2024-08-31-accounts - Life And Soul Youth Work

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TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT

SEPTEMBER 2023 – AUGUST 2024

Life and Soul Youthwork Registered Charity Number: 1153304 Company Number: 08574869

Life & Soul Centre Christ Church Tunbridge Wells TN1 1UT

www.lifeandsoul.org.uk

REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS

Board of Trustees Nigel Daly (Chair appointed 4 Mar 2021) David Payne (appointed 23 Feb 2015) Felicity Roberts (appointed 4 Mar 2021) Andrew Collins (Company Secretary appointed 16 July 2013) Angela Nicholls (appointed 20 June 2023)

Company number 08574869 Charity number 1153304 Registered office Christ Church High Street Tunbridge Wells TN1 1UT

STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT GOVERNING DOCUMENT

terms of three years following which no outgoing trustee shall be eligible for re-election for a period of 12 months following retirement, except in exceptional circumstances. All trustees give their time voluntarily.

The charity’s governing document is The Memorandum and Articles of Association. Life & Soul is a Registered Company with Charitable Status and was incorporated on 18th June 2013. This replaces charity number 1099511, registered 2003.

The directors of the company are also charity trustees for the purposes of charity law and under the Articles of Association are known as members. New trustees are recruited through an open recruitment process which includes application, interview and references. There is a formal procedure for the induction and training of members of the Board of Trustees. Trustees may serve no more than three consecutive

The Board of Trustees meets four times a year and have responsibility for the strategic oversight of the charity. The Board of Trustees delegate the day-to-day management of the charity to the Chief Executive Officer.

The legal name of the charity is Life and Soul Youthwork but the name Life & Soul has been adopted for ease of recognition and marketing.

Chief Executive Officer Sarah Finch

Independent examiner Zachary Ramsden

OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES

The charity’s purpose as set out in the company’s Memorandum and Articles of Association is ‘the advancement of the Christian faith worldwide.’ Specifically, we express this by providing services that encourage the recognition and celebration of the uniqueness of every individual, created in the image of God. We work with children and young people of all faiths and none and are not faith promoting.

respect. We believe Jesus came to bring life in all its fullness, but many young people are held back from experiencing this because the world tells them they aren’t good enough. As Christians we are called to bring healing, hope and freedom, we aim to do this by helping all young people to build their self-esteem, grow their resilience and see that they have the power to realise their dreams.

As a charity rooted in the Christian faith, we believe everyone is created in the image of God and is worthy of love and

ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE

The Board of Trustees would like to thank all staff and volunteers for their hard work and dedication

over the last year as well as all the charity’s supporters and funders.

WHAT IS THE NEED?

The national charity Mind recently published The Big Mental Health Report 2024[1] Below are some excerpts from that report which highlight the current dire situation for children and young people in terms of their mental health. Poor mental health has a large impact on individuals and ultimately society as a whole, often leading to poorer social, emotional and educational outcomes.

Schools and colleges can promote and protect children and young people’s mental health. They can do this by building mental health literacy, creating supportive and inclusive environments and offering early and targeted mental health support.

The role that schools can play is undoubtedly true but, schools themselves are overwhelmed with all the responsibilities placed on them, over and above purely educating the next generation. Staff care deeply and want to work holistically to ensure our children and young people are happy, healthy, well rounded and well educated, ready to live their best lives. However, schools do not have the resources to provide for the increasing number of young people who are struggling. That is where we aim to help. We provide well trained and experienced staff and volunteers who are able to work with pupils to build their mental health literacy and provide early and targeted mental health support. We provide this FREE to schools so that no school or pupil is excluded from accessing our help because of a lack of financial resource.

1 in 5 children and young people in England have a mental health problem but only a third were able to access treatment in 2023. And waiting for support often leads to worse mental health for individuals.

Children and young people’s mental health services now accounts for over £1 billion of NHS spending annually in England.

Beyond healthcare settings, schools can be beacons of mental health support… But since the pandemic began the mental health of young people has got worse. Absences remain high, with data suggesting young people with 15 or more days of absence in England in a single term are more likely to have a mental health problem.

1 Mind: The Big Mental Health Report 2024 https://www.mind.org.uk/media/vbbdclpi/the-big-mental-health-report-2024-mind.pdf

CONNECT MENTORING CASE STUDIES

CASE STUDY

CONNECT MENTORING

Connect Mentoring continues to support young people and shows a significant impact on improving the mental wellbeing of those who are struggling. Each young person receives a series of at least six one to one sessions with one of our volunteer mentors within school. The areas we most commonly deal with are:

We have successfully trained nine new mentors this year and they are now regularly working in schools. Each mentor generally sees between

2 and 3 students a week.

Throughout the year we have averaged 25 Mentors each week, working in five local secondary schools.

Managing emotions – particularly anxiety and anger

have 96 young people

Confidence and self-esteem

benefitted from Connect Mentoring this year. 94% of those who completed the course recorded a significant improvement in their wellbeing.

Healthy relationships
Managing self – including organisation and motivation

As the pandemic has progressed and health and social services have become increasingly overwhelmed, the work of the Connect Team has become even more important. Volunteer mentors are reporting seeing young people with more serious mental health issues as it becomes harder to access other support.

All mentors receive support and supervision. We have an annual training day for all mentors. There are Peer Groups, these are led by an experienced mentor and meet three times a year. We also have meetings for all mentors three times a year that incorporate training and are a chance for us to say thank you with homemade cake and refreshments. Mentors are always able to contact staff for advice and are closely supervised for at least the first six weeks of working with us.

“A Year 7 girl came to her first session saying she was struggling with self harm and social anxiety. We talked about what she would like to be feeling and doing instead and she said she’d like to feel calm in social situations and learn some healthy coping strategies instead of cutting herself.

As she described her perfect day where she’d achieved a 10/10 on both these hopes she began to see she was already doing some brilliant things to help her to deal with anxious thoughts. She remembered she had been writing poetry and that had really helped, so she started to focus on the positives of that instead of seeing herself as “someone who self-harmed” she was so happy to realise this about herself. As we continued with her sessions she saw more and more about herself that she liked and by session 5 said, with a massive smile that she had decided she was really happy in her own skin and no longer worried about what others thought about her!”

Connect Mentor

CASE STUDY

“When we began meeting, the student talked a lot about having been badly bullied at a very early age. She linked her anxiety to this past trauma. For a long time, she was reluctant to look for hopeful signs or solutions - she just needed to express her hurt. She talked a lot about ‘my anxiety’, almost as though it defined her. She remained reluctant to express any idea of her own qualities, strengths or achievements, always returning to ‘but when my anxiety is bad...’ However, over time, the focus of our talks began to shift. By the time we finished, we were talking about a girl who is just naturally an introvert, who is stressed by crowds and hates being the centre of attention, BUT who has many excellent strategies for coping, and who is learning when to withdraw but also when to challenge herself. She has reluctantly admitted to some really impressive achievements and qualities. She began by seeing herself as someone broken by trauma but I hope she now sees herself as a very normal introvert with many ways to cope.”

Connect Mentor

Life Without Limits

As demand has risen, at the beginning of the year we increased the team by one more member of staff and have started training volunteers to deliver the course alongside a member of

staff. This has meant that we can now work in three rather than two schools a term, which is an additional six schools a year or approximately 72 pupils.

Unlimited

127 children completed the Unlimited course this year.

Unlimited is our resilience workshop aimed at pupils in Year 5 who need additional help in areas such as confidence, self esteem, managing emotions and maintaining healthy friendships. The team work with a small group of pupils in each school and tailor the content of the sessions to the needs of the children, covering topics in a fun, creative and interactive way.

93% reported improved well-being and self-esteem by the end of the course.

limitless

68 pupils completed the Limitless course this year.

Limitless is for Year 6 pupils to help them make a good transition to secondary school. The team work with small groups of pupils on areas such as making new friends, managing social media and phone use and staying safe online.

85% reported feeling more positive and confident about going to secondary school.

Relationships and Sex Education (RSE)

With the advent of a compulsory national curriculum for Personal, Social, Health and Emotional Education (PSHE) which is fully resourced and has accompanying training for teachers in how to deliver all areas of the curriculum, the sessions we provide are now being covered within schools.

It is beneficial for these very personal areas to be delivered by trained staff who know the pupils well. As a result we have decided to close this project and focus our resources on the growing need for mentoring.

Play Therapy

Without Em, and her vision and heart for the lost and the vulnerable, Life & Soul wouldn’t be here and wouldn’t have helped countless young people over so many years. So many young lives out there now know something of their own unique value and have the skills to navigate life well because of Em’s heart and her passion which has been worked out through Life & Soul. We will miss Em’s smile and infectious enthusiasm at our team meetings but know that she will always be a valued member of the wider Life & Soul family.

Em and Nick Cheesman set up Life & Soul around twenty years ago. The charity has grown and evolved in that time and both Em and Nick have worked for the charity in several different roles during that time. Having trained as a play therapist with Life & Soul, Em has worked in a local primary school for a number of years, providing a valuable and much needed intervention for some of the children there. Em says…

“Play therapy allows children to express their feelings and understand their emotions and experiences by creating a safe space for them. I have been working with children who have been learning to cope with a wide variety of difficult situations. It has been a privilege to spend time with the children and see their confidence and self-esteem grow as they learn strategies to deal with the challenges that face them. Children have said comments such as “I’m so glad I have someone to talk to about how I feel” And “I love coming here because I feel safe.” It has also been great to hear how play therapy has helped the whole family and how parents have commented that they understand their child more after they have talked things through.”

The trustees feel that the focus of Life and Soul is on Unlimited and Connect mentoring going forward where demand is growing and no longer on play therapy and so Em has decided to leave in the summer.

PLANS FOR THE FUTURE

We are working with a couple of groups in other areas of the country to see if we can help them to replicate Connect Mentoring in their local secondary schools.

The demand for our Life Without Limits courses is continuing to grow so we are looking at increasing the team so that we can go into more schools each term.

We are making contact with other secondary schools so that we can reach even more young

people who need help from our Connect Mentoring programme.

With the increased demand for our services we need to increase the funding that we get. We are putting together a corporate giving strategy to encourage local businesses to support local young people by contributing to the cost of our expansion.

FINANCIAL REVIEW

expenditure based on the new financial year budget, amounted to approximately £19,000 and unrestricted reserves held as current assets at the end of the year were £58,117.

The trustees are pleased to report a net gain for the year of £26,043 on unrestricted funds. All the charity assets were employed in pursuing the charitable objects of the charity. More detailed information is set out on the following pages.

VOLUNTEERS

FINANCIAL RESERVES

Life & Soul is blessed with many volunteers who give their time to support young people through the projects that we run. Were all the volunteer roles to be salaried at an average rate for the charity then the charity would need to have found approximately an additional £14,500 in the last year which is over 33% of the staffing budget as a whole. This is a significant saving and without all the wonderful and dedicated volunteers the impact of the work of Life & Soul would be significantly reduced.

It is the policy of the charity that unrestricted funds which have not been included as fixed assets should be maintained at a level equivalent to between three and six months’ expenditure excluding depreciation. The trustees consider that reserves at this level will ensure that, in the event of a significant drop in funding, they will be able to continue the charity’s current activities while consideration is given to ways in which additional funds may be raised. Three months’ general fund

THANK YOU

We are very grateful to the following churches, trusts and foundations who have supported our work financially this year.

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ST MARTINS
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St Lawrence

St Giles Shipbourne

RISK MANAGEMENT

The Board of Trustees have conducted a review of the major risks to which the charity is exposed.

We are working on promoting and securing corporate sponsorship as a new source of income in the next financial year.

One of the principal risks identified continues to be securing sufficient funding. Working with a local fundraising consultant with experience in applying for grants from trusts and foundations, we have seen our income from grants increase this year to £50,490 from £20443 in the previous year.

The trustees have assessed the major risks to which the charity is exposed and are satisfied that systems are in place to mitigate exposure to the major risks.

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INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES OF LIFE AND SOUL YOUTHWORK

I report to the charity trustees on my examination of the accounts of the company for the year ended 31st August 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.

Signed: Zachary Ramsden Name: Zachary Ramsden FCA Chartered Accountant 63 Deakin Leas, Tonbridge, Kent TN9 2JT Date 12th January 2025

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Statement of Financial Activities (including Income and Expenditure Account) for the year ended 31 August 2024

Notes Income from: Donations and legacies 2a Charitable activities 2b Other income 2c Investments Total income Expenditure on: Raising funds 3a Charitable activities 3b Total expenditure Net (deficit)/income for the year Transfer between funds Final net (deficit)/income Reconciliation of funds Total funds brought forward Total funds carried forward	Unrestricted Restricted Total Total funds funds funds funds 2024 2024 2024 2023 £ £ £ £ 88,398 0 88,398 57,033 7,954 0 7,954 12,014 384 0 384 141 0 - 0 0
	96,736 0 96,736 69,188
	11,196 - 11,196 10,615 59,497 59,497 59,280
	70,693 0 70,693 69,895
	26,043 0 26,043 (707) 0 - -
	26,043 0 26,043 (707) 32,074 32,074 32,781
	58,117 0 58,117 32,074

Notes to the Financial Statements

1. AccounRng policies

The principal accounTng policies are summarised below. The accounTng policies have been applied consistently throughout the year and in the preceding year.

(a) Basis of accounRng

ChariTes: Statement of Recommended PracTce applicable to chariTes preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial ReporTng Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effecTve 1 January 2015) - (ChariTes SORP (FRS102)), the Financial ReporTng Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) and the Companies Act 2006.

(b) Fund accounRng

Unrestricted funds are available for use at the discreTon of the trustees in furtherance of the general objecTves of the charity.
Designated funds are unrestricted funds earmarked by the trustees for a parTcular purpose.
Restricted funds are subjected to restricTons on their expenditure imposed by the donor or through the terms of an appeal.

(c) Income

certain to receive, the income and the amount can be quanTfied with reasonable accuracy. The following policies are applied to parTcular categories of income:

- Income received by way of grants, donaTons and gi]s is included in full in the Statement of Financial AcTviTes when receivable. Grants, where enTtlement is not condiTonal on the delivery of a specific performance by the charity, are recognised when the charity becomes uncondiTonally enTtled to the grant. Income from grants, where related to performance and specific deliverables, are accounted for as the charity earns the right to consideraTon by its performance.

The value of services provided by volunteers has not been included in these accounts.

Income from charitable acTviTes is accounted for when earned.
Investment income is included when receivable.

(d) Expenditure

Expenditure is recognised on an accrual basis as a liability is incurred. Expenditure includes VAT and is reported as part of the expenditure to which it relates:

Costs of raising funds comprise the costs associated with aaracTng voluntary income and the costs of trading for fundraising purposes.

Expenditure on charitable acTviTes comprises those costs incurred by the charity in the delivery of its acTviTes and services for its beneficiaries. It includes both costs that can be allocated directly to such acTviTes and those costs of an indirect nature necessary to support them. - All costs are allocated between the expenditure categories of the SoFA on a basis designed to reflect the use of the resource. (e) Fixed assets Fixed assets (excluding investments) are stated at cost less accumulated depreciaTon. The costs of minor addiTons or those cosTng below £400 are not capitalised. DepreciaTon is provided at rates calculated to write off the cost of the asset over its expected useful life, which in all cases is esTmated at 4 years. Impairment reviews are carried out as and when evidence comes to light that the recoverable amount of a funcTonal fixed asset is below its net book value due to damage, obsolescence or other relevant factors. (f) Company Status The charity is a company limited by guarantee. In the event of the charity being wound up, the liability in respect of the guarantee is limited to £10 per member of the charity. (g) Going concern The trustees consider that there are no material uncertainTes about the ability to conTnue as a going concern.

2a. Income from raising funds

Donations Fundraising Grants 2b. Income from charitable activities Connect Schools 2c. Other Income Misc income 3a. Expenditure on raising funds Fundraising costs	2024 General Restricted Total £ £ £ 35,306 35,306 2,602 - 2,602 50,490 - 50,490 88,398 - 88,398 2024 General Restricted Total £ £ £ - 7,954 7,954 - - - 7,954 7,954 2024 General Restricted Total £ £ £ 384 384	2023 Total £ 33,780 2,810 20,443
		57,033
		2023 Total £ 7,954 4,060
		12,014
		2023 Total £ 141
	384 0 384	141
	2024 General Restricted Total £ £ £ 11,196 - 11,196 11,196 - 11,196	2023 Total £ 10,615
		10,615

3b. Expenditure on charitable activities

Staff costs Training General costs 4. Net Income/expenditure for the year This is stated after charging: Depreciation 5. Staff costs Salaries and wages Employers National Insurance Pension costs	General Restricted £ £ 43,166 996 15,335	2024 Total £ 43,166 996 15,335 59,497 2024 Total £ - - 2024 Total £ 40,723 - 2,443 43,166	2023 Total £ 43,146 579 15,555
	59,497 -		59,280
			2023 Total £ -
			-
			2023 Total £ 40,704 - 2,442
			43,146

The average number of employees during the year, calculated on the basis of full time equivalents, were as follows: 2024 Total Number Employees 2 2 Trustee Remuneration and Related Party Transactions	2023 Total Number 2
	2

During the year, no trustee received any remuneration nor any reimbursement of expenses (2023: £nil)

No trustee or other person related to the charity had any personal interest in any contract or transaction entered into by the charity during the

year.

Donations made by trustees during the year amounted to £360 by A Collins (2023 - £360 A Collins).

6. Taxation

As a charity, Life and Soul is exempt from tax on income and gains falling within section 505

of the Taxes Act 1988 or s256 of the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992 to the extent

that these are applied to its charitable objects. No tax charges have arisen in the Charity.

Included within the above figures, emoluments for key management personnel amounted to £14123, (2023 - £12991)

No employee received emoluments of more than £60,000 in the year (2023: £nil).

The amount of liabilities arising from employee benefits in the year amounted to £nil (2023: £nil).

7. Tangible Fixed Assets

7. Tangible Fixed Assets
Cost At 1 September 2023 Additions At 31 August 2024 Accumulated Depreciation At 1 September 2023 Charge for the year At 31 August 2024 Net book value At 1 September 2023 At 31 August 2024 8. Debtors Other debtors and prepayments Total 9. Creditors: Amounts Falling Due within One Year Taxation and Social Security Other creditors and accruals Total	2024 Total £ 2,444 2,444 2024 Total £ - 603 603	2024 Office Equipment £ 4,189 -
		4,189
		4,189 -
		4,189
		-
		-
		2023 Total £ 3,038
		3,038
		2023 Total £ 80 1,498
		1,578

10. Analysis of Net Assets Between Funds

At 1 Sep 2023 £ -	2024 General Restricted Total Funds Funds Funds £ £ £ - - - 58,720 - 58,720 (603) (603) 58,117 - 58,117 Incoming Outgoing Transfer Resources Resources between funds £ £ £ 0 0 0	2023 Total Funds £ - 32,981 (200)
		32,781
		At 31 Aug 2024 £ -
-	0 0 0	-
32,074	96,736 (70,493) 0	58,117
32,074	96,736 (70,493) 0	58,117

32,074	96,736 (70,493) -	58,117

This Teport has been prepared in accordance wth the provisions appli¢able to companies entstted to the small company's exemption. This report was approved by the Trustees, on 11th Dember 2024 and signed on their behaff by". NDaty Chalr of the Board of Trustees Dale." 11th December 2024 life& soul 26 27

TRUSTEES’ RESPONSIBILITIES STATEMENT

The trustees (who are also directors of Life and Soul Youthwork 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 law requires the Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Under company law, the Trustees must not approve the financial statements unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company and of 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 of the Charities SORP;
make judgements and accounting estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
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 are sufficient to show and explain the charitable company’s transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable company and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charitable company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

The Trustees are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial information included on the charitable company’s website.

This report has been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to companies entitled to the small company’s exemption.

This report was approved by the Trustees, on 11th December 2024 and signed on their behalf by:

Nigel Daly Chair of the Board of Trustees Date: 11th December 2024

Life and Soul Youthwork Registered Charity Number: 1153304 Company Number: 08574869

Life & Soul Centre Christ Church Tunbridge Wells TN1 1UT