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← Canine Partners For Independence

2023-12-31-accounts

Charity registration number 803680 (England and Wales)

Charity registration number SC039050 (Scotland) Company registration number 02516146 (England and Wales)

CANINE PARTNERS FOR INDEPENDENCE ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

CANINE PARTNERS FOR INDEPENDENCE

LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

Trustees Dr C M Elwood MAVet MB MSc
MS PhD FRCVS (Chair)
Rabbi G D Schulman BSc MA
FCIPD (Vice Chair)
Mrs C D Hoare BSc MBA (Resigned 6 November 2023)
(Honorary Treasurer)
Mrs C E Graham (Resigned 4 May 2023)
Ms J M Hill MA (Oxon)
Mr N J Sydenham BSc (Econ)
Mr J C W Harkness
Mrs G E Webb (Appointed 4 May 2023)
Senior Management Team:
Chief Executive MrAE R Lochrane
Director of Operations Mr R Smith BSC (Hons) MBA (Resigned 28 February 2023)
Director of Marketing & Income Mrs T Norton-Tuck BA (Hons) (Resigned 31 January 2023)
Generation DipM DipIDM FIDM
Mr D Larcey (Appointed 25 September 2023)
Director of Finance & Resourses MrG Jones BSc FCCA (Resigned 14 July 2023)
Ms F Forde (Appointed 4 September 2023)
Director of People Mrs L Eldred
Secretary MrG Jones BSc FCCA (Resigned 14 July 2023)
Ms F Forde (Appointed 4 September 2023)
Charity number (England and 803680
Wales)
Charity number (Scotland) $C039050
Company number 02516146
Registered office Canine Partners
Midlands Training Centre
Osgathorpe
Loughborough Tel: 03456 580480
Leicestershire E-Mail: info@caninepartners.org
LE12 9SR Website: www.caninepartners.org.uk
Auditor Moore (South) LLP
City Gates
2 -4 Southgate
Chichester
West Sussex
PO19 8DJ
Bankers Lloyds Bank plc
4 West Street
Havant
Hampshire
PO91PE

CANINE PARTNERS FOR INDEPENDENCE

CONTENTS

Page
Chair's Review 1-2
Trustees' report 3-12
Statement ofTrustees’ responsibilities 13
Independent auditor's report 14-17
Statement of financial activities 18
Balance sheet 19
Statement of cash flows 20
Notestothefinancialstatements 21-35

CANINE PARTNERS FOR INDEPENDENCE

CHAIR'S REVIEW FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

The last has year, once again, been busy, challenging, and changeful. And, having spent much time with our staff and volunteers over this period, the Trustees have been struck, as always, by the tenaciously positive and dedicated way they have faced the last 12 months. 2023 can succinctly be described as a year of two halves; the first focused on complex, sad and difficult change, the second on consolidation, reorientation and tending the shoots of regrowth. In acknowledging, however, that more change is coming in a 2024 that has already started at pace, | would like try and offer reassurance to all the amazing Canine Partners community by quoting, as | did last year, Benjamin Franklin who observed that: “when you are finished changing, you are finished”. Having taken the sad but necessary decision to close our Southern Training Centre (STC) at Heyshott, in November 2022, the first five months of 2023 were taken up with the complex process of restructuring the organisation and delivering a safe, responsible, and sensitive closure of what has been the Charity’s emotional, and operational, centre of gravity for many years. This restructuring involved an equally difficult consultation and redundancy programme, and | am deeply grateful for the compassion and calm professionalism shown by our People Team of Director Lucy Eldred and Senior Advisor Megan Knight, throughout this challenging period. ‘Teamwork’ is one of the Charity’s core values and this was evident throughout this period. Staff and volunteers never failed to pull together, whether it was in the regular ‘pack and play’ days when normal work paused in place of packing boxes, stores and equipment ready to move to the Midlands Training Centre, or in the daunting task of converting over two decades of paper files into digital records and moving them to the cloud. Throughout this phase, the Trustees would like to record our thanks to staff who never lost sight of our primary purpose of creating and supporting the life-changing partnerships which are the hallmark of this charity. It was a particularly memorable day when we welcomed 150 supporters, including 23 Partners and 45 Dogs, to Heyshott on the 26th April for a noisy and happy celebration of the STC in its final week as a Canine Partners training facility. The STC finally closed its doors as a place of work at the beginning of June and, in August, Trustees decided to pursue the sale of the site; this process is ongoing. Simultaneous with Heyshott winding down came the opposite challenge of winding up the newly re-christened National Training Centre (NTC) at Fields Farm, near Loughborough, and maintaining our operational output. Having been almost exclusively focused on service delivery and advanced training, staff now had to swiftly adapt to NTC becoming the centre of all operations and activities. A particular challenge was, and remains, the building of a local profile and identity around NTC, and it was heartening to see how each of the newly established programme of public open mornings were fully subscribed; this programme has continued into 2024. Building this local profile will be key to both fundraising, and recruiting a new community of volunteers on whom the Charity depends for almost all facets of operations.

Throughout all this change the charity’s gears continued to turn and it was pleasing to see that in our Service Delivery area, the breeding team nurtured and delivered 53 puppies in seven litters (up by 23% on 2022) whilst, at the other end of the production pipeline, we placed 31 dogs into impact delivering roles for the charity (26 Partnerships and five Ambassador/Brood placements). Whilst this was a good improvement on 2022 output, there is still much improvement needed in our breeding and production efficiency, and a root and branch review of our operating model has now commenced. This will look at every aspect of how we can optimize output from the NTC as well as other innovative and scalable options to develop production capability out in our communities. In parallel with some optimistic signs within Service Delivery, the Marketing and Income Generation (MIG) team managed to buck a third-sector wide trend significantly, resulting in a year end income figure that was up 22% on 2022. This was especially pleasing given that the team required a very significant rebuild after the STC closure, with Cat Harvey and Marianne West acting up for much of the year. Key in the rebuilding process was the welcome arrival of our new Director of MIG, Daniel Larcey, in September, along with our new Director of Finance and Resources, Faye Forde. As this report is being prepared, the final addition to the rejuvenated SLT has been confirmed and a new Director of Operations will join the team in the summer of 2024.

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CANINE PARTNERS FOR INDEPENDENCE

CHAIR'S REVIEW (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

The Canine Partners Board has also felt the wind of change, renewal, and reinvigoration. In August Trustees were delighted to welcome to the Board Agnés Delauche, Miriam Bentley-Rose, Richard Brookes and Brendan Butler; these appointments will be formally confirmed at our May 2024 AGM. Bringing a wide range of skills from Animal and Human Healthcare, Construction and Finance, Investment Management, and Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, as well as CP lived experience, these new colleagues have also brought fresh ideas and perspectives, which will pay dividends in the years ahead. Paying tribute once again to the dedication, commitment, and support of my fellow Trustees, | would particularly like to recognize Claire Graham, who stepped down in May after nearly 15 years of service, and to our Treasurer, Caroline Hoare, who stepped down in November after 7 years of service to the Trustee Board. Passionate about our cause, they brought a strong blend of wisdom, candour, lived experience and strong common sense to our deliberations, and we are very grateful for their many years’ service.

2023 was always going to be a year of conflicting emotions and priorities but, as | close this Chair’s review and commend this annual report and financial statements to you, | am pleased to confirm that Canine Partners has started 2024 in good health, with energy and a clear focus on our priorities ahead: to redefine and achieve optimal operational efficiency and to restore and grow financial resilience, never losing sight of our core mission: to change the lives of disabled people using expertly trained dogs to improve their physical, emotional and social wellbeing.

Dr Clive Elwood MA Vet MB MSc MS PhD FRCVS Chair

Date: 9 May 2024

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CANINE PARTNERS FOR INDEPENDENCE

TRUSTEES' REPORT (INCLUDING DIRECTORS’ REPORT) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

Structure, Governance and Management

Constitution

“Canine Partners for Independence” is a company limited by guarantee and a registered charity, governed by its Memorandum and Articles of Association; company registration number 2516146. The Charity is registered with the Charity Commission, number 803680 and the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, number SC039050.

Directors and Trustees

The directors of the charitable company (“the Charity”) are its Trustees for the purposes of charity law and throughout this report are collectively referred to as “the Trustees”. As set out in the Articles of Association, the Charity is governed by a Council of not less than seven and no more than 30 elected Trustees. The Chair of the Council is elected by the Council, along with its other key officers. The Council has the power to appoint additional Trustees and to fill vacancies. Any Trustee so appointed shall formally retire at the next Annual General Meeting and shall, along with Trustees retiring by rotation, be eligible for re-election. Trustees serving during the year and since the year end are listed above.

Trustee Induction and Training

New Trustees undergo an induction programme to introduce them to the Charity, their legal obligations under charity and company law, the content of the Memorandum and Articles of Association, the Council decision-making process, the budget, strategy, risk register and recent financial performance of the Charity. During the induction programme, they meet key employees for a detailed briefing. Trustees are encouraged to attend appropriate external training events where these will facilitate the undertaking of their respective roles, and to participate in events that are run by the Charity.

Delegation and Decision Making

The Trustees delegate day-to-day management of the Charity to the Chief Executive, who in turn delegates specific responsibilities to the Senior Leadership Team (SLT). The SLT meets once a week to discuss progress against objectives and to take collective decisions on matters arising. A monthly report is prepared for the Board of Trustees in addition to quarterly board meetings to keep trustees appraised of activity at the charity. Prior to the beginning of each financial year a budget along with corresponding activity plans are agreed with the Board, and this guides the decision making throughout the year.

Remuneration for Key Personnel

All Trustees are engaged under a voluntary basis and do not receive remuneration or benefits outside of those that all volunteers are entitled to such as the reimbursement of expenses for travel and subsistence.

The Senior Leadership Team are remunerated as disclosed in report.

Pay is benchmarked against the market bi-annually and the salary ranges are approved at the People and Service Sub-Committee. Salary awards are discussed at Trustee Board and awarded in line with the approved budget. Salary awards are based on the role and increases are largely related to cost of living. There is no formal performance related pay.

Key personnel do not receive any other taxable benefits, with the exception of the CEO who has use of a company car as part of their terms of employment in the role.

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CANINE PARTNERS FOR INDEPENDENCE

TRUSTEES' REPORT (INCLUDING DIRECTORS' REPORT) (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

Membership of Assistance Dogs UK and Assistance Dogs EU

Through our accreditation by Assistance Dogs International (ADI) we are proud to be members of Assistance Dogs UK (ADUK), which is a coalition of Assistance Dogs organisations. ADUK members are all autonomous, selfgoverning non-profit organisations that work to the highest standards of assistance dog training and welfare; our ADI accreditation is revalidated by 5 yearly inspections, with the next due in 2026.

From guide dogs to medical alert dogs, from autism dogs to hearing dogs, ADUK members train assistance dogs that change, and often save, the lives of their owners. Through this loose coalition, smaller charities like Canine Partners can benefit from collaboration and shared learning, that helps inform policies and processes, as well as allowing our beneficiaries’ voices to be heard, with others, on a national and international level. This collaboration and mutual support is achieved through our participation in a range of working groups, facilitated by ADUK but run by staff from member organisations. These working groups cover Disability Access, Communications, Learning and Development, Animal Welfare, Research and Innovation and a new Assistance Dogs owner forum that brings together those with lived experience from across the sector to inform ADUK’s work.

Objectives and Activities

Purpose, Public Benefit and Main Activities

The Objects of the Charity are “to purchase, breed, or otherwise acquire, to train and educate dogs to be provided to give efficient and safe assistance to persons with disabilities; to further train and educate for their own benefit, Disabled Persons in the proper and safe use of such dogs and to provide such additional services and facilities for the relief of Disabled Persons as the Association from time to time deems fit and also to work with individuals, or in institutions, as part of pet facilitated therapy programmes."

Canine Partners’ aim is to improve the quality of life and independence of people living with physical disability, many of whom use a wheelchair. This is done through the provision of highly trained assistance dogs, which are carefully selected and specially trained to carry out any number of specialised assistive tasks to increase disabled people’s independence and emotional wellbeing. In reviewing the Charity’s aim and objectives, Trustees confirm they have had careful regard for the Charity Commission guidance on Public Benefit. They are confident that the Charity’s activities to promote and improve the independence and wellbeing of those living with physical disability fall within the definition of the Advancement of Health.

The structure of the Charity is based around three main activities:

  1. Operations, combining:

  2. a. puppy breeding and supply;

  3. a. puppy training;

  4. b. advanced training;

  5. c. applications;

  6. d. aftercare;

  7. e. Veterinary and wellbeing support

  8. Marketing and Income Generation

  9. Finance and & Resources and People (HR)

The above main activities are supported by networks of staff and volunteers, either based at the National Training Centre or across the regions of the UK via puppy satellite groups and widespread community fundraising volunteers.

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CANINE PARTNERS FOR INDEPENDENCE

TRUSTEES' REPORT (INCLUDING DIRECTORS' REPORT) (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

Achievements and Performance Service Delivery

Breeding Department.

Key to rebuilding operational output and partnership creation is to ensure that enough puppies are bred into Canine Partner’s ‘system’. Additionally, the cost/benefit comparison of buying external puppies against breeding our own is regularly reviewed; and the benefits of retaining and enhancing an organic Canine Partners breeding capability consistently outweigh the alternative of external procurement. Analysis during the year demonstrated that the cost of breeding our own puppies is approximately £3-400 per dog, as opposed to approximately £1200 per dog, if externally purchased. Additionally, analysis over several years has shown that Canine Partners bred puppies are between 15-20% more likely to successfully achieve jacketed status on completion oftraining.

During 2023, from a cohort of 10 Broods (breeding bitches), CP’s Breeding team of two oversaw the successful delivery of seven litters, with 53 puppies born, compared to 43 in 2022. Of these, six puppies were exchanged as part of agreements with other Assistance Dogs UK (ADUK) charities, and one was received. From this cohort of new arrivals, one puppy was selected to join the breeding programme, at 12m old, and a high priority going forward will be to add a minimum of four puppies per year into the breeding programme, in order to allow for retirements after each Brood has had four litters.

Puppy Department

Puppies leave the nest at eight weeks old, and then go to puppy training volunteer hosts until approximately 14 months old. During this critical period volunteers are supported by 11 regionally based Puppy Training Coordinators, experienced staff who guide and oversee these young dogs’ socialisation and early development. Early years checks are also conducted throughout this period to assess both muscular-skeletal strength and temperamental suitability for further training. Additionally, important allergic reactivity is assessed in order to ensure as far as possible that young dogs entering Advanced Training have as strong a psychological and physiological chance of passing through advanced training and then of having a healthy, problem free working life. During the year, 58 puppies entered training and 19 progressed to Advanced Training. Four dogs were redirected from this early phase of training to become Family Support Dogs, once it became clear that they would not make it to jacketed status. One dog entered the breeding programme (as explained above) and regrettably 16 were completely withdrawn for either health (6) or behavioural (10) reasons.

Advanced Training

With the closure of the Heyshott Southern Training Centre in May, all advanced training transferred to the Loughborough NTC and, as a result of this and the organisational restructure, the Advanced Training team reduced from 10 to 6. A priority since then has been to rebuild team structure, cohesion and productivity at the NTC; this work is ongoing but notwithstanding this the AT team across CP still achieved a total of 31 placements in 2023, against a target of 25-30 (defined as an outcome that delivers a measure of Canine Partners life-changing impact). Of these 31, 26 were partnerships; 12 dogs achieved fully jacketed status, 1 was a dual-placement with Guide Dogs, 5 achieved Pet Assisted Living (PAL) status and 8 were placed as part of a very successful Family Support Dog (FSD) trial. This one-year trial has now been successfully completed and a formal launch of the FSD as a Canine Partners Service is planned for June 2024. It should be noted that, prior to the FSD trial, dogs meeting this criterion would have been withdrawn completely and rehomed as family pets. As a final component of the 31 placements above, 5 dogs placed within the Dog Ambassador Team and 1 dog placed as a brood.

Partnership Aftercare training and support

Throughout 2023, this amazingly dedicated team of 12 regionally based specialists, looked after and supported an average of 345 active partnerships. Notwithstanding the happy challenges of supporting the new partnerships created above, one of the more challenging duties of this team - often out of the limelight at Canine Partners — is to offer support as a partnership comes to an end, either through retirement, ill health or death. During 2023, 53 partnerships came to an end, with 35 retirements and 18 deaths. Canine Partners undoubtedly achieves very significant impact across its operations but, arguably, it is here, in Partnership Aftercare Training and Support, where the charity most demonstrably and impactfully keeps its promise to support all our partnership, for life.

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CANINE PARTNERS FOR INDEPENDENCE

TRUSTEES' REPORT (INCLUDING DIRECTORS' REPORT) (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

Applications and Assessment

As a requirement of our national and international Assistance Dog accreditation, CP maintains a waiting list that gives priority to the placing of successor dogs with Partners who have come to rely on these amazing companion assistants. The waiting list for new applicants was closed in January 2020 and has not reopened since, and within the context of CP’s challenging operational recovery from the Pandemic this has led to frustratingly long waits for both new and successor applicants. At the end of 2023 this waiting list stood at 93 and comprised a 50/50 split of new and successor applications, with successors waiting between 18m and 2yrs for a replacement canine partner, and new applicants likely to have to wait up to 6 years. The Applications team keep in touch with applicants during this time with regular email and telephone updates, and in 2023 all applicants were invited to attend a new series of free webinars, run by training and wellbeing staff, on how dogs learn, canine body language and canine wellbeing.

Veterinary Support

Comprehensive veterinary advice and support is given to training staff (for dogs, pre-matching) and partnerships by a team of two vet nurses, one of whom specialises in puppy development and support. This team also oversees all liaison with Agria, CP’s insurance provider, and all elements of our Dog Wellbeing Strategy implementation. This wellbeing strategy and the policies that flow from it, is designed to ensure that our dogs both arrive at, and progress through partnership in as strong a physical, physiological and psychological condition as possible. Additionally, this team provides important external CP representation — and leadership - on ADUK, Academia and other collaborative wellbeing and welfare working groups. During 2023, key achievements of this team included:

Marketing and Income Generation Performance

Fundraising Success: Despite facing challenges such as the cost-of-living crisis, the closure of our southern training centre, and integrating a new team, the Income Generation department exceeded both the amount raised in 2022 and our 2023 income target by 20%. We saw growth in Individual Giving, Corporate Fundraising, Legacies, and received substantial support from major donors and Charitable Trusts. With our Community Engagement team now established, we're confident of further growth, made possible by the dedication of our staff and the wonderful generosity of our supporters.

Legacies: Gifts in Wills are incredibly important to our work, providing over a third of our voluntary income. In 2023, we were fortunate to receive several significant legacies to raise £1.8m, which exceeded our annual target by 62%, as well as the amount raised in 2022. These gifts have played a vital role in delivering our life-changing work, and our heartfelt thanks goes to everyone who chose to remember us in this meaningful way.

Trusts and Foundations: We're deeply grateful for the continued support of charitable trusts and foundations. They are a vital source of income, representing our second-highest revenue stream. Throughout the year, we were delighted to receive 135 donations, including £10k from The Eveson Trust and £6k (over three years) from the Veterans' Foundation, to raise over £560k.

Major Donors: We sawa significant increase in donations from our major donors in 2023, which was essential to delivering our life-changing work. We extend our sincerest thanks to Paul and Kay Goswell, Dawn Nicholson and David Brittain, Roy Furley, Keith Aldred, David Sharp and Lady Paula Wills for their continued support.

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CANINE PARTNERS FOR INDEPENDENCE

TRUSTEES' REPORT (INCLUDING DIRECTORS' REPORT) (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

Corporate Fundraising: We are grateful to all our corporate partners who continued to support our work in 2023, including our Platinum Level business club members, Nestle Purina PetCare, Collins Property Recruitment, Caremark Ltd, David Wilson Homes, Kew Electrical and Pets Corner. We were delighted with the results of several successful 2023 campaigns and partnerships, including the Changing Lives Campaign with Purina raising £129k, Pets Corner's Christmas campaign raising £38k, and the £50k donation from the Barratts Foundation. Our Charity of the Year partnership with Birds Bakery raised £53k, and long-standing supporter No Fear Bridge donated £47k towards our breeding program. The CPR Cup 2023 raised £16k thanks to sponsors CC Land, LonRes, and PrimeResi, and we received significant Gifts in Kind from Breedon, WJ, Spray Tanker Services, David Wilson Homes, and Amjutan Ltd. Pets at Home's quarterly Lifeline Vouchers were invaluable, and we extend our sincere thanks to NFU Mutual, Olympian Homes, John Keil Ltd, and Caremark Ltd for their generous support.

Appeals and The Big Give: Our generous supporters responded positively to all our appeals, especially The Big Give Christmas Campaign. This year-end highlight was promoted digitally, and we exceeded our £100k target, raising an incredible £111k. We are deeply grateful to everyone who donated, including our match funders like Pets Corner and our champion funder, The Julia and Hans Rausing Trust.

Raising the profile of our work: We want to spread awareness of the life-changing impact of assistance dogs. In 2023, our new Marcomms team joined and began building awareness of Canine Partners across all available channels. They've created engaging content about our work, puppies, dogs in training, and partnerships, actively sharing it on existing platforms and new channels like TikTok and Instagram Reels. The team also designed essential materials, delivered impactful campaigns like The Big Give Christmas Challenge, and promoted volunteer recruitment and special events like our Christmas Carols.

People and HR

Staff

The year has been an extremely challenging one in terms of change which makes the output and achievements of staff all the more impressive. To have delivered the increased operational output alongside the financial performance is testament to the drive and passion of our staff and volunteers. The year started with a significant change project that included a staff consultation and the closure of one our training centres. This was subsequently followed by unplanned staff turnover of up to 30% and some elements of volunteer turnover which led to a requirement for multiple roles, services and processes to be redesigned and relocated to the National Training Centre. Canine Partners also had to ensure they adopted several now working practices as a many staff became home workers and without a large training, storage and meeting space in the South of England there was a requirement to become very agile and flexible with how we worked and engaged our stakeholders.

Staff Engagement

We followed up on the previous year’s engagement survey to ensure we had taken actions from the previous results as well as to gauge the current levels of staff engagement on a more regular basis. A summary of the result are below:

Generally, all questions and categories scored over 50% so this is still quite positive. However, a strong theme of workload and work/life balance has come out of the survey this year. Possibly not surprising considering the reduction in posts and the high turnover that resulted in many staff covering more than one role for an extended period of time. Reward and recognition tend to score low in all engagement surveys but is still regarded as proportionally lower than other areas. CP have conducteda lot of work on pay this year, which may mean staff are now more aware of where they are compared to the market. Results regarding efficiency and process were also low, likely due to the relocation of most of our head office procedure to a different location and IT transformation taking time to embed.

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CANINE PARTNERS FOR INDEPENDENCE

TRUSTEES' REPORT (INCLUDING DIRECTORS' REPORT) (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

An increase in both the response rate and overall rating is good. An average engagement score of 3.71 (effectively 74%) is very good, especially with the challenges that that charity has had over the last 12 months. A constant dominant theme is that staff love working for Canine Partners. To see Working Together at such a high position is a fantastic improvement in breaking down silos and working better as a team. SLT and leadership scores have also improved, which is very encouraging.

Engagement Themes Comparison 2022 - 2023

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The coming year will give us further opportunity to develop our operational model and output which the People Team will support with solid performance management including a review of our culture, values and behaviours. We will continue to invest in training and development and ensure we have robust workforce development and volunteer management plans. There will also be an increased focus on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion as this has been identified as an area for improvement.

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CANINE PARTNERS FOR INDEPENDENCE

TRUSTEES' REPORT (INCLUDING DIRECTORS' REPORT) (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

Volunteers

Canine Partners has 1331 registered Volunteers filling, 735 active. There are currently 37 different volunteer roles and opportunities available. Many of our operational services are reliant on volunteers that dedicate to full-time roles such as Puppy Parents, Breeding Volunteer or Fosterer, these roles are vital and it is still a challenge to provide the volunteer resources at a comfortable level to support the maximum capacity of our Operations Department so they continue to be a focus for improvement, communications, recruitment and retention. The charity could not operate without the dedication and passion of its volunteers. We work hard to ensure the volunteering experience is positive and meaningful and have worked hard to create efficient processes, strong networks and engaging activities to ensure our volunteer network is sustainable for the growth that is already starting to be delivered. Canine Partners have embraced new technology and ways of working with our volunteer such as virtual conferences and webinars that are available on our social media platforms. We have introduced new roles such as volunteer receptionists and remote administration roles that can support from home suing cloud-based platforms. We have held several volunteer engagement activities at both training centres and then towards the end of the year in pop-up venues as well as a wider roadshow to Scotland and North-East to ensure our Volunteers remain connected and engaged.

Partners

Our Partners remain our biggest advocates, champions and supporters. We work with them to ensure we can raise as much awareness of the impact that Canine Partners has on those living with a disability. We are constantly reviewing the services we deliver and their feedback is vital to understand how we can improve our delivery and maximise the impact we have. The love and support they also provide to our dogs is incredibly important and we thank them for making these partnerships so wonderfully mutual.

Financial Review

Basis for Preparation

The Trustees of Canine Partners have prepared the accounts on the going concern basis after special consideration of several factors including demand for our services as a charity, cash resources available, overall liquidity and the liabilities of the charity. There has been a thorough assessment of the factors that could impact the charity’s resources, such as general inflation, particularly in supply chains, and the impact of income reduction scenarios. From this analysis, the Trustees have reached the conclusion that the charity has adequate resources to operate for at least twelve months from the date of signing of this annual report.

Income Review

Income was higher than expected at £3.98m (£3.26m 2022), mainly due to legacies received towards year end that were not expected until 2024, and the hard work put in by our Income Generation team who have been adapting to post-covid and post-closure of our Southern Training Centre. While Community Engagement and Trusts and Foundations were below target, consistent with the broader fundraising landscape, we saw strong growth in Corporate Fundraising (+22%) and Individual Giving (+31%). With our new Director of Marketing and Income Generation appointed in September 2023, we plan to build on these successes. The chart below shows the split of income by stream.

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CANINE PARTNERS FOR INDEPENDENCE

TRUSTEES' REPORT (INCLUDING DIRECTORS' REPORT) (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

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Income 2023 gnga e741
£70,996
- £450,895
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= fl \Ser _ £31,199
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£61364 _ a£132,116 — £121,145— £00365
=» Community Engagement « Corporate e Trust
« Major Donors » In Memory = Individual Giving
= Reeular Giving 16% Ad a (AP
= Lottery » Merchandise = Legacy
= Other Income
----- End of picture text -----

Expenditure Review

Total expenditure for 2023 was £3.84m (£3.73m 2022), coming in slightly over the budget of £3.8m. However £282,894 of this expenditure relates to the impairment of Heyshott, which is not a cash expenditure, and without this we came in comfortably under budget.

The split of expenditure between different business areas can be seen below.

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Total Expenditure 2023
£204,596 £251,525
«MIG «=| Operations = Busine= Support - Governance = PEO
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A significant contributing factor to the overall underspend was an underspend on payroll (£104k) due to carrying vacancies throughout the year. Throughout the charity activity levels were down as planned activity was either delayed or postponed.

We did enjoy some savings on insurance compared to budget (£22k), as an expected rate increase did not materialise however this is certain to affect us during 2024. A review of insurance needs will take place during 2024 to counterbalance the expected increase in costs.

Additionally we spent less on veterinary treatment than expected in 2023 (£17k), but this is a highly unpredictable cost due to the nature of illness in dogs.

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CANINE PARTNERS FOR INDEPENDENCE

TRUSTEES' REPORT (INCLUDING DIRECTORS' REPORT) (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

Reserves

The reserves policy of Canine Partners is in place to ensure the Charity has available funds maintained at a certain level to manage financial risk around increasing costs and income volatility. This reserve enables the Charity to continue operating as a going concern whilst providing and sustaining an appropriate level of service for our beneficiaries and meeting our financial obligations long term.

The Trustees have determined that the level of cash reserves to be held are within 6 and 9 months’ worth of operating costs for the year. Operational costs have been calculated without depreciation or the impairment to Heyshott as these are non-cash items and would give an unrealistic view of average monthly expenditure. For 2023 the reserve corridor was a minimum of £1.7M and maximum of £2.5M. This level is deemed necessary to provide contingency against:

However there were points throughout 2023 when our free reserves fell below the minimum as per the reserves policy. This was a planned breach of the policy, agreed by The Board of Trustees when setting the 2023 budget. The available reserves are calculated each month as part of the management accounts and discussed at all Finance and Controls Sub-Committee meetings as well as at every full Board meeting. Reserves were within policy at the end of 2023, at £2.05M.

Future Plans

Much of 2023 has been taken up with closing and mothballing the Heyshott training centre and working towards its eventual disposal and sale. Parallel activity at the Loughborough centre has focussed on establishing it as our CP National Training Centre and HQ, and then rebuilding all areas of charitable activity to pivot around this beautiful central location. Changes in key senior leadership, during the year, have also allowed fresh perspective to come to many areas (Finance & Resource, MIG and Operations) and, as this report is being prepared, the final piece has been added to the Operations team with the appointment of a new Operations Director who will join in summer 2024.

Notwithstanding this pause in recruitment, Trustees and SLT have made considerable progress in understanding both the urgent need for a full operational model review and also exciting areas of potential future development. This Operational Model review is now underway and, aligned with work in other areas of People, Governance, Finance and Marketing & Income Generation, it will focus on answering two strategically important questions:

« How can we do what we do now, but better: more efficiently; more effectively; more sustainably.

This work will culminate in the summer of 2024 when Trustees and SLT will consider and agree a short term 3yr strategy and plan (2025-2028), to work at pace towards achieving optimal operational efficiency, in all areas, as well as rebuilding financial resilience and reserve. Vital to all aspects of this work will be to focus for the first time on internal culture, in order to identify and encourage, within all staff and volunteers, the behaviours necessary to assure, sustain and develop the life-changing impact that Canine Partners delivers. Auditor In accordance with the company's articles, a resolution proposing that Moore (South) LLP be reappointed as auditor of the company will be put at a General Meeting.

Auditor

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CANINE PARTNERS FOR INDEPENDENCE

TRUSTEES' REPORT (INCLUDING DIRECTORS' REPORT) (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

Disclosure of information to auditor

Each of the Trustees has confirmed that there is no information of which they are aware which is relevant to the audit, but of which the auditor is unaware. They have further confirmed that they have taken appropriate steps to identify such relevant information and to establish that the auditor is aware of such information.

The Trustees’ report was approved by the Board of Trustees.

Dr C M Elwood MA Vet MB MSc MS PhD FRCVS (Chair) Trustee

9 May 2024

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CANINE PARTNERS FOR INDEPENDENCE

STATEMENT OF TRUSTEES’ RESPONSIBILITIES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

The Trustees, who are also the directors of Canine Partners for Independence for the purpose of company law, are responsible for preparing the Trustees' Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

Company Law requires the Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Charity and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable company for that year.

In preparing these financial statements, the Trustees are required to:

The Trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the Charity and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006, the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended). They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the Charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

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CANINE PARTNERS FOR INDEPENDENCE

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT

TO THE MEMBERS AND TRUSTEES OF CANINE PARTNERS FOR INDEPENDENCE

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of Canine Partners for Independence (the ‘Charity’) for the year ended 31 December 2023 which comprise the statement of financial activities, the balance sheet, the statement of cash flows and notes to the financial statements, including significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including 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 Charity 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 Charity’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 other information comprises the information included in the annual report other than the financial statements and our auditor's report thereon. The Trustees are responsible for the other information contained within the annual report. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon. Our responsibility is to read the other 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.

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CANINE PARTNERS FOR INDEPENDENCE

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT (CONTINUED)

TO THE MEMBERS AND TRUSTEES OF CANINE PARTNERS FOR INDEPENDENCE

Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the Charity and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the directors' report included within the Trustees’ report.

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

Responsibilities of Trustees

As explained more fully in the statement of Trustees' responsibilities, the Trustees, who are also the directors of the Charity for the purpose 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 Charity’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the Trustees either intend to liquidate the charitable company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

Auditor's responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

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

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.

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

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

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CANINE PARTNERS FOR INDEPENDENCE

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT (CONTINUED) TO THE MEMBERS AND TRUSTEES OF CANINE PARTNERS FOR INDEPENDENCE

Explanation as to what extent the audit was considered capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud The objectives of our audit in respect of fraud, are; to identify and assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements due to fraud; to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence regarding the assessed risks of material misstatement due to fraud, through designing and implementing appropriate responses to those assessed risks; and to respond appropriately to instances of fraud or suspected fraud identified during the audit. However, the primary responsibility for the prevention and detection of fraud rests with both management and those charged with governance of the charitable company.

Our approach was as follows:

To address the risk of fraud through management override we:

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CANINE PARTNERS FOR INDEPENDENCE

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT (CONTINUED)

TO THE MEMBERS AND TRUSTEES OF CANINE PARTNERS FOR INDEPENDENCE

In response to the classification of income between restricted and unrestricted we:

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

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

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 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 as a body,and the charitable company’s trustees as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

Louise Hastings (Senior Statutory Auditor) for and on behalf of Moore (South) LLP

20 May 2024

Chartered Accountants Statutory Auditor

City Gates 2 - 4 Southgate Chichester West Sussex PO19 8DJ

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CANINE PARTNERS FOR INDEPENDENCE

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES INCLUDING INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

Unrestricted Restricted Total Unrestricted Restricted Total
funds funds funds funds
2023 2023 2023 2022 2022 2022
Notes £ £ £ £ £ £
Income and endowments from:
Donations andlegacies 2 3,693,048 232,694 3,925,742 3,076,528 168,640 3,245,168
Other trading activities 3 8,049 - 8,049 8,945 - 8,945
Investments 4 42,033 - 42,033 7,242 - 7,242
Other income 5 12,616 - 12,616 - - -
Total income 3,755,746 232,694 3,988,440 3,092,715 168,640 3,261,355
Expenditure on:
Raising funds 6 1,009,134 12,623 1,021,757 947,849 - 947,849
Charitable activities 7 2,133,992 687,326 2,821,318 2,451,886 334,543 2,786,429
Total expenditure 3,143,126 699,949 3,843,075 3,399,735 334,543 3,734,278
Net income/(expenditure) 612,620 (467,255) 145,365 (307,020) (165,903) (472,923)
Transfers between
funds - - - 25,817 (25,817) -
Net movement in
funds 612,620 (467,255) 145,365 (281,203) (191,720) (472,923)
Reconciliation of funds:
Fund balances at 1 January
2023 4,724,235 3,499,053 8,223,288 5,005,438 3,690,773 8,696,211
Fund balances at 31
December2023 5,336,855 3,031,798 8,368,653 4,724,235 3,499,053 8,223,288

The statement offinancial activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year. All income and expenditure derive from continuing activities.

The notes on pages 21 to 35 form part of these financial statements.

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CANINE PARTNERS FOR INDEPENDENCE

BALANCE SHEET

AS AT 31 DECEMBER 2023

2023 2022
Notes £ £ £ £
Fixed assets
Tangible assets 13 5,657,070 6,054,711
Current assets
Stocks 14 4,396 10,231
Debtors 15 596,799 462,281
Cash at bank and in hand 2,576,231 2,302,131
3,177,426 2,774,643
Creditors: amounts falling due within 16
one year 282,510 311,610
Net current assets 2,894,916 2,463,033
Total assets less current liabilities 8,551,986 8,517,744
Creditors: amounts falling due after
more than one year 17 (183,333) (294,456)
Net assets 8,368,653 8,223,288
The funds of the Charity
Restricted income funds 20 3,031,798 3,499,053
Unrestricted funds 5,336,855 4,724,235
8,368,653 8,223,288

The notes on pages 21 to 35 form part of these financial statements.

The financial statements were approved by the Trustees on 9 May 2024

Dr C M Elwood MA Vet MB MSc MS PhD FRCVS Mr J C W Harkness (Chair) Trustee Trustee

Company registration number 02516146 (England and Wales)

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CANINE PARTNERS FOR INDEPENDENCE

STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

2023 2022
Notes £ £ £ £
Cash flows from operating activities
Cash generated from/(absorbed by) 26
operations 406,567 (131,348)
Investing activities
Purchase oftangible fixed assets (46,275) (44,488)
Proceeds from disposal oftangible fixed
assets 12,616 -
Investment income received 42,033 7,242
Net cash generated from/(used in)
investing activities 8,374 (37,246)
Financing activities
Repayment of bank loans (140,841) (129,717)
Net cash used in financing activities (140,841) (129,717)
Net increase/(decrease) in cash and cash
equivalents 274,100 (298,311)
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning ofyear 2,302,131 2,600,442
Cash and cash equivalents at end ofyear 2,576,231 2,302,131
Thenotesonpages21to35formpartofthese financial statements.

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CANINE PARTNERS FOR INDEPENDENCE

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

Charity information

Canine Partners for Independence is a private company limited by guarantee incorporated in England and Wales. The registered office is Midlands Training Centre, Ashby Road, Osgathorpe, Loughborough, Leicestershire, LE12 9SR.

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the Charity's Articles of Association, the Companies Act 2006, the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005, the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended), FRS 102 “The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland” (“FRS 102”) and the Charities SORP "Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102)" (effective 1 January 2019). The Charity is a Public Benefit Entity as defined by FRS 102.

The financial statements are prepared in sterling, which is the functional currency of the Charity. Monetary amounts in these financial statements are rounded to the nearest £1.

The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention. The principal accounting policies adopted are set out below.

1.2 Going concern

At the time of approving the financial statements, the Trustees have a reasonable expectation that the Charity has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. Thus the Trustees continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the financial statements.

Designated funds comprise funds which have been set aside at the discretion of the Trustees for specific purposes. The purposes and uses of the designated funds are set out in the notes to the financial statements.

Restricted funds are subject to specific conditions by donors or grantors as to how they may be used. The purposes and usesofthe restricted funds are set out in the notes to the financial statements.

The following specific policies are applied to particular categories of income:

For donations to be recognised the Charity will have been notified of the amounts and the settlement date in writing. If there are conditions attached to the donation and this requires a level of performance before entitlement can be obtained, the income is deferred until those conditions are fully met or the fulfilment of those conditions is within the control of the Charity and it is probable that they will be fulfilled.

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CANINE PARTNERS FOR INDEPENDENCE

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

1 Accounting policies

(Continued)

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

Donated facilities and donated professional services are recognised as income at their fair value when their economic benefit is probable, it can be measured reliably and the Charity has control over the item. Fair value is determined on the basis of the value of the gift to the Charity. For example, the amount the Charity would be willing to pay in the open market for such facilities and services. A corresponding amount is recognised in expenditure.

No amount is included in the financial statements for volunteer time in line with the SORP (FRS 102). Further detail is given in the Trustees’ Annual Report.

Where practicable, gifts in kind donated for distribution to the beneficiaries of the Charity are included in stock and donations in the financial statements upon receipt. If it is impracticable to assess the fair value at receipt or if the costs to undertake such a valuation outweigh any benefits, then the fair value is recognised as a component of donations when it is distributed and an equivalent amount recognised as charitable expenditure.

Gifts in kind donated for resale are included at fair value, being the expected proceeds from sale less the expected costs of sale. Where estimating the fair value is practicable upon receipt it is recognised in stock and ‘Income from other trading activities’. Upon sale, the value of the stock is charged against ‘Income from other trading activities’ and the proceeds are recognised as ‘Income from other trading activities’. Where it is impracticable to fair value the items due to the volume of low value items they are not recognised in the financial statements until they are sold. This income is recognised within ‘Income from other trading activities’.

Fixed asset gifts in kind are recognised when receivable and are included at fair value. They are not deferred over the life of the asset.

Income from trading activities includes income earned from fundraising events and trading activities to raise funds for the Charity. Income is received in exchange for supplying goods and services in order to raise funds and is recognised when entitlement has occurred.

Interest income is recognised using the effective interest method.

1.5 Expenditure

All expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis and has been classified under headings that aggregate all costs related to the category. Expenditure is recognised where there is a legal or constructive obligation to make payments to third parties, it is probable that the settlement will be required and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. It is categorised under the following headings:

« Costs of raising funds includes the cost of fundraising events; « Expenditure on charitable activities includes the provision of services to the charity's beneficiaries.

Irrecoverable VAT is charged as an expense against the activity for which the expenditure arose.

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CANINE PARTNERS FOR INDEPENDENCE

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

(Continued)

Support costs are those that assist the work of the charity but do not directly represent charitable activities and include office costs, governance costs, financial administration, IT support and payroll costs. They are incurred directly in support of expenditure on the objects of the charity.

Where support costs cannot be directly attributed to particular headings they have been allocated to cost of raising funds and expenditure on charitable activities on a basis consistent with use of the resources.

1.6 Tangible fixed assets

The training centres are included in the financial statements on a “value in use” basis. The Trustees are of the Opinion that the training centres’ value in use is best reflected by their construction costs depreciated over their estimated useful lives. This is rather than the amount that the training centres could be sold for in the market, which does not reflect the specialist nature of the construction of these assets or their service potential to the charity.

Depreciation is recognised so as to write off the cost or valuation of assets less their residual values over their useful lives on the following bases:

Freehold buildings 2% straight-line basis on cost IT equipment 33% straight-line basis on cost Motor vehicles 20% straight-line basis on cost Equipment 20% straight-line basis on cost

The gain or loss arising on the disposal of an asset is determined as the difference between the sale proceeds and the carrying value of the asset, and is recognised in the statement of financial activities.

Stock is included at the lower of cost and net realisable value.

1.8 Cash and cash equivalents

Cash and cash equivalents include cash in hand, deposits held at call with banks, other short-term liquid investments with original maturities of three months or less, and bank overdrafts. Bank overdrafts are shown within borrowings in current liabilities.

The Charity has elected to apply the provisions of Section 11 ‘Basic Financial Instruments’ and Section 12 ‘Other Financial Instruments Issues’ of FRS 102 to all of its financial instruments.

Financial instruments are recognised in the Charity's balance sheet when the Charity becomes party to the contractual provisions of the instrument.

Financial assets and liabilities are offset, with the net amounts presented in the financial statements, when there is a legally enforceable right to set off the recognised amounts and there is an intention to settle on a net basis or to realise the asset and settle the liability simultaneously.

Basic financial assets

Basic financial assets, which include debtors and cash and bank balances, are initially measured at transaction price including transaction costs and are subsequently carried at amortised cost using the effective interest method unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, where the transaction is measured at the present value of the future receipts discounted at a market rate of interest. Financial assets classified as receivable within one year are not amortised.

CANINE PARTNERS FOR INDEPENDENCE

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

1 Accounting policies

(Continued)

Basic financial liabilities

Basic financial liabilities, including creditors and bank loans are initially recognised at transaction price unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, where the debt instrument is measured at the present value of the future payments discounted at a market rate of interest. Financial liabilities classified as payable within one year are not amortised.

Debt instruments are subsequently carried at amortised cost, using the effective interest rate method.

Trade creditors are obligations to pay for goods or services that have been acquired in the ordinary course of operations from suppliers. Amounts payable are classified as current liabilities if payment is due within one year or less. If not, they are presented as non-current liabilities. Trade creditors are recognised initially at transaction price and subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method.

Derecognition of financial liabilities

Financial liabilities are derecognised when the Charity’s contractual obligations expire or are discharged or cancelled.

1.10 Employee benefits

The cost of any unused holiday entitlement is recognised in the period in which the employee’s services are received.

Termination benefits are recognised immediately as an expense when the Charity is demonstrably committed to terminate the employment of an employee or to provide termination benefits.

The Charity has arranged a defined contribution pension scheme for all eligible employees. The assets of this scheme are held separately from those of the Charity. Pension costs charged in the Statement of Financial Activities represent the contributions payable by the Charity in the year.

2 Income from donations and legacies

Unrestricted Restricted Total Unrestricted Restricted Total
funds funds funds funds
2023 2023 2023 2022 2022 2022
£ £ £ £ £ £
Donations and gifts 1,891,197 232,694 2,123,891 1,932,699 168,640 2,101,339
Legacies receivable 1,801,851 - 1,801,851 1,143,829 - 1,143,829
3,693,048 232,694 3,925,742 3,076,528 168,640 3,245,168
Donations and gifts
Donations and gifts 1,108,982 1,680 1,110,662 1,053,752 2,337 1,056,089
Trusts and corporates 782,215 231,014 1,013,229 878,947 166,303 1,045,250
1,891,197 232,694 2,123,891 1,932,699 168,640 2,101,339

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CANINE PARTNERS FOR INDEPENDENCE

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

3 Income from other trading activities

Charity products sold

==> picture [113 x 68] intentionally omitted <==

----- Start of picture text -----
||| |---|---| |Unrestricted|Unrestricted| |funds|funds| |2023|2022| |£|£| |8,049|8,945|

----- End of picture text -----

==> picture [435 x 67] intentionally omitted <==

----- Start of picture text -----
||||| |---|---|---|---| |Unrestricted|Unrestricted| |funds|funds| |2023|2022| |£|£| |Interest|receivable|42,033|7,242|

----- End of picture text -----

5 Other income

==> picture [435 x 68] intentionally omitted <==

----- Start of picture text -----
|||||||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |Unrestricted|Unrestricted| |funds|funds| |2023|2022| |£|£| |Net|gain|on|disposal|of tangible|fixed|assets|12,616|-|

----- End of picture text -----

==> picture [435 x 198] intentionally omitted <==

----- Start of picture text -----
|||||||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |Unrestricted|Restricted|Total|Unrestricted| |funds|funds|funds| |general|general| |2023|2023|2023|2022| |£|£|£|£| |Fundraising|and|publicity| |Workforce|costs|521,062|-|521,062|612,417| |Depreciation|2,185|-|2,185|6,701| |Transport|19,373|-|19,373|5,275| |Office|and|site|facilities|16,060|-|16,060|26,809| |Equipment|repairs,|maintenance|and|hire|1,966|-|1,966|35,220| |Fundraising|and|marketing|72,013|1,951|73,964|62,227| |Communications|22,849|-|22,849|40,554| |Support|costs|349,197|10,672|359,869|152,003| |Fundraising|and|publicity|1,004,705|12,623|1,017,328|941,206|

----- End of picture text -----

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CANINE PARTNERS FOR INDEPENDENCE

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

6 Raising funds

(Continued)

Trading costs
Cost of sale of goods 4,429 - 4,429 6,643
1,009,134 12,623 1,021,757 947,849

7 Charitable activities

Charitable Charitable
Expenditure Expenditure
2023 2022
£ £
Workforce costs 1,155,983 1,549,139
Depreciation, impairment and profits/losses on disposal offixed assets 438,495 180,658
Transport 138,521 170,958
Office and site facilities 18,424 78,513
Equipment repairs, maintenance and hire 367 45,137
Operations 322,556 371,985
Fundraising and marketing 1,845 2,820
Communications 320 3,170
2,076,511 2,402,380
Share ofsupport costs (see note 8) 733,185 372,147
Share ofgovernance costs (see note 8) 11,622 11,902
2,821,318 2,786,429
Analysis by fund
Unrestricted funds - general 2,133,992 2,451,886
Restricted funds 687,326 334,543
2,821,318 2,786,429

CANINE PARTNERS FOR INDEPENDENCE

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

8 Support costs allocated to activities

Support costs allocated to activities
2023 2022
£ £
Staff costs 710,743 446,774
Depreciation 3,236 2,388
Transport 49,531 3,767
Office and site facilities 185,744 40,449
Equipment repairs, maintenance and hire 119,138 8,730
Fundraising and marketing 6,126 731
Communications 203 161
Finance and governance costs 29,955 33,052
1,104,676 536,052
Analysed between:
Fundraising 359,869 152,003
Charitable activities 744,807 384,049
1,104,676 536,052

9 Trustees

One of the Trustees received remuneration totalling £525 (2022: £nil) from the Charity during the year in relation to their work as an occupational therapist. An additional £169 (2022: £nil) was also paid to them in relation to mileage claims.

None of the other Trustees (or any persons connected to them) received any remuneration or benefits from the Charity during the year.

During the year one Trustee (2022 - none) was reimbursed for out of pocket expenses totalling £777 (2022 - ENil).

Cost of Trustee indemnity insurance borne by the Charity within the year was £1,230 (2022 - £1,171).

10 Employees

The average monthly number of employees during the year was:

2023 2022
Number Number
Charitable activities 42 42
Generating funds 14 17
Support and governance 15 9
Total 71 68

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CANINE PARTNERS FOR INDEPENDENCE

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

10 Employees

(Continued)

Employment costs 2023 2022
£ £
Wages and salaries 1,924,109 2,186,293
Social security costs 173,445 205,573
Other pension costs 109,047 88,597
2,206,601 2,480,463

Redundancy and termination payments totalling £12,550 were made in the reporting period in relation to 3 members of staff.

The number of employees whose annual remuneration was more than £60,000 is as follows:

2023 2022
Number Number
£60,000 - £70,000 - 1
£70,000 - £80,000 1 -

In both 2023 and 2022 all employees earning more than £60,000 participated in the pension scheme and the Charity made pension contributions totalling £6,047 (2022 - £3,154) on behalf of these employees.

11. Taxation

The charity is exempt from taxation on its activities because all its income is applied for charitable purposes.

12 Impairments

Impairment tests have been carried out where appropriate and the following impairment losses have been recognised in profit or loss:

2023 2022
£ £
In respect of:
Property,plantandequipment 282,894 -

This impairment relates to the Southern Training Centre. More information is included in note 13.

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CANINE PARTNERS FOR INDEPENDENCE

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

13 Tangible fixed assets

Tangible fixed assets
Freehold
buildings		 IT equipment Motor
vehicles		 Equipment Total
£ £ £ £ £
Cost
At 1 January 2023 7,329,085 71,099 134,729 138,649 7,673,562
Additions 34,559 7,020 - 4,696 46,275
Disposals - (52,428) (63,000) (31,243) (146,671)
At 31 December 2023 7,363,644 25,691 71,729 112,102 7,573,166
Depreciation and impairment
At 1 January 2023 1,332,191 56,288 97,820 132,552 1,618,851
Depreciation charged in the year 135,693 10,928 10,778 3,623 161,022
Impairment losses 282,894 - - - 282,894
Eliminated in respect ofdisposals - (52,428) (63,000) (31,243) (146,671)
At 31 December 2023 1,750,778 14,788 45,598 104,932 1,916,096
Carrying amount
At 31 December 2023 5,612,866 10,903 26,131 7,170 5,657,070
At31December2022 5,996,894 14,811 36,909 6,097 6,054,711

More information on the impairment arising in the year is given in note 12.

Tangible assets with a net book value of £5,612,866 (2022 - £5,996,894) have been pledged as security for liabilities of the Charity. These assets have restricted title.

Both training centres have historically been included in the financial statements on a “value in use” basis. The Trustees are of the opinion that the training centres’ value in use is best reflected by their construction costs depreciated over their estimated useful lives. This is rather than the amount that the training centres could be sold for in the market, which does not reflect the specialist nature of the construction of these assets or their service potential to the charity. During the year the charity took the decision to close the Southern Training Centre, which meant the 'value in use’ basis was no longer appropriate. A commercial valuation took place during 2023 by Batcheller Monkhouse and this has led to the impairment of the value of the Southern Training Centre by £282,894. The trustees remain satisfied that the value in use basis remains appropriate for the National Training Centre.

14 Stocks

Stocks
2023 2022
£ £
Dog food, medicine and equipment 3,852 3,376
Charity products 544 6,855
4,396 10,231

-~29 -

CANINE PARTNERS FOR INDEPENDENCE

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

15 Debtors

15 Debtors
2023 2022
Amounts falling due within one year: £ £
Other debtors 573,513 428,652
Prepayments 23,286 33,629
596,799 462,281
16 Creditors: amounts falling due within one year
2023 2022
Notes £ £
Bank loans 18 100,000 129,718
Other taxation and social security 41,100 47,504
Trade creditors 80,927 83,944
Accruals and deferred income 60,483 50,444
282,510 311,610
17 Creditors: amounts falling due after more than one year
2023 2022
Notes £ £
Bank loans 18 183,333 294,456
18 Loans and overdrafts
2023 2022
£ £
Bank loans 283,333 424,174
Payable within one year 100,000 129,718
Payableafteroneyear 183,333 294,456

Bank loans consist of a CBILS (Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme) loan ona fixed interest rate at 2.41%. The CBILS loan is repayable by monthly instalments payable up to 2026. In the prior year there was also three loans from Lloyds, which were secured by a first charge on the Midlands Centre and the Southern Centre, at an interest rate of base rate plus 1.5%. These loans were repaid during 2023. Retirement benefit schemes The Charity operates a defined contribution pension scheme. The assets of the scheme are held separately from those of the Charity in an independently administered fund. The pension cost charge represents contributions payable by the Charity to the fund.

19 Retirement benefit schemes

The charge to profit or loss in respect of defined contribution schemes was £109,047 (2022 - £88,597).

-30-

CANINE PARTNERS FOR INDEPENDENCE

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

20 _ ~=Restricted funds

The restricted funds of the charity comprise the unexpended balances of donations and grants held on trust subject to specific conditions by donors as to how they may be used.

At 1 January Incoming Resources Transfers At 31
2023 resources expended December
2023
£ £ £ £ £
Operational Costs & Equipment 165,492 198,135 (282,020) - 81,607
Building Fund: Southern 1,354,621 - (328,607) - 1,026,014
Building Fund: Midlands 1,965,538 34,559 (89,979) - 1,910,118
Vehicle Fund 13,402 - 657 - 14,059
3,499,053 232,694 (699,949) - 3,031,798
Previous year: At 1 January Incoming Resources Transfers At 31
2022 resources expended December
2022
£ £ £ £ £
Operational Costs & Equipment 216,087 168,640 (193,418) (25,817) 165,492
Building Fund: Southern 1,404,902 - (50,281) - 1,354,621
Building Fund: Midlands 2,051,470 - (85,932) - 1,965,538
Vehicle Fund 18,314 - (4,912) - 13,402
3,690,773 168,640 (334,543) (25,817) 3,499,053

Operational Costs & Equipment relates to donations given to cover running costs of defined operational areas or the purchasing of specific equipment, including motor vehicles. Operational costs regarding the specified operational areas are charged to the fund as expended. Restricted donations relating to the purchasing of specified equipment or motor vehicles are transferred to general unrestricted funds where, in the opinion of the Trustees, the restrictions on the donations are met by the purchase of the assets, and when these assets are held for general and not restricted purposes.

21 ~+Unrestricted funds

The unrestricted funds of the charity comprise the unexpended balances of donations and grants which are not subject to specific conditions by donors and grantors as to how they may be used. These include designated funds which have been set aside out of unrestricted funds by the trustees for specific purposes.

At 1 January Incoming Resources Transfers At 31
2023 resources expended December
2023
£ £ £ £ £
Designated Fund 1,861,548 - - (1,861,548) -
General funds 2,862,687 3,755,746 (3,143,126) 1,861,548 5,336,855
4,724,235 3,755,746 (3,143,126) - 5,336,855

-31-

CANINE PARTNERS FOR INDEPENDENCE

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

21 ~+Unrestricted funds

~+Unrestricted funds (Continued)
Previous year: At 1 January Incoming Resources Transfers At 31
2022 resources expended December
2022
£ £ £ £ £
Designated Fund 1,861,548 - - - 1,861,548
General funds 3,143,890 3,092,715 (3,399,735) 25,817 2,862,687
5,005,438 3,092,715 (3,399,735) 25,817 4,724,235

The designated fund was unrestricted cash that the charity ring-fenced approximately two years ago for specific projects, which have not been progressed due to the changes in priorities following the Covid-19 pandemic. It has therefore been agreed by the Board that these funds should be released back into general unrestricted funds in the current year.

-32-

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:||

CANINE PARTNERS FOR INDEPENDENCE

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

23 Operating lease commitments

Lessee

At the reporting end date the Charity had outstanding commitments for future minimum lease payments under non-cancellable operating leases, which fall due as follows:

2023 2022
£ £
Within one year 9,996 29,645
Between two and five years 1,190 7,334
11,186 36,979

Operating lease payments recognised as an expense within the year were £58,914 (2022 - £51,602).

24 Related party transactions

Remuneration of key management personnel

The remuneration of key management personnel is as follows.

2023 2022
£ £
Aggregate compensation 274,442 335,831

The key management personnel of the Charity are the Senior Management Team, as detailed on the Legal and Administrative Information page.

25 Legal status of the Charity

The Charity is a company limited by guarantee and has no share capital. The liability of each member in the event of winding up is limited to £10.

-34-

CANINE PARTNERS FOR INDEPENDENCE

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

26 Cash generated from operations 2023 2022
£ £
Surplus/(deficit) for the year 145,365 (472,923)
Adjustments for:
Investment income recognised in statement of financial activities (42,033) (7,242)
Gain on disposal oftangible fixed assets (12,616) -
Depreciation and impairment of tangible fixed assets 443,916 189,747
Movements in working capital:
Decrease in stocks 5,835 42,205
(Increase)/decrease in debtors (134,518) 105,681
Increase in creditors 618 11,184
Cash generated from/(absorbed by) operations 406,567 (131,348)
27 ~=Analysis of changes in net funds
At 1 January Cash flows At 31 December
2023 2023
£ £ £
Cash at bank and in hand 2,302,131 274,100 2,576,231
Loans falling due within one year (129,718) 29,718 (100,000)
Loans falling due after more than one year (294,456) 111,123 (183,333)
1,877,957 414,941 2,292,898

-35-