2021-03-31-accounts

This text was generated using OCR and may contain errors. Check the original PDF to see the document submitted to the regulator.

Company number: 06396687 Charity Number: 1122206

SPEAR Housing Association Limited

Report and financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2021

SPEAR Housing Association Limited

For the year ended 31 March 2021

Reference and administrative information ...................................................................................... 1 Message from the Chair and CEO .................................................................................................... 3 Trustees’ annual report .................................................................................................................. 5 Independent auditor’s report ....................................................................................................... 25 Statement of financial activities (incorporating an income and expenditure account) ................... 29 Balance sheet ............................................................................................................................... 30 Statement of cash flows ................................................................................................................ 31 Notes to the financial statements ................................................................................................. 32

SPEAR Housing Association Limited

Reference and administrative information

For the year ended 31 March 2021

Company number	06396687
Country of incorporation	United Kingdom
Charity number	1122206
Country of registration	England & Wales
Registered office and	9 Briar Road
operational address	Twickenham
	TW2 6RB
Trustees	Trustees, who are	also directors under company law, who
	served during the	year and up to the date of this report were
	as follows:
	Paul Doe	Chair
	Duncan Richford	Vice Chair
	Jack Stephen
	Fiona Barrett
	Kai Bilimoria
	Nigel Bloomer
	Charlotta Campanale
	Jonathan Cardy
	Alex Doig
	Grant Healy
	Wim Overeynder
	Christine Reay
	Rachel Smith	(resigned 20 September 2020)
Company Secretary	Tim Fallon
Key management	Tim Fallon	Chief Executive (appointed 11 May 2020)
personnel	Susan Philpott	Interim Chief Executive (to 8 May 2020)
	Mark Gay	Interim Finance Director
		(1 April 2020 to 8 December 2021)
	Nadine Clewes	Interim Finance Director
		(appointed 9 December 2021)
	Donna Marshall	Finance Director (died 9 April 2020)
	Heidi Shrimpton	Head of Fundraising & Communications
		(left 31 December 2021)
	Lesleigh Bounds	Director Strategic Operations
		(left 11 June 2021)

SPEAR Housing Association Limited

Reference and administrative information

For the year ended 31 March 2021

Mark Taylor Acting Operations Director (appointed June 2021) Malcolm Tyndall Interim Director of Fundraising & Engagement (appointed 20 December 2021 – permanent postholder due to start 1 March 2022) Bankers CAF Bank Limited 25 Kings Hill Avenue West Malling Kent ME19 4JQ Solicitors Russell Cooke LLP Bishop’s Palace House Kingston-Upon-Thames KT1 1QN Auditor Sayer Vincent LLP Chartered Accountants and Statutory Auditor Invicta House 108-114 Golden Lane LONDON EC1Y 0TL

SPEAR Housing Association Limited

Message from the Chair and CEO

For the year ended 31 March 2021

Message from the Chair and CEO

Welcome to SPEAR’s Annual Report for 2020/21. According to the CHAIN (Combined Homelessness and Information Network) Report, although the numbers of rough sleepers across London went up by 3% last year, they are double that of five years ago – with over 11,000 people found sleeping rough across London.

At SPEAR, a record number of 1,017 people accessed SPEAR’s services last year. During this challenging time, homelessness charities, including SPEAR, worked in partnership with Local Authorities to respond to the crisis of supporting rough sleepers off the streets, whilst preventing the spread of Covid-19.

Following the ‘Everyone In’ initiative, which commenced at the end of March 2020 to provide all rough sleepers with a place to stay safe amidst the pandemic and lockdowns, our SPEAR teams worked tirelessly and swiftly to find emergency accommodation for rough sleepers such as B&Bs, hotels and university lets; whilst also brokering longer-term accommodation and support across our standard SPEAR services, including hostels, shared houses (HMOs) and independent flats. Our Outreach Workers worked with a higher number of people with complex needs and entrenched rough sleepers, challenging our resources. Across our services, we continued to provide vital support such as confidence building, peer mentoring, training and skills, employment, and physical and mental health support, but had to adapt some of these services to make them Covid-19 safe.

Our Service Users (clients) played a key role in shaping our services, with two client surveys conducted by volunteers and SPEAR clients to gain feedback. Over 88% of the clients who responded said they were happy with the overall services SPEAR provides. We also identified where further support is needed, such as the teaching of more computer skills, healthy cooking, sport and access to counselling.

None of our work would have been possible without the tremendous support from the Local Authorities, commissioners, supporters, funders and volunteers. Like many charities, we faced the loss of community and corporate events but were overwhelmed at how this was replaced by Covid19 grants, individual donors and online community support. New funding partnerships from the Local Authorities were commissioned, our existing funders adapted to support our emerging Covid19 needs and we welcomed new funders on board. We were even involved in the ‘Make Some Noise’ campaign on Global’s Radio stations – with one of our clients headlined on prime-time Classic FM, Heart, Capital Xtra and LBC.

This combined support enabled our charity to increase income in 2020/21, meaning we could continue to respond to the high numbers of people needing help. Financially, we felt the stresses and strains of the pandemic with many unbudgeted costs emerging, but due to overwhelming support and some unexpected and generous donations and grants, we covered our costs and ended the year with a surplus.

SPEAR Housing Association Limited

Message from the Chair and CEO

For the year ended 31 March 2021

Our Volunteers too were remarkable, offering additional and niche support, such as sorting and delivering food parcels and other essentials and processing donated laptops for our clients. Some helped with our Client Covid-19 Survey, befriending and mentoring while others are now setting up healthy eating cookery classes and yoga classes. Even our clothing volunteers found new ways to deliver their service.

We know we face more hurdles ahead as new challenges emerge. The pandemic highlighted the importance of digital inclusion and many of our properties are not yet fully resourced to enable this for our clients – we need new and additional Wi-Fi systems as well as more training and equipment.

Special measures were put in place during Covid to help prevent homelessness through tenants being evicted for rent arrears. With these measures ending in May 2021, tenants with rent arrears are no longer protected. These challenges alongside the mental health impact of the pandemic and relationships breaking down are all factors contributing to homelessness. We urgently need longerterm accommodation solutions, and more bed spaces and properties available to house people impacted by homelessness.

This has been a year like no other and the importance of supporting those people experiencing homelessness is as pressing as ever. We ask all of you to continue to find ways to support SPEAR, so that we can endeavour to stay strong and resilient for those in most need of our help. Together, we strive to End Homelessness.

Paul Doe, Chair of Trustees

Tim Fallon, CEO

SPEAR Housing Association Limited

Trustees’ Annual Report

For the year ended 31 March 2021

Trustees’ Report

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

Reference and administrative information set out on pages 1 and 2 forms part of this report. The financial statements comply with current statutory requirements, the memorandum and articles of association and the Statement of Recommended Practice - Accounting and Reporting by Charities: SORP applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with FRS 102.

Objectives and activities

The objectives of the charity are:

The relief of persons in need who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless, including, but not limited to, those with substance misuse problems by providing accommodation, services and advice so as to help increase the independence and decrease the marginalisation in society of such persons; and
To undertake research into homelessness for the public benefit.

The trustees review the aims, objectives, and activities of the charity regularly. This report looks at what the charity has achieved and the outcomes of its work in the reporting period. The trustees report the success of each key activity and the benefits the charity has brought to those groups of people that it is set up to help. The review also helps the trustees ensure the charity's aims, objectives and activities remained focused on its stated purposes.

The trustees have referred to the guidance contained in the Charity Commission's general guidance on public benefit when reviewing the charity's aims and objectives and in planning its future activities. In particular, the trustees consider how planned activities will contribute to the aims and objectives that have been set.

The charity's main activities and who it tries to help are described below. All its charitable activities focus on homeless individuals and are undertaken to further SPEAR’s charitable purposes for the public benefit.

SPEAR Housing Association Limited

Trustees’ Annual Report

For the year ended 31 March 2021

Our Approach and Values

SPEAR is a charity for people experiencing homelessness in South West London.

We build communities in which those people suffering from homelessness have a place to call home and the help they need to lead a fulfilling independent life.

We recognise that homelessness is much more than just a housing issue, so we provide a range of support services to help our clients reach their full potential, always operating from our values:

Working together: We work alongside service users, partners, staff, and volunteers to design and provide services that meet the needs of those experiencing homelessness. Together we overcome challenges.

Aspirational: We aim high, aspiring to achieve the very best outcomes for our clients. We see potential in everyone, and encourage our clients to achieve their own goals, dreams, and ambitions. We aspire to the highest standards of professionalism.

Respectful: We respect everyone, regardless of their background or circumstances. We view everyone as an individual with their own personal journey. We always listen to and value people’s views.

Determined: We work tirelessly to support people experiencing homelessness to recover from their personal issues. We break down the barriers they face.

Visionary: We try new and innovative ways to provide long-term solutions and reduce the isolation of homelessness. We are always willing to take a new approach, learning from what works (and what doesn’t) and use this to guide our work.

Diversity, inclusion and equity

Diversity, inclusion and equity are at the heart of what SPEAR does and it is important that all people representing our organisation including staff, volunteers and peer mentors represent SPEAR’s values in this area. We are committed to ensuring that our services are accessible and reach all members of the communities we serve and that all our clients are treated fairly and respectfully. Where possible, we record information around the diversity of our clients on our database so we can better understand the demographics of the community we are working with and adapt our services accordingly. We have an open complaints process that can be accessed by clients and volunteers who wish to raise any concerns.

SPEAR Housing Association Limited

Trustees’ Annual Report

For the year ended 31 March 2021

SPEAR is an inclusive employer. We are committed to maintaining a culture of diversity, inclusion and equity. We do not tolerate discrimination, harassment or victimisation. Everyone we work with is treated equally and with respect, irrespective of race, colour, religion, national origin, sex, disability, age, marital status or sexual orientation. We have set up a Diversity Strategy Group and also started more processes for collecting feedback and information around diversity, inclusion and equity from our staff, volunteers and clients in order to improve our services for the future.

Our Beneficiaries and Achievements

SPEAR is an inclusive organisation supporting a range of people experiencing homelessness in South West London. We work with young people, aged 16 – 25 and adult men and women, including women who have experienced domestic violence. We support people off the streets and those at imminent risk of homelessness into accommodation, including supported hostels, shared houses, and independent flats. We assist people with their physical and mental health, addiction issues and their skills, education, and employment - helping them sustain their tenancies, pursue personal goals and aspirations, and move towards more independent living. Our clients are at the centre of our work and we have a Service Involvement Group who meet regularly and feedback on our services. This includes encouraging people to train as accredited Peer Mentors in order to support and help others.

Achievements and Performance

Our key impacts on homelessness in 2020-21:

1,017 (2020: 950) people accessed SPEAR’s services

196 people or 19% were female (2020: 23%)
148 people or 14% (2020: 14%) were under the age of 25

Providing Housing:

We worked with 686 (2020: 620) verified rough sleepers across 4 boroughs
We provided supported housing for 200 (2020: 210) people and also brokered
● Accommodation for another 307 people

Improving Health:

We supported over 81 people (2020: 104) to improve their health. We are supporting a current caseload of over 175 clients with their health
144 people registered with a GP (2020: 72)
We reduced the use of emergency health services such as A&E attendances by 45% (2020: 56%)

SPEAR Housing Association Limited

Trustees’ Annual Report

For the year ended 31 March 2021

Women's Services:

We provided supported housing tenancies to 32 women (2020: 48)

Young People's Services:

48 (2020: 33) young people were supported into education, training, and employment

Community Development and Innovation:

We supported 257 (2020: 181) homeless people to develop their skills
34 (2020: 15) people gained employment
106 (2020: 27) people have engaged with in-house training
108 (2020: 61) people have engaged in pre-employment training
75 (2020: 22) people contributed to their local community through volunteering

Covid-19 Crisis:

Following the Government’s “Everyone In” directive announced at the start of the pandemic in March 2020, SPEAR quickly reacted to move people from the streets to safe, more selfcontained locations where they could adequately practice measures to self-isolate. We worked with a large number of rough sleepers with a range of complex needs covering a wide geographic area.

SPEAR also made the Covid vaccine available to clients through regular drop-in vaccine opportunities (in partnership with the NHS). At the time of writing this report, 184 SPEAR clients have had the Covid-19 vaccine and this continues to increase.

Listening to our clients

SPEAR conducted a Client Satisfaction Survey in March-May 2021 to receive feedback on how clients felt about the services and programmes provided to them. This was particularly important as clients have been through some very difficult times during the Covid Pandemic. Clients were asked how they think SPEAR could improve and on ideas for future programmes.

577 clients were contacted and 142 completed the survey. Getting in touch with so many people would not have been possible without the incredible help of our volunteers. From the results, we are happy to report:

88% of clients are happy with the overall services SPEAR supports them with.
Over 80% of clients feel they can quickly get in touch with their SPEAR support worker and see them as often as needed.
89% of clients felt they could talk with their support worker about their circumstances and any issues they are facing.

SPEAR Housing Association Limited

Trustees’ Annual Report

For the year ended 31 March 2021

Clients suggested a range of multi-disciplinary activities, with healthy cooking workshops and fitness sessions being most popular. They also suggested more face-to-face trips, computer skills and gardening. Young people would like to do more sports.

In terms of improving SPEAR’s services, participants suggested better access to counselling and more mental health training for staff.

STORIES FROM OUR YOUNG PEOPLE (aged 16 – 25)

Both Radek and Sam were supported in SPEAR’s Young Person’s Hostel. We hear more about how they navigate through growing up into young adults – with the support of SPEAR:

Radek’s Story - Experiencing homelessness as a LGBT+ person – speaking out during LGBT+ History Month

Tell us a bit about yourself

Hi I’m Radek. I’ll be 20 years old in March, have Romany Gypsy heritage and I am gay. I was part of a large family and community, I played with my cousins a lot when I was young. I knew I was gay from a very young age but had to hide it, it was frowned upon in the community and your family would disown you. Success in the community means getting married and having lots of children to continue your family, my cousins were having babies, but I couldn’t do that. I was in an awkward situation, it felt like I had a spotlight on me and it was really scary.

I think my cousins knew, I was bullied a lot for acting femininely. A few years went by and my family gradually stopped talking to me. I met a guy, we started dating and that’s when I came out. It was difficult to tell my mum because she shared the same prejudices, she didn’t accept it for a very long time.

My mum often kicked me out of my home so I had to sleep under the bridge for a year or so. I also sought refuge at my friend’s house. My mum had a new boyfriend who is also Romany Gypsy and he did not accept me, which caused more friction in the family. I felt like I was pushed out onto the streets.

How are you coping now?

The difference between now and living with my family is I can receive support and be more outgoing. While I was living in SPEAR’s youth hostel I went on trips to the theatre, to the cinema, and to visit the Media, Art and Design campus at the University of Westminster for a tour. I am a founding member of our Art Club, and use my skills and time to support peers with their creative projects. My SPEAR key worker has helped me to access support around budgeting, employment, and living independently.

SPEAR Housing Association Limited

Trustees’ Annual Report

For the year ended 31 March 2021

It’s still hard having to share accommodation with other people who are not the same as me. Some people can be closed-minded. I have received homophobic comments.

My mum only recently started to accept that I’m gay, I think because she realises I can’t change who I am and I am still her child. We spend time more with each other and I feel we’re now on the same page about a lot of things, whereas before I had to hide things from her. I can open up about dating and ask her for relationship advice.

What are you looking forward to?

I’ve realised from moving to different hostels that no matter where you go, even in life, there is always a small number of people that treat you negatively, but you can’t let it get to you. I’d rather move on than be sad for the rest of my life. The good thing is there are even more people that agree with you. I’m grateful to have good friends around me who are supportive and have put me up when I had nowhere to go. They are just as close to me as family.

I’d like to find a permanent job, I’m creative want to do something related to the arts at a gallery or museum. Before the pandemic, I really enjoyed the art club at SPEAR to create and experiment different styles of art. During lockdown I was invited to an online introductory session on Philosophy where we took the example of Theseus’ Ship as a way of discussing identity, which led to introspecting our own identities as humans and persons. SPEAR is helping me to sign up to more workshops when lockdown ends as well as supporting me to polish my CV and apply for jobs.

What does LGBT+ History Month mean to you?

It’s really good to shed light on people who don’t receive as much recognition or who were persecuted for being different. You aren’t really taught in schools about LGBT+ people, I feel more exposure would encourage people to learn about famous LGBT+ people who made historic contributions, such as Alan Turing who cracked the Enigma code and invented the first computer.

Sam’s Story – shared in SPEAR’s December Seasonal Letter

My name is Sam and 2020 has been a very strange year for me. I know I’m not alone in experiencing unexpected hardship when lockdown changed everything. There have been real lows and some really good experiences, I know it’s a cliché, but ‘rollercoaster’ is probably the best way to sum it up.

So, did Lockdown make me homeless? Well no, not exactly - that happened years ago when I had a ‘relationship breakdown’. Not with my partner - no, this hurt far worse. It was with my family, when I found that I had to leave and look after myself - I was only 16.

SPEAR Housing Association Limited

Trustees’ Annual Report

For the year ended 31 March 2021

Would you have seen me as homeless? Some people thought I did ok. After all I didn’t end up on the street, so most people didn’t see me as homeless. I was able to support myself by getting jobs and yes - I had a roof over my head, but I was definitely homeless. I was doing what you call ‘sofa surfing’, moving from friend to friend, staying for a bit, then moving on when you know that you really are starting to get in the way. I had no space to call my own, no place to call home and never any idea how long I could stay.

Everybody deserves a place to call home, don’t they?

But physically I was ok, after all not on the street; but in my head, a different story - confused and on my own. I know now that it was depression, not really understanding why I’d been rejected. Why couldn’t I be like other 16-year olds and live with my family? Without somewhere of my own I just couldn’t get past it.

So how long? Well I’m 22 this year. Six years and no change - still working, still travelling from sofa to sofa. Then came March 16th 2020: Lockdown. Social Distancing. Not really compatible with being an extra body in a small flat is it? So, six years after becoming homeless I actually became what people think of as homeless, you know sleeping rough on the streets.

This suddenly felt very real and kind of unreal at the same time. I couldn’t even spend time at work, as working in the service industry meant I’d lost my job as well. No place to live, no money and no place to go. I know it seems a lifetime ago, but if you can remember that first week of lockdown all you could hear was “Stay at Home to Save Lives”. Well, how could I? You couldn’t even ask for help, as the streets were deserted. This really was my lowest moment. You have no idea how scary it was out in the open and I just felt I was sure to catch Covid.

Without being able to look after myself properly, would I be able to survive it?

What some call an Outreach Shift, I call a lifesaver. Just imagine it, going to sleep in a dark corner after several nights of doing the same, no hope that anything would change. Imagine my surprise when being woken up in the middle of the night by some stranger saying that she could get me somewhere to stay.

I can’t exaggerate how amazing it was meeting Jo, a SPEAR Outreach Worker, while I was huddled asleep out of sight in Richmond. I don’t know what would have happened if I’d not been found. How did Jo know where I was?

Perhaps someone saw me and told SPEAR? if that was you, thanks for reaching out.

A place to call my own. Jo told me the good news, SPEAR was out and about in SW London getting everyone in. Everyone who was homeless on the street was being given a place to live. This time social distancing was on my side. After six years of being on someone else’s sofa or floor I could be

SPEAR Housing Association Limited

Trustees’ Annual Report

For the year ended 31 March 2021

by myself - which was great until the door closed behind me. Four walls of a hotel room and just the TV for company. Off the streets, but definitely still homeless.

So, three months of solitude? It could have been like that, but SPEAR not only helped me to isolate; they also mean what they say about homelessness to independence. They made sure I had the basics - enough food and toiletries. Volunteers would give me a call once a week, a chance to have a chat to someone other than myself. Their health team made sure I was signed up with a doctor, so that if anything happened I could get help. But it wasn’t just my physical health they took care of. They used this time to help me start looking at what had started all this and really work through things and deal with my feelings.

Moving On. It wasn’t too long before they found me somewhere more stable to live, but that wasn’t the end. They kept working with me, giving me cooking lessons, helping me look for jobs, and even music workshops. It was so good to do something for fun - to be treated as a person, with my own hobbies, hopes and ambitions. They’ve now given me a laptop and are starting me on online courses. After six years of barely getting by,

I now have something I thought I’d lost - hope and a future. SPEAR have given me back my dignity.

I know from talking to SPEAR, this has been the busiest year they’ve ever had. They’ve not only helped me, but they’ve supported more people than ever. With lockdown there was so much we needed, but you have come through for SPEAR, again and again. You really changed my life.

As my story ends somebody else’s is beginning. As I said at the start, a ‘rollercoaster’ year but ending in a good place. However, looking at the news of job losses and evictions starting up, I know that other people’s stories are just starting. If you can help SPEAR, you really will change people’s lives for the better.

Our Volunteers and Supporters

We wouldn’t be able to help the lives of the people experiencing homelessness without the incredible support of our trustees, volunteers and supporters. Our volunteers make our work stronger and bring new skills. The entirety of the last financial year coincided with the Covid-19 pandemic shut down and this immediately impacted our ability to run a full volunteering programme. Due to the need of social distancing and Covid-19 safety measures, many volunteering activities were by individual volunteers on a one-to-one basis, rather than some of our standard group volunteer activities. However, our volunteering programme was adapted to be very focussed on urgent need emerging such as food parcel deliveries, sorting essential supplies, and supporting digital inclusion and the wellbeing of our clients. We were amazed at how our volunteers adapted to provide a bespoke and high-quality service, even though some of our overall number of volunteering hours reduced due to reduced group activity.

SPEAR Housing Association Limited

Trustees’ Annual Report

For the year ended 31 March 2021

120 people (2020: 154) volunteered their time to support in some capacity.
Volunteers donated 1,895 (2020: 3,726) hours of their time.
59 SPEAR clients/peer mentors volunteered 734 (2020: 369) hours of their time (13 peer mentors and 46 client volunteers). One peer mentor volunteer in particular amassed 477 hours alone.
We estimate that volunteering roles contributed over £31,514 (2020: £ 57,000) of value to SPEAR.

Volunteer roles during this Covid-19 financial year included: peer mentor volunteering support, fundraising support, volunteer drivers, befriending/mentoring, outreach volunteers, digital mentoring and digital maintenance support, clothing pop up support, property maintenance, gardeners, media and communication professionals. Additionally, our Trustees continued to provide expertise and governance throughout the financial year.

We also had incredible valuable professional support, including: communications, film & photography and property maintenance – all offering their expertise and skills. This helped us save money and professionalise our services. Volunteers produced many pro-bono SPEAR films about our work, particularly focussed around our response to the Covid-19 pandemic – available on SPEAR’s YouTube channel.

Award Winning

Two Awards were won this year for volunteering and we were delighted that both of these were won by SPEAR clients.

Andy White, a peer mentor volunteer who was previously homeless, contributed an astonishing 474 hours volunteering and was presented an Award at the Kingston Mayor’s Community Awards for “outstanding service to the Royal Borough during the coronavirus pandemic”.

Meanwhile volunteer Kas, who was also previously homeless, achieved the UK Youth Inspiring Hope Young Person Award, which had over 350 nominees. The group described Kas’s “tireless work supporting and uplifting residents in their young persons’ hostel throughout the pandemic”.

Communication and Online Support

The lack of physical events and activities due to Covid restrictions, both on the client side and supporter side, has made it challenging to generate content. Nevertheless, the Communications team has adapted and innovated to keep followers engaged and generate new interest, evident in the increase of website and social media figures. Press releases and newsletters have reached almost 99,000 email boxes. More resources given to manage our free Google Ads Grant has resulted SPEAR ads being shown over 153,000 times on Google. With the help of corporate and individual volunteers, we have been able to publish at least one client or staff interview each month in written and video formats. This year, the Communications remit has also spread to cover internal staff

SPEAR Housing Association Limited

Trustees’ Annual Report

For the year ended 31 March 2021

communication and on-site messaging with the installation of a digital display at the Hub for clients, visitors and staff.

Finally, nearly £100,000 was raised online from online events and individual donations, with more people embracing digital giving and online events during the Pandemic year (2020: £51,000 online). This was the highest ever raised online, demonstrating the importance of effective online communications. We also benefitted from the Global, Make Some Noise campaign which not only raised £55,000 for SPEAR but also highlighted our work to new global audiences. Other significant radio coverage included the Robert Elms Show on BBC London Radio.

39,915 people visiting our website (2020: 29,285)
2,514 Twitter followers (2020: 2,291)
1,025 Instagram followers (2020: 800)
Plus, increased followers on Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube

Financial review

SPEAR reported a net surplus in the year of £ 239,698 (2020: deficit £ 511,512).

Total incoming resources for the year increased to £ 5,155,330 from £ 4,081,271, an increase of 26% (2020: increase 27%).

In summary, income comprises:

54% (2020: 55%) commissioned services from London Boroughs of Richmond, Wandsworth, Kingston, Sutton and Merton;
11% (2020: 9%) from Trusts for specific related homeless services;
25% (2020: 28%) from rent, service charge and housing benefit income on hostels and supported housing;
10% (2020: 7%) from donations, legacies and events organised by our fundraising team;
less than 1% (2020: 1%) bank and investments interest receivable.

Unrestricted income for the year increased to £ 1,714,784 from £ 1,485,281 last year, an increase of 15%. This arose principally from the increase in one off large donations from generous benefactors, plus an increase in rent and service charge income from hostels, supported housing schemes and owned housing and Almshouses, increasing our short term HMO’s in Sutton offset by some loss of rental income due to COVID affecting use of shared bedspaces to allow social distancing.

Restricted income for the year increased to £ 3,440,546 from £ 2,595,990 last year, an increase of 32%. This arose principally from the expansion of rough sleeper services across the London Boroughs with SPEAR being commissioned to deliver Next Steps Accommodation programme (NSAP) and Rough Sleepers Accommodation programme (RSAP), plus an increase in specific grants over the COVID period supporting SPEAR delivery of services during a challenging period.

SPEAR Housing Association Limited

Trustees’ Annual Report

For the year ended 31 March 2021

Our expenditure for the year increased to £ 4,915,632 from £ 4,592,783 last year, an increase of £ 322,000 or 7%. Staff costs represented 67% (2020: 68%) of expenditure, with average headcount decreasing to 101 from 109.

Analysis of our expenditure shows that we spent 69% (2020: 71%) on charitable activities, 25% (2020: 22%) on support costs, 5% (2020: 4%) on fundraising, and 1% (2020: 3%) on governance.

This increase in expenditure reflects growth with increased activity and continuous support for established housing schemes and rough sleeper services which operate across South West London.

Total funds increased by 3% to £ 7,543,515 from £ 7,303,817 following the £ 240,000 one-off surplus in the year, following the disappointing higher than expected deficit in the previous year.

Cash and cash equivalents – Total cash and cash equivalents at 31 March 2021 totalled £ 6,152,353 (2020: £ 5,782,374). £ 438,000 was generated from operating activities (2020: used in operations £ 808,000), £ 29,000 (2020: £ 66,000) on capital expenditure and £ 43,000 in additional investments, leading to a net increase in cash and cash equivalents of £ 370,000 (2020: reduction of £ 854,406).

Reserves policy and going concern

Trustees have examined the requirement for free reserves i.e. unrestricted funds not invested in tangible fixed assets or designated for specific purposes. As reported in previous years, the Trustees are aiming at free reserves to cover operational activities from unrestricted income for at least 3 months, moving to 6 months over time. As of 31 March 2021, the unrestricted general reserves, totalled £ 1,428,471, which represents approximately 3.4 months of expected average expenditure (at 31 March 2020: unrestricted general funds were £1,080,017, being approximately 3 months of expected average spend).

At 31 March 2021 the Company had designated reserves as follows:

Future property cyclical maintenance to cover obligations totalling £ 1,129,972 (2020: £ 1,195,406). The required sums are reviewed annually based on potential planned repairs and renewals.
An amount of £ 953,691 (2020: £ 956,691), designated to cover the legal and refurbishment costs of property acquisition which cannot be funded under the terms of the restricted endowment fund. SPEAR intends to expend these funds over the medium term.

The Reserves Policy is reviewed annually by the Audit and Risk Committee and approved by the Trustees.

SPEAR Housing Association Limited

Trustees’ Annual Report

For the year ended 31 March 2021

Restricted Funds may only be used for the purposes specified by the donor and only expenditure meeting these criteria is allocated to each fund. Any grants which remain unspent at the year-end will be held as restricted reserves subject to any specific funding terms attached to the grants. These may only be used for the projects in accordance with the terms of the grants received.

SPEAR Endowment Trust

During 2018, Quintus Housing Trust became part of the SPEAR family, changing its name to the “SPEAR Endowment Trust” (SET). SET’s financial results are included in the SPEAR accounts since the year ended 31 March 2019.

The asset base of the SPEAR group has been significantly strengthened due to the merger, with access to a permanent endowment in two parts. First, an initial 23 additional units of accommodation over 5 sites; secondly, £ 4m in restricted funds to be used for the purchase of property with a transfer of £ 2.4m funds designated to meet acquisition and improvement costs and maintenance obligations. These funds will enable us to seek out potential property acquisitions within South-West London to provide much needed accommodation for our service users and /or bases from which to operate.

At 31 March 2021 the Endowment Fund amounted to £ 3,976,260 (31 March 2020: £ 3,995,779).

The most recent property candidate, explored in 19/20 and 20/21 was a large property that would have spent approx. 40% of the endowment; however, the purchase did not proceed. During the Covid period, property acquisition activity was largely put on hold; SPEAR was fully engaged in dealing with emergency measures to support a large increase in homelessness. SPEAR is currently sourcing external property expertise to assist us to spend the endowment. Over the medium-term SPEAR intends to supplement the endowment with a capital appeal, grants and loans to enable it to buy more properties than with the endowment alone.

Principal risks and uncertainties

SPEAR’s Audit & Risk Committee reviews major risks facing the charity. The Committee reviews a Risk Register, which was updated during the year, updating the full Trustee Board as required.

The overriding challenge at the end of the financial year was to ensure organisational, homelessness support service and financial stability following the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown which started in March 2020.

SPEAR Housing Association Limited

Trustees’ Annual Report

For the year ended 31 March 2021

Principal Risks during the year were identified as:

Risk	Response
Loss of commissioned / contracted service income or loss -making contracts leading to financial instability	SPEAR regularly reviews financial as well as operational metrics on a contract by contract basis. The budgeting processes involve input and responsibility by budget owners.
Not realising occupancy and / or rental income targets to cover costs of operation of housing stock	SPEAR is implementing stronger financial controls and review over rental income and housing management policy. Operational and senior managers now meet weekly to manage voids and arrears.
Client Safeguarding	SPEAR has effective policies & procedures to manage safeguarding and other incidents. All cases are reported to the SMT and Board.
Health and Safety compliance	Following the Grenfell Tower tragedy all possible steps have been taken to mitigate fire risks; and compliance reviews are ongoing. All services and premises are risk assessed for compliance with H&S requirements, including COVID, using an HSE template.
Repeated annual financial deficits threatening the sustainability of SPEAR	A break-even budget has been set for 21/22. Financial reporting has been improved to monitor the performance of all activities of SPEAR versus budget. The Trustees review the level of Reserves to ensure the Company is appropriately funded and has sufficient cashflow for ongoing operations.
Short-term nature (less than 12 months) of funding for SPEAR services	Staffing, property and other expenditure commitments are matched to funding periods wherever possible.

SPEAR Housing Association Limited

Trustees’ Annual Report

For the year ended 31 March 2021

COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdown in March 2020 presented an unprecedented set of challenges for our work with homeless, vulnerable and socially excluded people. Our priority throughout the crisis has been the safety and wellbeing of our clients and staff. The COVID-19 pandemic presents special risks to the people we work with, many of whom have long-term physical health conditions and/or compromised immune systems, meaning that they are at great risk of harm if they contract the virus. Protecting people living and working in our hostels and supported accommodation, much of which is ill-suited to social distancing and self-isolation, was an immediate concern. We were also committed to maintaining services for people living in the community who were already vulnerable and isolated, and who relied on us for ongoing support.

In the period following year-end SPEAR has experienced significant additional costs and reduced income directly attributable to the coronavirus pandemic. In the year we have managed to offset these through securing COVID-19 related funding from a mixture of sources: Central Government, local authorities and donations from charitable trusts, organisations, and individuals.

Fundraising practices review

All fundraising practices are framed within the values and principles of the organisation. Where expenditure is required to generate income, there is an analysis of the return on investment to ensure the organisation is able to make informed decisions regarding activities.

The SPEAR fundraising team are internal, and the organisation does not use external professional fundraisers. We do not employ the services of any fundraising agencies or third parties, nor have we run a telephone or door to door fundraising campaign. Our relationship with our supporters is very important to us and we do not wish for our supporters to feel under any pressure to donate to the charity. Where we partner with corporates, due diligence is conducted on the organisations and the amount of time and effort we as a charity needed to put in, versus the income we would likely receive. Clear parameters and responsibilities are then agreed between partners.

We have ensured we are in line with the GDPR data protection regulations and all other relevant codes of conduct. Our privacy statement can be found on our website at the link below:

- https://www.spearlondon.org/about us/privacy statements/

We received no complaints about our fundraising practices in 2020-21.

SPEAR Housing Association Limited

Trustees’ Annual Report

For the year ended 31 March 2021

Plans for the future

In 2020/21 (as in previous years), SPEAR was commissioned by four Local Authorities (LAs) to deliver services under year 3 of the Government’s Rough Sleeper Initiative (RSI 3).
In March 2020, as part of the Government’s ‘Everyone in’ initiative, SPEAR was commissioned by three LAs to find and verify rough sleepers, assist them into temporary hotels and accommodation and support them while they were isolating.
In September 2020 the Government announced funding allocations to Local Authorities for a follow-on programme of temporary accommodation and support to March 2021 called the Next Steps Accommodation Programme (NSAP). SPEAR was commissioned by three LAs to deliver this programme. We took on temporary properties and additional staff to support homeless people in this period.
In October 2020, the Government announced funding allocations to LAs for a longer-term programme of accommodation and support up to March 2024 called the Rough Sleepers Accommodation Programme (RSAP). SPEAR was commissioned by three LAs to deliver this programme. The LAs secured suitable properties and SPEAR took on additional staff to support homeless people over this period.
In November 2020 an RSI 4 programme was announced and SPEAR was again commissioned by four Local Authorities to deliver services under this and other homelessness programmes in the year 2021/22.
In November 2021 the Government launched what is expected to be a multi-year 3-year funding programme to address rough sleeping – RSI 2022 – 25 (“RSI 5”). Full details of this new programme have not yet been announced. However, multi-year funding will greatly assist SPEAR’s financial stability, ability to plan and staff recruitment & retention.

Looking further ahead, we are also planning to improve our service provision and build our partnerships across South London by:

Acquiring properties to provide more independent accommodation to homeless people, including use of the endowment and designated funds to acquire and /or renovate appropriate properties.
Fundraising for services to homeless people that complement commissioned services (digital inclusion, health & wellbeing, volunteering, employability).
Leasing properties to provide more shared supported housing schemes where commissioning requires these.
Increasing the number of current and ex-SPEAR service users volunteering and working at SPEAR.
Reviewing how technology can improve service delivery and the efficient management of the charity.

SPEAR Housing Association Limited

Trustees’ Annual Report

For the year ended 31 March 2021

Structure, governance, management and remuneration policy

The organisation is a charitable company limited by guarantee, incorporated on 11 October 2007 and registered as a charity on 7 January 2008.

The company was established under a memorandum of association which established the objects and powers of the charitable company and is governed under its articles of association.

At the year end the Board comprised of 12 members. No trustees received remuneration for their roles or were paid for any other activity relating to the charity in the year.

The Board is supported in discharging these responsibilities through the following sub-committees:

Audit and Risk Committee.
Personnel & Quality Assurance Committee; and
Operations Committee

This facilitates a greater depth of governance across all key areas of the charities activities, finances and internal infrastructure, policies and procedures.

Overall operational management of SPEAR is delegated to the Chief Executive. Throughout the year, the trustees, the Chief Executive, and the wider Senior Management Team monitored effectiveness and best practice. The Board approves SPEAR’s strategic and annual business plans; annual budgets; extraordinary expenditure in excess of agreed limits; strategic decisions; policies; employment terms and conditions, remuneration levels of key management personnel with reference to existing pay scales within the organisation and the housing sector in which SPEAR operates; and all decisions relating to governance.

All trustees give their time voluntarily and receive no benefits from the charity. No expenses were reclaimed from the charity during the year.

Trustees agreed that future trustee recruitment will aim to increase diversity within the Board.

Serious Incident Reporting

There are no incidents to report, as there has been: no loss of money or assets; no large donations from an unknown or unverifiable source; no links to terrorism or extremism; no damage to property.

Appointment of trustees

New trustees are recruited through advertising, and candidates are asked to attend an interview with the Chair and another trustee. During the year no new Trustees were appointed (year end 31 March 2020: 4), and one resigned.

SPEAR Housing Association Limited

Trustees’ Annual Report

For the year ended 31 March 2021

Trustee induction and training

On appointment, all Trustees undergo a formal induction process and training needs of trustees are reviewed regularly with a view to ensuring that trustees are kept up to date with their responsibilities.

Related parties and relationships with other organisations

SPEAR maintains no relations with, and no transactions were entered into with, related parties during the year 2020/21, with the exception of SET/Quintus Housing Trust as explained above.

Remuneration policy

Pay and remuneration of the charity’s key management personnel is set according to SPEAR’s Remuneration Policy and Procedure, which applies to all employees, is regularly reviewed following external expert advice. The policy includes a pay scale, controls for pay increases and bonuses, and benchmarking with comparable roles. All staff are paid at least the London Living Wage.

Funds held as custodian trustee on behalf of others

The charity holds no funds on behalf of others as custodian.

Statement of responsibilities of the trustees

The trustees (who are also directors of SPEAR for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the trustees’ annual report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

Company law requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state-of-affairs of the charitable company and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable company for that period.

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

Select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently
Observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP
Make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent
State whether applicable UK Accounting Standards and statements of recommended practice have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements

SPEAR Housing Association Limited

Trustees’ Annual Report

For the year ended 31 March 2021

Prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in operation

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

In so far as the trustees are aware:

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

The trustees are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial information included on the charitable company's website. Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.

Members of the charity guarantee to contribute an amount not exceeding £1 to the assets of the charity in the event of winding up. The total number of such guarantees at 31 March 2021 was 12 (2020: 13). The trustees are members of the charity but this entitles them only to voting rights. The trustees have no beneficial interest in the charity.

Auditor

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

The trustees’ annual report has been approved by the trustees on 17 January 2022 and signed on their behalf by:

Paul Doe Chair of trustees

SPEAR Housing Association Limited

Trustees’ Annual Report

For the year ended 31 March 2021

Thank You to Supporters and Volunteers

We would like to thank every donation of time, energy, financial support and gifts in kind.

COVID-19

This year covered the unprecedented Covid-19 period. Supporters and volunteers adapted and continued to support us through virtual events such as the 2.6 Challenge, a virtual Comedy Night, crowd funding appeals and generous individual giving. In addition, existing trust funders and new Covid-19 emergency funders were generous and flexible with grants. Volunteering too has taken a new approach but with some great successes such as virtual befriending, digital inclusion and food distribution projects. We have been overwhelmed at your support.

Your Generosity – Individuals, Community, Faith, Corporates, Trusts

Over £1.1m was raised for the 2020/21 year from fundraising including unrestricted voluntary donations from individuals and community, trusts and foundations, restricted funds, grants and Covid grants. This is compared to £ 756,000 raised overall in 2019/20.

Online giving doubled from the previous year (raising nearly £100,000) and our standing orders increased by 27% - these one-off and regular donations are very important to our sustainability. Our loyal and new trusts and foundations continued to generously support us and when required were adaptable with their funds, to adapt to Covid-19 needs.

The fundraising team worked with over 800 financial supporters in 2020/21 ranging from individuals, community groups, education, corporates and trusts and foundations.

Over 200 supporters gave hundreds of physical gifts to our charity from food donations, IT equipment, clothing and other essentials across many SPEAR locations.

People and funders generously responded to the urgent pandemic crisis impacting homelessness. Some unexpected, major unrestricted donations such as a donation for £99,999 and for £45,000 were kindly received by the charity. In addition, a number of Covid grants were successfully applied for – ranging from £1,000 up to £99,740. This also included the Global’s Make Some Noise grant and campaign, highlighting our work to new audiences on Global’s radio stations. These much needed Covid grants enabled the charity to cover vital additional unplanned Covid costs.

The charity also gratefully received a legacy of around £10,000. We wholeheartedly thank those who think of our charity for a legacy donation.

SPEAR Housing Association Limited

Trustees’ Annual Report

For the year ended 31 March 2021

Our fundraising is vital to raise money for our core services, ensuring our efficiency, reliance and sustainability and allowing our charity to be flexible to need. Also, for funding specific services such as: Community Development and Innovation (Skills Development), Homeless Health Link Service, some houses with multiple occupancy, Young Person’s (Springboard) Programme, Peer Mentoring, Wandsworth Rough Sleeper Outreach Worker posts.

We would like to thank all our supporters for their generosity over the last financial year. In particular we would like to give a special mention to:

The 2.6 Challenge, 29th May 1961 Charity, 90Ten, Agility Eco Services, Albert Hunt Trust, Avantia, Barnes Fund, Berkeley Foundation, Burntwood School, Belron Ronnie Lubner Charitable Foundation, Bloss & Beamer Memorial Trust, Calypso Browning Trust, Charlotte Wade Charity, Christ Church Teddington, City Bridge Trust, Comic Relief, CoMasonic Benevolent Fund, Crossword Cybersecurity, CVC Capital Partners, Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), Draper's Charitable Trust, Fine & Country Foundation, Garfield Weston Foundation, Global ‘Make Some Noise’, Halcrow Foundation, Hampton Fund, Hayburn Trust, Heathrow Community Trust, Howdens, John Laing Charitable Trust, Just Enjoy Yoga, Kate and Sarah Clothing Project, London Borough of Wandsworth Covid Response, London Community Foundation, London Funders, London Homeless Collective, Lotus and Laurel Yoga, Masonic Charitable Foundation, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), National Lottery Community Fund, People Against Dirty, People's Postcode Trust, PMM, QSix, Richmond Community Facebook Group, Richmond Parish Lands Charity, Seven Hills, Southeastern Asset Management International (UK) Ltd, St Andrew’s Church Ham, St George Plc, St James Twickenham, St Michael and All Angels, Streets of London, Surbiton High School, The Comms Co, The Margaret and David Walker Trust, The Masonic Province of Middlesex, The Queen's C of E Primary School, The Richmond Charities, The Trillium Trust, Tokio Marine Kiln, Waitrose, Wasteland, Whitton Baptist Church, Wilful Choir, Wimbledon Foundation Homelessness Fund.

Partners and statutory funding partnerships

We would like to acknowledge and thank the partners and commissioners we worked with:

Ministry of Housing, Community and Local Government (MHCLG), Greater London Authority (GLA), and local authority partners: London Boroughs of Richmond, Wandsworth, Kingston, Sutton and Merton for their contributions during a year in which SPEAR has increased the scale of its operations to meet growing demand from local people experiencing homelessness.

Independent auditor’s report

To the members of

SPEAR Housing Association Limited

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of SPEAR Housing Association Limited (the ‘charitable company’) for the year ended 31 March 2021 which comprise the statement of financial activities, balance sheet, statement of cash flows and notes to the financial statements, including significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including FRS 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

In our opinion, the financial statements:

Give a true and fair view of the state of the charitable company’s affairs as at 31 March 2021 and of its incoming resources and application of resources, including its income and expenditure for the year then ended
Have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice
Have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006

Basis for opinion

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

Conclusions relating to going concern

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

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

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

Independent auditor’s report

To the members of

SPEAR Housing Association Limited

Other Information

The other information comprises the information included in the trustees’ annual report, other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. The trustees are responsible for the other information contained within the annual report. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon. Our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the course of the audit, or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.

We have nothing to report in this regard.

Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006

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

The information given in the trustees’ annual report for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements; and
The trustees’ annual report, including the strategic report has been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements.

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the charitable company and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the trustees’ annual report. We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Companies Act 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:

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

Independent auditor’s report

To the members of

SPEAR Housing Association Limited

Responsibilities of trustees

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

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

Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

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

Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud are set out below.

Capability of the audit in detecting irregularities

In identifying and assessing risks of material misstatement in respect of irregularities, including fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulations, our procedures included the following:

We enquired of management and the Finance Committee, which included obtaining and reviewing supporting documentation, concerning the charity’s policies and procedures relating to:
Identifying, evaluating, and complying with laws and regulations and whether they were aware of any instances of non-compliance;
Detecting and responding to the risks of fraud and whether they have knowledge of any actual, suspected, or alleged fraud;
The internal controls established to mitigate risks related to fraud or non-compliance with laws and regulations.
We inspected the minutes of meetings of those charged with governance.

Independent auditor’s report

To the members of

SPEAR Housing Association Limited

We obtained an understanding of the legal and regulatory framework that the charity operates in, focusing on those laws and regulations that had a material effect on the financial statements or that had a fundamental effect on the operations of the charity from our professional and sector experience.
We communicated applicable laws and regulations throughout the audit team and remained alert to any indications of non-compliance throughout the audit.
We reviewed any reports made to regulators.
We reviewed the financial statement disclosures and tested these to supporting documentation to assess compliance with applicable laws and regulations.
We performed analytical procedures to identify any unusual or unexpected relationships that may indicate risks of material misstatement due to fraud.
In addressing the risk of fraud through management override of controls, we tested the appropriateness of journal entries and other adjustments, assessed whether the judgements made in making accounting estimates are indicative of a potential bias and tested significant transactions that are unusual or those outside the normal course of business.

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

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

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.

Noelia Serrano (Senior statutory auditor) 18 January 2022

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

SPEAR Housing Association Limited

Statement of financial activities (incorporating income and expenditure account)

For the year ended 31 March 2021

Unrestricted Restricted Note £ £ Income from: 3 411,834 - 4 1,299,212 3,440,546 5 3,738 - 1,714,784 3,440,546 6 240,171 - 6 1,195,011 3,460,931 1,435,182 3,460,931 7 279,602 (20,385) 279,602 (20,385) Reconciliation of funds: 3,270,288 37,750 3,549,890 17,365 Net movement in funds Total funds brought forward Total funds carried forward Raising funds Net income / (expenditure) for the year Total expenditure Charitable activities Investments Total income Expenditure on: Donations and legacies Charitable activities SPEAR	Unrestricted Restricted Note £ £ Income from: 3 411,834 - 4 1,299,212 3,440,546 5 3,738 - 1,714,784 3,440,546 6 240,171 - 6 1,195,011 3,460,931 1,435,182 3,460,931 7 279,602 (20,385) 279,602 (20,385) Reconciliation of funds: 3,270,288 37,750 3,549,890 17,365 Net movement in funds Total funds brought forward Total funds carried forward Raising funds Net income / (expenditure) for the year Total expenditure Charitable activities Investments Total income Expenditure on: Donations and legacies Charitable activities SPEAR	Unrestricted Restricted £ £ - - - - - - - - - 19,519 - 19,519 - (19,519) - (19,519) - 3,995,779 - 3,976,260 SPEAR Endowment Trust	Unrestricted Restricted £ £ - - - - - - - - - 19,519 - 19,519 - (19,519) - (19,519) - 3,995,779 - 3,976,260 SPEAR Endowment Trust	2021 Total £ 411,834 4,739,758 3,738	2020 Total £ 208,608 3,851,569 21,094
1,714,784	3,440,546	-	-	5,155,330	4,081,271
240,171 1,195,011	- 3,460,931		- 19,519	240,171 4,675,461	176,968 4,415,815
1,435,182	3,460,931	-	19,519	4,915,632	4,592,783
279,602	(20,385)	-	(19,519)	239,698	(511,512)
279,602 3,270,288	(20,385) 37,750	- -	(19,519) 3,995,779	239,698 7,303,817	(511,512) 7,815,329
3,549,890	17,365	-	3,976,260	7,543,515	7,303,817

All of the above results are derived from continuing activities. There were no other recognised gains or losses other than those stated above. Movements in funds are disclosed in Note 15 to the financial statements.

SPEAR Housing Association Limited

Company no. 06396687

Balance sheet

As at 31 March 2021

Note £ Fixed assets: 10 Current assets: 11 1,159,698 4,049 6,148,305 7,312,051 Liabilities: 12 (1,105,602) 14 Endowment fund Designated general funds - planned maintenance 1,129,972 Designated general funds - property development 953,691 1,466,227 Total unrestricted funds Creditors: amounts falling due within one year Net current assets Total assets less current liabilities Restricted income funds Unrestricted income funds: The funds of the charity: Total net assets Designated funds General funds Cash at bank and in hand Short term deposits Tangible assets Investments Debtors Total charity funds	2021 £ 1,289,969 47,097	£ 597,166 6,619 5,775,755	2020 £ 1,306,694 3,640
	1,337,066 6,206,449		1,310,334 5,993,483
7,312,051 (1,105,602)		6,379,540 (386,057)
1,129,972 953,691 1,466,227		1,195,406 956,691 1,118,191
	7,543,515		7,303,817
	7,543,515		7,303,817
	17,365 3,976,260 3,549,890		37,750 3,995,779 3,270,288

	7,543,515		7,303,817

Approved by the trustees on 17 January 2022 and signed on their behalf by:

Paul Doe Chair of Trustees

SPEAR Housing Association Limited

Statement of cash flows

For the year ended 31 March 2021

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

Net income (expenditure) for the reporting period (as per the statement of financial activities) Depreciation charges Dividends, interest and rent from investments (Increase) in debtors Increase in creditors and deferred income Net cash provided by/(used in) operating activities Note £ £ 438,441 3,737 Additions to investments (43,457) Additions to fixed assets (28,742) (68,462) 369,979 5,782,374 16 6,152,353 Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the year Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year Change in cash and cash equivalents in the year 2021 Cash flows from operating activities Net cash (used in) / provided by investing activities Net cash provided by/(used in) operating activities Cash flows from investing activities: Dividends, interest and rents from investments	2021 £ 239,698 45,467 (3,737) (562,533) 719,546	2020 £ (511,512) 58,250 (21,094) (375,956) 41,876
	438,441	(808,436)

369,979 5,782,374		(854,406) 6,636,780
6,152,353		5,782,374

SPEAR Housing Association Limited

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2021

1 Accounting policies

a) Statutory information

SPEAR Housing Association is a charitable company limited by guarantee and is incorporated in England and Wales.

The registered office address and principal place of business is 9 Briar Road, Twickenham, TW2 6RB.

b) Basis of preparation

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) - (Charities SORP FRS 102), the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) and the Companies Act 2006.

These accounts consist of the accounts of SPEAR Housing Association Limited and the SPEAR Endowment Trust (previously known as Quintus Housing Trust), charity number 1122206-1, an unincorporated charity. The Charity Commission issued a linking direction for the two charities in 2018. As a result of the linking direction, comparative information for SPEAR Housing Association Limited and the SPEAR Endowment Trust have been combined from the year-ended 31 March 2019 and have been restated as if the linking direction has always been in existence.

Assets and liabilities are initially recognised at historical cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policy or note.

c) Public benefit entity

The charitable company meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS 102.

d) Going concern

The trustees consider that there are no material uncertainties about the charitable company's ability to continue as a going concern.

The trustees do not consider that there are any sources of estimation uncertainty at the reporting date that have a significant risk of causing a material adjustment to the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities within the next reporting period.

e) Income

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

Income from government and other grants, whether ‘capital’ grants or ‘revenue’ grants, is recognised when the charity has entitlement to the funds, any performance conditions attached to the grants have been met, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount can be measured reliably and is not deferred.

Income received in advance of the provision of a specified service is deferred until the criteria for income recognition are met.

Rental Income and service charges are recognised on a receivable basis in the period to which it relates, net of any losses from voids and bad debts for arrears.

f) Interest receivable

Interest on funds held on deposit is included when receivable and the amount can be measured reliably by the charity; this is normally upon notification of the interest paid or payable by the bank.

g) Expenditure and irrecoverable VAT

Expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to make a payment to a third party, it is probable that settlement will be required and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. Expenditure is classified under the following activity headings:

Costs of raising funds relate to the costs incurred by the charity in encouraging third parties to make voluntary contributions to it, as well as the cost of any activities with a fundraising purpose
Expenditure on charitable activities includes the costs of delivering services undertaken to further the purposes of our charity and their associated support costs

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

h) Allocation of support costs

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

i) Governance costs

Governance costs are the costs associated with the governance arrangements of the charity. These costs are associated with constitutional and statutory requirements and include any costs associated with the strategic management of the charity’s activities. Governance costs are apportioned on the basis of staff time attributable to each activity, as outlined above.

j) Fund accounting

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

Unrestricted funds are donations and other incoming resources received or generated for the charitable purposes.

Designated funds are unrestricted funds earmarked by the trustees for particular purposes.

Endowment funds can be used solely for the specific purpose of property acquisition

SPEAR Housing Association Limited

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2021

1 Accounting policies (continued)

k) Operating leases

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

l) Tangible fixed assets

Items of equipment are capitalised where the purchase price exceeds £1,000. Depreciation costs are allocated to activities on the basis of the use of the related assets in those activities. Assets are reviewed for impairment if circumstances indicate their carrying value may exceed their net realisable value and value in use. Land is not depreciated.

Depreciation is provided at rates calculated to write down the cost of each asset to its estimated residual value over its expected useful life. The depreciation rates in use are as follows:

Buildings and Property components - Almshouses and Housing
▪ Fixtures & Fittings ▪ Computers & Equipment

8-75 years 3 years 3 years

m) Debtors

Trade and other debtors are recognised at the settlement amount. Prepayments are valued at the amount prepaid.

n) Cash at bank and in hand

Cash at bank and cash in hand includes cash and short term highly liquid investments with a short maturity of three months or less from the date of acquisition or opening of the deposit or similar account. Cash balances exclude any funds held on behalf of service users.

o) Creditors and provisions

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

p) Financial instruments

The charity only has financial assets and financial liabilities of a kind that qualify as basic financial instruments. Basic financial instruments are initially recognised at transaction value and subsequently measured at their settlement value with the exception of bank loans which are subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method.

q) Pensions

The pension contributions are paid into a Group Personal Pension Plan on behalf of all eligible employees who elect to have such a pension arrangement. This is an individual defined contribution arrangement. The charity's liability is limited to the employer's contributions.

r) Reclassification of Charitable income and expenditure

The notes for charitable income and expenditure have been reclassified in the year to show a summary of stratification of SPEAR's main activities.

2 Statement of financial activities (incorporating income and expenditure account) - Prior Year

Unrestricted Restricted £ £ 208,608 - 1,255,579 2,595,990 21,094 - 1,485,281 2,595,990 176,968 - 1,798,732 2,597,965 1,975,700 2,597,965 (490,419) (1,975) - - (490,419) (1,975) 3,760,707 39,725 3,270,288 37,750 SPEAR	Unrestricted Restricted £ £ 208,608 - 1,255,579 2,595,990 21,094 - 1,485,281 2,595,990 176,968 - 1,798,732 2,597,965 1,975,700 2,597,965 (490,419) (1,975) - - (490,419) (1,975) 3,760,707 39,725 3,270,288 37,750 SPEAR	Unrestricted Restricted £ £ - - - - - - - - - - - 19,118 - 19,118 - (19,118) - - - (19,118) - 4,014,897 - 3,995,779 SPEAR Endowment Trust	Unrestricted Restricted £ £ - - - - - - - - - - - 19,118 - 19,118 - (19,118) - - - (19,118) - 4,014,897 - 3,995,779 SPEAR Endowment Trust	2020 Total £ 208,608 3,851,569 21,094
1,485,281	2,595,990	-	-	4,081,271
176,968 1,798,732	- 2,597,965	- -	- 19,118	176,968 4,415,815
1,975,700	2,597,965	-	19,118	4,592,783
(490,419)	(1,975)	-	(19,118)	(511,512)
-	-	-	-	-
(490,419) 3,760,707	(1,975) 39,725	- -	(19,118) 4,014,897	(511,512) 7,815,329
3,270,288	37,750	-	3,995,779	7,303,817

SPEAR Housing Association Limited

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2021

3 Income from donations and legacies

3	Income from donations and legacies
4	LB Kingston LB Merton LB Richmond LB Sutton LB Wandsworth Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (furlough scheme) Richmond Parish Lands Charity Hampton Fund QSix (formerly PMM) Homelessness Reponse Fund (COVID) Heathrow Community Trust (COVID) London Funders Community Trust Other Community Development and Innovation Legacies Donations Income from charitable activities Rents and service charges – Supported housing and hostels Rents and service charges – SET Housing and almshouses Supported Service Contracts: Grants: The National Lottery Community Fund (note £ 61,000 in Deferred Income, 2019: £30,000) Sub total Volunteering Hampton Fund Sub total Sub total 29th May Charitable Trust Comic Relief Other Services Hampton Fund City Bridge Trust Other Streetsmart Homeless Health Link Service Albert Hunt Trust Heathrow Community Trust Postcode Community Trust Garfield Weston Foundation Berkeley Foundation Sub total John Laing Charitable Trust Masons Middlesex	Unrestricted £ 9,622 402,212	Restricted £ - -	2021 Total £ 9,622 402,212	Unrestricted £ 21,417 187,191	Restricted £ - -	2020 Total £ 21,417 187,191
		411,834	-	411,834	208,608	-	208,608
		Unrestricted £ 1,034,102 203,574 - - - - - 38,936 - - - - - - -	Restricted £ - - 496,602 113,072 1,124,947 416,513 649,756 - 31,400 12,250 35,417 99,740 7,500 5,000 3,094	2021 Total £ 1,034,102 203,574 496,602 113,072 1,124,947 416,513 649,756 38,936 31,400 12,250 35,417 99,740 7,500 5,000 3,094	Unrestricted £ 965,334 179,275 - - 37,925 - - - - - - - - - 1,000	Restricted £ - - 497,334 236,526 908,963 123,167 438,343 - 31,400 13,050 50,000 - - - 2,000	2020 Total £ 965,334 179,275 497,334 236,526 946,889 123,167 438,343 - 31,400 13,050 50,000 - - - 3,000
		1,276,612 - - - - - - - - - - - - -	2,995,291 23,125 15,812 31,037 5,000 2,000 500 23,000 - - 9,005 - 10,000 15,120	4,271,903 23,125 15,812 31,037 5,000 2,000 500 23,000 - - 9,005 - 10,000 15,120	1,183,535 - - - - - - - - - - - - -	2,300,784 22,500 - 28,950 - - 2,225 - 5,800 5,000 10,006 15,000 10,000 29,646	3,484,319 22,500 - 28,950 - - 2,225 - 5,800 5,000 10,006 15,000 10,000 29,646
		- -	134,599 125,406	134,599 125,406	- -	129,127 125,979	129,127 125,979
		- -	125,406 13,125	125,406 13,125	- -	125,979 17,500	125,979 17,500
		-	13,125	13,125	-	17,500	17,500

SPEAR Housing Association Limited

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2021

4 Income from charitable activities (continued)

- 22,600 - - - - - - - - -	50,000 25,375 5,000 55,000 4,000 10,000 2,500 11,250 4,000 5,000 -	50,000 47,975 5,000 55,000 4,000 10,000 2,500 11,250 4,000 5,000 -	50,000 15,000 - - - - - - - - 7,044	- 22,600 - - - - - - - - -	50,000 37,600 - - - - - - - - 7,044
22,600	172,125	194,725	72,044	22,600	94,644
1,299,212	3,440,546	4,739,758	1,255,579	2,595,990	3,851,569
Unrestricted £ 3,738	Restricted £ -	2021 Total £ 3,738	Unrestricted £ 21,094	Restricted £ -	2020 Total £ 21,094
3,738	-	3,738	21,094	-	21,094

SPEAR Housing Association Limited

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2021

6a Analysis of expenditure (current year)

			Cl	ient Services	ient Services				Cost of raising funds £ 127,287 1,267 5,718 2,358 - -	Volunteer costs £ 19,163 247 473 - - -	Governance Costs £ - - - - - 60,733	Support Costs £ 1,028,979 121,421 74,253 - - -	2021 Total £ 3,325,948 1,037,720 202,762 2,358 286,111 60,733	2020 Total £ 3,122,570 856,083 193,075 3,732 319,540 97,783
Supported housing and hostels £ 336,776 740,050 50,908 - 15,790 -	Housing and Almshouses £ - 118,236 6,822 - 406 -			Supported Service con		tracts
		Health and Community Development £ 234,197 3,112 9,734 - 15,581 -	LB Kingston £ 229,512 6,240 8,814 - 29,883 -	LB Merton £ 252,051 - - - - -	LB Richmond £ 466,459 4,793 19,538 - 27,572 -	LB Sutton £ 163,233 1,685 3,521 - - 204 -	Cross Borough £ 51,540 37,308 13,601 165,272 -	LB Wandsworth £ 416,750 3,361 9,380 - 31,811 -
1,143,524 258,158 12,803	125,464 48,763 2,418	262,624 62,280 3,089	274,449 128,510 6,373	252,051 27,084 1,343	518,362 271,220 13,450	168,235 118,336 5,869	267,721 46,087 2,286	461,302 162,423 8,055	136,631 98,648 4,892	19,883 3,144 156	60,733 - (60,733)	1,224,653 (1,224,653)	4,915,632 - -	4,592,783 - -
1,414,484	176,645	327,993	409,332	280,478	803,033	292,440	316,093	631,779	240,171	23,183	-	-	4,915,632	4,592,783

SPEAR Housing Association Limited

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2021

6b Analysis of expenditure (prior year)

			Client S	ervices				Cost of raising funds £ 113,674 - 1,725 3,732 - -	Volunteer costs £ 17,410 - 144 - - -	Governance Costs £ - - - - - 97,783	Support Costs £ 803,279 104,587 80,626 - 7,644 -	2020 Total £ 3,122,570 856,083 193,075 3,732 319,540 97,783	2019 Total £ 2,232,370 761,464 179,668 5,014 74,397 107,774
Supported housing and hostels £ 569,777 645,763 55,759 - 24,905 -	Housing and Almshouses £ 18,412 92,560 9,744 - - -			Supported Ser	vice contracts
		Health and Community Development £ 222,066 - 161 4,963 - 24,717 -	LB Kingston £ 274,766 1,107 13,836 - 83,871 -	LB Merton £ 356,093 170 115 - 3,602 -	LB Richmond £ 467,171 11,590 23,708 - 104,642 -	LB Sutton £ 26,387 - 1,297 - 4,984 -	LB Wandsworth £ 253,537 467 1,158 - 65,174 -
1,296,204 391,120 41,565	120,716 48,015 14,115	251,585 10,234 5,565	373,579 100,474 8,591	359,980 40,767 1,515	607,111 124,161 14,812	32,669 102,114 751	320,336 119,812 7,365	119,131 55,145 3,100	17,554 4,295 404	97,783 (97,783)	996,137 (996,137) -	4,592,783 - -	3,360,687 - -
1,728,889	182,847	267,383	482,644	402,262	746,084	135,534	447,512	177,376	22,252	-	-	4,592,783	3,360,687

SPEAR Housing Association Limited

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2021

7 Net income (expenditure) for the year

This is stated after charging:

This is stated after charging:
	2021	2020
	£	£
Depreciation	45,467	58,250
Operating lease rentals:
Property	512,875	460,359
Auditor's remuneration (excluding VAT):
Audit	10,850	14,700
Other services	-	-

8 Analysis of staff costs, trustee remuneration and expenses, and the cost of key management personnel The charity trustees were not paid or received any other benefits from employment with the charity in the year (2020: £nil). No charity trustee received payment for professional or other services supplied to the charity (2020: £nil).

Staff costs were as follows:

Staff costs were as follows:
Holiday pay expense Staff learning and development Recruitment DBS Checks Volunteer expenses Other forms of employee benefits Salaries and wages Social security costs Employer’s contribution to defined contribution pension schemes Staff Expenses Contractors and temporary Staff Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (furlough scheme) Provision for deferred staffing costs	2021 £ 2,551,243 242,140 67,594 94,980 27,297 152,232 38,936 84,319 13,139 29,640 992 16 23,422	2020 £ 2,281,996 210,627 59,696 - 39,424 373,153 - - 53,914 82,554 1,540 3,230 16,437
	3,325,948	3,122,570

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

		2021	2020
		No.	No.
£60,000	- £69,999	2	2
£80,000	- £89,999	1	-

The total employee benefits (including pension contributions and employer's national insurance) of the key management personnel were £ 316,336 (2020: £ 330,004).

SPEAR Housing Association Limited

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2021

9 Staff numbers

The average number of employees (head count based on number of staff employed) during the year was follows:

Land and buildings - Almshouses £ 502,849 -	Land and buildings - Housing £ 1,104,525 3,212	Fixtures & fittings £ 113,340 1,116	2021 No. 27 47 9 12 3 1 1 1	2020 No. 43 47 6 8 2 1 1 1
			101	109
			Computer equipment £ 28,761 24,414	Total £ 1,749,475 28,742
502,849	1,107,737	114,456	53,175	1,778,217
183,927 9,079	154,927 10,440	82,306 15,071	21,621 10,877	442,781 45,467
193,006	165,367	97,377	32,498	488,248
309,843	942,370	17,079	20,677	1,289,969
318,922	949,598	31,034	7,141	1,306,694

10 Tangible fixed assets

All of the above assets are used for charitable purposes.

11 Debtors

Debtors
Trade debtors Other debtors Staff Loans Prepayments Accrued income	2021 £ 950,027 120 3,025 80,607 125,919	2020 £ 381,295 1,227 6,711 55,498 152,435
	1,159,698	597,166

SPEAR Housing Association Limited

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2021

12 Creditors: amounts falling due within one year

Creditors: amounts falling due within one year
Holiday pay provision Trade creditors Payroll taxation and social security Other creditors and provisions Accruals Deferred income (Note 13)	2021 £ 143,973 - 94,980 156,081 156,108 554,460	2020 £ 57,630 55,677 - 64,247 125,003 83,500
	1,105,602	386,057

13 Deferred income

Balance at the beginning of the year Amount released to income in the year Amount deferred in the year Balance at the end of the year	2021 £ 83,500 (33,500) 504,460	2020 £ 20,000 (10,000) 73,500
	554,460	83,500

Included in the above is £ 262,803 (2020: £ nil) relating to Amounts Invoiced in advance, and £ 291,657 (2020: £ 83,500) being deferred amounts on contracts with future performamce obligations.

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

Tangible fixed assets Investments Net current assets Net assets at the end of the year	Endowment £ 1,252,213 - 2,724,047	Designated £ - - 2,083,663	General unrestricted £ 37,756 47,097 1,381,374	Restricted £ - - 17,365	Total funds £ 1,289,969 47,097 6,206,449
	3,976,260	2,083,663	1,466,227	17,365	7,543,515

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

Tangible fixed assets Investments Net current assets Net assets at the end of the year	Endowment £ 1,268,519 - 2,727,260	Designated £ - - 2,152,097	General unrestricted £ 38,174 3,640 1,076,377	Restricted £ - - 37,750	Total funds £ 1,306,694 3,640 5,993,484
	3,995,779	2,152,097	1,118,191	37,750	7,303,817

SPEAR Housing Association Limited

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2021

15a Movements in funds (current year)

Total restricted funds At 1 April 2020 £ Unrestricted Funds Designated funds: Designated development fund 956,691 Cyclical maintenance fund 1,195,406 Total designated funds 2,152,097 General funds 1,118,191 3,270,288 Endowment Funds 1,204,045 2,791,734 3,995,779 7,303,817 Restricted funds: Core charitable services Volunteering Supported Housing and services grants Homeless Healthlink Community Development & Innovation LB Kingston LB Merton LB Richmond LB Sutton LB Wandsworth Total unrestricted funds Property reinvestment (Almshouses) Property reinvestment (Housing) Total funds	At 1 April 2020 £ 3,750 4,375 17,000 12,625 - - - - - -	Income & gains £ 172,125 13,125 194,400 134,599 496,602 113,072 1,124,947 416,513 649,756 125,406	Expenditure & losses £ (168,375) (17,500) (204,335) (144,424) (496,602) (113,072) (1,124,947) (416,513) (649,756) (125,406)	At 31 March 2021 £ 7,500 - 7,065 2,800 - - - - - -
	37,750	3,440,546	(3,460,931)	17,365
	Transfers between fund £ - -	Income & gains £ - -	Expenditure & losses £ (3,000) (65,434)	At 31 March 2021 £ 953,691 1,129,972
2,152,097	-	-	(68,434)	2,083,663
1,118,191	-	1,714,784	(1,366,748)	1,466,227
3,270,288	-	1,714,784	(1,435,182)	3,549,890
1,204,045 2,791,734	- -	- -	(9,079) (10,440)	1,194,966 2,781,294
3,995,779	-	-	(19,519)	3,976,260
7,303,817	-	5,155,330	(4,915,632)	7,543,515

SPEAR Housing Association Limited

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2021

Movements in funds (continued)

Purposes of restricted funds

MHCLG, GLA, Rough Sleeper Iniatiave, Next Steps Accomodation Programmes and Rough Sleeper Accomodation Programmes Government funding to reduce levels of rough sleeping as part of the Rough Sleepers Initiative strategy; supporting outreach, tenancy support, health support and other measures.

Supported Living Allowance, Housing Preventative Support and Supporting People grants

Domestic Violence/Complex Needs

MHCLG grant administered by Richmond council on behalf of a tri-Borough initiative with Kingston and Merton councils to provide specialist accommodation and support to homeless women that have been victims of domestic violence and abuse, and that have complex support needs associated to their experience of abuse.

Wandsworth Outreach

PMM (QSix) funds Outreach Workers in SPEAR’s rough sleeper outreach service for the London Borough of Wandsworth.

Homeless Health Link service

Grants from National Lottery Community Fund and Richmond Parish Lands Charity fund a service to improve the physical and mental health of people experiencing homelessness in Richmond and Kingston.

The Core Charitable Services

This grant from the Richmond Parish Lands Charity, Wimbledon Foundation Homelessness Fund, Hampton Fund, Make Some Noise, Comasonis Benevolent Fund, Berkeley Foundation, City Bridge Trust, Heathrow Commmunity Trust and Richmond Charities pay for overheads including central services, head office, managing data and IT costs.

Volunteering

A grant from Hampton Fund funds a volunteering service in which volunteers are recruited, trained and supported in a range of roles throughout SPEAR.

Supported Housing Schemes:

- Sandycombe Road Supported Housing Scheme

This grant from the Richmond Parish Lands Charity funds a supported housing scheme for men in Richmond.

- Rosa House Supported Housing Scheme

A grant from Richmond Parish Lands Charity funds a supported housing scheme for women in Richmond.

- Ringwood Way Supported Housing Scheme

A grant from Hampton Fund funds a supported housing scheme worker and set up costs of a property.

Community Development Innovation

Grants from Comic Relief, Albert Hunt Trust, Berkeley Foundation, City Bridge Trust, the funding arm of The City of London Corporation’s charity, Bridge House Estates, Garfield Weston Foundation, Hampton Fund, Heathrow Community Fund, People’s Postcode Community Trust, Masons Middlesex, John Laing Charitable Trust, 29th May Charitable Trust, fund work supporting young people and adults who are homeless to develop their confidence and life skills, to improve their wellbeing, to undertake training and education, and to secure employment.

SPEAR Housing Association Limited

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2021

15b Movements in funds (prior year)

Rough Sleeper Outreach Services - SLA & SP Total restricted funds At 1 April 2019 £ Designated funds: Designated development fund 1,290,994 Cyclical maintenance fund 1,231,303 Total designated funds 2,522,297 General funds 1,238,410 3,760,707 1,213,124 2,801,773 4,014,897 7,815,329 Rosa House Supported Housing Scheme Skills Development Fund (CDI) London Borough of Richmond - Supporting People contract - Penny Wade House London Borough of Richmond - Service Level Agreement - Penny Wade House London Borough of Merton - Supporting People contract/Housing Management Grant MHCLG Richmond/Barnes Workhouse Fund Restricted funds: Core Charitable Services Volunteering Sandycombe Road Supported Housing Scheme Domestic Violence Services - Richmond Total unrestricted funds Total funds Unrestricted Funds Homeless Healthlink London Borough of Richmond - Supporting People contract Lower Grove Rd Fresh Start Rapid Housing Pathway (Richmond, Wandsworth, Kingston & Sutton) Wandsworth outreach - QSIx MHCLG Kingston MHCLG Wandsworth MHCLG Merton MHCLG Sutton Endowment Funds Property reinvestment (Almshouses) Property reinvestment (Housing)	At 1 April 2019 £ - 4,375 - - 7,850 - - - - - - - - 20,000 - - - - - 7,500	Income & gains £ 22,600 17,500 17,000 14,400 129,127 57,561 93,058 96,868 (128,348) 48,605 185,457 35,620 449,248 50,000 268,501 312,296 299,427 108,178 123,167 125,979	Expenditure & losses £ (18,850) (17,500) (17,000) (14,400) (124,352) (57,561) (93,058) (96,868) 128,348 (48,605) (185,457) (35,620) (449,248) (58,500) (268,501) (306,796) (299,427) (108,178) (123,167) (133,479)	At 31 March 2020 £ 3,750 4,375 - - 12,625 - - - - - - - - 11,500 - 5,500 - - - -
	39,725	2,326,244	(2,328,219)	37,750
	Transfers between fund £ (311,000) -	Income & gains £ - -	Expenditure & losses £ (23,303) (35,897)	At 31 March 2020 £ 956,691 1,195,406
2,522,297	(311,000)	-	(59,200)	2,152,097
1,238,410	311,000	1,485,281	(1,916,500)	1,118,191
3,760,707	-	1,485,281	(1,975,700)	3,270,288
1,213,124 2,801,773	- -	- -	(9,079) (10,039)	1,204,045 2,791,734
4,014,897	-	-	(19,118)	3,995,779
7,815,329	-	3,811,525	(4,323,037)	7,303,817

SPEAR Housing Association Limited

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2021

16 Analysis of cash and cash equivalents

Cash at bank and in hand Notice deposits (less than three months) Total cash and cash equivalents	At 1 April 2020 £ 5,775,755 6,619	Cash flows £ 372,549 (2,570)	At 31 March 2021 £ 6,148,305 4,049
	5,782,374	369,979	6,152,353

17 Operating lease commitments

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

the following periods
Less than one year One to five years Over five years	2021 2020 £ £ 442,282 322,316 480,020 616,381 83,548 131,048 1,005,850 1,069,745 Property		2021 2020 £ £ - 7,056 - 2,280 - - - 9,336 Equipment
	1,005,850	1,069,745	-	9,336

18 Legal status of the charity

The charity is a company limited by guarantee and has no share capital. The liability of each member in the event of winding up is limited to £1.

19 Taxation

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

SPEAR Housing Association Limited

Contents

Reference and administrative information

Reference and administrative information

For the year ended 31 March 2021

Message from the Chair and CEO

Message from the Chair and CEO

Paul Doe, Chair of Trustees

Tim Fallon, CEO

Trustees’ Annual Report

Trustees’ Report

Objectives and activities

Trustees’ Annual Report

Our Approach and Values

Diversity, inclusion and equity

Trustees’ Annual Report

For the year ended 31 March 2021

Our Beneficiaries and Achievements

Achievements and Performance

Our key impacts on homelessness in 2020-21:

Providing Housing:

Improving Health:

Trustees’ Annual Report

Women's Services:

Young People's Services:

Community Development and Innovation:

Covid-19 Crisis:

Listening to our clients

Trustees’ Annual Report

STORIES FROM OUR YOUNG PEOPLE (aged 16 – 25)

Radek’s Story - Experiencing homelessness as a LGBT+ person – speaking out during LGBT+ History Month

Tell us a bit about yourself

How are you coping now?

Trustees’ Annual Report

What are you looking forward to?

What does LGBT+ History Month mean to you?

Sam’s Story – shared in SPEAR’s December Seasonal Letter

Trustees’ Annual Report

Everybody deserves a place to call home, don’t they?

Without being able to look after myself properly, would I be able to survive it?

Perhaps someone saw me and told SPEAR? if that was you, thanks for reaching out.

Trustees’ Annual Report

Our Volunteers and Supporters

Trustees’ Annual Report

Award Winning

Communication and Online Support

Trustees’ Annual Report

Financial review

In summary, income comprises:

Trustees’ Annual Report

Reserves policy and going concern

Trustees’ Annual Report

SPEAR Endowment Trust

Principal risks and uncertainties

Trustees’ Annual Report

Principal Risks during the year were identified as:

Trustees’ Annual Report

COVID-19

Fundraising practices review

Trustees’ Annual Report

Plans for the future

Trustees’ Annual Report

Structure, governance, management and remuneration policy

Serious Incident Reporting

Appointment of trustees

Trustees’ Annual Report

Trustee induction and training

Related parties and relationships with other organisations

Remuneration policy

Funds held as custodian trustee on behalf of others

Statement of responsibilities of the trustees

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

Trustees’ Annual Report

In so far as the trustees are aware:

Auditor

Trustees’ Annual Report

Thank You to Supporters and Volunteers

COVID-19

Your Generosity – Individuals, Community, Faith, Corporates, Trusts