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2021-06-30-accounts

Free Legal Advice Group for Domestic Violence

(A Charitable Incorporated Organisation) Charity number 1154070

Report and Financial Statements for the Year Ended 30 June 2021

Contents

Report of the Management Committee for the year ended 30 June 2021

The Trustees presents their annual report and financial statements for the year ended 30 June 2021

Reference and Administrative Information

Charity Name: Free Legal Advice Group for Domestic Violence Charity registration number:1154070

Registered Office and operational address: Broadway House The Broadway Newbury Berkshire RG14 1BA

Trustees

from 7th January 2019 from 1st April 2019 from 1[st] January 2019 – resigned May 2020 Resigned November 2020 Resigned October 2020

Bankers HSBC 6 Northbrook St Newbury Berkshire RG14 1DJ

Our Aims and Objectives

Our charity’s purpose as set out in the objects contained in the company’s memorandum of association:

To relieve the needs of people who are victims of domestic violence or domestic abuse who are unable to afford legal advice or representation or where public funding is not available by the provision of free legal advice or representation services

Our main objectives for the year continued to provide high quality, accessible legal advice and/or representation to victims of domestic violence so they are empowered to make choices through knowledge of their legal rights, have access to justice and are afforded by the law its maximum protection for themselves, their children and their property. This delivers public benefit by removing victims and children from risk of harm and reducing the impact of this on the wider community and public services.

We underpin this work with a framework of values:

The focus of our work

Changes to legal aid made as part of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act (2012), meant many victims of domestic abuse would no longer be able to access free legal assistance. It was strongly believed that this change would have a detrimental impact upon the 6000 residents of West Berkshire estimated to experience domestic abuse annually

As a result of these changes, Flag DV began providing free legal advice to victims of domestic violence and abuse in October 2013. We host legal clinics. The clinics are part of the nationwide network of LawWorks (Solicitors pro-bono group) clinics.

Most referrals have come from the specialist Domestic Abuse Response Team (DART) based in Children’s Social Services and A2Dominion (West Berkshire Domestic Abuse Service) including the A2Dominion domestic abuse helpline covering the West Berkshire area. We also provide services to the Police and Crime Commissioner in the Thames Valley. We received occasional referrals from other sources such as health visitors and the local authority housing team, we also take self-referrals.

Our vision is ‘To provide high quality, accessible legal advice and/or representation to victims of domestic violence / abuse so they are empowered to make choices through knowledge of their legal rights, have access to justice and are afforded by the law its maximum protection for themselves, their children and their property.”

How our activities deliver public benefit

Any person experiencing domestic abuse can access our service. To date it has been mostly women who have been referred or who have self-referred and exclusively those in heterosexual relationships. This is in keeping with the demographic for users of other local domestic abuse services.

Activities in the year to June 2021

During this year we have secured further funding from the TVP Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for which we thank them– this has enabled us to expand the reach of Flag DV to the whole of the Thames Valley Police area – effectively Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire. We have therefore been able to increase the number of Solicitors available for our free legal advice clinics, for which we thank them for being so generous with their time, this effectively increases the amount of clinics we are able hold, which, as we have seen a rise of almost 40% in referrals, has enabled us to help more of those subject to domestic abuse.

Principal Funding Sources

2020 into 2021 has been another year of the pandemic and a large amount of our funding in 2021 has come from Government services, significantly the Ministry of Justice and the Police Property Act Fund. Greenham Trust have again this year been very generous to our cause and we have received significant funding from them which we are very grateful for. We have also received significant grants from both the National Lottery and the Postcode Lottery. There are also many independent trusts and organisations who have supported us financially throughout the year and we are very grateful for their generosity.

Future Plans

During the pandemic we have offered only telephone appointments with our volunteer Solicitors, another group of people to whom we offer our thanks, to say that they have stepped up during this time of increased referrals is an understatement and we know that our clients have continued to receive an excellent service.

We have, due to the above funding been able to implement a new integrated Customer Contact System which due to the massive increase in referrals has proven to be right thing at the right time, it is important that we are able to monitor and evaluate our impact in the field and also that our service actually offers what is needed to users of our service, we will continue to upgrade and develop our systems and service to enable us to do that.

We began 2021 with 2 members of staff who of course were, and are, the backbone of our organisation however midway through 2021 we realised that the workload was increasing so much that we needed to recruit more. To that end we have secured funding for more staff and a CEO which will be implemented this year.

Investment Policy

Aside from retaining a prudent amount in reserves each year most of the charity’s funds are to be spent in the short term so there are no funds for long term investment.

Reserves Policy

The trustees have agreed that a minimum of six months running costs should be kept in reserve if possible.

Financial Review

This year we have used our funding to install a new contact system to enable the admin tasks to run more smoothly, we have also engaged an Interpreter service so that we can ensure clients for whom English is not their first language receive the help they need more easily, we have also, for that reason, arranged for our leaflets and other information literature to be available in the most common languages of our clients. Due to the increase in referrals, we also applied for and received funding to increase the hours worked by our office staff and to provide them with IT and phones to enable them to work at home during the pandemic lockdown.

Structure, Governance and Management

The organisation is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation and commenced on 3 October 2013. The charity trustees give their time voluntarily and received no benefits from the charity.

Responsibilities of the Trustees

The trustees are responsible for the preparation financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of the affairs of the charity as at the balance sheet date and of its incoming resources and application of resources, including income and expenditure for the financial year. In preparing those financial statements, the management committee should follow best practice and:

The trustees are responsible for maintaining proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity. The trustees are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

This report has been prepared in accordance with the Statement of Recommended Practice: Accounting and Reporting by Charities (issued in March 2005).

Free Legal Advice Group for Domestic Violence (FLAGDV) Statement of Financial Activities for the year ended 30 June 2021
Unrestricted Restricted Total
Note Funds Funds Funds
Year to Year to
30/6/21 30/6/21 Year to 30/6/21
Incoming resources
Incoming resources from generated funds:
Voluntary income:
Donations and grants 5,421 104,156 109,577
Activities for generating funds:
Fundraising 9,552 9,552
Investment income 5 5
Incoming resources from charitable activities
Grants & contracts
Total incoming resources 14,978 104,156 119,134
Resources expended
Costs of generating funds
Costs of generating voluntary income nil
Charitable activities -4,306 81,984 77,678
Governance costs nil
Total resources expended -4,306 81,984 77,678
Net income for the year 19,284 22,173 41,457
(Net incoming resources before other recognised gains)
Other recognised gains - - -
Net movement in funds 19,284 22,173 41,457
Reconciliation of funds
Total funds brought forward 13,492 10,387 23,879
Total funds carried forward 32,777 32,559 65,336
Total funds at bank and building society
Balance sheet
Fixed Assets
Tangible Assets nil
Investments nil
nil
Current Assets
Stock nil
Debtors nil
Cash at Bank and In Hand 65,336
Creditors:amounts falling due within one year nil
Net current assets 65,336
Net Assets 65,336
Made up of:
Unrestricted Funds 32,777
Restricted Funds 32,559
Total 65,336

Approved by the trustees and signed on their behalf by

Katie Day (Purple Professionals)

Katie Day

Notes forming part of the Financial Statements for the year ended 30 June

1. Accounting Policies

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

(a) Basis of accounting

The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention, as modified by the inclusion of fixed asset investments at market value, and in accordance with the Statement of Recommended Practice : Accounting and Reporting by Charities issued in March 2005.

(b) Fund accounting

Unrestricted funds are available for use at the discretion of the trustees in furtherance of the general objectives of the charity. Restricted funds are subjected to restrictions on their expenditure imposed by the donor or through the terms of an appeal.

(c) Incoming resources

All incoming resources are included in the statement of financial activities when the charity receives those funds into its bank account.

(d) Resources expended

Expenditure is recognised on a receipts and payments basis. Expenditure includes any VAT which cannot be fully recovered, and is reported as part of the expenditure to which it relates: Costs of generating funds comprise the costs associated with attracting voluntary income and the costs of trading for fundraising purposes including the charity’s shop.

Charitable expenditure comprises those costs incurred by the charity in the delivery of its activities and services for its beneficiaries. It includes both costs that can be allocated directly to such activities and those costs of an indirect nature necessary to support them.

Governance costs include those costs associated with meeting the constitutional and statutory requirements of the charity and include the audit fees and costs linked to the

statutory requirements of the charity and include the audit fees and costs linked to the strategic management of the charity.

2. Donations and grants

2. Donations and grants
HMRC JRS 871 871
Boardman & Hawkins 613 613
Kiriath Turst 500 500
Roelofs & Rubens 140 140
The Truemark Trust 4,000 4,000
Souter Trust 5,000 5,000
Stepping Forward 1,296 1,296
Bouttell Bequest 2,000 2,000
The Schuster Charity 1,000 1,000
BCF
Oxfordshire community Foundation 1,700 1,700
MOJ - COVID 22,745 22,745
National Lottery - COVID 9,810 9,810
Greenham Common Trust
Greenham Common Trust TOP Ups (Good Exchange) 8,566 8,566
Dorris Field 1,000 1,000
Earley COVID 1,400 1,400
Postcode Lottery 13,800 13,800
Greggs Foundation
Noel Buxton Trust
Santander
Waitrose 333 333
The Freemasons
Berkshire Community Foundation 10,000 10,000
Asda
West Berks Council - Public Protection Community Fund
Thames Valley Police - Police Property Act Fund 4,048 4,048
Shanley Foundation
Newbury Round Table
Awards for All
Isla Foundation 2,000 2,000
Matthew Wrightson 1,000 1,000
National Lottery - Community Foundation 9,850 9,850
Didymus 5,000 5,000
Thames Valley Police Contract 5,260 5,260
Easy Fundraising 1,455 1,455
Other Fundraising 750 750
Legal Walk 2,087 2,087
Generate UK 250 250
Other donations 2,585 70 2,655
Interest 5 5
Total 14,978 104,156 119,134
3. Incoming Resources from Activities to further the Charities Objects
nil nil nil
4. Total Resources Expended
Costs directly related to activities
Insurance 257
Staff 32,669
Staff related expenses 1,386
Clinic expenses 829
Fund-raising expenditure 6,171
Publicity nil
Rent, ICT, licence etc at Broadway House 3,029
Software/Website/Phones/IT support 29,742
IT, Stationery and office goods 1,857
Reference materials nil
Governance 1,738
77,678
5. Net Incoming Resources for the Year
This is stated after charging:
Depreciation
Auditors' remuneration
Salaries and wages 32,669
Social security costs
Total 32,669

6. The average number of employees during the year, calculated on the basis of full time equivalents was as follows:

Administration and Support - Removed for 20/21

7. Trustee Remuneration and Realted Party Transactions

No trustees received any remuneration during the year.

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

8. Taxation

As a charity FLAGDV is exempt from taxation. No tax charges have arisen.

9. Tangible fixed assets NIL
10. Investments NIL
11. Debtors NIL
12. Creditors NIL
13. Analysis of net assets between funds
Tangible fixed assets
Investments
Current assets 32,777 32,559 65,336
Current liabilities
Net assets 32,777 32,559 65,336
14. Movements in funds
Unrestricted funds
At start of year 11,455
Incoming resources 14,978
Outgoing resources -4,306
At end of year 30,739
Restricted funds
Provision of legal advice to victims of domestic advice
At start of year 38,737
Incoming resources 104,156
Outgoing resources 81,984
At end of year 60,909
Total funds 91,648

Rebecca Davies, ACMA, CGMA 72 Queensway, Didcot, Oxfordshire, OX118LU 07736 043975 Date: 12th De￿mber 2021 I can confimi that I have conducted an independent examination of the financial accounts for Free Legal Advice Group for Domestic Violence (Charity Number 1154070) for the year ending 30 June 2021. My examination included a review of the accounting records kept by FLAGDV and a comparison to the accounts presented with those records. It also included consideration of any unusual items and disclosures in the accounts and I sought explanations from the Treasurer Con￿rning such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the eviden￿ that would be required for a full audit and consequently I do not express an audit opinion on the view given by the accounts. Independent examiners statement In connection with my examination, I can confirm that no matter has come to m attention: a) Which gives me cause to believe that, in any material respect, the general requirements to keep accounting records in accordan￿ with UK accounting pnnciples have not been met. b) Which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. Signed Rebecca Davies