REGISTERED COMPANY NUMBER: 03160526 (England and Wales)

REGISTERED CHARITY NUMBER: 1054505

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES AND

AUDITED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

FOR

HAMMERSMITH AND FULHAM

CITIZENS ADVICE BUREAUX SERVICE

(A COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE)

Page

Report of the Trustees

1

to

8

Report of the Independent Auditors

9

to

11

Statement of Financial Activities

12

Statement of Financial Position

13

Statement of Cash Flows

14

Notes to the Statement of Cash Flows

15

Notes to the Financial Statements

16

to

30

The trustees who are also directors of the charity for the purposes of the Companies Act 2006, present their report with the financial statements of the charity for the year ended 31 March 2025. The trustees have adopted the provisions of Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2019).

OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES

Objectives and aims

The charity's principal activity is the promotion of any charitable purpose for the benefit of the community within the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham and surrounding areas by the advancement of education, the protection of health and the relief of poverty, sickness and distress.

Citizens Advice (operating name of the National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux (NACAB)) is the national organisation, of which all citizens advice bureaux within the branded network are members. Citizens Advice currently has the following aims (implemented following the Annual General Meeting and conference in September 2007):

- To provide the advice that people need for the problems that they face.

- To improve the policies and practices which improve people's lives.

Public benefit

We have referred to the guidance contained in the Charity Commission's general guidance on public benefit when reviewing our aims and objectives and in planning our future activities.

Our Vision

"Advice on its own is not always enough for our community, or for us as a service. We will develop new ways of supporting and empowering our clients to take action to achieve better outcomes".

Our Aims

At the centre of all of Citizens Advice Hammersmith & Fulham's (CAHF) strategies are its 3 key aims:

1. To achieve Excellence - in delivering an effective, and high quality service

2. To be innovative, resilient and flexible - to deliver an even more effective and sustainable service

3. To demonstrate our community impact - to show the positive change we make socially, economically and to health and well-being

Our Principles and Values

As a member of the Citizens Advice Service, CAHF provides free, independent, confidential and impartial advice to everyone on their rights and responsibilities. It values diversity, promotes equality and challenges discrimination.

We are committed to put equality and equity at the heart of everything that we do, with the overarching aim to improve access, ensure inclusive service delivery and preserve intensified support for those who need it and promote an inclusive working environment for our workforce.

Our core values and principles sit at heart of every strategic decision to reflect our aim to be a strong equality champion through our roles as advisor, campaigner, employer, employee and partner.

ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE

Charitable activities

The main areas of charitable activity are the provision of information, advice and education on people's rights and responsibilities, through face-to-face appointments, by telephone, letter and/or email, at our main sites and at various borough-based locations, including

- The delivery of a range of complementary services in addition to advice

- The recruitment, training and development of volunteer roles.

- Research, campaigning and anti-discrimination work.

Premises

CAHF is located at Avonmore Library and Neighbourhood Centre in West Kensington which is the main hub for its services. It also operates its services from a number of locations around the Borough working in partnership with other community organisations.

Services

2024 - 25 continued to see an to see an exponential increase in demand for our services which is becoming exceptionally challenging to meet given the reduction in overall funding available and fewer volunteers to support our service. Our clients continue to grapple with rising costs and we have helped even more people in crisis. We have tried to ensure that clients are able to reach us when they need us in a variety of ways, including:

- Assisted Self Help/Information

Clients have access to terminals for assisted self-help as a first point of contact for help and information.

- Adviceline

Our main point of contact for clients seeking advice is through our Adviceline telephone service. Adviceline provides an initial telephone diagnostic interview to determine whether they live, work or study in one of the Adviceline partnership Boroughs and to identify the most appropriate next step for the client. We operate Adviceline in partnership with other LCA's in London.

- Appointment Service

Full advice appointments may either be made with a generalist adviser or with an adviser working under a specific project. Appointments are subject to availability and take place Monday to Friday throughout our opening hours.

- Email Service

Clients are able to contact CAHF by email via a form on our website that asks them to confirm residence in the borough and provide initial details about themselves and their problem.

- Digital Channels

We have started to expand our digital offer to ensure a greater level of access for our clients through channels such as Webchat and WhatsApp.

Client Issues

In 2024-25, we helped a staggering 17,000 clients with 68,851 issues. This means that clients are coming to us with an average of 5-6 issues per enquiry. The work has become more complex and it takes longer to deal with clients. The top issues that we dealt with are:

- Benefits and Universal Credit

- Housing

- Charitable Support and Foodbank Vouchers

- Debt

- Utilities and Communications

Projects

CAHF is funded by a variety of funders to provide a range of complimentary projects. In addition to our generalist advice service, we delivered a wide range of specialist projects including:

- Specialist debt casework

- Help through Hardship (focussing on food poverty)

- Advisers based in foodbanks.

- Energy advice to help clients overcome fuel poverty.

- Digital Skills projects for the digitally excluded.

- Outreach projects working with partner agencies

- Anti-Poverty Project working with over 12 partner organisations:

- Midaye Somali Development Network

- Upper Room

- Turning Point

- St. Mungo's

- Hestia

- The Listening Place

- MIND Safe Space HFEH

- Minaret Community Centre

- Action on Disability

- Nourish Hub

- Somali Partners

- Shepherd's Bush Family Project

- LNHF Family Hubs

- Our Lady Fatima Church

Achievement and Performance

Despite the challenges of increased demand and reduced capacity (due to low level of volunteers and recruitment challenges) we have had another very successful year:

- We have generated £1,004,355 in fundraising enabling us to increase our service provision to clients.

- We have worked in partnership with other London LCAs to form a Pan-London Consortia - Citizens Advice London.

Leadership Self-Assessment

As part of our annual audit process we undertake a leadership self assessment that reviews and assesses our performance in 9 areas of leadership. We are audited by Citizens Advice. This Audit passports us to external quality marks as well as reviews the organisation against the 9 categories. On satisfactory completion of the audit, we are awarded our AQS Quality Mark for which we have to satisfy further requirements. We successfully passed our Year 1 Audit in all of the leadership areas:

1. Governance

2. Strategic Business Planning

3. Risk Management

4. Financial Management

5. People Management

6. Operational Performance Management

7. Partnership Working

8. Research & Campaigns

9. Equality Leadership

CAHF has also secured the AQS Quality Mark for Telephone Advice, Generalist Advice, and Generalist advice with casework for Debt and Welfare Benefits. In addition this year we are also very proud to secure the AQS Quality Mark for housing too.

FINANCIAL REVIEW

Financial position

The results for the year to 31st March 2025, which are summarised in the Statement of Financial activities (SOFA), showed an overall excess of income over expenditure of £102,426 (2024 £77,156). Unrestricted funds at 31 March 2025 were £658,807 (2024 £584,361).

Principal funding sources

In common with most similar Citizens Advice offices, a major proportion of the charity's income comes from London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham and the rest from a variety of sources including grants, service level agreements and contracts, which are usually to fund specific projects.

Reserves policy

CAHF holds its reserves under two categories: restricted and unrestricted.

Restricted reserves are restricted to the purpose for which the funder provided them. Normally restricted reserves are carried forward to cover the cost of the work not yet provided on each project. Amounts have been released to the SOFA due to the completion of the projects and as a result of the undercharged overhead recoveries in previous years. Any overspend has to be charged to unrestricted funds when the project ends.

Unrestricted reserves provide the general reserve to survive periods of difficulty and exceptional costs. The Trustee Board has established a policy whereby the total unrestricted reserve should be at the level of four months committed expenditure which is around £487,584 at the present time. Our unrestricted reserves at 31 March 2025 were £658,807 and the Board consider this a sufficient level to manage working capital requirements.

Principal Risks and Uncertainties

The Trustees have assessed and reviewed the major strategic, business and operational risks which the charity faces and confirm that systems are established to mitigate the charity's exposure to those risks.

The Trustee Board undertakes a risk assessment each year in collaboration with Citizens Advice. During this year the principal risks and priorities identified are:

- Ensuring that we have sufficient capacity in the organisation to meet increased levels of demand

- Continued and adequate funding for key contracts ensuring sustainability in line with inflation

- Maintaining the high quality service

Staff

Salaries and staff related costs were approximately87% (2024 80%) of total expenditure.

Volunteers

Our volunteers are working extremely hard to meet the increased demand, particularly as we are struggling to recruit more volunteers. CAHF like many other voluntary sector organisations have experienced higher turnover of volunteers.

We recruited 77 volunteers. One third of whom were from Hammersmith and Fulham. 57 volunteers left, of which 32% went into full time work.

FUTURE PLANS

Our key priorities for the next 12 months include:

- Streamlining our service to improve access to our services with a focus on improving access for "hard to reach" communities.

- Ensuring that our service will have improved capacity to meet more demand.

- Supporting our workforce and ensuring their well-being whilst they cope with working in extremely challenging times.

- Raising our profile to be seen as the partner of choice for all stakeholders (funders, clients, volunteers, partners, etc).

- Taking an evidence led approach to showcasing our impact and influencing commissioning priorities and policies.

- Sharing intelligence to remove inequalities and improve lives.

- Developing our funding portfolio to ensure the sustainability of our services.

Whilst LBHF provides us with a strong foundation for our core funding, individual project budgets are tight as funders are either reducing funding or holding them at the same cash level, whilst costs and key performance indicators are increasing. To ensure continued sustainability, our income generation objectives are to:

- Review and shift our cost base to enable us to be competitive but sustainable for the future.

- Ensure the LBHF core funding remains at current level and moves towards regular inflationary increases.

- Continue to raise unrestricted income wherever possible.

- Continue developing strong relationships with funders by successfully delivering project objectives and demonstrating the impact of our work to ensure renewal/securing of funds.

- Identify new funding streams for projects and submit bids to add to the portfolio of complementary services, with a particular focus on the health sector.

- Explore other methods of generating unrestricted income eg corporate fundraising, etc.

STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT

Governing document

The charity is controlled by its governing document, a deed of trust, and constitutes a limited company, limited by guarantee, as defined by the Companies Act 2006.

Hammersmith and Fulham Citizens Advice Bureaux Service (HFCAB) is a charitable company, Limited by Guarantee, incorporated on 18 February 1996 as a private company, registered as number 3160526 and registered as a charity on 11 April 1996 with number 1054505. The company was established under a Memorandum of Association, which established the objects and powers of the charitable company and is governed under its Articles of Association. The company's initial Memorandum and Articles were updated by means of a Special Resolution of the company dated 28 November 2002. The Memorandum and Articles were further updated, at the company's AGM in 2006 and 2018, to widen the objects to take in the surrounding areas, as well as the borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. This amendment is in line with current Citizens Advice recommendations and was formally approved by the Charity Commission.

Recruitment and appointment of new trustees

The directors of the company are also charity Trustees for the purposes of charity law and are known as Trustees. Suitable individuals may be co-opted as trustees at any meeting of the Trustee Board. Trustees are then elected at the Annual General Meeting for a term of three years and may subsequently be re-elected for further three year terms.

The Trustee Board periodically reviews the skills and experience of its current members. We seek to fill any gaps identified and to maintain diversity among trustees. Most trustees have some personal connection with the local community and an interest in some specific aspect of the work of the service and its management.

Organisational structure and decision making

The Trustee Board meets at least quarterly and sets the strategic direction and policies of the charity.

The Chief Executive, assisted by the management team, is responsible for delivering all services, contracts and projects within the strategies and policies set by the Trustee Board.

Induction and training of new trustees

New trustees undergo a period of induction. This usually comprises attendance at a Citizens Advice briefing, meetings with staff, volunteers and other trustees and time spent in one of the bureaux.

Key management remuneration

The trustees are responsible for setting the remuneration of Key management. Remuneration of key management is reviewed annually and is comparable with similar local charities.

Wider network

HFCAB is a member of the national Citizens Advice service and the national charity sets and monitors standards for advice, policies, procedures and supports bureaux with an information system, training and other services. Operating policies are independently determined by the trustee board of HFCAB in order 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.

REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS

Registered Company number

03160526 (England and Wales)

Registered Charity number

1054505

Registered office

Upper Floor Avonmore Library

7 North End Crescent

London

W14 8TG

Trustees

C Larnder (Chair)

D Walsh (Treasurer)

S W Harcourt

L Homan

B Gallagher

P Brough

R Holmes

V Farnell (resigned 26/11/24)

G Pope (resigned 26/11/24)

E M Kawonza (resigned 26/11/24)

Auditors

Hartley Fowler LLP

Statutory Auditors

Chartered Accountants

4th Floor Tuition House

27-37 St George's Road

Wimbledon

London

SW19 4EU

Bankers

CAF Bank

25 Kings Hill Avenue

Kings Hill

West Malling

Kent ME19 4JQ

Company Secretary and Chief Executive

Simi Ryatt

Senior Management Team

Ivy Lewis

Head of Resources

Samantha Dodd

Head of Business Development & Comms (left January 2025)

Fre Tekeleab

Head of Finance

Viki Phillips

Head of Advice Services

STATEMENT OF TRUSTEES' RESPONSIBILITIES

The trustees (who are also the directors of Hammersmith And Fulham 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.

In so far as the trustees are aware:

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

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

AUDITORS

The auditors, Hartley Fowler LLP, will be proposed for re-appointment at the forthcoming Annual General Meeting.

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 30 September 2025 and signed on its behalf by:

C Larnder - Trustee

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of Hammersmith And Fulham Citizens Advice Bureaux Service (the 'charitable company') for the year ended 31 March 2025 which comprise the Statement of Financial Activities, the Statement of Financial Position, the Statement of Cash Flows and notes to the financial statements, including a summary of significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

In our opinion the financial statements:

-	give a true and fair view of the state of the charitable company's affairs as at 31 March 2025 and of its incoming resources and application of resources, including its income and expenditure, for the year then ended;

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

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

Basis for opinion

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

Conclusions relating to going concern

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

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

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

Other information

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

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

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

Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006

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

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

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

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

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

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters where the Companies Act 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:

-	adequate accounting records have not been kept or returns adequate for our audit have not been received from branches not visited by us; or

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

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

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

-	the trustees were not entitled to take advantage of the small companies exemption from the requirement to prepare a Strategic Report or in preparing the Report of the Trustees.

Responsibilities of trustees

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

Our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

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

The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud is detailed below:

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

-the nature of the industry and sector, control environment and the charities activities;

-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 charitable company'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. In common with all audits 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 framework that the charitable company operates in. The key laws and regulations we considered in this context included the Charities Act 2011, UK Companies Act and tax legislation.

In addition we considered provisions of other laws and regulations that do not have a direct effect on the financial statements but compliance with which may be fundamental to the charitable company's ability to operate or to avoid a material penalty.

As a result of performing the above, we did not identify any key matters related to the potential risk of fraud or non-compliance with laws and regulations.

Our procedures to respond to risks identified included the following:

- reviewing the financial statement disclosures and testing to supporting documentation to assess compliance with provision 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;

-reviewing minutes of meetings of those charged with governance, reviewing internal reports, and

-in addressing the risk 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 for any significant transactions that are unusual or outside the normal course of business.

We also communicated relevant identified laws and regulations and potential fraud risks to all engagement team members and remained alert to any indication of fraud or non-compliance with laws and regulations throughout the audit.

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

Use of our report

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

Jonathan Askew FCA (Senior Statutory Auditor)

for and on behalf of Hartley Fowler LLP

Statutory Auditors

Chartered Accountants

4th Floor Tuition House

27-37 St George's Road

Wimbledon

London

SW19 4EU

30 September 2025

2025

2024

Unrestricted

Restricted

Total

Total

funds

funds

funds

funds

Notes

£

£

£

£

INCOME AND ENDOWMENTS FROM

Donations and legacies

3

4,173

-

4,173

2,092

Charitable activities

5

General advice and information

787,588

287,950

1,075,538

983,320

Training and advice projects

-

144,942

144,942

101,800

Money advice projects

31,290

448,248

479,538

522,005

Investment income

4

27,453

-

27,453

15,041

Other income

6

98

-

98

287

Total

850,602

881,140

1,731,742

1,624,545

EXPENDITURE ON

Charitable activities

7

General advice and information

754,398

477,167

1,231,565

953,397

Training and advice projects

-

100,403

100,403

68,761

Money advice projects

22,185

275,590

297,775

508,918

Total

776,583

853,160

1,629,743

1,531,076

NET INCOME

74,019

27,980

101,999

93,469

Other recognised gains/(losses)

Actuarial gains/(losses) on defined benefit schemes

427

-

427

(16,313

)

Net movement in funds

74,446

27,980

102,426

77,156

RECONCILIATION OF FUNDS

Total funds brought forward

584,361

58,517

642,878

565,722

TOTAL FUNDS CARRIED FORWARD

658,807

86,497

745,304

642,878

2025

2024

Notes

£

£

FIXED ASSETS

Tangible assets

14

8,454

-

CURRENT ASSETS

Debtors

15

68,287

29,567

Cash at bank

1,116,373

1,190,699

1,184,660

1,220,266

CREDITORS

Amounts falling due within one year

16

(368,116

)

(489,767

)

NET CURRENT ASSETS

816,544

730,499

TOTAL ASSETS LESS CURRENT LIABILITIES

824,998

730,499

PENSION LIABILITY

20

(79,694

)

(87,621

)

NET ASSETS

745,304

642,878

FUNDS

19

Unrestricted funds

658,807

584,361

Restricted funds

86,497

58,517

TOTAL FUNDS

745,304

642,878

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 30 September 2025 and were signed on its behalf by:

C Larnder - Trustee

D Walsh - Trustee

Cash flows from operating activities

Cash generated from operations

1

(86,725

)

289,737

Net cash (used in)/provided by operating activities

(86,725

)

289,737

Cash flows from investing activities

Purchase of tangible fixed assets

(15,054

)

(2,479

)

Interest received

27,453

15,041

Net cash provided by investing activities

12,399

12,562

Change in cash and cash equivalents in the reporting period

(74,326

)

302,299

Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the reporting period

1,190,699

888,400

Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the reporting period

1,116,373

1,190,699

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)

101,999

93,469

Adjustments for:

Depreciation charges

6,600

22,783

Interest received

(27,453

)

(15,041

)

(Increase)/decrease in debtors

(38,720

)

47,259

(Decrease)/increase in creditors

(121,651

)

148,767

Difference between pension charge and cash contributions

(7,500

)

(7,500

)

Net cash (used in)/provided by operations

(86,725

)

289,737

2.	ANALYSIS OF CHANGES IN NET FUNDS

At 1/4/24

Cash flow

At 31/3/25

£

£

£

Net cash

Cash at bank

1,190,699

(74,326

)

1,116,373

1,190,699

(74,326

)

1,116,373

Total

1,190,699

(74,326

)

1,116,373

1.	GENERAL INFORMATION

The charity is private company incorporated and domiciled in England and Wales. The address of its registered office is Upper Floor Avonmore Library, 7 North End Crescent, London W14 8TG. The registered number of the company is 03160526. The registered number of the charity is 1054505. The charitable company is limited by guarantee.

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.

Preparation of the financial statements on a going concern basis

The financial statements have been prepared on the assumption that the charity is able to continue as a going concern, which the trustees consider appropriate having regard to the current level of unrestricted reserves and the expected level of income and expenditure for 12 months from authorising these financial statements.There are no material uncertainties about the charity's ability to continue as a going concern.

Critical accounting judgements and key sources of estimation uncertainty

Preparation of the financial statements requires the trustees and management to make significant judgements and estimates.

The items in the financial statements where judgements and estimates have been made include:

- actuarial assumptions used in the calculation of the defined benefit pension liability.

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.

The main source of income for the charity is contracts for services and grants with the London Borough of

Hammersmith and Fulham.

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

Grants, where entitlement is not conditional on the delivery of a specific performance by the charity, are recognised when the charity becomes unconditionally entitled to the grant. Income from grants, where related to performance and specific deliverables, are accounted for as the charity earns the right to the consideration by its performance. Grant income relating to a later period is therefore deferred to that period and treated as deferred income in the balance sheet.

Interest on funds held on deposit is included when receivable and the amount can be measured reliably by the charity; 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.

Governance costs

Governance costs include those costs associated with meeting the constitutional and statutory requirements of the charity and include the audit fee and costs linked to the strategic management of the charity.

Allocation and apportionment of costs

Support costs have been allocated on a percentage basis calculated by the funds brought forward plus income received in the year.

Tangible fixed assets

Depreciation is provided at rates calculated to write off the cost less residual value of each asset over its expected useful life, as follows:

Additions to leasehold property straight line over the period of the lease

Fixtures and equipment straight line over 3 years (or, the duration of the project - if shorter)

Individual assets purchased and costing less than £500 are directly written off in the statement of financial activities and therefore not capitalised. Assets capitalised are held at historic cost.

Capital grants in respect of fixed assets are credited to an unrestricted fund into which the cost of the assets acquired is charged over their expected useful life by way of depreciation - if a funder requires asset retention. Otherwise, if the restriction is satisfied by purchase of the specified assets, the restricted capital fund becomes unrestricted and is transferred to general funds.

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.

Defined benefit pension schemes

The charitable company participated in two defined benefit schemes during the year.

(i) National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux (NACAB) "The Plan". This is a traditional defined benefit scheme with pensions determined by years of service and final salary. The pension costs are assessed in accordance with actuarial advice and based on the most recent actuarial valuation of the scheme. These costs have been accounted for on the basis of charging the cost of providing pensions over the period during which the charity benefits from the employees' services. This scheme, which had been closed to new employees in London Bureaux for a number of years, was closed to future accrual with effect from 31 March 2009. Further details are provided in the notes to the accounts. A replacement defined contribution stakeholder scheme operated by Aviva has been offered to existing NACAB scheme members with effect from 1 April 2009.

(ii) The Pensions Trust Growth Plan. This previously had been classified as a defined contribution pension scheme, but has now been redesignated a defined benefit scheme because of the guarantee within the scheme that the value attributed to each member will not be less than the accumulated contributions. Consequently this also places a potential contingent liability on employers. The pension contributions charged in these financial statements represent the amounts payable by the charitable company for this scheme in respect of the year ended 31 March 2024. Further details are provided in the notes to the accounts.

Financial instruments

All loans, investments and short term deposits held by the charity are classified as basic financial instruments. These financial instruments are initially recorded at the transaction price are subsequently measured at their settlement value.