OpenCharities

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

2023-03-31-accounts

Cruse Bereavement Support

Annual Report and Accounts Year ended 31 March 2023

Company number 00638709 Charity number 208078

Contents

Page
Welcome from the Chair 1
About Cruse Bereavement Support 2
Our vision, mission and values 3
Our impact in 2022/23
Trustees’ report
Strategic report 4
Financial review 12
Statement of Trustees’ responsibilities 19
Independent auditors’ report 20
Financial statements
Statement of financial activities 25
Balance sheet 26
Cash flow statement 27
Notes to the accounts 28
Legal and administrative details 44

Welcome from the Chair

2022/23 was a year of challenge – and a year of achievement. Demand for our services continued to rise and we rose to this by supporting over 100,000 bereaved people directly and over 1.3m through our online channels. I am hugely proud of this achievement and for the difference our volunteers and staff make every day to the lives of bereaved people.

All charities are being challenged by the cost of living crisis, due to the impact of a much tougher fundraising landscape coupled with pandemic funding having come to an end, and Cruse is no exception. During this financial year we changed and adapted how we work to meet this challenge, finding ways to support bereaved people for less cost. We’ve also built on our new brand to reach more people than ever before with vital bereavement information.

I want to thank all our funders and supporters. Their support allows us to provide vital services to bereaved people. This year our partnerships ensured we could support people who need specialist bereavement support, those who’ve been traumatically bereaved, who are in prisons, veterans and their families, and children and young adults that need tailored support. We also started working in new ways to empower local communities to support bereaved people, with a focus on those who are disadvantaged and excluded. And we continued to advocate for bereaved people, not just through our work with the UK Commission on Bereavement and other networks, but also through the expert training we provide to employers, ensuring they can support their staff and customers.

Throughout the year our volunteers and staff worked together, firstly, to support bereaved people, but also to adapt and change how we deliver that support. We introduced new systems and ways of working, including new ways to attract and retain our volunteers. I want to thank all our volunteers and staff for their commitment to Cruse and for all that they do to support those who are grieving.

I’d also like to pay tribute to our Royal Patron, Her Majesty the Queen who very sadly died in September 2022. The Queen was our patron for 38 years and we appreciated her interest in our work and support for our cause.

Looking ahead to 2023/24, we will continue to balance our focus on meeting the demand for our services with the resources we have, recognising that we will continue to operate in a changing and unpredictable time. Our priority has always been to help as many bereaved people as possible. To achieve this, we will need to continue to adapt in a challenging environment, reviewing our strategy and finding the most effective ways to provide support through one of the hardest times in people’s lives.

Sir Anthony Hawkhead Chair

1

About Cruse Bereavement Support

Cruse’s purpose is to make sure that everyone grieving gets the support they need when they need it.

We’ve been here for grieving people for more than 60 years, providing support, information, and advice. We have a specially trained dedicated team of around 4,000 volunteers.

We offer support through our website, national helpline, and local services. We help people in person, over the telephone, or via zoom, and both individually and in groups. We want to make sure everyone grieving gets the help they need in a way that works for them.

We support adults and children across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and are working to provide accessible support to all sections of society. We provide expert training to organisations, and to companies committed to improving the support or services they provide to bereaved people.

Grieving people need a voice and that’s why we’re campaigning to make sure they’re heard. We’ll do whatever it takes to make changes, from campaigning for better business standards to improving bereavement laws. We’re determined to change how grieving people are treated.

Grief can be lonely and overwhelming, but we’re here to help. We want to live in a world where everyone grieving is supported, respected, and understood. We’re here to educate, equip and empower society to show grieving people the respect and kindness they deserve.

2

Our vision, mission and values

Our vision

Our vision is that we live in a world where everyone grieving is supported, respected, and understood.

Our mission

Our mission is that we support people through one of the most painful times in life – with bereavement support, information, and campaigning.

Our values

Values are crucial to the culture of any organisation. Our values underpin everything we do. Whether we’re talking to a client or to a member of our own team, we always strive to be kind, inclusive, ambitious, and genuine.

We are kind

Kindness underpins how we communicate and treat each other. Much like with grief, we have no idea what another person’s journey is or what they are dealing with, so we approach and respond with kindness.

We are inclusive

Grief does not discriminate and neither do we. Everyone’s experience of a bereavement is different, and we honour everyone’s differences.

We are ambitious

We encourage and stretch each other. We are a highly motivated, passionate, professional, and determined team. The more we succeed in our ambitions, the more we move towards our vision.

We are genuine

We are honest, open to real conversations, tackling difficult subjects. We respect the courage it takes to be vulnerable when seeking support and speaking up. We learn from mistakes, and we feel safe to be challenged. We bring our whole selves to our roles.

3

Trustees’ report

Strategic report

Our progress against our strategy

Cruse is working towards a five-year strategy for 2019-24 entitled Bereaved People First. The five pillars of the strategy are:

  1. Support more bereaved people – in a way that works for them.

  2. Build one Cruse.

  3. Increase our profile, reach and influence.

  4. Develop our people.

  5. Build a high performing Cruse with increased funding.

Our progress in the last year against each pillar of the strategy is set out below.

1. Support more bereaved people – in a way that works for them

Our first strategic aim is to support more bereaved people through a wider range of support services that meet their individual needs. We aim to move to a common pathway across Cruse to ensure consistency, quality, and equality of access. We want to offer a range of high-quality services to bereaved people depending on their need and choices, which includes:

We also need to ensure our services are planned, structured, and evaluated to meet the need of people from diverse and marginalised communities.

In 2022/23 we saw continued increase in demand (including a 20% year on year increase to the national helpline) and, in common with many charities, a drop in volunteer numbers. This impacted on the waiting times for clients with over 15% of branches reporting a waiting list of over 6 months.

To address the increasing demand and lengthening waiting lists we have rolled out our virtual Understanding Your Bereavement Online (UYBO) groups. These one-off groups help people normalise their grief. In this year:

During 2022/23 we had to take the disappointing decision to close Grief Chat and the Virtual Support Service due to service funding ending. Both these services had been set up using pandemic emergency funding. After this funding came to an end, we continued to operate the services whist seeking alternative funding. This was not successful, and we had to close both services.

4

Trustees’ report

We supported over 1.3 million people on our website. Of these, 82% are new visitors, and the large majority come via organic search. 40% are men (an increase from 31% three years ago). And the largest number are in the 25-34 age group.

Social media has continued to be an important way for us to reach bereaved people. A team of volunteers help to reply to those who post responses to our posts, which makes it a growing part of our portfolio of support.

Cruse runs a number of specialist funded projects which provide help to different groups of people and we are grateful for all the funding we received. In 2022/23 these included:

We were disappointed that the Home Office withdrew funding for our Victims of Terrorism work at the end of 2022/23. This could have a significant impact on our ability to support bereaved people following future terrorist incidents.

In the last year we have helped:

Headline Statistics 2021/22 2022/23 %
**change **
People supported individual inperson support 1,917 3,149
64%
Assessments/Brief support 8,018 8,415
5%
People supported ingroups 2,983 4,209
41%
Children andyoung people supported 1,718 2,447
42%
National Helplinephone calls 34,857 31,348
-10%
National Helpline email support 6,749 7,603
13%
Ongoingtelephone/zoom support 23,669 16,235
-31%
CruseChat 35,686 28,768
-19%
Total Support by a Cruse volunteer/Staff member 115,597 102,174
-12%
Peoplegiven information 52,365 54,218
4%
People visitingthe website(www.cruse.org.uk) 1,329,900 1,324,477
0%
Visitors to Hope Again(www.hopeagain.co.uk) 61,000 70,647
16%
Total online and information reach 1,443,265 1,449,342 0.4%

5

Trustees’ report

The changes in the reach and type of support provided, reflect both the investment we made in changes to our delivery model (for example increasing group support) and also shifting patterns of support as we moved from models used during the pandemic (for example decreasing virtual support).

2. Build one Cruse

Our strategic aim to build one Cruse aims to:

Following our staff restructure in 2021, we have now completed the transition to a regional structure. This is a significant step towards developing ‘one Cruse’ and improved governance for monitoring and reporting across the year.

Within the new structure, all personnel are now managed by paid staff, to ensure consistency and accountability. We’re now:

3. Increase our profile, reach and influence

Our strategic aim to increase our profile, reach and influence included targets to:

Following our re-brand and website re-launch in September 2021, we have been building our web presence and support for those who need us, through our social media support and targeted content.

6

Trustees’ report

When our Royal Patron Her Majesty The Queen died in September 2022 we reached 33.2 million people through our press work and attained over 250 pieces of coverage. We received 55 inbound queries from national, regional and consumer newspapers, TV channels and radio shows. We’re glad we were able to play our part to help those who found this a difficult time.

Cruse was an active member of the steering group for the UK Commission on Bereavement, which launched its report and recommendations “Bereavement is everyone’s business” in September 2022. Since then, we have spoken at Party Conferences and in partnership with the Co-op held a parliamentary event on the recommendations.

Our work advocating for bereaved people has also included:

Cruse’s external training team works across financial service providers, public sector councils and unions. Our training raises the awareness of bereavement and how to deal with this in a variety of settings and improves the direct support to bereaved people provided by those organisations.

In the year to March 2023, Cruse provided bereavement training to 138 separate organisations (2022: 152), through 504 webinars. This meant 5040 delegates (2022: 5,700) received information and training about bereavement awareness and support.

4. Develop our people

Our strategic aim to develop our people includes targets to:

In common with many other charities, we have seen a drop in volunteer numbers since the pandemic. Cruse’s services were delivered by 3,975 volunteers working across England, Wales and Northern Ireland (4,520 in 2021/22), working alongside around 200 staff. 763 new volunteers were trained during the year (885 in 2021/22).

7

Trustees’ report

During the past year we have worked on volunteer recruitment, holding a number of virtual open days to increase recruitment and retention of helpline volunteers, building the support for volunteers across the network, and trying out new methods of attracting qualified supervisors using our social media channels and website. In May 2023 we partnered with other charities across the country on the Big Help Out – a national volunteering drive coinciding with the Kings Coronation.

We repeated our communications and culture audit with a survey for volunteers and staff which had a high completion rate (1,100 people filled in the survey: 925 volunteers and 175 staff). The audit revealed a high level of engagement and pride in our work in both volunteers and staff with 89% saying they were proud to work / volunteer for Cruse.

Following the audit of our Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) practice from the consultancy Diverse Matters in 2021 we have developed a new EDI strategy and policy in partnership with the internal EDI working group.

5. Build a high performing Cruse with increased funding

Our strategic aim to build a high performing Cruse aims to:

Income

As reported in more detail under the Financial Review below, our income decreased this year from £7,399k to £6,976k. This is of concern to us and largely due to the pressures of the cost of living crisis and the challenging fundraising environment. Linked to this we have also seen many Trusts and Foundations focus their giving more on charities linked to the cost of living – for example fuel poverty and food banks.

Governance

To ensure we are compliant with the Charity Code of Governance, we commissioned DigiBoard to carry out a charity governance self-assessment for Cruse, with a survey completed by Trustees and the Senior Leadership team. Overall, this identified that Cruse was “well run” but did identify areas for improvement in our risk management, focus on purpose and our approach to EDI and digital transformation.

8

Trustees’ report

We have reviewed, updated, or re-written our policies on:

During 2022/23 we dealt with:

uring 2022/23 we dealt with:
Complaints 55
Volunteer concerns 6
Volunteer conduct 10
Safeguarding Cases (statutory) 120
Safeguarding cases (risk of suicide) 407

Infrastructure

Our Customer Relationship Management system (CRM) was launched in a pilot in the South West Hub in October 2022. Learning from the pilot, especially about the extra support needed by volunteers, fed into the roll out to the rest of the country in April 2023. We are now bedding in the new system, resolving issues and planning future development. We also started a review of our telephony infrastructure and plan to roll out a new system in 2023/24.

Future strategy

Following the mid-strategy review carried out in 2022, we have continued to review our direction and operating model. Given the challenging financial climate we are having to look carefully at our services and structure to ensure we continue to deliver quality services with an affordable operating model. We undertook activities to reduce our operating costs in 22/23 and are continuing this programme in 23/24.

Our future plans have also been informed by a major programme of engagement – Connecting Cruse. We have held a number of virtual discussions with volunteers and staff to understand their views on a wide range of subjects including our service model, supervision, income generation, EDI and opportunities to work more efficiently. This insight, together with the mid strategy review is informing the review of the Cruse strategy, Bereaved People First in 23/24.

Our impact

Bereavement can be devastating. Cruse’s work reduces the negative effects on people’s lives. These effects include decreases in mental, emotional, and physical well-being, and if left unaddressed can often lead to significant health issues.

9

Trustees’ report

Cruse’s support enables people to manage and understand their grief and continue living their lives. Bereavement support can decrease the demands on primary health care services and social care providers, particularly for older and vulnerable clients, and those with higher care needs.

Many bereaved people also suffer from loneliness and isolation. Cruse’s support also helps reduce social isolation, by helping people to engage with their social circles and the wider community.

Client evaluation and feedback

We ask all clients who receive 1:1 support to feedback on their experience. Overall, 96% would recommend Cruse. 90% rate their overall experience with Cruse either excellent or very good. Interestingly of those receiving support remotely by phone, 72% rate it as excellent, as opposed to 64% who receive support in person.

Project evaluation

We evaluate the impact of all large projects within Cruse including:

Connecting Communities

We joined with Cruse Scotland and Co-op to launch a partnership exploring ways we can better equip communities with services, resources and skills to independently support people following a bereavement. We set up five community pilots in Cardiff, Ayrshire, Belfast, Tottenham and Manor Park, London as phase 1 of our work together. Within each location, we have established a community grief library, run monthly compassionate communities training, weekly drop-ins and held community engagement events. In total, we engaged with nearly 3,000 people, and distributed over 90,000 grief resources through Co-op funeral homes across the UK. 86% of people visiting our drop-ins reported improved wellbeing. Attendee feedback indicated that, following involvement in the monthly training sessions, people felt far better equipped to support someone they know, who is grieving. We are in the process of discussion with Co-op regarding the next phase of developing compassionate grief communities, with a focus on widely disseminating learning from phase 1 and establishing a ‘compassionate communities’ approach across many more locations in the UK.

Grief Inside

Although bereavement is a universal and usually distressing human experience, it can have a profoundly disproportionate effect on people incarcerated in UK prisons, contributing to significantly decreased mental wellbeing, extreme social isolation, and potential reoffending. Funded by the Ministry of Justice, our Grief Inside project provided bereavement support to prisoners across several sites across England, in category B, C and D, as well as closed and open female prison settings. Support included 1:1 in-person and telephone sessions, group psychoeducational settings, and peer support. We also trained several hundred chaplaincy staff across the prison network. Information about how to cope with grief in prison was also distributed to thousands of prisoners. Over 130 prisoners engaged in the initial pilot support. Significant improvements were evident concerning increased mood,

10

Trustees’ report

coping strategies, and confidence to seek support from others. Prisoners particularly found benefit in peer support, and so we are seeking funding to grow peer support in prisons, to cover a broader range of locations.

Children & Young People

Between 2021/22 and 2022/23 we saw a 5% increase in children and young people (CYP) supported (from 2,329 to 2,447). However, this doesn’t include over 900 children receiving grief support via classroom learning and those who have benefitted from the support provided in schools. In addition to this we have also provided Understanding Your Pupil’s Bereavement Training to 546 educational staff. Visits to the website were also up by 16% between 2021/22 and 2022/23 (from 61,000 to 70,647).

In partnership with 3 separate funders, Children in Need, Openwork and Mind, we have been able to improve and develop the support provided to children and young people as well as the experience of volunteers and staff at Cruse. In 2022/23 we were able to train more CYP volunteers and supervisors through the Children in Need project and in the next year we will fund part of a training administration role, provide paid supervision for CYP volunteers, receive support from a CYP consultant to improve our processes and procedures, and purchase resources such as books, toys, craft materials and play equipment.

During 2022/23 we have trained a further 30 CYP volunteers with funding from the Openwork Foundation and this has also part funded the role of the CYP National Strategic Lead, allowing us to dedicate time and resources to the development of a CYP strategy for 2024.

We are also working in partnership with Mind to develop co-produced high quality printed information for children and young people which will be placed in community locations to allow improved psychoeducation when death occurs. We will also conduct research with children and young people about their experiences of bereavement. These insights will inform our strategy as well as the production of information in a manner that appeals to young people. Further research will also be carried out with staff in schools and wider professionals supporting children and young people to understand the challenges they face when death impacts their communities. This research will provide evidence about support required and how we can improve the services we provide to children and young people, their families, schools and communities around them in our 2024 strategy.

We are grateful to all our partners and funders. Their support allows us to deliver services and support to bereaved people across the UK.

11

Trustees’ report

Financial review

2022/23 was a challenging year for Cruse. Gross income for the year was £6,976k (2022: £7,399k). The main reason for the reduction in income was the challenging fundraising environment which many charities are experiencing.

Income from local authorities, clinical commissioning groups and local health boards grew slightly, despite cost pressures on local authorities and the National Health Service. Income grew by 3% to £2,442k in the year to 31 March 2023 (2022: £2,380k). This income ensures that we can provide local support across many regions of England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Donations of £1,783k (2022: £2,183k) includes income from individuals (including gift aid) and from trusts and foundations. Like many charities, our donated income has been affected by the cost of living crisis.

Income from trading activities, including the provision of training and consultancy, of £458k has grown from 2022 (£437k).

Our delivery costs increased to £8,941k from £7,964k in the year to March 2023. The increase was mainly in our direct charitable activity of delivering bereavement support (2023: £7,550k) (2022: £6,918k). The increased expenditure included delivery of in-person services to meet increased demand post pandemic.

As part of our commitment to streamline our service delivery, we also invested an additional £66k in a new CRM system which was launched in October 2022.

We budgeted for a deficit of £1,135k in the year which reflected both the expected fall in income and the need to spend down grant funding received in the previous year. The reported deficit of £1,965k (2022: deficit of £566k) was larger than budgeted; this was largely due to the challenging fundraising environment which led to reduced income during the financial year. Throughout the year we worked to reduce our operating costs including closing services that were not funded. A key focus for 2023/24 includes activities to further reduce operating costs and to increase our reserves including plans to sell Cruse property.

Reserves policy

The Board of Trustees reviews reserves annually to ensure that there are sufficient funds to maintain the Charity’s financial stability and ongoing development.

The Trustees’ reserves policy is to aim to hold free unrestricted reserves of three to six months’ expenditure.

At 31 March 2023 the Charity had unrestricted reserves of £2,199k (2022: £3,970k) which represents approximately 4 months’ (2022: 7 months’) prior year unrestricted expenditure. In addition, the Charity holds £644k (£837k) of restricted reserves which are itemised in note 9.

12

Trustees’ report

The Board of Trustees believe that there are no material uncertainties that call into doubt the Charity’s ability to continue as a going concern.

In forming this opinion, the Trustees have considered all appropriate budgets and forecasts. These have included high level business plans that reflect the current economic challenges both in generating income and cost base. The business plans reflect the implementation of changes which include the continued development of the Cruse delivery model to deliver efficiencies and decrease operating costs. These changes will ensure that Cruse has a cost base in line with income and that the Charity continues to operate within its reserves policy.

Therefore, the accounts have been prepared on the basis that the Charity is a going concern.

13

Trustees’ report

Structure, governance and management

Legal structure

Cruse Bereavement Support (“Cruse”) was incorporated on 5 October 1959 as Cruse Clubs Ltd and registered with the Charity Commission during 1962. Cruse Bereavement Support is a company limited by guarantee. In the event of the company being wound up the members have undertaken to contribute a sum not exceeding £1.

Cruse is governed by Articles of Association adopted 3 December 2016 as amended 23 December 2021.

Charitable objects

Cruse’s charitable objects, which are set out in the Articles of Association are:

Cruse does this through a nationwide network of trained bereavement volunteers, the Cruse websites, a national free helpline and through online and social media channels.

Cruse also raises awareness of the needs of bereaved people by:

In planning these activities, the Board has regard to the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit. In particular, Cruse makes its services available free of charge to bereaved people from all parts of the community, regardless of age, disability, race, religion, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, sex or the circumstances in which they have suffered bereavement.

Governance

Cruse is governed by a Board of Trustees who are also Directors of the company. All Trustees undergo a detailed induction programme on being a Trustee of Cruse and are given the opportunity to attend additional external training in charity governance.

New Trustees can be appointed to the Board by resolution of the Board. However, they must be elected to the Board at the next Annual General Meeting for a term not exceeding three years after which they must be re-elected. No Board member is eligible for election to the

14

Trustees’ report

Board on more than two occasions. The Articles of Association provide for a minimum of eight and up to a maximum of 25 Trustees.

The Board decides Cruse’s strategic priorities and monitors its performance. It meets regularly through the year. It has two sub-committees:

Audit and Finance Committee. Oversees finance, audit, and risk, including review of budgeting, financial and management reporting, systems and controls, annual audit and risk management.

People and Culture Committee. Oversees the appropriateness and effectiveness of the Human Resources/people plans that support Cruse’s strategic purpose. The Committee also ensures that the remuneration, culture and people policies and practices are designed to support Cruse’s strategy and promote long-term sustainable success.

Cruse also has a National Council which is the formally national recognised consultative body of volunteers. It consists of members elected by the volunteers from Wales, Northern Ireland, Regions across England and the National Helpline. Meetings of Council also include members from the Board of Trustees and are attended by senior executives of Cruse. The Board of Trustees is the legal decision-making body, and its work is informed by the views of Council. Council appoints two of its members to sit on the Board of Trustees.

Council members along with the Board of Trustees are the Company members of Cruse and have a vote in the election of Board members and on resolutions put to Annual General Meetings and/or Extraordinary General Meetings.

Day to day decision making is made by the Chief Executive and the Senior Leadership Team.

The Trustee Directors in post during the year and up to the date of signing of this report were:

Sir Anthony Hawkhead (Chair) Maureen Bradley (Vice Chair, Council member) Letizia Perna (Vice Chair) – resigned 11 April 2022 Mary O’Hagan (Vice Chair from 9 June 2022) Lei Wei (Honorary Treasurer) Nilufar Anwar – resigned 7 September 2022 Paul Butler Christine Challacombe (Council member) – retired 31 March 2023 Liz Crussell (Council member) – appointed 15 June 2023 Mabinty Esho – appointed 24 August 2023 Juliet Armstrong – appointed 24 August 2023 Angela Gannon (Council member) Gerard Jacques Andrew McWilliams - resigned 24 January 2023 Vijay Patel – appointed 15 June 2023 Mary Walsh

15

Trustees’ report

The Board met four times during the year. All Trustees give their time freely and no Trustee remuneration was paid in the year. The Trustees claimed £1,045 of expenses (2022: £368) in connection with Cruse’s business.

Rachel McIlroy served as Company Secretary from 8 December 2022. Alex Fowles served as Company Secretary from 25 January 2022 until 8 December 2022.

As part of Cruse’s continual review of governance, the Trustees agree that Board minutes and records of Council meetings should be published on the Cruse intranet for greater transparency. The Board is committed to ensuring that it observes the Charity Governance Code.

The Chief Executive and their colleagues on the Senior Leadership Team comprise the key management personnel in charge of directing and controlling Cruse on a day-to-day basis. The Senior Leadership Team during 2022/23 comprised:

Steven Wibberley – Chief Executive

Lucy Harmer – Director of Services (appointed 4 January 2023)

Lucy Hastings – Director of Services (resigned 11 November 2022) Andy Langford – Clinical Director

Charlene Vallory – Director of Fundraising & Income Generation

Fiona Brydon – Director of Communications & Digital

Alex Fowles – Interim Director of Finance & Corporate Services (appointed 4 January 2022, resigned 24 November 2022)

Rachel McIlroy – Director of Finance & Corporate Services (appointed 24 November 2022)

Note Steven Wibberley resigned as Chief Executive on 31 July 2023 and was replaced by Lucy Harmer from 1 August 2023.

Senior Leadership Team pay is reviewed annually by the People and Culture Committee. Their remuneration, and the remuneration of all staff, is benchmarked with charities of a similar size and Cruse aims to pay at least median salary for the sector less 5%. This is to ensure that the remuneration set is fair and consistent with that generally paid for similar roles.

Fundraising

Cruse is registered with the Fundraising Regulator and is compliant with the standards set out by the Regulator in its Code of Fundraising Practice. All fundraising activities are organised directly by volunteers and staff of the Charity. We do not engage third party professional fundraisers to raise funds on our behalf. We are mindful during our fundraising activities not to be unreasonably persistent or to apply undue pressure on anyone, or to intrude on anyone’s privacy. We didn’t undertake any telephone or doorstep fundraising in the year. We don’t buy or sell mailing lists. There were no complaints related to fundraising during the year to 31 March 2023 (2022: none).

16

Trustees’ report

Equity, diversity and inclusion

It is the aim of Cruse Bereavement Support to recognise and encourage the valuable and enriching contribution that people from all backgrounds and experiences bring to the organisation. We believe that all individuals working or volunteering for Cruse or coming to Cruse for a service should be treated without prejudice or discrimination. We recognise that currently our volunteer and staff groups do not reflect the communities that we serve and addressing this is a priority.

In 2022/23 the Board agreed a new EDI policy and strategy.

Priority areas include:

  1. Create a continuous EDI learning and development cycle, enhancing knowledge, skills, and awareness across the organisation.

  2. Build an inclusive culture at Cruse, ensuring there is a shared understanding of what EDI means and how it reflects the organisation’s values.

  3. Strengthen current governance and leadership structures for embedding EDI and improving communications.

  4. Enhance data collation and monitoring processes to measure EDI performance.

Risk management

The Trustees recognise that the effective management of risks is central to Cruse’s ability to achieve its objectives, and aims to anticipate and, where possible, manage risks rather than dealing with their unforeseen consequences.

The key risk review and reporting mechanisms are:

Risk register. This is the primary mechanism for considering long-term risks. It identifies all known long-term risks, ranks them according to likelihood and impact and assigns them for management to an individual member of the Senior Leadership Team. The register has been fully reviewed and re-drafted during 2022. It is reviewed regularly by the Senior Leadership Team, quarterly by the Audit and Finance Committee and at least annually by the Board.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Strategic objectives are identified annually, and appropriate KPIs agreed with the Board. These are the tools by which Cruse measures its performance against risks. They are reviewed quarterly by the Senior Leadership Team and then reported to the Board.

Management accounts and budgets. These identify and measure financial performance against financial objectives and the risks of not achieving them. Management accounts are prepared monthly and reviewed by both the Audit and Finance Committee and Board every quarter. Reforecasts are prepared when needed to provide clarity on significant variations against budget or plans. Budgets are produced annually, reviewed by the Audit and Finance Committee, and approved by the Board.

17

Trustees’ report

Trustees have identified a core strategic risk is in the delivery of the Bereaved People First strategy which is streamlining delivery and creating a “one Cruse” approach. There were four areas of specific risk identified in 2022/23 as summarised below.

Financial sustainability: We regularly review our fundraising activity and set income targets aligned with this. We are aiming to diversify our income and increase our individual giving and trading activity alongside reducing our operating costs. Financial sustainability is overseen by our Audit and Finance Committee which regularly reports to the Board.

Our People: Everything we do is dependent on our volunteers and staff and is for the benefit of bereaved people. We monitor staff turnover and sickness, invest in training, use volunteer and employee engagement surveys, and benchmark salaries to help retain and develop our people. We have EDI, Dignity at Work and Whistleblowing policies and procedures in place, and effectively manage our volunteers and employees, to make sure we operate safely. Oversight is provided by our People and Culture Committee which regularly reports to the board.

Our services: Our work is informed by external research. We regularly review the quality, reach and impact of our services to inform demand management planning and ensure we meet contractual commitments. We have safeguarding policies and procedures in place. We work with our local Service Delivery Committees and National Council to identify new services, policies and procedures and report to the Board on delivery and impact.

Our infrastructure: We invest in the infrastructure required to effectively deliver our services and regularly report to the Board on progress aligned with business plans and objectives.

18

Trustees’ report

Statement of Trustees’ responsibilities

The Trustees (who are also Directors of Cruse Bereavement Support for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the Trustees' Annual Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice) including FRS 102 “The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland”.

Company law requires the Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company and of the income and expenditure of the charitable company for that period. In preparing those financial statements, the Trustees are required to:

The Trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable company and to enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charitable company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

In so far as the Trustees are aware:

Auditors

Moore Kingston Smith LLP has indicated their willingness to continue in office and will be proposed for reappointment in accordance with Section 485 of the Companies Act 2006.

The Trustees and Directors report incorporating the Strategic Report was approved by the Board on 21[st] December 2023.

By Order of the Board

Sir Anthony Hawkhead Chair

Lei Wei Honorary Treasurer

19

Independent Auditor’s report

Independent auditor’s report to the members of Cruse Bereavement Support

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of Cruse Bereavement Support (‘the company’) for the year ended 31 March 2023 which comprise the Statement of Financial Activities the Balance Sheet, the Cash Flow Statement 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 FRS 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:

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 charitable company in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC’s Ethical Standard, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

Conclusions relating to going concern

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

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

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

20

Independent Auditor’s report

Other information

The other information comprises the information included in the annual report, other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. The trustees are responsible for the other information contained within the annual report. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon.

Our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the course of the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether there is a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.

We have nothing to report in this regard.

Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006

In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of the audit:

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the company and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the trustees’ annual report.

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters where the Companies Act 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:

21

Independent Auditor’s report

Responsibilities of trustees

As explained more fully in the trustees’ responsibilities statement set out on page 21, the trustees (who are also the directors of the charitable company for the purposes of company law) are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the trustees determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

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

Auditor’s Responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

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 aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.

As part of an audit in accordance with ISAs (UK) we exercise professional judgement and maintain professional scepticism throughout the audit. We also:

22

Independent Auditor’s report

related disclosures in the financial statements or, if such disclosures are inadequate, to modify our opinion. Our conclusions are based on the audit evidence obtained up to the date of our auditor’s report. However, future events or conditions may cause the charitable company to cease to continue as a going concern.

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

Explanation as to what extent the audit was considered capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud

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

The objectives of our audit in respect of fraud, are; to identify and assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements due to fraud; to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence regarding the assessed risks of material misstatement due to fraud, through designing and implementing appropriate responses to those assessed risks; and to respond appropriately to instances of fraud or suspected fraud identified during the audit. However, the primary responsibility for the prevention and detection of fraud rests with both management and those charged with governance of the charitable company.

Our approach was as follows:

23

Independent Auditor’s report

enquiries of management and those charged with governance and obtaining additional corroborative evidence as required.

There are inherent limitations in the audit procedures described above. We are less likely to become aware of instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations that are not closely related to events and transactions reflected in the financial statements. Also, the risk of not detecting a material misstatement due to fraud is higher than the risk of not detecting one resulting from error, as fraud may involve deliberate concealment by, for example, forgery or intentional misrepresentations, or through collusion.

Use of our report

This report is made solely to the charitable company's members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the company’s members 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 any party other than the charitable company and charitable company's members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

Date: 22 December 2023 Andrew Stickland (Senior Statutory Auditor) 6th Floor for and on behalf of Moore Kingston Smith LLP, Statutory Auditor 9 Appold Street London EC2A 2AP

24

Statement of Financial Activities

Incorporating an income and expenditure account for the year ending 31 March 2023

Note
Income
Donations and legacies
2
Charitable activities
2
Trading activities
2
Investment income
2
Other income
2
Total income
2
Expenditure
Raising funds
Charitable expenditure
3
Total expenditure
3
Net (expenditure)/income
before transfers
Movement between funds
9
Net (expenditure)/income after
transfers
between funds
Reconciliation of funds:
Total funds brought forward
9
Total funds carried forward
9		 2023
Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
funds
Total
funds
£
£
£
1,122,899
660,053
1,782,952
3,027,565 1,697,287
4,724,852
457,928
-
457,928
3,077
-
3,077
7,148
-
7,148
4,618,617 2,357,340
6,975,957

1,390,779
-
1,390,779
4,999,656 2,550,699
7,550,355
6,390,435 2,550,699
8,941,134

(1,771,818)
(193,359) (1,965,177)
-
-
-
(1,771,818)
(193,359) (1,965,177)
3,970,734
836,918
4,807,652
2,198,916
643,559
2,842,475
 2022
Total
funds
£
2,182,611
4,659,200
436,741
-
120,088
7,398,640
1,046,818
6,917,824
7,964,642
(566,002)
-
(566,002)
5,373,654
4,807,652

The comparative statement of financial activity for the year ended 31 March 2022 can be found at note 11.

The notes on pages 28 to 43 form part of these financial statements.

25

Balance Sheet

as at 31 March 2023

Note
Fixed assets
Intangible assets
5
Tangible assets
6
Current assets
Debtors
7
Cash at bank and in hand
Creditors
Amounts falling due within
one year
8
Net current assets
Net Assets
Reserves
Unrestricted funds
9
Restricted funds
9
Total funds
9		 £
858,298
1,472,361		 2023
£
282,930
901,245
1,184,175



1,658,300
2,842,475
2,198,916
643,559
2,842,475		 £
874,879
3,838,899		 2022
£
240,730
894,076
1,134,806



3,672,846
2,330,659 4,713,778
(672,359) (1,040,932)
4,807,652
3,970,734
836,918
4,807,652

Approved by the Board on 21[st] December 2023 and signed on its behalf on 22[nd] December 2023 by

Sir Anthony Hawkhead Chair

Lei Wei Honorary Treasurer

The notes on pages 28 to 43 form part of these financial statements.

Company registration number: 0063870

26

Cash flow statement

for the year to 31 March 2023

Net cash (outflow)/inflow from operating
activities
Returns from investment and servicing of
finance
Interest received
Net cash inflow from returns on investment and
servicing of finance
Investing activities
Purchase of tangible and intangible fixed assets
Net cash outflow from investing activities
Net cash (outflow)/inflow
Reconciliation of net (expenditure)/income to
net cash (outflow)/inflow from operating activities
Net movement in funds
(per statement of financial activities)
Depreciation charge
Loss on disposal of fixed
assets
Interest received
(Increase)/decrease in
debtors
Increase in creditors
Net cash (outflow)/inflow from operating activities
Analysis of cash and cash equivalents
Cash at bank and in hand
Analysis of changes in net funds
Cash balance at beginning of the period
(Decrease)/increase in cash in the period
Cash balance at 31 March		 2023
£
(2,249,424)
3,077
(2,246,347)
(120,191)
(120,191)
(2,366,538)
2023
£
(1,965,177)
70,822
-
(3,077)
16,581
(368,573)
(2,249,424)
2023
£
1,472,361
2023
£
3,838,899
(2,366,538)
1,472,361		 2022
£
(560,865)
-
(560,865)
(305,150)
(305,150)
(866,015)
2022
£
(566,003)
62,442
-
-
(305,640)
248,336
(560,865)
2022
£
3,838,899
2022
£
4,704,913
(866,015)
3,838,899

27

Notes to the accounts

for the year to 31 March 2023

1. Accounting policies

The principal accounting policies which are adopted in the preparation of the financial statements are set out below.

Basis of accounting

The financial statements have been prepared to give a true and fair view and follow the 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).

Cruse Bereavement Support meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS 102.

The financial statements are prepared under historical cost convention in pounds sterling, which is considered to be the functional currency of the Charity.

Income

Income is recognised when the Charity has entitlement to the funds, any conditions attached to the item(s) of income have been met, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount can be measured reliably.

Donations, legacies and grants that are not performance related are recognised in the period where the Charity becomes entitled to the funds, receipt is probable, and the amount can be measured reliably. Income is deferred only when the Charity must fulfil conditions before becoming entitled to it or where the donor or funder has specified that the income is to be expended in a future accounting period.

Donations under gift aid together with the associated income tax recovery are recognised as income when the donation is received.

Performance related grants and income receivable in respect of the provision of services, including under service level agreements, is credited to income immediately to the extent that the Charity has obtained entitlement to that income by its performance against the service level agreement in the year under review.

Expenditure

Expenditure is recognised when a liability is incurred.

Costs of raising funds are those costs incurred in attracting voluntary income including the costs of advertising for funds and costs incurred in trading activities that raise funds.

Charitable activities include expenditure associated with the delivery of bereavement support, training & education and policy work and include both the direct costs and support costs relating to these activities.

28

Notes to the accounts

1. Accounting policies (continued)

Support costs are those costs which enable the generation of funds and which enable charitable activities to be carried out. These costs include governance costs, finance, human resources and information technology. Support costs are allocated in proportion to the staff costs of generating the funds and providing the charitable activities.

Governance costs are the costs associated with the governance arrangements of the Charity. These costs are associated with constitutional and statutory requirements and include any costs associated with the strategic management of the Charity’s activities.

Donated goods and services

Goods and services donated to the Charity have been included in the financial statements at the value of the gift to the Charity. The contribution of volunteers in volunteering hours is not included in the statement of financial activity as it is not possible to accurately calculate the value of those hours, given the various roles filled by volunteers and the number of volunteers in the organisation.

Intangible fixed assets

The costs of the Cruse customer relationship management (“CRM”) software have been capitalised within intangible assets as they can be identified with a specific project anticipated to produce further benefits.

The CRM system was deployed in October 2022 and amortisation is provided to write off assets on a straight-line basis over its estimated useful economic life of five years.

Tangible fixed assets

All assets costing more than £500 are capitalised and are carried at cost. Depreciation is provided to write off assets on a straight-line basis over their estimated useful economic life at the following rates:

Office equipment 20%
Office furniture 10%
Freehold property 2%
Leasehold property 2%

Operating leases

Rentals under operating leases are charged to the Statement of Financial Activities on a straight-line basis over the lease term.

Fund accounting

The Charity’s general funds consist of funds which the Charity may use for its purposes at its discretion.

29

Notes to the accounts

1. Accounting policies (continued)

The Charity’s restricted funds are those where the donor has imposed restrictions on the use of the funds which are legally binding.

Designated funds are funds which the Board of Trustees have reserved for the provision of services in a specific region of for a specific project (e.g. the Bereaved People First strategy). As part of the Board of Trustee’s review of the reserves policy in 2022 they decided that these designations were no longer necessary and the designated funds were transferred to the general fund.

Pensions

The Charity operates a defined contribution pension scheme. The pension cost charge represents contributions payable under the scheme by the Charity to the fund and are recognised in the Statement of Financial Activities in the period to which they relate. The Charity has no liability under the scheme other than the payment of the contributions.

Taxation

The charitable company is a registered Charity and has no liability to corporation tax on its charitable activities under the Corporation Tax Act 2010 (chapters 2 and 3 of part ii, section 466 onwards) or Section 256 of the Taxation for Chargeable Gains Act 1992, to the extent surpluses are applied to its charitable purposes.

Financial instruments

The Charity has financial assets and liabilities of a kind that qualify as basic financial instruments.

Basic financial instruments are initially recognised at transaction value, including transaction costs, and subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effectiveinterest method.

Financial assets and financial liabilities are recognised when the Charity becomes a party to the contractual provisions of the instrument.

Critical accounting judgements and key sources of estimation uncertainty

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

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

30

Notes to the accounts

1. Accounting policies (continued)

The Trustees do not consider there are any critical judgements or sources of estimation uncertainty requiring disclosure.

Going concern

The Board of Trustees believe that there are no material uncertainties that call into doubt the Charity’s ability to continue as a going concern.

In forming this opinion, the Trustees have considered all appropriate budgets and forecasts. These have included high level business plans that reflect the current economic challenges both in generating income and cost base. The business plans reflect the implementation of changes which include the continued development of the Cruse delivery model to deliver efficiencies and decrease operating costs. These changes will ensure that Cruse has a cost base in line with income and that the Charity continues to operate within its reserves policy.

On the basis of the above the trustees have concluded that there are no material uncertainties that suggest that the Charity cannot continue as a going concern and therefore the financial statements continue to be prepared on the basis that the Charity is a going concern.

31

Notes to the accounts

2. Income

Notes to the accounts
.
Income
2023
Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
funds
Total
funds
£
£
£
Donations and legacies
Donations
924,852
660,053 1,584,905
Legacies
198,047
-
198,047
Subscriptions
-
-
-
Total donations and legacies
1,122,899
660,053 1,782,952
Income from charitable activities
Local authorities
468,501
37,090
505,591
Clinical commissioning groups and
local health boards
1,779,486
156,552 1,936,038
Government grants and statutory
funding
308,364 1,327,863 1,636,227
Other income to directly support
charitable activities
471,214
175,782
646,996
Total income from charitable
activities
3,027,565 1,697,287 4,724,852
Total income from fundraising
activities
4,150,464 2,357,340 6,507,804
Income from trading activities
Fundraising projects
12,288
-
12,288
Income from training and
conferences
442,638
-
442,638
Sale of publications and literature
3,002
-
3,002
Total income from trading activities
457,928
-
457,928
Investment income
Bank interest
3,077
-
3,077
Other income
7,148
-
7,148
Total income
4,618,617 2,357,340 6,975,957		 2022
Total
funds
£
1,824,709
357,902
-
2,182,611
589,125
1,790,603
1,625,624
653,848
4,659,200
6,841,811
11,549
393,845
31,347
436,741
-
120,088
7,398,640

32

Notes to the accounts

3. Expenditure

Charitable activity

Bereavement support services
Policy		 Salaries,
NI and
pensions
Other
direct
costs
Support
costs
2023
Total
£
£
£
£
4,721,679 1,673,370
922,868 7,317,917
95,202
118,628
18,608
232,438
4,816,881 1,791,998
941,476 7,550,355
 2022
Total
£
6,681,209
236,615
6,917,824

Support costs

Cost of raising funds
Charitable activities
Bereavement support services
Policy		 Finance,
HR, IT
CEO and
governance
2023
Total
£
£
£
190,449
354
190,803
921,156
1,712
922,868
18,573
35
18,608
1,130,178
2,101 1,132,279		 2022
Total
£
157,933
886,209
19,482
1,063,624

Net expenditure

Net expenditure for the year is stated after charging:

Auditor's fees (as auditors)
Depreciation and amortisation
Operating lease rentals
Property
Office equipment and motor
vehicles
Trustee expenses		 2023
£
18,000
46,749
102,398
492
1,045
168,684		 2022
£
18,000
62,442
71,017
7,689
368
159,516

In the year ended 31 March 2023 four trustees (2022: four trustees) were paid travel expenses totalling £1,045 (2022: £368).

33

Notes to the accounts

4. Staff costs

Salaries and wages
National Insurance costs
Pensions costs
Redundancy costs		 2023
£
5,433,188
512,117
184,280
25,232
6,154,817
 2022
£
4,709,519
385,282
136,112
82,326
5,313,239

The average head count of employees during the year was 229 (2022: 210).

The average full time equivalent number of staff by function is:

Central services
Helpline
Raising funds
Local bereavement support services		 2023
no.
41
14
21
100
175		 2022
no.
40
10
17
84
151

The number of higher paid employees was

2023 2022
no. no.
£60,001 - £70,000 1 1
£70,001 - £80,000 1 -
£80,001 - £90,000 - 1
£90,001 - £100,000 - -
£100,001 - £110,000 1 -

Total key management personnel costs for the year were £449,869 (2022: £421,009). Details of key management personnel are set out on page 16. Key management personnel do not receive any benefits not available to all employees.

No director (or trustee) received any remuneration during the year (2022: £nil).

34

Notes to the accounts

5. Intangible assets

Cost
As at 1 April 2022
Additions
As at 31 March 2023
Amortisation
As at 1 April 2022
Charges for the year
As at 31 March 2023
Net book value
As at 31 March 2022
As at 31 March 2023		 Total
2023
£
240,730
66,273
307,003
-
24,073
24,073
240,730
282,930		 Total
2022
£
240,730
-
240,730
-
-
-
240,730
240,730

The software intangible asset is the cost of developing a new CRM system. The system went live in October 2022. Accordingly, no amortisation was charged in the previous year. The cost of the system will be amortised across the life of the asset in accordance with accounting policies.

35

Notes to the accounts

6. Tangible assets

Cost
As at 1 April 2022
Additions
Disposals
As at 31 March 2023
Amortisation
As at 1 April 2022
Charges for the year
Disposals
As at 31 March 2023
Net book value
As at 31 March 2022
As at 31 March 2023		 Leasehold
property
Freehold
property
Office
furniture
Office
equipment
£
£
£
£
632,000
230,000
82,674
300,340
-
-
53,918
-
-
-
-
632,000
230,000
82,674
354,258
63,432
19,320
74,977
193,209
2,064
8,280
1,455
34,950
-
-
-
-
65,496
27,600
76,432
228,159
568,568
210,680
7,697
107,131
566,504
202,400
6,242
126,099		 2023
Total
£
1,245,014
53,918
-
1,298,932
350,938
46,749
-
397,687
894,076
901,245		 2022
Total
£
1,180,594
64,420
-
1,245,014
288,496
62,442
-
350,938
892,098
894,076

Leasehold and freehold properties are included at deemed cost. The carrying amount of leasehold and freehold, that would have been recognised under the historical cost model is £541,233 (2022: £549,393) for leasehold property and £160,304 (2022: £163,100) for freehold property.

A legal charge over the leasehold property has been given to Barclays Bank PLC as security for an overdraft facility of £160,000.

7. Debtors – due within one year

Trade debtors
Other debtors
Prepayments
Accrued income		 2023
£
324,035
-
19,747
514,516
858,298		 2022
£
296,146
14
63,249
515,470
874,879

36

Notes to the accounts

8. Creditors due within one year

Trade creditors
Other creditors
Taxation and social security
Accruals
Deferred income
Movement in deferred income:
Deferred income at 1 April 2022
Deferred in the year
Released in the year
Deferred income at 31 March
2023		 2023
£
157,416
7,224
90,066
142,816
274,837
672,359

2023
£
470,311
274,837
(470,311)
274,837		 2022
£
205,211
50,183
139,316
175,911
470,311
1,040,932
2022
£
109,115
470,311
(109,115)
470,311

Movement in deferred income:

9. Reserves

Unrestricted funds
General fund
Revaluation reserve
Total unrestricted funds		 As at
1 April
2022
Income
Expenditure
Transfer
between
funds
£
£
£
£
3,901,178 4,618,617 (6,390,435)
-
69,555
-
-
-
3,970,733 4,618,617(6,390,435)
-		 As at
31 March
2023
£
2,129,362
69,555
2,198,917

37

Notes to the accounts

9. Reserves (continued)

Total unrestricted funds
Restricted funds
Cooperative Group – Connecting
Communities
Institute of Cemetery & Crematorium
Management (ICCM)
Awards for All
Armed Forces Covenant Fund – Together in
Force
Supporting Men in Grief – Severn Trent
Home Office Ministry of Justice – Grief
Inside
London and South East
Children & Young People
South West
Northern Ireland
Midlands
Norfolk
Digital
North East
Restricted to Local Branches
Recruitment
Wales
Training Courses
Total restricted funds
Total funds
Analysis of net assets by fund
Intangible fixed assets
Tangible fixed assets
Current assets
Current liabilities		 As at
1 April
2022
Income
Expenditure
Transfer
between
funds
£
£
£
£
3,970,733 4,618,617 (6,390,435)
-
222,540
250,000
(287,657)
-
-
168,000
(168,000)
-
-
483,072
(483,072)
-
12,000
97,400
(102,138)
-
-
8,722
(8,722)
-
57,636
-
(51,473)
-
44,390
84,028
(113,524)
-
31,157
75,840
(74,630)
-
5,000
59,923
(56,128)
-
116,590
304,069
(233,003)
-
-
26,556
(25,556)
-
-
29,589
(27,384)
-
94,210
215,531
(309,741)
-
-
50,654
(50,654)
-
216,850
-
(30,061)
-
25,000
35,000
(60,000)
-
11,545
418,955
(418,955)
-
-
50,000
(50,000)
-
836,918 2,357,339(2,550,698)
-
4,807,652 6,975,957(8,941,134)
-
2023
Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
funds
Total
funds
£
£
£
282,930
-
282,930
851,245
50,000
901,245
1,737,100
593,559 2,330,659
(672,359)
- (672,359)
2,198,916
643,559 2,842,475		 As at
31 March
2023
£
2,198,917
184,883
-
-
7,262
-
6,163
14,894
32,367
8,795
187,656
1,000
2,205
-
-
186,789
-
11,545
-
643,559
2,842,475
2022
Total
funds
£
240,730
894,076
4,713,778
(1,040,932)
4,807,652

38

Notes to the accounts

10. Operating lease commitments

Operating Leases which expire:
Within one year
Between two and five years		 Property
2023
2022
£
£
70,175
38,910
43,694
30,031
113,869
68,941		 Office Equipment &
Motor Vehicles
2023
2022
£
£
492
2,121
316
316
808
2,437

39

Notes to the accounts

11. Statement of financial activities for the year ended 31 March 2022

2022
Unrestricted Restricted Total
funds funds funds
£ £ £
Income
Donations and legacies 1,470,008 712,603 2,182,611
Charitable activities 3,793,008 866,192 4,659,200
Trading activities 436,741 - 436,741
Investment income - - -
Other income 120,088 - 120,088
Total income 5,819,845 1,578,795 7,398,640
Expenditure
Raising funds 1,046,818 - 1,046,818
Charitable expenditure 5,459,520 1,458,304 6,917,824
Total expenditure 6,506,338 1,458,304 7,964,642
Net (expenditure)/income
before transfers (686,493) 120,491 (566,002)
Movement between funds - - -
Net (expenditure)/income after
transfers
between funds (686,493) 120,491 (566,002)
Reconciliation of funds:
Total funds brought forward 4,657,227 716,427 5,373,654
Total funds carried forward 3,970,734 836,918 4,807,652

40

Notes to the accounts

12. Movement in reserves for the year ended 31 March 2022

Unrestricted funds
General fund
Revaluation reserve
Funds designated to branches/regions
Designated fund - Bereaved People
First Strategy
Total unrestricted funds
Restricted funds		 As at
1 April
2021
Income
Expenditure
Transfer
between
funds
£
£
£
£
290,000 5,819,845 (6,506,338)
4,297,672
69,555
-
-
-
3,547,672
-
- (3,547,672)
-
-
750,000
-
-
(750,000)
4,657,227 5,819,845(6,506,338)
-
45,502
74,178
(119,680)
-
-
140,911
(74,321)
-

-
49,592
(49,592)
-
-
148,342
(148,342)
-
-
125,000
(125,000)
-
-
137,099
(79,463)
-
95,900
97,400
(181,300)
-
-
250,000
(27,460)
-
275,749
-
(275,749)
-
-
25,000
-
-
37,586
42,617
(61,046)
-
-
25,763
(14,218)
-
-
5,000
(5,000)
-
-
5,000
-
-

-
56,711
(24,901)
-
-
12,000
-
-
-
9,706
(1,865)
-
-
304,500
(210,290)
-		 As at
31 March
2022
£
3,901,179
69,555
-
-
3,970,734
-
-
66,590
-
-
-
57,636
12,000
222,540
-
25,000
19,157
11,545
-
5,000
31,810
12,000
7,841
94,210
The National Lottery Community Fund
Bereavement supporters
Northern Ireland - Somewhere for
us
Northern Ireland - Expanding Access
to Bereavement Care
Awards for All
Home Office
Support to Victims of Terror
Ministry of Justice - Grief Inside
Armed Forces Covenant Fund -
Together in Force
Cooperative Group -
Connecting Communities
National Emergency Trust -
COVID 19 Response
Swire Trust - Volunteer Manager
BBC Children in Need
Welsh Government -
Bereavement Trauma Support
BUPA Foundation - Peer Support
Somerset Community Foundation -
CPD Training
Janus Henderson Foundation - Remote
Understanding Your Bereavement
NHS South West London
Hertfordshire Community Foundation
-
Volunteer Replenishment
The Fidelity UK Foundation
Moondance Foundation -

41

Notes to the accounts

Notes to the accounts
Virtual Support Service -
61,686
(61,686)
-
-
8,290
(8,290)
-
50,000
-
-
-
4,739
-
-
-
206,951
-
9,899
-
716,427 1,578,795(1,458,304)
-
5,373,654 7,398,640(7,964,642)
-		 -
-
50,000
4,739
216,850
Wales Council for Voluntary Action
Northern Ireland Freehold Property
Agnes Whitaker Foundation
Funds restricted to local branches
Total restricted funds
Total funds
836,918
4,807,652

Analysis of net assets by fund

42

Legal and administrative details

Registered office

Company number

Unit 0.1

One Victoria Villas Richmond Surrey TW9 2GW 00638709

Charity number 208078 Trustees

Sir Anthony Hawkhead – Chair Maureen Bradley – Vice Chair Mary O’Hagan – Vice Chair Lei Wei – Honorary Treasurer Paul Butler Christine Challacombe Angela Gannon Gerard Jacques Mary Walsh

(The full details of Trustees who served during the year are listed on page 15.)

Company secretary

Auditors

Bankers

Solicitor

Moore Kingston Smith LLP 6th floor 9 Appold Street London EC2A 2AP Barclays Bank Plc Leicester LE87 2BB Russell-Cooke LLP 2 Putney Hill London SW15 6AB

43