londoners’ lives. We amplify and direct the voice of the local voluntary and community sector and the communities that they serve to ensure that decision makers, businesses, funders and policymakers recognise and value civil society in the capital.

GREATER LONDON VOLUNTEERING Report of the Trustees for the year ended 31 March 2021

Achievements and Performance /cont’d…

Public Benefit

In forming and reviewing the charity’s objectives, the trustees have given due regard to public benefit guidance published by the Charity Commission as required by section 17 of The Charities Act 2011.

Pandemic response

Our work this year was shaped principally by the pandemic. At the start of the financial year, a lockdown had been introduced and the London Plus team was collecting data and intelligence on how the pandemic was affecting the local voluntary and community sector across London, feeding this into London-wide discussions and policy.

Before the new financial year began, a London-wide Strategic Coordination Group (SCG) was established by the London Resilience Forum as the pandemic took hold in March. The aim of this group was to support and coordinate the response across London. To aid this, a sub-group to the SCG was creating bringing together funders and the community and voluntary sector (the FCVS sub-group). This would provide insights and issues in local communities highlighted by the voluntary and community sector. Being part of the SCG structure would provide clear channels through which vital issues and briefings could be shared and, if necessary, escalated to trigger specific actions.

London Plus was asked to join this FCVS group which met regularly throughout the year, with particularly high frequency in the early part of the pandemic. Our volunteer centre and council for voluntary services (CVS) director’s networks meant we could provide up-to-date and accurate information about how local communities were dealing with the pandemic; and the challenges faced by community groups and charities.

Our networks helped us spot early emerging problems in food banks as the lockdown began and many people lost jobs. Working with the Greater London Authority (GLA) and other partners in FCVS, we helped trigger an emergency delivery of food to 31 food banks in nine London boroughs in April 2020. London Plus had developed a questionnaire to assess adequacy of food stocks in food banks, using this to help understand the scale of the problem. This questionnaire became the basis for a regular survey conducted by the GLA and a new Food Aid sub-group to the London Boroughs Food Group, itself established in 2020.

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Report of the Trustees for the year ended 31 March 2021

Achievements and Performance /cont’d…

Pandemic response /cont’d…

London Plus joined this group which continued to meet throughout the rest of the financial year and supported the GLA as it collected data and refined the questionnaire. Creating a new “tool” such as this food questionnaire, to learn and understand more about the work and needs of charities and community groups, and then spreading this to other bodies with more resources, is how London Plus seeks to work. As a small charity we do not have the resources to sustain work in all new areas. To succeed in this approach, we have to be quick to spot issues and respond to needs, as well as be plugged into wider networks and organisations who can pick up and continue the work. In this same spirit, we carried out the first surveys of the impact of the pandemic on civil society before this financial year, but did not continue these. The GLA developed its own London Community Response survey and London Plus fed into this, drawing on our earlier experiences.

We helped members of the FCVS and SCG structure to understand how different boroughs in London were supporting people who had been instructed to “shield” during the pandemic. The creation of local “community hubs” were a part of this response, and London Plus helped inform the understanding of how these hubs worked effectively with the voluntary and community sector.

Volunteering surged during the early part of the pandemic, both formally through volunteer centres, and informally through mutual aid groups. We hosted a meeting between officials from the GLA and volunteer centres to increase understanding and appreciation of the huge pressures facing these organisations as a result of the pandemic.

Funders from across London came together at the beginning of the pandemic to develop the London Community Response, a pooled fund to support the voluntary and community sector. London Plus provided input to the thinking and development of this fund.

The FCVS group was replaced with a new wider group at the beginning of 2021. This new group – Community, Faith, Voluntary Sector and Funders (CFVSF) – met regularly during the early months of the year and the third lockdown of the pandemic.

London’s recovery from Covid

The work of the voluntary and community sector during the pandemic led to an increased recognition and understanding of its value to communities across London. In addition, the pandemic highlighted and magnified entrenched inequalities. Civil society has a crucial role to play tackling these.

GREATER LONDON VOLUNTEERING Report of the Trustees for the year ended 31 March 2021

Achievements and Performance /cont’d…

London’s recovery from Covid /cont’d…

The success of the FCVS and CFVSF groups during the year is set to lead to new structures to information sharing between the voluntary and community sector and London-wide regional bodies and policy-making. London Plus will contribute to these discussions.

Planning for London’s post-Covid recovery began during the year. Nine “missions” were developed through a cross sector approach and supported by the GLA and London Councils to provide specific and clear ambitions and goals. London Plus helped define these missions, most specifically the “Building strong communities” mission which is closest to our core work.

The London Recovery Board was created to oversee and guide the work on these missions. A London Recovery Taskforce was set up to monitor the detailed work. Our chief executive was invited to join this taskforce. In addition, our chief executive was asked to serve as initial co-chair the five social missions, representing wider civil society. These positions are recognitions of the work of London Plus and, crucially, the role of civil society in helping London recover successfully from the pandemic.

Throughout 2020, London Plus hosted recovery planning webinars together with the GLA. The webinars attracted 833 registrations from VCSE (Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise) groups and aimed to facilitate new connections and communication between local commissioners and VCSE groups; aiding planning and delivery post-lockdown. We held breakout sessions convening groups by borough to build strategic relationships with the local commissioners and other civil society organisations. In January 2021 we co-hosted a volunteering summit with the GLA and London Boroughs Faiths Network. The aim of the summit was to support networking, address ways to support volunteering and volunteers in the capital and to ensure that volunteering infrastructure across London was ready to tackle challenges which were likely to occur in 2021. 140 people attended the summit.

London Plus delivered the recovery consultation access grants with the community engagement team at the GLA. The grants enable small frontline organisations and community groups to hold conversations with services users and the local communities who are most impacted by COVID. The conversations are being fed back to the GLA and the London Recovery Board aligning with the missions of the GLA’s recovery plan. In total London Plus has enabled micro-grants of over £35,000 to be paid to small community groups or charities.

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Report of the Trustees for the year ended 31 March 2021

Achievements and Performance /cont’d…

Networks

We continued to run our core networks for local CVSs (Council for Voluntary Service) and volunteer centres, transitioning to virtual meetings for both.

The CVS directors had six meetings in the financial year 20/21. This represents an additional two compared with the normal rhythm, reflecting the impact of the pandemic.

Three Volunteer Centre Network meetings were held during the year. The meetings covered themes such as covid response and recovery, funding, branding of the networks and future planning. In addition to this we increased our communication with the networks regularly surveying/calling/emailing the networks gathering intelligence and offering our support.

Throughout the year, we called on members of the networks to provide information to support our work on the FCVS group helping inform policy during the pandemic. In this way, the networks played vital roles informing London’s work and response on food stocks in food banks; the development of community hubs and support for people “shielding”; the development of the London Community Response which provided funding to many community groups; support for volunteering, both through mutual aid groups and “formal” volunteering.

As part of our Covid response work, we won a £50,000 bid from the London Community Response fund. This bid was jointly developed with the volunteer centre network to address technology gaps. Getting laptops and support to vital front-line staff ensured they were able to support the large number of volunteers and wider responsibilities arising from the pandemic, including around befriending, isolation, as well as food and medicine.

Our work with networks reinforced our appreciation of the importance of these within a future strategy. Networks formed one of three strands of our work; “data” and “voice and influence” are the other two. During the year we recognised that networks are the vital building blocks. They give us data and insight, and provide credibility to our voice when we try to exert influence. We agreed we should continue to develop our existing and new networks as the foundations of our work.

Mayor of London Volunteering Awards 2020

In previous years we have supported the GLA in promoting and shortlisting the Mayor of London Volunteering Awards. This year we continued our support, however the awards were adapted due to the unprecedented circumstances. This year there were eight awards under the categories of 'crisis response’, ‘delivering differently’ and community champions’. We supported the awards by promoting them through our networks, on social media and in our newsletter.

GREATER LONDON VOLUNTEERING Report of the Trustees for the year ended 31 March 2021

Achievements and Performance /cont’d…

Social prescribing

A new network was launched during the year, focused on social prescribing. This network aims to support the VCSE sector working on social prescribing. Supported by the GLA, this network has representation from across London and is working with a number of NHS and other bodies, including: Healthy London Partnership (HLP); Public Health England (PHE); NHS England (NHSE) and NHS Improvement; Sustainability and Transformation Partnership (STP) social prescribing leads and Primary Care Networks (PCN), the London Regional Social Prescribing Leads as well as Association of Directors of Public Health (ADPH) London.

This network aims to help support and promote VCSE organisations’ social prescribing activity through sharing of knowledge, models of best practice, skills development, whilst addressing support for those communities most affected by COVID. It has a key role in being a conduit to improve understanding and engagement between social prescribing practitioners, health professionals, commissioners, and funders.

We hired a new member of staff to run the network. In the financial year 20/21 the network ran three meetings, covering topics such as exploring barriers and opportunities for refugee and migrant populations in social prescribing practice and inclusive social prescribing. The events reached a total of 262 participants. The network currently has 263 members.

Since October 2020 we have received funding from the National Academy for Social Prescribing (NASP) for our role as London’s Regional Development Partner for the Thriving Communities Programme. NASP works with partners in each of the seven NHS Regions across England, to build and deliver their Thriving Communities development programme, to help support local voluntary sector and community groups and link workers. We work with five delivery partners from our volunteer centre network who are representative of all the boroughs across London.

VCSEP

The Voluntary and Community Sector Emergency Partnership was established early in the year by a number of national organisations. This partnership aims to bring together local as well as national organisations to help coordinate the response to emergencies. London Plus became the Local Liaison Lead for London, helping collect data about local trends and, also, filtering requests for emergency support to local organisations.

GREATER LONDON VOLUNTEERING Report of the Trustees for the year ended 31 March 2021

Achievements and Performance /cont’d…

Vaccination Volunteer Database

When the Covid vaccination programme began at the end of 2020, the NHS in London began to draw on a rich range of volunteering groups to support with marshalling of patients across hundreds of different sites. This was likely to be the largest mobilisation of volunteers since the Olympics in 2012. London Plus enlisted software company Time to Spare to develop a database and management tool to support the push for vaccination volunteers. The database helped coordinate requests for volunteers across many London boroughs, channelling them to local and national bodies who could meet the demand.

Big Volunteer project

In March 2021 the Big Volunteer project funded by Sport England came to an end. The original project changed and evolved over time as a key delivery partner dropped out (Sported) of the project after the first year and as the global Covid pandemic seriously impacted what was possible for the project in its final year. The delivery partners (four Volunteer Centres and Team London) maintained a flexible and collaborative approach despite these two major challenges and were able to complete the project despite the extraordinary circumstances. Despite the challenges 103 volunteers engaged in the project over the three years and 20 sports related organisations were supported.

GREATER LONDON VOLUNTEERING

Report of the Trustees for the year ended 31 March 2021

Financial Review

Financial Review (Financial year end 31[st] March 2021)

In 2020-21 London Plus played an important role in championing London’s civil society sector through the turmoil of the pandemic. The core grant secured from City Bridge Trust in 2019 provided us with the stability to contribute to strategic forums, channel resources to the sector, and share intelligence.

Our total salary expenditure for the year was slightly increased due to the recruitment of a Communications Officer and Social Prescribing Networks Coordinator. However, the delay in recruiting a new Networks Manager meant that we had an overall underspend against budget on this line. Our project delivery costs increased as we brokered more funding to the sector than the previous financial year. Our consultancy costs were much reduced from the previous financial year as the work of the organisation pivoted to pandemic response and the change in working practices to online delivery over 2020 meant that our spend on network days was reduced as there were no venue costs. We distributed around £105,738 to the voluntary and community sector during this period.

We brought forward restricted funding of £21,655 into the year. With continuing strands of funding from City Bridge Trust, new income streams from the GLA and the National Academy for Social Prescribing and a modest amount of consultancy work our income for the year stood at £461,320. Our overall expenditure was £358,121. We ended the year with £124,854 in restricted funds that will be carried forward to the next financial year.

Our level of unrestricted funds remains unchanged at £48,605 from the previous year, providing us with a strong foundation for ongoing development of the organisation.

Funding received in this period:

City Bridge Trust Bridging Divides funding During this period (period-end 31st March 2021) we received the remaining portion of the City Bridge Trust Bridging Divides grant that we were awarded in 2019. This was a two year grant worth £500,000 in total. £279,084 of this grant was recognised in this period for delivery against our core activities of data and insights, networks and voice and influence.

The funding from City Bridge Trust was used for the salaries of the Chief Executive, London Plus Coordinator, Communications Officer, Networks Manager, Data and Intelligence Coordinator, Office Manager and an intern. It also covered central office costs and overheads.

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Report of the Trustees for the year ended 31 March 2021

Financial Review ../cont’d

Funding received in this period: /cont’d

City Bridge Trust Bridging Divides funding/cont’d…

At the end of this financial year the organisation had an underspend against budget of £68,664. This was due to Covid-19 rent rebates, a reduction in travel and training costs and gaps in staff recruitment. As a grant recipient of City bridge Trust we were also awarded an additional grant of £15,000 to support the organisation through the difficulties caused by the pandemic. We will be carrying forward £83,664 from CBT to the next financial year.

Greater London Authority

We received a total of £74,059 from the Greater London Authority during this period. This was comprised of the following:

Social Prescribing project: project started in August 2020. We received £32,409 for the programme and had an underspend of £8,000 which we will be carrying forward into the next financial year.
Team London: We received £30,000 from Team London to award in small grants to voluntary sector organisations for Volunteers week 2020. We distributed £25,000 in grants to the sector and retained £5,000 as an administrative fee.
Community Engagement: We received £9,650 from the Community engagement team at the GLA to award in grants for community groups and voluntary organisations to run vaccine hesitancy conversations.
Mayor of London Volunteering Awards 2020 promotions of £2,000.

National Academy for Social Prescribing

During this period, we received £53,377 from the National Academy for Social Prescribing. £21,535 of this funding was passed on to five delivery partners to coordinate a London-wide social prescribing activities programme to strengthen and support cross sector partnership work and share learning and best practice. We will be carrying forward a balance of £31,842 into the next financial year, most of which will be distributed to the delivery partners.

Other resourcing

London Community Response

As a part of our work in supporting the sector through the pandemic we applied and were successful in receiving a grant of £50,000 from the London Community response. £49,533 of this fund was given directly to volunteer centres and CVS’s to support the purchasing of technology to help them adapt working practices.

Consultancy and other income

In this period we earned £4,800 through consultancy and other income. This was funding for the Datawise London programme funded by Superhighways.

GREATER LONDON VOLUNTEERING

Report of the Trustees for the year ended 31 March 2021

Reserves Policy

The charity maintains reserves to provide it with income from which it may fulfil its charitable objectives. The Board of Trustees reviewed the risk-based reserves policy in July 2019.

The board surmised that the current reserves policy was sufficient for the needs of the organisation at this time. Loss of funding was deemed the greatest risk to the organisation and, loss of our primary funder would need to result in closure of the charity. The Trustees are satisfied that the £48,605 held in reserves at the end of the year is sufficient to meet these costs.

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Report of the Trustees for the year ended 31 March 2021

Trustees Responsibilities Statement

The trustees (who are also directors of Greater London Volunteering for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the Trustees’ Annual Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and the United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

Company law requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year. 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:

Select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
Observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP 2019 (FRS 102);
Make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
State whether applicable UK Accounting Standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements;
Prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charitable company will continue in operation.

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

In so far as the trustees are aware:

There is no relevant audit information of which the charitable company’s auditor is unaware; and
The trustees have taken all steps that they ought to have taken to make themselves aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the auditor is aware of that information.

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

Approved by the Trustees on 15 November 2021 and signed on their behalf by:

C Fitzwilliam-Grey Chair of Board of Trustees

Report of the Independent Auditor to the Members of Greater London Volunteering

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of Greater London Volunteering (the ‘charitable company’) for the year ended 31 March 2021 which comprise the Statement of Financial Activities, the Balance Sheet and notes to the financial statements, including a summary of significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

In our opinion the financial statements:

give a true and fair view of the state of the charitable company’s affairs as at 31 March 2020, and of its incoming resources and application of resources, including its income and expenditure, for the period then ended;
have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice; and
have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006.

Basis for opinion

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the charitable company in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC’s Ethical Standard, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

Conclusions relating to going concern

In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the trustees’ use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.

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

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

Other information

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

Report of the Independent Auditor to the Members of Greater London Volunteering

(continued)

In connection with our audit of the financial statements, our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether there is a material misstatement in the financial statements or a material misstatement of the other information. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.

We have nothing to report in this regard.

Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006

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

the information given in the trustees’ report (incorporating the directors’ report) for the financial period for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements; and
the directors’ report has been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements.

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

In the light of our 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 directors’ report.

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

adequate accounting records have not been kept, or returns adequate for our audit have not been received from branches not visited by us; or
the financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or
certain disclosures of directors’ remuneration specified by law are not made; or
we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit; or
the trustees were not entitled to prepare the financial statements in accordance with the small companies’ regime and take advantage of the small companies’ exemptions in preparing the directors’ report and from the requirement to prepare a strategic report.

Report of the Independent Auditor to the Members of Greater London Volunteering

(continued)

Responsibilities of trustees

As explained more fully in the trustees’ responsibilities statement, set out on page 6, the trustees (who are also the directors of the charitable company for the purposes of company law) are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the trustees determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

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

Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

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

Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. The specific procedures for this engagement and the extent to which these are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud is detailed below:

Enquiry of management and those charged with governance about actual and potential litigation or claims and the identification of non-compliance with laws and regulations.
Reviewing minutes of meetings of those charged with governance.
Reviewing financial statement disclosures and testing to supporting documentation to assess compliance with applicable laws and regulations.
Auditing the risk of management override of controls, including testing journal entries and other adjustments for appropriateness; assessing whether the judgements made in making accounting estimates are indicative of a potential bias; and evaluating the business rationale of any significant transactions that are unusual or outside the normal course of business.
Performing analytical procedures to identify any unusual or unexpected relationships that may indicate risks of material misstatement due to fraud.
Professional scepticism in course of the audit and with audit sampling in material audit areas.

Report of the Independent Auditor to the Members of Greater London Volunteering

(continued)

Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

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

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

Use of our report

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

Stephen Jones FCA (Senior Statutory Auditor) For and on behalf of Myrus Smith Chartered Accountants and Statutory Auditor Norman House 8 Burnell Road Sutton Surrey SM1 4BW

15 November 2021

Greater London Volunteering

Statement of Financial Activities (including Income and Expenditure Account) for the year ended 31 March 2021

----- Start of picture text -----
||||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---| |Unrestricted|Restricted|31 March|31 March| |Funds|Funds|2021|2020| |Note|£|£|£|£| |Income from:| |Donations and grants|2|-|456,520|456,520|308,873| |Charitable activities|3|-|4,800|4,800|8,456| |──────|────── ──────|──────| |Total|-|461,320|461,320|317,329| |──────|────── ──────|──────| |Expenditure on:| |Raising funds|4|-|7,304|7,304|6,713| |Charitable activities|5|-|350,817|350,817|335,255| |──────|────── ──────|──────| |Total|-|358,121|358,121|341,968| |──────|────── ──────|──────| |Net surplus/(deficit)|9|-|103,199|103,199|(24,639)| |Transfers between funds|13|-|-|-|-| |──────|────── ──────|──────| |Net movement in funds|-|103,199|103,199|(24,639)| |Reconciliation of funds:| |Total funds brought forward|13|48,605|21,655|70,260|94,899| |──────|────── ──────|──────| |Total funds carried forward|13|£48,605|£124,854|£173,459|£70,260| |══════|══════ ══════|══════|

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All income and expenditure is derived from continuing activities.

The SOFA includes all gains and losses recognised during the period.

The notes on pages 21 to 29 form part of these accounts

Greater London Volunteering

Balance Sheet

As at 31 March 2021

		31 March	31 March
		2021	2020
	Notes	£	£
Current assets
Debtors	11	15,921	7,253
Cash at Bank		255,876	113,117
		──────	──────
		271,797	120,370
Creditors:amounts falling
due within one year	12	(98,338)	(50,110)
		──────	──────
Net current assets		173,459	70,260
		──────	──────
		──────	──────
Net assets	14	£173,459	£70,260
		══════	══════
Funds:
Unrestricted funds
- General funds	13	48,605	48,605
Restricted funds	13	124,854	21,655
		──────	──────
Total funds	13	£173,459	£70,260
		══════	══════

These accounts have been prepared in accordance with the special provisions relating to small companies within Part 15 of the Companies Act 2006.

Approved by the directors and trustees on 15 November 2021 and signed on their behalf.

Truly Johnston, Treasurer

The notes on pages 21 to 29 form part of these accounts.

Greater London Volunteering Notes to the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2021

1. Accounting policies

General information and basis of preparation

Greater London Volunteering is a private company limited by guarantee and a charity registered in England and Wales. In the event of the charity being wound up, the liability in respect of the guarantee is limited to £1 per member of the charity. The address of the registered office is given in the “Reference and Administrative Information” on page 1 of these financial statements.

The charity constitutes a public benefit entity as defined by FRS 102. The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) issued in October 2019, the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102), the Charities Act 2011, the Companies Act 2006 and UK Generally Accepted Accounting Practice.

The financial statements are prepared on a going concern basis under the historical cost convention.

The significant accounting policies applied in the preparation of these financial statements are set out below. These policies have been consistently applied to all years presented unless otherwise stated.

Income recognition

Items of income are recognised in the financial statements when all of the following criteria are met:

The charity has entitlement to the funds;
any performance conditions have been met or are fully within the control of the charity;
there is sufficient certainty that receipt of the income is considered probable; and
the amount can be measured reliably.

Income from performance related grants and contracts is recognised as the charity earns the right to consideration through delivery of the specified services.

Greater London Volunteering Notes to the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2021

Expenditure recognition

Expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to make payment to a third party, it is probable that settlement will be required and the amount can be measured reliably. Expenditure includes all irrecoverable VAT which is included as part of the relevant cost. Expenditure is classified under the following activity headings:

Costs of raising funds comprises those costs associated with attracting voluntary donations and grants
Expenditure on charitable activities comprises those costs associated with the delivery of the various activities and services for the charity’s beneficiaries.

Expenditure includes those costs of a direct nature which can be allocated to a specific activity and also includes indirect costs, including governance costs that do not relate to a specific activity but are necessary to support those activities. Support costs are apportioned to each activity on the basis of staff time.

Leases

Operating lease rentals are charged to the Statement of Financial Activities on a straight line basis over the period of the lease.

Fund accounting

Unrestricted general funds are freely available for use in furtherance of the objects of the charity and which have not been designated for specific purposes.

Designated funds are unrestricted funds set aside by the trustees for particular purposes.

Restricted funds are funds which can only be used in accordance with specific restrictions imposed by the donor or which have been raised for a particular purpose.

Pensions

The charity contributes to Stakeholder Pension Schemes on behalf of its employees. These schemes are defined contribution pension schemes.

Contributions payable under these schemes are charged the Statement of Financial Activities in the year to which they relate. The charity has no liability under these schemes other than for the payment of those contributions.

Debtors and creditors receivable/payable within the year

Debtors and creditors with no stated interest rate and receivable or payable within one year are recorded at transaction price. Any losses arising from impairment are recognised in expenditure.

Greater London Volunteering Notes to the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2021

2. Donations and grants

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||||| |---|---|---|---| |2021|2020| |£|£| |City Bridge Trust|329,084|202,468| |Greater London Authority|74,059|32,900| |National Academy for Social| |Prescribing|53,377|-| |Trust for London|-|19,250| |Sport England|-|54,255| |───────|──────| |£456,520|£308,873| |═══════|══════| |All of the £308,873 recognised in 2020 related to restricted funds.| |3.|Income from charitable activities|2021|2020| |£|£| |Other Income| |Consultancy and other income|£4,800|£8,456| |══════|══════|

----- End of picture text -----

All of the £8,456 recognised in 2020 related to restricted funds.

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|||| |---|---|---| |4.|Cost of raising funds| |2021|2020| |Wages and salaries|£7,304|£6,713|

----- End of picture text -----

All of the £6,713 expenditure recognised in 2020 was charged to restricted funds.

5. Cost of charitable activities

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|||||| |---|---|---|---|---| |Direct|Support| |Costs|Costs|2021|2020| |Civil society services|£319,605|£31,212|£350,817|£335,255| |══════ ══════ ═══════|══════|

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All of the £335,255 expenditure recognised in 2020 was charged to restricted funds.

Greater London Volunteering Notes to the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2021

6.	Analysis of direct costs	2021	2020
		£	£
	Wages and salaries	194,587	189,570
	Redundancy/settlement costs	12,100	-
	Recruitment	1,437	3,988
	Consultancy fees/secondments	426	5,441
	Travel costs	-	579
	Project delivery costs	105,110	76,970
	Website costs	299	1,643
	Computer/equipment costs	125	2,920
	Network days/conference	1,908	6,859
	Legal fees	3,156	1,152
	Other direct costs	457	1,150
		───────	──────
		£319,605	£290,272
		═══════	══════
7.	Analysis of support costs	2021	2020
		£	£
	Office costs	7,455	12,518
	Premises costs	18,122	23,538
	Marketing & promotion	-	3,397
	Governance costs (note 8)	5,635	5,530
		──────	──────
		£31,212	£44,983
		══════	══════
8.	Governance costs	2021	2020
		£	£
	Audit and accountancy fees	5,635	4,274
	Trustee meetings	-	114
	AGM/Annual report	-	1,142
		──────	──────
		£5,635	£5,530
		══════	══════

Greater London Volunteering Notes to the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2021

9. Net surplus/(deficit)

The net surplus or deficit is stated after charging:

	2021	2020
	£	£
Auditor’s remuneration:
Audit fees	1,824	1,440
Trustee remuneration	-	-
Operating leases	16,793	10,370
	══════	══════

No trustees were reimbursed during the year. (2020 – 3 trustees were reimbursed £114 for travel and stationery expenses) .

Staff costs	2021	2020
	£	£
Wages and salaries	178,561	172,082
Social Security costs	18,698	18,885
Pensions	8,632	8,316
Settlement agreement	12,100	-
NIC rebate	(4,000)	(3,000)
	──────	──────
	£213,991	£196,283
	══════	══════

One employee received total employee benefits (excluding employer pension costs) of between £60,000 - £69,999.

The average weekly number of employees during the period, calculated on the basis of full time equivalents was 5 (2020 – 5).

Total employee benefits received by key management amounted to £73,037 (2020 : £67,128).

Under FRS 102, employee benefits include gross salary, benefits in kind, employer’s national insurance and employer pension costs.

Greater London Volunteering Notes to the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2021

11.	Debtors	2021	2020
	Due within one year	£	£
	Prepayments	768	550
	Grants receivable	10,050	1,600
	Other Debtors	5,103	5,103
		─────	──────
		£15,921	£7,253
		═════	══════
12.	Creditors:
		2021	2020
	Amounts falling due within one year:	£	£
	Trade Creditors	24,069	7,018
	Deferred income	71,250	37,084
	Accruals	3,019	6,008
		──────	──────
		£98,338	£50,110
		══════	══════
	Deferred income analysis	2021	2020
		£	£
	Balances brought forward	37,084	101,070
	Additions during the year	71,250	37,084
	Amounts released to income	(37,084)	(101,070)
		──────	──────
	Balances carried forward	£71,250	£37,084
		══════	══════

Deferred income of £71,250 (2020 : £37,084) included above relates to grant income received during the year but relating to future accounting periods.

Greater London Volunteering Notes to the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2021

13. Movement in funds

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||||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---| |At|Transfers|At| |1 Apr|between|31 March| |2020|Income|Expenditure|funds|2021| |2021|£|£|£|£|£| |Restricted funds| |City Bridge Trust|18,662|283,884|218,882|-|83,664| |City Bridge Trust - London| |Community Response|-|50,000|50,000|-|-| |Greater London Authority|-|74,059|64,711|-|9,348| |National Academy for| |Social Prescribing|-|53,377|21,535|-|31,842| |Sport England|2,993|-|2,993|-|-| |────── ──────|───────|──────|─────| |21,655|461,320|358,121|-|124,854| |Unrestricted funds| |General Fund|48,605|-|-|-|48,605| |────── ──────|──────|──────|─────| |Total funds|£70,260|£461,320|£358,121|£Nil|£173,459| |══════ ══════|══════|══════|═════|

----- End of picture text -----

Each of the funds is described in the Trustees’ Annual Report.

Comparative information for the net movement in funds is as follows:

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||||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---| |At|Transfers|At| |1 Apr|between|31 March| |2019|Income|Expenditure|funds|2020| |2020|£|£|£|£|£| |Restricted funds| |City Bridge Trust|35,777|210,924|227,806|(233)|18,662| |Greater London Authority|-|32,900|32,900|-|-| |Trust for London|832|19,250|20,315|233|-| |Sport England|9,685|54,255|60,947|-|2,993| |────── ──────|───────|──────|─────| |46,294|317,329|341,968|-|21655| |Unrestricted funds| |General Fund|48,605|-|-|-|48,605| |────── ──────|──────|──────|─────| |Total funds|£94,899|£317,329|£341,968|£Nil|£70,260| |══════ ══════|══════|══════|═════|

----- End of picture text -----

Greater London Volunteering Notes to the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2021

14. Analysis of net assets between funds

	Restricted	Unrestricted	Total
	£	£	£
2021
Current assets	223,192	48,605	271,797
Current liabilities	(98,338)	-	(98,338)
	──────	──────	──────
Total funds	£124,854	£48,605	£173,459
	══════	══════	══════

Comparative information for the net assets between funds is as follows:

	Restricted	Unrestricted	Total
	£	£	£
2020
Current assets	71,765	48,605	120,370
Current liabilities	(50,110)	-	(50,110)
	──────	──────	──────
Total funds	£21,655	£48,605	£70,260
	══════	══════	══════

15. Related parties

Due to GLV’s status as an umbrella body for London based volunteer centres, a number of GLV trustees are involved with the governance/management of these organisations. The work of GLV is such that a number of transactions arose with some of these organisations as part of its routine charitable activity on several contracts. The trustees are satisfied that all such transactions have been carried out on an arm’s length basis.

16. Commitments

Minimum lease payments under non-cancellable operating leases fall due as follows:

	2021	2020
	£	£
Within one year	8,505	16,696
Between one and five years	-	8,505
	──────	──────
	£8,505	£25,201
	══════	══════

Greater London Volunteering Notes to the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2021

Acknowledgements

The Trustees would like to acknowledge the hard work of our team. Thanks to Martin Brookes, Chief Executive (January 2020 - present.) And thanks to our wonderful staff team: Emily Coatham (London Plus Coordinator), Leah Whittingham (Networks and Partnerships Manager, August 2018 - December 2020); Navinder Kaur (Networks and Partnership Manager August 2019 – August 2020); Lucy Smith (Social Research and Data Lead, November 2019 – April 2021); Stephanie McKinley (Social Prescribing Network Manager); Anousha Khan (Communications Officer); Aaron Loose (Communications Intern, November 2020 - January 2021) plus the many staff and volunteers in partner organisations who worked with us to deliver services during the 12 month period to 31 March 2021.

And a particular thanks to our funders for their support of our work:

City Bridge Trust Greater London Authority The National Academy for Social Prescribing Sport England