2022-03-31-accounts

Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association

Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022

Sense Group Annual Report and Financial Statements 2022

Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association:

Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association (Sense), Sense International and Helping Sense Limited

Sense: Registered number 1825301

Registered charity number 289868

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Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association

Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022

Contents

Contents
Message from our President	3
Introduction from our Chair and Chief Executive	4
Report of the Trustees of Sense, the National Deafblind and Rubella Association (including the Director’s Report)	5
Who we are – our mission and values	5
A summaryof ouryear in numbers	7
Our strategic outcomes: achievements andplans	9
Sense International: achievements andplans	15
Qualityand safeguarding	20
Fundraising	21
Our volunteers	24
Ourpeople	25
Thegovernance of Sense,The National Deafblind and Rubella Association	27
Public benefit	32
The Sense Group	32
Sense GroupTrustees and Senior Staff	34
Section172 Statement	37
Statement of the responsibilities of the Board of Trustees of Sense, the National Deafblind andRubellaAssociation	39
Financial review of Sense, the National Deafblind and Rubella Association 2021/22	42
Energyand Carbon Report 2021/22	48
Report on the audit of the financial statement	54
Consolidated statement of financial activities for theyear ended 31 March 2022	57
Accounting policies	61
Notes to the Financial Statements of Sense, the National Deafblind and Rubella Association, for the year ended 31 March 2022	68
Other information	96
Major supporters of Sense in 2021/22	96
Charityinformation	98

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Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association

Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022

Message from our President

The last three years have been challenging for the whole country as we dealt with the farreaching effects of the pandemic and the people that Sense supports have been impacted more than most.

I have total and complete admiration for the people working for Sense, supporting children and adults in their family homes, and in the community. Through lockdowns and social distancing measures, they ensured that support still reached those that needed it most. Through the easing of restrictions, they helped people navigate their way back to increased ‘normality’ and now, as we feel the knock-on effects, they continue to work just as hard to ensure that no one is left out.

These last years, more than ever, have demonstrated that the strength of Sense’s approach is its ability to adapt to change. Innovation is our hallmark, and we have already seen huge progress in our transformative new strategy to deliver vital support to more people than ever before. With the establishment of a new early intervention service, a national buddying service, the launch of a new website, and great advancements in the development of new hubs in Denbigh and Loughborough, we are making strides in our ability to support more people, using innovative, yet proven models.

I was fortunate enough to be part of celebrating these achievements at the Sense Commonwealth dinner, hosted by our Patron, HRH The Princess Royal, at Sense TouchBase Pears, in Birmingham. It was a fantastic evening, full of sports, performance and sensory exploration – a testimony to the imaginative ways of working that Sense lives and breathes. One month later, it couldn’t have been more fitting than to see the building transformed into an accessible venue for the Commonwealth Games, which delivered its most inclusive programme ever.

I would like to thank our loyal and dedicated staff, volunteers and supporters for everything they have done to help us achieve so much this year.

The Lord Levy President

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Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022

Introduction from our Chair and Chief Executive

As we look back at our performance over the last year, it brings into sharp focus how much operating in uncertainty has become the new norm for us. We’ve moved from the sudden shock of the pandemic to post-Covid recovery into a cost-of-living crisis.

This is a common theme across all charities, and across the whole country. In particular, the current challenges of recruiting staff are present across sectors, and nationwide.

Social care is more fragile than ever. Yet, it is vital to supporting the most vulnerable members of our society. That’s why we’re working hard to make the case to government for increased investment in social care and its workforce, as we face possibly our most challenging time yet.

We are also acutely aware that the cost-of-living crisis emerging across the country doesn’t affect people equally. At a time where we’ve found that rising costs are pushing more than half of disabled households into debt, disabled people and their families are paying the highest cost, and need our support more than ever. In response, we have introduced our cost-of-living fund for those disproportionally affected by the financial situation. We’re proud to have brought about this support - a first for the sector - but more is needed, in particular by way of long-term financial support from government.

Throughout all the uncertainties, challenges and changes of the last number of years, one thing that has remained constant is the resilience and determination of our team at Sense. The spirit of the Sense family has allowed us to continue to provide the high-quality care and support that children and adults with complex disabilities need. The achievements in this report are theirs, and we thank them for their dedication and hard work.

Justin Molloy Chair of Sense

Richard Kramer Chief Executive of Sense and Sense International

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Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association

Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022

Report of the Trustees of Sense, the National Deafblind and Rubella Association (including the strategic report)

Who we are: our mission and vision

Who we are

Sense is a national disability charity that supports children and adults who are deafblind or have complex disabilities to communicate, experience the world, and fulfil their potential. We also have an international arm, Sense International, which works in eight countries round the world.

Sense offers personalised support in our residential and supported living services; in the community and across our centres, holidays and short breaks; and provides opportunities for children and adults to take part in arts and sport activities across the country.

We are here for everyone who needs us, for as long as they need us, providing early intervention for children, helping young people access education, and supporting the transition into adulthood and beyond. As well as providing practical support, we also offer information to families and we campaign for the rights of people with complex disabilities to take part in life.

We work with a range of partners to deliver our services, including local authorities, housing associations, healthcare professionals, schools, and art and sport organisations.

Some of our services are funded by Local Authorities and Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs), whilst others, such as our specialist work with children and young people, are entirely dependent on charitable fundraising and income from trading through our 115 shops.

All of our different services are tailored to the needs of each individual.

Our mission

Our mission is to remove barriers to communication, so that everyone has the opportunity to live their life to the full.

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Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association

Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022

What we believe

Our vision is of a world where no one, no matter how complex their disabilities, is left out, isolated, or unable to fulfil their potential.

What we do

We provide expert support that’s tailored to the individual needs of each person who has complex disabilities or is deafblind. That might be through our centres, holidays and short breaks, or in people’s homes. In addition to practical support, we also offer information to families, and campaign for the rights of people with complex disabilities to take part in life.

Who we support

We are here for every person living with complex disabilities that make it a challenge to communicate, access information and take part in life.

We are specialists in providing the individual, tailored support people need to lead a fulfilling life.

What we mean by complex disabilities

People with complex disabilities – or complex needs – tend to have two or more disabilities and experience unique barriers in daily life. This can make it harder to develop new skills, communicate and live independently.

How we support

We know that, with the right support, it is possible for every person to make sense of their world and the world around them, no matter how complex their disabilities.

We help people to communicate and express themselves – be it through speech or sign, touch or movement, gesture or sound, art or dance.

For over 65 years, Sense has developed an unrivalled depth of knowledge, skill and expertise to help people overcome the barriers to communication. We help people develop the skills to enjoy everyday things like having a conversation, enjoying friendships and living independently.

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Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association

Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022

We offer personalised and flexible services that are built around the specific needs of each individual. That means we support people in their home and in the community, in their education and transition to adulthood, and through our holidays, arts, sports and wellbeing programmes.

We also offer practical support to families, including information, advice, short breaks and family events.

We campaign to change laws and government policies where necessary, to ensure that everyone, no matter how complex their disabilities, can communicate, access information, and take part in life.

A summary of our year in numbers

Our reach in numbers

Our many different services reached more than 28,000 people. This means we supported double the number of children and adults with complex disabilities, parents, carers and siblings, compared to last year.

Media coverage grew by 14% year-on-year, as we raise the profile of our work and give voice to the people we support.

Almost 365,500 people visited our relaunched website, with its expanded range of information, advice and events for people with complex disabilities.

We raised £12,951,000 in donations for our work, thanks to the generosity of our supporters.

Our services in numbers

Nearly 6,000 people engaged with our pioneering services designed to tackle loneliness and social isolation. Including dedicated support for siblings and young carers of children with complex disabilities, we were able to connect all these people with peers and volunteer buddies.

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Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association

Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022

We supported almost 3,500 children through our specialist and operational services, and launched our new Early Intervention and Play service. This meant we reached 500 more children, compared to last year.

Our information and advice line supported people with 5,224 enquiries. An increase of over 70%, compared to last year .

Nearly 9,000 people accessed our sports and physical activity programme. This was an increase of over 170% , thanks, in part, to expansion of our online support.

More than 2,000 people benefited from our inclusive art and wellbeing activities.

In partnership with local and education authorities, we supported 335 people last year in our accommodation services, and 542 people accessing day and community services through our 10 Sense Centres. Our 9 specialist college sites worked with 322 young people and adults.

95% of our services are judged by CQC to be good or outstanding.

Our influence in numbers

42,000 signed our petition to the government to put disabled people at the heart of the Covid-19 inquiry.

Our ‘Left Out of Life’ campaign saw 8,000 people pledging their commitment to everyday actions that will help make life more inclusive.

We increased the impact of our work to engage with MPs and the Lords. Sense was mentioned 21 times in parliament and we met with 36 parliamentarians.

Our new annual research programme saw over 1,500 people with complex disabilities share their lived experiences on a range of key topics.

Through ground-breaking, first-of-its-kind research, we established there are 1.6 million people living with complex disabilities in the UK.

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Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association

Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022

Our strategic outcomes: achievements and plans

Imagine a world where no one, no matter how complex their disabilities, is left out of life. Our strategy – No One Left Out of Life – has four strategic outcomes. Refreshed for 202126, they outline how we aim to support ten times more people living with complex disabilities by 2026. That’s 50,000 people over 5 years.

These are some of the achievements and plans that further our mission and take us towards delivering on that goal.

Outcome 1: children and families get the best possible start

Being a parent or carer of a child who is deafblind or with complex disabilities can be challenging. But, the right support, at the right time, can make all the difference in a child’s development.

Key achievements

In 2021/22, we supported nearly 3,500 children through our specialist and operational services, including nearly 500 new families that we hadn’t had contact with before. During the pandemic, we had to deliver many of our services online due to social distancing measures. In 2021, we were very pleased to be able to resume in-person activities and events. As well as this, we’ve also continued to offer a weekly timetable of online activities for families that can’t access in-person session, which have proven to be very popular.

We continued to provide awareness training on multi-sensory impairment and deafblindness to other agencies and professionals, with nearly 400 professionals accessing this training in 2021/22. And, our information and advice line received 5,224 enquiries last year. This was over a 70% increase on the enquiries we helped with in the previous year.

We also developed a number of new programmes for children and families last year:

• Navigating the MSI World came in response to feedback from families. We delivered 80 sessions – providing information and advice to parents and carers on a whole range of topics, including communication, mindfulness and wellbeing, and sleep, as well as

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Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association

Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022

offering an opportunity for parents and carers to connect with others in a safe and supportive environment.

• Little Dragons is our new virtual pre-school group, which families from across Wales can attend.

• We launched our Early Intervention and Play service in Birmingham at the end of 2021. This is a service supporting the families of 0–9-year-olds to communicate and play with their child with complex disabilities. The service will be extended to Loughborough in 2022, before being rolled out nationally.

Plans for 2022/23

During the coming year, we plan to deliver on refreshed objectives in support of children and families getting the best possible start:

• We will test and launch innovative new services, including an early intervention service to support children with complex disabilities.

• We will ensure sustained or improved outcomes for the people we support, through our quality and safeguarding work.

• We will address capacity and capability gaps to enable digital innovation and service delivery, by exploring digital information, services and products for people with complex disabilities and their families.

Outcome 2: adults are supported to live and learn at every stage of their lives

We believe that everyone has a right to live a fulfilling life and play an active part in their community, including through equal access to work, education and training.

With the right support, that reflects people’s aspirations and needs, we can ensure that no one is left out, or unable to fulfil their potential.

Key achievements

During 2021/22, following the easing of Covid restrictions, we managed the transition back to normal life for the people we support. Our dedicated team took care to ensure that each individual was supported to return to their lifestyle of choice. This included 335 people –

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Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association

Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022

across 67 locations – in our accommodation services, and 542 people using our 10 Sense Centres to access day services.

Our 9 specialist college sites also provided access to educational opportunities and wider support for 322 people, with 146 being funded through education programmes.

We also invested in developing new services, and expanding existing ones, so that we can increase the number of people we support. During the year, we:

• Took on the services of the Otterhayes Trust, a self-contained site in Devon supporting 21 people in a variety of accommodation settings. We worked with our new colleagues and the people living there to improve services, invest in the environment and buildings, and move activities into the community.

• Made significant progress in developing our Sense College Loughborough site as a hub. This will allow us to expand the range and scope of services delivered, including providing support to children and their families, employment support for people with complex disabilities, and arts and sports facilities and programmes. We also plan to develop the site as a digital hub that will be able to reach more people, and have plans to develop hubs in two further locations over the next two years.

• Made advancements with our new site in Denbigh, which will provide much-needed person centred day services to people in North Wales. Following its launch, we also plan to expand the range of services we provide here.

• Worked with commissioners of services – for example Local Authorities and Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) – to extend our commissioned support to a further 53 adults.

Plans for 2022/23

During the coming year, we plan to deliver on refreshed objectives to support adults to live and learn at every stage of their lives:

• We will continue to develop our hubs programme across the UK. Our two new hubs in Denbigh and Loughborough will be opened, offering a range of vital services and support in these areas.

• We will increase the numbers of adults in our supported living services.

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Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022

Outcome 3: individuals are less lonely and more connected in their communities

Almost two thirds of the 14.1 million disabled people living in the UK are chronically lonely. Through this strand of our strategy, we aim to generate new social connections for more than 30,000 people over 5 years.

Key achievements

In 2021/22, nearly 6,000 people benefitted from our services designed to tackle loneliness and social isolation by connecting people with their peers and with volunteer buddies. This includes dedicated support for siblings and young carers of children with complex disabilities.

Sense Holidays provide an opportunity to make friends for life. The programme resumed in 2021, after being paused in 2020 due to the pandemic. We provided group residential breaks for 42 children, young people and adults during the year. 181 young people also accessed the day events, residentials and workshops of our Vision England project, which was designed to engage groups of young people with disabilities in conservation and environmental issues.

Over 2,000 people accessed our inclusive arts and wellbeing programme, and we distributed 1,420 arts and wellbeing boxes to people’s homes.

In 2021, we resumed in-person sessions for our sports and activity programme, as well as continuing online and telephone activities. Nearly 9,000 people accessed these. We also focused on upskilling others, including sports coaches and social care staff, to enable people with complex disabilities to participate in physical activity. Our sports team delivered workshops to 346 people and developed a network of physical activity champions.

As well as this, new projects introduced in 2020/21 included:

• The launch of our Thrive Festival in London, which gave young people the opportunity to experience a cultural festival and develop friendships. Overall, 126 young people accessed buddying projects across London.

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Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association

Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022

• Our new online arts club. We produced 14 creative videos to engage people with arts activities and they were viewed by 1,103 people.

• Our fully accessible performance space, and music and visual arts studios – at Sense Touchbase Pears in Birmingham – opened in the Summer of 2021.

• Sensory Walks, launched in April 2021, is our partnership with Ordnance Survey and Forestry England to map over 50 sensory walks across the UK.

• Sensory Football, launched in January 2022, shows how football can be delivered for people with complex disabilities in more engaging ways. We developed a toolkit, training and mentoring, and set up regular, local activities nationally.

• As well as delivering our own programme of opportunities for physical activities, we published new research in partnership with ukactive Research Institute and Sport England. The report 'Understanding the physical activity needs of families who have children with complex disabilities' highlights the key recommendations for all sports providers to consider, when delivering accessible activities.

Plans for 2022/23

During the coming year, we plan to deliver on refreshed objectives to ensure individuals are less lonely and more connected in their communities:

• We will increase the numbers of people we reach through our virtual buddying and siblings programmes.

• We will test and launch new services including a dance programme.

• We will continue to improve outcomes for the people we support.

• We will engage and inform the public around the issue of loneliness and disability.

Outcome 4: society has increased awareness of the impact of our work and is inspired to take action

For over 65 years, Sense has been standing up for disability rights. We support disabled people and their families to fight for change on a local and national level.

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Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association

Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022

Key achievements

Media coverage of our work grew by 14% year-on-year, as we raise the profile of our work and give voice to the people we support.

Our newly relaunched website also reached almost 365,500 people with its expanded range of information, advice and events for people with complex disabilities.

We campaigned for a public inquiry that put disabled people’s experiences of the Covid-19 pandemic at its heart. Over 300,000 people viewed our campaign film and shared it on social media, including celebrities like Stephen Fry. Over 42,000 signed our petition to government. The inquiry will be held in 2022, and we are feeding into its development, to ensure it is accessible and inclusively run.

‘MSI teachers’, our campaign highlighting the vital role of specialist support in schools for children with multi-sensory impairment, called for greater investment into the recruitment and training of MSI teachers. Over 1,000 supporters signed our letter to the chancellor.

The Sense ‘Left Out of Life’ campaign continued in 2021/22. Over 8,000 signed our pledge committing to everyday actions that will help make life more inclusive.

1,200 people watched last year’s Sense Awards live online, celebrating the achievements of people with complex disabilities, as well as their family members, carers, volunteers and support staff. The awards featured big names, such as comedian Rosie Jones, Channel 4 News TV presenter, Darsha Soni, and social media influencer, Shelby Lynch.

In 2021/22 we increased the impact of our work to engage with MPs and the Lords. Sense was mentioned 21 times in parliament, we were invited to give evidence to the Work and Pensions select committee, and we met with 36 parliamentarians, including ministerial and shadow ministerial teams.

In a major new project for 2021/22, we also established a new annual research programme, which, in its first year, saw over 1,500 people with complex disabilities share their lived experiences on a range of key topics.

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Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022

We delivered ground-breaking, first-of-its-kind research on the scale of complex disabilities in the UK, identifying how many people are living with complex disabilities in the UK and its nations and regions. The research also includes projections for the future and is now forming the basis of work across the organisation, including service development, campaign planning and fundraising.

Plans for 2022/23

During the coming year, we plan to deliver on refreshed objectives to ensure society is aware of our work and is inspired to take action:

• We will grow our supporter base and reach over 200,000 people.

• We aim to increase the percentage of people that recognise our brand to 37%.

• We will recruit 300 new volunteers to our virtual buddying and siblings programmes.

• We will increase our items of national media coverage to 800.

• We will run two national campaigns, mobilising at least 50,000 people.

• We will substantially increase our fundraising activity to make all our work possible.

Sense International: achievements and plans

Sense International supports children and adults with deafblindness in Bangladesh, India, Kenya, Nepal, Peru, Romania, Tanzania and Uganda. People with deafblindness in these countries struggle to access healthcare, education, vocational training and opportunities to participate in their community.

Sense International had four strategic objectives for 2021/22:

• Ensure quality services.

• Improved knowledge and understanding of deafblindness.

• The voice of people with deafblindness is heard.

• Rights are recognised and realised.

Covid-19 continued to affect services in 2021/22, as school closures and limits on face-to face interactions continued in many places. Despite this, overall, we have delivered on our strategic objectives by adapting and innovating. Moving support and training online, for

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Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022

example, enabled us to continue to reach families and education or healthcare professionals, despite restrictions.

Strategic objective 1: ensure quality services

We work to demonstrate the benefits of increasing access to high quality services for people with deafblindness. This includes working with government ministries to encourage learning and sustainability. We work across three themes: screening and early intervention, inclusive education, and vocational skills and livelihoods.

Screening and early intervention

The sooner any baby with visual or hearing impairment is identified, and given the support they need, the more likely they are to develop to their full potential. We demonstrate to ministries of health how early screening can be used, and the huge difference that early support and therapy can make. We train health workers and enable parents to understand and communicate with their child, as well as to boost their child’s progress towards achieving developmental milestones.

In Kenya , 20,859 children were screened for complex disabilities by volunteers using the risk factor questionnaire. 62 children were enrolled in early intervention therapeutic services.

Inclusive education

We work with families, schools, colleges, partner organisations, government institutions and ministries of education, to enable learners with deafblindness to fulfil their potential, by getting the educational support that they need. From training parents and teachers, to providing specialist technology and adapting school facilities, curricula and learning materials, we do what is needed to enable children with deafblindness to learn.

In 2021/22, we developed the Global Deafblindness Resource Centre – deafblindness.info – with accessible materials for those who support people with deafblindness, including parents, caregivers, teachers and NGO workers.

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Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022

In Nepal , 42 teachers in Morang and Rupandehi received training and we also provided online sign language training for staff and parents through schools in Morang and Simli. Schools in Morang have been renovated to include accessible classrooms that children with disabilities can attend. Following our advocacy, we received commitment from governmental officials to support impactful new resource classes for children with deafblindness in Kathmandu, and to provide student stipends.

In Bangladesh , 227 children were supported with access to education, with 64 in school (including 29 new enrolments) and others supported through centres or at home.

In Uganda , we worked in partnership with the Kilimanjaro Blind Trust Africa and the Ministry of Education, to support schools with orbit readers (equipment for learners with visual impairment), and to train teachers on their use and maintenance. We also provided training to parents, teachers, school management committees and local leaders from the Eastern region, focusing on issues including play and learning materials for early childhood education centres, management and safeguarding.

Vocational training and livelihoods

Young people with deafblindness want to be as independent as possible. They want to learn vocational skills and earn a living or contribute to the household income. We support them through the different stages of this process, enabling them to join a vocational training centre, become an apprentice, or make a plan and start up their own business. We provide links to advisers and local business support schemes.

In Tanzania , 38 young people with complex disabilities were assessed and provided with recommendations on a vocational course placement. We helped to renovate Yombo Vocational Rehabilitation Training Centre, including installation of a computer room. Thanks to advocacy, 18 young people with complex disabilities are also receiving government support, where free accommodation and meals are provided by the training centre. We also worked to gain official authorisation of guidance for tutors on how to adapt the national vocational training curriculum for young people with complex disabilities.

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Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022

Strategic objective 2: improved knowledge and understanding of deafblindness

Understanding more about the challenges facing people with deafblindness, and the effectiveness of our interventions, is essential to our work. For example, research provides us with valuable evidence which we use to advocate to governments for improvements in their implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

In 2021/22, we contributed to the drafting of the second global report on deafblindness, as part of the report research reference group and through providing case studies.

In Romania , we partnered with three major universities (The University of Bucharest, Babeș-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca, the University of Iași) to run the national conference ‘Education of Children with Deafblindness: Together Again!’ The event brought together over 100 participants daily, including teachers, educators, students, psychologists, social workers and other specialists.

Strategic objective 3: voice of people with deafblindness is heard

People living with deafblindness should be the ones speaking out about the challenges they face and the changes they want to see. We support people with deafblindness to speak out through training, networking and providing opportunities to meet with decisionmakers. We also support groups of parents of children with deafblindness. When caregivers cannot speak on behalf of their children, we support them to advocate to governments for social protection, access to services and educational opportunities for their children.

In Nepal , a successful national workshop was held for 25 young people with deafblindness, who learned about advocacy work and their rights. A network of parents of children with deafblindness was established in Sindhuli, and 13 young people with deafblindness attended rights-based advocacy and awareness training.

In Romania , we supported 13 young people with deafblindness with training in leadership and advocacy, so they can speak about their rights.

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Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022

Strategic objective 4: rights are recognised and realised

We advocate for change based on the UN Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) and other UN Conventions, such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child. We raise awareness among people with deafblindness, their families and communities to increase understanding that everyone has rights to healthcare, education, decent work, social protection, inclusion and participation. We advocate with governments for these rights, pushing for better implementation of the UNCRPD at all levels, so that people with deafblindness can live, learn and thrive.

In 2021/22, we continued in our Covid-19 response, to support people with deafblindness and their families with protective and sanitary equipment and food. In India, we reached over 1,292 families with Covid support and in Bangladesh we supported 242 people.

In Peru , a virtual conversation was held by the Peruvian Network of Inclusive Education, on inclusive education and the return to classrooms. Sense Peru’s Director presented on the inclusion of students with deafblindness to an audience of over 70 people, including representatives of the Ombudsman's Office and the Ministry of Education. In July 2021, after 10 years of sustained advocacy work by the Sense team, Peru’s Ministry of

Education approved and published the formal requirements, profile and competencies for the training of interpreter guides for people with deafblindness. It means that institutes of higher education can now offer a degree for interpreter guides, in a huge step for support for people with deafblindness.

In India , we made three representations about deafblindness at the Global Disability Summit, held virtually in February 2022. Shrutilata Singh, Sense India’s network specialist, and Asha, a young woman with deafblindness, participated in the World Bank-led World Data Forum in Bern, Switzerland. Shruti spoke about the importance of counting people with deafblindness and about the accessibility of the forum itself, which generated a lot of discussion.

Sense International: plans for 2022/23

In 2021/22 we reviewed and refreshed our strategy. While our vision remains the same, we crystallised our mission and consolidated our values and principles. We agreed to

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Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022

shape our work under three strategic and five enabling objectives. In 2022/23, we will continue to deliver work on early years, inclusive education, and vocational training and livelihoods, alongside training and knowledge sharing, and advocacy, so that people with deafblindness are included in systems and societies.

Quality and safeguarding at Sense

Quality

We have continued to provide services of the highest quality, as recognised by our regulators. 95% of services registered with the Care Quality Commission have been rated by them as ‘Good’ or ‘Outstanding’. We also provided high levels of assurance to our regulators on our response to keeping people safe throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, through their targeted infection prevention and control inspections.

We continued virtual approaches to reviewing the quality, safety and compliance of services during 2021/22. Our independently-chaired quality board received reports of innovation and effective approaches to meeting the challenges presented by the pandemic. These demonstrated how Sense staff had continued to support people during the worst of the pandemic, responding to people’s needs, and enabling them to maintain contact with family and friends.

Inclusion

Inclusion is at the heart of our provision of the highest quality services. Our Sense User Reference Group is a group of people living with complex disabilities, who provide feedback on Sense services. The group has continued to meet virtually throughout the year, have contributed to our policy work on health and wellbeing, and gave feedback on the development of the new Sense website.

We have also piloted a new approach to the involvement of the people using our services in our quality assurance process. This has included the employment of two disabled people, working as experts by experience, to provide a different perspective to quality audits. We plan to extend this approach in 2022/23.

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Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022

Our Working Together for Change programme exists to listen to the experiences of the people we support, and to use these experiences to improve and inform our services The programme has gathered information specifically around health and wellbeing, from 254 people who use Sense services. This information has fed into our policy and research work and into our arts, sports and wellbeing programmes, so that we can design activities together, based on what is important to the people we support. We will be extending Working Together for Change, to our children’s services and Sense College in 2022/23.

Safeguarding

Safeguarding has continued to be a priority for Sense and we have developed new policies and resources to ensure safety and prevent abuse arising from the increased provision of online and digital services. Our independently-chaired safeguarding board has continued to meet to review policies and procedures, and to provide assurance on our response to safeguarding concerns. We have continued to monitor levels of training and awareness of safeguarding for our staff and volunteers.

We have also continued to deliver our innovative work on identity, sexuality and relationships. We have provided individualised support, delivered training and developed resources to enable people to have safe and meaningful relationships, and to develop their sense of self and identity. During the summer of 2021, we held a friendships and relationships week, where we provided support on safe personal relationships, and enabled people with shared interests to meet up online.

We reviewed the governance provided by both the quality and safeguarding boards during the year and made changes to improve engagement and communication with the wider organisation on the work of the boards.

Fundraising

Sense services are funded in two ways. Statutory services, such as our day opportunities, are commissioned and funded by local authorities. But many of our vital services, such as our specialist support for children and young people, are funded by income raised through fundraising.

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During 2021/22, as the pandemic continued to be felt across the world, our supporters continued to show amazing generosity and energy in support of our work. We would like to thank every single person that has supported Sense, and given their time, money and voice to our vital work.

People’s enormous generosity through this time meant that we raised £12,951,000 for the work of Sense and Sense International. This includes:

• £3,973,000 from 178 supporters who made a special bequest to remember Sense in their will. We extend our heartfelt sympathy and thanks to their loved ones.

• Following a campaign online and on TV, we also received 1,013 new enquiries from people interested in leaving money to Sense in their Will.

• More than 512 groups, companies and individuals engaged with us to raise funds and awareness of Sense’s vital work, in local communities across the country.

• Our ‘Left Out of Life’ supporter appeal raised an amazing £136,000. The appeal asked for donors’ continued support to help us build a kinder and more inclusive society for children who are deafblind, and their families. It featured 5-year-old Zach, who is deafblind and has the extremely rare condition, Yunis Varon.

• £205,000 was raised from almost 5,000 new supporters following our new television advert ‘Magic Key’, featuring 4-year-old Luca and his older brother Zach, who have benefited from the support of our children’s specialist support team.

• Individual supporters donated to help fill a box of delights for children we work with at Christmas. The appeal raised £646,000 and gained the support of 11,000 new donors.

• Our new fundraising initiative, Sense Sign School, is raising money and helping people learn British Sign Language. For £10 a month, people receive a set of flash cards, conversation guides and access to teaching videos by Deaf people who use Sense services.

• There was a two-year delay for some, but in October 2021, the London Marathon returned. Over 300 runners took on the challenge of the Marathon and virtual Marathon, raising in excess of £620,000!

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• All the trusts, foundations, philanthropists and businesses who worked with us this year continue to play a vital role in our fundraising, and to our work to ensure that no one’s left out of life. We’re delighted that several partners invested in our plans to bring a network of hubs to new communities across the country, and reach thousands more people by 2026. Other highlights include launching partnerships with Severn Trent and Thames Water, helping them learn more about the needs and aspirations of disabled people, so that their services are more accessible and more reflective of their communities.

We’re proud to recognise our partners on pages 97 and 98 of this report. We’d also like to thank everyone who supported Sense, but preferred to remain anonymous.

This continues to be a critical time for Sense and the people we work with, many of whom continue to be disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. With the effects of a cost-ofliving crisis becoming increasingly apparent, we can’t express enough gratitude to the people that continue to enable us to be there for the people that need our support.

Our commitment to fundraise responsibly

Maintaining the trust of our supporters is critical – that is why honesty and transparency is at the heart of everything we do.

We are committed to follow best practice in fundraising and marketing. We are members of the Institute of Fundraising and registered with the Fundraising Regulator, whose Code of Practice we follow.

We adhere to all legislative and regulatory requirements, and ensure that our policies, guidelines and processes are regularly reviewed. We have strict guidelines about fundraising from vulnerable people and we never put pressure on anyone to donate. In 2021/22 Sense worked with four professional fundraisers to support our fundraising. We closely monitor our supplier partners and those that fundraise on our behalf, to ensure the highest standards are maintained.

We work extremely hard to ensure supporters and the public have a positive experience of Sense, but we recognise we do not always get it right. You can find our complaints policy

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on the Sense website – we take all complaints and concerns seriously and value your feedback.

Over the last year the supporter services team received 42 complaints. We always respond quickly to requests to change the way in which we contact people and ensure that we manage our supporters’ personal details in a respectful and secure manner. We also review our data management procedures on a regular basis.

We are registered with the Fundraising Regulator to ensure that we are transparent, respectful and that we champion best practice and adhere to regulations. During the reporting period, Sense received 72 requests through the Fundraising Preference Service, asking us not to send fundraising requests. No complaints were made to the Fundraising Regulator about Sense during this period.

If you would like to talk to us about fundraising, please contact us on: [e-mail] or 0300 330 9257.

Our volunteers

We were supported by more than 1,900 incredible volunteers across 2021/22, who provided vital support in our shops, as well as our services and activities.

Sense Holidays , which was paused in 2020 because of the pandemic, returned in 2021 with the help of volunteers. Along with our holidays team, they navigated Covid restrictions to enable us to deliver 12 unforgettable holidays for people with complex disabilities.

Sense shops rely on volunteers, who are a vital part of their operations and engagement with local communities. Following the uncertainties that the pandemic brought, we worked to rebuild volunteer teams and have been delighted to see them return to pre-pandemic levels.

Virtual Buddying is a valuable way that volunteers can help us tackle loneliness and social isolation. We have continued to develop the role of volunteers in this programme, expanded recruitment and welcomed new volunteers

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We’re so thankful for the time, energy and commitment our volunteers give to support our work. Volunteers’ Week 2021 was a chance for us to demonstrate this, to celebrate our volunteers, and to show them how valued and appreciated they are. We sent each volunteer a small token thank-you gift, held health and wellbeing activities, offered opportunities to learn British Sign Language, and held our first volunteer conference, in celebration of our volunteers. We also shared messages of thanks on our website and on social media.

Our people

2021/22 was another year when our talented and dedicated workforce rose to every challenge we faced and ensured that our services remained secure and safe for the people we support. Everyone, whether those that were directly involved in looking after the people we support, or those that work in office functions keeping the organisation running efficiently and effectively, played a vital role.

In turn, we supported our employees in the transition back to their workplaces following the disruption of the pandemic, by adapting our working practices and adopting an agile working model where possible.

How we supported our people

As pandemic restrictions eased, we delivered a mix of classroom-based and online eLearning courses to our people. As our online learning portfolio expanded, we launched an improved digital learning and development hub, including a range of courses and resources to support the whole workforce, on topics ranging from workplace diversity to cyber security. This portal also has many resources to support people with their mental health and wellbeing.

We introduced new ways of working for our workplace coach team, who support on-the-job training. We partnered them with specific areas of the organisation, with the aim of increasing support for managers and employees.

To further support our leaders, we offered new eLearning courses on soft skills to help them manage and engage their teams. We also launched Sense Manager, a self-service

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portal within Sense People – our people information management software – to support managers with tools for people management.

Our Sense Plus rewards portal was also introduced. As well as offering discounts and cashback for a range of well-known retailers, this includes a dedicated wellbeing centre with resources to help our people manage their mental, physical and financial wellbeing.

Recruiting new talent

This year has proved challenging for recruitment nationally and we have noticed increased difficulty in finding the right people. As a response, we have invested in a new team focused on attracting candidates to our job roles. The talent acquisition team use the strength of our brand in digital recruitment marketing, to showcase Sense as an employer of choice.

Engaging and communicating with our people

This year we worked to ensure we had a steady and consistent flow of communications with colleagues, including greater promotion of our internal and external campaigns, and a focus on wellbeing and engagement.

Our Sense Awards event was hosted online, giving many more employees the opportunity to attend. Our employee forum has also continued to be held online since the pandemic, meaning easier access for employees across the UK to have their say on what’s happening within the organisation.

Equality, diversity and inclusion

As part of our continued equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) journey, we ran Being an Inclusive Leader webinars, ahead of our first inclusion month in March. This was filled with a wide range of activities for our employees and the people we support, highlighting various dates in the cultural calendar.

We launched new EDI eLearning courses during inclusion month and our newly formed mental wellbeing network was also launched. To celebrate our new transgender and non-

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binary inclusion policy, we hosted a Sense Gig to raise awareness, supported by manager briefings afterwards.

Our EDI board met regularly over the year to input into our EDI plans and activities, chaired by our EDI lead and the Chief Executive. Our existing employee networks – the disability network, the ethnic diversity network and the LGBTQ+ employee network – all grew their memberships and contributed to eLearning modules, policies and guides to ensure we continue to promote a truly inclusive culture.

For the second year running, our gender pay gap report showed a zero median pay gap. By comparison, figures published in April 2022 through the government’s gender pay gap reporting mechanism, showed women in a sample of 100 large charity employers earning on average 90p, for every £1 men earn.

Senior management pay

Sense is a complex organisation which works across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Our workforce is engaged not only in health and social care, providing specialist personalised support to help people communicate and make the most of their potential, but also education, campaigning and supporter engagement work, while our retail arm runs over 100 shops in England and Wales.

Our sister organisation, Sense International, works with partners in East Africa, parts of Asia, South America and Eastern Europe.

Salaries for the Chief Executive and the executive team are set and reviewed by the remuneration committee, a sub-committee of our board of trustees. The benefits available are in line with other employees, and pay is externally benchmarked in a similar way.

The governance of Sense, the National Deafblind and Rubella Association

During 2021/22, and up to the adoption of the annual report and financial statements by the Board, there have been 17 Trustees, some of whom were in post for part of the year.

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Trustees are also (for the purposes of company law) Directors of Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association. Their names are set out later in this report.

Under the current Articles, Trustees are appointed by the Board of Trustees and can serve two terms of four years. Those co-opted can be reappointed annually, up to a maximum of eight years.

The Board of Trustees (the Board) usually meets four times a year and Trustees are expected to attend all Board meetings.

Sub-committees

The Board is supported by four sub-committees: Finance and Audit, Remuneration, Nominations and the Engagement sub-committees. Each sub-committee has written Terms of Reference, which are reviewed as necessary and included in the Governance Handbook. The Board appoints the members of the sub-committees annually and receives either the minutes from their meetings, or reports of their activities, with any recommendations.

Finance and Audit sub-committee

The Finance and Audit sub-committee’s main purposes are to:

• Ensure that financial resources are deployed appropriately in furtherance of the charity’s strategic objectives.

• Monitor and review the effectiveness of Sense’s internal and external auditing procedures and outcomes.

• Report to and advise the Board on all matters within the purview of the Committee.

Committee membership comprises at least three Trustees, in addition to the Chair (the Honorary Treasurer). Apart from Trustees, the Committee can co-opt new members who they feel will bring relevant financial expertise.

The Chief Executive and the Group Director of Finance and Resources attend the meetings.

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Nominations sub-committee

The role of the Nominations sub-committee is to:

• Identify skills gaps in the membership of the Board of Trustees.

• Oversee the recruitment process of Board members and recommend prospective Trustees to the Board for appointment or co-option, ensuring that, once appointed, they have an appropriate induction.

Membership of the sub-committee comprises at least one other Trustee, in addition to the Chair. The Chief Executive and the Head of Governance attend the meetings.

Prospective Trustees are interviewed by the Nominations sub-committee and, if successful, their appointment is recommended to the Board. With the agreement of the Chair, nominees are invited to a Board meeting as observers, following which, with the agreement of the Board, they are appointed or co-opted as Trustees.

New Trustees receive a comprehensive induction pack. An appropriate induction plan is also put in place, which involves meetings with senior staff, internal and external training as necessary, and visits to Sense’s services as appropriate.

Remuneration sub-committee

The Remuneration sub-committee ensures that Sense’s remuneration strategy for the CEO and members of the Executive Team, and its implementation, is perceived by all stakeholders to be transparent, fair and effective; that total remuneration is commensurate with personal and corporate performance and market expectations; and that overall packages enable Sense to recruit suitably skilled, qualified and experienced people.

The membership comprises the Chair, Vice-Chair and Treasurer, with a quorum of two. The Chief Executive is a non-voting ex officio member, but is not present for discussions regarding his own remuneration. The Director of People may be asked to attend for certain items.

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Engagement sub-committee

The Engagement sub-committee is responsible for advising the Board about fundraising and marketing matters, monitoring the implementation of the Engagement Strategy, providing oversight of key activity, campaigns and outcomes and making recommendations about plans and activities.

The Committee has at least one member in addition to the Chair and can co-opt external members. The meetings are attended by the Group Director of Engagement.

Executive Team

The Board delegates day-to-day operational management of the organisation to the Chief Executive. The broad areas of delegation, for which he is accountable, have been agreed by the Board and are set out in the Governance Handbook.

To ensure these responsibilities are discharged effectively, the Chief Executive is responsible for appointing, managing and developing senior staff to take direct responsibility for these areas, and for putting in place appropriate reporting and assurance mechanisms.

The Executive Team meets regularly and includes the Chief Executive, Group Director of Operational Services, Group Director of Finance and Resources, Group Director of Engagement, five other functional Directors and the Head of Governance.

The Articles of Association for Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association

The Board agreed in June 2021 to revised Articles, which included updated Objects, making it clear that, while Sense primarily supports and works with people who are deafblind, we also work with people with a range of complex disabilities.

Following an Extraordinary General Meeting of company members held on July 27 2021, which adopted the new Articles, the Charity Commission consented to the amendment of the Objects, and the Articles were accepted by Companies House on 16 September 2021.

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The Governance Handbook

In addition to the areas covered above (Terms of Reference and delegated matters), the ‘Governance Handbook’ also includes sections on the values of Sense, our commitment to diversity, the appointment of Trustees, and role profiles for the Chair, Vice Chair and Treasurer, other Trustees; the Trustee induction process; the Trustee Code of Conduct; the Trustee conflict of interest policy; and the Board’s agenda cycle. An updated version (the 7th) was last approved by the Board in March 2022.

The Charity Governance Code

The Code specifies that the Boards of large charities should publish brief statements in the annual report on three areas:

Principle 4: Describing the charity’s approach to risk.

This can be found on page 47.

Principle 5: Explaining how the board is reviewed.

An internal Board review took place in April 2021. The results, which were positive, with the overall conclusion that the Board operates very effectively as a team, in a positive and transparent atmosphere and takes decisions well, were reported to the Board in June 2021.

Further consideration will be given to a further Board review in 2023/24.

Principle 6: Equality, diversity and inclusion

The Board is committed to having a diverse membership, with a reasonable balance across various areas including race, gender, age, involvement of people with complex disabilities or their family members, and people from various professional backgrounds and to work to achieve greater diversity.

One of the outcomes of the Governance Review was agreement about the need to increase the diversity of Trustees and to recruit Trustees with a lived experience of disabilities, also noting the under-representation of people from minority ethnic backgrounds.

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Four new Trustees were appointed, three of whom have lived experience of disabilities either personally, or as a family member. We were able to increase diversity overall in relation to disability, age profile and LGBT backgrounds. We were not able to improve representation of trustees from an ethnic minority background.

Public benefit

Trustees have referred to the information contained in the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit. The information contained in this report about our services and achievements gives clear examples of how our work is beneficial and brings public benefit. Our objectives for next year show that Sense will continue to provide public benefit in line with our objects.

The Sense Group

Working together

Our Patron: HRH The Princess Royal

The Sense Group comprises two discrete legal entities: Sense and Sense International, in addition to the subsidiaries as set out below.

Both Sense and Sense International are registered charities and companies limited by guarantee, with their own Boards and Memorandum and Articles. The objects of both charities are similar in referring to supporting people who are deafblind and have sensory impairments.

Our shared vision is a world where no one who is deafblind or has complex disabilities is isolated, left out, or unable to fulfil their potential. Each organisation runs its own activities to work towards this vision.

Information about Sense International is given below, but additional details can be found in their own annual report and financial statements.

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Sense is the trading name for Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association, which is a registered charity (charity number: 289868) and a company limited by guarantee (company number: 01825301). It is governed by its Articles of Association.

Sense works primarily in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. It is the Corporate Trustee of the Royal School for Deaf Children (Birmingham). It is the sole member of Sense International and Sense4Enterprise Limited, and also holds 100% of the issued share capital of Helping Sense Limited.

The Objects approved in 2021 are as follows:

• 3 Objects

• The objects for which the Charity is established (the "Objects") are to:

• 3.1 primarily support and promote the interests of persons who are deafblind or have multi-sensory impairments;

• 3.2 and to support persons who, by virtue of having a learning disability or one or more mental or physical impairments, or sensory impairment(s), require care and/or communication support

(together, the "beneficiaries").

Sense International is a registered charity (charity number: 1076497), a company limited by guarantee (company number: 03742986) and is governed by its own Memorandum and Articles of Association. It works on a global basis, raising the needs of people with deafblindness and working with partner organisations in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Peru, Romania, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.

Sense is the only member of Sense International.

Sense also has a number of subsidiaries:

Helping Sense Limited is Sense’s trading company (company number: 02214430). It is governed by its own Memorandum and Articles of Association, and its main activity is the sale of goods through Sense’s charity shops. The profits from its activities are donated to Sense.

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Sense4Enterprise Limited (company number: 08112973) is a registered company limited by guarantee, set up to enable Sense to take forward social enterprise activities.

The Royal School for Deaf Children (Birmingham) is a registered charity (charity

number: 528908). The Charity Commission granted a linking order, permitting its activities to be reported within Sense’s report without the need to file its own separate annual report and financial statements. It is governed by its trust deed, but does not operate in its own right.

This is the consolidated annual report and financial statements for all the Sense organisations. Sense International publishes its own annual reports and financial statements that describe its activities and finances in more detail.

Sense Group trustees and senior staff

Members of the Board from 1 April 2021 to the present

Dr Justin Molloy (Chair) (RC) (re-appointed by the Board for a second 4-year term as Chair in September 2021)

Gillian Wood (Vice Chair), (Chair of NC) RC, F&A

Andrew Pearson (Chair of F&A) (EC, RC, TB)

Saeed Ahmed

George Aivazoglou (Chair of EC) (resigned 11 May 2022)

Natalie Assad (NC) (resigned 8 December 2021)

Ashling Barvé (QB)

Graham Callister

Mark Cammies (F&A, EC, TB)

Ben Cooper (appointed 9 March 2022)

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Vivienne Hoskins (appointed 9 March 2022)

Simon Jones (F&A)

Mythily Katsaris (F&A)

Benedict Leigh

Brian Symington

Nathan Taylor (appointed 9 March 2022)

Mark Westwell (appointed 9 March 2022)

Key (to the initials shown above)

Sub-Committees of the Board

EC – Engagement Committee

F&A – Finance & Audit Committee

RC – Remuneration Committee

Other Internal Boards of which Trustees are members

QB – Quality Board

TB – Trading Board

During this year there were five female and twelve male Trustees/Directors.

Sense International Board from 1 April 2021 to the present

Sunil Sheth (Chair)

Sunil Shah (Treasurer)

Maria Arce-Moreira

Richard Cooper

Nicholas Corby

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Mythily Katsaris (appointed September 2021)

Dean Lumer

Lucy Roberts

Raaxeet Shah

Verity Stiff

Lauren Watters

Gillian Wood

During the year there were 6 female and 6 male Trustees/Directors.

Sense Executive Team

Richard Kramer – Chief Executive (also Chief Executive of Sense International) Maria Horton – Group Director of Operations

Catherine Still – Group Director of Finance and Resources

Chris Jarrett – Group Director of Engagement (resigned December 2021)

Louise Robertshaw – Group Director of Engagement (appointed February 2022)

Alison Marshall – Director of Sense International (resigned August 2022)

Kavita Prasad – Director of Sense International (appointed August 2022)

Adrian Darkin – Director of Trading

Alison Bennett – Director of Human Resources (resigned June 2021)

Emma Evans – People Director (appointed August 2021)

Jonathan Monk – Director of Operational Programmes (resigned September 2022)

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Tony Colson – Director of ICT

In the year there were seven female Directors and five male Directors.

The Trustees' Report, was approved by order of the Board of Trustees and signed on its behalf by:

Dr Justin Molloy, Chair 7 December 2022

Section 172 statement

Sense is required by the Companies Act 2006 to make an annual statement about how Directors have ‘promoted the success of the company’ having regard to the following matters set out in Section 172 of that Act:

a) The likely consequences of any decision in the long term

This is a fundamental consideration in relation to any major decisions made by the Board.

The Board’s agreement to a new refreshed 5-year strategy recommended by the Executive Team was the most important decision taken during the last year.

b) The interests of the company's employees

Sense aspires to be an employer of choice. A report from the Director of People goes to all Board meetings for discussion. This includes updates on general issues such as recruitment and retention, progress with the EDI strategy, and also proposals for new Reward Policies and a new Internal Communications strategy.

c) The need to foster the company's business relationships with suppliers, customers and others

Our key stakeholders are the children and families and the other people who Sense supports. Reports about our services are discussed at every Board meeting. The External Chair of our Quality and Safeguarding Boards attends the Board annually to give a report

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about their activities, which provides assurance to Trustees about the quality of Sense’s services.

Our supporters and volunteers are also important stakeholders. The Board receives regular updates about Supporter Engagement, an important strand of our strategy. We keep in regular contact with many of them through newsletters.

Working with other charities in our sector is also important. The Board is updated about work with them on campaigns, including working with sector partners on applying to be a core participant in the upcoming Covid-19 Inquiry.

Business relationships are discussed at Finance and Audit Committee meetings and, where necessary, at the Board.

d) The impact of the company's operations on the community and the environment

Sense fosters good community relationships wherever we have services and shops. One of the key aims of many of our services is to enable the people we support to be more integrated in their local communities. The Board also discussed the use of Sense TouchBase Pears as a resource for the local community.

Sense shops in England and Wales all have good community links. They also run fun weeks throughout the year with in-store activities for customers and the general public, enabling them to learn about the people we support and other ways to support the charity.

The internal ‘Trading Board’, which is attended by the Chair of the Finance and Audit Committee and another Trustee, receives regular reports on community activities.

e) The desirability of the company maintaining a reputation for high standards of business conduct

The reputation of Sense is critical to our long-term future.

As noted above, Trustees receive annual reports from the Quality and Safeguarding Boards, which have an external chair and members.

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Sense’s Whistleblowing Policy gives access to an independent external organisation.

Were it to be invoked, the Finance and Audit Committee has responsibility for monitoring the impact of the Policy throughout the organisation and to ensure that any issues raised are dealt with effectively.

f) The need to act fairly as between members of the company

As noted in last year’s statement, Sense has almost 1,000 company members, very few of whom attend, or appoint proxies for, Annual General Meetings. The Board decided that instead of holding an Annual General meeting in 2021, a letter from the Chair setting out key issues discussed by the Board over the year would be sent, not only to the Company members, but to an additional 2,000 people who are active supporters of Sense who receive regular newsletters.

Statement of the responsibilities of the Board of Trustees of Sense, the National Deafblind and Rubella Association

The Trustees (who are also directors of Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the Trustees’ Annual Report (including the Strategic Report) and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and regulation.

Company law requires the Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Under that law the trustees have prepared the financial statements in accordance with United Kingdom Accounting Standards, comprising FRS 102 “The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland”, and applicable law (United

Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice). Under company law the Trustees must not approve the financial statements unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of the affairs of the charitable company and the group and of the

incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable company/group for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the trustees are required to:

• select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;

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• observe the methods and principles in the Statement of Recommended Practice: Accounting and Reporting by Charities (2019);

• make judgments and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;

• state whether applicable UK Accounting Standards, comprising FRS 102, have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements; and

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

The Trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the charitable company’s transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable company and the group and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charitable company and the group and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

The Trustees are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of 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.

In accordance with Section 418, directors’ reports shall include a statement, in the case of each director in office at the date the directors’ report is approved, that:

• so far as the Trustee is aware, there is no relevant audit information of which the charitable company and the group’s auditors are unaware; and

• they have taken all the steps that they ought to have taken as a Trustee in order to make themselves aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the company’s auditors are aware of that information.

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Internal financial controls

The Board has overall responsibility for ensuring that the charity has appropriate systems of control, financial and otherwise, in place. The systems of internal control are designed to provide reasonable assurance against material misstatement or loss. They include:

• A five-year strategic plan and an annual budget approved by the Board. A number of matters are specifically reserved for the Board’s approval.

• Regular consideration of financial results, variance from budgets, non-financial performance indicators and benchmarking reviews by the Finance and Audit subcommittee and the Board.

• The annual internal audit programme did not take place in 2020/21 due to the pandemic. It is currently being reviewed and will be agreed by the Finance and Audit sub-committee. Outcomes of the audits are reported to the subcommittee with action plans.

• The development of policy documents covering all major strategic and operational activities. The Executive Team reviews these with appropriate regularity and consultation.

Anti-bribery policy

Sense has an anti-bribery policy, which sets out the definition of bribery and makes it the responsibility of all employees and Trustees to prevent and report any bribery issues. If necessary, this can be through Sense’s Whistleblowing procedure which provides a number of possible contacts, including an external organisation.

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Financial review of Sense, the National Deafblind and Rubella Association 2021/22

Overview

The year ended 31 March 2022 represented a more normal year for our finances as most of the Covid-related restrictions were lifted and activity levels across our trading shops, services and events gradually normalised. Our shops were only closed for the first two weeks of the year during April 2021 and, whilst activity in our accommodation, day, education and community services was restricted for longer, we were at least able to get most services fully open by year end. Key fundraising events also started up again in the second half of the year.

The pandemic therefore had much less of an effect on our finances than in the previous year. However, we still felt the effects of returning to normal levels of activity, especially in take up of community, day and educations services to the people we support some of whom were understandably nervous about returning to full social integration. This also had an effect on the delivery of some of our charitable services and meant curtailed activity in the first part of the year.

The year saw significant challenges in recruitment, particularly in our commissioned services which became increasingly difficult in line with others in our sectors. Combined with the impact of higher National Minimum Wage this drove upward pressure on pay rates as our colleagues coped with the effects of the increase in the cost of living, and this remains an ongoing challenge.

In April 2021 Sense acquired the assets and ongoing trading activity of The Otterhayes Trust - a collection of accommodation units on its own site in Devon, supporting 21 people - for a cash consideration of £560k. The acquisition boosted fixed assets which were recognised at fair value: as a result, negative goodwill of £1.174m was recognised and immediately amortised resulting in a non-recurring credit classified as other income. Since acquisition we have concentrated on upgrading the site and investing in the buildings, as well as enhancing connections for the people who live at Otterhayes and the local community.

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Financial highlights

The acquisition of Otterhayes contributed to growth of £2.7m in income from charitable activities with other growth from fee increases and expansion of existing services. Income from fundraising fell by £0.7m compared to an exceptionally strong prior year and was better than we had expected or budgeted for. Trading income generated by our shops was buoyant as footfall and sales quickly rose up to pre-pandemic levels, helped by a healthy level of stock donations and plenty of volunteers to help us turn donated goods into sales. We resumed our programme of opening new shops with eight new shops added during the year bringing the total trading arm up 115 shops by year end.

This year we also recognised the amounts received under the Retail, Leisure and Hospitality Fund grant scheme which had supported the significant losses incurred in our trading arm following the lockdown and shop closure announced by the Government in March 2020.

Overall, income increased year on year by £7.3m largely due to a full year of income from the shops, compared to the pandemic year when income was severely reduced because of shop closures for much of the year.

Sense International saw a mixed year with reduced income from UK government support: however, the year ended with unrestricted reserves rising by £0.26m which means it is set for a good year in 2022/23.

Group net income – excluding the actuarial gain on the defined benefit pension scheme - was £4.4m (2021: £5.1m). Under FRS102 we accounted for a pension scheme gain of £8.5m against a loss of £4.2m last year. In total, reserves therefore grew by £12.9m (2021: increase of £0.9m).

During the year we paid off the £2.4m remaining on the variable interest rate Lloyds Bank loan which funded construction of Sense Touch Base Pears and also invested in capital expenditure of £3.3m (2020: £2.7m) reflecting a catch up in activity from the pandemic year and the Otterhayes acquisition.

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Cash and cash equivalents rose marginally by £0.1m (2021: £7.4m), leaving cash balances at year end of £19.7m (2021: £19.6m) offset by bank loans of £5.6m (2021 £8.3m).

The FRS102 defined benefit pension scheme liability reduced to £0.9m (2021: £10.0m) driven by higher than expected investment returns and an increase in the assumed discount rate used to value future pension liabilities.

Boosted by this non-cash accounting gain, reserves increased to £45.4m (2021: £32.6m) including £3.3m (2021: £3.4m) of Restricted Reserves and £11.1m of reserves Designated by Trustees for future projects.

Our operating and cash position will allow us to continue to focus on delivering our strategic objectives.

Reserves

The Trustees regularly review free reserves to ensure that there are adequate funds to support all the activity that Sense Group undertakes. This review reflects the need to maintain our considerable property estate in order to continue to provide the high quality of services to the people we support, to fund projects to grow services and to ensure an adequate contingency is maintained for unforeseen events, especially given the recent pandemic impact.

This year Designated Reserves have been set by the Trustees at £11.1m (2021: £10.5m) reflecting planned investments in service delivery and achieving the strategic plan.

We also consider unforeseen risks when setting a minimum level of free reserves. We define free reserves as unrestricted reserves minus fixed assets (offset by borrowings taken out to support the purchase of those assets) minus any designated reserves. The pension deficit is excluded from this calculation as the liability, which is reassessed annually, is a long term one where cash flow risk is managed by a long term deficit reduction plan agreed with the pension fund.

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Free reserves at March 2022 were £5.8m (2021: £6.3m). After considering various scenarios and the risks attached to each of our income streams, the Trustees consider that minimum free reserves of £3.9m are required (2021: £3.6m): we are therefore above our target.

Going concern

The financial statements show that our cash and reserves position means that we are able to fund foreseeable operational and capital expenditure together with pension fund deficit reduction payments and bank loan repayments. The Trustees have reviewed budgets and forecasts which consider future activity and the risks that might threaten those forecasts.

Together with our risk management policies, the strong reserves position allows the Trustees to conclude that the organisation will continue to meet its liabilities as they fall due for at least 12 months from the date of this report and that therefore it is appropriate to continue to prepare the financial statements on a going concern basis.

Pensions

In addition to ongoing defined contribution pension schemes, Sense is a legacy member of the Local Pensions Partnership (LPP), formerly the London Pension Fund Authority, a public sector provider of defined benefit pensions and a traditional pension body for local authorities. Sense closed membership of the LPP scheme to new entrants in 2003 and has since been working to manage the actuarial risk that all defined benefit schemes bring.

In 2014 remaining active members were asked to voluntarily leave the scheme and join the defined contribution scheme offered for all other employees. This transfer took effect in October 2014 and Sense therefore now has no remaining active members in the LPP scheme and no further service liabilities are being incurred for active members.

We continue to review options with LPP on whether and when to request a cessation value and leave the scheme completely - in the meantime we will continue with the long-term repayment plan which is reviewed every three years. Nevertheless, the considerable number of past and present employees who are pensioners or ‘deferred’ members (that is,

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no longer active members but not yet drawing their pension) means that Sense must account for its share of the deficit of the LPP scheme as explained in detail in note 11.

The deficit, calculated under FRS 102 accounting rules, reduced in the year from £10.0m to £0.8m driven by 2 factors:

• The increase in asset values due to higher than assumed investment returns accounts for £6.4m of the reduction in the overall liability.

• The increase in the discount rate assumption, driven by rising long term interest rates, accounts for £2.2m of the reduction in the overall liability.

Principal risks and uncertainties

The Board has delegated day-to-day responsibility for the management of risks to the Chief Executive and the Executive Team.

The Executive Team is responsible for the identification and assessment of risk, including those identified on departmental risk registers, and for reporting on this to the Finance and Audit sub-committee. The Executive Team is also responsible for developing risk mitigation strategies and controls, and for implementing actions to minimise or reduce risk to acceptable levels. The risk register is reviewed at every Executive meeting, and the departmental risk registers are reviewed by each Executive for their areas. The Executive agree which department specifics risks should be included on the corporate risk register.

The Finance and Audit sub-committee is responsible for overseeing the establishment and maintenance of good practice in this area and for reporting to the Board at each of its meetings when the corporate risk register is reviewed.

A new format for the risk register was recommended for agreement by the Finance and Audit sub-committee and agreed by the Board in September 2021. It is organised in the same way as previously, but is more focused and reflects our current activity better. It gives a realistic assessment of risks with fewer being rated as red after the controls and mitigating actions are taken into account. The corporate register is used as a dynamic document by Executive Team and risks on Departmental registers which affect the wider organisation are escalated onto it.

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There are currently no risks rated as red after controls have been implemented. Three of the most highly rated amber risks are shown below.

Controls being implemented

Uncertainty/risk Possible consequences Staff: We do not have the The current situation of rewards, training, selection recruitment to social care processes or appeal to posts is very challenging improve recruitment and and is in danger of posing a retention. risk to delivery of service and reputation in some areas of the country.

Staff: We do not have the rewards, training, selection processes or appeal to improve recruitment and retention.	The current situation of recruitment to social care posts is very challenging and is in danger of posing a risk to delivery of service and reputation in some areas of the country. High turnover causes increased costs and is disruptive to service delivery, leading to difficulty in achieving strategic goals.	There are additional temporary recruitment staff in place to speed up our processes. Increased rewards are being offered in some areas. The EDI strategy is being embedded and there are reviews of the attraction strategy, the development of a new digital recruitment strategy and a new LandD strategy. We may need to consider more retention measures over the coming months.
The programme to develop regional Touch Bases is unsuccessful, or leads to financial losses.	There is difficulty either with the development of the new TouchBases or they are not used as much as envisaged, leading to financial losses.	There is a robust development approval process in place and there has been investment in project management oversight and the development of an engagement strategy.

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		Budgets and targets will be closely monitored.
Sense is subject to, or experiences disruption from a significant cyber-attack.	Computer systems may be unusable for a considerable period and there could be a substantial loss of personal and other data, causing widespread disruption.	There is an independent cyber-risk register. An external cyber-security audit has taken place and the recommendations will be implemented. Multi factor authentication (MFA) is being implemented for all users with remote connections. A virtual chief information security officer (CISO) has been appointed to oversee our threat level, monitor new threats and propose corrective action.

Energy and carbon report 2021/22

The table below gives a summary of our energy usage and greenhouse gas emissions for the financial year 2021/22, and also compares with the previous year’s data 2020/21. Due to the impacts of Covid-19 across the organisation during 2020/21, Appendix A of this report also shows the emissions for 2019/2020 along with the comparison between 2021/2022 and 2019/2020, as this is deemed to reflect the actual business operations more closely.

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Figure 1: Sense GHG emissions and energy use data for period 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2022

Emission changes v 2020/21

It is recognised that the figures for 2020/21 were largely deflated due the impacts of Covid19. This resulted in a significant reduction in emissions for this period due to reduced activity across the business. Therefore, comparisons made between the past year and 2021/22, show disproportionate increases in emissions across all scopes. However, the above table also shows comparisons between the past year and 2019/2020, as these periods are deemed more reflective of normal business operations.

As a result of these comparisons the following observations are noted:

1. The property floor area has increased from 27,279m[2] in 2019/220, 42,205m[2] in 2020/21 and 56,030m[2] in 2021/22. This is reflected by the increased number of retail units across the portfolio. This increase in floor area has also had an impact on the building intensity ratio, which has seen a significant fall year on year.

2. The witnessed gas increase is believed to be associated to the increase footprint of the estate and the requirement to comfort condition this space.

3. Oil consumption represents a very small proportion of the estates emissions but has seen a significant percentage increase. This is believed to be due the method of

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• recording consumption. Currently no meters are in place and consumption is based in delivery notes. Site delivery data is not truly reflective of site consumption and therefore year on year variances will occur until such time as we are able to install consumption meter to these locations.

4. When the data for 2020/21 is compared with 2019/20 data it can be seen that diesel emissions have fallen sharply, yet petrol emissions have risen, and this is believed to represent the move from diesel vehicles to petrol. It is however recognised that overall Transport Emissions for Scope 1 and three have fallen sharply when compared with the 2019/20 figures.

5. Employee Own Vehicle emissions has also fallen drastically when compared with 2019/20 figures and this is due to revised working practices and the ability for staff to work from home.

Company information

Sense is a registered Charity Number 289868. Registered as a Company limited by guarantee in England and Wales Number 01825301. Registered office at 101 Pentonville Road, London N1 9LG.

The reporting period

1 April 2021 to 31 March 2022.

Organisational boundaries

We have used the Financial Control model as the basis to calculate our emissions, including everything that we own and operate within England and Wales.

Quantification and reporting methodology

We have followed the UK HM Government “Environmental Reporting Guidelines: Including streamlined energy and carbon reporting guidance March 2019”. We have also used the GHG Reporting Protocol Corporate Standard.

Data has been gathered from the following sources:

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• Gas Combustion – Supplier invoices including a minor quantity of supplier estimated meter readings based on historical direct comparison and pro-rata extrapolation.

• Oil Combustion – Supplier delivery quantities (litres) for all fuels.

• Electricity - Supplier invoices including a minor quantity of supplier estimated meter readings based on historical direct comparison and pro-rata extrapolation.

• Transport – Own Fleet – Finance records for litres of fuel (Petrol and Diesel) purchased.

• Transport – Business Mileage employee own vehicles – Individual employee expense claim records for business mileages during the reporting period. We have then used

the “average car: unknown fuel” factors to calculate kWh and tCO2e.

In calculating the emissions we have used the UK Government conversion factors for company reporting of greenhouse gas emissions, conversion factors 2021 – revised January 2022:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/greenhouse-gas-reporting-conversion-factors2021 - revised January 2022

Intensity ratios

For all our property energy usage we have chosen a ratio based on the Floor Area GIA.

For our transport energy usage we have chosen a ration based on our number of employees (FTE).

Energy efficiency action

The past year has seen intense action regarding the organisation’s aims of reducing energy consumption and carbon output.

The major contributors to carbon output (property, fleet and supply chain) are now under the direct management of the Sense Property team. This has enabled a more co-ordinated approach involving the whole organisation.

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Sense is currently considering a fully inclusive environment strategy. As a first step approach to this we are seeking proposals from specialist environmental consultants in first establishing accurately what our carbon output baseline is, what we will need to do to achieve a reduction in the carbon emissions we are responsible for, and what investment will be required.

Running in parallel to this we have refurbished the main London office incorporating LED lighting to reduce energy, incorporated an agile working approach to the office environment, which has released office space to enable us to incorporate another charity tenant increasing the more efficient use of floor space.

This approach has been adopted in relocating our Sense office in Wakefield from an old inefficient listed building to a modern building with much better energy efficiency, and the ability to host agile working.

When we take on new buildings (such as shops, warehouses) our standard specification will always incorporate low energy measures, and as a minimum include LED lighting and thermostatically controlled heating and increased insulation where appropriate.

The trading operation recycles more than 5,500 tonnes per annum of clothing and furniture.

We have engaged specialist consultants to carry out energy audits on our property portfolio. As a first step we are proposing to undertake these surveys on all our freehold operational properties (approximately 30 mainly residential homes). This will enable us to highlight projects which will have the most effective result in reducing energy use and carbon output. The first projects are already being tendered and include improvements to insulation, heating controls, and the installation of solar panels. This is being funded for the first time from a dedicated energy saving budget.

As part of our planned maintenance budget our approach has been to take up any opportunity to improve our energy efficiency. Where boilers, windows, and rooves need replacement, this will always be based on A and A+ boilers and windows and upgrading to current Building Regulation standards for roof insulation.

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As part of a phased improvement to one of our largest properties we are currently replacing all lighting with LED fitments (approximately 700 units) and taking the opportunity to insulate the roof voids.

We also considering the fitting of a large solar panel array which has the potential of significantly reducing the electricity required from the grid every year.

Throughout our vehicle fleet we are carrying out surveys to profile usage and the suitability of electric battery powered vehicles instead of fossil fuel. To support this, we will install electric charging points in selected properties, including three of our largest complexes. Our overall aim is to replace fossil fuelled vehicles with battery powered vehicles where appropriate.

Finally, we appreciate the importance of having our supply chain adopting the same overall environmental aims and we apply an environmental/sustainability factor along with cost when choosing suppliers.

Assurance and verification

This report and the verification of the data was undertaken by an external independent CIBSE qualified Low Carbon Consultant and ESOS Lead Assessor.

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Independent auditors’ report to the members of Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association

Report on the audit of the financial statements

Opinion

In our opinion, Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association’s group financial statements and parent charitable company financial statements (the “financial statements”):

• give a true and fair view of the state of the group’s and of the parent charitable company’s affairs as at 31 March 2022 and of the group’s and parent charitable company’s incoming resources and application of resources, including its income and expenditure, and of the group’s cash flows for the year then ended;

• have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice (United Kingdom Accounting Standards, comprising FRS 102 “The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland”, and applicable law); and

• have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006.

We have audited the financial statements, included within the Annual Report and Financial Statements (the “Annual Report”), which comprise: the consolidated balance sheet and company balance sheet as at 31 March 2022; the consolidated statement of financial activities, the consolidated summary income and expenditure account and the consolidated cash flow statement for the year then ended; the accounting policies; and the notes to 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 ISAs (UK) are further described in the Auditors’ responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

Independence

We remained independent of the group and parent charitable company in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, which includes the FRC’s Ethical Standard and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements.

Conclusions relating to going concern

Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the group’s and the parent charitable company’s ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from the date on which the financial statements are authorised for issue.

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.

However, because not all future events or conditions can be predicted, this conclusion is not a guarantee as to the group’s and parent charitable company’s ability to continue as a going concern.

Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the trustees with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.

Reporting on other information

The other information comprises all of the information in the Annual Report other than the financial statements and our auditors’ report thereon. The trustees are responsible for the other information. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, accordingly, we do not express an audit opinion or, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in this report, any form of assurance thereon.

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 an apparent material inconsistency or material misstatement, we are required to perform procedures to conclude whether there is a material misstatement of the financial

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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 based on these responsibilities.

Based on our work undertaken in the course of the audit, the Companies Act 2006 requires us also to report certain opinions and matters as described below.

Strategic Report and Report of the Trustees

In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of the audit the information given in the Report of the Trustees, including the Strategic Report, for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements; and the Strategic Report and the Report of the Trustees have been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements.

In addition, in light of the knowledge and understanding of the group and parent charitable company and their environment obtained in the course of the audit, we are required to report if we have identified any material misstatements in the Strategic Report and the Report of the Trustees. We have nothing to report in this respect.

Responsibilities for the financial statements and the audit

Responsibilities of the trustees for the financial statements

As explained more fully in the Statement of responsibilities of the Board of Trustees, 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 in accordance with the applicable framework and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view. The trustees are also responsible for such internal control as they determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

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

Auditors’ responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

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 auditors’ 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, is detailed below.

Based on our understanding of the group and charitable company/industry, we identified that the principal risks of noncompliance with laws and regulations related to the Charities Act 2011, and we considered the extent to which noncompliance might have a material effect on the financial statements. We also considered those laws and regulations that have a direct impact on the financial statements such as the Companies Act 2006. We evaluated management’s incentives and opportunities for fraudulent manipulation of the financial statements (including the risk of override of controls), and determined that the principal risks were related to the posting of inappropriate journal entries. Audit procedures performed included:

• enquiry of management and the Board of Trustees, including consideration of known or suspected instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations and fraud;

• reading minutes of meetings of the Board of Trustees and the finance and audit committee;

• identifying and testing journal entries, including journal entries posted with unusual account combinations to revenue;

• assessing financial statement disclosures, and testing to supporting documentation, for compliance with applicable laws and regulations.

There are inherent limitations in the audit procedures described above. We are less likely to become aware of instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations that are not closely related to events and transactions reflected in financial statements. Also, the risk of not detecting a material misstatement due to fraud is higher than the risk of not detecting one resulting from error, as fraud may involve deliberate concealment by, for example, forgery or intentional misrepresentations or through collusion.

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

Use of this report

This report, including the opinions, has been prepared for and only for the charity’s members as a body in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006 and for no other purpose. We do not, in giving these opinions, accept or assume responsibility for any other purpose or to any other person to whom this report is shown or into whose hands it may come save where expressly agreed by our prior consent in writing.

Other required reporting

Companies Act 2006 exception reporting

Under the Companies Act 2006 we are required to report to you if, in our opinion:

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

• adequate accounting records have not been kept by the parent charitable company or returns adequate for our audit have not been received from branches not visited by us; or

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

• the parent charitable company’s financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns.

We have no exceptions to report arising from this responsibility.

Daniel Chan (Senior Statutory Auditor) for and on behalf of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP Chartered Accountants and Statutory Auditors Birmingham

15 December 2022

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Consolidated Statement of financial activities for the year ended 31 March 2022

		Unrestricted	Restricted	Endowment	Total	Total
		Funds	Funds	Funds	2022	2021
	Note	£000s	£000s	£000s	£000s	£000s
Income
Donations and legacies	1	10,658	2,293	-	12,951	13,651
Charitable activities	1	52,602	1,289	-	53,891	51,190
Trading		12,375	-	-	12,375	4,475
Investment income	2	26	3	-	29	126
Covid-19 grants	3	1,827	-	-	1,827	5,360
Other income	3	1,448	-	-	1,448	426
Total income		78,936	3,585	-	82,521	75,228
Expenditure	4
Raising funds		4,858	-	-	4,858	4,010
Charitable activities		57,009	3,430	9	60,448	54,215
Trading		11,794	2	-	11,796	10,861
Other		1,114	-	-	1,114	1,247
Total expenditure		74,775	3,432	9	78,216	70,333
Net gain on sale of tangible fixed
assets	6	117	-	-	117	155
Net income/(expense)		4,278	153	(9)	4,422	5,050
Transfers between funds	18	307	(307)	-	-	-
Net income/(expense) before		4,585	(154)	(9)	4,422	5,050
transfers
Actuarial gain/(loss) on defined benefit pension scheme	10	8,453	-	-	8,453	(4,163)
Net increase/ (decrease) in
funds	7	13,038	(154)	(9)	12,875	887
Reconciliation of movement in
funds
Fund balances brought forward
at 1 April 2021		28,742	3,439	369	32,550	31,663
Net increase/ (decrease) in
funds		13,038	(154)	(9)	12,875	887
Fund balances carried
forward at 31 March	18,19	41,780	3,285	360	45,425	32,550
2022

The net income of unrestricted funds is analysed between the general fund, designated funds and

pension deficit in note 18.

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Consolidated balance sheet - as at 31 March 2022

		31 March	31 March
	Notes	2022	2021
		£000s	£000s
Fixed assets
Tangible assets	11	31,442	30,253
Intangible assets	12	-	-
Investments	13	-	1
Total fixed assets		31,442	30,254
Current assets
Stock		451	376
Debtors	14	8,818	9,207
Investments	15	4,000	4,000
Cash at bank and in hand		15,708	15,586
Total current assets		28,977	29,169
Creditors (amounts falling due within one year)	16	(8,760)	(8,926)
Net current assets		20,217	20,243
Total assets less current liabilities		51,659	50,497
Creditors (amounts falling due after more than one year)	17	(5,365)	(7,913)
Net assets excluding pension liability		46,294	42,584
Provisions – pension liability	10	(869)	(10,034)
Net assets		45,425	32,550
Represented by:
General fund	18,19	31,552	28,238
Pension provision	18,19	(869)	(10,034)
Designated funds	18,19	11,097	10,538
Restricted funds	18,19	3,285	3,439
Endowment fund	18,19	360	369
Total funds		45,425	32,550

The notes on pages 68 to 95 form part of these financial statements.

The financial statements on pages 57 to 95 were approved by the Board of Trustees on 7 December 2022 and signed on its behalf by:

Andrew Pearson, Treasurer

Registered company number 1825301

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Company balance sheet - as at 31 March 2022

		31 March	31 March
	Notes	2022	2021
		£000s	£000s
Fixed assets
Tangible assets	11	31,399	30,189
Intangible assets	12	-	-
Investments	13	30	30
Total fixed assets		31,429	30,219
Current assets
Stock		451	376
Debtors	14	8,512	8,938
Investments	15	4,000	4,000
Cash at bank and in hand		14,707	14,487
Total current assets		27,670	27,801
Creditors (amounts falling due within one year)	16	(8,755)	(8,807)
Net current assets		18,915	18,994
Total assets less current liabilities		50,344	49,213
Creditors (amounts falling due after more than one year)	17	(5,333)	(7,872)
Net assets excluding pension liability		45,011	41,341
Provisions – pension liability	10	(869)	(10,034)
Net assets		44,142	31,307
The funds of the charity
General fund	18,19	31,183	28,184
Pension provision	18,19	(869)	(10,034)
Designated funds	18,19	11,097	10.538
Restricted funds	18,19	2,371	2,249
Endowment fund	18,19	360	370
Total funds		44,142	31,307

The notes on pages 68 to 95 form part of these financial statements.

The financial statements on pages 57 to 95 were approved by the Board of Trustees on 7 December 2022 and signed on its behalf by:

Andrew Pearson, Treasurer

Registered company number 1825301

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Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association

Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022

Consolidated summary income and expenditure account – for the year ended 31 March 2022

ed 31 March 2022
	2022	2021
	£000s	£000s
Income from continuing operations	82,608	75,257
Total expenditure of continuing operations	(77,814)	(69,983)
Operating surplus	4,794	5,274
Gain on disposal of tangible fixed assets	117	155
Interest receivable and similar income	29	126
Interest payable and similar charges	(269)	(310)
Net interest and administration costs of defined benefit scheme	(249)	(195)
Net income for the year	4,422	5,050

Consolidated cash flow statement – for the year ended 31 March 2022

		2022	2021
	Note	£000s	£000s
Net cash inflow from operating activities	23	5,671	10,134
Investing activities – investments
Interest received		29	125
Interest paid		(269)	(310)
Investing activities – capital expenditure
Purchase of tangible fixed assets		(3,307)	(2,612)
Proceeds from sale of tangible fixed assets		689	556
Financing activities
Bank loan repayments		(2,691)	(460)
Increase in cash and cash equivalents		122	7,433
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of year		19,586	12,153
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of year	26	19,708	19,586

Page 60 of 99

Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022

Accounting policies of Sense, the National Deafblind and Rubella Association

Statement of compliance

The financial statements have been prepared in compliance with United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Accounting and Reporting for Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice, which is applicable to charities preparing their financial statements in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2020) (Charities SORP FRS 102), the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland (FRS 102), and the Companies Act 2006.

The company has taken advantage of the exemption in section 408 of the Companies Act from presenting its individual statement of financial activities.

The net income of the charity for the year was £4.382 million (2021: £5.191 million).

Public benefit entity

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

Preparation of the financial statements on a going concern basis

The financial statements show that cash and reserves are at a healthy level, meaning that revenue expenditure including annual pension contributions and loan repayments can be comfortably covered in the future. The Trustees have reviewed budgets and forecasts which consider future activity and have also taken account of the risks that might threaten the expected position, with particular reference to the experiences of the pandemic year.

Trustees have also reviewed the risk register in detail during the year including a review of risk mitigation strategies. Given our risk management policies and strong reserves position, the Trustees believe that the organisation will continue to meet its liabilities as they fall due for at least 12 months from the date of this report and therefore it is appropriate to prepare the financial statements on a going concern basis.

Page 61 of 99

Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022

Group financial statements

These financial statements consolidate the results of the charity and its wholly owned subsidiaries: Sense International, Helping Sense Limited, and Sense4Enterprise Limited.

Income recognition

Income is recognised when the charity is legally entitled to the income and the amount can be quantified with reasonable accuracy.

Fees and allowances receivable for residential care and similar services are accounted for in the period in which the service is provided. Trading income represents goods supplied to customers at invoiced amounts and is recognised at the time of sale. Legacy income is recognised on a receivable basis when it is probable that legacy income will be received and the amount can be measured with sufficient reliability.

Grants are recognised when the charity is legally entitled to the income and the amount can be quantified with reasonable accuracy. Grants received in advance which include donor- imposed conditions that specify a time period in which the expenditure of resources can take place are accounted for as deferred income and recognised as a liability, until such a time as the expenditure takes place.

Donations and legacies is recognised as income when received except when the income is related to major events. Non-cash donations, other than goods donated for sale through shops, are stated at an estimate of their value to the charity.

Expenditure

All expenditure, including any irrecoverable VAT, is accounted for on an accruals basis and has been classified under headings that aggregate all costs related to that category.

The cost of generating funds represents the cost of organising fundraising events and activities and the operating costs of the charity’s shops. The cost of charitable activities includes all expenditure directly relating to the objects of the charity. Support costs are apportioned to the relevant charitable activity on the basis of salary costs incurred.

Governance costs (comprising internal and external audit, strategic costs and Trustees’ expenses) are included in support costs.

Page 62 of 99

Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association

Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022

Redundancy and termination costs are recognised once the decision to terminate has been made, it is probable that termination will occur, and the amount of the obligation can be measured.

Grant income

Grants received under the Job Retention Scheme are applied for as they become due based on payroll cycles. Grants received are recognised as income and gross payroll costs are recognised as expenditure. Accruals are made for any grants claimed but outstanding at year end.

Grants received under the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund in respect of the charity shops are recognised as State Aid up to the level permitted under UK legislation in any financial period. Income is recognised in other income (see note 4 below). No monies in respect of this grant were due or accrued for at year end.

Grants were received under the Adult Social Care Infection Control Fund which supports adult social care providers, including those with whom the local authority does not have a contract, to reduce the rate of Covid-19 transmission in and between care homes and support wider workforce resilience. Sense was eligible to claim this grant in respect of accommodation services. The grant pays for additional infection control measures which include the cost of additional staffing including agency staff. Grants received are recognised as income and the costs the grant covers are shown in expenditure. Grants are only recognised when claims have been made and accepted by the distributing local authority when satisfied that the grant has been spent.

Tangible fixed assets

Tangible fixed assets are stated at historic purchase cost less accumulated depreciation. Cost includes the original purchase price of the asset and the costs attributable to bringing the asset to its working condition for its intended use.

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Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association

Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022

Depreciation and amortisation

Depreciation is calculated to write off the cost of tangible fixed assets in equal annual

instalments over their estimated useful economic lives at the following annual rates:

Freehold property	2%
Short leasehold properties and long leasehold improvements	Over the remaining life of the lease
Furniture, fixtures and fittings	12.5% to 25%
Motor vehicles	25%

Freehold land is not depreciated. Assets under construction are not depreciated until they

are available for use. Individual fixed assets costing £500 or less are not capitalised.

Negative goodwill fully amortised in the year of acquisition.

Leases

Operating lease rentals are expensed in equal amounts over the term of the lease.

Stock

Stock relates to new and second-hand goods purchased for sale through the shops, valued at the lower of cost or net realisable value. Donated goods and Sense merchandise are valued at nil as their intrinsic value is immaterial.

Recognition of liabilities

Liabilities are recognised when an obligation arises to transfer economic benefits as a result of past transactions or events.

Dilapidations

Provision is made for dilapidations in respect of leasehold properties, principally charity shops. The provision reflects an estimate of the costs to make good the leased property at the expiry of the lease and the elapsed period of the lease at the year end. On expiry of a lease, any expenditure in excess of the accumulated provision is released.

Page 64 of 99

Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association

Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022

Pension costs

The Group operates defined contribution schemes for all staff. Contributions are charged to the statement of financial activities in the period in which they become due.

Pension costs in respect of the Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS), a multi- employer defined benefit scheme, are accounted for as a defined contribution scheme and are charged to the statement of financial activities in the period in which they become due.

Pension costs in respect of the Local Pensions Partnership (LPP), a defined benefit pension scheme closed to new members, are accounted for in accordance with FRS 102. As a result, changes in actuarial assumptions, expected investment return on assets and interest on pension liabilities are charged to the statement of financial activities in the year.

Differences between actual and expected returns on assets, together with differences arising from changes in the assumptions underlying the present value of scheme liabilities and experience of gains and losses arising on scheme liabilities are also recognised in the statement of financial activities. The difference between the market value of assets and the present value of future pension liabilities is shown as a provision on the balance sheet.

Fixed assets: subsidiary undertakings

Investments in subsidiary undertakings are stated at cost and written down to their realisable value if there has been a permanent diminution in value.

Foreign currency

Assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currencies are translated at the rate of exchange prevailing at the balance sheet date. Exchange differences are recognised within net income/(expenditure).

Allocation of funds

General funds represent unrestricted funds that are available for use at the discretion of the Trustees in furtherance of the general objectives of the charity. Designated funds are those that have been allocated by the Trustees for particular purposes as detailed in the funds note. Restricted funds are funds that must be used in accordance with specific instructions imposed by the donors or which have been raised by the charity for particular

Page 65 of 99

Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association

Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022

purposes. The costs of raising and administering such funds are charged against the specific fund.

Endowment funds represent assets that must be held permanently by the charity, principally properties. Any capital gains or losses arising on sale of those assets forms part of the fund. Depreciation of endowed property is charged against the fund.

Investment income and gains are allocated to the appropriate fund.

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.

Cash at bank and in hand

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

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. Specific bad debts are recognised and provided for as appropriate.

Principal accounting estimates and judgements

In the application of these accounting policies, management is required to make judgments, estimates and assumptions about the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. The estimates and associated assumptions are based on historical experience and other factors that are considered to be relevant. Actual results may differ from those estimates and the estimates, along with

Page 66 of 99

Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association

Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022

their underlying assumptions, are continually reviewed. The matters below are considered to be the most important in understanding the judgments that are involved in preparing the financial statements and the uncertainties that could impact the amounts reported.

The following have been identified as a principal accounting estimate:

Actuarial assumptions in respect of the defined benefit pension scheme

The liability arising from the defined benefit pension scheme is estimated based on a number of key assumptions which are disclosed in note 10.

These assumptions are reviewed annually by the Group’s actuaries and auditors.

Page 67 of 99

Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association

Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022

Notes to the financial statements of Sense, the National Deafblind and Rubella Association, for the year ended 31 March 2022

1. Income

Donations and legacies	2022 £000s	2021 £000s
Fundraising	8,972	9,591
Legacies	3,979	4,060
Total	12,951	13,651
Income from charitable activities	2022 £000s	2021 £000s
Care and Support Midlands	11,300	10,401
Care and Support East	11,274	11,015
Care and Support South	11,580	11,287
Care and Support North	8,969	9,147
Care and Support Northern Ireland	3,116	2,880
Care and Support Wales	1,744	1,559
Education and development programmes	4,676	3,512
International programmes	711	959
Arts and wellbeing programmes	284	224
Holidays and volunteering	233	200
Adult specialist services	1	4
Children’s specialist services	3	2
Total	53,891	51,190

Income from charitable activities includes Grants received for a specific purpose which have been spent entirely on that purpose as follows:

	2022 £000s	2021 £000s
Sense	1,172	2,306
Sense International	716	959
Total	1,888	3,265

Page 68 of 99

Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association

Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022

2. Investment income

2. Investment income
	2022	2021
	£000s	£000s
Bank interest	29	126

3. Covid-19 Government Support Grants and Other income

	2022 £000s	2021 £000s
Covid-19 related grant income
Job Retention Scheme	53	2,624
Retail Leisure and Hospitality Fund	1,413	1,869
Adult Social Care Infection Control Fund	361	867
	1,827	5,360
Other Income
Negative goodwill	1,174	-
Miscellaneous income	274	426
	1,448	426

Retail Leisure and Hospitality Fund income represents the final tranche of monies due following the ending of Covid related government restrictions on the retail sector during the year.

Negative goodwill arises from amortisation of the negative goodwill created on the acquisition of the activities of The Otterhayes Trust on 12 April 2021.

Miscellaneous income represents training, advice and consultancy provided to other organisations and charities concerned with disability. It also includes rental of office and conference space income at Sense Touch Base Pears.

Page 69 of 99

Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association

Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022

4. Expenditure

Activity		Apportioned
	Direct	Support
	Costs	Costs	2022	2021
	£000s	£000s	£000s	£000s
Fundraising	4,621	237	4,858	4,015
Trading	11,753	43	11,796	10,861
TouchBase Pears	1,027	-	1,027	1,138
Care and Support Midlands	12,125	1,118	13,243	10,916
Care and Support East	9,935	1,090	11,025	10,758
Care and Support South	11,141	1,221	12,362	11,436
Care and Support North	8,156	932	9,088	8,406
Care and Support Northern Ireland	2,707	307	3,014	2,657
Care and Support Wales	1,783	195	1,978	1,669
Education and development programmes	1,947	447	2,394	1,833
International programmes	2,178	171	2,349	2,192
Arts and wellbeing programmes	643	60	703	641
Holidays and volunteering	996	90	1,086	888
Adult specialist services	566	72	638	651
Children’s specialist services	604	69	673	670
Campaigns, publicity and awareness	1,286	119	1,405	1,109
Quality assurance and development	427	48	475	385
Other	102	-	102	108
	71,997	6,219	78,216	70,333

Page 70 of 99

Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association

Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022

4. Expenditure (continued)

Analysis of apportioned support costs

Activity	Facilities Manage’t People Finance Govern’e Comms 2022 2021 £000s £000s £000s £000s £000s £000s £000s £000s
Fundraising Trading TouchBase Care and Support Midlands Care and Support East Care and Support South Care and Support North Care and Support Northern Ireland Care and Support Wales Education programmes International programmes Arts and wellbeing programmes Holidays and volunteering Adult specialist services Children’s specialist services Campaigns, publicity and awareness Quality assurance and development	13 16 79 66 - 63 237 215 - - 43 - - - 43 43 - - - - - - - 6 62 75 372 309 1 299 1,118 931 60 73 363 302 1 291 1,090 1,004 67 82 407 338 1 326 1,221 1,125 51 63 310 258 1 249 932 839 17 21 102 85 - 82 307 255 11 13 65 54 - 52 195 158 25 30 149 123 1 119 447 323 - 157 - - 14 - 171 178 3 4 20 17 - 16 60 60 5 6 30 25 - 24 90 71 4 5 24 20 - 19 72 74 4 5 23 19 - 18 69 65 7 8 39 33 - 32 119 87 3 3 16 13 - 13 48 41
	332 561 2,042 1,662 19 1,603 6,219 5,475

5. Discontinued operations

There were no discontinued operations during the year.

6. Gains on sale of tangible fixed assets and investments

	2022	2021
	£000s	£000s
Net gain on sale of tangible fixed assets	117	155

Page 71 of 99

Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association

Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022

7. Net movements in funds

The net movement in funds is stated after charging/ (crediting):

	2022	2021
	£000s	£000s
Audit fee - Group	74	62
Audit fee - Subsidiaries	7	6
Auditors – non audit fees	42	15
Depreciation – tangible assets	2,720	2,799
Amortisation – negative goodwill	(1,173)	-
Operating lease rentals	4,257	4,157
Interest payable on bank loans	269	310

8. Employee remuneration

8. Employee remuneration
	2022	2021
	£000s	£000s
Wages and salaries	47,635	40,849
Social security costs	3,305	2,970
Termination and redundancy payments	-	55
Pension costs - defined contribution schemes	1,866	1,732
Pension costs - defined benefit scheme (see note 10)	961	936
	53,767	46,542

The average monthly number of employees – excluding volunteers – was 2,557 (2021: 2,555).

Employees earning over £60,000 fell into the following bandings:

	2022	2021
	Number	Number
£60,000 - £70,000	10	6
£70,000 - £80,000	-	2
£80,000 - £90,000	1	2
£90,000 - £100,000	2	2
£110,000 - £120,000	-	-
£120,000 - £130,000	-	1
£130,000 - £140,000	1	-

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Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association

Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022

8. Employee remuneration (continued)

Pension contributions for these employees were as follows:

		2022	2021
	£000s	No.	£000s	No.
Defined contribution schemes	59	14	41	13

The aggregate remuneration of the 12 key management personnel (2022: 10) listed in the Trustees’ Report, was £726,005 (2021: £793,634) before pension contributions of £34,823 (2021: £41,211).

9. Remuneration of members of the Board of Trustees

No Trustees received any remuneration during the year (2021: £nil).

Two Trustees (2021: one) were reimbursed travel and subsistence expenses for attending meetings and duties directly related to their duties as Trustees. Costs reimbursed were £126 (2021: £70).

10. Pensions

The Group provides defined contribution pension schemes for current employees.

In addition, the Group has ten employees who are members of the Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS). The TPS is a multi-employer defined benefit pension scheme. Since the Group is unable to identify its share of the assets and liabilities of the scheme, contributions to the TPS are accounted for as if it was a defined contribution scheme.

The Group participates in the Local Pensions Partnerships (LPP), formerly London Pension Fund Authority (LPFA), a scheme which provides benefits based on final pensionable pay in respect of employees’ past service. The assets of the scheme are held separately from those of the participating employers and are mainly invested in equity investments and Government Securities. The most recent triennial actuarial valuation of the LPP was as at 31 March 2019.

In the year to 31 March 2022, the Group made payments under an agreed deficit reduction plan of £0.961 million (2021: £0.936 million). No deficit reduction payments were unpaid at 31 March 2022 (2021: £nil).

Page 73 of 99

Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022

10. Pensions (continued)

Pension liabilities measured in accordance with FRS 102 were:

	2022	2021
	£'000	£'000
LPP scheme
Market value of assets	51,114	44,237
Present value of liabilities	(51,863)	(54,143)
LPP scheme - net deficit	(749)	(9,906)
Present value of an unfunded pension obligation	(120)	(128)
Net pension fund liabilities	(869)	(10,034)

Financial assumptions

The principal assumptions used to calculate LPP scheme liabilities were as follows:

	At 31 March 2022	At 31 March 2021
	% pa	% pa
Rate of inflation – RPI	4.2	3.2
Rate of inflation – CPI	3.2	2.8
Rate of increase for pensions in payment	3.2	2.8
Discount rate	2.6	2.0

Life expectancy assumptions from age 65 were as follows:

	2022	2021
	Years	Years
Retiring today
- Men	22.0	21.9
- Women	23.9	23.8
Retiring in 20 years
- Men	23.1	23.0
- Women	25.6	25.5

The post-retirement mortality assumptions are based on:

• 2022: The post-retirement mortality tables are constructed based on Club Vita analysis completed for the 2019 triennial valuation. These base tables are then projected using the CMI_2020 Model allowing for a long-term rate of improvement of 1.25% p.a. The

Page 74 of 99

Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022

CMI_2021 model has not been used as it is not expected that this will have a significant effect on the value of the liabilities.

• 2021: The post-retirement mortality tables are constructed based on Club Vita analysis completed for the 2019 triennial valuation. These base tables are then projected using the CMI_2020 Model, allowing for a long-term rate of improvement of 1.25% p.a.

Scheme assets

The value of assets in the LPP attributable to the Group were:

	2022	2021
	£’000	£’000
Equities	29,094	24,035
Target return funds	11,009	10,412
Infrastructure	5,207	3,749
Property	4,586	4,025
Cash	1,218	2,016
	51,114	44,237

Equity investments are in publicly quoted entities valued at their bid price at year end.

The investment return (on a bid value to bid value basis) achieved for the year to 31 March 2022 was 16.5% (2021: 15.6%).

Reconciliation of the present value of scheme liabilities

	2022	2021
	£’000	£’000
Opening defined benefit obligation	54,271	45,214
Interest cost	1,072	1,048
Benefits paid	(1,293)	(1,249)
Experience gain/ (loss) on defined benefit obligation	158	(710)
Change in financial assumptions	(2,218)	10,444
Change in demographic assumptions	-	(469)
Unfunded pension payments	(7)	(7)
Closing defined benefit obligation	51,983	54,271

Page 75 of 99

Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022

10. Pensions (continued)

Reconciliation of fair value of scheme assets

	2022	2021
	£’000	£’000
Opening fair value of fund assets	44,237	38,602
Interest on assets	881	903
Return on assets in excess of assumed interest	6,386	5,095
Administration expenses	(58)	(50)
Contributions by the employer	968	943
Benefits paid	(1,300)	(1,256)
Closing fair value of fund assets	51,114	44,237

The following components of the pensions charge have been recognised as operating costs in the statement of financial activities:

the statement of financial activities:
	2022	2021
	£’000	£’000
Net interest	191	145
Administration expenses	58	50
Total cost	249	195

Re-measurements in other comprehensive income

	2022	2021
	£’000	£’000
Return on fund assets in excess of assumption	6,386	5,095
Changes in demographic assumptions	-	469
Changes in financial assumptions	2,218	(10,444)
Experience (loss)/ gain on defined benefit obligation	(158)	710
Total actuarial gain/ (loss) recognised	8,446	(4,170)
Deficit reduction payments made	7	7
Net actuarial gain/ (loss)	8,453	(4,163)

Page 76 of 99

Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022

10. Pensions (continued)

Sensitivity analysis of scheme liabilities

The table below sets out the impact of changes in the discount rate assumed on the present value pension obligation and projected service cost and the impact of a one-year age rating adjustment to the mortality assumption.

adjustment to the mortality assumption.
	£’000	£’000	£’000
Adjustment to discount rate	+0.1%	0%	-0.1%
Present value of total obligation	51,038	51,983	52,946
Projected service cost	-	-	-
Adjustment to mortality age rating assumption	+1 year	None	-1 year
Present value of total obligation	54,293	51,983	49,774
Projected service cost	-	-	-

Page 77 of 99

Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association

Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022

11. Tangible assets

	Freehold Long leasehold property improvements Group £000s £000s	Short leasehold Furniture, fixtures and Motor improvements fittings vehicles £000s £000s £000s	Total £000s 53,484 4,481 (1,523) 56,442 23,231 2,719 (950) 25,000 31,442
	Cost At 1 April 2021 24,769 3,887 Additions 2,138 - Disposals (575) (44)	3,646 17,605 3,577 336 1,757 250 (47) (498) (359)
	At 31 March 2022 26,332 3,843	3,935 18,864 3,468
	Accumulated depreciation At 1 April 2021 3,901 811 Charge for the year 490 62 Disposals (96) (8)	1,986 13,641 2,892 249 1,579 339 (36) (455) (355)
	At 31 March 2022 4,295 865	2,199 14,765 2,876
	Net book amounts
	At 31 March 2022 22,037 2,978	1,736 4,099 592
	At 31 March 2021 20,868 3,076	1,660 3,964 685	30,253
	Company Freehold property Long leasehold improvements £000s £000s	Short leasehold improvements Furniture, fixtures and fittings Motor vehicles £000s £000s £000s	Total £000s
	Cost At 1 April 2021 24,769 3,887 Additions 2,138 - Disposals (575) (44)	3,646 17,572 3,475 336 1,757 250 (47) (476) (300)	53,349 4,481 (1,442)
	At 31 March 2022 26,332 3,843	3,935 18,853 3,425	56,388
	Accumulated depreciation At 1 April 2021 3,901 811 Charge for the year 490 62 Disposals (96) (8)	1,986 13,618 2,844 249 1578 323 (36) (433) (300)	23,160 2,702 (873)
	At 31 March 2022 4,295 865	2,199 14,763 2,867	24,989
	Net book amounts
	At 31 March 2022 22,037 2,978	1,736 4,090 558	31,399
	At 31 March 2021 20,868 3,076	1,660 3,954 631	30,189

Page 78 of 99

Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022

12. Intangible assets

-	Negative goodwill Group £000s
	Cost At 1 April 2021 - Additions (1,173) Disposals -
	At 31 March 2022 (1,173)
	Accumulated amortisation At 1 April 2021 - Charge for the year (1,173) Disposals -
	At 31 March 2022 (1,173)
	Net book amounts
	At 31 March 2022 -
	At 31 March 2021 -

Negative goodwill arose on the acquisition of the assets and ongoing activity of Otterhayes Trust on 12 April 2021 and was fully amortised in the year.

13. Fixed Assets

Group	2022	2021
	£000s	£000s
UK listed investments (at market value)	-	1
Company	2022	2021
	£000s	£000s
Paid up shares: 100% (2021: 100%) holding in Helping Sense	30	30
Limited

The company owns 100% of the ordinary share capital of Helping Sense Limited, which is incorporated in England and Wales, and exists to raise funds for the company. There is no readily available market value for the company and accordingly it is accounted for at cost.

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Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022

The Trustees believe that the carrying value of the investment is supported by the underlying net assets (Note 30).

14. Debtors

14. Debtors
Group	2022	2021
	£000s	£000s
Trade debtors	4,393	4,360
Accrued income	1,626	1,430
Prepayments	1,886	2,401
Taxation recoverable	306	161
Other debtors	607	855
	8,818	9,207
Company	2022	2021
	£000s	£000s
Trade debtors	4,394	4,360
Accrued income	1,444	1,232
Prepayments	1,875	2,390
Amounts owed by group undertakings	-	140
Taxation recoverable	306	161
Other debtors	493	655
	8,512	8,938

Trade debtors are shown net of bad and doubtful debt provisions of £150,155 (2021: £197,738).

15. Current asset investments

Group and Company	2022	2021
	£000s	£000s
Bank deposits	4,000	4,000

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Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022

16. Creditors (amounts falling due within one year)

Group	2022	2021
	£000s	£000s
Bank loans	319	470
Trade creditors	2,390	1,681
Taxation and social security	863	711
Deferred income	1,058	1,002
Accruals and other creditors	4,130	5,062
	8,760	8,926
Company	2022	2021
	£000s	£000s
Bank loans	319	470
Trade creditors	2,390	1,675
Amounts owed to group undertakings	89	-
Taxation and social security	863	711
Deferred income	1,058	997
Accruals and other creditors	4,036	4,954
	8,755	8,807

17. Creditors (amounts falling due after more than one year)

Group	2022	2021
	£000s	£000s
Bank loan	5,333	7,873
Other creditors	32	40
	5,365	7,913
Company	2022	2021
	£000s	£000s
Bank loan	5,333	7,872

The bank loan, which funded the construction of TouchBase Pears, is from Lloyds Bank PLC. The loan is unsecured and repayable in instalments over 16 years to 2035. Interest was fixed on the first £7 million drawdown at 4.17% for the first eight years with the remaining amount drawn on a variable interest based on a margin of 2% above SONIA. During the year, Sense repaid £2.3m remaining on the variable rate element of the loan.

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Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022

Repayments fall due as follows:

Repayments fall due as follows:
	2022	2021
	£000s	£000s
Within one year	319	470
Second to fifth year	2,126	2,005
After five years	3,207	5,867
	5,652	8,342

18. Movement of funds

Group	Balance at	Income	Expenditure	Transfers	Balance at 31
	1 April 2021				March 2022
	£000s	£000s	£000s	£000s	£000s
Unrestricted funds
General fund, excluding pension deficit	28,238	77,839	(73,843)	(682)	31,552
Designated funds	10,538	39	(469)	989	11,097
Pension deficit (note 11)	(10,034)	-	9,165	-	(869)
Total unrestricted funds	28,742	77,878	(65,147)	307	41,780
Restricted funds
Cymru Fundraising Fund	23	4	-	-	27
TouchBase Pears Aspirations	26	-	-	-	26
Community Connections	108	-	(2)	-	106
Student Fund - Newton Court 1-4	23	1	-	-	24
Children’s Services	125	95	-	(220)	-
Children’s Services: South East	54	77	-	(73)	58
Sport England - Active Together	114	201	(346)	31	-
Arts and Wellbeing: TBP Inclusive	61	-	(60)	(1)	-
Southeast: Sense @ Keech	56	-	-	(27)	29
Anne Wall Centre (TBSE)	25	-	-	-	25
Cafe 55 - Providence Court	47	4	-	-	51
Big Lottery Fund Grant	62	135	(149)	-	48
Children's Services North	17	13	(1)	(29)	-
Cornwall GOT Project	38	1	(1)	-	38
Needs and Numbers Survey	55	-	-	-	55
Northern Ireland Day Centre	107	1	-	-	108

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Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022

Group	Balance at	Income	Expenditure	Transfers	Balance at 31
	1 April 2021				March 2022
	£000s	£000s	£000s	£000s	£000s
Northern Ireland Lottery guide dogs	64	-	-	-	64
Northern Ireland Out Of Schools Club	92	113	(110)	-	95
Northern Ireland Special Donations	132	40	(8)	-	164
Northern Ireland specialist services	31	-	-	-	31
Stevenage Special Donations	31	-	-	-	31
The Devon Group Fund	1	3	(1)	30	33
Volunteering: London transitions	47	28	(74)	-	1
Wolverhampton Children's Services	35	-	(1)	-	34
Children’s Services Midlands	6	29	(1)	(34)	-
DoH Health and Wellbeing Alliance	-	23	-	(23)	-
TouchBase Wales Lottery Grant	35	2	(34)	-	3
Woodside – Capital	33	10	-	-	43
NI Mallusk Nursery	26	1	(2)	-	25
GOT Group Warwickshire	36	-	(9)	-	27
Andlaw House	39	-	-	(30)	9
NI Outreach Worker	20	-	-	-	20
Woodside – Operations	43	21	-	-	64
Arts and Wellbeing: Digital Programme	28	-	(28)	-	-
Arts Council: TBP Studio Development	25	78	(15)	(88)	-
Grafton Street Donations	20	16	-	-	36
Holidays Fund	10	58	-	-	68
Pears Grant - Promoting Wellbeing	8	175	(183)	-	-
Children’s Services East	4	35	(1)	(38)	-
Virtual Buddying	-	137	(137)	-	-
North Wales Donations	-	35	-	-	35
The Communication Consortium Grants	-	29	(18)	-	11
Programme (funded by The Rayners
Special Educational Trust)
TBP CSS Studio Development	-	41	-	(12)	29
Hadley Centre (Operations)	-	25	-	-	25
North Yorkshire Donations	-	40	-	-	40
Loughborough Hub Capital	-	200	-	-	200
Loughborough Hub Revenue	-	50	-	-	50
Other	542	205	(80)	(29)	638

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Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022

Group	Balance at	Income	Expenditure	Transfers	Balance at 31
	1 April 2021				March 2022
	£000s	£000s	£000s	£000s	£000s
Sense International
Nelumbo Stiftung Education	207	364	(347)	-	224
Romania – In-country Income	101	74	(38)	-	137
FCDO UK Aid Match Kenya	86	-	(53)	-	33
Comic Relief Uganda	79	137	(136)	-	80
Nelumbo Stiftung Early Intervention	75	-	(45)	-	30
Uganda
FCDO UK Aid Match Bangladesh	68	20	(24)	-	64
Latin American Children’s Trust	61	6	(38)	-	29
Thomas Cook Children's Charity	60	-	(29)	-	31
NLCF Uganda	59	-	(59)	-	-
My Turn to Learn Appeal	58	48	(64)	-	42
Enabel Vocational	49	135	(184)	-	-
Tanzania Adults Vocational	45	52	(59)	-	38
Porticus Uganda 2020-21	35	-	(35)	-	-
Kilimanjaro Blind Trust Africa Uganda	29	4	(33)	-	-
The Batchworth Trust (Nepal)	24	-	-	-	24
FCDO UK Aid Direct Kenya Cofunding	-	23	(14)	-	9
Tanzania Early Intervention	21	19	(40)	-	-
Jersey Overseas Aid Nepal	17	93	(73)	-	37
Band Aid Uganda	18	7	(25)	-	-
Medicor	-	55	-	-	55
Latin American Children’s Trust Peru	-	55	(27)	-	28
2021-24
UN Women Uganda	-	33	(27)	-	6
Help Uganda	-	65	(61)	-	4
FCDO UK Aid Direct Kenya	-	91	(91)	-	-
FCDO (UK Aid Match) Kenya Early	-	99	(99)	-	-
Intervention
Tanzania Holding Fund	-	-	(72)	72	-
Uganda Holding Fund	-	4	(104)	100	-
Kenya Holding Fund	-	1	(49)	48	-
Peru Holding Fund	-	1	(22)	22	1
Lavelle Peru	-	49	(16)	-	33
Other	98	224	(307)	(6)	9
Total Restricted	3,439	3,585	(3,432)	(307)	3,285

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Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022

Endowment
Property	369	-	(9)	-	360
Total Endowment	369	-	(9)	-	360
Total Funds	32,550	81,463	(68,588)	-	45,425
Company	Balance at	Income	Expenditure	Transfers	Balance at 31
	1 April 2021				March 2022
	£’000s	£’000s	£’000s	£’000s	£’000s
Unrestricted funds
General fund, excluding pension deficit	28,184	73,707	(70,262)	(446)	31,183
Designated funds	10,538	39	(469)	989	11,097
Pension deficit (note 11)	(10,034)	-	9,165	-	(869)
Total unrestricted funds	28,688	73,746	(61,566)	543	41,411
Restricted funds
Cymru Fundraising Fund	23	4	-	-	27
TouchBase Pears Aspirations	26	-	-	-	26
Community Connections	108	-	(2)	-	106
Student Fund - Newton Court 1-4	23	1	-	-	24
Children’s Services	125	95	-	(220)	-
Children’s Services: South East	54	77	-	(73)	58
Sport England - Active Together	114	201	(346)	31	-
Arts and Wellbeing: TBP Inclusive	61	-	(60)	(1)	-
Southeast: Sense @ Keech	56	-	-	(27)	29
Anne Wall Centre (TBSE)	25	-	-	-	25
Cafe 55 -Providence Court	47	4	-	-	51
Big Lottery Fund Grant	62	135	(149)	-	48
Children's Services North	17	13	(1)	(29)	-
Cornwall GOT Project	38	1	(1)	-	38
Needs and Numbers Survey	55	-	-	-	55
Northern Ireland Day Centre	107	1	-	-	108

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Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022

Company	Balance at	Income	Expenditure	Transfers	Balance at 31
	1 April 2021				March 2022
	£’000s	£’000s	£’000s	£’000s	£’000s
Northern Ireland Lottery guide dogs	64	-	-	-	64
Northern Ireland Out Of Schools Club	92	113	(110)	-	95
Northern Ireland Special Donations	132	40	(8)	-	164
Northern Ireland specialist services	31	-	-	-	31
Stevenage Special Donations	31	-	-	-	31
The Devon Group Fund	1	3	(1)	30	33
Volunteering: London transitions	47	28	(74)	-	1
Wolverhampton Children's Services	35	-	(1)	-	34
Children’s Services Midlands	6	29	(1)	(34)	-
DoH Health and Wellbeing Alliance	-	23	-	(23)	-
TouchBase Wales Lottery Grant	35	2	(34)	-	3
Woodside – Capital	33	10	-	-	43
NI Mallusk Nursery	26	1	(2)	-	25
GOT Group Warwickshire	36	-	(9)	-	27
Andlaw House	39	-	-	(30)	9
NI Outreach Worker	20	-	-	-	20
Woodside – Operations	43	21	-	-	64
Arts and Wellbeing: Digital Programme	28	-	(28)	-	-
Arts Council: TBP Studio Development	25	78	(15)	(88)	-
Grafton Street Donations	20	16	-		36
Holidays Fund	10	58	-		68
Pears Grant - Promoting Wellbeing	8	175	(183)	-	-
Children’s Services East	4	35	(1)	(38)	-
Virtual Buddying	-	137	(137)	-	-
North Wales Donations	-	35	-	-	35
The Communication Consortium Grants	-	29	(18)	-	11
Programme (funded by The Rayners
Special Educational Trust)
TBP CSS Studio Development	-	41	-	(12)	29
Hadley Centre (Operations)	-	25	-	-	25
North Yorkshire Donations	-	40	-	-	40
Loughborough Hub Capital	-	200	-	-	200
Loughborough Hub Revenue	-	50	-	-	50
Other	542	205	(80)	(29)	638
Total Restricted	2,249	1,926	(1,261)	(543)	2,371

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Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022

Endowment
Property	370	-	(10)	-	360
Total Endowment	370	-	(10)	-	360
Total Funds	31,307	75,672	(62,837)	-	44,142

Individual funds listed are those with opening balances, annual income or annual expenditure that exceed £20,000. ‘Other funds’ are those with opening balances, annual income and annual expenditure of less than £20,000.

Unrestricted funds

General fund

This represents the accumulated reserves of the charity that are available for use at the discretion of the Trustees.

Designated funds

Designated funds total £11.1m (2021: £10.5m).

Designated funds include £3.8 million for the maintenance and improvement of the Group’s residential accommodation, two years of contributions to Sense International (£0.5m) and £1.0m covering the next year of pension deficit reduction payments. This year we have designated funds to support employees through a mid-year pay increment in response to the national cost of living crisis.

Various future strategic plans will be funded from reserves. Trustees have therefore designated £5.0m for the following projects:

• £1.5m for investment in the current financial year on innovation projects.

• £1.5m for investment in energy efficiency improvements centred on our buildings.

• £1.0m for digital development.

• £1.0m to further progress the Hubs development programme.

Pension deficit

See note 11 for the calculation of the estimated deficit on the defined benefit scheme.

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Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022

Restricted funds

Sense is reliant on the support of individuals, corporations, trusts, other charities and state bodies in order to deliver our activities. Monies that are received for an express purpose are restricted to that purpose.

The principal restricted funds are considered to be:

Community Connections

A legacy to reduce social isolation for adults with sensory impairments, connect people in Wales to their local community, to build connections with others, share experiences, improve confidence and well-being.

Sport England

A three-year project to build on our foundations of supporting people with complex disabilities to get active.

Children’s Services

Money donated to support Children and Young People who are Deafblind/multi-sensory impaired.

Northern Ireland Day centre

Commissioned day service opportunities for adults with complex needs.

Northern Ireland Special Donations

An accumulation of donations / fundraised funds raised locally for services in Northern Ireland.

Loughborough Hub Capital

A project to redesign and improve Sense College Loughborough's building in order to improve on energy efficiency and extend service provisions to the general community.

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Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022

The Nelumbo Stiftung Education Fund

This fund comprises donations from Nelumbo Stiftung for an ongoing education project being implemented across all the countries in which Sense International operates.

The Romania in-country income Fund

This fund comprises funds that are raised by Sense International Romania for use in Romania.

Endowment funds

These are properties given to the charity for its use. The movement on the fund represents the depreciation charge in the year.

Transfers between funds

Other transfers between funds represent either transfers from unrestricted funds to cover shortfalls of restricted funds or transfers from restricted funds to cover related expenditure paid by unrestricted monies.

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Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022

19. Analysis of net assets between fund balances

Group	Unrestricted funds	Designated funds	Restricted funds	Endowment funds	Total funds
	£000s	£000s	£000s	£000s	£000s
Tangible fixed assets	31,082	-	-	360	31,442
Net current assets	5,835	11,097	3,285	-	20,217
Long-term liabilities	(5,365)	-	-	-	(5,365)
Pension liability	(869)	-	-	-	(869)
Total	30,683	11,097	3,285	360	45,425

Company	Unrestricted funds	Designated funds	Restricted funds	Endowment funds	Total funds
	£000s	£000s	£000s	£000s	£000s
Tangible fixed assets	31,039	-	-	360	31,399
Fixed asset		-
investments	30		-	-	30
Net current assets	5,447	11,097	2,371	-	18,915
Long-term liabilities	(5,333)	-	-	-	(5,333)
Pension liability	(869)	-	-	-	(869)
Total	30,314	11,097	2,371	360	44,142

20. Capital commitments

The Group had capital commitments of £364,900 (2021: £5,689).

21. Contingent liabilities

Sense, Sense International and Helping Sense Limited are members of a group VAT registration.

Under the Value Added Tax Act 1983, all members of a VAT group are jointly and severally liable for any tax due during the period of their membership.

As disclosed in Note 29, two of the Company’s subsidiaries, Helping Sense Limited and Sense4Enterprise Limited, have taken advantage of the exemption available under Section 479 of the Companies Act 2006 in respect of the requirement for audit. As a condition of the exemption, the Company has guaranteed the year-end liabilities of the relevant subsidiaries until they are settled in full. The liabilities of one of the subsidiaries

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Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022

(Sense4Enterprise Limited) at the year-end were £121,092 (2021: £107,000). The Trustees are satisfied that this does not impact on the going concern position of the Group and believe that this is an accurate and robust guarantee. The other subsidiary (Helping Sense Limited) had assets of £217,402 (2021: £30,000) at 31 March.

22. Operating lease commitments

Future minimum lease payments under non-cancellable operating leases as set out below:

		2022			2021
Group and Company	Land and		Other	Land and
	buildings			buildings		Other
	£000s		£000s	£000s		£000s
Operating leases which expire:
Within one year	2,760		-	3,132		-
In two to five years	8,680		-	9,329		-
After five years	6,574		-	6,385		-
	18,014		-	18,846		-

23. Reconciliation of net income to net cash inflow / (outflow) from operating activities

from operating activities
	2022	2021
	£000s	£000s
Net income before pension revaluations	4,422	5,050
Defined benefit pension scheme deficit reduction payments	(712)	(741)
Investment income received	(29)	(125)
Interest paid	269	310
Depreciation	2,720	2,799
Amortisation of negative goodwill	(1,173)	-
Profit on sale of fixed assets	(117)	(155)
Increase in stock	(75)	(29)
Decrease in debtors	389	589
(Decrease)/ increase in creditors	(23)	2,436
Net cash inflow from operating activities	5,671	10,134

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Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022

24. Reconciliation of net cash flow to movement in net cash

	2022	2021
	£000s	£000s
Increase in cash in the year	122	7,433
Bank loan repayments	2,690	459
Changes generated from cash flows	2,812	7,892
Net cash at start of year	11,244	3,352
Net cash at end of year	14,056	11,244

25. Analysis of changes in net debt

				Non-cash	At	31 March
	At	1 April 2021	Cash flows	changes		2022
		£000s	£000s	£000s		£000s
Cash at bank and in hand		15,586	122	-		15,708
Current asset investments		4,000	-	-		4,000
Debt due within one year		(470)	-	151		(319)
Debt due after one year		(7,872)	2,690	(151)		(5,333)
		11,244	2,812	-		14,056

26. Analysis of cash and cash equivalents

	2022	2021
	£’000	£’000
Cash at bank and in hand	15,708	15,586
Current asset investments	4,000	4,000
	19,708	19,586

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Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022

27. Related party transactions

In some cases, the Group provides services to children or family members of the Trustees and Board members of the charity. These services are provided as part of the contracts agreed with funding authorities on the same commercial terms as with any other service user.

Balances with subsidiaries are disclosed below:

	31 March 2022 Debtor/(Creditor) £	31 March 2021 Debtor/(Creditor) £
Sense International	7,807	36,536
Helping Sense Limited	(217,402)	(31)
Sense4Enterprise Limited	121,092	107,541

Support for Sense International

During the year, the company made a donation of £350,000 (2021: £350,000) to Sense International.

28. Company status

Sense is a company limited by guarantee and has no share capital.

The liability of the members is limited by guarantee.

The members have undertaken to contribute such amount not exceeding one pound each as may be required in the event of the charity being wound up.

29. Subsidiary companies

Sense is connected to the Royal Coventry Society for the Blind. In a letter dated 04 June 2003 the Charity Commissioners directed that this Charity should be reported as part of Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association. There have been no activities separately undertaken by this Charity.

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Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022

The company has three wholly owned subsidiaries including Sense International which is registered in England as a charity (charity number: 1076497) and is a company limited by guarantee (company number: 03742986).

Sense International has similar aims and objectives to the company. All activities have been consolidated on a line-by-line basis into the statement of financial activities.

A summary of the results of Sense International are shown below:

Sense International

SenseInternational
	2022	2021
	£000s	£000s
Income	2,533	2,320
Expenditure	(2,564)	(2,455)
Net movement in funds	(31)	(135)
Assets	1,352	1,439
Liabilities	(135)	(191)
Net assets	1,217	1,248

In addition, Sense has two wholly owned subsidiaries that are not registered charities.

Helping Sense Limited (company number: 2214430) a company registered in England that is used for non-primary purpose trading activities, namely the support of shop sales of purchased goods and the organisation of fundraising activities. The net profit of the subsidiary is gifted to the company.

Sense4Enterprise Limited (company number: 8112973) a company limited by guarantee and a social enterprise and is used for income generating activities related to Sense TouchBase Pears and other resources. The net profit of Sense4Enterprise Limited is gifted to the charity.

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Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022

A summary of the results of these subsidiaries is shown below:

Helping Sense Limited

Helping SenseLimited
	2022	2021
	£000s	£000s
Turnover	3,862	1,273
Cost of sales	(622)	(306)
Gross profit	3,240	967
Operating expenses	(3,052)	(967)
Net profit	188	-
Assets	217	35
Liabilities	-	(5)
Net assets	217	30

Sense4Enterprise Limited

	2021	2021
	£000s	£000s
Income	74	124
Expenditure	(87)	(137)
Net movement in funds	(13)	(13)
Assets		-
Liabilities	(121)	(107)
Net liabilities	(121)	(107)

The Company has guaranteed the liabilities of Sense4Enterprise Limited and Helping Sense Limited to entitle them to exemption from audit under Section 479A of the Companies Act 2006 in respect of the year ended 31 March 2022.

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Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022

Other information

Major supporters of Sense in 2021/22

• Audrey Earle Charitable Trust

• B&Q Foundation

• Communication Consortium

• Co-operative Group

• Fairfield Charitable Trust

• Garfield Weston Foundation

• GMC Trust

• Hollyhock Charitable Foundation

• John Crabtree

• Margaret Giffen Charitable Trust

• Mondelez International

• Pears Foundation

• Peter and Frances Meyer

• Rob Lloyd

• Screwfix Foundation

• Severn Trent

• Severn Trent Community Foundation

• Sir David Dangoor

• Smith Charitable Trust

• Thames Water

• The Alan Edward Higgs Charity

• The Annette Duvollet Trust

• The Blair Foundation

• The Canbrick Charitable Trust

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Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022

• The Charles Wolfson Charitable Trust

• The City Bridge Trust

• The D'Oyly Carte Charitable Trust

• The Grey Court Trust

• The Hadley Trust

• The Halbard Charitable Trust

• The Lord Cozens-Hardy Trust

• The Lord Levy

• The Noel Sweeney Foundation

• The P F Charitable Trust

• The Patrick and Helena Frost Foundation

• The Peacock Charitable Trust

• The Princess Anne's Charities Trust

• The Roselands Trust

• The Simon Gibson Charitable Trust

• The Thomas J Horne Memorial Trust

• Thomas Pocklington Trust

• The Vision Foundation

• The Welland Charitable Trust

• Veolia Environmental Trust

• Worth Waynflete Charitable Trust

Page 97 of 99

Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022

Charity information and professional advisers

Registered address - Sense and Sense International

101 Pentonville Road, London, N1 9LG Tel: [phone]

Email: [e-mail] Websites: www.sense.org.uk https://www.senseinternational.org.uk

Sense Information and Advice

For details about the support and services Sense offers – and information about complex disabilities – please contact the Sense Information and Advice service on:

Tel: [phone]

Email: [e-mail]

Sense Northern Ireland

Sense Family Centre

The Manor House

51 Mallusk Road

Newtownabbey County Antrim, BT36 4RU

Tel/text: 028 9083 3430

Email: [e-mail]

Sense Cymru

TouchBase Wales

Caerphilly Business Park

Van Road

Caerphilly, CF83 3ED

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Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association

Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022

Ffôn/tel: [phone] Testud/text: 0300 330 9282

Email: [e-mail]

Sense: Registered number 1825301 Registered charity number 289868

Professional advisers

Independent auditors

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP

One Chamberlain Square, Birmingham, B3 3AX

Bankers

National Westminster Bank PLC

Tavistock House, Tavistock Square, London, WC1H 9JA

Lloyds Banking Group plc 33 Old Broad Street, London, EC2N 1HZ

Solicitors

Wilsons Solicitors LLP Alexandra House, St John Street Salisbury SP1 2SB

Trowers & Hamlins LLP

3 Bunhill Row London EC1Y 8YZ

Insurance advisers

Willis Towers Watson

8 First Street, Floor 6 Manchester, England M15 4RP

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