2024-03-31-accounts - Excel Women's Association

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EXCEL WOMEN'S CENTRE

(Limited by Guarantee)

Report and financial statements

For the year ended

31 March 2024

COMPANY NO.: 06934326 CHARITY NO.: 1 144357

EXCEL WOMEN'S CENTRE

(A Company Limited by Guarantee)

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

Legal and Administrative details Directors’ Report Independent examiner’s report Statement of Financial Activities Balance Sheet Notes to the Financial Statements	Page 1 2 - 5 6 7 8 9-15

EXCEL WOMEN'S CENTRE

(A Company Limited by Guarantee)

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

Directors & Trustees:

Fatima Asker- Chair Rhoda Ashur- Secretary Fatha Ali Rukayat Suleman Amina Aden Company Secretary: Rhoda Ashur Registered Office: 13 London Road, Barking, Essex IG11 8AA Independent Examiner: Fidelia Igbodo FCCA Bennic Ltd Chartered Certified Accountants Selby Centre Selby Road Tottenham London N17 8JL

Charity registration number: 1144357

Company registration number:

06934326

EXCEL WOMEN'S CENTRE

(A COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE)

Directors’ report

The trustees, who are also directors of the charity for the purposes of the Companies Act, submit their annual report and the financial statements for the year ended 31st March 2024. The trustees have undertaken the provisions of the Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP) ‘Accounting and Reporting by Charities’ issued in January 2015 in preparing the annual report and financial statements of the charity.

Directors’ responsibilities

Company Law which is also applicable to charitable companies in England and Wales requires the directors, who are also trustees of the company, to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the company and of the results of the company for that year.

In preparing those financial statements, the directors/trustees are required to:

select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
make judgments and estimates that are reasonable and prudent; and
prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the company will continue in business.

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

In accordance with company law, as the company's directors we certify that as the directors of the company we have taken all the steps that we ought to have taken in order to make ourselves aware of our responsibilities in record keeping and safeguarding of the charity’s assets.

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES

STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT

Governing Document

Excel Women’s Centre is registered charity governed by its Memorandum article of association.

Appointment of trustees

At the annual general meeting all the trustees shall retire from office and at every subsequent annual general meeting one-third of the trustees who are subject to retirement by rotation or, if their number is not three or a multiple of three, the number nearest to one third shall retire from office; but, if there is only one trustee who is subject to retirement by rotation, he/she shall retire.

As set out in the memorandum article the chair of the trustees is nominated by Excel

EXCEL WOMEN'S CENTRE

(A COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE)

Women’s Centre one new or same trustee is elected annually by the members of the charitable company attending the Annual General Meeting and another one to be coopted.

Trustees’ induction and training:

Trustees receive induction detailing their responsibilities, and are provided with a Code of Conduct policy, meetings’ timetable, Conflict of Interest policy, procedures and declaration forms, CC3 (Responsibilities of Charity Trustees) paper and Equal Opportunities policy. Trustees welcome pack and Additional documentation and support is provided to Trustees depending on their area of specialism, for example Human Resources (HR) Finance, Safeguarding and Inclusion, Operations and the relevant subcommittees they will be a part of.

The induction of new trustees will wherever possible be undertaken by the two most senior office holders and most senior staff members who have already undergone the induction procedure. The induction of new trustees will take place at the Excel Women’s Centre offices no later than ten working days after the election of the new trustee.

The new trustee will be introduced to other trustees and Excel Women’s Centre employees and volunteers and will be given a description of the work each of them undertakes.

The new trustee will be shown round the Excel Women’s Centre Premises and offices and will be expected to familiarise themselves with the services provided and who takes the lead in providing those services.

The inductors will provide the new trustee with the following documents:

The most up to date Charity Commission booklets outlining their roles and responsibilities
Welcome Pack
The Memorandum article
The Policies and Procedures
The Annual Report and Business Plan
The minutes of Trustees meetings
The contact details of all other Trustees.

Notes from the Trustees of Excel Women’s Centre a year 2023-2024 Overview Report

Our main mission is to improve the quality of life for women and girls and families, and to promote community cohesion, integration and Inclusion to wider society in Barking and Dagenham and surrounding Boroughs. This year our priority was to provide holistic support for families affected by the current cost of living crisis, supporting families with young school age children, older people in isolation, young people and people with disabilities, particularly women and girls with Mental Health issues.

EXCEL WOMEN'S CENTRE

(A COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE)

We have provided support in a number of ways – one to one - support at our centre, digital and online support and in-person outreach support in community space, schools and community centres. Our range of services and activities included the following: Information Advice and Guidance in Welfare Benefits, Wellness Café, Digital club and IT training support, Creative English classes to help practice spoken English, Workshops to support women effected Violence against Women and Girls, Exercise and Wellbeing sessions, Sport activities for Ladies ONLY, Social activities and gettogethers, as well as public events like Black History Month, Refugee week/ Peace week and 16 days of action. In addition, the trustees continued to help women and girls struggling with welfare and family issues which has double negative impact of the cost-of-living crisis, mental health support and help to tackle isolation at the forefront of our efforts – and with three of our trustees working in the health field they’ve been able to bring their professional experience to the organisation. As part of our efforts to increase house-hold income we have provided support for employability skills and confidence building post pandemic and now cost-of-living crisis creating opportunities for women to find work and therefore support themselves. Trustees have been further improving and developing governance, management and overall organisational structure of the charity. The trustees have worked hard to develop a robust financial strategy and drive regular fundraising and bid writing to try to increase our income after a deep year, and demands of our support services. We have increased our core and project funding, staff salary, rent and overhead costs especially needed during the cost of living crisis in order to support families and our staff and their families.

Excel Women’s Centre Trustees Statement

This year we’ve changed the Charity Name to Excel Women’s Centre in line with our socials and our Women’s Centre, we have increased networking and reconnecting with local organisations and community members which we felt was the right approach as all providers and organisation of the Borough worked collectively to support families through the cost of living crisis.

During this year, we have focused on Capacity building, networking with partners and digital enhancement, we have increased engagement and participation to find out what are the needs of Women and Girls are, share learning co-design solutions to meet their needs; and working out how we can best improve lives collectively. We have implemented user led support, In the past year, we’ve worked closely with providers and networking groups in the Borough and London-wide to share what we learned and delivered number of community projects, we have further developed our Business Model and enabled people to improve their own lives with the help of support services. This has partly involved developing our digital presence online, we do have digital communication project - as such we have improved our website and social media and one of the trustees is now leading work stream to develop digital strategy and finding new way of working, collect data and do surveys online, online café and interactive platforms for women and girls we work with to make it easier for them to access support services.

EXCEL WOMEN'S CENTRE

(A COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE)

Public Benefit

The trustees are aware of the Charity Commission guidance on public benefit reporting as set out in Section 17 Charities Act 2011. The trustees believe that the charity achieves a public benefit by providing these services as detailed in this report.

Financial Review Reserves

At the year end, the charity had total reserve of £66,027 (2023: £15,988). Of the total reserves £19,424 (2023:£15,988) were unrestricted and £46,603 (2023 £nil) were restricted reserves.

The trustees believe that necessary funds will be raised as and when required and charity is a going concern. The trustees are in the process of setting up a reserve policy.

We will need to carry on hiring out our facilities to other groups and training providers in order to raise funds. IT suite, Training room and hot desk should raise funds for paying the revenue, and also apply funding to trusts and foundations for projects.

This report was approved by the Excel Women’s Centre board on 24/01/2025 and signed on its behalf.

Fatima Asker- Trustee

EXCEL WOMEN'S CENTRE

(A COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE)

Independent Examiner’s Report to the Trustees of Excel Women’s Centre

For the year ended 31 March 2024

I report to the charity trustees on my examination of the accounts of the Company for the year ended 31 March 2024.

Responsibilities and basis of report

As the charity’s trustees of the Company (and also its directors for the purposes of company law) you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 (‘the 2006 Act’).

Having satisfied myself that the accounts of the Company are not required to be audited under Part 16 of the 2006 Act and are eligible for independent examination, I report in respect of my examination of your charity’s accounts as carried out under section 145 of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the 2011 Act’). In carrying out my examination I have followed the Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5) (b) of the 2011 Act.

Independent examiner’s statement

I have completed my examination. I confirm that no matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe:

accounting records were not kept in respect of the Company as required by section 386 of the 2006 Act; or
the accounts do not accord with those records; or
the accounts do not comply with the accounting requirements of section 396 of the 2006 Act other than any requirement that the accounts give a ‘true and fair view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination; or
the accounts have not been prepared in accordance with the methods and principles of the Statement of Recommended Practice for accounting and reporting by charities applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102).

I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Fidelia Igbodo FCCA Bennic Ltd Chartered Certified Accountants Selby Centre Selby Road London, N17 8JL

Excel Women's Centre

Statement of financial activities (incorporating an income and expenditure account)

For the year ended 31 March 2024

				2024		Unrestric	2023
		Restricted	Unrestricted	Total	Restricted	ted	Total
	Note	£	£	£	£	£	£
Income from:
Charitable activities
Donations and legacies	2	179,570	-	179,570	126,042	12,376	138,418
Charitable activities	3		3,437	3,437		2,699	2,699
Total income		179,570	3,437	183,006	126,042	15,075	141,117
Expenditure on:
Raising funds		11,500		11,500	16,411	-	16,411
Charitable activities				-
Women Wellbeing		121,467		121,467	125,847	17,430	143,277
Total expenditure	4	132,967	-	132,967	142,258	17,430	159,688
Net income / (expenditure)		46,603	3,437	50,039	(16,216)	(2,355)	(18,571)
Net movement in funds		46,603	3,437	50,039	(16,216)	(2,355)	(18,571)
Reconciliation of funds:
Total funds brought forward		-	15,987	15,987	11,577	22,981	34,558
Total funds carried forward	11	46,603	19,424	66,027	(4,639)	20,626	15,987

All of the above results are derived from continuing activities. There were no other recognised gains or losses other than those stated above.

The notes on pages 9 to 15 form part of these financial statements.

Excel Women's Centre
			Charity No. 1144357
Balance sheet
			Company No. 06934326
As at 31 March 2024
	Note 8

		2024 £ - 69,227	2023
			£
Fixed assets
			-

Current assets
Cash at bank and in hand			18,888
	9	69,227 (3,200)
			18,888

Creditors: Amounts falling due within one year			(2,900)
		66,027
Net current assets			15,988
Net Assets	11	66,027
			15,988
Funds	12	46,603 19,424



Restricted funds			(4,639)
Unrestricted funds:
Designated funds General funds
			20,626
		66,027
Total funds			15,987

For the period ending 31 March 2024, the company was entitled to exemption from audit under section 477 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small companies.

Directors' responsibilities:

the members have not required the company to obtain an audit of its accounts for the year in question in accordance with section 476,
the directors acknowledge their responsibilities for complying with the requirements of the Act with respect to accounting records and the preparation of accounts

These accounts have been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to companies subject to the small companies’ regime.

Approved by the Board of Trustees on 24/01/2025 and signed on its behalf by:

Fatima Asker – Chair

Excel Women's Centre

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2024

1. Accounting policies

a) Basis of preparation

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2015) - (Charities SORP FRS 102), the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (August 2014) and the Companies Act 2006.

Excel Women's Centre 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 or note.

b) Going Concern

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

No key judgements have been made by the charitable company which have a significant effect on the accounts.

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

c) Income

Income, including income from government and other grants, whether ‘capital’ grants or ‘revenue’ grants, is recognised when the charity has entitlement to the funds, any performance conditions attached to the income have been met, it is probable that the income will be received and that the amount can be measured reliably.

Grants are credited to incoming resources when they are receivable as the charity's own money, unless they are for activities that relate to a specific future period, in which case they are deferred to that period.

d) Fund accounting

Unrestricted funds are available to spend on activities that further any of the purposes of the charity. Designated funds are unrestricted funds of the charity which the trustees have decided at their discretion to set aside to use for a specific purpose. Restricted funds are donations which the donor has specified are to be solely used for particular areas of the charity’s work or for specific projects being undertaken by the charity.

e) Expenditure and irrecoverable VAT

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

Costs of raising funds comprise of trading costs and the costs incurred by the charitable company in inducing third parties to make voluntary contributions to it, as well as the cost of any activities with a fundraising purpose.
Expenditure on charitable activities includes the costs of training, events, capacity building and business mentoring undertaken to further the purposes of the charity and their associated support costs.

f) Allocation of support costs

Support costs are those functions that assist the work of the charity but do not directly undertake charitable activities. Support costs include back office costs, finance, personnel, payroll and governance costs which support the charity's activities. These costs have been allocated between cost of raising funds and expenditure on charitable activities. The bases on which support costs have been allocated are set out in note 4.

g) 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.

h) Cash at bank and in hand

Cash at bank and cash in hand includes cash and short term highly liquid investments with a short maturity of three months or less from the date of acquisition or opening of the deposit or similar account.

i) 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.

2. Income from donations

and legacies

		Restricted Unrestricted £ £ 115,569.50 57,000 - - - 7,000 - -	2024 Total £ 115,570 57,000 - - - 7,000 -	2023
				Total
				£
				-
	Big Lottery Fund
	Trust for London			20,000
	Barking & Dagenham			25,280
	The London Community Fund			65,762
	Garfield Weston Foundation			15,000
	The Hilden CF			-
	Other Income			12,376
		179,570 -	179,570	138,418
		Restricted Unrestricted £ £ 3,437	2024 Total £ 3,437
3.	Income from charitable activities
				2023
				Total
				£
	Donations			2,699
		- 3,437	3,437	2,699
		179,570 3,437	183,006	141,117

4. Analysis of expenditure

	Costs of raising funds Direct charitable expenditure Governance costs £ £ £	Costs of raising funds Direct charitable expenditure Governance costs £ £ £	Costs of raising funds Direct charitable expenditure Governance costs £ £ £	Support costs 2024 Total £ £	Support costs 2024 Total £ £
	£	£
Staff remuneration Fundraising Professional fees Office & admin expenses Premises and venue expenses Heating & Lighting Events expenses Tax & NIC Pension contribution	- 11,500 - - -	35,928 - 22,563 4,983 12,710 1,454 22,453 2,531 1,177	- - - - -	8,982 44,910 - 11,500 - 22,563 1,250 6,233 4,236 16,946 1,454 - 22,453 2,531 - 1,177
Accountancy & IE	-	-	3,200		3,200
Governance costs	11,500 -	103,799 3,200	3,200 (3,200)	14,468 132,967 - -
Support Costs		14,468		(14,468)	-

Total expenditure 2024	11,500	121,467	132,967		132,967

Total expenditure 2023	16,411	143,277	159,688
Of which unrestricted Total restricted		- 132,967
		132,967

Staff remuneration Fundraising Professional fees Office & admin expenses Premises and venue expenses Heating & Lighting Events expenses Pension contribution Accountancy & IE	Staff remuneration Fundraising Professional fees Office & admin expenses Premises and venue expenses Heating & Lighting Events expenses Pension contribution Accountancy & IE	Staff remuneration Fundraising Professional fees Office & admin expenses Premises and venue expenses Heating & Lighting Events expenses Pension contribution Accountancy & IE	Staff remuneration Fundraising Professional fees Office & admin expenses Premises and venue expenses Heating & Lighting Events expenses Pension contribution Accountancy & IE	2024 Total 2023 £ £ 44,910 44,750 11,500 16,411 22,563 52,097 6,233 10,326 16,946 6,030 1,454 1,733 22,453 19,765 1,177 1,177 3,200 2,900	2024 Total 2023 £ £ 44,910 44,750 11,500 16,411 22,563 52,097 6,233 10,326 16,946 6,030 1,454 1,733 22,453 19,765 1,177 1,177 3,200 2,900
Tax & Social Service				2,531	4,500
Total expenditure				132,967	159,688

Support costs have been allocated on the basis of staff hours engaged in each activity. Of the total expenditure, £nil was unrestricted and £132,967 was restricted during the period.

	5. Net income / (expenditure) for the year This is stated after charging:	2024 2023 £ £ 2,800 2,500 400 400




	Accountancy fees
	Independent examiner's fee
		3,200 2,900

6. Analysis of staff costs and key management personnel

Staff costs were as follows:
	2024	2023
	£	£
Salaries and wages	44,910	44,750
Tax & Social Service	2,531	4,500
	47,441	49,250

No employee received employee benefits (excluding employer pension) exceeding £60,000 during the year 2024.

The total employee benefits including pension contributions of the key management personnel were £2,531 2024.

The charity trustees were not paid or received any other benefits from employment with the charity in the year 2024, neither were they reimbursed expenses during the year 2024. No charity trustee received payment for professional or other services supplied to the charity in 2024.

Staff numbers

The average number of employees (head count based on number of staff employed) during the year 2023-2024 was 4. They were directly engaged in providing charitable activities, namely training, events, capacity building and business mentoring.

7. Taxation

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

8. Creditors : Amounts falling due within one year

Accrued expenditure	2024 £ 3,200 3,200	2023 £ 2,900
		2,900

9. Related party transactions

There are no related party transactions to disclose for 2024

10. Analysis of net assets between funds

		Restricted funds	Unrestricted funds	Total funds
		£	£	£

Current	assets	49,803	19,424	69,227
Creditors: Amounts fallingdue within oneyear		(3,200)	-	(3,200)

Net assets at 31 March 2024		46,603	19,424	66027

11. Movements in funds
	At 1 April 2023	Income	Expenditure
	£	£	£
Restricted funds:
Big Lottery Fund		115,570	(92,097)
Trust for London Other Funds		57,000 7,000.00	(40,620) (250)

Total restricted funds	-	179,570	(132,967)

Unrestricted funds:
General funds	15,987	3,437	-

Total unrestricted funds	15,987	3,437	-

Total funds	15,987	183,006	(132,967)

Purpose of restricted funds

National Lottery Community Fund Women Wellbeing & Capacity Building

The London C Fund Social Impact Fund
Trust for London Information, Advice & Guidance

13. Analysis of cash and cash equivalents

		At 1 April 2023 18,888	Cash flows 50,339	At 31 March 2024
				£
Cash at	bank and in hand			69,227
		18,888	50,339
Total cash and cash equivalents				69,227

Company limited by 14. guarantee

Excel Women's Centre is a company limited by guarantee and accordingly does not have a share capital.

Every member of the company undertakes to contribute such amount as may be required not exceeding £1 to the assets of the charitable company in the event of its being wound up while he or she is a member, or within one year after he or she ceases to be a member.