OpenCharities

This text was generated using OCR and may contain errors. Check the original PDF to see the document submitted to the regulator.

← Livery Schools Link (CIO)

2025-03-31-accounts

LIVERY SCHOOLS LINK CIO

ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

Registered Charity Number: 1172347

LIVERY SCHOOLS LINK CIO

CONTENTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

Page
Reference and Administrative Details 1
Report of the Trustees 2 - 6
Independent Examiner's Report 7
Statement of Financial Activities 8
Balance Sheet 9
Notes to the Financial Statements 10 - 14

LIVERY SCHOOLS LINK CIO

REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

Registered Charity Name:

Livery Schools Link CIO

Organisation type: Charitable Incorporated Organisation Charity Number: 1172347 Principal address: 8 Little Trinity Lane London EC4V 2AN Trustees: Dr Elisabeth Goodwin (Chair) Maureen Marden Joshua Parker Susan Fey OBE (AKA Susan Squire) Steven Dean Julia Sibley MBE Annie Eggar David Holt Lucy Lamb David Lock

Independent Examiner: L Pourian Kaspian Consultancy Ltd Lynton House 7-12 Tavistock Square London WC1H 9BQ

1

LIVERY SCHOOLS LINK CIO

TRUSTEES' REPORT

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

Introduction

This report covers the period from the start of April 2024 until the end of March 2025. It has been a full year again with LSL delivering on its planned activities.

Purpose

The purpose of LSL is:

  1. To support schools in developing young people’s employability skills for work and life.

  2. To make young people aware about the wide range of employment and training opportunities which are represented by Livery Companies and their members.

  3. To help to raise the aspirations of young people.

  4. To positively encourage Livery Companies and their members to get actively involved in helping achieve links between them and schools.

(The word ‘schools’ includes schools, academies and colleges for students between the ages of 5 and

  1. The phrase ‘Livery Companies’ includes companies seeking Livery Status and Guilds.) Schools are now planning their careers activities alongside the Gatsby benchmarks which require young people to have contact with those in employment of different types. The work of LSL can be of help to schools.

Membership

Our membership remains around 60 Companies. We continue to look to attract more members as our main income source is subscriptions. The subscription cost has not risen for a few years as expenditure during the pandemic was reduced but with rising costs, we cannot continue this for too many more years. My thanks again are due to Maureen Marden, who as our Livery Liaison Director keeps in touch with Livery Companies each year.

Livery Showcase

The Livery Showcase took place as part of the larger London Careers Festival (LCF). The dates were Monday February 3 for Primary students and Tuesday February 4 for mid secondary students. Once again we were in the Great Hall and the Old Library. On Monday 3 February, there were 32 stands spread over the Great Hall and the Old Library. On Tuesday 4 February, there were 39 stands. Many Livery Companies brought one or more firms working in their area to demonstrate the occupations available. The Livery Companies, who come, typically make good efforts to welcome students to their stalls. Some gaps in coverage were filled by inviting Companies who were also involved with other parts of the London Careers Festival, eg EoN and Colas rail. The Army and the City of London Police also had stands.

On Monday 26 schools were booked in and all came. We were expecting well over a thousand pupils over the morning and afternoon sessions and although some pupils were missing, it was a few per school. On Tuesday 29 schools were booked. On Monday there were 1,226 students which is a 140% increase on 2024. On Tuesday there were 1,148 students which is a 137% increase on 2024.

2

LIVERY SCHOOLS LINK CIO

TRUSTEES' REPORT

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

The atmosphere on both days was lively and vibrant and the main comment from stallholders was how tired they felt by 3.00 when the schools departed leaving us all in a quiet atmosphere. We are very fortunate to have such a splendid location for this event and it is one which the schools appreciate. We are grateful to the City of London Corporation for making this possible. We are also very grateful to all the Companies that took part. The Primary students are particularly enthusiastic and we hope that more Companies will offer their stall to this age group in future years as well as to the mid Secondary group.

Livery Education conference

The Livery Education conference was live again at Merchant Taylors’ Hall for the morning of January 21 2025. This is the 11th conference run by LSL with help from the Educators. The theme of the conference was ‘Helping young people enter the job market’. Our key note speaker was Nicola Hall, Director of Education, at the Careers and Education Company. She gave us an insight into the changes that are being planned with the Department for Education. The Gatsby benchmarks, which all schools have to follow in careers information and guidance, have been strengthened in places and most importantly each secondary pupil by the end of year 11 must have had a record of the equivalent of two weeks’ work experience of which some can be virtual. Her talk was complemented by Ian Browne from Lloyds Banking Group who explained how they are working together to help young people planning their entry into the world of work. Our final speaker was Ruth Coyle from La Retraite School in Clapham who described how a school can get recognition as outstanding in careers work.

The atmosphere at all times in the Hall was good. Two sets of discussion groups produced a number of useful points for LSL for the way forward. The overall evaluation by delegates gave an 87.5% score for Excellent and the other 12.5% said good on a four point scale. All sending in evaluation sheets said they would come again another year.

Our thanks to Merchant Taylors for offering us the Hall for the event and also to their staff who looked after us very well. We are planning the 2026 conference.

Livery in Education

The 2024 Livery in Education and Skills booklet was published in June 2024. It provides an excellent reference to what Livery companies offer to education at all stages.

Opportunity Fund

The LSL Opportunities Fund was established in 2022 following a very successful “Digital Divide” campaign that raised £70,000 to provide schools with computers to assist those pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds who did not have the necessary equipment or connections to carry out their on-line lessons during the pandemic.

3

LIVERY SCHOOLS LINK CIO

TRUSTEES' REPORT

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

The transformed Fund is intended to help schools alleviate student hardships which come in many forms. The generous third year pledges of funding received from the different Livery Companies and Corporations have been distributed to enable aid to pupils and students of 16 Schools in the form of:

1.Year 12 Students Enrichment programmes

3.Year 11 Motivational Awards

Communications

We are trying to increase our presence on Linked in with regular posts to raise the awareness of LSL. We have sent regular reports to the Livery Committee and to our members through their Clerks. We have a newsletter for schools and we also let them know of particular opportunities when they arise. Tasha Morrison of the Information Technologists’ Company has been our Webmaster. The website is developing a number of links to useful career opportunities and we are delighted to add any links that a member Company would like us to promote.

Volunteer platform for talks and work experience

We continue to promote work with the charity ‘Inspiring the Future’ to offer careers talks to schools. The other charity with which we were linked ‘Speakers for schools’ is more concerned now with large events bringing a number of schools together. The recruitment of volunteers is difficult and we are using our Linked In presence to advertise this opportunity.

Special opportunities for schools

The database of schools we have developed has helped us to be in closer contact with careers staff in schools. The schools tell us that they are keen to have opportunities for their students to meet people in the City so that they can be more used to interface with potential employers. The Educators invited students from three schools to attend a lecture and reception at Drapers Hall in February 2025. LSL helped find interviewers for a school in Dagenham for an interview practice day in May 2024. We believe that special events like these are important for schools and we will encourage the development of such opportunities.

Careers app

We continue to promote HELP, the careers app, to support young people in Years 8 and 9 as they make their choices for GCSE in Year 9. The app is based on proven, existing technology and can be downloaded free of charge at www.sacu-student.com/help.

4

LIVERY SCHOOLS LINK CIO

TRUSTEES' REPORT

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

Governance

The Board has had no changes during the year 2024-2025 although some changes are planned for next year. We need more people to volunteer to work with us in this interesting and rewarding charity. We would like to encourage a wider range of involvement from members and to help spread the load as we continue to offer more support and services to our membership and local schools. Please contact Lis Goodwin on lisgoodwin@btinternet.com. Lis Goodwin is stepping down from the Chairman role but will continue on the Board as Vice Chairman.

Lis Goodwin

Chairman

5

LIVERY SCHOOLS LINK CIO

TRUSTEES' REPORT

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

ANNEX A: TRUSTEES 2024-25

Dr Elisabeth Goodwin (Educators) Steven Dean (Air Pilots) Annie Eggar (Educators) Susan Fey OBE (AKA Susan Squire) (Educators) David Holt (Firefighters) Lucy Lamb (Barbers) David Lock (Chartered Secretaries and Administrators) Maureen Marden (Environmental Cleaners) Joshua Parker (Needlemakers) Julia Sibley MBE (Livery Committee, ex officio)

ANNEX B: LEGAL COUNSEL

Nick Hutton

(Solicitor, Holman Fenwick Willan LLP)

The Trustees' report was approved by the Board on …................................ and signed on its behalf by:

.................................

E M Goodwin Chair of Trustees

6

LIVERY SCHOOLS LINK CIO

INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

I report on the accounts of the Charity for the year ended 31 March 2025 which are set out on pages 8 to 14.

Responsibilities and basis of report

I report to the Trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity for the year ended 31 March 2025.

As the Charity's Trustees, 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 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.

Independent examiner's statement

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

· the accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act; or

· the accounts did not accord with the accounting records; or

· the accounts did 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.

L Pourian

Date: 8/9/2025

L Pourian Kaspian Consultancy Ltd Lynton House 7-12 Tavistock Square London WC1H 9BQ

7

LIVERY SCHOOLS LINK CIO

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES INCORPORATING INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

Unrestricted Restricted
Total
funds
funds
funds
2025
2025
2025
INCOME
£
£
£
Opportunity and Digital Divide funds (Restricted Funds)
8,500
8,500
Other donations (Unrestricted Funds)
-
Membership subscriptions
8,925
8,925
8,925
8,500
17,425
EXPENDITURE
Livery in education
1,393
1,393
Opportunity Fund (Restricted Funds)
3,000
3,000
Heads conference
5,175
5,175
Showcase
-
-
Administration
205
205
Book-keeping and accountancy fees
750
750
Independent examiner
250
250
Website costs
288
288
Insurance
731
731
7,399
4,393
11,792
Net income/(expenditure)
1,526
4,107
5,633
Transfer between funds
-
-
-
Net movement in funds
1,526
4,107
5,633
Total funds brought forward
24,501
4,126
28,627
Total funds carried forward
26,027
8,233
34,260		 Total
funds
2024
£
6,250
407
7,345
14,002
-
4,000
4,624
-
147
750
250
288
693
10,752
3,250
-
3,250
25,377
28,627

The notes on pages 10-14 form part of these financial statements

8

LIVERY SCHOOLS LINK CIO

BALANCE SHEET

AS AT 31 MARCH 2025

Notes
Current assets
Debtors
4
Cash at bank
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year
5
Net current assets
Total assets less current liabilities
Funds
Restricted funds
6
Unrestricted funds
6		 2025
£
3,200
32,820
36,020
(1,760)
34,260
34,260
8,233
26,027
34,260		 2024
£
931
29,256
30,187
(1,560)
28,627
28,627
4,126
24,501
28,627

For the year ending 31 March 2025 the company was entitled to exemption from audit under section 477 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small companies.

The members have not required the charity to obtain an audit of its financial statements for the year in accordance with section 476 of the Companies Act 2006.

The Trustees acknowledge their responsibilities for complying with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 in respect to accounting records and the preparation of financial statements. The financial statements on pages 8 to 15 were approved by the Trustees, and authorised for issue, on …................ and are signed on their behalf, by:

.................................

.................................

E M Goodwin Chair of Trustees

J Parker Treasurer

The notes on pages 10-14 form part of these financial statements

9

LIVERY SCHOOLS LINK CIO NOTES FOR THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

1. Accounting policies

1.1 Basis of preparation of financial statements

The financial statements of the Trust, which is a public entity under FRS 102, have been prepared under the historical cost convention in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standards Applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102), the 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 the republic of Ireland (FRS 102), (Charities SORP (FRS 102)), the Charities Act 2011 and the Companies Act 2006.

Livery Schools Link CIO meets the definition of a public benefit entity as defined by FRS 102.

1.2 Going concern

The Trustees assess whether the use of going concern is appropriate, i.e. whether there are any material uncertainties related to events or conditions that may cast significant doubt on the ability of the Trust to continue as a going concern. The Trustees make this assessment in respect of a period of at least one year from the date of authorisation of the financial statements and have concluded that the Trust has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future and that there are no material uncertainties about the Trust's ability to continue as a going concern, thus they continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the financial statements. Reviewed August 2025.

1.3 Income

All incoming resources are recognised when the Trust has entitlement to the funds, the receipt is probable and the amount of income can be measured reliably.

Donations are recognised on a receivable basis (where there are no performance-related conditions) where the receipt is probable and the amount can be reliably measured.

1.4 Expenditure

Expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to transfer economic benefit to a third party, it is probable that a transfer of economic benefits will be required in settlement and the amount of the obligation can be reliably measured. Expenditure is classified by activity.

All resources expended are inclusive of irrecoverable VAT.

10

LIVERY SCHOOLS LINK CIO NOTES FOR THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

1. Accounting policies (continued)

1.5 Taxation

The charity is exempt from corporation tax on its charitable activities.

1.6 Debtors

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

1.7 Cash at bank

Cash at bank does not include short term liquid investments.

1.8 Liabilities

Liabilities are recognised when there is an obligation at the balance sheet date as a result of a past event, it is probable that a transfer of economic benefit will be required in settlement, and the amount of the settlement can be estimated reliably. Liabilities are recognised at the amount that the Trust anticipates it will pay to settle the debt or the amount it has received as advance payments for the goods and services it must provide.

1.9 Financial instruments

The Trust only holds basic financial instruments as defined in FRS 102. The financial assets and financial liabilities of the Trust and their measurement basis are as follows:

Financial assets - trade and other debtors are basic financial instruments and are debt instruments measured at amortised cost. Prepayments are not financial instruments. Cash at bank is classified as a basic financial instrument and is measured at face value.

Financial liabilities - trade creditors, accruals and other creditors are basic financial instruments and are measured at amortised cost. Deferred income is not deemed to be a financial liability, as the cash settlement has already taken place and there is no obligation to deliver services rather than cash or other financial instrument.

11

LIVERY SCHOOLS LINK CIO NOTES FOR THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

1. Accounting policies (continued)

1.10 Fund accounting

Unrestricted income funds represent those resources which may be used towards meeting any of the charitable objects of the Trust at the discretion of the Trustees.

Restricted fixed asset funds are resources which are to be applied to specific capital purposes imposed by funders where the asset acquired or created is held for a specific purpose.

Restricted general funds comprise all other restricted funds received with restrictions imposed by the funder/donor.

Gains and losses are allocated to the appropriate fund.

1.11 Reserves policy

The Trustees’ reserve policy is to maintain a sufficient level of reserves to ensure that the Charity’s continuing activities can be maintained by:

When considering an appropriate level of reserves, the Trustees consider:

12

LIVERY SCHOOLS LINK CIO NOTES FOR THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

2. Critical accounting estimates and areas of judgement

Estimates and judgements are continually evaluated and are based on historical experience and other factors, including expectations of future events that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances. Critical accounting estimates and assumptions:

The Trust makes estimates and assumptions regarding the future. The resulting accounting estimates and assumptions will, by definition, seldom equal the related actual results.

However, there are no estimates and assumptions within the financial statements for the year ending 31 March 2025 which would have a significant risk of causing a material adjustment to the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities within the next financial year.

3. Trustees renumerations and benefits

There were no Trustees' remunerations or other benefits for the year ended 31 March 2025 nor for the year ended 31 March 2024.

There were no Trustees' expenses paid for the year ended 31 March 2025 nor for the year ended 31 March 2024.

4. Debtors

Other debtors
Prepayments and accrued income
5. Creditors: amounts falling due within one year
Other creditors
Accruals and deferred income		 2025
£
275
2,925
3,200
2025
£
760
1,000
1,760		 2024
£
307
624
931
2024
£
560
1,000
1,560

13

LIVERY SCHOOLS LINK CIO NOTES FOR THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

6. Statement of funds

Unrestricted funds
Restricted general funds
Opportunity/Digital Divide Funds
Total funds		 Balance at
Balance at
1 April
Gains/
31 March
2024
Income
Expenses
Transfers
(losses)
2025
£
£
£
£
£
£
24,501
8,925
(7,399)
-
-
26,027
4,126
8,500
(4,393)
8,233
4,126
8,500
(4,393)
-
-
8,233
28,627
17,425
(11,792)
-
-
34,260

7. Related party transactions

There were no related party transactions for the year ended 31 March 2025.

14