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2021-03-31-accounts

VOLUNTEERING MATTERS - Year ended 31 March 2021

Volunteering Matters

Annual Report and Accounts

For the Year ended 31 March 2021

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VOLUNTEERING MATTERS - Year ended 31 March 2021

Contents

About us……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 3-4 Introduction from our Chair of Council……………………………………………………………………………….. 5 Chief Executive’s Report……………………………………………….…………………………………………………….. 6 Trustees’ Report including the Strategic Report……………….…………………………………………………. 7-16 Independent Auditor’s Report to the Members………………………………………………………………….. 17-20 Financial Statements……………………………………………………………………………………………………….….. 21-31 Statement of Financial Activities……………………………………………………………………………………….. 21 Balance Sheet……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 22 Cash Flow………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 23 Notes to the Financial Statements…………………………………………………………………………………….. 24-31 Thanks to our Funding Partners…………………………………….……………………………………………………. 32

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ABOUT US

Company details Charity registration Registered in England & Wales as a charity, number 291222 Registered in Scotland as a charity, number SC039171 Company registration 01435877 Registered office The Levy Centre, 18- 24 Lower Clapton Road, London, E5 0PD President Lord David Freud Vice President John Pulford MBE

Trustees, Board and Group Members

The members of the Council, who are also trustees under charity law and directors under company law who served during the period and up to the date of this report were as follows:

Anne Heal Trustee and Chair of the Council
Andrew Hudson Trustee.Vice Chair until April 2021. Member of the Finance
and Audit Committee.
Pru Whitwell Trustee since April 2021, and Vice Chair
Emmanuel Ayoola Trustee
David Wilkinson Trustee, and Chair of the Finance and Investment
Committee, until April 2021
Peter Bailey Trustee, and member of the Finance and Investment
Committee, until April 2021
Simon Judge Trustee. Member of the Finance and Investment Committee
until April 2021, and Chair of the Finance and Audit
Committee thereafter
Katrina Lambert Trustee
Patrick Luong Trustee
Sue Maskrey Trustee and Safeguarding Champion
Zara Todd Trustee and Whistleblowing Champion
Martin Fleming Trustee since April 2021. Member of the Finance and Audit
Committee

VOLUNTEERING MATTERS - Year ended 31 March 2021

Trustee since April 2021. Member of the Finance and Audit Committee

Julie-Anne Jamieson Trustee since April 2021. Member of the Finance and Audit Committee Craig Hamilton Trustee since April 2021. Chair of the Enterprise Committee Julie Kirkbride Trustee

Satyen Dhana, Linda Holden, Raymond O’Hare, Katerina Rudiger, Fernando Sanchez Malin and Iona Wyn are all Trustees who resigned before 1[st] April 2020.

Martin Fleming, Julie-Anne Jamieson and Craig Hamilton were previously Trustees of Project Scotland, which merged with Volunteering Matters on 1 April 2021. Project Scotland have already published their report and accounts for the year ended 31 March 2021.

Executive Leadership Team

Paul Reddish Chief Executive and Company Secretary Valerie Brown Head of Human Resources Michael Joseph Chief Finance Officer (until May 2021) Angie Lees Head of Finance (from June 2021) Stephen Skeet Director of Business Development and Impact (from April 2020) Emma Thomas-Hancock Director of Delivery Graham Robertson Director of Enterprise

Auditors, Bankers and Solicitors

Auditors Principal bankers Principal solicitors Saffery Champness LLP Barclays Bank PLC Peter Kingshill & Co Chartered Accountants 1 Churchill Place 7 Liverpool Terrace 133 Fountainbridge, London E14 5HP Worthing Edinburgh, EH3 9BA BN11 1TA

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CHAIR OF COUNCIL REPORT

The last year has been an incredibly challenging 12 months for our volunteers, staff and trustees. In March 2020 the trustees had recently approved the findings from the staff-led strategic review and the restructuring of the organisation to ensure a more sustainable economic future. We were looking forward to the implementation of the new strategy with its focus on impact within local communities through volunteering and social action.

However, the emergence of COVID quickly changed the landscape. It was remarkable to witness how rapidly and positively everyone involved in Volunteering Matters’ work – staff, volunteers and the people they support – responded to the crisis as different needs emerged within communities across England, Scotland and Wales.

The culture and new ways of working at Volunteering Matters – where people support one another to overcome challenges and deliver positive change – meant that the organisational response to the crisis was quick and agile, so projects were able to continue while new ones arose to meet the challenges of the pandemic. Examples of this approach are numerous, from moving projects online so care-experienced young people could continue to access support, creating online resources so people could volunteer safely, or developing new projects such as telephone befriending to support those who were shielding.

It has been a testament to the support of our partners and funders that existing funding could be reallocated to meet the needs of communities, expertise could be shared to meet emerging situations and new links made across sectors to put volunteering at the heart of the response to the crisis.

In addition to the COVID response, much work was done to embed the new organisational strategy, focussing on impact and place-based change, underpinned by new ways of working, a values-led approach and an ongoing commitment to equality, diversity, and inclusion. The merger with Project Scotland in April 2021 also meant we were able to welcome new trustees and colleagues, forming a new board of Trustees as well as a “new” charity. I'd like to thank those former Trustees – Peter Bailey, Satyen Dhana, Linda Holden, Raymond O’Hare and Katerina Rudiger and Fernando Sanchez Malin, Iona Wyn and David Wilkinson - who stepped down from both Volunteering Matters and Project Scotland at that time - for their commitment, time, expertise, and support of both organisations over the years.

And finally, on behalf of the Trustees, I would like to thank everyone involved in the Volunteering Matters family – volunteers, the staff team, funders, partners, and the communities we work with for all the effort, dedication and energy shown over such a difficult and challenging 12 months.

Thank you

Anne Heal Chair of Trustees

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CHIEF EXECUTIVE’S REPORT

It’s been a quite incredible 12 months at Volunteering Matters in one of the most challenging crises I can remember in my lifetime.

Just prior to COVID, we had restructured and re-emphasised our commitment to working alongside communities.

We absolutely believe in the force for change that volunteering and volunteers create, but to lead to lasting change this must be done through work within communities. Our new strategy focuses our work on our role and impact in a place, and how we can help support inequalities, improve health and well-being, and achieve other critical social outcomes alongside others in the communities where we operate.

We found ways of delivering services through innovative approaches, but we also adapted to what was emerging. That change of focus has enabled us to adapt and respond alongside the communities we operate within. Our volunteer drivers have become shoppers. The young people who were supported through our mentoring services became the volunteers and supported the isolated. The trust and relationships we have built in the places we are in, coupled with a strategy of stepping back and asking, ‘what can we do to help’ rather than ‘we want volunteers to support with x’, led to a movement of people everywhere supporting each other. The legacy of that is new volunteers, new relationships, and an opportunity to further our mission to work alongside communities.

Our presence has continued to grow and strengthen in many of the communities we operate in. And we’ve started reimagining our role post COVID. We have changed office space into community action spaces. We’ve forged new collaborations, like our key partnership with British Red Cross and others through the VCS Emergencies Partnership. Like our partnership with UK Youth to support the #iWill movement. And our partnership with NCVO, NAVCA and Association for Volunteer Managers to deliver a new ten-year Vision for Volunteering for England.

And we completed the merger with Project Scotland after the year end date, bringing two great volunteering charities together, in the process strengthening our relationships and opportunities to support people and communities in Scotland.

The pandemic has been awful. We’ve lost loved ones, and it’s been a huge strain on so many people in so many different ways. I’m incredibly thankful to our staff and volunteers for their continued work in spite of these challenges, and all they continue to do to support all of those around them. It’s been a twelve months we can all be incredibly proud of.

Paul Reddish, Chief Executive

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TRUSTEES’ REPORT INCLUDING THE STRATEGIC REPORT

We are pleased to present our report for the year ended 31st March 2021. We started the year focusing on delivering the new strategy following the strategic review and restructure in 2019. However, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic meant that from early 2020 we had to adapt to the changing environment and the challenges it brought. Staff teams rapidly changed project delivery models whilst ensuring staff, volunteers and the people they support remained safe. We were able to pivot work to meet the emerging needs of communities while continuing to deliver existing programmes. Below is an overview of our impact as well as the annual accounts.

In 2020 we were in a year of transition in terms of how we measured and reported impact. We have become better at this in 2021 and early in 2022 will be providing a separate impact report that does more to describe the impact we have had on the communities and beneficiaries we support.

Our Aims and Objectives

At Volunteering Matters, we bring people together to overcome some of society’s most complex issues through the power of volunteering. This builds stronger communities and enables everyone to thrive.

We work with local partners, turning local knowledge and energy into action and progress.

We work with volunteers to make a real difference on the issues they care about, from immediate responses to fostering long term change. We enable volunteers to use their local knowledge and life experiences and collectively we tackle complex issues.

In line with our overall strategy our projects support one or more of these areas:

Our Impact

In 2020 we were in a year of transition in terms of how we measured and reported impact. We have become better at this in 2021 and early in 2022 will be providing a separate impact report that does more to describe the impact we have had on the communities and beneficiaries we support.

The power of volunteer-led support during COVID-19

We are proud of the impact our volunteers made from 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021 – the year since the outbreak of COVID-19.

Through Volunteering Matters, volunteering and social action enabled a wave of support for those most in need and their communities, helping them to navigate unprecedented challenges safely. Our volunteers also supported other partners within charities, the NHS and Local Authorities.

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To achieve this, under the circumstances of the pandemic, we invested in new technology to enable online mentoring and befriending, we redeployed staff to speed up the recruitment and vetting of volunteers and to offer new volunteering solutions in poorly served communities. Volunteers were screened and given the necessary support and guidance on how to volunteer safely including access to PPE. To make sure people connected safely, we delivered training and resources online and made them available across the charity and voluntary sectors.

Our annual Impact Report will give more detail but a snapshot of our impact during 2020 to 2021 is given in the paragraphs below.

Key Statistics

Place-based approach

At Volunteering Matters we believe that communities have the power, knowledge and energy to improve themselves from within and that we are most effective when we work with people, not on their behalf – and we achieve this with local partners. Just a few of the examples of our place-based approach this year included:

The Lifelines project in Brighton brings together people both as volunteers running activities and as participants. Through activities and one-to-one support, older people stay more active and engaged with their communities. This volunteer-led activity was vitally important during the pandemic. At the beginning of lockdown, the staff and volunteer team quickly established ways for people to stay connected with isolated older community members by post, phone and online. Soon hundreds of isolated people were connected through group activities such as quizzes and Pilates to tailored befriending and shopping support. Last year 395 people aged 50+ engaged with the Lifelines project.

Youth Social Action supported potentially isolated families In Ipswich . Concerned about others’ wellbeing and connectivity, Youth Social Action volunteers in Ipswich developed a fun and informative series of activity packs to support families at risk of social isolation. The young volunteers created the packs, focusing on the fictional characters Astra and Patrick who

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demonstrated skills of resilience. The packs were targeted towards children and included links to local support networks for the families receiving the packs.

During the year, 1450 packs were published in 5 different languages, reaching families from 13 different nationalities.

As an existing partner with Newport City Council, our team in Wales supported Newport Social Services to make sure local community needs could be met. With the Council acting as a referrer, volunteers, including many from our Employee Volunteering Programme , and the local Rotary club , provided vital support such as shopping and telephone befriending for those lonely or isolated, often signposting to other support where needed. In partnership with Newport City Council and Trussell Trust, volunteers delivered food parcels and IT Equipment to families struggling financially. In Newport, 77 volunteers supported 227 people , carrying out 1,996 tasks .

In Scotland , Action Earth is an environmental grants scheme, funded by NatureScot, that supports volunteers across Scotland in improving local green spaces in some of the most deprived areas of Scotland. Funding is available to purchase plants, tools and materials with higher-level grants covering projects involving people with defined health and social needs. Action Earth projects have responded with great resilience during the pandemic, with excellent results that exceeded expectations in these difficult times.

121 projects have been run by 3,312 volunteers. 70 of these projects were health-related.

National Programmes with a Local Focus

Family Mentors and Family Supporters

Volunteering Matters have been actively working with families involved with social services for over ten years. Volunteers are trained and supported by staff, before providing tailored weekly support to the family, empowering the family to be self-sufficient, de-escalated from their child protection plans and reach goals set by the families. Family Mentors provide their support in Southend, Greenwich and Waltham Forest , with Family Supporters operating in Edinburgh .

This year 276 volunteers supported 912 people.

Our new impact tracker , introduced this year, tracks the outcomes of the families often focusing on Housing and Finance; Education, Training and Employment, and Health and Wellbeing

Grandmentors

Grandmentors is an intergenerational mentoring project for care-experienced young people (someone who has been in care i.e. looked after by a local authority). This group of young people are amongst the strongest and most resilient in any community. Through the skill of mentoring, careexperienced young people are supported to be autonomous, capable, and empowered adults.

243 care-experienced young people were supported by our volunteers during the year. This was in ten locations: Islington, Milton Keynes, Bradford, Wiltshire, Hounslow, Brent, Wandsworth, Wolverhampton, Warwickshire and Suffolk .

In 2020, we introduced a new impact tracker to closely track the outcomes for mentees.

5 of the mentees started University in September 2020.

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Awards

This was another year where Volunteering Matters received many awards and extensive external acknowledgements, including:

Public Benefit

The Trustees have referred to the guidance contained in the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit when reviewing the charity’s aims and objectives and in planning its future activities. In particular, the Trustees consider how planned activities will contribute to the aims and objectives that have been set. The Trustees have complied with the duty under the Charities Act 2011 to have due regard to the public benefit guidance published by the Charity Commission.

Looking Ahead

In 2021-22 and beyond we are partnering with and investing in communities to overcome their challenges, tackling social isolation and loneliness, improving health, developing skills and opportunity and making sure young people can lead change. We will do this at scale, sharing our expertise and building partnerships to make an even bigger impact.

We will adopt new agile practices that will support this, allowing us to support communities to navigate through the COVID Pandemic. We will play a central role in supporting the UK Government and the Devolved Administrations in engaging the wider Third Sector to respond to the needs of communities post COVID-19

Our Fundraising Promise

At Volunteering Matters we strive for the highest standards in fundraising and want our supporters to be treated with honesty and respect. Volunteering Matters’ Board of Trustees, Executive Leadership Team and staff are all committed to adhering to the Code of Fundraising Practice and are proud to be registered members of the Fundraising Regulator, which sets the standards of fundraising practices in the UK.

We do not employ third parties to fundraise on our behalf. We promise our supporters to keep their data secure and will never sell or pass it on to third parties. We comply fully with data protection controls as set out in the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) 2018.

We are committed to getting things right the first time and we take all complaints seriously. We have a formal complaints procedure and promise to make every effort to ensure all complaints are dealt with swiftly and appropriately. We are pleased to report that we received no complaints about our fundraising practices during our last financial year and will continue to adhere to the high standards our supporters expect from us.

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FINANCIAL REVIEW

Results for the year

Our financial year runs from 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021 and results were not materially impacted by COVID and the lockdown which ensued from the middle of March 2020. We adapted project delivery, with employees and volunteers working remotely as required and there was a move to online and telephone support along with issuing support packs and parcels to beneficiaries.

In a challenging environment, our overall operating performance led to a deficit of £346k. On a like for like basis this is a significant improvement on the overall performance in the previous year, when (after removing the surplus of £1,489k from the sale of a London property) we made a deficit of £1,356k. There were no property sales during this financial year.

Income from charitable activities increased to £4,865k from £4,050k in 2020 as a result of the focus on business development and income generation. The cost of raising funds increased to £424k from £271k in 2020 representing the increase in employees working within business development.

Actuarial gains were made on the valuation of the defined benefit pension scheme of £1,324k compared to the gain in 2020 of £1,406k. This annual revaluation does not impact cash flow as the employers contribution to the pension fund is renegotiated triennially at a sustainable level with the London Borough of Islington. This provides certainty in relation to cash flow planning through to 2024.

Looking forward

The sale of the Hornsey Road property has enabled us time to build and implement a new strategy. This has seen both a reduction in our core costs as we change to a new operating model and a change in our strategic approach to focus on the impact our volunteering programmes have in certain localities.

The pandemic has led to reductions in some of our income streams, including Employee Volunteering and Fundraising, but this has been mitigated to some extent by grants from the Job Retention Scheme, and our new approach to developing programmes has resulted in a significant number of new commissions and income in 2020-21 such as Youth Endowment funds and Youth VIP.

These early but important signs of progress in new strategic growth indicate that our new strategy is working. In our annual report and accounts for 2021/22, we will report further on our progress in building a sustainable delivery model for the charity and also a method for growing our impact and work in future years. We have already started this by merging with Project Scotland which is enabling us to expand and diversify our work in Scotland.

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Reserves

The Trustees are responsible for ensuring that the reserves policy is fit for purpose and meets the requirements of the Statement of Recommended Practice for charity accounting (FRS 102) and in addition, have considered the Charity Commission’s guidance on the matter specifically:

  1. the reasons why the charity needs reserves;

  2. what level of reserves the Trustees believe the charity needs;

  3. what steps the charity is going to take to establish this agreed level;

  4. what the appropriate arrangements are for monitoring and reviewing this policy.

The Reserves Policy is based on the level of reserves excluding three items:

· restricted reserves, which can only be spent to support particular projects;

· the pension deficit, because this deficit will not be payable in full for many years;

· the net book value of the properties held for the charity’s own use, which is the Fixed Asset designated reserve.

The charity’s available reserves at 31st March 2021 have therefore been calculated as follows:

Total Reserves excluding Pension Deficit Reserve
Less Restricted Funds
Unrestricted Reserves		 £000
1,768
(171)
1,597

The reserves policy of Trustees is to have ‘free’ reserves equivalent to six months of core operating costs or £1m, where ‘free’ reserves are unrestricted reserves less the net book value of fixed assets. Our ‘free’ reserves are currently £352k and therefore represent less than three months operating costs.

The reserves position is reviewed at the Finance and Audit Committee regularly and is approved annually at Council. In light of the positive changes in strategy and the change in risk profile, Trustees are reviewing the policy to ensure it remains appropriate.

The Trustees are satisfied that the current level of reserves is sufficient based on the assessment of going concern detailed below.

Risks

The main risk for the charity is not closing the operational deficit. This is being addressed through a combination of managing costs and securing more work, supported by the Director of Business Development and Impact. The early signs are that we are generating significant new opportunities, especially around COVID-19 relief work, but the impact of the pandemic has created many uncertainties which we are keeping under constant review.

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The risk framework is reviewed by both the Audit Committee and Council, and the executive leadership team takes mitigating actions to address the key risks.

Going Concern

The financial position is monitored carefully at a number of levels. The executive leadership team monitors cash flow daily and the management accounts on a monthly basis, and the Finance and Audit Committee reviews the position each quarter.

Our income profile is changing, and we are becoming more agile in our management of costs, both of which are reducing our risk profile. This is evident from the Trustees assessment of the working capital forecast to December 2022 and the underlying assumptions, taking into account the impact of COVID and the uncertain operating environment. Trustees are of the view that these assumptions are prudent and that sensitivities of both income and costs have been adequately considered. Trustees also note that the charity has pension scheme liability and owns the Levy Centre in Hackney.

On this basis, the Trustees are of the view that the charity will remain a going concern for a period of at least 12 months from the date of the approval of these financial statements, which should therefore be prepared on that basis.

Structure, Governance and Management

Volunteering Matters was founded in 1962 as an unincorporated charity. The present legal structure is a charitable company limited by guarantee, incorporated on 10 July 1979 and registered as a charity in England and Wales on 22 February 1985. Volunteering Matters is also registered as a charity in Scotland.

Volunteering Matters was set up under a Memorandum of Association which established the objects and powers of the organisation and is governed under its Articles of Association. The objects of the charity are the advancement of citizenship and community development through the promotion of volunteering.

The Council of Management of Volunteering Matters (the Council) comprises the charity’s Trustees and is responsible for the governance and establishment of operating policies across Volunteering Matters. The Council also has responsibility for the control and monitoring of the application of these policies. All the members of the Council are statutory directors and charity Trustees.

Volunteering Matters’ will continue to recruit trustees using a process of open recruitment as trustees come to the end of their terms of office or wish to stand down. The chairs of committees are appointed based on interest and skills.

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All trustees have the opportunity to attend a half-day induction session that covers the following areas:

In addition, they are issued with the NCVO handbook for trustees. In terms of training, trustees are given every opportunity to attend appropriate development sessions organised by charity accountants, solicitors, NCVO, NPC and other Organisations.

All trustees are offered the possibility of visiting Volunteering Matters projects and meeting staff and volunteers so that they have an opportunity to hear from programmes and projects local to that area.

The following Council committees meet regularly:

The day-to-day operational responsibilities for Volunteering Matters are devolved by the Council to the Chief Executive, the Executive Leadership Team and operational managers, who remain responsible to the Council for all aspects of performance.

The Executive Leadership Team comprises the Chief Executive, Director of Volunteering Delivery, Director of Business Development and Impact, Director of Enterprise, Head of Finance and Head of HR. Key management personnel comprise the Trustees and the Executive Leadership Team.

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Remuneration policy

The pay structure in Volunteering Matters is currently based on the National Joint Council for Local Government (NJC) pay scales, which are used by local government and widely used by the voluntary and community sector. Due to the nature of our work we also use spot salaries when required for specialist roles.

Human Resources monitor our pay and reward strategy, remuneration reviews and all related policies. The Organisation is committed to an equal pay policy to ensure staff pay reflects the skills and experience required to perform their roles to a high standard.

Post Balance Sheet Event

Volunteering Matters merged with Project Scotland on 1 April 2021. All of the assets and liabilities of Project Scotland were transferred to Volunteering Matters who will continue to deliver the work and projects. This included the transfer of appropriate staff under TUPE .

Contingent Liability

As at the year end the charity has a contingent obligation of £200,000 payable to the Charity’s defined benefit pension scheme in the event that the charity disposes of its leasehold property fixed asset.

Statement of Council’s Responsibilities

The Council (which comprises the directors of Volunteering Matters for the purposes of Company law and the Trustees for the purposes of charity law) are responsible for preparing this report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

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

The Council are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable company and enable them to ensure the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006, the Charities and Trustee Investment

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(Scotland) Act 2005 and the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended). They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charitable company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

Insofar as the Council are aware there is no relevant audit information of which the charitable company’s auditors are unaware; and Council members have taken all steps they ought to have taken to make themselves aware of any relevant audit information and to establish the auditors are aware of that information.

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

Auditors

Saffery Champness LLP are our appointed auditors and have indicated their willingness to continue in that capacity.

The report of the trustees, which includes the strategic report, has been approved by the Council on 7 December 2021 and signed on their behalf by:

Anne Heal, Chair of Council

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INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT TO THE MEMBERS

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of Volunteering Matters for the year ended 31 March 2021 which comprise the balance sheet, the statement of financial activities, cashflow statement and notes to the financial statements, including significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102, the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

In our opinion the financial statements:

Basis for opinion

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

Conclusions relating to going concern

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

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

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

Other information

The trustees are responsible for the other information. The other information comprises the information included in the annual report, other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon.

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

We have nothing to report in this regard.

Other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006

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

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

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

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

Responsibilities of trustees

As explained more fully in the Trustees’ Responsibilities Statement set out on pages 15 to 16, the trustees (who are also directors of the charitable company for the purposes of company law) are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the trustees determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

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

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Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

We have been appointed as auditors under the Companies Act 2006 and under the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and report in accordance with regulations made under those Acts.

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

Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. The specific procedures for this engagement and the extent to which these are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud are detailed below.

Identifying and assessing risks related to irregularities:

We assessed the susceptibility of the charitable company’s financial statements to material misstatement and how fraud might occur, including through discussions with the trustees, discussions within our audit team planning meeting, updating our record of internal controls and ensuring these controls operated as intended. We evaluated possible incentives and opportunities for fraudulent manipulation of the financial statements. We identified laws and regulations that are of significance in the context of the charitable company by discussions with trustees and updating our understanding of the sector in which the charitable company operates.

Laws and regulations of direct significance in the context of the charitable company include The Companies Act 2006, the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005, the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended) and guidance issued by the Charity Commission for England and Wales and the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator.

Audit response to risks identified:

We considered the extent of compliance with these laws and regulations as part of our audit procedures on the related financial statement items including a review of financial statement disclosures. We reviewed the charitable company’s records of breaches of laws and regulations, minutes of meetings and correspondence with relevant authorities to identify potential material misstatements arising. We discussed the charitable company’s policies and procedures for compliance with laws and regulations with members of management responsible for compliance.

During the planning meeting with the audit team, the engagement partner drew attention to the key areas which might involve non-compliance with laws and regulations or fraud. We enquired of management whether they were aware of any instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations or knowledge of any actual, suspected or alleged fraud. We addressed the risk of fraud through management override of controls by testing the appropriateness of journal entries and identifying any significant transactions that were unusual or outside the normal course of business.

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VOLUNTEERING MATTERS - Year ended 31 March 2021

We assessed whether judgements made in making accounting estimates gave rise to a possible indication of management bias. At the completion stage of the audit, the engagement partner’s review included ensuring that the team had approached their work with appropriate professional scepticism and thus the capacity to identify non-compliance with laws and regulations and fraud.

There are inherent limitations in the audit procedures described above and the further removed non-compliance with laws and regulations is from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, the less likely we would become aware of it. 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.

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

Use of our report

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

Kenneth McDowell (Senior Statutory Auditor) for and on behalf of Saffery Champness LLP

Edinburgh Quay 133 Fountain Bridge Edinburgh Chartered Accountants EH3 9BA Statutory Auditors Date: 13[th] December 2021

Saffery Champness LLP is eligible to act as an auditor in terms of section 1212 of the Companies Act 2006

20

VOLUNTEERING MATTERS (COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE, NUMBER 1435877)

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES (INCORPORATING THE INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT) For the year ended 31 March 2021

----- Start of picture text -----
Unrestricted Restricted Total Total
Funds Funds
Note 31 March 31 March 31 March 31 March
2021 2021 2021 2020
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
INCOME FROM:
Donations and legacies 2 169 67 236 383
Charitable activities 3 1,116 3,749 4,865 4,050
Property income 3 8 - 8 23
Furlough Income 3 93 - 93 -
Other income - - - 1,489
TOTAL INCOME 1,386 3,816 5,202 5,945
EXPENDITURE ON:
Raising funds 424 - 424 271
Charitable activities 1,183 3,941 5,124 5,540
TOTAL EXPENDITURE 4 1,607 3,941 5,548 5,811
Net (expenditure) / income for the year (221) (125) (346) 134
Other recognised gains/ (losses):
Actuarial gain on defined benefit pension schemes 16 1,324 - 1,324 1,406
NET MOVEMENT IN FUNDS 1,103 (125) 978 1,540
RECONCILIATION OF FUNDS:
TOTAL FUNDS / (DEFICITS) B/F (11,771) 296 (11,475) (13,015)
TOTAL FUNDS / (DEFICITS) C/F 13 (10,668) 171 (10,497) (11,475)
----- End of picture text -----

All the above results are derived from continuing activities. There were no recognised gains or losses other than those stated above.

21

VOLUNTEERING MATTERS (COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE, NUMBER 1435877)

BALANCE SHEET As at 31 March 2021

----- Start of picture text -----
Note
2021 2020
£'000 £'000
FIXED ASSETS
Tangible assets 8 1,245 1,233
1,245 1,233
CURRENT ASSETS
Debtors 10 1,307 655
Cash at bank and in hand 385 630
1,692 1,285
CREDITORS: amount falling due within one year 11 (1,168) (709)
NET CURRENT ASSETS 14 524 576
TOTAL ASSETS LESS CURRENT LIABILITIES 1,768 1,809
Provision for liabilities 12 - (13)
Net assets excluding pension liability 1,768 1,796
Defined benefit pension scheme liability 16 (12,265) (13,271)
TOTAL NET (LIABILITIES) (10,497) (11,475)
THE FUNDS OF THE CHARITY:
Restricted income funds 13 171 296
Unrestricted funds:
Designated funds 13 1,245 1,227
General fund 13 352 273
Unrestricted funds excluding pension deficit reserve 1,597 1,500
Pension reserve 16 (12,265) (13,271)
Total unrestricted accumulated deficits (10,668) (11,771)
TOTAL CHARITY ACCUMULATED DEFICITS 14 (10,497) (11,475)
4
----- End of picture text -----

The financial statements were approved and authorised for issue by the Council on 7th December 2021 and signed on their behalf by:

Anne Heal, Chair & Council Member

Simon Judge, Chair of the Finance & Audit Committee

22

VOLUNTEERING MATTERS (COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE, NUMBER 1435877)

CASH FLOW STATEMENT

For the year ended 31 March 2021

Cash flows from operating activities:
Net cash used in operating activities
Cash flows from investing activities:
Sale of property
Purchase of property, plant and equipment
Net cash used in investing activities
CHANGE IN CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS IN THE YEAR
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the year
CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS AT THE END OF THE YEAR
Reconciliation of cash flows from operating activities
Adjustments for:
Depreciation charges
Gain on sale of Hornsey Road property
Pension cost adjustment
(Increase) in debtors
Increase / (decrease) in creditors
Net cash used in operating activities
Analysis of cash and cash equivalents
Cash in hand
Total cash and cash equivalents
Movement on cash and cash equivalents
2020
£'000
Cash in hand
630
Overdraft
-
630
Prior year movement
2019
£'000
Cash in hand
41
Overdraft
(74)
(33)
Net income / (expenditure) for the year (per the Statement of Financial Activities)		 Total
Funds
2021
£'000
(189)
-
(56)
(56)
(245)
630
385
2021
£'000
(346)
44
-
318
(652)
447
(189)
385
385
Cashflow
£'000
(245)
-
(245)
Cashflow
£'000
589
74
663		 Total
Funds
2020
£'000
(1,363)
2,026
-
2,026
663
(33)
630
2020
£'000
133
86
(1,489)
186
(41)
(238)
(1,363)
630
630
2021
£'000
385
-
385
2020
£'000
630
-
630

23

VOLUNTEERING MATTERS - Year ended 31 March 2021

VOLUNTEERING MATTERS NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS For the year ended 31 March 2021

1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Volunteering Matters is a company limited by gurantee. It is also a registered charity in England and Wales and Scotland. The registered office address is The Levy Centre, 18-24 Lower Clapton Road, London, E5 0PD

a) Basis of preparation of financial statements The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention with items recognised at cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant note(s) to these financial statements. The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the Statement of Recommended Practice: Accounting and Reporting by Charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) and the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) and the Companies Act 2006. Volunteering Matters meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS 102. b) Going concern The financial position is monitored carefully at a number of levels. The executive leadership team monitors cash flow on a daily basis and the management accounts on a monthly basis, and the Finance and Audit Committee reviews the position each quarter. Our income profile is changing, and we are becoming more agile in our management of costs, both of which are reducing our risk profile. This is evident from the Trustees assessment of the working capital forecast to November 2022 and the underlying assumptions, taking into account the impact of COVID and the uncertain operating environment. Trustees are of the view that these assumptions are prudent and that sensitivities of both income and costs have been adequately considered. Trustees also note that the charity has no debt and owns the Levy Centre in Hackney. On this basis the Trustees are of the view that the charity will remain a going concern for a period of at least 12 months from the date of the approval of these financial statements which therefore should be prepared on that basis.

c) Income Donations and legacies are included in full in the Statement of Financial Activities when receipt is probable, there is entitlement to receipt and the amount can be reliably measured. Income from the provision of services is recognised in the financial statements during the period in which the service is carried out and therefore entitlement is earned.

Revenue grants are credited to the statement of financial activities when there is entitlement and probability of receipt and when the amount can be reliably measured. Contract income is recognised in the financial statements to the extent that entitlement has been earned at the period end.

Donated services are recognised on the basis of the value to the charity, which is the amount the charity would have been willing to pay to obtain services of equivalent economic benefit in the open market. A corresponding amount is then recognised in expenditure in the period of receipt. Volunteering Matters is in the business of inspiring people to volunteer to change their communities. All the charity's projects are therefore dependent on volunteer input. However the value of volunteer time is not included in the financial statements.

d) Fund accounting

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

Unrestricted funds are donations and other incoming resources received or generated for the charity's general purposes. Designated funds are unrestricted funds earmarked by the Council for particular purposes.

e) Resources expended

Resources expended are recognised on the accrual basis in the period in which they are incurred. Resources expended include attributable VAT which cannot be recovered. Resources expended are allocated to the particular activity where the cost relates directly to that activity. Raising funds relate to the costs incurred by the charity in raising funds for the charitable work. Charitable expenditure, including grants payable, includes all costs incurred in fulfilling the organisation's charitable objectives. Grants payable are charged to the Statement of Financial Activities in the period in which the offer is conveyed to the recipient. Support costs are wholly allocated to charitable activities. Support costs in relation to faising funds are considered to be immaterial.

Governance costs are the costs associated with the governance arrangements of the charity. These costs relate to constitutional and statutory requirements and the strategic management of the charity's activities.

f) Tangible fixed assets and depreciation

Items of equipment are capitalised where the purchase price including VAT, exceeds £2,000.

Depreciation is provided at rates calculated to write down the cost of each asset to its estimated residual value over its expected useful life.

Freehold property 2% straight line Leasehold property for the period of the lease Plant and equipment 33.3% straight line

g) Operating leases

Rent payable under operating leases, where substantially all the risks and rewards of ownership remain with the lessor, are charged to the Statement of Financial Activities on a straight line basis over the minimum lease term.

24

VOLUNTEERING MATTERS - Year ended 31 March 2021

VOLUNTEERING MATTERS NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS For the year ended 31 March 2021

h) Pension benefits

The charity participates in a defined contribution pension scheme (Pensions Trust’s Flexible Retirement Scheme). The charity’s contributions are charged to the Statement of Financial Activities during the period in which the employee is an active member of the scheme. Participation within this scheme is available to all current and future employees.

The charity also provides retirement benefits to past and certain current employees through the Local Government Pension Scheme (‘LGPS’) operated by the London Borough of Islington. This is a defined benefit scheme which closed to new members on 3 April 2009 and to future accrual on 4 May 2015.

The LGPS is a funded scheme and the assets are held separately from those of the charity in separate trustee administered funds. Pension scheme assets are measured at fair value and liabilities are measured on an actuarial basis using the projected unit credit method and discounted at a rate equivalent to the current rate of return on a high quality corporate bond of equivalent term and currency to the liabilities. The actuarial valuations are obtained at least triennially and are updated at each balance sheet date. The amounts charged to the Statement of Financial Activities are the current service costs and the costs of scheme benefit changes, settlements and curtailments. They are included as part of staff costs as incurred. Net interest on the net defined benefit liability/asset is also recognised in the Statement of Financial Activities and comprises the interest cost on the defined benefit obligation and interest income on the scheme assets, calculated by multiplying the fair value of the scheme assets at the beginning of the period by the rate used to discount the benefit obligations.

Actuarial gains and losses are recognised within the Statement of Financial Activities within Other recognised gains and losses.

i) Provisions

Dilapidations are valued using a management estimate of the cost to the charity of works required to repair each property to the required condition at the end of the respective leases.

j) Recoverable VAT

Volunteering Matters services are largely exempt from Value Added Tax meaning that it cannot reclaim most of the VAT it incurs. Expenditure is therefore charged inclusive of VAT to the activities that incur it. Any VAT that is recoverable is credited to the central finance function which reduces the costs of support services.

k) Financial instruments

Volunteering Matters only has financial instruments and financial liabilities of a kind that qualify as basic financial instruments. Basic financial instruments are initially recognised at transaction value and subsequently measured at their settlement amount with the exception of bank loans which are subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method. Financial assets include debtor balances except prepayments as shown at Note 10 to the financial statements. Financial liabilities refers to all creditor balances including deferred income, tax and social security as shown at Note 11 to the financial statements.

l) Key estimates and assumptions

The preparation of the financial statements requires judgements, estimations and assumptions to be made that affect the reported values of assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses. The nature of estimation and judgement means that the actual outcomes could differ from expectations. The key area of estimation and judgement is the discount rate used by the actuary in determining our pension liabilities as reported in Note 16 to these Financial Statements.

2. DONATIONS AND LEGACIES

Individual and company donations (unrestricted)
Trusts and foundations (restricted)		 31 March
2021
£'000
169
67
236		 31 March
2020
£'000
73
310
383

3. INCOMING RESOURCES FROM CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES

National Grants including Big Lottery Fund and People's Postcode Lottery
Central Government
Local Government
European funding
Trusts and Foundations (grants)
Employee Volunteering
Other public sector		 31 March
2021
Unrestricted
£'000
750
288
78
1,116		 31 March
2021
Restricted
£'000
107
874
2,027
108
573
-
60
3,749		 31 March
2021
31 March
2020
Total
Total
£'000
£'000
857
1,054
874
124
2,027
1,510
108
274
573
537
288
479
138
72
4,865
4,050

INCOMING RESOURCES FROM NON CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES

31 March 31 March 31 March 31 March
2021 2021 2021 2020
Unrestricted Restricted Total Total
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Property Income 8 - 8 23
Furlough Income 93 - 93 -

25

VOLUNTEERING MATTERS - Year ended 31 March 2021

VOLUNTEERING MATTERS NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

For the year ended 31 March 2021

INCOMING RESOURCES FROM CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES FOR THE PRIOR YEAR

National Grants including Big Lottery Fund and People's Postcode Lottery
Learning
Central Government
Local Government
European funding
Trusts and Foundations (grants)
Employee Volunteering
Other public sector		 31 March
2020
Unrestricted
£'000
600
-
(2)
1
0
9
479
75
1,162		 31 March
2020
Restricted
£'000
454
-
126
1,509
274
529
-
3
-
2,888		 31 March
2020
Total
£'000
1,054
-
124
1,510
274
537
479
72
4,050

4. TOTAL RESOURCES EXPENDED

Cost of raising funds
Charitable activities - investing in volunteering
Total resources expended		 Staff costs
(Note 7)
£'000
257
3,168
3,425
Other direct
costs
£'000
167
1,087
1,254		 Support
costs
£'000
-
869
869		 31 March
2021
£'000
424
5,124
5,548		 31 March
2020
£'000
271
5,540
5,811

Staff costs and other direct costs are a mixture of restricted and unrestricted costs.

Restricted costs are made up of delivery projects cost. Unrestricted costs are made up of central staff costs and unrestricted project costs. Support costs are all unrestricted costs and comprise of operational costs, IT and other administrative costs. The total governance cost includes a proportion of support costs. The Auditors' fees is external audit fees only. Additional information in Note 13

TOTAL RESOURCES EXPENDED FOR THE PRIOR YEAR

Cost of raising funds
Charitable activities - investing in volunteering
Total resources expended		 Staff costs
(Note 7)
£'000
239
4,021
4,260
Other direct
costs
£'000
32
934
966		 Support
costs
£'000
-
585
585		 31 March
2020
£'000
271
5,540
5,811

5. GRANTS PAID

6.

Action Earth Community based projects paid to organisations
Grants paid to organisations during the year were paid as follows:
Number of individual grants less than £2,000
NET INCOME / (EXPENDITURE) FOR THE YEAR
This is stated after charging:
Depreciation
Auditors' remuneration (see below):
Operating lease rentals: Property		 Total
31 March
2021
£'000
30
30
113
113
31 March
2021
£'000
44
26
46		 Total
31 March
2020
£'000
44
44
170
170
31 March
2020
£'000
86
28
58

During the period no Council members (2020: 1) received reimbursement for travel & subsistence expenses (2020: £689). No remuneration nor payment for services was paid to any member of the Council (2020: none).

Auditors' remuneration
(excluding VAT)
External audit
Non audit services
Internal audit		 31 March
2021
31 March
2020
£'000
£'000
26
28
-
-
-
-
26
28

26

VOLUNTEERING MATTERS - Year ended 31 March 2021

VOLUNTEERING MATTERS NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS For the year ended 31 March 2021

7. STAFF NUMBERS AND COSTS

Wages and salaries
Redundancy/Compensation costs
Social security costs
Defined contribution pension scheme costs
Defined benefit pension scheme interest (note 16)		 31 March
2021
£'000
3,067
29
283
75
318
3,772		 31 March
2020
£'000
3,453
69
309
82
346
4,260

Salaries and wages do not include any agency fees for 2021 (2020: £32,406).

Redundancy costs reflect the actual or anticipated costs of contractual payments due as a result of management decisions taken during the year. Redundancy costs are funded from project funds / the charity's own resources as appropriate on a case by case basis.

Number of staff earning more than £60,000 in the accounting year:
Number of employees receiving £90,001- £100,000
Number of employees receiving £70,001- £80,000
Number of employees receiving £60,000- £70,000		 2021
No.
1
1
2
4		 2020
No.
-
1
2
3

The total earnings including pensions of the charity's key management personnel was £302,236 (2020: £376,751).

The average weekly number of employees, expressed as head count and as full time equivalents, during the period was:

Charitable activities
Fundraising
Governance		 31 March
2021
No.
116
5
1
122		 31 March 2020
2020
No.
131
2
-
133
Head count		 31 March
31 March
2021
2020
No.
No.
82
110
4
2
1
-
87
112
Full time equivalents

8. TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS

Cost
At 1 April 2020
Additions
Disposals/write offs
At 31 March 2021
Depreciation
At 1 April 2020
Charge for the period
Disposals/write offs
At 31 March 2021
Net book value*
At 31 March 2021
At 31 March 2020		 £'000
1,611
-
-
1,611
384
32
-
416
1,195
1,227
Freehold &
Long
Leasehold
properties		 Plant and
equipment
£'000
253
56
-
309
247
12
-
259
50
6		 Total 2021
£'000
1,864
56
-
1,920
631
44
-
675
1,245
1,233

9. ASSOCIATE UNDERTAKINGS

Volunteering Matters has a one-third interest in a separate company, Outreach Solutions (formerly Digital Outreach Limited) (company number 06322789). Volunteering Matters’ share of the assets of the company are not considered material to these financial statements and as such have not been recognised.Outreach Solutions Limited was dormant in the year.

27

VOLUNTEERING MATTERS - Year ended 31 March 2021

VOLUNTEERING MATTERS NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS For the year ended 31 March 2021

10. DEBTORS

Trade debtors
Accrued income		 31 March
2021
£'000
1,002
305
1,307		 31 March
2020
£'000
300
355
655

Volunteering Matters pursues an active debt recovery process and the majority of trade debtors and accrued income was received before the signing of the accounts.

11. CREDITORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR

Trade creditors
Social security and other taxes
Accruals and other creditors
Deferred income (see below)
Deferred income
Balance b/f
Amount released to incoming resources
Amount deferred in the period
Balance c/f		 31 March
2021
£'000
87
96
122
864
1,168
479
(479)
864
864		 31 March
2020
£'000
17
99
113
479
709
566
(566)
479
479

Many of the charity's projects receive income in advance for periods which span financial year ends therefore requiring deferrals of income.

12. PROVISIONS FOR LIABILITIES

Dilapidations 31 March 2020
Brought
forward
£'000
13
13		 (Decrease)
£'000
(13)
(13)		 31 March
2021
Carried
forward
£'000
-
-		 31 March
2019
Brought
forward
£'000
17
17		 (Decrease)
£'000
(4)
(4)		 31 March
2020
Carried
forward
£'000
13
13

28

VOLUNTEERING MATTERS - Year ended 31 March 2021

VOLUNTEERING MATTERS NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

For the year ended 31 March 2021

13. STATEMENT OF FUNDS

31 March 2020
Brought
forward
£'000
SUMMARY OF FUNDS
Unrestricted funds:
Designated funds
General fund
1,227
273
Total
unrestricted
pension deficit
Less pension deficit
Restricted funds
Total funds
fund
before
1,500
(13,271)
296
(11,475)		 Incoming
resources
£'000
62
1,324
1,386
-
3,816
5,202		 Resources
expended
£'000
(44)
(1,245)
(1,289)
(318)
(3,941)
(5,548)		 Transfers
£'000
-
-
-
-
-		 Other gains/
(losses)
£'000
-
-
-
1,324
1,324		 31 March
2021
Carried
forward
£'000
1,245
352
1,597
(12,265)
171
(10,497)

Restricted funds represent balances, none of which are considered to be material individually, in respect of many on-going projects where funds are shortly to be applied, having been restricted by the terms of the funding agreements.

Unrestricted designated and general expenditure relates mainly to non-project costs.

STATEMENT OF FUNDS FOR PRIOR YEAR

31 March 2019
Brought
forward
£'000
SUMMARY OF FUNDS
Unrestricted funds:
Designated funds
General fund
1,328
(335)
Total
unrestricted
pension deficit
Less pension deficit
Restricted funds
Total funds
fund
before
993
(14,491)
483
(13,015)		 Incoming
resources
£'000
-
2,747
2,747
-
3,198
5,945		 Resources
expended
£'000
(101)
(2,139)
(2,240)
(186)
(3,385)
(5,811)		 Transfers
£'000
-
-
-
-
-		 Other gains/
(losses)
£'000
-
-
-
1,406
1,406		 31 March
2020
Carried
forward
£'000
1,227
273
1,500
(13,271)
296
(11,475)
ANALYSIS OF NET ASSETS BETWEEN FUNDS
Tangible fixed assets
Net Current Assets
Provisions, long-term liabilities and pension liabilities
Net assets at the period end
ANALYSIS OF NET ASSETS BETWEEN FUNDS FOR THE PRIOR YEAR
Tangible fixed assets
Net Current Assets
Provisions, long-term liabilities and pension liabilities
Net assets/(liabilities) at the period end
OPERATING LEASE COMMITMENTS
The charity 's future minimum operating leases payments are as follows:
Not later than one year
Later than one year but not later than five years		 Restricted
funds
£'000
-
171
-
171
Restricted
funds
£'000
-
296
-		 Unrestricted
funds
£'000
1,245
353
(12,265)
(10,645)
Unrestricted
funds
£'000
1,233
280
(13,284)		 Total funds
£'000
1,245
524
(12,265)
(10,497)
Total funds
£'000
1,233
576
(13,284)
296 (11,771) (11,475)-
2020
Land and
buildings
£'000
58
8
66
2021
Land and
buildings
£'000
46
46

14. ANALYSIS OF NET ASSETS BETWEEN FUNDS

15.

29

VOLUNTEERING MATTERS - Year ended 31 March 2021

VOLUNTEERING MATTERS NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS For the year ended 31 March 2021

16. PENSION CONTRIBUTIONS AND COMMITMENTS

Volunteering Matters is a member of the London Borough of Islington defined benefit pension scheme and also participates in the Pensions Trust's Flexible Retirement defined contribution scheme.

Employer contributions of £0k (2020: £160k) were made to the London Borough of Islington defined benefit pension scheme in the year. The contractual payments due for the year ending 31 March 2021 is nil.

The disclosures set out below are based on the financial data supplied by Mercers, the Actuary to the London Borough of Islington. A triennial actuarial valuation of the Scheme was carried out at 31 March 2019 and was rolled forward to 31 March 2021. This was updated at 31 March 2021 by a qualified actuary using assumptions that are consistent with the requirements of FRS102, 'The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland'.

The major assumptions used for the valuation were:

Discount rate
Inflation (CPI)
Salary increases
Increases to pension in payment
Life expectancy current pensioner age 65 male
Life expectancy current pensioner age 65 female
Life expectancy pensioner age 65 male 20 years' time
Life expectancy pensioner age 65 female 20 years' time		 2021
%
2.1
2.7
4.2
2.8
22.8
25.3
24.3
27.2		 2020
%
2.4
2.1
3.6
2.2
22.7
25.7
24.2
27.6

The Charity's Scheme value of assets, and the present value of liabilities and the expected rate of return at 31 March 2021 were:

Equities
Other bonds
Property
Cash/liquidity
Other
Total fair value of assets
Present fair value of funded benefit obligations
Deficit
Components of pension cost
Interest on pension liabilities
Interest on plan assets
Total pension cost charged to expenditure (note 8)
Change in benefit obligation
Benefit obligation at beginning of year
Interest on pension liabilities
Actuarial (losses)
Benefits/transfers paid
Benefit obligation at end of year
Change in plan assets
Fair value of Scheme assets at beginning of year
Expected return on plan assets
Actuarial gains / (losses)
Employer contributions
Benefits/transfers paid
Fair value of Scheme assets at end of year
Statement of actuarial gains/(losses)
Change in benefit obligation
Change in plan assets
Net gain		 2021
Value of
assets
£'000
27,428
5,485
7,979
2,493
6,483
49,868
(62,133)
(12,265)
2021
£'000
(1,312)
994
(318)
2021
£'000
(55,368)
(1,312)
(6,848)
1,395
(62,133)
2021
£'000
42,097
994
8,172
-
(1,395)
49,868
2021
£'000
(6,848)
8,172
1,324		 2020
Value of
assets
£'000
24,417
4,841
7,451
210
5,178
42,097
(55,368)
(13,271)
2020
£'000
(1,418)
1,072
(346)
2020
£'000
(59,811)
(1,418)
4,396
1,465
(55,368)
2020
£'000
45,320
1,072
(2,990)
160
(1,465)
42,097
2020
£'000
4,396
(2,990)
1,406

30

VOLUNTEERING MATTERS - Year ended 31 March 2021

VOLUNTEERING MATTERS NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS For the year ended 31 March 2021

17. RELATED PARTIES

There were no related party transactions during the year.

18. Statement of Financial Activities for the period ended 31 March 2020

INCOME AND ENDOWMENTS FROM:
Donations and legacies
Charitable activities
Property income
Other income (profit on disposal of Hornsey Road)
TOTAL INCOME AND ENDOWMENTS
EXPENDITURE ON:
Raising funds
Charitable activities
TOTAL EXPENDITURE
Net income/(expenditure) for the
year
Other recognised gains/ (losses):
Actuarial gain on defined benefit
pension schemes
NET MOVEMENT IN FUNDS
RECONCILIATION OF FUNDS:
TOTAL FUNDS / (DEFICITS) B/F
TOTAL FUNDS / (DEFICITS) C/F		 Unrestricted
Funds
£'000
73
1,162
23
1,489
2,747
271
2,155
2,426
321
1,406
1,727
(13,498)
(11,771)		 Restricted
Funds
£'000
310
2,888
-
3,198
-
3,385
3,385
(187)
(187)
483
296		 Total to 31
March 2020
£'000
383
4,050

23
1,489
5,945

271
5,540
5,811
134
1,406
1,540
(13,015)
(11,475)

19. Subsequent Events

Volunteering Matters merged with Project Scotland on 1 April 2021. All of the assets and liabilities of Project Scotland were transferred to Volunteering Matters who will continue to deliver the work and projects. This included the transfer of appropriate staff under TUPE.

20. Contingent Liability

As at the year end the charity has a contingent obligation of £200,000 payable to the Charity’s defined benefit pension scheme in the event that the charity disposes of its leasehold property fixed asset

31

VOLUNTEERING MATTERS - Year ended 31 March 2021

Thanks to our Funding Partners

Thanks to the generosity of our donors and funding partners, hundreds of communities have benefited from the impact and support of our volunteers.

Across the country we have created change and brought people together to unite and tackle the biggest issues they face. We’ve been able remove obstacles, break down barriers and give people the power and confidence to make change happen. Both for themselves and the communities they live in. And the support received from our donors has been key.

We want to send our heartfelt thanks to all our wonderful individuals, trusts, foundations, national and community organisations whose generosity has enables us to invest in volunteering projects that transform lives and communities.

Barclays North Lanarkshire Council BBC Children in Need Peacock Charitable Trust British Red Cross Pembrokeshire Assoc’n of Voluntary Services Bradford Metropolitan District Council Pembrokeshire County Council Charlton Athletic Community Trust Players of People's Postcode Lottery awarding City Bridge Trust funds from Postcode Support Trust City of Edinburgh Council Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for Essex Corra Foundation Royal Borough of Greenwich Council Dundee City Council Royal British Legion Foundation Scotland RS MacDonald Charitable Trust Greater London Authority Scottish Government HMPPS Southend on Sea Borough Council Holywood Trust Stirling Council Interlink RCT Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council Ipswich Borough Council Suffolk Community Foundation London Borough of Hackney Suffolk County Council London Borough of Haringey Tampon Tax Fund from Welsh Government London Borough of Hounslow The Gannochy Trust London Borough of Islington The Jecda Foundation London Borough of Waltham Forest The National Lottery Community Fund Masonic Charitable Foundation The Robertson Trust Milton Keynes Council Vestey Holdings National Grid Walter Scott NatureScot Welsh Government NCS Trust Waltham Forest Council NESTA Wiltshire County Council Newcastle Upon Tyne City Council Youth Endowment Fund Newport City Council Youth Futures Foundation Norfolk County Council

And to all our wonderful individual donors, we couldn't do what we do without you, THANK YOU!

32