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 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 charity's objects, as set out in its Memorandum and Articles of Association, are to promote any charitable purpose for the public benefit by the advancement of education, the protection and preservation of health and the relief of poverty, sickness and distress in particular, but without limitation, for the benefit of the community in East Sussex and the rest of the UK.
Citizens Advice’s aims are focused on the following:
To provide the advice people need for the problems they face, and
To improve the policies and practices that affect people’s lives.
Citizens Advice provides free, independent, confidential and impartial advice to everyone on their rights and responsibilities. We value diversity, promote equality and challenge discrimination.
Citizens Advice Eastbourne has developed its own mission statement to reflect more accurately its purpose and role within the local community:
We provide free, confidential advice to help people overcome their problems, and we campaign on big issues when their voices need to be heard. We are a trusted local charity providing responsive, high-quality services to help people find a way forward and meet community needs. Our work and presence give us unique insight into the needs of our community. We are a constant in the face of change, but with the flexibility to innovate and stay ahead.
Ensuring our work delivers our aims
We review our aims, objectives and activities each year. The annual review seeks to examine our achievements and outcomes, together with the success of individual key projects and the benefits that are derived from them. In carrying out the review, we are ensuring that our aims, objectives and activities are in line with our stated purpose.
Our main objectives for the year have been focused on maintaining our services through the year given the problems we still experience following the pandemic, problems caused by the war in the Ukraine and the impact of high inflation and spiralling living costs.
Key activities have included:
Using our well-respected Research and Campaigns work to maximise our influence with key stakeholders, in particular feeding back on the effectiveness of government policies. This has included an updated report on disability claims: ‘Nothing has changed’
Management of the Household Support Fund, which provided financial support in excess of £39,000 to individual households throughout Eastbourne.
Reaching Communities - outreaches, new staff debt advice, 4 new members of staff
Fundraising to maintain the service
How our activities deliver Public Benefit
Our main activities and who we try to help are described below. All our charitable activities focus on providing the advice people need for the problems they face and are undertaken specifically to provide public benefit. The board of trustees have had due regard to the Charity Commission guidance on public benefit and have complied with the duty in section 4 of the Charities Act 2011.
The trustees have paid due regard to guidance issued by the Charity Commission in deciding what activities the charity should undertake.
Advice and Information Services
The main areas of charitable activity are:
the provision of general advice and information services
the provision of specialist advice and casework services in the debt and welfare benefits categories of social welfare law, and
helping people to make applications for Universal Credit via the Help to Claim Service
Throughout the year, we have continued to offer general advice and information in the following ways:
The provision of advice by face-to-face meetings as well as remote means, in particular our telephone services, email and, in some cases. by video call.
Advice Line — participation continues as part of a county-wide telephone service. The line is covered on a rota basis between the hours of 10.00am and 4.00pm from Monday to Friday. Outside of these times, there is an automated advice service 24 hours a day.
Full advice — general and specialist advice through our team of trained advisers and paid staff.
Information and self-help, particularly through online resources.
Citizens Advice uses an external Treasury-approved model that allows us to put a financial value on a handful of key areas where we can evidence the value we create locally through our advice provision and from working with volunteers. This estimated that, in 2024/25, for every £l invested in our service, £2.08 is returned in fiscal benefits savings to the government, £23.87 in public benefit through wider economic and social benefits to the local community and £22.89 directly to individuals.
These figures are an increase over the previous year, especially the figure that goes directly to individuals up from £l8.60 to £22.89. This reflects the significant efforts we made to ensure our clients receive all the help they need to get through the cost-of-living crisis.
We have been actively involved in identifying issues that affect the community and have made representation to the appropriate organisations. During the period in question, key issues revolved around council tax arrears, the cost of energy and the growing problems associated with inflation, which has had a dramatic effect on the cost of living.
Factors affecting the achievement of objectives
Our biggest problem continues to be generating sufficient funds to maintain our core service and the detailed help we provide related to money advice and benefits. We were grateful, therefore, to receive a further one-year grant from the local authority for core work. We have a very active fund-raising committee who are tasked with identifying and obtaining funds and have been successful in being awarded significant grants, including from the Henry Smith Foundation Our other major focus is to ensure we deliver the most cost-effective service we possibly can. This is about delivering a value-for-money service that genuinely meets clients' needs so that we can make the funding we receive work as effectively as possible.
The complexity of the issues that clients are facing grows constantly, which means that we have to allow more time for each client. The size of the problems is also growing.
We should not forget that our staff and volunteers face identical problems related to increases in the cost of living. Nobody is immune.
We actively signpost clients to other agencies if we believe they could be better served elsewhere.
Contribution of volunteers and paid staff
The charity's success could not be achieved without the hard work and dedication of our volunteers and staff. The trustee board recognises the tremendous contribution made by the charity's volunteers in advising the public and administering the service without which the service could not operate. During 2024/25, the service employed 21 paid workers (13.2 FTE) and 48 active volunteers together delivering 6 projects, including the core service,
Volunteers represent the indispensable core of the service. Citizens Advice Eastbourne benefits from an average of 380 volunteer hours per week. This may be expressed as an annualised value of approximately £330,000. However, their value is inadequately expressed in monetary terms. Without our volunteers, there simply would not be a Citizens Advice service.
Fundraising activities
Total income for the year was £615,924, an increase of £54,863 on 2023/24.
Through the various activities of the fund-raising committee, we were able to obtain grants from a variety of sources as shown below, as well as a final estimated legacy payment of £30,000 from the estate of the Late Joan Elizabeth Muggeridge.
Funding has been confirmed for the majority of our planned activities for 2025/26.
We are grateful to all our funders for their continuing support and trust in us.
We are also delighted to have the continuing support of a number of important local clubs and societies.
The availability of funding in the charity sector remains difficult. The charity is focused on providing added value to its funders from a base of sound financial management and ensuring that our services remain relevant to the strategic objectives of stakeholders at local and national level.
The charity is working hard to deliver a cost-effective service that genuinely meets the needs of our clients. It remains a challenging prospect to meet the ever-increasing demand with restricted funding sources.
There was an overall surplus of £41,077 for the year (2023/24 surplus of £34,828). At 31 March 2025, total reserves were £243,032, of which £l74,232 represented unrestricted funds and £68,800 designated reserves.
The trustees extend their gratitude to Eastbourne Borough Council, our major funder, who continued to provide the majority of funding for the core operating capacity of the charity; without this support, it would be difficult if not impossible for us to continue serving the community. The core grant has remained at the same level for several years and has been insufficient to cover our core costs for the last few years.
As mentioned under Fundraising Activities, significant funding has also been provided by the National Lottery, the Household Support Fund, the ESCC Additional Measures, The Community Cost of Living grant and the Henry Smith Foundation during the year.
Our Legal Walk with the support of the Legal Support Trust raised £3,118. We thank them for their assistance.
Our volunteers were also active in maintaining our presence in the local community by organising tombolas at Langney Shopping Centre.
The charity did not have any borrowings from either providers of funding or other sources at the balance sheet date.
As required in its Memorandum paragraph 3.19 in furtherance of its objects, and for no other purposes, the Company has the power to invest the monies of the Company not immediately required for its purposes in or upon such investments, securities or property as may be thought fit, subject nevertheless to such conditions and such consents as may for the time being be imposed or required by law.
The charity does not currently hold material investments.
The trustees recognise that any major risks to which the charity is exposed need to be reviewed and measures put in place to mitigate those risks. To that end, the trustees maintain a corporate risk register, which is reviewed and updated regularly. Citizens Advice Eastbourne is continually monitoring and managing its risks and ensuring action plans are in place to mitigate its key risks.
Internal risks are minimised by the implementation of policies and procedures for authorisation of all transactions and projects, and to ensure consistent quality of delivery and the upholding of our values for all operational aspects of the charitable company. These policies and procedures are periodically reviewed to ensure that they still meet the needs of the charity.
A key external risk is loss of funding from our traditional sources, both to fund specific projects and, potentially, to fund our core service. This is a perennial risk which has been the focus of the Fundraising Committee's work. This has resulted in funding being obtained from a number of new sources during the year, as noted under 'Fundraising Activities' below. Despite this, funding remains a key risk, and the charity continues to implement its longer-term fundraising strategy and to seek to diversify its funding sources.
We entered the new year with an anticipated deficit. This is not unusual, and we have built up our reserves to allow us to keep going. Due to successful fundraising, we ended the year with a small surplus. However, we enter the new financial year with a forecast deficit.
We are reviewing our fund-raising strategy and our ambition is that we can realise our ambitions to widen our range of funders. To this end, we are working with a local marketing business to raise our profile and, in the long term, increase donations.
We are concerned that our staff and volunteers are under increased pressure both personally and professionally. Our wellbeing work with staff and volunteers has expanded and is well received. We received a Commitment Award from East Sussex County Council and are currently engaged in completing the Bronze Award. We regularly survey our staff and use their responses to tailor support for them.
Eastbourne Citizens Advice Bureau (also known as Citizens Advice Eastbourne) was incorporated on 2 March 2001, company number 04171801, and is registered with the Charity Commission in England and Wales, registration number 1086163. It is governed by its memorandum and articles of association. Further details of the charity including its registered office, principal address and details of professional advisors can be found on the second page of the accounts headed ‘Legal and administrative information’.
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:
New trustees are briefed on their legal obligations under charity and company law, the content of the Memorandum and Articles of Association, the committee and decision-making processes, the business plan and recent financial performance of the charity. They also meet key employees and other trustees. Trustees are encouraged to attend appropriate external training events where these will facilitate the understanding of their role.
None of the trustees receive remuneration or other benefits for their work with the charity.
The trustees are not aware of any contractual relationship with a related party and no related party transactions have been reported in the current year.
The trustees, who are also the directors of Eastbourne Citizens Advice Bureau 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.
Note from Chair of Trustees
I would like to thank all of our staff and volunteers for their help and support over the last year. They provide a high-quality service and despite increasing pressure and demand, they make a real difference in our community.
Lastly, as Chair, I would like to mention our board of trustees. Our board has recruited new trustees and has a range of skills and expertise. It reflects diversity and all trustees make a significant contribution to the progress we have made this year. I also thank the CEO for his support and for the immense breadth of knowledge and expertise that he brings to Citizens Advice.
They all make an enormous contribution to the success of our organisation.
The trustees' report was approved by the Board of Trustees.
I report to the trustees on my examination of the financial statements of Eastbourne Citizens Advice Bureau (the charity) for the year ended 31 March 2025.
Having satisfied myself that the financial statements of the charity are not required to be audited under Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006 and are eligible for independent examination, I report in respect of my examination of the charity’s financial statements carried out under section 145 of the Charities Act 2011. In carrying out my examination I have followed the Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Charities Act 2011.
Since the charity’s gross income exceeded £250,000, the independent examiner must be a member of a body listed in section 145 of the Charities Act 2011. I confirm that I am qualified to undertake the examination because I am a member of Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, which is one of the listed bodies.
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:
accounting records were not kept in respect of the charity as required by section 386 of the Companies Act 2006.
the financial statements do not accord with those records; or
the financial statements do not comply with the accounting requirements of section 396 of the Companies Act 2006 other than any requirement that the financial statements give a true and fair view, which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination; or
the financial statements have not been prepared in accordance with the methods and principles of the Statement of Recommended Practice for accounting and reporting by charities applicable to charities preparing their financial statements in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102).
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the financial statements to be reached.
The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year. All income and expenditure derive from continuing activities.
Eastbourne Citizens Advice Bureau is a private company limited by guarantee incorporated in England and Wales. The registered office is Unit 6, Highlight House, 8 St Leonards Road, Eastbourne, East Sussex, BN21 3UH.
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the charity's memorandum and articles of association, 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 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.
Designated funds comprise funds which have been set aside at the discretion of the trustees for specific purposes. The purposes and uses of the designated funds are set out in the notes to the financial statements.
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.
Grants receivable are accounted for in the period to which they relate.
Rental income is accounted for when it falls due,
All expenditure is inclusive of VAT, accounted for on an accruals basis and has been classified under headings that aggregate all costs related to that category.
Where costs cannot be directly attributable to particular headings they have been allocated to activities on a basis consistent with the use of resources.
Support costs are those incurred directly in support of expenditure on the objects of the charity and include governance costs. Governance costs are those costs associated with meeting the statutory requirements of the charity, and include independent examination costs.
Any expenditure on equipment and assets exceeding £1,000 is capitalised.
Property, plant and equipment 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 basis:
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.
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 trade and other receivables 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 trade and other payables 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 payables 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 payables are recognised initially at transaction price and subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method.
Financial liabilities are derecognised when the charity’s contractual obligations expire or are discharged or cancelled.
The cost of any unused holiday entitlement is recognised in the period in which the employee’s services are received.
Termination benefits are recognised immediately as an expense when the charity is demonstrably committed to terminate the employment of an employee or to provide termination benefits.
Payments to defined contribution retirement benefit schemes are charged as an expense as they fall due.
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.
Included in support and governance costs above are payments of £2,700 (2024: £2,892) to the independent examiner for independent examination and accountancy services.
None of the trustees, or any persons connected with them, received any remuneration or benefits from the charity during the year (2024: £nil).
None of the trustees were reimbursed any expenses during the year (2024: one trustee was reimbursed travel expenses of £14).
During the year, trustees' indemnity insurance cover costing £194 (2024: £194) was paid by the charity.
The average monthly number of employees during the year was:
The remuneration of key management personnel was as follows:
The charity receives help and support in the form of voluntary assistance in advising the public and administering the charity. 48 volunteers (2024: 52 volunteers) contributed approximately 384 hours of work to the charity each week during the year (2024: 416 hours each week). We estimate the value of this help to be approximately £330,000 (2024: estimate of £370,000).
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.
The ESCC General Benefits fund includes grants from East Sussex County Council and is used to increase capacity in the area of general advice. The transfer into the fund in 2024-25 was to clear the negative balance.
The CitA Help to Claim fund is made up of grants from the National Citizens Advice Association (on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions) and is used to assist with Universal Credit claims.
The Reaching Communities fund consists of grants from the National Lottery for money advice and outreach work in the community. 2024-25 is the first year of a three year agreement.
The trustees agreed in 2023-24, in line with Charity Commission guidance (given the balance are below £1,000), to transfer the remaining balances on the Homeless Fund (expenses for homeless clients), Awards for All (for IT upgrades) and Surviving Winter (to support client's heating costs) to general funds. These funds are now closed.
The funds of the charity include the following designated funds which have been set aside out of unrestricted funds by the trustees for specific purposes.
The Property dilapidations reserve is set aside for potential renovations to the offices at Highlight House.
The Legacy fund contains a legacy, the first part of which was received in 2023-24 (£45,000) and the final part is receivable in 2025 (estimated at £30,000). The trustees have put these amounts aside and started using them for specific fundraising and development activities. In 2024-25 £10,200 was spent on Professional fees.
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.
The current rental lease ended at 31 March 2020. A rolling extension is in place and the charity is still in negotiation with the landlord regarding renewal.
Lease payments in the year were £27,500 (2024: £27,500)
There were no disclosable related party transactions during the year (2024 - none).
The charity had no material debt during the year.