2024-12-31-accounts

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ST MONICA TRUST

Report of the Trustee and consolidated financial statements

Registered charity number 202151 Year ended 31 December 2024

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2024

Report of the Trustee	1
Statement of Trustee’s responsibilities	22
Independent auditor’s report to the Trustee of St Monica Trust	23
Consolidated statement of financial activities
(including income and expenditure account)	27
Charity statement of financial activities	28
Consolidated and Charity balance sheet	29
Consolidated cash flow statement	30
Notes	31

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2024

Report of the Trustee for the year ended 31 December 2024

The Council presents its annual report and the audited consolidated financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2024. 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 1 January 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 Venerable C A Froude Mr J R Ancell Mrs S Darwall Smith DL Mr R H G Bourns DL Dr A D Garrad CBE 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 2024

Report of the Trustee for the year ended 31 December 2024

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 2024

Report of the Trustee for the year ended 31 December 2024

Investment Advisers	Cambridge Associates
	80 Victoria Street
	Cardinal Place
	London
	SW1E 5JL
	Evelyn Partners
	Portwall Place
	Portwall Lane
	Bristol
	BS1 6NA
	Rathbones Investment Management
	30 Gresham Street
	London
	EC2V 7QN
	LGT Wealth Management
	15 Queen Square
	Bristol
	BS1 4NP
Agricultural Estates and Land	Savills
Steward	14 Cirencester Office Park
	Tetbury Road
	Cirencester
	GL7 6JJ
Commercial Property Managing	Alder King LLP
Agent	Pembroke House
	15 Pembroke Road
	Bristol
	BS8 3BA
	Savills
	14 Cirencester Office Park
	Tetbury Road
	Cirencester
	GL7 6JJ

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2024

Report of the Trustee for the year ended 31 December 2024

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, by resolution dated 16 November 2020 and by resolution dated 21 June 2023).

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 was adopted from 1 January 2024. Membership of the existing committees at the year-end was as follows:

The Finance and Development 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 financial aspects of the Trust’s development programme.

Mr J R Ancell - Chair Mrs D J England - Deputy Chair Professor J McGeehan CBE Dr A D Garrad CBE Mr T S Ross - President, Ex officio Mr R Crews

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2024

Report of the Trustee for the year ended 31 December 2024

The Nursing and 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, as well as to oversee the operational and financial performance and efficiency of the nursing homes, including but not limited to occupancy and staffing.

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

Charitable Foundation 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 Foundation which includes but is not limited to charitable grant programmes and innovation, to achieve maximum impact and outcomes for older people in the Trust’s area of operation.

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

The Property 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 some of its investment property, and oversee the implementation of any developments undertaken by the Trust. It is also responsible for overseeing compliance with statutory health and safety requirements.

Mr T S Ross - President, Ex officio Ms A Duff - Chair Mr J R Ancell Mr J Rimmer

The People Committee

The purpose of the Committee is to provide trustee oversight of delivery of the Trust’s People Strategy and workforce plans .

Mr T S Ross – President, Ex officio Mrs A Duff – Chair

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2024

Report of the Trustee for the year ended 31 December 2024

Dr M McCaldin Mrs S Darwall-Smith DL The Venerable C A Froude Mrs D England

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 Mr R Crews

The Trustee Nominations Committee

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

T S Ross - President Dr A D Garrad – Chair Mrs S Darwall Smith DL Mrs D J England 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 Dr F Forrest

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2024

Report of the Trustee for the year ended 31 December 2024

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 2024

Report of the Trustee for the year ended 31 December 2024

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 £20.4m expiring in June 2027 (2023: £20.5m), £19.4m was drawn down as at 31 December 2024 (2023: £13.5m), of which £19.3m is long-term (2023: £13.4m).
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 29 sets out the financial position of the Trust and its cash flows can be seen in the cash flow statement on page 30.

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.

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2024

Report of the Trustee for the year ended 31 December 2024

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.

Reserves

The accounting policies on pages 31 to 37 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 2024, the value of unrestricted reserves was £27.6m (2023: £42.7m) and within the value of the endowment fund reserves of £312m (2023: £308.1m) is the unapplied total return fund of £227.6m (2023: £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

2024 was the second year of our 10-year Strategy and we continued with our objective of ‘getting the basics right’ and embedding improvements across our sites and services. This phase of the Strategy runs from 2022 to 2025, before our focus then shifts to identifying opportunities for expansion, growth and new ways of providing care and support.

(b) The focus of our work

In our villages we moved to a more modern café style service with longer opening hours and a wider range of food, which has been well received by residents and colleagues. The Pullman Café at Sandford Station is attracting a significant clientele from outside of the village and is developing in a similar way to the B Block Café at The Chocolate Quarter.

In 2024 we made significant changes to our care home food offering by extending the range and amount of food provided by an external partner. This has enabled us to 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 made significant changes to roles, shift patterns and management structures. Residents and relatives were fully involved in taste testing and menu design.

We made further progress with our plans to develop the former DEFRA land at Westbury Fields in 2024. We conducted focus groups with representatives of the local community to help us design services in the development that will be open to the public. We also consulted experts in the field of sustainability to make sure the new building will be our most sustainable development yet.

We published our Standards Charter in 2024 - setting out the outcomes and commitments that the Trust hopes to achieve over the next two years. The Charter was discussed at Resident Voice meetings on each site and copies made available to residents.

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2024

Report of the Trustee for the year ended 31 December 2024

Our Charitable Foundation was launched in 2024 and we started working with local and national organisations to co-create a substantial funding programme to improve isolation and loneliness among older people in our region. We have called this the Impact Alliance and it was officially launched at the Bristol Beacon in December.

We appointed a 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.

Significant improvements were made in the area of communications in 2024. A new Brand and Style Guide was launched and over 100 managers were trained in the principles of good communications and how to use the new guide. The Resident Voice Strategy was introduced and has continued to be effective – with communications on our sites now directed through our village and care home managers.

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

(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.
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.

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.

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2024

Report of the Trustee for the year ended 31 December 2024

Our Charitable Foundation works with older people to provide support and to improve the quality of life for people who live in our care homes and retirement villages and also to older people in their own communities. Through our Charitable Giving team, Care Academy and the Centre of Innovation, we support individuals and communities to flourish through connection, contribution and choice. We deliver these intentions by awarding grants to individuals with gifts of financial support, as well as grants to local organisations.

Recruitment and retention of staff

The St Monica Trust aims to recruit and retain a high calibre workforce in order 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 2024 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, with our first cohorts arriving 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 has been facilitated by our new Workday HR system.

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 2024 we welcomed another significant cohort of health and social care apprentices to the Trust. In addition, apprenticeships have been made available to current staff and we have had a wide range of qualifications gained across 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.

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2024

Report of the Trustee for the year ended 31 December 2024

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 2024, our Charitable Giving was £684,684 (2023: £861,560) with a further £500,000 committed for the new Impact Alliance charitable programme which due to timing will be spent in 2025.

Our 2024 spend helped 5,078 (2023: 15,981) people, of whom 3,879 or 76.4% (2023: 14,784 or 92.5%) were afforded financial support by the Trust. Whilst our grants to individuals increased in 2024, the change in our charitable giving approach has resulted in fewer people benefiting from our local community-based organisation giving in 2024 as explained further below.

Of the total above, the Trust helped 1,628 individuals in 2024 (2023: 1,579) in its residential care services (care homes and retirement villages), of which 429 or 26.4% (2023: 382 or 24.2%), were afforded financial support by the Trust.

To uphold our founders’ commitments, today we deliver the aims of supporting older people in the wider community through awarding grants to individuals with gifts of financial support, as well as grants to local organisations.

Through its grants to individuals, the Trust also helped 529 older people (2023: 474) in financial need through the Charitable Giving Team’s Individual Giving scheme via 660 gifts (2023: 622) and shortterm grant awards. Additionally, 2,921 (2023: 13,928) people benefitted from the Trust’s financial support for local, community-based organisations. The reduction in people benefitting from this area of support is primarily due to ringfenced funding awarded through SMT’s charitable programme stream that will benefit people in 2025. The 2023 beneficiaries helped number also included a grant scheme to support older people to participate in Coronation celebrations that reached around 5,000 people, and other grants that enabled older people to engage in particular short-term services. In 2024, the majority of funding supported older people to create and sustain more meaningful and longer-lasting connections, resulting in greater impact and not counting more transient connections.

The Charitable Impact team operated in the following manner as detailed in the tables below:

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2024

Report of the Trustee for the year ended 31 December 2024

Individual Giving

Individual Giving
Requests received	709 gift and grant requests received (2023: 831) via the Individual Giving Fund. Of these, 575 were granted financial assistance (2023: 561). The quality of applications continues to improve, as evidenced by a higher success rate compared to previous years. This progress indicates a better understanding of the fund’s criteria among applicants and reflects the team’s communication with applicants before submission.
Gifts awarded	From the January to March 2024, 113 gifts were awarded, amounting to £48,413 (2023 12 months: 403 worth £143,333). For the remainder of the year, gift awarding was paused and the focus moved to short-term grants. The above figure also includes a payment of £5,000 made in May to We Care Home Improvements following changes to our funding model in April. This aimed to mitigate delays in providing urgent support by enabling the charity to award grants directly to individuals and in some cases leverage match funding from other funding sources such as The Anchor Society. This method allowed We Care to draw on this fund for clients meeting SMT’s criteria, to enable urgent/major repair work to be carried out and support people to remain living independently in their own homes.
Short-term grants	547 new short-term grants were awarded during the year worth £220,525 (2023: 219 worth £122,650). The highest proportion of these grants supported people with their bills and debt management (28%), followed closely by assistance for those awaiting benefit decisions or facing issues with benefit claims (27%).

Organisational Giving

Organisational
Giving

In 2024, 18 grants totalling £415,746 (2023: £595,577) were awarded
to 14 organisations, benefiting 2,921 older people (2013: 93
organisations, benefiting 13,928 older people).
The Trust delivers 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 is 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 2024

Report of the Trustee for the year ended 31 December 2024

Organisational
Giving
(continued)

Through our grants to organisations, the Trust and its residents benefit
from the valuable insights these projects provide, which can then be
integrated into our own practices. One example is our funding for
digital inclusion projects, which has enhanced our IT team’s knowledge
of visual impairment aids that could benefit our residents.
Key grants awarded in 2024
Volunteering and Employment for Older People Fund
Launched in October 2024, four projects were awarded funding
totalling £108,000: Age UK B&NES, Age UK Bristol, Hub Weston CIC,
and National Centre for Integrative Medicine (NCIM). Project delivery
for all projects will start in January 2025. Unsuccessful applications
were shared with members of the Bristol Older Peoples Funders
Alliance, in accordance with the collaborative agreement with both
grant seekers and fellow funders.
Digital Inclusion Fund
The four organisations supported through this three-year programme
(North Somerset Training, North Bristol Advice Centre, Vision North
Somerset, and Sight Support West of England) received their second
year of funding at the start of 2024. These projects are supporting
older people to build digital skills and confidence.
Age UK South Gloucestershire
Age UK South Gloucestershire received their second-year grant for
the Improving Homes & Well-being Service, which helps homeowners
over the age of 50 remain safe, well and comfortable in their own
homes. Funding from SMT enables the service to support older people
by carrying out property repairs, clearing rubbish from homes and
gardens, servicing and repairing gas and electric appliances such as
boilers, and deep cleaning. This support allows homeowners to
exercise their choice to live independently in their own homes.
Outcomes monitoring demonstrates a 62% increase in how secure
clients felt in their homes following engagement with the service.
Asset-Based Community Development
Southmead Development Trust and Knowle West Health Park
received grants (£39,476 and £31,998 respectively) to continue their
asset-based community development approach, re-engaging older
people in their communities. Both of these organisations have
demonstrated notable examples of community-led collaborative
approaches to address local health and well-being needs.
Added value
Beyond financial support, our connections with local organisations add
significant value to community groups. We work closely with the

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2024

Report of the Trustee for the year ended 31 December 2024

Organisational
Giving
(continued)

training team to support community organisations with their training
needs through either free workshops or reduced fees. We also aim
to foster collaboration among grant recipients of our funding
programmes and in 2024 held networking events for grant recipients,
where knowledge was exchanged, and meaningful discussions took
place.
St Monica Trust maintains strong relationships with local funders and
aims to develop partnerships with organisations, particularly around
our villages, to maximise our impact through collaboration.
The Trust continues to be a coordinating member of Bristol Older
Peoples’ Funder 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 (£25,000), Southmead Development Trust
(£3,893) and Age UK Bristol Friends Ageing Better (£10,000).
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, with 2024 marking the final year of funding.
SMT is often trusted to manage the funds on behalf of other funders,
as is the case here.
Our collaborative approach with other local funders has proven
effective, fostering positive relationships with statutory bodies and
other providers of funds.

Charitable Programme

Charitable
Programme

In January 2024, St Monica Trust brought together a diverse group of
organisations to explore new collaborative and focused funding
approaches for achieving long-term change. There was strong
consensus and a shared determination to work collectively, and the
West of England Impact Alliance was formed.
In 2024, this pioneering initiative, convened by St Monica Trust, has
brought together over 50 like-minded organisations across the VCSFE
sector, funders, education, business, arts, sport, statutory and others
to tackle the pressing issue of loneliness and social isolation in the
West of England. By fostering collaboration, sharing expertise, and
pooling resources, the Alliance aims to deliver significant and
sustainable change. The learnings gathered will be used to influence
key strategic thinkers and generate examples of how to successfully
create communities that thrive and flourish.

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2024

Report of the Trustee for the year ended 31 December 2024

Charitable
Programme
(Continued.)

St Monica Trust ringfenced its charitable programme funding to
support the work of the Impact Alliance, to meet our strategic aim:
“We will convene sector partners to collectively address issues
affecting older people across our region.” This new model encourages
funders to work together, leveraging their collective resources and
expertise to maximise impact and drive systemic change over a longer
period than short-term project grants of the past.
The vision of the Impact Alliance is to create a West of England where
loneliness is a stranger, and where all individuals feel connected, valued,
and supported. By embracing these principles and
working together, the Impact Alliance is poised to make a lasting
difference in the lives of people across the region.
In 2024, the Impact Alliance has developed a clear vision, manifesto,
leveraged funds from new funding partners and developed new
relationships to deliver change. In line with St Monica Trust’s strategic
aim to focus on a specific locality within our area to deliver sustained
impact for our target beneficiaries”, the Impact Alliance will work in a
place-based way and four geographical and two thematic communities
have been identified across the West of England, to invest in
significantly over time. As part of SMT’s 10-year strategy, an aim is to
commission an external academic partner to help evaluate the impact
of our investment longitudinally. Three academic partners will be
taking forward this work in 2025 with funding ringfenced to support
this, with the University of Bristol taking the lead academic role.
In December 2024, the Impact Alliance was officially launched at the
Bristol Beacon (hosted by Jonathan Dimbleby), setting out the work to
date regarding the development of its inaugural programme
Due to the work required developing the Impact Alliance in 2024, the
£500,000 contribution that SMT ringfenced in 2024 to support this
initiative will now occur in 2025.

Charitable Giving Summary

People helped	At least 3,450 individuals were directly helped by SMT grants and funding with many more benefiting through the work of funded organisations.
Total net giving	£684,684 (2023: £861,560)
Directorate Team	£230,330 (2023: £292,794)
Total Cost	£915,014 (2023: £1,125,354)

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2024

The objectives and achievements of the Endowment Trustee

The Trustees resolved with effect from 1[st] January 2023 to adopt a Total Return approach to the permanent endowment, bringing flexibility and agility to the investment and utilisation of endowment funds.

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

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.

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 4% 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 4% 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

Distribution: To provide the Trust with £9.8 million for 2024.

Achievements for the year have been as follows:

Summary: The market value of St Monica Trust’s investments managed by the Endowment Trustee was £310.5 million at 31 December 2024 which was a decrease 0.3% compared to the market value of £311.4 million December 2023. The decrease was driven by the cash transfer of £5 million during 2024 of the S282 expendable endowment fund, partially offset by other market value increases (2023: £7 million).

Although markets concluded 2024 on a subdued note, equities demonstrated robust performance over the calendar year, with the US as the standout performer largely driven by the “magnificent 7” mega cap tech stocks. Amid political instability in Germany and France, European equities, along with

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2024

Report of the Trustee for the year ended 31 December 2024

emerging market stocks struggled owing to concerns that proposed US tariffs might trigger a trade war and hinder growth in other regions. Meanwhile, bond markets reacted negatively to the progrowth, higher-inflation narrative. US elections, which ushered in Donald Trump’s second administration significantly influenced markets.

Asset Allocation: The broad asset allocation at 31 December 2024 was:

Agriculturalproperty Commercialproperty Financial investments Cash on deposit	58%
	4%
	38%
	0%

This accords with the target asset allocation contained in the Investment Policy as set out below;

	Target allocation
Property	55% - 65%
Financial investments	35% - 45%
Minimum cash holdingat anyone time	0 – 5%

Agricultural Property Investments:

For the 10 years to 31 December 2024 the portfolio achieved its objective of attaining an average annual real (inflation adjusted) total return of at least 4%. Actual average annual performance was 9.7% per annum for the 10 years. In 2024 CPI + 4% was 6.5%.

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 2024 the following transactions took place:

A full redemption from Troy Trojan Income
A full redemption from Liontrust Income
A new investment in Lindsell Train

For the 10 years to 31 December 2024 the portfolio achieved average annual performance of 7.6% per annum. In 2024 CPI+4% was 6.5%.

For the 3 years to 31 December 2024 the portfolio returned 4.1% against the benchmark of 5.7%.

During 2024 two further investment advisers were appointed following a beauty parade held in 2023: LGT Wealth Management and Rathbones Investment Management

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2024

Report of the Trustee for the year ended 31 December 2024

Distribution:

The Endowment Investments provided the Trust with £9.44m (2023: £8.20m) of cash in 2024 against a target of £9.8m, a shortfall of £(0.36)m. In addition, cash of £5.0m was transferred in 2024 in relation to the S282 Expendable Endowment. Distributions are measured on a three-year rolling basis and for the three years to 31 December 2024 the Endowment Investments provided the Trust with £24.37m against the target of £23.59m, a surplus of £0.78m. The Endowment Trustee considers the portfolio is well diversified to respond to the needs of the Trust.

4. Financial review

The Trust’s financial position at the end of 2024 was strong, with net assets and total funds of £340.9m (2023: £351.3m). The reduction was primarily due to a write down (an unrealised loss) on a commercial property of £9.9m.

At 31 December 2024, our total unrestricted funds total £255.2m (2023: £267.5m) made up of the unrestricted reserves £27.6m (2023: £42.7m) and the unapplied total return fund (held within the Endowment Fund) of £227.6m (2023: £224.8m), The unrestricted funds include £5.7m (2023: £10.3m) in an expendable endowment fund and £0.5m (2023: £4.0m) in designated funds .

The Trust received a distribution from the Endowment in 2024 of £9.44 million compared with the target for the year of £9.8 million which was paid from income and capital realisations following the adoption of a Total Return approach to the Endowment Fund which came into effect from January 2023 (2023: £8.20 million compared to a target of £7.25 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 £12k 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 £150k.

5. Plans for future periods

The Trust will deliver the following objectives in 2025:

2025 is our centenary year and we will celebrate with:

A service of thanksgiving at Bristol Cathedral on 18 June
Five simultaneous garden parties across our sites on 19 June
The burying of time capsules on all our sites
The production of a coffee table book charting the history of the Trust
A Winter Wonderland at Cote Lane in December to finish the year

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2024

Report of the Trustee for the year ended 31 December 2024

In addition, our sites will host their own centenary events locally that reflect the character of their sites and the preferences of their residents.

The final building at The Chocolate Quarter will be opened towards the end of 2025. Millstream will comprise 44 retirement apartments, 18 of which will be affordable (and let through the local authority). This will complete The Chocolate Quarter development.

Having reviewed the catering services at all our other villages in 2024, we will extend this to The Chocolate Quarter in 2025. We will also review the Somer Dining restaurant, implementing a business plan to make it a destination restaurant or bistro for the local area.

We will make changes to our Executive Team in 2025. This will include the appointment of a Director of Estates and Capital Development. In addition, IT become a full directorate in its own right – reflecting its strategic importance to the Trust.

We gained planning permission for the new hub building at Cote Lane in 2024 and we hope to see building work begin in 2025. It will serve as the focus for resident services on site, provide a modern café and be the main reception for the village.

We hope to submit an application for planning permission for the DEFRA land at Westbury Fields in 2025.

Artificial intelligence is becoming very important and we will create an A.I. Taskforce to look at how we can leverage this technology to improve efficiency across the Trust and reduce costs. As part of this we will also review all our administrative services to make sure we have the right structures and ways of working in place.

We will create a Workday team to ensure we get the most out of this application, with the aim of automating Trust processes to release staff capacity.

2025 will see the completion of our project to update the warden call services across our villages. In all villages (except The Chocolate Quarter), residents will receive a touch-screen tablet in their apartment that they can use to check in each day, summon help if needed, and receive communications from the Trust. As part of this project, improved Wi-Fi across the Trust (including outside spaces) will enable residents to quickly summon help via a pendant if they need it.

In addition, the improved Wi-Fi will enable acoustic monitoring to be rolled out across our care homes, thus improving the sleep and well-being of our residents.

We expect the awareness of our Charitable Foundation to grow in 2025. The Impact Alliance will move from planning to an implementation phase, with funding distributed to a range of change makers within identified communities in our region, with the aim of making loneliness a stranger.

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2024

Report of the Trustee for the year ended 31 December 2024

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 2024

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.

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2024

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 2024 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 2024, 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.

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2024

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

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

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 require us 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.

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2024

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

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

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2024

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

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: 25 June 2025

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 2024

Consolidated statement of financial activities (including an income & expenditure account) for the year ended 31 December 2024

*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 2024 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 42,996 - - - - 42,996 - 460 - - - 460 1,422 - 11 - 8,767 10,200	Total Funds 2023 £’000 39,875 2,966 11,027
	44,418 460 11 - 8,767 53,656	53,868
	(50) - - - (928) (978) (719) - - - (779) (1,498) (38) - - - (456) (494)	(828) (1,380) (266)
	(807) - - - (2,163) (2,970) (57,221) - (11) - (180) (57,412) - - - - - - (915) - - - - (915) (113) - - - - (113)	(2,474) (53,215) (1,246) (1,154) (83)
	(58,249) - (11) - (180) (58,440)	(55,698)
	(59,056) - (11) - (2,343) (61,410)	(58,172)
	(14,638) 460 - - 6,424 (7,754) (9,925) - 27 - 6,919 (2,979)	(4,304) 23,373
	(24,563) 460 27 - 13,343 (10,733) 17,162 (3,946) (44) (4,558) (8,614) - 367 - - - - 367	19,069 - 814
	(7,034) (3,486) (17) (4,558) 4,729 (10,366) 28,444 3,953 497 10,286 308,086 351,266	19,883 331,383
	21,410 467 480 5,728 312,815 340,900	351,266

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 2024

Charity statement of financial activities for the year ended 31 December 2024

*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 2024 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 41,122 - - - - 41,122 - 460 - - - 460 1,422 - 11 - 8,767 10,200	Total Funds 2023 £’000 37,993 2,966 11,027
	42,544 460 11 - 8,767 51,782	51,986
	(50) - - - (928) (978) (719) - - - (779) (1,498) (38) - - - (456) (494)	(828) (1,380) (266)
	(807) - - - (2,163) (2,970) (55,502) - (11) - (180) (55,693) - - - - - - (915) - - - - (915) (101) - - - - (101)	(2,474) (51,552) (1,246) (1,154) (71)
	(56,518) - (11) - (180) (56,709)	(54,023)
	(57,325) - (11) - (2,343) (59,679)	(56,497)
	(14,781) 460 - - 6,424 (7,897) (9,925) - 27 - 6,919 (2,979)	(4,511) 23,373
	(24,706) 460 27 - 13,343 (10,876) 17,162 (3,946) (44) (4,558) (8,614) - 367 - - - - 367	18,862 - 814
	(7,177) (3,486) (17) (4,558) 4,729 (10,509) 27,938 3,953 497 10,286 308,086 350,760	19,676 331,084
	20,761 467 480 5,728 312,815 340,251	350,760

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2024

Consolidated and charity balance sheets at 31 December 2024

*Note* Fixed assets Tangible assets 13 Investments 14 Current assets Stocks 15 Debtors 16 Cash at bank and in hand Creditors: due within one year 17 Net current liabilities Total assets less current liabilities Creditors: due after more than one year 18 Net assets excluding pension liability Pension liability 29 Net assets Endowment fund net of pension liability Other restricted funds 19 Total restricted funds Designated fund 20 Expendable endowment fund 21 Unrestricted fund Total unrestricted funds Total funds	Group 2024 2023 £’000 £’000 163,681 152,409 323,838 334,694 487,519 487,103 55 57 10,446 10,691 5,893 3,653 16,394 14,401 (26,472) (24,719) (10,078) (10,318) 477,441 476,785 (131,463) (120,073) 345,978 356,712 (5,078) (5,446) 340,900 351,266 312,815 308,086 480 497 313,295 308,583 467 3,953 5,728 10,286 21,410 28,444 27,605 42,683 340,900 351,266	Charity 2024 2023 £’000 £’000 163,656 152,404 323,838 334,694 487,494 487,098 48 51 9,852 10,713 5,684 2,874 15,584 13,638 (26,286) (24,457) (10,702) (10,819) 476,792 476,279 (131,463) (120,073) 345,329 356,206 (5,078) (5,446) 340,251 350,760 312,815 308,086 480 497 313,295 308,583 467 3,953 5,728 10,286 20,761 27,938 26,956 42,177 340,251 350,760	Charity 2024 2023 £’000 £’000 163,656 152,404 323,838 334,694 487,494 487,098 48 51 9,852 10,713 5,684 2,874 15,584 13,638 (26,286) (24,457) (10,702) (10,819) 476,792 476,279 (131,463) (120,073) 345,329 356,206 (5,078) (5,446) 340,251 350,760 312,815 308,086 480 497 313,295 308,583 467 3,953 5,728 10,286 20,761 27,938 26,956 42,177 340,251 350,760
			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

These financial statements were approved by the Board on 17 June 2025 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 2024

Consolidated cash flow statement for the year ended 31 December 2024

*Note* Cash flows from operating activities Net (expenditure)/income Dividends and Interest receivable Depreciation of tangible assets Profit on disposal of assets 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	2024 £’000 (10,366) (3,132) 3,617 16 2,979 (368) 245 2 7,257 250 92 3,040 (14,905) - (40,028) 1,697 46,207 (3,897) - 5,887 5,887 2,240 3,653 5,893	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

These financial statements were approved by the Board on 17 June 2025 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 2024

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 £10.3m at the end of 2024, 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, £115.9 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 2024

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 was 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 2024

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 34. 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 2024

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 2024

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 33.

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 2024

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 1 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 2024

Notes (forming part of the financial statements)

Expendable endowment fund

On 16 November 2020, in accordance with the Charities Act 2011, Section 282, 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 still to be spent 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 2024

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	2024 2023 Total Total £’000 £’000 580 619 237 (249)
	343 370 (331) (350)
	12 20 - -
	12 20 - - - -
	12 20 20 13 (20) (13)
	12 20

Gift aid distributions totalling £12,288 (2023: £19,970) will be made post year end in relation to the current year.

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2024

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	2024 2023 Total Total £’000 £’000 - - 12 20 - - -
	12 20
	12 20
Equity shareholders’ funds	12 20




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

Balance at 1 January 2023	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

Year ended 31 December 2024
Profit and total comprehensive income for the year	- 12,288 12,288
Distributions to parent charity under gift aid	- (19,970) (19,970)

Balance at 31 December 2024	1 12,288 12,289

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2024

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	2024 2023 Total Total £’000 £’000 - - 490 440 804 823
	1,294 1,263 (964) (900) (179) (163)
	(1,143) (1,063)
	151 200 151 200 486 286
	637 486

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2024

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) Endowment fund Commercial investment properties Agricultural investment properties Listed and other investments Interest on cash deposits (b) Unrestricted fund Commercial investment properties (c) Restricted funds Distributions from CCLA Investment Management Limited		2024 2023 Total Total £’000 £’000 25 5 731 845 (119) (364) 637 486 - - 637 486 637 486 2024 2023 £’000 £’000 879 626 4,812 4,794 3,029 3,427 47 2
		8,767 8,849 1,422 2,167 11 11
		10,200 11,027

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2024

Notes (forming part of the financial statements)

5 Analysis of total resources expended

Group
	Staff costs Depreciation		Other costs	2024	2023
	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000
Costs of generating
funds
(note 6)			2,970	2,970	2,474
Charitable
expenditure
Residential care and	37,824	3,617	15,971	57,412	53,215
support (note 7)
Accommodation costs					1,246
Community support	193		722	915	1,154
Governance costs			113	113	83
(note 8)
	38,017	3,617	16,806	58,440	55,698
	38,017	3,617	19,776	61,410	58,172
All support costs have been allocated to one charitable			activity (Residential	care and support).
Charity
	Staff costs Depreciation		Other costs	2024	2023
	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000
Costs of generating
funds
(note 6)	-	-	2,970	2,970	2,474
Charitable
expenditure
Residential care and	36,990	3,607	15,096	55,693	51,552
support (note 7)
Accommodation costs	-	-	-	-	1,246
Community support	193	-	722	915	1,154
Governance costs	-	-	101	101	71
(note 8)
	37,183	3,607	15,919	56,709	54,023
	37,183	3,607	18,889	59,679	56,497

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2024

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	2024 2023 £’000 £’000 271 254 254 171 396 356 57 47
	978 828
	779 648 719 732
	1,498 1,380
	494 266
	2,970 2,474
	2024 2023 £’000 £’000 37,824 34,644 916 942 3,034 3,118 2,021 1,684 708 614 8,325 5,984 1,031 1,993 3,553 4,236
	57,412 53,215

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2024

Notes (forming part of the financial statements)

Group and 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 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		2024 2023 £’000 £’000 36,990 33,886 916 942 2,877 2,885 1,605 1,273 708 614 8,130 5,817 1,004 1,957 - - 3,463 4,178










		55,693 51,552
		2024 2023 £’000 £’000 59 57 3 51 - 2 23 1
		113 83
		48 46 2 51 - 1 23 1
		101 71

Other than as set out in Note 28, Related Party Transactions, 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 £138 during the year (2023: £635).

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2024

Notes (forming part of the financial statements)

9 Transfers

Group and charity Service charge transfer (A) Expendable endowment (B) Restricted legacy transfer (C) UTR endowment transfer (D) Total transfers	Unrestricted fund Designated fund Other restricted funds Expendable Endowment funds Endowment funds £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 3,946 (3,946) 4,558 (4,558) 44 (44) 8,614 (8,614)
	17,162 (3,946) (44) (4,558) (8,614)

(A) During the year, £3,946,000 (2023: £4,132,000) has been transferred out of the designated fund into the unrestricted fund. £253,000 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 £467,000 to the balance of the sinking funds for these sites. The remaining transfer of £3,693,000 was in respect of reclassifying the fund balance consisting of accrued surrender fees less improvement costs in respect of our TCQ site.

(B) During the year, £4,558,000 (2023: £4,120,000) has been transferred from the S282 expendable endowment fund into the unrestricted funds. See note 21 for further details.

(C) During the year £44,000 (2023: Nil) has been transferred from a restricted fund in respect of improvement works at Westfield House at our Cote Lane retirement village in respect of a resident legacy bequest.

(D) During the year, a net allocation from the unrestricted fund to the Unapplied Total Return (UTR) was made of £8,614,000. See note 22 for further details.

10 Staff numbers and costs

The average headcount in the year for the group was 1,392 (2023: 1,351). 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	2024 798 4 29 831	2023 739 4 26
		769

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2024

Notes (forming part of the financial statements)

The aggregate payroll costs were as follows:

Wages and salaries Social security costs Pensions Agency staff costs	£’000 30,597 2,540 1,246 3,634 38,017	£’000 26,851 2,198 1,179 4,709
		34,937

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 £989,431(5 people) compared to 2023 £887,269 (6 people).

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

	2024	2023
	Number	Number
£60,001 to £70,000	7	5
£70,001 to £80,000	7	5
£80,001 to £90,000	4	6
£90,001 to £100,000	3	1
£100,001 to £110,000	2	-
£110,001 to £120,000	1	2
£120,001 to £130,000	1	-
£130,001 to £140,000	1	1
£140,001 to £150,000	-	1
£150,001 to £160,000	1	-
£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	-	-
£210,001 to £220,000	-	1
£220,001 to £230,000	1	-
£230,001 to £240,000	-	-
£240,001 to £250,000	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 2024

Notes (forming part of the financial statements)

11 Net movement on funds is stated after charging

	2024	2023
	£’000	£’000
Auditors’ remuneration – Charity (inclusive of VAT)	48	46
Auditors’ remuneration – Subsidiaries (inclusive of VAT)	11	11
Auditors’ remuneration – for other professional services	3	2
Depreciation and other amounts written off tangible fixed assets	3,617	2,865
Inventories recognised as an expense	2,021	1,684
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:
	2024	2023
	£’000	£’000
Current tax
UK corporation tax on results of the year	-	-
Tax on profit on ordinary activities	-	-
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%),_(2023: 19%)._The differences are explained below:
	2024	2023
	£’000	£’000
Current tax reconciliation
Profit before tax (of trading subsidiary only)	12	20
Current tax at 19%	2	4
Effects of:
Gift Aid payments	(2)	(4)
Total current tax charge (see above)	-	-

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2024

Notes (forming part of the financial statements)

13 Tangible fixed assets

Group Cost At beginning of year Asset reclassification Transfers Additions Disposals in the year At end of year Depreciation At beginning of year Charge for year Depreciation on disposals At end of year Net book value At 31 December 2024 At 31 December 2023	Assets in the course of construction £’000 5,876 (255) (3,757) 9,223 -	Freehold land and buildings £’000 160,161 154 3,736 4,556 - 168,607 17,441 1,963 19,404 149,203 142,874	Furniture and equipment £’000 22,698 101 21 887 - 23,707 18,933 1,593 - 20,526 3,181 3,866	Motor vehicles £’000 441 - - 239 (20) 660 393 61 (4) 450 210 48	Total £’000 189,176 - - 14,905 (20)
	11,087				204,061
	- - -				36,767 3,617 (4)
	-				40,380

	11,087				163,681
	5,621				152,409

The above schedule includes finance costs of £3,896,000 (2023: £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 (2023: £27,025,000) is not depreciated.

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

The asset reclassification relates to assets categorised as assets under construction in the prior year re-analysed.

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2024

Notes (forming part of the financial statements)

Charity Cost At beginning of year Asset reclassification Transfers Additions Disposals in the year At end of year Depreciation At beginning of year Charge for year Depreciation on disposals At end of year Net book value At 31 December 2024 At 31 December 2023	Assets in the course of construction £’000 5,876 (255) (3,757) 9,223 -	Freehold land and buildings £’000 160,161 154 3,736 4,525 - 168,576 17,440 1,954 - 19,394 149,182 142,875	Furniture and equipment £’000 22,686 101 21 887 - 23,695 18,927 1,591 - 20,518 3,177 3,860	Motor vehicles £’000 441 - - 239 (20) 660 393 61 (4) 450 210 48	Total £’000 189,164 - - 14,874 (20)
	11,087				204,018
	- - -				36,760 3,606 (4)
	-				40,362

	11,087				163,656
	5,621				152,404

Land costing £27,025,000 (2023: £27,025,000) is not depreciated.

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

The asset reclassification relates to assets categorised as assets under construction in the prior year re-analysed.

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2024

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 2024 At 31 December 2023	Investment Properties Financial securities Cash on deposit Other investments Total £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000* 55,018 108,189 2,442 224 165,873 7,647 32,381 - - 40,028 (11) (48,297) (1,697) - (50,005)
	62,654 92,273 745 224 155,896 151,110 17,582 - 129 168,821 (55) (1,069) - - (1,124) (9,207) 9,426 - 26 245
	141,848 25,939 - 155 167,942
	204,502 118,212 745 379 323,838

	206,128 125,771 2,442 353 334,694

There were total realised and unrealised losses during the year of £2,979,000 (2023: Gain of £23,373,000).

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 2024

Notes (forming part of the financial statements)

Investments with a market value of greater than 5% of total quoted securities at 31 December 2024 and 2023:

Investment	Portfolio	Portfolio
	2024	2023
Artemis Equity Income Fund	6.5%	-
Brummer Multi-Strategy 2 XL Fund	8.1%	5.4%
Lindsell Train	7.8%	-
Newton Global Higher Income Fund	10.4%	7.4%
JO Hambro Global Select Equity Fund	10.2%	6.2%
KBI Institutional Developed Equity Fund	13.1%	9.2%
Kiltearn Global Equity Fund	10.7%	8.1%

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

Commercial property (note (a) & (c)) Agricultural property (note (b))	2024 2023 £’000 £’000 (8,846) 1,281 150,694 149,829
	141,848 151,110

(a) The commercial property within the endowment fund was valued as at 31 December 2024 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 2024 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 2024.
(c) Block C at The Chocolate Quarter was valued at 31 December 2024 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 2024

Notes (forming part of the financial statements)

15 Stocks

Sundry stocks	Group 2024 2023 £’000 £’000 55 57	Charity 2024 2023 £’00 £’000 49 51	Charity 2024 2023 £’00 £’000 49 51
			51

Stock relates to catering purchases in the SoFA of £2,020,943 (2023: £1,684,366)

16 Debtors

Trade debtors Prepayments and accrued income Other debtors Amounts owed by group undertakings	Group 2024 2023 £’000 £’000 863 2,318 8,420 7,128 1,163 1,245 - - 10,446 10,691	Charity 2024 2023 £’000 £’000 797 2,318 8,352 7,073 703 1,240 - 82 9,852 10,713

Prepayments include £4,096,791 of professional fees associated with our Endowment development sites and with the majority of these costs relating to the Basingstoke site (2023: £3,122,248). Debtors include £2,995,111 of accrued surrender fees (2023: £2,806,641).

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 2024 2023 £’000 £’000 2,898 2,256 121 108 17,258 16,352 3,101 3,408 918 630 2,176 1,965 - - 26,472 24,719	Charity 2024 2023 £’000 £’000 2,816 2,207 121 108 17,258 16,352 2,623 3,254 918 630 2,112 1,906 438 - 26,286 24,457	Charity 2024 2023 £’000 £’000 2,816 2,207 121 108 17,258 16,352 2,623 3,254 918 630 2,112 1,906 438 - 26,286 24,457
			24,457

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2024

Notes (forming part of the financial statements)

Accruals and deferred income includes accruals of £1,458,930 (2023: £1,743,000) and deferred income comprising £717,149 (2023: £222,000).

Deferred income brought forward Recognised in the year Released to the SoFA in the year Deferred income carried forward	Group 2024 2023 £’000 £’000 222 2,743 717 222 (222) (2,743) 717 222	Charity 2024 2023 £’000 £’000 322 2,663 656 322 (322) (2,663) 656 322	Charity 2024 2023 £’000 £’000 322 2,663 656 322 (322) (2,663) 656 322
			322

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 2024 2023 £’000 £’000 19,273 13,399 112,190 106,674 131,463 120,073 121 108 19,273 13,399 - - 19,394 13,507	Charity 2024 2023 £’000 £’000 19,273 13,399 112,190 106,674 131,463 120,073 121 108 19,273 13,399 - - 19,394 13,507	Charity 2024 2023 £’000 £’000 19,273 13,399 112,190 106,674 131,463 120,073 121 108 19,273 13,399 - - 19,394 13,507
			120,073
			108 13,399 -
			13,507

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

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 £19,000,000.
b) John Wills Annex loan of £393,751 with NatWest Bank which is due for repayment by January 2027. 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.

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2024

Notes (forming part of the financial statements)

19 Other restricted funds – Group and charity

Residents’ Amenity Funds Restricted Legacies	At 1 January 2024 Incoming resources Outgoing resources Gains on investments At 31 December 2024 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 391 11 (11) 27 418 106 (44) 62
	497 11 (55) 27 480

20 Designated fund – Group and charity

A designated fund exists for future maintenance costs on the Westbury-on-Trym, Cote Lane, Sandford and Bedminster sites. Transfers to the unrestricted fund represents the net of incurred costs and contributions allocated to the fund. Funds received in respect of surrender fees received and accrued for The Chocolate Quarter site, have been transferred to the unrestricted fund as these amounts are unrestricted funds and not designated funds as previously classified.

At 1 January 2024 Transfer to the unrestricted fund in respect of sinking fund balances Transfer to the unrestricted fund in respect of fixed surrender fees At 31 December 2024	Total £’000 3,953 (253) (3,233)
	467

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 2024 Transfer to the unrestricted fund At 31 December 2024	Total £’000 10,286 (4,558)
	5,728

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2024

Notes (forming part of the financial statements)

22 Analysis of funds

Consolidated

Consolidated
Movement in funds At 1 January 2024 Net incoming/(outgoing) resources Transfers between funds Gains/(loss) on investment assets Actuarial gain on pension liability At 31 December 2024 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 2024 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 28,444 3,953 497 10,286 308,086 351,266 (14,638) 460 - - 6,424 (7,754) 17,162 (3,946) (44) (4,558) (8,614) - (9,925) - 27 - 6,919 (2,979) 367 - - - - 367
	21,410 467 480 5,728 312,815 340,900
	£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 163,681 - - - - 163,681 12,970 - 380 1,500 308,988 323,838 5,893 - - - - 5,893 (24,593) 467 100 4,228 3,827 (15,971) (131,463) - - - - (131,463) (5,078) - - - - (5,078)
	21,410 467 480 5,728 312,815 340,900
	(9,925) - 27 - 6,919 (2,979)

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2024

Notes (forming part of the financial statements)

Analysis of funds

Charity

Movement in funds At 1 January 2024 Net incoming/(outgoing) resources Transfers between funds Gains on investment assets Actuarial gain on pension liability At 31 December 2024 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 2024 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 27,938 3,953 497 10,286 308,086 350,760 (14,781) 460 - - 6,424 (7,897) 17,162 (3,946) (44) (4,558) (8,614) - (9,925) - 27 - 6,919 (2,979) 367 - - - - 367
	20,761 467 480 5,728 312,815 340,251
	£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 163,656 - - - - 163,656 12,970 - 380 1,500 308,988 323,838 5,684 - - - - 5,684 (25,008) 467 100 4,228 3,827 (16,386) (131,463) - - - - (131,463) (5,078) - - - - (5,078)
	20,761 467 480 5,728 312,815 340,251
	(9,925) - 27 - 6,919 (2,979)

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 2024

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.

The values for the Trust for Investment (TFI), Unapplied Total Return (UTR) and Total Endowment at 31 December 2024 is shown in the table below:

At the beginning of the reporting period: Initial measurement Unapplied Total Return Total Movements in the reporting period: Allocation to the 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 83,284 - 83,284 - 224,802 224,802
	83,284 224,802 308,086
	£’000 £’000 £’000 1,999 (1,999) - - 8,767 8,767 - 6,919 6,919 - (2,343) (2,343) - (625) (625) - - -
	1,999 10,719 12,718
	- (7,989) (7,989)
	1,999 2,730 4,729
	85,283 - 85,283 - 227,532 227,532
	85,283 227,532 312,815

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2024

Notes (forming part of the financial statements)

23 Capital commitments

23 Capital commitments
	2024	2023
	£’000	£’000
Capital expenditure that has been contracted for but has
not been provided for in the financial statements	6,060	2,157

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:

	2024	2023
	Group and Charity plant	Group and Charity plant
	and machinery	and machinery
	£’000	£’000
Within one year	13	10
Between one and five years	26	28
After five years	-	-
	39	38

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 £13,484 (2023: £11,000).

25 Operating leases as a lessor

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

	2024	2023
	Group and	Group and
	Charity leasehold	Charity leasehold
	property	property
	£’000	£’000
Within one year	1,011	1,011
Between one and five years	2,847	3,489
After five years	1,530	1,887
	5,388	6,387

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2024

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 2024 Cash flow At 31 December 2024 £’000 £’000 £’000 2,442 (1,697) 745 3,653 2,240 5,893 (13,507) (5,887) (19,394)
	(7,412) (5,344) (12,756)

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 2024 Cash flow At 31 December 2024 £’000 £’000 £’000 3,653 2,240 5,893 - - - - - -
	3,653 ,2,240 5,893 (108) (13) (121) (13,399) (5,874) (19,273)
	(13,507) (5,887) (19,394)
	(9,854) (3,634) (13,501)

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2024

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 £270,608 (2023: £253,615) 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 £4,026 (2023: £3,763) 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 £567,878 (2023: £599,358) and collected £580,082 (2023: £619,458) of income. The amount owing to St Monica Trading Limited at the year-end was £12,203 (2023: £19,951). A Gift Aid payment was made to St Monica Trust by St Monica Trading Limited of £19,970 in respect of the trading results for 2023 (2023: £12,861 in respect of the trading results for 2022).

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 operating expenses and rent to Somerdale Pavilion Trust totalling £45,116 (2023: £45,700) and provided services to St Monica Trust in the form of parking and academy rent totalling £205,650 (2023: £225,150). The amount owed by St Monica Trust at the year-end was £425,155 (2023: £101,638).

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2024

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 2024 in respect of the defined benefit pensions were £240,000 (2023: £256,000).

The principal assumptions made by the Trust were:	2024	2023	2022	2021
	%	%	%	%
Rate of increase in pensionable salaries	3.2	3.1	3.1	3.4
Rate of increase in pensions in payment	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.1
Inflation rate	3.2	3.1	3.1	3.4
Discount rate	5.4	4.5	4.8	1.8
Pensioner and non-pensioner mortalitySAPS all MC	1% pa	1% pa	1% pa	1% pa
The amounts recognised in the balance sheet are as
follows:	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000
Present value of scheme liabilities	(5,078)	(5,446)	(6,221)	(8,528)
Deficit in the scheme	(5,078)	(5,446)	(6,221)	(8,528)

Analysis of amount charged to net outgoing resources in respect of defined benefit pensions Interest on pension liability Total operating charge	2024 2023 £’000 £’000 (239) (296)
	(239) (296)

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2024

Notes (forming part of the financial statements)

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	2024 2023 £’000 £’000 (5,446) (6,221) 240 255 (239) (294) 367 814
	(5,078) (5,446)
	£’000 £’000
	367 814

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2024

Notes (forming part of the financial statements)

Amounts for the current and previous four periods are as follows

	2024	2023	2022	2021	2020
	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000
Scheme assets	-	-	-	-	-
Scheme liabilities	(5,078)	(5,446)	(6,221)	(8,528)	(8,881)
	__
		__	__	__	__
Deficit in plan	(5,078)	(5,446)	(6,221)	(8,528)	(8,881)
Actuarial	367	814	2,178	183	(241)
gains/(losses) on	__	__	__	__	__
liabilities
Statement of total	367	814	2,178	183	(241)
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 £999,000 (2023: £876,000).

Report of the Board and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 December 2024

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 2023 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 39,768 - 107 - - 39,875 2,528 438 - - - 2,966 2,167 - 11 - 8,849 11,027
	44,463 438 118 - 8,849 53,868
	(47) - - - (781) (828) (731) - - - (649) (1,380) (36) - - - (230) (266)
	(814) - - - (1,660) (2,474) (52,961) - (13) - (241) (53,215) (1,246) - - - - (1,246) (1,154) - - - - (1,154) (83) - - - - (83)
	(55,444) - (13) - (241) (55,698)
	(56,258) - (13) - (1,901) (58,172)
	(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
	18,128 (3,694) 104 (4,120) 9,465 19,883 10,316 7,647 393 14,406 298,621 331,383
	28,444 3,953 497 10,286 308,086 351,266

ST MONICA TRUST

Report of the Trustee and consolidated financial statements

Contents

Report of the Trustee for the year ended 31 December 2024

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

Trustee

The Council

Report of the Trustee for the year ended 31 December 2024

Chief Executive

Management of the Endowment

Report of the Trustee for the year ended 31 December 2024

Report of the Trustee for the year ended 31 December 2024

2 Structure, Governance and Management of the Group

History

Governing instrument and objects

Organisational structure

The Finance and Development Committee

Report of the Trustee for the year ended 31 December 2024

The Nursing and Care Committee

Charitable Foundation Committee

The Property Committee

The People Committee

Report of the Trustee for the year ended 31 December 2024

The Audit Committee

The Trustee Nominations Committee

The Remuneration Committee

Report of the Trustee for the year ended 31 December 2024

Trustee induction and training

Senior Staff Pay policy

Risk assessment

Report of the Trustee for the year ended 31 December 2024

Financial risk management

Going concern

Report of the Trustee for the year ended 31 December 2024

Related parties and connected charities

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 2024

(c) The strategies we use to deliver our objectives

Report of the Trustee for the year ended 31 December 2024

Recruitment and retention of staff

(d) Public benefit and maximising access to our services

Report of the Trustee for the year ended 31 December 2024

Report of the Trustee for the year ended 31 December 2024

Individual Giving

Organisational Giving

Report of the Trustee for the year ended 31 December 2024

Report of the Trustee for the year ended 31 December 2024

Charitable Programme

Report of the Trustee for the year ended 31 December 2024

Charitable Giving Summary

The objectives and achievements of the Endowment Trustee

Achievements for the year have been as follows:

Report of the Trustee for the year ended 31 December 2024

Agricultural Property Investments:

Financial Investments:

Report of the Trustee for the year ended 31 December 2024

Distribution:

4. Financial review

Subsidiary company results

5. Plans for future periods

Report of the Trustee for the year ended 31 December 2024

Report of the Trustee for the year ended 31 December 2024

Disclosure of information to auditors

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

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

Opinion

Basis for opinion

Conclusions relating to going concern

Other information

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

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

Responsibilities of the Trustee

Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

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

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