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2021-03-31-accounts

Company Registration Number 01658354 Registered Charity Number (E&W) 285575 Registered Charity Number (Scotland) SCO 39129

THE ASSOCIATION FOR REAL CHANGE (A Company limited by guarantee)

TRUSTEES REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021

THE ASSOCIATION FOR REAL CHANGE

TRUSTEES REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021

Contents Page
Trustees’ Report 1-11
Independent Auditors’ Report 12-15
Statement of Financial Activities 16
Balance sheet 17
Cash flow statement 18
Notes to the Financial Statements 19-28

THE ASSOCIATION FOR REAL CHANGE

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021

The Association for Real Change (ARC) is a charity and a company limited by guarantee. It is generally known in the sector by its acronym ARC. It is registered with the Charity Commission and the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator.

Reference and Administrative Information

Registered office & Shared Services:
Telephone number:
Website:
Email:
Bankers:
Auditors:
Insurance advisors:
Registered Company no:
Registered Charity no:
Scottish Registered Charity no:		 ARC House
10a Marsden Street
Chesterfield
S40 1JY
01246 555043
www.arcuk.org.uk
info@arcuk.org.uk
Lloyds Bank Plc
Church Street
Sheffield
BHP LLP
Chartered Accountants
57-59 Saltergate
Chesterfield
Derbyshire
S40 1UL
Gallaghers
01658354
285575 (E&W)
SCO 39129

page 1

BHP LLP

THE ASSOCIATION FOR REAL CHANGE

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021

Directors and Trustees:

Agnes Lunny OBE Positive Futures Lynnette Linton (Appointed December 2020) Phil Morris Havencare (South West) Ltd Jane Other William Blake House Jenny Paterson Breakthrough Dundee Andrew Sleigh (Appointed June 2020) Lynn Longland (Resigned September 2020)

Principal officers and member organisations represented in the year:

ARC UK Chair: Phil Morris Hon Treasurer: Andrew Sleigh

Senior management team:

Clive Parry England Director (Appointed November 2020) Lisa Lenton England Director (Resigned August 2020) James Fletcher Scotland Director Leslie-Anne Newton Northern Ireland Director Martin Anderson Finance Director

page 2

BHP LLP

THE ASSOCIATION FOR REAL CHANGE

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021

Governing document

ARC was incorporated as a company limited by guarantee in 1982 and is governed in accordance with its Articles of Association.

Principal aims and activities

The founding members who created the ARC wanted to give it as much freedom as possible through its overall charitable objectives to have a wide impact on the sector. Its two stated charitable objectives are to work for:

  1. The education and training of all organisations, associations, individuals and / or groups of individuals concerned with the care of people with learning disabilities.

  2. The study of and research into all matters affecting people with learning difficulties and to obtain and make records of and disseminate all useful results of such research.

The Memorandum of Association, our founding document sets out what we are here for and what we can do to meet our aims, including things such as:

In this report we explore our activities in terms of delivering public benefit through the implementation of our strategic plan and link those to our charitable objectives. We are subject to three regulators, Companies House, the Charity Commission of England and Wales and the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator as we work across the UK in all the four nation countries, adapted to meet the different situations in each country. Our governance and strategic offer is designed to reflect each nation country, as part of the UK wide membership and as the needs and aspirations of people with learning disabilities do not change across national boundaries this report reflects all our work across the whole of the UK.

Measurement of success

Continuing dialogue with our members and stakeholders, through communication surveys, improved evaluation and building up better knowledge on our Customer Databases ARC has further developed its strategic aims across the UK, focusing on the specific needs of each nation country – setting out the significant changes that we want to see in each nation country as a result of our activities.

By articulating the outcomes, we want to see through a set of outcome indicators ARC is clear that it intends to see these changes for:

We are always aware of the constant tension between our intended population outcome – to improve quality of life for people with learning disabilities – and our performance outcome – supporting our members and stakeholders to help them achieve the best outcomes for the people they support.

page 3

BHP LLP

THE ASSOCIATION FOR REAL CHANGE

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021 - CONTINUED

We now measure the difference we will make by asking our members and stakeholders:

  1. How much difference have we made?

  2. And is anyone better off as a result?

We monitor our operational objectives by measuring:

Public benefit requirement

As a specialist infrastructure organisation ARC is clear about its role: we exist to support voluntary, community, social enterprise, statutory sector and independent sector provider organisations to achieve their aims to support people with learning disabilities to achieve the best outcomes and improve their wellbeing. We do this through a variety of ways and our activities demonstrate that there is a public benefit through an improvement in the quality of all kinds of services to support people with learning disabilities.

Strengthening infrastructure support for the learning disabilities sector is vital to ensuring that people with learning disabilities can achieve quality of life and the best outcomes.

This is achieved by ARC doing such things as:

Working with provider organisation

BHP LLP

page 4

THE ASSOCIATION FOR REAL CHANGE

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021 - CONTINUED

Who governs ARC?

The Board of ARC meets four times a year in addition to the AGM. There is a sub-committee which meet four times a year.

The Board members of ARC act as trustees and have the powers and obligations of company directors under the Companies Act 2006. The trustees are not entitled to or paid any remuneration, nothing was paid to trustees (or their organisations) for travelling expenses. ARC also purchased insurance to protect it from any loss which might arise from neglect or any default of its senior staff or trustees and to indemnify the trustees against the consequences of loss or default on their part. This insurance cost £1,079.

Organisational structure and key management remuneration

The directors consider the senior management team to comprise the key management personnel of the charity in charge of directing, controlling and operating the charity on a day to day basis.

The pay of the senior management team is reviewed annually and any increases are agreed by the board.

Membership of ARC

By becoming a member of ARC, provider organisations benefit from being involved in a diverse community, sharing ideas stemming from shared values, and benefitting from opportunities to collaborate, build relationships and network with like-minded people.

Having a shared voice and joining with like-minded organisations to influence government policy and developments via representation at local, regional and national levels is key to our work.

Being supported with guidance and information to keep up-to-date with news and abreast of key developments within the sector and access to training, consultancy and funding opportunities to help develop a competent, qualified workforce.

Other benefits include:

The Association for Real Change exists to improve the quality of life for people who have a learning disability by supporting anyone who is involved in the planning or delivery of support or services. We know that our work may also benefit people who have other support needs and we are committed to sharing our learning and experience across all sectors that may benefit.

This is a time of unprecedented change in social care and we at ARC have adapted our organisation and our activities to ensure that we are well-positioned to support the sector in the face of its challenges. We developed a range of new partnerships, projects and activities, in response to members’ needs. We continue to achieve above our own high expectations in the face of an uncertain and challenging operational environment.

BHP LLP

page 5

THE ASSOCIATION FOR REAL CHANGE

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021 - CONTINUED

Plans for the future

The Association for Real Change works both locally and nationally across the UK, benefitting people with learning disabilities, their supporters, and their communities by helping to change thinking and change experiences. The vehicle for changes may be ARC’s “offer”, but the driver of the changes will be people with learning disabilities. As ARC continues to act as a vehicle to deliver lasting change, over the next 12 months we will consider a fresh strategy and how we meaningfully measure the changes people want and the impact of our incredible charity.

ARC has spent 2020-2021 demonstrating responsiveness to member and beneficiary needs, alongside the operational agility and flexibility to be sustainable.

ARC UK continues to facilitate real change that puts people with learning disabilities at the centre of decisionmaking, and in the heart of their communities. As the world continues to wrestle the worldwide pandemic and plans COVID-recovery, we continue to report and celebrate many achievements in the last year under our 4 strategic pillars:

1. Support and develop

We will support and develop the continual improvement of practice to help individuals and organisations to reach their potential.

At the start of the pandemic, ARC Northern Ireland (ARC NI) suspended all face-to-face training and reconfigured their offer to be live online teaching. Remote delivery proved very successful with ARC NI supporting 632 social care workers with their learning and development. With the suspension of usual face to face work with 55 people with learning disabilities who are part of the “Telling It Like It Is” project (TILII), ARC NI undertook over a combined 2000 calls and home visits in line with Public Health guidance. ARC NI listens to the needs of service providers and quickly understood their significant challenge in securing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) during the height of the pandemic. Our work ensured organisations received over 400,000 items of PPE.

In England , ARC has continued to support the development of the workforce by offering innovative training aimed at social care staff to help support the rights of people with a learning disability/autism. Following feedback received from our members, we developed a new 3-day Autism programme. To support our members in relation to Local Authority fee rate uplifts, we are developing a new programme that will provide them with high-quality training in relation to negotiation skills.

ARC Scotland Training has continued grow, providing accredited and specialist learning and development opportunities to over 700 candidates in the health and social care sector. Moving all learning to on-line formats due to Covid-19. We continue to develop inclusive learning products that are developed and delivered in partnership with people with additional needs. This includes ‘Getting Transitions Right’, ‘Being Involved: Learn for the Experts’ and ‘Supporting Offenders with Learning Disabilities through the Criminal Justice System.’

2. Connect and Liaise

We will lead and facilitate conversations, networks and partnerships, which generate new ideas and solutions.

In England , ARC runs regular scheduled calls for our member CEOs, CFOs and HR Leads and in response to requests from members, we are supplementing these with themed networking calls such as in relation to CQC inspections, disaster and business continuity planning and the Digital Social Care programme / digital care planning)

page 6

BHP, LLP

THE ASSOCIATION FOR REAL CHANGE

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021 - CONTINUED

In Scotland , ARC’s various networks have a membership of over 3,000 professionals and people with lived experience. Of particular note over this period was an escalation in our work to support over 600 social care managers in nine local authority areas to learn, work and support each other during the pandemic. Often this involved organising weekly meetings in each locality. Amid the challenges and distress, this has helped to strengthen local partnerships and bonds.

In Northern Ireland , ARC supported 48 learning disability providers with weekly meetings throughout the height of the pandemic to ensure they felt connected, shared concerns and lent peer support. This was invaluable for organisations as it resulted in their feeling of increased confidence during such unprecedented times. ARC NI worked closely with policy colleagues in the Department of Health, and they alongside colleagues from Department for Communities, Health and Social Care Board and the Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority attended the weekly meetings to ensure up to date information was shared and to enable them to understand the issues as they evolved. With funding support (from The National Lottery Community Fund, NI) ARC celebrated Learning Disability Week 2020 despite the obvious challenges. As a result, 55 pages of free resources and 11 videos were created. TILII TV had over 800 views and there were 20,000 impressions via social media.

3. Influence and Voice

We will champion the voices of providers and people who use services in order to influence change.

In Scotland , ARC produced two high impact publications:

  1. ‘We’re all in this together: The impact of Covid-19 on the future of social care’, setting out findings of a major survey of over 600 social care staff on how learning from the Covid-19 pandemic can inform longer-term changes to how social care works.

  2. ‘A Practice Guide for Defence Solicitors in Scotland: Representing Clients with Communication Support Needs.’ Written in partnership with the Law Society of Scotland and others, the Cabinet Secretary for Justice said, “This guidance is a crucial step for ensuring equal access to justice for all.”

In January ARC began work in Partnership with the Scottish Government to trial ‘Principles into Practice’ in 10 local authority areas. The purpose is to improve transitions support for young people (14 to 25 years) and their parents and carers in participating areas and to test and bring the framework, and its associated resources, to completion to support its implementation more widely. The Minister for Children and Young People said this work “…will help to ensure that all young people receive appropriate support and are offered choices at points of transition, in order to reach their full potential.”

In England , ARC lobbied the Department for Health and Social Care in relation to the JCVI vaccination prioritisation model (because this did not reflect the risk factors experienced by people with a learning disability) and in relation to implementing at-home lateral flow testing for staff in supported living settings and we delivered virtual visits which allowed senior departmental colleagues to meet our members, to hear first-hand from the CEOs of our members about the challenges they face and to meet staff and supported people to hear about how the pandemic has affected services for people with a learning disability. Whilst we did not hold back in relation to ensuring that DHSC colleagues understand the challenges services are facing on a daily basis, we also used the virtual visits to celebrate the creative ways providers and their staff have responded to these to ensure supported people have the best lives possible.

In Northern Ireland , ARC, supported by the Department of Health, commissioned an independent review which aimed:

  1. To review and evaluate, from a providers’ perspective, what has worked well and not so well during the Covid crisis, with a view to building on positive achievements and ways of working, so as to strengthen the capacity of the sector in the event of a second wave of Covid;

BHP LLP

page 7

THE ASSOCIATION FOR REAL CHANGE

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021 - CONTINUED

  1. To identify how to enhance relationships and new ways of working that could deliver better outcomes for people with a learning disability and their families in Northern Ireland;

  2. To examine the pivotal role of the community and voluntary sector in the ongoing delivery of services and in planning for, and responding to, HSC crises in NI.

The report shared with the Department of Health and the Health & Social Care Board highlighted the impact of long-term challenges such as underfunding, confirmed the pivotal role of partnership working and recommended the learning be used to inform the review of Adult Social Care. In addition, during 2020-21, TILII Translates, an Easy Read people-led translation service to ensure people with a learning disability have accessible information, secured commissioned work through Disability Action, the Department of Health, and the Northern Ireland Public Ombudsman Service.

4. Financial Sustainability

We will remain sustainable within a financially constrained sector and relevant to changes within the external environment.

The COVID-19 pandemic represented and continues to represent the biggest threat to the charity’s financial stability. We have been resilient to this so far, changing many of our ways of working, including delivering training online. We need continued vigilance and to monitor the results and forecasts carefully.

ARC’s work continues to grow and meet the demands of the sector - positively championing an agenda of change. We look forward to continuing relationships in 2021-22 and exploring with stakeholders their views of what ARC’s future priorities should be.

People who have supported us in 2020/2021

We thank all those individuals, organisations, Charities, Local Authorities and Health Authorities that have continued to share our values and support our work in 2020/21. We value all our relationships and networks, as it is the collective voice that speaks the loudest. We appreciate all support and collaboration to date and this will be an essential factor in putting all people with a learning disability at the centre of decisions and in the heart of their communities in 2020/21. These include:

Aberdeen Council

The Community Fund Awards for All, National Lottery Northern Ireland Belfast Health and Social Care Trust Big Lottery Comic Relief Department of Health Northern Ireland Esmee Fairbairn People First Scotland Scottish Government Skills for Care (England) South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust Western Health and Social Care Trust

page 8

BHP, LLP

THE ASSOCIATION FOR REAL CHANGE

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021 - CONTINUED

Financial Health

After seeing an increase in funds of £139,216 in the previous year (of which £120,423 was an increase in unrestricted funds and £18,793 was decrease in restricted funds) ARC experienced an increase in funds of £135,492 (of which £150,037 was an increase in unrestricted funds and a £14,545 reduction in restricted funds) on a total income up from £1.989m to £2.116m

Income from fundraising and projects

ARC is not easy to fundraise for since we do not normally provide direct service to people with learning disabilities and many trusts look at our membership and realise that they already support many of them. We are therefore especially grateful to those agencies who do support us. Some of the supporters have wished to remain anonymous, but we do thank all of those who have supported us.

Investment Policy

Investment decisions are taken by the sub-committee. ARC’s current investment policy is to hold monies in interest bearing accounts with banks for periods ranging from one to six months to maximise interest and accessibility. ARC has no permanent endowment and provides for capital expenditure from within budget. We have reviewed this policy in the light of recent financial uncertainty and spread the money wider in to the COIF Charities Deposit Funds as a means of further reducing risk whilst still looking for a respectable return.

Reserves

The trustees have agreed a policy with regard to achieving an unrestricted reserves level equivalent to the costs of three months’ operations in order to enable an orderly shutdown of operations should it become necessary. The board of ARC has agreed the means by which these figures should be calculated and will review them each year when the budget for the coming year is set, taking account of redundancy liabilities, lease contracts and foreseeable operational costs to sustain an orderly closure. For the year 2020/2021 the target for the reserves was calculated at £252k and by March 2021 ARC’s total unrestricted reserves stood at £495k.

Risk Management

The trustees and the strategic leadership team of the charity believe that a sound risk management is integral to both good management and good governance practice.

Risk management should form an integral part of the charity’s decision making and be incorporated within strategic and operational planning. Risk assessment will be conducted on all new activities and projects to ensure they are in line with the charity’s objectives and mission.

Any risks or opportunities arising will be identified, analysed and reported at an appropriate level.

A risk register covering ket strategic risks will be maintained and updated quarterly and more frequently where risks are are known to be volatine. The charity will regulary review and monitor the effectiveness of its risk management framework and update it as appropriate. Reports will be made to the Board of Trustees each quarter of continuing and emerging high concern risks and those where priority action is needed to effect better control.

Trustee Recruitment

There is a systematic, open and fair procedure for the recruitment and co-option of Trustees. Recruitment takes place through open advertisement within our membership base and stakeholers, or individuals may be approached for co-option. Suitability for the role is established at interviews, and voting takes place prior to their appointment to ensure a good fit with the Board and organisation.

page 9

BHP LLP

THE ASSOCIATION FOR REAL CHANGE

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021 - CONTINUED

Induction and training of trustees

All of ARC’s trustees are senior staff from within member organisations with significant experience of providing services. Prior to agreeing to stand for the board of ARC they are sent an outline of what becoming a trustee of ARC involves, the various criteria they must meet, and upon their election they are sent an information pack for new trustees. This contains details of the structure of and post holders within ARC as well as copies of the Charity Commission publications on the roles of trustee. Direct support for new trustees, is provided on request, by the Chair and strategic Leadership Team.

Trustees’ responsibility statement

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

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

The trustees are responsible for keeping proper 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 Trustees 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.

At the time the financial statements were approved:

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.

page 10

BHP LLP

THE ASSOCIATION FOR REAL CHANGE

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021 - CONTINUED

Appointment of auditors

A resolution for the re-appointment BHP LLP Chatered Accountants, as auditors for the coming year will be proposed at the forthcoming annual general meeting.

By order of the board

Phil Morris

UK Chair, on behalf of the Board

Date: Sep 14� 2021

page 11

BHP, LLP

INDEPENDENT AUDITORS REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES AND MEMBERS OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR REAL CHANGE

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of The Association for Real Change (the ‘charitable company’) for the year ended 31 March 2021 which comprises the Statement of Financial Activities, Balance Sheet, Cash Flow and the related notes including a summary of significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their presentation is applicable law and United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice including FRS 102 ‘The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland’.

In our opinion the financial statements:

Basis for opinion

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

Conclusions relating to going concern

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the ISAs (UK) require us to report to you where:

Other information

The trustees are responsible for the other information. The other information comprises the information included in the trustees annual report other than the financial statements and our audit report thereon. 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.

page 12

BHP, LLP

INDEPENDENT AUDITORS REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES AND MEMBERS OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR REAL CHANGE

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

We have nothing to report in this regard.

Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006

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

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

In the light of our 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’ 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 require us to report to you if, in our opinion:

Responsibilities of trustees

As explained more fully in the trustees’ responsibilities statement set out on page 14, the trustees (who are also the directors of the charitable company for the purposes of company law) are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the trustees determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

In preparing the financial statements, the trustees are responsible for assessing the charitable 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.

page 13

BHP, LLP

INDEPENDENT AUDITORS REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES AND MEMBERS OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR REAL CHANGE

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. Our approach to identifying and assessing the risks of material misstatement in respect of irregularities, including fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulations, was as follows:

We assessed the susceptibility of the company’s financial statements to material misstatement, including obtaining an understanding of how fraud might occur, by;

To address the risks of fraud through management bias and override controls, we:

page 14

BHP LLP

INDEPENDENT AUDITORS REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES AND MEMBERS OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR REAL CHANGE

In response to the risk of irregularities and non-compliance with laws and regulations, we designed procedures which included, but were not limited to:

There are inherent limitations in our audit procedures described above. The more removed that laws and regulations are from financial transactions, the less likely it is that we would become aware of non-compliance. Auditing standards also limit the audit procedures required to identify non-compliance with laws and regulations to enquiry of the trustees’ and other management.

Material misstatements that arise due to fraud can be harder to detect than those that arise from error as they may involve deliberate concealment or collusion.

A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at: www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our auditor’s report.

Use of our report

This report is made solely to the charitable company’s members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006, and to charitable company’s trustees, as a body, in accordance with Regulation 10 of the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charitable company’s members those matters we are required to state to them in an auditor’s report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charitable company and the charitable company’s members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

Adrian S�anifor�h �Sep ��� ���� ����� GMT���

Adrian Staniforth (Senior Statutory Auditor)

Date: Sep 14� 2021

For and on behalf of BHP LLP, Chartered Accountants Statutory Auditor

57-59 Saltergate Chesterfield Derbyshire S40 1UL

page 15

BHP, LLP

THE ASSOCIATION FOR REAL CHANGE

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES (INCORPORATING AN INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021

Unrestricted
Note

Funds

£
Income
Charitable activities:
Membership subscriptions
84,784
Grants
(5)
-
Training & conferences
511,435
Services to members
500,528
Other trading activities:
Donations & Gifts
-
Investment income
3,293
Total income
1,100,040
Expenditure
Charitable activities
Special projects
(5)
-
Training and conferences
309,255
Services to members
640,748
Total expenditure
(3)
950,003
Net incoming/(outgoing) resources
for the year
150,037

Balances brought forward
at 1 April 2020
345,287
Balances carried forward
at 31 March 2021
(10)
495,324		 Restricted
Funds
£
-
1,016,165
-
-
-
-
1,016,165
1,030,710
-
-
1,030,710
(14,545)
153,833
139,288		 2021
2020
Total
Total
£
£
84,784
82,785
1,016,165
971,925
511,435
600,544
500,528
330,248
-
282
3,293
3,262
2,116,2051,989,046
1,030,710
953,132
309,255
437,226
640,748
459,472
1,980,7131,849,830
135,492
139,216
499,120
359,904
634,612
499,120		 2020
Total
£
82,785
971,925
600,544
330,248
282
3,262
139,216
359,904
499,120

page 16

BHP LLP

THE ASSOCIATION FOR REAL CHANGE

BALANCE SHEET

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021

Note
Fixed assets
Tangible fixed assets
(7)
Current assets
Trade debtors
124,229
Prepayments and accrued income
2,370
Cash at bank and in hand
978,942
1,105,541
Creditors: amounts falling
due within one year

Taxation and social security costs
19,944
Trade Creditors
75,037
Other creditors
5,441
Accruals
18,848
Deferred income
(8)
366,082
485,352
Net current assets
Total assets less current liabilities
Funds
Restricted funds
(5)
Unrestricted funds
(10)
Total funds
(10)
Approved by the board on
and signed on their behalf by:
Sep 14� 2021		 2021
£
14,423
620,189
634,612
139,288
495,324
634,612		 2020
£
13,585
105,162
8,955
812,147
926,264
15,998
92,231
23,188
19,815
289,497
440,729
485,535
499,120
153,833
345,287
499,120

Phil Morris – Chair

The notes on pages 19 to 28 form part of these financial statements.

Company Registration Number 01658354

page 17

BHP LLP

THE ASSOCIATION FOR REAL CHANGE

CASH FLOW STATEMENT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021

Note
Cash used in operating activities
(9)
Cash flows from investing activities
Interest received
Purchase of tangible fixed assets
Cash provided by (used in) investing activities
Increase in cash and cash equivalents
in the year

Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of
the year
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of
the year		 2021
£
172,421
3,293
(8,919)
(5,626)
166,795
812,147
978,942		 2020
£
130,393
3,262
(13,035)
(9,773)
120,620
691,527
812,147

page 18

BHP LLP

THE ASSOCIATION FOR REAL CHANGE

NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021

1. Accounting Policies

a) Basis of accounting

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the Charities SORP (FRS 102) - Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (issued in October 2019), the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) and the Companies Act 2006.

The Association for Real Change meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS 102. Assets and liabilities are initially recognised at historical cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policy. The financial statements are presented in sterling which is the functional currency of the charity and rounded to the nearest £.

b) Company status

The charity is a company limited by guarantee and has no share capital. The members of the company are the Trustees named on page 2. In the event of the charity being wound up, the liability in respect of the guarantee is limited to £1 per member of the charity.

c) Income

Income from membership susbscription is recognised over the period of the subscription.

Income from grants is recognised in the period in which the grant relates to.

Income from training course fees is recognised over the duration of the course. Fees are generally invoiced in full at the time of enrolment. Income is recognised as each stage of the course is completed by the candidate and an assessment of that stage has been carried out by our assessors. Fees for conferences are invoiced in advance and recognised as income in the period in which the conference takes place. Income from services to members is recognised in the period in which the related expenditure occurs.

Income from publications, donations and investment income are recognised when they are received.

d) Fund accounting

The unrestricted funds comprise general funds which are available for use by the charity for its general objectives. The restricted funds are subject to restrictive conditions made by the grant making body or donor. The aim and use of each restricted fund is set out in the notes to the financial statements.

e) Operating leases

The rentals payable under operating leases are charged to the statement of financial activities on a straight line basis over the lease term.

page 19

BHP LLP

THE ASSOCIATION FOR REAL CHANGE

NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021 - CONTINUED

1. Accounting Policies - continued

f) The recognition of liabilities

Resources expended are accounted for on an accruals basis and are recognised when there is a legal or constructive obligation to pay for expenditure.

g) Services to members

This expenditure includes network costs, the costs of the national offices, the costs of providing the Disclosure services and the costs of the annual conference.

h) Support costs

Support costs have been allocated to activities based on the ratio of the individual activity expenditure against the overall expenditure, as detailed in note 3.

i) Costs of generating funds

This expenditure is an allocation of time spent and other resources expended in connection with fundraising.

j) Pension scheme

The company contributes to a stakeholder pension scheme. The pension costs charged in the financial statements represent the contributions payable by the charity during the year, in accordance with FRS102.

k) Irrecoverable VAT

The company is not registered for VAT. Any irrecoverable VAT is charged against the expense to which the item relates.

l) Foreign currency translation

The company operates a Euro bank account. The balance at the year end is translated into Sterling at the rate prevailing at the balance sheet date. Any transactions throughout the period are translated at the rate at the time, and any exchange difference is taken to the Statement of Financial Activities to the relevant heading.

m) Tangible fixed assets

Assets costing more than £200 are capitalised and depreciated over their estimated useful life.

Depreciation is charged as follows -

Office equipment 33.3% Straight Line

n) Debtors

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

page 20

BHP LLP

THE ASSOCIATION FOR REAL CHANGE

NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021 - CONTINUED

1. Accounting Policies - continued

o) Cash at bank and in hand

Cash at bank and 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.

p) 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.

q) Going concern

The trustees consider that there are no material uncertainties about the charity’s ability to continue as a going concern.

2. Incoming resources

Net incoming resources are stated after charging 2021 2020
£ £
Depreciation 8,081 5,334
Auditors remuneration 8,508 8,084
Operating leases 42,404 41,750

Income from unrestricted funds totalled £1,100,040 (2020: £1,017,121), and from restricted funds totalled £1,016,165 (2020: £971,925)

3. Total expenditure

Direct costs
Support costs
Total expenditure		 2021
£
1,887,304
93,409
1,980,713		 2020
£
1,774,999
74,831
1,849,830

Expenditure of unrestricted funds totalled £950,003 (2020: £896,698), and of restricted funds totalled £1,030,710 (2020: £953,132)

The support costs are allocated to activities below:

Training & Service to Total
conferences members 2021
£ £ £
Finance & IT 17,840 24,453 42,293
Secretarial 6,265 8,588 14,853
Management 15,297 20,966 36,263
39,403 54,006 93,409

page 21

BHP LLP

THE ASSOCIATION FOR REAL CHANGE

NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021 - CONTINUED

4. Tax

As a charity, The Association for Real Change is exempt from tax on income and gains falling within the available tax exemptions to the extent that these are applied to its charitable objects. No tax charges have arisen in the charity.

5. Restricted funds

Workforce Development Funding
Provider forums – Aberdeen
TILII Belfast Projects
TILII South Eastern Project
Big Lottery Fund
Scottish Government – BLF Matched
Learning Disability Week 2020
Charter
Peer training
GIRFEC
Transitions
Transitions (Esmee Fairbairn)
Provider Forums
US Too
US Too – Extension
TILII Fermanagh
TILII Translates
SOLD
Total – Charitable Activities
Restricted funds		 Resources
Resources
B/forward
C/forward
Incoming
Outgoing 01/04/2020
31/03/2021
£
£
£
£
299,930
299,930
-
-
11,000
11,000
-
-
22,047
22,047
-
-
23,460
23,460
-
-
50,318
33,567
30,669
47,420
38,000
38,000
-
-
9,725
9,725
-
-
64,000
64,000
-
-
10,000
10,000
-
-
112,696
129,872
17,176
60,414
72,452
13,936
1,898
59,862
54,301
59,835
65,396
55,000
79,484
27,159
2,675
53,472
33,417
1,844
21,899
21,000
21,000
-
-
9,000
9,000
-
-
17,000
20,214
3,214
-
99,241
99,241
-
-
1,016,165
1,030,710
153,833
139,288

page 22

BHP LLP

THE ASSOCIATION FOR REAL CHANGE

NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021 - CONTINUED

5.
Restricted funds (Continued) – Prior year

Workforce Development Funding
Provider forums – Aberdeen
NI – TILII (Belfast)
NI – TILII (South Eastern)
Big Lottery Fund
Scottish Government – BLF Matched
LD Model
Charter
Department of Health NI
GIRFEC
PHA Project
WDIF 19/20
EIP
DRILL
WDIF (Active Support)
Transitions
Transitions (Esmee Fairbairn
Provider Forums
US Too
TILII Western
TILII Translates
SOLD
Total – Charitable Activities
Restricted funds		 Resources
Resources
B/forward
C/forward
Incoming
Outgoing 01/04/2019
31/03/2020
£
£
£
£
326,725
326,725
-
- -
11,000
11,000
-
-
29,376
29,376
-
-
23,460
23,460
-
-
48,249
36,730
18,970
30,669
38,000
53,036
15,036
-
12,500
12,500
-
-
60,000
60,000
-
-
-
5,753
5,753
-
49,950
32,774
-
17,176
4,500
8,684
4,184
-
19,110
19,110
-
-
-
1,596
1,596
14,850
14,850
-
-
5,192
-
(5,192)
-
65,000
51,063
-
13,937
59,862
59,889
59,862
59,835
50,000
28,113
5,272
27,159
24,971
47,799
24,672
1,844
9,190
11,815
2,625
-
20,569
19,617
2,262
3,214
99,241
99,241
-
-
971,925
953,132
135,040
153,833

The restricted grants received were utilised for the purposes for which they were given, as outlined below.

Workforce Development Funding (Funded by Skills for Care)

This project enables provider organisations in England to claim monies for completing courses and gaining qualifications.

Provider forums – Aberdeen (Funded by Aberdeen Council)

Development and support of self advocacy groups within Aberdeenshire.

TILII Belfast Project (Telling It Like It Is) (Funded by Belfast HSCT)

ARC NI supports a self-advocacy group in the community and two further groups in Muckamore Abbey Hospital. TILII Belfast supports over 25 people with a learning disability to complete a range of activities, including delivering induction training to new staff, writing good news stories in their capacity as Roving Reporters, and delivering influencing presentations to support their messages being heard by a diverse range of stakeholders.

page 23

BHP LLP

THE ASSOCIATION FOR REAL CHANGE

NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021 - CONTINUED

5. Restricted funds (Continued)

TILII South Eastern Project (Telling it Like it is) (Funded by Southern Eastern HSC Trust)

ARC NI supports self-advocacy groups in Downpatrick, Lisburn and Bangor. TILII in the South Eastern area supports over 20 people with a learning disability to complete a range of activities, including delivering induction training to new staff, writing good news stories in their capacity as Roving Reporters, and delivering influencing presentations to support their messages being heard by a diverse range of stakeholders.

Local Involvement Networks (Funded by Big Lottery Fund and Scottish Government)

This project is to support the local implementation of the Charter for Involvement.

Learning Disability Week 2020 ‘Friendship Festival’ (Funded by National Lottery Awards for All)

During lockdown this money helped ARC and Telling it Like it is (TILII) to develop a week long festival, focused on the importance of friendship during Learning Disability Week and a global pandemic. Films, activities and entertainment were created to keep people with a learning disability connected, having lots of fun while locked down and unable to see people.

https://arcuk.org.uk/northernireland/learning-disability-week-2020/

Charter (Funded by the Scottish Government)

To update and promote the Charter for Involvement.

Peer Traning ‘Empowering people with a learning disability to keep Safe’ (Funded by Belfast Health and Social Care Trust)

The Belfast Trust asked ARC to support Telling It Like It Is (TILLII) to develop training to deliver to people with a learning disability in day centres. The training was to inform people how to keep safe. During lockdown TILII were able to develop their resource however closure of services meant they were not able to meet with their peers.

GIRFEC (Funded by the Scottish Government)

This project is for developing and trialing a national framework to improve the experiences of young disabled people who are making the transition to young adult life. This includes developing a digital application that will enable young people and their families to have access to the information they need, and will enable policy makers and commissioners to have access to the information they need to make better informed decisions.

Transitions (Funded by the Scottish Governmentand and Esmee Fairbairn Foundation)

This project was to ensure that the Scottish Transitions forum influences practice and policy at a national level. Also to produce and launch the Principles of Good Transitions 3.

Provider Forums (Funded by the Scottish Government)

Help people with learning disability lead full and active lives and be at the heart of their local community, really shaping what happens.

Us Too (Funded by Comic Relief)

This project is to tackle ending violence (domestic abuse and sexual violence) against women with a learning disability. We will do this by holding awareness sessions, facilitated by a Peer Trainer (a woman with a learning disability who has lived experience), for other women with learning disabilities and the staff who support them to understand what domestic abuse and sexual violence is, identify when it is happening and know what to do about it. We will then work with local women’s crisis centres and a national umbrella body to raise accessibility of their specialist services so that if a women presents with a learning disability, they are able to meet their support needs.

page 24

BHP LLP

THE ASSOCIATION FOR REAL CHANGE

NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021 - CONTINUED

5. Restricted funds Continued

TILII Fermanagh (Telling It Like It Is) (Funded by the Western Health & Social Care Trust)

ARC NI supports a self-advocacy group in Fermanagh. TILII Fermanagh has over 20 people with a learning disability.who are supported to complete a range of activities, including writing good news stories in their capacity as Roving Reporters, and delivering influencing presentations to support their messages being heard by a diverse range of stakeholders.

TILII Translates (Funded by the Belfast HSCT)

ARC NI supports Telling It Like It Is (TILII) to offer an Easy Read translation service. The Belfast HSCT lso lend the support of Speech & Language Therapy to the project. Customers in 2020/21 include the Northern Ireland Public Ombudsman, the Department of Health and a Housing Association.

SOLD (Funded by the Scottish Government)

This project is to support and develop the Supporting Offenders with Learning Disabilities (SOLD) network, to form the National Criminal Justice Action Group as described in the ‘Keys to Life’ recommendation 46.

page 25

BHP LLP

THE ASSOCIATION FOR REAL CHANGE

NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021 - CONTINUED

6. Staff Costs

Staff costs:
Wages & salaries
Pension costs
Social security cost
Totals
The average number of employees on a FTE basis.
And the areas in which they work are as follows:
Charitable activities
Support Services
Average number of employees		 2021
£
769,325
37,154
71,946
878,425
No.
16
8
24		 2020
£
654,583
32,523
60,452
747,558
No.
13
8
21

The directors, who are Trustees of the Charity, were not entitled to, and did not receive any emoluments from the company during the year. Their travel expenses to meetings during the year amounted to £0 for 6 Trustees (2020:(10) £4,843).

Staff pension contributions unpaid at the year end were £204 (2020: £242).

There are no staff with emoluments in excess of £60,000 (2020: None).

The total amount of employee benefits received by key management personnel is £201,648 (2020: £205,236). The charity considers its key management personnel to be the staff who comprise of the Country Directors and the Finance Director

Tangible Fixed Assets
Office equipment
£
Cost
Balance as at 1 April 2020 35,318
Additions during the year 8,919
Disposals during the year (2,150)
Balance at 31 March 2021 42,087
Depreciation
Balance as at 1 April 2020 21,733
Disposals during year (2,150)
Charge for the year 8,081
Balance as at 31 March 2021 27,664
Net book value 31 March 2021 14,423
Net book value 31 March 2020 13,585

page 26

BHP LLP

THE ASSOCIATION FOR REAL CHANGE

NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021 - CONTINUED

8. Deferred income

9.

10		 Course and Conference fees
Received in advance at the beginning of the year
Total fees received in the year
Statement of financial activities
Received in advance at the end of the year
Reconciliation of net movement in funds
To net cash flow from operating activities
Net movement in funds
Depreciation charges
(Increase)/Decrease in debtors
Increase/(Decrease) in creditors
Investment income
Net cash used in operating activities
Analysis of net assets between funds
Tangible fixed assets
Current assets
Creditors due within 1 year
Net assets		 Unrestricted
£
14,423
966,253
(485,352)
495,324		 2021
£
289,497
588,020
(511,435)
366,082
2021
£
135,492
8,081
(12,482)
46,623
(3,293)
172,421

Restricted
£
-
139,288
-
139,288		 2020
£
326,497
563,544
(600,544)
289,497
2020
£
139,216
5,334
32,887
(43,782)
(3,262)
130,393


Total

£
14,423
1,105,541
(485,352)
634,612

11. Financial commitments

At 31 March 2021 the company had future minimum lease payments under non-cancellable leases as follows:

Within one year
1 – 5 years		 2021
£
44,139
31,259
75,398		 2020

£
44,139
69,555
113,694

page 27

BHP LLP

THE ASSOCIATION FOR REAL CHANGE

NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021 - CONTINUED

12. Related party transactions

The trustees of the company are associated with their employing organisations. By definition, these companies are all members of ARC.

These companies are invoiced for any training courses and other services as appropriate by ARC. All these transactions are on normal commercial terms and at arms length and all members (whether Trustees or not) are treated in the same way.

£212 was paid to Lynnette Linton for her services provided on the NIN project in 2020 before she became a Trustee.

13. Covid Related Income

Breakdown of Unrestricted Income
Membership Income
Total trading income received in the year
Investment Income
Covid funding
Funding from CBC
Funding from Big Lottery
Funding from Esmee Fairbairn
Furlough Income
Total Unrestricted Income received
Breakdown of Restricted Income
Grants Received
Covid funding
Comic Relief
Total Restricted Income		 2021
£
84,784
940,716
3,293
10,000
27,000
29,931
4,316
1,100,040
995,165
21,000
1,016,165

page 28

BHP LLP