We present the Annual Financial Report for the year to 30 September 2024. Alongside this we would encourage you to read our Annual Impact Review, available on our website, which is full of the possibilities our members can achieve and a more detailed look at the year.
The environment in which Talkback operates has become increasingly challenging as Buckinghamshire Council has got into financial difficulties. Their short-term response to this crisis, is to cut funds from the most vulnerable and least vocal areas of the community who we work with. This has seen a severe reduction in support to young people at the most crucial stage of their lives, as they transition from school into employment and volunteer work.
The ongoing work done by the leadership team and staff allows us to try and counter the negative consequences on each person and we remain extremely grateful for their passion and efforts.
We have set ourselves up as an EOTAS (education other than at school) provider so that we can take on young people directly, as so many of them drop out of college. We are in the process of getting registered as a specialist college.
We are grateful for the support of funders, who have provided grants for running projects and for the purchase of equipment. We recognise the increasing pressures on funding bodies, and we actively look for ways to deliver our services more efficiently, including through volunteer support. The volunteers who have joined us have made a huge positive impact. We also continue to look for new ways to raise income to improve our services and increase our reach.
The Trustees, who are also directors of the charity for the purposes of the Companies Act 2006, present their report with the financial statements of the charity for the 12 months ended 30 September 2024. The Trustees comply with the charity’s Constitution, the Companies Act 2006 and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102 (update bulletin 2)).
The Trustees, who are also directors of the charity for the purposes of the Companies Act 2006, present their report with the financial statements of the charity for the year ended 30 September 2024. The Trustees comply with the charity's Constitution, the Companies Act 2006 and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland.
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 objectives and principal activities of the charity are:
To provide opportunities for autistic individuals and people with a learning disability to have their say on local services in the community. To enable them to obtain their full rights and privileges as citizens through embedding the skills of self-advocacy.
This is achieved by:
supporting and developing self-advocacy skills, providing opportunities for people to engage meaningfully and participate, feeding into the planning, development and delivery of services.
training and consultation with a range of professionals and agencies, the wider community, and families to educate and raise awareness. Increasing the quality of life experienced by people with a learning disability and/or autism, plus other disability groups.
providing education support, personal development services, life skills and employment support.
Talkback – Our Passion
Talkback is a centre of learning and development focused on two groups of undervalued people: autistic people and individuals with learning disabilities.
Our aim is for every person who joins the Talkback journey to become better equipped to lead the life they want by helping them transition from each stage to the next.
Our members have much to offer, as active people in the community, including through volunteering and by being employees.
To be recognised nationally as a progressive learning centre of excellence for the neuro diverse community and adults with learning disabilities.
The Trustees have referred to the guidance contained in the Charities Commission general guidance on public benefit when reviewing the organisation’s aims and objectives and are confident that Talkback is complying. We also follow the Code of Practice on Fundraising and are audited by Ofsted, Bucks County Council, and the Bucks College Group for the quality of our work. We have our own monthly quality assessments as well as those done annually by experts by experience - a trained group of people with lived experience who independently assess our services, as part of our quality improvement.
All our staff have been fully trained in safeguarding including FGM, Prevent, Suicide, First Aid, Child Exploitation and Online Protection Awareness, Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity. Our staff were also trained by the Terence Higgins Trust on Sex, Relationships and Gender.
We achieved Excellence as a provider for our adult and operational support. We also maintained our outstanding grade from Bucks County Council for our systems and processes around college provision and staff development.
Our Programmes:
Young People (16-25 years old)
Our Equip programme, continues to deliver exciting and innovative education. employment and life skills sessions to young people aged 16-25 both with those at college and increasingly with those not wanting to attend college and who are looking for alternative journeys.
We have launched our own Specialist provision in response to recent changes at the Council and reduction of days for the young people we support from 5 to 3 days. The drop out rate from colleges continues to be high and we think giving people the right environment and ways of learning are crucial. Our new Specialist Provision is doing that for 30 young people already including young people who were previously not in education training or employment (NEET). We are re-engaging them and giving the same opportunities as everyone else.
Adult development services (21-75 years old)
There are now 100 people with us every week in 20 different programmes across our Adult Development offer, reflecting the quality of our services.
Highlights of the year continue to be the Christmas and Summer shows and this year we also ran our first ever Talkback’s Got Talent Show. Over 23 members got up on stage to entertain an audience with jokes, songs, dance and sports demonstrations.
The range of these services continues to grow, and we are delighted to have 18 members accessing work experience opportunities at 5 different venues.
We are extremely grateful to these organisations who have embraced Talkback and our members with open arms.
Sports Academy
The Talkback Sports Academy has been a driving force providing well- being, fun, inclusive experiences and the opportunity to learn new skills. We now run 12 sports and movement activities.
In addition to our annual sports day, we also ran in High Wycombe another Festival of Fun and Sport at the Wycombe Leisure Centre. This enabled Bucks residents with any form of disability or neuro-diverse condition to try out 12 different sports. Over 120 people attended and 64 people attended the follow up sessions as our aim is to get people to carry on being active.
We are grateful to expert partners who came, demonstrated and helped people have a go at sports ranging from bowls to dance and football to badminton to tennis, amongst others.
We are so grateful to the financial supporters as well as the excellent and inspirational internal and external sports coaches.
Employability - Supported Internships
We also launched our Supported Internship scheme and now have 6 students into paid work study schemes. We also continue to provide Supported Employment for those in work.
We work with every member to help them achieve their goals and ensure they receive the same opportunities as everyone else.
Rothschild provided funds to Talkback to deliver job clubs and support for autistic people between the ages of 18 and 25 who have no funding and are unemployed. This ended in September 2024, but it has already enabled us to help 16 young people into work out of 26. The saving to the State is over £5m but it is a struggle to get anyone in the Council or DWP to see the cost benefits.
The employment rate for our members is more than double the national average for autistic individuals and people with learning disabilities. This also includes opening up access to volunteer opportunities and ongoing roles.
Your Voice - Our Professional Services
Your Voice reaches out to the 5000 people with learning disabilities and autistic people throughout Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes who are not funded and lack support.
We are engaging in work with MK Council to help them build lasting solutions to problems that have been around for too long. We do this by helping organisations see the world through the eyes of autistic individuals and educating them on providing reasonable adjustments.
We have completed development of new areas where there are gaps in provision for people with learning disabilities and autistic individuals such as Grief and Loss and support after diagnosis.
Talkback is an active member of Staying Healthy and Safeguarding Boards and involved in a range of Preparing for Adulthood work groups.
We continue to work with MK Council on creating a community that is a best practice example for autistic people.
Talkback’s plans for the 12 months to 30 September 2024 continued the medium-term plan to build a resilient, sustainable and innovative organisation. Ensuring effective cost control, particularly of overheads, remains paramount. Talkback finished the year with a total income of £1,911,660 and a net surplus £52,353.
The Finance Committee and Board of Trustees maintained oversight of Talkback’s finances and satisfied themselves it continues to operate efficiently and effectively, balancing the immediate need to deliver services and support to its members with due regard to the longer-term financial health of the charity.
We are grateful to Azets, our auditors, for their continuing professional help in moving us forward.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank our principal funders during this last year. We are grateful for the support of each of the Councils and Commissioners. They are under continual pressure to deliver more with less and continue to make a positive impact which is often not recognised.
Funders who we need to thank this year include:
Baily Thomas Charitable Fund
Barclays Community Football Fund
Buckinghamshire Council
Community Action MK
Co-op Local Community Fund
Dan Maskell Tennis Trust
DWP
Findlay Park Investment Management
Heart of Bucks - Community Foundation for Buckinghamshire
Heart of Bucks - BP Collins Fund
High Wycombe Community Board
Mencap
Milton Keynes Council
NHS
BLMK ICB
The Nineveh Charitable Trust
The Rothschild Foundation
The Screwfix Foundation
We received additional funding through one-off pieces of work, donations, and training and by people undertaking events for us. We are humbled by their support.
We would also like to thank several private groups and parents for their continued support.
Reserves policy
In line with the SORP developed by the Charity Commission, our Trustees ensure reserves are set aside for our long-term financial viability.
It is the policy of the charity that unrestricted funds which have not been designated for a specific use should be maintained at a level equivalent to between three and six month’s expenditure. The trustees considers that reserves at this level will ensure that, in the event of a significant drop in funding, they will be able to continue the charity’s current activities while consideration is given to ways in which additional funds may be raised. This level of reserves has been maintained throughout the year.
To address the uncertainty in funding streams, from the social care sector, property requirements and the workplace pension scheme, the Trustees feel a general fund reserve of no less than £150k should be always maintained to cover between 15 and 75 days essential expenditure, this excludes rent and the pension commitment as these are covered by separate reserves.
Actual available reserves at the year end were £814,619, which is within the range set out by the reserves policy.
Risk management
The risks for the organisation are regularly reviewed by the Board, Chief Executive, Finance and Business Managers and include Strategy, Governance, Operations, Staff, Organisational Culture and Finance. These results are scrutinised by the Risk and Audit Subcommittee to make sure risks are mitigated or reviewed and actioned each quarter.
The Trustees ensure that there are set policies, procedures, and insurances in place to mitigate risks.
The Finance sub-committee, chaired by the Treasurer Trustee carries responsibility on behalf of, and reports to, the Board regarding the management and review of financial risk.
The charity is controlled by its governing document, a deed of trust, and constitutes a limited company, limited by guarantee, as defined by the Companies Act 2006.
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, the management of the charity is carried out by a Management Committee of voluntary directors, who are also Trustees. They are appointed in accordance with the Articles of Association. Talkback is also a Company Limited by Guarantee.
Recruitment is by personal approach/nomination, advertisement and using specialist recruitment services for the voluntary sector. Talkback's induction programme introduces new trustees to the Talkback Team and to the activities of the organisation. As an organisation working for and with people with a learning disability, involvement in the activities is essential to understanding the organisation. This includes being fully involved with the Management Groups.
All Trustees complete an application form and provide a full CV. Before appointment, they attend a Board meeting and where possible a Management Group meeting, where they are invited to discuss their interest in the role.
Before appointing new Trustees, the Board undertakes a review of current and required skills to remain relevant and identify new requirements in response to any development areas and new opportunities. The skills audit, job descriptions and person specification are updated to reflect this.
Organisational structure and how decisions are made:
The Trustees delegate the day-to-day running of the organisation to the Chief Executive, Jeremy Hay.
The Management Committee is responsible for taking decisions in the areas of governance, strategic planning, financial and risk management. There are three subcommittees covering finance, audit and risk and Service Ideation
Each Talkback locality has its own Management Group (people with a learning disability and autistic individuals) to act as a lead on the development and direction of Talkback.
In accordance with the company's articles, a resolution proposing that Azets Audit Services be reappointed as auditor of the company will be put at a General Meeting.
The trustees' report was approved by the Board of Trustees.
The trustees, who are also the directors of Talkback-UK Ltd. 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.
Opinion
We have audited the financial statements of Talkback-UK Ltd. (the ‘charity’) for the year ended 30 September 2024 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 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.
We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 require us to report to you if, in our opinion:
the information given in the financial statements is inconsistent in any material respect with the trustees' report; or
sufficient accounting records have not been kept; or
the financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records; or
we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit.
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.
We have been appointed as auditor under section 144 of the Charities Act 2011 and report in accordance with the Act and relevant regulations made or having effect thereunder.
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.
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.
Extent to which the audit was considered capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud
Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above and on the Financial Reporting Council’s website, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud.
We obtain and update our understanding of the entity, its activities, its control environment, and likely future developments, including in relation to the legal and regulatory framework applicable and how the entity is complying with that framework. Based on this understanding, we identify and assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to fraud or error, design and perform audit procedures responsive to those risks, and obtain audit evidence that is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion. This includes consideration of the risk of acts by the entity that were contrary to applicable laws and regulations, including fraud.
In response to the risk of irregularities and non-compliance with laws and regulations, including fraud, we designed procedures which included:
Enquiry of management and those charged with governance around actual and potential litigation and claims as well as actual, suspected and alleged fraud;
Reviewing minutes of meetings of those charged with governance;
Assessing the extent of compliance with the laws and regulations considered to have a direct material effect on the financial statements or the operations of the entity through enquiry and inspection;
Reviewing financial statement disclosures and testing to supporting documentation to assess compliance with applicable laws and regulations;
Performing audit work over the risk of management bias and override of controls, including testing of journal entries and other adjustments for appropriateness, evaluating the business rationale of significant transactions outside the normal course of business and reviewing accounting estimates for indicators of potential bias.
Because of the inherent limitations of an audit, there is a risk that we will not detect all irregularities, including those leading to a material misstatement in the financial statements or non-compliance with regulation. This risk increases the more that compliance with a law or regulation is removed from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, as we will be less likely to become aware of instances of non-compliance. The risk of not detecting a material misstatement resulting from fraud is higher than for one resulting from error, as fraud may involve collusion, forgery, intentional omissions, misrepresentations, or the override of internal control.
Use of our report
This report is made solely to the charity’s trustees, as a body, in accordance with part 4 of the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charity's trustees 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 charity and the charity’s trustees as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.
Azets Audit Services is eligible for appointment as auditor of the charity by virtue of its eligibility for appointment as auditor of a company under section 1212 of the Companies Act 2006.
designated
designated
The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year.
All income and expenditure derive from continuing activities.
Talkback-UK Ltd. is a private company limited by guarantee incorporated in England and Wales. The registered office is Amersham Community Centre, Chiltern Avenue, Amersham, Buckinghamshire, HP6 5AH, United Kingdom.
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. 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.
Designated funds comprise funds which have been set aside at the discretion of the trustees for specific purposes. The purposes and uses of the designated funds are set out in the notes to the financial statements.
Restricted funds are subject to specific conditions by donors 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 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.
Income from grants is recognised at fair value when the Charity has entitlement after any performance conditions have been met, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount can be measured reliably. If entitlement is not met then these amounts are deferred. Income received in exchange for supplying goods and services is recognised when entitlement has occurred.
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.
Allocation and apportionment of costs
Where costs cannot be directly attributed to particular headings they have been allocated to activities on a basis consistent with use of the resources. Administration costs are apportioned to program costs as follows:
Salaries - Governance 80% of CEO salary, 22% of Head of Finance salary. Remainder is support
Depreciation - 100% support
Building Costs - 100% support
Communication services - 20% support, 80% direct (based on FTE)
Postage, printing & Stationery - 20% support, 80% direct (based on FTE)
Sundry expenses - 20% support, 80% direct (based on FTE)
Travelling - 20% support, 80% direct (based on FTE)
Accounting & payroll - 100% support
Consultancy - 100% support
Other support costs - 20% support, 80% direct (based on FTE)
IT - 100% direct
Insurance - 100% direct
Marketing - 100% direct
Audit fees - 100% governance
Liabilities are recognised as expenditure as soon as there is a legal or constructive obligation committing the charity to that expenditure, it is probable that a transfer of economic benefits will be required in settlement and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. Expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis and has been classified under headings that aggregate all cost related to the category. Where costs cannot be directly attributed to particular headings they have been allocated to activities on a basis consistent with the use of resources.
Grants offered subject to conditions which have not been met at the year end date are noted as a commitment but not accrued as expenditure.
Intangible assets acquired separately from a business are recognised at cost and are subsequently measured at cost less accumulated amortisation and accumulated impairment losses.
Amortisation 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:
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.
Cash and cash equivalents include cash in hand, deposits held at call with banks.
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 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.
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.
Rentals payable under operating leases, including any lease incentives received, are charged as an expense on a straight line basis over the term of the relevant lease.
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.
designated
designated
Grant funding
Fees
Program costs
Support costs
Program costs
Support costs
Rent and utilities
Insurance
Communication services
Postage, printing & stationery
Subscriptions and publications
Sundries
Recruitment
Equipment and office costs
Travelling
Personal development
Consultancy costs
IT costs
Other costs
Communication services
Postage, printing & stationery
Sundries
Travelling
Accountancy and payroll
Bad debts
Consultancy costs
Other support costs
Building costs
Consultancy costs
Governance costs includes amounts charged by the auditors of £11,520 (2023- £10,800) for audit fees and £3,480 (2023- £2,513) for accounting services.
None of the trustees (or any persons connected with them) received any remuneration or benefits from the charity during the year. No trustees were reimbursed any expenses during the year (2023- £nil).
The charity's insurance cover includes Trustees' indemnity insurance. The cost associated with this cover forms part of the overall insurance premium paid by the charity and cannot be estimated (2023- same).
The average monthly number of employees during the year was:
Key Management Personnel remuneration in the year totalled £274,300 (2023- £332,905)
The charity is exempt from tax on income and gains falling within section 505 of the Taxes Act 1988 or section 252 of the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992 to the extent that these are applied to its charitable objects.
Reading (Autism)
Supporting people living in poverty, excluded from communities or affected by long term health conditions.
Milton Keynes
Project to raise opportunities and better services for autistic people.
Community Safety (TVP)
Producing films and roadshows to prevent cyber crime, modern slavery and other abuse areas against people with learning disability.
Domestic Abuse
Identification of the lack of reporting on domestic violence against people with learning disabilities in Bucks and working with Bucks Council to build an easy read Stay Safe website for launch in 2023.
Bucks Autism Strategy
To produce all the foundations for the Bucks Council’s autistic strategy.
BBO
Finding job opportunities for autistic people – diagnosed and undiagnosed in MK and North Bucks.
Sue Ryder - EoL
To train nurses on how to communicate and deal with people with learning disability who are in hospices and are at end of life.
Citizens Advice (TAB)
Providing weekly support to anyone who needs help in the community who has a learning disability or is an autistic person.
PDS (Restricted)
To provide IT tablets so people who are isolated can access online services and Talkback TV resource library.
Thames Valley Police (Autism)
Delivering over 50 courses to train 500+ police in Bucks and Oxfordshire in understanding autism and how to work better with people.
No Fear
To work with employers and a group of autistic people and looking at the barriers they both face to create solutions that end up with people employing more autistic people.
Loan Sharks
To educate young in schools and colleges in Bucks and Berks and Milton Keynes at how loan sharks operate and how to lessen the risk and deal with them.
Mankind (Bucks Cameo)
To work with people with learning disability who need help with depression and suicidal thoughts.
Sexual Abuse
Developing training around how to support people who teach aspects of work around sex abuse on how to make it more inclusive to autistic people and people with learning disabilities.
Back to Nature
A project working with the Parks Trust in Milton Keynes where we take a group of people out for a walk with a theme- eg birds and trees. With autistic people finding a place where they can manage their anxiety is important and nature is one of those areas.
Thames Valley Police (Film Project)
Production of a short film which centres around the issues of modern slavery, drug trafficking and cuckooing to help autistic individuals and people with a learning disability understand what these things are, the risks and dangers and how to protect themselves and to raise awareness amongst the general population of these issues.
Braywick
A project where we are working with people with a variety of learning disabilities and neuro diverse conditions who all volunteer at Braywick. Our role is to create a training scheme for them so they learn more in a structured way.
Rothschild
This is a transition to work project focused on 24 young autistic people who have no funding or support and need help to find work. It lasts until July 2024.
Youth Club
Targeted at young autistic people to help build social confidence and is a traditional youth club run once a month.
MK Supported Living
Running consultations with individuals in supported living and their families to inform Milton Keynes Council on their strategy in this area.
Employers Conference Bucks
Delivering a No Fear conference engaging employers across Buckinghamshire and participating in the SEND Employment forum, promote opportunities within the work force for SEND young people to ensure employment opportunities align with the increases in the support Internship places.
MK Community Action Podcasts
Creation of a Podcast series with members of Talkback and organisations involved in The Health Inequalities Collective supporting people with Autism, Neurodivergence, those from ethnic minority or transgender and non-binary communities.
Bereavement (Heart of Bucks Splash)
A project to support people with learning difficulties when they are experiencing grief or loss.
CAMK My Autistic Self
A weekly group that supports adults who have recently received an autism diagnosis.
NHS BLMK My Autistic Self
Weekly sessions to speak, listen, reflect and learn about autism. The group was for those with a new autism diagnosis and for those on the long diagnosis waiting list.
Bucks My Autistic Self Amersham
A group to support people to better understand their recent diagnosis of autism. This fund is in deficit at the year end but funding has been received since the year end.
Heart of Bucks Community Foundation - Modern Slavery
Film project on modern slavery.
Baily Thomas Charitable Fund - Energise
An accessible weight loss programme for people with learning disabilities and autistic people.
High Wycombe Community Board - Festival of Sport
Project that improve wellbeing for the people living in the Vale of Aylesbury and beyond through participation in cultural, sporting and social activities, as well as supporting and equipping services for those most in need.
Screwfix
For projects that will fix, repair, maintain and improve the properties and community facilities.
Dan Maskell Tennis Trust
Tennis training at Heaton tennis club.
Bereavement
Research into the lack of provision of bereavement support and how it is approached in the UK and development of solutions.
MK Thrive (Findlay Park)
Providing support for an employment project for a group of individuals who are not funded by any other agency to receive support to help secure work.
ISVA Development
Providing support to Independent Sexual Learning Advisers (ISVAs) in providing specialist tailored support to individuals who have autism or learning disabilities who are victims and survivors of sexual violence.
Fixed asset fund
The fixed asset fund represents the net book value of fixed assets held by the charity.
At the reporting end date the charity had outstanding commitments for future minimum lease payments under non-cancellable operating leases, which fall due as follows:
There was one disclosable related party transactions during the year (2023 - none). During the year the charity spent £4,752 with Braywick Heath Nurseries Ltd, a company of which one of the Trustees is a director.
The charity had no debt during the year.