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2024-03-31-accounts

Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24 a

Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

cruse.org.uk

Contents

Contents
Welcome 2
Our year at a glance 3
Trustees Report
Strategic Report 4
Governance 10
Financials
Independent Auditors Report 15
Financial statements 19
Thank you 38

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24 1

I am so grateful to Cruse. It has been a lifeline for me. A safe space. I felt so low and lacked purpose but Cruse have helped me to build a life around my grief and not feel guilty.

My zoom sessions really helped to deal with my grief. I was in a bad way before, but I now feel a lot better.

Talking about my experience was always a struggle for me and I would not be as open as I am now without the encouragement and kindness I received from Cruse volunteers.

I was very nervous when I had my first session and didn’t think I could talk much, but my volunteer put me at ease very quickly and helped me face some difficult thoughts that I had been struggling with.

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2 Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

Welcome

I started as Cruse Bereavement Support Chief Executive in August 2023. Looking back at all that we achieved during this year, I want to pay tribute to the volunteers and staff at Cruse who make a real difference to bereaved people every day.

I also want to say thank you to Sir Tony Hawkhead who recently stepped down as Chair of Cruse after five years. Tony led Cruse through the delivery of our Bereaved People First strategy and through the pandemic, and over the last year helped us start to shape our new strategy.

Our charity has been supporting bereaved people for over 65 years. A key focus as Cruse moves forwards will be making sure bereaved people are at the heart of all that we do. Cruse’s strength comes from our local footprint, our national delivery and the passion and commitment of our volunteers and staff. Demand for our services continues to grow and far too many bereaved people struggle to get the support they need. It is a privilege to be leading the charity as we continue to develop new ways to support bereaved people and ensure they are not alone in their grief.

I am delighted to have been appointed Chair of Cruse. I know from my own experience that bereavement brings a wave of emotions that need to be understood and processed.

Throughout my career I have recommended Cruse to bereaved people, and I know that the dedicated volunteers and staff offer invaluable assistance to people when they need it most.

As a new Chair, appointed in September 2024, I have been impressed by all that has been achieved in the last year. I want to thank all our funders and supporters. Their support made it possible for us to provide vital services and support throughout the year.

I am joining Cruse at a time of transition, as we develop a new strategy to ensure we can meet the growing demand for our services. I am looking forward to the year ahead, and to working with everyone at Cruse to increase our impact and support for bereaved people.

Dr Neil Churchill OBE Chair

Lucy Harmer Chief Executive

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24 3

Our year at a glance

72,147 support activities for bereaved people

1.28 million

people viewed information on our website

3,572 volunteers donated their time

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83
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local branches across England, Northern Ireland and Wales

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Strategic Report

Our impact

We believe bereaved people should not be alone in their grief.

We support bereaved adults, children and young people across England, Northern Ireland and Wales. We recognise that grief can have a wide impact on family, friends, colleagues, professionals and communities.

Our services include the national Cruse Helpline, group bereavement sessions and one-to-one bereavement support sessions, delivered nationally and locally by our trained bereavement volunteers. We want to make sure people grieving get the help they need in a way that works for them and we provide a range of support and information by phone, online and in person.

We deliver expert training, including Grief Awareness and Grief First Aid, working with organisations, groups and individuals to improve the support and services they provide to bereaved people.

Our online information helps people to understand about grief, and signposts people to further support and information, so people know they are not alone.

Tracey Gibson, Director of Services

We are here to equip and empower society to show grieving people the respect and kindness they deserve. Grieving people need a voice, and we campaign to make sure they are heard. Our wide-ranging activity and experience includes campaigning for better business standards and improved bereavement laws.

We want to live in a world where everyone grieving is supported, respected, and understood. Grief can be lonely and overwhelming, but we are here to help.

Our strategy

Cruse’s five-year strategy, Bereaved People First, was agreed in 2019 and is due to end in 2024. It was an ambitious strategy that focused on bringing together our local and central delivery into ‘one Cruse’ and increasing the support we provided to bereaved people. We achieved many of our strategic ambitions during this period, including refreshing our brand, developing a new website with increased information and resources for bereaved people, and starting to integrate our central and local systems and processes. However, this strategy period also coincided with the pandemic which meant we had to overcome unexpected challenges and find new ways to deliver support to bereaved people at a time of unprecedented demand.

Coming out of the pandemic the external environment has changed – both in terms of the challenging funding environment across the charity sector, and the expectations bereaved people have for the services they

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need. Volunteering has also shifted with the growth of flexible volunteering opportunities and volunteers staying for shorter times. We have continued to see high volumes of demand for our services which we cannot meet with our traditional service offer. To address these issues, we need to work differently, both to ensure our long-term sustainability, and so we can reach more bereaved people.

During 2023/24 we started our strategy review through a series of Connecting Cruse events. These were a platform for volunteers and staff to talk together about the issues we need to resolve and the opportunities for change. Around 500 volunteers and staff talked about the strategic challenges we face and started to think about what our new strategy could include. We heard from around 1,800 people who had used Cruse services about their experiences and what they needed from us.

Our new strategy will set out a roadmap for Cruse, allowing us to build on the ‘one Cruse’ ambitions set out in Bereaved People First, and ensuring we continue to be there for bereaved people, so they are not alone in their grief.

Our new Royal Patron

We are delighted that Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Gloucester is the new Patron of Cruse Bereavement Support. The late Queen Elizabeth II was Cruse’s former Patron.

The Duchess of Gloucester is a full-time working member of the Royal Family. Her Royal Highness is the wife of the late Queen Elizabeth II’s cousin The Duke of Gloucester. Her Royal Highness takes great pride in the work she does for charities, as well as her duties in support of The King.

Supporting bereaved people

In our 2023 survey, people who used our services told us our support:

Cruse provides a wide range of support and information and runs a number of specialist funded projects. We are grateful for all the funding and support we received in the year.

Expert bereavement information

Access to information online is an increasingly key part of our impact and support for bereaved people. Our website was viewed by over 1.28 million users in 2023/24 demonstrating the importance of high quality information about bereavement and grief and the support that this can provide.

People accessed information to help understand and cope with their grief, to help others and to access further support from Cruse.

Information, shared stories and expert blogs about a wide range of types of bereavement and loss were viewed online. These included losing a partner, losing a parent, losing a child, anticipatory grief, supporting people with learning disabilities through grief, loss of a loved one to suicide, losing a sibling, and traumatic grief. We received funding to help us develop our information for bereaved people and for communities supporting bereaved people.

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6 Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

Cruse National Helpline

Our Helpline answered over 32,000 calls and emails in 2023/24. Demand for this service continues to rise and we are unable to answer all the calls we receive. We reviewed and changed the way we deliver the service to reduce the cost and enable us to be more efficient in answering calls and emails. We want to make it easier to contact Cruse for support.

I really valued the helpline in the early days after the loss of my husband when I felt very low. The support was excellent, and in all honesty, I don’t know how I would have managed without it.

One-to-one Bereavement Support

Our trained bereavement volunteers

supported over 28,000 adults, young people, children and families virtually, by telephone and in person.

Cruse Bereavement Groups

Over 3,000 people were supported through a Cruse Bereavement Group in 2023/24. Our Understanding Your Bereavement sessions are delivered online and locally by trained volunteers. We also secured funding to review and improve our Understanding Your Bereavement group support with a focus on coproduction with bereaved people. This project started in March 2024 and will provide learning to help us refine and grow tailored delivery to groups of bereaved people.

The volunteers did an excellent job of providing patience and support and it was lovely to meet other people who were in the same position as myself, knowing that I was not alone.

Our training and consultancy

We continued to lead on providing bereavement and grief awareness training for organisations, groups and individuals. We developed and launched our new, accredited training course, Grief First Aid, which was well received and provides a level of in-depth training for organisations and individuals committed to developing their understanding of and support for bereaved people, including customers and employees.

I have attended a lot of sessions over the years that are designed to help you in your role but I can honestly say this was one of the most relatable sessions I’ve been on.

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Our profile, reach and influence

Social media continued to be an important way for us to reach bereaved people, and volunteers helped our small staff team to respond to our posts. Our profile and media reach were lower than planned due to changes in the Marketing and Communications team as we focused on key organisational priorities. We achieved over 100,000 social media engagement interactions and 1,232 press mentions in 2023/24. Highlights included social media highlighting our Ambassador Chigs Parmar’s Kilimanjaro climb and the podcast that our Clinical Director took part in with singer Will Young, talking about grief and bereavement services.

We continue to engage actively in the bereavement sector working with partners through the National Bereavement Alliance. We were involved in the review of the national commissioning standards for bereavement and contributed to the development of the bereavement election manifesto. We set up a new Clinical Advisory Group to broaden the clinical insight we use to inform our service development.

Building One Cruse

Volunteers are central to all that we do at Cruse. In 2023/2024 Cruse’s services were delivered by 3,572 volunteers working across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In 2023/24 we reviewed and developed our approach to volunteering at Cruse. In common with many other charities, we have seen a reduction in volunteer numbers since the pandemic.

We brought together our volunteer recruitment, engagement and support in a central team and launched a new approach to volunteer recruitment and training, to reduce costs and improve quality. We strengthened our approach to volunteer management including rolling out a new volunteer agreement to ensure that all volunteers and staff have a clear understanding of roles and expectations.

Alongside this we increased our focus on volunteer engagement, launching new ways for volunteers to be involved in our work including a new Volunteer Experience Panel to hear volunteer insight and inform our volunteer development and engagement. We also developed a range of new volunteer roles to better utilise volunteer skills and expertise including volunteers to support our Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system development, our volunteer recruitment and training and we appointed a new lay member of the Audit and Finance Committee. We continued to deliver our programme of Continuous Professional Development throughout the year with attendance growing to an average of 350 for each session.

Our new services CRM was piloted from October 2022 and rolled out across Cruse services in 2023. The system is now used to support the delivery of Cruse one-to-one bereavement and group services for bereaved people and as part of our training, recruitment and engagement programme with volunteers. We also completed a review of our telephony infrastructure and started the rollout of a new system which will help us reduce costs and improve management information.

We reviewed a range of operational teams and functions during the year to reduce our operating costs and increase our effectiveness. Operational changes included reducing the size of our Senior Leadership Team, reducing our regional management structure, bringing our marketing, communications and income generation functions together.

We are continuing to review how we work to ensure we have the most effective model to support our delivery, and the IT and digital infrastructure to simplify our systems and processes.

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Financial review

2023/24 was a transitional year for Cruse. 2022/23 had been a challenging financial year. During the pandemic our income grew, and like many charities, as we emerged from the pandemic, the cost-of-living crisis impacted our income. We came out of 2022/23 with a plan to reduce our operating costs further, which we successfully implemented through 2023/24. This has allowed us to start 2024/25 from a sustainable position. Alongside this programme of cost reduction, we started looking forward to developing both a new strategy and a long-term change plan for Cruse, to ensure we continue to streamline our operations and enable us to react to the shifting external environment.

Gross income for the year was £6,401k (2023: £6,976k). Funding was impacted by the economic climate and the cost-of-living crisis. The reduction in our statutory income streams was also a reflection of the challenges facing public funded bodies. We did, however, mitigate some of this decrease from statutory sources by an increase in our donations and legacies. This reduced income came at a time when we continued to see increased demand for our services. We are planning new ways to support bereaved people to further mitigate this.

Income from central and devolved governments, local authorities, integrated care boards, local health boards, other statutory sources and funders directly supporting charitable activities decreased following cost pressures on local authorities and the National Health Service and successful conclusion of pilot projects. Income reduced by 15% to £4,011k in the year to 31 March 2024 (2023: £4,725k). This income ensures that we can provide local support across many regions of England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Our donated income increased by 14%. Donations of £2,031k (2023: £1,783k) included income from trusts, foundations, groups, individuals (including gift aid), and gifts in Wills. Income from trading activities, including the provision of training and consultancy, of £338k decreased from 2023 (£458k).

Our delivery costs decreased to £7,954k from £8,941k in the year to March 2024. The decrease in costs was mainly as a result of planned changes to reduce our cost base. These savings continued into the new financial year, and we are now continuing to improve the efficiency of our cost base. Actions included reducing our staff costs, simplifying our structure and lowering direct costs such as offices. Some of our planned changes, such as the new centralised approach to volunteer recruitment, mean we have been able to make further savings in 2024/25.

As part of our commitment to continue streamlining our service delivery, we also invested an additional £8k to enhance our CRM system.

We budgeted for a deficit of £716k for the year, which reflected both the expected fall in funding, the time required to achieve the planned cost base reductions and the need to spend down grant funding received in the previous year. The reported deficit of £1,553k (2023: deficit of £1,965k) was larger than budgeted; this was largely due to the challenges in securing public funding. Alongside this we successfully delivered a programme of cost base reductions ensuring that 2024/25 started from a sustainable position.

Looking forward, a key focus for 2024/25 includes continuing to refine our delivery model aligned to our new strategic priorities to achieve further cost base reductions. We also plan to increase our reserves and plan to sell Cruse property including our central office in London.

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24 9

Our funding

The funding and donations we receive are essential for us to provide support and information for bereaved people. We would like to thank all our funders and donors for their vital support including:

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 unrestricted reserves of three to six months’ expenditure.

At 31 March 2024 the Charity had unrestricted reserves of £873k (2023: £2,199k) which represents approximately 3 months’ (2023: 4 months’) prior year unrestricted expenditure.

In addition, the Charity holds £416k (2023: £644k) of restricted reserves which are itemised in Note 9.

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.

• National Lottery Community Fund – Empowering Young People 3 – Somewhere for Us, Northern Ireland

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.

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Governance

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.

voluntary organisations and with Government Departments to improve bereavement legislation and practice. We also provide external training in bereavement support to a wide variety of organisations and individuals.

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 re- assignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, sex or the circumstances in which they have suffered bereavement.

Charitable objects

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

Cruse does this through our expert bereavement information and websites, the national Cruse Helpline, group and one-toone bereavement services delivered by our nationwide network of trained bereavement volunteers, and through online and social media channels.

Cruse raises awareness of the needs of bereaved people by working with other

Our governance

Cruse is governed by a Board of Trustees who are also Directors of the company. All Trustees undergo a detailed induction programme as 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 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 three subcommittees:

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

Cruse also has a Volunteer Council which is the formally national recognised advisory body of volunteers. It consists of members from Wales, Northern Ireland, Regions across England and National Services. 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. Three Council members 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 Board met six times during the year. All Trustees give their time freely and no Trustee remuneration was paid in the year. The Trustees claimed £2,129 of expenses (2023: 1,045) in connection with Cruse’s business.

Rachel McIlroy served as Company Secretary until 3 October 2023. Karen Wilson served as Company Secretary from 14 December 2023.

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 2023/24 comprised:

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12 Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

fundraising in the year or buy or sell mailing lists. There was one complaint related to fundraising during the year to 31 March 2024 (2023: none).

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 work with Sterling Lotteries to raise funds through lottery using the Unity lottery. 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 did not undertake any telephone or doorstep

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 could better reflect the communities that we serve and we are addressing this is a priority.

Cruse EDI policy and strategy includes the following priorities:

  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 aim to anticipate and, where possible, manage risks

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24 13

rather than dealing with their unforeseen consequences.

The key risk review and reporting mechanisms are:

Trustees have identified five areas of specific risk during 2023/24 as summarised below.

aiming to increase and diversify our income alongside reducing our operating costs. Financial sustainability is overseen by our Audit and Finance Committee which regularly reports to the Board.

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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:

The Trustees and Directors report incorporating the Strategic Report was approved by the Board on 4 November 2024.

By Order of the Board

Dr Neil Churchill OBE Chair

Lei Wei Honorary Treasurer

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Independent auditor's report to the Members of Cruse Bereavement Support

Opinion

year ended 31 March 2024 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 King 

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)) 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 other ethi cal 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

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.

Other information

The other information comprises the information included in the annual report, other than the information contained within the annual report. Our opinion on t he 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.

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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 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:

Responsibilities of trustees

14, 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 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.

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a hi gh 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. 

Aspart of an audit in accordance with ISAs (UK) weexerciseprofessional judgement and maintain
professional scepticism throughout the audit. We also:

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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 t o 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:

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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 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 November 2024 Andrew Stickland (Senior Statutory Auditor) for and on behalf of Moore Kingston Smith LLP, Statutory Auditor 6[th ] Floor 9 Appold Street London EC2A 2AP

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Statement of Financial Activities

Incorporating an income and expenditure account for the year ending 31 March 2024

2024
2023
Unrestricted
Restricted
Total
Total
Note
funds
funds
funds
funds
£
£
£
£
Income
Donationsand legacies
2
1,177,095
853,509
2,030,604
1,782,952
Charitable activities
2
167,275
3,844,040
4,011,315
4,724,852
Trading activities
2
337,795
-
337,795
457,928
Investment income
2
9,776
-
9,776
3,077
Other income
2
11,735
-
11,735
7,148
Total income
2
1,703,676
4,697,549
6,401,225
6,975,957
Expenditure
Raising funds
1,511,689
-
1,511,689
1,390,779
Charitable expenditure
3
1,517,778
4,924,741
6,442,519
7,550,355
Total expenditure
3
3,029,467
4,924,741
7,954,208
8,941,134
Net (expenditure)/income
before transfers
(1,325,792)
(227,192) (1,552,983)
(1,965,177)
Movement between funds
9
-
-
-
-
Net (expenditure)/income after transfers
between funds
(1,325,792)
(227,192) (1,552,983)
(1,965,177)		 2024
2023
Unrestricted
Restricted
Total
Total
funds
funds
funds
funds
£
£
£
£
1,177,095
853,509
2,030,604
1,782,952
167,275
3,844,040
4,011,315
4,724,852
337,795
-
337,795
457,928
9,776
-
9,776
3,077
11,735
-
11,735
7,148
1,703,676
4,697,549
6,401,225
6,975,957
1,511,689
-
1,511,689
1,390,779
1,517,778
4,924,741
6,442,519
7,550,355
3,029,467
4,924,741
7,954,208
8,941,134
(1,325,792)
(227,192) (1,552,983)
(1,965,177)
-
-
-
-
Reconciliation of funds:
Total funds brought forward
9
Total funds carried forward
9		 2,198,916
643,559
2,842,475
4,807,652
873,124
416,367
1,289,491
2,842,475

The comparative statement of financial activity for the year ended 31 March 2023 can be found at note 11.

The notes on pages 22 to 36 form part of these financial statements.

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20 Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

Balance Sheet

as at 31 March 2024

Note 2024 2023
£ £ £ £
Fixed assets
Intangible assets 5 228,093 282,930
Tangible assets 6 989,371 901,245
1,217,464 1,184,175
Current assets
Debtors 7 530,881 858,298
Cash at bank and in hand 435,268 1,472,361
966,149 2,330,659
Creditors
Amounts falling due within
one year 8 (894,121) (672,359)
Net current assets 72,028 1,658,300
Net Assets 1,289,491 2,842,475
Reserves
Unrestricted funds 9 873,124 2,198,916
Restricted funds 9 416,367 643,559
Total funds 9 1,289,491 2,842,475

Approved by the Board on 4[th] November 2024 and signed on its behalf on 21[st] November 2024 by

Dr Neil Churchill, OBE Lei Wei Chair Honorary Treasurer

The notes on pages 22 to 36 form part of these financial statements.

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24 21

Cash flow statement
for the year to 31 March 2024
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 financialactivities)
Depreciationcharge
Amortisation
Interest received
Decreasein debtors
Increase/(decrease)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
Decreasein cash in the period
Cash balance at 31 March		 2024
£
(1,038,271)
9,776		 2023
£
(2,249,424)
3,077
(1,028,495)
(8,601)		 (2,246,347)
(120,191)
(8,601) (120,191)
(1,037,096)
2024
£
(1,552,983)
62,754
62,559
(9,776)
327,414
71,761		 (2,366,538)
2023
£
(1,965,177)
70,822
-
(3,077)
16,581
(368,573)
(1,038,271) (2,249,424)
2024
£
435,268		 2023
£
1,472,361
2024
£
1,472,361
(1,037,096)		 2023
£
3,838,899
(2,366,538)
435,265 1,472,361

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22 Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

Notes to the accounts for the year to 31 March 2024

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.

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24 23

Notes to the accounts for the year to 31 March 2024

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 cha ritable 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

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

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

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24 Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

Notes to the accounts for the year to 31 March 2024

Accounting policies (continued)

The 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 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 lia bility 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 effective- interest 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

estimates and assumptions about the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. The estimates and associ ated 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 .

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24 25

Notes to the accounts for the year to 31 March 2024

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 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.

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26 Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

Notes to the accounts for the year to 31 March 2024

Income

Income
2024 2023
Unrestricted Restricted Total Total
funds funds funds funds
£ £ £ £
Donations and legacies
Donations 894,910 810,625 1,705,535 1,584,905
Legacies 282,185 42,884 325,069 198,047
Total donations and legacies 1,177,095 853,509 2,030,604
 1,782,952
Income from charitable
activities
Local authorities - 505,323 505,323 505,591
Clinical commissioning groups
and
local health boards - 1,725,179 1,725,179 1,936,038
Government grants and
statutory funding - 1,313,538 1,313,538 1,636,227
Other income to directly support
charitable activities 167,275 300,000 467,275 646,996
Total income from charitable
activities		 167,275 3,844,040 4,011,315 4,724,852
Total income from fundraising
activities		 1,344,370 4,697,549 6,041,919 6,507,804
Income from trading activities
Fundraising projects 11,470 - 11,470 12,288
Income from training and
conferences 324,458 - 324,458 442,638
Sale of publications and
literature 1,867 - 1,867 3,002
Total income from trading
activities		 337,795 - 337,795 457,928
Investment income
Bank interest 9,776 - 9,776 3,077
Other income 11,735 - 11,735 7,148
Total income 1,703,676 4,697,549 6,401,225 6,975,957

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24 27

Notes to the accounts for the year to 31 March 2024

Expenditure

Charitable activity

Charitable activity
Bereavement support services
Policy
Support costs
Cost of raising funds
Charitable activities		 Employee
2024
2023
& volunteer
Delivery
Total
Total
costs
£
costs
£
£
£
4,367,667
1,823,308
6,190,974
7,317,917
176,190
75,355
251,545
232,438
4,543,854
1,898,663
6,442,519
7,550,355
Finance
HR, IT
£
CEO and
Governance
£
2024
Total
£
2023
Total
£
199,003
34,050
233,053
190,803
971,605
166,242
1,137,847
9
4
941,476
1,170,608
200,292
1,370,900 1,132,279
Finance
HR, IT
£
CEO and
Governance
£
2024
Total
£
2023
Total
£
199,003
34,050
233,053
190,803
971,605
166,242
1,137,847
9
4
941,476
1,170,608
200,292
1,370,900 1,132,279

Net expenditure

Net expenditure for the year is stated after charging:

Auditor's fees -2022/23
Auditor's fees -2023/24
Depreciationand amortization
Operating lease rentals
Property
Office equipment and motor vehicles
Trustee expenses		 2024
£
2023
£
17,723
18,000
30,000
-
125,312
46,749
86,770
102,398
390
492
2,302
1,045
262,497
168,684

In the year ended 31 March 2024, four trustees (2023: four trustees) were paid travel expenses totalling £2,129 (2023: £1,045).

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28 Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

Notes to the accounts for the year to 31 March 2024

Staff costs
2024 2023
£ £
Salaries and wages 4,846,073 5,433,188
National Insurance costs 430,203 512,117
Pensions costs 163,254 184,280
Redundancy costs 27,413 25,232
5,466,943 6,154,817
The average head count of employees during the year was 170 (2023:229)
The average full time equivalent number of staff by function:
2024 2023
no. no.
Central services 22 41
Helpline 14 14
Raising funds 16 21
Local bereavement support services 78 100
130 175
The number of higher paid employees was
2024 2023
no.
 no.
£60,001 - £70,000
 1
 1
£70,001 -£80,000
 -
 1
£80,001- £90,000
 -
 -
£90,001 - £100,000
 1 -
£100,001 - £110,000
 -
 1

Total key management personnel costs for the year were £428,100 (2023: £449,869). Details of key Key management personnel do not receive benefits not available to all employees.

No director (or trustee) received any remuneration during the year (2023: £nil).

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24 29

Notes to the accounts for the year to 31 March 2024

Intangible assets

Cost
As at 1 April 2023
Additions
As at 31 March 2024
Amortisation
As at 1 April 2023
Charges for the year
As at 31 March 2024
Net book value
As at 1 April 2023
As at 31 March 2024		 Total
Total
2024
2023
£
£
307,003
240,730
7,722
66,273
314,725
307,003
24,073
-
62,559
24,073
86,632
24,073
282,930
240,730
228,093
282,930

The software intangible asset is the cost of developing a new CRM system. The system went live in October 2022. Accordingly, depreciation was charged for the first time during the previous financial year. The cost of the system is amortised across the life of the asset in accordance with accounting policies.

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30 Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

Notes to the accounts for the year to 31 March 2024

Tangible assets

Leasehold Leasehold Freehold Office Office 2024 2023
Property property furniture equipment Total Total
£ £ £ £ £ £
Cost
As at 1 April 2023 632,000230,000 82,674 354,258 1,298,932 1,245,014
Additions 150,000 - - 880 150,880 53,918
Disposals - - (68,124) (144,209) (212,333) -
As at 31 March 2024 782,000 230,000 14,550 210,929 1,237,479 1,298,932
Depreciation
As at 1 April 2023 65,496 27,600 76,432 228,159 397,687 350,938
Charges for the year 7,584 2,760 1,455 50,955 62,754 46,749
Disposals - - (68,124) (144,209) (212,333) -
As at 31 March 2024 73,080 30,360 9,763 134,905 248,108 397,687
Net book value
As at 31 March 2023 566,504 202,400 6,242 126,099 901,245 894,076
As at 31 March 2024 708,920 199,640 4,787 76,024 989,371 901,245

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 £533,074 (2023: £541,223) for leasehold property and £157,508 (2023: £160,304) for freehold property.

A legal charge over the leasehold property has been given to Barclays Bank PLC as security for an overdraft facility of £180,000.

Debtors - due within one year

Debtors - due within one year
Trade debtors
Other debtors
Prepayments
Accrued income		 2024
£
248,170
-
29,595
253,116
530,881		 2023
£
324,035
-
19,747
514,516
858,298

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24 31

Notes to the accounts for the year to 31 March 2024

8. Creditors due within one year

2024
£
Trade creditors
147,789
Other creditors
6,255
Taxation and social security
105,950
Accruals
499,086
Deferredincome
135,041
894,121
Movement in deferred income:
2024
£
Deferredincome at 1 April 2023
274,837
Deferredin the year
135,041
Released in the year
(274,837)
Deferredincome at 31 March 2024
135,041
9. Reserves
As at
1 April
2023
Income Expenditure
Transfer
between
funds
£
£
£
£
Unrestricted funds
General fund
2,129,362 1,703,676
(3,029,468)
69,555
Revaluation reserve
69,555
-
-
(69,555)
Total unrestricted
funds
2,198,917 1,703,676
(3,029,468)
-		 2024
£
Trade creditors
147,789
Other creditors
6,255
Taxation and social security
105,950
Accruals
499,086
Deferredincome
135,041
894,121
Movement in deferred income:
2024
£
Deferredincome at 1 April 2023
274,837
Deferredin the year
135,041
Released in the year
(274,837)
Deferredincome at 31 March 2024
135,041
9. Reserves
As at
1 April
2023
Income Expenditure
Transfer
between
funds
£
£
£
£
Unrestricted funds
General fund
2,129,362 1,703,676
(3,029,468)
69,555
Revaluation reserve
69,555
-
-
(69,555)
Total unrestricted
funds
2,198,917 1,703,676
(3,029,468)
-		 2023
£
157,416
7,224
90,066
142,816
274,837
672,359
2023
£
470,311
274,837
(470,311)
274,837
As at 31
March
2024
£
873,124
-
2,198,917 1,703,676
(3,029,468)
-		 873,124 
The Revaluation Fund was reduced to zero during the year as all assets are held at cost.

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32 Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

Notes to the accounts for the year to 31 March 2024

Reserves (continued)
As at
Income		 Expenditure Transfer As at 31
1 April between March
2023 funds 2024
£ £ £ £ £
Total Unrestricted
funds 2,198,917 1,703,676 (3,029,468) - 873,124
Restricted Funds
Cooperative Group:
Connecting
Communities 184,883 250,000 (193,905) -
National Lottery
Community Fund -
RC England Wide - 7,987 (7,987) - -
Institute of Cemetery &
Crematorium
Management(ICCM) - 185,000 (185,000) - -
Awards for All - 629,273 (629,273) - -
Armed Forces
Covenant Fund -
Together in Force 7,262 7,495 (14,757) - -
Supporting Men in
Grief - Severn Trent - 7,299 (7,299) - -
Home Office Ministry
of Justice - Grief Inside 6,163 - (6,163) - -
London & South East 14,894 543,891 (588,785) - -
Children & Young
People 32,364 24,857 (57,221) - -
South West 9,794 244,109 (252,903) - -
Northern Ireland 187,656 508,622 (520,889) - 175,389
Midlands 1,000 587,891 (588,891) - -
Norfolk 2,205 - (2,205) - -
North East - 653,363 (653,363) - -
Restricted to local
branches 186,790 244,142 (430,932) - -
Wales 11,545 753,621 (765,166) - -
Training Courses - 50,000 (50,000) - -
Total restricted funds 643,556 4,697,549 (4,924,738) - 416,367
Total funds 2,842,473 6,401,225 (7,954,206) - 1,289,491
Analysis of net assets by
fund		 Unrestricted
funds £		 Restricted
funds £		 2024
Total
funds £		 2023
Total funds
£
Intangible fixed assets 228,093 - 228,093 282,930
Tangible fixed assets 945,971 43,400 989,371 901,245
Current assets 593,181 372,967 966,148 2,330,659
Current liabilities (894,121) - (894,121) (672,359)
873,124 416,367 1,289,491 2,842,475

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24 33

Notes to the accounts for the year to 31 March 2024

Operating lease commitments

Operating leases which expire:

Within one year
Between two and five years		 Property
Office Equipment & Motor
Vehicles
2024
£
2023
£
2024
£
2023
£
38,812
70,175
-
492

11,785
43,694
-
316
50,597
113,869
-
808

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34 Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

Notes to the accounts for the year to 31 March 2024

Statement of financial activities for the year ended 31 March 2023

Income
Donationsand legacies
Charitable activities
Trading activities
Investment income
Other income
Total income
Expenditure
Raising funds
Charitable expenditure
Total expenditure
Net (expenditure)/income before transfers
Movement between funds
Net (expenditure)/income after transfers between
funds
Reconciliation of funds:
Total funds brought forward
Total funds carried forward		 Unrestricted
Restricted
2023
Total
funds
funds
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

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24 35

Notes to the accounts for the year to 31 March 2024

Movement in reserves for the year ended 31 March 2023

Unrestricted funds
General fund
Revaluation reserve
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 & 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		 As at
1 April
2022
£
Income
£
Expenditure
£
Transfer
between
funds
£
As at
31-Mar
2023
£
3,901,178 4,618,617
(6,390,435)
-
2,129,361
69,555
-
-
-
69,555
3,970,733 3,970,733
(6,390,435)
-
2,198,916
222,540
250,000
(287,657)
-
184,883
-
168,000
(168,000)
-
-
-
-
483,072
(483,072)
-
-
12,000
97,400
(102,138)
-
7,262
-
8,722
(8,722)
-
-
57,636
-
(51,473)
-
6,163
44,390
84,028
(113,524)
-
14,894
31,157
75,840
(74,630)
-
32,367
5,000
59,923
(56,128)
-
8,795
116,590
304,069
(233,003)
-
187,656
-
26,556
(25,556)
-
1,000
-
29,589
(27,384)
-
2,205
94,210
215,531
(309,741)
-
-
-
50,654
(50,654)
-
-
216,850
-
(30,061)
-
186,789
25,000
35,000
(60,000)
-
-
11,545
418,955
(418,955)
-
11,545
-
50,000
(50,000)
-
-
836,918 2,357,339
(2,550,698)
-
643,559
4,807,651 6,975,956
(8,941,133)
2,842,475

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36 Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

Notes to the accounts for the year to 31 March 2024

12. Movement in reserves for the year ended 31 March 2023 (continued)

Analysis of net assets by fund 2023
Unrestricted Restricted Total
funds funds funds
£ £ £
Intangible fixed assets 282,930 - 282,930
Tangible fixed assets 851,245 50,000 901,245
Current assets 1,737,100 593,559 2,330,659
Current liabilities (672,359) - (672,359)
2,198,916 643,559 2,842,475

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24 37

Legal and administrative details

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38 Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

Thank you

We would like to say a massive thank you to all of our volunteers, funders and supporters for making our work possible throughout the year.

Our volunteers

Thank you to all our volunteers who gave their time to support bereaved people. Over 3,500 volunteers supported in a range of ways including answering helpline calls, supporting through understanding your bereavement sessions, providing one-to-one support and group support, taking part in advisory panels, sharing information through social media, and through fundraising. Thank you for your kindness and dedication.

Remembering Colin Murray-Parkes

We remember Colin MurrayParkes (1928 – 2024), a lifelong president of Cruse who worked tirelessly throughout his long career to support those grieving. Colin taught us that grief is “the price we pay for love”. Thank you for your enduring legacy.

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Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24 39

Our supporters, funders and donors

Funding towards all areas of work at Cruse enables us to continue to provide vital support and information for bereaved people across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, so they are not alone in their grief.

We would like to thank all our funders who provided essential support for bereaved people and gave to specific projects. Your support is vital.

Thank you to all our supporters who gave towards our work wherever the need is greatest and to our work locally. This included people giving back to Cruse who had received support previously, and people across local communities who understood the challenges faced by people grieving and the difference support can make.

We are grateful to everyone who took part in fundraising events and challenges and came up with imaginative ways to raise money. A huge thanks to our donors and volunteer fundraisers who have jumped out of planes, ran and walked miles, baked cakes and held quizzes.

Thank you to all our funders and donors for your life-changing support.

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40 Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

We help people through one of the most painful times in life – with bereavement support, information and campaigning. You’re not alone

Cruse Bereavement Support PO Box 800, Richmond, Surrey TW9 1RG Call: 0808 808 1677 Email: info@cruse.org.uk www.cruse.org.uk

Registered Charity No. 208078 A Company Limited by Guarantee No. 638709 Registered office: Unit 0.1, One Victoria Villas, Richmond, TW9 2GW