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2024-05-31-accounts

Annual report and accounts

FY2023–2024

For the year ended 31 May 2024

Registered charity in England and Wales (1161901) and Scotland (SC052265)

Our vision

Our mission

We’re Breaking Barriers so every refugee can access meaningful employment and build a new life.

We welcome refugees into meaningful employment with advice, experience, and education. We believe in the power of responsible business to change society for the better through our innovative partnerships.

Our values

Mission-led

We put refugees first in everything we do. We listen and respond. We act with integrity. We’re focussed on impact.

Welcoming

We welcome people of all backgrounds with an open mind. We will make everybody feel comfortable working with us every step of the way. We treat everybody fairly. We champion diversity, equality, and inclusion.

Entrepreneurial

We believe in the entrepreneurial spirit of every individual to build a better life. We believe in the power of responsible businesses to achieve social change. We’re brave and bold enough to give new things a go. We’re driven by making a lasting impact.

Collaborative

We believe in the power of teamwork and partnerships. We work collaboratively with colleagues to find creative solutions for the greater good. We’re proud to share our expertise and knowledge with partners to further our positive impact.

Contents

Foreword 3 A deep dive into our An interwoven network
Why we exist 5 employment work 13 of support 26
Our strategy 6 At the point of enrolment
with Breaking Barriers
13		 Looking ahead to 2025
and beyond		 29
Diversity, equity
and inclusion		 7 Amy’s story 16 Trustees’ annual report 30
Our impact 9 After enrolment and
towards employment		 17 Independent
auditors’ report		 41
A snapshot of
our FY23‑24 year		 10 The impact for clients 20 Financial statements 45
Who are our clients? 11 CareTech Foundation 21 Reference information 65
Ahmad’s story 12 Starting a new
opportunity		 22

3 | Breaking Barriers

Impact Report 2023–2024

Foreword

A message from our CEO, Ciara Devlin

As I sit here reflecting on the last 12 months, it strikes me that it has been a year of excitement, challenge and change. In my first few months as CEO, I was lucky to be able to meet many people and absorb their passion for our mission.

From the incredible team at Breaking Barriers to sector partners and senior business leaders, everyone I have met has really solidified for me what is at the heart of this organisation – people of a refugee background who have a diverse set of skills and life experience, but who are navigating complex barriers to employment. Barriers that, with a bit of thought, imagination and collaboration, can be broken down.

There is much great work going on in the refugee sector. But what has struck me most is how this great work is taking place in an incredibly difficult external environment.

Breaking Barriers has faced its own share of challenges. Like many other charities, the end of EU funding has meant a substantial reduction in income, and we were hit by the cost‑of‑living crisis, which reduced charitable giving and saw our costs increase. I will forever be grateful to our supporters – existing and new – and to my team, who worked hard to ensure that even with these challenges we still managed to grow our income.

We have always been a resilient organisation. However, when your resilience is tested, it’s important to step back, reflect, learn, and ensure that you can weather any future storms. We took the hard decision to restructure, and I believe that we have set Breaking Barriers up to be more resilient and flexible for the next stage of our journey, supporting refugees across the UK.

We are now truly a national charity. In the last financial year, we supported the highest number of clients so far in our history, reaching a total of 1,247 individuals across five locations. And, following our expansion into Liverpool and Glasgow, the majority of our support was for refugees outside of London for the first time.

What a year it has been.

I’d like to end by thanking James Newell, who has been a trustee and then Chair of our Board of Trustees for six years. James has expertly steered us through many storms. I will be sad to say goodbye to his deep knowledge and passion, but I am also excited to welcome Alba Chiara Lamberti as our new Chair.

Thank you to every one of you who has joined us on our journey. I am looking forward to the coming year, and all that it brings.

Ciara Devlin, CEO

4 | Breaking Barriers

Impact Report 2023–2024

A message from our new Chair, Alba Chiara Lamberti

I am thrilled to be joining Breaking Barriers as the new Chair of the Board of Trustees, taking over from the brilliant James Newell.

Breaking Barriers’ mission to enable refugees to build a new life in the UK by supporting their employment journey feels even more urgent in the current political climate. I joined around the time of the racist riots in the UK. As a proud Londoner, originally from Italy, the violence felt deeply personal. And I know it impacted many of the team and clients at Breaking Barriers in the same way too.

That’s why I am honoured to be able to contribute to Breaking Barriers’ ambition of fostering and protecting a more inclusive society. I am particularly excited to join at this time to help Ciara and the rest of the team scale and deepen our impact at a national level. I think we have an exciting year ahead, and I hope you will join us for the ride.

Alba Chiara Lamberti, Chair of the Board of Trustees

5 | Breaking Barriers

Impact Report 2023–2024

Why we exist

Refugees living in the UK face a variety of barriers to employment, including:

As a result, refugees in the UK are four times more likely to be unemployed than people born here, and on average earn about half the amount per week that UK nationals do. This is despite high levels of qualifications and skills.

Often, refugees and people of refugee background are left to face these barriers alone.

We think that’s wrong. And it’s why we exist.

Our team at Breaking Barriers, supported by over 100 volunteers, provides one‑to‑one advice and guidance, education, and training.

We believe in the power of responsible businesses, working with our partners across a range of sectors to build employability skills, experience and opportunities for refugees across the UK.

Together we can break the barriers down, so every refugee will be welcomed into meaningful employment.

6 | Breaking Barriers

Impact Report 2023–2024

Our strategy

In 2023 we established our 2030 goal, which outlines our ambition for the future of Breaking Barriers.

It’s focused on reaching more refugees across more areas of the UK, including those facing the toughest barriers to entering the job market, and our ambition to ensure that over 50% of the clients we support will go on to achieve an outcome in education, training, volunteering or employment.

It also outlined the importance of working with sector‑leading responsible businesses, being data‑led and evidence based in our approach, and working collaboratively with the wider sector.

These principles have underpinned our priorities and successes in 2023 – 2024 as we established our presence in new areas and continued to improve the quality of our services, and they will continue to guide our work going forward.

As we look ahead, we will be further developing the 2030 goals into strategic plans and updating our organisational ‘theory of change’. This will ensure we are prioritising activities that lead to more refugees accessing meaningful and sustained employment and building a new life in the UK.

7 | Breaking Barriers

Impact Report 2023–2024

Diversity, equity and inclusion

Our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) at Breaking Barriers runs through everything we do. We’ve built on previous commitments by:

Other work

We shone a spotlight on reasonable adjustments, enhancing our managers’ confidence in supporting colleagues with disabilities.

We extended our mental health and wellbeing provision through a highly dedicated team of staff Mental Health First Aiders, and Mental Health Awareness Week events.

Our well‑established DEI Working Group, regularly met and engaged with senior leaders. The group provides important input to high‑profile decisions, including communications strategies, and they organise and facilitate DEI events for staff.

We created more understanding of the various challenges faced by colleagues and clients through DEI forums/informal DEI catch‑ups, policies, guidance and learning events. Topics have included:

These activities have provided rich insight and discussions on matters affecting staff, both as individuals and in the important work they do at Breaking Barriers, leading to more inclusive outcomes.

Much has been achieved in the last year, but we know there is always more to do. We count on the proactive, open engagement of our amazing staff, the willingness of our committed leaders to receive and act appropriately on feedback, and the passion of our People Team to continue learning and growing in this significant area.

8 | Breaking Barriers

Impact Report 2023–2024

Lived experience panel

The Lived Experience Panel was established to embed a client‑and‑data‑ led approach at the heart of our work.

We define ‘lived experience’ as asylum seekers with the right to work, refugees, people from a refugee background or with first‑hand experience of seeking sanctuary or migration to the UK.

Since its establishment, the panel of seven consultants have successfully delivered 457 hours of consultancy work. A few examples:

86%

said expectations regarding the level of insight/input provided by the panel was fully or mostly met.

100%

agreed or strongly agreed that the panel has added value to their project or initiative.

100%

of the participants rated their overall experience with the panel as very good or excellent.

Based on my experience as a consultant at Breaking Barriers, I believe it’s an inclusive place to work. The company values diversity in its hiring, so I’ve had the chance to work with people from different backgrounds and cultures. Everyone here treats each other with respect, and we work together as a team. It’s a supportive environment where everyone’s ideas are appreciated, which makes it a really inclusive place to be.”

Nawal, Lived Experience Panel Member, 2023–2024

9 | Breaking Barriers

Impact Report 2023–2024

Our impact

Since it all began in 2015

Breaking Barriers was founded in 2015 and we supported our first clients in London in 2016. We have been on a journey of growth since, and now work in Greater Manchester, Glasgow, Liverpool and the West Midlands.

1,272 1,061 261 1,398 employment education volunteering clients have achieved outcomes and training outcomes outcomes outcomes: 2,594

2,911 clients supported across five locations between FY16–17 and FY23–24

----- Start of picture text -----
Clients
1500
1248
1200
1084
900
622
600
468
442 449 453
300
63
0
16–17 17–18 18–19 19–20 20–21 21–22 22–23 23–24
Financial year
48% of of
clients have 2,064
education classes
achieved a positive
attended by
outcome since
enrolling with us 948 clients
----- End of picture text -----

48% of of clients have achieved a positive outcome since enrolling with us

47,725 hours of support provided

236 group support sessions hosted by 62 corporate partners

10 | Breaking Barriers

Impact Report 2023–2024

A snapshot of our FY23–24 year

In FY23–24 we supported the highest number of clients so far in our history, reaching a total of 1,247 individuals across five locations – a 15% growth on FY22–23, and representing a doubling of our reach since FY21‑22.

Our Financial Year (FY) runs from June to May

1,247 clients supp ~~orted –~~ more than any previous year

54 sessions delivered directly with 34 of our corporate partners, supporting 293 clients – double the number of clients since FY21‑22

hours of 10,548 support delivered – more than any previous year

~~7~~ 09 outcomes achieved by 480 clients – doubling in FY21–22

135 dedicated volunteers delivered 752 hours of support

296 ~~new jobs~~ started by clients

----- Start of picture text -----
38%
outcome rate
this year –
above target
----- End of picture text -----

83% of clients reporting increased likelihood of finding a job

92% of clients reporting in ~~creased~~ motivation to achieve their goals

Following our expansion to Manchester and Birmingham two years ago, we further increased our reach in FY23‑24 with the launch of two new locations – Liverpool and Glasgow. For the first time, most of our clients were based outside of London.

Clients supported per location per FY

----- Start of picture text -----
1500
1247
1200 1084
900
622
600 468
300
0
FY20–21 FY21–22 FY22–23 FY23–24
Birmingham Glasgow Liverpool
London Manchester Other
----- End of picture text -----

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Impact Report 2023–2024

Who are our clients?

Our clients have a diverse range of backgrounds and experiences. Here is an overview of the people we supported during FY23‑24.

Country of origin

Clients came from 79 different countries, with the most frequent being Iran, Afghanistan, Eritrea, Syria and Ukraine.

Languages

Clients speak a myriad of languages, over 100 in total, the most common being Arabic, Farsi, Dari, Ukrainian and Pashto.

Gender

58% of our clients identify as a man, 41% identify as a woman, and less than 1% identify as non‑binary or another gender.

Top 5 countries of origin

Languages spoken by clients

Clients by gender

----- Start of picture text -----
Iran 13%
Afghanistan
11%
Eritrea 7%
Syria 7%
Ukraine 6%
Other 56%
----- End of picture text -----

----- Start of picture text -----
Farsi 10%
Arabic Man and
19% Dari 5% transgender
Ukrainian 5% man 58%
Pashto 5% Non-binary
Turkish 4% or another
Amharic 4% gender <1%
Tigrinya 3% Woman and
Cantonese 3%
Other French 3% transgender
languages Tamil 1% woman 41%
spoken 38%
----- End of picture text -----

Age

Our clients range in age, from 18 to 50+, but the majority (53%) of them are young, under the age of 35.

Clients by age at enrolment

----- Start of picture text -----
Over 50 7%
45–50 8%
40–45 12%
35–40 20%
30–35 20%
25–30 17%
18–25 16%
----- End of picture text -----

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Impact Report 2023–2024

Ahmad’s story

My friends used to call me ‘moonstruck’ – at least that’s the best translation I can think of. I love looking at the sky, and the stars, and I loved physics in high school. I graduated as an electrical engineer in Pakistan.

I worked in various jobs, including as a remote manager for a UK company. In 2021 I arrived in the UK, and I applied for asylum. I couldn’t work while my claim was being processed for the first year.

Most people think that living in home office accommodation is living the dream. But it’s not. It’s really hard to sit there day after day feeling stressed and worried, and not being able to use your brain and work.

After one year, I was allowed to apply for permission to work as I had been waiting for more than 12 months for my claim to be processed through no fault of my own. I am fortunate that engineering was on the shortage occupation list and I could work as a fibre optics engineer. This meant I was able to travel to lots of places around the UK – including accessing the rooftop of one of the tallest buildings in London where the view was amazing!

It was while I was searching for a new job that I came across Breaking Barriers. I kept getting to final interviews, some with prestigious companies, but I couldn’t get past this stage. I needed to build a network and understand what I could do differently.

Maria, my Employment Adviser, was my breakthrough. She connected me to lots of different organisations and people – some

helped me with interview practice, while others helped me to understand different industries.

The mock interviews really helped and I’m now on a graduate scheme at a process automation company! It’s a good feeling to have something to do. To not just be sitting there idle and stressing. It’s good to have a sense of security. I get to work in lots of

different departments and I’m hoping I’ll be able to specialise in project engineering. Perhaps there will also be the option to complete a master’s one day.

My dream is to become a Project Director – maybe even for a project that would get me into space so that I could visit Mars!

13 | Breaking Barriers

Impact Report 2023–2024

A deep dive into our employment work

At the point of enrolment with Breaking Barriers

When a client first enrols with us, we gather a lot of information to understand more about their background and their goals. Here’s what we found out in FY23‑24.

Time spent waiting for their refugee status

While they wait for their application to be approved, most asylum seekers are not permitted to work, cannot choose where they live, and rely on limited government cash grants for food, sanitation, clothing, bus and train fares, and anything else they may need.

This creates significant barriers to employment including gaps on CVs, a lack of professional connections, a lack of UK work experience and falling behind with skills and advancements in their industries.

In recent years, the proportion of our clients that received their refugee status within one year of arrival has fallen by more than 10% to just one third. In FY23‑24, most of our clients (67%) spent over a year waiting to receive their refugee status, with some waiting considerably longer.

One in 20 waited longer than 10 years.

Clients by time spent awaiting refugee status after UK arrival

----- Start of picture text -----
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
Status < 1 < 2 < 3 < 4 < 5 < 6 < 7 < 8 < 9 < 10 10
before year years years years years years years years years years years
UK arrival or more
14% 33% 63% 80% 85% 88% 91% 93% 94% 95% 96% 100%
Proportion of clients
----- End of picture text -----

14 | Breaking Barriers

Impact Report 2023–2024

Education and qualifications

Most of our clients are highly educated. Almost half of our clients (49%) are degree educated at Level 6 or above. Three quarters have the equivalent to A Levels, and 87% have qualifications equivalent to finishing secondary school.

This means our clients, on average, have a higher level of education than the British public as a whole – 59% of clients had a Level 4 qualification or above, compared to 34% of the general public and 44% of immigrants living in the UK (1).

British Regulated Qualification Levels Explained

Here is a list of the British qualification levels and examples of some of the qualifications that are at each level.

1 Office for National Statistics. (2021). Education, England and Wales: Census 2021

Work experience and employment status

Before enrolling with us, most of our clients have had multiple years of work experience abroad or in the UK – 64% had more than 3 years of experience, and 38% had more than 10 years.

Despite high levels of education and experience, 79% of our clients were either unemployed or economically inactive when they enrolled with us (compared to 4% unemployed and 22%

economically inactive for the UK population as a whole) (2).

2 Ofce for National Statistics Labour Market Overview July 2024, accessed 01/08/2024

Years of work experience at enrolment

Less than one year of work experience 1–3 years of work experience 3–5 years of work experience 5–10 years of work experience 10+ years of work experience

----- Start of picture text -----
19%
17%
5%
21%
38%
0 10% 20% 30% 40%
----- End of picture text -----

15 | Breaking Barriers

Impact Report 2023–2024

Alongside this, 99% of our clients were seeking our support in applying for entry level roles, and only 12% were actively seeking management level roles. 67% of our clients had already started their job search before they enrolled.

This shows how even highly educated and experienced clients face barriers to unlocking meaningful employment in the UK at a seniority appropriate for them.

Clients by employment status at enrolment

Unemployed 73% Economically inactive 6% Employed 21%

Labour market knowledge

One of the barriers that refugees face to gaining employment in the UK is understanding how our labour market works. The majority of our clients lacked confidence in engaging with the labour market and applying for roles (3).

While 82% had a CV when they enrolled, only 38% said they could confidently write a cover letter.

65% said they could confidently search for appropriate job roles, and the majority had already submitted more than five job applications when they enrolled with us.

But a third of our clients (36%) had never previously submitted a job application in the UK, and 69% had never attended a job interview in the UK before.

82% of clients had a CV when they enrolled but only 38% said they could confidently write a cover letter

3 These figures are from a selection of new ‘labour market knowledge’ questions that we began asking clients part‑way through the financial year, and so represent only a subset of the total number of clients supported.

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Impact Report 2023–2024

Amy’s[*] story

I had my own successful retail business in Hong Kong. I was the main salesperson for my business, so when I was thinking about jobs in the UK, I thought that a career in customer service and sales could be good for me. I would like to be a salesperson, so I can meet a lot of people and develop my communication skills and English level.

Getting a job means taking lots of steps. I needed to update my CV, learn about UK working culture, and get some UK work experience.

I learned from my Employment Adviser, Adiam, about the different style of CVs in the UK. In Hong Kong we put our education first, and we have long CVs with all our experience, usually two or more pages. Adiam helped me to create a CV for the UK, which is simple and just one or two pages.

I also joined two workshops to improve my interview skills and learn about UK working culture and customer service skills. This was quite important to understand before getting a job in the UK, because how you deal with difficult customers, or serve customers, is different to Hong Kong.

I was successful at getting a seasonal job with Lush. I don’t mind this part-time work because it means I am gaining work experience in the UK. It was a great experience. I met lots of customers and worked with different people. The team were caring, there was a positive working environment, and my manager made sure I knew what I was doing in my shift.

It is very important to work in the UK, not only to settle in the community but also to use our skills to contribute to the country and establish connections with both local and Hong Kong people.

*Name changed to protect identity

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Impact Report 2023–2024

After enrolment and towards employment

We delivered 10,548 hours of support during FY23–24 – more than we have ever delivered before.

This support covered a variety of activities, including:

Employment is the best way to help refugees integrate, and the model is very effective. It’s the one-to-one support that’s really good. Sitting down with an adviser, asking questions, understanding what we need.” Anonymous client

58% of support hours were delivered one‑to‑one, including 752 hours that were delivered by 135 dedicated volunteers, some of whom provide sector‑specific employment and further education guidance.

Hours delivered per FY

----- Start of picture text -----
12000
10548
9733
10000
8000
5684 5922 6090
6000 4929
3357
4000
2810
2000
0
FY20–21 FY21–22 FY22–23 FY23–24
Hours delivered (total)
One-to-one hours delivered
----- End of picture text -----

Until you hear about an individual’s circumstances it’s hard to understand how uneven the playing field is. Some people are trying to climb a steep hill, while others are on roller skates going down the other side. Sometimes it can feel deeply unfair, but I hope that by volunteering I’m helping to level the playing field in some way.”

Graham, volunteer

18 | Breaking Barriers

Impact Report 2023–2024

Remote and in-person support

Three quarters of the support we delivered was remote. This is the same proportion as last year, meaning that after a big spike in face‑to‑face delivery after Covid (during which 95% of delivery was remote) the proportion of support clients choose to receive face‑to‑face has now plateaued.

Clients generally had a high level of digital literacy – 96% of clients surveyed were confident using email and 91% were confident using Zoom. Slightly fewer, however, were confident using Microsoft Word and an online calendar (79% and 73% respectively).

While 95% of clients reported having regular access to the internet, only 59% own a laptop or desktop computer.

High levels of digital literacy among most clients make Breaking Barriers’ predominantly online delivery model possible. However, for clients with lower levels of digital skills, lower English language levels, and for those who don’t have reliable forms of digital access or live in insecure housing, face‑to‑face sessions remain essential.

Support delivered by format

----- Start of picture text -----
100%
80%
60% 100 95 71 74
40%
20%
5 29 26
0
FY20–21 FY21–22 FY22–23 FY23–24
Remote hours (%) Face to face hours (%)
----- End of picture text -----

Education classes

Alongside our one‑to‑one support, we also delivered a record 421 group Education Classes to clients in FY23–24 (doubling the number of classes delivered three years ago).

These classes cover business English, IELTS (International English Language Testing System) exam preparation and IT and digital skills. They were attended by 321 clients and represented 2,656 hours of support.

Education class clients

----- Start of picture text -----
350
321
300
270
250
200
166
150 131
100
FY20–21 FY21–22 FY22–23 FY23–24
----- End of picture text -----

19 | Breaking Barriers

Impact Report 2023–2024

Our corporate partners

293 clients were supported in 54 sessions delivered directly with 34 of our corporate partners, including:

This totaled 137 hours delivered.

This means that the number of clients supported in sessions with our corporate partners has doubled in the last two years.

Clients directly supported in sessions with corporate partners

----- Start of picture text -----
293
300
250
223
200
150 132 132
100
FY20–21 FY21–22 FY22–23 FY23–24
----- End of picture text -----

293 clients were supported in sessions delivered directly with

34 of our corporate partners, including 137 hours delivered.

Improving our efficiency

In addition to clients achieving a historically high number of outcomes (4), we supported clients into outcomes more efficiently than in previous years.

The number of hours of support we provide to clients per outcome they achieved has fallen year on year, indicating that each hour of support we provide has become more efficient over time as we hone our services.

Similarly, the number of outcomes achieved per client we have supported has steadily risen in recent years. This is a promising indicator that we are targeting and delivering our support more effectively.

4 We define an outcome as any employment, education, training or volunteering opportunity achieved.

20 | Breaking Barriers

Impact Report 2023–2024

Nevertheless, supporting a client into an outcome still requires an average of 15 hours, and a new job requires an average of 36 hours – showing how much support time is needed to have a real impact on a client’s career trajectory.

Hours per outcome

----- Start of picture text -----
60 57
48
41
36 36
36
26
24
24
14 15
12
0
FY20–21 FY21–22 FY22–23 FY23–24
Hours per employment outcome
----- End of picture text -----

My employment adviser, helped me to find a college course, and I’ve just finished my first year in beauty. She helped me to find a functional English skills course, and she helped me with my CV and interview skills so that I can work while I study.”

Mariam, Breaking Barriers client

----- Start of picture text -----
Hours per outcome
----- End of picture text -----

The impact for clients

We use an impact survey to understand the benefits that our support is bringing to clients in helping them achieve their career goals (5). In the responses to this survey, we found:

92% of clients increased their motivation to achieve their goals.

88% 87% of clients reported of clients reported an an increased improved understanding understanding of of their preferred UK workplace culture. sector of work.

89% of clients increased 83% 76% their confidence in of clients believed their of clients reported achieving their goals. chances of starting a increased confidence new job had increased. during job interviews.

74% of clients reported increased confidence using digital technology.

5 This impact survey is sent at a timepoint agreed between the client and their Employment and Integration Adviser when the client enrols with us. The timing will vary depending on how much the client is able to engage with our services and what the client’s goals are, but the usual time for a client to receive the survey is around 3 months after their enrolment.

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Impact Report 2023–2024

The CareTech Foundation: building foundations for change

Back in 2022, the health and social care sector consistently ranked as one of the top sectors in which Breaking Barriers clients aspired to work, yet refugees were often finding it challenging to secure employment.

At the same time, there were high vacancy rates in the care sector. According to Skills for Care, vacancy rates in England were at 8.2%, and 105,000 vacancies were being advertised on average each day. Turnover was also high, at 34.4%.

That’s why Breaking Barriers and the CareTech Foundation launched a new partnership to simultaneously reduce high unemployment rates among refugees and decrease high vacancy rates in the health and social care sector.

In the past two years we have worked hard to put in place the foundations for systemic change.

Almost 50 people of a refugee background took part in activities, such as insight sessions to upskill the Breaking Barriers team and clients in how the health and social care industry works, workshops on how to succeed in this sector, and two bespoke recruitment pathways in London and Manchester. Over 50% of the refugees who took part have already achieved

employment, education or training in the health and social care sector.

The CareTech Foundation have also been vocal in advocating for change and sharing best practice via the Business Behind Refugees movement. Over the past two years, more than 50 clients have gained employment in the health and social care sector, a significant increase on previous years. This is a strong indicator that the work we have been doing to build foundations for change is already achieving success.

“Working with Breaking Barriers has provided us a unique perspective to work with an organisation that champions something that lies at the Foundation’s core. The recognition of skills and experience refugees can bring to the health and social care sector when given the opportunity is profound. This two year partnership has showcased our commitment to addressing social care’s vacancy problem, and we are hugely proud of our impact together. As well as the individuals we have seen accessing jobs, the impact of what we’ve learnt together has real value beyond our partnership – and we hope this is just the start for our sector.” – Tariq Raja, CEO, CareTech Foundation

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Impact Report 2023–2024

Starting a new job, education, training or volunteering opportunity

FY23‑24 was our most successful year yet in terms of client outcomes – 480 clients achieved 709 outcomes during the year, including 256 clients starting 296 new jobs (6).

The number of outcomes achieved by our clients per year has more than trebled since FY21–22 (7). 84 of these outcomes were provided by our corporate partners, including clients starting 27 new jobs with them.

Employment outcome by previous employment status

----- Start of picture text -----
Previously unemployed 84.8%
Change of employer 10.6%
Promotions 3.0%
Previously self-employed 1.5%
0 50% 100%
----- End of picture text -----

----- Start of picture text -----
480
clients achieved
709
outcomes
----- End of picture text -----

Employment related outcomes

Of our clients who started new jobs during the year, the overwhelming majority were previously unemployed (85%), with Breaking Barriers often supporting them out of unemployment for the first time in the UK.

Client employment outcomes by sector

----- Start of picture text -----
Accomodation and food Other service
17% 10% 10% 9% 8% 46%
Wholesale and retail Health and social work
0 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Third sector/charity Other sectors (outside top 5)
----- End of picture text -----

Clients most frequently found work in hospitality, retail, health and social care or third sector roles. However, the range of sectors clients found work in was considerable, with these top five most frequent sectors only accounting for 54% of employment outcomes during the year.

6 This year we have simplified the way we classify outcomes – breaking them down into employment, education or training, and volunteering types. 7 We made a coordinated effort to reach out to clients that had disengaged with us in Manchester and Birmingham last Autumn, which happily resulted in us finding out about a considerable number of previously unknown outcomes that occurred in FY22–23, meaning that the number of FY22–23 outcomes included in analysis in this report is higher than the number included in last year’s impact report.

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Impact Report 2023–2024

How does this compare to the UK population as a whole?

Despite health and social care and retail being two of the most common sectors for clients to find work, clients were actually under‑represented in these sectors relative to the general population (a 5% difference and 3% difference respectively in the proportion of job roles) (8).

Clients were more than twice as likely to find work in accommodation and food than the average member of the UK population (17% vs 7% of job roles) but were proportionally underrepresented in professional scientific and technical activities, education and construction.

Over and under representation of client employment sectors to overall UK workforce

-5%
-4%
-3%
-3%
-2%
-2%
-2%
-1%
-1%
-1%
Mining & quarrying
, steam & air conditioning supply
Arts, entertainment & recreation
Financial & insurance activities
Information & communication
Transport & storage
Other service activities
Other
odation & food service activities		 Professional scientifc & technical activities
Human health & social work activities
Education
Construction
Wholesale & retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and m
Public admin & defence; compulsory social security
Administrative & support service activities
Real estate activities
Manufacturing
Agriculture, forestry & fshing
Water supply, sewerage, waste & remediation activities
0%
0%
0%
0%
1%
2%
7%

8 Ofce for National Statistics Dataset on Workforce Jobs by Industry, accessed 01/08/2024

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Underemployment and insecure contracts

Although achieving high numbers of employment outcomes, underemployment remains a crucial issue for our clients. Despite our clients’ often high levels of experience and education, the majority of employment outcomes were in junior level roles – with 85% of roles being either entry level, graduate roles or internships.

Similarly, the majority of client outcomes were either in temporary (37%) or zero‑hours (20%) contracts, indicating the scope for clients to increase their job security even after they enter employment for the first time.

This highlights the vital importance of our client‑led model. We do not have an end date for our support, and are here for clients even after they achieve their first outcomes. This means they can come back to us when they are ready to go for a new role or a promotion.

Encouragingly, a portion of clients achieved career growth – of the roles clients started, 11% were moving to a new employer, and 3% were promotions with the same employer.

I’m settled. I feel like part of society now. I go out and work every day. I have responsibility, I pay my rent, I pay my bills. I have control and

independence over my own life. I am building my understanding of technology, I’m going to go to college and get a certificate in English, and then I want to do a degree and become a nurse with the NHS.”

Susan (name changed to protect identity)

Education and training

Finding meaningful employ‑ ment isn’t always about getting a job immediately. Many clients progress toward their career goals by undertaking education and training courses.

Our team supports clients to search and apply for these opportunities, as well as to apply for financial support to cover the costs.

By far the most frequent subject of study for clients was ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages), which amounted to a quarter of all education and training outcomes (9).

employment, so qualifications in these areas are potentially highly valuable for their job search.

However, large proportions of clients also undertook training in IT or health and social care. These are also two of the areas where clients frequently find

Education and training by subject

ESOL 24% Information and Communication Technology (ICT) 18% Health, Public Services and Care 18% Other 8% Business, Administration and Law 7% Languages, Literature and Culture 5% Construction, Planning and the Built Environment 5% Education and Training 4% Preparation for Life and Work 3% Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies 2% Science and Mathematics 2% Leisure, Travel and Tourism 1% Retail and Commercial Enterprise 1% Arts, Media and Publishing 1%

9 We only started gathering and categorising education and training outcome data using Ofqual subject categories part‑way through the financial year, so these figures represent a sample of the total number of education and training outcomes for the whole year. For more information on these categories, click here.

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Clients most frequently undertook vocational training courses that are not recognised qualifications in the UK (these could include qualifications for software such as CAD, animation tools or Salesforce, acquiring a Drivers’ License, passing an International English Language Testing System (IELTS) exam, or undertaking employability training with a potential employer). Often, these are the most suitable qualifications for helping clients take the next step in their career.

One in ten clients also began an Undergraduate level qualification or above, and seven clients even began Postgraduate degrees.

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An interwoven network of support

We are decidedly focused on refugee employment as our area of expertise and specialism. However, the challenges and barriers faced by refugees are complex and interrelated. That’s why we work with a wide range of organisations to make sure our clients are supported as best they can be.

Some of these organisations refer clients to us for support, and vice versa.

Based on our data and insights, we have noticed that the three main challenges clients might need further support with to find employment are English language comprehension, homelessness or insecure housing, and mental health issues.

English language

Most of our clients had a good level of English at enrolment with us, with 78% self‑reporting that their speaking comprehension was either ‘independent’ or above.

However, the proportion of clients that consider themselves ‘proficient’ English speakers was as low (37%) this year as in FY22‑23, meaning that levels of English speaking remain lower among our clients than they were two years ago. Even less, only 30% consider themselves ‘proficient’ in writing.

Proficient English speaking clients

----- Start of picture text -----
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
59% 51% 37% 37%
20%
10%
0
FY20–21 FY21–22 FY22–23 FY23–24
----- End of picture text -----

We provide English classes that are focused on English for work, business English, and IELTS (International English Language Testing System) practice.

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Homelessness

A high proportion of our clients struggle with homelessness and insecure housing, such as hotels and hostels. After a sharp increase last year, the percentage of clients facing this challenge remained relatively stable in FY23‑24. But this still means many more of our clients experience homelessness than they did two years ago.

This can make it extremely challenging to find employment due to the possibility of being relocated with little choice or warning about where you are moving to, issues with Wi‑Fi, not having furniture such as a desk, living in overcrowded accommodation with a lack of privacy, and the physical and mental health impact of not having a home.

Homeless clients have an 18% likelihood of entering employment, compared to 24% for non‑homeless clients.

While the overall percentage of clients experiencing homelessness has remained flat, figures per location have changed considerably. In London, 41% of our clients reported homelessness, up from 31% last year. Unlike London, other locations seem to be improving. 44% of Birmingham clients reported homelessness compared to 51% in FY22‑23, and in Manchester this figure was 36% compared to 43% in FY22–23 (10).

Homelessness

----- Start of picture text -----
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0
Overall (%) London (%) Manchester (%) Birmingham (%)
FY21–22 FY22–23 FY23–24
----- End of picture text -----

10 We have less than one years’ worth of data for our newly launched locations Glasgow and Liverpool, so we are not mentioning them here due to the smaller sample size of clients compared to other, more established locations.

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Mental health

The number of clients experiencing mental health difficulties has remained consistent over the past years with 25% reporting that they regularly struggle with their mental health.

Clients with mental health issues have a 17% probability of entering employment, compared to 24% for clients without reported mental health issues.

It is important to note here that due to the overall stigma and differing cultural understandings around mental illness, cases may remain underreported.

The causes of mental health and low wellbeing are complex. Some underlying reasons include:

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Looking ahead to 2025 and beyond

As we look ahead to 2024 – 2025, we have to acknowledge the impact of the wider context on our financial health.

The current economic environment, the rapid growth we have undertaken, and the loss of some statutory income has meant that we need to focus on stability and future proofing the organisation.

Despite these challenges, we successfully grew our income in FY23‑24, and are committed to continuing this sustainable growth going forward. As a result, our organisational priorities are focused around:

1 and infrastructure required for the Setting up the foundations, funding organisation to grow towards the 2030 goals. This includes focussing on strengthening funding streams that will maintain our income, embedding and implementing improved systems across finance, HR and data, and improving processes and structures across organisation.

2 our clients and embedding our reputation Improving the quality of our services for for offering high quality employment support. We will be focused on implementing the recommendations of a programmes strategic review, including making quality improvements, standardising practices of our services, increasing outcome rates in five locations, and improving our delivery model.

3 Developing our products, services and influence around how we partner with responsible businesses to support refugees into outcomes. Evolving how we work with our corporate partners with a focus on accelerating opportunities for hiring refugees, building on our public fundraising and communications campaigns in support of our partnerships, and continuing to share and amplify the stories and experiences of our refugee clients.

As well as these priorities we will be focussing on key cross organisational areas including developing and sharing our theory of change and reviewing our monitoring and evaluation framework as a result.

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Trustees’ annual report For the year ended 31st May 2024

The Trustees present their report and financial statements for the year ended 31st May 2024.

The Trustees confirm that the financial statements comply with the current statutory requirements, the memorandum and articles of association and the Statement of Recommended Practice – Accounting and Reporting by Charities: SORP applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with FRS 102.

Objectives and activities

Breaking Barriers was set up to support refugees into meaningful employment. The objects set out in our governing document are as follows:

At Breaking Barriers, we deliver on our charitable objectives through our Employment and Education programmes.

Our Employment programme offers personalised one‑to‑one support to people of a refugee background seeking to work in the UK. We run these appointments in person, via video call or over the phone. We also work with businesses from a wide range of industries. Many of our partners offer workshops, mentoring and job opportunities to build our clients employability skills. Our academy placements offer clients paid work placements to gain invaluable skills working for a UK business.

Our Education programme focuses on two key areas we see as essential skills to build your career in the UK. The first is the English language, so we offer one‑to‑one or small group classes to help clients feel comfortable communicating in English. We also offer IT and Digital skills to ensure our clients can search for and apply for jobs.

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Public benefit

When planning Breaking Barriers’ activities each year, the Trustees take due regard of the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit. Within the constraint of resources, and subject to any eligibility criteria for a specific service, Breaking Barriers’ services, described above, are available to all refugees and people of refugee background. Services are offered without charging fees. Our work to help refugees gain meaningful employment is a key contributor to integration for refugees themselves and for members of the host population.

Achievements and performance

In FY24 has been our most impactful year to date. We supported more 15% more clients this year than we did last year, with 1,247 clients engaging with our service. We also achieved an outcome rate above target, at 38%. This over achievement reflects our recent investment in our services and partnerships model, and of course the talents of our clients.

Excitingly we expanded into Liverpool and Glasgow, taking our first clients on in each region from January. Since then, we have worked with 92 new clients, building strong connections with local refugee networks and service providers. With our operations in these areas set to support more refugees, per year in future, as they mature and develop.

We are proud of our achievements, especially given the broader landscape of high economic uncertainty, political unrest and geopolitical tensions. For BB the inflationary environment, and changes to the statutory landscape – in particular the fact we can no longer access funding from the European Union – meant that we took proactive measures to reduce our cost base this year from what was originally planned. Of importance to us was maintaining the quality and reach of our services, which was front of mind when we restructured the organisation. Having recently conducted a strategic review of our services, we have now implemented changes that will equip the organisation to build sustainably towards our 2030 goals.

Additional information on our achievements and performance are on pages 9 to 28.

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Financial Review

At the year ended 31st May 2024 Breaking Barriers made a small deficit of £0.25m (FY23: £0.54 surplus).

Despite difficult external conditions we had our most successful fundraising year to date, raising income of £3.87m (FY23: £3.80m) an increase of 2% from last financial year. As well as that, within the year we successfully secured and delivered some of our biggest corporate partnerships, expanded our base of charitable trust and foundation donors across the UK, and focused on retaining and deepening our support from our existing corporate supporters. This was aided by the impact of a maturing fundraising function and increased efficiency and shared working across all income streams.

Income over time

----- Start of picture text -----
4000000
3500000
3000000
2500000
2000000
1500000
1000000
500000
0
2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
----- End of picture text -----

We have a diversity of income streams, and diversity of donors within those in those streams. With income split as follows:

  1. Statutory income £0.77m (FY23: £1.19m)

  2. Income from corporate partnerships including that given for matched funding £1.69m (FY23: £1.44m)

  3. Income from trusts and foundations including that given for matched funding £1.17m (FY23: £0.9m)

  4. Income from other sources including donations from individuals and gifts, makes up £0.23m (FY23: £0.23m).

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Breakdown of FY24 Income by source

----- Start of picture text -----
Trusts and grants 30%
General donations, major
donations, gift aid and other 6%
Statutory including SIB 20%
Corporate partner income 44%
----- End of picture text -----

As well as our expansion into Liverpool and Glasgow we have made a number of investments this year that are laying the foundations for future success.

Our CRM project has direct costs of £304k (FY23:£177k) in the year and has seen significant development and impact. It now houses both our funder and client data. For our income pipeline it allows us a record of funder interactions, integrations with our email marketing and online donation platforms, the management and impact of events, and more. For our client data it allowed significant improvements to our data model for monitoring, delivery and outcomes, which will enable us to refine our services for maximal impact.

Our Lived Experience strategy, in its infancy last year, has been incredibly impactful, with our Lived Experience panel driving client and data led decisions through their advice on key initiatives throughout the year, specific initiatives are referenced earlier in the report. Spend in FY24 was £51k.

Our first, pilot, public fundraising campaigns were delivered during the year, underpinned by investment in research and creative development, and the recruitment of a specialist member of staff. We were pleased that these digital campaigns attracted initial engagement from a range of audiences. However, further testing and supporter feedback is needed to expand the role of donations from individuals in organisational stability and growth in the coming years. Spend in FY24 was £172k of which £117k was funded by our designated fund (FY23: £83K)

Expenditure on raising funds was £0.82m (FY23: £0.57m) which represents 19% (FY23: 17%) of total expenditure. Within the year our fundraising team grew by two people, within philanthropy and public fundraising, and our communications and engagement team also drove some of our fundraising engagements with key audiences, contributing to our cost of raising funds.

Our support costs have also increased to £0.66m, 16% (FY23: £0.27m, 8%) which reflects the investment in key roles across Finance and HR that are driving best practice. It also reflects the fact our CRM in no longer used for solely client data, as it was previously, and therefore the Data team are taking a role in facilitating the organisations broader decision making, through the provision of financial data.

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Reserves

At Breaking Barriers our reserves policy is to maintain a general fund which represents three months of forward expenditure. At 31st May 2024, our general fund had a balance of £1.00m, representing 3.4 months’ expenditure (FY23: £1.21m representing 3.4 months’ expenditure).

Going concern

The trustees have considered the charity’s ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least 12 months from the date of signing the accounts (to the period to December 2025).

Our annual budget for FY24/25 covers the period to May 2025. This sets out our plans to evolve our service delivery offering, heightening our emphasis on quality outcomes and improving our Monitoring and Evaluation framework. We will solidify our offering in Glasgow and Liverpool also. As part of the budget setting process, we reviewed our cash flow and planned reserves position for the year. Robust monitoring is in place to ensure that we remain liquid, and currently we are able to draw down on our reserves quickly, ensuring we are able to react to a downturn immediately. Whilst the current economic climate remains uncertain, we are confident that we will be able to meet our plans.

Taking into account our current cash position, our forecast, and our principal risks, the Trustees are confident we will continue in operation and will be able to meet our liabilities when they fall due over the medium term. Therefore, the board have decided to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing these financial statements.

Future plans

In 2023 we established our 2030 goal, which outlines our ambition for the future at Breaking Barriers.

It’s focused on reaching more refugees across more areas of the UK, including those facing the toughest barriers to enter the job market, and our ambition to ensure that over 50% of the clients we support will go on to achieve an outcome in education, training, volunteering or employment.

It also outlined the importance of working with sector‑leading responsible businesses, being data‑led and evidence based in our approach, and working collaboratively with the wider sector.

These principles have underpinned our priorities and successes in 2023 – 2024 as we established our presence in new areas and continued to improve the quality of our services, and they will continue to guide our work going forward.

As we look ahead, we will be further reviewing and developing the 2030 goals into strategic plans and updating our organisational ‘theory of change’. This will ensure we are prioritising activities that lead to more refugees accessing meaningful and sustained employment and building a new life in the UK.

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Principal risks and uncertainties

The Board is responsible for ensuring that we have effective risk management and that internal systems are in place to understand our risk appetite and manage the major risks we are exposed to.

Currently the Senior Leadership Team review risks on a monthly basis, with the Finance, Audit and Risk Sub‑Committee meeting on a quarterly basis to review the risk register, and the whole Board undertaking an annual review. Our key risks and their mitigations are summarised in the table below:

Ensure we maintain a long term sustainable financial position

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Risk Mitigations
Risk of delivering a
product that doesn’t meet
client need or where the
cost per benefciary is
unafordable or
unfundable
• Robust review of current delivery model,
including regular scrutiny from board
representatives on a services sub committee,
and development of strategic roadmap for
sustainable growth
• Embed good practice and change
management governance controls
• Further develop enhanced monitoring
approach and embed continuous
improvement into all service delivery
• Ensure consistent delivery of best practice
qualitymanagement standards and tools
Risk that we do not
attract and retain high
performing talent and are
therefore less efective
• Considerable focus on staf engagement
and retention with increase in non‑monetary
perks
• Attrition rate monitored and stafng matters
discussed at SLT and the nominations and
remuneration sub‑committee
• Financial measures taken to support staf
through cost of living crisis
• Staf engagement forum and feedback loop
with senior leaders
• Whistleblowing, grievance and disciplinary
policies and procedures in place
• Benchmarking of benefts and packages
across the sector
• Robust staf appraisal processes
• Training and development to support staf
to build capabilities
• Diversity and inclusion activities embedded
and increased support for staf from
a refugee background

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Risk Mitigations

Risk to the safety and welfare of our clients, volunteers and staff

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Structure, governance and management

The charity is governed by a Board of Trustees who oversee the strategy, direction, performance and risks of the organisation. They do this by approving budgets, operational plans and key organisational policies. They also review our finance performance, risk register, fundraising income and portfolio of donors, our impact data and feedback from beneficiaries.

----- Start of picture text -----
Board of Trustees
Quarterly meetings,
annual strategy day
Fundraising Finance, Nominations & Programmes
Sub-committee Audit and Risk Remuneration Sub-committee
2 Trustees – Sub-committee Sub-committee 3 Trustees –
meet quarterly 3 Trustees – 3 Trustees – meet quarterly
meets monthly meet quarterly
----- End of picture text -----

Day‑to‑day management of the charity is delegated by the trustees to the CEO, Ciara Devlin, supported by her Senior Leadership Team. This group meets monthly to review income, expenditure and cashflow, HR metrics and to monitor organisational risks. It also reviews any other matter which might materially impact the financial position or reputation of the charity and where necessary notifies the trustees of any issues arising.

Trustees are chosen for their expertise and commitment to support refugees. Potential new trustees are identified either from suitable candidates known to the board or CEO or through open search. All candidates submit an application with a CV and personal statement and appointments are approved by majority vote of existing trustees. A formal induction plan is in place to ensure that new trustees are fully informed about their responsibilities, the current position of the charity and the key questions they will need to address.

Trustee terms are fixed terms of three years with optional extensions.

Related parties and relationships with other organisations

The charity has one subsidiary undertaking, Breaking Barriers Trading Ltd, which is wholly owned by the charity and was established in 2018. The results of Breaking Barriers Trading Ltd are fully consolidated in these accounts. BB Trading has a resource sharing agreement with the charity through which the company pays for an equitable share of the administrative services needed to ensure that business activity is compliant with all appropriate and relevant standards. The activity in BB Trading this year related to our academy placement offering and was immaterial. There are currently no plans for the Trading subsidiary, and if this remains the same for the foreseeable future we will make the

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organisation dormant until required. No loans have been made by the charity to the trading subsidiary.

There are no formal relationships between the charity and any other organisation.

Remuneration policy for key management personnel

Annual pay awards for the organisation are approved by the Board. The Board considers the CEO and the rest of the Senior Leadership Team’s salaries separately, taking into account performance, level of individual responsibility and external benchmarking.

Responsible Fundraising Statement

Breaking Barriers has a deliberately diverse portfolio of donors, of which no donor represents more than 20% of our income. Breaking Barriers’ objective is to achieve as wide a range of income source as possible in order to reduce the reliance on any one stream of income and to protect the charity from not being able to fulfil its objectives.

Currently, income is received from businesses, statutory sources, charitable trusts and foundations, and individuals (through the promotion of one‑off and recurring gifts, legacies, and independent fundraising activities). We fundraise principally through online marketing and advertising and, with organisations, through direct approaches to or from relevant business and grant management functions.

In FY24 Breaking Barriers did not have relationships with any commercial participators. During the year we employed one professional fundraiser whose contract required them to adhere to Breaking Barriers values and practices in relation to fundraising activity. Their fundraising activities were directly supervised by the Director of Development, who reviewed fundraising proposals and participated regularly in the fundraiser’s external meetings.

We are registered with the Fundraising Regulator and ensure that we adhere to the standards set out in the Code of Fundraising Practice. We are committed to treating everyone fairly and with respect. We take privacy seriously and are transparent about how we collect, store and use personal data to help us earn the trust and confidence of all those who are part of our community. Full details of our approach to personal data use can be found in our Privacy Policy on our website.

In respect of our public fundraising, Breaking Barriers has a policy and related processes in place to assist and protect people who may be in a vulnerable circumstance. This policy is available via the privacy statement on our website.

In FY24 we received no complaints directly related to our fundraising practices. We provide details on how to contact us, including our complaints policy and procedure on our website.

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Statement of responsibilities of the trustees

The trustees are responsible for preparing the trustees’ report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102: The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

The law applicable to charities in England and Wales requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charity for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the trustees are required to:

The trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charities Act 2011 and the Charity (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

The trustees are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial information included on the charity’s website. Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.

If the Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) is wound up, the members of the CIO have no liability to contribute to its assets and no personal responsibility for settling its debts and liabilities. The trustees are members of the charity but this entitles them only to voting rights. The trustees have no beneficial interest in the charity.

Auditors

Godfrey Wilson were appointed as the auditors of the charity in FY22 and have expressed their willingness to continue in that capacity.

The trustees’ annual report has been approved by the trustees on 9th December 2024 and signed on their behalf by:

A Lamberti

Alba Lamberti, Chair of Trustees

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Independent auditors’ report

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of Breaking Barriers (the ‘parent charity’) and its subsidiary (the ‘group’) for the year ended 31 May 2024 which comprise the statement of financial activities, consolidated and parent charity balance sheet, consolidated statement of cashflows and the related notes to the financial statements, including a summary of significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 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:

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 group and parent charity 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 the provisions available for small entities, 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.

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Conclusions relating to going concern

In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the trustees’ use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.

Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the group and parent charity’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. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon.

In connection with our audit of the financial statements, 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 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 or a material misstatement of the other information. 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.

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 and the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 require us to report to you if, in our opinion:

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Responsibilities of the trustees

As explained more fully in the trustees’ responsibilities statement set out in the trustees’ report, the trustees 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 they 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 group and parent charity’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 group and parent charity or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

Our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

We have been appointed as auditor under section 151 of the Charities Act 2011 and section 44(1)(c) of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and report in accordance with the Acts and relevant regulations made or having effect thereunder.

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 the 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 non‑compliance 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 procedures we carried out and the extent to which they are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud, are detailed below:

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Because of the inherent limitations of an audit, there is a risk that we will not detect all irregularities, including those leading to a material misstatement in the financial statements or non‑compliance with regulation. Irregularities that arise due to fraud can be even harder to detect than those that arise from error as they may involve deliberate concealment or collusion.

A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at: www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our auditor’s report.

Use of our report

This report is made solely to the charity’s trustees, as a body, in accordance with Part 4 of the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008, and Regulation 10 of the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charityʼs trustees those matters we are required to state to them in an auditorʼs report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charityʼs trustees as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

Date: 9 December 2024

Godfrey Wilson Limited

Godfrey Wilson Limited Chartered accountants and statutory auditors 5th Floor Mariner House 62 Prince Street Bristol, BS1 4QD

Godfrey Wilson Limited is eligible for appointment as auditor of the charity by virtue of its eligibility for appointment as auditor of a company under section 1212 of the Companies Act 2006.

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Financial statements Consolidated statement of financial activities

For the year ended 31 May 2024

Income from:
Donations
Charitable activities
Investment Income
Other tradingactivities		 Restated
2024 2023
Unrestricted Restricted Total Total
Note £ £ £ £
3 1,629,751 1,356,902 2,986,653 2,413,541
4 526,559 349,937 876,496 1,377,598
7,286 ‑ 7,286 ‑
‑ ‑ - 7,715
Total income 2,163,596 1,706,839 3,870,435 3,798,854
Expenditure on:
Raising funds
Charitable activities
5 (780,520) (39,383) (819,903) (569,164)
5 (1,705,080) (1,594,795) (3,299,875) (2,694,010)
Total expenditure (2,485,600) (1,634,178) (4,119,778) (3,263,174)
Net income/(expenditure)
and movement in funds
Reconciliation of funds:
Total funds brought forward
Total funds carried forward
6 (322,004) 72,661 (249,343) 535,680
1,325,543 563,443 1,888,986 1,353,306
13 1,003,539 636,104 1,639,643 1,888,986

All of the above results are derived from continuing activities.

There were no other recognised gains or losses other than those stated above.

The attached notes form part of these financial statements.

The prior period comparative income has been restated to split out expenditure between different charitable activities. There is no change to total income, or net movement in funds.

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Consolidated Balance Sheet

For the year ended 31 May 2024

Current assets:
Debtors
Cash at bank and in hand		 2024 2024 2023 2023
Note £ £ £ £
9 285,610 548,882
1,629,735 1,567,016
Liabilities:
Creditors: amounts falling due
within oneyear		 1,915,345 2,115,898
10 (275,702) (226,912)
Net current assets
1,639,643 1,888,986
Total net assets
12 1,639,643 1,888,986
Funds
Restricted funds
Unrestricted funds:
Designated funds
General funds
13
636,104 563,443
- 117,475
1,003,539 1,208,068
Total unrestricted funds 1,003,539 1,325,543
Total funds
1,639,643 1,888,986

Approved by the trustees on 9th December 2024 and signed on their behalf by:

A Lamberti

Alba Lamberti, Chair of Trustees

The attached notes form part of the financial statements.

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Charity Balance Sheet

For the year ended 31 May 2024

Fixed assets:
Investment
Current assets:
Debtors
Cash at bank and in hand		 2024 2024 2023 2023
Note £ £ £ £
17 1 1
9 316,054 565,361
1,603,582 1,552,551
Liabilities:
Creditors: amounts falling due
within oneyear		 1,919,636 2,117,912
10 (275,691) (226,548)
Net current assets
1,643,945 1,891,364
Total net assets
1,643,946 1,891,365
Funds
Restricted funds
Unrestricted funds:
Designated funds
General funds
636,104 563,443
- 117,475
1,007,842 1,210,447
Total unrestricted funds 1,007,842 1,327,922
Total funds
1,643,946 1,891,365

Approved by the trustees on 9th December 2024 and signed on their behalf by:

A Lamberti

Alba Lamberti, Chair of Trustees

The attached notes form part of the financial statements.

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Impact Report 2023–2024

Consolidated statement of cash flows

For the year ended 31 May 2024

For the year ended 31 May 2024 For the year ended 31 May 2024
Cash fows from operating activities:
Net movement in funds
(Increase) / decrease in debtors
Increase in creditors
Dividends, interest and rents from investments
Net cashprovided byoperatingactivities		 2024 2023
£ £
(249,343) 535,680
263,272 (110,116)
48,790 25,894
(7,286) ‑
55,433 451,458
Cash fows from investing activities:
Dividends, interest and rents from investments
Net cashprovided byinvestingactivities
Change in cash and cash equivalents in the year
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginningof theyear
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of theyear
7,286 ‑
7,286 ‑
62,719 451,458
1,567,016 1,115,558
1,629,735 1,567,016

The charity has not provided an analysis of changes in net debt as it does not have any long term financing arrangements.

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Notes to the consolidated financial statements

For the year ended 31 May 2024

Note 1 Accounting policies

General Information and basis of preparation

Breaking Barriers is a charitable incorporated organisation registered in England and Wales and also registered in Scotland. The registered office address is 71–91 Aldwych, Aldwych House, London, WC2B 4HN.

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with Accounting and Reporting by Charities: 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 (FRS 102 – effective 1 January 2019) – (Charities SORP FRS 102).

The charity meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS 102. Assets and liabilities are initially recognised at historical cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policy or note.

Basis of consolidation

These financial statements consolidate the results of the charity and its wholly‑owned (controlled) subsidiary on a line by line basis. Transactions and balances between the charity and its subsidiary have been eliminated from the consolidated financial statements. Balances between the two entities are disclosed in the notes of the charity’s balance sheet. A separate SOFA has not been presented for the charity.

Going concern

The trustees consider that there are no material uncertainties about the charity’s ability to continue as a going concern. The trustees do not consider that there are any sources of estimation uncertainty at the reporting date that have a significant risk of causing a material adjustment to the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities within the next reporting period.

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Income

Income is recognised when the charity has entitlement to the funds, any performance conditions attached to the income have been met, it is probable that the income will be received and that the amount can be measured reliably.

Income from government and other grants, whether ‘capital’ grants or ‘revenue’ grants, is recognised when the charity has entitlement to the funds, any performance conditions attached to the grants have been met, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount can be measured reliably and is not deferred. Income received in advance for the provision of services is deferred until the criteria for income recognition are met.

Income from donations and legacies are gifts from individuals, charitable trusts, corporate partners and other donors that are either unrestricted, restricted to core purposes or general organisational targets.

Income from charitable activities is defined as income earned for discrete services or the achievement of specific outcomes.

Income from other trading activities is income from employment related services, some of which are carried out by Breaking Barriers Trading. These services are invoiced and recognised as revenue when delivered.

Donations of gifts, services and facilities

Donated professional services and donated facilities are recognised as income when the charity has control over the item or received the service, any conditions associated with the donation have been met, the receipt of economic benefit from the use by the charity of the item is probable and that economic benefit can be measured reliably. In accordance with the Charities SORP (FRS 102), volunteer time is not recognised so refer to the trustees’ annual report for more information about their contribution.

On receipt, donated gifts, professional services and donated facilities are recognised on the basis of the value of the gift to the charity which is the amount the charity would have been willing to pay to obtain services or facilities of equivalent economic benefit on the open market; a corresponding amount is then recognised in expenditure in the period of receipt.

Interest receivable

Interest on funds held on deposit is included when receivable and the amount can be measured reliably by the charity; this is normally upon notification of the interest paid or payable by the bank.

Fund accounting

Unrestricted funds are available to spend on activities that further any of the purposes of charity. Designated funds are unrestricted funds of the charity which the trustees have decided at their discretion to set aside to use for a specific purpose. Restricted funds are donations which the donor has specified are to be solely used for particular areas of the charity’s work or for specific projects being undertaken by the charity.

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Expenditure and irrecoverable VAT

Expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to make a payment to a third party, it is probable that settlement will be required and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. Expenditure is classified under the following activity headings:

Irrecoverable VAT is charged as a cost against the activity for which the expenditure was incurred.

Allocation of support costs

Support costs are those functions that assist the work of the charity but do not directly undertake charitable activities. Support costs include office costs, finance, personnel, payroll and governance costs which support the charity and its activities. These costs have been allocated between cost of raising funds and expenditure on charitable activities on the basis of staff time as set out in note 5 to the accounts.

Operating leases

Rental charges are charged on a straight line basis over the term of the lease.

Investment in subsidiary

Investments in subsidiaries are valued at cost less provision for impairment.

Tangible fixed assets

Items of equipment are capitalised where the purchase price exceeds £1,000. Depreciation is provided at rates calculated to write down the cost of each asset to its estimated residual value over its expected useful life.

Debtors

Trade and other debtors are recognised at the settlement amount due after any trade discount offered. Prepayments are valued at the amount prepaid net of any trade discounts due.

Cash at bank and in hand

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

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Impact Report 2023–2024

Creditors and provisions

Creditors and provisions are recognised where the charity has a present obligation resulting from a past event that will probably result in the transfer of funds to a third party and the amount due to settle the obligation can be measured or estimated reliably. Creditors and provisions are normally recognised at their settlement amount after allowing for any trade discounts due.

Pensions

Breaking Barriers operates a defined contribution pension scheme managed by NEST in accordance with current auto‑enrolment rules.

Foreign currency transactions

Transactions in foreign currencies are translated at rates prevailing at the date of the transaction. Balances denominated in foreign currencies are translated at the rate of exchange prevailing at the year end.

Financial instruments

The charity only has financial assets and financial liabilities of a kind that qualify as basic financial instruments. Basic financial instruments are initially recognised at transaction value and subsequently measured at their settlement value with the exception of bank loans which are subsequently recognised at amortised cost using the effective interest method.

Accounting estimates and key judgements

In the application of the charity’s accounting policies, the trustees are required to make judgements, estimates and assumptions about the carrying values of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. The estimates and underlying assumptions are based on historical experience and other factors that are considered to be relevant. Actual results may differ from these estimates.

The estimates and underlying assumptions are reviewed on an ongoing basis. Revisions to accounting estimates are recognised in the period in which the estimate is revised if the revision affects only that period, or in the period of the revision and future periods if the revision affects both current and future periods.

The key sources of estimation uncertainty that have a significant effect on the amounts recognised in the financial statements are accrued and deferred income adjustments for grants paid in arrears and contracts invoiced in advance, and the percentages used to allocate costs to different activities and funds.

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Note 2 Detailed comparatives for the consolidated statement of financial activities

Income from:
Donations and legacies
Charitable activities
Other trading activities
Total income
Expenditure on:
Raising funds
Charitable activities
Total expenditure
Net income and movement
in funds
Total funds brought forward
Total funds carried forward		 2023 2023 2023
Total
£
Unrestricted Restricted
£ £
2,413,541
1,377,598
7,715
3,798,854
1,317,163 1,096,378
637,402 740,196
7,715 ‑
1,962,280 1,836,574
(569,164)
(2,694,010)
(3,263,174)
(478,945) (90,219)
(1,150,870) (1,543,140)
(1,629,815) (1,633,359)
535,680
1,353,306
332,465 203,215
Total funds brought forward 993,078 360,228
Total funds carried forward 1,325,543 563,443 1,888,986

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Impact Report 2023–2024

Note 3 Income from donations

Corporate partners
Trusts and Foundations
Donations
Donatedgifts and services		 Unrestricted Restricted Restricted Total
2024
£
1,613,055
1,165,207
163,078
45,313
2,986,653
2024 2024
£ £
826,326 786,729
622,601 542,606
135,511 27,567
45,313
1,629,751		 ‑
1,629,751 1,356,902 2,986,653

Donated gifts income relates to IT hardware. Donated services income relates to Benefit in Kind for office space and classrooms for Education classes.

Prior period comparative

Prior period comparative
Corporate partners
Trusts and Foundations
Donations
Donatedgifts and services		 Unrestricted Restricted Total
2023
£


2023 2023
£ £
1,456,634
733,247
198,637
25,023
923,060 533,574
227,614 505,633
141,466 57,171
25,023 ‑
1,317,163 1,096,378 2,413,541

Donated services income relates to Gift in Kind for office space and classrooms for Education classes.

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Note 4 Income from charitable activities

SIB contract
Statutory grants
Matched funding grants and other
charitable activities
Total income from charitable activities		 Unrestricted Restricted Restricted Total
2024
£
2024 2024
£ £
491,022
279,937
105,537
491,022 ‑
‑ 279,937
35,537
526,559		 70,000
526,559 349,937 876,496

Included within charitable activities income above is a services partnership with Big Integration (Social Impact Bond) relating to our expansion in Manchester and Birmingham which continued from FY23 through to FY24. In addition two Statutory Grants relating more broadly to our continuing work in London along with Trusts & Foundation Grants and partnerships with Corporates. There are no unfulfilled conditions or contingencies attaching to these grants in the current or prior year.

Prior period comparative

Prior period comparative
SIB contract
Statutory grants
Matched funding grants and other
charitable activities
Total income from charitable activities		 Restated
Total
2023
£
Unrestricted Restricted
2023 2023
£ £
629,262
565,196
183,140
629,262 ‑
‑ 565,196
8,140 175,000
637,402 740,196 1,377,598

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Impact Report 2023–2024

2024 Total £ (3,176,862)
(192,138)
(7,046)		 (3,176,862)
(192,138)
(7,046)		 (3,176,862)
(192,138)
(7,046)		 (3,176,862)
(192,138)
(7,046)		 (27,574)
(307,474)
(181,967)
(28,802)
(120,232)
(54,488)		 (27,574)
(307,474)
(181,967)
(28,802)
(120,232)
(54,488)		 (27,574)
(307,474)
(181,967)
(28,802)
(120,232)
(54,488)		 (27,574)
(307,474)
(181,967)
(28,802)
(120,232)
(54,488)		 (27,574)
(307,474)
(181,967)
(28,802)
(120,232)
(54,488)		 (27,574)
(307,474)
(181,967)
(28,802)
(120,232)
(54,488)		 (23,195) (4,119,778)
-

-

(4,119,778)		 (4,119,778)
-

-

(4,119,778)		 (4,119,778)
-

-

(4,119,778)		 (4,119,778)
-

-

(4,119,778)		 (4,119,778)
-

-

(4,119,778)		 (4,119,778)
-

-

(4,119,778)		 (4,119,778)
-

-

(4,119,778)		 Governance costs relate to the cost of annual audit.
Last year D&I was split out as a separate programme of work, whilst we haven’t split it out this year it is still a focus area of ours
Governance £ ‑
‑
‑		 ‑
‑
‑
(13,579)
‑
‑		 ‑ (13,579)

‑
13,579

-
Support
costs		 £ (424,243)
(80,213)		 (190) (3,506) (71,860) (36,667) (9,439) (20,048)
(4,000)		 (8,837) (659,003) 659,003 ‑ -
Volunteering £ (204,989)

‑
(126)		 (433)
(17,424)
(7,444)
(304)
(9,212)
‑		 (923) (240,855)
(46,130)
7%
(951)
7%
(287,936)
Education £ (192,283)
‑
(1,252)		 (258)
(43,733)
(4,614)
(304)
(6,928)
(2,017)		 (846) (252,235)
(46,130)
7%
(951)
7%
(299,316)
Employment £ (1,821,136)

(111,925)
(5,123)		 (4,095)
(147,801)
(54,953)

(5,176)
(61,069)

(48,471)		 (8,970) (2,268,719)
(434,943)
66%
(8,961)
66%
(2,712,623)
Cost of
raising funds		 £ (534,211)
‑
(355)		 (19,282)
(26,656)
(78,289)
‑
(22,975)
‑		 (3,619) (685,387)
(131,800)
20%
(2,716)
20%
(819,903)
Staf costs
Work and delivery space
Client and Volunteer costs		 Outreach, Engagement
and Events
Technology
Consultancy
Professional fees
Other staf costs
Grants		 Other Support costs
Governance costs
Total

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----- Start of picture text -----
- -
2023 Total £ (161,470) (6,855) (61,663) (202,350) (133,142) (38,052) (89,095) (19,369) (11,463) (3,263,174) (3,263,174)
‑ (2,539,715) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 12,200 -
Governance £ (12,200) (12,200)
‑ ‑ ‑ -
(3,856) (7,245) (8,875) (2,021)
Support costs £ (195,544) (26,884) (13,194) (13,649) (271,268) 271,268
‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
(1,359) (67) (15) (172) (1) (1,614) (147) 0.1% (7) 0.1% (1,768)
D&I £
‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
(20,741) (6,977) (5,878) (8) (149) (108) (33,861) (3,083) 1% (139) 1% (37,083)
Thought Leadership £
‑ ‑
Volunteering £ (120,726) (927) (8,082) (13,377) (2,645) (481) (4,760) (288) (151,285) (13,773) 5% (619) 5% (165,677)
Education £ (143,413) (1,015) (1,182) (8,977) (18,509) (2,645) (781) (4,865) (1,910) (366) (183,663) (16,720) 6% (752) 6% (201,135)
Employment £ (1,679,530) (123,374) (5,673) (29,603) (140,138) (13,496) (12,384) (60,151) (17,459) (7,754) (2,089,562) (190,230) 70% (8,555) 70% (2,288,347)
‑ ‑
(378,403) (9,270) (4,168) (11,187) (107,088) (3,331) (5,349) (925) (519,721) (47,315) 17% (2,128) 17% (569,164)
Cost of raising funds £
Staff costs Work and delivery space Client and Volunteer costs Outreach, Engagement and Events Technology Consultancy Professional fees Other staff costs Grants Other Support costs Governance costs Total
----- End of picture text -----

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Note 6 Net income / (expenditure) for the year

This is stated after charging / (crediting):
Operating lease rentals:
Property
Auditor’s remuneration:
Audit fees
Accountancy services		 This is stated after charging / (crediting):
Operating lease rentals:
Property
Auditor’s remuneration:
Audit fees
Accountancy services		 2024 2023
£ £
(179,088) (130,088)
(13,579) (12,220)
(457) (536)

Note 7 Analysis of staff costs, trustee remuneration and expenses, and the cost of key management personnel

Staf costs were as follows:
Salaries and wages
Social security costs
Employer’s contribution to defned
contributionpension schemes
Total staf cost
2024 2023
£ £
2,828,869 2,257,179
290,447 237,532
Employer’s contribution to defned
contributionpension schemes		 57,546 45,004
Total staf cost 3,176,862 2,539,715

The key management personnel of the charity comprise the Trustees, Chief Executive Officer, Director of Development, Director of Finance, Director of Programmes, Director of Comms and Engagement, Director of People and our Chief of Staff.

The total employee benefits including pension contributions of the key management personnel were £503,925 (2023: £433,896).

The charity trustees were not paid or received any other benefits from employment with the charity or its subsidiary in the year (2023: £nil) neither were they reimbursed expenses during the year (2023: £nil). No charity trustee received payment for professional or other services supplied to the charity (2023: £nil).

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The following number of employees received compensation (excluding employer pension and NI) during the year between:

£60,000 ‑ £69,999
£70,000 ‑ £79,999
£80,000 ‑ £89,999
£90,000 ‑ £99,999		 2024 2024 2023
No. No.
3 1
1 ‑
- 1
- ‑

Staff numbers

The average number of employees (head count based on number of staff employed) during the year was as follows:


employed) during the year was as follows:
Raising funds
Charitable activities		 2024 2023
No. No.
7 5
73 61
80 66

Note 8 Taxation

The charity is exempt from corporation tax as all its income is charitable and is applied for charitable purposes.

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Note 9 Debtors

Note 9 Debtors
Trade debtors
Other debtors
Prepayments
Amounts owed by group
undertakings
Accrued income		 Group Charity
2024 2023 2024 2023
£ £ £ £
170,228 75,106 170,228 73,186
37,584 37,488 37,584 37,489
25,284 43,903 25,284 43,903
- ‑ 30,444 18,398
52,514 392,385 52,514 392,385
285,610 548,882 316,054 565,361

Note 10 Creditors: amounts falling due within one year

Taxation and social security
Accruals
Deferred income
Trade creditors
Other creditors		 Group Charity
2024 2023 2024 2023
£ £ £ £
(112,955) (104,809) (113,294) (104,795)
(37,544) (34,507) (37,194) (34,157)
(108,489) (3,825) (108,489) (3,825)
(8,895) (83,771) (8,895) (83,771)
(7,819) ‑ (7,819) ‑
(275,702) (226,912) (275,691) (226,548)

Deferred income

Deferred income
Balance at the beginning
of the year
Amount released to income
in the year
Amount deferred in the year
Balance at the end of theyear		 Group Charity
2024 2023 2024 2023
£ £ £ £
(3,825) (51,033) (3,825) (48,949)
3,825 47,208 3,825 45,124
(108,489) ‑ (108,489) ‑
(108,489) (3,825) (108,489) (3,825)

Deferred income comprises amounts received in advance for annual programmes and under contracts.

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Note 11 Pension scheme

Breaking Barriers has a defined contribution scheme operated by NEST.

Note 12 Analysis of net assets between funds

Net current assets
Net assets at the end of theyear		 2024 Total funds
£

1,639,643
General
Unrestricted		 Designated Restricted
£ £ £
Net current assets 1,003,539 ‑ 636,104
Net assets at the end of theyear 1,003,539 - 636,104 1,639,643
Net current assets
Net assets at the end of theyear		 2023 Total funds
£

1,888,986
General
Unrestricted		 Designated Restricted
£ £ £
Net current assets
Net assets at the end of theyear		 1,208,068 117,475 563,443
1,208,068 117,475 563,443 1,888,986

Note 13 Movements in funds

Note 13 Movements in funds
Restricted funds:
Integration Activities – Employment
Integration Activities – Education
Integration Activities – Volunteering
BB Grants
Lived Experience
Other		 Note At the start
of the year		 Income Expenditure At the end
of the year
£ £ £ £
(a) 350,532 1,351,310 (1,236,349) 465,493
(b) 21,187 186,709 (131,798) 76,098
(c) 27,439 93,080 (64,584) 55,935
(d) 42,946 12,586 (54,416) 1,116
(g) 32,409 22,130 (32,409) 22,130
(h) 88,930 41,024 (114,622) 15,332
Total restricted funds 563,443 1,706,839 (1,634,178) 636,104
Unrestricted funds:
Designated funds
General funds
Total unrestricted funds
117,475 ‑ (117,475) -
1,208,068 2,163,596 (2,368,125) 1,003,539
1,325,543 2,163,596 (2,485,600) 1,003,539
Total funds
1,888,986 3,870,435 (4,119,778) 1,639,643

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Purposes of restricted funds

Restricted Funds: We have received income restricted to the following purposes:

Acknowledgements: During the year BB received grants from The National Lottery Community fund as part of the RC Midlands Region programme for £90,000, from CareTech Foundation for our London based services team of £70,000, also for london and Grant from City Bridge Trust for £40,000, and from the Rayne Foundation for our work across Greater Manchester and Liverpool for £30,000.

General Funds: Breaking Barriers’ reserves policy is to work towards approximately three months of total expenditure. At the year‑end, General Funds stood at £1,004k (2023: £1,208k) representing approximately 3.4 months’ expenditure.

Designated Funds: In 2024 £117,475 remained of the designated fund from FY22. These were for the purpose of diversifying income streams to meet future growth. This strategic work progessed and was fully expended in 2024 to understand if individual giving is a viable option for the charity. There were no additional designated funds started in FY23/FY24.

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Note 13 Movements in funds (continued)

Prior period comparative Prior period comparative
Restricted funds:
Integration Activities – Employment
Integration Activities – Education
Integration Activities ‑ Volunteering
BB Grants
Thought / Action leadership
D&I
Lived Experience
Other
Total restricted funds		 At the start
of the year		 Income Expenditure At the end
of the year
Note £ £ £ £
(a) 285,854 1,359,529 (1,294,851) 350,532
(b) 5,402 107,599 (91,814) 21,187
(c) ‑ 66,638 (39,199) 27,439
(d) 2,878 46,190 (6,122) 42,946
(e) 20,217 ‑ (20,217) -
(f) 1,296 ‑ (1,296) -
(g) ‑ 40,000 (7,591) 32,409
(h) 44,581 216,618 (172,269) 88,930
360,228 1,836,574 (1,633,359) 563,443
Unrestricted funds:
Designated funds
General funds
Total unrestricted funds
200,000 ‑ (82,525) 117,475
793,078 1,962,280 (1,547,290) 1,208,068
993,078 1,962,280 (1,629,815) 1,325,543
Total funds
1,353,306 3,798,854 (3,263,174) 1,888,986

Note 14 Operating lease commitments

Total future minimum lease payments under non‑cancellable operating leases are as follows:


leases are as follows:
Less than 1year Property Property
2024 2023
£ £
112,653 93,630
112,653 93,630

Note 15 Legal status of the charity

The charity is constituted as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) and is governed by its foundation model constitution. The Trustees are chosen for their expertise and commitment to support refugees. The charity registered with the Scottish Charity Regulator during the year as the charity expanded its services to Glasgow.

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Note 16 Related party transactions

During the year, we received a donation of £75K from the Apax Foundation (FY23: £75K), our Trustee Andrew Waidhofer is Vice President of Apax Partners. Additionally, we received £97K (FY23: £80K) from BNY Mellon, where Hani Kablawi is on the leadership team (Hani’s trusteeship ran from July 2020 to April 2024). We also received £25K (FY23: £0) from the GSR Foundation, where our Trustee James Newell is on the leadership team.

At the end of the year, there was £1k raised in the parent charity’s accounts in relation to the BB Trading’s use of shared resources (FY23: £0k) and amounts owed to the charity at year end totalled £30.4k (FY23:£18.3k).

Note 17 Subsidiary undertakings

Breaking Barriers Trading Ltd (company no 11707875) is 100% owned by Breaking Barriers and has share capital of £1. The subsidiary runs the charity’s non‑charitable trading activities. A summary of its financial performance and position are given below:


position are given below:
Entity Type Nos. of shares Value Interest
Breaking Barriers Trading Ltd Ordinary 1 1 100%
Turnover
2024 2023
£ £
- 7,715
Cost of sales (9,941)
Gross proft (loss) - (2,226)
Administrative expenses (1,925) (151)
Operating proft (loss) (1,925) (2,377)
26,631 16,385
(30,933) (18,762)
(4,302) (2,377)

Note 18 Parent charity

The parent charity’s gross income and the results for the year are disclosed as follows:

Gross income
Results for theyear		 2024 2024 2023
£ £
3,871,435 3,791,140
Results for theyear (247,419) 538,058

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Reference and administrative information

Trustees

----- Start of picture text -----
Appointed Resigned Role
Rachel Harrington Aug 17 Dec 23
James Newell Jun 18 Aug 24 Chair
Hani Kablawi Jul 20 Apr 24
Prudence Mwanza Sep 20 Dec 23
Andrew Waidhofer Feb 21
Katie Rickard Mar 21
Lena Sabbagh Mar 22
Kelly Maklowicz Jul 22
Barbara Serra Jul 22
Helen Downie Aug 22 Treasurer
Jonas Huruy Kidane Oct 22 Apr 24
Alba Lamberti Aug 24 Chair
----- End of picture text -----

CEO: Ciara Devlin

Charity number: 1161901

Breaking Barriers is also registered as a charity with the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) number SC052265

Registered office

Breaking Barriers, 71–91 Aldwych, Aldwych House, London, WC2B 4HN

Auditors

Godfrey Wilson Ltd, 5th Floor Mariner House, 62 Prince Street, Bristol, BS1 4QD

Bankers

Barclays, 9 High St, Sutton, Surrey, SM1 1DR

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With thanks

Breaking Barriers exists because of the generosity and determination of individuals and organisations who stand with us for an inclusive society.

We are grateful to all our donors, supporters and partners, including those who prefer to remain anonymous. You are helping refugees across the UK to access meaningful employment and build new lives.

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We would also like to thank:

The Eleanor Rathbone Charitable Trust

The Hardy Family Foundation

The Hugh Fraser Foundation

The Patrick Trust

The Vandervell Foundation

Breaking Barriers is a registered charity in England & Wales (no. 1161901) and in Scotland (no. SC052265)