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2023-03-31-annual-return

Charity registration number NIC103383

Company registration number NI038084 (Northern Ireland)

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ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

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LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

Trustees Mr D Collins
Ms E Dunlop
Mr B Archer
Ms J L English
Mr F Smyth
Mr K Simpson
Ms B Foley
Ms E Stevenson (Appointed 22 July 2022)
Dr D MacDermott (Appointed 30 November 2022)
Prof D J Morrow (Appointed 30 November 2022)
Ms B Anderson (Appointed 13 June 2023)
Secretary Ms K McCurry
Charity number NIC103383
Company number NI038084
Principal address 100 Great Patrick Street
Belfast
BT1 2LU
Registered office 100 Great Patrick Street
Belfast
BT1 2LU
Auditor GMcG BELFAST
Chartered Accountants & Statutory Auditor
Alfred House
19 Alfred Street
Belfast
BT2 8EQ
Bankers Danske Bank
Donegall Square West
Belfast
BT1 6JS
Solicitors Norman Shannon & Co
3-5 Union Street
Belfast
BT1 2JF

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CONTENTS

Page
Chairman's statement 1
Trustees' report 2 - 16
Independent auditor's report 17 - 22
Statement of financial activities 23
Balance sheet 24
Statement of cash flows 25
Notes to the financial statements 26 - 44

INCLUDE YOUTH CHAIRMAN'S STATEMENT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023 Welcome to our annual progress report for the period April 2022 to March 2023 In thls year we have faced thallenging and tough tirnes what with 8merging from Covid 19 restrictions and Ihe soaring cost-of-living whlch impacted greatly upon the most vulnerable in our society. Also. due to ending of the European Sooal Fund staff faced the prospect of redundancies, and we acknowledge how stressful this period was. Throughout the uncertainties, challenges, and changes one thing remained constanl - Ihe delivery of a strong. uncompromising. highly committed and professional service to all our young people. Our achievements and success are due dkctly to staff dedicatlon and hard work. so Ihank you. Wilh the success in gaining UK Shared Prosp8rlty Funding. this enabled us to greatly diminish the number of redundancies and we are currently actively seeking a number of additional funding streams. We sadly lost some slaff, and I would like lo thank them all for their work with us I commend the work of the Director and Senior Managemenl Team along with the IY Board for all their expertise. vision, leadership, and dedication to face all the challenges Our vision. mission and values inspire us to deliver for our young people and ensure we continue to support and champion their voices in Nl. We have a slrong and commilled 8oard and we slrengihened il wilhin this p8riod by w8lcoming four addilh)nal new members to Ihe Board Blair Anderson, Denise McDermotl. Duncan Morrow and Liz Stevenson. I would also like to thank lh6 staff of Viable lor all Ihelr support and expertise in Ihis period. I was delighted to see all Ihe achievements. personal development and employment opportunities gamied by our young people. It is astonishing to see how our young people have overwme so many barriers and hardships and we are lucky to be able lo work with such inspiralional young people We are so graleful to all our partners, lunders. corporate sponsors, and donors for all their support and contributions. Your support and funding have such a major impacl on the work that w8 do and on the lives of our young people. Charilies such as IY increasingly play 8 Major role in provlding crrtical support lo young people especialty in these difficult limes. Special thanks must go to our Director. Paddy. lor all his great work. commltment and dedication over the years. He will be greatly rnissed. and wo wish hlm well in his retiremént. W8 will continue lo work in challenglng and uncertain times, and IY will do everything Ihey can to help young people to work towards the positive futures they desen Donal Colllns Chalnnan Dale..

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

Chief Executive Introduction

Over this past year Include Youth has supported 443 young people on our Give and Take Scheme. 309 or 70% of the young people left us to go into Employment, Training or Further Education. The Scheme operates from the following sites Armagh, Omagh, Derry, Ballymena, Belfast and Lisburn. The Employability Scheme which, we manage for the Western Trust, and the Belfast Trust Employability Scheme, which we manage in partnership with Start 360, supported 212 young people last year. There were 149 young people who moved into Employment, Training or Further Education.

One of the major highlights of last year was the acquisition of our new Headquarters in Belfast. It also serves as a base for the Belfast Give and Take Scheme and an office for 24 staff. The premises are shared by our partners VOYPIC and our social enterprise Viable. The accommodation is spacious, bright and colourful. It is a big hit with young people and staff alike. There are many additional facilities for the young people to enjoy, from the fully equipped training kitchen to the sensory room and the multi-media room.

The Care for Change project started in September 2022 and is funded by National Lottery Community Fund. The new role of Participation and Skills Coordinator will support 6 Expert By Experience Youth Mentors per year on a part time basis. The project is funded until 2025.

Regional Development Project on Child Sexual Exploitation funded by EA started in April 2022. Our Practice Manager has coordinated a small group designed training materials and resources for programme delivery which began in June to local EA groups. Include Youth has facilitated awareness raising workshops on CSE and delivered an OCN Level 2 in CSE.

There have been substantial developments in youth justice policy over this past year with the launch of Department of Justices new Strategic Framework for Youth Justice. We hold an influential seat on the Implementation Group for the Strategy and have engaged in conversations with senior officials about the action plan for its implementation, identifying opportunities for co-design with children and young people.

In September “Save our Service”, "dontletusdown" was launched and shared good news stories, stats and graphics to highlight the impact of the Give and Take programme over many years. The voice of young people lead this campaign and we used videos, podcasts, graphics on social media along with working with the young people to write their own letters to local MLA’s, Government departments and decision makers.

It is with a heavy heart that I write my final report as I retire next year. I have enjoyed my 20 years at Include Youth and have seen at first hand, the excellent work our staff do to change the lives of young people for the better. I am confident that this work will continue to evolve. I would like to thank the staff for their dedication and for creating the fantastic organisation that I was proud to lead for the last 8 years. My thanks also to our voluntary Board of Directors. Thank you for your support and advice. Finally, as always, my thanks to the young people at Include Youth. You have always been the inspiration for me and the staff and I know my memories of what you have achieved will continue to inspire me in the future.

Paddy Mooney

Chief Executive Officer

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

The trustees present their report and financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2023.

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in note 1 to the financial statements and comply with the charity's Memorandum and Articles of Association, the Companies Act 2006 and "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)".

Objectives and activities

The trustees have taken cognisance of the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland's guidance on public benefit as defined in the Charities Act (Northern Ireland) 2008.

Include Youth is a regional rights-based charity supporting young people in or leaving care, from disadvantaged communities or whose rights are not being met, to improve their employability and personal development. The charity influences public policy in the areas of youth justice and youth employment. All the charity's work is underpinned by the voice of children and young people, evidence-based practice and international children’s rights standards. Include Youth's vision is of a society that realises and fulfils the rights and potential of all children.

During the year ended 31 March 2023 Include Youth developed and agreed a Strategic Plan for 2022-2025. The following sets out the main activities undertaken to further the charity's purposes for the public benefit and its achievements during the year ended 31 March 2023, the first year of the Strategic Plan for 2022-2025 against its strategic themes and aims.

The trustees have paid due regard to guidance issued by the Charity Commission in deciding what activities the charity should undertake.

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

Achievements and performance Strategic Aim: To deliver services that improve the lives of children and young people

Give and Take Core:

Give and Take Core is our flagship programme which offers personal/social development and employability support for care experienced young people aged 16-21 who require preparation for moving into mainstream employment, training, and education. Its main aims are to improve their long-term employability, confidence and self-esteem.

Give and Take is a youth work model providing an individually tailored, needs led, wrap around support package across seven sites in Northern Ireland, young people are referred to the programme by social workers. Young people work alongside their youth workers to identify goals for their individual action plan, and regularly review these as they progress through the programme.

All young people are referred into the programme because it has been recognised that mainstream provision does not meet their current needs and young people can spend up to 18-24 months on the core programme. It provides a service that works at their pace and gives them the space and time to fully prepare for entering mainstream employment, education, and training. The Give and Take scheme has built it’s reputation over the years in being able to engage with young people that have not engaged with other services and this year has continued to see us working with 125 young people that require this additional, flexible support.

This year was marked by the full return to face-to-face provision as the restrictions of Covid lifted, and we were delighted to be able to host several celebration events across Northern Ireland to mark the fantastic achievements of our young people. All areas also ran a full summer programme for the first time since Covid, with young people participating in activities such as paintball, rock climbing, horse-riding, and escape rooms.

67% moved into Education/ Training/ Employment

"You're with people who have the same experiences as you and that makes it a bit easier to adjust, and to feel welcome."

Young Person

"Keep supporting and encouraging young people to want to get into employment. I think what [Include Youth] do is excellent and the relationships they have with the young people are visible, they want to be supportive." Social Worker

[Give & Take staff] “Value the young people, they see their worth, they home in on what the young people are good at, and encourage that, and give them opportunities... Everyone we have referred to them, they have been able to find their thing." Social Worker

Give and Take Transitions:

Our Transitions service is one of the core components of the Give and Take Scheme and has been able over the years to help young people access, maintain, and thrive within their chosen move into mainstream employment, training and education. Transitions had been funded through Esmee Fairbairn until October 2022, since this point, we have embedded Transitions within the core delivery of the Give and Take programme.

All young people leaving Give and Take are offered support through Transitions based around their individually assessed needs and detailed in their individual action plan. Young people are provided with social, emotional and practical support to help them navigate their way within their chosen ETE provision. Transitions will advocate for our young people with the employer, training provider or course lead within education to ensure that the transition is a positive experience.

The support tends to be more intense at the start and then tapers off once the young person settles into their placement and starts to build their own capacity. Transition support is made available for a full 12 months and has enabled many of our young people to take this next crucial step on the ladder toward their future career.

“When I got my first salary, I was so happy that I worked myself and I got my wage... that was one of my most important or exciting experiences of Give & Take.” Young Person

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

Give and Take One To One:

The Give and Take One to One programme is a regional person-centred programme supporting young people who have experienced or are at risk of experiencing Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE).

The programme aims to develop each young person’s protective factors and supports young people on a one-toone basis, to improve their health and well-being, confidence, and resilience, in order to improve their personal development and long-term employability.

Between April 2022 and March 2023:

“ You really have helped me and I when I say I couldn’t have got this far without you I mean it! You’ve helped me more than you know and believed in me until I started to believe in myself. Because of you, I am so close to becoming the woman I’ve always wanted to be!” Young Person

Give and Take Outreach:

The Give and Take Outreach service supports young people living in communities and those preparing to leave education with their move into mainstream employment, training and education.

The programme is delivered in groups and provides young people with the opportunity to identify and work on the skills required to make this a positive experience.

Over this period our Outreach programmes worked with 192 young people across Northern Ireland, helping them to achieve a Level 1 in Employability, undertake a vocationally relevant course and improve their confidence and work-related capabilities.

“I remember one boy in particular who had no interest in doing anything and he actually did go on then to Tech to gain qualifications. He said that the programme in itself let him see that there was something different from school that you could still learn and learn in a fun way." Teacher

[The skills developed through the programme] "Really do prepare [the young people] to make the transition to the world of work. I have seen people who were standing up and talking out and taking part in things and it was hard to get them to do that [in other classes] ... I have seen them brought out of their shells in different ways ... their own personal skills have developed... we have definitely seen a whole development in their confidence." Teacher

"I can think of two characters in particular... very hard to get motivated in class... and they met me after the first session in the corridor and were asking ‘when are we going again?’... These were two of my most challenging students... and they thrived on it." Teacher

Give and Take Start:

Start is an employability programme for young people aged 16-24 in the Greater Belfast, and North Down and Ards area, delivered in partnership with Northern Ireland Alternatives.

This year, 92 young people participated on the programme, which consists of essential skills and employability skills training, personal development opportunities, teambuilding, qualifications and mentoring support across three delivery sites. 30 young people (33%) were supported to progress into employment this year, with a further 30 young people (33%) progressing into further education and training. Additionally, 51 young people (55%) achieved an OCN Level 1 qualification this year.

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

Give & Take Start continued:

Many young people on the Start programme have been significantly affected by the ongoing cost of living crisis, and they have benefited from support by the Start team, who offered advice and guidance in terms of budgeting and financial management, alongside the training opportunities that support the young people to develop, progress and achieve, thereby increasing their employment prospects.

“Since I joined the Start programme, I have gained more confidence in myself and my abilities. Start has helped by giving me some structure and I have greatly improved my self-belief and motivation.” Start participant

Essential Skills:

Essential Skills is a groundbreaking programme that equips young people with the skills to be able to make positive changes not just for themselves but for employers and society generally. Post-covid challenges continue to impact on the young people we work with, regarding their re-entry back into an educational environment and their ability to cope with the social aspect of a long period of isolation. The additional burden of the cost-of-living crisis makes it challenging for our young people to participate in our classes and further impacts on their continuation to meet the hardships they are faced with.

We continue to offer care experienced and disadvantaged young people Essential Skills in literacy, numeracy, and ICT across 10 sites and for our one-to-one programme. Our ESOL programme has continued to develop over this year, and we have become an accredited centre since February 2023. Long term- several of our tutors are currently undergoing ESOL training by TEFL because of the interest shown by all five regional trusts. This is largely due to the increasing number of unaccompanied minors that are coming to Northern Ireland. At present we provide four classes per week to cater for a range of levels. We anticipate that we will be delivering ESOL in all offices by the end of 2024.

From 1 April 22 to 31 Mar 23 – 169 qualifications were gained by 130 young people.

Employability service:

Belfast Trust - Update from BHSCT Employability service

Employability have been working with young people on the Give and Take scheme, doing a ‘Job Ready’ programme, helping them prepare for the world of work. They have attended various work tours; including a range of building sites with Graham Construction, Stiona IT, Templemore Baths, meeting staff, learning about various careers paths to employment. They have also gained skills through various teambuilding activities and exercises. This has also been offered out to young people across the Belfast Trust.

Young people in Belfast Trust have been support in accessing work placements, either stand alone, or as part of their further education course, including Health & Social Care placements in supported housing projects, mechanics (Issac Agnew), barbering (Bradleys Barbers) and hairdressing.

Young people have been supported to apply for various Band 2 positions within the Belfast Trust through ringfencing. They received supported throughout the process, including building CVs, completing application forms, attending interview prep sessions and mock interviews, and follow up from the interviews themselves.

Volunteering opportunities have been sourced through Oxfam, Cancer Research, Storehouse, Graham construction, while young people have been supported to gain part time/ full time employment in Hospitality & Retail (Hastings hotels, Sports Direct, The Avenue Cinema, Event Sec & Translink) Over the course of the year, 107 young people accessed employability service.

10 young people have participated in the Connected Service User Forum, discussing ways to improve the Leaving & After Care service for young people (see photos)

13 young people participated in the Jobstart pilot programme. Many achieved great outcomes, including:

David* who obtained a ring-fenced position in the Estates department and is being supported through the trust to complete his Plumbing Apprenticeship.

Sam* who acquired a Band 2 position in Medical records at Belfast City Hospital.

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

Sarah* who gained a permanent 30 hours per week contact in medical Records at the Royal Hospital.

Rachel* who obtained a full time position in the civil service.

Conor* who gained a social values position in Graham Construction in admin support.

Neil* who got a part time position in Sports Direct and is now participating in a training programme with Springboard.

Young people on Jobstart also participated in a number of social activities, including attending a Belfast Giants game,Christmas dinner, bowling and dinners.

(* not real name)

84% achieved desired outcomes 66% employment 44% education 15% placement 11% training 4% education

Western Trust Employability

The Western Trust Employability Service supported 105 young people. We had 87 young people leave the service. 28 (32%) of these young people commenced paid employment. 28 (32%) of young people moved into training and 15 (17%) moved into education. In total 71 (82%) of leavers had a positive move on, some of which into education or training and also gained a part time job. 16 (19%) of young people did not have a successful move on however most had engaged in some work related activity.

15 young people were employed through the Jobstart programme.

“I’d say I’m more than grateful for such a life changing opportunity. Learning something new every day and loving it every hour.” (Quote from young person)

“The patients love her and she is a hard worker and quick learner. Delighted to have her as part of the team.” (Quote from line manager)

105 young people were supported throughout the year. 82% positive move on

16 (19%) young people received support from the Employability Service but did not progress into Education, Training or Employment. These young people engaged in activities including work placements, job search and mentoring.

Connect:

The programme directly supported 52 young people aged 12-15 years who were known to be at risk. Three groups were established to take part in the programme within their own school setting for the initial phase. (Deele College, Royal & Prior (Co. Donegal), Holy Cross College (Co. Tyrone)).

The direct outputs of the project were:

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

Connect continued:

As a targeted intervention programme for young people ‘at risk’ the project worked directly with young people to support them to:

"The Connect programme gave me the opportunity to learn new skills and make new friends both north and south of the border....It was an experience that will stay with me for a long time."YP Quote

Care for Change project

This peer-mentoring project is led by young people working directly with their peers to identify and address emerging issues as a result of the pandemic. The Care for Change project empowers care-experienced young people to promote positive outcomes for other care-experienced young people and builds upon Include Youth’s ‘Expert by Experience’ (EBE) model of participation which advocates for and empowers young people to lead.

From April 22-March 23 Care For Change;

“ From working on the Care for Change programme my future has became brighter, I love working with the young people and ensuring their voices are heard. I have amazing support from the staff team and look forward to continuing my work on the programme.” (EBE young person Omagh)

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

Strategic Aim: To promote and protect the rights of children and young people

Policy:

It was another busy year for our policy advocacy work and an important one for raising awareness of our call to increase the minimum age of criminal responsibility. Our planned event to launch a series of blogs on the topic coincided with the release of the Department of Justice public consultation on proposals to increase the age. This provided a perfect opportunity to influence responses to the consultation, ensure a joint approach across the sector and at the same time highlight our new blog series. NIACRO, Children’s Law Centre, VOYPIC, and our colleagues from the Centre for Children’s Rights at Queen’s University Belfast joined us in presenting a unified call for action.

"There is a momentum now for change, a chorus of voices from a wide range of sectors saying that we must address how we treat children. These voices represent experts in neuroscience, forensic and child psychiatry, children’s rights advocates, both locally and globally, academics in the field of youth justice, youth and community work, who see the damage and long term impact of criminalising children. And here in this room and beyond we have organisations who have years of experience of supporting young people who have come into the justice system or are at risk of coming into it and can see the long lasting damage it can do." (Dr Paula Rodgers, speaking at November event)

Experts engaged with over 90 key stakeholders, including MLAs, government representatives, PSNI, leading academics and a range of voluntary and community sector representatives at our event on 28[th] November at QUB’s Riddell Hall. Our Ten Reasons Why Ten Is Too Young joint position paper was disseminated far and wide and has proved an important lobbying tool for advocating for a child rights compliant age of criminal responsibility.

Central to our policy advocacy work are the voices and experiences of young people and this work was enhanced this year with the arrival of our ‘Care for Change’ Expert by Experience Youth Mentors, who participated in a range of policy consultations. Our young people contributed to the gathering of evidence to inform our response to the Support for Leaving Care consultation, with 29 young people across all our offices taking part. Young people from across our programme also discussed issues in connection with how government is meeting its promises around full delivery of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, in advance of the UK examination. MLAs and key stakeholders heard from our young people about how the funding crisis regarding the loss of ESF funding impacted on them directly. As well as direct face to face meetings, young people across the programmes wrote letters to key people, spoke at events and were involved in media content.

"The police say they are there to help and protect but they don’t do that for everyone, I have never felt help or protection from them. I have a real anger when dealing with the police. I was 13 the first time I had dealing with the police and at the time I was in kinship care. I was told I was in a lot of trouble, but no one ask me what was going on or why I did what I did. It was just horrible, anytime I have had contact with them it makes me angry, once they knew me it was like they were always on my case. Its 10 times harder if you are in care." (Young person quote from IY submission to MACR consultation)

"They need to help us in dealing with the Home Office and specifically support for young people’s mental health as this process can be very hard." (Quote from young person in DoH Leaving Care response)

We continued to represent the views of our young people and practitioners through our membership of for a including the Children and Young People’s Strategic Partnership Offending Sub Group, the DoJ Implementation Group for Strategic Framework for Youth Justice, Regional Care and Justice Programme Stakeholder Group and PSNI Youth Champions. Throughout the year we engaged with decision makers, including lead reviewers from both the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care Services and HSC Leaving and Aftercare Review. Along with our colleagues in Children’s Law Centre, Amnesty and CAJ we raised concerns about the continued use of Spit and Bite Guards on children, engaging with senior staff in PSNI, Equality Commission, NI Human Rights Commission and NI Policing Board.

Responses submitted to policy consultations this year included:

Department of Health Adoption and Children (NI) 2022 Support for Care Leavers Department of Justice New Custodial Arrangements for Children Department of Justice Increasing the Minimum Age of Criminal Responsibility

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

Shared Learning Events:

This year we continued with our series of themed Shared Learning events. We invited stakeholders from the statutory and voluntary sector and had over 70 organisations represented. It was an opportunity to share and highlight good practice and areas of development.

Our two events were themed as follows:

Communications

The communications team had a busy year as we continued to promote the amazing work of Include Youth and shout from the roof top about the incredible young people we work with and for.

We are ecstatic to launch our brand new stylish website! We consulted with young people to gain insight as to what the site would look like and what they want to see on it. This fresh look will host all that we do at Include Youth from explaining our range of services, an updated news and articles section, policy responses and a section dedicated to young people so they can find all information they need easier. Why not check it out and let us know what you think! www.includeyouth.org

We launched a campaign to help highlight the amazing work of our ESF funded project Give and Take. There is no better way to show its impact then hearing from the young people about their experiences. We asked the young people what they wanted to call the campaign and the adeptly named it ‘ Don’t Let Us Down!’ using creative videos, graphics, statistics and hand written letters, we brought this to news, media, politicians, decisions makers, and hosted a range of breakfast mornings to get their message across.

Journey books were also created to help young people document their personal reflections when taking part on the Give and Take programme. These colourful booklets are a fantastic way of engaging young people and mark their acheivements throughout their time with us. Along with space for photos, positive notes of encouragement and future letters, these are something that the young people can take with them as a keepsake.

We used a variety of platforms to share the amazing work throughout the year, including 12 videos, multiple press releases, the continuation of the podcast series, and creating and publishing engaging graphics for content across our social media platforms.

Fb: 3,564 In: 1,930 Tw: 7,372 LinkEdin: 291

Total followers: 13,157

+1,202 increase in last year

INCLUDE YOUTH

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

Strategic Aim: To develop, support and invest in our staff, partnerships and volunteers

Workforce Development:

Include Youth highly values staff and their training and personal development is key to ensuring a quality service and delivered by skilled staff. Supervision remains an important aspect of supporting staff. Monthly supervision is facilitated by line managers. Training has included the following:

Staff Wellbeing:

The wellbeing of Include Youth staff is a key priority and our Wellbeing Champions team have regular check-ins with local projects and teams. We have provision through Staff Care for free counselling sessions for staff and wellbeing initiatives have included:

Training and Development:

Care Awareness workshops continued to be delivered to voluntary & statutory organisations to raise awareness and understanding of some of the language used, issues and risks, strengths, and statistics. The OCN L4 qualification in ‘Supporting Care Experienced Children and Young people was delivered to 12 organisations.

Resources were developed to raise awareness on child sexual exploitation, and these included an awareness

raising workshop on CSE, and an OCN L2 in ‘Understanding CSE’.

The CSE workshops were delivered to over 30 groups across NI to voluntary, statutory, and community organisations.

Quotes from participants:

"I found talking and sharing experiences really beneficial. It was helpful to hear about the different models of CSE"

"Following the training I’m more aware of the red flags, will share the learning with teams and young people

"The training was very well delivered and facilitators were very knowledgeable, a fantastic workshop!"

Include Youth Patrons:

At Include Youth we are priviledged to have such a talented team of people that are committed to promoting and supporting our vision.

We are thankful for the time and effort given to support Include Youth, using their area of expertise to promote the rights of care experienced young people. From attending events, celebration awards and using their platforms to get behind campaigns and voices of the young people we work with, we are grateful for all they do.

This year, we welcomed new patron Ged Armstrong. Ged is a digital creator with over 22K followers on his social media platforms. He is passionate about telling his own story to inspire and advocate on behalf of young people. We are delighted to have him on board!

We are looking forward to working this team to help promote the rights of children and young people. Our Patrons are: -

Ged Armstrong: social media influencer, advocate and marketing guru Emer Maguire: BBC presenter and International award-winning science communicator Marcus Ulster Rugby and Ireland international Brendan Irivine Olympian boxer Eric O’Sullivan: Ulster Rugby and Ireland international James MacSorley: Team GB wheelchair basketball player and Tokyo 2020 Paralympian Professor Phil Scraton: Criminologist, Academic, Social Activist and Author

INCLUDE YOUTH

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

Charity Partners

We were delighted to be chosen by Law Society NI and New Look to be their charity partners:

Law Society NI

In December 2022, The President of the Law Society of Northern Ireland, Brian Archer announced that Include Youth will be the Society’s charity of the year.

The Society’s new President joined Donal Collins, Chairperson and Claire Meenehan, Skills Manager of Include Youth at their new premises in Great Patrick Street, Belfast to formally launch the new charity partnership. The Law Society of Northern Ireland have been working with Include Youth throughout 2023 to raise awareness, funds and support all that we do.

From supporting our Christmas appeal, presenting at Law Society Annual Ball, breakfast mornings and representing Include Youth at conferenes, there have been fantastic opportunities to promote the work we do reaching a different audience.

“The Law Society of Northern Ireland will be working with Include Youth throughout 2023 to raise awareness, funds and support for the important work which they undertake with young people with care experience and young people from disadvantaged communities.”

— Brian Archer, President of Law Society NI

“We are delighted to have been chosen as the Society’s charity of the year and to have this opportunity to welcome Brian Archer, their President, to our new premises to mark what will be a successful charity partnership for the year ahead.”

— Donal Collins, Chairperson of Include Youth

New Look

We were very excited to announce that New Look will be one of our official charity partners that started in January 2023.

With 24 stores regionally throughout Northern Ireland, we are very grateful for the opportunities to help raise awareness of young people with care experience.Throughout the stores, till point donations canbe made in aid of Include Youth. Each week, New Look staff have been engaging in activities within their store to support the work of Include Youth. Events such as spinathons, fancy dress, presentations, and coffee mornings. We are delighted to be able to host New Look for their team days in our new exciting Belfast 100GPS office. We will continue to work closely with the team to develop employability initatives to support young people.

“We are thrilled to have been chosen by New Look to be their charity partner for 2023. We want to use this year to continue to raise awareness of issues affecting young people with care experience and promote their rights. We are excited to see all the fundraising activities that will take place this year to help support the work of Include Youth. ”

— Paddy Mooney, Include Youth Director

INCLUDE YOUTH

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

Strategic Aim: To enhance the resilience and sustainability of Include Youth

New Premises: We have moved!

November 2022 was a very momentous occasion in the history books for Include Youth as we moved into our new building, 100GPS along with VOYPIC and Viable.

We bid a fond farewell to our friends in Youth Action who have hosted us over the past two years and have begun to settle into our new surroundings. We are very excited about the amazing potential that it has to impact the young people we work with.

This move was over 8 years in the making, and what was once a derelict warehouse is now home to a dedicated youth space in the heart of Belfast. Young people from Include Youth and VOYPIC helped co-design the building, giving their input into colour tones, design elements, layouts and feelings of their space. This modern youth space would not have been possible without those who walked alongside us, and we are extremely grateful for all the contributions from Government departments, funders, architects, and those who have supported us on this journey. Thank you.

In December, after clearing our moving boxes, we put up our Christmas tree as the three organisations came together to host a ‘Mince Pie Morning’. This soft launch was for friends, funders and colleagues of the sector to have a ‘sneak peek’ of the building before the Grand Opening in June.

We are hoping that together we can build a brighter future for young people, and this state-of-the-art space helps us achieve this.

INCLUDE YOUTH

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

Financial review

At 31 March 2023, the total funds of the charity amounted to £1,541,854 comprising restricted funds of £1,017,668 and unrestricted funds of £524,186. The charity's principal funding sources are detailed in notes 3-4 of the financial statements.

The unrestricted funds are considered to be essential to provide sufficient funds to cover any unforeseen costs which may arise and fulfil the legal obligations of the charity in the event that current levels of income are not maintained.

In order to comply with the statutory and best practice guidelines, the charity’s reserves are split into the following categories:

Restricted Funds

These are reserves held which are subject to specific stipulations as laid down by the donor. The charity has no authority to expend these reserves on general running expenses unless specified by the donor. The balance in total restricted funds at 31 March 2023 was £1,017,668 (2022 – £354,986).

Designated Funds

This reserve is unrestricted in nature and represents funds that have been earmarked by the Trustees for a particular purpose, including the funding of redundancy costs and other cessation liabilities should the charity cease to operate. It also allows the Trustees to set aside funds for a specific project which is set to arise at some time in the future. A number of designated funds may exist at any one time; however their use and utilisation are reviewed on a regular basis. The balance in the fund at 31 March 2023 was £Nil (2022 - £200,000).

General Funds

This reserve is expendable at the discretion of the Trustees. It is proposed that it should take into account any unforeseen external risks over which the charity has no control. Such risks include normal fluctuations in month on month activities, unforeseen legal actions and changes in the political environment or in legislation which may require additional unplanned resources. The trustees aim to hold free reserves of between 3 and 6 months of total expenditure. The balance in the general funds at 31 March 2023 was £524,186 (2022 - £473,825). The amount of general funds that is classed as free reserves at 31 March 2023 is £411,127, which represents approximately 10 weeks of total expenditure.

The trustees has assessed the major risks to which the charity is exposed, and are satisfied that systems are in place to mitigate exposure to the major risks. The charity also maintains a corporate risk register which is regulary reviewed.

Structure, governance and management

Include Youth is a charitable company limited by guarantee and recognised as such by HM Revenue & Customs and comes under the auspices of the Charity Commission for NI.

Governance and legal compliance of the organisation is the responsibility of the properly constituted Board of Directors who act as Trustees and is in accordance with Include Youth’s Articles and Memorandum of Association which were updated in November 2012.

INCLUDE YOUTH

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

The trustees, who are also the directors for the purpose of company law, and who served during the year and up to the date of signature of the financial statements were:

Mr D Collins Ms E Dunlop Mr B Archer Ms J L English Mr F Smyth Mr K Simpson Ms S Boyle-Laverty (Resigned 30 November 2022) Ms B Foley Ms E Stevenson (Appointed 22 July 2022) Dr D MacDermott (Appointed 30 November 2022) Prof D J Morrow (Appointed 30 November 2022) Ms B Anderson (Appointed 13 June 2023)

New Trustees are appointed through proposal and acceptance by the Board or by co-option to the Board. Training is also provided as required.

The Board is responsible for the review of all activities, approval of budgets and future strategy; the Board meets at various times throughout the year. The Chief Executive Officer, Paddy Mooney, is responsible for all operational and day to day matters and works in conjunction with senior management and the Board of Trustees.

None of the trustees have any beneficial interest in the company. All of the trustees are members of the company and guarantee to contribute £1 in the event of a winding up.

Statement of trustees' responsibilities

The trustees, who are also the directors of Include Youth 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. 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.

INCLUDE YOUTH TRUSTEES, REPORT (INCLUDING DIRECTORS. REPORT) (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023 Auditor In accordanc8 Wlth the company's articles, a resolution proposing that GMCG BELFAST be reappointed as auditor ofthe company will be put at a General Meeting. Small Companles Exemptlon In preparing Ihi5 report. the dire¢lors have laken advanlage of the srnall companies exemptions provlded by section 415A of the Compani85 Acl 2006. Dlsclosure of Infomiatlon to audltor Each of the trustees has confirmed that Ihere is no information of which they are aware whlch is relevant to the audit, bul of which th8 audilor is unaware. They have further confirmed Ihal they have taken appropriate steps to identify sud) relevant Informatlon and to establish that Ihe audllor Is aware of sud) informalion. The truslees, report was approved by the Board of Trustees, 44 Mr D Colllns Trustee Dated. 7 December 2023 16-

INCLUDE YOUTH

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF INCLUDE YOUTH

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of Include Youth (the ‘charity’) for the year ended 31 March 2023 which comprise the statement of financial activities, the balance sheet, the statement of cash flows and the notes to the financial statements, including a summary of 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.

INCLUDE YOUTH

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT (CONTINUED) TO THE MEMBERS OF INCLUDE YOUTH

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.

Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006

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

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 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:

INCLUDE YOUTH

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT (CONTINUED) TO THE MEMBERS OF INCLUDE YOUTH

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

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.

The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud, is detailed below.

INCLUDE YOUTH

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT (CONTINUED) TO THE MEMBERS OF INCLUDE YOUTH

Extent to which the audit was considered capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud

We identify and assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to fraud or error, and then design and perform audit procedures responsive to those risks, including obtaining audit evidence that is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

In identifying and assessing potential risks of material misstatement in respect of irregularities, including fraud and non-compliances with laws and regulations, we considered the following:

As a result of these procedures, we considered the opportunities and incentives that may exist within the company for fraud and identified the greatest potential for fraud in income recognition. In common with all audits under ISAs (UK), we are also required to perform specific procedures to respond to the risk of management override.

We also obtained an understanding of the legal and regulatory frameworks that the company operates in, focusing on provisions of those laws and regulations that had a direct effect on the determination of material amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. The key laws and regulations we considered in this context included the Companies Act 2006, and local tax legislation.

In addition, we considered provisions of other laws and regulations that do not have a direct effect on the financial statements but compliance with which may be fundamental to the company’s ability to operate or to avoid a material penalty.

INCLUDE YOUTH

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT (CONTINUED) TO THE MEMBERS OF INCLUDE YOUTH

Audit response to risks identified

Our procedures to respond to the risks identified included the following:

We also communicated relevant identified laws and regulations and potential fraud risks to all engagement team members and remained alert to any indications of fraud or non-compliance with laws and regulations throughout the audit.

Owing to the inherent limitations of an audit, there is an unavoidable risk that we may not have detected some material misstatements in the financial statements, even though we have properly planned and performed our audit in accordance with auditing standards. In addition, as with any audit, there remains a higher risk of non-detection of irregularities, as they may involve collusion, forgery, intentional omissions, misrepresentations, or the override of internal controls. We are not responsible for preventing non-compliance and cannot be expected to detect noncompliance with all laws and regulations.

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

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INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT (CONTINUED) TO THE MEMBERS OF INCLUDE YOUTH

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. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charitable company's members 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 and the charitable company’s members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

Mr Nigel Moore FCA (Senior Statutory Auditor) for and on behalf of GMcG BELFAST

7 December 2023

Chartered Accountants Statutory Auditor

Chartered Accountants & Statutory Auditor

Alfred House 19 Alfred Street Belfast BT2 8EQ

INCLUDE YOUTH

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES INCLUDING INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

Unrestricted
Restricted
funds
funds
2023
2023
Notes
£
£
Income and endowments from:
Donations and
legacies
3
5,620
836,898
Charitable activities
4
383,986
1,412,933
Other trading
activities
5
11,440
-
Investments
6
450
-
Other income
7
25,874
-
Total income
427,370
2,249,831
Expenditure on:
Charitable activities
8
577,009
1,587,149
Net (expenditure)/income
for the year/
Net movement in funds
(149,639)
662,682
Fund balances at 1 April
2022
673,825
354,986
Fund balances at 31
March 2023
524,186
1,017,668		 Total
Unrestricted
Restricted
funds
funds
2023
2022
2022
£
£
£
842,518
1,050
92,986
1,796,919
263,928
1,659,831
11,440
7,535
-
450
2,296
-
25,874
35,272
-
2,677,201
310,081
1,752,817
2,164,158
343,735
1,832,540
513,043
(33,654)
(79,723)
1,028,811
707,479
434,709
1,541,854
673,825
354,986		 Total
2022
£
94,036
1,923,759
7,535
2,296
35,272
2,062,898
2,176,275
(113,377)
1,142,188
1,028,811
Donations and
legacies
3
Charitable activities
4
Other trading
activities
5
Investments
6
Other income
7
Total income
Expenditure on:
Charitable activities
8
Net (expenditure)/income
for the year/
Net movement in funds
Fund balances at 1 April
2022
Fund balances at 31
March 2023

The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year.

All income and expenditure derive from continuing activities.

The statement of financial activities also complies with the requirements for an income and expenditure account under the Companies Act 2006.

INCLUDE YOUTH BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31 MARCH 2023 2023 2022 Nots8 Flxed assets Tangible assets Investments 14 15 1.141.621 264,684 1,141,622 264.685 Current a•sets Debtors Cash al bank and in hand 16 525,827 381,801 485.017 467.764 907,428 952.781 Croditor4; amounts falllng du• wlthln one year 17 (423.639} 1100.578) Net cUr￿nt assets 483,789 852,203 Total assets l•$$ ¢urr•nt Ilablllti•• 1.825.411 1.116,888 Credltorn: amounts falllng due after morn than one year 18 (83.557) (88,077) Net a880ts 1.541,854 1,028,811 In¢om• funds Restricted lund8 nreslricted funds Designated funds General unrestri¢led funds 21 1,017,668 354,986 22 2CM),000 473,825 524.186 524,186 673,825 1.541,854 1,028.811 The financlal statements were approved by the Trustees on 7 December 2023 Mr D Collins Trustse Mr F Smyth Trustee Company rnglstration number N1038084 -24-

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STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

2023
Notes
£
£
Cash flows from operating activities
Cash generated from/(absorbed by)
operations
29
830,297
Investing activities
Purchase of tangible fixed assets
(912,626)
Investment income received
450
Net cash (used in)/generated from
investing activities
(912,176)
Financing activities
Repayment of bank loans
(4,284)
Net cash used in financing activities
(4,284)
Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents
(86,163)
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of year
467,764
Cash and cash equivalents at end of year
381,601		 2022
£
£
(185,197)
-
2,296
2,296
(4,284)
(4,284)
(187,185)
654,949
467,764

INCLUDE YOUTH

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

1 Accounting policies

Charity information

Include Youth is a private company limited by guarantee incorporated in Northern Ireland. The registered office is 100 Great Patrick Street, Belfast, BT1 2LU.

1.1 Accounting convention

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the Companies Act 2006 and "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 £.

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.

1.3 Charitable funds

Unrestricted funds are available for use at the discretion of the trustees in furtherance of their charitable objectives.

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 as to how they may be used. The purposes and uses of the restricted funds are set out in the notes to the financial statements.

1.4 Income

Income is recognised when the charity is legally entitled to it after any performance conditions have been met, the amounts can be measured reliably, and it is probable that income will be received.

Cash donations are recognised on receipt. Other donations are recognised once the charity has been notified of the donation, unless performance conditions require deferral of the amount. Income tax recoverable in relation to donations received under Gift Aid or deeds of covenant is recognised at the time of the donation.

Income tax recoverable in relation to investment income is recognised at the time the investment income is receivable.

Other income is recognised in the period in which it is receivable and to the extent the goods have been provided or on completion of the service.

INCLUDE YOUTH

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

1 Accounting policies (Continued)

1.5 Expenditure

Expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to transfer economic benefit to a third party, it is probable that a transfer of economic benefits will be required in settlement and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. Expenditure is classified by activity. The costs of each activity are made up of the total of direct costs and shared costs, including support costs involved in undertaking each activity. Direct costs attributable to a single activity are allocated directly to that activity. Shared costs which contribute to more than one activity and support costs which are not attributable to a single activity are apportioned between those activities on a basis consistent with the use of resources. Central staff costs are allocated on the basis of time spent, and depreciation charges allocated on the portion of the asset’s use.

Support costs are those costs incurred directly in support of expenditure on the objects of the company and include project management. Governance costs are those incurred in connection with administration of the company and compliance with constitutional and statutory requirements.

Charitable activities and Governance costs are costs incurred on the company's operations, including support costs and costs relating to the governance of the company apportioned to charitable activities.

All expenditure is inclusive of irrecoverable VAT.

1.6 Tangible fixed assets

Tangible fixed assets are initially measured at cost and subsequently measured at cost or valuation, net of depreciation and any impairment losses.

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 land and buildings 2% straight line
Leasehold improvements 25% straight line
Fixtures and fittings 25% straight line
Computers 25% straight line

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.

1.7 Fixed asset investments

Fixed asset investments are initially measured at transaction price excluding transaction costs, and are subsequently measured at fair value at each reporting date. Changes in fair value are recognised in net income/(expenditure) for the year. Transaction costs are expensed as incurred.

Entities in which the charity has a long term interest and shares control under a contractual arrangement are classified as jointly controlled entities.

1.8 Impairment of fixed assets

At each reporting end date, the charity reviews the carrying amounts of its tangible assets to determine whether there is any indication that those assets have suffered an impairment loss. If any such indication exists, the recoverable amount of the asset is estimated in order to determine the extent of the impairment loss (if any).

1.9 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.

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

1 Accounting policies (Continued)

1.10 Financial instruments

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.

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.

1.11 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.

1.12 Retirement benefits

Payments to defined contribution retirement benefit schemes are charged as an expense as they fall due.

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

2 Critical accounting estimates and judgements

In the application of the charity’s accounting policies, the trustees are required to make judgements, estimates and assumptions about the carrying amount of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. The estimates and associated assumptions are based on historical experience and other factors that are considered to be relevant. Actual results may differ from these estimates.

The estimates and underlying assumptions are reviewed on an ongoing basis. Revisions to accounting estimates are recognised in the period in which the estimate is revised where the revision affects only that period, or in the period of the revision and future periods where the revision affects both current and future periods.

Key sources of estimation uncertainty

Fixed assets

The annual depreciation charge on fixed assets depends primarily on the estimated lives of each type of asset and estimates of residual values. The directors regularly review these asset lives and change them as necessary to reflect current thinking on remaining lives in light of prospective economic utilisation and physical condition of the assets concerned. Changes in asset lives can have a significant impact on depreciation and amortisation charges for the period. Detail of the useful lives is included in the accounting policies.

Debtors

Short term debtors are measured at transaction price, less any impairment. Impairment of such debtors involves some estimation uncertainty.

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

3 Donations and legacies

Unrestricted
Restricted
funds
funds
2023
2023
£
£
Donations and gifts
-
698,912
Grants
5,620
137,986
5,620
836,898		 Total
Unrestricted
Restricted
funds
funds
2023
2022
2022
£
£
£
698,912
-
-
143,606
1,050
92,986
842,518
1,050
92,986		 Total
2022
£
-
94,036
94,036
Donations and gifts totalling £698,912 relates to funding received relates to funding received towards redevelopment costs of the towards redevelopment costs of the towards redevelopment costs of the
charity's premises.
Grants receivable for
core activities
Dept of Health grants - 34,486 34,486 - 34,486 34,486
FinTru 2,000 - 2,000 - - -
The Law Society 3,120 - 3,120 - - -
Department of Justice
grants - 58,500 58,500 - 58,500 58,500
White Mountain - 45,000 45,000 - - -
Asda 500 - 500 1,050 - 1,050
5,620 137,986 143,606 1,050 92,986 94,036

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

4 Charitable activities

Charitable Charitable
Income Income
2023 2022
£ £
Income from charitable activities 1,831,970 1,921,259
Less: deferred income (35,051) 2,500
1,796,919 1,923,759
Analysis by fund
Unrestricted funds 383,986 263,928
Restricted funds 1,412,933 1,659,831
1,796,919 1,923,759
Performance related grants
SEUPB - 292,713
Health & Social Care Trusts 504,746 529,620
European Social Fund 716,933 718,504
Big Lottery Fund 149,854 104,566
Education Authority 87,956 62,340
Children in Need 30,500 23,820
Comic Relief - 7,825
Department of Economy 244,958 68,882
Esmee Fairburn 1,259 60,750
Other 95,764 52,239
1,831,970 1,921,259

5 Other trading activities

**Unrestricted ** Unrestricted
funds funds
2023 2022
£ £
Fundraising events 11,440 7,535

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

6 Investments

**Unrestricted ** Unrestricted
funds funds
2023 2022
£ £
Interest receivable 450 2,296
Other income
**Unrestricted ** Unrestricted
funds funds
2023 2022
£ £
Other income - 14,646
Rent and recharge of expenses 25,874 20,626
25,874 35,272

7 Other income

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

8 Charitable activities

Charitable
Charitable
Expenditure Expenditure
2023 2022
£ £
Staff costs 1,242,391 1,365,643
Travel, subsistence and staff training 65,876 72,492
Advertising, marketing and promotion 4,104 327
Volunteer training and sessional workers 29,123 7,341
Programme costs, activities and materials 167,954 159,045
Stationery and telephone 103,316 25,111
Mentoring, partner and venue hire 76 12,166
Sundry expenses 6,306 14,512
Premises costs 97,377 110,510
Consultancy fees 68,052 73,091
Volunteer expenses 34,876 41,361
1,819,451 1,881,599
Share of support costs (see note 10) 315,709 285,558
Share of governance costs (see note 10) 28,998 9,118
2,164,158 2,176,275
Analysis by fund
Unrestricted funds 577,009 343,735
Restricted funds 1,587,149 1,832,540
2,164,158 2,176,275

9 Description of charitable activities

Charitable Expenditure

Charitable activities all relate to Promotion of Best Practice with Young People at Risk of Social Exclusion.

INCLUDE YOUTH

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

10
Support costs
Staff costs
Depreciation
Travel, subsistence and
staff training
Programme costs,
activities and materials
Stationery and telephone
Sundry expenses
Premises costs
Consultancy fees
Bank and other fees
Audit fees
Accountancy
Legal and professional
Analysed between
Charitable activities		 Support
costs
Governance
costs
£
£
212,740
-
35,691
-
223
-
3,278
-
5,453
-
9,202
-
27,807
-
13,610
-
7,705
-
-
4,752
-
9,960
-
14,286
315,709
28,998
315,709
28,998		 2023
£
212,740
35,691
223
3,278
5,453
9,202
27,807
13,610
7,705
4,752
9,960
14,286
344,707
344,707		 Support
costs
Governance
costs
£
£
214,059
-
21,370
-
3,255
-
774
-
7,332
-
6,048
-
19,670
-
6,091
-
6,959
-
-
4,320
-
3,613
-
1,185
285,558
9,118
285,558
9,118		 2022
£
214,059
21,370
3,255
774
7,332
6,048
19,670
6,091
6,959
4,320
3,613
1,185
294,676
294,676

Governance costs includes payments to the auditors of £4,752 (2022- £4,320) for audit fees.

11 Trustees

None of the trustees (or any persons connected with them) received any remuneration or benefits from the charity during the year.

INCLUDE YOUTH

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

12 Employees

The average monthly number of employees during the year was:

The average monthly number of employees during the year was:
Charity staff
Employment costs
Wages and salaries
Social security costs
Other pension costs		 2023
Number
48
2023
£
1,257,333
124,493
73,305
1,455,131		 2022
Number
51
2022
£
1,366,351
128,636
84,715
1,579,702

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

2023 2022
Number Number
£60,000 - £79,999 1 1

13 Taxation

The charity is exempt from tax on income and gains falling within section 505 of the Taxes Act 1988 or section 252 of the Taxationof Chargeable Gains Act 1992 to the extent that these are applied to its charitable objects.

INCLUDE YOUTH

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

14
Tangible fixed assets
Freehold land
and buildings
Leasehold
improvements
Fixtures and
fittings
£
£
£
Cost
At 1 April 2022
278,956
23,554
93,019
Additions
896,170
-
16,456
Disposals
-
-
(2,044)
At 31 March 2023
1,175,126
23,554
107,431
Depreciation and impairment
At 1 April 2022
31,452
16,713
93,019
Depreciation charged in the year
21,152
3,999
4,114
Eliminated in respect of disposals
-
-
(2,044)
At 31 March 2023
52,604
20,712
95,089
Carrying amount
At 31 March 2023
1,122,522
2,842
12,342
At 31 March 2022
247,503
6,841
-		 Computers
£
156,558
-
(702)
155,856
146,217
6,426
(702)
151,941
3,915
10,340		 Total
£
552,087
912,626
(2,746)
1,461,967
287,401
35,691
(2,746)
320,346
1,141,621
264,684

Freehold land and buildings represents the charity's share of the purchase and redevelopment costs of a property that is owned jointly with another charity.

15 Fixed asset investments

Other
investments
Cost or valuation
At 1 April 2022 & 31 March 2023 1
Carrying amount
At 31 March 2023 1
At 31 March 2022 1
2023 2022
Other investments comprise: Notes £ £
Investments in joint ventures 27 1 1

INCLUDE YOUTH

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

16
Debtors
Amounts falling due within one year:
Trade debtors
Other debtors
Prepayments and accrued income
17
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year
Notes
Bank loans
20
Other taxation and social security
Deferred income
19
Trade creditors
Other creditors
Accruals and deferred income
18
Creditors: amounts falling due after more than one year
Notes
Bank loans
20		 2023
£
32,885
480,337
12,605
525,827
2023
£
5,376
27,798
52,551
82,887
82,021
173,006
423,639
2023
£
83,557		 2022
£
61,696
408,096
15,225
485,017
2022
£
5,140
-
17,501
39,598
5,476
32,863
100,578
2022
£
88,077

INCLUDE YOUTH

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

19
Deferred income
Other deferred income
Deferred income is included in the financial statements as follows:
Deferred income is included within:
Current liabilities
Movements in the year:
Deferred income at 1 April 2022
Released from previous periods

Resources deferred in the year
Deferred income at 31 March 2023
20
Loans and overdrafts
Bank loans
Payable within one year
Payable after one year
Amounts included above which fall due after five years:
Payable by instalments		 2023
2022
£
£
52,551
17,501
2023
2022
£
£
52,551
17,501
17,501
20,001
(17,500)
(20,000)
52,550
17,500
52,551
17,501
2023
2022
£
£
88,933
93,217
5,376
5,140
83,557
88,077
59,762
63,935

The loan is repayable by way of monthly instalments and interest is charged at the greater of 4.5% or 1.5% over the Bank of England base rate.

INCLUDE YOUTH

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

21 Restricted funds

The income funds of the charity include restricted funds comprising the following unexpended balances of donations and grants held on trust for specific purposes:

Balance at
1 April 2021
£
Give & Take
11,000
Practice
498
Core
-
Policy & Advocacy
-
Employability
-
Transitions
33,238
Meant to Work
66,789
Essential skills
-
BHSCT ESOL
-
Atlantic Philanthropies - Property Fund
226,667
Strive
29,840
Odyssey Ice Academy
-
Building Project
-
The National Lottery Community Fund
58,476
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Reconciliation Fund
5,484
The National Lottery - Care for Change
-
Comic relief emergency funding
1,662
Esme Fairburn emergency funding
1,055
434,709		 Movement in funds
Incoming
resources
Resources
expended
Balance at
1 April 2022
£
£
£
935,808
(946,808)
-
74,840
(74,840)
498
75,595
(75,595)
-
17,391
(17,391)
-
109,380
(109,380)
-
-
(17,650)
15,588
7,825
(22,865)
51,749
65,000
(65,000)
-
60,000
-
60,000
-
(5,000)
221,667
296,595
(326,435)
-
5,817
(5,817)
-
-
-
-
104,566
(163,042)
-
-
-
5,484
-
-
-
-
(1,662)
-
-
(1,055)
-
1,752,817
(1,832,540)
354,986		 Movement in funds
Incoming
resources
Resources
expended
31
£
£
992,391
(992,391)
119,206
(119,704)
75,595
(75,595)
17,391
(17,391)
141,983
(122,766)
1,259
(16,847)
-
(40,956)
16,000
(16,000)
-
(60,000)
75,000
(6,500)
-
-
-
-
668,912
(14,073)
-
-
25,541
(25,414)
116,553
(79,512)
-
-
-
-
2,249,831
(1,587,149)		 Balance at
March 2023
£
-
-
-
-
19,217
-
10,793
-
-
290,167
-
-
654,839
-
5,611
37,041
-
-
1,017,668

INCLUDE YOUTH

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

21 Restricted funds (Continued)

Give & Take

This project is funded by the European Social Fund Northern Ireland, the Department for the Economy, the Health & Social Trusts, Esmée Fairbairn and Children in Need. It is a pre-vocational employability programme which aims to improve young people's employment-related skills and increase their self esteem and confidence.

Practice

This relates to infrastructure funding received from the Education Authority towards participation structures, communications, governance support, training and a contribution towards running costs.

Core

This relates to grants from Department of Justice and Department of Health towards specific core costs of the charity.

Give & Take 1-1

This project is funded by Children in Need and is a unique one to one service focussing on developing and improving protective factors for young people who have experienced or are at risk of child sexual exploitation. The programme is based on five key elements - training, personal development, mentoring, work experience and transitions.

Policy & Advocacy

This project is funded by the Department of Justice and Department of Health. It seeks to advocate, influence and inform law, policy and practice development to bring about positive changes in the lives of young people in need or at risk.

Employability

This employability scheme is funded by the Belfast and Western Health and Social Care Trusts. It seeks to improve the employment potential of unemployed socially excluded young people between 16-21 years through the provision of sheltered work experience and personal development programmes.

Jobstart is a pilot programme funded by the Dept for Communities, where care experienced young people are supported in applying for and accessing 9 month positions in a variety of departments within the trust. The positions are funded at National minimum wage level, with an uplift to Band 2 position provided by the trust. Young people are supported by Include Youth Employability staff, and an additional Job Coach in the Belfast area. They also receive ongoing mentoring, guidance and natural support through staff in their prospective teams and participate in regular reviews to monitor progress and set goals. The aim of the programme is to equip young people with experience, skills and knowledge which will help them further their career beyond the 9 months.

Transitions

As young people progress from Give and Take into mainstream training, employment and education Include Youth's transitional support workers offers a one to one service which ensures that the young person is able to maintain their move-on, and therefore successfully transition. The transitional support service offers support that is practical, social and emotional. It will advocate for the young person and help them to overcome any difficulties they are facing in accessing and maintaining their ETE provision. This project is funded by Esmée Fairbairn Foundation.

INCLUDE YOUTH

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

21 Restricted funds (Continued)

Meant to Work

Meant to Work is a one to one peer mentoring service that helps unemployed young people aged 16-24 years in the Greater Belfast area gain and sustain meaningful employment. It is funded through Comic Relief and Queen’s Young Leaders.

Essential skills

We continue to offer Essential skills in house, providing literacy, numeracy and ICT to young care experienced young people on Give &Take Core across 9 delivery sites, to young people on Start which is delivered across 3 delivery sites and to young people at risk of child sexual exploitation who are on our 1-2-1 specialist programme. We employ our own Tutors to support young people to gain necessary qualifications to progress positively into education, training or employment This is a much needed service that equips young people to access opportunities and provide them with a safe space to learn and develop.

Atlantic Philanthropies - Property Fund

This fund relates to a grant received from Atlantic Philanthropies towards the purchase of a new building.

Building Project

This fund relates to the purchase and redevelopment of a property that is owned jointly with another charity.

Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Reconciliation Fund

The Connect Programme was funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade through The Reconciliation Fund. Connect engages young people aged 14-16 in a cross border/cross community good relations peace-building programme. Programme participants complete a series of modules that leads to an accreditation.

National Lottery Community Fund - Care for Change

This peer-mentoring project is led by young people, working directly with their peers to identify and address emerging issues as a result of the pandemic. It builds upon Include Youth’s ‘Expert by Experience’ (EBE) model of participation which advocates for empowers young people to lead.

INCLUDE YOUTH

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

22 Designated funds

The income funds of the charity include the following designated funds which have been set aside out of unrestricted funds by the trustees for specific purposes:

Movement
in funds
Balance at
1 April 2021
Incoming
resources
Balance at
1 April 2022
£
£
£
Designated fund
200,000
-
200,000
200,000
-
200,000		 Transfers
31
£
(200,000)
(200,000)		 Balance at
March 2023
£
-
-

Designated funds represented £200,000 that had been set aside to cover potential redundancies costs that may arise on the completion of certain programmes and as a contribution towards potential fit-out costs of new premises. During the year these funds were transferred back to general unrestricted funds as the majority of construction costs on the charity's premises had been incurred.

23 Analysis of net assets between funds

Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
funds
2023
2023
£
£
Fund balances at 31
March 2023 are
represented by:
Tangible assets
196,615
945,006
Investments
1
-
Current assets/(liabilities)
411,127
72,662
Long term liabilities
(83,557)
-
524,186
1,017,668		 Total Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
funds
2023
2022
2022
£
£
£
1,141,621
43,017
221,667
1
1
-
483,789
718,884
133,319
(83,557)
(88,077)
-
1,541,854
673,825
354,986		 Total
2022
£
264,684
1
852,203
(88,077)
1,028,811

24 Financial commitments, guarantees and contingent liabilities

A portion of grants received may become repayable should certain conditions under which they were awarded cease to be fulfilled.

INCLUDE YOUTH

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

25 Operating lease commitments

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:

Within one year
Between two and five years		 2023
£
30,400
42,700
73,100		 2022
£
40,929
68,600
109,529

26 Related party transactions

Remuneration of key management personnel

The remuneration of key management personnel is as follows.

2023 2022
£ £
Aggregate compensation 259,203 244,364

Vi-Able Corporate Services Limited, a company incorporated in Northern Ireland, is a joint venture of the charity.

During the year Include Youth was charged £76,250 (2022 - £58,903) by Vi-Able Corporate Services Limited for the provision of corporate services.

At 31 March 2023, the balance due to Vi-Able Corporate Services Limited from the charity was £23,360 (2022 - £4,427).

27 Joint ventures

These financial statements are separate charity financial statements for Include Youth.

Details of the charity's joint ventures at 31 March 2023 are as follows:

Name of undertaking Registered Nature of business Class of % Held
office shares held Direct Indirect
Vi-Able Corporate Services 100 Great Patrick
Corporate service support to		 Ordinary 50.00
Limited Street, Belfast, not-for-profit organisations
BT1 2LU

The investments in joint ventures are stated at cost.

Vi-Able Corporate Services Limited recorded a profit of £23,801 in the year ended 31 March 2023 and had capital and reserves totalling £53,060 at 31 March 2023.

INCLUDE YOUTH

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

28 Conduit funding

Include Youth is responsible for receiving and distributing funds on behalf of SEUPB for the Strive project. During the year £206,434 (2022 - £319,293) was received and distributed and no balance was held in relation to these monies at 31 March 2023.

29 Cash generated from operations 2023 2022
£ £
Surplus/(deficit) for the year 513,043 (113,377)
Adjustments for:
Investment income recognised in statement of financial activities (450) (2,296)
Depreciation and impairment of tangible fixed assets 35,691 21,370
Movements in working capital:
(Increase) in debtors (40,810) (71,388)
Increase/(decrease) in creditors 287,773 (17,006)
Increase/(decrease) in deferred income 35,050 (2,500)
Cash generated from/(absorbed by) operations 830,297 (185,197)
30 Analysis of changes in net funds
At 1 April 2022 Cash flowsAt 31 March 2023
£ £ £
Cash at bank and in hand 467,764 (86,163) 381,601
Loans falling due within one year (5,140) (236) (5,376)
Loans falling due after more than one year (88,077) 4,520 (83,557)
374,547 (81,879) 292,668