2024-12-31-accounts - Life Beacon International

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LIFE BEACON INTERNATIONAL

Report and Financial Statements

For the Year ended 31 December 2024

LIFE BEACON INTERNATIONAL

REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 December 2024

Contents Page
Legal and Administrative Information 2
Report of the Trustees 3-8
Independent Examiner's report 9
Statement of Financial Activities 10
Balance sheet 11
Notes forming part of the financial statements 12-13

LIFE BEACON INTERNATIONAL

REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 December 2024

LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

Officers and Professional advisers

TRUSTEES

Dr Ruby Appiah-Campbell Samuel Nii Lantei Appiah-Campbell Dr Anatu Mahama Faye Clarke

REGISTERED OFFICE

51 Garden Crescent Barlestone Nuneaton Warwickshire CV13 0BJ

BANKERS

NATWEST BANK

EXAMINER

E&E ACCOUNTING AND TAX SERVICES LTD Suite 213 Spirella Building Bridge Road Letchworth Garden City Essex SG6 4ET

CHARITY COMMISSION REGISTERED NUMBER

1192953

LIFE BEACON INTERNATIONAL

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 December 2024

The Trustees, for the purposes of the Charities Act 1993 as amended and Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP) 2005, submit their annual report and financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2024. The Trustees have adopted the provisions of the Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP) “Accounting and Reporting by Charities” issued in March 2005 in preparing the annual report and financial statements of the Charity. The Charity is governed by a Memorandum and Articles of Association.

PRINCIPAL ACTIVITIES, AIMS AND ORGANISATION OF THE CHARITY

The principal activities of the charity continue to be the provision of charitable activities. The objects of the trust ("the objects") are:

The objects of the Charity are to carry on activities which benefit the young people and in particular (without limitation) to any member of the community that would want to engage with education/training activities.
We aim to empower young people to achieve their dreams and to transform their communities through mentoring and education.
The organisation encourages and equips young people with the skills and resources necessary to become successful entrepreneurs, fostering innovation and economic growth in communities.
Counselling Services: Life Beacon offers mental health and wellbeing counselling to support the emotional and psychological health of young people, addressing the increasing need for mental health resources in society.
Faith Programs: Through Bible study and other faith-based initiatives, Life Beacon works to empower youth spiritually, integrating faith as a tool for personal growth and positive societal change.
Mum & Child Programs: This program focuses on supporting both mothers and their children, with an emphasis on ensuring that young people have the resources and care needed for a sustainable life, even from before birth.

THE MAIN ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE ORGANISATION DURING THE PERIOD WERE:

During the period of January 2024 to December 2024, the charity has actively involved in the following activities.

Going to University (GTU) Project - On April 4, 2024, the project reached Limehurst Academy in the UK, where five dedicated volunteers engaged with approximately 480 Year 7 to 10 students in an online session. On November 28, 2024, the Mentoring Department, in collaboration with the UGLBI Club, organised the Going to University (GTU) Project at West Africa Senior High School in Adenta, Ghana, 250 students were engaged during this session. This initiative aimed to prepare students for the transition from high school to university by providing a comprehensive overview of university life, including academic and extracurricular opportunities, as well as potential challenges. This was the first time the project was implemented in Africa.
Self-Tracking Among the Youth Project - This project was conducted at Rawlings Academy in Quorn, Leicestershire, in July 2024 and the second was held at Iveshead School in Shepshed, England, on November 22, 2024, with participation from approximately 50 Year 12 students. The project successfully educated students on the benefits and risks of self-tracking devices, promoting informed decision-making. Key achievements include: raising awareness of how wearable devices can support healthier lifestyles, goal achievement, and social engagement, addressing potential risks such as obsessive behaviour, over-reliance on technology, and data misinterpretation, providing students with reliable resources like the NHS website for further guidance, receiving support from LBI’s research and development department to enhance the initiative’s impact and gathering feedback to refine future workshops, ensuring continued relevance to students'.
Back to School Project - Our The 2024 Back to School Project successfully supported vulnerable children through effective resource distribution and student engagement, thanks to the dedication of 16 volunteers. Key achievements include: Ensuring seamless execution and equitable resource distribution, Inspiring hope and academic enthusiasm among students, showcasing LBI’s commitment to bridging educational gaps and fostering community-driven support, reinforcing the impact of proactive planning and collaboration for long-term sustainability and aligning with broader initiatives like Operation Jingle Bells to enhance educational opportunities. About 225 school children benefited from this project.
Free Counselling Sessions Project - The Free Counselling Sessions Project was launched on June 14, 2024, by the Wellbeing Department. It raised awareness and encouragement for mental health. The project reached more than 50 people in the UK, Ghana, Pakistan, and Ireland, showing a great impact worldwide. Among the participants, 67% were female and 33% were male. The project

was mainly composed of young adults between the ages of 18 and 34, providing them with essential mental health services during a time of great life changes. The project supplied tools to deal with stress, anxiety, and other problems and established a safe space for open conversation. By stressing the importance of getting help, the initiative underpinned Life Beacon International's dedication to emotional wellness, building a strong foundation for ongoing mental health care and services.

5. Capacity Building Project - The July 13, 2024, UGLBI Club career development workshop equipped over 45 students with essential job skills. The guest speaker, Dr. Amanda Berry, led the workshop and gave insightful tips on cover letter writing, paragraphing, and interviews. The event received a five-star rating from participants, and it was a massive success, with 91% of attendees asking for upcoming sessions . At the same time, the Faith-Based Department supported different programs for spiritual growth and community involvement. These included the Favour Rain Retreat, a prayer and reflection gathering held monthly in July; the First Quarter Prayer Invocation on March 22nd, which focused on reigniting faith; and Monthly Bible Study - Luminos Phaneros, which involved the attendees in group discussions of the scripture and a "Word for the Month" series online. Life Beacon International helped people obtain the skills, knowledge, and beliefs they needed to be successful in their school, work, and personal lives.

6. Technology Transition and Operational Streamlining - Life Beacon International moved to Microsoft 365 with the help of a nonprofit grant program. The move revolutionized how they work, collaborate, and store information. By merging many platforms into one system, the move simplified workflows, eliminated duplicated effort, and lowered operating costs by 25% per year. They had five training sessions, where there was a 70% improvement in how well individuals made use of the platform. The optimized workflows made reporting more accurate, increased efficiency by 40%, and increased overall productivity by 50%. The money saved from cancelled subscriptions was invested in major projects like the Back to School Project, which allowed them to serve more people and achieve more impact .

LIFE BEACON INTERNATIONAL REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES (Continued) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 December 2024

PLANS FOR THE FUTURE.

Our Vision is to provide sustainable education, wellbeing, and overall living for young people around the world, now and for the future.
To Make LBI permanent in East Midland by establishing a society in Loughborough University aside working with the Action section of the Student Union.
Our immediate plan for the coming year is to is to establish LBI Club/Societies in 5 additional universities to facilitate and extend our current projects.
Expand our digital presence.
Explore talents acquisition through student internship and placement programs.

Income Generation

The charity received an income total of £7,128 from 1st January 2024 to 31st December 2024.

Risks

The factors that may affect the Charity’s delivery of its objectives include:

a) Reputation of Charity and the relationship with the community.
b) Ability to generate enough funds to successfully complete the identified projects for the charity.

LIFE BEACON INTERNATIONAL produces an annual plan for delivery against its objectives. This plan sets out the targets for the year and is then broken down to a work plan. LIFE BEACON INTERNATIONAL has developed a strategy, which specifies how it will deliver the key programmes of work. The strategy also identifies targets and performance indicators.

RESERVES POLICY

The Charity aims to build reserve which will enable it to meet its average annual operational need. The Trustees review the reserves held by the Charity on a regular basis to ensure that an appropriate level of funds is held to meet the above policy of the Charity going forward.

LIFE BEACON INTERNATIONAL

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES (continued)

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 December 2024

GOVERNANCE AND INTERNAL CONTROL

A Board of Trustees governs the Charity. New Trustees are selected by the Board of Trustees and are subject to re-election every five years. On 31 December 2024, the Board had 4 Trustee(s) and 96 Volunteer(s).

The Board meets quarterly a year to agree key policy decisions, set the strategy for the charity and oversee its performance. At present the Board has committee members who are responsible for the day-to-day activities of the charity. None of the board of trustees is being remunerated.

All Trustees receive the handbook for Trustees provided through the Charity Commission. Each Trustee will have an induction programme by other Trustees and receive an information pack on the Charity and its finances. Beyond this the Charity follows the code of practice for governance produced by the Governance Hub.

Charity law requires the Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year, which comply with the Charities Act 1993 as amended

The systems of internal control are designed to provide reasonable, but not absolute, assurance against material misstatement or loss.

They include:

A strategic plan and annual budget approved by the Trustees.
Regular consideration by the Trustees of financial results, in particular variance from budget; and
Delegation of authority and segregation of duties.

STATEMENT OF TRUSTEES RESPONSIBILITIES IN RESPECT OF THE TRUSTEES' ANNUAL REPORT AND THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

The trustees are responsible for preparing the Trustees' Annual Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and regulations.

Charity law requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year in accordance with UK Accounting Standards and applicable law (UK Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

The financial statements are required by law to give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable Charity and of the excess of income over expenditure for that period.

In preparing these financial statements, the trustees are required to:

Select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently.
Make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent.
State whether applicable UK Accounting Standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements; and
Prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the Charity will continue in its activities.

The trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable Charity and enable them to ensure that its financial statements comply with the Charities Act 1993 as amended. They have general responsibility for taking such steps as are reasonably open to them to safeguard the assets of the charitable Charity and to prevent and detect fraud and other irregularities.

LIFE BEACON INTERNATIONAL

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES (continued)

YEAR ENDED 31 December 2024

DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION TO EXAMINER

The trustees who held office at the date of approval of this trustees’ report confirm that, so far as they are each aware, there is no relevant information of which the Charity’s examiner is unaware; and each trustee has taken all the steps that he/she ought to have taken as a trustee to make himself/ herself aware of any relevant information and to establish that the Charity’s examiner is aware of that information.

EXAMINER

In line with the provision exemption in the Charities Act 1993 as amended, the trust decided to appoint an examiner, which will review the accounts for the year ended 31 December 2024. In accordance with this appointment, E&E ACCOUNTING AND TAX SERVICES LTD was appointed as examiner.

Approved by the Board of Trustees and signed on behalf of the Board by:

Dr Ruby Appiah-Campbell on behalf of the trust. Trustee 22 April 2025.

Independent Examiner’s Report to the Trustees of LIFE BEACON INTERNATIONAL

I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the LIFE BEACON INTERNATIONAL Trust for the year ended 31 December 2024, which are set out on pages 9 to 13.

Responsibilities and basis of report

As the charity trustee of the Trust, 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 the Trust’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:

Accounting records were not kept in respect of the Trust as required by section 130 of the Act; or
The accounts do not accord with those records.

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.

E&E ACCOUNTING AND TAX SERVICES LTD Suite 213 Spirella Building Bridge Road Letchworth Garden City Essex SG6 4ET

22 April 2025

LIFE BEACON INTERNATIONAL

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES (Incorporating an Income and Expenditure Account) for the year ended 31 December 2024

Un-restricted funds 2024 £ 4,628	Restricted Funds 2024 £ 2,500	Total Funds Total Funds 2024 2023 £ £ 7,128 7,009
4,628	2,500	7,128 7,009
(4,680)	-	(4,680) (7,145)
(4,680)	-	(4,680) (7,145)
(52) 4,859	2,500	2,448 136 - 4,859 4,995 7,307 4,859
4,807	2,500

LIFE BEACON INTERNATIONAL Balance Sheet as at 31 December 2024

Notes CURRENT ASSETS Cash at bank and in hand CREDITORS: amount falling due within one year Accruals - Accountancy fee 5 Net Current assets/(Liabilities) TOTAL ASSETS LESS CURRENT LIABILITIES FINANCED BY: Unrestricted funds Restricted Funds TOTAL FUNDS 6	2024 2023 Total Total £ £ 7,707 5,059
	7,707 5,059
	(400) (200)
	7,307 4,859

	7,307 4,859
	4,807 4,859 2,500 -
	7,307 4,859

For the year ending 31 December 2024, the Charity was entitled to exemption from audit under section 477(2) of the Companies Act 2006.

The members have not required the Charity to obtain an audit in accordance with section 476 of the Companies Act 2006.

The trustees acknowledge their responsibility for complying with the requirement of the Companies Act 2006 with respect to accounting records and the preparation of accounts.

The Accounts was approved by the Board of Trustees and signed on behalf of the Board by:

Dr Ruby Appiah-Campbell Trustee 22 April 2025

LIFE BEACON INTERNATIONAL NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 December 2024

1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Basis of preparation

The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention. The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP), “Accounting and Reporting by Charities” (2005), the Charity Act 1993 and applicable UK accounting standards.

Cash flow statement

Under FRS 1 the Charity is exempt from the requirement to prepare a cash flow statement on the grounds that the charity is below the threshold specified in Appendix 2 of the FRS1.

Fund accounting

General funds are unrestricted funds which are available for use at the discretion of the Trustees in furtherance of the objectives of the Charity and which have not been designated for other purposes.

Restricted funds are funds which are to be used in accordance with specific restrictions imposed by donors or which have been raised by the Charity for particular purposes. The costs of raising and administering such funds are charged against the specific fund. The aim and use of each restricted fund are set out in Note 2.

Investment income and gains are allocated to the appropriate fund.

Incoming resources

All incoming resources are included in the Statement of Financial Activities (SOFA) when the Charity is legally entitled to the income and the amount can be quantified with reasonable accuracy. The grant income where related to performance and specific deliverables are accounted for as the Charity earns the right to consideration by its performance. Where income is received in advance, its recognition is deferred and included in creditors. Where entitlement occurs before income being received, the income is accrued.

Resources expended

All expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis and has been classified under headings that aggregate all costs related to the category. Where costs cannot be directly attributed to particular headings, they have been allocated to activities on a basis consistent with the use of resources. Premises overheads have been allocated on a floor basis and other overheads have been allocated on the basis of the head count.

Community project costs are those costs incurred directly in support of the objects of the Charity. The community project cost includes other support costs incurred in support of the objects of the Charity. Governance costs are those incurred in connection with governance arrangement of the Charity, which relate to the general running of the Charity and compliance with constitutional and statutory requirements. The basis of allocation for support costs and governance costs has been explained in Note 3.

LIFE BEACON INTERNATIONAL NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 December 2024

Note 2. TOTAL INCOMING RESOURCES

Voluntary Income Un-restricted: General Donation HMRC-Gift aid Donated goods and Items Institutional Donation Bank interest Restricted: Seedcorn funding Note 3. TOTAL RESOURCES EXPENDED Operational Cost Charitable Donations Project costs Welfare Accountancy	2024 2023 944 3,803 2,105 1,000 2,650 500 500 79 55 2,500 7,128 7,009 Direct Support 2024 2023 Costs Costs Total Total £ £ £ £ 1,448 1,448 2,594 1,052 1,052 437 1,452 1,452 3,322 528 528 592 200 200 200
	4,680 - - 4,680 7,145

The trust allocates all costs as shown in the table above. Costs are allocated between direct costs and support costs based on the actual expenditure and nature of transactions.

Note	4.	TRUSTEES REMUNERATION
		The Trustees did not receive any emoluments and no out of pocket expenses were paid during the year (2023: £nil)
Note	5.	CREDITORS: amount falling due within one year
			2024	2023
		This is made up as follows:	£	£
		Other Creditors (Accountancy Fee)	400	200
			400	200
Note	6.	Total Funds	2024	2023
			£	£
		Reserve brought Forward	4,859	4,995
		Surplus/(Defict) for the year	2,448	(136)
			7,307	4,859

Note 7. TAXATION

LIFE BEACON INTERNATIONAL is a registered charity and is thus exempt from taxation of its income and gains falling within Section 505 of the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988 or Section 256 of the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992 to the extent that they are applied to its charitable objectives. No tax charge has arisen in the year.