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 note,note01 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)".

Objectives and aims

(a) To provide accommodation for the homeless, those threatened with homelessness, or people living in temporary accommodation, including veterans from the UK armed forces.

This objective will be achieved by acquiring freeholds or securing long leaseholds at affordable/social housing rents.

(b) To help retrain veterans from the armed forces to qualify as tradesmen in construction industry.

It is hoped that this will be achieved by the trainees working alongside skilled tradespeople to obtain a recognised qualification.

Public benefit

The Trustees are certain that this report and the accounts clearly demonstrate that the Charity meets the requirements of the Charity Acts as regards public benefit.

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

Charitable activities

Over the past year, the Charity has continued to promote and deliver on its core objective of providing assistance to individuals experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity, including those currently living in temporary accommodation. The Trustees, along with others, have been volunteers in meeting the objectives.

A major focus this year has been the continued use of the DPS grant funding, enabling the Charity to offer gifted tenancy deposits to individuals and families at risk of homelessness. Over the past 12 months, this initiative has successfully funded deposits on a further 10 properties, directly assisting people in need to secure accommodation within the private rental sector. This support has played an important role in providing much-needed stability to those facing uncertain housing situations.

Community Engagement & Fundraising

The Charity has benefited from the continued generosity of individuals, organisations, and supporters both locally and beyond. We are especially grateful for community fundraisers who have gone the extra mile to raise awareness and financial contributions for our work.

One standout example is Oliver Mahon, who once again completed the full 20-kilometre Wirral Coastal Walk, raising funds for the Charity. Oliver’s determination and commitment have not only raised money but also brought greater awareness to the issue of homelessness across Merseyside. We are immensely proud of Oliver’s contribution and grateful for his ongoing support.

This year also saw the launch of a creative and heartwarming initiative, a Paddington Bear Christmas raffle. A specially curated Paddington-themed Christmas hamper was raffled to raise funds for the Charity’s winter survival packs. These packs were distributed to people living on the streets in Merseyside and included essential items such as foil blankets and woolly hats, providing vital protection against harsh winter conditions. The initiative captured public interest, raised critical funds, and directly supported individuals facing the life-threatening risks of sleeping rough during the coldest months of the year. These survival packs are more important than ever, with rough sleeping in Liverpool having surged by 141% over the past six years (Source: BBC). This underscores the urgency and relevance of our mission and these packs truly do save lives.

Acknowledgements

The Trustees wish to extend heartfelt thanks to all our volunteers and fundraisers for their unwavering support. It is through this collective effort that we are able to continue changing lives and delivering hope to those who need it most.

We reaffirm our commitment to the Charity’s vision: a future where homelessness is not inevitable, but preventable - and where every individual has the opportunity for a safe, stable, and dignified home.

Financial position

The Charity made a deficit in the year amounting to £214. There are funds to carry forward of £10,073 of which £8,187 were restricted and £1,886 unrestricted.

Reserves policy

The Trustees consider that no material reserves are needed at this stage as the Charity has minimal fixed expense

Future plans

The Trustees are committed to leveraging the available funding to address this critical situation and help more people secure safe and stable housing within the private rental sector. With continued collaboration and community support, The Homesavers Charity aims to make a lasting impact on the lives of those affected by homelessness.

Governing document

The Charity is a registered Charity and a Company limited by guarantee and is governed by its Memorandum and Articles of Association.

Legal status

The Homesavers Charity is a registered Charity (Number 1149191).

The Homesavers Charity is a Company limited by guarantee and as such has no share capital. The liability of the members of the company, as set out in the Memorandum of Association is limited to £1 per member.

The Company Registration number is 8235885. The address of the registered office of the Charity is shown on the Legal & Administrative Information page.

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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:

Recruitment and appointment of new Trustees

Trustees are elected from amongst the membership of the Charity, by the members in general meeting.

Risk Management

Through its policies and procedures, general management and financial management procedures and regular reporting to the Board through its sub-committees, the Charity believes it has the necessary structures in place to mitigate and minimise any risks it may face.

The trustees report was approved by the Board of Trustees.

In order to assist you to fulfil your duties under the Companies Act 2006, we have prepared for your approval the financial statements of The Homesavers Charity for the year ended 31 December 2024, which comprise the statement of financial activities and the related notes from the charity’s accounting records and from information and explanations you have given us.

As a practising member firm of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW), we are subject to its ethical and other professional requirements which are detailed at https://www.icaew.com/regulation.

This report is made to the charity's trustees, as a body, in accordance with the terms of our engagement letter. Our work has been undertaken solely to prepare for your approval the financial statements of The Homesavers Charity and state those matters that we have agreed to state to the charity's trustees, as a body, in this report. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than The Homesavers Charity and the charity's trustees as a body, for our work or for this report.

It is your duty to ensure that The Homesavers Charity has kept adequate accounting records and to prepare statutory financial statements that give a true and fair view of the assets, liabilities, financial position and deficit of The Homesavers Charity. You consider that The Homesavers Charity is exempt from the statutory audit requirement for the year, and is not required to obtain an independent examiner's report.

We have not been instructed to carry out an audit or a review of the financial statements of The Homesavers Charity. For this reason, we have not verified the accuracy or completeness of the accounting records or information and explanations you have given to us and we do not, therefore, express any opinion on the statutory financial statements.

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.

The Homesavers Charity is a private company limited by guarantee incorporated in England and Wales. The registered office is Hammond House, North Road, West Kirby, Wirral, Merseyside, CH48 4DE.

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" 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)". The charity is a Public Benefit Entity as defined by FRS 102.

The charity has taken advantage of the provisions in the SORP for charities not to prepare a statement of cash flows.

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

At the time of approving the financial statements, the trustees have a reasonable expectation that the charity has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. Thus the trustees continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the financial statements.

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

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

Liabilities are recognised as expenditure as soon as there is a legal or constructive obligation

committing the charity to that expenditure, it is probable that a transfer of economic benefits will be required in settlement and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. Expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis and has been classified under headings that aggregate all cost related to the category. Where costs cannot be directly attributed to particular headings they have been allocated to activities on a basis consistent with the use of resources.

Taxation

The charity is exempt from corporation tax on its charitable activities.

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.

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 restricted funds of the charity comprise the unexpended balances of donations and grants held on trust subject to specific conditions by donors as to how they may be used.

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.

There were no disclosable related party transactions during the year (2023 - none).