The trustees present their annual report and financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2024.
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 governing document, 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 charitable objectives of Platform for Life agreed with the Charity Commission are:
1. To enable the treatment and care of parents, parents-to-be and carers who experience individual, societal, economic or relationship psychological stress by the provision of counselling to enable them to provide safe, secure and nurturing environments for their children.
2. To enable the treatment and care of children and young people who are in families where psychological stress could be impairing their normal emotional development by the provision of play therapy and counselling.
Public benefit
The Trustees confirm that they have referred to the guidance contained in the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit when reviewing the charity’s aims and objectives and in planning future activities and setting the strategy for the year.
Working in communities with high levels of deprivation the charity provides therapy including counselling that is:
Local and Community based, working where clients live so there are no transport problems for them to address or children to pull out of school.
Flexible, working around clients and not restricting the number of sessions they can access or penalising them if they do not attend every session. The charity understands the challenges clients face and tries to be as flexible as possible to their needs and situation at any given time.
Accessible. The charity aims for short referral times so clients can access support quickly and operates without the usual levels of bureaucracy or thresholds that screen out the majority of those seeking help to address mental health issues.
Tailored to the needs of each client, providing support for as long as they require it rather than the usual fixed number of sessions (6-8) offered by mainstream mental health services.
Preventative, with an aim of breaking the cycle of poor mental health being passed down from one generation to the next.
Family focused, recognising that parental trauma can have a profound effect on children. This means the charity may sometimes work with a parent(s), child or both to make a difference for the family.
Free of charge to clients.
There’s an inextricable link between poverty and poor mental health. Once established and left unchecked, it can leave people feeling trapped and disadvantaged throughout their life. All too often it becomes a negative cycle that’s repeated through the next generation, sentencing their children to a life of difficulties and lost opportunities.
We work in three areas of Chester that fall within the bottom 10% of the government produced Index of Multiple Deprivation. Many of the adults, children and young people we support have experienced multiple life challenges and there are often also intergenerational traumas and issues which may be negatively affecting them. Covid and the cost of living crisis have heaped further pressure on families and intensified matters for those already living in poverty and struggling with their mental health.
Those who are most in need of help to address mental health issues often find themselves unable to access suitable and timely support. There are often too many barriers put in their way. These include restricted referral routes, high thresholds for access, extremely long wait times to be seen (several months or longer is not uncommon), inflexible session times, lack of childcare, costs of transport and an overall lack of trust in statutory services. Clients that Platform for Life works with often feel invisible and forgotten in society and the difficulties they have accessing help to address mental health issues, only serves to reinforce this.
Platform for Life exists to fill this gap. We know that people experiencing the most significant disadvantages in life face the greatest risks to their mental health. This is why we are removing the barriers faced by people and improving access to mental health support for those who would otherwise go un-helped. In particular we support those who cannot afford to pay for private therapy when mainstream services are are unavailable or difficult to access; and those who may sometimes need longer-term support to recover from the traumas they have experienced.
Demand for the charity’s service continues to be strong and since Covid, we have experienced a 70% growth in referrals. Over the last two financial years, we have noticed an increase in the number of clients accessing our service with complex mental health issues. The reasons for this include clients not having met thresholds for other services, waiting a considerable length of time to be seen by NHS Mental Health Services or being discharged after a few sessions even though they have not yet recovered. There is an acute shortage of suitable mental health services available to people, particularly those on low incomes who cannot afford to pay for private therapy. Without Platform for Life many in the highest need areas of Chester would go without much needed support.
Platform for Life doesn’t restrict the number of sessions a client can access (many services restrict access to 6-8 sessions) and due to the increased levels of complexity that clients are presenting with, many require a much longer therapeutic intervention to feel well again. Despite the charity increasing the number of sessions it offers over the year by 12% to 3583, the level of client complexity has undoubtedly impacted on wait times, which rose to an average of 12 weeks.
Nearly 37% of all referrals received in the financial year were self-referrals for adults and young people and parent referrals for a child and young person. Other key referral routes include schools (27%), Medical Centres and Health visitors (19%) and Social Services (5%).
A key tenet of Platform for Life’s service is accessibility, and the growth of self and parent referrals is a testament to this approach. At a time when NHS services are under severe strain and getting a GP appointment can be challenging, providing alternate referral routes including via self-referral, helps to ensure clients can access the help they need when they need it.
Being based in the heart of the communities we serve, has helped us forge a relationship of trust with clients. We work really hard to ensure every client who accesses our service feels visible, valued and cared for and we always look for additional ways in which we can meet their individual needs.
“This is the only thing that has helped me in all the years I have struggled with abuse and my mental health. My therapist was amazing and I am truly grateful. They have helped me so much to see a light at the end of the tunnel and see that I can recover.” Adult client
“Every time I have counselling, I feel like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders. It's such a relief to speak to my counsellor to get stuff off my chest. I’ve never done that before. It took a lot to talk about it all, but I'm glad. My plan is to come back in a few months to work on the other stuff with my therapist.” Adult client
“I felt comfortable during the sessions and it felt like a safe space to talk about everything that I wanted to talk about.” Young person
Our team
We have a team of highly qualified therapists with experience of working successfully with clients with multiple challenges. With a majority of our clients having suffered significant traumas, abuse and other adversities, we believe it is important that therapists have the appropriate level of qualifications and experience to work with this level of complexity. Our team is managed by a Clinical Lead with over 20 years experience and a deep understanding of our client needs. Whilst striving to provide an excellent level of support for all clients, we aim to do the same as an employer. We are an accredited Living Wage Employer and believe in paying our staff fairly for the work they do. We offer all of our team flexible working options and foster a compassionate approach to leadership.
We also provide placement opportunities for a small number (usually 2-3) of students at any one time. Students are closely supervised by the Clinical Lead and their client load is appropriate to their level of experience. This is critical for both client and student. We follow British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) guidelines on managing placements to ensure our students have an excellent training experience which is safe, conducted ethically and focuses on sound practice without using students as an additional resource that replaces established professional roles. Once qualified students are then paid sessional rates whilst continuing to work with any clients to complete their therapy.
As well as offering clients access to therapeutic services, we also provide practical support through our Family Support Worker. Their goal is to help reduce some of the stressors our clients face and ensure they can effectively engage with therapy. They work with clients on a 1-2-1 basis to help them access support to address practical needs and, where necessary, act as an advocate on their behalf. They also facilitate warm introductions for clients who sometimes lack the confidence to contact local agencies independently.
Since September 2023, our Family Support Worker has helped 32 clients. Their support has included helping a client access a hardship fund from a utility provider resulting in £1700 debt being written off, introducing others to local domestic abuse support groups and recovery programmes, helping clients register with a dentist, make hospital appointments and advocating for them in meetings with school about their children’s attendance levels and in team around family discussions.
Connections with groups working locally
Our clients often have multiple needs and we have well established links with a number of other local charities and agencies that provide complementary services designed to support clients in the local communities where we work. These include local food banks and food community stores, KidsBank which provides clothes, toys and equipment for babies and children, Koala North West offering practical family support, Penny Smart debt advice service and Citizen's Advice Community Connectors. We have developed reciprocal signposting and referral processes and this ensures clients can receive more holistic support.
We are members of the Cheshire West Mental Health Alliance which was set up in 2022 to bring together local voluntary and community agencies providing mental health support locally. Facilitated by Cheshire West Voluntary Action and with well over 40 members, the Alliance provides a forum for networking, knowledge sharing and collaboration amongst members. With the restructuring of the NHS into Integrated Care Boards, members have been informed that future commissioning of mental health services with local community organisations will be done through this Alliance.
We also have relationships with specific Local-Authority departments such as Social Services, Education Access and Domestic Violence support teams and receive referrals from these, alongside the other well established referral routes from schools, GPs, health visitors, local charities etc. We also engage with specific roles within the Local Authority such as the Independent Domestic Violence Advisors (IDVAs) as a number of clients access our service with experience of domestic violence.
In October 2023, we partnered with the Youth Hostel Association to take 8 client families away on a residential weekend outside Chester. Alongside a range of outside activities such as archery, fencing and fire building, families had an opportunity to spend time together in comfortable surroundings, enjoy good food, and meet others with similar experiences to them. For some this was their only experience of spending time away from home outside their community.
As well as formal referring relationships to and from local agencies, we have also developed relationships with Sanctuary Housing (local social housing provider), ward councillors, community forums and local groups. They know that they can signpost clients or make referrals on their behalf into our service and alongside direct client input, help inform our understanding of local issues and how we develop our service. The Lord Mayor of Chester recently referred to Platform for Life as a ‘ray of light’ in the community.
Volunteers
Unlike many counselling charities, Platform for Life does not make extensive use of volunteer therapists as a matter of policy. This is because the client needs are often complex and therapy is demanding and it’s important that they have relevant qualifications and experience to manage this.
We recognise the importance and value of volunteers but until recently did not have sufficient capacity within Platform for Life to effectively recruit and manage these, other than for a small number of therapy student placements and fundraising volunteers for specific events. In summer 2023 we expanded our Client Coordinator's role to include Volunteer Manager responsibilities and also appointed a Family Support Worker. These two developments have significantly opened up opportunities for volunteers within Platform for Life and at the end of March 2024 we had two volunteers in place offering administrative support and a further two supporting the work of the Family Support Worker.
Key achievements
315 clients actively engaged with Platform for Life’s service. Whilst the number of clients worked did not significantly increase over the previous year, the average number of sessions each client accessed grew from 10 to 12 as more clients required a longer intervention because of complexities they presented with.
Offered 3,583 therapy sessions, an increase of 12% on the previous year.
Maintained a high client attendance rate of 79%. Given the challenges many clients face, this level of engagement in therapy is extremely positive.
Expanded therapy capacity by 25% to meet client need and ensure wait times to be seen remained manageable.
Secured funding to appoint a Family Support Worker to help clients address some of their more practical needs and support their engagement with therapy. They have already helped 32 clients and been described as an ‘angel sent to us’.
Ensured the charity’s income level grew to cover the increase in expenditure associated with expansion of therapy provision.
Raised the charity’s profile locally through social media activity, presentations, meetings with key stakeholders and fundraising activities. This has led to us being selected as charity to support in 2023/24 by two local choirs and a pub restaurant.
One of 40 small charities nationally to be chosen by Global’s Make Some Noise to raise funds for on their 6th October 2023 Make Some Noise Day across 8 of their radio brands.
Impact of the Charity's work
We capture a mix of quantitative and qualitative data to assess the impact of our service on clients at an individual, family and sometimes community level. Changes are individual to each client and however big or small, we celebrate them all.
We know that positive changes to a person’s mental health can have significant benefit for the rest of their family, meaning the impact of our service on people’s lives can be further amplified by 3-4x.
Outcomes
We use online system Lamplight to collect and report client outcome data in terms of number of referrals, number of sessions offered, attendance rate, client location etc.
Impacts
We currently use CORE Standardised Assessment Tool to measure risk and wellbeing of adult and young person clients at the beginning, middle and end of therapy. Data suggests that 85% of adults and 88% young people recorded improvements in their wellbeing by the end of their work with Platform for Life. For children the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) is used. This is completed by either a parent/carer or teacher and assesses before, middle and after therapy emotional health needs. We have found this more challenging to capture data from as parents sometimes fail to return completed forms and pressures in school mean teachers don’t have the time to complete their part of the assessment.
Over the next 6 months we plan to move to using one assessment tool across all age groups called the ‘Outcome Star’. This is a more holistic measurement tool which can empower the client in making changes or adapting to factors in their life.
Through an end of counselling feedback form Platform for Life also asks adult and young person clients to rank how they feel and capture changes they have noticed since having therapy. A simplified version of this form which is more pictorial is used with children. The following table summarises the results of the feedback over the past year:
Statement | Adult | Young person | Child |
I am more able to cope | 93% | 75% | 84% |
I am more positive about my future | 93% | 88% | N/A |
I feel happier after counselling | N/A | N/A | 96% |
I have noticed positive changes in my life since having therapy | 100% | 100% | N/A |
Capturing individual changes
We also share individual client testimonials, feedback and stories which capture their journey, including any changes to how they feel about themselves and what they are now able to do which might previously have been difficult or impossible.
Examples of client feedback
“This therapy has saved my life. If it wasn’t for this therapy, I would have ended it a long time ago.” Adult
“Counselling has made me feel like a real person again.” Young person
“X has helped me think about myself in a better way.” Child
“I cannot put into words how truly grateful we are for the time, patience and kindness they have shown my child. My child struggles to make relationships with people away from their comfort zone but from the offset I knew they were comfortable working alongside their therapist. The sessions have been amazing.” Parent
Danielle’s story
Young mum Danielle approached her 9-year-old daughter’s school for help. She’d recently split from her partner and wasn’t coping. She often felt suicidal and worried about the impact on her children. Team around the Family (TAF) was in place and we arranged to see her as a priority. Danielle had a history of abuse. She’d experienced emotional and physical abuse from both parents and their partners. Her relationship with her ex-partner was emotionally and financially abusive. His coercive and controlling behaviour had cut her off from family. He also manipulated their children, telling them their mum was mentally ill.
Danielle’s childhood trauma was often triggered if she felt people were judging her or being unsupportive. Sometimes this caused her to become aggressive and verbally abusive, followed by remorse and suicidal thoughts. When this happened, she felt so overwhelmed that she had considered putting her children into care.
Danielle could see the impact this was having on her daughter and worried about history repeating itself. She wanted stability in her life and to feel in control. Through counselling she began to understand the long-term impact of her abusive relationships, past and present, and developed strategies to regulate her emotions. She was able to see that she was in fact a good mother and cared well for her children, a fact supported by Social Services.
Danielle referred her daughter to Platform for Life. She is currently working with a play therapist, who has also forged a good relationship with Danielle, which is supportive in strengthening the family unit and reinforcing positive parenting skills. By the end of our time working with Danielle the TAF was closed and she had started a GCSE maths course with the view to returning to work. After a lifetime of abuse, counselling helped Danielle create a better life for herself and her children.
Longer term impacts
The way in which Platform for Life works, gives clients the time and space they need to process and heal from their traumas and experiences. We know from client feedback, that for some therapy is quite literally life saving. It also leads many clients to feel more empowered and able to make specific changes in their life. These include:-
Strengthening or re-building relationships with family, friends and peers.
Applying for work for the first time or after an absence.
Pursuing opportunities to volunteer.
Having the confidence to seek increased responsibility or promotion at work.
Making lifestyle changes, including taking up exercise and eating more healthily.
Accessing school or college when this has previously been difficult or not possible at all.
Making successful transitions from the nurturing environment of primary school to high school where more independence is required.
Breaking free from abusive and negative relationships.
Stopping destructive and risky behaviours, including self-harm.
Pursuing new hobbies and interests
As well as capturing ad hoc feedback from clients who keep in touch after therapy has ended, some consent to providing more formal feedback after 6 or 12 months. When you ask a client, 9 months after counselling ended, what difference did it make and they say, “I’m still alive”, you know the service is improving the lives of those who need it.
Typically, people from the communities we serve, struggle to engage with statutory services. Having a positive experience with Platform for Life, leads some to go on and seek further support for themselves or their families. Examples include:-
One client attended a well man clinic, agreed to see a dietician and now understands how to follow a healthy diet with regular exercise.
Another client is now under assessment for bi-polar with an NHS psychologist
A client with autism now understands what it means to be autistic and feels confident enough to engage with all services for the benefit of his son, who is also autistic.
Progress on priorities identified in last year’s report
To reflect the speed of change and increased levels of uncertainty, the charity believes it needs to be agile and able to respond quickly to outside events. Rather than set long-term objectives, it was agreed that the charity should identify a series of projects that would enable it to move forward. The projects the charity agreed to focus on last financial year were as follows:-
Diversifying funding sources
Trauma informed leadership
Becoming a Centre of excellence in the provision of mental health services, meeting client needs and evidencing impact.
Pilot project to open up referrals to a key referrer operating in other pockets of deprivation in Chester.
More fully measuring the charity's impact, especially over the longer term.
Diversifying funding sources.
Good progress. The charity has been successful in growing its funding to keep pace with demand and diversifying funding sources, with 17% of all income derived from fundraising activities and donations and a further 9% from counselling activities (predominantly the contribution local schools make towards our provision for their pupils).
Trauma informed leadership
Good progress. We are working hard to ensure trauma informed practice is deeply embedded in the heart of the Charity and in our policies and practices. Our leadership team understands that staff, including themselves, will struggle at times and may be impacted by past or current trauma experiences. This may be on a personal level or vicariously through the work we do. Our leadership team recognise the signs of stress and are encouraged to respond effectively and compassionately, communicating clearly and offering support to foster good self care and resilience.
Becoming a Centre of Excellence in the provision of mental health services, meeting client needs and evidencing impact
Good progress. Last year we developed our theory of change model to provide direction and clarity and to focus our activities so that people can realise the change (outcomes and impact) they want to achieve. Our model is evolving through continuous improvement and learning to ensure we adapt to new demands and remain focused on addressing the core problem we have identified and want to solve. We have used this to refine the measures we use to evidence impact.
Pilot project to open up referrals to a key referrer operating in other pockets of deprivation in Chester
Progress. We have expanded our service into Kingsway, another area of high need, via a local primary school and are developing relationships with local stakeholders to help build understanding of the community and trust.
More fully measuring the charity's impact, especially over the longer term
Good progress. We publish an annual social impact report to tell our story over the previous year, the client and families we have supported and the difference we are helping them make in their lives. This includes details of longer-term follow ups with clients, 12 months or longer after they accessed our service. We have also secured funding to support a research project being undertaken by Dr Emma Price at University of Chester, aimed at:-
Identifying areas of improvement for service user data collection to enable Platform for Life to demonstrate its impacts more effectively.
Identifying the social impacts of Platform for Life’s work. This would include a detailed literature review to identify the potential cost savings to society of the work Platform for Life undertakes.
Ensuring Platform for Life has the right measures in place to demonstrate its impact. This would include producing a longitudinal report on the impacts of the charity’s work.
The research will use data and client feedback to identify the wider social impacts of Platform for Life's work, evidencing that the benefits extend beyond the individual service user. Academic literature will be utilised to evidence how these impacts provide significant benefits to society as a whole. Through this, a detailed analysis of the social financial savings will be outlined. The research will consider savings made to the educational system, employment and benefits costs, physical and mental health service expenses, social services costs and potential criminal justice savings.
The trustees believe that the current financial position is healthy with sufficient funds to continue to deliver the current levels of service and for prudent expansion, reflecting the continued increase in demand for our services.
Over the course of the financial year, we recorded a modest net income of £14,172 on turnover of £386,218. Of this latter figure, 59% of our income took the form of unrestricted grants and donations, 31% were restricted grants, 9% derived from the provision of counselling services and 1% was income from investments. A particular feature of fund raising activity in the past year has been the significant increase in restricted grants. We have also been successful in securing a number of multi-year funding arrangements which provide a level of financial security for future years.
The operation of our reserves policy has been unchanged over the year. It continues to require that our free reserves balance should be sufficient to undertake an orderly wind-up of the charity over a six month period. This policy is a prudent approach and is designed to allow us to safely finish therapy without damaging our clients’ mental health. We ended the year with free reserves of £114,571. Given that the amounts of income received can be “lumpy” from quarter to quarter, this represents a prudent level of reserves. As in the previous year, this year-end balance is somewhat inflated due to the majority of our income (58%) being credited in the second half of the year.
The charity’s expenditure has continued to grow steadily throughout the year, reflecting both the success of our fundraising efforts and the increasing demand for services referred to earlier. The charity is very conscious of the need to ensure that resources are focused on the provision of services to our clients. In this context, support service costs amounted to 28% of total expenditure. This is a lower percentage than last year and one which the
Board believes compares very favourably with similar charities. In line with the growth in the charity, we continue to implement improvements to our financial controls.
The majority of our financial assets comprise bank deposits. We have continued to diversify our cash deposits between a number of financial institutions in order to ensure our funds enjoy a better level of protection from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. As part of these changes, we have taken advantage of the general increase in interest rates to earn more investment income whilst still maintaining a very prudent approach to investments.
Our key financial objective for the year ahead is similar to last year, namely, to continue to grow and diversify our income and funding sources. Although we were successful in relation to this objective last year, fund raising is a continuing challenge. This is especially the case given the overall environment for foundations and trusts, which is more competitive than ever.
Funding sources
The charity is very grateful to its principal grant funders:
Cheshire Community Foundation
Chester Bluecoat Charity
Decibellas Choir
Earl of Chester Fund
Grocers Hall
Irving Memorial Trust
Marjorie Boddy Charitable Trust
Nationwide Community Grant
PLaces for People
Sanctuary Housing
Steve Morgan Foundation
The Pixel Fund
The Robert Clutterbuck Charitable Trust
Ursula Keyes Trust
Westminster Foundation
We are also very appreciative of donations / fundraising support provided by Bristol Squibb Myers, Chester BID, Chester Business Club, Chester City Club, Chester Music Society, Chester Races, Decibellas Choir, Mitchell Group, Portal Golf Club and The Ship Inn.
Post-pandemic, and with the cost of living crisis significantly impacting the charity sector, as well as the beneficiaries we support, the challenge to remain sustainable, sits at the forefront of our focus and priorities for future plans. This year we will continue to focus this year on short to medium term, as opposed to long-term objectives, to ensure we can react to change. However, through the forthcoming year, we plan to further strengthen our organisation and our offer, in preparation for safe and sustainable longer-term growth.
The priorities for the charity for this year will therefore be:-
To continue to grow and diversify our income and funding sources through the development of increased supporter and corporate partnerships, growing our individual fundraising strategies, and growing connections with major donors.
To continue to develop our Trauma Informed Leadership.
To grow our geographical base to support more pockets of deprivation within the Chester region and its borders.
To sustainably broaden our offer of mental health support in alignment with our priority focus on early intervention to also include preventative measures support in our offer.
To raise our profile and be recognised as a Centre of excellence in the provision of mental health and wellbeing services.
To work collaboratively with like-minded organisations and individuals to strengthen our service, network and growth.
To increase our Volunteering opportunities for interested parties including supporting organisations’ employees and possible progression pathways for clients.
The charity is a company limited by guarantee. The governing document is a memorandum and articles of association dated 14 July 2017.
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:
Recruitment of new charity trustees takes place following trustee resignations or the identification of trustee skills gaps, by the Board, based on the charity trustee skills audit. New trustees are identified via recommendation or targeted advertising. Following an initial meeting with the Chair and CEO, if deemed suitable, the CV of the prospective trustee is circulated to the remaining trustees for their vote of approval. Following approval, the new trustee undergoes a DBS check and then undertakes a structured programme of induction and training, including completion of all documentation required by the Charity Commission.
None of the trustees has 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.
The Board is effective and supportive of the staff and has a good mix of skills and experience in local government, legal, business, risk management, education, counselling and charity management. The Board meets quarterly for routine business with the CEO and Clinical Lead in attendance and other members of staff invited to attend as appropriate. The management of the clinical discipline, together with day- to-day management of clients and associated case management matters, is undertaken by Clinical Lead, who reports to the CEO.
Further oversight is provided by 3 subcommittees chaired and led by trustees, covering Finance and Risk, HR and Governance and Professional Standards. These meet 4x per year with invitees from the management team and report into each Board meeting. All policies are reviewed by the relevant Committees and formally approved by the Board.
None of our Trustees are related or married to each other and we have in place a fixed term limit policy which means Trustees can serve for a maximum of 9 years. This equates to 3 terms of 3 years with Trustees needing to resign and be reappointed by the Board at the end of each term.
Advisors
We are grateful to our Patron David Briggs who provides input and support on a regular basis. The CEO receives valuable support and advice from a CEO peer support group and the charity has benefitted from skills donors in a number of different areas facilitated by Cheshire Connect. Support and training has also been provided by Cheshire West Voluntary action for which the charity is very grateful.
Safeguarding
The charity has a Safeguarding Policy which is reviewed annually and updated whenever opportunities for improvements are identified. The policy requires that all the charity’s personnel have valid DBS certificates and appropriate safeguarding training. The Clinical Lead, CEO and Chair of the Board all have level 3 safeguarding certificates.
Audit
The Company is exempt from audit under the Companies Act 2006 and Charities Act 2011 (accounts and audit) order 2015 as the gross income is less than £1 million. Since our gross income for the year is between £25,000 and £1,000,000 we have engaged an independent examiner of “appropriate skill or ability” to verify our accounts.
Small companies exemption
The annual report and accounts have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of Statement of Recommended Practice for Charities (Charities SORP) and the Companies Act 2006 as applicable for a small charitable company.
The trustees' report was approved by the Board of Trustees.
I report to the trustees on my examination of the financial statements of Platform for Life (the charity) for the year ended 31 March 2024.
As the trustees of the charity (and also its directors for the purposes of company law) you are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 (the 2006 Act).
Having satisfied myself that the financial statements of the charity are not required to be audited under Part 16 of the 2006 Act and are eligible for independent examination, I report in respect of my examination of the charity’s financial statements carried out under section 145 of the Charities Act 2011 (the 2011 Act). In carrying out my examination I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the 2011 Act.
Since the charity’s gross income exceeded £250,000 your examiner must be a member of a body listed in section 145 of the 2011 Act. I confirm that I am qualified to undertake the examination because I am a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, which is one of the listed bodies.
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:
accounting records were not kept in respect of the charity as required by section 386 of the 2006 Act; or
the financial statements do not accord with those records; or
the financial statements do not comply with the accounting requirements of section 396 of the 2006 Act other than any requirement that the accounts give a true and fair view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination; or
the financial statements have not been prepared in accordance with the methods and principles of the Statement of Recommended Practice for accounting and reporting by charities applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102).
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the financial statements to be reached.
The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year. All income and expenditure derive from continuing activities.
Platform for Life is a private company limited by guarantee incorporated in England and Wales. The registered office is Unit 8 Parade Enterprise Centre, The Parade, Blacon, Chester, CH1 5HN.
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the charity's governing document, the Companies Act 2006, FRS 102 “The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland” (“FRS 102”) and the Charities SORP "Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102)" (effective 1 January 2019). The charity is a Public Benefit Entity as defined by FRS 102.
The charity has taken advantage of the provisions in the SORP for charities not to prepare a Statement of Cash Flows.
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.
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.
Unrestricted funds are available for use at the discretion of the trustees in furtherance of their charitable objectives.
Restricted funds are subject to specific conditions by donors or grantors 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.
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.
In accordance with accounting standards, the economic contribution of general volunteers is not included in the accounts.
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.
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:
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.
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).
Cash and cash equivalents include cash in hand, deposits held at call with banks, other short-term liquid investments with original maturities of three months or less, and bank overdrafts. Bank overdrafts are shown within borrowings in current liabilities.
The charity has elected to apply the provisions of Section 11 ‘Basic Financial Instruments’ and Section 12 ‘Other Financial Instruments Issues’ of FRS 102 to all of its financial instruments.
Financial instruments are recognised in the charity's balance sheet when the charity becomes party to the contractual provisions of the instrument.
Financial assets and liabilities are offset, with the net amounts presented in the financial statements, when there is a legally enforceable right to set off the recognised amounts and there is an intention to settle on a net basis or to realise the asset and settle the liability simultaneously.
Basic financial assets, 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, 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.
Financial liabilities are derecognised when the charity’s contractual obligations expire or are discharged or cancelled.
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.
Payments to defined contribution retirement benefit schemes are charged as an expense as they fall due.
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.
Grants receivable
Fundraising
Counselling services
Interest receivable
Other counselling costs
The average monthly number of employees during the year was:
The remuneration of key management personnel was as follows:
Aggregate compensation includes annual gross salary, employer's national insurance contributions and employer's pension contributions.
The charity is exempt from taxation on its activities because all its income is applied for charitable purposes.
The charity operates a defined contribution pension scheme for all qualifying employees. The assets of the scheme are held separately from those of the charity in an independently administered fund.
The restricted funds of the charity comprise the unexpended balances of donations and grants held on trust subject to specific conditions by donors as to how they may be used.
The unrestricted funds of the charity comprise the unexpended balances of donations and grants which are not subject to specific conditions by donors and grantors as to how they may be used. These include designated funds which have been set aside out of unrestricted funds by the trustees for specific purposes.
The charity has been awarded a number of multi-year grants which are only recognised in annual accounts in subsequent periods. Each year’s grant payment is contingent on the charity meeting specific conditions, such as delivery of agreed annual outcomes. The total amount of income awarded but not yet recognised as at 31 March 2024 is £172,831.
Westminster Foundation - final year of grant
Chester Bluecoat Charity - final year of grant
Steve Morgan Foundation - first year of three year grant
Trusthouse Foundation - first year of three year grant
There were no disclosable related party transactions during the year (2023 - none).