2024-03-31-accounts - Home For Good

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For year ending 31 March 2024

Together we can find a home for every child who needs one

Home for Good (a company limited by guarantee). Registered Address: Romero House, 55 Westminster Bridge Road, London, SE1 7JB Charity Number (England & Wales): 1158707. Charity Number (Scotland): SC046972. Company Registration Number (England & Wales): 9060425

Trustees’ Report Foreword from the CEO

A significant year has passed, with much to celebrate in terms of finding safe and nurturing homes for children and young people. However, we have never been more convinced that there isn’t justice for children in our nation and we look forward to continuing to play our part in addressing this.

Social Services and, in particular, the care system isn’t a product of conscious design but a bolt-on non-bespoke service that cannot meet the needs of the children nor their birth families, nor their foster/adoptive families. There are brilliant people working within these systems, but who are often exhausted. It’s the system that’s broken, not the people within it, such as outstanding Social Workers, therapists, foster carers, adopters and supported lodgings hosts - we raise our hats to them and pray for them constantly.

Therefore, our work continues to be top down and bottom up. Top down where we speak to Government and stratums of power, seeking to have change made at systemic levels; and bottom up through the church. It’s the local church and those within it, that are the incredible vehicle for well-being and support for children and young people. When everyone plays their part something beautiful happens – a tribe is formed, belonging is felt, and resilience is built. That is what every child deserves.

Tarn Bright CEO, Home for Good

“When everyone plays their part something beautiful happens – a tribe is formed, belonging is felt, and resilience is built. That is what every child deserves.”

02 Home for Good | Annual Report and Accounts year ending 31 March 2024

Home for Good’s purpose

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 male, children who are Black, children with a disability and children in a sibling group.

Home for Good has a bold vision to find a home for every child who needs one in the UK through fostering, adoption and supported lodgings for teenagers. We believe the Church has a crucial role to play.

There are over 50,000 churches in the UK. In every village, town and city in the country

these churches – big, small and in between – are filled with people who want to follow the example of Jesus, seeking justice, showing compassion and practicing hospitality. When we read the Bible, it’s impossible to ignore the fact that this is an issue close to God’s own heart. Psalm 68 tells us that God sets the lonely in families.

We inspire and equip individuals, families and churches across the country to play their part to ensure that every child experiences the stability, care and sense of belonging they deserve. Through our resources,

content and training packages, we practically equip individuals and families as they explore fostering, adoption or supported lodgings for teenagers. We mobilise churches and communities to welcome, understand and support families who love and raise careexperienced children.

We inspire and equip individuals, families and churches across the country to play their part to ensure that every child experiences the stability, care and sense of belonging they deserve.

04 Home for Good | Annual Report and Accounts year ending 31 March 2024

Home for Good is not a fostering or adoption agency but works closely with local and district authorities, adoption and fostering agencies, and supported lodgings organisations to find resilient and caring homes. We particularly focus on finding homes for the children and young people who wait the longest.

Home for Good is a national charity with a local mission – we have team members and volunteers across England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland, working on the ground to inspire the local Church, build partnerships and ultimately find homes for the thousands of children who are waiting.

But we don’t just work at the local level – we are committed to sparking systemic change too. We take the stories, experiences and wisdom of care-experienced children and those who care for them, and we build a bridge between those whose voices are too often ignored, and those who have the power to enact real change.

Home for Good is driven by a vision: that together we can find a home for every child who needs one.

Home for Good’s values and working principles

All that we do is shaped by, built upon and fuelled through being child-focused and faith-rooted.

Child-focused

Faith-rooted

Children and young people will always be at the heart of Home for Good. We are passionate about finding a great home for every child who needs one, where they will be loved and nurtured and enabled to thrive. We affirm the infinite value and believe in the potential of every child. We will do all we can to advocate on their behalf, championing their needs and celebrating their successes, ensuring their voices are heard.

Our Christian faith inspires, motivates and encourages us to act and to believe that change is possible as we stand firmly on a strong theological foundation and commit to prayer for every aspect of our work. We will hold on to faith amidst setbacks and challenges and step out in faith to act. We are open about our faith and recognise the potential in the Church to make a difference, but we do not expect preferential treatment and are keen to work in partnership with those of other faiths and of no faith.

06 Home for Good | Annual Report and Accounts year ending 31 March 2024

We are also committed to four key working principles.

We are innovative

We are relational

We seek new and creative solutions. We see opportunities and possibilities. We are dynamic and responsive. We dream about what could be and then we intentionally plan, develop and create all that is needed to get there.

Within our team, across our organisation and throughout our networks, we value relationship and believe in the synergy of collaboration. We dream together, we make decisions together and we work together. We celebrate diversity, respect differences and are generous with our ideas.

We are hopeful

We pursue excellence

We are optimistic and focus on what can be done to find solutions. We recognise that fostering, adoption and supported lodgings are not easy and we will be honest about challenges and frustrations, but we seek to be a catalyst for change and make a positive difference in every situation.

We are professional, invest in training and ensure a good level of understanding. We ensure that information we share is accurate and up-to-date, and we are careful and intentional in our messaging. We are eager to learn from those with experience and expertise, and we enable people to play to their strengths.

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Working in partnership

We also have a commitment to intentional collaboration in large part through the Children and Families Alliance (Transforming Lives for Good (TLG), Kids Matter, Safe Families and Home for Good). However, a particularly strategic partnership has been developed with the UK-wide charity Safe Families. In this year, we have moved into offices together, recruited joint staff and now have a fused approach to church engagement in London. Continued collaboration in the form of a merger is being designed for the financial year 2024-25 onwards. The Home for Good Board of Trustees have approved the decision to merge with Safe Families for Children UK via asset transfer. This is expected to complete in September 2024.

The journey: information, advice and support

The Enquiry and Family Care Team offers information, advice and support to those intrigued, interested or invested in adoption, fostering or supported lodgings.

Over the last year, we have journeyed with 1,103 households from the first tentative steps into the world of care for young people, right through to the crisis point after many years of experience. The Enquiry and Family Care team share in the journey of an individual, couple and/or family gently being a sounding board, a sign-poster, or a guide. We have been able to introduce

people to the world of the care system; the terminology, the processes, and the functions of different types of care so that individuals and couples can make an informed decision of how they would like to play a part to find more stable and appropriate homes for those children and young people who need it.

08 Home for Good | Annual Report and Accounts year ending 31 March 2024

“Just wanted to let you know I have been approved for adoption. Thank you so much for all your support and prayers, it really meant a lot.” Email from an approved adoptive parent. : 756 total enquiries 254 adoption enquiries fostering enquiries[238] 84 91 enquiries interested support and family in both adoption & care enquiries fostering ~~1~~ Our regular online information sessions, Caring for Children and Teenagers , which are for anyone considering fostering, adoption or supported lodgings in their immediate or long-term future, have been an everpresent event. Throughout the time together we explore the different types of care and what the application and assessment process can involve. Over the past year we have had over 200 individuals and couples joining us for these events.

We have been able to provide bespoke 1:1 support to over 90 families who have already opened their homes to welcome children and young people by listening, signposting and praying with those that find themselves in sometimes difficult and challenging situations. We have also supported many more caring families through our 50 volunteer-run peer support groups which provide much needed local, wraparound support and advice.

We have referred over 100 couples or individuals to Local Authorities or Agencies across the United Kingdom and have had a further 90+ people journeying and then self-referring. This is directly impacting on the 104,808 children and young people currently needing to live away from their homes by finding them the safe, stable and nurturing homes they need.

THE JOURNEY: information, advice and support

SHARED STORIES

Ruth visited our team at Spring Harvest with her adoptive daughter and she was so positive and so encouraging about the support that Home for Good had given her when she went through the process and when her little girl initially came home.

Due to how invaluable she had found the support from Home for Good she was asking how she could be an advocate and encourage others who are considering adoption or going through the process. Ruth wants to use her time and experience to encourage and support others in any way she can. We are now in contact with her about registering as a volunteer with us.

“I cannot explain how it feels to support someone over time. The privilege for them to open up with their concerns and apprehensions and celebrate through their joys. Such a roller-coaster and not always easy but such a blessing to be a part of a person’s journey of fostering, or adoption or supported lodgings.” Bethany Hare - Enquiry and Family Care Case Worker

10 Home for Good | Annual Report and Accounts year ending 31 March 2024

Church engagement and reach

A vision with the Church at its centre

Home for Good’s vision has the Church at its centre. We believe that the Church across the UK has a vital role to play in finding great homes for children who need them. We believe that local churches are ideally placed to be great communities of welcome. Through our church engagement work, we seek to inspire and equip individuals, couples, families and wider church communities to play their part in this shared mission.

A vision for volunteers

Volunteers have always been the lifeblood of Home for Good’s work across the UK. Our network of Champions, Peer Support and Festivals and Events Volunteers are very much an extension of our Church engagement work, inspiring their churches, supporting events, leading support groups and offering information, advice and care to other families. Having established new volunteer programmes in 2022-2023, the last year has seen a period of new volunteer recruitment. Over 50 new volunteers have signed up over the year and are already making a difference in a variety of ways: inspiring and encouraging their own churches; supporting staff at events; leading peer support groups; providing advice and support as part of the enquiry journey; helping lead Foundations courses; speaking in churches. We’re enormously grateful for our volunteers and we long to see continued growth in the reach and impact of our volunteers in every part of the UK.

A vision for every nation and every region in the UK

Connections and relationships are at the heart of effective church engagement. Over the past year, we’ve reshaped and refocussed our Church Engagement team to ensure we have a good reach across each part of the UK – enabling us to connect well with volunteers, church leaders and key church networks. We’ve recruited new Engagement team members for our work in Scotland, Yorkshire and Northeast, Central & East and London and we’ve reshaped our focus in Northern Ireland and the Southeast. These changes are already bearing fruit with the quality and impact of our work across every region and nation.

264

people attended 18,846

regional church talks and events

church engagement and reach

Highlights from England

In Autumn 2023, Home for Good and Safe Families embarked on an exciting, collaborative, pilot project for our engagement activities in London: working together to extend our reach and impact across the City presenting an inspiring, shared opportunity for churches to play their part. One of the team working on this partnership project writes:

“There is a strong passion and heart for social justice in local churches across London and there’s enormous potential for our work alongside Safe Families. Early interactions with churches and communities have been incredibly encouraging. We are extremely excited at the opportunity for collaboration and growth towards common goals within specific Boroughs and church networks.”

These developments in London have enabled us to renew our focus and engagement in the rest of the Southeast as a defined region. It’s been a particular joy to see new life being breathed into Home for Good’s presence and impact in West Sussex, where there’s been a long history of church engagement. Volunteers have been at the heart of this recent activity, especially with organising and hosting events.

A specific highlight was a joint event hosted by West Sussex County Council Fostering team and Home for Good.

New engagement team appointments in both ‘Yorkshire and North East’ and in ‘Central & East’ have increased opportunities to speak in churches, with new volunteers signingup to play their part and more churches choosing to journey with us as Home for Good Churches.

I am excited about what we will be able to achieve in Yorkshire and the Northeast. We have opportunities to inspire and support those who have a calling to foster and adopt. I’m particularly enthusiastic about establishing more peer support groups across the region. I feel inspired to work with volunteers in creating hope-filled spaces of mutual care and encouragement.” Yorkshire & NE Coordinator

12 Home for Good | Annual Report and Accounts year ending 31 March 2024

Highlights from SCOTLAND

September saw the appointment of a new, full-time Scotland Lead as part of a renewed commitment to develop and grow our reach and impact in Scotland. Reflecting on her first months in post, she had this to say:

“Since stepping into my role, I have loved meeting so many incredible people who have already chosen to open up their homes and lives to children. It’s been a joy to connect these people together as we seek to build momentum and draw more people into the story. We’ve seen churches actively seek us out to explore how they can play their part in offering hope and finding homes. We’ve seen people stepping up to volunteer, to lead support groups or to invest in Home for Good’s work financially. We’ve seen opportunities to engage with church networks and key leadership forums. There is huge potential for our work in Scotland. I believe that the Church can be a big part of the solution to the needs facing children within the care system in Scotland and I’m incredibly excited about the opportunities that lie before us.”

The Scotland Advisory Group, who volunteer their skills and time to support the work in Scotland, have been instrumental in helping to shape and support this new chapter of Home for Good’s work in Scotland – particularly in how they’ve welcomed and supported the team and contributed to the plans for the next few years.

Home for Good’s three-year partnership with the Church of Scotland Guilds has progressed well, with staff and volunteers speaking at 69 churches across the country and the guilds donating more than £37,000 to Home for Good throughout the year. The partnership has been extended to December 2024, to allow more churches to get involved and contribute through their prayers and their giving.

Ly 13 Edn GansWieAe

church engagement and reach

Highlights from WALES

Our presence and impact across Wales has been greatly enhanced by a growing network of active volunteers, who have each stepped up to play their part in finding and sustaining homes for children and young people.

A new Wales Advisory Group was established at the end of 2023. This group of experienced, insightful and committed volunteers work with our Wales Lead, to shape plans and generate new opportunities to extend Home for Good’s reach and impact across the country. Over the past year, new peer support groups have been established and volunteers have helped to plan and host local vision events.

This growth in activity across Wales contributed to a 60% increase in the number of enquiries to Home for Good from those in Wales exploring fostering, adoption or supported lodgings (20 enquiries in 2022-23; 33 enquiries in 2023-24).

One of the most exciting developments has been the production of new Welsh language resources – both in print and video. We’ve also added new Welsh stories and Welsh accent contributions to some of our UK-wide video resources. In recent online Foundation Courses, it’s been a joy to share an updated version of one of our videos, which has been voiced by one of our volunteers in Wales.

14 Home for Good | Annual Report and Accounts year ending 31 March 2024

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Highlights from NORTHERN IRELAND

November 2023 saw us hosting our first Northern Ireland summit since 2018. Over 100 adults joined us for an inspiring day of stories, worship and sharing around the theme of hope. It was also a joy to have 40 children and young people at the Summit, engaging in their own dynamic, creative programmes. We received very positive feedback after the event, with an overwhelming desire to make the NI Summit an annual event that acts as a focal point for the Home for Good family in Northern Ireland and creates opportunity to grow this network.

“It was great to be back in a room with other friends, carers and supporters – all seeking to explore new and better ways to care for vulnerable children.”

(NI Summit Attendee)

“I thought the day was brilliant and was a great opportunity to meet others and hear teaching. The storytelling and other inputs were very encouraging.” (NI Summit Attendee)

We continue to enjoy very positive partnerships with the five Health and Social Care Trusts in Northern Ireland. Team members sit with lead Social Workers from each Trust on a fostering recruitment working group. It’s been encouraging to see the increased profile and influence of Home for Good in that forum, as we explore the potential of the Church to make a difference. Our long-term partnership with the Southern Trust continues to progress well with the team working alongside the trust teams and activating churches within the region.

We’ve been struck by the generosity of churches and individuals across Northern Ireland over the past year as they’ve caught the vision to invest in the work of Home for Good.

“There have been many moments of gratitude and celebration, not least the generous giving over Summer 2023. Jonny’s Road to Rome involved him cycling from Belfast to Rome to raise funds and profile the work of Home for Good. Then there was Hannah, who instead of walking 18 miles over the summer for our Walk With Me campaign, chose to go a few steps further and walk 18 miles a day. There are scores of stories from this past year, known and untold, of individuals and churches who have invested in our work financially - and at times it’s simply blown me away.”

(NI Coordinator)

SHARED STORIES

Neera shared with us how moved and inspired she was by the volunteers who shared their fostering and adoption stories. She wanted to know more about how she can play her part.

Describing herself as an older single female, Neera is beginning to reshuffle her priorities and living situation so she can start the fostering journey.

church engagement and reach

Digital Reach

We have really improved our digital reach this year, we’ve provided online courses to 438 households.

Our social media reach was 879,842, our unique website visits 211,885, organic search engine impressions were 1,126,921 and paid search engine impressions 74,450. We also have almost 10,000 email subscribers achieving a 43% open rate.

We have also improved our understanding of our key audiences through stakeholder consultation and have developed five audience personas (see the panel alongside), defining their needs, goals, motivations, pain points, behaviours and abilities and preferred communication methods which will help us journey well and retain our audience.

OUR AUDIENCE personas

The Compassionate Provider: Seeks mutual support and connection during their ongoing journey as a home provider, with an openness to spread the word about their experience.

The Contemplative Journeyer:

Embarks on the journey of becoming a home provider, driven by a primary desire to explore parenthood.

The Heartfelt Giver:

Seeks assurance of their donation’s significance to the goal of providing homes for children.

The Justice Inspired Journeyer:

Embarks on the journey of becoming a home provider, driven by God’s calling in accordance with their Christian faith.

The Thoughtful Advocate:

Seeks clarity on leveraging their skills and experience to raise awareness for the mission of providing and sustaining homes for children.

We have thoughtfully defined the user journey pathways and key ‘touchpoints’ for the donor, the advocate and the home provider and teams are now embedding the pathways and some of the solutions needed to implement this work.

16 Home for Good | Annual Report and Accounts year ending 31 March 2024

Festivals and Events

SPOTLIGHT ON SPRING HARVEST AND THE LAUNCH OF THE WHO CARES CAMPAIGN

We were thrilled to be the main sponsor at Spring Harvest for 2024. We took the opportunity to launch our new Who Cares campaign , calling on everyone to play their part and pledge to pray for the 38,000 children that will enter the care system each year, open their door (to welcome a child into their home or volunteer) or give.

3,560 visited our Who Cares webpage, with 1,386 taking an action on the website and 86% being new visitors. At Spring Harvest alone 857 people pledged to pray, open their door or give. The Who Cares campaign will continue into next year calling on more people across the UK to show they care about the individual children that make up the 38,000 by pledging I CARE.

SHARED STORIES

Freya journeyed with Home for Good last year to explore adoption, but then closed the door on it.

She shared with us that God has been prompting her and her family that now is

the right time - and she heard our call at Spring Harvest and God gave her the final big nudge that this is definitely the right time! A reminder that sometimes the seed takes time to grow - but God is still at work.

Advocating for systems 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.

A welcome change to adoption policy

At the end of 2023, the Government removed the requirement for therapists and some adoption support providers to be registered with Ofsted. At Home for Good we are delighted, having advocated in favour of this change, recognising it will improve access to necessary support for adoptees and adoptive families. Adoption support services will still undergo quality checks through agencies to maintain high standards. We are optimistic about the positive impact of these changes, although we acknowledge more work is needed to ensure timely support for adoptees and their families.

An increase in the number of local authorities offering supported lodgings for teenagers

Supported lodgings is a provision for teenagers in care and care leavers which we believe is brimming with potential to improve outcomes for young people. At Home for Good we continue to advocate for its expansion across the UK. In February 2024, Home for Good’s research revealed that the number of local authorities offering supported lodgings had increased by a staggering 38% since 2021. In March, Home for Good was invited to deliver three workshops on ‘The Future of Supported Lodgings’ at the National Children’s Bureau (NCB) supported accommodation conferences in London, Birmingham, and Manchester. Engaging with over 100 providers, we gathered vital data and information which has been collated into a mini-report and presented to NCB, the Department for Education and Ofsted.

Contributing to the Care Review in Northern Ireland

Home for Good was pleased to submit a response to a consultation by the Department of Health in Northern Ireland regarding the recommendations from the Review of Children’s Social Care Services. The submission was informed by insights from foster carers, adoptive parents, and those with lived experience of the care system, gathered during a roundtable in November 2023. Home for Good supports many of the review’s 53 recommendations, including establishing a new Children and Families Arms Length Body and focusing on supporting families and peer support for foster carers. However, we also believe some recommendations need to go further, particularly in valuing foster carers.

advocating for systems change

SHARED STORIES

Cherry and Peter are hearing impaired and were previously turned down for fostering. At a Home for Good event, in partnership with the local authority, we were able to facilitate conversations with the couple and the fostering team to understand the barriers, repair the relationship and discuss ways forwards for the couple to begin fostering with the local authority again.

Home for Good | Annual Report and Accounts year ending 31 March 2024

Working regionally with local authorities, councils and key partners

Our commissioner agreements allow us to provide a bridge between church communities and their local public authority or ‘not for profit’ fostering, adoption and supported lodgings agencies. Commissioner funding enables us to engage in specific geographic areas to find homes through the Church for children and young people who need one, particularly for those who are waiting the longest, and to work alongside commissioners to help them be faith aware and faith friendly. When people are ready to begin their application and assessment, we can connect them with a commissioner team close by and encourage development of their church and peer support network to give resilience.

We work with all our commissioners on a strategic and digital basis: engaging church communities through national, regional and local church festivals and events, church leader forums and social media campaigns. This allows us to maximise our geographical reach. Where a commissioner wishes to build more in-depth church community relationships in a tighter geography, they can additionally fund ‘outreach’ work.

We are most effective where the commissioner is prepared to commit to a long-term relationship and work in partnership on marketing and people’s journeying. Geographically, we are most effective where there are strong church unity movements and church leader relationships we can build on. Over the year we have improved the reach of commissioner agreements through revising our related digital marketing approaches and prioritising our ‘outreach’ focus.

During the year, we worked with 13 commissioners in England, 11 of which were on an ‘outreach’ basis; 4 commissioners in Wales, with 1 on an ‘outreach’ basis; and 2 commissioners in Northern Ireland, with 1 including ‘outreach’ work. 15 of the commissioner agreements and two thirds of the funding relates to fostering agencies, and the balance to voluntary adoption agencies.

Inspiring Generosity

Reflecting on all that God has done across the many areas of Home for Good, we are enormously thankful and grateful to everyone who has been a part of this year’s journey.

None of what has been achieved, would have happened without the generous, prayerful commitment of our supporters, partners, and friends. Thank you for being a part of God’s abundant blessing.

Home for Good | Annual Report and Accounts year ending 31 March 2024 » ~

“When we approach fundraising in a spirit of gratitude, we do so knowing that God has already given us what we most need for life in abundance.”

A Spirituality of Fundraising: Henri Nouwen.

In July 2023 we were thrilled to launch ‘Walk with Me’ - a summer fundraising challenge for individuals and families to take part in. A staggering £22,202 was raised by 80 participants.

It was a real joy to see people of all ages having fun taking part. We heard of family adventures, epic running challenges and teams coming together to tackle 18 miles in one day!

One participant Hannah ran 18 miles a week for six weeks:

“When I was a baby, I was in foster care. Part of this challenge was for me to raise awareness and help children find families that are right for them.”

We also enjoyed a year’s partnership with Office Space in Town who selected Home for Good as their ‘Charity of the Year’. Through various events including doughnut sales and quizzes, over £3,000 was raised! We’re so grateful to our many business supporters who continue to generously support Home for Good.

The work of Home for Good is incredibly blessed " |- by generous donations, large and small, from people who are playing their part in helping more children and young people experience the safety and stability they need to thrive.

More than this, we’re working together to see the needs of these children and young people firmly established on the mission and ministry of local churches across the UK and amplified to decision markers, sowing the seeds of change. Every donation is an investment into helping find homes for children and young people.

Reference and administrative details

Trustees

Chief Executive

Tania Bright

Olivia Amartey (until March 2024)

Banks

CAF Bank 25 Kings Hill Avenue, West Malling, ME19 4JQ

Luke Bacon Simon Blake - Board Chair Jeremy Cooper - Vice Chair NatWest Laura Eades 40 Whitgift Centre, Croydon, CR0 1UQ Matthew Gregora (until August 2023) Dominic Llewellyn (until August 2023) Accountant Finance Box 189 Marsh Wall, London, E14 9SR Fatima Wesson Rachel Westcott Independent Auditor Moore Kingston Smith LLP 9 Appold Street, London, EC2A 2AP

40 Whitgift Centre, Croydon, CR0 1UQ

Registered Charity Number

(England & Wales): 1158707

Company Registration Number (England & Wales): 9060425

Registered Charity Number (Scotland): SC046972

Registered Address:

Romero House, 55 Westminster Bridge Road, London, SE1 7JB

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.

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. 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). 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.

24 Home for Good | Annual Report and Accounts year ending 31 March 2024

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 day-to-day responsibility for operational management to the Chief Executive who leads the Executive team (see the “Leadership” section below). The Chief Executive and Executive team 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. 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.

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.

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 Executive team comprising the Chief Impact Officer and Chief Operating Officer. The Executive team 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, Scotland and 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.

Risk management

The Board of Trustees and Executive team 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. Nevertheless, we have a spread of income from a variety of income streams and are developing our strategy to further solidify and grow our income. In addition to our unrestricted reserves, we currently hold cash in designated funds, which are being used to underpin key strategic priorities for the charity. However, we are also investing in our fundraising as a matter of priority to ensure our sustainability in a very challenging economic environment.

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.

Structure, governance and management (continued)

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 careexperienced children, foster carers, and adoptive families. Therefore, we have to be careful about what we do and don’t do.

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 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 have introduced a staff survey and 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 outof-action.

Health, safety and environment

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

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 peerto-peer accountability.

Safeguarding

We have a safeguarding policy that is reviewed regularly, is part of the induction process, and there is annual refresher awareness training.

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.

26 Home for Good | Annual Report and Accounts year ending 31 March 2024

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 2023-24 we held agreements with five agencies:

Adoption Matters
Adoption Focus
Parents and Children Together
St David’s Children Society
Western Bay Adoption Service

Fostering agreements

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 202324 we held agreements with the following agencies:

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 2023-24 we are particularly grateful to:

B3 Marketing
The Blueprint
The Church of Scotland Guild
Eden.co.uk
Eleanor Rathbone
Garfield Weston Foundation
Goodnews Evangelical Mission
The Jerusalem Trust
Jude’s Ice Cream

Alliances and other

Bath and North East Somerset
Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole Council
Bristol City Council
Capstone Fostering
Hampshire County Council
Leeds City Council
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
Wiltshire Council
Young People at Heart Fostering

We are members of the following groups within related sectors:

Alliance for Children in Care and Care Leavers
APPG for Adoption and Permanence (cosecretariat with Adoption UK)
Children’s and Families Alliance
Churches Together in England
Evangelical Alliance
Gather Movement
Kinship Care Alliance
National Adoption Recruitment Steering Group

We convene:

Supported Lodgings National Network

More information about our strategic partnership with Safe Families for Children UK, including plans for a merger in September 2024, can be found on page seven.

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 2024 were £486k.

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 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 further our mission to a find home for every child who needs one.

This year our income was £1,540,461 with the following diversity in sources:

breakdown of Funding Sources:

Designated funds

In January 2024 the Board agreed that free reserves above £500,000 at the end of 2023-24 should be designated to fund one-off projects in 2024-25 focussed on the Who Cares? campaign, transforming the organisation and deeper collaboration with key partners.

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.

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1%
5%
6%
16%
46%
26%
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Individuals (including Gift Aid and sponsored events): 46% Trusts and foundations: 26%

Work with Local Authorities and fostering agencies: 16% Businesses: 6%

Churches: 5%

Other: 1%

Expenditure

During the year we spent a total of £2,002,745. Of this, £1,784,263 was spent on activities related to finding homes for children who need them and £218,482 was spent on raising funds to enable our work. The majority of our expenditure is on our staff and this amounted to £1,256,194 this year.

28 Home for Good | Annual Report and Accounts year ending 31 March 2024

Plans for future periods

The plans for the next phase of Home for Good remain, as ever, to play our part in finding a home for every child who needs one. One of the key tools we are using for this is the “Who Cares?” campaign. Through this we seek to raise awareness of the 38,000 children entering into care. This was launched in April 2024 and will be rolled out over the next 12-18 months. As the merger with Safe Families completes later in 2024, the newly merged organisation will join with other partners to raise the profile of this campaign. Together, with the church and alongside other key stakeholders saying, “We care”.

In addition, the announced merger with Safe Families will provide the opportunity to combine resources and

focus engagement teams together, whilst sharing back office resources in a single charitable entity.

The Trustees believe that based on some of the size limitations compared to the ambition of the charity, the merger represents the best solution to allow the charity to meet its objects. The Trustees and senior leadership have concluded that the charity is sub optimal and whilst it currently has designated funds available, once they are used up the operational objectives exceed the funding capability of an independent charity. The combination with Safe Families will allow the operational synergies to interplay with the strengths of advocacy and campaigning and back office resources needed.

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 16 August 2024 and signed on its behalf:

Simon Blake, Chair

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 2024 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 2024 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

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.

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.

30 Home for Good | Annual Report and Accounts year ending 31 March 2024

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.

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 non-compliance 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 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.

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.

Andrew Stickland (Senior Statutory Auditor)

for and on behalf of Moore Kingston Smith LLP, Statutory Auditor

Date: 16 August 2024

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.

32 Home for Good | Annual Report and Accounts year ending 31 March 2024

Statement of financial activities

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----- Start of picture text -----
Unrestricted Designated Restricted 2024 2023
funds funds funds Total Total
Notes £ £ £ £ £
INCOME FROM
Donations and legacies 772,933 - 89,933 862,866 721,801
Charitable activities 194,217 - 404,262 598,479 422,227
Other trading activities 1,092 - - 1,092 185
Investments 71,796 - - 71,796 43,568
Gifts in kind 6,228 - - 6,228 -
Total income 1,046,266 - 494,195 1,540,461 1,187,781
EXPENDITURE ON
Raising funds 2 218,482 - - 218,482 173,174
Charitable activities 3 1,098,273 133,745 552,245 1,784,263 1,755,416
Total expenditure 1,316,755 133,745 552,245 2,002,745 1,928,590
Net income before
(270,489) (133,745) (58,050) (462,284) (740,808)
transfers
Transfer 270,489 (270,489) - - -
Net expenditure/income
- (404,234) (58,050) (462,284) (740,808)
for the year
Total funds brought forward 500,000 1,699,625 123,187 2,322,812 3,063,620
Total funds carried forward 13/14 500,000 1,295,391 65,137 1,860,528 2,322,812
----- 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.

Balance sheet

(as of 31st March 2024)

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----- Start of picture text -----
2024 2024 2023 2023
Notes £ £ £ £
FIXED ASSETS
Tangible assets 8 13,631 10,126
Intangible assets 9 - -
13,631 10,126
CURRENT ASSETS
Debtors 10 328,704 249,122
Bank deposits 695,057 -
Cash at bank and in hand 1,041,472 2,187,559
2,065,233 2,436,681
Creditors: Amounts falling
due within one year 11 (218,336) (123,995)
NET CURRENT ASSETS 1,846,897 2,312,686
Total assets less Current Liabilities 1,860,528 2,322,812
FUNDS
Restricted funds 65,137 123,187
Unrestricted funds
Designated funds 1,295,391 1,699,625
General funds 500,000 500,000
13/14 1,860,528 2,322,812
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The accompanying notes form an integral part of these financial statements.

The accounts on pages 33 to 45 were approved and authorised for issue by the Board of Trustees on 16 August 2024 and signed on its behalf by:

S. BLAKE

Simon Blake, Chair

Registered Company Number: 9060425

34 Home for Good | Annual Report and Accounts year ending 31 March 2024

Statement of cash flows

(as of 31st March 2024)

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----- Start of picture text -----
2024 2024 2023 2023
£ £ £ £
Cash flows from operating
activities
Net income for the year (462,284) (740,809)
Adjustments for:
Depreciation charges 5,625 3,313
Amortisation charges - -
Loss on the sale of tangible fixed asset - -
Interest (71,796) (43,568)
Decrease/(Increase) in debtors (79,581) 53,039
(Decrease)/Increase in creditors 94,340 20,645
Net cash provided by
operating activities (513,696) (707,380)
Cash flows from investing activities
Interest 71,796 43,568
Proceeds on disposal of tangible fixed assets - -
Purchase of tangible fixed assets (9,130) (7,666)
Decrease/(Increase) in bank deposits (695,057)
(632,391) 35,902
Change in cash and cash
(671,478)
equivalents in the year (1,146,087)
Cash and cash equivalents at the
2,187,559 2,859,037
beginning of the year
1,041,472 2,187,559
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Analysis of changes in net funds:

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----- Start of picture text -----
1 April 2023 Cashflows 31 March 2024
£ £ £
2,187,559 (1,146,087) 1,041,472
----- End of picture text -----

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 made this assessment for a period of at least one year from the date of approval of the financial statements. They have considered forecasts, projections and the level of reserves and have concluded that there is a reasonable expectation that the charity has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. Home for Good has entered into a merger agreement with Safe Families for Children post year end via asset transfer which is expected to complete in September 2024. As the charity will transfer all its activities, assets and liabilities to Safe Families on completion of the planned merger, all activities will be continuing, albeit within the combined entity. The Home for Good company limited by guarantee will become a dormant subsidiary of Safe Families. The accounts have therefore been prepared on a going concern basis as the activities of the charity will be continuing.

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

36 Home for Good | Annual Report and Accounts year ending 31 March 2024

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.

1.9 Short term deposits

Short term bank deposits include cash balances that are invested in accounts with a maturity date of between 101 and 365 days.

1.10 Cash and Cash equivalents

Cash at bank and cash in hand includes cash and short term highly liquid investments with a short maturity period of 100 days or less from the date of acquisition or opening of the deposit or similar account.

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----- Start of picture text -----
2. EXPENDITURE ON RAISING FUNDS
Total unrestricted Total unrestricted
2024 £ 2023 £
Direct staff costs 147,784 127,658
Other direct costs 1,786 1,807
Support costs (note 4) 68,912 43,709
218,482 173,174
----- End of picture text -----

Notes to the Financial Statements (continued)

3. EXPENDITURE ON CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES

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----- Start of picture text -----
3. EXPENDITURE ON CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES
Total Total
2024 £ 2023 £
Direct staff costs 878,841 1,016,139
Other direct costs 401,809 329,465
Support costs (note 4) 503,613 409,812
1,784,263 1,755,416
----- End of picture text -----

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----- Start of picture text -----
4. SUPPORT COSTS Raising Charitable Total Total
funds activities 2024 2023
£ £ £ £
Staff Costs 33,047 196,522 229,569 163,744
Consultancy and contractors 13,029 111,555 124,584 62,330
Office costs 6,227 53,317 59,544 60,994
Professional fees 6,106 52,285 58,391 49,877
Governance 1,668 14,282 15,950 29,726
IT Costs 2,011 17,219 19,230 24,086
Marketing - - - 4,860
Staff Training 1,294 11,079 12,373 19,499
Subscriptions 2,254 19,297 21,551 22,137
Other Costs 3,276 28,057 31,333 16,268
68,912 503,613 572,525 453,521
----- End of picture text -----

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Prior year Raising Charitable Total
funds activities 2023
£ £ £
Staff Costs 18,275 145,468 163,744
Consultancy and contractors 5,471 56,859 62,330
Office costs 5,353 55,641 60,994
Professional fees 4,378 45,499 49,877
Governance 2,609 27,117 29,726
IT Costs 2,114 21,972 24,086
Marketing 427 4,433 4,860
Staff Training 1,711 17,788 19,499
Subscriptions 1,943 20,194 22,137
Other Costs 1,428 14,840 16,268
43,709 409,811 453,521
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38 Home for Good | Annual Report and Accounts year ending 31 March 2024

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5. STAFF COSTS
Total Total
2024 £ 2023 £
Wages and salaries 1,079,974 1,128,336
Social security costs 105,704 105,207
Pension costs 59,416 63,285
Redundancy costs 9,900 3,396
Other staff costs 1,200 7,316
1,256,194 1,307,540
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The average number of employees was:

Headcount 39 42

One employee received remuneration between £80,000- £90,000 (2023: between £80,000- £90,000). Remuneration payable to key management personnel in aggregate was £319,893 (2023: £315,588).

6. NET INCOME

6. NET INCOME
This is stated after charging:	Total 2024 £	Total 2023 £
Independent auditors fees	14,494	22,484
Depreciation	5,625	3,313
Amortisation	-	-

7. TAXATION

The company is a registered charity and no taxation liabilities arise from its charitable activities.

Notes to the Financial Statements (continued)

8. TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS - ALL FOR CHARITY USE


. TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS - ALL FOR CHARITY USE	Ofce Computer
Cost	equipment £ equipment £ Total £
At 1st April 2023	365 48,062 48,427
Additions	- 9,130 9,130
Disposals	- - -
At 31st March 2024	365 57,192 57,557
Depreciation
At 1st April 2023	90 38,211 38,301
Charge for the year	122 5,503 5,625
Disposals	- - -
At 31st March 2024	212 43,714 43,926
Net book values
At 31st March 2024	153 13,479 13,632
At 1st April 2023	274 9,851 10,125

9. INTANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS – ALL FOR CHARITY USE	Website Total
Cost	£ £
at 1st April 2023	22,410 22,410
Additions	- -
At 31 March 2024	22,410 22,410
Depreciation
at 1st April 2023	22,410 22,410
Charge for the year	- -
At 31 March 2024	22,410 22,410
Net book values
At 31st March 2024	- -
At 1st April 2023	- -

40 Home for Good | Annual Report and Accounts year ending 31 March 2024

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10. DEBTORS
Total Total
2024 2023
£ £
DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR
Trade debtors 118,894 48,297
Accrued income 55,780 117,164
Prepayments and sundry debtors 151,250 73,301
Other debtors 2,780 10,360
328,704 249,122
11. CREDITORS
Total Total
2024 2023
£ £
AMOUNTS FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR
Trade creditors 49,024 40,219
PAYE and social security costs 21,531 25,314
Deferred income 8,125 10,625
Accruals and sundry creditors 54,011 38,575
Other creditors 85,644 9,262
218,335 123,995
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Total Total
2024 2023
£ £
DEFERRED INCOME
Balance at the beginning of the year 10,625 7,500
Amount deferred in the year 8,125 10,625
Amount released to income in the year (10,625) (7,500)
Balance at the end of the year 8,125 10,625
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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 £59,416 during the year (2023 £63,285).

Notes to the Financial Statements (continued)

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13. FUNDS
Balance at Balance at
31 March 31 March
2023 Income Expenditure Transfer 2024
£ £ £ £ £
Bath & North East Somerset - 10,000 (10,000) - -
Bristol - 15,050 (15,050) - -
English Adoption Pathways - - 1,250 (1,250) - -
Central
English Adoption Pathways - - 25,417 (25,417) - -
North West & Yorkshire
English Adoption Pathways - - 31,875 (31,875) - -
PACT
Enquirer Journeying & Line - 6,500 (6,500) - -
General Engagement and 100,000 - (100,000) - -
Enquires
Homecoming - 47,707 (32,531) - 15,176
Jerusalem Trust - 150,000 (120,039) - 29,961
Local Activities - West Sussex - 23,900 (23,900) - -
Northern Ireland 23,187 86,485 (109,672) - -
Scotland - 62,231 (62,231) - -
Supported Lodgings - 23,600 (3,600) - 20,000
Wales - 10,180 (10,180) - -
Restricted funds 123,187 494,195 - 65,137
(552,245)
Designated funds 1,699,625 - (133,745) (270,489) 1,295,391
Unrestricted funds 1,046,266 (1,316,755) 270,489
500,000 500,000
Total funds 2,322,812 1,540,461 (2,002,745) - 1,860,528
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42 Home for Good | Annual Report and Accounts year ending 31 March 2024

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, Birmingham and Bristol 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.

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 redevelop the Homecoming Project that we launched two years to promote family-based care for children around the world. This is now being done in collaboration with other charitable organisations.

Funding from the Jerusalem Trust has helped fund our Who Cares? campaign that was developed at the end of 2023 and start of 2024 with the launch of the campaign taking place at Spring Harvest in April with it due to run for 18 months.

Finally we had funding for our continued work in the Supported Lodgings space. Over the past year we have seen the Supported Lodgings National Network grow and to help support those who run Supported Lodgings placements and hosts we have started to put together a training package

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. In January 2024 the Board agreed that free reserves above £500,000 at the end of 2023-24 should be designated to fund one-off projects in 2024-25 focused on the Who Cares? campaign, transforming the organisation and deeper collaboration with key partners. In line with this decision, £270489 was transferred from designated funds to achieve an unrestricted funds balance of £500,000 at March 2024.

Notes to the Financial Statements (continued)

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13. FUNDS (continued)
Balance at Balance at
31 March 31 March
2022 Income Expenditure Transfer 2023
£ £ £ £ £
Bath & North East Somerset - 19,378 (19,378) - -
English Adoption Pathways - - 18,417 (18,417) - -
Central England
English Adoption Pathways - - 27,500 (27,500) - -
North West & Yorkshire
English Adoption Pathways - - 30,000 (30,000) - -
PACT
English Adoption Pathways - - 5,000 (5,000) - -
West Midlands
Enquirer Journeying & Line - 7,000 (7,000) - -
Festival Manchester - 11,980 (11,980) - -
General Engagement and 160,000 - (60,000) - 100,000
Enquires
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 - 1,000 (1,000) - -
Project
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 862,626 (1,369,941) 507,315
500,000 500,000
Total funds 3,063,620 1,187,782 (1,928,590) - 2,322,812
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44 Home for Good | Annual Report and Accounts year ending 31 March 2024

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14. ANALYSIS OF NET ASSETS
Unrestricted Designated Restricted Total
BETWEEN FUNDS funds funds funds 2024
£ £ £ £
Fund balances at 31 March
2024 are represented by
Tangible fixed assets 13,631 - - 13,631
Intangible fixed assets - - - -
Debtors 328,704 - - 328,704
Bank deposits 695,057 - - 695,057
Cash (319,056) 1,295,391 65,137 1,041,472
Creditors (218,336) - - (218,336)
Net total net assets 500,000 1,295,391 65,137 1,860,528
Prior year 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
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15. DIRECTORS REMUNERATION AND RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

Three trustees were reimbursed travel and related expenses in the year of £1,286 (2023: £7,645).

The total amount of donations funded by trustees was £6,864 (2023: £2,117).

Tania Bright is a board member of Essential Christian, the organisation that runs Spring Harvest. Home for Good paid £23,051 for a stand at Spring Harvest (2023: £231) and Home for Good also received £31 in ministry gifts (2023: £479) from Spring Harvest. During the year, Home for Good paid £98,319 (2023: £22,760) in advance towards exhibiting and sponsoring the 2024/25 Spring Harvest event.

16. POST BALANCE SHEET EVENTS

In May 2024, following extensive discussion, the Board of Trustees decided that it was in the best interests of Home for Good to enter into a merger agreement with Safe Families for Children. Under the terms of the merger all assets and liabilities of Home for Good will be transferred to Safe Families for Children. The merger completion is expected to happen in September 2024. The Home for Good brand will continue and the mission of Home for Good will remain central to the new combined organisation. This merger will enable greater opportunity to achieve the mission of Home for Good, namely finding a home for every child or young person who needs one. This will no longer be as a standalone charity, but as a combined entity.

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Together we can find a home for every child who needs one

Home for Good (a company limited by guarantee). Registered Address: Romero House, 55 Westminster Bridge Road, London SE1 7JB. Charity Number (England & Wales): 1158707. Charity Number (Scotland): SC046972. Company Registration Number (England & Wales): 9060425