## **HELPING HOMELESS VETERANS UK** Registered Charity no. 1195521 

## **Trustees Statement** 

It is our pleasure to publish the accounts for our last financial period which ended on the 2nd of August 2023. 

This year has simply been exceptional for Helping Homeless Veterans UK and unfortunately our caseloads have seemed like they are never ending at times. With the cost-of-living crisis really taking a hold on our veterans’ finances, as well as many private landlords using no fault eviction, section 21 to legally evict veterans who are tenants in their properties, we have really seen a very worrying escalation of veterans needing our help. 

Over the past financial period, we have helped to house in some way exactly 89 veterans which has been extremely difficult due to trying to find affordable accommodation. However, working with over 80 local authorities has certainly helped our cause and we have proven on many occasions that our knowledge of legislation is second to none and has helped house many veterans into social housing when it has been available. 

We have also seen a very large rise in prevention duties for our charity and due to the cost of living, we have had many veterans contacting us since they must make the choice of paying their rent or feeding themselves and sometimes their families. 

We have been very fortunate to have Tesco's supporting us this year through their Community Grants as well as allowing us to collect in their store at Tower Park in Poole, Dorset. However the significant costs involved with feeding veterans is great cause for alarm and unfortunately, we cannot see things improving soon. 

We have also seen an increase in veterans requiring help to pay for gas or electric or sometimes both and we have been able to assist veterans with this during this financial period. 

Helping Homeless Veterans UK | Trustees Statement | 2023 Page 1 of 3 




In April 2023, we had six veterans who had been homeless move into the completed Talbot Mews which was previously called ‘The Veterans Build Project’. This project has proven to be a great success for our charity, and we have always said that when you bring veterans together with veterans they will look after themselves as they understand each other’s needs. 

The Talbot Mews was completed thanks to donations from several corporate sponsors as well as a substantial grant from The Talbot Village Trust as well as The Veterans Lottery. We are extremely grateful to all our corporate sponsors and grant suppliers, as without this, we would not be able to carry out the work that we have achieved this period. 

The Talbot Mews is now giving us a small income monthly for each veteran which means we are not just relying on the generosity of the public for our charity to carry out the work that we do in the veterans’ community. 

In August this year, we were proud to add a new vehicle to our charity which was desperately needed due to the age of our Ford Transit Van as well as the running costs. The new Ford Ranger is more economical to run on fuel as well as having all mechanical costs covered as we have a repair warranty in place. At the same time, it has already proved its worth by being loaded up recently to take furniture and white goods to an elderly veteran in Basingstoke and it also has room for four passengers. 

We were offered an excellent Lease deal for this vehicle from the dealership and, we received support from our corporate sponsors. However, we will categorically state that no public donations will be used to pay for this vehicle. Our charity no longer only has one source of income and that is why the trustees made this decision to purchase this vehicle and due to the favourable offer, we were presented with. This vehicle will be sign written near the end of August 2023 and is a welcome addition as our charity grows so rapidly. 

Finally, as trustees we would like to state that without the support of the public and the generosity of so many people, we simply would not have been able to help so many veterans. As you can see from our accounts, we have raised substantial funds from online fundraising using our JustGiving Platform as well as Facebook Fundraising and attending the many events we have either organised ourselves or attended throughout the year. This is simply aweinspiring that throughout these difficult times, we can raise these funds. 

Helping Homeless Veterans UK | Trustees Statement | 2023 Page 2 of 3 




A huge ‘thank you’ must go to all those who have raised funds for our charity and the one that stands out this period is Terry and his team from Sharp Skips in Essex who carried out a cycling challenge in March this year. They currently hold the record for the most money raised from one event. 

We must also thank our Volunteer Fundraisers for all their efforts this period and for giving up so much of their own time to raise funds to help our country's veterans. A special mention must also go to the Cadets from the Detachment in Poole who have helped us at so many events. 

We have a team of dedicated Volunteers and Fundraisers as well as our Ambassadors and Patrons who work closely together and who are passionate about the work that we carry out. Even more important is we are proud to state that 100% of all the donations that we receive is spent on helping veterans. Nobody will ever take a single penny from our charity in wages or expenses, and we are ‘ _100% Volunteer Powered’_ . 

We know that our next financial period will be a challenging one, but we hope to move into our new self-contained property for our Head Office, and we will continue to try and obtain government grants. 

We will continue to look for further properties that we can convert into accommodation for our veterans, and we will soon be releasing our monthly newsletter which the public can sign up to. 

Here is to another successful year ahead. 

## **The Board of Trustees** 

## **Helping Homeless Veterans UK** 

_If you have any questions about our accounts or any of the above topics, then feel free to email us at hq@hhvuk.org where we will be happy to answer them._ 

Thank you. 

Helping Homeless Veterans UK | Trustees Statement | 2023 Page 3 of 3 



HELPING HOMELESS VETEI RANS UK
RECEI IPTS AND PAYMEI NTS ACCOUNT
FOR THE PERIOD FROM 9 AUGUST 2022 TO 2 AUGUST 2023
Unrestrieted
Funds
Total
Funds
Al
R¢c¢ipts
Talbot Village
The Veterans Foundation
Single Donation
Fundraiser (The Sliarp Group)
Golf Day (The Thomas Tripp)
All Other Donation5 & Fundraising
30,000
10,000
10,000
9,500
3,000
30,000
10,000
10,000
9,500
3,000
106521
169021
io
169021
A2
Asset and inveslment sales
Total Receipts
169021
169021
A3
Payments
Propety Refurbishment Costs
Furniture Purchased
Hotels, Accommodation & Food Costs
Vehicle Expenses
Website & Promotion
Event Costs
Legal Fees
Storge Costs
Other Costs
75,595
14,498
25,828
10,389
6,474
8,236
6,725
2,967
75,595
14,498
25,828
10,389
6,474
8,236
6,725
2,967
155 978
155
A4
Asset and investtnent purchases
Total Paymenls
155 978
155 978
Net Receipts
13,043
13,043
A5
A6
Transfers between funds
Cash fi￿d5 last period end
Cash funds this period end

HELPING HOMELESS VETERANS UK
STATEMEI NT OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES AT 2 AUGUST 2023
Unrestricted
Funds
Bl
Cash Funds
HSBC Account
Total Cash Funds
B2
Other Monetary Assets
B3
Investment Assets
B4
Assels retained for tlie charity's own use
B5
Liabilities
Signed ..

Independent examiner'8 report to the trustee5 of Helping Homeless Veterans UK.
I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of Helping Homeless Veterans UK
for the period ended 2 August 2023.
Responsibililies and basis of report
As the charity trustees of the Trust you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in
accordance with tlie requiTetnents of the Charities Act 2011 ('the Act,).
I report in respect of my examination of ilie Tnist's accounts carried out under section 145 of
the 2011 Act and in carrying out my exarnination I hav¢ followed all the applicable
Directions given by th¢ Chai'ity Commtssion under section 145(5)(b) of ihe Act.
Independent examiner's statement
I have completed my examination. The accounting records maintained are basic (bank
statem¢nts and supporting receipts), with many of these receipts being internally generated,
rather than being provided by the supplier to whom payment was made. In addition, many
expenditure items were settled directly by trustees, personally> and subsequently reimbursed
by the trust.
It is recommended that a suitable bookk¢eping system be introduced foi, future years. that
supplier invoices are obtained for all expenditui'e, and that all purchases are settled directly
from the trust bank account.
Notwithstanding this, I confim] ihat no material matters have come to my attention in
onnection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect :_
tlie accounts do not accord with those records. or
the accounts do not comply with the applicable requirements con¢¢rnin8 the form and
content of accounts set out in th¢ Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulalions 2008
other than any requirement that the aecounts giv¢ a 'true and fair view, which is not a
matt¢r considered as part of an independent examination.
I have no concerns and have come a¢r03s 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.
MICHAEI L
CROCKER
BULPITT CROCKER TAXATION LIMITED
TAYFIELD HOUSE
38 POOLE ROAD
BOURNEMOUTH
DORSET
BH4 9DW
19 August 2024