Charity Registration No 200463 

## Charity[information] 

1 

## Age Concern Luton 

Trustees’ report 2-16 

Independent auditors’ report 17-20 

Statement of financial activities 21 

Balance sheet 22 Statement of cash flows 23 Notes to the financial statements 24-36 



## Age Concern Luton 

## Charity information 

|Trustees and members|Dr Siva Puthrasingam|
|---|---|
|of executivecommittee|MrAneel Sharma|
||Ms Maxine Braham|
||Dr Osei Adjei (passed away February 2021)|
||Mr Derek Ludlow CBE DL|
||Ms Beverley Creagh|
|Patron|Professor Greg WhyteOBE|
|Director|Mrs Colette McKeaveney MBE DL|
|Charity number|200463|
|Head office|Bradbury House|
||39 King Street|
||Luton|
||Bedfordshire|
||LU1 2DW|
|Auditors|Steve Monico Limited<br>19 Goldington Road|
||Bedford|
||MK40 3JY|
|Bankers|Yorkshire Bank|
||2—4 George Street|
||Luton|
||LU1 2QB|
||NatWest Bank|
||81 High Street|
||Bedford|
||MK401NE|



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## Age Concern Luton 

## Trustees’ report For the year ended 31 March 2021 

The members of the executive committee and the Trustees present their Report, Statement of Financial Activities and Balance Sheet for the year ended 31 March 2021. 

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in note 1 to the accounts and comply with the charity’s trust deed, the Charities Act 2011 and Accounting and the Charities Statement of Recommended Practice (second edition) and Financial Reporting Standard FRS 102. 

## Organisation 

The organisation is a registered charity, registered with a standard Age Concern Constitution. The charity is unincorporated, however this and other matters related to the charity structure is under review. The charity is not affiliated to any other charity, local or national. The Trustees administer the charity and work closely with the management team and volunteers to ensure that the charity meets the needs of the local community. 

All Trustees have lived experience either as older people or carers of older people and this enables them to bring empathy and insight to their role. The charity is also fortunate to have a Board which reflects the cultural diversity of the town. 

Trustees are eligible to stand for election as older people living in Luton, by virtue of their role as representatives of older persons’ organisations, or because through their work they have a special knowledge or interest in older people’s issues. Current Trustees are drawn from medical, legal, financial, media, and managerial backgrounds both in industry and the voluntary sector. A third of trustees retire by rotation each year. 

There are no formal sub-committees, however from time to time Task and Finish sub-groups may be formed. The Trustee retiring by rotation is Ms Maxine Braham who has stood for re-election. Dr Osei Adjei sadly died in February 2021; his contribution was immense and he is sadly missed by all of us at Age Concern Luton. 

All decisions are taken by the main body of Trustees at their meetings, including setting the remuneration of the charity’s key management personnel. A Strategic Plan informs the decisionmaking process. 

None of the trustees receive renumeration or other benefit from the charity. There are no contractual or nonpecuniary connections between trustees or senior managers. No related party transactions have taken place during the year. 

The Director has delegated authority within terms set by the Trustees for operational matters which includes service delivery, employment of staff and finance. 

## Trustee training 

Training needs of the Trustees are assessed periodically and cover training necessary to comply with Charity Commission guidance and the various regulatory frameworks in which the charity operates. When a new Trustee is appointed, a full programme of induction takes place to meet the needs of the new Trustee appropriate to the size of the charity. Periodically the Board undertake awaydays to consider the development of the charity and their personal contribution. 

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## Age Concern Luton Trustees’ report For the year ended 31 March 2021 

## Objectives and Activities 

## Charitable objectives and reporting under Public Benefit 

Age Concern Luton’s objectives continue in accordance with its Constitution. The charity's purpose is to provide the most comprehensive help and support possible for all older people in Luton so that they, together with their carers, may continue to have as full and independenta lifestyle as possible. Although Covid-19 restrictions changed some of the methods of delivery we remained open and working seven days per week all through the year. Briefly, the Charity provided support to around 12,000 older people through direct regular service, one-off advice sessions, talks and/or crisis interventions. This is almost half of all Luton’s residents aged over 65 years of age. 

The charity's stated mission is to make Luton a great place in which to live and grow old. 

The charity’s values are: 

- Compassion and caring for people in need of help and support 

- - Taking responsibility and being accountable - Using resources and money creatively and wisely 

- Being resourceful and proactive in problem solving 

- Creating and nurturing community spirit so that every older person has support 

- - Generosity and kindness 

In setting the charity's objectives and planning its aims and objectives and future activities the Trustees have considered the Charity Commission's general guidance on public benefit. The main aims and objectives of the charity are: 

- To provide services which meet the needs of older people and increase their quality of living; 

- To enable older people to remain living in their own property by bringing services into their homes; 

- To give older people choices about their lifestyle and to help them develop resilience; 

- - To advocate for and raise awareness of the needs and preferences of older people and increase the range of services available to them; 

- To ensure access to the services is readily available to all older people who need them. 

The Charity delivers various services free at the point of delivery including Advice and Information, Handyman, Hospital Discharge support, Befriending and Wellbeing. In addition, we provide crisis support through food parcels, heater loans and any other practical means to alleviate hardship. We provide advocacy and support for older people, particularly where they do not have any support from family or friends, this includes supporting people to raise complaints about the care they are receiving, challenge decisions about their support or support them through Tribunals, proceedings or safeguarding investigations. Thanks to the generosity of our supporters no group of older people is excluded by reasons of economic hardship and our service planning ensures we monitor service uptake and address any underrepresented groups. 

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## Age Concern Luton 

## Trustees’ report For the year ended 31 March 2021 

## Charitable objectives and reporting under Public Benefit (continued) 

Despite the difficulties of Covid tier restrictions and several periods of lockdown we have continued to be active and visible within our community. This has been a year of rapid change, reacting and revising our operational plans each day. We remained open at our King St office, operating what rapidly became an emergency service. Four key staff were on hand to co-ordinate activities and to handle the huge call volume which continued throughout the year: we often handled a months’ worth of referrals from 17 agencies and other individuals in just one day. These staff were also on hand to support those older people who turned up at the office, unable to get emergency help and often unaware or unable to understand that there were restrictions due to dementia, mental illness or simply being so desperate they were prepared to flout the rules. Demand for crisis help rose dramatically, particularly as food shortages increased in supermarkets. As a team, with the support of many volunteers, we spent countless hours listening to people who were confused, angry or grieving and providing advice, information, and reassurance in addition to delivering practical help. 

Throughout the pandemic we prioritised a daily operational briefing to be shared with referring partners so that they could entrust older folk in need to us safely and with confidence. If Age Concern Luton had been unable to continue our work within lockdown, we do not believe that there would have been sufficient resilience within local systems to meet the 4,000 unique shops and 7,500 meals worth of food parcels we provided during Wave 1 and continue to provide through Wave 2 and beyond. 

Most staff were able to work from home, but they also continued to be there for older people and their carers throughout the course of the pandemic. 

With the support of our funders we produced a magazine and guide to help people navigate and locate help during lockdown. We have also featured, almost monthly on local radio or in the press. Through the pandemic we have also worked with journalists and appeared in several BBC /ITV features on older people’s views and experiences of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

During the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic we also quickly adapted our services to ensure that help was readily available to people aged over 70 who were previously coping well but now required to shield or self-isolate. During the first wave alone, we directly helped 375 households with weekly shopping,150 households with occasional shopping, we provided 4,000 meals and spoke to 3,800 older people regularly to ensure that they were well and had everything they needed. We fitted handrails, safety devices and attended to urgent household repairs for many older people, often being the only agency still active on the ground. We were fortunate to obtain grants for activities during Covid; we provided a seven-day service throughout the pandemic and continue to do so at the time of writing. 

We continue in our role as locally trusted organisation, supporting the people of Farley Hill who were awarded £1 million to improve their local area for the benefit of all residents. To this end with work closely with residents, support them in the administration of their finances and directly employ and manage a worker on their behalf. 

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## Age Concern Luton 

## Trustees’ report For the year ended 31 March 2021 

## Fundraising activities 

With stronger fundraising regulation now in place in the UK and EU, the charity has worked to ensure that it maintains high standards in how it works with funders, donors and supporters and that fundraising practices and management meet the requirements of the new regulations. 

As required by the Charity Commission we advised our funders and donors where we would be unable to deliver activities due to Covid-19 restrictions and sought permission to delay or vary activities. 

Key features of the charity’s approach to fundraising are: 

- e The charity is a member of the Institute of Fundraising and follows the Code of Fundraising Practice which is set by the Fundraising Regulator through its Standards Committee. The charity is registered with the Fundraising Regulator which maintains the standards for charitable fundraising and ensures that fundraising is respectful, open, honest and accountable to the public. It also takes complaints about fundraising, investigates cases and adjudicates on fundraising practice; 

- ¢ The fundraising approach is in line with the charity's aims and objectives; e The charity raises funds through corporate donations and trusts and foundations fundraising. Individual gifts and gifts in wills are encouraged via a message on the charity's website; 

- ¢ The charity does not carry out any telephone, face-to-face or door-to-door fundraising; e The charity does not hold a donor database and does not swap or share data and never sells data. 

- e The charity has a complaints policy which outlines commitment to resolving fundraising complaints as promptly and amicably as possible. It also sets out the process for handling any complaints received. All complaints are recorded, along with the actions taken to resolve the complaint and the outcome of those actions. Complaints will be reported and referred to the Fundraising Regulator if a resolution with the complainant cannot be reached or if the charity is in breach of any aspect of a code of fundraising practice. 

- e In 2020/21 no complaints were received; * The Trustees can provide additional assistance, advice and reassurance on the standards of the charity’s fundraising delivery. 

## Activities and achievements 

The Statement of Financial Activities for the year is set out on page 21 of the financial statements. A summary of the financial results and the work of the charity is set out below. 

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## Age Concern Luton 

## Trustees’ report For the year ended 31 March 2021 

## Chair’s Foreword 

Since the start of the pandemic everything is more difficult. In the first quarter of 2021-22 the coronavirus pandemic continues to dominate our work, efforts, and plans. As the disease disproportionately affects older people (85% of fatalities are over 70 years of age) and therefore we have rightly kept this front and centre. Since February 2021 we have made a huge number of telephone calls, with the assistance of over 100 volunteers, to help increase the vaccine take up. We have focused on a) discussing vaccines, b) helping people overcome vaccine barriers (with practical support e.g. transport, additional check-up calls for those worried about feeling ill afterwards, and ensuring people they care for have a plan B if they are not well, etc.), c) listening to those that are vaccine hesitant and d) providing advice/information/support to those who are unsure. We have worked with NHS partners who asked us to make special efforts with BAME communities to both feedback concerns and ensure the messages they wanted to get through were amplified. This work (i.e., engaging with the vaccine hesitant) is not simply a case of sending out a leaflet nor can it be done in one conversation. It requires active listening, consideration, and multiple conversations (which beget more conversations, finding answers etc.) as well as then providing detailed feedback. This single piece of work cannot be underestimated in its impact for the community. 

Despite this being in many ways yet another difficult and challenging year we continued to achieve many great outcomes for Luton’s older people and those who care for them. This included increased income through obtaining benefits, increased mobility, improved physical health, improved diet, reduced social isolation and loneliness, reduced risk of slip, trip or fall, reduced risk of mental deterioration, improved home safety and subsequent reduction in anxiety, support in decision making and help in accessing medical support to identify dementia. 

Our core strength is a great team of volunteers and staff who are client outcome focused and who work well together for the benefit of our service users. Although we refer to “services” below our activities are best described as different functions of the same team as everything we do is interdependent. All functions provide a single point of access for older people or professionals involved in their care. 

We are especially grateful to Dan, our Head of Operations for his foresight and creativity in developing safe working practices at pace and keeping us all safe and well supplied with PPE throughout the pandemic. Our sincere thanks also go to all staff and volunteers who worked the front line and who continued to serve our community at all stages of the pandemic. We look forward to continuing this in the coming year and thank all who have contributed to our work, in so many ways in so many ways. 

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## Age Concern Luton 

## Trustees’ report For the year ended 31 March 2021 

Activities and achievements (continued) 

## Services Overview for the period 1 April 2020 — 31 March 2021 

## 1) Hospital Discharge Meet and Greet 

This free to user service, which provides practical and emotional support to older people leaving hospital or care, was never more needed than in this year, when even those who did have loving and supportive families were restricted in the help, they could give aging parents and loved ones. 

Number of patients aged 75 and over Number of patients aged 75+ re-admitted to hospital Number of patients under 75 Number of patients under 75 re-admitted to hospital 

The Meet & Greet service supported 318, mostly frail older people leaving hospital. This is fewer than in 2019 -20 and is due to the hospital pressure from Covid impacting elective procedures. Those we did see needed many more interventions, approximately 16 per patient. Discharge during the pandemic has been different: Hospital staff spent a lot more time putting together the jigsaw of support needed to discharge patients, consequently there were many more cancellations in discharge because some element was support was not available. Also, the age profile of service users is lower — many more people, some as young as 40 did not have family support and were unable to look after themselves. There were very few follow up appointments available and attended, where these were available people preferred not to attend due to fear of infection. 

This disrupted pattern began in March 2020 and through the year there were also fewer older people discharged to their own homes than normal. Those who were discharged during restrictions and lockdowns needed high !evels of support, we completed 5088 interventions in the year. There were many challenging examples of support needed at a time when it was difficult to access any services. Our focus therefore shifted to supporting older people who were unwell in their own homes, thus avoiding admission where possible through the efforts of the whole organisation. For example: a discharged patient might need food, continence supplies, handrails, use of a mobile telephone, and advocacy with those providing care for many weeks. Age Concern Luton adapted to these new circumstances via a flexible model of care. 

The service continues to contribute to efficiency savings made by statutory services; The return on investment calculated by the workbook equates to £5.19 of benefit for every £1 invested. The cost workbook does not calculate the cost of admission avoidance although the service certainly contributed to this outcome throughout the pandemic. 

The net outcomes achieved through Meet & Greet were reduced re-admission, greater patient satisfaction, enhanced recovery, safer support for severely ill at home, speedier and safer discharges. 

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, 

## Age Concern Luton 

## Trustees’ report For the year ended 31 March 2021 

## Activities and achievements (continued) 

Services Overview for the period 1 April 2020 — 31 March 2021 (continued) 

## 2) Home Repair 

The team worked all through the pandemic and completed 1256 home repairs for disabled older people in Luton. These were primarily crisis or safety interventions including fitting key safes, rearranging furniture to allow for hospital beds, fitting handrails and other crisis needs. They also responded to nearly 900 enquiries for advice on repairs, including arranging covid safe repairmen to attend boiler breakdowns, electrical problems, floods, etc. 

Almost 80% of all beneficiaries were aged over 65, with nearly 90% living alone. Overa third of service recipients lived in three of the poorest Luton wards - Northwell, Dallow and Farley. Nearly half of all beneficiaries were aged over 75 years and living alone in the community. The service is essential to keep low-income older people independent and safe at home. 

During the pandemic the most requested handyman interventions were fitting grab rails and key safes, together with other safety related interventions. This accounted for almost two thirds of all referrals. We fit most key safes within 2 hours of referral from a social or health care professional thereby enabling safer and timely discharge. This intervention is critical to ensuring that terminally ill people can die at home where this is their and their family’s preference. Our team also reorganised space in properties to allow care to be delivered safely and installed assistive technologies. We also continue to offer affordable gardening solutions to disabled elderly residents. 

We also saw an increase for emergency heater loan, principally because it was very difficult to find tradesmen during lockdown. Beneficiaries are typically those living in the worst properties and therefore at most risk of cold related illness. It takes our team just a few hours to deliver radiators after a referral has been received - so nobody waits long in the cold before help arrives. 

More than 98% service recipients described the help they received from the home repair scheme as excellent or good and all our service recipients said they would happily recommend the scheme to others. 

Overall our Home Repair service has achieved the following outcomes for older people: a reduction in the risk of falling and subsequent hospital admission; reduced risk of injury from falls, greater peace of mind as a result of home security improvements; safer discharge from hospital; slower decline in physical health and more opportunities to remain living safely at home. 

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## Age Concern Luton 

## Trustees’ report For the year ended 31 March 2021 

## Activities and achievements (continued) 

Services Overview for the period 1 April 2020 — 31 March 2021 (continued) 

## 3) Home Support — Domestic cleaning and shopping 

The service, which comprises a practical cleaning, bill paying, shopping and laundry service for frail and disabled adults living in their own homes operated all through the pandemic with many challenges: there was vastly increased demand for emergency help particularly due to shielding for people aged over 70 and the Clinically Extremely Vulnerable. Consequently, there were high number of un-chargeable hours, with staff often queuing hours to get essential items for people on restricted diets. The team improvised during times of supermarket shortages, and we developed specialist food parcels for older people. Unfortunately, our costs increased through the periods of restriction; this was in part due to paying staff salary top ups to ensure they observed periods of self-isolation. We also spent a lot of money ensuring adequate PPE and of course there was inevitably, increased cancellation of services by clients, particularly where family moved in to support them through the pandemic. We also dealt with more emergencies daily where people had found solutions such as neighbours helping with laundry or shopping, but these arrangements broke down as time went on. We are beginning to recover with more people resuming service each month. Staff on the scheme are much more than just housekeepers; they support the older person to have a good quality of life and cross refer to other services within and external to Age Concern Luton to help them maintain their independence. 

Typically, service users have multiple illness or disability (88%) and live alone (72%; around half of service users are males. Two thirds of the people receiving this service are aged over 81 years. 33% live in one of the three most deprived areas of Luton. During lockdown, the service continued to operate for the frailest where this was necessary to maintain their wellbeing. 

Home Support is one of the charity's oldest services and as our only chargeable service constantly struggles to remain affordable for our poorer clients, whilst ensuring that it covers the costs associated with delivery. This is exacerbated by the need, as part of our mission, to support a number of clients who are unable to access help from other agencies due to issues which make them unprofitable for the private sector, e.g. access to finance, poor payment history, safeguarding concerns, location. 

The net outcome for older people using the Home support service is reduced social isolation, improved physical environment, reduced risk of injury from falis, improved nutrition, enhanced independence, enhanced dignity, improved hygiene and health, reduced anxiety and depression. 

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## Age Concern Luton 

## Trustees’ report For the year ended 31 March 2021 

## Activities and achievements (continued) 

Services Overview for the period 1 April 2020 — 31 March 2021 (continued) 

## 4) Enhancing Lives 

During lockdown this service ceased to operate on a face-to-face basis and was reduced to a telephone advice and remote form filling service. Client feedback indicates that this was not the best way to achieve great outcomes as many people needed more support than just advice and help with forms. A pause in evictions, PIP Tribunals and house moves meant that in the main those who were housed or had some income could be kept stable. It also meant however that many difficult to engage people enjoyed a false sense of security in addressing their problems; for those in crisis it became even more difficult to access support. The Enhancing lives team worked flexibly to support clients, this included, for example, providing mobile teleohones so that people could speak to social workers or bringing electronic devices into their homes so that they could complete applications remotely. 

During the pandemic this service has also had many queries from families trying to access support for loved ones at a distance, there have also been many more people trying to sort out a relatives affairs where they have gone into care. 

We continue to provide this essential AQS accredited service which helped 400 older people access specialist support with housing and maximising their incomes; we are proud that it continues to be an important part of preventing poverty and disadvantage in old age. More than half the people accessing the service are aged over 80, seeking assistance with care, benefits, and support to live independently. The younger clients are typically disabled people or those with housing related problems and carers of disabled people. They often need support with attending or representation at PIP appointments, many having been destitute through benefit sanctions. Increasingly we are seeing clients who are poorly or insecurely housed in low quality and neglected property. The service works with everything else that we do to ensure they have food and shelter whilst negotiating with the various agencies involved in their cases. These complex cases require specialist input and are time intensive; this in turn has impacted the number of people the service can accommodate. 

The net outcome for all those using the outreach service was access to advice and information, increased income, support to make choices. 

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## Age Concern Luton Trustees’ report For the year ended 31 March 2021 

## Activities and achievements (continued) 

Services Overview for the period 1 April 2020 — 31 March 2021 (continued) 

## 5) Wellbeing — Getting On, Befriending, Telephone Club, Community Transport and Lunch Clubs 

Our normal Getting On interventions, aimed at getting people out and active were largely paused due to Covid and replaced with interventions which encouraged folk to stay home and limit contact. However, we have enabled older people to shield, or reduce unnecessary journeys from their homes, without ignoring their core needs. Whilst the country has begun to ‘open up' older people (given risk factors) have sought to limit their contacts and so demand for our regular support has remained steady. The country at large is split between those who have perhaps got a bit lax (and those still fearful) and we've found that this has made returning to a more normal arrangement is not appropriate for many of the people we support. We have had countless challenges trying to put in place robust systems for those who are anxious or have had bad experiences in the wider community. This has meant that we have not resumed lunch clubs, social events or day trips as we are struggling to find a balance which suits our older people and volunteers. 

Given so many older people have effectively been at home for over a year we have found that there are both physical and mental barriers to re-entering society. For example, the town centre appears to have a much more relaxed approach to social distancing/mask wearing than the streets/shops in more residential areas. We have found that older people have lost the physical strength/mobility to undertake certain tasks and, as neighbours/family members/friends have left furlough they have less support. Consequently, all our traditional services (excluding lunch clubs which remain closed) have seen an up-tick in referrals for practical support. 

Face-to-face befriending has now resumed where both parties are happy to meet. This is aimed at the housebound and during lockdown this activity was suspended, causing great distress to the older people and the volunteers. Volunteers of course continued to telephone and support the older people; most of these people have disabilities or are completely housebound or bedbound and window visits were popular when allowed. Consequently, volunteers became their champions, advocating for the older people and ensuring they received practical help, as well as ongoing emotional support. The average age of people with a befriender is 85, with the oldest being 101 and the youngest 54. 

Prior to Covid19, 137 people had a telephone befriender. Of those people, the average age is 86, with the oldest person being 100 and the youngest being 56. Most of these people have disabilities or are completely housebound or bedbound. By the 1 April 2020 this figure increased with a total of 1, 622 new clients needing support from the charity. 

Going forward we have continued regular contact with almost 3,000 older people to ensure their Covid disaster plans remain appropriate, and, where wanted provided regular contact to alleviate loneliness. We have introduced and increased contact with people identified by partners (particularly those referred by clinicians) who have reported issues including depression, loneliness, and anxiety. 

The outcomes achieved by the Wellbeing strand for service users were: an improved diet and reduced risk of malnutrition for individuals; reduced risk of loneliness and depression as a result of greater contact with other people; and earlier detection of deteriorating mental and physical health. 

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## Age Concern Luton 

## Trustees’ report For the year ended 31 March 2021 

## Activities and achievements (continued) 

## Services Overview for the period 1 April 2020 — 31 March 2021 (continued) 

## 6) Farley Big Local 

We continued in our role as accountable body for Farley Big Local, the project is now in its sixth year and the funds must be committed to be spent by 2026. These funds are not available for the work of Age Concern Luton, rather we administer this fund to support the people of Farley Hill in developing their vision for the Big Local project to benefit residents of all ages. The project is accountable to Big Local Trust on behalf of the Big Lottery Fund. 

During the last year the FBL project has developed a greenspace plan and several new play parks and a Forest Trail are due to be delivered by summer 2022. Additionally, Farley Big Local were active in provision of information and emergency food for residents suffering hardship due to loss of work or reduced income due to Covid19. They also hosted several online events and we worked in partnership with various community groups to meet the community's needs. 

## 7) Community Development 

We also continued to support several local community organisations and small charities with HR, Governance and Health and Safety advice free of charge because we see it as a way of improving Luton which in turn is in the interests of older people. 

## 8) Charity Shops 

Our George St charity shop closed in December 2020, having been unable to open due to Covid restrictions from the previous March. The other two shops remained closed and did not re-open before the end of the financial year. Several retail staff were re-deployed in providing emergency help to older people within the wider Age Concern Luton team. Whilst some of our retail strengths are the people who run and work in our shops, we did not develop on-line trading due to lack of skill within the team. We have since developed a new retail strategy with the aim of operating more profitable shops, without losing the strong sense of community ownership. 

## 9) Volunteers 

During Covid we enrolled a phenomenal 609 volunteers, although some have now returned to work, we are still larger in terms of volunteer activity than pre pandemic. Many of our new volunteers are telephone befriender and their role has been vital in keeping people connected to support and practical help as previously discussed. Of special mention are those wonderful volunteers who worked all through the pandemic delivering supplies including food, continence products, emergency heaters or other necessities; often within minutes of a referral being received. These deliveries made the difference in someone being able to access emergency help that prevented them being admitted to a care facility and enabled them to remain safely at home. Recent polling of our volunteers for our interim Getting On report indicate high satisfaction with their role and reporting benefits such as feeling connected to others. As the country “opens up”, we are happy to report that 87 home visiting partnerships are now re-established, although we are still observing Covid secure guidelines given the health of all parties. 

Recent polling of our volunteers for our interim Getting On report indicate high personal satisfaction with their role and reporting benefits such as feeling connected to others. 

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## Age Concern Luton 

## Trustees’ report For the year ended 31 March 2021 

## 9) Volunteers (continued) 

Including our “occasional” volunteers, we currently have 9 volunteers for each member of staff. Volunteers deliver all our Wellbeing services undertaking key roles including leadership, visiting the lonely, cooking and serving nutritious meals, administration. They are also expert advisors, including on disability, care, and benefits; PAT testing; driving, retail, fundraising, gardening, events organisation, document review, strategy, finance and of course as Board Members. 

We are truly humbled by and grateful for the dedication of our volunteer team. Each one works a minimum of 3 hours per week. This was especially helpful at a time when we had such a hugely reduced income. Our sincere thanks to every wonderful volunteer for their dedication and continued service, without them there would be a much smaller and far less effective Age Concern Luton. 

## Income generation 

The overall incoming resources were £875,393 (2020: £1,188,795). 

Transfers between funds to meet the unfunded portion of costs were necessary and are detailed in note 8 on page 29. In total this amounted to £115,935 from the General Fund to restricted funds (2020: £54,892) in order to maintain essential activities following some funding losses. 

Although reserves look healthy, most of the amounts are held as functional operational property at Vesper House and King St. Free reserves at 31 March 2021 are £619,109 (2020: £502,449) which represents approximately 8 months running costs. 

The charity is constantly reviewing all the current service offers in partnership with the people we serve and the volunteers and staff who deliver the services. This dialogue enables it to develop and adapt to ensure relevance to the needs of older people in Luton and to act in the most cost effective and relevant ways. Loss of income in this year forced some difficult decisions in terms of which services the charity can offer going forward however there is limited potential to develop profit making paid for services, this is because Luton pensioners remain among the most financially disadvantaged in the region. Developing fundraising as a more prominent core activity is essential if the charity is to meet the needs of the poorest in our community. 

## Future activities 

Age Concern Luton is committed to providing a high quality, affordable or free and reliable service for all our service users and is also committed to expanding the work we carry out. The Trustees will focus their attention over the coming year on carefully managing funds in order to achieve this. Specifically, the Trustees have agreed plans to work towards the following objectives: 

- Proactively seeking new funding to maintain incoming resources at sufficient levels; 

- - Reconsider whether an incorporated constitution is appropriate for the charity; - Enact anew retail strategy to improve retail performance; - Continue to build reserves in the Designated Building Fund for the construction of a retirement village containing accommodation and amenities for older people which will be built on a plot of land purchased with these reserves; 

- - Develop new services, grow existing services where necessary and innovative ways to support the frailest elderly to live at home 

- - Maintain free and very low-cost services for the poorest in our community. 

~ FZ 



## Age Concern Luton 

## Trustees’ report For the year ended 31 March 2021 

## Future activities (continued) 

The long-term objective of the charity is to build its own retirement village consisting of sheltered accommodation and a sufficient range of amenities for older people. This will further enhance the service provided by the charity to older people and will mean that necessary amenities such as grocery shops, pharmacies and hairdressers will be locally available to more service users without the need to travel or rely on deliveries. 

## Reserves policy and risk management 

The Charities Risk management strategy comprises of: 

- e Arisk policy which defines risks and sets out control measures through policies, systems and procedures to mitigate those risks 

- e An annual review and report of the main risks to the charity e Procedures to be followed should any risk materialise 

The various management committees continue to be vigilant in identifying and mitigating risks and a risk register is maintained and reported on to the Trustees at Board meetings. The Trustees have taken steps to identify risks and implemented measures to mitigate these risks. The key risk to the charity is potential cuts in income from public funding and lower income from shops. To mitigate these risks the Trustees have given priority to the development of a structured fundraising plan and the structuring of our reserves to ensure adequate provision for the future of the charity. 

The Trustees believe unrestricted financial reserves should be held because of the charity's dependence on funding from statutory authorities. The continuous risk that all, or some, of our funding may be withdrawn is assessed and mitigated by the holding of adequate reserves. In the event of withdrawal of funding, Age Concern Luton would use reserves to continue services for a period, either bridging the gap if alternative funding could be found or withdrawing slowly from service users in order for them to be able to seek alternative care arrangements. 

Decisions of this nature will not be taken lightly and will be properly considered by the Trustees before implementation. 

In the opinion of the trustees, the minimum level of unrestricted reserves to be held should be approximately equal to the value of our largest annual contract, or six months running costs. At the year end free reserves of the General Fund amounted to £619,109 (2020: £502,449) which is consistent with the reserves policy. 

Within unrestricted reserves, but not included in free reserves, is £335,731 (2020: £338,860) held under a designated fixed asset fund and £275,000 (2020: £275,000) held under a designated building fund for a future project to build sheltered accommodation for older people. 

The long-term objective of the charity is to build its own retirement village consisting of sheltered accommodation and a sufficient range of amenities for older people. This will further enhance the service provided by the charity to older people and will mean that necessary amenities such as grocery shops, pharmacies and hairdressers will be locally available to more service users without the need to travel or rely on deliveries. 

2 14x 



## Age Concern Luton 

## Trustees’ report For the year ended 31 March 2021 

## Investment policy 

The Trustees have considered the most appropriate policy for investing funds and have found that Post Office and building society accounts, designed for the charity sector, meet their requirements. The merger with Vesper included the transfer of a property and a permanent endowment of £171,646. The choice of investment funds was shown to be reasonable in what wasa difficult financial climate. 

## Acknowledgements 

The Trustees extend sincere thanks to NHS Luton CCG for their support of our Meet and Greet project and Luton Borough Council/London Luton Airport Limited (LLAL) via BLCF for their ongoing financial support. It is thanks to this support that we can provide vital services free of charge, or at nominal cost to those who are most in need. 

Our thanks to the National Lottery Fund who funded our Getting On project, the purpose of the grant is to develop new and exciting opportunities for all older people in Luton to meet and make supportive networks to support healthy ageing. During the pandemic they enabled us to support people who were isolated within the community, especially those home alone with life limiting illnesses including dementia. 

Sincere thanks to Lloyds Foundation, this time not only for their funding but also for their flexibility, understanding and responsiveness to our clients’ changing needs. Their funding and practical help has supported our staff and consequently enabled us to continue to support many older people in crisis. Our thanks also to Gary Beharrell, our Grant Manager for his wise advice. 

We greatly appreciate the vital Covid-19 grant awards received from Independent Age, CCSF, Shanly Foundation, Cadent Foundation, BLFC and LBC which together enabled us to support people who were shielding or self-isolating; without this money we could not have supported the wide-ranging needs of our community. This money provided, information, key safes, heating, continence products, food, PPE and practical help. 

Our sincere thanks also to Ryebridge who marked their 10" anniversary dinner in September 2019 with a very generous donation, and a second one this year - we wish you many years of continued success! 

Special thanks go to the Gale Family Trust whose generous donation arrived at just the right time to stop us all worrying about how we would get through the pandemic with a vastly reduced income! 

Our special thanks go to every one of the Luton Lions Runners who ran in the worst possible weather to raise over £4,000 for us, you are all stars. 

We are very grateful to the Vauxhall Van Plant Employee Charity and Clonrobin Contracts for their continued support, and to the folk at DHL for their kind donation. Thank you all. 

We also remember fondly all those who left legacies or gifts in their Wills. Thank you to the grieving families who so generously donated money instead of funeral flowers. 

Our thanks also go to some very special people: 

Greg Whyte OBE, our wonderful patron and champion who supports us tirelessly in many ways. Lord-Lieutenant of Bedfordshire Mrs Helen Nellis for her ongoing encouragement & wisdom. 

-15- 



## Age Concern Luton 

## Trustees’ report For the year ended 31 March 2021 

## Acknowledgements (continued) 

Finally, the Trustees would also like to acknowledge and thank all those that have generously supported the work of Age Concern Luton during the year whether as individual donors, customers or volunteers. Your contribution has been truly appreciated and we hope to have your continued support. 

## Statement of Trustees’ responsibilities 

The Trustees are responsible for preparing the Trustees 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 the incoming resources and application of resources of the charity for that period. In preparing those financial statements the Trustees are required to: : 

- a) select suitable accounting policies and apply them consistently; b) observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP 2019 (FRS 102); c) make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent; d) state whether applicable accounting standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements; 

- e) prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume 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 2011, 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. 

## Statement of Disclosure to the Auditors 

The Trustees have taken all the steps that they ought to have taken as Trustees in order to make themselves aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the charity's auditors are aware of that information. 

As far as the Trustees are aware, there is no relevant audit information of which the charity's auditors are unaware. 

## Independent auditors 

Steve Monico Limited have expressed their willingness to continue as independent auditors and their re-appointment will be proposed at the Annual General Meeting. 

Approved by the Trustees on 30 September 2021 And signed on their behalf by 

## Maxine Braham 

Ms Maxine Braham 

Trustee 

-16- 



## Independent auditors’ report to the Trustees of Age Concern Luton 

## Opinion 

We have audited the financial statements of Age Concern Luton (the charity) for the year ended 31 March 2021 which comprise the Statement of Financial Activities, the Balance Sheet, the Statement of Cash Flows and notes to the financial statements, including a summary of 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: e give a true and fair view of the state of the charity's affairs as at 31 March 2021 and of its incoming resources and application of resources, including its income and expenditure, for the year then ended; 

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

- e 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's 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 contained within the Trustees’ Report. 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. 

-'{7'- 



## Independent auditors’ report to the Trustees of Age Concern Luton 

## Matters on which we are required to report by exception 

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

- e the information given in the Trustees’ Report is inconsistent in any material respect with the Trustees’ Report; or 

- e the charity has not kept adequate accounting records; or 

- e the financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or e we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit. 

## Responsibilities of trustees 

As explained more fully in the Statement of Trustees’ Responsibilities set out on page 16, 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’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements 

We have been appointed as auditor under section 145 of the Charities Act 2011 and report in accordance with regulations made under section 154 of that Act. 

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 specific procedures for this engagement and the extent to which these are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud, is detailed below: 

- ¢ We obtained an understanding of the nature of the sector in which the charity operates, including the legal and regulatory framework applicable to the charity. We consider that the most significant are the Charities Statement of Recommended Practice, the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102), the Charities Act 2011 and the charity’s Trust Deed. 

- e We obtained an understanding of how the charity complies with these requirements by discussions with those charged with governance and reviewing the minutes of Trustee meetings. 

- e We assessed the risk of material misstatement of the financial statements, including the risk of material misstatement due to fraud and how it might occur, by holding discussions with those charged with governance. 

- © We inquired of those charged with governance about their own identification and assessment of the risk of irregularities, including any known actual, suspected or alleged instances of fraud. 

- ¢ We discussed matters about non-compliance with laws and regulations and how fraud might occur including assessment of how and where the financial statements may be susceptible to irregularities or fraud. 

-18- 



## Independent auditors’ report to the Trustees of Age Concern Luton 

## Auditor's responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements (continued) 

- e Based on this understanding, we designed specific appropriate audit procedures to identify instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. This included making enquiries of management and those charged with governance and obtaining additional corroborative evidence as required. 

In addition to the risk of management override of controls, we have identified revenue recognition as the area where the financial statements are most susceptible to material misstatement due to fraud. Audit procedures performed included a review of income paperwork and sample testing. 

Because of the inherent limitations of an audit, there is a risk that we will not detect all irregularities, including those leading to a material misstatement in the financial statements or non-compliance with regulation. This risk increases the more that compliance with a law or regulation is removed from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, as we will be less likely to become aware of instances of non-compliance. The risk is also greater regarding irregularities occurring due to fraud rather than error, as fraud involves intentional concealment, forgery, collusion, omission or misrepresentation. 

- As part of an audit in accordance with ISAs (UK), we exercise professional judgment and maintain professional scepticism throughout the audit. We also: e Identify and assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to fraud or error, design and perform audit procedures responsive to those risks, and obtain audit evidence that is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion. The risk of not detecting a material misstatement resulting from fraud is higher than for one resulting from error, as fraud may involve collusion, forgery, intentional omissions, misrepresentations, or the override of internal control. 

- ® Obtain an understanding of internal control relevant to the audit in order to design audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the charity’s internal control. 

- e Evaluate the appropriateness of accounting policies used and the reasonableness of accounting estimates and related disclosures made by the trustees. 

- e Conclude on the appropriateness of the trustees’ use of the going concern basis of accounting and, based on the audit evidence obtained, whether a material uncertainty exists related to events or conditions that may cast significant doubt on the charity's ability to continue as a going concern. If we conclude that a material uncertainty exists, we are required to draw attention in our auditor's report to the related disclosures in the financial statements or, if such disclosures are inadequate, to modify our opinion. Our conclusions are based on the audit evidence obtained up to the date of our auditor's report. However, future events or conditions may cause the charity to cease to continue as a going concern. 

- e Evaluate the overall presentation, structure and content of the financial statements, including the disclosures, and whether the financial statements represent the underlying transactions and events in a manner that achieves fair presentation (i.e. gives a true and fair view). 

We communicate with those charged with governance regarding, among other matters, the planned scope and timing of the audit and significant audit findings, including any significant deficiencies in internal control that we identify during our audit 

-19- 



## Independent auditors’ report to the Trustees of Age Concern Luton 

## Use of 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. 

Steve Monico Limited, Statutory Auditor Chartered Accountants and Registered Auditors 19 Goldington Road 

Bedford MK40 3JY 

## Date: 30 September 2021 

Steve Monico Limited is eligible to act as an auditor in terms of section 1212 of the Companies Act 2006. 

-20- 



## Age Concern Luton 

## Statement of financial activities (including Income and Expenditure Account) For the year ended 31 March 2021 

|||2021|2021|2021|2021|2020|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||Unrestricted|Restricted|Endowment|Total|Total|
|||Funds|Funds|Funds|Funds|Funds|
||Notes|£|=|£|£|£|
|Income and endowments from:|||||||
|Donations and legacies||89,724|-|-|89,724|32,185|
|Charitable activities:|||||||
|LLAL income||-|140,818|-|140,818|155,000|
|HIA& Handyman||-|-|-|-|30,000|
|Enhancing Lives<br>Befriending and lunch club service||-<br>-|-<br>82,425|-<br>-|-<br>82,425|23,884<br>150,747|
|Hospital Discharge||-|125,000|-|125,000|125,000|
|Farley Big Local||-|(43,787)|-|(43,787)|149,034|
|Covid-19<br>Other grant income||-<br>63,337|94,740<br>-|-<br>-|94,740<br>63,337|-<br>-|
|Income from charitable services||242,245|-|-|242,245|330,240|
|Othertrading activities|3|68,694|-|-|68,694|178,781|
|Investments:|||||||
|Bankaccount interest||147|772|-|919|2,008|
|Rental income||-|-|-|-|2,034|
|Other income||11,278|-|-|11,278|9,882|
|Total income||475,425|399,968|-|875,393|1,188,795|
|Expenditure on:<br>Raisingfunds<br>Charitable activities|3<br>4|86,228<br>171,402|-<br>623,385|-<br>-|86,228<br>794,787|134,946<br>775,284|
|Total expenditure||257,630|623,385|-|881,015|910,230|
|Net (expenditure)/income||217,795|(223,417)|-|(5,622)|278,565|
|Transfers between funds|814,15|(115,935)|115,935|-|-|-|
|Netmovement infunds||101,860|(107,482)|-|(5,622)|278,565|
|Reconciliation offunds:|||||||
|Total funds at 1 April 2020||1,286,739|193,706|171,646|1,652,091|1,373,526|
|Totalfundsat31March2021|14,15,16|1,388,599|86,224|171,646|1,646,469|1,652,091|



## All operations are continuing operations. 

The notes on pages 24 to 36 form part of these financial statements. 

=94 = 



## Age Concern Luton 

## Balance sheet As at 31 March 2021 


**----- Start of picture text -----**<br>
|||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|Notes|2021|2020|
|£|£|
|Fixed|assets:|
|Tangible|fixed|assets|9|494,490|509,290|
|Fixed|asset|investments|10|319,969|318,347|
|Total|fixed assets|814,459|827,637|
|Current|assets:|
|Debtors|11|97,684|39,350|
|Cash|at bank|and|in|hand|12|844,434|899,861|
|Total|current|assets|942,118|939,211|
|Liabilities:|
|Creditors:|amounts|falling|due|13|(110,108)|(114,757)|
|within|one year|=——|———|
|Net|current|assets|832,010|824,454|
|Total|assets|less|current|liabilities|1,646,469|1,652,091|
|Total net assets|1,646,469|1,652,091|
|The funds|of the|charity:|
|Unrestricted|funds|14|1,388,599|1,286,739|
|Restricted|funds|15|86,224|193,706|
|Endowment|funds|16|171,646|171,646|
|Total|charity funds|17|1,646,469|1,652,091|

**----- End of picture text -----**<br>


The notes on pages 24 to 36 form part of these financial statements. 

The financial statements were approved by the trustees on 30 September 2021 

And signed on their behalf by 

Ms Maxine Braham Trustee 

ADs 



## Age Concern Luton 

## Statement of cash flows For the year ended 31 March 2021 


**----- Start of picture text -----**<br>
||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|Notes|2021|2020|
|2|£|
|Cash|flows from|operating|activities:|
|Net cash|used|in|operating|activities|21|(54,701)|274,895|
|Cash|flows from|investing|activities:|
|Interest|and|dividend|income|919|2,008|
|Interest|income|allocated|to|fixed|asset|investments|(1,522)|(1,778)|
|Cash|banked|into|investment|account|(100)|-|
|Rental|income|-|2,034|
|Payments|to acquire tangible|fixed|assets|(223)|(10,052)|
|Proceeds|of disposal|of tangible|fixed|assets|200|-|
|Net|cash|used|in|investing|activities|(726)|(7,788)|
|Change|in cash|and|cash|equivalents|in|(55,427)|267,107|
|the year|
|Cash|and|cash|equivalents|at|the|
|beginning|of the year|899,861|632,754|
|Cash and|cash|equivalents|at|the|
|end|of the year|844,434|899,861|

**----- End of picture text -----**<br>


-23- 



## Age Concern Luton 

## Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2021 

## 1 Accounting policies 

## 1.1 Accounting convention 

The financial statements have been prepared on a going concern basis under the historical cost convention with items recognised at cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant note to these accounts. 

The charity constitutes a public benefit entity as defined by FRS 102. 

The accounts (financial statements) have been prepared under the historical cost convention with items recognised at cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant note(s) to these accounts. The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the second edition of the Charities Statement of Recommended Practice issued in October 2019, the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the United Kingdom 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 Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable to the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) issued on 16 July 2014 rather than the Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice effective from 1 April 2005 which has since been withdrawn. 

The Trustees consider that there are no material uncertainties about the charity’s ability to continue as a going concern due to the current level of reserves and the fact that the charity actively tries to raise additional funds each year to cover any excess of expenditure over income. 

## 1.2 Grants and contracts 

These comprise amounts receivable during the year. Where the grant was not utilised in the financial period the grant is deferred after obtaining permission from the funder. 

1.3 Donations 

Donations are accounted for when the criteria of entitlement, measurement and probability of receipt are met. Donations from goods donated for resale in the charity shops are recognised when the goods are sold. 

1.4 Commissions 

Commissions are accounted for when receivable. 

## 15 Operating leases 

Where there is a rent-free period, the cost of the lease is spread over the term of the lease to the next rent review date. 

-24- 



## Age Concern Luton Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2021 

## Accounting policies (continued) 

## 1.6 Allocation of costs 

Staff costs are allocated over direct charitable expenditure and management and administration on the basis of time spent. Premises costs are allocated by usage. Other direct costs are allocated by the purpose of the expenditure. Liabilities are recognised on an accruals basis in the period to which they relate. 

- 1.7. Governance costs 

Governance costs are those costs associated with maintaining the governance of the charity as opposed to the management of the charity's activities. 

## 1.8 Fixed assets and depreciation 

Fixed assets are recorded at cost. 

Assets are depreciated at rates which the Trustees consider will write down the assets over the period of their useful economic lives. The rates used are as follows: 

Freehold property (40% of cost) 50 years, straight line method Office equipment 20%, reducing balance method Computer equipment 33%, reducing balance method Motor vehicles 25%, reducing balance method 

No depreciation is charged on additions in the year of acquisition for motor vehicles. 

## 1.9 Investments 

Investments are held in the form of charity accounts with a bank or building society and are recognised at the amount held in the account at the balance sheet date. Any interest received from the account is included in investment income on a receivable basis. 

## 1.10 Charity shop income and expenditure 

Charity shop costs are those costs which are directly attributable to the charity shops. These costs are included in the Statement of Financial Activities under incoming resources as Costs of Generating Funds to give a total of net incoming resources available for charitable application. 

- 1.11 Stock 

Stocks are recognised at the lower of cost or net realisable value less any provision for stow-moving or obsolete stock. 

## 1.12 Pension costs 

The charity operates a defined contribution scheme for the benefit of its employees. Contributions payable are charged as an expense in the year they are payable and are allocated between funds in line with the allocation of the related gross pay. 

-25- 



## Age Concern Luton Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2021 

## Accounting policies (continued) 

## 1.13 Fund accounting 

General funds reflect the accumulated unrestricted reserves of the charity. They are available for use at the Trustees’ discretion, in furtherance of the general objectives of the charity. Designated funds are also unrestricted funds, but represent funds set aside for a specific purpose by the Trustees. Endowment funds are funds where there is no power to convert the capital into income, and must generally be held indefinitely. Restricted funds are those funds wherea restriction on their use has been imposed by the donors. 

## 2 Critical accounting judgements and key sources of estimation uncertainty 

In the application of the charity's accounting policies, the trustees are required to make judgements, estimates and assumptions about the carrying amount of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. The estimates and associated assumptions are based on historical experience and other factors that are considered to be relevant. Actual results may differ from these estimates. 

The estimates and underlying assumptions are reviewed on an ongoing basis. Revisions to accounting estimates are recognised in the period in which the estimate is revised where the revision only affects that period, or in the period of revision and future periods where the revision affects both current and future periods. 

In the opinion of the trustees there are no critical accounting judgements or estimation uncertainties within the charity. 

## 3 Charity shop income and expenditure 


**----- Start of picture text -----**<br>
2021 2020<br>£ £ & £<br>Income 68,694 178,781<br>Expenditure<br>Salary and other staff costs 37,259 68,627<br>Rent and rates 35,355 47,437<br>Other shop costs 13,614 18,882<br>(86,228) (134,946)<br>Net (expenditure)/income (17,534) 43,835<br>**----- End of picture text -----**<br>


i DB 



## Age Concern Luton 

## Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2021 

## 4 Analysis of expenditure on charitable activities 

|2021||Other||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||Salary<br>costs<br>£|staff <br>costs<br>£|Premises<br>costs<br>£|Other<br>costs<br>£|2021<br>Total<br>£|
|Care forthe elderly|504,541|16,658|9,051|113,284|643,534|
|Supportand governance|67,041|-|28,652|55,560|151,253|
||571,582|16,658|37,703|168,844|794,787|
|2020||Other||||
||Salary<br>costs|staff <br>costs|Premises<br>costs|Other<br>costs|2020<br>Total|
||s|£|£|£|£|
|Care forthe elderly|481,419|20,863|17,755|107,604|627,641|
|Support and governance|52,442|-|32,910|62,291|147,643|
||533,861|20,863|50,665|169,895|775,284|



included in premises costs is depreciation of £8,897 (2020: £14,413). 

5 

## Allocation of governance and support costs 

The breakdown of support costs and how these were allocated between governance and other support costs is shown below. 

|2021|Support|Governance|2021|Basis of|
|---|---|---|---|---|
||costs|costs|Total|apportionment|
||£|£|£||
|Staffcosts|65,541|1,500|67,041|Stafftime|
|Depreciation<br>Profiton disposal of assets<br>Premises costs|8,557<br>341<br>19,072|-<br>-<br>-|8,557<br>341<br>19,072|Stafftime<br>Asset class<br>invoiced cost|
|Office costs|12,120|-|12,120|Invoiced cost|
|Advertising costs|30|-|30|Invoiced cost|
|Travel costs|683|-|683|Invoiced cost|
|Subscriptions<br>Professional fees|1,276<br>35,234|-<br>-|1,276<br>35,234|Invoiced cost<br>Invoiced cost|
|Auditors remuneration for|-|5,220|5,220|Governance|
|audit services|||||
|Bankcharges|1,597|-|1,597|Invoiced cost|
|Trustee expenses|-|-|-|Invoiced cost|
|Sundryexpenses|82|-|82|Invoiced cost|
||144,533|6,720|151,253||



oT< 



## Age Concern Luton 

## Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2021 

## 5 Allocation of governance and support costs (continued) 

|2020|Support|Governance|2020|Basis of|
|---|---|---|---|---|
||costs|costs|Total|apportionment|
||£|z|£||
|Staff costs|50,942|1,500|52,442|Staff time|
|Depreciation|9,453|-|9,453|Staff time|
|Profit on disposal of assets|-|-|-|Asset class|
|Premises costs|23,457|-|23,457|Invoiced cost|
|Office costs|12,293|-|12,293|Invoiced cost|
|Advertising costs|780|-|780|Invoiced cost|
|Travel costs|-|-|-|Invoiced cost|
|Subscriptions|-|-|-|Invoiced cost|
|Professional fees|40,351|-|40,351|Invoiced cost|
|Auditors remuneration for|-|5,220|5,220|Governance|
|audit services|||||
|Bankcharges|3,572|-|3,572|Invoiced cost|
|Trustee expenses|-|-|-|Invoiced cost|
|Sundry expenses|75|-|75|Invoiced cost|
||140,923|6,720|147,643||



## 6 Net (expenditure)/income for the year 

|This is stated after charging:|||
|---|---|---|
||2021|2020|
||£|£|
|Auditors remuneration for audit services|5,220|5,220|
|Depreciation|14,482|15,828|
|Operatingleases—landandbuildings|42,235|49,409|



- 28- 



## Age Concern Luton 

## Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2021 

## 7 Analysis of staff costs, trustee remuneration and expenses, and the cost of key management personnel 

|management personnel|||
|---|---|---|
||2021|2020|
||£|£|
|Salaries<br>Social Security costs|596,012<br>27,146|592,739<br>26,896|
|Pension Costs|11,840|11,574|
||634,998|631,209|



Of the above payroll costs, £37,259 (2020: £68,627) is allocated against the charity shop income. 

The Trustees are not remunerated for their work as Trustees. During the year no Trustees (2020: none) were reimbursed for travelling and meeting expenses aggregating to £nil (2020: £nil). No trustee received payment for professional or other services supplied to the charity (2020: none). 

During the year there were9 full time and 15 part time employees (2020: 9 full time and 15 part time), as well as approximately 36 part-time home support workers (2020: 38). 

The charity considers its key management personnel to comprise the trustees and Director. The total employment benefits including employer pension contributions of the key management personnel were £47,221 (2020: £47,221). No employee earned more than £60,000 (2020: none). 

## 8 Transfers 

The analysis of the net transfer of £115,935 from the general fund to restricted funds is shown below. 

|below.||
|---|---|
||£|
|Transfers from the general fund:||
|Forthe unfunded element ofthe HIA and Handyman fund|(31,236)|
|Forthe unfunded element ofthe Enhancing Lives fund|(20,850)|
|Forthe unfunded element ofthe Befriending and Wellbeing fund|(41,059)|
|Forthe surplus element ofthe lunch club costs|(22,790)|
|Nettransferamount|115,935|



-29- 



## Age Concern Luton 

## Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2021 

## 9 Fixed assets 

||Freehold<br>Property|Property<br>Improvements|Office<br>Equipment|Computer<br>Equipment|Motor<br>Vehicles|Total|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||£|=|£|£|£|£|
|Cost|||||||
|At1 April 2020<br>Additions<br>Disposals|504,023<br>-<br>-|40,349<br>-<br>-|85,797<br>-<br>-|27,033<br>223<br>-|5,400<br>-<br>(5,400)|662,602<br>223<br>(5,400)|
|At31 March 2021|504,023|40,349|85,797|27,256|-|657,425|
|Depreciation|||||||
|At1 April 2020|57,680|12,033|62,795|16,125|4,679|153,312|
|Charge forthe year|4,032|2,012|4,606|3,652|180|14,482|
|Eliminated on disposal|-|-|-|-|(4,859)|(4,859)|
|At 31 March 2021|61,712|14,045|67,401|19,777|-|162,935|
|Net bookvalues|||||||
|31 March 2021|442,311|26,304|18,396|7,479|-|494,490|
|31March2020|446,343|28,316|23,002|10,908|721|509,290|



## 10 Fixed asset investments 

|Fixed asset investments|||
|---|---|---|
||2021|2020|
||£|£|
|Endowment fund|299,969|298,347|
|National savings bond|20,000|20,000|
||319,969|318,347|



The balance at the year end includes interest of £772 (2020: £1,778) being received. The endowment fund is held in a Charity Investment Account with Santander. 

11 Debtors 

|Debtors|||
|---|---|---|
||2021|2020|
||£|£|
|Otherdebtors|31,082|5,538|
|Prepayments and accrued income|65,216|28,779|
|Customer balances|1,386|5,033|
||97,684|39,350|



-30- 



## Age Concern Luton 

## Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2021 

## 12 Bank balances 

|Bank balances|||
|---|---|---|
||2021|2020|
||£|£|
|Current account|842,050|897,225|
|Pettycash|2,384|2,636|
||844,434|899,861|



Included within the above totals is a net amount of £12,178 due to customers (2020: net amount of £4,526 due to customers). 

## 13 Creditors: amounts falling due within one year 

|Creditors: amounts falling due within one yearamounts falling due within one yearfalling due within one yeardue within one yearwithin one yearone yearyear|2021|2020|
|---|---|---|
||£|£|
|Taxation and social security|7,050|7,436|
|Other creditors|63,074|68,821|
|Accruals and deferred income|26,420|28,941|
|Client accounts|13,564|9,559|
||110,108|114,757|



Included in accruals is an amount in respect of pension contributions of £346 (2020: £1,823) outstanding at the year end. 

## Deferred income 

|Deferred income|||
|---|---|---|
||2021|2020|
||£|£|
|At1 April 2020|-|-|
|Received during the year|-|-|
|Released to incoming resources|-|-|
|At31March2021|-|-|



Income is deferred when it relates to a future accounting period. There was no deferred income at 31 March 2021 or 31 March 2020. 

231< 



## Age Concern Luton Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2021 

## 14 Unrestricted funds 

|||Movement|Movement|in year|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||Balance at<br>Incoming||Resources|||Balance at|
|1|April 2020<br>resources|||expended|Transfers|31 March 2021|
||£|£||£|£|£|
|General fund|672,879|475,425||(254,501)|(115,935)|777,868|
|Designated fixed|||||||
|asset fund|338,860|-||(3,129)|-|335,731|
|Designated building|||||||
|fund|275,000|-||-|-|275,000|
||1,286,739|475,425||(257,630)|(115,935)|1,388,599|
|During theyearended 31 March 2006a||large grantwas received towards thepurchase ofthe|||||
|building at39 King Street. During that yearthe Trustees took the decision to designate part ofthe|||||||
|general fund to represent the net bookvalue ofthe assets held as at 31|||||March 2006.The fund is||
|reduced each year by|thedepreciation charged in respect ofthose assets.||||||
|During theyearended 31 March 2011 the Trustees created a new designated fund for reserves to|||||||
|be held fora Building Fund for a future project to build|||sheltered accommodation for|||older people.|
|The Trustees are aiming forthe Building||Project to be completed within|||the next five|years and|
|consequently will be seeking additional funding.|||||||
|Restricted funds|||||||
|||Movement in year|||||
||Balanceat|Incoming||Resources||Balance at|
||1 April 2020|resources||expended|Transfers|31 March 2021|
||£|£||£|£|£|
|Core funding|.|140,818||(140,818)|-|-|
|Covid-19|”|94,740||(93,835)|-|905|
|Befriending and Wellbeing<br>2,354||82,425||(123,484)|41,059|2,354|
|Home Repair and Handyman<br>30,000||-||(31,236)|31,236|30,000|
|Enhancing Lives|-|-||(20,850)|20,850|-|
|Lunch clubs|-|772||(23,562)|22,790|-|
|Hospital Discharge|-|125,000||(122,216)|-|2,784|
|Farley Big Local|143,932|(43,787)||(67,384)|-|32,761|
|Long Term Conditions|5,289|-||-|-|5,289|
|IT Project|12,000|-||-|-|12,000|
|Spread the Warmth|131|-||-|-|131|
||193,706|399,968||(623,385)|115,935|86,224|



During the year ended 31 March 2006a large grant was received towards the purchase of the building at 39 King Street. During that year the Trustees took the decision to designate part of the general fund to represent the net book value of the assets held as at 31 March 2006. The fund is reduced each year by the depreciation charged in respect of those assets. 

During the year ended 31 March 2011 the Trustees created a new designated fund for reserves to be held for a Building Fund for a future project to build sheltered accommodation for older people. The Trustees are aiming for the Building Project to be completed within the next five years and consequently will be seeking additional funding. 

## 15 Restricted funds 

The befriending and wellbeing fund includes the grants and donations income and related expenditure for the charity's Digital Mondays project. 

-32- 



## Age Concern Luton Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2021 

## 15 Restricted funds (continued) 

The charity acts as the locally trusted organisation for the Farley Big Local partnership. The unspent funds included in the above balance were returned to the funder after the year end due to an overall project underspend. 

Details of the transfers are in note 8 on page 29. 


**----- Start of picture text -----**<br>
||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|Name of fund|Nature,|purpose and|description|of fund|
|Core|funding|Funding|received|from|LLAL|
|Covid-19|For|supporting|older|people|through|the|pandemic|
|Befriending|and|Wellbeing|For services|to|promote|social|support|and|companionship.|
|Home|Support|For supporting|older people|to|remain|living|in|their own|
|homes.|
|Home|Repair and|Handyman|For|providing|repairs|to homes|of|older|people|and|to|ensure|
|the|homes|are|safe|and|secure|for the|resident.|
|Enhancing|Lives|For services|to|provide|support to|older|people,|including|
|with|applications|for|financial|and|other support.|
|Lunch|clubs|For|the|lunch|clubs|held|at|Vesper|House.|
|Hospital|Discharge|For the|support|of|patients who have|recently|been|
|discharged|from|hospital.|
|Farley|Big|Local|For the|improvement|of the|Farley|Hill|local|area.|
|Long Term|Conditions|For|the|support|of people|with|a long term|condition.|
|IT|Project|Grants|received|for the|upgrade|of the|charity's|IT|
|equipment.|
|Spread|the|Warmth|Donations|received|to|help|people|keep warm|in|winter.|

**----- End of picture text -----**<br>


Further details about the activities carried in relation to the above funds are contained in the Trustees Report. 

## 16 Endowment funds 

The endowment fund of £171,646 was transferred from Vesper House in 2006 and the income is used to support the Vesper House lunch clubs. 

- 33- 



## Age Concern Luton 

## Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2021 

## 17 Net assets held by funds 

|||Cash||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||Fixed|at bank&|Other|||
||Assets|Investments|Assets|Creditors|Total|
||£|£|£|£|£|
|General fund|494,490|906,533|97,684|(110,108)|1,388,599|
|Restricted fund|-|86,224|-|-|86,224|
|Endowment fund|-|171,646|=|-|171,646|
||494,490|1,164,403|97,684|(110,108)|1,646,469|



## 18 Financial commitments 

At 31 March 2021 the charity had total outstanding commitments for future minimum lease payments under non-cancellable operating leases as follows: 

||2021|2020|
|---|---|---|
||£|£|
|Land and buildings/other leases:|||
|Within oneyear|4,424|39,547|
|Between 2 and 5 years|3,240|7,664|
|In over5 years|:|-|
|Total future minimum lease payments|7,664|47,211|
|Therearenocapitalcommitments(2020:£nil).|||



## 19 Contingent liabilities 

There are no contingent liabilities at the year end (2020: £nil). 

## 20 Related party transactions 

The charity received donations from trustees of £600 in the year (2020: £nil). There are no other related party transactions during the year that require disclosure. 

« RA 



## Age Concern Luton Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2021 

## 21 Notes to the Statement of Cash Flows 

## Reconciliation of net (expenditure)/income to net cash flow from operating activities 

|||2021|2020|
|---|---|---|---|
|||£|£|
|Net income forthe year||(5,622)|278,565|
|Less investment income shown in investing activities||(919)|(2,008)|
|Less rental income shown in investing activities||-|(2,034)|
|Add backdepreciation||14,482|15,828|
|Loss on disposal of fixed assets||341|-|
|(Increase)/decrease in debtors||(58,334)|6,056|
|(Decrease) in creditors||(4,649)|(21,512)|
|Net cash flowfrom operating activities||(54,701)|274,895|
|Cash and cash equivalents||||
|Yearended 31 March 2021||2021|2020|
|||£|:|
|Cash and cash equivalents||844,434|899,861|
|Yearended 31 March 2020||2020|2019|
|||:|£|
|Cash andcash equivalents||899,861|632,754|
|Analysis ofchanges in netfunds||||
||2020|Cash flow|2021|
||£|£|£|
|Net cash||||
|Cash at bankand in hand|899,861|(55,427)|844,434|
||899,861|(55,427)|844,434|
||899,861|(55,427)|844,434|



- 35- 



## Age Concern Luton 

## Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2021 

## 23 Comparative Statement of Financial Activities 

The Statement of Financial Activities for the year ended 31 March 2020 is presented for illustrative purposes. 


**----- Start of picture text -----**<br>
|||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|2020|2020|2020|2020|
|Unresiricted|Restricted|Endowment|Total|
|Funds|Funds|Funds|Funds|
|£|£|.|£|
|Income and|endowments|from:|
|Donations and|legacies|32,185|-|-|32,185|
|Donations|from|LLAL|155,000|-|-|155,000|
|Charitable|activities:|
|HIA &|Handyman|-|30,000|-|30,000|
|Enhancing|Lives|-|23,884|-|23,884|
|Befriending|and|lunch|club|service|-|150,747|-|150,747|
|Hospital|Discharge|-|125,000|-|125,000|
|Farley|Big|Local|-|149,034|-|149,034|
|Income|from|charitable|services|330,240|-|-|330,240|
|Other trading|activities|178,781|-|-|178,781|
|Investments:|
|Bank|account|interest|230|1,778|-|2,008|
|Rental|income|2,034|-|-|2,034|
|Other|income|9,882|-|-|9,882|
|Total|income|708,352|480,443|-|1,188,795|
|,|po|———|
|Expenditure|on:|
|Raising|funds|134,946|-|-|134,946|
|Charitable|activities|358,160|417,124|-|775,284|
|Total|expenditure|493,106|417,124|-|910,230|
|Net (expenditure)/income|215,246|63,319|-|278,565|
|Transfers|between|funds|(54,892)|54,892|-|-|
|Net movement|in|funds|160,354|118,211|-|278,565|
|Reconciliation|of funds:|
|Total|funds|at|1|April|2019|1,126,385|75,495|171,646|1,373,526|
|Total funds|at|31|March|2020|1,286,739|193,706|171,646|1,652,091|

**----- End of picture text -----**<br>


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