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2024-06-30-accounts

ANNUAL REPORTS AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30[TH] JUNE 2024

BOOST UP

[Charitable Incorporated Organisation] Charity Registration Number: 1195988

“I cannot breathe for you, or you for me; I must breathe for myself.” Frederick Douglass

BOOST UP (Charitable lncorporated Organisation)

CONTENTS

Legal and Administrative lnformation

Trustees' Report

Independent Examination & Statement of Financial Activities

LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

Charity Number: 1195988

DATE OF REGISTRATION: 30[th] September 2021

START OF FINANCIAL YEAR 01[st] July 2023

END OF FINANCIAL YEAR 30[th] June 2024

TRUSTEES AT 30/06/2024

A.Boakes [Chair] S.Rehman B.Varsani

LEGAL STATUS Charitable lncorporated Organisation

GOVERNING INSTRUMENT: CIO – Association Model.

CORRESPONDANCE ADDRESS

International House 109-111 Fulham Palace Road LONDON W6 8JA

PRIMARY BANKERS

Metro Bank PLC

One Southampton Row

London

WC1B 5HA

INDEPENDENT EXAMINERS

Paxton Independent Examiners 61a High Street South Rushden

Northants, NN10 OR

TRUSTEES REPORT

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30[th] JUNE 2024

Status and Administration

Boost Up (the Charity) was registered as a Charitable incorporated Organisation (ClO) by the Charity Commission 30[th] September 2021 (Registered Number 1195988).

Trustee Changes

Lucien Lawrence became the voluntary CEO in November 2023 and Andrew Boakes stepped into the role as Chair.

Appointed Trustee Term Lengths

As outlined in the CIO’s Constitution, appointed trustees ‘will serve a term of 3 years each’ after which point if they ‘may be reappointed’ , but if they have ‘served for three consecutive terms [they] may not be reappointed for a fourth consecutive term, unless consented by the members.’

Trustee Start Date of Term End Date of Term Eligibility for
reappointment after
expiry of Term
Andrew Boakes 30th September 2021 30th September 2024 Yes
Safiya Rehman 04th February 2022 04th February 2025 Yes
Binal Varsani 30th September 2021 30th September 2024 Yes

Elected Trustees

There were no elected trustees up to the 30[th] June 2024.

OUR AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

Vision

‘The Bank of Mum and Dad’ is a phrase increasingly heard in contemporary London.

Our vision is to provide the same support that financially secure parents give to their children, to those who lack that advantage through no fault of their own. We recognise that the circumstances of birth are unequal. But we do not want that to dictate an individual’s opportunity in life.

The motto of our Charity are the words of Frederick Douglass:

“I cannot breathe for you, or you for me; I must breathe for myself.”

It is our motto as we want to see our clients work hard for their success, not having to rely on the indefinite support of the state or subsidy, but instead reaching financial independence born from their labour.

We want them to be able to say to themselves one day that they helped build their city, that they are a part of its ongoing narrative, not existing on its margins.

That they breathe for themselves.

Our Mission

Too many young people in this city experience homelessness as they cannot afford the market rent for housing. While some are graced with the economic conditions that allow them to rely on the financial gifts of their family to afford to rent in London, those without can find themselves completely priced out. This is especially the case for those who are younger, who are only entitled to a very low level of Government Benefits.

The low level of government benefits makes renting in the city extremely hard for this age group. This is because there is a disparity between the Housing Benefit they receive [on average 561.47 pcm less than someone over 35] and the market rate in London.

Our own research from comparing ONS records and LHA rates indicated that this shortfall was on average £143.54 pcm, While Discretionary Housing Payments exist, this is only eligible for those already in accommodation, not those who wish to access it.

Year Market rate for Room Housing Benefit
shared room rate		 Difference
21-22 669 525.46 143.54

Our organisation’s role is to address this in part through providing a ‘Boost Up’, a time limited monthly payment that covers the disparity between the housing benefit rate and the market rate, allowing those who normally lack financial support to afford to rent in this city. Practically, this means providing the following service:

  1. A caseworker receiving self and agency referrals of young homeless people in need of accommodation.

  2. Supporting these young people with searching for accommodation in the Private Rented Sector. This involves flat searching online, accompaniment to viewings and negotiating with landlords/agents to get the young person accepted as well as using comprehensive knowledge of housing law to ensure the property is abiding by statutory minimum standards.

  3. Using an average of £2,440.18 per person to remove the barriers to getting them into accommodation. £143.54 per month for 12 months to address the shortfall in rent that young people in London who are relying on housing benefit experience and £717.7 to pay the first 5 weeks of rent upfront. We will also provide in some cases a 12 month rental guarantee.

  4. Working with that young person to get them into employment so that they end up moving off Housing Benefit entirely and become financially independent within one year, affording the rent themselves.

Please watch our short film below that outlines the need for and the delivery of our services: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAcTCAxWXFk

Alignment with Charitable Objects

The Trustees are satisfied that this aligns with the Charitable Objects of the Charity, which are:

‘the relief of poverty throughout England and Wales through the provision of grants to individuals in need, primarily (but not exclusively) to assist in covering the costs of accommodation, basic living necessities and activities designed to enable individuals to generate a sustainable income and be self sufficient.’

As the Charity is based in London which we are most knowledgeable about, we will focus initially on London before expanding outwards.

Public Benefit

The CIO acknowledges its requirement to demonstrate clearly that it must have charitable purposes or 'aims' that are for the public benefit. The Trustees confirm that they have paid due regard to the Charity Commission guidance on public benefit before deciding what activities the CIO should undertake.

Year Three Activities

We are immensely grateful to the London Housing Foundation for their 2 year grant of £54,000, with the first instalment of £27,000 drawn down in late 2023.

Our promise was that this £54,000 would be used to fund our first ever part time worker, as well as contributing towards a small amount of administration costs.

Our Part Time Worker has been in post since November 2023, working exceptionally hard to achieve positive outcomes for their clients, coming up with innovative and practical solutions to the barriers they have faced in achieving resettlement.

One of these is our 'Renewable Support Fund', which we developed following our work with contacts at the DWP and Travers Smith Law Firm.

In practice, this support fund works as follows:

We accommodate a young homeless person paying the Deposit, 3 Months Rent in Advance and if needed act as a 12 month Rental Guarantor.

The Deposit [On average 640.4] is a sunk cost, however, we heard back from a contact at the DWP that the Rent in Advance is recoverable through Housing Benefit. The Rental Guarantee is also fully recoverable, for as long as we continue to work with the young person to ensure that they pay the rent each month, we can gradually recycle the funds we had otherwise restricted to serve as their rental guarantee to other people.

We are confident in our ability to recover 100% of the funds for Rent in Advance and Guarantee. However, for budgeting purposes, we have conservatively estimated a lower recovery rate to ensure financial prudence and account for any unforeseen circumstances.

For example [per person]:

Our Caseworker has been using LandAid Funding of 39,602.7 [Awarded in July 2023] to accommodate young homeless people using this Renewable Support Fund.

This is our first Employee, and the first few months were spent on outreach to day centres throughout London and undergoing training on Safeguarding, Trauma Informed Care, ETE and Housing Law.

Our Caseworker was working against significant barriers, given that there is far larger disparity between the average market rate for a room in a shared room than there is between the average market rate for a studio and the ‘One Bedroom Rate’. There is therefore less incentive to make accommodation available for those that are on the ‘Shared Accommodation Rate’ due to this disparity.

High interest rates and effective bans on the creation of new HMOs in London have further constrained supply.

However, our Caseworker has accommodated six young people since they started in November through discovering these solutions we did not have at the outset.

Additionally, since April and the uplift in the LHA for those under 35 there has been a substantial increase in property for those on the shared accommodation rate [Data on a GLA Commissioned Website for advertising property for those on Housing Benefit shows it went from an average of 0 per month prior to April 2024 to 13.5 per month after], which makes us optimistic about the future.

We are receiving referrals and resettling a high number of young refugees who have recently been granted asylum. Due to a recent increase in the processing of claims, there are a very large amount of young refugees becoming homeless when they are evicted from NASS accommodation.

Funding and Financial Affairs

We were very grateful to be funded by LandAid to the sum of £39,602.7 and the London Housing Foundation of 54,000 [half of which was paid in this financial year], which allowed us to achieve these outcomes.

Structure, Governance and Management

Boost Up is a charitable incorporated organisation registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales on 30[th] September 2021. It is presently run by volunteers, including the trustees, who receive no remuneration.

The CIO follows an Association Model, which means that members have certain benefits such as voting rights.

Trustee’s Responsibilities

The Charities Act 2011 require the Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the CIO and the surplus of the CIO for that period.

In addition to this, trustees are to:

Trustee recruitment

Boost Up’s Constitution allows for 10 Trustees. 8 of these are appointed, and 2 are to be Elected at every AGM [if there are nominations].

Our Governance & Skills

Our Trustee Board is extremely well equipped to take this forward, with our CEO an extremely experienced professional in the homeless sector with 15 years’ experience. He currently works for the National Homelessness Charity Housing Justice, supporting the Homeless Winter Night Shelter Network, as well as providing accreditation of homelessness services and contributing to the ongoing strategic direction in relation to homelessness provision.

The trustees are also extremely experienced, made up of all the former Homeless Sector Project Workers and Co-ordinators, possessing a great deal of experience working directly with homeless people as well as a thorough understanding of safeguarding, support work and risk assessments.

Safeguarding

All volunteers who work with our clients will have to undergo training in Safeguarding and an enhanced DBS Check. We have a detailed Safeguarding and Lone Worker Policy that is based off best practice.

Reserves Policy

The current activities that the Charity undertakes [no staff/property] and our current low cash levels mean that we will develop a reserves policy in Year Two based on the direction the Charity takes.

Assessment of Going Concern

The trustees consider that there are no material uncertainties about the Charity's ability to continue as a going concern.

INDEPENDENT EXAMINATION AND STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30[TH] JUNE 2024

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31/03/2025 Approved by the Trustees on _______

Signed on their behalf by trustee[s]: ______

Printed name[s] _______ Safiya Rehman, Binal Varsani, Andrew Boakes

ANNUAL REPORTS AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30[TH] JUNE 2024

BOOST UP

[Charitable Incorporated Organisation] Charity Registration Number: 1195988

We cannot leave them out there.