## NO ONE LEFT OUT IN THE COLD ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31[ST] DECEMBER 2023 ## Our aim Our charitable objective is to provide a **safe space for teenagers and young adults** at risk physically or emotionally and to provide the **support and guidance** they need to help them build happy and successful lives. ## Chair’s Message Exactly one year ago, I met a young man called Mike. He was lost and neglected. He did not trust a soul. As loved as he was and as hard as they tried, not a single person could help him. I offered for him to come to our workshop that evening. With a loving heart and an open mind, I sat with him and listened. He disclosed his history and relayed how he fell through the cracks of the education system. He wasn’t receptive to help from anyone. Not his parents, nor his teachers, friends or extended family. The more he pushed people away, the more troubling his situation became. He returned week after a week and as he continued opening up we referred him to a highly regarded psychotherapist. She helped him slowly, session by session and gradually helped him to overcome his mental anxieties. A year has lapsed. Mike has a growing sense of self awareness and is working full time in a warehouse. He feels good about himself, is confident and has flourished beautifully in such a short timeframe. He still attends therapy sessions to help him overcome trauma and abuse. He is beginning to trust again. Mike reminds me of the extent to which our organisation benefits the community. How many teens are still out there, all alone with no one to confide in? How many young adults are on our doorsteps, starving physically and emotionally? How many crave healthy relationships or a social group of caring friends? And how many have already given up hope? I am determined to continue to invest all my energies into extending our activities. To reach more needy adolescents. **So no one should be left outside, alone, in the cold.** ## Mr B Izak What we do **We support teenagers and young adults who find themselves in difficult life. situations and have nowhere else to turn.** We also assist adolescents who have fallen through the cracks of their community and education system and have a variety of issues that were not addressed appropriately when they were younger. We extend support to those suffering from mental health issues, deficiencies in life skills, difficulty gaining employment and many other similar or related issues. Our services help take these teeagers out of situations that often involve crime, substance abuse, self-harm and even suicide. Our trained **one** volunteers offer **to one mentoring** to guide the youth **towards stable and** as **meaningful lives** well as 24/7 support to deal with any crises that may arise. Our range of six projects helps to ensure that each one is cared for and their **individual needs are met.** **We inspire and** them to **encourage** take the necessary steps towards building a stable and purposeful future. We help them to help themselves. ## **Home Sweet Home** **We provide and supervise a beautifully renovated shelter for young adults who are** **experiencing homelessness and prepare nutritious meals for them.** **They are expected to undertake household chores which** **fosters a sense of** **responsibility and gives them the skills and confidence to live independently.** **It is important to us that they are supervised 24/7. We recruit volunteers and provide them with professional training in order to responsibly attend to the youth.** ## **Mental Health Support** **We offer weekly therapy sessions and one to one coaching. These sessions aim to aid the recovery from mental health conditions and trauma.** **When very serious issues are left untreated, there are** **often incidents of crime and mental health breakdowns that can be dreadful. Our therapists help these youngsters move away from a life of shoplifting, trauma, abuse,** **anxiety, lack of self confidence, addiction, self-harm,** **suicidal thoughts and other terrible situations.** **We give them the opportunity to get their lives back on track and live confident, happy and fulfilling lives.** **We also run** **workshops presented by professionals which cover crucial topics including communication, relationships, stability, parent/ child connections, regulating emotions, anger management and other important life skills.** **----- Start of picture text -----**
Life
Skills
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**account and many other skills most people take for granted.** **We provide classes and mentoring to that teach life skills that might be lacking. These include spoken English skills, literacy, computer proficiency, budgeting, getting a driving license, opening a bank** Our goal is to support them towards becoming independent, successful and contributing adults. ## **Weekly Activities & Sports** **We offer recreational activities, sports and hobbies.** **These include trips to supervised leisure centers, biking, golf, nice dinners at a restaurant, safe group parties with music and healthy entertainment.** **Each weekly event is eagerly looked forward to.** **This is a major tool in helping them experience a joyful life without feeling the need to resort to criminal behaviour, drugs or harmful activities and** helps them tremendously with their social and communication skills. **“SUITS ME” initiative** **We provide clothes, shoes, toiletries, and other basic necessities to those who don’t have family support and can’t afford such things for themselves. Being well dressed** **has an enormous impact on their self-esteem and confidence and is a major part of getting them on the path towards living independent, happy lives.** ## **Employment** **We help young adults find satisfying employment suitable to their** **skills and interests. We liaise with** **the employers so that they can deal with the them** **appropriately and sensitively and we ensure the** **workspace is a safe environment.** This is a major step towards their independence and becoming fully rounded, successful and contributing members of the community. The trustee, who are also the Directors for the purpose of company law, present their report and the unaudited financial statements of the charity for the year ended 31 December 2023. ## REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS Reference and administrative details are shown in the schedule of trustees and professional advisers on page 1 of the financial statements. ## STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT ## OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES The charity is established to further those purposes both in the United Kingdom and is recognised as charitable by English Law and in furtherance of the aforementioned objects. The charities income is from generous public donations and grants. The trustees confirm that they have referred to the guidance contained in the Charity Commission`s general guidance on public benefit when reviewing the charity`s aims and objectives and in planning future activities for the year. The charity is constituted as a company limited by guarantee, and is therefore governed by its Memorandum and Articles of Association. The governors (trustees) administer the day – to – day affairs of the charity. None of the trustees have any beneficial interest in the charity. It is not currently the intention of the trustees of the charity to appoint new trustees. Should the situation change in the future, the trustees will apply suitable recruitment training and induction procedures. ## STRATEGIC REPORT The following sections for achievements and performance and financial review from the strategic report of the charity. ## ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE During the year the charity continued to support at risk youth emotionally, physically and educationally. Income from investments aggregated £121,068. Total resources expended were £123,492 resulting in net deficit of £2,424. ## RISK MANAGEMENT The trustees have examined the major strategic, business and operational risks which the charity faces. The trustees confirm that systems have been established to enable regular reports to be produced so that the necessary steps can be taken to manage these risks. All applicable policies are up to date. ## FINANCIAL REVIEW The financial results of the charity`s activities for the year to 31 December 2023 are fully reflected in the attached Financial Statements together with the Notes thereon. ## PLANS FOR FUTURE PERIODS The aim is to continue to provide emotional and physical support for vulnerable teens and young adults in order to help them thrive and break out of the dangerous cycle of homelessness and poor mental health. ## RESERVE POLICY It is the policy of the charity to maintain unrestricted funds, which include the free reserves of the charity, at a level which the trustees think appropriate, after considering the future commitments of the charity and the likely costs of the charity for the next year. At 31 December 2023 the charity had unrestricted funds aggregating £22 ## **A SPARK IN THE DARK LTD COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE** STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES for the year ended 31 December 2023 ## **1 ACCOUNTING POLICIES** ## **Accounting convention** These accounts have been prepared in accordance with the historical cost convention and in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard for Smaller Entities (FRSSE) (effective January 2015). In preparing the accounts, the charity follows best practice as laid down in the Statement of Recommended Practice “Accounting and Reporting by Charities” (SORP) issued in March 2005. Where there is a conflict between the FRSSE and the SORP, the SORP has been adopted in accordance with paragraph 419ff of the SORP. ## **TRUSTEES REMUNERATION AND BENEFITS** ## **2** There were no trustees remuneration or other benefits for the year ended 31 December 2023. ## **Trustees Expenses** There were no trustees expenses paid for the year ended31 December 2023. ## **3 DONATIONS AND LEGACIES** A list of donations and legacies received are available from the office upon request in writing. ## **Incoming resources** All incoming resources are included in the statement of financial activities when the charity is entitled to the income and the amount can be quantified with reasonable accuracy. ## **Resources expended** Expenditure is accounted for on accruals basis and has been classified under headings that aggregate all cost 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. ## **Fund accounting** Unrestricted funds can be used in accordance with the charitable objectives at the discretion of the trustees. ## **A SPARK IN THE DARK LTD COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE** STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES for the year ended 31 December 2023 ||Notes|Unrestricted|Total Funds|Total Funds| |---|---|---|---|---| |||Funds|2023|2022| |||£|£|£| |INCOMING RESOURCES|3|||| |**Incoming resources from generated funds**||||| |**Donations and legacies**||**121,068**|**121,068**|28,170| |**Total Incoming resources**||**121,068**|**121,068**|28,170| |RESOURCES EXPENDED||||| |**Costs of charitable activities**||||| |**Expenditure on charitable activities**|4|**115,371**|**115,371**|24,579| |**Governance costs**|5|**8,121**|**8,121**|1,145| |Total resources expended||**123,492**|**123,492**|25,724| |**NET INCOMING/(OUTGOING)**||**-2,424**|**-2,424**|2,446| |**RESOURCES**||||| |**RECONCILIATION FUNDS**||||| |**Total funds brought forward**||**2,446**|**2,446**|0| |**TOTAL FUNDS CARRIED FORWARD**||**22**|**22**|2,446| ## **A SPARK IN THE DARK LTD COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE** STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION 31 DECEMBER 2023 |Notes
CURRENT ASSETS
**Cash at hand in bank**
**CREDITORS: amounts falling**
**due within one year**
**6**
**Net Current assets/(liabilities)**
**NET CURRENT ASSETS**
FUNDS
**Unrestricted funds**
TOTAL FUNDS
**7**|£
**718**
**718**
**696**|2023
22
22
22
22|£
3,086
3,086
640||2022
2,446| |---|---|---|---|---|---| ||||||2,446| ||||||2,446| ||||||2,446| ||||||2,446| The Charitable company is entitled to exemption from audit under section 477 of Companies Act 2006for the year ended 31 December 2023. The trustees have not required the charitable company to obtain an audit of its financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2023 in accordance with section 476 of Companies Act 2006. The trustees acknowledge their responsibilities for a) ensuring that the charitable company keeps accounting records that comply with Section 386 and 387 of the Companies Act 2006 and b) preparing financial statements which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company as at the end of each financial year and of its surplus or deficit for each financial year in accordance with the requirements of Section 394 and 395 and which otherwise comply with all the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 relaiting to financila stataments, so far as applicable to the charitable company. Approved by the board of Trustees on: 07 February 2024 And signed on their behalf by: Mr B Izak Trustee |Unrestricted
Funds
£
Total Funds
2023
£
INCOMING RESOURCES
Incoming resources from generated funds
3
**Donations and legacies**
121,068
121,068
Total Incoming resources
121,068
121,068|Total Funds
2022
£
28,170
28,170| |---|---| |Unrestricted funds
**General fund**
TOTAL FUNDS|Incoming
resources
Resources
Expended
£
£
121,068
123,492
121,068
123,492|Movement in
funds
£
-2,424
-2,424| |---|---|---| ## 4 Expenditure on charitable activities |Unrestricted
Funds
£
Total Funds
2023
£
**Advertising**
1,800
1,800
**Charitable activities**
72,390
72,390
**Grants to Institutions**
0
**Rent**
15,757
15,757
**Repairs & Maintenance**
25,424
25,424
TOTAL
115,371
115,371
5
Governance Costs
Unrestricted
Funds
£
Total Funds
2023
£
**Accountancy fee**
696
696
**Bank charges**
21
**Ofce supplies**
180
180
**Professional fees**
7,245
7,245
8,121
8,121
6
CREDITORS: amounts falling
due within one year
2023
£
**Accruals**
696
696
7
MOVEMENT IN FUNDS
At 1.1.2023
Net movement
in funds
Unrestricted funds
**General fund**
**2,446**
-2,424
TOTAL FUNDS
**2,446**
-2,424|Total Funds
2022
£
0
5,780
18,799
0
0
24,579
Total Funds
2022
£
624
21
0
500
1,145
2022
£
640
640
At 31.12.2o23
22
22| |---|---| REGISTERED CHARITY NAME: A SPARK IN THE DARK LIMITED COMPANY REGISTRATION NUMBER: 13793890 REGISTERED CHARITY NUMBER: 1199465 TRUSTEES: MR J MATYAS MR Y SCHWARTZ MR B IZAK ADDRESS: FLAT 1 100 HAMILTON ROAD LONDON NW11 9DY ACCOUNTANT: JS & CO ACCOUNTANTS 26 THEYDON ROAD, LONDON E5 9NA T: 020 8806 7800 BANKERS: METRO BANK EMAIL ADDRESS: ASPARKINTHEDARKLTD@GMAIL.COM