Company Registration Number 06751712 Charity Registration Numbgr 1127204 The Ascension Trust Report and Financial Statements 31 December 2024 ASCENSION TRUST The Ascenslon Trust Réport and accounts for the year ended 31 Decgmbgr 2024 Contents Page Charity Information Trustg95' Annual Report Statement of directors, responsibilities Independgnt Examlnafs R8POrt 12 14 Funds Statsm•nts'. Stalgm&nl of FinancialActivit￿5 &alemenl of Finèneial Activiti&s- Prior Year Balancè shèèt Cash Flow Statement Notss to th8 accounts Is 16 17 19 20 The Ascension Trust Annual Report 2024 Reference and AdminSstratlve Detalls Company Registration Number 06751712 Charity Registrauon Number 1127204 Trustees.. Mr S Aiyere Ilnlerim Chairman) (Appointed 12 January 20241 Rev A M Bacon Miss V V Cameron (Appointed 5 November 2024} Mrs C Cato Mr C R Donnan (Resigned 31 December 20241 Dr C C Ekhalor (Deputy Chairperson) Ms J Hedman Rev L W Isaac OBE IPresident} Mr O Ladega Mr T A Malhias-Nwaulune Mr J O N Ogunji Mr A F SaSmon (Appointed 5 November 20241 Secretary.. r A W H Crow (Resigned 31 De¢•mber 20241 Chlef ExecLrtlve Offic9r: MrBHPal Registèred Office: Alpha House, Alpha Pla￿, 58 Garth Road, Morden, Surrey SM4 4TQ Indepgndènt Examiner: Fred Lamptey & Co, Chartered Certified Accountants, 26 Felstead Vvay. Luton. LU2 7LH The Ascension Trust Annual Report 2024 Tru$tses' Report The trustses. who are directors for the purposes ol company law, present the annual report together th the financial statements and Independent Examiner's report of The As￿nsIOn Trust Ihereinafter called "AT") for the year ended 31 December 2024. This Report and the Accounts have been prepared io comply wth the SORP FRS 102. Structure, govemance and management AT is a charitable company limited by guarantee, govemed by ts Memorandutn and Articles of Association adopted on the 8 O¢lober 2008. 11 has no share capital the liability of each membèr in the event of wnding-up is limited to £10. Prior to this. AT wa5 a charitable trust but converted to a Charitable Company limited by guar￿tets due to th8 f¥F*d expansion of the Trust. Recruitment and appointment of trustees AT Is run by a btsard of directors which comprise3 11 directors Urusteesl. The Trustees are both Trustees of the Charity and Directors of the Company. Where there is a need lor new Trustee8, Ih85e would be identth'ed and appointéd by the current Trustees. Organisational Structure Al present. the 11 Trustees come frorn a variety of professional backgrounds, each relevant to the activities of the charity. The Board of Trustees meets at least four limes a year, receiving reports from the Chief Executive Officer ICEOI about the activities of the charity through its variou5 project5 set out below. The day-to-day managtrtnent of the or9anisation is shouldered by a staff team, headed by the CEO. Such day-lo-day management is supervised by the CEO and a Senior Management Team ISMTI that ia¢lude5 the Chief Operations Offi'cer, the Legal & Policy Officer. Finance Manager. Office Manager and a volunteer legal Consultant, the Company Secretary. The SMT ièceives regular reports lat least monthly) from thè Finance Man8ger and serious consideration is given lo the state of the charity's financès with appropriate reports being made to the Board of Directors for decisions to be made for the continuing financial viability ol the charity. The remuneration of the paid SMT members is reviewed annually by the Board ol Trustees who takes into consideration the level ol pay accorded to people in similar positions within the Third Sector. The charity ¥tholly owns its sub51diary trading company, Ascension Commercial Limrted, of which the President is also a director and lo whose meetings the CEO regularly attends. The prlncipal business ol the trading subsidiary is the supply of unifoirlls lo Street Pastors, School and College Pastors, Rail Pastor8, and Response Pastors together with merchandise that PTomote5 the work of the charity through ils various initiatives. The Ascension Trust Annual Report 2024 Induction and training of trustees The chairman of Trustees 15 responsible for the induction of any rEw Trustee. This involves awareness training Of a Trustee's duties and re$ponsibililies, the gtsveming document, administrative procedures, as well as the history and ethos ol the charity. A new Trustee wrill a150 receive a oopy of the charity's governing document and the p￿VrouS year's annual report and a copy ol the Charity Commission leafiet'The Essential TNstee'. Vvhat you ne￿ lo know, what you need to do. Public benefit AT has a number ol schemes in operation which actively serve the public, narnely Street Pasiors. Prayer Pastors, Response Pastors, School and College Pastors, Urban Youth Mission, Rail Pastors, the 60140 Youth Project, the Synergy Network, Oyibi Project. Five2Medi¢s and the AT Beacon Project, and Bridge Watch. More details are provided below. The trustees confimi that they have wmplied with the requirements of section 4 of the Charities Act 2011 to have due regard to the publi¢ benefit guidance published by the Charity Commission for England and Wales. Objectives and activities The principal objective of AT concerns the advancement of the cornmuHty through outreach and training. Each year the trustees review the objectives and activities lo ensure that they ¢onlinu& lo reflect our aims. During this review, the Irusiees consider the Charity Commission's guidance on public benefit. The aims ofAT as set out in the ¢harty'$ Mernorandum of Associatton are summarised as tollows.. lal To advance the Christian faith. Ibl To relieve sicknes$ and financial hardship. {cl To promote and preserve good physical, mental and emotional health. This is achieved in the ftsllowing way5'. For the benefit of the public, transfoming the direction of not only som&body's night but 50rnebody's Ikfe. OfFering hurnan contact which reduces social isolation and provides conneotion within commun(tSes. Strengthening and preserving good physical, mental and emotional hea￿h of cornmunilies. By the use of volunteers, influencing and glvbng power lo individua15 tsver own lives and communities. The Ascension Trust Annual Report 2024 Building strong resilient wmmunrties. Building positive relationships wth the poli￿, Local Authorities and thosa who wish to partner th the Trust to reduce the challenges which 13 faced by all communities. AT has demonstrated rts power and ability to mobilisè wmrrunib'es and build positive relationships with its partners, particularfy the Police. I￿1 aulhorth8 and churches that together we call 'The Urban Trinity.. As set out beFow (Achievements and Perfomiancel, the charity aims to ensure and increase the safety of communities In the night-time econorny, safety in schools and colleges, to prevent suicides at train stalSon$ and on central London bridges, to support and counsel those traurnatised by national tragic events. engaging young people in positive community activities ratrer Ih8n gang-relaled violence and drawng out the enormous potential that young people have lo impact their peers and th¢ wider Community for good, building solidarity and cooperation between charities, communty agencies, the police and local authorities in addréssing all the above issues. More details are given in the "Achievements and Perfomiance Section below. Volunteers Vdunteers perforrn a key task on behalf of AT. They are therefore central to meeting tre aims and objectives of AT. 11 would b& impossible lo ddiver our rnission without them. Al present, there are approximately 14.000 trained volunteers in England and Wales working lor local charities operating under the AT umbrella as Street Pastors, S¢hool and College Pastors, Rail Pastors and Response Pastors. AT aims to sustain and increase its volunteer base. AT aims, through its social action initiatives, to train Indlvklugls for rolevant and informed interath.on at local. national and Intematsonal levels. Achievements and p&rforman¢e Tralnlng AT through ils social action initiatives aim$ lo train individuals for relevant and infomied interaction al local. national and international levels. A number of new Street Pastors volunteers were addeil to the pool of Street Pastors setving the UK during 2024. The individuals being trained were able lo attend and ¢()mplete their training through the Ascension Trust's online tiaining. Online tr31ning was launched in October 2020 writh the hope of delivering training lo all for Street Pastors, School, leadership courses. Équality courses and other bèspoke training courses lo both our Paslor initiatives and to the public in general. New School Pastors trained online alollgside Street Pastors In mental health, youth ¢ullure and Ilslening skills in 2024. The Ascension Trust Annual Report 2024 In-person training events look place across the networks in the areas of Roles & Responsibilities, Refresher courses and School and College Pastors Roles & Rèsponsibilities. In 2024 AT resumed the provision of tiaining for the coordinators and trustees of the Pastor initiatwes. The training cover5 all aspects of the day-104ay running of local initiatives. In the past the one-day training course delivered in person at the AT offices, or a team from AT travelled to different parts of th* county to deliver the training regionally. In 2024 AT Irialled delivering the training online in bite-sized evening ses5i0ns which included governance, website and s(Kial media managernent, the management of volunteers, reeruilrnent, training, finance, and fundraising. The online spnng and auturnn sessions were well received and will be repealed in 2025. Projects Street Pastors Street Pastors are trained volunteer8 who typically patrol the Streets between the hours of 10pm and 4am, but local area5 Can vary their patrol limes according lo local needs, wth some areas patrolling during the day or early evening. At present there are local Street Pastor inilialives across the country with more inlernalionally. (Website.. .street r5.or .uk Response Pastors Response Pastors deliver help lo those who are impacted by malor disasters at events $u¢h as terrorisl attacks, crashes and other in￿dentS. They were last deployed in August 2024 following the Soulhport attad