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2022-04-30-accounts

Wycombe Homeless Connection

Annual Review 2021-22

Registered charity no. 1156211

Our vision

We help people who are homeless or facing homelessness by:

w Preventing homelessness before it starts w Reducing harm for people who are homeless w Helping house people who are homeless w Defending the rights of people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness

We believe that every person who is homeless in our community has worth and should have a fresh start, no matter what their situation.

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Please display
our poster
(see PAGES 8-9)
Contents
Our vision 2 Governance 10
Welcome 3 Our impact 11
Helping people who are homeless 4 Volunteering 12
Homeless health 5 Partnerships 12
Preventing homelessness before it starts 6 Fundraising update 13
Defending the rights of people who are homeless 7 Financial summary 14
Pull-out poster 8-9 What’s next? 15
The difference
you’ve made
Incorporating Wycombe Winter Night Shelter
www.wyhoc.org.uk
Thank You!
of our clients were new clients at risk of homelessness benefit advice givenInstances of people referred to our housing legal advice clinic households helped to avoid eviction
households helped to find a home people given emergency winter accommodation instances of material assistance including food parcels and clothing people registered with a GP
Registered charity no. 1156211
Anne’s story
75% 1159 312 83 25
1570 27
45 28
Info is related to April 2021 - March 2022.
Anne, 66, was living with her daughter, helping take care of her grandchildren. Sadly, Anne was struggling with an addiction to alcohol and there was a catastrophic family breakdown. It became too much; Anne’s daughter told her she had to leave.Anne contacted the council hoping they would find her a place to live, as she had no savings and no other options. But Anne wasn’t classed as being in priority need, so initially wasn’t offered a place to stay. The housing system, hard to navigate at the best of times, was defeating her and she faced living on the street, which is when she came to us. We helped Anne talk to the council, proved they had a duty to give her a place to stay and she started to gather the paperwork she needed to get a home. But Anne had a bad fall and went into hospital where she couldn’t work on her housing application, and she faced being street homeless when she was discharged.So we paid for a safe place for Anne to stay, helped to her work out her options and collect together the paperwork she needed.We even bought her a mobile phone so she could keep in touch with us and then paid her deposit when she was offered a home. Anne has planted flowers on her small patio, but remains frail. We are walking with her, and she is making progress.
We helped Anne avoid homelessness and now she is happy with her own home and garden.
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Due to the nature of our work, we often change the names of people whose stories we have included. Pictures are often for illustrative purposes and may be a stock image to ensure the privacy of our clients and volunteers. All content is the copyright of Wycombe Homeless Connection and our partners and may only be reproduced with permission.

Wycombe Homeless Connection is a charitable incorporated organisation with a governing document dated February 2014 based on the Charity Commission’s ‘Foundation’ model constitution.

This review reports our activities between 1 May 2021 and 30 April 2022, unless otherwise stated, and was approved in September 2022.

Welcome

From our chair

In spite of the challenges of the pandemic and the economy, we were once again blessed to be able to provide help.

We built a strong collaboration with a charity in Aylesbury; we had support from a number of strategic funders to help us expand our reach; and a major recruitment effort saw us within sight of completing our staff team.

We had been collaborating with Aylesbury Homeless Action Group (AHAG) in order to present a county-wide independent charitable front to Buckinghamshire’s unitary council. During the year, AHAG had difficulty replacing their long-time operations manager, so approached us to see if we could help. After discussion, we agreed to second our CEO to AHAG part-time. This opportunity cemented our ability to work constructively with the council for the benefit of those coming to our two charities for help.

Our funding base continued to be broad and during the year we received funding specifically aimed at helping us serve the county more widely. One outcome was an away day for trustees and staff of AHAG and WHC, which confirmed the congruence of our visions and gave us confidence in our collaboration.

For some years we have been working to professionalise the management of the charity. In addition, the economic outlook prompted us to expand our frontline team to cope with extra demand. A significant recruitment effort achieved both of these aims, with six fantastic new members of staff due to start within a few months of the end of the year.

We saw God provide abundantly and the charity continues to be in a position to serve people effectively into the future.

Sheena Dykes BEM, DL Chair of Trustees

From our CEO

Despite the enormous challenges the pandemic and economic environment posed, we took great strides in tackling homelessness in our community.

At the highest point, we looked after 50 people in emergency accommodation who otherwise

would have been sleeping rough. Our homelessness prevention team helped record numbers of people to avoid losing their homes and secured almost £65,000 in direct grants to help people avoid homelessness.

The emergency accommodation that we and the government provided during the first two years of the pandemic ended. The difficult reality is that despite everyone’s best efforts some people returned to the streets and more continued to join them. We have added to our frontline team in order to make sure we are there for as many people as possible.

Our specialist support worker has grown our health projects working with more GPs and social prescribers to make sure no one misses out on healthcare. It was great to see our targeted work to reach new communities make a difference; almost a quarter of people we helped were from the Chesham area.

We’ve taken time to invest in our staff and processes to make sure we are always working towards being an equal, diverse and inclusive charity. This included reviewing our Faith Foundation which affirms our Christian mission which in turn drives all our work and enables us to listen to and serve people across our community fairly and with a view to collaboration. A highlight for me was joining local Islamic Charity Seerah Today for their ‘Ramadan Experience’ where we talked about how Christians and Muslims can work together on social issues.

We welcomed back more volunteers to their roles and financial and practical support met every need we had.

Thank you for all your support.

James Boultbee Chief Executive Officer

Wycombe Homeless Connection | Annual Review 2021-22

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Helping people who are homeless

Our priority was to provide a caring, hope-filled response to those whose lives were at risk because of homelessness. More people came to our frontline emergency homelessness services for help.

Over the year we paid for hundreds more bed-nights making sure people who fell through the cracks of statutory support were safe and well.

Despite continuing restrictions, we were able to keep our Support Centre running and we piloted a re-opening of our volunteer-led Plug In evening drop-in sessions where anyone sleeping rough could get food, clothing, conversation, access to laundry and a shower and most importantly help and hope. Our staff and volunteers did a life-saving job. They made hundreds of welfare calls, delivered food parcels and distributed emergency care packs.

We provided emergency accommodation for the most vulnerable people.

At the start of the year there were more than 50 people in council-funded emergency accommodation. We worked hard to help them move on as quickly as possible – a challenging task with little affordable housing locally – but we helped 45 people move into new homes.

We piloted a community outreach project in Chesham, an area we are targeting for increased support as we know there is great need in the area. In fact, one in six of our clients came from Chesham.

We provided 28 people with a safe place to stay during our winter accommodation project.

Because of your support:

Clive’s story:

Not long before Christmas, Clive knocked on our door for the first time in a few years. Things hadn’t been going well; after a period sleeping rough in London, he Kate had recently returned to Wycombe because he had Trustee and fundraiser some support locally. He also thought we might be able to help as we had a few years previously.

Kate joined our board of trustees this year bringing her expertise and passion, and ran her third London marathon for us!

After checking his options, we gave Clive a place in our winter emergency accommodation. He had a room to himself and a safe, warm place to stay from the cold, wet, long winter. For Clive, being in his late 50s with the health conditions he had, this was life-saving!

“I volunteer as a trustee to use my business management experience developed over my career to help the charity run as efficiently as possible.

By March, Clive hadn’t managed to find a more permanent home. He was still vulnerable, so we worked with one of our partners who placed him in temporary accommodation.

We then brought together help from other organisations, providing Clive with food through the foodbank, health support via our homeless health worker and help to find a home with Connection Support. It was months of work for Clive, us and our partners, but as we write, he has just been able to take up a place in a private rented home.

“Volunteering enables me to meet new people and continue to challenge myself by helping how I can with the management of the charity.”

Homeless health

We worked with local GPs to arrange flu and COVID-19 vaccination clinics, inviting our clients and helping them get there.

Did you know, people who are homeless are more likely to die younger than they should, with an average age of death of 47 for men and even lower for women at 43? This is 30 years younger than the general population.

Bee also worked with social prescribers and primary care networks to make sure our clients were offered quick and effective care they were entitled to, and to make sure healthcare providers knew we were there to advocate for our clients.

Our Homeless Healthcare Navigator, Bee, focused on directly helping people to access care, assisting them to register with a GP, get to appointments, pick up prescriptions, set up dentist and physiotherapy appointments and more.

Bee also made sure no one was discharged from hospital without somewhere safe to go, and with the right care in place for their recovery.

We partnered with Tower House and the Priory surgeries among others who registered our clients to their service and provided extended appointments, much needed as the people we serve often have complex medical needs.

Because of your support:

Danielle’s story:

Danielle got in touch on a Monday. She was in her forties and had multiple physical and mental health problems, and for a lot of complex and sad reasons was sleeping rough.

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Bee Lötter
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Senior Support Worker

She was incredibly vulnerable so our homeless health worker got straight to work.

“Developing a trust-filled relationship with our clients is vital to the work I do. I love making connections and being able to provide help, support and love to people who are homeless and as a result, often locked out of the healthcare they need.

Alongside helping Danielle find a home, we asked our friends at Tower House Surgery if they would register Danielle and see her as soon as possible. We work closely with the team at Tower House and together we make sure our homeless clients can register with a GP.

In less than a day the team at Tower House had registered Danielle, and a phone call appointment was arranged and she was taken on as a high priority patient.

“Working alongside NHS staff and GP surgeries is wonderful. They are empathic and passionate about serving our clients. Getting medical assistance arranged for people who otherwise don’t always get the health support they need is fulfilling and moreover, life-saving.”

So we’re very grateful to the team at Tower House and Priory surgeries and other healthcare staff across Bucks whom we work with to make sure the people we serve are given help, hope and good health.

Wycombe Homeless Connection | Annual Review 2021-22

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Defending the rights of people who are homeless

Preventing homelessness before it starts

Homelessness will only be solved if we can prevent people from losing their homes in the first place.

They helped clients apply for grants from various sources that would prevent them losing their homes; they secured over £64,970 to help people pay off rent arrears and other debts so they could stay in their homes.

The complex economic crisis deepened, COVID-related emergency accommodation came to an end, and hundreds of households in Buckinghamshire were facing homelessness.

Our weekly housing legal advice clinics began to get busier after the eviction ban ended, with people asking for help to fight illegal and unfair evictions.

Having proved vital and popular since its launch, we kept our homelessness prevention helpline running.

We continued to partner with Hillingdon Law Centre, Wycombe Rent Deposit Guarantee Scheme and in particular Aylesbury Homeless Action Group who promoted our services to their clients in the north of the county, making sure there was a consistent level of help across Buckinghamshire.

Our homelessness prevention workers gave free, independent advice and support on a broad range of topics including housing benefit-related advice.

Because of your support:

Case study:

Stephen’s benefits were in a mess and it wasn’t his fault.

His family broke down and not long after, he Bronwen suffered a bereavement. Stephen was signed off Frontline volunteer sick from work with anxiety and depression and his income eventually went right down. His child maintenance payments weren’t adjusted and “When I retired from nursing so a spiral began that many people are familiar eight years ago I started with. Stephen’s Universal Credit payments volunteering at WHC’s went wrong next, he fell behind on his rent and Night Shelter, then joined the Support Centre team. he couldn’t pay his other bills or buy food.

“When I retired from nursing eight years ago I started volunteering at WHC’s Night Shelter, then joined the Support Centre team.

“One of the most important things I think I do is to greet new clients and I try to be as warm and friendly as possible. The clients are often anxious and stressed. I try to help them tell their story and feel at ease.

Before he knew it, he was thousands of pounds in rental debt. His housing association were reluctant to help at first, issuing him with an eviction notice. He was desperate and asked us for help.

Our homelessness prevention team swung into action. They helped Stephen talk to child maintenance services to charge him the right amount based on his actual income. This worked and he even received a refund making his rent affordable again. We helped him apply for a grant from the Council which was successful and cleared all his arrears. The eviction notice was lifted and Stephen didn’t lose his home, which was incredible for him, and for us!

“I love that even the small things that we do have a big effect on people’s lives.”

We contributed to Buckinghamshire Council’s homelessness

As an organisation dedicated to fighting homelessness, we stood against the new rough sleeping immigration rules and pledged to do everything in our power to support those who need it, regardless of their immigration status.

and rough sleeping strategy (2022-25), the first homelessness strategy following the unitary authority’s creation in 2020.

We represented the views of people we work with. We were pleased to see homelessness prioritised, but called for increased involvement of people who had experienced, or were experiencing, actual homelessness or the risk of homelessness, so that they could shape the services.

To that end, we either gave or connected 28 people to advice about their immigration status. Some people living in the UK do not have a permanent immigration status; they are referred to as having an ‘NRPF condition’, which stands for No Recourse to Public Funds. This means they are not able to apply for most benefits and are ineligible for most help available to those who are homeless.

We continued to campaign to revoke proposed government rules that would make sleeping rough grounds for deportation in certain circumstances .

Because of your support:

Liam’s story:

Tabatha, one of our homelessness prevention workers said: “I love to see the transformation in the lives of people like Liam because of work that we have done with and for them.”

Paul All-round volunteer

“Why do I volunteer? So many reasons.

For over seven years, Liam has been sleeping rough or on friends’ sofas. He had been a guest in our winter night shelter. Like so many, Liam was caught in homelessness in no small part because of his immigration status. Despite living and working in the UK for a long time, his lack of a formal immigration status made him ineligible for the help he needed to find a home for good.

“Our adopted son has been, and still is at times, in exactly the same position as a lot of our guests. So how could I not help!

“Matthew, chapter 25, says: ‘When you helped the homeless or cared for the sick, or visited someone in prison, you did it for me.’ Volunteering gives me a great sense of purpose and meeting people I would not normally meet, both clients and other volunteers, is great.”

Our homelessness prevention team, together with local partner organisations, worked with Liam to help him navigate the complex and confusing system and get the help he was entitled to.

Liam came to our specialist immigration advice clinic with a team member from Connection Support. He met our advocacy workers and our partner from the Hillingdon Law Centre and together we worked with him on a plan and paperwork.

After months of hard work we were thrilled when he was granted leave to stay in the UK. Now Liam is in the position to get the help he is entitled to which should mean he can find a suitable and stable home.

“When people retire, they can lose the connection and camaraderie. When you volunteer with like-minded people you can recapture that connection.”

Tabatha said: “My favourite part about my job is how rewarding it is, knowing that we are helping people understand their rights so they can get the help they are entitled to.”

Wycombe Homeless Connection | Annual Review 2021-22

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POSTER PULL OUT

Because of your support, we were able to offer help, hope, support and advice to people who were homeless or facing losing their homes.

Here are just a few of the ways together we made an impact.

Governance

Staff team

James Boultbee Chief Executive Officer

Helen Sheppard Office Manager Until July ‘21

Heather Stanley Fundraising and Marketing Manager

Helen Biggerstaff Services Manager

Kevin Boughen Senior Support Worker

Bee Lötter Support Worker (NHS Care Navigator)

Rosemary Chilton Advocacy Lead Until July ‘21

Our charitable objects

Wycombe Homeless Connection’s charitable objects are ‘the relief of poverty by the provision of emergency and other accommodation advice and assistance for persons in need who are deemed homeless and require such accommodation advice or assistance.’

Having regard to the Charity Commission’s public benefit guidance, the trustees led the charity to pursue these objects principally by continuing to provide housing advice and support and emergency accommodation, but also by evolving services, developing new services and increasing effectiveness to provide further public benefit. Further details can be found throughout this review.

Leticia González-Muñoz Advocacy Worker

Trustees

Sheena Dykes Chair of Trustees

Tabatha Eckford Advocacy Worker

David Sparks Treasurer

Liz Lewis Fundraising and Marketing Coordinator Until October ‘21

Mark Dykes Kate Yates Muriel Reynolds David Winder Dawn Segrue Richard Alexander

Linda Turpie Office Administrator From October ‘21

Kate Rogers from January ‘22

Kate Vale

Volunteering Coordinator (temporary) October ‘21 – March ‘22

Robert Mariano From November ‘21 Peter Joy Until February ‘22

Patron

Countess Elizabeth Howe

Special thanks to

Our impact

WhoM we helped…

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WhoM we helped… Instances of 1:1 support given 7970
We served a broad range of people:
w 1 in 3 clients were women 5612
w Over 75% of our clients came to us for the first time
4305
w 1 in 4 people were over 50 years old
w Over 45% were white British with a spread over other backgrounds and nations 2861
2580
People contacted us because…
w 215 were already homeless
w 159 were at risk of losing their home
w 233 needed material or other support 17/18 18/19 19/20 20/21 21/22
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Homelessness prevention…

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Individuals we helped avoid eviction Number of people resettled into
more permanent homes
40 60 64 65
35
45
24 25
19
26
17/18 18/19 19/20 20/21 21/22 17/18 18/19 19/20 20/21 21/22
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*A pandemic-related eviction ban was in place for part of the year but people were still facing losing their homes due to a mix of causes, including unfair and illegal evictions.

*COVID-related emergency accommodation was available for part of the year but once it ended resettlements became more urgent.

Help when you have no home

w 45 households helped to find a home

w 28 people given a place in winter emergency accommodation

w 1570 instances of material assistance including provision of food parcels and clothing. w 27 people helped to register with a GP

Extra special thanks TO

w 1053 instances of homelessness and housing advice and help filling out forms

Business Connexions for their financial support and advice and Wycombe Rent Deposit Guarantee Scheme for their ongoing partnership.

Unless otherwise indicated, all service information in this report is related to April 2021 - March 2022. Service statistics refer to people whom we consider that we have been able to actively engage with during the year.

Wycombe Homeless Connection | Annual Review 2021-22

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Volunteering

Opportunities to volunteer grew as we adapted to how the pandemic affected our services, and as we changed the way our services worked to make them as accessible as possible to people who needed us.

What our volunteers did:

In November we piloted re-opening volunteer-led Plug In, our drop-in sessions for people sleeping rough. We also trialled our volunteer-led community outreach walks in Chesham, designed to build relationships with people in the community who could help spread the word about our services, as well as directly connecting with people who needed our help. It worked: one in six of our clients came from Chesham.

We ran our first in-person Support Centre volunteer training in two years, readying ourselves to more fully open Support Centre as a drop-in again.

We also completed a significant behind-the-scenes project reviewing and refreshing all our volunteers’ details and handbooks, training programmes and roles, as well as asking volunteers how they might like to work with us as we continued to serve more people.

Thank you!

Partnerships

We simply couldn’t do what we do without all the other hardworking, dedicated specialist organisations in our town, pulling together to improve the lives of people who are homeless or facing homelessness.

An exciting development this year was our exploration of ways we could work better with Aylesbury Homeless Action Group (AHAG). Following the departure of their operations manager in late 2021, our CEO James was seconded part time to AHAG to provide expertise and resource, ensuring the continuation of provision of homelessness services in the north of the county, especially as we entered an increasing time of pressure for people without a home or in a housing crisis.

Our huge thanks go to Connection Support, HWBIDCO, Street Wardens, One Can Trust, Wycombe Rent Deposit Guarantee Scheme, One Recovery Bucks, Mind, NHS especially Tower House and Priory surgeries, social prescribers, Hillingdon Law Centre, Chiltern Rangers, Buckinghamshire Council, Love in a Bag – Thame, The Hub at Union Baptist, Thames Valley Police, Old Tea Warehouse, Emmaus, One YMCA, Citizens Advice, Christians Against Poverty, Wycombe Women’s Aid and more!

Fundraising update

Ending homelessness together

Big Sleepout 2021: At Home

While charities faced an uncertain future, with giving expected to tumble, our supporters continued to give and we were able to do everything we wanted to do.

Over 100 people ‘slept out’ taking to gardens, sheds, greenhouses, churchyards and even bathtubs raising an incredible £30,000! The Big Quiz returned too with teams taking part from across the country! Our great friends Papa Truck supplied the entertainment again.

Community events started to return and we took our famous cake stall to the Beaconsfield Country Fayre raising over £1000! Marathons, the Red Kite Ride, the Marlow Santa Run and more all returned with people taking part in challenge events. Fayres, fetes, Christmas tree festivals and carol services could take place again and so many chose to generously support us.

Philanthropists and grant-givers continued their support and we were grateful for their understanding and flexible support when plans kept changing!

And best of all, our Sleepouters helped us make sure people know that we are here for them when they are facing a housing crisis.

We are so grateful for all your generosity and passion for ending homelessness in our community. You make us a stronger organisation so we can be here for as long as our help is needed.

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The wonderful ways you give
Students at Eden High Wycombe
Girls’ School croquet club
donated Eid boxes had a 24-hour
Dom’s ‘Drum and full of goodies ‘knock’
Pete completed the bass’ Christmas Day
Brighton marathon ride raised £2850
Former Mayor
Michael, The customers Maz Hussain Bakers gave
Matt and Simon at Clubhouse Café, raised £6000+ to our stall at
completed the Bledlow Ridge gave the Beaconsfield
virtual London generously Country Fayre
marathon
Our first ever Support Centre volunteer
training conference took place in 2019
Our night shelter cooks make
nourishing meals that show their love!
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Wycombe Homeless Connection | Annual Review 2021-22

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What’s next for Wycombe Homeless Connection

financial summary

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How you SUPPORTED us How we useD your gifts
In 2021-22 our income was £587,179. We were hugely Our expenditure decreased to £476,384 as we
grateful to everyone in our community who continued responded to changes in staffing and service needs.
to provide the vast majority of our income, especially as We continued to support the people we serve in a
financial pressure has increased for so many. variety of practical ways, often paying for a safe place
to stay for the most vulnerable who faced sleeping on
We continued to see significant support from grant givers; the street but did not qualify for any other support.
some of the year’s grant income was accrued from the
previous year. Community events started to return after a While the government stepped in to help with some
period when the pandemic prevented many from happening. emergency COVID-related accommodation, we invested in staff
Tough times were predicted for the charity sector as a whole and kept all our services running as the pandemic continued
but we continued to work hard to encourage giving to make to cause hardship and the cost of living began to rise.
sure we could plan for the future and remain sustainable.
Income Expenditure
£2,282
£246,052 £66,316
£12,864 £28,481
In 2021-22 In 2021-22
£30,521 our income was our expenditure was
£98,236
£587,179 £476,384
£25,811
£48,185 £269,590
£58,131
£26,857 £39,960
£110,276
Grants Providing services: Staff
Corporate support Providing services: Client support
Churches and faith groups Providing services: Office
Individuals Fundraising: Expenses
Community fundraising Fundraising: Staff
WHC fundraising events
Give now: Scan the QR code
Gift Aid
or visit our website.
Other income
Restricted targeted funds please keep giving
www.wyhoc.org.uk/donate
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While the government stepped in to help with some emergency COVID-related accommodation, we invested in staff and kept all our services running as the pandemic continued to cause hardship and the cost of living began to rise.

Our priorities for 2022-23:

No one gets ‘stuck’ on the street

Improving accessibility

As we left the crisis phase of the COVID-19 pandemic behind, the government ended its ‘everyone in’ scheme, where everyone found to be sleeping rough locally was offered emergency accommodation. This resulted in a rise in the number of people sleeping rough on our streets.

We still have more to do to ensure that all of our services are easily accessible for people across the south of Bucks.

Almost a quarter of the people we help come from Chesham, and we would like to make it easier for people there and in other areas to get the help they need from us. We want to improve our links with organisations already working there. We expect to focus on reaching people in Amersham, Burnham and Princes Risborough as a start.

We will work hard to make sure that their experience of sleeping rough is a brief as possible and as few people end up on the street as possible. There is still a lack of suitable affordable homes in our area which means that we will be looking for creative solutions to the housing crisis. It won’t be easy but we will dedicate extra resources to ensure that we don’t see dozens of people sleeping outside in our community, concentrating on people who find themselves stuck and with complex needs and few options.

We will focus on helping extremely vulnerable people who are ‘stuck’ in homelessness

A county-wide approach

We will work with Aylesbury Homeless Action Group to offer a homelessness prevention service across the whole of Buckinghamshire.

This service will be accessible both in-person and remotely for households who are at risk of losing their homes; it will be run by our team of highly trained homelessness prevention workers, and we will fund access to a housing legal-aid solicitor so it is free to both charities’ clients.

We will boost the capacity of this service by sourcing extra help with the complex legal issues which this team often deal with.

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Free advice and
support will be
easily accessible
FROM more places
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Wycombe Homeless Connection | Annual Review 2021-22

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We are committed to there being zero tolerance to leaving people to live on the street...

We believe that there should be enough homes for everyone…

Wycombe Homeless Connection

Oakley Hall 01494 447699 8 Castle Street contact@wyhoc.org.uk High Wycombe www.wyhoc.org.uk HP13 6RF

Give now: Scan the QR code or visit our website.

Wycombe Homeless Connection

Statement of Financial Activities

for the Year ended 30th April 2022

Notes
INCOMING RESOURCES
Grants
Corporate Donations
Church Collections & Donations
Individual Donations
Community Fundraising
WHC Fund Raising Events
Gift Aid
Bank Interest
Other Income
Homeless Health Fund
Housing Benefit
Total incoming resources
RESOURCES EXPENDED
Staff costs
Employers Pension & NI & Payroll
Travel
Training
Office Expenses
Telephones
Communications & Marketing
Legal Fees
Insurance
IT systems
Service Support incl Night Shelter
Fund Raising Events & Costs
Recruitment
Accommodation
Bank Charges
Personalisation
Homeless Health Fund
Rent In Advance
Housing Benefit
Total resources expended
NET INCOMING RESOURCES		 Unrestricted
Funds
Designated
Funds
Total
Funds
Total
Funds
2021-2022
2021-2022
2021-2022
2020-2021
£
£
£
£
246,052
246,052
197,190
48,185
48,185
29,047
26,857
26,857
46,918
110,276
110,276
149,798
58,131
58,131
46,378
25,811
25,811
54,207
30,521
30,521
39,319
634
634
885
12,230
12,230
2,187
24,167
24,167
1,033
4,314
4,314
71,400
587,179
0
587,179
638,361
297,630
297,630
277,733
31,782
31,782
28,693
645
645
405
5,849
5,849
3,713
47,972
47,972
44,949
4,812
4,812
5,659
14,346
14,346
6,270
2,706
2,706
0
2,002
2,002
1,675
15,865
15,865
17,473
26,021
26,021
55,889
2,282
2,282
160
1,328
1,328
350
9,012
9,012
0
193
193
84
2,651
2,651
3,317
4,035
4,035
801
2,939
2,939
£2,232
4,314
4,314
£69,502
476,384
0
476,384
518,907
110,795
0
110,795
119,453

Balance Sheet at 30th April 2022

Notes
Current Assets:
Bank
Cash
Debtors
Prepayments
Less Current Liabilities:
Creditors
6
Accruals
6
FINANCED BY:
General Fund
2
Designated Reserve Fund
Homeless Health Fund
4
Rent In Advance Fund
4
Housing Benefit
3
Personalisation Fund
4		 2022
2021
£
£
603,117
585,451
320
158
0
0
0
0
603,436
585,609
18,642
9,984
50,000
151,625
68,642
161,610
534,794
423,999
377,951
£261,268
150,000
150,000
0
£232
0
£2,643
6,842
£8,384
0
£1,471
534,794
423,999		 2022
2021
£
£
603,117
585,451
320
158
0
0
0
0
603,436
585,609
18,642
9,984
50,000
151,625
68,642
161,610
534,794
423,999
377,951
£261,268
150,000
150,000
0
£232
0
£2,643
6,842
£8,384
0
£1,471
534,794
423,999
423,999

`

Notes to the Accounts for the year ended 30th April 2022

1. Accounting policies

Basis of accounting

The financial statements have been prepared under the Charities Act 2011 in accordance with the 2014 version of Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP) applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard for Smaller Entities applicable in the UK (effective from 1 January 2015) – the Charities SORP (FRSSE) – in replacement for the SORP’s 2005 version specified in its related 2008 Regulations and in accordance with the ‘true and fair override’ provision contained therein.”

The Accounts have been prepared under the Historic Cost Convention on an accruals basis to show a true and fair view of WHC's financial position and activities. This is in accordance with applicable accounting standards and the Statement of Recommended Practice - Accounting and Reporting by Charities (SORP 2016).

2. General Fund (Unrestricted)

The general fund is the working capital of the organisation. Fund raising peaks around the Winter Night Shelter so that the free cash in the General Fund is at its highest at the end of the winter months. At that point it has to be sufficient to carry the organisation through a 'funding drought' in the summer months. This year the Coronavirus pandemic has generated a significant increase in income from indidivuals and grants, some of which has been accrued to 20202021 since it relates to employment costs in that year, or is grant income attributable to that year.

3. Housing Benefit Fund (Restricted)

We continue to hold money paid by the Council as a result of Housing Benefit claims. This will ultimately be paid back to the council and so is held in a separate fund.

4. Rent In Advance, Health, and Personalisation (Unrestricted

Money for personalisation payments, for healthcare, and for rent in advance payments was previously accounted for separately from the General Fund. As the organisation has grown and income has increased this has become increasingly irrelevant to the current operations of the charity so these funds have been consolidated into the General Fund.

5. Reserve Fund (Unrestricted Designated)

The reserves policy is to maintain a balance of between 3 and 6 months operating expenditure plus sufficient funds to meet redundancy and other legal liabilities in the event of a forced closure. The reserve fund has been maintained at £150,000 in line with current turnover and commitments.

6. Accruals

£50,000 of grant income has been carried forward to 2022-2023 as it relates to payments for winter accommodation for which invoices have not yet been received. £6,842 of housing benefit money, and payments for an awayday, office rent and the housing legal clinic totalling £11,800 were outstanding at the end of the financial year and are shown as creditors.

Independent Examiner's Unqualified Report to the Trustees

Respective responsiblities of Trustees and Examiner

As the charity trustees, you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts; you consider that the audit requirements of Section 43(2) of the Charities Act 1993 (the Act) do not apply. It is my responsibility to state, on the basis of procedures specified in the General Directions given by the Charity Commissioners under Section 43(7)(b) of the Act, whether particular matters have come to my attention.

Basis of Independent Examiner's Report

My examination was carried out in accordance with the General Directions given by the Charity Commissioners. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeking explanations from you as trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit and consequently I do not express an audit opinion on the view given by the accounts.

Independent Examiner's Statement

In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention:

Signed:

Date: