2024-03-31-accounts - Thehorsecourse

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REGISTERED CHARITY NUMBER: 1170553

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES AND

UNAUDITED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

FOR

THEHORSECOURSE CIO

Barretts Chartered Accountants & Chartered Tax Advisers 22 Union Street Newton Abbot Devon TQ12 2JS

THEHORSECOURSE CIO

CONTENTS OF THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS for the Year Ended 31 March 2024

	Page
Report of the Trustees	1 to 5
Independent Examiner's Report	6
Statement of Financial Activities	7
Balance Sheet	8
Notes to the Financial Statements	9 to 12
Detailed Statement of Financial Activities	13 to 14

THEHORSECOURSE CIO

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES for the Year Ended 31 March 2024

The trustees present their report with the financial statements of the charity for the year ended 31 March 2024. The trustees have adopted the provisions of 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).

OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES

Objects

To promote social inclusion for the public benefit by preventing people from becoming socially excluded, relieving the needs of those people who are socially excluded and assisting them to integrate into society by enhancing life skills of such people (a) through interaction with horses or (b) by advancing the education of such people and those supporting such people.

Strategic priorities

The charity follows 6 strategic priorities that guide our activities to deliver these objects:

1. Boldly Innovate

Develop effective behaviour-change programmes based on horse/human interactions.

2. Rigorously Test & Evidence

Participate in robust research and evaluation. Aim for randomised controlled clinical trials as the gold standard.

3. Deliver Excellent Services

Provide effective services for socially excluded individuals where all else is failing.

4. Generate Sustainable Income

Test and prove the market for our work, so that service delivery and replication are sustainable.

5. Replicate Carefully

Provide high quality training, materials and support to ensure faithful replication by independent practitioners.

6. Freely Disseminate Knowledge and Skills

Share methodology, materials and learning freely - to enhance the world in which our beneficiaries live. Give away intellectual property to maximise social impact.

Public benefit

In setting our objectives and planning our activities our trustees have given careful consideration to the Charity Commission's public benefit guidance.

Page 1

THEHORSECOURSE CIO

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES for the Year Ended 31 March 2024

OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES (cont)

Significant activities

We have taken action on the above priorities this year, as follows:

1 . Boldly Innovate

Our primary innovation, the ReStart programme is now 14 years old and has been well tested with over 1000 ReStarts delivered and multiple evaluations.

We are working with Bournemouth University to research further innovation in the realm of virtual reality and neuroscience. Additional research is ongoing with Bristol University, looking at motion sensing and soft robotics.

The human-to human aspect of our work is encapsulated in a model we call the Non Verbals Toolbox. It uses body language as a clue to both recognition and management of emotions – and is one of the keys to our success in engaging hard to reach/treat individuals with complex needs. We have run workshops for many years to share this knowledge, but this year developed an online training course.

2. Rigorously Test & Evidence

We have had numerous studies published in international peer-reviewed journals, placing us as leaders in the field of action-based psychosocial interventions.

Please see www.thehorsecourse.org/evidence

We follow a well-developed in-house monitoring and evaluation protocol which builds rich datasets, we liaise with statutory partners to track outcomes, and we welcome academic researchers.

3. Deliver Excellent Services

This year we increased footfall again, completing our well-evidenced ReStart programme with 173 people with multiple complex needs. This is our flagship 1-to-1 high impact equine-assisted programme for improving emotional regulation and thinking skills. 5 consecutive days of 2 hour sessions concentrating on 8 core psychosocial skills for those referred by frontline professionals in mental health, social care and education when talking isn't working. We achieved a 90% completion rate in our ReStart programme, with no-shows for booked courses increasing since COVID. We delivered lighter touch equine-assisted/horticulture services for 284 people - including Alternative Education, taster sessions and unlimited top up sessions for those needing tapered support (or to revisit following a blip).

We delivered horseless support/trainings to 215 people - welfare checks and our Non-verbals Toolbox Training workshops.

We provided supported volunteering (Working Wellies) for 64 people needing longer term engagement to build confidence in groups. Our Working Wellies keep our site clean, care for the horses and hens and grow vegetables to cook, take home and supply our local food bank. Another 30 people from the local community volunteered over the year - on specific land care projects and to help with our supported groups.

We maintain our local authority welfare licence. We also maintain both Social Farms & Gardens and Charity Excellence quality marks as a way of further demonstrating our high standards.

We are regularly inspected by Dorset Council in relation to commissioning our services for vulnerable young people.

4. Generate sustainable income

We have developed a sustainable funding mix with local authority commissioning alongside grants and community fundraising.

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THEHORSECOURSE CIO

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES for the Year Ended 31 March 2024

OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES (cont)

5. Replicate Carefully

We train and support others to replicate our programmes in their own independent centres. Centres are running across the UK and abroad – see www.thehorsecourse.org/locations

TheHorseCourse Facilitator Training was this year accredited under the PSA (Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care) – meaning that all our Approved TheHorseCourse Facilitators can now sit on the PSA register for Equine Assisted Practitioners, with the same PSA governance and accountability as doctors, social workers and psychotherapists. This PSA register is a huge step forward for the Equine Assisted Services (EAS) sector as a whole in the UK, and the recognition of our specialist training is a long-awaited milestone for TheHorseCourse.

This year we worked with 5 new TheHorseCourse Facilitator trainees.

We also supported 15 existing TheHorseCourse Facilitators towards the “vanilla” OCN London Ofqual registered Level 3 Diploma in Equine Assisted Services, to further underpin their qualifications as practitioners. (see below)

6. Freely Disseminate Knowledge and Skills

We share our materials and knowledge freely on our website, through social media networks, by participating in youth, equine-assisted and community support fora, and through onsite workshops.

We were proud to lead a project over two years for the wider equine-assisted sector, to create an ofqual-regulated "vanilla" facilitator qualification, to raise standards for the whole sector. This project involved deep collaboration with peers in the sector, which relies on our strong reputation for evidence-based, high-quality practice. The qualification is now complete and sits under OCN London as an Ofqual-regulated Diploma. Five other EAS providers have now signed up to deliver and assess the qualification – providing a low cost, accessible entry level qualification for the sector – a real help in raising standards and professionalising.

We also completed the task of developing our innovative Non Verbals Toolbox Training into an online self-paced course. This teaches our speciality: recognising body language as a guide to emotions and using non-verbal strategies to improve calmness and engagement. It is accredited as CPD for support professionals in health and social care but is also useful for parents, business people and other adults. We offer this for free to our beneficiaries and for a small cost to the wider public. See www.thehorsecourse.org/training/non-verbals-course

Goals

We aim to continue to fill a gap in services locally when nothing else works.

We aim to train others to replicate our services geographically.

We will continue with a long term endeavour to develop a Neuro-VR or other mass-scale version of our equine-assisted programme "ReStart" as a way to increase our reach and support those with mental health challenges worldwide, as described above.

ACHIEVEMENT AND PERFORMANCE

Our total number of beneficiaries is over 700 per year. We continue to run full time services all year Mon-Fri 9am-5pm with 2 weeks closure at Christmas.

Over 80% of our restart participants are proven to improve psychosocial skills and long term outcomes such as engagement with education, training and work, better relationships, reduced problem behaviours, improved self belief and hard data reductions in domestic abuse and offending.

We are grateful to all our funders, commissioners and supporters, who make it possible to keep our doors open.

Page 3

THEHORSECOURSE CIO

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES for the Year Ended 31 March 2024

FINANCIAL REVIEW Principal funding sources

Principal funding sources for the year included:

Alex Roberts-Miller Foundation Alice Ellen Cooper Dean Charitable Trust Coop community fund Coward Endowment Dorset Council Grants Garfield Weston Foundation Masonic Charitable Foundation Pennies Foundation (Natwest) Pets Foundation Swire Trust The National Lottery UK Youth - Thriving Minds Valentine Trust Worshipful Company of Loriners

We would also like to thank the Blox Village Cycle Ride and Cerne Abbas Open Gardens for their donations.

Reserves policy

The trustees successfully maintained reserves representing 3 months of operating costs throughout the year, in accordance with their reserves policy.

STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT Governing document

The organisation is controlled by its constitution which was adopted on 28 November 2016 and registered as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) by the Charity Commission of England and Wales on 5 December 2016 to replace the previous organisation (1141654) which was registered as a charity by the Charity Commission of England and Wales on 3rd May 2011. The constitution was amended on 5th July 2019.

All assets of the previous charity registration (1141654) were vested in the CIO on 19 January 2017 and the CIO took over all the activities of the organisation from 1 April 2017. The board of trustees for both entities was the same at time of transfer. The previous charity ceased all activities at the same time and was wound up then formally dissolved on 18 May 2018.

Trustees are recruited in line with a Trustee Role Description and our Safer Recruitment Policy (including DBS check) and are given level 2 Safeguarding training.

Along with the organisation's suite of policies, Trustees maintain a Governance Policy and a Financial Policy specifically to guide their governance activities.

THC adheres to the Charity Governance Code, as supported by the Charity Commission.

The charity is a member of Dorset Youth Association, is approved by Dorset Council and follows guidance from Dorset Safeguarding Board and National Youth Agency.

Trustee roles

Justine Davie held special responsibility for Safeguarding at board level, liaising with the charity's designated Safeguarding Officer, our CEO.

Liz Eaton FBHS held special responsibility for Health & Safety and signs the H&S policy accordingly. She also has oversight of the interactions with equines which is managed through careful recruitment and training of expert facilitators plus detailed risk assessments and safe systems of work.

Rob Cole acted as Treasurer in line with his position as FD of Weymouth College.

Lee Cornell took a special interest in service user voice at board level.

Page 4

THEHORSECOURSE CIO

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES

for the Year Ended 31 March 2024

REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS Registered Charity number 1170553

Principal address

Top Yard Littlemead Weymouth Dorset DT3 5DL

Trustees

A Rose-Prynn Chair R C Wilkin J Davie E A Eaton R Cole Treasurer S Lynch L J Cornell (appointed 16.1.24)

Independent Examiner

Ian Barrett FCA FCIE Barretts Chartered Accountants & Chartered Tax Advisers 22 Union Street Newton Abbot Devon TQ12 2JS

Approved by order of the board of trustees on 16/12/2024 and signed on its behalf by:

16/12/24 Rob Cole (Dec 16, 2024 19:31 GMT)........................................................................ R Cole - Treasurer

Page 5

INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES OF THEHORSECOURSE CIO

Independent examiner's report to the trustees of TheHorseCourse CIO

I report to the charity trustees on my examination of the accounts of TheHorseCourse CIO (the Trust) for the year ended 31 March 2024.

Responsibilities and basis of report

As the charity trustees of the Trust you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 ('the Act').

I report in respect of my examination of the Trust's accounts carried out under Section 145 of the Act and in carrying out my examination I have followed all applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under Section 145(5)(b) of the Act.

Independent examiner's statement

Since your charity's gross income exceeded £250,000 your examiner must be a member of a listed body. I can confirm that I am qualified to undertake the examination because I am a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, which is one of the listed bodies.

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

accounting records were not kept in respect of the Trust as required by Section 130 of the Act; or
the accounts do not accord with those records; or
the accounts do not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a true and fair view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination.

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

Ian Barrett

Ian Barrett (Jan 6, 2025 15:34 GMT)

Ian Barrett FCA FCIE

Barretts Chartered Accountants & Chartered Tax Advisers 22 Union Street Newton Abbot Devon TQ12 2JS 06/01/25 Date: .............................................

Page 6

THEHORSECOURSE CIO

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES

for the Year Ended 31 March 2024

Unrestricted funds Notes £ INCOME AND ENDOWMENTS FROM Donations and legacies 240,154 Investment income 2 838 Total 240,992 EXPENDITURE ON Charitable activities Charity 272,829 NET INCOME/(EXPENDITURE) (31,837) RECONCILIATION OF FUNDS Total funds brought forward 82,186 TOTAL FUNDS CARRIED FORWARD 50,349	Restricted funds £ 71,924 - 71,924 66,130 5,794 31,000 36,794	2024 Total funds £ 312,078 838 312,916 338,959 (26,043) 113,186 87,143	2023 Total funds £ 339,226 166
			339,392
			319,509
			19,883 93,303
			113,186

The notes form part of these financial statements

Page 7

THEHORSECOURSE CIO

BALANCE SHEET

31 March 2024

Unrestricted funds Notes £ FIXED ASSETS Tangible assets 5 7,702 CURRENT ASSETS Debtors 6 5,409 Cash at bank and in hand 48,807 54,216 CREDITORS Amounts falling due within one year 7 (11,569) NET CURRENT ASSETS 42,647 TOTAL ASSETS LESS CURRENT LIABILITIES 50,349 NET ASSETS 50,349 FUNDS 8 Unrestricted funds Restricted funds TOTAL FUNDS	Restricted funds £ - - 36,794 36,794 - 36,794 36,794 36,794	2024 Total funds £ 7,702 5,409 85,601 91,010 (11,569) 79,441 87,143 87,143 50,349 36,794 87,143	2023 Total funds £ 11,223 8,728 122,798 131,526 (29,563) 101,963 113,186 113,186 82,186 31,000 113,186

The financial statements were approved by the Board of Trustees and authorised for issue on 16/12/2024 and were signed on its behalf by:

~~....................................~~ Rob Cole (Dec 16, 2024 19:31 GMT) ......... R Cole - Treasurer

16/12/24

The notes form part of these financial statements

Page 8

THEHORSECOURSE CIO

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS for the Year Ended 31 March 2024

1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Basis of preparing the financial statements

The financial statements of the charity, which is a public benefit entity under FRS 102, have been prepared 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 2019)', Financial Reporting Standard 102 'The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland' and the Charities Act 2011. The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention.

Income

All income is recognised in the Statement of Financial Activities once the charity has entitlement to the funds, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount can be measured reliably.

Expenditure

Liabilities are recognised as expenditure as soon as there is a legal or constructive obligation committing the charity to that expenditure, it is probable that a transfer of economic benefits will be required in settlement and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. Expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis and has been classified under headings that aggregate all cost related to the category. Where costs cannot be directly attributed to particular headings they have been allocated to activities on a basis consistent with the use of resources.

Tangible fixed assets

Depreciation is provided at the following annual rates in order to write off each asset over its estimated useful life.

Fixtures and fittings	- 20% on cost
Motor vehicles	- 20% on cost

Taxation

The charity is exempt from tax on its charitable activities.

Fund accounting

Unrestricted funds can be used in accordance with the charitable objectives at the discretion of the trustees.

Restricted funds can only be used for particular restricted purposes within the objects of the charity. Restrictions arise when specified by the donor or when funds are raised for particular restricted purposes.

Further explanation of the nature and purpose of each fund is included in the notes to the financial statements.

2. INVESTMENT INCOME

INVESTMENT INCOME
	2024	2023
	£	£
Deposit account interest	838	166

continued...

Page 9

THEHORSECOURSE CIO

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - continued for the Year Ended 31 March 2024

3. TRUSTEES' REMUNERATION AND BENEFITS

There were no trustees' remuneration or other benefits for the year ended 31 March 2024 nor for the year ended 31 March 2023.

Trustees' expenses

There were no trustees' expenses paid for the year ended 31 March 2024 nor for the year ended 31 March 2023.

4. COMPARATIVES FOR THE STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES

5.

Unrestricted funds £ INCOME AND ENDOWMENTS FROM Donations and legacies 188,959 Investment income 166 Total 189,125 EXPENDITURE ON Charitable activities Charity 184,167 NET INCOME 4,958 RECONCILIATION OF FUNDS Total funds brought forward 77,228 TOTAL FUNDS CARRIED FORWARD 82,186 TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS Fixtures and fittings £ COST At 1 April 2023 31,298 Additions 350 At 31 March 2024 31,648 DEPRECIATION At 1 April 2023 20,075 Charge for year 3,871 At 31 March 2024 23,946 NET BOOK VALUE At 31 March 2024 7,702 At 31 March 2023 11,223	Restricted funds £ 150,267 - 150,267 135,342 14,925 16,075 31,000 Motor vehicles £ 22,395 - 22,395 22,395 - 22,395 - -	Total funds £ 339,226 166
		339,392
		319,509
		19,883 93,303
		113,186
		Totals £ 53,693 350 54,043 42,470 3,871 46,341 7,702 11,223

continued...

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THEHORSECOURSE CIO

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS-continued
for the Year Ended 31 March 2024
6.
DEBTORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR
Trade debtors
Prepayments and accrued income
7.
CREDITORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR
Trade creditors
Other creditors
8.
MOVEMENT IN FUNDS
At 1.4.23
£
Unrestricted funds
General fund
82,186
Restricted funds
Pets at Home
31,000
Dorset Council Care Leavers
-
CAMHS Dorset
-
31,000
TOTAL FUNDS
113,186
Net movement in funds, included in the above are as follows:
Incoming
resources
£
Unrestricted funds
General fund
240,992
Restricted funds
Pets at Home
38,284
Dorset Council Care Leavers
1,500
CAMHS Dorset
32,140
71,924
TOTAL FUNDS
312,916

2024
2023
£
£
2,660
3,695
2,749
5,033
5,409
8,728
2024
2023
£
£
7,859
1,893
3,710
27,670
11,569
29,563
Net
movement
At
in funds
31.3.24
£
£
(31,837)
50,349
(8,668)
22,332
750
750
13,712
13,712
5,794
36,794
(26,043)
87,143
Resources
Movement
expended
in funds
£
£
(272,829)
(31,837)
(46,952)
(8,668)
(750)
750
(18,428)
13,712
(66,130)
5,794
(338,959)
**(26,043) **

continued...

Page 11

THEHORSECOURSE CIO

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - continued for the Year Ended 31 March 2024

8. MOVEMENT IN FUNDS - continued

Comparatives for movement in funds

At 1.4.22 £ Unrestricted funds General fund 77,228 Restricted funds Delivery Projects 16,075 Pets at Home - 16,075 TOTAL FUNDS 93,303 Comparative net movement in funds, included in the above are as follows: Incoming resources £ Unrestricted funds General fund 189,125 Restricted funds Delivery Projects 115,877 Pets at Home 34,390 150,267 TOTAL FUNDS 339,392	Net movement At in funds 31.3.23 £ £ 4,958 82,186 (16,075) - 31,000 31,000 14,925 31,000 19,883 113,186 Resources Movement expended in funds £ £ (184,167) 4,958 (131,952) (16,075) (3,390) 31,000 (135,342) 14,925 (319,509) 19,883

9. RELATED PARTY DISCLOSURES

There were no related party transactions for the year ended 31 March 2024.

Page 12

THEHORSECOURSE CIO

DETAILED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES

for the Year Ended 31 March 2024

INCOME AND ENDOWMENTS Course delivery fees Donations Grants Horse sponsorship Training fees Use of facilities and support Investment income Deposit account interest Total incoming resources EXPENDITURE Charitable activities Training and CPD Motor expenses Travel and subsistence Subscriptions Horse expenses and course consumables Other expenses Staff costs Facility hire Insurance Light and heat Telephone Postage and stationery Software Maintenance Marketing and publicity Improvements to leasehold premises Rates and water Research and Development Support costs Other 3 Fixtures and fittings Governance costs Accountancy and legal fees Carried forward	2024 £ 48,213 8,457 233,845 3,643 2,220 15,700 312,078 838 312,916 2,227 2,545 476 751 11,974 3,317 255,037 37,753 2,406 2,144 2,080 27 1,875 3,386 110 3,833 789 206 330,936 3,871 4,140 4,140	2023 £ 58,340 8,361 248,890 3,064 1,371 19,200
		339,226 166
		339,392 4,571 2,285 303 808 7,625 3,296 222,469 37,667 2,201 942 2,491 174 1,907 4,902 - 7,639 335 12,235
		311,850 4,404 3,240 3,240

This page does not form part of the statutory financial statements

Page 13

THEHORSECOURSE CIO

DETAILED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES

for the Year Ended 31 March 2024

DETAILED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES for the Year Ended 31 March 2024
Governance costs Brought forward Bank and credit card charges Total resources expended Net (expenditure)/income	2024 £ 4,140 12 4,152 338,959 (26,043)	2023 £ 3,240 15
		3,255
		319,509
		19,883

This page does not form part of the statutory financial statements

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