Annual Review nd I Statement 2025 BRIXTON ADVICE NT - 2 Reference and administrative details - 3 Chair’s Report - 4 Impact numbers - 6 Welfare benefits, Debt and cost of living - 8 Working with others and outreach - 10 Service profile - 13 Report of the Trustees - 16 Report of the Auditors - 19 - 20 Balance sheet - 21 ## **Trustees** L Bertholdi-Saad, Chair GRJ Beaton, Company Secretary ND Wachman, Treasurer N Catto (to 27 Nov 2024) C Lynch (to 8 Jan 2025) K Moran (from 29 Jan 2025) J Senker (from 29 Jan 2025) V Srirangam WF Taggart MBE V Tilakapala (to 31 Jul 2024) ## **Personnel** P Torsney, Chief Executive S Samuel, Office Manager S Stara, Benefits Supervisor U Edokpolo, Debt Supervisor P Elliott, Community Advisor/Housing D Hassan, Outreach Benefits Adviser A Suudi, Cost of Living Adviser L Jackson, Cleaning Services L Flynn, Benefits Adviser (vol) G Basili, Benefits Adviser (vol) **Brixton Advice Centre Reference and Administrative Details for the year ended 31 March 2025** ## **Registered Office** 167 Railton Road London SE24 0LU ## **Registered Charity No** 291484 ## **Registered Company No** 01893924 (England and Wales) ## **Auditors** Berringers LLP Lygon House, 50 London Road, Bromley, Kent BR1 3RA ## **Website** brixtonadvice.org.uk **2** Times have been getting tougher for people in Lambeth, and we've risen to the challenge, reaching more people across our diverse community, making services easier to access, and delivering impactful support with compassion and respect I am proud to introduce this year’s Annual Review, which shows how Brixton Advice Centre has responded to rising need with action and care. In 2024–25, we supported over 2,100 new clients, opened nearly 3,000 cases, and helped with more than 3,600 issues. Our work secured over £1.4 million in confirmed and estimated gains for Lambeth residents, £625,000 in backdated payments, £380,000 in new annual benefits, and £270,000 in resolved debt and cost of living impacts These numbers represent massive changes for people - but only represent a part of what we achieve. The value of our work goes far beyond financial outcomes. We enable people to stay in their homes, respond to pressure without buckling, understand their rights, and stay in control of their lives Responding to our community’s needs, we have made our services more accessible and delivered them in more places - not only our Railton Road centre and our partner organisation’s locations, but also foodbanks and the Health & Wellbeing Bus. Wherever people need us, we aim to be there We have continued to manage resources carefully, knowing that we have to make every pound count, while investing in our people, and systems to support our work now and into the future. We are grateful to Lambeth Council for its ongoing partnership, as well as to Trust for London, Trussell Trust (via Lambeth & Croydon Foodbank), and the Garfield Weston Foundation, all of whose funding has made a real difference On behalf of the Trustees, my thanks go to our Chief Executive, Patrick Torsney, our other incredible staff and volunteers, and to the people of Lambeth. We are proud to be a part of and serve our community - and proud of what we have achieved together ## **Lucas Bertholdi-Saad** **3** 2024-25 Annual Service Impact Report 2,187 2,959 New Clients Served Cases Opened Service Areas Breakdown 1,563 1,391 Welfare Benefits Matters Debt & Cost ol Living Matters 975 401 Complex Housing Problems Addressed Other Areas (Family, Crime, Domestic Vio5ence, Civil Litigation & Consumer Issues) Its never just about the money. Our work also helps people keep their home, understand their rights. and find essential support at a critical time. Sometimes simply sitting down with someone to sort through a daunting carrier bag full of unread letters is lrfe-changing. Where our work did lead to a financial outcome in 2024-5, the numbers opposite give a snapshot of the huge difference we make **CLIENT RATING OF OUR ADVICE SERVICES: OVER 95% EXCELLENT/ VERY GOOD** **5** Beverly (not her real name) came to us in May 2024. Despite suffering from sarcoidosis (an autoimmune disease), rheumatoid arthritis, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and osteoarthritis, her Personal Independence Payment (PIP) application was denied with zero points. She was in constant pain, fatigued and breathless, and extremely upset The impact of her conditions meant extra expenditure on a range of items including skyrocketing utility bills. She was not eating properly and relying on local foodbanks Beverly had already tried to challenge the Department for Work & Pensions (DWP) decision, but that had been turned down also. We lodged an appeal on her behalf, prepared an extensive submission and Luciann, a specialist volunteer on our benefits team supervised by Sekayi Stara, represented Beverly at tribunal. The DWP fought the case all the way up to and including tribunal, so the process took almost a whole year The tribunal ruled in favour of Beverly, with her new PIP award running from Nov 2023 to Nov 2027 - a backdated lump sum of £9,955 plus £588 each month from then on (Enhanced Rate for Daily Living and Standard Rate for Mobility) Beverly is now able to get on with her life and cover the basics as well as some of the additional expense that comes with her conditions. It hasn’t solved the challenges she faces - she tells us it’s still a struggle - but she now feels much more in control and better able to work through them **“Thank you for everything. I just don’t know what I would have done without you. I’m eternally grateful for what you did for me.”** Written feedback from ‘Beverly’, April 2025 **Luciann Flynn** specialist adviser **6** **Uzo Edokpolo** debt supervisor I joined the Centre as a debt supervisor in the Lambeth Council Cost of Living-funded project about a year ago, having worked within the debt advice sector for thirteen years before then. My work is helping people experiencing extreme financial pressure, many of who are disadvantaged and socially excluded and facing multiple and interlinked complex problems Relationship breakdown, as well as mental and physical health problems, are very common and can further complicate money issues and debt The most critical part of my work is sorting out priority debts, so dealing with things like rent arrears to avoid eviction and council tax and fuel arrears. The high cost of living means many clients rely on bank overdrafts and credit cards to pay essential bills, and these come with their own set of issues that need factoring in so that people leave with a strategy that works for them. It’s about involving those I help too, working through the advantages and disadvantages of options available and helping people make an informed choice, always ensuring the best possible result A typical day involves picking up new referrals from Centre colleagues out and about delivering outreach around the borough, responding directly to debt enquiries coming in via the Centre website, negotiating with creditors, contacting clients to progress cases, making debt relief order and other insolvency and court applications, as well as keeping on top of all the admin including maintaining solid case records **“I really feel I can get on with my life now without this awful debt hanging over me. You’ve been so brilliant with all your advice and help and I really appreciate what you’ve done for me. Thank you so much”** Written feedback, Aug 24 **7** **The Centre partnered with the Lambeth Council Health & Wellbeing Bus in 2023 and the service has gone from strength to strength since, providing essential health and advice outreach services across Lambeth** Every Friday the bus heads across the borough, choosing a different spot each week. The Health & Wellbeing crew focus on arranging health check-ups, blood pressure tests, mental health and other health services Monday to Thursdays, and on Fridays we are there as well - it’s usually me, Pete - to provide **Pete Elliott** housing and community outreach comprehensive Housing, Welfare Benefits and Debt Advice, as well as generalist advice across a wide range of other areas I think it makes a critical difference in the borough as it’s accessible, relatively informal, and gets our services out and into locations that aren’t as necessarily well served as others. Effective advice can help improve health outcomes too, lifting some of the weight and pressures affecting people in their day-to-day lives Residents can log on to the Lambeth Health & Wellbeing website to see where the bus will be each week, or pick up an information card with a QR code on the back from the bus that provides the current weekly details whenever it is scanned The feedback we get from services users is always extremely positive. Funding permitting, we are looking at ways to expand the service to other days too **8** **Simone Samuel** general services manager **Hello, I’m Simone, and I’ve worked at the Centre for the last ten years. I am the Office and Services Manager** I am responsible for the smooth day-today running of the office, everything from ensuring our open-door drop-in and telephone advice service is working efficiently, to office supplies being well stocked and organised, to making sure that staffing levels are We’ve seen big changes in how people access our service since the COVID-19 pandemic. People tend to favour our telephone service and the dedicated advice forms (on our website) as their first means of contacting us now rather than coming and sitting in a busy waiting room. In response to user feedback, we spent the last 18-months increasing our outreach services, particularly at foodbanks and other crisis points. These changes, particularly coupled with the website referral forms we set up, have increased our reach across the borough as well as made us more easily accessible to referring agencies and partners too And while we have good reach, we’re proud to be local too. In particular, we have many older users in the local area who tell me how much they’d struggle if they weren’t able to drop in when they needed help with a document or form, or a letter they don’t understand and want some help with. It’s important to be there for our local community too, particularly those who find it harder to access help Working at the Centre has allowed me to grow professionally and has given me the opportunity to give a lot back to my much loved local community **9** **The proportion of services users by Lambeth Ward as a percentage of the total number of service users over the 2024-25 year** **10** **Top five categories of service user responses in each listed demographic** **11** You can find more information on how to access our advice services, including our community outreach, by scanning the QR code to the right, or by visiting: brixtonadvice.org.uk/for-advice Right now the demand for our services is greater than ever. The ongoing cost of living crisis is having a massive impact on our community. We are seeing significant increases in demand and in the complexity of that demand. Thank you for supporting our work **12** REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES Th8 trustees, who aré also directors of th8 charity for th8 purposes of the Companies Act 20c￿, present their r8POrt with the financial stat8m6nts of th8 charity for the y8ar ended 31 March 2025. Trustees have adopted the provisions of Accounting and Reportirg by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 20191 in this report. OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES Obl8Ctlves and Alms The principal objectives of the Brixton ALfvice Centre It￿ Centre) are lo wjmote ￿cesS to justice by providing good quality legal advice. assistance and representation to Feople who would otherwise unable to afford legal seNices. The full statement on the Centre's Vision, Mission and Values is publicly available on its W8bsite.' htt rvxtonadvice.or ervin -the-commun -since-19661 The Centre delivers S￿la1 welfare law services primarily in weffare tenefits. debt and housing. Services in the period continued to be available throughcKrt the working weeK Other trfxlies such as health professionals. Members of Parliament and othw advice providers in the borough r￿jU1￿Y referred clients to the Centre. The Centre continued to provide extenwve OLrtreach services around the b(x¢wgh, including at fot)dbank outlets and various community hubs. as w￿11 as mobile seNic8s deliv8r*J via the Lamb8th c(￿nCIl,S He￿th and Wellbeing Bus. Th8 Centr8 contlnu8d to b8n8fft trom the SUPPOrt of volunt88rs. Includlng many legal prof8sslonals. who assist8d with th8 day-towday administration of th8 charity arKI th8 ddiv8ry of advice s8Nic8s. ACHIEVEMENT AND PERFORMANCE Charltable activities You will find a brief summary i)n the perfonnance and achievwnents of the c￿tre rdating to the wod within the pages of this report. Trustees note the (￿gOIng demands on the Centre and the Challenging funding environm8nt. The additional funding from Lambèth Council under a debvcost of Irving project Ise8 bèlow) was particularly ￿lcOme, as it all0v￿d the Centre to expand its operation by emplowng additional staff focussed specifically on the impacts of cost of liwng increases on the local communty. The Cerrtre maintsins compliance with the Law Society's Lexcel practice Manageffl￿t standard, vthich is independently and eXtern￿lY audited each year. The Centre is also wulatwJ by the Financial Conduct Authority for the provision of debt advice to memb8rs of the public and adheres to the relevant rules and requirements. The Centrè maintains its certification in the Govemment-backed Cyber Essentials scheme and is also an accredited Living Wage employer. FINANCIAL REVIEW Principal funding sources The Centré was pleased to have been able to increase its fundiThJ by £44k compared to an increase of £76k in tha previous year. The grant from the London Borough of Lambeth continues to be a crucial source of core funding, which for the year ended 31 March 2025 increased to £275k of which £140k related to work on a new debt and cost of living response project. This latter grant is part of a £180k programme over 18 rTh)nths: £20k of this grant was deferTed to next year. Unfortunatety. it appears that this project was a one-off and will not be extended so will have a significarrt impact on our overall capacty in the followng year. Other notable funding that included essential contributions to the Core running costs of the Centre were: Trust for London (£25kl' Trussell Twst1£85kl and the Gwfield Weston Foundation (£25k). We record our gratitude to them all. Flnanclal position Details of the financial trartsactions of the Centre are set out in the accounts. The ￿tre noted a surplus of £29k in this rewrting period compared to the previous year surplus of £46k and reflects the increased income referTed to above tOget￿r wilh well-￿ntrOlled ￿$ts. The totsl unrestrict￿ Funds to be carried forward are 13 £466K vthich is Cor￿Idered SLrffi¢ient to allow the charity to meet its and future objectives. The Centr8 is exempt from taxation under th8 provisiorts relating to tharities. FiTniRE PLANS Thè Centra continues to profilè and develop our services in order to best reswnd to continuing increases In demand caused by incr8as8s in CC¥St of living and govemmental rafomis that impact on the financi￿ wellbèing of Lambeth residents. Trustees are. with the involverrEnt of the Chief EX￿Utive. investing considerable time and effort into reviewing and developing the Centre's strategic plan. The intention is to carefully monitor the Centre's financial position within a challenging economic environment with a view to potential expansion of seNices over the coming peric#Y where this is FK)ssible. Targeting of new seNices is both likely and desirable. with new and additional services reaching oul to groups y￿thin our communities facing particular challenges. partly so that the Centre better serves groups who may have particular unaddressed advice needs, but also so that the Centre takes the opportunity to leam as an organisation, arKI build deeper expwience and know18dg8 in certain areas of worf(. The C8ntr8 contlnuès to V￿rk wtlh arKI collaboratè with partnws across th8 b¢xwh and will contlnue to priorftIs8 and further d￿elop Its raroe of Ixrtreach seNic8s whèr8V8r possitA8. STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMEKr Govemlng document Brixton Advicé Centr8 was Inc¢xporated on 8 March 1985 as a company limitéd by guarant88 and was r8gist8r8d as a charity on 18 April 1985. ft is ther￿ore govèm•J by a memorandum and articles of association. Public benefft The Trustees consider that th8 objectiV8s arKI actNities of th8 Centr8 wovides public b8n8fft within the meaning and tenns of the Charity Commission. The Council of Management (trustees/directors} The Centr8 Is controlled by trUste￿direCtOrS who are dect&l to the Councll of Manag8m8nt (Com). The M8mb8rs of the Com act both as trustees and dIr￿tOrS. Please see detals of trust8es in th8 year 2024-25 on pag8 2 of thls rerM)rt. Recrultmgnt and appolntmerrt of new tru•tse• Trustees ar8 recruited through advertisements and by vrnd of mouth, with particular emphasis on the n8￿1 to rèfl6ct the local communty. New trustees are inductèd by the Chief Ex8cutive wth the assistance of th8 Officers following appointment. Al proSp￿tive trustees must agree to the Centre's Trustee Code of cOndL￿ before being accepted as a trustee of the Centre. All current trustees signed. or re-sign￿1. the Code of CorKluct either iMm￿lIale￿ aftw the AGM or follov*irvJ their appointmerrt. Organlsatlonal structurn The Com meets regularty to manage the ￿tre'S affairs. The ￿tre has a full-time Chief Executive who is accountable to the Council of manage￿nt and who manages the day-to-day administration of the charity. The Chief Executive reports directly to the Com and provides it with written and verbal r8POrts as appropriate at each meeting. Key management remuneration ement c￿n sation Risk management 14 The Com Jways seeks to er6ure it refiects a range of skills and experience sufficient to oversee the runnirwJ of the organisation and regularfy reviews tre major risks the Centre faces. The Treasurer oversees detailed financial managemenl issues urKl8r the oversight of the Com. The Centre has a medium to loNJ4em oty'edive to build a reseprfe (net assets eXd￿*ng fixed assets) of £100-120k and over the period 2025-2028 to make signrficant progress towards that. In the absence of achieving the reserves target, the Centre will manage the risks associated with its cash posttion intensively in the short term. TRUSTEES, RESPONSIBILITY STATEMENT The trustees (who are also the directors of BrIX￿ Advice Centre for the pun)oses of company law) are responsible for prepaTing the Report of the tr￿SteeS and the financial statements in accordance with appli¢ab1e law and United Kingdom Accounting Stsndards (United Kirydom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice). Company law requlres trustees to prepare financial ststements for each flnanclal year whlch glve true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company and of the incoming resource8 and application of resources, includirvJ the income and expendtture, of the charitable company for that period. In prepariro those financial statements. the tNStees are required to.. select suitable accounting policies and then appty them consistently: observe the methods and principles in the Charity SORP: make Judgements arKS estimates that are reasonat￿e and prudent; prepare the finandal statements on the going concem basls unless11 is Inappropriat6 to presume that the charrtable company will continue in lyjsiness. The trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose wrf(h reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the tharitable company and to enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the chariiable company and for taklng reasonable $teP8 for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregulwities. In 80 far as the trustees are aware: there is no relevant audrt infonnati