ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021
Alongside You
(A company limited by guarantee) Charity registration number: 1129336 Company registration number: 06807480
Independent Examiners Ltd 2 Broadbridge Business Centre Delling Lane Bosham Chichester West Sussex PO18 8NF
ALONGSIDE YOU
CONTENTS
| Legal and Administrative Information | 1 |
|---|---|
| Trustees' Report | 2 to 6 |
| Independent Examiner's Report | 7 |
| Statement of Financial Activities | 8 |
| Balance Sheet | 9 |
| Notes to the Financial Statements | 10 to 15 |
ALONGSIDE YOU
LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION
Charity Registration 1129336 Number Company Registration 06807480 Number Trustees Yolanda Musinguzi David Vincent James Eddo Secretary Rowena Crisp Registered address 2 Broadbridge Business Centre Delling Lane Bosham Chichester West Sussex PO18 8NF Independent Examiner G W Schulz ACMA Independent Examiners Ltd 2 Broadbridge Business Centre Delling Lane Bosham Chichester West Sussex PO18 8NF Bankers Co-Op Bank PLC 1 Balloon Street Manchester M60 4EP
Page 1
ALONGSIDE YOU
TRUSTEES' REPORT
The trustees, who are directors for the purposes of company law, present the annual report together with the financial statements of the charitable company for the year ended 31 March 2021.
Structure, governance and management
Nature of governing document
Alongside You is registered as a charitable company limited by guarantee and was set up by a Memorandum of Association.
Recruitment and appointment of trustees
The management of the company is the responsibility of the Trustees who are elected and co-opted under the terms of the Articles of Association.
Organisational structure
The trustees delegate day to day management to the Service Director, whilst retaining overall responsibility for policy and oversight.
Staffing
The service director (0.4 FTE) has continued to provide leadership to the charity since 2005, working together with the Outings Coordinator and Administration appointed April 2019 (0.2-0.4FTE). A volunteer has continued to give one day a week to help with outings, and food and emotional support provision during covid lockdowns.
Risk management
The Trustees meet quarterly to review the finances and current operations, implications of any changing circumstances and issues arising and to consider proposals for new developments. Risks are assessed as part of these discussions, and measures put in place as needed The Trustees have in place an emergency contingency plan which is kept updated and reviewed closely against staff capacity in light of changing staff team. The Trustees are satisfied that systems, policies and procedures are in place to mitigate exposure to the major risks and continue to review these as highlighted earlier in this report. The trustees are currently reviewing and updating our emergency contingency plan and assessing the new risks posed to the charity by COVID 19 and its potential impact on our activities and income streams. The trustees developed a covid-19 risk assessment for service provision, and conducted meetings remotely to enable continuity and oversight of the work while not able to meet in person.
Objectives and activities
Objects and aims
The principal object of the company is to provide relief for children, their families and carers, living with HIV or any associated condition, and to advance the Christian faith by the provision of support services, recreational and leisure time activity, small grants for relief of financial hardship and to undertake education and research about HIV.
Page 2
ALONGSIDE YOU
TRUSTEES' REPORT
Public benefit
The trustees confirm that they have complied with the requirements of section 17 of the Charities Act 2011 to have due regard to the public benefit guidance published by the Charity Commission for England and Wales.
The work of the Charity provides support, help and practical care to any family suffering as a families of any or no faith. Families are referred by health care professionals and social bodies who refer families in need from a wide range of backgrounds. Families living with HIV often experience areas of long term emotional and practical need, due to ill-health, bereavement, stigma and isolation, immigration etc. Due to circumstances, families rarely have the financial resources to pay for support services themselves, and resources are rarely available by central services for long-term, relational support. ‘Alongside You’ is able to offer significant benefit to children and families living with HIV, through the childcare, activities and support we offer at no cost to families.
Achievements and performance
Review of activities
We have been providing support services to children and families with HIV in East London since 2004. Having been an usual year due to covid-19 restrictions impacting on usual service provision at times, we are glad to report on the emotional and food support provided to families during the lockdown periods and restrictions and on the provision of core services delivered when restrictions permitted a version of outings and visits to go ahead. The Trustees are pleased to report that we have been able to adjust to the circumstances and continue to offer support to our service users during a year placing additional strain on families, and have pleasure in reporting the detail of its work and financial operations over the last twelve months.
Our regular activity is structured around provision of support services to children and families living with HIV, primarily through the provision of holiday group outings, but also through regular family visits. This year services have had to adapt to respond to the limitations of the covid-19 lockdowns and restrictions, and team have worked hard to find ways to provide appropriate support responding to changing circumstances.
This year we provided direct support services to thirty-eight families (with a further six families currently under review). Those who directly benefited from support this year, either by food support, Christmas in a Box, an /or mini-outings and regular visits included (117 people; 46 parents /carers and 71 children), through a team of twenty-two volunteers of which seven were shielding and not able to volunteer until post vaccinations in April 2021.
Page 3
ALONGSIDE YOU
TRUSTEES' REPORT
Outings and regular visits were suspended during full lockdown from March 2020-July 2020 and again from January – March 2021. In the summer holidays and October half-term we were able to resume some of our usual service provision, through local outdoor mini outings in venues such as sports in local parks, in group sizes of up to 6 people. We prioritised active outings, where children had spent lockdown indoors, and prioritised organising outings that promoted children and volunteer friendships to maximise support and continuity. In terms of reduced capacity, we prioritised under 11’s for these mini outings, where children of this age unable to get out or maintain friendships independent of parents and where parents experience increased benefit from respite. We were able to offer 75% of our 4-11’s a mini outing, but only 30% of our 11-18year olds.
In summer we provided 8 mini outings, catering for 21 children, in October half-term we did a further 6 mini outings catering for 17 children. Activities were local and outdoors such as paddleboarding, kayaking, tennis, parks and adventure golf with a priority on being active.
Three of our volunteers doing regular visits were able to resume these whenever restrictions lifted and maintained close contact with families during lockdown to offer support by phone. Another volunteers started doing weekly online maths coaching with a vulnerable teenager.
During the full lockdown periods, we prioritised regular phone communication with parents and carers to provide emotional support, reduce isolation and enable us to identify need as it emerged. Following an emergency appeal, raising £1630 we were able to offer emergency food and shopping support for those shielding, unable to get to shops or shop online, and for those affected by financial hardship and strain caused by job loss, furlough and having children at home without school meals. From March – September 2020 our small team did 146 shops and food deliveries over the past 6 months, supporting 20 of our families who needed food support during Corona Virus Lockdown. It has been a privilege to support families in this way, and much appreciated by the families:
“Thank you so much for all the support throughout the difficult times, it made a big difference”
“Thank you for all the help that you gave us during the most difficult times, the children are finally back at school, hopefully things can only get better from now on, thank you again”.
Food support was also provided for the second national lockdown January – March 2021 on a reduced level providing 20 deliveries.
In place of our usual annual family celebration at Christmas we provided Christmas in a box to 36 families. We partnered with localgiving covid-19 match funding campaign, to help raise the funds through our donors. We set ourselves the challenge of increasing family well-being at Christmas by delivering ‘Christmas in a Box’ through:
Food to help alleviate hardship over Christmas and support a special meal.
Christmas craft activities for families to enjoy doing together and help a special Christmas or new year meal: Christmas crackers, candle decorating and a Christmas mobile.
Wrapped presents for the children in the family aged 0-18years.
Page 4
ALONGSIDE YOU
TRUSTEES' REPORT
Delivering hampers in person by team and volunteers we were able to have doorstep in person visits with most of our families and families received phone calls both before and after Christmas helping to provide support and reduce isolation.
“Ah thank you so much for our Christmas box, everything was in there that we needed for a special Christmas. The food, presents for the children and decorations for us to make something of Christmas. We had a quiet, peaceful Christmas. Thank you for everything.”
We continue to accept new referrals, for families living in any of the East London Boroughs, this year we received 2 new referrals in summer 2020, both have joined the outings programme and benefited from food support and emotional support at a difficult time.
We provided online Safeguarding training in March 2020 to provide an update for our existing volunteer team.
Future Plans
While there remains uncertainty around the timing of fully lifting corona virus restrictions, we will continue to review how we can best and safely provide our usual support services in keeping with government guidelines, risk management and resources available. We are currently able to provide our outings programme in usual group size in outdoor locations, and if it becomes necessary will revert to doing mini outings delivery model should restrictions tighten again.
We are in process of adopting a well-being framework to help communicate aims and demonstrate impact. We continue to look at ways of growing our team capacity and resources to enable sustainable service provision to current and new families. We hope to deliver either on-line or in person training opportunity to recruit new volunteers in the autumn term.
Financial review
Policy on reserves
The trustees aim to build up and maintain reserves from unrestricted funds, which have not been designated for specific use, at a level equivalent to three months expenditure. It is considered that reserves at this level will ensure that, in the event of a significant drop in funding, we will be able to continue the charity’s current activities while consideration is given to ways in which additional funds may be raised.
Principal funding sources
‘Alongside You’ trustees prepared and monitored a budget for this financial year through quarterly management reports reviewed at the trustee meetings. Trustees also discussed and reviewed expenditure on hardship food expenses as this year this has differed from usual budget, when we operate a small hardship fund for needs arising. This year our income met our expenditure, expenditure was reduced this year due to not being able to run our full programme of outings across the year. Income from our regular donors remained unchanged by covid-19, and we ran 2 successful giving campaigns in April and November through Localgiving to enable us to provide emergency food support and Christmas in a Box.
Page 5
ALONGSIDE YOU
TRUSTEES' REPORT
The trustees appreciate the support of all the churches, individual donors and grant trusts who give to make the work with families possible. We are grateful for the provision of ongoing and grant funding from the MacDonald Family Trust, Yapp Charitable Trust, Mercury Phoenix Foundation, Magic Little Grants award for active outings and match funding grant from DCMS in partnership with localgiving Covid-19 appeal.
Going concern
After making appropriate enquiries, the trustees have a reasonable expectation that the charity has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. For this reason they continue to adopt the going concern basis in preparing the financial statements.
Statement of Trustees' Responsibilities
The trustees (who are also the directors of Alongside You for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the trustees' report and the financial statements in accordance with the United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice) and applicable law and regulations.
Company law requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Under company law the trustees must not approve the financial statements unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company and of its incoming resources and application of resources, including its income and expenditure, for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the trustees are required to:
-
select suitable accounting policies and 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 have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements; and
-
prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charitable company will continue in business.
The trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the charitable company's transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable company and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charitable company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
The annual report was approved by the trustees of the charity on 12 July 2021 and signed on its behalf by:
......................................... Yolanda Musinguzi Trustee
Page 6
ALONGSIDE YOU
INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S REPORT
I report to the charity trustees on my examination of the accounts of the charity for the year ended 31 March 2021 which are set out on pages 8 to 15.
Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner
As the charity’s trustees of Alongside You (and also its directors for the purposes of company law) you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 (‘the 2006 Act’).
Having satisfied myself that the accounts of Alongside You are not required to be audited under Part 16 of the 2006 Act and are eligible for independent examination, I report in respect of my examination of your charity’s accounts as carried out under section 145 of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the 2011 Act’). In carrying out my examination I have followed the Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the 2011 Act.
Independent examiner’s statement
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe:
-
accounting records were not kept in respect of Alongside You as required by section 386 of the 2006 Act; or
-
the accounts do not accord with those records; or
-
the accounts do not comply with the accounting requirements of section 396 of the 2006 Act other than any requirement that the accounts give a ‘true and fair view' which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination; or
-
the accounts have not been prepared in accordance with the methods and principles of the Statement of Recommended Practice for accounting and reporting by charities [applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102)].
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
...................................... G W Schulz
Independent Examiners Ltd 2 Broadbridge Business Centre Delling Lane Bosham Chichester West Sussex PO18 8NF
12 July 2021
Page 7
ALONGSIDE YOU
STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021
| Note Unrestricted funds £ Income and Endowments from: Donations and legacies 3 28,885 Total income 28,885 Expenditure on: Raising funds - Charitable activities 4 26,645 Total expenditure 26,645 Net income 2,240 Net movement in funds 2,240 Reconciliation of funds Total funds brought forward 17,132 Total funds carried forward 10 19,372 |
Total 2021 £ 28,885 28,885 - 26,645 26,645 2,240 2,240 17,132 19,372 |
Total 2020 £ 31,185 |
|---|---|---|
| 31,185 | ||
| 506 25,482 |
||
| 25,988 | ||
| 5,197 | ||
| 5,197 11,935 |
||
| 17,132 |
The notes on pages 10 to 15 form an integral part of these financial statements. Page 8
ALONGSIDE YOU
BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31 MARCH 2021
| Note Current assets Debtors 7 Cash at bank and in hand Creditors: Amounts falling due within one year 8 Net assets Funds of the charity: Unrestricted income funds Unrestricted funds Total funds 10 |
2021 £ 1,010 18,878 19,888 (516) 19,372 19,372 19,372 |
2020 £ 184 17,626 |
|---|---|---|
| 17,810 (678) |
||
| 17,132 | ||
| 17,132 | ||
| 17,132 |
For the financial year ending 31 March 2021 the charity was entitled to exemption from audit under section 477 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small companies.
Directors' responsibilities:
-
The members have not required the charity to obtain an audit of its accounts for the year in question in accordance with section 476; and
-
The directors acknowledge their responsibilities for complying with the requirements of the Act with respect to accounting records and the preparation of accounts.
These accounts have been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to companies subject to the small companies regime.
The financial statements on pages 8 to 15 were approved by the trustees, and authorised for issue on 12 July 2021 and signed on their behalf by:
......................................... Yolanda Musinguzi Trustee
The notes on pages 10 to 15 form an integral part of these financial statements. Page 9
ALONGSIDE YOU
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021
1 Charity status
The charity is limited by guarantee, incorporated in England, and consequently does not have share capital. Each of the trustees is liable to contribute an amount not exceeding £Nil towards the assets of the charity in the event of liquidation.
2 Accounting policies
Summary of significant accounting policies and key accounting estimates
The principal accounting policies applied in the preparation of these financial statements are set out below. These policies have been consistently applied to all the years presented, unless otherwise stated.
Statement of compliance
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) (effective 1 January 2019) - (Charities SORP (FRS 102)), the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102). They also comply with the Companies Act 2006 and Charities Act 2011.
Basis of preparation
Alongside You meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS 102. Assets and liabilities are initially recognised at historical cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policy notes.
Going concern
The trustees consider that there are no material uncertainties about the charity's ability to continue as a going concern nor any significant areas of uncertainty that affect the carrying value of assets held by the charity.
Income and endowments
All income is recognised once the charity has entitlement to the income, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount of the income receivable can be measured reliably.
Page 10
ALONGSIDE YOU
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021
Donations and legacies
Donations are recognised when the charity has been notified in writing of both the amount and settlement date. In the event that a donation is subject to conditions that require a level of performance by the charity before the charity is entitled to the funds, the income is deferred and not recognised until either those conditions are fully met, or the fulfilment of those conditions is wholly within the control of the charity and it is probable that these conditions will be fulfilled in the reporting period.
Gift aid
Income tax recoverable in relation to donations received under Gift Aid or deeds of covenant is recognised at the time of the donation.
Expenditure
All expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to that expenditure, it is probable settlement is required and the amount can be measured reliably. All costs are allocated to the applicable expenditure heading that aggregate similar costs to that category.
Raising funds
These are costs incurred in attracting voluntary income, the management of investments and those incurred in trading activities that raise funds.
Charitable activities
Charitable expenditure comprises those costs incurred by the charity in the delivery of its activities and services for its beneficiaries. It includes both costs that can be allocated directly to such activities and those costs of an indirect nature necessary to support them.
Taxation
The charity is considered to pass the tests set out in Paragraph 1 Schedule 6 of the Finance Act 2010 and therefore it meets the definition of a charitable company for UK corporation tax purposes. Accordingly, the charity is potentially exempt from taxation in respect of income or capital gains received within categories covered by Chapter 3 Part 11 of the Corporation Tax Act 2010 or Section 256 of the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992, to the extent that such income or gains are applied exclusively to charitable purposes.
Debtors
Trade and other debtors are recognised at the settlement amount after any trade discount offered. Prepayments are valued at the amount prepaid net of any trade discounts due.
Page 11
ALONGSIDE YOU
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021
Cash and cash equivalents
Cash and cash equivalents comprise cash on hand and call deposits, and other short-term highly liquid investments that are readily convertible to a known amount of cash and are subject to an insignificant risk of change in value.
Liabilities
Liabilities are recognised when there is an obligation at the Balance sheet date as a result of a past event, it is probable that a transfer of economic benefit will be required in settlement, and the amount of the settlement can be estimated reliably.
Liabilities are recognised at the amount that the company anticipates it will pay to settle the debt or the amount it has received as advanced payments for the goods or services it must provide.
Fund structure
Unrestricted income funds are general funds that are available for use at the trustees's discretion in furtherance of the objectives of the charity.
Pensions and other post retirement obligations
The charity operates a defined contribution pension scheme which is a pension plan under which fixed contributions are paid into a pension fund and the charity has no legal or constructive obligation to pay further contributions even if the fund does not hold sufficient assets to pay all employees the benefits relating to employee service in the current and prior periods.
Contributions to defined contribution plans are recognised in the Statement of Financial Activities when they are due. If contribution payments exceed the contribution due for service, the excess is recognised as a prepayment.
Financial instruments
The company 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.
Page 12
ALONGSIDE YOU
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021
3 Income from donations and legacies
| Donations and legacies; Donations Fundraising Gift aid reclaimed Grants, including capital grants; Grants from other charities 4 Expenditure on charitable activities |
Unrestricted funds General £ 15,684 3,263 2,938 7,000 28,885 |
Total 2021 £ 15,684 3,263 2,938 7,000 28,885 |
Total 2020 £ 17,025 2,303 3,857 8,000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 31,185 | |||
| Note Family work - visits, outings and gifts Family work - volunteer costs Communications Rent Insurance Sundries Independent examination Staff costs 6 |
Unrestricted funds General £ 6,240 129 403 2,000 500 361 720 16,292 26,645 |
Total 2021 £ 6,240 129 403 2,000 500 361 720 16,292 26,645 |
Total 2020 £ 7,971 272 309 1,749 483 368 720 13,610 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 25,482 |
5 Trustees remuneration and expenses
No trustees, nor any persons connected with them, have received any remuneration from the charity during the year.
No trustees have received any reimbursed expenses or any other benefits from the charity during the year.
Page 13
ALONGSIDE YOU
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021
6 Staff costs
The aggregate payroll costs were as follows:
| Staff costs during the year were: Wages and salaries Pension costs |
2021 £ 16,117 175 16,292 |
2020 £ 13,482 128 |
|---|---|---|
| 13,610 |
The monthly average number of persons (including senior management team) employed by the charity during the year expressed as full time equivalents was as follows:
Employees
| 2021 | 2020 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| No | No | ||
| 2 | 2 |
No employee received emoluments of more than £60,000 during the year.
7 Debtors
| Accrued income Other debtors |
2021 £ 379 631 1,010 |
2020 £ 184 - |
|---|---|---|
| 184 |
8 Creditors: amounts falling due within one year
| 8 Creditors: amounts falling due within one year | ||
|---|---|---|
| Other taxation and social security Pension scheme creditor Accruals |
2021 £ - 36 480 516 |
2020 £ 165 33 480 |
| 678 |
9 Pension and other schemes
Defined contribution pension scheme
The charity operates a defined contribution pension scheme. The pension cost charge for the year represents contributions payable by the charity to the scheme and amounted to £175 (2020 - £128).
Page 14
ALONGSIDE YOU
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021
10 Funds
| 10 Funds | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unrestricted funds General Unrestricted funds General |
Balance at 1 April 2020 £ 17,132 Balance at 1 April 2019 £ 11,935 |
Incoming resources £ 28,885 Incoming resources £ 31,185 |
Resources expended £ (26,645) Resources expended £ (25,988) |
Balance at 31 March 2021 £ 19,372 |
| Balance at 31 March 2020 £ 17,132 |
11 Analysis of net assets between funds
| 11 Analysis of net assets between funds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Current assets Current liabilities Total net assets Current assets Current liabilities Total net assets |
Unrestricted funds General £ 19,888 (516) 19,372 Unrestricted funds General £ 17,810 (678) 17,132 |
Total funds at 31 March 2021 £ 19,888 (516) |
| 19,372 | ||
| Total funds at 31 March 2020 £ 17,810 (678) |
||
| 17,132 |
Page 15