2023-03-31-accounts

Company number: 1633333 Charity number: 284912 Charity number (Scotland): SC039169

Contact a Family

(trading as Contact)

Report and financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2023

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Contact a Family (trading as Contact)

Reference and administrative information

For the year ended 31 March 2023

Status The organisation is a charitable company limited by guarantee, incorporated on 5 May 1982 and registered as a charity on 20 June 1982.

Governing document The company was established under a Memorandum of Association which established the objects and powers of the charitable company and is governed under its Articles of Association. The Memorandum and Articles of Association were incorporated on 5 May 1982 and amended on 6 December 1999, 22 November 2004, 22 November 2007 and 20 November 2008.

Summary of investment powers The Trustees may deposit or invest funds in any manner, but only after obtaining advice from a financial expert and having regard to the suitability of investments and the need for diversification. The management of investments may be delegated to a financial expert, provided transactions and performance are reported to and reviewed by the Trustees. The Trustees have the power to arrange for investments to be held in the name of a nominee under the control of the Trustees or of a financial expert acting under their instructions and to pay any reasonable fee required.

Company number 1633333

Charity number 284912

Charity number (Scotland) SC039169

Registered office and operational address Wenlock Studios, 50-52 Wharf Road, London, N1 7EU

Trading name Contact

Honorary officers Chris Carr, Chair; Angela Kitching, Deputy Chair; Eleanor Christie, Treasurer

Bankers Unity Trust Bank plc, Nine Brindleyplace, 4 Oozells Square, Birmingham B1 2HB

Solicitors Russell-Cooke Solicitors, 2 Putney Hill, Putney, London, SW15 6AB

Auditors Sayer Vincent, Chartered accountants and statutory auditors. Invicta House, 108-114 Golden Lane, London EC1Y 0TL

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Contact a Family (trading as Contact)

Reference and administrative information

For the year ended 31 March 2023

Trustees

The Trustees, who are also directors under company law, who served during the year and up to the date of this report were as follows:

Chris Carr, Chair Angela Kitching, Vice Chair Eleanor Christie, Treasurer David Duly Jamie Holmes Gary Lapthorn retired December 2022 Janet Leach Matt Wynes retired April 2023 Jamileh Tufail Gyll Curtis Machin Charles Sladdin joined June 2022 Sarah Church joined June 2022 Ben Clarkson joined June 2022 Kate Fleck joined September 2023 Laura Riach joined September 2023

Patrons

Nick Crean Vice President Josephine Fitzalan Howard Vice President Patricia Astley Sir Al Aynsley Green Samantha Cameron Georgina David Henry Hoare Francesca Martinez Ruth, Lady Morris of Kenwood CBE Nigel Nicholls Vivienne Parry Susan Reizenstein Paul Riseborough Philippa Russell OBE Clare Smyth Paul Soames Claire Tomalin Angus Walker Lord and Lady Wigley AM

Chief Executive Officer

Amanda Batten until March 2023 Anna Bird joined June 2023

Interim Chief Executive Officer

Jenny Jones April - May 2023

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Contact a Family (trading as Contact)

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2023

Introduction from the Chair, Chris Carr, for the year ended 31 March 2023

Sadly, the pressures on families with disabled children have continued to escalate this year, as they face chronic delays in diagnosis and getting support for their child from health, education and social care services. A backlog of need created by the pandemic and nationwide staff shortages means vital support services have been diminished or vanished entirely.

In addition, the cost-of-living crisis has heaped pressure on families. The extra costs families face for energy, as they require vital electrical equipment to care for their child, was at the forefront of a prominent Contact campaign during the year: Out of Energy.

Throughout the year Contact has made every effort to support and stand alongside families in these increasingly challenging times. Contact’s helpline and Family Support Workers have experienced an increase in the length and complexity of enquiries from families. In some cases, calls and appointments have doubled in length.

We not only met this increased demand, we also continued to work towards our strategic ambition to double the number of families we support through our advice services. In addition, we made strides in our second strategic ambition to build a more sustainable fundraising model.

As a result of our emergency response to the pandemic in 2020-21, we made the decision this year to add a “booster” year to our strategic plan, Transforming Lives Together, which takes us through to March 2024. This will ensure we consolidate on the growth we have achieved. At the same time, we recognised that the situation for families has changed since the strategy was formulated, so in order to respond to the current challenges we added a third ambition. Going forward we will trial new approaches to strengthen our support and bridge gaps in services, to better meet the escalating needs of families.

It was great to be back supporting families in person at drop ins and coffee mornings and in hospitals. And we have thoroughly enjoyed our face-to-face events and family days, which have felt really special and valuable after so long living with restrictions.

Contact’s financial position remains strong with good operational performance this year. For this, I particularly want to thank all of our supporters, volunteers, individual fundraisers and the many Trusts and Foundations who have enabled us to continue and to expand our work.

As a Board we implemented the planned release of some of our designated funds to invest in our future sustainability. The money was, in part, used for a face-to-face fundraising pilot to increase the number of regular monthly givers and Contact lottery players - investing money now to generate money for the future.

I also want to take this opportunity to thank all our staff members without whom we couldn’t achieve our objectives. I want to pay particular tribute to Amanda Batten who

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Contact a Family (trading as Contact)

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2023

stepped down in March 2023 as Chief Executive of Contact after nine years. She brought great expertise, wisdom and insight to the job as well as warmth and vision. Her time at Contact has ensured that families remain at the heart of what the charity does. And importantly, Amanda has left Contact more robust ensuring it is here for many years to come, at a time when our role is more important than ever.

Thank you to Jenny Jones for successfully standing in as interim CEO filling in the gap between Amanda leaving and Anna Bird starting as our new CEO. We look forward to an exciting future under Anna’s leadership.

I would also like to pass on my heartfelt thanks to the Board of Trustees for their dedicated service, their wisdom, expertise and commitment and to Gary Lapthorn who stepped down in December 2022 and to Matt Wynes who stood down in April 2023. I am very grateful for their service. We welcomed new members Charles Sladdin, Sarah Church and Ben Clarkson in June 2022 who have brought fresh enthusiasm and expertise and we have enjoyed working alongside them this year.

Chris Carr Chair

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Contact a Family (trading as Contact)

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2023

TRUSTEES’ REPORT

• At Contact we work in three inter-connected ways.

• We support families with the best possible guidance and information.

• We bring families together to support each other.

• We help families to campaign, volunteer and fundraise to improve life for themselves and others.

This report updates on what we have delivered as a charity in 2022-23 in each area.

Strategic report

Supporting families

Contact’s impact 2022-23

• In 2022/23, Contact helped 291,000 parents with information, advice and support. This is more than 100,000 higher than last year. We can confirm that our reach has grown across all our family support offerings (workshops, events, newsletters, social media groups). Nonetheless, the main reason for the increase is our web figure for meaningful visits to our information and advice pages. This is calculated using the new, more accurate Google Analytics measure of engaged users.

• Our helpline responded to 10,455 enquiries from parent carers. This included 1,004 benefits enquiries and 362 in-depth call-backs by the Family Finances helpline.

• We helped a further 4,380 parent carers with telephone or face to face appointments through our teams in London, the nations, in hospitals and through our Listening Ear service.

• 6,732 parent carers, 1,167 children/young people and 988 professionals attended our group activities such as online and face to face workshops and family days.

• We had over 1 million visitors to our website with 631,259 visiting our advice and support section.

• We inspired 17,558 parent carers to take campaign action including writing to their MPs, taking part in research, meeting government ministers and speaking out in the media. And we reached almost 40 million people with our media coverage raising awareness of issues affecting families with disabled children.

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Contact a Family (trading as Contact)

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2023

Outcomes

After accessing Contact’s services, families reported:

• 93% feel better informed about how to get the support they need;

• 88% feel more confident;

• 76% feel less isolated;

Information, advice and guidance

The reach and impact of Contact’s trusted and accessible information and advice remained impressive throughout 2022/23. As we adapt our mode of delivery to reach more families face-to-face, while maintaining an online offer, our reach across different activities remains stable reflecting the sustained quality of Contact’s services.

Helpline

Demand for advice and information from our Helpline team continued to increase over the year, and our team of dedicated parent advisers dealt with almost 10,500 enquiries. This included 1,004 benefits enquiries and 362 in-depth call-backs by the Family Finances helpline. Our advisers provided a first- rate service to families, advising them on issues including benefits, education, getting a diagnosis and getting support. The challenges families raise through the service continue to irise in complexity.

Online

We reached more families online who use our website, podcasts and our new chatbot tool, enabling thousands of families to resolve their queries faster online.

Building on our digital transformation work over the previous 2 years we continued to use a test and learn approach to respond to the way parents use our information and advice service. We launched our new Charlie the Chatbot tool which means families can access our information, support and advice 24/7 and created a new online ‘hub’ for families who care for a child with hemiplegia that we support. Thanks to funding we were able to create a suite of new videos about Disability Living Allowance in a number of community languages for people new to this benefit. We also held a number of extremely popular Facebook Q&A and Facebook Live sessions and grew our digital engagement with families through them entering welcome journeys and engaging with us on social media. Our closed Facebook page has over 18,000 members.

“Contact is the most informative website which covers a vast amount of topics and advice. We always find what we need answers to with Contact, it has not failed us as yet.” A parent carer.

“I have used the website and helpline countless times since my daughter was born 16 years ago. Thanks to the advice, we receive the benefits we are entitled to and have ensured that her mainstream education is accessible.” A parent carer

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Contact a Family (trading as Contact)

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2023

Key programmes of support

Listening Ear

Our Listening Ear service, which we introduced in response to the increased emotional needs of families during the pandemic, continued to provide vital support in these challenging times.

During the year we gathered information from parent carers about why they used the Listening Ear service:

• 60% needed emotional support

• 56% to speak to someone in person during a longer appointment as their questions were complex.

The Parent Advisers in our Listening Ear team are all parents of children and young people with disabilities, plus they have a huge wealth of professional experience. The team supported 626 individual parent carers throughout the year, with 920 Listening Ear appointments giving vital advice and support over the telephone.

We know from the 113 survey responses collected after Listening Ear appointments that the service had a really positive impact on the families using it:

• 96% feel better informed about how to get the support they need;

• 91% feel more confident;

• 99% felt supported.

“I have more options than I thought […] Feel less trapped by my current situation [I will] Explore more options regarding my child’s education […] Contact is a life-saving organisation that fills the void often left by the medical professionals when it comes to children’s and parents’ needs regarding disability and health.” A parent carer

“It was good to know that the person had knowledge of how to help, and she was sympathetic without being patronising. It helped being able to explain general situation in notes before speaking to her, so I didn't have to waffle and get upset . Timing was prompt and good to be able to plan it without having to wonder if someone would call or not. […] Fantastic service. Wish I’d found it ages ago. Will use it again . Many thanks.” A parent carer

Family Finances

Families with disabled children are disproportionately affected by financial concerns due to the difficulties of juggling work and caring combined with the extra costs of disability. Throughout the year, as cost of living pressures really took hold, the support that our Family Finance service offers became even more vital.

The service answered 1,004 enquiries from parent carers worried about their finances. In addition, 362 hour-long call backs took place where a family had a complex issue and the team provided a detailed financial health check.

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Contact a Family (trading as Contact)

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2023

As a result of the call back service, families reported significant improvements to their family’s financial situation, with eligible families being better off by an average of £5,400 a year.

In addition, we ran three Facebook Q&As, responding to 130 enquiries during these sessions.

And we also held a webinar on higher-rate mobility allowance for children with challenging behaviour, which had 270 live attendees and has since been viewed over 3,500 times.

Feedback from families that used our Family Finance service over the year was overwhelmingly positive with the following outcomes (156 responses):

• 98% saying they felt better informed about how to get the support they need;

• 85% felt more confident;

• 68% felt better able to deal with stress;

• 76% felt less isolated;

• 99% felt better informed about their rights to benefits and grants;

• 99% said they would recommend Contact services to others.

Parent carers tell us:

“I can’t thank you enough for all the information and guidance you provided me over the phone. You explained clearly what I needed to know as I was so confused before-hand and this email again clearly explains the right avenues to take. What a comfort to have someone to email support if I get stuck.”

“It's a great service. You seem to have much better knowledge than all the other services you have tried - it must be because you specialise in disabled children. It's so important to be able to access detailed advice like this as parents with disabled children don't have the time to research things like obscure benefit rules.”

Brighter Beginnings

Throughout the year we continued offering our Brighter Beginnings workshops online and in person for parents of young children aged 0-8. In total we held 61 workshops attended by 682 individual parents. Some of those parents came to more than one workshop, making overall attendances 1,009.

Following the workshops, parent carers reported (706 responses):

• 96% feel better informed about how to get the support they need;

• 93% feel more confident;

• 84% feel less isolated;

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Contact a Family (trading as Contact)

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2023

“This has been such a reassuring session to hear from like-minded parents and to reinforce my view that my son just isn't ready [for toilet training] yet. Some really useful tips on how to start prepping and make some steps in our journey.” A parent carer

Fledglings

Contact’s e-commerce venture, Fledglings, continued to provide essential products and equipment for disabled children and young people across the UK. The products sourced and supplied by Fledglings help make life easier for a parent, and more fulfilling for their child. One of the key developments in 2022 was creating a new Fledglings website. This has significantly improved navigation with categories by age and condition and a translation function to improve accessibility for diverse communities.

Fledglings’ growing offer for schools and hospitals provides a vital service to improve the wellbeing and mental health of disabled children and ease the strain on their families. For example, in 2022 Fledglings delivered a project with Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool providing the hospital with sensory boxes, ear-defenders, and sourcing special sunglasses for children and young people with sensory needs attending outpatient appointments. Fledglings has also expanded its work with schools in disadvantaged areas of the UK via funding secured by the fundraising team to supply them with essential items for children with SEN.

By Your Side: Reaching families in hospital

We were delighted that our project to support families whose children require hospital care was fully back up and running this year. Our family support advisers helped 886 families with advice, information and emotional support at the Great North Children’s Hospital in Newcastle, Evelina Children’s Hospital in London and the Royal Hospital for Children in Glasgow, as well as the Ronald McDonald house linked to Birmingham Children’s Hospital,

It has felt important to be back helping families in person, some of whom are experiencing the most difficult of times.

We Care about Rare

Our work to support families who have children with rare conditions continued throughout the year with our We Care About Rare project funded by the Pears Foundation.

We provided 1,584 rare conditions families with 1:1 advice and support via our Helpline team; 146,700 web visitors viewed our medical information pages with information about living with a rare condition, the diagnosis process and our medical conditions directory; and 89 conditions were updated or added in our medical directory with our network of experts and our Medical Advisory Panel.

An additional 27 families with complicated enquiries received in-depth support from our Rare Conditions Officer. This tailored support often involves seeking very detailed medical information from our network of specialists and/or seeking out other families (possibly globally) whose child has the same condition.

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Contact a Family (trading as Contact)

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2023

Supporting families in the Nations and in London

Our London offices have very close relationships with parent carers in their communities and have been a lifeline for many during these increasingly challenging times. Throughout the year we maintained our support services in Wandsworth, Ealing, Lewisham and Lambeth.

Not only are our London teams providing family support to families on important issues including housing, benefits and education, they also organise family meet-ups and events and trips to benefit the whole family’s wellbeing.

In Ealing the team worked towards alleviating winter hardship, supporting co-production in local services, as well as supporting those families with neurodiverse children at the point of referral to assessment and during the (often very long) wait for assessments.

In Northern Ireland we are continuing our Transitions project, working with parent carers in schools to provide workshops, peer support and training. We give parents the tools, resources and guidance to support their child as they move towards adult services. We are excited to have been awarded funding from the National Lottery Dormant Accounts Fund to develop our Business Development function in Northern Ireland.

In Scotland, our team has continued to provide vital information, 1:1 advice, workshops and wellbeing days supporting parents directly, as well as other charities and groups to ensure the needs of families with disabled children are met. The team continues to ensure the voices and concerns of parent carers in Scotland are heard with staff attending regular meetings with influential groups including the Disabled and Young People’s Advisory Group.

In Wales , we are coming to the end of our three-year project, Strengthening Support Networks for Parent Carers. This project includes linking existing groups together and helping create new parent-led support groups; training parent carers to deliver workshops to other parents; and co-designing new workshops. Being a Welsh service, Contact Cymru offer bilingual materials and support. We also recently secured three years of funding to deliver disability sports sessions across North Wales.

Connecting families

Workshops, outreach or drop-ins

Although our workshops primarily provide advice and information, they are also a key way that we connect families. Often parents feed back to us how nice it was to hear from others in a similar situation. Or how much they learned from other parents during the sessions.

Throughout the year we held 570 online workshops/ webinars, outreach or drop-ins, with total live attendance of 4,754 parent carers and 787 professionals.

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Contact a Family (trading as Contact)

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2023

Family events

It was brilliant to be back delivering family events in person. Contact was founded on the idea that parents are the best source of support to other parents and through building connections we can reduce isolation. This year we provided fun events and activities through our London projects, our teams in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and through our Better Together programme, funded by the Masonic Charitable Trust.

Throughout the year we held 103 face-to-face and online family events attended by a total of 962 children and young people and 1,414 parent carers. This included trips to outdoor adventure centres and cinemas, sports days and visits to the seaside delivered through our fun and engaging Better Together programme and our London offices.

We have had positive feedback from parents and children alike to our Better Together family days:

• 97% stated that their child or young person had fun at the activity

• 84% felt less isolated.

“Happy seeing my kids have so much fun. Thankful that my son’s needs were catered for when needed.” A parent carer

“Managed to have quality time as a family which has not been possible for a few years since my daughter’s illness.” A parent carer

Online communities

We continue to run private Facebook groups for parent carers, which offer a safe space to come together online and to share challenges, joys and advice from lived experience. Our Contact group has more than 18,000 members and our HemiHelp group has almost 6,000 members. These groups are moderated by Contact, which allows us to give additional support and advice where needed.

Providing grants to parent support groups

Thanks to funding from the Pears Foundation, Contact continued to build support for families whose children have rare conditions throughout the year. We did this by providing grants to parent-led groups and building knowledge, skills and a network of support.

We received 63 applications for grants and had 20 successful applications.

Rare condition support group, Sandcastle Trust, was one of the successful applicants and here they explain the difference it has made:

“One of the first projects undertaken by our new Support Services Coordinator (whose post has been funded by this grant for two years) was to coordinate our Sandcastle Santa campaign. They arranged for 179 families living with a life-changing rare genetic condition to have an

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Contact a Family (trading as Contact)

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2023

accessible family festive day out. Many of our families are having to sacrifice basic necessities like heating or food in order to meet the costs of keeping vital, often life-saving equipment running and to pay for transport to and from hospital. It is no coincidence that we received the most applications ever this year for a Sandcastle Santa day out and having our first member of staff thanks to this grant has meant that we have been able to meet the increased demand.”

Helping families to give back

Campaigns and media

It has been a challenging year for campaigning with political instability delaying the government’s own reform timescales and making engagement with politicians and officials difficult. Contact’s Board agreed to increase investment in our campaigning work with the recruitment of two new part-time roles: one to lead on education policy, and the other to support our new Change Maker programme which will increase opportunities for parent carers to become more involved with our campaigns and policy work.

Summary of key campaigns:

• Our Out of Energy campaign aimed at securing targeted support for households with extra energy costs such as those running life saving medical equipment.

• Free School Meals calling for food vouchers for eligible disabled children unable to access free meals at school in the regular way.

• Unlocking Child Trusts Funds for disabled young people who lack mental capacity

We continued to campaign on Carer’s Allowance, Universal Credit and increasing take up of disability benefits. With the launch of the long-awaited SEND Green Paper in April 2022 we used our leadership of the Disabled Children’s Partnership (DCP) to challenge and engage with government officials on areas of concern in the green paper. We had several meetings with the social care review team where we provided opportunities for parent carers and young people to speak to the review team.

Looking ahead, we must keep the pressure on government especially as universal support such as the energy discount ends and ensure the government’s SEND improvement plan and Social Care strategy reduce the battles and wait for support.

Summary of achievements:

Our campaigns on the cost of living have contributed to:

• Helping persuade the Chancellor to announce a cost-of-living package including for the first time a £150 disability payment to recognise extra costs

• Alongside other charities and influencers successfully arguing the energy rebate should be increased and converted into £400 energy discount/grant

• An increase in the Warm Home Discount and automatic entitlement ensuring more families with disabled children get the £150 payment this winter

• A successful judicial review on Universal Credit meaning disabled parents of disabled

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Contact a Family (trading as Contact)

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2023

children get extra disability payments

In addition, our campaign activity has:

• Inspired 17,558 family carers to take social action including writing to their MPs, taking part in research, meeting government ministers and speaking out in the media.

• Reached 1.3 million unique users with social media campaigns content. Of those 123,100 people interacted with our campaign content (such as likes, comments, shares)

• Attracted traffic to our website - our campaign webpages were viewed 142,956 times by 14,581 people

Disabled Children’s Partnership

As well as our own campaigns, we continued to play a leading role in the Disabled Children’s Partnership, a coalition of over 100 disability charities campaigning for better health, education and social care services for disabled children and their families.

Media

During the year our media work reached almost 40 million people with our key messages. If we’d paid for this coverage it would have cost £2.7 million in advertising costs. This increase from reaching 29.5 million last year reflects how we helped drive focus onto families with disabled children by enabling families to tell their stories and through our high quality original research.

Our campaign to highlight the impact of high energy bills on disabled children and their families continued throughout the year from March onwards. This revolved around sharing our Out of Energy research findings in March/April and the updated results in November, alongside families telling their personal stories, with significant coverage in national daily newspapers such the Daily Telegraph, the Guardian, Daily Express, iNews and Metro. We worked with the BBC to launch our initial Out of Energy research findings exclusively with coverage on BBC Breakfast, Radio 4’s Today and an extended news piece on the new BBC disability podcast Access All. And at the beginning of 2023 we had a Radio 4 appeal

presented by broadcaster and journalist Jane Garvey, who has been a tremendous supporter of Contact over the last six years. The appeal raised over £16,000.

Parent Participation

Contact is proud to support Parent Carer Forums in England and their hugely important role in ensuring the needs and views of parent carers are heard and listened to.

We provide a core offer of support for each Parent Carer Forum, including a dedicated Parent Carer Participation Adviser who forums can access via phone and email to help them run their forum. Feedback from forums this year reported 96.6% satisfaction with the support Contact provides, and 100% satisfaction with the grants processes and payments.

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Contact a Family (trading as Contact)

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2023

There are now 110,000 forum members in the 151 local authorities in England this year, up from 99,000. It is testament to the forums’ strength that they are still attracting members despite the increased pressures on parents.

The Parent Participation team provided 5,934 hours of support during 2022-23.

During 2022/23 the Parent Carer Participation team delivered 15 online learning sessions with a total of 699 live attendances and 1,511 online views.

The team held its first face-to-face joint Contact and National Network of Parent Carer Forums conference in three years. It took place in Bristol in February with a total of 243 attendees, plus a further 140 views of the sessions on the dedicated You Tube channel afterwards.

Strategic developments

Contact strategy 2020-2023: Transforming Lives Together

Our vision is that every family with a disabled child feels valued, supported, confident and informed. In order to make progress towards this, our strategy sets out the following ambitions for 2020-2023:

• To double the number of families we support through our high-quality information and advice services

• To build a sustainable funding model which is more responsive to families' needs

To achieve these ambitions, we set out five aims, and delivered against an implementation plan for each one over the course of the year:

1. We will be the first charity for families to turn to when they find out their child has a disability.

2. We will double the number of families we support through our high-quality information and advice service.

3. We will drive social change, raise more money and support more people – by helping families feel more connected to Contact.

4. Families will shape our work, so that they get the local help they need in the ways that work best for them.

5. We will develop a sustainable business model that ensures Contact is here for families with disabled children long into the future.

The plan is underpinned by two key drivers: digital transformation and co-production with families.

We have now completed the third year of our three-year strategy, although we have added a booster year to the strategy to consolidate on the progress made. You can read more about that in the Looking Forward section of this Annual Report.

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Contact a Family (trading as Contact)

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2023

A summary of progress against our ambitions made in 2022-23 is outlined below.

1. Double the number of families we support through our high-quality information and advice services

We have now met our target of doubling the number of families we support through our high-quality information and advice services.

This growth has come from extending our digital options for families, with the aim of meeting simpler enquiries online. Digital information and advice services such as our chatbot, video content and benefit calculators allow us to deliver one-to-many families, which in turn allows Parent Advisers to focus on more complex enquiries and the most inneed families.

Our podcast content has been particularly popular, such as the series of videos talking families through filling in the DLA form – section by section. Live Chat and Chatbot have also absorbed more regular enquiries. We also identify top issues and run live Q&As on Facebook to support more families struggling with the same topics, for example we recently ran a Q&A on disabled students and universal credit that attracted 3,000 parent carers with high levels of engagement.

With pressures increasing on families, this strategy has proved vital in enabling us to grow to meet need and to triage enquiries effectively. However, demand remains high.

2. Build a sustainable funding model, that is more responsive to families' needs

Our financial stability is enabling us to continue to invest in new lottery and individual giving income streams. Our income diversification has also been boosted this year with our first fundraising gala.

The Contact lottery continues to grow and digital recruitment has been particularly strong. Contact currently has 2,264 lottery players (taking 3,174 chances). To date, seven Contact lottery players have won the £1,000 prize and one player has won the highest prize of £10,000. We are very pleased that the majority of winners are parent carers. We were finally able to trial face-to-face recruitment of lottery players and monthly regular givers, which had been delayed because of the pandemic. The response was positive, especially within the context of the costof-living crisis, but attrition has been a challenge. Contact has acquired 538 new regular givers with an average monthly donation of £9.75.

We engaged a consultant to scope the development and launch of a legacy programme and are reviewing the recommendations and next steps. Contact’s fundraising Gala at Mansion House in December 2022 was a great success generating around £326k. Fledglings is increasing the number of products being provided on a drop-ship basis. This will enable us to increase our product range whilst reducing warehousing costs.

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Contact a Family (trading as Contact)

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2023

We have grown our Business Development team and the extra capacity has allowed us to set up more proactive approaches to promoting Contact’s commercial offer and expertise and research partnerships. This includes a new National Institute for Health Research Programme Development Grant in partnership with Edge Hill University and Alder Hey Hospital, and a partnership with the Roald Dahl Charity to deliver listening ear support to their families. The Business Development team are also finalising new income to deliver regional autism peer educator hubs in London and The Midlands.

Business Development continues to enable us to partner and deliver support and projects across the English regions and we are looking to extend this model into Northern Ireland.

We will review progress on individual giving and lottery in March. We have a significant number of 12 month funded services and therefore service continuity remains a focus as we are not yet generating surplus to reinvest.

Looking forward

Booster year for our strategy 2023/24

In order to see through some of the commitments we made ahead of the pandemic in our strategy, ‘Transforming Lives Together’, 2023-4 will be a ‘booster year’ for our strategy.

At the same time, we recognise that pressures on families have escalated since we wrote our original 3-year strategy and it looks likely that these pressures are here to stay for the next few years. We want to do as much as we can to protect our existing impactful services as well as building our capacity as an organisation to respond in the medium term. This includes responding to potential gaps in our offer to families.

To achieve this, the Trustees have agreed to release some investment to support current services and to develop some new initiatives to support families which could potentially be scaled up into our new strategy. In addition, we are adding a third ambition to our current strategy in our booster year:

Better meet the escalating needs of families by trialing new approaches to strengthen our support offer and to bridge gaps in services.

This new ambition is underpinned by the following:

• Piloting a volunteer scheme to support completion of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) forms

• Building capacity to support families with high levels of complexity and distress

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Contact a Family (trading as Contact)

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2023

• Strengthening our information, advice and support for families in the devolved nations

• Operating a bridging fund of £150k over two years to protect continuity of key services based on agreed criteria. This means there is £75k allocated in 2023-4 to support transition of existing services to new funding, showing our commitment to do all we can to support families and colleagues where funding is at risk.

In 2023/24 we will also be making time to think about our next strategy, and creating space for new ideas and staff involvement in the way Contact grows - balanced with having the integrity to finish what we started 3 years ago and letting it embed.

Highlights for the year ahead include:

• Building on achieving one of our 2 ambitions for 2022/23 - doubling the number of families we support with our high quality information and advice services - our booster year will focus on making our digital information, advice and support more accessible with a key priority being securing funding for Recite Me, a tool that is used by organisations such as the NHS and provides translations into over 100 languages as well as assistive technology such as screen readers.

• Enabling parent carers to get involved and give their feedback on the government’s Special Educational Needs and Disability and Alternative Provision (SEND and A) Improvement plan as it is rolled out over the next few years. The Department for Education has around £70m to invest in trialing new ideas in their Improvement plan. We will be working through our Parent Participation and Information, Advice and Support contracts with the department, our policy and campaigns team and through the Disabled Children’s Partnership to make sure families’ views are heard.

• Reviewing and learning from our Innovation Fund launched in 2022/23 which resulted in a wide range of new projects such as a new e-publications library of Contact’s parent guides and a new corporate animation. We plan to build on its success by opening the fund up for new applications in 2023/24.

Financial Review

The total incoming resources decreased by 2% this year to £8,498k (2021/22: £8,605k) and total expenditure increased by 5% to £9,208k (2021/22: £8,704k). The charity incurred net expenditure before investment losses for the year of £710k (2021/22 £99k) which is in line with the budgeted deficit of £650K and includes the planned investment in income diversification, Contact lottery and regular giving, and service provision from designated funds.

18

Contact a Family (trading as Contact)

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2023

Unrestricted Funds

Following the sale of Contact’s City Road building in January 2021, £1,000k was designated for income diversification. £117k of this designated fund was spent in 2021/22 and a further £240k in 2022/23. The movement on unrestricted funds after excluding the spend from designated funds and the loss on investments of £200k was £136k.

This year the Trustees continue to place a priority on increasing unrestricted income which amounted to £4,416k (2021/22 £3,780k) and made up 51% of total income (2021/22: 43%). Unrestricted income includes contract income of £2,959k (2021/22: £2,593k) which is spent on deliverables stipulated within the contracts. The increase in contract income was largely due to increased support from the Department for Education. Income from donations and legacies has significantly increased to £797k (2021/22: £440k) in part due to the successful Gala held during the year but also to the marketing investment in regular giving and the Contact lottery.

Support costs including relocation costs from City Road to Wenlock Studios (note 5a) have risen in the year by 9% to £931k. Otherwise, support costs have increased broadly in line with inflation over the year.

Restricted Funds

Restricted income fell to £4,082k (2021/22: £4,825k). Income from Government grants reduced to £3,101k (2021/22: £3,415k) as grants from the London Borough of Lewisham and South Tees Valley Council ended. Restricted funding from Charitable Trusts dropped to £483k (2021/22: £1,105k) following the completion of a significant grant from DCMS/Pears Foundation in the prior year. These reductions were offset by an increase in restricted income from Major Donors to £250k (2021/22: £65k).

Reserves policy and performance

The Trustees have reserves in order to provide some financial security, to fund working capital and to enable the charity to cope with setbacks or take advantage of opportunities. The free reserves comprise general funds excluding the net book value of tangible fixed assets funded by unrestricted funds and excluding the movement in valuation of investment funds. (See note 18a). The target reserve levels represent the free reserves of the charity which are readily available to be spent on charitable activities. The policy is based on assessment of risk relating to individual income streams for programmes of work.

In 2023/24, Trustees have decided to set the free reserves level between £1.1m and £1.3m.

The level of unrestricted funds at the end of the year was £4.9m. Following the sale of the building in 2021 trustees decided to designate some of the unrestricted funds to support the

19

Contact a Family (trading as Contact)

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2023

future development of the organisation and its service delivery. Funds were designated towards the purchase of a smaller replacement property in the medium term as space requirements become clearer (£2.5m).

Funds were also designated for income diversification including growing the Contact Lottery and fundraising through Individual Giving to ensure the sustainability of the charity over the coming 4 years (£1m); and also to mitigate against working capital risk (£1m). During the year £240k was expended from the income diversification designated fund. The trustees decided during the year to release £600k from the working capital risk designated fund to general funds and also to transfer £400k from the same designated fund to a new designated fund, service continuity and expansion, which will support both existing and future key services.

Unrealised losses on investments of £200k are not included in the trustees review of general free reserves due to the current volatility. These designations leave £1,370k in general free reserves at the end of the year and while this is slightly above the current free reserves target we project it fall in 2023/24 to within the range.

Breakdown of designated funds Property fund Income diversification fund Working capital risk Service continuity & expansion Obligations under contract	2021 2022 2023 £'000 £'000 £'000 2,500 2,500 2,500 1,000 883 643 1,000 1,000 - - - 400 181 - -
	4,681 4,383 3,543

Investments

CCLA were appointed as investment managers in February 2021. Following the sale of the building, £3.75m was transferred to CCLA’s Charities Ethical Investment Fund. This fund aims for long term return comprising of both capital growth and distributions. It has a wide range of ethical restrictions, including avoiding tobacco companies, alcohol producers and companies with significant involvement in armaments, fossil fuel extraction, gambling and pornography. The fund is benchmarked against market comparators. The performance of these funds is monitored by the Business Affairs Committee.

Investments with a fair value of £3,807k are included in the balance sheet. Although there was a decrease in the valuation of £200k, it is felt that the CCLA fund remains appropriate to meet the investment objective.

20

Contact a Family (trading as Contact)

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2023

Going Concern

As a result of the sale of the building in 2021 it is considered that there are no material uncertainties about the charity’s ability to continue as a going concern in the 12 months following the approval of these accounts.

Risk Management

The major risks facing Contact are reviewed every six months by the Board and more regularly by SMT and a risk analysis is produced. The major risks identified in the financial year were as follows:

• Investment in generating unrestricted income;

• Maximising return on cash and investments;

• Impact of inflation on costs;

• Transition to new Chief Executive and new Chair of Trustee Board.

The Trustees review these risks on an on-going basis through the committees of the Board, and satisfy themselves that adequate systems and procedures are in place to manage the risks identified. Where appropriate, risks are covered by insurance. The following framework dictates how we mitigate the identified risks:

• Formulating detailed fundraising plans and having regular financial reviews, together with a system of phased expenditure to enable responsible budget management;

• A clear structure of delegated authority and control;

• Maintaining reserves in line with the charity's reserves policy;

• Investment in new systems and development of the database;

• Regular monitoring of contracts and work delivery programmes.

In assessing risk, the Trustees recognise that some areas of our work require the acceptance and management of risk if our key objectives are to be achieved. The Trustees believe the above approach is adequate in managing the risks of the organisation.

21

Contact a Family (trading as Contact)

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2023

Objects of the charity

1. The Memorandum of Association incorporated in 1982 has the objects “to promote the education, welfare and benefit of the disabled, more specifically, but not limited to, caring for children and young people with any form of disability or special need.

To support parents and families who care for a disabled child or young person by:

• a) providing access to good quality advice and information, broad ranging appropriate support and contact with other families which will lead to positive outcomes;

• b) influencing changes in policy and practice in order to substantially improve the quality of lives of parents and families and their children.

Structure, governance and management

1. Members of the charity guarantee to contribute an amount not exceeding £1 to the assets of the charity in the event of winding up. The total number of such guarantees at 31 March 2023 was 34.

2. On 1 December 2004 Contact entered into a transfer of charitable undertakings with the Lady Hoare Trust which is a registered charity number 1067492 and a company limited by guarantee number 3482560. Following the merger a governance review commenced and new Standing Orders were adopted by the Trustees. These Standing Orders were reviewed by the Trustees in 2021.

3. On 1 April 2018 Contact entered into a transfer of charitable undertakings with HemiHelp which was a registered charity (number 1085349) and a company limited by guarantee (number 4156922).

This charity was closed on 14 May 2019.

1. On 4 January 2019 Contact entered into a transfer of charitable undertakings with Fledglings Family Services which is a registered charity (number 1112618) and a company limited by guarantee (number 4592971).

2. With regard to the recruitment of new Trustees, the Standing Orders state that “The Board should ensure that the recruitment process is open to all sections of the community, and should consider open advertising and a range of other recruitment methods to attract a wide range of candidates. Candidates should be interviewed formally, and appointed on merit.” In line with this, new Trustees have been recruited via an open and competitive recruitment process during the year. Our Board Member

22

Contact a Family (trading as Contact)

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2023

Induction, Support and Development policy outlines a process to support new Trustees and ensure they are provided with sufficient information to enable them to fulfil their duties.

1. Trustees are elected by the Members at the Annual General Meeting for a three year term. Trustees can be appointed during the year but must be elected at the subsequent Annual General Meeting. The Standing Orders set out a maximum of three consecutive terms for Trustees, however it is anticipated that the norm will be only two terms, and three terms would only be used in exceptional circumstances.

2. As well as meeting regularly as a full Board, the Trustees have also established a number of committees and councils, each with their own Terms of Reference and each reporting back to the Board:

3. a) A Business Affairs Committee to take delegated responsibility for overseeing all financial and business aspects of Contact to ensure short and long term viability, and to report back to the Board accordingly.

4. b) A Governance Strategy and People Committee to take delegated responsibility for ensuring effective and efficient governance over Contact. This includes identifying and proposing new members to the Board and to oversee all people and administrative support activity that supports the work of Contact.

5. The Trustees approve the overall strategy of the organisation and delegate the operational management, development and administration of the charity to the Chief Executive. The SMT are comprised of the Chief Executive, the Director of Resources, the Director of Family Support, the Director of Income Generation, Director of Participation and Regional Development, and the Director of Advice, Communications and Engagement. The SMT is responsible for the day to day running of the organisation, in line with the agreed strategy, and makes recommendations to the Board of Trustees. All Trustees give their time voluntarily and receive no benefits from the charity. Any expenses reclaimed from the charity are set out in note 8 to the accounts. Contact Trustees are covered by trustee indemnity insurance. A safeguarding lead trustee works with the trained safeguarding review group. A declarations of interest register is maintained and monitored.

6. Although not part of the overall governance structure of the charity, we also have a Medical Advisory Panel (MAP). The MAP was established to support Contact in its provision of medical information to families of disabled children and professionals who work with them. The MAP assist in ensuring the accuracy and validity of medical information produced and provided via the website, publications and enquiries.

7. Staff salaries are benchmarked and increased by inflation on an annual basis.

23

Contact a Family (trading as Contact)

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2023

Statement of responsibilities of the Trustees

The Trustees (who are also directors of Contact for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the report of the Trustees 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:

• a) select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;

• b) observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP;

• c) make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;

• d) state whether applicable UK Accounting Standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements; and

• e) prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charitable company will continue in operation.

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, the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended). 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: there is no relevant audit information of which the charitable company’s auditors are unaware; and the Trustees have taken all steps that they ought to have taken to make themselves aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the auditors are aware of that information.

The Trustees are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial information included on the charitable company's website. Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.

24

Contact a Family (trading as Contact)

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2023

Public benefit focus on ensuring that our activities achieve our charitable aims

The Trustees review the organisation's objectives and activities on a quarterly basis each year in line with the implementation of our 2020-2023 Strategy and booster year. This report looks at what Contact has achieved and the outcomes of its work within the previous 12 months. The Trustees report the success of each key activity and the benefits they have brought to those groups of people the organisation is set up to help. The review also helps ensure the organisation's aims, objectives and activities remain focused on its stated purposes.

We have referred to the guidance contained in the Charity Commission's general guidance on public benefit when reviewing our aims and objectives and in planning our future activities. In particular, the Trustees consider how planned activities will contribute to the aims and objectives they have set.

All charitable activities of Contact focus on the support of parents and families who care for a disabled child and are undertaken to further the charitable purposes for the public benefit.

UK Bribery Act 2010

Contact commits to a policy of zero-tolerance of bribery in any form. The Board of Trustees and the Senior Management Team commit to and oversee the implementation of a policy of zero-tolerance, recognising that bribery is contrary to fundamental values of integrity, transparency and accountability and undermines organisational effectiveness. Bribery risk assessment forms part of Contact's overall and ongoing risk management process.

Fundraising review

The majority of Contact’s fundraising is conducted by paid Contact staff. Contact is registered with the Fundraising Regulator. A third party, CFP Lottery and Raffles Ltd is commissioned to administer the Contact Lottery. Contact’s fundraising team and CFP Lottery and Raffles Ltd comply with fundraising and Gambling Commission regulations and the Code of Fundraising Practice set by the Fundraising Regulator. Contact’s society lottery is registered with Hackney Council under registration number 105602. No areas of non- compliance have been identified. There were no complaints received on fundraising activities in 2022/23. In this financial year, Contact engaged the services of Zen Fundraising Ltd, a face to face fundraising agency, for the purpose of recruiting regular monthly individual givers, and Formunauts One, a face to face fundraising agency, for the purpose of recruiting regular monthly individual givers and Contact lottery players

25

Contact a Family (trading as Contact)

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 March 2023

Charity Governance Code

Trustees are continually reviewing the principles of the Charity Governance Code and applying these principles.

Strategy update

This year was the third year of our three-year strategy which aims to increase the impact of our work, reach more families earlier in their journey, and improve the financial position of the organisation. Our strategy supports our long-standing vision, ‘that families with disabled children feel valued and are strong, confident and able to make the decisions that are right for them’.

Details of our 2020-2023 strategy are included above.

Further Information

The Trustees warmly thank all our donors, volunteers and advisers for their valuable help during the year. We also thank our staff for the commitment and skills that they bring to all the varied tasks inherent in running Contact.

Auditor

Sayer Vincent LLP were re-appointed as the charitable company's auditors during the year and have expressed their willingness to continue in that capacity.

BY ORDER OF THE BOARD

Chris Carr Chairman 19 September 2023

Contact Wenlock Studios 50-52 Wharf Road London N1 7EU

26

Independent auditor’s report

To the members of

Contact a Family (trading as Contact)

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of Contact a Family (trading as Contact, the ‘charitable company’) for the year ended 31 March 2023 which comprise the statement of financial activities, balance sheet, statement of cash flows and notes to the financial statements, including significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including FRS 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

In our opinion, the financial statements:

• Give a true and fair view of the state of the charitable company’s affairs as at 31 March 2023 and of its incoming resources and application of resources, including its income and expenditure, for the year then ended

• Have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice

• Have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006, the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and regulation 8 of the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended)

Basis for opinion

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

Conclusions relating to going concern

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

Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on Contact a Family’s (trading as Contact) 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

27

Independent auditor’s report

To the members of

Contact a Family (trading as Contact)

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.

Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006

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

• The information given in the trustees’ annual report, for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements; and

• The trustees’ annual report, has been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

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

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Companies Act 2006 and the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended) require us to report to you if, in our opinion:

• Adequate accounting records have not been kept, or returns adequate for our audit have not been received from branches not visited by us; or

• The financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or

• Certain disclosures of trustees’ remuneration specified by law are not made; or

• We have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit; or

• The directors were not entitled to prepare the financial statements in accordance with the small companies regime and take advantage of the small companies’ exemptions in preparing the trustees’ annual report and from the requirement to prepare a strategic report.

Responsibilities of trustees

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

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

28

Independent auditor’s report

To the members of

Contact a Family (trading as Contact)

Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

We have been appointed as auditor under section 44(1)(c) of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and under the Companies Act 2006 and report in accordance with regulations made under 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.

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 are set out below.

Capability of the audit in detecting irregularities

In identifying and assessing risks of material misstatement in respect of irregularities, including fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulations, our procedures included the following:

• We enquired of management and the business affairs committee, which included obtaining and reviewing supporting documentation, concerning the charity’s policies and procedures relating to:

• Identifying, evaluating, and complying with laws and regulations and whether they were aware of any instances of non-compliance;

• Detecting and responding to the risks of fraud and whether they have knowledge of any actual, suspected, or alleged fraud;

• The internal controls established to mitigate risks related to fraud or non-compliance with laws and regulations.

• We inspected the minutes of meetings of those charged with governance.

• We obtained an understanding of the legal and regulatory framework that the charity operates in, focusing on those laws and regulations that had a material effect on the financial statements or that had a fundamental effect on the operations of the charity from our professional and sector experience.

• We communicated applicable laws and regulations throughout the audit team and remained alert to any indications of non-compliance throughout the audit.

• We reviewed any reports made to regulators.

• We reviewed the financial statement disclosures and tested these to supporting documentation to assess compliance with applicable laws and regulations.

• We performed analytical procedures to identify any unusual or unexpected relationships that may indicate risks of material misstatement due to fraud.

• In addressing the risk of fraud through management override of controls, we tested the appropriateness of journal entries and other adjustments, assessed whether the judgements made in making accounting estimates are indicative of a potential bias and tested significant transactions that are unusual or those outside the normal course of business.

29

Independent auditor’s report

To the members of

Contact a Family (trading as Contact)

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 noncompliance 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 is available 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 section 44(1)(c) of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005. 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.

Jonathan Orchard (Senior statutory auditor)

Date: 21 November 2023

for and on behalf of Sayer Vincent LLP, Statutory Auditor Invicta House, 108-114 Golden Lane, LONDON, EC1Y 0TL

Sayer Vincent LLP is eligible to act as auditor in terms of section 1212 of the Companies Act 2006

30

Contact a Family (trading as Contact)

Statement of financial activities (incorporating an income and expenditure account)

For the year ended 31 March 2023

For theyear ended 31 March 2023	For theyear ended 31 March 2023
Unrestricted Note £ Income from: 2 797,283 4 983,865 502,665 2,008,932 1,110 - 122,447 4,416,302 797,363 1,164,208 419,460 2,366,767 44,472 Total expenditure 5 4,792,270 13 (199,756) 7 (575,724) - (575,724) Reconciliation of funds: 5,488,653 18a 4,912,929 Helping families take action for others Charitable activities Bringing families together Helping families take action for others Bringing families together Donations and legacies Charitable activities Supporting families – central information, Supporting families locally Supporting families – central information, Supporting families locally Property income Raising funds Investments Total income Expenditure on: Net movement in funds Total funds brought forward Net income/(expenditure) for the year Total funds carried forward Transfers between funds Net gains / (losses) on investments Net income / (expenditure) before net gains / (losses) on investments (375,968)		Restricted £ 63,206 269,127 691,167 2,958,141 100,000 - -	2023 Total £ 860,489 1,252,992 1,193,832 4,967,073 101,110 - 122,447	Unrestricted £ 439,527 996,213 604,451 1,618,471 7,535 1,087 112,664	Restricted £ 42,469 310,255 1,065,657 3,279,362 127,108 - -	Restated 2022 Total £ 481,996 1,306,468 1,670,108 4,897,833 134,643 1,087 112,664
	4,416,302	4,081,641	8,497,943	3,779,948	4,824,851	8,604,799
	797,363 1,164,208 419,460 2,366,767 44,472	- 366,579 1,035,145 2,915,884 97,738	797,363 1,530,787 1,454,605 5,282,651 142,210	474,204 1,048,803 453,597 2,062,439 66,910	- 380,461 853,861 3,305,751 58,204	474,204 1,429,264 1,307,458 5,368,190 125,114
	4,792,270	4,415,346	9,207,616	4,105,953	4,598,277	8,704,230
	(199,756) (375,968)	- (333,705)	(199,756) (709,673)	273,792 (326,005)	- 226,574	273,792 (99,431)
	(575,724) -	(333,705) -	(909,429) -	(52,213) -	226,574 -	174,361 -
	(575,724) 5,488,653	(333,705) 761,931	(909,429) 6,250,584	(52,213) 5,540,866	226,574 535,357	174,361 6,076,223
	4,912,929	428,226	5,341,155	5,488,653	761,931	6,250,584

All of the above results are derived from continuing activities. There were no other recognised gains or losses other than those stated above. Movements in funds are disclosed in Note 18a to the financial statements.

31

Contact a Family (trading as Contact)

Balance sheet

Balance sheet
As at 31 March 2023			Company no. 01633333
Note Fixed assets: 12 13 Current assets: 14 Liabilities: 15 18a Total unrestricted funds General funds Total charity funds Total net assets Designated Fund Cash at bank and in hand Tangible assets Listed investments Short term deposits The funds of the charity: Creditors: amounts falling due within one year Net current assets Restricted income funds Unrestricted income funds: Stock Debtors	£ 85,174 800,965 272,000 1,109,633	2023 £ 31,723 3,806,709	£ 104,638 892,792 - 2,073,483	2022 £ - 4,006,465
		3,838,432 1,502,723		4,006,465 2,244,119
	2,267,772 765,049		3,070,913 826,794
	3,543,398 1,369,531		4,383,123 1,105,530
		5,341,155		6,250,584
		428,226 4,912,929		761,931 5,488,653
		5,341,155		6,250,584

Approved by the trustees on 19 September 2023 and signed on their behalf by

Chris Carr Chair

Eleanor Christie Treasurer

32

Contact a Family (trading as Contact)

Statement of cash flows

Statement of cash flows	Statement of cash flows	Statement of cash flows
For the year ended 31 March 2023
Note £ £ (780,494) 122,447 - (33,803) (272,000) - (183,356) (963,850) 2,073,483 1,109,633 Net cash provided by/(used in) investing activities Net cash used in operating activities Purchase of investments Cash flows from investing activities: Dividends, interest and rents from investments Proceeds from the sale of fixed assets Purchase of fixed assets Tranfer to short-term deposits Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the year Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year Change in cash and cash equivalents in the year Cash flows from operating activities 2023			£ £ (568,244) 113,751 - - - (750,000) (636,249) (1,204,493) 3,277,976 2,073,483 2022
		(963,850) 2,073,483		(1,204,493) 3,277,976
		1,109,633		2,073,483

33

Contact a Family (trading as Contact)

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2023

• 1 Accounting policies

a) Statutory information Contact a Family (Trading as Contact) is a charitable company limited by guarantee and is incorporated in United Kingdom.

The registered office address is Wenlock Studios Unit G.07, 50-52 Wharf Road, London, N1 7EU

b) 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.

Assets and liabilities are initially recognised at historical cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policy or note.

In applying the financial reporting framework, the trustees have made a number of subjective judgements, for example in respect of significant accounting estimates. Estimates and judgements are continually evaluated and are based on historical experience and other factors, including expectations of future events that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances. The nature of the estimation means the actual outcomes could differ from those estimates. Any significant estimates and judgements affecting these financial statements are detailed within the relevant accounting policy below.

c) Public benefit entity

The charitable company meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS 102.

d) Going concern

• The trustees consider that there are no material uncertainties about the charitable company's ability to continue as a going concern.

There are no significant uncertainties around future funding which the Trustees believe will impact on the organisation continuing as a going concern.

The trustees do not consider that there are any sources of estimation uncertainty at the reporting date that have a significant risk of causing a material adjustment to the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities within the next reporting period.

e) Income

Income is recognised when the charity has entitlement to the funds, any performance conditions attached to the income have been met, it is probable that the income will be received and that the amount can be measured reliably.

Income from government and other grants, whether ‘capital’ grants or ‘revenue’ grants, is recognised when the charity has entitlement to the funds, any performance conditions attached to the grants have been met, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount can be measured reliably and is not deferred.

For legacies, entitlement is taken as the earlier of the date on which either: the charity is aware that probate has been granted, the estate has been finalised and notification has been made by the executor(s) to the charity that a distribution will be made, or when a distribution is received from the estate. Receipt of a legacy, in whole or in part, is only considered probable when the amount can be measured reliably and the charity has been notified of the executor’s intention to make a distribution. Where legacies have been notified to the charity, or the charity is aware of the granting of probate, and the criteria for income recognition have not been met, then the legacy is a treated as a contingent asset and disclosed if material.

34

Contact a Family (trading as Contact)

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2023

• 1 Accounting policies (continued)

e) Income (continued)

Income received in advance of the provision of a specified service is deferred until the criteria for income recognition are met.

Rental income is recognised in the financial statements in the period it relates to.

Lottery income is received and recognised weekly from a third party. The amount recognised is the player payment less prizes paid. Service charges include a player set up fee and a management fee calculated on income which is recognised in expenditure as it is incurred.

f) Donations of Special Events, services and facilities

Donated professional services and donated facilities are recognised as income when the charity has control over the item or received the service, any conditions associated with the donation have been met, the receipt of economic benefit from the use by the charity of the item is probable and that economic benefit can be measured reliably. In accordance with the Charities SORP (FRS 102), volunteer time is not recognised so refer to the trustees’ annual report for more information about their contribution.

On receipt, donated Special Events, professional services and donated facilities are recognised on the basis of the value of the gift to the charity which is the amount the charity would have been willing to pay to obtain services or facilities of equivalent economic benefit on the open market; a corresponding amount is then recognised in expenditure in the period of receipt.

g) Interest receivable

Interest on funds held on deposit is included when receivable and the amount can be measured reliably by the charity; this is normally upon notification of the interest paid or payable by the bank.

h) Fund accounting

Restricted funds are to be used for specific purposes as laid down by the donor. Expenditure which meets these criteria is charged to the fund.

Unrestricted funds are donations and other incoming resources received or generated for the charitable purposes.

Designated funds are unrestricted funds earmarked by the trustees for particular purposes.

i) Expenditure and irrecoverable VAT

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:

• Costs of raising funds relate to the costs incurred by the charitable company in inducing third parties to make voluntary contributions to it, as well as the cost of any activities with a fundraising purpose

• Expenditure on charitable activities includes the costs of delivering services, undertaken to further the purposes of the charity and their associated support costs

• Other expenditure represents those items not falling into any other heading

Irrecoverable VAT is charged as a cost against the activity for which the expenditure was incurred.

35

Contact a Family (trading as Contact)

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2023

• 1 Accounting policies (continued)

j) Allocation of support costs

Resources expended are allocated to the particular activity where the cost relates directly to that activity. However, the cost of overall direction and administration of each activity, comprising the salary and overhead costs of the central function, is apportioned on the following basis which are an estimate, based on staff time, of the amount attributable to each activity.

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

Governance costs are re-allocated to each of the activities on the following basis which is an estimate, based on staff time, of the amount attributable to each activity

k) Operating leases

Rental charges are charged on a straight line basis over the term of the lease.

l) Tangible fixed assets

Items of equipment are capitalised where the purchase price exceeds £1,000. Depreciation costs are allocated to activities on the basis of the use of the related assets in those activities. Assets are reviewed for impairment if circumstances indicate their carrying value may exceed their net realisable value and value in use. Major components are treated as a separate asset where they have significantly different patterns of consumption of economic benefits and are depreciated separately over its useful life.

Depreciation is provided at rates calculated to write down the cost of each asset to its estimated residual value over its expected useful life. The depreciation rates in use are as follows:

• Computer equipment 3 years

• Fixtures fittings and equipment 4 to 12 years  Software development 4 years

m) Listed investments

Investments are a form of basic financial instrument and are initially recognised at their transaction value and subsequently measured at their fair value as at the balance sheet date using the closing quoted market price. Any change in fair value will be recognised in the statement of financial activities. Investment gains and losses, whether realised or unrealised, are combined and shown in the heading "Net gains/(losses) on investments" in the statement of financial activities. The charity does not acquire put options, derivatives or other complex financial instruments.

n) Investment assets

Investment properties are measured in the balance sheet at fair value. Investment properties are not depreciated. Any change in fair value is recognised in the statement of financial activities. The valuation method used to determine fair value will be stated in the notes to the accounts.

o) Debtors

Trade and other debtors are recognised at the settlement amount due after any trade discount offered. Prepayments are valued at the amount prepaid net of any trade discounts due.

p) 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. Cash balances exclude any funds held on behalf of service users.

36

Contact a Family (trading as Contact)

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2023

• 1 Accounting policies (continued)

q) 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. Creditors and provisions are normally recognised at their settlement amount after allowing for any trade discounts due.

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 with the exception of bank loans which are subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method.

r) Pensions

The charity operates a stakeholder auto-enrolment workplace pension scheme and matches employee pension contributions up to a maximum of 5% of their salaries. The costs to the charity are recognised as they are incurred.

s) Grants payable

Grants payable are made to third parties in furtherance of the charity's objects. Grants are accounted for when either the recipient has a reasonable expectation that they will receive a grant and the trustees have agreed to pay the grant without condition, or the recipient has a reasonable expectation that they will receive a grant and that any condition attaching to the grant is outside of the control of the charity.

Provisions for grants are made when the intention to make a grant has been communicated to the recipient but there is uncertainty about either the timing of the grant or the amount of grant payable.

t) Prior period adjustment

An amount of £216,577 was included twice in both income and expenditure in relation to a grant received in 2021/22. The errors have been corrected. The adjustments do not impact on the opening reserves for 2022/23.

2a Income from donations and legacies (current year)

Income from donations and legacies (current year)
Gifts Legacies Special Events Charitable Trusts Corporate Major Donors	Unrestricted £ 297,999 6,500 61,045 105,669 15,363 310,707	£ 13,595 - - - 33,881 15,730 Restricted	2023 Total £ 311,594 6,500 61,045 105,669 49,244 326,437
	797,283	63,206	860,489

2b Income from donations and legacies (prior year)

Income from donations and legacies (prior year)
Legacies Corporate Gifts Major Donors Special Events Charitable Trusts	Unrestricted £ 147,613 - 193,125 58,973 9,112 30,704	£ 14,189 - - - 18,100 10,180 Restricted	2022 Total £ 161,802 - 193,125 58,973 27,212 40,884
	439,527	42,469	481,996
			~~37~~

Contact a Family (trading as Contact)

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2023

• 3a Income from government grants (current year)

Income from government grants (current year)
London Borough of Lewisham Greater London Authoirty Department for Education Scottish Government Total NHS Ealing CCG Other government bodies Northern Ireland Executive London Borough of Ealing London Borough of Lambeth London Borough of Wandsworth	Unrestricted £ - - - - - - - - - 3,302	£ 2,817,588 85,050 23,327 5,710 14,660 14,000 49,873 50,203 30,000 10,378 Restricted	2023 Total £ 2,817,588 85,050 23,327 5,710 14,660 14,000 49,873 50,203 30,000 13,680
	3,302	3,100,789	3,104,091

3b Income from government grants (prior year) - as restated

Income from government grants (prior year) - as restated
Total London Borough of Lewisham Northern Ireland Executive Other government bodies Department for Education Scottish Government NHS Ealing CCG South Tees Valley Council NHS England NHS County Durham CCG	Unrestricted £ - - - - - - - - 22,008	£ 2,763,225 81,000 17,495 217,415 149,000 76,085 48,522 49,930 11,871 Restricted	2022 Total £ 2,763,225 81,000 17,495 217,415 149,000 76,085 48,522 49,930 33,879
	22,008	3,414,543	3,436,551

38

Contact a Family (trading as Contact)

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2023

For the year ended 31 March 2023
4a Restricted: Government grants (note 3) National Lottery Community Fund (NLCF) Charitable trusts Major Donors Other Total restricted incoming resources from charitable activities Unrestricted: Contractual income - SEN and Disability Reforms support - NHS England - London Borough of Wandsworth - London Borough of Lambeth - London Borough of Lewisham - Northern Ireland Health Board Government grants National Lottery Community Fund (NLCF) Business Development - other Business Development - Alder Hey Business Development - Durham Trading Income Publication income Total unrestricted incoming resources from charitable activities Total incoming resources from charitable activities Incoming resources from charitable activities (current year)	Supporting families – central information, advice and support £ 50,203 - 98,924 120,000 -	Supporting families locally £ 342,445 184,381 114,184 49,930 227	Bringing families together £ 2,708,141 - 170,000 80,000 -	Helping families take action for others £ - - 100,000 - -	2023 Total £ 3,100,789 184,381 483,108 249,930 227	As restated 2022 Total £ 3,414,544 182,578 1,104,998 65,262 15,000
	269,127	691,167	2,958,141	100,000	4,018,435	4,782,382
	621,228 - - - - - 3,302 23,055 32,749 - - 303,531 -	- - 224,611 75,641 - 28,285 - - 123,821 28,083 22,224 - -	1,967,432 41,500 - - - - - - - - - - -	- - - - - - - - - - - - 1,110	2,588,660 41,500 224,611 75,641 - 28,285 3,302 23,055 156,570 28,083 22,224 303,531 1,110	2,258,911 - 226,238 31,576 49,198 27,213 22,009 50,688 58,990 49,774 159,129 290,409 2,535
	983,865	502,665	2,008,932	1,110	3,496,572	3,226,670
	1,252,992	1,193,832	4,967,073	101,110	7,515,007	8,009,052

39

Contact a Family (trading as Contact)

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2023

4b Incoming resources from charitable activities (prior year) - as restated

Incoming resources from charitable activities (prior year) - as restated
Restricted: Government grants (note 3) National Lottery Community Fund (NLCF) Charitable trusts Major Donors Other Total restricted incoming resources from charitable activities Unrestricted: Contractual income - SEN and Disability Reforms support - London Borough of Wandsworth - London Borough of Lambeth - London Borough of Lewisham - Northern Ireland Health Board Government grants National Lottery Community Fund (NLCF) Business Development - other Business Development - Alder Hey Business Development - Durham Trading Income Publication income Other income Total unrestricted incoming resources from charitable activities Total incoming resources from charitable activities	Supporting families – central information, advice and support £ 76,085 12,908 166,000 55,262 -	Supporting families locally £ 747,710 169,670 123,277 10,000 15,000	Bringing families together £ 2,581,724 - 697,638 - -	Helping families take action for others £ 9,025 - 118,083 - -	2022 Total £ 3,414,544 182,578 1,104,998 65,262 15,000
	310,255	1,065,657	3,279,362	127,108	4,782,382
	640,440 - - - - 14,676 50,688 - - - 290,409 - -	- 226,238 31,576 49,198 27,213 2,333 - 58,990 49,774 159,129 - - -	1,618,471 - - - - - - - - - - - -	- - - - - 5,000 - - - - - 2,535 -	2,258,911 226,238 31,576 49,198 27,213 22,009 50,688 58,990 49,774 159,129 290,409 2,535 -
	996,213	604,451	1,618,471	7,535	3,226,670
	1,306,468	1,670,108	4,897,833	134,643	8,009,052

40

Contact a Family (trading as Contact)

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2023

• 5a Analysis of expenditure (current year)

Charitable activities

Direct costs Support costs HR Finance IT Rental Costs Management Monitoring and Evaluation Governance costs Total expenditure 2023	Cost of raising funds £ 722,981 5,770 17,638 13,992 8,906 23,861 - 793,148 4,215 797,363	Supporting families – central information, advice and support £ 1,357,777 10,837 33,125 26,278 16,725 44,812 33,317	Supporting families locally £ 1,273,568 10,165 31,070 24,648 15,688 42,033 50,008	Bringing families together £ 4,747,065 39,311 120,156 95,320 60,668 162,552 28,865	Helping families take action for others £ 126,584 1,010 3,088 2,450 1,559 4,178 2,603	Governance costs £ 49,008 - - - - - -	2023 Total £ 8,276,983 67,093 205,077 162,688 103,545 277,437 114,793	As restated 2022 Total £ 7,849,720 103,054 174,820 154,867 141,673 186,267 93,829
		1,522,871 7,916	1,447,180 7,425	5,253,937 28,714	141,472 738	49,008 (49,008)	9,207,616 -	8,704,230 -
		1,530,787	1,454,605	5,282,651	142,210	-	9,207,616	8,704,230

41

Contact a Family (trading as Contact)

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2023

5b Analysis of expenditure (Prior year) - as restated

Charitable activities

Direct costs Support costs HR Finance IT Rental Costs Monitoring and Evaluation Management Governance costs Total expenditure 2022	Cost of raising funds £ 430,252 5,536 9,392 8,320 7,650 - 9,968 471,118 3,086 474,204	Supporting families – central information, advice and support £ 1,271,505 16,361 27,755 24,587 22,384 27,874 29,680	Supporting families locally £ 1,150,014 14,798 25,103 22,238 20,401 39,968 26,689	Bringing families together £ 4,828,516 64,918 110,125 97,556 89,254 24,314 117,328	Helping families take action for others £ 112,000 1,441 2,445 2,166 1,983 1,673 2,603	Governance costs 2022 Total £ £ 57,433 7,849,720 - 103,054 - 174,820 - 154,867 - 141,673 - 93,829 - 186,267 57,433 8,704,230 (57,433) - - 8,704,230
		1,420,146 9,118	1,299,211 8,247	5,332,011 36,179	124,311 803
		1,429,264	1,307,458	5,368,190	125,114

42

Contact a Family (trading as Contact)

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2023

• 6 Grant making

Grant making e year ended 31 March 2023
Cost DCMS Parent Carer Forums Pears/DCMS Rare Conditions Group	Grants to institutions £ 2,635,543 178,500 2,814,043	Support costs £ 40,938 55,359 96,297	2023 £ 2,676,481 233,859	2022 £ 2,681,387 697,074
			2,910,340	3,378,461

Under the Community Challenge programme Pears Foundation and the Department of Culture, Media and Sport funded grants to small parent carer support groups such as rare conditions groups and Parent Carer Forums.

Grant funding to enable the strategic involvement of parent carers in local area strategic decision making & policy development.

Parent Carer Forum (PCF). Throughout the year, 2023:156 (2022: 158) organisations received full or partial grants totalling £2,635,543 (2022: £2,577,524).

Rare Conditions: Throughout the year, 2023: 20 (2022: 82) organisations received full or partial grants totalling 2023: £178,500 (2022: £649,956). No group received more than £8.5K, these are within direct costs in note 5.

• 7 Net income / (expenditure) for the year

This is stated after charging:

This is stated after charging:
	2023	2022
	£	£
Depreciation	2,080	126
Operating lease rentals:
Property	82,187	122,832
Other	105,983	101,406
Auditor's remuneration (excluding VAT):
Audit	15,020	13,650
Other services	3,100	2,800

• 8 Analysis of staff costs, trustee remuneration and expenses, and the cost of key management personnel

Staff costs were as follows:

Staff costs were as follows:
Social security costs Salaries and wages Employer’s contribution to defined contribution pension schemes	2023 £ 2,948,266 302,216 94,587	2022 £ 2,618,345 253,153 87,425
	3,345,069	2,958,923

The following number of employees received employee benefits (excluding employer pension costs) during the year between:

	2023	2022
	No.	No.
£60,000 - £69,999	2	2
£70,000 - £79,999	-	-
£80,000 - £89,999	-	-
£90,000 - £99,999	1	1
> £100,000	-	-

The total employee benefits including pension contributions of the key management personnel were £437,895 (2022: £419,007). Redundancy Costs were £3,448 (2022: £15,641).

The charity trustees were not paid or received any other benefits from employment with the charity in the year (2022: £nil). No charity trustee received payment for professional or other services supplied to the charity (2022: £nil). Charity trustees are covered by indeminty insurance.

Trustees' expenses represents the cost of travel and subsistence totalling £553 (2022: £5) incurred by three (2022: two) members relating to attendance at meetings of the trustees.

43

Contact a Family (trading as Contact)

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2023

9 Staff numbers

The average number of employees (head count based on number of staff employed) during the year was as follows:

Supporting Families - Central Support Policy and Communications Supporting Families Locally Bringing Families Together Governance Raising funds	2023 No. 7 41 21 7 17 5 2	2022 No. 7 35 15 6 15 5 2
	100	85

10 Related party transactions

Contact received donations totalling £3,000 (2022: £1,000) from four trustees (2022: one). The trustees receive no benefit from donations made to the charity. There are no other related party transactions to disclose for 2023 (2022: none).

11 Taxation

The charitable company is exempt from corporation tax as all its income is charitable and is applied for charitable purposes.

12 Tangible fixed assets

Tangible fixed assets
At the start of the year Disposals in year Additions in year Charge for the year Depreciation At the start of the year Disposals in year At the end of the year Net book value At the end of the year At the end of the year At the start of the year Cost or valuation	Freehold land and buildings £ - - - - - - - - - -	Fixtures, fittings and equipment, software development £ - 33,803 -	Total £ - 33,803 -
		33,803	33,803
		- 2,080 -	- 2,080 -
		2,080	-
		31,723	31,723
		-	-

44

Contact a Family (trading as Contact)

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2023

r the year ended 31 March 2023
13 Fair value at the end of the year Investments comprise: UK Common investment funds Net gain / (loss) on change in fair value Cash held by investment broker pending reinvestment Listed investments Fair value at the start of the year Additions at cost	2023 £ 4,006,465 - (199,756)	2022 £ 2,982,673 750,000 273,792
	3,806,709 -	4,006,465 -
	3,806,709	4,006,465
	2023 £ 3,806,709	2022 £ 4,006,465
	3,806,709	4,006,465

Following the disposal of the City Road property, cash from the sale was transferred into investments.

14 15 16 Balance at the beginning of the year Amount released to income in the year Amount deferred in the year Balance at the end of the year 17a 17b Analysis of net assets between funds (current year) Listed investments Net current assets Tangible fixed assets Net current assets Analysis of net assets between funds (prior year) Listed investments Net assets at the end of the year Other debtors Trade debtors Tangible fixed assets Net assets at the end of the year Deferred income Debtors Accruals Prepayments Accrued income Deferred income Trade creditors Taxation and social security Other creditors Creditors: amounts falling due within one year	General unrestricted £ 31,723 3,806,709 1,074,497 4,912,929 General unrestricted £ - 4,006,465 1,482,188 5,488,653	2023 £ 593,788 27,376 42,324 137,477	2022 £ 541,117 9,841 70,906 270,928
		800,965	892,792
		2023 £ 214,155 125,205 76,488 130,552 218,649	2022 £ 273,476 146,984 21,971 154,184 230,179
		765,049	826,794
		2023 £ 230,179 (230,179) 218,649	2022 £ 344,250 (344,250) 230,179
		218,649	230,179
		Restricted £ - - 428,226	Total funds £ 31,723 3,806,709 1,502,723
		428,226	5,341,155
		Restricted £ - - 761,931	Total funds £ - 4,006,465 2,244,119
		761,931	6,250,584 45

Contact a Family (trading as Contact)

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2023

• 18a Movements in funds (current year)

Movements in funds (current year)
Designated Fund General funds Property Fund Income diversification Purpose of Designated Funds Supporting families in Ealing Core funding for Northern Ireland Restricted funds: Total restricted funds Welfare rights helpline Other funds Digital Wellbeing Fledglings Hemihelp Brighter Beginnings Core funding for Scotland By your side Early years SEN and disabilities Lambeth Parent Carer Forum South Tees & Darlington Family Support Total funds Total unrestricted funds Working capital risk Service continuity & expansion - Contact-led forums Wales Family Events Other funds Northern Ireland Volunteering Lewisham Neighbourhood Community Infrastructure Scotland Policy Rare Conditions Covid Response Listening Ear Pears/ DCMS Grants -Strengthening support networks (Wales) NI Preparing for Transition - National Lottery CF NI DFE Parent Carers Grants Wellbeing Project Wales	At the start of the year £ - 5,218 177,947 33 - 27,107 45,516 - 175,829 - 7,143 5,110 3,720 - 14,519 22,545 56,718 - 33,792 46,798 - 3,468 - 70,639 57,597 8,232 - - 761,931 4,383,123 1,105,530 5,488,653 6,250,584	Income and gains £ 100,268 23,327 78,910 53,573 31,597 73,700 116,078 43,614 250 27,500 3,000 45,324 258,500 96,199 81,462 61,458 2,676,481 - - 7,908 45,916 26,500 100,000 50,203 - 30,000 49,873 4,081,641 - 4,416,302 4,416,302 8,497,943	Expenditure and losses £ (100,268) (28,545) (245,591) (33) (53,573) (28,624) (95,638) (116,078) (136,524) - (31,321) (1,278) (49,044) (233,859) (105,915) (95,872) (100,125) (2,498,340) (161,998) (8,127) (4,088) (35,783) (24,239) (97,738) (107,799) (4,493) (580) (49,873) (4,415,346) (239,725) (4,752,301) (4,992,026) (9,407,372)	Transfers £ - - - - - - - - - - - - (178,141) 178,141 - - - - - - - -	At the end of the year £ - - 11,266 - - 30,080 23,578 - 82,919 250 3,322 6,832 - 24,641 4,803 8,135 18,051 - 49,935 38,671 3,820 13,601 2,261 72,901 1 3,739 29,420 -
				-	428,226
				(600,000) 600,000	3,543,398 1,369,531
				-	4,912,929
				-	5,341,155
					£ 2,500,000 643,398 - 400,000
					3,543,398

46

Contact a Family (trading as Contact)

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2023

18b Movement in funds (prior year) - as restated

Wellbeing Fledglings Hemihelp Brighter Beginnings Wales Family Events Rare Conditions Covid Response Listening Ear Pears/ DCMS Grants -Strengthening support networks (Wales) Policy Total restricted funds Designated Fund General funds Core funding for Northern Ireland Other funds Policy Other funds Digital Respiratory syncytial Scotland Restricted funds: Early years SEN and disabilities By your side Bridge House Estates Other funds Supporting families in Ealing Total funds Wellbeing Project Wales DFE Parent Carers Grants NI Preparing for Transition - National Lottery CF NI Other Donors Welfare rights helpline Core funding for Scotland South Tees & Darlington Family Support National Lottery Community Fund (NLCF) - Me, myself, I and us (N.I) Total unrestricted funds Lambeth Parent Carer Forum Other funds Northern Ireland - Contact-led forums	At the start of the year £ - 5,218 - 4,482 - 48,829 51,570 4,301 95,070 5,441 8,041 5,110 62,022 - 58,288 13,363 - 85,766 - 60,181 - - - - 13,372 1,735 - 12,568 - 535,357 4,681,442 859,424 5,540,866 6,076,223	Income and gains £ 81,000 23,327 283,541 - 22,108 16,521 73,100 129,893 136,242 - 30,000 - 10,000 701,838 - 95,340 74,664 43,901 2,577,524 - 149,000 76,085 24,499 21,229 9,000 114,582 12,525 110,700 8,232 4,824,851 - 4,053,740 4,053,740 8,878,591	Expenditure and losses £ (81,000) (23,327) (105,594) (4,449) (22,108) (38,243) (79,154) (134,194) (55,483) (5,441) (30,898) - (68,302) (701,838) (58,288) (94,184) (52,119) (72,949) (2,360,947) (242,966) (102,202) (76,085) (24,499) (17,761) (22,372) (45,678) (12,525) (65,671) - (4,598,277) (298,319) (3,807,634) (4,105,953) (8,704,230)	Transfers £ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - (216,577) 216,577 - - - - - - - - -	At the end of the year £ - 5,218 177,947 33 - 27,107 45,516 - 175,829 - 7,143 5,110 3,720 - - 14,519 22,545 56,718 - 33,792 46,798 - - 3,468 - 70,639 - 57,597 8,232
				-	761,931
				- -	4,383,123 1,105,530
				-	5,488,653
				-	6,250,584

19 Reconciliation of net income / (expenditure) to net cash flow from operating activities

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) Depreciation charges Dividends, interest and rent from investments Income on disposal of Fixed Assets (Increase)/decrease in stocks (Increase)/decrease in debtors Increase/(decrease) in creditors Net cash provided by / (used in) operating activities Net gains on revaluations	2023 £ (709,673) 2,080 (122,447) - - 19,464 91,827 (61,745)	2022 £ (99,431) 126 (113,751) - - (7,696) (368,411) 20,919
	(780,494)	(568,244)

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Contact a Family (trading as Contact)

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2023

20 Operating lease commitments payable as a lessee

The charity's total future minimum lease payments under non-cancellable operating leases are as follows for each of the following periods

periods
	Property		Equipment
	2023	2022	2023	2022
	£	£	£	£
Less than one year	61,393	67,500	17,270	103,620
One to five years	103,140	-	-	-
	164,533	67,500	17,270	103,620

21 Contingent Asset

In February 2022 Contact were informed of a legacy. The value of the legacy is estimated to be £400,000 but is dependent on the sale of a property which is not yet complete.

22 Legal status of the charity

The charity is a company limited by guarantee and has no share capital. The liability of each member in the event of winding up is limited to £1.

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