Centre for the Advancement of Development and Human Rights CAD-HR
FOURTH ANNUAL IMPACT REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2022 - 2023
Askia Warne
CAD-HR 2 Danesfield, 220 Albany Road, London, SE5 0AW
SECTION I
INTRODUCTION
Message from the Chair
Centre for the Advancement of Development and Human Rights (CAD-HR) is a modern and innovative organisation that provides free legal services and economic empowerment support to migrant and deprived communities across the UK.
Our previous annual reports focused on the building blocks of CAD-HR over the past four years. However, this year, our annual report will focus on a single project that has brought together the four key areas of our work into a one stop Hub.
I am delighted to report that 2023 had been an incredibly successful year for CAD-HR and MRU Community. We kicked-off 2023 with a successful bid at the Greater London Authority (GLA) Poverty Prevention Challenge 2022/23. We became 1 of 8 Innovators selected by the GLA to reduce poverty and promote inclusion across London.
Our idea was to reduce poverty and promote inclusion by addressing the root causes of poverty, deprivation, and exclusion while at the same time providing tailored support to those who needed it. This idea then became the MRU Community Health and Wellbeing Hub. The Hub is divided into physical and mental health support, economic wellbeing, social wellbeing, and legal wellbeing.
With the support of the GLA and Allia we developed this concept further and are now effectively providing services that are uplifting many deprived communities from poverty and deprivation across London. We are incredibly grateful for the support we received from the GLA and Allia Teams and a particular thanks and appreciation to Ahmad Bismillah at the GLA and Kathryn Ore at Allia for their relentless support and guidance throughout.
Askia Warne Chair CAD-HR
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SECTION II STRATEGIC REPORT
MRU Community Health and Wellbeing Hub (The Hub)
Physical and Mental Health Support
One year on since its inception, the Hub has made tremendous progress in delivering vital health, wellbeing, and economic empowerment support services to beneficiaries across the UK. It has supported people living with long-term illnesses such as cancer and diabetes, people struggling with overweight and obesity, people living in social isolation and loneliness, victims of modern slavery in all its forms, and people suffering from mental health issues stemming from domestic abuse, lack of immigration status, other traumatic events including tragic loss of loved ones. Through our partner organisations whom we support by providing them with a physical space to provide their services, free admin and management support, resources, and the tools they need to support people the issues outlined above, we have been able to reach a much wider section of unreachable and underserved communities struggling with multiple challenges.
The Hub operates a triage system through which beneficiaries are provided with tailored support. The Hub is accessed by walking-in, phoning, or online. Services users can self-refer or be referred by our partner organisations. Once a service user accesses the Hub by any one of the above entry points, a meeting of the core organisations that provides physical and mental health support is called and representatives of the core organisations will attend the meeting in-person or sometimes virtually. During this meeting, representatives of the core organisations will have an informal chat with the service user to understand the problem better so that support is tailored to the need of the service user. At this initial stage no data or details are taken from the service user as the idea is to encourage the service user to be as open as possible and to participate effectively in the discussions.
After gathering sufficient information from the service user through the informal discussions, the organisations that are deemed suitable to support the service user will have a separate meeting and develop a support strategy. Once this has been developed and agreed upon, the service user will be invited into another meeting and each organisation will explain the nature of the support they will provide, the manner in which the support is provided and how long and whether the service user will be further referred to other organisations for specialised support. This approach has received excellent feedback from service users. We will continue to develop it as we scale the project across the UK.
Economic Wellbeing
The Economic Wellbeing department of the Hub is one of our poverty prevention and resilience building measures. We started delivering services in this department by targeting to support 350 uneducated and unemployed women mainly from French-speaking West African countries living in the UK. We met these women through our 2022 winter cost-of-living crisis support. Following the food and financial support we provided them to help them get through the winter, we discovered that most of them also wanted to become Ofsted registered Childminders but lack the education, skills, and resources to achieve this dream.
After several consultations and information sessions, we agreed to work towards helping 150 of the 350 women to become Ofsted registered Childminders in our first 12 months and then 100 each year until we reach our 350 target. Due to religious, cultural barriers, and difficulty
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in finding the right funding to train these women on Level 2 Certificate on Childcare and Young People Course, we spent £36,000 in training 20 of the 150 women we are targeting to train in our first 12 months and 6 months in preparatory work. Training a further 130 would cost us about £230,000 – which we believe is not sustainable and not efficient.
We have therefore partnered with teachers and educators from the West African community so that we can internalise the training of the women. We believe this partnership will enable us to establish a training centre and get funding for skilling and up-skilling through the Adult Education Budget Fund. The partnership will also enable us to train other people in other sectors outside or beyond early years. We are eager to see and share our experience in this approach we have taken.
Social Wellbeing
In our first year delivering services through the Hub, we discovered a new wave of people with multiple vulnerabilities added to other existing vulnerabilities found among migrant and deprived communities. We discovered a very large number of over 65-year-old women mainly from West Africa who were brought into the UK by their children or relatives to help them with childminding. After 20 years or more and when it became clear that their services are no longer required, these older women are then asked out of the homes they have been living since they entered the UK. They are effectively made homeless at a time they have no strength left and no capacity to understand the system or regularise their immigration status.
Through the Social Wellbeing department, we’ve been able to assist over 100 over 65-yearold women found in the situation described above to regularise their immigration status, provide them with decent accommodation, and financial support to help them live a dignified life. As the time it takes to regularise the immigration status of long-term overstayers is almost 2 years, we have put in place what we call a “Community Safety Net.” This Community Safety Net consist of accommodation, food, and financial support to over 60-year-olds living in the UK without a valid immigration status. We are working on a partnership with CashPerks to facilitate financial payments to people without bank accounts. We are also working on convincing voluntary organisations within the West African community to donate a percentage of their annual income to this Safety Net.
Legal Wellbeing
We made MRU Community Legal Service Centre part of the Hub to help with the legal issues entangled with the other issues that our service users are facing. The aim is to provide rounded support services without the need to make further referrals or outsourcing. This has worked very well and feedback from service users revealed that our service users like the fact that they can access all their support services in one place.
We are in the process of registering with the Office of Immigration Service Commission (OISC) and train as many immigration advisers as possible. We are also planning to train mobile “Community Lawyers” who would go round the communities and support residents with various legal issues.
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SECTION III IMPACT REPORT
Our MRU Community Health and Wellbeing Hub project benefited 12,552 people in 2023. This is a 6% increase from our activities in 2022 .
Our in Words and Figures
Physical and Mental Health Support
| Physical and Mental Health Support | Physical and Mental Health Support | Physical and Mental Health Support | Physical and Mental Health Support | Physical and Mental Health Support | Physical and Mental Health Support |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Issue | Mode of Access | Number of People |
Support Provided | Outcome | |
| Modern Slavery | Community Referral |
43 | We work with Women’s Health Advocacy Network (WHAN) to get Modern Slavery recognition from the Home Office with all the support they are entitled to once recognised. The recognition also came with an immigration status and access to public funds. WHAN is a UK-registered charity supporting victims of modern slavery and women who have or are experiencing traumatic and domestic abuse from family members of outsiders. |
Most victims have been recognised as modern slaves and receiving support. Some are awaiting recognition decisions. |
|
| Domestic Abuse | Community Referral |
31 | We work with WHAN to support the women referred to us who are experiencing domestic abuse. We provide legal support in the area of housing, employment, and immigration status. |
Most victims have been rehoused and other are waiting to be rehoused. |
|
| Obesity/Overweight | Self-Referral |
42 | We refer people with obesity or overweight problems to Count Down Community Health and Wellbeing Network (Count Down) for further support. Count Down is a UK- registered charity providing free exercise classes to Southwark residents. |
All are receiving support from partner organisations. |
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| Long-term Illness | Self and Community Referrals |
17 | We refer people with long-term illness to Count Down to help with the physical exercise element of their support. We also refer them to The HealthShow Partnership, an organisation specialised in supporting people with long- term illnesses. The founder is a manager at a Hospice with over 20 years’ experience in supporting people with long-term illnesses. |
All are receiving support from partner organisations. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Social Isolation and Loneliness |
Community Referral |
26 | We refer all people with loneliness and social isolation problems to Family United and Unity for Humanity. Both organisations are registered charities in the UK and provide support to people living in social isolation or loneliness. The range of support provided include cleaning in and around houses, shopping, appointments, and social events. |
All are receiving support from partner organisations. |
| Mental Health | Self and Community Referrals |
19 | We partnered with MatchingMind a digital platform that provides peer-to-peer and other specialised mental health support run by experienced psychologists. We created an account with them and pay in advance for sessions so that any person referred to them would not have to worry about paying. |
All are receiving support from partner organisations. |
| Tragic Loss | Community Referral |
9 | We have few community members who have lost their loved ones in hospitals and mental homes detained under the Menta Health Act and felt that the hospital or mental home authorities are responsible for the deaths of their loved ones. We have intervened in 9 cases and in all cases, we got the families the answers and support they sought. |
All are receiving support from partner organisations. |
| Total | 187 | |||
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| Social Wellbeing | Social Wellbeing | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Issue | Mode of Access | Number of People |
Support Provided | Outcome |
| No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) |
Community Referral |
894 | Most of the immigration cases we receive are tied up with the no recourse to public funds policy. This include families under the private life route to settlement, asylum, and failed asylum claimants, and overstayers or undocumented migrants. In most cases, we succeed in our request to remove the NRPF condition and support the individuals or families to access public funds. |
Majority now have valid immigration status and have recourse to public funds. Some are waiting for decisions. |
| Social Isolation and Loneliness |
Community Referral |
723 | We refer all people with loneliness and social isolation problems to Family United and Unity for Humanity. Both organisations are registered charities in the UK and provide support to people living in social isolation or loneliness. The range of support provided include cleaning in and around houses, shopping, appointments, and social events. |
All are receiving support from partner organisations. |
| Total | 1,617 | |||
| Economic Wellbeing | ||||
| Issue | Mode of Access | Number of People |
Support Provided | Outcome |
| Employability | Self-Referral | 653 | This year, we supported 653 unemployed people to get jobs by helping them develop their CVs, making job applications, interview skills, and skills training including digital skills. We also started training 150 uneducated and unemployed women from French-speaking countries to become Ofsted registered childminders. |
All are receiving training and support to be gainfully employed. |
| Total | 653 |
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| Legal Wellbeing | Legal Wellbeing | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Issue | Mode of Access | Number of People |
Support Provided | Outcome |
| Immigration | Self-Referral | 5,779 | This year, we submitted 5,779 applications to the Home Office for leave to remain under private life, citizenship, asylum claims, fresh claims, and discretionary leave outside the immigration rules. Most of our applications were successful. |
98% of all applications are successful and 2% are waiting decisions. |
| Housing | Self-Referral | 2,631 | After immigration, housing issues, including homelessness, overcrowding, disrepair, and unsanitary housing forms the second major part of our work. This is also the area that our success rate is the lowest as it is difficult to get families from Band 3 or C to Band 1 or A. most cases drag on for several years. |
Local authorities have been very slow in dealing with issues. The success rate is below 50%. |
| Employment | Self-Referral | 347 | We supported beneficiaries with employment related complaints/grievances, occupational health issues, early retirement, flexible hours, reasonable adjustments, and unfair dismissal cases. Our success rate under this item is very high and more than 98% of all our interventions were resolved out of court. |
All referred cases have been successful at the Employment tribunal. |
| Family | Self-Referral | 556 | Our accredited mediators assisted families with divorce, childcare arrangements, custody, social service issues, non-molestation orders, and domestic abuse. |
Most cases are resolved through mediation. |
| Other (Civil or Commercial) |
Self-Referral | 782 | Other civil or commercial legal issues that we help resolve include consumer rights in defective products, returning or exchanging goods, medical negligence, private hire driving licences involving the suspension of licensing by TFL and Uber, hire purchase early termination agreements, etc. |
Most cases are resolved at the pre- action protocol stage. |
| Total | 10,095 |
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How we raised and spent the funds we were given
Income
The majority of our income comes from financial and in-kind contributions from the Trustees of CAD-HR. We receive more in-kind support than financial support. Our figures are therefore made up of in-kind support valued in monetary terms. This is how we calculate the annual income and expenditure of the organisation. The rationale is that if we didn’t receive the in-kind contribution from our valued supporters, we would have been obliged to pay for it. The fact that we are receiving it free of charge does not reduce its quality and value. Our beneficiaries receive quality legal and other services for free because our experienced professionals agree to support our work by providing their services for free.
In 2023 , we received £18,500 from the GLA for both stages of the 2023 Poverty Prevention Challenge. We also received 12 months support in the form of workshops that helped us shape our work and maximise the impact of our work across London.
How was your money spent
We spend all the income and in-kind support we receive on the activities of CAD-HR. In 2023, we spent all our income and resources in establishing the MRU Community Health and Wellbeing Hub and providing rounded and seamless services to beneficiaries across London and other parts of the UK.
THANK YOU TO OUR SUPPORTERS
We wish to express our profound gratitude and thanks to the GLA, MRU Community, and all those who have been our strongest and most committed supporters. Without your support, our journey would have been significantly different, and we do not think that we would have been able to make the differences and impacts that we are currently making.
We also want to thank MRU Corporation, a local business that has been our strongest and highly committed supporter and enabler since our inception. Its financial and in-kind contributions has enabled us to design, develop, and implement our innovative projects.
Beneficiaries who have received support from our services and felt the impact of our interventions directly have asked us to share their genuine and profound thanks and appreciations with those who made it possible. We therefore say Thank You to the donors who have chosen to support our work for your continued support without which it would have been extremely difficult for us to continue delivering our services.
Individuals, organisations, agencies, community groups and religious places of worship have also helped those in need to access our services through referrals. In addition, our work is strengthened by our partnership and collaborative work with voluntary organisations within the MRU Community which we now know as the MRU Social Community. We wish to say here that we have enjoyed working collaboratively with you and we pray that our relationship continue to grow from strength to strength.
Together, we will continue changing the landscape and transforming deprived communities into strong and vibrant communities. Together, our creative thinking, passion, and determination to succeed has enabled us to change the way voluntary organisations think and work together and we will continue building on our success and innovate as we progress. Once again, we say thank you to all our supporters and our profound gratitude goes to our partner organisations.
Plans for the Future
It remains our firm commitment to promote development and human rights, and we therefore strive relentlessly to provide the tools, resources, and support systems needed for out beneficiaries to be economically
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independent, socially included, and are thriving in society. Our funders and supporters can be confident that their donations and in-kind contributions are targeted to and reach the individuals and communities they desire to support through our intervention. All donations and in-kind contributions received in 2023 was used to fund our community development and human rights advancement projects.
The implementation of MRU Community Health and Wellbeing Hub has helped a rapidly increasing number of migrant and deprived communities across the UK who for various reasons could not access widely available mainstream support services to access services that are tailored to their needs. As we continue to scale our activities to other parts of the UK through our digital platform, the impact of our services will be deeper and wider.
Since our establishment, we have rigorously ensured that community development and human rights advancement continue to be the driving force of our interventions. Our approach is innovative and unique and is admired by many organisations and businesses across the world. We will continue to work with in-house and independent scholars, experts, and practitioners to continue innovating and improving our community advancement approaches which are rooted in our raison d’etre and relevant to the current situation and circumstances of our beneficiaries.
We will continue our constant and ongoing engagement with the communities we work with, raise awareness, educate, and inform about our community development and human rights advancement programmes across the country, providing online resources, consultations services and webinars. We will also work with a range of networks and organisations to spread knowledge about our work even further.
We expect our income stream to increase in 2024 as supporters have seen the impact of our work on the lives and livelihood of the communities that we support and our innovative approaches to improving the financial and social stability and security of our beneficiaries. Our flexible recruitment and staff engagement has made us very efficient and enabled us to do more with very little. As a result, of this efficient way of delivering our services we save more money and use the saved funds to design, develop, and implement more innovative projects.
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SECTION IV HOW WE OPERATE
Our People
We seek to maximise the potential of all workers associated with CAD-HR and we cultivate high levels of staff engagement. We do this through:
Employee Engagement Surveys
Our staff and associates participate in quarterly staff engagement survey, giving helpful feedback on what it is like to work at and with CAD-HR. During 2023 over 94% of participating staff said that our mission inspire and empower them. In addition, staff and associates meet regularly to discuss ideas and provide feedback.
Safeguarding
We expect all staff and associates, volunteers, partners, interns, and consultants to conduct themselves in a way that preserves the dignity and respect of every individual. We have a Code of Conduct that reflects this. We have zero tolerance for harassment, bullying or exploitation in any form.
Equal Opportunities and Diversity
We have an Equality and Diversity policy in place to ensure we give prospective staff and associates, existing staff and associates and volunteers equal opportunities to succeed. We engage the best person we can find for the role, ensuring they have the right skills, knowledge, and experience to help us achieve our mission. We encourage staff and associates to develop within CAD-HR to match their circumstances and aspirations wherever possible.
Employee’ Remuneration
The Board of Trustees determines the salary of the Executive Director. The Executive Director proposes the salaries of key management personnel to the Board, which approves/amends as appropriate. In 2023, the key management personnel comprised the Executive Director, MRU Social and Economic Community Co-ordinator, MRU Community Health and Wellbeing Co-ordinator, and Project and Community Engagement Manager.
The Executive Director and the key management personnel agree the salaries of all other staff and associate. We set and review salaries based on a combination of benchmarking, seniority of the role, experience, and CAD-HR’s overall budget. For 2023, we also took into account the personal circumstances of the staff or associate, the current financial, high price, and costs of living crisis. We review salaries in April each year, with any changes effective from the following month.
Use of Volunteers
Volunteers are a valued resource in our work. In 2023, we had over 37 professionals and students volunteering for us from time to time. These include experienced legal practitioners, development practitioners, and students from the US through our partnership with CAPA a Study Abroad Institution, from EU, and other parts of the world.
Volunteers have been involved in four key areas, (i) contributing professional services, (ii) business and management support, (iii) organising fundraising events, and (iv) designing, developing, and implementing projects. In 2023, nearly 40 professionals with the legal service sector, finance, human resources, and
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management contributed their time and professional services on a pro bono or reduced cost basis. The value of their services given in kind amounted to £271,434 .
During the year, we had about 37 experienced legal practitioners each contributing 16 hours a week for over 50 weeks. Additionally, we also benefited from 14 experienced development practitioners. Volunteers are supported and trained in their roles by employees and given assistance where required. Additionally, experienced professional volunteers were also used as consultants to provide legal and technical services that would have been outsourced to various firms.
We have supporters across the UK who help communicate our work. Volunteers across the UK help spread the message both online and offline about the impact we are making in the lives of our beneficiaries, so an increasing number of people know about the work we do and why we exist. Message about our work has been spread through various channels including all social media platforms, online channels, at religious places of worship, community centres by distributing leaflets, flyers, workshops, conferences, seminars, and sponsoring local community events. We are thankful to have reached this far and for this level of support from our volunteers, supporters, and beneficiaries in achieving our vision.
How we Manage our Funds and Resources
Principal Risks and Uncertainties
Every year, CAD-HR review its risk management process, and we confirm that we have reviewed our risk management process for this year as well. The board of Trustees have the responsibility of looking at our risk management process and agree on which areas need improving. We confirm that this was done in midNovember 2023 and recommendations for improvement include improving our strategic risk register which was developed in 2021 which detailed the external risks we face, and which are identified as important but outside our control. We confirm that we have responded to these recommendations and have put in place effective measures that will mitigate their impact on our organisation and beneficiaries.
Risks associated with our work and projects will be continued to be monitored and managed through our operational risk register. These risks are overseen by the relevant staff members and the Head of our Finance Committee. The next stage of our improvement is to improve the risk appetite section of our risk policy and to enhance the assurance framework to ensure that internal controls are working properly which is overseen by the Finance Committee which provides regular updates to the Board on the outcome of these. The Trustees assess all major risks to which the charity is exposed and review the systems and procedures established to manage those risks. The most significant risks are:
External Influence
A decline in funding and donations due to external influences such as the current economic crisis including inflation, high energy costs, high price crisis, and other resultant economic downturn, which increases our risk of financial instability and could impact the security of our funding streams.
This risk is mitigated through a diverse funding base and an increased focus on building and strengthening the MRU Community and strengthening our partnership with MRU Corporation and working with the thriving MRU Social Community and the business community to increase and expand on our fundraising activities. The Board of Trustees are also working on identifying innovative sources of funding that would give the charity financial security and stability. Further, we have significantly reduced the amount of funds spent on running costs and working on developing sustainable funding streams through our partnership with MRU Corporation and other local businesses within the MRU Community.
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Data Breach
Loss of data through breach, cyber-attack, server failure or human error cyber-attack is now one of the largest concerns of organisations. Despite adoption of all recommended protections and processes the changing nature of cyber-attacks means that there will still be a risk, which we will be unable to completely mitigate or manage. A data breach or cyber security incident could result in legal, contractual and/or regulatory consequences, as well as reputational damage.
This risk is mitigated through having a dedicated IT supplier who ensure that we have strong IT systems in place, Firewall and antivirus software installed, software and operating systems regularly updated with security patches and our database, network and email all hosted securely in the cloud and backed up daily. We have clear Data Protection, Data Breach, and IT policies which staff and associates are regularly reminded of, and all staff and associates receive online GDPR training annually. Additionally, we have cyber security insurance in place to mitigate the impact of the risk and to insure us against an unfortunate and unforeseen breach. Further, management actions have been agreed which include improving the assurance process to ensure compliance with policies, a planned upgrade to SharePoint that enable the whole network to be located offsite and therefore more secure, and a review of our business continuation and response plan in the event of a data breach or cyber-attack.
Demonstration Impact
In our three years of operation, our community development and human rights advancement projects were geared towards working to empower and strengthen communities from Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic (BAME) groups through the provision of free administrative and management support and legal services. We acknowledge that it is always challenging for us to demonstrate impact due to the size of the beneficiary community that we chose to work with. This resulted in key funders doubting how we can show that our work is making the impact that it is supposed to make. This risk has made it a bit more difficult for us to access the funding we need to continue delivering our services and increase our risk of financial instability.
This risk has been mitigated by redefining our beneficiary community and narrowing the scope of the number of beneficiaries we were targeting. We resulted in creating the MRU Community in the UK consisting of individuals, businesses, and voluntary organisations from the Manor River Union (MRU) region in West Africa which includes Sierra Leone, guinea, Liberia, and Ivory Coast. Having narrowed our focus in terms of the size of our beneficiaries, we were able to obtain information from the Office of national Statistics (ONS) that this community is now over 67,000 persons living in the UK currently.
With this information, we can undertake further studies to deepen our understanding of the needs of this community so as to better serve them. We will work with innovative institutions like IpsoMORI to learn more about this community. It is now easier for us to measure our impact, collect evidence, and conduct further research on any issues we intend to address.
Reputational
Media or other organisations publish high critical, slanderous and/or inflammatory opinions on the work of charities. This could result in a loss of reputation for excellence, quality of work and confidence on CAD-HR. This risk is mitigated through policy initiatives grounded in and supported by our impact reports and testimonies from our beneficiaries aligned with our strategic aims, ongoing discussions with the Executive Director, the Board of trustees, and key stakeholders of the MRU Community for the duration of our operations. We will strengthen our community engagement and make it easier for beneficiaries and stakeholders to be able to express their views about our operations freely. We will continue to maintain and further strengthen our relationship with the community that we work with and organise regular townhall meetings to allow members of the public to engage with us constructively.
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Financial
The risk of insufficient generation of funds to cover the cost of implementing our projects, as well as the core costs of the organisation. This would affect our ability to grow and meet the needs of our beneficiaries. This risk is being mitigated by ensuring that we diversify our fundraising activities to fully cover the direct costs of running the organisation as well as implementing our projects. Since its establishment funds to cover core costs of operations and the cost of raising funds have been provided personally by the Trustees and MRU Corporation. However, the recent progress that we have made in the community has enabled us to raise more funds from the community. The organisation’s strategy and its key elements such as budgetary review, cash resources, and cash flows are subject to regular management and Board review, supported by operational updates and key operational metrics.
People
The risk of losing valuable staff members who has extensive experience in running CAD-HR. this could result in failure to attract, motivate, and retain the most talented colleagues and failure to develop the required culture, leadership, and behaviours to achieve our objectives. This risk is being mitigated with the continued development of all staff and associates at all levels, and with staff and associates engagement policies and processes to attract and retain the best people. The right people are our most valuable asset. We continue to manage and consider diversity and inclusion as well as colleague engagement. We provide ongoing opportunities for personal and professional development. We have put in place staff training, with the team responsible for learning and development.
Serious Incidents
The risk of incidents that damage reputation and/or negatively impact operations including suppliers, beneficiaries, and GDPR breaches. This risk is being mitigated by ensuring that we have a robust serious incident policy in place, that staff, associates, and Trustees have been trained on adhering to the policy, and that GDPRcompliant systems in place which are well above the minimum standard required. In addition, beneficiaries are carefully assessed to ensure eligibility and likely impact, with Board involvement where necessary.
Our approach to operations
We made continuous improvement in the use of Customer relationship Management (CRM) system for beneficiaries and service users records. We also further embedded the safety of our accounting system with Accounting IQ.
Safeguarding
The risk that people who encounter CAD-HR are not protected from harm. This risk is being mitigated by ensuring CAD-HR has safeguarding policy and training rolled out for staff, associates, and Trustees, a policy which ensures reinforcement of good culture and good practice. We will continue to provide safe places, encourage the confidence to report any issue, and take consistent action. Trustees continue to ensure that these and other risks are managed appropriately. Trustees review systems and procedures for risk management throughout the year.
General Data Protection Regulation
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) became law in May 2018. The regulation sets out the responsibilities all organisations have in relation to the personal data that they collect and hold and is designed to enhance the rights of individuals in controlling their own personal data. We take privacy seriously and we are committed to protecting personal data, and to ensuring that we are compliant with the changes introduced by the GDPR. We have put in place policies and procedures to comply with GDPR in the areas of data protection policies, data mapping, data retention and cleansing, data processing and supporter data privacy, consent, and
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preference management. We consider that every member of staff has a role to play, and we have regular training to ensure we are all familiar and compliant with the new requirements.
Our approach to public fundraising
A significant proportion of our funds come from the public, and our aim is to ensure we do this in both a respectful and compelling way that is consistent with our values. We support measures that will improve public trust and support for the sector. We are registered with the Fundraising Regulator and pay the annual levy required. We will work diligently to comply with the Code of Fundraising practice. The Development Manager manages all income-generating activities, guided, and monitored by the Director, with overall oversight by the members of the Board. Our staff, associates, and consultants carry out fundraising activities for the charity. In 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023 we did not use professional fundraisers or have any commercial participants.
We have set standards for the operation and management of our fundraising activities. We engage with our local community groups and collaborate with them to organise fundraising activities. We consider that our processes and controls ensure that vulnerable people and other members of the public are protected from any unreasonable intrusion on a person’s privacy and that no fundraising activities would be unreasonably persistent or place undue pressure on a person to give money or other property. We actively encourage supporters to contact us with any feedback.
How we are governed
The Board of Trustees governs the organisation in line with its Constitution, vision, mission, values, aims and charitable objectives and provide overall policy direction. The Board is responsible for compliance with the legal and statutory requirement of CAD-HR.
CAD-HR’s Board of Trustees is currently made up of three elected Trustees, four advisers from the MRU Community, and four experienced professional advisers from the International Development Practice sector. There are also various standing and ad hoc committees with the Board including, the Finance Committee, the Audit and Compliance Committee, the Project Development and Management Committee, the Community Engagement Committee, and the Events and Fundraising Committee. In total, there are 12 members that sit at the Board of CAD-HR. the Board meets at a minimum four times a year. The Finance and Audit Committee promotes and safeguards the highest standards of integrity, financial reporting, and internal control. It also oversees the organisation’s risk management process, and any capital spend projects.
The Executive Director and employees make operational decisions and run the charity. The Executive Director or Line Manager, as appropriate, sets and agrees objectives with employees to ensure that the strategic objectives of the charity are being met. The Executive Director or Line Manager, as appropriate, also ensure staff and associates who have direct contact with beneficiaries are regularly supported, trained, and assessed to ensure their communication is in line with the charity’s values.
Organisational Purpose: Public Benefit
The Trustees confirm that they have complied with their duty under the Charities Act 2011 to have due regard to the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit. The Trustees consider these when reviewing the aims and objectives of CAD-HR, and in planning activities for the future. the Trustees consider that the aims and activities of the charity are exclusively for public benefit. The trustees confirm that the aims of the Charity continue to be charitable and that the work of the charity is in line with its objectives, that the aims and the work done give identifiable benefits to the charitable sector and both directly and indirectly to individuals in need, that the benefits are for the public and are not unreasonably restricted in any way, and that there is no detriment or harm arising from any of the activities of the charity.
Board Effectiveness
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Trustees are recruited based on relevant expertise, skills, experience, and qualifications, and on alignment of their values with CAD-HR’s values. Before appointment, potential Trustees meet with the Chair of the Board and the executive Director. They are then invited to attend a Trustee meeting as an observer. After this, they are invited to act as an Adviser to the Board for six months and after this process, the Board decides whether to recruit the trustee. Once recruited, the Trustee is properly inducted into the organisation and training and support provide on an ongoing basis. The number of trustees is within the range recommended by the Governance Code. The profile of trustees is broadly representative of the people the charity work with and support. Our trustees undergo a comprehensive induction programme and are offered training and development opportunities throughout their Trusteeship. We have undertaken a skills audit of all trustees and intend to continue this practice.
Openness and Accountability
We make our charity’s impact accessible to donors and stakeholders through our website and update it on an ongoing basis. We regularly share stories of our beneficiaries on our website and in external messaging. We fully disclose details of our Trustees and their biographies on our website. We have a disclosure policy in place, detailing what information we hold and how we process it, to provide confidence that we are securely handling private and often sensitive beneficiary and donor data.
Integrity
CAD-HR’s Board of trustees has established a solid foundation in governance in which all Trustees are clear about their roles and legal responsibilities, are committed to supporting the charity to deliver its object most effectively for its beneficiaries’ benefit and contribute to the charity’s continued improvement.
We welcome the 2017 Charity Governance Code as a positive step forward for improving governance and excellence in resource management in the sector. The Board has undertaken a thorough review of its current practice compared to that recommended in the Governance Code. Both the Board and the Finance and Audit Committee take feedback on board and regularly implement aspects for improved Governance. The Board will identify further areas for improvement over time. This is part of the continued concern of the Trustees to constantly improve the effectiveness of the organisation. We have serious incidents policy. However, there has not been any serious incident at CAD-HR. We also have a conflict-of-interest policy and detail potential conflicts within this report. In addition, each Trustee confirms annually that they are eligible to hold the position.
Diversity
We recognise the benefits diversity can bring. The charity has an Equality and Diversity policy which extends across the organisation. Trustees and employees are from a range of backgrounds. The majority of employees and all Trustees are from Black African background. We currently have two female and one male Trustee.
Environmental Impact
We are also constantly striving to reduce the charity’s impact on the environment. All Board papers are provided online only, all applications are now fully online, and all donor and application records are stored online. We also ensure that all our work including the legal service we provide is done mostly electronically and we have a zero-paper use policy which ensure that we do not print anything.
Reserve Policy
Both the Board and CAD-HR’s supporters recognise that the organisation operates in an environment that requires a long-term commitment if it is to achieve its mission. Being a development and human rights advancement organisation, it is the work undertaken by CAD-HR’s staff that forms our charitable activities.
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Therefore, it is the view of the Board that CAD-HR needs a reserves level that will enable it to continue to attract the highest level of expertise and in so doing meet its long-term commitments to its supporters and beneficiaries.
Each year, the Board review the reserves policy, taking into consideration any major risks and the impact these could have on planned income and expenditure. Our current policy is that unrestricted reserves on average are equivalent to at least six months running costs are needed if CAD-HR is to deliver on its commitments, meet the long-term expectations of its supporters and beneficiaries and continue to attract the highest level of legal, technical, and developmental expertise with which to do so. It remains extremely important to us to continue growing CAD-HR so that we can keep up with the increasing demands of the work is needed, and we believe we have done this in a sustainable way. Whilst CAD-HR is now in a much stronger financial position, it remains important that we maintain our reserves at the agreed level. We keep a close eye on these and our cash flow throughout the year.
Each year, substantial funds are raised to improve the financial health of the organisation and ensure that sufficient funds are generated beyond the initial reserves level. The charity’s total funds at the year-end amounted to £611,561 of which £537,561 were unrestricted general funds designated for the MRU Community Health and Wellbeing Hub project. £74,000 were restricted funds to be used for specific aspects of the above projects as agreed by the donors. This means these funds are not generally available and we will have to seek approval before using the funds in any of the activities of the projects. CAD-HR’s Board will continue to review its reserves policy on an annual basis and will keep our investment and treasury management policy under regular review, particularly in the light of reduced funding.
Investment policy and performance
CAD-HR does not hold any investment at the moment. However, we are considering investing with MRU Corporation in 2023. The objective of our intended investment policy is to limit risk as far as is possible while earning such profits as is available on very secure deposits. Accordingly, our investment policy is to invest shortterm and long-term deposits and to hold cash only at those banks with a high credit rating.
Going Concern
The Trustees have considered the funding position and risks to which the organisation is exposed. The Trustees have a reasonable expectation that the charity has adequate resources to continue in existence for the forceable future. The Trustees believe that there are no material uncertainties which call into question the charity’s ability to continue as a going concern. The financial statements have therefore been prepared on the basis that the charity is a going concern.
Plans for the future
The future of CAD-HR is very bright despite the challenges we continue to face. We’ve made considerable progress on the Health and Wellbeing Hub project. All four departments are currently delivering services at a steady pace. We intend to expand its operations beyond and move some of our service online on the new digital platform we are building.
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Our Leadership Team
Board of Trustees Askia Warne (Chair) Umu Sanu Bah (Treasurer) Hawa Barrie (Secretary) Executive Director Askia Warne Bank NatWest Bank plc Charity Number 1178974 Registered Office 2 Danesfield, 220 Albany Road, London, SE5 0AW
Statement of Trustees’ Responsibilities
The Trustees are responsible for preparing the Trustees’ Annual Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and UK Generally Accepted Accounting Practice. Charity law require the Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial period which give true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure of the charity for that period.
In preparing these financial statements, the Trustees are required to, (i) select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently, (ii) observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP, (iii) make judgments and estimates that are reasonable and prudent, (iv) state whether applicable UK Accounting Standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements, and (v) prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in operation.
The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK (FRS 102) and the Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK (FRS 102). The Trustees are responsible for keeping accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and which enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charity Act 2011. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
In so far as the Trustees are aware, (i) there is not relevant audit information which the charity’s auditors are unaware of, and (ii) the Trustees have taken all steps that they ought to have taken to make themselves aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the auditor is aware of that information. In preparing this report, the Trustees have taken into account all relevant law relating to the preparation of its financial statements.
On behalf of the Board
Askia Warne
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SECTION V FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Our focus on building a modern, innovative, and sustainable organisation began in 2019. In 2020, our annual income reached £544,125 in our first year of active operation. We saw an unprecedented increase in donations from MRU Community members, from grant making trusts, and fundraising activities. This strategy on diversifying our income streams allowed us to increase our staff members to 23 in 2020 with a commensurate increase in the output of work. This increasing production of high-quality work demonstrated to donors and funders that their grants and donations were put to worthwhile use in furthering the objectives of the charity. However, in 2022 we experienced severe draught in grants funding. Our development staff spent significant number of hours preparing funding applications and submitted about 300 funding applications to grant making trusts, local authorities, and government agencies, but none was successful. We also did not receive any feedback from our applications explaining why we were not successful in the applications we made. This had severe impact on staff morale and some staff members had to leave as we decided to move away from grant applications to more sustainable sources of funding.
As a result, we also had to change our recruitment policy and had to revert to engaging staff on consultancy basis which allowed us to pay only for the work we needed to be done. This is not our preferred way of recruiting and employing people. We would have loved to continue employing staff on a permanent basis, paying more than the minimum wage, with all the benefits inherent in employing full-time staff and also give opportunity to young people within our area of operation. However, without support or funding from mainstream funders this is extremely difficult and as a resilient organisation, we had to find ways of surviving and continue to deliver the much-needed services to our beneficiaries. Despite the profound difficulties in accessing mainstream funding, the in-kind contributions we receive from our supporters and the financial contribution from the Trustees of the Charity has kept us going at a steady pace. In 2023, our income which is mostly made up of n- kind contributions is:
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£611,561
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CENTRE FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF DEVELOPMENT AND HUMAN RIGHTS ANNUAL REPORT AND UNAUDITED ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023
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CENTRE FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF DEVELOPMENT AND HUMAN RIGHTS ANNUAL REPORT AND UNAUDITED ACCOUNTS CONTENTS
| Page | |
|---|---|
| Charity information | 3 |
| Trustees report | 4 |
| Accountants' report | 5 |
| Income statement | 6 |
| Statement of financial position | 7 |
| Statement of changes in equity | 8 |
| Notes to the accounts | 9 |
| Schedule to receipts and payments | 10 |
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CENTRE FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF DEVELOPMENT AND HUMAN RIGHTS CHARITY INFORMATION FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023
Trustees
Askia Warne Hawa Barrie Umu Sanu Bah
Charity Number Registered Office
1178974 (England and Wales)
2 Danesfield, 200 Albany Road, London SE5 0AW United Kingdom
Accountants Edmil Accountants UK Ltd 146 Broadway Didcot Oxfordshire OX11 8SH
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CENTRE FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF DEVELOPMENT AND HUMAN RIGHTS (CHARITY NO: 1178974 ENGLAND AND WALES) TRUSTEES REPORT
The Trustees present their report and accounts for the year ending 31 December 2023.
Trustees
The following Trustees held office during the whole of the period:
Askia Warne Umu Sanu Bah
Hawa Barrie
Statement of Trustees responsibilities
The Trustees are responsible for preparing the report and accounts in accordance with applicable law and regulations.
Charity law requires the Trustees to prepare accounts for each financial year. Under that law, the Trustees have elected to prepare the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (The Act). Under Charity law the Trustees must not approve the accounts unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Charity and of the surplus or deficit of the Charity for that period. In preparing these accounts, the Trustees are required to:
-
Select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently.
-
Make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent.
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Prepare the accounts on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the Charity will continue in business.
The Trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the Charity's transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the Charity and enable them to ensure that the accounts comply with the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the Charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
Small Charity provisions
This report has been prepared in accordance with the special provisions relating to small charity total income -recorded in the statement of financial activities, prepared in accordance with the Charities SoRP (FRS102) and the total expenditure as shown in the Statement of Financial Activities (prepared in accordance with the Charities SORP (FRS102))
As a CIO with an annual income of more than £250,000, Centre for the Advancement of Development and Human Rights prepares its accounts using the accruals method permitted by section 133 of the Charities Act 2011. Centre for the Advancement of Development and Human Rights ended the year with a cash balance of £1896.
Signed on behalf of the board of Trustees
............................................................................
Askia Warne Chair
Approved by the board on: 10 August 2024
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CHARTERED CERTIFIED ACCOUNTANTS' INDEPENDENT EXAMINER’S REPORT TO THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES ON THE PREPARATION OF THE CHARITY ACCOUNTS OF CENTRE FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF DEVELOPMENT AND HUMAN RIGHTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023
In order to assist you to fulfil your duties under the Charity Act 2011, we have prepared for your approval the accounts of Centre for the Advancement of Development and Human Rights for the year ended 31 December 2023 as set out on pages 6 - 9 from the Charity's accounting records and from information and explanations you have given us.
As a practicing member firm of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, we are subject to its ethical and other professional requirements which are detailed at https://www.accaglobal.com/uk/en/about-us/regulation/rulebook.html
Our work has been undertaken in accordance with the requirements of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants as detailed at
http://www.accaglobal.com/content/dam/ACCA_Global/Technical/fact/technical-factsheet-163.pdf.
Edmil Accountants UK Ltd Chartered Certified Accountants
146 Broadway Didcot Oxfordshire OX11 8SH
22 August 2024
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CENTRE FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF DEVELOPMENT AND HUMAN RIGHTS RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023
| RECEIPTS Donations and Legacies Government Grant Charitable activities Total Receipts PAYMENTS Revenue Expenditures Raising Funds Charitable Activities Total Revenue Expenditures [i] Net Operating Cash Surplus/(Deficit) [A-i] Total Payments [B] = [i+ii] Net Surplus/ (Deficit) for the year [A-B] Balance brought forward from last year Balance carried forward end of this year |
Unrestricted Restricted Total Prior Year |
|---|---|
| 316,890 - 316,890 133,597 18,500 18,500 5,779 276,171 - 276,171 463,735 |
|
| 611,561 - 611,561 603,111 |
|
| 27,890 - 27,890 111,492 495,810 495,810 220,185 |
|
| 523,700 - 523,700 331,677 |
|
| 87,861 - 87,861 271,434 |
|
| 523,700 - 523,700 331,677 |
|
| - 87,861 - 87,861 271,434 426,352 - 426,352 154,918 |
|
| 514,213 - 514,213 426,352 |
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CENTRE FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF DEVELOPMENT AND HUMAN RIGHTS STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION
AS AT 31 DECEMBER 2023
| CASH FUNDS Cash at bank and in hand Total Cash Funds FIXED ASSETS Furniture and fittings Computer equipments In-Kind Contributions Total Fixed Assets Total Assets Reserves Retained for Charity Use Income and expenses account Charity Funds Retained |
Unrestricted Restricted Total Prior Year |
|---|---|
| £ £ £ £ 1,896 - 1,896 16 |
|
| 1,896 - 1,896 16 |
|
| 7,211 - 7,211 7,211 11,401 - 11,401 11,401 493,705 493,705 407,724 |
|
| 512,317 - 512,317 426,336 |
|
| 514,213 - 514,213 426,352 |
|
| 514,213 - 514,213 426,352 |
|
| 514,213 - 514,213 426,352 |
For the year ending 31 December 2023 the Charity prepared accounts under section 477 of the Charity Act 2011 relating to small Charity. The members have required the Charity to obtain an independent accountant’s report in accordance with section 476 of the Charity Act 2011.
The Trustees acknowledge their responsibilities for complying with the requirements of the Act with respect to accounting records and the preparation of accounts.
These accounts have been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to Charity subject to the small Charity' regime and in accordance with the provisions of FRS 102 Section 1A - Small Entities.
The financial statements were approved by the Board of Trustees and authorised for issue on 10 August 2023 and were signed on its behalf by:
Askia Warne
Chair
Charity Registration No.1178974
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CENTRE FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF DEVELOPMENT AND HUMAN RIGHTS STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN RESERVE
AS AT 31 DECEMBER 2023
| At 1 January 2022 Surplus/ (Deficit) for the year At 31 December 2022 At 1 January 2023 Surplus/ (Deficit) for the year At 31 December 2023 |
Reserve Funds Surplus & (Deficit) Total |
|---|---|
| £ £ £ - 154,918 154,918 - 271,434 271,434 |
|
| - 426,352 426,352 |
|
| - 426,352 426,352 - 87,861 87,861 |
|
| - 514,213 514,213 |
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CENTRE FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF DEVELOPMENT AND HUMAN RIGHTS NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023
1 Statutory information
Centre for the Advancement of Development and Human Rights is a Charity, registered in England and Wales, registration number 1178974. The registered office is 2 Danesfield, 220 Albany Road, London, SE5 0AW, United Kingdom. The Charity is a going concern and has had a significant impact in the community over the past year.
2 Compliance with accounting standards
The accounts have been prepared in accordance with the Charity Commission guidance. There were no material departures from that standard.
3 Accounting policies
The principal accounting policies adopted in the preparation of the financial statements are set out below and have been consistently applied within the same accounts.
Basis of preparation
The accounts have been prepared under the historical cost convention as modified by the revaluation of certain fixed assets.
Presentation currency
The accounts are presented in £ sterling.
4 Average number of employees
During the year, there were 37 experienced legal practitioners each contributing 16 hours a week for over 50 weeks; and 14 experienced community development practitioners.
-
5 Centre for the Advancement of Development and Human Rights reserves lie in its unrestricted cash balances of £1896: in-kind contribution of professional volunteers of £271,434 and trustees’ contribution of £186,500 as of 31 December 2023. The trustees have considered what an appropriate level of reserves would be, to provide stability to the operation, manage the cash flow timing differences between payments for charity work and receipts of income and cover the potential gaps between the end of one source of income and securing of another. The trustees consider a cash and in-kind reserve of 6 months of expenses to be £377,000 based on the 2023 budget.
-
9 -
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Notes to the financial statements
ACCOUNTING POLICIES
The principal accounting policies are summarised below. The accounting policies have been applied consistently throughout the period.
Legal Status
Centre for the Advancement of Development and Human Rights (CAD-HR) is charitable incorporated organisation (CIO), charity registration number 1178974 registered in England and Wales, and accordingly does not have a share capital. Its registered address is 2 Danesfield, 220 Albany Road, London, SE5 0AW.
Basis of preparation
The financial statements are prepared in with Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statements of Recommended Practice (SORP) applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and the Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2016).
Centre for the Advancement of Development and Human Rights 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 notes.
Preparation of the accounts on a going concern basis
After making enquiries, the Trustees have a reasonable expectation that the charity has adequate resources to continue its activities for the foreseeable future. Awards are given on the basis of secured income. The Trustees are not aware of any material uncertainties about the charity’s ability to continue, and accordingly, they continue to adopt the going concern basis in preparing the financial statements as outlined in the Statement of Trustees’ Responsibilities on page 31.
Critical accounting judgements and key sources of estimation uncertainty
In the application of the charity’s accounting policies, which are described in this note, Trustees are required to make judgement, estimates and assumptions about the carrying value of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. The estimates and underlying assumptions are based on historical experience and other factors that are considered to be relevant. Actual results may differ from these estimates.
The estimates and underlying assumptions are reviewed on an ongoing basis. Revisions to accounting estimates are recognised in the period in which the estimates is revised if the revision affects only that period, or in the period of the revision and future periods.
In the view of the Trustees, no assumptions concerning the future or estimation uncertainty affecting assets and liabilities at the balance sheet date are likely to result in a material adjustment to their carrying amounts in the next financial year. In the view of the Trustees the only significant estimations are those linked to the allocation of support costs across our
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charitable and non-charitable activities. Allocations of this nature inherently require estimation of time spent on certain activities and other resources use judgements.
Volunteers
Volunteers support the work of Centre for the Advancement of Development and Human Rights in three ways:
Contributing professional services
Professionals contribute their services at a reduced or pro bono rate. This includes financial skills, human resources support and legal services skills.
Volunteer Support Officer
Volunteer Support Officers, both short-term and long-term, have worked with the community in south-east London to provide assistance in the implementation of our projects. Volunteer Support Officers have direct interaction with all our community development projects, and the role is one that provides invaluable experience of being on the front line. Volunteers are supported and trained in their roles by employees and given assistance where required.
Raising Awareness
Volunteers across London help spread the message both online and offline about CAD-HR, so more people know what the organisation does and why it exists. This may involve sharing social media posts, distributing flyers at events, or facilitating workshops, seminars, and conferences locally. Due to the difficulty in valuing the total contribution of volunteer time and skills, the value of services provided by volunteers has not been included in the financial statements.
Income
All income resources are included in the statement of financial activities when the charity is entitled to the income, and the amount can be quantified with reasonable accuracy. The following specific policies are applied to particular categories of income: Voluntary income is received by way grants, donations and gifts and is included in full in the statement of financial activities when receivable. Grants where entitlement is not conditional on the delivery of a specific performance by the charity are recognised when the charity becomes unconditionally entitled to the grant. Investment income on funds held on deposit in included when receivable and the amount can be measured reliably; this is normally upon notification of the investment income paid or payable by the bank.
Expenditure
Expenditure is recognised on an accrual basis as a liability is incurred. Expenditure includes any VAT which cannot be fully recovered and is reported as part of the expenditure to which it relates. Charitable expenditure comprises those costs incurred by the charity in the delivery of its activities and services for its beneficiaries. It comprises costs that can be allocated directly to such activities. Costs of raising funds comprises the costs associated with attracting voluntary income.
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Support costs and governance costs
Support costs are those costs incurred directly in support of expenditure on the objects of the charity. Governance costs are a component of support costs, and include audit fees, professional fees, license fees and compliance costs, and related staff costs. Support costs are allocated on the basis of the amount of direct time attributable to each area.
Redundancy accounting policy
Redundancy cost arising from periodic reviews of staff levels are charged as an expense in the year in which employees leave the organisation.
Fund accounting
Unrestricted funds are available to spend on activities that further any of the purposes of the charity. Where unrestricted funds have been designated, the likely timing of the expenditure is before the start of the implementation of the project or purpose for which the fund is designated. Restricted funds are donations which the donor has specified are to be solely used for particular areas of the charity’s work or for specific projects being undertaken by the charity.
Financial instruments
The charity has assets and financial liabilities of a kind that qualify as basic financial instruments. Basic financial instruments are initially recognised at transaction value (including transaction costs) and are subsequently re-measured where applicable at amortised cost.
Cash at bank and in hand and on deposit
Cash at bank and cash in hand includes cash and short-term highly liquid investments with a short maturity of three months or less from the date of acquisition or opening of the deposit or similar account. Cash held on deposit includes short-term investments with a maturity of greater than three months.
Tangible and intangible fixed assets and depreciation
Fixed assets are stated at cost less accumulated depreciation/amortisation. Depreciation or amortisation is provided at rates calculated to write off the cost less residual value of each asset over its expected useful life, as follows:
Leasehold improvements – Straight line over 5 years Fixture, fittings, and equipment – Straight line over 3 years Intangible assets – Straight line over 3 years
All items of expenditure greater than £750 are capitalised if they meet the definition of a fixed asset as stated within FRS 102.
Operating leases
The charity classifies the lease of office equipment and the office space as operating leases. Rental charges are charged on a straight-line basis over the term of the lease. However, in 2023 reporting year, the charity did not lease an office and therefore there was no costs associated with operating leases or equipment.
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CAD-HR DEEPLY CARE ABOUT THE
COMMUNITIES PEOPLE OUTCOME