Chairman's Report

On behalf of the Board of Trustees, I am pleased to present Partners in Advocacy's Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ending 31 March 2025.

The directors report 2024/25 provides an overview of the invaluable contribution made by our dedicated team in providing high quality, independent advocacy services to children and adults across Scotland.  I would like to add a personal note of thanks as Chair to everyone in the team for their efforts over the past year and also to pay tribute to the irreplaceable Pauline Cavanagh who has left our senior leadership team to take on new challenges.

The directors report also notes a number of changes in our governance and structure.  Particular thanks are due to our outgoing trustees - Nathan Corr, Pat Hastings, Robert Molan and Martin Whelan - for their help and guidance.  We also welcome our incoming trustee, Fran Kirkwood, who brings key experience in relation to carers advocacy.   I am also grateful to my predecessor as chair, Olwyn Godfrey, for her contribution and support.

Partners in Advocacy continues to play a leading role in the delivery of high quality, independent advocacy services in Scotland.  In developing our new, three-year strategy in consultation with our key stakeholders, I am confident we will be able to build upon that role, enhancing our social impact and strengthening our organisational resilience.

Thank you for your continued support.

The Trustees present their annual report and financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2025.

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 Memorandum and Articles of Association, the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005, the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended), 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 principal objectives of Partners in Advocacy (PiA) as set out in the 1998 governing document are:

To promote the benefit and to advance the education of people in Scotland who have learning disabilities or who for any other reason require advocacy services.

To advance the education of the public in the aforesaid area concerning the needs of such people who have learning disabilities or who for any other reason require advocacy services.

and as a means of achieving the above objects:-

to take any steps deemed necessary, but without prejudice to the foregoing generality:-

to safeguard and protect such people.

to empower such people

to increase opportunities for such people

to promote, encourage and assist in research and publicly disseminate the results of such research into safeguarding, empowerment, and inclusion of such people; and

in carrying out the above objects the Company shall have regard, particularly but not exclusively, to people who have learning disabilities or who for any other reason require advocacy services.

Our vision is of a society where every person, regardless of communication abilities, is valued, understood, and respected.

Our mission is that we empower individuals to champion their own rights through non-judgemental, unbiased advocacy, bridging communication barriers so that every voice is heard and every need.

Throughout the year we continued to provide high quality independent advocacy services supporting children, young people and adults across Scotland to have their voices heard and champion their own rights.

In the year to date, PiA have supported 1970 individuals requiring independent advocacy support; 1,001 of those individuals were children and young people, the remaining 969 were adults. This is a rise in activity from the previous year, due in the most part, to steadily increasing demand across all statutory and non-statutory need. Provision was across a range of services and settings throughout the country, including children’s hearings, education, mental health services, secure care facilities, and adult social care.

Children’s Services

Following the incorporation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child - UNCRC (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024 - on 16th July 2024, all children’s advocacy workers undertook in-house training, which has since been developed to be offered to external stakeholders too.

We were also commissioned by Scottish Government to consult with young advocacy partners on the UNCRC draft statutory guidance for public authorities.

Service Manager, Sarah-Jane Crews, gave evidence to the Covid Inquiry about children with additional support needs and their experiences of education during the Covid-19 pandemic, based on the advocacy work of My Rights, My Say.

We were delighted to be invited to deliver our in-house non-instructed advocacy training to the Children’s Hearings National Providers Network. The roll-out nationwide of this training ensures a consistent approach across Scotland to this important form of independent advocacy, safeguarding the rights of the most vulnerable children and young people.

We continued work on the Joint Advocacy Strategy in Dundee, in partnership with Dundee Independent Advocacy Support (DIAS), Advocating Together, and Who Cares? Scotland, mapping out advocacy provision across the city, identify gaps, and assess the impact of new and pending legislation on the rights of the people we support. This work was supported by the Whole Family Wellbeing Fund.

PiA were approached by the Scottish Centre for Children with Motor Impairments (The Craighalbert Centre), a specialist centre for children with neurological conditions, to provide independent advocacy to the children who attend there. A pilot service is underway, with a dedicated Advocacy Worker for this important work.

Nurture One children’s residential homes in South Lanarkshire agreed a contract with us to provide an independent advocacy service to the children and young people living and learning there.

Adult Services

In Edinburgh, we worked through our second year of the current contract (a five-year contractual agreement with Edinburgh Health & Social Care Partnership). The demand on the service was as we would have expected in the year with much of the activity supporting people subject to measures under the Mental Health (Care & Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003; Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000 and Adult Support & Protection (Scotland) Act 2007. Additionally, our community volunteer advocacy worker programme continued to support Edinburgh citizens whose need for independent advocacy was non-statutory in nature. All this work supports Edinburgh citizens with a diagnosis of learning disability, autism, physical disability or older people who are sixty-five or older, or who are unpaid carers. The provision of support for unpaid carers in this area began following a merger with Edinburgh Carers Council to ensure their excellent work providing independent advocacy to local carers could be continued.

In East and Midlothian our work continued to support adults with a learning disability and/or a diagnosis of autism.

In Highland we continued to deliver quality independent advocacy in support of unpaid carers in the region along with our ongoing support for those in Highland whose need for advocacy was directly related to substance use. These work streams are financially supported by NHS Highland and Highland Alcohol & Drug Partnership. Whilst the latter work is centred around Inverness, we hope to develop that work to cover all the Highland region.

All of our adult services, as is the case with our children and young people’s services, are subject to continued year-on-year service improvement initiatives designed to ensure we continue to listen to our key stakeholders’ feedback, particularly the voices of our advocacy partners, our professional colleagues and others who make an effort to expend their energy in telling us their opinions of our services and functions.

Strategic Development

For the strategic leadership team, work was focussed on the key themes identified in the extended 2021 – 2024 strategic plan:

• People

• Staff

• Quality

• Governance

• Finance

• Business Development and Growth

We were delighted to launch our new website towards the end of the period, developed following significant engagement and collaborative thinking to ensure a site that meets the needs of advocacy partners, professionals and referrers, and other stakeholders. Part of this work included a focus on internal systems to develop a standardised and streamlined approach to referral management.

We were fortunate to welcome Fran Kirkwood, former Chair of Edinburgh Carers Council, on to our Board of Trustees in February and are confident her involvement will ensure the legacy of their excellent work continues in its new home here at PiA.

Finally, we were extremely grateful to be chosen as the beneficiary of a large donation following the wind-up of the Curiosity Collective and will be honoured to deliver their Young Collective group advocacy project in the coming year.

Results for the year are given in the Statement of Financial Activities with the assets and liabilities shown in the Balance Sheet. The principal funding in the year was income from service level agreements and grants, as shown at note 3.

In summary, total income amounted to £1,789,586 (2024: £1,479,162) and expenditure totalled £1,597,434 (2024: £1,463,255), resulting in net income for the year of £192,152 (2024: £15,907). Unrestricted funds of £60,716 (2024: £35,061) and restricted funds of £168,282 (2024: £1,785) were carried forward at the year end.

Total fund balances as at 31 March 2025 amounted to £228,998 (2024: £36,846), a break-down of which is shown at notes 15 and 16 to the financial statements.

The Board of Directors has established a policy whereby the unrestricted funds held by the charity should be equivalent to at least three months of unrestricted operating costs. This would allow the charity to continue its current activities in the event of a significant drop in income and it would provide sufficient funds to cover redundancy and general wind-up costs in the event of the charity ceasing to operate. The directors recognise that PiA is not alone in identifying wider income in the challenging economic climate but still sees this as a major priority. Free reserves amounted to surplus of £60,716 (2024: £35,061) as at the year-end, which, whilst below the targeted level, represents a significant increase. The directors are keen to see this growth continue and fundraising will feature as a key priority in the new Strategy period.

Under the Memorandum and Articles of Association, the charity has the power to make any investment that the directors see fit, the directors aim to maximise unrestricted income by investing any surplus in interest-bearing bank accounts, although they acknowledge returns are low due to very low deposit rates currently available. Given this the bank interest received in the year is satisfactory.

We will prioritise carrying out a Strategy Review and developing a strategy for PiA for the period ending 31 March 2029 (incorporating relevant SMART objectives) which is designed:

1.1    to build on PiA’s position as one of Scotland’s leading providers of independent advocacy in line with SIAA principles and standards; and

1.2    to support and enhance the social impact, operational effectiveness and financial sustainability of PiA as a Scottish charity.

This will be the main focus of development work in the coming year.

Partners in Advocacy (PiA) is a company limited by guarantee, registration number SC185467, recognised by the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR), registration number SC027857. It is governed by its constitution, which was adopted on 5 May 1998 (updated November 2023).

Partners in Advocacy is a membership organisation led by directors appointed from the membership. It recruits and employs a Chief Executive Officer who is delegated to lead a senior management team to deliver the operational and business responsibilities.

The Trustees, who are also the directors for the purpose of company law, and who served during the year and up to the date of signature of the financial statements were:

Trustees may be appointed at an annual general meeting where written notice has been received of their willingness to be appointed. However, directors may at any time appoint a member (providing they are willing to act) to be a director either to fill a vacancy or as an additional director. Trustee recruitment is predicated on guaranteeing a diverse range of knowledge and experience is represented.

The Board of Directors meet quarterly to consider strategic, financial, and legal decisions regarding the charity. Sub-groups may be formed, and meetings convened to take forward specific pieces of work as required.

Following receipt of a successful application, two acceptable references, a formal interview and discussion, all new directors are provided with an induction and orientation programme. This includes individual meetings with the Chair and another Trustee, receipt of relevant papers and the appointment of a trustee buddy. New trustees are invited to attend team (and other) meetings to better understand the nature of the work undertaken by PiA.

Remuneration of the Chief Executive Officer is set by the board (not subject to performance bonuses) based on market rates.

Iain Templeton, Operations Manager:

• is a director of Volunteer Centre Edinburgh (appointed 4 October 2022), which promotes volunteering activities.

• was a director of the Scottish Independent Advocacy Alliance (SIAA) (until May 2024), to which PiA paid annual membership fees.

The Trustees, who are also the directors of Partners in Advocacy 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, the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 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 Thomson Cooper 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 Partners in Advocacy (the ‘charity’) for the year ended 31 March 2025 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 March 2025 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, the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and regulation 8 of the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 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 (Scotland) Regulations 2006 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

proper 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 44(1)(c) of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 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.

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

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: existence and timing of recognition of grant income and the posting of transactions to the correct funds. We discussed these risks with management, designed audit procedures to test the timing and existence of donations and grant income, including reviewing of grant paperwork and terms and conditions, reviewing the allocation of costs against the correct funding and reviewed areas of judgement for indicators of management bias.

We identified areas of laws and regulations that could reasonably be expected to have a material effect on the financial statements from our sector experience through discussion with the officers and other management (as required by the auditing standards). We focused on specific laws and regulations which may have a direct material effect on the financial statements or operation of the charity, including the Charities and Trustees Investment (Scotland) Act 2005, regulation 8 of the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended),

We assessed the extent of compliance of the laws and regulations identified above by inspecting any legal correspondence and making enquiries of management.

We reviewed the laws and regulations in areas that directly affect the financial statements including financial and taxation legislation and considered the extent of compliance with those laws and regulations as part of our procedures on the related financial statement items.

With the exception of any known or possible non-compliance with relevant and significant laws and regulations, and as required by the auditing standards, our work in respect of these was limited to enquiry of the officers and management of the company.

We communicated identified laws and regulations throughout our team and remained alert to any indications of non-compliance throughout the audit. However, the primary responsibility for the prevention and detection of fraud rests with the trustees. To address the risk of fraud we identified internal controls established to identify risk, performed analytical procedures to identify unusual movements, assessed any judgements and assumptions made in determining accounting estimates, reviewed journal entries for unusual transactions and identified related parties.

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. We are not responsible for preventing non-compliance and cannot be expected to detect non-compliance with all laws and regulations.

These inherent limitations are particularly significant in the case of misstatement resulting from fraud as this may involve sophisticated schemes designed to avoid detection, including deliberate failure to record transactions, collusion or the provision of intentional misrepresentations.

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 charitable company's members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006 and to the charity's directors, as a body, in accordance with Section 44(1) (c) of the Charities and Trustees Investment (Scotland) Act and regulation 10 of the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006. 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.

Thomson Cooper 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.

Thomson Cooper 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.

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

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

Partners in Advocacy is a private company limited by guarantee incorporated in Scotland. The registered office is 22 Stafford Street, Edinburgh, EH3 7BD.

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the charity's Memorandum and Articles of Association, the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005, the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended), the Companies Act 2006, FRS 102 “The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland” (“FRS 102”) and the Charities SORP "Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102)" (effective 1 January 2019).

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

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

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

At the time of approving the financial statements, the Trustees have a reasonable expectation that the charity has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for a period of at least twelve months from the date of signing. Thus the Trustees continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the financial statements.

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

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

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

Deferred income represents income received in the current financial year where the funder specifies that it is for a future period, where entitlement conditions have not been met as at the year-end or where related performance and specific deliverables have not yet been provided, This is then released in the period for which it has been received.

Income from charitable activities is received by the way of grants and contracts for services. Where entitlement is not conditional on the delivery of a specific performance by the charity, income is recognised when the charity becomes unconditionally entitled. Where related to performance and specific deliverables, income is accounted for as the charity earns the right to consideration by its performance.

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

Expenditure is classified by activity. The costs of each activity are made up of the total of direct costs and shared costs, including support costs involved in undertaking each activity. Direct costs attributable to a single activity are allocated directly to that activity. Shared costs which contribute to more than one activity and support costs which are not attributable to a single activity are apportioned between those activities on a basis consistent with the use of resources. Central staff costs are allocated on the basis of time spent, and depreciation charges are allocated on the portion of the asset’s use.

Governance costs are those costs associated with meeting constitutional and statutory requirements, including audit fees and costs linked to the strategic management of the charity.

Cash and cash equivalents include cash in hand, deposits held at call with banks, other short-term liquid investments with original maturities of three months or less, and bank overdrafts. Bank overdrafts are shown within borrowings in current liabilities.

The charity has elected to apply the provisions of Section 11 ‘Basic Financial Instruments’ and Section 12 ‘Other Financial Instruments Issues’ of FRS 102 to all of its financial instruments.

Financial instruments are recognised in the charity's balance sheet when the charity becomes party to the contractual provisions of the instrument.

Financial assets and liabilities are offset, with the net amounts presented in the financial statements, when there is a legally enforceable right to set off the recognised amounts and there is an intention to settle on a net basis or to realise the asset and settle the liability simultaneously.

Basic financial assets, which include debtors and cash and bank balances, are initially measured at transaction price including transaction costs and are subsequently carried at amortised cost using the effective interest method unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, where the transaction is measured at the present value of the future receipts discounted at a market rate of interest. Financial assets classified as receivable within one year are not amortised.

Basic financial liabilities, including creditors and bank loans are initially recognised at transaction price unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, where the debt instrument is measured at the present value of the future payments discounted at a market rate of interest. Financial liabilities classified as payable within one year are not amortised.

Debt instruments are subsequently carried at amortised cost, using the effective interest rate method.

Trade creditors are obligations to pay for goods or services that have been acquired in the ordinary course of operations from suppliers. Amounts payable are classified as current liabilities if payment is due within one year or less. If not, they are presented as non-current liabilities. Trade creditors are recognised initially at transaction price and subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method.

Financial liabilities are derecognised when the charity’s contractual obligations expire or are discharged or cancelled.

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

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.

During the year Partners in Advocacy merged with Edinburgh Carers Service with funds received of £100,119 in relations to restricted funding. In addition, Curiosity Collective a charity ceased and donated £28,956 to Partners in Advocacy with £7,250 for restricted funding.

Fee income: advocacy services

Grants and contracts

Investments

One-to-one adult advocacy

One-to-one children & young people's advocacy

Group advocacy

Travel and subsistence

Premises expenses

Telephone

Postage, printing, stationery and advertising    

Subcontractrors and Consultancy fees

Other costs    

One-to-one adult advocacy

One-to-one children & young people's advocacy

Group advocacy

Travel and subsistence

Rent and rates

Premises expenses

Postage, printing, stationery and advertising    

Subcontractrors and Consultancy fees

Other costs    

Website and related costs    

Travel and subsistence

Rent and rates

Premises expenses

Telephone

Postage, printing, stationery and advertising

Accountancy fees

Consultancy fees

Other costs

Website and related costs    

None of the Trustees (or any persons connected with them) received any remuneration or benefits from the charity during the year.

Trustees expenses were paid to 3 trustees in the year totalling £173 (2024 £nil).

The average monthly number of employees during the year was:

The trustees consider the Chief Executive, the operations managers and the finance manager to be key personnel. Total remuneration (gross salary, employer's national insurance and employer's pension contributions) paid to key management personnel was £220,003 (2024 - £197,118).

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

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.

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

Edinburgh Health and Shared Care Partnership    

To provide advocacy for adults with learning disabilities and physical disabilities.

Dundee City Council

To provide short-term advocacy for children and young people in the Dundee area.

Scottish Government - Children's Hearing Systems

To provide advocacy services for children and young people and to support sibling's participation relating to contact.

NHS Highland - Highland Carer's Advocacy

To provide independent formal advocacy for adults in Highland.

Highland Alcohol and Drug Partnership    

Independent paid and peer advocacy is available to people aged 16+ who have lived and living experience of alcohol and/or drug dependence/recovery (or their significant other) in the Highland areas.

Glasgow Youth Independent Advocacy

Free impartial one to one independent advocacy to children and young people affected by alcohol and drugs.

Curiousity Collective

To provide collective advocacy for children and young people in Glasgow ensuring their voices are heard by relevant decision makers eg local council, education authority, community planners.

The National Lottery Communities

Independent individual, collective and peer advocacy for unpaid carers of young people with learning disabilities, autism or mental illness with focus on carers of people aged between 14-25.

Edinburgh Carers Service

To provide individual, collective, and peer advocacy support for unpaid carers of individuals with mental illness or learning disabilities, helping them navigate transitions, access resources, and connect with others in similar roles.

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

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:

There were no disclosable related party transactions during the year (2024 - none).

The charity had no material debt during the year.