Brighter Together
Connecting the old and young to shine brighter together
Brighter Together
Annual Report and Financial Statements for Year Ending
31[st] August 2024
17 Trowlock Avenue, Teddington, TW11 9QT Registered Charity 1190557
Brighter Together
Connecting the old and young to shine brighter together
Contents
From the Chair.................................................................................................................................... 3 Charitable Aims and Objectives .......................................................................................................... 4 How we deliver our aims and objectives ............................................................................................. 4 Summary of Activity ........................................................................................................................... 5 Impact ................................................................................................................................................ 6 Fundraising Activity .......................................................................................................................... 11 Funders ............................................................................................................................................ 11 Pro-bono Support ............................................................................................................................. 11 Volunteer Support ............................................................................................................................ 11 Financial Review ............................................................................................................................... 12 Structure, Governance and Management .......................................................................................... 13 Future Plans and Aims ...................................................................................................................... 14 Independent examiner’s report to the trustees of Brighter Together ................................................. 16 Statement of financial activities ........................................................................................................ 17 Balance sheet ................................................................................................................................... 18 Notes to the Accounts ...................................................................................................................... 19
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From the Chair
I’m delighted to share another year of progress at Brighter Together. 2023-24 was a real step change year for the charity; the funding we have received from City Bridge Foundation and the Betty Messenger Trust has enabled us to take a big leap forward as an organisation. We are striving to create new partnerships in more boroughs across London, and so spread the impact of our work, reaching more adults and young people to shine brighter together. In support of this, the financial underpinning provided by our funders means we have taken on our first employees and expanded our team of session facilitators.
This has been no small piece of work and is the result of the dedication of our founder and now Chief Executive, Polly van Marken, and my fellow trustees. I am incredibly grateful for their commitment to delivering real change in the lives of our programme participants. This progress has not come without challenges, not least the financial barriers faced by many nurseries and care homes, which has a real impact on our own ability to deliver programmes. We are committed to finding new sources of funding that enable us to maintain our current projects, whilst building more partnerships. The impact of our work is clear in every session, and vital to reducing loneliness and supporting skills development.
This year we have welcomed a Head of Programmes and our first volunteers. The expansion of our team has brought a wealth of new experiences and insights to our programme planning and partnerships. We are seeing this bear fruit in the continued high quality of our delivery which has been maintained as we have increased the amount of work that we do. On behalf of the trustees, I want to share a heartfelt thanks to our whole team for continuing to deliver such high impact activities.
Next year, we are continuing our expansion journey, seeking to double the number of projects we deliver and expand into more new areas. The trustees recognise the tough financial environment we are operating in. We are working with the team to not only manage how we can support nurseries and care homes to take part, but plan for longer-term financial sustainability. This remains our key challenge. A key action for next financial year is the expansion of our trustee board to bring in new skills and expertise. We are delighted to have already welcomed Boyana Ivanova as our new Treasurer, who is making a real difference to our work.
Overall, I am incredibly proud of everything that Brighter Together has achieved in 2023-24 and continue to remain excited about what the future holds. 2024-25 will again be a significant year, enabling the charity to demonstrate both growth and continued impact. We are eager to bring the benefits of our programme to as many people as possible and look forward to developing new partnerships and work with more children and older adults to improve well-being and skills.
Andy Melia (Chair of Trustees)
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Charitable Aims and Objectives
Brighter Together connects two vulnerable groups: those in care homes or day centres, and pre-school children. They participate in shared activities, aimed at tackling social isolation, improving social and emotional wellbeing for all participants, and boosting the children’s development.
Our aims are to specifically:
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Improve the social and emotional wellbeing of older adults and children;
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Support the children’s development against the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) characteristics of effective learning.
Our programme gives vulnerable older adults a purpose and responsibility. By bringing a group of young children into their lives on a regular basis to participate in structured nursery activities, our older participants share in the children’s development and create strong relationships that will have a mutual benefit.
Within the care homes, day centres, and nursery schools, Brighter Together aims to work with those who will receive the most benefit from the project. The selection criteria are:
| Older Adults: | Pre-School Children: |
|---|---|
| • The level of social isolation for a resident. • Ability to engage in the sessions and the activities to a level that will benefit them, and the children involved. • Safeguarding considerations. • Consent to participate. |
• Level of exposure to those over 65 years and whether that is on a consistent basis. • Assessment against the EYFS Goals. • Consent to participate. |
How we deliver our aims and objectives
Our intergenerational programme connects a care home or day centre with a local nursery school who are then referred to as our ‘partners’. The aim is to create a consistent partnership that will be maintained for a full academic year at a minimum. Our partners work with us to select the group of older adults and children who will benefit from being part of the programme, based on the criteria in the table above.
We aim to maximise the benefit from the time that the children and older adults spend together. To do that, we are rigorous about our programme planning which is built around the following four aspects:
Designed by experts – our sessions are created with input from experts in the fields of Occupational Therapy, Dementia Care, Physiotherapy and Early Years education.
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Structure – each session is based on the approach of Cognitive Stimulation Therapy which has well documented success in improving and maintaining cognitive functioning for older adults. All sessions are led by a Brighter Together Session Facilitator trained in intergenerational learning and activities.
Bespoke training – Brighter Together Session Facilitators are provided with professional training on intergenerational learning, how to best engage with older people, working in the care home environment and accredited dementia training.
Involving the community – the activities build up to a celebratory end of term event to showcase the work of the group to friends, family, and staff. This is an essential part of including the community, bringing a much wider range of people into the care home.
Summary of Activity
In November 2023, we recruited a CEO and Head of Programmes to manage the organisation and scale our programme. This has been a vital step to consolidating our strong operational foundations to support this growth and also to develop our partnerships with nurseries, care homes and day centres across London. It’s enabled us to reach more participants as well as work in areas that are most in need of intergenerational activities to tackle social isolation, improve wellbeing and boost children’s development. We are very grateful to both City Bridge Foundation and the Betty Messenger Foundation, which has enabled us to staff our programme expansion.
During this period, Brighter Together has delivered 3 academic terms of weekly intergenerational projects, working with a total of 15 project partners, supporting 83 older adults and 96 early years children. We positively impacted the social and emotional wellbeing for participants as well as boosting physical health and the children’s development (as measured against the Early Years Foundation Stage characteristics of effective learning).
We expanded our programme delivery into a third borough, Houslow. This was a target borough for Brighter Together due to the need in the area in terms of social isolation, deprivation levels and current opportunities for intergenerational activities.
In addition to our weekly programme, we also delivered our innovative project to four of our settings where we worked with a group of actors and an acclaimed playwright to explore a play together. At each setting, this culminated in a community performance involving older people and children in and was a huge success in improving wellbeing, providing purpose and giving those involved a sense of value.
We’ve seen increasing challenges facing our partners this year. Both the care and childcare sectors are faced with increasing cuts in budgets married with a recruitment and retention issue for staff. This has meant that they face challenges in consideration of participating in the programme, particularly logistically. In response to this, we developed a volunteer programme this year to support engagement in sessions. In addition to our highly skilled Session Facilitators, our session volunteers have become vital members of the Brighter Together team, supporting all participants to engage and benefit from the activities. The team use their valuable time and expertise from a range of backgrounds, from corporate finance to teaching and even journalism to help our programme be as impactful as possible. In this
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period, 50% of our projects had a dedicated session volunteer. Our aim moving forward is to ensure that every project has a volunteer in place to support sessions.
We’ve been delighted that this year we have had great retention of existing partners as well as in our delivery team. In terms of existing partners, we retained 83% of partners from 2022-23 and looking forwards, we will be working with 86% of our partners during the 2024-25 year. This retention during a challenging climate for nurseries really underlines the value that they place on our programme for children’s development, both against the EYFS characteristics of effective learning, but also for their essential social and emotional skills.
In terms of our delivery team, all our Session Facilitators will be working with us again during 2024-25. This demonstrates that the additional support and training that was provided to them during this period, has resulted in an increase in retention. This will further benefit our partners, as their skills and experience grow and develop with every session delivered.
The needs of our participants will always be extremely varied and as such, we are constantly having to tailor and refine our curriculum of sessions. We use and evidence-based approach and review current research in child development and the ageing process for adults to improve our programme so that participants receive the maximum benefit from these intergenerational connections. As the case studies in this report show, our programme has been instrumental in boosting confidence, purpose and development in speech and language skills as well as emotional and social wellbeing.
Outputs:
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Delivered 168 intergenerational activity sessions.
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Worked with 15 project partners.
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Developed 2 new projects.
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Provided sessions to 83 older adults.
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Provided sessions to 96 children (aged 3-5 years).
Impact
We’ve continued with our triangulation method of measuring impact and evaluation our programme. This uses Leuven scale observations during sessions, which are reviewed alongside assessments and observations from nursery/care home/day centre staff and also questionnaires from parents, family members or friends who visit our older adult participants on a regular basis. This helps us develop a wider picture of how our programme is supporting both the adults and children involved both inside and outside of our sessions.
Impact for Older Adults
All of care home and day centre partners said that the sessions made a significant contribution to older adults on the programme across all 3 areas assessed: social wellbeing; emotional wellbeing; and physical health.
- 97% of older adults made significant improvement in the areas of social and emotional wellbeing as a result of being part of the programme.
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- 97% of older adults made significant improvement in their physical health as a result of being part of the programme, as reported by care home and day centre staff.
Testimonials
“ The children's visits bring joy to the home. We all look forward to seeing them and their confidence growing. The children are spoken about frequently in the home and I am always asked if they are coming in. The residents are always happier after the children have been.”
Teresa, Manager, Nightingale House Care Home.
“The staff connects more to the residents while they are assisting them in the activities. They get to know our residents in a better way. They discover their likes, dislikes, and their thoughts on different areas of life. This gives them a better understanding of each resident and improves the person-centred care we can offer.”
Michelle, Healthcare Assistant, Homelink Day Respite Centre
Case Studies – Older Adults
Care Home Resident – ‘Charles’:
Charles lives with dementia, but during the Brighter Together sessions, he can come alive. He watches the children with intense focus, their energy and joy pulling him into their world. When it’s time to sing, especially songs with actions, Charles will always try to join in the actions, his movements deliberate and engaged. Yet, there are moments of struggle - when offered an object, uncertainty flickers across his face, and he needs gentle help to know what to do.
One session, we introduced a simple balloon game to encourage movement and connection between the children and residents. Something magical happened: Charles caught the balloon, and in an instant, he lit up. His confusion melted away, replaced by a burst of laughter and understanding. Surrounded by four small boys, he grinned and joked, “Hmm, who should I throw this to? Who is the most important? Who is the tallest?” He became a part of their world, tossing the balloon with delight, fully immersed in the game. In that moment, it was as if a switch had flipped - Charles wasn’t just participating, he was thriving..
This beautiful moment inspired us to introduce more ball games and net-based activities into our sessions, tailored especially for Charles, to nurture these sparks of joy and connection.
Care Home Resident – ‘E’:
Shortly before the Brighter Together Project began, E’s world was turned upside down by the devastating loss of her husband. Living without family in the UK, she was grieving and depressed. Even with the kindness and tireless care from the extraordinary staff at the care home, E was feeling isolated.
But then, the children came. Having dedicated her entire working life to nurturing and guiding young minds, E reacts immediately. The moment she hears their laughter or sees their little faces peering into the room, something remarkable happens. Her head lifts, her posture straightens, and her smile lights up the space around
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her. She delights in every note they sing, every playful movement, every focused expression as they immerse themselves in the activities alongside her.
For E, these sessions are more than a joyful distraction - they are a lifeline. Each visit fills her days with meaning and purpose, bringing warmth and connection that no words can fully describe. The children don’t just brighten her day; they bring a sense of purpose and reminiscence of the many children whose lives she once brightened.
Impact for Children
All of our nursery schools said that the sessions made a significant contribution to the children across the 3 areas of social and emotional wellbeing, and development.
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98 % of children made noticeable improvement in their social wellbeing as a result of being part of the programme.
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94% of children made a noticeable improvement in their emotional wellbeing as a result of being part of the programme.
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100% of children made noticeable improvement in their development (against the EYFS characteristics of effective learning) as a result of being part of the programme.
Testimonials
“Our son absolutely loved his time on the project. It’s quite hard to get out of him what he does at nursery each day but he would always talk about his Brighter Together sessions and his friends there”
Parent, Twickenham Day Nursery.
“One child started out quite apprehensive about going to the care home but now attends the sessions with big smiles. He has come out of his shell a lot. A few weeks in, he shared a story with the whole group about a pig race he had spectated!”
Miss Michelle, Little People Nurseries, Hampton.
Case Studies – Children
Child A – Twickenham Day Nursery
“Chid A is a very shy child, even in front of his peers, who he has known since he was very young. He often would not feel confident to speak at circle time when the group shared ideas and can be reluctant to try out new activities.
Throughout his sessions with Brighter Together I watched his confidence grow. He now more regularly feels confident to speak in front of his peers, adding his thoughts and opinions to discussions. He has enjoyed the sessions greatly and would request to attend any time there was a spare spot if another
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child could not attend. His parents also speak very positively about the sessions and the difference they have made for their child.”
Katie Tidy, Room Leader Pre-school, Twickenham Day Nursery.
Innovation in Action:
In summer 2023, we ran a pilot of an innovative and immersive intergenerational play between one care home and nursery school. This was a joint venture between acclaimed actor, Amanda Root, and Brighter Together to leverage the benefits of the arts to tackle social isolation and boost wellbeing.
The pilot was so successful that we were awarded funding from The Mayor of London and Richmond Council to deliver the explorative workshops and a performance to four of our projects. From January - July we had the joy of working with a talented cast of actors, and over 100 older adults and young children to explore and perform a beautiful play written by acclaimed playwright, Nick Warburton.
We:
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Delivered 12 workshops exploring the themes of the play.
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Put on 4 immersive performances.
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Involved 109 older adults and early years children.
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Worked with 8 partners.
During the workshops and performances, we observed participants using the Leuven scales of wellbeing and engagement. We found that:
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There was a 20% uplift in wellbeing. Children and older adults on the play project were observed to have made an average improvement to their wellbeing of 20% (from 72% in the first workshop, to 92% by the final performance)
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We observed a 30% uplift in involvement. Children and older adults on the play project were observed to have made an average improvement to their involvement in activities of 30% (improving from 62% in the first workshop, to 92% by the final performance).
Case Study – Older Adult
Care Home Resident ‘N’
N’ has advanced dementia, which is characterized by significant anxiety as she often feels uncertain about her surroundings. Her anxiety has led her to bite her fingernails and fingers to the point where they regularly bleed and sometimes require medical care.
During this project, we observed a remarkable transformation in N when the children arrived for the rehearsal workshops and performances. She was filled with smiles and laughter, no longer biting her fingernails, but instead opening her arms to welcome the children. N joined in every activity fully, always observing and engaging with the children.
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The project provided N not only with entertainment and joy but also with a renewed sense of belonging. She found a role in teaching and helping the children, reminiscent of her life before dementia when she regularly volunteered to help others. This project gave her the chance to feel useful and part of the community again, highlighting the profound impact of intergenerational interaction on her well-being and reduction in social isolation.
Case Study – Child
Child ‘L’
Child ‘L’ is 3 years old. When she attended the first workshop, she entered the room tentatively, clinging to the nursery worker accompanying her and climbing onto their lap for reassurance. Over the course of the rehearsal workshops, she bonded with one of the older adults from the setting. Eventually, she would run into the room to sit with her older friend, no longer requiring support from the nursery staff.
The older person supported the child emotionally and practically, enabling her to grow in confidence and engage more fully in the sessions. This support led to a noticeable improvement in her selfconfidence, with them both joining-in the games and dancing with enthusiasm and joy, reflecting significant personal growth and the positive impact of this relationship.
Awards:
Winners of the Intergenerational Activities Award at the Dementia Care Awards:
The whole team were delighted that Brighter Together was the winner of the Intergenerational Activity Award at the Dementia Care Awards this year.
This award is testament to the unwavering work that our team and volunteers put into getting to know everyone in their sessions. We tailor our work to support every participant’s ability to contribute, share their passions and be valued for what they can bring to the group, be that music, gardening, sport or a great love of Pictionary!
All our team are trained in Dementia Friends and Teresa Keegal, who we are very fortunate to have on our Advisory Board has also provided cutting-edge dementia training to our team. This has helped us deepen our knowledge and understanding and refine our programme to have the maximum benefit for our participants.
“Congratulations to Polly and the Brighter Together team. The award is well deserved for their work bringing older and young people together. They were up against a large field of entries from across the country and beat off an excellent group of finalists. This recognition should encourage others to find out more about Brighter Together.”
Stephen Burke, Director of United for All Ages.
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Brighter Together
Finalist of the Communities Together Award, Richmond Community Heroes Awards
We were thrilled to be recognised for our work in the Richmond Community in the Communities Together category. We were kindly nominated by the families of our participants in this borough and it was wonderful to be nominated alongside other remarkable charities and groups in Richmond who contribute so much to the local area.
Fundraising Activity
The total income for the period 1[st ] September 2023 – 31[st] August 2024 was £ 82,277.72.
Fundraising dropped this year and less than 1% of funding has come from fundraising through the local Get Lucky Local lottery and Givey, the online giving platform.
Funders
Brighter Together is extremely grateful to the following funders for the generous support they gave in 2023-24:
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City Bridge Foundation
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Hampton Fund
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Heathrow Community Trust
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Mayor of London Building Stronger Communities Fund
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McCarthy Stone Foundation
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Richmond Council – Civic Pride Fund
Pro-bono Support
During this year we have been incredibly fortunate to have benefitted from the very kind support of some forward-thinking organisations and their dedicated and talented staff. These include:
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Wiggin
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Holly & Co.
Volunteer Support
During this year, we have developed a Session Volunteer role and this team of volunteers have provided 104 hours of their time. Our volunteers bring with them a wealth of expertise from a range of professional and personal backgrounds that has strengthened our team. The volunteers support participants to maximise the benefits of the sessions and their work has strongly contributed to the high level of impact which you’ll see in this report.
We also had volunteer support for our intergenerational play, including a stage manager and workshop volunteers. This equated to 25 hours of volunteer support time.
In addition, during September and October all our operational requirements (such as accounting, marketing, and human resources) were carried out by our Founder on a voluntary basis. For this
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reporting period, this voluntary activity equates to 7 days. Using the equivalent day rate, this equates to £1,505.
Financial Review
Our total income for the year was £82,277.72. This was our fourth operating year and covered a 12month period from 1[st] September 2023 – 31[st] August 2024. Expenditure totalled £77,473.57. Our net surplus was £46,622.57. The surplus equates to grant funding received during the 2023-24 financial year for the delivery of 2 projects across 2023-24 and a mix of restricted and unrestricted funding which has been designated for salaries during the 2023-24 year.
Income consisted of a mix of grants and donations from multiple sources and provided sufficient resources to enable Brighter Together to deliver activities in line with our charitable aims and objectives. Trustees continually review our funding and income plans to secure further financial resources necessary to deliver our programme.
Expenditure
We have allocated the costs of delivering our sessions to ‘direct costs’. These account for 95% of our expenditure.
‘Core costs’ account for 5% of our expenditure and include:
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Staff travel
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Office costs
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Volunteer expenses
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Insurance,
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Accounting software
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IT & technology costs.
Risk Assessment
Trustees have identified financial sustainability as the biggest risk to Brighter Together, which underpins many other identified risks. Ensuring long-term funding will enable the charity to effectively embed the progress we have made so far, and trustees and our Founder continue to explore funding partnerships and grants to secure this. Alongside this, trustees have developed mitigation plans, including alternative funding sources and the use of volunteers, to ensure continuity of service provision in the event funding bids are not successful in the short-term.
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Reserves Policy
The trustees of Brighter Together aim to maintain free reserves in unrestricted funds at a level which equates to approximately three months of unrestricted charitable expenditure. The trustees consider that this level will provide sufficient funds to be able to invest in the development of either our services or the reach of our programme if there is an opportunity to do so, as well as ensure that support and governance costs are covered.
The level of financial reserves will be reviewed when any major changes occur, for instance where Terms and Conditions from funders are updated or if we employ a member of staff on salary.
Going Concern
Trustees are confident that Brighter Together remains a Going Concern. Brighter Together has levels of reserves that are in accordance with our reserves policy, of maintaining free reserves in unrestricted funds at a level which equates to approximately three months of unrestricted charitable expenditure.
In addition, there is enough restricted funding for the continuation of our charitable activities for at least the next 6 months, and enough unrestricted funding to support any other charitable requirements that are not directly related to the services we provide. This is in accordance with the charities’ reserves policy.
Structure, Governance and Management
Status and Governing Document
Brighter Together is a CIO (Charitable Incorporated Organisation), registered charity number 1190557. Its governing document is a Constitution and Registered Charitable status was granted on 24[th] July 2020.
Charity
The Trustees have adopted the provisions of the Charities SORP (FRS 102) in preparing the annual report and accounts. The accounts comply with the Charities Act 2011.
Governance and Internal Control
The day-to-day activities of the Charity are monitored by the Trustees. Board meetings are held on a quarterly basis at a minimum.
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Future Plans and Aims
2023-24 saw us transform as organisation, growing our proven programme to reach more older adults and young children whilst also improving our quality. We’re building on these solid foundations and have ambitious plans but we are also navigating a challenging landscape of reduced funding and stretched budgets of those we work with.
The 4 key aims we have for the forthcoming year include:
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Growth. Our aim is to continue our trajectory of expanding our reach and create a further 11 intergenerational projects this year.
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Increasing our impact. Research about how young children develop and the ageing process for adults is continually being updated. Our aim is to use this knowledge to refine our programme and make it as beneficial as possible.
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Using our knowledge. We now have breadth and depth to our experience of working in a variety of settings creating impactful intergenerational connections. We want to use this knowledge to advocate for the importance of intergenerational activities.
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Investing in our team. People are both at the heart of what we do and how we do it. We’ve built an incredible team of trustees, staff, session facilitators and volunteers which has enabled us to improve quality whilst growing. We will continue to invest in strengthening our team.
Legal and Administrative Details
Registered name and address
Brighter Together, 17 Trowlock Avenue, Teddington, TW11 9QT.
Registered charity number
Trustees Board
Since Brighter Together was formally constituted on 24[th] July 2020, all the following Trustees have remained on the Board:
Andrew Melia (Chair) – reappointed July 2022
Parita Doshi – reappointed July 2023
Dr Susan Allingham – reappointed June 2024
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During this period, we were recruiting for a Treasurer position on the Board. We’re delighted that Boyana Ivanova, was appointed to the Board in October 2024 as Treasurer. Boyana is a Chartered Accountant and her skills and expertise will be greatly valued by Brighter Together.
Bankers
The Co-operative Bank, PO Box 4931, Swindon, SN4 4PL.
Statement of Trustees Responsibilities
The Trustees are responsible for preparing the Trustees’ report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards. The law applicable to charities in England and Wales requires the Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Charity and of the incoming resources and application of resources of the Charity for that period.
In preparing these financial statements, the Trustees are required to:
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select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
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observe the methods and principles of the Charities SORP 2015 (FRS 102);
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make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
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state whether applicable UK Accounting Standards (FR102) have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements;
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prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the Charity will continue in business.
The Trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the Charity’s transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the Charity and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with charity law. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the Charity and hence to take reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities. The Trustees are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the Charity and financial information included in the Charity’s website.
This report was approved by the Trustees, and signed on their behalf by:
…………………………..
Andrew Melia Chair of Trustees Date: 10[th] February 2025
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Independent examiner’s report to the trustees of Brighter Together
I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of Brighter Together for the period ended 31 August 2024.
Responsibilities and basis of report
As the charity trustees of Brighter Together you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the Act’).
I report in respect of my examination of Brighter Together’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.
Independent examiner’s statement
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:
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accounting records were not kept in respect of Brighter Together as required by section 130 of the Act; or
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the accounts do not accord with those records; or
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the accounts do not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a ‘true and fair view’ which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination.
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
Signed:
Muntazir Hadadi FCA
5 Cumberland Close, St Margarets, Twickenham, TW1 1RS
Date: 11 February 2025
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Statement of financial activities
BRIGHTER TOGETHER
STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES FOR YEAR ENDED 31[ST] AUGUST 2024
| Restricted | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unrestricted | income | Endowment | Total | Prior year | |
| funds | funds | funds | funds | funds | |
| £ | £ | £ | £ | £ | |
| Income and endowments from: | |||||
| Donations and legacies | 58 | - | - | 58 | 28,956 |
| Charitable activities | 9,625 | 72,595 | - | 82,220 | 29,704 |
| Other | - | - | - | - | |
| Total | 9,683 | 72,595 | - | 82,278 | 58,660 |
| Resources expended (Note 6) | |||||
| Expenditure on: | |||||
| Raising funds | 179 | - | - | 179 | 2,506 |
| Charitable activities | 10,925 | 66,370 | - | 77,294 | 38,014 |
| Total | 11,104 | 66,370 | - | 77,474 | 40,520 |
| Net income/(expenditure) | -1,421 | 6,226 | - | 4,804 | 18,140 |
| before investment | |||||
| gains/(losses) | |||||
| Net gains/(losses) on investments | - | - | - | - | |
| Net income/(expenditure) | -1,421 | 6,226 | - | 4,804 | 18,140 |
| Net movement in funds | -1,421 | 6,226 | - | 4,804 | 18,140 |
| Reconciliation of funds: | |||||
| Total funds brought forward | 32,461 | 9,357 | - | 41,818 | 23,678 |
| Total funds carried forward | 31,040 | 15,583 | - | 46,622 | 41,818 |
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Balance sheet
| Notes Fixed Assets Tangible Assets Computer Equipment Current Assets Cash in Bank 5 Debtors 7 TOTAL Assets Creditors Current Liabilities 6 TOTAL Net Current Assets Total Assets Less Current Liabilities Net Assets Funds of the Charity 8 Unrestricted funds Restricted funds TOTAL FUNDS |
As at 31st August 2024 £0.00 £0.00 |
As at 31st Aug 2023 £0.00 £0.00 |
|---|---|---|
| £0.00 | £0.00 | |
| £49,327.61 £492.16 |
£42,663.42 £0.00 |
|
| £49,819.77 | £42,663.42 | |
| 3,197.20 | £845.00 | |
| £46,622.57 | £41,818.42 | |
| £46,622.57 | £41,818.42 | |
| £46,622.57 | £41,818.42 | |
| £17,187.60 £29,434.97 |
£32,461.19 £9,357.23 |
|
| £46,622.57 | £41,818.42 |
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Connecting the old and young to shine brighter together
Brighter Together
Notes to the Accounts
Note 1 – Basis of preparation
1.1 Basis of accounting
These accounts have been prepared under the historical cost convention with items recognised at cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant note(s) to these accounts.
The accounts have been prepared in accordance with the Statement of Recommended Practice: Accounting and Reporting by Charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) issued on 16 July 2014 and with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) and with the Charities Act 2011.
The charity constitutes a public benefit entity as defined by FRS 102.
1.2 Going concern
Brighter Together has levels of reserves that are in accordance with our reserves policy, of maintaining free reserves in unrestricted funds at a level which equates to approximately three months of unrestricted charitable expenditure. Our free reserves currently stand at £6,410.04
In addition, there is enough restricted and designated funding for the continuation of our charitable activities, including salaries, for at least the next 6 months.
1.3 Change of accounting policy
The accounts present a true and fair view.
1.3.1 Change of financial reporting period
This financial reporting period covers twelve months from 1 September 2023 to 31 August 2024. However, it is important to note that FY2022-23 covered a seventeen-month period, due to us changing our reporting period to align with our operating year. As such, the amounts presented in the accounts are not comparable as a year-on-year basis with FY2022-23.
1.4 Changes to accounting estimates
No changes to accounting estimates have occurred in the reporting period.
1.5 Material prior year errors
No material prior year errors have been identified in the reporting period.
Note 2 – Accounting policies
2.1 Income
All income is included in the Statement of Financial Activities (SoFA) when the charity becomes entitled to the resources; it is more likely than not that the trustees will receive the resources; and the monetary value can be measured with sufficient reliability.
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Brighter Together
Connecting the old and young to shine brighter together
Grants and donations are only included in the SoFA when the general income recognition criteria are met (5.10 to 5.12 FRS102 SORP). In the case of performance related grants, income must only be recognised to the extent that the charity has provided the specified goods or services as entitlement to the grant only occurs when the performance related conditions are met (5.16 FRS 102 SORP).
Brighter Together has not received government grants in the reporting period.
Contractual income and performance related grants are only included in the SoFA once the charity has provided the related goods or services or met the performance related conditions.
Brighter Together has incurred expenditure on support costs.
The value of any voluntary help received is not included in the accounts but is described in the trustees’ annual report.
2.3 Expenditure and liabilities
Liabilities are recognised where it is more likely than not that there is a legal or constructive obligation committing the charity to pay out resources and the amount of the obligation can be measured with reasonable certainty.
Support costs have been allocated between governance costs and other support. Governance costs comprise all costs involving public accountability of the charity and its compliance with regulation and good practice.
Support costs include central functions and have been allocated to activity cost categories on a basis consistent with the use of resources, e.g., allocating property costs by floor areas, or per capita, staff costs by the time spent and other costs by their usage.
The charity accounts for basic financial instruments on initial recognition as per paragraph 11.7 FRS102 SORP. Subsequent measurement is as per paragraphs 11.17 to 11.19, FRS102 SORP.
2.4 Assets
Brighter Together has no assets.
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Brighter Together
Connecting the old and young to shine brighter together
Note 3 – Analysis of Income
| Restricted | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unrestricted | income | Endowment | ||||||
| funds | funds | funds | Total funds | Prior year | ||||
| Analysis | £ | £ | ||||||
| Donations and | Donations and gifts | 58 | - | - | 58 | 2,456 | ||
| legacies: | Gift Aid | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| Legacies | - | - | - | - | - | |||
| General grants provided by | ||||||||
| government/other charities | - | 72,595 | - | 72,595 | 26,500 | |||
| Membership subscriptions and | ||||||||
| sponsorships which are in substance | ||||||||
| donations | - | - | - | - | ||||
| Donated goods, facilities and services | - | - | - | - | - | |||
| Other | **Total ** |
- 58 |
- 72,595 |
- - |
- 72,653 |
28,956 |
||
| Charitable activities: | ||||||||
| 9,625 | - | - | 9,625 | 29,704 | ||||
| Total 9,625 | - | **- ** | 9,625 | 29,704 | ||||
| Total | - | - | - | - | - | |||
| TOTAL INCOME | 9,683 | 72,595 | **- ** | 82,278 | 58,660 |
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Brighter Together
Connecting the old and young to shine brighter together
Note 4 – Analysis of expenditure
| Unrestricted funds Restricted income funds Total funds Unrestricted funds Restricted income funds Total funds £ £ 42 - 42 99 - 99 137-137 2,407-2,407 Analysis Expenditure on raising funds: Analysis of expenditure This year Last year Incurred seeking donations ~~Tl di ii~~ Advertising, marketing, direct mail and publicity |
Unrestricted funds Restricted income funds Total funds Unrestricted funds Restricted income funds Total funds £ £ 42 - 42 99 - 99 137-137 2,407-2,407 Analysis Expenditure on raising funds: Analysis of expenditure This year Last year Incurred seeking donations ~~Tl di ii~~ Advertising, marketing, direct mail and publicity |
Unrestricted funds Restricted income funds Total funds Unrestricted funds Restricted income funds Total funds £ £ 42 - 42 99 - 99 137-137 2,407-2,407 Analysis Expenditure on raising funds: Analysis of expenditure This year Last year Incurred seeking donations ~~Tl di ii~~ Advertising, marketing, direct mail and publicity |
Unrestricted funds Restricted income funds Total funds Unrestricted funds Restricted income funds Total funds £ £ 42 - 42 99 - 99 137-137 2,407-2,407 Analysis Expenditure on raising funds: Analysis of expenditure This year Last year Incurred seeking donations ~~Tl di ii~~ Advertising, marketing, direct mail and publicity |
Unrestricted funds Restricted income funds Total funds Unrestricted funds Restricted income funds Total funds £ £ 42 - 42 99 - 99 137-137 2,407-2,407 Analysis Expenditure on raising funds: Analysis of expenditure This year Last year Incurred seeking donations ~~Tl di ii~~ Advertising, marketing, direct mail and publicity |
Unrestricted funds Restricted income funds Total funds Unrestricted funds Restricted income funds Total funds £ £ 42 - 42 99 - 99 137-137 2,407-2,407 Analysis Expenditure on raising funds: Analysis of expenditure This year Last year Incurred seeking donations ~~Tl di ii~~ Advertising, marketing, direct mail and publicity |
Unrestricted funds Restricted income funds Total funds Unrestricted funds Restricted income funds Total funds £ £ 42 - 42 99 - 99 137-137 2,407-2,407 Analysis Expenditure on raising funds: Analysis of expenditure This year Last year Incurred seeking donations ~~Tl di ii~~ Advertising, marketing, direct mail and publicity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 179 - 179 2,506 - 2,506 ~~ota expenture on rasng~~ funds |
||||||
| 7,511 56,107 63,617 12,079 23,406 35,485 - - - -2,099 2,099 Delivery of Intergenerational programme Delivery of Intergenerational Play - Summer 2023 Expenditure on charitable activities: |
||||||
| 7,511 66,342 73,852 12,079 25,505 37,585 Total expenditure on charitable activities |
||||||
| 698 - 698 410 - 410 2,353 - 2,353 55 - 55 18 - 18 Travel Costs 336 336 Separate material item of expense Operations (payroll, bank charges, DBS, Technology etc) Office Space Stationery |
||||||
| 3,442 - 3,442 428 - 428 Total |
||||||
| Other - - - - - - Total other expenditure |
||||||
| 11,132 66,342 77,474 15,014 25,505 40,519 TOTAL EXPENDITURE |
||||||
| Analysis of expenditure on charitable activities Other information: |
||||||
| Thisyear | Lastyear | |||||
| Activity or programme | Activities undertaken directly |
Grant funding of activities |
Total this year |
Activities undertaken directly |
Grant funding of activities |
Total last year |
| £ | £ | £ | £ | £ | £ | |
| Session Delivery | 73,387 | - | 73,387 | 36,480 | - | 36,480 |
| Training | 465 | - | 465 | 1,105 | - | 1,105 |
| Other | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Total | 73,852 | - | 73,852 | 37,585 | - | 37,585 |
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Brighter Together
Connecting the old and young to shine brighter together
Note 5 – Cash at bank and in hand
| ote 5 – Cash at bank and in hand | ||
|---|---|---|
| Short term cash investments (less than 3 months maturity date) Short term deposits Cash at bank and on hand Other Total |
This year £ |
Last year £ |
| - | - | |
| - | - | |
| 49,328 | 42,663 | |
| - | - | |
| 49,328 | 42,663 |
Note 6 – Creditors and accruals
| Accruals and deferred income Taxation and social security Other creditors Total |
Amounts falling due within one year |
Amounts falling due within one year |
Amounts falling due after more than one year |
Amounts falling due after more than one year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| This year £ |
Last year £ |
This year £ |
Last year £ |
|
| 132 | 845 | - | - | |
| 3,065 | ||||
| - | - | - | - | |
| 3,197 | 845 | - | - |
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Brighter Together
Connecting the old and young to shine brighter together
Note 7 – Debtors and prepayments
| This year | Last year | |
|---|---|---|
| Grant - Heathrow Community Trust | £ | £ |
| Trade debtors | 492.2 | - |
| Prepayments and accrued income | - | - |
| Other debtors | - | - |
| Total 492.2 | - |
Note 8 – Funds of the charity
| Unrestricted funds General fund Restricted funds Restricted fund TOTAL FUNDS |
At 01.09.2023 £ Net movement in funds £ At 31.08.2024 £ 30,856.42 -1,421.45 29,434.97 10,962.00 6,225.60 17,187.60 |
|---|---|
| 41,818.42 4,804.15 46,622.57 |
Net movement in funds, included in the above are as follows:
| Unrestricted funds General fund Restricted funds Restricted fund TOTAL FUNDS |
Incoming resources £ Resources expended £ Movement in funds £ 9,682.56 11,104.01 -1,421.45 72,595 66,369.56 6,225.60 |
|---|---|
| 82,277.72 77,473.57 4,804.15 |
We have ended this financial year with a similar amount of cash at bank due to retaining the one-off exceptional grant of £25,000 from Betty Messenger Foundation received in FY2022-23, which has been designated to support our growth plans until FY 25-26. The remainder is funding carried forward for project delivery and reserves.
Note 9 – Transaction with trustees and related parties
None of the trustees have been paid any renumeration or received any other benefits from an employment with their charity or related entity.
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