2024-03-31-accounts - North East Child Poverty Trust

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NORTH EAST CHILD POVERTY TRUST

Charity registration number 1161174

Trustees’ Annual Report (including Directors’ report) for the period 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024

Registered address c/o Northern Housing Consortium, Hope Street Xchange, 1-3 Hind Street, Sunderland, SR1 3QD

Introduction

This Report and Accounts covers the period from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024. The National Lottery Community Fund (NLCF) awarded North East Child Poverty Trust (NECPT) a £300,000 grant over three years in March 2021 covering the financial years 2021-22, 2022-23 and 2023-24. In December 2022 NLCF agreed an additional grant of £25,000 in view of demand and cost increases driven by the ‘cost of living crisis’ experienced across communities.

The grant funds the partnership between NECPT, Northumberland County Council (NCC) and Leading Link (LL). The aim is to offer a community and youth led programme building local partnerships and capacity and support for local organisations. The project aims to maximise impact and add value to the Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme delivered through the local authority which now delegates programme oversight and management to Leading Link.

Objectives and activities

The purposes of the Trust are as set out in the governing document to mitigate and relieve child poverty in the North- East of England by

Raising awareness of the issue of child poverty.
Improving knowledge and understanding of the causes and consequences of, and solutions to, child poverty.
Working collaboratively with public services, voluntary bodies, employers, and young people to address child poverty.

Trustees have given due consideration to the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit under the requirements of the Charities Act 2011.

As noted in last year’s report, Trustees undertook a review to produce a new strategy. This work was completed in March 2024. Ambitious for our children and young people confirmed the Trust’s core objectives should remain unchanged. In delivering the Trust’s mission the following strategic objectives were set:

Alignment of activities with the regional strategy on tackling child poverty published in February 2024 by the North East Child Poverty Commission under the title No Time to Wait: an ambitious blueprint for tackling child poverty in the North East .
Raise funds to support community based, practical activities to address child poverty.
Work in partnership as a facilitator and enabler and deliver activities through others rather that become a direct service provider.

Trustees have developed an Action Plan to implement the new strategy.

Activities in 2023-24

The Northumberland Holiday Programme grew substantially in 2023. The number of holiday clubs grew to 178 from 42 in the previous year. The number of children served more than doubled to 5,264 and there were 108,520 hours of provision with 27,130 meals being served. The family and teenage offer was supported by 31 partner organisations with 17,152 hours of activities involving 2,170 children and young people and 2,101 adults. Clubs were run by a mixture of community organisations, leisure centres, youth services, children’s services and schools. There was a 16 per cent increase in engaging with the programme.

Three initiatives during the year were particularly important:

The growth of Leading Link’s Young Leaders Programme was able to expand with funding for learning and development through residential courses aiming to support personal and team development; gain skills and experience through practical exercises as well as developing monitoring and evaluation and review skills. These so called ‘soft skills’ enhance personal capability and were put to great use in support of delivery of holiday camps and after school clubs, including in the wider North of Tyne Combined Authority area. The YL programme now has over 140 participants and helps embed sustainability of activity across local areas.
A programme known as ‘HAF plus’ was developed in partnership between DfE, Northumbria University and Leading Link, Northumberland County Council plus Gateshead Council, The Mayor of London’s Fund and Birmingham Council/Street Games through a range of events involving 500 young people. The focus was on design of programmes by young people and negotiation of possible future support from business representatives. This activity culminated in a conference held in February 2024 at the Baltic in Gateshead and organised and managed by Leading Link Young Leaders. This will be followed up through future collaborations.
The establishment of a ‘family offer’ to engage parents and carers as well as children and young people in shared activity. This has emphasised the importance of community support for activity and is critical to building cross generational relationships in neighbourhoods.

As well as these direct activities Trustees have focussed on ensuring dissemination to promote knowledge of good practice. In September 2023, the Trust published a report incorporating the Northumbria University independent assessment of the HAF programme and secured wide circulation via social media. A further report for 2024 will be published in May 2024. The NECPT website is being overhauled through an arrangement with Accenture which provides free support to charities to improve their service. That work began in August 2023 and will conclude early in the 2024-25 year for a Spring launch.

In seeking to spread learning and best practice, NECPT, with support from Voluntary Organisations Network North East (VONNE) has held two briefing sessions with the Tees Valley infrastructure partnership (TVIP) highlighting the added value of NLCF funding with a focus on the importance of the Young Leaders programme.

Impact and added value

In summary the added value gained from the Lottery grant via NECPT

Enabled a flexible approach to provision encouraging innovation in developing community resources.
Developed local partnerships with anchor organisations ensuring that a place-based approach has greater impact because of enhanced local knowledge.
Allowed more inclusive approaches to move beyond the original 4X4X4 construct of HAF in terms of hours per day, days per week and weeks per summer provision.
Supported the expansion of opportunities for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities – in year 1 there were 332 SEND children engaged and by year 3 this had quadrupled to 1,391.

The Northumbria University evaluation is based on parent/carer and provider surveys so represents an extensive data set. The report highlights the very rapid year on year growth of participants, ie users and providers, as well as the increase in hours of provision. Of particular importance is the qualitative feedback demonstrating positive outcomes for children and young people in health and wellbeing (including parents and carers), confidence levels among children and young people as well as impact on social isolation, anti-social behaviour and school readiness. The information on physical activity and its benefits is an important indicator of the need for a comprehensive approach to the offers in the HAF arrangements. The data also demonstrates an increase in household food insecurity, reflecting inflation pressures but also reinforcing the importance of quality food offerings as part of the HAF programme.

Financial review

On 31 March 2024 the Trust had a bank balance of £16,403. The NLCF grant received in 2023-24 was £130,174 which included underspend from the previous financial year plus the additional £25,000 grant agreed in December 2022. The charity spent £125,145 during the period which was largely made up of grants to Leading Link.

At the period end the charity held unrestricted reserves of £2,889 and restricted reserves of £13,514 totalling £16,403 of reserves. There are no uncertainties about the charity continuing as a going concern. The Trustees are satisfied that the level of reserves is suitable for the charity at this time and will continue to hold small unrestricted reserves pot with most of the reserves specifically allocated to relieve child poverty.

The trustees would like to acknowledge and thank Home Group for the use of One Strawberry Lane for all trustee meetings throughout the year.

Structure, governance, and management

The Charitable Incorporated Organisation is governed by its Constitution. There were no significant changes to governance arrangements. One Trustee resigned and was replaced following a recruitment process.

The Trustees during the period were:

Trustee name	Office
Satty Rai	Secretary
Jane Streather
Philippa Gardiner	Treasurer
Amy Richardson
Siobhan O’Neill resigned September 2023
Lewis Roberts
Jim Coulter Chair

Thomas Monaghan resigned March 2024 Jackie McHanwell Karen Deen

During the year the Trust embarked on the recruitment of a Vice Chair who would assume the Chair role when the current incumbent stands down in Autumn 2024. The process was completed after the end of the reporting year and Sean Laws was appointed to the role.

Trustees reviewed the skills matrix used to assess learning and development needs and individual Trustees updated their profiles. The findings will be used to assist future recruitment to ensure the Trust continues to have a diverse, skilled and experienced Board.

Trustees also noted that the Charity Governance Code Steering Group commenced a consultation to update the Code. The Board will consider any recommendations in 2024-25.

Funds held as custodian

No funds were held as custodian Trustees on behalf of others.

Plans for future periods

The expiry of the three-year National Lottery Community Fund grant means the Trust has no new funding to hand. Trustees are reviewing the recommendations of the NECPC regional strategy to assess what priorities to pursue in future. This will focus on the priority ‘the best start in life for the next generation’ highlighted in the Commission’s report.

In doing so, the Trust will maintain the themes it articulated in the last Annual Report as it goes forward:

To work in partnership and deliver through others with emphasis on supporting and enabling local communities.
To strengthen the relationship with the North East Child Poverty Commission in fulfilment of our shared aim to tackle and eliminate child poverty.
To emphasise the importance of communicating and sharing learning and emphasise the importance of impact for people.
To explore gaps in provision and opportunities to promote innovative practice.
To develop initiatives in the region acknowledging the widespread existence of child poverty.
To identify funding sources to enable the Trust’s support work to continue and secure delivery through partnerships based on a shared vision.

Approved by the Board on 26th July 2024 and signed on their behalf by the trustees:

Jim Coulter (Chair)

Philippa Gardiner (Treasurer)

CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES North East ck1 Po¥ery Trust 1161174 Receipts and payments accounts CC16 For the period from 0110412023 3110Y2024 Section A Receipts and payments Unrestn cted funds Restnct Endow ment funds Total funds Last ye funds nar•st tothe n•Ar•st£ tothe ar•sit tolhe n•ar•st£ tol •ar•%t£ A1 Recei NKl Lthrycommunrty Fwd un$i¢leddLffiaIkTh 1&).174 130.174 94.826 130,174 130,174 94,895 Sub totèl(Gross irK%)me forAR) A2 Asset and investment sales, See table . Sub total Total rwpts 130.174 A3Pa ments Gr8Thl Lead9 Fu1 k¥(yamme 123Mfj 123,E 9B224 Grant Tr&)Nhtrtand C(thtyCounlf0r %umMfrtNai(Th31 Lotteryw(yanm 14A23 7,500 590 Ywsti*w)Dcosls I37 1.537 Sub total 125.145 125.145 120.739 A4 Asset and investment purchases, (see table) Sub total Total paymwrts 125.115 12D 759 ofreceiplg(paymontsJ A5 Transfers belween fund5 A6 Cash ftjnds last ytar end Cash lunds this year end

Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period Unrestri cted fthnd$ t¢ nearest Restrict Endow rrbent lunds to M4re5t Categ(le$ Detsll$ fund$ tvnegrest 81 Cash funds 13.514 Total L¥sh funds 2,889 13,514 pay$ 4¢c(wtis1 Unrestri tted funds tonearest Restri ed funds trnear•st Endow ment funds to Trearesl Details Fundto ich a55•t Iwg5 Cost Curr•nt value loptk)Mll Details B3 Investment assets Fundto Ich s•t longs Cost lopt101> CurY*nt value loptK>MII Details 84 Assets r¢tain¢d f¢r the charity's own use Fndt0 l¢h IKibility unl Yhen &Je (Optblk lop¢irmill Details B5 Liatilitie5 &wèd by Dnè or kn trustsèson hav of all trw4 Signature Print Na Date of roval Phli a Gardiner Jim Couller

Notes to the Accounts

Basis of Preparation of Financial Statements

The financial statements are prepared on a receipts and payments basis of accounting due to the size of the charity.

Income Recognition

The main source of income received during the year was through grant funding from the National Lottery Community Foundation.

Grants received of £130,174 have been recognised in full at point of receipt into the bank. This income is restricted in accordance with the NLCF terms.

Donations received during the year are recognised when received.

Donated Goods, Facilities and Services

The charity received free office space during the year to hold trustee meetings.

Activity Related Expenditure

The above SOFA splits out the expenditure in the year.

Apportionment of costs

There has been no apportionment of costs between funds. All expenditure was directly attributable to either unrestricted or restricted activities.

Trustee Remuneration and Benefits

There were no payments made to trustees or connected organisations during the year.

Trustee expenses

A total of £116 has been paid for an insurance policy with Zurich Insurance plc – part of this amount is to cover Trustees’ Liability Insurance.

Examiners’ Remuneration

The examination this year has been provided pro-bono.

Independent Examiner’s Report to the Trustees of North East Child Poverty

I report to the charity trustees on my examination of the financial statements of the charity for the period ended 31 March 2024.

Responsibilities and basis of report

As the charity’s trustees you are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the Act’).

I report in respect of my examination of the charity’s financial statements carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.

Independent Examiners statement

I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:

Accounting records were not kept in respect of the charity as required by section 130 of the Act: or
The financial statements do not accord with those records.

I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the financial statements to be reached.

Gillian Benjamin ACA

Eland House, Eland Lane Ponteland Newcastle upon Tyne NE20 9TP

26/07/2024