The trustees present their annual report and financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2024.

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in note 1 to the financial statements and comply with the charity's 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 trustees have paid due regard to guidance issued by the Charity Commission in deciding what activities the charity should undertake.

General Comments

The Board of Directors and Trustees of PACE (ProActive Community Endeavours) carry the overall responsibility for managing all aspects of the charity. Working with the Chief Executive they develop the strategy and overall expansion of the charity. PACE has a dedicated Board and team of leaders who work with a large pool of very committed volunteers who make all our projects happen on a daily basis. We are incredibly proud and grateful to all our volunteer staff for their passion, commitment, creativity and professionalism which both inspires and reinvigorates the organisation.

The Board as a whole is to be highly commended for their work throughout the year in steering and overseeing the charity through yet another very busy year.

The CEO's position continues to be non-salaried; however, he has put in a substantial amount of voluntary time each week, virtually full-time, to administer the day to day running of the charity and in managing the staff, volunteers, team leaders and various projects.

A Brief History

PACE (ProActive Community Endeavours) was set up as a registered charity in 2003.

PACE has been serving the local community for the past twenty-one years establishing essential, high quality, social action projects and services in response to the needs of the locality both in Charnwood, Leicestershire and in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear.

The mission of the charity is "to create and build a charity of excellence, designed and equipped to meet the physical, mental, emotional and social needs of society; a centre reaching out to the vulnerable, excluded, disadvantaged, hurting and the general public."

PACE is a multifaceted charity that addresses a significant number of “need strands” within the community reaching out to the broadest demographic in society from the cradle to the grave irrespective of background, creed, disability or persuasion.

As stated in the Memorandum and Articles, the main objectives and aims of the Charity are as follows:

• We aim to help people to become fully integrated into the community by identifying who are vulnerable and excluded, by working together to assess the need, identify the issues that need to be addressed and devise a way forward to bring about positive change.

• To provide support mechanisms, education, training and employment opportunities to encourage and enable individuals to realise their fullest potential.

• To provide facilities and equipment for recreational purposes to improve the quality of life of local people.

2024 was again a busy year at PACE. The need and the demand from within the community has constantly grown as people in society have been particularly battling with the ever-increasing cost of living and all the worry and stress that this carries with it. The Governments withdrawal of the Winter Fuel Allowance has certainly left its mark not only financially but also in increasing many people’s stress levels.

It is also fair to say that the cost-of-living crisis has also certainly had an impact creating a genuine squeeze on the overall donation base. This is a constant ongoing challenge for the CEO, the Charity Manager and the Board as a whole.

2024 Nomination, VAL Charity

We are thrilled to be able to report that PACE was nominated and short-listed for Leicestershire’s Charity of the Year in 2024. Though we did not win it does indicate something of the impact we are making and highlights the reputation we have and continue to gain.

Charity Impact

During 2024 PACE ran, managed and delivered various projects that they originally initiated. The following is a summary of the impact of the various projects, activities and services over the year.

PACE Counselling: a fully qualified generic counselling centre/service

A new Senior Counselling Co-ordinator has been appointed after the resignation of our previous coordinator. The new appointee is Mr Ben Parkinson a qualified BACP registered counsellor. In the light of this we have taken time throughout the year to restructure our counselling service. Nevertheless, there continues to be growing demand of those who need professional help. Mental health issues are without doubt multiplying exponentially in society. The cost-of-living crisis has certainly had a significant impact where increasing ongoing stress, anxiety and mental health issues are concerned. This has resulted in PACE Counselling receiving many more enquiries over the year from people requesting professional counselling help and support.

The PACE Counselling service enhances the quality of people's lives, giving them greater confidence to work through their problems and to gain the necessary tools for moving forward.

The PACE Community Store

This is a service that enables anyone from within the community to access basic food products at a greatly reduced cost. People who avail themselves of the store can buy either 10, 12 or 15 items from the store for just £3 depending on whether they are single, a couple or a family.

We open on Thursdays and Saturdays. We also have an emergency food telephone line that we operate every day, 365 days a year.

In 2024 through the food store, we had no less than 3,708 shoppers over the year. We supplied over 75,000 items of food and toiletries.

This is undoubtedly a significant contribution in serving those who find themselves in need or hardship from within the Charnwood community. It surely alleviates some of the stress caused by the rising cost of living.

We are finding that there is a growing number of service users who are in work who simply can't afford to live and therefore use the PACE food store.

Our dedicated team of volunteers, led by our excellent Resources and Food Store Manager, Mr Geof Spavins, are to be highly, highly commended for the ceaseless effort and countless hours of volunteer time they put in to deliver the Food Store service. There is no doubt that the service reduces food poverty and thus reduces high stress and mental health in the community. Several volunteers virtually work full time volunteering to run the service working at least on 5 days a week either collecting food from supermarkets and FareShare, rotating stock, stacking shelves or doing the administration etc.

PACE Camp

Our annual PACE Camp is considered the largest children's Summer Activity Camp of its kind in the Midlands. It ran again for two weeks in the summer. This year one week was dedicated as a “loud week,” and the other week was designated as a “quiet week” which served to accommodate those young people/children with special or additional needs.

We are thankful that we were able to tap into the Government’s HAF funding programme and as a result were able to offer 60 children a well-rounded nutritional breakfast and lunch as well as activities.

The two-week PACE Summer Camp was able to accommodate 180 children in total between the ages of 8-14.

The Camp recruited and trained in the region of eighty volunteers to run the camp who all went through a special orientation training day and a separate safeguarding session. All volunteers who were required to were DBS checked. Other volunteers who couldn’t be DBS checked because they were under age only ever worked with a supervised DBS leader.

This means 180 plus different families were impacted. As always, the preparation for these two weeks is huge not only in preparing the daily programme and training the volunteers, but also in writing and updating all the policies and ensuring safeguarding is robust and fit for purpose etc. Much credit should be given to our Camp Organisers, our Family Worker, Tracey Parkinson and our Youth Lead, Zach Weaver who between them did all the heavy lifting where the camp organisation was concerned.

It is a very safe and highly organised non-residential camp that meets from 8.45am till 5pm every day.

2024 saw us hiring a school to better accommodate the camp which afforded us more outside space and better facilities to work with.

Family Work in the Community

2024 saw us heavily engaged in working with families in our community. Our Family champions are Tracey Parkinson in Charnwood and Miranda Smithson-Healy in Sunderland. They are greatly valued members of our staff and team. They are to be commended for their vision, enthusiasm and energy.

Every week we run three Baby Springers groups in three different locations, Loughborough, Sunderland and Hartlepool. In total each week we would gather around 130 children plus their parents/guardians. Therefore, each week it’s not unusual to have over three hundred individuals present at these groups. It is just one aspect of our programme to support parents and families. We are also able to signpost the service users to many other internal and external family services.

We also supported families through hosting affordable special half term and school holiday activities such as art and creativity sessions, Big Bounce inflatable sessions, outings to the park, picnics, strawberry and pumpkin picking, etc.

Other family projects included marriage enrichment and parenting courses. We also ran weekly after-school kids’ clubs, not forgetting our extensive summer children’s camp which also catered for children with additional needs which offers some important respite for parents and families.

The PACE Additional Needs Programme

We host activities for adults with additional needs both in Loughborough and Sunderland. Through this programme 130 adult individuals with additional needs plus their carers are supported each month. The team of volunteers who lead these unique activities really do an outstanding job putting in a significant amount of effort.

Our programme, of course, not only helps those with additional needs and learning difficulties but also supports their parents and carers who do such a fantastic and much needed job day in and day out.

The PACE Senior Citizens Programme

Activities for the retired

Throughout the year we have staged a weekly programme for seniors which provides a designated space and activities for the retired senior citizens of our community. In doing so, we have reduced the ever-growing sense of isolation and loneliness, which is now at crisis level within our society. A significant number who attend tell us that this is the only time they leave their homes during the week. Our activities also supported seniors where mental health was an issue.

The programme offers friendship, care and support for over 100 plus seniors every month.

Three times a month we provide the service users with a lunchtime meal.

As well as this, we provided those who attend with their own greatly reduced community shop service to assist them in and through the cost-of-living crisis. We also arranged several trips to various coffee shops, farms and shopping centres, and beauty spots throughout the year.

On two occasions we hosted a free, four course seniors' meal and provided a programme of full entertainment. On each occasion there were over 100 individuals who benefited from those who came from within the local community.

In our opinion this work is bound to grow in the future as the biggest demographic in society is fast becoming the retired and elderly.

The PACE Youth Initiative. The Blaze City Project.

2024 saw PACE youth initiative expand and grow in an unprecedented way. Our full time 'Youth Engagement and Development Lead,’ Zach Weaver, who joined us in September 2023, continues to make a remarkable impact. Each week saw anything between 100-150 young people engaging in our activities. We also give each of the young people a free hot meal every week. 2024 saw us give out over 5,500 meals to young people.

The young people are between the ages of 12 and 17 and come from the various local estates of which a good number are deprived estates. The PACE Blaze City Programme provided a safe place on a number of occasions each week for young people where they were able to connect with their peers, enabling them to make new friends as well as discussing relevant issues that apply to young people today and giving them a voice where they can be heard.

2024 saw us stage a special Christmas programme which saw 180 in attendance.

A part of this programme is to develop young leaders and enhance their individual social and life skills.

Our Youth Engagement and Development Lead has built key relationships with Borough Counsellors and has been working on the troubled estates and in various outreach locations in Charnwood. The year also saw him teaching each week in a number of schools. He also organised two evening festival gigs called 'Energise' which saw 120 young people gathering from the local estates.

We also host several young people’s support groups each week where we particularly addressed Anti-Social Behaviour, Mental Health Issues, A No More Knives initiative and Drug Substance Abuse.

We were also able to take 35 young people on a week-long residential to a summer young people’s festival.

2024 saw PACE invest a significant amount of money, somewhere in the region of £40,000, into supporting the young people in Charnwood. Though a serious ongoing challenge to raise the money needed it is certainly worth every penny as we invest in not only this generation but future generations too.

The PACE Community Cafe and Catering

The spring of 2024 saw us open our excellent Community Cafe known as ‘Percivals.’ It is open from 7.30 am in the morning until 2.30 pm every weekday and also hosts children’s parties, functions and outside catering with the proceeds helping to finance the department.

The Centre where PACE is based sees anything up to 1,000 people come through its doors each week availing themselves of the services, activities and projects we offer.

We are most grateful to our primary contributor/donator, New Springs UK, who provide us with an excellent facility free of charge and contribute significant finance into the work of PACE.

The Family Activity Centre

Our Family Activity Centre now houses a Sports Hall, Gym, Food Store, Media Room, Office and Dance Studio and a lift and stairway leading to the Soft Play Area. 2024 saw us utilise these facilities greatly. We continued to market and utilise this fantastic facility.

Our Wonderful Team of Volunteers

In 2024 PACE continued to build and use its volunteers. We are blessed and enriched by no less than 120 volunteers each week who give of their time voluntarily running the centre and the various projects. We are deeply indebted to them. Indeed our CEO, Charity Manager and the Board of Trustees are all volunteers and receive no salary for the many hours they put in (except our Family Worker who is both a board member and salaried for her work in our Family Projects).

The simple truth is none of our activities would be able to run without them.

Those Who Have Funded Us

Financing the ongoing costs of a small charity like PACE continues to be a significant if not major challenge in 2024. The board wishes to give their sincere and heartfelt thanks for all the individuals who have donated into the work of pace throughout the year. They would also like to place on record the deep gratitude to the granting bodies and local companies who have funded some of the work of PACE throughout the year.

In Conclusion

The board of trustees and directors would like to place on record our thanks to all our dedicated volunteers and to the Charity Manager, Mrs Ellen Lockwood for her sterling and unswerving voluntary work throughout the year.

We look forward to pressing on and making a greater impact in 2025.

At the end of the financial period the company held net assets of £32,289 including unrestricted funds of £10,815. The directors are satisfied that sufficient funding will be available in the foreseeable future and accordingly present these financial statements on the going concern basis.

Risk review

Significant external risks to income are continually reviewed to ensure that sufficient funds are in place. Internal risks are minimised by the implementation of procedures for authorisation of all transactions to ensure consistent quality of delivery for all operational aspects of the charity. These procedures are periodically reviewed to ensure that they still meet the needs of the charity.

Reserves

The Directors have established a policy whereby the unrestricted funds not committed or invested in tangible fixed assets (‘the free reserves’) held by the charity should be between 3 and 6 months of the resources expended, which equates to £30,000 to £60,000 in general funds. At this level, the Board feel that they would be able to continue the current activities of the charity in the event of a significant drop in income. Free reserves at 31 December 2024 amounted to £340 and therefore the Trustees are taking action to increase the reserves in line with the policy.

The charity is a company limited by guarantee. Its governing document is its memorandum and articles of association and the directors are also trustees of the charity.

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:

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

The trustees, who are also the directors of Proactive Community Endeavours for the purpose of company law, are responsible for preparing the Trustees' Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

Company law requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable company for that year.

In preparing these financial statements, the trustees are required to:

- select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;

- observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP;

- make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;

- state whether applicable UK Accounting Standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements; and

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

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

I report to the trustees on my examination of the financial statements of Proactive Community Endeavours (the charity) for the year ended 31 December 2024.

As the trustees of the charity (and also its directors for the purposes of company law), you are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006.

Having satisfied myself that the financial statements of the charity are not required to be audited under Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006 and are eligible for independent examination, I report in respect of my examination of the charity’s financial statements carried out under section 145 of the Charities Act 2011. In carrying out my examination I have followed the Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Charities Act 2011.

I have completed my examination. I confirm that no matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:

accounting records were not kept in respect of the charity as required by section 386 of the Companies Act 2006.

the financial statements do not accord with those records; or

the financial statements do not comply with the accounting requirements of section 396 of the Companies Act 2006 other than any requirement that the financial statements give a true and fair view, which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination; or

the financial statements have not been prepared in accordance with the methods and principles of the Statement of Recommended Practice for accounting and reporting by charities applicable to charities preparing their financial statements in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102).

I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the financial statements to be reached.

The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year. All income and expenditure derive from continuing activities.

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 December 2024.

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 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.

Proactive Community Endeavours is a private company limited by guarantee incorporated in England and Wales. The registered office is The NSC Arena, 4 Belton Road West Extension, Loughborough, Leics, LE11 5XH.

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the charity's governing document, the Companies Act 2006, FRS 102 “The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland” (“FRS 102”) and the Charities SORP "Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102)" (effective 1 January 2019). The charity is a Public Benefit Entity as defined by FRS 102.

The financial statements are prepared in sterling, which is the functional currency of the charity. Monetary amounts in these financial statements are rounded to the nearest £.

The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention, The principal accounting policies adopted are set out below.

At the time of approving the financial statements, the trustees have concerns that free reserves are at a low level of £340, however the trustees feel that this level can be increased to a level set by the policy. Thus the trustees continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the financial statements.

Unrestricted funds are available for use at the discretion of the trustees in furtherance of their charitable objectives.

Restricted funds are subject to specific conditions by donors or grantors as to how they may be used. The purposes and uses of the restricted funds are set out in the notes to the financial statements.

Cash donations are recognised on receipt. Other donations are recognised once the charity has been notified of the donation, unless performance conditions require deferral of the amount. Income tax recoverable in relation to donations received under Gift Aid or deeds of covenant is recognised at the time of the donation.

Expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to transfer economic benefit to a third party, it is probable that a transfer of economic benefits will be required in settlement, and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably.

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.

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).

Stocks are stated at the lower of cost and estimated selling price less costs to complete and sell. Cost comprises direct materials and, where applicable, direct labour costs and those overheads that have been incurred in bringing the stocks to their present location and condition. Items held for distribution at no or nominal consideration are measured the lower of replacement cost and cost.

Net realisable value is the estimated selling price less all estimated costs of completion and costs to be incurred in marketing, selling and distribution.

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.

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 Expenditure

Charitable Expenditure

Wages and salaries

General expenses

Activities

Food parcels, meals and catering

AOK project costs

HAF 22 project costs

Shire project costs

Advertising, stationery and print

Access counselling

Rent, rates and utilities

HSF Project costs

Governance costs includes payments to the auditors of £3,073 (2023- £3,020) for audit fees.

Five of the trustees/directors of the charity are also trustees/directors of New Springs UK a company that is limited by guarantee and is also a charity.

During the year the charity received grants and donations from New Springs UK totalling £65,321 (2023 -£25,213) towards payroll, camp and foodbank costs.

Within the year the charity paid £nil (2023 - £2,582) to New Springs UK in respect of print, design and PR costs and £10,536 (2023 - £nil) in respect of contributions towards rent and utilities.

A trustee, T Parkinson, who is also key management personnel, received remuneration during the year of £18,575 (2023: £17,112).        

The average monthly number of employees during the year was:

The charity is exempt from taxation on its activities because all its income is applied for charitable purposes.

The unrestricted funds of the charity comprise the unexpended balances of donations and grants which are not subject to specific conditions by donors and grantors as to how they may be used. These include designated funds which have been set aside out of unrestricted funds by the trustees for specific purposes.