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2024-03-31-accounts

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Company Registration No. 00820660 (England and Wales) Registered Charity No. 222533

Child Action Northwest

Company Limited by Guarantee

Annual Report and Consolidated Financial Statements For the Year Ended 31 March 2024

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CHILD ACTION NORTHWEST

CONTENTS

YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

Page
Report of the trustees 3
Independent auditors’ report 18
Consolidated statement of financial activities (incorporating the income
and expenditure account)		 21
Balance sheet 22
Consolidated cash flow statement 23
Notes to the consolidated cash flow statement 24
Notes to the financial statements 25

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CHILD ACTION NORTHWEST

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES

YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

Legal and administration details

Status: Child Action Northwest is a company limited by guarantee, registered under the Companies
Act 1995. Its governing document is its Memorandum and Articles of Association.
Trustees: Mrs M Webb Chair
Mr G H Fairweather
Mr J Comyn-Platt
Mr S Damp
Mr L A Baxter Appointed 24 July 2023
Ms M Rathmell Appointed 22 January 2024
Mr S Peddie Appointed 9 May 2024
Ms R Covey Appointed 9 May 2024
Ms T Short Appointed 17 May 2024
Ms S Booth-Henry Appointed 24 May 2024
Mr A Botterill Vice Chair - Resigned 22 January 2024
Mr M Roe Resigned 22 January 2024
Mr N Eatwell Resigned 29 August 2024
Strategic Management Team:
Ms S Cotton Chief Executive (resigned 2 April 2024)
Ms A Stathers-Tracey Chief Executive (appointed 2 April 2024)
Ms N Hollinshead Chief Operating Officer (appointed 22 July 2024)
Ms C Robinson Corporate Services Director (appointed 5 August 2024)
Ms M Dixon Strategic Director of Operations
Mr S Chaplin Deputy Chief Executive (resigned August 2023)
Mr J Cobbold Director of Business Development (resigned September
2023)
Miss R Coaker Finance Director (resigned April 2024)
Ms J Dawkins Strategic Director Care & Accommodation (resigned May
2024)
Operational Management Team:
Amy Jackson HR Manager
Sue Monighan Head of Service – Emotional Health and Wellbeing
(EHWB)
Sharon Anson Finance and Business Support Manager
Linda Barber IT and Estates Manager
Mark Saunders Head of Service – Criminal Justice
Paul Barlow Head of Service – Criminal Justice
Hannah Wilson Head of Service – ProContact
Ian Charnock Registered Manager (Care and Accommodation)
Tammy Sutherland Registered Inspector (Residential)
Nicola Goggins HR Manager (resigned January 2024)
Lesley Hall Associate Director EHWB Service (resigned May 2024)
Laura O’Hare Business Development Manager (resigned March 2024)
Joanne Lever HR Manager (resigned August 2023)

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CHILD ACTION NORTHWEST

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES

YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

Legal and administration details (continued)
Company Number: 00820660
Registered Charity Number: 222533
Registered Office: The Homestead
Whalley Road
Wilpshire
Blackburn
BB1 9LL
Regional Office: 4b Springfield Court
Summerfield Road
Off Manchester Road
Bolton
BL3 2NT
Regional Office: CANWe Solutions CIC
Dixon House
Whalley Road
Wilpshire
Blackburn
BB1 9LL
Solicitors: Forbes Solicitors
Rutherford House
4 Wellington Street (St Johns)
Blackburn
BB1 8DD
Auditors: MHA
Statutory Auditors
Chartered Accountants
Richard House
9 Winckley Square
Preston
PR1 3HP

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CHILD ACTION NORTHWEST

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES

YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

This is the annual report of the Trustees for Child Action Northwest for the financial year ending 31 March 2024, incorporating Child Action Northwest and its subsidiary company CANWe CIC Solutions.

Child Action Northwest (CANW) is a registered charity and Company Limited by Guarantee and is governed by its Memorandum of Articles of Association. The members of the committee are therefore Trustees of the charity and directors of the company.

Structure, governance and management

The board of Trustees has appointed two trustees as directors for the CIC to represent the interests of the Charity’s Trustees. An independent director also sits on the CIC board.

The current trustees are listed in this report. The chairperson and vice chair are honorary officers. The Board agreed in March 24 that they would delete the role of Treasurer given that this role had not been in place for the 2023-24 reporting year due to retirement of the previous Treasurer. Scrutiny of Finance and Assets has absorbed into the business agenda for the main Board.

The honorary officers are elected each year at the annual general meeting (AGM). The chairperson and treasurer are ex-officio members of the committee. One third of the remaining trustees who are not honorary officers are elected annually by the members of the company. Six new trustees have been elected, mostly during the period and have undertaken an initial induction programme, with more training and development to follow. Recruitment to the board of trustees is undertaken following any resignation and is facilitated through a number of channels, including personal approaches, recommendations, social media and website presence.

Notably, the CEO Ms Sue Cotton announced her retirement from CANW in September 2023.and the Board embarked on an extensive external recruitment and selection process for a new CEO. Alison Stathers-Tracey was appointed in December 2023 and started in role in January 2024.

In light of the number of changes to the board of Trustees and the arrival of the new CEO, the Board commissioned a full, independent review of the governance for the charity in January 2024 to enable more effective decision making for the next period of transformation of the business plan for CANW and CANWe.

The Trustees have agreed a standard rolling agenda for board meetings and to meet bi-monthly. In addition, three sub-groups have been created (finance and assets, fundraising and volunteering and safeguarding) to facilitate more complex matters for in depth discussion before presentation to the main board. Members of the Senior Leadership Team are also present at every board meeting.

The charity makes its decisions using this subgroup and board structure, with some decision making delegated to the Chief Executive and Senior Leadership team as required.

The board has nominated a trustee to take the lead on safeguarding and there are quarterly meetings with lead staff responsible for operational safeguarding to ensure the charity has robust safeguarding controls in place. The board reviews safeguarding arrangements on an annual basis.

The finance and assets subgroup will oversee the charity’s investments and make recommendations on these to the main board, as well as to advise initially on any service or proposition development that requires financial support or may have a financial impact.

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REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES

YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

The Senior and Operational Leadership Teams meeting fortnightly, with all members providing an update from their area. This information feeds into the Chief Executive’s report that is presented at every board meeting. The CIC board also meets quarterly, with the minutes and any key reports provided to the relevant board meeting.

A skills, experience and governance audit is undertaken each year with the board and any skill gaps in the board identified. This process enables the identification of any developmental needs within the board so that the appropriate training or other opportunities can be identified throughout the year; this includes an annual team building and training event. The audit also informs recruitment to the board, enabling it to be focussed on meeting any skill gaps identified. Recruitment to the board is via advertising through various media and networks, completion of an application form and interview by the Chair with the CEO. If this stage is successful, then interested members are invited to observe a Board meeting.

A governance review was undertaken by an Independent Governance specialist rather than the Chair of the Board in January 2024 in order to assess the effectiveness of the Board structures and decision making and recommendations made to ensure that the board follows ethical guidance, is representative of the diverse communities we operate within and receives representation from service users.

Newly appointed Trustees are invited to attend the CANW induction with CEX and are provided with an information pack which includes: -

In addition, all Trustees visit the Charity’s projects as part of their induction, meet with key members of the Senior Manager Team, complete a Disclosure and Barring application, sign and agree to the Trustee Code of Conduct and sign a declaration of eligibility to act as a Trustee. They also receive, on a bi-monthly basis and receive a copy of the Good Trustee Guide published by the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO). During this past year both the use of remote technology but more predominantly in person direct service advice has been used to ensure that induction and service visits can be undertaken for the new Trustees.

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CHILD ACTION NORTHWEST

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES

YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

The Board approve and monitor the strategic plan and business plan of Child Action Northwest and during the year the Board of Trustees, along with the Chief Executive, review the strategic direction of the Charity, taking into account the type of risk faced by it and the likelihood that risks may materialise. The operational and financial risks, once assessed, are monitored through a number of internal management systems including monthly senior managers’ meetings, quarterly finance meetings and monthly reports to the Trustee Board. A scheme of delegation is in place to ensure clarity of the financial decision-making process.

The Trustee Board undertook a full governance review against Charity Commission guidance and standards during 2023. A quality framework was agreed, following the Trusted Charity methodology, and an action plan is in place with a three-year rolling review programme in place. The Trusted Charity quality review is planned for 2023 however due to changes in administration of the Trusted Standards scheme, the level 2 re-assessment process only commenced in January 2024. Training has been provided for the Trustee Board on aspects of governance and constructive challenge over the year notably in the area of managing grievances and sickness absence.

The pay of the new Chief Executive was set by the Board. It is benchmarked against the NJC (National Joint Council) payscales and has been benchmarked against other similar organisations within the voluntary sector. The Chair of the Board meets regularly with the CEO, to undertake appraisal and to monitor objectives set by the Board. A closed meeting was held with the retiring CEO to review her performance of the CEO against these objectives. The structure and pay of the Senior Management team was reviewed by the new CEO when she arrived in post in January, necessitated by the resignation of several senior staff members. New job roles and descriptions were agreed by the Board with pay rates also reviewed against the NJC payscale and external benchmarking. The CEO undertakes an annual appraisal and regular supervision of the Management Team and

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CHILD ACTION NORTHWEST

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES

YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

discusses performance of the operational team with the Chair although due to staff departures, the dominant task of the CEO and Chair during February and March 24 has been recruiting to the new Leadership Team, The CEO and Chair have ensured that the Board and Management Teams have had access to expert advice, including Finance, Commissioning and Business Development with external support sourced for the latter months of the year pending successful recruitment of a new Corporate Service Director and Chief Operating Officer.

Stakeholder events have been held over the year where the trustees and staff have the opportunity to meet a range of stakeholders including foster carers, other charities and organisations who have an interest in Child Action Northwest. In addition, the operational managers are involved in several strategic planning groups across the region where there is an opportunity to contribute to developments that will be positive for its beneficiaries. A number of partnership arrangements are in place, supported by a Memorandum of Understanding, where direct services are delivered in line with the charitable objects. Over the past year, many of the external meetings have continued to be held remotely as it has been found to be an effective use of time. However key meetings have resumed to face to face following the lifting of all Covid 19 restrictions over the year.

The Board met in person each month with the opportunity for members to join remotely if circumstances prevented attendance physically. The Board has approved and reviewed the risk management processes to enable a return to ‘hybrid’ working. Research and consultation undertaken during the Covid 19 pandemic has provided organisational learning that time efficiencies could be made for some meeting attendance and the use of resources reduced for some meetings to remain virtual. Staff surveys have identified that hybrid working (attending office bases on certain days, not full time) were positive in creating and supporting a work life balance and allowed reduction of unnecessary travel to office bases.

Objectives and activities

Child Action Northwest (CANW) operates predominantly in the northwest of England, namely across Lancashire, Greater Manchester and the surrounding area, including Cheshire and Cumbria. For specific services, there is a wider scale of delivery, covering a wider footprint across the country, into the West Midlands and the north of England. The charity provides a broad range of services to support children, young people and their families. The work with young people sits predominantly with the Criminal Justice service of the charity and as part of this service, the charity regularly seeks to provide additional services where there is an identified need. There is significant diversity across the population supported by Child Action Northwest’s activities, from working in the areas of lowest depravation, through to those with the highest levels of affluence. The charity regular monitors service delivery to ensure it is representative of all the communities to which it serves.

The charitable objectives of Child Action Northwest are:

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CHILD ACTION NORTHWEST

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES

YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

For the purpose of this clause ‘socially excluded’ means being excluded from society, or parts of society, as a result of one of more of the following factors: unemployment; financial hardship; youth or old age; ill health (physical or mental); substance abuse or dependency including alcohol and drugs; discrimination on the grounds of sex, race, disability, ethnic origin, religion, belief, creed, sexual orientation or gender re-assignment; poor educational or skills attainment; relationship and family breakdown; poor housing (that is housing that does not meet basic habitable standards; crime (either as a victim of crime or as an offender rehabilitating into society).

Further to the objects, Child Action Northwest has the following powers:

In pursuit of these objects, CANW provides a range of services under the following headings:

Overall in the 23/24 financial period, expenditure across the range of services totalled £6,797,963, of which £6,746,132 was unrestricted and £51,831 was restricted.

Continuing to achieve in each of these areas, whilst developing the services delivered will ensure that the charity will further its purpose. Over the next 12 months, the Senior Leadership Team will be working across the organisation to refine and redevelop the charity’s mission, vision and values. They will inform our code of conduct and expected behaviours across the charity. They are, and will continue to be, integral to our recruitment framework.

The Trustees confirm that they have referred to the guidance contained in the Charity Commission's general guidance on public benefit when reviewing the Charity's aims and objectives and in planning its future activities.

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CHILD ACTION NORTHWEST

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES

YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

The Charity’s Memorandum and Articles of Association permits the Board of Trustees to make financial investments of funds not immediately required for meeting the objectives of the organisation. In addition, the Articles of Association permits the Board of Trustees to make decisions on property owned, leased or rented by the Charity to further benefit its aims and objects.

Those funds not immediately required are placed in investments, securities or property as may be thought appropriate, subject to any legal requirements. The Charity’s investments have been acquired in accordance with this power. There are clear investment and reserve policies in place and a sub-group makes a report to the Trustee Board on all matters in relation to investment or property.

During the reporting period, the charity uses a number of criteria and measures to assess its success.

These include:

The pandemic has continued to further impact upon volunteering at CANW and at the end of March 2024 we had 12 volunteers registered within 3 service areas in CANW, including Trustees. This amounted to a total of 838.33 volunteer hours from April 2023 – March 2024. If this contribution is equated to pay at the minimum wage of £ 10.42 per hour (as at April 2023) the financial value of this support to CANW is £8,735.40. Over the coming 12 months the organisation has a strategy to grow volunteer engagement across many areas of the business.

Our Community Interest Company CANWe Solutions

The Community Interest Company (CIC) is a trading arm of CANW whose surpluses are gift aided to the Charity to support its charitable work.

The Articles state;

The Company's object is to carry on activities which benefit the community and in particular (without limitation) to:

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CHILD ACTION NORTHWEST

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES

YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

To further meet the needs of the community the CIC will develop and provide a range of training, consultancy and contract services to the public and private sectors;

Achievements and performance

Our People

At Child Action Northwest we recognise that our dedicated staff and volunteers are our most valuable asset.

Over the last 12 months the HR team have continued to fully support the staff team, and further refined processes in relation to hybrid working. Office working is now underway with a minimum expectation of office-based one to two days per week. Departments, teams and individual staff members have adapted well to the new way of working post-Covid and managers report no issues with productivity as a result of less ‘contact time’ with staff. Hybrid working has paved the way for creativity and innovation for departments and the wider organisations. Remote events are now scheduled in regularly to enable better cascading of information and visibility of the Senior Leadership Team.

PeopleHR, the new HR system, was rolled out and developed during 2023-24. We have seen a significant change in HR Managers during the period with the permanent team recruited in February 2024. The new team are expert users of People HR and have worked at pace to implement and improve functionality of the system. The system has been received positively by staff and has enabled HR to move away from many manual processes, including payroll, with easy access to reports and information. Staff have a range of self-service options available to them and managers are able to manage their own recruitment, with automated sign off processes in place to ensure compliance.

The charity’s registration to become a Real Living Wage provider which was honoured fully in March 24 and backdated for key employees. A full employee assistance programme, Unum Help@hand, has been implemented for all staff offering such services as counselling sessions, physiotherapy appointments and finance, lifestyle and wellbeing advice. BenefitsHub was also rolled out, offering discounted rates on shopping and recreational activities.

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CHILD ACTION NORTHWEST

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES

YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

Care and Accommodation

In October 2023, the service underwent an OFSTED inspection and was rated good across each of the four domains of the inspection. There are currently 53 children placed in foster care, with 55 carers across 31 households. All new placements are allocated on an initial six week period to support with settling in to family life. Regular activity days continue to be offered, with children and their families enjoying days out across the Northwest, with children and young people involved in the decision making for these days.

The 2023 Annual Care Conference was well attended and allowed carer participation and sharing of questions and potential service developments they wanted CANW to consider.

Early in 2024, the board of trustees approved a plan for the previous office space of the CANWe organisation to be converted into a three bedroomed residential children’s home. Planning permission for this was passed in September 2024, with work beginning on the conversion imminently.

Emotional Health and Wellbeing

Support continues to be provided to children in both primary and secondary schools across the Northwest of England, with excellent feedback received. The Young Carers service also continues to support children across the Blackburn with Darwen region.

In June 2023, the charity was successful in receiving funding to deliver services for those children and young people with autism, along with their families, and this contract has been extended for another 12 months. At the end of March 2024, there were 620 parents receiving support. A number of family activity days open to families and their siblings were arranged to the places such as the sensory gym and snow tubing and were a huge success.

The charity has supported 360 young carers, ranging in age from 5 to 18, with one young carer being awarded BBC Radio Lancashire’s ‘Make A Difference Highly Commended Carers Award’ in 2023.

In 23-24, across all of the services, Emotional Health and Wellbeing received 2,463 referrals and delivered 11,625 sessions for children and young people, along with 21 parent/carer sessions.

Criminal Justice and Social Inclusion

As part of the Peer Action Collective (PAC) work, looking at how young people affected by violence have an equal voice in decisions made at school, research was carried out with 75 young people aged between 10 and 20, identified six key principles to be embedded into further work.

The Appropriate Adult service works with six police forces across England and in the 23-24 financial year, accepted 18,566 referrals for support to children and young people in the criminal justice system.

CANW stands as a beacon of commitment to Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion, actively ensuring that teams reflect the diverse backgrounds and needs of the communities served. The focus is on local recruitment, engagement with local agencies supporting minority ethnic communities, and holding kitemarks in LGBTQ+ and disability awareness showcasing dedication to fostering an inclusive environment. Throughout the recruitment processes, CANW diligently ensures that the motivations of prospective appropriate adults align with the purpose of the AA role – to safeguard the interests of children and/or vulnerable persons. The organisation encourages active involvement of those with lived experience in the recruitment process, and consideration of each applicant's motivations and attitudes.

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CHILD ACTION NORTHWEST

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES

YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

As part of statutory repatriation, helping young people to break the cycle between adversity and anti-social behaviour, working alongside communities and the police, a team helped to restore the garden of a local community centre and undertook painting of toilet and community rooms. The centre is used by hundreds of people each week and the community garden would become part of a day care centre for the elderly.

Pro Contact

Pro Contact enables contact and reduces parental conflict. CANW delivers Improving Child and Family Arrangements (ICFA), supporting families with sustainable child arrangements and making recommendations to help families move forwards. CANW delivers ICFA services across the North and West, with nine sub-contractors.

In Q4 of 23-24, feedback was as below:

Contact Services

Contact Services often re-establishes or maintains contact in both private and public law proceedings or as a long-term solution to family time. In 23-24, 109 families were supported.

Planning Together for Children (PTC)

PTC aims to improve co-parenting. CANW delivers PTC across the Northwest of England. In 23-24, CANW worked with 1547 parents.

During 23-24, the charity has progressed well against its objectives, delivering strong outputs across each of its services and continuing to grow and develop relationships and opportunities.

Fundraising

During 23-24, the charity predominantly focussed its fundraising activities around building relationships with corporate partners and through the legacy Orphanage Cup football event. In kind donations were also received in the form of office furniture and skip hire, through local companies. The charity has strong values and principles in ensuring individual givers do not intrude on a person’s privacy or place the individual under any pressure.

The charity was also lucky to receive a number of volunteer hours during 23-24, reference to which is made earlier in this report.

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CHILD ACTION NORTHWEST

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES

YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

Financial review (including reserves policy review)

The group’s incoming resources for the year ended 31 March 2024 amounted to £6,566,637 and outgoing resources amounted to £6,797,963. The deficit reported during the year was £89,838, which was supported by an unrealised gain on investment assets of £141,488. The operating deficit for the year was £231,326. The plan for the year was a deficit plan due to the challenges in continuing to deliver large, commissioned contracts particularly with the cost of living crisis. This deficit plan was set by the Board in the context of the three to five year plan which would include steps to bring the financial position back to an underlying breakeven position.

During the year the Fostering Service continued to be a key contributor to the group’s turnover, however with most agreements having no increases in rate the service went into deficit. Towards the end of the year placement numbers have recovered and during the year with a refocus on service development was set. A number of contract uplifts have been negotiated for the new financial year.

The Emotional Health and Wellbeing service continued to operate in a variety of settings across Lancashire and beyond. The contract with Lancashire County Council (LCC) continued to produce excellent results in terms of favourable outcomes, as did our work with schools and other commissioners. The LCC service made a deficit during the 23-24 financial year, however an uplift to this contract was negotiated from April 2024.

The Supported Contact services continued to perform important work in difficult economic circumstances and continued to be developed Supported Contact services continued to be developed during the year. This continues to be an exciting area of development for the service. The Planning Together for Children (PTC) was mobilised in early 2023-24 and has proved extremely successful.

Young Carers has ringfenced monies in 23-24, from previous financial years, with additional funding secured throughout the year for new projects, including the Autism service. The service continues to find innovative ways to extend reach and value, continuing to deliver excellent services.

Criminal Justice services continue to do excellent work meeting increasing demand with growing referral numbers across the extended geography that we support. Some contract uplifts were also negotiated during the 23-24 financial year to ensure that services remain viable.

The principal risks for CANW are those associated with contracted income and this not being reviewed in line with inflation and other increases. There are also risks associated with some shorter term contracts of work that do not provide stability for longer term financial planning. To manage these risks, the charity is regularly reviewing its risk register, undertaking contract negotiation meetings with commissioners and also developing it’s growth strategy to focus on income generating activity for the business, as well as identifying longer contracts, to provide more stability.

Principal Funding

The majority of funding is from services commissioned by local authorities and other public bodies predominantly across the North of England. Grant funding during the year amounted to £120,607, with contributions from the public totalling £68,339.

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CHILD ACTION NORTHWEST

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES

YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

Investments

The investment portfolio is held by Schroders, Cazenove Capital, on a discretionary basis with the overall objective being to produce the best financial return possible, within a low to medium risk rating, over a medium to long term period. The financial markets have recovered slightly in the 23-24 financial period. This resulted in a realised and unrealised gain of £141,488.

Reserves

The reserves policy in place is reviewed at least annually by the board.

The group held total funds of £3,082,361 at 31 March 2024. Of these, £41,825 were restricted, therefore these funds were not available for the general purposes of the group. The group held unrestricted funds of £3,040,536 at 31 March 2024. However, of this, £565,736 can only be realised by disposing of tangible fixed assets. Therefore, at 31 March 2024, the group had available liquid unrestricted reserves of £2,474,800.

The required level of reserves, set out in the policy, to cover organisational running costs, if necessary, is £1,650,000. This is based on the planned expenditure in 2023-24. The actual free liquid reserves held at 31 March 2024 were, therefore, £824,800. The Board feels that it is prudent to maintain these surplus free reserves.

The board remains open to possibility of investing in new services, or the expansion of existing ones, whose aims are in line with objectives of the group and which have the potential to contribute to the financial base of the organisation.

The board holds no uncertainties about the charity continuing as a going concern in the coming financial year.

Plans for future periods

The last year has seen CANW continuing to address and respond to growing levels of need demonstrated across the communities and individuals we support. This has led the Charity to review its strategic plan and objectives and to continue to invest in its people and systems to ensure we are well placed to address the many challenges of inequality and inequity.

The impact of inflation continues to influence our financial position – whilst this is much more under control than at the same time last year, the impact is still being felt across some services. In particular, some contract uplifts have had to be negotiated and as we move into the coming 12 months, a number of contracts will be coming to an end. This will mean the re-negotiation of some of these contracts, where CANW is best placed to deliver the services through its talented workforce. In line with these re-negotiations, the strategic plan will continue to be monitored and implemented.

The charity is about to move to a new HQ facility, which leaves exciting opportunity for the original Blackburn orphanage building, The Homestead. Over the next twelve months, plans will be developed to transform the building back into a space for children, rooting the charity in its origins.

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CHILD ACTION NORTHWEST

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES

YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

The charity is also excited to continue to build and expand its residential offer, with planning permission recently having been granted to convert a previous office premises into a three bedroom residential home for children. It is anticipated that over the coming years, more residential properties will be acquired, increasing the number of places available for those children in need of a loving, caring home and where staying within the family unit or in foster care is not an option for them.

Our plans to grow and develop our service offer has therefore never been more important and our efforts to generate additional voluntary income are designed to provide the sustainability needed to ensure our team can support and engage with more children, families and communities.

We have consulted with our stakeholders, children and commissioners and to understand what is important to them and the services and gaps they would like to see us deliver going forward; Children and Young People have told us about the things that are important to them and what they would like from CANW. They told us that being supported in schools and getting opportunities to learn and develop skills is important to them, that relationships with friends and families can sometimes be difficult and they would like support there. They said that sometimes they feel anxious and down and would like support with their mental health and wellbeing. They also told us that they enjoyed spending time together and that they would like more opportunities to meet together and enjoy activities.

Foster carers have told us that it is important that they receive practical and emotional support and that children in foster families want to receive their own support and that being a voluntary fostering agency with a strong value base is important. They want opportunities to meet with each other and gain peer support and that the relationships with their support workers is important.

Our commissioners and other stakeholders have told us that they want to further develop partnership working, that they can see gaps in mental health provision and that early intervention is important to them. There continues to be gaps in mental health and wellbeing support for Children and Young People who have been looked after and are leaving care. In addition, risk management of the needs of very complex young people is important. Unfortunately, colleagues across our Emotional Health and Wellbeing team have also reported significant increases in levels of self-harm and suicidal ideation, as well as problematic rises in the impact of worrying content from social platforms such as TikTok and Instagram. A focus on mitigating the impact of online content is a priority for the team as well as considering how to develop and disseminate positive digital content.

Partnership working across the voluntary sector has also come into focus this year and will grow as a priority over the next 12 – 18 months and organisations look for opportunities to come together solve complex social problems, rather than working in isolation.

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CHILD ACTION NORTHWEST

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES

YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

Statement of Trustees’ responsibilities

The trustees (who are also directors of Child Action Northwest for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the Trustees’ Annual Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

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

The trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that 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 hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

In so far as the trustees are aware:

Auditor

MHA are deemed to be re-appointed under section 487 (2) of the Companies Act 2006.

The trustees’ report, incorporating a strategic report, was approved by order of the board of trustees, as the company directors, on 4 November 2024 and signed on its behalf by:

…………………………………………… Mrs Webb – Chair

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Docusign Envelope ID: 572E5C2D-3825-4BBA-AF53-6160F35E8E2F

CHILD ACTION NORTHWEST

INDEPENDENT AUDITORS’ REPORT

TO THE MEMBERS AND TRUSTEES OF CHILD ACTION NORTHWEST

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of Child Action Northwest (the ‘parent charitable company’) and its subsidiaries (the ‘group’) for the year ended 31 March 2024 which comprise the Group Statement of Financial Activities, the Group and the Parent Charitable Company Balance Sheet, the Group Cash Flow Statement and the related notes, 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).

In our opinion the financial statements:

Basis for opinion

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the 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. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

Conclusions relating to going concern

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

Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the group’s or 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 other information comprises the information included in the trustees annual report, other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. The trustees are responsible for the other information contained within the annual report. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon. Our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the course of the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether 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.

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Docusign Envelope ID: 572E5C2D-3825-4BBA-AF53-6160F35E8E2F

CHILD ACTION NORTHWEST

INDEPENDENT AUDITORS’ REPORT (CONTINUED)

TO THE MEMBERS AND TRUSTEES OF CHILD ACTION NORTHWEST

Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006

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

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

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Companies Act 2006 and the Charities Act 2011 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:

Responsibilities of trustees

As explained more fully in the trustees’ responsibilities statement set out on page 42, the trustees (who are also the directors of the charitable company for the purposes of company law) are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the trustees determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

In preparing the financial statements, the trustees are responsible for assessing the group’s and 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.

Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

We have been appointed auditor under the Companies Act 2006 and section 151 of the Charities Act 2011 and report in accordance with those Acts.

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.

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Docusign Envelope ID: 572E5C2D-3825-4BBA-AF53-6160F35E8E2F

CHILD ACTION NORTHWEST

INDEPENDENT AUDITORS’ REPORT (CONTINUED)

TO THE MEMBERS AND TRUSTEES OF CHILD ACTION NORTHWEST

Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

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 specific procedures for this engagement and the extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud, is detailed below.

Because of the inherent limitations of an audit, there is a risk that we will not detect all irregularities, including those leading to a material misstatement in the financial statements or non-compliance with regulation. This risk increases the more that compliance with a law or regulation is removed from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, as we will be less likely to become aware of instances of non-compliance. The risk is also greater regarding irregularities occurring due to fraud rather than error, as fraud involves intentional concealment, forgery, collusion, omission or misrepresentation.

A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at: 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 and to the charitable company’s trustees, as a body, in accordance with Part 4 of the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charitable company’s members and its trustees 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 and the charitable company’s trustees as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

Nicola Mason MA(Cantab) FCA DChA

Senior Statutory Auditor For and on behalf of MHA, Statutory Auditor Preston, United Kingdom

November 21, 2024

……………………

MHA is the trading name of MacIntyre Hudson LLP, a limited liability partnership in England and Wales (registered number OC312313)

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Docusign Envelope ID: 572E5C2D-3825-4BBA-AF53-6160F35E8E2F

CHILD ACTION NORTHWEST

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES (INCORPORATING THE INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT)

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

Note
Income from:
Donations and legacies
4
Charitable activities
5
Investment income
6
Other income
7
Total incoming resources
Expenditure on:
Raising funds
Charitable activities
Care and Accommodation Services
Youth and Engagement Support
Family Wellbeing:
Family Support
Youth Justice
Adult Community Services
Total outgoing resources
8
Realised gains/(losses) on investment assets
Unrealised gains/(losses) on investment assets
Net income/(expenditure)
Transfers between funds
14 & 15
Net movement in funds
Reconciliation of funds:
Total funds brought forward
14 & 15
Total funds carried forward
14 & 15		 Unrestricted
Funds
£
68,339
6,387,671
40,922
28,494
6,525,426
141,416
2,212,246
122,355
3,071,733
1,083,953
114,429
6,746,132
(220,706)
-
141,488
(79,218)
-
(79,218)
3,119,754
3,040,536		 Restricted
Funds
£
-
41,211
-
-
41,211
-
10,000
29,120
12,711
-
-
51,831
(10,620)
-
-
(10,620)
-
(10,620)
52,445
41,825		 Total
2024
£
68,339
6,428,882
40,922
28,494
6,566,637
141,416
2,222,246
151,475
3,084,444
1,083,953
114,429
6,797,963
(231,326)
-
141,488
(89,838)
-
(89,838)
3,172,199
3,082,361		 Total
2023
£
51,637
5,834,190
37,042
36,076
5,958,945
135,814
1,996,749
120,552
3,005,097
900,643
187,504
6,346,359
(387,414)
(58,974)
(88,240)
(534,628)
-
(534,628)
3,706,827
3,172,199

The Statement of Financial Activities includes all gains and losses in the year.

All activities derive from continuing activities.

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Docusign Envelope ID: 572E5C2D-3825-4BBA-AF53-6160F35E8E2F

CHILD ACTION NORTHWEST

BALANCE SHEET

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

Fixed assets
Tangible assets
10
Investments
11
Current assets
Debtors
12
Cash at bank and in hand
Creditors
Amounts falling due within one year
13
Net current assets / liabilities
Total assets less current liabilities
Capital and reserves
Restricted funds
15
Unrestricted funds:
- Revaluation reserve
14
- Fixed asset funds
14
- General unrestricted funds
14		 2024
2023
£
£
565,736
618,843
2,480,314
2,394,904
3,046,050
3,013,747
1,142,489
1,101,851
486,835
373,913
1,629,324
1,475,764
(1,593,013)
(1,317,312)
36,311
158,452
3,082,361
3,172,199
41,825
52,445
90,000
90,000
475,736
528,843
2,474,800
2,500,911
3,040,536
3,119,754
3,082,361
3,172,199

Group		 2024
2023
£
£
565,736
618,843
2,480,314
2,394,904
Charity
3,046,050
3,013,747
1,142,930
1,035,608
396,483
356,162
1,539,413
1,391,770
(1,573,138)
(1,300,612)
(33,725)
91,158
3,012,325
3,104,905
41,825
52,445
90,000
90,000
475,736
528,843
2,404,764
2,433,617
2,970,500
3,052,460
3,012,325
3,104,905

These financial statements were approved by the Board of Trustees and authorised for issue on 4 November 2024 and are signed on their behalf by:

……………………………………….

Mrs Webb - Chair

Company number: 00820660

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Docusign Envelope ID: 572E5C2D-3825-4BBA-AF53-6160F35E8E2F

CHILD ACTION NORTHWEST

CONSOLIDATED CASH FLOW STATEMENT

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

Note
Cash generated from operating activities
1
Cash provided by investing activities
Interest received
Income from listed investments
Cash flows provided by (used in) financing activities
Payments to acquire tangible assets
Payments to acquire investments
Receipts from sales of investments
Increase/(decrease) in cash and cash equivalents in the year
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the year
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year
2		 2024
£
(4,681)
28,494
40,922
69,416
(7,891)
(2,551,303)
2,571,787

12,593
77,328
457,021
534,349		 2023
£
(367,047)
14,076
37,042
51,118
(7,531)
(1,114,607)
894,488
(227,650)
(543,579)
1,000,600
457,021

-23-

Docusign Envelope ID: 572E5C2D-3825-4BBA-AF53-6160F35E8E2F

CHILD ACTION NORTHWEST

CONSOLIDATED CASH FLOW STATEMENT NOTES

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

1 Reconciliation of net movement in funds to net cash flow from operating activities

2024
£
Net incoming resources
(89,838)
Unrealised (gains)/losses on investment assets
(141,488)
Depreciation of tangible assets
60,998
(Profit)/loss on disposal of tangible assets
-
(Profit)/loss on disposal of investments
-
Bank interest received
(28,494)
Income from listed investments
(40,922)
Decrease/(increase) in debtors
(40,638)
Increase/(decrease) in creditors
275,701
(4,681)
2
Analysis of net funds
At 1 April
Cash
Other non
2023
flow
cash changes
£
£
£
Net cash:
Cash at bank and in hand
373,913

15,922
97,000
Overdraft
-
-
-
373,913
15,922
97,000
Cash on short term deposit
83,108
63,310
(97,000)
Net funds
457,021
79,232

-		 2023
£
(534,628)
88,240
63,359
-
58,974
(14,076)
(37,042)
(422,617)
430,743
(367,047)
At 31 March
2024
£
486,835
-
486,835
49,418
536,253

3 Reconciliation of net cash flow to movement in net funds

Increase/(decrease) in cash in the year
Increase/(decrease) in liquid resources
Movement in net funds in the year
Opening net funds
Closing net funds		 2024
2023
£
£
15,922
(541,904)
63,310
(1,675)
79,232
(543,579)
457,021
1,000,600
536,253
457,021

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Docusign Envelope ID: 572E5C2D-3825-4BBA-AF53-6160F35E8E2F

CHILD ACTION NORTHWEST

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

1 Accounting policies

Legal form

The charity constitutes a limited company, limited by guarantee as defined by the Companies Act 2006, incorporated in England and Wales. The registered office is as stated on page 4.

Basis of accounting

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) issued in October 2019, the Charities Act 2011 and the Companies Act 2006.

Child Action Northwest meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS 102. Assets and liabilities are initially recognised at historical cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policy notes.

Basis of consolidation

The consolidated financial statements incorporate all assets and liabilities and income and expenditure of the wholly owned non-charitable subsidiary community interest company, CANWe Solutions CIC, made to up 31 March 2024.

Preparation of the accounts on a going concern basis

At the time of approval of the financial statements, the trustees have considered the charity’s financial position and performance. The trustees have considered the twelve month period following approval of the accounts and have concluded that the charity appears to have sufficient cash resources to continue to meet its liabilities as they fall due. This is supported by an investment portfolio of £2,480,314 at 31 March 2024 which could be liquidised to fund short term working capital requirements should the need arise. Therefore the trustees continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the financial statements.

Incoming resources

Income is recognised when the charity has entitlement to the funds, any performance conditions attached to the item of income have been met, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount can be measured reliably. The following specific policies are applied:

The value of services provided by volunteers is not incorporated into these financial statements. Further details of the contribution made by volunteers can be found in the trustees’ annual report.

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Docusign Envelope ID: 572E5C2D-3825-4BBA-AF53-6160F35E8E2F

CHILD ACTION NORTHWEST

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

1 Accounting policies (continued)

Resources expended

Expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to make a payment to a third party, it is probable that settlement will be required and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. Expenditure is classified under the following activity headings:

Fund accounting

The group has a number of restricted income funds to account for situations where a donor requires that a donation must be spent on a particular purpose or where funds have been raised for a specific purpose.

All other funds are unrestricted funds which are available for use in furtherance of the general objectives of the charity. Designated funds are unrestricted funds set aside for particular purposes.

The revaluation reserve represents the difference between the historical cost of fixed assets and the revalued amount included within the balance sheet.

Pension scheme

The group operates group personal pension arrangements. Contributions payable are charged to the profit and loss account in the year they are payable.

Taxation

Child Action North West is exempt from corporation tax on its charitable activities. CANWe Solutions CIC is a taxable entity and therefore provisions for tax are included where relevant.

VAT

As the charity is not registered for VAT all resources expended are classified under activity headings that aggregate all costs related to the category. Irrecoverable VAT is charged against the category of resources expended for which it was incurred.

Tangible fixed assets

Depreciation is provided at the following annual rates in order to write off each asset over its estimated useful life:

useful life:
Homestead & Springfield Court land and buildings - 4% straight line
Other land and buildings - 1.8% - 6.5% straight line
Property alterations - 4% straight line
Furniture & fittings - 10% straight line
Motor vehicles - 25% straight line
Equipment - 20% straight line

There is no readily available split of the land element included within land and buildings and so the entire balance has been depreciated.

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Docusign Envelope ID: 572E5C2D-3825-4BBA-AF53-6160F35E8E2F

CHILD ACTION NORTHWEST

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

1 Accounting policies (continued)

Tangible fixed assets (continued)

The charity has taken advantage of the transitional provisions of section 35.10 (d) of FRS 102 and has continued to include land and buildings at a combination of cost and a valuation undertaken before the implementation of the Reporting Standard.

Paragraph 16.4A of FRS102 provides an accounting policy choice for group members which rent investment property to another group entity to account for those properties at either fair value through profit or loss or by transferring them to property, plant and equipment and applying the cost model. The latter accounting policy choice has been selected.

Stocks

No account is taken of stocks of food or other consumable items at the accounting date, on the grounds that the balance is immaterial in value.

Financial instruments

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

Basic financial instruments are initially recognised at transaction value and subsequently measured at their settlement value.

Investments are re-stated at their fair value at each subsequent year end and any unrealised gains or losses are reported in the Statement of Financial Activities.

Operating leases

Rentals payable under operating leases are charged against income on a straight line basis over the lease term.

Government grants

Government grants are recognised at the fair value of the asset received or receivable when there is reasonable assurance that the grant conditions will be met and the grants will be received.

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Docusign Envelope ID: 572E5C2D-3825-4BBA-AF53-6160F35E8E2F

CHILD ACTION NORTHWEST

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

2 Critical accounting estimates and judgements

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

The estimates and underlying assumptions are reviewed on an ongoing basis. Revisions to accounting estimates are recognised in the period in which the estimate is revised, if the revision affects only that period, or in the period of the revision and future periods if the revision affects both current and future periods. The estimates and assumptions which have a significant risk of causing a material adjustment to the carrying amount of assets and liabilities are outlined below:

Funding on payment by result contracts

In respect of payment by result contracts, management are required to assess the stage of project delivery at the year end in order to calculate the entitlement earned. If confirmation has not been received by the commissioner on the approved project delivery then the income included within the accounts is based on management’s best assessment of the delivery achieved. Any amounts earned but not yet received are included within accrued income and the converse is accounted for within deferred income in order to ensure that the funding is recognised in the same accounting period as the related services are provided.

Impairment of tangible fixed assets

At each reporting date the trustees are required to assess whether there is any indication of impairment. This is done with reference to third party valuations, if obtained during the period. If not, impairment indicators are considered with reference to the estimated value in use and the assets’ future service potential to the charity’s beneficiaries.

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Docusign Envelope ID: 572E5C2D-3825-4BBA-AF53-6160F35E8E2F

CHILD ACTION NORTHWEST

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

3 Financial performance of the charity

The consolidated statement of financial activities includes the results of the charity’s wholly owned subsidiary, CANWe Solutions CIC.

Total incoming resources for the charity alone are £6,449,466 (2023: £5,755,664) and the net decrease in funds for the year is £92,580 (2023: decrease of £550,405).

4 Donations and legacies

Other donations Unrestricted
Restricted
2024
2023
£
£
£
£
68,339
-
68,339
51,637
68,339
-
68,339
51,637

Income from donations and legacies totalled £51,637 (2022: £51,747) all of which was unrestricted in nature in both the current and previous year.

5 Incoming resources from charitable activities

Care Services
Youth and Community Support
Family Wellbeing:
Family Support
Youth Justice
Adult Community Services		 Unrestricted
Restricted
2024
£
£
£
2,137,329
-
2,137,329
120,574
28,500
149,074
2,941,610
12,711
2,954,321
1,055,147
-
1,055,147
133,011
-
133,011
6,387,671
41,211
6,428,882		 2023
£
1,799,169
120,448
2,800,260
886,332
227,981
5,834,190

Prior year incoming resources from charitable activities

Care Services
Youth and Community Support
Family Wellbeing:
Family Support
Youth Justice
Adult Community Services		 Unrestricted
Restricted
2023
2022
£
£
£
£
1,799,169
-
1,799,169
2,163,382
120,448
-
120,448
95,786
2,797,971
2,289
2,800,260
2,980,139
886,332
-
886,332
699,043
227,981
-
227,981
230,203
5,831,901
2,289
5,834,190
6,168,553

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Docusign Envelope ID: 572E5C2D-3825-4BBA-AF53-6160F35E8E2F

CHILD ACTION NORTHWEST

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

6 Investment income

Investment income
Unrestricted
Restricted
2024
£
£
£
Income from listed investments
40,922
-
40,922
40,922
-
40,922		 2023
£
37,042
37,042

Investment income totalled £40,922 (2023: £37,042), all of which was unrestricted in nature in both the current and previous year.

7 Other incoming resources

Bank interest
Other grant income received		 Unrestricted
Restricted
2024
2023
£
£
£
£
28,494
-
28,494
14,076
-
-
-
22,000
28,494
-
28,494
36,076

Other income totalled £28,494 (2023: £36,076), of which £nil (2023: £nil) was restricted and £28,494 was unrestricted (2023: £36,076).

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Docusign Envelope ID: 572E5C2D-3825-4BBA-AF53-6160F35E8E2F

CHILD ACTION NORTHWEST

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

8 Total resources expended

Youth Adult Adult
Basis of Care Engagement Family Youth Public Central Community Total Total
allocation Services and Support Support Justice Relations Management Services 2024 2023
£ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £
Costs directly allocated to activities
Salaries and Wages Direct 393,174 92,153 1,313,525 698,726 103,903 469,088 91,360 3,161,929 2,916,297
National Insurance Direct 38,691 6,898 100,597 30,020 10,573 50,068 8,200 245,047 236,614
Pension Fund Contributions Direct 16,597 2,233 40,299 11,919 4,557 20,503 2,893 99,001 95,388
Private Medical Insurance Direct 400 195 2,615 445 130 342 - 4,127 6,426
Subcontractor costs Direct 42,409 - 1,080,310 34,705 - - 4,842 1,162,266 1,149,823
Other staff costs Direct 36,723 2,205 55,590 72,314 664 42,011 1,563 211,070 181,610
Carers costs Direct 1,197,815 - - - - - - 1,197,815 1,047,861
Service operating costs Direct 5,705 1,641 3,484 4,458 5,803 2,711 772 24,574 28,938
Training costs Direct 14,939 1,209 4,616 571 667 2,149 - 24,151 25,145
Fundraising costs Direct 1,773 2,568 - - 5,489 5,347 - 15,177 13,817
Support and governance costs allocated to activities
Rent Usage - - - - - - - - 8,437
Other property costs Usage - - - - - 122,989 1,928 124,917 113,687
Insurance Usage - - - - - 146,392 - 146,392 135,431
Office running costs Usage 29,466 3,003 28,586 41,520 9,630 170,679 2,744 285,628 288,868
Central management Usage 441,947 39,161 454,822 189,275 - (1,125,205) - - -
Audit fees Usage - - - - - 25,635 - 25,635 18,903
Legal fees Usage - - - - - 5,276 - 5,276 6,559
Depreciation Usage - - - - - 60,998 - 60,998 63,359
Loss on disposal of assets Usage - - - - - - - - -
Bank charges Usage - - - - - 1,017 127 1,144 410
Other central costs Usage 2,607 209 - - - - - 2,816 8,786
2,222,246 151,475 3,084,444 1,083,953 141,416 - 114,429 6,797,963 6,346,359

Total resources expended amounted to £6,797,963 (2023: £6,346,359), of which £6,746,132 was unrestricted (2023: £6,320,258) and £51,831 was restricted (2023: £26,101).

-31-

Docusign Envelope ID: 572E5C2D-3825-4BBA-AF53-6160F35E8E2F

CHILD ACTION NORTHWEST

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

8 Total resources expended (continued)

Prior year total resources expended

Youth Adult Adult
Basis of Care Engagement Family Youth Public Central Community Total Total
allocation Services and Support Support Justice Relations Management Services 2023 2022
£ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £
Costs directly allocated to activities
Salaries and Wages Direct 321,332 76,339 1,165,343 549,059 89,068
 566,541 148,615 2,916,297 2,729,927
National Insurance Direct 30,637 6,178 93,637 21,636 9,470
 64,245 10,811 236,614 211,281
Pension Fund Contributions Direct 13,281 2,053 37,990 6,319 3,856 30,017 1,872 95,388 88,249
Private Medical Insurance Direct 976 - 358 5,092 - 6,426 6,599
Subcontractor costs Direct 32,902 3,010 1,083,380 23,658 - - 6,873 1,149,823 1,080,753
Other staff costs Direct 51,566 2,154 47,655 69,589 5,196 3,227 2,223 181,610 88,014
Carers costs Direct 1,047,861 - - - 1,047,861 1,178,397
Service operating costs Direct 10,999 992 981 4,016 9,474 890 1,586 28,938 62,526
Training costs Direct 9,710 305 3,419 474 368 10,869 - 25,145 19,864
Fundraising costs Direct 1,220 - 250 16 8,331 4,000 - 13,817 1,654
Support and governance costs allocated to activities
Rent Usage
 -
 - - - - - 8,437 8,437 5,846
Other property costs Usage - - - - - 112,062 1,625 113,687 68,678
Insurance Usage - - - - - 135,431 -
 135,431 163,813
Office running costs Usage 24,988 4,403 35,590 40,276 10,041 170,340 3,230
 288,868 246,846
Central management Usage 448,722 25,032 535,938 185,275 - (1,194,967) - - 10,118
Audit fees Usage - - - - - 18,903 -
 18,903 15,495
Legal fees Usage - - - - - 6,559 - 6,559 5,721
Depreciation Usage - - - - - 61,455 1,904 63,359 63,973
Loss on disposal of assets Usage - - - - - - - -
 -
Bank charges Usage - - - - - 287 123 410 561
Other central costs Usage 2,555 86 556 325 10 5,049 205 8,786 843
1,996,749 120,552 3,005,097 900,643 135,814 - 187,504
 6,346,359
 6,049,158

-32-

Docusign Envelope ID: 572E5C2D-3825-4BBA-AF53-6160F35E8E2F

CHILD ACTION NORTHWEST

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

8 Total resources expended (continued)

Total resources expended include:
Fees payable to the charity's auditor (exclusive of VAT):
Audit of the charity's annual accounts
Audit of the subsidiary's annual accounts
Fees payable to the charity's auditor for other services (exclusive of VAT):
Accountancy and other services
Indemnity insurance for the committee and senior employees
Operating lease rentals
- land and buildings
- other
Depreciation of tangible assets
Profit/(loss) on disposal of tangible fixed assets
Profit/(loss) on disposal of investments		 2024
2023
£
£
11,375
10,350
3,750
3,400
15,125
13,750
3,425
3,125
2024
2023
£
£
13,467
10,219
-
-
2,744

4,391
60,988
63,359

-

-
-
(58,974)

-33-

Docusign Envelope ID: 572E5C2D-3825-4BBA-AF53-6160F35E8E2F

CHILD ACTION NORTHWEST

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

Staff Costs
Salaries and wages
National insurance
Pension fund contributions		 2024
2023
£
£
3,161,929
2,916,297
245,047
236,614
99,001
95,388
3,505,977
3,248,299

The average number of persons employed by the group during the year was as follows:

Office and management
- full time
- part time
Others
- full time
- part time		 2024
2023
27
23
9
9
23
26
45
42
104
100

The full time equivalent of the part time staff is 27 (2023: 31). In addition the charity has made use of an average of 110 (2023: 90) sessional staff during the year working differing hours as and when required. During the year the charity had available to use an average of 168 sessional staff (2023: 131). As at the year end the charity had 186 available members of staff (2023: 143).

The number of employees whose annual remuneration was £60,000 or more were:

£60,000 - £70,000
£80,000 - £90,000		 2024
2023
-
1
1
1
1
2

The Trustees claimed £nil (2023: £229) in respect of reimbursement of mileage claims and other expenses.

The Board has identified the Chief Executive as being the key management personnel. The employee benefits paid in respect of key management personnel, including employer’s pension contributions and employer’s national insurance contributions, during the year was £117,771 (2023: £96,728).

-34-

Docusign Envelope ID: 572E5C2D-3825-4BBA-AF53-6160F35E8E2F

CHILD ACTION NORTHWEST

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

10 Tangible fixed assets

Charity

Cost
Balance at 1 April 2023
At deemed cost on transition to FRS102
At Cost
Additions
Disposals
Balance at 31 March 2024
Depreciation
Balance at 1 April 2023
Charge for the year
Disposals
Balance at 31 March 2024
Net book value
31 March 2024
31 March 2023		 Leasehold
land and
buildings
£
-
808,943
808,943
-
-
808,943
482,185
32,345
-
514,530
294,413
326,758		 Freehold
land and
buildings
£
90,000
685,752
775,752
-
-
775,752
514,132
16,888
-
531,020
244,732
261,620		 Furniture &
Fittings
£
-
5,181
5,181
-
-
5,181
518
516
-
1,034
4,147
4,663		 Motor
vehicles
£
-
64,488
64,488
-
(47,224)
17,264
64,488

-
(47,224)
17,264

-
-		 Equipment
£
-

266,442
266,442
7,891
-

274,333
240,640
11,249
-
251,889
22,444
25,802		 Total
£
90,000
1,830,806
1,920,806
7,891
(47,224)
1,881,473
1,301,963
60,998
(47,224)
1,315,737
565,736
618,843

The original cost of the land and buildings included at a valuation of £90,000 is not known.

Group

Cost
Balance at 1 April 2023
At deemed cost on transition to FRS102
At Cost
Additions
Disposals
Balance at 31 March 2024
Depreciation
Balance at 1 April 2023
Charge for the year
Disposals
Balance at 31 March 2024
Net book value
31 March 2024
31 March 2023		 Leasehold
land and
buildings
£
-
808,943
808,943
-
-
808,943
482,185
32,345
-
514,530
294,413
326,758		 Freehold
land and
buildings
£
90,000
685,752
775,752
-
-
775,752
514,132
16,888
-
531,020
244,732
261,620		 Furniture &
Fittings
£
-
5,181
5,181
-
-
5,181
518
516
-
1,034
4,147
4,663		 Motor
vehicles
£
-
122,562
122,562
-
(47,224)
75,338
122,562
-
(47,224)
75,338
-
-		 Equipment
Total
£
£
-
90,000
298,253
1,920,691
298,253
2,010,691
7,891
7,891
-
(47,224)
306,144
1,971,358
272,451
1,391,848
11,249
60,998
-
(47,224)
283,700
1,405,622
22,444
565,736
25,802
618,843

The original cost of the land and buildings included at a valuation of £90,000 is not known.

-35-

Docusign Envelope ID: 572E5C2D-3825-4BBA-AF53-6160F35E8E2F

CHILD ACTION NORTHWEST

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

11 Fixed Assets – Investments (Group and charity)

Listed investments
Market value at 1 April 2023
Additions
Disposals
Net gains/(losses) on revaluation at 31 March 2024
At 31 March 2024
Cash held within investment portfolio
Total investments
Represented by:
Listed on Recognised Stock Exchange:
Cazenove Unit Trust
Equities:
UK Equities
Europe (ex UK)
Global
Bonds:
UK Bonds
Global
AlternativesHedge Funds
Property
Commodities
Structured Products
Others
Cash
Historical cost at 31 March 2024		 2024
2023
£
£
2,311,796
2,238,891
2,551,303
1,114,607
(2,573,691)
(953,465)
141,488
(88,237)
2,430,896
2,311,796
49,418
83,108
2,480,314
2,394,904
2024
2023
£
£
26,383
53,136
37,430
-
1,093,024
1,031,576
388,492
300,894
274,381
369,313
107,603
138,545
120,531
147,377
136,721
50,785
56,601
305,421
104,479
49,418
83,108
2,480,314
2,394,904
2,276,718
2,163,953

Charity

In addition to the above investments, the charity also controls CANWe Solutions CIC, a company limited by guarantee and registered in England and Wales, which was incorporated on 18 March 2009 and of which Child Action Northwest is the sole member. The CIC commenced trading on 1 April 2009.

The principal activity of the company is that of benefiting the community by working with adults and young people suffering from worklessness, through funding from the government incentives. Its turnover for the year ended 31 March 2024 was £133,011 (2023: £227,980) and the surplus for the year then ended was £2,742 (2022: £15,577). The aggregate of its share capital and reserves at 31 March 2024 was £70,036 (2023: £67,294).

-36-

Docusign Envelope ID: 572E5C2D-3825-4BBA-AF53-6160F35E8E2F

CHILD ACTION NORTHWEST

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

12 Debtors

2024
2023
£
£
Trade debtors
558,922
479,663
Prepayments
583,567

622,188
Amounts owed by subsidiary undertaking
-
-

1,142,489
1,101,851
Group
13
Creditors: Amounts falling due within one year
2024
2023
£
£
Trade creditors
242,027
165,243
Accruals and deferred income
1,250,832
1,059,593
Taxation and social security
63,965
56,072
Other creditors
36,189
36,404
Amounts due to subsidiary undertaking
-
-
1,593,013
1,317,312
Group		 2024
2023
£
£
548,101

479,663
574,466
555,945
20,363
-
1,142,930
1,035,608
Charity
2024
2023
£
£
241,073
164,289
1,232,800
1,059,593
63,255
52,733
36,010
13,915
-

10,082
1,573,138
1,300,612
Charity

Included within creditors falling due within one year is deferred income held by the group of £786,196 (2023: £706,282) relating to payments on account received for contracts or performance related grants. The brought forward deferred income of £706,282 was released in full during the year.

-37-

Docusign Envelope ID: 572E5C2D-3825-4BBA-AF53-6160F35E8E2F

CHILD ACTION NORTHWEST

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

14 Analysis of unrestricted funds

At 1 April Gains on Gains on At 31 March
2023 Income Expenditure Transfers investments 2024
£ £ £ £ £ £
Charity general unrestricted funds
Revaluation reserve - property 90,000 -
 - - - 90,000
Fixed asset fund 528,843 - -
 (53,107) - 475,736
General unrestricted 2,433,617 6,408,255 (6,631,703) 53,107 141,488 2,404,764
3,052,460 6,408,255
 (6,631,703) - 141,488 2,970,500
CANWe Solutions CIC general unrestricted funds
Fixed asset fund - - - - - -
General unrestricted 67,294 133,212 (130,470)
 - - 70,036
67,294
 133,212 (130,470) - - 70,036
Total general unrestricted funds 3,119,754 6,541,467 (6,762,173) - 141,488 3,040,536
Total group unrestricted funds 3,119,754 6,541,467 (6,762,173) - 141,488 3,040,536
Analysis of restricted funds
At 1 April Gains on At 31 March
2023 Income
Expenditure		 Transfers investments 2024
£ £ £ £ £ £
Charity restricted funds
Care Services
National Lottery Leaving Care Grant 10,000 - (10,000) - - -
Young Carers
Young Farmers - 10,211 (10,211) - -
 -
Young Carers Blackburn 21,767 28,500 (29,120) - - 21,147
Young Peoples Space Fund 20,678 - - - - 20,678
Pro Contact - Contact Centre - 2,500 (2,500) - - -
52,445 41,211 (51,831) - - 41,825
CANWe Solutions CIC restricted funds - - - - - -
Group restricted funds 52,445 41,211 (51,831) - - 41,825
Total funds - charity 3,104,905 6,449,466 (6,683,534) - 141,488 3,012,325
Total funds - group 3,172,199 6,582,678 (6,814,004) - 141,488 3,082,361

15 Analysis of restricted funds

During the year ended 31 March 2022 the Charity was awarded a restricted grant from the National Lottery to support a Leaving Care project.

The Young Carers fund and Young Farmers funds relate to donations received for the specific purpose of supporting young carers with activities.

The Young Peoples’ Space Fund is a pot of funding that was set up to develop the Young Peoples’ Space at the head office building. This development was ongoing at the year end.

-38-

Docusign Envelope ID: 572E5C2D-3825-4BBA-AF53-6160F35E8E2F

CHILD ACTION NORTHWEST

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

16 Analysis of funds – prior year

Analysis of unrestricted funds

Analysis of unrestricted funds
Realised Unrealised
At 1 April **investment ** **investment ** At 31 March
2022 Income Expenditure Transfers gains gains 2023
£ £ £ £ £ £ £
Charity general unrestricted funds
Revaluation reserve - property 90,000 - - - - - 90,000
Fixed asset fund 582,766 - - (53,923) - - 528,843
General unrestricted 2,906,087 5,753,575 (6,132,754) 53,923 (58,974) (88,240) 2,433,617
3,578,853 5,753,575 (6,132,754) - (58,974) (88,240) 3,052,460
CANWe Solutions CIC general unrestricted funds
Fixed asset fund 1,904 - - (1,904) - - -
General unrestricted 49,813
 203,080 (187,503) 1,904 -
 - 67,294
51,717 203,080 (187,503) - - - 67,294
Total general unrestricted funds 3,630,570 5,956,655 (6,320,257) - (58,974) (88,240) 3,119,754
Total group unrestricted funds 3,630,570 5,956,655 (6,320,257) - (58,974) (88,240) 3,119,754
Realised Unrealised
At 1 April investment investment At 31 March
2022 Income Expenditure Transfers gains gains 2023
£ £ £ £ £ £ £
Charity restricted funds
Care Services
Children in Need 57 - (57) - - - -
National Lottery Leaving Care Grant 10,000 - - - - - 10,000
Young Carers
Young Farmers - 2,289 (2,289) - - - -
Young Carers Blackburn 44,403 - (22,636) - - - 21,767
Young Peoples Space Fund 21,797 - (1,119) - - - 20,678
76,257 2,289 (26,101) - - - 52,445
CANWe Solutions CIC restricted funds - - - - - - -
Group restricted funds 76,257 2,289 (26,101) - - - 52,445
Total funds - charity 3,655,110 5,755,864 (6,158,855) - (58,974) (88,240) 3,104,905
Total funds - group 3,706,827 5,958,944 (6,346,358) - (58,974) (88,240) 3,172,199

-39-

Docusign Envelope ID: 572E5C2D-3825-4BBA-AF53-6160F35E8E2F

CHILD ACTION NORTHWEST

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

17 Analysis of net assets between funds

Charity
Tangible fixed assets
Investments
Current assets
Current liabilities
Total net assets
Group
Tangible fixed assets
Investments
Current assets
Current liabilities
Total net assets		 Restricted
Unrestricted
Total
funds
funds
funds
£
£
£
-
565,736
565,736
-
2,480,314
2,480,314
41,825
1,497,588
1,539,413
-
(1,573,138)
(1,573,138)
41,825
2,970,500
3,012,325
Restricted
Unrestricted
Total
funds
funds
funds
£
£
£
-
565,736
565,736
-
2,480,314
2,480,314
41,825
1,587,499
1,629,324
-
(1,593,013)
(1,593,013)
41,825
3,040,536
3,082,361

Prior year analysis of net assets between funds

Charity
Tangible fixed assets
Investments
Current assets
Current liabilities
Total net assets
Group
Tangible fixed assets
Investments
Current assets
Current liabilities
Total net assets		 Restricted
Unrestricted
Total
funds
funds
funds
£
£
£
-
618,843
618,843
-
2,394,904
2,394,904
52,445
1,339,325
1,391,770
-
(1,300,612)
(1,300,612)
52,445
3,052,460
3,104,905
Restricted
Unrestricted
Total
funds
funds
funds
£
£
£
-
618,843
618,843
-
2,394,904
2,394,904
52,445
1,423,319
1,475,764
-
(1,317,312)
(1,317,312)
52,445
3,119,754
3,172,199

-40-

Docusign Envelope ID: 572E5C2D-3825-4BBA-AF53-6160F35E8E2F

CHILD ACTION NORTHWEST

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

18 Financial instruments

Carrying amount of financial assets
Measured at fair value through net income/expenditure
Debt instruments measured at amortised cost
Carrying amount of financial liabilities
Measured at amortised cost		 2024
2023
£
£
2,480,314

2,394,904
558,922
479,663
3,039,236
2,874,567
342,181
257,719
Group		 2024
2023
£
£
2,480,314
2,394,904
548,101

479,663

3,028,415
2,874,567
Charity
340,338
241,019

19 Pension commitments

The group operates group personal pension arrangements. Contributions payable by the group amounted to £98,299 (2023: £95,388). Outstanding pension contributions at 31 March 2024 amounted to £15,763 (2023: £15,947).

20 Operating lease commitments

At the reporting end date the group and the charity had outstanding commitments for future minimum lease payments under non-cancellable operating leases, which fall due as follows:

Charity
Within one year
Within two to five years
Over 5 years
Group
Within one year
Within two to five years
Over 5 years		 2024
2023
£
£
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
2024
2023
£
£
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Land & buildings
Land & buildings		 2024
2023
£
£
726
2,524
1,089
-
-
-
Other assets
1,815
2,524
2024
2023
£
£
726
2,524
1,089
-
-
-
Other assets
1,815
2,524

21 Related party transactions

The charity has taken advantage of the exemption conferred by FRS 102 Section 33, in that transactions entered into between two or more members of the group are not disclosed, provided that any subsidiary which is a party to the transaction is wholly owned by such a member.

There were no related party transactions apart from any disclosed in note 9 relating to expenses paid to trustees and key management personnel remuneration.

-41-