HACRO CIO
Registered Charity 1163064
ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDING 31 March 2023
OBJECTS
The objects of the Charity are:
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to educate and train and relieve poverty and sickness among persons who are suffering, have suffered or might suffer a legal restriction on their liberty in any penal or corrective establishment through any means whatsoever and the families of such persons in such ways as the trustees think fit;
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to further and promote the study of and research into all aspects and methods of the prevention of crime and delinquency and to obtain and make records of and disseminate information concerning the same; and
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to promote, support or carry on either alone or in co-operation with anybody, authority, or person, any project or scheme in connection with any methods of the prevention of crime and delinquency and to provide moneys for such purposes whether by way or loan or otherwise, within the area of the County of Hertfordshire and such other nearby English Counties as may from time to time be determined by the trustees.
GOVERNING DOCUMENT
The Charity is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation and is governed by its constitution. Its constitution is a trust deed dated 05 August 2015.
PRINCIPAL OFFICE
The Charity’s principal office is 62-72 Victoria Street, St Albans, Hertfordshire. AL1 3XH.
PRINCIPAL ACTIVITIES
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HACRO (Hertfordshire Association for the Care and Rehabilitation of Offenders) is a predominantly Grant Funded charity, helping people in Hertfordshire who have been on the wrong side of the law to turn their lives around. We believe in second chances;
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Our vision is a world in which everyone on the wrong side of the law has the chance to turn their lives around and lead a life fully contributing to society. We deliver our vision through programmes that build capability and confidence, delivered with respect and integrity. Our mission is to offer support for offenders, potential offenders and their families to make positive changes in their lives and thereby reduce the number of victims of crime;
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We do this by providing mentoring support and a range of training and well-being programmes. We also work with other local charities to provide individualised and needs-based support;
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All this experience and expertise has allowed us to create our flagship programme – TurnAround.
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Our flagship programme, TurnAround was launched on 1st January 2023 as a personal development programme providing support, purpose, engagement, structure and opportunity to ex-offenders in their journey back into the community.
PUBLIC BENEFIT
The above activities are for the benefit of our participants in particular and the public at large. In this respect the trustees have due regard for the guidance issued by the Charities Commission on public benefit.
ACHIEVEMENTS
Our overriding achievement has been the development of our flagship programme, TurnAround, following the closure of the Building Better Opportunities programme in December 2022 together with its funding. This has been achieved without making any of our employees redundant because of the cessation.
FINANCE
Income from all sources aggregated £197,799 compared with £297,913 last year.
HACRO started the year with total funds of £256,795 of which £100,954 was restricted for its charitable programmes. At the year end funds totalled £209,908 of which £91,608 was restricted.
No fixed assets were held by the Charity.
RESERVES
HACRO seeks to keep reserves enabling it to support its programmes for further six months without raising further income. The trustees have reviewed cash flow projections for a full twelve-month period from 31 March 2023 and are satisfied that it has the resources to function as going concern for the rest of 2023. The trustees aim to keep adequate reserves to enable the charity to support its charitable programmes and to provide its employees with job security. The greatest risk to the Charity would be failure to secure new sources of income to replace existing funds as they are expensed.
ANNUAL ACCOUNTS
The Accounts of HACRO are drawn up on an accrual’s basis.
FINANCIAL CONTROLS
During the period, the trustees initiated a review of the Charity’s financial control procedures to ensure that they were appropriate for the Charity’s current activities. The review concluded that the financial controls were both adequate and appropriate with some opportunities for improvement identified and actioned.
PERSONNEL
HACRO employs services of a part-time CEO, Matthew Cannon who was appointed as such on 1[st] April 2023 when he stood down from being Chairman and trustee of the Charity. He did this so that he could devote his time to the continued development TurnAround during its formative period. He is supported by ten part-time employees. They, in turn, are supported by eight volunteers.
TRUSTEES
Trustees are recruited following open advertisement or personal recommendation. All are formally interviewed by at least two trustees prior to approval at a meeting of the board of trustees.
On 31[st] March 2023, our trustees were:
Audrey Valerie Beale JP – Chair John Willis Walker FCA – Treasurer Sean Bolton – Governance Peter Spencer JP Jacqueline Brabazon Eric Gilbert Pillinger
John Walker was appointed Treasurer and trustee on 9[th] December 2022.
The following trustees stood down from the Board during the year. Denise Taylor (27 January) Jane Allen (30 January) Kirsty Watt (07 March). Matthew Cannon stepped down from his position as Chairman and trustee on 20 February 2023 so that he could accept the position of CEO thus enabling him to concentrate on the development of TurnAround as our flagship programme. On the same day, Valerie Beale stepped back up to the position of Chair.
Since the year end, Christopher Hale was appointed to the Board as a trustee on 28 April 2023.
INDEPENDENT EXAMINER
Mr. Andrew Thomson, FCA of Leverstock Green, Hertfordshire has been appointed to act as Independent Examiner of the accounts of the Charity.
DECLARATION
The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ Annual Report set out above.
Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees.
| Signature | Full name | Position |
|---|---|---|
| Audrey Valerie Beale | Chair |
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
For the year ending 31st March 2023
Registered Charity No : 1163064 Email : office@hacro.org.uk Telephone : 01727 854727 Website : www.hacro.org.uk Address : 62-72 Victoria Street, St Albans, Herts, AL1 3XH
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
For the year ending 31st March 2023
Registered Charity No : 1163064 Email : office@hacro.org.uk Telephone : 01727 854727 Website : www.hacro.org.uk Address : 62-72 Victoria Street, St Albans, Herts, AL1 3XH