The trustees present their annual report and financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2025.

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).

Care Network was established as a charity in 1986, later becoming Care Network Cambridgeshire, recognising the need for our services across the county. Initially formed as a group of volunteers in the 1970s who worked with people in their own communities to support independent living and community collaboration, including transport, social groups, and befriending, Care Network Cambridgeshire has continued this work, developing a range of services that meet the demands of more complex ways of living in the 21st century, post-pandemic and during financial hardship.

Our Charitable Objects are:

To facilitate the relief of sickness and distress and improve the quality of life by reducing social isolation and improving independence for older and otherwise vulnerable adults, in Cambridgeshire and neighbouring counties.

We do this through our mission:

We support adults and communities to improve their health and wellbeing through a person-centred approach. Working alongside them to make informed choices that improve confidence and connection.

The trustees have paid due regard to guidance issued by the Charity Commission in deciding what activities the charity should undertake.

Care Network Cambridgeshire exists to enable individual clients and communities to live happier, healthier, and independent lives. We do this by giving practical and emotional support after a hospital stay, or a period of ill health and helping local people reconnect with their communities.

Our vision for communities and individuals to be empowered to live happier, healthier and independent lives, enabling individuals to choose their own independent lifestyle and social activities, provided with as much information and support as they need. The health and well-being of individuals is improved or maintained, hospital stays are minimised, and recovery is as fast as possible. Communities involve local people to support each other both individually and through groups and activities.

Our achievements within the last 12 months to deliver upon these goals of supporting residents of Cambridgeshire & Peterborough are:-

Help at Home: Our Help at Home service ensures people can be discharged from hospital, as soon as they are medically able, to a safe home, equipped for their needs, with the right support and resources to enable independent living and reconnecting with the community for post-recovery.

The service also prevents the need for admission to hospital or longer-term adult social care, ensuring retention of independence following a period of ill-health or a change of personal or health-related circumstances.

Our Help at Home service continued to work alongside our Voluntary Sector Alliance (VSA) partners, Age UK Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, and Caring Together. Through this partnership, we have been able to help hospitals discharge patients quicker, with referrals to the VSA coming through our virtual referral system which enables the three charities to work together to support the same client. We have worked hard with Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Integrated Care Board to develop this opportunity so that more wards are able to refer into the partnership in this way, increasing the reach and further reducing pressure on each of the acute hospitals. The VSA celebrated its first year of operation in November 2024, and the partnership continues to develop as the needs of the community and the hospitals change.

reasons or consequential reasons that require our team’s help too, including social inclusion, which applied to 58% of our clients, and physical health, which applied to 48%. Over the course of this year, we have sadly received a greater number of calls from people at crisis point with their mental health. Our team are trained to identify those at risk of suicide and provide appropriate intervention to ensure the person’s safety and wellbeing. Our wellbeing service works on the New Economics Foundation’s five ways to wellbeing with each client, supporting them to connect with their community, improve self-esteem, and feel a greater sense of belonging. The service combats anxiety, depression, and loneliness through a person-centred and goal focused approach. A number of wellbeing clients have gone on to volunteer within their community following their intervention as they realised the benefits of giving to others and being part of a community. Professional referrers tell us how great the service is:

“I really don’t know where I would have gone with this client as the waiting lists for other services were excessive. I was so grateful that you supported this elderly client following bereavement and equipped her with the tools that she needed to access some social activities. She now has a new friendship group as a result of your help.” Claire P3 Charity.

“Care Network Wellbeing serves as a backdrop for Talking therapy as there is a long waiting list. There are lots of patients who are isolated and using the befriending service which is very helpful. It has not been possible to refer any patients to other services they do not have capacity. Patients have found Care Network support very helpful and supportive at the time of need.” Salome SPLW St Ives.

Community Transport Infrastructure: Our infrastructure support for community car schemes, funded by South Cambridgeshire District Council, continues to support volunteer car schemes to assist the elderly and vulnerable in South Cambridgeshire. Many of the car schemes assist local people with getting to and from medical appointments. Some of the schemes also assist with transport to the shops, or to social activities.

We have once again delivered numerous activities to support the retention and development of car schemes including:

Wellbeing session, delivered by Care Network’s Wellbeing Team, which helps volunteer drivers to assist passengers who are anxious or have concerns around their appointments. The session also focused on how volunteers can support each other, building resilience within their community.

Communications about events, such as the Community Transport Association’s conference, information about changes to parking at hospitals, local transport consultations, surveys, and newsletters.

Meet ups, for volunteers to get together, share experiences and gain support from each other. We also hosted talks on subjects such as driving mobility, and training on moving and handling.

Liaison with groups and associations, such as meetings with Addenbrooke’s Hospital car park manager to discuss the restrictions on parking for volunteer transport. The meeting resulted in additional space being offered to volunteer transport. We also took part in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority’s consultation which aimed to identify how proposed changes might affect community transport schemes. Through our work with many volunteer schemes, we were able to appropriately represent and advocate for all schemes to support future sustainability.

Finally, we have provided promotional materials and practical support to volunteer transport schemes to support their running and ensure they are able to not only make the public aware of their services, but also to recruit more volunteers to keep their schemes going. This includes information that we send out to groups and associations to promote the use of community transport.

“Thank you so much for your support, and for the publicity materials for our Open Day on Saturday 25th. Also for the biscuits, which were very well received by people visiting our stall (and us!)… We had quite a few people who seemed to be interested in volunteering, and who have taken away our contact details, so we will see how many of them now come forward to us. It was actually interesting to meet visitors to the exhibition who were not actually Fulbourn residents.” Fulbourn Car Scheme, January 2025

“Thank you for taking the time to assemble all this information. It is exceedingly helpful. We have continued to build in outings to some of the discussions and find it an on-going challenge to arrange transport that is affordable. I’m hoping to include the costs in the budget as I prepare Bid submissions, but know that this may be a difficult ask.” COPE October 2024

Fundraising policy

The charity does not actively fundraise amongst the public, although it does hold occasional fundraising events (online fundraising campaigns etc).

The charity does not use any outside or third party fundraisers. Where the charity does receive donations (which it considers unsolicited) it monitors the source to ensure it is suitable to receive the donation in terms of potential vulnerability of the donor or reputational risk to the charity.

No complaints have been received by the charity.

We finished the financial year with a surplus of £131,633. This is mostly due to unexpected recruitment challenges. All posts are now filled. As a result of the surpluses, we have designated an amount of £3,038 towards the running of the Help at Home service next year, and we have designated £25,933 towards capacity and development work towards our strategic plan, which involves additional staff time for researching and partnership working. Our wellbeing service has been funded this year through the County Council, however the majority of this funding expires on 31 March. The Board has agreed to continue to fund the wellbeing service through reserves for a further three months whilst alternative funding is sourced. This would be a maximum cost of £34,772.

Charities hold reserves to fund shortfalls in income, for working capital, to cover unexpected expenditure, or short term cashflow deficit, to fund other known liabilities, or to engage with new opportunities as they arise, thus enabling the Charity to continue its work helping local people. Our reserves policy is to have between three and six months’ running costs, and with this surplus excluding the designated funds, our reserves total £200,971 unrestricted and £372,294 restricted. This equates to 2.5 months of unrestricted reserves, and 7.5 months including the restricted funds. The Trustees are satisfied that the reserves are at an acceptable level. Some of the reserves are held in a business current account which allows for usual spend, with 96% of the reserves being held in high-interest bank accounts via the CAF Charity Platform, and other deposit accounts with a variety of terms which allow us early access to funds should they be required. These accounts enable us to gain interest which can be utilised for future development, whilst being quickly accessible should the need arise. One of our challenges is the risk of non-payment, or late payment from our statutory sector partners, which can arise due to political changes. In the last financial year, these delays resulted in us using £72,254 of our reserves to cover the running costs of services.

Sadly our fundraiser left Care Network in June 2024, and we have been unable to find an alternative in-house fundraiser. With the knowledge that we were developing our strategy and part of that work would involve investigating other sources of funding to cover our developing projects, the decision was made to continue without a dedicated trusts and foundations fundraiser. We will be maximising our efforts in increasing individual and corporate donations throughout the course of next year, in addition to utilising existing staff to work on bids through trusts and foundations, potentially bringing in consultant support should this be required for larger bids.

Risk management

The trustees has assessed the major risks to which the charity is exposed, and are satisfied that systems are in place to mitigate exposure to the major risks.

The trustees are committed to an ongoing policy of identifying, monitoring and managing all operational, financial and strategic risk. The trustees regularly review key risks which are rated based on severity and likelihood of occurrence and ensure that appropriate mitigations are in place to protect the charity.

The charity is a company limited by guarantee with charitable status, formed on 29th June 2007, and governed by a Memorandum and Articles of Association. Its unincorporated predecessor charity, Care Network, was originally formed in October 1994.

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:

During our AGM in January 2025, the members voted to amend the Articles of Association through two Special resolutions, and following permission from Charity Commission to change the Trustee Benefits clause, as such:

Special Resolution 1

THAT pursuant to the prior written consent of the Charity Commission required in accordance with section 198 of the Charities Act 2011 in respect of regulated alterations to the trustee benefit provisions, with effect from the conclusion of the meeting the new Articles of Association in the form annexed to this resolution and, for the purpose of identification marked “A”, are approved and adopted as the Articles of Association of the Company in substitution for, and to the exclusion of, the existing Articles of Association.

Special Resolution 2 (resolution carried by each of the four classes of membership)

THAT in accordance with article 3(3) of the Articles of Association of the Company this separate general meeting of the members of the X Class of the Company, hereby irrevocably consents to and sanctions the passing of the resolution set out in the notice of general meeting of the Company to be held on 6 January 2025 (a copy of which has been produced to the meeting) and every variation, modification or abrogation of the rights, privileges and restrictions attaching to the X Class each as a class of members which will or may be effected thereby, including the fact that the members of the X Class will immediately cease to be members of the Company upon the passing of the resolution set out in the notice of general meeting of the Company referred to above.

These changes were made to enable Care Network Cambridgeshire to respond better to client and stakeholder needs whilst ensuring the stability of the Board of Trustees.

The diversity of experience and expertise of the Board was strengthened In August 2024, when we welcomed Jane Stoner as a new Trustee to the Board. Jane has expertise in IT and extensive private sector and international experience as a Board Director. We said goodbye and thank you to long-term Trustee, Jill Worth, who retired in February 2025. Jill has brought a wealth of private sector experience, firmly and constructively challenging Trustees in Board discussions, and adding a real and much-valued diversity of view and opinion that has made a big difference to the charity. We have historically recruited Board members through word of mouth, and the Board are recognising a need to reach a wider audience to encourage greater diversity at Board level to broaden perspectives and experience. As such, we plan to develop an initiative to encourage young people, those with lived experience, and those from the communities we serve to consider a Board position and where needed, to be supported to apply and serve.

The Board delegates the day-to-day running of the organisation to the CEO, within a set scheme of delegation. The Board oversees governance policies including safeguarding, health and safety, financial procedures, reserves, and investments. In addition, the Board oversees the organisation’s risk register, which is reviewed quarterly. The Board has a finance subcommittee and a safeguarding subcommittee, at which more detailed discussions take place and actions can be agreed, with assurance being provided to the Board. The Board undertake standard Trustee training which includes roles and responsibilities of Trustees, in addition to developing an understanding of the organisation’s policies and procedures.

Staff salaries are discussed at the finance subcommittee and proposals are put through to the entire Board for authorisation. Benchmarking of salaries takes place against the CPI and in line with other similar organisations within the county, including our partner organisations.

Strategy, goals and future plans

Our focus over the course of this year was to review all of our processes and our activities to ensure they match the ever-changing environment within which we work. Our work is heavily reliant upon funding, which for the most part, comes through the Integrated Care Board and the Councils. The organisation has strived to understand the needs of our statutory partners and work with them to develop and deliver initiatives to support the Cambridgeshire population. Meanwhile, the needs of the community we serve have changed, with more complex health and social care needs, mixed with greater demand. As such our activities this year have included expanding our teams and building our knowledge through more training and development for all staff across all our services. Throughout this year, we have also spent time developing our next five-year strategic plan. This has involved a wide range of internal and external stakeholders, gathering their knowledge and experience in their areas of expertise to help inform our planning. The final draft of our plan was signed off in February 2025 and went live on 1 April. This is setting us some key objectives for the forthcoming year which include:

• Retention and development of our existing staff and volunteer base, matching skills and experience to need and identifying gaps

• Developing further partnerships to adapt and build our existing services to fill gaps and ensure the right person with the right expertise is there at the right time to support our clients

• Promoting our services to deepen public awareness and improve access

• Strengthen our systems and processes to better evaluate our social return and impact

These elements will form the foundation of our five-year plan, which is ambitiously set to develop Care Network Cambridgeshire’s offer deep into communities through its volunteer base, creating a Caring Network of support.

Resources

At the end of the financial year, Care Network has a staff team of 31, with three of these posts forming the senior leadership team, including the CEO, the Head of Finance, and the Head of Services. We are proud to have a larger volunteer team of 45, working across all our services and over the entire county. Over the year, our volunteers provided 386 hours of support, enabling us to extend the length of our provision and reach communities that are the most deprived. Our people have a broad range of skills and experience, including 18 different languages. They come from a range of backgrounds which adds to the knowledge within the organisation, including nursing, mental health services, leadership and management, employment services, disability services, and education. In addition, the majority of our people have lived experience of the issues that our clients are facing. Because we cover the entire county, we have an office base in Chatteris, in the North of the county and another in Hardwick, just outside of Cambridge in the South of the county. We also have hospital-based staff who are able to work from hospital offices as part of their multi-disciplinary teams. At other times, staff work from their homes or community buildings. These working arrangements enable our people to work at locations that make access easier for clients.

Investment powers

The trustees having regards for the operational needs of the charity and security of funds have kept available funds in interest bearing deposit accounts.

Public benefit

In order to fulfil its charitable objects and for the public benefit, Care Network Cambridgeshire delivers direct services to adults and vulnerable people and supports community groups to do the same. In developing strategy and planning service delivery, the trustees comply with their duty to have due regard to the guidance on public benefit published by the Charity Commission.

Pay policy and senior staff

The pay of senior staff is reviewed annually be the trustees and normally increased annually for rises in the cost of living. Specific roles have salary levels set commensurable with salaries set by similar organisations for comparable roles.

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.

Each of the trustees has confirmed that there is no information of which they are aware which is relevant to the audit, but of which the auditor is unaware. They have further confirmed that they have taken appropriate steps to identify such relevant information and to establish that the auditor is aware of such information.

The trustees' report was approved by the Board of Trustees.

The trustees, who are also the directors of Care Network Cambridgeshire 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; 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 Care Network Cambridgeshire (the ‘charity’) for the year ended 31 March 2025 which comprise the statement of financial activities, the balance sheet, the statement of cash flows and the notes to the financial statements, including a summary of 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:

give a true and fair view of the state of the charitable company's affairs as at 31 March 2025 and of its incoming resources and application of resources, for the year then ended;

have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006.

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.

The company is entitled to the exemption from the audit requirement contained in section 477 of the Companies Act 2006, for the year ended 31 March 2025, although an audit has been carried out under section 144 of the Charities Act 2011.

The directors acknowledge their responsibilities for complying with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 with respect to accounting records and the preparation of financial statements.

The members have not required the company to obtain an audit of its financial statements under the requirements of the Companies Act 2006, for the year in question in accordance with section 476.

These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to companies subject to the small companies regime.

Care Network Cambridgeshire is a private company limited by guarantee incorporated in England and Wales. The registered office is 18 Broadway House, 149-151 St Neots Road, Hardwick, Cambridge, CB23 7QJ, United Kingdom.

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance 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 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.

In common with many charities, the future of the organisation is dependent on continued success in being awarded funding. 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 and so 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 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.

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.

Expenditure is classified by activity. The costs of each activity are made up of the total of direct costs and shared costs, including support costs involved in undertaking each activity. Direct costs attributable to a single activity are allocated directly to that activity. Shared costs which contribute to more than one activity and support costs which are not attributable to a single activity are apportioned between those activities on a basis consistent with the use of resources. Central staff costs are allocated on the basis of time spent, and depreciation charges are allocated on the portion of the asset’s use.

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.

It is the policy of the charity to capitalise assets acquired with a value in excess of £1,000.

At each reporting end date, the charity reviews the carrying amounts of its tangible assets to determine whether there is any indication that those assets have suffered an impairment loss. If any such indication exists, the recoverable amount of the asset is estimated in order to determine the extent of the impairment loss (if any).

Cash and cash equivalents include cash in hand, deposits held at call with banks, other short-term liquid investments with original maturities of three months or less, and bank overdrafts. Bank overdrafts are shown within borrowings in current liabilities.

The charity has elected to apply the provisions of Section 11 ‘Basic Financial Instruments’ and Section 12 ‘Other Financial Instruments Issues’ of FRS 102 to all of its financial instruments.

Financial instruments are recognised in the charity's balance sheet when the charity becomes party to the contractual provisions of the instrument.

Financial assets and liabilities are offset, with the net amounts presented in the financial statements, when there is a legally enforceable right to set off the recognised amounts and there is an intention to settle on a net basis or to realise the asset and settle the liability simultaneously.

Basic financial assets, which include debtors and cash and bank balances, are initially measured at transaction price including transaction costs and are subsequently carried at amortised cost using the effective interest method unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, where the transaction is measured at the present value of the future receipts discounted at a market rate of interest. Financial assets classified as receivable within one year are not amortised.

Basic financial liabilities, including creditors and bank loans are initially recognised at transaction price unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, where the debt instrument is measured at the present value of the future payments discounted at a market rate of interest. Financial liabilities classified as payable within one year are not amortised.

Debt instruments are subsequently carried at amortised cost, using the effective interest rate method.

Trade creditors are obligations to pay for goods or services that have been acquired in the ordinary course of operations from suppliers. Amounts payable are classified as current liabilities if payment is due within one year or less. If not, they are presented as non-current liabilities. Trade creditors are recognised initially at transaction price and subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method.

Financial liabilities are derecognised when the charity’s contractual obligations expire or are discharged or cancelled.

The cost of any unused holiday entitlement is recognised in the period in which the employee’s services are received.

Termination benefits are recognised immediately as an expense when the charity is demonstrably committed to terminate the employment of an employee or to provide termination benefits.

Payments to defined contribution retirement benefit schemes are charged as an expense as they fall due.

In the application of the charity’s accounting policies, the trustees are required to make judgements, estimates and assumptions about the carrying amount of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. The estimates and associated assumptions are based on historical experience and other factors that are considered to be relevant. Actual results may differ from these estimates.

The estimates and underlying assumptions are reviewed on an ongoing basis. Revisions to accounting estimates are recognised in the period in which the estimate is revised where the revision affects only that period, or in the period of the revision and future periods where the revision affects both current and future periods.

Charitable Activities

Charitable Activities

Income from charitable activities

Included within income from charitable activities is funding from the following organisations:-

    • Cambridgeshire County Council

    • NHS Cambridgeshire and Peterborough ICB

    • National Lottery Community Fund

    • South Cambridgeshire District Council

    • The Pye Foundation

    • The Betty Lawes Foundation

    • City & University of Cambridge Masonic Trust

    • The Childwick Trust

Charitable Activities

Charitable Activities

Staff training and travel

Project and volunteer costs

Office running costs

Staff training and travel

Project and volunteer costs

Office accommodation costs

Office running costs

Professional fees

Financing costs

Governance costs includes payments to the auditors of £8,160 (2024- £8,160) for audit fees.

None of the trustees (or any persons connected with them) received any remuneration during the year. Expenses were reimbursed to them totalling £nil (2024- £nil).

The average full time equivalent monthly number of employees during the year was:

The total gross number of staff both full and part time was 29 (2024 - 31).

During the year 3 (2024 - 4) key management personnel, being the senior leadership team, received remuneration totalling £151,036 (2024 - £151,073).

The charity is exempt from tax on income and gains falling within section 505 of the Taxes Act 1988 or section 252 of the Taxationof Chargeable Gains Act 1992 to the extent that these are applied to its charitable objects.

Deferred income is included in the financial statements as follows:

The property fund is a provision in the event of dilapidation costs.

The development fund is for delivering projects identified in the Strategic Plan 2025-2030.

The fixed asset fund represents the book value of assets held by the charity.

Unrestricted

Designated

Restricted

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:

The trustees are drawn from the community and one of the trustees is also a councillor for South Cambridgeshire District Council. During the year Care Network Cambridgeshire received funding from the Council.