Registered charity number: 1180843
Report of the Managing Trustees and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2021
## Contents
Trustees’ Report for the year ended 31 March 2021 ............................................................................. 2 Reference and Administrative Details of the Charity, its Trustees and Advisors ........................... 2 Structure, Governance and Management ...................................................................................... 3 Objectives and Activities ................................................................................................................. 3 Finance Principles and Policies ....................................................................................................... 4 Financial Review .............................................................................................................................. 4 Achievements and Performance ..................................................................................................... 4 Objectives for the Coming Year ...................................................................................................... 5 Statement of Trustees' Responsibilities .................................................................................................. 6 Statement of Financial Activities for the year ended 31 March 2021 .................................................... 7 Balance Sheet at 31 March 2021 ........................................................................................................... 8 Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2021 ................................................. 9
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## Trustees’ Report for the year ended 31 March 2021
The Trustees present their report and financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2021.
The accounts have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out on pages 10-12 and comply with the Charities Act 2011 and the Statement of Recommended Practice: Accounting and Reporting by Charities 2005 (SORP).
Reference and Administrative Details of the Charity, its Trustees and Advisors
Charity name A Bit Of A Break CIO Registered charity number 1180843 Trustees Paula Hunt Helen Pilling Kim Reddyhoff Matthew Sturgeon resigned 25 January 2021 Registered office Woodlands House and principal operating address Clifford Road Ilkley LS29 0AL Bankers Lloyds Bank plc 25 Gresham Street London EC2V 7HN.
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Structure, Governance and Management
## _Structure_
A Bit Of A Break (ABAOB) is a charitable incorporated organisation (CIO), established with a foundation constitution whereby the trustees are the only members and first registered with the Charity Commission on 26 November 2018 (registered charity number 1180843).
## _Trustees_
There is no limit to the number of trustees ABOAB may have. Trustees are appointed for a three-year period after they are asked whether they wish to serve for another term. Trustees may serve a maximum of three terms after which a one year must elapse before they can be reappointed.
## _Induction and training_
An ‘induction pack’ has been collated to ensure that new Trustees meet the eligibility criteria, as defined by the Charity Commission, and understand their role and responsibilities to ABOAB as a Trustee. The pack also includes the constitution, current policy documents, most recent Annual Report and Financial Statements, and minutes from the three latest Trustee meeting.
Trustees are encouraged to keep abreast of relevant charity legislation as it pertains to ABOAB and to attend briefing/training sessions where appropriate.
## _Organisational management_
The Board meets at least 9 times a year to exercise strategic direction, fulfil its governance responsibilities and oversee the affairs of the charity. Day to day administration has been largely carried out by the trustees and one volunteer. The Covid-19 pandemic has meant the trustees have necessarily met virtually, via MS Teams, since March 2020.
## Objectives and Activities
## _Charitable objects_
The objects of A Bit Of A Break are: to preserve and protect the health of those suffering with terminal illness and to relieve the stresses experienced by their families and carers by providing or assisting in the provision of holidays.
## _Public benefit_
When reviewing the aims and objectives of the charity, and in planning its activities, the Trustees have complied with their duty in section 4 of the Charities Act 2011 to have due regard to public benefit guidance published by the Charity Commission.
## _Data Protection_
The Trustees have taken all necessary steps to ensure compliance with the General Data Protection Regulations 2016. Data processing and data protection remain under review to ensure that this remains the case.
## _Safeguarding_
The Trustees undertake their responsibilities regarding the protection of its trustees, staff, volunteers and beneficiaries very seriously. The policy and procedures have been drawn up to ensure that any allegation, disclosure of abuse, or suspicion are dealt with appropriately within the guidelines of the local Safeguarding Boards.
## _Risk Management_
The Trustees keep the risk management process for ABOAB under review and risks are systematically reviewed to assess whether any further controls are required. The Trustees have assessed the major risks to which ABOAB is exposed, in particular, thoserelated to its operations and finances, and are
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satisfied that discussions with regard to operations and the monthly review of finances minimise any exposure to risk.
## Finance Principles and Policies
The Trustees wish to manage ABOAB to optimise their ability to support their beneficiaries. Accordingly, the following principles underpin the financial processes of the CIO:
## _Reserves policy_
The Trustees’ policy is to maintain a working capital cash reserve of 6 months operating costs. The reserves are needed to meet the normal working capital requirements of the charity and the Board are confident that at this level they would be able to continue the current activities of the charity in the event of a reduction in funding.
## _Trustees’ expenses_
We believe that it is right to ensure that no trustee is disadvantaged from offering to serve ABOAB for financial reasons. We therefore pay expenses to Trustees to attend meetings and attend to the business of the CIO at the standard mileage rate allowed by HMRC or the cheapest practical public transport and any other reasonable expenses incurred in support of the CIO, as appropriate. In the period to March 2021 this totalled £nil (2020: £nil).
## Financial Review
The CIOy’s principal source of income is donations from the public. In the 12 months reporting period to 31 March 2021 total income was £252 (2020: £17,560).
Expenditure during the year totalled £1,542 (2020: £15,606) resulting in a net loss of £1,290 (2020: £1,954 profit).
At the balance sheet date, ABOAB had total funds of £33,986 (2020: £35,726)
## Achievements and Performance
The massive impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the health and hospitality sectors since March 2020 has suppressed all our activities this year. We have not risked offering holidays to vulnerable people at a time when coronavirus infection levels were so high, nor have property owners been in a position to offer their accommodation because of intermittent Government restrictions and lock downs prohibiting overnight stays away from home. We therefore made a decision to put referrals on hold and stop trying to source free holiday property-weeks until the restrictions were lifted. At the time of writing, strict government nation-wide rules to ‘stay at home’ in England continue until 12th April 2021 at the earliest and it is illegal to take holidays or stay overnight away from home other than for essential reasons (work, funerals etc), irrespective of an individual’s health status.
In March 2020, at the start of this year we were excited to take on our first paid worker, Rachel Boggs as ‘Development Administrator’ to help us grow the operational aspects of ABOAB. It is unfortunate that being on hold meant we’ve been unable to take full advantage of Rachel’s charity sector expertise this year, but we’re thrilled that she has renewed her contract of work with us from April 2021 for the forthcoming financial year, until the end of March 2022.
Throughout the year, the trustees and administrator have stayed in touch with monthly virtual meetings. In December we invited Dr Mike Merriman and Gill Nolan to join our virtual meeting to share their experiences of working with patients living with a terminal illness in the Knowsley area of Liverpool. They are extremely grateful for the referrals we were able to accept just before the pandemic, saying we cannot overestimate the huge benefits of a holiday to their patients and their families. We will continue to work closely with them as soon as restrictions allow.
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By January 2021 we began to consider the future post-Covid, in the hope of lockdown restrictions being lifted by the summer. We undertook a survey of our property owners to ascertain whether they were still likely to offer free property-weeks into our scheme in the future, and if not, to understand more about the reasons. Overall, the feedback was extremely positive with the vast majority of property owners saying they will carry on offering us free weeks.
In February 2021 we had positive news from ‘The Heart of the Lakes’, the bookings agency with whom we have received many ‘gifted holidays’ in the past. Heart of the Lakes was bought by Sykes Cottages Ltd , in the summer of 2020. The Regional Director of Sykes Cottages for the North West has confirmed that they are happy to continue supporting our charity and they are canvassing interest from all property owners across three of their Lake District brands: Heart of the Lakes, Lakelovers and Lake District Cottages.
We have also considered the possibility of aiming to purchasing our own static caravan or lodge in the future thereby enabling us to offer holidays directly to our referred patients. We are taking advice from similar charities and will make continue to research options We will keep this on our agenda and discuss at our strategy meeting planned for May 2021.
## Objectives for the Coming Year
We will continue to monitor the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, hoping that Spring/Summer 2021 brings the end of lockdowns/restriction as a growing majority of the population become vaccinated against the virus. We will consider the implications for the holiday-property industry and at all times keep the health and safety of our referred patients (guests), our referrers and our team as our top priority.
This year we aim to:
1. Build on the number of breaks we can offer, by increasing the number of **property-weeks** we can make available. We aim to do this by seeking out new properties from individual property owners and also establishing links with new booking agencies.
2. Develop our **referral routes** , with a view to identifying patients soon after their diagnosis where possible and aiming to minimise the number of last-minute cancellations. To work on relationships with Airedale Hospital’s Haematology and Oncology Unit and Kirkby’s Macmillan Community Care Navigator.
3. Continue to work with our **partners** and to nurture these relationships.
4. Continue to encourage **fundraising** efforts on our behalf and to consider applying for grants to enable our continued growth.
By order of the board of Trustees
Signed:
## **Trustee**
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## Statement of Trustees' Responsibilities
The Trustees are responsible for preparing the Trustees’ Report and the financial statements in accordance with the applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards. The law applicable to charities in England and Wales requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and of the incoming resources and application of resources of the charity for that period.
In preparing these financial statements the trustees are required to:
- act in accordance with the constitution and rules of the CIO, within the framework of trust law;
- select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
- make judgments and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
- state whether the recommendations of the SORP FRS 102 have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements;
- prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue its activities.
The Trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records, sufficient to disclose at any time, with reasonable accuracy, the financial position of the charity at that time, and to enable the trustees to ensure that, where any statements of accounts are prepared by the Trustees under section 132(1) of the Charities Act 2011, those statements of accounts comply with the requirements of regulations under that provision. The Trustees have a general responsibility for taking such steps as are reasonably open to the Trustees to safeguard the assets of the charity and to prevent and detect fraud and other irregularities.
By order of the board of Trustees
Signed:
## **Trustee**
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Statement of Financial Activities for the year ended 31 March 2021
|**Note**
**Income and endowments:**
Donations
2
Gift Aid
Fundraising
Donated Goods and Services
**Total Income and endowments:**
**Expenditure:**
Raising Funds
3
Charitable activities
4
**Total Expenditure:**
**Net Income/(Expenditure)**
**Net Movement in Funds**
Fund Balances brought forward
**Fund Balances carried forward**|**Unrestricted**
**Funds**
**Restricted**
**Funds**
**Total**
**Funds**
**2021**
**2021**
**2021**
**£**
**£**
**£**
252
-
252
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
**252**
**-**
**252**
626
-
626
916
-
916
**1,542**
**-**
**1,542**
(1,290)
**-**
(1,290)
**(1,290)**
-
**(1,290)**
35,276
-
35,276
**33,986**
**-**
**33,986**|Unrestricted
Funds
Restricted
Funds
Total
Funds
2020
2020
2020
£
£
£
1,968
-
1,968
499
-
499
1,267
-
1,267
12,826
-
12,826|
|---|---|---|
|||17,560
-
17,560|
|||936
-
936
14,670
-
14,670|
|||15,606
-
15,606|
|||1,954
-
1,954|
|||1,954
-
1,954|
|||33,222
-
33,322|
|||35,276
-
35,276|
The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year. All income and expenditure derive from continuing activities.
The Accounting Policies and Notes on pages 10-13 form an integral part of these Financial Statements
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Balance Sheet at 31 March 2021
|**Note**
**Current Assets**
Debtors
6
Cash at bank and in hand
Lloyds - Current Account
Lloyds - Old Account
**Total Current Assets**
**Creditors:**
amounts falling due within one year
7
**Net Current Assets/(Liabilities)**
**Total Net Assets**
**The Funds of the Charity**
Unrestricted Funds
Restricted Funds
**Total Charity Funds**|34,282
-|**2021**
**£**
-|37,097
10|**2020**
**£**
499|
|---|---|---|---|---|
||34,282
(296)||35,107
(330)||
|||**34,282**||**35,606**|
||||||
|||**33,986**||**35,276**|
||||||
|||**33,986**||**35,276**|
|||33,986
-||35,276
-|
|||**33,986**||**35,276**|
Approved by the Trustees on 8 July 2021 and signed on their behalf by
## **Trustee**
The Accounting Policies and Notes on pages 10-13 form an integral part of these Financial Statements
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Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2021
## 1. **Accounting policies**
## a. Basis of preparation
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1st January 2019) (“Charities SORP (FRS 102)”) and the Charities Act 2011.
A Bit Of A Break (ABOAB) meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS 102. Assets and liabilities are initially recognised at historical cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policy note(s).
The principal accounting policies adopted are set out below.
## b. Going concern
The Trustees have prepared financial projections taking into consideration the current economic climate and its potential impact on the sources of income and planned expenditure. Whilst donation income post year end have been significantly impacted by the COVID-19 virus, the CIO has sufficient cash reserves to meet its immediate requirements and to enable ABOAB to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. The financial statements have therefore been prepared on the basis that ABOAB is a going concern.
## c. Income
Income is recognised when the CIO has entitlement to the funds, any performance conditions relating to the item(s) of income have been met, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount can be measured reliably.
Donations, grants, gifts and lettings income are recognised when receivable.
Interest on funds held on deposit is included when receivable and the amount can be measured reliably; this is normally upon notification of the interest paid or payable by the bank.
Receipt of a legacy, in whole or in part, is only considered probable when the amount can be measured reliably and the CIO has been notified of the executor's intention to make a distribution. Where legacies have been notified to the CIO or the CIO is aware of the granting of probate, and the criteria for income recognition have not been met, then the legacy is treated as a contingent asset and disclosed if material.
Donated services and facilities are recognised as income when the CIO has control over the item, any conditions associated with the donated item have been met, and the receipt of economic benefit can be measured reliably. In accordance with the Charities SORP (FRS102), general volunteer time is not recognised (refer to the Trustees’ annual report for more information about their contribution). On receipt, donated professional services and donated facilities are recognised on the basis of the value of the gift to the CIO, which is the amount the CIO would have been prepared to pay to obtain services or facilities of equivalent economic benefit on the open market: a corresponding amount is then recognised in expenditure in the period of receipt. This is included when receivable and the amount can be measured reliably by the CIO.
## d. Expenditure
Expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to make a payment to a third party, it is probable that settlement will be required and the amount can be measured reliably. All expenditure is accounted for on an accrual basis.
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Notes to the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2021 continued
## _Principal accounting policies (continued)_
Expenditure is classified under the following activity headings:
- Costs of raising funds comprise the costs associated with fund raising activity
- Expenditure on charitable activities includes the costs of activities undertaken to further the purpose of the CIO and their associated support costs
- Other expenditure represents those items not falling into any other heading.
All costs are allocated between the expenditure categories of the SOFA on a basis designed to reflect the use of the resource. Costs relating to a particular activity are allocated directly, others may be apportioned on an appropriate basis as set out in Note 3.
## e. Allocation of support costs
Support costs are those functions that assist the work of the CIO but do not directly relate to charitable activities. Support costs include back office costs, finance, personnel, payroll and governance costs which support the CIO’s activities. These costs have been allocated between cost of raising funds and expenditure on charitable activities. The basis on which support costs have been allocated are set out in Notes 3 and 4.
## f. Investments
Investments are initially recognised at their transaction value and subsequently measured at their fair value at the balance sheet date using the closing market price.
## g. Cash and deposits
Cash at bank and in hand includes cash in hand and deposits repayable within 24 hours without penalty at the balance sheet date. Short term deposits includes deposits with a short maturity of three months or less from the date of acquisition or opening of the deposit account.
## h. Fund accounting
Unrestricted funds are available to spend on activities that further any of the purposes of the CIO.
Designated funds are unrestricted funds which the Trustees have decided at their discretion to set aside for a particular purpose.
Restricted funds are funds which the donor has specified are to be used solely for a particular area of the ABOAB’s work or for purchases of specific assets for use by the CIO.
## i. Taxation
As a CIO, A Bit Of A Break is exempt from taxation in respect of income or capital gains to the extent that such income or gains are applied exclusively to charitable purposes. ABOAB receives no similar exemption for VAT.
## j. Current asset measurement
Trade and other debtors are recognised at the settlement amount due. Prepayments are valued at the amount prepaid. Tax recoverable is included at the amount receivable at the balance sheet date.
Creditors are recognised where there is a present obligation resulting from a past event that will probably result in the transfer of funds to a third party, and the amount due to settle the obligation can be measured or estimated reliably. Creditors are recognised at the settlement amount.
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Notes to the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2021 continued
## _Principal accounting policies (continued)_
## k. Exceptional items
Exceptional items are material items, deriving from events or transactions within the ordinary activities of the CIO, and which individually or in aggregate are disclosed because of their size or incidence in order that the financial statements give a true and fair view.
## l. Financial instruments
The CIO only has financial assets and financial liabilities of a kind that qualify as basic financial instruments. Basic financial instruments are initially recognised at transaction value and subsequently measured at their settlement value with the exception of bank loans which are subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method.
## **2. Income from donations and legacies**
|**Income from donations and legacies**|||
|---|---|---|
|Donations
Gift Aid
Fundraising events
Donated goods and services
Legacies
**Expenditure on raising funds**
Fundraising Expenses
General expenses
Insurance
IT Software & Consumables
Printing
Subscriptions
Telephone & Internet
**Expenditure on charitable activities**
Donated goods and services
Property owner costs
Guest expenses
Governance costs
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Support costs
9|**2021**
**£**
252
-
-
-
-
**252**
**2021**
**£**
216
244
-
30
-
40
96
**626**
**2021**
**£**
-
-
-
-
916
**916**|**2020**
**£**
2,968
499
1,267
12,826
-|
|||17,560|
|||**2020**
**£**
216
75
409
51
90
-
95|
|||936|
|||**2020**
**£**
12,826
1,311
203
330
-|
|||14,670|
## **3. Expenditure on raising funds**
## **4. Expenditure on charitable activities**
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Notes to the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2021 continued
## **5. Net income/(expenditure) for the year is stated after charging**
|Independent examiner’s fee|**2021**
**£**
-
**-**|**2020**
**£**
330|
|---|---|---|
|||330|
## **6. Debtors**
|Gift Aid Receivable
**Creditors**
Accounts Payable
Accruals
**Governance costs**
Accountancy Fees
|**2021**
**£**
**-**
**-**
**2021**
**£**
296
**-**
**296**
**2021**
**£**
**-**
**-**|**2020**
**£**
499|
|---|---|---|
|||499|
|||**2020**
**£**
**-**
330|
|||330|
|||**2020**
**£**
330|
|||**-**|
## **7. Creditors**
## **8. Governance costs**
## **9. Support costs**
Professional Fees
|**2021**
**£**
916
**916**|**2020**
**£**
-|
|---|---|
||**-**|
## **10. Staff costs**
There were no employees during 2021.
## **11. Trustee remuneration**
No Trustee received any remuneration during the year. Payments to Trustees in reimbursement of their expenses amounted to £nil.
## **12. Related party transactions**
There were no related party transactions.
## **13. Taxation**
The charity’s activities fall within the exemptions afforded by the provisions of the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988. Accordingly, there is no taxation charge in these accounts.
## **14. Capital commitments**
At 31 March 2021 the charity had capital commitments of £nil.
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