eHARTERXD ACCOUNTANro ASHTON COMMUNITYTRUST INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OFASHTON COMMUNITY TRUST Oplnlon We hav8 audited the financial ststéments of Ashton Communty Trust (the 'parent charStable companrf) and its subsidiaries (the 'group') for th8 year ended 31 March 2023 whlch comprise the group statement of flnancial activilles, thè group balance sheet, the charity balance sh88t, the group statement of cash flows and the notes to the financial statements, including a summary of significant accounting pollcies. Tha financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and Unlted Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Flnancial Reportlng Standard 102 Th8 Financlal Reportlng Stand8mf 8ppIic8ble In the UK and Republic of Ireland (Unlted Klngdom Generally Accepted Accountlng PractlC8). In our oplnlon, th8 financlal statements.. give a true and fair view of the state of the group's and parent charlt8ble companys affalrs as at 31 March 2023 and of the group's Incoming resources and applicatlon of resources, for the year then ended., have been properly prepared in a¢cordance wlth United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice. and have bean prepared In accordance wlth the requlrements of the Companies Act 2006. Ba•lJ for oplnlon Wa conducted our audlt in accordance with Intemational Standards on Auditing (UFQ (ISAS (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further descrlbed in the Audltofs r8sponsibilities for the audit of th& financ181 st8t8m8nts secllon of our report. We are Independenl of the group and parent charitable company in accordan¢8 wlth the ethical requlrements that are re18vant to our audit of th8 finandal statements in the UK, includlng the FRC'S Ethical Standard, and we have fulfilled our other elhical r8sponsibllttles in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audil evidence we have obtained Is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our oplnlon. Con¢lu#lons rnlatlng to golng concern In auditing the financlal statements, we have concluded that the trustees, use of the golng concem basss of attounting In the preparatlon of Ihe flnandal statements Is approprlate. Based on the work we have performed, we have not Identlfied any materlal unc8rtaintS88 relating to events or conditlons thal, individually or collectively, rnay cast significant doubt on the group and parent charitable company's ability to continue as a golng concem for a period of at least twelve months from when the financlal 8tatement8 are authori88d for Issue. Our Tesponslbllltles and the responsibilities of the Irustees with respect to going concern are described In the relevant sections of thls report. 21 AlfredHouse 19AlfiYd Street BEl￿AsT￿l2 8EQ DX5910 NR Be]hst 50 CentllryHou6e 40 Cre5LentBuslness Park IISBURN FA*8 2GN 17 MMnd¢wil1cStr￿t Cralgavon wr62 3PB Tel.. +44 (0)*8 9031 1113 F&Y: +44 (0)28 903X 07T7 Tel: +44 (0)28 9260 7355 Fthx: +44 (0)28 9260 1656 Tdi +44 {0)28 3833 2801 Fax.. +44 (0)28 3835 0293 Chitslrn%lA¢iOlilltonts i Rp.8lStorndAii￿I1￿n& i ehnrknd1i%MvigE)N I fiDTrI1￿eACtt￿lllAll11 I G&IL¢I8&lrn(bi￿nNn1ÈOfcML￿G1￿uPU￿1￿d.Re$NQ.'YJ￿￿O￿.I1s1OfDi[￿l￿r90y#L￿biC￿ ￿Ls10rd0￿ e8btLYcdtothrt(1uQtaiKIItMe￿bYthOI￿sllt￿Ioor￿rio[rrfA￿t￿￿t&knIrtl0I￿l CHAItTXlLBD ACCOUNTA￿TI ASHTON COMMUNITY TRUST INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT (CONTINUED) TO THE MEMBERS OFASHTON COMMUNITYTRUST Other Informatlon Th8 Other informatlon comprises the infomiation In¢lud6d in the annual report other than the financial statements and our auditols report thereon. The trust8es are responslble for the oth8r informatlon contained within the annual report. Our opinion on the financial statements does not COV8r 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 responsiblllty is to read th8 Other InformatSon and, in doing so. conslder whether the other informatlon is materially inconslslènl with Ihe financial statements or our knowledge oblalned in the course of the audit, or otherwlse appears to be materialty misstated. If we idenlify such material in¢onslst8ncies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determlne whether this gives rlse to a material misstatement in the financlal statements themselves. If, based on the work we have perfomed, we conclud8 that there Is a material mlsstatement of thls other Infomatlon, we ara required to report that fact. W8 have nothing to report In thls regard. Oplnlons on oth•r matt8rn prnscrfbod by tho Companla8 Act 2006 In our opinion, based on the work undertaken In the course of our audlt.. the infomiatlon given In th8 trustees, report for the financial year for which the financial ststemenls are prepared, whlch Includ8s the directors, r8POrt prepared for tha purposes of company law, Is Gonslstent wlth the financial stat8m6nts; and the dlrectors, report included wlthln the trustees, report has been prepared in accordance wlth appllcabl8 legal requlrements. ttsrn on whlch we aro rnqulred to report by oxceptlon In the Ilght of the knowledge and understanding of the group and par8nt charitable company and Its envlronment obtained In th8 course of the audft, we have not Idendlled material misstatements In the dlrectors, report Induded wlthin th8 trustees, report. We have nothing to report In respeci of the followlng matt8rs In r8latlon to whlch the Companles Act 2006 r8qulre9 U8 to report to you if. In our opinlon: ad8quate accountlng records have not been kept, or retums adequate for our audit have not been recelved from branche8 not v18ited by us; or the financlal statements are not In agreement with the accounllng records and retums., or certain disclosures of trustees, remuneration specifled by law are not made; or we have not received all the informatlon and explanations we require for our audit. or the trustees were not entitled to prepar8 the financial statements In accordance wlth the small companle8 regirne and take advantage of the small companies, exemption8 In preparing the twstees, report and from the requlrement to prepare a strateglc report. -22- Alfred Homse 19A]fi'ed Street BiifAST BT2 8EQ DX3910 NR Bclfast 50 cents￿House 40 Cr￿cent￿￿$5n¢ss Purk IJSBiJRN FIa8 aGN 17 Mwidcvillo Street PORTADOWN Cralgavon r62 3PB Tel: +44 (0)28 9Q31 1113 F￿. +44 (0)28 9031 0777 Tr1: +44 (0)28 9260 7355 ri￿. +44 (0)28 9260 A656 Tell +44 (0)28 3833 2801 FAX: +44 (0)28 3835 0293 ch*te￿a￿t￿lI1l￿￿ts l I ChorwTQrtTLY Atliu*K5 | FthhglcA¢¢ouniln￿ i AMLyTrbEror'i￿¢.A Work￿lde￿Ill￿CeQf[naVnrt¢DI￿￿￿lI￿)lt￿S www.gmeg¢4.coni CIIAIL7£RED ACCOUNTAIIT8 ASHTON COMMUNITY TRUST INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT (CONTINUED) TO THE MEMBERS OF ASHTON COMMUNITY TRUST Responslbllltle$ of trustses As explained more fully in the statement of trustees. responsibilities, the twstees, who are also the directors of the tharity for the purpose of company law, are responsible for the preparatlon of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they giv8 a tru8 and fair view, and for such intemal control as the trusteès d8temiine is necessary to enable the praparation of financlal stalements that are free from material mlsstalement, whether du8 to fraud or erfor. In preparing the financial statements, the truste8s are responsib18 for assesslng the group's and parent charitable companys abillty to continue as a going concern. discloslng, as applicable. mattars r81ated to golng concem and uslng the going concem basls of accounting unless the trustees ellher Intend to liquidate the group or the the charitabl8 company or to cease operatlons, or have no reallstic alternative but to do so. Audltorf8 ro8pon81bllltle• for tha audlt of tho tlnanclal statements Our objectlves are to obtaln reasonable assurance about whether the17nancial slatemenls as a whole are free from material mi5Statement, whether due to fraud or error, and to Issue an auditorfs report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a hlgh level of assurance but is not a guarantee that an audlt conducted In accordance with ISAS (UK) will always detect a material mlsstatement when It exists, Mi8Statem8nts can adse from fraud or error and ara considered material if, indivldually or In the aggregate. they could reasonably be expected to influence the e¢onomic decisions of users taken on the basls of these financial ststements. The extent to whlch our procedure8 are capable of detecling Irregularftles, Includlng fraud,18 detsSled below. -23- Alfred Hous¢ 19 Avred Street BEtFAST BT2 8EQ DX3910 NRBelf*st 50 CcnturyHousc 40 Crescent Bu$lnes5 P#rk LISBUIiN B'f28 2GN 17 MundcvilloStr¢et PORTADOWN Cralgavon r62 3PB thwrtd Tel: +44 (0)28 90311113 11&¥1 +44 (0)28 903107n Tel: +44 (0)28 9260 7355 Fax: +44 (0)28 9260 1656 Tel: +44 {0)28 3833 2801 F&%: +44 10)28 3835 OZ93 4TIAG' ehAiten￿heCo*l1t#nts I Xo£b￿l￿dA￿lr[l0LI I Chllrte￿1Trx.1(l¢•>rn I fownsirACth￿ht8hts l (WAiofin4nttMYuolB GIILGl$olrathnsNth¢orc.bf for and on behalf of GMCG BELFAST 11 January 2024 Chartared Accountant• ststutory Audltor Chartered Accountants & Statutory Audltor Alfred Hous8 19 Alfred Street Belfast BT2 8EQ -26- Ajfred House 19Mfi'ed Street BEl￿￿￿BT2 8EQ DX3910 NR Belfast 50 CenturyHouse 40 Crescent BuslDQSS PaTk LISBURN B1*8 2GN 17 MandesTrlleStreet PORTADOWN Cr#igavon Fr62 3PB Tel: +44 (0)28 9031 1113 Fw: +44 (0)28 90310777 Tel: +44 (0)28 9260 7355 F￿. +44 (0)28 9260 1656 Tel: +44 (0)28 3833 2801 Fox: +44 (0)28 3835 Q21yJ 4TIA l ￿.6161¢￿dAI1d110ra | ehllrtcrLylT￿¥￿1i7￿)11 l F￿n￿eAr¢[)unI￿D1$ l Ro8W¢i¢dIo￿￿duelÉ1id1t wY*K.by thc IILqUlulQ((ChortoMIAc￿u￿IfinL4irtIrt1#1tt1 AhJynbcrDtTIAQ .A Worlth*lcAJIkn￿￿QfTj￿pE￿lc￿lkn￿n11vA￿rrn5