REGISTERED COMPANY NUMBER: 04140012 (England and Wales)

REGISTERED CHARITY NUMBER: 1085878

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES AND

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

FOR

RICHMOND CITIZENS ADVICE BUREAUX SERVICE

(A COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE)

Page

Report of the Trustees

1

to

8

Independent Examiner's Report

9

Statement of Financial Activities

10

Statement of Financial Position

11

Statement of Cash Flows

12

Notes to the Statement of Cash Flows

13

Notes to the Financial Statements

14

to

24

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 financial statements comply with the Charities Act 2011, the Companies Act 2006, the Articles of Association 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 organisation operates as Citizens Advice Richmond (CAR) though the company name remains Richmond Citizens Advice Bureaux Service.

In this report the national Citizens Advice charity is referred to as Citizens Advice and the Council of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames is referred to as Richmond Council.

OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES

The Articles of Association of CAR state that the charity's objects are to promote any charitable purpose for the public benefit by the advancement of education, the protection and preservation of health and the relief of poverty, sickness and distress in particular, but without limitation, for the benefit of the community in and around the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames and surrounding areas.

The key strategic objectives for the next three years are set out in the Strategic Business and Development Plan 2025-28 ("Plan"), along with an accompanying work plan. The Plan was developed from a planning meeting held in January 2025, attended by staff, volunteers and trustees. The draft Plan was consulted on with each of these groups and was approved by the trustees in July 2025. Progress towards the targets in the associated work plan are monitored quarterly by the trustee board. A new plan for 2026-29 will be developed in early 2026.

Our Aim:

The Citizens Advice service helps people resolve their legal, money and other problems by providing information and advice, and by influencing policymakers.

Statement of purpose:

Citizens Advice Richmond is a charity that empowers people to resolve their problems and changes their lives for the better. We do this on a free and impartial basis by:

- Offering personalised options-based advice

- Educating our community to avoid future problems

- Effecting change at local and national level through research and campaigns.

Our Values:

To underpin our strategy and plans, trustees, staff and volunteers will always seek to:

- Put our clients at the center of all we do

- Respond to the needs of the local community

- Ensure high quality and accessibility

- Guarantee confidentiality and impartiality

- Promote equalities and challenge discrimination

Our Objectives:

Our vision for Citizens Advice Richmond involves working towards five key strategic priorities:

1. Access to advice - we will prioritise advice to those who need it most and help people via the most appropriate channel; we will provide strategic leadership to the local advice sector

2. Influence - we will be more influential and speak out on behalf of local residents, working with statutory and voluntary organisations to identify the source of peoples' problems and campaign for improvements in policy and practice at local and national level

3. Sustainability - we will diversify our funding base by developing new sources of funding alongside efficiency gains where possible to ensure our sustainability

4. Partners - we will develop effective partnerships to deliver cost effective services, focusing on the needs of disadvantaged people and communities and to share best practice

5. Volunteers - we will attract a broad range of new volunteers and offer them more flexible opportunities.

Public benefit

How our activities deliver public benefit:

During the year, CAR provided advice to clients across the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames by phone, email and in person. We have offices at Hampton, Hampton Hill, Barnes and Sheen and delivered outreach advice services at the Whitehouse Community Centre, the Vineyard, Whitton Library, Ham Library and Etna Centre.

Staff and volunteers

As of the end of March 2025, CAR had a total of 19 paid staff; 11 of whom were part-time. The charity continues to benefit from the contribution of a large body of around 70 local volunteers who provide the advice service to the public or support the charity's administration. Volunteer advisers work an average of one day per week and it takes about twelve months for them to be fully trained to the exacting standard which is required. Over the course of the reporting period, a total of 26 new volunteers were recruited and trained (33 the previous year). It is estimated that our volunteers contributed over 26,950 person hours overall, throughout the year. The trustees who are all volunteers themselves, wish to express their gratitude to all our volunteers for their support and dedication.

ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE

Over the year 2024-2025, 6,508 individual clients were provided with advice and information (2023-2024: 6,010). We continue to see many clients who have complex, multiple and interlinked problems. Advisers dealt with a total of 25,252 separate issues on their behalf (2023-2024: 17,495). The impact of the cost-of-living crisis on household expenditure and ability to pay for essentials such as fuel and food, has driven demand for our services.

2024-25

2023-24

Main Enquiry Areas

%

%

Welfare Benefits including Universal Credit

44

34

Debt

12

10

Housing

18

16

Financial services & capability

5

3

Employment

4

3

Relationships & Family

3

3

15% of our work involved supporting residents with charitable support and foodbank vouchers.

Advisers secured financial gains of £2,175,902 for our clients (2023-2024: £2,142,084) through debt write-off and receipt of benefits or other entitlements. This is a significant contribution not only to individuals and households, but also to the broader local economy. 53% of clients stated that they had a disability or chronic illness (2023-2024: 47%) and 34% were from black and minority ethnic groups (2023-2024: 32%).

During the year, staff and volunteers continued to provide quality information and advisory services by telephone advice, written and email correspondence, in person and at outreach services at community centres across the borough. We continued our direct referral service for partner organisations to refer clients to us and to upload relevant documents.

Citizens Advice carries out an independent survey, by email or text, of all clients who consent to be contacted. The results below are cumulative for the 12 months, April 2024 - March 2025. The number of CAR clients who responded was 332.

Positive or very positive

National

Question

response rate for CAR clients

Average

How easy or difficult did you find it to access the service?

72%

75%

To what extent did the service help you find a way forward?

89%

85%

To what extent is your problem now resolved?

77%

76%

How likely would you be to recommend this service?

87%

86%

CAR supported clients in a range of ways; from listening and giving information, providing generalist and specialist advice and through negotiating with third parties. Where appropriate, clients were referred to other agencies, to statutory bodies, or to local legal firms. The service offers specialist advice in family law, immigration, and housing provided by legal professionals, where advice is given on a pro-bono basis.

Our Manage Your Money (MYM) team delivered appointments to 176 clients and carried out workshops for 46 people. We were involved in distributing the Household Support Fund on behalf of Richmond Council and supported 449 households and distributed £158,000.

Research and campaigns are an important aspect of our work. Advisers submitted a total of 374 evidence forms (EFs) for the whole of 2024-2025. The team's main focus during the year was on the following campaigns:

- Adequacy of welfare support

- Cost of living crisis

- Improving processes for tenants in social housing

- Improving disrepair outcomes for tenants in social housing

The Team is working closely with local organisations, including Richmond Council (particularly on housing issues), local MPs, RHP and PA Housing.

FINANCIAL REVIEW

For 2024-25, the main source of funding was a contract with Richmond Council to deliver a generalist advice services in the borough. This contract originally began in August 2013 and has been extended on a number of occasions since. The latest extension runs to March 2026. In 2024/25, this contract comprised about 38% (2023/24: 41%) of total income; ongoing support from three local trusts comprised 19% (2023/24: 21%) of total income.

As ever, diversifying our funding base will remain challenging and we will continue to operate in a financially finely-balanced and constrained environment. Continued support from local trusts cannot be guaranteed and securing new funding sources will continue to be difficult as we operate in what is perceived to be a prosperous borough.

Outcome for the year

For the year ended 31 March 2025, CAR had a net excess of income over expenditure of £68,443 (2024: £34,567) all of which represented an increase in unrestricted funds (2024: increase £34,567). Cash at the end of the year stood at £449,114 (31 March 2024: £417,623).

Reserves

Reserves at 31 March 2025 stood at £459,591 (2024: £391,148) of which £453,196 (2024: £384,753) were unrestricted funds and the remainder restricted.

CAR requires unrestricted funds in the period ahead to:

a. provide working capital to cover day to day fluctuations in income and expenditure, including those for separately funded projects, which may have different financial accounting periods and different timetables for grant or contract instalments, sometimes in advance, sometimes in arrears;

b. meet, in the short term, either unexpected expenses or income shortfalls;

c.(when applicable) cover the costs of creation of fixed assets.

The board reviews this policy on an annual basis and in 2025 the board has approved the policy to have free reserves of 3 months of the annual budgeted operating expenditure of the organisation plus a contingency of £30k. The trustees consequently estimate that the amount of reserves required to address the above requirements is between £230,000 and £240,000. The unrestricted reserves of the charity at 31 March 2025 stood at £453,196.

Going concern

The trustees have considered CAR cash flow forecast for the period ahead. Provided that the advice contract with

Richmond Council is extended in 2026 at a funding level above that of the funding level in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the trustees believe that the charity has a reasonable expectation of having sufficient resources to continue in operation for the foreseeable future. Accordingly, the trustees continue to adopt the going concern basis in the preparation of the accounts.

Principal risks and uncertainties

Principal Risks

Risk Management

LBRuT funding reduces from 2026

Ensure all performance targets met; promote service impact

Rental liabilities likely to increase with the move to the Civic Centre in 2026

Maintain contingency in financial planning and forecasting.Work with LBRuT to explore Civic Centre presence to reduce rental liability.

Loss of funding and increased demand for services due to cost of living crisis

Regular liaison with funders; maintain relationship with CA bid team re support around commissioning; develop services that funders want to see eg. In person provisio or clients

FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS

During 2025-2026, CAR will work on implementing our work-plan for the year to deliver on our five key strategic objectives, set out in the business and development plan and to plan how our services can support residents with the cost-of-living crisis. The work plan is updated quarterly, and progress is reported to trustees at board meetings.

CAR will continue to work towards meeting the contractual targets in the generalist advice services contract with Richmond Council. It is hoped that meeting and exceeding these targets will help to influence the council's decision to commission the service from 2026. The charity will continue to promote the value of its work to members of the council, other funders and the public.

Quality will remain central to service planning; through ongoing structured training programmes and through audit. CAR will continue with Citizens Advice's performance quality framework, by carrying out regular quality of advice assessments, overseen by Citizens Advice quality auditors.

Research and campaigns will remain an extremely important aspect of the charity's work. In the year ahead CAR will continue to participate proactively in national Citizens Advice campaigns, as well as actively working with statutory bodies, MPs, and others in the borough to tackle local issues and to feed back on the impact on clients of welfare benefit reforms and other policies and practices. The team works to an annual development plan and the work is overseen by a steering group, comprising staff, volunteers and the lead trustee and chaired by the CEO, that meets quarterly.

CAR continues to recruit and train new volunteers to maintain current levels of service and respond to demand for advice. It will continue to develop new and innovative projects that respond to identified local advice needs.

STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT

Governing document

Richmond Citizens Advice Bureaux Service is a company limited by guarantee and is a registered charity. It is governed by its Articles of Association.

Recruitment and appointment of new trustees

The directors of the charitable company ('the charity') are its trustees for the purpose of charity law and throughout this report are collectively referred to as the trustees. Trustees are elected to the board by members of the charity at the annual general meeting. One third of the elected trustees are required to retire by rotation at each annual general meeting. The chair of trustees is elected by the board. The trustees who acted during the year under review are listed on page 7, none of whom has any beneficial interest in the company. Ben Salama is the chair of the board of trustees.

Organisational structure and decision making

CAR is governed by its trustee board which is responsible for setting the strategic direction of the organisation and the policy of the charity. The trustees carry the ultimate responsibility for the conduct of the charity and for ensuring that it satisfies its legal and contractual obligations. The trustee board meets at least quarterly and there are additional meetings of appropriate members or groups as required. The day-to-day operation of the organisation has been delegated to the Chief Executive Officer, who is also the Company Secretary. In addition, there is an experienced team of paid staff and a substantial team of volunteers who are key to the service offered by the charity.

Decisions are made by the trustee board, in line with the strategic business and development plan which is translated into annual operational plans and reported against to the board. There are regular staff meetings and senior management team meetings which ensure that progress is being made against targets and also enable early troubleshooting when problems arise.

Induction and training of new trustees

New trustees are elected at the annual general meeting or are co-opted during the course of the year. They are given an induction pack of literature which confirms their role and responsibilities, and they also undergo an induction programme in the bureau and may attend briefing sessions run by Citizens Advice.

Key management remuneration

The pay of the Senior Management Team and staff is reviewed annually by the HR and Finance sub-committees, in line with both market conditions and affordability for the charity, and a proposal is submitted to the board for their approval.

Wider network

CAR is a member of the national Citizens Advice service, and the national charity sets and monitors standards for advice, policies, procedures and supports local Citizens Advice with an information system, training and other services. Operating policies are independently determined by the trustee board of CAR to fulfil its charitable objectives and comply with the national membership requirements.

Related parties

The charity cooperates and liaises with other advisory services, local charities and council departments on behalf of clients. Where one of the trustees is also involved with another relevant organisation, they may be involved in discussions about it but not in any decision-making process.

Risk management

The trustees recognise that any major risks to which the charity is exposed need to be reviewed and systems put in place to mitigate those risks. A risk mitigation exercise is part of our longer-term strategic planning and our annual operational review and planning. Our internal policies and procedures are consolidated within the 'Guide to CAR', which is published on our Intranet and accessible to all paid staff, volunteers, and trustees. The Guide references the full suite of organisational policies, which are also available on the Intranet and align with Citizens Advice national guidelines. All documentation is reviewed in line with the policy approval schedule.

Information assurance

The Citizens Advice Richmond trustee board oversees the information security of all personal information of our clients, staff, funders and strategic partners that is processed. The vast majority of our client data is stored in Casebook, a case management system. Citizens Advice Richmond holds joint responsibility for client data held in Casebook with the national Citizens Advice Service. An information assurance management team exists to ensure that the confidentiality, integrity and availability of all personal and sensitive data is maintained to a level which is compliant with the requirements of the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act.

REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS

Registered Company number

04140012 (England and Wales)

Registered Charity number

1085878

Registered office

94-102 High Street

Hampton Hill

Hampton

TW12 1NY

Trustees

Ben Salama - Chair (appointed 2/6/25, appointed Chair 16/7/25)

Guy Eastaugh - Treasurer (appointed 11/4/24)

Tom Hetherington

Farah Rachlin (Chair to 16/7/25)

Wendy Barker

Roger Hillyer

Owain Griffiths

John Wheatle

Rakhi Govil

Annie Carpenter

Nigel Brown

Jane Nicholls (appointed 25/11/24)

Lollie Tickey (resigned 1/9/24)

Sarah Hynes (resigned 4/8/24)

Company Secretary and Chief Executive Officer

Lorna Reid

Independent Examiner

Jonathan Askew FCA

Hartley Fowler LLP

Chartered Accountants

4th Floor Tuition House

27-37 St George's Road

Wimbledon

London

SW19 4EU

Principal Bankers

Charities Aid Foundation Bank Ltd

25 Kings Hill Avenue

West Malling

Kent ME19 4JQ

Name

The registered name of the charity is Richmond Citizens Advice Bureaux Service but we operate under the name of Citizens Advice Richmond, following a rebranding process as required by the Citizens Advice membership scheme.

STATEMENT OF TRUSTEES' RESPONSIBILITIES

The trustees (who are also the directors of Richmond Citizens Advice Bureaux Service 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).

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.

This report has been prepared in accordance with the special provisions of Part 15 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small companies.

Approved by order of the board of trustees on 17 September 2025 and signed on its behalf by:

Ben Salama - Trustee

Independent examiner's report to the trustees of Richmond Citizens Advice Bureaux Service ('the Company')

I report to the charity trustees on my examination of the accounts of the Company for the year ended 31 March 2025.

Responsibilities and basis of report

As the charity's trustees of the Company (and also its directors for the purposes of company law) you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 ('the 2006 Act').

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

Independent examiner's statement

Since your charity's gross income exceeded £250,000 your examiner must be a member of a listed body. I can confirm that I am qualified to undertake the examination because I am a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, which is one of the listed bodies.

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:

1.	accounting records were not kept in respect of the Company as required by Section 386 of the 2006 Act; or

2.	the accounts do not accord with those records; or

3.	the accounts do not comply with the accounting requirements of Section 396 of the 2006 Act other than any requirement that the accounts give a true and fair view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination; or

4.

the accounts 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 accounts 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 accounts to be reached.

Jonathan Askew FCA

Hartley Fowler LLP

Chartered Accountants

4th Floor Tuition House

27-37 St George's Road

Wimbledon

London

SW19 4EU

18 September 2025

2025

2024

Unrestricted

Restricted

Total

Total

funds

funds

funds

funds

Notes

£

£

£

£

INCOME FROM

Donations

3

1,502

-

1,502

2,332

Charitable activities

6

General Advice

451,790

318,898

770,688

694,318

Other trading activities

4

3,006

-

3,006

152

Investment income

5

9,553

-

9,553

6,584

Total

465,851

318,898

784,749

703,386

EXPENDITURE ON

Charitable activities

7

General Advice

345,661

370,645

716,306

668,819

NET INCOME/(EXPENDITURE)

120,190

(51,747

)

68,443

34,567

Transfers between funds

20

(51,747

)

51,747

-

-

Net movement in funds

68,443

-

68,443

34,567

RECONCILIATION OF FUNDS

Total funds brought forward

384,753

6,395

391,148

356,581

TOTAL FUNDS CARRIED FORWARD

453,196

6,395

459,591

391,148

CONTINUING OPERATIONS

All income and expenditure has arisen from continuing activities.

2025

2024

Notes

£

£

FIXED ASSETS

Tangible assets

15

-

4,287

CURRENT ASSETS

Debtors

16

165,703

89,805

Cash at bank

449,114

417,623

614,817

507,428

CREDITORS

Amounts falling due within one year

17

(155,226

)

(120,567

)

NET CURRENT ASSETS

459,591

386,861

TOTAL ASSETS LESS CURRENT LIABILITIES

459,591

391,148

NET ASSETS

459,591

391,148

FUNDS

20

Unrestricted funds

453,196

384,753

Restricted funds

6,395

6,395

TOTAL FUNDS

459,591

391,148

The charitable company is entitled to exemption from audit under Section 477 of the Companies Act 2006 for the year ended 31 March 2025.

The members have not required the company to obtain an audit of its financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2025 in accordance with Section 476 of the Companies Act 2006.

The trustees acknowledge their responsibilities for

(a)	ensuring that the charitable company keeps accounting records that comply with Sections 386 and 387 of the Companies Act 2006 and

(b)

preparing financial statements which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company as at the end of each financial year and of its surplus or deficit for each financial year in accordance with the requirements of Sections 394 and 395 and which otherwise comply with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 relating to financial statements, so far as applicable to the charitable company.

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

The financial statements were approved by the Board of Trustees and authorised for issue on 17 September 2025 and were signed on its behalf by:

Ben Salama - Trustee

Cash flows from operating activities

Cash generated from operations

1

21,938

34,255

Net cash provided by operating activities

21,938

34,255

Cash flows from investing activities

Interest received

9,553

6,584

Net cash provided by investing activities

9,553

6,584

Change in cash and cash equivalents in the reporting period

31,491

40,839

Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the reporting period

417,623

376,784

Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the reporting period

449,114

417,623

1.	RECONCILIATION OF NET INCOME TO NET CASH FLOW FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES

2025

2024

£

£

Net income for the reporting period (as per the Statement of Financial Activities)

68,443

34,567

Adjustments for:

Depreciation charges

4,287

6,468

Interest received

(9,553

)

(6,584

)

Increase in debtors

(75,898

)

(24,294

)

Increase in creditors

34,659

24,098

Net cash provided by operations

21,938

34,255

2.	ANALYSIS OF CHANGES IN NET FUNDS

At 1/4/24

Cash flow

At 31/3/25

£

£

£

Net cash

Cash at bank

417,623

31,491

449,114

417,623

31,491

449,114

Total

417,623

31,491

449,114

1.	GENERAL INFORMATION

The charitable company is incorporated and domiciled in England and Wales. The address of its registered office is 94-102 High Street, Hampton Hill, Hampton, TW12 1NY. The registered number of the company is 04140012. The registered number of the charity is 1085878.

The financial information presented is for the year ended 31 March 2025 and 31 March 2024. The financial information is presented in sterling.

2.	ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Basis of preparing the financial statements

The financial statements of the charitable company, which is a public benefit entity under FRS 102, have been prepared in accordance with the Charities SORP (FRS 102) '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)', Financial Reporting Standard 102 'The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland' and the Companies Act 2006. The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention.

a) Going concern basis

The "Reserves Policy and Going Concern" section of the trustees' report sets out various considerations relative to the going concern position of the charity and explains why the trustees continue to adopt the going concern basis in the preparation of these financial statements.

b) Significant judgements and estimates

The trustees consider that there are no areas of judgement or estimation which materially affect the financial statements.

Income

All income is recognised in the Statement of Financial Activities once the charity has entitlement to the funds, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount can be measured reliably.

Income in respect of services provided is recognised when, and to the extent that, performance occurs and is measured at the fair value of the consideration receivable.

Voluntary income is received by way of grants and is included in full in the Statement of Financial Activities when receivable.

Interest on funds held on deposit is included when receivable and the amount can be measured reliably by the charitable company, this is normally upon notification of the interest paid or payable by the bank.

Expenditure

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.

Irrecoverable VAT is charged as a cost against the activity for which the expenditure was incurred.

Governance costs

Governance costs include those costs associated with meeting the constitutional and statutory requirements of the charity and include the independent examiner's fees.

Allocation and apportionment of costs

Support costs include all those overhead costs of office and bureau accommodation, utility services and other services and costs, which are in support of the activity. They have been allocated to activity cost categories on a basis consistent with the use of resources, e.g. staff costs by time spent and other costs by estimated usage.

Tangible fixed assets

Depreciation is provided at the following annual rates in order to write off each asset over its estimated useful life.

Short leasehold

-

over the lease term

Computer equipment

-

33% on cost

Tangible fixed assets are depreciated from when they are brought into use. The charity capitalises computer equipment costing over £500.

Taxation

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

Fund accounting

Unrestricted funds can be used in accordance with the charitable objectives at the discretion of the trustees.

Restricted funds can only be used for particular restricted purposes within the objects of the charity. Restrictions arise when specified by the donor or when funds are raised for particular restricted purposes.

Further explanation of the nature and purpose of each fund is included in the notes to the financial statements.

The charity acted as agent for several charities in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames in distributing funds to their beneficiaries.The income and expenditure relating to these projects is excluded from the Statement of Financial Activities.

Leasing commitments

Leases that do not transfer all the risks and rewards of ownership are classified as operating leases. Payments under operating leases are charged to the statement of financial activities on a straight-line basis over the lifetime of the lease.

Pension costs and other post-retirement benefits

The charitable company operates a defined contribution pension scheme. Contributions are included in the statement of financial activities in the year they are incurred.

Financial instruments

The charity only has financial instruments of a kind that qualify as basic financial instruments. Basic financial instruments are initially recognised at transaction value and subsequently measured at their settlement value

Cash at bank

Cash at bank includes bank deposit accounts and short term highly liquid investments with a short maturity of three months or less from the date of acquisition or opening of the deposit or similar account.

Debtors

Trade and other debtors are recognised at the settlement amount due. Prepayments are recognised at the invoiced cost prepaid.

Creditors

Creditors are recognised when the charity has a present obligation resulting from a past event that will probably result in the transfer of funds to a third party and the amount due to settle the obligation can be measured or estimated reliably. Creditors are normally recognised at the settlement amount.

3.

DONATIONS

2025

2024

£

£

Donations

1,502

2,332

4.	OTHER TRADING ACTIVITIES

2025

2024

£

£

Fundraising events

2,006

135

Other income

1,000

17

3,006

152

5.	INVESTMENT INCOME

2025

2024

£

£

Deposit account interest

9,553

6,584

6.	INCOME FROM CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES

2025

2024

£

£

General advice

Contractual income

London Borough of Richmond upon Thames - Community Advice Services

300,288

287,465

London Borough of Richmond upon Thames - Household Support

44,764

38,750

Richmond Housing Partnership

6,850

6,750

351,902

332,965

Grants

The Barnes Fund

42,888

39,330

Hampton Fund

52,500

50,000

Richmond Foundation

57,000

56,100

Crisis Prevention Caseworker

50,000

47,390

London Borough of Richmond upon Thames - Ukraine Support Worker

45,967

44,668

London Borough of Richmond upon Thames - Volunteer Co-ordinator

45,008

47,959

Email Advisor

43,780

20,842

One Richmond

40,000

-

Manage Your Money Team

23,830

-

Citizens Advice - Energy Advice Programme

17,813

5,316

Toynbee Hall - Debt Free London Grant

-

24,279

Richmond Aid - Families Advice Project

-

25,469

418,786

361,353

Total for general advice

770,688

694,318