The trustees present their report and consolidated 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 trustees have taken cognisance of the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland's guidance on public benefit as defined in the Charities Act (Northern Ireland) 2008.

The aim of East Belfast Community Development Agency ('The Agency') and the group is to promote the benefit of the inhabitants of East Belfast and its environs (the “area of benefit”) without distinction of age, sex, race or political, religious or other opinions by associating the statutory authorities, voluntary and community organisations and inhabitants in a common effort to relieve poverty, advance education and develop the capacity and skills of the members of the socially and economically disadvantaged communities of East Belfast in such a way that they are better able to identify, and help meet, their needs and to participate fully in society.

The principal activity of the group and company is the charitable operation of various projects to benefit the welfare of the inhabitants of East Belfast and the development and operation of an East Belfast Network Centre.

Values and Principles

• Participation

The Agency works proactively to ensure that people have the opportunity to fully contribute to, and share in, decision-making processes in relation to policies and programmes that will affect them.

• Inclusion

The Agency supports and promotes work which builds communities that include groups and people that have been most marginalised.

• Fairness

The Agency opposes harassment, victimisation and prejudice of any kind. The Agency is committed to ensuring that they do not discriminate against anyone within, or in contact with, The Agency on the grounds of gender, race, nationality, ethnic origin, disability, responsibility for dependents, sexuality, age, economic status, religious or political belief or marital status. This includes all the groups highlighted in Equality Legislation as outlined in Section 75 of the (1998) Northern Ireland Act.

• Good Practice

The Agency values learning from other places and will promote identified good practice amongst members and other stakeholders.

Introduction

This report focuses on the work delivered during the period. Some of the highlights are, daily management of East Belfast Network Centre, a base for 10 groups with over 60 staff; our Community Connections Programme, using the Social Value Engine (SVE) as an evaluation tool, showing a Social Value Return (SVR) of £5.45 for every £1.00 spent. We continue to collaboratively manage the various East Belfast Forums and Networks; the final year of our 4 year Communities In Transition (CiT) programme; ongoing development of work with men’s groups has increased in this period; continued delivery of the very successful pain management programme; continuing with access NI checks for staff and volunteers of East Belfast based organisations, though changes from Access NI has made this process more difficult; supporting groups in managing their finance and resources; held a very successful members seminar in June 2024, this being an opportunity to discuss with our members the work of EBCDA and to get their views and input on our Strategy for 2025-2030. Our Strategy for 2025 – 2030 was then presented and agreed at our AGM in December 2024 and became active on 1 April 2025.

The criteria or measures used to assess success in the reporting period

EBCDA is funded to carry out its work by several funders. All funders assign to EBCDA a series of targets and/or objectives through their letter of offer or contract for funding. The targets and/or objectives are assigned to each member of staff and that member of staff completes progress reports, which are then submitted to funders on a 3 monthly and 6 monthly basis. All the targets and/or objectives are linked to our 3 strategic themes.

Applications for funding are agreed by the Board of Directors and as each letter of offer or contract for funding comes in, the targets and/or objectives within these are presented to the Board of Directors. Progress against the targets and/or objectives are reported to the Board at 6-month and 12-month intervals in each financial year.

Significant charitable activities and achievements against objectives

Within each annual report we report on our activity under our three themes within the strategy. These themes and outcomes under each are detailed below and over

Theme 1 – Community Support & Capacity Building:To assess the needs of the community sector and work with other key organisations

• Worked directly with and delivered a service to 4,182 people.

• Community Connections Programme had a Social Value Return (SVR) of £5.45 for every £1.00 spent.

• Worked with 156 Organisations

• 18 were full members

• 13 were associate members

• 101 were based in East Belfast

• 13 were Belfast based

• 11 were Northern Ireland wide

• 201 people attended various forums and networks

• 12 East Belfast Youth Practitioners Forum

• 2 East Belfast Youth Work Strategy Group

• 10 East Belfast Churches Forum

• 1 East Belfast Health Forum

• 11 East Belfast Race Relations Network

• 8 East Belfast Anti-Poverty Alliance (including associated sub-groups)

• 10 East Belfast Tension Monitoring (Co-Chair)

• 12 Inner East Forum

• 10 Community Development Café

• 3 Drug & Alcohol Stakeholders Forum

• 8 East Belfast Street Work, Stakeholders Meetings

• 8 East Belfast Dementia Friendly Steering Group (Co-Chair)

• 5 sessions of newly established Welcome Café for new arrivals to East Belfast

• 11 Wellbeing Cafes

• 6 East Belfast Men’s Network

• 6 Menopause Cafes

• 3 Housing Provider’s Network

• 12 e-bulletin produced and distributed to 347 subscribers

• 17 groups supported with both applying for and managing funding

• 8 Access NI Information Sessions

• 11 groups supported with Access NI Checks

• 26 people processed through Access NI Disclosures

• 6 consultations facilitated in relation to policy developments that will have an affect on East Belfast

• 9 Groups supported with developing polices, resources and training to strengthen the management of their organisation

• 16 Groups supported with capacity building, community development, good relations and good governance procedures

• 41 East Belfast Welcome Packs distributed

• 12 Volunteers supported through training opportunities

• 6 people completed coaching programme with 43 sessions provided

• 8 groups facilitated through a process of support

• 4 Lobbying skills sessions delivered

• 57 sessions delivered by East Belfast Street Team Collaborative Programme

• 2 groups supported with Charity Commission NI registration

• 3 groups supported with Charity Commission NI filing process.

• 1 Celebrate East Volunteers event

• 1 Volunteer Fair

• 1 Community Development Retreat

• 1 Community Dialogue Training event

• 1 EBCDA Members Seminar

• 11 People completed year 2 of Emerging Leaders Programme

• 11 Emerging Leaders completed Accredited ILM Level 3, Leadership & Management

• East Belfast Anti-Poverty Strategy launched

Theme 2 – Community Resource & Finance Services:

To manage our human and physical resources and promote good financial management practice in the community sector

• Managed EBCDA and TAS Trust day to day finance

• Managed an additional £28,500

• Provided a payroll service for 7 groups covering 49 members of staff

• Provided Independent Examination for 9 groups

• Provided HR advice to 11 groups

• Managed day to operations of East Belfast Network Centre with 10 organisations and over 60 staff based in the Centre.

Theme 3 – Community Health Development:To encourage, support and facilitate the provision of community health programmes and projects.

• Managed and delivered Communities in Transition Health & Wellbeing Programme engaging 35 organisations with 996 people participating.

  • Drug & alcohol training

  • Take 5 workshops

  • One to One Counselling

  • Men’s health programmes

  • Chatty Bench programme

• 7 Health observance day sessions e.g. cancer awareness month, world Alzheimer’s day, International Women’s Day etc

• 40 groups provided with direct support in developing health programmes

• 2 Take 5 Champions Training sessions

• 71 Take 5 Sessions delivered

• 3 Pain Support workshops

• 8-week Better Days Pain Support Programme

• 27 Women’s health related sessions

• 9 pain support cafes

• 14 Red Box locations suported

• 4 Grieve awareness sessions

• 35 Yoga sessions

• 34 Tai Chi sessions

• 22 Soft Archery sessions

• 9 Boccia Sessions

• 9 Dementia Friendly Awareness Sessions

• 11 Gentle exercise sessions

• 7 Carers Café

• 76 Health sessions delivered to 15 East Belfast men’s groups

• 4 Healthy Living Centre Alliance meetings

• 7 Self Care Wellbeing sessions

• 11 Mental Health awareness sessions

• 9 Stress Awareness sessions

• 4 Top Tips for Looking After Yourself programmes

• 1 Living Life to The Full programme

• 27 organisations supported with delivery of their local health event

Overall

Provided an East Belfast view at online meetings, face to face meetings, conferences and seminars with local Community Groups and Organisations, Residents Groups, Local GPs, Local Pharmacies, Public Health Agency (PHA), Belfast City Council (BCC), NICVA, Belfast Health & Social Care Trust (BHSCT), Department for Communities (DfC), The Executive Office (TEO), Community Empowerment Division (CED), Belfast Stories, BCC Voluntary Community & Social Enterprise (VCSE) Panel, NI Charity Commission Stakeholders Forum, BCC Shared City Partnership, Belfast Community Of Interest for Mental Health Promotion / Suicide Prevention, Take 5 Steps to Wellbeing Working Group, Belfast Men's Health Group, Regional Dementia Project Board, BCC Design Team-Take 5 Participatory Budgeting Programme, NICVA, PSNI, NIO, East Belfast MP, East Belfast MLAs and East Belfast Cllrs.

The Agency’s main source of funding is from government departments, principally the Department for Communities, Public Health Association, and Belfast City Council. The expenditure detailed in notes 7 & 8 of the financial statements has supported the Agency’s key objectives as highlighted on page 1.

The Agency is a non-profit making organisation and these financial statements consolidate the results of the Agency and its subsidiary undertaking, Templemore Avenue School Trust ('The Trust'). The consolidated results for the year are set out in detail on pages 14 to 31. The group recorded net outgoing resources for the year of £2,584 (2024 – net incoming resources £6,164).

At 31 March 2025, the total funds of the group amounted to £3,001,558 comprising restricted funds of £2,634,785 and unrestricted funds of £366,773. A large proportion of income received by The Agency is earmarked by the donor for specific purposes (restricted income). Other income generated by The Agency is received as free monies (unrestricted income) which can be allocated to core running costs.

The unrestricted funds are considered to be essential as it is anticipated that over the next few years, the funding available to the group may not be maintained at its current level. Unrestricted funds will therefore be essential to finance the working capital, continue the group’s activities in the short term and fulfil its legal responsibilities to employees and creditors.

Reserves Policy

Advice sought by the directors suggests that reserves should be set at between 10% and 15% of total incoming resources. Approximately 87% of incoming resources in The Agency comes from grants and voluntary income. The remaining 13% is generated by providing services such as room hire and independent pieces of work such as consultation. The majority of incoming resources of the Trust relates to unrestricted funds. At 31 March 2025 the group held free reserves of £314,273.

The trustees have assessed the major risks to which the charity is exposed, and are satisfied that systems are in place to mitigate exposure to the major risks.

Risk Management

The trustees have actively reviewed the major risks which The Agency and the group face, one of which is the risk that funding and income levels could fall for a period of time. The trustees believe that maintaining the unrestricted reserves at the required levels to finance the working capital and continue the charity’s activities on a short term basis, combined with the annual review of the controls over the key financial systems, will provide sufficient resources in the event of adverse conditions. The trustees have also examined other business and operational risks which The Agency faces and confirm that they have established systems to mitigate significant risks.

Future plans including aims and objectives and activities planned to achieve them

Established in 1970 as East Belfast Youth Council and then in 1973 as East Belfast Community Council. The name was changed again in 1989 to East Belfast Community Development Centre. In 1996 we merged with East Belfast Development Agency, who had been promoting and supporting community businesses, to form East Belfast Community Development Agency seeking to develop the best of the work of those two organisations. Despite the name changes over the years the Agency has always had the support and development of the community in East Belfast at the forefront of all the work it has done.

Today, EBCDA exists in a very different world to what it did 55 years ago, but we are confident that our experiences to date and our skills and knowledge base will help move us and the community sector in East Belfast, into a bright and successful future.

Whilst our funders normally only offer funding year-on-year, we usually follow the same targets and/or objectives that are set by the funders. During the 2024 – 2025 period we have been lucky to have continuation of funding from of our funders. Two of these were for the period 2023 – 2025 (extended into 2026), one for the period 2023 – 2026 and a another for the period 2023 – 2027. Another funder continues to fund us year on year, which isn’t ideal, but we are grateful for their continued support.

East Belfast Community Development Agency was established as a company under a Memorandum of Association which established the objects and powers of the company and is governed under its Articles of Association.

The Agency is governed by the Board of Trustees. The Board of Trustees, who are elected by the members, consist of up to twelve elected persons. Every third year one half of the elected trustees retire by rotation. The trustees to retire are those who have been longest in office since their last election. A retiring trustee is eligible for re-election. Five co-opted persons are appointed by the Board and serve until the next Annual General Meeting. 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 process, the business plan and recent performance of The Agency. They are free to discuss any issue with other trustees or key employees. Trustees are encouraged to attend any appropriate external training events where these will facilitate the undertaking of their role.

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:

Arrangements for setting pay and remuneration of key management personnel and any benchmarks, parameters or criteria used

The Board of Directors, who are the charity's trustees alongside the senior management team, comprise the key management personnel of the charity in charge of directing, controlling, running and operating the charity on a day-to-day basis. All of the Board of Directors give of their time freely and none have received remuneration in the year.

The pay of the senior staff is set by reference to guidance and utilisation of NJC pay scales. In view of the nature of the charity, the Directors benchmark against pay levels in other similar size charities and level of experience, when appointing new members of key management.

The Agency is responsible for receiving and distributing funds on behalf of the Department for Communities. £325,951 (2024 - £300,576) was received and distributed during the year and no balance was held in relation to these monies at 31 March 2025.

The trustees, who are also the directors of East Belfast Community Development Agency for the purpose of company law, are responsible for preparing the Trustees' Report and the group 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 group and parent charitable company and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the group 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 group and 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 group and charitable company and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

In accordance with the company's articles, a resolution proposing that GMcG BELFAST be reappointed as auditor of the company will be put at a General Meeting.

In preparing this report, the directors have taken advantage of the small companies exemptions provided by section 415A of the Companies Act 2006.

Each of the trustees has confirmed that there is no information of which they are aware which is relevant to the audit, but of which the auditor is unaware. They have further confirmed that they have taken appropriate steps to identify such relevant information and to establish that the auditor is aware of such information.

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

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of East Belfast Community Development Agency (the ‘parent charity’) and its subsidiary (the 'group') for the year ended 31 March 2025 which comprise the consolidated statement of financial activities, the consolidated balance sheet, the company balance sheet, the consolidated statement of cash flows and the 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, 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 group's and parent charitable company's affairs as at 31 March 2025 and of the group's incoming resources and application of resources, for the year then ended;

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

Basis for opinion

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor's responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the group and parent 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.

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, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, 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.

Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006

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

the information given in the Trustees' report for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared, which includes the directors' report prepared for the purposes of company law, is consistent with the financial statements; and

the directors' report included within the Trustees' report has been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements.

In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the group and parent charitable company and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the directors’ report included within the Trustees' report.

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

adequate accounting records have not been kept by the parent company, or returns adequate for our audit have not been received from branches not visited by us; or

the parent company 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 prepare the financial statements in accordance with the small companies regime and take advantage of the small companies' exemptions in preparing the Trustees' report and from the requirement to prepare a strategic report.

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

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

• The nature of the industry and sector, control environment and business performance, including the company’s remuneration policies for directors, bonus levels and performance targets, if any;

• 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 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 instance of non-compliance;

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

  • 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 potential indicators of fraud.

As a result of these procedures, we considered the opportunities and incentives that may exist within the company for fraud and identified the greatest potential for fraud in income recognition. In common with all audits under ISAs (UK), we are also required to perform specific procedures to respond to the risk of management override.

We also obtained an understanding of the legal and regulatory frameworks that the company operates in, focusing on provisions of those laws and regulations that had a direct effect on the determination of material amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. The key laws and regulations we considered in this context included the Companies Act 2006 and Charities Act (Northern Ireland) 2008.

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 company’s ability to operate or to avoid a material penalty.

Our procedures to respond to the risks identified included the following:

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

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

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

• Reading minutes of meetings of those charged with governance and reviewing correspondence with tax authorities; 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 of 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 indications of fraud or non-compliance with laws and regulations throughout the audit.

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. In addition, as with any audit, there remains a higher risk of non-detection of irregularities, as they may involve collusion, forgery, intentional omissions, misrepresentations, or the override of internal controls. We are not responsible for preventing non-compliance and cannot be expected to detect non-compliance with all laws and regulations.

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

Use of our report

This report is made solely to the 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 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 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.

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.

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

East Belfast Community Development Agency is a private company limited by guarantee incorporated in Northern Ireland. The registered office is 55 Templemore Avenue, Belfast, BT5 4FG.

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance 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 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.

The financial statements consolidate the accounts of East Belfast Community Development Agency and its subsidiary undertaking ('subsidiary').

The company has taken advantage of the exemption contained within section 408 of the Companies Act 2006 not to present its own Income and Expenditure Account.

The income and expenditure account for the year dealt with in the accounts of the charity was net incoming resources £46,656 (2023 - £57,225).

At the time of approving the financial statements, the trustees have a reasonable expectation that the charity has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. Thus the trustees continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the financial statements.

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

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

Income tax recoverable in relation to donations received under Gift Aid or deed of covenant is recognised at the time of the donation.

Income tax recoverable in relation to investment income is recognised at the time the investment income is receivable.

Other income is recognised in the period in which it is receivable and to the extent the goods have been provided or on completion of the service.

Where funding is received and subsequently distributed to other organisations in accordance with the donor’s instructions it is treated as conduit funding and, therefore, is not recognised in the Statement of Financial Activities.

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.

Support costs are those costs incurred directly in support of expenditure on the objects of the charity and include project management. Governance costs are those incurred in connection with administration of the company and compliance with constitutional and statutory requirements.

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

All expenditure is inclusive of irrecoverable VAT.

Intangible assets acquired separately from a business are recognised at cost and are subsequently measured at cost less accumulated amortisation and accumulated impairment losses.

Intangible assets acquired on business combinations are recognised separately from goodwill at the acquisition date where it is probable that the expected future economic benefits that are attributable to the asset will flow to the entity and the fair value of the asset can be measured reliably; the intangible asset arises from contractual or other legal rights; and the intangible asset is separable from the entity.

Amortisation is recognised so as to write off the cost or valuation of assets less their residual values over their useful lives on the following bases:

Tangible fixed assets are initially measured at cost and subsequently measured at cost or valuation, net of depreciation and any impairment losses.

Depreciation is recognised so as to write off the cost or valuation of assets less their residual values over their useful lives on the following bases:

The gain or loss arising on the disposal of an asset is determined as the difference between the sale proceeds and the carrying value of the asset, and is recognised in the statement of financial activities.

At each reporting end date, the charity reviews the carrying amounts of its tangible and intangible 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 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 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.

The annual depreciation charge on fixed assets depends primarily on the estimated lives of each type of asset and estimates of residual values. The directors regularly review these asset lives and change them as necessary to reflect current thinking on remaining lives in light of prospective economic utilisation and physical condition of the assets concerned. Changes in asset lives can have a significant impact on depreciation and amortisation charges for the period. Detail of the useful lives is included in the accounting policies.

TAS TRUST

East Belfast Development

TAS TRUST

East Belfast Develop

Health development

Programme costs

Advertising, postage and stationery

Travel and subsistence

Catering costs

Insurance and premises costs

General overheads

Telephone

CED Programme

Promotional costs

CIT expenditure

Other staff costs

Advertising, postage and stationery

Miscellaneous

Insurance and premises cost

Bank charges

Telephone and IT costs

Room hire and meeting expenses

Subscriptions and memberships

CiT evaluation

Governance costs includes payments to the auditors of £9,526 (2024 - £9,244) for audit fees.

The average monthly number of employees during the year was:

No employee received remuneration amounting to to more than £60,000 in either year.

Total remuneration payable to key management personnel in the year was £69,458 (2024 - £66,739).

The charity is exempt from income tax and capital gains tax to the extent that its income and gains are applied for charitable purposes. No tax charge has arisen in the year.

Company

East Belfast Community Development Agency is the sole member of Templemore Avenue School Trust, a company incorporated in Northern Ireland and limited by guarantee. The principal activity of Templemore Avenue School Trust is the operation of East Belfast Network Centre.

The registered office of Templemore Avenue School Trust is 55 Templemore Avenue, Belfast, BT5 4FP and its results are consolidated into these financial statements.

Unrestricted Funds

Accumulated general fund

This fund is expendable at the discretion of the directors.

Included within general funds carried forward is £130,601 (2024 - £102,522) relating to the parent company.

During the year funds totalling £60,954 were transferred from restricted funds to unrestricted funds. This reflected restricted fund balances where no further restrictions remained on unspent amounts.

Restricted Funds

Core Activities Grants

This funding from Belfast City Council and Department for Communities covers core staff costs and running costs. Also Capacity Building Programme and Youth Development Programme.

East Belfast Network Centre

Managed by East Belfast Community Development Agency on behalf of Templemore Avenue School Trust providing office space for organisations. Also, room hire to community/voluntary and Statutory organisations.

Health development project

This funding from the Public Health Agency and small one-off health related grants provides improvement and investment in health, to impact on the social wellbeing of the community.

TEO - Communities in Transition

This contract was awarded for a Heath and Wellbeing Programme in the East Belfast Cit areas.

The National Lottery – Community Fund

Funding awarded for Community Connections Programme which commenced in May 2023.

A portion of grants received may become repayable if The Agency fails to comply with the terms of the letter of offer.

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

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 Agency is responsible for receiving and distributing funds on behalf of the Department for Communities. £325,951 (2024 - £300,576) was received and distributed during the year and no balance was held in relation to these monies at 31 March 2025.

The group had no debt during the year.