2023-12-31-accounts

This text was generated using OCR and may contain errors. Check the original PDF to see the document submitted to the regulator.

ST MONICA TRUST

Report of the Trustee and consolidated financial statements

Registered charity number 202151 Year ended 31 December 2023

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2023

Report of the Trustee	1
Statement of Trustee’s responsibilities	20
Independent auditor’s report to the Trustee of St Monica Trust	21
Consolidated statement of financial activities
(including income and expenditure account)	25
Charity statement of financial activities	26
Consolidated cash flow statement	27
Consolidated and charity balance sheets	28
Notes	29

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2023

Report of the Trustee for the year ended 31 December 2023

The Council presents its annual report and the audited consolidated financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2023. This report consolidates the results of St Monica Trust and its subsidiaries St Monica Trading Limited and Somerdale Pavilion Trust.

The financial statements comply with the memorandum and articles of association 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 (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2019) – Charities SORP (FRS 102), the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102).

Reference and administrative details of the Charity, its Trustee and Advisers

The Trust was founded by Henry and Monica Wills in 1925. The Trust is constituted by a Charity Commission Scheme sealed on 30 June 2005. The subsidiary St Monica Trading Limited was incorporated on 17 November 2017 and the subsidiary Somerdale Pavilion Trust was incorporated on 17 December 2018.

Registered Address of the Trust St Monica Trust Cote Lane Bristol BS9 3UN Charity Registration Number 202151

Trustee

St Monica Trustee Company Limited (a company limited by guarantee registered number 9357207) is the sole Trustee of St Monica Trust by virtue of the Charity Commission Scheme dated 19 December 2015. The directors of St Monica Trustee Company Limited, the Corporate Trustee, have ultimate responsibility for the administration of the charity and are regarded for internal governance purposes as being a trustee. The Directors are referred collectively in this report as the Council of St Monica Trust, the members of which served throughout the year and since the year-end and are set out below:

The Council

Mr T S Ross - President and Chair of the Trust Venerabe C A Froude Mr J R Ancell Mrs S Darwall Smith DL Mr R H G Bourns DL Dr A D Garrad CBE Mr M Bothamley (resigned 18 October 2023) Lady Wills (resigned 21 June 2023) Mr R Crews (appointed 27 March 2024) Mrs E O’Driscoll Ms A Duff Dr M D McCaldin Mrs D J England Professor J McGeeham CBE Dr F C Forrest Mr James Rimmer (appointed 27 March 2024) Dr Jonathan Shapiro (appointed 27 March 2024)

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2023

Report of the Trustee for the year ended 31 December 2023

Members of the Council serve for three years, being eligible for re-election for up to three periods. The Scheme provides for the appointment by the Council of six members of Council, six nominations by the Society of Merchant Venturers of Bristol (SMV) and three members nominated respectively by the Bishops of Bristol, Gloucester and Bath & Wells. Sir David Wills Bt was elected Patron of the Trust upon retiring as a Trustee on 30 June 2006, and Lady Wills was elected Patron of the Trust on her retirement as a Trustee on 21 June 2023.

Chief Executive

The Trust appointed Mr D Williams as Chief Executive in April 2015. Mr Williams joined the Trust from the Accord Group, where he was Executive Director for Health Care and Support. Previously, Mr Williams worked as Head of Strategy and Service Development for Housing 21 and has also held senior positions with a number of other leading charities.

Management of the Endowment

The Endowment of St Monica Trust includes the investment fund of the Trust from which income and gains are derived and utilised for charitable purposes. This investment fund is managed on the Trust’s behalf by the Society of Merchant Venturers of Bristol (“SMV”) in its capacity as Endowment Trustee of the Trust. The Society was incorporated by Royal Charter in 1552 by King Edward VI with amendments by subsequent monarchs in 1566, 1639, 1643, 1665, and 1988.

The Society of Merchant Venturers, as Endowment Trustee of St Monica Trust, implement the investment strategy and asset allocation as recommended by the Endowment Trustees’ Investment Strategy Group having regard to the financial requirements of the Trust. In turn, the Finance and Investment sub-Committee and the Estates and Property sub Committee have particular management and advisory responsibilities for the endowment and report directly to the Investment Strategy Group. The overall investment strategy and objectives are subject to the approval of the Council.

Auditor	Bishop Fleming LLP
	10 Temple Back
	Bristol
	BS1 6FL
Banker	NatWest Bank plc
	32 Corn Street
	Bristol
	BS99 7UG
Solicitor	Womble Bond Dickinson (UK) LLP
	3 Temple Quay
	Temple Back East
	Bristol
	BS1 6DZ

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2023

Report of the Trustee for the year ended 31 December 2023

Investment Advisers	Cambridge Associates
	80 Victoria Street
	Cardinal Place
	London
	SW1E 5JL
	Evelyn Partners
	Portwall Place
	Portwall Lane
	Bristol
	BS1 6NA
Commercial Property Managing	Alder King LLP
Agent	Pembroke House
	15 Pembroke Road
	Bristol
	BS8 3BA
Agricultural Estates and Land	Savills
Steward	14 Cirencester Office Park
	Tetbury Road
	Cirencester
	GL7 6JJ

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2023

Report of the Trustee for the year ended 31 December 2023

2 Structure, Governance and Management of the Group

History

The Trust was founded by Henry and Monica Wills in 1925.

The group is structured as three entities – the parent charity St Monica Trust and its wholly owned subsidiaries St Monica Trading Limited (incorporated on 17 November 2017) and Somerdale Pavilion Trust (incorporated on 17 December 2018). The parent conducts the charitable operations of St Monica Trust. St Monica Trading Limited was established to conduct the commercial operations undertaken at St Monica Trust’s retirement village at Keynsham. The current activities being undertaken by the company include the sale of food in the B Block Café and Somer Dining Restaurant and secondly, the provision of leisure services. These services are available to residents and members of the general public. Somerdale Pavilion Trust was established to conduct the charitable activities of that Trust in providing and maintaining a pavilion, playing fields and other facilities for the use of the inhabitants of Keynsham and the surrounding areas.

Governing instrument and objects

The Trust is constituted by a Charity Commission Scheme sealed on 30 June 2005 (as amended by scheme dated 26 February 2010, by resolution dated 17 December 2014, by scheme dated 19 December 2014, by resolution dated 26 June 2019 and by resolution dated 16 November 2020).

The objects of the Trust, defined in clause 4 of the Scheme, which should be referred to for exact details are as follows:

“The objects of the charity are, for the public benefit, the relief of those individuals (and if appropriate their spouses) who are in need by reason of age, disability or ill-health by the provision of:

(a) accommodation and associated facilities; and/or

(b) other services or assistance”.

Organisational structure

The current trustee committee structures are set out below. The committee structure was reviewed during the course of 2023 following the implementation of our 10 year strategy, and a revised structure will be adopted from 1 January 2024. Membership of the existing committees at the yearend was as follows:

The Finance and Transformation Committee

The purpose of the Committee is to exercise oversight of the business health of the Trust including the establishing of annual budgets and liaising with the Endowment Trustee in relation to financial planning. It is also responsible for overseeing the Trust’s transformation programme.

Mr J R Ancell - Chair	Mrs D J England - Deputy Chair
Professor J McGeehan CBE	Dr A D Garrad CBE
Mrs E O’Driscoll (stepped down 16 March 2023)	Venerable C A Froude
Mr T S Ross - President, Ex officio

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2023

Report of the Trustee for the year ended 31 December 2023

The Care Committee

The main function of this Committee is to exercise oversight and advise the Council on all matters relating to the quality of care of the Trust’s residents and all operations of the Trust subject to CQC regulation.

Mr T S Ross - President, Ex Officio Dr F Forrest - Chair Dr M D McCaldin - Deputy Chair Mrs S Darwall Smith DL Venerable C A Froude

Charitable Impact Committee

The purpose of this Committee is to assume delegated responsibility on behalf of the Council of the St Monica Trust in overseeing the operation, management and development of the Trust’s Charitable Impact Directorate which includes but is not limited to Community Giving (Individual Giving and Organisational Giving), allocation of the Endowment Income, pastoral care, volunteering, community engagement and strategic partnerships.

Mr T S Ross - President, Ex Officio Mrs S Darwall Smith DL - Chair Lady Wills - Patron Venerable C A Froude - Deputy Chair Ms A Duff Mrs C Duckworth DL - co-opted

The Property, Housing and Development Committee

The purpose of this Committee is to oversee the operational and financial performance of the Trust’s residential property and care villages, as well as consider and oversee any developments undertaken by the Trust.

Mr T S Ross - President, Ex officio Ms A Duff - Chair Mr J R Ancell Mr M Bothamley (resigned 18 October 2023) Mr H Evans - co-opted Mrs E O’Driscoll (stepped down 16 March 2023)

The Nursing Homes Committee

The purpose of the Committee is to oversee the operational and financial performance and efficiency of the nursing homes, including but not limited to occupancy and staffing.

Mr T S Ross - President, Ex officio Dr M Mccaldin – Chair Mr R H Bourns DL

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2023

Report of the Trustee for the year ended 31 December 2023

The Audit Committee

The purpose of this Committee is to assume delegated responsibility on behalf of the Council of the St Monica Trust for ensuring that there is a framework for accountability; for examining and reviewing relevant systems and methods of control, both financial and otherwise including risk analysis and risk management; and for ensuring the Trust is complying with all relevant aspects of the law, regulations and good practice.

Mr T S Ross - President, Ex Officio Dr A D Garrad - Chair Mr J R Ancell Venerable C A Froude

The Trustee Nominations Committee

The Committee is responsible for nomination to Council of new Trustees.

Dr A D Garrad - Chair Mrs S Darwall Smith DL Mrs D J England Dr A D Garrad CBE Venerable C A Froude

The Remuneration Committee

The Committee is responsible for oversight of reward strategy, executive pay and supporting the appraisal of the Chief Executive’s performance.

Mr T S Ross - President, Ex Officio Mrs D J England - Chair Mr R Ancell Dr A D Garrad CBE

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2023

Report of the Trustee for the year ended 31 December 2023

Trustee induction and training

The Corporate Trustee is appointed in accordance with the provisions of the Scheme of St Monica Trust. The Directors of the Company are regarded for the internal governance purposes as being a Trustee of the Charity. On appointment each Trustee signs a Code of Conduct and attends induction meetings with other Trustees and Executives. Trustees are given a Scheme of Governance, which includes the Trustee Code of Conduct, the Charity Commission Scheme, a copy of the Risk Register, a copy of the Charity Commission leaflet CC3 and procedures on issues such as delegation of authority, recruitment, equal opportunities, investment, reserves and conflict of interest and other guidance. This information contains role descriptions of Trustees and senior executives. New Trustees meet with the President and Chief Executive and are invited to an induction tour of each of the Trust’s locations. According to their skills and aptitude, they take responsibility for at least one area of activity by appointment to a sub-committee of the Council. Training needs are assessed and met.

Senior Staff Pay policy

The Trust recognises the importance of transparency and accountability in all aspects of our work and we are committed to open information. This includes transparency about our Executive Team’s salaries and how they are set.

The Trustee considers the Council and sub-committees and the Chief Executive as comprising the key management personnel of the Charity in charge of directing and controlling the Charity and running and operating the Charity on a day-to-day basis. All Trustees give their time freely and no Trustee remuneration was paid in the year. Details of Trustee expenses and related party transactions are disclosed in note 28 to the accounts.

Trustees are required to disclose all relevant interests and register them with the Chief Executive and, in accordance with the Trust’s policy, withdraw from decisions where a conflict of interest arises.

The pay of the Charity’s Chief Executive is reviewed annually and normally increased in accordance with average earnings. The remuneration is bench-marked with charities of a similar size and activity to ensure that the remuneration set is fair and not out of line with that generally paid for similar roles.

Risk assessment

In the light of the Corporate Governance guidance contained within the Statement of Recommended Practice “Accounting and Reporting by Charities”, the Council have examined the major risks faced by the Trust and (with the assistance of the Society of Merchant Venturers of Bristol) the endowment. They have developed systems to monitor and control these risks to mitigate the impact that they may have on the Trust in the future. Each Committee of the Council reviews aspects of the risks pertinent to that Committee. The Audit Committee is responsible for the overall review and update of the Risk Register at least once a year.

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2023

Report of the Trustee for the year ended 31 December 2023

Financial risk management

The following statements summarise the Trust’s policy in managing identified forms of financial risk:

Price risk – the Trust negotiates contracts and fee rates to finance aspects of the Trust’s activities and incorporates this information into its business plan. Salary costs are communicated to staff during the formal annual review of salaries. Prices of services and materials purchased are subject to contracts with suppliers, based on current market prices. The Trust is also able to respond to purchase price inflation by adjusting in most cases our fee income accordingly.
Credit risk – credit risk on accounts owed to the Trust by its customers is low, as the majority of debtors are Local Authorities
Liquidity risk – the Trust currently has borrowing facilities of £20.5m expiring in June 2027 (2022: £20.6m), £13.5m was drawn down as at 31 December 2023 (2022: £10.6m), of which £13.4m is long-term (2022: £10.5m).
Interest rate cash flow risk – the Trust is able to place surplus funds in a short-term deposit account with its bankers. The Trust carries the risk of interest rate fluctuations on its £20m RCF. The magnitude of the size of the loan is considered insignificant.
Investment market risk – the Trust invests in a diversified portfolio of investments and properties in order to spread the risk.
A Risk Management Framework policy is in place that includes financial loss from error, fraud or crime. This is supplemented with a risk register with regular reviews and reporting, supported with a program of internal audit.

Going concern

The Trust’s activities, together with the factors likely to affect its future development, performance and position are set out in this Report of the Trustee. The balance sheet on page 28 sets out the financial position of the Trust and its cash flows can be seen in the cash flow statement on page 27.

The Trust meets its day-to-day working capital requirements through a combination of cash generated by the sale of leasehold properties, investment income from the endowment and Revolving Credit Facilities. The latter also funds any capital development expenditure.

The Trustees have reviewed financial forecasts for a period of 12 months and beyond from the date of signature of these financial statements. Key uncertainties are:

The performance of the leasehold sales cycle.
Occupancy within the Trust’s care homes and retirement living properties.
Cost inflation.
Performance of its investments.

Having considered these uncertainties and other factors including the value of its endowment assets, the Trustees have a reasonable expectation that the Trust has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future not withstanding its net current liability position. Accordingly, they continue to adopt the going concern basis in preparing the financial statements.

Related parties and connected charities

Details of related parties and connected charities and transactions with them are disclosed in note 28 to the financial statements.

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2023

Report of the Trustee for the year ended 31 December 2023

Reserves

The accounting policies on pages 29 to 35 describe the various funds of the Trust. Note 22 to the Financial Statements shows the assets and liabilities attributable to the various funds by type and summarises the year’s movement on each fund.

At 31 December 2023, the value of unrestricted reserves was £42.7m (2022: £32.4m) and the value of the unapplied total return fund was £224.8m, having adopted a Total Return policy from 1 Jan 2023.

Grant-making policy – Residents’ subsidies and support in the community

Applications for subsidies against full fees for residents and grants to support the community are monitored by Council Committees.

3. Objectives, Activities, Achievements and Performance

(a) Overview

Following the restructure of the Trust’s care homes in 2022, there was a focus in 2023 of embedding the changes across our services. Change Champions continued to work in our care homes in 2023 to ensure a successful transition to a more consistent approach, including changes to roles, structures and reporting lines. Our ‘Developing One Team’ approach has successfully enhanced the experience of our residents and brought the benefits we hoped to see from the project.

The Trust successfully launched its 10-year Strategy in January 2023. The detailed plan for the first 3 years of the Strategy will help us get the basics right and this has been a significant focus for 2023.

As part of our 10-year Strategy, the adoption of a Total Return policy was formally adopted at the June 2023 Council meeting, bringing flexibility and agility to the investments and utilisation of Endowment funds. This came into effect from 1 January 2023. The former permanent endowment funds were effectively split into two – the Investment Fund and the Unapplied Total Return Fund (“UTR”).

A major project in 2023 was the introduction of a new HR system called Workday to replace iTrent. This has given colleagues access to modern and effective systems for recruitment, absence recording, booking holiday, performance management and updating personal information.

(b) The focus of our work

2023 marked the start of our 10-year Strategy. The detailed plan for the first three years of the Strategy includes:

Upgrading and modernising our existing sites
Communicating better with our residents, colleagues, and other partners
Supporting and training our staff, managers, and volunteers
Focusing on environmental sustainability for future generations

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2023

Report of the Trustee for the year ended 31 December 2023

(b) The focus of our work

As part of our 10-year strategic commitment to upgrading and modernising our existing sites, we published site specific plans for investment and infrastructure upgrades across our sites.

We also made changes to the structure and governance of the Trust in 2023 to ensure that we can deliver our 10-year Strategy which has an equal focus on our operational and charitable activities.

In line with our founder’s vision and as part of our Strategy, we want to help the many older people who have worked hard all their lives yet may have few resources to maintain a comfortable retirement – the ‘mid-market’. In 2023 we commissioned research to enable us to design services for this segment of the market.

In 2023 we commenced a project to create a customer-focused hub in each of our villages. This will be a location where all residents and visitors can meet, take refreshments, and obtain information and support. We worked with the relevant teams to understand what is needed to create a village hub at each location and design a suitable service. We applied for planning permission for a new building to be the village hub at Cote Lane.

In 2023 we conducted a review of our catering services, with changes to be implemented in 2024. In our villages we want to move to a more modern café style service with longer opening hours and a wider range of food and in our care homes we plan to extend the amount and range of food provided by an external partner. This will improve the consistency of our food offering and offer a more personalised food service, including greater flexibility for residents, higher nutritional values and better support for modified diets.

To aid the creation of village hubs and to create a ‘one team’ approach focused on hospitality and customer service, we restructured our portering and housekeeping teams in our villages in 2023.

In 2023 we introduced a new People system called Workday to replace iTrent. This is part of our commitment in the 10-year Strategy to getting the basics right and has given colleagues access to modern and effective systems for recruitment, absence recording, booking holiday, performance management and updating personal information. A second phase in 2024 will bring in new systems for payroll, time and attendance and rostering.

The building of Block D at The Chocolate Quarter commenced in late 2023. Comprising 44 apartments (including 18 that will be affordable), this will complete The Chocolate Quarter development when it opens in 2025.

(c) The strategies we use to deliver our objectives

The objectives of St Monica Trust focus the work of the Charity on older people and adults with a physical disability or long-term illness. The purpose of the Charity is to create ‘communities where older people flourish’ and the strategies we use to meet such objectives include:

Providing retirement housing/sheltered housing accommodation all of which is disability-friendly and capable of supporting individuals in wheelchairs.

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2023

Report of the Trustee for the year ended 31 December 2023

(c) The strategies we use to deliver our objectives

‘Extra Care’ Housing in partnership with Bristol City Council and North Somerset Council. Service users enjoy the comfort of living within their own home as an alternative to entry into a care home and are thus afforded greater choice and independence and the stimulation of a lively environment in which to live.
Domiciliary Care – many people prefer to ‘stay put’ as their care needs increase. A 24-hour Domiciliary Care service is available within the Trust’s own retirement housing settings that enables individuals to maintain their independence within their own home.
High quality nursing and residential care are key elements of the support provided by the Trust. In addition to long-term care, short-term places are available to give a carer a muchneeded break, or for those recovering following an operation or period of hospitalisation, and as a ‘safe haven’ for those older people facing an emergency or breakdown in their normal care arrangements. Many elements of our short-term care are operated in partnership with the NHS and local authorities.
Charitable Giving activities supports our local communities. We deliver these intentions through awarding grants to individuals with gifts of financial support, plus grants to local community projects.

In recent years, caring for people living with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia has become a central feature of the services offered by the Trust. This highly specialist care is provided in safe and positive environments where activities and therapies are a regular part of daily life.

Recruitment and retention of staff

The St Monica Trust aims to recruit and retain a high calibre workforce to deliver the high quality of care that we have built our reputation upon.

Recruiting the ‘right’ people that share the Trust’s values is equally as important as recruiting people with the right skills. We offer a competitive pay and benefits package and are continually reviewing ways of improving this. Our aspiration is to become a Real Living Wage employer and to increase the basic pay of all our staff. This will aid the continual challenge of recruitment felt by all in the social care sector.

In 2023 we embarked on a strategy to recruit high quality employees from overseas for our care homes. We applied for the required sponsorship approval from the government and key staff visited Malaysia to interview potential staff. We hope our first cohort will arrive in 2024.

We ensure employees are supported in the workplace using an annual and quarterly performance management process that cascades organisational objectives and focuses on personal development at regular intervals during a 12-month period. This will be facilitated by our new Workday HR system.

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2023

Report of the Trustee for the year ended 31 December 2023

The Trust prides itself on its training and development provision for employees, employing an inhouse team of skilled trainers that deliver tailored training both internally to St Monica Trust

staff and externally to other care providers; and we are also an accredited assessment centre for health and social care qualifications. All colleagues must complete a comprehensive mandatory training programme upon appointment and undertake regular updates to stay up to date. Tailored training is provided upon request to teams to target specific areas of need.

In 2023 we welcomed a significant cohort oh health and social care apprentices to the Trust.

(d) Public benefit and maximising access to our services

The Trustee of St Monica Trust has referred to the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit when reviewing and planning the work of the Charity. The concern of the Trustees has been to ensure that the Trust, in servicing the needs of older people, has due regard to the particular needs of those individuals within the beneficiary group who require assistance.

Whilst all persons who receive support from our Charitable Giving team are individuals who can be regarded as in financial need, people who access our other services emanate from a range of socioeconomic backgrounds. The legal and regulatory framework in relation to payment by the state for care remains firmly rooted in a system of means testing. For example, any individuals who have money or assets in excess of £23,250 will find themselves responsible for meeting the cost of living in a care home.

When approximately 75% of the population over 65 years own their own property, quite clearly the welfare state assumes financial responsibility for only a percentage of people who need care.

Thus, along with other voluntary organisations, the Trust engages with people in need of a service, some of whom can afford the fee and others who are unable to meet such costs. The traditions and the philosophy of the Trust, and indeed the guidance of the Charities Act 2011, ensure that the Trust makes provision for individuals who are unable to pay the fees for relevant services and thus are able to benefit and not be excluded from the Trust’s services.

In 2023, the Trust helped 15,981(2022: 11,092) people, of which 14,784 or 92.5% (2022: 9,940 or 89.6%) were afforded financial support by the Trust.

Of the total above, the Trust helped 1,579 individuals in 2023 (2022: 1,509) in its residential care services (care homes and retirement villages), of which 382 or 24% (2022: 357 or 24%), were afforded financial support by the Trust.

The Trust also helped 474 individuals (2022: 418) in financial need through the Charitable Giving Team’s Individual Giving scheme via 622 gifts (2022: 564) and short-term grant awards. In addition, a further 13,928 (2022: 9,165) people benefitted from the Trust’s financial support for local, community-based organisations.

The founders of the St Monica Trust made it clear from the start that the charity was to support older people not just living in Trust property but also the wider community. Today, we deliver these

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2023

Report of the Trustee for the year ended 31 December 2023

intentions through awarding grants to individuals with gifts of financial support, plus grants to local community projects.

Our Charitable Giving reached £861,560 in 2023 (2022: £775,447), delivered whilst developing our 10-year strategy. This strategy places greater focus on the charitable giving roles and responsibilities the Trust has, and 2023 has seen an ambition to create a Charitable Foundation that will launch in the summer of 2024. The year also saw greater connections with our local community and stakeholders, with the introduction of regular communication via a newsletter and membership of several local and national funder networks.

In 2023, the Charitable Impact team operated in the following manner:

Individual Giving

----- Start of picture text -----
Requests received 831 gift and grant requests received (2022: 757) via the Individual
Giving Fund.
2023 saw a significantly high demand on the Individual Giving Fund
due to the continuing energy and cost of living crises. A further
£16,000 was allocated to this fund to help meet the increased
demand. These funds proved to be a much-needed source of
support for those in dire need facing fuel poverty and deeply
affected by the cost-of-living crisis. Without this immediate financial
support, these individuals would have had nowhere else to turn,
placing greater pressure on public services.
In 2023, a review of the Individual Giving Fund was undertaken, and
trustees approved a number of changes to best meet the needs of
those requiring support which will take effect from 01 April 2024.
Gifts awarded 403 gifts awarded worth £143,333 (2022: £142,798)
Short-term grants 219 short-term grants were awarded during the year worth
£122,650 (2022: £78,760).
----- End of picture text -----

Organisational Giving

Organisational
Giving

In 2023, £595,577 in grants (2022: £553,889) was awarded directly
to 93 organisations (52 of these were through the Trust’s
Coronation Fund), reaching 13,928 older people (2022:
101organisations; 9,165 older people).
We deliver different types of grant programmes but our core
funding principle is the focus on improving the quality of life of older
people in the region. The social value these grants bring are
manifold. The key benefits they bring include a reduction in social
isolation and loneliness, improved community connections, support
for marginalised older people, support for carers, dementia
support, digital inclusion and improved health and well-being.

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2023

Report of the Trustee for the year ended 31 December 2023

Organisational
Giving
(Continued.)

Through the provision of our grants to organisations, the Trust
and its residents benefit from the learning these projects bring
which can then be embedded internally. One such example is our
funding for digital inclusion projects which has increased the
knowledge of our IT team on visual impairment aids that can be of
benefit to our residents.
Key grants awarded in 2023
Coronation Fund
In February 2023, to mark the Coronation of His Majesty The King
and Her Majesty The Queen Consort, we launched the
Coronation Fund – a small grants programme to enable
constituted groups and venues to deliver local celebrations that
would be inclusive of older people. The fund met one of our core
principles – Connection – as these events created opportunities
for older people to be connected to their local communities and
join in the national celebrations. We also encouraged applications
that supported another of our principles – Contribution – where
older people were at the heart of the design and planning of the
event.
52 grants totalling £21,766 were provided to constituted groups,
which enabled 4,830 older people to attend an event in their own
community. Street parties, tea dances, afternoon teas and
community lunches took place across our region, all to help older
people connect and enjoy the celebrations.
Improving Connections Fund
Supporting social interaction and tackling isolation have long been
acknowledged as key components to ageing well, and for many
years the St Monica Trust has funded projects that support greater
connections. In 2023, the St Monica Trust embarked on its new
ten-year strategy and the core tenets of ‘Connection’,
‘Contribution’ and ‘Choice’.
Launched in August and guided by the Association of Charitable
Foundations principles, the Improving Connections Fund was met
with huge interest. Following a meeting of the assessment panel in
November, 10 organisations were awarded funding (Alive
Activities, Bristol Dementia Action Alliance, Carers Support
Centre Bristol and South Gloucestershire, Coniston Community
Association, The Research Institute for the Care of Older People
(RICE), Square Food Foundation, St George’s Bristol, Talk Club,
Vision North Somerset, and Wellspring Settlement), totalling
£207,340.75.

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2023

Report of the Trustee for the year ended 31 December 2023

Charitable Impact Summary

----- Start of picture text -----
People helped At least 14,402 individuals were helped directly and many more
were helped through the work of organisations funded. This
included 474 individuals supported directly by SMT funding.
Total net giving £861,560 (2022: £775,477)
Charitable Impact £292,794 (2022: £241,086)
Directorate Team
Total Cost £1,125,354 (2022: £1,016,563)
----- End of picture text -----

Partnerships & Joint Working

St Monica Trust has strong relationships with other funders in the locality. We aim to develop relationships with organisations at a local level, particularly around our villages, to find opportunities to collaborate and maximise our impact.

In partnership with Quartet Community Foundation, in 2023 we operated the North Somerset Older People’s Community Grant scheme. These funds are aimed at organisations working with older people, where a small amount of money can make a significant difference. During 2023, this joint scheme gave funding to Lighthouse Carers Group (£1,250), Portishead Youth Centre (£2,500), Age UK Somerset (£2,500), Alive Activities (£4,990) and Weston-Super-Mare Pilot Gig Club (£2,500).

The Trust continues to be a coordinating member of Bristol Older Peoples’ Funding Alliance, encouraging collaboration and coordination of funding for older peoples’ organisations in the city. Through this Alliance, alongside other members, we have provided grants to Alive Activities BME Elders (£10,061), Southmead Development Trust (£4,117) and Bristol Somali Resource Centre (£8,000).

In partnership with the Dolphin Society, the Trust continued to support the Information and Advice services of Age UK Bristol and Age UK South Gloucestershire with a contribution of £7,500 pa as part of a multi-year grant. SMT is often trusted to manage the funds on behalf of other funders, as is the case here.

This collaborative way of working with other funders in the city has worked well and has developed positive relationships with the council and other providers of funds.

The objectives and achievements of the Endowment Trustee

The Trustees resolved during the year that with effect from 1[st] January 2023, a Total Return approach would be adopted to the permanent endowment, bringing flexibility and agility to the investment and utilisation of endowment funds and appropriate actions are now being taken by the endowment Trustees to manage the endowment assets under this basis.

The former permanently endowed funds were effectively split into two – the Investment Fund and the Unapplied Total Return Fund (“UTR”).

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2023

The objectives and achievements of the Endowment Trustee

The Investment Fund represents the permanent endowment which was originally given to establish the charity valued at a specific date determined by the Trustees and this is inflated over time in line with CPI and the Unapplied Total Return Fund (“UTR”) represents the balance of the fund, and all future capital gain and income growth is attributed to this fund.

It should be noted that the assets and management of the endowment continue to be managed as one pool by the Endowment Trustee. The Trustees also approved an Investment Policy and Distribution Policy at the time of adoption.

The objectives for the year:

Agricultural property investments: To attain an average annual real (inflation adjusted) total return of at least 3% over the long term (measured over rolling 10-year periods).
Financial investments: To attain an average annual real (inflation adjusted) total return of at least 3% over the long term (measured over rolling 10-year periods) and to outperform a composite benchmark measured over 3 year rolling periods.

The composite benchmark for allocation of financial investments is as follows:

%	Benchmark

17%	FTSE 350 High Yield Index
15%	Barclays Global Aggregate Bond Index(Hedged)
40%	MSCI World Index
15%	HFRI Fund of Funds Diversified Index
8%	MSCI EmergingMarkets Index
5%	FTSE Hi-Yield Cash-PayCapped Index

Income: To provide the Trust with £7.25 million net unrestricted income for 2023.

Achievements for the year have been as follows:

Summary: The market value of St Monica Trust’s investments managed by the Endowment Trustee was £334.7 million at 31 December 2023 which was an increase of 4.8% compared to the market value of £319.5 million at 31 December 2022 (this includes the Commercial Property at Block C which has been treated as an investment property in both years). During 2023, £7 million of S282 funds (the Charity Commission approved a resolution made by the Trustees to redesignate £20 million of what was then the permanent endowment for use by the Trust in furtherance of its objectives and as if it were income) were distributed as cash (2022: £4 million).

During 2023 a tug of war between inflation and interest rates played out across continents. Many central banks had the delicate task of curbing inflation without it stifling the economy. The UK grappled with sticky inflation, and this posed challenges to both consumers and policymakers. At the start of the year Consumer Price Inflation (CPI) hit a record 10.7%. By October it had declined to 4.6% but it remained higher than the US (3.2%) and the eurozone (2.9%). 2023 saw the lowest percentage of stocks outperforming the index over the past 25 years, with the “Magnificent Seven” driving equity returns in 2023 with returns dwarfing the US and International market returns. Developed equity valuations (led by the US market) are close again to previous peaks. The Magnificent 7 are 7 investment stocks which include Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet (Google), Facebook,

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2023

The objectives and achievements of the Endowment Trustee

Netflix, and Tesla. They are called this because of their strong performance, market dominance, and influence on the overall stock market.

Asset Allocation: The broad asset allocation at 31 December 2023 was:

Agricultural property 56% Commercial property 2% Financial investments 41% Cash on deposit 1%

This accords with the broad target asset allocation of 60% property and 40% financial investments.

Agricultural Property Investments:

For the 10 years to 31 December 2023 the portfolio achieved its objective of attaining an average annual real (inflation adjusted) total return of at least 3%. Actual average annual performance was 9.8% per annum for the 10 years against the inflation + 3% benchmark of 5.9%.

Financial Investments:

A detailed financial investment strategy has been produced to transition the financial investment portfolio on a phased basis with less reliance on UK centric and income orientated funds. By using the advisory management of Cambridge Associates, the Endowment Trustee has been able to interview and select the best managers from a wide section of the investment market and so diversify the risk. During 2023 a beauty parade of advisers was conducted and with effect from 1[st] January 2024 two further advisers will be appointed.

The composition of the portfolio was fairly stable in 2023 with the following transactions taking place:

A partial redemption from Investec UK Special Situations
An addition in Heronbridge UK Equity
Full redemption from Franklin Templeton
New investment in Blackrock ICS Sterling Government Liquidity

For the 10 years to 31 December 2023 the portfolio achieved average annual performance of 5.7% per annum for the 10 years against the inflation +3% benchmark of 5.9%.

For the 3 years to 31 December 2023 the portfolio returned 5.2% against the benchmark of 5.4%.

Income:

The Endowment Investments provided the Trust with £8.20m (2022: £7.53m) of net unrestricted funds in 2023 against a target of £7.25m, a surplus of £0.95m. Income is measured on a three-year rolling basis and for the three years to 31 December 2023 the Endowment Investments provided the Trust with £22.38m against the target of £20.29m, a surplus of £2.09m. The Endowment Trustee considers the portfolio is well diversified to respond to the needs of the Trust.

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2023

Report of the Trustee for the year ended 31 December 2023

4. Financial review

The Trust’s financial position at the end of 2023 was strong, with unrestricted reserves of £42.7 million (2022: £32.4 million) and net assets of £351.3 million (2022: £331.4 million). Unrestricted funds include £10.3m (2022: £14.4m) in an expendable endowment fund. This fund was created in 2020 from what was at the time the permanent endowment following the approval by the Charity Commission of a resolution made by the Trustees under section 282 of the Charities Act. This resolution was made in direct response to the risks posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting transfer provides additional resource to the charity to effectively mitigate those risks and enable the Trust to further its planned objectives.

The Trust received income from the Endowment, which in 2023 was £8.20 million compared with the target for the year of £7.25 million (2022: £7.53 million compared to a target of £6.54 million).

Subsidiary company results

These statements include the trading activity for St Monica Trading Limited. The principal activity of the company is to undertake the commercial operations at the Trust’s retirement village at Keynsham. The current activities include catering and leisure facilities offered to residents and members of the general public. The trading result for the year was a profit of £20k which will be used to support the Trust’s charitable objectives.

These statements include the trading activity for Somerdale Pavilion Trust. The principal activity of the charitable company is to provide and maintain a pavilion, playing fields and other facilities for the use of the inhabitants of Keynsham and the surrounding areas. The trading result for the year was a profit of £200k.

5. Plans for future periods

The Trust will deliver the following objectives in 2024:

As part of our 10-Year Strategy we will implement the findings of our catering review. In our villages we will move to a more modern café style service with longer opening hours and a wider range of food, whilst in our care homes we will extend the amount and range of food provided by an external partner. This will improve the consistency of our food offering and offer a more personalised food service, including greater flexibility for residents, higher nutritional values and better support for modified diets. To deliver these improvements, we will make changes to roles, shift patterns and management structures. Residents will be fully involved in taste testing and menu design.

In 2024 we will implement the second phase of our Workday HR system which will bring in new systems for payroll, time and attendance and rostering.

We plan to get planning permission for our development of the former DEFRA land at Westbury Fields in 2024. We will conduct focus groups with representatives of the local community to help us design services in the development that will be open to the public.

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2023

Report of the Trustee for the year ended 31 December 2023

We will publish our Standards Charter in 2024. We will work with our teams and residents to set out the outcomes and commitments that the Trust hopes to achieve over the next two years.

We will launch our charitable foundation in 2024 and work and with local and national organisations to co-create a substantial funding programme to improve isolation and loneliness among older people in our region.

As part of our 10-year Strategy commitments we will survey our sites and publish a Net Zero Strategy for the Trust. Sustainability is now an important issue for present and future residents and colleagues.

As we continue to pioneer new solutions in our sector, we will appoint a visionary Director of Innovation to join our Executive Team and lead our innovation efforts, including the introduction of our new innovation framework. The Director of Innovation will be a pivotal leadership role responsible for championing innovation, fostering creativity, and driving delivery of our strategic ambitions across the Trust, our communities, and the wider sector.

Disclosure of information to auditors

The Trustees who held office at the date of approval of this Report of the Trustee confirm that, so far as they are each aware, there is no relevant audit information of which the Charity’s auditors are unaware; and each Trustee has taken all the steps that he/ she ought to have taken as a Trustee to make himself/ herself aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the Charity’s auditors are aware of that information.

By order of the Board

Mr Timothy Ross President of the Council

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2023

Statement of Trustee’s responsibilities in respect of the Trustee’s annual report and the financial statements

Under charity law, the trustee is responsible for preparing the Report of the Trustee and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and regulations. The trustee is required to prepare the financial statements in accordance with UK Accounting Standards, including FRS 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland.

The financial statements are required by law to give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and of the incoming resources and application of resources for that period.

In preparing these financial statements, generally accepted accounting practice entails that the trustee:

selects suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
makes judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
states whether applicable UK Accounting Standards and the Statement of Recommended Practice have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements;
states whether the financial statements comply with the trust deed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements;
assesses the charity’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern; and
uses the going concern basis of accounting unless they either intend to liquidate the charity or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

The trustee is required to act in accordance with the trust deed of the charity, within the framework of trust law. They are responsible for keeping accounting records which are sufficient to show and explain the charity’s transactions and disclose at any time, with reasonable accuracy, the financial position of the charity at that time, and to enable the trustee to ensure that, where any statements of accounts are prepared by them under section 132(1) of the Charities Act 2011, those statements of accounts comply with the requirements of regulations under that provision.

They are responsible for such internal control as they determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and have general responsibility for taking such steps as are reasonably open to them to safeguard the assets of the charity and to prevent and detect fraud and other irregularities.

Independent auditor’s report to the Trustee of St Monica Trust

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of St Monica Trust (the ‘Charity’) and its subsidiaries (together, the ‘Group’) for the year ended 31 December 2023 which comprise the Consolidated Statement of Financial Activities, Charity Statement of Financial Activities, Consolidated Cash Flow Statement, Consolidated and Charity Balance Sheet, 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 Group and Charity’s affairs as at 31 December 2023, and of its incoming resources and application of resources, for the year then ended;
have been properly prepared in accordance with UK accounting standards, including FRS 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland ;
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 Group and 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 Trustee’s 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 Group or 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 Trustee 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 Trustee’s annual report, other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. The Trustee is responsible for the other information contained within the 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.

Independent auditor’s report to the Trustee of St Monica Trust

In connection with our audit of the financial statements, 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 audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether there is a material misstatement in the financial statements or a material misstatement of the other information. 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.

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

In the light of our knowledge and understanding of the Group and Charity and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the Annual Report.

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which we to report to you if, in our opinion:

the information given in the financial statements is inconsistent in any material respect with the Trustee’s report; or
the Group or Charity has not kept adequate accounting records; or
the Group or Charity 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 the Trustee

As explained more fully in the Trustee’s responsibilities statement, the Trustee is responsible for the preparation of financial statements which give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the Trustee determines 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 Trustee is responsible for assessing the group and 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 Trustee either intends 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 144 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.

Independent auditor’s report to the Trustee of St Monica Trust

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.

In identifying and assessing risks of material misstatement in respect of irregularities, including fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulations, we considered the following:

the nature of the sector, control environment and the Group and Charity’s performance;
results of our enquiries of management and the Trustee Board, including the committees charged with governance over the charity’s finance and control, about their own identification and assessment of the risks of irregularities;
any matters we identified having obtained and reviewed the charity’s documentation of their policies and procedures relating to: identifying, evaluating and complying with laws and regulations and whether they were aware of any instances of non-compliance; detecting and responding to the risks of fraud and whether they have knowledge of any actual, suspected or alleged fraud; the internal controls established to mitigate risks of fraud or noncompliance with laws and regulations;

As a result of these procedures, we considered the opportunities and incentives that may exist within the organisation for fraud, which included incorrect recognition of revenue, management override of controls using manual journal entries. We identified the greatest potential for fraud as incorrect recognition of revenue and management override using manual journal entries.

In common with all audits under ISAs (UK), we are also required to perform specific procedures to respond to the risk of management override. We also obtained an understanding of the legal and regulatory frameworks that the Group and Charity operates in, focusing on provisions of those laws and regulations that had a direct effect on the determination of material amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. The key laws and regulations we considered in this context included the Charities Act 2011 and tax legislation.

In addition, we considered provisions of other laws and regulations that do not have a direct effect on the financial statements but compliance with which may be fundamental to the Group and Charity’s ability to operate or to avoid a material penalty.

Our procedures to respond to risks identified included the following:

reviewing the financial statement disclosures and testing to supporting documentation to assess compliance with provisions of relevant laws and regulations described as having a direct effect on the financial statements;
reviewing the financial statement disclosures and testing to supporting documentation to assess the recognition of income;
enquiring of the Trustee and management and those charged with governance concerning actual and potential litigation and claims;
performing procedures to confirm material compliance with the requirements of its regulators;
performing analytical procedures to identify any unusual or unexpected relationships that may indicate risks of material misstatement due to fraud;
reading minutes of meetings of those charged with governance and reviewing internal control reports; and

Independent auditor’s report to the Trustee of St Monica Trust

in addressing the risk of fraud through management override of controls, testing the appropriateness of journal entries and other adjustments; and assessing whether the judgements made in making accounting estimates are indicative of a potential bias.

We also communicated relevant identified laws and regulations and potential fraud risks to all engagement team members, and remained alert to any indications of fraud or non-compliance with laws and regulations throughout the audit.

Our audit procedures were designed to respond to risks of material misstatement in the financial statements, recognising that the risk of not detecting a material misstatement due to fraud is higher than the risk of not detecting one resulting from an error, as fraud may involve deliberate concealment by, for example, forgery, misrepresentations or through collusion. There are inherent limitations in the audit procedures performed and the further removed non-compliance with laws and regulations is from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, the less likely we would become aware of it.

A further description of our responsibilities is available on the FRC's website at: https://www.frc.org.uk/auditors/audit-assurance/auditor-s-responsibilities-for-the-audit-of-thefi/description-of-the-auditor%E2%80%99s-responsibilities-for.This description forms part of our auditor’s report.

Use of our report

This report is made solely to the charity’s Trustee, 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 Trustee 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 Group and Charity and the Group or Charity’s Trustee as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

Joseph Scaife FCA (Senior Statutory Auditor) For and on behalf of

Bishop Fleming LLP

Chartered Accountants

Statutory Auditors 10 Temple Back Bristol BS1 6FL

Date: 17 July 2024

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

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2023

Consolidated statement of financial activities (including an income & expenditure account) for the year ended 31 December 2023

*Note* Income *Income from charitable activities* Residential care and support Accommodation income *Generated funds* Investment income 4 Total income Expenditure *Costs of raising funds* Investment management charges 6a Property operational costs 6b Major repairs 6c Total costs of generating funds 6 Charitable activities *Costs in furtherance of the Trust’s objects* Residential care and support 7 Accommodation costs Community support Governance 8 Total charitable expenditure Total expenditure Net income/(expenditure) before investment gains/(losses) Realised and unrealised gains on investments 14 Net income/(expenditure) for the year before transfers Transfers between funds 9 Actuarial gain/(loss) on defined benefit pension 29 Net movement in funds Total funds brought forward Total funds carried forward 22	Unrestricted Funds Designated funds Other restricted funds Expendable endowment funds Endowment Funds Total Funds 2023 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 39,768 - 107 - - 39,875 2,528 438 - - 2,966 2,167 - 11 - 8,849 11,027	Total Funds 2022 £’000 33,710 1,299 9,924
	44,463 438 118 - 8,849 53,868	44,933
	(47) - - - (781) (828) (731) - - - (649) (1,380) (36) - - - (230) (266)	(824) (1,113) (198)
	(814) - - - (1,660) (2,474) (52,961) - (13) - (241) (53,215) (1,246) - - - - (1,246) (1,154) - - - - (1,154) (83) - - - - (83)	(2,135) (47,977) (415) (1,017) (72)
	(55,444) - (13) - (241) (55,698)	(49,481)
	(56,258) - (13) - (1,901) (58,172)	(51,616) (6,683) 3,793
	(11,795) 438 105 - 6,948 (4,304) - - (1) - 23,374 23,373
	(11,795) 438 104 - 30,322 19,069 29,109 (4,132) - (4,120) (20,857) - 814 - - - - 814	(2,890) - 2,178
	18,128 (3,694) 104 (4,120) 9,465 19,883 10,316 7,647 393 14,406 298,621 331,383	(712) 332,095
	28,444 3,953 497 10,286 308,086 351,266	331,383

Incoming resources and resulting net movement in funds in each year arise from continuing operations. The group has no recognised gains or losses for the current or previous year other than those shown above.

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2023

Charity statement of financial activities for the year ended 31 December 2023

*Note* Income *Income from charitable activities* Residential care and support Accommodation income *Generated funds* Investment income 4 Total income Expenditure *Costs of raising funds* Investment management charges 6a Property operational costs 6b Major repairs 6c Total costs of generating funds 6 Charitable activities *Costs in furtherance of the Trust’s objects* Residential care and support 7 Accommodation costs Community support Governance 8 Total charitable expenditure Total expenditure Net income/(expenditure) before investment gains/ (losses) Realised and unrealised gains on investments 14 Net income/(expenditure) for the year before transfers Transfers between funds 9 Actuarial gain/(loss) on defined benefit pension 29 Net movement in funds Total funds brought forward Total funds carried forward 22	Unrestricted Funds Designated funds Other restricted funds Expendable endowment funds Endowment Funds Total Funds 2023 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 37,886 - 107 - - 37,993 2,528 438 - - - 2,966 2,167 - 11 - 8,849 11,027	Total Funds 2022 £’000 32,253 1,299 9,924
	42,581 438 118 - 8,849 51,986	43,476
	(47) - - - (781) (828) (731) - - - (649) (1,380) (36) - - - (230) (266)	(824) (1,113) (198)
	(814) - - - (1,660) (2,474) (51,298) - (13) - (241) (51,552) (1,246) - - - - (1,246) (1,154) - - - - (1,154) (71) - - - - (71)	(2,135) (46,647) (415) (1,017) (62)
	(53,769) - (13) - (241) (54,023)	(48,141)
	(54,583) - (13) - (1,901) (56,497)	(50,276) (6,800) 3,793
	(12,002) 438 105 - 6,948 (4,511) - - (1) - 23,374 23,373
	(12,002) 438 104 - 30,322 18,862 29,109 (4,132) - (4,120) (20,857) - 814 - - - - 814	(3,007) - 2,178
	17,921 (3,694) 104 (4,120) 9,465 19,676 10,017 7,647 393 14,406 298,621 331,084	(829) 331,913
	27,938 3,953 497 10,286 308,086 350,760	331,084

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2023

Consolidated cash flow statement for the year ended 31 December 2023

*Note* Cash flows from operating activities Net (expenditure)/income Dividends and Interest receivable Depreciation of tangible assets Profit on disposal of accommodation Losses/(gains) on investment assets Actuarial gains on pension scheme less contributions paid Change in trade and other debtors Change in stocks Change in trade and other creditors Net cash (used in)/from operating activities Cash flows from investing activities Interest received Dividend income received Purchase of tangible fixed assets Proceeds from sale of tangible fixed assets Purchase of investments Increase in fixed asset investment cash deposits Proceeds from sale of investments Net cash from investing activities Cash flows from financing activities Repayment of bank loans Loan drawdowns Net cash used in financing activities 26 Movements in cash and cash equivalents in the reporting year Cash at bank and in hand at beginning of year Cash at bank and in hand at end of year 26	2023 £’000 19,883 (3,482) 2,865 (1,282) (23,372) (775) (575) (6) (3,247) (9,991) 45 3,437 (6,922) 2,528 (15,685) 5,806 18,023 7,232 - 2,891 2,891 132 3,521 3,653	2022 £’000 (712) (3,120) 2,969 (380) (3,793) (2,307) 3,228 (7) 1,548
		(2,574) 2 3,118 (4,594) 795 (18,260) 14,221 8,224
		3,506 (10,118) -
		(10,118)
		(9,186) 12,707
		3,521

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2023

Consolidated and charity balance sheets at 31 December 2023

Group 2023 2022 £’000 £’000 152,409 149,598 334,694 319,466	Group 2023 2022 £’000 £’000 152,409 149,598 334,694 319,466	Charity 2023 2022 £’000 £’000 152,404 149,592 334,694 319,466	Charity 2023 2022 £’000 £’000 152,404 149,592 334,694 319,466
487,103 57 10,691 3,653 14,401 (24,719) (10,318) 476,785 (120,073) 356,712 (5,446) 351,266 308,086 497 308,583 3,953 10,286 28,444 42,683 351,266	469,064 51 10,116 3,521 13,688 (26,292) (12,604) 456,460 (118,856) 337,604 (6,221) 331,383 298,621 393 299,014 7,647 14,406 10,316 32,369 331,383	487,098 51 10,713 2,874 13,638 (24,457) (10,819) 476,279 (120,073) 356,206 (5,446) 350,760 308,086 497 308,583 3,953 10,286 27,938 42,177 350,760	469,058
			46 10,010 3,136
			13,192
			(26,089) (12,897)
			456,161 (118,856)
			337,305 (6,221)
			331,084
			298,621 393
			299,014 7,647 14,406 10,017
			32,070
			331,084

These financial statements were approved by the Board on 20 June 2024 and were signed on its behalf by:

Mr Timothy Ross President of the Council

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2023

Notes

(forming part of the financial statements)

Accounting policies

Basis of preparation

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with 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) – (Charities SORP (FRS 102)) and the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102), which have been applied consistently.

St Monica Trust 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 note.

Notwithstanding the Trust’s net current liabilities of £10.9m at the end of 2023, the Trustees have prepared the financial statements on a going concern basis which they consider is appropriate for the following reasons.

The Trustees have reviewed cash flow forecasts for a period of 12 months from the date of approval of these financial statements which indicate that, taking account of reasonably possible on the operations and its financial resources, the group and charity will have sufficient funds to meet its liabilities as they fall due for that period.

As noted in the Report of the Trustee, this has included looking at plausible downside scenarios. In the event that a combination of any of these scenarios occurred affecting the operations of the Trust, £101.4 million of endowment assets as at the balance sheet date can be liquidated in less than one month. This amount would support the charity’s normal operations for more than two years.

Consequently, the Trustees are confident that the group and charity will have sufficient funds to continue to meet its liabilities as they fall due for at least 12 months from the date of approval of the financial statements and therefore have prepared the financial statements on the going concern basis.

Basis of consolidation

These consolidated financial statements include the financial statements of St Monica Trust ("the charity") and St Monica Trading Limited and Somerdale Pavilion Trust (“the subsidiaries”). These financial statements consolidate the results of the charity and its wholly owned subsidiaries on a lineby-line basis.

The trading results of the subsidiaries are disclosed in notes 2 and 3 to these financial statements.

Critical accounting judgements and key sources of estimation uncertainty

In applying the charity’s accounting policies, the Trustee is required to make judgements, estimates and assumptions about the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Actual results may differ from these estimates.

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2023

Notes

(forming part of the financial statements)

The Trustees consider that besides the points listed below, there are no other critical judgements or sources of estimation uncertainty requiring disclosure.

Investment properties

The valuation of investment properties is a critical accounting judgement in respect of the application of the Trust's accounting policies. The method by which the Trustees have assessed the fair value of the investment properties at year end is described in detail in note 14. The valuations are based on company data, including current rental rates, occupancy, terms and conditions of leases and upon market related assumptions such as yield and discount rates. An element of ‘hope value’ is also included in the valuation of properties in line with accounting standards.

Leasehold Apartment Sales

The established method of accounting for leasehold apartment sales at the Trusts’ established sites at Cote Lane, Westbury Fields, Monica Wills House and Sandford Station is that receipts are held as a liability until conclusion of the lease as detailed in the Lifetime Lease Accounting Policy Note. At The Chocolate Quarter, a lease is offered which provides the leaseholder with a choice between equity participation and fixed return. The accounting treatment of an equity participation lease is that the initial sale results in recognition of income and costs in the Statement of Financial Activities. The Trust has followed the general principle for income recognition in the Charities SORP and FRS 102.

Defined benefit pension scheme

The Trust has an obligation to pay pension benefits to certain employees and past employees. The cost of these benefits and the present value of the obligation depends on a number of factors, including life expectancy, salary increases, and the discount rate on corporate bonds. The principal assumptions made by the Trust can be found in note 29. Management estimates these factors in determining the net pension obligations in the balance sheet. The assumptions reflect historical experience and current trends.

Donations and legacies

Dividends and interest on capital and income fund investments are included as income in the financial statements on an accruals basis.

Voluntary income

This is credited to the appropriate fund in the year in which it is receivable.

Government grants

These are credited to the appropriate fund in the year in which they are receivable.

Residential care and support

Fees from residents and other service-user income is credited to the unrestricted fund on an accruals basis.

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2023

Notes

(forming part of the financial statements)

Accommodation Income

The Trust offers leases to tenants on a fixed repayment basis (i.e. the tenant will receive the price they paid on exit) on all its sites. In addition, at The Chocolate Quarter, it also offers an equity participation basis (i.e. the exit amount is driven by the market). Where the lessee opts for a fixed repayment, the proceeds are recognised as a liability in accordance with the lifetime leases accounting policy described on page 32. However, where the lessee opts for the equity participation arrangement, the Trust is under no obligation to repurchase the apartment until the property has been sold on to a new tenant.

Therefore, the proceeds from the initial sale of a property under an equity participation lease are recognised as income in the statement of comprehensive income, with a corresponding cost of sale recognised in accommodation costs.

Under both the fixed repayment and equity participation arrangements at The Chocolate Quarter, the Trust becomes entitled to a surrender fee, payable at the end of the lease, which is accrued annually over the life of the lease. This is recognised within accommodation income in the statement of financial activities (SoFA) as it is earned.

Expenditure

All expenditure is included on an accruals basis and is recognised when there is a legal or constructive obligation to pay for expenditure. All costs are allocated or apportioned to one of the functional categories of resources expended in the statement of financial activities.

(a) Costs of generating funds relate to those costs incurred in the management of the fixed asset investments.
(b) Costs in furtherance of the Trust’s objects relate to those costs incurred in running and supporting the objects of the Trust.

Support costs

Support costs are apportioned to categories of expenditure, and only governance costs are separately disclosed.

Grants payable

Grants are awarded from the Community Fund and a detailed analysis and explanation of grants awarded has been provided in the Report of the Trustee.

Irrecoverable VAT

Any irrecoverable VAT is charged to the statement of financial activities or capitalised as part of the cost of the related asset, where appropriate.

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2023

Notes

(forming part of the financial statements)

Recognition of liabilities

Liabilities are recognised when an obligation arises to transfer economic benefits as a result of past transactions or events.

Tangible fixed assets

All expenditure on the acquisition, enhancement, production or installation of fixed assets for use by the Trust and all receipts of such assets by way of gift are capitalised and included in the balance sheet at cost. The freehold land and property is included in fixed assets at cost. Assets with a value below £1,000 are not capitalised.

Tangible fixed assets include apartments which may be disposed of within 12 months through an equity participation lease (see accommodation income accounting policy above).

Capitalisation of finance costs

All finance costs in respect of the bank loan obtained for the Keynsham, Westbury-on-Trym, Bedminster and Sandford developments up to the point when these developments commenced normal operations are capitalised within tangible fixed assets and are being amortised over the life of the asset to which they relate.

Depreciation

Depreciation is provided with the intention of writing off the costs of tangible fixed assets (to residual values) over their useful lives. The provision is calculated using the straight-line method at the following rates:

Assets in the course of construction	Nil
Freehold buildings	2%
Special building assets	14%
Furniture and equipment	12.5% to 33.3%
Motor vehicles	25%

Impairment reviews

Impairment reviews are carried out annually which includes consideration of current selling price of properties against the carrying value of each asset.

Lifetime leases

The Trust provides a lifetime leasehold purchase scheme for up to 351 properties across four of its sites in which the lease operates for the duration of the purchaser’s occupation of the property and then reverts to the Trust on their departure. The cash received under this scheme is returned to the lease holder or their estate when the lease is determined. The Trust, therefore, always has a liability to repay the full value of the lease proceeds, which is reflected in the balance sheet as amounts due to lifetime leasehold tenants. When a lease is determined, the Trust will sell the lease on to another

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2023

Notes

(forming part of the financial statements)

purchaser under the same lifetime lease arrangement, thus restoring the funding and the liability to repay the value of the lease when, in turn, it is determined.

In addition, the Trust has a further 136 leasehold properties at its site in Keynsham. The lessee has an option at this site to have a fixed repayment lease with the liability recognised as described in the above policy. However, where the lessee opts for an Equity Participation arrangement the accounting policy is as described in the Accommodation Income note on page 31.

Investments

Both current and fixed asset investments are stated at mid-market value at the balance sheet date. This is not in accordance with FRS 102 which recommends bid value but is consistent with the entity’s performance management process. Using bid values would lead to a reduction in the valuation of these listed investments of an amount which is considered by the Trustee to be immaterial.

All recognised gains and losses on investments are shown separately in the statement of financial activities. The investments in the subsidiary undertakings are stated at cost.

Investment properties

Investment properties are included in the balance sheet at their open market value on an existing use basis. The valuation is determined on the basis of professional advice and includes an element of hope value in line with accounting standards. In accordance with FRS 102, investment properties are revalued annually and the aggregate surplus or deficit is included as an unrealised gain or loss within the endowment fund. No depreciation or amortisation is provided in respect of freehold investment properties.

Stocks

Stocks consist of catering supplies and have been valued at the lower of cost and net realisable value.

Leased assets

Rentals in respect of operating leases are charged directly to the statement of financial activities on a straight-line basis over the lease term.

Pension costs

The employees of the Trust are eligible to join a group personal pension plan with Aviva or with the National Employment Savings Trust (NEST). The Trust’s pension contributions for current employees are charged to the statement of financial activities in the year in which the obligation to make contributions arises.

The Trust pays certain discretionary pensions, which are not funded under a closed defined benefit scheme. The pension liability in respect of this obligation is recognised in the balance sheet based on annual actuarial valuations. Actuarial gains or losses are included in the statement of financial activities.

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2023

Notes

(forming part of the financial statements)

Further details in respect of unfunded pension liabilities are contained in note 29.

Basic financial instruments

(a) Trade and other debtors / creditors

Trade and other debtors are recognised initially at transaction price less attributable transaction costs. Trade and other creditors are recognised initially at transaction price plus attributable transaction costs. Subsequent to initial recognition, they are measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method, less any impairment losses in the case of trade debtors. If the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, for example, if payment is deferred beyond normal business terms, then it is measured at the present value of future payments discounted at a market rate of instrument for a similar debt instrument.

(b) Interest-bearing borrowings classified as basic financial instruments

Interest-bearing borrowings are recognised initially at the present value of future payments discounted at a market rate of interest. Subsequent to initial recognition, interest-bearing borrowings are stated at amortised cost using the effective interest method, less any impairment losses.

(c) Fixed asset investments

Investments are initially recognised at their transaction value and subsequently measured at their fair value as at the balance sheet date using the closing quoted market price. The statement of financial activities includes the net gains and losses arising on revaluation and disposals throughout the year.

(d) Cash and cash equivalents

Cash and cash equivalents comprise cash balances and call deposits. Bank overdrafts that are repayable on demand and form an integral part of the charity's cash management are included as a component of cash and cash equivalents for the purpose only of the cash flow statement.

Endowment fund

Following a resolution to adopt a Total Return approach to the endowment fund with effect from 01 January 2023, the former permanently endowed funds were effectively split into two funds; the Investment Fund and the Unapplied Total Return Fund (“UTR”).

Investment Fund

This fund represents the original gift to establish the charity, valued at a specific date determined by the Trustee and this will be inflated over time in line with CPI.

The Unapplied Total Return Fund (“UTR”)

This fund represents the balance of the fund, and all future capital gain and income growth is attributed to this fund.

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2023

Notes

(forming part of the financial statements)

Expendable endowment fund

On 16 November 2020, the Charity Commission approved a resolution made by the Trustees to redesignate £20 million of what was at the time the permanent endowment for use by the Trust in furtherance of its objectives and as if it were income. The result was that £20 million was transferred from the permanent endowment funds into an unrestricted expendable endowment fund.

As expenditure is incurred, balances will be transferred from the expendable endowment fund into the unrestricted fund.

Restricted funds

These are other funds for which the donor has specifically restricted the purpose for which they can be used. The amounts in the funds represent the monies remaining for future expenditure. There are two restricted funds which are held by the Trust and explained in more detail below:

(a) Residents’ Amenity fund

These are funds donated by residents of the Trust and invested by the Trust, which have the restricted purposes of providing income for the resident groups at our Cote Lane and Westbury Fields sites villages.

(b) Residents’ Legacy fund

These are funds donated by beneficiaries of the Trust, which have a restricted purposes for which they can be applied.

Unrestricted fund

Operating income together with income arising from permanent endowment and unrestricted fund investments is credited to the unrestricted fund. The Charity Commission Scheme permits the fund to be applied towards contributions to the management expenses, the expenses related to running the operational activities, establishing a reserve fund and paying annuities and gifts. Any balance remaining may be accumulated for endowment purposes, but in practice is currently retained as unrestricted funds as explained in the reserves policy in The Report of the Trustee.

Designated fund

A designated fund exists to hold a proportion of the community fee and exit fees for the Equity Participation and Fixed Repayment leasehold options as detailed in the Accommodation Income accounting policy. These funds are set aside for future maintenance costs.

Subsidiaries

Details of subsidiary undertakings owned by the charity are disclosed in notes 2 and 3.

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2023

Notes

(forming part of the financial statements)

Financial activities of the charity

The financial activities shown in the consolidated statement includes those of the charity’s wholly owned subsidiaries, St Monica Trading Limited and Somerdale Pavilion Trust.

2 Trading subsidiary’s results (St Monica Trading Limited)

Turnover Cost of sales Gross profit Administration and other costs Trading profit Other income Net income Management charge from St Monica Trust Tax on profit Retained profit for the year Retained profit brought forward Gift aid distribution Retained profit carried forward	2023 2022 Total Total £’000 £’000 619 476 (249) (175)
	370 301 350 (288)
	20 13 - -
	20 13 - - - -
	20 13 13 10 (13) (10)
	20 13

Gift aid distributions totalling £19,970 (2022: £12,861) will be made post year end in relation to the current year.

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2023

Notes

(forming part of the financial statements)

The assets and liabilities of the subsidiary were:

Fixed assets Current assets Creditors: amounts falling due within one year Provisions for liabilities and charges Net assets Profit and loss reserve	2023 2022 Total Total £’000 £’000 - - 20 13 - -
	20 13
	20 13
Equity shareholders’ funds	20 13




Statement of changes in equity	Share Capital Profit and loss reserves Total
	£ £ £

Balance at 1 January 2022	1 10,261 10,262

Year ended 31 December 2022
Profit and total comprehensive income for the year	- 12,862 12,862
Distributions to parent charity under gift aid	- (10,261) (10,261)

Balance at 31 December 2022	1 12,862 12,863

Year ended 31 December 2023
Profit and total comprehensive income for the year	- 19,970 19,970
Distributions to parent charity under gift aid	- (12,862) (12,862)

Balance at 31 December 2023	1 19,970 19,971

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2023

Notes

(forming part of the financial statements)

3 Trading subsidiary’s results (Somerdale Pavilion Trust)

Income Grant income Charitable activities Other trading activities Expenditure Charitable activities Other Net income Net movement in funds Total funds brought forward Total funds carried forward	2023 2022 Total Total £’000 £’000 - 34 440 330 823 616
	1,263 980 (900) (750) (163) (116)
	(1,063) (866)
	200 114 200 114 286 172
	486 286

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2023

Notes

(forming part of the financial statements)

The assets and liabilities of the subsidiary were:

Fixed assets Current assets Creditors: amounts falling due within one year Net assets Total restricted funds Total unrestricted funds Total funds 4 Investment income Group and charity (a) Unrestricted fund Commercial investment properties Agricultural investment properties Listed and other investments Interest on cash deposits Other investments (b) Restricted funds Distributions from CCLA Investment Management Limited		2023 2022 Total Total £’000 £’000 5 6 845 513 (364) (233) 486 286 - - 486 286 486 286 2023 2022 £’000 £’000 2,793 2,340 4,794 4,465 3,427 3,106 2 1 - -
		11,016 9,912
		11 12
		11,027 9,924

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2023

Notes

(forming part of the financial statements)

5 Analysis of total resources expended

Group
	Staff costs Depreciation		Other costs	2023	2022
	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000
Costs of generating
funds
(note 6)	-	-	2,474	2,474	2,135
Charitable
expenditure
Residential care and	34,644	2,865	15,706	53,215	47,977
support (note 7)
Accommodation costs	-	-	1,246	1,246	415
Community support	293	-	861	1,154	1,017
Governance costs	-	-	83	83	72
(note 8)
	34,937	2,865	17,896	55,698	49,481
	34,937	2,865	20,370	58,172	51,616
All support costs have been allocated to one charitable			activity (Residential	care and support).
Charity
	Staff costs Depreciation		Other costs	2023	2022
	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000
Costs of generating
funds
(note 6)	-	-	2,474	2,474	2,135
Charitable
expenditure
Residential care and	33,886	2,863	14,803	51,552	46,647
support (note 7)
Accommodation costs	-	-	1,246	1,246	415
Community support	293	-	861	1,154	1,017
Governance costs	-	-	71	71	62
(note 8)
	34,179	2,863	16,981	54,023	48,141
	34,179	2,863	19,455	56,497	50,276

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2023

Notes

(forming part of the financial statements)

6 Costs of generating funds

Group and charity

(a) Investment management charges Society of Merchant Venturers of Bristol Investment manager fees Agricultural estate management Commercial properties management (b) Property operational costs Agricultural estates Commercial properties (c) Major repairs & other costs Agricultural estates Total costs of generating funds 7 Residential care and support Group and charity Staff costs Residential services Site services Provisions and catering Insurance Property and equipment (including depreciation) Miscellaneous Management and administration	2023 2022 £’000 £’000 254 255 171 192 356 331 47 46
	828 824
	648 541 732 572
	1,380 1,113
	266 198
	2,474 2,135
	2023 2022 £’000 £’000 34,644 31,751 942 743 3,118 2,946 1,684 1,288 614 647 5,984 6,323 1,993 1,644 4,236 2,635 53,215 47,977

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2023

Notes

(forming part of the financial statements)

Group and charity

Charity

Charity
Staff costs Residential services Site services Provisions and catering Insurance Property and equipment (including depreciation) Miscellaneous Expendable Endowment (excluding pay) Management and administration	2023 2022 £’000 £’000 33,886 31,153 942 743 2,885 2,741 1,273 997 614 647 5,817 6,162 1,957 1,612 - - 4,178 2,592
	51,552 46,647

8 Governance costs

8 Governance costs
Group Auditor’s remuneration (including irrecoverable VAT) - for audit - other professional services Professional services Trustee expenses Charity Auditor’s remuneration (including irrecoverable VAT) - for audit - other professional services Professional services Trustee expenses	2023 2022 £’000 £’000 57 53 2 23 1 10 9 -
	83 72
	46 43 1 23 10 9 1 -
	71 62

Neither the Council, nor persons connected with them, received any remuneration or other benefits from the Trust during the current or previous year. Reimbursement of expenses amounted to £635 during the year (2022: £nil).

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2023

Notes

(forming part of the financial statements)

9 Transfers

Group and charity Service charge transfer (A) Expendable endowment (B) UTR endowment transfer (C) Total transfers	Unrestricted fund Designated fund Other restricted funds Expendable Endowment funds Endowment funds £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 4,132 (4,132) - - - 4,120 - - (4,120) - 20,857 - - - (20,857)
	29,109 (4,132) - (4,120) (20,857)

(A) During the year, £4,132,000 (2022: £344,000) has been transferred out of the designated fund into the unrestricted fund. £3,925,000 represents the proportion of service charges received from residents for maintenance costs at the Westbury-on-Trym, Cote Lane, Sandford and Bedminster sites less the costs incurred. This aligns the balance within the designated fund of £720,000 to the balance of the sinking funds for these sites. The remaining transfer of £207,000 was in respect of improvement costs at our TCQ site.

(B) During the year, £4,120,000 (2022: £3,607,000) has been transferred from the expendable endowment fund into the unrestricted funds.

(C) During the year, a net allocation from the unrestricted fund to the Unapplied Total Return (UTR) was made of £3,121,000 and a property asset distribution of £25,868,000. There was also a repayment of £1,890,000 in respect of outstanding recoupment orders from the Unrestricted fund. The net transfer between funds was £20,857,000. See note 22 for further details.

10 Staff numbers and costs

The average headcount in the year for the group was 1,351 (2022: 1,301). The full time equivalent average number of persons employed by the group during the year, including directors, analysed by category, was as follows:

Residential care and support Community support Management of the Trust The aggregate payroll costs were as follows: Wages and salaries Social security costs Pensions Agency staff costs	2023 739 4 26 769 Total £’000 26,851 2,198 1,179 4,709 34,937	2022 694 4 23
		721
		Total £’000 23,967 2,012 941 5,072 31,992

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2023

Notes

(forming part of the financial statements)

During the current and previous year, the Trustees were not paid any remuneration or reimbursed for expenses, and no Trustees made donations to the charity.

Key management remuneration in total for the year was £887,269 (6 people) compared to 2022 £963,827 (8 people).

The number of employees whose emoluments, excluding pension contributions, were in excess of £60,000 per annum fell within the following bands:

	2023	2022
	Number	Number
£60,001 to £70,000	5	8
£70,001 to £80,000	5	5
£80,001 to £90,000	6	2
£90,001 to £100,000	1	3
£100,001 to £110,000	-	1
£110,001 to £120,000	2	-
£120,001 to £130,000	-	-
£130,001 to £140,000	1	1
£140,001 to £150,000	1	1
£150,001 to £160,000	-	-
£160,001 to £170,000	-	-
£170,001 to £180,000	-	-
£180,001 to £190,000	-	-
£190,001 to £200,000	-	-
£200,001 to £210,000	-	1
£210,001 to £220,000	1	-

These members of staff have pension benefits accruing under the group personal pension plan.

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2023

Notes

(forming part of the financial statements)

11 Net movement on funds is stated after charging

	2023	2022
	£’000	£’000
Auditors’ remuneration – Charity (inclusive of VAT)	46	43
Auditors’ remuneration – Subsidiaries (inclusive of VAT)	11	11
Auditors’ remuneration – for other professional services	2	10
Depreciation and other amounts written off tangible fixed assets	2,865	2,969
Inventories recognised as an expense	1,684	1,287

12 Taxation

The charity is not liable to taxation on the net income from its primary activity. Stated below are the tax details of the subsidiary St Monica Trading Limited:

Current tax UK corporation tax on results of the year Tax on profit on ordinary activities	2023 £’000 - -	2022 £’000 -
		-

Factors affecting the tax charge for the current period

The tax assessed for the period differs from the standard small rate of corporation tax in the UK (19%), (2022: 19%). The differences are explained below:

Current tax reconciliation Profit before tax (of trading subsidiary only) Current tax at 19% Effects of: Gift Aid payments Total current tax charge (see above)	2023 £’000 20 4 (4) -	2022 £’000 13
		2 (2) -

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2023

Notes

(forming part of the financial statements)

13 Tangible fixed assets

Assets in the course of construction £’000 4,135 (540) 2,281 -	Freehold land and buildings £’000 156,867 537 4,004 (1,247) 160,161	Furniture and equipment £’000 22,156 3 625 (86) 22,698	Motor vehicles £’000 436 - 12 (7) 441	Total £’000 183,594 - 6,922 (1,340)
5,876				189,176
- - -	16,241 1,238 (28) 17,451 142,710 138,847	17,391 1,590 (59) 18,922 3,776 6,403	364 37 (7) 394 47 74	33,996 2,865 (94)
-				36,767

5,876				152,409
4,135				149,598

The above schedule includes finance costs of £3,896,000 (2022: £3,896,000) relating to loan interest and charges incurred for financing the Chocolate Quarter, Monica Wills House, the sheltered flats and the Garden House Annexe at Cote Lane, and the Sandford developments.

Land costing £27,025,000 (2022: £27,025,000) is not depreciated.

The Trustee’s review of the fixed assets has concluded that their value is not impaired.

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2023

Notes

(forming part of the financial statements)

Freehold land and buildings £’000 156,867 537 4,004 (1,247)	Furniture and equipment £’000 22,144 3 625 (86)	Motor vehicles Total £’000 £’000 436 183,582 - - 12 6,922 (7) (1,340) 441 189,164 364 33,990 37 2,864 (7) (94) 394 36,760 47 152,404 72 149,592
160,161	22,686	189,164
16,241 1,238 (28)	17,385 1,589 (59)	33,990 2,864 (94)
17,451	18,915	36,760

142,710	3,771	152,404
140,626	4,759	149,592

Land costing £27,025,000 (2022: £27,025,000) is not depreciated.

The Trustee’s review of the fixed assets has concluded that their value is not impaired.

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2023

Notes

(forming part of the financial statements)

14 Fixed asset investments

Group and Charity

Cost At beginning of year Additions Disposals At end of year Revaluation – unrealised gains At beginning of year Disposals Net gains arising on revaluation At end of year Net book value At 31 December 2022 At 31 December 2022	Investment Properties Financial securities Cash on deposit Other investments Total £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000* 54,957 105,537 8,248 224 168,966 67 15,618 - - 15,685 (6) (12,966) (5,806) - (18,778)
	55,018 108,189 2,442 224 165,873 132,550 17,820 - 130 150,500 (31) (3,116) - - (3,1470) 18,591 2,878 - (1) 21,468
	151,110 17,582 - 129 168,821
	206,128 125,771 2,442 353 334,694

	187,507 123,357 8,248 354 319,466

There were total realised and unrealised gains during the year of £23,373,000 (2022: £3,793,000).

The charity owns 100% of the issued share capital of St Monica Trading Limited (company registration number: 11070522), a company incorporated in England and Wales. The total share capital is £1 – too small to show in the rounded figures above. The principal activities of this company are conducting the commercial operations undertaken at St Monica Trust’s retirement village at Keynsham.

Other investments consist of income unit investments with CCLA Investment Management Limited.

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2023

Notes

(forming part of the financial statements)

Investments with a market value of greater than 5% of total quoted securities at 31 December 2023 and 2022:

Investment	Portfolio	Portfolio
	2023	2022
Artemis Equity Income Fund	-	-
Brummer Multi-Strategy 2 XL Fund	5.4%	-
NinetyOne (formerly Investec UK Special Situations Fund)	-	5.8%
Newton Global Higher Income Fund	7.4%	7.4%
JO Hambro Global Select Equity Fund	6.2%	6.0%
KBI Institutional Developed Equity Fund	9.2%	6.9%
Trojan Income Fund	-	-
Kiltearn Global Equity Fund	8.1%	7.9%

The total cumulative surplus/(deficit) on revaluing investment properties is as follows:

Commercial property (note (a) & (c)) Agricultural property (note (b))	2023 2022 £’000 £’000 1,281 1,281 149,829 131,269
	151,110 132,550

(a) The commercial property within the endowment fund was valued as at 31 December 2021 by CBRE Limited in accordance with the latest version of the RICS Valuation – Global Standards (incorporating the International Valuation Standards) and the UK national supplement (the ‘Red Book’) current as the Valuation Date.
(b) The agricultural property has been valued at 31 December 2023 by Savills (UK) Limited in accordance with the RICS Valuation – Global Standards (incorporating the IVSC International Valuation Standards) effective from 31 January 2020 with a special assumption to disregard development hope value and not accrue any value for a potential change of use of any part of the portfolio unless a planning permission has been obtained. Development hope value has then been assessed separately and included in the asset valuation at 31 December 2023.
(c) Block C at The Chocolate Quarter was valued at 31 December 2021 by Alder King LLP in accordance with the RICS Valuation – Global Standards (Red Book) effective 31 January 2020 – incorporating the International Valuation Standards, UK VPGA 1 of the Red Book UK national supplement and FRS102 ‘The Financial Reporting Standard’ applicable to the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland.

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2023

Notes

(forming part of the financial statements)

15 Stocks

15 Stocks
	Group		Charity
	2023	2022	2023	2022
	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000
Sundry stocks	57	51	51	46

Stock relates to catering purchases in the SoFA of £1,684,366 (2022: £1,286,954)

16 Debtors

Trade debtors Prepayments and accrued income Other debtors Amounts owed by group undertakings	Group 2023 2022 £’000 £’000 2,318 3,376 7,128 6,034 1,245 706 - - 10,691 10,116	Charity 2023 2022 £’000 £’000 2,318 3,376 7,073 5,963 1,240 671 82 - 10,713 10,010	Charity 2023 2022 £’000 £’000 2,318 3,376 7,073 5,963 1,240 671 82 - 10,713 10,010
			10,010

Prepayments include £3,122,248 of professional fees associated with our Endowment development sites and with the majority of these costs relating to the Basingstoke site. (2022: £2,326,075).

17 Creditors: amounts falling due within one year

Trade creditors Bank loan Amounts due to lifetime leasehold tenants Other creditors Tax and Social Security Accruals and deferred income Amounts owed to group undertakings	Group 2023 2022 £’000 £’000 2,256 2,296 108 111 16,352 16,568 3,408 2,561 630 521 1,965 4,235 - - 24,719 26,292	Charity 2023 2022 £’000 £’000 2,207 2,256 108 111 16,352 16,568 3,254 2,460 630 521 1,906 4,155 - 18 24,457 26,089

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2023

Notes

(forming part of the financial statements

Accruals and deferred income includes accruals of £1,743,000 (2022: £1,492,000) and deferred income comprising £222,000 (2022: £2,713,000).

Deferred income has dropped significantly as a result of a change in the way customer invoices are processed. Resident fee income was previously invoiced in advance, this was changed so that it is now invoiced in the month that the income in earned. Therefore, there is no longer the requirement to defer SMT resident fees due the change in the way customer invoices are processed.

Deferred income brought forward Recognised in the year Released to the SoFA in the year Deferred income carried forward	Group 2023 2022 £’000 £’000 2,743 1,935 222 2,743 (2,743) (1,935) 222 2,743	Charity 2023 2022 £’000 £’000 2,663 1,861 322 2,663 (2,663) (1,861) 322 2,663

18 Creditors: amounts falling due after more than one year

Bank loan Amounts due to lifetime leasehold tenants Age analysis of bank loan Due within one year Between two and five After five years	Group 2023 2022 £’000 £’000 13,399 10,505 106,674 108,351 120,073 118,856 108 111 13,399 10,505 - - 13,507 10,616	Charity 2023 2022 £’000 £’000 13,399 10,505 106,674 108,351 120,073 118,856 108 111 13,399 10,505 - - 13,507 10,616	Charity 2023 2022 £’000 £’000 13,399 10,505 106,674 108,351 120,073 118,856 108 111 13,399 10,505 - - 13,507 10,616
			118,856
			111 10,505 - 10,616

The Trust’s bank loans have been arranged with no security having been provided by the Trust to the lender.

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2023

Notes

(forming part of the financial statements)

Bank loans consist of:

a) A 5-year Revolving Credit Facility (RCF) with NatWest bank of £20,000,000 that was put into place on 21 June 2022. The interest rate is 1.25% above SONIA. The amount drawn down at the year-end was £13,000,000.
b) John Wills Annex loan of £506,733 with NatWest Bank which is due for repayment by April 2028. The interest rate is 0.65% above bank base rates.

The amounts due to lifetime leasehold tenants relates to amounts paid by the residents for their leases, which is repayable when the properties are vacated.

19 Other restricted funds – Group and charity

Residents’ Amenity Funds Restricted Legacies	At 1 January 2023 Incoming resources Outgoing resources Gains on investments At 31 December 2023 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 393 12 (13) (1) 391 - 106 - - 106
	393 118 (13) (1) 497

20 Designated fund – Group and charity

A designated fund has been set up for future maintenance costs on the Westbury-on-Trym, Cote Lane, Sandford and Bedminster sites. Transfers from the unrestricted fund have been made in line with the expected costs, and represent net service charges received from residents and in respect of The Chocolate Quarter site, surrender fees received and accrued.

At 1 January 2023 Transfer to the unrestricted fund in respect of sinking fund balances Surrender Fees Costs At 31 December 2023	Total £’000 7,647 (3,925) 438 (207) 3,953

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2023

Notes

(forming part of the financial statements)

21 Expendable endowment fund – Group and charity

In 2020, the Charity Commission approved a resolution made by the Trustees to redesignate £20 million of what was then the permanent endowment for use by the Trust in furtherance of its objectives and as if it were income. The result was that £20 million was transferred from the permanent endowment funds into an unrestricted expendable endowment fund. As expenditure is incurred, balances will be transferred from the expendable endowment fund into the unrestricted fund.

At 1 January 2023 Transfer from the unrestricted fund At 31 December 2023	Total £’000 14,406 (4,120) 10,286

22 Analysis of funds

Group

Group
	Unrestricted	Designated	Restricted	Expendable	Endowment	Total
	fund	fund	fund	endowment	fund
Movement in funds	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000
At 1 January 2023	10,316	7,647	393	14,406	298,621	331,383
Net incoming/(outgoing) resources	(11,795)	438	105	-	6,948	(4,304)
Transfers between funds	29,109	(4,132)	-	(4,120)	(20,857)	-
Gains on investment assets	-	-	(1)	-	23,374	23,373
Actuarial loss on pension liability	814	-	-	-	-	814
At 31 December 2023	28,444	3,953	497	10,286	308,086	351,266
14,373
Representation of fund	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000
balances
Tangible fixed assets	152,409	-	-	-	-	152,409
Investments	22,859	-	353	6,500	304,982	334,694
Cash and bank balances	3,653	-	-	-	-	3,653
Other current assets and Liabilities	(24,958)	3,953	144	3,786	3,104	(13,971)
Long term creditors	(120,073)	-	-	-	-	(120,073)
Pension liability	(5,446)	-	-	-	-	(5,446)
At 31 December 2023	28,444	3,953	497	10,286	308,086	351,266

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2023

Notes

(forming part of the financial statements)

Analysis of funds

Charity

Movement in funds At 1 January 2023 Net incoming/(outgoing) resources Transfers between funds Gains on investment assets Actuarial gain on pension liability At 31 December 2023 Representation of fund balances Tangible fixed assets Investments Cash and bank balances Other current assets and liabilities Long term creditors Pension liability At 31 December 2023 Realised and unrealised investment asset gains included above	Unrestricted fund Designated fund Restricted fund Expendable endowment fund Endowment fund Total £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 10,017 7,647 393 14,406 298,621 331,084 (12,002) 438 105 - 6,948 (4,511) 29,109 (4,132) - (4,120) (20,857) - - - (1) - 23,374 23,373 814 - - - - 814
	27,938 3,953 497 10,286 308,086 350,760
	£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 152,404 - - - - 152,404 22,859 - 353 6,500 304,982 334,694 2,874 - - - - 2,874 (24,680) 3,953 144 3,786 3,104 (13,693) (120,073) - - - - (120,073) (5,446) - - - - (5,446)
	27,938 3,953 497 10,286 308,086 350,760
	- - (1) - 23,374 23,373

Endowment Fund

On 1[st] January 2023, the Group and Charity adopted a total return approach to the permanent endowment fund. The investment power of Total Return permits the Charity to invest these funds in order to maximise Total Return and gives it the power to apply an appropriate portion of the Unapplied TR to income funds each year. The UTR remains part of the endowment until this power is exercised.

The value of the original endowment was determined at 31 December 2004 (the “initial endowment date”) as this was the deemed inception date for these funds in their current form and detailed financial records were available for this date. The initial UTR values for these endowment funds were calculated at 1[st] January 2023 as the value of the endowment funds at that date, less the value of the original endowment. No subsequent introduction of any investments into these funds since the initial endowment date has occurred.

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2023

Notes

(forming part of the financial statements)

Trustees elected to allocate a proportion of the UTR back to the original endowment at 31 December 2023, in accordance with Total Return regulations.

Trustees obtained consent from the Charity Commission to settle outstanding recoupment orders at the date of adoption and as such a transfer of £1,890,000 from Unrestricted funds to the Investment Fund has occurred.

At 1[st] January 2023 upon adoption of Total Return the Trustee resolved to distribute funds of £25,867,963 from the UTR to the Unrestricted fund. This was a transfer between the two funds and represents property assets. The pension liability of £6,221,000 has been reallocated to the unrestricted fund and represents a net transfer to income funds of £19,647,000 as shown below.

The values for the Trust for Investment (TFI), Unapplied Total Return (UTR) and Total Endowment is shown in the table below:

At the beginning of the reporting period: Initial measurement Unapplied total return Total Movements in the reporting period: Recoupment of trust for investment Allocation to trust for investment Investment return: dividends and investment income Investment return: realised and unrealised gains/losses Less: Investment management costs Net current other asset/liability movements Allocation to income funds: property assets & pension on adoption Total Unapplied total return allocated to income in reporting period Net movements in reporting period At the end of period of the reporting period: Initial measurement Unapplied total return Total	Trust for Investment Unapplied Total Return Total Endowment £’000 £’000 £’000 78,268 220,353 298,621 - - -
	78,268 220,353 298,621
	£’000 £’000 £’000 1,890 (1,890) - 3,126 (3,126) - - 8,849 8,849 - 23,374 23,374 - (1,901) (1,901) - 6,990 6,990 - (19,647) (19,647)
	5,016 12,649 17,665
	- (8,200) (8,200)
	5,016 4,449 9,465
	£’000 £’000 £’000 83,284 - 83,284 - 224,802 224,802
	83,284 224,802 308,086

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2023

Notes

(forming part of the financial statements)

23 Capital commitments

	2023	2022
	£’000	£’000
Capital expenditure that has been contracted for but has
not been provided for in the financial statements	2,157	1,828

24 Operating leases as a lessee

The future minimum lease payments under non-cancellable operating leases expected to be paid by the Charity and Group will fall due as follows:

	2023	2022
	Group and Charity plant	Group and Charity plant
	and machinery	and machinery
	£’000	£’000
Within one year	10	5
Between one and five years	28	12
After five years	-	-
	38	17

The total charge to the statement of financial activities in the year in respect of operating lease rentals for the hire of plant and machinery was £11,000 (2022: £8,000).

25 Operating leases as a lessor

The future minimum lease payments due to be received under non-cancellable operating leases by the Charity and Group are as follows:

	2023	2022
	Group and	Group and
	Charity leasehold	Charity leasehold
	property	property
	£’000	£’000
Within one year	1,011	1,334
Between one and five years	3.489	5,298
After five years	1,887	1,948
	6,387	8,580

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2023

Notes

(forming part of the financial statements)

26 Reconciliation of movement in net cash

Investments Cash at bank and in hand Bank loan	At 1 January 2023 Cash flow At 31 December 2023 £’000 £’000 £’000 8,248 (5,806) 2,442 3,521 132 3,653 (10,616) (2,891) (13,507)
	1,153 (8,565) (7,412)

27 Analysis of changes in net debt

Cash and cash equivalents Cash Overdrafts Cash equivalents Borrowings Debt due within one year Debt due after one year Total	At 1 January 2023 Cash flow At 31 December 2023 £’000 £’000 £’000 3,521 132 3,653 - - - - - -
	3,521 132 3,653 (111) 3 (108) (10,505) (2,894) (13,399)
	(10,616) (2,891) (13,507)
	(7,095) (2,759) (9,854)

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2023

Notes

(forming part of the financial statements)

28 Related party transactions

A number of the Trust’s Council members are also members of the Society of Merchant Venturers. The Trust paid a fee including reallocation of salaries and overhead costs totalling £253,615 (2022: £255,355) to the Society of Merchant Venturers of Bristol to cover the services it provides in its role as Endowment Trustee (note 6(a)).

A professional indemnity insurance premium of £3,763 (2022: £3,380) was paid by the Trust on the behalf of the Trustees.

The charity owns 100% of the issued share capital of St Monica Trading Limited (company registration number: 11070522), a company incorporated in England and Wales. During the year, St Monica Trust provided to St Monica Trading Limited staff time, catering supplies and other operating costs totalling £599,358 (2022: £463,640) and collected £619,458 (2022: £476,535) of income. The amount owing to St Monica Trading Limited at the year-end was £19,951 (2022: £8,895). A Gift Aid payment was made to St Monica Trust by St Monica Trading Limited of £12,861 in respect of the trading results for 2022 (2022: £10,261 in respect of the trading results for 2021).

St Monica Trustee Company is the sole member of Somerdale Pavilion Trust (company registration number: 11730938), a company limited by guarantee, incorporated in England and Wales and registered as a charity (registered charity number: 1182426). During the year, St Monica Trust provided staff time and funds for operating expenses to Somerdale Pavilion Trust totalling £17,000 (2022: £15,469) and provided services to St Monica Trust in the form of parking and academy rent totalling £225,150 (2022: £234,905). The amount owed by St Monica Trust at the year-end was £101,638 (2022: £8,810).

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2023

Notes

(forming part of the financial statements)

29 Pension schemes

Unfunded pension liability

The Trust has granted unfunded defined benefit pensions to some current and former employees of the Trust. A triennial full valuation of the pensions was carried out as at 31 December 2023 by PriceWaterhouseCoopers, a qualified independent actuary who are a fellow of the Institute of Actuaries. Pension payments made for the year ended 31 December 2023 in respect of the defined benefit pensions were £256,000. (2022: £278,000).

The principal assumptions made by the Trust were: 2023 % Rate of increase in pensionable salaries 3.1 Rate of increase in pensions in payment 3.0 Inflation rate 3.1 Discount rate 4.5 Pensioner and non-pensioner mortalitySAPS all MC 1% pa The amounts recognised in the balance sheet are as follows: £’000 Present value of scheme liabilities (5,446) Deficit in the scheme (5,446) Analysis of amount charged to net outgoing resources in respect of defined benefit pensions Interest on pension liability Total operating charge	2022 2021 2020 % % % 3.1 3.4 3.0 3.0 3.1 2.9 3.1 3.4 3.0 4.8 1.8 1.3 1% pa 1% pa 1% pa £’000 £’000 £’000 (6,221) (8,528) (8,881) (6,221) (8,528) (8,881) 2023 2022 £’000 £’000 (296) (149)
	(296) (149)

The principal assumptions made by the Trust were:
2023
%
Rate of increase in pensionable salaries
3.1
Rate of increase in pensions in payment
3.0
Inflation rate
3.1
Discount rate
4.5
Pensioner and non-pensioner mortalitySAPS all MC
1% pa
The amounts recognised in the balance sheet are as
follows:
£’000
Present value of scheme liabilities
(5,446)
Deficit in the scheme
(5,446)
Analysis of amount charged to net outgoing resources
in respect of defined benefit pensions
Interest on pension liability
Total operating charge

2022
2021
2020
%
%
%
3.1
3.4
3.0
3.0
3.1
2.9
3.1
3.4
3.0
4.8
1.8
1.3
1% pa
1% pa
1% pa
£’000
£’000
£’000
(6,221)
(8,528)
(8,881)
(6,221)
(8,528)
(8,881)
2023
2022
£’000
£’000
(296)
(149)

(296)
(149)

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2023

Notes

(forming part of the financial statements)

Movement in liability during the year Liability at the start of the year Movement: Employer contributions (including pension payments) Interest cost Actuarial gain Liability at the end of the year covered by a specific provision in the financial statements Analysis of amount recognised in the statement of financial activities Actuarial gain recognised in the statement of financial activities	2023 2022 £’000 £’000 (6,221) (8,528) 255 278 (296) (149) 814 2,178
	(5,446) (6,221)
	£’000 £’000
	814 2,178

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2023

Notes

(forming part of the financial statements)

Amounts for the current and previous four periods are as follows

	2023	2022	2021	2020	2019
	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000
Scheme assets	-	-	-	-	-
Scheme liabilities	(5,446)	(6,221)	(8,528)	(8,881)	(8,759)
	__
		__	__	__	__
Deficit in plan	(5,446)	(6,221)	(8,528)	(8,881)	(8,759)
Actuarial	814	2,178	183	(241)	(740)
gains/(losses) on	__	__	__	__	__
liabilities
Statement of total	814	2,178	183	(241)	(740)
recognised gains and	__	__	__	__	__
losses for the period
ending 31 December

Other pension scheme

The Trust also contributes to a group personal pension plan. The contributions made by the Trust to this pension scheme are charged to the statement of financial activities when they fall due and were £876,000 (2022: £786,000).

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2023

Notes

(forming part of the financial statements)

30 Comparative group statement of financial activities

Income *Income from charitable activities* Residential care and support Accommodation income *Generated funds* Investment income Total income Expenditure *Costs of raising funds* Investment management charges Property operational costs Commercial trading operations Total costs of generating funds Charitable activities *Costs in furtherance of the Trust’s objects* Residential care and support Accommodation costs Community support Governance Total charitable expenditure Total expenditure Net income/(expenditure) before investment gains/ (losses) Realised and unrealised gains on investments Net income/(expenditure) for the year before transfers Transfers between funds Actuarial gain/(loss) on defined benefit pension Net movement in funds Total funds brought forward Total funds carried forward	Unrestricted Funds Designated fund Other restricted funds Expendable endowment funds Permanent endowment funds Total Funds 2022 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 33,710 - - - - 33,710 795 504 - - - 1,299 9,912 - 12 - - 9,924
	44,417 504 12 - - 44,933
	(46) - - - (778) (824) (1,113) - - - - (1,113) (25) - - - (173) (198)
	(1,184) - - - (951) (2,135) (47,856) - (7) - (114) (47,977) (415) - - - - (415) (1,017) - - - - (1,017) (72) - - - - (72)
	(49,360) - (7) - (114) (49,481)
	(50,544) - (7) - (1,065) (51,616)
	(6,127) 504 5 - (1,065) (6,683) - - (26) - 3,819 3,793
	(6,127) 504 (21) - 2,754 (2,890) 3,263 290 - (3,607) 54 - - - - - 2,178 2,178
	(2,864) 794 (21) (3,607) 4,986 (712) 13,180 6,853 414 18,013 293,635 332,095
	10,316 7,647 393 14,406 298,621 331,383

ST MONICA TRUST

Report of the Trustee and consolidated financial statements

Contents

Report of the Trustee for the year ended 31 December 2023

Reference and administrative details of the Charity, its Trustee and Advisers

Trustee

The Council

Report of the Trustee for the year ended 31 December 2023

Chief Executive

Management of the Endowment

Report of the Trustee for the year ended 31 December 2023

Report of the Trustee for the year ended 31 December 2023

2 Structure, Governance and Management of the Group

History

Governing instrument and objects

Organisational structure

The Finance and Transformation Committee

Report of the Trustee for the year ended 31 December 2023

The Care Committee

Charitable Impact Committee

The Property, Housing and Development Committee

The Nursing Homes Committee

Report of the Trustee for the year ended 31 December 2023

The Audit Committee

The Trustee Nominations Committee

The Remuneration Committee

Report of the Trustee for the year ended 31 December 2023

Trustee induction and training

Senior Staff Pay policy

Risk assessment

Report of the Trustee for the year ended 31 December 2023

Financial risk management

Going concern

Related parties and connected charities

Report of the Trustee for the year ended 31 December 2023

Reserves

Grant-making policy – Residents’ subsidies and support in the community

3. Objectives, Activities, Achievements and Performance

(a) Overview

(b) The focus of our work

Report of the Trustee for the year ended 31 December 2023

(b) The focus of our work

(c) The strategies we use to deliver our objectives

Report of the Trustee for the year ended 31 December 2023

(c) The strategies we use to deliver our objectives

Recruitment and retention of staff

Report of the Trustee for the year ended 31 December 2023

(d) Public benefit and maximising access to our services

Report of the Trustee for the year ended 31 December 2023

Individual Giving

Organisational Giving

Report of the Trustee for the year ended 31 December 2023

Report of the Trustee for the year ended 31 December 2023

Charitable Impact Summary

Partnerships & Joint Working

The objectives and achievements of the Endowment Trustee

The objectives and achievements of the Endowment Trustee

The composite benchmark for allocation of financial investments is as follows:

Achievements for the year have been as follows:

The objectives and achievements of the Endowment Trustee

Agricultural Property Investments:

Financial Investments:

Income:

Report of the Trustee for the year ended 31 December 2023

4. Financial review

Subsidiary company results

5. Plans for future periods

Report of the Trustee for the year ended 31 December 2023

Disclosure of information to auditors

Statement of Trustee’s responsibilities in respect of the Trustee’s annual report and the financial statements

Opinion

Basis for opinion

Conclusions relating to going concern

Other information

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

Responsibilities of the Trustee

Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

Use of our report

Bishop Fleming LLP