## **Parents Advocacy & Rights (known as PAR) (a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation)**
## **Annual Report and Accounts**
## **1[st] April 2024 to 31st March 2025 Registered Charity – SCO5O282**
## **Annual Report and Accounts For the 12 months ended 31 March 2025**
|**Contents**|**Page**|
|---|---|
|Charity Information|2|
|Trustees’ Annual Report|3 - 5|
|Receipts and Payments Account|6|
|Statement of Balances|7|
|Independent Examiner’s Report|8|
|Notes to the Accounts|8 - 10|
|**Charity Information**||
|**Trustees**||
**Names & date appointed or resigned if during 2024/25**
**----- Start of picture text -----**
Co-Chair:
Co-Chair:
Secretary
Treasurer
Member:
Member:
Member:
**----- End of picture text -----**
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## **Member:**
## **Member:**
## **Principal Office**
3a Fettes Row, Edinburgh, EH3 7SF
Accounts and Report agreed at Annual General Meeting on 5 December 2024.
## **REPORT of the TRUSTEES**
The Trustees are pleased to present their report and the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2025
## **Objectives and activities**
The principal objects of the charitable company are as follows:
- To be parent-led and to organise parents with lived experience, supporting and advocating for other parents when they need support & help with their children when involved in the child welfare and child protection system.
- To provide individual support, information, advice, and advocacy to parents in the Scottish welfare and child protection system, especially those with children who are in care, at risk of care, or who have exited care.
- Developing an understanding of how child welfare systems affected both disabled children and disabled parents.
- Contribute to developing policy, practice, and law to promote the rights and interests of parents whose children are in care or at risk of care.
- Provide evidence to support reducing the rate of children being removed unnecessarily from their families and about the kinds of services and approaches that help families avoid separation.
The main activities undertaken during the year concerning the above objects were:
- We have managed to continue to deliver a wide range of services and support for parents.
- Throughout the year, we provided individual online and telephone/text/FB/WhatsApp advice for parents across Scotland.
- We provide group support in Edinburgh
- We offered individual advocacy and support for families in Edinburgh, South Lanarkshire, Fife, and Orkney, including attending LAAC Reviews, Child Protection Conferences, and remote and in-person hearings, and in contact with social workers for their children
- We supported parents to submit their own reports to Children’s Hearings and to call review hearings to end or vary the terms of supervision orders,
- We continue to support parents in complaining and forwarding complaints to the Care Inspectorate and the SPSO.
- We continue to use the Robertson Trust grant to fund our two Development Leads -
- .
2
- We have applied for funding from Corra to be matched by the Edinburgh Drugs and Alcohol Partnership to develop a peer-led research project for mothers and female carers affected by substance misuse in Edinburgh.
- We have applied for funding from the Community Fund to develop a training programme and materials for PAR Trustees and volunteers.
- We remained members of FPAN, contributing to meetings and network development across the UK.
- We continue to be part of the Advisory Group for CELCIS Research funded by the Nuffield Foundation: Non-Compulsory Care for Children and Young People Scotland: Learning from the Experience of S25.
- We updated our Facebook page and engaged with parents on public and private pages.
- • We continued to engage with Promise and contributed to Sheriff Mackie’s review of the hearings. We have been disappointed by Promise's failure to acknowledge the importance of parents' and families' views, which we believe are often heard but do not influence outcomes and recommendations.
## **Complaints**
We received no complaints.
## **Financial Review**
Income is derived from voluntary donations from individuals, including the families of mothers we have supported, and from grant-making trusts—current Board of Trustees and plans for future development. We have received a three-year term grant from the Robertson Trust for November 2022-November 2025 to pay for development work to ensure the future of PAR and its work. This focuses on infrastructure issues, improving governance, and future financial independence and viability. Our plans for 2024-2025 include applying for funding from Corra, Community Fund, Barchester Trust, Volant Trust and Scottish Women’s Fund.
## **Statement of Trustee's Responsibilities**
The Board of Trustees is responsible for keeping proper accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable company and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended). They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charitable company and, hence, for taking reasonable steps to prevent and detect fraud or other irregularities. The Board of Trustees is responsible for maintaining the integrity of the corporate and financial information on the charitable company’s website. Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.
In so far as the Trustees are aware:
- There is no relevant audit information of which the charitable company’s auditor is unaware, and
- The trustees have taken all steps that they ought to have taken to make themselves aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the auditor is aware of that information.
BY ORDER OF THE BOARD
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## **Structure, governance, and management**
The charity is known as Parents Advocacy and Rights and is a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (SCIO), which has been registered as a charity since 20 June 2020. The rules of its constitution govern it.
## **Financial Review**
In the period to 31 March 2025, the charity received £32,823.11 and paid £17,369.09, giving a net surplus of £15,454.02.
The total funds under management as of 31 March 2025 were £36,445.62, of which £2,907.38 were held as unrestricted funds and £33,538.24 as restricted funds.
## **Reserves**
Parents Advocacy & Rights holds reserves, in the form of unrestricted funds of £2,907.38, to allow the charity to continue to operate for a reasonable period and meet potential liabilities. It also holds £33,538.24 as restricted funds, which is the balance of a grant from The Robertson Trust of £16,180.76, The Lottery Community Fund £12,476.78, The Snook Foundation £4,000.00, Barchester Health £760.70 and Corra Hardship Fund £120.00. These will be used during 2025/6.
## **Future Plans**
We are pursuing funding for 2026- 29 and remain a going concern.
## **Trustee remuneration and expenses**
There were no payments to Trustees in 2024/25.
## **Plans for future periods.**
These are detailed in the Annual Report.
Approved by the Trustees and signed on their behalf.
Co-Chair
DATE 5 December 2024
## **Receipts and Payments Account**
**For the 12 months from 1[st] April 2024 to 31[st] March 2025**
**Unrestricted Restricted Total Total Funds Funds Funds Funds**
4
|**Notes**
**2025**
**£**
**Receipts from**
Donations
2
23.11
Grants
3
0
Training / Events
4
0
Total Income
23.11
**Payments on**
Charitable Activities
5,6
39.08
Governance Costs:
5
0
Total Payments
39.08
Net receipts/payments) before
transfers
(15.97)
Transfers
0
Net Receipts/(payments)
(15.97)
**Statement of Balances**|**2025**
**£**
0
32,800.00
0
32,800.00
17,267.51
62.50
17,330.01
15,469.99
0
15,429.99|**2025**
**£**
23.11
32,800.00
0
32,823.11
17,306.59
62.50
17,369.09
15,454.02
0
15,454.02|**2024**
**£**
940.71
27,600.00
800.00
29,340.71|**2024**
**£**
940.71
27,600.00
800.00
29,340.71|
|---|---|---|---|---|
||||24,826.63
0
24,826.63||
|||||4.514.08
0
4,514.08|
||||||
## **As at 31[st] March 2025**
|**s at 31st March 2025**|||
|---|---|---|
|**Unrestricted** **Restricted**
**Funds**
**Funds**
**Notes**
**2025**
**2025**
**£**
**£**
Opening fund balance
7
2,923.35
18,068.25
Net receipts/(payments) for
the year
7
(15.97)
15,469.99
Closing fund balances at 31st
March 25
7
2907.38
33,538.24
Cash and bank balances at
31stMarch 2025
2,923.35
33,538.24|**Total**
**Funds**
**2025**
**£**
20,991.60
15,454.02
36,445.62
36,445.62|**Total**
**Funds**
**2024**
**£**
16,477.52
4,514.08
20,991.60|
|||20,991.60|
||||
Approved by the Trustees on 5 December 2024 and signed on their behalf by Chairperson,
Co-Chair
5
The notes on pages 8 to 10 form part of these accounts
## **Notes to the Accounts For the year ended 31 March 2025**
## **1.Accounting Policies**
## _Basis of Accounting_
The accounts have been prepared on a Receipts and Payments basis by the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland)Act 2005 and the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended).
## _VAT_
The charity is not registered for VAT; accordingly, expenditure includes VAT where appropriate.
## _Resources Expended_
The expenditure incurred has been classified according to the charity’s circumstances. All expenditures relate to the charitable activities.
## **2. Donations**
|**Unrestricted** **Restricted**
**Total**
**Funds**
**Funds**
**Funds**
**2024**
**2024**
**2024**
**£**
**£**
**£**
Donation £100 or more
0
0
0
Donations of less than £100
23.11
0
23.11
**Total**
**23.11**
**0**
**23.11**|**Total**
**Funds**
**2024**
**£**
870.00
70.71
**940.71**|
|---|---|
## **3. Grants**
|**Unrestricted** **Restricted**
**Funds**
**Funds**
**2025**
**2025**
**£**
**£**
The Society of Writers
0
0
The Snook Foundation
0
0
The Robertson Trust
0
12,500.00
Lottery Community Fund
0
19,500.00
Barchester Health
0
800.00
**0**
**32,800.00**|**Total**
**Total**
**Funds**
**Funds**
**2025**
**2024**
**£**
**£**
0
1,250.00
0 12,6000.00
12,500.00
13,750.00
19,500.00
0
800.00
0
**32,800.00**
**27,600.00**|
|---|---|
## **4. Charitable Activities Income**
|**Unrestricted** **Restricted**
**Total**
**Funds**
**Funds**
**Funds**
**2025**
**2025**
**2025**
**£**
**£**
**£**
Training Income
0
0
0
**Total**
**0**
**0**
**0**|**Total**
**Funds**
**2024**
**£**
800.00
**800.00**|
|---|---|
6
## **5. Charitable Activities Expenditure**
|**Unrestricted** **Restricted**
**Funds**
**Funds**
**2024**
**2024**
**£**
**£**
Hardship Grants
0
0
Staff TRT Grant
0
16,237.50
Other Client Payments
0
39.30
Room Hire
0
117.88
Website
0
474.61
Training
0
373.73
Office Supplie
0
24.49
Governance Cost – preparation of
Accounts
0
62.50
Sundries
39.08
0
**Total**
**39.08**
**17,330.01**|**Total**
**Funds**
**2024**
**£**
0
16,237.50
39.30
117.88
474.61
373.73
24.49
62.50
39.08
**17,336.09**|**Total**
**Funds**
**2024**
**£**
4,030.00
10,800.00
9,850.00
136.75
0
0
0
9.88
**24,826.63**|
|---|---|---|
## **6. Related party transactions**
No payments were made to related parties in 2024/25.
## **7. Funds**
|**Unrestricted Funds**
**Restricted Funds:**
The Snook Foundation
The Robertson Trust
Lottery Community Fund
Barchester Health
Corra Hardship Fund
Total Restricted Funds
**Total Funds**|**Opening**
**Balance**
**1/4/24**
**£**
2,923.35
4,000.00
13,948.25
0
0
120.00
18,068.25
**20,991.60**|**Receipts**
**Payments**
**£**
**£**
23.11
39.08
0
0
12,500.00
10,267.49
19,500.00
7,023.22
800.00
39.30
0
0
32,800.00
17,330.01
**32,823.11**
**17,369.09**|**Balance**
**31 March**
**2025**
**£**
2,907.38
4,000.00
16,180.76
12,476.78
760.70
120.00
33,538.24|
|---|---|---|---|
||||**36,445.62**|
## **The Snook Foundation**
This was a grant to a beneficiary, and the balance of £4,000 will be spent in 2025/26.
## **The Robertson Trust**
This is a 3-year grant paid annually from December 2022 to develop PAR – we have employed two consultants to work on funding, strategy and community development.
## **Lottery Community Fund**
This is a 12 month grant of £19,500 to fund a training and perled programme for volunteers and members of PAR. To produce a manual on peer development
## **Barchester Health**
7
Grant of £800 to support disabled members of PAR to attend meetings can be used on trael, support or childcare.
## **Corra Hardship Fund**
This was a grant to payout hardship grants to beneficiaries in hardship, and the balance will be spent in 2025/26.
8