Homeless Connect IA crxnpany limited by w￿￿tee, Thx havww a shwe CW) TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT The trustees. are ￿'reCtOrS the PUTposes of c(Ynpany law, wesent the annua reFOrt tcxJether the financial statements and auditors. repcxl of the th3nt*)be company fcx the year e￿Ied 31 Marth 2024. Objectives and aclivities Homeless Connect is an umbrella Organisatic￿. founded in 1983. We exist to prevent and alleviate homelessness in Northem Ire13ThJ. We represent Ihe ¥￿wS of organisabons wrthin the homelessness sec&)r inform the deS￿n of hcffne1ess￿SS servKes and Ihe devekwent of k)using and hcrnelessness pdicy and strategy locally. Working tC*Jethef Wrth wr members and service users ￿ seek lo shaFe 54)verrwnent FKthcy and public wnion towards secunrKJ greater Sup￿ for preventsbve and resp)nsrve serwces. We SUPFOrt the sector in the deltvery of 9))J qualty servI￿S through beirM3 woacbve in identyrrfJ the needs of people experiencirwJ or at nsk of ￿meleSSnesS and In1￿en¢1￿3 and shapirg ServI￿S to n￿t those needs. We work collaborab'vely lo create a c(xnmunty of SWFQrt by bwrwJ the of the h(￿￿SneSS seckK by delivenng direct assistance Ihrough ow proFcts. Policy, advocacy and netW￿kIng Encourage and Sup[￿ StaketK￿derS to VKKk l(*3ether kn prevent and r￿ju￿ the inpact of IK)melessness ty. Facilrtabng collabwab¢)n intera3ency workn'rMJ. Influencing policy thrwgh athocacy and re￿￿entatin ￿ behalf of member5. Monrtoring and contnbutTrJ to poly develq)ment and kee￿ng rr￿M￿rS Jnfofmed of relevant FdKy. C(￿SUIta￿'￿s, and practice changes. Promob'rvJ and faalrtai'ng sefvice user invofvemenL Sèrvites indLNJe: Providing neMThkThJ OFvx￿nrt￿ k)r member5 lo sh￿e expenences arKI wilh Ix)IWues from other sectors. Providing training and events to SUFP)rt staff wrkn'ThJ at a seni(x levd aThJ on the fr(￿t line. Infcffliing wlicy by resp)ThJiTr3 to relevant public cC￿Su1131￿)n5. Providing infom)ation resources for trK)melessness sector, and eVtsJen￿ on tha'r L*half. to influence the planning provision of Servi￿5. Maknng presentatons ￿ behalf of ts h(xnelessness Sect￿ to represent*ves of pcdtlical parbes. Facilitats"ng the voices of Fe0p￿ wrth lived expenence of h)melessness to inform pc4icy and practs"￿. Measlxes of success" Impfoved and partsHship betsveen t￿leSSresS seplice Fwoviders olher relevant statutcry. voluntary. a￿1 private ¢xgantsatK)r￿. Our policy and rewesentation work, includiTr3 ryjr lived experien￿ wth, is valued atNJ wdety acknowle(%Jed by the Nl Assembly. MLAS. the statutory sector. and g)vemmenl departs￿￿ts. Statulory and voluntary sector5 W)tk tCMJether in h￿hlights.￿3 issues ar0￿d kN)nielessness. Raiwj awareness of h¢Jnelessness thrc￿h events such as Nl Hcmeless Awareness Week. Homeless Connect is viewed by membe[5 as a vrtal resource In provKlry ￿k)rniat￿)n to ￿K1 sutP￿.ng merrt)ers. Home Starter Pack Service Basic starter padts are promded for homeless people movmg into pemtsnenl acc(xnmc•JatI(￿ tr> hdp them to sustain tenancies and wevent honElesSr￿Ss. Measures of success.. Number of packs Oislribuled I tenants in receipt of pa(*s. SuSta'na￿1ty of tenancies. Homeless Connect IA company limited by ￿￿antee. not havwbg a share C4Mta) TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT Fare$haJe in Ntxthem Ireland TackiirKJ waste by di¥ert]'ng and redistn'buting W qualty 'in date. food 1Th￿sty to crfga)isat￿s a￿1 charth.es w(ffking to allevkite fLKKI P￿ety In C(ynn￿nrtieS thrw Northern IrelaTrJ. Measures of SUC￿$s. Volume of f(M)d redistributed. Reductson in focxj ￿ng to landfill. Recipient (KganisatK)ns &avirrfJ ￿theY wrchases they are1hen able lo use other r￿e$s[lieS. Northem Ireland Frontline Ne￿ork SupFM)rtsng workef5 in the and ststut¢Ny sectr)rs wiYkirwJ on Ihe fr(￿tIne wrth Ihose expenenang homelessness. ￿rtheM Ireland Fr(￿Illne Netwoth works wi partnership vnth the UK wkde Fronline Ne￿¥c￿ so that frontline thers can come tCrf3ether ¥Mth others lo share their eX[￿￿CeS. Me*ures of success" Number of registered mernber5. Level of engagemenl the netKrfk. Links bet￿yeen the frC￿lline voice a￿1 deU.sKxHnake￿. Public Benefit The aclivibes curTenty carried out forthe public benefil by Hc￿eleSS Comecl can be ￿0adty catwised Y￿thin ow Missi(￿ statement Policy and representatM)n Menl)ership SUPF*)rt Home Starter Pxk Service F3reShare in Nl fcod shanng ne1￿)[k Northem Ireland Frontline NetknrK . LNed exF)ei*nce of htyn*SS[￿. These broad cate9)￿l￿r6 of act￿￿"eS are cu￿enty carned for the Put4￿ benefrt. visx>n is to see an erNJ to hcynelessness in Northem Irela￿J. The company's chariiatrAe wrposes are specfficaly restricted lo the fokn%ing to relieve povety, distress, S￿knesS and inyrove the con(htN)ns of kfe for PWF4e wrth"n Ncrfthem Ireland particularly for those that are Pthieless or vulnerable to ￿t(￿nIng homeless. to ￿tter educate on issues associated with IK(nelessness for the public benefit. in furtheran￿ of these objethes. lo pYonKAe and impme the effectiveness of chaiities. voluntary and communty groups. and other agencies in their provision of serwces to people wtK> are homeless aTrJ those vulnerable to becomirwJ homeless. by Ihe provisK)n of conferences, trwnirMJ. inf0m1ab￿, advice and other facilth'es. serwces or support lo acl as a rwesentatNe Exmty those eThJaged in w(*k ￿th pecple who a￿ tronEless in ￿131￿1 to govemment F(Ilicies and legLSlats.c￿ and bnThJ tC*Jether in C￿nCil or conference or otherwise rewesentab.ves of y￿￿tary aJencies. ststut(ry authLYths othef agencies invdved with pe(ple who are hyear strategy for 2024-2027 and a new 2-year operab'onal plan 2024-2026. We will also_ Further develop people who have fNed exFerience of h(￿￿leSSnesS to help infonn the H￿Sir￿j Executsve's homelessness actk)n plan aThJ h)mebessness services m￿e widely. Visit at least 4 member sefvices to discuss FK)licy. wacts.ce and wder issues around their w(¥k, whilst undertaking a review of H￿nesess c(￿neCt'S Pc4icy Fc￿uM aThJ imp5emenbrMJ imFxovements. Devebp new partnerships for Fareshare wrth celebrty chefs and th)nor5. Devebp fvmthjre project to a￿g H(xne Starter Packs. Conth'nue with organiSab￿al reslruciure lo support the (kvebpment of seNi¢es to strengthen our core infrastructure to sustain wr woth thrcrtKJh ts (kvekwnl of an inccrfne generabon strategy. Homeless Connect IA company lirnited by ￿￿￿)tee. ￿t a sh￿e c4Mtal TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT Conts'nue to suprM)rt staff and vdunleers, prOTh￿e integraion and a cti)perkne team M)rkiThJ environment. Creditor payment policy We SUPFOrt a p￿C￿P1 payment strategy and tar9ets payment fcr gcty)ds and services to be made wrthin aJreed paynEnt terrr6 or ¥￿'n 30 days fdbvfing mcmth of receipt of ￿V(d￿S not in thspute. Going concern The financial stalernents have been on a gcirNJ Cc￿ceM basis. The Trustees assess whelher the use of ￿[r￿j con￿rn is approprule i.e , Nthet￿r there are ary material uncertairthes related to events or cc￿di1￿)nS that cast S￿nifiCant (k)ubt on ￿ alylity of the chanty to conb.nue as a gcrfng concem. The Trustees mae this aSSessn￿t in respect of a perKxJ of one year from the date of approval of the financia ststements. While the nalure of the charity's ¢c￿e funding is such that trustees carwt be ￿rtan Ihat Fryecled future frjnding will materidise arKJ. as such. are unable to provKJe a Ir￿ guarantee that ￿ charty will conts.nue as a g￿r￿j CC￿￿rn indefinitely. (Mjr judgement C￿ the bas￿ of the evK1￿ce uj￿en￿ avadable. ￿ that rt is reas￿ble to assume that rt can C(￿tinUe 0￿ratIng for a fijrther 12 rr¥)nths. Structure, govemance and Man￿rnent Flomeless Connect LS a cwy limrted ty guarJ)tee which is ￿eMed by rts MemorarNJun aTrJ Atbcles of AsgxIats(￿. Recruitment and appointmenl of truslees Homeless Connecfs Board members are rK¥ninated aTrJ elected ￿IK￿lY ty full mem￿￿ at the Annual General Meetng (AGMI, ￿ard n￿nL￿rS can also ￿ coipted th1o￿h extema selection Ftt￿ess. Extsknng Board menl)ers must stand dovm after 3 ￿arS n Offi￿ bJt are el￿1)Ie for reelectK)n ￿ k) a maxwnum of 9 y&ws' service after which they must stand down PeM￿nenty. Induction and training of Iwstèes Once elecled, new truslees undertake a Prt)ard I￿lUCt￿1n and ¥e inwted k) take part in govemance tra'nmg. DeciSi(￿S regarding strategie devek¥rtnent and or￿nISatIOr￿l outpuis cKrtecAr*es are decided by the Board. on the advice of senior staff. NJI expeThJrture is m0nrtC￿ed and agreed in lir* Y￿th agreed and documented ffinancial procedures. OFeral]onal issues and staff FerformwKe in lirE H(￿desS C￿neCt c*iJecbves are managed by staff in accordance wth the handbcm) Arrangements for setting key managemeni personnel remuneratic Staff salaries are alKJned to National Joinl C￿1ClI (WC) Salary Scales. sufy'ed to secunty of fuThJirNJ The Chairperson trustees woth whcAly cm a volunlary basts ￿￿1ve no rerwneratson. I￿nUseS. or beneffts4n- kind of have any FensK)n enbkments. ￿'keWISe. y￿Unte￿5 a￿ nol remunerated. Oul-of-F<)cket expenses are pad in line wrth gcMJJ p(actJce. The Chief Execub've Officerfs (CEO) reMuneratiC￿ is set by the Board c4 Trustees referra to WC scales. Organisational structure The Board is resFX)nsible f{￿ the g0Veman￿ of the charity The trustees delegate the runnirNJ of the orgatysatic to the CEO. wrthin a framew￿￿￿ of delegated aulhc￿ty. The Board meets 4woxinKltely every quarter. There are two sub commill￿s" (1) Finance. Audrt ar)d Risk aTrJ (2) Human Resources. These sub-comnNttees cwiwise members of the Board and meet quarterty. Homeless Connect IA cOMp￿)Y lirnited by ￿aT￿tee. not hav1￿ a sh￿e c4xla) TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT Relationships with related parties Trustees Duriry the year, some H(v￿lesS Connect trust*s. through their profess￿nal capacites. trans3clh)r6 kn￿th the chariL2ble company. e.g.. meM￿rship. Tlw trans3th.￿￿ were camed out an ann's lenglh basis on the same temis and c(ThJtbons as available tr> olher meM￿rs. Fair EMplO￿ent Homeless Connect is an equal OPFX)thnty emtAoyer. The aim of cwr p)licy is to ensure that no applicanl or staff member receives less favourable treatment on gr(￿rIjS of a￿. disabffity. manial status. Fdth"cal OpinK￿. race, religious bel￿fs, sex or sexual onentab¢M. They Sh￿jk1 nol ￿ dLs&Jvantaged by c¢Mdrt]C￿S or requirements which are mt cl)pctively JusffiaL4e. or which can be accommcdated through makiTr3 reasonable adjustments. where per5fX)s are disabled (as defi￿1 in tt￿ Elsthlty ￿SCnn￿natK)n Act 1995) or whith ¥e rK•t relevart to Selecth)n criteria and personnel W(￿edureS be reviewed r￿larty lo ensure that i￿11¥￿￿U21S are recrurted, pr(Knoted and treated in all other ways purely on the basis of merrt and abdty to do the for whch they have applied. To er6ure that the talent and resources of slaff memEers are ulilised to the fvll and that no N)b appliGant cf staff menkner received less favcmjrable treatrnent on the grounds of his ￿ her 4e. disabilty. marrtal status, wltts'cal opinK)n, race. religK)us bel￿fs. sex or sexual onentatTron. Netther should cxX)dttTr￿S or requirements that cannot be th)wn lo be relevant to Perf0m￿nCe di5￿1van￿ge hithr. To e￿￿, H￿elesS C￿neC1 will fulfil its xKial res￿%￿lIty towards rts staff membets and the ecmmunty in wtrmch ti operates. Comply with the legal obllgabc￿S imposed by the Fair EmtAoyment {Ncth Ireland> Acts. Review at least once every three years rts emFAoyinent CCThF¥)sbon and prathces to Iktermine where members of each eonYnuThty are ew￿l¥J, aNI are likety to Conts￿e lo enjoy, far parts'cipat￿n in empbyTnenL Seek to give all staff ￿MberS equal OPFQrtunty arwj enccwraJen￿nI to tKcxJress wthin ￿ orw¥satr)n by implementing an affim￿lIVe acti(￿ prc*Jramme. where apwopriale. Provide facilrties for any staff MeM￿r w￿> ￿lieve$ that inequitable treatrnent has t￿en applEd to him I her within the sc(pe of thts FX)h"cy and to raise the matter through aF￿r￿riale grievance p￿￿edures. All staff members have a resFKmsibility to accept their Per¥￿al invc4venEnt in practral applica1K￿ of this tx)licy, but spectfic responsibility f￿lS utx)n the CEO, kn.ne Manager5 and staff wofesSK￿aIty involved in recruitmen( slaff memLw alministratM)n traini￿. AJI &aff members are requir&1 to conwy wth the I discriminate ajainst persOr￿ d￿abd￿.eS vthen tecwitir¥J staff. Pkneover. we do not discriminate againsl staff members vAth disabilthes" In terms of empkjymenl. In the (PFQrtunrt￿S aff(￿ded h"mlher for prcxnokn, transfer, trainry or any other tenefiL By refusing to aff￿d himlher cr delibefthry nol aff￿di￿ hinther. any such cpportunty. Of By dtsmts&rKJ hinVTr*r ￿ suL4'ectnJ hinther to ary delnffenL Whefe any arraThJements made by or on ￿half of us. or *y Fthysical fealure of premises (tojped ty us. pla the person wrth a dthility at a substantsal disadvantage in comparwn Fef50rts who are not disabled, we will take reasonable steps {consKlenry the circwnslances of the Gase) in order to prevent the arrat¥Jements or feature having a detrimental impact. Homeless Connect will aim lo provide equality of Op￿rtUnIty in employTnent to alt persons and not discriminate unlawfully against Job apFAicants or emF4oyees on any of Ihe wolected equality grourKls, which are.'- gender. indudirMJ gender reaS￿gnmert. and th)se WIK) idenbfy as non4xnary and gender-neutral. Homeless Connect (A company limited by ￿a￿￿tee, not havww a shwe TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT pwnancy or matemty. havir¥J or not havng dependants martal or civil partnership status, religious or similar ptru'lostthical I￿1*f K4ibcal cpnion rac￿ group (ind￿1￿j Cdc￿r. naIN￿alty, ethnic CA nat￿￿21 ￿lgIrts, Irish Tmeller conYnuThty) sexual orI￿lat10Th disatrxtty Staff Appraisal PolKy We have a f(￿aIsed perf0m￿nCe management system. This system ccrfnwses obj.ethe setting. tAanning, one lo one superMsTron. and yearty apwaisaLs. li Prov￿eS staff MeM￿r5 with an oprthunty to k invol￿d in the setting of objeth.ves and contnbuting to our on9￿ng develowEnL Risk Managemenl Hc¥neless c￿nnect rnaintains a risk mar￿en￿nt Sy51￿n. thich seeks Io ￿l￿tsfy F￿￿thSe any risks b its adivitses and the delivery of rts objectives aTrJ puts in place m&￿ureS privy￿ate k) the management of those risks. The Ma￿ nsks are categ)nwJ as: Reduclion in funding The risk of losing core furwj'tng, leaJiThJ to the pcrtenb'al ktss of key slaff with ￿tal e4)ertise exwience Lack of demand for our se￿iCeS The nsk that other ￿gan￿lt￿Th may offer the same servi￿. Failure lo respond to changing environment The risk that the o￿anISat￿ (k)es take a proactive 4>p￿h lo char¥Je. HcAneless Connect has Put in FAate a ria register. whith is ¢hxely n￿mi10red Contin￿1$1Y by the senDr slaff and Board to forn￿lIy rec(¥d the key nsks arNJ act￿￿S taken k> nmninmse tIM)se Tisks. Financial risks The chantys acb'viti'es also exFrf)se it to several financial risks indu(fing cash Ilow risk, crelfrt risk and liquidty risk. The use of financial derivatsves is gover￿ by fv chanty's pc4icies detailed in note 1 of the Finanual statements approved by the board of trustees. N*hich provide wntten wr￿lPIeS ￿ the use of fin￿)cIal derivab.ves to manage these risks. chanty dces ￿1 Use denvknve financia inslrunEnts fi)r SFeculthe PWFM)ses. Cash flow risk The charty's acts.v￿.es rdy prineipalty on funding from extemal sources. Cash flow nsk is managE)J by ensuring appropnate fuThJing ￿ in tAace before corrmittsr¥J to any relevant expenditt¥e and cjose n￿￿lIA)￿ng of available resources. Credit risk The charty's ptincipal ffinwlcial assets are barth balan￿ ar)d cash. trade. and other re￿Iva)leS. The cha￿S credrt risk is primarity attnbutable to rts traje receNables. The arTh)unts presented in the balan￿ sheet are net (4 allowances for doubthjl receivables. An alkI￿ance for Impalm￿nI is made where there is an identsfied loss event which. based on previous experience. is evidence of a reducI￿n in the recoveraExlty of the cash flows. Liquidity risk The chatty's liquidty risk ts man2gthJ by ensumg that an alequale level of resaves is Mantal￿d in aCc￿dance th the Reserves Policy established by the Tnjstees. 10 Homeless Connect IA cc1np￿Y lirnited by W￿l￿tee, not havi￿ a sh￿e coxta STATEMENT OF TRUSTEES. RESPONSIBILITIES for the finanaal yeai ended 31 March 2024 The trustees (WTr￿ are also the diredors of Homeless Comect for the purposes of C4Jnpary law) are resp(￿sbIe fcK prepariTh3 the trust￿S reF￿ and the financial stalements in XCOrdan￿ the UniÈd kn'n9kn1 AcccMJnt]'ng Standards (Unrted lfjngd(¥n Generaly A￿pted AccounbrwJ Practice) arKI applicable law and regU1atK￿S. Company law requires trÈ truslees lo prepare finanaal stalements each fina￿￿1 year. Under company law the trustees must approve the financial slatemerts unless they are Sat￿ffied that tkw give a true and fair view of the stale of affairs of the charitable company of rts incLYniThJ resour￿ atNI aFfdicab)n of res(￿rCeS. includiThJ its income expendtiure, for that perMXI. In prewirMJ these financial slalements, the trust￿ are required to: selecl suilable acc(MJntirNJ PK)licies arml atpty them cortsisterty: obseNe the mettr￿S and principles in Ihe CharTtses SORP" make ju&3ements and esb'mates that are reas(￿￿ble aTrJ prudent,. state Whett￿r app￿1¢able UK AccounbThJ Standarts have been fc41owed, sul¥ect lo ary material departures d￿ClOSed and exF4aned in the financkil statements,. prepare the finanaal statements (m the gThrKJ C￿cern bas.s unless rt is inapprowate to presume that the charrtable company will conts'nue in tmjsiness. The trustees are resF￿s1￿e f￿ keepiThJ adg]uate accounb"TrJ rec￿dS that are sufficEnt lo show and explain the charrtable company s tranwtr)ns and disclose with rea$C￿able accuracy a any bme the financial pwtKin of the charrtable company and enable them to ensure that the financial Stat￿nents (omply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also reswnsible for safeguardirHJ the assets of the chantable company and hen￿ for taking reasonable steps for the prevenbon and deteclK>n of fraud a￿1 other ryuL7rrt￿s. Discloswe of infomiation to auditor Each trustee has taken sleps that they 0￿h1 to have taken as a trustee in iyder to make themselves aware of any relevant audrt informalK￿ and to establBh thal the chanty's audrtor is aware of thal inf(￿at￿n. The trustees c(x)firm that Ihere is rK> rel￿an1 inforniatN)n thal they krKYW of and of they know auditcx is unaware. Small cofflpanies provision statement This reFKXt has t*en prepared in aC0)rd￿Ce wilh the small COMP￿leS regime uTrJer the Cunpanies Ad 21X)6. Appoinlment of auditor FollowiTNJ a tendering exercise, mul{kn￿ at¥J Company were apporfed as ￿￿torS at the AGM 2022 for an inits.al >year penoj Iherefcfe are now in th￿r 2m year of contract. Approved by the Board of Trnstees. and authorised fcrf issue on 18th September 2024 and signed on its behalf by by". by Maria Jennings Director and Trustee Eddie Magowan Director and Trustee