## We Are Family Annual Report and Accounts 2021 - 2022
|Contents|Page|
|---|---|
|Chair’s Introduction|2-3|
|Reference and Administrative Details|4|
|Governance and Management|4|
|Objectives and Activities|5|
|Achievements and Performance|6-11|
|Public Beneft Statement|11|
|Financial Review|12-13|
|Independent examiner's report on the accounts|14|
|Statement of Financial Activities and Notes to the Accounts|15-20|
Charity Number: 1163318
We Are Family Annual Report and Accounts 2021-2022
## Chair’s Introduction
Emerging from the pandemic and exploring our collective future [31st March 2021 - 1st April 2022]
The previous year 2020/21 will be remembered globally as an historic year due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the consequent distress and disruption that this caused. And yet at We Are Family, we are struck at how significant the year following (2021/22) has been for so many - including our families.
Much like the aftermath of trauma - adoption included - if the support that follows is compassionate, considered and relevant, it has the potential to shape and strengthen our experience. This is how We Are Family will remember 2021/22; a year of collective listening, responding and exploring in order to best support our families in both the short and long term.
This year saw us continue to develop our now blended offer, including:
- Peer support groups: both online and in-person
- Family-friendly meetups
- Bi-weekly Blog posts written by our members
- Alongside continuing our digital Member Hub and WAF Talks programme
We also launched new programmes, including:
- Peer Support Training
- A podcast, ‘Adoption Shared’
- A pilot programme of cultural events and collaborations with practical parent and family sessions taking place at venues including The National Maritime Museum (Greenwich) and The Marlowe Theatre (Canterbury).
The evolution in service delivery has been paralleled by our evolving team of trustees, staff and volunteers. Whilst we continue to benefit from the contributions of long-standing team members, this year has also seen us gain skills, talents and lived experience from new personnel.
Our committees and working groups - consisting of trustees, staff, volunteers, members and relevant professionals - have consequently further developed, including the introduction of a timely new working group: ‘The Black adoption working group’. Working in conjunction with Adopt London’s Black Adoption Project - a commitment to look beyond short-term solutions and to genuinely understand the many complex factors that impact the adoption of Black children - We Are Family have formed our own working group to represent and advance our members’ experience. We have plans to launch a Podcast season focusing on the Black experience within adoption in the autumn of 2022.
Diversification of services and voices has been further reflected in our fundraising and partnerships. This year we are proud to have the continued support of key partners such as Adopt London, and key funders such as The Tudor Trust, whilst collaborating with new organisations including the RAA Adoption Partnership South East, and new funders including The Garfield Weston Foundation.
As well as delivering all of the services we have outlined above, we have continued to grow in other areas:
- Grown our membership, including expanding into the South East, and reaching the 1,000[1] member milestone.
> 1 WAF membership was at 1,067 as at 31st March 2022
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We Are Family Annual Report and Accounts 2021-2022
- Team growth from 1 to 2 (plus 1 on parental leave) alongside a developing paid internship programme
- More robust funding base, with repeat funders (Tudor Trust, Adopt London)
- Strong operations systems ready for scale - new database, restructured membership programme, solid governance structure
- Proven ability to respond to changing member needs e.g. developing quality online services during Covid in direct response to member feedback
- Launched new branding for We Are Family and redesigned the website.
Following the launch of the new We Are Family logo, we have successfully registered it as a trademark - an important step in protecting our brand. Registering the trademark was a complex project and I would like to extend the trustees thanks to Verity Ellis, Thomas Coop and their teams at FieldFisher LLP, for their pro bono legal advice and support and to Paul Meadows (our own ex-Chair) for his leadership of the project and so generously giving his time and expertise.
Looking ahead, we have an ambitious plan to expand both our services and our reach. We also want to work alongside our members to review and reshape our volunteering programme and mechanisms for connection.
Our peer support provision has always been a cornerstone of We Are Family, however what has become increasingly clear over the last decade is that what truly unites our members, is the desire for connection. Delivering connection opportunities is critical. Sometimes our members connect to work through challenges, concerns and fatigue; and sometimes to share joy. They celebrate the milestones that non-adopters may not appreciate; laugh about the good (and the hard!); and have fun as an integrated family whether that be through picnics, park meetups, football clubs, trips to the theatre / museums and so much more. We plan to enable more of this.
The above growth, exploration and aspiration has been made possible in no small part because of the generosity of our incredible volunteers. Over 40 volunteers and participants continued to run our local groups and contribute to our WAF Talks, Podcast and Blog programmes, providing vital support across London and beyond to 1000 adoptive and prospective adoptive member families. Our annual member survey (see below for details) again demonstrated just how valuable We Are Family is to its members.
Thank you for being part of our incredible support community.
You can read more details about many of these points in the following formal trustees’ report.
**Mark Hoult-Allen** Chair
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We Are Family Annual Report and Accounts 2021-2022
The trustees of We Are Family CIO present their seventh annual report, covering the twelve months ended 31 March 2022 (‘the year’).
## Reference and Administrative Details
The charity, We Are Family, is a charitable incorporated organisation which was registered with the Charity Commission of England and Wales on 26[th] August 2015. The charity’s registration number is 1163318. The charity does not have any offices or other premises; its registered address is 27 Old Gloucester Street, London WC1N 3AX.
The names of all those who served as the charity’s trustees during the year, and subsequently, are given below (in alphabetical order by surname), with the start and end dates of the term of office of each given, where relevant:
|**Name**|**Start**|**End**|
|---|---|---|
|Struan Campbell|18.11.19|30.03.22|
|
Esi Cathline|01.03.22||
|Mike Clarke|01.03.22||
|Samantha Fletcher|20.03.18|19.03.22|
|Rami Hassouna|08.02.21|30.11.21|
|Liz Hocter|08.02.21||
|Mark Hoult-Allen|18.11.19||
|Diane McGrath|14.09.20||
|Libby McVeigh|17.03.20|30.09.21|
|StuartMeek|08.02.21||
|MirandaMercado Gregory|26.08.15|19.03.22|
|KlayreRogers|20.03.19|02.10.21|
|SobiaShamim|08.02.21||
|Andrew Taylor-Dawson|08.06.20||
|JodyTranter|20.03.18||
|Anna Willow|01.03.22||
|Stephanie Wong|08.02.21||
The Board was supported by its secretary, Charlotte Bois-Pursey, until her resignation on 19th April 2022. We would like to thank Charlotte for her support across the years.
## Governance and Management
We Are Family existed as an unincorporated organisation before its registration as a charitable incorporated organisation in August 2015. It was originally founded in 2013 by a small group of adoptive parents to provide locally based peer-to-peer support for adoptive parents. From one group in Hackney and Islington, the organisation grew to seven groups in just over two years. Registration as an incorporated charity was sought and to support the organisation’s growth, facilitate future fundraising, and consolidate its existing reputation within the adoption field.
The charity’s constitution provides for the appointment of trustees by the board of trustees, having regard to the skills, knowledge and experience needed for the effective administration of the charity. The charity’s trustees from time to time are its only legal members (to be distinguished from adopters and prospective adopters who have joined one of the charity’s groups and who are referred to elsewhere in this report as ‘members’).
During the year, the board maintained an ongoing trustee recruitment process with the appointment of three trustees during the year. The trustees wish to thank the trustees who
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We Are Family Annual Report and Accounts 2021-2022 left the board during the year: Struan Campbell, Samantha Fletcher, Rami Hassouna, Libby McVeigh, Miranda Mercado Gregory, Klayre Rogers.
The board have four regular board meetings a year whilst also constituting two Away Days each year as board meetings, which means the board meets formally at least six times a year. Meetings during the year continued to be focussed on overseeing the strategy and operations of the charity and the provision of services to members, setting up systems for running the charity; and securing funding to ensure the sustainability of the charity.
The work of the board is supported by two standing committees, the Finance, Fundraising and Resources Committee and the Programmes and Strategy Committee.
## Objectives and Activities
We Are Family’s objects are to promote the health and wellbeing of prospective adopters and adopters. This covers the predictable stresses, strain and sense of isolation that comes with being an adoptive parent and in parenting traumatised children. There is a lack of targeted and tailored peer support for adoptive parents during the adoption journey and so We Are Family’s key objective is the improved wellbeing of adopters through regular peer support opportunities both online and in person.
The charity’s vision, which was refined and agreed by the board in 2021, is: “We want to see a world in which adoptive parents and prospective adopters feel connected, benefit from peer support and are part of a community which enables them to thrive." Its mission is to work “to ensure that adoptive parents and prospective adopters are part of a community, offering each other support, from a place of lived experience, through the highs and lows of parenting”.
The activities of We Are Family fall into the following areas:
|Connection & Relationship
Creating opportunities for connection
between adopters.
•
Local groups (face-to-face activities)
•
Online groups
•
Thematic Groups
•
Specifc status groups
(Single/Prospective)|Information & Inspiration
An extension of direct peer support,
gathering member recommendations and
experience.
•
WAF Talks
•
Adoption Shared podcast series
•
Member Resources Platform
•
Website & social media
•
Blog|
|---|---|
|Amplifying voices
Using the voice of the community to
support calls for improved support for
adoptive parents/families.
•
Collating views of the We Are Family
members through our own surveys
•
Providing opportunities for the We Are
Family membership to contribute to
research initiatives
•
Using We Are Family membership’s
views to inform policy infuencing|Structured support
•
Peer Support Training
•
Signposting to other services|
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We Are Family Annual Report and Accounts 2021-2022
## Achievements and Performance
## Infrastructure and Governance
- Further development of a 3-year strategy (2020-23), restating WAF’s vision and mission and setting clear objectives and actions for the next phase of development.
- Further development of our Impact framework and Theory of Change
- Further development of our online Member Hub to share more member resource recommendations and webinar recordings. There are currently 1,164 resources and webinar recordings on the Member Hub.
- Extended the membership offer to those at Stage 1 of the assessment process. We are now collecting member’s Assessing Authority and can email our members by stage, laying the foundations for our content strategy to contact members with ‘the right information at the right point in their adoption journey’.
- 70% of current members updated their details as part of this campaign which is very encouraging and a good indicator of members' engagements with WAF. Note: industry standard for a re-engagement campaign is 25%.
- Design and delivery of volunteer training and a toolkit for delivering WAF services from April 2021 and beyond.
- Recruitment of new trustees in 2022, to replace those retiring by rotation, with experience across social care, 75% and / or with lived experience of adoption. The current board stands at 11 trustees.
- Continued employment of a part-time Operations Manager (temporarily replaced by a parental leave cover) and a part time Community Development Manager; both joining from June 2021.
- We also redeveloped our brand and website to better represent the organisation and reflect the services we offer with members commenting on the improvements as ‘bright, welcoming, bold and recognisable’. This launched in April 2021 and our analytics show the growth in direct traffic to the website, member hub and the blog since the relaunch.
- During the year the WeAre Family logo was registered as a trademark, an keystep in protecting our important brand.
## Service Delivery
From in-person and online peer support groups, to playgroups, picnics and our developing programme of creative sessions; providing opportunities for our members to connect and forge friendship and community remains at the heart of We Are Family. We are proud of the following achievements this year:
- Grown the membership from 781 adopters in 31st March 2021 to over 1,067 as of 31st March 2022. (See full note below).
- Continued to run 7 geographical groups and 3 pan-London (2 for single adopters and 1 for prospective adopters) groups providing activities and events according to member need. Following group activity moving online in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic in the summer of 2021, face to face family meet up events restarted and all of the We Are Family groups held family picnics in September 2021, attended by more than 70 families, which will be repeated again in September 2022.
- In 2021,we launched a pilot of Peer Support training for volunteers including provision of regular group supervision. Following this successful pilot, we have since run a second programme in June 2022, supporting an additional 6 volunteers to train to become Peer Support Facilitators, and in late 2022 we started to offer ongoing bi- monthly supervision with a clinical social worker and psychotherapist. In addition a programme
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We Are Family Annual Report and Accounts 2021-2022
of development workshops for volunteers commenced in November with a self care workshop ‘Knowing ourselves, caring for ourselves’.
- We have begun to deliver online Thematic Support Groups, the first of which is a regular group for parents of tweens and teens; and are in the early stages of establishing an Education group.
- In late 2021, we began a new collaboration with a Regional Adoption Agency outside of London: Adoption Partnership South East. This has the potential for upwards of 600 adopters joining We Are Family membership over the next few years. In early 2022 we were commissioned by APSE to co-develop peer support groups with and for their adopters, across the region of Bexley, Kent and Medway which will play a key part in our next year.
- In the Autumn of 2021, we launched our pilot podcast series, Adoption Shared. In each episode, our host Eddie Elliott meets adopters and professionals who share their insight and experiences of the adoption journey from a variety of different perspectives. Adoption Shared received 200 downloads in its first 48 hours of release and is reported as a valued, accessible, platform for those within and beyond the adoption community. We have plans for a second and third season of the podcast in 2022.
- As a membership, We Are Family have contributed to a number of research initiatives over the past year, including a study into the experiences of adoptive parents with birth children led by the Rees Centre, Department of Education, University of Oxford. We are also establishing a working group to focus on the needs of adoptive families within the education system, and we continue to work closely with Adopt London to support their Black Adoption Project to better understand and evolve the experiences of Black adopters.
- Our digital Member Hub now holds over 50 recorded WAF Talks (over 76 hours of content) offering information and support across a vast range of subjects; alongside articles, books, training opportunities and much more. We continue to offer inspiration within our member-generated blog featuring candid, hopeful and authentic accounts of adoption and related subjects; and also via the new addition of our podcast, Adoption Shared (12 podcast episodes in the past 6 months, resulting in almost 5,000 downloads).
## Membership
As at the end of March 2022, We Are Family had 1067 fully validated members (781 fully validated members at end of March 2021), which is a growth of 37% year on year. Membership is growing at an approximate rate of 100 people per quarter. We also acknowledge that although we encourage individual applications - i.e. for those in a couple up each join as individual members - we are aware that this does not happen consistently; therefore the actual number of membership beneficiaries is likely to be closer to 2,000. Future work with our IT consultants will see us introducing a ‘partner linking’ mechanism to allow validated members to most efficiently invite their counterparts to become members.
PLEASE NOTE: There is a drop in membership growth (50% YOY from 19/20 to 20/21) due to a compulsory ‘re-engagement campaign’ that we had to run in Autumn 2021, in response to a change from the Information Commissioner's Office. This resulted in those members who use our service regularly and proactively to ‘opt-in’ to continue their membership: this was 70% of original membership and over 900 members in total; three times as high as industry standard.
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We Are Family Annual Report and Accounts 2021-2022
## Membership Stats in a snapshot:
2022 98 new members, **1067** cumulative (as of 31st March 2022) 2021 201 new members, 969 cumulative 2020 290 new members, 768 cumulative 2019 478, 478 cumulative
- 1,164 resources and webinars in the Member Hub
- 1,309 lifetime peer support hours[2]
- 66% of members feel better equipped to parent their children
- 61% report they can talk to people who understand the challenges of adoptive parenting
We ran a survey in July 2021, to gather feedback on **We Are Family’** s recent rebranding, website / hub changes and our members’ experience as we emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic. It aimed to discover what forms of support might help our members in the short and longer term, and how members access these services.
The majority of comments about the new website were positive (77%), commenting on the professionalism and clarity of the website. The majority of comments about the new logo were positive (72%), commenting on how bright, welcoming, bold and recognisable the new logo is.
Common themes that responding members requested featuring across our Blog posts and Member Hub resources included (from highest): school / education, contact, teenagers, transracial adoption, parent self-care / wellbeing, policy updates and wider research, and age-specific resources i.e. for early years, through to adopting older children. This corresponded with member responses to the biggest challenges with members reporting (from highest): School / education, [lack of] support network / services, frustrations with the adoption process, teenagers, and siblings
## Other feedback included:
- As anticipated, 50% of the surveyed members have joined since the pandemic (February 2020) and therefore have not had a chance to participate in a face to face event.
- 68% of members that have attended an online peer support group during the pandemic thoroughly enjoyed the session.
- 60% of members have accessed the Member Hub, and 52.3% have watched a Talk on-demand. When asked why those that had not attended a live talk or watched on-demand - as anticipated - the most common reason was lack of time.
- 22% of members were not aware of the on-demand feature and / or the Member Hub demonstrating that communication and signposting improvements can be made. We Are Family have plans to action this via the introduction of New Member Events; the new membership campaign and corresponding membership tips; and our improved communications strategy.
- The majority of members chose WAF Talks and Webinars as their most beneficial service across the next 12 months, followed by face to face events for the family. Online resources and face to face peer support groups are the second highest choices.
2 As at 31st March 2022
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We Are Family Annual Report and Accounts 2021-2022
- A clear majority (61%) identify the ability to find other members in their area as their first choice for service development. An online notice board and thematic groups are the second highest priority.
Testimonials include:
“I don’t believe we would have the relationship with our children that we have now if it were not for the help, support and understanding that other WAF members gave to me.”
- WAF Member, 2021
“I’ve grown in confidence, as a parent and as an adoption/education advocate. Through WAF links we've managed to get real change and training going at our school.”
- WAF Member, 2022
“Simply the act of taking part in a series of sessions has provided me with a sense of momentum for starting a peer support group from scratch – I couldn’t visualise it before the training.”
- WAF Member and attendee of Peer Support Training, 2022
“I have gained so much from being a We Are Family volunteer. As well as making new contacts and meeting people from different walks of life, I get the chance to use my professional skills from my previous working life in education to run activities.” - WAF Volunteer, 2022
“This was such a rich session as it offered multiple perspectives. I will definitely listen to the recording later as a refresher of all the great tips offered.” - WAF Member and WAF Talks viewer, 2022
“I found it to be the most lovely process, connecting me into WAF with the kind, supportive and inspirational Jay and Eddie. It offered me quality time to share, process, digest and reflect on my own story.”
- WAF Member and Podcast guest, 2022
## Fundraising and Partnerships
We Are Family is very grateful to various trusts and foundations, organisations and individuals who provided funds to support the continued development of the charity.
- Adopt London awarded a grant of £50,000 over 2 years (2020-22) to support the growth of WAF and provision of more services to more adopters. We have also secured a 5-year partnership agreement at £40,000 per year (2022-25); this figure includes annual support towards the WAF Talks programme.
- Adopt London continue to also fund us for discreet projects including £6,900 for the Podcast pilot (two seasons); £900 for our annual Summer family picnics; £5,700 to support the enhanced functionality of the Member Hub to enable social worker / staff member access (and a 5-year access licence for 150 of their staff members).
- The Fore awarded a grant of £30,000 over 2 years (2020-22) to support the new Community Development Manager post.
- The Garfield Weston Foundation awarded a grant of £15,000 over 12 months to support our core costs (2021).
- Adoption Partnership South East (APSE) have committed initial funding (£3,000) as part of our new collaboration to onboard their adopters. We have since secured a further
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We Are Family Annual Report and Accounts 2021-2022
- £6,000+ across 2022-2024 to co-develop peer support groups across the region of Bexley, Kent and Medway.
- APSE have also invested in team licences to access our Member Hub, providing us with a further £625 annually.
- In April 2021 we began a soft launch of our new Individual Giving campaign on our new website and building on this, participated in the 2021 Big Give Christmas Challenge, crowdfunding just under £4,000 for matched funds to support the creation of the next series of the Adoption Shared podcast.
The charity also further developed partnerships with external organisations to the benefit of the membership. This included:
- Sitting on the London Adoption and Special Guardianship Board to represent the needs of prospective adopters and adopters around support services.
- Monthly meetings with the Adopt London Heads of Service
- Attending the Regional Adoption Agencies (RAA) and Voluntary Adoption Agencies (VAA) regular meeting
In our partner's own words: “As an adopter-led organisation, WAF are uniquely able to support fantastic adopter peer support networks in a way which is most helpful for parents and responsive to their needs. Through We Are Family our adoptive parents are connected to social networks of other adoptive parents from the earliest stages of adoption, providing parents with a place to seek advice, normalise parenting challenges, and reduce the potential for isolation.” Adopt London, Partner
## Plans for 2022/23: Continuing to Grow
We Are Family are committed to becoming a household name in the homes of adoptive families. We want to be somewhere they know they can go to make authentic connections, access important support and information and also add their voice to the issues adopters are experiencing.
Although we have grown exponentially since our inception; taking on our first staff member in 2019, our second in 2020 and a third role in 2022, we still operate on the equivalent of just 1.7 FTE. Our 3-strong staff team are focussed on strategic, operational and administrative duties, the sheer volume of which limits our current potential for growth. By introducing further resource in the form of extended hours for the core team, the introduction of an Administrator, and more technical support, we will be able to achieve We Are Family’s potential of becoming a nationally known support network.
Our current delivery and learning has led us to understand that:
- There is a need for simplification of connection and engagement methods for members and for members to be able to control when and how they engage with others in order to make the connections that matter most to them
- Volunteering needs to be an easier proposition to enable scaling and we want to work alongside our members to co-produce a volunteering programme that works for them
- We may need an improved mechanism to deliver existing services and to make them easier to access i.e. an App available on mobile devices
- We need routes to reach more adopters organically through dynamic partnership building with organisations (marketing WAF outside of RAAs)
- We need to continue to develop our work with RAAs to ensure adopters have access to peer support at the earliest possible stage in their journey.
- We need a strengthened and enhanced staff team to deliver our ambitious plans
- We need more capacity to enable us to effectively speak out on behalf of our members
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We Are Family Annual Report and Accounts 2021-2022
The next year will see We Are Family developing our Strategic Plan 2023-26 to respond to the above.
We are committed to extending the family. In doing so, the impact will be far reaching across our beneficiaries as we extend - and sustain - the breadth and depth of our engagement.
## Public Benefit Statement
The Trustees confirm that they have complied with their duty to have due regard to the guidance on public benefit published by the Charity Commission in exercising their powers or duties and in offering peer-to-peer adopter-led support, through its local and cross-London groups and online service provision.
We Are Family supports the well-being of both adoptive parents and prospective adopters. This is of benefit to both individual adopters, in reducing the stresses and strains of adopting, and their families. Membership of We Are Family, and access to its support network and other services, is offered on an open basis, the only requirement being verification of adopter status by a social worker (at Stage 2 of the adoption process or further).
The charity offers its services free and arranges activities so that they can be accessible to as many parents as possible, and to those with children of a variety of ages. We Are Family strives to be open to all sections of the community and sees developing this as a key aspect of its work. We Are Family continued to reimburse parents attending the single parent support groups for childcare costs, so that those members could more easily attend. The charity also continues to explore how to meet the needs of specific communities, such as BAME and trans-racial adopters.
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We Are Family Annual Report and Accounts 2021-2022
## Financial Review
## Summary
During the year ended 31 March 2022 We Are Family raised £100,290 (prior year: £88,555) and spent £76,062 (prior year: £62,762).
Substantial grants from the Tudor Trust, The Fore, Adopt London and APSE have enabled WAF to expand the support we offer to adopters, offer more online services to help adopters manage the impact of the pandemic and perhaps most significantly, grow our membership throughout the year despite the impact of the pandemic on the operation of face-to-face support groups.
## Sources of income
£49,560 of restricted funding was received from the Adopt London consortium of regional adoption agencies, £3,000 from Adoption Partnership South East, and £1,551.01 (£1800 less fees) via the Big Give Christmas Campaign.
£15,000 of unrestricted income was received from each The Tudor Trust, The Fore and The Garfield Weston (all Trusts and Foundations).
The remaining funding was from cash donations.
## Unrestricted funds
£46,179 (prior year: £35,562) of unrestricted funding was raised during the year. Expenditure of £35,825 (prior year: £32,136) was offset against this leaving a surplus of £10,353 which was allocated to unrestricted reserves. Total unrestricted reserves at the year-end were £29,951 (prior year: £19,598) of which approx. £13,100 was earmarked in accordance with our reserves policy (see further details below).
The bulk of unrestricted funding came from the Tudor Trust (£15,000), The Fore (£15,000) and Garfield Weston (£15,000) and was used to fund our Operations Manager and Community Development manager positions, plus contributions to core costs, respectively.
During the year, funds were spent on the creation of a new website and a member database, which are expected to provide benefit for many years. It has therefore been agreed to amortise the spend on these assets over a period of 10 years (see note 1, Accounting Policies).
## Restricted funds
£54,111 (£52,993) of restricted funding was raised during the year. Expenditure of £40,236 (£30,626) was offset against this leaving a surplus of £13,875. Total restricted reserves at the year-end were £41,510 (£27,635).
Expenditure against restricted funds predominantly related to IT consultancy and project management costs related to continuing work on our member platform, new We Are Family branding, Zoom licences for taking the provision of We Are Family services online and ‘WAF Talks’ guest speaker fees.
The surplus at the end of the year was due to the timing of spend within the financial year. Of the £41,510 left in restricted reserves at the end of the year, £13,875 is due to be spent towards 2021/22 projects during the 2022/23 financial year.
## Basis of Preparation
The accounts for the year are drawn up on an accruals basis. Further details are noted in the accounting policies note (1) appended to the accounts.
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We Are Family Annual Report and Accounts 2021-2022
Since the year end, in addition to the post year end restricted reserves related expenditure noted above, expenses relating to the year have been paid to staff totalling £168. These relate to reimbursement of home working expenses.
No funds were or are held as a custodian on behalf of others.
## Independent Review
The accounts for the year ended 31 March 2022 have been independently reviewed with the independent examiner confirming that accounting records have been adequately kept, the submitted accounts correspond with those accounting records and that there are no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts.
## Reserves Policy
The Board of Trustees has agreed an increased reserves policy whereby the unrestricted funds not committed should provide sufficient funding for an orderly wind down of the charity if necessary at some future date. The policy aims to keep reserves equivalent to three months of general operating expenses plus one to two months’ worth of staff costs, currently calculated in total at £13,100.
Total unrestricted reserves at the end of the year were £29,951 of which £13,100 has been earmarked in accordance with the reserves policy, leaving £16,851 in general unrestricted reserves.
## Funding received since the year end
Since the year end the following significant funding has been gratefully received by We Are Family:
- Adopt London | £46,900
- Adoption Partnership South East | £6,875
- Tudor Trust | £33,000
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We Are Family Annual Report and Accounts 2021-2022
## Independent Examiner's Report to the Trustees of We Are Family
I report on the accounts of We Are Family for the year ended 31 March 2022,
## Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner
As the charity's trustees you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. You consider that the audit requirement of section144(2) of the Charities Act 2011 (the 2011 Act) does not apply and that an independent examination is needed. I am sufficiently skilled to undertake that examination as a part-qualified Chartered Accountant. It is my responsibility to:
- examine the accounts under section 145 of the 2011 Act
- to follow the procedures laid down in the general Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)b of the 2011 Act
- to state whether particular matters have come to my attention
## Basis of independent examiner's report
This examination was carried out in accordance with the General Directions given by the Charity Commissioners. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeking explanations from you as trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a "true and fair view" and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below.
## Independent examiner's statement
In carrying out my examination, no matter has come to my attention:
(1) which gives me reasonable cause to believe that, in any material respect, the trustees have not met the requirements
to ensure that proper accounting records are kept in accordance with section 130 of the 2011 Act, and accounts have been prepared which accord with the accounting records and comply with the accounting requirements of the Act and the Regulations, or:
(2) to which in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached
## Shelley Tebbutt
49 Bryant Way, Toddington, Bedfordshire, LU5 6EY
27th January 2023
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We Are Family Annual Report and Accounts 2021-2022
## Statement of Financial Activities
## For the Year Ended 31 March 2022
|£
**Note**
**s**
**Income from Endowments**
**From:**
Donations and Legacies
Fundraising Events
Trading Income
Interest Received
**Total**
**Expenditure On:**
Raising Funds
Charitable Activities
**Total**
**Net Income / Expenditure**
5, 6
**Transfer Between Funds**
**Reconciliation of Funds**
Total Funds Brought
Forward
**Total Funds Carried**
**Forward**|**Unrestricted**
**Funds**
**Restricted**
**Funds**
**2022**
**2021**
46,179
54,111
100,290
88,555
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-|
|---|---|
||**46,179**
**54,111**
**100,290**
**88,555**|
||2,100
-
2,100
1,800
33,725
40,236
73,962
60,962
**35,825**
**40,236**
**76,062**
**62,762**|
||**10,353**
**13,875**
**24,228**
**25,794**|
||-
-
-
-
**19,598**
**27,635**
**47,233**
21,439|
||**29,951**
**41,510**
**71,461**
**47,233**|
15
We Are Family Annual Report and Accounts 2021-2022
## Statement of Financial Position
## As At 31 March 2022
|**Notes**
Tangible Assets - Software & Website
2
Cash at bank and in hand
Other debtors
Prepayments and accrued income
3
Creditors: Amounts Falling Due Within One
Year
**Net Current Assets (Liabilities)**
**Total Assets less Current Liabilities**
Accruals and deferred income
4
**Net assets**
**The Funds of the Charity**
Restricted Income Funds
Unrestricted Income Funds
**Total Funds**|**2022**
25,192
41,367
727
5,698
(226)
**47,566**
**72,758**
1,296
**71,461**
29,951
41,510
**71,461**|**2021**
-
47,233
-
-
-
**47,233**
**47,233**
-|
|---|---|---|
|||**47,233**|
|||19,598
27,635|
|||**47,233**|
16
We Are Family Annual Report and Accounts 2021-2022
## Notes to the Financial Statements
## For the Year Ended 31 March 2022
## 1. Accounting Policies
## Basis of Accounting
The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention, except for investments which are included at market value and the revaluation of certain fixed assets and in accordance with the Charities SORP (FRS 102) ‘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 2015)’. Financial reporting Standard 102 the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102), and the Charities Act 2011.
We Are Family CIO 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 note(s).
Prior to 2022, We Are Family CIO’s accounts were prepared on a receipts and payments basis.
## Tangible assets and depreciation
Tangible assets are included at cost less depreciation and impairment. Depreciation has been provided at the following rates in order to write off the assets over their estimated useful lives:
We Are Family made a significant investment towards the construction of a database and a website, both of which are expected to have a useful economic life of 10 years.
Software & Websites 10% straight line
## 2. Tangible Assets
|**Cost or**
**Valuation**
At 1 April 2021
Additions
At 31 March
2022
**Depreciation**
At 1 April 2021
Charge for the period
At 31 March
2022|**Software & Websites**
**Total**
At cost
-
-
27,991
27,991|
|---|---|
||27,991
27,991|
||-
-
2,799
2,799|
||2,799
2,799|
17
We Are Family Annual Report and Accounts 2021-2022
**Net book value** - - At 1 April 2021 At 31 March 25,192 25,192 2022
## 3. Prepayments and accrued income
|**£**
Prepayments – website
costs
Accrued Income|**2022**
**2021**
168
-
5,530
-|
|---|---|
||5,698
-|
## 4. Accruals and deferred income
|**£**
Accountancy Fees|**2022**
**2021**
1,296
-|
|---|---|
||1,296
-|
## 5. Income and allocated expenditure by activity
||||**To be spent in**|
|---|---|---|---|
|**Restricted**|**Income in 21/22**|**Spent in 21/22**|**22/23**|
|Adopt London - Core|25,000|20,475|4,525|
|Adopt London - WAF Talks|11,060|6,414|4,646|
|Adopt London - Podcast S1|6,900|7,841|(941)|
|Adopt London - Picnics|900|220|680|
|Adopt London - Member Hub||||
|Access|5,700|1,080|4,620|
|**Adopt London Sub Total**|**49,560**|**36,030**|**13,530**|
|Adoption Partnership South East|3,000|2,925|75|
|The Big Give|1,551|493|1,058|
|Tudor Trust Wellbeing Grant|-|788|(788)|
|**Total Restricted**|**54,111**|**40,236**|**13,875**|
|||-||
|**Unrestricted**||||
|The Tudor Trust|15,000|8,573|6,427|
|The Fore|15,000|15,000|-|
|Garfeld Weston|15,000|5,109|9,891|
|Donations & other overheads|1,179|7,143|(5,964)|
|**Total Unrestricted**|**46,179**|**35,825**|**10,353**|
18
We Are Family Annual Report and Accounts 2021-2022
## 6. Detail of income and expenditure
|**£**|**Unrestricted**|**Restricted**|**21/22**|**20/21**|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|Gifts in kind|-|-|-|7,960|
|Restricted grants|-|54,111|54,111|45,033|
|Unrestricted donations|1,179|-|1,179|562|
|Unrestricted grants|45,000|-|45,000|35,000|
|**Donations and Legacies**|**46,179**|**54,111**|**100,290**|**88,555**|
|Fundraising Costs|(2,100)|-|(2,100)|(1,800)|
|**Fundraising Activities**|**(2,100)**|**-**|**(2,100)**|**(1,800)**|
|Advertising & Marketing|(479)|(45)|(524)|(5,614)|
|Audit & Accountancy fees|(1,440)|-|(1,440)|(216)|
|Bank Fees|(17)|-|(17)|(3)|
|Charitable and Political Donations|-|(5)|(5)|-|
|Childcare Costs - Parent Reimbursement|-|(40)|(40)|(280)|
|Compliance and Legal Expenses -
Governance|-|-|-|(2,336)|
|Consulting|(1,980)|(5,790)|(7,770)|(8,898)|
|Depreciation|(2,799)|-|(2,799)|-|
|Employers National Insurance|(90)|-|(90)|-|
|Event Entertainment|(167)|(120)|(287)|-|
|General Expenses|(287)|(163)|(450)|(142)|
|Guest Speaker Fees|-|(5,520)|(5,520)|(3,154)|
|Insurance|(781)|-|(781)|(712)|
|IT Consultancy|-|(126)|(126)|(4,244)|
|IT Equipment Expense|(182)|(293)|(475)|(694)|
|IT Software and Consumables|-|(875)|(875)|(251)|
|Legal Expenses - Support|-|(420)|(420)|-|
|Member Resources (incl Zoom)|-|(2,822)|(2,822)|(2,737)|
|Other Event Expenses|-|(100)|(100)|-|
|Pensions Costs|(546)|(534)|(1,081)|(569)|
|Postage, Freight & Courier|(116)|(120)|(237)|(47)|
|Printing & Stationery|-|-|-|(8)|
|Recruitment Fees|-|-|-|(1,735)|
|Refreshments|-|-|-|(36)|
|Salaries|(22,770)|(22,266)|(45,035)|(28,852)|
|Small Gifts|-|(748)|(748)|(48)|
|Staff Training|(38)|-|(38)|-|
|Subscriptions|(150)|-|(150)|-|
|Telephone & Internet|(80)|-|(80)|(60)|
|Travel - National|(20)|-|(20)|(41)|
|Venue Hire|(34)|-|(34)|-|
|Volunteer Training|(1,400)|-|(1,400)|-|
|Website costs|(350)|(250)|(600)|(286)|
|**Charitable Activities**|**(33,725)**|**(40,236)**|**(73,962)**|**(60,961)**|
|**Net Income / Expenditure**|**10,353**|**13,875**|**24,228**|**25,794**|
19
We Are Family Annual Report and Accounts 2021-2022
## 7a Fees for the Examination of the Accounts
The Accountancy fees include the cost for the independent examination of the charities accounts **.**
## 7b Staff Costs
No employees received employee benefits (excluding employer pension costs) for the year of more than £60,00 **0**
**----- Start of picture text -----**
7c Average Staff Headcount This Last
Year Year
Average number of staff employed in the 3 1
yea r
7d Contributions to Pension Scheme This Last
Year Year
Contributions made to a defined contributions scheme all relating to the
Unrestricted Fund activities
£ 1,081 569
Basis of Accounting
The accounts were prepared on an accruals basis.
The accounts were prepared on a going concern basis.
**----- End of picture text -----**
**This report was signed on behalf of the Trustees of We Are Family CIO on 31st January 2023.**
**Mark Hoult-Allen, Chair**
20