**For year ending 31 March 2023**
**Together we can find a home for every child who needs one**
**Home for Good** (a company limited by guarantee). Registered Address: 8 Angel Court, Copthall Avenue, London, EC2R 7HP. Charity Number (England & Wales): 1158707. Charity Number (Scotland): SC046972. Company Registration Number (England & Wales): 9060425
## Trustees’ Report
## **Foreword from the CEO**
**Every 15 minutes, a child or young person in the UK enters the care system. Each child has intrinsic worth and value. Every child needs the same things to thrive: a stable place to call home, an environment that feels safe, someone they can trust who will offer care and support.**
Right now, there’s an urgent need for foster carers across the UK. Nearly a quarter of young people in care are over the age of 16, yet there are limited high-quality options for accommodating these young people in safe, appropriate places. There are children waiting more than 18 months for an adoptive family who can offer them the care they need – this includes children who are over the age of five, children who are Black, children with a disability and children in a sibling group.
**This year at Home for Good, our mission has remained the same: to find a home for every child who needs one, particularly for those who are waiting the longest. We remain unshaken in our firm belief that the UK Church is key to seeing this vision become a reality.**
That’s why we’ve focused our attention this year towards the local Church. As you’ll read in this report, we launched a new Home for Good Church programme which will allow us to better support and resource churches who have made a commitment to journeying with Home for Good. The phrase we’ve been using to describe our hopes for this programme is ‘wider and deeper’; we long to see a greater number of churches from right across the UK journeying with us in a deeper and more intentional way.
We also made some changes to our Champion programme this year, providing greater clarity and focus around what it means to be a Home for Good Champion and developing resources to ensure our volunteers are well trained, resourced and prepared, and to ensure they feel encouraged within our network. As part of this development, we introduced a new volunteer role this year: the Peer Support Volunteer. These individuals are like gold dust, enabling those who enquire with Home for Good to have both their excitement and concerns heard and offering experience and wisdom. You will notice that our Champion numbers are lower this year compared to previous years as we have sought to solidify what we ask of our volunteers; the reason for this is that in launching the new volunteer programme, we invited all existing Champions to take some time to reflect before deciding if they would like to continue in the role, instead become a Peer Support Volunteer or step back from what we know is a big commitment. I’d like to take this opportunity to honour and profusely thank both those who have served Home for Good in a voluntary capacity in the past, and those who continue to do so. You are the hands and feet of our work, and we simply wouldn’t be who we are without you.
02 **Home for Good |** Annual Report and Accounts year ending 31 March 2023
It’s been another busy year, precisely because there’s still so much yet to do on behalf of children and young people. We will not let up.
Our team continue to produce creative and engaging content and resources for individuals, families and churches, and it’s been especially exciting to see our flagship Foundations course continue to reach more and more people on their journey towards fostering, adoption or supported lodgings. This year has brought new videos and refined teaching, and we’re so excited about how this six-week course will support people in their thinking, processing, wondering. Our advocacy work has continued, building on last year’s work around supported lodgings for teenagers as this year we launched a new initiative in the Supported Lodgings National Network. We’ve seen significant developments within our Operations space, as we’ve continued to strengthen our internal operations and have formed this year an integrated operations division, and have made significant progress on the development of our customer relationship management system to support our core activities.
It’s been another busy year, precisely because there’s still so much yet to do on behalf of children and young people. We will not let up. As such, there is so much to celebrate too! We hope that you will celebrate with us as you read of just some of the highlights included in this report.
Around 36,000 children will come into care this year, and recent figures estimate that a further 7,200 foster families are needed.[1] We will continue to relentlessly pursue our mission to find a home for every child who needs one. We’re so thankful to have the support of you who partner with us as we look forward, fuelled with faith and driven by hope, to the year ahead.
**Tarn Bright**
CEO, Home for Good
1. Fostering Network, 2023. Recruitment targets. Available online
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## Journeys
**At Home for Good, we describe ourselves as an organisation who ‘journey’. What we mean by this is that we recognise that between the very first moment of inspiration and the moment when a child or young person enters your home is a path that can be long, winding, and may well have challenges as well as joys. This path will look different for every person. We also recognise that the path doesn’t end at the point of placement – rather, the journey continues.**
Home for Good seek to be present and available to individuals, couples and families at every step of their journey. We want to be there at the initial moment of, “Maybe we could do this?” with answers to questions and introductory information. As people continue to explore, we’re there with our online information sessions and Foundations courses, and have a brilliant team of Peer Support Volunteers who are ready to connect and share experience and advice.
Our agreements with commissioners mean that when people are ready to begin their application and assessment, we can connect them with a team close to them; if we don’t hold an agreement in their area, our expert team know which direction to point you in. Our network of local support groups means that when there’s something to celebrate or something to mourn, we can connect people with others who are near to them and who will understand. At every step of the journey, Home for Good are here with practical information, encouragement and, importantly, prayer.
**This year, we journeyed with 1195 households.2**
**It has been a privilege to have been able to walk with each and every one.**
2. n = enquiry opportunities + additional foundations attendees + additional information session attendees.
04 **Home for Good |** Annual Report and Accounts year ending 31 March 2023
Home for Good seek to be present and available to individuals, couples and families at every step of their journey.
“I love being a Champion. I really enjoyed helping with the Foundations course, it was a privilege to connect with people who were at the very beginning of their journey. I also love having the opportunity to talk about fostering, adoption and supported lodgings, to share my knowledge and experience with people in the church and to help my church know a little bit more about it all.” Champion in the South West
06 **Home for Good |** Annual Report and Accounts year ending 31 March 2023
## Engagement, enquiries and family care
**Through our church engagement across the UK, we inspire individuals, couples, families and wider church communities to consider playing their part in our mission.**
Our church engagement work, underpinned by the resources and content produced by the Content division, has resulted in 707 enquiries to our Enquiry and Family Care team from people across the UK who want to begin their fostering, adoption or supported lodgings journey.
Our commissioner agreements allow us to provide a bridge between church communities and their local authority or fostering, adoption and supported lodgings agencies.
## Church engagement
**Home for Good seeks to engage with churches across the UK, from all denominations. We want to raise awareness among church communities of the experiences and needs of children and young people in care in their own local area.**
We inspire individuals, families and couples to consider fostering, adoption or supported lodgings. We resource churches to show greater understanding, welcome and support to families with careexperienced children.
“Connections and relationships are at the heart of everything we do as an Engagement division. We have the dual privilege of sharing the Home for Good vision with church communities and then walking with individuals, couples, families and local churches as they discover their part in the story. We long to grow our networks of churches and volunteers across the UK and to inspire more people to consider opening up their homes through fostering, adoption or supported lodgings.”
Roger Cooke – Interim Director of Engagement
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engagement, enquiries and family care
## SPOTLIGHT ON:
## **home for good church**
**In November 2022, we re-launched our Home for Good Church programme. A Home for Good Church is a church that has made a commitment to journey more closely with us and to serve families who foster, adopt or offer supported lodgings. It’s a church that actively opts-in to partner with Home for Good as together we find a home for every child who needs one.**
Becoming a Home for Good Church means entering into a two-way partnership. A church community will agree to a number of commitments, and Home for Good will make commitments to the church.
## **A Home for Good Church will:**
## **Home for Good will:**
**1.** Make a clear commitment to journey closely with Home for Good for at least three years.
**2.** Identify and encourage a Home for Good Champion within the church.
**3.** Use Home for Good resources and training to inform, inspire and equip its congregation.
**4.** Pray regularly: for children and young people with lived experience of care; for those involved in fostering, adoption and supported lodgings; for the work of Home for Good.
**1.** Offer input and encouragement for your church and its Champion – including a regional staff member to walk alongside you on the journey and help you develop your engagement.
**2.** Provide specific ‘Home for Good Church Updates’ three or four times a year.
**3.** Provide easy access to all of Home for Good’s resources for churches.
**4.** Offer two free tickets to the Home for Good Summit (or equivalent event) each year.
**5.** Donate regularly to Home for Good.
Our desire is to see local church communities across the UK commit to journeying with Home for Good in a wider and deeper way. We recognise that this journey requires time, and so our registration process reflects that, beginning with a face-to-face conversation and a chance for us to explore together what this journey might look like for you and your church.
Since launching the new programme, we’re delighted that over 30 churches have started the Home for Good Church journey, with a number of others currently in conversation with their local team member.
“My hope for our church as we partner with Home for Good is that disproportionate amounts of people will be mobilised to give generously of their space, their time, their resources and their ideas.”
Johnny, church leader
08 **Home for Good |** Annual Report and Accounts year ending 31 March 2023
## SPOTLIGHT ON:
## **Champions**
**Our network of Champions are the hands and feet of Home for Good. These passionate and committed individuals serve within their own church communities to raise awareness of the experiences and needs of children in the care system and share Home for Good’s vision.**
This year we re-launched our Champion programme after a period of development, seeking to add clarity and focus to the role and better equip our volunteers.
## **Within the new Champion programme, Champions now focus their efforts in one or more of the following areas:**
**1.** Encouraging their church to consider the need nationally and in their local area, and to help their church community consider how they might respond to this need. With Home for Good, Champions will help their church to become an increasingly welcoming and supportive environment for care-experienced children and their families.
**2.** Practically supporting Home for Good’s Engagement team at local events, conferences, and festivals.
**3.** Developing relationships with local stakeholders in the world of fostering, adoption and supported lodgings.
This year, Home for Good created a new online Volunteer Resource Hub to ensure our volunteers have easy access to all they need to fulfill their role and produced a new online training course for all volunteers to ensure they feel equipped and confident.
**We’re delighted to have 199 registered Home for Good Champions in our network; a number that is rapidly growing!**
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engagement, enquiries and family care
## Home for Good across the UK
## **England**
## **Scotland**
Across England our committed team of staff and volunteers have enjoyed the privilege of speaking in many diverse church communities through the last year. We have sought to raise awareness of the need to find homes through active presence at many major Christian festivals and conferences, notably hosting a ‘beach’ at Festival Manchester in July 2022, but also many smaller events stretching the breadth of England. Home for Good has become an associate body of Churches Together in England enabling us to network across a greater diversity of churches.
In August 2022, a team member was added to help lead and shape our work in Scotland, with a particular focus on the north-east of the country. Our threeyear partnership with the Church of Scotland Guilds continued, with over 90 presentations to women’s groups over the year. The Scotland Advisory Group has been working closely with the team to develop plans to grow Home for Good’s reach and impact across the country. A new full-time national Lead has been recruited to drive this work and to maximise the potential to inspire churches and find homes in Scotland.
## **northern ireland**
## **WALES**
2022-23 saw some changes with the staff team across Northern Ireland, but our work has continued to flourish: we have seen a warm response to the vision and work of Home for Good and there has been a growth in our networks of volunteers, engaged churches and support groups. Home for Good staff and volunteers had opportunities to contribute to the Independent Review of Northern Ireland’s Children’s Social Care Services, with members of the Northern Ireland Advisory Group having a particularly strong voice in the process. Our relationship with all five Health and Social Care Trusts continues to grow. We renewed our partnership with the Southern HSC Trust for a further three years and we extended our agreement with the regional fostering service, which sees us working closely with the HSC Trust teams across the country. A Roadshow series throughout Northern Ireland helped to reach new audiences and build momentum towards the Northern Ireland Summit taking place in November 2023. Over 60 individuals and couples from Northern Ireland journeyed with our Enquiry team throughout the year, with 18 referrals made for fostering and adoption.
Our work in Wales continues to grow. We have seen new volunteers signing up to play their part, more churches connecting with Home for Good and the continued nurturing of relationships with key stakeholders across the children’s care sector in Wales. A new agreement was signed with St David’s Adoption Agency in November 2022, which focuses on finding homes across South, Mid and West Wales. At the beginning of 2023, agreements were also signed with Western Bay Adoption Service and with Neath Port Talbot and Swansea Local Authorities for fostering. Further opportunities for partnership are being explored in North Wales and as part of these relationships, we have begun to produce some key resources in the Welsh language. Work has begun to develop a Wales Advisory Group, similar to the groups in Northern Ireland and Scotland.
10 **Home for Good |** Annual Report and Accounts year ending 31 March 2023
## **in their own words...**
“It has been a joy for me to combine my social work experience and passion for children in the care system with my faith and passion for the local Church. I am excited by the beginning of the work in the North East of Scotland, to develop networks of Christian carers and adopters and begin to build connections with churches.”
“We regularly see that the stretch for social workers in keeping children in England safe is greater than before the pandemic and we at Home for Good passionately believe that the Church is part of the solution – it’s what makes us leap from our beds each morning!”
## **Clare Walker – Head of Engagement, England**
**Rosie Campbell – North East Scotland Coordinator**
“Since joining the team in May 2022, I have been struck by the positive response to the Home for Good message in churches across Northern Ireland. Whenever we speak at churches or events, there are always people who respond and want to play their part. I’m excited by the huge potential of finding new family homes and developing strong networks of support as the Church responds to God’s call into this part of His mission.”
“It is an honour and a delight to inspire churches and individuals to consider opening up their lives to children in our society who need a home. As I travel around Wales, I keep encountering people, local churches and organisations who want to step up to this great task and to join us in this quest.”
**Neil Davies – Wales Lead**
**Roger Cooke – Interim Director of Engagement & Northern Ireland Lead**
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engagement, enquiries and family care
## Enquiries and Family Care
**The Enquiry and Family Care team is central to the Home for Good vision, providing an excellent service to inform, equip and encourage all enquirers at every step of their journey.**
## **707 *** uk enquiries which breaks down as follows:
fostering adoption fostering/adoption **248** enquiries **301** enquiries **112** enquiries supported referrals **46** lodgings **184** both to commissioners and self enquiries referrals to other agencies
* Does not include support enquiries
## **Peer support**
**At Home for Good, we know just how valuable peer support is. We hear time and again the impact that connecting with others who ‘get it’ can have; knowing others who understand the journey you’re on, having somewhere to turn for prayer or simply having the opportunity to share a coffee and chat together.**
This year, alongside the re-launch of our Champion programme, Home for Good established a new volunteer role. Peer Support Volunteers are people who care deeply about finding a home for every child who needs one through fostering, adoption and supported lodgings and about seeing families well supported on their journey. Home for Good Peer Support Volunteers offer one-to-one support to people enquiring and journeying with Home for Good as they explore fostering, adoption or supported lodgings and facilitate Home for Good peer support groups in their local community for current or prospective foster carers, adoptive parents or supported lodgings hosts.
## **We now have 50 registered Peer Support Volunteers and 41 local peer support groups connected to Home for Good.**
12 **Home for Good |** Annual Report and Accounts year ending 31 March 2023
## Content
**Through our comprehensive programme of resources, training, events and services, we inspire and equip individuals and churches to respond to the experiences and needs of children and families in their community and across the country. Through our compelling content, communications and media engagement, we seek to influence and envision the Church and wider society.**
“The Content division is made up of a cohesive, creative and highly-motivated team who work collaboratively across Home for Good to produce excellent content and resources. There’s so much to be excited about in this space!” Claire Hailwood, Director of Content
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content
## What we offer...
## **Resources for churches**
We create engaging content for use in church services – some of these our staff or Champions use when speaking at a church, others are available for all churches to download and use!
It’s our delight to share resources to enable churches to mark Mother’s Day and Father’s Day in a sensitive and inclusive way, acknowledging the wide variety of parenting and caring roles that exist within our church communities.
This year, Home for Good produced more than **45 new videos** , as well as a **suite of training videos** for new volunteers. These range from real-life stories to biblical reflections for the Foundations course, fundraising asks to explanations of the assessment process.
## **make room**
**Make Room** is a four-session Bible study resource created for
individuals, small groups or whole churches who want to explore what their part could be. It’s a study for anyone, anywhere, who would like to dig a bit deeper into what the Bible has to say about the heart of God and how that so closely connects to finding a home for every child who needs one.
## **information sessions**
Our regular online information sessions, Caring for children and teenagers, are for anyone considering fostering, adoption or supported lodgings in the their immediate or longterm future. The Home for Good team share about the experiences of children and young people in care and the current need for homes. Together we explore the different types of care and what the application and assessment process can involve.
## **online library**
We have a regularly-updated online library full of stories, blogs and articles – for anyone, at any stage of their journey. Our monthly prayer resource offers a short reflection, some points for prayer and a creative prayer activity as we seek for all that we do to grow out of a place of prayer.
14 **Home for Good |** Annual Report and Accounts year ending 31 March 2023
This year, **138 households** took part in the Foundations course:
## **foundations course**
of attendees said they found the course **96** % either ‘extremely helpful’ or ‘very helpful’.
Foundations is a free, six-week, online course for anyone interested in learning more about fostering, adoption and supported lodgings. Including practical information, biblical reflection, real-life stories and discussion, the course covers themes of identity, family, trauma and loss, church, support and transitions, and enables attendees to consider their own personal response.
of attendees said they’d recommend **100** % the course to others!
of attendees said they felt ‘more likely’ **70** % or ‘a lot more likely’ to foster/adopt/ offer supported lodgings having taken part in Foundations this year.
of attendees said they felt ready to **46** % start assessment within the next 6 months. **27** % said they could start within the year.
## **FOUNDATIONS course FEEDBACK:**
“Thank you! It has been a welcoming, friendly, encouraging and informative course. It was really powerful to be in a space where fostering, adoption and supported lodgings were the norm, rather than feeling on the outside. We really valued hearing from a variety of different experiences.”
“The course was great and has been instrumental on us thinking through our adoption journey. Everyone involved was so passionate, so clear and so helpful. A really wonderful way to spend a Monday evening! Thank you.”
“It’s the best insight we have had into what it all entails and really prepares people for whether or not fostering, adoption or supported lodgings is the route for them.”
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content
## SPOTLIGHT ON:
## **spring harvest 2023**
## **This year we began a three-year journey partnering with Spring Harvest, a major Christian festival that attracted over 12,000 people across two sites.**
This partnership gave us the opportunity to share the vision of Home for Good on the mainstage, to lead a seminar series in a prime location on each site, host a drinks reception, gather families for an activity and occupy a space in the exhibition area. We created a new suite of videos, wrote an engaging seminar series focused on the Beatitudes and curated an eye-catching exhibition space with exciting activities for children.
As a journeying organisation we recognised the importance of approaching Spring Harvest 2023 in light of the three-year (at least!) opportunity that we have to speak to primarily the same audience each time. Our primary objective for 2023 was to increase our reach, introducing who we are, what we believe and planting a seed for what might come next.
Alongside this aim, we hoped to connect with a smaller number of individuals, couples and families who might consider opening their homes to children and young people through fostering, adoption or supported lodgings.
## **We were blown away by the response we received.**
Across sites, teams logged each connection (347 in total) :
**50** %
of people we connected with at Spring Harvest had never heard of us before.
**33** %
had heard of us, but hadn’t been closely connected.
**17** %
were already connected with Home for Good.
Across both sites:
## **211**
households were added to Home for Good’s mailing list, enabling them to keep updated with news, stories and updates.
**94**
enquiries were made from people wishing to begin their fostering, adoption or supported lodgings journey.
**approximately 2,600** people attended seminars across the three days.
**approximately 8,000**
people heard about us on mainstage.
**more than 180**
children (plus their families) attended our picnic.
**we hosted 60**
people at our drinks receptions.
16 **Home for Good |** Annual Report and Accounts year ending 31 March 2023
digital, marketing and communications
**279,436** webpage views.
**1,121,910** people reached by our posts across facebook, instagram, twitter and linkedin.
## **41** %
average email open rate from a subscriber list of over 9,000.
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## Advocacy and systemic change
**Home for Good seeks to both influence and deliver change in order to achieve our vision of finding a home for every child who needs one. We advocate because we recognise there are some challenges to achieving this vision that can only be unlocked at a political or systemic level.**
We seek to take a hopeful, innovative and solutions-focused approach in our advocacy and influencing work and aim to not only call for change but to also show how that change can be achieved. In all we do, we are committed to amplifying the voices of children and young people with direct experience of the care system, always seeking to place their voices and interests at the heart of our work.
## **Stable homes, built on love**
In February 2023, the Government made its long-awaited response to the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care in England. Having strongly advocated for a recognition of the importance of loving relationships for all children and young people in care, we were thrilled to see this echoed in the Government’s response, with Minister for Children, Families and Wellbeing, Claire Coutinho stating:
“Our wide-ranging reforms will put strong relationships at the heart of the care system.”
18 **Home for Good |** Annual Report and Accounts year ending 31 March 2023
## **Ban on all-unregulated care provision**
We are delighted that in March 2023, the Government announced a ban on all unregulated accommodation for young people in care, an issue we first highlighted in 2019 through our Five-Star campaign. This means that any accommodation used to house young people must first be scrutinised by Ofsted and pass Government quality standards.
At Home for Good we welcome this step taken by the Government as it will drastically reduce the use of B&Bs, bedsits, caravans and canal boats, which we believe are entirely inappropriate for young people in care. While we are disappointed the Government hasn’t brought in an outright ban on these types of accommodation, this is a significant step towards ensuring young people are housed in suitable accommodation and is a cause for celebration!
## **Supported Lodgings National Network**
As part of our strategy to raise the profile of supported lodgings, we launched a new initiative: The Supported Lodgings National Network (SLNN). The SLNN, which reached 100 members in March 2023, has been warmly received by providers across the country.
“It’s been fantastic to be part of the network. To be part of a group of likeminded professionals who all share our passion for the transformative power that supported lodgings can have in the life of a young person (and their host family) has been a breath of fresh air.” – SLNN Member
We have spoken directly into Government policy development to ensure that supported lodgings is not overlooked and were delighted when the Department for Education expressed their desire to see supported lodgings expand in their responses to the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care in England and as part of new regulations of all care provision.
## **APPG Adoption and Permanence**
Home for Good continues to provide joint secretariat to the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Adoption and Permanence which exists to amplify the voices and experiences of children and families engaged in adoption and other forms of permanence, to inform parliamentarians and promote the development and implementation of effective policy and practice.
In Autumn 2022, the APPG for Adoption and Permanence conducted a survey of self-employed adopters and prospective adopters. The findings revealed that the current policy decision not to offer self-employed adopters an equivalent to the Statutory Maternity Allowance as given to self-employed birth parents was potentially putting off prospective adopters. Hearing the findings presented in Westminster, parliamentarians, sector leaders and members of the adoption community were resolved to address this issue.
Achieving legislative change takes time, we remain hopeful and continue to pray that change will come in the near future. Achieving statutory pay for self-employed adopters will make an enormous difference in the landscape of adoption, releasing hundreds of potential adoptive parents immediately and many more in years to come. This change will be a significant step towards our aim of finding a home for every child who needs one.
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## Inspiring generosity
**As we reflect on the past year, and the developments and updates you see on every other page of this report, we are enormously thankful and grateful to everyone that has been a part of this year’s journey and what we have achieved together. None of this would have been possible without the generous, committed and prayerful support of our donors, partners and friends.**
We were delighted with the performance of our Christmas _‘Every Heart, Every Part’_ Appeal which raised over £41,000 (£7,000 more than last year’s appeal) through the generous gifts of individuals and churches. This appeal total was also supported by £15,000 of match-funding given generously by some of our passionate and loyal supporters.
Our support from businesses continues to grow, with partnerships such as Jude’s ice cream and The Blueprint who play their part in the lives of children in care, sharing generously of their financial resources.
From one-off and regular gifts to church partners, trusts and foundations and corporate gifts, we’re honoured by the trust you show in giving to help find homes for children who need them. The year has certainly had challenges, with the pandemic and cost-of-living crisis keenly felt – it is hard to raise funds. However there have been encouragements too, with support from churches seeing giving as part of their holistic mission, multi-year grants from trusts laying foundations for the future and generous donations, large and small, from individual donors sacrificially and cheerfully playing their part for children in care by giving.
**Every donation is an investment into helping find homes for children and young people.**
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20 **Home for Good |** Annual Report and Accounts year ending 31 March 2023
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## Reference and administrative details
## **Trustees**
Olivia Amartey _(from 5 July 2022)_ Luke Bacon _(from 5 July 2022)_ Simon Blake - Board Chair _(from 26 June 2022)_ Alan Charter _(until 6 July 2022)_ Susan Colman _(until 5 April 2022)_ Jeremy Cooper - Vice Chair Laura Eades Matthew Gregora _(from 18 October 2022)_
Anna Laszlo - Interim Board Chair _(until 5 July 2022)_
**Chief Executive**
**Banks**
## **Accountant**
**Independent Auditor**
Tania Bright
## CAF Bank
25 Kings Hill Avenue, West Malling, ME19 4JQ
## NatWest
40 Whitgift Centre, Croydon, CR0 1UQ
Finance Box
189 Marsh Wall, London, E14 9SR
Moore Kingston Smith LLP 9 Appold Street, London, EC2A 2AP
Dominic Llewellyn Fatima Wesson _(from 5 July 2022)_ Rachel Westcott _(from 5 July 2022)_
## **Registered Charity**
**Number (England & Wales):** 1158707
**Registered Charity Number (Scotland):** SC046972
**Company Registration Number (England & Wales):** 9060425 **Registered Address:** 8 Angel Court, Copthall Avenue, London, EC2R 7HP
## Structure, governance and management
## **Structure**
Home for Good is a registered charity in England & Wales (number 1158707) and Scotland (number SC046972) and a company incorporated in England and Wales (28 May 2014) and limited by guarantee (number 9060425). As a charitable company, Home for Good’s governing document, its Memorandum and Articles of Association, provides that the Board of Trustees (who are also Directors for the purposes of company law) are also the members of the Charity and limits their liability to £1.
The trustees’ main duties are to ensure the charity is carrying out its purposes for the public benefit, to comply with the charity’s governing document and the law, to act in the charity’s best interests, to ensure the charity is accountable, to manage the charity’s resources responsibly, and to act with reasonable care and skill. To ensure our trustees understand these duties, they are required to review the Charity Commission’s guidance “The Essential Trustee” (CC3) and Home for Good’s Articles of Association on joining the Board (and then on an annual basis).
## **Governance**
The Articles of Association set out Home for Good’s charitable objects (or purposes), the trustees’ powers to achieve these objects and matters relating to the running of the Charity’s internal affairs. Under charity law, the trustees have the legal duties and responsibilities of charity trustees and, under company law, the legal duties and responsibilities of company directors. It is the trustees who are responsible for the governance, management and strategic direction of the charity.
As trustees have a duty to develop strategic plans which further the charity’s purposes for the public benefit, the trustees review Home for Good’s charitable aims, objectives and activities regularly and have due regard to the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit when reviewing the charity’s aims, objectives and activities, planning future activities and considering how these activities will achieve Home for Good’s charitable purposes to ensure activities undertaken further Home for Good’s aims and objectives.
22 **Home for Good |** Annual Report and Accounts year ending 31 March 2023
## **The Board of Trustees**
The Board of Trustees is made up of independent, unremunerated, non-executive trustees who are appointed by the existing trustees in accordance with the Articles of Association. While the trustees are ultimately responsible for the governance of the organisation, the Board delegates dayto-day responsibility for operational management to the Chief Executive who leads the Directorate (see the “Leadership” section below). The Chief Executive and Directors are responsible for the development and implementation of organisational strategies and plans, policies and procedures, following Board review, advice and approval.
The trustees understand an effective Board brings together a range of skills, experience, backgrounds and knowledge to provide different perspectives which inform and enhance Board decision-making. Accordingly, in 2020-21, as some trustees were approaching the end of their terms of service, the Board focused on trustee recruitment under the interim leadership of Anna Laszlo, who served on the Board from February - July 2022. Six new trustees were appointed in Spring and Summer 2022, including a new Board Chair, Simon Blake, who joined the Board in June 2022. The trustee recruitment programme was conducted following careful review of Board composition and Home for Good’s strategic aims to identify and address Board skills, experience, gender and diversity needs.
Trustees are appointed for an initial term of three years and may be appointed for a second and third term of three years depending on the needs of the Board and individual performance. The Board Chair and Vice Chair are elected by the trustees.
## **Board expenses**
Trustees are not paid fees or remuneration for serving as a trustee. Reasonable expenses incurred while carrying out trustee duties are reimbursed. This will include travel, accommodation and childcare (and other caring costs) related to attendance at trustee meetings, training or induction sessions and Board events.
## **Board meetings**
Trustees meet regularly throughout the year with four formal board meetings in January, April, July and October, as well as other ad hoc meetings and events.
## **Leadership**
Tania Bright is the Chief Executive and is supported by the Directorate with Directors overseeing a Division each. The Directorate represent all areas of our work and are responsible for outworking the core mission of ‘finding a home for every child who needs one’.
Remuneration of senior staff is reviewed annually by trustees and CEO using available charity sector information.
## **Advisory groups**
We have active Advisory groups in Northern Ireland and Scotland, and we hope to develop a similar group in Wales. Their remit is to support and advise the work of Home for Good in these nations, given the variations of devolved government, commissioning mechanisms and nuances across the landscape of the Church.
An induction programme is run for new trustees which includes Board development sessions on the role of the trustee, an invitation to undertake external governance training, a subscription to Civil Society’s governance resources, meetings with the Chief Executive and Board Chair and review of an induction pack which includes Charity Commission resources, Home for Good’s Articles of Association and the most recent Trustees’ Annual Report and Accounts.
As part of the Trustees’ commitment to ongoing Board development, all trustees are provided with charity law and best practice updates from the Charity Commission.
The trustees are committed to upholding Home for Good’s vision and values and are required to disclose any conflict (or potential conflict) of interest and where any conflict of interest is identified may not participate in Board decision making on related matters in accordance with Home for Good’s Articles of Association and Board policy on Conflict of Interest.
23
Structure, governance and management (continued)
## **Risk management**
The Board of Trustees and Directorate consider the risks to Home for Good on a regular basis and systems are in place to manage risk, using a risk register as a dashboard. Assessing risk is also built into the development and ongoing monitoring of each programme.
**The areas of risk outlined in the risk register and our plans to manage them are:**
## **Financial resilience**
As a young charity, we do not have a long history of established income streams and the fundraising environment is particularly tough with the cost-of-living crisis. There is, however, a spread of income from different sources, and we are pursuing a detailed fundraising strategy to further strengthen and diversify income. The trustees approved a transfer from designated reserves to unrestricted reserves to maintain these within our target range and we are blessed to have significant cash reserves.
## **Information and data security**
We collect, hold and use personal data for our charitable purposes – some of which is considered to be sensitive personal data. We continue to review and amend our policies. We did not have any significant data protection breaches during the year.
## **Failure to deliver on commissioned agreements**
Each year we learn more, making it possible to establish increasingly realistic expectations. We only take on new working commissioned agreements if we know we have the capacity and competence to deliver and set success indicators that are in our control alongside indicators we have less control over. We seek to build long-term relationships with commissioners where we are innovating together.
## **Overreaching**
There are a huge number of opportunities where we could make a positive impact in the lives of care-experienced children, foster carers, and adoptive families. Therefore, we have to be careful about what we do and don’t do.
## **External factors**
Our work is impacted by the continually changing fostering and adopting landscape in the UK - as a result of legal precedence, government policy, legislative change, social work practice, and the cost-of-living crisis. We make sure we stay on top of the landscape and are creating an organisation that, while having a clear direction, remains agile so we can effectively respond to changes.
## **Governance and compliance**
Home for Good is committed not only to meet all the requirements of the Charity Commission, Companies House and other relevant regulatory bodies, but to be a model of good practice. We ensure we are aware of the impact of changes to legislation and guidelines, and as our activities develop, we are checking whether that introduces the need for us to comply with additional legislation or guidelines.
## **Brand and reputation**
We are aware that our brand is a significant asset to us and makes the majority of our work possible, therefore protecting it is a priority. We produce guidelines for staff, partners and volunteers, hold training sessions and continually review activities and communications across the Home for Good network.
## **Losing staff**
Alongside being proactive to make sure that our staff retention is good, we are building in processes to ensure that we can effectively hand over work if staff leave (with warning) and can pick up urgent tasks if staff are suddenly out-of-action.
## **Health, safety and environment**
We have identified four particular areas of risk – home working and working hours and workload, working environment, travel and manual handling. We are seeking to mitigate these risks through policies and guidelines, training, good line management and peer-to-peer accountability.
## **Safeguarding**
We have a safeguarding policy that is approved by Thirtyone:eight (formally Churches’ Child Protection Advisory Service), is reviewed regularly, is part of the induction process, and there is annual refresher awareness training. All Local Movements must have appropriate safeguarding policies in place.
24 **Home for Good |** Annual Report and Accounts year ending 31 March 2023
## Relationship with other organisations
## **Home for Good is committed to working collaboratively to achieve our charitable objectives.**
## **Adoption agreements**
The aim of our adoption agreements is to find homes for children who wait the longest for adoption and ensure that adoptive families receive the support they need. During the year 2022-23 we held agreements with six agencies:
- Adoption Matters
- Adoption Focus
- Parents and Children Together
- St David’s Children Society
- Western Bay Adoption Service
- St Francis’ Children’s Society (went into administration during the year)
## **Fostering agreements**
## **Corporate and Trusts**
As our impact continues to grow, we are proud to work alongside so many inspiring businesses and grant making trusts who share our vision of a home for every child who needs one. Throughout 2022-23 we are particularly grateful to:
- The Jerusalem Trust
- Garfield Weston Foundation
- The Haramead Trust
- The Church of Scotland Guild
- Eden.co.uk
- Corbett Keeling
- The Blueprint
- Jude’s
Our fostering agreements enable us to connect people who are thinking about fostering with a partner local authority or agency in their area. During the year 2022-23 we held agreements with the following agencies:
## **Active relationships**
- Bath and North East Somerset
- Bristol City Council
- Hampshire County Council
- Leeds City Council
- London Borough of Bexley
- Neath Port Talbot Council
- Northern Ireland Health & Social Care Board (SPPG)
- Southern Health & Social Care Trust (Northern Ireland)
- Swansea Council
- Torbay Council
- West Sussex County Council
- Betty Williamson Weddings and Events
## **Alliances and other**
We are members of the following groups within related sectors:
- Alliance for Children in Care and Care Leavers
- APPG for Adoption and Permanence (co-secretariat with Adoption UK)
- Children’s and Families Alliance
- Churches Together in England
- Evangelical Alliance
- Gather Movement
- Kinship Care Alliance
- National Adoption Recruitment Steering Group
- Refugee and Migrant Children’s Consortium
We convene:
- Supported Lodgings National Network
- Wiltshire Council
25
## Financial review
## **Reserves policy**
Our reserves policy is to ensure that Home for Good has sufficient funds to meet its financial commitments, to demonstrate that the organisation is sustainable in the medium term, to ensure that we can manage future unforeseen financial challenges and to ensure that excessive funds are not held without any identifiable reason or for any unidentifiable purpose.
The trustees have decided that the target level of free reserves should be three month’s operating costs. By reference to organisational budgets, the current target level is £500k. Free reserves at 31 March 2023 were £489k.
## **Funding sources**
We continue to be deeply encouraged at how much incredible support we receive from individuals, churches, businesses and grant-making trusts across the UK, with each one each one committed to finding homes for children in care. We simply could not do what we do without such generosity. Thank you to all those who continue to share their resources with us in order to find homes for children in care.
This year, our income was £1,187,781 with the following diversity in sources.
## **breakdown of Funding Sources:**
## **Designated funds**
Designated funds are to be used to deepen the impact of our work across the whole of the UK between 2020-24 and potentially beyond. During the year, work continued on strengthening the organisation, as well as projects on supported lodgings and city-wide strategies. We also developed our CRM, prepared a new approach to festival presence, and developed the Supported Lodgings National Network.
## **Fundraising**
Our fundraising plans are approved by trustees and monitored by the leadership team. The majority of our income (see more details below) is generated through charitable donations we receive from individuals, churches, grant-making trusts and businesses. Our fundraising activities are primarily conducted by our staff team, from time-to-time drawing on the expertise of advisors.
Where appropriate, we have commercial participator agreements with businesses. To date, all businesses that raise money for us in this way have approached us to do this. All such agreements are signed and monitored by both Home for Good and the commercial participator.
We are committed to the highest standards in fundraising practice and we are regulated by the Fundraising Regulator (joined 11 December 2017). No fundraising complaints were made within this year.
**----- Start of picture text -----**
7% [4% ]
8%
44%
9%
11%
17%
**----- End of picture text -----**
**Individuals (Including Gift Aid and sponsored events): 44% Trusts and foundations: 17%**
**Work with Local Authorities and fostering agencies: 11% Businesses: 9%**
**Grants related to the Pathway to Adoption: 8%**
**Churches: 7%**
**Other: 4%**
## **Expenditure**
During the year we spent a total of £1,928,590. Of this £1,755,416 was spent on activities related to finding homes for children who need them, £29,726 was spent on governance, and £173,174 was spent on raising funds to enable our work. The majority of our expenditure is on our staff and this amounted to £1,307,540 this year.
26 **Home for Good |** Annual Report and Accounts year ending 31 March 2023
## Statement of Board’s responsibilities
**The Board of Trustees (who are also Directors of Home for Good for the purposes of Company Law) are responsible for preparing the Trustees’ Annual Report (including the Strategic Report) and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and regulations.**
Company law requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial period that 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 those financial statements, the trustees are required to:
- select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
- observe the methods and principles in the ‘Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice’ (‘Charities SORP’);
- make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
- state whether FRS 102 ‘The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland’ has been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements; and
- prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charitable company will continue in business.
The trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable company and to enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006, the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 as amended by The Charities Accounts (Scotland) Amendment (No. 2) Regulations 2014.
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. In so far as the Board of Trustees is aware:
- there is no relevant audit information of which the company’s auditors are unaware; and
- they have taken all the steps that they ought to have taken as trustees to make themselves aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the company’s auditors are aware of that information.
The Trustees’ Annual Report is approved by the trustees of the Charity. The Strategic Report, which forms part of the Annual Report, is approved by the trustees in their capacity as directors in company law of the Charity.
By order of the Board of Trustees on 13 September 2023 and signed on its behalf:
Simon Blake, Chair
27
## Independent Auditor’s Report
## **To the trustees and members of Home for Good**
## **Opinion**
We have audited the financial statements of Home for Good (‘the company’) for the year ended 31 March 2023 which comprise the Statement of Financial Activities (incorporating an Income and Expenditure Account), the Balance Sheet, the Cash Flow Statement, and notes to the financial statements, including significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including FRS 102 ‘The Financial Reporting Standard Applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland’ (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).
In our opinion the financial statements:
- give a true and fair view of the state of the charitable company’s affairs as at 31 March 2023 and of its incoming resources and application of resources, including its income and expenditure, for the year then ended.
- have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice; and
- have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006, the Charities and Trustee investment (Scotland) Act 2005 (as amended) regulations 6 and 8 of the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended) and the Charities Act 2011.
## **Basis for opinion**
We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor’s Responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the charitable company in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC’s Ethical Standard, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.
## **Conclusions relating to going concern**
In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the trustees’ use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.
Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the charitable company’s ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.
Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the trustees with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.
## **Other information**
The other information comprises the information included in the annual report, other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. The trustees are responsible for the other information contained within the annual report. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon.
Our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements, or our knowledge obtained in the course of the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether there is a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.
We have nothing to report in this regard.
## **Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006**
In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of the audit:
- the information given in the strategic report and the trustees’ annual report for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements; and
- the strategic report and the trustees’ annual report have been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements.
28 **Home for Good |** Annual Report and Accounts year ending 31 March 2023
## **Matters on which we are required to report by exception**
In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the company and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the strategic report or the trustees’ annual report.
We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters where the Companies Act 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:
- adequate accounting records have not been kept, or returns adequate for our audit have not been received from branches not visited by us; or
- the financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or
- certain disclosures of trustees’ remuneration specified by law are not made; or
- we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit.
## **Responsibilities of trustees**
As explained more fully in the trustees’ responsibilities statement set out on page 27, the trustees (who are also the directors of the charitable company for the purposes of company law) are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the trustees determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.
In preparing the financial statements, the trustees are responsible for assessing the charitable company’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the trustees either intend to liquidate the charitable company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.
## **Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements**
We have been appointed as auditor under Section 44(1)(c) of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005, the Companies Act 2006 and Section 151 of the Charities Act 2011 and report to you in accordance with regulations made under those Acts.
Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor’s report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.
Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of noncompliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud is detailed below.
## **Explanation as to what extent the audit was considered capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud**
The objectives of our audit in respect of fraud, are; to identify and assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements due to fraud; to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence regarding the assessed risks of material misstatement due to fraud, through designing and implementing appropriate responses to those assessed risks; and to respond appropriately to instances of fraud or suspected fraud identified during the audit. However, the primary responsibility for the prevention and detection of fraud rests with both management and those charged with governance of the charitable company.
Our approach was as follows:
- We obtained an understanding of the legal and regulatory requirements applicable to the charitable company and considered that the most significant are the Companies Act 2006, the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 (as amended), regulations 6 and 8 of the charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended), the Charities Act 2011, the Charity SORP, and UK financial reporting standards as issued by the Financial Reporting Council
- We obtained an understanding of how the charitable company complies with these requirements by discussions with management and those charged with governance.
29
## Independent Auditor’s Report (continued)
- We assessed the risk of material misstatement of the financial statements, including the risk of material misstatement due to fraud and how it might occur, by holding discussions with management and those charged with governance.
- We inquired of management and those charged with governance as to any known instances of noncompliance or suspected non-compliance with laws and regulations.
- Based on this understanding, we designed specific appropriate audit procedures to identify instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. This included making enquiries of management and those charged with governance and obtaining additional corroborative evidence as required.
As part of an audit in accordance with ISAs (UK) we exercise professional judgement and maintain professional scepticism throughout the audit. We also:
- Identify and assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to fraud or error, design and perform audit procedures responsive to those risks, and obtain audit evidence that is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion. The risk of not detecting a material misstatement resulting from fraud is higher than for one resulting from error, as fraud may involve collusion, forgery, intentional omissions, misrepresentations, or the override of internal control.
- Obtain an understanding of internal control relevant to the audit in order to design audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purposes of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the charitable company’s internal control.
- Evaluate the overall presentation, structure, and content of the financial statements, including the disclosures, and whether the financial statements represent the underlying transactions and events in a manner that achieves fair presentation.
We communicate with those charged with governance regarding, among other matters, the planned scope and timing of the audit and significant audit findings, including any significant deficiencies in internal control that we identify during our audit.
There are inherent limitations in the audit procedures described above. We are less likely to become aware of instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations that are not closely related to events and transactions reflected in the financial statements. Also, the risk of not detecting a material misstatement due to fraud is higher than the risk of not detecting one resulting from error, as fraud may involve deliberate concealment by, for example, forgery or intentional misrepresentations, or through collusion.
## **Use of our report**
This report is made solely to the charitable company’s members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the company’s members those matters we are required to state to them in an auditor’s report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to any party other than the charitable company and charitable company’s members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.
- Evaluate the appropriateness of accounting policies used and the reasonableness of accounting estimates and related disclosures made by the trustees.
- Conclude on the appropriateness of the trustees’ use of the going concern basis of accounting and, based on the audit evidence obtained, whether a material uncertainty exists related to events or conditions that may cast significant doubt on the charitable company’s ability to continue as a going concern. If we conclude that a material uncertainty exists, we are required to draw attention in our auditor’s report to the related disclosures in the financial statements or, if such disclosures are inadequate, to modify our opinion. Our conclusions are based on the audit evidence obtained up to the date of our auditor’s report. However, future events or conditions may cause the charitable company to cease to continue as a going concern.
## **Andrew Stickland (Senior Statutory Auditor)**
for and on behalf of Moore Kingston Smith LLP, Statutory Auditor
Date: 13 September 2023
6th Floor 9 Appold Street London EC2A 2AP
_Moore Kingston Smith LLP is eligible to act as auditor in terms of Section 1212 of the Companies Act 2006._
30 **Home for Good |** Annual Report and Accounts year ending 31 March 2023
## Statement of financial activities
**----- Start of picture text -----**
Unrestricted Designated Restricted 2023 2022
funds funds funds Total Total
Notes £ £ £ £ £
INCOME FROM
-
Donations and legacies 657,622 64,178 721,801 652,634
Charitable activities 161,249 - 260,977 422,227 553,684
Other trading activities 185 - - 185 93
Investments 43,568 - - 43,568 10,995
Other income - - - - 1,370
Total income 869,626 - 325,156 1,187,781 1,218,777
EXPENDITURE ON
Raising funds 2 173,174 - - 173,174 116,340
Charitable activities 3 1,196,767 196,680 361,969 1,755,416 1,394,745
Total expenditure 1,369,941 196,680 361,969 1,928,590 1,511,085
Net income before
(507,315) (196,680) (36,813) (740,808) (292,308)
transfers
Transfer 507,315 (507,315) - - -
Net expenditure/income for
- (703,995) (36,813) (740,808) (292,308)
the year
Total funds brought forward 500,000 2,403,620 160,000 3,063,620 3,355,928
Total funds carried forward 13/14 500,000 1,699,625 123,187 2,322,812 3,063,620
**----- End of picture text -----**
The company’s income and expenditure all relate to continuing operations. The company has no recognised gains or losses other than shown above. The accompanying notes form an integral part of these financial statements.
31
## Balance sheet
## **(as of 31st March 2023)**
**----- Start of picture text -----**
2023 2023 2022 2022
Notes £ £ £ £
FIXED ASSETS
Tangible assets 8 10,126 5,772
Intangible assets 9 - -
10,126 5,772
CURRENT ASSETS
Debtors 10 249,122 302,161
Cash at bank and in hand 2,187,559 2,859,037
2,436,681 3,161,198
Creditors: Amounts falling
due within one year 11 (123,995) (103,350)
NET CURRENT ASSETS 2,312,686 3,057,848
Total assets less Current Liabilities 2,322,812 3,063,620
FUNDS
Restricted funds 123,187 160,000
Unrestricted funds
Designated funds 1,699,625 2,403,620
General funds 500,000 500,000
13/14 2,322,812 3,063,620
**----- End of picture text -----**
The accompanying notes form an integral part of these financial statements.
The accounts on pages 31 to 43 were approved and authorised for issue by the Board of Trustees on 13 September 2023 and signed on its behalf by:
Simon Blake, Chair
## **Registered Company Number: 9060425**
32 **Home for Good |** Annual Report and Accounts year ending 31 March 2023
## Statement of cash flows
## **(as of 31st March 2023)**
**----- Start of picture text -----**
2023 2023 2023 2022
£ £ £ £
Cash flows from operating
activities
Net income for the year (740,809) (292,308)
Adjustments for:
Depreciation charges 3,313 4,292
Amortisation charges - 5,602
(Profit) / loss on the sale of tangible fixed assets - -
Interest (43,568) (10,995)
Increase in debtors and accrued income 53,039 (137,794)
Increase (decrease) in creditors 20,645 (4,621)
Net cash provided by
operating activities (707,380) (435,824)
Cash flows from investing activities
Interest 43,568 10,995
Proceeds on disposal of tangible fixed assets - -
Purchase of tangible fixed assets (7,666) (4,905)
35,902 6,090
Change in cash and cash
(671,478) (429,734)
equivalents in the year
Cash and cash equivalents at the
2,859,037 3,288,771
beginning of the year
2,187,559 2,859,037
**----- End of picture text -----**
## **Analysis of changes in net funds:**
**----- Start of picture text -----**
1 April 2022 Cashflows 31 March 2023
£ £ £
2,859,037 (671,478) 2,187,559
**----- End of picture text -----**
33
Notes to the Financial Statements
## **1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES**
## **1.1 Basis of preparation**
These financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention and in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102). The charity is a public benefit entity for the purposes of FRS 102 and therefore has also prepared the financial statements in accordance with the 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 (The FRS 102 Charities SORP) and the Charities Act 2011.
The financial statements have been prepared to give a ‘true and fair’ view and have departed from the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 only to the extent required to provide a ‘true and fair view’. This departure has involved following Accounting and Reporting by Charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) rather than the Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice effective from 1 April 2005 which has since been withdrawn.
## **1.2 Going concern**
The trustees have assessed whether the use of the going concern basis is appropriate and have considered possible events or conditions that might cast significant doubt on the ability of the charity to continue as a going concern. The trustees have made this assessment for a period of at least one year from the date of approval of the financial statements. Trustees have considered forecasts and projections which reflect the potential impact of the current economic challenges on both income and expenditure and based on the above, and the level of reserves, they have concluded that there is a reasonable expectation that the charity has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. The charity therefore continues to adopt the going concern basis in preparing the financial statements.
## **1.3 Income and expenditure**
Income is included in the Statement of Financial Activities when the charitable company is entitled to the income, receipt is probable and the amount can be measured reliably. Donations are accounted for when they are received. Unrestricted contract and performance related grant income is recognised in proportion to the work completed, receipts in advance are deferred to future accounting periods. Other grants are recognised when any conditions, outside of the control of the charity, have been met.
Expenditure is recognised in the period in which it is incurred and includes attributable VAT which cannot be recovered.
Expenditure is allocated to charitable activity where the cost relates directly to that activity. However, the cost of overall direction and administration activity, comprising the salary, governance and other support costs, is apportioned based on an estimate of staff attributable.
## **1.4 Tangible fixed assets and depreciation**
Tangible fixed assets are stated at cost less depreciation. Items over £500 are capitalised. Depreciation is provided at rates calculated to write off the cost less estimated residual value of each asset over its expected useful life, as follows:
Computer Equipment 33.3% straight line Office Equipment 33.3% straight line
34 **Home for Good |** Annual Report and Accounts year ending 31 March 2023
## **1.5 Intangible fixed assets and amortisation**
Intangible fixed assets are stated at cost less depreciation. Items over £500 are capitalised. Amortisation is provided at rates calculated to write off the cost less estimated residual value of each asset over its expected useful life, as follows:
Website 25% straight line
## **1.6 Operating leases**
Rentals payable under operating leases are charged on a straight-line basis over the term of the lease.
## **1.7 Pension costs**
The charity has a defined contribution auto-enrolment pension scheme for all members of staff. Pension costs charged in the Statement of Financial Activities represent the contributions payable by the charity in the year.
## **1.8 Fund accounting**
Funds held by the charitable company are either:
- **Unrestricted general funds –** these are funds which can be used in accordance with the company’s charitable objects at the discretion of the trustees
- **Designated funds –** comprise funds which have been set aside at the discretion of the trustees for specific purposes.
- **Restricted funds –** these are funds that can only be used for particular restricted purposes within the objects of the charitable company. Restrictions arise when specified by the donor or when funds are raised for particular restricted purposes.
Further explanation of the nature and purpose of each fund is included in the notes to the financial statements.
## **2. EXPENDITURE ON RAISING FUNDS**
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Total unrestricted Total unrestricted
2023 £ 2022 £
Direct staff costs 127,658 67,553
Other direct costs 1,807 9,236
Support costs (note 4) 43,709 37,726
173,174 114,514
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## **3. EXPENDITURE ON CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES**
**----- Start of picture text -----**
Total Total
2023 £ 2022 £
Direct staff costs 1,016,139 773,344
Other direct costs 329,465 191,336
Support costs (note 4) 409,812 431,890
1,755,416 1,396,571
**----- End of picture text -----**
35
Notes to the Financial Statements (continued)
## **4. SUPPORT COSTS**
**----- Start of picture text -----**
Raising Charitable Total Total
funds activities 2023 2022
£ £ £ £
Staff Costs 18,275 145,468 163,744 176,713
Consultancy and contractors 5,471 56,859 62,330 73,024
Office costs 5,353 55,641 60,995 55,106
Professional fees 4,378 45,499 49,877 55,640
Governance 2,609 27,117 29,726 14,283
IT Costs 2,114 21,972 24,086 32,292
Marketing 427 4,433 4,859 1,615
Staff Training 1,711 17,788 19,499 4,831
Subscriptions 1,943 20,194 22,137 13,930
Other Costs 1,428 14,840 16,268 42,182
43,709 409,812 453,520 469,616
**----- End of picture text -----**
**----- Start of picture text -----**
Prior year Raising Charitable Total
funds activities 2022
£ £ £
Staff Costs 14,196 162,517 176,713
Consultancy and contractors 5,866 67,158 73,024
Office costs 4,427 50,679 55,106
Professional fees 4,470 51,170 55,640
Governance 1,147 13,136 14,283
IT Costs 2,594 29,698 32,292
Marketing 130 1,485 1,615
Staff Training 388 4,443 4,831
Subscriptions 1,119 12,811 13,930
Other Costs 3,389 38,794 42,182
37,726 431,890 469,616
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36 **Home for Good |** Annual Report and Accounts year ending 31 March 2023
## **5. STAFF COSTS**
|Wages and salaries|**Total**
**2023 £**
1,128,336|**Total**
**2022 £**
881,112|
|---|---|---|
|Social security costs|105,207|75,672|
|Pension costs|63,285|59,394|
|Redundancy costs|3,396|1,431|
|Other staff costs|7,316|73,926|
||**1,307,540**|**1,091,535**|
|**The average number of employees was:**|||
|Headcount|42|34|
One employee received remuneration between £80,000- £90,000 (2022: between £80,000- £90,000). Remuneration payable to key management personnel in aggregate was £315,588 (2022: £260,858).
## **6. NET INCOME**
|**6. NET INCOME**|||
|---|---|---|
|**This is stated after charging:**|**Total**
**2023 £**|**Total**
**2022 £**|
|Independent auditors fees|22,484|9,350|
|Depreciation|3,313|4,292|
|Amortisation|-|5,602|
## **7. TAXATION**
The company is a registered charity and no taxation liabilities arise from its charitable activities.
## **8. TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS - ALL FOR CHARITY USE**
|**. TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS - ALL FOR CHARITY USE**|**Offce**
**Computer**|
|---|---|
|**Cost**at 1st April 2022|**equipment**
**£**
**equipment**
**£**
**Total**
**£**
-
40,760
40,760|
|Additions|365
7,301
7,666|
|Disposals|-
-
-|
|At 31st March 2023|365
48,062
48,427|
|**Depreciation**at 1st April 2022|-
34,988
34,988|
|Charge for the year|90
3,222
3,313|
|Disposals|-
-
-|
|At 31st March 2023|90
38,210
38,301|
|**Net book values**at 31st March 2023|274
9,851
10,126|
|**Net book values**at 1st April 2022|-
5,772
5,772|
37
## Notes to the Financial Statements (continued)
## **9. INTANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS – ALL FOR CHARITY USE**
|**. INTANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS – ALL FOR CHARITY USE**||
|---|---|
|**Cost**at 1st April 2022|**Website**
**£**
**Total**
**£**
22,410
22,410|
|Additions|-
-|
|At 31 March 2023|22,410
22,410|
|**Depreciation**at 1st April 2022|22,410
22,410|
|Charge for the year|-
-|
|At 31 March 2023|22,410
22,410|
|**Net book values**at 31st March 2023|-
-|
|**Net book values**at 1st April 2022|-
-|
## **10. DEBTORS**
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Total Total
2023 2022
£ £
DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR
Trade debtors 48,297 104,772
Accrued income 117,164 168,384
Prepayments and sundry debtors 73,301 22,426
Other debtors 10,360 6,579
249,122 302,161
**----- End of picture text -----**
38 **Home for Good |** Annual Report and Accounts year ending 31 March 2023
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11. CREDITORS Total Total
2023 2022
£ £
AMOUNTS FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR
Trade creditors 40,219 35,203
PAYE and social security costs 25,314 23,177
Deferred income 10,625 7,500
Accruals and sundry creditors 38,575 25,909
Other creditors 9,262 11,558
123,995 103,347
**----- End of picture text -----**
## **11. CREDITORS**
**----- Start of picture text -----**
Total Total
2023 2022
£ £
DEFERRED INCOME
Balance at the beginning of the year 7,500 500
Amount deferred in the year 10,625 7,500
Amount released to income in the year (7,500) (500)
Balance at the end of the year 10,625 7,500
**----- End of picture text -----**
Deferred income includes grant income invoiced which covers future periods.
## **12. PENSION COMMITMENTS**
The charity contributes to a defined contribution auto enrolment pension plan for its employees. The assets of the plans are held separately from those of the charity in independently administered funds. The pension cost charge represents contributions payable by the charity to these plans and amounted to £67,752 during the year (2022: £59,394).
39
## Notes to the Financial Statements (continued)
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13. FUNDS Balance at Balance at
31 March 31 March
2022 Income Expenditure Transfer 2023
£ £ £ £ £
Bath & North East Somerset - 19,378 (19,378) - -
English Adoption Pathways - Cen- - 18,417 (18,417) - -
tral England
English Adoption Pathways - - 27,500 (27,500) - -
North West & Yorkshire
English Adoption Pathways - PACT - 30,000 (30,000) - -
English Adoption Pathways - West - 5,000 (5,000) - -
Midlands
Enquirer Journeying & Line - 7,000 (7,000) - -
Festival Manchester - 11,980 (11,980) - -
General Engagement and Enquires 160,000 - (60,000) - 100,000
Hampshire - 2,500 (2,500) - -
Homecoming - 267 (267) - -
Local Activities - Bristol - 20,550 (20,550) - -
Local Activities - Torbay - 2,000 (2,000) - -
Local Activities - West Sussex - 32,225 (32,225) - -
Northern Ireland - 107,675 (84,488) - 23,187
Peer Support Volunteering Project - 1,000 (1,000) - -
Riding Lights - 540 (540) - -
Scotland - 34,957 (34,957) - -
Wales - 4,167 (4,167) -
Restricted funds 160,000 325,156 (361,969) - 123,187
Designated funds 2,403,620 - (196,680) (507,315) 1,699,625
Unrestricted funds 500,000 862,626 (1,369,941) 507,315 500,000
Total funds 3,063,620 1,187,781 (1,928,590) - 2,322,812
**----- End of picture text -----**
Actual costs for activities funded by restricted funds are in excess of restricted funds received. Those costs not covered by restricted funds have been charged to unrestricted funds.
40 **Home for Good |** Annual Report and Accounts year ending 31 March 2023
In many cases, the actual costs for activities funded by restricted funds are in excess of restricted funds received. Those costs not covered by restricted funds have been charged to unrestricted funds.
We received various funding for our work in specific geographies. Scotland received church movement funding, with Northern Ireland receiving trust/foundation funding. Areas in England such as Torbay, West Sussex, Hampshire and Leeds continue to receive income from commissioners and churches.
**Adoption Pathways (England)** is our programme with adoption agencies in England to offer digital and church engagement in specific geographic areas to find homes for children who wait the longest for adoption. We continue to creatively work with our strategic partners in ensuring that children who wait the longest for adoption can find a home, through the local church.
Funding towards **Enquiry Journeying and Line** has enabled us to further develop the service and support we offer, introducing the delivery of online events and courses to better resource and journey with individuals as they explore fostering or adoption.
Our partnership with **Festival Manchester** (July 2022) opened up new opportunities to engage with churches and individuals across Greater Manchester. Our North-West engagement team has continued to activate churches, recruit and mobilise volunteers and inspire individuals and couples to explore fostering, adoption and supported lodgings.
**General Engagement and Enquiry** funds enable expansion of our UK-wide church and commissioner engagement and associated activities, and enquiry journeying and support. These funds facilitate enquiry team and engagement team activities and responsibilities across the UK.
This year we received income to continue the upkeep of the **Homecoming Project** that we launched last year to promote family-based care for children around the world.
The **Peer Support Volunteer Project** expanded our volunteer programmes to resource and train volunteers who facilitate support groups as well as volunteers who journey with individuals, families and couples who are enquiring with us.
Throughout June and July 2022 we collaborated with **Riding Lights** Theater Company to tour an original play that told the story of being a child and young person within the care system from the perspective of the child.
**Designated Funds** are to be used to deepen the impact of our work across the whole of the UK between 2020-24 and potentially beyond. During the year, work continued on strengthening the organisation. This has included developing and embedding our Theory of Change to better inform business planning and activity against desired outcomes, integrating the Salesforce CRM across the organisation and training and supporting staff to use it in their roles, raising political and policy awareness through advocacy work focussing specifically on finding homes for teenagers and tackling racial disparity in the care system and inspiring and equipping the Church by deepening our presence and call to action at festivals and events.
41
## Notes to the Financial Statements (continued)
**----- Start of picture text -----**
13. FUNDS (continued) Balance at Balance at
31 March 31 March
Summary of funds in
2021 Income Expenditure Transfer 2022
the prior year
£ £ £ £ £
Home for Good – Scotland 12,003 28,487 (40,490) - -
Home for Good – Northern Ireland 993 74,281 (75,274) - -
- - -
Enquiry Line 7,830 (7,830)
Homecoming project 25,196 225 (25,421) - -
- - -
Change His Future 3,190 (3,190)
- -
Care Review England 52,931 18,750 (71,681)
- - -
Enquirer journeying 74,825 (74,825)
- - -
Champion development 22,500 (22,500)
English Adoption Pathways- - - -
19,250 (19,250)
Central England
- - -
English Adoption Pathways- PACT 44,666 (44,666)
English Adoption Pathways - West - - -
5,500 (5,500)
Midlands
Festival Manchester - 5,000 (5,000) - -
English Adoption Pathways- North - - -
33,000 (33,000)
West & Yorkshire
- - -
Local activities- Torbay 21,767 (21,767)
Local activities- West Sussex - 3,600 (3,600) - -
Milton Keynes - 419 (419) - -
UK Summit - 3,500 (3,500) - -
General engagement and -
180,000 (20,000) 160,000
enquiries
Restricted funds 176,968 483,077 (500,045) - 160,000
Designated funds 2,901,393 (62,688) (435,085) 2,403,620
Unrestricted funds 277,567 735,699 (948,352) 435,085 500,000
Total funds 3,355,928 1,218,777 (1,511,085) - 3,063,620
**----- End of picture text -----**
42 **Home for Good |** Annual Report and Accounts year ending 31 March 2023
## **14. ANALYSIS OF NET ASSETS BETWEEN FUNDS**
**----- Start of picture text -----**
Unrestricted Designated Restricted Total
funds funds funds 2023
£ £ £ £
Fund balances at 31 March
2023 are represented by
Tangible fixed assets 10,126 - - 10,126
Intangible fixed assets - - - -
Debtors 249,122 - - 249,122
Cash 364,747 1,699,625 123,187 2,187,559
Creditors (123,995) - - (123,995)
Net total net assets 500,000 1,699,625 123,187 2,322,812
Prior year Unrestricted Designated Restricted Total
Funds Funds Funds 2022
£ £ £ £
Fund balances at 31 March
2022 are represented by
Tangible fixed assets 5,772 - - 5,772
Intangible fixed assets - - - -
Debtors 302,161 - - 302,161
Cash 295,414 2,403,623 160,000 2,859,037
Creditors (103,347) - - (103,347)
Net total net assets 500,000 2,403,623 160,000 3,063,623
**----- End of picture text -----**
## **15. DIRECTORS REMUNERATION AND RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS**
Three trustees were reimbursed travel and related expenses in the year of £7,645 (2022: £2,440).
The total amount of donations funded by trustees was £2,117 (2022: £3,400).
Home for Good received £nil from the Sir Jeremiah Colman Trust of which Sue Colman is a Trustee. Sue was not involved in the decision-making process when the donation was made (2022: £1,000).
Tania Bright is a board member of Essential Christian, the organisation that runs Spring Harvest.
Home for Good paid £231 for a stand at Spring Harvest (2022: £499) and Home for Good also received £51 in ministry gifts and £428 (2022: £420) in relation to speaker fees from Spring Harvest.
During the year, Home for Good paid £22,760 (2022: £nil) in advance towards exhibiting and sponsoring the 2023/24 Spring Harvest event.
43
**Together we can find a home for every child who needs one**
**Home for Good** (a company limited by guarantee). Registered Address: 8 Angel Court, Copthall Avenue, London, EC2R 7HP. Charity Number (England & Wales): 1158707. Charity Number (Scotland): SC046972. Company Registration Number (England & Wales): 9060425