The Trustees (who are also directors of the charity for the purposes of the Companies Act) present their annual report together with the audited financial statements of Blackburn Rovers Community Trust (the company) for the year ended 31 December 2024. The Trustees confirm that the Annual report and financial statements of the company comply with the current statutory requirements, the requirements of the company's governing document and the provisions of the Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP), 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 2015).

Since the company qualifies as small under section 383, the strategic report required of medium and large companies under The Companies Act 2006 (Strategic Report and Director's Report) Regulations 2013 is not required.

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 Act, 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 Blackburn Rovers Football and Athletic Limited

• Premier League Charitable Fund

• EFL Trust

• The PFA

• Blackburn with Darwen Council

• Blackburn College

• Spring North

• The NCS Trust

• University of South Wales

• Lancashire Constabulary

• Big Lottery

• Multiple local educational establishments and grassroots sports clubs

• Contract Management Policy and Procedure

• Financial Control Policy

• Financial Procedures

• Fraud Control Policy

• Fundraising Policy

• Investment Policy

• Partnerships and Supply Chain Policy

• Board of trustees

• Executive level

• Senior Leadership team

• Senior Management team

• Project delivery staff (including part-time)

• Project support staff (including part-time and volunteers)

• Gary Robinson – Chief Executive Officer

• Samantha Weldon – Head of Finance, People and Policy

• Amy Dunwell – Head of Community Engagement and Equality Diversity and Inclusion

• Martin Winters – Head of Operations and Safeguarding

• Jennifer Calvert - Head of Primary Education

• Fahima Iqbal - Head of Health and Wellbeing

• Natalie Paintin - Chief Bid Writer

• Lauren Yeates - Head of Post-16 Education

• Ilyas Patel - Community Inclusion Manager

• Ryan Loftus - Events, Partnerships and Facilities Manager

• Safeguarding & Prevent

• Health & Safety

• Governance

• Finance

• HR

• Communications & PR

• Security

• Environmental

• Transport and Travel

• New projects based on local need

• Greater awareness for local social issues

• Improve facilities

• Staff

• Media/PR/events/Campaigns

• Improvement in equipment and resources for education and sport purposes

• A new three/five year strategy

The Trustees, who are also the directors of Blackburn Rovers Community Trust 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.

In accordance with the company's articles, a resolution proposing that PM+M Solutions for Business LLP be reappointed as auditor of the company will be put at a General Meeting.

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

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of Blackburn Rovers Community Trust (the ‘Charity’) for the year ended 31 December 2024 which comprise the statement of financial activities, the balance sheet, the statement of cash flows and notes to the financial statements, including significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

In our opinion, the financial statements:

give a true and fair view of the state of the charitable company's affairs as at 31 December 2024 and of its incoming resources and application of resources, for the year then ended;

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

Basis for opinion

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor's responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the Charity in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC’s Ethical Standard, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the Trustees' use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.

Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the Charity’s ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.

Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the Trustees with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.

Other information

The other information comprises the information included in the annual report other than the financial statements and our auditor's report thereon. The Trustees are responsible for the other information contained within the annual report. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon. Our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the course of the audit, or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.

We have nothing to report in this regard.

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:

the information given in the financial statements is inconsistent in any material respect with the Trustees' report; or

sufficient accounting records have not been kept; or

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

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

As explained more fully in the statement of Trustees' responsibilities, the Trustees, who are also the directors of the Charity for the purpose of company law, are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the Trustees determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error. In preparing the financial statements, the Trustees are responsible for assessing the Charity’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the Trustees either intend to liquidate the charitable company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

We have been appointed as auditor under section 144 of the Charities Act 2011 and report in accordance with the Act and relevant regulations made or having effect thereunder.

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor's report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.

Extent to which the audit was considered capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud

Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, 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.

We identify and assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to fraud or error, and then design and perform audit procedures responsive to those risks, including obtaining audit evidence that is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

Identifying and assessing potential risks related to irregularities

In identifying and assessing risks of material misstatement in respect of irregularities, including fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulations, we have considered the following:

• the nature of the industry and sector, control environment and business performance including the design of the Charity's remuneration policies, key drivers for directors’ remuneration, bonus levels and performance targets;

• results of our enquiries of management about their own identification and assessment of the risks of irregularities;

• any matters we identified having obtained and reviewed the Charity's documentation of their policies and procedures relating to:

  • identifying, evaluating and complying with laws and regulations and whether they were aware of any instances of non-compliance;

  • detecting and responding to the risks of fraud and whether they have knowledge of any actual, suspected or alleged fraud;

  • the internal controls established to mitigate risks of fraud or non-compliance with laws and regulations;

  • the matters discussed among the audit engagement team regarding how and where fraud might occur in the financial statements and any potential indicators of fraud.

As a result of these procedures, we considered the opportunities and incentives that may exist within the organisation for fraud and identified the greatest potential for fraud in the following areas: timing of recognition of commercial income, posting of unusual journals and complex transactions; and manipulating the Charity's performance profit measures and other key performance indicators to meet remuneration targets and externally communicated targets. In common with all audits under ISAs (UK), we are also required to perform specific procedures to respond to the risk of management override.

We also obtained an understanding of the legal and regulatory frameworks that the Charity operates in, focusing on provisions of those laws and regulations that had a direct effect on the determination of material amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. The key laws and regulations we considered in this context included UK Companies Act, Charities Act, employment law, health and safety, pensions legislation and tax legislation.

Audit response to risks identified

Our procedures to respond to risks identified included the following:

• reviewing the financial statement disclosures and testing to supporting documentation to assess compliance with provisions of relevant laws and regulations described as having a direct effect on the financial statements;

• enquiring of management concerning actual and potential litigation and claims;

• performing analytical procedures to identify any unusual or unexpected relationships that may indicate risks of material misstatement due to fraud;

• reading minutes of meetings of those charged with governance and reviewing correspondence with HMRC; and

• in addressing the identified risks of fraud through management override of controls, testing the appropriateness of journal entries and other adjustments; assessing whether the judgements made in making accounting estimates are indicative of a potential bias; and evaluating the business rationale of any significant transactions that are unusual or outside the normal course of business.

Owing to the inherent limitations of an audit, there is an unavoidable risk that we may not have detected some material misstatements in the financial statements, even though we have properly planned and performed our audit in accordance with auditing standards. For example, the further removed non-compliance with laws and regulations (irregularities) is from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, the less likely the inherently limited procedures required by auditing standards would identify it. In addition, as with any audit, there remained a higher risk of non-detection of irregularities, as these may involve collusion, forgery, intentional omissions, misrepresentations, or the override of internal controls. We are not responsible for preventing non-compliance and cannot be expected to detect non-compliance with all laws and regulations.

A further description of our responsibilities is available on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at: https://www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our auditor's report.

Use of our report

This report is made solely to the charity’s trustees, as a body, in accordance with Part 4 of the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charity’s trustees those matters we are required to state to them in an auditor’s report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charity and the charity’s trustees as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

PM+M Solutions for Business LLP is eligible for appointment as auditor of the Charity by virtue of its eligibility for appointment as auditor of a company under section 1212 of the Companies Act 2006.

Trading activities

Investments

Trading activities

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

The Trustees acknowledge their responsibilities for complying with the requirements of section 386 the Act with respect to accounting records and preparation of accounts which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the company as at the end of the financial year and of its incoming resources and application of resources, including its income and expenditure, for the 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 company.

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

Blackburn Rovers Community Trust is a private company limited by guarantee incorporated in England and Wales. The registered office is Blackburn Rovers Football & Athletic, Ewood Park, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB2 4JF. The members of the company are the Trustees previously named. In the event of the company being wound up, the liability in respect of the guarantee is limited to £1 per member of the company.

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the Charity's governing document, the Companies Act 2006 and “Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102)” (as amended for accounting periods commencing from 1 January 2016). 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 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.

Donated services or facilities are recognised when the company has control over the item, any conditions associated with the donated item have been met, the receipt of economic benefit from the use of the company of the item is probable and that economic benefit can be measured reliably. In accordance with the Charities SORP (FRS 102), the general volunteer time of the Friends is not recognised and refer to the Trustees' report for more information about their contribution.

On receipt, donated professional services and donated facilities are recognised on the basis of the value of the gift to the company which is the amount the company would have been willing to pay to obtain services or facilities of equivalent economic benefit on the open market; a corresponding amount is then recognised in expenditure in the period of receipt.

Turnover is measured at the fair value of the consideration received or receivable and represents amounts receivable for goods and services provided in the normal course of business, net of discounts, VAT and other sales related taxes.

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 allocated on the portion of the asset's use.

Fundraising costs are those incurred in seeking voluntary contributions and do not include the costs of disseminating information in support of the charitable activities. Governance costs are those incurred in connection with administration of the company and compliances with constitutional and statutory requirements.

Cost of generating funds are costs incurred in attracting voluntary income, and those incurred in trading activities that raise funds.

Charitable activities and governance costs are costs incurred on the company's educational operations, including support costs and costs relating to the governance of the company apportioned to charitable activities.

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).

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.

Basic financial assets, which include debtors and cash and bank balances, are measured at transaction.

Basic financial liabilities, including creditors are recognised at transaction price.

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.

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

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

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

Rentals payable under operating leases, including any lease incentives received, are charged as an expense on a straight line basis over the term of the relevant lease.

Deferred incoming resources

Grant income is deferred on the basis of activities being undertaken in the following period as stipulated by the grant provider.

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 Trustees do not believe there to be any significant estimates or assumptions.

Fundraising activities

Grants

Coaching and other football related income

Business Centre

Investments

Business Centre

Coaching and other football related expense

Other costs

Apportioned

Telephone and fax

Apportioned

Computer costs

Apportioned

Printing and stationery

Apportioned

Legal and consultancy

Apportioned

Sundry expenses

Apportioned

Bank charges

Apportioned

Tax Services

The average monthly number of employees during the year was:

Remuneration and benefits received by key management personnel amounted to £428,310 (2023 - £441,292).

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

Deferred income included above amounts to £221,487 (2023 - £216,804). The 2023 balance was released during the year.

The deferred income represents grant income received in respect of activities to be undertaken in the following period as stipulated by the grant provider.

The Charity operates a defined contribution pension scheme for all qualifying employees. The assets of the scheme are held separately from those of the Charity in an independently administered fund.

There were no contributions outstanding at the year end.

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.

Unrestricted

Restricted

At the reporting end date the Charity had outstanding commitments for future minimum lease payments under non-cancellable operating leases, which fall due as follows:

Blackburn Rovers Community Trust is the charitable arm of Blackburn Rovers Football and Athletic Limited. The community trust operates separately from Blackburn Rovers Football and Athletic Limited and its results are not included in the accounts of Blackburn Rovers Football and Athletic Limited.

During the year, Blackburn Rovers Football and Athletic Limited, incurred operating costs of £218,363 (2023: £142,322) on behalf of the Community Trust and these costs were recharged to the Community Trust at cost. Blackburn Rovers Football and Athletic Limited received income amounting to £7,032 (2023 - £648) on behalf of the Community Trust and these receipts were remitted back to the Community Trust.

Total amount of rent charged from Blackburn Rovers Football and Athletic Limited amounted to £267,730 (2023:£284,656) to the Community Trust. The rent charged to the Community Trust was charged at market value.

Included in the above rent charge, during the year, Blackburn Rovers Football and Athletic Limited charged rent of £65,000 (2023:£61,400) to the Community Trust for the Blackburn Rovers Business Centre. The community Trust generated revenues of £73,410 (2023:£77,761) from the Business Centre, which is included in the accounts.

Also included in the above rent charge, during the year, Blackburn Rovers Football and Athletic Limited charged rent of £126,000 (2023:£126,000) to the Community Trust for the Blackburn Rovers Indoor Centre. The community Trust generated revenues of £127,046 (2023:£93,087) from the Indoor Centre, which is included in the accounts.

The Blackburn Rovers Football and Athletic Limited have also donated match tickets to the charity amounting to £4,425 (2023 - £5,330).

At the balance sheet date, an amount of £84,263 (2023 - £67,477) was owed in respect of these operating costs.

The Trust is controlled by The Blackburn Rovers Football and Athletic Limited.

The Charity had no material debt during the year.