THE PROGRESS FOUNDATION Report and Financial Statements Year ended 31 March 2025 Charity number- 1123219 Company number- 6515146
The Progress Foundation Report and Accounts-year ended 31 March 2025 Reference and administrative information Trustees and Directors The following Trustees and Directors have served throughout the period.. Roger Pilgrim, Chair Nigel Hamway Nadine Majaro, Secretary Registered Office c/0 New Quadrant Partners 25 Bury Street London SWIY 6AL Charity Number 1123219 Company Number 6515146 Independent Examiner Andrew Churchill Stone, Mercer Lewin 6-7 Citibase, New BarcSay House 234 Botley Road Oxford OX2 OHP Solicitors c/0 New Quadrant Partners 25 Bury stet London SWIY 6AL Bankers CAF Bank 25 Kings Hill Avenue Kings Hill, West Malling Kent ME19 4TA Website www.progres5uk.org Email info@progressuk.org
The Progress Foundation Report and Accounts-year ended 31 March 2025 Report of the Directors for the year ended 31 March 2025 The Directors present their annual report and financial statements of the charity for the year ended 31 March 2025 Strurture, governance and management The Progres5 Foundation (the "Company" or the "Charitl,) was formed on 27 February 2008 as a private company limited by guarantee Icompany number 6515146) and registered as a charity (charity number 11232191. It is governed by its Memorandum and Articles of Association, company and charity law. It seeks to undertake its chosen charitable work through the deployment of its existing funds (both income and capital). It has three directors, who act as trustees of the Charity and who served throughout the period: Roger Pilgrim, Chair Nigel Hamway Nadine Majaro, Secretary New directors will be appointed by the existing directors as needed to complement the skills available to the board. The Memorandum and Articles of Association require a minimum of three directors, with no maximum number. As required by the Memorandum and Articles of Association, one third of the directors must retire by rotation at each general election; Nigel Hamway will retire at the annual general meeting of the Company held to consider these accounts and, being eligible, offers himself for re-election. New directors are provided with information on their responsibilities as directors and trustees and are briefed on the areas of activity of the Charity. Directors, meetings are held to discuss strategy, policy and major grants. Day-to-day administration, such as reviewing grant applications, monitoring grants, bookkeeping, finance and general administration is handled by the Chair and the Secretary. All the Directors give their time and are not paid. None of the Directors has claimed any expenses. Objectives and activities for the public benefit The objects of the Charity are to pay or apply the income and capital to or for the benefit of any charity or charitable purpose or purposes as the Directors shall in their discretion think fit. In determining how to apply these objectives, the Directors have complied with their duty to have due regard to the guidance on public benefit published by the Charities Commission in exercising their powers or duties. The Directors have decided to focus their attention on giving grants to: Organi5ations working with young people, normally in the age range 14- 21, though we will also look at projects helping younger children or young people up to age 25 Organisations which help young people to become fully involved with society, particularly through education, assistance with finding work or involvement with social enterprise Organisations working in the UK and, in particular, within Greater London.
The Progress Foundation Report and Accounts-year ended 31 March 2025 Grant making policy The Directors consider applications from charities and other social enterprise bodies which meet the criteria set out above and which are further explained on our website. After an initial review to determine whether the applicant appears to meet the Charitls requirements, the Directors meet to select a short list of possible recipients of grants from the main grant fund. Following this meeting, at least one of the Directors will normally visit or speak to the applicant to understand the nature of the work being done in more detail. A further meeting of the Directors is then held to allocate the available grant funds. Review criteria are built into the agreement for grants, and these are normally assessed annually prior to the approval and payment of subsequent tranches of grant. The Charity will not normally give grants from the main grant programme of more than £25,000 per annum or for periods of more than 3 years. We encourage recipients to consider innovative approaches, in the form of new activities, new partnerships or new funding approaches. We also give unrestricted core grants to some charities with which we have worked closely over an extended period. We do not accept applications for this element of funding as it is based entirely on the assessment by the Directors of the quality of work and management of potential recipient charities. We also occasionally make small grants of less than £5,000 to charities which do not fully qualify under the main grant programme but which any two of the trustees consider to be worthy of support. Our general preference is to fund independent voluntary organisations and not to replace or subsidise statutory funding. In addition, we will not make grants to organisation5 which promote a particular religious belief but will consider applications from faith-based organisations where the work is not for religious purposes and clearly fits our funding guidelines. These criteria and further guidance to charities who wish to apply for funding are clearly set out on our website along with details of how to apply. We do not encourage applications outside the process Outlined on our website. Achievements and Performance During the year, the Directors approved grants totalling £385,483. The principal recipients of grants are set out in Note 4 of the accounts. We received a very high number well-qualified applications and were able to approve grants to 27 organisations, of which one was the second year of a three-year core grant, thirteen were follow-on grants, five were one-off grants, seven were potentially multi-year grants and three were small grants. We normally ask organisations to which we give project grants to provide us with ways of measuring whether a project has been successful. Over the years, we have supported several project5 which have developed during our period of support and which we consider have made a significant contribution to the wellbeing of young people in this country. Financial revlew In the period under review the Charity received no donations. The Directors have approved the use of both income and capital for grant-making purposes and a main grant programme of approximately £150,000 each year. In addition, the Director5 have approved the use of
The Progress Foundation Report and Accounts-year ended 31 March 2025 both income and capital for the payment of unrestricted grants of up to £75,000 per annum payable over up to three year5 for a maximum of two charities each year. Investment policy and performance The Progress Foundation holds its asset5 in a combination of bank account5 and money market funds- to cover at least eighteen months of outgoings- while money to be deployed in the longer term is invested in units of the Lundy Fund, an Open-Ended Investment Company with total assets of approximately £45.9 million. The management of Lundvs assets is divided between three investment manager5, Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Cazenove Capital Management and Ruffer LLP. All managers follow an active management approach aimed at capital growth and, overall, the portfolio is divided between holdings in quoted equities, bonds, cash and gold related investments. Further information on the Fund is available upon request from Yealand Fund Services at info@yealand.com. Market yields on cash and near cash investments have improved during this year and the Company's return on its cash assets was 3.7 per cent during the year (2024: 4.8 per cent). The Company acquired its investment in Lundy unit5 at an average value of £10.83 per unit. At the Company's year end, the units were valued at £17.52, below last yearfs closing price of £17.67; the total return (income and capital) for the year to 31 March was 0.9 per cent12024: 4.8%). The ARC Balanced index Showed 2.7 per cent on a median total return basis over the same period (2024: 5.8%}. The Company's holding5 at the period end were as follows: Cash and equivalent Cash at bank 95,388 532,498 1,103,633 1,731,519 Money market funds Investments in Lundy Fund Reserves policy The Companls policy is to invest its income and capital to achieve its charitable objectives by giving grants at a rate of approximately £150,000- £200,000 per annum in the main grant programme and up to £150,000 of unrestricted grants. The Directors are satisfied that there are sufficient resources within the Company to maintain this donation rate and are satisfied that we will be able to find appropriate organisations to receive grants of this level each year. Risk management The Director5 have considered the major risks to which the charity is exposed and satisfied themselves that systems or procedures are established to manage those risks. This review is updated annually. Plans for the future We intend to continue our work in identifying and supporting organisations, whether charities or not, who work with young people in innovative and effective ways to integrate them with society. As well as making
The Progress Foundation Report and Accounts- year ended 31 March 2025 additional payments to those charities with which we are already working, we continue to look for simllar organisations to support. Auditors For the year ended 31 March 2025, the Company was entitled to exemption from audit under section 477 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small companie5. We are also not required by the Charitie5' Commission to have an audit, but we are required by them to have an independent examination. Andrew Churchill Stone of Mercer Lewin has examined these accounts and reported accordingly. Directors. responsibilities in relation to the financial statements The Direttors are responsible for preparing the Directors, Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accountin8 Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Prattice). Company law requires the Director5 to prepare financial Statements for each financial year, which give a true and falr view of the state of the affalrs of the charltable Company and of the incoming resources and applicatlon of resources, including the income and expendlture, of the charitable Company for the year. In preparing these financial statements, the Dirertors are required to: select suitable accounting policles and apply them consistentlyi observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP,. make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent; state whether applicable UK Accounting Standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explalned in the financial statements; and prepare the financial statements on a going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the Charity will continue in operation. The Directors are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitsble Company and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are a150 responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charitable Company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularitie5. The directors are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial information included on the Ccmpanvs website. Legislation in the UK governing the preparation and dissemination of financial 5tatement5 may differ from legislation iTrotherjurisdictions. Approved by the Directors on 3 J e 2025 and signed on their behalf by: Roger ilgrim Chair of Directors
The Progress Foundation Report and Accounts- year ended 31 March 2025 INDEPENDENT EXAMINERS, REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF THE PROGRESS FOUNDATION {CHARITY NUMBER- 1123219) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025 Respective responsibilities of directors and examlner The Charity's Directors are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The Company's Directors consider that an audit is not required for this year under section 144121 of the Charities Act 2011 {the Charities Act) and that an independent examination is needed. It is my responsibility to: examine the accounts under section 145 of the Charities Act. to follow the procedures laid down in the general Direction5 given by the Charity Commission {under section 145151(b} of the Charities Act, and to state whether particular matters have come to my attention. Basis of independent examinerfs statement My examination was carried out in accordance with general Directions given by the Charity Commi55ion. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the Charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts and seeking explanations from the Directors concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a 'true and fairf view and the report 15 limited to those matters set out in the statement below. Independent examinerfs statement In connection with my examination, no matter ha5 come to my attention l. which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in, any material respect, the requirement5: to keep accounting records in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act," and to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with the accounting requirements of the Charities Act. have not been met. or 2. to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. Andrew Churchill Stone FCA DChA Mercer Lewin Ltd, Chartered Accountants 6-7 Citibase, New Barclay House 234 Botley Rd Oxford OX2 OHP 4 June 2025
The Progress Foundation Report and Accounts-year ended 31 March 2025 STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES (including the income and expenditure account) Note Year to 31 March 2025 Year to 31 March 2024 Income Donations 87,750 45,172 132,922 Investment income 43,582 43,582 Expenditure Charitable activities: Grants and programme related expenditure Other 385,483 1,082 386,565 302,322 1,129 303,451 Total expenditure Net income Gains/llossesl on investment assets (342,983) {5,2421 (170,529) 54,719 Net Movement of Funds (348,225) 1115,810) Reconciliation of Funds Total Funds brought forward Total funds carrfed fonward 2,052,644 1,704,419 2,168,454 2,052,644 All funds are unrestricted
The Progress Foundation Report and Accounts- year ended 31 March 2025 Balance Sheet at 31 March 2025 Note 31 March 2025 31 March 2024 Fixed Ossets Investments 1,103,633 1,103,633 1,358,875 1,358,875 Total fixed assets Current Ossets Debtors Cash at bank and In hand Total current assets 627.886 627,886 734,369 734,369 Liabilities Creditors falling due within one year Net current assets 27,100 600,786 20,600 713,769 Total assets less current liabillties 1,702,373 2,072,644 Creditors: amounts falling due after more than one year Net assets 20,000 2.052,644 1.704,419 Thefvnds of the Charity.. Unrestricted funds Total Charity funds 1,704,419 1,704,419 2,052,644 2.052.644 Forthe year endlng 31 March 2025, the Company wa5 entitled to exemption from audit under section 477 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small companies. The members have not required the Company to obtain an audit of its accourbts for the year in question in accordance with section 476. The directors acknowledge thelr responsibilities for complying with the requirements of the Act with respect to accountlng records and the preparation of accounts. These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the special provisions relating to the small companies, regirne within Part 15 ofthe Companie5 Act 2006 and in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard for Smaller Entrcies (effective January 20151. The notes on pages 9 to 13 form part of these accounts. Approved by the Director5 on 3 June 2025 and signed on thelr behalf by.. RG Pllgrirn
The Progress Foundation Report and Accounts- year ended 31 March 2025 Accounting policies Basis of preparation The financial statements of the charity, which is a public benefit entity under FRS 102, have been prepared in accordance with the Charities SORP {FRS 1021 '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 IFRS 102) {effective l January 2015),, Financial Reporting Standard 102 'The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland, and the Charities Act 2011. The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention, with the exception that investments are included at market value. The financial statements are prepared in sterlin& which is the functional currency of the charity. Monetary amounts in these financial Statements are rounded to the nearest £. bl Fund structure and activities The Charity has only one fund, an unrestricted income fund. The Director5 may, at their discretion, allocate any part of the fund to the purposes of the Charity. The Charity's sole activity is the making of grants and social investment5. Incoming resources All incoming resources are recognised once the Charity has entitlement to the resources, it is certain that the resource5 will be received and the monetary value of income resource can be measured with sufficient reliability. d) Resources expended Liabilities are recognised as soon as there is a legal or constructive obligation committing the Charity to the expenditure. All expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis and has been classified under headings that aggregate all cost5 related to the category. Grants Payable are recognised when they have been approved by the Directors and the beneficiaries have been notified, whether orally or in writing, that the grants have been approved. Where grants are made with associated conditions, such as obtaining matching fundin& the grants are nonethele55 accrued as the achievement of these conditions fall outside the control of the Charity. Where multi-stage grants are approved and communicated to recipient charities and subsequent stages are dependent on a satisfactory review, the nature of which is defined in the communication to the recipient, only the approved and reviewed stages are accounted for. Allocation of overhead and support costs Since the Directors are not paid and do not reclaim their expenses for operating as Directors, all administrative costs relate to governance costs. These costs are related to statutory, legal and other fees.
The Progress Foundation Report and Accounts- year ended 31 March 2025 f) Fixed asset investments Investments are stated at market value as at the balance sheet date. The statement of financial activities includes the net gains and losses arising on revaluation and disposals throughout the period. gl Realised gain5 and losses All gains and1055e5 are taken to the statement of financial activities as they arise. Realised gains and losses on investments are calculated as the difference between sales proceeds and the opening market value or purchase date, if later. Unrealised gains and losses are calculated a5 the difference between the market value at the period end and opening market value (or cost if purchased after the start of the accounting period). Realised and unrealised gains and losses are not separated in the statement of financial activities. h) Programme related investments Programme related investments comprise loan5 and are included in the balance sheet at the amount invested less any impairments and any amount5 repaid. Impairments or outstanding loans converted to a grant are charged to resources expended on charitable activitie5. Contingent Liabilities In accordance with the SORP, a contingent liability is disclosed for those grants which do not represent liabilities, where the possible obligation, which arises from past events, will only be confirmed by the occurrence of one or more uncertain future events not wholly within the Directors, control. Related Party transactions and Directors, remuneration The Directors received no emoluments and reclaimed no expenses during the period. There were no related party transactions during the period. Investment Income 2025 2024 Interest on money market and other accounts Dividend income from investments Total Investment Income 26,697 16,885 43,582 26,891 18,281 45,172 10
The Progress Foundation Report and Accounts- year ended 31 March 2025 Analysis of expenditure on charitable activities 2025 2024 New grants approved during the year (see details below) 385,483 302,322 Artion Tutoring Big House Theatre Body & Soul British Exploring Clement James Exposure Farms for City Children Future frontiers Future Youth Zone Get Further Go Forward Youth Haringey Shed Hounslow Action for Youth Jamie's Farm Katherine Low Settlement Literacy Pirates Mayorfs Fund for London- Numbers@Work New Horizons Youth Centre Power 2 10,000 10,000 21,600 10,000 15,000 6,000 23,218 15,OCIO iO.OCM) 25,000 13,000 9,878 15.000 25,222 14,720 20,000 15,000 27,435 10,000 23,000 10,000 17,000 io,o(J) 15,000 14,410 385,483 Refugee Education UK Roundhouse Social Enterprise Academy St Gile5 Major Trauma Centre Yes Futures Small Grants Other charitsble expenditure 2025 2024 Independent examinerfs remuneration Other expenses 600 482 600 529 1,082 1,129 li
The Progress Foundation Report and Accounts-year ended 31 March 2025 Fixed Asset Investments 2025 2024 Market value at l April Additions to investments at cost Disposals proceeds Gains/{lossesl on investment assets Market value at 31 March 1,358,875 1,554,156 1250,000) (5,242) 1,103,633 {250,Crf)01 54,719 1,358,875 Investments were held primarily in the Lundy Fund, an open-end investment company incorporated in the United Kingdom. The Fund seeks to preserve and grow capital. The Fund invests globally in securities, bonds, collective investment schemes (regulated and unregulated), warrant5, money market instruments, cash and deposits. The historical cost of the investments is £682,032 {2024: E832,4561. Analysis of current liabilitles and long-term creditors 2025 2024 Grants payable within one year Accruals 26,500 6CK) 20,OCMJ 6CrfJ 27,ICKJ 40,600 Grant5 payable in more than one year 20,000 Movement in recognised grant commitments during the period: Grant commitments payable at 31 March 2024 New grant commitments charged to the SOFA in period (see note 41 Less: Grants paid during the period Grant commitment5 payable at 31 March 2025 40,000 385,483 {398,9831 26,5(M) Grant commitments represent amounts which might become payable for future years of multi-year grants which do not relate to specific programmes and where the amounts are quantifiable. 12
The Progress Foundation Report and Accounts-year ended 31 March 2025 Contingent liabilities As described in our accounting policy, where the Directors retain discretion as to whether to make subsequent years, payments based on the evaluation of the project performance, amounts related to such payments are not accrued. At 31 March 2025, there were £259,956 of contingent liabilities {2024: £237,438). Analysis of funds Total Unrestricted fund Fund brought forward at l April 2024 Incoming resources Resource5 expended Gains and losses Fund carried forward at 31 March 2025 2,052,644 43,582 1386,565) {5,242) 1,704,419 13