2025-03-31-accounts

Charity number: 1202285

THE SHEARS FOUNDATION

TRUSTEES' REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

CONTENTS

	PAGE
Reference and administrative details of the charity, its Trustees and advisers	1
Trustees' report	2
Independent auditors' report on the financial statements	26
Statement of financial activities	29
Balance sheet	30
Notes to the financial statements	31

REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS OF THE CHARITY, ITS TRUSTEES AND ADVISERS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

Trustees	NV L Cruz
	M A Horner, Chair
	G Lyall
	S Maxey (appointed 18 February 2025)
	G Shears
	P J R Shears
	R Shears
	B Warnes
	L Warnes
Charity registered number	1202285
Principal office	The Community Foundation
	Philanthropy House, Woodbine Road
	Gosforth
	Newcastle upon Tyne
	NE3 lDD
Independent auditors	BHP LLP
	1 St Mary's Court
	Blossom Street
	York
	YO24 1AH
Bankers	Handelsbanken
	Greengate
	1 Cardale Park Harrogate
	HG3 lGY
Solicitors	Womble Bond Dickinson LLP Helix
	The Spark
	Draymans Way
	Newcastle upon Tyne
	NE4 SOE
Fund Managers	LGT (formerly Aberdeen Standard Capital Limited)
	1 George Street
	Edinburgh
	EH2 2LL
Fund Managers	James Hambro and Partners LLP
	45 Pall Mall
	London
	SWlY SJG
Fund Managers	Waverton Investment Management Limited
	16 Babmaes Street
	London
	SWlY 6AH

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Shears Foundation 2024/25 Trustees Report

The trustees present their report and the audited financial statements of the charity for the year ended 31 March 2025. The trustees have adopted the provisions of the Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP) "Accounting and Reporting by Charities" in preparing the annual report and financial statements of the charity.

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in notes to the financial statements and comply with the charity's governing document, the Charities Act 2011 and Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland published in October 2019.

The trustees of The Shears Foundation are delighted to present our second Annual Report since converting to a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) on July 1[s t] 2023.

We are pleased to be supported by our accountants for the second year, BHP LLP who have worked constructively with us to develop a more straightforward and transparent annual report which is suited to modern grant making and the way in which the Shears Foundation CIO works. The trustees of the Shears Foundation wish to extend their thanks to BHP LLP for their ongoing support.

The core values of The Shears Foundation continue to be embedded in the work that we do. We have built upon Trevor and Lyn Shears' ethos of fairness, equity, transparency and trust to continue to develop good practice as a funder. This good practice is recognised both regionally and nationally in our profile and reputation as a grant maker.

The Shears Foundation continues to support a broad range of charitable organisations, including UK registered charities, Community Interest Companies and Community Benefit Societies.

The Shears Foundation, originally known as the Shears Charitable Trust. has been making grants for 31 years. In that time, we have awarded over 1,475 separate grants totalling over £16.7 million.

OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES

The object of the foundation is to produce sound investment income and growth for the benefit of present and future beneficiaries.

The foundation aims to fund selected organisations and projects in the fields of community development, environmental issues, sustainable development, health and welfare and cultural developments, all with an emphasis on education and raising awareness. There is also a proportion devoted to overseas projects in the same fields.

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PUBLIC BENEFIT

The foundation's aims and achievements are set out within this report. The activities set out in this report have been undertaken to further the foundation's charitable purposes for the public benefit. The trustees have complied with the duty under Section 4 of the Charities Act 2011 to have due regard to public benefit guidance published by the Charity Commission and the trustees have paid due regard to this guidance in deciding what activities the foundation should undertake.

Basecamp Adventure Trust were awarded a £10,000 grant in October 2024.

Basecamp inspires, celebrates and challenges young people to discover their self-worth and inner power, readying them for the mountain of life. Life, like a mountain, will be full of both opportunities and challenges and at Basecamp young people learn how to navigate the path ahead with confidence, purpose and enthusiasm.

OUR APPROACH TO RELATIONSHIP-BASED GRANT MAKING

Relationship based, or relational, grant making is very much part of the DNA of The Shears Foundation. Since the very start of Trevor and Lyn's philanthropy, the principle of getting to know the organisations that we support has been at the heart of what we do. Building relationships over time helps develop mutual trust, deeper understanding and a level of openness that all transcend more transactional styles of grant making. The current trustees embrace this approach by being actively involved in decision making; meetings with groups and visits to those that we support.

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Trustees have an expectation that the organisations we support recognise our relational approach to grant making. We don’t want to create any extra workload for our grantees but appreciate it when organisations contribute actively to the relationship. This helps create a better understanding for trustees and ultimately a better connection to the work we are helping support. Organisations that recognise this are more likely to receive multiple grants from us.

This year we had over 337 telephone and ZOOM calls with potential applicants. Trustees and staff attended 57 visits and a further 35 face to face meetings.

Our model for building such relationships can be summarised as follows:

Stage one - getting to know each other

The Grantee The Shears Foundation

• Pre-application phone call / ZOOM.

• • Encouraged to be open and honest from the start.

• • Ad-hoc communication. • Sharing successes and achievements. • Sharing impact reports/ newsletters. • End of grant monitoring and learning. • Encouraged to give feedback on our processes.

• • Invites to events and projects.

• Transparency and openness about funding priorities and decision making - Open and Honest processes.

• • Transparency and openness about our expectations of the grantee.

• • Offers project focussed funding and some core cost funding.

• • Highest level of due diligence. Which allows us to place trust in the grantee from the start of our relationship.

• • Reads and feeds back on communications. • Has an honest 6-month check in with the grantee.

• • Some trustee attendance at celebration events. Staff / Trustee meet ups with Fundraisers.

Stage two - building on the foundations

The Grantee

The Shears Foundation

• Feels increasingly able to share when things • Offers largely core cost funding. might not be going so well. • Offers some multi-year funding.

• • Feels able to apply for funding to continue a • Offers some larger grants. previously funded aspect of their work - no • Still a high level of due diligence. need to reinvent the wheel for each • Trustee attendance at 'real world events' seeing application. the work of the charity first hand.

• • Extends a range of invitations that allow • Open to ongoing conversations and supporting trustees to develop a deeper understanding. the grantee in overcoming challenges.

• • Opportunities to discuss future applications. • Increased flexibility. • Willingness to allow funding to be re- purposed. • Introduces the grantee to other potential grant funders.

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Stage three - mutual understanding and respect

The Grantee

The Shears Foundation

• Able to be extremely honest about needs and challenges, even failures, of the organisation without feeling the relationship will be compromised or grants withdrawn.

• Able to direct our funding to where it will have the most impact.

• Able to ask for variations in timescale or purpose - even early release of pledged grants (dependent on our cashflow)

• Able to seek our advice and support with matters that are not necessarily grant related - such as strategy.

• Invitations for connections develop into a wider range of trustee opportunities, social, experiential, grant focussed and broader organisational context.

• Offers largely unrestricted funding.

• Offers multi-year funding.

• Offers lighter touch reporting.

• Less rigorous due diligence.

• Trustees feel better connected as true stakeholders.

• Trustees are part of the charity's own growth journey.

• Greater impact satisfaction for trustees.

• • Willingness to 'move the goal posts.' to help meet grantees' needs and priorities.

• Able to have difficult conversations with the grantee about our own challenges and priorities and implications for grant making.

• Lighter touch reporting.

• Actively promotes the grantee to other funding organisations.

OUR GRANT MAKING

The Shears Foundation has five key priority areas for its' grant making.

• The development of culture and the arts.

• The development and provision of educational opportunities for adults and/ or children.

• Protection, preservation or enhancement of the natural environment.

• Creating stronger/ better/ more sustainable communities.

• Promoting health and medicine, with an emphasis on research or education.

We place a great deal of emphasis in supporting organisations whose work is in the Tyne & Wear and Northumberland regions. In 2024/25, 38.4% of our grant making was in this region. We also make grants in the former Harrogate District & The City of York; The City of Bradford; Greater Manchester and occasionally to UK organisations working overseas.

We support core running costs as well as project costs. The majority of our grants in 2024/5 were towards running costs and overheads, rather than specific projects. Our trustees recognise the importance for charitable organisations of simply ‘keeping the lights on’. Without core funding, important work can be compromised and is much harder to deliver. For example, this year we have supported staff salaries; utility costs; rent and fundraising costs.

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Solidarity Farm CIC were awarded a £3,000 grant in October 2024

Solidarity Farm provides a unique learning environment for children and young people to experience all the benefits of nature, cultivating social-emotional skills and building confidence. Solidarity Farm is located on an organic farm at the edge of the Northumberland national park. It has a pedigree herd of Luing cattle and a flock of sheep, creating an environment where those who may struggle with more formal approaches to education can experience community and belonging.

OUR GRANT MAKING IS DIVIDED INTO TWO DISTINCT STRANDS

Our Core Grants programme is firmly embedded in our grant making practice. Core grants, which represent the most strategic of our grant making represent around 50% of our grant expenditure in any three-year period. Core grants are a long-term commitment to the relationship between The Shears Foundation and a partner charity and have been a feature of our approach for many years. In 2006 Trevor Shears co-founder of the foundation said:

“We see many funders support a project for a maximum of three years or on a one-off basis. Very few people are keen on core funding or making a long terms commitment. We are more inclined towards long term support.”

Each year, at our AGM, we invite several organisations that we have built a relationship with to submit a short video application to become one of our core groups. We usually move two

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or three or three groups into this core category every year.

In 2024/25 we welcomed Alzheimer’s Researc h and WaterHarvest into our core group category. This brought our total number of core groups to 17. Our longest running core partner has received a grant every year for over 25 years. This type of support for groups enables us to forge a true partnership and feels much more like a long-term investment, rather than a more traditional grant situation.

Here’s what a couple of our core groups said about our longer-term funding approach:

“Multi-year support from the Shears Foundation has been invaluable for the work we do at The Glasshouse. The Foundation’s unrestricted, multi-year funding gives us the stability to plan for the long term and make a lasting impact through our music programmes. The trust the Shears Foundation has shown us allows us to respond to the changing needs of our community and build stronger, more meaningful connections. Being part of the core group that receives this funding is incredibly special; it truly means the world to us and the people we serve.”

“The families who use our children’s hospice tell us that we are their ‘lifeline,’ a team they can rely on for help and support whatever else life throws at them. Yet recent events like the pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis have highlighted how precarious and unpredictable is the funding for this essential service. So the Shears Foundation’s multi-year, unrestricted funding provides us with our own lifeline – allowing us to plan ahead and to continue providing the care our families need, day in and day out. We know the support we provide is what our families want and need – because they tell us so. Yet the Shears Foundation is a rare funder in that you don’t always ask us to present you with a new idea or a different way of doing things. You value our service for what it is and understand the importance of helping us sustain our provision. That’s not just important financially: it’s good for staff morale too. We have great respect for you as grant makers and it means a great deal to know that you trust us to use your grants wisely.”

In addition to our core grants programme, we also have a small grants programme to ensure that our door remains open to new organisations that we don’t yet know and who we might be able to support and build a relationship with. In 2024/25 we received 210 applications for our small grants and were able to award 69 grants – an overall success rate for this programme of 32.8%.

Each year we try to increase the amount that small grant applicants can apply for. In recognition of the incredible financial pressures on charities our small grant application limit has increased from £5,000 in 2023/4 to £5,750 in 2024/5. Next year it will increase again to £6,000.

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Our Core Grants programme	Our Small Grants Programme
For organisations that we have developed a strong, mutual relationship with over several years.	For organisations that are new to us, or that we are getting to know.
Grant sizes of between £15,000 a year and £80,000 a year.	Grant size of £3,000 to £5,750 which we increase every year in line with inflation.
• Largely unrestricted funding • Larger grants • Rapid turnaround • Lighter touch reporting	• For project or specified core costs • One-year grants • Applicants can re-apply each year • Quarterly grants cycle
4 Core Grants were awarded in 2024/25 totalling £180,000	69 small grants were awarded in 2024/25 totalling £399,371
3 Special grants were awarded in 2025 totalling £135,000

During 2024/25 we committed to two new multi-year partnerships with Bradford 2025 (Bradford City of Culture) and Two Ridings Community Foundation York Fund which recognise the local expertise within these organisations to make funding decisions. Grants to both these organisations were £60,000 over three years.

We also have a long-term relationship with The British Red Cross. In 2024/25 Trustees made the decision to formalise this support with an annual contribution to their Disaster Fund, when a disaster strikes, British Read Cross teams rely on the Disaster Fund to launch an emergency response and get critical help to people impacted as soon as possible. In 2024 alone, the Disaster Fund helped them respond to 19 different emergencies. Our grant in 2024/5 was £15,000. The three strategic partnerships above reflect the trustees’ awareness and acceptance that sometimes, the power over grant making and the distribution of funds should be determined by those with expertise and lived experience. It is a willingness to give up some ‘power’ in the grant making process.

In 2024/25 we awarded a total of 76 grants, totalling £714,371. The largest grants awarded were £45,000 over three years to each of our new core groups. The smallest grant awarded was £3,000.

In additional to grants awarded in the year, trustees also honoured multi-year commitments made in prior years, totalling £365,000.

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© Joseph Gray / WWF-UK
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After many years of support from The Shears Foundation, World Wildlife Fund became a core group in 2024/25 with a grant of £45,000 over three years.

Where land, river and sea meet – Stiffkey Marshes in North Norfolk. Across Norfolk, Pembrokeshire and the Firth of Forth, WWF's Wholescape programme is bringing together local communities, partners and stakeholders to tackle the Triple Challenge: the urgent and simultaneous need to avert dangerous climate change, halt and reverse the loss of nature, and meet the needs of a growing population. The Wholescape approach recognises the deep connections between land, rivers and sea – and the people and communities that depend on them – to demonstrate how we can tackle climate change, restore nature and support sustainable food production at scale in the UK.

OUR GRANT MAKING EXPERIENCE

We want to make our grant application experience as open and straightforward as possible for those that want to apply. We start every applicant's journey with a phone call or ZOOM to explain our processes; determine if the work that they would like us to fund fits our priorities and ultimately make sure that we are not wasting their time with an application that has little chance of success. In these conversations we are also transparent about our success ratios (how many grants we make against how many applications we receive). The trustees wish to thank Carla Greenwood, our administrator for the way that she manages

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this process and the positive way this reflects on the foundation. The comments below highlight this.

Our website is designed to provide all the information that an applicant needs in a clear and transparent way. We include all of our grant criteria; an example of our application form; our scoring system; our annual report and other tools to make the process as straightforward as possible for the applicant.

In early 2025 we audited our website to ensure that it was accessible and made some key changes as a result of the audit including adding an increased accessibility function.

As part of our commitment to continuous improvement of our grant making processes, we ask both successful and unsuccessful applicants to rate their experience. The process is totally anonymous, as we recognise that applicants may not be totally honest if they feel that it might compromise a future application. We recognise the power imbalance between the grant maker and the grant seeker. Here’s what people told us about our application process:

“Although our application was unsuccessful, we were made to feel valued and respected throughout the whole process, and the context provided made it fully understandable why a grant was not awarded on this occasion. Thank you, we really appreciate the effort, support and care you provided for us, and for every applicant.”

“Shears are totally lovely. Supportive and, unlike many others, understand that costs increasing all the time, and they have always offered us an increased grant to match our costs. Phone support also very helpful. Not often that a funder shows genuine kindness as well as a much-appreciated grant.”

“It's really good to have a call with a person prior to completing an application. Not that many foundations do this, and I think it's a positive to the process, both for the applicant and the Foundation.”

“I just wanted to say that this has been one of the most enjoyable processes from start to finish I have encountered as a Fundraiser. I love that you ask for a conversation with every applicant before they apply; although some may think this laborious it was great to hear from the Foundation themselves whether it was worth us putting in the time to make the application.”

“As a fundraiser who completes multiple applications, each with unique requirements, I would say that you have struck the right balance with the questions and information required, as well as with the platform itself. Your process is straightforward and user-friendly, making it efficient to provide the necessary details without being overly time-consuming. Thank you for maintaining such a well-designed application process—it makes a noticeable difference!”

“I think the only improvement I'd suggest is encouraging other grant funders in your network to take onboard some of your ideas - the pre application call in particular is something that every funder should do.”

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The Shears Foundation The Shears Foundation APPLICANT FEEDBACK 100% OF OUR SUCCESSFUL APPLICANTS FELT THAT WE DIDN'T WASTE THEIR TIME ACTED WITH URGENCY AND WITHIN PROMISED TIMESCALES COMMUNICATED WITH PURPOSE WERE OPEN AND STrAIGHTFORWARD 187.5% of ￿￿[CesSfUl Icsaye P3.7A ofun￿[ce5￿uI F4icantsègrtt 187.5%ofmcttssful p3.7%rfu￿UeCeSsf OVER 81fA OF OUR APPLICANT5 FELT THAT THE TIME SPENT ON THE APPLICATION WAS PROPOATIONATE TO THESIZE OF GRANT ON OFFER HOW LONG DID IT TAKE APPLICANTS TO COMPLETE THE APPLICATIONT Eplttoten 17.2% TwOtofourhcAYS 89% OF OUR APPLICANTS FELT THAT WE ASKED QUESTIONS THAT WERE RELEVANT TO THEIR OAGANISATION AND THE APPLICATION Sixto e1grth￿ 17.2% Fowto 5LM hour5 345%

OPENNESS AND TRANSPARENCY

The Shears Foundation are committed to being as transparent as possible in their processes in recognition of the power imbalance that exist between those giving funds and those seeking funds. We believe that being open and honest is a key component of building trusting relationships with our partners, and that applies from the first time they come into contact with us. Transparency helps ensure that no-one wastes time on an application when there is little chance of success. We have improved transparency in the following ways:

• Through our pre-application phone calls.

• Through publishing our grant making policy on our website.

• Through publishing our scoring criteria on our website.

• Through our commitment to 360 Giving.

• Through providing information in this report that will help potential applicants.

• Through being open and honest about our success rates.

• Through providing feedback to unsuccessful applicants.

We are working to continually improve this transparency and have produced the table below which further breaks down our small grants programme success rates.

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Small grants programme success rates for 2024/5 (£3000 - £5750)

In 2024/5 we received a total of 210 applications for our small grants programme. This was a mix of people we had previously funded and people who were brand new to us or had previously had an unsuccessful application.

From the 210 applications, 65 were successful – just less than one in three of the total applications were successful – 32.8%

150 Applications from 60 Applications from people who organisations that hadn’t had previously received a grant previously had a grant from us from us 150 applications received of which 34 were 60 applications received of which 34 were successful. So, if you are a new applicant then successful. So, if you are a previous recipient then you have a slightly less than a one in four chance you have a higher than a one in two chance of of being approved within your peer group. being approved within your peer group.

OUR INVESTMENTS

The Shears Foundation uses three Investment Managers to manage the Shears Foundation assets with the aim of growing the assets and providing funds for grant making and other costs.

The trustees would like to thank our investment managers – LGT, James Hambro and Waverton for their support over the course of the year.

In the year from 1[st] April 2024 to 31st March 2025 the total investments dropped from £18,728,564 to £18,345,669 a reduction in fund value of 2.03%

Total return (investment growth and the funds we have withdrawn for grant making and costs) for the period was +2.4%.

FINANCIAL REVIEW

Total income for the period was £489,350 (2024: £355,535) The foundation's income is mainly derived from investments held. Investment income during the period was £376,850 (2024: £255,535). Trustees have full and absolute powers to invest at their discretion as they see fit for the benefit of the foundation. At the year end the foundation's reserves were £17,861,481 (2024: £18,103,668).

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RESERVES POLICY

The trustees have reviewed the position and consider that the funds are sufficient to continue the current activities of the foundation. The free unrestricted reserves at the end of the year were £17,861,481.

Due to the nature of the Charity the Trustees consider the level of reserves to be minimal to cover six months administration costs including legal fees and travel expenses, this being approximately £90,000. The investment income each year is sufficient to cover these costs and the grant policy.

Heel and Toe were awarded a £5,610 grant in July 2024.

Rebound Therapy is part of the wide programme run by Heel and Toe. This unique form of therapy uses a trampoline to provide a fun and engaging way for children with disabilities to improve their physical well-being. As a result of our funding, they have found that children have shown significant improvements in their core strength, balance, and confidence. The

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benefits of this programme have also helped to boost their overall happiness and selfesteem.

OUR COMMITMENT TO THE IVAR PRINCIPLES

In 2021 The Shears Foundation committed to the Institute of Voluntary Action Research (IVAR) Flexible Funders programme, which outlines 8 pledges to improve our grant making. During the year we took part in a peer review programme organised by IVAR which gave us the opportunity to refresh our pledges and look at how we would further develop our practice. In light of this we identified and implemented the following next steps in 2025 and beyond.

Don’t waste time

• We will undertake an accessibility audit of the website and implement the findings.

• We will review the application form for our grants against other grant makers making similar sized grants to ensure that the time taken is proportionate to the grant size.

• We will make more three-year, unrestricted grants.

Ask relevant questions

• We will review the information we ask for as part of the application process to ensure it is fully relevant to our decision-making process and we do not duplicate questions.

• We will further develop our pre-application phone calls to ensure these are as helpful as possible to both the potential applicant and the information we need as part of our decision-making processes.

Accept risk

• We will increase the number of multi-year, unrestricted grants that we offer by introducing a grants programme that sits between our SMALL GRANTS PROGRAMME and our STRATEGIC core grants programme.

Act with urgency

• We will ensure we always stick to the published timescales on our website.

Be open

• We will make it compulsory for trustees to give a reason for rejecting an applications and we will share these reasons with unsuccessful applicants.

• We will make better use of 360 Giving (which we already publish to) and use their WIDGETS on our website to make this data more accessible and readily available to potential applicants.

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Enable flexibility

• We will ensure that our key message of flexibility is well communicated throughout the grants process.

• We will increase the number of unrestricted grants we make.

Communicate with purpose

• We will further develop the robustness of all communication throughout the application process to ensure applicants have a clear idea of the level of competition / success ratios.

• We will undertake an accessibility audit of the website and implement the findings.

• We will ensure that applicants with a lower chance of success are informed of this early in the process (through our phone calls).

• We will strive to ensure, through such communication, that our success ratio always remains above 1 in 3.

Be proportionate

• We will review the application form for our grants against other grant makers making similar sized grants to ensure that the time taken is proportionate to the grant size.

• We will review the information we ask for as part of the application process to ensure it is fully relevant to our decision-making process and we do not duplicate questions.

• We will use light touch monitoring / feedback after year one and year two of our threeyear grants and will accept generic reports, rather than asking for a bespoke report.

OUR COMMITMENT TO 360 GIVING

The Shears Foundation has continued to publish grants data to 360 Giving. This is a charity that helps organisations to publish open, standardised grants data, and supports people to use it to improve charitable giving. Up to 31[s][t ] March 2025 we have published 207 grants on 360 Giving. By being part of 360 Giving we help charities in their fundraising by being totally transparent and open about the types of organisations that we support; their locations; the size of our grants and the frequency of our support. This is an invaluable tool for grant seekers.

THE LINDEN FUND

As well as The Shears Foundation, Trevor and Lyn Shears set up an additional fund with The Community Foundation for Tyne Wear and Northumberland which they manage, with discretionary powers to award grants to charitable organisations - with the broad theme of tackling poverty and disadvantage. In 2024/25 The Linden Fund distributed 20 grants totalling £107,326. On 31[st ] March 2025 the fund value was £2.46 million.

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Cap-a-Pie were awarded a £5,496 grant in October 2024.

Cap-a-Pie is a theatre company that inspires thinking and learning. Since 1996 they have specialised in bringing people together to take part in a shared creative process.

They work with lots of different people and types of organisations to create touring theatre and community and education projects. They partner with those engaged in thinking, learning and discovery including communities, educators, researchers and scientists.

Our broader role in the sector

In addition to our commitment to IVAR and 360 Giving, we have committed to developing and promoting good grant making practice across the wider sector.

Bruce Warnes, our Foundation Manager is a board member of Yorkshire Funders. A charity that provides opportunities for local funding organisations of all sizes and from all sectors to think, share, learn and act together in order to be more effective and boost their impact on Yorkshire people and places.

Bruce Warnes and Carla Greenwood have attended a total of eight CPD / training opportunities within the year.

Bruce Warnes also sits on the Harrogate Local Fund grants panel, contributing to a programme of small grant making in that area.

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Mark Horner, our chair, regularly attends meetings of the North East Trusts Secretaries group where many of the grant funders in the north east come together to share information, practice and current challenges.

OUR 2024 AGM – LOOKING FORWARD

The Shears Foundation AGM is the main opportunity for staff and trustees to come together; review our progress and achievements and strategically plan for the year ahead. The 2024 AGM was attended by all eight trustees, our Honorary Lifetime Patron; our new administrator; three ambassadors and three guests. A proper family affair!

Key decisions that were made at our 2024 AGM were:

• Formal adoption of Social Media, Risk and Internal Financial Controls Policies.

• Agreement to increase our small grant limit from £5,750 to £6,000.

• Agreement to make 2025/26 a £1m grants year to meet Lyn Shears’ long-term aspiration and to play our part in meeting the funding challenges that organisations are facing.

• Agreement to set a draw down rate for 2025/26 to facilitate this level of draw down.

• To begin a process of increasing multi-year funding to selected groups.

• To undertake an accessibility audit on our website.

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• To form a 3-year strategic funding partnership with Two Ridings Community Foundation York Fund.

• To welcome Alzheimer’s Research and Water Harvest as new core groups.

OUR THANK YOU TO OUR HONORARY LIFETIME PATRON, LYN SHEARS

Lyn Shears continues in her role as Honorary Lifetime Patron for the Shears Foundation CIO. Without Lyn and Trevor's passion for philanthropy and giving something back to the community, there would be no Shears Foundation and no story to tell about the incredible charities we are able to support. The current trustees want to thank Lyn for the vision, commitment and enthusiasm which has created the blueprint for how we do things now.

The trustees also want to thank Lyn for her generous personal donation of £100,000 in the year (on which we were able to claim gift aid) which boosted our grant making capacity by £112,500.

During the year, several Patron’s Fund grants were made in honour of Lyn. A Patron’s fund grant is a top up to a small grant (typically to take the grant to £10,000). These special awards are the trustees’ way of celebrating Lyn’s wonderful generosity and vision in starting The Shears Foundation. These top ups are only given to organisations that have a particular relevance and resonance to the Shears Foundation's own ethos and priorities.

In 2024/25 the following organisations received Patron’s Fund awards:

• Baby Equipment and Loan Service

• Cowpen Quay Community Association

• Basecamp Adventure Trust

• Contact Hostel

• Frozen Light Theatre

• Children’s Heart Unit Fund (CHUF)

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The Shears Foundation GRANT OVERVIEW 202412025 • Core Grants • Small Grants • Special grants Mll 20

The Shears Foundation GEOGRAPHY 202412025 Tyne, Wear & Northumberland • Manchester Bradford York & Harrogate •UK International 71JO 13.4% £•5,750 38.4% 93,739 IiJ% 21

The Shears Foundation CATEGORIES 202412025 • Education Community Environment Culture and the Arts • Health and Medicine 13.4% •4,786 16.2%

•.•x C67,m 22

Jennyruth Workshops were awarded a £5,750 grant in April 2024.

Jennyruth Workshops is a registered charity dedicated to providing meaningful work and skills development opportunities for adults who have learning disabilities.

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STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT

The foundation is a charitable incorporated organisation constituted under the constitution dated 1 July 2023 and is a registered charity. The foundation was established by an initial gilt from TH Shears in 1994 and he added further funds in 1997, 2006, 2008, 2009 and 2010. The foundation does not actively fundraise and seeks to continue the philanthropic work desired by the donor through careful stewardship of its existing resources.

Trustees are recruited, when necessary, by the continuing trustees. New trustees are given appropriate induction to allow them to perform their duties effectively and ongoing training is provided as required to enable the trustees to fulfil their obligations.

The trustees agree the broad strategy and areas of activity of the foundation including consideration of grant making decisions.

PRINCIPAL RISKS AND UNCERTAINTIES

The trustees of the Shears Foundation have a duty to identify and review the risks that the charity is exposed to and to ensure appropriate controls are in place to provide reasonable reassurance against fraud, error and reputational damage. The trustees have identified four key risks which are the reliance on the investment portfolio performance, errors in payments of grant funding, grants being used for purposes other than intended by the recipients and the reputational risk of unapproved related party transactions.

The trustees are confident that sufficient mitigations have been implemented.

FUTURE PLANS

The foundation will continue to provide grants from the income received on investments and from the capital funds as the trustees see fit.

TRUSTEES' RESPONSIBILITIES STATEMENT

The trustees are responsible for preparing the Trustees' Annual Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

The law applicable to charities in England & Wales requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and of the incoming resources and application of resources of the charity for that period.

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

• select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;

• observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP 2019 (FRS 102);

• make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;

24

• state whether applicable accounting standards have been followed, subject to any

• material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements:

• prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in operation.

The trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charities Act, the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 and the provisions of the trust deed. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

AUDITOR

BHP LLP were appointed as auditors in the year and have expressed willingness to continue in office. In accordance with S485(4) of the Companies Act 2006 a resolution to reappoint BHP LLP as auditors will be proposed at the Annual General Meeting.

DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION TO THE AUDITOR

We, the directors of the company who held office at the date of approval of these Financial Statements as set out above each confirm, so far as we are aware, that:

• there is no relevant audit information of which the company's auditors are unaware; and

• we have taken all the steps that we ought to have taken as directors in order to make ourselves aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the company's auditors are aware of that information.

Approved by order of the board of trustees and signed on its behalf by

BC Warnes Trustee

25

THE SHEARS FOUNDATION

INDEPENDENT AUDITORS' REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF THE SHEARS FOUNDATION

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of The Shears Foundation (the ‘charity’) for the year ended 31 March 2025, which comprise the statement of financial activities, the balance sheet, the statement of cash flows and notes to the financial statements, including significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

In our opinion the financial statements:

• give a true and fair view of the state of the charity’s affairs as at 31 March 2025, and of its incoming resources and application of resources, including its income and expenditure, for the year then ended;

• have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice; and

• have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011.

Basis for opinion

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the auditor responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the charity in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC’s Ethical Standard, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

Conclusions relating to going concern

In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the trustees' use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.

Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the charity’s ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.

Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the trustees with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.

Other information

The other information comprises the information included in the trustees' report, other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. The trustees are responsible for the other information. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon. Our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the course of the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.

We have nothing to report in this regard.

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THE SHEARS FOUNDATION

INDEPENDENT AUDITORS' REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF THE SHEARS FOUNDATION (CONTINUED)

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:

• the information given in the trustees' report is inconsistent in any material respect with the financial statements; or

• sufficient accounting records have not been kept; or

• the charity's financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or

• we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit.

Responsibilities of trustees

As explained more fully in the trustees’ responsibilities statement, the trustees are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the trustees determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

In preparing the financial statements, the trustees are responsible for assessing the charity’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the trustees either intend to liquidate the charity or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

Auditor responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

We have been appointed as auditor under section 144 of the Charities Act 2011 and report in accordance with the Act and relevant regulations made or having effect thereunder.

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor’s report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.

Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud is detailed below:

• the engagement partner ensured that the engagement team collectively had the appropriate competence, capabilities and skills to identify or recognise non-compliance with applicable laws and regulations;

• we identified the laws and regulations applicable to the charitable company through discussions with directors and other management, and from our commercial knowledge and experiences of the charity's sector;

• we focussed on specific laws and regulations which we considered may have a direct material effect on the financial statements or the operations of the charitable company, including the Charities Act 2011, Companies Act 2006, taxation legislation and data protection, employment and health and safety legislation;

• we assessed the extent of compliance with the laws and regulations identified above through making enquiries of management and inspecting legal correspondence throughout;

• identified laws and regulations were communicated within the audit team regularly and the team remained alert to instances of non-compliance throughout the audit.

Page 27

THE SHEARS FOUNDATION

INDEPENDENT AUDITORS' REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF THE SHEARS FOUNDATION (CONTINUED)

We assessed the susceptibility of the charitable company's financial statements to material misstatement, including obtaining an understanding of how fraud might occur, by;

• making enquiries of management as to where they considered there was susceptibility to fraud, their knowledge of actual, suspected and alleged fraud; and

• considering the internal controls in place to mitigate risks of fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulations.

To address the risks of fraud through management bias and override controls, we:

• performed analytical procedures to identify any unusual or unexpected relationships;

• tested journal entries to identify unusual transactions;

• assessed whether judgements and assumptions made in determining the accounting estimates were indicative of potential bias; and

• investigated the rationale behind significant or unusual transactions.

In response to the risk of irregularities and non-compliance with laws and regulations, we designed procedures which included, but were not limited to:

• agreeing financial statement disclosures to underlying supporting documentation;

• reading the minutes of meetings of those charged with governance; and

• enquiring of management as to actual and potential litigation and claims.

There are inherent limitations in our audit procedures described above. The more removed that laws and regulations are from financial transactions, the less likely it is that we would become aware of non-compliance. Auditing standards also limit the audit procedures required to identify non-compliance with laws and regulations to enquiry of the directors and other management and the inspection of regulatory and legal correspondence.

Material misstatements that arise due to fraud can be harder to detect than those that arise from error as they may involve deliberate concealment or collusion.

A further description of our responsibilities is available on the FRC's website at: www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our auditor’s report.

Use of our report

This report is made solely to the charity’s trustees, as a body, in accordance with Part 4 of the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charity’s trustees those matters we are required to state to them in an auditor’s report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charity and the charity’s trustees as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

BHP LLP

Statutory Auditor 1 St Mary's Court Blossom Street York YO24 1AH

Date:

BHP LLP is eligible to act as an auditor in terms of section 1212 of the Companies Act 2006.

Page 28

THE SHEARS FOUNDATION

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

Note Income from: Donations and legacies 3 Investments 4 Total income Expenditure on: Raising funds 5 Charitable activities 6 Total expenditure Net expenditure before net gains on investments Net gains on investments 11 Net movement in funds Reconciliation of funds: Total funds brought forward Net movement in funds Total funds carried forward 14	Unrestricted funds 2025 £ 112,500 376,850 489,350 126,509 803,951 930,460 (441,110) 198,923 (242,187) 18,103,668 (242,187) 17,861,481	Total funds 2025 £ 112,500 376,850 489,350 126,509 803,951 930,460 (441,110) 198,923 (242,187) 18,103,668 (242,187) 17,861,481	Total funds 2024 £ 100,000 255,535 355,535 89,101 811,316 900,417 (544,882) 1,903,104 1,358,222 16,745,446 1,358,222 18,103,668

The Statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year. All income and expenditure has arisen from continuing activities.

The notes on pages 31 to 43 form part of these financial statements.

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THE SHEARS FOUNDATION

BALANCE SHEET

AS AT 31 MARCH 2025

Note Fixed assets Investments 11 Current assets Cash at bank and in hand Current liabilities Creditors: amounts falling due within one year 12 Net current liabilities Total assets less current liabilities Creditors: amounts falling due after more than one year 13 Total net assets Charity funds Unrestricted funds 14 Total funds	139,355 139,355 (503,543)	2025 £ 18,345,669 18,345,669 (364,188) 17,981,481 (120,000) 17,861,481 17,861,481 17,861,481	157,411 157,411 (512,307)	2024 £ 18,728,564 18,728,564 (354,896) 18,373,668 (270,000) 18,103,668 18,103,668 18,103,668

The financial statements were approved and authorised for issue by the Trustees and signed on their behalf by:

B Warnes

Date:

The notes on pages 31 to 43 form part of these financial statements.

Page 30

THE SHEARS FOUNDATION

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

1. Accounting policies

1.1 Basis of preparation of financial statements

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the Charities SORP (FRS 102) - Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2019), the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) and the Charities Act 2011.

The financial statements have been prepared to give a 'true and fair' view and have departed from the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 only to the extent required to provide a 'true and fair' view. This departure has involved following the Charities SORP (FRS 102) published in October 2019 rather than the Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice effective from 1 April 2005 which has since been withdrawn.

The Shears Foundation meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS 102. Assets and liabilities are initially recognised at historical cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policy.

The financial statements are presenting in sterling and rounded to the nearest £1.

The charity presents its financial statements for a twelve month period from 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025. The comparative figures are presented for a nine month period from 1 July 2023 to 31 March 2024. For this reason, the comparative figures are not comparable.

1.2 Going concern

Due to the level of reserves held, the Trustees have concluded that the charity remains a going concern whilst such viable options are available to it. The Trustees therefore continue to adopt the going concern basis of preparation for these financial statements.

1.3 Income

All income is recognised once the charity has entitlement to the income, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount of income receivable can be measured reliably.

Voluntary income is received by way of donations. Donations are included in fuil in the Statement of Financial Activities when receivable.

Investment income is recognised at the time it is receivable.

1.4 Expenditure

Expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to transfer economic benefit to a third party, it is probable that a transfer of economic benefits will be required in settlement and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably.

Expenditure on raising funds includes all expenditure incurred by the charity to raise funds for its charitable purposes and includes costs of all fundraising activities events and non-charitable trading.

Page 31

THE SHEARS FOUNDATION

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

1. Accounting policies (continued)

1.4 Expenditure (continued)

Expenditure on charitable activities is incurred on directly undertaking the activities which further the charity's objectives, as well as any associated support costs.

1.5 Grants payable

Grants payable are charged in the period when the offer is made except in those cases where the offer is conditional, such grants being recognised as expenditure when the conditions attaching are fulfilled. Grants offered subject to conditions which have not been met at the period end are noted as a commitment, but not accrued as expenditure.

1.6 Taxation

The charity is considered to pass the tests set out in Paragraph 1 Schedule 6 of the Finance Act 2010 and therefore it meets the definition of a charitable company for UK corporation tax purposes. Accordingly, the charity is potentially exempt from taxation in respect of income or capital gains received within categories covered by Chapter 3 Part 11 of the Corporation Tax Act 2010 or Section 256 of the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992, to the extent that such income or gains are applied exclusively to charitable purposes.

1.7 Investments

Fixed asset investments are a form of financial instrument and are initially recognised at their transaction cost and subsequently measured at fair value at the Balance sheet date, unless the value cannot be measured reliably in which case it is measured at cost less impairment. Investment gains and losses, whether realised or unrealised, are combined and presented as ‘Gains/(Losses) on investments’ in the Statement of financial activities.

1.8 Cash at bank and in hand

Cash at bank and in hand includes cash and short-term highly liquid investments with a short maturity of three months or less from the date of acquisition or opening of the deposit or similar account.

1.9 Liabilities and provisions

Liabilities are recognised when there is an obligation at the Balance sheet date as a result of a past event, it is probable that a transfer of economic benefit will be required in settlement, and the amount of the settlement can be estimated reliably.

Liabilities are recognised at the amount that the charity anticipates it will pay to settle the debt or the amount it has received as advanced payments for the goods or services it must provide.

Provisions are measured at the best estimate of the amounts required to settle the obligation. Where the effect of the time value of money is material, the provision is based on the present value of those amounts, discounted at the pre-tax discount rate that reflects the risks specific to the liability. The unwinding of the discount is recognised in the Statement of financial activities as a finance cost.

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THE SHEARS FOUNDATION

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

1. Accounting policies (continued)

1.10 Fund accounting

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

Investment income, gains and losses are allocated to the appropriate fund.

Further explanation of the nature and purpose of each fund is included in the notes to the financial statements.

1.11 Employee benefits

The costs of short-term employee benefits are recognised as a liability and an expense. The cost of any unused holiday entitlement is recognised in the period in which the employee's services are received.

Termination benefits are recognised immediately as an expense when the company is demonstrably committed to terminate the employment of an employee or to provide termination benefits.

2. Critical accounting estimates and areas of judgment

Estimates and judgments are continually evaluated and are based on historical experience and other factors, including expectations of future events that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances.

Critical accounting estimates and assumptions:

The charity makes estimates and assumptions concerning the future. The resulting accounting estimates and assumptions will, by definition, seldom equal the related actual results. The trustees do not consider there to be any key estimates in preparing the financial statements.

3. Income from donations and legacies

Donations Total 2024	Unrestricted funds 2025 £ 112,500 100,000	Total funds 2025 £ 112,500 100,000	Total funds 2024 £ 100,000

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THE SHEARS FOUNDATION

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

4. Investment income

Investment income Total 2024	Unrestricted funds 2025 £ 376,850 255,535	Total funds 2025 £ 376,850 255,535	Total funds 2024 £ 255,535

5. Expenditure on raising funds

Investment management costs

Investment management charges Total 2024	Unrestricted funds 2025 £ 126,509 89,101	Total funds 2025 £ 126,509 89,101	Total funds 2024 £ 89,101

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THE SHEARS FOUNDATION

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

6. Analysis of expenditure on charitable activities

Summary by fund type

Grants committed (note 8) Management Finance Governance costs Total 2024 Grants committed (note 8) Management Finance Governance costs Total 2024	Grant funding of activities 2025 £ 714,371 - - - 714,371 738,215	Unrestricted funds 2025 £ 714,371 69,179 158 20,243 803,951 811,316 Support costs 2025 £ - 69,179 158 20,243 89,580 73,101	Total 2025 £ 714,371 69,179 158 20,243 803,951 811,316 Total funds 2025 £ 714,371 69,179 158 20,243 803,951 811,316	Total 2024 £ 738,215 45,827 177 27,097
				811,316
				Total funds 2024 £ 738,215 45,827 177 27,097
				811,316

Page 35

THE SHEARS FOUNDATION

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

. Analysis of expenditure by activities (continued)

Analysis of support costs

Staff costs Consultancy Administration costs Website Bank charges Trustees' expenses Auditors' remuneration Legal and professional fees Total 2024	Management 2025 £ 11,334 38,480 2,643 16,722 - - - - 69,179 45,827	Finance 2025 £ - - - - 158 - - - 158 177	Governance 2025 £ - - - - - 6,203 13,200 840 20,243 27,097	Total funds 2025 £ 11,334 38,480 2,643 16,722 158 6,203 13,200 840 89,580 73,101	Total funds 2024 £ 4,392 33,755 3,432 4,248 177 5,830 17,220 4,047
					73,101

7. Auditors' remuneration

	2025	2024
	£	£
Fees payable to the charity's auditor for the audit of the charity's annual accounts	9,975	9,500
Fees payable to the charity's auditor in respect of:
All non-audit services not included above	1,575	1,500

Page 36

THE SHEARS FOUNDATION

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

8. Analysis of grants payable

	Brought forward	Committed in the year (note 6)	Paid during year	Released/ adjusted	Carried forward
	£	£	£	£	£
Alzheimer's Research	-	45,000	(15,000)	-	30,000
BasecampAdventure Trust	-	10,000	(10,000)	-	-
Bradford Grammar School	100,000	-	(50,000)	-	50,000
Bradford 2025(Cityof Culture)	-	60,000	(20,000)	-	40,000
British Red Cross	-	15,000	(15,000)	-	-
ChangingLives	40,000	-	(20,000)	-	20,000
Childrens' Heart Unit Fund	-	10,000	-	-	10,000
Community Foundation for Tyne, Wear & Northumberland	80,000	-	(80,000)	-	-
Contact Hostel	-	10,000	(10,000)	-	-
Frozen Light	-	10,000	(10,000)	-	-
Haemochromatosis UK	40,000	-	(20,000)	-	20,000
Heart Wood	10,000	5,750	(10,000)	-	5,750
Karuna Trust	15,000	-	(15,000)	-	-
NSPCC	30,000	-	(15,000)	-	15,000
ORCA	10,000	5,750	(10,000)	-	5,750
Royal College of Surgeons	60,000	-	(30,000)	-	30,000
Sampling Institute for Young Singers	60,000	-	(30,000)	-	30,000
St. Oswald's Hospice	60,000	-	(30,000)	-	30,000
The Glasshouse International Centre for Music	-	45,000	(15,000)	-	30,000
The Prince's Trust	30,000	-	(15,000)	-	15,000
Two Ridings Community Foundation	40,000	-	(20,000)	-	20,000
Two Ridings York Fund	-	60,000	-	-	60,000
Water Harvest	-	45,000	(15,000)	-	30,000
West End Refugee Service	45,000	-	(15,000)	-	30,000
WhitleyFund for Nature	60,000	-	(30,000)	-	30,000
WWF(World Wildlife Fund)	-	45,000	(15,000)	-	30,000
Total Grants over £10k	680,000	366,500	(515,000)	-	531,500

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THE SHEARS FOUNDATION

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

	Brought forward	Committed in the year (note 6)	Paid during year	Released/ adjusted	Carried Forward
Grants under £10k by category
Creating stronger, better and more sustainable communities	44,000	147,774	(151,954)	-	39,820
Promoting health and medicine with an emphasis on research or education	5,500	28,293	(28,176)	-	5,617
The development and provision of educational opportunities for adults and/or chlildren	27,500	109,945	(113,360)	-	24,085
The development of culture and arts	11,000	61,859	(63,539)	-	9,320
Total grants under 10k	88,000	347,871	(357,029)	-	78,842
Total grants in 2025	768,000	714,371	(872,029)	-	610,342

Included within creditors are the following grants payable.

Grants due in under one year Grants due in over one year Staff costs Wages and salaries Social security costs Contribution to defined contribution pension schemes	2025 £ 490,342 120,000 610,342 2025 £ 10,983 - 351 11,334	2024 £ 498,000 270,000
		768,000
		2024 £ 3,818 460 114
		4,392

9. Staff costs

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THE SHEARS FOUNDATION

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

9. Staff costs (continued)

The average number of persons employed by the charity during the year was as follows:

2025	2024
No.	No.
1	1

No employee received remuneration amounting to more than £60,000 in either year.

Key management personnel are considered to be the trustees.

10. Trustees' remuneration and expenses

During the year, one trustee received remuneration for non-Trustee related services (2024: one), as disclosed in note 18. No other Trustees received an rumuneration of benefits in the current of previous year.

During the year ended 31 March 2025, expenses totalling £6,203 were reimbursed or paid directly to 2 Trustees (2024 - £5,830 to 2 Trustees) in respect of travelling expenses.

11. Fixed asset investments

	Listed investments	Total 2025	Total 2024
	£	£	£
Cost or valuation
At 1 April 2024	18,388,110	18,388,110	16,805,221
Additions	3,377,093	3,377,093	2,597,105
Disposalproceeds	(3,910,708)	(3,910,708)	(2,917,320)
Revaluations	198,923	198,923	1,903,104
At 31 March 2025	18,053,418	18,053,418	18,388,110
Investment cash	292,251	292,251	340,454
At 31 March 2025	18,345,669	18,345,669	18,728,564
Historical cost	14,993,776	14,993,776	15,550,506

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THE SHEARS FOUNDATION

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

12. Creditors: Amounts falling due within one year

Other creditors Accruals Included in accruals are grants payable of £490,342 (2024: £498,000).	2025 £ - 503,543 503,543	2024 £ 1,107 511,200
		512,307

13. Creditors: Amounts falling due after more than one year

	2025	2024
	£	£
Accruals	120,000	270,000

Accruals falling due after one year all relate to grants payable.

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THE SHEARS FOUNDATION

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

14. Statement of funds Statement of funds - current year Unrestricted funds General fund Statement of funds - prior year Balance at 1 July 2023 £ Unrestricted funds General fund (185,013) Endowment funds Capital fund 16,930,459 Total of funds 16,745,446	Balance at 1 April 2024 £ 18,103,668 Income £ 355,535 - 355,535	Income £ 489,350 Expenditure £ (900,417) - (900,417)	Expenditure £ (930,460) Transfers in/out £ 16,930,459 (16,930,459) -	Gains/ (Losses) £ 198,923 Gains/ (Losses) £ 1,903,104 - 1,903,104	Balance at 31 March 2025 £ 17,861,481
					Balance at 31 March 2024 £ 18,103,668
					-
					18,103,668

The unrestricted funds represents the unrestricted resources available for the general work of the Foundation.

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THE SHEARS FOUNDATION

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

15. Summary of funds

Summary of funds - current year

General funds	- prior year Balance at 1 July 2023 £ (185,013) 16,930,459 16,745,446	Balance at 1 April 2024 £ 18,103,668 Income £ 355,535 - 355,535	Income £ 489,350 Expenditure £ (900,417) - (900,417)	Expenditure £ (930,460) Transfers in/out £ 16,930,459 (16,930,459) -	Gains/ (Losses) £ 198,923 Gains/ (Losses) £ 1,903,104 - 1,903,104	Balance at 31 March 2025 £ 17,861,481
						Balance at 31 March 2024 £ 18,103,668 -
Summary of funds
General funds Endowment funds
						18,103,668

16. Analysis of net assets between funds

Analysis of net assets between funds - current year

Fixed asset investments Current assets Creditors due within one year Creditors due in more than one year Total	Unrestricted funds 2025 £ 18,345,669 139,355 (503,543) (120,000) 17,861,481	Total funds 2025 £ 18,345,669 139,355 (503,543) (120,000)
		17,861,481

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THE SHEARS FOUNDATION

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

16. Analysis of net assets between funds (continued)

Analysis of net assets between funds - prior year

Fixed asset investments Current assets Creditors due within one year Creditors due in more than one year Total	Unrestricted funds 2024 £ 18,728,564 157,411 (512,307) (270,000) 18,103,668	Total funds 2024 £ 18,728,564 157,411 (512,307) (270,000)
		18,103,668

17. Analysis of cash and cash equivalents

Cash in hand Cash in investments	2025 £ 139,355 292,251 431,606	2024 £ 157,411 340,454
		497,865

18. Pension commitments

The charitable company operates a defined contribution pension scheme. The pension cost charge represents contributions payable by the charitable company to the fund and amounted to £351 (2024: £114). Contributions of £nil (2024: £75) were payable to the fund at the balance sheet date and are included in creditors.

19. Related party transactions

During the period fees of £38,480 (2024: £33,755) were paid to B Warnes, a trustee, for the provision of management services. Payment of these fees for services provided to the charity has been approved by the Charity Commission.

During the period the charity received £100,000 (2024: £80,000) from L G Shears OBE, a close family member of a number of the Trustees and a former Trustee of the predecessor charity. The charity was able to claim gift aid of a further £12,500 (2024: £20,000) on the total donated.

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