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2025-03-31-accounts

Charity Registration No. 1183946

ISLINGTON BAMER ADVICE ALLIANCE (IBAA)

Annual Report and Financial Statement

For the year ended 31 March 2025

ISLINGTON BAMER ADVICE ALLIANCE (ibaa)

Trustees' Annual Report for the year ending 31[st] March 2025

The Trustees, who are also the directors for the purposes of company law, present their report and the independently examined financial statements of the Charity for the year ended 31[st] March 2025.

REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS

Registered charity name: ISLINGTON BAMER ADVICE ALLIANCE (IBAA) Charity registration number: 1183946

Registered office: Building - 10

6 - 9 Manor Gardens

London N7 6LA

Trustees:

Mulat Haregot —Chair Gulala Bakir —Treasurer Senait Gebrehiwet —Secretary Hanif Ahmed —Trustee Yussuf Ahmed - Trustee

Independent Examiner:

BK Community Accountant Ltd

Chartered Certified Accountant 420/421 Arches, Burdet Road London, E3 4AA

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CONTENT Page
IBAA Background and Objectives 4
Overview of the Charity for the Period 1st April 2024 – 31st March 2025 5
Main activities 5
Partnerships and Membership 5
Capacity Building 6
Promotions, Marketing and Outreach 6
Advice and other services 6-7
Cost of Living 7-8
Case studies 9-10
Strategic Plan for 2025 – 2026 10
Cost of Living 10
PR, Marketing and Communication 11
Gender Equality 11-12
Immigration 12
Fundraising and Financial Review 12-14
Trustees' responsibilities 13-14
Independent examiner’s report 15-16
Statement of finacial Activities 17
Statement of finacial position 18-19
Notes to the financial statements for the year ended 31st March 2025 20-25

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IBAA Background and Objectives

The Islington BAMER Advice Alliance (ibaa) is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) established on 18 June 2019 to support the needs of Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic and Refugee Communities in the United Kingdom.

ibaa is a network of Islington-based information, advice, support and guidance providers and infrastructure organisation which delivers support on housing, welfare benefits, job search, immigration and other re-settlement issues to the most disadvantaged, vulnerable and hard-to-reach BAMER communities in the London Borough of Islington [particularly migrants and asylum seekers].

Objectives, as laid out in its constitution, are:

  1. The relief of poverty amongst persons living or working in the Greater London area and in particular providing such persons from Black, Asian, minority Ethnic and Refugee [BAMER] communities resident or working in the London borough of Islington [the benefits area] by the provision of:

  2. a. Information, advocacy and advice;

  3. b. Legal services;

  4. c. Education and training, which they could not otherwise obtain due to a lack of means or which it would not be reasonably practicable or appropriate to obtain elsewhere.

    1. To promote the voluntary sector which provides advice and support for BAMER communities for the benefit of the public in the area of benefit by:

  6. a. Developing skills and capacity to deliver quality advice by frontline staff and to improve other functions such as governance;

  7. b. Facilitate the creation of new voluntary organisations to meet unmet charitable needs/develop new services and extend existing services to meet charitable needs;

    1. To extend the advice and help available to BAMERs in Islington by facilitating partnership and co-operation

  9. a. in the broader voluntary sector. ["Voluntary Sector" is defined as "Charities and voluntary organisations"]

  10. b. among the organisations in the benefits area, including commercial organisations, charities, local authorities, churches, schools and other profit and not-for-profit institutions.

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Overview of Activities for the Period 1[st] April 2024 – 31[st] March 2025

We have witnessed a disturbing worsening in the situation across our communities over the past 12 months. These were caused by the ongoing impacts of the Covid Pandemic, the Cost of Living Emergency connected to the war in Ukraine and the adverse immigration policies of the hostile environment. All of these have disproportionally impacted already disadvantaged BAMER communities, causing an upsurge of demand for our service by 60% over the 12 months (an increase of 75% in the first 6 months and by 45% during the second half of the monitoring period). This demonstrates the urgency of the situation and the importance of the availability of the service ibaa partners provide to the communities.

Our goal for 2024/2025 was to help at least 2,000 people annually, ensuring 5 – 10 Islington residents could access advice each day across our 5 front-line organisations. We have met and far exceeded this goal as between April 2024 and March 2025, our advisors provided direct help to 5286 Islington residents. On average, the ibaa partnership supported 8 residents each day in one-to-one sessions. On top of this, 8 group sessions or workshops were delivered each week by the partnerships, benefiting a total of 1757 residents. Further details are provided in the Advice section of this report.

Overview of the main activities

Partnerships and Membership

In the last 12 months ibaa, Consortium of 6 BAMER Advice, information, Support and Guidance giving organisations, namely the Evelyn Oldfield Unit (EOU), Islington Bangladesh Association (IBA), Kurdish and Middle Eastern Women's Organisation (KMEWO), Islington Somali Community (ISC), IMECE Women's Centre, and Eritrean Community in the United Kingdom (ECUK), continued its work within the Islington Strategic Advice Partners.

We have now opened the membership application to new charities, and we hope we will be able to expand our partnership in the following months and grow the capacity of the BAMER-led community sector. We are continuously improving our internal communication policies and strategies, ensuring the best standards are implemented and adhered to across the partnership. We have a monthly newsletter for Trustees and Advisors which provides an overview of the main developments, links to additional resources as well as general updates about the 3[rd] sector and services and events in Islington.

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The ibaa partnership tirelessly argued for the needs of BAMER communities and represented its member organisations at various meetings and events. The Alliance worked towards strengthening the voice of residents from BAMER backgrounds by ensuring their concerns were raised and their interests represented. It maintained active partnerships with other advice-providing agencies in Islington, mainly with Citizens Advice and Islington Law Centre. We attend all relevant meetings and social engagements as possible (either the Coordinator or the Chair) to ensure ibaa is represented and can represent the voice of the communities.

Capacity Building

As previously reported, the ibaa partnership has been awarded £400,000 in January 2024 for the next 4 years from the London Borough of Islington (LBI) and also secured additional funding of £28,380 from the Cripple Gate Foundation over 3 years towards a one-day salary and associated costs for the ibaa Advice Co-ordinator. The insufficient financial resources and lack of financial support for charity organisations have caused huge pressure on ibaa and all the partners over the past 12 months.

Promotions, Marketing and Outreach

Since the last report, ibaa made significant progress when it comes to promotion and communication. The new website was launched, and social media accounts were created across all main platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn). Ibaa continues to grow its online presence and update our websites, and social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn) frequently to promote ibaa to advertise our services to the wider public. Through these platforms, we have achieved reach out to some groups of residents who have previously not been engaged as well as to the case workers from Adult Services. Everyone can contact us through the enquiry form on our website. The websites also provide direct links to the member organisations’ websites as our service providers. We also have leaflets, both in print and in electronic versions, which are accessible on our websites, and distributed at events and during online and offline outreach.

Advice and other services

Between April 2024 and March 2025, our advisors provided direct help to 5286 Islington residents with a combination of the following services:

a) an increase in demand due to the Cost of Living crisis, remits of the Covid Pandemic, war in Ukraine and around the world, furthering of the hostile environment immigration policies;

B) the post-Pandemic recovery of group services and activities.

Of the individuals supported, 1757 were engaged in group activities and 3529 in individual sessions. We delivered 5158 one-on-one appointments and 128 group sessions.

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Overall, the services included:

• Compiling cases for tribunals and accompanying clients to tribunals The main areas of help included:

Other areas of help concerned legal support, hate crime and violence, immigration casework, personal care and mental health support, interpreting and translating, and digital exclusion interventions.

The group support provided included the ESOL classes (both online and in-person), wellbeing workshops for elderly residents, after-school educational activities for children, leisure workshops (such as embroidery and other creative workshops), various mental health-focused sessions (depression, mindfulness, personal care), Digital Inclusion sessions, Covid support and awareness events, NHS and children health workshops. Ibaa members also organised numerous events organised for communities to celebrate national, religious, and culturally-specific holidays, mark refugee week, and more. There was also additional support for women related to financial education to increase their money management capabilities.

– Cost of Living Situation assessment

As predicted in the previous report, the impact of the cost of living crisis, combined with the knock-off effect of the pandemic, has been devastating for the already weakened, impoverished and disadvantaged communities of BAMER groups in Islington. Based on our monitoring, all ibaa members expressed a state of “high alarm”

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caused by the current financial crisis. We have witnessed extremely worrying worsening in the situation across our communities. The majority of our clients were on no to low income even before the start of the CoL – many of them were further weakened by the pandemic. The communities were therefore at an even greater risk of debt the than general population, especially as they also face language barriers or complete illiteracy. Many residents have lost their incomes during the pandemic, causing them to fall behind on bills and build up large debts, often losing their homes as a result. They are now struggling to keep up with the rises in food prices and household bills.

We are seeing a large increase in families going to food banks which was previously a taboo for the communities. This brings up a lot of stigma and shame, and many rather go hungry. The negative impact is even worse for single mothers, disabled residents, elderly people, destitute people and families, and NRPFs. The consequences for mental health across the community are staggering as people are terrified about losing their homes, and not being able to feed their children properly. For example, women whom we support are already traumatised, as well as many clients who suffer from severe anxiety. They are more prone to worry and stress in general, so a current crisis is causing a significant worsening in their well-being. Moreover, this pressure is adding to frontline staff who takes on people’s worries and stresses and becomes overwhelmed. The demand for our services far exceeds our capacity and all partners had to put up waiting lists. We have been stretched to the maximum and we cannot further increase the support without additional funding as the staff is already overloaded.

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CASE STUDIES

CASE STUDIES

Client KA is a vulnerable single mother of three children, she approached our services in 2020, as a victim of domestic violence. She has been facing a huge number of issues due to being a victim of DV, lack of information and language barrier. She and her children have had multiple needs, which required prompt support. Since then, our team has been supporting Ms KA as her situation and needs are more complex. The first step we took was to guarantee her and her children's safety, we referred the client to MARRAC and other relevant services such as immigration and family solicitors, and we even approached the MP to get further support for her immigration status. She was suffering from severe depression and anxiety due to her life condition and the fear of insecurity. She was referred to a counselling service within our organization and constantly she was provided with emotional support by the staff. She was registered for ESOL, Zumba classes and other activities to improve her well-being states. Then, with coordination with the council and police services; we supported her to get a temporary housing place in Islington. Then she was referred to social services to be allocated to a social worker to receive further support for her and her children. We started coordination with council/education departments and schools for the registration of the children and her daughter in secondary school, applied for uniforms, applied for a free laptop for her children from the parent house and other support. we raised our concern about the safeguarding issue and contacted many relevant departments to sort out the children's issues.

The client was supported with her housing application, housing benefit, housing repair, energy and water bills, council tax reduction, debt, and other payment issues. She was advised and supported around benefit entitlement such as (PIP, and incapability of work) due to her health condition. Ms KA has been receiving various forms of support and numerous advice interventions from KMEWO’s team. Now, all her problems and issues have been dealt with professionally, and we have been able to achieve great outcomes and she is extremely happy and satisfied with the services.

The client is a 73-year-old Turkish woman living with her husband who is older than her, retired and on state/pension credit. The client has many health issues and has been struggling with daily living tasks, and caring for herself, and her husband. She was not able to work but needed to pay the bills which were increasing. She approached IMECE and was supported in applying for an attendance allowance for her. After the initial rejection, the advisor followed up with her application, made a mandatory reconsideration application and turned the decision around. The client received extra money, had her income maximised, and also received support with daily living tasks. She is now able to pay bills, hence the early intervention prevented her from falling into debt. Consequently, her physical and mental health improved, and her vulnerability and dependency were reduced significantly.

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A client, Ms RN, came to ISC at the beginning of April 2022, she owed over £7000 in housing benefits overpayments and a further £2000 in council tax. Ms RN was overwhelmed and highly stressed because of the situation. The advisor initially referred her to IPR however, they were unable to resolve her debt, so the ISC advisor helped her on their own.

They first assessed her benefit entitlement. The client worked part-time and was on housing benefits so they advised her to move to UC as she would be better off. They then helped to set up an affordable repayment plan of £13 a week and her council tax was deducted from her pay.

Ms RN was very happy with the outcome as she is now able to have some money left over from her salary which was impossible before. She was also eligible for the second cost of living payment of £325, which was not accessible to her previously.

- Strategic Plan for 2025 2026

Increasing the partnership’s capacity

The priority in 2025/2026 is to increase the capacity of our partnership to ensure that ibaa is a well-established and well-trusted organisation. This includes more support for the BAMER-led groups beyond the immediate needs of the Advice Project, supporting their growth and expertise.

We plan to cooperate closely with the EOU in delivering this support, such as through organising training, joined fundraising, sharing resources, and implementing the best policies and procedures.

Furthermore, as we opened the partnership up to new applications, we aim to bring additional organisation to the network, which would further strengthen the reach and expertise of ibaa. We will focus on securing additional funding for the 6[th] advice worker based at this organisation, hence increasing the capacity of our front-line services.

We recognise triage work is putting pressure on the advice staff. By creating and implementing improved referral mechanisms, we hope to ease the administrative pressure on the frontline staff and limit the waiting time for the clients.

Cost of Living

Based on the outcomes of the needs assessment, we want to serve the communities in the most meaningful way, develop and deliver services that are person-centred and address issues our clients face. Hence, we want to focus on housing and homelessness, debt and financial management, universal credit and welfare entitlement, which are the most pressing areas.

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We aim to support organisations in building their expertise in these areas through additional training and resource-sharing. This would include opening joined opportunities for volunteers, who would be trained to provide specialised support targeted at the issues outlined above.

Financial education and literacy have never been more important. Hence, we plan to provide access to education and training to BAMER communities, ensuring we can prevent further increases in the debt burden. This will include ESOL classes and other seminars and workshops.

We also aim to offer more activities to improve mental well-being and resilience across BAMER communities. These would include leisure activities, as well as educational support. This will also help to decrease the level of street crime and overall youth crime in Islington.

PR, Marketing and Communication

We recognise triage work is putting pressure on the advice staff. By creating and implementing improved referral mechanisms, we hope to ease the administrative pressure on the frontline staff and limit the waiting time for the clients.

Overall, we hope to improve internal (within the partnership) and external (public relations) communication. Internally, we hope to provide more opportunities for all members to come together in the Trustee and Advisory board meetings, Supervision Meetings, as well as various outings and teambuilding initiatives. We hope this will strengthen the bonds between the partners, and therefore the strength of the partnership as such.

We plan to rebrand ibaa to give the organisation a clear and professional identity. This will help us demonstrate our case with greater appeal to the partners and potential funders.

We will also continue to develop our websites and social media to ensure greater engagement and reach.

Gender Equality

The organization will also stay committed to fighting for gender equality and will focus on issues that disproportionately affect women. We will provide advice and support to women to increase their financial capabilities and improve their money management skills.

As predicted in the previous report, we have seen an increase in domestic violence and gender-based violence during the period marked by the Cost of Living Crisis. We plan to increase our support for survivors of domestic violence, abuse, honour-based violence, VAWG and FGM. Our advisors will offer emotional support as well as assistance in accessing professional and legal support, such as solicitors, counselling and therapy, and social services. On top of this, ibaa will provide or help access

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necessary training and resources to ensure front-line services remain trauma-informed and up-to-date with guidance and good practice in the field.

Currently, we do not work with BAMER-led groups supporting LGBTQ+ and Queer communities, which might cause the potential exclusion of some residents from our services. We will continue to explore potential partners with whom we could develop services for the LGBTQ+ and Queer communities in a way that would be professional, sensitive and culturally appropriate.

Immigration

We also aim to provide more advice on immigration-related needs which are specific to BAMER communities in the UK and Islington. Unfortunately, there continues to be a lack of immigration support provision across the services in Islington / London and as a generalist provider, we do not hold the necessary certification to provide more complex immigration casework. The majority of our clients do have dealings with Home Office and have various restrictions on their immigration status (NRPF, BRP, limited leave to remain, etc) so we support them with the issues not directly connected to their immigration cases (such as securing benefits if they are entitled to them, helping with housing/homelessness applications, providing interpreting and emotional support etc.). Currently, we do provide help to the extent we are allowed to under government regulations (basic information dissemination).

We are working to address this in our fundraising efforts to get OISC Level 1 for all ibaa providers and increase the availability across Islington (London). We will aim to secure OISC certification for all advisors to ensure ibaa can offer factual and appropriate support. By doing so, we will also work with other partner groups and organisations with the aim to increase the capacity and capability of ibaa.

Fundraising

Fundraising continues to be the priority for ibaa as it significantly limits our growth and ability to support all who need our services. We submitted more applications in April and May 2023 (not included in this monitoring period) and we are also looking at the possibility to submit applications in cooperation with other advice providers within the borough. We will work tirelessly to secure funding as we know our communities depend on the accessibility of ibaa’s services.

We plan to secure continuous funding from LBI in the upcoming VCS funding stream and we are awaiting information regarding the application process to ensure we can cover the raising needs of our communities, as well as financial pressures on our staff.

If the first stage of our application to the City Bridge Foundation’s Anchor Programme is approved, we want to apply for funding and secure resources for 2 more core staff members to support our operations, as well as for the unification of the monitoring and case management systems. This would allow us to increase our role as a 2[nd] tier organisation and be less dependent on funding from the Local Authority.

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We will be actively exploring avenues to secure funding for our advice service. The goes is to bring all ibaa advisors to the full-term staff as well as additional 6[th] advisors (initially part-time) who would be based at the new ibaa member organisation.

Financial Review

Public benefit statement

In shaping our objectives for the year and planning our activities, the trustees have considered 17 of the Charity Act 2011 and the Charity Commission's guidance on public benefit, including the guidance on 'public benefit' running a charity (PD2). The achievements above demonstrate the public benefit arising from Charity activities.

Risk Management

The trustees have assessed the major risks to which ibaa is exposed and are satisfied that systems are in place to mitigate exposure to the major risks including maintaining a risk register, which is reviewed annually. On top of this, appropriate steps are then taken to mitigate them in day-to-day operations.

Investment Policy

The Charity does not produce a sufficient surplus to invest, as priority must be given to building our unrestricted reserves.

Fundraising

The ibaa partnership is committed to securing funding for BAMERs’ organisations to operate on an equal footing as the mainstream advice providers. We have developed a strong income generation strategy to generate income from trusts, foundations and individual donors. This fundraising strategy is informed by levels of unmet need for advice services from BAMEs in Islington and ensures we can diversify our income to guarantee a constant and stable flow of resources. In doing so, we aim to achieve the highest fundraising standards and transparency.

The funding is targeted at two distinct aspects of our work – the direct advice services delivery and the 2[nd] tier support for the BAMER-led organisations that are members of the partnership. On top of this, the plan addresses the core costs of the partnership, ensuring we can run our day-to-day operations as well as invest in our future development. As per this strategy, the organisation aims to increase income by 52% in 2025/2026, with annual increments from then onwards between 5-3%. Over 10 years, we aim to increase our core annual income by at least 145%.

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The partnership is currently funded by the London Borough of Islington (LBI) and the Cripple Gate Foundation, with an annual income of £109,460 guaranteed until March 2028.

As stated in the “Strategic Plan” Section, we aim to acquire income from individuals and grant-making institutions. The bids we plan to submit include applications for additional funding from the National Lottery Community Fund, the Mayor of London, the Greater London Authority, and City Bridge Foundation, in order to aid our operations and strategic growth. Our objective is also to increase the contracted hours of the advice services, making support accessible to more Islington residents.

Trustees' responsibilities

Charity law requires trustees, to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of the affairs of the company and of the results of the company at that period. In preparing those financial statements, the directors are required to:

The trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and enable it to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charity Act.

They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the company and hence for taking reasonable steps and detecting fraud and other irregularities.

Mulat Haregot

IBAA, Chair Date: 21/08/2025

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INDEPENDENT EXAMINER’S REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES OF ISLINGTON BAMER ADVICE ALLIANCE (IBAA)

I report to the trustees on my examination of the financial statements of ISLINGTON BAMER ADVICE ALLIANCE (IBAA) (‘the charity’) for the year ending 31[st] March 2025.

Responsibilities and basis of the report

As the trustees of the company (and also its directors for the purposes of company law) you are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006(‘the 2006 Act’).

Having satisfied myself that the accounts of the company are not required to be audited under Part 16 of the 2006 Act and are eligible for Independent examination, I report in respect of my examination of the charity’s accounts as carried out under section 145 of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the 2011 Act’). In carrying out my examination I have followed the Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5) (b) of the 2011 Act.

Independent Examiner’s Statement

Since the charity’s gross income exceeded £250,000 your examiner must be a member of a body listed in section 145 of the 2011 Act. I confirm that I am qualified to undertake the examination because I am a member of the Association of Certified Chartered Accountants (ACCA), which is one of the listed bodies.

I have completed my examination; I confirm that no matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe;

  1. Accounting records were not kept in respect of the charity as required by section 386 of the 2006 Act; or

  2. The financial statements do not accord with those records ; or

  3. The financial statements do not comply with the accounting requirements of section 396 of the 2006 Act other than any requirement that the accounts give a ‘true and fair’ view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination: or

  4. The financial statements have not been prepared in accordance with the methods and principles of the statement

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of Recommended Practice for accounting and reporting by charities applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS102).

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

21/08/2025

Signed:

Md Iqbal Hossain MBA, FCCA BK COMMUNITY ACCOUNTANT LTD Chartered Certified Accountant 420/421 Arches Burdet Road, London. E3 4AA.

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ISLINGTON BAMER ADVICE ALLIANCE (IBAA)

Statement of Financial Activities

31[st] March 2025

Incoming / Expenditure
Resources		 Note Unrestricted
Funds		 Restricted
Funds		 TOTAL
Funds
2025		 TOTAL
Funds
2024
Income and endowments: £ £ £ £
Donations & Legacies 7 - 141,110 141,110 103,500
Total Income -
=======		 141,110
=======		 141,110
======		 103,500
======
Expenditure:
Charitable Activities 8 - 116,893 116,893 99,804
Total expenditure -
=======		 116,893
=======		 116,893
=====		 99,804
=====
Net Income & net movement
in funds		 -
======		 24,217
=======		 24,217
======		 3,696
======
Reconciliation of funds:
Total funds brought forward 977 28,443 29,420 25,724
Total funds carried forward 977
========		 52,660
=======		 53,637
=====		 29,420
=====

The statement of financial activities includes all gains & losses recognised in the year. All income and expenditure derive from continuing activities.

The notes on pages 20 to 25 from part of these financial statements.

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ISLINGTON BAMER ADVICE ALLIANCE (IBAA) Company Limited by Guarantee Statement of financial position

31[st] March 2025

ISLINGTON BAMER ADVICE ALLIANCE (IBAA)
Company Limited by Guarantee
Statement of financial position		 ISLINGTON BAMER ADVICE ALLIANCE (IBAA)
Company Limited by Guarantee
Statement of financial position		 ISLINGTON BAMER ADVICE ALLIANCE (IBAA)
Company Limited by Guarantee
Statement of financial position		 ISLINGTON BAMER ADVICE ALLIANCE (IBAA)
Company Limited by Guarantee
Statement of financial position		 ISLINGTON BAMER ADVICE ALLIANCE (IBAA)
Company Limited by Guarantee
Statement of financial position		 ISLINGTON BAMER ADVICE ALLIANCE (IBAA)
Company Limited by Guarantee
Statement of financial position
31st March 2025
FIXED ASSETS Note 2025 2024
£ £ £ £
Tangible Fixed Assets 12 - - 1,076
-------		 1,345
-------
Current Assets
Cash at Bank and hand - 52,861 - 28,375
Debtors 13 - - - -
Total Current Assets -
-------		 52,861
-------		 -
------		 28,375
-------
Current Liabilities
Creditors: Amounts falling due within
oneyear		 14 - (300)
-------		 (300)
-------
Net current Assets - - 52,561
--------		 28,075
--------
Net Assets 53,637
======		 29,420
======
Funds of
the charity:
Unrestricted Funds 15 - - 977 977
Restricted Funds 15 - - 52,660 28,443
Total Charity Funds - - 53,637
======		 29,420
======

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

Trustees’/Directors’ responsibilities:

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These financial statements were approved by the board of trustees and authorised for issue on 21[st] August 2025, and are signed on behalf of the board by:

Signed Mulat Haregot IBAA Chair

The notes on pages 20 to 25 form part of these financial statements.

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Notes to the financial statements for the year ended 31[st] March 2025

1. General Information

The Charity is CIO registered in England & Wales. The address of the registered office is 356 Holloway Road, London, N7 6PA.

2. Statement of Compliance

These financial statements have been prepared in compliance with FRS102,’ The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and the Republic of Ireland’, the 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) (charities SORP(FRS 102)) and the charities Act 2011.

3. Accounting policies

Incoming resources

Voluntary income and donation are included in incoming resources when they are receivable except when the donors specify that they must be used in future accounting periods or the donor’s conditions have not been fulfilled, then income is deferred. The income from fundraising ventures is shown gross.

Donated services and facilities

Income from donated services and facilities is included in incoming resources at a valuation, which is an estimate of the financial cost borne by the donor where such a cost is quantifiable and measurable. No income is recognised when there is no financial cost borne by a third party.

Resources expended

Resources expended are included in the statement of financial activities on an accrual’s basis, inclusive of any VAT, which cannot be recovered. Expenditure, which is directly attributable to specific activities, has been included in these cost categories, where costs are attributable to more than one activity, they have been apportioned across the cost of generating funds on a basis consistent with the use of these resources.

The cost of generating funds includes salaries, direct expenditure and overhead costs of the staff who promote fundraising including events. Governance costs are those incurred in connection with the administration of the charity and compliance with constitutional and statutory requirements.

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Funds

Restricted funds are to be used for specific purposes as laid down by the donor. Expenditure, which meets these criteria, is charged to the fund together with a fair allocation of management and support costs. Unrestricted funds are donations and other incoming resources received or generated for charitable purposes.

Designated funds are unrestricted funds earmarked by the management committee for particular purposes.

Basis of preparation

The financial statements have been prepared on the historical cost basis, as modified by the revaluation of certain financial assets and liabilities and investment properties measured at fair value through income and expenditure.

The financial statements are prepared in sterling, which is the functional currency of the entity.

Going concern

There are no material uncertainties about the charity’s ability to continue.

Disclosure exemptions

The entity satisfies the criteria of being a qualifying entity as defined in FRS 102. As such, an advantage has been taken of the following disclosure exemption: No cash flow statement has been presented for the company.

Judgements and Key Sources of Estimation Uncertainty

The preparation of the financial statements requires management to make judgements, estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported. These estimates and judgements are continually reviewed and are based on experience and other factors, including expectations of future events that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances.

Fund accounting

Unrestricted funds are available for use at the discretion of the trustees to further any of the charity’s purposes.

Designated funds are unrestricted funds earmarked by the trustees for particular future projects or commitments.

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Restricted funds are subjected to restrictions on their expenditure declared by the donor or through the terms of an appeal, and fall into one of two sub-classes: restricted income funds or endowment funds.

Incoming resources

All incoming resources are included in the statement of financial activities when entitlement has passed to the charity: it is probable that the economic benefits associated with the transaction will flow to the charity and the amount can be reliably measured. The following specific policies are applied to particular categories of income:

Resources expended

Expenditure is recognised on an accruals basis as a liability is incurred. Expenditure includes any VAT which cannot be fully recovered, and is classified under the headings of the statement of financial activities to which it relates:

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All costs are allocated to expenditure categories reflecting the use of the resource. Direct costs attributable to a single activity are allocated directly to that activity. Shared costs are apportioned between the activities they contribute to on a reasonable, justifiable and consistent basis.

Tangible Assets

All fixed assets are initially recorded at cost.

Depreciation

Depreciation is calculated to write off the cost or valuation of assets, less its residual value, over the useful economic life of those assets as follows: Furniture & Equipment 20% reducing balance.

Defined contribution plans

Contributions to defined contribution plans are recognised as an expense in the period in which the related service is provided. Prepaid contributions are recognised as an asset to the extent that the prepayment will lead to a reduction in future payments or a cash refund.

When contributions are not expected to be settled wholly within 12 months of the end of the reporting date in which the employees render the related service, the liability is measured on a discounted present value basis. The unwinding of the discount is recognised as an expense in the period in which it arises.

4. Limited by guarantee

The company is limited by guarantee without share capital. In the event of the charity being wound up, the liability in respect of the guarantee is limited to £1 per member.

5. Pensions and other post-retirement benefits

All staff has been offered a pension contribution recognised by HMRC. All staff has opted out so there are no pension assets to administer and there are no other post–retirement benefits funded by the charity.

6. Financial Instruments:

Carrying amount: Debt instruments on the balance sheet represent real and fair value. Financial liabilities on the balance sheet represent real and fair value.

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7. Income from donations and legacies

Grants, donations and legacies: Unrestricted
Funds		 Restricted
Funds		 2025 2024
£ £ £ £
Donations:
Cripplegate Foundation - 9,460 9,460 8,000
London Borough Islington - 100,000 100,00 95,000
Richard Cloudesley – G-1 - 14,150 14,150 -
Richard Cloudesley – G-2 - 17,500 17,500 -
Small Donation - - - 500
TOTAL -
========		 141,110
=======		 141,110
======		 103,500
======

8. Cost Analysis

2025 2024
£ £
Project Cost-Partners Allocation 91,046 85,472
SalaryincludingPension 21,447 11,278
Accounts &Payroll 973 340
Consultancy & Recruitment 182 299
Printing, Stationery & AGM 1,503 1,107
Compliance 80 -
Telephone, internet & website 1,393 972
Depriciation 269 336
Total 116,893
=======		 99,804
=======

9. Staff Cost

The total staff costs and employee benefits for the reporting period are analysed as follows:

Employees:

Employees:
2025 2024
£ £
Salary **20,774 ** 10,838
Pension 673 440
**Total ** 21,447
=======		 11,278
=======

No employee earned more than £60,000 during the year (2024: nil).

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10.Trustee remuneration and expenses:

SORP 2015 requires the following statements to be made:

The charity trustees were not paid or received any other benefits from employment with the charity in the year (2024: £nil). No charity trustee received payment for professional or other services supplied to the charity (2024: £nil).

11.Related parties:

There are no related party transactions during the year.

12. Fixed Assets

12. Fixed Assets
Computer Equipment Total
£ £
Cost
On 1 April 2024 1,681 1,681
Additions - -
Disposals - -
On 31 March 2025 1,681 1,681
Depreciation
On 1 April 2024 336 336
Disposals - -
Charge this period 269 269
On 31 March 2025 605 605
Net book value
On 31 March 2025 1,076 1,076
On 31 March 2024 1,345 1,345

13.Debtors:

2025 2024
£ £
Richard Cloudesley – G-2 - -
**Total ** -
=======		 -
========

14.Creditors: amounts falling due within one year

2025 2024
£ £
Independent Examination fees
300		 300
Total 300
======		 300
======

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