The trustees present their annual report and financial statements for the year ended 30 November 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 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)".
Our charitable objects consist of:
the provision of facilities and services in the interests of social welfare,
the promotion of community development helping those suffering disadvantage,
the promotion of health and wellbeing tackling health inequalities.
Our charitable objects focus our work on helping those who are vulnerable and in need in our community. Our aim is to provide compassionate care services and wraparound supports, creating opportunities for our service users to lead the fullest of lives at home and in their local community.
We have 3 objectives:
1) Care – Caring ‘in’ our Community;
2) Community – Caring ‘for’ our Community; and
3) Collaboration – Reaching Out, Making Connections and Working in Partnership.
To deliver our objectives we provide domiciliary (home) care, day centre care and community services/programmes. Our domiciliary services include personal care, dementia support, mental health care, respite, high dependency and palliative end-of-life care. We provide care to individuals in their own homes in accordance with care plans drawn up by social workers from the local health and social services trust, assisting people to live independently with dignity, compassion and respect.
In our 5 Day Centres we run social engagement and activity programmes, as well as providing a range of care and support services. Our day centres aim to improve the quality of life of older people by providing practical assistance to help them be independent, as well as the opportunity to socialise with other people and make friends. Support services include hot meals, personal care, laundry, hairdressing and foot care.
We cater for a diverse client base supporting older people, those with long-term conditions, physical and learning disabilities and people with mental ill-health.
Our flagship Healthy Living Centre provides a variety of community health and well-being initiatives helping older people, families and vulnerable individuals in our community.
Our main activities include:
Local delivery of domiciliary care services, through teams of carers working in the local community;
Provision of day care services and supports through five Day Centres situated in the villages of: Belcoo, Derrygonnelly, Garrison, Newtownbutler and Teemore;
Operation of our Healthy Living Centre, providing community engagement programmes and health promotion initiatives;
Management of our headquarters (in Belcoo) providing strategic and corporate/administrative functions;
Management of two outreach administration/community hubs (in Enniskillen and Omagh) for our staff training, community engagement and health promotion work;
Provision of In-house training, supervised by our fully qualified trainers;
Provision of employment to over 250 local people, particularly women: all staff are registered with NISCC;
Partnership working to provide community support and health promotion programmes.
Specific objectives for the year included:
Meet the increasing demand for care and support services in our community;
Continue to adapt our services, helping our service users deal with the impact COVID-19 has had on their everyday lives;
Develop our community support role, designing and delivering services and programmes in our community, connecting with and supporting those in need;
Work collaboratively within the health and social care system to address challenges and support the community we serve;
Link up with Fermanagh Rural Community Network to deliver community health and wellbeing initiatives in Fermanagh;
Work with Arc and Oak Healthy Living Centres to deliver ‘The development of Health and Well-being Hubs in Enniskillen and West Fermanagh’ (CAWT Project);
Complete a strategic planning process reflecting our current context and mapping out a clear strategic direction for the organisation;
Develop our internal control system including our policies and procedures manual and staff handbook;
Partner with People Services to enhance our human resources;
Develop our staff with online training in specific areas. - 80% of staff have achieved NVQ to at least level 2;
Promote new recruits to avail of the Funded NVQ Level 2 and 3 Programmes through Rutledge Recruitment.
Upgrade our telecommunication SYSTEM to a cloud based system.
Use new technology to streamline our administration processes including Carefree monitoring system and online recruitment portal;
Raise our profile through the development of our website and online social media presence;
Complete a company ‘rebrand’ including promotional materials, corporate stationary, online content etc.;
Maintain our reserves at the required level to meet ongoing challenges in line with our Reserves Policy.
Public Benefit
The Trustees confirm that they have complied with their duty under section 4(b) of the Charities Act (Northern Ireland) 2008 to have regard to the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland’s guidance on public benefit and that the public benefit requirement has informed the activities of the charity in the year.
Lakeland Community Care covered expenditure above that which they received funding for within the year. They did this through providing administrative services, covering additional expenditure on projects and through covering the cost of delivering meals within the local area during Covid 19. Some of the projects that they contributed towards include:
The Day Centres' additional cost of £50,000, including Covid guidelines, bus and meals increase costs
Fermanagh and Omagh District Council meals and parcels distribution, costing £13,500
Administration and delivery costs, approximately £2,000
Community Fund NI - £7,200
Administration and delivery cost - £2,000
Statement of compliance with Charity Commission guidance
The trustees have paid due regard to guidance issued by the Charity Commission in deciding what activities the charity should undertake.
Thanks
We work with a wide range of organisations, and are very grateful to the following for their support during the past year:
Towergate - Insurance Brokers.
Belcoo Enterprise Centre - Day Care Centre;
Cleaver Fulton Rankin - Solicitors;
CavanaghKelly - Chartered Accountants;
Melvin Enterprises Ltd - Day Care Centre;
Newtownbutler Community Development Association - Day Care Centre;
People Services - Human Resource Consultants;
South West Fermanagh Development Organisation - Day Care Centre;
Western Health and Social Care Trust;
Tir Navar - Day Care Centre;
Fermanagh Rural Community Network;
Co-operation and Working Together (CAWT)
Fermanagh and Omagh District Council
Co-Sync (Arc, Oak, LCC, FRCN)
The charity's net outgoing resources for the year ended 30 November 2023 was £121,261 and the year end financial position amounted to total charity funds of £1,449,763. The trustees acknowledge the challenges of operating during the period with the continuing impact of the pandemic on operating, tightening of costs by the local health and social care trust and the increased cost of complying with legislation.
Our concerns for the future remain unchanged from those expressed in prior years, i.e. to maintain the levels of income against a background of ever-tightening cost controls imposed on us by the local health trust and dealing with increased levels of regulation and being able to absorb the associated costs relating thereto. Lakeland Community Care Limited is required to comply with certain minimum standards of care, provide high standards of training for its staff and undertake home audit visits to monitor the standard of care provided to clients against a background of real reductions in funding from our local health trust. From April 2008 the charity was required to register with the Regulation Quality Improvement Authority (RQIA).
The trustees are confident that the charity can continue to provide a good quality service to its clients and has sufficient reserves to allow it to adapt to the changing environment in domiciliary care.
The trustees are concerned at the level of costs incurred in providing day care facilities at the charity's day care centres in Belcoo, Derrygonnelly, Garrison, Newtownbutler and Teemore. The costs, including central overheads, exceed day care centre income. Our local health trust has signalled that they propose to reduce the number of day care places that they will fund; this despite our view that demand for day care provision remains high. Any reduction in the level of day care provision funded by our health trust will impact adversely on our finances in so far as central overheads will have to be absorbed by other activities undertaken by us hence the need for a fundraising strategy.
Reserves policy
As we are a charity whose principal aim is to provide facilities in the interest of social welfare and promotion of health, and also to set an example to others, we believe that we need a particularly transparent reserves policy.
In order to fulfil our responsibility to secure Lakeland Community Care Limited's viability beyond the immediate future and to protect the charity against serious disruption to its charitable work, we need to maintain sufficient reserves against future uncertainty, to absorb setbacks and to take advantage of change and opportunities in the long term.
To that purpose, our overall target is to have cash and liquid reserves to enable the company to continue to operate for a period of three to four months after the withdrawal of funding to enable a structured phasing out of services.
In addition, in any one year we may earmark unrestricted funds for particular designated initiatives or purposes. The reasons for the setting up of such funds, the policy for any transfers between funds and the allocation to or from designated funds will be stated in the notes to the financial statements.
Our reserves policy will be reviewed at least annually to ensure that it reflects current and future needs, risks, opportunities and contingencies. Designated funds will be reviewed annually also.
Taxation status
The company is recognised as a charity by HM Revenue and Customs. Accordingly, the company is not considered to be liable to pay Corporation Tax.
Risk Management
Formal arrangements are in place for identifying all operational risks. This is done on an ongoing basis.
Although it is the responsibility of our chief executive officer to identify, monitor, mitigate and report operational risks, the process is facilitated by our finance management committee. The finance management committee's objective is to ensure that the trustees' risk appetite is reflected in everything the charity does. Areas of concern which are included in the Risk register are:
General or specific downturns in income or unforeseen items of major expenditure;
Online / I.T. developments, data protection and cyber security - we invest in I.T. support to help us protect our business resilience;
Quality standards and accreditation - we focus on the issue of quality on a continuing basis, constantly striving to maintain and improve standards where this is possible. We continue to monitor, and indeed are pro-active in seeking feedback from our private clients and the Western Health and Social Care Trust. We conduct interviews with our clients on a one-to-one basis and also issue client survey forms. Any complaints are investigated promptly. We also welcome suggestions from staff and clients;
Implementation of company development strategy;
HMRC minimum wage legislation especially travel allowance.
Major pandemic within the population
Impact of Covid 19 pandemic on our services and the community we support.
Other risks and uncertainties
The Trustees consider that the other principal risks and uncertainties going forward which may have a material impact on the charity's performance can be summarised as follows:
Potential loss of the contract for the provision of domiciliary services
Loss of hours due to Trust Optimisation programme
Contractual obligations and associated penalties;
Increased costs due to National Minimum Wage changing to the new Living Wage from April 2024;
Increased cost of pension contributions under the new pensions' regime;
Workforce shortages: staff recruitment and retention - with an ageing population more people are needing care, demand is increasing but the supply of labour is not keeping pace to sustain and grow our services;
Sourcing funding for our Healthy Living Centre community engagement and support services/programmes in a highly competitive environment;
Changes in interest rates.
Implement our new Strategic Plan covering the period 2022-2030.
We are committed to delivering against our 3 Objectives (Care, Community & Collaboration) and our 5 Strategic Priorities (People, Services, Community, Organisation and Partnership) to achieve our ambitions, namely:
Care for our people making Lakeland Community Care a great place to work;
Provide compassionate care to all our service users and their families;
Expand our community support services and engagement programmes;
Focus on our health promotion role working to reduce health inequalities;
Reach out, make connections and work in partnership to provide health and wellbeing services in our community;
Build strategic alliances with community/voluntary sector organisations;
Set us up for success through good governance and operational excellence
Changes to our Strategy, including new or additional activities, may be required in the future as we consider the implications of operational demands and our changing operating environment. There is currently a high level of uncertainty as the community/voluntary, public and private sectors consider the long-term impacts of the recent pandemic as part of recovery. Flexibility is thus embedded in the plan, to enable us to adapt our activities accordingly.
Specific areas of focus include:
Invest in our People
Attracting, sustaining and growing our workforce;
Investing in ongoing staff training and development;
Reviewing our staff complement and optimising our structure to meet business needs;
Focusing on recognition, reward and employee wellbeing.
Invest in our Services
Delivering quality care - sustaining and developing our services;
Engaging with our service users and being responsive to their changing needs;
Providing seamless care - engaging with other agencies in supporting service users;
Contingency planning.
Invest in our Community
Developing our community engagement and outreach work;
Growing our role in health promotion expanding our wellbeing programmes/activities;
Developing a fundraising strategy;
Developing social enterprise within the existing enterprise centre;
Developing plans for the Healthy Living Centre
Working with Arc and Oak Healthy Living Centres to deliver ‘The development of Health and well-being Hubs in Enniskillen and West Fermanagh (CAWT Project).
Invest in our Organisation
Developing the diversity of our Board and Management succession planning;
Broadening the scope of our work to build resilience;
Continuing to develop our ‘brand’ to increase understanding of who we are and what we do;
Working to sustain our competitive advantage by focusing on our social value, human capital, innovation and technology, efficiency and profitability and revenue diversification;
Implementing recommendations made by our quality assessment officer;
Maintaining total reserves at the 2014 level over a ten-year period.
Invest in our Partnerships
Developing our advocacy role, providing a ‘voice’ for our service users and as part of the independent sector raising awareness of the issues affecting service provision;
Using our collective ‘voice’ to lobby for a ‘joined-up’ national response to sectoral labour supply shortages.
Taking the learning from the pandemic and applying it to our future work, building on a community-driven approach, focusing on the value we can bring to each other collaborating to achieve greater impact for the community we serve.
The charity is a company limited by guarantee and was set up in November 1994. It is governed by its memorandum and articles of association.
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:
In accordance with the Articles of Association, Mr Noel McAllister, Dr Kathleen Sweeney, and Mrs Pamela Ferguson retire by rotation and, being eligible, offer themselves for re-appointment.
After consulting with local community associations, we advertise trustee vacancies. We are mindful when appointing new trustees of identifying gaps in the board of trustees in terms of skills, knowledge, gender etc. All existing trustees are consulted on the selection of a new trustee before appointments are finalised.
The charity is a company limited by guarantee having no share capital. The board confirm that there are no trustees' interests which require disclosure.
Our headquarters comprising our strategic and corporate functions with training suite is located in the Healthy Living Centre, 1 Lattone Road, Belcoo, Co Fermanagh.
From there we:
Organise care packages;
Manage our five day centres;
Organise and administer our in-house and tailored training;
Manage Lakeland Community Care Limited's governance, financial reporting and strategic development;
Hold the trustees' monthly board meetings;
Provide a Men's Shed facility;
Hold Women's group meetings;
Provide exercise classes;
Hold a parent and toddler group.
Support local GAA functions
Our two administrative and community hubs are at Unit 4L, Lancer Buildings, Gortrush Industrial Estate, Omagh, and 3 Queen Street, Enniskillen.
A voluntary board of trustees is responsible for the overall management and direction of the charity. The board meets, at least, eleven times a year. A finance management committee meet on a quarterly basis and reports to the trustees. The finance management committee consists of the director of finance, the chief executive officer, the company secretary, the chairman and vice-chairman.
Our Senior Management Team led by the Chief Executive drive the strategies and operational programmes as agreed by the Management Board.
Our Administration Team are responsible for providing administration support across 3 main functions: Care Coordination, Training/Quality Assurance and HR/Marketing.
Our Care Team comprises over 220 Carers providing care in the community and 14 Day Centre Carers, ranging in experience from Senior Carers to new recruits.
Our People
One of our key strategies is to develop exceptional, motivated staff. The charity's performance is a credit to all of our staff. Their determination, commitment and enthusiasm under the leadership of our chief executive officer in a year of extremely challenging working conditions and more latterly difficult recruitment conditions cannot be overstated. The trustees would like to take this opportunity of thanking them for their contribution.
Capital Project
The company acquired a site in Belcoo, Co Fermanagh and in March 2013 a property was built on the site and completed in February 2015. This property houses the company's administrative function and Healthy Living Project.
The trustees, who are also the directors of Lakeland Community Care Limited 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:
- select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
- observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP;
- make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
- state whether applicable UK Accounting Standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements; and
- prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in operation.
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.
In accordance with the company's articles, a resolution proposing that Moore (NI) LLP be reappointed as auditor of the company will be put at a General Meeting.
The trustees' report was approved by the Board of Trustees.
Opinion
We have audited the financial statements of Lakeland Community Care Limited (the ‘charity’) for the year ended 30 November 2023 which comprise the statement of financial activities, the balance sheet, the statement of cash flows and notes to the financial statements, including 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.
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.
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:
the information given in the trustees' report for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared, which includes the directors' report prepared for the purposes of company law, is consistent with the financial statements; and
the directors' report included within the trustees' report has been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements.
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:
adequate accounting records have not been kept, or returns adequate for our audit have not been received from branches not visited by us; or
the financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or
we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit; or
the trustees were not entitled to prepare the financial statements in accordance with the small companies regime and take advantage of the small companies' exemptions in preparing the trustees' report and from the requirement to prepare a strategic report.
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.
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.
The objectives of our audit in respect of fraud, are; to identify and assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements due to fraud; to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence regarding the assessed risks of material misstatement due to fraud, through designing and implementing appropriate responses to those assessed risks; and to respond appropriately to instances of fraud or suspected fraud identified during the audit. However, the primary responsibility for the prevention and detection of fraud rests with both management and those charged with governance of the charitable company.
Based on our understanding of the charitable company and its operating environment, we determined that the most significant frameworks which have a direct impact on the preparation of the financial statements are those related to the reporting framework, (FRS 102, the Charities Act (Northern Ireland) 2008, The Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015, the Charity SORP and the Companies Act 2006) of which non-compliance may have a material effect on the financial statements. Compliance with these laws and regulations was assessed as part of our procedures.
Other laws and regulations of which non-compliance may have a material effect on the financial statements, e.g. through fines or litigation, were identified as regulations in relation to employment law and provision of medical care services which are regulated by the RQIA. Our required procedures in these areas are limited to inquiry of trustees and other management and inspection of any regulatory or legal correspondence. These limited procedures did not identify any actual or suspected non-compliance.
We assessed the susceptibility of the charitable company's financial statements to material misstatement, including how fraud might occur, including evaluating management's incentives and opportunities to manage earnings or influence the reported results. From the results of our assessment, we determined that the principal risks of fraud relate to posting inappropriate journal entries and use of charity funds for purposes outside of restrictions imposed by the donor. In common with all audits under ISAs (UK), we are required to perform specific procedures to respond to the risk of management override.
As part of an audit in accordance with ISAs (UK) we exercise professional judgement and maintain professional scepticism throughout the audit. Audit procedures performed by the engagement team included:
We obtained an understanding of the charitable company's internal control systems in order to design audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purposes of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the charitable company's internal control.
We obtained an understanding of how the charitable company complies with relevant laws and regulations, including those as a result of its registration with the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland and charitable status with HM Revenue & Customs , by making enquiries of management and those charged with governance.
Enquiry of management, those charged with governance and the entity’s solicitors around actual and potential litigation and claims.
Enquiry of entity staff to identify any instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations.
Performing analytical procedures to identify any unusual or unexpected relationships that may indicate risks of material misstatement due to fraud
Reviewing minutes of meetings of those charged with governance
Reviewing financial statement disclosures and testing to supporting documentation to assess compliance with applicable laws and regulations.
We test the completeness of income to address the risk of fraud in relation to revenue recognition.
Auditing the risk of management override of controls, including through testing journal entries and other adjustments for appropriateness, and evaluating the business rationale of significant transactions that are unusual or outside the normal course of business.
Auditing the risk of use of charity funds outside of restrictions imposed by the donor by review of funding letters of offer to identify restrictions, and review of funding claims prepared by management to check compliance with restrictions.
We communicated relevant 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. There are inherent limitations in the audit procedures described above and the further removed non-compliance with laws and regulations is from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, the less likely we would become aware of it. Also, the risk of not detecting a material misstatement due to fraud is higher than the risk of not detecting one resulting from error, as fraud may involve deliberate concealment through collusion, forgery, intentional omissions, misrepresentations or the override of internal control.
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.
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.
The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year. All income and expenditure derive from continuing activities.
Lakeland Community Care Limited is a private company limited by guarantee incorporated in Northern Ireland. The registered office is 1 Lattone Road, Belcoo, Fermanagh, BT93 5AQ.
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 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, [modified to include the revaluation of freehold properties and to include investment properties and certain financial instruments at fair value]. The principal accounting policies adopted are set out below.
The charity reported a deficit in the previous financial period in the amount of £300,258, which resulted in a significant reduction in the charity's reserves. Initial forecasts prepared by the Trustees also indicate a shortfall in funding for the year ended 30 November 2023.
In light of this, the Trustees carried out a radical review of the business structure and the following decisions were taken to reduce costs:
Evening, twilight and weekend rates were reduced to be in line with the day rate, resulting in significant reduction in wages costs,
Administration staff reduced by 2 members,
Office rents were reduced by 50% through negotiation with lessors,
Termination of the contract held with FRCN in May 2023 to reduce additional expenditure.
As a result, the charity has reported net income in the amount of £121,261 for the year ended 30 November 2023. Budgets prepared for the year ended 30 November 2024 and actual results post year end to date indicate that the charity will report a net income position for the year ended 30 November 2025.
The Trustees continue to closely monitor financial performance, with management accounts reported to the Board on a monthly basis, including variance analysis between the budgets and actual results.
Based on the above, the Trustees have a reasonable expectation that the charity can improve its current financial position and that there will be 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.
Income from charitable activities includes income received under contract or where entitlement to grant funding is subject to specific performance conditions.
Income is recognised as earned as the related services or good are provided. Grant income included in this category provides funding to support projects and 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.
Expenditure on charitable activities compromises all the resources applied by the charitable company in undertaking its work to meet its charitable objectives. Charitable activities will include the costs of governance arrangements to the general running of the charity.
Expenditure is recognised when a liability is incurred. Contractual arrangements and performance related grants are recognised as goods and services are supplied. Where costs cannot be directly attributed to a particular heading they have been allocated to activities on a basis consistent with the use of resources. Staff costs and overhead expenses are allocated to activities on the basis of staff time spent on those activities.
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 company is recognised as a charity by HM Revenue and Customs. Accordingly, the company is not considered to be liable to pay Corporation Tax.
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.
WHSCT contract for services
Private care services
Day Centre services
Carers Travel Costs
Day Centre - Travel Costs
Other operating costs
Protective Clothing
Meals & Food expenses
Rent
The average monthly number of employees during the year was:
The charity is exempt from taxation on its activities because all its income is applied for charitable purposes.
Freehold land and buildings with a carrying amount of £878,349 (2022 - £932,618) have been pledged to secure borrowings of the charity. The charity is not allowed to pledge these assets as security for other borrowings or to sell them to another entity.
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.
Nature of restricted reserves
Education Authority
Funding for the delivery of a summer scheme programme.
Arts Council NI
Funding for classes day centre clients
Fermanagh & Omagh District Council - Social Supermarket
Funding to offer a longer term and sustainable response to food poverty, through advice and education.
CLEAR
Funding to run sustainable health activities.
Independent Age
A wrap around support service for older people giving advice on healthy living grants, benefits and safety.
These are unrestricted funds which are material to the charity's activities.
This fund represents capital expenditure on property assets. The fund balance is equivalent to the depreciated historic cost of the asset. A sum equivalent to the depreciation charge on the assets will be allocated to the fund each year, in accordance with the depreciation policy, until it is fully amortised.
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 freehold premises were part funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD). Under the letter of offer, a debenture was taken out between Lakeland Community Care Limited and DARD, granting a charge of £250,000 to the latter over the property. The charge is intended to secure DARD's funding of the project. In the event that the company should dispose of the property within ten years from the date when the grant was released in 2014, DARD has the right to claw back the grant paid to the company.
There were no disclosable related party transactions during the year (2022 - none).
The charity had no debt during the year.
In common with many businesses of our size and nature, we use our auditors to assist with the compilation of the statutory financial statements.