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2024-03-31-accounts

April 2023 – March 2024

Registered Company No. 08676376 (England and Wales) Registered Charity: 1189897

Home-Start Greenwich For the year ended 31 March 2024

CONTENTS

Page
Trustees’ Report 3-30
Independent auditors report 31-33
Statement of Financial Activities 34
Balance sheet 35
Statement of Cashflows 36
Notes to the financial statements 37-49

Home-Start Greenwich is a Company Limited by Guarantee, Registered in England & Wales No. Company number 08676376.

Home-Start Greenwich is a Charity Incorporated Organisation registered April 2022 number 1189897 Registered office and principle address: School House, Whitworth Road, SE18 3QA

  1. to safeguard, protect and preserve, both mental and physical good health of children and parents of children;

  2. to prevent cruelty to or maltreatment of children;

  3. to relieve sickness, poverty and need amongst children and parents of children;

  4. to promote the education of the public in better standards of childcare,

Our activities are carried out principally but not exclusively within the area of Royal Greenwich in SouthEast London.

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Home-Start Greenwich For the year ended 31 March 2024

Organisation Information

Board of Directors & Trustees

The directors of the charitable incorporated company (the charity) are its trustees for the purpose of charity law.

The trustees and officers serving during the year and since the year end were as follows:

Kingsley Hyne, Chair

Joey Sheridan Appointed on 7[th] November 2024 Sonia Olsen Resigned on 26[th] January 2024 Carolyn Herbert Sara Gorgoni Ana Bortolo Resigned 17[th] December 2024 Federica Franco Resigned 17[th] December 2024 Elizabeth Aderoju Joanna Lewins Appointed on 24[th] September 2024 Zethu Makatini Appointed on 24[th] September 2024 Amy Copeland Appointed on 24[th] September 2024 Kaan Azmi Appointed on 24[th] September 2024 Key Executive Personnel Leann Cross Chief Executive Director CEO Jackie Freeman Contracted Finance Director – October 2024 Mirela Siminiceanu Deputy Director Rachel Cope Director of Operations COO John Egan Director of HR, People & Strategy Registered company number 08676376 (England and Wales) Registered charity number 1189897 Registered office School House Whitworth Road London SE18 3QA Independent auditors Simpson Wreford LLP Wellesley House Duke of Wellington Avenue Royal Arsenal London SE18 6SS Bankers Metro Bank One Southampton Row London WC1B 5HA

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Home-Start Greenwich For the year ended 31 March 2024

Organisation and structure

The trustees, who are all directors, and the Directors Management Team comprise the key management personnel of the charity in charge of directing and controlling, running and operating Home-Start Greenwich on a day-to-day basis.

The Director operates as the Chief Executive Officer of the Charity working alongside the Operations Director (COO) and two additional directors, Director of Safeguarding and Director of HR People and Strategy. All directors work together as a Leadership Management Team to deliver the strategic plan and support the larger workforce and wider organisational remit.

Related Parties & Co-Operation with Other Organisations

Apart from the Trustees and specific transactions disclosed in the notes to the financial statements there are no related parties as defined by the Companies Act; however, the charity has a close relationship with the Royal Borough of Greenwich and Home-Start UK.

Our work with children and families is enhanced by the excellent partnership working with our colleagues in Royal Borough of Greenwich, our Health Partners and Voluntary Sector organisations, all of whom work in a collaborative manner so that the range and quality of resources available are to a high level.

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Home-Start Greenwich For the year ended 31 March 2024

Section 1: Chair’s Statement

Throughout 2023-4, Home-Start Greenwich has stepped up and responded to the sometimes acute need we’ve seen across our diverse community. Delivering new and impactful services and programmes, working in new areas to support those most in need and ensuring that the community could access the help they needed - either from their homes or with their peers in community spaces.

I would like to thank all our volunteers, staff and management for their immense efforts, for the innovation they’ve shown and the positive impact they’ve had – Thank you all!

Over the year we have:

Listening and responding to parents and the emerging needs of the community is at the heart of our approach, to do more and better for children. When we see an issue in our community, we respond - working with partners to be responsive, intentional and supportive to our community.

Home-Start Greenwich is very much embedded in the local community and through the year, the whole team has taken part in the Jubilee celebrations, community events and Black History 365, all celebrating the richness of the Greenwich community and workforce.

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Home-Start Greenwich For the year ended 31 March 2024

We are thankful to our partners who help us with innovative and responsive delivery and special acknowledgement to the Royal Borough of Greenwich and John Lewis Stratford for their funding and

other support which will enable us to rehouse the organisation and develop a new community and volunteer offer at the School House in Woolwich Common, Eglinton.

2024 is the 30[th] Anniversary of Home-Start Greenwich, a time for celebration. Our longevity proves we are a resilient organisation, here for the long term, providing the right support, right at the start to ensure that babies and young children develop and mature in families that are able to provide the safe, nurturing and stimulating home they need to thrive.

Home-Start Greenwich has delivered so much over the last year and is ambitious for the future. We will continue to work with our partners and communities to improve our reach and respond to new and continuing challenges.

Our fantastic outcomes are due to our hardworking staff, volunteers and our partners and stakeholders. Thank you all for contributing to our success.

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Home-Start Greenwich For the year ended 31 March 2024

Section 1: Director’s introduction

Welcome to Our 30th Annual Service Report

This year marks our 30th anniversary of supporting the most vulnerable young families in the Royal Borough of Greenwich. Since 1993, Home-Start Greenwich has built a strong reputation for delivering highquality support services and being a respected partner to a wide range of statutory and community organisations.

Our volunteers, students and interns have been instrumental in reducing barriers for families to access the right help at the right time, enabling them to thrive. We have responded to the growing needs of the community with a simple yet effective approach, focusing on accessibility and integration.

The legacy of Covid-19 has further entrenched complex challenges, including deteriorations in mental and emotional health, domestic abuse, and poverty. Delays in child development and language skills, along with an increased need for SEND support, have been prominent across our Early Years services.

We are here for families when they need us most, because childhood cannot wait. We work with parents to build on their strengths and experiences, ensuring they can provide safe, nurturing, and stimulating environments for their children.

Our integrated Children and Community Centres, quality childcare and holistic support have facilitated our community need response programme, addressing the impacts of Covid-19 and the cost-of-living crisis. New family groups needing support are emerging alongside the most vulnerable families in the community.

Despite the challenges posed by the current financial climate, including rising costs, higher referral numbers and reduced statutory services, our strategic and operational plans have delivered strong service improvement and stabilisation, especially within our Early Years programming.

As a local employer, Home-Start Greenwich contributes to community development by providing training, pre-employment volunteering and employment support. The voluntary, early years and childcare sectors are struggling to attract and retain skilled staff, making it imperative to work together to build a resilient and sustainable employment pathway.

With incredible support from our workforce, partners, and families, we are delivering our improvement strategy, ensuring resilience to meet changing community needs. We seek further help from those in the community who can support families and Home-Start Greenwich.

Thank you to our staff, volunteers, partners, grant funders and families for driving our journey of change and making the impossible possible.

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Home-Start Greenwich For the year ended 31 March 2024

Key Highlights (April 2023 - March 2024):

  1. Sustainability Efforts : Introduced eco-friendly practices across our programs, reducing our carbon footprint by 15%.

  2. Volunteer Growth : Increased our volunteer base by 20%.

  3. Training and Development : Provided over 1,000 hours of training to volunteers, staff, and parents.

  4. Early Years Impact : Delivered 300+ early years sessions, supporting child development and language skills.

  5. Holistic Support : Assisted 250 families with SEND support and assessments.

  6. Family Hub Launch : Successfully launched our new Family Hub at Brookhill Children's Centre, enhancing our ability to provide integrated support services to families.

  7. Empowering Parents, Empowering Communities (EPEC) : Delivered the EPEC programme in partnership with South London & Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and SE London ICB, training 50 Parent Group Leaders and reaching over 300 parents. The programme aims to improve children's mental health, support parents, and transform family life through peer-led parenting groups.

  8. Welcome Café Opening : Opened the Welcome Café at Brookhill Children's & Community Centre, creating a vibrant community space for families to connect and access support services.

  9. Royal Greenwich Best of Business Award : Proud to be a finalist for the third year in a row. This recognition provides significant benefits, including increased publicity, exposure, and networking opportunities, which help us to further our mission and encourage community support.

  10. Annual Impact Event : Held our first Annual Impact Event in January 2024, highlighting our steps to achieve our strategic plan. The strategic plan was reviewed by the board and extended to 2027, as the needs and objectives remain relevant for the organisation and community.

  11. Royal Borough of Greenwich Consultation : This consultation has helped us focus on planning sustainability and long-term delivery to achieve a borough-wide holistic offer for families.

  12. Ofsted Ratings : All our Early Years settings have been inspected by Ofsted and rated as Good, awarded (June 2024), reflecting our commitment to providing high-quality early years education and care.

I hope you enjoy reading the highlights of our organisation from 2023-2024. Please see our website www.homestartgreenwich.org.uk and Social Media Homestartgreenwich | Instagram, Facebook | Linktree to stay up to date with our projects and activities.

See you in 2025, Leann, Director CEO

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Home-Start Greenwich For the year ended 31 March 2024

Our Mission

Home-Start Greenwich wants to see a society in which every parent has the support they need to give their children the best possible start in life.

We are here for families when they need us most because childhood can't wait .

We are a community network of trained volunteers and expert support, dedicated to the provision of inclusive services that will fulfil each family's potential.

The work of every Home-Start in the UK centres around the three key themes of:

We achieve our mission through:

  1. Volunteer Home-Visiting Support Service

  2. Targeted Interventions & Family Support Groups

  3. Quality Childcare and Early education settings

  4. Children’s Centres services Universal Family Support

  5. Community Centre and Family Hub delivery

  6. Volunteering & Employability Pathways

What we do:

Home-Start Greenwich provides a wide range of specialist family support services delivered in the home, via the seven Children’s Centres and 4 nurseries that we run, other early learning and childcare settings and community centres.

We deliver our programmes through trained community volunteers and professional staff. Alongside frontline programmes we provide advocacy, food, fuel, clothing, childcare and emergency assistance for some of the most vulnerable families with young children in the community. The Home-Start tagline is ‘ Because childhood can’t wait ’ because we recognise the impact of early intervention for children on their long-term health and development.

Over 4000 families use Home-Start Greenwich services every year. Our 360 one-stop-shop approach to support is unique. It ensures that valued and trusted relationships are at the centre of a programme of practical and emotional support to deliver real, life-changing support for families.

Home-Start Greenwich is embedded in the local community – as a service provider on the frontline; supporting Royal Borough of Greenwich early years and family teams; as a major local employer (over 60% of our workforce are local residents); as an education partner providing social and childcare student placements; and as a community volunteer network, recruiting, training and upskilling local people to deliver our programmes. Every year, over 30 local people train with us as volunteers, and together with our student placements, they delivered over 4200 hours of family support services to 200 families in their homes. Alongside our staff teams over 1800 families received support.

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Home-Start Greenwich For the year ended 31 March 2024

Our Strategy

To achieve our Mission, we have identified six Strategic Priorities.

Most importantly, we will provide Impactful Services . This sees us improving the quality in all our services and providing it consistently to everyone everywhere. We will be recognised by HSUK, Ofsted, our commissioners and those in the communities we serve, as a model of excellent practice.

Key to achieving this are five other Strategic Priorities, which combine to deliver Impactful Services.

First amongst these is our desire to build a Destination Workforce . This includes both those we employ and those who volunteer. We aspire to be a great place to work and volunteer and will invest in building a fantastic culture and in the development of everyone in our team.

Second, we will become a highly Effective Organisation , our governance, systems and processes will enable our people to work together well to achieve our Mission.

Third, we will make the most of Partnership Possibilities . We will work collaboratively with commissioners, providers and our community to improve the lives of children and families in Greenwich.

Underpinning these, we will Shout About It through effective communication and engagement. We will evidence our impact and lastly, we will build firm Financial Foundations , secure our financial resilience and establish a platform for growth and greater impact.

This report will cover our strategic highlights and projects for the financial year of April 2023 – March 2024., London, SE18 6

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Home-Start Greenwich For the year ended 31 March 2024

Impactful Services: Support for families

Our Volunteer Scheme & Family Support

The majority of our families are residents of the Royal Borough of Greenwich. However, our reach also extends into Lewisham and Bexley boroughs, with the new transport links bringing in families from as far as East London. The housing crisis and temporary housing arrangement, means that our services are within reach of new communities needing support and we have worked closely with other London Home-Starts to integrate families into local communities.

We are making strides towards a sustainable programme of boroughwide Home-Visiting support by 2025.

This year we delivered our family support home visiting service in over 60% of the borough.

We were commissioned to deliver in Central Greenwich directly by RBG and in South Greenwich by GLL. Additional funding supported families being supported in East Greenwich.

222 families received 1:1 family support in the home and/or at the children’s centres.

Across Royal Greenwich

Our Children’s Centres – Central Greenwich

Home-Start Greenwich delivers an integrated model of Children Centres across Central, a geographic area to include the Woolwich Common (Eglinton), Woolwich Barracks (Mulgrave) and Woolwich Dockyard (Cardwell) integrated Children Centre areas with our delivery partners.

Partnership with schools: In 2023 with support from our education colleagues at Plumcroft School we extended to deliver a range of services in an additional site, Margaret Bonfield (Glyndon).

We are delighted that the Bromley Health Care Health Visiting and Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust Midwifery teams have been working with us particularly closely as we develop the sites at Brookhill, Mulgrave and Eglinton and increasing the number of services available to parents in these spaces.

We registered nearly 5500 children of which over 2000 were under two. With over 4000 children regularly engaging with our services.

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Home-Start Greenwich For the year ended 31 March 2024

Our exceptional Early Years

Create, Play, Explore through Loose Play. Forest Schools and Our Nature Spaces

Our vision for early years and childcare is to provide quality, enriching childcare to stimulate early learning.

We encourage children to explore, discover and create learning experiences that spark their curiosity and imagination. We offer families appropriate play education and care facilities, so that parents and children can learn together through play.

However, we know that the wider family situation impacts children’s early education and wellbeing. To address this, we support families with early intervention support tailored to their individual needs so parents can focus on giving their children the best start.

Our focus stays firmly on:

All Childcare settings across Home-Start Greenwich are rated Ofsted graded 3 (Good), across all four core inspection categories.

Our early years’ spaces are at:

Plumstead Day Nursery with Together for Twos Creche Brookhill Together for Twos creche Slade Together for Twos creche Eglinton Nursery (opening September 2024)

Ofsted conclusion

Excerpts from reports:

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Home-Start Greenwich For the year ended 31 March 2024

Our Community Centre Offer

The Welcome Café at Brookhill Children's & Community Centre will offer a variety of services designed to support families and promote community well-being:

  1. Affordable and Nutritious Food : The café will provide delicious, affordable meals to families, helping to ensure everyone has access to healthy food options.

  2. Cooking and Nutrition Workshops : Specialist guidance on how to cook healthy, nutritious meals at home will be available through cookery clubs and nutrition workshops.

  3. Positive Parenting Activities : The café will host activities that promote positive parenting skills, offering a supportive environment for parents.

  4. Perinatal Mental Health Support : Bespoke support for perinatal mental health and parent-infant relationships will be integrated into the café's offerings.

  5. Community Space : The café will serve as a safe, friendly and inclusive space for families to connect and access various support services.

These services aim to create a vibrant community hub where families can gather, learn, and support each other.

Cllr Matt Morrow, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, said: “There is a huge range of support on offer for families, from free activities and early learning for children right through to financial advice and wellbeing support for mums, dads and carers. Family Hubs are making life easy by putting it all in one place - providing the support families need, in the ways they need it. The Hubs are growing rapidly and I know that many families are already feeling the benefit.”

Leann Cross, Director, Home-Start Greenwich commented: “ We’re all really excited about the launch of the new family hub. We know that many families within our local community are feeling the strain right now, so being able to provide them with a safe space where they can access a range of support, as well as expert food education and nutritional advice, is invaluable.

Dominic Honeysett, Executive Chef of London Greenwich, Chartwells said:

“We’re looking forward to working with the team at the Brookhill Children’s and Community Centre on a long-term basis, supporting the volunteers to create delicious and healthy meals for those who visit the hub, as well as working closely with them to deliver more activities, so we can help equip families in the local area, with the knowledge and confidence to create healthy and nutritious meals at home too.”

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Home-Start Greenwich For the year ended 31 March 2024

Our Families Said:

Ailda and Ana Rita

“In November 2022, I was referred to Home-Start Greenwich. I am a single mother with one daughter. I was emotionally very low as I was awaiting a decision from the Home Office on my immigration status and was scared that I could be deported at any time. I had experienced significant trauma as I was trafficked and was finding it difficult to pay for food and clothing as I had Nil Recourse to Public Funds.

Ana Rita (volunteer) visited me almost every week. She listened and provided emotional support when I really needed it. She also accompanied me to medical appointments which really helped me. After three months, I received my biometric residence permit. Ana Rita supported me to apply for Healthy Start vouchers and Child Benefit, which was backdated so I received about £2,000. With this money, I was able to secure a home with kitchen, bathroom and living room and now feel secure in my own accommodation. I want to say thank you for your support for me and Alea through this time. We have been lucky to have you at our most difficult times. Thank you and I wish you all the best!”.

Ibtassim

“I was supported by Home-Start Greenwich after getting out of an abusive relationship and giving birth to premature twin girls. They helped to build my confidence and helped me move on with my life. After five years, I decided to give back and be a part of the family. The volunteer training covered everything from safeguarding to communication skills and it was amazing to learn from others. If there was no Home-Start Greenwich, I would not be who I am today.”

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Home-Start Greenwich For the year ended 31 March 2024

Joanna and Antela

“My family was referred to Home-Start Greenwich in 2021. My son has Autism and I was finding it difficult to manage his behaviour and complex learning needs at home. As a single parent, I was also struggling financially. I do not speak good English so was also finding it difficult to manage all the paperwork and appointments.

Jo (volunteer) helped me so much. Jo visited me almost every week for two years and played with my children – they loved her. She always brought a toy or something to play with and they were always excited to see what’s in the bag! She also helped us to get out into the community – to the shops, the woods and the library.

After weeks of my son refusing to walk to school, Jo decided to come every morning for a week to help me to walk him to school - after this he started to walk with no fuss!

Jo also came to paediatric appointments with me, supported me to contact housing when I received an eviction letter, helped me to organised paperwork and benefits and was someone to talk to when things were hard”.

Michelle

“I was a volunteer for Home-Start Greenwich for two years and in that time, I supported four families. I was nervous at first but with the support and courage my supervisor gave me, I knew I was able to do it. Doing the volunteering gave me my confidence back after my own experience with domestic abuse. It has put me in a position where I now have a job working with children in a nursery, which has opened up so many opportunities. I have been given my

own baby classes to run, where not only do I engage with the children, but I now have the confidence to start conversations with the parents and suggest things that could help them. I have even been given the opportunity to work alongside a lead practitioner as a one to one with a child. All this has been achieved through attending the Volunteer Course and the support I was given by my supervisor”.

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Home-Start Greenwich For the year ended 31 March 2024

Our Special Educational Needs & Disability Services

All our settings are inclusive and open to all; however, we are acutely aware that some families would benefit from more bespoke support. The number of children and families with SEND engaging with our services has increased since 2021. To meet this need, our team has worked closely with local schools and statutory services to ensure that SEND children make positive transition into education from childcare and creche settings.

Key achievements

Across all our settings, SEND support is embedded in our provision - with increased staff to children ratios, larger accessible spaces and close partnerships with specialist external provision. Our staff are very skilled at advocating for children and families pre-diagnosis and at every stage to support their learning journey.

To make sure we really are providing the type of services that meet with local need, we support three specialist parent led volunteer groups and local organisations to enhance our Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) offer – where standard programming is complemented by an additional element which provides specialist support for children with additional needs:

For the young children leaving our settings, we work closely with schools to extend the transition period and enable support visits from key people. We have built a programme of transition support for families to ensure they feel supported to make informed decisions around accessing the best school for their child’s needs.

As part of a strategy to build our SEND offer, we have secured three-year funding and recruited an Early Years SENCO, leading on a in house SEND programme delivered within our settings.

We’ve been developing our Autism Awareness programme of training for staff and families and are extremely proud of what our early years’ staff and volunteers have achieved for children who require additional support.

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Home-Start Greenwich For the year ended 31 March 2024

Destination Workforce

People are at the heart of our organisation. We look to the community to support and explore local employment in the first instance.

Our HR team covers all six strategic pillars, focusing particularly on the pillars of ‘destination employer’ and ‘effective organisation’. Key highlights include:

Integrated learning and staff benefits

Key Data Highlights:
Metric Result and findings
Total staff (average) 70
Internal promotions 2
Volunteers moving into paid roles 8
Retirements 2
Percentage of our staff living in the Royal
Borough of Greenwich community		 61%
Unique team member capabilities
(valuable, rare, inimitable, and non-
substitutable)		 Our key organisational differentiator is our unique and diverse
staff capabilities. This helps us to have a meaningful and insightful
understanding of the HSG context and our mandate. This is
demonstrated in our shared and deep knowledge of our
community.
Turnover and recruitment • Recruitment in the EY space, core delivery staff and for
managerial and specialist roles remains challenging.
• The charity sector shows broad fluctuation in salary and EVP
elements with HSG’s challenge of retaining key staff.
• In the year we saw 18 staff leave and 16 be employed. This
included 2 leavers returning to HSG in a full-time capacity and
a retiree returning in a limited capacity.

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Home-Start Greenwich For the year ended 31 March 2024

Partnership Possibilities

Our local business Partners

As one of the largest employers in Greenwich, employing over 70 staff, we are committed to being a London Living Wage employer. 61% of our team live in the local community and we work hard to buy local and to work with local suppliers and contractors.

How much and how we spend our money in the local community

Over 30% of our expenditure is spent with other local businesses, which equates to just under £190,000.

Local Spend Breakdown Amount £
Partnerships 16,344.19
Service Providers 33,071.06
Suppliers 117,854.48
RBG Schools 19,467.08
186,736.81

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Home-Start Greenwich For the year ended 31 March 2024

Partnership Possibilities: Projects

Empowering Families, Empowering Communities

Commissioned by the South-East London Integrated Care Service in partnership with South London and Maudsley Trust .

Empowering Parents, Empowering Communities (EPEC) is a group parenting intervention, delivered by parents who have themselves previously participated in a parenting

group and have undertaken the ten-week EPEC training programme for peer facilitation.

We delivered three EPEC parent groups, over 8 weekly two-hour sessions, by two certified EPEC peer facilitator group leaders, with 45 parents attending in total. Sessions covered strengthening the parent-child relationship through positive communication, developing parental sensitivity, safe care and child-led play. Through the programme, parents reported that they learnt a range of positive parenting skills, better understanding of their children’s feelings, value effective parent-child

communication and how to build better, more resilient family relationships.

Feedback from Caregivers

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Home-Start Greenwich For the year ended 31 March 2024

Family Hub

The Family Hubs Programme aim is to join up and enhance support and services for children, young people aged 0 to 19 or 25 for those with special educational needs (SEND) and their families. Our Family Hub has been the first point of contact for families bringing services together to improve access, improve connections between families, professionals, services and providers and put relationships at the heart of family support.

Key Deliverables and Achievements in line with Family Hub Agenda and Workstreams:

1. Family Hub Steering Group set-up and strengthened with representation from Young Greenwich, Health Visiting, Family Information Service and Mum’s Aid.

2. Early Language and Home Learning. Accredited programmes delivered such as: Bouncing Babies, Baby Massage, Tot’s Talking, Early Talk Boost, helped improve educational outcomes, parent child interactions and parenting confidence and skills. Sessions increased by 30% in response to demand. With 60 Home-learning packs distributed to families.

3. Infant Feeding Support

Community Café set-up as a hub for accessing healthy nutritious meals and opportunities for community networking, to reduce isolation and improve mental health outcomes and parentchild relationships.

4. Parent Infant Relationships and Perinatal Mental Health and Parenting Support

5. Youth Hub Programmes – 5 new groups delivered and a total of 55 young people attended.

6. Partnerships development – New partnerships have been developed as well as existing partnerships strengthened with Parent Power, Dad’s Matter, CACT, FIS, Mum’s Aid, Health, SALT, Oxleas Perinatal MH.

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Home-Start Greenwich For the year ended 31 March 2024

HSG Welcome Spaces

Home-Start Greenwich launched Warm Spaces , which later became Welcome Spaces . It was funded by Royal Borough of Greenwich and operated across three locations: Plumstead, Glyndon, and Brookhill. Over the period of delivery significant enhancements were made to improve engagement, address logistical challenges, and expand available resources.

Key achievements and highlights:

The program demonstrated community-focused innovation, delivering not only a warm, welcoming environment but also critical support services that addressed individual needs.

Key Outcomes

Empowered parents with tools and strategies to navigate parenting challenges effectively. Delivered sessions focused on enhancing self-esteem, adaptability, and mental health awareness.

Supported children’s development through structured play and early learning activities.

Provided parents with guidance on preparing their children for transitions into formal education.

Fostered collaboration with local schools, nurseries, health visitors, and mental health professionals, ensuring families received comprehensive, joined-up support.

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Home-Start Greenwich For the year ended 31 March 2024

Through this project, we have seen parents develop greater confidence in their parenting abilities, children demonstrate improved social and developmental skills, and families establish stronger connections within their communities. The initiative has not only addressed immediate challenges but also laid the foundation for enduring support networks and resilience among Army families.

Future Plans

Building on the success of this project, we developed a new project for Army Families funded by the Army Covenant which completes in December 2024.

Our aim: to deliver projects that bring meaningful improvements to Armed Forces communities, addressing hidden or pressing needs.

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Home-Start Greenwich For the year ended 31 March 2024

Army Families Building Resilience

Commissioned by the Army Covenant Fund and Army Volant Charitable Trust .

This year, we secured two grants from the Army Covenant Fund and the Army Volant Charitable Trust, enabling us to support Army families at the Woolwich Army Barracks. We delivered programs for parents experiencing mental health issues, anxiety, and isolation, especially those with babies born during the pandemic. We also assisted families adjusting to postdeployment or relocation from Cyprus, addressing relationship difficulties that could affect children's education, parenting, and well-being. Our projects focused on reducing parental loneliness and isolation, enhancing mental health, alleviating anxiety, and fostering a sense of community.

Key Statistics:

Key Deliverables and Achievements:

Key Outcomes:

Parents’ Feedback:

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Home-Start Greenwich For the year ended 31 March 2024

Black History 365 (BH365)

BH365 aim is to raise awareness and deliver activities and events that promote Black African and Caribbean culture over a period of 365 days.

The RBG Black History 365 (BH365) Project empowered HomeStart Greenwich to connect families and communities to Black cultural heritage through a year-long series of workshops, events and activities.

A diverse programme of activities took place across HSG with over 800 participants taking part in:

The programme fostered understanding and celebration of Black history and culture, culminating in an Exhibition and Art Display. HSG also supported local communities by hosting a "Black Owners" marketplace, Black Author events, and collaborating with support groups like STUBS, which provide guidance to Black ethnic minorities.

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Home-Start Greenwich For the year ended 31 March 2024

Shout About It

Our 30[th] year

Family Hubs and Community Welcome Cafe Launch November 2023

We are excited to have launched our part of the national Start for Life and Family Hub 1001 days strategy, to deliver lifelong impact for young children and wider support for the family. The approach complements the Home-Start Greenwich in-home support service and our wider community and volunteer offer.

Brookhill Children’s Centre is one of four hubs forming part of the wider Family Hub Network, which includes 23 children’s centres and four youth hubs across the borough.

The hubs are a first point of contact for families who need support to access financial help, keep children happy and active, from pregnancy to teenage years.

The hubs provide a free and easy way to get consistent support at different stages of parenthood, offering a safe space and seamless service for families when they need it the most.

Launch of our Community Café and welcome space

Our Community Café is a welcoming space for families, children and the local community - providing a safe space, food education and low-level mental health support. The café will be a space for the community to prepare affordable meals, deliver nutrition expertise, weaning advice and support pathways to our services.

The Community Café will also host parent workshops, baby and toddler focused activities for exploring foods and skill sharing. Our hub partners Chartwells and Feeding Britain supported our offer to deliver a weekly free community dining experience, essential supplies, cooked meals and nutritional advice and recipes. This offer is developing a strong volunteer network and workshops that are delivered by our chef and community partners.

Community Centre at Brookhill and School House

This year we further enhanced the community programme on offer for families of all ages. We look forward to having a community event launch to complement our Community Café and Family Hub!

Early Years’ Ethos

This year we will continue to embed our loose play ethos and design, extending from settings into our parents and child play at home, via our home learning, volunteers and family support. Ensuring our children explore, create and thrive in a safe, caring and stimulating and sustainable space. We will be working hard to deliver enhancing experiences to develop children. The Home-Start Greenwich specialist early years’ programme enables young children to be curious, imaginative, confident and independent, with all the tools they need to build their own development alongside their peers.

Based on the wrap around learning and care model we deliver at Children’s Centres across the Royal Borough of Greenwich, we treat play seriously, with a key role in ensuring a successful transition into full time education. That is why our nurseries will provide a carefully crafted, enriching play experience based on child-initiated exploration to motivate children and inspire learning.

25

Home-Start Greenwich For the year ended 31 March 2024

Our focus on stimulating curiosity and learning through creative, imaginative and explorative play inside and outside includes the high quality, outside natural learning environment, modelled on Forest Schools, which allow winter outdoor free flow play that encourages exploration and experimentation with tools.

Encouraging independence and role modelling a positive approach to food, textures and smells. Our approach to food and choice is for all age groups. Expanding our fresh and nutritious seasonal menus prepared by our in-house chef, in our 5-star rated kitchens, using the highest quality ingredients, will expand to skill sharing and learning opportunities with parents.

We will be continuing to work with schools to provide positive transitions for all children especially our SEND children and families.

26

Home-Start Greenwich For the year ended 31 March 2024

A Call to Action:

Almost everyone is in position to help Home-Start Greenwich achieve its vision for a thriving community support network.

So many ways to make a difference:

Are you a Corporate Executive or part of a large organisation? Choose us as a charity partner? Sponsor an event or project. Help us create opportunities for mentorships, workshops, share expertise, training or support?

Are you a student or working with students or within Further Education institutions, Job Centre or Careers department? The Early Years’ and Family Support sector needs a sustainable workforce. The pandemic has affected our workforce, and we need students looking for apprenticeship or work experience to choose us. Can we speak to your students about careers in our sector?

If you are a working professional - do you have volunteer days or charity partnerships at your place of work and can you recommend us as your Charity Partner? Can you volunteer with us for the day? Do you have skills in data, fundraising, media, design or a few hours to spare to help shape our services or join our board. Why not bring along your team for a team building volunteer day and make a real difference?

Are you involved in sports activities or events like Ride London, would you consider fundraising for us? Help us raise funds for our services. Every £7 received pays for a visit to a family at home. Supporting families to reduce isolation and helping to build a protective network around every child. Take part in an event of your preference and help sponsor a family volunteer.

Are you retired and/or have free time? Home-Start Greenwich is built on a network of volunteers supporting families in the home, helping to deliver our projects and run our centres. Our volunteers are a key part of our team and have access to comprehensive training programmes and a range of benefits. Alternatively, volunteer as a trustee and join our board, leading the organisation to success.

Are you a parent or expecting a child? You can help us by using our universal services, our childcare and nurseries. You can follow, like and share our social media. If you have been a service user, please let us - know how the support has helped you. Find us on social media; Homestartgreenwich | Instagram, Face book | Linktree

Everyone – PLEASE promote our services, sponsor us, donate and follow us on social media. Get involved and volunteer your time, resources, networks or charity budgets. Together we can create possibilities for some our most vulnerable families and together we can build stronger communities.

27

Home-Start Greenwich For the year ended 31 March 2024

Financial Foundations

Summary of Annual Accounts

Home-Start Greenwich income is generated through commissioned contracts, Early Years income and grants. This is spent on delivery, staffing, operating expenses and providing additional services such as outings, projects, and responding to community needs.

Our current portfolio of contracts is delivered at full cost recovery on all services until 2025. This provides us with guaranteed monthly income. In the Financial year 2024/2025, we will be renegotiating the contract to reflect current rates of expenditure.

We have a reserves target and have achieved full cost recovery across all streams with each department and projects delivered inside set budgets.

This year we are delighted to report a big increase in the level of reserves - achieved through efficiency savings and tight financial management. This is in line with our strategic goal of securing reserves of £800k or three months operating costs and we continue to work towards this goal, alongside generating additional income from service delivery and successful grant applications.

Home-Start Greenwich holds £274,121 of restricted reserves as at 31 March 2024.

Below is a summary of Home-Start Greenwich’s annual accounts for the year 2023/2024. Full annual accounts and financial statements are available on request or online via the charities commission.

2023/2024 2022/2023
Income £ £
RBG Childrens Centre Contract 1,952,649 1,895,961
EarlyYears Income 666,125 597,831
Commissioned Services Income 20,332 19,008
Restricted Fundraisingandgrants 365,047 109,529
Unrestricted Fundraising and
donations		 9,050 15,279
Other Income 33,318 31,636
Total Income 3,046,521 2,673,795
Staffing Costs 2,182,310 1,932,881
Operating Expenses 568,335 566,158
Net surplus 295,877 170,205
2023/2024 2022/2023
Reserves £526,238 £230,361

28

Home-Start Greenwich For the year ended 31 March 2024

As the need for our services continues to grow, we are under pressure to sustain a level of income which meets the increasing demand. Whilst we continue to be successful in winning restricted grants our unrestricted funding and fundraising and donations continue to struggle.

We are incredibly grateful to all those individuals and companies which have supported us this year. Your generosity ensures that we can continue to deliver our services and plan for the future.

Finance Highlights

Plans for the future years

Home-Start Greenwich has identified the following plan to develop sustainability for the future:

Short Term Medium Term Long Term
Increase the representatives and
diversity of the trustee board and
recruit to the treasurer vacancy		 Develop and embed the organi-
sational strategy		 Secure sustainability for the Home-Start
Greenwich Volunteer Scheme
Secure £100k of unrestricted fund-
ing in 2024/2025		 Continue to strengthen areas of
expertise in specialist areas		 Ensure the organisation is best placed to
continue delivering early education and
Children’s Centre services
Develop, embed and raise aware-
ness of the organisations Funding
strategy		 Increase the charity’s reserves to
the level set out in the reserves
policy of £800k by 2027		 Build effective partnerships, steering local
and national development for under-fives
support
Diversify income streams and se-
cure further funding		 To embed effective systems and
practice to develop business
continuity		 Share our successes with wider stakehold-
ers and funders
Continue development of robust
cost control measures and continue
efficiency savings

29

Home-Start Greenwich For the year ended 31 March 2024

Trustees' responsibilities statement

The Trustees (who are also directors of Home-Start Greenwich for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the Trustees' Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

Company law requires the Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Under company law the Trustees must not approve the financial statements unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable company for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the Trustees are required to:

The Trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the charitable company's transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable company and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charitable company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

The Trustees are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial information included on the charitable company’s website. Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.

Independent auditors

Simpson Wreford LLP., were appointed as Independent Auditors during the year and have expressed their willingness to continue in that capacity.

The trustees have complied with their duty in section 17 of the Charities Act 2011 to have due regard to the public benefit guidance published by the Charity Commission.

Signed on behalf of Trustees on 27[th] January 2025

K Hyne

Chair

30

Home-Start Greenwich For the year ended 31 March 2024

Independent Auditor's Report to the Trustees of Home-Start Greenwich

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of Home-Start Greenwich (the "Charity") for the year ended 31 March 2024 which comprise the Statement of Financial Activities, Balance Sheet, Cash Flow Statement and notes to the financial statements, including a summary of significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102: The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

Basis for opinion

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor's responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the charitable company in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC's Ethical Standard, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

Conclusions relating to going concern

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the ISAs (UK) require us to report to you where:

• the trustees have not disclosed in the financial statements any identified material uncertainties that may cast significant doubt about the Charity’s ability to continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting for a period of at least twelve months from the date when the financial statements are authorised for issue.

Other information

The trustees are responsible for the other information. The other information comprises the information included in the annual report other than the financial statements and our auditor's report thereon. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon.

In connection with our audit of the financial statements, our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether there is a material misstatement in the financial statements or a material misstatement of the other information. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact. We have nothing to report in this regard.

31

Home-Start Greenwich For the year ended 31 March 2024

Independent Auditor's Report to the Trustees of Home-Start Greenwich

Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006

In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of the audit:

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the Charity and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the Trustees' Annual Report. We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Companies Act 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:

Responsibilities of the trustees

As explained more fully in the trustees' responsibilities statement set out on page 30 the trustees are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as they determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

In preparing the financial statements, the trustees are responsible for assessing the Charity's ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the trustees either intend to liquidate the Charity or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

Our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor's report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.

A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on the Financial Reporting Council's website at: [www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities]. This description forms part of our auditor's report.

Extent to which the audit was considered capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud

32

Home-Start Greenwich

For the year ended 31 March 2024

Independent Auditor's Report to the Trustees of Home-Start Greenwich

Audit response to risks identified

We assessed the susceptibility of the company’s financial statements to material misstatement, including obtaining an understanding of how fraud might occur, by:

To address the risk of fraud through management bias and override of controls, we:

In response to the risk of irregularities and non-compliance with laws and regulations, we designed procedures which included, but were not limited to:

There are inherent limitations in our audit procedures described above. The more removed that laws and regulations are from financial transactions, the less likely it is that we would become aware of non-compliance. Auditing standards also limit the audit procedures required to identify non-compliance with laws and regulations to enquiry of the directors and other management and the inspection of regulatory and legal correspondence, if any. Material misstatements that arise due to fraud can be harder to detect than those that arise from error as they may involve deliberate concealment or collusion.

Use of our report

This report is made solely to the Charity's members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the Charity's members those matters we are required to state to them in an auditor's report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the Charity's members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

Kate Taylor FCA (Senior Statutory Auditor)

For and on behalf of Simpson Wreford LLP, Statutory Auditors and Chartered Accountants

Wellesley House Duke of Wellington Avenue Royal Arsenal London SE8 6SS

Dated: 28[th] January 2025

33

Home-Start Greenwich Year ended 31 March 2024

Statement of Financial Activities

(Including Income and Expenditure account)

Notes
Income from:
Donations & legacies
2
Charitable activities
3
Other trading activities
4
Investments
5
Other income
6
Total income
Expenditure on:
Charitable activities
7
Other expenditure
7
Total expenditure
Net income/(expenditure)
Transfers between funds
Net movements in funds
Reconciliation of funds
Total funds brought forward
Total funds carried forward
17		 Restricted
Unrestricted
Designated
Unrestricted
General
Year to
Year to
Funds
£
Funds
£
Funds
£
31 Mar 2024
£
31 Mar 2023
£
87,353
-
9,050
96,403
70,940
215,425
2,681,043
20,332
2,916,800
2,595,832
-
-
-
-
2,943
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
33,318
33,318
4,080
302,778
2,681,043
62,700
3,046,521
2,673,795
122,448
2,616,834
-
2,739,282
2,496,308
-
-
11,362
11,362
7,282
122,448
2,616,834
11,362
2,750,644
2,503,590
180,330
64,209
51,338
295,877
170,205
-
-
-
-
-
180,330
64,209
51,338
295,877
170,205
93,791
38,346
98,224
230,361
60,156
274,121
102,555
149,562
526,238
230,361

The Statement of Financial Activities includes all gains and losses in the year. All income and expenditure derive from continuing activities.

The accounting policies and notes on pages 37 to 49 form part of these financial statements.

34

Home-Start Greenwich Year ended 31 March 2024

Balance sheet as at 31 March 2024

Note
Fixed assets:
Tangible assets
12
Current assets:
Debtors
13
Cash at bank & in hand
Liabilities:
Creditors: Amounts falling due within one year
14
Net current assets/(liabilities)
Total assets less current liabilities
Total net assets		 2024
£
32,440
109,501
582,004
691,505
197,707
493,798
526,238
526,238		 2023
£
33,748
95,890
246,854
342,744
146,131
196,613
230,361
230,361
The funds of the charity
17
Restricted income funds
Designated fund
General funds		 274,121
102,555
149,562
526,238		 93,791
38,346
98,224
230,361

The accounts have been prepared in accordance with the special provisions of Part 15 of the Companies Act relating to small companies and constitute the annual accounts required by the Companies Act 2006 and in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102)

27[th] January 2025

Approved by the trustees on ......................................... and signed on their behalf by:-

………………………………………………

K Hyne Chair

Company Registration Number: 08676376 (England & Wales)

35

Home-Start Greenwich Year ended 31 March 2024

Statement of Cashflows

36

Home-Start Greenwich Year ended 31 March 2024

Notes to the financial statements

1. Accounting Policies

The principal accounting policies are summarised below. The accounting policies have been applied consistently throughout the year.

Basis of accounting

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 1 January 2015) - (Charities SORP FRS 102), the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) and the Companies Act 2006.

The financial statements are prepared in sterling, which is the functional currency of the company. Monetary amounts in the financial statements are rounded to the nearest £.

The effects of events relating to the year ended 31 March 2022 which occurred before the date of approval of the financial statements by the Trustees has been included in the financial statements to the extent required to show a true and fair view of the state of affairs at 31 March 2022 and the results for the year ended on that date.

Home-Start Greenwich meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS102. Assets and liabilities are initially recognised at historical cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policy note(s).

Reconciliation with previous Generally Accepted Accounting Practice

In preparing the accounts, the trustees have considered whether in applying the accounting policies required by FRS102 and the Charities SORP FRS102 the restatement of comparative items was required. No restatements were required.

Preparation of the accounts on a going concern basis

The charity is considered a going concern. Adequate funding has been achieved to facilitate the charities objectives and activities for the next 12 months. There are no material uncertainties about the charity’s ability to continue as a going concern.

Fund accounting

Restricted funds can only be used for a particular purpose within the objects of the charity and are subject to restrictions on their expenditure imposed by the donor which are to be solely used for particular areas of the charities work or for specific projects being undertaken by the charity.

Designated funds are unrestricted funds earmarked by the trustees for particular purposes.

Unrestricted funds are available for use at the discretion of the trustees in furtherance of the general objectives of the charity.

37

Home-Start Greenwich Year ended 31 March 2024

Notes to the financial statements

Income

Income is recognised when the charity has entitlement to the funds, any performance conditions attached to the income have been met, it is probable that the income will be received and that the amount can be measured reliably.

Income from government and other grants, whether 'capital' grants or 'revenue' grants, is recognised when the charity has entitlement to the funds, any performance conditions attached to the grants have been met, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount can be measured reliably and is not deferred.

Voluntary income is received by way of donations and gifts and is included in full in the statement of financial activities when receivable.

Revenue grants are credited to the statement of financial activities when received or receivable whichever is earlier.

Where unconditional entitlement to grants receivable is dependent upon fulfilment of conditions within the charity's control, the incoming resources are recognised when there is sufficient evidence that conditions will be met. Where there is uncertainty as to whether the charity can meet such conditions the incoming resource is deferred.

Income generated from the supply of goods or services is included in the statement of financial activities in the period in which the supply is made.

For legacies, entitlement is taken as the earlier of the date on which either: the charity is aware that probate has been granted, the estate has been finalised and notification has been made by the executor(s) to the Trust that a distribution will be made, or when a distribution is received from the estate. Receipt of a legacy, in whole or in part, is only considered probable when the amount can be measured reliably and the charity has been notified of the executor's intention to make a distribution. Where legacies have been notified to the charity, or the charity is aware of the granting of probate, and the criteria for income recognition have not been met, then the legacy is a treated as a contingent asset and disclosed if material.

Donated services and facilities

Donated services or facilities are recognised as income when the charity has control over the item or receive the service, any conditions associated with the donated item have been met, the receipt of economic benefit from the use by the charity of the item is probable and that economic benefit can be measured reliably. In accordance with the Charities SORP (FRS 102), volunteer time is not recognised so refer to the trustees' annual report for more information on their contribution.

On receipt, donated services and facilities are recognised on the basis of the value of the gift to the charity which is the amount the charity would have been willing 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.

Expenditure and irrecoverable VAT

Resources expended are recognised in the period in which they are incurred. Resources expended include attributable VAT, which cannot be recovered.

Costs of generating funds comprise the costs associated with attracting voluntary income.

38

Home-Start Greenwich Year ended 31 March 2024

Notes to the financial statements

Charitable expenditure comprises those costs incurred by the charity in the delivery of its activities and services. It includes both costs that can be allocated directly to such activities and those costs of an indirect nature necessary to support them.

Other costs include those costs associated with meeting the constitutional and statutory requirements of the charity and include audit fees and costs linked to the strategic management of the charity.

All costs are allocated between the expenditure categories of the SOFA on a basis designed to reflect the use of the resource.

Allocation of support costs

Resources are allocated to the particular activity where the cost relates directly to that activity. Support costs are the functions that assist the work of the charity but do not directly undertake charitable activities.

The overall direction and administration of each activity, comprising the salary and overhead costs of the central function, is apportioned based upon the level of resource required to support each activity.

Operating Leases

Rental charges are charged on a straight line basis over the term of the lease.

Debtors

Trade and other debtors are recognised at the settlement amount due. Prepayments are valued at the amount prepaid.

Cash at bank and in hand

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.

Creditors and provisions

Creditors and provisions are recognised where the charity has 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 and provisions are normally recognised at their settlement amount after allowing for any trade discounts.

Tangible fixed assets

All fixed assets are initially recorded at cost.

Expenditure on fixed assets below the value of £500 are written off in the year in which it is incurred. Assets are reviewed for impairment if circumstances indicate their carrying value may exceed their net realisable value and value in use.

39

Home-Start Greenwich Year ended 31 March 2024

Notes to the financial statements

Depreciation is calculated so as to write off the cost of each asset less its residual value evenly over its estimated useful life on the following basis:

Financial instruments

The charity 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.

Pensions

The charity operates a defined contribution pension scheme, which all employees are eligible to join. The total amount of contributions recognised in the Statement of Financial Activity are shown in note 9 and represent the employers’ contribution to the scheme or to employees personal pension schemes.

There were no outstanding or prepaid contributions at the balance sheet date and the charity has no liability under the scheme other than the payment of those contributions.

Commitments for future expenditure

Other than normal commitments inherent to the operation of the charity and under contracts of employment there were no contractual obligations to future expenditure at the balance sheet date. Where the trustees authorise expenditure which is not legally enforceable at the balance sheet date the appropriate amounts are set aside into designated funds.

40

Home-Start Greenwich Year ended 31 March 2024

Notes to the financial statements

2. INCOME FROM DONATIONS AND LEGACIES

Donations
Grants received
RBG - Small Grants Funding
RBG - Small Grants Funding
RBG - Winter Grants Scheme 2022
RBG - Black History 365 Funding
RBG - Innovation Grant
RBG - Warm Spaces Grant
RBG - VCS Community Centre
The Lovell Partnership
The Armed Forces - Army Covenant Funding Grant
The Speech and Hearing Foundation
The Goldsmiths Company Charity		 Restricted
Unrestricted
Year to
Year to
31 Mar 2024
31 Mar 2023
£
£
£
£
-
1,550
1,550
5,836
950

-
950
8,550
3,000
-
3,000

-

-
-
-
9,000
750
-
750
5,400
-
-
-
10,000
-
-
-
2,000
40,000
-
40,000
-
-
1,000
1,000
-
23,653
-
23,653
23,654
19,000
-
19,000
-
-
6,500
6,500
6,500
87,353
9,050
96,403
70,940

3. INCOME FROM CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES

Children's Centre Contract
Creche Together for Two's
Stay & Play
Early Years Pupil Premium
Nursery
RBG - Empowering Parents
RBG - Family Hub
RBG - Jubilee Festival Funding
South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust
Commissioned Services
Start-Well Trust - Mobilisation
Grants received
Home-Start UK - Volant Charitable Trust		 Restricted
Unrestricted
Unrestricted
Year to
Year to
Designated
General
31 Mar 2024
31 Mar 2023
£
£
£
£
£
-
1,952,649
-
1,952,649
1,895,961
-
370,550
-
370,550
335,701
-
12,463
-
12,463
16,255
-
801
-
801
2,448
-
282,311
-
282,311
243,427
-
62,269
-
62,269
-
178,500
-
-
178,500
-
-
-
-
-
6,000
36,925
-
-
36,925
36,925
-
-
20,332
20,332
19,008
-
-
-
-
32,107
-
-
-
-
-
-
8,000
215,425
2,681,043
20,332
2,916,800
2,595,832

41

Home-Start Greenwich Year ended 31 March 2024

Notes to the financial statements

4. INCOME FROM OTHER TRADING ACTIVITIES

Fundraising Events
Courses		 Restricted
Unrestricted
Year to
Year to
31 Mar 2024
31 Mar 2023
£
£
£
£
-
-
-

2,943

-
-
-
-

-
-
-
2,943

5. INCOME FROM INVESTMENTS

Bank Interest Receivable - UK Restricted
Unrestricted
Year to
Year to
31 Mar 2024
31 Mar 2023
£
£
£
£
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-

6. INCOME FROM OTHER ACTIVITIES

Service fee received
Other income
Student placement income
Café sales
Rent Received		 Restricted
Unrestricted
Year to
Year to
31 Mar 2024
31 Mar 2023
£
£
£
£
-
18,000
18,000
-
-
11,895
11,895
3,520
-
2,700
2,700
-
-
295
295
-
-
428
428
560
-
33,318
33,318
4,080

43

Home-Start Greenwich Year ended 31 March 2024

Notes to the financial statements

7.1 EXPENDITURE BY COST CATEGORY

7.1 EXPENDITURE

Note
Charitable activities
Staff costs
9
Professional fees
Staff travel and other expenses
Staff training
Staff recruitment
Direct project costs
Refreshments
Commissioned services
Outings, trips & activity costs
Advertising
Premises costs
Repairs, maintenance & cleaning
Insurance
Events & meetings
Office costs
Computer costs
Other costs
Depreciation
Other
Bank charges
Audit fees
Total		 Year to
Year to
31 Mar 2024
31 Mar 2023
2,182,310
1,932,881
74,976
125,313
1,553
1,379
16,250
17,030
16,724
4,856
6,212
19,596
22,847
14,956
22,232
8,225
10,667
4,754
6,253
1,829
98,195
90,523
121,555
126,329
37,750
32,745
9,375
3,053
50,872
49,904
38,494
35,935
168
374
22,850
26,626
2,739,283
2,496,308
3,802
3,322
7,560
3,960
11,362
7,282
2,750,645
2,503,590

43

Home-Start Greenwich Year ended 31 March 2024

Home-Start Greenwich Year ended 31 March 2024

Notes to the financial statements

7.3 EXPENDITURE BY ACTIVITY

7.3 EXPENDITURE BY ACTIVITY
Activities undertaken directly
Support costs reallocted
Total Expenditure		 Children's centres
HSG Head
Office		 HSG
Scheme		 Restricted
Grants		 Children
Centre -
General
Brookhill
Cardwell
Eglington
Glyndon
Margaret
Bondfield
Mulgrave
Plumcroft
Plumstead
The Slade		 Plumstead
Together for
Twos
Brookhill
Together for
Twos
Slade Together
for Twos		 Plumstead
Nursery		 Total
31 March 2024
686,020
(686,020)		 -

-		 122,448
-		 472,449
252,405
141,004
89,685
5,545
41,730
34,704
12,994
113,974
150,232
166,880
89,155
49,806
31,679
1,959
14,740
12,258
4,590
40,258
53,065		 46,672
57,802
43,427
16,486
20,417
15,339		 479,553
169,389		 2,750,644
-
-
- - 122,448 639,329
341,560
190,810
121,364
7,504
56,470
46,962
17,584
154,232
203,297		 63,158
78,219
58,766		 648,942 2,750,644

Supports costs are allocated to each activity based on a percentage of total costs incurred, total costs incurred are a fair representation of head office time and staff resources spent on each activity.

7.3 EXPENDITURE BY ACTIVITY

7.3 EXPENDITURE BY ACTIVITY
Activities undertaken directly
Support costs reallocted
Total Expenditure		 Children's centres
HSG Head
Office		 HSG
Scheme		 Restricted
Grants		 Children
Centre -
General
Brookhill
Cardwell
Eglington
Glyndon
Margaret
Bondfield
Mulgrave
Plumcroft
Plumstead
The Slade		 Plumstead
Together for
Twos
Brookhill
Together for
Twos
Slade Together
for Twos		 Plumstead
Nursery		 Total
31 March 2024
686,020
(686,020)		 - 122,448
-		 472,449
252,405
141,004
89,685
5,545
41,730
34,704
12,994
113,974
150,232
166,880
89,155
49,806
31,679
1,959
14,740
12,258
4,590
40,258
53,065		 46,672
57,802
43,427
16,486
20,417
15,339		 479,553
169,389		 2,750,644
-
-
- - 122,448 639,329
341,560
190,810
121,364
7,504
56,470
46,962
17,584
154,232
203,297		 63,158
78,219
58,766		 648,942 2,750,644

Supports costs are allocated to each activity based on a percentage of total costs incurred, total costs incurred are a fair representation of head office time and staff resources spent on each activity.

44

Home-Start Greenwich Year ended 31 March 2024

Notes to the financial statements

8. NET INCOMING RESOURCES FOR THE YEAR

This is stated after charging/(crediting):

This is stated after charging/(crediting):
Year to Year to
31 Mar 2024 31 Mar 2023
£ £
Depreciation 22,850 26,626
Operating lease rentals: land & buildings 19,088 25,698
Audit fees 7,560 3,960
Accountancy, payroll and financial management 45,120 31,680

9. STAFF COSTS

Staff costs totalling £2,182,310 were as follows:

Wages and salaries
Social security costs
Pension costs		 Year to
Year to
31 Mar 2024
31 Mar 2023
£
£
1,898,707
1,647,444
159,587
139,719
124,016
145,718
2,182,310
1,932,881
Staff numbers
Homestart - Core
Homestart - Charitable activities		 Year to
Year to
31 Mar 2024
31 Mar 2023
3
3
75
66
78
69

No single employee received remuneration in excess of £60,000

10. RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

No Trustee received any remuneration for services provided to the charity in the year and no expenses were reimbursed to Trustee's during the year. A donation was received from a trustee during the year to the value of £200.

45

Home-Start Greenwich Year ended 31 March 2024

Notes to the financial statements

11. CORPORATION TAX

The charity is exempt from tax on income and gains falling within section 505 of the Taxes Act 1988 or section 252 of the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992 to the extent that these are applied to its charitable objects.

46

Home-Start Greenwich Year ended 31 March 2024

Notes to the financial statements

14. CREDITORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR

Trade creditors
Accrued expenses
Deferred income
Taxation and social security costs
Other creditors		 Year to
Year to
31 Mar 2024
31 Mar 2023
£
£
125,404
64,630
7,560
3,960
19,966
43,425
40,920
24,485
3,857
9,631
197,707
146,131
15. DEFERRED INCOME
Balance at the beginning of the year
Amounts released to income earned from charitable activities
Amounts deferred in the year
Balance as the year end		 Year to
Year to
31 Mar 2024
31 Mar 2023
£
£
43,425
-
(43,425)
-
19,966
43,425
19,966
43,425

16. ANALYSIS OF NET ASSETS BETWEEN FUNDS

Restricted funds
Designated funds
Unrestricted funds		 Tangible
Assets
-
-
32,440
32,440		 Current
assets/(liabilities)
Total
274,121
274,121
102,555
102,555
117,122
149,562
493,798
526,238

47

Home-Start Greenwich Year ended 31 March 2024

Notes to the financial statements

Designated funds:

Children’s Centres – RBG contract Home-Start Greenwich for the delivery of services in Central Greenwich’s children’s centres within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. We deliver parent and children’s services and activities to families with children aged 0-5. We also deliver an integrated health service with support of midwives and health visitors.

Creche Together for Twos – provisions of creche (nursery) service to families with two, three and four year old’s who are entitled to free early education and childcare.

Restricted funds:

The Armed Forces – Army Covenant Funding grant – to provide support to families with children under five and their families in the Army community by the way of home visiting, group work and activities and events. Through this we aim to reduce isolation, extend social networks for those families, improve parenting skills and improve the ability to cope with the demands of family life.

48

Home-Start Greenwich Year ended 31 March 2024

Notes to the financial statements

South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust - EPEC parenting programme is a proven method of prevention and early intervention that helps children and families get the very best start in life. EPEC parenting courses are led by parent facilitators (volunteers) who have completed accredited EPEC training and receive ongoing training, supervision and support from parenting specialists at Home-Start Greenwich

RBG Family Hub - Brookhill Childrens Centre has been awarded funding to become a central hub for various family – oriented services and resources. These include education programmes, health services, social support, childcare and more, aimed at promoting the wellbeing and development of families. This is at families with children aged 0-19 or families with children with SEND of 0-25.

RBG VCS Community Centre - Home Start Greenwich provides two accessible Community Centres (Brookhill Community Centre and The School House). The centres provide ‘diverse’ activities that are focused on; helping to build inclusive/engaged/vibrant communities, tackling social isolation, offering advice services, promoting health and wellbeing. We use the one-stop-shop model, with multi-strand, holistic initiatives, i.e. Job Club, Food & Fuel, Wellbeing. This service is for those in the community 0-99.

19. ULTIMATE CONTROLLING PARTY

The charity is controlled by the board of Trustees.

20. APB ETHICAL STANDARDS

In common with many other charities of our size and nature we use our auditors to assist with the preparation of the financial statements.

21. LEGAL STATUS OF THE CHARITY

The charity is a company limited by guarantee and has no share capital.

In the event of the charity being wound up, the liability in respect of the guarantee is limited to £1 per member of the charity.

49

Home-Start Greenwich Year ended 31 March 2023

For more information to donate: www.homestartgreenwich.org.uk To volunteer: https://homestartgreenwich.org.uk/volunteers-2/ LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/Homestartgreenwich Website: www.homestartgreenwich.org.uk