REGISTERED COMPANY NUMBER: SC106295 (Scotland)

REGISTERED CHARITY NUMBER: SC008075

THE SCOTTISH DRUGS FORUM

AUDITED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

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Report of the Trustees

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Report of the Independent Auditors

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Statement of Financial Activities

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Balance Sheet

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Cash Flow Statement

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Notes to the Cash Flow Statement

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Notes to the Financial Statements

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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 31 March 2025. The Trustees have adopted the provisions of 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) (revised 2 September 2019).

OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES

SDF's Mission

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To improve Scotland's approach to drug-related issues. We influence this work through our work by striving for compassionate, inclusive, evidence-informed policy and practice.

SDF's Vision

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A Scotland free from drug-related health and social harm.

ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE

Activities - Core Business

Throughout the year, SDF has actively contributed to key national and international forums, partnerships, and initiatives that align with and support our strategic priorities.

Public Health Scotland (PHS) & Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS): Sustained collaborative working relationships, supporting aligned initiatives and shared objectives.

MATSIN & Thematic Groups: Regular engagement and active contributions at monthly MATSIN meetings, including all thematic sub-groups, ensuring alignment with national harm reduction strategies.

RADAR (Rapid Action Drug Alerts and Response): Ongoing participation in trend analysis meetings, support for the timely dissemination of alerts, delivery of training for frontline staff, and assistance with the implementation of RADAR processes.

Drug Research Network Scotland (DRNS): Full participation in Network Planning Group meetings, input into research prioritisation, abstract review and scoring for rapid evidence reviews, contributions to knowledge exchange events, and support for the planning and delivery of the annual DRNS conference.

Police Scotland Partnership: Continued representation at the Police Scotland Drug Strategy Board and Naloxone Gold Group. Supported the delivery of scenario-based workshops for The Thistle initiative.

POIROT Project: Invited to contribute to the Police-Officer Interventions to Reverse Opioid Toxicity (POIROT) project, enhancing emergency overdose response capabilities among law enforcement.

National Forums: Active participation in several national-level meetings and working groups including the National Mission Oversight Group, Scottish Government WEDG, PHS Drug Specialist Interest Group, and the Future of Residential Rehabilitation Working Group.

Scottish Government Collaboration: Delivered tailored advice and feedback to the Drugs Policy Division on the Drugs and Alcohol Workforce draft toolkits. Delivered a presentation to the People's Advice and Wellbeing Team on best practices for employing individuals with lived or living experience.

Scottish Drug Consumption Facility (SDCF): Regular attendance and contributions at all DCF Implementation Board meetings, supporting the national response to drug-related harms.

International Engagement: Hosted two international travel fellowships focused on Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) and drug consumption facility development. Maintained full participation in International Safer Injecting Facility Community forums.

European Collaboration: Led local workshops and submitted focal point data for Glasgow to the European Harm Reduction Network. Participated in the European Harm Reduction Conference, representing Scotland's harm reduction efforts on an international stage.

ACHIEVEMENT AND PERFORMANCE

Communications, Policy and Practice

SDF works with stakeholders across Scotland to improve policy and practice.

Media Engagement

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Responded to 85 media requests and 129 public enquiries.

Policy and Advocacy

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Supported 3 Cross-Party Group meetings and 4 Substance Use Policy Group meetings.

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Contributed to the Audit Scotland report on Alcohol and Drug Services, including communications support during its launch.

Emergency Alerts and Public Health Messaging

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Distributed targeted resources in response to ongoing harms across the Lothians (Q4).

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Refreshed and redistributed the "Stop the Deaths" campaign materials (SDF OverdoseAlert, March 2025).

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Collaborated with RADAR to coordinate news coverage and amplify reach of vital harm reduction resources.

Digital and Print Communications

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Published 14 news stories on the website and circulated 9 eBulletins.

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Produced and published 4 key resources:

- Wound Care Advice

- Motivational Interviewing Practice Guide

- Overdose Alter Social Media Toolkit

- Bacterial Infections Resource.

Events and Outreach

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Organised 3 major events, engaging over 500 delegates. Conference content is available via the SDF website.

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Delivered 3 podcast episodes of Drugs Uncut and 3 webinars, available on YouTube.

Consultation and Membership Engagement

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Held 3 consultation sessions with members to inform policy and practice priorities.

Social Media and Online Platforms

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SDF transitioned from Twitter/X to Bluesky, reflecting changing digital engagement trends.

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Undertook a significant review and consolidation of online directories for drug services and injecting equipment provision.

Traineeship Programme

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Delivered full communications and social media support for the National Traineeship Graduation, including publication of related materials.

Workforce Development

Scottish Drugs Forum supports learning through the delivery of high-quality training on drug-related issues.

Facilitator-led Training

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Delivered 133 training sessions, engaging 1,290 participants across 28/30 ADP areas in Scotland.

eLearning Engagement

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Over 10,400 learners registered on the eLearning platform this year, demonstrating sustained demand for accessible workforce development.

New Course Development

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3 new courses developed in alignment with national priorities.

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7 additional courses currently in development to meet emerging needs.

Partnership with Scottish Prison Service

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Facilitated 8 training sessions for SPS staff.

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109 eLearning courses completed by SPS learners.

ACHIEVEMENT AND PERFORMANCE

Trauma-informed Practice

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Developed short trauma awareness sessions tailored for third sector partners, supporting trauma-informed service delivery.

New Training Website

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A new training platform is currently in development to enhance user experience and access to learning opportunities.

Strategic Engagement

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Active representation at Scottish Government Workforce Education and Development Group (WEDG) meetings, contributing to key consultations.

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Participation in the Stigma Action Group, supporting the creation of a Stigma Toolkit and related workforce learning resources.

ADP Engagement and Consultation

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Ongoing collaboration with Alcohol and Drug Partnerships (ADPs) to shape workforce training strategies tailored to local needs and priorities.

Peer Research and Engagement

SDF peer research ensures that the experiences and opinions of people with lived and living experience shape policy and practice for responding to problem substance use.

Researcher Involvement

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Maintained an average of 22 active Peer Researchers across key regions including Glasgow, East Ayrshire, Lanarkshire, Highlands, Argyll & Bute, and Grampian.

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Peers contributed to a diverse range of impactful research initiatives, including:

- National MAT Programme

- MIST across multiple areas

- Scottish Government Women's Reference Group

- PHS National Drugs Mission

- Highland Lived and Living Experience (LLE) Panel

- Marie Trust evaluation.

Recognition and Standards

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Successfully renewed the Investing in Volunteers Award, reaffirming our commitment to high-quality volunteer engagement.

Highlighted Peer Research Projects

MIST (MAT Implementation Support Tool)

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Conducted 224 interviews across Fife, East Dunbartonshire, Argyll & Bute, and Highland.

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Delivered analysed experiential data on all 10 MAT standards from both 2023/24 and 2024/25 data cycles.

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Provided detailed "deep dive" analysis on two selected standards per area.

National MAT Observational Study (2024/25)

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Focuses on long-acting buprenorphine treatment.

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Conducted across four health board areas.

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Findings to be presented at the SDF Annual Conference in August.

King's College London Collaborative Projects

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Successfully concluded work on three contracts: Nalpors, Buccal Naloxone, and the Pneumowave Device.

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Activities included participant recruitment, focus groups, topic guide development, andthematic analysis.

University of Edinburgh - Flumazenil Study

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Ongoing collaboration, with patient recruitment underway at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.

ACHIEVEMENT AND PERFORMANCE

University of Bristol - EPHESUS Study

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Initiated PPIE work on the EPHESUS project: Evaluating the Public Health Impact of Interventions for the Prevention of Drug-related Deaths in Scotland.

PHS National Drugs Mission Survey

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Completed 413 surveys across 27 Alcohol and Drug Partnership (ADP) areas, surpassing original targets.

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Data collection included community and prison settings.

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Public Health Scotland (PHS) will integrate SDF's peer-led methodology into their final report.

Drug Death Prevention

SDF works with local planners, commissioners and services to improve interventions that prevent drug-related deaths.

Strategic Engagement and Collaboration

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Attended 33 Drug Death Prevention meetings across 9 local authority areas to support local planning and action.

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Facilitated a dedicated Drug Death Prevention Development Day in Renfrewshire.

National Networks and Partnerships

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Coordinated 4 meetings of the Scottish National Naloxone Network (ScoNN) to drivenational consistency and shared learning.

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Engaged with Ethypharm to ensure the continued provision of high-quality naloxonetraining kits for use across Scotland.

Training and Capacity Building

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Delivered 26 Naloxone Training for Trainers courses, reaching 191 participants, including 2 Master Trainer sessions.

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Ran 28 bespoke harm reduction training courses, engaging 474 participants from a range of services and sectors.

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Continued development of Staying Alive in Scotland - a national guidance document that will integrate key harm reduction strategies into a structured series of sector-wide learning modules.

eLearning Impact Across Services

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Police Scotland: 13,216 officers completed SDF's eLearning on Overdose Prevention, Intervention, and Naloxone. Presented at a national custody and prison webinar.

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Scottish Fire & Rescue Service (SFRS): 881 trained.

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Scottish Prison Service (SPS): 887 trained.

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Pharmacy Staff: 1,459 trained.

Emergency Services/Medical

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Scottish Ambulance Service - joint working to analyse overdose-related calls at Scottish courts, many previously unknown to local health and safety teams.

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Coastguard (Western Isles): Designed and implemented tailored naloxone training programme. Supporting access to Nyxoid and exploring expansion to other coastal areas.

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Glasgow Royal Infirmary: Engaged in ongoing discussions to introduce naloxone-on-discharge pathways.

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Police Scotland - support to navigate solutions to expired kits for 8,000 officers.

Justice Engagement

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British Transport Police: Developed and delivered targeted naloxone training. Supporting efforts to expand voluntary carriage and connect with Police Scotland for access to Nyxoid.

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Justice Sector (Courts/Custody): Continued collaboration to ensure naloxone is available on discharge from custody and court settings. Support provided to Chief Executive for rollout and supply chain.

Activities - Project Funded

National Traineeship

The SDF National Traineeship provides supported learning and in-work placements to prepare for a career in social care. Lived and living experience is a strength and a resource in delivering effective treatment and support services. SDF National Traineeship provides a pathway into employment for people with lived experience.

In 2024/25, through a range of programme funding including Scottish Government, 33 people were recruited to embark upon a life-changing 9-months of:

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salaried work placements

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specialist quality assured training

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support to achieve an SVQ

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support into meaningful employment.

27 of the 33 trainees who started the programme in 2024 completed, with 19 securing jobs to date. Each year, the traineeship offers the workforce a small but dedicated resource of highly skilled and motivated workers, recruited from and working in local communities across Scotland.

All trainees have experience of the unique barriers and challenges faced in their local community. The programme actively supports a more diverse and representative workforce and assists greatly with some of the recruitment challenges facing the social care sector and in particular, the drug and alcohol workforce.

SVQ Centre

SDF is an accredited SVQ Centre. We deliver Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) accredited training in Advice and Guidance, Community Development, and Social Services and Healthcare.

The Team

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Team of 11 offering assessment and verification of SVQ both as freelance or trainee Assessors / Verifiers.

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Ongoing recruitment of freelance assessors to build infrastructure to deliver more commercial / external SVQ work.

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New Internal Verifier recruited (freelance) to replace existing IV who stands down this summer.

Quality

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External Verification visit from SQA for Advice and Guidance qualification - SDF were awarded 'green's' across all quality assurance criteria which indicates "high confidence" in our systems and assessment. We will now proceed to scale up the offer of this qualification.

New Qualifications

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Development of Progression Award in Journalism at SCQF Level 6 to support SDF's peer led magazine.

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Working with SQA/SCQF & SDF Peer Research Team developing customised award/qualification in Peer Research.

Other Updates

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27 x trainees completed an SVQ in Social Services & Healthcare and will graduate April 25.

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3 x SDF Living Experience Group members have completed SVQ in Advice & Guidance and will graduate April 25 with a further 2 taking up the qualification in 25/26.

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Working with SDF comms team to produce SVQ centre prospectus.

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Enhanced Skills SVQ - review of delivery materials and systems underway to allow promotion of this course next financial year.

Living Experience Engagement

SDF ensures that people with living experience of substance use can influence local and national policy and services. We support people with current living experience of substance use to form local engagement groups which offer a safe space to discuss the issues that matter to them. The groups support members to identify their needs and express their opinions, enabling them to advocate for themselves and others to help improve services and inform local policy. Local groups collaborate on a national level to ensure that the voice of living experience is represented in the development of national policy and influences change.

Living Experience weekly meetings: Borders, Fife, Perth, Glasgow, West Dunbartonshire, North Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire, Inverness, East Ayrshire, Edinburgh and Elgin.

New Group - work underway to initiate a group in Forth Valley in May 25.

Number of groups facilitated this year - 425

Main topics for discussion across groups - Addiction Services (lack of support), Mental Health (lack of access and support), Housing & Homelessness, MAT- Lack of information around MAT standards and information can be confusing. Changing drug trends and increase in cocaine/crack use.

Drug Trends Intelligence - Publication of Drug Trend Bulletin - July - Dec 2024 , PHS RADAR will now link this to their regular reports.

Drug trend information is disseminated to:

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LE Group members

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ADP leads in established groups

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Police Scotland

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RADAR

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Scottish Needle Exchange Workers Forum (SNEWF)

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Local DMGs in GGC and Ayrshire

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Drug trend meetings in - Ayrshire & Arran, Clacks & Stirling, Borders, Tayside, Glasgow, Edinburgh & Lothians, Grampian/Aberdeen City, Falkirk.

Group Member Training - 486 group members attended training this year on a variety of subject such as Nitazene testing, Overdose Awareness & Prevention and local service information sessions.

SVQ Qualifications

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3 LE group members will graduate with SVQ in advice and guidance in April 25.

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2 new group members from Inverness & Elgin have started SVQ's in Jan 25.

Events - Planning underway for 'Advocates for Change' conference in August 2025.

Charter of Rights - continue to play a pivotal role in the recognition and implementation of the Charter and attend all planned 'InterAction Events'.

Contribution to consultation/research/evaluation work: 10 separate projects supported with 128 group members participating.

Local Support Team

SDF Local Support Team provide enhanced support to small and medium sized community-based organisations to prepare to apply for funding and to complete the funding process. This work focuses on organisations that work with people with lived and living experience of substance use and/or their families to reduce drug related harms.

Activity this year:

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The team has provided support to 54 organisations this year, contributing to their growth anddevelopment.

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We facilitated 31 organisations in submitting 63 funding applications, enhancing their fundingopportunities.

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Through these efforts, we have helped secure over £674,146 for the sector, with additional decisions pending for some applications.

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£248,506 (37%) of this was from Corra/SG funds.

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£425,620 (63%) of this was from alternative funding sources highlighting the flexibility and expertise of the LST to support access to other resources.

The organisations the team continue to support offer a wide variety of interventions and programmes to reduce drug related harm, isolation and seek to improve all areas of health and wellbeing including psychological and physical safety.

The portfolio of grass roots organisations receiving bespoke developmental support includes:

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black and minority ethnic (BME)

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health and wellbeing/boxing gym

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drug and alcohol counselling

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recovery groups

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community group

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advocacy services

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nature and holistic therapies

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gendered specific services (female recovery / men's mental health)

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family support (including drug death bereavement)

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the arts sector (theatre and film).

The team works with a diverse range of organisations, led by individuals with protected characteristics as defined by the Equality Act 2010. With extensive skills and experience, they effectively engage with individuals of all ages and support needs, ensuring inclusive and high-quality service delivery.

The project have supported organisations funded through the programme to enhance their development and ensure long-term sustainability. This was done by offering tailored capacity-building initiatives, fostering strategic partnerships, and providing ongoing mentorship and technical assistance. Additionally, the team has facilitated access to resources and funding opportunities that can further bolster the organisations to enhance their operational effectiveness and resilience.

Development sessions aimed at sustainability continue to be delivered this year to support organisations with internal asset mapping and engage with staff teams to analyse their Strengths / Weaknesses / Opportunities / Threats (SWOT) and any other external factors to be considered for longer term sustainability.

Corra engaged the team to strategically assess, and address challenges faced by a number of organisations struggling to meet the outcomes outlined in their funding bids. Through direct engagement with staff, service recipients, and key partners, the team conducted in-depth evaluations to identify barriers and opportunities for improvement. As a result, tailored intervention strategies, or 'Rescue Plans,' were developed to provide targeted support and ensure alignment with Corra's objectives.

Peer to Peer Naloxone

SDF support peers with lived and living experience to widen the availability and accessibility of naloxone in our communities and across the prison estate in Scotland.

Overall Progress on THN (Take Home Naloxone) Kit supply:

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5,727 x total kits supplied by SDF projects to date (4,183 were 1st supply).

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5,950 x hours have been worked by peers.

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16 projects have either launched and completed or are still running.

Progress on extension work for 2024-2025:

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5 projects have launched this period (2 more imminent) exceeding our target

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1,940 kits supplied, of which 1,290 were 1st supply.

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SDF continues to support earlier projects where development and peer training is needed.

Scottish National THN supply data - 01/04/24 to 30/09/24:

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10% of all kits in Scotland were supplied by peers.

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62% of all kits supplied in prisons were made by peers.

Prison Peer Projects:

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Projects now up and running in 11 different prison estates across Scotland

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32 steering group meetings held across prison estate and community projects.

Training Sessions Delivered:

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19 x T4T (2 day) attended by 106 participants (85 peers + 21 staff)

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15 x support sessions attended by 42 participants.

Progress with National Networks, Steering Groups & Conversation Cafes National Networks:

Consolidation

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Merged Forums: The National Peer Naloxone Network and Coordinators Network have been combined into a single, extended forum from Feb 2025.

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Enhanced Collaboration: This unification strengthens coordination between peers and coordinators, particularly improving inclusion of prison-based participants.

Peer Involvement Governance

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Steering Groups: Peers actively involved in all community project governance from recruitment phase

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Prison Engagement: HMP Perth peers contributed to a special steering group addressing operational issues.

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Local Impact: In Dumfries & Galloway, peers continue shaping local naloxone strategies.

Drug Harms Conversation Cafes

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Prison-Based Dialogues: Held in HMP Grampian (6 residents) and HMP Addiewell (12 residents).

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Insight Collection: Gathered anonymous, anecdotal input on drug use trends and harm reduction ideas.

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Strategic Use: Findings shared with Scottish Prison Service leadership for both local and national planning.

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Challenges: Two planned cafés were cancelled due to staffing shortages at host prisons.

Emergency Responses

SDF helps monitor changes in drugs and the harms experienced by people using drugs in Scotland, and informs and trains people including staff so services are prepared to prevent and reduce harms.

This work supports resilience within Scotland's planning and service delivery structures to ensure Scotland is prepared and also improves the quality of service delivery.

Preparedness of Services & Networks

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Maintained and expanded a responsive network of services, peers, and skilled workers.

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Hosted 4 SNEWF forums with 120+ attendees; engaged in national harm reduction and BBV discussions.

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Published a Xylazine factsheet, presented at the Drug Trends Conference, and shared RADAR updates.

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Issued alerts on nitazene-contaminated heroin, and shared data on iGAS outbreaks.

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Collaborated with NHS and community partners to share real-time intelligence and build targeted responses.

Quality of Interventions

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Developed multiple eLearning resources on cocaine, synthetic opioids, and harm reduction.

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Created and distributed overdose alerts, iGAS information, and wound care resources.

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Contributed to Harm Reduction Futures event and a 6-month working group on cocaine harms.

Intelligence & Stigma Reduction

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Strengthened communication with lived/living experience networks during outbreaks.

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Held a Drug Trend Focus Group with 23 lived experience participants for data gathering.

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Continued participation in national strategy groups, including MAT Thematic Groups and RADAR discussions.

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Delivered presentations and insights at national drug trend events.

Specialist Support for IEP Services

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Delivered 43 training sessions to 782 participants across Scotland.

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Developed and launched targeted training and eLearning on:

- Wound care & bacterial infections- Cocaine harm- Safer injecting and transition routes- Over 800 users accessed

the eLearning platform.

FINANCIAL REVIEW

Financial position

The Statement of Financial Activities, on page 19, shows an overall increase in funds of £90,568 This is made up of:

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An increase in the General Fund of

£27,171

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An increase in the Designated Funds of

£85,454

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A decrease in the Restricted Funds of

£22,057

Details of grants receivable are shown in notes 2 and 4 on pages 23 and 24.

The movement on funds over the year is shown in note 17.

Funds

General Fund

Once again in 2024/25 we were in receipt of a 1-year core funding award from Scottish Government. We are grateful to have now received confirmation of our Core Scottish Government Grants for 2025/26. Funding has all been confirmed at the same level at in 2024/25. Given the increases in Employers National Insurance that have taken effect in April 2025 balancing budgets for the new financial year has been particularly challenging.

At 31 March 2025, the balance of the General Fund stood at £ 872,961. This fund represents the free reserves of the charity, which are available for the immediate support of the organisation. These funds are held to protect the organisation against future financial risks, such as loss of funding, unexpected increases in expenditure or legal action against the organisation, in accordance with the reserves policy which is set out below.

The Board's financial objective is to secure the long term viability of the organisation by targeting annual contributions to General Fund of around £30,000 per year. During 2024/25 a number of short-term funding programmes came to an end. We were able to replace these and add others during the year which has resulted in an annual contribution slightly ahead of budget. This has resulted in an increase in reserves towards the levels required by our Reserves Policy based on our anticipated future turnover.

In the Scottish Drugs Forum's Budget now set for 2025/26 we anticipate a slightly reduced activity but still a positive contribution to the General Reserve. We are confident that once again we will attract further funding during the year and be able to build on this budget base.

Designated Funds

Designated funds of £905,189 include:

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a redundancy provision of £213,683 (to ensure SDF can meet its legal obligations to staff when required);

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£9,674 representing the carrying value of tangible fixed assets;

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£332,141 which has been set aside to support future work; and

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£349,691 which represents the value of unrestricted income recognised during the year which relates to activity to be delivered in the future

Restricted Funds

Restricted funds of £484,101 are carried forward, covering a range of projects being undertaken for a number of different funders.

Investment policy and objectives

The majority of funds managed by the Scottish Drugs Forum are either entrusted to SDF for restricted purposes or require to be readily available for the support of the organisation. Therefore all funds are held in interest bearing accounts where there is no risk to the capital sums. As all funds are being used and replenished within the short to medium term (0 to 6 months), no long term deposits are made.

Reserves policy and Going Concern

Funds available for the immediate support of the organisation (Reserves) are regularly compared against the costs of the Scottish Drugs Forum's activity in order to assess the level of protection they afford. Guidance for charities, in Scotland, suggests that Reserves levels equivalent to between 3 and 6 months running costs for the whole organisation are likely to be appropriate.

For the year to 31 March 2025, this would have suggested an appropriate level of available reserves to be between £784,000 and £1,568,000.

SDF's Board has taken account of their need to fund cashflow for the significant portion of grant funding which is now being received in arrears. As a result the SDF Board has decided to set a target for the Unrestricted Reserve of 5 months running costs. For the year to 31 March 2025, this would have suggested an appropriate level of further available reserves to be around £ 1,306,000.

Available General Reserves at 31st March 2025 were £872,961.

With budgeted turnover for 2025/26 of approximately £3,024,000 this would suggest an appropriate level of General Reserves to be £1,260,000. The Board will set budgets over the next few years that will allow us to work towards reserves of this level.

Risk management

The Directors have instigated a formal process to review and monitor the major risks to which the charity is exposed. They are aware of the major risks, financial and otherwise, affecting the charity and consider that appropriate procedures are in place to mitigate those risks.

Funders

The Scottish Drugs Forum would like to thank the following organisations for their financial support:

Scottish Government - various departments

Argyll & Bute Alcohol & Drug Partnership

Borders Alcohol & Drug Partnership / NHS Borders

Camarus Pharmaceutical

The Corra Foundation

Dundee ADP

East Dunbartonshire Alcohol & Drug Partnership / East Dunbartonshire Council

Ethypharm UK

Fife Alcohol & Drug Partnership

Glasgow City Council Glasgow Communities Fund

Glasgow Caledonian University

Greater Glasgow & Clyde Health Board

Healthcare Improvement Scotland

Highland Alcohol & Drug Partnership

King's College London

Marie Trust

National Institute of Health Research

North Lanarkshire Alcohol & Drugs Partnership

NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde /Glasgow Alcohol & Drugs Partnership

Public Health Scotland

University of Bristol

University of Stirling

FUTURE PLANS

Our current (2025/26) core funding agreement from Scottish Government is for one year, to March 2026. We are grateful to them and the majority of our other funders who confirmed their funding of our activities during 2025/25 and have done so again for 2025/26.

Project activity continues to generate significant support for core activity and work is continually underway to replace activity as it is completely within our portfolio of work.

STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT

Governing document

The Scottish Drugs Forum (SDF) is a company limited by guarantee with the liability of members limited to £1 each. The company is governed under the terms of its Memorandum and Articles of Association and is a registered Scottish Charity.

Directors are appointed to the Board for a term of 3 years. Directors retire after 3 years, up to a maximum of 12 years service, and are eligible for re-appointment. In appointing new directors, consideration is given to the existing make-up of the Board. Attempts are made to ensure that the Board maintains a balance of interest groups within the sector and contains the range of experience necessary for the management of the organisation.

The Board meets regularly (at least quarterly) to direct the business of the charity and has also set up sub-committees for finance and for other purposes. Induction and relevant training are given as required. Responsibility for day to day operations is delegated to the senior management staff.

REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS

Registered Company number

SC106295 (Scotland)

Registered Charity number

SC008075

Registered office

91 Mitchell Street

Glasgow

G1 3LN

Trustees

A O'Gorman

P Tracey

G J Brown

G A Burton

M D McCann

G Webster

L C Christopher

M D Paul (resigned 25/4/2024)

C W Hunter

H Hill

K D Ainslie

J A McAdam (appointed 17/4/2024)

G Rutherford

J D Anderson (appointed 18/12/2024)

C McDermott (appointed 30/4/2025)

Trustees retire after 3 years' service, and are eligible for re-appointment.

Company Secretary

K Butler

Auditors

Armstrong Watson Audit Limited

Caledonia House

89 Seaward Street

Glasgow

G41 1HJ

Senior Management Staff

Kirsten Horsburgh - Chief Executive

Julie Heslin McCartney - Director of Operations

Ken Butler - Head of Business, Finance & Administration

Austin Smith - Policy & Communications Lead

Katharine Ronald - HR Manager

Katy McLeod - Programme Manager Research and Peer Engagement

Chris Messenger - Programme Manager Employability & Qualifications

Adelle Still - Workforce Development Lead

Jason Wallace - Programme Manager Lived and Living Experience

The Key Management Personnel consists of the Chief Executive and Head of Business, Finance & Administration only.

Bankers

Virgin Money

30 St Vincent Place

Glasgow

G1 2HL

STATEMENT OF TRUSTEES' RESPONSIBILITIES

The trustees (who are also the directors of The Scottish Drugs Forum for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the Report of the Trustees and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice) including Financial Reporting Standard 102 "The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland".

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 charitable company and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable company for that period. In preparing those financial statements, the trustees are required to

-	select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;

-	observe the methods and principles in the Charity SORP;

-	make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;

-	prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charitable company will continue in business.

The trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable company and to enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charitable company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

In so far as the trustees are aware:

-	there is no relevant audit information of which the charitable company's auditors are unaware; and

-	the trustees have taken all steps that they ought to have taken to make themselves aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the auditors are aware of that information.

AUDITORS

The auditors, Armstrong Watson Audit Limited, will be proposed for re-appointment at the forthcoming Annual General Meeting.

Approved by order of the board of trustees on 28 August 2025 and signed on its behalf by:

L C Christopher - Trustee

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of The Scottish Drugs Forum (the 'charitable company') for the year ended 31 March 2025 which comprise the Statement of Financial Activities, the Balance Sheet, the Cash Flow Statement and 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 (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice), including Financial Reporting Standard 102 'The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland'.

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, including its income and expenditure, for the year then ended;

-

have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice; and

-

have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006, the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and regulation 8 of the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended).

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 Auditors' responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the charitable company 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.

Conclusions relating to going concern

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 charitable company'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 trustees are responsible for the other information. The other information comprises the information included in the Annual Report, other than the financial statements and our Report of the Independent Auditors thereon.

Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon.

In connection with our audit of the financial statements, 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 audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact. We have nothing to report in this regard.

Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006

In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of the audit:

-	the information given in the Report of the Trustees for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements; and

-	the Report of the Trustees has been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements.

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the charitable company and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the Report of the Trustees.

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters where the Companies Act 2006, the Charities and Trustees Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended) requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:

-

the charitable company has not kept proper and adequate accounting records or returns adequate for our audit have not been received from branches not visited by us; or

-

the financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or

-

certain disclosures of trustees' remuneration specified by law are not made; or

-

we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit; or

-

the trustees were not entitled to take advantage of the small companies exemption in preparing the Directors' Report included within the Report of the Trustees and from the requirement to prepare a Strategic Report.

Responsibilities of trustees

As explained more fully in the Statement of Trustees' Responsibilities, the trustees 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 charitable company's ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the trustees either intend to liquidate the charitable company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

Our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

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 a Report of the Independent Auditors 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. We have been appointed as auditors under section 44(1)(c) of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 to audit the financial statements of the charity for the year ended 31 March 2025.

Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud is detailed below.

Our approach to identifying and assessing the risks of material misstatement in respect of irregularities, including fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulations, was as follows:

-

the engagement partner ensured that the engagement team collectively had the appropriate competence, capabilities and skills to identify or recognise non-compliance with applicable laws and regulations;

-

we identified the laws and regulations applicable to the company through discussions with directors and other management;

-

we focused on specific laws and regulations which we considered may have a direct material effect on the financial statements or the operations of the company;

-

we assessed the extent of compliance with the laws and regulations identified above through making enquiries of management and inspecting legal correspondence; and

-

identified laws and regulations were communicated within the audit team regularly and the team remained alert to instances of non-compliance throughout the audit.

Auditors' responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements - continued

We assessed the susceptibility of the company's financial statements to material misstatement, including obtaining an understanding of how fraud might occur, by:

-

making enquiries of management as to where they considered there was susceptibility to fraud, their knowledge of actual, suspected and alleged fraud; and

-

considering the internal controls in place to mitigate risks of fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulations.

To address the risk of fraud through management bias and override of controls, we:

-

performed analytical procedures to identify any unusual or unexpected relationships;

-

tested journal entries to identify unusual transactions;

-

assessed whether judgements and assumptions made in determining the accounting estimates set out in Note 1 were indicative of potential bias; and

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investigated the rationale behind significant or unusual transactions.

In response to the risk of irregularities and non-compliance with laws and regulations, we designed procedures which included, but were not limited to:

-

agreeing financial statement disclosures to underlying supporting documentation;

-

reading the minutes of meetings of those charged with governance;

-

enquiring of management as to actual and potential litigation and claims; and

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reviewing correspondence with HMRC, relevant regulators and the company's legal advisors.

There are inherent limitations in our audit procedures described above. The more removed that laws and regulations are from financial transactions, the less likely it is that we would become aware of non-compliance. Auditing standards also limit the audit procedures required to identify non-compliance with laws and regulations to enquiry of the directors and other management and the inspection of regulatory and legal correspondence, if any.

Material misstatements that arise due to fraud can be harder to detect than those that arise from error as they may involve deliberate concealment or collusion.

A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on the Financial Reporting Council's website at www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our Report of the Independent Auditors.

Use of our report

This report is made solely to the charitable company's members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006, and to the charitable company's trustees, as a body, in accordance with Regulation 10 of the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charitable company's members and the trustees those matters we are required to state to them in an auditors' report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charitable company and the charitable company's members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

Gavin Curr FCCA (Senior Statutory Auditor)

for and on behalf of Armstrong Watson Audit Limited

Eligible to act as an auditor in terms of Section 1212 of the Companies Act 2006

Caledonia House

89 Seaward Street

Glasgow

G41 1HJ

28 August 2025

2025

2024

Unrestricted

Restricted

Total

Total

funds

funds

funds

funds

Notes

£

£

£

£

INCOME FROM

Grants and subscriptions

2

297,195

-

297,195

297,146

Charitable activities

4

Other national services

-

1,064,255

1,064,255

956,091

National Traineeship

-

1,160,255

1,160,255

801,494

User involvement & peer research

-

199,427

199,427

530,588

Conferences & seminars

28,769

-

28,769

34,265

Consultancy, educational training & other income

354,605

514

355,119

224,973

Investment income

3

30,036

-

30,036

33,382

Total

710,605

2,424,451

3,135,056

2,877,939

EXPENDITURE ON

Direct charitable costs

5

Administrative costs

52,188

191,437

243,625

241,685

Staff costs

308,605

1,777,721

2,086,326

2,060,237

Project costs

7

60,207

654,330

714,537

882,335

Total

421,000

2,623,488

3,044,488

3,184,257

NET INCOME/(EXPENDITURE)

289,605

(199,037

)

90,568

(306,318

)

Transfers between funds

17

(176,980

)

176,980

-

-

Net movement in funds

112,625

(22,057

)

90,568

(306,318

)

RECONCILIATION OF FUNDS

Total funds brought forward

1,665,525

506,158

2,171,683

2,478,001

TOTAL FUNDS CARRIED FORWARD

1,778,150

484,101

2,262,251

2,171,683