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2021-03-31-accounts

TOGETHER FOR MENTAL WELLBEING - ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2020-21

TOGETHER FOR MENTAL WELLBEING ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2020-21

Together for Mental Wellbeing 52 Walnut Tree Walk London SE11 6DN Tel: 020 7780 7300 www.together-uk.org

Charity Registration number: 211091 Company Registration number: 463505

CONTENTS

LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION INTRODUCTION FROM THE CHAIR 2 - 3 CHIEF EXECUTIVE’S REPORT 4 - 6 TRUSTEES’ REPORT (INCORPORATING STRATEGIC REPORT) 7 - 36 INDEPENDENT AUDITORS’ REPORT 37 - 40 CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES 41 CONSOLIDATED AND CHARITY BALANCE SHEET 42 CONSOLIDATED CASH FLOW STATEMENT 43 - 44 NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS 45 - 64

TOGETHER FOR MENTAL WELLBEING - ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2020-21

LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

Charity name Together for Mental Wellbeing Registered name Together for Mental Wellbeing Charity registration number 211091 Company registration number 463505

Registered office

52 Walnut Tree Walk, London, SE11 6DN Tel 020 7780 7300 Email contact-us@together-uk.org Website www.together-uk.org

TRUSTEES INFORMATION

Carol Cole John Banks Louise Bushby Angus Cameron Judy Clements JoAnne Cutting Deirdre Evans Lisa Goodwin Ian Jones (appointed 27/05/2020) Sarah Morton (appointed 27/05/2020) Donald Mungall Kathie Pearce (appointed 27/05/2020) David Shakespeare Ben Thomas

Chair Honorary Treasurer

OUTGOING TRUSTEES

Kim Radford (resigned 16 April 2021)

COMPANY SECRETARY - Linda Bryant

BOARD SECRETARY - Diane Swanton

SENIOR LEADERSHIP TEAM

Linda Bryant Chief Executive Dee Anand Chief Operating Officer Liam Cole Director of People & Organisational Development Ian Hill Director of Resources – Company Secretary (Resigned 12 March 2021 – Recruitment of replacement underway)

AUDITORS - BDO LLP, 55 Baker Street, London, W1U 7EU

BANKERS - NatWest Group, 250 Bishopsgate, London, EC2M 4AA

SOLICITORS - Trowers and Hamlins LLP, 3 Bunhill Row, London EC1Y 8YZ

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INTRODUCTION FROM THE CHAIR

I am pleased to present our Annual Report and Accounts for 2020-21 which provide a full summary of the year’s activity.

Over the last year, Together’s most significant achievement has been to continue to deliver high-quality mental health and support services to our service users in the face of the exceptional challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

As part of the business continuity work led by Linda Bryant, our CEO, and the senior leadership team, Together’s services strategy was re-set so as to clearly define a three-step approach for establishing full operational practices which aligned with government guidance and took into consideration localised restrictions. Comprehensive updates on the management of the impact of COVID-19 on the organisation were received regularly by the Board of Trustees, to ensure that appropriate oversight was given to critical areas such as risk management, safeguarding and monitoring the wellbeing of staff, volunteers and service users.

Three national lockdowns have inevitably taken their toll on people who experience mental distress. We continue to be mindful of the lasting impact which COVID-19 is likely to have on the health and social care environment in which Together operates. There have been significant increases in demand for mental health services and in the complexity of referrals to such services. Mental health issues are likely to be exacerbated by the wider socio-economic impacts of lockdown including unemployment, housing issues and social isolation.

A Board strategy day, held in February 2021, focused on our long-term organisational growth and development in the context of a volatile external environment. These strategic discussions have been facilitated by a strengthened focus on horizon-scanning and future-proofing, ensuring we look upwards and outwards into the environment in which we operate, as well as inwards and downwards into the organisation and how it is faring. Whilst being cognisant of the challenges around much that we do, there are also opportunities, such as the potential for future partnerships and collaborations with other organisations, all in service of achieving our ambition for society: that everyone who experiences mental distress is valued, can live the life they choose and determine their own future.

Despite the obvious challenges of the last year, we have continued to embed high-quality governance practices, through finalising a Board Assurance Framework and implementing an updated format for performance reporting which includes key performance indicators reported to the Board and its subcommittees. In line with Charity Governance Code recommendations, we also conducted a Board development review to enable the Board to reflect on its own performance.

Robust governance practices such as this enable us to provide assurance and accountability on how decisions are made and enable the charity to meet its charitable objects as effectively as possible within the resources available.

Together has also re-affirmed our commitment to non-discriminatory practices and standing up against racism, in the wake of the spotlight being shone on systemic racism by the Black Lives Matter movement. Our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion policy was reviewed and refreshed in March 2021, with work continuing apace on an organisational strategy and measures to underpin this. We are committed to improving by listening and learning, and that is how we aim to continuously improve.

I would like to pay tribute to the level of effort and commitment demonstrated by staff and volunteers in managing the impact of COVID-19. Without the heroic work of our frontline staff, there would be no services possible for our beneficiaries. The leadership of our CEO and the senior leadership team has been instrumental in ensuring that organisational priorities have been progressed, whilst also continuing to work in line with Together’s values in a spirit of collaboration and integrity.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all of our trustees for their energy and dedication in governing the organisation through the crisis of COVID-19.

In April 2021, Kim Radford stepped down from the Board, and I wish to acknowledge her contribution to the

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work of Together.

I also wish to acknowledge the level of work which has been undertaken for our audit this year (carried out by BDO LLP) by our finance department. I would particularly like to thank Majid Rafiq, Head of Financial Accounting, for his hard work and diligence.

Dr. Carol Cole

Chair of the Board of Trustees

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CHIEF EXECUTIVE’S REPORT

It was beyond many to predict that the first national lockdown reported in last year’s annual report would be superseded by two further lockdowns and that at the time of writing in June 2021, we would all still be grappling with the impact of COVID-19 on every aspect of our work and lives.

Within days of the government announcing the restrictions on UK society in March 2020, we had in place our own organisational strategy ‘Resetting our Services – a strategy for Together for Mental Wellbeing moving out of lockdown’. The aim of the strategy was to enable staff to be supported and empowered to make the key decisions at the right time to meet the ongoing health and wellbeing needs of service users, for the safe delivery of services and to meet our contractual obligations. Little did we know that the strategy would shape our decision-making for many months to come, requiring constant review by the leadership team along with ongoing business continuity planning at corporate and local delivery levels. With the support of the Board of Trustees, we prepared ourselves as rigorously and robustly for what is an unprecedented time in world history.

Looking back over the last year, and it still remains the case, the proudest achievement has been the fierce determination, resilience, care and compassion shown day in and day out by everyone working at Together – whether on the frontline or in our central support services.

Frontline services had to adapt, innovate and find creative ways of continuing support to service users through remote means as much face-to-face service delivery was suspended. Staff in our accommodation services, our Norfolk provision and criminal justice services continued providing in person support whilst managing significant uncertainty and anxieties for themselves, their families and housemates.

We were hugely fortunate that in 2018 we had moved to our new national office in North Lambeth. As part of the transition all central support services’ staff were equipped with mobile phones, laptops and remote VPN access and a culture of more flexible working was introduced. When we suddenly found ourselves working from home at the request of the government, it was a relatively seamless process to ensure the continued smooth running of the organisation providing the optimal level of support to our frontline services.

Whilst there were many challenges and novel dilemmas in relation to the pandemic, we also had many highlights.

It was a real lift to receive the news from the White Cube gallery that Together had been chosen as one of three charities to benefit from the sale of a limited edition artwork by Antony Gormley called ‘Together’ (2020). The charities were identified as supporting people to manage the physical, financial and emotional consequences of the lockdown. Antony Gormley’s remarkable drawings expressed the physical and spiritual experiences of what it is like to be a human being in the world, with fear and loneliness as well as joy and sharing.

Another surprise was the very generous donation to the charity of an antique desk that had been given to our founder, the Reverend Henry Hawkins on his retirement as chaplain from Colney Hatch asylum. The logistics of transporting the desk to our national office in the middle of a pandemic was made somewhat more complex given it was in situ in a house in America. However, it made it across the waters and is awaiting an unveiling at a time to be determined by COVID-19. Our history is important to us as much of the pioneering and progressive work by the Rev Hawkins of delivering support in the community lives on in the modern day life of the charity.

A key service highlight was the development of the Together Wellbeing Pathway which is part of our Criminal Justice provision in London working with the National Probation Service and NHS Trusts as part of the Offender Personality Disorder Pathway within probation. The support focuses on relational and engagement for people and aims to mentor and motivate them towards engaging with different services that can support their needs.

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The incredible achievement by the staff team was that the service, based on building trusting and compassionate relationships with people who have experienced trauma and significant disadvantage throughout their lives, was set up four days after the first national lockdown started. Thinking creatively and swiftly, the support model had to be adapted and moved online. It has been a huge testament to all of the team involved that the service has been successfully operating throughout the year, going from strength to strength.

Together’s Strategy

The priority areas of work over the year were naturally directed by our response to the pandemic but we did that from a position of strength - from the firm foundation of our five year strategy and with particular resonance around our positive stakeholder and partner relationships and the opportunities for continuing to develop a strong brand and reputation.

We continued our focus on reinforcing our values and embedding our strategic priorities within our culture and progressing change programmes to secure our financial security for a sustainable future. These programmes included:

VCSE / Health & Social Care Sector

Over the last year, there was a considerable focus on the health and social care sector and its ability and capacity to respond to COVID-19 as well as important questions about the integrity and sustainability of VCSE organisations across the board. Through networks and forum, Together has been part of informing and influencing ongoing dialogue and discussion at a national level as well as assessing the potential opportunities and challenges the current situation brings for our charity.

We also joined a coalition and collaboration of senior leaders across the VCSE to support a coordinated national approach to mitigate the damage that COVID-19 inflicts on the nation’s mental health. The call was for government to work in true partnership with the mental health voluntary sector and its partners to shape a New Social Contract for Better Mental Health that minimises harm, reduces health inequalities and enables the UK to rebound positively from this crisis.

Unsurprisingly, there was also a renewed interest and vigour in the space of digital mental health over the last year with the advent of the pandemic. Together joined a digital mental health forum convened by the Mental Health Network of the NHS Confederation as well as joining the debate and discussion with respect to people’s access to ICT, ‘digital exclusion’, as many people more severely impacted by mental distress also face social justice issues such as low incomes.

Mental health in the workplace

We are in the business of people supporting people which is emotionally and psychologically challenging for our staff. Ensuring the wellbeing of our workforce is a priority for Together, which has been further amplified by the impact of the pandemic. Over the last year we have started to strengthen our wellbeing commitment to our workforce with the aim to create the environments in which our practices and ways of working are framed around ensuring good mental wellbeing and which are supportive and nurturing of individuals experiencing mental distress.

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Together’s commitment to anti-racism

Following the global watershed of protest that followed the death of George Floyd in America and leadership by the Black Lives Matter movement, we posted our commitment to anti-racism on our website. https://www.together-uk.org/togethers-commitment-to-anti-racism/. The CEO introduced bi-monthly meetings with Black staff and staff from Ethnic Minorities in order to better understand the experiences of staff working within the charity and to consider the areas of improvement that must be made to ensure that we deliver on our commitment towards racial equality.

We continue to work on our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion strategy and plan, directed by our People Strategy that ‘we must mobilise the diversity of our workforce to create an inclusive, kind, caring and creative workplace’ and driven by our values.

Governance

We have also continued to strive to deliver our governance to best practice standards supported by the role of Board Secretary, which was introduced last year.

Of particular importance was the contributions made by two of our trustees with lived experience of mental distress to a project being facilitated by the Centre for Charity Effectiveness at Cass Business School. The aim is to publish guidance to encourage greater diversity on boards and to bring the lived experience voice to strategic decision-making.

I end with where I started. The road has been bumpy over this last year, but I have never felt more proud of this organisation and the spirit and the resilience of our workforce and service users. And why?

I have also never felt more proud of being part of the voluntary sector, a sector I have worked within for nearly 30 years - at the height of the chaos and disruption caused by COVID-19, VCSE organisations up and down the country were stepping firmly towards people in need and in distress. We have also been coming together like never before to strengthen our networks and influence in numbers with our eyes firmly on ensuring we deliver the best support and care to our current and future beneficiaries.

Linda Bryant Chief Executive

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TRUSTEES’ REPORT (INCORPORATING STRATEGIC REPORT)

The Board of Trustees of Together for Mental Wellbeing presents its annual report and accounts for the year ended 31 March 2021. These comply with the Companies Act 2006 and Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP) applicable to Charities preparing their accounts in accordance with FRS 102.

CHARITABLE DETAILS AND OBJECTIVES

Together for Mental Wellbeing (‘Together’) is a national charity working alongside people with mental health issues on their journey to leading fulfilling and independent lives. It currently operates throughout England.

Together was founded in 1879 and has been incorporated since 1949 as a company limited by guarantee. The organisation is registered in England under the company number 463505 and is also a registered charity with the number 211091 operating under the Companies Act 2006 and the Charities Act 2011. Revised Articles of Association, which were adopted in October 2018, govern it and the Trustees are also directors of the company.

The charity's objectives are specific with the primary aim to promote and assist in the relief of persons suffering, or at risk of suffering from mental ill-health of any description or in need of rehabilitation as a result of such a condition. In particular the organisation seeks to achieve that through:

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In the section ‘Activities and Achievements’ (page 25), we set out how we have specifically delivered on our charitable objects and strategy during the current year.

GOVERNANCE STUCTURE AND MANAGEMENT

The Board of Trustees (‘the Board’) is responsible for the overall governance of Together, ensuring it is effectively and properly run, and is meeting its overall purposes as set out in its Articles of Association. The governance of the charity is aligned with good governance practice as set out in the Charity Governance Code. The Board meets at least four times each year, and sets objectives for itself in that first quarter. Four Board meetings were held during 2020-21, along with a separate Board strategy day that was held in February 2021 to focus on strategic alignment and organisational sustainability. All of those meetings were held virtually, due to the exceptional circumstances posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Board is responsible for setting an appropriate strategy for the charity, and for ensuring relevant performance measures are in place. In May 2019, the Board approved Together’s five-year strategy which outlined aspirations to reach out to more service users, grow the accommodation services, increase income via partnerships, and communicate more effectively with all stakeholders.

During 2020-21, the Board received quarterly organisational performance reports and agreed a set of key performance indicators to measure performance in particular areas. The Board also initially received weekly reports from the CEO on the management of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the organisation which moved to fortnightly and then monthly over the year. The CEO also provided a more detailed update at each of the quarterly board meetings during the year. At the beginning of April, trustees received a copy of the organisation’s Business Continuity Plan specifically relating to the pandemic, as developed by the Senior Leadership Team (the ‘SLT’), the risk assessment of which was regularly monitored by the executive throughout the year. In June, in response to government guidance, the SLT implemented an organisational strategy that would support decision-making through the national lockdown. That strategy was called ‘Resetting our services: a strategy for Together for Mental Wellbeing moving out of lockdown’. The document was subject to review prior to implementation by the Chair of the Quality & Safety Committee. Trustees were introduced to the strategy through a report by the CEO and were provided with a copy.

During the summer of 2020, the Board completed a development review on its performance, by gathering feedback from trustees, the CEO and Senior Leadership Team in order to identify areas for improvement and further development. A summary of the results was discussed by the Board, with areas for improvement being progressed and subsumed into the Board’s objectives for 2021-22.

The Board has delegated consideration of specific issues to five sub-committees, who will make recommendations back to them in accordance with the agreed terms of reference and matters reserved for the Board. Each sub-committee meets quarterly to report back with the exception of the Nominations, Remuneration and Governance (the ‘NRG’) Committee, which meets at least once a year with additional meetings scheduled as necessary.

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The terms of reference for each sub-committee were reviewed, and updates were approved by the Board in March 2021. The Board also reviewed and approved the Board’s terms of reference, and matters reserved to the Board, in March 2021.

The Trustees delegate the day-to-day management of the organisation to the Chief Executive, with a Scheme of Delegation in place, which is subject to annual review and approval by the Board (last reviewed and approved by the Board in June 2021). The Chief Executive reports directly to the Chair of the Board of Trustees, and is supported by a group of directors who constitute the Senior Leadership Team:

STATEMENT OF PUBLIC BENEFIT

The Trustees confirm that they have complied with the duty in section 17 of the Charities Act 2011 to have due regard to the public benefit guidance published by the Charity Commission in determining the activities undertaken by the charity.

RISK MANAGEMENT

The Board and Senior Leadership Team identify and review how Together is managing its risks in the pursuit of its strategic objectives. Oversight of the organisation’s risk management system is within the remit of the Audit and Risk Committee (ARC).

In order to ensure that the Board receives appropriate assurance pertaining to risks to the delivery of the charity’s strategic objectives, a Board Assurance Framework (BAF) was developed during 2019-20 which identified nine strategic risks :-

  1. Failure to deliver safe, quality assured and regulatory compliant services

  2. Failure to sufficiently diversify income portfolio and achieve cost optimisation, so as to operate sustainably and ensure financial viability

  3. Failure to ensure the efficacy and effectiveness of our corporate support services

  4. Failure to anticipate and respond to workforce requirements for an appropriately staffed, engaged and motivated workforce

  5. Failure to successfully identify and manage key external and internal stakeholder relationships

  6. Failure to maintain and enhance organisational brand and reputation by not operating according to stated values and commitment to service user leadership

  7. Failure to maintain and comply with robust charity governance arrangements in line with Charity Commission guidance and other regulatory requirements

  8. Failure to scan the horizon, anticipate and future-proof so that the charity’s purpose remains relevant

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  1. Failure to respond to the impact of a national or global catastrophe which affects the delivery of services and the functioning of the organisation

The BAF provides the Board with a clear view of the charity’s strategic risks, including the management and mitigation of these risks, with consideration of the integrity of service user leadership also being assessed for each risk. This was finalised during 2020-21, and has now been embedded in the overall governance architecture of the charity. A new risk management policy was reviewed by the ARC and approved by the Board; in line with this, the BAF and corporate risk register are reviewed by the ARC quarterly, whilst the Board reviews the BAF bi-annually, with the corporate risk register coming to the Board once a year.

Internal audits on GDPR, contract monitoring, and budgetary controls and forecasting were completed by KPMG during 2020-21, with reports presented to the ARC for review and discussion.

An internal audit plan, setting out timings and scopes for future audits to be conducted, was reviewed and approved by the ARC in February 2021; the plan will be reviewed annually.

APPOINTMENT AND RECRUITMENT OF TRUSTEES

The number of Trustees on Together’s Board cannot be fewer than three or more than 18. The Board aims to retain an appropriate balance of skills, experience and backgrounds, given the diverse nature of the organisation’s work. Trustees are initially appointed to a term of office of three years’ duration, and may be reappointed by the Board for two subsequent three-year terms.

Kim Radford resigned from the Board on 16 April 2021.

In January 2020, a recruitment campaign was launched to enable the appointment of two trustees with lived experience of mental distress, so as to strengthen the voice of lived experience on the Board. Three suitable candidates were recommended to the Board for appointment; Ian Jones, Sarah Morton and Kathie Pearce were formally appointed to the Board on 27 May 2020.

A full induction is provided for all new Trustees, including meetings with senior staff, service visits, and access to formal documents relating to the governance of Together, along with relevant Charity Commission publications and other charity governance guidance. New Trustees are also directed to mandatory formal training courses on safeguarding, and equality and diversity. The induction process is kept under regular review. Trustees are updated on current good practice, formal guidance and training opportunities through regular mailings.

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Committee Membership as of 31 March 2021:

Workforce Finance,
Resources &
Investment		 Audit & Risk Nominations,
Remuneration &
Governance
David Shakespeare
(Committee Chair)		 John Banks
(Committee Chair)		 Deirdre Evans
(Committee Chair)		 Carol Cole
(Committee Chair)
Louise Bushby Angus Cameron Judy Clements Louise Bushby
Lisa Goodwin Carol Cole_(Ex_
officio)		 Ian Jones David Shakespeare
Carol Cole_(Ex_
officio)		 Ian Jones Donald Mungall
Donald Mungall Kathie Pearce

Attendance by Trustees at meetings of the Board and its sub-committees, 2020-21

The table below sets out the attendance of Trustees at meetings of the Board and its sub-committees during 2020-21[1] :

Trustee Board
(4
meetings)		 Quality &
Safety
(4
meetings)		 Finance,
Resources &
Investment
(4 meetings)		 Audit &
Risk
(4
meetings)		 Nominations,
Remuneration
& Governance
(3 meetings)		 Workforce
(4 meetings)
Carol Cole 4 3 2
John Banks 4 4
Louise Bushby 3 2 (2) 4
Angus
Cameron		 4 4 3
JudyClements 4 4
Jo Cutting 4 2 2(2)
Deirdre Evans 4 4
Lisa Goodwin 4 3 4
Ian Jones 4 2 (3) 2 (3)
Sarah Morton 4
Donald
Mungall		 4 4 4
Kathie Pearce 3 3 (3)
Kim Radford 0 0
David
Shakespeare		 4 3 4
Ben Thomas 3 3

1 This does not include reference to where Trustees may have observed meetings of other sub-committees, of which they do not hold membership. Where a Trustee was only a sub-committee member for part of the year, the number of meetings that they could have attended is shown in brackets.

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EMPLOYEES AND VOLUNTEERS

Together has over 491 employees across England.

Together is indebted to its network of over 134 volunteers, whose support continues to be so valuable to the success of our organisation and to the difference made to the lives of people experiencing mental distress.

Investors in People

Together is proud to be an Investors In People (IIP) employer and has been for over 10 years. The IIP is a standard that measures our performance in leading, supporting and managing staff. Through regular assessment and three-yearly accreditation, we are able to identify those areas where Together can continue to improve, so that we can be confident in our employment offer and management strategies.

We were successful in our reaccreditation at our last assessment, which took place in challenging circumstances and is an outstanding reflection on the way Together staff adapted and continued to provide the vital support that the people who use our services deserve. The feedback we received has contributed to organisational plans and the great deal of positive feedback we received from the IIP assessor recognised: our strong culture of continuous improvement across the organisation and sharing good practice within teams, and that our managers are highly supportive and care about people’s wellbeing, amongst other points.

EMPLOYEE INVOLVEMENT

Regular meetings are held with employees so that they are involved in and consulted on matters of concern, and can contribute to the running of the organisation. Together operates a Workforce Reps Council (WRC) where union and non-union staff representatives meet with management to discuss matters relating to staff working terms and conditions and on issues that will positively support employment within Together. Together has a statement on Equality and Diversity on the website, which outlines the approach to involvement in the workforce.

The re-formatted WRC is part of a new people strategy at Together in which the organisation has made a commitment to the workforce to help them to represent their views and ensure those are communicated to the senior leadership team. The aim is to make Together the best workplace it can be and to ensure any issues or innovations are responded to at a senior level. The WRC is made up of 8 people including an officer of UNISON. Only UNISON has the right to negotiate on such issues as salary, hours of working, and general terms and conditions. Together has signed a recognition agreement with UNISON.

COVID-19 AND THE IMPACT ON WORKFORCE AND VOLUNTEERS

Between 1st April 2020 to 31st March 2021, 102 incidents relating to COVID-19 involving service users were recorded (during the same period 9240 people were supported). Incidents would be categorised as a service user self-isolating, having suspected symptoms, having confirmed symptoms, breaching lockdown guidance and being subject to inappropriate discharge.

Sadly 8 deaths of service users were recorded during the pandemic. The majority of these deaths involved service users who were being supported through our Advocacy services and who were resident in care homes provided by other organisations and two service users that we supported in the community.

In the same period, 101 incidents involving staff and volunteers were recorded involving self-isolation, having suspected or confirmed symptoms out of a total number of around 600. All services remained operational and sufficient staff were available to run safe services at all times. Contact was maintained with all commissioners of services and agreed expectations were established as to the adjustments necessary to ensure the safe delivery of services for both service users and staff and volunteers. The health and wellbeing of the workforce and service users has been the priority for contingency planning. This has involved taking a risk-based approach to decision-making including risk management planning for all service users, additional health and wellbeing assessments for staff and volunteers, an additional support phone-line and working from home assessments for requisite staff.

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SECTION 172 STATEMENT

WORKING WITH OUR STAKEHOLDERS

Companies are required to include a statement of how directors have had regard to wider stakeholder needs when performing their duties in accordance with matters in section 172 (1) (a) – (f) of the Companies Act 2006. The duty of the trustee under this subsection of the Act is to act in the way they consider, in good faith, would be most likely to achieve the organisation’s charitable purposes and in doing so have regard (among other matters) to:

We fully acknowledge that in order to fulfil the purpose and vision for the charity and to meet our strategic ambitions for society we need to collaborate and engage effectively with a wide variety of stakeholders. We are cognisant of the fact that the decisions we make as a charity need to be transparent and have due consideration for the potential effects and impacts on those stakeholders in the short, medium and longterm.

The Board considers the following to be the key decisions and considerations it has made during the year to March 2021:

Significant event /
consideration / decision		 s172 matter
affected		 Action and impact
The Board appointed
three new trustees with
lived experience of
mental distress		 Service users, staff
and volunteers		 Following a recruitment campaign for
trustees with lived experience of mental
distress, three new trustees were appointed
to the Board in May 2020, so as to
strengthen the voice of lived experience on
the Board: Ian Jones, Sarah Morton, and
Kathie Pearce. All three also bring valuable
skills and experience in several areas which
are hugely relevant to our work, such as
housing, finance and legal expertise.
The Board approved
capital investment for
property development at
the Avalon service		 Service users, staff,
volunteers		 Avalon is a 24 hour recovery-
focused supported living service at Ashtead
in Surrey. In September 2020, the Board
approved capital investment to create two
further ensuite bedrooms to enhance our
reach and support offer to more service
users, an outdoor therapeutic area and
potential office space at the property.
The Board finalised and
implemented a Board
Assurance Framework
(BAF) to provide a clear
view of the charity’s
strategic risks, including
the management and
mitigation of these risks		 Service users, staff
and volunteers,
funders,
commissioners ,
partnering
organisations		 Development work on the BAF commenced
in 2019-20, and the framework was finalised
and embedded into the charity’s governance
architecture from September 2020. The
purpose of the BAF is to pull together
relevant data pertaining to risks to the
delivery of the charity’s strategic objectives,
including the management and mitigation of
these risks. In line with a new risk
management policy, the BAF is reviewed by
the Board on a bi-annual basis (and

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quarterly by the Audit and Risk Committee).
Each sub-committee of the Board also
reviews on a quarterly basis the strategic
risks for which they have oversight
The BAF assesses each strategic risk
against Together’s strategic objectives – to
clearly highlight which objectives the stated
risk would impact. Consideration of the
integrity of service user leadership is
included for each risk, given that it is
fundamental to how Together operates and
to its strategic direction.
The Board reviewed and
approved updated
policies on risk
management,
safeguarding, complaints,
accident and incident
reporting, health and
safety, and equality
diversity and inclusion.		 Service users, staff
and volunteers,
funders,
commissioners ,
partnering
organisations		 The Board assessed the policies which fall
under its remit for review and approval;
several of these policies were reviewed and
refreshed during 2020-21.
This provides assurance to the Board on
how these areas are being managed, and
also provides assurance to external
stakeholders on the safety and integrity of
Together’s operations.

ENGAGING WITH OUR STAKEHOLDERS

Whilst trustees have a duty to ensure decisions have due consideration for the impact on beneficiaries in the widest sense, the day-to-day management of Together’s stakeholders is delegated to the executive and wider staff team. During 2020-21, the CEO led a significant review of the organisation’s key stakeholders and their management. This included utilising an interest / influence matrix to map and determine approaches to effective engagement by the charity.

At Together, we consider stakeholders as internal or external, but we also bear in mind that in legal terms, stakeholders can be thought of in three categories. Firstly, there are constitutional stakeholders, meaning trustees of the Board with powers to amend the charity’s constitution, to change its name, to wind it up and to appoint and remove individuals to the board. There are also contractual stakeholders as individuals and organisations, such as staff, funders and service users with a formal relationship with Together. Finally, there are third party stakeholders, which is everyone else affected by Together including neighbours or the wider local community.

From the review, a comprehensive stakeholder management plan was developed which was presented to the Audit & Risk Committee in February 2021. The committee noted the importance and relevance of the plan to achieving the organisation’s strategic aims and recommended an ongoing bi-annual review of the plan by the committee.

The starting point of the plan is to illustrate the real situation with each stakeholder and to focus on relevant stakeholders who are important to our current and future efforts.

Consideration is then given to five key areas in their management to determine the engagement / management strategy for each stakeholder:-

1. How much interest does the stakeholder have in Together 2. How much influence does the stakeholder have on Together

3. What is important to the stakeholder

4. How could / do they contribute to Together

5. What risks do they present / represent

In terms of assessing the interest and influence of stakeholders, we define interest as the degree to which

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Together impacts / affects the stakeholder and influence as the power a stakeholder has to facilitate or impede the achievements and success of the charity and also the extent to which the stakeholder is able to persuade or coerce others into making decisions, and following a certain course of action.

The interest / influence matrix has helped us to map out stakeholders in relation to the work of Together and the degree of influence and level of interest of each stakeholder. With this information, it has become possible to develop a specific approach and strategy for the identified stakeholders within the context that it is not practical and not necessary to engage with all stakeholder groups with the same level of intensity all of the time.

In the following table, we set out a summary of the engagement approaches we have taken in the last year in response to the issues presented by our identified stakeholder groups.

Stakeholder group
and why they are
important to our
success		 Their issues How we engage Where to find further
information in this
report showing
impact of the
engagement
Users of our
services and their
families and friends		 Services that keep
them safe and
support their health
and wellbeing
Empowered to lead
their own care and
support
Supported to
develop their
insights, skills and
potential to lead
more independent
lives		 Feedback in our
services
Working alongside
service users to
develop their own
support and care
plans
Facilitating service
users to tell their
stories and what
matters to them
through a range of
different mediums,
including on the
Together website
and social media		 Together Strategy
2019-24 - Page 20
Activities and
achievements - Page
25
Our employees who
are skilled,
experienced and
competent and
experiencing high
levels of job
satisfaction are key
to delivering the best
outcomes for service
user		 Opportunities for
professional
development and
career progression
Fair and
transparent pay
and reward
structures
Opportunities for
colleagues to work
together across
services, to share
learning and good
practice
Empowered and
enabled to inform
and influence
planning at an
organisation level		 We have been
engaging more
closely with our
workforce over the
year not only in
terms of additional
support, supervision
and guidance due to
the pandemic but
through the
Workforce
Development
Programme
Perkbox was
introduced to staff as
part of our reward
strategy
Engagement is also
undertaken through
regular All Staff
emails, video
updates from the
CEO, ‘Ask SLT’
events and a
quarterly
organisation bulletin		 Chief Executive’s
Report
Workforce – Page 4
Employees and
Volunteers – Page 12

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A Workforce Reps
Council (WRC)
operates where
union and non-union
staff representatives
meet with
management to
discuss matters
relating to staff
working terms and
conditions and on
issues that will
positively support
employment within
Together. There has
been a focus over
the last year to
ensure its aims and
objectives are
promoted with all
staff.
Ongoing
engagement with the
Investors in People
Accreditation
process and
implementation of
the associated
action plan
Our volunteers who
help us to achieve
our vision for
Together through
their generous
contributions of
time, expertise and
knowledge		 Opportunities to
support people
from a lived
experience
perspective
Ability to inform and
influence the
organisation
Confident that they
will receive the right
level of support,
supervision and
training from the
organisation		 Recruitment of new
members to our
National Service
User Steering Group
(NSG), a group of
volunteers with lived
experience of mental
distress, meet
regularly to support
developments within
the organisation
Development of new
governance and
assurance
arrangements
including
strengthening the
induction of
volunteers and the
support and
supervision offered.		 Chief Executive’s
Report
Workforce – Page 4
Service User
Leadership – Page 25
Our funders and
commissioners who
enable us to meet
our vision purpose
as an organisation		 We deliver our
services to our
contractual
promises
We have robust
governance and
assurance
We provide high-
quality and safe
care		 We provide good
quality quantitative
and qualitative data
that supports
contract monitoring
We are continuously
learning from
incidents and events
to improve our
services		 Introduction from the
Chair – Page 2
Chief Executive’s
Report – Page 4
Governance Structure
and Management –
Page 8

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----- Start of picture text -----
 We demonstrate a  We have been in Activities and
capacity to be regular contact with achievements - Page
flexible and all our 25
adaptable in the commissioners and
way we deliver our funders during the
services pandemic to agree
expectations and to
ensure consistency
of support to service
users
Provider  Working to agreed  We have a clearly Together Strategy
organisations we contract articulated 2019-24 - Page 20
collaborate with and requirements and organisational
rely on to deliver our payment terms strategy Activities and
services  Shared  We undertake due achievements - Page
commitment to diligence to ensure 25
partnership working that we are
to keep our service collaborating with
users healthy and organisations who
safe share our values,
ethos and standards
Local communities  Everyone who  Working in Chief Executive’s
and wider society experiences mental collaboration with Report – Page 4
that enable us to distress is valued organisations and
fulfil our strategic  Everyone can live agencies across the Together Strategy
ambitions the life they choose health and social 2019-24 - Page 20
 Everyone can care sector to
determine their own influence policy and Activities and
future strategic decision- achievements - Page
making at a local 25
and national level
 Using our
communication
channels to promote
the voice of service
users and the issues
that are important to
them
----- End of picture text -----

GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS AND ENERGY CONSUMPTION

Previous Reporting Year 2019-20 Current Reporting Year 2020-21
Energy
Consumption		 kWh
kWh
km
km		 Gas
1,400,323
Electricity
536,157
Transport fuel
538,808
Rail
844,906
Total
3,320,194		 Gas
2,068,233
Electricity
500,045
Transport fuel
102,089
Rail
83,332
Total
2,753,700
Emissions
(tCO2e)		 (tco2e) Gas
257.5
Electricity
138.6
Transport fuel
92.3
Rail
31.2		 Gas
380.24
Electricity
129.26
Transport fuel
28.16
Rail
3.08
Total
519.6		 Total
540.74

The following steps have been taken in the past year to improve Together’s energy efficiency and reduce emissions:

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In addition to these, the following initiatives have been introduced to inform practices around travel for staff members:

At the end of the financial year in late March 2020, the COVID-19 ‘lockdown’ resulted in the requirement for Together staff to work in different ways, including the use of video and audio conferencing becoming the norm as travel (especially on public transport) was curtailed. Work is underway to examine how some of these changed ways of working can be institutionalised, meaning that an underlying reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from travel could be achieved on an ongoing basis. Similarly, a number of training courses which were previously delivered face to face, entailing associated travelling, can now been designed for online, remote delivery. We expect these changes to have an impact on the organisation’s emissions in 2021-22 and beyond.

Intensity ratio:

During 2020-21 the average number of employees, including part time workers was 491 (compared to 478 during 2019-20). Therefore, the carbon emissions were 1.101 tCOe per employee during 2020-21 (compared to 1.087 tCOe per employee during 2019-20).

The number of service users reached during 2020-21 was 9240 (compared to 9154 during 2019-20). Therefore the carbon emission is 0.059 tCOe per service user (compared to 0.057 tCOe per service user during 2019-20).

Methodology:

Methodology used in the report is based on HM Government Environmental Reporting Guidelines, 2020. All emission factors are taken from HM Government conversion factors 2020: condensed set.

Consumption data from gas and electricity was taken from validated and verified utility suppliers’ invoices. Consumption data from Transport fuel and Rail usage data was taken from Together’s internal software.

GOING CONCERN NOTE

The COVID-19 pandemic, which took hold at the end of March 2020, has had a significant impact on Together and in particular its ability to operate face-to-face support with our service users and to facilitate our staff to work remotely as required. However, the Trustees have identified no material uncertainties that may cast significant doubt about the ability of the charity to continue as a going concern and therefore these accounts have been prepared on a going concern basis.

The Charity’s income is primarily generated from the supply of contracted services, which are predominantly fixed, and multi-year. We did not experience a fall in income during 2020-21 and are not forecasting a reduction in income during 2021-22. Meanwhile, expenditures have remained largely consistent with additional costs arising from the adaptation of our charitable activities and the acquisition of PPE being offset by additional income from some commissioners, reduction in travel and other related

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costs. As at the balance sheet date, Together held cash and investments totalling £8,979k and had no loans outstanding. The directors have considered the impact of COVID-19 on the future liquidity of the Group, including by reviewing a full 5 year income forecast, a 5 year cash flow projection and considering the observed impacts of COVID-19 on the liquid position since the balance sheet date. Based on these reviews, the directors consider that the Together Group of Companies represent a going concern.

These assumptions form the basis of the Group and Charity’s forecasted cash flow for the next twelve months, which the senior leadership team monitor on a monthly basis. This forecast, combined with an assessment of the future reserves position, forms the basis of our assessment of going concern. It has been stress tested using reverse stress testing and in doing so, we have particularly considered the impact of a global economic recession that results in austerity measures and the Charity’s income being reduced over and above our key risk assumptions (set out in the Financial Review).

Based on these forecasts, we believe that the going concern basis of accounting remains appropriate for our accounts. We have also considered whether there is any material uncertainty that may cast significant doubt over the use of that basis for a period of at least 12 months from the date of approval of the financial statements and we do not believe that this is the case.

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TOGETHER STRATEGY 2019-24

Together was founded 141 years ago by Henry Hawkins. Born in 1825, the Reverend Hawkins worked for over 40 years as a Chaplain in asylums, supporting the emotional, physical and spiritual wellbeing of patients. Driven by his belief in the common humanity of all people, he worked tirelessly to improve the lives of people in asylums. He introduced new ideas and inspired like-minded people to volunteer to connect patients with their families, communities and the wider world.

In 1879, through his foresight and perseverance, the Reverend Hawkins founded our charity with the aim of breaking the cycle of recovery and re-admission. He looked to support people who seemed well, left the asylum and then were re-admitted because of a lack of support or purpose in life. He did that by offering people practical and emotional support to prevent them becoming unwell again. Through the founding principles of the charity, Reverend Hawkins challenged societal thinking. He proved that with the right practical and emotional support, people could lead fulfilling lives without prejudice and without being defined by their mental distress.

DEVELOPING OUR LEGACY

We are deeply proud of what Henry Hawkins achieved and his unique legacy continues to drive and influence our beliefs and aspirations for the future. Our 2019-24 strategy represents the next stage in the life cycle of Together. This is why it was important at the start of the development of this strategy, that we identified ‘legacy’ strengths. They are the areas that we are proud of and are important to us, which we wanted to take into the future. These include:

DEFINING SERVICE USER LEADERSHIP

As part of our new strategy we needed to clearly define the terms 'involvement' and 'leadership', what we mean by 'lived experience' of mental distress and why this is important to service users. By establishing these definitions, we have ensured that the people we work alongside can lead their own care and support and inform and influence every level of the organisation.

This is the first time we have identified a corporate understanding of what we mean by service user leadership and lived experience of mental distress to access the potential knowledge that those insights bring to Together. Establishing these definitions is the first step on our path to embedding service user leadership at all levels of Together, and using the collective voice to inform and influence both within the charity and externally.

In order to complete this work, we carried out initial scoping work to shape possible definitions and identify the benefits of service user involvement and leadership. Those early definitions were informed by people with lived experience, some of whom use our services and others who do not. They included the views of Peer Support Coordinators across the organisation, all of whom have lived experience of mental distress and work closely with service users.

Our final definition of service user leadership is as follows:

Service user leadership empowers people to make choices that affect their lives, lead their journey to wellbeing on their own terms and to collectively influence and improve services, organisations and society.

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Our definition of lived experience is:

A person who has experienced mental distress, and who can draw on their unique knowledge and personal insights to connect with others, influencing and informing from a lived experience perspective

OUR STRATEGY MAP

To effectively communicate our new strategy, we have developed a strategy map which is our roadmap for the future. It is a new way of presenting our strategic and operational ambitions for the next five years and brings clarity about what the organisation is here to do. Within the map, Together staff and volunteers will see their roles and responsibilities represented, how they support the vision for the organisation, and how this creates better outcomes for the people who use our services.

Our 2019-24 strategy map is shown below and was developed from the top down as we defined our ambition, purpose and vision. When reading the map it is designed to be read from the bottom up, starting at the foundation with the drivers of our behaviours and attitudes, our values.

OUR VISION FOR TOGETHER

A recognised charity leader in its field delivering high quality mental health and support services, empowering service users to lead their own care and support and enabling their collective voice to inform and influence.

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OUR PURPOSE

To work alongside people with mental distress to develop their insights, skills and potential and to promote their voices to improve policy and practice for all.

OUR AMBITION FOR SOCIETY

Everyone who experiences mental distress is valued, can live the life they choose and determine their own future.

OUR VALUES

As part of developing this new strategy, we reviewed and refreshed our organisational values. We have a value statement and a set of 5 values that are the behaviours which guide the way we work. Our value statement is below:

“We work together to facilitate choice through involvement, by doing what we say, never giving up on people, and looking to constantly improve how we work.”

Together’s values are as follows:

COLLABORATION: ACHIEVING TOGETHER

CHOICE: THROUGH INVOLVEMENT

INTEGRITY: DOING WHAT WE SAY

RESILIENCE: NEVER GIVING UP ON PEOPLE

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CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT: LEARNING AND EVOLVING

The core principle that runs through the organisation is our approach to involving, informing and influencing our work through people who use our services

By delivering our services in accordance with our values, we will aim to achieve our vision for Together. This will fulfil the reason we exist as an organisation and contribute, in partnership with others, to our ambition for society. Core to that is involving people who use our services – the ‘golden thread’ that runs through all that we do.

We know that people experiencing mental distress are at risk of not getting the support they need from wider services, not being empowered to be in control of that support and not having a voice in service and system design. We have gained many insights about what is important to our own service users, staff, volunteers, and Trustees. During the next five years, success will mean that we have:

The organisation has put in place a Board Assurance Framework as a mechanism to reinforce our strategic focus and priorities to ensure effective risk management of the charity’s activities. It is designed to record and report key strategic objectives, risks, controls and assurances to the Board.

Trustees and the SLT identified the following as the key strategic risks to the charity and consideration has been given under each regarding the operational effects of the virus and control measures:

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services to ensure that the health and safety of both service users and staff and volunteers is safeguarded. The workforce has shown dedication and commitment throughout the year and has been exemplary, reflecting the behaviours expected in line with Together’s values.

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ACTIVITIES AND ACHIEVEMENTS

The activities provided by Together during the year reflect our aims and ongoing commitment to offer practical support to people in varied circumstances across a range of locations. Access to our services is determined by need and by the choice of individuals. The benefits of our activities are that people experiencing mental distress are supported to achieve greater wellbeing and independence. In addition, many people go on to support others within Together or in their community.

IMPACT OF COVID-19 AND ASSOCIATED VIRUS CONTROL MEASURES ON SERVICE ACTIVITIES

All frontline services remained operational and all corporate support services continued to function as required during the pandemic. Face to face support of service users (except in our accommodation services) was initially moved to phone or online support during the first national lockdown with elements gradually being reintroduced following robust risk assessment protocols overseen by senior operational managers. All of the accommodation services remained staffed and operational with the required health and safety measures in place according to Public Health England guidelines. Sadly 8 deaths of service users were recorded during the pandemic. The majority of these deaths involved service users who were being supported through our Advocacy services and who were resident in care homes provided by other organisations and two service users that we supported in the community.

The national office and service office sites were closed and all staff were required to work from home with the appropriate support. To facilitate this, all staff were able to work remotely with access provided to the required ICT and the organisation’s VPN with additional back-up of servers in place to deal with extra demand. A flexible working policy was already in place for national office following the move to the new location in 2018 and this ensured the workforce was able to transition more smoothly to the remote working required by the pandemic situation than might otherwise have been the case. All staff working from home were required to undertake DSE assessments to ensure they were working safely and any necessary adjustments were made in response to specific staff wellbeing issues.

OPERATIONAL OVERVIEW

Over the last year, the demand for our support has been unprecedented as the impact of lockdown and the pandemic take their toll. Our operational teams have demonstrated insatiable commitment and flexibility with meeting this increase in need for support. Our organisational values and ethos have shone through across all services and departments to work together to support the delivery of critical services. Our National Service User Steering Group (NSG) colleagues have been crucial in developing and embedding service user leadership and coproduction consistently within practice and development across the organisation and this work will continue as we implement our workforce strategy and model of support.

SERVICE USER LEADERSHIP AND PEER SUPPORT

SERVICE USER LEADERSHIP

With the added challenges of the pandemic, we continued to ensure that Service User Leadership is at the heart of all we do across Together, ensuring that people who use our services lead their care and have the opportunity to influence at every level of the organisation.

Throughout this year the Service User Leadership Team has built knowledge and skills around creating safe online spaces, both through listening to people who use services, volunteers and Together staff as well as collaborating with other organisations. Our Group Facilitation Skills training has been adapted to be delivered digitally and now includes online facilitation skills and creating welcoming and inclusive online spaces.

Through involvement of those with lived experience, we have established, tested and agreed definitions of Service User Leadership and how we understand and value lived experience of mental distress as follows:

Service user leadership empowers people to make choices that affect their lives, lead their journey to wellbeing on their own terms and to collectively influence and improve services, organisations and society.

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A person who has experienced mental distress, and who can draw on their unique knowledge and personal insights to connect with others, influencing and informing from a lived experience perspective.

Following successful recruitment and induction , the National Service User Steering Group (NSG) now has 10 members who have a wide range of skills, lived experience and external connections. We work alongside the NSG so they can continue to influence and inform the organisation from a lived experience perspective.

There have been two editions of our regular Involvement in Action publication throughout the year to showcase examples of service user involvement across the organisation and the Internal Grants Scheme provided funding support for service user led projects throughout the organisation. The Grant Scheme panel of four people with lived experience approved 17 applications with £7198 allocated to support projects that included yoga classes, gardening activities, art classes and cycling groups.

PEER SUPPORT

The priority across the organisation was to ensure that all recruitment, induction and training, was adapted to being online to ensure that peer support could continue.

With increased numbers of service users requesting peer support, there was an urgent need for recruitment and training of peer supporters to continue. Together’s mandatory four day peer supporter training was reviewed with Peer Support Co-Ordinators in a pilot course and adapted to ensure consistency with our model of peer support and principles. Online delivery has enabled Peer Support CoOrdinators across the organisation to co-deliver training ensuring it has been available for their newly recruited volunteers.

Our Peer Support Staff Training has been offered online and three courses have been delivered over the year, ensuring awareness of Together’s peer support model and supporting integration of peer support within services.

All one to one peer support in services moved to being phone based due to COVID-19. The phone peer support training that we offer was redeveloped to be delivered online. This was piloted and evaluated with Peer Support Co-Ordinators and the training was delivered to 31 people via five training sessions.

A comprehensive review of the Self-Management Groups was undertaken with lived experience peer reviewers and adapted for online delivery with additional content and resources

Peer Support Co-Ordinators meetings were held monthly (fortnightly through lockdown) to maintain contact between Peer Support Co-Ordinators and the organisation, inform organisational peer support development and provide space for mutual support.

In March 2021, a survey was sent to all Peer Support Co-Ordinators giving us a snapshot of peer support across Together and enable planning for the next year.

As at the end of this financial year we have 13 Peer Support Co-Ordinators in post, supporting 100 peer supporters (80 in post and 20 in training), with two new Peer Support Co-Ordinators recruited for Bournemouth Residential Services and Together Wellbeing Pathway.

Peer Supporters and Peer Support Co-Ordinators have shared their experiences through videos that are available on the Together website.

CONNECTING & COLLABORATING

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Set up in April 2020 in the wake of COVID-19, the fortnightly ‘Connecting Remotely; Peer Support Conversation’ provided a safe space for peer leaders, community groups and organisations to connect, share learning and experiences of peer support during the pandemic and beyond. These were hosted by Mind, GetUp SetUp, Bipolar UK, National Survivor User Network (NSUN) and Together.

From these meet ups a report ‘Remote and Online Peer Support Resource for Peer Support Groups and Organisations’ captured shared learnings from the group.

Other events attended by Service User Leadership team include:

Along with other organisations led by Mind, Together contributed to discussions around the National Competency Framework . 60 pages of feedback was shared expressing the groups views on the framework.

Lived Experience Leadership Manager shared three video blogs as part of NSUN’s COVID Life series.

SUPPORT AND SERVICES

Over the past year we have helped around 9240 people with mental health needs each month across England.

ACCOMMODATION SERVICES

In 2020-21 Together’s residential and accommodation services worked very hard to keep the spaces safe while COVID-19 impacted us all.

There were no outbreaks nor deaths from COVID-19 in our staff or in people we supported. We are very proud of the work that our frontline staff did in keeping everyone safe, including continuing to work face to face with people in lockdown and managing the increased universal procedures in infection prevention and control.

Our focus over the year was on keeping people safe, and ensuring a safe move in or out of our accommodation services, and keeping the wellbeing for people being supported our priority when many community activities were adversely impacted in lockdown.

261 people can use our accommodation services. At the end of 2020-21 we had 12 CQC residential care homes, and 20 supported accommodation services. We employ 260 staff and volunteers. We were 85% occupied.

In 2020-21, 76% of people stayed between 2 and 5 years in our CQC residential homes. 75% of people stayed for under 5 years in our supported accommodation services.

All our services follow Together’s Accommodation Pathway in offering staged recovery focused support. Over 70% of placements ended due to successful moves on to more suitable accommodation.

COMMUNITY SUPPORT

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Our community support services continue to develop at a pace alongside NHS directives within the Community Mental Health Framework (CMHF) and NHS long term plan . These initiatives and opportunities have been particularly evident in Southwark and Norfolk. Southwark received an additional £50k in funding this year to support people from Black Caribbean and Black African communities specifically. This funding has enabled the service to recruit two new support workers from ethnic minorities who will focus on reaching people in marginalised communities who face increased stigma and are more likely to experience hardship.

With respect to our Norfolk services, we were approached and provided with £80k funding to support people with an SMI access a physical health check and flu vaccination. This initiative was linked to the NHS long term plan around improving the physical health outcomes of those suffering a mental health illness.

In response to the CMHF and Integrated Care Funding (ICF) we have developed an action and development plan for all of our community support services and managers. The aim is to position our current services to be able to respond to local commissioning needs - Sustainability and Transformation Plans (STPs) and ICF`s and deliver services that are most relevant within the communities we support.

St Helen`s contract was extended this year for another 2 years but at a reduced cost of 5%; this is further evidence that all of our services must be ready to adapt and respond to these critical changes to Community Support Services (CSS) commissioning. Although we foresee risks to some of our contracts, it is clear that many opportunities will come and this is being seen already.

The need for our support continues to increase across the services as the moratorium on evictions lifts and more and more people suffer hardship as a result of the lockdown. We continue to stretch and develop our capacity and services to meet these critical needs.

NORFOLK INTEGRATED HOUSING AND COMMUNITY SUPPORT SERVICE (NIHCSS)

There have been many areas of development and change for the NIHCSS contract, Together’s largest single contract, over the past year. As the contract entered Year 2, the team welcomed new senior managers into post. They brought with them the skills, expertise and experience required to ensure the service operated safely and effectively. This included a new Operations and Development Manager Amanda Gabrielsen, who had extensive experience in operational and contract management both at a national and regional level, supported by a new Head of Operations and Development Emma Edwards, who reported directly to Together’s Chief Operating Officer, Dee Anand.

Reflecting on the challenges reported in the annual review for Year 1, it is evident that the contract has developed in many areas. One of the most significant changes has been the overall improved reputation of the NIHCSS service, which staff have worked hard to be recognised for, demonstrating excellent social care practice, collaborative working with statutory services and partner agencies. This was evident in the successful outcomes achieved by service users, the recognition and gratitude from statutory services and staff reporting satisfaction within their roles.

The service could never have predicted the challenges that would be faced at the end of the year, with changes to society as we know it due to the Coronavirus pandemic. This required an immediate and flexible response to working practices and processes to ensure the efficacy and safety of service and continued support to our service users. The service adapted to lead a large workforce to remain operational and empowered staff to safely carry out risk assessments for different situations, to ensure service users remained as safe as possible. The management team could not be any prouder of the commitment and determination demonstrated by NIHCSS staff, who have gone above and beyond to remain present for service users. As a result, the service will enter into Year 3 stronger and more resilient than ever.

There have been some good examples of NIHCSS staff supporting service users to achieve their desired outcomes. Below are some of the outcomes reported by service users during Year 2:

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appropriate use of supporting services.

The other development for NIHCSS in the past year has been the development of a new brand. Collaboratively working with our partner agencies brings many benefits to the service, however it became evident that staff felt the service was missing an identity. Over the past year, work has been taking place to relaunch the NIHCSS brand as a standalone service. An NIHCSS Logo was developed as service users, staff and stakeholders were asked to vote for their preferred logo. A logo was selected and will feature on paperwork, websites, ID badges and marketing including flyers, brochures and banners. A Twitter page is currently under construction and improvements are underway to the NIHCSS home page on the together website including local resource listings, news and case studies. A quarterly newsletter will also be launched sharing NIHCSS developments, case studies and fundraising activities.

REPRESENTING RIGHTS THROUGH ADVOCACY

We have developed quality delivery of existing advocacy services over the past 12 months.

Together deliver all types of Statutory Advocacy: Independent Mental Health Act Advocacy (IMHA), Independent Mental Capacity Advocacy (IMCA), Independent Care Act, Deprivation of Liberty Safeguard roles such as 39a, 39c & 39d plus Relevant Persons Representative, Rule 1.2 Representative and NHS Independent Complaints Advocacy. Managers have also developed the Non-Statutory Advocacy roles such as Issue Based Advocacy, Parent Advocacy, Group Advocacy and Self-Advocacy. Together Advocacy Hubs have also successfully developed the Volunteer Scheme, which enhanced the opportunity for service users to follow training to deliver Self-Advocacy Skills and involvement with Group Learning Experiences delivered by the Volunteer Coordinator.

In addition, achievements over the last year have included:

COVID-19 restrictions

During the past 12 months, all our staff and services have worked extremely hard to meet the challenges of restrictive access to hospitals, Care Homes, Supported Living and Court Services. The staff have created many ways to ensure that all persons referred to the service have been represented with quality Statutory Advocacy support.

Over 2400 people have been represented in the past 12 months by Together Statutory Advocates to promote their clients rights, status, autonomy, wishes, feelings and belief. Serious decisions relating to access to services have been made on behalf and alongside many service users over the past year.

Decisions relating to a change of accommodation, Safeguarding Adult investigations, Serious Medical Treatment, Care Reviews and Assessments, complaints with regard to NHS and Adult Social Care, parent

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support during Child in Need investigations, housing issues, debt issues, crisis situations and support to access relevant services for support.

Our Advocates have continued to receive a high level of compliments and positive feedback regarding their ability to support challenges on behalf of our service users. Together staff are respected by adult social care and NHS decision-makers, who consider the quality of the service provided to be highly appreciated by service users and practitioners.

SECURE ADVOCACY

The following sections of the report refers to the Secure Advocacy (IMHA and General, and Appropriate Adult) services at:

Clearly the biggest impact on the secure advocacy services has been COVID-19, as the majority of our work prior to the pandemic was face to face 1:1 ward-based advocacy support. However, at the onset of the pandemic we were asked not to physically attend wards to reduce footfall and limit the possibility of spreading the virus. At the onset we remained office-based onsite continuing to provide support via telephone and through virtual means, like MS Teams. For example, virtual advocacy drop-in sessions were offered.

The introduction of virtual platforms has allowed us to be more flexible and efficient in terms of the support offered to service users, particularly when needing to attend numerous meetings in a day as this can be attended from a single office rather than across different wards and sites. We have also been able to facilitate user forums via these platforms. We have re-introduced more regular face to face contact and drop-in sessions on wards in a safe way and in line with Government guidance and restrictions which has progressed well with increased contacts.

However, with the fluctuation in lockdowns and associated restrictions we have at times had to limit our footfall across the hospitals although we have remained office based onsite and available during these times. Increased understanding of the virus, availability of PPE alongside uses of new technologies and lessons learnt through the first lockdown has meant the number of contacts has remained much higher than the spring/summer lockdown in 2020 with a gradual growth throughout the year.

Key themes throughout the year

Finally, we were pleased to have secured and rolled out a new contract to continue providing advocacy for Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust (Forensic Division) and Nottingham CAMHS. We also secured an 18 month extension to the Merseycare contract.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE

The first thing to note for Criminal Justice services during this period is the growth. Since April 2020 we have expanded to take on three new contracts (an Integrated Offender Management service in Probation, the Together Wellbeing Pathway and RECONNECT which is an extension to our Community Liaison and Diversion service), as well as preparing to support service users under an early release from prison scheme in response to COVID-19.

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In terms of staffing establishment, this results in 15 additional paid staff members (including 2 fixed term posts utilising underspend from TWP from year 1 to 2 of the contract, plus close to 20 new volunteers.

For the entirety of this period, services have been operating with COVID-19 restrictions in place and teams have worked admirably and passionately to adapt to new ways on working. This has included remote SU support and more contact with SUs’ support network, the development of a new What’s App policy, and utilising technology in new ways such as the cloud video platform utilised in courts.

We have worked to increase team cohesion and held two remote Management Away Days with a focus on our values of Collaboration and Continuous Improvement. We have also launched a new CJ bulletin, which will be circulated quarterly, and a monthly Manager’s update newsletter for all CJ staff.

We are proud of the improvements in the area of our recruitment and retention strategy this year, one of our PMs, Erin McNamara has been instrumental in leading these changes including reviewing JDs, rewriting adverts to promote the benefits Together offer and seeking new ways of advertising. At the time of writing we are nearly fully staffed.

Liaison and Diversion

The biggest change in the L&D Community team is the expansion to include a new service called RECONNECT. This is a national initiative to support people with identified vulnerabilities prior to their release from prison custody and in to the community. The service was mobilised halfway through the financial year serving one male and one female prison in London. Due to the team’s success in engaging stakeholders and implementing this project, it has been commissioned for at least a further full year.

One success from our community teams is the recruitment and initial training for new Peer Supporters, with the support of central teams at Together, our PSCs shaped a new online training programme for volunteers, on which we have had very promising feedback.

Integrated Offender Management (IOM) service

From mid-January 2021 we have had 2 Practitioners seconded externally to Probation to offer a mental health service in the community. The service was initially commissioned to the end of March 2021; however an extension was agreed to end of March 2022 in recognition of the high quality work and impact made to date.

Together Wellbeing Pathway (TWP)

Together were awarded the Engagement & Enhanced Relational Support Service (EERSS), as part of the Offender Personality Disorder Pathway (OPD) in London, commissioned by NHSE and HMPPS. The pan London service commenced on 1[st] April 2020. This service was mobilised during COVID-19 and the team worked creatively to change the model to remote working.

We are particularly proud of our attention to equality and diversity and service user collaboration in this project; we have had service users on interview panels and advising on the implementation of the service. At the end of the financial year we reviewed our pan-London Probation data to analyse if our service is reaching and accessible to young people and people from Black and Asian Minority Ethnic backgrounds we have been asked to work with.

IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON TOGETHER’S WIDER NETWORKS AND THE EFFECTS ON THE CHARITY’S OPERATIONS

We have continued to engage with our wider networks through the use of online platforms, on a more frequent basis and with a wider range of stakeholders and organisations. This has been due to an imperative to collaborate, particularly with other VCSE providers, in order to enable mutual support, share good practice and intelligence. This has impacted positively on our operations as we have been able to apply the learning and service improvements of other organisations to our own functioning.

Together is a member of the Association of Mental Health Providers (AMHP) and the CEO is a member of the Association’s Board. Throughout the year, Together’s CEO has co-chaired a working group of

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members focusing specifically on business and service continuity. The aim is to understand the challenges and opportunities and to share resources and identify actions that will support the actions of the Association and other member organisations. This also included contingency planning for the second and third lockdowns and to respond to the inevitable seasonal pressures over the Autumn and Winter months.

The CEO was also an invited member of the Department of Health & Social Care Task Force Mental Health & Wellbeing Advisory Group which completed its review in the summer of 2020. The group considered the context of and the priority action required for stability and continuity in the social care sector, in order to respond to the mental health and wellbeing needs of people and communities, to ensure that services can continue to navigate and deal with the effects of COVID-19. The decision was taken for the group to continue in order to implement the recommendations made by the group to the Task Force.

Together is also a member of the NHS Confederation Mental Health Network and the CEO has been contributing to discussions with the Chairs of NHS Mental Health Trusts to facilitate greater collaboration between the statutory and voluntary sector, particularly in relation to Trusts supporting the ongoing operations of charities working in aligned service delivery in response to COVID-19.

At a service level, many of our service users did not have access to the usual support from statutory services, for example, contact with their Care Co-ordinators. This was experienced by many other organisations across the sector. Despite this, Together staff continued to support service users to maintain their mental health and wellbeing during this difficult time and to advocate for access to any required help and treatment from external services as required.

PRIORITIES FOR THE FUTURE

It’s important to say that we are far from alone at Together in facing a significant number of future challenges in our operations and finances. Whilst we had set in train a number of initiatives pre-COVID-19, the acuity continues to be in the here and now as we also plan for the medium term, with a strategic view to the longer term.

We are now living with the virus and the uncertainty continues as to how long we must change and adapt as we wait to see if solutions, such as a vaccine, offer a long-term pathway out. In the meantime, our focus must remain on the health and wellbeing of the people we work alongside and our workforce. Critical to that are the ongoing relationships we must have with our key external stakeholders as we negotiate and navigate changing policy, expectations and assumptions as they impact on our operations and finances.

As part of changing national policy, we will be working with NHS Trust partners as part of NHS Reforms in the delivery of community mental health services as well as keeping an eye on and contributing to long overdue reforms to social care.

We will continue to progress our financial strategy, which necessarily includes an assessment of the risks of doing or not doing areas of work that will support our sustainability for the future. Part of that will be understanding the impact of the changing external environment, both positively and negatively on the organisation, and continually adjusting and reviewing our responses to strategic and operational risks.

COVID-19 is also propelling us to re-think and challenge the assumptions on which we based our current organisational strategy. There is no doubt that some of the way we work will continue to look distinctly different in the aftermath of the pandemic and we need to ensure we take a ‘survive, thrive, develop and re-frame’ approach to our strategic direction as a charity.

PLANS FOR THE FUTURE IN RELATION TO COVID-19

Together has taken steps to consider the likely impact of the virus control measures and potential duration of the control measures on the future aims and activities of the charity. Our organisational strategy continues to support our decision-making with respect to the lifting of restrictions but we are mindful that for the health and social care sector, measures will need to remain in place to safeguard the health and wellbeing of vulnerable service users and that of Together’s workforce. We must continue to take riskbased, phased decisions in response to government guidance. We have a clear set of principles and foundations in place as part of a decision-matrix to ensure that as we move towards full operations of services as per contract specifications we can do this safely.

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PRINCIPLES

FOUNDATIONS

Together is taking a three step approach and moving between these steps will be approved by the SLT and will be dependent on the application of Government and other relevant sources of guidance and advice as relevant. Step 3 will see full operation of all of services. The timing of these steps is informed by a risk-based approach including risk assessment of service users and of the workforce in order to maintain safety and wellbeing.

Each service type also has specific requirements that influence decision-making to ensure that virus control measures are maintained, such as social distancing. The greatest impact of this is likely to be within Together’s accommodation services – for example on the ability to take new referrals if the site does not easily lend itself to self-isolation measures if required. Office locations, including national office, will remain closed until there is a clear rationale for their use and they are compliant with COVID-secure workplace guidance. The likely reopening of the national office is the beginning of September.

Through feedback from Together’s Workforce Reps Council, we know that staff have responded positively to the organisation’s staged approach, citing the clear operational guidance they are receiving from senior managers and feeling that they are supported in the necessary decision-making required to keep service users and the workforce healthy and safe. Staff have also reported to feeling that their health and wellbeing has been proactively supported by the organisation.

FINANCIAL REVIEW

This financial year result improved as compared to the previous financial year: there was a surplus of £312k before gains on investments (2020 net surplus of £191k), and after recognising gains on investments, the net movement in funds was a surplus of £648k (2020 deficit of £210k).

On Unrestricted funds, the charity made an operational surplus for the year, before gains/losses on nonoperating items, of £327k (2019/20 gain of £191k). Adjusting for the movement on investments and properties, this produced a gain of £663k (2019/20 loss of £210k). The movement on the pension scheme is detailed in note 17 to the accounts.

On Restricted funds brought forward of £1,868k there was a deficit of £15k (2019/20 deficit £71k), resulting in a balance of £1,853k.

This year’s deficit on restricted funds arises from the expenditure related to income which was accounted for in the previous years, under the charities SORP, being higher than the income on services in the year.

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FUNDRAISING

Section 162a of the Charities Act 2011 requires charities to make a statement regarding fundraising activities. Although Together does not undertake widespread fundraising from the general public, the legislation defines fundraising as ‘soliciting or otherwise procuring money or other property for charitable purposes’. Such amounts receivable are presented in Together’s accounts as ‘voluntary income’ and include legacies. The day-to-day management of all income generation is delegated to the senior leadership team who are accountable to the trustees.

The majority of Together’s income is from public sector funding and we currently do not have an organisational strategy for fundraising. However, the charity is registered with the Fundraising Regulator which is clearly identified on the organisation’s home page of the website. The charity adheres to the Code of Fundraising Practice which sets the standard that apply to fundraising carried out by all charitable institutions and their party fundraisers in the UK. Together has received no complaints in relation to fundraising activities.

During the year, we were selected by the White Cube Gallery to be a recipient of a donation following the sale of limited artwork by Antony Gormley through the gallery. The initiative was specifically in response to Mental Health Awareness Week and the impact of COVID-19. The organisation received £130k and, following SLT review, it is likely that the funds will be used to support the digital expansion of our peer support offer and to reintroduce an annual lecture series to promote mental wellbeing for all.

RESERVES

FINANCIAL RESERVES POLICY

Unrestricted reserves provide some protection to the Charity and its work by allowing time to adjust to changing financial circumstances. The Trustee Board, via its Finance, Resources and Investment Committee (FRIC), reviews, on an annual basis, the level of unrestricted reserves by considering the risks associated with various income streams, expenditure plans and Balance Sheet items. This enables an estimate to be made of the level of reserves that are sufficient:

The minimum level is estimated at 3 months of the unrestricted expenditure budget. Consequently, Trustees have decided that the appropriate, prudent level of reserves is in the range of 3 to 6 months of the unrestricted expenditure budget. Total unrestricted expenditure budget for 2021-22 is £17.9m. Actual level of free reserves as at 31 March 2021 were £6.1m. This equates to 3.4 months of unrestricted budgeted expenditure which is within the range of 3 to 6 months set by the Trustees.

UNRESTRICTED RESERVES

The Trustees have approved a policy for the organisation of having unrestricted reserves of between 3 and 6 months of unrestricted expenditure. Current levels are 3.9 months of unrestricted expenditure (2019-20: 3.5 months). Unrestricted Reserves are composed of General Reserves and Designated Reserves. Trustees are content with this level of reserves because out of £15.9m of unrestricted reserves, £6.1m are free reserves that are used to further the charities objectives. Our unrestricted reserves have not been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

GENERAL RESERVES (UNRESTRICTED)

At 31 March 2021 general reserves amounted to £6,117k (2019-20: £5,279k).

DESIGNATED FUNDS (UNRESTRICTED)

Designated funds £9,747k (2019-20: £9,922k) are those unrestricted funds that are annually approved by Trustees for particular purposes. The breakdown of current designated funds is outlined in note 15.

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RESTRICTED FUNDS

These funds amounting to £1,853k (2019-20: £1,868k) can only be used for the purposes for which they were given. They represent unspent monies received from donors subject to conditions specified by them, or because the funds were collected in a public appeal to raise money for a particular purpose. Detailed analysis of the various restricted funds is set out in note 16.

INVESTMENTS POWERS AND PERFORMANCE

The Trustees, under the powers conferred to them by the Articles of Association, appointed Sarasin in 2019, and gave them discretionary investment powers. The investments aim to provide sufficient income for today’s beneficiaries while preserving the real capital value for future generations. As a measure of performance, the long-term return target has been set at UK inflation (CPI) +4% over a 5 year rolling basis. This performance is reviewed quarterly by the Finance, Resources and Investment Committee and annually with Sarasin.

The Trustees’ aims in investing funds continue to be to:

Total investments at 31 March 2021 amounted to £2,176k, an increase of £391k (2019-20: decrease of £468k). As at 30 June 2021, the value of total investments had increased, and amounted to £2,251k. Interest and dividend income in the year amounted to £64k before the deduction of investment manager’s fees (2019-20: £67k).

SUBSIDIARY COMPANY

Together had a wholly owned subsidiary company, Together Working for Wellbeing Trading Limited company which was dissolved on the 22[nd] September 2020.

The company facilitated the management of building contracts for Together. Its sales were only to the charity. The company provided its services approximately at cost, and therefore made either a nil or minimal profit which it gift aids to the Charity. For the year ended 31 March 2021, the turnover of the company was £nil (2020: £0.03k).

Together also has a wholly owned subsidiary company, Together for Mental Wellbeing Support Services Limited. This company was established on 30 March 2019. Together Support Services Limited contracts with commissioners for mental health services and then sub-contracts the execution of these agreements back to Together for Mental Wellbeing under an inter-company agreement between the two.

PENSIONS

The Together defined benefit pension scheme was closed to new accruals on 30 September 2011. The charity now offers a defined contribution pension scheme to all staff (see note 17).

Although the final salary scheme is now closed for future accruals, it remains a risk for the charity, even though it is currently showing a surplus. As a result of this surplus, the Trustees consider there is not a material risk of a deficit arising in the pension fund as a result of COVID-19.The result as valued by FRS 102 is included in note 17 to the accounts.

The accounts as presented reflect accounting standard FRS 102.

This pension scheme is a UK-based defined benefit scheme, providing benefits at retirement. The net present value (surplus) of the pension scheme at 31 March 2021 is £nil (2020: £nil).

FINANCIAL CONTROL AND MONITORING

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The Finance, Investment and Resources Committee monitors and reviews all aspects of financial performance, financial management reporting, and internal financial control, including, in particular, the preparation and monitoring of revenue and capital expenditure, and quarterly managements accounts. They also deal with such other matters as may be specifically delegated to them.

FINANCIAL POSITION

The Trustees consider that there are sufficient reserves held at the year-end to avoid an unacceptable level of disruption to the organisation in the event of a downturn in future income, and that there is a reasonable expectation that Together has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. For this reason, the Trustees continue to adopt the going-concern basis in preparing the accounts.

TRUSTEES’ RESPONSIBILITIES

The Trustees are responsible for preparing the annual report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and regulations.

Company law requires the Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Under that law, the Trustees have elected to prepare the financial statements in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice (United Kingdom Accounting Standards and applicable law). Under company law, the Trustees must not approve the financial statements unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Charitable Company and of the group and of the income and expenditure including the net income and expenditure of the group for the year.

In preparing these financial statements, the Trustees are required to:

The Trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the charitable company’s transactions, and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable company, and 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 of the group and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

So far as each of the Trustees is aware at the time the report is approved:

Dr. Carol Cole Chair of the Board of Trustees September 2021

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INDEPENDENT AUDITORS’ REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF TOGETHER FOR MENTAL WELLBEING

Opinion on the financial statements

In our opinion, the financial statements:

We have audited the financial statements of Together for Mental Wellbeing (“the Parent Charitable Company”) and its subsidiaries (“the Group”) for the year ended 31 March 2021 which comprise the consolidated statement of financial activities, the consolidated and charity balance sheet, the consolidated and group cash flow statement and notes to the financial statements, including a summary of significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

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 believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

Independence

We remain independent of the Group and Parent 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.

Conclusions related 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 Group and the Parent 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 Trustees are responsible for the 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 other information comprises the introduction from the chair and chief executive’s 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.

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

We have nothing to report in this regard.

Other Companies Act 2006 reporting

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

In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the Group and the Parent Charitable Company and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatement in the Strategic report or the Trustee’s report.

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

Responsibilities of Trustees

As explained more fully in the Trustees’ responsibilities statement, 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 determines is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

In preparing the financial statements, the Trustees are responsible for assessing the Group’s and the Parent 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 Group or the Parent Charitable Company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

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Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

We have been appointed as auditor under the Companies Act 2006 and report in accordance with the Act and relevant regulations made or having effect thereunder.

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor’s report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.

Extent to which the audit was 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:

Audit response to risks identified

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

A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located at the Financial Reporting Council’s (“FRC’s”) website at:

https://www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our auditor’s report.

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 Charitable 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 anyone other than the Charitable Company and the Charitable Company’s members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

Laurence Elliott (Senior Statutory Auditor) For and on behalf of BDO LLP, statutory auditor London, UK Date 12 October 2021

BDO LLP is a limited liability partnership registered in England and Wales (with registered number OC305127).

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CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES (Incorporating Income and Expenditure Account) for the year ended 31 March 2021 Unrestrict¢d Deslgnat¢d Funds 2021 Fundy 2021 2020 2021 Total Totsl Income from.. Dwati¢)fis and legacies CharIta￿e activlties 170,863 19.644,270 64,433 18,028 4,400 78,416 175,263 19,722,686 64,433 18,028 54,907 18,900,173 67,300 26,455 Investments Other Total Incomo 19,897,YJ4 81816 19,980,410 19,1)48A35 Expendlture on.. Raising Funds Charitable Acti￿1185 41,693 19,528,710 41,693 19,626,802 39.9( 18,818,218 98,092 Totsl Expendlture 19,570A03 98,092 19,668N95 18,858,124 Net (Expondlturelllncome prfor to net Ilosse$llgaln$ on Inv•stm•nts and 1088 on dispoul of a•s•ts 327,191 (15,276) 314915 190,711 Net ga¢n$lllo8se81 on investments 11 336,094 336,094 (190,705) Loss on dissThal of assets 12 (209,871) Not incom•lloxp•nditurnl 663,285 (15,276) 648,009 (209,865) R8concili8tion of Fund8 T¢Jto1 funds bought fcvlard 15,201,501 1,868,388 17,069,889 17,279,754 Tothl funds carrl•d fO￿ard 15,864,786 ¥853,112 17,717,898 17,069,889 Comparatlves on fund by fund b88is have b88n r8St8ted are sh¢Mn in note 22. All incom8 and expgndilure is derived frorn continuing xtivities. The charity has no other recognised gains and 10s585 oth8r than the results for the 8￿)￿8 finanual years. The nole5 on p¥ges 45 to 64 form part of these financial statements. 41

CONSOLIDATED AND CHARITY BALANCE SHEET as at 31 March 2021 2021 2011 2020 2020 Group Char Group Charity Flxed A88•t4'. Tangib18 Assets In￿lmonts 10 11,173,701 2,176,034 13,349,735 11,186,983 2,176,034 13,363,017 11,477,272 1,785,161 11,490,554 1,785,161 11 13,262,433 13275,715 Cufrent A••ets.' Debtors 1,514,947 6,848,084 8,363,031 971,019 6,600,886 1,700,496 4,728,362 1,727,6BB 4,674,282 C&4h at Bank and in Han 7,571,905 6,428,858 6,401,970 Credltors". Amount falling du8 ￿thin one year Ngt Cufront a8￿ts 14 13,994,868) 13,340,466) 12,621,402) 12.596,4801 4,368,163 4,231,439 3,807.456 3.805,4 Credltor8- Amount fallin9 du8 aft8r nY)re than one year Not Ass•t• 17,717,898 17,594,456 17,069,889 17,081,205 FUND5 Unrg8trl¢tgd Funds ignated General 15 9,747.296 6,117,490 9,760,578 5,980,766 9,922,451 5,279,050 9,935,T33 5,277,084 15 un￿￿trIcted IneAMne Fund8 15,864,786 15,741,344 15,201.501 15,212,817 R&8trict8d Funds 1,853,112 1,853,112 1,868.388 1,868J88 Toial Charlty Fund• 17,717.898 I7￿94,456 17,069,889 17,081,205 The net movement in fund5 for the year of the par￿t chadty Y4as a surplu5 of £528,52712020.' Deficf( of £211,821) Approved by the Board on 23 September 2021 and signed on their khalf on 23 September 2021 by: Dr. Carol Cole { ohn Banks (Treasurer) The notes on pag8s 45 10 64 form part of these financial slalemenls. Charity registration number 211091. Company registration number 463505. 42 FDRMENTAL*rtU8EINts

CONSOLIDATED CASH FLOW STATEMENT

for the year ended 31 March 2021

2021 2020
Notes Group Group
£ £
Cash flows from operating activities:
Net cash generated by operating activities A 2,287,270 517,661
Cash flows from investing activities:
Dividends, interest and rents from investments 64,433 67,300
Proceeds from the sale of properties - 1,400,000
Purchase of property, plant and equipment (177,202) (457,525)
Purchase of investments (61,359) (3,000,000)
Proceeds from sale of investments 468 3,283,306
Change in investment cash 6,112 (5,721)
Net cash provided by investing activities (167,548) 1,287,360
Change in cash in the reporting period 2,119,722 1,805,021
Cash at the beginning of the reporting period 4,728,362 2,923,341
Cash at the end of the reporting period 6,848,084 4,728,362
Note A: Reconciliation of net income/(expenditure) to
net cash flow from operating activities
Net income/(expenditure) for the reporting period (as
per the Statement of Financial Activities)		 648,009 (209,865)
Adjustments for:
Depreciation charges 480,773 401,492
(Gains)/Losses on investments (336,094) 190,705
Losses on disposal of assets - 209,871
Costs associated with sale of property - (52,326)
Dividends, interest and rents from investments (64,433) (67,300)
Decrease in debtors 185,549 408,441
Decrease/(Increase) in creditors 1,373,466 (363,357)
Net cash generated by operating activities 2,287,270 517,661

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(i) Analysis of changes in Net funds

(i) Analysis of changes in Net funds
Cash and cash equivalents
Cash
Overdraft
Cash equivalents
Total		 At 1 April
2020
Cash flows
Other non
cash
changes
At 31
March 2021
£
£
£
£
4,728,362
2,119,722
-
6,848,084
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
4,728,362
2,119,722
-
6,848,084

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NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS for the year ended 31 March 2021

1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES

a) Basis of Preparation

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) - (Charities SORP (FRS 102)), the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) and the Companies Act 2006. The financial statements are presented in Pounds Sterling rounded to the nearest pound.

b) Income

All income resources are shown net of VAT. Income is recognised once Together has entitlement to it, it is probable that income will be received and the monetary value of the income can be measured with sufficient accuracy. Income from the supply of services is recognised with the delivery of the contracted service. Income received in advance is deferred until the services have been provided. A grant that is subject to performance-related conditions received in advance of delivering the services is accounted for as a liability and shown on the balance sheet as a deferred income, Deferred income is released to income in the reporting period in which the performance-related or other conditions that limit recognition are met. Legacy income is recognised when the criteria of probability, measurement and entitlement are met.

c) Expenditure

Expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis and is recognised when there is a legal or constructive obligation committing Together to the expenditure. Where costs cannot be directly attributed to a particular heading in the Statement of Financial Activities they are allocated based on the % of direct cost generated by each area.

Costs associated with raising funds consists of costs incurred by Together in encouraging organisations and individuals to make voluntary contributions or to organise a fundraising event (see note 3). Charitable activities includes the costs incurred by Together in the provision of mental health services, residential homes, supported housing, advocacy services, criminal justice services, and community support (see note 2).

d) Other Employee Benefits

Termination benefits are accounted for on an accrual basis and in line with FRS 102. In line with FRS 102, an accrual has been made for holiday pay accrued but not taken at the year end.

e) Fixed Assets

Tangible fixed assets costing more than £1,000 are capitalised, included at cost and written off over their useful lives on a straight line basis.

The useful lives are estimated to be:

Depreciation of Housing Properties

Freehold land or assets under construction are not depreciated .

The charity separately identifies the major components of its housing properties and charges depreciation so as to write-down the cost of each component to its estimated residual value, on a straight line basis over the shorter of the length of the lease or the following years :

following years:
Structure
 100 years
Kitchens
 20 years
Bathrooms
 15 years
Lifts
 20 years
Doors
 20 years
Windows
 30 years
Electrical works
 35 years
Boilers/heating systems
 20 years
Other tangible fixed assets
Fixtures and Fittings
 10 years
Computer Infrastructure, Office Equipment and
Software
 3 years

On adoption of FRS102 at the transition date of 1 April 2014, Together took advantage of the FRS exemption which enabled revaluation of certain properties to deemed cost.

f) Investments

Investments are included in the Balance Sheet at market value at 31 March. All gains and losses are shown in the Statement of Financial Activities.

.

g) Operating Leases

Operating lease rentals are charged to the income and expenditure account on a straight line basis over the period of the lease.

h) Pension Costs

Pension costs for the group personal pension scheme, a defined contribution scheme, are charged to the Statement of Financial Activities as they fall due. Together has also contributed to a defined benefit scheme, which was closed to new accruals on 30 September 2011. The assets and liabilities in the scheme are reported in these financial statements as required by FRS102.

45

i) Structure of Funds

General funds are unrestricted funds which are available for use at the discretion of the Trustees in furtherance of the general objectives of the charity and which have not been designated for other purposes.

Designated funds comprise unrestricted funds that have been set aside by the Trustees for particular purposes. The aim and use of each designated fund is set out in notes to the financial statements.

Restricted funds are funds which are to be used in accordance with specific restrictions imposed by donors which have been raised by the company for particular purposes. The cost of raising and administering such funds are charged against the specific fund. The aim and use of each restricted fund is set out in the notes to the financial statements.

Investment income, gains and losses are allocated to the appropriate fund.

j) Consolidation

Together owns 100% of the share capital of Together for Mental Wellbeing Support Services Limited. Group accounts are prepared incorporating the subsidiary and are consolidated on line by line basis. Together for Working Wellbeing Trading Limited was dissolved on the 22[nd] September 2020.

k) Going concern

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on Together for Mental Wellbeing and in particular its ability to operate faceto-face with our service users and our staff are working remotely. However, the Trustees have identified no material uncertainties that may cast significant doubt about the ability of the charity to continue as a going concern and therefore these accounts have been prepared on a going concern basis.

The Charity’s income is primarily generated from the supply of contracted services which are predominantly fixed and multi-year, therefore we are not forecasting a fall in income during 2021/2022. Meanwhile, expenditures have remained largely consistent with additional costs arising from the adaptation of our charitable activities and the acquisition of PPE being offset by reduction in travel and other related costs. As at the balance sheet date, Together held cash and investments totalling £8,979k and had no loans outstanding. The directors have considered the impact of COVID-19 on the future liquidity of the Group, including by reviewing a full 5 year income forecast, a 5 year cash flow projection and considering the observed impacts of COVID-19 on the liquid position since the balance sheet date. Based on these reviews, the directors consider that the Together Group of Companies represent a going concern.

These assumptions form the basis of the Group and Charity’s forecasted cash flow for the next twelve months, which the senior management team monitor on a monthly basis. This forecast, combined with an assessment of the future reserves position, forms the basis of our assessment of going concern. It has been stress tested using reverse stress testing and in doing so, we have particularly considered the impact of a global economic recession that results in austerity measures and the Charity’s income being reduced over and above our key risk assumptions (set out in the Financial Review).

Based on these forecasts, we believe that the going concern basis of accounting remains appropriate for our accounts. We have also considered whether there is any material uncertainty that may cast significant doubt over the use of that basis for a period of at least 12 months from the date of approval of the financial statements and we do not believe that this is the case.

l) Cash at bank and in hand

Cash at bank and cash in hand includes cash and short-term highly liquid investments with a short maturity of three months or less from the date of acquisition or opening of the deposit or similar account.

m) Financial instruments

The charity only has financial assets and financial liabilities of a kind that qualify as basic financial instruments. Basic financial instruments, including trade and other debtors and creditors and the bank loan, are initially recognised at transaction value and subsequently measured at their settlement value.

n) Creditors and provisions

Creditors and provisions are recognised where the charity has a present obligation resulting from a past event that will probably result in the transfer of funds to a third party and the amount due to settle the obligation can be measured or estimated reliably.

o) Foreign currency translation

The charity’s functional and presentation currency is pound sterling. There were no foreign currency transactions translated at the balance sheet date.

p) Company Information

Together for Mental Wellbeing is a company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales (Registration number: 463505).

The registered office is 52 Walnut Tree Walk, London, SE11 6DN.

q) Critical accounting judgements and estimates

In preparing these financial statements, management has made following judgements, estimates and assumptions that affect the application of the charities accounting policies and the reported assets, liabilities, income and expenditure and the disclosures made in the financial statements.

Housing property depreciation is calculated on a component by component basis. The identification of such components is a matter of judgement and may have a material impact on the depreciation charge. Components are identified based on depreciation note (1f)

Depreciation of assets is calculated based on the cost and the estimated useful lives of the assets. The expected useful lives for housing property components is estimated based on the expected replacement frequency used for asset management purposes.

Income from the provision of services is recognised as and when the services are provided. In most cases, the services are provided in accordance with the funding agreement, but in a minority of cases, estimates are necessary as to the extent to which

46

income may be repayable where the services haven't been fully provided and there is a likelihood of retrospective demand from the funder that a proportion of the income to be refunded. Estimates are based on historical experience and other factors that are considered to be relevant. Actual results may differ from these estimates.

Management's estimate of the defined benefit obligation is based on a number of critical underlying assumptions such as standard rates of inflation, mortality, discount rate and anticipation of future salary increases. Variation in these assumptions may significantly impact the defined benefit obligation amount and the annual defined benefit expenses (as analysed in Note 17)

Management’s decision to continue with Going concern basis of accounting is based on contract revenue which has remained consistent and likely to remain relatively flat due to nature of contracts which are multi-year and fixed. There are increase in costs in some areas which is offset by reduction in some other areas

.

2. CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES Provision of mental health services

2. CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES
Provision of mental health services
Residential Homes
Supported Housing
Advocacy Services
Criminal Justice Services
Community Support & Day Services
Service User Involvement		 Direct
Costs
£
Support
Costs
£
2021
Total
£
5,382,647
1,185,147
6,567,794
3,001,927
660,934
3,662,861
1,224,842
269,899
1,494,741
1,998,732
440,269
2,439,001
4,353,334
958,460
5,311,794
123,337
27,274
150,611
16,084,819
3,541,983 19,626,802

2. CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES (2020) Provision of mental health services

2. CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES (2020)
Provision of mental health services
Residential Homes
Supported Housing
Advocacy Services
Criminal Justice Services
Community Support & Day Services
Service User Involvement		 Direct
Costs
£
Support
Costs
£
2020
Total
£
4,879,676
1,030,208
5,909,884
2,896,629
611,532
3,508,161
1,379,721
291,096
1,670,817
1,865,261
393,952
2,259,213
4,333,021
934,605
5,267,626
167,243
35,274
202,517
15,521,551
3,296,667 18,818,218

Allocation of Support Cost The Support Costs includes the Operational Office Costs, Finance and central support, Human Resources, Governance and the Chief Executive Office. The basis of cost allocation used is the % direct cost generated by each charitable activity.

47

Direct
Costs
Residential
Homes
33.46%
Supported
Housing
18.66%
Advocacy
Services
7.62%
Criminal
Justice
Services
12.43%
Community
Support & Day
services
27.06%
Service User
Involvement
0.77%		 Operational
Support
CEO
HR
Finance &
Central
Support
Governance
costs
2021
Total
£
£
£
£
£
£
289,290
71,640
275,165
490,971
58,081
1,185,147
161,332
39,952
153,454
273,805
32,391
660,934
65,881
16,315
62,665
111,811
13,227
269,899
107,468
26,613
102,221
182,390
21,577
440,269
233,956
57,937
222,533
397,062
46,972
958,460
6,657
1,649
6,332
11,299
1,337
27,274
864,584
214,106
822,370
1,467,338
173,585
3,541,983

Allocation of Support Cost (2020)

Direct
Costs
Residential
Homes
30.42%
Supported
Housing
15.70%
Advocacy
Services
8.80%
Criminal Justice
Services
12.27%
Community
Support & Day
services
31.08%
Service User
Involvement
1.73%		 Operational
Support
CEO
HR
Finance &
Central
Support
Governance
costs
2020
Total
£
£
£
£
£
£
393,477
57,895
171,879
375,670
31,287
1,030,208
233,568
34,367
102,028
222,997
18,572
611,532
111,181
16,359
48,566
106,149
8,841
291,096
150,466
22,139
65,727
143,656
11,964
393,952
356,962
52,522
155,929
340,808
28,384
934,605
13,473
1,982
5,885
12,863
1,071
35,274
1,259,127
185,264
550,014
1,202,143
100,119
3,296,667

48

3. RAISING FUNDS

Fundraising
Publicity
Investment Management costs		 2021
2020
£
£
3,850
7,207
35,051
29,810
2,792
2,889
41,693
39,906

4. GOVERNANCE COSTS

Governance costs included in note 2 above are as follows;

External Audit
Trustees meeting costs
Legal & Professional services
Staff cost
Room Hire and office expenses
Trustee recruitment		 2021
2020
£
£
32,414
27,100
99
6,995
103,878
34,240
34,954
24,307
2,148
5,897
92
1,580
173,585
100,119

5. MOVEMENTS IN FUNDS FOR THE YEAR

2021 2020
This is stated after charging: £ £
Operating lease cost
Land & building 131,466 43,618
Others 18,032 14,474
Auditors remuneration 32,414 27,100
Depreciation 480,773 401,492

49

6. STAFF COSTS

2021 2020
Group and charity: £ £
Wages and salaries 11,389,686 10,662,413
Social security costs 1,056,123 977,154
Pension costs 520,869 550,355
Redundancy & settlement costs 30,800 48,268
12,997,478 12,238,190
Number of employee within salary range: 2021 2020
£100,001-£110,000 1 1
£90,001-£100,000 1 1
£80,001-£90,000 1 1
£70,001-£80,000 3 1
£60,001-£70,000 3 3

The average number of employees, including part time workers, analysed by function, was:

Group and charity:
Mental health services
Management and administration of
the charity
Governance		 2021
2020
423
414
67
63
1
1
491
478

The total cost of the key management personnel - defined as the Senior Leadership Team which includes Chief Executive, Chief Operating Officer, Director of Resources and Director of People and Organisational Development - was £366,432. (2020:£435,910).

7. RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

One Trustee was reimbursed travelling expenses during the year amounting to £71 (2020: £4,640).

No remuneration was paid this year to any Trustee. (2020: £nil). There are no other transactions or balances which require disclosure within the financial statements.

50

8. DONATIONS AND LEGACIES

Legacies
Other Subscriptions & Donations		 2021
2020
£
£
23,338
13,295
151,925
41,612
175,263
**54,907 **

9. CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES

Local Authority, Health Authority &
NHS Trusts
Charges for accommodation and
services
Supporting People
Spot/Outreach Income
Probation Services
Barrow Cadbury Trust
North Yorkshire Police
London South Bank University
Project service grants		 2021 Total
2020 Total
£
£
12,081,545
11,208,661
7,164,437
6,892,710
291,669
314,767
68,940
169,135
37,679
109,261
-
13,200
70,746
137,530
-
44,167
7,670
10,742
19,722,686
18,900,173

51

10. TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS (GROUP)

Cost:
At 1 April 2020
Additions
Disposals
At 31 March 2021
Depreciation:
At 1 April 2020
Charge for the year
Disposals
At 31 March 2021
Net book value at 31 March 2021
Net book value at 31 March 2020		 Freehold
Furniture
Land and
And
Buildings
Equipment
Total
£
£
£
11,865,442
1,126,386
12,991,828
135,360
41,842
177,202
-
-
-
12,000,802
1,168,228
13,169,030
1,009,789
504,767
1,514,556
169,648
311,125
480,773
-
-
-
1,179,437
815,892
1,995,329
10,821,365
352,336
11,173,701
10,855,653
621,619
11,477,272

10. TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS (CHARITY)

Cost:
At 1 April 2020
Additions
Disposals
At 31 March 2021
Depreciation:
At 1 April 2020
Charge for the year
Disposals
At 31 March 2021
Net book value at 31 March 2021
Net book value at 31 March 2020		 Freehold
Furniture
Land and
And
Buildings
Equipment
Total
£
£
£
11,878,724
1,126,386
13,005,110
135,360
41,842
177,202
(1,572,209)
(37,494)
(1,609,703)
12,014,084
1,168,228
13,182,312
1,009,789
504,767
1,514,556
169,648
311,125
480,773
-
-
-
1,179,437
815,892
1,995,329
10,834,647
352,336 11,186,983
10,868,935
621,619
11,490,554

52

11. INVESTMENTS (GROUP AND CHARITY)

Listed investments, at market value
At 1 April 2020
Additions
Disposal proceeds
Net investments (losses)/gains
Total Investments
Cash holdings
At 31 March 2021
Historical cost at 31 March 2021		 2021
2020
£
£
1,778,561
2,252,572
61,359
3,000,000
(468)
(3,283,306)
336,094
(190,705)
2,175,546
1,778,561
488
6,600
2,176,034
1,785,161
2,062,409
2,000,000

Investments are held in the Sarasin Endowment Funds Class A INC, Sterling Investment account and Royal Dutch Shell B shares.

12. LOSS ON DISPOSAL OF ASSETS (GROUP AND CHARITY)

Net Book Value transferred (see note 10)
Costs in relation to sale of property
Disposal Proceeds
Loss on disposal in the year		 2021
2020
£
£
-
(1,557,545)
-
(52,326)
-
1,400,000
-
(209,871)

13. DEBTORS

2021 2021 2020 2020
GROUP CHARITY GROUP CHARITY
£ £ £ £
Trade debtors 1,037,989 508,565 971,703 926,699
Owed by subsidiary company - - - 72,196
Prepayments and accrued income 476,958 462,454 728,793 728,793
1,514,947 971,019 1,700,496 1,727,688

53

14. CREDITORS – AMOUNTS FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR

Accruals
Trade creditors
Owed to trading subsidiary
Other creditors
Taxation and Social security
Deferred Income
Deferred income reconciliation (GROUP)
Deferred income reconciliation
Opening balance as at 1 April 2020
Add income deferred as at 31 March 2021
Less deferred income released during the year
Closing balance as at 31 March 2021		 2021
2021
2020
2020
GROUP
CHARITY
GROUP
CHARITY
£
£
£
£
905,483
893,083
796,288
791,008
931,665
918,663
873,818
873,816
-
134,585
-
-
649,470
210,201
258,637
238,997
282,623
282,623
213,071
213,071
1,225,627
901,311
479,588
479,588		 2021
2021
2020
2020
GROUP
CHARITY
GROUP
CHARITY
£
£
£
£
905,483
893,083
796,288
791,008
931,665
918,663
873,818
873,816
-
134,585
-
-
649,470
210,201
258,637
238,997
282,623
282,623
213,071
213,071
1,225,627
901,311
479,588
479,588
3,994,868
3,340,466
2,621,402
2,596,480
2021
2020
£
£
479,588
887,300
936,669
254,968
1,416,257
1,142,268
(190,630)
(662,680)
1,225,627
479,588
Deferred income reconciliation (CHARITY)
Deferred income reconciliation
Opening balance as at 1 April 2020
Add income deferred as at 31 March 2021
Less deferred income released during the year
Closing balance as at 31 March 2021		 2021
2020
£
£
479,588
887,300
612,353
254,968
1,091,941
1,142,268
(190,630)
(662,680)
901,311
479,588

54

15a.UNRESTRICTED FUNDS – GROUP

Project Designated funds
Fixed asset reserve
Pension Potential liability
Total Designated funds
General Fund		 1 April
Income
31 March
2020
Revaluations
Transfers
Expenditure
2021
£
£
£
£ £
£
161,279
130,000
-
-
(22,614)
268,665
8,744,738
-
-
(265,644)
-
8,479,094
1,016,434
-
-
(16,897)
-
999,537
9,922,451
130,000
-
(282,541)
(22,614)
9,747,296
5,279,050
19,767,594
336,094
282,541


(19,547,789)
6,117,490
~~(~~
~~)~~
15,201,501
19,897,594
336,094
-
(19,570,403) 15,864,786

Transfers of £282,541 represent movement in NBV of Tangible fixed assets less depreciation costs of assets held under restricted income.

15a.UNRESTRICTED FUNDS – GROUP (2020)

Project Designated funds
Fixed asset reserve
Pension Potential Liability
Total Designated funds
General Fund		 1 April
Income
31 March
2019
Revaluations
Transfers
Expenditure
2020
£
£
£
£ £
£
161,360
2,000
-
-
(2,081)
161,279
11,241,654
-
-
(2,496,916)
-
8,744,738
-
-
-
1,016,434
-
1,016,434
11,403,014
2,000
-
(1,480,482)
(2,081)
9,922,451
3,937,303
18,836,164
(400,576)
1,480,482


(18,574,323)
5,279,050
~~(3~~
~~6 26 )~~
15,340,317
18,838,164
(400,576)
-
(18,576,404) 15,201,501

Transfers of £1,480,482 represent movement in NBV of Tangible fixed assets less depreciation costs of assets held under restricted income.

15b. UNRESTRICTED FUNDS – CHARITY

Project Designated funds
Fixed asset reserve
Potential Pension liability
Total Designated funds
General Fund		 1 April
Income
31 March
2020
Revaluations
Transfers
Expenditure
2021
£
£
£
£ £
£
161,279
130,000
-
-
(22,614)
268,665
8,758,020
-
-
(265,644)
-
8,492,376
1,016,434
-
-
(16,897)
-
999,537
9,935,733
130,000
-
(282,541)
(22,614)
9,760,578
5,277,084
11,882,540
336,094
282,541


(11,797,493)
5,980,766
~~(3~~
~~6 26 )~~
15,212,817
12,012,540
336,094
-
(11,820,107) 15,741,344

Transfers of £282,541 represent movement in NBV of Tangible fixed assets less depreciation costs of assets held under restricted income.

15b. UNRESTRICTED FUNDS – CHARITY (2020)

Project Designated funds
Fixed asset reserve
Pension Potential Liability
Total Designated funds
General Fund		 1 April
Income
31 March
2019
Revaluations
Transfers
Expenditure
2020
£
£
£
£ £
£
161,360
2,000
-
-
(2,081)
161,279
11,254,936
-
-
(2,496,916)
-
8,758,020
-
-
-
1,016,434
-
1,016,434
11,416,296
2,000
-
(1,480,482)
(2,081)
9,935,733
3,937,293
18,736,279
(400,576)
1,480,482


(18,476,394)
5,277,084
~~(~~
~~)~~
15,353,589
18,738,279
(400,576)
-
(18,478,475) 15,212,817

Transfers of £1,480,482 represent movement in NBV of Tangible fixed assets less depreciation costs of assets held under restricted income.

55

Project Designated funds are specific amounts set aside at 4 projects for future repairs programmes. In addition to this we also received £130,000 Anthony Gormley funding which was designated at the year end.

Fixed Asset Reserve represents the total net book value of unrestricted assets held by the charity.

Pension Potential liability: this fund has been set aside to cover any potential liability arising in the pension scheme

16.RESTRICTED FUNDS - GROUP and CHARITY

16.RESTRICTED FUNDS - GROUP and CHARITY
Green Lane Grant
Hopewell House
Snowdon
Project Services Grants:
Bromley Trust
Lankelly Chase Foundation
North Yorkshire Police
NHS Commissioning Board
CAF America - Butler Family fund
Mayor of Winchester		 Balance at
Movements
Expenditure
Balance at
1 April
in
31 March
2020
income
2021
£
£
£
£
550,825
-
(6,085)
544,740
676,850
-
(8,630)
668,220
488,425
-
(6,315)
482,110
33,991
12,070
(8,700)
37,361
6,244
-
-
6,244
10,195
-
(9,648)
547
10,753
70,746
(58,714)
22,785
82,992
-
-
82,992
1,652
-
-
1,652
6,461
-
-
6,461
1,868,388
82,816
(98,092)
1,853,112

Green Lane, Hopewell House, Snowdon properties; these funds match the contingent liability for the repayment of grants used to purchase property (see note 20).

Project Service Grants: Various donations for the provision of client services.

16.RESTRICTED FUNDS - GROUP and CHARITY

(2020)
Green Lane Grant
Hopewell House
Snowdon
Project Services Grants:
Bromley Trust
Lankelly Chase Foundation
North Yorkshire Police
NHS Commissioning Board
CAF America - Butler Family fund
Barrow & Cadbury Trust
Mayor of Winchester
Bridge House Grants – City of London
London South Bank University		 Balance at
Movements
Expenditure
Balance at
1 April
in
31 March
2019
income
2020
£
£
£
£
556,910
-
(6,085)
556,910
685,480
-
(8,630)
685,480
494,740
-
(6,315)
494,740
60,167
15,774
(41,950)
60,167
14,959
-
(8,715)
14,959
17,117
-
(6,922)
17,117
-
137,530
(126,777)
-
82,992
-
-
82,992
1,652
-
-
1,652
1,989
13,200
(15,189)
-
6,461
-
-
6,461
16,970
-
(16,970)
-
-
44,167
(44,167)
-
1,939,437
210,671
(281,720)
1,868,388

Green lane, Hopewell House, Snowdon properties: these funds match the contingent liability for the repayment of grants used to purchase property (see note 20).

Project Services Grants: Various donations for the provision of client services.

56

17. PENSION SCHEME

On 1[st] October 2011, Together introduced a group personal pension scheme available to all staff. Contributions are charged to expenditure in the accounting period in which they are payable. Contributions in the period were £520,869 (2019 £550,355).

Prior to 1[st] October 2011, the organisation contributed to a UK-based defined benefit scheme, called The Together: Working for Wellbeing Pension scheme. The administration of the Scheme was transferred From First Actuarial LLP to TPT on the 9[th] February 2021 . The scheme was closed to new accruals on 30[th] September 2011.

The defined benefit scheme (now closed) provides benefits at retirement based on final pensionable pay for its deferred members. The scheme is funded by the assets being held by Trustees of the scheme separately from the assets of the organisation.

The latest triannual valuation of the scheme was carried out in 2017 and showed the market value of the scheme’s assets to be £14,921,000 being sufficient to cover 112% of the benefits accrued to members.

A valuation was not carried out at September 2020 due to the bulk transfer of the scheme, and the next triennial valuation will be 30 September 2021.

The benefit structure has not changed since the valuation, but the organisation reached a decision to cease funding for discretionary pension increases.

Scheme assets and liabilities recognised in the balance sheet

The fair value of the scheme's assets, which are not intended to be realised in the short-term and may be subject to significant change, and the present value of the scheme's liabilities, which are derived from the cash flow projections over long periods and are thus inherently uncertain, were:

Equity
Bonds
DGFs
Other
LDI Pooled Funds
Present value of plan assets
Present value of scheme liability
Irrecoverable surplus
Net present value of scheme assets/(liabilities)
ounts recognised in net income
Actuarial (losses)/gains on defined benefit obligation
Actuarial return on scheme assets less interest income
Limit on recognition of assets less interest
Amounts recognised in net income		 2021
Value
£000
2,470
8,355
865
629
3,107
15,426
(15,390)
(36)
-
2021
£000
(1,495)
1,202

356		 2020
Value
£000
-
-
8,399
1,990
4,624

15,013
(14,629)
(384)
-
2020
£000
158
124
334
(9)
63

Amounts recognised in net income

57

Amount charged/ (credited) to net Income

Administration expenses
Gain on settlements
Net interest
Amount recognised in net income		 2021
2020
£000
£000
(207)
(109)
-
-
-
-
(207)
(109)

Changes in present value of the defined benefit obligation are as follows:

Opening defined benefit obligations
Interest on obligations
Actuarial losses/(gains)
Settlements
Benefits paid
Closing defined benefit obligation
anges in fair value plan assets are as follows:
Opening fair value of plan assets
Interest income
Actual return on scheme assets less interest income
Contributions
Administration expenses
Benefits paid
Closing fair value of plan assets		 2021
2020
£000
£000
14,629
14,845
324
337
1,495
(158)
-
-
(1,058)
(395)
15,390
14,629
2021
2020
£000
£000
15,013
14,938
332
337
1202
124
144
118
(207)
(109)
(1,058)
(395)
15,426
15,013

Changes in fair value plan assets are as follows:

The Organisation expects to contribute £95,000 to this defined benefit pension plan in the year to 31 March 2022 to cover its administration cost.

58

Movements in scheme's surplus/ (deficit) in the year

(Deficit)/Surplus at the start of the year
Contributions
Administration Expenses
Gain on Settlements
Actuarial gain/(loss)		 2021
2020
£000
£000
-
-
144
118
(207)
(137)
-
-
63
(9)
-
-

The major categories of plan assets as a percentage of total plan assets are as follows:

Equity
Bonds
DGFs
LDI Pooled Funds
Cash
Total		 2021
2021
proportion at
£000
31-Mar-20
2,470
16%
8,355
54%
865
6%
3,107
20%
629
4%
15,426		 2020
2020
proportion at
£000
31-Mar-19
-
-
-
-
8,399
56%
4,624
31%
1,990
13%
15,013

Actuarial assumptions used

A qualified independent actuary has updated the results of the last actuarial valuation of the scheme (as at 31 March 2017) to 31 March 2020; the major assumptions used by the actuary were as follows:

2021 2020
% %
Discount rate 2.1 2.3
Retail price inflation 3.3 2.6
Consumer Price inflation 2.8 2.1
Salary increase rate 3.3 2.6
Pension increase (at limited price indexation)
- LPI maximum 5% 2.75 2.10
- LPI minimum 2.5% 1.95 1.80
Deferred pension revaluation 3.00 3.00

59

Mortality Assumption

Mortality follows the standard table known as S2PA with mortality improvements in line with the CMI 2019 [1.25%] model. The mortality assumption for the previous year follows the standard table known as S2PA with mortality improvements in line with the CMI 2018 [1.25%] model.

The life expectancy used as a basis for our mortality assumption following FRS 102 recommendations is: - assuming retirement at age 60, life expectancy in years are as follows:

Restated
at 31 March at 31 March
2021 2020
For a male aged 65 now 21.7 21.6
At 65 for a male member aged 45 now 23.0 22.9
For a female aged 65 now 23.7 23.5
At 65 for a female member aged 45 now 25.2 25.1

18. OBLIGATIONS UNDER OPERATING LEASES (GROUP)

Total commitments over the life of operating leases are as follows:

Operating leases which expire;
Within one year
In two to five years
Over five years		 Land &
Others Land & Others
buildings
buildings
2021
2021 2020 2020
£
£ £ £
97,986
14,204
52,736
7,391
107,717
11,798
124,902
14,250
66,466 -
5,539
-
272,169
26,002
183,177
21,641

60

19. SUBSIDIARY COMPANIES

Together for Mental Wellbeing Support Services Limited

The wholly owned trading subsidiary was incorporated in the United Kingdom in 2019 (Registered number 11915148). Together Support Services Limited contracts with commissioners for mental health services and then sub-contracts the execution of these agreements back to Together for Mental Wellbeing under an inter-company agreement between the two. Together owns all the issued share capital of 100 ordinary shares. Summary of the trading results is shown below:

Profit and loss account Year ended 31 March 2021

TURNOVER
Cost of Sales
GROSS PROFIT
Administrative expenses
PROFIT ON ORDINARY ACTIVITIES
BEFORE TAXATION
TAXATION
PROFIT ON ORDINARY ACTIVITIES
AFTER TAXATION
PROFIT BROUGHT FORWARD
PAYMENT TO PARENT CHARITY UNDER
GIFT AID SCHEME
RETAINED PROFIT CARRIED FORWARD
The assets and liabilities of the subsidiary were
CURRENT ASSETS
Debtors
Cash at bank
CREDITORS: amount falling due within
one year
NET CURRENT ASSESTS
RETAINED EARNINGS		 2021
2020
£
£
7,887,010
99,885
7,743,065
92,615
143,945
7,270
7,221
5,314
136,724
1,956
-
-
136,724
1,956
1,956
-
(1,956)
-
136,724
1,956
2021
2020
£
£
678,513
45,004
247,198
54,080
925,711
99,084
(788,987)
(97,128)
136,724
1,956
136,724
1,956

61

Together Working for Wellbeing Trading Limited

The wholly owned trading subsidiary was incorporated in the United Kingdom in 1999 (Registered number 03775152). The company was dissolved on the 22[nd] September 2020.

Summary profit and loss account
Year ended 31 March 2020
Turnover
Less: cost of sales and admin expenses
Retained profit/(loss) for the year
The assets and liabilities of the subsidiary were
Current assets
Less current liabilities
Total net assets
Aggregate share capital and P&L reserves
Profit & Loss
Capital		 2021
2020
£
£
-
33
-
(122)
-
-
£
£
-
747
-
(737)
-
10
-
-
-
10
-
10

20. CONTINGENT LIABILITY

Surrey CCG provided 3 properties valued at a total of £2,300,000 for the set-up of services at Green Lane, Hopewell House and Snowdon. The properties will be surrendered if Together ceases to use them for the purpose for which they were donated. All these properties are included under fixed assets and restricted income.

There is a charge over 31 York Road, Sutton, Surrey SM2 6HL to provide cover for any potential deficit in the pension scheme.

62

21. ANALYSIS OF NET ASSETS BETWEEN FUNDS (GROUP)

Fixed assets
Cash at bank and in hand
Other net current liabilities		 General
fund
Designated
funds
Restricted
funds
Total
funds
£
£
£
£
2,176,034
9,478,631
1,695,070
13,349,735
6,376,698
268,665
158,042
6,803,405
(2,435,242)
-
-
(2,435,242)
6,117,490
9,747.296
1,853,112
17,717,898

21. ANALYSIS OF NET ASSETS BETWEEN FUNDS (2020)

Fixed assets
Cash at bank and in hand
Other net current assets		 General
fund
Designated
funds
Restricted
funds
Total
funds
£
£
£
£
1,764,131
9,761,172
1,737,130
13,262,433
4,435,825
161,279
131,258
4,728,362
(920,906)
-
-
(920,906)
5,279,050
9,922,451
1,868,388
17,069,889

63

22. COMPARATIVE CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES (2020)

Income from:
Donations and legacies
Charitable activities
Investments
Other
Total Income
Expenditure on:
Raising Funds
Charitable Activities
Total Expenditure
Net (Expenditure) prior to net gains/(losses) on
investments and loss on disposal of assets
Net (losses) on investments
Loss on disposal of assets
Net expenditure		 2020
Unrestricted &
Designated
Funds
2020
Restricted
Funds
2020 Total
£
£
£
49,875
5,032
54,907
18,694,534
205,639
18,900,173
67,300
-
67,300
26,455
-
26,455
18,838,164
210,671
19,048,835
39,906
-
39,906
18,536,498
281,720
18,818,218
18,576,404
281,720
18,858,124
261,760
(71,049)
190,711
(190,705)
-
(190,705)
(209,871)
-
(209,871)
(138,816)
(71,049)
(209,865)

64