2023-03-31-accounts

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Together for Short Lives

Trustees’ Report

and

Financial Statements

For the year ended 31 March 2023

Registered company number: 7783702 Registered charity numbers: 1144022 (England & Wales) SC044139 (Scotland)

TOGETHER FOR SHORT LIVES

(A Company Limited by Guarantee)

	Page
Reference and Administrative Details of the Charity, its Trustees and	1 - 2
Advisers
Chair and Chief Executive’s Introduction	3
Trustees' Report	4 – 25
Independent Auditors' Report	26 – 28
Consolidated Statement of Financial Activities	29
Consolidated Balance Sheet	30
Company Balance Sheet	31
Consolidated Statement of Cash flows	32
Notes to the Financial Statements	33 – 49

TOGETHER FOR SHORT LIVES

(A Company Limited by Guarantee)

REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS OF THE COMPANY, ITS TRUSTEES AND ADVISERS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

Trustees

Dr Hilary Cass OBE, Chair (term ended 23 March 2023, and retired as trustee) Dr Lisa Kauffmann, Chair (appointed 9 September 2022, term as Chair started 23 March 2023) Sarah Talbot-Williams, Vice Chair Bernie Watson, Treasurer Arlene Honeyman Paul Obey Sue Hogg (re appointed 29 June 2022) Tracy Tait (re appointed 29 June 2022) Jo Laddie (re appointed 13 December 2022) Adam Smith (re appointed 13 December 2022) Stephanie Nimmo (re appointed March 2023) Toby Porter (resigned 3 November 2022)

Company registered number

7783702

Charity registered numbers

1144022 (England & Wales) SCO44139 (Scotland)

Registered office

Suite 1b, Whitefriars, Lewins Mead, Bristol, BS1 2NT

Chief executive officer

Andy Fletcher

Executive team

Nick Carroll Dr Helena Dunbar Andy Fletcher Myra Johnson (to September 2022) Kate McSweeney (from Jan 2023) Mala Langdon

TOGETHER FOR SHORT LIVES (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

Independent auditor

Haysmacintyre LLP, 10 Queen Street Place, London, EC4R 1AG

Bankers

NatWest Plc, 32 Corn Street, Bristol, BS99 7UG CCLA, Senator House, 85 Queen Victoria Street, London, EC4V 4ET

Investment managers

Sarasin & Partners LLP, Juxon House, 100 St Paul's Churchyard, London, EC4M 8BU

TOGETHER FOR SHORT LIVES (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

TRUSTEES' REPORT (continued) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

Chair and Chief Executive’s Introduction

Welcome to Together for Short Lives’ Annual Report and Accounts for 2022-23.

This has been a significant year in the development of Together for Short Lives and children’s palliative care in the UK. We have continued to strive to ensure that we deliver our purpose – to ensure that every child and their family has access to high quality palliative and end of life care, when and where they need it. And despite the challenging external environment and rising cost of living, we have achieved significant growth in our income and our impact.

As the leading UK charity for children’s palliative care, we know that the growing number of children with life-limiting conditions and their families face many challenges. We know caring round the clock places huge pressure on families and, despite some brilliant services in hospital, children’s hospice and in the community, many struggle to get the support they need. And for many the cost of living crisis is compounding these challenges.

We are proud to have developed a Cost of Living Fund to support families with their energy costs. In all we were able to share £165,000 to families caring for children who were dependent on electrical equipment to keep well. Over 650 households from across the UK received a payment of £250. The impact of our wider family hub has continued to grow, reaching families with support via out helpline, peer to peer support and our Butterfly grants for parents who have lost a child.

We have supported professionals and services to share innovative ways of working, particularly in reaching families and providing care in different ways and advocated for continued sustainability funding through this uncertain period. In September we were really delighted to welcome more than 280 delegates to our two-day conference – ‘Unlocking Potential – the key to quality children’s palliative care’. The conference was very well received, and delegates particularly valued the sharing of good practice and the opportunity to network with others working in children’s palliative care.

We were delighted to launch the collaborative Kentown Children’s Palliative Care Programme in Lancashire and South Cumbria. This innovative programme brings together health, social care and coordination in an integrated service for children and young people with life-limiting illness and their families. We are pleased to be working with all the local NHS Trusts, Rainbow Trust Children’s Charity and Kentown Wizard Foundation as well as partners and services across the region. The programme will be independently evaluated, and we are really looking forward to seeing its impact in action.

Our wonderful partnership with Morrisons continues to go from strength to strength and we are hugely grateful to all customers and colleagues for their support. It has already raised a huge amount to support local children’s hospices continue their vital work. And it is also supporting partnerships between Together for Short Lives and local services to reach more families who need support, particularly in areas with the largest and most diverse populations of children. And while there continues to be significant pressure on the economy, our fundraising performance has continued to be strong.

Despite this growth, we know there is so much more to do to reach children and families and build a strong and sustainable children’s palliative care sector. That’s why we recently launched our new strategy which sets a new ten-year vision for children’s palliative care to guide our work. We will focus on improving access, quality and sustainability of children’s palliative care so more children and families can benefit from high quality support when and where they need it. We are continuing to use our designated fund from a significant one-off legacy in 2019 to invest both in our services, support and impact as well as our fundraising to ensure long term sustainability. Our planned deficit this year

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TRUSTEES' REPORT (continued) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

and for the next two years will invest in our strategy to continue to improve access, quality and sustainability in children’s palliative care and ensure we can continue to be here for families in the future.

As ever, we have been indebted to our amazing supporters, staff and volunteers who have enabled us to deliver so much this year.

While there will be challenges ahead, we know that by working collaboratively with our partners, we can meet them and ensure that more children and families get the support they need, when and where they need it.

Dr Lisa Kauffmann Chair of Trustees

Andy Fletcher Chief Executive

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TRUSTEES' REPORT (continued) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

Trustees’ Annual Report

The trustees (who are also directors of the charity for the purposes of the Companies Act) present their annual report together with the audited financial statements of Together for Short Lives (the charity) for the year ended 31 March 2023.

The trustees confirm that the Annual Report and Financial Statements of the charity comply with the current statutory requirements, the requirements of the charity's governing document and the provisions of the Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP) "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) (second addition - effective 1 January 2019)".

Structure, Governance and Management

Objectives of the charity

The objectives of the charity are promoting for the public benefit the support of children and young people with life-limiting conditions such that:

children and young people and their families have as fulfilling lives as possible; and
children and young people receive the best care at the end of life.

Constitution

Together for Short Lives is a registered charity and was incorporated as a company limited by guarantee on 4th October 2011. The constitution of the charity is set out in the Memorandum and Articles of Association. Trustees are also directors of the charity for the purposes of the Companies Act.

The charity has one wholly owned subsidiary charity: Together for Short Lives (Trading) Ltd (Company number 06434214), a company which is registered in England and Wales and is used for fundraising activities.

Board of Trustees

The charity is governed by its Board of Trustees, which is detailed on page 1. All trustees give of their time freely and no trustee remuneration was paid in the year. Details of trustee expenses and related party transactions are disclosed in note 7 and note 20 to the accounts.

Trustees may hold office for three years. At the end of their first term, they can be re-elected for one further three-year term. Any Trustee who has served two terms of office is not eligible for reappointment as a Trustee unless there are exceptional reasons. The charity aims to appoint trustees across a wide and diverse range of backgrounds, skills, and regions.

Induction and training of trustees

On appointment, new trustees receive an induction pack containing key information about the charity and its governance structure. To support their induction, new trustees are matched with an existing

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TRUSTEES' REPORT (continued) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

trustee in a “buddy scheme”. In addition, new trustees are encouraged to meet with other existing trustees and are invited to visit the charity’s offices to meet with the Executive Team and other staff.

Ongoing training for trustees is given as required; in general, all trustees are encouraged to maintain or enhance their knowledge, especially in areas in which they are not expert. There is a trustee development session at each full Board meeting exploring issues such as current trends in fundraising and children’s palliative care policy and practice.

Sub Committees of the Board

The trustees perform their governance role via the full Board which meets at least four times a year. During the year there have been three committees which are formally constituted as committees of the Board of Trustees and the Board approves the Terms of Reference.

Finance, Governance and Fundraising Committee
Clinical Strategy and Quality Assurance Committee
Appointments Committee

The recorded actions and minutes of committee meetings are submitted to the Board of Trustees at its next meeting. There is a written scheme of delegation that sets out which decisions are made by the Board, committees, or staff and this is reviewed regularly. The committees therefore have certain delegated authority within their areas of responsibility, and these are subsequently reported to the Board for information. However, in other areas, they are only able to make recommendations to the Board.

Committees are able to co-opt to their membership other individuals who may bring particular expertise to that committee.

Advisory Council

The Advisory Council ensures that our work is better informed by those with lived experience of children’s palliative care and those working to deliver it across the UK. Young people, parents of children with life-limiting conditions and representatives from across the children’s palliative care sector contribute their expertise and communicate their views on issues affecting children's palliative care to inform and advise the work of Together for Short Lives. It is an integral part of the strategic and operational planning for the charity.

Remuneration for key management staff

The charity aims to ensure that appropriate remuneration packages are set to attract, retain and motivate an appropriate calibre of employees.

Salary benchmarking is undertaken to compare roles with similar positions within the charity and not for profit sector.

Decisions on setting pay levels are made as follows:

For staff apart from Senior Managers and the Chief Executive, by Senior Managers in conjunction with the Director of Finance & Resources
For Senior Managers other than Chief Executive, by the Chief Executive

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TRUSTEES' REPORT (continued) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

For the Chief Executive, by the Board of Trustees.

The Board has final approval of all pay rises across the organisation.

The numbers of higher paid employees are:	2023	2022
In the band £60,001 - £70,000	1	3
In the band £70,001 - £80,000	3	1
In the band £80,001 - £90,000	1	1
	----------------	----------------
	5	5
	========	=======

Safeguarding

Together for Short Lives has a duty to keep children and vulnerable groups safe and must fulfil its legal and regulatory responsibilities in relation to protecting children, young people and vulnerable adults at risk. In addition, beneficiaries, staff, volunteers, and everyone in contact with the organisation should feel that they are in a safe, supportive and inclusive environment.

We have a Designated Lead for Safeguarding whose responsibility is to ensure that safeguarding policy and culture is embedded across the organisation. All safeguarding incidents are reported and reviewed by the Executive team and the Clinical Strategy and Quality Assurance Committee before they are reported at board level.

All staff complete an annual pre-recorded safeguarding refresher and all new staff complete a level 1 safeguarding pre-recording and quiz. We also have a whistle blowing procedure so anyone can confidentially raise any concerns they have.

We carry out DBS record checks for all new staff and volunteers and an enhanced check for those working on our helpline service and in community outreach positions. The designated lead for safeguarding and the helpline staff also undertake additional enhanced safeguarding training. In accordance with our Helpline Standards’ accreditation, all staff working with families through our family hub service engage in a reflective process and proforma to regularly assess how staff within our family hub team handle their contacts.

Safeguarding concerns are logged securely on our Case Manager System. We had eleven safeguarding concerns raised over the year. In all cases procedures were followed and support offered. Two cases were escalated to the police, two cases were referred for further professional help. A common thread highlighted during several of the incidents was mothers expressing desperation and suicidal thoughts and as a result further training was instigated for Practice and Service Development team to enable them to understand and identify red flags associated with potential suicide and support families further.

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

Like many charities, we know we still have work to do before we are a fully inclusive organisation where everybody can be themselves and feel that they belong.

Feedback from our annual staff survey suggests we are making progress in being more inclusive. In 2020, only 46% of staff agreed with the statement “I am comfortable being myself at work”. In 2023, this figure had risen to 86%. While we are encouraged by this progress, we will continue to develop and roll out our plans to be a more inclusive organisation.

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TRUSTEES' REPORT (continued) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

As well as making internal change, we know that we must develop more inclusive services and support the children’s palliative care sector to reach all the children and families who need support. We know from evidence that there is a higher prevalence of children with life-limiting and life-threatening conditions among Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic families, particularly those from Pakistani and South Asian communities. This year, as part of our Morrisons corporate partnership we appointed three community outreach workers covering three areas where prevalence of life limiting conditions is highest amongst ethnically diverse communities. - Bedford & Luton; Birmingham & Solihull; Greater Manchester - Rochdale, Oldham. These three posts are raising awareness of children’s palliative care, putting the needs of children and families at the heart of service delivery, and enabling families to easily access the help and support they need locally and nationally.

Membership

The charity operates a membership scheme, currently under review, for organisations and professionals working in the children’s palliative care sector. We have a paid membership of 62 organisations and 21 teams (which includes all children’s hospice services in the UK) and 73 individual care professionals. We also have 46 associate members (abroad/friend of/student) who have signed up to receive information from us. We launched a new online discussion forum for professionals, which has grown steadily over the year and now has 325 members. There have been discussions on a range of topics, for example, moving and handling of young people after death, medicines management, referral/eligibility criteria for children’s hospices and sharing role descriptions for new posts.

Public benefit

The objects of the organisation are for children and young people with life-limiting conditions to have as fulfilling lives as possible and the best care at the end of life. The Trustees confirm that they have referred to the guidance contained in the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit when reviewing Together for Short Lives’ aims and objectivities and in planning our strategic priorities and activities for the year.

Whilst there is greater elaboration below, our strategic priorities to fulfil the public benefit are outlined as follows.

A strong and sustainable palliative care sector.
Supporting and empowering children, young people and families who require palliative care
services.
Striving for joined up policy, services, care and support for children and families.
Greater understanding and support for children’s palliative care

The way in which we have achieved the public benefit is outlined in the “Activities, Achievements and Performance” section below.

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Vision, Values and Strategy

Our vision and purpose

This is the final year of our five-year strategy and we have spent much of the last year reviewing our purpose and developing a new strategy.

Together for Short Lives’ purpose is to ensure every child, and their family, has high quality children’s palliative and end of life care, when and where they need it.

We are here to make sure families can access the right care and support and that those providing it have the skills and resources they need. Together with everyone who provides care and support to these children and families we are here to help them have as fulfilling lives as possible and the very best care at the end of life. Because while we can’t change the diagnosis, we can help children and families make the most of their time together.

How we create change

The challenges facing children and families and those who support them are complex. To help address them, Together for Short Lives works to have impact at three levels – with individual families, with services and professionals delivering care and with the wider health and care system.

System change	Policy decision makers	Working with leaders in governments, the health service, commissioning bodies and delivery organisations to constantly improve the funding, quality, consistency and coordination of children’spalliative care.
	Regional Co- ordination	Facilitating cooperation between different sectors and organisations to deliver a more integrated experience of palliative care for children and their families.

Improved delivery	Organisational development	Supporting providers of children’s palliative care, to ensure they have the funding, resources and expertise needed to provide a sustainable, consistent, high-quality service.
	Workforce development	Working with the professional workforce delivering children’s palliative care, to ensure they have the network, training, resources, confidence and skills they need to provide the bestpossible care.

Direct support	Children with life- limiting conditions and their families	Providing information and support directly to families of seriously ill children, particularly those who are unable to access that support elsewhere.

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Our values

We put children and families at the heart of everything we do
We are ambitious about improving the lives of children and families and stand up for what we believe in
We are collaborative and bring people together to deliver the biggest impact
We are inclusive and open to new and different views, approaches and experiences

Our strategic priorities 2018-23

There are 99,000+ children and young people living in the UK with health conditions that are life-limiting or life-threatening and the number is rising.

These children and their families rely on a network of many excellent and invaluable services which make up children’s palliative care which is available across the UK: hospitals, children’s hospices, community children’s nurses, social care providers, educators, wish-makers, therapists, psychologists, sibling workers, bereavement counsellors and many, many more. Our five-year strategy aims to provide a voice for these children and their families and to enable much needed support to the sector.

A strong and sustainable children’s palliative care sector for the 99,000+

There are serious risks to the long-term sustainability of the children’s palliative care sector. The number of babies, children and young people with life-limiting and life-threatening conditions is growing, and they are living longer with complex conditions. Policy and funding are not keeping pace with their needs, and many individuals and vital charities struggle to develop new and sustainable fundraising income. As a result, services are overstretched, and family support is inadequate.

Supported and empowered children, young people and families

The support children and families receive is patchy and variable. Choice remains a laudable public policy aim but is severely limited by the availability of funded services. Families face a postcode lottery of support, and many of them struggle to get access to the services and support they need. This can leave families feeling frustrated, isolated and alone while facing the challenge of providing 24/7 care for their child.

Joined up policy, services, care and support for children and families

Services are not adequately or consistently joined up around the family and their needs. Policymakers, funders and commissioners too often operate independently leading to inefficient or ineffective funding arrangements. Families and professionals continue to be frustrated by the lack of co-ordination across health and wider care services, which significantly increases the burden on those seeking care and those providing care.

Changing hearts and minds: Greater understanding and support for children’s palliative care

There is a low-level understanding of children’s palliative care in both public and wider professional arenas. Too often knowledge of hospice and palliative care is focused on end of life, as opposed to also achieving a quality of life. This creates barriers to good policy making, efficient and effective care

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and support. There is a cultural and societal fear of death and discomfort with talking about it, especially in relation to children. This compounds families’ sense of isolation and loneliness.

Activities, Achievements and Performance for the public benefit

We have detailed below under each of our strategic headings our activities and achievements for the year.

A strong and sustainable children’s palliative care sector for the 99,000+

In 2022/23 we campaigned for seriously ill children and young people and their families to have wider access to the lifeline palliative care and support they need:

24/7 access to care

In 2022, we published our #EveryDayEveryNight report and campaign, which included a range of interactive digital maps enabling the public to find out if quality standards in access to children’s palliative care are being met in their local area.

We wrote to senior stakeholders and secured meetings with government officials, Labour shadow health and social care minister Feryal Clark MP and officials working for the Children’s Commissioner for England. We handed our #EveryDayEveryNight open letter to 10 Downing Street; this achieved almost 2,000 signatures and details of supporters who signed up to support future campaigns.

This mapping supported further media and campaigning activity in January – February 23 where we secured broadcast coverage on Sky and

All-Party Parliamentary Party Group for Children Who Need Palliative Care activity

On June 22 we held an All-Party Parliamentary Party Group for Children Who Need Palliative Care Children’s Hospice Week drop-in for MPs and peers at Westminster. We were joined by parent Ananda Gill who shared her experience of caring for Charlie, her seriously ill son, and the impact that the care and support provided by Haven House Children's Hospice has had on her, Charlie and her family.

Twelve MPs and one peer joined us including Care and Mental Health Minister Gillian Keegan. The event enabled us to talk to them about the findings of our latest children’s hospice funding report – and to ask them to support our campaign to ask the government to protect and extend the NHS England Children’s Hospice Grant; we launched a campaign encouraging the public to write to their MP to ask for their support on this issue.

In November 22 we held a reception for the APPG for Children Who Need Palliative Care reception at Westminster. Parents, professionals and services joined us to explain to MPs and Peers the impact of the cost of living crisis for families whose children depend upon special electrical equipment to stay alive. As a result of parent Sophie’s speech at the APPG, Siobhain McDonagh MP, Chair of the APPG, helped to secure a grant for Sophie from KidsOut for Isabel’s hydrotherapy pool. Immediately following the event, Siobhain asked the Chancellor at the Treasury Select Committee to meet with the group to discuss the impacts of the current cost of living crisis.

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In February 23 we ran the APPG annual general meeting where Lord Balfe agreed to be the APPG’s co-chair. A bereaved parent, Manraj, spoke to MPs and Peers about her son Anjun and the care she received from her local hospice.

The Children’s Hospice Grant

In April 23 NHS England officials wrote to Children’s Hospices in England saying “2023/24 marks the final year of the current NHS England grant agreement. We encourage hospices to work closely with their local integrated care boards (ICBs) on longer-term commissioning arrangements.” To support a campaign to save the grant, we launched our annual funding survey and wrote to key decision makers in Whitehall and Government and political parties to make the case for maintaining and ringfencing the £25m grant.

Our Transition guide for families

In 22/23 launched and promoted our new Transition guide for families and our updated Transition pathway. This pathway is written for professionals, predominantly for those working in children’s and adult hospice and palliative care services, but also for any professionals who are supporting young adults with life-limiting conditions and their families, whether they work in health, social care, education or other settings.

Raising awareness in Parliament

Other activity in Parliament has included:

We were mentioned in the House of Lords on 24 May during the second reading debate of a government bill designed to ensure that children and adults deemed to be in the last 12 months of their lives have fast-tracked access to benefits. We used the debate to request that peers ask the government to extend access to the DLA mobility component to children under the age of three who need bulky medical equipment. The minister responding to the debate, Baroness StedmanScott, said that she was confident that the Disabled People’s Minister, Chloe Smith, would be willing to meet with us to discuss the issue.
Ahead of House of Lords oral question on end of life care - in relation to Archie Battersbee -we met with Labour’s shadow health and social care team via our meeting with Feryal Clark MP’s team, and peers. As a result, the minister mentioned us and our NHS-funded resource.
We took part in roundtable meetings with the Children's Minister and the Care Minister organised by the Council for Disabled Children to influence the government’s review of special educational needs and disabilities in England.
We liaised with members in Northern Ireland and Wales to discuss how we can support and add value to public affairs and policy work.
We submitted written evidence to the House of Commons Health and Select Committee’s inquiry into assisted dying and assisted suicide. We submitted evidence to Patricia Hewitt’s review into the way in which integrated care systems in England should operate.
We made a representation to HM Treasury ahead of Budget 2023 and reacted following the Budget itself.

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TRUSTEES' REPORT (continued) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

Changing hearts and minds: Greater understanding and support for children’s palliative care

During the year we raised awareness of the needs of children and families and the services they rely on, sharing stories on our website and through proactive media and social media campaigns.

Our awareness raising and campaigning has focused on the cost-of-living crisis and its impact on the families we are here for, including working with the Daily Express on a campaign to end the disability bills crisis. We have campaigned to ensure families can access to the right services, where and when they need them and invested in marketing and awareness campaigns to reach the growing numbers of children with life-limiting conditions and their families.

We have stepped up our story telling, using powerful video content to connect with families. We have worked with families over the last year on a series of blogs, to amplify the family voice, including Lindsey’s blog for Christmas day Jane’s blog for grief awareness week and Stacey’s blog for world prematurity day.

Alongside our own awareness campaigning we have engaged with sector wide campaigns to increase our reach to families including through, Baby Loss Awareness Week, Dying Matters Week, Child Cancer Awareness Month, the Disabled Children’s Partnership and many awareness days for specific conditions like Batten, Trisomy and Rett Disease.

The Cost-of-Living crisis

Mindful of the significant impact of rising energy prices on families and services, we focused our campaign efforts on the Cost of Living crisis. We sent a joint letter from leaders of organisations representing and providing services to disabled children on cost of living; this achieved media coverage and conducted several meetings with MPs secured as part of cost of living campaign asking them to press the UK Government on this issue.

The Cost of Living Support Fund was established at a time when spiralling energy costs were making headline news. During winter 2022/3 Together for Short Lives provided a total on £165,000 to families caring for children who were dependent on electrical equipment to keep well. Over 650 households from across the UK received a payment of £250 having been referred to us by their children’s palliative care team. While the majority of recipients put the funds against high energy bills, others decided to use it for general living costs.

Through November to December we posted 67 times across our social channels about the fund, and in total our posts had nearly 100,000 impressions and we saw over 7,000 engagements: on average each post saw an engagement rate of 5.35%, which was pleasing. Our comms were led by two powerful case studies – George and Isabel – and these powerful stories played well on our social media channels: pictured below is our best performing Facebook post featuring George which reached 14,000 users (for context an ‘average’ post in 2022 would expect to reach 2-3,000 users).

We also achieved some notable media coverage: mum Carolynne appeared on Woman’s Hour with Kate Winslett and kindly promoted the grants, we also placed a family story piece about Isabel and her mum Sophie on Sky News’s website in the week before Christmas, which led to a spike in donations.

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TRUSTEES' REPORT (continued) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

Our Annual Ball

April saw the Together for Short Lives Ball named in each of the top ten highest-reach articles, which were about celebrities that attended the function. The highest-reaching article in was from Mirror Online, which mentioned an interview with Bruno Tonioli (a new judge on Britain’s Got Talent and guest at the ball) at the TfSL Ball. Simon Cowell and the TfSL Ball were also included in the month’s second highest-reach article on Express.co.uk, which showed a video of Simon Cowell attending the ball before the article reported on an interview with his co-stars.

Patrons and Ambassadors

Our patron relationships continue to deepen with ongoing stewardship. Notable activity surrounded Mason Mount and his two-day pop-up shop in Knightsbridge in July 2022 which raised over £22k on the weekend using customised donated Nike stock. Further online activity raised a further £13k after the event and generated considerable coverage on social media and in the media. Peter Andre performed at our annual gala with Simon Cowell once again returning to his hosting duties. His endorsement of Morrisons’s partnership has generated a further opportunity to engage them as headline sponsor for another year. Alesha Dixon will be announced as an official ambassador of TfSL in 2023 with a view to engaging her long term as a patron. Holly Willoughby shouted out our very own Mala Langdon and Helena Dunbar on Instagram to celebrate International Women’s Day.

Children’s Hospice Week #ForTheChildren

The theme for Children’s Hospice Week 2022 was #ForTheChildren - highlighting the core purpose of the UK’s 54 children’s hospices and working to change perceptions. Throughout the week we shared some really moving family stories that show how important each individual child is to the amazing local hospices who care for them.

Families described their hospice as their 'safe place’, helping them feel like they were in ‘expert hands’ to create memories to last a lifetime. One Dad said of his local hospice, ‘without places like this, our situation would be close to impossible. It needs to carry on, it’s so important.

On the second day of Children’s Hospice Week, HRH The Duchess of Cambridge, as Royal Patron for East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices sent a personal message of support asking everyone to join her in celebrating the extraordinary work the UK’s 54 children’s hospices do for children and young people with life-limiting conditions, helping families make the most of their lives together, no matter how short.

Over the period 13 Jun – 14 July we had 702 pieces of media coverage around Children’s Hospice Week, with an AVE value of £772k. This is a significant increase on last year’s coverage and is due to the ongoing generous support from HRH The Duchess of Cambridge, as Royal Patron for East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices. Also this year we received a very high volume of media coverage following Nurse Francesca’s epic cycle challenge.

During the week of Children’s Hospice Week #childrenshospiceweek was used in a total of 3,640 posts, by 1,672 different authors. The # saw a total of 152,790 engagements with posts (engagements here are defined as any kind of like or reaction, shares, comments or link clicks), with an average of 42 engagements per post. In total the # had a reach of 37.1million potential impressions. The sentiment of activity on the #childrenshospiceweek tag was 98% positive.

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TRUSTEES' REPORT (continued) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

Digital transformation and resources

Our online support hub for families and professionals has grown this year. During the year over 81,000 pages were viewed on the family support section of our website, by more than 45,000 users – an increase in users of nearly 60% on the previous year – we also saw a 20% increase in the user of our LiveChat service on the website, which gives users an opportunity to chat with our helpline team directly via the website.

We have continued to invest in improving the online user experience via the website. As a result of updating our CRM product ThankQ we had to replace our existing donation and service directory functionality, and this gave us an opportunity to invest is improving the user experience, as well as improving the back-office processes to improve efficiency. Using learnings from our previous ‘Catalyst’ project, we have identified areas of the website that are most in need of upgrades to improve the user experience and make the content more accessible.

We have produced new content to support our Family Support Hub offer, including new videos which promote our different services and partners.

This year it was decided as an organisation that we would not continue with the Pif Tick standard due to the sheer volume of work and pressures on resources to maintain the standard through an assessment each year. Instead, we are working towards a new, internal standard that all staff who work across our information and resources will follow. Our new Communications Officer is due to start in July and she will support this work.

Sharing our impact

Our last impact report was published in October 2023, and can be viewed in both print and video format https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0__3LwGC-2g for the first time.

Supported and empowered children, young people and families

We have continued to grow our Family Support core hub offer to reach more families living with a seriously ill child, investing in our helpline and resources for families. We responded to 659 queries from families and those supporting them via our helpline and information service (307), our LiveChat facility (194) and email (158). This year we have been recording the number of families requiring more enhanced support as a result of the initial call. 322 families have received follow up support to access appropriate services in their locality and funding.

At the start of the year we had 68 families being supported through our ‘Voices for Families’ legal advice and support service and 24 new cases were opened from April through to November when referrals to the service were paused. The 60 cases active at the end of the year will continue to receive support. Although we have ended our formal arrangement with LawWorks we are now able to refer families contacting us directly to them as they continue to provide volunteer legal professional support to families, advocating for their needs when they are faced with difficult issues such as inadequate care packages or inappropriate housing.

This year has seen the launch of the Kentown programme, The Kentown Children’s Palliative Care Programme is a collaborative programme between Together for Short Lives, The Kentown Wizard Foundation and Rainbow Trust Children’s Charity. It is a community focused children’s palliative care initiative in Northwest England covering Lancashire and South Cumbria. A project with three key complementary delivery elements: Nursing Care, Social Care and Information and Awareness,

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Kentown Support will be delivered by specialist children’s palliative care nurses, family support workers and family service coordinators to link families living across Lancashire and South Cumbria to the services and support that they need.

The Butterfly Fund, providing £300 to families at the death of their child, supported 333 families before it was paused in November 2022. At this time, we launched our Cost of Living Support Fund campaign – a payment of £250 to families living on means-tested benefits whose child was reliant on electrical equipment to remain stable. 664 received grants in the period Nov-Mar 2023.

We continue to provide financial support through our existing informal and formal partnerships which include Turn2us (44 applications), Rosie’s Rainbow Pantry (30 deliveries), Children in need Emergency Fund (6) and a small handful of member services for whom we are able to make family referrals to e.g. Reubens Retreat.

We also saw a growth in peer to peer support, with membership of our private Together for Short Lives Family Facebook group, increasing to 489 members. We also host a Facebook group for bereaved parents, “Still Their Parent” which has 107 members. We support parents to moderate these groups themselves and welcomed one new parent moderator this year.

We know that timely, accurate information in a variety of formats is highly valued by families, and we continue to review and update our family information offer to families both online and in print. We were pleased to launch a new resource for families supporting their child through the transition to adult services in Spring 2023 and have disseminated over 150 hard copies in response to online requests.

Throughout the year 115 individual family members joined one of 5 online workshops on a variety of themes. Two webinars supported by a donation of Memory Making craft boxes by Hobbycraft saw a total of 97 sign ups.

Alongside the Family Hub we support family members who volunteer their time to influence campaigns and inform research into children’s palliative care. Our group of Family Experts grew from 70 to 93 members through the year and are given monthly opportunities to engage with the sector, sharing their own lived experience of children’s palliative care.

Joined up policy, services, care and support for children and families

We hold a variety of meetings and forums for professionals, including those working in practice educator roles (86 members), Family Support roles (49 members) and one for Leaders of Care within children’s hospices (62 members). We also have a Research Group of 54 academics that we host jointly with Association for Paediatric Palliative Medicine. The Transition Forum, co-hosted with Hospice UK, met 4 times last year with an average of 18 attendees. In addition to these member Forums, we also hold meetings for the Chairs of regional children’s palliative care networks to ensure that they are up to date with relevant policy and practice issues that might affect services in their region.

Working in partnership with the Martin House Research Centre and the Association of Paediatric Palliative Medicine, we host a UK wide Collaborative Paediatric Palliative Care Network (CoPPAR). In the last year we held 3 CoPPAR webinars attended by 108 professionals: Patient Public Involvement, Working with your local clinical research network and Research Careers in paediatric palliative care.

Our online discussion forum for professionals continues to attract discussions on various topics ranging from clinical matters to policy development and research.

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TRUSTEES' REPORT (continued) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

In September we held our two day conference – ‘Unlocking Potential – the key to quality children’s palliative care’. We had 282 delegates from across the sector who attended the conference. The standard of speakers was exceptional and the evaluations received were outstanding.

This year we published our new edition of Stepping Up which sets out the standards for good quality support for young people with life-limiting conditions across the three phases of transition, preparing, for transition, during transfer and settling into adult services. The updated pathway has a greater focus on the role of adult services in supporting transition and was developed in collaboration with Hospice UK. Alongside the pathway aimed at professionals and commissioners, we have published a new booklet for parents to help guide them through their decisions and steps to transitioning their young person.

Financial review

Overall Financial Performance

The Statement of Financial Activities shows Designated Funds, Unrestricted Funds, Restricted Funds (excluding the National Fundraising Scheme (NFS)) and NFS. The Designated Fund is shown separately from the Unrestricted Fund as it is ring fenced for specific activities (see below).

Restricted funds have been split into two: those for The National Fundraising Scheme (whose activities are concerned with raising funds for distribution to children’s hospice services) and those for other restricted fund projects and partnership such as Morrisons and Kentown. These funds are shown in note 16.

The net deficit for all funds for the year was £48k (2022: net deficit of £213k). Our partnerships and projects have meant a large increase in restricted income and distributions to hospices and families. Unrestricted Funding has been harder to raise this year, and we have plans in place to grow our income here over the medium term; the main pillar of this is the investment we are making in Individual Giving.

Funds for our core work

Funds relating to our core work, as opposed to the NFS and other restricted funds, are shown in the two columns in the Statement of Financial Activities labelled “Unrestricted Funds” and “Restricted Funds (excluding NFS) and Designated Fund”.

Income

We achieved gross income of £6,132k (2022: £3,053k). This large increase in income is due to the amount raised by the Morrisons’ partnership and the Kentown Support Programme.

Designated Fund

The money from the large legacy received in 2019 and 2020 has been ringfenced by the trustees in a Designated Fund. The specific activities on which this fund can be spent must be approved by the trustees and if an ongoing activity, must be self-sustaining within 2 years.

Phase one of our planned spend was focussed on building capacity. While we have spent money on ongoing direct services, there has been a focus on building a sustainable base from which to support children and their families and professionals in the sector in the long term. This includes implementing our five-year fundraising strategy as well developing digital tools to extend our reach.

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TRUSTEES' REPORT (continued) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

Activities this year have included investment in:

Direct support to families via the Family hub
Data systems and digital development
Organisational infrastructure
Income generation

Expenditure

Expenditure for the year was £6,180k (2022: £3,366k), considerably higher than the prior year mostly due to our partnership with Morrisons which means that we distribute fundraising to hospices. Of this, £2,650k (2022: £931k) was distributed in all charitable grants and funding, £2,591k was spent on our remaining charitable activities (2022: £1,527k) with the remaining £939k (2022: £908k) spent on raising funds, including those for The National Fundraising Scheme.

National Fundraising Scheme (NFS)

This scheme raises income and awareness through national corporate partnerships, and the net income raised is shared with local children’s hospice services across the UK who would not otherwise be able to access national partnerships.

The scheme raised £893k (2022 £1,272k) during the year from its various fundraising campaigns, After a deduction for direct costs, and a contribution to our core costs, £440k (2022: £707k) was distributed across 39 children’s hospices.

Grant Making Policy

We have had two main grant making policies this year. Established in 2019, the Butterfly Fund provides a £300 grant to families whose child has died. Funding is provided by a number of trusts and foundations, individuals and companies.

We paused the Butterfly Fund in November 2020 so that we could focus on distributing emergency Cost of Living Grants of £250 to families living on means-tested benefits whose child was reliant on electrical equipment to remain stable.

Fundraising Strategy

This was year three of our five-year fundraising strategy – a sustainable growth plan that looks to deliver increased income to fund our projects and services in line with the growing prevalence and unmet need.

At the heart of our strategy is the ambition to become a great fundraising organisation – a whole organisation approach to raising transformational amounts of income for our mission. We continue to bring this to life across the organisation, including training for the whole charity on what great fundraising looks like and their role in it.

We have made measured investments in capability and capacity to help grow our income particularly in the areas of philanthropy, trusts and corporate fundraising. We have seen initial signs of success from securing a £10 million partnership with Morrisons, a more robust pipeline of prospects and funding

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TRUSTEES' REPORT (continued) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

from Trusts and Foundation, and the advancement of a growth strategy for our philanthropy work.

As a team we have refreshed our fundraising strategy in line with the organisational direction and have developed three clear pillars:

1. Passionate people – becoming a connect, inspired and pro-active fundraising team is everything

2. Painless process – we will review, resolve and improve every essential interaction and activity required to deliver first class fundraising

3. Profitable priorities : a small number of core initiatives that will maximise net income contribution and unrestricted funds i.e., the development of an individual giving function, a £1 million development board, repositioning our corporate offering as a sector leader in social purpose/ESG; a cross sector strategic grant proposition

Fundraising performance

Despite the challenging environment for fundraising (with the cost-of-living pressures the public are facing), we have seen a year of strong income growth and delivered £5,957k, our highest ever year of fundraised income. This was capped off by taking second place in the Fundraising Team of the year category at the Third Sector Charity awards. Our recognition highlighted the progression the team have made in securing the largest ever partnership, and grant from a trust and our most successful Gala Ball.

As such the year had a dual focus of ensuring we provide exceptional support and care for the partners and donors who generously entrusted us with their money; and synchronously working to ensure plans are in place to sustain the income growth over the coming years.

We have had a successful first full year of working with Morrisons and remain on track to deliver £10 million over the three years. Morrisons sponsored the Gala Ball helping to raise nearly £400k and we got the Community outreach project underway. We also started to deliver Making Memory grants and set up the process to launch capital expenditure grants in 2023/24.

Our Trust team had a good year and secured £365k, which was a strong performance for a new team that was operating with reduced headcount for part of the year. They closed the year in a very positive way with several six figure grants already committed for 23/24.

We had a strong year working with corporate partners raising over £3 million, and receiving positive news from Center Parcs that they would commit to a further three years, taking the length of the partnership up to ten years in total.

We were able to react with significant agility as an organisation and secure funding of over £200k, to launch and deliver an emergency cost of living grant fund for families over the final quarter of 2023. This was a great success and a real boon for collaborative working, with fantastic media coverage, strong fundraising from existing and new supporters – and the development of more strategic conversations that have opened up potential new funding sources.

None of this would be possible without the generosity of the individuals, companies and organisations we work who share our passion for the cause. Alongside this we are grateful for the talented and hardworking team of fundraisers who continue to push themselves to secure even greater sums for our mission. Thank you

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TRUSTEES' REPORT (continued) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

The charity undertakes fundraising activity with its supporters through corporate partnerships, challenge events, a gala ball, payroll giving, and other activities in line with the Fundraising Code of Practice set by Fundraising Regulator.

Our privacy policy, (which is available on our website), states that:

“If you support us, for example by signing up to an event, donating or signing up to a campaign, we will usually collect your name, contact details, and whether you would like to be contacted, and how we would do so.

We use this information to thank you for supporting us and to provide you with further communications about our activities according to your preferences and interests. We also use it to fulfil our legal responsibilities for financial and Gift Aid reporting.

We will keep your data only for as long as necessary.”

In 2023/24 we will be developing our individual fundraising approach and review best practice in the sector to ensure our processes and polices are of the highest level to ensure an exemplary supporter experience.

We endeavour for all our fundraising, and any fundraising undertaken on our behalf, to be conducted in a fair, transparent, and compliant manner. We are members of the Fundraising Regulator and ensure all our fundraising activity is carried out in line with the Code of Fundraising Practice, charity law and all relevant legislation including General Data Protection Regulation and Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations. All Together for Short Lives employees receive training (including mandatory safeguarding training) and support as appropriate and, when planning new activities, we ensure the correct processes and procedures are in place.

We work with partner organisations so that supporters can take part in professionally organised challenge events, and we have clear agreements with those companies who will not use participants’ personal details for any other reason.

No complaints about our fundraising activity were received in the year.

Reserves policy

The trustees of the charity review the reserves policy each year. The policy states that the charity will hold Unrestricted Funds, excluding Designated Funds and those which are tied up in functional fixed assets, sufficient to cover the financial impact of risk, our working capital and so that we can take advantage of unforeseen opportunities as well as those planned.

The policy states that the target reserves should be at least the amount for working capital and financial risk, and at most that including an amount for opportunities. This range should ensure that there is no significant disruption to our charitable activities should there be an unforeseen reduction in income (for example when income does not reach expected levels); or additional expenditure (for example when projects overrun, or unplanned events occur). We have based our projections for the appropriate level of reserves on the basis that the reserves in our target range would provide short-term support until long-term solutions can be established.

Following this calculation for 2022-23, the policy means that the target reserves for the charity should be between £1,125k and £1,325k (2022: £933k-£1,262k). At 31st March 2023 general reserves (unrestricted reserves excluding designated reserves) totaled £1,192k (2022: £1,520k), which is

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TRUSTEES' REPORT (continued) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

within the target range.

Going Concern

The trustees are confident that the charity continues to be a going concern, particularly with the additional income secured under both the Morrisons and Kentown partnerships.

There were no significant events in year that had a financial impact on the charity.

Investment Policy and Performance

The organisation’s investment policy is as follows:

For working capital, to ensure adequate cash flow, the equivalent of at least three months’ expenditure should be held in instantly accessible cash deposits.
Any additional funds held on a temporary basis, such as money raised for members through the National Fundraising Scheme, will be invested in cash deposits over an appropriate period so as to maximise return while ensuring the money is available when needed.
Funds held in excess of the above will be invested over the longer term with the overall aim to achieve long term capital growth. The aim is to ensure that the reserves maintain their real capital value in the long term and should at least exceed inflation (as measured by RPI).
The investment policy also includes an ethical policy, which states that the trustees choose to invest only in funds that have ethical investment principles and policies, and that are managed by asset managers who have published a “statement of commitment” to the Financial Reporting Council’s current UK Stewardship Code. Trustees review the suitability of the investments within the portfolio at least annually.
The funds (including Designated Funds) available for long term investment are placed with Sarasin & Partners, in their Endowments Fund for Charities. The fund is measured against a bespoke benchmark and performance against this benchmark is monitored by the Finance & Governance Committee twice per year. The trustees consider the fund’s performance over the last year to have been acceptable .

Charity’s measure of performance

The charity measures its performance by monitoring various key performance indicators (KPIs) which are reported to the board and sub-committees on a quarterly basis. These reports are also reviewed by cross-departmental groups that focus on each of the four strategic aims. Numerical targets are used where appropriate and performance monitored against these.

During the year we have revised our core Purpose and Theory of Change, working with the external agency Trust Impact. This work is crucial to our plans to better evidence and measure the difference we make and improve how we prioritise our work.

Risk management

The charity encourages risk management at all levels of the organisation. The overall organisational risk register is reviewed monthly at every Executive Team meeting. Key issues and changes are reviewed quarterly by the Finance, Governance and Fundraising Committee and Board of Trustees. The register identifies the major risks to which the charity is exposed together with the actions and systems in place to mitigate or reduce the exposure to those risks. All major projects also have their

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TRUSTEES' REPORT (continued) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

own risk registers.

The principal risks and uncertainties at the time of writing, and plans and strategies for managing them are:

Safeguarding – as Together for Short Lives grows its impact on children and families, including through its direct support, risk around safeguarding has grown. This is being mitigated at all levels of the organisation, through robust Safeguarding incident within our online peer 2 peer support groups. Volunteers may have to manage an actual or potential safeguarding incident, especially out of hours. These volunteers have been trained and have access to support from a member of staff at all times.
Cyber Incident affects the organisation’s ability to function. There are several ways in which we are mitigating this risk; training for staff on managing their devices and commonly used attack methods such as phishing and supplier fraud, working with our IT supplier to ensure technical barriers are in place and having cyber security insurance.
Reputational risk from adverse publicity: Risk assessments are in place for all our key programmes and events which may have reputational impact. We have a robust and regularly reviewed Crisis Management policy and plan in place. We keep our Patrons and Ambassadors Strategy under regular review.
Loss of key staff is always a risk but particularly so in an insecure employment market where it is difficult to recruit. Furthermore, the pressures of new ways of working and the organisation expanding at speed means that we have to be particularly mindful of workload and wellbeing. Regular one to ones, acting on staff survey feedback and actively developing staff are some of the measures we take to mitigate the risk.
Lack of sustainable unrestricted income is a risk in every charity. We are currently running planned deficits against our reserves, but it is vital that we secure sustainable recurring unrestricted income for our core activities in the future. We have plans in train in philanthropy and individual giving in particular to secure that income.

Future strategy and plans

Setting a ten-year vision – our strategic approach

We have developed a new strategy which sets out a ten-year challenge. We feel that children and families and those who support them deserve a bold ambition and roadmap for change. For too long their needs have been overlooked by those planning and developing health and care policy which has led to this inconsistency. These are big challenges, and they need big and bold solutions.

It is also clear that the world is changing at a rapid rate, exacerbated by the COVID pandemic which will have significant long term impacts on wellbeing, the health and care system and the financial landscape for years to come. To reflect this changing world, our strategy sets 10-year strategic ambitions, setting out our vision for how we want the world to look different for children and families by 2033. We will prioritise our shorter term objectives in a series of over a 2-3 year phases, evaluating and refining them annually to ensure we continue to progress towards our 10-year strategic ambitions. This will enable us to be an agile organisation which can develop longer term impactful programmes, but adapt more flexibly to the changing environment.

Our strategic ambitions

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TRUSTEES' REPORT (continued) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

To steer our work over the next decade, we have set three strategic ambitions to make sure more children and families are able to get the support they need.

No family faces the journey alone – to increase reach so that more children and families can ACCESS 24/7 palliative care
The best care and support – to improve the QUALITY of palliative care so families have the best support
Support today, tomorrow and every day – to strengthen the SUSTAINABILITY of children’s palliative care so families can rely on support

Our objectives 2023-25

In order to achieve our three strategic ambitions, we have set out a number of objectives to be achieved in the first phase, between 2023 and 2025. This will be the first phase of our strategy and we will review these objectives as the external landscape changes to progress towards our 10 year strategic ambitions.

Strategic ambition 1: Improving access – No family faces the journey alone

 We will lead an integrated campaign of advocacy to ensure every child and family can access 24/7 care and support.

 We will extend the reach of our family hub so that all children who need palliative care can access it

 We will stimulate and help develop new models of care to reach and support more children and families

Strategic ambition 2: Improving quality – The best care and support

Objectives for 2023-25:

We will create a leading Centre of Excellence in children’s palliative care with the very latest data, evidence and insight in one place
We will develop a workforce strategy to help address the urgent gaps in the children’s palliative care workforce
We will develop common definitions and quality standards in children’s palliative care to ensure consistency across the UK

Strategic ambition 3: Improving Sustainability – support today, tomorrow and every day Objectives for 2023-25:

We will advocate for better funding for children’s palliative care in all four nations so that more money is going into children’s palliative care
We will support health and care commissioning of children’s palliative care so care is better planned and resourced

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TRUSTEES' REPORT (continued) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

 We will grow funding to support the sector to innovate and collaborate Making it happen – the development of Together for Short Lives

To achieve this ambition, Together for Short Lives will need to continue to change to ensure we are in the best shape possible to deliver for children, families and the services that support them.

We have begun this process with investments in Programmes and Service Development, fundraising and communications, the review of the Purpose, Theory of Change and our values. But there is still work to do to ensure that our growth is sustainable and we have the resources and ways of working to deliver impact for children and families and the people who support them.

This means the development four enabling strategies and plans:

Our people and culture – investing in making Together for Short Lives a great place
to work, developing our people and a culture that delivers real impact
The money and the mission – raising more money to deliver our mission and
building a great fundraising organisation. Reviewing our model of working to ensure we have the right systems and resources to deliver for the long term
Digital first – to be led by data and insight in understanding need and our impact
and exploring how we can better use digital tools and innovations to reach more people  Telling our story – elevating our brand so that we are better able to reach families,
professionals and the public. Telling powerful stories and communicating the difference we make internally and externally.

 An inclusive organisation where everyone belongs – continuing to develop our work to make Together for Short Lives a diverse and inclusive where everyone belongs and to ensure that we reach the high prevalence of families from different communities.

Acknowledgements

Delivering through partnerships

We place great value on a collaborative approach with partners in all areas of our work.

The partners who represent palliative and end of life care and disabled children include Hospice UK, the Council for Disabled Children, the Association of Paediatric Palliative Medicine, the European Association for Palliative Care, and the International Children's Palliative Care Network. We also seek to work collaboratively with UK and country governments and departments to ensure that the voice of children, young people and their families is heard and the view of our members better represented.

We work with other service providers in the charitable and statutory sectors.

Our service delivery partners for Kentown Support are Rainbow Trust Children’s Charity and NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria ICB. Other charities which support the direct delivery of our family work include Turn2us, Family Fund, Rosie's Rainbow Pantry and LawWorks,

Role of Volunteers

Together for Short Lives benefits from the time and commitment given by volunteers who have helped with administrative duties for the charity on a regular basis, as well as helping on an ad hoc basis. The charity is very grateful to all our volunteers for their time, support and flexibility. and hopes to create further opportunities for volunteer involvement in the future.

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TRUSTEES' REPORT (continued) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

Statement of trustees' responsibilities

The trustees (who are also directors of Together for Short Lives for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the Trustees' Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

Company and charity law require 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 judgments 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 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.

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.

Provision of information to auditors

Each of the persons who are trustees at the time when this Trustees' Report is approved has confirmed that:

so far as that trustee is aware, there is no relevant audit information of which the charitable company's auditors are unaware, and
that the trustee has taken all the steps that ought to have been taken as a trustee in order to be aware of any information needed by the charitable company's auditors in connection with preparing their report and to establish that the charitable company's auditors are aware of that information.

TOGETHER FOR SHORT LIVES (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

TRUSTEES' REPORT (continued) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

Small Company Provisions

The directors have prepared this report in accordance with the special provisions of Statutory Instrument 2008/409 under the Companies Act 2006 relating to small companies.

This report was approved by the trustees on and signed on their behalf by:

Dr Lisa Kauffmann Chair

Date 13.07.2023

TOGETHER FOR SHORT LIVES (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

INDEPENDENT AUDITORS' REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF TOGETHER FOR SHORT LIVES

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of Together for Short Lives for the year ended 31 March 2023 which comprise the Consolidated Statement of Financial Activities, the Consolidated and Charity Balance Sheets, the Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows and the related notes including a summary of significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards including Financial Reporting Standard 102: The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

In our opinion, the financial statements:

give a true and fair view of the state of the group’s and of the parent charitable company’s affairs as at 31 March 2023 and of the group’s and parent charitable company’s net movement in funds, including the income and expenditure, for the year then ended;
have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice; and
have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 and the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and regulation 8 of the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 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 group in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC’s Ethical Standard, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

Conclusions relating to going concern

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

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

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

Other information

The trustees are responsible for the other information. The other information comprises the information included in the Trustees’ 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.

In connection with our audit of the financial statements, our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether there is a material misstatement in the financial statements or a material misstatement of the other information. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact. We have nothing to report in this regard.

TOGETHER FOR SHORT LIVES (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

INDEPENDENT AUDITORS' REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF TOGETHER FOR SHORT LIVES

Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006

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

the information given in the Trustees’ Report (which incorporates the directors’ report) for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements; and
the Trustees’ Report (which incorporates the directors’ report) has been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements.

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the group and the parent charitable company and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the Trustees’ Report (which incorporates the directors’ report).

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Companies Act 2006 and the Charity Accounts (Scotland) Regulations (as amended) require us to report to you if, in our opinion:

adequate accounting records have not been kept by the parent charitable company; or
the parent charitable company 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 trustees were not entitled to prepare the financial statements in accordance with the small companies’ regime and take advantage of the small companies’ exemptions in preparing the trustees’ report and from the requirement to prepare a strategic report.

Responsibilities of trustees for the financial statements

As explained more fully in the trustees’ responsibilities statement set out on page 24, 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 group’s and the parent 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 group or the parent 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 is detailed below.

Based on our understanding of the group and the environment in which it operates, we identified that

TOGETHER FOR SHORT LIVES (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

INDEPENDENT AUDITORS' REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF TOGETHER FOR SHORT LIVES

the principal risks of non-compliance with laws and regulations related to charity and company law applicable in England, Wales and Scotland, and we considered the extent to which non-compliance might have a material effect on the financial statements. We also considered those laws and regulations that have a direct impact on the preparation of the financial statements such as the Companies Act 2006, the Charities Act 2011 and the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005.

We evaluated management’s incentives and opportunities for fraudulent manipulation of the financial statements (including the risk of override of controls) and determined that the principal risks were related to revenue recognition, and management override of controls. Audit procedures performed by the engagement team included:

Inspecting correspondence with regulators and tax authorities;
Discussions with management including consideration of known or suspected instances of noncompliance with laws and regulation and fraud;
Reviewing the controls and procedures of the charity relevant to the preparation of the financial statements to ensure these were in place throughout the year, including during the Covid-19 remote working period;
Evaluating management’s controls designed to prevent and detect irregularities;
Identifying and testing journals; and
Challenging assumptions and judgements made by management in their critical accounting estimates.

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

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

Use of our report

This report is made solely to the charitable company's members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006, section 44(1)(c) of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and regulation 10 of the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 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.

Lee Stokes (Senior Statutory Auditor) 10 Queen Street Place for and on behalf of London Haysmacintyre LLP EC4R 1AG Statutory Auditors

Date: 13 July 2023

TOGETHER FOR SHORT LIVES (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES (incorporating an income and expenditure account) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

----- Start of picture text -----
||||||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |Restricted| |General|Funds| |unrestricted|Designated|excluding|Restricted|Total|Total| |funds|funds - legacy|NFS|Funds NFS|funds|funds| |2023|2023|2023|2023|2023|2022| |Note|£|£|£|£|£|£| |INCOME FROM:| |Donations and legacies|2|405,527|-|3,091,229|781,129 4,277,885 1,786,736| |Other trading activities|2|578,070|-|1,056,502|111,748 1,746,320 1,268,059| |Investments|2|82,398|-|-|-|82,398|55,759| |Charitable activities|2|22,983|-|-|-|22,983|34,066| |Other income|2|2,202|-|-|-|2,202|8,530| |--------------------- ---------------------|-----------------|----------------- -------------------- --------------------| |TOTAL INCOME|2|1,091,180|-|4,147,731|892,877 6,131,788 3,153,150| |--------------------- ---------------------|-----------------|----------------- -------------------- --------------------| |EXPENDITURE ON:| |Raising funds|702,443|182,598|-|54,094|939,135|908,082| |Charitable activities|736,324|275,654|3,482,503|746,330 5,240,811 2,458,230| |--------------------- ---------------------|----------------|---------------- -------------------|-------------------| |TOTAL EXPENDITURE|4|1,438,767|458,252|3,482,503|800,424 6,179,946 3,366,311| |--------------------- ---------------------|-----------------|----------------- -------------------- --------------------| |Net income/(expenditure)| |before revaluation|(347,587)|(458,252)|665,228|92,453|(48,158)|(213,162)| |(Losses)/gains on| |revaluations of investment| |assets|(122,317)|-|-|-|(122,317)|42,851| |------------------- ---------------------|---------------|---------------|---------------|---------------| |NET| |INCOME/(EXPENDITURE)|(469,904)|(458,252)|665,228|92,453|(170,475)|(170,311)| |Transfers between Funds|16|124,671|(168,095)|135,877|(92,453)|-|-| |------------------- ---------------------|---------------|----------------- -------------------|-------------------| |NET MOVEMENT IN| |FUNDS FOR THE YEAR|(345,233)|(626,347)|801,105|-|(170,475)|(170,311)| |Total funds at start of year|1,537,893 2,304,348|301,113|- 4,143,354 4,313,665| |---------------------- ----------------------|-----------------|---------------- --------------------- ---------------------| |TOTAL FUNDS AT END OF| |YEAR|1,192,660 1,678,001|1,102,218|- 3,972,879 4,143,354| |=========== ===========|========|======== ========== ==========|

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

All activities relate to continuing operations.

The accompanying notes form part of these financial statements.

Full comparatives for the year to 31 March 2022 are shown in notes 2 and 4.

TOGETHER FOR SHORT LIVES (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

REGISTERED NUMBER: 07783702

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31 MARCH 2023

			2023		2022
	Note	£	£	£	£
FIXED ASSETS
Tangible assets	11		75,726		42,648
Investments	12		3,173,426		3,645,743
			--------------------		--------------------
			3,249,152		3,688,391
CURRENT ASSETS
Stock		8,330			-
Debtors	13	1,676,031		1,113,458
Cash at bank		1,551,564		454,308
		---------------------		--------------------
		3,235,925		1,567,766
CREDITORS:amounts falling due within
one year	14	(2,512,198)		(1,112,803)
		----------------------		-----------------------
NET CURRENT ASSETS			723,727		454,963
			-------------------		-------------------
NET ASSETS			3,972,879		4,143,354
			=========		==========
CHARITY FUNDS
Restricted funds NFS	16		-		-
Restricted funds excluding NFS	16		1,102,218		301,113
Designated fund - legacy			1,678,001		2,304,348
Other unrestricted funds	16		1,192,660		1,537,893
			-------------------		-------------------
TOTAL FUNDS			3,972,879		4,143,354
			=========		==========

The financial statements were approved by the trustees on and signed on their behalf, by: 13.07.2023

Bernie Watson

B Watson, Treasurer

Dr L Kauffmann, Chair

The accompanying notes form part of these financial statements.

TOGETHER FOR SHORT LIVES

(A Company Limited by Guarantee)

REGISTERED NUMBER: 07783702

CHARITY BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31 MARCH 2023

			2023		2022
	Note	£	£	£	£
FIXED ASSETS
Tangible assets	11		75,726		42,648
Investments	12		3,178,426		3,650,743
			--------------------		--------------------
			3,254,152		3,693,391
CURRENT ASSETS
Debtors	13	1,834,720		1,089,677
Cash at bank		1,391,125		396,573
		-----------------		-----------------
		3,225,845		1,486,250
CREDITORS:amounts falling due within
one year	14	(2,507,118)		(1,036,287)
		---------------------		-----------------------
NET CURRENT ASSETS			718,727		449,963
			-------------------		-------------------
NET ASSETS			3,972,879		4,143,354
			==========		==========
CHARITY FUNDS
Restricted funds NFS	16		-		-
Restricted funds excluding NFS	16		1,102,218		301,113
Designated fund - legacy			1,678,001		2,304,348
Other unrestricted funds	16		1,192,660		1,537,893
			-------------------		-------------------
TOTAL FUNDS			3,972,879		4,143,354
			==========		==========

The financial statements were approved by the trustees on and signed on their behalf, by: 13.07.2023

Bernie Watson

B Watson, Treasurer Dr L Kauffmann, Chair

The accompanying notes form part of these financial statements.

The deficit of the parent charity for the year was £173,299 (2022: deficit of £170,311).

TOGETHER FOR SHORT LIVES (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

	Note	2023	2022
		£	£
Cash inflow from operating activities	a	723,576	(429,302)
		==========	==========
Cash flows from investing activities
Interest income		4,667	52
Investment income		77,731	55,707
Purchase of tangible fixed assets		(58,718)	(43,554)
Sale of investments		350,000	-
		----------------------	----------------------
Cash used in investing activities		373,680	12,205
Increase in cash and cash equivalents in the		1,097,256	(417,097)
year
Cash and short term investments at the beginning		454,308	871,405
of the year
		----------------------	----------------------
TOTAL CASH AND SHORT TERM INVESTMENTS AT THE END OF THE YEAR		1,551,564	454,308
		==========	==========

a. RECONCILIATION OF NET MOVEMENT IN FUNDS TO NET CASH INFLOW FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES

	2023	2022
	£	£
Net income/(expenditure)	(170,475)	(170,311)
Depreciation charge	25,640	15,987
Interest income	(4,667)	(52)
Investment income	(77,731)	(55,707)
Loss/(gain) on investments	122,317	(42,851)
(Increase)/decrease in debtors	(562,573)	110,030
Increase/(decrease) in creditors	1,399,395	(286,398)
Increase in stock	(8,330)	-
	----------------------	----------------------
Net cash inflow from operating activities	723,576	(429,302)
	==========	==========

TOGETHER FOR SHORT LIVES (A Company Limited by Guarantee) NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES

The principal accounting policies adopted, judgements and key sources of estimation uncertainty in the preparation of the financial statements are as follows:

1.1. Basis of preparation of the financial statements

The consolidated 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 2015) - (Charities SORP (FRS 102)), the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) and the Companies Act 2006.

Together for Short Lives 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.

1.2. Preparation of accounts on a going concern basis

The review of our financial position since the introduction of the COVID-19 control measures has included forecasting income, expenditure and cashflow, access to available unrestricted funds and detailed planning for potential future events, The trustees consider there are no material uncertainties about the Charity’s ability to continue as a going concern for a period in excess of 12 months from the approval date of these accounts.

1.3. Company Status

Together for Short Lives is a company limited by guarantee, registered as a company in England and Wales (company number 7783702). The members of the company are the trustees named on page 1. In the event of the Together for Short Lives being wound up, the liability in respect of the guarantee is limited to £10 per member of Together for Short Lives.

1.4. Income

All income is recognised once the charity has entitlement to income, it is probable that income will be received and the amount of income receivable can be measured reliably.

Donations and legacies

Donations and gifts are included in full in the Statement of Financial Activities when there is entitlement, probability of receipt and the amount of income receivable can be measured reliably.

Gifts in kind

Gifts in kind represent assets donated for distribution or use by the charity. Assets given for distribution are recognised as income only when distributed. Assets given for use by the charity are recognised when receivable. Gifts in kind are valued at the amount actually realised from the disposal of the assets or at the price the charity would otherwise have paid for the assets.

Grants

Grants are recognised in full in the Statement of Financial Activities in the year in which the charity has entitlement to the income, the amount of income receivable can be measured reliably and there is probability of receipt.

TOGETHER FOR SHORT LIVES (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES (continued)

Income from charitable activities

Income from charitable activities is recognised as earned as the related services are provided. Income from other trading activities is recognised as earned as the related goods are provided.

Investment income

Investment income is recognised on a receivable basis once the amounts can be measured reliably.

1.5. Expenditure

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
Expenditure on charitable activities

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

Expenditure is allocated to the particular activity where the cost relates directly to that activity. However, the cost of overall direction and administration of each activity, comprising the salary and overhead costs of the central function, is apportioned based on staff time attributable to each activity.

Expenditure on raising funds for children’s hospice services through the National Fundraising Scheme (NFS) is included under “Expenditure on charitable activities”, as these are costs that we incur in supporting the children's palliative care sector and so are part of delivering our charitable purpose.

1.6. Allocation of costs

Staff costs are allocated between direct charitable expenditure and support costs based on the time spent on these activities. Other costs are allocated directly to the relevant heading.

1.7. Operating leases

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

1.8. Fund accounting

General funds are unrestricted funds which are available for use at the discretion of the trustees in furtherance of the general objectives of the company and which have not been designated for other purposes.

Designated funds comprise unrestricted funds that have been set aside by the trustees for particular purposes. The aim and use of each designated fund is set out in the notes to the financial statements.

TOGETHER FOR SHORT LIVES (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES (continued)

Restricted funds are funds which are to be used in accordance with specific restrictions imposed by donors or which have been raised by the company for particular purposes. The costs of raising and administering such funds are charged against the specific fund. The aim and use of each restricted fund is set out in the notes to the financial statements.

Investment income, gains and losses are allocated to the appropriate fund.

1.6.Employee benefits

Short term benefits

Short term benefits including holiday pay are recognised as an expense in the period in which the service is received.

Employee termination benefits

Termination benefits are accounted for on an accruals basis and in line with FRS 102. Pension scheme

Together for Short Lives operates a defined contribution pension scheme for the benefit of its employees. The assets of the scheme are held independently from those of the Charity in an independently administered fund. The pensions costs charged in the financial statements represent the contributions payable during the year.

1.7. Basis of consolidation

The financial statements consolidate the accounts of Together for Short Lives and its subsidiary undertaking Together for Short Lives (Trading) Ltd. The company has taken advantage of the exemption contained within 408 of the Companies Act 2006 not to present its own Income and Expenditure Account.

1.8. Investments

Investments are stated at market value at the balance sheet date. The Statement of Financial Activities includes the net gains and losses arising on revaluations and disposals throughout the year.

Investments in subsidiaries are valued at cost less provision for impairment. Monies held in deposit accounts are classified as investments within current assets.

1.9. Tangible fixed Assets and depreciation

Fixed assets are initially recorded at cost. Expenditure on fixed assets costing £1,000 or less is written off as incurred.

Tangible fixed assets are stated at cost less depreciation. Depreciation is provided at rates calculated to write off the cost of fixed assets, less their estimated residual value, over their expected useful lives on the following bases:

Leasehold improvements - Straight line over the period of the lease Fixtures and fittings - 25% straight line Office equipment - 33.3% straight line

1.10. Debtors

Trade and other debtors are recognised at the settlement amount due after any trade discount offered. Prepayments are valued at the amount prepaid net of any trade discounts due.

TOGETHER FOR SHORT LIVES (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES (continued)

1.11. Stock

Stocks are valued at the lower of cost and net realisable value. Net realisable value is based upon estimated selling price less further costs expected to be incurred to completion and disposal. Provision is made for obsolete and slow-moving items.

The trustees have concluded and agreed that the valuing of shops donated goods for resale on receipt is impractical due to the high volume of low value items, lack of stock system for recording these items and the administrative cost involved. Instead the income is recognised in the accounts when these goods are sold.

1.12. 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.

1.13. Critical accounting judgements and key sources of estimation uncertainty

In the application of the charity's accounting policies, the Trustees are required to make judgements, estimates and assumptions about the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. The estimates and associated assumptions are based on historical experience and other factors that are considered to be relevant. Actual results may differ from these estimates. The estimates and underlying assumptions are reviewed on an ongoing basis. Revisions to accounting estimates are recognised in the period in which the estimate is revised if the revision affects only that period, or in the period of the revision and future periods if the revision affects both current and future periods.

Critical judgements – legacy income recognition

During the year, the charity received notification of a residual legacy. The administration of the estate remains ongoing. In the Trustees judgement there is insufficient information available to measure the legacy due to the charity and therefore only the interim distribution received after the year end has been recognised in these accounts.

The trustees do not consider there are any other critical judgements or sources of estimation uncertainty requiring disclosure beyond the accounting policies listed above.

TOGETHER FOR SHORT LIVES (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

2. ANALYSIS OF INCOME

			Restricted
			Funds
	Unrestricted	Designated	excluding	Restricted	Total	Total
	funds	Funds	NFS	Funds NFS	funds	funds
	2023	2023	2023	2023	2023	2022
	£	£	£	£	£	£
Donations and
legacies
Donations	302,852	-	2,711,555	781,129	3,795,536	1,466,987
Legacies	20,000	-	-	-	20,000	24,718
Grants	82,675	-	379,674	-	462,349	295,032
	-------------------	-------------------	-------------------	-------------------	-------------------	-------------------
	405,527	-	3,091,229	781,129	4,277,885	1,786,737
	-------------------	-------------------	-------------------	-------------------	-------------------	-------------------
Other trading
activities
Licensing	42,447	-	1,028,908	-	1,071,355	625,603
Fundraising events	468,733	-	27,594	111,748	608,075	642,456
Conferences	66,890	-	-	-	66,890	-
	-------------------	-------------------	-------------------	-------------------	-------------------	-------------------
	578,070	-	1,056,502	111,748	1,746,320	1,268,059
	-------------------	-------------------	-------------------	-------------------	-------------------	-------------------
Investments
Bank interest	4,667	-	-	-	4,667	52
Investment income	77,731	-	-	-	77,731	55,707
	-------------------	-------------------	-------------------	-------------------	-------------------	-------------------
	82,398	-	-	-	82,398	55,759
	-------------------	-------------------	-------------------	-------------------	-------------------	-------------------
Charitable activities
Membership fees	19,433	-	-	-	19,433	34,066
Conferences	3,550	-	-	-	3,550	-
	-------------------	-------------------	-------------------	-------------------	-------------------	-------------------
	22,983	-	-	-	22,983	34,066
	-------------------	-------------------	-------------------	-------------------	-------------------	-------------------
Other income	2,202	-	-	-	2,202	8,530
	-------------------	-------------------	-------------------	-------------------	-------------------	-------------------
Total income	1,091,180	-	4,147,731	892,877	6,131,788	3,196,002
	=========	=========	=========	=========	=========	==========

TOGETHER FOR SHORT LIVES (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

Comparative analysis for 2022

			Restricted
			Funds
	Unrestricted	Designated	excluding	Restricted	Total
	funds	Funds	NFS	Funds NFS	funds
	2022	2022	2022	2022	2022
	£	£	£	£	£
Donations and
legacies
Donations	306,246	-	319,968	840,773	1,466,987
Legacies	24,718	-	-	-	24,718
Grants	227,195	-	62,837	5,000	295,032
	-------------------	-------------------	-------------------	-------------------	-------------------
	558,159	-	382,805	845,773	1,786,736
	-------------------	-------------------	-------------------	-------------------	-------------------
Other trading
activities
Licensing	70,028	-	264,034	291,541	625,603
Fundraising events	507,717	-	-	134,739	642,456
Conferences	-	-	-	-	-
	-------------------	-------------------	-------------------	-------------------	-------------------
	577,745	-	264,034	426,280	1,268,059
	-------------------	-------------------	-------------------	-------------------	-------------------
Investments
Bank interest	52	-	-	-	52
Investment income	55,707	-	-	-	55,707
	-------------------	-------------------	-------------------	-------------------	-------------------
	55,759	-	-	-	55,759
	-------------------	-------------------	-------------------	-------------------	-------------------
Charitable activities
Membership fees	34,066	-	-	-	34,066
Conferences	-	-	-	-	-
	-------------------	-------------------	-------------------	-------------------	-------------------
	34,066	-	-	-	34,066
	-------------------	-------------------	-------------------	-------------------	-------------------
Other income	8,530	-	-	-	8,530
Gain/(Loss) on
revaluation of
investments	42,851	-	-	-	42,851
	-------------------	-------------------	-------------------	-------------------	-------------------
Total income	1,277,110	-	646,839	1,272,053	3,196,002
	=========	=========	=========	=========	=========

TOGETHER FOR SHORT LIVES (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

3. NET INCOME FROM TRADING ACTIVITIES OF SUBSIDIARY

Together for Short Lives owns 100% of the called up share capital of Together for Short Lives (Trading) Limited, a trading company registered in England and Wales, company number 06434214. A summary of the trading results of Together for Short Lives (Trading) Limited for the year ended 31 March 2023 is shown below. All taxable profits have been transferred to the Charity.

		2023	2023	2022	2022
		£		£
Turnover		1,071,299		624,222
Administrative expenses		(20,927)		(17,077)
		-----------------		-----------------
Profit after tax		1,050,372			607,145
Payment under gift aid		(1,050,372)			(607,145)
			------------------		------------------
Retained profit carried forward			-		-
			=========		==========
At 31 March 2023 the total of share capital and reserves for the company				was £5,000 (2022: £5,000)
Net assets were £1,103,461 (2022: £710,369) and net liabilities were £1,098,461 (2022:					£705,369).
. ANALYSIS OF EXPENDITURE
	Direct costs		Support
	Grants	Other costs	costs	Total	Total
	2023	2023	2023	2023	2022
	£	£	£	£	£
Raising funds
Raising funds for our core work	-	720,932	164,109	885,041	834,725
Raising funds for NFS income	-	36,544	17,550	54,094	73,356
	------------------	------------------	-----------------	-------------------	-------------------
	-	757,476	181,659	939,135	908,081
Charitable Activities
National Charitable Activities	-	1,545,630	397,926	1,943,556	1,081,622
Cost of generating income for children’s hospice (NFS)	-	207,083	99,450	306,533	359,143
Cost of generating income for children’s hospice (Morrisons)	-	341,051	-	341,051	248,585
Grants – National Fundraising Scheme (NFS)	439,797	-	-	439,797	707,276
Grants – Improving Transition for Young People Awards	1,941,724	-	-	1,941,724	-
Grants – Butterfly Fund	102,900	-	-	102,900	129,604
Grants – Cost of Living Fund	165,250	-	-	165,250	100,000
	------------------	------------------	-----------------	-------------------	-------------------
Charitable activities	2,649,671	2,093,764	497,376	5,240,811	2,626,230
	------------------	------------------	-----------------	-------------------	-------------------
	------------------	-------------------	-----------------	-------------------	-------------------
	2,649,671	2,851,240	679,035	6,179,946	3,534,311
	=========	=========	========	=========	=========

At 31 March 2023 the total of share capital and reserves for the company was £5,000 (2022: £5,000). Net assets were £1,103,461 (2022: £710,369) and net liabilities were £1,098,461 (2022: £705,369).

4. ANALYSIS OF EXPENDITURE

TOGETHER FOR SHORT LIVES (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

4. ANALYSIS OF EXPENDITURE (Continued)

	Direct costs	Direct costs	Support
	Grants	Other costs	costs	Total
	2022	2022	2022	2022
*Comparative analysis for 2022*	£	£	£	£
Raising funds
Raising funds for our core work	-	650,287	184,438	834,725
Raising funds for NFS income	-	54,922	18,434	73,356
	------------------	-----------------	-----------------	-------------------
	-	705,209	202,872	908,081
Charitable Activities
National Charitable Activities	94,450	716,301	202,871	1,013,622
Cost of generating income for children’s hospice (NFS)	-	260,577	98,566	359,143
Cost of generating income for children’s hospice (Morrisons)	-	248,585	-	248,585
Grants – National Fundraising Scheme (NFS)	707,276	-	-	707,276
Grants – Improving Transition for Young
People Awards	-	-	-	-
Butterfly Fund Grants	129,604	-	-	129,604
Grants – Relief Fund	-	-	-	-
	------------------	------------------	-----------------	-------------------
Charitable activities	931,330	1,225,464	301,437	2,458,230
	------------------	------------------	-----------------	-------------------
	------------------	-------------------	-----------------	-------------------
	931,330	1,930,672	504,309	3,366,311
	=========	=========	========	=========

In 2022, £73,356 of expenditure on raising funds was restricted to NFS, and £834,725 was unrestricted.

£573,272 of expenditure on charitable activities was restricted, £1,066,418 was restricted to NFS and £818,540 was unrestricted.

5. ANALYSIS OF SUPPORT COSTS

	Total	Total
	2023	2022
	£	£
Staff costs	427,243	301,898
Depreciation	25,640	15,987
Governance costs	66,258	48,292
Other administrative costs	159,894	138,132
	----------------	-----------------
	679,035	504,309
	=========	=========

TOGETHER FOR SHORT LIVES (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

6. GRANTS TO INSTITUTIONS

		Unrestricted	Restricted	Restricted	Total Funds	Total Funds
		Funds 2023	Funds	Funds NFS	2023	2022
		£	excluding	2023	£	£
			NFS 2023	£
			£
	National Fundraising
	Scheme (NFS)	-	-	439,797	439,797	707,276
	Improving Transitions for
	Young People Fund	-	-	-	-	32,068
	Morrisons	-	1,941,724	-	1,941,724	-
	Butterfly Fund Grants	-	102,900	-	102,900	129,604
	Relief Fund Grants	-	165,250	-	165,250	-
		-------------------	----------------	----------------	----------------	----------------
		-	2,209,874	439,797	2,649,671	868,948
		==========	=========	=======	=========	=========
	Grants payable under the	National Fundraising Scheme are made to member charities providing
	children's palliative care services across		the UK in line with donor wishes.
7.	GOVERNANCE COSTS				Total	Total
					funds	funds
					2023	2022
					£	£
	Auditors' remuneration				17,025	14,260
	Meeting costs				2,393	942
	Trustees travel reimbursed				4,116	2,901
	Wages and salaries				35,515	25,095
	Employers NI				4,432	3,463
	Pension costs				2,777	1,631
					----------------	----------------
					66,258	48,292
					========	=========
8.	NET INCOME/(EXPENDITURE)				2023	2022
					£	£
	This is stated after charging:
	Depreciation of tangible fixed assets:				25,640	15,987
	Auditors’ remuneration				17,025	14,460
	Operating lease payments				530	4,621
					========	=========

During the year, no trustees received any remuneration (2022 Nil).

During the year, no trustees received any benefits in kind (2022 Nil).

During the year, 11 trustees received reimbursement of expenses for travel totalling £4,116 (2022: 0 trustees).

TOGETHER FOR SHORT LIVES (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

		2023	2022
9.	AUDITORS’ REMUNERATION	£	£
	Fees payable to the charity's auditor for the audit of the charity's
	annual accounts	11,460	9,550
	Fees payable to the charity's auditor in respect of:
	Together for Short Lives (Trading) Ltd	3,125	2,500
	Non audit services	2,440	2,210
		========	=========
10.	STAFF COSTS	2023	2022
		£	£
	Staff costs were as follows:
	Wages and salaries	1,551,306	1,141,731
	Social security costs	164,209	125,156
	Pension costs	89,820	73,380
	Ex gratia payments	38,500	-
		---------------------	---------------------
		1,843,835	1,340,267
		==========	==========
	The ex gratia payments were made to employees following departmental restructures.
	The average monthly number of employees during the year was as follows:
		No.	No.
		39	27
		========	=======
	The number of higher paid employees was:
	In the band £60,001 - £70,000	1	3
	In the band £70,001 - £80,000	3	3
	In the band £80,001 - £90,000	1	-
	In the band £90,001 - £100,000	-	1
		----------------	----------------
		5	7
		========	=======

Key management remuneration

The total employee benefits of the key management personnel of the Group were £399,180 (2022: £521,391).

TOGETHER FOR SHORT LIVES (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

11. TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS

		Leasehold	Leasehold
		property	Fixtures and		Office
		improvements		fittings	equipment	Total
	Group and Charity	£		£	£	£
	Cost
	At 1 April 2022	115,553		18,512	108,270	242,335
	Additions	3,640		-	55,078	58,718
		----------------		-----------------	----------------	----------------
	At 31 March 2023	119,193		18,512	163,348	301,053
		----------------		-----------------	----------------	----------------
	Depreciation
	At 1 April 2022	89,583		18,512	91,592	199,687
	Charge for the year	6,645		-	18,995	25,640
		----------------		-----------------	----------------	----------------
	At 31 March 2023	96,228		18,512	110,587	225,327
		----------------		-----------------	----------------	----------------
	Net book value
	At 31 March 2023	22,965		-	52,761	75,726
		========		========	========	========
	At 31 March 2022	25,970		-	16,678	42,648
		========		========	========	========
12.	FIXED ASSET INVESTMENTS
		Money Market		Listed
		Fund		securities	Total	Total
		2023		2023	2023	2022
		£		£	£	£
	Group
	Market value
	At 1 April	1,608,302		2,037,441	3,645,743	3,602,892
	Additions		-	-	-	-
	Disposals	(350,000)		-	(350,000)	-
	Revaluations		-	(122,317)	(122,317)	42,851
		--------------------		--------------------	--------------------	--------------------
	At 31 March	1,258,302		1,915,124	3,173,426	3,645,743
		=========		=========	=========	=========
	Group investments at market value comprise:				2023	2022
					£	£
	Listed investments				1,915,124	2,037,441
	Money Market Fund				1,258,302	1,608,302
					==========	==========

All the fixed asset investments are held in the UK

TOGETHER FOR SHORT LIVES (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

FIXED ASSET INVESTMENTS (continued)	FIXED ASSET INVESTMENTS (continued)
	Money Market	Listed	Investments
	Fund	securities	in subsidiary	Total
	2023	2023	2023	2023
	£	£	£	£
Charity
Market value
At 1 April	1,608,302	2,037,441	5,000	3,650,743
Additions	-	-	-	-
Disposals	(350,000)	-	-	(350,000)
Revaluations	-	(122,317)	-	(122,317)
	--------------------	--------------------	--------------------	--------------------
At 31 March	1,258,302	1,915,124	5,000	3,178,426
	=========	=========	=========	=========

All the fixed asset investments are held in the UK.

Comparative analysis for 2022

		Money Market	Listed	Investments
		Fund	securities	in subsidiary	Total
		2022	2022	2022	2022
		£	£	£	£
	Charity
	Market value
	At 1 April	1,608,302	1,994,590	5,000	3,607,892
	Additions	-	-	-	-
	Disposals	-	-	-	-
	Revaluations	-	42,851	-	42,851
		--------------------	--------------------	---------------	--------------------
	At 31 March	1,608,302	2,037,441	5,000	3,650,743
		=========	=========	=======	=========
	All the fixed asset investments are held	in the UK.
13.	DEBTORS	Group		Charity
		2023	2022	2023	2022
		£	£	£	£
	Trade debtors	203,248	396,610	52,800	8,010
	Amounts owed by group undertakings	-	-	1,100,710	628,853
	VAT Debtor	11,088	-	3,759	-
	Other debtors	444	1,432	444`	1,432
	Prepayments and accrued income	1,461,251	715,416	677,007	451,382
		-----------------	-----------------	-------------------	-------------------
		1,676,031	1,113,458	1,834,720	1,089,677
		========	========	=========	========

TOGETHER FOR SHORT LIVES (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

----- Start of picture text -----
|||||| |---|---|---|---|---| |14.|CREDITORS: amounts falling due|Group|Charity| |within one year|2023|2022|2023|2022| |£|£|£|£| |Trade creditors|118,148|66,758|118,148|66,758| |Other taxation and social security|43,227|36,467|43,227|36,467| |VAT creditors|22,157|-|22,157|-| |Other creditors|203,140|152,341|203,140|81,010| |Accruals and deferred income|2,125,526|857,237|2,120,446|852,052| |-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------| |2,512,198|1,112,803|2,507,118|1,036,287| |=========|=========|=========|========| |15.|ANALYSIS OF DEFERRED INCOME|Group|Charity| |2023|2022|2023|2022| |£|£|£|£| |Deferred income at 1 April|4,740|1,519|4,740|1,519| |Released to income in the year|(4,740)|(1,519)|(4,740)|(1,519)| |Deferred in the year|-|4,740|-|4,740| |-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------| |Deferred income at 31 March|-|4,740|-|4,740|

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

Deferred income in 2022 related to Simply Learning to Talk Project.

16. STATEMENT OF FUNDS

----- Start of picture text -----
|||||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |Brought|Transfers|Gains/|Carried| |Forward|Income|Expenditure|in/(out)|(Losses)|Forward| |£|£|£|£|£|£| |Designated funds| |Designated fund - Legacy|2,261,700|-|(432,612)|(226,813)|-|1,602,275| |Fixed asset fund|42,648|-|(25,640)|58,718|-|75,726| |General funds| |General Funds|1,537,893|1,091,180 (1,438,767)|124,671|(122,317) 1,192,660| |-------------------|----------------- ---------------------|------------------|------------------|-------------------| |Total Unrestricted funds|3,842,241|1,091,180 (1,897,019)|(43,424)|(122,317) 2,870,661| |----------------------|----------------- ---------------------|------------------|------------------|-------------------|

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

Purpose of designated funds

The Fixed Asset fund

This fund relates to fixed assets and therefore is not available to cover the ongoing costs of the Charity, the balance is equal to the net book value in the accounts of fixed assets held by the charity.

Legacy fund

During the year the charity received the second and final payment of £1,272k of the large legacy notified in 2020. The trustees have designated this legacy to be invested in key strategic areas for children's palliative care – see Trustees’ Annual Report.

TOGETHER FOR SHORT LIVES (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

	Brought			Transfers	Gains/	Carried
	Forward	Income	Expenditure	in/(out)	(Losses)	Forward
	£	£	£	£	£	£
Restricted funds: National
Fundraising Scheme
Restricted NFS	-	892,877	(800,424)	(92,453)	-	-
	----------------------	-----------------	-----------------	------------------	------------------	-------------------
Other restricted funds
Butterfly Fund	(106,637)	123,028	(128,481)	142,490	-	30,400
Transition Grants	72,887	-	(31,933)	(40,954)	-	-
Family information & support	(15,780)	15,000	(11,341)	27,121	-	15,000
National Lottery	(821)	-	-	821	-	-
Disney	145,681	50,000	(83,980)	-	-	111,701
Morrisons (Hospices)	(56,738)	2,339,513	(2,282,775)	-	-	-
Morrisons (Project)	230,168	822,968	(269,628)	-	-	783,508
Other restricted funds	32,353	797,222	(674,365)	6,399	-	161,609
	-------------------	-----------------	-----------------	------------------	------------------	-------------------
	301,113	4,147,731	(3,482,503)	135,877	-	1,102,218
	----------------------	-----------------	-----------------	------------------	------------------	-------------------

Purpose of Restricted funds

Restricted NFS

The National Fundraising Scheme (NFS) is concerned with raising funds for distribution to children’s hospice services. Further details on the income and costs of the scheme can be found in notes 2, 4 and 6.

Butterfly fund

This Fund provides grants of £300 to bereaved families, and is fully funded by a number of supporters.

Transition Grants

This is our funding programme which seeks to address the significant difference in care experienced by young adults in their transition from children’s to adult services.

Family Information and Support

We also received generous support for our Family Information and Support work this year from a number of funders supporting our helpline, advocacy service and information and resources that we provide for families. The deficit at the end of the year will be covered by income received in 2021-22.

Relief fund

The Relief fund was established in May 2020 in response to COVID-19 to provide 500 grants of £200 to families in need. The funding was provided by a number of trusts and foundations, individuals and companies and all the funds were distributed within 3 months.

National Lottery

This grant has enabled us to support families during COVID-19 by increasing capacity and access to the helpline (including LiveChat), expanding peer support and online communities, providing up to date information on COVID-19 and connecting and supporting the palliative care services that the families use.

TOGETHER FOR SHORT LIVES (A Company Limited by Guarantee) NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

16. STATEMENT OF FUNDS (CONTINUED)

Other restricted funds

Other restricted funds are immaterial amounts granted for restricted purposes; these include grants awarded by NHS England, the Scottish Government and Hospice UK.

Fund Transfers

The transfers from the general fund to the Fixed Asset Designated fund, was required to maintain the balance in the Fixed Asset Fund equal to the net book value of fixed assets in the balance sheet.

The transfer from the National Fundraising Scheme (NFS) Fund to the General Fund represents the share of NFS net income that will go towards the core work of the charity. The proportion of NFS income that is used for our core work varies among the different corporate partners, but is usually 15% of the total net income raised.

Comparative analysis for 2022

	Brought			Transfers	Gains/	Carried
	Forward	Income	Expenditure	in/(out)	(Losses)	Forward
	£	£	£	£	£	£
Designated funds
Designated fund - Legacy	2,600,555	-	(338,855)	-	-	2,261,700
Fixed asset fund	15,081	-	(15,987)	43,554	-	42,648
General funds
General Funds	1,520,483	1,234,258	(1,298,424)	38,725	42,851	1,537,894
	-------------------	-----------------	---------------------	------------------	------------------	-------------------
Total Unrestricted funds	4,136,119	1,234,258	(1,653,266)	82,279	42,851	3,842,241
	----------------------	-----------------	---------------------	------------------	------------------	-------------------
	Brought			Transfers	Gains/	Carried
	Forward	Income	Expenditure	in/(out)	(Losses)	Forward
	£	£	£	£	£	£
Restricted funds: National
Fundraising Scheme
Restricted NFS	-	1,272,054	(1,139,775)	(132,279)	-	-
	----------------------	-----------------	-----------------	------------------	------------------	-------------------
Other restricted funds
Butterfly Fund	13,283	30,370	(150,290)	-	-	(106,637)
Transition Grants	132,272	-	(59,385)	-	-	72,887
Family information & support	(1,900)	-	(13,880)	-	-	(115,780)
National Lottery	93	-	(914)	-	-	(821)
Disney	-	100,000	(4,319)	50,000	-	145,681
Morrisons (Hospice)	-	191,847	(248,585)	-	-	(56,738)
Morrisons (Project)	-	264,034	(33,866)	-	-	230,168
Other restricted funds	33,798	60,587	(62,032)	-	-	32,353
	-------------------	-----------------	-----------------	------------------	------------------	-------------------
	177,546	646,839	(573,271)	50,000	-	301,113
	----------------------	-----------------	-----------------	------------------	------------------	-------------------

TOGETHER FOR SHORT LIVES (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

17. ANALYSIS OF NET ASSETS BETWEEN FUNDS

		Restricted
	Unrestricted	Funds	Restricted	Total
	funds	excluding NFS	Funds NFS	funds
	2023	2023	2023	2023
	£	£	£	£
Tangible fixed assets	75,726	-	-	75,726
Fixed asset investments	3,173,426	-	-	3,173,426
Current assets	2,133,707	1,102,218	-	3,235,925
Creditors due within one year	(2,512,198)	-	-	(2,512,198)
	--------------------	----------------	----------------	---------------------
	2,870,661	1,102,218	-	3,972,879
	==========	========	========	==========

Comparative analysis for 2022:

		Restricted
		Funds	Restricted	Total
	Unrestricted funds	excluding NFS	Funds NFS	funds
	2022	2022	2022	2022
	£	£	£	£
Tangible fixed assets	42,648	-	-	42,648
Fixed asset investments	3,645,743	-	-	3,645,743
Current assets	1,233,570	301,113	-	1,534,883
Creditors due within one
year	(1,079,720)	-	-	(1,079,720)
	--------------------	----------------	----------------	---------------------
	3,842,241	301,113	-	4,143,354
	==========	========	========	==========

18. PENSION COMMITMENTS

Employer's pension contributions paid in the year ended 31 March 2023 were £89,820 (2022: £73,380). Amounts shown in other creditors at the balance sheet date in respect of pension contributions outstanding were £164 (2022: £12,686).

19. OPERATING LEASE COMMITMENTS

At 31 March 2023 the group had annual commitments under non-cancellable operating leases as follows:

	Land and	buildings	Equipment	Equipment
	2023	2022	2023	2022
Group and charity	£	£	£	£
Within 1 year	21,364	21,364	-	530
Between 2 and 5 years	46,289	69,433	-	-
	------------------	------------------	-------------------	-------------------
	67,653	90,797	-	530
	=========	=========	=========	=========

TOGETHER FOR SHORT LIVES (A Company Limited by Guarantee) NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

At 31 March 2023 the group was entitled to receive the following income under non-cancellable operating leases:

		2023	2022
Group	and Charity	£	£
Within	1 year	-		-
		------------------	------------------
		-		-
		=========	=========

20. RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

Several trustees of Together for Short Lives are also either trustees or employees of member charities. Some of these charity members benefit from grants under the National Fundraising Scheme (NFS), but the trustees do not benefit personally. Trustees set the rules of the scheme which determine how the money raised is shared among members, but they are not involved in specific decisions about how NFS money is distributed.

During the year the charity charged its trading subsidiary, Together for Short Lives Trading Limited, £17,397 (2022: £10,779) for management and licensing costs.

Together for Short Lives

Trustees’ Report

and

Financial Statements

TOGETHER FOR SHORT LIVES

(A Company Limited by Guarantee)

CONTENTS

REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS OF THE COMPANY, ITS TRUSTEES AND ADVISERS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

Trustees

Company registered number

Charity registered numbers

Registered office

Chief executive officer

Executive team

TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

Independent auditor

Bankers

Investment managers

Chair and Chief Executive’s Introduction

Trustees’ Annual Report

Structure, Governance and Management

Objectives of the charity

Constitution

Board of Trustees

Induction and training of trustees

Sub Committees of the Board

Advisory Council

Remuneration for key management staff

Safeguarding

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

Membership

Public benefit

Vision, Values and Strategy

Our vision and purpose

How we create change

Our values

Our strategic priorities 2018-23

A strong and sustainable children’s palliative care sector for the 99,000+

Supported and empowered children, young people and families

Joined up policy, services, care and support for children and families

Changing hearts and minds: Greater understanding and support for children’s palliative care

24/7 access to care

All-Party Parliamentary Party Group for Children Who Need Palliative Care activity

The Children’s Hospice Grant

Our Transition guide for families

Raising awareness in Parliament

The Cost-of-Living crisis

Our Annual Ball

Patrons and Ambassadors

Children’s Hospice Week #ForTheChildren

Digital transformation and resources

Sharing our impact

Supported and empowered children, young people and families

Joined up policy, services, care and support for children and families

Financial review

Overall Financial Performance

Funds for our core work

Income

Designated Fund

Expenditure

National Fundraising Scheme (NFS)

Grant Making Policy

Fundraising Strategy

Fundraising performance

We will keep your data only for as long as necessary.”

Reserves policy

Going Concern

Investment Policy and Performance

Charity’s measure of performance

Risk management

TRUSTEES' REPORT (continued) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

Future strategy and plans

Setting a ten-year vision – our strategic approach

Our strategic ambitions

Our objectives 2023-25

Strategic ambition 1: Improving access – No family faces the journey alone

Strategic ambition 2: Improving quality – The best care and support

Objectives for 2023-25:

Strategic ambition 3: Improving Sustainability – support today, tomorrow and every day Objectives for 2023-25: