As Chairperson of yipworld, it is my privilege to reflect on another impactful year of growth, resilience and empowerment. This financial report provides an overview of our achievements and the collective efforts of all involved. Our mission to inspire, support and enable children and families to reach their potential remains our driving force, and I am proud to say we have made significant strides. Over the past year we have faced challenges, adapting to the outcome of the pandemic and the journey to normality. However, we have also experienced heartening successes. With the support of our dedicated Board, staff, volunteers and partners we expanded our outreach, adapted our programmes to meet emerging needs, and found innovative ways to connect with and inspire our young people even amid changing circumstances.
Our services have not only equipped young people with essential skills and knowledge, but they have also fostered resilience, creativity and confidence in them. We have seen young people grow, take leadership roles, and become more engaged in their education and communities.
I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to our funders, partners and community allies whose support has been instrumental in making our services accessible and impactful. Additionally, our team of staff and volunteers has shown unwavering dedication, often going above and beyond in their efforts to ensure our young people have the resources, encouragement and guidance they need.
Looking forward, we are eager to build on this foundation. We plan to expand our programmes, deepen our engagement with school, and develop new partnerships that align with our vision for a brighter future for young people in our community. Together, we will continue to empower young people and foster a generation equipped to face challenges, embrace opportunities and lead with confidence.
I am honoured to be part of this journey and excited for all that lies ahead.
As Chief Executive of yipworld, I present this year's financial report, which reflects a year of impactful service despite an anticipated, manageable deficit. Our commitment to serving and empowering our young people remains unwavering, and we have carefully navigated financial challenges to sustain critical services.
Programme Investments and Priorities:
Our priority has been to minimise the impact of this deficit on programme delivery. As such, we allocated funds strategically, focusing on core programmes that directly benefit the youth we serve. By carefully controlling costs in administrative areas, we maximized resource allocation to critical youth services, including education support, skill-building programmes (The Skills Shop) and mental health resources.
Addressing the Deficit:
Our deficit for the year is manageable and falls within parameters we established to ensure financial stability. To mitigate this shortfall, we have taken proactive steps to reduce non-essential expenses, improve operational efficiencies, and pursue additional grant opportunities and utilise our financial reserves. These measures will help us maintain core services while ensuring long-term resilience.
Moving Forward with Financial Prudence:
We remain committed to transparency and accountability and will continue to monitor and adjust our budget as needed. As we move forward, we are focused on strengthening our financial position by developing sustainable funding strategies and partnerships to secure the future of our programs.
Thank you for your ongoing support and trust. Together, we are making a lasting impact, and I am confident that with your partnership, we will overcome these challenges and continue to empower our young people and families.
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 Memorandum and Articles of Association, the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005, the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended) and "Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102)" (effective 1 January 2019).
The charity's objects are to provide activities that contribute to the personal, social, emotional and educational development of young people including information on digital technology, recreational activities, positive health and wellbeing including emotional health and assistance to seek employment through funding activities and grants.
The team continue to work in synergy across all services with youth work at the core; employability support; our bike initiative which encompasses sport and recreation with a focus on positive mental health.
Youth Work services include traditional and contemporary style of methodology are at the core of our work encompassing a broad range of provision from age 5 years through to 15 years. Provision include drop-in during evenings and weekends to allow young people to thrive in a venue which is safe, warm and conducive to their needs.
Our bike initiative “The Bike Hoose” has seen investment with new bikes provided through funding from Cycling U.K., introduced the new opportunity of ‘Rock Up and Ride’ where children from areas within SIMD participated in a four-week cycling programme whereby they were provided with a new bicycle.
Mental Health services continued through the Social Prescribing Initiative funded by National Lottery and led by Bogside and Brandywell initiative in Northern Ireland in consortia with several Scottish charities within the partnership.
Employability Support continues to receive financial support from Inspiring Scotland through the Our Future Now funding stream. This has reduced significantly over the past two years and now in the fifth year of the second tranche of ten-year funding has administrative demands which are time-consuming but necessary to capture the data and statistics of the young people we support. This is a bespoke service for individual young people and in this financial year the age range was reduced from 16 years to 14 years to allow us to provide support to young people in S3 and S4 attending the Robert Burns Academy in Cumnock.
We introduced an initiative called The Skills Shop where young people who had non-attendance or limited attendance at school were referred to us and participated in a range of practical opportunities to enhance their skills and knowledge in the world of work.
Other initiatives include support to long-term unemployed; recruitment incentives for work experience for individuals to help them secure employment or further education/training opportunities.
Saturday Family Fun Days were introduced over the winter period to address the cost-of-living crisis whereby yipworld provided a safe, warm environment for families to attend and enjoy an abundance of free activities and food on offer. We also continued to distribute the duvet warm packs to families struggling with day to day costs.
Strong Connections is a funded initiative through Scottish Government Investing in Communities funding. This is an outreach service in rural communities within the South of East Ayrshire providing youth groups and family support for those in need. This is the first year of a three-year funded initiative.
Special projects and initiatives – yipworld was awarded a grant from Community Fund Awards for All to develop a strong partnership with youth initiatives across Scotland and Northern Ireland following the research and development which identified the lack of confidence and low level mental health issues of young people following the pandemic. We were delighted to coordinate ‘It’s a Small World’ where we will host three youth groups with a full packed programme of activities. The concept is our young people will visit other groups as a residential to develop their knowledge of their country and build their confidence and knowledge of Scotland and Northern Ireland.
The Living Wage accreditation was received to help us secure contract opportunities through East Ayrshire Council Trusted Partnership framework and Public Contracts Scotland.
Staff Training and Continual Professional Development
yipworld Board of Directors is committed to the professional development of staff and volunteers and will invest time and financial resources to ensure services are delivered effectively and efficiently at all times.
yipworld was a finalist in the Ayrshire Chamber of Commerce Business Excellence Award.
The Statement of Financial Activities for the year shows total income of £299,753 and total expenditure of £437,069 which results in a net expenditure of £137,316. Unrestricted reserves now stand at £330,583 and restricted reserves stand at £57,962.
It is the policy of the charity to maintain unrestricted funds, which are free reserves of the charity. Unrestricted reserves are to be kept at a level consistent with the expenditure of the charity for day-to-day operational requirements and the trustees funding strategy.
The charity is a company limited by guarantee incorporated on 10th March 2000 and charitable status was awarded on that date by The Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR)
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:
Trustees may be drawn from the membership of the company by election at an Annual General Meeting or by appointment by the trustees either to fill a vacancy or as an additional trustee. The trustees may also appoint any non-member as a director.
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.
Organisational structure
Senior staff member, Janice Hendry has been delegated control of the overall management of the charity and reports directly to the Board of Trustees.
The charity is controlled by its Board of Trustees. None of the trustees has any beneficial interest in the company. All the trustees are members of the company and guarantee to contribute £1 in the event of winding up.
The charity has in place directors’ and officers' liability insurance with a limit of indemnity of £250,000.
Induction and training of new trustees
New directors undergo an appropriate induction programme to brief them on their obligations under charity and company law and the financial performance of the company.
The trustees' report was approved by the Board of Trustees.
I report on the financial statements of the charity for the year ended 31 March 2024, which are set out on pages 6 to 20.
The charity’s trustees, who are also the directors of Yipworld for the purposes of company law, are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements in accordance with the terms of the Charities and Trustee Investments (Scotland) Act 2005 and the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006. The trustees consider that the audit requirement of Regulation 10(1)(a) to (c) of the 2006 Accounts Regulations does not apply. It is my responsibility to examine the financial statements as required under section 44(1)(c) of the Act and to state whether particular matters have come to my attention.
My examination is carried out in accordance with Regulation 11 of the 2006 Accounts Regulations. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the financial statements presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the financial statements, and seeks explanations from the trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit and consequently I do not express an audit opinion on the view given by the financial statements.
In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention:
to keep accounting records in accordance with section 44(1) (a) of the 2005 Act and Regulation 4 of the 2006 Accounts Regulations; and
to prepare financial statements which accord with the accounting records and comply with Regulation 8 of the 2006 Accounts Regulations;
to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn 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.
Yipworld is a private company limited by guarantee incorporated in Scotland. The registered office is Barrhill Road, Cumnock, Ayrshire, KA18 1PG.
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the charity's Memorandum and Articles of Association, the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005, the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended), 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.
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 charity is recognised by H M Revenue and Customs as a charity and accordingly exempt from taxation on income which is applied for charitable purposes. The company is not registered for Value Added Tax and, accordingly, any such irrecoverable tax is included in the expenditure concerned.
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.
Voluntary help
Voluntary help is not included in the accounts, the value attached to these unpaid volunteers has not been quantified. However, Yipworld acknowledges the reduction in running costs achieved by such help.
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.
Youth and community services
Youth and community services
Sale of goods
Rent and rates
Activity expenditure
Repairs and renewals
Travel and motor expenses
Insurance
Heat and light
The average monthly number of employees during the year was:
The charity considered its key management personnel comprise the trustees and the Chief Executive. The remuneration of key management personnel is as follows.
Aggregate compensation includes the total cost to the charity including employers national insurance and pension contributions.
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.
Community Fund - This is a model of social prescribing where care intervention services are provided to reduce stress on NHS/GP services. Coordinated by Scottish Communities for Health and Wellbeing
BBC Children in Need Curiosity Fund – in partnership with Wellcome Foundation – a Science Technology Engineering and Maths (STEM) programme to develop the confidence of young people
East Ayrshire Council – core youth work services
Energy Saving Trust – this grant is to provide funding for the purchase of electric bikes. The remaining balance represents the net book value of the bikes.
STV Appeal – to assist families with utilities, food and play materials throughout the COVID pandemic
Corra Foundation Supporting Communities – to coordinate clothing and footwear for children and families living in SIMD communities
Council for Voluntary Organisations – This fund is for promotion of positive mental health for adults in East Ayrshire communities
Nan McMurdo Trust - This is to provide assistance to vulnerable families in the community
Cycling Events Fund – to host cycling events from a variety of funders
Scottish Police – this was a contribution to weekend family events promoting social inclusion
Long Term Unemployment – to provide employment opportunities for adults struggling to gain employment
Bike Development Fund is to develop a local bike initiative for the community encouraging active travel through walking and cycling. This would include loan or hire of bikes to the general public; the provision of cycle maintenance and teaching children and young people about care of their bikes and use of their bikes to include health and safety on the roads.
Scottish Government Investing in Communities Strong Connections is toward salaries of coordinator; youth worker and administrator as a team to provide youth and community services in outlying rural communities encouraging a pathway to positive destinations in further education, training, volunteering or employment.
Scottish Cyclists grant is like the bike development fund
Place Based Investment Fund provided finance to purchase garden maintenance equipment as part of the Inspiring Scotland initiative in partnership with Robert Burns Academy to develop our Skills Shop initiative encouraging young people to participate in garden maintenance as part of their educational development.
The cost of living fund provides a free fortnightly family service in yipworld as a warm space on Saturdays to enjoy activities as a family with provision of free food and resources.
Event grant was to organise a youth work open day event.
EAC recruitment incentive provides reimbursement of salaries for long term unemployed for a six month period.
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.
During the year the charity entered into the following transactions with related parties:
The charity purchased good totalling £2,127 (2023 - £882) from Donsport, a business controlled by Stewart Birrell a trustee. The transactions were at "arms length" and represented various sportswear items. At the year end £nil was outstanding (2023 - £nil)