# Trustees’ Report and Financial Statements 

31 December 2023 

Registered Charity number 1199343 



Trustees’ Report and Financial Statements 31 December 2023 


## **Trustees’ Report and Financial Statements** 


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Contents 2<br>Legal and administrative information 3<br>Trustees’ Report 4-9<br>Report of the Independent Examiner 8<br>Statement of Financial Activities 9<br>Balance Sheet 10<br>Notes to the accounts 11-12<br>**----- End of picture text -----**<br>


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Trustees’ Report and Financial Statements 31 December 2023 


## **Legal and Administrative Information** 

## Trustees 

## **Nominated Trustees – 7** 

Rachel Morris Elected 17 June 2022 Kathryn Hamblett Elected 17 June 2022 David Bailey Elected 17 June 2022 Victoria Colclough Elected 30 November 2022 Alison Hurlstone Elected   5 December 2022 Tate Preston, Chairperson Elected 31 December 2022 Robert Smith Elected 29 June 2023 

**Principal Office** Millpool Farm Wards Lane Congleton Cheshire CW12 3LN **Bankers** HSBC Bank Plc P O Box 117 60 Albert Road Middlesborough TS1 1RS 

**Independent Examiner** Eileen Grigg 

## **Officers** 

Caroline Preston acted as Chief Executive Officer on behalf of the Trustees. 

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Trustees’ Report and Financial Statements 31 December 2023 


The Trustees’ present their Report for the year ended 31 December 2023 

The charity is registered with the Charity Commission, number 1199343 

## **Objects, organisation and activities** 

Autism Dogs Charity trains Assistance Dogs for autistic children and adults in England, Scotland and Wales. 

We are an Advanced Service accredited by the National Autistic Society. 

Many of our team are autistic, including our CEO, which provides us with a unique insight when helping other autistic people. 

Our Charity is recognised for working with some of the most challenging cases in the UK, providing hope for some of the most vulnerable autistic people.  Our work successfully helps autistic children and adults to lower debilitating anxiety, reduce self-injurious behaviours, improve poor sleeping and eating patterns and increase social skills which eventually leads to improved confidence and independence. 

## **Review of progress and achievements** 

## The Board of Trustees 

In this first full year of the organisation moving from a Community Interest model to a Charity, our  Trustee Board remained unchanged until an additional member was added later in the year, bringing the total Trustee Board to seven members. 

The new Trustee brought exceptional operational skills to the Board, adding increased focus on keeping costs low and concentration on fund-raising efforts. 

Detailed feedback and data from our existing and newly enrolled clients led to further investment in our Psychotherapy and SEN Behaviours department which proved a vital part of our wrap-around service to ensure the best possible outcomes for the autistic handlers. 

The Charity team expanded to include greater numbers dedicated to Animal Welfare and additions to the Training team, which we hoped would enable us to deliver more teams successfully than any other year to date. 

The Charity team values remain unchanged:- 

Approachable: We create an environment and attitude that allows both our clients and our team to feel at ease, enabling us to create the best experience possible based on their needs. 

Dedicated: We strive to provide the best care to our clients and dogs so we can change as many lives as possible. 

Respect: We value all of our clients and team members, ensuring everyone is treated with dignity and compassion. 

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Trustees’ Report and Financial Statements 31 December 2023 


Hardworking: We work hard through responsible actions, always striving to be the best we can be. 

Loyalty: We are proud to represent an organisation that does such life-changing work for autistic people and their families. 

Timeliness: We work hard to show up on time and provide timely support to our beneficiaries, team members, and dogs. 

Caring: All of our work revolves around us providing the utmost care and attention to our clients, team members, and dogs. 

Considerate: We are adaptable, understanding others' needs and adjusting our way of working to accommodate them. 

Professional: We work together to provide an outstanding experience, building upon our deep-rooted ethics and our desire to be as skilled as we can possibly be. 

Inclusion: We respect and value everyone's differences, creating an environment that both promotes respect and highlights the advantages diversity brings. 

## Statistics 

Overview of Programme statistics over the year we received: 

- 18354 enquires 

- 464 applications 

- 38 programme places/enrolments 

- 36 dogs assessed 

- 26 Qualified 

- 2 families were removed from the programme prior to delivery 

- 2 dogs were collected from the family after delivery 

- 3 dogs retired 

- Volunteer hours 530 

From the previous working team’s estate: 

Total number of teams working at the end of the year: 85 

## Volunteering and Work Experience 

We continued to advocate and immerse ourselves in the autistic community by offering volunteer and work experience to the autistic community. These volunteering opportunities also provided us with the opportunity to educate the volunteers about the work that we do and the help that our Assistance Dogs provide for our beneficiaries. 

We delivered a volunteer workshop where 36 young people attended and were awarded a certificate of contribution, and provided 4 work placements across the year. All of the young people who volunteered for the organisation were autistic. 

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Trustees’ Report and Financial Statements 31 December 2023 


## Finances 

The costs of each Programme varied from £20-25,000 to the end of the first year of delivery. 

Total income for the year was £521,351 with costs of £410,890. 

## **CEO report** 

During this first full year as a Charity the team expanded and the quality of the beneficiary’s experience and the number of delivered teams grew. 

Additions to many areas ensured our existing teams were well supported and that new enrolments teams in training received a wealth of holistic support for the beneficiary and immediate family. 

Increased resources were allocated into the Psychotherapy Department that helped to enhance our understanding. Increased hours and skills in this vital area also increased our ability to bespoke the beneficiary’s care to a new level. 

Our Charity continued to work with the NAS which is of great importance and reassurance to our clients. We also remained part of the ADUK community that provides an overall contribution of support to the UK’s Assistance Dog sector. 

A new focus was also given to fund raising. We successfully continued to provide our services at a reduced rate by fund raising over 20% of the costs. By investing in a Fund Raising Manager we began the process of building a team that could generate additional donations to reduce the cost to each beneficiary even further. 

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Trustees’ Report and Financial Statements 31 December 2023 


## **Reserves policy** 

After providing sufficient funds to cover all management and administration the Trustees regard any remaining incoming resources as free reserves of the charity and available for the general purposes of training dogs in accordance with the stated objects of the charity. 

## **Statement of Trustees’ responsibilities** 

Under the Scheme of the Charity and trust law, the Trustees are required to prepare financial statements for each year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Charity and of its income and expenditure.  In preparing those financial statements, the Trustees are required to: 

- select suitable policies and then apply them consistently; 

- make judgement and estimates that are reasonable and prudent; 

- state whether applicable accounts standards have been followed, subject to any material departures, disclose and explained in the financial statements. 

- Prepare the financial statements on an ongoing concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the Charity will continue. 

The Trustees are required to act in accordance with the Scheme of the Charity and within the framework of trust law.  They have general responsibility for taking such steps as are reasonably open to safeguard the assets of the fund and to prevent and detect fraud and other regularities. 

The attached financial statements show the current state of the finances. 

On behalf of the Trustees 


Tate Preston Chairperson 

Date 10[th] October 2024 

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Trustees’ Report and Financial Statements 31 December 2023 


## **Independent Examiner’s Report to the Trustees of The Congleton Town Trust** 

I report on the accounts for the year ended 31 December 2023 set out on pages 9 to 10 

## **Respective responsibilities of Trustees and Examiner** 

The Charity’s Trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The Charity’s Trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year (under Section 144(2) of the Charities Act 2011 (the 2011 Act)) and that an Independent Examination is required. 

It is my responsibility to: 

*Examine the accounts under Section 145 of the 2011 Act 

*To follow the procedures laid down in the General Directions given by the Charity Commission (under Section 145(5)(b) of the Act; and 

*To state whether particular matters have come to my attention 

## **Basis of Independent Examiner’s Report** 

My examination was carried out in accordance with the General Directions given by the Charity Commission.  An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the Charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records.  It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeking explanations from you as Trustees concerning any such matters.  The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a ‘true and fair view’ and the Report is limited to those matters set out in the statements below. 

## **Independent Examiner’s Statement** 

In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention: 

(1) which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requirements 

- to keep accounting records in accordance with section 130 of the 2011 Act; and 

- to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and to comply with the accounting requirements of the 2011 Act 

have not been met; or 

(2) to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. 

Eileen Grigg ACMA CTA EPG Accountants Ltd Congleton Cheshire CW12 3JY 

9[th] September 2024 

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Trustees’ Report and Financial Statements 31 December 2023 


## **Statement of Financial Activities** 

For the year ended 31 December 2023 

|Note|Unrestricted|Restricted|Total||
|---|---|---|---|---|
||Fund|Fund|2023|2022|
||£|£|£|£|
|Income and expenditure|||||
|Incoming resources|||||
|Dog Training|499,349|-|499,349|249,853|
|Donations|3,340|-|3,340|38,850|
|Grants|13,651|-|13,651<br>|25,820|
|Sundry income|5,011|-|5,011<br>|2,540|
||________|________|________|________|
|Total incoming resources|521,351|-|521,351|317,063|
||________|________|________|________|
|Resources expended|||||
|Direct charitable expenditure|||||
|Animal Training Salaries|78,928|-|78,928|38,297|
|Animal Welfare Salaries|70,292|-|70,292|21,193|
|Vets Fees|17,137|-|17,137|8,051|
|Other direct costs|56,700|-|56,700<br>|27,661|
|Administrative Costs|||||
|Management Salaries|81,425|-|81,425|37,478|
|Pension Costs|3,580|-|3,580|1,585|
|Rent|24,357|-|24,357|11,200|
|Rates|2,476|-|2,476|2,589|
|Light, power, heating|14,514|-|14,514|4,108|
|Motor vehicle expenses|7,027|-|7,027|2,796|
|Travel|7,693|-|7,693|2,538|
|Accountancy|3,750|-|3,750|1,850|
|Repairs and Maintenance|11,264|-|11,264|1,260|
|Bank charges and Interest|5,074|-|5,074|1,749|
|Other costs|26,673|-|26,673|4,271|
|Total resources expended|410,890|-|410,890|166,626|
||________|________|________|________|
|Net(outgoing)/incoming for the year|110,461|-|110,461|150,437|
|Recognised gains (losses) on|||||
|investments|||||
|Unrealised|-|-|-|-|
|Realised|-|-|-|-|
||________|________|________|________|
|Net movements in funds|110,461|-|110,461|150,347|
|Fund balances brought forward|153,404|-|153,404|2,967|
||________|________|________|________|
|Fund balances carried forward|263,865|-|263,865|153,404|
||________|________|________|________|



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Trustees’ Report and Financial Statements 31 December 2023 


|Balance Sheet||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|At 31 December 2023||||||
|Note|||2023||2022|
|Fixed assets||||||
|Motor vehicles|3||6,006||8.008|
|Computer equipment|||343||190|
|Plant and machinery|||-||-|
||||________||________|
||||6,349||8,197|
|Current assets||||||
|Cash at bank||28,329||70,733||
|Debtors|5|290,593||150,403||
|||318,922||221,136||
|Current liabilities:||||||
|Creditors: amount falling due within one|<br>6|3,809||3,794||
|year||||||
|||________||________||
|Net current assets|||315,113||225,540|
|Creditors: amount falling due after one||||||
|year||57,597||72,135||
||||________||________|
|Net assets|||263,865||153,404|
||||________||________|
|Represented by:||||||
|Funds||||||
|Unrestricted income fund|||263,865||153,4041|
|Restricted capital fund|||-||-|
||||________||________|
||||263,865||153,404|
||||________||________|



Approved by the Board of Trustees on 10th October 2024 and signed on its behalf by: 


## **Tate Preston Chairperson** 

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Trustees’ Report and Financial Statements 31 December 2023 


## **Notes to the Financial Statements** 

## **1. Reporting Standards** 

The Financial Statements have been prepared in accordance with Accounting & Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard for Smaller Entities published on 16 July 2014, the Financial Reporting for Smaller Entities (effective January 2015). Assets & Liabilities are initially recognised at historical cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policy note. 

## **2. Basis of preparation** 

The accounts have been prepared on an accruals basis. 

## **3. Tangible fixed assets and depreciation** 

Tangible assets are included at cost less depreciation and impairment. Depreciation has been    provided at the following rates in order to write off the assets over their estimated useful lives: 

||Plant & machinery<br>25% on cost|
|---|---|
||Motor vehicles<br>25% on WDV|
||Computer equipment<br>25% on cost|



|Cost or valuation<br>At 1 January 2023<br>Additions<br>Disposals<br>At 31 December 2023<br>Depreciation<br>At 1 January 2023<br>Charge for the year<br>At 31 December 2023<br>Net book value<br>At 1 January 2023<br>At 31 December 2023|Plant &<br>machinery<br>£<br>At cost<br>600<br>-<br>-|Motor<br>vehicles<br>£<br>At cost<br>12,240<br>-<br>-|Computer<br>equipment<br>£<br>At cost<br>379<br>249<br>-|Total<br>£<br>13,219<br>249<br>-|
|---|---|---|---|---|
||600|12,240|628|13,468|
||600<br>-|4,232<br>2,002|190<br>95|5,022<br>2,097|
||600|6,234|285|7,119|
||-<br>-|8,008<br>6,006|189<br>343|8,197<br>6,349|



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Trustees’ Report and Financial Statements 31 December 2023 


## **4. Trustees’ remuneration and expenses** 

No remuneration directly or indirectly out of the funds of the charity was paid or payable for the year to any Trustee or to any person or persons known to be connected with any of them. 

No reimbursement of expenses has been made or is due to be made to any of the Trustees in respect of the year. 

## **5. Debtors** 

|**5. Debtors**<br>Amounts falling due within one year<br>Clients payments towards dog training<br>Other debtors<br>**6.Creditors: amounts falling due within one year**<br>Taxes and social security<br>Pension Contributions<br>Accruals<br>**7.** **Creditors: amounts falling due after more than one year**<br>Bank loans|2023<br>290,594<br>-|<br>2022<br>150,403<br>-|
|---|---|---|
||290,594|150,403|
||2023<br>2,702<br>685<br>422|2022<br>3,258<br>535<br>-|
||3,809|3,794|
||2023<br>57,597|2022<br>72,135|



## **8. Average number of employees** 

During the year, the average number of employees was 23. 

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